D avid Davis and Michel Barnier clashed bitterly today after Brexit talks went into deadlock on a series of critical issues. At a press conference in Brussels Mr Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, hit out at Britains negotiating tactics and said there had been no decisive progress on key issues. Warning that the UK could be heading for the exit door without any deal at all, Mr Barnier said there had been too little progress on the cash divorce bill for him to recommend starting trade talks. On the issue of a cash settlement, he implied that Britain was not being honourable. After this week its clear that the UK doesnt feel legally obliged to honour these obligations after departure, the French politician said. He added that there had been fruitful talks on the Northern Ireland border, but he repeated the EUs demand that the rights of EU citizens must be settled by the European Court of Justice, which Theresa May has rejected. We did not get any decisive progress on any of the principal subjects, he added. On Britains call for trade talks to be held at the same time as the cash settlement is discussed, he said that at the current state of progress we are quite far from being able to say that sufficient progress has taken place. Brexit Secretary Mr Davis hit back by insisting that future trade relations were inextricably linked to the financial settlement. He made clear Britain did not accept a legal obligation to pay tens of billions of pounds demanded by the Commission, implying that any bill must be part of a political deal. Mr Davis called for flexibility and imagination from the EU and said the UK had presented its legal analysis on the financial settlement: The Commission has set out its position and we have a duty to our taxpayers to interrogate it rigorously. "At this round we presented our legal analysis, on on-budget issues, on off-budget issues, and on the EIB European Investment Bank. Its fair to say across the piece we have a very different legal stance, but as we said in the Article 50 letter the settlement should be in accordance with law and in the spirit of the UKs continuing partnership with the EU. Mr Barnier appeared to warn Theresa May not to try to go over his head to the 27 EU leaders in a bid to soften their line. He said there was not an iota of difference among the EU-27 and any attempt to create splits would fail. On the money issue, he protested: This week the UK explained its obligations will be limited to their last payment to the EU budget before departure. Yet we have joint obligations to third countries. These inc-luded loans to Ukraine and aid to Africa that Britain had agreed to help fund. He accused Britain of arguing it could leave the single market and keep the benefits: This is simply impossible. You cannot be outside the single market and shape its legal order. J eremy Corbyn has appointed London MP Dawn Butler as his new shadow women and equalities minister. The MP for Brent Central replaces Sarah Champion, who stood down after penning a controversial article in the Sun. In the article, she warned Britain has a "problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls". The MP apologised for her "extremely poor choice of words" and quit her shadow cabinet post in the wake of the controversy. Announcing the new appointment, Mr Corbyn said: "Dawn is a great champion for women, equality for all and our country's diverse communities. I look forward to working closely with her to advance our agenda of a truly equal society that works for the many not the few." Ms Butler said: "I am honoured to accept this appointment and would like to thank Sarah Champion for all the hard work she has done in the role. "Labour will tackle all forms of discrimination and the ways they interact. "Equality is equality, you can't pick and choose. I have always fought for those who feel voiceless and I will fight to deliver real equality in our country." S enior Tories today crushed Theresa Mays claim that she will lead them into the next election. MPs and grandees shot down her surprise assertion that she is here for the long term and will remain Prime Minister into the next parliament. Even loyal supporters, who said Mrs May was right to assert her authority as premier, admitted there could be no second chance for her to run a general election campaign after throwing away David Camerons 2015 majority. Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said it would be difficult for Mrs May to stay on until 2022, when the next election is due. Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, said Mrs May had no long-term future. Privately, two executive members of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers said a better campaigner would be required to fight the next election. Nicky Morgan said it would be difficult for Mrs May to stay on until 2022 / AFP Former party chairman Grant Shapps said MPs would be surprised by Mrs Mays words and that she was sounding like Margaret Thatcher talking about going on and on. You cant go pretending it wasnt anything other than a disastrous result, he told BBC Radio 4. Of course it was. You cant jump straight from that to Ill go on for ever. He said voters still needed to hear Mrs May say sorry and that she was moving too quickly from the humble tone she adopted after the election on June 8. Mr Shapps said: I think colleagues may well be surprised by this interview last night and I think it is too early to be talking about going on and on, as Margaret Thatcher once said. Lets get some progress for the British people first I think thats the priority. Recalling Mrs May telling MPs in June Ill serve for as long as you want me, he said: I think thats absolutely the right tone. Its the tone that she will, I hope, repeat at party conference. The wider membership needs to hear that and the country needs to hear that. Before her third general election victory in 1987, Mrs Thatcher was asked about a potential fourth term. She told the BBC: I hope to go on and on. Katie Perrior, Mrs Mays former director of communications at No 10, said the Prime Minister had been right to challenge reports that she would retire in summer 2019, soon after Brexit. Ms Perrior said: It is the only thing she could say. I know when David Cameron announced that he was going to step down at a certain point, it was downhill from there. She knows in politics you never give your end date. However, when Ms Perrior was asked on Radio 4s Today show whether Mrs May would actually lead the Tories into another election, she replied: No. Grant Shapps said she was sounding like Margaret Thatcher talking about going on and on / GLENN COPUS Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was the only Cabinet minister to immediately back Mrs May. He said she was ideally placed to deliver Brexit and that he was here to support her. Mrs May was strongly backed in public by pro-Brexit Conservative MPs despite signs some Right-wingers are manoeuvring behind the scenes to succeed her as leader. MP Peter Bone said she would be a national hero after Britain leaves the European Union in 2019. Ex-Cabinet minister John Redwood told Sky that if she wishes to remain as leader thats fine by me. Fellow Leave supporter Nigel Evans said her words would shut some of the runners and riders up to concentrate on their jobs, which is what Theresa May is doing. He added: She said she would get us out of this mess and when she does I see her reputation greatly enhanced. Ex-minister Bob Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, said a completely fresh approach would be needed to win back support in places such as London where the Tories did badly under Mrs May. There is no appetite to change leader while we are dealing with Brexit, he said. Afterwards, then the Conservative Partys task has got to be to make sure it goes into the election with a completely fresh approach, both to pull the country together after Brexit and to win back those young, well-educated, aspirant voters who we lost at the last election in London. In a series of prepared interviews during her trip to Japan, Mrs May set out her plan to carry on to the next election, saying: Im not a quitter. She said: Im in this for the long term. Theres a real job to be done in the United Kingdom. Its about getting the Brexit deal right, its about building that deep and special partnership with the European Union, but its also about building global Britain, trading around the world. Yes, dealing with injustices that remain inside the United Kingdom, but also going out around the world ensuring that we can do those trade deals which bring prosperity to our economy and bring jobs to the United Kingdom. Her words were an attempt to quash recent reports that she will step down in 2019 and apparent manoeuvring by potential successors including the eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg. The party conference will be held in October. Ms Morgan said no leader wanted to set a retirement date as it was a sign of your own political mortality. However, she added: I think its going to be difficult for Theresa May to lead us into the next general election. A devastated British mum and daughter have lost everything after Storm Harvey destroyed their home as floods ripped through Texas. Tania Wishart and daughter Stephanie were left with just the clothes on their back as water engulfed their entire ground-floor flat in the catastrophic deluge. Stephen Wishart, who lives in the UK, has told how his mum watched their belongings float away into the street after fleeing to a higher level for safety. The two Brits, who moved to Dickinson in Texas six years ago from Arbroath in Scotland, are now considering coming back to the UK in a bid to start from scratch. The pair are stranded five hours apart from each other. / JustGiving Mr Wishart, 31 has now set up a JustGiving fundraising campaign to help the heartbroken pair rebuild their lives. My mum woke up in the middle of the night with water in her bedroom and her ground floor apartment flooding, he said. As she opened the door many of her belongings were drifting out onto the street with the water and she saw that her car was completely submerged. Houses submerged in Houston, Texas. (REUTERS) / Reuters She and a neighbour made it into a first floor apartment block while the water rose but had to wait for hours before a rescue boat could reach them. My mum had nothing more than the clothes on her back, her phone and $20 in her pocket. Mr Wishart, who set up the appeal with fiance Chloe McGreevy added: There was a lot of debris floating in the water and boats hitting cars and mum really feared for her life as she cannot swim. Eventually, she was taken to a rescue centre in Austin. His sister Stephanie was staying with friends on the night of the flood, and is now stranded five hours away from mum Tania. Although they are both still separated they are alive which we are so thankful for, said Mr Wishart. Storm Harvey 1 /32 Storm Harvey A man wades through floodwater after Hurricane Harvey struck the US Reuters Volunteers perform search and rescue in a boat after Hurricane Harvey inundated the Texas Gulf coast Reuters A man rescues two dogs from rising flood waters in Houston AP A civilian owned military vehicle drives through floodwaters performing search and rescue in Houston Reuters Rescue vehicles drive past flooding on Interstate 610 in Texas Reuters A family arrives to high ground after they fled their home due to floods caused by Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters Samaritans help push a boat with evacuees to high ground during a rain storm Reuters Vehicles drive along a flooded road beside the Barker Reservoir after the Army Corp of Engineers started to release water into the Clodine district as Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston AFP/Getty Images Local residents are evacuated on an air boat operated by volunteers AFP/Getty Images Residents of Katy's Grande Lakes ride in a boat to dry land Rex Features A volunteer carries a dog to dry land during rescue operations Rex Features Evacuees take shelter from Tropical Storm Harvey in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Reuters A helicopter hovers above the Houston skyline as sunlight breaks through storm clouds from Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters A woman uses a coat hanger to try and retrieve an item from a destroyed house Reuters Houses and cars are seen partially submerged by flood waters Reuters A cow swims trying to get out of the flood Reuters A man wearing a Houston Texans shirt, the local professional American football team, raises his arm as residents are rescued Reuters Residents use boats to evacuate flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters A woman holds her dog as she arrives to high ground after evacuating her home due to the floods Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a briefing on the storm Reuters Trump oversees relief efforts with Texas Governor Greg Abbott Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Austin international airport Reuters A large detached home is surrounded by floodwaters AP President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One to oversee the disaster relief effort Reuters "As a family we are trying to support them in every way we can and hope they can be reunited soon. At the moment the priority is keeping them warm, dry and making sure they have food. Small things that we take for granted every day. We are still unsure of what the next steps are but an option is to come back to the UK and start a life again from scratch. At this point we don't think insurance will cover a flood like this to help with all of their personal belongings and the car is completely gone. Stephen Wishart, who started the fundraising appeal. / JustGiving Ultimately, everything has been taken from them and they will now need to rebuild their lives and thats why we have set up this appeal. He added: Any donation no matter how small can make all the difference towards trying to rebuild some sort of life whether thats over in the US or back here in the UK. So far nearly 900 has been raised by just 30 people donating, with some generous donors giving up to 100 each. At least 31 people have died in the tropical storm, which hit land last weekend as a category four hurricane before being downgraded to a storm and then tropical depression. Firefighters in Houston one of the worst hit cities and home to 6.8 million people are continuing to search thousands of flooded homes to ensure no one is left behind. Authorities expect the death toll to rise. M ore than 60,000 people are to be evacuated from homes in the centre of Frankfurt after authorities discovered a huge unexploded World War Two bomb in the city. The bomb was found by astonished workers at a construction site near Goethe University Frankfurt in the German city on Tuesday. The bomb - the type dropped by British bombers during the war - contains 1.4 tonnes of explosives, city councillor Markus Frank said. Police have said the bomb is so big thousands of homes would have to be evacuated. It is currently being guarded by officers. The bomb is being guarded by police at the construction site / EPA A radius of 1.5 kilometres (nearly a mile) around the bomb will be evacuated as a precaution ahead of the disposal itself, which is expected to take about four hours. The mass evacuation will take place at about 8am local time on Sunday. REUTERS Officials are describing the planned evacuation as Germany's biggest yet, though similar operations are still common more than 70 years after the war ended. Authorities are expected to release further details in a press conference on Thursday. In May, around 50,000 people had to leave their homes in Hannover temporarily for a bomb disposal. On Christmas Day in 2016, another 50,000 were evacuated from Augsburg in south Germany after a 1.8-ton bomb was discovered near an underground car park. A ustralia could start carrying out random drugs tests on people who receive welfare benefits in a bid to stop them spending money on illegal substances. If approved by parliament, 5,000 people who apply for government income support will take part in a two-year trial of the initiative, reported the New Scientist. The cohort will be subject to random saliva, urine or hair tests to see if they have consumed illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, MDMA, cannabis or heroin. If a participants test comes back positive more than once, 80 per cent of their welfare money will be put onto a BasicsCard, which can only be used to pay for essential items. These include food, rent and childcare. The Australian government has deliberately picked locations where levels of drug abuse and unemployment are high for the trial. The aim of the policy is to help job seekers to receive the help they need to get on a path towards securing a job and building a better future for themselves and their families, Australia's minister for social services Christian Porter said in a statement last week. But medical groups have raised concerns and doubts about the plans effectiveness. Substance addiction is a complex, chronic relapsing medical condition, Hester Wilson, chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners addiction medicine network told the New Scientist. One of the hallmarks is an inability to change behaviour despite harm, so punitive approaches dont tend to work. Wilson says addiction treatment is most effective when people are allowed to make decisions with medical professionals: A BasicsCard might be a good idea for some patients, but its going to work best if they choose to go on it because they want to change, not when theyre forced. The Australian government says it will extend drug testing to all welfare recipients if the trial is successful. D onald Trump has said he wants to pledge $1 million of his personal money to the relief effort working to help victims of Storm Harvey. The White House issued the note on Thursday after days of catastrophic flooding which has killed at least 37 people and left thousands of others homeless. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the announcement at a briefing, adding that the Preisdent was calling on reporters to help decide which specific organisation he will give to. Trump has been criticised in the past for giving far less of his income to charitable causes than many other multi-billionaires. Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Corpus Christi. / AFP/Getty Images Harvey hit Texas last weekend as a category four hurricane before being downgraded to a tropical storm as it drenched the Gulf Coast including parts of south west Louisiana. Harvey's flood waters have heavily damaged tens of thousands of homes across Texas. Homes and businesses have been destroyed after the severe flooding. / AP On Thursday, soldiers and police in helicopters and special high-water trucks continued to rescue Texans stranded by the dangerous floodwater as the storm threatens the region near the Louisiana state line. President Trump and First Lady Melania touched down in Corpus Christi and Austin on Tuesday where he spoke to officials dealing with the relief effort. Donald Trump praises Texas' Emergency Services in wake of Hurricane Harvey He told crowds Texas can handle anything as he promised the recovery would be better than ever before. On Thursday, White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert announced the Trump government will request funds from Congress to help the recovery effort. Storm Harvey 1 /32 Storm Harvey A man wades through floodwater after Hurricane Harvey struck the US Reuters Volunteers perform search and rescue in a boat after Hurricane Harvey inundated the Texas Gulf coast Reuters A man rescues two dogs from rising flood waters in Houston AP A civilian owned military vehicle drives through floodwaters performing search and rescue in Houston Reuters Rescue vehicles drive past flooding on Interstate 610 in Texas Reuters A family arrives to high ground after they fled their home due to floods caused by Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters Samaritans help push a boat with evacuees to high ground during a rain storm Reuters Vehicles drive along a flooded road beside the Barker Reservoir after the Army Corp of Engineers started to release water into the Clodine district as Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston AFP/Getty Images Local residents are evacuated on an air boat operated by volunteers AFP/Getty Images Residents of Katy's Grande Lakes ride in a boat to dry land Rex Features A volunteer carries a dog to dry land during rescue operations Rex Features Evacuees take shelter from Tropical Storm Harvey in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston Reuters A helicopter hovers above the Houston skyline as sunlight breaks through storm clouds from Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters A woman uses a coat hanger to try and retrieve an item from a destroyed house Reuters Houses and cars are seen partially submerged by flood waters Reuters A cow swims trying to get out of the flood Reuters A man wearing a Houston Texans shirt, the local professional American football team, raises his arm as residents are rescued Reuters Residents use boats to evacuate flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey Reuters A woman holds her dog as she arrives to high ground after evacuating her home due to the floods Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a briefing on the storm Reuters Trump oversees relief efforts with Texas Governor Greg Abbott Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Austin international airport Reuters A large detached home is surrounded by floodwaters AP President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One to oversee the disaster relief effort Reuters The administration would then issue a second request for money later when more details emerged about the exact recovery needed. It comes after a fundraising campaign was launched to raise money for a British mum and daughter lost everything as the floods destroyed their entire home and possessions. The pair, who moved to Dickinson in Texas from Scotland six years ago, are now stranded five hours away from each other as family members appeal for donations to help them rebuild their lives. Firefighters in Houston one of the worst hit cities and home to 6.8 million people are continuing to search thousands of flooded homes to ensure no one is left behind. Authorities expect the death toll to rise. T he US has flown two state-of-the-art bombers over the Korean peninsula two days after a North Korean missile fired over Japan ratcheted up tensions. The joint US-South Korea drills involved two nuclear-capable US B-1B bombers, four US stealth F-35B jets and were a clear warning to dictator Kim Jong Un, according to defence officials in Seoul. North Korea strongly objects to the exercises, which it sees as a preparation for invasion. It has issued a series of threats and missiles launches in recent weeks. US president Donald Trump has responded with his own threats, warning North Korea it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States and that the US military was "locked and loaded" in case of provocation. South Korean F-15K fighter jets drop bombs during a training on Tuesday / South Korea Ministry of National Defense Mr Trump on Wednesday declared "talking is not the answer" to resolving the long-standing impasse with North Korea. "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," wrote Mr Trump on Twitter. Last week, he said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "starting to respect" the United States. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis took a more moderate stance when asked by reporters just hours later if the United States had run out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea. "No," he replied. "We are never out of diplomatic solutions." His comments came ahead of a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests," he said. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mr Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a "visible" form, Japan's defence ministry said. T he US has forced Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and scale back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York. The White House said the move was in response to the Kremlin's "unwarranted and detrimental" decision to force the US to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. President Donald Trump gave Russia a mere 48 hours to close its San Francisco consulate, along with smaller Russian posts in Washington and New York. "The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. But she said the US hoped both countries could now move towards "improved relations" and "increased cooperation". Russia said it regretted the order and pointed the finger at the US for starting the "escalation of tensions" between the nuclear-armed powers. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow was studying the decision to determine its response. US ties to Russia have soured in recent years over deep disagreements about Ukraine, Syria and Russian hacking. The feud has only worsened this year, even as investigators continue probing whether Mr Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow's efforts to help him get elected. In addition to its consulate, the Russians must close an official residence in San Francisco by Saturday. Though Russia can keep its New York consulate and Washington embassy, Russian trade missions housed in satellite offices in those two cities must shut down, said a senior Trump administration official. The US is not expelling any Russian officials, so those who work at the closed offices can be reassigned elsewhere in the US, the official said. One of the buildings is believed to be leased, but Russia will maintain ownership over the others, the official said, adding that it would be up to Moscow to determine whether to sell them or otherwise dispose of them. The forced closures were the latest in an intensifying exchange of diplomatic broadsides with origins in Washington's opposition to Russia's actions in Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 US presidential election. In December, former president Barack Obama kicked out dozens of Russian officials in the US, closed Russian recreational compounds in New York and Maryland, and sanctioned Russian individuals and entities. Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin at G20 - In pictures 1 /12 Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin at G20 - In pictures US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany AFP/Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, German Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Carlos Barria/Reuters Russia's President Vladimir Putin talks to U.S. President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters US President Donald J. Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the retreat at the opening day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, German EPA US President Donald J. Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the retreat at the opening day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, German EPA Russian President Vladimir Putin held off on any retaliation, and the next month, Mr Trump took office, having campaigned on hopes of improving US-Russia ties. But earlier this month, Mr Trump begrudgingly signed into law stepped-up sanctions on Russia that Congress passed in an attempt to prevent Mr Trump from easing up on Moscow. The Kremlin quickly retaliated, announcing the US must cut its own embassy and consulate staff down to 455. Although Russia said 755 personnel would have to go to reach that number, Washington never confirmed how many diplomatic staff it had in Russia at the time. As of Thursday, the US has complied with the order to reduce to 455, officials said. That reduction also led the US to temporarily suspend processing non-immigrant visas for Russians seeking to visit the US. Visa processing will resume soon, but at a "much-reduced rate" owing to fewer staff to process the visas, the official said. Earlier, the US had said it would start processing visas only at the embassy in Moscow, meaning Russians could no longer apply for visas at the US consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Despite the exchange of penalties, there have been narrow signs of cooperation between the two countries that has transcended the worsening ties. In July, Mr Trump and Mr Putin signed off on a three-way deal with Jordan for a ceasefire in southwest Syria that the US says has largely held intact. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson conveyed the decision to close the Russian posts to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in a phone call in which he also told Mr Lavrov that the US had complied with Moscow's order to cut its diplomatic staff. Lower-level officials also spoke to their Russian counterparts in the US about the details of the new US order. Given the reciprocal nature of the escalating tensions over the past year, it was likely the Kremlin would feel compelled to respond by taking further action against Washington. Nevertheless, the United States argued that the score has been evened. US officials pointed out that Russia, when it ordered the cut in US diplomats, had argued it was merely bringing the size of the two countries' diplomatic presences into "parity". Both countries now maintain three consulates on each other's territory and ostensibly have similar numbers of diplomats posted, though such numbers are difficult to independently verify. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides," Ms Nauert said. Reporting by the Press Association S usanna Reid is easing herself back into Piers Morgans company ahead of their return to Good Morning Britain. The broadcasting duo, who have been on a lengthy summer break, reunited for a big night out in London. Reid made sure to document their reunion in Soho, posting a selfie on Instagram. She captioned the image: Reunited. #gmb #soho #bignightout. Morgan also posted a picture from their night out, which saw them joined by fellow presenter Richard Bacon in a gay bar in the early hours of the morning. The TV duo will return to breakfast TV on Monday morning after leaving Kate Garraway, Charlotte Hawkins, Ranvir Singh, Eamonn Holmes, Richard Madeley and Jeremy Kyle to hold the fort. Morgan who recently broke three ribs after falling on his a*** compared himself to a ravenous leopard as he revealed he is raring to get back to work. Bad news, Britain... I'm back on Monday morning and raring to go like a ravenous leopard, he said. Albeit one with three broken ribs. Brace yourselves...it's going to be lively. Piers Morgan hints he might be quitting Good Morning Britain Reid said: After a calm and peaceful break, I'm sharpening my wits and gearing up for being back in the hot seat next to the only man in Britain who could start an argument in an empty room. We live in interesting times and it'll be good to be back in the newsroom bringing events to our GMB viewers. Some Good Morning Britain viewers have been counting down the days to Morgans return after slating Kyle. The talk show host was branded too shouty and accused of treating his co-host Kate Garraway like garnish and talking over everyone during his stint. National Television Awards 2017 1 /48 National Television Awards 2017 Holly Willoughby Anthony Harvey/Getty Keith Lemon and Paddy McGuinness Ian West/PA Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan Anthony Harvey/Getty Katie Price Dave Benett Helen Skelton Dave Benett Myleene Klass Dave Benett Katie Piper Dave Benett Susanna Reid Dave Benett Keith Lemon and Paddy McGuinness Ian West/PA Emma Willis Anthony Harvey/Getty Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan Ian West/PA Fearne Cotton Ian West/PA Scarlett Moffatt and Caroline Flack Getty Images Faye Brookes and Gareth Gates Ian West/PA Mary Berry Anthony Harvey/Getty Alesha Dixon Anthony Harvey/Getty Piers Morgan Dave Benett Sir Tom Jones Dave Benett Aidan Turner Anthony Harvey/Getty Loose Women Ian West/PA Scarlett Moffatt Dave Benett Rochelle and Marvin Humes Anthony Harvey/Getty Tess Daly and Vernon Kay Ian West/PA Casey Batchelor Dave Benett Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks Ian West/PA Ola Jordan Ian West/PA Sarah-Jane Crawford Ian West/PA Honey G Anthony Harvey/Getty Images Martin Kemp Ian West/PA Wayne Bridge Dave Benett Danny Baker Dave Benett Larry Lamb and Jordan Banjo Matt Crossick/PA Bradley Walsh and Mark Labbett Anthony Harvey/Getty Jorgie Porter Ian West/PA Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes Ian West/PA James Arthur Anthony Harvey/Getty Good Morning Britain is on ITV, weekdays at 6am. A fter a two year break, Channel 4's Educating series is back to take another fly-on-the-wall look at childrens schooling. Expect heart-warming moments, plenty of laughs and lots of homework. Heres everything you need to know about the new series. Whats it about? Each series Educating heads to a local school in a different area in the UK. This time its the turn of Greater Manchester secondary Harrop Fold in Salfords Little Hulton. Last year cameras were installed at the co-ed comprehensive, to follow the lives of those who work and are educated there. As well as being mixed gender, the school brings together pupils from different backgrounds and has even welcomed Syrian refugees. What happens in episode one? The first show sees a Year 7 student and recent arrival from Syria strike up a friendship with Jack who notices him looking lonely and invites him to join his group. Around the World in TV Shows 1 /6 Around the World in TV Shows p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17 Walter Presents p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17 Meanwhile the school reacts to the shock of the Manchester Arena bombing with staff offering support to students affected or upset by the tragedy. Where have previous series been set? There have been four previous runs of the show, which have taken viewers to Essex, Yorkshire, the East End and Cardiff. When is it on? The new series airs on Thursday, August 31 at 9pm on Channel 4. T he X Factor is set to return to ITV for its 14th series. But this year the singing competition's creator Simon Cowell is shaking things up with some interesting changes to the format From auditions at Thorpe Park to original music, heres what to expect from the new series. Will the format stay the same? The format of the show is set to remain largely the same, but Cowell has announced some intriguing tweaks. Once again hopefuls will tackle two audition rounds, starting with the closed rooms, where they'll find themselves eye-to-eye with the judges. This year, as well as audition stages in the usual UK cities like Liverpool, Edinburgh, London and Manchester, the judges also headed to Thorpe Park to try and find fresh talent. X Factor's Louis Walsh: Sharon Osbourne will never retire Those who secure three or more yeses, are then given the chance to progress to bootcamp. This series will also see the return of the Six Chair Challenge before contestants will perform to the viewers at home in the live shows. This stage of the competition looks to receive the biggest revamp, with Cowell cutting down the number of live shows to six this year. The early and middle rounds rate well so the idea is to do more of the middle shows and less of the live shows, he explained at the launch of the show. Meanwhile performers will be permitted to sing original songs, and there are rumours that themed weeks could be scrapped altogether. The X Factor 2017 launch 1 /10 The X Factor 2017 launch Nicole Scherzinger Tim P. Whitby/Getty Demot O'Leary Tim P. Whitby/Getty Nicole Scherzinger Tim P. Whitby/Getty Louis Walsh Tim P. Whitby/Getty Demot O'Leary Tim P. Whitby/Getty Louis Walsh Tim P. Whitby/Getty Dermot O'Leary Ian West/PA Louis Walsh Tim P. Whitby/Getty Will the Xtra Factor be back? Unfortunately for fans of the sister show, its been given the axe this year as the series tries to modernise by expanding its digital output. Which means former hosts Rylan-Clark and Matt Edmonson wont be appearing on the 2017 series. Whos on the judging panel? Despite changes to the format of the show, the judging panel will be kept the same as last year. The 2017 series sees the return of Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh joining music mogul Cowell on the judging panel. Alesha Dixon will also be making an appearance as she filled in for Scherzinger during some of the audition rounds. Whos presenting it? Dermot OLeary will be back as host to guide viewers and contestants through their X Factor journey. Any clues about the contestants? A self-made multi-millionaire, a Brazilian dancer who strips during her audition and a singing monk who has Simon Cowell seeing butterflies are among the acts hoping to win over the judges on this years show. Host OLeary described the monks audition as off the scale. I was really excited about her! Her audition was off the scale, she was so good. She was singing and then suddenly Simons talking about seeing a butterfly come into the room, even though it was at night. It was weird, he said. Whens it on? The new series of the X Factor kicks off on Saturday, September 2 at 8pm on ITV. 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft fly in formation over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Aug. 26, 2017, while returning to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. after participating in Red Flag 17-4 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The aircraft are assigned to the 94th Fighter Squadron and the 1st Fighter Wing. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Carlin Leslie X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: by Austin Bay August 31, 2017 On August 31, 1998, North Korea bluntly informed Japan that the next time the Korean War escalated to all-out combat, Tokyo would be a target. Pyongyang used a multi-stage Taepodong-1 intermediate range ballistic missile to deliver the diplomatic message as a military object lesson. The first stage of the rather poorly constructed missile landed in water west of Japan not that far from Russian territory. The second stage slammed into the North Pacific about 300 kilometers east of Japan. Poor construction, however, had a virtue. A splash on either side "bracketed" Japan. Kentucky windage said the next shot could hit a Japanese home island. The 1998 test caught Japan by surprise. It also boggled the Clinton Administration. North Korea claimed that the U.S. and Japan broken the so-called Agreed Framework negotiated by the Clinton Administration by failing to provide timely economic aid and promised energy supplies. That was not the case. The Clinton Administration sought assurances that North Korea had curtailed its nuclear weapons program per the agreement before providing additional aid. Pyongyang responded to the diplomatic challenge with military intimidation. Instead of answering legitimate questions about it weapons program it fired the Taepodong-1. The missile test reinforced a conclusion reached by The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States. It's better known by another name: the Rumsfeld Commission, as in Donald Rumsfeld, who became Secretary of Defense during the George W. Bush administration. In late July, 1998, the missile commission concluded that the U.S. was threatened by "ballistic missiles tipped with biological or nuclear payloads from China, Russia, Iran, Iraq and North Korea." It also argued that the U.S. intelligence community had consistently underestimated this threat. The initial report riled establishment Washington. The Clinton Administration bristled. Intelligence agencies huffed. The August 31, 1998 test, however, indicated the Rumsfeld Commission had a valid concern. North Korea demonstrated a fierce desire to obtain long range ballistic missiles. In 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear weapons test. Its desire to obtain nukes is also unquenched. Kim Jong Il ordered the 1998 test. He also orchestrated the 2006 nuclear test. He died in late 2011, and his son, Kim Jong Un, assumed control of the hereditary Communist dictatorship. With 2011 came a change in power. It also marked an acceleration in North Korea's ballistic missile test program. Since early 2012, Pyongyang has conducted over three dozen missile tests, firing an estimated 80 missiles (the exact number is debated). So far in 2017, the north has conducted 12 tests, launching a total of 18 missiles. The most recent test occurred August 29 and it echoed August 1998. A North Korean IRBM overflew the Japanese home island of Hokkaido and splashed down in the North Pacific. Japan did not intercept the missile, but the Japan of 2017 is not the Japan of 1998. Japanese civil defense officials alerted citizens in the missile's flight path. The government called the launch a grave threat. Japan backs words with weapons. It is acquiring offensive weapons capable of destroying North Korean missile and nuclear weapons storage sites and missile launch sites. Tokyo has also built a tight alliance with the U.S. and South Korea. South Koreans have many historical reasons to dislike the Japanese. However, North Korea's insistent pursuit of nuclear weapons and constant threats of all-out war have mellowed southern attitudes regarding Japan. China's rise to regional power and potential global power has given the Japanese a new appreciation of South Korean military and economic prowess. Japan's reaction to the latest North Korean test indicates that the next time a North Korean missile approaches Japanese territory an allied anti-ballistic missile will intercept it. Nick Smith has given approval to fast track about 280 hectares from pasture to housing development at Tauriko West. Tauranga City, Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Regional councils - have brought about the first use of a streamlined planning process to enable councils to keep up with the regions growth rate. Nick announced the partners success at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council office in Tauranga yesterday. Its the first application under the changed Resource Management Act to use the new streamlined planning process, for a significant plan change for addressing the growth pressures on the region, says Nick. Special Housing Areas were designed as a temporary mechanism to just get some stuff done, while the government made more substantive changes to the Resource Management Act. To the credit of the regional council and constituency councils, they have applied to me for consent to use the streamlined process over land at Tauriko West, says Nick. The significance of the streamlined process is that it will enable the Regional Policy Statement to be changed in a period of months as compared with the normal process of years. It does not provide for appeals, but the council is proposing a full process of consultation and hearings. The key driver for this application is that the councils have collectively determined that there is insufficient land for the scale of growth for residential housing. There are whole lot of mechanisms in place. The 280ha is the grey area above SH29 in red. Photo: Supplied. The development follows the urban development national policy statement the government put in place last November. What that did is that it requires councils to give a lot more analysis into ensuring they are freeing up land, so we dont end up with a scenario like Auckland with sections costing half a million each. As a consequence of applying that through SmartGrowth the councils concluded they did not have sufficient capacity and the regional council determined to use the streamlined process. The 280ha has the potential for about 3000 homes, but the Ministerial approval requires things to be put in train. Firstly the Regional Policy Statement has to change, says Nick. Second, land has to be re-zoned; thirdly there needs to be the infrastructure to support it and this will take some time. But we need to get the first bit done. This is the change to the Regional Policy Statement. The land is also likely to be transferred over to Tauranga City from the Western Bay of Plenty district. Parliament currently has a local government amendment bill to enable that to occur more quickly than under the quite cumbersome process at the moment. It too will be an issue on the agenda following consideration of the Regional Policy Statement plan change. Mentioned in this article Nvidia Shield TV (2017) Read our review Perhaps Im expressing these concerns prematurely, and some big reveal is forthcoming with new Android TV hardware and improved software. Still, its hard to see how that happens with the state Android TV is in now. Oreo on Android TV On the surface, Android 8.0 Oreo is a major upgrade for Android TV. The home screen allows each app to have its own row, or channel, where it can recommend movies or shows to watch. Those apps can also feed into a Watch Next row for catching up on new episodes of previously watched programs. The layout is a nod to the grid-based guide youd find on a cable box, and an attempt to make browsing through streaming apps much simpler. But right now, Oreo on Android TV lacks several features that Google demonstrated a few months ago. The Watch Next row is empty, for instance, because shows arent populating the list automatically as they should, and attempts to add them manually result in a Cant add to Watch Next error. Netflixs previously announced home screen integration hasnt arrived yet eitherthough the company tells me its still working on itand video thumbnails arent appearing on channels like Google Play Movies & TV. Jared Newman / TechHive Attempts to fill the Watch Next queue went nowhere. Google Assistant is also a no-show, so you cant launch directly into videos from Netflix or YouTube with voice commands, control smart-home devices, or access third-party voice skills. The search results screen is the same as it has been in previous versions of Android TV. (Google said in January that Assistant would arrive on Android TVincluding older versionsin the coming months, which seems conveniently non-committal in hindsight.) Mentioned in this article Roku Premiere+ Even basic operation of Android 8.0 Oreo veers into unpleasantness on the Nexus Player. The device stutters and lags at every step, and flashes a blank screen every time I tap the remote after waking the device from standby. And when pressing the remotes voice search button, the device consistently takes a few seconds to produce any response on the screen. Also, Sonys Crackleone of the earliest streaming apps to support Android TVdoesnt even work. This is the stuff of beta software, not a major, publicly available upgrade. Google Google Assistant will allow for launching videos by voice, whenever it arrives. Pixel Player, where are you? Judging Android 8.0 Oreo by its performance on a three-year-old streaming box might be harsh, but right now the Nexus Player is the only device that supports the new software. For developers who want to optimize their apps for Android 8.0, this is the experience theyre going to get. The obvious fix on Googles part would be to release a new halo device for Android TV, a Pixel Player, if you will. Imagine, for instance, a sub-$100 streaming box with 4K HDR video support, a voice remote for Google Assistantmaybe even with hands-free operationand deep hooks into services like YouTube TV and Google Photos. Google could even bundle a USB TV tuner to showcase Android TVs over-the-air channel integration. Beyond just serving as a reference for app makers, a device like this could help put Android TV on the map for consumers. But so far, theres been little evidence that Google will back its living-room operating system with new hardware. A report in May by Cord Cutters News claimed that Google was working on a new streaming player, but the site later backed off that claim, saying that the device may instead be another third-party offering similar to Xiaomis Mi Box. (The Mi Box, by the way, arrived in late 2016 with no fanfare from Google, was only sold in Walmart stores, and is not even running the second-latest version of Android as of this writing.) Other recent reports on Googles upcoming hardware plans havent mentioned Android TV at all. Jared Newman / TechHive Android 8.0 features like Watch Next need support from app makers. Looking out to other vendors, the future for Android 8.0 Oreo gets even murkier. Google did recently name Sony and Sharp among the device makers that plan to launch or upgrade devices to Android 8.0 Oreo by year-end, so its possible well see new or existing smart TVs running the latest software before long. But Nvidia, which until now has carried the Android TV set-top business on its back with the $200 Shield TV, was conspicuously absent from that list. Android TVs time Mentioned in this article Sony Bravia A1E-series 4K UHD OLED TV (65-inch class, model XBR65A1E) Read our review Best Prices Today: Does Google have too much power? That's the claim being made after a DC think tank heavily funded by the company removed one of its members for criticizing Google's monopolistic practices. The left-leaning New America Foundation has received more than $21 million from Google, Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt, and the Schmidt family foundation since 1999. But senior fellow Barry Lynn, founder of New America's Open Markets program, didn't let the funding stop him from penning a damning press release about Google's "abuse of domination," in which he also praised the EU Commission for hitting the tech giant with a record $2.7 billion fine. According to the New York Times, Schmidt, who was chairman of New America until 2016, wasn't happy about the piece and complained to group president Anne-Marie Slaughter. A few days later, Slaughter allegedly sent an email to Lynn stating: "The time has come for Open Markets and New America to part way." The message claimed the decision was "in no way based on the content of your work," but still accused Lynn of "imperiling the institution as a whole." Slaughter has since disputed this version of events. In a statement on the New America website, she writes: "I want to be clear: this claim is absolutely false." The organization's president claims that Lynn's "repeated refusal to adhere to New America's standards of openness and institutional collegiality meant that we could no longer work together as part of the same institution." Lynn is now changing the Open Markets Program into a group called Citizens Against Monopoly, which claims Google is "trying to censor journalists and researchers who fight dangerous monopolies." In a statement to the press, a Google representative said: "We support hundreds of organizations that promote a free and open Internet, greater access to information, and increased opportunity. We don't agree with every group 100% of the time, and while we sometimes respectfully disagree, we respect each group's independence, personnel decisions, and policy perspectives." Venezuela condemns this event and maintains its principled position of absolute condemnation of terrorist acts, methods and practices. | Read More 2017 Car Review-2017 Kia Niro The Un-hybrid Hybrid Review By Larry Nutson 2017 Kia Niro The Un-hybrid Hybrid - 4 Star Rating by The Auto Channel By Larry Nutson Senior Editor and Bureau Chief Chicago Bureau The Auto Channel The all-new Kia Niro caught my eye when it made its global debut at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show. I thought it to be a pretty good looking compact SUV. Actually, the Niro is a bit more like a hatchback with increased ride height. Add to this that the Niro is a hybrid. That is, its looks are traditional but under the skin is a fuel saving drivetrain. All this is wrapped up with pricing that starts in the low twenty thousand dollar range (see Kia Buyers Guide Link Below For Specs, Prices and Comparisons) . The Niro is offered in FE, LX, EX and Touring trims. And, a limited production Launch Edition is also on the market. Prices start at $22,890 and run up to $29,650. All Niro trims are powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder hybrid-electric powertrain with a total of 139 system horsepower. The gasoline engine is rated at 104 HP and the electric motor has an output of 43 HP. Drive is through the front wheels using a six-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is not available and I dont see this as a big drawback. For urban-dwellers in snowy-winter cities, snow gets removed from city streets quickly. I recommend that a good practice to follow is mounting four winter tires during snow season. With a hybrid the story is low fuel consumption. The Niro FE, with a starting MSRP of $22,890, is EPA test-cycle rated at 52 city mpg, 49 highway mpg and 50 mpg combined. The LX and EX are rated 51/46/49 and Touring and Launch Edition are rated 46/40/43 (city/highway/combined). Kias specs list a max driving range of 595 miles with the FE. Thats based on the 50mpg EPA combined rating and Niros 11.9 gallon fuel tank. For my drive evaluation I drove a top-of-the-line Touring trim. A road trip was on my calendar during this period that would take me from Chicago to Southeast Michigan. What made me very happy was the long driving range of the Niro. There would be no fuel stops along the interstate highway. I managed 45 mpg heading east and 37 mpg on my return, basically averaging the two to 41 mpg and a bit above the EPA highway rating. Ive made this trip many times in many different vehicles and always have a better fuel economy heading east due to prevailing tail wind and the usually lower average speed driving conditions. The Niro has decent acceleration and performs well on the open highway. Im not a fan of CVTs and was really pleased with the Niros six-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission. Shifts were smooth and quick and my overall drive experience was quite good and without complaint. My wife and I both thought the ride was a bit firm. That said, I did drive the Niro on some twisty two-lane roads and it does handle well, in part due to its low center of gravity. Beyond low fuel consumption the Niro is also practical with seating for five, easy entry and exit, a 60/40 split fold rear sear and cargo space that grows from 19.4 cuft to 54.5 cuft. when the seat is folded. The Touring trim has lots of upscale features that you might not expect for the price such as leather seats, ventilated front seats, power fold feature on the outside mirrors, heated steering wheel, power tilt and slide sunroof and an 8-speaker Harman Kardon audio system. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. Theres also a full line up of driver-assistance safety features available including Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Lane Change Assist; Smart Cruise Control; Lane Departure Warning; and Autonomous Emergency Braking. Hybrids payoff the most if you do a lot of lower speed city-type driving. But as you can see from my road trip, they pay off on the highway too. A testament to this is the 2017 Kia Niro officially received a Guinness World Record title for the lowest fuel consumption driving across the USA from coast to coast (hybrid car). The new record-setting mark is an incredible 76.6 mpg. The Niro EX was driven by Wayne Gerdes of Carlsbad, California, and co-driver Robert Winger of Williamsburg, Virginia, 3,715.4 miles from Los Angeles City Hall to New York City Hall using only 48.5 gallons or 4.1 tanks of gas. The vehicle was not altered in any way for the attempt. Today, now in mid- 2017, Kia has sold seven million vehicles in the U.S. since 1994. Kia Motors America continues to top quality surveys and is recognized as one of the 100 Best Global Brands and 50 Best Global Green Brands by Interbrand. Continuing a multi-year string of quality and reliability awards and accolades, J.D. Powers 2017 Initial Quality Study (IQS) recognized Kia Motors as the highest-ranking nameplate in the United States for the second year in a row. More information and detailed specifications on the 2017 Kia Niro can be found at www.kia.com. You can crossshop hybrids as well as other compact SUVs right here at The Auto Channel. The 2017 Kia Niro is an award candidate for the 2018 North American Utility of the Year as well as the Midwest Automotive Media Association Family Vehicle of the Year. Overall I like the Kia Niro for its urban-living premise. Its compact on the outside for easy maneuvering, roomy on the inside to transport you and your family, as well as delivering really low fuel consumption with its hybrid powertrain. 2017 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy The Most In-Depth Independent Kia Vehicle Shopper's Research - Anywhere! AUTO LAB TALK RADIO LIVE FROM NYC SATURDAY MORNING! 7-9 AM (SEPTEMBER 2, 2017) Auto Lab Talk Radio The Auto Lab Radio Show LIVE every Saturday 7 to 9 AM On New York City's WNYM Radio AM 970 and Streamed Worldwide On The Auto Channel This Weeks Show Broadcast Date: SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 Car Question or Concern? Call Toll Free 888-692-7234 Auto Lab is a 28 year old interactive automotive-focused New York area radio call-in show hosted by Professor Harold Wolchok. Each week a cadre of experienced hands-on automotive experts are in-studio with advice for the New York area's 12 million people, providing listeners with honest, practical and street-smart car repair and buying advice. Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format. Listeners can hear the past 18 years of archived Auto Lab shows as simulcast on www.theautochannel.com. Listen - Auto Lab Page (Includes Audio-on-Demand Archives, Auto Programs at Community College Database, Guests Pictures This Weeks Show: SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 IN STUDIO:Auto Lab's Real World Experts Answer Your Questions; Discuss: Repairs, Second Opinions, Regular Maintenance, How To's, Safety, Used and New Car Buying, Ombudsmen Suggestions Harold Bendell - Major Auto Fred Bordoff - Bronx Community College Automotive Technology Department-CUNY David Goldsmith - Urban Classics Auto Repairs AAA NY Jordan Weine-Bay Diagnostics Jerry Pastore-D & J Diagnostic Johanna Pastore-D & J Diagnostic Joanne Porcelli, Esq Michael Porcelli - Auto Mobile Services Nicholas Prague- MTA and Rockland Community College, SUNY Broadcast Date: SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 Auto Lab Correspondents Remote Interviews: Featuring Auto Safety News, New Car Reviews, Technology and Latest Auto World Information That Will Effect You! Robert Erskine, Senior European Correspondent, Suffolk England DRIVERS LORRIES /RIGS TO BE TESTED ACROSS THE UK John Russell Senior Correspondent GENESIS G90 AWD Russ Rader, Vice President Insurance Institute for Highway Safety STAY WITHIN THE LINES LANE DEPARTURE WARNING, BLIND SPOT DETECTION HELP DRIVERS AVOID TROUBLE Robert Sinclair Jr.- AAA Northeast SUPPLY AND GASOLINE PRICES Entry-Level Crossover Gains New Safety, Luxury and Technology Features At a Lower Price 2018 Mazda CX-3 starts at an MSRP 1 of $19,995 of Smart City Brake Support is now standard across CX-3 range, joining Mazda3 Sport and CX-9 Newly available features include a full-colour Active Driving Display, power driver's seat with memory settings and heated steering wheel Complementing Mazda's predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive is standard, exclusive G-Vectoring Control, aiding in steering, handling, stability and confidence The chassis and steering have been thoroughly revised for better handling, greater comfort and improved sound suppression RICHMOND HILL, ON, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Already a standout for its impressive fuel-efficiency, award-winning design, top safety scores, spirited driving dynamics and upscale amenities, the Mazda CX-3 subcompact crossover SUV has undergone its first round of thoughtful improvements, treating drivers to an impressive value with available features they might not find in vehicles costing twice as much. Newly standard for every trim level is Smart City Brake Support, which can automatically apply the brakes in emergency situations below 30 km/h (19 mph). CX-3 joins several other vehicles in Mazda's lineup as carrying this critical piece of safety equipment as standard, including the 2018 Mazda3 Sport five-door hatchback and CX-9 seven-passenger crossover. CX-3's driving experience is complemented by Mazda's exclusive G-Vectoring Control, which uses the engine in conjunction with steering and throttle inputs to minutely reduce engine torque, putting more weight on the front wheels and making the steering feel more linear and direct. As a result, the driver is able to gain more confidence and control behind the wheel. The entry-level CX-3 GX trim is now available with a choice of manual or automatic transmission in front-wheel drive, and is paired with a 2.0 litre SKYACTIV-G engine. The CX-3 GX also comes standard with push button start, air conditioning, two USB ports, backup camera, Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio pairing and Mazda Connect, among a long list of other features. Mazda Connect features a standard 7-inch, full-colour display that combines infotainment and diagnostic functions in one place, controlled through voice commands, a touchscreen while at standstill or the Commander control knob when the vehicle is in motion. The mid-level CX-3 GS replaces CX-3 GX's 16-inch steel wheels with covers for 16-inch alloy wheels and upgrades the standard cloth seats to heated premium grade cloth seats. CX-3 GS also comes with automatic on/off headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, and heated side mirrors with integrated turn signals. Newly standard features for CX-3 GS include Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, a heated steering wheel, and automatic climate control. The Luxury Package escalates Mazda's mid-trim model with a power moonroof, leatherette-trimmed upholstery with Lux Suede inserts, black soft touch front panel with red stitching and satin chrome band, satin chrome front and rear inner door handles and meter set trim, and front and rear door armrests and centre console side accents in dark red with red stitching. The newly created i-ACTIVSENSE Package adds Mazda's range of active safety equipment, including Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC), Smart Brake Support (SBS), Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), High Beam Control System (HBC), Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS), LED headlights with auto levelling, Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS), LED rear combination lights with signature lighting, and colour Active Driving Display (ADD). Finally, the CX-3 GT builds upon the GS Luxury Package and includes Pure White or black leather with red accents and Lux Suede upholstery, 18-inch alloy wheels, 10-way power driver's seat, power driver's lumbar support, 2-position driver memory seat, adaptive LED headlights, LED fog lights, LED daytime running lights, Mazda Navigation, BOSE premium audio with 7-speakers, advanced keyless entry, a full-colour Active Driving Display head-up unit and paddle shifters. The GT Technology Package tops off CX-3 with Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC), Smart Brake Support (SBS) for highway speeds, Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW), Lane-Departure Warning System (LDWS), High Beam Control (HBC), Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS), Traffic Sign Recognition, and SiriusXM satellite radio with free 6-month subscription. While many improvements can be seen in the cabin, some of CX-3's greatest changes can only be felt from behind the wheel such as revised suspension bushings, new front lower control arms, recalibrated dampers and new engine mounts, all designed to benefit CX-3's already class-leading chassis dynamics. Further, the 2018 CX-3 comes with improved door seals, thicker rear glass and sound suppression mats added underneath the floor and dashboard for a more refined, "Mazda Premium" experience. And, because Mazda's engineering team doesn't believe in waiting for major redesigns to implement changes that benefit consumers, throttle and transmission responsiveness have also been improved, complementing Mazda's "Jinba Ittai"horse and rider as onedriving philosophy. All CX-3 models sold in Canada come with a standard SKYACTIV-G 2.0-liter engine that delivers a 146 horsepower and 146 lb-ft of torque, paired for the first time with an efficient SKYACTIV-MT 6-speed manual transmission in the GX trim. A SKYACTIV-DRIVE 6-speed automatic transmission is also available. Front-wheel drive is standard; Mazda's predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive is available on every trim level, feeding information from 27 sensors found in CX-3 to predict road conditions and send power wherever it's needed without the unnerving drivetrain reactions or slipping that can be felt in some competitors during inclement conditions. MSRP for all CX-3 models is as follows: Front-Wheel Drive All-Wheel Drive GX 6MT $19,995 N/A GX 6AT $21,295 $23,295 GS 6AT $22,695 $24,695 Luxury Package (requires i-ACTIV AWD) N/A $1,500 i-ACTIVSENSE Package (requires i-ACTIV AWD and Luxury Package) N/A $1,600 GT 6AT $27,995 $29,995 Technology Package (requires i-ACTIV AWD) N/A $1,000 Premium paint colours: Snowflake White Pearl (available on all models) $200 Ceramic Metallic (available on GS/GT) $200 Soul Red Metallic (available on all models) $300 Machine Grey Metallic (available on GS/GT) $300 The 2018 Mazda CX-3 is on sale now at all Mazda dealers across Canada. Mazda Canada Inc. is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer service and parts support of Mazda vehicles in Canada. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Mazda Canada has a nationwide network of 165 dealerships. For additional information visit Mazda Canada's media website at www.media.mazda.ca. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. AAPEX 2017 to Host Technology and Telematics Forum V5.0 The Technology and Telematics Forum V5.0 at AAPEX 2017 will spotlight cyber security, V2V communication, vehicle data and OE technology. (Graphic: Business Wire) LAS VEGASFor the first time, AAPEX will host the Technology and Telematics Forum V5.0 to spotlight cyber security, Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle data and OE technology. The Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) sponsored by the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the Auto Alliance will present the forum for auto repair professionals, as well as professionals from other automotive aftermarket segments. AAPEX represents the $740 billion global automotive aftermarket industry and is held annually at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. The forum, which is part of the AAPEXedu 2017 program, will show attendees how to protect their businesses, customers, employees and life from cyber attacks. Dr. Anuja Sonalker, founder of STEER Tech and cyber security expert, along with Donny Seyfer, co-owner, Seyfer Automotive, will provide the latest information on cyber security and how to avoid being a victim. Bob Redding, ASA Washington, D.C. representative, will lead a panel discussion on whats coming to V2V and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication. A 5G expert and a GM On Star staff member will participate in this discussion. Bill Long, president, Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), and Aaron Solomon, CEO and owner, Mobile Devices Ingenierie, France, will address vehicle data, including who owns the data, who gets it and how auto repair professionals can use it. Seyfer will lead this discussion with a focus on the responsibilities and challenges of logging and sifting through the data of vehicles producing a terabyte or more of data per day. The forum will conclude with presentations by OEs on their latest technologies. It will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to noon PDT, at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The forum is included in the AAPEX online attendee registration fee of $40 (U.S.). To register, visit www.aapexshow.com/bw. AAPEX is a trade-only event and is not open to the general public. Registration for approved and credentialed media is free and can be completed at www.aapexshow.com/bwmedia. AAPEX 2017 is expected to feature 2,200 exhibiting companies, and will take place Tuesday, Oct. 31, through Thursday, Nov. 2. Approximately 158,000 automotive aftermarket professionals from more than 140 countries are projected to be in Las Vegas during AAPEX and the SEMA Show. AAPEX is co-owned by the Auto Care Association and the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), the light vehicle aftermarket division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). For more information, visit www.aapexshow.com or e-mail info@aapexshow.com. On social media, follow AAPEX at #AAPEX17. Senator Kamala Harris announced the news late Wednesday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images On Wednesday, while speaking at a town hall in Oakland, California, Senator Kamala Harris announced she would co-sponsor Bernie Sanderss single-payer health-care bill. Its just the right thing to do, she said of the decision, according to ThinkProgress. But its also about being smart. Sanders announced hed introduce the Medicare for All bill, which spins off a central plank of his presidential campaign, after Senate Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare earlier this summer. And so far a handful of progressive Democrats have expressed their support, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren. I intend to co-sponsor the Medicare for All bill because its just the right thing to do. Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 30, 2017 Thank you @KamalaHarris for your support. Let's make health care a right, not a privilege. https://t.co/hYbxTq8BVH Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 30, 2017 For her part, Harris said shes backing the bill because it makes both moral and economic sense. Its so much better people have meaningful access to affordable health care at every stage [because] we as taxpayers otherwise are paying huge amounts for money for them to get their health care in an emergency room, she said Wednesday. Its not only about whats morally and ethically right, it also just makes sense from a fiscal standpoint. As Politico notes, this puts Harris in opposition to Californias senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, whos said she favors a public health-care option instead. Im not there [on single-payer], she said at a recent town hall, characterizing the plan as a total takeover of health care by the federal government. Although Sanders has insisted that support for a single-payer health-care system isnt mandatory for Democrats, hes also pretty adamant that its a good idea. Is this a litmus test? No, he told the Washington Post. Do I think they can win without supporting single-payer? Im skeptical. Photo: Getty Images Bobby Whigham started the Instagram account Shias Outfits in April of this year to collect images of Shia LaBeouf. He has since amassed nearly 10,000 followers, including big-name stylists, editors from GQ and Vogue, and a fashion reporter at the New York Times. For Whigham, who lives in Philadelphia and works as a creative director at a major retailer based there, it began as a silly side project. I started it because I wanted it to exist and it didnt already, he says. His friends had been teasing him about his love of Crocs, and hed argued that both LaBeouf and Alexa Chung were seen in the divisive footwear, giving it instant street cred. Because of his impassioned defense, friends started sending him pictures of the actor, and Whigham saved the images to his phone. And then I thought, This is like the best Instagram, I need to follow it, he says. Instagram accounts dedicated to a particular celebritys style are relatively commonplace, but LaBeoufs quirky way of dressing lacked one, so Whigham started it. On the first day, he dumped 21 pictures: Shia in cut-off shorts, a white sweatshirt, and blue Crocs with black ankle socks. Shia wearing a white race-car T-shirt with a Coors logo tucked into high-waisted gray sweatpants. Shia scowling in a gray Patagonia fleece pullover tipped in aquamarine worn over a hoodie, faded black jeans, and tan lace-up boots. And Shia wearing purple tights and neon shoes with a turquoise hooded sweatshirt. Two days later he had 3,000 followers. In our supremely styled world, where celebrities are dressed by professionals for their walk from the car to the airport terminal, and influencers have turned Instagram into a marketing opportunity, LaBeoufs dirtbag aesthetic is refreshingly real. Its the sartorial equivalent of vaping dirty, ironic, and cool against all odds. Equal parts redneck and hipster, his roughed-up look has captured the attention of menswear fanatics who are tired of high-end styling and magazine-perfect personal style. Part of the looks allure is, no doubt, its unpretentiousness. Its the reason why Highsnobiety and BuzzFeed have both called LaBeouf a fashion god and Reddit users create inspiration albums of his looks. It is very, very effortless, Whigham says. Weve all been hot and needed to cut off a pair of our own jeans, or not had the right footwear so needed to throw on some boots with shorts. I think that hes so confident and isnt really trying. David Vandewal, a stylist who works with Elle, WSJ Magazine, and Barneys, among others, agrees. I think hes the answer to real street style, he says. Everyone is inspired by that look, like they say in French, Je men fous: I fucking dont care. With all the emphasis on personal style by fashion bloggers, Vandewal sees a pointed disparity between the glossy digital images clogging your feed and true authentic style. Nobody dares to be kooky anymore, he says. Its almost like theres no room to be. People consume you and try to make you their own. Shia just has style and makes it work with $50 Vans. People walk around with $3,000 outfits and have no style. Lawrence Schlossman is brand director at Grailed, the community marketplace for buying and selling cult-status menswear. Hes been a longtime fan of Shia and sees him as an underappreciated inspiration though one thats gaining traction beyond insider circles. Schlossman, who was in charge of the influential menswear site Four Pins and still runs its popular Twitter account, says he and his friends semi-jokingly call LaBeouf the source the foundation from which much of menswears current aesthetic springs from. Hes the influencers influencers influencer, Schlossman says. Its cool to me that hes the be-all end-all. He is the genesis and creation of the look, but at the same time he kind of knows what hes doing. Schlossman sees LaBeoufs style inexorably entwined with the major forces dominating the menswear aesthetic right now: normcore (plus its sportier offshoot gorpcore), and the louche militaristic stylings of Kanye West and his line Yeezy. Its easy to see it also as a manifestation of ironic fashion, the style-in-quotation-marks movement proffered by Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga and Vetements. I dont even know if you could figure it out, whether normcore is informed by Shia or Shia is informed by normcore, or some combination of the two, Schlossman says. You see that Birkenstocks became a fashion item; maybe Patagonia will become a fashion item too. The secret sauce that comes together in the universe hes part of that, hes a piece of that puzzle. I cant trace it perfectly from point A to point B, but theres some association there. Whigham agrees, seeing more than just coincidental echoes of Shias style in Kanyes Yeezy designs: When Yeezy showed, I could totally imagine that [design] room, what the collections going to be, what the palettes going to be and its all these pictures of Shia in washed-out black denim. I feel like he is very very influential and responsible for that. And while Shia is often praised for his unpremeditated look, Schlossman points to an interview where the actor reveals its not all happenstance. People look at me and they go, He looks homeless. He doesnt care. This took a lot of time, he said during a radio interview with B96 Chicago last year. He continued: For real. Everybodys got a uniform, you know what I mean? Even though it looks haphazard, its actually very thought through. Whigham notes that men are tiring of the overly finessed looks pushed by magazines and social-media types, and this low-key look feels like a break from that. Heres a dude, hes confident, hes masculine. He dates a model and hes just walking down the street, pumping gas, he says. Whigham also notices that its oftentimes not just what LaBeouf wears, but how he wears it that makes the most impact. The longer length on a pair of cut-off shorts recently, or the way he steps on the back of his sneakers, are small stylistic quirks that feel individual to his style. And then theres the idea that Shia has crafted a persona, like James Franco before him, and that there are layers to his appearance, that getting the wink-wink, nudge-nudge satire of his visual appearance makes you part of a bigger in-joke. Earlier this year, LaBeouf unveiled a politically motivated project, and in 2015 he filmed himself watching all of his movies back to back artistic endeavors that play with the idea of celebrity in culture, and the performative aspect of selfhood. Is his look an affectation? That sort of meta-acknowledgement might make it even more interesting, and, strangely more legitimate, in its way. Even if hes doing it on purpose, it feels authentic, says Schlossman. The romantic version of that is that hes just thrown this shit together and the final product is this amazing trend-creating head-to-toe look, says Schlossman, who also notes that he sees an noticeable uptick in engagement with his Shia-related Twitter content. Fashion insiders seem to be captivated by what hes wearing and how hes putting it together. Whether it comes from a place of true appreciation or a little bit irony or some combination of both is hard to say. But at the same time, hes clearly making waves, regardless of why. Thats something thats interesting to a wide range of people. Whigham, despite working for a retailer, sees this dont-give-a-fuck machismo as the ultimate selling point in a funny way. GQ with models jumping in the air on a trampoline saying, these are things you must wear this spring boat shoes, striped shirts and chinos its like, no. Go fucking pump your gas and go to Whole Foods and get the look. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. HALIFAXNo criminal charges will be laid against five so-called Proud Boys who disrupted a Mikmaq ceremony in downtown Halifax on Canada Day, the Royal Canadian Navy says. Rear-Admiral John Newton said Thursday that an investigation has wrapped up with no further actions taken against the servicemen, although they remain on an unspecified term of probation and must adhere to unspecified conditions. If they fail they are gone. This is not lightweight punishment, he told reporters. The servicemen had been relieved of their duties and re-assigned to other jobs, pending the results of the military police investigation into the incident at a statue of Halifaxs controversial founder, Edward Cornwallis. Newton said one of the servicemen has since left the Forces, but the others are being returned to their operational units and regular duties. He said the serviceman who left the forces had initiated the process well before the July 1 incident. Read more: Two Navy members involved in confrontation at Indigenous ceremony on Canada Day He said the members displayed behaviour inconsistent with the values and ethics expected of those in uniform, and the military has taken appropriate measures to address individual shortcomings. Specifically, Newton said they had contravened a section of the Queens Regulations and Orders where your personal actions, on duty or off duty, could be perceived or are in contravention with the policies of the Canadian Armed Forces. The navy has ensured the servicemen have a clear understanding of the expected ethical behaviours and standards of conduct within the Armed Forces, he said. Newton told reporters the remaining servicemen three navy and one army will have a permanent mark on their record. They have to actually pass this probationary period to get back onto their full career progress, he said. Im not going to spell out the individual type of probationary measures because there is privacy and confidentiality of the members involved and they have that right as individual citizens, said Newton. The investigation began in early July, a few days after a group of Proud Boys confronted Indigenous people gathered in a park for what they described as a sacred rite. The incident was caught on videotape and spread on social media. Rebecca Thomas, who was at the Canada Day ceremony, said she was disappointed at the lack of consequences for the service members who were involved in the incident. I would have liked to have seen a restorative justice process for these individuals where they have to face the community that they wronged, said Thomas, who is Mikmaq and Halifaxs poet laureate. I worry about something that could have been a teachable moment is now just turning into a straight form of punishment within a very familiar context. It doesnt seem that things were learned. Thomas wonders whether the punishment would have been as lenient had the service members interrupted a Roman Catholic mass or a Remembrance Day ceremony. It could be an indication on how the Armed Forces see Indigenous ceremony, she said. I would like to hope that these individuals have changed their feelings on Indigenous peoples but I dont have any proof to that effect. The Armed Forces previously apologized for the servicemens actions. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, both condemned the actions of the men. The Proud Boys known for matching black polo shirts often worn by members was founded in the U.S. by Gavin McInnes, a Canadian who helped establish Vice Media and is now an outspoken, right-wing political pundit. The Proud Boys call themselves Western chauvinists. A Facebook post from the Proud Boys Canadian Chapters Thursday struck a triumphal and defiant tone in reaction to the navys actions. We win, our brothers in the Halifax 5 are returning to active military duty with no charges, let the SJW (Social Justice Warriors) tears pour, it said. Proud of our boys. Newton said he has met with the servicemen twice, and they are remorseful and dealing with a world changed by social media. He said reporters dont know the servicemens version of the story, but it means nothing anyway, because what matters is what the public perceives. Newton said he has dealt with many navy mishaps caused by personal mistakes, and although the servicemen embarrassed the military, the matter has been dealt with through the governing policies and procedures. You cannot just turn around and fire everybody. They have rights, he said. You cant pursue it just because you want to. You just cant. What we are doing doesnt solve all of the issues. But it is as good an outcome as I can strive for. Newton said he has also met with Chief Grizzly Mamma, who was part of the Indigenous ceremony interrupted by the Proud Boys. Thursday was Newtons last full day as commander of Canadas East Coast navy, as he begins work with Veterans Affairs Canada in Charlottetown. Rear Admiral Craig Baines will assume command in Halifax in a ceremony Friday morning. In a statement Thursday, the military said the Halifax incident has provided a leadership opportunity for military brass and the best way to confront and defeat intolerance is through education and training. Any action by a Canadian Armed Forces member (in uniform or not) that demonstrates intolerance or shows disrespect towards the people and cultures we value in Canada is completely unacceptable, it said. The Canadian Armed Forces celebrates the contributions that First Nations, Inuit and Metis people have made to Canada and its military. The chain of command has taken appropriate measures to address individual shortcomings, intended to drive home a clear understanding of the ethical behaviour and standard of conduct that we demand all our members uphold and maintain. It said the Armed Forces view diversity as a source of strength and flexibility. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWADonald Trump and Justin Trudeau spoke Thursday about their hope to reach a deal by the end of this year on a new North American Free Trade Agreement. The White House offered up that nugget in a Thursday readout from Washington on the phone call between the president and the prime minister over the deaths and destruction in Texas and Louisiana caused by hurricane Harvey. President Trump thanked Prime Minister Trudeau and the people of Canada for their offer of assistance and underscored the close ties between our two nations, said the White House release. The two leaders also discussed the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation and stressed their hope to reach an agreement by the end of this year. There was no mention of the NAFTA discussion in the account of the conversation that was initially released by the Prime Ministers Office. It said Trudeau offered Trump condolences over the damage caused by the torrential rains that have flooded vast swaths of Texas. Trudeaus office said later that it did not dispute the White House account. A senior government official, speaking only on condition they not be named, said the primary purpose of the call was to discuss the situation in Texas, and that NAFTA was mentioned only briefly at the end of the conversation. A second round of NAFTA negotiations begins Friday in Mexico, but at the end of the first round in August, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico released a joint statement that suggested major issues needed to be dealt with in future talks. Ideally, the three countries would like to finish their negotiations in the coming months before presidential election gets rolling in the spring and the mid-term U.S. congressional elections season arrives. Read more: Harvey is moving on. These 23 photos show what the storm left behind Rescuers start block-by-block search of flooded Houston Drake donates $200,000 U.S. to Houston flood relief Ottawa trade consultant Adam Taylor, an aide to former Conservative trade minister Ed Fast, said it is Mexico and the U.S. that want a speedy resolution to the talks, not Canada. Both have elections on the horizon in 2018 and want to have NAFTA issues settled before politics takes over, said Taylor. Canada is in far less need of a speedy outcome. In fact, history has shown Canada does well when it takes the time to get a deal that is in the countrys best interests. Taylor pointed to the lengthy negotiations of Canadas free trade deals with Europe and South Korea, each of which took several years to complete. On the eve of the Mexico City talks, the government announced the creation of a 10-person NAFTA environmental advisory council in order to strengthen environmental protection within the new pact. Canadians understand that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. Clean air and clean water know no boundaries, and they are top priorities for Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said in a statement. Read more about: SHARE: Mayor John Tory is urging the province to fix the way commercial property taxes are calculated after skyrocketing bills forced some small businesses on Yonge St. to shutter, and others to threaten to follow suit. The current assessment methodology used by the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) is often distorted and does not account for the current use of a property, nor the undue pressure that its valuations place on tenants, Tory wrote in an Aug. 30 letter to Finance Minister Charles Sousa. We require a fairer model of assessing property taxes for our small businesses and I would encourage you to review options, Tory wrote. MPAC is not working when it comes to small businesses in Toronto and I am willing and anxious to work with you to find ways to fix it before more jobs are lost. The current model looks at the potential market value of the land and assesses it according to its highest and best use. That can mean a mom-and-pop store is assessed at the same tax rate as a nearby glass condo tower. The corresponding sticker shock led many businesses to consider closing their doors. Some business did close their doors, Tory wrote. Read more: Yonge Streets historic character needs protection: Wong-Tam 500-per-cent property tax increase will change the face of Yonge St.: Keenan John Anderson, president of the Yonge Street Small Business Association, said Wednesday evening he is pleased Tory has taken this first step but is not impressed with his timing. Small businesses started receiving their property tax bills with the dramatic increases in May, so the mayors office knew or should have known this was a very major problem, Anderson said. This was the largest tax increase in the city of Toronto and (Tory) was silent for too long, he said, adding, Its good that he has woken up. Andersons tax bill jumped from $155,000 to $280,000 for his furniture store, Morningstar, on Yonge St., south of Isabella St. Some small business owners saw their tax bills rise by up to 500 per cent. Anderson believes what finally got the mayors attention were signs he placed up and down Yonge St. that say: Stop Mayor Torys 100 Per Cent Tax Increase or Call Mayor Tory Tell Him Hes Putting Us Out of Business. The signs arent coming down off of Yonge St. unless I see a very serious effort, he said. While Anderson acknowledged that MPAC an independent, not-for-profit corporation is accountable to the province, not the city, he said change requires the mayor and co-operation of the province. Tory spokesperson Don Peat disputed Andersons contention that the mayors office had ignored the issue. He pointed to an Aug. 2 email, sent to the Star, saying the mayors office had asked city staff to examine why the owner of House of Lords hair studio was hit with a steep tax hike, forcing him to close on Oct. 1. The mayors staff also took part in a meeting at city hall on Aug. 18 to discuss the issue, and the topic is on the agenda of Thursdays meeting with the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Peat said. Tory is also sending separate letters to business owners putting the blame squarely on the provinces shoulders. These increases are entirely the result of the reassessments that were done by the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. which reflect higher market values observed in the area, and are not the result of tax rates set by Toronto city council, he wrote. MPAC is an entity entirely within the jurisdiction of the province of Ontario, the letter stated. The city has no role in the assessments that are undertaken. However, while the city cannot affect the property assessments, city staff have been in discussions with MPAC to strongly register concerns about the growth in property tax bills for businesses along Yonge St., he wrote. MPAC is responsible for assessing and classifying property in Ontario for the purposes of municipal and education taxation. In Ontario, property assessments are updated on the basis of a four-year assessment cycle. Read more about: SHARE: When Diana, Princess of Wales left Toronto in October 1991, after a trip with both sons and her husband in the last year of their marriage, a treasure now worth thousands of dollars was tucked away underground at King and Church Sts. This week which marks 20 years since her death on Aug. 31 St. James Cathedral archivist Nancy Mallett rifled through shelves in their basement to find the non-descript box it was filed away in. At first, even she didnt know for sure where it was. Read more: Diana died 20 years ago Thursday. Heres how the Star covered the death of Englands rose Princes William and Harry visit Diana memorial garden as anniversary of her death approaches Would Princess Diana have retained her royal magic 20 years later? DiManno Once located, the box was opened to reveal a bible: time-worn since it was gifted to the church in 1860, with gilded pages and thin red lines hemming in large-font verses. As per tradition, its pages bears over 100 years of signatures from visiting royals and dignitaries. But, among the splendor, one page in particular stands as a historical rarity. The signatures of Diana, her husband Prince Charles, and their two boys all in a neat line down one page. Pen met paper on Oct. 27, 1991, when the entire family attended a 10:40 a.m. service at St. James, just hours before sailing away on the Royal Yacht Britannia. Nobody really thought about the children signing the bible, but Harry had just learned to write his name, as the story goes, Mallett explained. When he saw his father signing, he wanted to sign his name. William, she said, just had to sign after his little brother had been allowed to. Both boys mimicked their fathers straight line beneath the signature, with a deliberate period after their names. Dianas famous, loopy script came last, with the same punctuation but the line below distinctly ajar. The royal couple would separate just one year later. Mallett believes that left the St. James bible and one other in England as the only copies of the entire familys autograph in existence. Daniel Wade from Paul Fraser Collectibles valued the single page, not even factoring in the bible as a whole, at $8,000. Royal signatures are in general scarce because royal protocol forbids signing autographs, he said, adding that William and Harrys were extremely rare, even alone. Documents as simple as an old go-kart waiver, signed by Diana, William and Harry, have been listed on online auction sites for thousands of dollars. But in that moment, in a Toronto cathedral, all four willingly penned their names into a register that the church has held for hundreds of years. You know, theres a very sweet picture of everyone signing it, Mallett added. Though the royal visit seemed to be snapped from every possible angle, only cathedral photographer Michael Hudson was privy to that moment. I was shadowed by a Scotland Yard security officer on my shoulder, Hudson recalled via email. Charles and Diana seemed to chat a little bit together but mostly she was attentive to William and Harry. I wasnt listening, just trying to get the shots he confirmed that there was a moment when the entire family began to laugh at something the pint-sized prince either said or did. Some details of the moment are clearer in his memory. Nine-year-old William signed with his left hand. Diana was wearing the now-famous blue sapphire ring. Other, vibrant details were preserved in film. Diana was enveloped in the dual colours of the Canadian flag, all ivory and scarlet. Standing to the right of the family in golden-hued vestments, Rev. S Duncan Abraham, dean of Toronto, looked over their shoulders as they autographed the holy book. On the phone from his cottage, Abraham remembers how many people wanted to come to the service that day. Police estimated as many as 2,500 people swelling through the streets outside the cathedral during the service. Complicating things further, the church had already booked a special service that day for the 150th anniversary of Trinity College. One of the things thats always stuck in my mind when we were planning for that service was in picking the hymns, Abraham said. One called Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation, played at Diana and Charles wedding, seemed appropriate at the time. We didnt know about the stresses and strains on their marriage at this stage, Abraham said. We made a boo-boo on that one, Ill tell you. But any strain on the royal marriage didnt stand out to those who attended the Sunday morning Matins service. Parishioner Gloria Weibe has seen her fair share of royal visits to St. James, but that day sticks out in her mind. I think this was very special, because it was the family, she said. She called Diana such a presence, really, recalling her physical beauty and sense of fashion. But in the church, they were a family like any other. Once youre seated the service just carries on. For me, thats the way it should be, Weibe said. You feel a connection with them in that theyre coming to worship and attend church with us. Read more about: SHARE: Portrait of a mothers misery: Downcast face, eyes firmly shut throughout, each hand clasped by a supportive woman to the right, a supportive woman to the left. But she couldnt have shut her ears to what was being said in court, a quite detailed account from the bench of her daughter-in-laws harrowing life and brutal death. A son, Dr. Mohammed Shamji, charged with first-degree murder. Such an accomplished family, the Shamjis: father a prominent thoracic surgeon, mother a now retired child psychiatrist, two doctor sons. Dr. Mohammed Shamji, the accused, a renowned Toronto neurosurgeon beloved by his patients. The victim, Elana Fric-Shamji, a doctor too, family physician at Scarborough Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. Her body was discovered stuffed in a suitcase in the Humber River in Kleinburg on Dec. 1, 2016. She had been, police said at the time, strangled and beaten. The dead womans mother was not in court on Wednesday, to hear the decision on a two-day bail hearing held earlier this month. Doubtless she would have looked just as stricken and sad. It took Justice Michael Brown more than an hour to get to the critical point, as he reviewed the interim evidence and legal admissions which had been put to him, the Crown objecting to Shamjis release on surety to be put up by his parents and other relatives the defence mounting arguments to convince the bench otherwise. In a word: No. Shamji would be returned to Maplehurst jail to await trial. His lawyers have said he intends to plead not guilty. It is extremely rare for a person charged with first-degree murder to be allowed back into the community, even under stringent conditions. Yet there was doubt in the downtown courtroom hope, let us say, for his family as Brown wove through the legal thresholds that must be met under a Section 522 application: primary, secondary and tertiary grounds. These would be the same for anyone applying for bail: Primary, the flight risk factor, whether an accused can be reliably expected not to flee the jurisdiction; secondary, risk to the public if the defendant is allowed back in the community; tertiary, the necessity to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice. The hearing was under an automatic publication ban. Shamji wore a blue shirt, no tie and a charcoal suit. When the proceeding was over, he turned to his father and mouthed: I love you. There is plenty on the media record already, however, in the public domain before the bail hearing began. The couple, married in 2004, had three children, the oldest only 11 when her mother was killed. From the outside, they certainly appeared to be a couple blessed by good fortune, enviable professional success and a lovely family. Their social media accounts over recent years were replete with mutual pride and professions of love. But close friends would later tell reporters that the marriage was not as it seemed and Fric-Shamji had confided she wanted to end it. Police have alleged Fric-Shamji was killed at the couples upscale home, located in the Bathurst St.-Sheppard Ave. area, sometime between the evening of Nov. 30 and the morning of Dec. 1. Eleven years earlier, Shamji had been charged with one count of assault and two counts of uttering death threats against his wife, when the couple was living in Ottawa. Those charges were dropped when Shamji agreed to a peace bond that required him to not come within 200 metres of their residence without his wifes consent. Its unclear what happened in subsequent months but the couple clearly reconciled, moving to Toronto in 2012. And then, four years later, shes dead in a suitcase. Shamji was arrested at a Mississauga coffee shop where he was meeting with his lawyer Liam OConnor on Dec. 2. Outside court following the hearing Wednesday, OConnor characterized Browns ruling as a good legal judgment. I dont have a problem with it and I wont be discussing how my client is feeling or what hes told me. Adding, though: Im surprised given the level of support out there for Dr. Shamji Dr. Shamji has an enormous amount of support out there. I can tell you from the day this charge was laid Ive been inundated with support for the doctor from friends, from family, from patients, from people who dont know him. The children, said OConnor, are now living in Windsor. Theres three children suffering in Windsor, I have no doubt about that. But I havent seen a story where there wasnt a second side to the story and that story will be told, I assure you. That trial is not expected to begin before the fall of 2018. Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. SHARE: LaDawn Jones is a Black Democrat from Atlanta. For four years, her seatmate in the Georgia House of Representatives was Jason Spencer, a white Republican from the southern tip of the state. They see the world differently and, she concedes, there were many conversations where weve had to walk away from each other because the debate was so intense. Those debates didnt end when Jones left the legislature to resume practicing law last year they were still frenemies on social media. And this week, the pair got into an online scuffle in which some say Spencer made a violent, racist threat. It involved two of the most emotionally volatile issues in the American South: Confederate monuments and lynching. Read more: Former U.S. attorney to lead Charlottesville review after white nationalist rallies Charlottesville workers cover Confederate statues after white nationalist rally Confederate memorial removed from outside Maryland courthouse The discussion started when Spencer posted a picture of himself next to a memorial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Jones, who has advocated for removing Confederate memorials from the states most vaunted places, posted a comment warning her former colleague that he should get it in . . . before it is torn down. It soured from there. The lowest point was when Spencer told her that if she and others kept up their fight to rid the state of Confederate monuments, I cant guarantee you wont be met with torches but something a lot more definitive. Later, removing any doubt, he said the people who want the statues gone will go missing in the Okefenokee, referring to a swamp and national wildlife refuge near his hometown. To many necks they are red around here. Dont say I didnt warn you. The entire thread (it has some profanity, harsh language and an epic Game of Thrones reference) was posted online by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At one point, Jones told Spencer to put your hoods and your tiki torches away. We are no longer afraid. We will not let you hide behind your heritage . . . Lock those photos in your memory because we are about tear that s--- down! #byefelicia #byeStonewall #byeLee Spencer replied Hate for others and American history (good and bad) drives your quixotic journey to erase history like the Bolsheviks. Looks like you are afflicted with the same poison you claim to fight against. Spencers office did not immediately respond to an email message from The Washington Post seeking comment. He told the Journal-Constitution that his words werent a threat, but a warning to of how people can behave about this issue. She is from Atlanta and the rest of Georgia sees this issue very differently, Spencer told the newspaper. Just trying to keep her safe if she decided to come down and raise hell about the memorial in the back yards of folks who will see this as an unwelcome aggression from the left. According to the Journal-Constitution, Spencer asked that the newspaper include a picture in the story of him standing next to a monument of Martin Luther King Jr. that was unveiled on the Georgia capitol grounds. Jones said that while she thinks her former colleagues comments absolutely and completely crossed the line, I personally did not feel threatened. There may be people in the state willing to get violent over Confederate monuments, she said, but she doesnt think her former seatmate is one of them, even if they are diametrically opposed when it comes to the statues and memorials. Anti-Confederate sentiment intensified after nine black churchgoers were killed on June 17, 2015, at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in a racially motivated massacre. The killer, Dylann Roof, was seen on one website holding a gun in one hand and a Confederate flag in the other. The tragedy mobilized once-hesitant Southern cities to get rid of polarizing Civil War statuary. The debate intensified after violent, deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, which began with a protest of authorities decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a public park. The debate is playing out across the American south, including in Georgia, a state that has a bas-relief image of Confederate luminaries carved into the side of a mountain. The Peach State, and Spencer, have been at the centre of other controversial debates. As The Posts Lindsey Bever reported, Spencer was the author of an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have prevented Muslim women from wearing religious garb in public places in Georgia. Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director for CAIR-Georgia, told Bever his group suspects motivated by a desire to discriminate against Georgia Muslims, and added that the bill was a bad solution to a nonexistent problem. Citing the reaction to the legislation, Spencer ultimately decided to withdraw the bill, saying it would withstand legal scrutiny, but not political scrutiny. Nine months later, Spencer was again being scrutinized for words that offended minorities. Jones said her former colleague called her to let her know he wasnt making a personal threat against her, but he stopped short of apologizing. Jones said shes disappointed he didnt renounce his comments. She worries they encouraged racial violence, instead of promoting a rational, civil debate about where Confederate memorials fit in 21st century America. I think his comfort with the fact that people in the south of Georgia would believe the right action still does make me uncomfortable, she said. Who would want to murder someone over some statues? Read more about: SHARE: Nearly six centuries ago, Korean astronomers scanning the night sky for omens of the future spotted a new star in the cluster of stars they called Wei, and what todays star watchers consider the tail of the Scorpius constellation. Fourteen nights later, it vanished. Astronomers have now identified the source of that brief brightening a binary star system a couple of thousand light-years away. Michael Shara, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, has been seeking to understand what happens following explosions in violent star systems known as cataclysmic variables. He has searched for the remnants of this particular event for a long time. Now, about 25 years later, weve finally come up with it, Shara said. The researchers report their findings Wednesday in the journal Nature. In these systems, one of the stars is a white dwarf, the burned out but still hot remnant of a star. The powerful gravity of the white dwarf pulls hydrogen away from its companion star and onto its surface. You accumulate about a Pacific Oceans worth of hydrogen, Shara said. Read more: Canadas newest astronauts consider moon, Mars missions after space station trip The science of why we wont stop believing: Age of Unreason With more and more hydrogen, the pressure builds until it sets off a thermonuclear explosion, a burst of light known as a nova that is up to a million times as bright as the sun. You get a giant fusion bomb, a hydrogen bomb going off on top of this white dwarf star, Shara said. That is what the Koreans saw on March 11, 1437. As powerful as nova explosions are, they do not destroy either star (unlike much larger supernovas). The white dwarf fades, and the cycle repeats until the next explosion, which could be up to 100,000 years later. In recent decades, astronomers have observed the fading of novas over decades. They have also spotted similar binary star systems that appear quite stable, calmly orbiting each other and others that are belching only small eruptions known as dwarf novas. Three decades ago, Shara proposed that all three types novas, dwarf novas and the quiescent binaries were variants of the same type of system but at different stages. The idea was hard to test because astronomers have not been observing them for very long. Thus, historical novas like the one observed in Korea could provide important clues to the life cycle between explosions. For years, he and colleagues looked for the 1437 nova without success. Recently, they expanded the field of search and came across a promising cloud of gas, or nebula, which looked like the carcass of a nova. Other astronomers had noted this previously, but, puzzlingly, the star at the centre of the nebula is not a cataclysmic variable. A point of light not far from the centre, however, is indeed a cataclysmic variable. (The white dwarf and its companion are so close together that they appear as a single star in photographic plates.) That, the astronomers thought, could have been the source of the nova. They scoured the astronomical archives of Harvard, discovering a picture of the same star in 1923. That allowed them to see how far the off-centre point of light had moved across the sky over the past century. Then they traced it back to where it would have been in 1437 smack at the centre of the nebula. (The star that currently appears to be at the centre just happens to be along the line of sight and is unrelated to the explosion.) The real novelty here is we have a clock, Shara said. We can see how fast its moving across the sky. Additional Harvard images of the same star in the 1940s showed modest changes in brightness dwarf nova eruptions. That supports Sharas hypothesis that these types of star systems go through all three stages. In an accompanying commentary in Nature, Steven N. Shore, a professor at the University of Pisa in Italy who was not involved with the research, described the work as a lovely piece of historical scholarship. Shore said it was too early to tell whether this cataclysmic variable is typical or unusual, but it provides a long series of data for astrophysicists to try to recreate with computer models. He likened it to deciphering an ancient tablet but not yet placing it in the proper historical context. We can read the cuneiform, he said, but we dont know what it means yet. SHARE: MADRIDRegional authorities in Catalonia on Thursday denied news reports that U.S. anti-terrorism officials had warned them of an attack targeting Barcelona, but acknowledged that they did receive tips of possible attacks from other sources that they deemed not credible enough. Catalan regional interior chief Joaquim Forn said regional police were not warned by the CIA or the National Counterterrorism Center in the U.S. about the Aug. 17 van attack on Barcelonas famous Las Ramblas boulevard that killed 14 people. Forn added that such warnings are typically made through state channels. Read more: Some of Spains terror suspects spent night in France week before deadly attacks: official Barcelona suspect says imam planned to blow himself up at national monument 500,000 march against violence in Barcelona Barcelona-based El Periodico newspaper reported that the U.S. sent a warning on May 25 to regional police, specifically mentioning Las Ramblas. Other Spanish media outlets published similar stories. Regional police senior officer Josep Lluis Trapero said there were generic warnings of an attack, including one received May 25, but he said both Spanish and Catalan authorities considered them not reliable though. He said the warnings did not come from the CIA or the NCTC but he gave no details on their source. Forn accused El Periodico of trying to discredit the regional police. The Aug. 17 van attack killed 14 people, and one other person was stabbed to death by the Barcelona attacker as he fled. Another attack in nearby Cambrils a day later left one dead. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group. The U.S. embassy in Madrid said it could not comment on intelligence issues. SHARE: WASHINGTONDaesh (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appears to be still alive, a top U.S. military commander said Thursday, contradicting Russias claims that it probably killed the top counterterror target months ago. Do I believe hes alive? Yes, said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the coalition forces fighting Daesh in Iraq and Syria, referring to al-Baghdadi. At first, Townsend said his belief stemmed from a lack of evidence he had seen rumour or otherwise that al-Baghdadi was dead. But, he then added: There are also some indicators in intelligence channels that hes alive. Townsend did not elaborate on the intelligence. Russian officials said in June there was a high probability that al-Baghdadi died in a Russian airstrike on the outskirts of Raqqa, Syria, a month earlier. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon from his headquarters in Baghdad, Townsend said U.S. and coalition forces are actively searching for al-Baghdadi. If they find him, they probably will kill him rather than capture him, he said. A good guess about where al-Baghdadi is hiding, Townsend said, would be the so-called Middle Euphrates River Valley, stretching approximately from the city of Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria to the town of Rawa in western Iraq. He said this area is shaping up to be the groups last stand following its ouster from nearly all of northern Iraq. The most recent Daesh setback was in Tal Afar, west of the also recently-liberated city of Mosul, which had been the militants main stronghold in Iraq. The Iraqi government announced Thursday that Tal Afar had been returned to government control. Townsend called it a stunningly swift victory for the Iraqi army, moving like a steamroller into the city in a matter of days. Read more: Iraqi prime minister declares town of Tal Afar fully liberated from Daesh The Daesh militants, who swept into Iraq in 2014 against minimal resistance from the Iraqi army, still control a large area of eastern Syria along the border with Iraq, as well as parts of Raqqa, the capital of the groups self-styled caliphate. Townsend said U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces have recaptured about half of Raqqa in ongoing fighting. Assessing his 12 months in command of the U.S.-led coalition, Townsend said more tough fighting remains but signs are positive. It will be up to the Iraqi government, he said, to safeguard the gains troops have achieved since 2015, when Iraqi security forces began a U.S.-assisted counteroffensive in the western Anbar province. I think part of the rise of ISIS was disenfranchised peoples, most of them Sunnis, who looked at Baghdad and they didnt see their government representing them or their interests or their future, he said. And I think thats probably the most important thing that the government of Iraq has to do. It has to reach out, reconcile, bring all Iraqis together and be the government of all Iraqis. Townsend said he hopes the U.S. government works out an arrangement for a long-term military presence in Iraq to minimize the chances of another Daesh-like episode. He said such talks are under way. We all saw what happened in 2011 when we parted ways completely, he said, referencing the pullout of U.S. troops under former president Barack Obama and Iraqs subsequent struggles. My personal view is I wouldnt want to repeat that, Townsend said. So I think that our governments will work out something that will work for the future. Townsend is ending his year in command in Baghdad and will hand off next week to another three-star Army general, Paul Funk II. He credited the Trump administration with putting greater trust in him and other commanders to execute the counter-Daesh campaign. The current administration has pushed decision-making down into the military chain of command, Townsend said. And I dont know of a commander in our armed forces that doesnt appreciate that. A key result of that is that we dont get second-guessed a lot, he added. Our judgment here on the battlefield in the forward areas is trusted. And we dont get 20 questions with every action that happens on the battlefield and every action that we take. Read more about: SHARE: BAGHDADIraqs prime minister on Thursday declared the town of Tal Afar fully liberated from Daesh, also known as ISIS, after a nearly two-week operation, the latest blow to the extremist group that controlled nearly a third of the country just three years ago. Iraqi troops eliminated and smashed Daesh terrorists in al-Ayadia district, about 10 kilometres northwest of Tal Afar where the militants fled last week, Haider al-Abadi said in a statement. To Daesh criminals we say: Wherever you are we will come to liberate and you have to choose only death or surrender, he said. With Tal Afar liberated, all of Nineveh province the first area Daesh militants captured in a 2014 blitz is in the hands of our brave troops, al-Abadi said. Read more: Iraqi forces, U.S.-led coalition launch assault to reclaim Daesh-held Tal Afar Canadian troops help secure Mosul as future battles loom Hundreds of Iraqis flee Mosul as push to liberate city continues Thursdays announcement came a day after Jordan and Iraq reopened their only border crossing after a two-year closure since the militants took over most of Anbar province. Both sides celebrated the reopening as another victory over the militant group. U.S.-backed Iraqis troops launched the operation to retake Tal Afar early last week, a month after it declared the northern city of Mosul, its second largest, to be fully liberated. Tal Afar is about 93 miles from Syrias border and it was among the last Daesh-held towns in Iraq. Iraqi officials often declare areas liberated before the fighting has completely ended, and the militants have been known to carry out surprise counterattacks. Daesh still controls the northern town of Hawija as well as the towns of Qaim, Rawa and Ana in western Iraq near Syria. Still, Iraqi state TV immediately cut its regular programs and aired national songs and a live feed from the area where soldiers celebrating the victory as dancing and brandishing their weapons in jubilantly. The feed also showed traffic boards leading to the city centre of al-Ayadia where military vehicles were coming out and in. Al-Abadi also alluded to a much-criticized deal brokered by Lebanons Hezbollah with Daesh fighters to clear them from an area along the Lebanon-Syria border. He noted that his troops didnt allow Daesh militants to flee al-Ayadia, saying thats our firm stance against those criminals who pose a threat to all people in the region and world wherever they are. On Tuesday, al-Abadi had criticized the deal, which allowed hundreds of militants to leave to an Daesh-controlled area near the Iraqi border, and describing it as worrying and an insult to the Iraqi people. Shortly after al-Abadis statement, the U.S.-led coalition hailed what it described as a stunning victory. The coalition warned that dangerous work remains to completely remove explosive devices, identify ISIS fighters in hiding and eliminate any remaining ISIS holdouts. Iraqi forces have driven Daesh from most of Iraqs major towns and cities seized by the militants in the summer of 2014, including Mosul, which was retaken after a gruelling nine-month campaign. Read more about: SHARE: HOUSTONRescuers began a block-by-block search of tens of thousands of Houston homes Thursday, pounding on doors and shouting as they looked for anyone alive or dead who might have been left behind in Harveys fetid floodwaters, which have now heavily damaged more than 87,000 homes and destroyed nearly 7,000 statewide. Elsewhere, the loss of power at a flood-crippled chemical plant set off explosions and a fire, and the city of Beaumont, near the Texas-Louisiana line, lost its public water supply. The remnants of the storm pushed deeper inland, raising the risk of flooding as far north as Kentucky. More than 200 firefighters, police officers and members of an urban search-and-rescue team fanned out across the Meyerland neighbourhood for survivors or bodies. They yelled fire department! as they pounded with closed fists on doors, peered through windows and checked with neighbours. The streets were dry but heaped with soggy furniture, carpet and wood. We dont think were going to find any humans, but were prepared if we do, said District Chief James Pennington of the Houston Fire Department. The confirmed death toll stood at 39, though it is expected to rise. But by midday, the temporary command centre in a J.C. Penney parking lot had received no reports of more bodies from the searches, which are expected to take up to two weeks. Unlike during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in New Orleans, crews used GPS devices to log the homes they checked rather than painting neon X's on the outside. That avoided alerting potential thieves to vacant homes. The blasts at the Arkema Inc. plant northeast of Houston also ignited a 9- to 12- foot flame and sent up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs. The blaze burned out around midday, but emergency crews held back because of the danger that eight other trailers containing the same compound could blow, too. No serious injuries were reported. The latest statewide damage surveys revealed the staggering extent of the destruction. The figures from the Texas Department of Public Safety indicated that nearly 50,000 homes sustained minor damage and 37,000 sustained major damage. At least 6,800 homes were destroyed. Read more: Explosions at flood-ravaged chemical plant result in incredibly dangerous plume, Houston officials say Toronto-based non-profit heading to Houston to save displaced dogs amid Hurricane Harvey Harvey breaks record for rainfall, Houston mayor imposes curfew to ensure safety In the Houston area, an estimated 136,000 structures, or 10 per cent of all structures in the county database, were flooded, said Jeff Lindner, meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District. About 325,000 people have already sought federal emergency aid in the wake of Harvey. More than $57 million in individual assistance has already been paid out, FEMA officials said. Rescues continued apace, as did the search for shelter among people made homeless by the storm. Emergency officials reported 32,000 people in shelters across Texas. The Harris County FEMA director said the agency was looking for ways to house people who lost their homes to Harvey. The priority is to get them into some form of temporary housing, with hotels being one option, he said. Right now nothing is off the table," Tom Fargione said. "This is a tremendous disaster in terms of size and scope." Although it has been downgraded to a tropical depression, Harvey was still expected to dump heavy rain on parts of Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Forecast totals ranged from 10 to 20 centimetres, with some places possibly getting up to a foot. As the water receded in the nations fourth-largest city, the greatest threat of damage shifted to a region near the Texas-Louisiana state line. Some residents in Beaumont, Texas, began to get anxious after the city of nearly 120,000 lost water service when its main pump station was overwhelmed by the swollen Neches River. Officials said they were having difficulty bringing in enough bottled water to set up distribution stations because of flooded roads. A procession of about 10 vehicles tailed a pickup towing a trailer packed with bottled water meant for emergency workers. The truck circled a downtown Beaumont block before Letorisha Hollier hopped out of the closest car. Give us a case! Hollier shouted. Her persistence paid off. A firefighter handed her the water. She was the only tailgater to score a case. Beaumont police spokesperson Carol Riley said there were some disturbances in supermarkets because people were concerned about water. The lack of water forced Baptist Beaumont Hospital to bring in ambulances and helicopters to move patients to other facilities, including some who had already been removed from flooded nursing homes. Hospital spokeswoman Mary Poole said other patients were able to be discharged. In nearby Port Arthur, the Coast Guard used baskets and harnesses to pull people out of a neighbourhood with chest-deep water. Economists said the storm shut down everything from plastics plants to oil refineries to the Houston port the second-busiest in the nation which could affect the nations economy. With widespread reports of gas shortages, the head of the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas industry urged drivers to wait three or four days to fill up their tanks. Panic buying is causing a run on gas and empty fuel pumps, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton said. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he would release 500,000 barrels of crude oil from an emergency stockpile in a bid to prevent gasoline prices from spiking in the wake of disruptions caused by Harvey. Also Thursday, Houston public schools pushed back the start of classes by two weeks. The nations seventh-largest district had been scheduled to reopen Monday but will now begin school on Sept. 11 because of Harvey. Health experts warned that sewage in the floodwater could make people sick and that mosquito populations could explode in the coming weeks because stagnant water offers abundant breeding grounds. With temperatures likely to climb below 32 C over the weekend, residents were warned about the dangers of heat exhaustion, especially for people who lost power or must toil outdoors. Houstons two major airports were slowly resuming full service. Limited bus and light rail service had also been restored, as well as trash pickup. Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas on Friday, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. The storm brought five straight days of rain totalling close to 1.3 metres, the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental U.S. SHARE: CROSBY, TEXASAt least 2 tons of highly unstable chemicals used in such products as plastics and paint exploded and burned at a flood-crippled plant near Houston early Thursday, sending up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs. The blaze at the Arkema Inc. chemical plant burned out around midday, but emergency crews continued to hold back because of the danger that eight other trailers containing the same compound could blow, too. No serious injuries were reported. But the blast added a new hazard to Hurricane Harveys aftermath and raised questions about the adequacy of the companys master plan to protect the public in the event of an emergency in the flood-prone Houston metropolitan area of 5.6 million people. This should be a wake-up call (for) all kinds of plants that are storing and converting reactive chemicals in areas which have high population densities, said Nicholas Ashford, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert. The Environmental Protection Agency and Texas environmental regulators called the health risks minimal in Crosby but urged residents downwind to stay indoors with windows closed to avoid inhaling the smoke. Arkeda had warned earlier in the week that an explosion of organic peroxides stored at the plant was imminent because Harveys floodwaters engulfed the backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the compounds from degrading and catching fire. All employees had been pulled from the plant before the blast, and up to 5,000 people living within 2.4 kilometres had been warned to evacuate on Tuesday. Two explosions in the middle of the night blew open a trailer containing the chemicals, lighting up the sky with 9- to 12-metre flames in the small farm and ranching community of Crosby, 40 kilometres from Houston, authorities said. Aerial footage showed a trailer carcass, its sides melted, burning in a flooded lot. Read more: Shivering girl, 3, found clinging to drowned mom in Harvey aftermath On Houston roads turned rivers, volunteer rescuers improvise to save the trapped and desperate Houston sees glimmer of hope after Harvey but threats loom The Texas environmental agency called the smoke especially acrid and irritating and said it can impair breathing and inflame the eyes, nose and throat. Fifteen sheriffs deputies complained of respiratory irritation. They were examined at a hospital and released. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency, launched an investigation into the accident. The plant is along a corridor near Houston that contains one of the biggest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country. Andrea Morrow, a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the agency had not received any reports of trouble at other chemical plants in the hurricane-stricken zone. Texas A&M chemical safety expert Sam Mannan said the risk management plan that Arkema was required by state and federal law to develop did not address how it would deal with power and refrigeration failures or flooding. A 2016 analysis he did with university colleagues ranked the Crosby plant among the 70 or so facilities with the biggest potential to cause harm in greater Houston, based on such factors as the type and amount of chemicals and the population density. Arkema, which is headquartered in France, did not immediately return calls on the plants contingency planning. Rachel Moreno, a spokesperson for the fire marshal of Harris County, which encompasses Houston, would not discuss details of the risk management plan, such as how high the plants backup generators were placed. Arkema officials did not directly notify local emergency managers of the generator failure, Moreno said. It came, instead, by way of the plants workers, who told the Crosby Volunteer Fire Department about it when they were rescued during the hurricane, she said. On Thursday, Rich Rennard, an executive at Arkema, said the chemical compounds were transferred to refrigerated containers after power was lost. But he said those containers failed too, causing the chemicals in one unit to burn. Rennard said more explosions were expected from the remaining containers. In February, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Arkema nearly $110,000 later reduced to just over $90,000 over 10 serious safety violations found during an inspection at the Crosby plant, according to agency records. State and federal regulators have cited Arkema for safety and environmental violations at the Crosby plant dating back more than a decade, records show. Texas environmental commission penalized the company at least three times for a total of about $27,000, some of which was deferred pending corrective actions. Arkema denied the allegations. During the last five years of compliance monitoring at the plant, state officials found five Clean Air Act-related deviations and two deviations from federal requirements on waste management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records show. In June 2006, the company had failed to prevent unauthorized emissions during a two-hour warehouse fire. Records show a pallet of organic peroxide was poorly stored, resulting in the blaze, and more than a ton of volatile organic compounds were discharged. The biggest penalty, about $20,000, came in December 2011 after the commission found Arkema had failed to keep thermal oxidizers, used to decompose hazardous gases, at high enough temperatures over the course of several months. More recently, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February fined Arkema nearly $110,000 later reduced to just over $90,000 over 10 serious safety violations found during an inspection. Records obtained by the AP show Arkema had kept using some equipment even when safety systems werent working properly, and didnt inspect or test it as recommended. In one unit, the company also didnt ensure equipment there was safe or keep employees up to date on their training. Arkema is also embroiled in a series of lawsuits stemming from a deadly accident involving one of its contracts at a rail yard in New Orleans. Arkema is defending itself in federal court after one worker died and two others were seriously injured after they were assigned to clean the inside of a rail car tank that had been filled with a harmful chemical. The men, who were working for a contractor with a long history of safety problems, were not wearing respirators and collapsed almost immediately, according to lawsuits filed by the survivors and the family of the man who died. In court documents, Arkema denied responsibility for the accident, saying it had trusted its contractor to run the operation safely. SHARE: LONDONBritish authorities on Thursday charged a man with terrorism offences following an incident near Buckingham Palace last week in which a suspect with a 4-foot sword injured three police officers. Londons Metropolitan police charged Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, from Luton in north London with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on Aug. 25. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court later Thursday. Police said three officers were slightly injured as they struggled to arrest a man who deliberately drove up to a police van in a restricted area on Constitution Hill, a road near the palace. The officers confronted the man, who reached for the sword in his car and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar (God is great in Arabic) during the incident, police said. The officers used tear gas to incapacitate the man and arrested him at the scene. Read more: British police investigating man arrested with four-foot sword outside Buckingham Palace No one other than the suspect and the officers were injured. Buckingham Palace is the London home of Queen Elizabeth II and one of the citys main tourist attractions. Police said they believe the suspect was acting alone. A second man was detained on Sunday for questioning, but police said he faced no further action. British media reported that no royal family members were in the palace at the time of the attack. SHARE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREAThe United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a mid-range ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35B stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea that simulated precision strikes against the Norths core facilities, according to the U.S. Pacific Command and South Koreas Defence Ministry. The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35Bs came from a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Japan. North Korea, which claims Washington has long threatened it by flaunting the powerful U.S. nuclear arsenal, describes the long-range B-1Bs as nuclear strategic bombers although the United States no longer arms them with nuclear weapons. Hours after the announcements by Washington and Seoul, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency issued a short statement calling the exercises a rash act of those taken aback by North Koreas recent missile launch. The dueling military displays open up the risk that things will get worse as each side seeks to show it wont be intimidated. North Korea has made it clear that it sees its weapons program, which demands regular testing to perfect, as the only way to contest decades of U.S. hostility, by which it means the huge U.S. military presence in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific. Washington, in turn, seeks with its joint drills with Seoul and bomber flights to show that it will not be pushed from its traditional role of supremacy in the region. More missile tests, more bomber flyovers and three angry armies facing each other across the worlds most heavily armed border raises the possibility that a miscalculation could lead to real fighting. The U.S. Pacific Command said the exercises were conducted in response to North Koreas recent missile launch. Over the course of a 10-hour mission, the B-1Bs, F-35Bs and two Japanese F-15 fighters first flew together over waters near Kyushu, Japan. The U.S. and South Korean warplanes then flew across the Korean Peninsula and participated in the live-fire training before returning to their respective home stations, according to the Pacific Command. North Koreas actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, Gen. Terrence OShaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said in a statement. This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening co-operation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward-deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moments notice if our nation calls. Read more: Talking is not the answer to North Korea missiles, Trump says North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan in aggressive test, officials say Canada abandons proud history as nuclear nag when most needed: McQuaig In Beijing, North Koreas ally China warned that war is not an option in finding a solution to the Norths growing nuclear capabilities. Defence Ministry spokesperson Col. Ren Guoqiang told reporters that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. The bombing exercise came as the United States and South Korea wrapped up their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills that involved tens of thousands of soldiers. North Korea condemns the annual U.S.-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion and described Tuesdays missile launch over Japan as a response to the drills. Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this years drills. The United States often sends its warplanes to South Korea, mostly for patrols, when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea on Tuesday flew a potentially nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over northern Japan and later called it a meaningful prelude to containing the U.S. territory of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch was a curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures against the U.S.-South Korea war games and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has been maintaining a torrid pace in weapons tests this year as it openly pursues an arsenal of nuclear-armed, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into the U.S. mainland. Experts say Kim wants a real nuclear deterrent against the United States to ensure the survival of his government and likely believes that it will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. North Korea had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam, which is home to key U.S. military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening. It also flight-tested a pair of developmental ICBMs in July. South Korean analysts said North Koreas threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are likely attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. The U.S. and South Korean militaries say the Hwasong-12 fired over Japans northern island of Hokkaido flew about 2,700 kilometres. South Koreans Vice Defence Minister Suh Choo-suk told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea might have fired the missile at about half its maximum range. Read more about: SHARE: BEIJINGA crisis is unfolding in western Burma. Since last Friday, at least 18,500 Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the countrys conflict-ridden Rakhine state, have fled a surge of violence by crossing into Bangladesh, according to the International Organization for Migration. There are probably thousands more stuck in a no mans land at the Bangladeshi border, said Chris Lom, the organizations Asia-Pacific spokesperson. Ahead, border guards block their escape from the state. Behind, their hometowns are engulfed in flames, reportedly burned by Burmese government forces. Read more: Canada must stand up for suffering Rohingya 71 dead in Burma after militant attacks on police, border posts Trudeau urged to press Suu Kyi for Muslim minority rights in Burma Officials said Thursday that three boats carrying Rohingya had capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children had been recovered. Bangladesh border guard commander Lt. Col. S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Coxs Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing. The top government official in Coxs Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them. Those Rohingya who have escaped say that government forces set fire to their villages. Satellite data corroborates their testimony, showing widespread fires in Rohingya areas, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. Videos online show the refugees sobbing as gunfire crackles in the distance. The situation is very terrifying, houses are burning, all the people ran away from their homes, parents and children were divided, some were lost, some are dead, Abdullah, 25, a Rohingya from Rakhines Buthidaung region who gave only one name, told Reuters. Whats happening and how did the situation get so bad? Heres what you need to know: How did this happen? It began in northern Rakhine state on Aug. 25, when a group of Rohingya insurgents calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army many wielding machetes, swords and knives staged a co-ordinated pre-dawn raid on 30 police posts and an army base. They killed 12 security officers, and in the ensuing conflict, security forces killed 77 of them, according to the Burmese government. Government forces, analysts suspect, responded with a scorched-earth campaign, torching homes and shooting civilians. Thousands of Rohingya quickly fled to the border. On Wednesday, Bangladesh further tightened border controls, to keep more Rohingya from getting through. Many of Rakhines Buddhists have also fled, most to the states Buddhist-majority capital, Sittwe. Who are the Rohingya? The Rohingya are often called the worlds largest stateless minority. About 1.1 million of them live in Burma, most of them in Rakhine state. The Burmese government denies the Rohingya citizenship and voting rights, claiming theyre illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Bangladeshi authorities say theyre Burmese. Since a wave of Buddhist-Muslim violence in 2012, the Burmese government has virtually held them prisoner in their own country, confined to squalid ghettos and watched over by armed guards. Analysts say the discrimination has fuelled a rise in extremism. In October 2016, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched its first-ever attack, targeting three border posts and killing nine police officers. Security forces, according to a UN investigation, retaliated by burning villagers alive in their houses or shooting them as they fled. They gang-raped women and hurled children into fires. They killed more than 1,000 Rohingya, according to best estimates. Approximately 85,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, joining more than 200,000 others in squalid refugee camps, where they remain. The United Nations concluded that the armys abuses likely amounted to crimes against humanity, charges the government denies. Analysts say conditions in Rakhine state have caused a vicious cycle of violence. They create an environment where (the insurgent group) can increase its legitimacy and recruiting base among local communities and more easily intimidate and kill Rohingya who disagree with it and lack any real protection from the state, the International Crisis Group said in a statement this weekend. What is the Burmese government doing about it? Burmese officials have presented the violence in Burma as an attack by extremist terrorists influenced by foreign forces, and have defended the militarys behaviour. The countrys elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called last weeks raids a calculated attempt to undermine the efforts of those seeking to build peace and harmony in Rakhine state. She did not address allegations of military misconduct. Rights groups have condemned the response. Many once considered Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, an icon of democracy. The countrys brutal military junta had confined her to house arrest for 15 years before watershed elections in 2015 ushered her into power. In a Facebook post Sunday, her office suggested that international aid workers had been abetting the insurgents. It posted pictures of World Food Program biscuits that it said were found at the camp where terrorists sheltered. On Tuesday, the United Nations said it had suspended aid operations in the town of Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state, citing safety concerns. Suu Kyis remarks were irresponsible and only serve to increase fears and the potential for further violence, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement. He added that decades of persistent and systematic human rights violations have contributed to the rise in extremism in the area. Suu Kyi frankly is really turning out to be someone who has no real abiding interests in human rights, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division for Human Rights Watch. Its quite clear in the case of the Rohingya, shes been toeing a strong Burmese nationalist line, that these people dont belong here, and frankly, theyre terrorists. Shes a part of the problem, to be quite clear, he said. Whats next? Last Friday, hours before the violence broke out, the official Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan released a report warning that the violence in Rakhine could spiral out of control. It proposed giving the Rohingya improved rights, including freedom of movement and political participation. Yet analysts said that the current violence and the governments response dampen hopes that officials will follow its counsel. Robertson of Human Rights Watch said that many of the refugees will likely settle in unofficial camps in Bangladesh. These people have no status theyll get some support from the UN and other NGOs, but very limited amounts, he said. And once the winds and waves slow down in the Andaman Sea, which well see in October, were gonna see another boat people crisis. In May 2015, thousands of Rohingya attempted to flee Burma via the Andaman Sea on overcrowded boats, but their smugglers abandoned them, leaving them adrift without food and water. Many died of starvation and disease. The status of an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India is also uncertain. This month, the Indian government instructed authorities nationwide to deport illegal migrants from Rakhine state, saying they were a burden on the limited resources of the country and posed security challenges. With files from The Associated Press SHARE: Perhaps it was an accident of geography that put a police officer in my high school. We were, after all, located across the street from a police station. We often saw police officers. And they often saw the Black boys. It was always clear to me who the police made sure to check in with when they passed through. To be fair, they also checked in with some of the non-Black students who were more regularly in trouble. The School Resource Officer program (SRO) started in the 2008-2009 school year after the tragic death of Jordan Manners the year prior. Manners was a freshman at C.W. Jefferys who was found dead in a school stairwell with a gunshot wound to his chest. It was with this climate in mind that GTA school boards like Peel and Toronto launched the SRO program. By integrating policing into schools, they reasoned, students would be safer and youth crime could be prevented before it became disastrous. Nearly a decade later, that same reasoning is still put forward. It is seriously flawed. Putting police officers in schools puts vulnerable and racialized students in danger in a space that should be safe. For Black students, racial biases affect their schooling practically from the first day they walk in with their too-big backpacks and their squeaky new shoes. A study from Harvard found that while Black students make up 18 per cent of the American pre-school population, they account for over half of the out-of-school suspensions. Activists point to data like this as evidence of how early the school-to-prison pipeline begins. It doesnt take much more for a four-year-old Black kid with a history of suspensions to become a ninth-grader who is known to his schools police officer. The TDSB and the citys police insist the program should continue. At last weeks Toronto Police Service board meeting, Deputy Chief Michael Federico said that officers work in collaboration with the school in capacity building, youth engagement and youth development. When an armed police officer goes into a building full of children, he said, they are not engaged in law enforcement or security; they are engaged in community capacity building. Its a truly cynical bout of wordplay. A police officer is exactly a law enforcement officer; at what point does she clock out and become a community capacity builder? (And, if that is the case, why are the SROs placed in schools that have higher populations of racialized and immigrant students? Arent all communities in need of having their capacity built?) I put the statement to Karl Gardner, a member of No One is Illegal, who said, Its an empirically untrue statement. Your distance from the law is really reduced when theres a cop walking in your hall, he said. This person can say that theyre not a police officer and they can feel like theyre not because on a day-to-day basis, theyre not doing police work. But they are. No One is Illegal and several other organizations have called for an end to the SRO program. Its worth noting that a panel headed by Julian Falconer in 2008 made several recommendations to increase student safety; none included allowing armed police to regularly work in schools. Yet the TDSB and the police are asking students and parents to wait for the result of a review of the program being conducted by Ryerson University. As Gita Madan from Education, Not Incarceration noted in a fiery speech in front of the police service board last week, Ryerson is the only university without a faculty of education. Theres a serious lack of transparency about this review, she said by phone on Wednesday. There is ample evidence already, she says, that having police in schools does not work. Students who might already have a history of really negative interactions with the police are expected to come to school and interact with an SRO as if that person is not a police officer. Seeing a police officer at your kids school palling around with the students can make parents feel secure. But a police presence doesnt have the same effect on kids who engage with it mostly when theyre at their worst. Our schools should be safe for all students. Police officers dont make schools safer; for many kids, they make them scarier. Vicky Mochama is a co-host of the podcast Safe Space. Her column appears every second Thursday. She also writes a tri-weekly column for Metro News that mixes politics, news and humour. SHARE: A stream of news reports in recent months has revealed a disturbing pattern that threatens to undermine public confidence in our citys law enforcement. The Toronto police have repeatedly failed to follow the force's own rule mandating that officers promptly notify the Special Investigations Unit, the provinces police watchdog, about incidents in which civilians were injured during altercations with its officers. To restore the public trust, police must break this troubling pattern. That will require that police who dont report incidents to the SIU face real and serious consequences, including provincial or even criminal charges. Read more: SIU director tells Toronto chief to educate cops about their duty to the police watchdog SIU allegations regularly ignored by police, critics say On Wednesday, Star reporter Wendy Gillis revealed that in June 2016, SIU director Tony Loparco wrote to Chief Mark Saunders asking him to educate his officers about their duty to report to the watchdog. The letter was prompted by a May 2015 case in which an unnamed man was taken to hospital following a police raid, suffering from a cut above his eye and bleeding from a perforated ear drum. The police didnt alert the SIU about his injuries, and the unit only took up the case after someone else lodged a complaint months later. Loparcos letter should have put the Toronto police brass on alert that officers were failing in their duty to report to the SIU. But it doesnt appear to have had that effect. Six months after Loparco sent the note, an off-duty Toronto officer named Michael Theriault allegedly severely beat a Black teenager named Dafonte Miller in Whitby. The Durham and Toronto police forces both failed to contact the SIU. Instead, Millers lawyer notified the watchdog five months after the alleged attack. Theriault and his brother are now facing charges. In yet another separate development, last week the SIU charged Toronto Const. Joseph Dropuljic with allegedly assaulting a Black man as he was getting into a taxi in November 2015. In that instance, police alerted the SIU 11 months after the alleged beating. In response to questions from Gillis, police spokesperson Mark Pugash would say only that the force took seriously Loparcos comments about informing the SIU. That doesn't inspire much confidence. In any case, Loparco's suggested remedy of educational requirements doesn't seem to go far enough. If officers dont recognize that an encounter that ended with a civilian being taken to hospital bleeding from his head and ear is serious enough to report, no amount of additional education is likely to convince them otherwise. What might encourage officers to report to the SIU however is the knowledge that they could pay a high price if they dont. In his landmark April report, Justice Michael Tulloch recommended that officers who dont cooperate with an SIU probe should face a provincial offence, punishable by a fine or imprisonment but with no criminal record. Tulloch is on the right track but should have been explicit that officers who dont alert the SIU should face the possibility of fines or jail time. Surely failing to report an act that could trigger an SIU investigation is as serious as impeding an investigation once underway. Attorney General Yasir Naqvi should take this into account before he tables police oversight legislation this fall that is expected to be heavily informed by Tullochs review. The SIU also has the authority to lay criminal charges against officers who hinder an investigation. The agency should exercise that power when warranted. Officers who dont report civilian injuries to the SIU have committed a serious breach of the public trust. They should be confronted by serious penalties. Read more about: SHARE: Susur Lee restaurants to return docked tips, Aug. 29 Having spent four years volunteering on the campaign to get Ontario to pass a law banning the theft of tips and gratuities, I am encouraged and discouraged to see the Stars recent report on the issue. Despite a recent, comprehensive review of the Employment Standards Act (ESA), Ontario persists with a separate and substantially lower minimum wage for liquor servers, based on the assumption that those workers will get to keep their tips. Your recent report clearly shows that, nearly two years after the province passed the Protecting Employees Tips Act, there are still workplaces where tips are stolen from Ontario workers. In situations where tips/gratuities are pooled and disbursed by employers, workers ought to have the legal right to monitor tip distribution. Without this practical safeguard, tip theft will always be a threat. While I commend the effort by the Ministry of Labour last Christmas to embark on a public education campaign about the new tip law, the problem persists. It seems obvious that an amendment is needed to the ESA to prevent tip theft by empowering workers to participate in the distribution of their own tips. Now is the time to investigate this widespread problem and push for preventative measures. Mike Vorobej, Ottawa Servers Association SHARE: While rains and flooding brought by Hurricane Harvey have devastated the Houston area, a local Pizza Hut franchisee is keeping up with deliveries via kayak. Shayda Habib, the manager of a Pizza Hut location in Sugarland, Texas, delivered pizzas to families trapped in flooding homes without food on kayaks, keeping the pizzas warm in delivery pouches. "We are so proud of our team for seeing a need, stepping up and helping the community in a time of devastation," Pizza Hut franchisee James Bodenstedt told local media. "One of the things I've been amazed by during Harvey is just how good the food industry is," David Portalatin, a Houston-based food industry analyst at NPD Group, wrote in an email. "Retail shelves that were decimated in the days of hasty pre storm preparation were filled to abundance the next day, and grocery stores were among the first to open. A testament to the efficiency or our supply chain, the persistent of industry employees and the overwhelming abundance of this wealthy nation." Not all the grocery stores have managed to keep up with demand, however. Buzzfeed reported that stores like Kroger Co. (KR) - Get Free Report and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.'s (WBA) - Get Free Report Walgreens are struggling to keep up with demand for food in Houston. Pizza Hut is owned by Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) - Get Free Report , whose other brands include KFC and Taco Bell. Pizza Hut isn't the only restaurant chain to impress during storms. Privately held Waffle House is so good at operating even during storms that its inspired FEMA's unofficial Waffle House Index. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Two unusual stories are unfolding for gold: one strange and the other truly weird. "These stories explain why gold is not just money but is the most politicized form of money," Jim Rickards, the author of Currency Wars said in an interview. "They show that while politicians publicly disparage gold, they quietly pay close attention to it," Rickards said. The first strange gold story involves Germany. Germany's central bank recently completed its plan to repatriate the country's gold reserves from New York and Paris, three years ahead of schedule. Initially expected to take until 2020, the plan involved returning 374 tons of gold from Paris, and 300 tons from New York. Germany started the repatriation program back in 2013; they initially wanted the gold back in five years time, but the U.S. Federal Reserve renegotiated for a seven-year timeline. Rickards explained how this move was much more political than anything. The second weird event for Rickards is Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's recent visit to Fort Knox. After Mnuchin tweeted that all $200 billion worth of gold is still there, Rickards said a few red flags went up for him. "Mnuchin is only the third Treasury secretary in history ever to visit Fort Knox and this was the first official visit from Washington, D.C., since 1974. The U.S. government likes to ignore gold and not draw attention to it. So why an impromptu visit by Mnuchin." This expert take on gold is brought to you by www.kitco.com. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: President Trump's administration plans to block a move by Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft to gain control of Venezuela's Citgo oil refineries, the Wall Street Journal reported. Petroleos de Venezuela SA offered Russia's PAO Rosneft (RNFTF) half of its Citgo Petroleum Corp. shares as collateral for loans it made in 2016 totaling $1.5 billion. The Venezuelan unit borrowed from Rosneft to alleviate its cash shortage and help the Venezuelan government stay afloat. U.S. lawmakers are concerned that Russia could gain a controlling interest in Citgo, which represents about 5% of U.S. crude oil refining capacity. Rosneft has attempted to secure new collateral for the loans it made to Venezuela, recognizing the Citgo deal might not happen. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: As Hurricane Harvey is anticipated to become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, there are still some states seeking money from prior hurricanes. Yet, while the flood levels begin to recede in Texas and the cleanup starts, President Donald Trump has expressed that Congress will foot the bill. You're going to see very rapid action from Congress," the president said on Monday. "You're going to get your funding." The cleanup bill will likely be substantial as the projected cost of the storm continues to rise. An estimated 100,000 homes in the Houston area were damaged or destroyed, according to the White House. Private weather firm AccuWeather projects that Harvey could cost $190 billion, according to a report by USA Today, which is equal to the combined cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. "Parts of Houston, the United States' fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood," AccuWeather president Joel Myers told USA Today. Given this historic natural disaster, TheStreet breaks down what federal funds were provided for some of the nation's biggest hurricanes. Hurricane Andrew -- 1992 At the time, Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in American history, devastating South Florida. Assisting in the cleanup, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided more than $290 million in federal assistance to about 108,000 people affected by the storm and an additional $746 million to help rebuild infrastructure. "We knew we had years of recovery ahead of us given the severe impact that this storm had on South Florida communities, and it was clear the government couldn't do it alone," said FEMA Region IV Administrator Phil May. "Federal, state and local partners, the private sector, the faith-based and non-profit groups, and especially the public--everyone rolled up their sleeves and worked together to help people recover from the storm." Goldman Sachs noted this week that FEMA will need additional funding since the primary source of the agency's funding, the Disaster Relief Fund, has a balance of $3.3 billion and will likely be "drawn down fairly quickly over the coming weeks." Hurricane Katrina -- 2005 During President George W. Bush's second term, Hurricane Katrina caused severe damaged along the Gulf Coast, from central Florida to Texas. It was one of the five deadliest hurricanes to ever strike the U.S. and displaced more than a million people. Louisiana was the hardest hit area in the region; approximately 80% of New Orleans was flooded once the levees protecting the city failed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the storm was responsible for at least $108 billion in damages, making it more costly than Andrew. Federal spending related to the hurricane totaled more than $120 billion. Notably, Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech in 2005 when he serving in the House Representative (R-IN) warning against funding Katrina relief efforts without cutting funding elsewhere. "Congress must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt," Pence said at the time. The vice president traveled to Texas on Thursday to meet with victims of Hurricane Harvey and witness the destruction from the storm. Hurricane Ike -- 2008 Hurricane Ike was the last hurricane to hit the Texas and Louisiana area, making landfall in Texas in September 2008. Ike was responsible for an estimated 113 deaths in the U.S. and approximately $29.5 billion in damages. Federal assistance to help Texas topped $2.5 billion, according to FEMA. Super Storm Sandy -- 2012 In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy slammed into Cuba and then moved north toward the mid-Atlantic states. Even though it made landfall in New Jersey as a post-tropical cyclone, because of its size, "Sandy drove a catastrophic storm surge into the New Jersey and New York coastlines," said the National Hurricane Center in a NOAA report. Damage from the storm was estimated at about $50 billion, according to NOAA. After the superstorm, however, 179 House Republicans voted against relief for the New York-New Jersey area, including members of the Texas delegation. Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) also voted against the efforts. This week Sen. Cruz defended his position, saying that "it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of the bill had nothing to do with Sandy." But that notion is mostly incorrect, and even without a number of Republicans, a $50 billion package was approved in January 2013. Hurricane Matthew -- 2016 More recently, Hurricane Matthew slammed into North Carolina last October, killing 20 people and forcing thousands to evacuate. The state asked for $929 million to help communities and families repair their homes and businesses after damaging flooding. But in May, North Carolina learned that it will receive just $6.1 million. Governor Roy Cooper said it was "an incredible failure by the Trump Administration and Congressional leaders to turn their backs." He said Matthew caused an estimated $4.8 billion in damages across 50 counties in North Carolina. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Dallas-based healthcare company Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) - Get Free Report on Thursday announced that its chairman and CEO Trevor Fetter has stepped down from his positions as director and CEO. The company said he would resign effective earlier of March 15, 2018, or when a successor is appointed. Its current independent lead director Ronald A. Rittenmeyer will become executive chairman effective immediately. The role establishes Rittenmeyer as the company's senior most executive. Tenet has also started the process to "refresh the composition of its Board." The process will ensure that future board members have the best "mix of skill and experience to maximize the future value of the company," Tenet said. "The Board of Directors thanks Trevor for his significant contributions to Tenet and appreciates his commitment to remain with the Company during the transition period. During Trevor's tenure, Tenet has built a strong enterprise that is aligned with the trends driving healthcare, and which provides multiple channels for growth across the company's Hospital, Ambulatory and Conifer segments," Rittenmeyer said. Shares of Tenet were rising in after-hours trading on Thursday. More of What's Trending onTheStreet: Irish model Gail Kaneswaren has officially tied the knot. Gail and her long-term partner have been planning a wedding abroad for several months, but they have already made their vows in a Dublin registry office in front of a small group of family and friends. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The model shared a photo of the happy couple standing side-by-side after the ceremony. "First one down. Just signed my single life away. Can't wait until the big day," she said. Gail also looks to be planning on taking her new husband's surname as she referred to the pair as "the Dalys". The bride wore a 70s style 'wedding suit' complete with flowing culottes, which she paired with a lace cropped cardigan from The Showroom in Dublin for the occasion, while the groom looked dapper in a blue suit. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference "Wedding formalities done now back to planning the big day! One week to go!" she wrote on a post sharing the particulars of her stylish wedding outfit. Many of the model's nearest and dearest have been quick to send their congratulations and said they were looking forward to the bash taking place next month. After scouting several locations around Europe, Gail and Henry eventually settled on the Algarve region of Portugal for their second ceremony. Gail will walk up the aisle in the picturesque town of Vilamoura, which has long been popular with tourists. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Video of the Day While some couples are engaged for a year or more before they marry, Gail and Henry decided to hit the ground running after he popped the question last April. They were on holiday in Oman with Gail's nine-year-old son Jack when Henry surprised the Andrea Roche model with a ring while they were swimming. Speaking about their relationship, Gail admitted the marketing manager has always known how to charm her. "He is very romantic. He will kill me for saying that but he is very thoughtful," she said. "Last year, a lot of our friends got married so I think he was like, 'I better get on this'." After dating for more than seven years, Gail was surprised her partner had never brought up the subject of marriage before he surprised her with the ring. Henry was originally hoping for a winter wedding, but after years of modelling bridal gowns in the cold, Gail put her foot down and insisted on a summer ceremony. "The amount of freezing cold days I've spent in wedding dresses, I always swore I would never get married in winter," she said. Gail is thankful she has not had to worry about planning the ceremony by herself as Henry has taken the reigns. "He's exceptional. He's really good at organising things and he is efficient," she said. CACI International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides expertise and technology to enterprise and mission customers in support of national security missions and government modernization/transformation in the intelligence, defense, and federal civilian sectors. It operates in two segments, Domestic Operations and International Operations. The Domestic Operations segment offers information solutions and services to the U.S. federal government agencies and commercial enterprises in the areas, such as digital solutions, C4ISR, cyber and space, engineering services, enterprise IT, and mission support. The International Operations segment provides a range of IT services, proprietary data, and software products to the commercial and government customers in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and internationally. The company designs, implements, protects, and manages secure enterprise IT solutions. It also offers software-defined, full-spectrum cyber, electronic warfare, and counter-unmanned aircraft system solutions; and platform integration and modernization and sustainment, as well as system engineering, naval architecture, training and simulation, and logistics engineering. In addition, the company provides enterprise cloud solutions for classified and unclassified networks; and intelligence support that ensures continuous advances in collection, analysis, and dissemination to optimize decision-making. CACI International Inc was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. BERLIN BlackBerry KeyOne, the keyboard-equipped Android phone, that phone maker TCL Communications launched earlier this year, is getting a new version that offers more memory and storage space than the current model. And unfortunately, it doesn't sound likely to land in the U.S. (Image credit: BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition (Credit: Philip Michaels)) At the IFA trade show here today, TCL took the wraps off BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition, which introduces a slick matte black finish to the phone. More important than the new look, the latest KeyOne also augments the Snapdragon 625 mobile processor with 4GB of RAM while providing 64GB of storage. The KeyOne that debuted this past spring featured 3GB of memory and 32GB of on-board storage. This higher-capacity black matte BlackBerry KeyOne is headed to the UK, France, Germany, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Japan by the end of September. And it'll reach other markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America later this year, TCL says. MORE: Unlocked or Carrier: How to Buy Your Next Phone The U.S. is conspicuously missing from that list, but there's a pretty good reason for it there's already a black version of the KeyOne available in the U.S., though it notably lacks the higher memory and capacity of this new edition. Earlier this month, AT&T announced it would start offering a space black version of the KeyOne, joining Sprint as one of the carriers to offer the phone. (The BlackBerry KeyOne is also available unlocked through Amazon and Best Buy. While the black version of the KeyOne is unique to AT&T, it's otherwise no different from the silver-accented KeyOne available elsewhere. And that includes the 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition could reach the U.S. one day, though right now, the black version of the phone that TCL is going to promote in the U.S. is the one available through one of its carrier partners. At least the Black Edition's absence from the U.S. isn't due to lack of interest. TCL officials say the release of the BlackBerry-branded phone has topped their expectations with the biggest issue being a supply that couldn't' meet the demand. That issue has since been fixed, TCL said. In addition to its physical keyboard, which doubles as a trackpad and can trigger different shortcuts for each key, the KeyOne impressed us with its epic battery life and built-in BlackBerry software. If you're mourning the absence of the BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition in this country, there's always Canada, where the black matte phone will sell for $799 Canadian. That's only $637 in US dollars. The Moto G Power (2021) is a worthy successor to previous G Power models, as it still offers long battery life in an affordable, attractive package. Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test . With the Moto G Power, Motorola has latched onto a winning formula for budget phones. Since it's impossible for a phone that costs less than $300 to be all things to all people, the key is to find a feature or two that truly matters to people and absolutely nail it. In the case of the Moto G Power, that feature is battery life. The past two iterations of this phone the Moto G7 Power and last year's Moto G Power delivered on the promise of a long-lasting phone. And this year's version is just as impressive. Moto G Power (2021) specs Price: $199, $249 Screen size: 6.6 inches (1600 x 720) CPU: Snapdragon 662 RAM: 3GB, 4GB Storage: 32GB, 64GB Rear cameras: 48MP (f/1.7) main; 2MP (f/2.4) macro; 2MP (f/2.4) depth Front cameras: 8MP (f/2.0) Battery size: 5,000 mAh Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 14:04 Size: 6.5 x 3 x 0.37 inches Weight: 7.3 ounces Our Moto G Power (2021) review finds a phone that continues to go a long-time on a charge and took home top honors in the Tom's Guide Awards 2021 for best phone battery life. Along the way, this attractively priced phone has picked up a few other tricks that will appeal to bargain hunters. Editor's note: We crowned our picks in the Tom's Guide Awards 2021 for phones. The Moto G Power (2021) won the award for best phone battery life. Moto G Power (2021) review: Price and availability The 64GB Moto G Power (2021) costs $249 and is now on sale unlocked at Motorola.com (opens in new tab); it's one of the best unlocked Android phones you can buy. Carriers offering the phone include Boost Mobile (opens in new tab), Cricket (opens in new tab), Consumer Cellular (opens in new tab), Google Fi (opens in new tab), Republic Wireless (opens in new tab), US Cellular (opens in new tab) and Xfinity Mobile (opens in new tab). In addition to that $249 version, which comes with 4GB of RAM, you'll be able to buy a 32GB Moto G Power (2021) with 3GB RAM for $199 at Best Buy (opens in new tab). You can expand the storage on both new Moto G Power models via a microSD slot on the phones. Moto G Power (2021) review: The best features Having spent some time testing the latest version of the Moto G Power, there are several things I like about the phone, including a couple of key areas where this version is a definite improvement over its predecessor. Here's why the Moto G Power (2021) is the phone to get if you're looking for the best a budget handset can offer. Moto G Power (2021) top feature: The price Phone prices have a tendency to creep upward, so it's good to see Motorola continue to hold the line on the Moto G Power's price. The 2021 costs the same as last year's model, which was one of the best cheap phones we reviewed. We can say the same for the Moto G Power (2021). (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Even better, Motorola has found a way to cut the price of the G Power even lower, though you will have to settle for less memory and storage. Still, a phone that promises multi-day battery life for less than $200 is well worth those compromises, particularly if you're watching your budget. Moto G Power (2021) top feature: Long battery life Let's not beat around the bush. You turn to the Moto G Power (2021) because you want a phone that goes a long time on a charge, and with a 5,000 mAh battery, this is a phone that can deliver on that promise. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) How long does the Moto G Power (2021) last on a charge? So long that when we originally published our Moto G Power (2021) review, the phone was still plugging away on our battery tests, in which we have a fully charged phone surf the web continuously over cellular until it runs out of power. We run that demanding test several times and average out the result to see just what kind of battery life you can expect, and the Moto G Power (2021) doesn't disappoint. It lasted an average of 14 hours and 4 minutes, which means you can get through the day and probably longer without having to charge your phone. Fans of last year's Moto G Power will remember that phone lasted a record-setting 16-plus hours. But the new Moto G Power outlasted all but one other phone we've looked at in the last year and a half, and it deserves a place on our list of the longest phone battery life. Don't expect a fast recharge time with the Moto G Power. After 30 minutes of recharging a drained phone, we were back to 22% of the battery's capacity. The iPhone SE, which is not exactly a recharging speed demon thanks to its 5W charger, got back to 29% in that time. Moto G Power (2021) top feature: The phone's design You don't expect a $249 phone to look like a million bucks, but while the 7.3-ounce Moto G Power feels, a little chunky, Motorola clearly put some effort into giving this phone a look that transcends its budget roots. The flash gray model I tested has a lovely spiral pattern on its back, and I like the centered placement of the rear camera array just above the subtle Motorola batwing logo. (Retail versions of the phone will come in Polar Silver and Glowing Blue options.) (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Bezels on the front of the phone are minimal thanks to a circular camera cutout on the upper left corner of the display and the lack of a fingerprint sensor. Instead, the power button on the new Moto phone does double duty, with a built-in fingerprint reader that I found responsive in my testing. Motorola also added a Moto Action that lets you launch apps by tapping the power button twice. (You will need to enable this feature first, though in the Moto G Power's Settings app.) The Moto G Power (2021) also retains a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the phone, so you won't be forced to pick up a pair of wireless earbuds in addition to your new device. Moto G Power (2021) top feature: Camera performance The $349 Pixel 4a proves that you don't have to spend big bucks to get a phone that produces outstanding photos, which puts pressure on lower-cost devices like the Moto G series to up their camera game. Motorola responded by turning to a more powerful lens with this year's version of the Moto G Power you've got a 48MP camera compared to the 16GB main shooter on last year's phone. A 2MP macro lens and 2MP depth sensor join that main camera. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The results are a mixed bag, with the Moto G Power (2021) producing very good shots in some areas, while falling short in others. The Pixel 4a produces much better shots, but it also costs $100 more than the Moto G Power. For what you're paying for Motorola's, the resulting photos are more than adequate. In some cases, the Moto G Power really shines, particularly when it comes to those extra rear lenses. I'm no fan of macro lenses I'd prefer that budget phone makers scrap them entirely, actually but if every macro lens performed as well as the Moto G Power's did, I'd rethink my position. This close-up of a camellia produces bright colors I find lacking from the OnePlus Nord N10 5G's much darker effort. Similarly, the Moto G Power's depth sensor produces some nice portrait shots for a sub-$300 phone. The Moto G Power did an excellent job making my daughter stand out from the orange tree behind her, making sure not to lose her hair in the background. The Nord N10 loses some detail just over her left shoulder, though I think the OnePlus camera better captures her gray beret. Overall, though, the Moto G Power has the more effective background blur. Things are less impressive when you rely on the Moto G Power's main lens, which produced an accurate shot of this plate of lasagna, but one that pales next to the warmer colors that the Nord N10 5G reproduces. The table in the Moto shot is more washed out, and the glass of wine in the background lacks any hint of red. I know which photo I'd be more likely to share, and it's not the one the Moto G Power took. Even lower cost phones offer low-light photo features now, and the Moto G Power is no exception with its Night Vision mode. The results will do in a pinch, though it falls well short of the standard set by Google's Night Sight. (In this comparison, I used a Pixel 4a 5G, as it was the least expensive Google phone I had on hand.) You can see the pink stuffed animal and the bowl of citrus fruit that might otherwise be lost in the shadow of this shot, but the focus of the photo isn't exactly sharp. The over-processing on the photo also washes out some of the detail of the back wall, which is not a problem in the Pixel photo. Up front, you get an 8MP selfie cam on the Moto G Power (2021). It takes decent self-portraits I like the more colorful cast to the Moto shot but Motorola gets overly aggressive with the face-smoothing. As a result, my face has an unnatural cast to it in the Moto G Power selfie, while the OnePlus Nord N10 provides a more accurate view of my mug, flaws and all. Moto G Power (2021) top feature: Moto's My UX Software Motorola's well-deserved reputation for producing a clean version of Android for its phones continues with this year's Moto G series. And Motorola's gesture-based shortcuts are back, letting you do things like turn on the phone's flashlight with a chopping motion. A new Moto gesture is bound to impress some Moto G Power users dragging your finger back and forth across the phone's display triggers a split-screen effect so you can run two apps at once. It should come in handy if you want to watch a video while texting a friend, or tap out some notes while reading a web page. Moto G Power (2021) review: Features that come up short As impressive as Motorola's new phone is in all those areas, I did encounter a few flaws in testing for my Moto G Power (2021) review. The biggest areas of concern are the phone's display it's a bit dim and the picture isn't always the most colorful and a processor that doesn't deliver the best performance compared to other low-cost phones. Moto G Power (2021) flaw: A dim display The 6.6-inch LCD panel that Motorola uses for the G Power's display is certainly big enough, but don't expect bold colors or a bright view. In our tests, the Moto G Power reproduced 96% of the sRGB color spectrum, and that was in saturated mode. The OnePlus N10 5G, in contrast, has the more colorful screen with 124.8% of the same spectrum. OnePlus' display was more accurate, too, with a Delta-E rating of 0.22. The Moto G Power (2021) turned in a 0.37 rating in saturated mode, which improved to 0.25 when we switched to natural mode. (Numbers closer to zero are better.) (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The raw numbers were reflected by my viewing experience with the Moto G Power. The darker scenes in the No Time to Die trailer looked especially dark, with Daniel Craig and Lashana Lynch nearly lost in shadow at times. Things were brighter when streaming The Simpsons on Disney Plus, thanks to that animated show's more cartoony color scheme the Simpsons themselves were a recognizable shade of yellow while Krusty the Clown's hair was its usual shade of bluish-green. I've seen brighter displays than what the Moto G Power offers, as it topped out at 438 nits when we measured with a light meter. Last year's Moto G Power hit 500 nits, so this is a step back, especially when you compare it to phones like the iPhone SE (653 nits) and Pixel 4a (638 nits). At least the Moto G Power outshines the OnePlus Nord N10 5G (405.7) and TCL 10 5G UW (385 nits), and maxing out the display brightness helped me see the screen outdoors. Moto G Power (2021) flaw: Overall performance You're not going to pick up the Moto G Power if you want the latest and greatest processor, and the Snapdragon 662 chipset powering the phone is certainly adequate for most tasks. I never had a problem jumping between apps, streaming videos and even playing demanding games, though I've seen sharper graphics in PUBG Mobile sessions on other phones. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) That said, the Moto G Power's benchmark scores are a little anemic when compared to phones that are only slightly more expensive. On Geekbench 5, the Moto G Power's multicore score of 1,437 trailed the Nord N10's result of 1,843. In graphics testing with 3DMark's Wild Life benchmark, the Moto G Power recorded 367 frames, or 2.2 frames per second. The OnePlus Nord N10 managed to more than double that result. Moto G Power (2021) flaw: No 5G The Snapdragon 662 chipset in the Moto G Power also means that the phone tops out with LTE connectivity there's no 5G to be found here. I don't think this is a show-stopping omission by any means, given that 5G is still an emerging technology and not yet ubiquitous. But prices of 5G phones are falling the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is just $50 more than the Moto G Power so the "you have to pay up for 5G" excuse doesn't hold as much water as it did a year ago. You're probably safe on skipping 5G compatibility if you're upgrading phones this year. But networks are going to continue evolving, and if you're the sort who holds onto a device for two years or longer, you'll be giving up that improving performance. (That said, LTE speeds are likely to improve as 5G becomes widespread, as the faster network will help ease congested 4G traffic.) Moto G Power (2021) flaw: Limited upgrades One trade-off you make by buying a lower cost Android is that the phone maker will only offer a limited number of software updates. That's also the case with the Moto G Power (2021), as Motorola is committing to supporting just one Android update, along with two years of security patches. From left to right: Moto G Stylus, Moto G Play and Moto G Power (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The lone Android update stings a lot more than it normally would, as the Moto G Power ships with Android 10 installed, and not Android 11, which came out in September. That means once your phone gets the Android 11 update, that's it even with Android 12 coming down the pike later this year. Moto G Power (2021) review: Verdict Any sub-$300 phone is going to involve some compromises, and fortunately, the ones that the latest version of the Moto G Power makes aren't going to put many budget shoppers off. Yes, there are more powerful phones with better displays that don't cost that much more than the Moto G Power (2021). But the long-battery life of Motorola's phone continues to carry the day, especially for a phone that you can find for $250 or less. The cameras on the Moto G Power aren't world-beaters, but it'll produce good shots. And I actually like the look and feel of this phone a surprise given the G Power's budget roots. Still, the reason to consider past Moto G Power models was its epic battery life, and I'm happy to report that continues with the 2021 edition of this popular budget phone. Kylo Ren stood in front of me, and since he already had his lightsaber drawn, I assumed he wasn't there to calmly chat about the relative merits of the First Order. Indeed, the would-be Sith Lord slashed at me with his lightsaber, but my Force sense flashed before my eyes, showing two yellow lines where I could hold my own lightsaber to parry his attacks. Soon, we were trading blows, and I think Rey herself would have been impressed with my mastery of the Force. (Image credit: With an AR headset from Lenovo and a lightsaber controller, you can take on Kylo Ren in Star Wars Jedi Challenges. (Credit: Tom's Guide)) My own personal battle with Kylo Ren came courtesy of the $199 Star Wars Jedi Challenges, a joint effort between Disney and Lenovo to bring the Jedi experience right before your eyes via augmented reality. Strap on the Lenovo-built headset, grab your lightsaber and you're ready to bring an adventure from a galaxy far, far away to your very own room. In addition to Lenovo's Mirage AR headset and lightsaber controller which bears more than a passing resemblance to the one Luke Skywalker used to wield the Star Wars Jedi Challenges includes a tracking beacon, which helps pinpoint your location for all those battles with the likes of Kylo Ren and Darth Maul. Jedi Challenges is now available for preorder at Best Buy (opens in new tab) before it arrives in time for the holidays. (Image credit: Jedi Challenges includes these three hardware components. (Credit: Tom's Guide)) Having wires dangling from the back of a headset might trip up even the nimblest of Jedis, so Lenovo designed the Jedi Challenge headset to be powered by a smartphone, giving you some freedom of movement. You slide your smartphone into the top of the headset similar to how Google's Daydream View works and you're ready to ready to battle the Dark Side of the Force. (opens in new tab) Star Wars Jedi Challenges (Pre-Order) Lenovo's headset should work with a broader range of phones than the ones you can use with Daydream View. For starters, the headset works with the iPhone the iPhone 6 and later is supported, a Lenovo rep told me. On the Android side, the Mirage AR headset works with Samsung's Galaxy S6 and later as well as a host of Motorola handsets. MORE: The Best Star Wars Gadgets and Toys The 1.04-pound headset sat comfortably on my head when I took Jedi Challenges out for a test battle, and though I was bopping around the floor like the Star Wars kid from that viral video, the headset never slipped out of place. Likewise, the 12.4 x 1.9 inch lightsaber was comfortable to hold, even during extended play sessions. (Image credit: The Mirage AR headset up close (Credit: Lenovo)) As impressive as the hardware is and Lenovo's built a pretty slick, inexpensive headset that uses two fisheye cameras for its inside-out positional tracking the software struck me as the star of the show. Disney sees augmented reality as a great platform for telling new types of stories, and Jedi Challenges offers three categories of games with more than 30 challenges. So don't expect that headset and lightsaber to gather dust in the back of a closet after a few gaming sessions. Jedi Challenges will get you up and moving, as my huffing and puffing after fighting off Kylo Ren can attest. My only hands-on time with Jedi Challenges was in the Lightsaber Battles mode, which gives you the opportunity to build up your fighting skills so that you can eventually take on Darth Vader. I wish I would have had the chance to try out Strategic Combat, which lets you direct a virtual battle that unfolds across your floor. Imagine recreating the Battle of Hoth, positioning rebel forces, gun turrets and other weapons to stop the onslaught of Imperial AT-ATs and stormtroopers. (Image credit: This lightsaber controller is more elegant than a blaster. (Credit: Tom's Guide)) Jedi Challenges' third mode recreates the Holochess game from Episode IV. You decide which monsters to place on the circular chessboard. As each monster has different strengths and weaknesses, there's some degree of strategy involved beyond just letting the wookiee win. And in addition to harnessing brainpower, Jedi Challenges will also get you up and moving, as my huffing and puffing after fighting off Kylo Ren can attest. You're playing on the Light Side of the Force in Jedi Challenges. It might add an element of intrigue if you could choose between the Light and Dark sides as you can in other Star Wars games like in Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront. Disney's focusing on the current iteration of Jedi Challenges, but I think it's safe to say I wasn't the first person to suggest that possibility to the Disney reps I talked to. And you can see why Disney would like to keep the focus on this new release of Star Wars Jedi Challenges. From what we've seen so far, it's a promising blend of software and hardware that puts you smack dab in the Star Wars universe. Bahrains Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza recently met executive heads and senior officials of major non-oil companies, a report said. Dr Mirza explained the background of the setting up of the Sustainable Energy Unit and its two main objectives - to encourage investment in renewable energy as well as to raise the efficiency and rationalization of energy consumption, reported Bahrain News Agency (BNA). The minister spoke of the national objectives adopted by the Council of Ministers. He said the objective of the meeting was to work towards achieving objectives of the National Energy Efficiency Plan (NEEAP) and the National Renewable Energy Plan (NREAP). The minister reviewed the plans and objectives of the Sustainable Energy Unit along with those of NEEAP and NREAP and their initiatives related to the petroleum, petrochemical and gas industries. Dr Mirza also reviewed the activities and achievements of the National Committee to follow up the implementation of these plans, through its agenda and sub-committees emanating from it, and the initiatives that are included in the national plans. The visitors expressed their readiness to support the national energy plans and the work of the National Committee in addition to their readiness to support the efforts and objectives of the Sustainable Energy Unit. The minister thanked the attendees for their constructive suggestions and support. United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP resident representative Amin Al-Sharqawi, along with senior officials of Bahrain International Airport, Alba, Batelco, Garmco, JBF Bahrain, MAF Investment, Seef Properties, Triebacher Al Zayani and Abu Hussain Fiberglass attended. Trade Environment The Interim Agreement establishing a Framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) States (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) is the EUs 25th RTA notified to the WTO. Among the ESA States for whom the Agreement is in force, for Madagascar it is the 2nd RTA notified, for Mauritius the 3rd RTA, the first for the Seychelles and the 4th for Zimbabwe; the other ESA States the Comoros and Zambia, did not sign the Agreement although discussions with the Comoros on signature are continuing. The EU is the worlds second largest merchandise trader (excluding intra-EU trade) both in exports and imports with exports valued at 2,415 billion euros and imports at 2,188 billion euros in 2013. Among the ESA States the largest trader is Mauritius, ranked 97th in the world in terms of global exports and 99th in imports, followed by Zimbabwe, ranked 98th in world exports and 108th in imports. Madagascar is ranked as the worlds 107th exporter and 117th importer of merchandise, while the Seychelles was the worlds 138th and 140th exporter and importer respectively. Trade with the European Union is important for the economies of the ESA States. In 2014 the European Union was the largest destination for merchandise exports from three of the four ESA States (Mauritius, 49.1% of its exports, Madagascar, 49.8% and the Seychelles, 59.3%). It is the third largest export destination for Zimbabwe (5% of its exports). In 2014 the EU was the largest source of merchandise imports for the Seychelles (33.6% of its imports), second largest for Mauritius (20.8%) and Madagascar (15.6%) and third largest for Zimbabwe (albeit representing only 8.6% of its imports). For the EU Mauritius is the 75th largest source of imports, followed by Madagascar at 78th, Zimbabwe at 91 and Seychelles at 109th large source of imports. In terms of EU exports, Mauritius is its 91st largest merchandise export market, followed by Madagascar (112), Seychelles (136) and Zimbabwe (139). In terms of structure, while the European Unions exports and imports are dominated by manufactured goods, with the exception of Mauritius whose exports of manufactures account for over 68% of total merchandise exports in 2015 and to some extent Madagascar (29% of exports), agriculture and fuels and mining form a more important share of total exports for the ESA States. Agriculture accounts for 29% of total merchandise exports for Madagascar, 43% for Zimbabwe and as much as 61% for the Seychelles, while fuels and mining exports are important for Madagascar (35%). Imports by the ESA States are dominated by manufactured products, at around 55% of total imports. Global and bilateral merchandise trade between the EU and the ESA States between 2002 and 2014: The EU has, for much of the period, had a trade deficit in its global exports, which widened steadily between 2004 and 2008. Since 2009 trade has been more balanced. With regards to its ESA partners, however, with the exception of the Seychelles, the EU has maintained a deficit in its trade; the deficit with the Seychelles declined between 2002 and 2006 before moving into surplus until 2013 since when it has been in deficit again. All the ESA parties have also maintained deficits in their global trade during the period; Zimbabwes trade in particular has been volatile. Commodity structure of trade among the Parties and imports and exports to the world in the period 2009-11, on the basis of Harmonized System (HS) sections: Over this period, the EUs four largest export product categories machinery, chemicals, vehicles and base metals made up 73% of its total exports and accounted for 61% of Madagascars imports from the EU; 46% of Mauritiuss imports from the EU; 65% of Seychelles and Zimbabwes imports from the EU. Other key imports by the ESA States from the EU include textiles by Madagascar (12% of total imports), live animal products by Mauritius (17%), while base metals were not a significant import by Zimbabwe. Over the same period, the five largest export product categories from Madagascar textiles, vegetable products, minerals, animal products, and prepared foods made up 74% of its total exports and accounted for 89% of the EUs imports from Madagascar. The two largest export categories from Mauritius textiles and prepared foods made up 72% of its total exports and accounted for 81% of the EUs imports from Mauritius. However, the structure of exports for the Seychelles and Zimbabwe is different globally and with regard to the EU. While the two largest export categories from the Seychelles textiles and live animals made up 81% of its total exports, 90% of the EUs imports from the Seychelles were in prepared foods (fish and fisheries products), while of the four largest export categories from Zimbabwe which made up 70% of its total exports, only textiles and base metals (67%) were key EU imports. Characteristic Elements of the Agreement The Agreement was signed by the Parties on 29 August 2009 and provisionally applied since 14 May 2012. It was notified to the WTO on 27 July 2012 under Article XXIV:7 of the GATT 1994 and its Understanding.3 The Agreement aims to contribute to the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty through a strengthened and strategic trade and development partnership consistent with the objective of sustainable development, the Millennium Development Goals and the Cotonou Agreement. Other goals of the Agreement include: to promote regional integration, economic cooperation and good governance in the ESA region and its gradual integration into the world economy; structural adjustment of the ESA economies and diversification; and improved trade policy and trade related capacity (Article 2). Article 3 aims to establish an agreement consistent with GATT Article XXIV and to establish the framework, scope and principles for further negotiations on the basis of proposals already submitted and for potential negotiations on other issues as identified in the Cotonou Agreement and of interest to the Parties. Article 4 of the Agreement permits ESA LDCs that have not yet submitted tariff reduction offers to do so after signature of the Interim Agreement on the same or flexible conditions and to benefit fully from its provisions. In addition to Zambia and the Comoros, who have made offers (as in Annex II) but have not yet signed the Agreement, the ESA LDCs are Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Malawi, none of whom have submitted a market access offer yet. All ESA States are eligible to accede to the Agreement (Article 66). Furthermore, the Agreement permits the ESA States to maintain regional preferences among themselves and other African countries and regions with no obligations to extend them to the EU. The Agreement contains six Chapters and four annexes and two protocols all of which form an integral part of the Agreement. Chapter V of the Interim Agreement contains a rendez-vous clause to build on the Cotonou Agreement and continue negotiations to conclude a full and comprehensive EPA covering the following areas: customs and trade facilitation; outstanding trade and market access issues, including rules of origin and other related issues and trade defence measures, including outermost regions; technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures; trade in services; trade related issues (competition policy; investment and private sector development; trade, environment and sustainable development; intellectual property rights; and transparency in public procurement); agriculture; current payments and capital payments; development issues; cooperation and dialogue on good governance in the tax and judicial area; an elaborated dispute settlement mechanism, institutional arrangements; and any other areas that the Parties find necessary, including consultations under Article 12 of the Cotonou Agreement. Provisions on Trade in Goods Import duties and charges, and quantitative restrictions Chapter II of the Agreement covers trade in goods. The Agreement aims to provide full duty free6 and quota free market access into the EU for goods originating in the ESA States on a secure, long term and predictable basis (Article 5). It also aims to promote trade between the parties and export led growth to enable the integration of the ESA economies into the global economy; to progressively and gradually liberalize the ESA goods market as established by the Agreement; and to preserve and improve market access conditions to ensure that all ESA States are better and not worse off. The commitment to liberalize trade in goods only applies to the signatory ESA States listed in Annex II to the Agreement and to the EU market vis a vis these States. If a signatory ESA State not mentioned in Annex II wishes to join Chapter II, it shall notify its intention to the EPA Committee which has the competence to amend Annex II and may decide on any transitional measures or amendments necessary to facilitate the inclusion of the State under Annex II. Tariff reductions are to be applied successively on the basic customs duty indicated in the Parties tariff schedules to the Agreement. The EU implemented its commitments upon entry into force of the Agreement (2012), while the ESA States will eliminate tariffs in stages by 2022. Fees and charges under Article 10 shall be limited to the approximate cost of services rendered and shall not represent an indirect protection for domestic products or a taxation of imports for fiscal purposes; they will be based on specific rates. Under Annex III the Seychelles had maintained price controls on imports as an exception for 10 years on national treatment on internal taxation and regulation; Seychelles has however indicated that with the promulgation of the Customs Management (Tariff and Classification of Goods) Regulations 2013, it has abolished the price control regime. The Parties also agree not to increase their applied customs duties on products imported from the other Party (Article 14). Article 16, furthermore, commits the European Union to accord to signatory ESA States any more favourable treatment applied as a result of its free trade agreements with third parties after the signature of the Agreement. With regard to the subjects covered by the Agreement, the signatory ESA States will accord to the EU any more favourable treatment applied as a result of any new free trade agreement with any major trading economy after signing the Agreement. However, the Chapter does not oblige the Parties to extend reciprocally any preferential treatment provided by any Party to third parties through a free trade agreement on the date of signature of the Agreement. The commitments to provide favourable treatment to the EU will also not apply in respect of trade agreements they have with other African countries and regions. Article 17 prohibits quantitative prohibitions and restrictions on imports between the Parties, other than customs duties, taxes, fees and other charges under Article 7, whether through quotas, import licences or other measures. These shall be eliminated upon the entry into force of the Agreement and no new measures shall be introduced. National treatment shall also be provided for imported products originating in the other Party, which shall not be subject either directly or indirectly to internal taxes or other internal charges of any kind in excess of those applied, directly, or indirectly, to like national products. The Parties will also not apply internal taxes or other internal charges that afford protection to national production (Article 18). Imported products originating in the other Party will be accorded treatment no less favourable than that accorded to like national products in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use. No Party may establish or maintain any internal quantitative regulation for the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions which requires, directly or indirectly, that any specified amount or proportion of any products which is the subject of the regulation must be supplied from domestic sources. No internal quantitative regulations may be applied so as to afford protection to national production. Article 18, however, does not prevent the payment of subsidies exclusively to national producers, including payments derived from the proceeds of internal taxes or charges applied consistently with the provisions of the Article and subsidies effected through government purchases of national products. The EPA Committee may also authorize a signatory ESA State to depart from the provisions of Article 18 to promote the establishment of domestic production and protect infant industries. In this respect the development needs of signatory ESA States and especially the needs and concerns of ESA LDCs will be taken into account. Annex III lists provisional derogations which are granted to the interested signatory ESA States for the periods of time indicated in the Annex. Liberalization of trade and tariff lines Annex I to the Agreement states that the EU will eliminate tariffs on all products of HS Chapters 1-97 except Chapter 93 (arms and ammunition), originating in an ESA State, upon entry into force of the Agreement. Chapter 93 will remain subject to the MFN rate of duty. The EU eliminated duties on products under HS 1006 from 1 January 2010 with the exception of HS 10061010, for which duties were eliminated upon entry into force of the Agreement. Sugar imports from the ESA were subject to the provisions of Protocol 3 of the Cotonou Agreement until 30 September 2009. In 2012, since when the Agreement has been applied, around a quarter (24.6%) of the EUs tariff was duty free on an MFN basis.9 This corresponded to an average of 17.2% of its imports from Madagascar, 8.5% from Mauritius, 5.3% from the Seychelles and 24.5% from Zimbabwe for the period immediately preceding entry into force (2009-2011). As of 2012, a further 7,058 lines were liberalized by the EU for imports from these ESA Parties, with 18 lines (0.2% of the tariff) remaining dutiable. As a result of the liberalization, 100% of EU imports from the ESA States during 2009-11 are covered and entered the EU market free of duty. According to Annex II to the Agreement, tariff elimination by the ESA Parties began in 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2022. 6% (391 lines) of Madagascars tariff was duty free for imports on an MFN basis in 2014, corresponding to 10.5% of its imports from the EU during 2011-2013.10 In 2014 Madagascar liberalized 1,331 lines (20.5% of the tariff) for imports from the EU, corresponding to 26.7% of its EU imports during 2011-2013. The remainder of its tariff liberalization is to take place in 2022 with 3,972 lines expected to be liberalized in that year; these correspond to 52.4% of Madagascars imports during 2011-2013 from the EU. At the end of implementation, Madagascar will maintain tariffs on 812 lines (12.5% of the tariff) for imports from the EU, corresponding to 10.4% of its imports from the EU during 2011-2013. 88.6% of Mauritiuss MFN applied tariff was duty free for imports from all sources, corresponding to 93.7% of its total average annual imports from the EU during 2009-11. Under the Agreement in 2013 Mauritius liberalized tariffs on an additional 35 lines for imports from the EU, corresponding to 0.6% of its imports from the EU during 2009-11. Further liberalization took place in 2017 (45 lines, corresponding to 0.5% of imports from the EU during 2009-11) and scheduled for 2022 (526 lines which accounted for 3% of Mauritius imports from the EU during 2009-11). Once the Agreement is fully implemented, Mauritius will maintain tariffs on 110 tariff lines (1.8% of the tariff), corresponding to 2.2% of its imports from the EU during 2009-11. Seychelles started to implement its commitments under the Agreement in February 2013. In 2013 around 84.3% of its tariff (4,686 lines) were already duty free on an MFN basis and corresponded to 93.7% of Seychelles imports from the EU during 2010-2012. In 2013 tariffs on a further 180 lines were eliminated for imports from the EU, corresponding to 0.9% of imports from the EU during 2010-2012. Further liberalization took place in 2017 (88 lines), and is scheduled for 2022 (345 lines). At the end of implementation, Seychelles will maintain tariffs on 257 lines (4.63%) of the tariff, corresponding to 3.2% of its imports in 2010-2012 from the EU. In 2012 Zimbabwe provided duty free access for 663 lines (10.8% of the tariff) on an MFN basis. This corresponded to 33.2% of its total average annual imports from the EU during 2014-2016. Under the Agreement Zimbabwe liberalized a further 37.7% of the tariff (2,307 lines) for the EU in 2012, corresponding to 20.5% of its imports from the EU during 2014-16. A further 2,284 tariff lines are due to be liberalized in 2022, following ten years of implementation, and corresponding to 30.1% of Zimbabwes imports from the EU during 2014-16. Once the Agreement is fully implemented, Zimbabwe will maintain duties on 14.2% of its tariffs (868 lines) for imports from the EU; these correspond to 16.2% of its imports from the EU in 2014-16. Sector-Specific Provisions of the Agreement Sugar Under EU policy its customs duties on imports from the ESA States of products under HS 1701 were eliminated on 1 October 2009. Until that time and in addition to the tariff rate quota (TRQ) under the Sugar Protocol, a TRQ at zero duty of 75,000 metric tonnes was provided for the marketing year20 2008/09 for products under HS 1701, white sugar equivalent, from the ESA States. Import licences were to be granted for the additional TRQ only if the importer agreed to purchase the products at a price at least equal to the guaranteed prices fixed for sugar imported into the EU under the Sugar Protocol. Under paragraph 5 of the Annex, the EU could during the period 1 October 2009-30 September 2015, raise import duties to the MFN rate for sugar imported in excess of a certain quantity from the ESA States which were deemed to cause a disturbance in the EU sugar market. The EU confirms it has never taken such a measure. UN recognized least developed countries will not be subject to these provisions but imports from these countries will nevertheless be subject to the safeguard clause under the Agreement. Any measure taken pursuant to paragraph 5 shall be notified and subject to periodic consultations in the EPA Committee. The EU indicates that the procedure ended on 30 September 2015. For the period from 1 October 2015, in applying the safeguard measures under Article 21 of the Agreement for products under HS 1701, disturbances in the market were deemed to arise if the EU market price of white sugar fell during two consecutive months below 80% of the EU market price during the previous marketing year. The EU indicates that such measures have never been applied. Imports of products under HS 17049099, 18061030, 18061090, 21069059 and 21069098 from the ESA States were subject to a special surveillance mechanism from 1 January 2008 to 30 September 2015 to ensure that the arrangements described above were not circumvented. A cumulative increase in imports from the ESA States by over 20% in volume during 12 consecutive months compared to the average annual imports over the three previous 12 months, will be analysed by the EU and if it considers that there is circumvention, it could suspend preferential treatment and impose the MFN tariff. The EU indicates this has never happened. The conditions for granting an import licence for products under HS 1701 between 1 October 2009 and 30 September 2012 were that the importer had to purchase the products at a price not lower than 90% of the reference price set by the EU for the relevant marketing year. The reference price has been replaced by a reference threshold and is currently 404 per tonne. Fisheries Chapter III recognizes that fisheries constitute a key economic resource for the ESA region, make a significant contribution to the economies of the ESA States and have great potential for future regional economic development and poverty reduction. Fisheries are also an important source of food and foreign exchange. The Parties agree to cooperate for the sustainable development and management of the fisheries sector in their mutual interest, taking into account the economic, environmental and social impacts. They also agree that the appropriate strategy to promote economic growth is through increasing value added activities in the sector. The objectives of economic cooperation, which covers marine and inland fisheries and aquaculture, are to promote sustainable development and management of fisheries; promote and develop regional and international trade based on best practices; create an enabling environment, including infrastructure and capacity building for the ESA States to cope with stringent market requirements for industrial and small scale fisheries; support national and regional policies aimed at increasing the sectors productivity and competitiveness; and build links with other economic sectors. Marine Fisheries Economic cooperation aims to ensure the sustainable exploitation and management of fisheries resources as a strong basis for regional integration, given that fish species are shared among the ESA States and no individual State has the capacity to ensure sustainability of the resource; ensure more equitable benefit sharing from the sector; ensure effective monitoring control and surveillance (MCS) necessary for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and promote effective exploitation, conservation and management of living marine resources in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and waters in which the ESA States have jurisdiction under international instruments, for the mutual social and economic benefit of all the Parties. Cooperation will include fisheries management and conservation issues, vessel management and post-harvest arrangements and financial and trade measures and development of fisheries and fishery products and marine aquaculture. The EU will contribute to mobilizing resources for these areas of cooperation, including support for regional capacity building as well as areas identified in the section on financial and trade measures and infrastructure for fisheries and marine aquaculture. Inland fisheries and aquaculture development Cooperation aims to promote sustainable exploitation of sustainable exploitation of inland fisheries resources, enhance aquaculture production, remove supply side constraints, improve fish and fish product quality to meet SPS standards in the EU, improve market access to the EU, address intra-regional trade barriers, attract capital inflows and investment, build capacity and enhance access to financial support for private investors. The EU will contribute to capacity building and export market development; infrastructure and technology development; legal and regulatory support; investment and financial support; and socio-economic and poverty alleviation measures. The Trade Preferences Extension Act (TPEA) of 2015, which extended the AGOA trade preference program through 2025, requires that the Administration annually publish a Federal Register notice announcing the Country Eligibility Review and a request for public comment whether beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries are meeting AGOAs eligibility requirements. The TPEA also requires that the AGOA Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) hold a public hearing to receive testimony regarding the eligibility of countries under AGOA. This was the purpose of the hearing on August 23, 2017, which was also announced in the Federal Register notice published on July 11, 2017. On June 20, 2017, the Administration published a Federal Register notice announcing the initiation of an out-of-cycle review to determine whether Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda are meeting the AGOA eligibility requirements in response to a petition filed by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association, or SMART. Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda are also subject to the AGOA Annual Review, to determine whether they are meeting all of the AGOA eligibility requirements and not only those raised by SMART in its petition. The public hearing for the out-of-cycle review of the three countries was held on July 13, 2017. Annual Review of the eligibility of the Sub-Saharan African countries to receive the 2018 benefits of the AGOA Oral testimony by Ms. Celeste Drake, American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) I thank you for your consideration of the AFL-CIOs petitions regarding Swazilands and Mauritanias failure to establish or make continual progress toward establishing internationally recognized worker rights pursuant to Section 3701(1)(F) of the United States Code and for the opportunity to testify today. We note that progress has been made in Swaziland since we initially filed our petition, including the registration of TUCOSWA, a union federation, the release of jailed union activists, and amendments to the labor law. This is very clear evidence that AGOA conditionality, once utilized, can play a very important role in ensuring respect for workers rights. Additionally, after we filed our pre-hearing brief, Parliament passed and the King approved revisions to the Pubic Order Act and the Suppression of Terrorism Act., As to these laws, we understand that improvements were made that responded to some of the unions concerns. However, since neither the AFL-CIO nor our partners in Swaziland have had an opportunity to actually review the new legislation, we will reserve judgment on them until we can review them. We will provide our analysis on these laws in our post-hearing brief, and we may accordingly revisit our ultimate recommendation regarding the reinstatement of AGOA benefits for Swaziland. Today, however, I would like to provide a brief update on Swazi laws and practices that remain inconsistent with internationally recognized worker rights. In 2014, President Obama withdrew Swazilands AGOA eligibility because, despite extensive consultation and engagement, Swaziland had failed to demonstrate progress toward protecting freedom of association and the right to organize. Of particular concern, wrote the United States Trade Representatives Office at the time, was Swazilands use of security forces and arbitrary arrests to stifle peaceful demonstrations. Unfortunately, despite other recent legislation, Swazilands Public Service Bill of 2015 remains out of compliance with international norms. The law continues to interfere with the right of working people to organize and act together to defend their interests, and the government had ignored TUCOSWAs recommendations to fix it. Moreover, the Government of Swaziland continues to brutalize workers and interfere with legitimate trade union activities. In April 2016, the police commissioner issued a statement urging the police to kill trade unionists on sight. This vicious directive cannot be dismissed as mere hyperbole given that the police have apparently taken the commissioners anti-worker attitude to heart. In August and September of 2016, police attacked striking workers at Swaziland plantations, forcing 30 to seek medical treatment, including 8 who has suffered fractured bones. In October 2016, police assaulted union activist Samkelisiwe Gladys Matsebula. The assault included placing a plastic bag over her head, an act which under U.S. law would be treated as attempted murder, and it required her eventual hospitalization. Whether the police were actually trying to end her life or just trying to scare her into thinking so is immaterial. The terror inflicted is the same. These events demonstrate an utter lack of respect for internationally recognized worker rights, not progress toward establishing them. Further, it is clear and alarming evidence that the Code of Good Practice on Protest and Industrial Action is not yet being fully respected by the authorities. It is clear that frontline police forces are not appropriately informed, trained, or monitored for use of best practices. Apart from perpetrating violence against working people, the Swazi government also continues to erect barriers to worker organization. In June 2016, the Commissioner of Labor interfered with the recognition of the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland by urging an employer, Swaziland Meat Industries, in writing not to recognize the union. In April of this year, the commissioner doubled down on his effort by meeting with some ATUSWA members, urging them to leave ATUSWA in order to revive a now defunct union. The government has also supported an apparently yellow union, FESWATU, in an apparent effort to weaken and marginalize TUCOSWA. The union, mostly active in the timber and textile sectors, has grown not by member organizing but largely through deals cut directly with employers. The unions publications make it clear that it supports the monarchy and will not cause problems for employers. Regardless of your determination of AGOA benefits, we urge the U.S. government to continue engagement with Swaziland through monitoring and assistance as it has yet to demonstrate compliance with the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining in practice. Public Hearing to review the Republic of Rwandas, United Republic of Tanzanias, and Republic of Ugandas eligibility to receive the benefits of the AGOA Introduction by Ms. Constance Hamilton, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for African Affairs and Chair of the AGOA Implementation Subcommittee On March 21, 2017, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association, SMART, submitted a petition to USTR requesting an out-of-cycle review to determine whether Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda are meeting the AGOA eligibility criteria. The SMART petition asserts that a March 12, 2016 decision by the East African Community which includes these countries to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the U.S. used clothing industry and is in violation of the AGOA eligibility criteria of making progress to establishing a market-based economy and eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment. In response to the SMART petition, USTR determined that an out-of-cycle review of Kenyas AGOA eligibility is not warranted at this time due to recent actions Kenya has taken, which include reversing tariff increases effective July 1, 2017, and committing not to ban imports of used clothing. We will continue to closely monitor Kenyas actions to ensure that Kenya follows through on its commitments. With respect to Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, USTR determined that there are exceptional circumstances warranting an out-of-cycle review of these countries AGOA eligibility, which is the subject of todays hearing. Notably, despite robust engagement to address concerns related to the decision to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing since it was first proposed in 2015 and memorialized in 2016, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda continue to implement the ban, which, as I have noted, SMART contends is having a negative impact on U.S. trade and investment. In todays testimony we will hear that the partner states of the East African Community are committed to the U.S.-EAC Trade and Investment Partnership, where matters such as those subject to todays hearing should be discussed and resolved. We agree. We note that these matters have been discussed at length within the context of the Trade and Investment Partnership and have not been resolved, which is why SMART filed its petition and why we are holding this hearing today. This is the first petition received requesting an AGOA out-of-cycle review. This hearing is being held to gather information regarding the issues raised in the petition. Oral testimony by Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives of Uganda and Chair of the Council of Ministers in EAC As you are all aware, East African Community attaches great importance to the trade and investment relations with the U.S. as reflected in the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and AGOA that we have been negotiating for some time. The Trade and Investment Framework has been negotiated between U.S. and East Africa for some time, and we are in the final stages. And we are committed. We are pledged to continue nurturing these initiatives, including adhering to the objectives stipulated under those schemes which would lead to mutually beneficial, sustainable development outcomes for our country and also for U.S. EAC is a regional economic community of 169 million people currently operating a common market with a harmonized trade regime. I would like to state our response to this petition. The Community as a key holder wishes to state that industrialization is a strategic pillar of EAC integration. And that is why the heads of state decided that textiles and footwear manufacturing is a priority. The decision did not slap a ban on the importation of textiles but is an initiative to promote the textile and footwear industry while progressively phasing out used textiles on a gradual basis. The common external tariff is compliant with the WTO requirements in regard to tariff binding, and the two trade policy reviews undertaken by the WTO in 2006 and 2012 fully endorsed the EAC trade regime as satisfactory and compatible with the World Trade Organization. The rate on used clothing was thereafter revised downwards to 35 percent or 0.20 dollars after realizing that the rise of the rate would negatively impact on the garment sector in the region. It should be noted that the adoption of specific rate alternative, the ad valorem rate, was to address the challenges of valuation of used clothing. The review of the specific duty threshold from $0.20 to 0.40 per kilogram while maintaining the 35 percent was not a tariff increment but a realignment made after 11 years to reflect the realistic landing price of used clothing to be compatible with the ad valorem rate of 35 percent. The review also covered chicken and rice. It is not only used clothing. Chicken and rice where the rates were revised from 100 percent to $200 per metric ton, to 100 percent or $450 per metric ton, and from 75 percent or 200 per metric ton, to 75 percent or $335 per metric ton respectively because we wanted to promote our industry. Other items such as cement, prime coats, and matchboxes were dropped from the sensitive list. So it does not only apply to secondhand clothes. The sensitive rate on worn clothing is not discriminatory to imports from USA but applies to all imports of used clothing from all countries globally, globally. EAC is desirous of job creation that will arise from revamping its textile footwear manufacturing value chain and income growth of the people involved in cotton growing, ginning, weaving, garment manufacturing, leather tanning, shoemaking, and retail business. Thats the value chain. And all these are jobs. The fear of environmental impact caused by the discarding of used clothing in U.S. is equally concern of EAC since eventually the used clothes will also be discarded after use in the East African Community. East African Community has export promotion schemes where tax incentives are accorded to manufacturers for export, particularly apparel and garments for AGOA. Development of the local textile industry do not undermine the market-based economy stipulated under AGOA as it will boost more production for export and local market that will see EAC countries enhance its export values to U.S. East African Community countries import a range of goods from U.S., including capital goods, plants and machinery, agrochemicals, aircrafts and parts, petroleum equipment, and these products do not attract duty. It is a thriving business of the importation of new garments and apparel into East Africa from U.S. and businesswomen and other business communities. All EAC countries have established open market-based economies as provided in the treaty. The prohibition of importation of used undergarments in the EAC is for hygienic purposes, and we do not allow it. We have to ban those underwear. A review is being undertaken of the tariff structure and rates to align it to the economic environment. This review would cover all products, including used clothing. Stakeholders are being consulted, including those involved in the trade of used clothing. The review will be completed in September 2017. But I must state that EAC is committed, fully committed to the ongoing trade and investment partnership where such matters should be discussed and resolved. Interim EPA between the EU and the Eastern and Southern African States: report by the WTO Secretariat The Interim Agreement establishing a Framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Eastern and Southern African states (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) is the EUs 25th RTA notified to the WTO. Among the ESA States for whom the Agreement is in force, for Madagascar it is the 2nd RTA notified, for Mauritius the 3rd RTA, the first for the Seychelles and the 4th for Zimbabwe; the other ESA States the Comoros and Zambia, did not sign the Agreement although discussions with the Comoros on signature are continuing. Trade with the European Union is important for the economies of the ESA States. In 2014 the EU was the largest destination for merchandise exports from three of the four ESA States (Mauritius, 49.1% of its exports, Madagascar, 49.8% and the Seychelles, 59.3%). It is the third largest export destination for Zimbabwe (5% of its exports). In 2014 the EU was the largest source of merchandise imports for the Seychelles (33.6% of its imports), second largest for Mauritius (20.8%) and Madagascar (15.6%) and third largest for Zimbabwe (albeit representing only 8.6% of its imports). For the EU Mauritius is the 75th largest source of imports, followed by Madagascar at 78th, Zimbabwe at 91 and Seychelles at 109th large source of imports. In terms of EU exports, Mauritius is its 91st largest merchandise export market, followed by Madagascar (112), Seychelles (136) and Zimbabwe (139). Rwanda: Trade deficit drops by 25% (New Times) Rwandas trade deficit significantly in the first six months of 2017 by over 25% compared to the corresponding period last year, new data shows. According to the latest monetary policy and financial stability statement, the gap between import and export in the first half of the year stood at $671.2m compared to $902.3m in the same period last year. The statement, presented yesterday by central bank governor John Rwangombwa, shows that formal exports grew by 39.8%. Formal imports also declined by about 10.6% largely due to increased consumption of locally-made products under the Made-in-Rwanda campaign. Rwangombwa said the drop in imports was partly due to the completion of large infrastructure projects as well as a result of the positive impact of the Made-in-Rwanda campaign. For instance, cement imports dropped by 10.9% following an increase of production by CIMERWA from 134,001 tonnes to 162,351 tonnes in the first half of this year. Fertiliser imports also dropped as a local firm, Agro-processing Trust Company, went operational improve the efficiency of distribution and management of the commodity. Transcripts of the recent AGOA eligibility hearings: (i) Public hearing for the annual review of the eligibility of the Sub-Saharan African countries (pdf) to receive the 2018 benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (23 August); (ii) Public hearing to review the Republic of Rwandas, United Republic of Tanzanias, and Republic of Ugandas eligibility (pdf) to receive the benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (13 July) Profiled ACBF African trade, infrastructure, regional integration consultancies: (i) Country case studies on the implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Against this background, these studies aim at providing evidence-based insights on the implementation of AGOA at country level and how countries can optimise on the benefits of this preferential trade arrangement. Beyond AGOA, this will inform Africas other trade policies which will ultimately improve the continents positioning in the world trade. Based on geographical/language representation and performance under AGOA, the following 11 countries have been identified for the country case studies: Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia. The case studies are primarily aimed at documenting the AGOA experience of the 11 countries and drawing lessons for the rest of African countries. The specific objectives include the following: (ii) A review to support regional integration Agenda reform at AU Ethiopia. The objective of the assignment is to strengthen the working methods of the African Union in order to (a) increase coordination of the thematic implementation of the regional integration agenda, and (b) strengthen the institutional and governance linkages between Regional Economic Communities (RECs) amongst and the AUC. (iii) Regional trade policy guidelines for cross-border infrastructure. The overall objective of the consultancy is to develop Regional Trade Policy Guidelines for Cross-border Infrastructure based on lessons and evidence drawn from the AU-recognized RECs (UMA; COMESA; CENSAD; EAC; ECCAS; ECOWAS; IGAD; and SADC). More specifically, the consultant will: identify cross-border infrastructure projects critical to trade; evaluate regional impact; identify stakeholders at the regional level; identify policies and laws and regulations surrounding the projects; identify capacity challenges associated with the projects; develop regional trade policy guidelines for cross-border infrastructure based on the analysis, including the key capacity requirements and how to enhance them; serve as resource-person for a workshop targeting Africas RECs. (iv) Policy research papers on innovative methods for financing regional infrastructure: lessons for Africa from other developing regions. It is against this background that ACBF,is undertaking a series of policy-oriented studies that aim at identifying, documenting and sharing innovative methods for financing regional infrastructure in Africa with the present call focused on lessons for Africa from other developing regions. The lessons could be in any relevant infrastructure sector: energy, transport, ICT, etc. These studies will provide new insights and improve the body of knowledge on financing regional infrastructure in Africa. They will support decision-makers and practitioners in understanding and learning from innovative methods for financing regional infrastructure in Africa, to ultimately be capable of adapting and replicating those methods in their own context. [The full set of consultancy opportunities can be accessed here] Namibia: Geingob rules out IMF bailout (New Era) Geingob explained that the government is not to blame for the economic downturn and reiterated that it was caused mainly by subdued commodity prices and a drop in SACU receipts. He said although the country faces an economic slowdown, Namibia will not seek International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailouts, nor will it accept the so-called structural reform packages from external parties. That is why Namibia has never gone to the IMF for an economic bailout package or entertained any internationally imposed structural reform programmes. Most of our debt is local and in keeping with continuing the legacy of my predecessors, he said yesterday at the 18th Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair. Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa: update following biennial elective meeting, 25 August (Mining Review) To address some of these challenges Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa has decided to champion dealing with the trust deficit between governments and the mining industry in the region as part of its lobbying role. Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa hopes that that it will get a positive response from the Committee of Ministers of Mines in the region when it requests their audience through the SADC platform. Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa has further committed itself to work closely with the Southern African Business Forum with the intention of influencing SADC governments through the ministers of mines in the region towards ensuring the sustainability and growth of the mining sector. Mozambique: Cargo traffic grows at major ports (Club of Mozambique) Cargo handling in the first six months of 2017 grew 23% against the same period in 2016, Mozambican newspaper Noticias quotes Transport and Communications Minister Carlos Mesquita as saying. Minister Mesquita attributed the growth to the stabilisation of prices in the international market for Mozambican exports such as coal, sugar and cotton. However, the volume of cargo we have been handling is below the total installed port capacity, which is in the order of 74 million tons, he added. Even larger numbers, fuelled by exports from the primary sector, are expected in the coming months, since the second half of each year is always the most active. Uganda: Committee to restrict foreigners in petty trade (Daily Monitor) Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde has commissioned a committee comprising of several government ministries, departments and agencies to develop regulations restricting foreigners in petty and retail trade. According to Ms Kyambadde, a meeting where a progress report will be presented shall be convened after every two months at the ministry of trade headquarters in Kampala. The sectoral committee should also develop rules on a timeline in which expatriates should be employed in a foreign company as well as have a provision requiring attachment of local staff to understudy foreign experts in their specific fields of work. Ugandan traders return to war-ravaged South Sudan (Daily Monitor) Ugandan traders have started returning to South Sudan a year after they were evacuated by Uganda Peoples Defence Forces. Some of the traders who talked to Daily Monitor said they returned to a risky country because they couldnt cope with the economic condition in Uganda. The chairperson of the Ugandan community in South Sudan, Mr Bruhan Tibo Obiga, said Ugandan traders are returning because business [in South Sudan] is starting to pick up, especially in the capital. Chinese companies eye Ugandas oil sector (Daily Monitor) A group of Chinese companies have shown interest in partnering with Ugandan businesses to participate in developing the oil and gas sector of in Uganda. Speaking during a recent oil and gas conference hosted by Stanbic Bank Uganda in collaboration with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC), in Kampala, Mr Patrick Mweheire, the chief executive officer Stanbic Bank, said there are now numerous opportunities presented by the promising oil and gas sector. Mr Wang Lubin, the chief representative officer ICBC and board member of Standard Bank Group, said: ICBC and Stanbic Bank are well-placed to play a leading role in the development of the sector. We have already been working with government and the companies which are executing a number of critical Oil related infrastructure projects and have vast experience working together on large scale projects across the continent. [Nigeria: Chinese to build $5.8bn hydropower plant] Ghana: CRIA launches reports on African integration issues (Ghana Press) The Centre for Regional Integration has unveiled four research reports about matters regarding integration in Africa, highlighting challenges and prescribing solutions for an inclusive integration process for quicker economic growth in the continent. The reports included Regional Integration Issues Forum Network Planning Meeting, RIIF Policy Dialogue, RIIF Network Monitoring Team and Issues in African Regional Integration, 2017. CRIA unveiled the reports in partnership with the African Capacity Building Foundation, GIMPA, WACSI and AFRINVEST at the YALI Building on GIMPA Campus in the capital, Accra. [Ghana to leverage on the ECOWAS market to grow] Three GSDRC reports on illicit trade in African wildlife: (i) Criminal networks and the illicit wildlife trade; (ii) The political economy of the illegal wildlife trade; (iii) Enforcement and regulation of the illegal wildlife trade in Sub Saharan Africa Rice: Stirring up trouble in international trade (Statfor) Rice exports are currently concentrated among a handful of producers, protective trade measures are rampant in the sector, and the grains variants cannot be easily substituted for one another all factors that make the industry highly susceptible to disruptions in the market. These risks are unlikely to lessen in the near future, as rice seems all but certain to remain a sticking point in upcoming trade negotiations that involve the United States or its Asian competitors. Hello! :) In September my partner and I will be travelling to CR for 10 days! It will be our first time travelling to CR. Since I have read reviews that the Pacific Side is quite rainy in September we will try for the Carribean side. I am mainly looking for help deciding how many days to stay in each spot and if you would recommend any places in the areas I have highlighted. We are flying into SJO and will arrive in the afternoon. We are thinking to rent a car, but if shuttles could work I would appreciate being directed to where I can get more information on that. Based on the some of the CR boards here I have noted some of the following areas we would like to hit up: Day 1 (we would start in San Jose....) Arenal La Fortuna Sarapiqui Tortuguero Cahuita Puerto Viejo Day 9 or 10 (drive back to San Jose: flight is around noon) Thank you!!! :) Hello, we are planning a trip to vietnam, to visit the major cities , we will like yor expertise and your advice on which cities are worth to see where to start . we have 3 weeks we love everythin, culture, touring and not much swimming. We are going to Laos or myanmar for a week , which one is more to visit and how to go from vietnam to laos or Myanmar. We saw a big part of asia and with all the people ideas ,we succeed with every trip we did. Thanks for your help Ghada Myanmar - Back in the days when we were only allowed a one week visa upon entry to what was then "Burma" it was a rush for tourists to visit Rangoon, Lake Inle, Mandalay, Bagan and get back to Rangoon before the visa expired. Now that tourist visas are for 28 days, it is a much better time frame. I was sick in "Burma" and so we spent our week just visiting all the attractions on offer in and around Rangoon Laos - We're off to Luang Prabang soon to stay for two weeks staying in a bungalow by the river near the town and taking a trip to Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoy Vietnam -We're off soon staying for two weeks in Hanoi so much to see and do. We visited the south a while ago, Ho Chi Minh, Dalat, Nha Trang, Da Nang/Hoi An and Hue To be honest I do not know which I would choose between Myanmar or Laos and North or South Vietnam as they are all destinations of so much interest, though Tofugirl's suggestion looks good for Vietnam Good luck whatever you decide to do Edited: 5 years ago The language from North Korea on Wednesday is as familiar as it is chilling, a declaration to the world to expect more missile tests. But there are important clues about North Koreas ambitious push to send its missiles farther into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to make them an accepted part of life in the region, as leader Kim Jong Un expands the weapons program he sees as his countrys best chance of survival against encircling enemies. By firing a missile over Japan and putting the Asia-Pacific, including Guam and its major U.S. military base, on notice for more tests, North Korea may have won itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. Its still too early to see if Kim can create new rules without crossing a line that the United States wont tolerate. Heres a look at the possible meaning of Kims comments carried by state media after North Korea sent a missile potentially capable of carrying a nuclear bomb over Japan on Tuesday: WHAT NORTH KOREA SAID Because North Koreas current ballistic rocket launching drill is the first step of the military operation in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam, (which is an) advanced base of invasion, he (Kim) said that it is necessary to positively push forward the work for putting the strategic force on a modern basis by conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future. WHAT IT MAY MEAN This refers to North Koreas attempt to strengthen its weapons capabilities and use them to test its bargaining power against the United States. To this end, North Korea is signaling that it may soon turn the Pacific Ocean into its own ballistic missile training ground and make its launches over Japan an accepted norm. This might have been Kims plan all along as he sought what to do next after North Koreas weapons development reached a point where it could test intercontinental ballistic missiles meant to reach deep into the U.S. mainland. North Korea threatened earlier this month to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s the same missile it sent over Japan on Tuesday to create enveloping fire near Guam. The U.S. territory of Guam is home to key military bases and strategic long-range bombers that North Korea finds threatening. Still, its unclear whether the North will ever act on its threat to fire missiles at the advanced base of invasion. This could risk triggering a military retaliation from the United States if something goes wrong. But the threat and the subsequent launch Tuesday may have won North Korea space to stage more weapons tests because anything less than targeting Guam would draw a sigh of relief from the United States. There were times when even a short-range ballistic missile launch drew a heated response and sanctions from the international community, but the world didnt do anything about North Koreas short-range ballistic missile launches on Saturday ahead of Tuesdays longer launch, said Du Hyeogn Cha, a visiting scholar at Seouls Asan Institute for Policy Studies. North Korea will try to do the same with midrange ballistic missile launches in the Pacific, making them part of the new normal. WHAT NORTH KOREA SAID Kim Jong Un sternly said that the drill conducted by the [Norths] Strategic Force is a curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures against joint military exercises being conducted by the U.S. and South Korea. WHAT IT MAY MEAN Before Tuesdays launch, it appeared North Korea was backing away from its threat to fire missiles toward Guam. Some took this as a sign that it was willing to talk and wouldnt let things get too tense during the annual joint military drills between Washington and Seoul that run through yesterday. Tuesdays events killed such optimism. Most experts now say North Korea will likely continue its torrid pace of weapons tests until it perfects ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missile systems, and that it probably wont show serious interest in talks before then. Kim is clearly seeking a real nuclear deterrent against the United States and likely believes that will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. And if it does, North Korea will likely demand a halt of the U.S.-South Korean drills and perhaps the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula in any talks involving a moratorium on its missile launches, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert from Seouls Dongguk University. North Korea condemns the annual U.S.-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion, and Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this years drills to ease tensions. There might also be a simpler reason Kim attributed Tuesdays launch to the drills. China, North Koreas only major ally, has been calling for a dual suspension in which the North stops its nuclear and missile tests and Washington and Seoul halt their military exercises to lower tensions and lead to talks. By publicly linking the launch to the drills, Kim is attempting reduce the possibility that Beijing supports more punitive measures against North Korea at the United Nations over the launch, Cha said. WHAT NORTH KOREA SAID Kim Jong Un said his nation has drawn a lesson again that it should show action, not talk, to the U.S. imprudently denying the [Norths] initiative measure for easing the extreme tension and stressed that it will continue to watch Americas demeanor toward the North and decide its future actions accordingly. WHAT IT MAY MEAN The problem here is that Washington wont be very interested in displaying the kind of demeanor that North Korea is likely to want. A U.S. military solution to North Koreas missile tests is also unlikely. Making a highly difficult intercept of North Korean missiles would be a tough call because failure would seriously dent the credibility of the expensive U.S. missile defense system. So the question is whether North Korea will put some checks on itself as it seeks to expand its weapons tests in the Pacific. Some experts believe the next North Korean launches will be bolder unless Washington makes serious concessions. But Hwang Ildo, a professor at Seouls Korea National Diplomatic Academy, disagrees, saying North Korea probably wont risk infuriating the United States. He says the North Korean threat toward Guam is more about winning greater freedom of military action than about deterring flyovers of U.S. bombers or stopping the U.S.-South Korean war games. The Norths intention was to push the boundaries of its military presence farther from the Korean Peninsula and Japan and into the wider Pacific, and they practically drew the line at Guam with their missile threat, he said. Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP Is your company in need of the most reliable and efficient best Best Jasmine Tea s in the market? Your good luck led you to the ideal situation, so congratulations! You are in the best possible place. By eliminating the need to read through dozens of Best Jasmine Tea reviews, we are saving you time and stress. Many customers find it difficult to decide which Best Jasmine Tea product to buy. The dilemma is brought about by the many types of Best Jasmine Tea in the market. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a clear understanding of how you may choose the most suitable Best Jasmine Tea available in the market. - Former Bungoma governor Ken Lusaka has spoken after President Uhuru Kenyatta endorsed him for the senate speaker position - In an interview with a local TV station, Lusaka said people should now come to terms with him as the new senate speaker - Lusaka said he will be a speaker for all Kenyans and not one party President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, August 30, led a group of Jubilee Members of Parliament in endorsing former Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka for the position of Speaker in the 2017 Senate. Being a party with majority members in the house, Ken Lusaka seems to be on his way to becoming the next Speaker of the Senate. Well, Lusaka's new path did not go down well with the opposition, especially his longtime rival Moses Wetangula who has been throwing shades at him incessantly. Former Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka. He has indirectly addressed his political enemy Moses Wetangula asking him to accept his new position.Photo: CitizenTV READ ALSO: Former Bungoma Governor the surprise choice of Uhuru as next Senate Speaker Defending himself from harsh criticism,Lusaka asked people to come to terms with him as the new senate speaker. Asked whether it felt odd for him to be speaker for his rival and county senator Moses Wetangula, Lusaka said his rivals and Kenyans at large should relax and let him serve since he will be a speaker for all Kenyans and not one party. READ ALSO: Uhuru gives hope to Jubilee party losers in the August polls Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula. He is known to be a political enemy to proposed senate speaker Ken Lusaka Photo: eDaily READ ALSO: African countries join hands to warn Uhuru, Raila against disrespecting Supreme Court ruling on petition Lusaka made the remarks on Thursday, August 31 in a brief interview with KTN. Lusaka also thanked Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and Jubilee Party for endorsing him. The former senator took to Twitter on Wednesday, August 30 and posted: "I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and the Jubilee Party for endorsing my candidature for Senate Speaker. " Lusaka and Wetangula have been battling for supremacy for sometime now. Ban on plastic bags bites but what are the alternatives? Source: TUKO.co.ke Hyundai Motor Co. said it resumed production at factories in China yesterday following a shutdown that stemmed from a dispute between Beijing and Seoul over a U.S. missile defense system. The shutdown, started last week when Hyundai did not pay a parts supplier that refused to provide fuel tanks in response, was the latest in series of challenges that have beset South Koreas largest automaker in the key market, since a diplomatic row erupted in spring over South Koreas decision to deploy a U.S. missile defense system. The supplier resumed providing fuel tanks Wednesday, Hyundai spokesman Sohn Yong said, allowing its China plants to return to production gradually. The company is still in talks with the supplier to resolve the payment issue. Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., the South Korean companys joint venture with BAIC Motor Corp., has three plants in Beijing and one in Changzhou. Assembly lines at the four plants were forced to stop when the components ran out since mid-last week and they came to a full stop as of Tuesday. Its fifth factory in Chongqing, set to start production next month, was not affected. Hyundai was unable to pay the local supplier after its sales in China plunged due to the tension between Beijing and Seoul over the missile defense system. Hyundai reported the lowest quarterly profit since 2010 after its China sales plunged 64 percent during the April-June quarter from a year earlier. Beijing opposed Seouls decision to deploy the U.S. missile defense system known as THAAD. South Korea says the system is aimed at deterring North Korean aggression but China is worried that its powerful radars would peer into its territory. During the first half of this year, Hyundai sold 321,000 vehicles in China, down 42 percent from a year earlier. AP - Starehe Parliamentary seat aspirant Boniface Mwangi has picked issues with Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho - Mwangi who posted on social media said that he was disturbed that the city of Mombasa had fallen into ruins under Joho - Mwangi asked Joho to try and clean Mombasa with the same vigour that he was cleaning his famous beard with Mombasa is one of the most beautiful cities in Kenya. Blessed with countless aesthetic features such as the beach, the Fort Jesus, and plenty of luxurious hotels, the city passes as one of the safest and sane haven for fun lovers. However, the town has slowly morphed into a garbage paradise with litter piling left, right and center. Woman passing by a heap of garbage at Marikiti ,Mombasa. Photo: BarakaFM READ ALSO: Uhuru's choice for senate speaker explains how he will deal with his political enemy, Moses Wetangula The situation has not only irked area residents but also visitors who have openly expressed their disappointments in the once glamorous city. Among the fuming lot is human rights activist turned politician Boniface Mwangi, who has picked issue with Mombasa governor over the garbage menace. Boniface, who visited the town recently with his family took to social media with hard questions to Joho over the garbage issue. READ ALSO: 2 times learned friends appeared not so learned during the Supreme Court hearing Mwangi urged Joho to use the same energy he uses in grooming his beards and visibility to clean the city. The activist also wondered how Joho could erect thousands of his billboards in the city but not cleaning the same city. "Most Mombasa people have no memory of a cleaner Mombasa, that's why they throw garbage anywhere and everywhere. Mombasa and Kenya as a whole needs to create a clean-up culture, weekly community clean-ups should be organized at ward level. Apart from garbage collection, Governor Joho should repair and build pedestrian footpaths, which are almost non-existent, in the entire city of Mombasa. Mombasa is a small, beautiful, friendly city choking with garbage, and unpainted buildings."Mwangi's post read in part. READ ALSO: Kenyans cannot believe that Friday is public holiday but they'll be working as usual "If Joho could put as much effort in cleaning Mombasa as he has put in his personal visibility, Mombasa would be a whole lot cleaner. If Joho put as much effort in cleaning Mombasa as he has put in maintaining that famous beard of his, I bet it would be the cleanest city in the country. Mombasa could use a "Joho beard treatment", washed and cleaned everyday. "He added. Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE Boniface Mwangi is not the only person who has attacked the governor over the garbage issue. Joho has been under fire from different quotas over the same. However, the governor has always received support and backing from some residents who have been asking people to their governor be. Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Ban on plastic bags bites but what are the alternatives? Source: TUKO.co.ke The Airports Authority has successfully carried out a simulation of a crash landing at Piarco. Militants launched 19 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. There were no losses among Ukrainian soldiers. This is reported by the ATO press center. In Mariupol direction, militants used heavy machine guns to shell Ukrainian positions near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk). The tense situation was still observed in Donetsk direction, where illegal armed formations used grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian positions in the industrial area of Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) and near Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk). The enemy also launched attacks on ATO troops near Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk) and Kamyanka (62km south of Donetsk), using small arms and heavy machine guns. In Luhansk direction, the ceasefire regime was observed during the past day. The ATO press center reported that there were no casualties among Ukrainian soldiers. ish Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy has said he hopes that the Ukrainian diaspora will lobby the issue of providing Ukraine with weapons. He stated this at a roundtable meeting in the Verkhovna Rada on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the existence and activities of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "In the times of the war against the Russian aggressor, the question of obtaining defensive weapons remains important, and we in parliament and the Ukrainian authorities are doing a lot for this purpose. But we also expect that [thanks] to the world's Ukrainians involved in lobbying this issue, we will be able to have a positive decision in the near future," Parubiy said. UWC President Eugene Czolij, in turn, promised that representatives of the diaspora would turn to the United States with the request to provide weapons to Ukraine and help it protect its borders. op No Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded as a result of hostilities in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past day. Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues, Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "As a result of combat actions over the past day, no Ukrainian servicepersons were killed or wounded," Motuzianyk said. He also added that in Luhansk direction, ceasefire was observed. In Donetsk direction, 10 enemy provocations were recorded, while in Mariupol direction militants launched four attacks on Ukrainian positions. iy China and India may have ended a tense border standoff for now, but their longstanding rivalry raises questions about the possibility of meaningful cooperation at an upcoming summit of major emerging economies. The annual summit of the BRICS grouping encompassing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gets under way this weekend in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, hoping to advance its vision of an alternative to the Western dominance of global affairs. The leaders of all five nations are expected to attend, offering the best opportunity for Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk since the border tensions flared in June. While both their countries view BRICS as a significant forum for progress, their rivalry for global influence and fears of containment by the other threaten to overshadow those aspirations. The two countries militaries are prowling the same spaces along their land borders, in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of Jindal School of International Affairs in the Indian city of Sonipat. Even beyond the region, they are vying in Africa and Latin America for the leadership of the developing world, Chaulia said. There is a contest, whether it is acknowledged or not, and it is because of the ambitions of both nations to be superpowers and to be inheriting the Asian century, Chaulia said. Attempting to start the BRICS summit off on a positive note, Beijing and Delhi this week announced a resolution of their most protracted and potentially explosive border standoff in years. The saber-rattling had raised fears of renewed conflict between the nuclear-armed Asian giants, who fought a bloody border war in 1962 and remain locked in disputes over extensive chunks of territory along their border. Yet, while Indias Ministry of External Affairs said that troops were leaving the face-off site, Chinas official response avoided any mention of Chinese concessions or the fact that troops from both sides will continue patrolling in the area. The attempt is to paint India as the aggressor, said Sriparna Pathak, an assistant professor in international relations at Assam Don Bosco University in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. Clearly, China wants to somehow portray itself as the winner in a conflict which India had started and has now been forced to withdraw by China. Other sources of distrust include: Indian fears of Chinese encroachment in the Indian Ocean. China announced Friday it had carried out military drills in the western Indian Ocean, advertising its growing presence there. China is also cooperating with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other coastal nations on port access, including for its navy. Indian wariness about the motives behind Beijings flagship One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, which includes a key component in Pakistan Indias archrival but one of Chinas staunchest allies. That adds to Indian frustration over lopsided trade that saw China record a trade surplus of about USD40 billion with India last year. China has thwarted attempts by India to gain permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council and join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, or to label Pakistani militant Masood Azhar a terrorist. Beijing resents Indias providing a base for the Dalai Lama, and complained bitterly when the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was permitted to visit an Indian region claimed by China earlier this year. Beijing fears what it sees as a U.S.-led encirclement of China by Washingtons allies and neighbors, including India and Japan. Modi has sought to balance relations between China and the U.S., along with others such as Russia and Japan, but Beijing continues to view New Delhi as an upstart rival. Given the recent hostility between China and India, the air between the two even at the upcoming BRICS summit will not be a calm one, although they will likely seek to maintain appearances so as not to be portrayed as the spoil sport, Pathak said. Still, the BRICS grouping holds considerable allure for both countries, underscoring their support for regular meetings over the past decade to discuss economic concerns and issues such as climate change. Some observers see a multilateral arena like BRICS as being one of the few places where the worlds two most populous countries can work together despite tensions. There is competition and mistrust but also some maturity where they are able to convert these face-offs into face-saving solutions, said Chaulia. He said it was quite feasible to put aside bilateral bad blood and have worthwhile cooperation at BRICS. Both countries cannot hold the other three, as in South Africa, Russia and Brazil, hostage to our narrow nationalistic rivalries, he said. The recent border standoff has shown that BRICS now needs to establish a method for sorting out problems and contradictions between China and India when they arise, said Zhang Yansheng, chief research fellow at the Beijing think tank China Center for International Economic Exchanges. The summit is a great opportunity to communicate face-to-face and exchange views on the two countries problems and contradictions and the solutions to them, Zhang said. The timing of the summit is also significant, coming as the U.S. under President Donald Trump appears to be abandoning the traditional global order, said Alka Acharya, professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Both China and India see BRICS as a very significant platform, particularly this time when the West is disengaging from globalization as it had operated until now, Acharya said. Yet, she added, unless China and India cooperate, this is not going to produce very good results. So this is something I think is realized at the highest levels. Louise Watt, Beijing, AP The Bellingcat international volunteer group does not consider the investigation into the MH17 plane crash to be finished and continues to work on it, investigator Christiaan Triebert has said. "Bellingcat is still doing some work on it," New Eastern Europe quoted him as saying in an interview. According to Triebert, Bellingcat does not consider the MH17 investigation to be finished, but believes that most sources have been exhausted after three years of research. However, team researchers are hoping to get more information about the plane crash, he added. "For example, most recently we joined the call of the JIT to identify two persons related to the MH17 incident. It is not an ongoing investigation, but we think some information may still come out," Triebert said. The shelling of Eastern Ukraine from Russian territory was also discussed during the interview. "I think it was just a very interesting case to show how one country just shoots at another sovereign country across the border. It is quite something when things like this happen and are being denied, so we wanted to investigate this, and I would say it was a very strong case based on satellite images," Triebert said, stressing that he did not work on this investigation. According to him, Bellingcat is also monitoring the actions of the Ukrainian army. The Bellingcat volunteer group was set up in 2014 to gather a team that would conduct an investigation using open source information. A few days after the creation of the group, flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over the Donbas. There were 298 people on board the aircraft, and all of them died. Bellingcat researchers immediately took an active part in investigating the causes of the disaster. op Ukraine hopes for the revival of investment cooperation with the United States in energy, small and medium businesses and transport, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said. He said this at a meeting with President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Ray Washburne in Kyiv on Wednesday, according to the Ukrainian government's press service. The OPIC chief took office in August 2017 and visited Ukraine for the first time. "Ukraine is currently in the process of transformation. We have overcome economic downturn and have reached steady economic growth. We need to carry out structural reforms for the sake of further strengthening and dynamic development. We are talking about a qualitative reboot of the state, and this requires investment. American investment occupies a special place. We are in constant dialogue with the American Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy. We actively interact with them in the development of the business climate," Groysman said. Washburne, in turn, said that OPIC has a great interest in implementing several projects in Ukraine, particularly the development of small and medium enterprises, cooperation with the Energoatom state energy holding, the development of wind energy in the southern regions, in particular, in Zaporizhia, as well as the modernization of the rolling stock of Ukraine's state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia. Particular attention is paid to projects in the port infrastructure sector and energy supplies, including coal supplies, from the United States. Washburne said that small and medium business support projects had already been launched and that other initiatives were at the final stages of the talks. He added that the amount of funding for projects with Energoatom was at least $250 million, and wind energy projects about $400 million. Washburne said that the United States wants to see Ukraine as an economically strong and developed country. Groysman thanked the U.S. side and said that the current task was to "not disappoint either Ukrainian citizens or partners." Trade between Ukraine and the United States reached $2.5 billion in the first six months of 2017. Investments over the same period amounted to $537 million. op The European partners will provide Ukraine with EUR 100 mln for the Energy Efficiency Fund and for financing of energy efficiency projects. Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman informed this on Facebook on the results of a telephone conversation with Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic. "We agreed to attract 100 million euros from our European partners, the targeted funds that will allow us to fill the Fund and start financing specific energy efficiency projects," Groysman stressed. At the same time, he adds that practical negotiations on the financial support of Brussels for this project will continue in the near future, in particular, during a visit of Sefcovic to Kyiv, which, according to him, will take place in mid-September. ish Britain, in the context of its exit from the European Union, does not feel legally obliged to honor its financial obligations, including with regard to Ukraine. The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said this in Brussels on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "This week the UK explained that these obligations will be limited to their last payment to the EU budget before departure. Yet we have joint obligations towards third countries. For example, we have guaranteed long-term loans to Ukraine, together," he said. He also said that at this stage the EU and Britain had not made sufficient progress in negotiations on Britain's withdrawal from the EU. op President Petro Poroshenko says that Ukraine has implemented 144 reforms in the last three years. [The introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU] is not just recognition of the reforms which weve been implementing over these last three years - 144 reforms. It is the final farewell to the Soviet Russian empire," Poroshenko said during his working trip to Lviv region. He stressed that the reforms were carried out in conditions of war and Russian aggression. "It is known that to carry out reforms during the war is very difficult. We showed - we do not have, we did not have and we will not have other choice. And that's why I'm proud of what weve done over these three years, which is more than in the previous 20 years, Poroshenko stressed. iy Ukraine's representative to the EU Mykola Tochytsky has asked the leadership of the European Commission to provide explanations on a statement made by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker regarding Ukraine's future membership of the EU and NATO. "Ukraine's Representative to the EU Mykola Tochytsky sent a letter to the European Commission's leadership asking for explanations regarding a statement made by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during an annual EU Ambassadors Conference in Brussels," Ukraine's Mission to the EU told an Ukrinform correspondent. Tochytsky told Ukrinform that the issue concerned a statement by Juncker, which was widely spread in the Russia media. "A few days ago I saw that my friend [President Petro] Poroshenko said that Ukraine is the European Union, and it is NATO. At the moment, it's neither one nor the other, and I think we do need to bear this in mind," Juncker said. In this connection, Tochytsky drew attention to a statement by Poroshenko who, in his speech on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, noted the "unchanged strategic course of Ukraine for integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures." At the same time, Tochytsky expressed concern that the words of the European Commission president had been widely used by the Russian propaganda media in an information campaign aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its EU integration course. This happened on the eve of the entry into force of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. op French President Emmanuel Macron has said he has major differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and that he "won't let him get away with anything." He said this in an interview with French weekly Le Point, according to Reuters. "I speak with everybody. Very directly and very frankly. On Ukraine, we have major differences with Vladimir Putin. I take note of it. France won't let him get away with anything," Macron said. France is a party to the Normandy format talks on resolving the conflict in the Donbas. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said during a four-way telephone conversation that they considered unacceptable any statements undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity. op Austrian Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Sebastian Kurz considers that it is necessary to take urgent measures to prevent a humanitarian and environmental disaster in Donbas. His opinion was published by Politico portal. "Urgent action is needed to prevent a humanitarian and environmental disaster in Donbas," Kurz stressed. The OSCE chairman says that Ukraine is now suffering through a war that is poisoning relations between Donbas and the rest of Ukraine, polluting the political climate between Kyiv and Moscow and tainting the relationship between Russia and countries around the world. The conflict also has the potential to create pollution of a very real kind as continued fighting threatens chlorine storage facilities, chemical plants, metallurgical factories, hazardous waste storage sites, and coal mines. "The situation is a ticking time bomb," the politician noted. The Austrian minister believes that all parties in the conflict need to put aside politics and focus on the fate of the people in this region. That is why Austrias chairmanship of the OSCE is calling for a disaster risk reduction initiative for eastern Ukraine. The Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE) has taken up this approach and will discuss it in its upcoming meetings. "To make peace in eastern Ukraine, the parties need to stop shooting. A good place to start would be around critical infrastructure," Kurz said. ish The Eastern Partnership Summit of November 24 in Brussels should give a new impetus to the EUs relations with the participating countries of this initiative - Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn said this in his speech at the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the Eastern Partnership countries and the Visegrad Four in Budapest on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "The next summit will be an opportunity for the development of our achievements and giving of new dynamics to our relations," the European Commissioner said. ish Ukraine listens to the OSCE opinion on the freedom of speech and the working conditions of foreign journalists, but will persuade partners of the right to defend its national interests and information space. Chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine Oleh Nalyvaiko said this in a comment to Ukrinform regarding the OSCE's reaction to the deportation of Russian journalist Anna Kurbatova from Ukraine. "In our opinion, this [deportation by the Security Service of Ukraine of foreign journalists whose actions harm the national interests of the state] is a sovereign right of Ukraine. The Security Service acts within the limits of its powers, therefore in this case we listen to our partners, but we consider these actions correct and we will persuade them and hold discussions," Nalyvaiko said. He noted that in fact the discussion with OSCE representatives dealing with media issues in Ukrainian society had already begun a long time ago, since this is not their first statement in such a vein. Nalyvaiko noted that, in his opinion, an assessment by OSCE representatives regarding the alleged restriction of freedom of speech in Ukraine was based on statements in the Russian media. In this context, he drew attention to the hints of some kind of a crime and the rush they made about the "disappearance of the journalist." "In my opinion, it was a well-calculated operation by Russia. This is an element of a hybrid war which everyone is talking about," he said. When asked why OSCE media representatives mostly support the Russian point of view, Nalyvaiko said that it was an international organization and that he would not comment on its actions. "But there are certain quotas under which the composition of the organization is formed. There are certain influences both in terms of financial contributions and a whole range of other types. The OSCE is doing its job, and Ukraine is a member of this organization. We have our own media community, and we have to defend our position," he said. As reported, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir said in a letter to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin after the deportation of Russia's Channel One journalist Anna Kurbatova from Ukraine that he was concerned about the practice of detention and expulsion of foreign journalists from Ukraine. He also called on the Ukrainian authorities "to refrain from imposing unnecessary limitations on the work of foreign journalists, which affect the free flow of information and violate OSCE commitments on freedom of the media." On Wednesday, August 30, Kurbatova was deported from Ukraine for anti-Ukrainian propaganda and banned from entering the country for three years. op Hong Kong democratic lawmaker Helena Wong Pik Wan was denied entry to Macau upon arriving in the territory to attend an event organized by the University of Macau. The Macau immigration department rejected Wongs entry on grounds that she poses threats to Macaus internal security. According to Wong, she has visited Macau multiple times during her term as a Hong Kong lawmaker. She criticized the Macau government for its poor administrative efficiency, and the Public Security Police for lacking the ability to provide sufficient information. Wong claimed that she would send a letter to Macaus chief executive, Chui Sai On, and to the Liaison Office in relation to this incident. Engineer suggests speakers in Inner Harbor Local engineer Chan Kuai Son has suggested installing high frequency speakers in the vicinity of the Inner Harbor in order to sound an alarm during typhoons. In a TDM radio show, Chan explained that if the citys authority could issue warnings for powerful storms and flooding, residents could in turn hear the alarm through speakers. Chan noted that flooding in the Inner Harbor area can be predicted when a typhoon strikes. Chan also suggested building stronger barriers in Macaus parking lots to decelerate the incoming flood water, thus giving enough time for people to escape. DSSOPT studying new window standards The deputy chief of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Cheong Ion Man, has revealed that the authority is conducting research on technological requirements and standards for window and other glass placed in the facades of buildings. The details will be drafted later, according to Cheong. The deputy director also stated that the authority is considering giving authorization to parking lot management companies to restrict the usage of parking lots during storms and typhoons. British Prime Minister Theresa May urged China yesterday to do more to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile development. The British leaders comments, made while she was en route to Japan, were in response to North Koreas launch of a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. The missile launch, which was met with wide condemnation, came less than a month after the U.N. Security Council imposed its toughest- yet sanctions on the North. May told reporters on her plane that we see China as being the key in the effort to bring pressure on North Korea, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying rebuffed Mays remarks, saying that unlike its critics, Beijing sought not only to impose sanctions on North Korea but also to promote talks aimed at preserving peace on the peninsula. We also noted that some countries stabbed in the others back while shaking hands with them, Hua said at a regular briefing with reporters. Those countries just sit back and leave others to find a way out. We dont think that is an appropriate attitude of a responsible country, Hua said. May arrived yesterday in Japan for a three-day visit that is expected to focus on Brexit, trade and security. She started her visit in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital, where she attended a traditional tea ceremony and had dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. During their dinner, May and Abe discussed North Koreas missile launch and agreed to cooperate in urging China to step up pressure on the North, according to Japans Foreign Ministry. Mays official meetings with Abe and other Japanese officials are scheduled for today in Tokyo. It is Mays first visit to Japan since becoming prime minister in July 2016. A delegation of British business leaders is accompanying May. A statement from her office said the delegation would showcase the shared confidence in the U.K.-Japan economic relationship as we leave the EU, and the potential for future growth. Some Japanese companies with factories in the United Kingdom are worried about their ability to export to the rest of Europe after Brexit. Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and triggered the formal two-year exit process in March. AP Diana, Princess of Wales, has died after a car crash in Paris. She was taken to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning where surgeons tried for two hours to save her life but she died at 0300 BST. In a statement Buckingham Palace said the Queen and the Prince of Wales were deeply shocked and distressed. Prince Charles broke the news of their mothers death to Princes William and Harry at Balmoral Castle in Scotland where the royal family had been spending the summer. The accident happened after the princess left the Ritz Hotel in the French capital with her companion, Dodi Al Fayed son of Harrods owner, Mohammed Al Fayed. Dodi Al Fayed and the vehicles driver were also killed in the collision in a tunnel under the Place de lAlma in the centre of the city. The princess Mercedes car was apparently being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes when it hit a pillar and smashed into a wall. Mr Al Fayed and the chauffeur died at the scene but the princess and her bodyguard were cut from the wreckage and rushed to hospital. The French authorities have begun a criminal investigation and are questioning seven photographers. Tributes to the princess have been pouring in from around the world. Speaking from his home in South Africa, the princess brother, Lord Charles Spencer, said his sister had been unique. While it was not the time for recriminations there was no doubt the press had played a part in her death, the earl added. Hundreds of mourners have gathered at the princess London home, Kensington Palace and many have laid flowers at the gates. Courtesy BBC News In context Only Princess Dianas bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived the crash. Blood tests showed the driver, Henri Paul, had taken both drugs and a large amount of alcohol before the accident. The royal family was criticised for its reserve during a time when there was an unprecedented national outpouring of grief. Around one million people lined the streets to see the princess funeral cortege as it made its way to Westminster Abbey in early September. No charges were brought against the paparazzi who had been pursuing the princess car. But the behaviour of the press came under close scrutiny and the code governing the British media was tightened in December 1997. An inquest into the princesss death was opened in the UK in 2004. It has been adjourned while the Metropolitan police, led by Lord Stevens, carry out an investigation into the crash. Retired judge Lady Elizabeth Butler-Sloss will conduct preliminary hearings into the inquests in early 2007. 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. If similar efficacy and tolerability are demonstrated in the Phase III trial,Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin), 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-CTCs 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. Truckee, CA., [August 27, 2017] The Society of Urologic Oncology and the Society of Urologic Oncology Clinical Trials Consortium (SUO-CTC) announced 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 Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin) (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. Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin) 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).Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin)is a gene therapy consisting of an adenovirus containing the gene interferon alfa-2b. Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin) 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 cells 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 patients own bladder wall cells into multiple interferon microfactories, enhancing the bodys natural defenses against the cancer.SUO-CTC, has now launched a Phase III registration trial of Nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin), 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.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 chemotherapy, 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.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.Details of the Phase III trial can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov and on the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network website. The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew the mandate for a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Wednesday, following tense negotiations amid U.S. and Israeli criticism that U.N. troops should do more to stop Hezbollah gaining arms. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) established in 1978 - patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel. Washington regards Hezbollah, which supports the Syrian government and has a strong presence in south Lebanon, as a terrorist organization. US supports resolution U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington wanted the French-drafted resolution to renew UNIFIL's mandate to ensure UNIFIL is doing its job to the fullest extent possible. After a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the UNIFIL mandate was expanded to task peacekeepers with making sure southern Lebanon was free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those belonging to the Lebanese government. For too long UNIFIL's leadership has failed to make sure this goal is realized, Haley told the council after the vote. Mandate is the same The mission mandate has not changed, but the resolution adopted on Wednesday spells out that peacekeeping operation is authorized to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces ... to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities. The resolution also asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to look at ways the peacekeeping mission can increase its visible presence, including through patrols and inspections. At the direction of its patron, Iran, the terrorist organization Hezbollah is stockpiling an offensive arsenal in southern Lebanon, Haley told the 15-member council after the vote. It is preparing for war. They have thousands of missiles and thousands of trained fighters all beyond the control of the Lebanese government. It is apparent to everyone who cares to see it, she said. Hezbollah defends its possession of weapons as necessary to defend Lebanon, but does not say where they are. Israel says force is too soft Deputy French U.N. Ambassador Anne Gueguen described the negotiations on the resolution as difficult. UNIFIL, of course, can do better and can do more, but no-one in this council can imagine for one second the environment existing there without UNIFIL, she told the council. Israel has regularly complained that UNIFIL has too soft an approach toward enforcing the 2006 ceasefire and would like to see stronger action against Hezbollah military deployment that Israel alleges is taking place in violation of the ceasefire. Lebanon also accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire by sending warplanes into its airspace. A handful of Americans left Pyongyang on Thursday on a flight to Beijing, a day before the start of a U.S. ban on American citizens going to North Korea. Among those on the flight from the North Korean capital were aid workers who hoped to be allowed to return to continue humanitarian work. The Trump administration announced in July that it was barring American citizens from traveling to North Korea from Sept. 1 over concerns about detentions of Americans who travel there. Earlier this year, U.S. citizen Otto Warmbier was sent home in a coma and later died after spending more than a year in North Korean detention. Overall, though nearly all Americans who have gone to North Korea have left without incident, at least 16 have been detained in the last decade, American officials say. The ban also goes into effect amid heightened U.S. concern about Pyongyang's recent advancements in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The ban includes potential exceptions for journalists and humanitarian workers, and expires after one year unless extended. Heidi Linton, director of the U.S.-based charity Christian Friends of Korea, said she wasn't sure how long it could take for travel approval to come through. The organization, which fights tuberculosis and hepatitis, has been working in North Korea for more than 20 years. The devil is always in the detail, she said, after landing in Beijing. These trips take a long time to plan and organize and so, if travel approval doesn't come in a timely way, it's a de facto denial. Linton said the organization appreciated the U.S. government's concern for its people, but said there was a tremendous need for humanitarian work in North Korea. I think it's very important that there be opportunities for people to understand one another in person, Linton said. Another Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang is due to land in Shanghai on Thursday evening. Recent moves by the Cambodian government to crack down on independent media, including broadcasters and newspapers, is seen by analysts and activists as a key step by the government to consolidate control ahead of national elections in 2018. The tougher approach by the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen in power for more than three decades comes against a backdrop of growing opposition support, especially among younger voters. Allegations of a campaign against human rights Rights activists also point to a broad strategy by the government against both the media and rights activists. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development condemned the recent attacks against civil society organizations and the free media. "These repressive measures come at a critical juncture for Cambodia and severely compromise the legitimacy and fairness of next year's election," Asian Forum said in a statement. The group also pointed to the killing of activist Kem Ley in July 2016, as well as detention of other opposition politicians, as adding to a "culture of fear spreading in the country." Campaign takes many forms The media crackdown has included imposition of a $6.3 million tax bill against the English-language Cambodia Daily, a newspaper published since 1993, with the paper being forced to shut down if the payment is not met by Sept. 4. Other targets included Cambodian radio stations broadcasting U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (VOA), with the government claiming the outlets failed to have the correct licenses, charging the offices were unregistered with the authorities. In late August, Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), in international development and democracy organization, ordering the institute's foreign staff to leave the country before month's end. Billy Chai-Lung Tai, an independent analyst with Human Rights and Project Management, said the moves against the media marked a tougher line by the government on the media and public debate. Analyst says China is a factor "The gloves are off, so to speak," Chai-Lung Tai said in an email to VOA. He added the government was also less reticent now about maintaining "a semblance of upholding human rights to show the [international aid] donors anymore." Cambodia has become less dependent on Western foreign development assistance in recent years as the economy has grown and the Cambodian government has built closer ties with China. Charges that government fears elections Nathan Thompson, president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC), said the 2018 elections are the main reason for the media crackdown. "The ruling party is terrified of losing the 2018 elections and so they crack down on all opposing voices," Thompson told VOA in an email. He pointed to opposition gains in local elections, which "served to only increase their paranoia." He said there were also fears the government may tighten visa rules and work permits, making it easier for the government to deny visas to freelance journalists and foreign correspondents. Human Rights Watch charges Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said the government was acting dictatorially to control the media and wipe out opposition political leaders and critical nongovernment organizations (NGOs) "in a barrage of bogus criminal charges heard by judges beholden to [the prime minister]." Robertson said the strategy by Hun Sen is to "stifle all the remaining independent media outlets, whether they be radio or newspapers, before the real campaigning starts for the July 2018 election." In a May commentary, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) noted the Cambodian government had also drawn on the new U.S. administration's "more hostile rhetoric and policies regarding the [U.S.] media." The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said the government should first clarify new regulations "rather than immediately launch a crackdown as a first action." SEAPA director Edgardo Legaspi called the government's policy a "systematic attack" at silencing independent media and called on the international community to press the government over the recent crackdown. "It is important for the international community to voice their concern on the recent events in order to convince the Cambodian government to adopt a more reasonable approach for their all-too-sudden concern about taxation or reporting airtime buyers," Legaspi told VOA. "We must call for the immediate reinstatement of the programming of the canceled radio programs," he said. Low 'freedom of press' ranking Cambodia remains lowly ranked in terms of press freedom with the media watchdog Freedom House, which classifies Cambodia's media as "not free," while in 2016 Reporters without Borders placed Cambodia at 128 out of 182 countries for the freedom afforded to its press. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights said journalists often found themselves "victim to physical attacks, judicial harassment and even murder." CCHR said since 1994 14 journalists have been killed in Cambodia with most of the killings carried out "with complete impunity," creating a "climate of fear among Cambodian journalists and political commentators." The Cambodian government did not respond to requests for comment. Cameroons government continues to draw a hard line on separatist groups advocating independence for the countrys two English-speaking zones. Authorities this week arrested several local cable TV distributors, often sole proprietorship enterprises in Cameroon, after they broadcast programming from a pro-secession media outlet. A Yaounde-based cable TV distributor spent four days in police detention this week for airing images from the Southern Cameroon Broadcasting Corporation. The promoters of SCBC say the station is headquartered in South Africa. On Tuesday, SCBC released a message from some Cameroonians who identified themselves as being in Washington. The speakers advocated for independence for the countrys two English-speaking zones. The station also has been calling on schools to remain sealed until detained anglophone leaders are released. In July, the government banned sharing messages from secessionist groups. The Yaounde distributor said he was released this week after a warning from Cameroons communication minister Issa Tchiroma. Several other detained distributors of SCBC also have been released. Tchiroma told VOA, if the distributors have been warned that if they continue to relay messages from secessionist groups, all their equipment will be seized and they will answer charges in court. "This is not a joke," said Tchiroma. "This is the common future of our nation. What is at stake here [is] for us to be Cameroonian here. We cannot joke with this." English speakers allege marginalization The crisis began in November when English-speaking lawyers and teachers went on strike demanding reforms. But the movement was quickly overtaken by separatist groups calling for total independence for Cameroons two English-speaking regions. Cameroon is officially a bilingual country, but English speakers are a minority. Anglophone activists say English speakers have been marginalized. Following violent unrest in December, authorities cut all internet access to the affected zones for three months. At least 30 media organizations either have had their licenses suspended or their offices sealed over their coverage of the strike, and eight journalists are behind bars at the Kondegui prison in the capital. They are accused of broadcasting information that can incite social unrest. Dennis Nkwemo, president of the National Trade Union of Cameroon Journalists, said the arrests infringe on press freedom. "We have reminded our colleagues that they should abide by the ethics of our profession. We have engaged our members to act in solidarity. We have asked for the release of our colleagues who were arrested in the southwest and in the northwest and are currently detained," Nkwemo said. But Peter Essoka, president of the National Communication Council, said the government stands firm. "A journalist is the watchdog of society and if the watchdog gives wrong signals, I tell you, it will run the country into chaos," Essoka said. This year, two rights groups, Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, each downgraded Cameroons rating in their annual global press freedom indexes. Freedom House has assigned Cameroon the status of "not free," while Reporters Without Borders ranks it 130 out of 170 in its country listing. Chilean Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes and two other senior economic officials resigned on Thursday in a blow to President Michelle Bachelet's center-left coalition months before presidential and parliamentary elections. Valdes, an economist who has led the finance ministry for two years, told a press conference some members of the government did not share his sense of urgency to promote growth. This week he had criticized a controversial decision by the government to reject a $2.5-billion copper and iron project on environmental grounds, a decision Bachelet backed. "To advance sustainably toward greater growth requires discipline and the conviction of the government to open spaces so that the private sector can roll out its initiatives with clear rules," Valdes said, adding: "But I believe I wasn't able to make everybody share this conviction." Bachelet said she had accepted the resignations of Economy Minister Luis Felipe Cespedes and Finance Undersecretary Alejandro Micco shortly after Valdes resigned. She said Valdes will be replaced by Nicolas Eyzaguirre, an economist in charge of legislative affairs for the president, while Cespedes will be replaced by Jorge Rodriguez, president of Banco del Estado de Chile. "I don't think development is something to be done with your back to the people, where only the numbers matter and not what's happening to families," said Bachelet. The president did not give a reason for the resignations for Cespedes and Micco, though both had been critical of the government's decision to cancel the Dominga copper and iron project, owned by Andes Iron. Eyzaguirre and Rodriguez, both centrists, served under Ricardo Lagos, a moderate who was president from 2000 to 2006. Valdes' resignation, ahead of the November elections, was seen by some as a blow to the center-left and its candidate Alejandro Guillier, who is generally supportive of Bachelet, and a boost for conservative frontrunner Sebastian Pinera. Bachelet has faced criticism that her government is poorly organized and lacks unity. Her approval rating has risen slowly in recent months after a series of legislative wins but remains in the low 30s. "She showed a bit of momentum, but this is something of a reversal," said Kenneth Bunker, head of an elections unit at the Universidad Central de Chile. Escalating efforts to repatriate one of the ruling Communist Partys most wanted exiles, Chinese police have opened an investigation on a new allegation, rape, against New York-based billionaire Guo Wengui, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference. Two Chinese officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police are requesting a second Interpol arrest notice for Guo, 50, for the alleged sexual assault of a 28-year-old former personal assistant. Guo and his representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Sprawling case against Guo The rape allegation represents a new element in the sprawling case that Chinese prosecutors are building against the real estate tycoon, who is being investigated for at least 19 major criminal cases. Allegations against him include bribing a top Chinese intelligence official, kidnapping, fraud and money laundering. The Associated Press reviewed documents related to the rape investigation and confirmed their contents with Chinese official sources in Beijing, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing case. The Chinese officials disclosures to the AP an unusual move given the political sensitivity of Guos case in China underscores Beijings urgent effort to not only bring a fugitive to heel on criminal charges but also silence a potent irritant in the run-up to a key Communist Party congress during which political stability and the stifling of any challenges to the party head, President Xi Jinping, are paramount. Although the United States does not have an extradition agreement with China, Beijing hopes that a mounting body of evidence could sway the U.S. government against extending the exiled businessmans visa, which is believed to expire in October, the Chinese officials said. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed the allegations against Guo, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the talks. The Chinese officials are asking the U.S. to cancel Guos visa, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Its unclear what steps Washington plans to take, if any. The White House would not comment on the matter. Repatriating elite Chinese The Guo saga highlights how Chinas efforts to repatriate elite Chinese seeking refuge on American soil have become increasingly contentious in the bilateral relationship. The U.S. government has often refused Beijings demands to extradite corruption suspects, citing flimsy evidence and Chinas opaque justice system. But the U.S. has sent back two Chinese fugitives in the past three months, including one suspected of rape. Pressure on Guo has been building since April when Interpol issued a red notice seeking his arrest on corruption-related charges. Chinese authorities later sentenced several of his employees for fraud in June. Police in central China opened the rape investigation July 5 after a former employee came forward, the officials said. In interviews with police, the woman described how she was plucked from her human resources position at Guos real estate company in Hong Kong in 2015 and sent overseas to become his personal assistant. The woman, whose identity is being withheld by the AP, said that over the next two years, she was raped several times in New York, London and the Bahamas by Guo, who she said demanded sex from female employees as a test of their loyalty. At times, she said, she languished in virtual detention after Guos staff confiscated her smartphone, computer, passport and keys and forbade her from leaving her room in his luxury apartment in the high-end London neighborhood of Belgravia. To prove her case, the woman surreptitiously met a lawyer friend in London earlier this year to give a written statement about her ordeal and kept her underwear, pregnancy tests and abortion pills as evidence, according to police documents. In a brief phone interview with the AP arranged by Chinese officials, the woman confirmed the account and described fleeing Guos apartment to the Chinese Embassy in London in April to apply for a new passport before returning to China. She said she was speaking of her own volition and that police had assured her she could bring charges against Guo without facing repercussions for having worked for a highly sought-after fugitive. Calls to Guos mobile phone since Tuesday evening in New York rang unanswered. Guo also did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by an AP reporter to his WhatsApp mobile messaging account since Tuesday. Lawyers representing him at the New York firm Boies Schiller Flexner did not respond to requests for comment. Interpol declined to comment about the latest warrant China is seeking for Guos arrest, referring questions to national authorities as is the policy in ongoing investigations. A report released ahead of next weeks U.N. conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions has condemned the continued use of cluster munitions by Syria and Yemen. They are the only two countries that still use the bombs, which are banned under international law. The report, known as the Cluster Munition Monitor, has recorded more than 230 cluster munition strikes in opposition-held areas across Syria over the past year. It says the number of attacks has increased since Russia began joint military operations with Syrian forces on September 30, 2015. Mary Wareham is advocacy director with Human Rights Watch's Arms Division. Wareham said most of the munitions used in Syria were manufactured in what was then the Soviet Union decades ago and that most of the cluster bomb attacks in Syria have been carried out by government forces. She said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov neither denies nor confirms Russian use of the weapons in Syria, although, she added, Lavrov does deny they have been used indiscriminately. We disagree. When cluster munitions are dropped from the air or launched from the ground, they fall over a wide area and civilians caught up in that are harmed. That is indiscriminate use. There is no way that cluster munitions can be used discriminately. So, Russia, we believe, is on the losing side of that argument and it is holding on to a weapon that the rest of the world has firmly rejected, said Wareham. More than 100 countries have joined the treaty known as the Cluster Munitions Convention since it took effect in August 2010. The treaty prohibits the use, production, and trade in such weapons and calls for the destruction of stockpiles within eight years of becoming party to the treaty. The report says cluster munition casualties doubled last year, with civilians accounting for nearly all of the victims. The monitors casualty and victim assistance editor, Loren Persi, said at least 971 new casualties were recorded in 10 countries last year. So, this was the second-highest number of casualties that we have ever recorded since cluster munition monitoring reporting started in 2009 and it was very similar to the last peak in casualties recorded in 2013, which was also around 1,000 casualties. The vast majority of those casualties occurred in Syria," he said. Persi said cluster bombs killed and maimed 837 civilians in Syria and another 20 in Yemen. The report adds the Saudi-led coalition is responsible for cluster munition attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The report says the weapons used were manufactured in Brazil, the United States and Britain. The report also says cluster munitions reportedly were used in Libya and Iraq back in February, allegedly by Islamic State militants but that it cannot verify either of those reports. China on Thursday said a key Chinese Communist Party meeting held once every five years will start on Oct. 18, marking the formal countdown to the gathering at which President Xi Jinping will begin his second five-year term as head of the ruling party. The 19th National Party Congress will also see the selection of new members of key bodies, including the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee that Xi is expected to pack with allies to the detriment of rival factions. The congress typically runs for about 10 days. Xi has emerged as China's most powerful leader in decades, dominating the party, government, military and state economy. The congress will also be scrutinized for signs that Xi intends to remain beyond the 10-year terms served by his predecessors, the most telling of which would be the failure of a clear successor to emerge. Xi, who has already assumed the title of "core" of the party leadership, is also expected to further cement his authority by having his thoughts on political theory written into the party constitution. The congress will also offer an opportunity to reinvigorate Xi's campaign against corruption that has been his signature political achievement, alongside a muscular foreign policy and efforts to shore up the party's presence and influence in the economy and society, including among academia and the vibrant online sector. In its announcement read on the national evening news report, the official Xinhua News Agency said the congress would review the achievements of the past five years, thoroughly analyze the current domestic and international situation, and ``mobilize the entire party and people... to strengthen self-confidence in the in the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics.'' The congress "is an extremely important meeting being held at a crucial time for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics," said the announcement, which also referenced Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and the political theories of other Chinese leaders. The Legislative Assembly election will be held, as planned, on September 17, the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) announced at a press conference yesterday. The situation has basically reached a stable condition, and the relief works are being conducted orderly. As for the voting stations, we learnt that they were not greatly affected [by the typhoon]. The secretary division contacted schools and [learnt] that they can fix the damages in the short term, with a few exceptions. In other words, the schools can provide the commission places for voting stations, said Tong Hio Fong, Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission. At least one prominent member of Macau society earlier this week called for a postponement of the election, namely lawmaker Angela Leong. She said that voters were too preoccupied with disaster relief efforts to think about the election and therefore any elected lawmakers after September 17 might have their legitimacy doubted. But Tong remarked that, even if it is postponed by one week, the time will be really short [because] there are a series of holidays at the end of September and beginning of October. After the election, there will be a series of legal procedures that need to be completed. Moreover, there will be a possibility of administrative appeal regarding the election, or appeals to the Court of Final Appeal, according to Tong. [We] believe that it will be difficult for the new AL to start working on October 16 [if the election is postponed], he said. The Electoral Affairs Commission will keep a close watch on the weather, and will prioritize the publics safety accordingly. If a serious disaster occurs on the Election Day, [] the Chief Executive will re-schedule the election to be held within the next 30 days, Tong explained. Under the current conditions, we still consider that there is an opportunity to conduct the voting process on September 17. We maintain this date as the voting day for the election. Tong said he had no concerns about voters attitude towards participating in the election, despite the grief that the public might be enduring. Voters vote according to their own personal will. The commission will always call on voters to exercise their right to vote, the CAEAL chief said. Earlier this week, the CAEAL notified a Portuguese newspaper that they would be required to remove an online interview from their website, as it contained an interview with a single election candidate and was considered to be propaganda. The candidate will have to be [held] responsible and fined [for the interview], and the press needs to delete the article, said Tong. The candidate involved in the case has already been forwarded to the Public Security Police (PSP). The commission head also noted that whoever reads the report would be able to distinguish news from propaganda, further indicating that the report obviously violates the election regulations. We respect the freedom of the press. But if the candidate conducts propaganda through this method, we consider it as going against the election regulations, said Tong. Until yesterday, the Electoral Affairs Commission received the 54 reports regarding propaganda, with 11 cases forwarded to PSP. Krassi Nikov evacuated his Houston home with more than 2 feet (61 cm) of water inside it Tuesday after Tropical Storm Harvey devastated Texas Gulf Coast. He now plans to collect on his flood insurance for the second time this year and rebuild. But the future of the federal-government-run flood insurance program on which Nikov, 63, and other property owners in vulnerable areas depend rests with the U.S. Congress. National Flood Insurance Program renewal Congress will soon be asked to renew the National Flood Insurance Program, which expires at the end of September. While a simple extension of the program has wide bipartisan support, some lawmakers are calling for broad reform. The program had received 35,000 claims from Texas by midday Wednesday, according to Roy Wright, its administrator, who described it as a very fast pace. Wright said he was confident Congress would reauthorize the program, but he added that the program would only be prevented from selling new policies or renewing existing ones if it were to lapse. It does not affect ability to accept claims, Wright said. Difficult battle for GOP changes Republicans advocating changes to the program want private companies to write the policies, which they say would result in premium prices that more accurately reflect risks. Additionally, they want the U.S. government to stop charging the program interest, with the savings to be used for flood mitigation. That could set up a difficult battle. Conservatives have voiced concerns that the insurance program has about $25 billion of debt, while Democrats say the Republicans plan to allow private-market plans would be more expensive for homeowners. A bipartisan group of lawmakers from coastal states including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, have been pushing for changes to the program. The NFIP has been reauthorized 17 times since it was created in 1968, with the last time occurring in 2012. It has been allowed to lapse four times. Busy legislative schedule Many lobbyists believe Congress is unlikely to attempt a sweeping reform of the program before the end of September, given a busy legislative schedule that includes approving funding to avoid a government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling. Congress also faces pressure to pass an aid package to help the devastated Gulf Coast. Goldman Sachs said in a research note Tuesday that early estimates suggested Harvey would cost in the range of $30 billion. Instead, most observers expect Congress to pass a short-term extension of the program, ranging from three months to a year. Leaders in Congress are weighing whether to attach it to another piece of legislation, such as a continuing resolution to fund the government, according to several lobbyists following the issue. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryans office said it was confident the program would be reauthorized. Hensarling's reforms U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said in a Bloomberg television interview Monday that he hoped his package of reforms could gain full approval before the end of next month. Hensarling wants to renew the program for five years if private insurers are allowed to write the flood policies. But a business lobbyist who consults for many large American companies and follows the issue closely said Hensarling lacked the support to get his package passed by the House when Congress left for its August recess. I dont think theyre at the point now where they have the votes, the lobbyist said. He added that trying to overhaul the program would be a distraction for federal emergency officials and the flood insurance program. Even if there was a package of reforms ready to go, (the agencies) are not going to have the bandwidth to deal with some kind of reform package, he said. In a letter to Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent Monday, 100 House Democrats expressed concerns about the Hensarling package, saying they would not vote for the full package despite believing flood insurance reauthorization was crucial. Most of these bills do not meet the goals of affordability, availability, increased mitigation efforts or improved mapping, the letter said. Incredibly detrimental Jerry Howard, head of the National Home Builders Association, said the group had endorsed Hensarlings package and was hopeful the bills would pass quickly. Emily Naden of the Building Owners and Managers Association, which in Houston alone represents owners and managers of 312 million square feet of office space and accounts for 43,000 jobs, said the organization had been pushing for reforms but must prioritize avoiding a lapse in coverage. For us, we absolutely need the program to be re-upped without a lapse a lapse is incredibly detrimental to all of our policy members, she said. A Congolese opposition leader is calling for widespread civil disobedience beginning on October 1 to protest the absence of elections. The protest across the Democratic Republic of the Congo would include refusing to pay taxes or pay for public services. Felix Tshisekedi, the son of deceased opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi and president of the opposition alliance known as the Rassemblement de lopposition Congolaise (Rassop), told VOAs French to Africa Service that the campaign is aimed at showing President Joseph Kabila that he no longer has credibility in the eyes of the public. From October 1 onward, we will launch the disobedience and, for us, Joseph Kabila will no longer be anything, he told VOA. He will be a simple citizen who can no longer represent or speak in the name of the DRC. That must be clear. Kabila has been in power for 16 years, and, although his term officially ended last December, he continues to hold power and has set no timetable for elections. An agreement negotiated last year with the help of the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo stated that Kabila must organize elections and abandon any plans to modify the Constitution. However, the DRCs national elections commissioner has said elections this year are not possible due to the ongoing conflict in the Kasai region and the need for a national registry of eligible voters. Opponents have called this a stalling tactic and said the DRC could logistically hold elections this year with the help of the United Nations and other international partners. I strongly believe elections can happen. If it doesnt happen, its because Kabila doesnt want them to happen, Tshisekedi said. Demonstration or destabilization? Some have worried that the oppositions call for disobedience and withholding taxes could further destabilize the country. Tshisekedi denies it will make matters worse. The country is already dying. These taxes are stolen or misspent, Tshisekedi said. They dont go toward the well-being of the state. And when the funds arent stolen, theyre used to buy arms to kill the people. The regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Commission (SADC), plans to send an emissary to the Congo in the hopes of kickstarting further negotiations. The SADC has agreed with the elections commissioner that polls in 2017 are impossible. Instead, they asked the DRCs Independent National Electoral Commission to publish a revised electoral calendar and set dates for the elections. Former South African president Thabo Mbeki was among those urging the SADC to help broker a solution to the conflict, warning that more people may very well die if the matter is not resolved. Tshisekedi said his party has no interest in negotiating with Kabila or his government. You cannot go to the person who was the arsonist when he acts like he wants to play the firefighter, Tshisekedi told VOA. ... He is no longer a reliable negotiating partner. A flood of Indian business in fast-growing Vietnam has solidified commercial ties to help Hanoi upgrade an alliance with a powerful Asian neighbor and offset dependence on its historic rival, the more massive China. Indian investment in Vietnam has reached $2 billion and bilateral trade hit $10 billion over the year ending in March on its way to $15 billion by 2020, said Radha Krishnan, vice chairman of the Indian Business Chamber of Vietnam. "As of now that is very easily achievable," Krishnan said. "The last three ... years exports from Vietnam to India have picked up momentum." Vietnam has many trade partners Last year the two countries agreed to upgrade a "strategic partnership," giving Vietnam more Indian market access, and they will drop import tariffs in 2022 as part of a trade deal with a bloc of Southeast Asian countries. Those totals hardly match those of Vietnam's long-time investment sources such as Taiwan, South Korea and China. But their growth offers Vietnam a line to the world's second-largest country, helping to reduce dependence on China, which is the world's second-largest economy and Vietnam's biggest trading partner. China-Vietnam set a trade target of $100 billion in 2016, but the pair disputes a swathe of the South China Sea. Their dispute sparked clashes in 1974, 1988 and 2014. "The Vietnamese government, they don't want to get an unbalanced investment portfolio where any particular country or region is dominant, because then it just unbalances everything else foreign policy, domestic politics and everything," said Frederick Burke, partner with the international law firm Baker McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City. "As far as people who think about strategic issues are concerned, they would like the Indians to be probably more present in the market, because they're probably behind mainland China in particular," he said. "Everybody wants to balance the two out, be friends with both. That's the ideal situation." Robust trade but also continuing disputes with China Vietnam depends on China for cheap mass market goods, as well as raw materials for export manufacturing. The two Communist countries fought a border war in the 1970s shortly after what was then South Vietnam lost the Paracel Islands to China. That archipelago is part of the South China Sea. In 2014, the placement of a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea east of Vietnam touched off a boat-ramming incident and deadly anti-China riots on land. In June, a Chinese military official cut short his Vietnam visit as the host drilled for oil offshore. Over the past two decades, Indian farming, garment and pharmaceutical investment have reached Vietnam because of its eager partners, Krishnan said. Low-cost but advanced Indian technology has helped Vietnam farm in dry weather, produce sugar and process cashews, he said. Tata Power of India runs a $1.8 billion thermal power plant in Vietnam. For the past three years, the overseas subsidiary of India's government-run ONGC has worked with PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation to search for oil and gas in the South China Sea. About 80,000 Indians visit Vietnam every year, often as tourists looking for business opportunities, and 20,000 go the other way, sometimes as travelers to Buddhist landmarks, Krishnan said. India has its own reasons for strengthening trade with Vietnam India, for its part, is keen to resist China's expansion in Asia. The two Asian powers are easing just this week a more than two-month-old military standoff in Bhutan. China claims the area in question, and Bhutan called on India to help when the Chinese came to work on a highway project. Countries that build trade, investment and economic ties do not always become political allies, but in the India-Vietnam case, that fate is "natural," said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. China, he added, is unlikely to flinch at India because Vietnam is chasing stronger ties with other powerful countries, as well. "You don't need to be a grand strategist to think of diversifying your market," Huang said. "Of course it will have some kind of impact, but so far I do not see one to the degree that will fundamentally change the Chinese perception over Vietnam, because the United States is improving relationships with Vietnam, Japan is improving relationships with Vietnam." A need to resist continued Chinese expansion Beijing's "belligerence" and escalation of territorial disputes in the seas to the Bhutan border have "served to bring a coalition of China-wary states closer," said Mohan Malik,professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines have also tried to balance foreign policies between China and the West, often through trade and investment. China is expected to keep a special eye out for India's maritime ties with Vietnam. The Indian oil company could work again in the waters off Vietnam, Krishnan said. Officials in Hanoi, he said, would try to protect that investment and others. "I don't think it's going to be a big problem per se," said Krishnan. "We are very, very positive that both governments will be able to handle that very, very positively. I don't think investments made in Vietnam by a foreign country or company will be at risk." Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water is an aquatic Beauty and the Beast, a transgressive fairy tale about a young woman's love for a scaly creature from the Amazonian depths. Like the best fables, it's also rooted in the real world: the story of a migrant from the south facing a hostile reception in a security-obsessed United States. "I think that fantasy is a very political genre," del Toro said Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, where The Shape of Water had its red-carpet world premiere. It's one of 21 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion, the festival's top prize. "Fairy tales were born in times of great trouble. They were born in times of famine, pestilence and war," he added. Part monster movie, part noir thriller, part Hollywood musical, the film defies categorization, though Del Toro took a stab, suggesting it's "like Douglas Sirk rewriting Pasolini's Theorem with a fish." Some critics are calling it del Toro's best film since Pan's Labyrinth in 2006. The Daily Telegraph summed it up as "an honest-to-God B-movie blood-curdler that's also, somehow, a shimmeringly earnest and boundlessly beautiful melodrama." Screen International called it "exquisite ... del Toro at his most poignant and sweet." Set in early-1960s Baltimore, the film stars Sally Hawkins as Elisa, a mute orphan who works as a cleaner at a high-security lab. She forges a bond with a captured creature who is at the center of a Cold War tug-of-war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. "It's a movie set in 1962, but it's a movie about today," del Toro told reporters at a Venice news conference. "It's about the issues we have today. When America talks about America being great again, I think they are dreaming of an America that was in gestation in `62 an America that was futuristic, full of promise ... but at the same time there was racism, sexism, classism." Del Toro said the creature played with fittingly fluid movements by Doug Jones is the only character in the film without a name, because he represents "many things to many people." For lonely Elisa, "it's the first time somebody, something is looking at her, looking back the way you look back at the person you love." For Michael Shannon's ruthless U.S. government agent Strickland, the creature is "a dark, dirty thing that comes from the south" and must be eliminated. "I am Mexican, and I know what it is to be looked at as `the other' no matter what circumstances you're in," the director said and the character of the creature embodied that otherness. The film features warm performances from Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins as Elisa's friends and a mesmerizing turn from Hawkins, who creates a character of depth, passion and compassion without saying a word. Hawkins said that when del Toro first told her about the movie, she was working on her own project about "a woman who doesn't know she's a mermaid." Some of those ideas fed into the character of Elisa. "It was just synchronistic," she said. "It was very odd. Those things rarely happen and when they do you know it's something special." The Shape of Water features del Toro's usual rich mix of ingredients: everything from Russian spies to musical interludes. Its overriding message, the director says, is "to choose love over fear." "We live in times where fear and cynicism are used in a way that is very pervasive and persuasive," del Toro said. "Our first duty when we wake up is to believe in love. "It's the strongest force in the universe," he said. "The Beatles and Jesus can't be wrong not both of them at the same time." Vice President Mike Pence visited Texas on Thursday to survey the damage inflicted by Hurricane Harvey, commending residents of the town of Rockport for the manner in which they were handling adversity. "You've inspired the nation by your resilience and by your courage, and we just came here to commend you and to encourage you and to assure you that we will be there," Pence told a gathering outside First Baptist Church. Pence was accompanied by several other Cabinet secretaries, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a former Texas governor. President Donald Trump visited Texas on Tuesday and plans to return Saturday. Harvey, now a tropical depression, brought heavy rain to Louisiana and northwestern Mississippi on Thursday, leaving flooded east Texas to start drying out but still facing danger from flooding. Forecasters expected parts of Louisiana to receive 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain as the storm system continued moving toward Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. Harvey also left the town of Crosby, east of Houston, expecting more explosions after two early-morning blasts at a chemical plant. Residents of Crosby were ordered to evacuate their homes after the explosions at the Arkema Inc. plant emitted flames of 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) and black smoke, resulting in the hospitalization of 15 sheriff's deputies who had inhaled the smoke. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said 13 of the deputies had been released after receiving treatment for inhaling a "nontoxic irritant," but Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long told reporters in Washington that the plumes were considered "incredibly dangerous." Arkema executive Richard Rennard said at a news conference in Crosby that "there is a possibility" more explosions could occur after the company and local officials agreed the best plan was to allow the plant's extremely flammable organic peroxides to burn themselves out. Rennard acknowledged the situation at the plant "is a very serious issue" and that the smoke "is certainly noxious." Rennard said anyone who was exposed to the smoke could suffer irritation to the eyes, lungs or skin. He urged those exposed to "call their doctor or to seek medical advice." Bob Royall of the Harris County Fire Marshall's Office said authorities established a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) "evacuation zone" around the plant to ensure "our citizens are safe and that our environment is protected to the best we can." The National Hurricane Center said that while the risk of more rain was over for Houston, "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" will still be present there, in Beaumont, Texas, and into southwestern Louisiana for the rest of this week. The threat was also clear Thursday as Fort Bend County, on the southwest side of Houston, announced a mandatory evacuation for people living near a reservoir because "imminent flooding." Officials in Beaumont said the flooding had caused the city water system to stop working, and repairs will have to wait until the water recedes. Beaumont officials could not say when the city's homes and businesses would have running water again. The lack of running water and limited access forced Baptist Beaumont Hospital to evacuate nearly 200 patients, according to spokeswoman Mary Poole. Christus Southeast Texas-St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont said its emergency and trauma operations would continue, but officials were considering whether to relocate patients in other departments. In Houston, where some parts of the metropolitan area saw more than 50 inches (130 centimeters) of rain, city services were resuming Thursday, with regular trash pickup and limited bus and rail schedules. Flights into and out of Houston's two main airports resumed Wednesday. Houston's fire department said it would go block by block, starting Thursday, to look through areas with floodwaters of roughly 3 feet (1 meter) in order to make sure "no people were left behind." Officials estimated the process could take up to two weeks. Officials in Texas have confirmed more than 38 storm-related deaths. Nearly 780,000 Texans have been forced to evacuate their homes, and 32,000 others have been forced into shelters, according to FEMA. The U.S. Coast Guard reported to FEMA that it had saved 3,000 lives. Estimates of the damage from the storm ranged into the tens of billions of dollars. Watch: White House Defends Trump's Proposal to Cut Disaster Relief Budget A multitude of charity efforts have raised millions of dollars from businesses, celebrities and everyday people to help those who need immediate help as well as more long-term assistance in rebuilding. The Associated Press reported rap star Bun B, a Houston native, was gathering talent for a hurricane aid concert to be televised on four national networks September 12. He is working with music manager Scooter Braun, who produced the charity concert Ariana Grande held in Manchester, England, in June. Tropical Storm Harvey was downgraded to a tropical depression late Wednesday as it moved away from the coast and weakened, but it was still a danger. The National Hurricane Center warned that catastrophic and life-threatening floods would continue in southeastern Texas and parts of Louisiana for the rest of the week. Harvey could also bring soaking rain and the risk of floods as it drifts to the northeast and into the mid-Atlantic by the end of the week. The storm is leaving behind record-breaking floods, enormous destruction, and heartbreak that has grown hour by hour in Texas and Louisiana. The casualty toll continued to rise in Texas, where up to 31 deaths were blamed on the storm. President Donald Trump, who visited parts of Texas a day earlier, said the crisis brought out the strength, love and resolve of the American people, with both neighbors and strangers helping each other. WATCH: Houston Shelter Doubles Capacity to House Harvey Survivors The center of the storm's harshest effects shifted east Wednesday from Houston to eastern Texas, including Beaumont, a city of 110,000 that was cut off by floodwaters on all sides. Reports on rescue and recovery efforts focused on the tens of thousands of people who have been taken to shelters, including many who were plucked out of floodwaters by helicopters. Houston residents began to trickle back into the few neighborhoods where roads were passable, to see what Harvey had done to their homes. Disturbing scenes greeted many people who found rooms full of destroyed furniture, mud-covered floors and carpets, and ruined possessions. Most Houstonians who could go home simply sighed and said there was nothing to do but clean up and start over. After drifting back into the Gulf of Mexico, the storm reversed course again and made a second landfall Wednesday in parts of southeastern Texas and far western Louisiana. The mayor of Port Arthur, a smaller city near Beaumont that lies about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Houston, said his entire town was under water. A civic center that was being used as a shelter had to be evacuated when it started flooding. Rescuers found an unspeakably sad sight in Beaumont: a toddler clinging to her dead mother's body floating in the water. The child was recovering at a hospital. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the disaster area resulting from Harvey was "far larger" than that of Hurricane Katrina, which overwhelmed New Orleans, Louisiana, 12 years ago, and of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the area around New York City five years ago. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long said FEMA was still "in lifesaving, life-sustaining mode." Long said 32,000 people were in 230 shelters, with another 1,800 people housed in hotels. FEMA has served about 5 million meals, and the agency reported 210,000 people had registered for government assistance. Abbott said 14,000 National Guard troops had been called to duty to help rescue efforts, and another 10,000 were on the way. He said 8,500 people had been rescued from the floodwaters. U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft said emergency calls continued to come in at a rate of 1,000 per hour on Wednesday afternoon. Trump, speaking Wednesday during a previously scheduled appearance in Springfield, Missouri, praised emergency workers as heroes whose "courage and devotion have saved countless lives." "In difficult times such as these, we see the true character of the American people," he said. "Their strength, their love, and their resolve. We see friend helping friend, neighbor helping neighbor, and stranger helping stranger." The White House said Trump planned to return to the storm-ravaged area on Saturday. Celebrities have contributed tens of thousands of dollars for storm relief. The Associated Press reported rap star Bun B, a Houston native, was gathering talent for a hurricane relief concert to be televised on four national networks September 12. On a smaller scale, the owner of a large retail furniture company in Houston opened his showroom, filled with beds, couches and easy chairs, to any and all storm survivors. Media reports said the publicity-shy executive was in effect spending about $30,000 per day on the impromptu shelter. Even as the storm weakened and began moving faster Wednesday, meteorologists said catastrophic and life-threatening floods could continue in Texas and Louisiana for the rest of this week. Damages from Hurricane Harvey are expected to amount to scores of billions of dollars. When it stalled over southeastern Texas after its first landfall Friday night, Harvey dumped more than 50 inches (130 centimeters) of rain the most ever from a single storm in the continental United States over a wide area. VOA's Celia Mendoza contributed to this report. In his South Asia strategy speech last week, President Donald Trump publicly put Pakistan on notice that it must stop providing sanctuaries to armed groups that are fighting in Afghanistan. "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," said Trump, laying out his "condition-based approach" to defeating terrorism in Afghanistan. "We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists we are fighting. But that will have to change and that will change immediately," he vowed. Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of turning a blind eye on the issue of safe havens to Afghan Taliban and the notorious Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terror organization. Analysts charge that sanctuaries in Pakistan have helped the militants sustain a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan against the Western-backed Afghan government. "Top leaders of both groups [Taliban and the Haqqani network] enjoy the ability to live freely in certain parts of Pakistan mainly Baluchistan province, but also some of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa," Michel Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, told VOA. "It is not just the leaderships of these groups that enjoy Pakistani largesse; it's the fighters, too," he added. Where are the sanctuaries? Afghan Taliban's leadership council, known as the Quetta Shura, is reportedly based in the Pakistani southwestern city of Quetta, which shares a border with Afghanistan's Kandahar province, the traditional stronghold of the Afghan Taliban. The Haqqani network, one of the most notorious terror groups in the region, is reportedly based in Miram Shah, a town in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of northern Pakistan. The group, which has been blamed for numerous deadly attacks inside Afghanistan against U.S.-led NATO forces and the Afghan government, is reportedly operating with impunity from across the border. The Afghan government charges that militant sanctuaries are the main reason behind the country's instability. "Neighbor countries have been a major part of the problem in Afghanistan. Terrorists' safe havens and sanctuaries are out of Afghanistan, where they get support, training and equipment," Ahmad Shah Katawazai, a defense liaison at the Afghan embassy in Washington, told VOA. Pakistan's response Pakistan maintains that the Afghan Taliban controls large swaths of territory inside Afghanistan and does not need to have sanctuaries inside Pakistan. "They don't need hideouts or sanctuaries in Pakistan. They have vast territory [under their control], which is beyond Kabul's writ, at their disposal. Why would they come to Pakistan for sanctuaries?" Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said over the weekend. Following Trump's speech, Pakistan denied the allegations that it harbors militants and cited its sacrifices in the ongoing war against terror as an example of how the country itself has been a victim of terrorism. In an effort to illustrate its displeasure at the U.S president's speech, Pakistan postponed Asif's planned trip to Washington and also delayed a planned visit by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells to Islamabad. Could the U.S. take unilateral action? As the administration is weighing its options to deal with the issue of sanctuaries in Pakistan, some analysts doubt Pakistan will take action against militants operating from its soil unless more rigorous pressure is applied on the country. "The Trump administration will need to deploy new forms of pressure. Previous forms of pressure threats, aid conditionalities and aid cuts have not worked. The administration will need to step up its actions and make them much more draconian and this is clearly already under consideration," Kugelman, of the Woodrow Wilson Center, told VOA. Meanwhile, David Des Roches, an associate professor at the National Defense University in Washington, believes that while it is unlikely that the Pakistanis would back down publicly, it "is quite possible that they will facilitate enhanced American action against militants in Pakistan." What seems unclear so far is to what lengths the U.S. is willing to go as far as tackling the issue of safe heavens in Pakistan. While talking to reporters at the State Department last week, U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hinted that the U.S. would target terrorists "wherever they live" without elaborating further. "There's 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," Tillerson said. Sanctions Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, told VOA that the U.S. should target Taliban and Haqqani network sanctuaries inside Pakistan and push Islamabad "out of its comfort zone." "Pakistan has become comfortable with its dual policy; receives U.S. assistance and works to defeat the U.S. in Afghanistan," Khalilzad said. He advocated for sanctions against senior military and intelligence officers who support extremist groups. "Take Pakistan off the list of major non-NATO ally, which provides the opportunity to receive significant security assistance; suspend assistance program; push IMF, World Bank, and Asian and European allies to suspend assistance programs," Khalilzad added. "If America imposes sanctions, Pakistan will probably be unable to receive assistance from IMF and the World Bank, and international companies will not be willing to invest in Pakistan," Saad Mohammad Khan, a retired Pakistani military leader, told VOA. The U.S. president and his defense secretary issued divergent comments on Wednesday about how to respond to North Koreas advancing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphasized the United States is never out of diplomatic solutions when it comes to dealing with North Korea. That comment was made after U.S. President Donald Trump said that "talking is not the answer." Mattis was responding to a question about Trumps tweet Wednesday morning on dealing with the threat of North Korea following its most recent ballistic missile test, in which a projectile flew high over Japan. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Trump tweeted, a day after he said that "all options are on the table" for dealing with Pyongyang. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asked to reconcile what seemed to be a contradiction between the Trump and Mattis comments, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that the president has previously said all options are on the table for dealing with North Korea, and that continues to be the case, Asked if the president was referring to the possibility of a military option, Sanders said she replied that if he was looking at that direction he would be leaning heavily on people like General Mattis, [senior members of] the Department of Defense and others. Some analysts criticized the divergence of the messages coming from Trump and his defense secretary. Aside from the fact that President Trump needs to get his facts straight -- talking has worked at times and not at others -- his administration needs to get its policies straight, Joel Wit, senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, told VOA. The Trump administrations constant stream of contradictory statements is only confusing our allies and undermining our ability to effectively deal with this growing threat, said Wit, who coordinated a U.S. deal with North Korea to freeze its nuclear program in the mid-1990s. An arms control specialist who worked in the Clinton and Obama administrations, Gary Samore, said, Trump is correct that our efforts to negotiate agreements with North Korea to resolve the problem, to end the North Korea nuclear program, havent worked. Samore, of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, deems it unlikely in the future that a diplomatic agreement would lead to North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons. Samore, however, agreed with Wit that there is a danger of mixed messaging because the U.S. government, I believe, is trying to find a way back to the bargaining table. The problem, Samore told VOA, is not so much with Trumps tweets but that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un is not interested in having a negotiation right now. North Korea said launched its intermediate-range ballistic missile high over Japan Tuesday to counter this week's joint military exercises by South Korea and the United States. The U.S. has military treaties with both Japan and South Korea to help protect them. For the second day in a row,, Trump discussed the matter by telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In their Wednesday conversation, which lasted for more than 30 minutes, the two leaders confirmed their continuing, close cooperation on efforts to address North Korea's recent missile test, according to a White House statement. Abe, in Tokyo, told reporters that Trump and other leaders he has spoken with totally agree pressure ((on North Korea)) must be raised by the international community. U.S. Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood, in Geneva, called for concerted action in response to the increasing threat caused by North Koreas missile program, calling it the greatest current challenge to the global security environment. North Koreas state news agency quoted leader Kim Jong Un as saying the drill for Tuesdays launch of the Hwasong-12 missile was like a real war, and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," a U.S. territory nearly 3,000 kilometers southeast of the Korean peninsula and home to American air and naval bases. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy announced its sailors successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii on Wednesday in a test of American defense systems. We will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves, said Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to China for a summit of emerging nations starting Sunday, there is a sense of quiet satisfaction in New Delhi at the resolution of their most serious border confrontation in decades in a disputed Himalayan plateau. Strategic road For now it appears China has abandoned plans to build a contentious road on the high mountain junction lying between India, Bhutan and China that sparked the standoff between the two countries. Indian officials maintain that China has withdrawn its bulldozers and road construction equipment. Beijing has sidestepped the issue, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying saying it will take into consideration factors such as weather to make relevant construction plans in accordance with the situation on the ground. It was in mid-June that Indian troops moved into the Doklam Plateau to obstruct China from building a road in the Himalayan junction disputed between Bhutan and Beijing. That led an infuriated China to accuse Indian troops of trespassing into territory to which it had no claim and demand their withdrawal. India in turn said the status quo should be restored. It says that has happened as soldiers from both sides have pulled back. China has announced that its troops will patrol the region, but New Delhi says that happened in the past also. Stronger India Strategic experts say India scored by standing its ground for 2 months despite the strident rhetoric from its powerful neighbor about the prospect of a full-blown conflict if Indian troops did not withdraw from Doklam. For the first time, I think the Indian government held its nerve in a crisis. Delhi in particular is known to lose its nerve, and that has not happened, said strategic analyst Bharat Karnad at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. Although Doklam is disputed between Bhutan and India, Indian troops moved in swiftly to stop the construction because the area serves as a buffer that keeps China away from a strategic strip of territory that connects India to its northeast. Lingering bad feelings But although the crisis has been defused, it has further frayed ties and has deepened mistrust between the Asian giants, analysts say. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that New Delhi should learn lessons from Doklam and prevent similar incidents from happening again. For India, the lesson is that even though the standoff has been resolved, future flare-ups cannot be ruled out. The problem is essentially the aggressive stance that China has adopted on all territorial matters with all countries and here the manner in which it has tried to alter the status quo on the ground by building this road, which we have stopped, said Jayadeva Ranade, a former China specialist at the Indian governments National Security Advisory Board. He warned that they might repeat Doklam next year or try something else. Lessons learned Indeed, India will be even more vigilant in the months and years to come, not just in Doklam but in the several other sectors along their 3,500 kilometer Himalayan boundary that remains disputed despite decades-long negotiations. That was underlined by Indias army chief, Bipin Rawat, just a day before the formal announcement of the agreement. My message to my people is that remain prepared, it can happen again, and therefore do not let your guard down, he said. However for the time being there is a sense of relief that the crisis is over, especially because the spat had pulled in Bhutan, Indias tiny neighbor, which feared being caught in the middle of the two huge Asian countries and whose ties with India might have been jeopardized had the conflict flared. Commentators say the resolution of the dispute also sent a message to other countries that China is not unchallengeable. Countries embroiled in disputes with China in the South China Sea and elsewhere can look at this crisis as a case study on how to avoid escalation with the Asian giant while sticking to their position, according to Michael Kugelman, South Asias deputy director at the Wilson Center in Washington. The fact that India stood its ground before eventually fashioning a resolution is something that many other countries will take notice of and try to learn lessons from, he said. The forthcoming BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in China might have played a role, according to several reports. New Delhi had refused to confirm Modis attendance at the meeting until the crisis was resolved. As he leaves this weekend, India feels it has sent a message that it reached an equitable agreement with China, but their recent tensions may well loom over the meeting. Iraq's prime minister has declared victory over Islamic State in the city of Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh. "Our happiness is complete, victory has arrived and the province of Nineveh is now entirely in the hands of our forces," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement. U.S. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of coalition forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, praised Iraqis for their "stunningly swift and decisive victory" in the city of Tal Afar, where he says they came in "like a steamroller" to defeat the terror group. The offensive on Tal Afar, which lies 80 kilometers west of the former Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, began on August 20. "The Iraqi Security Forces attacked with a great deal of power on five axes of attack into Tal Afar and they were able to maintain that same pressure on all axes," Townsend told Pentagon reporters Thursday in a teleconference briefing from Baghdad. The coalition estimated that there were 1,000 to 2,000 Islamic State fighters in Tal Afar. Townsend said the Iraqis and coalition forces killed between "1,000-1,2000 enemy fighters" with up to about 700 killed in Tal Afar city itself and another 300 to 500 killed when they started to flee north. "The Iraqi Security forces and the coalition went there to annihilate ISIS forces that were there in Tal Afar, and I think we've done that," Townsend said, using an acronym for Islamic State. He added that there could be some small numbers of terrorist fighters hiding to the city's north. While the fight for Tal Afar was swift, Townsend said the coalition was planning for "tough fights ahead," especially in the middle Euphrates River Valley, which stretches across 250 kilometers from Deir Ezzur, Syria, to Rawa, Iraq. Townsend: Baghdadi still alive Townsend, who leaves his command post in Baghdad next month, discounted recent reports that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was dead and said that he thinks that Baghdadi is alive and likely hiding somewhere in that middle Euphrates River Valley. "We're looking for him every day," he said. Townsend said his view was made due to "some indicators in intelligence channels that he [Baghdadi] is alive." However, he then added that his opinion was "just an educated guess." There have been numerous reports of the Islamic State leader's demise, mostly recently in June, when Russia claimed to have killed him in an airstrike. Competition is on the rise as Japan moves closer to a regulatory framework that will allow one of its cities to host the countrys long-awaited first integrated casino resort. Back in December, Japan paved way for investment in resorts after its parliament passed a bill to legalize the operation of casinos. Currently, three sites are reportedly lobbying hard to host the tourism attraction, including Rinku Town in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture; Wakayama Marina City in Wakayama Prefecture; and the most talked- about, Yumeshima an artificial island in Osaka Bay. Osaka Prefecture was already proposed back in 2012 as a possible casino site. As cited in The Japan Times, Izumisano municipal official Yoshihiko Matsushita said to panel members at a public hearing in Osaka earlier this month that problems could occur if the host citys residents do not agree with the establishment of a casino in their city. Yet the official also recalled that the three competing cities have spent many years talking to residents and conducting symposiums on casino resorts, along with setting up integrated resort bid committees. Rinku Town in Izumisano is lobbying as hard for consideration, noting that the town is located across the bay from Kansai airport in southern Osaka, ideal for tourists arriving by plane. Meanwhile, Yumeshima has already begun attracting investors from gaming operators in Macau, including Melco Resorts, which pledged to spend whatever it takes; MGM Resorts International; and Las Vegas Sands Corp. which put the price tag on a casino of up to USD10 billion. Political and business leaders have also touted Yumeshima as the ideal city to host a casino resort. Efforts are also accelerating for Wakayama Prefecture, a 45-minute drive from Kansai airport, and some 70 minutes from downtown Osaka. The prefecture believes that it is capable of attracting some six million foreign visitors to Kansai airport, and that it could immediately commence facility construction once awarded a license. The prefecture also suggested that casino licenses should be awarded with consideration of regional economics. As the competition continues to heat up, the government is expected to only approve two or three integrated resorts at first. According to the report, the odds currently favor at least one of those being in Kansai. Late last month, a government panel was appointed to recommend detailed rules and regulations on how licensed casino resorts would be selected, operated, and monitored. The panel presented its report to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Iraq's prime minister has declared victory over Islamic State in the city of Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh "Our happiness is complete, victory has arrived and the province of Nineveh is now entirely in the hands of our forces," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement. In a statement, the U.S.-led coaltion congratulated Iraqi forces but warned that "dangerous work remains" to remove explosive devices and find any IS fighters in hiding. "Following their historic liberation of Mosul and now a swift and decisive victory in Tal Afar, the ISF have shown, once again, they are an increasingly capable force that can protect the Iraqi people, defeat ISIS within Iraq and secure the country's borders," said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of U.S. and Coalition forces, using an acronym for IS. "This is yet another significant achievement for the Iraqi Security Forces and the government and people of Iraq." The offensive on Tal Afar, which lies between Syria and 80 kilometers west of the former Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, began on August 20. Tal Afar was one of the last Iraqi areas held by IS, following the July liberation of Mosul. Daryl Davis, a black musician who has made a practice of befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan, says he knows exactly what racists hear in the slogan "Make America Great Again." Donald Trump "won the election on one word, one word only. And that word was 'again,' " Davis says. "When was 'again?' " Davis asked during an interview at his home in May, discussing race relations in the age of President Trump. "Was it back when I was drinking from a separate water fountain? Was it when I couldn't eat in that restaurant over there? ... Make America Great Again -- before I had equality?" Trump told The Washington Post he thought of the slogan in 2012 and trademarked it immediately, although similar words have been used by politicians as far back as President Ronald Reagan. President Bill Clinton is on record as having used it during his presidential campaign in 1991, although not as an official slogan. Yet, in 2008, while campaigning for his wife, he noted: "If you're a white Southerner, you know exactly what it means, don't you?" Is it possible that Trump was elected to the presidency with a racially charged slogan? Or are supporters and critics just hearing what they want to hear? Christian Picciolini, a former neo-Nazi who now works to help other white supremacists leave the movement, says the slogan fits into the alt-right's efforts to make its message more attractive by toning down the rhetoric. "That was a concerted effort," Picciolini says in an informational video for Vox news. "We knew we were turning more people away that we could eventually have on our side if we just softened the message. These days with our political climate we see a lot of coded language, or dog whistles." (Picciolini's use of "dog whistle" refers to a subtle message meant to be understood only by a particular group of people, like a whistle pitched high enough that a dog might hear it, but a human would not.) "Make America Great Again?" Picciolini asks rhetorically. "Well, to them, that means make America white again." In June 2016, a Tennessee politician even put that on a billboard. Rick Tyler, running for a congressional seat in mostly white Polk County, Tennessee, explained that his "Make America White Again" billboard was meant to evoke the mood of 1950s America, when television shows idealized the image of the happy white family. In a Facebook post, Tyler said, "It was an America where doors were left unlocked, violent crime was a mere fraction of today's rate of occurrence, there were no car jackings, home invasions, Islamic Mosques or radical Jihadist sleeper cells." Tyler's billboard quickly drew negative national attention and was taken down within a few days. Better economic times President Trump says he merely meant the slogan to refer to better economic times. "I felt that jobs were hurting," Trump told the Post in January. "I looked at the many types of illness our country had, and whether it's at the border, whether it's security, whether it's law and order or lack of law and order." Trump said the slogan "inspired me, because to me, it meant jobs. It meant industry. And it meant military strength. It meant taking care of our veterans. It meant so much." David Axelrod, chief political strategist for former president Barack Obama, credits Trump with understanding his audience and crafting a message whose flexibility was part of its appeal. Trump, Axelrod told the Post, "understood the market that he was trying to reach. You can't deny him that." He added, "In terms of galvanizing the market that he was talking to, he did it single-mindedly and ingeniously." So who is Trump's market? According to surveys, at its core are white men in the blue-collar sector -- the demographic with the most to lose when women and minorities started gaining more rights and earning power over the past few decades. But people who find promise in "Make America Great Again" come from more than just that narrow category. Jason Rankin, a real estate agent in Knoxville, Tennessee, described his thoughts about the slogan this way: "Making America Great Again to me means at least the following things: less national debt, more secure borders, more freedom of speech, more gun rights, more job opportunities across the country (but especially in rural areas), higher GDP, stronger national security & a stronger military, more money in every American's bank account." Tony Goicochea, an audio engineer in Washington, D.C., said Make America Great Again "has a vision to it," as well as a reference that, to him, speaks of greater economic prosperity in the past, and financial lives unburdened by crippling debt. Growing up in the 1980s, Goicochea said, "I saw people go to college, they graduated, and they got a job. That was it. They were able to move out on their own and start a life for themselves. So I think about our economics, how much better our economics were." Now, Goicochea noted, American families are experiencing a boomerang syndrome -- recent graduates who have moved back in with their parents because they cannot make enough money to support themselves and pay off college debt. Shannon Crannick, a retail consultant in Festus, Missouri, says she believes making America great again means "putting an end to all the hate that has come around in the last few years. Making it safe to walk down the street again. Less debt, secure borders, more support for the military, freedom of speech coming back, better help for the poor and people loving each other again." Better for whom? In a Washington Post/ABC News poll taken in September 2016, three-quarters of self-identified Trump supporters said America's greatest days are in the past. When the same question was asked of other demographic groups, however, five out of six African-Americans disagreed. The polltakers concluded that one's estimation of the country's greatness depends on factors such as gender, race and education level -- the kinds of factors that have a direct impact on income and political representation. Hence, "Make America Great Again," doesn't just appeal to people who hear it as racist coded language, but also those who have felt a loss of status as other groups have become more empowered. Marketing consultant Eva Van Brunt, a critic of the president, says the malleability of the words "great" and "again" are a common marketing trick: using words that sound positive, but lack specific meaning. "By leaving a definitional vacuum around the word 'great,' it became very easy for groups to co-opt it, ascribing to it the meaning they wanted it to have," Van Brunt says. "The same way a mother rests easy because her baby's food has 'all-natural' written on the jar, Nazis, the KKK, and other white supremacists were able to feel good about Trump because 'great' became interchangeable with white, heterosexual, male, hate, oppress, deport. As for the word "again," VanBrunt notes that it limits the audience to those who think America was once great and no longer is. "That excludes those who never thought America was great for them and those who think America is great for them now," she says. "Looked at from that vantage point, it's hard to imagine that the co-opting by certain groups was accidental." Different interpretations For better or worse, the phrase is a loaded one, with potential to cause trouble between people who do not share the same interpretation. On August 19 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., two white teenage girls on a summer enrichment trip entered a campus cafeteria while wearing "Make America Great Again" trucker hats that they had recently bought at a suburban mall. The girls, part of a group of students from Union City High School in Pennsylvania, say they were unaware Howard was an historically black university. "I don't even think our advisers really knew," 16-year-old Allie Vandee, one of the hat-wearers, told Buzzfeed. "We just thought of Howard University, we know it's historic, so we kinda went," she said. Howard University students who witnessed the event say students chastised the teenage visitors for wearing the slogan. One walked up and snatched at their hats. Another one cursed at them. The teenage girls left the cafeteria and shared their experience on Twitter. They say they were unfairly harassed. The incident prompted discussions online and on campus at Howard. It has resulted in no major protests, turf wars or Twitter feuds. But it was an indicator of deeply different interpretations of that particular four-word phrase. Student Merdie Nzanga, a junior at Howard, was in the cafeteria when the teenagers walked in. She said several of her friends confronted the teenagers for being insensitive. "I didn't say anything," she told Buzzfeed. But, "to myself, I thought, 'This is going to be trouble.'" Foreigners who were barred from entering the U.S. during President Donald Trump's first attempt to ban travel from seven Muslim-majority nations will get government help reapplying for visas under a lawsuit settlement reached Thursday. Civil rights lawyers and the Trump administration announced the deal in during a conference call in federal court in Brooklyn, one scene of the legal battle over the treatment of hundreds of travelers who were detained at U.S. airports over a chaotic weekend last January. Under the terms of the settlement, the government agreed to notify anyone overseas who was banned that they can reapply for visas with the help of a Department of Justice liaison for a three-month period. In return, the plaintiffs said they would drop all their claims. "We are pleased with the settlement and that this chapter in the fight is done,'' said American Civil Liberties Union Attorney Lee Gerlent. Gerlent said it's unclear how many people will benefit from the settlement because the government has refused to disclose the total. There was no immediate comment from Justice Department officials. The ACLU, along with the National Immigration Law Center and the International Refugee Assistance Project, sued after the Trump administration implemented a policy Jan. 27 that barred entry of visa-holders from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Among them was Hameed Khalid Darweesh, a translator who has done work for the U.S. military, who was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport. A federal judge blocked the ban eight days later in a ruling upheld by a circuit court. Rather than pursue an appeal, the administration said it would revise the policy. In June, the Supreme Court found that a narrower order that excluded Iraq from the list can be enforced if those visitors lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.'' U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis says he has signed orders to deploy additional American troops to Afghanistan beyond the 11,000 currently serving in the war-torn country. Speaking to reporters Thursday at the Pentagon, Mattis said the additional troops would mostly advise and "enable the Afghan forces to fight more effectively" against the Taliban and more than a dozen terror groups in Afghanistan. The secretary said he would provide the public with more information once he had completed the orders and notified Congress next week of the military's next steps. "I've signed orders, but it's not complete. In other words, I've signed some of the troops that will go and we're identifying the specific ones," Mattis said. News of the new deployment orders comes a day after the Pentagon announced that approximately 11,000 U.S. troops are currently serving in Afghanistan, not 8,400 troops, as the Defense Department had previously reported. The higher number emerged following Mattis's call for a more accurate troop-strength estimate, as the Trump administration worked on a new U.S. policy in Afghanistan. The chief spokesperson at the Pentagon, Dana White, told reporters Wednesday the estimate of 11,000 troops is based on a simplified accounting method that provides greater "transparency" while "increasing commanders' ability to adapt to battlefield conditions." The lower number of troops cited previously excluded service members on assignment in Afghanistan for less than 120 days short-term duty that could include temporary combat support or materiel recovery missions. Lieutenant General Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie Jr., staff director on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the new method of counting troops in the field uses approximations rather than exact numbers of troops. This, he said, allows commanders "more flexibility" when it comes to battlefield deployments. "We all recognize that whole units are inherently more prepared and more ready than units that are fragmented in order to meet an arbitrary force management level," McKenzie said. White and McKenzie said the changes made in calculating troop strength in Afghanistan eventually will be applied to American troops fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Officials have suggested that Secretary Mattis is looking to deploy about 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to fulfill the commander's needs on the ground. Female farmers urged the Indian government on Wednesday to protect their land rights and keep them safe from abuse as women increasingly run farms abandoned by men for jobs in the city. Women own just 13 percent of land in India, although they do two-thirds of all farm work, with ownership largely passing from fathers to sons. "At a time when there is rapid feminization of Indian agriculture, the data need to reflect women farmers' work," Soma Parthasarathy of the women farmers rights organization Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Women have the greater workload, yet their rights are more insecure." Parthasarathy is among a delegation of women in New Delhi to issue the government with a charter of demands aimed at winning women equal status in land rights. "Their names must appear in the land and cultivation records so they can finally gain a legitimate identity as farmers," she said. As women's names are seldom on title deeds, the government labels them "cultivators" rather than farmers, which means they are denied loans, insurance and other state benefits. "Our main demand is delinking land ownership from the definition of who a farmer is, as women are not recognized as farmers," said Parthasarathy, who is leading the delegation at the New Delhi meeting. Widows lose out India's constitution gives women equal rights but custom dictates that land is inherited by male sons. Women also seldom have claim over their husbands' land. About 60 percent of India's population depends on the land, mostly farming and raising livestock and poultry on marginal plots of less than 2 hectares (4.9 acres). The burden of caring for livestock and harvesting forest produce such as honey to supplement incomes also falls on women, Parthasarathy said. "It is important that women get not just individual rights over land but also access to common lands, forestland and grazing grounds to secure their livelihoods," she said. Legislators failed to pass a bill granting women equal rights to land, drafted in 2011 by the father of India's "Green Revolution," M.S. Swaminathan, to boost farm production. Some states have programs to give land to the landless poor. But not all ensure women's names are on the titles, which means widows risk losing their farms when their husbands die. "The system itself is not geared to protect a woman farmer's rights," Parthasarathy said. Michigan is likely to be the state most hurt by changes to the NAFTA trade agreement, according to a Fitch Ratings report released Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump renewed threats to scrap the deal. Trump has threatened three times in the past week to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement, revisiting his view that the United States would probably have to start the process of exiting the accord to reach a fair deal for his country. A second round of talks starts Friday in Mexico City to renegotiate the 1994 accord binding the United States, Mexico and Canada. Business groups have largely praised NAFTA and hope to persuade all three governments to make minimal changes to the pact. U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade has quadrupled since NAFTA took effect in 1994, surpassing $1 trillion in 2015. Michigan's auto sector While several other states export a significant amount of products to Canada and Mexico, Michigan is an outlier in Fitchs analysis because of the states global role in the automotive sector and proximity to Canada, the report said. Sixty-five percent of the Michigans exports went to Canada and Mexico in 2016, totaling 7.4 percent of its gross state product, it said. Any state that is particularly export dependent or exposed to trade, if theres a falloff in trade its going to hit income and sales taxes and thats going to weaken state revenues, said Michael DArcy, a director of U.S. public finance at Fitch. Cuts would have to be made. Anna Heaton, a spokeswoman for Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, said in a statement to Reuters that Canada, Michigans No.1 trading partner, has been important to the states economic recovery but he understands that sometimes policies need to change. 11 states trade heavily with Canada According to the report, 11 U.S. states send at least 30 percent of their exports to Canada. By merchandise value, 82 percent of North Dakotas exports went to Canada in 2016. Forty-three percent of New Mexicos exports were sent to Mexico. Several states also import a substantial amount of Canadian goods. A unilateral U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA would sharply increase import tariffs overnight, entailing potentially substantial costs for U.S. importers and consumers, the report said. Major metropolitan areas could also be affected by U.S. trade policy changes, with Texass El Paso MSA, or metropolitan statistical area, left vulnerable to NAFTA changes, the report said. Exports to Canada and Mexico accounted for 91 percent of the MSAs exports. Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of Renamo, the Mozambican opposition, says he will sign a peace deal with the government by early November, in a bid to end almost three years of sporadic violence. Renamo and the ruling Frelimo party fought on opposing sides of a civil war from 1976 to 1992 in which a million people died before a peace accord ended the fighting. Violence has flared up again since Renamo challenged results of the southern African nation's 2014 elections. "It will be in October or November, no later than the beginning of November," Dhlakama told the weekly independent newspaper Canal de Moz. His remarks were quoted by Noticas, the pro-government daily paper, on Thursday. Dhlakama said his party was negotiating cautiously with the government to avoid a deadlock, which has seen previous talks collapse. Issues still being discussed include the decentralization of powers, constitutional reforms to allow provincial governors to be elected, and the reintegration of Renamo's staff into the police and army. Renamo wants governors to be elected in 2019, seeing it as a chance to rule areas where it has popular backing. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and Dhlakama met in early August for the first time since 2015 to discuss the next steps in the peace process, which they hoped would be completed by the end of the year. Torrential rains caused a five-story apartment building to collapse Thursday in the west Indian financial capital of Mumbai, killing 19 people and possibly burying more than a dozen others, police said. Rescuers, residents and police officers managed to pull 30 injured people from the rubble. More than a dozen others were missing and feared trapped beneath a huge mound of mud, broken concrete slabs and twisted steel girders. The building was one of thousands in Mumbai that are more than 100 years old, with foundations that have been weakened by years of heavy monsoon rains. Last month, another four-story building toppled in the city's suburb of Ghatkopar, killing 17. Thursday's tragedy occurred in a congested area of Mumbai's southern Bhendi Bazaar area, following the city's heaviest rainfall in 15 years. Authorities were advising people living in an adjacent building to vacate after it developed cracks following Thursday's early morning collapse. It was not immediately clear how many people might be trapped under the toppled building. We are asking people to check if their family members are safe and accounted for, officer Manoj Sharma said at the scene. The building had housed nine families in apartments above a first-floor nursery school, but the collapse occurred before the toddlers had arrived for the day, police said. Nearby resident Amina Sheikh tightly held her 4-year-old grandson's hand as they watched the rescue efforts from a safe distance. This is my grandson. He used to go to school in that building, she said, tearfully pointing at the rubble. She had been getting the boy ready for school when she heard a loud boom and saw the building had crashed down. It was an hour before his class began. That's why my grandson's life was saved, she said. Hours later, rescuers used earth-moving machines to lift concrete slabs and cement blocks as they searched for survivors. Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September. High demand and lax regulations encourage some builders to use substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors. Property prices and rents in Mumbai are among the highest in India as the city has expanded in the past five decades. The city has been slowly limping back to normalcy after being paralyzed by heavy downpours for two days. Train services and public transport were halted and airports shut on Tuesday as roads turned into rivers and floodwaters seeped into many low-lying buildings. In many places, people had to abandon their vehicles and wade through waist-deep water to reach their homes. Schools, colleges and offices that were shut Wednesday opened Thursday, but attendance was sparse. Every year the city struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about its poor planning. Since the start of the season, devastating floods across South Asia have killed at least 1,000 people and affected close to 40 million across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh. 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 vast swathes of farmland. A few months before Islamic State came, there was a wedding in Kocho, Iraq. It was one of the village's last celebrations before IS slaughtered the men and older women, and kidnapped hundreds of girls. Through his original paintings, Lukman Ahmad of VOA's Kurdish Service, tells the stories of these young women and girls who were beaten, raped and sold as sex slaves. This VOA Special Project was written by Amish Srivastava and narrated by Paul Alexander. Two police officers have been sentenced to 17 years in prison Thursday for failing to protect assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. The officers are the first two people to be convicted in Bhutto's murder case after the nearly decade-long trial. The judge at the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi also declared exiled former president Pervez Musharraf an "absconder" and ordered his property in Pakistan seized. Musharraf took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and was president when Bhutto was assassinated. In addition to other charges including treason, Musharraf was charged in 2013 of being culpable in Bhutto's murder, an allegation he denies. Musharraf has been abroad since 2016, having been allowed to leave the country for medical treatment. Following Wednesday's court decision, Musharraf legally must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan. The court acquitted five others Thursday who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy of killing Bhutto. Bhutto, who twice served as Pakistan's prime minister, was assassinated in December 2007 in a gun-and-bomb attack while leaving a political campaign rally in Rawalpindi, just weeks after returning to Pakistan from years in self-imposed exile. Authorities claimed at the time that Taliban militants were behind the attack. David Tang, a flamboyant and outspoken socialite and entrepreneur who founded the Shanghai Tang fashion brand, has died. He was 63. The Financial Times newspaper, for which he wrote a popular tongue-in-cheek advice column, reported Tangs death in a story yesterday. Tang had fought a long battle with cancer and died Tuesday night at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London with his wife Lucy at his bedside, the newspaper said. David Tang was a remarkable man of many talents whose charm, erudition and wit were ever present, the article quoted the newspapers editor, Lionel Barber, as saying. He will be sorely missed. The Hong Kong-born, British-educated Tang was a businessman who also operated private clubs and restaurants and held exclusive distribution rights to Cuban cigars in Asia. Tang was knighted in 2008 for his charitable work in both Britain and Hong Kong, the same honor his grandfather, businessman and philanthropist Tang Shiu-kin, also received. He was planning to throw a farewell bash on Sept. 6 at Londons luxury Dorchester hotel after learning he only had a few months left, according to Ewan Venters, chief executive of luxury department store Fortnum & Mason. Personally, I think the world is a little duller for the loss of David and at such a relatively young age, Venters said. He also caused a stir by opening the members-only China Club in 1991 on the top floors of the old Bank of China building in Hong Kongs financial district, expanding it to Beijing and Singapore and also opening the China Tang restaurant in the Dorchester. Tang was best known for starting the Shanghai Tang luxury brand in 1994, which pioneered the use of Chinese retro design themes as fashion motifs, and later sold it to the Swiss luxury goods company Richemont. Tang enjoyed a reputation as the best-connected person in Hong Kong. He mingled with a vast list of the rich and famous including the late Princess Diana, whom he once hosted at the China Club, and supermodel Kate Moss, with whom he was often photographed at parties. In a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, he was asked how he came to know so many notable people. You mean how did they know me, he shot back with a laugh. He has famously recounted how he sent off to school in Britain at the age of 13 barely able to speak a word of English. But he ended up graduating with a philosophy degree and cultivated an arch British accent. Last year he weighed in with his frank views on Hong Kong politics, lashing into the citys then-leader Leung Chun-ying over his leadership and fretting about the future of his home city under Communist rule. There are many more things which need fixing, and most of them could not be achieved given the standoff between the pan-democrats representing the majority of ordinary people, and the establishment, so-called, hugging most of our somnambulant tycoons, and that elephantine Communist Party in China, he said in a speech. Tang is survived by his wife, British-born Lady Lucy Tang, and two children from a previous marriage. Kelvin Chan, Hong Kong, AP Tangs hotel for Macau and a lecture on luxury In the early days of Macaus gambling liberalization, Sir David tried to join the race with a hotel at Studio City (then, not owned by Melco), named after him: Tang Hotel. In an exclusive interview with MDT, in March 2012, David Tang explained that, I was going to get involved in [a project] with [Asia media mogul] Peter Lam, but in fact he had a bit of an argument with his partner [David Friedman], so actually I retired from the project. Those were the early years of the revamping of the local gaming industry when Tangs project didnt materialize. Ten years later, Sir David was convinced that Macau needs to turn down the vulgarity, he told the Times at a dinner-lecture promoted by BBAM, which filled a city hotel ballroom. In his lecture on The Misunderstandings of Luxury, he recalled a bygone era. I still remember the Macau that enchanted Austin Coates, the Bela Vista hotel, the Praia Grande sea-side promenade with its skyline of colonial buildings and Mediterranean flair. That was genuine and unique. However, Tang then said that he would still gaze with admiration at the Church of Mother of Gods facade. That is exactly how all churches should be: without whats inside. Looking at the huge development of the city and the gaming industry, he ironically noted that, You can have kitsch, all right, but not ALL kitsch, while gesture drawing the contours of the lotus-shaped Grand Lisboa tower. Sir David considered that gambling is in itself a luxury, adding that I myself am a gambler, but I will not gamble in Macau, I dont like the odds here! In May 2016, Sir David threw another blow at Macau, considering the Las Vegas of the East, probably, one of the worst cities in the world, along with Cancun and Dubai, in his FTs chronicle: Macau must win the accolade of a city whose charm evaporated overnight when it was returned to Chinese sovereignty. Paulo Coutinho When Pope Francis comes to Myanmar later this year for the first papal visit to this largely Buddhist country, he will be arriving in a land in need of healing. Since independence in 1948, Myanmar has been beset by ethnic and civil strife, decades of military dictatorship and, since 2011, an uneasy transition to democracy that culminated in election victory for Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015. Myanmars peace process has stalled as fighting continues between the military and armed ethnic groups in the north. In the west, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh as security forces battle a new Rohingya insurgency, which struck anew Aug. 25. A challenge for the pope So can Francis, who has made his voice known on, among other issues, the environment, immigration and the migrant crisis, help ease tensions in Myanmar? Or will his presence further inflame them? The motto of his visit is love and peace, said Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the popes trip who works with the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar. So I think he would speak of love, the country here as a whole, they value love a lot, like metta [loving-kindness] in Burmese Buddhism also. Love is something very special for us. So his message, I think, he will try to emphasize this aspect of love, which will bring us to peace and harmony in the country, he said. Myanmar established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in May. The pope is expected to travel to Myanmar from Nov. 27 to 30. He will visit Yangon and Naypyitaw, and proceed to Bangladesh for a similar visit. Rohingya crisis Discussion around his visit has inevitably landed on the Rohingya crisis. The pope has mentioned their plight several times in sermons, most recently in the wake of new clashes. Numbering around 1.1 million, the Rohingya are the largest stateless group in the world, and more than 120,000 live in IDP camps in Rakhine State following religiously motivated violence in 2012. The crisis worsened last year when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a relatively unknown group, attacked police border posts, killing nine. The military launched clearance operations that rights groups have said could amount to crimes against humanity. The government has denied the claims. Pope Francis vocal support for the Rohingya has created the impression that he is speaking for their rights alone, not the Rakhine Buddhists involved in the conflict. Radical monk Wirathu was quoted in an interview as saying the trip was political instigation, but there has been little substantive pushback from religious leaders in general. Christians are a small minority in Myanmar One obstacle may be in the numbers. The popes upcoming visit to Colombia in a few weeks could have more sway because of its sizeable Catholic population, but Myanmar is almost 90 percent Buddhist and only 6 percent Christian, not all of them part of the Catholic Church. And because the pontiff only makes the news in Myanmar when talking about the conflict, his image has been distorted, Father Mariano said. The reactions that we see in Facebook under the news of the arrival of the pope. Many would comment that they think the pope is the activist for the rights of those people, and some even do not even see that he is the head of the Catholic Church, he said. Most of the time when they speak of the pope this issue is always in the media of Myanmar. So they really distort the image of the pope because the people in Myanmar know always the association is made with him and this case. Comments by the pope have not helped downplay the image. The attacks have killed 11 police officers, one soldier and a civil servant, while a counteroffensive has caused the deaths of scores of Rohingya militants, according to state media. A number of ethnic minorities have also been killed. But on the Sunday following the violence, Francis spoke only about the persecution of the Rohingya. Maybe some people who brought the message to him did not give the complete message, Father Mariano said. That is the reason he prayed only for those people, but not those who were slain, not those who were brutally killed, the people who have to leave their house and run away, he did not mention those things. The Vatican declined to comment. History of papal visits But given the historic nature of the popes trip, and the way other popes have been able to influence positive change, there is still optimism. A visit by the pope is always very significant, politically and spiritually, and especially so when it is an historic first visit and to a country emerging from decades of dictatorship but still torn apart by conflict, Benedict Rogers, author of three books on Myanmar and East Asia Team Leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said in an email. One only has to think of John Paul IIs visit to Poland early on in his pontificate, which is credited with sparking the Solidarity movement that ultimately led to freedom across Eastern Europe. Scientists have successfully used "reprogrammed" stem cells to restore functioning brain cells in monkeys, raising hopes the technique could be used in the future to help patients with Parkinson's disease. Since Parkinson's is caused by a lack of dopamine made by brain cells, researchers have long hoped to use stem cells to restore normal production of the neurotransmitter chemical. Now, for the first time, Japanese researchers have shown that human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) can be administered safely and effectively to treat primates with symptoms of the debilitating disease. So-called iPS cells are made by removing mature cells from an individual often from the skin and reprogramming them to behave like embryonic stem cells. They can then be coaxed into dopamine-producing brain cells. The scientists from Kyoto University, a world-leader in iPS technology, said their experiment indicated that this approach could potentially be used for the clinical treatment of human patients with Parkinson's. In addition to boosting dopamine production, the tests showed improved movement in affected monkeys and no tumors in their brains for at least two years. The human iPS cells used in the experiment worked whether they came from healthy individuals or Parkinson's disease patients, the Japanese team reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday. "This is extremely promising research demonstrating that a safe and highly effective cell therapy for Parkinson's can be produced in the lab," said Tilo Kunath of the MRC Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the research. The next step will be to test the treatment in a first-in-human clinical trial, which Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University told Reuters he hoped to start by the end of 2018. Any widespread use of the new therapy is still many years away, but the research has significantly reduced previous uncertainties about iPS-derived cell grafts. The fact that this research uses iPS cells rather human embryonic stem cells means the treatment would be acceptable in countries such as Ireland and much of Latin America, where embryonic cells are banned. Excitement about the promise of stem cells has led to hundreds of medical centers springing up around the world claiming to be able to repair damaged tissue in conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. While some treatments for cancer and skin grafts have been approved by regulators, many other potential therapies are only in early-stage development, prompting a warning last month by health experts about the dangers of "stem-cell tourism." All you can hear at night is the sound of broken doors flapping in the wind, says Abd Elaam, a 50-year-old furniture maker. Even soldiers stay indoors after dark. Elaam is currently one of the very few civilians living in Old Mosul, an ancient neighborhood shattered by the battle to recapture the city from Islamic State militants. Like many families that survived IS rule, he says, his resources are completely exhausted by the war and he has nowhere else to go. Other families trickle in by day, looking to repair their broken homes or recover the bodies of their dead loved ones. But even during daylight hours, the neighborhood is dangerous, riddled with bombs and an unknown number of militants hiding out in the vast network of tunnels under the tightly-packed buildings and piles of rubble. The level of destruction has been compared to World War II Dresden. A IS militant came out of one those houses two weeks ago, Elaam says, gesturing towards another dusty, broken street. He blew himself up near two families. They were all injured and the bomber was cut in half. The militants body, like other fallen IS fighters in Old Mosul, was shoved under the rubble to reduce the smell of rot in the 45 degree-plus weather. When Iraq declared victory over IS in early July, the bodies of dead militants lay scattered in buildings and on the streets of nearly every block. Authorities searched through giant piles of concrete, once homes, for the remains of civilian families. But, they said, the only government department responsible for the IS bodies was garbage collection. Old Mosul is far from re-establishing city services like trash pickup. There is no running water, electricity or businesses open. Yet other families are following Elaams lead, and plan to return to their homes as soon as possible. In a few days I will move back and bring my family, says Ghanem Younis, 72, resting on a beige plastic chair in a sliver of shade. If they provide electricity and water, everyone would come back. Younger men and children squat around Ghanem, recalling the isolation of the final months of the battle that began late last year. We couldnt go more than 50 meters from our front doors, says Sufian, a 27-year-old unemployed construction worker. We spent our time sitting right here with Uncle Ghanem. But it is not sentiment driving some families home despite the dangers, adds Elaam, as more neighbors join the conversation. People cannot stay with friends and relatives forever, he says. Camps for those displaced are also crowded. No one has anywhere else to go, he adds. Airstrike Damage A few blocks away, outside the checkpoints that cut off the Old City, the Zanjelli neighborhood is slowly being repopulated. Construction workers build a market to replace one destroyed in airstrikes, while the owners of what was once a shoe store paint the shelves, hoping to re-open in the coming weeks. The wreckage from a few of the destroyed homes has been cleared away, and the bodies of many of the dead are now buried in graveyards. , In less than five minutes of conversation, at least three people tell us about family members, including toddlers, killed in airstrikes in the last months of battle. There was an IS sniper firing from next to my house and the airstrike hit us, says Youseff Hussain, 35. Fifteen members of my family were killed. Rebuilding the neighborhood, adds Hussain, is made doubly frustrating by the fact that it was Iraq's allies, including the United States, who destroyed many of their homes as they battled IS from the air. Many locals say the sacrifice of property and lives may have been necessary to prevent the city, then under siege, from total starvation. But after bearing the brunt of the war with IS, largely considered a global threat, residents say they thought the international community or the government would help them rebuild. The only aid families here get right now, Zanjelli residents say, is Iraqi military rations, as soldiers share their food. There is nothing they can do to pay us back for what we have lost, says Hussain. But shouldnt we at least get refunded for our property? South African President Jacob Zuma's first appearance in parliament since he survived a no-confidence move three weeks ago led to rowdy scenes on Thursday in which several opposition lawmakers were ordered out of the chamber. The 75-year-old Zuma, whose eight years in office have been tarnished by a series of scandals, was heckled and harangued by opposition parties as he attempted to speak on a range of issues including his own alleged involvement in corruption. Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party fired questions at Zuma, delaying his presentation for more than an hour. Then when he attempted to field questions on the economy, violence against women and whether he was implicated in corruption, he faced a further barrage of interruptions. He has always denied wrongdoing. Deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli ordered the EFF contingent to leave the chamber after their leader Julius Malema called Zuma "a criminal" and refused to obey instructions to stop disrupting proceedings. "You are defending a criminal of note against honorable members who are doing their job," Malema said, pointing at Zuma. At one point Zuma responded to Malema's interruptions by saying: "I don't take action against people like yourself." The far-left lawmakers later walked out. This is not the first time Zuma's speeches to parliament have sparked a sharp reaction, but Thursday's chaotic session was the first since the president survived a no-confidence motion on Aug. 8. Zuma won that vote, held by secret ballot, when loyal lawmakers from his ruling African national Congress rallied to his support. The chaotic scenes on Thursday clearly indicated the vote had not taken the heat out of the political situation. Parliament will next week debate a proposal for early national elections tabled by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) which is trying to force Zuma from office before the next scheduled election in 2019. The motion seems unlikely to pass however. DA party leader Mmusi Maimane asked the president why Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe had been granted diplomatic immunity by South Africa's government after being accused of assault by a 20-year-old model. "With regard to Mrs. Mugabe. I am not a lawyer, I don't know the point of law and I was not involved in this process. How it was done, I would be lying if I speculate," Zuma said. The wife of 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, a potential successor to the president, has made no official comment on the assault case that grabbed headlines earlier this month. Requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered. The DA and advocacy group Afriforum, which has given legal backing to the alleged victim, Gabriella Engels, are challenging the international relations minister's decision to give Mrs. Mugabe immunity. A suspected Islamic State militant drove his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint east of the coastal Libyan city of Sirte on Thursday, killing two policemen, military officials said. The officials said the blast at Nofaliya, 130 kilometers (81 miles) east of Sirte, also wounded two soldiers from the Libyan National Army, LNA. The attack and the resulting death toll were reported by Col. Muftah Amgharief, from the security force guarding oil facilities in eastern Libya, and Faisal Ahbale, spokesman for the army's 101st Brigade. The incident and the death toll were also reported by the LNA spokesman on his Facebook page. Thursday's attack came just over a week after IS militants beheaded 11 people in an attack on a checkpoint in the central district of al-Jufra, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Sirte, which IS held until Libyan forces expelled the militants late last year. Bands of IS militants are now believed to be roaming the vast deserts around the city, preying on travelers and attacking isolated outposts or convoys belonging to the army or rival militias. Libya has been rife with chaos since a 2011 popular uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Rival militias, many led by Muslim extremists, hold sway over large swathes of territory, while three rival administrations struggle to exercise authority. The deserts of central and southern Libya have been largely lawless since 2011, with an array of armed groups holding sway and controlling overland crossings into neighboring countries. Tanzania, Burundi and the U.N. refugee agency announced Thursday that they have reached an agreement to repatriate Burundian refugees who want to go home. Tanzania has been impatient to get the process started, and all parties now say they will work to facilitate the safe, dignified return of the refugees beginning in early September. Tanzanias president has faced criticism since he publicly urged Burundian refugees to go home last month. Tanzania hosts more than 350,000 refugees from neighboring countries. More than two thirds of them are from Burundi. Tanzanias minister for home affairs, Mwigulu Nchemba, insists no refugees will be forced out of the country. These people have decided in their own, to us as stakeholders and governing body, we are only trying our level best to make sure that we facilitate and its provided, said Nchemba. Difficult process The Ministry of Home Affairs says it has registered 11,000 Burundians for voluntary repatriation, but the process has been delayed. The Burundian government has complained that returns have so far been chaotic and informal. Officials from the two countries met with the U.N. Refugee Agency Thursday in Dar es Salaam. We are committed to support any refugee that expresses a voluntary request to return," said UNHCR representative Chansa Kapaya. "Indeed what we have discussed here is that this return should be in safety and dignity, and by safety we mean legal, physical and material safety. The political dialogue are still taking place. They havent been concluded, but the government of Burundi here has assured everyone that the returnees everyone will be accorded that physical security. Country in turmoil Burundi has been in turmoil since 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office, an idea his opponents said violated the constitution and the accord that ended Burundis civil war. Human rights groups say the past two years have seen unrest, political assassinations and attacks on civilians. Tanzania and Uganda have tried to bring the government and the opposition together, but the peace talks have failed due to disputes over who should attend on each side. Tanzania should not be fooled, should not be misled," said Vital Nshirimana, the head of Burundis Forum for Strengthening the Civil Society. "As a civil society, what we think is to first of all solve ongoing conflict to put an end ongoing violence and then refugees will be able to return back to their motherland when they will know that they will no longer be persecuted by Imbonerakure militia men. Imbonerakure is the youth wing of Burundis ruling political party. The youth group is accused of attacking opponents and civilians. Burden on poorest nations Aid agencies see another trend at work in Tanzanias readiness to help repatriate refugees the strain emerging as the worlds poorest countries host the bulk of the worlds displaced. Eighty-four percent of people displaced at the end of 2016 were in developing nations. Uganda recently welcomed its one millionth South Sudanese refugee. Most of them have arrived in the past year alone. Meanwhile, Kenya threatened to shut its Dadaab refugee camp last year, home to more than 300,000 refugees mostly from Somalia. Kenya complained of security risks and a lack of support from the international community. The U.N. World Food Program recently announced it must cut food rations to refugees in Tanzania amid funding shortfalls. Uganda is an excellent example of how international community is failing to support refugees as much as they should because Uganda itself is doing all they can," said Geno Teofilo who works with the Norwegian Refugee Council in East Africa. "They have a very good system of hosting refugees, but Uganda is a small country and it does not have a lot of resources. So far, more aid is needed from richer countries such as Europe and the United States to support these refugees. The process to repatriate the first Burundians from Tanzania is expected to begin September 7th. Burundi says it will open reception centers to receive its citizens. Khaleed Abubakar Famau contributed to this report from Dar es Salaam. U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be looking to the military to fill yet another senior post in his administration, according to reports published Wednesday. Citing three unnamed officials, The Washington Post said Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, is being considered for appointment as the next U.S. ambassador to Australia. Nominating the Pacific Command's top flag officer to be U.S. ambassador in Canberra would mean another high-profile Trump administration position likely would be held by a member of the U.S. military's most senior cadre, known as general and flag officers. Active-duty or or retired generals already serve the president as defense secretary, national security adviser and White House chief of staff. 'Knows Australia well' No decision has yet been made, The Post said, but Australian officials said they would be delighted to see Harris installed as the next U.S. representative in Canberra. Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said Harris is a very capable, competent man who knows Australia well. Bishop said her most recent encounter with Harris was in Sydney during bilateral ministerial discussions in June. Harris has led the U.S. Pacific Command, or USPACOM, since May 2015. Headquartered in Hawaii, it is one of six unified commands responsible for members of all U.S. military branches from the west coast of the United States to India, and from the North Pole to Antarctica about half the Earth's surface, including 36 nations with about half the world's population. USPACOM has not commented on reports of Harris's possible appointment, of course, but the command's official social media page has retweeted the admiral's thoughts last year about the alliance between the United States and Australia: "Australia-US alliance matters it matters to our two great nations, it matters to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and, in my opinion, it matters to the world. No one should doubt the power of this staying alliance to maintain security, prosperity and peace." Harris was speaking in December to the Australian think tank the Lowy Institute, which featured his remarks on the front of its website Wednesday. Harris is widely reported to hold tough positions on China, a country key to both the United States and Australia, both strategically and economically. He is known to have described China's actions in the contested South China Sea as building a Great Wall of Sand. Japan's Kyodo News reported in May that China's ambassador to the U.S. requested that Harris be removed from his command post as a condition for Beijing's help on North Korea. The Washington Post reported that a similar request was made to President-elect Trump's transition team after last year's U.S. elections. Hawkish credentials questioned Chinese officials in Washington and Beijing have denied they made such requests. However, the admiral's hawkish credentials have been questioned by some military observers and analysts who follow issues relating to China. Anders Corr, principal at Corr Analytics, a New York-based consultancy, has worked as a contractor for USPACOM on intelligence-planning matters. He told VOA that Harris was a supporter of former President Barack Obama's strategy of engagement with China, when he should have known that engagement was a failing strategy. Corr said Harris is in no way a China hawk, as reported elsewhere." A fraud trial against the brother and son of Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales began on Wednesday amid a scandal touched off by the president's attempt to expel the leader of a U.N.-backed anti-corruption unit investigating the case. Guatemala's top tribunal, the Constitutional Court, ruled definitively on Tuesday against Morales' internationally criticized push to expel from the country Ivan Velasquez, the Colombian who leads the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The CICIG and the prosecutor's office accuse Samuel Sammy Morales, the president's brother and one of his closest advisers, and Jose Manuel Morales, one of the leader's four sons, of facilitating false receipts that defrauded the national property registry in 2013, two years before Morales was elected. They deny any wrongdoing. Neither of the two gave a declaration before a judge on Wednesday, where they appeared together with another 20 other defendants. The scandal has hurt the popularity of Jimmy Morales, a former comedian, who won election in late 2015 after riding a wave of public discontent over the corruption scandals that brought down his predecessor Otto Perez Molina. The president has said the investigation into his family was not related to his controversial decision to declare Velasquez persona non grata. Last week, Velasquez and Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana asked to remove Morales immunity, in order to investigate him for accusations of illegal campaign financing. The case involves payments linked to the mother of Jose Manuel Morales then-girlfriend in 2013. She allegedly sent the national property registry a $12,000 bill made out in the name of a local restaurant for 564 breakfasts, according to the attorney general. The breakfasts were never delivered. Samuel Morales recognized the acts as a favor to his nephew, but he denied that he had benefited or been implicated in the network of fraud that deprived the institution of thousands of dollars. Both were detained in January, then put under house arrest and barred from leaving the country. In the coming weeks, as Houston turns its attention to rebuilding areas devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey, people like Jay De Leon are likely to play an outsized role if they stay around. De Leon, 47, owns a small construction business in Houston, and he and his 10 employees do exactly the kind of demolition and refurbishing the city will need. But like a large number of construction workers in Texas, De Leon and most of his workers live in the United States illegally, and that could make things complicated. The Pew Research Center estimated last year that 28 percent of Texass construction workforce is undocumented, while other studies have put the number as high as 50 percent. Construction employed 23 percent of working undocumented adults in Texas at the end of 2014, higher than any other sector, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Undocumented immigrants nervous However, undocumented immigrants are growing increasingly nervous in Texas because of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration that has cast a wide net. In addition, a new Texas law that would have taken effect later this week bars cities from embracing so-called sanctuary policies, where they offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants, and allows local police to inquire about a persons immigration status. A federal judge Wednesday temporarily blocked most of the law from taking effect. De Leon, who has lived in the country for 20 years and has two citizen children, says the changes have spooked the citys migrant workforce. In recent weeks, he said, one of his employees left the state and another returned to Mexico. Both feared that if they stayed they risked arrest. Departing workers, he says, pose a problem for Houston in the wake of Harvey, which has caused flood damage to commercial buildings, houses, roads and bridges expected to run into tens of billions of dollars. The situation that Houston is going through now with the hurricane is going to be the trial by fire for the Republicans and the governor that approved these radical laws, De Leon said. They will need our migrant labor to rebuild the city. I believe that without us it will be impossible. Undocumented workers perform a wide range of construction jobs, from framing and dry-walling to plumbing and wiring. Shortage of U.S. trained workers Stan Marek, chief executive of Marek Construction in Texas, said his company doesnt hire undocumented immigrants and has long had difficulty finding enough trained U.S. workers. Its a crisis, Marek said. We are looking at several thousand homes that have flood damage. There is no way the existing (legal) workforce can make a dent in it. Marek would like to see the federal government grant emergency work authorization for undocumented workers in the rebuilding effort, he said. Otherwise, those immigrants are likely to be hired by firms that do not pay payroll taxes or provide benefits like workers compensation and legally mandated overtime. It isnt yet possible to estimate how many construction jobs will be added in Texas as it rebuilds, but in the 12 months after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Louisiana added 14,800 jobs in the sector, U.S. government data shows. About 25 percent of the construction workers involved in the cleanup of New Orleans were undocumented, according to a study by researchers at Tulane and UC Berkeley universities. Those without papers were especially at risk of exploitation, the study found. Worker exodus The labor shortages are likely to grow worse, many builders warn. Earlier this year, a group of Hispanic contractors sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott warning that the pending ban on sanctuary city policies would make it difficult to find and retain experienced workers. Javier Arrias, chairman of the Hispanic Contractors Association de Tejas and one of the letters signers, told Reuters that many construction workers are already moving to other states. Abbotts office did not respond to a request for comment about the role undocumented workers might play in the recovery. Elizabeth Theiss, president of Houston-based anti-immigration group Stop the Magnet, sees another option besides looking to workers in the country illegally. She says the rebuilding effort should be used to help train U.S. veterans and other citizens who need jobs. Theiss acknowledged that reconstruction might proceed more slowly, at least initially, if immigrants without work documents are not part of the effort, but she noted that rebuilding would be slow under any scenario. Personal hardships Whatever role undocumented people play in rebuilding Houston, they could face hardships rebuilding their own lives. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides emergency food, water and medicine to anyone, regardless of immigration status, cash assistance and other longer term aid is only available to citizens and immigrants in households where at least one family member has legal status. Immigrant advocates are launching private fundraising drives to help fill the void. It is deeply tragic and un-American that so many of those working men and women who will be rebuilding Houston and the rest of the state will be doing so while facing tragedy in their own lives, said Jose Garza, executive director of the Workers Defense Project. De Leon said his family was lucky and did not suffer flood damage. He is now busy rounding up supplies for immigrant families stuck at shelters who are afraid to seek out more help from authorities. In the end, he says, President Donald Trump has to know its going to be impossible to rebuild Houston without the labor force of immigrants. It is illogical, what he says with his words and what really has to happen. Trade negotiators plan to take small steps forward in a second round of talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) this weekend, trying to ignore daily threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to tear it up if he does not get his way. Trump has used Twitter, press conferences and speeches to attack NAFTA in recent days, a ploy Mexican and Canadian officials regard as a negotiating strategy to wring concessions, but which has heightened uncertainty over the accord. "Hopefully we can renegotiate it, but if we can't, we'll terminate it and we'll start all over again with a real deal," Trump told cheering workers at a factory in Missouri on Wednesday, as Mexico's foreign and trade ministers met their U.S. counterparts in Washington to keep relations on track. Away from the diplomatic noise, trade experts from the three NAFTA nations hope to advance the revamp during the five days of talks in Mexico that start on Friday by working through areas of greater consensus before turning to trickier issues. "We want to see positive signs of progress at the negotiating tables," said Moises Kalach, head of the international negotiating arm of Mexico's CCE business lobby, which is leading the private sector in the talks. "Hopefully we'll get it, even if it doesn't have to be stated publicly. Hopefully we'll start getting closure on some issues." Overall, the Mexican round, which follows talks two weeks ago in Washington, is expected to define more clearly the priorities of each nation rather than yield major breakthroughs. The emergence of detailed positions on the tougher points looks less likely in this round, officials said. Kalach and one Mexican negotiator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, saw broad agreement between the NAFTA members on how to improve conditions for small businesses, as well as in salvaging elements of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade accord that Trump ditched after taking office. Some agreement but hurdles remain Some consensus was forged between the three countries when the TPP was finalized in 2015 on issues including the environment, anti-corruption, labor rules and digital trade. More divisive issues that could enter the talks range from exploring the scope to raise NAFTA content requirements for autos to the contested U.S. demand to scrap the so-called Chapter 19 dispute settlement mechanism for resolving complaints about illegal subsidies and dumping, officials say. A key plank of the U.S. strategy is how to reduce its trade deficit with Mexico, which has sent negotiators scrambling for creative ways to rebalance trade, Kalach said. One hope is that Mexico's incipient oil and gas sector opening will result in more imports and infrastructure investment from U.S. companies, some of which have already entered the market, such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. Folding that reform into NAFTA in a way that would make any attempt to unwind it politically costly for a future Mexican government would give U.S. and Canadian investors more security, Kalach and the Mexican negotiator said. The risk the reform will stall has preoccupied officials in the region because the current front-runner for Mexico's July 2018 presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, opposed the opening of the energy industry. "The best thing [the United States and Canada] can do is protect NAFTA because this essentially protects their investments," said Kalach. Throwing words around Trump has accused Mexico and Canada of being "very difficult", and officials from both countries say his words come as little surprise given his confrontational negotiating style. Still, Mexico's government has touted a back-up plan, seeing a "high risk" that NAFTA could unravel. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday shrugged off the threats and Canadian officials close to the process said they remained fully focused on the talks. "There are always going to be words thrown about here and there but ... we will continue to work seriously and respectfully to improve NAFTA to benefit not just Canadians but our American and Mexican friends as well," Trudeau said. A spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer declined to comment directly on how Trump's comments would affect the talks. However, trade experts say they are unlikely to foster a spirit of cooperation. "I think his tweets and statements are just complicating what's already a difficult negotiation," said Wendy Cutler, a former deputy USTR and lead U.S. negotiator for the TPP. "I think it will embolden the naysayers in Canada and Mexico who don't want to move in certain areas by telling the negotiators, 'don't move on these issues because the president has already said he probably won't sign off on this deal." The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned North Koreas launch of a ballistic missile over Japan yesterday [Macau time], reiterating demands that Pyongyang halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. After an emergency meeting on the missile test, the U.N.s most powerful body called North Koreas actions outrageous, saying it was deliberately undermining peace and stability in the region. The council called for North Korea to take immediate, concrete actions to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula and beyond. The missile flight came less than a month after the council imposed its toughest-yet sanctions on North Korea, and its not immediately clear whether any further actions could follow. Well be talking about next steps starting now, Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho said after the meeting. For now, he said, the statement sends the North a strong message that the international community will not accept its reckless behavior. North Korea isnt on the 15-member council. While the was meeting was underway in New York, Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction with the launch and called for more ballistic missile tests targeting the Pacific Ocean. Going into a closed session that evolved into an open meeting, ambassadors from several countries said they wanted to discuss how to respond, but first of all to show that the international community was united in firmly rebuking the missile test. The missile designed to carry a nuclear payload traveled almost 2,700 kilometers into the Pacific and triggered alert warnings as it soared over northern Japan. It is time for the North Korean regime to recognize the danger they are putting themselves in, said U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, whose country has traded threats with North Korea in recent weeks. The United States will not allow their lawlessness to continue, and the rest of the world is with us. Still, the discussion was a reminder that members have different approaches to the issue. Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi called on all parties to avoid any rhetoric or action that might exacerbate tension on the Korean Peninsula. Both he and his Russian counterpart noted their countries had previously proposed a suspension of both North Korean nuclear and missile development and of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which are currently underway. The exercises being conducted must be scaled down, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. There is an urgent need to create an atmosphere of trust among states in the region. The Pyongyang news agency said Tuesdays missile launch was a muscle-flexing response to the war games, which the North views as rehearsals for an invasion. North Korea had requested a Security Council meeting about the exercises last week. The Security Council said it was committed to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation and called for strict implementation of its existing sanctions. The latest sanctions include a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, lead and seafood products, together worth over USD1 billion for a country with total exports valued at just $3 billion last year. The U.S. had suggested in July that the council could do more, including restricting oil to the North Korean military and boosting air and maritime restrictions. AP The White House says President Donald Trump has spoken with Saudi Arabia's King Salman about a regional dispute over Qatar. Trump spoke Wednesday by telephone to the Saudi king, telling him a diplomatic resolution to the dispute would fulfill a commitment made when Trump visited the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to maintain a united front against terrorism. In June, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar over allegations it was funding extremists, a charge Qatar denies. Trump has tweeted his belief that Qatar is funding terrorists. The United States is urging the countries involved to reach a diplomatic resolution to the dispute. The two leaders also reportedly discussed Iran. Both countries agree Iran poses a threat to its region. The White House adds that the two men "discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorist funding, and combat extremist ideology." King Salman and President Trump also discussed Hurricane Harvey, which has ravaged Texas this week. King Salman offered his condolences to the families of the storm victims. Turkey has been pressuring countries around the world to close or hand over control of schools linked to an influential Muslim cleric who was a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before becoming his most worrisome foe. Influential and polarizing, Fethullah Gulen has been accused of being behind a corruption probe of Erdogans government in 2013, which shattered their friendship. He also is accused of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey that left 250 people dead and 2,200 injured. The reclusive 76-year-old cleric denies those allegations. He espouses a moderate form of Islam with an eye on political clout, and he built a financial empire in Turkey that included banks, media, construction companies and schools. He is reported to have 3 million to 6 million followers in Turkey, including high-ranking government and military officials. The schools began expanding internationally in 1993, and at one point there were Gulen-linked schools, cultural centers or language programs in more than 100 countries. In the United States, its the largest group of so-called charter schools, which receive tax funds. It has about 140 schools in 28 states, taking in more than $2.1 billion from taxpayers. While some schools include teaching Islam, others reportedly have no religious content. Generally focused on math and science, the schools have earned praise from some parents, often because the quality of education is better than is generally available in some poverty-wracked countries. Accused of hidden agenda In Pakistan, for instance, they provide an alternative to the madrassas that have been accused of breeding extremism. The schools also are popular among Africa's middle class. But they have been accused of having a hidden agenda: instilling a sense of deep loyalty among students that is part of an alleged long-term strategy of infiltrating governments, starting with Turkey, to spread a socially conservative agenda. The schools typically pursue visas for Turkish nationals almost all men to teach and even populate the school boards. Gulens critics point to a video that surfaced in 1999 that purportedly came from a speech he gave. You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers, he said in the video. If they do something prematurely, the world will crush our heads, and Muslims will suffer everywhere You must wait for the time when you are complete and conditions are ripe, until we can shoulder the entire world and carry it. Gulen has said the video was manipulated and that the only purpose of the schools is education. In the United States, there are allegations that some Gulen schools were involved in improper contracting and ordered teachers to kick back part of their salaries to the organization. While the FBI wouldnt say if it is investigating the schools, there have been several news reports saying they were being probed, going back to 2011. The Gulen organization, also known as the Hizmet movement, denies those accusations. We are very disappointed that in a quest to consolidate power and cast aspersions on Mr. Gulen, the Erdogan regime has decided to target K-12 schools that provide education, opportunity and hope to tens of thousands of students around the world, many of whom lack access to quality education in a safe environment, said Alp Aslandogan, executive director of the Alliance for Shared Values, a nonprofit that serves as a voice for cultural organizations affiliated with Hizmet. Especially in countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where violent radical groups targeted girls attending schools, these schools have been offering life-changing opportunities to both boys and girls. These schools operate completely independent of Mr. Gulen, as he has said many times, and in targeting them, Erdogan is only intensifying his cruel crackdown and robbing young girls and boys of a chance for a better life. Extradition demands The Turkish government wants Gulen extradited from the United States he has lived in a guarded compound in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999. Turkey says his Fethullah Gulen organization (FETO) is a terrorist group. Ankara has shuttered thousands of schools, foundations and organizations linked to Gulen since the coup attempt. Turkish authorities have fired more than 100,000 government workers alleged to have ties to Gulen, and imprisoned about 50,000 people. Five hundred people, including top army generals, are on trial for Gulen links; Gulen himself is being tried in absentia. The campaign against Gulens enterprises has expanded outside the country, too. On virtually every foreign trip by Erdogan, reports have emerged that he has pressed for Gulen schools to be closed or handed over to a Turkish foundation. These schools are one of the ways for FETO to finance its operations, an official at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., told VOA. They are a source of money. They can also be used as a source to recruit followers. The Turkish effort has resulted in the closure of schools in more than a dozen countries. Turkey has begun denying visas to Kyrgyzstan citizens who study at schools affiliated with the Gulen movement; their families also are being denied. Kyrgyzstans Ministry of Education and Science responded by saying the restriction was an attempt to discredit the educational institutions known as Sapat. Placing Sapat schools on the same footing as terrorist organizations and imposing certain sanctions on students and members of their families only on the grounds that they are studying in Sapat schools are unacceptable and the statements of Turkish officials are irresponsible, the ministry said. In Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, Turkish teachers and staff have been deported to Turkey, where they appeared likely to be arrested. In February, Turkmenistan court sentenced 18 men to up to 25 years in prison and confiscated their property on offenses relating primarily to incitement to social, ethnic, or religious hatred and involvement in a criminal organization. Most were affiliated with Gulen schools. Rights groups have called on the Turkmen government to free the men and quash their sentences. The way Turkmenistans courts prosecuted and tried these men bears no resemblance to justice, said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Ankara turning up the heat During his visit to Albania in 2015, Erdogan asked authorities to close down the network of Turkish colleges that was the biggest private educational group in Albania. Since the failed coup, the pressure from Ankara has increased. Several countries, including Angola and Uzbekistan, have cited unspecified national security reasons in shutting down Gulen schools and expelling the Turkish staff and their families. Some countries appeared to choose closure rather than get involved in the hassles of overseeing a switch in who runs the schools. Rwandas Ministry of Education ordered the Gulen-affiliated Hope Academy to close on June 2, just over two months after it had been granted permission to open. The ministry cited Turkeys request to transfer control of the school to a Turkish foundation. Other countries have resisted Turkeys pressure. While accreditation was halted for one school in Georgia, at least six others remain open, with some education experts urging the country to defend its national interests because the schools have good reputations. But several schools are said to be likely transferred to the Turkish-government-owned Maarif Foundation, sources told VOA. On Friday, Georgia's education ministry announced plans to shutter the Gulen-linked Demirel College in Tblisi, and possibly extradite the school's director, Mustafa Emre Chabuk, at Ankara's request. Any move toward extradition, said Levan Asatiani, a regional campaign director for Amnesty International, will represent a criminal act. "According to international law, it is prohibited to transfer a person to a state where this person is more likely to be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment or other serious human rights violations," he told VOA, adding that Georgian legislation prohibits extradition of a person in this situation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, some Gulen schools work with the nations Bosna Sema educational institutions, which employ about 500 Turks. Turkish Ambassador CIhad Erginay urged the government to close down the schools, calling Gulens movement a terrorist organization. VOA's Africa, East Asia Pacific, Eurasian, South and Central Asia divisions contributed to this report. Ani Chkhikvadze of VOA's Georgian Service contributed reporting. Around two million Muslim pilgrims have marked the high point of the hajj the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca by ascending Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia. Saudi security forces remain on high alert, amid a variety of internal and external terrorist threats. Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims made the ritual ascent to the Namira mosque on Mount Arafat, outside Mecca, braving a blazing summer sun and temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius. Saudi television showed a sea of pilgrims cloaked in white cloth robes, many clutching umbrellas to shield them from the sun, climbing Mount Arafat, where Islam's Prophet Mohammed, is thought to have given his final sermon. Sheikh Sa'ad al-Shetri, addressing them at the mosque, told them the pilgrimage should be focused on God. He said the hajj must be dedicated to God, alone, and that there can be no place for political or sectarian strife, which has resulted in horrible massacres and left millions homeless. Prince Khalid al-Faisal, Emir of Mecca, told journalists the Saudi government has done its utmost to ensure the comfort and safety of the pilgrims attending this year's hajj. He said the Saudi hajj authority has provided 21,000 tour buses, a shuttle train that can carry 360,000 pilgrims, and provided for health concerns with 30,000 doctors and nurses, 17 hospitals, 35 emergency rooms, and 135 mobile health centers. Thousands of Saudi security personnel, dressed in black, held training drills overnight to ensure their readiness for possible problems. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdel Aziz ben Saoud said several days ago his ministry and others are cooperating to make sure the pilgrimage takes place safely and without any glitches. He said several government ministries and private organizations have cooperated to make the hajj go off smoothly and ensure the pilgrims' comfort and safety. Pilgrims were spending Thursday night in the Valley of Muzdalifa after slowly descending Mount Arafat. The hajj concludes Friday, as pilgrims sacrifice an animal. The U.N. Committee on the rights of disabled people said on Thursday it had more concerns about Britain - due to funding cuts, restricted rights and an uncertain post-Brexit future than any other country in its 10-year history. The committee, which reviews states compliance with the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, published a 17-page report with recommendations about how Britain could do better. The UK is at the moment going backwards in accordance to the information that we have received, committee member Stig Langvad told a news conference in Geneva. Britain said it was disappointed by the report. It said it did not reflect the evidence it had provided to the committee, nor did it recognize progress that had been made. The U.N. committees chairwoman Theresia Degener has described the situation in Britain as a human catastrophe." The austerity measures that they have taken they are affecting half a million people, each disabled person is losing between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds per year, people are pushed into work situations without being recognized as vulnerable, and the evidence that we had in front of us was just overwhelming, she said. The most acute concern was the limitations on independent living. Persons with disabilities are in our view not able to choose where to live, with whom to live, and how to live, Langvad said. Britain was also not fulfilling its commitment to allow inclusive education, and there was a high incidence of bullying at schools. A growing number of disabled people were living in poverty. Budgets for local authorities had not only been slashed, but they were no longer ear-marked for disabled people, another committee member, Damjan Tatic, said. Langvad said people with disabilities should be involved in preparations for Britains Brexit talks with the European Union, to avoid losing protections that historically came from the EU. Persons with disabilities are afraid of the future since they do not know what is happening and since they do not feel that they are involved in the discussions on how to secure the rights of people with disabilities afterwards, he said. Britains government said it was a recognized world leader in disability rights, and almost 600,000 disabled people had moved into work in the last four years. We spend over 50 billion pounds a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions more than ever before, and the second highest in the G7, a government spokesperson said. Debbie Abrahams, the opposition Labour partys spokeswoman for Work and Pensions, said the damning report was a vindication of Labours criticism of the governments policies. This confirms what Labour has been saying all along, that the lack of progress on all convention articles, including cruel changes to social security and the punitive sanctions regime, are causing real misery for sick and disabled people. A Labour government would incorporate the convention fully into British law, she said in a statement. Two American counterinsurgency airstrikes in Afghanistan this week have killed at least 28 civilians and injured 16 others, all women and children, the United Nations said it confirmed Thursday. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), while releasing initial findings of its probe into the attacks, urged authorities to ensure independent, impartial and prompt investigations of both incidents. UNAMA also called for appropriate steps to be taken to ensure accountability, compensation for victims and the prevention of such incidents in the future. The first strike took place Monday in western Herat province, where a drone reportedly targeted Taliban insurgents in the Shindand district. The attack left 15 civilians dead and four others injured after munitions hit at least two civilian homes in the area, UNAMA said. The second airstrike, in the Pul-e-Alam district of eastern Logar province, occurred Wednesday and killed at least 13 civilians and injured 10 others. That attack reportedly targeted a civilian compound used by insurgents to attack aircraft, according to the preliminary findings. The U.S. military has stated an official investigation is under way into Wednesday's attack in Logar, saying it takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and is working with Afghan partners to determine the facts of the incident. "I am deeply saddened to hear that women and children have once again suffered so terribly from the conflict," said UNAMA head Tadamichi Yamamoto. "This is unacceptable. All parties must live up to their obligations to take all feasible measures to protect civilians." UNAMA vowed to continue its independent probe to establish facts around the harm caused to civilians from these attacks, including looking into allegations that insurgents used civilians as human shields. UNAMA warned it already had recorded a 43 percent rise in civilian casualties, including 95 deaths, from aerial operations during the first six months of 2017, with a substantial increase in deaths of women and children. The latest Afghan civilian casualties came days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his new war strategy for Afghanistan, which will increase airpower assistance to Afghan security forces and raise the number of American troops in the country. It was not clear, however, whether the airstrikes against Taliban insurgents in Herat and Logar suggested implementation of Trump's plan. U.S. officials have ordered Russia to close three diplomatic buildings in the United States, part of the ongoing quarrel between the two countries over U.S. sanctions. The action follows Russia's demand earlier this month that the U.S. reduce the number of personnel at its diplomatic missions in the country. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to tell him that the United States has fully implemented the decision by the Russian government to reduce the size of the U.S. mission in the country. In a statement, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert called the Russian decision unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries. Nauert continued, In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C. and consular annex in New York City. She said the closures would need to be completed by September 2. Nauert stressed that the U.S. has chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. A senior administration official stressed that Tillerson and Lavrov both still want to improve U.S.-Russian relations, and described their phone call as professional. Russia Today reported that Lavrov responded to the closures by expressing regret over the escalation of tensions. He said that Moscow would study the new measures carefully and inform Washington of its reaction. The diplomatic retaliations stem from U.S. sanctions of Russia over its annexation of Crimea, as well as Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Last month, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill preventing President Donald Trump from easing sanctions on Russia without congressional approval. After Trump signed the bill, Russian authorities denounced it as "trade war." A senior U.S. administration official told reporters the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco is the oldest Russian consulate in the United States. She said the two annexes ordered closed in Washington and New York were primarily trade missions. She said no Russian diplomats are being expelled the diplomats in those three building may be reassigned to other Russian consulates in the U.S. The senior official said the U.S. has complied with the Russian order to reduce its presence in Russia down to 455 staff members. The official stressed that with this new U.S. order to close three buildings, the Russian would still have more consulates and annexes in the United States than the U.S. has in Russia. The U.S. president's response to the tensions has also sparked controversy. When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the U.S. diplomats were being expelled, Trump responded by saying, I want to thank him because were trying to cut down the payroll. White House officials later told reporters the president was being sarcastic. The United States and its allies have once again responded to a North Korean missile test, but this time the response included a live-fire exercise. Two B-1 bombers from a base in Guam, along with four F-35 fighter jets from a base in Japan, participated in a 10-hour, show of force mission over the Korean Peninsula. The American aircraft were joined by Japanese military aircraft over Japanese waters and four South Korean fighter jets over the peninsula, where they released live weapons at Pilsung Range training area. The show of force came two days after North Korea fired of an intermediate-range missile over Japan. And it comes a day after the U.S. Navy announced its sailors had successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii in a defense systems test. North Korea has launched several missiles toward Japan this year, with most falling in the Sea of Japan. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, said General Terrence J. OShaughnessy, the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces. Our forward deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moments notice if our nation calls." The U.S. military frequently responds to North Korean provocations with a show-of-force display of its attack aircraft. Last month, the U.S. and Republic of Korea militaries also fired missiles into South Korean territorial waters in direct response to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch by Pyongyang. Speaking on a recent trip to the region, the top U.S. general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford, said the militarys primary focus is supporting the administrations diplomatic and economic campaign to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, while preparing viable military options in the event that campaign fails. An abattoir located among herding communities in Ethiopia's eastern Somali region, known more for droughts and famine than business opportunities, is an unusual stop for a U.S. aid administrator. But USAID chief Mark Green stopped at the Jijiga Export Slaughter House (JESH) during a visit to the town of Jijiga on Wednesday to see the effects of a crippling drought that has pushed some areas to the south to the brink of famine. The abattoir buys goats, sheep, cows and camels for slaughter from herders for export to the Middle East, giving families cash to buy food during the drought. A $1.5-million loan from Feed the Future, a $1 billion-a-year agricultural program launched during U.S. President Barack Obama's presidency in 2010, helped purchase refrigerators and trucks for the facility, which employs 100 people from local villages. To Green, the slaughterhouse represents what USAID can do to help attract private-sector money into investments that boost the productivity of small farmers in developing countries. While at the abattoir, Green announced 12 countries that will benefit from Feed The Future investments in 2017, signaling that the program will survive proposed deep cuts to USAID's budget this year. The 12 countries are Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda. Green said investments like the Jijinga slaughterhouse not only created markets for American businesses but helped communities out of poverty. Herders can earn as much as $80 per goat when they sell to the slaughterhouse. Im under no illusions; the development journey in many places in the world is a long one, but I want us to always be thinking what we can do that nudges something towards a day when people get to take care of themselves, he said. This is a place where we see some of the benefits and the potential for Feed the Future, Green added. JESH Chief Executive Faisal Guhad said the abattoir had been open for a year but was forced to close for three months last year because of the drought. The facility currently processes about 10,000 animals a month. Guhad said he hoped to quadruple that in the second year of operation. Demand for Ethiopian goat meat was currently high because of the annual haj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, said Guhad. We opened at the wrong time. El Nino happened to us and we started again after it rained, said Guhad. We're now in the second month of starting again. The facility employs about 108 people from the community and plans to increase hiring to 200, said Guhad. In the Jijinga area, planting for the March to May rains, known as the belg, is already delayed, and aid workers say they have seen a growing number of women and children at food distribution centers. The hunger crisis is predicted to worsen until the harvest begins in September. Many parts of the Ethiopian highlands are still recovering from the 2016 drought, which was attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. A U.S. court has reinstated tribal citizenship rights for descendants of slaves once owned by the Native American Cherokee Nation. At the end of the U.S. Civil War more than 150 years ago, the Cherokee Nation signed a treaty with the United States that guaranteed the same rights as native Cherokees for all slaves formerly held as property by the tribe, and passed down those rights to their descendants. The treaty also made clear that the slaves were free as were all others in the United States at the time and they became known as Cherokee Freedmen. An appeal is possible, but if Thursday's ruling stands, descendants of the Cherokees' former slaves would have full tribal citizenship rights, including the right to run for office, vote in elections, and receive benefits such as access to tribal health care and housing. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said in his ruling, issued in Washington: "The Cherokee Nation can continue to define itself as it sees fit, but must do so equally and evenhandedly with respect to native Cherokees and the descendants of Cherokee Freedmen.'' Fewer than 3,000 Freedmen descendants are known today, but an attorney for their group has estimated there are many more who could seek tribal citizenship in the future. 'Cherokee by blood' The Cherokees, originally headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, were one of the largest and most powerful American Indian tribes in the 19th century, and they have remained influential. They eventually revised their citizenship regulations following the 1866 treaty, but in a way that continued to exclude Freedmen's descendants unless they could prove they were "Cherokee by blood," according to tribal lists. The issue was disputed for many years by descendants of the former slaves and Cherokee tribal officials, but a federal court ruled in 2006 that all descendants of the Freedmen had the right to full Cherokee citizenship. The tribal administration held a special election the following year in which more than three-quarters of Cherokee citizens voted to strip the Freedmen's descendants of tribal citizenship. The issue has been litigated since then by the Cherokee Nation and groups representing the Freedmen's descendants, along with the U.S. Department of the Interior, which supervises relations between the federal government and all Native American groups. There were dueling demonstrations in Zimbabwes capital Wednesday, for and against first lady Grace Mugabe. Members of the ruling ZANU-PF marched in Harare chanting songs to show support for first lady Grace Mugabe. They held placards written Gabriella Engels is not an angel. Engels is the South African model who accused Mugabe of assaulting her with an electrical cord two weeks ago at a Johannesburg hotel. The first lady was expected at the march, but senior ZANU-PF official Manditawepi Chimene said she had other commitments. Chimene said, We can not afford her to sleep outside her home. We have come here for our father and our mother, referring to longtime president Robert Mugabe and his wife. There is no way we are going to respect our father and ignore our mother, she added That statement is an apparent reference to ongoing rivalry within the ZANU-PF. One faction supports Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Robert Mugabe, while another is backing Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. The first lady has not spoken publicly since she returned from South Africa. Controversial immunity Meanwhile in South Africa, Engels has filed a court challenge to Grace Mugabes diplomatic immunity, saying she had traveled to South Africa for medical treatment, not official business. On Wednesday, as the ruling party marched, a coalition of Zimbabwean opposition parties rallied outside the South African Embassy in Harare to protest Pretoria's handling of the alleged assault case. Granting her immunity is saying political leaders can go anywhere in the world and assault people and get away with it because they have diplomatic immunity," said opposition activist Linda Masarira. "It [gives] a negative image on all Zimbabweans. South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, last week filed papers with the nation's Constitutional Court asking the court to reject the decision to grant diplomatic immunity to Mugabe. In a statement, the party said the move was "wholly without legal merit and should thus be declared unconstitutional and invalid." No hearing date has been set for the case, but it could further strain Harare-Pretoria relations. Harvey, the devastating storm that flooded a huge swath of Houston, Texas, and forced thousands of people from their homes, made landfall again Wednesday, moving to the east and drenching the neighboring state of Louisiana even as it weakens. The National Hurricane Center said the tropical storm is gradually diminishing in strength as it moves inland and away from Houston, where untold numbers remain trapped in their homes, marooned by churning, muddy waters that often are waist deep. Tropical Storm Harvey's winds have diminished to 65 kilometers an hour with higher gusts, though acting Homeland Security chief Elaine Duke warned that "catastrophic flooding is likely" for days, even after the historic rains end. "We expect a many-year recovery in Texas, and the federal government is in this for the long haul," she said. For the moment, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long said, "We're still in life-saving, life-sustaining mode." Long said 30,000 people have been moved to more than 230 shelters, with another 1,800 people housed in hotels. About 210,000 people have registered for government assistance, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott saying that $37 million in aid has already been approved. Abbott said 14,000 National Guard troops have been activated to assist in the rescue efforts and another 10,000 are on the way to help. He said 8,500 people have been rescued from the floodwaters. Still, Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft said operators are answering more than a thousand emergency calls an hour. U.S. President Donald Trump visited Texas on Tuesday for briefings on the rescue efforts. He said Wednesday in a Twitter comment, "After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!" However, Trump and first lady Melania Trump did not visit Houston, where the worst of the flooding has occurred, not wanting to disrupt rescue efforts in America's fourth-largest city. They visited with emergency officials in two other cities. Later, in a speech in Missouri, Trump voiced his sympathy for the flood victims and families who lost loved ones. "We are praying for you," Trump said. "We will endure and we will overcome." The White House said Trump plans to return to Texas on Saturday to see more of the devastation from the biggest storm to hit the U.S. in a decade, with damages expected to reach tens of billions of dollars, and could visit Houston then. The National Weather Service said the clouds that dumped more than 130 centimeters of rain on south Texas over four days will at last give way to sunshine, with sunny skies and hot temperatures by Friday. But the flooding will remain for a lengthy period. East of Houston, the city of Beaumont, Texas, was seeing the heaviest rain early Wednesday as the center of the storm made its landfall in Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center said the storm could drop 15 to 30 centimeters of rain on southwestern Louisiana as it moves further inland. With so many people away from their homes and scattered reports of looting, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner instituted an overnight curfew starting Wednesday morning in order to prevent "potential criminal acts." Turner praised Houston as a city where neighbors look out for each other and come together to face their shared challenge. "Anyone who underestimates the spirit of this city does not know Houston. 'Woe is Houston?' That just encourages us further," he wrote on Twitter. At least 13 deaths have been reported in connection with the storm. Authorities have not yet confirmed a number that high, but have said casualty figures could rise once the floodwaters begin to recede. Homeland Security chief Duke said Tuesday the biggest challenge remains search and rescue efforts. "We will continue looking, and until the waters are gone, I really don't think we'll be completed with making sure we've accounted for everyone," she said. Duke added that once the rain stops, officials will be focused on making sure people who cannot return to their homes can move from the temporary shelters into transitional housing. Duke was one of several officials who flew to Texas along with Trump to meet with local and state leaders and survey the response to the storm. Visiting an emergency operations center in the Texas capital, Austin, Trump said his administration and Congress are going to come up with the "right solution" to help storm victims. Trump also went to Corpus Christi, where the storm hit the Texas coast, and said there he wants the federal government's response to be "better than ever before." The president waved a Texas state flag as he spoke to cheering supporters, calling the storm "epic." He added, "...but it happened in Texas, and Texas can handle anything." Freelance journalist Christopher Allen believed it was important to not look away from the worst of humanity. By the age of 26, he had lived up to his belief, covering conflict in Ukraine and South Sudan and sharing powerful stories with people around the world. "He chose to bear witness; he chose to look unflinchingly at what was painful and to find the humanity within it," his mother, Joyce Krajian, told VOA. On August 26, Allen was killed in the southern border town of Kaya, South Sudan, in a clash between government and rebel groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists said he had been embedded with rebel forces for two weeks, citing a rebel spokesman. He was killed by a bullet wound to the head, although the details of his death are still unclear. A spokesman for South Sudan's Army said that anyone, including a journalist, who enters the country with rebels will be targeted for death by their forces. CPJ has forcefully rejected any notion that Allen was helping the rebels and noted that international law affords journalists the same protection as civilians in conflict zones. "Chris was actually a photographer. He was holding a camera, not an AK-47. So, he was not a combatant," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. Allen is the tenth journalist to be killed in South Sudan since 2012, according to the U.N. CPJ has called for a full investigation into his death. 'I want to see history in the making' Allen grew up in suburban Philadelphia and attended the University of Pennsylvania. He later earned a master's degree in European history at Leiden University in the Netherlands. During his studies in Europe, Allen was riveted by images of revolution in Ukraine and decided to travel there to cover the story. "In the middle of that program, when the rest of his cohort was going off to the Greek islands, Chris chose to go to Ukraine," his mother said. "It was just post-Maidan Square [the site of protests in Kyiv], and he said 'I want to see history in the making. I don't want to read about history.'" Allen's work appeared in The Telegraph newspaper, BBC, Mashable and other outlets. In 2014, he was one of the first reporters to arrive at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over Ukraine, killing 298 people. Later, as part of a documentary, he shared his thoughts on the carnage he saw that day in a wheat field. "Being in Eastern Ukraine, seeing all this death, you're conscious of how quickly a life can be taken," he told the interviewer in 2014. "Whether it's the person walking across the playground during [a] shelling or whether it's the people who fell 10,000 meters in a plane, you quickly become conscious, being here, being in the middle of this conflict, that life is a really fragile thing." A life cut short Allen's family is left grieving the son they say could have chosen a comfortable existence in academia, but instead was driven to tell stories of people seeking freedom in forgotten corners of the world. "He found it very refreshing when people would stand up for what they consider their human rights and the right of their country," said his father, John Allen. "And he was interested in what makes these folks tick who were prepared to put themselves out there to sacrifice, to even make the ultimate sacrifice, which most of us don't dare to do." Above all, they feel an incredible sense of loss at a life cut short. "He was such a big-hearted, big-spirited guy," his mother said. "It's really hard to imagine the world without him. Our world. We have gotten a lot of response from people who knew him and said that, truly, this is a loss for the world." South African opposition parties are expected to question President Jacob Zuma in parliament today following his government's decision to grant Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity after allegedly assaulting a local model. The Economic Freedom Fighters led by Julius Malema is set to spearhead the attacks on Mr. Zuma, who is widely viewed by this party as an illegitimate president following a string of corruption accusations against the South African leader. Mrs. Mugabe was granted diplomatic immunity a few days after she was asked to report to a Johannesburg police station for allegedly assaulting Gabriella Engels, who she found socializing with her two sons in a Sandton Hotel. There has been an outcry in South Africa and Zimbabwe over the granting of diplomatic immunity to Mrs. Mugabe with opposition parties in both nations accusing the ruling African National Congress of backing the Zimbabwean first lady. AfriForum has taken the matter to court seeking to overturn the granting of diplomatic immunity to Mrs. Mugabe, arguing that it was an improper act designed to cover up a criminal offence. The Zimbabwean first lady has not yet commented on the issue. Some Zanu PF supporters on Wednesday staged a solidarity march in Harare to show their support for the underfire Mrs. Mugabe. South African president Jacob Zuma appeared in parliament on Thursday where he was questioned by Members of Parliament about the granting of diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe, who allegedly assaulted model Gabriella Engels. She found her in a Sandton hotel socializing with her children, Robert Junior and Chatunga. Police asked her to report to the nearest police station to answer charges of assault but a few days later Mrs. Mugabe was granted diplomatic immunity by the ruling African National Congress government. Here is what transpired in parliament on Thursday. Report by Gibbs Dube and audio provided by Benedict Nhlapho. MP van De Merwe: I would like to know whether you concede that the government by granting diplomatic immunity to Mrs. Grace Mugabe has completely made a mockery of the rule of law and also made a mockery of all our efforts to fight the violence and abuse. Jacob Zuma: We have done everything to create structures, the laws that you are talking about so that people who commit such crimes are reported and the law will take its course. Mmusi Maimane: What grounds did Grace Mugabe get diplomatic immunity for? On what basis? Its as simple as that. Jacob Zuma: Im not a lawyer. I dont know what happened and how the matter at the end came to a point that it came to a point where it came. (Interjections, Zuma laughs) So, all what Im saying the right the actions were taken and the police were there. They dealt with the matter and then the issue of ehhhh diplomatic conditions came about and actions were taken. All Im saying I cant answer that detail not being aware what really happened. Unidentified MP: Why dont you admit that you are afraid of Robert Mugabe? Jacob Zuma: I cant lie. Why do you say the truth has run away because I am telling the truth Whats your problem? ECONOMY U.S. 2nd-quarter growth revised up The U.S. economy grew at a brisk 3 percent pace in the April to June quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday a report welcomed by President Trump, who has repeatedly vowed he can propel the country to faster growth. We just announced that we hit 3 percent in GDP. It just came out, Trump said at a rally in Springfield, Mo. I think we can go much higher than 3 percent. The rate, revised up from the initial estimate of 2.6 percent, was the strongest quarterly growth for the United States in more than two years. Americans spent more money at stores and restaurants and on other services, and businesses invested more in equipment and research. While the private sector surged ahead, however, government spending shrank, especially at the state and local level. The White House has promised Trump can achieve 3 percent growth for the year, far higher than the 2 percent average under President Barack Obama. For Trump to achieve his goal in 2017, he will need the economy to accelerate at an even faster rate the rest of the year to make up for the sluggish 1.2 percent growth in the January-March quarter. But few economists are optimistic that will happen. Heather Long TECHNOLOGY Alexa, Cortana to start talking to each other Alexa, meet Cortana. Microsoft and Amazon are pairing their voice assistants together in a collaboration announced Wednesday. The companies said this fall, users will be able to access Alexa using Cortana on Windows 10 computers and Android and Apple devices. Theyll be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices such as Amazon Echo. Microsoft said the link will allow Alexa customers to get access to Cortana features such as those for booking meetings or accessing work calendars. Cortana users, in turn, can ask Alexa to switch on smart home devices or shop on Amazon.com. Associated Press INTERNET Google denies helping oust nonprofit scholar Google rejected the claims of a think tank scholar Wednesday who said the company had played a role in ousting him from the nonprofit after he praised the European Commissions decision to fine the tech giant in June. We dont agree with every group 100 percent of the time, and while we sometimes respectfully disagree, we respect each groups independence, personnel decisions, and policy perspectives, said Alphabet spokeswoman Riva Sciuto. The statement came in response to a report in the New York Times that the Alphabet unit of Google had complained to New America, a liberal think tank funded by the company, about Barry Lynn, the head of its antitrust program, after he publicly congratulated the European Commission on the record $2.7 billion fine and urged U.S. regulators to follow suit. Lynn said New America president Anne-Marie Slaughter gave in to pressure from Alphabet chair Eric Schmidt. Slaughter said in a statement the claim is absolutely false. The group decided to terminate Lynn after repeated refusal to adhere to New Americas standards of openness and institutional collegiality, she said, adding they were spinning off Lynns group as an independent program. Bloomberg News Also in Business U.S. businesses added a healthy 237,000 jobs in August with broad gains across several industries, according to a private survey. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday the hiring was spread among large companies with more than 1,000 employees and medium and small firms with fewer than 500 workers. Manufacturers added 16,000 jobs, and builders hired 18,000. The leisure and hospitality sector added 51,000 workers. The figures indicate employers still expect the economy to expand, so theyre bolstering their staffs. A test version of a spacecraft resembling a mini space shuttle has been carried aloft over the Mojave Desert by a helicopter ahead of a free flight in which it will be released to autonomously land on a runway. Sierra Nevadas Dream Chaser was lifted off the ground Wednesday morning on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. A control team sent commands to the wingless vehicle and collected data before the helicopter brought it down less than two hours later. The spacecraft is being developed for missions to and from the International Space Station. From news reports Coming today 8:30 a.m.: Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for July. 10 a.m.: Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates. 10 a.m.: National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for July. Heres what you need to know about a business pitch that Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Jared Kushner, made to Chinese investors in May and how it relates to her brother. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Heres what you need to know about a business pitch that Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Jared Kushner, made to Chinese investors in May and how it relates to her brother. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) After the sister of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner dropped his name in early May while pitching a real estate development to wealthy Chinese investors, one of Kushners lawyers quickly released a statement that he had already divested all interests in the venture known as One Journal Square. More than two months later, Kushner released an amended financial disclosure that suggested a more complicated reality: At the time of the public statement, he maintained a connection to a subsidiary of the One Journal Square project. Kushner held a contingent right, which allows an investor the chance to gain ownership if certain benchmarks of financial success are met such as revenue targets. Kushners lawyer, Blake Roberts of WilmerHale, said that he stood by his initial statement that his client had divested from One Journal Square. He said that Kushner had sold his ownership stake in the project in March to his mothers trust and that the contingent right, which was discovered only after the public statement, no longer held any value because it was connected to a prior version of the project that had fallen through. Jared divested that legacy contingent right as soon as it came to our attention, Roberts said. Kushner divested the right by moving it into his mothers trust just three days after the speech by his sister Nicole Kushner Meyer to investors in Beijing willing to put up $500,000 in exchange for EB-5 visas granting fast-track immigration into the United States. Comments to investors in China by Nicole Kushner Meyer, center, have come under scrutiny amid allegations that she was trying to use her brother Jared Kushners position as White House senior adviser to lure investors. (Albee Zhang/AFP/Getty Images) The move illustrates the complexity of Kushners private holdings, which have been the subject of public scrutiny amid revisions to his financial disclosure forms and the fallout from his familys sales pitch. More than 100 days after Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law, entered the White House, his legal advisers were still grappling with the sprawling nature of his assets. [Kushner keeps most of his real estate but offers few clues about potential White House conflicts] Kushner did not include the contingent right one of 27 related to Kushner Cos. properties in his financial disclosure form filed in late March. The rights were first disclosed in July in an amended form with a notice that they had been inadvertently omitted. Josh Raffel, Kushners White House spokesman, said that the divestiture of the contingent right was not triggered by Meyers comments but was part of a process that was already underway to provide more information to ethics officials. Raffel declined to make Kushner available for an interview for this story. In May, federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York issued a subpoena to Kushner Cos. for documents related to the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The Times reported that the authorities, in part, are looking into the role of Mr. Kushners sister, Nicole Meyer. EB-5 is a long-standing federal program that is frequently used by many real estate developers to raise funds and help create jobs, according to a statement by Kushner Cos. The company is cooperating with legal requests for information about its participation in the program. The construction site of the One Journal Square luxury apartment project in Jersey City, N.J. The project was the subject of a sales pitch in China made by Meyer. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The One Journal Square project is slated to include two luxury towers, with commercial and residential space and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. Construction has not begun. [How Jared Kushner built a luxury skyscraper using loans meant for job-starved areas] On May 6, Meyer appeared in a hotel ballroom about 2:30 p.m. in Beijing to promote the project to a group of about 100 investors. She told them that the project means a lot to me and my entire family, according to the Times. She also mentioned her brothers past role with the company and his new role in the White House. Kushner Cos. later issued an apology and said that the reference to her brother was not an attempt to lure investors. By the morning of May 6 in the United States, Kushners team had received a flood of media inquiries about possible ethical issues posed by Meyers remarks. Roberts issued a statement early that afternoon. Mr. Kushner divested his interests in the One Journal Square project by selling them to a family trust that he is not a beneficiary of, a mechanism suggested by the Office of Government Ethics, he wrote, adding that Kushner had already pledged to recuse himself from any discussions involving EB-5 visas. At the time of his sisters remarks, Kushner was observing the Jewish Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and was not told about the statement issued by his lawyer until after it was released, according to two individuals close to Kushner. Late on May 7, Kushners legal team discovered that he still held the contingent right to gain ownership in a subsidiary company affiliated with the One Journal Square project. His lawyers have said that they were already working with ethics officials in April to learn how Kushner should report his contingent rights and had communicated with Kushner Cos. to seek that information. However, they declined to say who eventually turned over the details of the contingency rights, and why it took until May to do so. The following day, on May 8, Kushner divested the right by giving it to a trust held by his mother, Seryl, according to Raffel. When asked by The Post why the right was gifted rather than terminated if it had no value, Kushners lawyers have said that it was a simple, expeditious way to remove it from Kushners holdings. They declined to make the contingent agreement available to The Post. Kushner Cos. also issued a statement to The Post saying that the structure of the transaction involving One Journal Square changed in late 2016, rendering the contingent right valueless because it was outdated by May 2017. Kushners lawyer, Roberts, has said that the right was dependent on a now-defunct deal with WeWork, a start-up company that specializes in shared working spaces. When the One Journal Square project was pitched to New Jersey officials, WeWork was both an equity partner and the planned anchor tenant. Bloomberg reported on May 8 that WeWork was no longer involved in the deal as an anchor tenant. Roberts said that Kushner had no contingent rights for the new version of the project that Meyer pitched in China. A spokesman for WeWork, Dominic McMullan, said last week that WeWork was still an equity partner in One Journal Square. He said WeWork had no knowledge of any Kushner Cos. contingent rights. Through a spokesman, Laurent Morali, the president of Kushner Cos., said the decision was made mutually by WeWork and us to amicably part ways last year. Weve been in the process of negotiating an agreement doing so that is about to be final. Both White House and ethics officials have said that revisions to financial disclosure forms are common. A spokeswoman for the Office of Government Ethics said that the office does not comment on questions related to individual disclosure forms. The most significant revisions on Kushners disclosure form involve a company called BFPS Ventures. On Kushners first form, the company was labeled as New York City real estate valued at over $50 million. But after the revision in July, BFPSs value decreased to less than $25 million and it was relabeled as a holding company that contained the 27 contingent rights and Kushners stake in Cadre, a real-estate investment venture founded with his brother, Joshua. Don Fox, who previously served as a general counsel and acting director of OGE, said that he had read through Kushners new public form and noticed the revisions related to BFPS. Maybe it took them that long to peel back the onion that is BFPS and to figure out everything thats in it, Fox said. Theres a lot of stuff in it. The new form also included a position that Kushner had not previously disclosed: He served as a managing member of BFPS Ventures from 2011 until May 2017. According to a footnote, Kushner had intended to resign from BFPS in January. Shawn Boburg, Emily Rauhala and William Wan contributed to this report. Alice (Reese Witherspoon) is a single mom living in Los Angeles whose life changes unexpectedly when she allows three young men to move in with her. With her filmmaking debut, Home Again, a romantic comedy about a 40ish single mom who embarks on a fling with a much younger man, Hallie Meyers-Shyer proves that shes her mothers daughter. Mom, in this case, is filmmaker Nancy Meyers, a cinematic powerhouse with a track record of hit rom-coms that includes What Women Want, Somethings Gotta Give, The Holiday, Its Complicated and The Intern along with a reputation for luxe production values that has earned her the sobriquet of queen of interior design porn. No slouch in the romantic comedy biz himself, Hallies father, and Nancys ex, is writer-director-producer Charles Shyer (Father of the Bride). Hallie Meyers-Shyer, center, directs Reese Witherspoon and Ben Sinclair in a scene from Home Again. (Karen Ballard/Open Road Films) In Home Again, theres no mistaking the influence of Meyers, who was a producer on the new film. The story centers on interior decorator Alice Kinney (Reese Witherspoon), who, after an ugly breakup, has moved from New York to the comfortable Los Angeles home she grew up in with her late filmmaker father and retired actress mother (Candice Bergen). True to the values of a Nancy Meyers movie, that house which is sure to inspire design lust takes center stage. Its there that Alice takes in three 20-something filmmakers as lodgers: a sensitive writer (Jon Rudnitzky), a tech-savvy actor (Nat Wolff), and a sexy director (Pico Alexander). The latter becomes, briefly, Alices boy toy. Meyers-Shyer, 30, spoke by phone from Los Angeles about her debt to her parents and her desire to make her own way in the Hollywood jungle. Q: The apple obviously doesnt fall far from the tree. Your mothers influence is apparent, particularly in your films attention to meticulously curated domestic interiors. I was struck by one scene around the breakfast table that featured platters of bacon on blue-and-white china. It was so mouthwatering and pretty, it was almost distracting. How important is production design to you? A: Of all possible things I learned about from my mom, food on the table is just the smallest possible thing that she could have taught me. The larger lessons about having great heroines and great stories, about how warm and inviting her films are and how feminine they are are the themes I hope I carry on from her, more than anything having to do with set design or food. That said, my film does take place largely in a home and many of her films do as well where the house is a big character. I really hope that Home Again reflects me and my sensibilities. Q: After graduating from the New School in Manhattan, you spent a year studying film at USC. But youve said your real education came on your parents film sets growing up. If youre trying to cut the apron strings, why work with your mother? A: Carrying on the family business is a hard thing. As a debut filmmaker, you want to feel like you are paving your own way. But there was nobody better to have with me than someone who has been making, for so many years, romantic comedies with strong female characters. The thing I learned most from my mom was about layering my characters and making them nuanced, and not just types. Producer Nancy Meyers on the set of Home Again. (Karen Ballard/Open Road Films) Q: Alices parents, like yours, are filmmakers. They seem to have been based on director John Cassavetes and his actress wife, Gena Rowlands. Is that deliberate? A: Youre absolutely right. The character of [Alices father] is an amalgam of several 1970s filmmakers: Cassavettes; [Peter] Bogdanovich; [Paul] Mazursky. They were my influences while writing the film. The way in which I wanted to portray Los Angeles was inspired a lot by 70s films. I wanted to find a way to infuse that into the story, so I made him a 70s filmmaker. I wanted him to be someone who these three boys who are true lovers of cinema would be excited about to thumb through his scripts and photo albums. I consider the movie a love letter to film and Hollywood. Q: Are you a particular fan of 70s American cinema? A: Yes, I am. Its my favorite era. I watched a lot of movies from that period for research. Q: You werent even born until 1987. How did you fall in love with that period? A: I went to film school for a bit. Mostly, though, I watched a lot of movies with my parents. Movies of the 70s feel very grounded and character-driven to me. I love Jack Nicholson. I love Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait and Shampoo. Q: Who do you relate to most in this film? A: I find a little of myself in every character. I relate to Alice, of course, but also to the three boys trying to make it in Hollywood. I relate to Alices anxious older daughter, but also to the youngest daughter, because I also have an older sister. I can even relate to Alices ex, Michael Sheen, back in New York City. I put myself in every character. Q: Do you perceive a decline or, as some have said, a crisis in romantic comedy? A: It used to be a more commercial genre for studios, for sure, one in which big actors would star, going back to Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. It had great actors, major studios, big budgets. But its not just romantic comedies that have declined, as I see it. Movies about human beings are not being made as often. Theyve been replaced by superhero movies, action films. Its not as easy to get a romantic comedy made, but there is an audience for it. The Big Sick was a great example, and it showed that people want to embrace the genre. Clockwise from left: Candice Bergen, Michael Sheen, Eden Grace Redfield, Nat Wolff, Reese Witherspoon, Jon Rudnitsky, Lola Flanery and Pico Alexander in Home Again. (Karen Ballard/Open Road Films) Q: Is there a gender divide in the audience? Is there something about rom-coms that has ghettoized them as womens films? A: Home Again is a womans story, through and through. Women do like romantic comedies, but in my experience, men love them, too. Im excited that an underserved audience is being served in this film. Q: And that underserved audience is . . .? A: Women. Q: . . . or simply people who dont want to see another movie about space aliens? A: Absolutely, that, too. One hundred percent. Q: Theres a great line in the film about how, between the three guys who are living in Alices pool house, she has managed to combine the package into one perfect man: Ones her babysitter, ones her tech-support guru and the other is her lover. A: I cant take credit for that line. The reference to the brains, the heart and the nerve is from The Wizard of Oz. Q: Its a sad commentary on the male gender that it takes three of us to make one whole person. A: I think Home Again is a really empowering movie for men. These are three passionate men who have real interests. It shows men in a really positive way. Q: Theres another funny line, where a sleazy Hollywood movie producer tries to get the boys to change their vision for their first movie from a black-and-white art-house drama to a found-footage love story. Sounds ilke that one might come from personal experience. A: Yes. When youre writing, you get to make a little bit of snide commentary. I definitely drew from past meetings with producers. Q: The guy and the girl dont end up happily ever after. Are you trying to rewrite the rules with your first movie? A: Thats just how the rom-com genre has been characterized. Home Again looks and feels like a romantic comedy, but ultimately thats not what this movie is about. Its not about a woman finding a man. Its about a woman finding herself. Home Again (PG-13, 96 minutes). Opens Sept. 8 at area theaters. Backpacks are back. In a world of shrinking personal space, overstuffed overhead bins and exorbitant airline baggage fees, travelers are rediscovering the convenience and savings of wearing their luggage. For many, the aha moment came this summer as they watched a crowd of in-the-know travelers breeze through the terminal unencumbered by extendible handles and the bulk of things they didnt really need. That crowd is growing. The latest Travel Goods Association market report, released in 2016, found that unit sales had surged 22 percent as American travelers bought a record-breaking 176.1 million backpacks. But the modern backpack is a far cry from that rucksack you strapped on when you were a kid the one with everything inelegantly wedged into a single compartment. The most innovative wearable luggage allows technology, clothing and food to coexist without making a mess. At times, it stretches the very definition of backpack. Theyre being discovered by travelers such as Robby Bearman, an operations manager for a transportation company in San Francisco. He was looking for something to use for short trips and for his daily commute, and a backpack made the most sense. Travelons Anti-Theft Urban Backpack ($130) has a variety of features that will protect your personal property. (Courtesy of Travelon) [Cant sleep on airplanes? These products and techniques can help.] His choice: the Everyday Backpack by Peak Design ($259), a Kickstarter-funded pack with lots of clever features. The Everyday is filled with innovations, including its magnetic closing system, expandable external side pockets and a modern aesthetic that looks decidedly un-backpacky. (Okay, I just made up that word, but stay with me.) Bearman liked the easy access to the main compartment from both the top and sides, thanks to swiveling shoulder straps and dual weatherproof side zips. The main compartment can be reconfigured with Velcro dividers, which is a handy feature, for example, to keep a banana from being squished, he says. Some of the new backpacks are built around technology. Take the Razer Tactical Backpack ($119) which has ample room for Jean Paldans computer and enough space for a headset, a tablet computer, books, snacks and a change of clothes. It holds everything, says Paldan, a web designer from Oxford, England. Plus, its ridiculously comfortable to wear. The Razer is also cool which is a bonus if youre traveling with your family. Another trendy backpack is the STM Banks ($129), a new release from its Streets Collection, which is tech-friendly and looks good, too. Among its features: a quilted interior lining that protects your gadgets, side pockets with stretch mesh for water bottles and an ergonomic, curved fit to reduce shoulder strain. Its the backpack my 10-year-old daughter wanted, so if youre interested in impressing your kids, this is the one to buy. The newest packs also cater to your power needs. Mobile charging company TYLT offers two backpacks that let you charge your devices while youre carrying them. The Energi Pro Power Backpack ($149) offers a full charge to your phone, tablet and laptop, thanks to a powerful battery in its front pouch. And the Energi Backpack ($99), billed as a next-gen briefcase, backpack and mobile charging station, can route the cables to any one of the five external pockets or two internal Pockets. The TYLT backpacks are a godsend for travelers who keep pushing their electronics to the limit, like my kids, but they also take up more space than the other backpacks I evaluated. For sheer coolness, its hard to match Travelpros Platinum Magna 2 Business Backpack ($161). Its sleek, black and constructed with the frequent flier in mind. A checkpoint friendly carry-on, its built to Transportation Security Administration specifications so that you can pass through security without removing your laptop. And it also comes with extra safety, including padded corduroy laptop and tablet sleeves and an RFID-blocking interior pocket to keep your ID and credit cards from prying eyes. If youre thinking of taking your backpack on a business trip, this is the one for it. The STM Banks ($129) is tech-friendly and looks good, too. (Courtesy of STM Goods) [Whose armrest is it, anyway? The unspoken etiquette of airline, bus and train travel.] There are other backpacks for the security-conscious, too. Take Travelons Anti-Theft Urban Backpack ($130), which has a variety of features that will protect your personal property. Those include an interior locking compartment for your tablet, a locking front zip compartment with RFID-blocking card and passport slots and slash-resistant body construction to protect you from slash-and-grab thieves. Best of all, the Travelon backpack wasnt any heavier than the other luggage I tested. But sometimes, the best backpack is no backpack. To call the Eagle Creek Converge Weekend Bag ($179) a backpack would be an understatement. It can be used as a traditional carry-on bag, thanks to side handles, but also has a pouch for a large laptop, a tablet computer, a phone and a storage area for your clothes. The best part of the Converge is the fabric, a PU-coated, water-resistant polyester. Spills are inevitable, but at least your gadgets wont get soaked. If youre just interested in carrying a laptop, a charger and maybe a tablet computer, youll probably want to leave the clever compartments behind and go with a more minimalist solution, such as the Knomo James ($229), which does that one thing really well. Oh, sure, you can strap it to your back if you want, but this bag is meant to be carried, as, indeed, most luggage is. But maybe Im just old-fashioned that way. Elliott is a consumer advocate, journalist and co-founder of the advocacy group Travelers United. Email him at chris@elliott.org. This weeks best travel bargains around the globe. Land La Coleccion Resorts is offering 50 percent off the rates at a dozen properties in Mexico. The special applies to resorts in such beach destinations as Cancun, Chetumal, Cozumel and Los Cabos. For example, the Live Aqua Beach Resort Cancun starts at $214 per person double, including taxes, down from $282; the Grand Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta starts at $146 per night, down from $292. Both resorts are adults-only and all-inclusive. Book by Sept. 7; travel by Dec. 12 and use promo code LABOR2017. Info: 800-343-7821, www.lacoleccionresorts.com. Conestoga Ranch, a glamping resort in northern Utah, is discounting weekday September stays by 50 percent. Prices vary, depending on accommodations. For example, the Traditional Tent starts at $75 per night and the Conestoga wagon goes for $80, including taxes. Stay Sunday through Thursday, Sept. 4-28. Book by Monday. Guests also receive 20 percent off rentals of ATVs and water equipment. Use promo code LongSummer. Info: 844-GO-GLAMP, www.conestogaranch.com. The Red Lion Inn, a historic property in the Berkshires, is offering 25 percent savings. The Endless Summer sale rate starts at $149 per night (plus $14 tax) for a deluxe queen room, a savings of $49. The 125-room inn in Stockbridge, Mass., was founded in the late 1700s and features a year-round heated outdoor pool. Stay Sunday-Thursday through Sept. 28, except Sept. 3 blackout date. Info: 413-298-5545, www.redlioninn.com. Sea With AdventureSmith Explorations, couples save $800 on select Baja's Bounty cruises aboard the 84-passenger Safari Endeavour. The seven-night trip, which sails round trip from La Paz, Mexico, starts at $2,595 per person double (plus $220 port charges). Sale applies to four departures in December and one in January. Book by Sept. 30 for non-holiday cruises and by Nov. 1 for trips departing on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30. Info: 877-620-2875, www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/bajas-bounty. Air Aer Lingus has a sale on nonstop flights from Washington Dulles to Dublin. The round-trip fare starts at $566, including taxes. Travel Nov. 1-March 31; holiday blackouts apply. Minimum Saturday-night stay required. By comparison, connecting flights start at $618. Book by Sept. 6 at www.aerlingus.com. Package Book a package with JetBlue Vacations and save 15 percent on the base airfare. The airline is also offering discounts on select hotels. For example, a four-night trip to Florida in October starts at $921 per person double, a savings of $466. Price includes nonstop round-trip air from Reagan National to Fort Lauderdale, accommodations at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach and taxes. Travel through Nov. 7, except Fridays-Sundays and holiday blackout dates. Book by Sept. 6 at www.jetblue.com/vacations/sale/15-off-air. British Airways has a sale on a five-night London vacation. The deal starts at $740 per person double and includes round-trip air from Washington Dulles or BWI Marshall to Heathrow, lodging at the Royal National Hotel, daily breakfast and taxes. Book by Sept. 26 and travel by March 31. Priced separately, the trip costs about $1,100 more. Info: www.britishairways.com. Carol Sottili, Andrea Sachs Prices were verified at press time Thursday, but deals sell out and availability is not guaranteed. Some restrictions may apply. THE DISTRICT Boy and man are shot in Northeast D.C. A boy and a man were shot Wednesday in Northeast Washington, according to D.C. police. The shootings occurred around 1:45 p.m. in the 3500 block of South Dakota Avenue NE. Police said both were conscious. Police did not reveal the age of the boy, who was taken to a hospital, or the man, who went on his own to a hospital. Authorities were looking for a green Lexus with Maryland license plates. Peter Hermann Police: Man touched teen on Metro train He started flirting with her on a Metro train. But then it quickly escalated to inappropriate, police said. Metro Transit Police have arrested and charged Wayne Anthony Dammons, 26, of Southeast Washington, with a second-degree sexual offense. They said the incident unfolded Monday afternoon on the Red Line. A teenage girl told police she was approached by a man, later identified as Dammons. He sat by her and asked for money. Dammons touched her in a sexual manner, according to Metro Transit Police. He then exposed himself to the teen and left the train at Glenmont, police said. The girl reported the incident to an adult, who notified authorities, police said. A warrant was issued for Dammonss arrest. He was arrested Wednesday at a Metro station in Prince Georges County. Dana Hedgpeth Bus drivers greeting set off passenger The woman who allegedly threw a cup of urine on a Metrobus driver who told her to have a nice day has been arrested, police said Wednesday. The woman, Opal L. Brown, 38, of southeast D.C., was arrested at LEnfant Plaza station shortly after noon Wednesday. Police believe she assaulted a bus driver around 6:15 p.m. Saturday on the X2 bus near the intersection of Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue. According to Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly, the passenger was getting off the bus when the operator told her, Have a nice day. Are you talking to me? the passenger said, according to Metro. Yes, the bus driver said. That, Metro says, is when the rider lashed out. Martine Powers MARYLAND Man dies in collision with garbage truck A man was killed Tuesday when his SUV collided with a garbage truck in Prince Georges County, police said. Around 9:30 a.m., officers responded to the 15700 block of Livingston Road in Accokeek for the report of a collision, county police said in a statement. They found Grover Glass, 64, of Accokeek had tried to turn onto Livingston Road from a parking lot when his SUV collided with a garbage truck traveling west on Livingston, the statement said. Glass was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Justin Wm. Moyer New lane coming for Severn River bridge Maryland will add a fourth eastbound lane over the Severn River Bridge, near Annapolis on Route 50, to relieve traffic congestion for vehicles heading toward the Eastern Shore. Transportation officials said construction will begin on the $22.8 million project on Sept. 5 and be completed by May 2018. More than 126,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day during non-summer weekdays, and the number swells to more than 145,000 on Fridays during summer travel months. Josh Hicks Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer greets people after the memorial service for Heather Heyer, who was killed while protesting the white supremacist rally on Aug. 12 (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer apologized Wednesday to the City Council and the people of the city for some of his actions and words over the recent deeply troubling and traumatizing weeks. Those actions and communications he said were inconsistent with the collaboration required by our system of government and overstepped the bounds as my role as Mayor. Signer and others in Charlottesville leadership have come under fire as the city reeled from its handling of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12 that left three dead and a smaller July 8 rally by the Ku Klux Klan. Both demonstrations were organized in response to the City Councils decision earlier this year to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. [Aftershocks and finger-pointing continue to roil Charlottesville, weeks after white supremacist rally] Following widespread criticism of Charlottesvilles response, Signer had sought to distance himself from the handling of the event. Charlottesville is typical of many Virginia municipalities in that the mayor does not have strong executive powers. The police chief reports to the city manager, not the mayor, and Signer had been unhappy that he did not know details about the citys security plans for the rally. He also was upset that he had not been allowed in the citys command center during the rally. He was publicly critical of City Manager Maurice Jones and Police Chief Al Thomas. Some in the city felt he had overreached. Signer acknowledged as much in his statement saying his actions included an ill-advised Facebook post that impugned the reputations of our City Manager Maurice Jones and our Chief of Police Al Thomas, for which I sincerely apologize. [How Charlottesville lost control amid deadly protest] The mayors apology followed a rare closed-door session of the Charlottesville City Council Wednesday to discuss the performance and discipline of an elected official. In his statement Signer said he would commit to four protocols for the remainder of this year. Most of those had to do with his interaction with the citys professional staff and collaborating with City Council members. He also said he would not make public pronouncements or announcements as Mayor without working with my Colleagues and the City Manager beforehand and ensuring their consent. Though the council had authority to impose a fine on the mayor or even vote to remove him, it chose to do neither. Instead council members accepted the mayors apology and affirmed their support for him. In its statement, the Charlottesville City Council, said it, Reiterates shared responsibility for good governance and conveys Councils commitments to working effectively together for the best interests of the City and its people. The council, including Signer, also released a separate statement. We all faced a horrible tragedy in Charlottesville, a city we all love, it read in part. Collectively as leaders, and on behalf of everyone in our great community, we stand up for our City and stand against hate and racism. We pledge to work together as the City continues to heal. The videos show how the beating unfolded, revealing its brutality and shocking speed from multiple perspectives. On Aug. 12, white supremacists at the Unite the Right rally in downtown Charlottesville converged on counterprotesters outside the Market Street parking garage a facility right next to the Charlottesville Police Department. First, a white supremacist attempted to spear a counterprotester with the pole of a Confederate flag. Then, DeAndre Harris, a former special-education instructional assistant, swung a flashlight at the man, possibly striking him. Then, the skirmish erupted into a full-throttle attack on Harris. Six white supremacists rushed the 20-year-old African American who had fled into the parking garage, kicking him to the ground and pummeling him with what appeared to be wooden sticks and a large board. Harris sustained a spinal injury and a deep head laceration that required 10 staples, according to his Philadelphia-based attorney, S. Lee Merritt. Over the next few days, as people uploaded videos of the fight, a Black Lives Matter activist took it upon himself to do what law enforcement agencies apparently werent doing: trying to identify the six attackers so they could be arrested. Shaun King, who at the time was a New York Daily News columnist and is now a writer in residence at a project at Harvard Law School, scoured the Web to match old photos of the attackers with images from the Charlottesville fight. He bore down deep into Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, looking for associates of the men who could confirm first and last names. Shaun King has used social media to identify two of the men who attacked DeAndre Harris in Charlottesville. (Ross Oscar Knight/Ross Oscar Knight) As of Thursday, King was credited with identifying two of the alleged assailants: Daniel P. Borden, 18, of Ohio and Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Georgia. Both were arrested in their home states and charged with malicious wounding. The other four men havent been officially named, but King said he hasnt stopped trying. [Three men charged in Charlottesville attacks on counterprotesters] I spoke to the Charlottesville Police Department, two FBI agents, and the state police. It was surreal. The only thing they knew about the attackers was stuff they got from my [social media] timelines! King said in an interview. Something had me thinking that the FBI was so sophisticated, that they were running these photos through databases. But they openly said that the only guys they knew were the two guys I had identified. My thought was, This cant be real. Dennette Rybiski, a spokeswoman for the FBIs office in Richmond, declined to be interviewed. After the rally, four days passed before the bureau posted on Twitter links to a tip line and a website where people could share information about the violence in Charlottesville. The Washington Post made multiple requests to speak with members of the Charlottesville Police Department. Neither Chief Al S. Thomas Jr. nor a department spokesman returned messages. The city manager, Maurice Jones, did not respond to interview requests left with his spokeswoman. The attack on Harris was just one of the stains left by the Unite the Right rally. A Nazi sympathizer, James Alex Fields Jr., allegedly plowed through a crowd in his car, killing counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuring more than a dozen others. Fields Jr., 20, who had stood with white supremacists hours before the crash, was charged with second-degree murder. At least a dozen others got into other brawls and were also treated for injuries. In the aftermath of the violence, Charlottesville has been riven by recrimination and second-guessing: Why didnt the police intervene to halt the multiple altercations? Why were police standing off to the sides and behind the two opposing groups and not in between them? Alex Michael Ramos turned himself in Monday in Monroe County, Ga. Ramos has been charged in connection with the beating of a black man during violent clashes in Charlottesville. (AP) [The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville] Merritt, Harriss attorney, said local police share in some liability for his clients injuries. He accused the police of passivity in their efforts to identify and arrest Harriss assailants because if you have six arrests after the fact from an incident that was feet away from law enforcement it makes them appear more culpable, he said. Harris declined to comment through his attorney. He set up a GoFundMe Web page, with the goal of raising $50,000. Hes gotten more than $166,000. If it was not for my friends that I came with I would have been beaten to a pulp, Harris wrote on the page. Merritt said the FBI questioned them about why Harris had kept the GoFundMe page active even though hed reached his goal. It is no longer accepting donations. They were responding to Internet claims that DeAndre was manipulating the public for financial gain. Its a red herring, Merritt said. Its great the community wanted to support him, but it had nothing to do with the incident, and doesnt explain why he was attacked and doesnt help track down the people who attacked him. If one person has been pushing for justice the most, its King, the former Daily News writer. He has 1.5 million Facebook followers and more than 760,000 on Twitter. The night of the rally, King launched a public investigation, posting a photo of the white supremacists beating Harris in the parking garage. America. 2017. Arrest these men. All of them. Right now. What are their names? he wrote on Facebook. Economics my ass. This is violent white supremacy plain and simple. The next day, he posted photos of one of the attackers one who has still not been named. SHARE THIS. All hands on deck. WHO IS THIS MAN with the red beard? King wrote on Facebook, attaching photos of the man standing idly at the rally and then another of him at the attack. An hour later, he posted photos of a young man with moles on his neck, two from the rally and one from the garage clash. OK Everybody! ALL HANDS ON DECK. SHARE!!! Here is white supremacist #2 that we MUST identify. WHO IS HE? King wrote at 4:37 p.m. on Aug. 13. Less than three hours later, at 7:04 p.m., King had one of the alleged assailants: Daniel (Dan) Borden we found you. Your classmates turned you in, King wrote, posting photos from the white supremacists now-shuttered Facebook account. They said this doesnt surprise them. And your neck moles gave it away. About two weeks later, Borden was arrested in Ohio, where he grew up. The Post left a message for his attorney, Greg Berberich, but it was not returned. According to the Associated Press, the attorney said that Borden had been hit in the head and tear-gassed several times and that he asked police for protection. He also said Bordens family believes he will be proved innocent. The Post could not reach his parents for comment. Three days after the rally, King found another alleged attacker. Dear Michael A. Ramos, We caught you. Your Facebook friends reported you to me, King wrote, posting photos of Ramos in the assault next to other images of him. We downloaded all of the content off of your Facebook page before you deleted it including your video and comments bragging about the assault. Ramos turned himself in to officials in Georgia and is expected to be transferred to Virginia authorities in the next week. Now King is trying to get full names for the remaining alleged assailants, especially the man with the red beard who was wearing dark pants and a hat during the attack. That guy looks so distinct, King said, frustrated. But hes a ghost. I think hes deleted any trace of himself online. Protesters takes part in a rally to oppose a new Texas "sanctuary cities" bill that aligns with the president's tougher stance on illegal immigration in San Antonio June 26, 2017. (Eric Gay/AP) A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked parts of a severe state immigration law that was supposed to take effect Friday and would have outlawed sanctuary cities and penalized local officials who do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts. The decision Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio delivers a temporary blow to the states campaign backed by the Trump administration to compel localities to detain immigrants so federal agents can take them into custody. In a 94-page decision, Garcia wrote that parts of the Texas law are likely to be found unconstitutional. He enjoined the state from punishing local officials, infringing on their right to free speech and forcing them to detain immigrants for federal immigration officials, an act that is currently voluntary. And he wrote that cities and towns had provided overwhelming and ample evidence that cooperating with immigration officials will erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe as well as harm the state economically. Indeed, at the end of the day, the Legislature is free to ignore the pleas of city and county officials, along with local police departments, who are in the trenches, Garcia wrote. The Court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature. However, the State may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) vowed to appeal. Todays decision makes Texas communities less safe, Abbott said in a statement. The law would fine local officials who refused to assist federal agencies in working to deport illegal immigrants up to $25,500 a day. Elected and appointed officials could lose their jobs, and police and sheriffs could go to jail for up to a year on misdemeanor charges. The Court was right to strike down the guts of a law that is not only patently unconstitutional but bad policy as well, said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued against the case in court on behalf of several Texas cities and towns. Hopefully other states will now not follow Texas lead. Garcias decision comes as Texas, home to an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, is grappling with historic flooding and dozens of deaths following Hurricane Harvey. It also lands amid growing fears that the Trump administration will end an Obama-era program that has granted nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children reprieves from deportation. Texas is one of 10 states that have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it does not begin to phase out the deportation-relief program by next week. Abbott said the Texas statute would increase public safety by preventing local law enforcement from releasing foreign-born residents from jails or prisons before immigration agents can take them into custody. The small border city of El Cenizo sued to stop the law, and was soon joined by Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other cities. They said the law could lead to racial profiling, make immigrants afraid to report crime and ignite a backlash that could devastate the state economically. The U.S. Justice Department sided with Texas in defending the law in federal court. President Trump signed an executive order in January that threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. A federal judge later halted that order, saying it was overly broad. The administration has continued to try to steer funding away from cities and towns that refuse to help enforce immigration law. El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes said Wednesdays ruling left him in tears, thinking about the hate-filled messages hes received for filing the lawsuit, and the immigrants who will rest more easily come Friday at least temporarily. This is great news for thousands of families here in Texas, he said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is touring flooded areas of the city, tweeted: Happy to learn a federal judge blocked the Texas law aimed at making local police immigration enforcers. Need them for fighting local crime. Few localities in Texas actually declare themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, though many, including Houston, say they are welcoming cities and limit how frequently they will cooperate with federal immigration officials. For instance, some are willing to hand over violent criminals, but unwilling to turn over someone arrested for a minor offense. Garcia noted that localities have cooperated voluntarily with immigration officers for decades and may continue to do so. But he ruled that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on several of their claims. For instance, he said the state laws mandate that local authorities honor all federal requests to detain immigrants may violate the Fourth Amendments protection against being jailed without probable cause. The court also found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that the law violated the First Amendment, by banning officials from endorsing sanctuary policies, and that it was unconstitutionally vague. Garcia ruled that the mandates and penalties in the law go beyond what federal law requires and upset the delicate balance between federal enforcement and local cooperation and violate the United States Constitution. Serafina Ha, left, of Chicago and Sharon Stanley-Rea, director of Disciples of Christ Refugee & Immigration Ministries, lead chants in front of the White House on Wednesday. They were calling for President Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) When U.S.-born kids whose parents are undocumented immigrants know their moms wont be deported, they are dramatically less worried and stressed. That is the chief conclusion of a study published by the journal Science on Thursday, as the Trump administration deliberates whether to eliminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that is shielding nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation. A later attempt by President Barack Obama to extend deportation relief to millions more undocumented immigrants who have children born in the United States was blocked in federal court. And a coalition of conservative Republican officials is threatening to challenge DACA in court as well, if the Trump administration doesnt commit by next week to phasing it out. During his campaign, President Trump pledged to end DACA, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of executive authority. But the president has since spoken highly of DACA recipients who have gone to college and succeeded in launching careers in this country. He suggested in April that DACA recipients could rest easy. The roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants who live in the United States are parents to more than 4 million children who were born in this country and are citizens, according to the report, whose lead author was Stanford University political scientist Jens Hainmueller. [Read the study] The study looked at Medicaid-claims data for the children of 5,600 undocumented women from Oregon who were born between 1980 and 1982, a time span that includes mothers born too soon to be eligible for DACA and those who do qualify. Those women gave birth to more than 8,600 children from 2003 to 2015. Using the Medicaid claims, the researchers examined which children had received diagnoses of mental-health issues between 2013 and 2015, comparing claims for children whose mothers were eligible for DACA against those whose mothers were not. Because DACA offered the mothers immediate relief from the risk of deportation, maternal stress might have declined and their children would no longer have had to fear being separated from them, the report said. Therefore, the childrens mental well-being could have improved. The researchers found that 3.6 percent of the children whose mothers were eligible for deportation relief were diagnosed with adjustment and anxiety disorders, compared to 7.9 percent of the children whose mothers were not DACA-eligible a drop of more than 50 percent. Protecting unauthorized immigrants from deportation led to immediate and sizable improvements in the mental health of their U.S. citizen children, the report said. This suggests that parents unauthorized status is a substantial stressor that stymies normal child development and perpetuates health inequalities by transferring parental disadvantages to children. Citing a growing body of research that demonstrates links between parents immigration status and their childrens health and development, the report says that barriers faced by children of illegal immigrants go beyond socioeconomic challenges to include parental anxiety, fear of separation and the stress of adapting to a new culture. The report notes that anxiety and stress are identified risk factors for depression, substance abuse, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Expanding deferred action to the millions of unauthorized immigrant parents who do not meet the current DACA eligibility criteria could further promote the health and well-being of this next generation of American citizens, the report said. Maryland state Del. Aruna Miller (D-Montgomery) is a candidate for the congressional seat soon to be vacated by Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.). (Miller campaign) The only woman running to replace Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) has won the backing of Emilys List, an advocacy group that supports women running for office who are in favor of abortion rights. Del. Aruna Miller (Montgomery) is one of five Democrats who have announced plans to seek the 2018 nomination. Delaney said last month that he will not seek reelection and instead will run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Miller, an engineer by training who lives in Darnestown, immigrated to the United States from India as a child. A delegate since 2011, she has pushed for bills requiring electronic monitoring of domestic violence perpetrators and extending the statute of limitations for sexual offenses against minors. She will be a strong voice for women and families in Marylands 6th District, pushing back against Donald Trump and Paul Ryan as they attempt to end health care coverage for millions, defund Planned Parenthood, and roll back critical environmental protections, Emily Cain, executive director of Emilys List, said in a statement. Marylands congressional delegation has been all male since the retirement of longtime senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D) and the departure of congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D) last year. There are currently seven Democrats and one Republican. The support of Emilys List could help Miller compete against wine magnate David J. Trone, who spent more than $13 million of his own money running unsuccessfully for a different seat in Congress last year. State Sen. Roger Manno (Montgomery), state House Majority Leader C. William Frick (Montgomery), and retired intelligence officer Andrew Duck who twice ran for the seat years ago, when it was firmly in Republican hands also are seeking the Democratic nomination. Among Democrats, only Miller and Duck live in the district, which candidates are not required to do to run. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has proposed cutting $67 million from the states current budget to reduce spending ahead of expected shortfalls in future years. State Budget and Management Secretary David R. Brinkley announced the plan Thursday, saying the administration is trying to get ahead of something we know is coming forward. The proposed cuts range from about 0.1 percent to 3.6 percent for each affected agency, including reducing health department spending by $22 million, eliminating 30 positions at public higher education institutions to save $8 million; trimming more than $8 million from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; and reducing by $6 million state grants for low-wealth jurisdictions that struggle to raise revenue through local taxes. The changes a tiny fraction of the states $43.5 billion budget require approval by the three-member Maryland Board of Public Works, which includes Hogan, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) and Comptroller Peter Franchot (D). Franchot often sides with Hogan on matters of fiscal restraint. The panel is scheduled to consider the proposal on Wednesday. House Appropriations Committee Chair Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) described Hogans proposal as unusual in the absence of any indication that the state will run a deficit for the current fiscal year. She accused the governor of trying to tweak the budget approved by the General Assembly early this year without input from the legislature. Many Democratic lawmakers prefer addressing projections for future budget years during the next legislative session. When you do cuts this way, you whack the oversight that is needed, McIntosh said. Our budget process is open and transparent and allows not only affected agencies and institutions to come in but also allows the public to come in and discuss whether recommendations in the governors budget are good and should move forward or not. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer countered that there will be a public discussion of the cuts at next weeks Board of Public Works meeting. Such midyear budget adjustments by the board, common in years when revenue was lower than expected, have enabled countless governors, comptrollers and treasurers to actively manage the states finances, he said. But the Board of Revenue Estimates has not yet released its September forecast, which will show whether the state is on track to run a deficit this fiscal year. Regardless of those numbers, Brinkley said, the state needs to prepare for a $750 million shortfall projected for the next fiscal year, which begins in July 2018. He said the administration is using proactive fiscal management this time around to chip away at the projected shortfall. Warren Deschenaux, the legislatures head of budget analysis, said he could not recall a governor proposing mid-year cuts while not facing a near-term deficit. But he added that if were facing a headwind of that magnitude, I think its prudent to take moderate action to build up the states fiscal reserves ahead of time. Hogan blames mandated spending increases for the states chronic projections of budget shortfalls. Since taking office, he has pushed to reduce such required upticks. But the Democratic-majority legislature, has blocked his efforts. You can always flash that word mandate to make it seem as though the legislature is a body run wild on spending, but the truth is that you can substitute that word with priorities, McIntosh said. You need a process that . . . allows the priorities of our constituency to be funded. Alan Root and his wife and longtime filmmaking partner, Joan Root, filming a documentary in the 1970s. (ITV/Rex Features/Shutterstock/AP) Alan Root, a wildlife filmmaker who splashed through crocodile-infested rivers, piloted hot-air balloons over stampeding wildebeests and lost a Coke bottle-size chunk of his calf to an angry hippopotamus, all while producing nearly two dozen acclaimed nature documentaries, died Aug. 26. He was 80. Mr. Root had just returned from a safari in Alaska when he was hospitalized near his home in central Kenya, just outside the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, said Delta Willis, a friend and U.S. publicist for several of Mr. Roots television specials. He had been diagnosed with the brain cancer glioblastoma in April, she said. Mr. Root, an Englishman, spent nearly all his life in Kenya, where he and his first wife, Joan, acquired a reputation as two of Africas finest and most scar-ridden documentarians. The Man Who Was Eaten Alive, as a New Yorker profile by George Plimpton once described him, was working on a watering-hole scene when he was mauled by a hippo. He nearly died after going into anaphylactic shock following a bite from a puff adder, but lost only the index finger of his right hand, forcing him to reconfigure the hand controls of his helicopter an aircraft that he began flying in his 60s and crashed at least twice. A leopard once bit into his bottom, and a mountain gorilla what Mr. Root described as a Doberman on steroids ripped into his thigh while he was helping to shoot a scene for Gorillas in the Mist, the 1988 film about Dian Fossey, whom Mr. Root reportedly introduced to gorillas decades earlier. Mr. Root in Nairobi in 2004. (John Heminway) Mr. Root was considered one of the first filmmakers to capture animals in their natural habitat without human interference, and was credited with paving the way for migration movies such as March of the Penguins. He received two Emmy Awards and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2008. While he wrote, filmed and produced most of his documentaries, including television specials for National Geographic, the BBC and the Survival series on Britains Anglia network, Joan Root often played a central role behind the scenes, allowing a cobra to spit on her sunglass-clad face for one shot and piloting a balloon over the 19,000-foot peak of Mount Kilimanjaro for another. In a world where natural history films have become increasingly formulaic, made by big teams with big budgets, backed by an army of researchers, scientific advisers, and camera-people, Alan was the original auteur, the filmmaker Mark Deeble, a protege of Mr. Root, wrote in a tribute. The Roots, he continued, combined natural history integrity with irreverence [and] conveyed a knowledge of natural history and wildlife behavior that few could equal. Alan Root was born in London on May 12, 1937. His father was a manager at a fish-paste factory, and moved the family to Kenya for a job at a corned-beef plant when Mr. Root was 9. For Mr. Root, it was an opportunity to surround himself with more exotic pets than he had owned in England, including a baby bongo (he later gave it to the Cleveland Zoo), a baboon named Bimbo and a backyard full of snakes. He dropped out of school at 16 and taught himself to trap, guide and fly planes while developing what Deeble described as a repertoire of baboon alarm calls, elephant farts and wildebeest contact calls. He also began shooting movies with a 16-millimeter Bolex camera. In a well-received 2012 memoir, Ivory, Apes & Peacocks, Mr. Root said he was drawn to make films that corrected the excesses of early nature programs television shows that, as he put it, made it seem as though animals were something you picked up, basically molested and used to augment your ego. 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. He was a cameraman for Serengeti Shall Not Die, a 1959 documentary by the father-son team of Bernhard and Michael Grzimek, when the younger Grzimek died in a plane crash. Mr. Root finished the film, which won an Academy Award for best documentary. It was all downhill after that, he quipped. He married Joan Thorpe, the daughter of a safari guide, in 1961. They embarked on a series of journeys across Africa and the rest of the world, visiting the Galapagos Islands for Voyage to the Enchanted Isles (1967). To capture the ground-level thunder of a roaming herd in The Year of the Wildebeest (1974), they hid their camera inside a tortoise shell. Their crossing of Kilimanjaro, for Balloon Safari (1975), reportedly marked the first instance that a hot-air balloon was used to photograph African wildlife an innovation based on Mr. Roots concern that helicopters were too noisy and airplanes too fast. (He later started a hot-air balloon safari company, and reportedly crashed while piloting former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.) Among the couples most acclaimed works was the termite-focused Mysterious Castles of Clay (1978), which featured narration from Orson Welles and a memorably destructive appearance from an aardvark an animal that was, as Mr. Root observed in his narration, first word in the dictionary, last word in anteater design. Mr. Root and his wifes relationship fractured in the years after the movie, and they divorced in 1990. She was fatally shot at her home in Kenya in 2006 by intruders. The case is unsolved but has been linked to her conservation efforts. Mr. Root married Jennie Hammond in 1991; she died in 2000. Survivors include his wife, Fran Michelmore, and their two sons, Myles and Rory. He seemed to be fully aware of the danger of his work, telling journalist John Heminway that when he dies he intends his body to be left on an African savannah. He will be repaying old debts to vultures, hyenas and porcupines, Heminway wrote in his 1983 book No Mans Land, recounting their conversation. Those creatures, he continued, will in turn be scratching off obligations to the smaller creatures the beetles, bot flies and termites. His end, in short, will be many beginnings. Correction: A photo caption for an earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the year Alan and Joan Root filmed a cobra. It was in the 1970s, not 1990. The story has been revised. Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, at a movie premiere in 2009. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) Louise Hay, a self-help guru and AIDS advocate whose book, You Can Heal Your Life, preached the power of love and affirmation, sold tens of millions of copies and made her a leading voice of the New Age movement in the 1980s, died or transitioned on Aug. 30 at her home in San Diego. She was 90. Hay House, the publishing company she founded in 1987, confirmed her death but did not disclose the cause. Described in a 2008 New York Times profile as the queen of the New Age, Ms. Hay was a child-abuse victim who had dropped out of high school, given a baby up for adoption, worked as a model and divorced an international-trade expert by the time she discovered the power of positive thinking in her 40s. She read the works of Norman Vincent Peale and early 20th-century mystics, attended the Church of Religious Science in Manhattan, and studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the onetime guru to the Beatles, at his Vedic city in Iowa. Eventually, she developed a belief system based on the idea that medical maladies are inextricably linked with negative thoughts. Alzheimers disease, she wrote in her little blue book, the 1976 pamphlet Heal Your Body, was caused by a desire to leave the planet. Leprosy, she said, was related to an inability to handle life at all. Louise May, a self-help guru and AIDS advocate. (Hay House) Wellness relief from disease, depression, anxiety and stress was merely a matter of positive thinking, honed by reciting mantras such as I approve of myself several hundred times each day. It was a lesson that, Ms. Hay said, came from her own personal experience. Diagnosed with cervical cancer in the late 1970s, she chose to go against the advice of doctors and begin what her website described as an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing and psychotherapy, focusing especially on childhood memories of sexual abuse. I . . . had to love myself a great deal more than I did, and I had to clear the patterns of resentment that I had held from when I had been a battered and sexually abused child, she said in one audiobook, Cancer: Discovering Your Healing Power. It was imperative for me to let go of the blame. Within six months, she said, the cancer was gone. Ms. Hays account of the disease was central to the rise of her Carlsbad, Calif.-based publishing empire, which offers self-affirming coloring books, can-do desk calendars, inspirational card decks, meditative audio recordings and mobile apps. A website for Ms. Hay offers daily affirmations (in the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete), and her company organizes conferences and seminars featuring self-described psychics, clairvoyants, angel therapists and holistic healers. A streaming radio station was launched in 2005. 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. Hay House grossed $100 million in 2007, the Times reported, and Ms. Hays second book You Can Heal Your Life (1984) has remained a strong performer in print, selling more than 50 million copies around the world, according to its publisher. The book was given a boost when Ms. Hay appeared on daytime talk shows with Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey in March 1988, discussing her advocacy for people with AIDS. She had been a relatively unknown spiritual counselor in Southern California when, in 1985, she began holding small gatherings in her living room for gay men with the disease. The support group, known as the Hayride, soon ballooned to a Wednesday night gathering of more than 800 people, filling an auditorium in West Hollywood. Held at a time when AIDS was widely stigmatized, the meetings were often the only time a person with AIDS might be touched, hugged or massaged with care, not rough disdain, the Los Angeles Blade wrote in an obituary of Ms. Hay. Ms. Hay reportedly presided over the funerals of some AIDS patients Who else was going to do it? she said but drew the ire of doctors and some members of the gay community for giving the impression that the disease could be cured, and cured with love. Love is the most powerful stimulant to the immune system, she said at one gathering in 1988, the L.A. Times reported. What were doing here is practicing love, unconditional love. She was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 1926, and for decades kept her birth name closely guarded. But she acknowledged that her last name was Lunney the kids used to call me lunatic, she wrote in one book and said that she was beaten by her stepfather and raped by a neighbor when she was about 5. She dropped out of high school at 15 and became pregnant, giving her infant daughter up for adoption on the day she turned 16. Louise Hay was a name she took after moving to New York in 1950, where she became a model for Bill Blass, Pauline Trigere and Oleg Cassini and married Andrew Hay, an Englishman, in 1954. Hay reportedly left her for another woman 14 years later, leading Ms. Hay to begin visiting the First Church of Religious Science, a metaphysical institution led by Raymond Charles Barker. She returned to California in 1980, and, according to Hay House, left no immediate survivors. Ms. Hay founded a charity organization, the Hay Foundation, in 1986, and appeared in a 2007 movie adaptation of You Can Heal Your Life. For many years, she traveled the country delivering lectures, finishing them by spending hours behind a lectern, standing on her feet while signing books for her fans. She alway stood, she told the New York Times, because they all want to hug me. Authorities have arrested and charged five people in Maryland, Indiana, New Jersey and Texas in connection with what police are calling an MS-13 gang-related murder of a teenager. Police in Prince William County said remains and bones were found in October 2015 in a wooded area near an apartment building in Woodbridge when officials were investigating an unrelated incident. The remains were later identified as those of Guillermo Hernandez Leyva of Montgomery County, who had been reported missing three months earlier. [More than two months after going missing, 19-year-old found dead] Investigators said they found that Leyva had been beaten and stabbed near where his remains were found. He and the suspects had ties, police said, to the street gang MS-13. Leyvas murder and that of others is part of what law enforcement officials are saying is a resurgence of MS-13. In March, an FBI agent said the D.C. region is one of a number of MS-13 hot spots across the country. Carlos Ulises Ochoa Pineda was charged in connection with the MS-13 gang related murder of a 19-year-old man from Montgomery County. (Courtesy of Prince William County Police) Since Aug. 8, authorities said they have made the arrests in Leyvas murder. Those arrested include Carlos Ulises Ochoa Pineda, 23, of Montgomery County. He is charged with accessory before the fact and is being held without bond. A hearing is scheduled for him in mid-December. [Behind the rise in seemingly chaotic MS-13 violence: A structured hierarchy.] The others were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Leyvas death. They are Daniel Alexander Flores Ventura, 24, who was found in Indianapolis; Wilians Ernesto Lovos Ayala, 24, who was found in Atlantic City; Michael Alexander Campos Lemus, 23, who was located in Essex County, N.J.; and Vilas Sail Argueta Bermudez, 30, who was found in Texas. Officials said those four suspects are awaiting extradition and are due in court in mid-December as well. A 42-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night in Northwest Washingtons Columbia Heights neighborhood, according to D.C. police. The shooting occurred about 9:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of Harvard Street NW, near 14th Street and two blocks south of the Columbia Heights Metro station. Police released few details of the shooting, and the victims identity was not immediately released. Authorities had only a scant description of a man in dark clothing with a gun. [Man seen on video shooting down Metro escalator] The incident occurred not far from where a man on Friday afternoon shot at another man riding down an escalator at the Columbia Heights Metro station. No one was struck; police recovered a gun but have not made an arrest. Police said they do not have information to indicate the two incidents are related but are investigating the possibility because of their proximity. Another man was shot and wounded Wednesday about 11 p.m. in the first block of 46th Place NE. And on Wednesday afternoon, police said an older teenager and a young man were shot in the legs in the 3500 block of South Dakota Avenue NE. This video from Compassion Over Killing alleges mistreatment of chickens at a Tyson's chicken (Compassion Over Killing) This video from Compassion Over Killing alleges mistreatment of chickens at a Tyson's chicken (Compassion Over Killing) Seven people were sentenced in animal cruelty cases in Virginia after an undercover animal rights activist filmed them abusing chickens at Tyson factory facilities, prosecutors said Tuesday. Last year, the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing, based in Washington state, released video taken at four Virginia facilities where employees could be seen throwing, punching and kicking chickens. Two of the facilities in the video are in Mecklenburg County, one is in Buckingham County and one is in Lunenburg County. [You cant let nobody see: Tyson workers caught on video mistreating chickens] In June, three Tyson workers were sentenced after two of them were convicted and one pleaded guilty to charges related to the abuse. On Tuesday, prosecutors said seven more were sentenced. In Mecklenburg Circuit Court, four people pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges: Samuel Downs, 42, of Crewe, Va.; Tyrone Delaney, 44, of Amelia, Va.; Robin Bowen, 61, of Crewe; and Jacob Sorrell, 21, of Redford, N.Y. All received suspended sentences under the condition that they not work with animals for at least one year. In addition, William Atkins, 43, of Rice, Va., pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges in Mecklenburg Circuit Court and Buckingham Circuit Court; Judy Atkins, 62, of Rice pleaded facts sufficient to convict in Buckingham Circuit Court; and Trent Johnson, 56, of Drakes Branch, Va., pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges in Buckingham Circuit Court. All received suspended sentences. William Atkins and Judy Atkins cannot work with animals for one year, and Johnson cannot supervise any chicken production crew for two years. After the video was released last year, Tyson denounced the behavior and fired 10 employees involved. Im disgusted and outraged by whats shown in this video, Christine Daugherty, vice president of sustainable food production for Tyson Foods, said in a statement last year. We do not tolerate animal abuse. . . . The people shown in the video by Compassion Over Killing were all trained in proper animal handling, yet chose to ignore it and failed to alert management about the despicable treatment on these farms. These convictions send a clear, strong signal across the Commonwealth that my team and I take these crimes seriously, and that those who commit cruelty to animals will be held accountable for their actions, Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) said in a statement. Mistreatment of animals is both inhumane and illegal, and Im glad to see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to justice. Erica Meier, Compassion Over Killings executive director, said that the activist who filmed the abuse became a witness for the prosecution and that the video reveals the hidden horrors of chicken farming. In the end, the most effective way we can each make a difference for these animals is to choose to not eat them, she said. Human rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block President Trumps proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military, producing statements by three former Obama administration U.S. service branch chiefs and a senior Pentagon official that a ban would harm readiness, staffing, recruitment and morale. The move to stop the Trump administration edict came two days after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis formally responded to Trumps official directive ordering the Pentagon chief to determine how to implement the policy. In a statement, Shannon Minter, legal director for one of two gay rights organizations representing eight transgender U.S. service members, said their opposition to the reckless ban was joined by military experts who know that ripping trained, experienced service members out of our armed forces for no reason other than who they are will leave gaping holes in our defense, compromise national security, and inhibit recruitment during a critical time. The groups said they sought an injunction now because even though Mattis has not taken action against current service members as the Pentagon reviews its options, he committed to carrying out the Trump policy by March 23. As a result, service members face the imminent prospect of being denied reenlistment, promotions, deployments and even medical care, the groups said. Mattis also suspended prior plans to permit new transgender enlistees, threatening the careers of transgender students enrolled at the U.S. Naval Academy or in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, Minter said. After completing Plebe Summer training, Regan Kibby, right, hugs his younger sister Elena Kibby during Plebe Parents Weekend, August 2015. () (Photo by Tawnia Kibby) Transgender service members lives have been thrown into utter chaos, and they need an order protecting them from further discrimination and harms right now, Minter said. The filing in the lawsuit, by Minters group, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), came in federal court in the nations capital, and was the first of several similar moves expected in lawsuits filed across the country by civil rights groups and transgender people in the armed services. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said, We are examining the claims in the motion and conferring within the Government. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly could issue a ruling or set a hearing next week. [Trump directs Pentagon to implement ban on transgender service members] Also Thursday, the groups added two named individuals and one unnamed John Doe to five original plaintiffs identified by pseudonyms as Jane Does. They include Regan Kibby, a Naval Academy midshipman, and Dylan Kohere, an ROTC student. Their participation at the academy and in ROTC is contingent on their eligibility to enlist in the military, now in doubt, they alleged. Each said their initial decision to declare their transgender status was based on the Obama administrations decision to allow their service in 2016. A big part of the reason I was comfortable coming out as transgender in the ROTC was the announcement in the summer of 2016 that transgender people would be able to serve openly in the military, Kohere said in an affidavit. I was so excited that I would be able to achieve my goal of serving while remaining true to who I am. [A trailblazing transgender midshipman navigates an uncertain path in the wake of Trumps tweet.] Kibby said he came out as transgender during his first year, when the Obama announcement was made. Kibby competed successfully for a congressional nomination and admission to the academy inspired by his Navy veteran father and upbringing in San Diego, home to the Pacific fleet. Kibbys enrollment was threatened in July, when Trump caught many by surprise with tweets to countermand his predecessors action. After a lifetime of feeling a sense of duty and preparing to serve, reading Trumps tweets was painful, and I saw my future crumbling, Kibby said. Trump on July 26 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 U.S. Military. He elaborated, 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. The ban would reverse an Obama decision to allow transgender people to serve openly. The armed forces were set to begin enlisting transgender people July 1, but Mattis suspended that move, while announcing Tuesday that current enlistees will continue to be allowed to serve pending the results of a study and recommendations by a panel of experts. Our focus must always be on what is best for the militarys combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield, Mattis said. To that end, I will establish a panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the presidents direction. Before the Obama policy change, the Pentagon had concluded that there was no basis for the military to exclude transgender people, as long as they could meet the same fitness requirements as other service members. The review examined medical care, military readiness and other factors. There is no official tally of transgender military members, and estimates vary widely. One recent study by the Rand Corp. put the number on active duty at about 2,500, while another from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimated that there were 15,500 on active duty, in the National Guard and in the reserves. In affidavits filed Thursday, Obama Pentagon appointees Ray Mabus Jr., Navy secretary from 2009 to 2017; Eric Fanning, who held a series of posts from 2013 to 2017 ending as Army secretary; and Deborah Lee James, Air Force secretary from 2013 to 2017; and Brad Carson, acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, criticized the Trump proposal. The officials said the change would cause unexpected losses of skilled personnel in operational units that will be difficult to fill, while reducing the size of the militarys recruiting pool. President Trumps stated rationales for reversing the policy and banning military service by transgender people make no sense, said Mabus, who oversaw the Navy and Marines through the surge in Afghanistan. They have no basis in fact and are refuted by the comprehensive analysis of relevant data and information. James said the move would harm both the military and the broader public interest, lower morale, erode trust in military commanders, and create a damaging distraction. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama joined four generations of the Bonner family, including a then- 99 year-old Ruth Odom Bonner, at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture last fall. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Ruth Odom Bonner was 99 when she grasped the rope of the old Baptist church bell and started it tolling across the Mall last fall before a gathering of thousands. It was a sublime moment. Mother Bonner, as the staff at her assisted-living community called her, was the daughter of a man born into slavery and had lived through almost a century of racial oppression and segregation. Now here she was, ringing the hallowed bell to officially open the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. The graying man who stood behind her steadying her arm was the countrys first black president, Barack Obama. Bonner, who cherished that day, died peacefully in her sleep Friday in the Silver Spring assisted-living facility, her son, Michael, said Wednesday. She had turned 100 on March 16. She and the four generations of her family reflected the arc of our progress, Obama told them that Saturday as they assembled on the stage for the grand opening of the museum. And the sound of this bell will be echoed by others . . . all across this country an echo of the ringing bells that signaled emancipation more than a century and a half ago, he said. The sound, and the anthem, of American freedom. The 500-pound bell had been lent by the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., which was founded by slaves and free blacks in 1776. The bell was acquired in Cincinnati in 1886. Bonner, clad in a magenta pantsuit, stood and got a kiss on the cheek from the president. Then both, along with first lady Michelle Obama and Bonners great-granddaughter, Christine, 7, hauled on the rope and got the bell ringing. Bonner was beaming all day, her granddaughter, Rukiya Bonner, said Wednesday. She was the belle of the ball. [Descended from a slave, she helped open the African American Museum] She was proud to be part of history, Bonner said. She was thankful that such an institution existed . . . She felt honored to meet Obama, because she would never think that in her lifetime she would see such a wonderful president who happened to be black. The whole family was talking about it all day long, she said of the museums opening Sept. 25. That extended into Christmas . . . It was a surreal moment . . . a wonderful way to sum up a lot of her life experiences. A former political precinct leader in Cleveland, where she spent much of her life, Ruth Bonner was determined to walk up the steps of her polling place in Northeast Washington and cast her vote for Obama when he was first elected in 2008, her son said. But meeting the president was not her only thrill last year. She and her family were taken to the museum well before the ceremony began, her son said. We were among the first at the museum in the celebrity waiting room, he said. So she was able to interact with all of the dignitaries and stars that came through the . . . room, he said. It was just unimaginable. President Clinton to Oprah to Will Smith . . . She really was elated with that. And the stars were eager to meet her, he said. Bonner was born in 1917 in tiny Biscoe, Ark., one of the eight children of Elijah and Ada Odom. Her father had been born into slavery in 1859 but had gone on to become a physician after the Civil War. He had a practice in Biscoe that he ran out of the back of his general store. There were few doctors in the area, and the local white residents would allow him to care for them but not deliver white babies, Michael Bonner said. In the 1930s, Ruth Odom was sent north to Cleveland to get a better high school education. There, she met her husband, William H. Bonner Sr., a bus driver. After high school, she worked as a bookkeeper and later as a teaching assistant in the Cleveland school system. She also took college courses to help her work in the classroom, her son said. William Bonner died in 1990 after over 50 years of marriage, he said. They had two children, Michael and William H. Bonner Jr. She will be remembered . . . for her warmth, sacrifice, and love, the museums founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III, said in a statement Wednesday. She will also be remembered for representing generations of African Americans with honor and dignity, he said. This nation owes Mrs. Ruth Bonner a debt of gratitude. A memorial service is set for Sept. 9, at Washingtons Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. Donations to the museum can be made in lieu of flowers. PENNSYLVANIA Sanctuary city sues Sessions Philadelphia on Wednesday became the latest sanctuary city to sue Attorney General Jeff Sessions over what officials say are unconstitutional immigration restrictions placed on a major federal grant. The city is asking the court to stop Sessions from adding these conditions to its Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant, which it uses to pay police overtime, upgrade equipment and courtroom technology and train officers. Philadelphias sanctuary status has made it a frequent target of the attorney general. Sessions in July said cities and states can only receive the grants if they allow federal immigration officials to access detention facilities, and that they must provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released. Sessions called out nine jurisdictions, including Philadelphia, as not complying with federal law regarding immigration policy. Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco also have sued over the grant conditions. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has frequently defended the citys law enforcement approach to illegal immigration, and the municipality has maintained it is in compliance with federal requirements. The lawsuit notes that as a rule, Philadelphia officers do not ask residents about their immigration status. Associated Press CALIFORNIA Sheriffs deputy killed in gunfire at hotel A sheriffs deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were wounded in Sacramento on Wednesday when at least one suspect opened fire on officers from a hotel room, officials said. Officers searching for a suspect in a car theft case were knocking at the door of a room in a Ramada Inn when someone inside fired through the door and walls, wounding two California Highway Patrol officers, Sacramento County Sheriffs Department spokesman Tony Turnbull told reporters. As law enforcement officers swarmed the area, a man exchanged gunfire with police from a rear balcony of the room, fatally wounding Sheriffs Deputy Robert French, 52, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said. The Highway Patrol officers are expected to survive. The man then drove off, crashed the car a few miles away and again exchanged fire with police before he was struck by gunfire and arrested, Turnbull said. Two women who were suspected to be involved in car theft were arrested before the gunfire broke out, Turnbull said. From news services WEST VIRGINIA Lesbian couple settles with clerks office A lesbian couple is receiving a public apology and $10,000 in damages from a county clerks office in West Virginia where they were disparaged when applying for a marriage license last year, the couples attorneys said Wednesday. Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover sued Gilmer County Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen and Clerk Jean Butcher, saying Allen told the couple while processing their application that they were an abomination, what they were doing was wrong and that God would deal with them. As part of the settlement, the clerks office has agreed to issue a public apology in a news release that also will announce the monetary settlement and include a promise to refrain from such treatment in the future, according to a statement from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Mayer Brown law firm, the two groups that filed the suit. Judge Irene Keeley dismissed the case Wednesday after both sides reached a settlement. Associated Press Harvey has driven nearly 35,000 people to emergency shelters across Texas, including 10,000 who were holed up in a downtown convention center on Wednesday waiting out the extensive flooding that has paralyzed this city. Six days after the storm made landfall south of here, people continued to stream into the George R. Brown Convention Center and spilled over into other shelters as residents were forced from their homes due to record-setting rain and the resulting floods. The displaced milled in large halls and corridors, a somber and impatient crowd that officials said could be out of homes for a month or more as the low-lying city empties trillions of gallons of rainfall. [Harvey floods Southeast Texas as fovernor warns: The worst is not yet over] John Boyce, a 49-year-old cabdriver, fled his home over the weekend. He went from a rescue boat to a truck to a hospital, where he traded his soaked clothes for paper scrubs, and then by bus to the convention center Monday morning. There, he received fresh donated clothes, a blanket and a cot. His life now is a lot of waiting. Evacuees and volunteers at Purple Heart Recreational Center's ad hoc shelter described the conditions Aug. 29 in Lake Charles, La., where Tropical Storm Harvey continues its downpour. (Tom Moore,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Wake up, stand in line to get breakfast, stand in line to brush your teeth, stand in line to use the bathroom, stand in line to do something with FEMA, stand in line for lunch, he said as he stood in line for a lunch plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and steamed carrots. He applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid and figured hell leave town to live with family in Dallas or Alaska. As soon as he can. [Disaster relief agencies ready to help Harvey victims, but they cant get in] A huge population has been sheltered, clothed and fed in scores of shelters across the coastal region of Texas and Louisiana, and that population has been growing precipitously as reservoirs have overflowed, rivers have swelled to record crests and towns have been overwhelmed with water some to the rooftops. This is so big we can only compare it with Katrina, and its heads and tails above Katrina, said Holly Brundage, 64, a disaster mental health worker with the Red Cross who also aided with Katrina evacuation in Mississippi, referring to the large number of displaced from Harvey and what she considers to be a far more organized response. Inside the convention center, throngs of volunteers register evacuees, administer light first aid, serve food, sort clothing, distribute supplies, and usher crowds amid a heavy presence of Houston police and state troopers. There is a childrens playroom full of toys and sleeping areas for families, men and women. This is a very solemn experience, said Debbie Jared, 67, who works in the Aldine, Tex., school system, as she waited in line to volunteer. You see the depth of humanity. A mega-shelter sprang up overnight Tuesday into Wednesday at the NRG Center, south of downtown Houston, after local officials became frustrated with overcrowding and delivery delays at Houstons other shelters. By Wednesday afternoon, 900 people had arrived, and nearly twice as many were expected by days end. At a glance, it seemed to have everything that someone with nothing might want: a pharmacy counter built out of plastic crates, a doctor, kennels for pets, a hot kitchen. And most of all, space thousands of empty chairs at empty tables, and cavernous halls around the clusters of beds. At one end of the center, from a small corner piled with toys, Angel McGee had procured a stuffed unicorn and walked with it down a great hall, back to her familys collection of cots. Its a little bit fun, but a little bit not, the 11-year-old said. The not-fun part, explained Angels mother, Lonetta Woodley, had been getting kicked out of a house where she, her mother and four children had sheltered from the hurricane. They then walked in the rain until they found refuge in a crowded high school in northeast Houston. They were bused to NRG the next day. Im safe in here, Woodley said through tears. But, you know, after we gotta leave, where am I gonna go? Michelle McGowen, 35, walked around the shelter at a San Antonio middle school in her socks because none of the shoes that had been donated fit her. On Friday night, as the storm moved through her home town of Aransas Pass on the coast, an uncle who stayed behind provided regular updates about McGowens mobile home, where she lives with her boyfriend and two young sons. He said the doors were falling off, windows were shattering in, and it was rocking back and forth, McGowen said. Weve started from scratch before; we can do it again. On Saturday morning, she sat on a bench outside of the shelter with her sons before breakfast was served. As she watched them play, someone stole her phone from behind her on the bench. McGowen and her boyfriend kept both of their debit cards in her phone case, so they were gone as well. The couple hasnt heard from their family since Friday. McGowen said she borrowed someones phone to leave a Facebook message for her aunt, telling her the family was safe. Her sons, ages 9 and 11, ran around in the grass outside carrying fans they made out of green and black construction paper. They hope to be able to go to the movies, museums and zoo later this week after a disability check arrives on Friday. Others had been through so many makeshift homes in the past week that they had no emotion left to show. Ramon Meza, 50, said he slept in his truck outside an abandoned gas station for three days after water took his home in northeast Houston. He made his way to a Walmart after he ran out of food, he said. But the store had no food, so by Tuesday he had found a school shelter. There, he had to sleep outside on the concrete with his dog, which was not allowed to come in. Now at the NRG shelter, with his dog safe in a kennel, Meza had a bed indoors and was sitting in a half-empty dining room about to have his first hot meal in days. He has no long-term plans other than finding his truck. How did he feel about all that? Meza just shrugged and bit into his burger. Brittney Martin in San Antonio and Leslie Fain in Lake Charles, La., contributed to this report. Read more: Where are we supposed to go? How Houstons Wild West growth may have contributed to devastating flooding Heres how you can help people affected by Harvey Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich speak in June at the National Press Club in Washington. On Thursday, the pair, as part of a bipartisan group of governors, urged Congress to return from recess and take action to stabilize the Affordable Care Acts marketplaces. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) A bipartisan group of governors is trying to jump-start efforts to strengthen private insurance under the Affordable Care Act, urging Congress to take prompt action to stabilize marketplaces created by the law while giving states more freedom from its rules. In a blueprint issued Thursday, the eight governors ask House and Senate leaders of both parties to take steps to reverse the rising rates and dwindling choices facing many of the 10 million Americans who buy health plans through ACA marketplaces. Specifically, the state leaders say Congress should devote money for at least two years toward cost-sharing subsidies that the 2010 health-care law promises to pay ACA insurers to offset deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses for lower-income customers. The House sued the Obama administration over the subsidies legality, and President Trump has repeatedly suggested that he might halt the payments sending tremors through insurance companies in the marketplaces. [Bipartisan health policy coalition urges Congress to strengthen the ACA] The governors also recommend preserving for now the ACAs requirement that most Americans carry health insurance. Though this rule is unpopular, they concluded that it is for the time being . . . perhaps the most important incentive for healthy people to enroll in coverage. The proposal also calls for a federal fund, to be available for two years, to buffer insurers from high-cost customers and for the government to foster competition in ACA marketplaces by encouraging insurers to move into counties with only one company. Those that do would have the laws insurer taxes waived on health plans sold in those locations. Led by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), the blueprint essentially fleshes out the contours of four principles that many of the same governors recommended to Senate leaders in June. It focuses on the insurance market for individuals and families who buy coverage on their own a fraction of the countrys consumers with private insurance but a perennially shaky part of the industry that the ACA was designed to strengthen. Greg Moody, a longtime health-care aide to Kasich, said the blueprint is also an acknowledgment of the failure this year of Republicans who control Congress to deliver on their years-long goal of replacing the ACA. Weve recently seen how difficult that is, Moody said. [At raucous town halls, Republicans have faced another round of anger over health care] The blueprint envisions a quick federal boost to shore up the marketplace for the coming year, while deferring to states in the longer term to experiment with potential changes in insurance subsidies, for instance, or different penalties for consumers who drop coverage. The proposal was released Thursday so that it would attract attention before two days of hearings scheduled for next week by the Senates health committee, which will explore bipartisan ideas for improving the law and its marketplaces. The other governors who signed on are Brian Sandoval (R-Nev.), Tom Wolf (D-Pa.), Bill Walker (I-Alaska), Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.), John Bel Edwards (D-La.) and Steve Bullock (D-Mont.). Floodwaters approached Houston's Ben Taub Hospital on Sunday as staff repeatedly revised plans to evauate patients because of flooding from Hurricane Harvey. (Andrew Kragie/AP) The first ambulances finally arrived at Ben Taub Hospital, in the heart of Houstons vast Texas Medical Center, to remove five patients clinging to life on ventilators. The county hospital had initially planned to transfer all of its 350 patients. As the remnants of Hurricane Harvey continued to unleash epic rains, a foot of water was rising in the hospitals basement from a burst pipe and wet seeping in from the citys inundated streets. The kitchen was knocked out, as well as the pharmacy and the area where supplies such as linens and needles are stored. But with knee- to waist-high water immediately outside, and flooding across the city, the hospital-wide evacuation became a new plan to move fewer than 80 of the sickest patients. And then, when only five ambulances could reach the bay outside the emergency department, it was significantly reduced again. In the end, only three vehicles made their destinations of hospitals up to 150 miles away; the two others had to turn back. Ben Taub was among some 20 of about 110 hospitals in Houston and nearby counties that removed a portion or all of their patients 1,500 people, including those in nursing homes and other facilities as floods from Harvey continued Wednesday to ravage Southeast Texas. Many of the other facilities canceled elective surgeries and any other appointments that could wait. Volunteer Toby Rannigan came from Dallas to help Houston residents recover from historic floods. (Dalton Bennett,Patrick Martin/The Washington Post) The storm challenged every plan weve written, every resource, every piece of inventory. I mean, weve run out of wheelchairs, said Darrell Pile, chief executive of the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, who oversees preparations for and management of medical crises for the 25-county region. I mean it just was unimaginable. At Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital just southwest of Houston, chief executive Greg Haralson said administrators watched as the Brazos River less than a mile away quickly rose. With the river forecast to crest Thursday at 59 feet just an inch shy of a nearby levees capacity officials turned to their disaster plan and called for evacuation. We felt in our guts this was the right thing to do. It was a very tough decision, Haralson said. Between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday, in driving rains, about two dozen ambulances carried 75 patients to another Memorial Hermann hospital a dozen miles away. MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the nations premier cancer hospitals and a major presence in the Texas Medical Center, shut down its massive outpatient operation on Sunday to focus its diminished resources on patients already in the hospital with the most time-sensitive need for treatment. Doctors, nurses and other staff members there spent the next few days calling patients and medical facilities nationwide to reschedule appointments and arrange for people whose cancers require immediate treatment to receive it at hospitals closer to home. Officials say the hospitals outpatient clinics, which draw 1.4 million patients each year from across the nation and overseas, will not reopen until at least Friday. Disruptive as such changes have been, doctors, health-care administrators, and the leaders of the regional network say Houstons vaunted web of hospitals has generally come through the storm in far better condition than during the last massive rains to deliver a direct hit. Sixteen years ago, during Tropical Storm Allison, virtually every hospital was broken in one way or another, recalled Kenneth Mattox, chief of staff and chief of trauma at Ben Taub Hospital. Memorial Hermann, for one, had no power because its basement-level generator had been flooded, and staff members were working by flashlight and ventilating patients by hand. Evacuees at Houston's NRG Stadium describe the few items that they were able to save from their flooded homes. (Zoeann Murphy,Jorge Ribas,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) The pills in hospital pharmacies were wet and ruined. Medical equipment shorted out. The medical centers research laboratories suffered $2 million in losses. Mattox and another Houston trauma surgeon went on local televisions stations a few weeks after the June storm and said: Drink milk, not booze, on this Fourth of July weekend, because if you get into a wreck or get in a fight, we have no way to take care of you. In the aftermath, a coalition of hospitals, emergency medical services, fire departments and community leaders undertook intensive efforts to fortify the citys medical system. This led to such physical changes in the sprawling medical center as submarine doors that can be closed to wall off parts of a tunnel system that runs beneath the blocks-long area. Outside berms were built for protection should a gully off Brays Bayou overflow its banks, and strategically located flood gates that can rise three feet were installed. Hospitals that had emergency electricity generators in the basement moved them higher. Such fortifications were tested as never before in recent days. Based on protocols written over the intervening years, hospitals stationed extra staff members in their facilities so stranded workers could rotate in shifts. Other systems lessened the risk of running out of crucial supplies. And unlike after Hurricane Katrina, in which no one knew where some New Orleans patients had been moved and some arrived at distant hospitals without medical records, a regional Catastrophic Medical Operations Center coordinated transfers and kept track of which hospitals had beds available for specific types of care. Since Allison, Houston has been inundated by brushes from hurricanes Rita in 2005 and Ike three years later. But nothing like Harvey. Yet when William McKeon, the Texas Medical Centers president, looked outside during the height of the storm, We saw the water flowing and the streets looking like rivers when the bayou crested, but the lights were all on, he said. The people were inside, were caring for patients as they do every day. Doctors at MD Anderson said because of special doors that now exist, the lobby had some flooding but areas for patient care werent affected. Inside the hospital, much of the attention focused on patients with blood cancers, whose treatments are urgent, said Christopher Logothetis, chairman of genitourinary medical oncology. Leukemia patients who have undergone a bone-marrow transplant, for instance, are temporarily dependent on blood transfusions for blood cells and platelets. In those cases, cancer doesnt wait, said lymphoma expert Jason Westin. By Wednesday morning, with the storm lifted, ambulances drove once again over clear roads, workers in medical scrubs bicycled on dry sidewalks, and the gates of some parking garages stood open as cars filled them. Free! a man shouted. As waters recede in some places, medical emergencies from the storm and its cleanup will multiply, doctors and hospital officials know. And following its protocol, Pile said, the Catastrophic Medical Operations Center will conduct an after-study to compile evidence of how hospitals weathered the storm. On the agenda, he said, will be Ben Taubs shifting decisions about evacuating from the all-hospital plan to calling off the whole idea after just three critically ill patients were moved. Carolyn Y. Johnson in Washington and Avi Selk in Houston contributed to this report. SPAIN Catalan officials deny U.S. warned of attack Regional authorities in Catalonia on Thursday denied news reports that U.S. anti-terrorism officials had warned them of an attack targeting Barcelona. But they acknowledged that they did receive tips of possible attacks from other sources that they deemed not credible enough. Catalan regional interior chief Joaquim Forn said police were not warned by the CIA or the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center about the Aug. 17 van attack on Barcelonas Las Ramblas area that killed 14 people. Barcelona-based El Periodico reported that the United States sent a warning on May 25 to regional police, specifically mentioning Las Ramblas. Other Spanish media outlets published similar stories. Forn accused El Periodico of trying to discredit the police. The U.S. Embassy in Madrid said it could not comment on intelligence issues. Associated Press PAKISTAN Bhutto assassination verdict criticized A Pakistani court on Thursday sentenced two former police officers to 17 years in prison for failing to protect former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but the same court acquitted five suspected militants who had confessed to taking part in Bhuttos 2007 assassination. Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman for Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party, expressed disappointment and shock over the verdict, saying that justice has not been done. Bhutto was killed when a suicide bomber rushed her motorcade as she was campaigning to bring back civilian rule and oust then-President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf, who has been accused of complicity in the killing, pleaded not guilty at a 2013 court appearance and now lives in self-imposed exile. The judge on Thursday ordered Musharrafs property seized after he failed to appear in court. Musharrafs government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2009. Mehsud denied killing Bhutto. The judge acquitted the five suspects for lack of evidence, Prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz said. Associated Press SYRIA Blocked ISIS convoy moved to new area A convoy of Islamic State militants being evacuated from the Lebanon-Syria border was moved to another Syrian-held area Thursday after their trip to Islamic State-held territory was blocked by U.S.-led airstrikes. More than 300 militants and their families were in the convoy of buses after vacating the border area as part of a Hezbollah-negotiated deal to transport them to an Islamic State-held town in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. The deal has angered Iraq and the United States, which launched airstrikes Wednesday to block the convoys advance. After being stuck for hours, the buses moved north to a government-controlled area while talks continued on a new way to reach militant territory. Associated Press 59 freed in Philippines after rebellion complaints dismissed: Philippine prosecutors have dismissed rebellion complaints against 59 men who were stopped by police and army troops at two checkpoints in the south and accused of trying to join Islamic State-linked militants who laid siege to the southern city of Marawi. Prosecutor Peter Ong said that the complaints filed by the military were dismissed because of a lack of strong evidence and that the men were freed. U.N. official concerned about Iran prisoners: A U.N. human rights expert is urging Irans government to engage in good- faith dialogue to help resolve a prolonged hunger strike by prisoners. Asma Jahangir, independent special rapporteur on Iran mandated by the Human Rights Council, said she is deeply alarmed by reports about the medical conditions of the prisoners, who have faced torture and ill treatment. The U.N. human rights office says the prisoners are protesting their treatment and transfer to a high-security section of Rajai-Shahr prison in Karaj, west of Tehran. 2 policemen killed in Algeria: A police official in Algeria said a gunman wearing an explosives belt killed two policemen while attacking a local headquarters in Tiaret, in western Algeria, but failed to detonate his bomb. Tahar Benslimane said one of the officers fatally shot the attacker before dying of his wounds. The Islamic State claimed the attack. From news services Council member Vincent C. Gray (D), left, inspects a package of steak that looks like it's gone bad with the butcher at Safeway in the East Park Shopping Center in Washington. (Rachel Chason/The Washington Post) BAD PUBLICITY about the state of Safeway stores in the District east of the river prompted a recent cleaning blitz by the company. Workers scrubbed shelves and refrigerator cases, removing moldy produce and spoiled meat. Good that D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray (D) focused attention on conditions at the stores serving his Ward 7 constituents, and good that Safeway took needed action. But it will take more than sudsy water and promises of better service to address the lack of grocery options for Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents. The failure of successive administrations on this issue underscores the need for new strategies. Mr. Gray made unannounced visits to the Safeway stores in Ward 7 that not only called attention to his demand for improved services but also highlighted the long-standing grocery gap that exists in the District. Wards 7 and 8 have just three supermarkets between them, far behind the citywide average of more than six supermarkets per ward. While much of the city has swelled in numbers and affluence of stores, Wards 7 and 8 actually saw a decrease in offerings. A report by D.C. Hunger Solutions contrasted how the 149,750 residents of Wards 7 and 8 were served by three supermarkets while the 82,000 residents of Ward 6 had 10 full-service grocery stores. More than convenience is involved. Lack of access to fresh produce and other foods can lead to poor nutrition and bad health outcomes, and those affected are some of the citys most vulnerable people. Its a health issue, said Beverly Wheeler of D.C. Hunger Solutions. We can no longer pretend we dont see what we see. Attempts by the city over successive administrations to attract and retain grocery stores have failed. An organic market that opened in Ward 8 closed after two years, and the much-heralded effort to attract two Walmart stores fizzled when the company pulled out of the deal. Retailers and developers look at the bottom line, and Wards 7 and 8 have neither the median income nor high-density daytime populations that are attractive to doing business. There are also higher costs for security and staff turnover for stores that operate in poorer areas. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has set aside $3 million to try to help attract developers to underserved areas, and Mr. Gray has proposed legislation that would require the District to pay for the construction of supermarkets for chains that agree to locate in underserved areas. While that might not be the right formula, officials are right to recognize the need for the city to play a more active role in this critical area. 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. Hurricane Harvey has devastated Texas. Now board your windows, evacuate the low ground and watch the damage it is poised to unleash on the nations finances. Harvey makes landfall in Washington as soon as next week, when President Trump is expected to ask for what could be tens of billions of dollars in storm relief. And paying for storm recovery probably with few offsetting spending cuts will be but the first blow to fiscal discipline in what looks to be a particularly active, and calamitous, spending season. After Harvey comes the debt ceiling, and there are rumblings that the vote to raise the limit could actually be used to increase spending. (In the past, such votes were used by fiscal hawks to cut spending.) At the same time come negotiations to fund the government for fiscal year 2018, and indications are that lawmakers will try to avoid a shutdown with a short-term spending deal that will include a Pentagon slush fund worth tens of billions of dollars. Then, still forming over the Treasury Department is a fiscal Category 4: Trump and Republicans have given clear signs they are moving away from tax reform (a simplification of the tax code that doesnt necessarily reduce revenue) toward all-out tax cuts, financed by deficit spending. Trump, who came to power promising to eliminate the $20 trillion debt, or at least to cut it in half, is poised to oversee an exponential increase in that debt. Republicans, who came to power with demands that Washington tackle the debt problem, could wind up doing at least as much damage to the nations finances as the Democrats did. The Fact Checker's round-up of ten fishy claims made by President Trump in his speech on Aug. 30. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) Rising are the floodwaters of hypocrisy. Surging is the tide of amnesia. Blowing are the gales of profligacy. If the red ink rises according to worst-case forecasts, were talking additions to the debt in the trillions, Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, tells me. All from actions to be taken in the next few months. It turns out the Republican-run Congress is not willing to make the hard choices, she says. It is a fiscal free-lunch mentality on all sides. Trump, announcing his tax-reform plan in a speech Wednesday afternoon in Missouri, left little doubt that hed ditch tax reform for tax cuts. He dutifully read out his principles from the teleprompter which he uses when giving a speech somebody else wants him to give but made clear that he isnt expecting Democratic cooperation. We must lower our taxes, and your senator, [Democrat] Claire McCaskill, she must do this for you, Trump said. And if she doesnt do it for you, you have to vote her out of office. Democrats, Trump said, are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform, just like they obstructed so many other things. There is no way to pass a comprehensive tax-reform plan of the sort Ronald Reagan secured a simplified code, lower rates and closed loopholes without bipartisan support. And Democrats want tax reform that doesnt add to the deficit and doesnt benefit the wealthiest 1 percent of households. But Republicans could pass a simple, deficit-mushrooming tax cut without Democratic support. Trumps partisan speech confirms other indications that his administration has essentially abandoned tax reform in favor of cuts. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn have not been reaching out to Democrats, party leaders complain. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he plans to use the same reconciliation resolution he used on the failed attempt to repeal Obamacare to allow for a party-line vote on a tax cut. That process would nominally prevent Republicans from ballooning the deficit but they could avoid such concerns by using the well-worn gimmick of having the tax cut expire before 10 years. MacGuineas calls this the predictable spiral from tax reform to tax cuts. Of course, if Trump and Republican leaders were to come right out with a pure tax cut that would add trillions to the debt, the blatant hypocrisy might swamp the effort. But what if that were to come after months in which other, smaller storms had already saturated the ground and weakened the roots of fiscal responsibility? President Trump spoke about his tax reform initiative in Springfield, Mo., on Aug. 30. (The Washington Post) First, a Harvey recovery bill without the spending offsets so many Republicans demanded of previous bills. Then, a debt-limit increase, possibly secured with promises to spend more money on defense (which would buy GOP votes) and domestic priorities (for Democratic votes). Next, a spending deal that busts previously agreed budget caps by allowing an extra $70 billion or so for an Overseas Contingency Operations slush fund. Eventually, a reckless tax cut doesnt seem so crazy particularly with midterm elections looming and no accomplishments to show. When it rains, it pours. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Next week will mark the beginning of the trial of Robert Menendez. The U.S. senator and former congressman faces federal corruption charges related to gifts he allegedly accepted from a Florida ophthalmologist. As the New Jersey Democrat heads to court, he is hoping for help from an unlikely source: a past target of a corruption probe, former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell (R). Last year, in McDonnell v. United States, the Supreme Court reversed McDonnells criminal convictions and dramatically limited the scope of federal corruption law. Post-McDonnell, the government must prove a corrupt public official agreed to perform an official act and official act has a very precise and narrow meaning. The courts constricted definition of an official act has already claimed some high-profile casualties. For example, in July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit relied on McDonnell when reversing the corruption conviction of Sheldon Silver, former speaker of the New York General Assembly. So will McDonnell save Menendez? Prosecutors allege that over a number of years Menendez accepted valuable gifts from his co-defendant, Salomon Melgen. These included multiple trips on Melgens private jet, stays at a luxury villa in the Dominican Republic, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to various campaigns and a legal defense fund. In exchange, Menendez allegedly interceded with the State Department in connection with a contract Melgen had to provide port security in the Dominican Republic. He advocated for Melgen before the Department of Health and Human Services in a multimillion-dollar Medicare billing dispute. And Menendez and his staff allegedly worked with the State Department to help secure visas to allow three foreign girlfriends of Melgen to come to the United States. To prove corruption, prosecutors will have to prove a quid pro quo, a link between Melgens gifts and Menendezs actions. But Menendez argues that, no matter what his motivation, his efforts on Melgens behalf did not amount to official acts and so could not support a conviction under McDonnell. Relying on the federal bribery statute, the court in McDonnell defined an official act as any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official. A question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, the court held, connotes a formal exercise of governmental power, such as a lawsuit, hearing, or administrative determination. The public official must agree to decide or act on the matter in question in other words, must take some steps to resolve the matter or move it forward. McDonnell had made some phone calls, arranged meetings with other Virginia officials and hosted an event at the governors mansion on behalf of his benefactor. The court held these actions, standing alone, did not amount to official acts. Such political courtesies, the court concluded, could not support a corruption conviction. Since he was first indicted, Menendez has argued that he, too, did not perform official acts. He claims he was simply attending meetings and gathering information on behalf of an old friend. Like McDonnell, he says, he did not actually dole out any government benefits or decide any disputed questions. But Menendezs alleged actions were much more substantial than McDonnells. Menendez did not simply arrange meetings for Melgen or make introductions for him. Menendez himself attended meetings with HHS and State Department officials and allegedly lobbied hard for Melgens interests. In court papers, Menendez also argues that, because the identified matters were never pending before him and he did not have the power to decide them, his advocacy cannot amount to official acts. Unfortunately for Menendez, the Supreme Court anticipated this issue. The court held an official act does not have to relate to a matter that the defendant himself has the power to resolve. It is enough if the defendant tries to influence someone else with that power. In the Menendez case, because the matters were pending before various executive branch officials, their resolution of those matters would be considered official acts. If, as the indictment alleges, Menendez tried to influence those officials on those issues in Melgens favor, under McDonnell such efforts can be official acts by Menendez himself. Menendez has repeatedly sought to have his trial judge dismiss the charges based on McDonnell, and the judge has repeatedly declined to do so. Thats the right call; the court should wait to see the evidence before making any such ruling. The precise details concerning any actions by Menendez are going to be critical and will come out only at trial. It remains to be seen how the governments evidence will come in, and the defense certainly has other cards to play. But if the allegations of the indictment hold up, its unlikely that Bob McDonnells case will mean Bob Menendez goes free. A woman holds up a signs in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, during an immigration reform rally at the White House in Washington on Aug. 15. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press) PRESIDENT TRUMP has outdone himself in dividing America over banning Muslims, pardoning a racial profiler and spotting very fine people among the neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen in Charlottesville. Now he is reported to be on the brink of dividing families by rescinding deportation protections enjoyed by nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children and raised here to believe in the American Dream. The president once described the so-called dreamers as incredible kids and, saying hed handle their predicament with heart, urged them to rest easy. It will be instructive to see if he sticks to that stance in the face of pressure from his nativist attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who has counseled Mr. Trump that he regards the program shielding dreamers from deportation as unconstitutional and indefensible in court. For Mr. Trump to heed that advice would be in keeping with his own record of pandering to hard-liners in his base by beating up on foreigners. But it would go beyond his usual rhetorical toxicity by upending lives en masse, immiserating huge numbers of people striving to make good. Dreamers registered with the government starting in 2012 under a program, launched by President Barack Obama, that enabled many of them to attend college, get jobs and drivers licenses, start businesses, open bank accounts, pay taxes, buy homes and cars, and live ordinary and open lives. All had lived in the United States since at least 2007; none had committed a serious crime. Each signed up for the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, by trusting the government with their names, addresses and other information marking their emergence from the shadows. Since Mr. Trumps inauguration, they have continued registering for two-year permits and renewing them. By doing so, they have hurt no one; to the contrary, they have contributed their energy, ambition and labor to the country and communities where they have spent most of their lives. That status quo is now challenged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a group of like-minded conservative state attorneys general who have threatened to challenge the DACA program in federal court unless it is phased out by the administration starting next Tuesday. Like Mr. Sessions, they say it is unconstitutional. In fact, it is a long-standing matter of policy that presidents of both parties have exercised broad discretion in determining whom to deport, given governments finite resources. In their letter , the attorneys general insisted that ending DACA wouldnt require the president to deport dreamers or even rescind the permits already issued. In reality, for every individual who holds a permit, its expiration would mean lost jobs, lost educational opportunities and a lost sense of security. An end to DACA would entail a one-way trip back into the shadows, where immigration agents would be free to track them using addresses and other data they freely submitted when applying for their deferrals. There is no clamor for ending DACA, which polls suggest enjoys broad public support. Ending the program would be a cruel betrayal and a gratuitous blow against the very people Mr. Trump just months ago described as incredible. A doorway carving at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., campus depicted a Puritan settler, right, with a musket. The musket has been covered with removable stone. (Yale Univerisy via Associated Press) Summer brings no respite for academics committed to campus purifications, particularly at the institution that is the leader in the silliness sweepstakes, Yale. Its Committee on Art in Public Spaces has discovered that a stone carving that has adorned an entrance to Sterling Memorial Library since it opened 86 years ago has become not appropriate. The carving, according to Yale Alumni Magazine, depicts a hostile encounter: a Puritan pointing a musket at a Native American. Actually, the Native American and the Puritan are looking not hostilely at each other but into the distance. Still, one cant be too careful, so the musket has been covered with stone. This is unilateral disarmament: The Native Americans weapon, a bow, has not been covered up. Perhaps Yale thinks that armed white men are more triggering (this academic-speak means upsetting to the emotionally brittle) than armed people of color. National Review Onlines Kyle Smith drolly worries that Yale University might be perpetuating harmful stereotypes. If such campus folderols merely added to what Samuel Johnson called the public stock of harmless pleasure, Americans could welcome a new academic year the way they once welcomed new burlesque acts. Unfortunately, the descent of institutions of learning into ludicrousness is symptomatic of larger social distempers that Frank Furedi has diagnosed abroad as well as in America. Furedi is a professor emeritus in England and author of Whats Happened to the University?: A Sociological Exploration of Its Infantilization. Writing in the American Interest, he cites a warning issued to Oxford University postgraduate students about the danger of vicarious trauma, which supposedly results from hearing about and engaging with the traumatic experiences of others. This, Furedi says, is symptomatic of the medicalization of almost everything in universities that strive to be therapeutic. Universities are promoting theories and practices that encourage people to interpret their anxieties, distress and disappointment through the language of psychological deficits. This generates self-fulfilling diagnoses of emotionally fragile students. They demand mental-health services on campuses that are replete with trigger warnings and safe spaces to insulate students from discomforts, such as the depiction of a musket. What academics perceive as an expanded set of problems tracks right along with the exponential growth of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The socialization of children, which prepares them to enter the wider world, has been shifted from parents to primary and secondary schools, and now to higher education, which has embraced the task that Furedi calls re-socialization through altering the norms that undergraduates grew up with. This is done by using speech codes and indoctrination to raise awareness about defects students acquired before coming to campuses that are determined to purify undergraduates. Often, however, students arrive with little moral ballast bequeathed by parents who thought their role was, Furedi says, less to transmit values than to validate their childrens feelings and attitudes: This emphasis on validation runs in tandem with a risk-averse regime of child-rearing, the (unintended) consequence of which has been to limit opportunities for the cultivation of independence and to extend the phase of dependence of young people on adult society. The therapeutic universitys language students are vulnerable to routine stresses and difficulties that are defined as traumas also becomes self-fulfilling. As a result, students experience a diminished sense of capacity for moral agency for self-determination. This can make them simultaneously passive, immersing themselves into groupthink, and volatile, like the mobs at Middlebury College, Claremont McKenna College, the University of California at Berkeley and other schools that disrupt uncongenial speakers. Hence universities provide trigger warnings that facilitate flights into safe spaces. Furedi quotes an Oberlin College student who says: Theres something to be said about exposing yourself to ideas other than your own, but Ive had enough of that. Times do, however, change, as the Yale Alumni Magazine delicately intimated when it said the stone now obscuring the Puritans musket can be removed in the future without damaging the original carving. And the future has come with strange speed to New Haven. In a peculiar letter in Tuesdays Wall Street Journal, a Yale official says the university is removing the stone that a construction project team had placed on the stonework. By clearly suggesting, implausibly, that this team acted on its own, the letter contradicts the magazines report that the covering up was done because the Committee on Art in Public Spaces deemed the carving not appropriate. The letter, which says the uncovered carving will be moved to where it can be studied and contextualized, speaks volumes about Yales context. Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook. In his first month as President Trumps chief of staff, John F. Kelly has brought discipline to the White House, sometimes to the frustration of Trump. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) In his first month as President Trumps chief of staff, John F. Kelly has brought discipline to the White House, sometimes to the frustration of Trump. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) President Trump spent the final days of August dutifully performing his job. He tended to the massive recovery from Hurricane Harvey. He hit the road to sell his tax-cut plan. And he convened policy meetings on the federal budget and the North Korean nuclear threat. Behind the scenes during a summer of crisis, however, Trump appears to pine for the days when the Oval Office was a bustling hub of visitors and gossip, over which he presided as impresario. He fumes that he does not get the credit he thinks he deserves from the media or the allegiance from fellow Republican leaders he says he is owed. He boasts about his presidency in superlatives, but confidants privately fret about his suddenly dark moods. And some of Trumps friends fear that the short-tempered president is on an inevitable collision course with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. Trump chafes at some of the retired Marine Corps generals moves to restrict access to him since he took the job almost a month ago, said several people close to the president. They run counter to Trumps love of spontaneity and brashness, prompting some Trump loyalists to derisively dub Kelly the church lady because they consider him strict and morally superior. Hes having a very hard time, one friend who spoke with Trump this week said of the president. He doesnt like the way the medias handling him. He doesnt like how Kellys handling him. Hes turning on people that are very close to him. President Trump's chief of staff John F. Kelly has a long military career but limited experience in politics. Here's how he rose to a top political position. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post) Aides say Trump admires Kellys credentials, respects his leadership and management skills, and praises him often, both in private meetings and at public events. In a tax policy speech Wednesday in Missouri, Trump singled out Kellys work to decrease the number of illegal border crossings when he was secretary of homeland security. Meanwhile, people close to the president said he is simmering with displeasure over what he considers personal disloyalty from National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who criticized Trumps responses to a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. He also has grown increasingly frustrated with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has clashed with the president on issues including Afghanistan troop levels, the blockade on Qatar and Cuba policy. This portrait of Trump as he enters what could be his most consequential month in office is based on interviews with 15 senior White House officials, outside advisers and friends of the president, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. In September, Trump will face deadlines to raise the federal debt ceiling and pass a spending bill possibly tied to his campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; make his first big push for tax cuts; and oversee a potentially historic disaster recovery in Texas and Louisiana. If Trumps 75-minute rally performance on Aug. 22 in Phoenix served as a public testimonial to his rage over the media and Congress, he is agitating privately about other concerns, as well. [As Trump ranted and rambled in Phoenix, his crowd slowly thinned] Trump lashed out at George Gigicos, one of his original campaign staff members, for what the president considered unflattering television camera angles at the Phoenix rally, which Bloomberg News first reported. The president also was distressed by a New York Times report that was posted a few hours before the event documenting the turmoil between him and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn stands at the North Portico of the White House before President Trump travels to Iowa on June 21. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Trump was especially angered by something he learned at his stop earlier in the day, a border visit in Yuma, Ariz., several of his associates said. A group of Border Patrol agents who had endorsed him and become campaign-trail buddies initially were blocked by the Trump administration from attending. Although the agents eventually were allowed into the event, the president made his displeasure about their treatment known to Kelly, said people who were briefed about the incident. Two of those people said Trump raised his voice with his chief of staff, whom he faulted for trying to restrict outside friends from having direct access to him. That evening in Phoenix, Trump attempted to call Kelly onto the stage. Wheres John? he asked. Where is he? Wheres General Kelly? Get him out here. Hes great. Hes doing a great job. Kelly did not join his boss in front of the crowd. It is not unusual for staffers to hear him bluster about things, said Barry Bennett, a former campaign adviser. That doesnt mean its real. There were people on the campaign staff that he said to fire a dozen times, but he never did it. It was just bark. And some people dont know the difference between the bark and the bite. Kelly took the job with the express goal of implementing strict order in a West Wing that had become rife with turmoil, infighting and damaging leaks to the media. [Trump enlists Kelly to enforce order, but can the zoo be tamed?] Friends used to be able to call the White House and be patched directly through to Trump; now those calls are routed through Kelly and do not always make it to the president. Friends used to drop by the West Wing when they had time to kill, wandering to the Oval Office to say hello; now they must have an official appointment and a clear reason to visit. The changes are largely welcomed by senior administration officials, who say the presidents time is too valuable to be wasted on chitchat and hangers-on. But Trump sometimes defies and even resents the new structure. He has been especially sensitive to the way Kellys rigid structure is portrayed in the media and strives to disabuse people of the notion that he is being managed. The president continues to call business friends and outside advisers, including former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, from his personal phone when Kelly is not around, said people with knowledge of the calls. Donald Trump resists being handled, said Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser and longtime confidant. Nobody tells him who to see, who to listen to, what to read, what he can say. Stone added, General Kelly is trying to treat the president like a mushroom. Keeping him in the dark and feeding him s--- is not going to work. Donald Trump is a free spirit. Kelly has told colleagues that he has no intention of controlling what Trump says or tweets. Although he has tried to manage the information the president receives, Kelly recognizes that there are limits to what he can do, according to White House officials. The president can turn on the television, the president can call people, and the president can read the newspaper, said a Republican close to the White House who added that the onus is on Trump, not his staff, to control his impulses. Trump has jettisoned some of the more controversial figures in his administration this summer. For instance, the firing of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days earned the flamboyant aide the moniker suicide bomber in the West Wing for having taken down with him Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer. Trump also parted ways with Bannon, who often channeled the presidents nationalist instincts. More changes may be afoot under Kelly, who is continuing his personnel review and is said to be targeting aides without clear portfolios of responsibility. On Tillerson, Trump has come to see his top diplomats approach to world affairs as totally establishment, in the words of one Trump associate. Several people close to Trump said they would be surprised if Tillerson stays in his post past his one-year mark in January. They hinted that his departure may come far sooner, with one describing it as imminent. And some who have recently seen Tillerson say the former ExxonMobil chief executive unaccustomed to taking orders from a superior, let alone one as capricious as Trump also seems to be ready to end his State Department tenure. He has grumbled privately to Kelly about Trumps recent controversies, said two people familiar with their relationship. Others, however, caution that Tillerson remains fully enmeshed in the administration. After having lunch with the president Monday, Tillerson sat in the front row of Trumps joint news conference with the president of Finland and was a key member of Cabinet discussions focused on handling Hurricane Harvey. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that Trump absolutely has confidence in Tillerson. [Public rifts between Trump and some senior officials widen in the wake of Charlottesville] Tillerson made headlines over the weekend when he was asked on Fox News Sunday, in the context of Charlottesville, whether Trump speaks for American values. The president speaks for himself, Tillerson told anchor Chris Wallace. Many Trump insiders were aghast at the diplomats apparent denunciation of the president, but several senior White House officials said Trumps frustration with Tillerson has been about specific policies. The Fox interview did not bother Trump, one official said, even though the president was upset about Cohns scolding of him to the Financial Times. Trump was especially upset that Cohn went public with his complaints about the presidents handling of Charlottesville, even after Trump listened to Cohn vent during a private meeting on Aug. 18 in Bedminster, N.J. The president has been quietly fuming about Cohn for the past week but has resisted dismissing him in part because he has been the face, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, of the administrations tax-cut strategy. Still, Trump has other ways to slight Cohn. The economic adviser traveled with Trump on Wednesday to Springfield, Mo., for his speech about tax reform, yet when the president ticked through the many distinguished guests in attendance, he did not mention Cohn. Afterward, Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter, tweeted a call for tax reform with a picture of Trump backstage flanked by her and Mnuchin. Notably absent was Cohn, the plans co-architect. Asked about the perceived insults, Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on the flight home to Washington that it was pretty standard tactics for Trump not to call out staff members in his remarks. Pressed on the state of Trump and Cohns relationship, Sanders said only that both men are committed to tax reform. Well, look, she said, Gary is here. The president is here. Robert Costa, Anne Gearan and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report. The leader of an influential group of House conservatives warned GOP leaders Thursday not to attach aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey to an increase in the federal debt limit, a stance that could constrain Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) as he tries to win support over the coming weeks for several controversial must-pass measures. The warning from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, came as White House and congressional leaders discussed a plan to immediately pump about $6 billion into federal disaster relief efforts. President Trump could send a specific request for the funding as soon as Friday, people briefed on the discussions said. A debt-ceiling increase could be attached to the bill, those people said, to win broader support for that divisive measure ahead of a Sept. 29 deadline. But Meadows, who leads a group of hard-liners that has frequently frustrated House Republican leaders, said attaching Harvey aid to a debt-ceiling increase would be a terrible idea that would be conflating two very different issues. The Harvey relief would pass on its own, and to use that as a vehicle to get people to vote for a debt ceiling is not appropriate, he said in an interview. That sends all the wrong message: Lets go ahead and increase the debt ceiling, and by the way, while were doing it lets go ahead and spend another $15, $20 billion? Thats not to undercut the importance of Harvey relief. Were going to fund Harvey relief without a doubt, but I think it just sends the wrong message when you start attaching it to the debt ceiling. [Trump could seek billions in Harvey recovery aid next week] The Fix's Amber Phillips explains the tight deadlines Congress faces this fall, and how President Trump's shutdown threat over funding his border wall and his criticism of the debt ceiling "mess" threaten their agenda. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) White House and congressional leaders have not yet made final decisions about the amount of funding, or whether to link it to extensions of the debt limit or of broader government spending, and conversations remained fluid Thursday evening. But lawmakers in the affected region are pressing for swift action. On a private conference call Wednesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) assured Republican members of the Texas and Louisiana House delegations that leaders would move as soon as next week to provide funding. The conversation included White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and other administration officials. We are able to act as quickly as needed as soon as the administration is able to put together an initial number that will be needed, said a GOP aide who was on the call. But we dont know what that number is yet, and there is for sure going to be a larger number once there is a greater understanding of the full scope of the damage. White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters Thursday that about 100,000 homes have been affected by Harvey-related flooding, according to initial estimates. Thats a big number, he said, noting that those homes have different degrees of insurance some with flood insurance, some underinsured, some uninsured. Bossert and Capitol Hill aides declined to estimate the level of federal aid Congress might ultimately have to provide for Harvey relief, but they did not discount the possibility that it would outstrip the $120 billion that was appropriated to help rebuild after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. It is likely, they said, to be approved in multiple tranches over the coming months as damage is calculated. Theres nobody thats wrong on estimates right now, Bossert said, when asked about a suggestion from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that recovery needs might exceed $100 billion a figure that would represent about 10 percent of what the federal government spends each year on all nondefense discretionary spending combined. Lawmakers return to Washington on Tuesday after a five-week summer recess, facing pressure to act not only on Harvey aid but also on several crucial measures that require action before month-end deadlines. They include extending government funding to avert an Oct. 1 government shutdown, reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program and the Childrens Health Insurance Program, and raising the debt ceiling to avoid a disastrous federal default. With a deadline of Sept. 29 looming and Congress nearing their summer recess, the debt ceiling is primed to be a big issue when they return. Here's what you need to know. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) The Treasury Department told Congress in July it would have to act on the debt limit by Sept. 29. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview that the deadline could creep up by a couple of days because of Harvey-related spending. Meadows and other staunch conservatives have long opposed a clean debt-ceiling increase, preferring to attach measures that would limit the growth of federal spending, even though the Trump administration is pushing for a clean extension. Meadows said Thursday he would like a measure that would index the debt limit to growth in the economy; another conservative leader, Rep. Mark Walker (N.C.) of the Republican Study Committee, said this week that he would support efforts to constrain Medicaid spending. Having some guardrails for fiscal responsibility is certainly important and to just ignore it would not be prudent, Meadows said. [Trump pledges swift Harvey aid, says effort will be unimpeded by threatened government shutdown ] A spokesman for Ryan declined to comment Thursday on Meadowss remarks. Ryans office said earlier this week that the House stood ready to act to help Harvey victims pending a funding request from the Trump administration. Once Trump sends the official request for the emergency funds to Congress, a number of different scenarios could play out, people involved in the discussions said. The House could appropriate the money in a stand-alone bill or combine it with a broader package to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. Then the Senate could decide to pass the same bill, or attach an increase in the debt ceiling to the legislation. Senate Republicans arent likely to settle on a way forward or make any specific decisions on how to proceed until they meet in person at their regularly scheduled policy luncheon Tuesday or Wednesday, according to a senior aide familiar with their plans. That timeline reflects how the more deliberative Senate works, the aide said, rather than any resistance to delivering federal aid: Were all on the same page about what we need to do. Meadows said Thursday that he and other hard-line conservatives could support attaching Harvey aid to a stopgap government spending measure that is expected to be drafted next month. That bill would extend current federal spending into December, allowing time for further negotiations over key GOP priorities including the Mexican border wall demanded by Trump. The border wall is unlikely to prompt a showdown in September, Meadows said, despite Trumps threats at a recent campaign rally that opposition to its funding could prompt a government shutdown. Im supportive of the wall and putting the wall funding in [the stopgap], but from a pragmatic standpoint, it will get stripped out in the Senate, he said. Meadows also said that he did not expect a major fight over whether the Harvey aid package would be offset with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. My whole focus has always been, lets make sure the relief efforts are about the relief efforts, he said. Lets not put everybodys special project in there, and lets not fund fish hatcheries in Alaska like we did with Sandy relief. (A small portion of the $50 billion Sandy bill passed in 2013 funded relief for federally declared fishery disasters elsewhere in the United States, including Alaska.) Obviously we would prefer offsets, Meadows added. Generally speaking, though, to demand offsets when you have this magnitude of emergency spending is not something that I believe will get done. I mean, you know me: Im a fiscal conservative, and I would prefer to have offsets, but . . . lets put it this way: The focus has not been on the offsets as much as it has been on getting relief to those affected. Read more at PowerPost Ed OKeefe contributed to this report. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley arrives for a hearing on 'Oversight of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and Attempts to Influence U.S. Elections' in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington on July 27, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) President Trump called the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee to talk about one of his most important parochial issues ethanol shortly before the committee is slated to interview his son in its ongoing Russia probe. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassleys panel will be hosting Trumps son next month for an interview behind closed doors in its ongoing Russia probe something the committee has been trying to do since it was revealed that Donald Trump, Jr. accepted a meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer claiming Kremlin connections during the campaign. Headlines about that committee meeting, which Grassley (R-Iowa) has been trying to set up for weeks, gripped headlines and cable news chyrons on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Grassley announced via Twitter that the president had called him to discuss not Russia, but ethanol, proudly announcing that he assured me hes pro ethanol and that Grassley was free to tell the people of Iowa hes standing by his campaign PROMISE. Russia, and the committees ongoing investigation of alleged coordination between the presidents campaign and Kremlin officials, did not come up during the call, according to Taylor Foy, Grassleys committee spokesman. Foy said that it was Trump who called Grassley, and that Grassley told the president he would tweet about their conversations and the presidents support for ethanol. The call was approximately two minutes long, Foy said, and the only other subjects that came up were Hurricane Harvey and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, the former governor of Iowa. Details are slowly coming out about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer during his father's presidential campaign in June 2016, including the identity of an eighth participant. (Elyse Samuels,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The timing of the call, however, raised questions about why the president had chosen to engage with Grassley at this juncture. Though Grassley has long championed ethanol, matters such as subsidies and renewable fuel standards are not an integral feature of any major bill currently before the Senate. A White House official said Wednesday that in recent days, Trump has heard from a few outside advisers about rumors within the ethanol industry that the president was abandoning his campaign pledge on ethanol. Trumps tweet on Sunday threatening to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would have an impact on the ethanol industry, apparently helped feed the rumors. Trump decided to call Grassley on Wednesday to kill the rumors and reassure Iowas senior senator that he supported ethanol and would not walk away from his campaign promise, the official said. Read more at PowerPost Volunteers rescue people from their flooded homes along Beamer Road in Houston. Many would blame the amount of paved surfaces for the flooding, but that oversimplfies the problem. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) News reports documenting Houstons record-breaking rainfall and disastrous flooding, generated by Hurricane Harvey, often attempt to explain why Houston is chronically vulnerable to floods. But these reports tend to be incomplete and inaccurate. Moreover, while the media understandably focus on how people are coping with the storms life-threatening, property-destroying consequences, we hear little about what if anything might be done to avert such disasters in the future. Commentators primarily attribute Houstons flooding vulnerability to the citys extraordinary amount of impervious surface roofs, paved roads and parking lots. Excessive imperviousness is in turn blamed on the citys rapid growth in population and physical size, catalyzed by Houstons go-go economy, lack of zoning and imprudent urban planning. But adversely comparing Houstons imperviousness to other cities is misleading. Large amounts of impervious surface area exist in metropolitan regions such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City, as well as Washington. In fact, news reports tend to overlook the most fundamental reasons for Houstons susceptibility to extreme rainfall and catastrophic flooding: its almost dead-level topography, constrained stormwater-management capabilities and adverse soil conditions. [More Lewis: Demolished or repurposed for the future: What decides a buildings fate?] Houstons stormwater system simply cannot handle the volume of rainwater dumped on the city by Harvey. Making matters worse, the amount of surface water that Houstons open, vegetated land can absorb is limited. The high clay content of soils impedes absorption. And close to bayous, bays, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico, the underground water table is not far below grade, which is why most homes in Houston are built without basements. Consequently, many Houston neighborhoods have limited capacity for retaining and evacuating rainwater. Runoff collected in drainage swales or fed into underground pipes ultimately has nowhere to go except into slowly draining creeks and bayous. A heavy, persistent rainstorm can rapidly fill natural waterways and storm systems to overflowing, with rainwater backing up onto neighborhood streets and properties. Some areas in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially near the Chesapeake Bay, face similar problems. But much of metropolitan Washington is favored with varying topography and adequately sloping land. And, of course, we get much less rain than Houston. Nevertheless, Houston is a reminder that deficient and aging infrastructure is a challenge for many American counties, towns and municipalities. Failure of a stormwater system is critical, as it immediately and adversely threatens the health, safety and property of citizens using and depending on the system. Regardless of topography, any communitys stormwater system can be overtaxed and fail if the volume of water running off and pouring into the system exceeds the systems engineered capacity. And runoff volume generated by a rainstorm is affected by how a community has been and continues to be planned, designed and built. [More Lewis: The D.C. region needs a housing corporation to help make home prices affordable] Civil engineers and hydrologists design stormwater-management systems in a logical way. They compute the total amount of impervious area paved surfaces and roofs within the tributary drainage area of the system. Next they apply factors representing probable, peak rainfall rates to arrive at maximum predicted runoff. Then they figure out where and how to collect and route runoff flows, whether into storm drains, pipes, culverts, drainage swales, retention basins or natural streams. Expected flow rates also determine sizes of stormwater structures. Problems arise when flow predictions are exceeded, as Houston is experiencing with Harvey. But excessive flow and system failure can occur in any jurisdiction where growth and development have led to more density and more impervious, water-shedding surface area than foreseen by system engineers. Thus, to ensure acceptable stormwater-system performance, jurisdictional agencies and officials must ensure that the type, timing and amount of real estate development are in sync with the capacity and configuration of the jurisdictions storm system. Many communities are at risk because of overbuilding or for allowing building in areas with inadequate infrastructure. Governments also must be diligent about upgrading and expanding such systems in a timely fashion as growth and development increases beyond what was first planned and anticipated. Regrettably, this is too often not the case. [Beijing and Washington face similar challenges] Jurisdictional policies and regulations should require that all new development or redevelopment be designed to minimize stormwater runoff. This is especially critical if the existing stormwater systems capacity is already stretched to the limit. Rainwater can be collected, slowed down and retained temporarily on green roofs and vegetated open spaces, or in cisterns to be recycled for uses other than drinking. Pervious paving can be used for sidewalks, terraces and parking areas, enabling rainwater to percolate into soils below. Implementing all of these stormwater-management strategies and tactics would be of value in reducing future flooding risk in Houston. Yet Houston teaches a very important lesson we keep relearning and sometimes forgetting at great cost: Cities and towns, as well as buildings, should never be built on flood plains. Roger K. Lewis is a practicing architect, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland and a regular guest commentator on The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU (88.5 FM). Women carry water back to their homes in drought-hit Aydora, Ethiopia. The country is facing its third straight year of drought. (Aida Muluneh for The Washington Post) The United States will provide an additional $91 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia to cope with a third straight year of drought, the top U.S. official in charge of assistance said Thursday. The extra funding brings U.S. aid for food and medical care in Ethiopia to $454 million this year, said Mark Green, the new administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. An extra $210 million in U.S. aid has gone to development projects. Green announced the additional aid after he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. In a statement that he read to reporters, Green said he had also urged the Ethiopian leader to take concrete steps to create political space for all voices to be heard and to uphold constitutional and guaranteed rights. In August, Ethiopia lifted a 10-month state of emergency imposed after deadly clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters who were alleging human rights abuses and political cronyism. What I said to him is, We look at what countries need around the world to strengthen their ability to deliver for their people, Green told reporters later. Responsive governance, and a place for people to come together from different points of view and to share ideas openly and publicly, history shows is vitally important, he said. Our view is the government should continue to foster that, and do more and more. According to USAID spokesman Clayton McCleskey, Green told Desalegn he was concerned that conditions were deteriorating for people affected by the drought and encouraged the government to show greater leadership and invest more resources to combat a worsening humanitarian crisis. Green, on his first trip abroad since starting the job three weeks ago, is in Ethiopia to highlight U.S. efforts to help impoverished countries emerge from crises such as drought and famine, and to be better prepared to weather future setbacks. Drought in Ethiopias lowlands bordering Somalia has sent herders farther afield in search of grazing land. On Wednesday, Green said Ethiopia would be one of 12 countries to receive focused attention from Feed the Future programs, even if Congress approves deep cuts in USAIDs budget. The Trump administration has proposed halving Feed the Futures total budget for agricultural development programs from more than $1 billion this year to $500 million next year. Ethiopias $78 million share of the funds would also be cut in half. Anticipating having less money to spend, USAID dropped seven countries from the original 19 on which it had planned to focus. The United States has been the principal international donor to Ethiopia as the country has struggled through a devastating series of droughts. In recent years, U.S. aid has been used to try to help herders become farmers, has provided seed money for small businesses, and has funded job-skills training for impoverished Ethiopians and provided nutritional education. While Green assured Desalegn that the United States remains committed to helping Ethiopia develop agriculturally and economically, he underscored that Washington expects the Ethiopian government to contribute more money to humanitarian efforts. During a drought in 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia spent about $700 million on food for the affected population. This year, it has pledged only $110 million and so far has spent far less than that. The United States will continue providing assistance for vulnerable people, but we all agree host-country partners must be willing to step up during crises, and the prime minister indicated that he was looking to do so, Green said. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Correction: This article has been corrected to say that Bluegogo only put hundreds of bikes on the streets of San Francisco rather than 20,000 as initially reported. A rider cycles an Ofo bike past other dockless bikes in Beijing. Immensely popular in their homeland, Chinas bike-sharing companies are now racing to expand abroad. (Shirley Feng/The Washington Post) To rent a bike in China, all it takes is a phone app, and any of the millions of bicycles scattered on sidewalks everywhere can be yours. No bike stand. No drop-off point. You scan a code, you ride, you leave and lock the bike wherever and whenever youre done. Chinas billion-dollar bike-sharing revolution has already transformed the look and feel of cities around the country, with more than 100 million apps downloaded and billions of rides taken on many millions of bikes. Now it is going global. Last month, a Chinese company called Ofo made its first foray into the United States, delivering 1,000 bicycles to the streets of Seattle, with plans to expand nationally. From Italy to Kazakhstan, from Britain to Japan, from Singapore Asias greenest city to one of its most congested, Bangkok, Ofo and its main Chinese rival Mobike are on a breakneck race to expand across the globe. Welcomed in many cities, but not by everyone, the companies are already encountering a backlash. Opponents have branded Ofo and Mobike a menace, a plague and a public nuisance. Each of the two main Chinese companies has more than 7 million bikes in operation in over 150 cities, mostly in China, and each recently attracted $600 million to $700 million in new funding to finance their global expansions. Bikes are typically fitted with GPS locators to enable users to find them via the app. Payment is minimal and made electronically. Beijing, a city where bikes once ruled, has once again taken to two wheels, and most cyclists seem to use a shared bike these days. Greener and healthier to use, the bikes get commuters to and from public transit stations and discourage car use. They solve what planners call the first-mile-last-mile problem, helping people get from their homes to a bus stop, for example, or from a subway station to their final destination. Dubbed Uber for bikes, they have proved much more popular than schemes based on docking stations. New Yorks Citi Bike, with 10,000 bikes and 236,000 subscribers, is the largest operation in the United States. Compare that with Beijing, which has 700,000 shared bikes and 11 million registered users, nearly half the capitals population. (Washingtons Capital Bikeshare program offers 3,700 bikes.) Unlike arrangements based on docking stations in Washington and London, the dockless model doesnt require government subsidies and is already spawning rival start-ups: Californias Spin and LimeBike narrowly beat Ofo to the punch in Seattle after the city pulled the plug on its subsidized bike-sharing program. Ofo is now advertising on its LinkedIn page for a country head based in the greater New York area, while Mobike is advertising for jobs in Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, San Francisco and New York. The explosion in users speaks to their success. But they are not universally liked. A worker from the bike share company Ofo unloads new bikes on March 27 in Beijing. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) In China, bikes clog sidewalks and pile up in unruly flocks outside subway stations, shopping malls, office buildings and road intersections. Unwanted or broken bikes are dumped by highways, in rivers and parks, on construction sites or under bridges. Shanghai-based blogger Marc Milian calls them a plague, while locals have taken to social media to lambaste the anarchic experiment that is creating a new generation of trash. Shanghais government has seized thousands of illegally parked bikes. It recently called for a halt on companies putting more bikes onto the streets and asked them to work faster to remove badly parked bikes. Yet, in a country where the government puts a premium on controlling its citizens, Chinese officials have displayed a remarkably light touch with this booming new business. In guidelines issued last month, the State Council welcomed shared bikes as part of the green urban transport system, while urging local governments to ensure rational allocation of bicycles and avoid excess supply in some areas. Unlike Uber, bike-share companies havent angered vested interests such as taxi drivers, but they may run into much stiffer opposition from regulators and citizen groups in the West. In San Francisco, Chinas Bluegogo dumped hundreds bikes onto the streets in January without permission. City Supervisor Aaron Peskin called them a public nuisance and threatened legal action against an arrogant tech company. Writing in the San Francisco Examiner, Darcy Brown of the citizens group San Francisco Beautiful called Bluegogo a rogue company that was bringing chaos to our public spaces and posing a threat to the beauty and livability of our city. Bluegogo said the company has since pulled its bikes from San Francisco. In Singapore, the arrival of 30,000 bikes met with mixed reactions, with some people reportedly calling them a menace. In a sense, bike-sharing schemes are tests of the societies in which they are launched and whether communities can look after public goods. In China, vandalism and theft have been a problem, and it is easy to spot bikes with broken locks, wheels removed or smart codes scratched off. But that appears to have been trumped by peoples enthusiasm for all things digital, for e-commerce and anything that arrives through their smartphones what Peking University professor Jeffrey Towson calls their hyper-adoption of anything mobile, plus the almost uniform adoption of mobile payments in China. In Britain, vandalism initially blighted Mobikes June launch in Manchester: Police reportedly recorded 20 incidents in just the first 10 days, with bikes thrown in a canal, and a video catching a youth throwing rocks in an attempt to destroy one of the supposedly vandal-proof bikes. Thats why we cant have nice things, one Mancunian commented on Twitter. This is a real shame. I love those bikes someone always wants to ruin stuff! another commented. Yet many more Mancunians enthusiastically embraced their new toy, said Chris Martin, Mobikes vice president in charge of international expansion. There were even reports of people cleaning the bikes or jumping in the canal to fish them out. The company has ruled out the approach taken by Bluegogo or Uber, and instead works closely with local governments before launching giving them control over how many bikes should be supplied and time to issue parking guidelines. The Uber model is to ignore local government, subvert it, grow larger than can be controlled, and then afterwards ask for forgiveness and permission, Martin said. We very specifically chose to do the opposite. The companies hope to encourage better behavior by awarding users credits for reporting broken or illegally parked bikes and demerits for correspondingly bad behavior. If your score drops too low, your next ride could become much more expensive. Ofo began as a student project at Peking University; its 26-year-old founder, Dai Wei, now runs a company valued at $3 billion. No surprise that among Ofos first forays into Britain have been the university cities of Cambridge and Oxford. The economics remain fuzzy, experts say: In China, short rides are free, and many users say they pay virtually nothing. But even with the cost of maintaining and replacing broken bikes, Dai says, Ofo should break even by years end. Towson sees potential for raising revenue with advertisements on bikes, as well as a move to paid subscriptions. Hes also optimistic about the move abroad. What I love about these companies is the way they have exposed how inconvenient owning and/or renting bicycles has always been, he wrote on his website. Try convincing someone to buy a bicycle and store it in their apartment in Shanghai now. In Seattle, there are now 3,000 dollar-a-ride dockless bikes on the streets, and usage has crushed the old docking-station-based project, says Tom Fucoloro, editor of the Seattle Bike Blog. Nor have fears of chaos been realized. Everyones scared to death of these piles of bikes. I find that kind of funny too many bicycles would be an amazing problem for a U.S. city to have, he said. Almost all the bikes are parked out of the way, more or less properly, and if they arent, someone will just come and move them out of the way. Seattles kind of a rule-following town in that way and thats playing out with the bikes. Shirley Feng contributed to this report. Read more: Forget car-sharing. In China, you can rent umbrellas, basketballs, washers China to use all means necessary to defend itself against Trump protectionism Move over Jack Ma: Pony takes the lead in race to be Chinas richest man Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Armchair experts on North Korea and a fair few who watch from their desks, too like to write off Kim Jong Un as unpredictable. Who knows what this nuclear-armed madman might do next, the refrain goes. U.S. warplanes conducted a bombing drill Thursday close to the border that separates the two Koreas, as if to intimidate the hard-to-read leader. But anyone whos surprised by the past months events from North Koreas threat to fire missiles close to Guam, to the actual launch of a missile over Japan hasnt been paying attention. For Pyongyangs actions have been clearly telegraphed. Take the Aug. 9 statement from the Norths official Korean Central News Agency. The armys top missile unit was drafting a plan to create an enveloping fire around Guam with Hwasong-12 missiles, KCNA reported. The plan would be sent to Kim, who would make a decision mid-month. Sure enough, on Aug. 15, the agency reported Kim had been to see the missile units leaders he had a great time there, if his broad smile in the photos is anything to go by and had reviewed the plan. He was going to keep an eye on the foolish and stupid Yankees a bit longer, KCNA quoted him as saying, making it clear he was talking about the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises starting Aug. 21. North Korea always protests the exercises, which it views as a pretext for an invasion, and China and Russia had been urging the United States to tone it down a bit. But they went ahead as planned. So what did Kim do? On Tuesday, two days before the end of the exercises, he fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile technically capable of reaching beyond Guam. The United States responded by sending stealth planes and fighter jets on a bombing drill near South Koreas border with North Korea on Thursday, the final day of the exercises. You can go back years and find them pretty clearly stating that this is what theyre going to do and this is why theyre going to do it, said Van Jackson, an international security expert at Victoria University in New Zealand. And now its just happening. In a statement after the launch, KCNA said the missile units were practicing striking the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces located in the Pacific operational theater an apparent reference to Guam. The Fact Checker explains what happened to the once not that distant goal of a nuclear deal with North Korea. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) [ North Koreas latest launch suggests it rejects both U.S. threats and offers to talk ] There have been clear signals before many of North Koreas recent provocations. Take its launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile technically capable of reaching the mainland United States. In his New Years address on Jan. 1, Kim said his rocket scientists were in the final stages of preparing for launch. On July 4, he made good on this. They show their hand when theyre going to do something that could create actual instability, Jackson said, citing aircraft and maritime warnings ahead of missile launches over the years and the advance notification to Japan before it launched a rocket over its neighbor in 2009. So despite the often over-the-top language, theres plenty of reason to take North Korea seriously when it warns, as it did this week, that there will be more missile launches. Kim called Tuesdays launch a meaningful prelude to containing Guam and ordered his missile unit to be fully ready to go into action for decisive battle. North Korea is doing several things with these launches, analysts said. One of them is practicing launching under a variety of conditions and from a variety of places. This was an operational test, said Vipin Narang, an expert on nuclear proliferation and strategy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, noting this launch took place at a new site, just north of the capital. Theyre getting units ready to fire a missile without being destroyed, he said, adding KCNA has emphasized this was a rehearsal for a real-life situation. [ North Korean missile flies over Japan, prompting an angry response from Tokyo ] North Korea was also testing its technology. Tuesdays missile was fired at only half-range, South Koreas defense ministry said in a report to the National Assembly on Thursday. The missile had a full range of 3,100 miles, the ministry said. Guam is 2,100 miles from Pyongyang. But North Korea is also taking advantage of the mayhem in Washington, said Robert Carlin, a retired U.S. intelligence specialist on North Korea. The North Koreans read our media, they know that Trump is in trouble and that Washington is dysfunctional, Carlin said. They know that, for all of the fist-shaking, the United States really is a headless giant right now. They know that theres not much we can do, so theyre willing to press us. The Trump administration has not reciprocated with a clear message to the Kim regime, analysts say. President Trump has vacillated between calling Kim a smart cookie and warning him the U.S. military is locked and loaded. Sanctions have been Washingtons main tool for dealing with North Korea, but Pyongyang has found ways to get around them. Sanctions are always one step behind, Jackson said. Its a whack-a-mole problem. [ North Korea could cross ICBM threshold next year, U.S. officials warn in new assessment ] A forthcoming report from the U.N. panel of experts on North Korea, seen by The Washington Post, says North Korea continues to flout the arms embargo and robust financial and sectoral sanctions, showing that as the sanctions regime expands, so does the scope of evasion. Military action against North Korea would have horrific consequences, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier this month, not least because of the devastation North Korea could inflict on the South with its conventional artillery. Even as his officials try to find an opening for negotiations, Trump on Wednesday ruled out diplomacy. Talking is not the answer! he tweeted. But the presidents message was quickly undercut by his own defense secretary. We are never out of diplomatic solutions, Jim Mattis said at the Pentagon before meeting his South Korean counterpart, as if to back up Secretary of State Rex Tillersons comment a few days earlier that the president speaks for himself. Narang, of MIT, said the recent muddling of messages goes beyond ambiguity. Incoherence is not a strategy, and this is really starting to look incoherent, he said. For that reason, North Korea is likely to continue lobbing threats and firing missiles for the foreseeable future. As Carlin, the former intelligence analyst, puts it: Until the United States gives them a good reason to stop testing, theyre not going to stop. Read more: Priest whos visited North Korea more than 50 times wonders if he can go again North Korea launches three missiles into sea, heightening tensions Kim Jong Uns rockets are getting an important boost from China Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A file picture taken on August 26, 2006, shows a general view of a heavy water plant in Arak, 320 kms south of Tehran. The terms of the landmark nuclear deal called for the disabling of the reactor. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images) The U.N. watchdog tasked with monitoring Irans nuclear activities certified Thursday that the country remains in compliance with a 2015 accord struck with world powers, even as the Trump administration has threatened to withdraw from the deal. In its quarterly report to member states, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Irans stock of low-enriched uranium, which is used for peaceful purposes, is in line with the nuclear pact, as is the number of centrifuges used for enrichment. The report, which is confidential but was seen by multiple news agencies, also stated that Iran has not pursued the construction of its heavy-water reactor at Arak, which would give it the capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The agency uses electronic seals and online enrichment monitors to get reports to inspectors in real time. It also conducts on-site visits and has access to satellite imagery. Irans envoy to the agency, Reza Najafi, hailed the report as reflective of the watchdogs unbiased and professional work, Iranian media reported. The State Department said in a statement that the United States has full confidence in the agency and its highly skilled and professional inspectors. The document published Thursday is the watchdogs eighth certification of Irans compliance since the deal took effect in January 2016. It comes just a week after the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, visited the agency in Vienna to convey the administrations concerns about ensuring Irans strict compliance with the agreement. The administration has placed the accord, which was negotiated by the Obama White House, under interagency review. It says the agreement does not do enough to address other issues, such as Irans ballistic missile development or human rights violations in the region. Haley called on the agency to pursue every angle possible to monitor Irans activities, including inspections of military sites Iran says are not part of its nuclear research program. Under the accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA the agency can request access to military sites if it decides there is credible evidence of malfeasance. A U.S. official said Thursday that Haley did not ask the IAEA to inspect any specific sites, nor did she provide the IAEA with any new intelligence. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agencys report has not officially been made public. She conveyed that the IAEA will need to continue to robustly exercise its authorities to monitor the JCPOA, the official said, including access to undeclared and military-affiliated sites where the agency has questions about nuclear-related activities. In a statement Thursday, Haley did not directly address the report. Instead, she referred to a comment made earlier this week by a top adviser to Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who dismissed the U.S. call for further inspections as a dream that would never be fulfilled. If inspections of Iranian military sites are merely a dream, then Iranian compliance with the JCPOA is also a dream, she said in the statement. Later, she tweeted a different version of the same quote, declaring that if Iran rejects a valid request for inspections, then the nuclear deal as they say is merely a dream. But critics see the push for further access as an attempt to politicize the IAEAs work, and potentially force Iran to withdraw from the deal. The administration, including President Trump, has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the accord. Trump told the Wall Street Journal in July that he did not expect to declare Iran compliant in the coming months, despite a lack of public evidence of any Iranian violations. Almost any other U.S. administration would have a very hard time shrugging off the data provided by the IAEA, since its such a trusted source, said Colin Kahl, who was a deputy assistant to President Barack Obama. Kahl now serves on the advisory council of Diplomacy Works, an organization committed to upholding the JCPOA. However, President Trump has shown disdain for the Iran deal, and most multilateral efforts, he said. So the IAEA report does make it harder for the Trump administration to make its case for decertifying Irans compliance . . . but that doesnt necessarily make it less likely to happen. Read more Iran calls new U.S. sanctions a violation of nuclear deal Power struggle escalates between Irans president and hard-liners Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Meni Naftali, 39, the former caretaker of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house, sits in his living room Aug. 16 in Afula, Israel. Naftali is one of the main organizers of protests against Netanyahu. (Eliyahu Kamisher/AP) Meni Naftali is not tall, but hes easy to spot among the hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a shopping mall chanting raucously for their prime minister to be jailed. Illuminated by a glare of light from a television crew, he holds a phone above the crowd to stream live on Facebook. Well-wishers approach for hugs, handshakes and selfies. Its a far cry from his day job as a house painter and manual laborer. But the 39-year-old former security guard, who struggled in school and says he never had much interest in politics, has become the unlikely standard- bearer for a band of Israeli citizens fed up with corruption in the halls of power. Naftali says he sees himself as a David, taking on the Goliath who is Israels longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Naftali once worked as his housekeeper. Each Saturday for the past 40 weeks, Naftali has led a protest near the home of Israels attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, calling on him to indict the prime minister, who is increasingly dogged by allegations of corruption. Meni Naftali, center, and Eldad Yaniv, far right, protest Saturday in front of the home of Israel's attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, in Petah Tikva, Israel. (Dan Balilty/AP) Netanyahu has officially been named a suspect in two cases. In the first, he is being investigated for allegedly receiving illegal gifts, including expensive cigars and champagne from billionaire benefactors. In a second, he is accused of attempting to cut a deal with an Israeli newspaper for better coverage in return for political favors. A third case does not name him directly, but his lawyer is among those in his close circle being investigated for irregularities in a multimillion-dollar deal to buy German submarines. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and has said the investigations and the protests are part of a conspiracy by the left wing and the media to bring him down by undemocratic means. In a speech to supporters Wednesday, he dismissed the demonstrations as a joke, attacking them and Naftali for close to 10 minutes. [A defiant Netanyahu attacks fake news as investigations heat up] As allegations have swollen, though, so have the demonstrations. What started as a few dozen people shivering in the rain had grown to a crowd of about 2,000 Saturday night. They blew whistles and beat drums. We are going to be here as long as it takes to get Netanyahu out, said Naftali, with anti-Netanyahu stickers plastered across his tight-fitting T-shirt and a blue whistle hanging around his neck. It has already been a long battle for Naftali. It began when he took a job as a housekeeper in Netanyahus residence six years ago, organizing the laundry, the events and even making sure the flowers were fresh. It was then I realized that in the top spot, anything goes, he said of the excessive spending he said he witnessed. In 2014, he sued the Netanyahus and the state of Israel for damages, claiming he was mistreated and misled over whether his position would be made permanent. Israeli newspapers lapped up every detail of his courtroom testimony, including allegations about first lady Sara Netanyahus champagne habit, angry outbursts and racist remarks about Naftalis Middle Eastern background. On one occasion, he said, she called him at 3 a.m. to berate him for buying milk in a bag rather than a carton. Naftali won a partial payout in the case but said acts of revenge that followed made him determined to keep up his fight. His gun license was revoked, he said, leaving him unable to work as a security guard, as he had before Netanyahu hired him. He can now find jobs only as a handyman. Since beginning the protests, he has been arrested four times. The Netanyahus accused him of slander, calling him a lying, disgruntled former employee with a personal vendetta. You cant believe a word coming out of the mouth of the serial offender and the serial liar, Yossi Cohen, a lawyer for the Netanyahu family, said in a statement, accusing Naftali of falsifying a work deposition and attendance records. A colleague at the prime ministers residence lodged a sexual harassment claim against Naftali, a case that is still under investigation. Naftali denies the allegation, contending that it is part of an attempt to smear him. They always taught me in the army that if there was a terrorist in front of me, even if the bullets were finished in my gun, I should go forward and fight the terrorist with my hands, said Naftali, who served in a commando unit during his military service. So anytime there is someone who is against me, I will fight them. I will fight it with all my strength. Nir Hefez, a spokesman for the prime minister, said Naftalis claim that there is a campaign against him is absurd and baseless. Hefez also shared an article that alleged that spending in the prime ministers residence had increased while Naftali was a housekeeper. Sara Netanyahu is being investigated for the misuse of funds at the residence. Who ate all this food? Benjamin Netanyahu joked in his speech. It wasnt my dog. Joining Naftali in urging Israelis onto the street is Eldad Yaniv, an attorney who says he was once part of the countrys corrupt power politics but has now seen the errors of his ways. Netanyahu accused the media of not doing enough to investigate both mens pasts. Earlier this month, Yaniv and Naftali were stopped by police as they drove their cars to a Saturday protest. They were handcuffed and arrested for Facebook posts allegedly encouraging an illegal demonstration. Police detained them overnight before releasing them. The police say the demonstrations are a nuisance in the residential neighborhood. But the arrests have only brought the men more attention. The pair say they were strip-searched four times in three hours in what they claim is a campaign of harassment sanctioned from on high. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the arrests were operational. Law-and-order issues have to be dealt with when things get out of hand on the ground, he said. Those on the scene had their reasons to carry out strip-searches. Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan said in a television interview that the arrests were not the smartest decision. He told The Washington Post that the protests had been allowed to proceed for 40 weeks, but that in most other countries police would arrest protest organizers if they had been asked not to demonstrate. Last week, Israels Supreme Court ruled that the right to protest outweighed the right of the residents to peace and quiet, and that the demonstrations could continue although it capped the number of people permitted to protest at 500. Naftali sat watching from the benches. [Pressure mounts on Israels prime minister as aide agrees to testify] At Saturdays protest, a police officer used a hand-held clicker to count 500 demonstrators entering a pen set up outside the shopping center. But hundreds of others gathered on the roundabout outside and a nearby hill. The most recent protest drew a mix of Israelis: older left-wing intellectuals, former soldiers and first-time protesters. Near the back of the crowd, one protester who described himself as a couch potato said he had never been to any kind of demonstration before. Naftali, though, had inspired him. Ive never met him, but I love him, he said. Hes sincere, honest, not corrupted. The protester did not want his full name published, fearing repercussions for attending the demonstration in what he describes as an increasingly authoritarian environment. Im scared for him, actually, he said of Naftali. Naftalis wife, Simona, said she is also worried about reprisals and tries to keep her distance from the protests. She sits around the corner from the crowd, outside a pharmacy, and keeps a cold bottle of water for her husband in a bag. The children dont like it, the spotlight, she said. We go to a restaurant and someone spots him, and comes over, and it stops being a family moment. You should see the number of messages he gets on his phone at night. Naftali said that even if Netanyahu is jailed, he will have other battles to fight. Its about corruption in this country and the right to democracy, he said. But his wife misses the days when life was simpler. Its not that I dont see him. Its his head is somewhere else, she said. I want him to come back to me, but thats not going to happen now. Thats never going to happen. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In response to the expulsion of American diplomats from Russia in July, the State Department announced that it is closing three Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. (The Washington Post) In response to the expulsion of American diplomats from Russia in July, the State Department announced that it is closing three Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. (The Washington Post) The Trump administration has ordered three Russian diplomatic facilities in the United States closed following the expulsion of American diplomats from Russia, the State Department said Thursday. Last month, Russia demanded that the U.S. diplomatic presence there be reduced by hundreds of people. In retaliation, the State Department has ordered the Russian government to close its consulate general in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures must be complete by Saturday. The diplomatic reprisals underscore the continued deterioration of relations between the nuclear-armed nations, with more acts of payback likely to come. And they appear to place President Trumps hopes for closer ties with Russia further out of reach. The Trump administration has struggled at times to send a consistent message to the Kremlin. Some White House aides appeared to support Russias desire to have sanctions lifted early in the administration, but Trump ended up signing legislation in July slapping new punitive sanctions on Russia over election meddling. The State Department expressed disappointment when Russia expelled U.S. diplomats, but Trump made light of the situation, thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin because were trying to cut down on payroll. On Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted the White House wants to halt the downward spiral between the countries. Were going to look for opportunities to do that, but were also going to make sure that we make decisions that are best for our country, Sanders said. Anatoly Antonov, Russias newly named ambassador to Washington, cautioned against any outbursts on either side. Now we need to sort this out calmly, very calmly, and act in a professional manner, Antonov said, according to the state-run Tass news agency. My comrades and I will fulfill our work in a professional manner. Experts said it was likely that Russia would respond to the latest U.S. action, potentially by shuttering specific parts of the U.S. diplomatic mission, such as one of its consulates or other annexes. Then it will be up to the United States to react or not to react, but I hope that after this we will finally put this full stop in this cycle of action and counteraction and at least try to manage our relationship, said Dmitry Suslov, a program director for the Valdai International Discussion Club in Moscow. When Russia expelled U.S. diplomats this summer, it said it was retaliating for new U.S. sanctions and the seizure of two Russian compounds in the United States. The Kremlin said its response sought parity in the number of diplomats from each country working in the other, but it was read as a clear sign that Putin had written off chances of a rapprochement under Trump. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that relations are at their worst point since the Cold War and that national security demands that the United States try to improve them, but the Trump administration has shown no real success. Russias role in the 2016 election also hangs over the latest back-and-forth. The United States claims that Russia meddled in the election with the goal of harming Democrat Hillary Clinton and helping Trump, a Republican businessman who had openly admired Putin and said he hoped for improved ties. Russia denies interference and Trump denies any collusion. A special counsel and congressional panels are investigating, complicating the political climate for any U.S. outreach. Putin hoped that Trumps arrival in the White House would offer a fresh start in particular a reversal of economic sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama because of Russias actions in Ukraine. Additional sanctions and the expulsion of some Russian diplomats came in response to a U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia had attempted to influence the November election. In what was seen as a welcoming gesture to Trump, Putin held off for months on any retaliation for those actions and the seizure of two Russian recreation compounds in the United States. The Russian expulsions in July were his answer, and Thursdays announcement by the United States is, in turn, a response to that action, which Nauert called unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries. Tillerson told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call Thursday that the United States had complied with the Russian demand by the Aug. 31 deadline, and informed him of the new U.S. demands, a State Department official said. A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov expressed his regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations, which were not started by us. While the United States called its decision a reaction to Russias curtailing of U.S. diplomatic staff in the country, Russia has blamed the United States for setting off a cycle of sanctions and responses that seems likely to continue. Lavrov told Tillerson that Moscow would carefully study the new measures announced by the Americans, after which it would announce our reaction, the Russian statement said. Likewise, Nauert warned that the United States could also take further action as necessary and as warranted. Tillerson and Lavrov agreed to meet in September, probably on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly session in New York, a State Department official said. Its not clear whether Trump and Putin will also meet at the U.N. session. The two leaders have met on one occasion, also on the sidelines of an international gathering. [Putin denied election hacking during meeting with Trump, U.S. says] Russia retains three other consulates as well as smaller diplomatic facilities in the United States. Russia has more facilities in the United States than the United States has in Russia. The State Department said it is not demanding absolute parity as a way to open the door for better relations. The United States has not returned the diplomatic compounds in Maryland and New York that it seized in December, despite Russian demands. The compounds have been the subject of lower- level discussions between the two nations, and their return has been considered as a U.S. gesture of goodwill. [Trump business sought Moscow real estate deal during campaign] Russia owns two of the facilities that now must be closed and leases the third, the State Department official said. Russia will retain ownership but cannot use the facilities for diplomatic purposes. The facilities in Washington and New York house trade missions, while the larger San Francisco office handles visas and broader diplomatic work. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the diplomatic order, said no Russians will be expelled as a result of the new order. It was not clear how many Russian personnel are affected. Each country accuses the other of using its diplomatic facilities to mask espionage. U.S. officials said the two recreational facilities seized in December had been misused, and the San Francisco site is suspected in economic espionage. Shutting down the San Francisco facility will hamper Moscows ability to target Americas tech industry using intelligence officers posing as diplomats, said Edward Price, a former CIA analyst and a National Security Council spokesman in the Obama administration. Closing the other facilities will force Russia to make difficult choices when it comes to deciding whether to prioritize its diplomatic mission or its covert intelligence-gathering activities. Andrew Roth in Moscow and Ellen Nakashima in Washington contributed to this report. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. On Friday, Sept. 1, Le Burger Week kicks off in Winnipeg for the fifth year, and the annual event has really beefed up its offerings for the 2017 competition. Sydneys El Chupacabra is a five-ounce Canadian angus beef patty served between traditional Salvadoran sesame seed buns and garnished with with tomatillo salsa verde and chorizo-spiced, house-smoked bacon. (Supplied) During the seven-day event, more than 100 local restaurants will create unique burgers making Winnipegs week the largest in all of Canada which then get voted on by customers, many of whom pack in several of the decadent burgers each day in an attempt to taste as many as they can. Winnipeggers, theyve bought into the burger madness, they have supported it and made it what it is. Winnipeg is a close-knit culinary community thats very much willing to support one another and people like to hop on events like this, says Daniel Gurevich of Charcoal Collaborative, a lifestyle blog that acts as the ambassador for Le Burger Week. The meaty event has continued to grow from year to year since it started in Winnipeg in 2013, almost doubling the number of participating restaurants in the last year alone. This years participants range from classic burger locales, such as the Grove, Boon Burger and Market Burger, to more outside of the box contenders, such as Chosabi and Shawarma Khan. Gurevich credits the interest to word of mouth and vendors who have really embraced the friendly competition aspect. This years participants range from classic burger locales to more outside of the box contenders, such as Shawarma Khan's 'Burger Khan,' which offers beef & lamb burger mix and an added falafel ball. (Supplied) I think the chefs really do enjoy it, it allows them to do something fun and creative for the week, come up with this new burger idea when the week itself comes, I think thats when they start to curse my name because its extremely busy for them, and Ive heard some of the numbers of burgers some restaurants send out and its insane. I dont know how they keep up with production, he says, laughing. Winners will be chosen in catagories such as Judges Choice, Most Outrageous and Healthiest Burger, tabulated from the votes cast on the events website, leburgerweek.com. Given the way Le Burger Week has ballooned in size this year, Gurevich is hesitant to say whether organizers might eventually have to limit the number of competitors. Ill say that the number exceeds expectations this year and were always re-evaluating the best way to do the competition in the city, he says. With (burger week) expanding like this, one of our goals is making sure what area of the city youre in, no matter what type of restaurants you enjoy going to, youre able to find something thats for you. Beef and lamb gyro is topped with feta cheese on the Holdin out for a Gyro at Market Burger. (Supplied) I know a lot of people say, Oh, you know we liked it when we could go try every restaurant, and we do understand that, but you want to make sure that everyone gets to participate, whether youre in River Heights, Transcona, St. James, doesnt really matter, you can find a place near you. This year, organizers have added a couple of new features; the first is the Buy a Friend a Burger initiative, which allows festival attendees to go online, select a burger they wish to give as a gift and, for $1 in addition to the listed price, purchase that burger in advance for a friend. They will then get an emailed voucher that can be used to claim the burger at the restaurant. The second is a partnership Le Burger Week has developed with both Just Eat and Skip the Dishes. Yes, the limited-edition burgers can now be delivered to your door. Were also going to have an interactive burger map on our website so you can basically see a picture (of a burger), scroll over it, and itll show you where theyre located in the city, Gurevich says. Le Burger Week runs until Sept. 7 at more than 400 restaurants in 11 cities across Canada. More information can be found on leburgerweek.com starting Sept. 1. erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @NireRabel Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The federal Tories have kept Selkirk-area MP James Bezan as defence critic, but dropped Dauphin-area MP Robert Sopuck from their shadow cabinet. Bezan will continue keeping an eye on Ottawas military plans, a role hes held since the 2015 election. Under the former Conservative government, he was parliamentary secretary to the defence minister. The Liberals unveiled their defence priorities in June, and Bezan says his top concern will be watching to see whether the government ponies up enough funding for their ambitions, from human-resource support to equipment. They have punted all those investments down the road until after the next election, Bezan said. In April, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan came under fire for claiming he was the architect of an Afghanistan military operation that hed helped others co-ordinate. Bezan was among the Tories calling on the Liberals to demote Sajjan, who kept his post in this Mondays Liberal cabinet shuffle. He definitely has lost credibility in the eyes of Canadians, especially those who serve, Bezan said, though he said hes now focused on Sajjans policies, like an unfulfilled pledge to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission. Bezan, who has Ukrainian roots, held a key role in co-ordinating Canadas response to Russias 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Next month he heads to Latvia to visit recently arrived Canadian troops, who are facing the prospect of another Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Sopuck has lost his job as critic for wildlife conservation and Parks Canada, a role the party has axed. Sopuck, a former fisheries biologist, previously wrote the outdoors column for the Free Press. The Tories did not respond to a request asking to explain the change. In July, new party leader Andrew Scheer chose to keep Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen as the partys House leader, putting her in his inner circle. The job involves negotiating with the Liberals over scheduling debates and taking them to task over controversial proposals. Manitobas two remaining MPs, Provencher MP Ted Falk and Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire, will not hold shadow cabinet roles under Scheer. After losing six Manitoba seats, the Conservatives see the province as a key battleground in the fall 2019 election. Bezan said the party will focus this fall on Manitoba issues like asylum-seekers crossing irregularly near Emerson. A month ago, Scheer chose Winnipeg for the partys pre-parliamentary caucus meeting. On Sept. 7 to 8, as many as 98 MPs and 38 senators, as well as their spouses and children, will descend on the city to talk strategy, while many plan to knock on doors and hear how Manitobans feel about federal issues. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/08/2017 (1901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitobas top court has ordered the legal battle between protesters and a local developer be brought back to court on an urgent basis. A request for an injunction to remove protesters from the Parker Lands development site will now be heard on Sept. 14 instead of Nov. 2, after a panel of Court of Appeal judges decided Wednesday afternoon that the request was indeed urgent and should be argued in court as soon as possible. We are satisfied that the cost of delay is real, Chief Justice Richard Chartier said as he delivered the panels oral reasons for decision Wednesday afternoon. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Construction continues around protesters who have been camped out on the Parker lands development site since July 14. Court of Queens Bench Justice Herbert Rempel had previously decided the injunction request wasnt urgent because theres no irreparable harm to the corporation. Rempel said he had no evidence that the protesters wouldnt be able to pay damages to the property owner if they were required to do so. But the appeal court overturned that decision Wednesday after lawyers for the property owner, developer Andrew Marquess and his firm Gem Equities, convinced the top court Rempel was wrong. The appeal courts decision will speed up the process, but a judge will still have to decide whether to grant an injunction, which would force protesters off the property. Protesters have been camped out on the Fort Garry property since mid-July, halting clear cutting of trees with their Rooster Town blockade, named for a Metis community that was once located near the site. They say they are standing up for Indigenous land rights. Marquess, as the property owner, has taken legal action to remove the protesters from the industrial property near the intersection of Taylor Avenue and Waverley Street. They say no Indigenous group or political leader has raised concerns about the ownership of the land. His lawyers say police have been told not to interfere with the protesters camp. The case raises serious issues involving property rights, Chartier said, as the panel of judges called attention to police inaction. There is evidence, albeit hearsay at this point, that the police were ordered by the executive to take no steps to remove the defendants from the property unless ordered by a court, Chartier said. If there is any credence to this, we find it alarming because when police are engaged in the enforcement of the law, they are to act independently. In a sworn affidavit filed in court, Marquess says a police officer told him during a phone conversation on July 15 a day after the protesters set up camp that the Chief of Police had been ordered by the executive to take no steps to remove the trespassers. There is no clarification on who or what the executive refers to. The Winnipeg Police Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Appeal Court Justice Alan MacInnes commented during the hearing that this whole process, compared to normal, is backwards. He said, typically, protesters would be removed from private property and then they could apply for an injunction to halt development on the property. One of the protesters who appeared in court to speak against the urgent need for an injunction hearing said its her understanding police cant act on civil matters. If someone was on your front lawn saying, Im occupying your front lawn, that would be a different story. This is a property that is being clear cut, said Nancy Thomas, who described herself as a social justice activist. She said the protesters want to ask the court to review the initial land transfer on the property and halt any further development of the land. Were feeling pretty confident because a lot was done wrong with the land transfer and were hoping to have the court review that, she said. Marquesss legal team has said ownership of the land is not contested and has never been raised as a concern by any Indigenous group or political leader. Lawyer Kevin Toyne is representing Marquess and Gem Equities. He said the appeal courts decision is important and significant because it gives his clients their day in court much more quickly. He said the corporation cant estimate its financial losses from delaying clearcutting on the land as it was being prepared for future development. Toyne said its entirely unclear to us where the direction came from instructing police not to interfere with the protests. The practical implications of that, though, are that the police have allowed this to go on for a month and a half now, he said, saying his clients hope a court order to remove the illegal protesters after the Sept. 14 hearing. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. INGLIS It was one of those wacky ideas that sounded smart after a little alcoholic encouragement. A bunch of men over the age of 60 with little know-how would repaint one of the famous wooden grain elevators in Inglis by themselves. Stu Breckon was at his summer cottage with his pal Ron Muir when they hatched their unorthodox plan. Ian Froese / Brandon Sun Stu Breckon, Bob Breckon and Del Stadnyk are part of the painting crew who gave a fresh coat of paint to the old United Grain Growers elevator in Inglis. There may have been liquor involved, Breckon said. The friends read in the Winnipeg Free Press that day how Inglis needed help preserving its historic row of prairie giants. Before long, Breckon was on the phone with his pal Dale Holaday from Saskatoon, who painted grain elevators as a summer job in the late 1960s. Lets paint an elevator, Breckon told him. Holaday was eager, but didnt think anything would come to pass. The next morning, there was another call from Breckon. He phoned me to say, You know, we were kind of in the cups, Im not sure we can do it, Holaday said. I said, Heck, I painted that thing twice in my sleep last night, were doing it. Friends of Breckons from across Canada and the United States descended on Inglis last week for that reason. I thought it was too good to be true, said Judy Bauereiss, who chairs the Inglis Area Heritage Committee. But as time evolved and the communication evolved, I thought, Wow, this is going to happen, and it is. Its amazing. Thanks to local businesses offering supplies at generous prices and sometimes for free, the cost to repaint the elevator will be less than $10,000, Breckon estimated much less than the $80,000 the Inglis volunteer board is paying a contractor this year to give a fresh coat of paint to another of the communitys five elevators. Among Breckons full-time, 11-person crew, including Muir and Holaday, are his cousin Bob Breckon from Edmonton and friend Arn Hoffman from Calgary. Ian Froese / Brandon Sun Ron Muir grew up in Deloraine and came down from Edmonton to join the crew. A number of the volunteers, some with Manitoba roots, have some connection to the grain elevators of old. They remember how their angular silhouettes pierced the sky over the open prairies. Stus crew was bigger than he expected. Bryan Garnham, a Winnipegger who heard an interview with Breckon on radio, was welcomed as a volunteer. He had painted elevators before, so his experience, like Holadays, proved invaluable. I just wanted to experience it again, Garnham said of his old job. Im scratching my head now wondering why I would want to do that? he added with a chuckle. The youngest person in the group is 66 and the elder statesman of the group is Don Rowat, an 87-year-old from Russell who heard about the painting project from a newsletter the Inglis Area Heritage Committee published. Rowat was not acting his age. He was ripping rotten lumber off the wall and jogging around like a man a few decades younger. The only qualification these guys had for joining is that you had to be older than dirt, he joked. Each worker stuck out in their white outfits, emblazoned with the blue crest of the United Grain Growers, the defunct company whose elevator they repainted. They put their own spin on their logo. Their slogan was Make Elevators Great Again. Ian Froese / Brandon Sun Painters giving a fresh coat of paint to the United Grain Growers elevator in Inglis pose for the camera. As for Holaday, hes had a hoot telling friends hes returning to a job he had straight out of high school. I think its quite a feat a bunch of seniors coming out to paint a grain elevator, Holaday said. Brians the only one whos painted an elevator before, and myself, so it all rests with raw rookies. Its just a lark. The average age of this crew would be higher if it wasnt for Jocie Breckon, Stus daughter, who just graduated from paramedic school. They all joked about how theyd need a medic, so here I am, said Jocie, who has doubled as a painter. Some of their wives felt safer with me being here. A wacky idea like seniors painting an elevator 75 feet high is not out of the realm for her father, Jocie suggested. A couple years ago, Stu and a friend decided, out of the blue, to start driving dune buggies. They now take part in a big race in Mexico every year. Hes very odd, but interesting, she said of her father, who she was happy to work alongside. If I have kids one day, maybe Ill drive them out here and tell them the story about that summer. The Breckons chose to paint the UGG elevator because Stuarts father ran the UGG elevator in Homewood, east of Carman, from 1952 to 1964. The group worked long hours all week to get the elevator looking its best. Last Wednesday, CBC comedian Rick Mercer helped the crew paint, for a future segment on his show. Ian Froese / Brandon Sun Inglis historic row of grain elevators pierce the sky of the open prairies. Altogether, its been a week Stu Breckon wont soon forget. There havent been any regrets, he said, ever since Holaday told him his big idea over drinks, it had to happen. Were all here, were all happy, Breckon said. Its kind of like a bunch of guys getting together to go for a hunting trip, but were not going on a hunting trip, were doing something useful. Brandon Sun Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It was this time last year when a driver of my acquaintance who was unaware the school zone speed limit was in effect even though students werent back in class got tagged with a pricey photo-radar ticket. And beat it. The enforcement of school-zone limits on the 2016 Labour Day weekend can be described only as a blitz. On Wednesday, at my request, the Winnipeg Police Service went to the trouble of compiling the number of photo-radar tickets issued over last years extra-long long weekend. The 30 km/h limit began on Sept. 1, as the bylaw dictates. A total of 2,484 such tickets were issued in a mere three days. Last year, students didnt go back to school until Tuesday, Sept. 6. That meant photo-radar vans could operate on the preceding Thursday, Friday and Monday when, judging by the number of tickets, most drivers were still in summer-holiday driving mode. Or they thought reduced speeds in school zones started when school resumed. Why am I telling you this now? For a couple of reasons, starting with the most obvious and important: Its the time of year to offer a first warning. Police traffic officers and photo-radar vans again will enforce 30 km/h school zone limits as of Friday, Sept. 1, even though the kids arent back in school until Tuesday. This means drivers who have been school-zoning-out all summer doing 50 km/h are apt to forget to slow down and could get tagged on Friday and the Labour Day Monday. Anyway, as I said, consider this your first warning because while there is no official grace period if a cop instead of a photo-radar van catches you speeding this weekend in a school zone, you might get lucky and receive a warning. Its up to their discretion, Staff Sgt. Rob Riffel of the Winnipeg Police Services Central Traffic Unit said. Not only is there room in these early back-to-school days for police discretion, theres a benefit for police giving you a break, too. Riffel refers to it as positive interaction between cops and what Ill call cynical citizens, who believe traffic enforcement in these circumstances simply is a cash grab. But police discretion will go only so far this long weekend. What if police catch you driving over 30 km/h in a school zone when its obvious kids are in the playground, even though classes arent back? What do cops do then? I would expect them to probably issue a ticket, Riffel said. If its an abandoned school zone and were really just out there trying to get people to comply with it for preparation for school to be in session, then obviously that could be a time when we would give someone a warning. But as long as theres an interaction and were getting people to get back conditioned to the school zone, thats our ultimate goal. That sounds reasonable. Of course, photo-radar enforcement has no discretion although it appears our backed-up traffic court is being forced to show discretion when drivers decide to plead not guilty. Yeah theyre trying to clear up that backlog, Riffel said. The bottom line is there just isnt enough physical space and time to do everybody whos pleading not guilty. But I know theyre working on it. Which brings us back to my friend who beat his photo-radar ticket. As it happened, the car owners father started by taking the ticket to traffic court last fall, shortly after his daughter received it. The Crown attorney immediately offered a deal. Plead guilty and he would slash the fine to $125. But the drivers father said no, he was going to fight it on her behalf. And with that a court date was set for early January, 2018. Time ticked slowly on in traffic court. Then, last July 10 months after receiving the photo-radar speeding ticket another piece of mail arrived from Manitoba Justice. Please be advised, the form letter began, the crown will be dropping the allegation(s) which was issued against you or your registered vehicle as registered owner. What this means is that the prosecution will no longer occur and you no longer have to attend your trial date. There will be no finding of guilt or responsibility in any way registered against you as it related to this ticket(s); you no longer have any requirement to pay any of the recommended fines listed on the ticket:; and the matter is now closed. Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Files Winnipeg city bylaws dictate that the 30 km/h school zone speed limit kicks in on Sept. 1, even the though kids don't go back to school until after Labour Day. Chances are that wasnt the only form letter Manitoba Justice dispatched this year as a result of last years Labour Day weekend ticket blitz. So given the acknowledged backlog of traffic court cases in general I asked if the justice department decided to do a mass staying of charges for those who pleaded not guilty to the school-zone tickets from last year. No, was the answer from a spokesperson. But the spokesperson also emailed her own warning, of sorts, about the upcoming Labour Day weekend. We encourage drivers to re-familiarize themselves with the locations of reduced-speed school zones before September 1. Oh, yes, and I should remind you that just around the corner we have another holiday weekend when photo-radar vans will be working. Thanksgiving Day. Having said all that, let me leave you with a question. Isnt it time, for the sake of the safety of our kids who use school playgrounds beyond school hours, that we simply make every day and every school zone a reduced speed area? That would end the confusion. And those whopping 2,484-ticket long weekend wallet grabs. gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. UPDATE: This event has been cancelled. American history buffs can board a vintage Second World War bomber plane when it makes a two-week stopover in Kenora beginning next week. The B-25J Mitchell lands this weekend in Ontario cottage country and is open for tours at the Kenora Airport from Sept. 4 to 17. Matt Goerzen / The Brandon Sun Files The public can book flights on B-25 bomber Maid in the Shade when it stops in Kenora next week. The stop is part of the Flying Legends of Victory Tour that includes two other B-25 bombers. Together, three fully restored bombers are on an extended June to October educational mission that takes in 50 separate cities in the U.S. and Canada. The B-25 headed to Kenora is known by American flyboys as the Maid in the Shade. She was built in 1944 and used mainly as a low altitude and strafe and skip bomber. Nearly 10,000 B-25s were turned out on wartime assembly lines and were used primarily in Americas bombing offensive in the Philippines. There are only 34 such planes still in operation. The B-25 is probably best remembered for the Doolittle Raid on Japan led by American pioneer aviator Jimmy Doolittle. The aircraft also flew combat missions over Italy and the former Yugoslavia in 1944. The Flying Legends of Victory Tour is a volunteer non-profit organization based at Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum in Mesa, Ariz. Collecting, restoring and flying vintage aircraft for more than half a century, the Commemorative Air Force also ranks as one of the largest private air forces in the world. The plane flying into Kenora isnt just to look at: people have to opportunity to fly in it, too. Members of the public can book a 20-25 minute ride in advance. Seats cost US$325 for a waist gunner seat and US$650 for a flight deck jump seat. Flights are limited to seven passengers and reservations are required at http://bit.ly/KenoraON. Ground tours are $10 per person or $20 per family. For more information about the Flying Legends of Victory Tour, visit www.flyinglegendstour.com. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Another emergency shelter is opening in Winnipeg today to help accommodate people fleeing wild fire from northeastern Manitoba. The Winnipeg Soccer North indoor complex will be opened today to hold up to 900 evacuees, said the Canadian Red Cross. More than 3,700 people from three First Nations Wasagamack, Garden Hill and St. Theresa Point are being flown to Winnipeg and Brandon. The first emergency shelter opened in Winnipeg Thursday at the RBC Convention Centre. About 1,000 evacuees filled the convention centre on Thursday as temporary lodging. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Northern Manitoba fire evacuees step off of a Canadian Forces C130 Hercules at James Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg. The third floor of the convention centre is set up with cots along with temporary dining and recreation areas. Since late Wednesday, volunteers from the Canadian Red Cross, the Bear Clan and other local groups have been hard at work preparing the building for the influx of evacuees. Kim MacLean, the Red Cross director of disaster management for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said the organization is thankful for the accommodation, even if it wasnt the usual option given the circumstances. For us in Manitoba, we havent done this in a while. Its kind of the last place that we look at. We always try to use commercial lodging as much as we can, and we also want to allow people to go stay with friends and family if thats an option, she said. Hotel rooms at a premium Hotel rooms are at a premium right now, and we do have another 830 or so evacuees from Poplar River staying in Winnipeg, said Shawn Feely, vice president of the Canadian Red Cross for the Manitoba and Nunavut regions, referring to an evacuation executed last week. Shawn Feely, vice president of the Canadian Red Cross for the Manitoba and Nunavut regions (Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press) The latest evacuees were flown into Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson in chartered flights and on military planes, which were provided by the Department of National Defence as the wildfires grew with frightening speed Tuesday. In Wasagamack, heavy smoke has been blowing into the community, and the fires glow is inching too close for anyone to remain there safely. As of Thursday, the 23,000-hectare fire was within 800 metres of Wasagamack homes, hastening the evacuation of all 2,000 residents. A 2000-hectare fire by Fox Lake is only six kilometres away from the community, and a 4,600-hectare fire is still burning three-and-a-half kilometres from Poplar River, where suppression efforts have been ongoing since last week. The fire near Wasagamack also required an evacuation of St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill, as crews are working to suppress spot fires away from the main blaze. Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press A Red Cross worker sets up cots at the RBC Convention Centre for people fleeing wildfires in northeastern Manitoba. According to a release from the provinces department of sustainable development and the office of the fire commissioner, fire crews from the Northwest Territories and Minnesota along with water bombers from Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador are supporting Manitoban suppression efforts. The release states that hot, dry and windy conditions are continuing, resulting in elevated wildfire danger levels in many areas of the province. One Wasagamack mother who preferred her name not be shared arrived at the convention centre around noon with six of her eight children in tow; two of them were taken to Brandon along with her grandchildren. Shes thankful for the help, but frustrated to be separated from her family. The younger ones are here, but I need (the others) with me, she said. Its been a hard two nights, she added, with one young daughter clinging to her knee. Keeping families and friends together during the evacuation is of the utmost importance to the Red Cross, and while the convention centre has given space for evacuees for the time being, contingency plans are being developed should more space be required to accommodate them, Feely said. Our main focus is on the here and now, he said. While the Red Cross and other partners are trying to help as many people as possible, children, elderly people and those with medical concerns were given priority, Feely said. The first group of evacuees arrived at roughly 10:45 a.m., when more than 100 people exited a bus that took them straight from the airport to the convention centre, where people registered with Red Cross volunteers working as quickly as they could. As soon as they arrived, the evacuees were provided snacks, coffee and other beverages. Meals will be provided in a seating area that can accommodate between 450 and 500 people. Personal hygiene kits are being given to all evacuees, and the convention centre has washrooms capable of accommodating the large group, but shower and laundry facilities are still being sought out, Feely said, adding he didnt know exactly when those services would be available. Our main focus (right now) is on getting people out safely, getting them here in Winnipeg and getting them settled, he told reporters. We understand and can appreciate how scared people might be, how stressed they are. Theyd been waiting to be airlifted out, and now that is coming. Today is going to be a big day for moving the evacuees. Kevin Hart, Manitobas regional chief in the Assembly of First Nations, said his main concern is the health and safety of the evacuees. Some havent eaten for a long time, Hart said. Of the food already supplied, the Wasagamack mother hoped for more nutritional options moving forward. Were tired of sandwiches, she said. People are still waiting at the tarmacks of the northern airports, Hart said. Some elderly people and diabetics havent eaten since late Wednesday night, so the AFN was working on getting food and lunches to those people. Estimated fire perimeter Feely made sure to acknowledge the exceptional work the communities leadership groups have done to help residents navigate the evacuation process. As more people arrive in Winnipeg, Feely said the Red Cross is prepared to provide up to 2,000 cots at all times in Manitoba, in addition to government supplies and those reserved in neighbouring provinces. We have more than enough supplies for events like this, he said, noting people who choose to stay with friends and family will be given food vouchers. While recreation space is available within the convention centre, field trips will likely be planned to get people outside and moving. Should the evacuation last several weeks, as past Red Cross operations have, temporary school services can be set up with on-site teachers, Feely said. In order to help people deal with the stress of the situation, community health professionals will be engaged to ensure the well-being of evacuees should it be needed. In terms of psychosocial support, our volunteers are trained, he said. FACEBOOK Residents of Wasagamack First Nation are evacuated by boat Tuesday night after wildfires threatened the northern Manitoba community. Bear clan volunteering Darryl Contois, a member of the Bear Clan, said other volunteers external to the Red Cross have undergone emergency training and are ready to help in any way possible. We havent (ever helped with a situation of this magnitude), but we have to start somewhere, said Contois. This is really unusual circumstances with the volume of people coming out, so I have to give credit to the city and all the partners whove really stepped forward and asked us, and said What can we do to support you? Its been great, MacLean said. The Red Cross is not seeking material donations, and though financial donations are always accepted by the organization, funds specifically earmarked to help the evacuees are not being sought, Feely said. Right now we are not asking for walk-in volunteers. That may change, it all depends on how long were (here), he said. The Island Lakes Tribal Council at 338 Broadway is accepting donations for hampers, baby formula, clothing and other essential needs, Hart said. A lot of people are just coming with the clothes off their backs, he said. ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca with files from Bill Redekop and Nick Martin Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The history of Manitoba can be found in the library, within dusty textbooks in dimly lit rows where students spend desperate, caffeine-fuelled afternoons researching the Red River Rebellion, the Winnipeg General Strike and the importance of an eagle feather, on a legislature desk, that killed the Meech Lake Accord. These are part of the official history of how a province and a city grew. But theres an unofficial history to this province, and its one that the Archives of Manitoba is interested in preserving, as well. Its that unofficial history that can be found in basements and attics, in garages and in long-forgotten stashes. Its the everyday history of Manitobans that often gets thrown in the garbage, but could contain interesting insights into the cultural and societal changes of the city and the province as it grew. Doreen Pruden came across a treasure trove of unofficial history in June when she was clearing out a basement. She discovered binders of meeting minutes from 1951 to 1972. Binders that contained the minutes of a club called the River Circle. As she describes it, the River Circle began in the late 1940s, when a new suburb was constructed in St. James along the Assiniboine River. This was the beginning of the baby boom, as men had returned home from the Second World War and women were staying in these newly built homes, enjoying enormous prosperity, at least compared to previous generations. These women, according to Pruden, formed a club to meet occasionally, get away from family obligations and take on various projects. And they documented those meetings with great care in meticulous typewritten and sometimes handwritten records. I had a chance to read those records which provided a birds-eye view of the small p politics the politics of the everyday in which these women were involved. They offer insight into the cultural changes that unfolded in Winnipeg during the 20-year period they document. These were significant changes that signalled a new way of looking at work, at society and the world. For example, the minutes from a tour of the Great-West Life building in January of 1964 read: Most of us were left in a complete daze at the workings of numerous intricate IBM machines, card indexes, filing systems, etc., but could understand clearly where all our premium money is going after being shown through the executive offices. Perhaps some things dont change, but the sense that Great-West Life was on the cusp of changing the way work was imagined was very real and daunting. The minutes also reflected the changing social environment as well. On Jan. 27, 1970, the River Circle members were polled to see how they felt about housing and subsidies for unmarried mothers who wished to keep their babies. At present, the Home for Girls is supported by the Anglican United Churches and the United Way. Our members felt this was a forward step in social services. The River Circle also participated in international efforts in the midst of the Angolan independence movement, with its war of independence from 1961 to 1974. Tucked in the binders was a yellowed 1977 clipping from the Winnipeg Free Press, about a local missionary who had been released from a jail in Angola after spending three months there without being charged. Digging deeper, it turns out this was Edith Radley, a medical missionary the River Circle had been supporting for years. In 1962, Radley had contacted the Circle hoping for donations to help buy a motorbike to be used by a district nurse to travel within the community in rural Angola. There were also detailed notes in the minutes of the contents of Radleys Christmas package. In 1953, the group sent fruitcake and white cake mix, pajamas, shampoo, baby powder, soap, gum, candy, bobby pins, ankle socks and glace cherries, among other things. Pruden wasnt sure what to do with these bits and pieces of the unofficial history of Manitoba; the small p politics of the ordinary, which seem so mundane but, taken as a whole, are significant and important. So she reached out to the Archives of Manitoba, hoping they would be interested in these records and boy, were they ever. Julianna Trivers, who is an archivist for Government and Private Sector Archives, was very impressed with these minutes. It is rare to see an organization that was so careful about documenting their meetings for an informal group, it was really neat. Trivers says the Archives of Manitoba works with all Manitobans to ensure that our history is preserved. If you think you have something you want to donate, you can contact them to set up an appointment to speak with an archivist. (For more details, go to their website.) As for the River Circle, the Archives have now taken the minutes and are in the process of conserving them as necessary. They will then catalogue the records, and eventually they will become part of an online database so others can access them and read more about a little group of women who didnt set out to change the world, but just change their world one street at a time and in the process becoming part of Manitoba history. Shannon Sampert is the former perspectives and politics editor of the Winnipeg Free Press and is now the director and editor-in-chief of EvidenceNetwork.ca as well as an associate professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg. s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca Twitter: @paulysigh Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/08/2017 (1900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It was ridiculous when U.S. President Donald Trump suggested it, and it makes no more sense coming from a self-described proponent of white power. Simply put, those who profess racist or neo-Nazi beliefs, and others who sympathize with those attitudes, are not good people. It doesnt matter if they believe they are, or if they try to soften their image by adopting sidelong descriptions such as alt-right, or conceal their outpourings of hate behind a perverted defence of free-speech rights. A person who declares hatred for others based on race, religion or sexual orientation is, by definition, a bad person. Evelyn Hockstein / The Washington Post A Charlottesville marcher holds a Confederate flag In the wake of the deadly violence that enveloped the white-power demonstration in Charlottesville, Va. (and the U.S. presidents subsequent unwillingness to unequivocally condemn the neo-Nazi agitators), some Manitobans might have been inclined to feel sorry for our American neighbours while believing these sorts of hate-group outbursts dont happen here. Until, that is, we were shown in no uncertain terms that they do. A pair of ugly local incidents involving self-proclaimed Nazis have provided a stark reminder that this particular brand of hate and ignorance is festering in the cities and towns of Manitoba, too. The first report involved the verbal assault of a Muslim teacher from Calgary who, while travelling near Pinawa last month, asked a man for directions and was the target of racist insults and demands to take your head towel off in this country. The man described himself as a Nazi. In the second instance, residents of Point Douglas recounted unprovoked racist threats directed toward them by a man whose home is adorned with a Confederate flag and Nazi symbols. Members of an Eritrean family have reportedly been subjected to N-word taunts and, on one occasion, had to jump out of the way when the man drove his pickup truck at them as they walked down the sidewalk. During a brief encounter with a local media outlet, the man described himself as someone whos been good lately and is trying to be a better person. I dont go out there and promote hate, he said. I just live my life and I work, pay my bills. Yes, Ive said racist things, but Im not forcing my beliefs on anybody. It requires a special brand of abject stupidity to think forcing someone to jump out of the path of your moving truck doesnt amount to imposing your beliefs on them, but then again, ignorant denial is a curious thing. These incidents are a useful reminder that racist hatred is not a Republican issue, or an American problem. Its a lamentably entrenched aspect of the human condition, and its up to the rest of us to speak out against such ignorance and stand up to the people who embody it. Canada strives to be an accepting and tolerant nation, and its those who feel the need to tell other Canadians to go back to (their) own country who dont belong. Thankfully, other voices are being heard. In Pinawa, passersby intervened in the tourists defence; in Point Douglas, local residents and activists have banded together to condemn the self-styled Nazis idiocy. Hateful plans for a Sept. 9 anti-immigration rally in Winnipeg have been countered by the Winnipeg Diversity Rally Against Hate on the same day. We must speak out. Its the job of all of us to remind purveyors of hate that the freedom of speech they hide behind does not mean freedom from consequences. The Pentagon has rejected an urgent call by United Nations officials for a humanitarian pause in the US-led siege of Raqqa to allow the up to 25,000 civilians trapped in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-controlled Syrian city to escape the intensifying bloodshed. Going slower only delays the liberation and subsequently costs more civilians their lives, Col. Joe Scrocca, director of public affairs for the command of Operation Inherent Resolve, as the Pentagon has dubbed the US military offensive in Iraq and Syria, told the website Middle East Eye. The only way to save the people is to liberate them from ISIS. The longer this takes, the more the people will suffer under ISIS. The nearly three-month old offensive has already devastated the city, driving out some 270,000 of its inhabitants and leaving much of it in rubble. Those left behind lack access to food, water, electricity and medical attention. Residents have reportedly been reduced to eating leaves and grass to stay alive. At least half of those trapped in the city are children. Hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians have been killed by US bombs, rockets and artillery shells. The London-based monitoring group Airwars gave a conservative estimate at the end of last week of at least 725 such deaths since the siege began in June. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group based in the UK, gave the figure of 773 civilians killed by US strikes, including 197 children and 119 women. US proxy ground troops organized in the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and operates under the direction of US special operations troops, have reportedly captured up to 60 percent of the city, leaving what remains of the population trapped in heavily populated urban areas. The top advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria told the media in Geneva recently that he could not imagine a worse place on earth than five densely populated central Raqqa neighborhoods in which the majority of the citys civilian population has been subjected to relentless bombardment. Calling for a pause in the siege, Egeland stated: This is the time to try anything to allow the safe escape. At the moment few people leave, because they are afraid for their lives. There is heavy shelling from the surrounding and encircling forces, and there (are) constant air raids from the coalition. So the civilian casualties are large. There seem to be no escape for these civilians. Egeland specifically called for an end to US attacks on boats carrying civilians attempting to flee Raqqa by crossing the Euphrates River. Earlier this summer, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US forces in Iraq and Syria, announced that the US military would shoot every boat we find. In addition to scores of daily air strikes, US Marine units have provided support to the advance of the Kurdish militia by shelling the city with Howitzers firing 155 mm shells and GPS-directed 227 mm mortars. In a recent report, Amnesty International condemned the use of these weapons, which have a wide impact radius and which cannot be accurately pinpointed at specific targets, and noted that their use against civilian neighborhoods has exacted a significant toll on civilians. Their use, the report suggested, constituted not only disproportionate but also indiscriminate attacks, i.e., a war crime. The Pentagon has also used white phosphorous shells in Raqqa, a chemical weapon that burns flesh to the bone and has been banned under the Geneva Conventions for use in populated areas. On Wednesday, US-led command reported that it had conducted 51 airstrikes in Syria the previous day--46 of them against targets in Raqqa--involving 84 separate engagements. On the ground, Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently, a monitoring group originally formed to expose the crimes of ISIS within the city, reported on its Twitter account Wednesday that there had been 140 airstrikes over the previous 48 hours, including one that destroyed the citys Almoasa hospital. Washington is reprising in Raqqa the criminal slaughter it directed against the civilian population of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where estimates of the number of civilians killed during a US-led, nine-month-long siege range as high as 40,000. In both cities, the Pentagon has pursued what the US defense secretary, recently retired Marine Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis, described in May as annihilation tactics that have entailed indiscriminate violence against heavily populated areas. The slaughter in both Mosul and Raqqa has been largely passed over in silence by the same US and Western media that relentlessly denounced both the Syrian government and its ally Russia for war crimes in the retaking of eastern Aleppo from Al Qaeda-linked militias, an operation whose civilian toll pales in comparison to that inflicted by the US-led sieges. The US rejection of the UN call for a pause in the siege against Raqqa is driven not by any desire to save human lives or liberate civilians from the clutches of ISIS. Rather, Washington is determined to wage an uninterrupted offensive with the aim of seizing control of strategically vital territory in eastern Syria and western Iraq held previously by ISIS and thereby denying it to Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia. While the US and its proxy forces have laid siege to Raqqa, the Syrian army has largely driven ISIS forces out of the central desert region, advancing east into Deir Ezzor province to within 40 miles of its capital, where government forces and an estimated 200,000 civilians have endured an ISIS siege since 2015. The area is the center of the Syrian oil industry and borders Iraq. Washington aims to seize control of the border area to counter Iranian influence in the region and interrupt a land route linking Iran through Iraq to Syria, Lebanon and its ally, Hizbollah the powerful Lebanese Shia political movement and militia. To that end, US and British forces have established a base in southeastern Syria, training rebels that it hopes to employ in seizing territory from ISIS and denying it to Damascus. The threat of this scramble for eastern Syria escalating into a wider regional war has been fueled by the aggressively anti-Iranian posture adopted by the Trump administration, which appears determined to smash up the 2015 nuclear agreement reached by Tehran with the so-called P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security CouncilChina, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United Statesplus Germany). Meanwhile, the US intervention has been further complicated by armed clashes between US troops and a Turkish-backed militia in northern Syria near the city of Manbij, which was seized by the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated SDF last year. Turkey has opposed the consolidation of an autonomous Kurdish-controlled entity on its border. Our forces did receive fire and return fire and then moved to a secure location, Pentagon spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said Wednesday, adding that the US told Turkey to make clear to the forces it backs in Syria that that firing on US forces is not acceptable. These same rebels were previously armed and supported by the CIA. As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the 1917 October Revolution, the World Socialist Web Site is publishing a series of profiles of leaders of the Russian Revolution. Due to the bloody and protracted Stalinist and bourgeois reaction against the revolution, these figures remain largely unknown to the international working class. Yet they rank among the most complex and formidable figures of the 20th century and are an important part of the proud historical heritage of the working class. The stunning and often tragic vicissitudes of their political and personal lives mirror the complicated development of the Bolshevik party itself and the rapid succession of revolution, war and reaction in the 20th century. This series seeks to introduce our readers to the major contributions these figures made to the struggle for socialism and reveal the manner in which their lives intersected with the development of the Russian Revolution. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations from the Russian are by this author. Today almost forgotten, Ivar Tenisovich Smilga ranks among the most outstanding leaders of the October Revolution and the Civil War in Russia. At the age of just 24, he became one of Lenins closest confidants in the preparation for the seizure of power in 1917. He played a central role in the leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War that followed the revolution, and then in the economic work of the early Soviet Union. Ivar Tenisovich Smilga was born in 1892 to a peasant family that owned a small piece of land in Aloya, a town in Latvia. He was part of a generation that was politicized at a very early age by the Russo-Japanese War, the first Russian Revolution of 1905 and the bloody counterrevolution that followed. In an autobiographical text from 1919, Smilga recounted that his revolutionary consciousness was awakened in 1901he was then barely nine years oldwhen the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) Piotr Karpovich assassinated the Minister of Enlightenment, Nikolai Bogolepov. Despite the liberal and enlightened atmosphere in his home, Smilga had held, in his own words, religious-monarchist views. He continued, I remember that after the assassination of Bogolepov there was something like a celebration at our house, and I was the only one not to take part in it. [1] The historian Alan Wildman would later describe 1901 as a year of a general swing of politics of Russian society to the left. [2] The following year saw mass strikes of workers in the southern Russian city of Rostov. At the same time, a protest movement by students gained momentum. The young Smilga slowly but surely came under the influence of the socialist movement. By 1904 he was, in his own words, a convinced atheist and supporter of the revolution. The tensions in Russian society, briefly bottled up but then aggravated by the war launched against Japan in 1904, finally exploded in the revolution of 1905. In that year, the working class emerged as the central driving force of the revolutionary struggles that raged throughout the tsarist empire, including what is now the Baltics, which had significant social democratic movements. (See: The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution) Latvia, like Lithuania, Ukraine and Congress Poland (then still part of Russia), was a multinational and multilingual part of the Russian Empire, where acute social exploitation overlapped with ruthless oppression against the national minorities. In these parts of the empire, the national minorities often formed the local majority population. In Latvia, there were sizeable minorities of Latvians, Jews and Poles. However, they were prohibited from using their languagesLatvian, Polish and Yiddishin public and in educational institutions. They were ruled by the Russian administration and a narrow layer of the Baltic German nobility, heirs of fabulous wealth and a tradition of the darkest political reaction. In 1905, thousands of workers in Latvia, especially in Riga, participated in major strikes. After the crackdown on striking workers in the spring of 1905, mass uprisings of peasants started in the countryside. They seized many estates from the Baltic German nobility. In November 1905, martial law was declared in Latvia and punitive expeditions of the tsarist government roamed the countryside and the cities. Leon Trotsky later described the counterrevolution in this region: In the Baltic lands, where the insurrection flared up a fortnight earlier than in Moscow, the punitive expeditions were divided up into small detachments which carried out the bloodthirsty instructions of the [German] Baltic barons, that dirty caste from which the Russian bureaucracy drew its most brutish representatives. Latvian workers and peasants were shot, hanged, flogged to death with rods and stocks, made to run the gauntlet, executed to the strains of the tsarist anthem. According to highly incomplete information, 749 persons were executed, more than 100 farms were burned down, and many people were flogged to death in the Baltic lands within the space of two months. [3] Among the victims of the counterrevolution was Ivar Smilgas father, who was first tortured and then executed before the eyes of his family. These events had an enormous impact on the young Smilga. He later recalled: My father moved to the left just as contemporary society moved to the left, and he played an extremely visible role in the revolutionary events. During the elimination of the peasant self-administrations [volostnykh upravlenii] he was elected chairman of the revolutionary distribution committee in our volost [administrative unit in the tsarist empire]. In 1906 he was shot by a punitive expedition of the tsarist government. In January 1907, while a student in middle school, I joined the social democratic workers party. In my student years (1909 and 1910), my Marxist world view was conclusively formed. [4] Smilga entered the socialist movement at a time of extreme reaction, when the masses of workers, under the impact of the defeat of the revolution, turned their backs on the struggle for socialism, if only temporarily. Under these conditions, the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDRP) went through a very difficult period. Trotsky would later write that Lenin, who was in exile at this time, had barely a handful of Bolsheviks in Russia whom he could trust. The opportunist Menshevik wing of the party, which was oriented toward an alliance with the liberal bourgeoisie, found itself strengthened by the tide of reaction. However difficult these years, they would prove crucial in the political education of Smilga and other leading figures of the revolution, such as Ter-Vaganian, Leonid Serebriakov and Aleksandr Voronsky. They were hardened and educated as revolutionary leaders in Lenins relentless struggle against Menshevik opportunism and his defense of the philosophical foundations and political principles of Marxism. These struggles were conducted and their lessons were assimilated under conditions in which the Bolsheviks were subject to continuous persecution by the state and suffered numerous arrests. Smilga was no exception. Between 1907 and 1917 he was arrested no less than four times. He later looked back on these years: The almost five years of exile proved to be a real university. In exile, alongside the study of the history and tactics of our party, I mainly focused on philosophy and political economy. [5] Between his two periods of exile, Smilga was briefly a member of the Petersburg Committee of the Bolsheviks, before he was again arrested and sent into exile in May 1915. Like many of the leading Bolsheviks, he returned to Petrograd only after the overthrow of the tsar in the February 1917 Revolution. At the April Conference of the Bolshevik Party, Smilga, only 24, was elected to the Central Committee (CC) along with Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Miliutin, Nogin, Sverdlov and Fedorov. In a Central Committee that at this point was dominated by the right wing under Kamenev and Zinoviev, Smilga became one of Lenins most important allies in the party leadership. The CC initially sent him to Kronstadt, where he played a central role in organizing and educating the militant sailors. He was then sent further north, to Finland. In August, Smilga was elected chairman of the Regional Committee of the Army, Navy and Workers of Finland. The committee had 65 members, and the Bolsheviks hadin what was highly unusual for this perioda comfortable majority of 37 delegates. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs), which in many instances voted with the Bolsheviks, constituted another 26, whereas the Menshevik-Internationalists had only two delegates. Due to the highly favorable balance of forces in the committee, Lenin regarded it as a central tool in his plans for the seizure of power. As the inner-party struggle heated up within the Bolshevik Party, Lenin turned to Smilga to make concrete preparations for an armed insurrection. In the weeks immediately preceding the uprising, Lenin faced objections from two sides: the right-wing opposition, headed by Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, rejected the seizure of power in general as premature. They strongly adapted to the Menshevik conception of a two-stage development of the revolution, according to which the revolutionary party would have to struggle not for the seizure of power by the working class, but for a left bourgeois government based on an alliance between the workers and the peasants. At the same time, Leon Trotsky advocated a seizure of power on the eve of the Congress of Soviets on November 8 (October 26, Old Style). This position eventually won the majority. The Military Revolutionary Committee was formed and its plan acted upon. However, Lenin feared for weeks that the Bolshevik party leadership would lose important time and miss the right moment for the seizure of power. In a lengthy letter dated October 10 (September 27, Old Style), Lenin wrote to Smilga: The general political situation causes me great anxiety. The Petrograd Soviet and the Bolsheviks have declared war on the government. But the government has an army, and is preparing systematically. (Kerensky at General Headquarters is obviously entering into an understandinga business-like understanding with the Kornilovites to use troops to put down the Bolsheviks.) ... And what are we doing? We are only passing resolutions. We are losing time. We set dates (October 20, the Congress of Sovietsis it not ridiculous to put it off so long? Is it not ridiculous to rely on that?) The Bolsheviks are not conducting regular work to prepare their own military forces for the overthrow of Kerensky. It is my opinion that inside the Party we must agitate for an earnest attitude towards the armed uprising. ... Now about your role. It seems to me we can have completely at our disposal only the troops in Finland and the Baltic fleet and only they can play a serious military role. I think you must make the most of your high position, shift all the petty routine work to assistants and secretaries and not waste time on resolutions; give all your attention to the military preparation of the troops in Finland plus the fleet for the impending overthrow of Kerensky. Create a secret committee of absolutely trustworthy military men, discuss matters thoroughly with them, collect (and personally verify) the most precise data on the composition and the location of troops near and in Petrograd, the transfer of the troops from Finland to Petrograd, the movement of the fleet, etc. If we fail to do this, we may turn out to be consummate idiots, the owners of beautiful resolutions and of Soviets, but no power! ... [6] Lenin wrote these lines while in hiding in Helsingfors, Finland, where he had fled after the failed July uprising in order to avoid arrest and possible execution. In August and September, he and Smilga met numerous times in Helsingfors to discuss the preparation for the seizure of power. Smilga also helped Lenin maintain his tenuous connection to the party leadership. In 1919, Smilga explained: ... our plan was that, in case that the revolutionary workers and soldiers of Petrograd would not be able to immediately conquer the entire city, they would have to immediately [seize] the islands and the Vyborg side [an industrial district in Petrograd and stronghold of the Bolsheviks, CW] ... in this case I should decide the struggle with the help of the forces from Finland. [7] As it turned out, however, the workers and soldiers of Petrograd were able to seize power much more quickly and smoothly than expectednot least thanks to the correct assessment of the balance of forces and the plan advocated by Trotsky. Some 1,800 sailors from Finland, under the command of Smilga, moved to Petrograd for the armed insurrection, but when they arrived the only strategic building left to conquer was the Winter Palace. This last fortress of the old regime in Petrograd fell on November 8 (October 26, Old Style). Smilga continued to support Lenin at many critical turns in the civil war, including the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which the Bolshevik government felt compelled to sign on March 3, 1918. At the same time, Smilga acted as the emissary of the Russian Soviet Federal Republic (RSFSR) to Finland. A few words should be said about this crucial but little-known episode in the Civil War. Finland had formed part of the Russian Empire since the early 19th century. In the early 20th century, it became a preferred hiding place for Russian revolutionaries persecuted in the empire. In 1917, it was one of the most significant strongholds of Bolshevik influence. One major reason for this was the principled defense by the Bolsheviks of the right to national self-determination. On January 26, 1918, the Peoples Republic of Finland was formed. The Bolsheviks held a majority in the democratic assembly of the republic. But, tragically, the socialist leadership of the Peoples Republic maintained strong illusions in a parliamentary road to socialism, which doomed it to defeat. Otto Wille Kuusinen, the principal figure in the Finnish revolution, later acknowledged: The weakness of the bourgeoisie led us into being captivated by the spell of democracy, and we decided to advance towards socialism through parliamentary action and the democratization of the representative system. [8] But the bourgeoisie had no intention of granting a parliamentary and peaceful transition to socialism. It immediately launched a counterrevolutionary offensive, relying primarily on German troops. Despite the significant growth of the Red Guards and the Baltic fleet, where Smilga, Dybenko and Antonov-Ovseenko had worked, the working class and the fledgling armed forces of the Bolsheviks were unprepared to fight against the Whites and the invading German and Swedish troops. Within weeks, thousands and thousands of revolutionary workers were slaughtered. Victor Serge estimated that, in total, over 100,000 Finnish workersi.e., a quarter of the countrys proletariatwere massacred. Some 70,000 Red prisoners were placed in concentration camps. About 50,000 of them were supposed to be shipped to Germany as slave laborers, a plan prevented only by the outbreak of revolution in Germany itself. The Bolsheviks had to give up hopes for the incorporation of Finland into a union of Soviet socialist republics, and the revolution in Finland was thrown back for decades. This experience proved critical for the further conduct of the civil war by the Red Army. As Victor Serge later pointed out: The total extermination of all the advanced and conscious elements of the proletariat is, in short, the rational objective of the White terror. In this sense, a vanquished revolutionregardless of its tendencywill always cost the proletariat far more than a victorious revolution, no matter what sacrifices and rigor the latter may demand. One more observation. The butcheries in Finland took place in April 1918. Up to this moment the Russian Revolution had displayed great leniency towards its enemies. It had not used terror. We have noted a few bloody episodes in the civil war in the south, but these were exceptional. The victorious bourgeoisie of a small nation that ranks among the most enlightened societies in Europe was the first to remind the Russian proletariat that woe to the vanquished! is the first law of social war. [9] In May 1919, Smilga was co-opted into the leadership of the Red Army, the Revolutionary Military Council (Revvoensovet), at the behest of its chairman, Leon Trotsky. He would remain in this position throughout the civil war, until March 1923. [10] In this capacity, he played a central role in defeating armies led by White generals Denikin and Wrangel and fighting against the counterrevolutionary armies that invaded Soviet Russia from Czechoslovakia and Poland. Smilga was not only one of the most important military commanders of the Red Army, but also an important military writer and strategist. In December 1919, he chaired the First Congress of Political Workers (politrabotnikov) in the Red Army in Moscow. His pamphlet Building the Red Army (Stroitelstvo krasnoi armii) was issued in no less than three editions between 1919 and 1920. Time and again, Smilga emphasized that the building of the Red Army had to be seen as part of the development of the Russian Revolution. It was, as he put it, the first major organizational effort of the Soviet state. Smilga put special emphasis on the paramount significance of educating the Red Army soldiers and, above all, their commanders on a political but also cultural level. Hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants learned reading and writing, and the ABCs of politics, in and through the Red Army in the first years of the Civil War. The goal was, in Smilgas words, to not have a single illiterate soldier in the Red Army. Given that the vast majority of the Red Army soldiers were recruited from the peasantry, by far the largest class in Russian society, which was in its overwhelming majority illiterate in 1917, this was a daunting undertaking. Yet it was a priority concern for the Soviet government. Under the most difficult conditions of economic devastation and financial strangulation, and in the midst of a war against almost all of the major imperialist and capitalist powers of Europe, as well as Japan and the United States, the Soviet government funded an impressive network of schools, libraries and other cultural facilities to educate the soldiers. As Smilga wrote, To conduct cultural-educational and political work among the soldiers of the Republic we never did and never will shun any means (zhalet sredstv). [11] In 1920, according to Smilga, some 1,520,674 newspapers were distributed in the army on a daily basis. They not only covered political and military questions, they also included supplements on literature, theater and music. This was in addition to about 30 newspapers issued by army units on a regional and local level. Overall, in the first 11 months of 1920, the government distributed 18,888,325 pieces of different kinds of literature in the army. By October 1920, there were over 2,000 libraries in the army. The number of schools rose from 4,400 in July 1920 to 5,952 in November 1920, with the number of students growing from 108,000 to 120,000 in the same time period. [12] Writing in late 1920, when much of the bloody fighting on the eastern, western and southern fronts had come to an end (although the war would continue in some areas until 1922), Smilga noted: Now that the war has ended, we have to remember that, if the task of the war was victory, then the task of the peaceful period must be a transformation of the Red Army into a Communist Red Army. Our enemies shall only try then to throw their crafty designs against the revolution in Russia. The conditions for conducting political and cultural work in the army are now much better than they were during the war. Not a single minute must be passed in vain. [13] Starting in 1921, Smilga devoted himself increasingly to economic work, which, once the Civil War had been won, became the central battleground for the fledgling workers state. Initially, he worked as the vice-chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy (VDNKh), where he was in charge of fuel supplies, one of the most responsible positions in the Soviet economy at this time. In 1923, he became the vice-chairman of the Gosplan (State Planning Commission) of the USSR. Immediately after the end of the Civil War, the party became engulfed in a bitter factional struggle. The backwardness of the Russian economy, ravaged by almost 10 years of continuous war, and the continued isolation of the revolution gave rise to an increasingly assertive bureaucracy and strengthened a nationalist and opportunist tendency within the party, against which Lenin had fought so adamantly in 1917. The bureaucratic tendencies in the USSR were reinforced by the aborted German Revolution in 1923. After a series of strokes, Lenin died in January of 1924. In the fall of that year, Nikolai Bukharin formulated the theory of socialism in one country, according to which socialism could be built in the isolated workers state. Hence, political priority would be given by the party leadership to building socialism at home, while the international extension of the revolution was delegated to a matter of secondary importance. The slogan of socialism in one country directly contradicted the fundamental tenets of socialist internationalism, on the basis of which Lenin and Trotsky had fought for the seizure of power by the working class in 1917. It became the central axis of a program of opportunist adaptation to petty-bourgeois and bourgeois forces both in the USSR and on a world scale, expressing the interests of a bureaucracy that had arisen in the isolated and relatively backward workers state and was essentially hostile to social equality and the program of socialism. Joseph Stalin emerged as the chief political agent of this layer. The Left Opposition, led by Leon Trotsky, was the main political force fighting against this betrayal of the program of October and the political usurpation of power by the bureaucracy. It is not entirely clear when exactly Smilga joined the Left Opposition. He was not one of the signatories to the Declaration of the 46, the founding platform of the Trotskyist Left Opposition from October 1923. However, Smilgas writings from this period suggest that he must have sympathized with much of the criticism of the Left Opposition on the economic plane. The Trotskyists demanded a greater focus on strengthening industry, and thereby the working class, and opposed the Stalin factions policy of promoting the middle layers of the peasantry in the countryside. In a pamphlet from 1924 entitled Industry Under Conditions of the New Economic Policy, which was based on four lectures he had given in 1923, Smilga relied on the report given by Trotsky at the XIIth Party Congress on the state of Soviet industry, which raised many of the concerns of the Left Opposition. In the second half of the 1920s, Smilgas apartment in Moscow became a central meeting place of the Opposition. Isai Abramovich, who was recruited to the Left Opposition in Moscow by the leading Marxist theoretician Ter-Vaganian and mentored by Smilga, later devoted an entire chapter to Smilga in his memoirs. He wrote: At Smilgas apartment we got to know and often met K. Radek, Kh. Rakovsky and V. Trifonovthey were regular guests. L. D. Trotsky, G. L. Piatakov, E. A. Preobrazhensky, A. K. Voronsky went to Smilga every so often. Zinoviev and Kamenev also came, but very seldom. We also got to know the brothers of Smilgas wife, Nadezhda Vasilievna Poluyan. They were all Old Bolsheviks: Yakov worked in the Tsentrosoiuz, Dmitri was a member of the collegium of the NKPS (Peoples Commissariat for Transportation), Yan had previously been a secretary of the All-Russian Executive Committee, Nikolai had fought in the Red Army. We usually gathered at Smilgas in the evening. We mainly talked about the most burning political questionsthere were more than enough of them during Stalins rule. Ivar Tenisovich was a simple, democratically minded person. He addressed himself to everyone in the same manner, regardless of the position this person occupied. He was an exceptionally interesting interlocutor, he had had a rich, eventful life, and he had something to talk about. [14] In April 1926, the United Left Opposition was formed when Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, two of the most influential party leaders in Leningrad, joined with the Left Opposition despite continued disagreements with Trotsky, most notably on the question of internationalism and the Chinese Revolution. The Chinese Revolution in these years occupied a central place in the inner-party struggle, not just within the Bolshevik Party but within the Comintern as a whole. The Trotskyists opposed the subordination of the Chinese Communist Party to the bourgeois Kuomintang party, an alliance that was advocated by the Stalin faction, which argued that the bourgeois stage of the revolution in China had to be fulfilled before the working class could take power and begin to implement socialist policies. At the same time, social tensions within the Soviet Union were on the rise. While a narrow layer of middle peasants was strengthened by the New Economic Policy, the working class continued to face serious food shortages and an increasingly oppressive regime in the factories. This development, along with renewed hopes for a continuation of the revolution abroad, increased the prestige of the Left Opposition and led to a significant influx of new members. In the Soviet Komsomol, the youth organization of the Communist Party, in numerous scientific and academic institutions as well as in individual Central Committees, most notably the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the Georgian Soviet Republic, the Left Opposition wielded significant influence. In some, it even held a majority. In these years, Smilga was the director of the Economic Institute in Moscow, named after Georgi Plekhanov. Here, he helped build an important cell of the Left Opposition, which included the above-quoted Abramovich and several other promising young revolutionaries. The tide turned again, however, when the Chinese revolution was shattered under the blows of the very Kuomintang to which the Stalinist faction had subordinated the Chinese masses. On April 12, 1927, the military forces of Chiang Kai-Shek, with the full support of the Kuomintang, massacred members of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai and thousands of workers. On May 25, 1927, the United Left Opposition published another declaration, which was signed by thousands of party members, including hundreds of the best-known leaders from the seizure of power in 1917 and the Civil War. However, the defeat of the Chinese Revolution strengthened the Soviet bureaucracy by reinforcing the international isolation of the USSR. The Stalinist faction, terrified by the recent successes of the Left Opposition and the continued prestige enjoyed above all by Leon Trotsky, used the demoralization and confusion created by the disaster in China to escalate its crackdown on the Opposition. Known Left Oppositionists were demoted to positions that were well below their abilities or outside their field of expertise in order to both humiliate and politically neutralize them. Smilga was sent from Moscow to the Far East as head of the Economic Council. When his train departed from the Yaroslavsky Station in Moscow on June 9, 1927, he was accompanied to the station by a crowd of some 1,500 people, among them numerous leading oppositionists. Trotsky gave a speech citing Smilgas demotion as an example of reprisals against the Left Opposition. On the eve of the XVth Party Congress, on November 14, 1927, Leon Trotsky was expelled from the party. On December 19, 1927, the Congress voted to expel all members from the party who had signed the latest platform of the United Left Opposition. Among them was Ivar Smilga. Together with Christian Rakovsky, Karl Radek and Nikolai Muralov, he issued a statement on December 18, 1927. It included the following passages: Expulsion from the party deprives us of our party rights, but it cannot free us from the duties which every one of us took on himself in joining the ranks of the Communist Party. Being expelled from its ranks, we remain as before true to the programme of our party, its traditions, its banner. We shall work for the strengthening of the Communist Party and its influence on the working class. ... We pledged, and pledge ourselves now, to do our utmost for the preservation of unity of our party, which is at the head of a workers state. We categorically reject the intention to organise a second party that is ascribed to us as being incompatible with the proletarian dictatorship and against Lenins teachings. ... We reject just as emphatically the assertions concerning the anti-Soviet tendencies in our struggle. All of us, in one form or another, are partakers in the building up of the Soviet state, the first country of the toilers. ... We are being expelled for our views. They have been laid down in our platform and theses. We consider these views to be Bolshevik-Leninist views. We cannot renounce them because the march of events confirms their correctness. ... The party regime resulting in our expulsion inevitably leads to a new dismemberment in the party and to new expulsions. Only a regime of inner-party democracy can guarantee the elaboration of a correct party line and strengthen its ties with the working class. ... True to the teachings of Marx and Lenin, vitally connected with the CPSU and the Comintern, we reply to our expulsion from the CPSU by our firm decision to fight under the Bolshevik banner without restraint for the triumph of world revolution, for the unity of the Communist parties as the vanguards of the proletariat, for the defence of the conquests of the October Revolution, for communism, for the CPSU and the Comintern. [15] The German Trotskyist Oskar Hippe, a member of the German Left Opposition since 1923, later noted in his memoirs: If it had not been for the declaration of the comrades Smilga, Muralov, Rakovski, Radek and others, who also appealed to the delegates on December 18 at the XVth Party Congress, raising the voice of the internationalists, the ranks of those fighting for the Marxist-Leninist position would have hardly been as united as they were. The fight of the best parts of the Russian party, as it was expressed in their fundamental declaration at the XVth Party Congress, not only gave new courage to the Russian comrades, but was also perceived in the International as an encouragement in the struggle against the Stalinist faction. [16] As for all Left Oppositionists, the expulsion was a heavy blow to Smilga, both politically and personally. His daughter, Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan, later recalled: It was extremely difficult for father to deal with being expelled from the ranks of the Communists, which he had entered as a 14-year-old youth. [17] The only way for Left Oppositionists to be readmitted to the party was to renounce their earlier views. Participation in oppositional activity was now a crime, punishable under Article 58 of the criminal code. The defeat of the Chinese Revolution and the expulsion from the party provoked a deep crisis in the ranks of the United Left Opposition. Kamenev and Zinoviev were soon ready to capitulate to the Stalin faction. The meeting at which the United Left Opposition split occurred at Smilgas apartment. Isai Abramovich described it in his memoirs: Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters agreed to accept the conditions for the capitulation that had been dictated [by the Central Committee]. Trotsky and his co-thinkers agreed to concede that the factional struggle had been a mistake, but they categorically rejected the demand to renounce their views. The discussions about this among the members of the center of the opposition took place at the apartment of I. T. Smilga, in his study, at the big desk, with the Zinovievites sitting on one side and the Trotskyists on the other. Imiarekov, Brigis and I were sitting in the room next door and awaiting the results of the meeting. I. T. Smilga (he had, of course, come in a great hurry from the Far East) from time to time came out and briefly told us what was being discussed. At one point, after a speech by L. D. Trotsky, Ivar Tenisovich came to us and said with admiration, What a figure! The meeting at which the split occurred ended. All participants, with the exception of K. Radek and Ch. Rakovsky, left. Nadezhda Vasilievna, Smilgas wife, invited all who had remained to come to the table, where discussion centered, of course, on the meeting that had just ended. They were especially upset about G. I. Zinoviev. Smilga declared that the behavior Zinoviev and Kamenev had displayed today reminded him of their behavior in October 1917. Radek and Rakovsky agreed. [18] Shortly thereafter, Smilga was arrested and exiled to Minusinsk in the Soviet Unions Far East. At Smilgas request, Abramovich and his friend Imiarekov hid Smilgas personal archive and library with Riazanov, one of the leading experts on the writings of classical Marxism, who was at this point still in charge of the Institute of Marx and Engels. Throughout this time, Smilga suffered from severe health problems that dated back to his years in exile and the Civil War. In 1929, Smilga co-signed a letter of capitulation in which he, Radek and Evgeny Preobrazhensky renounced their views and asked to be readmitted to the party. It was one in a series of capitulations by Old Bolsheviks in the Left Opposition following the regimes so-called left turn of 1928. Smilga was allowed to return to Moscow and resume work for the party, although at a very modest level. Like many other Old Bolsheviks, Smilga maintained the illusion that the left turn, which in Soviet economic policy included a commitment to industrialization and collectivization in the countrysideboth policies for which the Left Opposition had fought for yearswould mark a significant change in the class orientation of the policies of the Stalinist faction. Added to this illusionary hope were the exhaustion from the years-long struggles, the expulsion from the party, and the extremely difficult conditions facing all those who opposed the dominant party line. Yet the hopes of the Left Oppositionists who capitulated to Stalin in the late 1920s were very soon shattered. The results of the left turn were nothing short of catastrophic, both within the Soviet Union and internationally. In the Comintern, the left radicalism dictated from Moscow prevented a united struggle of Communist and Social Democratic workers in Germany against the rise of fascism, thus making possible the coming to power of Adolf Hitler in January 1933 without a single shot being fired. On the domestic front, the policy of forced collectivization led to a horrendous famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, the southern parts of the Russian Republic and the Kazakh Soviet Republic, bringing particularly the Ukraine to the brink of civil war. Serious estimates put the number of those who died from the famine at around 7 to 8 million. Abramovich, who had joined the Declaration of the Three and also capitulated to Stalin, frequented Smilgas apartment in Moscow in these years and later recalled: At every meeting, Ivar Tenisovich talked about how the collectivization was enforced with enormous distortions. He became ever more gloomy and started saying that our leaving the opposition had been a mistakeit only made Stalin more confident and arrogant. The politics of Stalin will result in devastating consequences for both the countryside and the cities, said Smilga. He was upset about the totally inhumane policy of de-kulakization, of which neither Lenin nor the party had ever conceived. And then, already proceeding from humanistic concerns to economic ones, Smilga the economist emphatically talked about how much the countrys economy would have to pay for the absurd policy of the Stalinist collectivization. I remember almost word by word: The losses in livestock resulting from the forced collectivization, in terms of value, exceed the equivalent of all the gains made in basic resources in the years of the first five-year plan. I. T. Smilga talked about how among the Old Bolsheviks the discontent was growing about the policies of both collectivization and industrialization, that at the work places discontent about the consequences of collectivization was rising. ... [19] In 1932-1933, Smilga worked for the prestigious Academia Publishing House, which in these years became something of a refuge for former leading revolutionaries who had fallen out of favor with the Stalinist leadership. He edited and wrote forewords to works by Goethe, Erasmus, Saint-Simon, Kropotkin and Charles Dickens. In 1933, Smilga was sent to Tashkent to work in the Central Asian Gosplan. He returned to Moscow in 1934, but the party leadership refused to give him new work. On December 1, 1934, the popular Leningrad party leader Kirov was killed in what was most likely a provocation arranged by the GPU on behalf of Stalin, who seized on the assassination as a pretext for the beginning of mass purges in the party. As a close confidant of Lenin, leader of the October Revolution and former Left Oppositionist, Smilga was one of the first to be arrested and killed. He was taken from his home in the night of January 1-2, 1935, just a few weeks after Kirovs assassination, and sent to the Verkhneuralsk politisolator, a political prison in the Urals. His wife, Nadezhda Poluyan, who was also an old Bolshevik, would be arrested in 1936. It is likely that Stalin intended to have Smilga as one of the defendants in the show trials that began in the summer of 1936. However, despite severe torture, Smilga would not admit to any of the crimes of which the Stalinist bureaucracy accused the revolutionary leaders, including collaboration with the fascist governments of Japan, Germany and Italy as well as counterrevolutionary activities with the aim of restoring capitalism in the USSR. On January 10, 1937, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR declared Smilga guilty of conducting counterrevolutionary Trotsyist activity. He was sentenced to death and shot the same day. His wife, Nadezhda Poluyan, was shot in Karelia (now part of Finland) 10 months later, on November 4, 1937. Her brothers, all long-time Bolsheviks and military leaders in the Civil War, were also killed in 1937 and 1938. Smilgas two daughters, Natasha and Tatiana, were arrested and sent to labor camps, where they lingered for many years before being released in the mid-1950s. Ivar Smilga was rehabilitated only half a century after his murder, on April 3, 1987. For decades, his name was banned from official Sovieti.e., Stalinistwritings on the Russian Revolution and early Soviet Union. Few Western historians have shown interest in establishing a truthful historical record of Smilgas role in the Russian Revolution. One of the first to acknowledge it was the American historian Alexander Rabinowitch, who detailed many of Smilgas positions and his collaboration with Lenin in his path-breaking study The Bolsheviks Come to Power from 1976. Much of the work and effort to rehabilitate Smilga and set the historical record straight, after decades of falsifications, fell upon his daughter Tatiana, who tirelessly fought for her fathers formal rehabilitation and his recognition as both a leader of the revolution in Russia and an opponent of Stalinism. Yet, as with virtually all leaders of the Russian Revolution, 100 years after the Bolshevik seizure of power, Smilga still awaits a serious biographer. ** Literature on Ivar Smilga and his role in the revolutionary movement: Isai Abramovich, Vospominaniia i vzgliady (Memories and views), Moscow 2004. (Online available in Russian: http://lib.ru/MEMUARY/ABRAMOWICH/abramowich2.txt. A. P. Nenarokov, Ivar Tenisovich Smilga, in: Revvoensovet, Moscow 1991, pp. 349-359. Alexander Rabinowitch, The Bolsheviks Come to Power, Chicago 2009 (especially chapter 11). Tatiana Smilga, Moi otets, Ivar Smilga (My Father, Ivar Smilga), Moscow 2013. WSWS: Interview with Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan (27 October, 2014). ** Notes: [1] Autobiographical text by Ivar Smilga in: Deiateli SSSR i revoliutsionnogo dvizheniia Rossii. Entsilopedicheskii slovar. (Figures of the USSR and the revolutionary movement in Russia. An encyclopedic dictionary), Moscow: 1989, p. 63. [2] Allan Wildman, The Making of Workers Revolution. Russian Social Democracy, 1891-1903, Chicago: 1967, p. 150. [3] Leon Trotsky, 1905, chapter 21. https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1907/1905/ch21.htm [4] Deiateli SSSR i revoliutsionnogo dvizheniia Rossii, p. 63. [5] Ibid., pp. 63-64. [6] Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Letter to I. T. Smilga (September 27, O.S., October 10), emphasis in the original. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/oct/10.htm [7] Quoted in: Abramovich, Vosposminaniia i vzgliady. http://lib.ru/MEMUARY/ABRAMOWICH/abramowich2.txt [8] Quoted in: Victor Serge, Year One of the Russian Revolution, Chicago-New York-San Francisco: 1972, p. 186. [9] Ibid., p. 191, emphasis in the original. [10] A.P. Nenarokov, Ivar Tenisovich Smilga, in: Revvoensovet, Moscow: 1991, p. 350. [11] I. Smilga: Stroitelstvo krasnoi armii, in: Voennyie ocherki, Moscow: 1923, p. 21. [12] Numbers from Ibid., pp. 22-23. [13] Ibid., p. 23. [15] Quoted from Report of the XV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Official Report with Decisions and Discussions. Published by the Communist Party of Great Britain, London 1928, pp. 401-404. [16] Oskar Hippe, und unsere Fahnist rot. Erinnerungen an sechzig Jahre in der Arbeiterbewegung [and our flag is red. Memoirs of sixty years in the workers movement], Hamburg 1979, pp. 106-7. [17] Smilga, Moi otets, Ivar Smilga, Mp. 8. [18] Abramovich, Vosposminaniia i vzgliady. [19] Ibid. Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) (AFP) - Bangladesh coastguards on Thursday found the bodies of 17 Rohingya, many of them children, who drowned when their boats capsized as they fled violence in Myanmar that has forced at least 18,500 to seek refuge across the border. Officials in Bangladesh say growing numbers of Rohingya are trying to cross the Naf river that divides the two countries in rickety boats that are ill-equipped for the rough waters as they become increasingly desperate to escape. The International Organization for Migration said Wednesday that at least 18,500 Rohingya had crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar's neighbouring Rakhine State six days earlier. One coastguard official who asked not to be named said the migrants were travelling on "rickety inland fishing boats" unsuitable for the choppy seas around Bangladesh. On Wednesday, the bodies of two Rohingya women and two children washed up in Bangladesh after their boat capsized. Officials said two more boats capsized on Thursday, killing at least 17 people, many of them children. Photographs from the scene showed the bodies of several small children lined up on the ground, covered with sheets. One survivor told AFP the small, overcrowded boat he was travelling on had been tipped over by huge waves near where the Naf river opens out into the sea. "Nobody knew how to navigate the sea waters. When huge waves tilted the boat, we panicked," said Shah Karim. - 'Grave concern' - The Naf river that divides the two countries is narrow in places, but the Rohingya are increasingly crossing where the river is wider, or even venturing out to sea, after Bangladeshi authorities intensified border patrols. Bangladesh is already home to an estimated 400,000 Rohingya, a mainly Muslim stateless minority that rights groups say has long faced persecution in Myanmar. Most live in squalid and increasingly overcrowded camps in the coastal area of Cox's Bazar, and Dhaka has made clear it does not want more to come. Story continues On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the United States to put pressure on Myanmar to stem the flow. "We have given shelter to a huge number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds and it's a big problem for us," she said, according to the state-run BSS news agency. The latest clashes in Myanmar began last Friday when Rohingya militants staged deadly attacks on police posts, prompting raids on the community and searches by troops and police. The violence left at least 110 people dead, including 11 state officials. Ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and other tribal groups are also among the dead and displaced after allegedly being targeted by Rohingya militants. An estimated 6,000 Rohingya are massed on the border, having fled villages in Myanmar that they say were set on fire by police, troops and Buddhist mobs. UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee said Thursday that the worsening cycle of violence in the area was "of grave concern" and "must be broken urgently". She emphasised the need to address the root causes of the problem, adding that she was saddened by reports that evacuation assistance was not being extended to Rohingya Muslims. "If human rights concerns are not properly addressed, and if people remain politically and economically marginalized, then northern Rakhine may provide fertile ground for radicalization, with people becoming increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by extremists," she said. - Bangladesh under pressure - Bangladesh is under intense international pressure to allow the fleeing Rohingya to cross into its territory, but it has pushed a number of them back, in what rights groups say is a contravention of its international obligations. On Thursday, a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) commander told AFP that 71 newly arrived Rohingya had been arrested for entering the country illegally and told to go back, though he said they had not been forced to return. "The police arrested 71 Rohingya from inside Bangladesh and later on handed them to us," said Manzurul Hassan Khan. "We did not push them back, rather we told them... you should go back to your territory," added Khan, who said there was a "humanitarian crisis" developing along the border. Media access to Rakhine is restricted, but on Wednesday an AFP reporter on a government-led visit to the worst-hit section of the state saw plumes of smoke billowing from several burning villages. Persecution of the Rohingya, reviled as illegal immigrants by the majority Buddhist population in Myanmar, has triggered widespread condemnation, particularly across the Muslim world. The price tag for the newly approved cancer therapy Kymriah from from Novartis (NVS): $475,000. Other than a few treatments for extremely rare diseases, this marks the most expensive drug to ever go on sale. The indication is for a small patient group with limited to no other options. Kymriah was approved for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory (resistant to other remedies) or has relapsed at least twice. There are approximately 3,000 new cases of ALL each year, but the majority can be pushed into remission by standard therapy. This leaves an estimated 600 patients eligible for Kymriah, according to Novartis. From a business perspective, thats not a lot of scale. And so, part of the reason why the price is this high is so that it can cover Novartiss costs. But while it still may seem like a staggering figure, analysts argue its reasonable. First off, Kymriah makes use of a new and complicated treatment process. The therapy, known as CAR-T, uses a patients own immune system to fight tumors. And with CAR-T, each dose is tailored for an individual patient, which requires a complicated process where human cells are transported (often by air across the country) and re-engineered before they are returned. Second, efficacy is high and treatment is concentrated. In a clinical trial, a single dose of Kymriah left 83% of participants with no cancer after three months, which oncologists praised, particularly as these patients had limited to no other options. With a gene therapy, patients are treated with one dose. That compares to regular treatments where drugs are taken over several years, Edward Jones Ashtyn Evans said. In other words, since the developer isnt paid over months or years, the price point will be higher. Plus, Novartis is collaborating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for an outcomes-based approach, where payment is only required when patients respond to Kymirah by the end of the first month. Story continues Novartis has been at the forefront of outcomes-based pricing and is very pleased to work with CMS on this first-of-its-kind collaboration with a technology that has the potential to transform cancer care, according to Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez. Novartis lab worker (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg) Novartis lab worker (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg) Its actually cheaper than the alternatives Third, its actually cheaper than alternatives. Stem cell therapy or the cost of being on a drug over several years, particularly to treat cancer, adds up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Evans. The UKs National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said earlier this year that a $649,000 price tag would be appropriate. And Wall Street analysts expected the cost to reach as high as $750,000 dose. Lastly, this approval could lead to more development and benefits down the road. Were entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patients own cells to attack a deadly cancer, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a press release. New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold out the potential to transform medicine and create an inflection point in our ability to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses. The product from Novartis is the first therapy in the CAR-T to come before the FDA. But the company is also developing Kymriah for CAR-T therapies targeting other blood cancers. And other companies have products in the works. Gilead (GILD), which just announced the acquisition of Kite Pharmaceuticals (KITE), is expected to go in front of the FDA later this fall for refractory non-hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) with its product Axi-cel. It too sees its product as a starting point for more development and therapies. And while right now the therapies are focused on refractory cases where traditional stem cell therapies are not effective, analysts say CAR-T could become a first-line treatment down the road and extend beyond blood cancers to solid tumors as well. Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance Please also see: Gilead may have just bought itself a drug pricing controversy The shift from brick-and-mortar to online may be a hopeless strategy Digital ads arent working for big consumer brands Why Home Depot is leaving Lowes in the dust quarter after quarter Walmarts sales numbers make Amazon look small Ancient whales had extremely sharp predator teeth similar to lions, Australian scientists said Wednesday in a discovery they believe debunks theories the mammals used their teeth to filter feed like today's gentle giants. There are two major groups of whales -- toothed creatures such as killer whales, and baleen, which filter plankton and small fish from the ocean for food with special bristle-like structures in their mouths. Using 3D scanners, Museums Victoria and Monash University palaeontologists made digital teeth models of fossil baleen whales and today's mammals from specimen collections around the world. They found that teeth in ancient baleen whales -- the ancestors of the Southern Right and Blue whale -- were different to the present-day and were instead much sharper. "These results are the first to show that ancient baleen whales had extremely sharp teeth with one function -- cutting the flesh of their prey," Museums Victoria's senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology Erich Fitzgerald said. "Contrary to what many people thought, whales never used their teeth as a sieve, and instead evolved their signature filter feeding technique later -- maybe after their teeth had already been lost." A previous theory about ancient whales suggested they filtered feed using teeth that when closed formed a zigzag-like sieve, in a similar manner to some living Antarctica seals. The sieve trapped food in the mouth and also allowed water to flow between the teeth. They were eventually replaced by baleen, the theory added. The discovery, published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, meant "whales completely turned their feeding biology upside down" when they evolved to filter feed, Museums Victoria and Monash University research fellow David Hocking said. The researchers said there was more work to do to understand the origins of baleen whales, which are Earth's largest animals, but feed on some of the smallest ocean creatures. (WASHINGTON) True to form, President Donald Trump sowed policy confusion with a tweet. Declaring Wednesday that talking is not the answer on North Korea, Trumps message appeared to clash with efforts by his Cabinet members to safeguard the possibility of a diplomatic solution as Kim Jong Uns military races toward mastering a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach America. The presidents morning tweet came a day after a highly provocative North Korean missile test that flew over Japan, a close American ally, potentially endangering civilians on the ground. On Wednesday, Kim called for more weapons launches in the Pacific. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Trump tweeted. The statement raised fresh uncertainty about the Trump administrations strategy for North Korea. How the U.S. plans address the Norths growing nuclear capabilities is of increasing urgency not just in Northeast Asia, but also in the United States. Last month, the isolated, communist country tested for the first time a missile that could potentially strike the U.S. mainland. Trump didnt spell out what he meant by extortion, but he appeared to be referring to the $1.3 billion the U.S. has provided in aid to North Korea since 1995. Most of that has been food and fuel. Criticism of past administrations failures to halt North Koreas march toward nuclear weapons has been a recurrent theme from Trump. However, his comment overlooked that fact theres been virtually no U.S. aid to North Korea since early 2009. Talks also have been in limbo for years. The last formal negotiation between Washington and Pyongyang on the nuclear issue occurred in 2012. Eliminating the possibility of new negotiations could limit U.S. options. It also risks increasing the chance of military confrontation between nuclear-armed powers. Within hours of Trumps tweet, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appeared to contradict him. Story continues Were never out of diplomatic solutions, Mattis said as he met with his counterpart from South Korea for talks on military readiness. The U.S.-allied government supports, in theory, greater diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang. If war were to ever break out, millions of South Koreans would immediately find themselves within range of the Norths large conventional weapons arsenal. In Geneva, Robert Wood, the U.S. ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, sought to explain the presidents tweet. Trump was expressing his frustration at North Koreas dangerous and provocative threats, Wood said. But like Mattis, he said the U.S. remained willing to discuss the Norths denuclearization. The United States is open to trying to deal with this question diplomatically, but the other side is not, Wood told reporters. Its not the first time Trump has complicated his administrations national security message via social media. Last month, as aides worked to defuse tensions between Qatar and its Arab neighbors, Trump blindsided them by tweeting that Qatar funded terrorism. The gas-rich monarchy hosts 11,000 U.S. troops. Trump also surprised officials with tweets on Russia and banning transgender people in the military. Supporters of U.S. engagement with North Korea argue that periods when the U.S. is talking and providing aid to the country have proved the most successful in curbing its weapons development. In the past five years, without formal talks, the Norths technological strides have been most rapid. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week hinted at possible direct talks if North Korea demonstrated its sincerity by stopping weapons tests. The U.S. also has been maintaining a diplomatic back channel with North Korea. The immediate outlook for diplomacy, however, appears bleak. On Wednesday, North Koreas Kim called for more weapons launches into the Pacific Ocean. The Korean Central News Agency said the launch that overflew Japan was of an intermediate-range missile that the North first successfully tested in May and threatened to fire into waters near Guam earlier this month. It described the launch as a muscle-flexing countermeasure to U.S.-South Korean military drills that conclude Thursday. Trump offered a surprisingly subdued, initial response to the Japan overflight Tuesday, without any of the bombast of earlier this month when he warned the North of fire and fury if its threats persist. He said all options are on the table, a standard formulation signaling Washington hasnt ruled out military action. While the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the launch as outrageous, there was no move to impose more sanctions. At the disarmament body in Geneva, North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol said the councils statement revealed Washingtons evil intention to obliterate the DPRKs sovereignty and rights to existence and development. (JOLIET, Ill.) Authorities say a suburban Chicago woman apparently killed her twin 5-year-old daughters before shooting and killing herself. Autopsies were performed Tuesday on the bodies of 41-year-old Celisa Henning and daughters, Makayla and Addison, who were found dead in their Joliet home Monday by Hennings husband and the girls father, Steven Henning. His mother, Norma Henning, told The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle that her daughter-in-law had been suffering from health problems since a car accident and had seen 20 or 30 doctors who couldnt determine what was wrong with her. His father, Dennis Henning, described Celisa Henning as a troubled girl when reached by the Chicago Tribune . The Will County coroners office says a manner of the deaths will be determined upon the conclusion of the police investigation, and autopsy and toxicology reports. A deal between Lebanon and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), brokered by the country's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, has provoked anger in Baghdad and among Iraqi Kurds after hundreds of jihadis were bussed to the Iraqi border. The evacuation was the first publicly announced agreement between ISIS and another country for the movement of its fighters. The deal saw around 300 ISIS fighters and 300 family members and civilians transported to eastern Syria in return for the bodies of Lebanese soldiers captured in 2014 and killed by the group. It ended ISIS's presence on the Lebanese border with Syria where the military had been battling ISIS jihadis for years. "Honestly speaking, we are unhappy and consider it incorrect," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told reporters Tuesday. "Transferring terrorists from Qalamoun (an area on the Lebanese-Syrian border) to the Iraqi-Syrian border is worrying and an insult to the (Iraqi) people." "There must be no chance for Daesh to breathe," he continued, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. The main security body of the Iraqi Kurdistan region also condemned the deal, questioning the motivation of the Syrian regime and its key Lebanese ally for dealing with the jihadi group responsible for capturing swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory since 2014 and the murder of thousands. We as the Regions Security Council express our concerns about this action and consider it suspicious. This raises many questions. We hope that all relevant parties in the region take a serious stance on this action, it added. ISIS Convoy Reuters / Omar Sanadiki Iraq, led by a Shia-majority govrnment, has been a key supporter of the battle to defeat ISIS in Syria, as well as in its own territory. It is cooperating with the U.S.-led coalition that has been conducting an airstrike campaign against the group since mid-2014. But the deal with ISIS appeared to cross a red line in Baghdad, which has pledged to eliminate the group. Story continues Months before the deal, the Syrian regime said both Damascus and Moscow's air forces were targeting ISIS in eastern Syria. Its force have encirled the militant group in a large desert stretch of central Syria. The Assad regime has faced accusations that it has allowed ISIS to prosper and grow in eastern Syria amid six years of civil war. Hassan Nasrallah, the elusive leader of Hezbollah, defended the decision in a speech Monday. "We came and took responsibility by going to negotiations," he said. "Hezbollah's answer was categorical, that is, any solution, whether it be partial or whole, must first include the fate of the soldiers." Nasrallah said ISIS had requested a ceasefire but that was refused, and ISIS subsequently agreed to the deal when they realized they would not be victorious. "It collapsed and surrendered after a decisive battle. So they had no choice but to accept our conditions," he said. The agreement saw the air-conditioned buses move the ISIS members from Qalamoun on the Lebanese border to the town of Abu Kamal in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. The jihadi group retains majority control of the province, including the cities of Deir Ezzor and Mayadin. Related Articles By Angus Berwick MADRID (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities have arrested a man suspected of supplying gas canisters to a jihadist cell that carried out a double attack in Catalonia earlier this month that killed 16 people, a source from the Spanish investigation said. The cell accumulated around 120 canisters of butane gas at a house in a town south of Barcelona with which, police say, it planned to carry out a larger bomb attack. Police believe the cell accidentally ignited the explosives on Aug. 16, the eve of the Barcelona attack, triggering a blast that destroyed the house in the town of Alcanar. The remaining attackers then decided to use hired vans to mow down crowds along Barcelona's most famous avenue and later mount an assault in the resort town of Cambrils. Moroccan police arrested the man in the city of Casablanca, the source said, without giving further details. Spain's interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, said on Tuesday that Moroccan authorities had arrested two people linked to the attacks but declined to give details about them. Spanish news agency EFE said the second man was arrested in the city of Oujda and was a relative of one of the members of the Barcelona cell. The source did not confirm that. Zoido, speaking after a meeting with the Moroccan interior minister in Morocco's capital Rabat, said Spanish and Moroccan authorities were working closely together in the investigation. Most of the suspected attackers were Moroccan and an imam suspected of radicalising the cell travelled there shortly before the attack took place. Six of the attackers were shot dead by police and two died in the explosion at the house in Alcanar. Four other people were arrested over the assaults, two of whom have now been released under certain conditions. (Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Jesus Aguado and Alison Williams) A bipartisan group of eight governors on Thursday handed Congress a proposal for shoring up the Affordable Care Acts marketplaces, which in many states remain extremely fragile enterprises. The proposal calls for a set of relatively modest initiatives on strengthening marketplaces that, in a normal political environment, would be the basis for legislation that large numbers of Democrats and Republicans would support. It arrives just as a serious discussion of such efforts is set to begin in Washington, starting next week when a key Senate committee holds hearings on efforts to stabilize operations of the 2010 health care law. But enacting even a narrow health care bill is sure to be difficult, with many Republicans in Congress still holding out for a full repeal of Obamacare, while others are unwilling to contemplate action that might help the program function better. President Donald Trump has been openly talking about sabotaging the Affordable Care Act for months. The agenda that the governors released on Thursday, in the form of a letter to congressional leaders, includes plans designed to bolster insurance marketplaces both in the short- and long-term. Among the short-term ideas is a call for the federal government to create a temporary stability fund, which states could use to help insurers struggling with bills from people with expensive-to-treat medical conditions. Such a fund could pay for reinsurance programs that some states, including Alaska and Minnesota, are already creating to help struggling insurers and, in so doing, avoid massive premium increases that would leave wealthier consumers with much higher insurance costs. To help consumers in underserved parts of the country, which presumably means those markets down to just one insurer, the governors propose allowing enrollment into the same program that insures federal employees around the country. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has already introduced a bill calling for a similar approach. The governors would also like to see the federal government offer a tax break to insurers that agree to start offering plans in those underserved markets. Story continues Going forward, the governors want Congress to give states more leeway to modify their marketplaces. The Affordable Care Act, as written, allows states to propose changes, through what are known as 1332 waivers. But it sets some pretty strict rules about what states can and cant do. The governors want Congress to relax those rules, particularly when it comes to defining benefits that all policies must cover, and to speed up the process for getting waiver requests approved. All of these efforts would represent modifications, albeit modest ones, to the Affordable Care Act. But a good portion of the letter is really just the governors pleading with Congress to make sure the federal government implements the law in the way that its architects originally intended by enforcing its controversial individual mandate, at least for now, and continuing to provide insurers with a set of subsidies that are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. At the moment, its not clear that either will happen, since the Trump administration has suggested it might not enforce the mandate rigorously and the president himself has threatened, on numerous occasions, to stop paying those subsidies. The proposal owes its existence in large part to efforts by governors John Hickenlooper, the Democrat from Colorado, and John Kasich, the Republican from Ohio both of whom have been outspoken critics of GOP proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even as they have highlighted what they consider the laws flaws and shortcomings. Among the other signatories are another Republican governor, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, as well as Alaskas Bill Walker, who originally ran as a Republican before seeking (and winning) office as a political independent. The rest are Democrats, though two of them, Louisianas John Bel Edwards and Montanas Steve Bullock, come from relatively conservative states. The show of geographic and ideological breadth is intentional and is designed to convey a message that refining the Affordable Care Act to make sure its coverage is more affordable and secure shouldnt be a polarizing issue. Just as these proposals have brought together governors from across the political spectrum, we are confident they can attract support across party lines in both chambers of Congress, the governors said. The letter goes out of its way to cite problems like dwindling competition and sharply rising premiums that are plaguing many state marketplaces, even as the program works more smoothly and provides more affordable coverage in other states. The current state of our individual market is unsustainable and we can all agree this is a problem that needs to be fixed, the governors say in the letter. But the governors also said that any reforms must preserve the laws coverage gains. And in discussing the laws problems, they made clear some of them are a byproduct of recent action in Washington where, of course, Republicans have been in charge. Continuing uncertainty about the direction of federal policy is driving up premiums, the governors said, eliminating competition, and leaving consumers with fewer choices. That would seem to be a reference to ongoing repeal efforts, Trump administration neglect and sabotage, or quite possibly both. This is not what the public wants, if the polls are right. The 2010 health care law has actually grown more popular over the last few months, perhaps because the repeal alternatives look so dismal by comparison. Majorities now say they want Congress and the president to fix the laws problems, rather than get rid of it. And as Thursdays letter shows, theres no shortage of sensible ideas for doing that. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Demonstrators are arrested by U.S. Capitol police while protesting against Republican health care reform legislation outside the offices of Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. Samantha Coronado of Tucson, Arizona, and fellow demonstrators are arrested after protesting outside the offices of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Demonstrators are lead away in handcuffs. Capitol Police officers arrest a protester. A demonstrator is carried away. A healthcare activist holds up a sign while she and others occupy the office of Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) to protest the Republican health care bill at the U.S. Capitol on July 10, 2017. Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. Health care activists are detained after the protest. A health care activist holds up a sign. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. FILE In this Monday, May 8, 2017, file photo, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett speaks during an interview with Liz Claman of the Fox Business Network in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) This post first appeared on The Irrelevant Investor. From 1957-1969, Warren Buffetts partnership returned 2800%, or 29.5% a year*. Over the same time, the S&P 500 rose 153%, or 7.4% a year. Buffett has been crushing the market for seven decades, but his early success went largely unnoticed. His name didnt appear anywhere noteworthy until Adam Smiths Supermoney, which wasnt written until 1972. While his name gained traction in the investment community, it took many years before it became what it is today. Buffett is synonymous with investing, and if you type his name in the Amazon search bar, the machine spits back 1822 book results. His rise to ubiquity can be traced back to 1984, when he destroyed an efficient market hypothesizer. On the 50th anniversary of Security Analysis, Buffett wrote an article in the Columbia Business School Magazine called The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville. A few weeks prior, Buffett faced off against Michael Jensen, a professor from the University of Rochester and the school of efficient markets. In the speech, which was translated into the article, Buffett told a story that would remove any doubt that value investors outperformance should be attributed to skill rather than luck. Imagine that 225 million Americans all flipped a coin. If you landed on heads, you lived to flip another coin. If this was repeated twenty times, 215 people would be expected to remain. But then some business school professor would probably be rude enough to bring up the fact that if 225 million orangutans had engaged in a similar exercise, the results would be much the sameI would argue, however, that there are some important differences in the examples I am going to present. For one thing, if (a) you had taken 225 million orangutans distributed roughly as the U.S. population is; if (b) 215 winners were left after 20 days; and if (c) you found that 40 came from a particular zoo in Omaha, you would be pretty sure you were onto something. So You would probably go out and ask the zoo keeper about what hes feeding them.A disproportionate number of successful coin-flippers in the investment world came from a very small intellectual village that could be called Graham-and-Doddsville. Story continues From 1926 until the time that Buffett wrote this article, the Fama French U.S. Large Value Index, which did not exist until the early 90s, crushed the S&P 500. But you can see that until 1970, the red and black line were neck and neck. So all of the outperformance over this 58-year period came in the 14 years leading up to Buffetts coin-flipping speech. Courtesy: Michael Batnick From 1970-1984, the Fama French Large Value Index outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 400%, or 6.5% a year. With the wind at their backs, the superinvestors that Buffett highlighted in the article Walter Schloss, Tweedy, Browne, and Sequoia to name a few, enjoyed a spectacular run of outperformance. Buffett wrote, Im convinced that there is much inefficiency in the market. These Graham-and-Doddsville investors have successfully exploited gaps between price and value. With these words, he convinced a generation of investors to move to Graham-and-Doddsville. Nothing attracts competition like prosperity, and nothing hurts excess returns like competition. Since this article was published, the Fama French Large Value Index has failed to keep up with the S&P 500. Prior to the publication of Superinvestors, the Fama French Value index had outperformed the S&P 500 in 89% of all rolling 20-year periods, and since then, that number has fallen to 62%. I understand there is a big difference, a huge difference in fact between the Fama French Index and real value investing via old school stock selection. Nevertheless, it is interesting that in the 33 years since 1984, value, which I think people just assume beats the index, has failed to do just that. I would be remiss if I didnt mention that since 1985, these superinvestors have done far better than the Fama French Value Index. Since Buffetts speech, the Sequoia Fund outperformed the S&P 500 by 570%. Berkshire Hathaway outperformed the S&P 500 by 7000%! I would also be remiss if I didnt point out that the tech bubble certainly affected the data. Alright, so maybe its ridiculous to ask if Buffett killed value investing, but its hard to deny that trying to distinguish between price and value has gotten harder as its experienced widespread adoption. Buffetts teacher, Ben Graham, would agree. I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunities. This was a rewarding activity, say, 40 years ago, when our textbook Graham and Dodd was first published; but the situation has changed a great deal since then. In the old days any well-trained security analyst could do a good professional job of selecting undervalued issues through detailed studies; but in the light of the enormous amount of research now being carried on, I doubt whether in most cases such extensive efforts will generate sufficiently superior selections to justify their cost. To that very limited extent Im on the side of the efficient market school of thought now generally accepted by the professors. The early bird gets the worm is true in nature and in markets. Buffett was the early bird, but now there are thousands of investors chasing after the same size worm. Source: The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville *Net of fees, his investors received 1500%, or a lousy 23.8% a year. More from Michael Batnick: How one stock changed my life Heres when your experience can actually hurt you The reason most investors fail to capture market returns. By Rajendra Jadhav, Swati Bhat and Abhirup Roy MUMBAI (Reuters) - An 117-year-old condemned building collapsed in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Thursday after torrential rains this week, killing at least 22 people, with about 10 other people feared trapped, police and fire official said. Officials added rescuers were able to pull 35 people from the debris of the six-storey building, 13 of whom were injured. Disaster struck early in the morning as Mumbai was recovering from two days of heavy rain and flooding in which 14 people died. The collapse was the second in Mumbai in little over a month. In late July, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building collapsed after suspected unauthorized renovation work. "There was a massive bang. We couldn't see anything due to the dust and smoke. Once the dust settled, we realized it was a building collapse," said area resident Amina Sheikh. The building, in a densely-populated part of the city, housed a nursery school despite being declared unsafe by the municipal housing authority in 2011 though no children had arrived at the school when the collapse occurred. But there were many families living there. Relatives pleaded with rescuers to help find their loved ones as about 200 police and fire personnel searched debris for dead and injured. Police have yet to establish what caused the collapse near Crawford market, a landmark of south Mumbai's old city with narrow streets packed with markets and shops which has a large Muslim community. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a statement of condolences, said the event was "saddening." The building housed a sweet shop warehouse on the ground floor, and the chief fire official said the collapse had sparked a fire that may have suffocated some of the victims. LISTED AS DANGEROUS Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, said the government had given final notice for the building's demolition in May 2016, but added some families had refused to leave. The building was among 791 that the city's municipal corporation had listed as dangerous, but residents often refuse to leave, and as a result, only a few of these buildings have been evacuated or demolished. More than 500 of them are still occupied, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp told Reuters. A housing trust that was looking to redevelop the area said the housing board had offered alternative accommodation to tenants, but only seven families had moved out by early 2014. Some residents in the area said people had not been given proper details of what type of new housing they would be provided, making them reluctant to leave. "We also want redevelopment of our building, but developers or government should make alternate arrangements until redevelopment work completes or it should pay rent," said Ati Allah, 60, whose grandfather bought a small room more than 100 years back in a neighboring old building. "We don't have any problem. But there is no clarity how the government wants to do redevelopment." (Additional reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Writing by Swati Bhat; Editing by Rafael Nam, Richard Balmforth) By Anne-Mireille Nzouankeu YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon's president on Wednesday ordered a military court to drop its prosecution of three Anglophone activists and some of their supporters in a bid to ease tensions in the central African nation's minority English-speaking regions. The men - Felix Agbor Balla, Fontem Aforteka'a Neba and Paul Ayah Abine - were arrested following protests late last year by English speakers demanding equal treatment in the majority Francophone country. The case, tried under anti-terrorism laws enacted to combat Islamist Boko Haram militants in the north, stoked tensions in the North-West and South-West regions, further fuelling opposition to President Paul Biya's mainly French-speaking government. "This decision (to end the prosecution) stems from the Head of State's firm resolve to continuously explore ways and means to seeking a peaceful solution to crises," read a statement released by the secretary general of the presidency. The activists pleaded not guilty in February to charges that included complicity in hostility against the homeland, secession, civil war, and campaigning for federalism. They had faced a potential death sentence if convicted. The move to end the trial came amid a growing wave of pressure - including from church officials, diplomats and a popular online campaign - calling for the detainees' release. "It's a good thing. But an end of prosecution does not mean immediate release. They must be released immediately," Christopher Ndong, a member of the activists' defense team, told Reuters. The presidency's statement did not say when, or even if, the prisoners would be freed and reaffirmed Biya's commitment to combat "all enemies of peace and progress". "They will be brought before the courts," the statement said. Rights groups have raised concerns about a rising wave of repression during Biya's 35-year rule. The government's main reaction to the simmering unrest has been to collectively crack down on the Anglophone regions. Security forces have shot dead at least six people and arrested hundreds of others. Internet connections were cut for three months, and earlier this week authorities announced a ban on broadcasts of a South Africa-based channel, SCBC, claiming it was a propaganda arm of an outlawed secessionist movement. At the end of World War One, the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors. At independence in 1960, English-speaking voters opted to join Cameroon rather than neighboring Nigeria, but they have since complained of being marginalized. (This story corrects identity of one of the activists in 2nd paragraph.) (Additional reporting by Josiane Kouagheu in Yaounde and Bate Felix in Paris; writing by Joe Bavier; editing by Larry King) Charlie Hebdo isnt shrinking from its controversial reputation. Referencing the destruction that killer storm Harvey has wrought on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the satirical French weekly posted its latest inflammatory cover: Nazi saluters and Nazi flags sinking in water. God Exists! reads the caption in French. He Drowned All The Neo-Nazis of Texas. The cover appears to tie the natural disaster in Texas and Louisiana to the deadly rally of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. At least 35 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced by Harvey. But as Newsweek noted, theres no evidence that the death toll includes neo-Nazis. In 2015, Charlie Hebdo endured a terror attack that killed a dozen people at its office, including staffers and police. The two gunmen reportedly shouted, We have avenged the prophet, referring to the outlets caricatures of Muhammad. Despite an outpouring of sympathy for the outlet after that attack, some on Twitter took Charlie Hebdo to task over its latest cover. Free speech is wonderful isn't it, Charlie Hebdo? You have every right to publish this, and I have every right to call you a piece of shit. pic.twitter.com/USPgVx4m2l Ceara McCord (@GyakutennoMeg) August 30, 2017 France's Charlie Hebdo mocking Houston flood victims as Nazis. Remember when we mocked their dead? Me neither. pic.twitter.com/0Sn7J73FiD Bearzus (@bearzus) August 31, 2017 An evil, despicable cover. Also, the losers at Charlie Hebdo have a God-given right to publish it, & no one has the right to shoot them pic.twitter.com/isOVjkXPR0 Tiana Lowe (@TianaTheFirst) August 30, 2017 Also on HuffPost Residents embrace after being rescued from the floodwaters of Tropical Storm Harvey in east Houston, Texas, on Aug. 28, 2017. A Coast Guard helicopter hoists a wheel chair on board after lifting a person to safety in Houston. A Shell gas station is underwater at the intersection of Wallisville and Uvalde in Houston. Laquanta Edwards holds her 1-year-old daughter Ladaja (right) and 9-month-old son, LaDarius, after they reached high ground by boat in east Houston. Residents use boats to evacuate from floodwaters in east Houston. A policeman carries a young girl as her family follows, fleeing their home in east Houston. A house and vehicles stand in floodwaters in Spring, Texas. Shardea Harrison looks at her 3-week-old baby, Sarai Harrison, being held by Dean Mize as he and Jason Legnon used his airboat to rescue them after their neighborhood was inundated with flooding in Houston. Dean Mize (left) and Jason Legnon carry a person to an airboat as they rescue people from their homes in Houston. A truck driver walks past an abandoned truck while checking the depth of the water at an underpass in Houston. A person walks through a flooded street with a dog in Houston. In this handout provided by the Army National Guard, a Texas National Guardsman carries a resident from her flooded home in Houston. Naomi Coto carries Simba on her shoulders as they evacuate their home in Houston. A resident of Bayou on the Bend watches the first floor flood as the Buffalo Bayou continues to rise in Houston. People wait to be rescued from their flooded homes in Houston. People walk down a flooded street in Houston. People wait on a flooded street in Houston. A man helps children across a flooded street in Houston. Groups of people walk down a flooded street in Houston. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. French chemicals group Arkema confirmed on Thursday two explosions at its plant in Crosby, Texas, and added there was a risk of further explosions at the site. "We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. Trucks make their way through flood waters on a main road leading to the Arkema Inc. chemical plantCredit: AFP "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so," it added. Smoke and an explosion were reported on Thursday morning at the flood-hit chemical plant. The Arkema chemical plant is flooded The company evacuated remaining workers at the damaged plant on Tuesday, and Harris County ordered the evacuation of residents within a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) radius of the plant, which makes organic peroxides used in the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products. One Sheriff's Deputy has been taken to hospital after inhaling fumes from the explosion. It was reported earlier that Arkema SA expected chemicals to catch fire or explode at its heavily flooded plant in Crosby, Texas in the coming days because the plant has lost power to its chemical cooling systems, a company official said on Wednesday. Hurricane Harvey hits Texas, in pictures The company evacuated remaining workers on Tuesday, and Harris County ordered the evacuation of residents in a 1.5-mile(2.4-km) radius of the plant that makes organic peroxides used in the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products. Richard Rowe, chief executive officer of Arkema's North America unit, told reporters that chemicals on the site would catch fire and explode if they are not properly cooled. He said the company had no way to prevent an explosion because the plant was swamped by about 6 feet (1.83 m) of water due to flooding from Harvey, which came ashore in Texas last week as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Story continues "Materials could now explode and cause a subsequent and intense fire. The high water that exists on site, and the lack of power, leave us with no way to prevent it," Rowe said. He said he believed a fire would be "largely sustained on our site but we are trying to be conservative." The company said it opted not to move chemicals before the storm but made extensive preparations. The plant is 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Houston. Rowe did not disclose the volume of chemicals on the site and said it was speculative to predict how much damage the plant could sustain. He said a fire would not pose any "long-term harm or impact." The plant has been without electric service since Sunday. The plant lost refrigeration when backup generators were flooded, and workers transferred products from warehouses into diesel-powered refrigerated containers. The company said some refrigeration of back-up containers has been compromised because of high-water levels, and the company is monitoring temperature levels remotely. The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily barred flights near the plant because of the risk of fire or explosion. TWIN FALLS A nationally recognized birder will talk about his month-long adventure in Ethiopia at the Prairie Falcon Audubon Societys next meeting. The chapter meets at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 in room 201 of the Shields Building at College of Southern Idaho. Speaker Terry Richs program is titled The Birds, Landscapes and People of Ethiopia. Ethiopia has diverse bird habitats, from below sea level to well over 14,000 feet. It offers numerous endemics, a rich assemblage of montane and arid savanna species and an influx of European and Central Asian migrants, the clubs announcement said. Rich has degrees in wildlife ecology and zoology and is pursuing a doctoral degree in public policy from Boise State University. He was the national Migratory Bird Program coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management from 1992 to 2000 and the Partners in Flight national coordinator from 2000 to 2014. Rich also serves on the board of the Great Basin Bird Observatory and is an honorary lifetime member of the American Ornithological Society. CHICAGO (Reuters) - The 25-year-old son of Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson donated one of his kidneys to his father in a life-saving transplant surgery on Wednesday, local media reported. Daniel Johnson agreed to be his 57-year-old father's donor when he learned his own kidney was a match, the Chicago Tribune said. The simultaneous surgeries took place at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, according to the media reports. "I just feel like no one's going to take care of my parents the way I would," the younger Johnson told the Tribune. "So if you want something done right, you do it yourself." The operation to transplant a kidney into the elder Johnson was a success and he is conscious and comfortable, Rush University Medical Center said in a statement. The hospital's statement did not identify the kidney donor. "Everything went smoothly and as expected for both donor and recipient," it added. After nearly fainting in January, the police superintendent said he suffered from a chronic kidney ailment that requires a transplant. He expected to return to work following the surgery. He told reporters at the time that the light-headedness he felt during an earlier news conference was the result of taking blood pressure medication on an empty stomach. Video of the incident showed that Johnson, standing alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel, begin to stagger as Emanuel asked if he was OK. The news conference ended abruptly and Johnson was helped to a chair. Johnson later told media his dizziness was unrelated to glomerulonephritis, a kidney disorder he said was first diagnosed 32 years ago when he underwent medical tests as a police recruit. Johnson said he had managed the disease without medication and without it affecting his ability to lead a normal life, but he had reached the point where a kidney transplant was necessary. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles,; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Peter Cooney) (BEIJING) Escalating efforts to repatriate one of the ruling Communist Partys most wanted exiles, Chinese police have opened an investigation on a new allegation, rape, against New York-based billionaire Guo Wengui, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference. Two Chinese officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police are requesting a second Interpol arrest notice for Guo, 50, for the alleged sexual assault of a 28-year-old former personal assistant. Guo and his representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The rape allegation represents a new element in the sprawling case that Chinese prosecutors are building against the real estate tycoon, who is being investigated for at least 19 major criminal cases. Allegations against him include bribing a top Chinese intelligence official, kidnapping, fraud and money laundering. The Associated Press reviewed documents related to the rape investigation and confirmed their contents with Chinese official sources in Beijing, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing case. The Chinese officials disclosures to the AP an unusual move given the political sensitivity of Guos case in China underscores Beijings urgent effort to not only bring a fugitive to heel on criminal charges but also silence a potent irritant in the run-up to a key Communist Party congress during which political stability and the stifling of any challenges to the party head, President Xi Jinping, are paramount. Although the United States does not have an extradition agreement with China, Beijing hopes that a mounting body of evidence could sway the U.S. government against extending the exiled businessmans visa, which is believed to expire in October, the Chinese officials said. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed the allegations against Guo, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the talks. The Chinese officials are asking the U.S. to cancel Guos visa, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to disclose the discussions. Story continues Its unclear what steps Washington plans to take, if any. The White House would not comment on the matter. The Guo saga highlights how Chinas efforts to repatriate elite Chinese seeking refuge on American soil have become increasingly contentious in the bilateral relationship. The U.S. government has often refused Beijings demands to extradite corruption suspects, citing flimsy evidence and Chinas opaque justice system. But the U.S. has sent back two Chinese fugitives in the past three months, including one suspected of rape. In recent months, Guo has become a widely followed and, in the eyes of Chinas leadership, highly destabilizing social media presence by serving up sensational, if mostly unverifiable, tales of corruption and scandal within the Communist Partys innermost sanctum, including among Xis closest allies. In a daily stream of Twitter posts and YouTube videos tracked by Chinese who follow political gossip, Guo has revealed what he claims are everything from top leaders secret homes in California to their bank account information and hidden stakes in business empires. He has vowed to continue airing the partys secrets until China unfreezes his assets and releases his relatives who have been seized by authorities, he says, as leverage against him. Pressure on Guo has been building since April when Interpol issued a red notice seeking his arrest on corruption-related charges. Chinese authorities later sentenced several of his employees for fraud in June. Police in central China opened the rape investigation July 5 after a former employee came forward, the officials said. In interviews with police, the woman described how she was plucked from her human resources position at Guos real estate company in Hong Kong in 2015 and sent overseas to become his personal assistant. The woman, whose identity is being withheld by the AP, said that over the next two years, she was raped several times in New York, London and the Bahamas by Guo, who she said demanded sex from female employees as a test of their loyalty. At times, she said, she languished in virtual detention after Guos staff confiscated her smartphone, computer, passport and keys and forbade her from leaving her room in his luxury apartment in the high-end London neighborhood of Belgravia. To prove her case, the woman surreptitiously met a lawyer friend in London earlier this year to give a written statement about her ordeal and kept her underwear, pregnancy tests and abortion pills as evidence, according to police documents. In a brief phone interview with the AP arranged by Chinese officials, the woman confirmed the account and described fleeing Guos apartment to the Chinese Embassy in London in April to apply for a new passport before returning to China. She said she was speaking of her own volition and that police had assured her she could bring charges against Guo without facing repercussions for having worked for a highly sought-after fugitive. I just want him to face justice for what he did to me, she said. Calls to Guos mobile phone since Tuesday evening in New York rang unanswered. Guo also did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by an AP reporter to his WhatsApp mobile messaging account since Tuesday. Lawyers representing him at the New York firm Boies Schiller Flexner did not respond to requests for comment. In April, Guo told AP he believed the Interpol notice issued at the time amounted to state intimidation and that China had submitted bogus documents to the international police organization. Interpol declined to comment about the latest warrant China is seeking for Guos arrest, referring questions to national authorities as is the policy in ongoing investigations. Born into poverty in central China, Guo transformed himself from a humble gasoline speculator into a real estate mogul who jet-setted with the likes of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Key to his spectacular rise, according to investigative profiles in Chinese media, was an ability to befriend officials in Chinas powerful security apparatus who helped him intimidate business rivals, secure deals and gain insights into the secret lives of the Chinese elite. In one instance, according to these reports, Guo won the rights to build the iconic Pangu tower in 2006 as part of Beijings Olympics development project by working with Ma Jian, who later became Chinas chief of counterintelligence, to obtain a sex tape of a Beijing vice mayor who had blocked Guos initial bid. In 2015, anti-corruption investigators detained Ma and later accused him of accepting $8.8 million in bribes from Guo, who fled the country. Prior to that, Guo had enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Chinas intelligence service, even helping to repatriate overseas fugitives, he later said in his YouTube videos. Guo in 2015 hired American private investigators to fan out across the U.S. to look for Ling Wancheng, the fugitive brother of a disgraced top aide to a former Chinese president who possibly sought to defect, a person involved in that search effort told the AP. The person was legally barred from discussing the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Months later, Chinese agents arrived in the U.S. to search for Ling in a covert operation that angered U.S. officials, underscoring how the issue of politically connected Chinese fleeing to the U.S. has strained relations. With political cases such as Ling Wancheng and Guo Wengui, the U.S. seems reluctant to send them back because both have valuable classified information about the top echelons of the party, said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at Chinese University of Hong Kong. This phenomenon is a big plus for the CIA and FBI. Lam said that although it is unlikely that Washington would send Guo back given his intelligence value, President Donald Trump could potentially play the fugitive card to put pressure on Beijing to make concessions on issues ranging from trade to North Korea. The prospect of becoming a bargaining chip has worried Guo, according to a leaked audio recording of a meeting he held earlier this year with former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who offered to lobby the Trump administration for a visa extension. A spokeswoman for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the law firm where Johnson is partner, said a meeting between Guo and Johnson several months ago about a possible representation appears to have been recorded and released, but the firm ultimately did not take on Guo as a client. I want to help you, Johnson says in the edited recording that recently surfaced online. I am the only member of Barack Obamas Cabinet that has met with Donald Trump. In the recording, Johnson suggests Guo meet with FBI agents and consider donating to human rights organizations to strengthen his case to remain in the U.S. After Guo expresses concern that Trump had already made a deal with the Chinese, Johnson and an unidentified woman who appears to be a Guo adviser quickly assure him that Trump would not give him up. He would be violating your rights, Johnson says, while the adviser points out that Guo, who goes by the name Miles Kwok, should also consider his membership in a Trump resort in Florida as a factor working in his favor. Miles is a member of Mar-a-Lago, she says, before Guo bursts into laughter. BEIJING (Reuters) - China's cabinet said the government will launch nationwide safety inspections of coal mines, chemical plants, gas operators and logistics firms, starting in September. The new round of inspections comes after an environmental crackdown in August roiled commodities markets, while safety inspections in major coal producing regions have crimped supplies, fuelling a price rally. "It is a top priority for us to give coal mines thorough checks. Hazardous chemical producers, city gas operators as well as fireworks manufactures will also be our list for the inspections," cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday on the website of China's work safety administration. A fire earlier this month at a large refinery in Dalian run by oil major PetroChina fueled public concerns about safety standards in the oil industry. China's coal production in July fell to the lowest level since October, reflecting the impact of a crackdown on illegal mining and efforts to reduce pollution. (Reporting by Meng Meng and Josephine Mason; Editing by Richard Pullin) The Clinton Library marked the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death on Thursday, sharing an archived image of the late Royal and former first lady Hillary Clinton. "We remember Princess Diana on the anniversary of her death," the library's account shared on Thursday morning. "A few months before her passing the Princess visited with HRC at the White House." We remember Princess Diana on the anniversary of her death. A few months before her passing the Princess visited with HRC at the White House pic.twitter.com/iopEvfSgIY Clinton Library (@WJCLibrary) August 31, 2017 Princess Diana died at the young age of 36 in a fatal Paris car crash but notably had met with Hillary Clinton at the White House just weeks before her death. The two were photographed together wearing pantsuits. As AOL's Jennifer Kline writes, they "almost look like sisters." RELATED: Princess Diana with her sons Bill Clinton, who was the U.S. president at the time of Lady Di's sudden death, then told press he and his wife were "profoundly saddened" by the news of the British Royal's passing. Hillary Clinton went on to attend Diana's funeral after the royal family personally asked her to be there. For the swarms of journalists in Texas to cover Harvey, the line between reporting and rescuing is getting blurred. A video of a CNN reporter helping to pull a man to safety has gone viral, coming soon after a similar clip of a journalist retrieving a man from his home circulated widely. This is why its so dangerous right now to be out, the reporter says as he helps the man walk away from a truck slowly receding into a waterlogged ravine behind him. Come on sir, lets get you up into the dry. A similar story played out when a Houston television reporter spotted a truck stranded in rising water and flagged down a Harris County Sheriffs Office truck a few days ago. Journalists generally try to avoid playing an active role in the stories they cover, but the widespread devastation wrought by Harvey is plunging many reporters into aiding the victims. A column written by journalism ethics professor Joe Hight for the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, an organization that helps journalists navigate covering war and natural disasters, suggests avoiding risks that might endanger either your own safety or your ability to do your job. It's not your role to act as professional responder unless someone's life is in danger, Mr Hight wrote. Attacks on journalists have been a regular feature of the Trump administration, and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway took to Twitter to lambaste a reporter for lacking sensitivity when she interviewed a rattled mother. Shortly thereafter Ms Conway praised journalists for helping connect people to resources. Watch this clip to end.Shames @CNN to get the mike out of her face, notes her kids are shivering & in need of things other than an interview https://t.co/jGbvfJGecx Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) August 29, 2017 .@KellyannePolls on #Harvey: "We want to thank the media for really connecting people with the information they need." #SpecialReport pic.twitter.com/cLO13zIRoS Fox News (@FoxNews) August 29, 2017 More than a dozen people are believed to have died as a result of the storm, and Houston authorities are bracing for tens of thousands to be homeless. Despite losing by 10th round TKO to Floyd Mayweather last Saturday in their highly anticipated showdown in Las Vegas, Conor McGregor has seemingly been in high spirits. After the loss, he immediately discussed ways he could get better as a fighter and showed up at the post-fight news conference with a huge smile stretched across his face and a bottle of Irish whiskey in hand. Thats what a $100 million payday will do for you. But McGregor has continued to be open and honest about the fight and the UFC lightweight champion took to Instagram to deliver a lengthy message about his fight with Mayweather, his conditioning failing him and went as far as to suggest that Mayweather could have a future in MMA, if he wanted to. In the post, McGregor suggested that a longer training camp could have benefitted his conditioning. A little more time and we could have made the 12 cleanly, while under more stress, and made it thru the later rounds in the actual fight, the 29-year-old said. I feel every decision we made at each given time was the correct decision, and I am proud of everyone of my team for what we done in the short time that we done it. He also complimented Mayweather and wished him well in retirement. But notably stated that the 40-year-old possessed strong tools that could benefit him if he had ever decided to give MMA a try. Congrats to Floyd on a well fought match, McGregor continued. Very experienced and methodical in his work. I wish him well in retirement. He is a heck of a boxer. His experience, his patience and his endurance won him this fight hands down. I always told him he was not a fighter but a boxer. But sharing the ring with him he is certainly a solid fighter. Strong in the clinch. Great understanding of frames and head position. He has some very strong tools he could bring into an MMA game for sure. With the super fight in his rearview mirror, McGregor will soon turn his attention back to the UFC, where it appears a third fight with Nate Diaz awaits. WASHINGTON For Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), suing the federal government is a point of pride. During Barack Obamas presidency, Texas sued the administration at least 48 times. Abbott, who served as the states attorney general before winning the governorship in 2014, filed 31 of those lawsuits, according to the Texas Tribune. The Lone Star State has fought the federal government on matters ranging from drugs used for executions to climate change regulations. And Texas Republicans have refused to become part of the Affordable Care Acts expansion of Medicaid, turning their backs on billions of federal dollars. Abbott is so skeptical of federal activities that he deployed the Texas State Guard in 2015 to monitor a U.S. military training exercise in the state. The move was seen as fanning conspiracy theories about the Obama administration, including one that claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was creating political prisoner camps in Walmarts. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). (Photo: Mike Stone / Reuters) But since catastrophic Hurricane Harvey hit, Abbott has eagerly accepted the feds support. (Abbotts office did not respond to a request for comment.) We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done, he said on Sunday, noting that FEMA had been very actively involved and engaged ... long before the hurricane even hit the ground. More than 12,400 employees from over a dozen federal departments and agencies are working to respond to the storm damage in Texas and Louisiana, according to a FEMA statement on Wednesday, and more than 63,000 individuals and households have been approved for FEMA assistance. Conservative Texans dont see a contradiction between fighting the federal government and accepting its help after all, they say, they already paid for the U.S. government services, so they might as well use them. But Hurricane Harvey has underscored a basic reality of Texas politics: The feds are easier to blame and blast when theyre not helping save peoples lives in ones homestate. Story continues Texas has engaged in an ongoing tug-and-pull between trying to get as much out of the federal government as possible while giving the least, said Eric McDaniel, an associate professor specializing in politics at the University of Texas at Austin. But while the federal government is seen as the bogeyman by some Texans, people have to realize how much the federal government actually provides to the state, he said. Anyone who looks at the flooding in Texas can quickly see the critical role all levels of government have in protecting lives, said Manny Garcia, deputy executive director of the Texas Democratic Party. But, he added, Natural disasters are not the only challenges we face. When the cameras are gone, Texans will still face a health care disaster, voting rights abuses, low wages, and high tuition for state universities. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has labeled members of Texas congressional delegation hypocrites for lining up behind what will no doubt be a massive federal emergency aid proposal after opposing a similar package for the northeastern stateshammered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But others dont see a problem with the conservative state accepting federal help. Im sitting on a mountain of hate mail over here from people that are just gleeful that Texans are suffering right now, and its absolutely disgusting, said Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, which advocates for Texas independence and is helping out with relief efforts. The opposition [says] Oh, look, you guys want independence but yet youve got your hands stuck out looking for federal aid. The way he sees it, Texas has been paying into this federal system, and when we ask for federal disaster relief, were essentially just asking for a little bit of our money back. Miller said he doesnt have concerns with FEMA being in the state, but he remains loath to say a good word about them. What we do have a problem with is them coming in like they are saviors, he said. His groups website asserts that any notion that Texas needs FEMA is misinformation at best and a blatant lie at worst. It also says: As anyone in Texas can tell you, FEMA gets in the way more than it helps. Bashing the federal government for political reasons was particularly popular in Texas during the Obama administration, which intensified conservative Texans natural distrust of big government. It became a very easy foil for Texas Republican leaders, where even those running in local elections could campaign as much against Obama as against a local rival, said Mark Jones, a fellow in political science at Rice University in Houston. It was a winning strategy. With President Donald Trump in office, theres less benefit for Texas Republicans to attack him or the officials running the relief efforts. But as the recovery from Harvey proceeds any failures will be FEMA, the federal government failing us again, and successes will be, look at our great state leadership, said McDaniel. Youre not going to see a lot of whining about what the federal government has brought or hasnt brought, said Carl Tepper, the former GOP chairman for Lubbock County, Texas. Resolutions advocating Texass secession from the Union under certain conditions once passed his county convention. Texans are a hardy bunch, and theyre not going to look to the federal government for help, Tepper said. But he added, If theres some help there, and we paid into it and we deserve it, well take it. Sign up for the HuffPost Must Reads newsletter. Each Sunday, we bring you the best original reporting, long-form writing and breaking news from HuffPost and around the web, plus behind-the-scenes looks at how its all made. Click here to sign up! Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech parliamentary committee recommended on Wednesday that lawmakers should lift the immunity of Andrej Babis, the leader of the most popular party and candidate for prime minister, and allow police to charge him with subsidy fraud. Babis, a billionaire businessman and founder and chief of ANO movement, denies any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly called the police actions against him a political ploy meant to hurt him in the Czech Republic's Oct. 20-21 election.. Police have been investigating Babis over accusations his companies illegally received a 2 million-euro European Union subsidy in 2008 for a farm and conference center near Prague. The committee's chairwoman, Miroslava Nemcova of the opposition Civic Democratic Party, said there were no grounds to believe the investigation was biased. "I have no impression whatsoever from what we have been shown that ... the investigation bodies are playing any improper game with us," she told reporters. ANO, which has run on promises to clean up graft in the government, has kept a double-digit lead ahead of rivals in opinion polls which have not shown any significant deterioration in support since the police requested immunity be lifted on Aug. 10. Babis reiterated on Wednesday after speaking to the committee that he saw the investigation as politically charged. "This whole affair is about the future of this country, it is meant to discredit me, to lower our support, to form the next government without Babis," he told reporters. The lower house of parliament is expected to vote on lifting Babis's immunity at a session starting on Sept. 5, but the investigation is expected to last well beyond the October vote. Babis will win immunity again if reelected to parliament, as expected, which would force the police to ask again for permission to charge him. It could lead a situation in which the group forming next government could be led by a person wanted by police. President Milos Zeman, who appoints prime ministers, has backed Babis but Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, whose Social Democrats rule with ANO and another party in he current center-left coalition, said Babis should not be in any government if charged. About half a dozen or more parties are likely to win seats in parliament in the election, making an ANO-led coalition the most likely outcome. Babis served as finance minister from 2014 until May 2017 when Sobotka dismissed him due to allegations he may have dodged taxes and influenced content at a newspaper he owned, issues unrelated to the subsidy investigation. Babis denied any wrongdoing in those cases as well. Babis has built a business of over 200 firms in chemicals, farming and media. He transferred the group to trust funds this year to meet new conflict of interest legislation but remains the beneficiary of the funds. (Reporting by Robert Muller; Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) "We only kill black people." That's what Cobb County, Georgia police officer Greg Abbott told a woman at a traffic stop when she said she was afraid to reach for her cellphone. The traffic stop happened last year, but footage of the event, originally obtained by WSB-TV in Atlanta, has recently surfaced, revealing details from the exchange. In the video, Abbott can be heard telling the driver to use her phone. When she responds that she's afraid to reach for the device for fear of being shot, Abbott says, "But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah, we only kill black people, right?" SEE ALSO: Donald Trumps teleprompter is back from vacation to denounce racism Abott has been placed on administrative duty now that the video is public. He'll reportedly stay that way while the department conducts an internal investigation. We reached out to Cobb County police to ask what, precisely, they are investigating, but haven't immediately heard back. Khartoum (AFP) - A leading Sudanese activist who was released after a presidential pardon said Wednesday that defending human rights was "not a crime", as he vowed to continue fighting against rights abuses. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, an engineering professor at the University of Khartoum, told AFP in an interview that it was pressure from global and local human rights groups that finally led to his release Tuesday after months of detention, during which he was put on trial on charges of spying for foreign embassies. "Defending human rights is not a crime," Ibrahim Adam, winner of several international human rights awards, said at his home in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman. "Human rights are being violated not only by the authorities but also by armed groups, and we have to fight all those who abuse human rights." Ibrahim Adam, 58, was freed after President Omar al-Bashir pardoned him along with five other activists. He was arrested in December as part of a crackdown against opposition leaders and activists in an attempt to crush widespread protests against a government decision to raise fuel prices. Prosecutors accused him of being among activists who were running a "criminal organisation" and engaged in "spying and intelligence activities for foreign embassies". Ibrahim Adam and others were also accused of "publishing lies about (government forces) using chemical weapons" during fighting with rebels in the country's conflict zones. Ibrahim Adam said the prosecution had "no evidence" against him. "They exaggerated things and made them big. The only way for them to back out was a direct intervention from the president," said the activist, who went on hunger strike while in jail. Ibrahim Adam, who has worked extensively on human rights issues in Sudan for three decades, has been arrested several times for his work. The government shut down a development organisation he headed in 2009. Story continues - 'International pressure' - Ibrahim Adam said he was held in several prisons during his nine months in detention, after initially being detained by agents of the country's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). He said these types of detentions were reason enough for human rights defenders to continue their fight. The "human rights situation in Sudan will improve if you scrap laws that give the authorities the right to detain people without offering any reason", said a relaxed Ibrahim Adam, dressed in a traditional white robe and cap. "There is an institution that has a right to detain you for up to six months without offering any reason," he said, in reference to NISS. The way forward "is to fight such laws that restrict freedom", the activist said, as dozens of men, women and university students arrived at his three-storey home to greet him after his release. Global rights groups have often accused NISS of detaining human rights workers, opposition politicians and journalists. NISS agents regularly confiscate entire newspaper print runs without giving a reason, particularly when they publish articles opposing government policies. Ibrahim Adam said his release was a result of the "government's own assessment" of his case, as well as pressure from international and local human rights groups. "Officials of almost all foreign embassies used to attend my trial sessions," he said, adding that even the United Nations believed there was no case against him. Ibrahim Adam said it was this international pressure that made Bashir pardon him, not Washington's expected decision on October 12 on whether to permanently lift US sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1997. Some global campaign groups have insisted that Washington retain the sanctions, given Sudan's human rights record. Ibrahim Adam said the human rights situation in Sudan now "was not as bad as in the past", but "more efforts" were still needed. "We have to fight peacefully to change the overall situation," he said. "We have to insist that defending human rights is not a crime, and the government has to protect human rights defenders according to international conventions it has signed." TWIN FALLS Magic Valley Fly Fishers will kick off its new season of meetings with a fall potluck the evening of Sept. 21 in the Noah Oliver Pavilion at Rock Creek RV Park. With the great layout of this pavilion, casting games, tying and other fun stuff has been suggested, so let us know what you want to have fun and help with at this event to start off the great club season ahead, board member Bryan Woodhouse wrote. Bring all your spring and summer fish stories and assorted other lies and fables to share with us in a free-flowing round robin to end the evening. After that, Magic Valley Fly Fishers monthly meetings will move to the Turf Club. Fishing guide and fly designer Tim Tollett, owner of Frontier Anglers in Dillon, Mont., is scheduled as the 2018 banquet headliner on Jan. 27. And the April 19 meeting will feature Michael Parrella, dean of the University of Idahos College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, speaking on fly entomology. Parrella spoke at the Twin Falls clubs March meeting this year, drawing one of its biggest crowds. Information: Woodhouse, 208-934-6405. The waters are slowly receding, and the tropical storm warning and flash flood watch has been called off in Houston. Now the hard work of rebuilding begins. In the meantime, over 32,000 residents are evacuees after Hurricane Harvey destroyed their homes and possessions. Some of them fled rising waters with no more than the clothes on their backs and perhaps a bag or two of personal items. And those who are managing health conditions may urgently require medical supplies and services that have been interrupted by the storm. About half of all American adults have some kind of chronic disease, such as heart disease, arthritis or Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes in particular can lead to rapid complications without insulin treatment, and longer-term problems with managing the disease can lead to blindness, lower-limb amputations, kidney failure and other serious conditions. For such people, a natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey is not only extremely destabilizing but also potentially deadly. Heres a list of resources to help people connect with medical treatments for chronic illnesses, as well as a few ways for people to help those in need beyond cash and blood donations. The immediate and long-term medical supply needs will vary by condition, but for now supplies and support are urgently needed in the days after the hurricane. 1. Insulin for people with diabetes People with diabetes need to carefully calibrate their blood sugar, typically with insulin, a hormone that helps the body metabolize sugar. If they go without insulin for too long, the results could be fatal. An emergency shipment of donated insulin vials and other supplies for managing diabetes was set to arrive in Texas on Friday. It will be distributed at Houstons George R. Brown Convention Center, as well as Galveston and Corpus Christi communities, as part of a joint effort between the American Diabetes Association, Insulin for Life USA and JDRF, a juvenile diabetes research organization. A second shipment of emergency supplies will arrive early next week, and will be distributed at NRG Center in Houston, as well as Austin and San Antonio Communities. Story continues If you need insulin, syringes, alcohol pads, blood-sugar testing kits and other supplies, visit the ADAs Hurricane Harvey site or call 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. CDT through Friday, Sept. 1, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Sept. 2. Those who have diabetes supplies to donate for future emergency efforts should visit Insulin for Life USAs site. They welcome insulin vials, pens and cartridges, as well as certain testing kits, syringes and other kinds of injection supplies. Finally, those who managed to salvage insulin vials should know that while insulin works best if stored in a refrigerator, unrefrigerated vials can still be used if they were stored somewhere between 59 to 86 degrees for up to 28 days. Insulin that has been frozen should not be used. And once a new supply of insulin is obtained, any improperly stored vials should be discarded, the Food and Drug Administration advises. 2. Dialysis for people with kidney problems When kidneys fail, dialysis treatment can help replace a kidneys function by filtering the blood outside the body and then infusing it back in. Generally, people who need dialysis report to a dialysis center three times a week to thoroughly filter waste from the bloodstream, but, if these facilities are inaccessible to patients, toxins can build up in the blood fast and hasten death. If your normal dialysis provider is inaccessible, the Kidney Community Emergency Response can coordinate treatment for people in an emergency. Call (866) 901-3773 or visit its site for more information. KCER provides technical assistance to End Stage Renal Disease Networks to respond to kidney patient communities in an emergency. You can also reach ESRD at (866) 407-3773. People who need dialysis treatment can also call Fresenius Kidney Cares emergency hotline at (800) 626-1297 to learn where the closest open dialysis clinic is to them. Their doors are currently open to any patient, regardless of where they usually get their dialysis treatment. 3. Clean water for formula-fed babies Parents who need breastfeeding help, safe sources of water and infant formula can call Texas Lactation Support Hotline at (855) 550-6667. Moms needing #breastfeeding assistance and/or safe water, formula -- call the Lactation Support Hotline or visit https://t.co/Qm3PP7GXgK. pic.twitter.com/9qAmNj0t2o Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) August 27, 2017 4. Specialized medical supplies for people with disabilities People who use specialized medical equipment, including feeding tubes, tracheostomy tubes and respiratory equipment, and who lost supplies in the storm may find that these things cant be easily or quickly replaced. Little Lobbyists, Trach Mommas of Louisiana and several other groups are calling upon the patient community to donate supplies to families in need. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. If you have unopened, unused and unexpired medical supplies to donate, you can ship them or drop them off in some places. People who live in Washington, D.C., can email contact@littlelobbyists.org for information about how to drop supplies off in Silver Spring, Maryland. People in Texas should fill out a form to help the groups plan for a Texas drop-off. Louisiana residents can ship the supplies to Trach Mommas of Louisiana, 11725 Industrialplex Blvd., Suite 3, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. People elsewhere can ship supplies to The Parker Lee Project, ATTN: Harvey supplies, 1810 S. Kaufman St., No. 204, Ennis, Texas 75119. Donations should include an itemized list. For more information about whats needed, contact trachmommas@gmail.com. 5. Antiretroviral therapy for people with HIV People who lost HIV medication are in danger of secondary infections and have a higher risk of transmission if they dont continue on their daily antiretroviral therapy. If your HIV medication was lost in the flooding, the Texas HIV Medication program can help connect you with more. Call (800) 255-1090 or visit the Texas Department of State Health Services site to see which local pharmacies have received HIV medication deliveries from the Texas HIV Medication Program. If you lost your #HIV medication during #Harvey, the Texas HIV Medication Program can help. 1-800-255-1090 or https://t.co/8ld0SkdolV. pic.twitter.com/cKLmJCa8Kt Texas DSHS (@TexasDSHS) August 29, 2017 6. Doctors and other health care volunteers needed And finally, if youre a medical professional who can assist in caring for stranded Houston residents, there are several ways you can volunteer. To volunteer, you can register with the Red Cross to be deployed to an area that needs medical care. You can also contact a local medical society. Here are two requests from help sent through Twitter: Are you a physician who can volunteer at the Mega Shelter clinic? Email the Dallas County Medical Society at Harvey.health@dallas-cms.org. Dallas CMS (@DallasCMS) August 29, 2017 Got information about another donor drive for medical supplies and services? Contact the author at annaa@huffpost.com. Also on HuffPost Steve Culver cries with his dog Otis as he talks about what he said was the, 'most terrifying event in his life,' when Hurricane Harvey blew in and destroyed most of his home while he and his wife took shelter there on in Rockport. Ofelia Castro leads her grandchildren across a flooded street as they continue an hours long trek from their flooded house in the Edgewood area of South Houston to a relatives apartment miles away. Aaron Tobias who said he lost everything stands in what is left of his home in Rockport. Mr. Tobias said he was able to get his wife and kids out before the storm arrived but he stayed there and rode it out. Damaged boats in a multi-level storage facility are seen in Rockport. People gather supplies out of destroyed homes to take back to a shelter near City-By-The Sea, Texas. A destroyed laundromat is seen in Rockport. A destroyed apartment complex is seen on Aug. 26, 2017, after Hurricane Harvey passed through Rockport, Texas. Donna Raney is helped out of the window by Lee Guerrero and Daisy Graham in Rockport. Valerie Brown walks through a flooded area after leaving her apartment in Rockport. Charlie Company of the 4th Assault Amphibious Battalion, Marine Forces Reserve arrive at the Central Mall in Port Arthur, TX on Thursday night after running rescue missions in the hardest hit areas of town throughout the day. A Rockport firefighter goes door to door on a search and rescue mission as he looks for people who may need help. Rescue personnel help Hersey Kirk as she is airlifted into a rescue helicopter. Jacque McKay walks through the apartment complex where she lives in Rockport. A damaged home is seen after Hurricane Harvey in Rockport. Damage is seen to a shopping center in Victoria, north and farther inland than Rockport. Damage is seen at a business near Rockport A damaged mobile home in Victoria. Damage to a hotel in Victoria. A business is damaged in Victoria. A light plane sits upside done at Rockport Airport. A sunken boat at Rockport Harbor. Destroyed houses in Rockport. Light medium tactical vehicle's (LMTV) make their way through floodwaters near Bridge City in Texas. A car lies abandoned in Rockport. A police officer checks for survivors among destroyed houses in Rockport. A gas station in Victoria. Damage to homes is seen near Rockport A sign on a Holiday Inn hotel in Victoria. Just got out of Rockport; no cell service there; catastrophic damage; homes, businesses destroyed. #hurricaneharvey pic.twitter.com/CJKPJOhEHZ Jeremy Schwartz (@JinATX) August 26, 2017 First light reveals heavy damage in Rockport, TX. #hurricaneharvey. pic.twitter.com/a9vVRn9iJS Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) August 26, 2017 A burnt-out house that caught fire after Hurricane Harvey hit Corpus Christi. A house suffers roof damage in Corpus Christi. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Legal experts said Donald Trump had launched a Donald Trumps decision to pardon Joe Arpaio is an impeachable offence because it is a direct attack on the judiciary and threatens the rule of law, legal experts have said. The 85-year-old former Arizona sheriff was convicted of ignoring a court order warning him to stop racially profiling Latino immigrants. Mr Trump was criticised after he provided him with a presidential pardon. While the US Constitution gives the president the power to pardon whoever they like, legal experts say this case is problematic because it undermines the ability of the courts to stop state officials violating the constitutional rights of individuals. The issue was raised in a New York Times article by Martin Redish, a professor of constitutional law at Northwestern University. The legal reasoning rests on the fact that the president pardoning someone found guilty of ignoring a court order undermines the power of the courts and raises the worrying prospect of the executive nullifying the judiciary. The most effective way for courts to prevent the state violating individual rights is by issuing injunctions. These instruct that the offence or planned offence must stop or else those responsible will face prosecution for ignoring the court order. Without this threat, the injunction is largely meaningless. However, Donald Trumps decision to pardon someone who was found guilty of ignoring a court order, raises the prospect that state officials could opt to ignore the courts in the belief the president will pardon them should they be convicted. Professor Redish wrote: If the president signals to government agents that there exists the likelihood of a pardon when they violate a judicial injunction that blocks his policies, he can all too easily circumvent the only effective means of enforcing constitutional restrictions on his behaviour. Indeed, the president could even secretly promise a pardon to agents if they undertake illegal activity he desires. Story continues The power of courts to restrain government officers from depriving citizens of liberty absent judicial process is the only meaningful way courts have to enforce important constitutional protections. But if the president can employ the pardon power to circumvent constitutional protections of liberty, there is very little left of the constitutional checks on presidential power. Some legal experts believe Mr Trumps decision to pardon Arpaio could therefore be grounds for impeachment. In an article for the Slate website, Professor Frank Bowman of the University of Missouri-Columbia said: The founders included in the Constitution a congressional power to impeach presidents primarily to respond to misuse by the president of express or implied powers given him elsewhere in the document. To the founders, the main point of impeachment was that there must be a remedy when a president perverts the powers of his office, either for personal or political self-aggrandizement or, regardless of motive, when the presidents acts threaten the proper distribution of authority among the coordinate branches or otherwise offend either law or fundamental governing norms. The pardon of Arpaio plainly falls within this core conception of properly impeachable offences. He said that the decision to pardon Arpaio was a direct assault on core constitutional rights, statutory civil rights laws of the United States, and the authority of courts to enforce those laws. He added: It is a direct attack on the constitutional powers of the judiciary as a coordinate branch of government[and] threatens to undercut one of the indispensable, foundational norms of American constitutional order: the rule of law, he said. In reality, Mr Trump is highly unlikely to be impeached while the Republicans have a majority in Congress. However, the list of alleged impeachable offences against the billionaire businessman is mounting - raising the prospect that, if proceedings against him do ever begin, he could potentially be removed from office. Elon Musk thinks the truth is out there. On Wednesday, the tech entrepreneur said on Twitter that chemtrails, the belief that contrails left in the sky by aircraft are actually chemicals sprayed into the atmosphere for ulterior motives, may have an element of truth to them. Hi Sir, Twitter user Adolf Oosthuizen said to Musk. Help us out here, are #chemtrails real or not? Regards from RSA [Republic of South Africa]! Theyre so real, Musk responded. Anyone going to that much trouble must really care. Id gladly follow their commands, but theyre so friggin obtuse Chemtrail theories differ from source to source, but a common theme is that the government is using planes to spray chemicals into the air that have a negative effect on societys health and the environment. A 2016 study from University of California, Irvine, and the Carnegie Institution for Science found that while almost 17 percent of the worlds population believe in a secret, large-scale atmospheric engineering program, 98.7 percent of surveyed scientists had seen no evidence of such a program that could be explained through other means. The one dissenting scientist had found high levels of atmospheric barium that they could not explain, which isnt quite the same as saying that the barium was a sign of a conspiracy. Chances are, Musk is joking. Although hes put forward some bizarre theories in his time, like the idea he proposed at the Recode conference last year, where he said humans are all living in a simulation, hes made a similar joke about chemtrails before. On April Fools Day, he took to Twitter to put forth his theory that chemtrails are part of an extraterrestrial conspiracy. Technology breakthrough: turns out chemtrails are actually a message from time-traveling aliens describing the secret of teleportation, he said. Why did we waste so much time developing silly rockets? Damn you, aliens! So obtuse! You have all this crazy tech, but cant speak English!? Story continues With Musk exploring the effects of advanced artificial intelligence on society, revising his plans to send humans to Mars and working to bring the Tesla Model 3 to the mass market, its no surprise he wants to relax from time to time. Photos via Getty Images / Dan Kitwood, Getty Images / Bill Pugliano Written by Mike Brown More articles by Mike Follow Mike on Twitter More From Inverse A Justice Department lawyer apologized to a federal judge on Wednesday after President Donald Trumps commission on voter fraud failed to disclose materials ahead of its first meeting in July, and conceded the panel had gotten off to a chaotic start. The apology came during a U.S. District Court hearing Washington in a lawsuit that challenges the compliance with transparency laws by the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The panel, established by Trump in May, met for the first time on July 19. But before the session, it failed to publicly disclose materials that its members would present and discuss. Those documents included prepared opening statements, a Heritage Foundation study on alleged incidents of voter fraud, a voting survey by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and an article from the Yale Law & Policy Review. The commission did post the documents after the meeting. In previous filings responding to the lawsuit, a commission staffer had pledged to post all relevant documents ahead of the commissions first meeting. At Wednesdays hearing, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly termed it incredible that the panel determined its pledge did not apply to documents that individual commission members had prepared but hadnt shown to their colleagues. Elizabeth Shapiro, a DOJ lawyer, said commission staff apologized for the error, which she said was unintentional. It was truly an honest misunderstanding on the part of the commission with respect to its obligations to share information, she told Kollar-Kotelly, according to The Washington Post. It was not an attempt to hide anything. [The commission] fully intends to be as transparent as possible I wanted to convey our apologies and our sincere regret for that. Shapiro also told Kollar-Kotelly that the commission had gotten off to a chaotic start, according to the Post. Planning for the panels first meeting had been disorganized and officials only learned that Trump would speak at it shortly before the session began. Story continues There was a little bit of unknown and a little bit of disorganization in terms of how the meeting would happen, she said. Shapiro assured the judge that panel officials had emailed commissioners Tuesday reminding them of their disclosure obligations, the Post reported. In a letter dated Wednesday, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the commissions vice chair, asked commissioners to submit materials in advance and no later than 10 a.m. the day before the panels next meeting on Sept. 12 to ensure the documents could be shared posted on the commissions website and shared with the public. Consistent with that goal, the Commission has represented in ongoing litigation that materials that you intend to share with your fellow Commission members will be shared with the public in advance of meetings, where possible, Kobach wrote. I do not want to undermine our Commissions discussion or limit the free flow of information, and I understand unexpected issues could arise and members could desire to introduce other documents at the meeting. I would ask that other documents be shared at the meeting only under extraordinary circumstances that could not have been foreseen with sufficient time to send them to Commission staff by the deadline. Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which brought the lawsuit against the commission, said the statements from Shapiro were stunning. It was remarkable to see this Justice Department falling on its sword and apologizing profusely to the court for significant errors made in how this commission has been handled so far, she told HuffPost. A commission of this nature, one that is drawing intense national interest, should be one where we see full transparency. Thats not what were seeing here. Kollar-Kotelly ordered the commission to produce an index of all the documents and communications related to its work even if they were sent from a personal email or phone number to the court and offer an explanation for any materials that arent being disclosed to the public. The commission has been controversial since its start. Critics charge it has no reason to exist given the lack of evidence of anything close to widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections. The panel also set off alarm bells with its request for publicly available voter-roll data from all states and the District of Columbia. In the face of differing interpretations about what that covered, some states have refused to comply and some people have canceled their voter registrations in protest. The commissions Sept. 12 meeting will be in Manchester, New Hampshire. This story has been updated with details from Kris Kobachs letter to commissioners. Also on HuffPost Alabama State Capitol (Montgomery, Ala.) Pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Alaska State Capitol (Juneau, Alaska) Pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Miller) Arizona State Capitol (Phoenix) Pictured on Friday, April 23, 2010. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) Arkansas State Capitol (Little Rock, Ark.) Pictured on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) California State Capitol (Sacramento, Calif.) Pictured on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images) Colorado State Capitol (Denver) Pictured on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) Connecticut State Capitol (Hartford, Conn.) Pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1999. (AP Photo/Bob Child) Delaware State Capitol (Dover, Del.) Florida State Capitol (Tallahassee, Fla.) Pictured on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Georgia State Capitol (Atlanta) Pictured on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. 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(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Massachusetts State House (Boston) Pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images) Michigan State Capitol (Lansing, Mich.) Pictured on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) Minnesota State Capitol (St. Paul, Minn.) Pictured on Friday, July 1, 2011. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) Mississippi State Capitol (Jackson, Miss.) Pictured on Thursday, June 10, 1999. (AP Photo/Rogelio Solis) Missouri State Capitol (Jefferson City, Mo.) Pictured on Friday, Oct. 16, 2000. (Photo credit should read ORLIN WAGNER/AFP/Getty Images) Montana State Capitol (Helena, Mont.) Nebraska State Capitol (Lincoln, Neb.) Pictured on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1998. (AP Photo/S.E. McKee) Nevada State Capitol (Carson City, Nev.) New Hampshire State House (Concord, N.H.) Pictured on Friday, Dec. 28, 2001. (Todd Warshaw//Pool/Getty Images New Jersey State House (Trenton, N.J.) Pictured on Friday, Aug. 13, 2004. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) New Mexico State Capitol (Santa Fe, N.M.) New York State Capitol (Albany, N.Y.) Pictured on Sunday, March 16, 2008. (Photo by Daniel Barry/Getty Images) North Carolina State Capitol (Raleigh, N.C.) Pictured in 1930. (AP Photo) North Dakota State Capitol (Bismarck, N.D.) Pictured on Thursday, April 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Dale Wetzel) Ohio Statehouse (Columbus, Ohio) Pictured on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. (Photo by Mike Munden/Getty Images) Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is worried the United States has so far declined to arm it with a powerful new radar, arguing the decision makes the U.S. missile defense system it plans to install much less capable of countering a growing North Korean threat, three sources said. Japan wants to have a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) system operational by 2023 as a new layer of defense to help counter North Korea's missile advances. Yet, without the new powerful radar, known as Spy-6, Japan will have to field the system with existing radar technology that has less range than a new generation of BMD interceptor missiles, the sources who have knowledge of the discussion told Reuters. That could mean that while the interceptor has enough range to strike a missile lofted high into space, the targeting radar may not be able to detect the threat until it is much closer. Japanese officials have witnessed a demonstration of Spy-6 technology, which boosts the range of BMD radars dozens of times, but efforts to secure the equipment from their ally have come to naught. "So far all we have got to do is smell the eel," said one of the officials, referring to a savory fried eel dish popular in Japan. The military threat to Japan deepened on Tuesday when Pyongyang fired an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM)over Japan's northern Hokkaido island. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed the action as "reckless" and "unprecedented." Japan's Defence Ministry and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. IRONCLAD Washington's reluctance to share the radar may make Tokyo feel more vulnerable to North Korean attack and blunt U.S. efforts to assure its Japan about its commitment to defend its East Asian ally to as tensions in the region intensify. The new U.S. Ambassador to Japan, William Hagerty, dubbed their security partnership as the "greatest on earth" in his first meeting with Abe on Aug 18. The U.S.'s top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford described that alliance as "ironclad" in talks with the Chief of Staff of Japan's Self Defence Forces, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano the same day. Still, a pledge to let Japan have Spy-6 has not been forthcoming. Japan has not yet placed an order for Aegis Ashore, but has informally asked Washington to let it have the new radar technology. "There is no guarantee that Japan is going to get it," said another of the sources. The U.S. Navy supports giving Japan the new radar, the source said, but may be thwarted by reluctance from the Missile Defence Agency, which is responsible for developing BMD technology. Officials there are wary to release advanced technology, even to a close ally, before the United States has fielded the technology. The United States' first Spy-6 equipped Aegis warship is not slated to begin operations before 2022, one of the sources said. Tokyo will need permission to use Spy-6 well ahead of that roll out date to give the maker, Raytheon Co and Aegis system integrator Lockheed Martin Corp time to build and test the system. Any decision to hold back Spy-6 could therefore add significantly to Japan's already rising bill for missile defense by forcing it to pay to upgrade or replace Aegis Ashore systems after deployment. Tokyo plans to build two Aegis Ashore batteries, costing around $700 million each without missiles, the sources said. That would mean its southwestern Okinawa island chain would likely be protected by one of Japan's existing BMD warships. The Aegis system's new SM-3 Block IIA defensive missiles, designed to hit warheads Pyongyang may try to fire over its missile shield, can fly more than 2,000 km - about twice the distance of the current SM-3 missiles. The interceptor missiles will cost around $30 million each, the sources added. (Reporting by Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in WASHINGTON; Editing by Lincoln Feast) Nearly 37 percent of Americans live in rental units. Some prefer the relative mobility that renting allows, while others like being able to call a landlord when things break. Some rent by choice, others by necessity because they cant afford the down payment to buy a house or qualify for a mortgage. Whatever the reason, most of us are renters at some stages of our lives, and as in all things real estate, location is a big determinant of how much we will spend on our housing. Here is a sampling of what we found in the rental markets of some of the cities along the HuffPost Listen to America bus tour route. A special H/T to our friends at Realtor.com for their help compiling this list. This is what you can rent for $600 a month in ... Tucson, Arizona Tucson is home to the 44,000-student University of Arizona. As is often the case in large university towns, the rental market has pockets of distortion caused by the supply and demand of student population. Students often share housing at inflated rates for a nine- or 10-month rental during the school year. A room in this sweet-looking bungalow is charging $650 a month plus a share of the water bill. Tucson, Arizona (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Milwaukee, Wisconsin This two-bedroom first-floor unit with central air conditioning is $650 a month. Both bedrooms are 11 x 15; the kitchen is 13 x 17, and there is a shared laundry in the basement. The unit is one of four in a free-standing corner house in the residential neighborhood of Silver Spring. Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Akron, Ohio This two-bedroom top-floor unit of a duplex has an updated kitchen and bathroom. There is attached garage parking, and the tenant pays all the utilities including water. Its located on a cul-de-sac and has a view of a beautiful wooded ravine. (The listing notes that prospective tenants who smoke, have pets or rely on Section 8 for housing assistance will not be accepted. Section 8 is the federal program to provide rent assistance to very low-income, elderly and/or disabled tenants.) Story continues Akron, Ohio (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Odessa, Texas Whats not to love about brand new? For prices starting at $643 a month, one-bedroom units in this spanking new complex include access to a sparkling pool and other amenities. Kid-friendly, if the swing set in the playground is any indication. Dont let Odessas nickname the Jackrabbit Capital of Texas or Jackrabbit-Roping Capital of Texas scare you away. This small city of about 160,000 is ranked high on Forbes list of places with strong job growth. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Odessa, Texas (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Detroit, Michigan Detroits housing market has historically required a little vision and faith. Forbes now says Detroit has one of the most undervalued housing markets in the country and that smart investors should be looking hard at it. This brick three-bedroom home is available to lease for $665 a month. Pets are negotiable but having an income is not. Tenants must show that they gross three times the monthly rent in income and pass a background check. Two bedrooms in a roomy 2,000 square feet. Fresh carpeting and a fireplace. Detroit, Michigan (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) This is what you can rent for $1,000 a month in ... New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans is everyones favorite second-chance city, with stunning architecture and deep colorful historical roots. This is a beautiful renovation with a second-floor balcony. The 950-square-foot home was renovated using federal funds (part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2, which is a federal program helping neighborhoods damaged by foreclosure and abandonment, and must lease to a person whose income is no more than 80 percent of the areas median income). New Orleans, Louisiana (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Albuquerque, New Mexico This two-story townhome one of five units sits in a gated complex. The unit has tile flooring, granite counters, recessed lighting and a shared view balcony on the second level. It has one bedroom, one and a half baths and is move-in ready. Albuquerque, New Mexico (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Detroit, Michigan This three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath home was remodeled in 2015. Its close to shopping, schools and public transportation. It looks neat as a pin inside, with fresh paint, carpet and flooring. Detroit, Michigan (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Memphis, Tennessee This brick three-bedroom home features a stone fireplace and wood paneling. Its pet-friendly and has modern updates throughout. Theres a large eat-in kitchen with stainless appliances and lots of cabinets. The home has a detached one-car garage and fenced backyard with patio. Pets accepted. Memphis, Tennessee (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) This is what you can rent for $1,500 a month in ... Fort Wayne, Indiana A three-bedroom home with no exterior maintenance for the tenant to worry about. The unit features an open floor plan with a corner fireplace, large kitchen with island, large master bedroom and bath with two-person jetted tub and a large walk-in closet. There is ceramic flooring in the kitchen, foyer, laundry and both baths, and in-wall stereo speakers in the master bedroom. Snow removal and lawn maintenance are done by the association. No pets and no smoking in house. Fort Wayne, Indiana (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Little Rock, Arkansas This updated, well-maintained, traditional two-story landscaped home is located on a quiet cul-de-sac. It backs up to woods and features a cozy, wood-burning fireplace, built-in book shelves, new carpet, a new deck and new double-paned windows. There is a bonus room above the two-car garage that could work as a fourth bedroom. Little Rock, Arkansas (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Charleston, South Carolina As with many things, cost can sometimes be driven by emotions. In this case, the tug on the wallet comes from the original hardwood floors, the claw-foot tub, balcony and decorative master bedroom fireplace. Charleston, South Carolina (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) Saint Louis, Missouri This second-floor apartment has been fully renovated and features three bedrooms and one bathroom. Its been given a fresh coat of paint, and has dark wood flooring and wood trim throughout. New stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and plenty of cabinet space in the kitchen. There is a high-efficiency washer/dryer included in the basement for tenant use and it is in close walking distance to neighborhood restaurants and bars. A household monthly income of at least $4,185 is required. Pets negotiable with a $300 pet fee and additional monthly pet rent of $40 per pet. Saint Louis, Missouri (Photo: Courtesy of Realtor.com) This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Twenty-six federal air marshals based in Houston were not allowed to return to their families after Hurricane Harvey hit late last week, according to an association that represents the law enforcement agents. In a scathing letter from the Air Marshal Association sent out to members Tuesday night, John Casaretti, the unions president, blasted top officials and vowed to help its members with any issues stemming from managements determination to needlessly put you in danger or separate you from your family in a time of need. A copy of the letter was reviewed by Foreign Policy. The letter said multiple conference calls were held on Tuesday with congressional staffers about the Harvey response. The calls between the union leadership and staffers involved discussions about misallocation of resources before and during the storm. We put them in touch with FAMs [federal air marshals] directly impacted by poor agency decisions, and provided emails and supporting documents to congressional investigators, the letter reads. They were amazed that 26 FAMs were not home to take care of their families because of amateurish leadership choices. Two air marshal sources familiar with the situation said most of their Houston-based colleagues were flying domestically, with a smaller group assigned to international missions, as the storm was building. Air marshals who made requests to return to Houston to prepare for the storm and make sure their families were safe were denied, according to several sources. Casaretti did not immediately return requests for comment. Several sources who spoke with FP said the 26 agents were stranded with no plan to get them home and no protocol in place. The director of flight operations told the stranded Houston FAMs that they could not return home or fly to Dallas to try to rent a car. Instead, they were assigned to additional flights. Theyre kicking people off flights to get FAMs on flights with no threat, said a source in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). They keep flying them around for no reason, with no threat. Why are you building an entire schedule for us when were trying to get home? Story continues Air marshals also blamed management for a series of miscalculations about the storm prior to Harveys landfall. This whole situation is due to poor leadership and bad leadership selection by poor leadership, said one air marshal. They didnt get FAMS home to protect their families and have them flying because they cant get home now, the air marshal told FP. They knew the storm was coming but kept them out in the field, and now the airports are closed, and these FAMs cant get home. James Gregory, a TSA spokesman, told FP that the agency was aware of the concerns and had been working to address them. TSA did everything possible to get our federal air marshals back to their families as quickly as possible given the extreme conditions that developed on the ground after they departed on their missions, and all 26 Houston-based FAMs that were on duty during the storm will be back in Houston today, Gregory said. Our federal air marshals play an incredibly important part in transportation security, and the missions they flew were critical, just as all FAMs missions are critical. Photo credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images France on Wednesday became embroiled in a dispute with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly war on drugs as it stressed the importance of human rights and the rule of law. The French embassy released a statement emphasising respect for human rights as it rejected comments by Duterte that people in France were presumed guilty until proven innocent. "We have to point out that, as in the Philippines, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is at the core of the French judicial system, based on the principles enshrined in the French Declaration of Human and Civic Rights of August 26, 1789," the statement said. "France strongly believes in the importance of the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights in all countries, including the Philippines." In a press conference on Monday, Duterte had reacted angrily to comments by the United Nations' special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, about the alleged murder by police of a 17-year-old boy as part of the drug war. On her Twitter account, Callamard condemned the killing as "murder" and called for an investigation, saying the boy's death should be the last. Duterte, who frequently uses coarse language particularly against critics of his drug war, lashed out at her personally. "Daughter of a whore, tell her! Don't she dare scare me, daughter of a whore. She's an idiot! Where is that crazy person from?" Upon learning she was French, Duterte said people in France were presumed guilty unless proven innocent. "Even in her own place, that happens. She's an idiot," he said. "In their place, they can detain a person almost indefinitely under the French law. And the French law says you are guilty and you have to prove your innocence. That's how it works." Duterte, 72, easily won presidential elections last year after promising to wipe out drugs in the country by waging an unprecedented crackdown in which tens of thousands of people would die. Story continues Since he came to office 14 months ago, police have reported killing about 3,500 people in anti-drug operations. More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police data. The United Nations, the United States and the European Union have condemned alleged rights abuses in Duterte's drug war, while rights groups have warned he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Duterte said last year he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts to fix the drug problem. After France released its statement on Wednesday, Duterte made an evening speech in Manila in which he accused French and other European governments of not understanding the Philippine justice system. "Our revised penal code is retribution. It is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That is the basic law of the jungle. If you violate and kill, you pay with your life," Duterte said. Meanwhile, the deputy head of mission at the French embassy, Laurent Legodec, reinforced the message of the statement and called for all deaths in the drug war to be investigated. "Of course we are concerned by what's going on," Legodec told AFP when asked about the death of the 17-year-old. "The best I can say is that every loss of life, for whatever reason, is always a tragedy." By David DeKok BELLEFONTE, Pa. (Reuters) - A prosecutor on Thursday urged a Pennsylvania judge to try 16 fraternity members in the alcohol-fueled hazing death of a 19-year-old aiming to join the club at Pennsylvania State University. The Feb. 4 death of prospective member Timothy Piazza after a drinking game known as "The Gauntlet" resulted in charges including involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault against members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. "They have been acting as out-of-control savages for so long," District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said in her closing argument at a hearing in Centre County Courthouse on whether there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial. "They feel they cannot be held responsible because it is a way of life," she said. "The Gauntlet," a drinking obstacle course in which fraternity pledges consumed large amounts of alcohol, turned into "a long night of debauchery that ended with Tim Piazza dead," Parks Miller said. Her comments brought attorney Ted Simon, who represents fraternity member Luke Visser, to his feet. "You should disregard everything she said!" Simon said. Magisterial District Judge Allen Sinclair said he would decide on Friday morning whether the case should go to trial in Centre County Court of Common Pleas. In the second day of defense closing arguments, lawyer Michael Engle asked the judge to dismiss all charges against his client, fraternity member Gary DiBileo, who is accused of holding a wine bag from which pledges running "The Gauntlet" were urged to drink. "People drink to excess at fraternity parties. The typical result is not death. Just as injecting heroin typically does not cause death, Engle said. Eight members, including fraternity president Brandon Young, face felony charges that could result in many years in prison. The other defendants are charged with misdemeanors. Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey, died of multiple injuries suffered while drunkenly falling multiple times, including twice down a flight of stairs, during hazing activities on the night of Feb. 2 at the fraternity house near the Penn State campus in State College. Story continues Authorities say the fraternity brothers waited for hours before calling for medical help. Piazza died of head and spleen injuries suffered in the falls. Much of the hazing was captured on security camera footage that has been played in court. Jim and Evelyn Piazza, Timothys parents, who have been attending the hearing, have left the courtroom when the harrowing video has been shown to the judge. (Editing by Barbara Goldberg and James Dalgleish) After nearly three years of legal wrangling and a nine-day trial, the Ada County jury was unanimous: Idaho State Police retaliated against detective Brandon Eller for concerns he raised over a fatal crash investigation years ago. The jury late Tuesday awarded Brandon Eller $1.5 million in damages and $30,500 in lost wages. After about five hours of deliberation, the jury came back unanimous on all three of Ellers claims: whistleblower act violations, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and willful and reckless conduct. Brandon is overwhelmed. It will take awhile to sink in, his attorney, Erika Birch, told the Statesman Tuesday evening. Everyone on his team just is feeling so blessed that finally he was able to tell the whole story and have a jury listen to it and respond in the way that they did. ... The only way ISP was going to be held accountable in any of this was by going all the way through a trial and having a jury render a verdict, a verdict that tells ISP we are not going to stand for this. ISP spokesman Tim Marsano said Tuesday evening his agency did not have any comment on the verdict. Eller accused the agency of taking actions against him for claiming higher-ups meddled in an investigation into a 2011 crash, in which a Payette County sheriffs deputy struck and killed a civilian. The investigation divided the state police in two. Some at the agency thought the civilian was at fault, while others believed the deputy was. Eller, who still works for the agency, alleges some who believed the deputy was at fault, including himself, saw their careers plummet. He claims those who thought the civilian was at fault moved up the ranks. The trial started Aug. 14 at the Ada County Courthouse. The jurors, nine women and three men, heard closing arguments earlier on Tuesday. Fourth District Judge Nancy Baskin had placed a gag order on the case before the trial started, meaning none of the attorneys could publicly discuss it until after the verdict was read. Eller sued under the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act, which protects the integrity of government by providing a legal cause of action for public employees who experience adverse action from their employer as a result of reporting waste and violations of law, rule or regulation. This was the second Ada County jury to support such a whistleblower claim this year. On March 14, a jury found in favor of former Ada County employee Rich Wright, who claimed the county fired him in part for ordering an investigation into allegations that a manager with the county commissioners office was harassing employees. The jury awarded him $1.7 million. The judge also awarded him $664,527 in legal fees. Final statements Payette County Sheriffs Deputy Scott Sloan was driving his Ford Crown Victoria at speeds in excess of 110 mph when he crashed into Barry Johnson, killing him on Oct. 18, 2011. ISP forwarded its investigation to a special prosecutor, who charged Sloan with vehicular manslaughter. During Sloans preliminary hearing on April 13, 2012, Eller testified that Johnsons blood alcohol level below, at or above the legal limit, according to various tests was not a cause of the crash and that Sloan was driving in a reckless and unsafe manner while en route to a 911 call. ISP leadership was unaware that this was how Eller would testify. They believed the initial crash report was incomplete in particular, missing references in the list of causes to the fact that Sloans lights were on and that Johnson had been drinking. The special prosecutor eventually dismissed the charge, saying his hand was forced by conflicting ISP reports. On Oct. 18, 2011, Payette County Sheriffs Deputy Scott Sloan was driving in his patrol car at 115 mph on U.S. 30 near New Plymouth while responding with lights and sirens to a 911 call. The speed limit was 55 mph on the two-lane rural highway. Barry Johnson was in front of Sloan, traveling about 24 mph. As Sloan tried to pass him, Johnson began to turn left into his driveway. Sloan slammed on the brakes. His patrol car had slowed to 88 mph by the time it struck the drivers side of the Jeep, killing Johnson. This video of the crash was captured on the deputys dash camera. During closing arguments Tuesday, Birch told the jury that ISP took several adverse actions against her client after he testified at Sloans preliminary hearing. The agency disbanded its crash reconstruction unit, which Eller had hoped to lead. Eller was reassigned to night and weekend patrol. Since Eller was no longer a crash reconstructionist, he did not qualify to teach crash-reconstruction courses at ISPs training academy, which would have meant a pay increase. Eller applied for an open sergeant position; midway through the process, the ISP panel stopped scoring him on his application without telling him. Birch specifically highlighted two events. The first, also raised during opening arguments, involved comments from ISP commanders who gathered to discuss the preliminary hearing testimony: Those boys will be lucky to have a job working nights and weekends, and the now-colonel of ISP, Ked Wills, said, I cannot believe that ISP is going to send a deputy to prison, said Birch. Three months before Eller testified in the Sloan case, ISP completed a performance review for him a stellar review where he received the highest rating possible, Birch told the jurors. Three weeks after testifying at Sloans hearing, Eller received another performance review. There were comments added into the review about him causing dissension and he was told to soften his opinions, Birch said. Lt. Col. [Sheldon] Kelley admitted on the witness stand that the causing dissension language was specifically directed toward the Sloan case. When Eller went to his superior and asked for background and supporting documentation about the things in his review, his supervisor told him that he was directed by headquarters to add that in, Birch said. Ladies and gentlemen, you dont much get clearer evidence of retaliatory motive than you do from those two things, Birch said. ISPs attorney, Andrew Brassey, told jurors that Eller blaming the agency for what happened to his career is misguided. The agency disbanded the crash reconstruction unit because it was full of problems. Ellers score was too low to get the promotion to sergeant, but was enough to later get him a job as a detective. He can still teach crash reconstruction at Boise State or other places. Everything since that Sloan accident that has occurred as it relates to Brandon Eller at the Idaho State Police, he blames on Sloan, Brassey said. He is still our employee, a valued employee. He was promoted as a detective. If we are so bad, if we are hiding things, dont you think the Idaho State Police could figure out a way to fire Brandon Eller? You think some employer cant figure that out? They not only didnt do that, they promoted him when he scored highest on the detective exam. A dashcam footage from 2016, which shows an officer of Cobb County, Georgia, making racist comments to a driver who had been pulled over at a traffic stop, has led the department to start an internal investigation on Friday. The footage, acquired by Channel 2 Action News, after they submitted an open-records request, shows a woman driver being stopped by Lt. Greg Abbott at a traffic stop to check if she was driving under the influence. The driver admits she is terrified of moving her hands from the steering wheel because she does not want to get shot. No no, Ive just seen way too many videos of cops the woman is heard saying before Abbott cuts her off with an inappropriate reply. But youre not black. Remember, we only shoot black people, Abbott said. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos youve seen, have you seen the black people get killed? The footage prompted the department to initiate legal action against Abbott, who has been placed on administrative duties in the meantime. According to the department, Abbott has had a clean record of service so far and did not have a history of racial bias complaints. Lance LoRusso, Abbotts attorney, said in a statement that the context in which the words were spoken have to be taken into consideration before a decision is made in his clients case. Lt. Greg Abbott is a highly respected 28-year veteran of the Cobb County Police Department, LoRusso said, according to Channel 2 Action News. He is cooperating with the department's internal investigation and will continue to do so. His comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passengers own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest. An officer of Cobb County, Georgia, referred to shooting black people to a woman driver at a traffic stop. In this photo, demonstrators march through the streets protesting the Oct. 8, 2014, killing of 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr. by an off duty St. Louis police officer in St Louis, Missouri, Oct. 9, 2014. Photo: Getty Images/ Scott Olson Story continues However, Chief of Cobb Police Mike Register told Channel 2 Action News that the words spoken by Abbott were equally abhorrent, regardless of the context. No matter what context it was said, it shouldnt have been said, Register said. We are going to keep going forward to make sure we, as a police department, service the community in a most professional way. All segments of the community. Suri Chadha Jimenez, the lawyer who is representing the female driver, also echoed Registers sentiments. It makes you cringe when you hear it. Its unacceptable, Jimenez said. The incident happened a while before the International Association of Chiefs of Police ordered the department to look into public opinion of racist and discriminatory policing. According to a report by the Washington Post, 492 people were shot and killed by the police in the first six months of 2017 and nearly a quarter of the victims have been African-Americans. However, the number of black people getting killed at the hands of the police has reduced slightly from last year. While 34 percent of the total number of victims of police shootings in the first half of 2016 was African-Americans, this year, the percentage has decreased to 26 percent. Related Articles WASHINGTON For the past decade, former business journalist Barry Lynn has used his perch at the New America Foundation to warn politicians and the public that a new era of corporate monopolies threatened not only American workers, but also democracy itself. Lynn was just proven right: New America has fired him as head of its Open Markets program along with his team of about 10 researchers and journalists, after they called for an antitrust investigation of the think tanks largest longtime donor, Google. On June 27, the Open Markets team in a 150-word statement called for the Federal Trade Commission to follow the lead of the European Union, which leveled a $2.7 billion fine on Google for violating antitrust laws. Since New Americas start in 1999, Google has given it $21 million. And Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc., Googles parent company, served as New Americas chairman from 2008 through mid-2016. According to a report on Wednesday in The New York Times, Lynn was called on the carpet by New America head Anne-Marie Slaughter shortly after the Open Markets program praised the E.U.s decision to find Google in violation of antitrust law for providing preferential placement to its own products and those of its subsidiaries over its rivals in search results. Schmidt, the Times reported, had expressed to Slaughter his displeasure with the statement backing the E.U.s move. Slaughter, according to an email obtained by the Times, told Lynn that he and his team had to leave New America. The firing was, in no way based on the content of your work, she wrote, while also saying Lynn was imperiling the institution as a whole. Two current members of the Open Markets team confirmed this timeline of events to HuffPost. Lynn and his Open Markets colleagues were told to depart New America two days after the statement that supported the E.U. antitrust fine and called upon U.S. enforcers to build upon this important precedent. The team, though, stuck around in an attempt to question New Americas leadership about whether it really wanted to fire the entire group. Story continues We were trying to be, like, Are you sure you want to do this because it sort of seems bad, Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Program, told HuffPost. Are you sure you want to prove us right? Are you sure you want to back a monopoly in such an obvious and clumsy way? We were negotiating with them. (Stoller is an occasional HuffPost contributor.) Despite those negotiations, Slaughter on Wednesday officially terminated Lynn and his team. Slaughter disputed the Times story, saying in a statement that the claim that Google lobbied New America to expel the Open Markets program was false. Instead, she said that Lynn refused to adhere to New Americas standards of openness and institutional collegiality. She offered no explanation for firing the entire Open Markets team. A Google spokeswoman denied any involvement in Lynns firing in an email to HuffPost. She also said that Schmidt did not threaten to cut off funding for the think tank because of the Open Markets statement on Googles antitrust fine. We support hundreds of organizations that promote a free and open Internet, greater access to information, and increased opportunity, Riva Sciuto, the Google spokesperson, said in the statement. We dont agree with every group 100 percent of the time, and while we sometimes respectfully disagree, we respect each groups independence, personnel decisions, and policy perspectives. New America did not immediately respond to a request for comment to HuffPost. Lynn is now building an independent think tank to continue his anti-monopoly work with his New America team. The group has already launched a campaign aimed at mobilizing public opposition to the power of modern-day monopolies by highlighting Googles power to quash independent research like that by the Open Markets team. Its supporters say this case underscores that argument. Lynn and his colleagues have long argued that monopolies are a problem for the economy, but theyre also a problem for democracy, Zephyr Teachout, a fellow at Open Markets and board member of its new campaign called Citizens Against Monopolies told HuffPost. This kind of proves the point. Its not as though the Open Markets team needed to get fired to buttress their concerns about monopoly power. Their efforts already have been influential more so than work by many other think tanks. The Democratic Party recently adopted the teams warnings about monopolies in its A Better Deal platform. Politicians including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are pushing for enhanced antitrust enforcement and calling out concentrations of economic power more than before. Open Markets has helped lead the economic debate to a more populist strain over the past couple of years, Marshall Steinbaum, a fellow at the progressive economics think tank Roosevelt Institute, told HuffPost. Firing Lynn and his team raises a lot of questions, a Warren aide told HuffPost. Warren, herself, later tweeted her concerns. This story is troubling. https://t.co/UmRVi2UnSI Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 30, 2017 A senior aide to a progressive House Democrat, who commented on the condition of anonymity, called the firings an example of the way that funding think tanks is a way to achieve policy outcomes, in the same way that lobbying and funding campaigns is. Its a business expense. Jonathan Taplin, the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy, was more blunt in his assessment of what happened at New America. Its just classic monopoly muscle, he told HuffPost. This is the way bullies act. The internal workings of New America, though, is not the real issue, Stoller said. The public needs to recognize Google as an autocratic private power that is exerting itself in the economy and in policy to increase its own power over people, he argued. We love a lot of the people at New America, Stoller said. We think their work is great. ... This is not an issue of New America. This is an issue about monopoly and Google. And Google is undeniably a monopoly. Just ask monopoly proponent and billionaire investor Peter Thiel, who has said the company is able to offer so many wonderful perks to its employees because it doesnt have to worry too much about competition. It controls 80 percent of the market for online search and 54 percent of the browser market in the U.S. Google and Facebook, another powerful online platform monopoly, have gobbled up practically every new online advertising dollar (thanks to their past acquisitions of online advertising companies) in recent years while pressuring news organizations, including HuffPost, to publish directly to their platforms. Googles control of internet search has given it the power to squeeze money away from other websites (see: CelebrityNetWorth.com and Yelp.com). Googles dominant position as an advertising seller has also given it increasing power over newsrooms (although not as much as Facebook). The company which once went by the motto Dont be evil has also sought to replicate its economic power in political and policy spheres. Google has previously sought to pressure a nonprofit over its criticism of the company. In 2009, Googles head of public policy reached out to the foundation funding the California-based Consumer Watchdog to warn it about continuing to underwrite the work by the pro-privacy group. That work was critical of many of Googles privacy policies. In the past decade, Google also has poured tens of millions of dollars into campaign contributions, lobbying firms, think tanks and policy nonprofits in the past decade. This political investment soared after 2011 when Googles antitrust issues first came under the microscope. Its lobbying expenses doubled from $9.6 million in 2011 to $18.2 million in 2012, and have not fallen below $15 million since. In 2011, Google gave grants to 44 different nonprofits and think tanks. That number jumped to 81 in 2012 and now sits at 170. Goggle executives enjoyed unrivaled access to the White House under President Barack Obama, visiting hundreds of times, according to Secret Service visitor logs. Google has also pumped millions of dollars into research at universities, often to buttress its public policy positions, and is pushing its own agenda for public school education across the country. Googles huge increase in political investment post-2011 was in direct reaction to the Federal Trade Commission opening an antitrust investigation into whether it abused its market position in internet searches. The FTC commissioners eventually dropped the investigation in exchange for small concessions by the company, despite a report by the agencys legal team that labeled Google a monopoly and supported a full investigation. The A word is the one thing that can stop the music, Luther Lowe, Yelps vice president of public policy, said of Googles interest in antitrust issues. Its the one thats an all-hands-on-deck situation. Daniel Marans contributed reporting. UPDATE: 10:50 p.m. The New America Foundation released three emails from executive director Anne-Marie Slaughter to Barry Lynn on Wednesday night. All three emails confirm that Slaughter was angered that events sponsored, and statements made, by Lynn and his Open Markets program could endanger the think tanks funding relationship with Google. The first email is from June 2016 and came on the heels of a public event Lynn hosted at New America with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that featured pointed criticism of platform monopolies including Google. Slaughter was upset with Lynn for not including Googles point of view in the event. She mentioned her agreement with Meredith Hanley, the director of development at New America, regarding Lynns apparent transgression, although what Hanley said is not included in the message. Slaughter wrote, We worked so hard with you to get you 11th Hour funding; just THINK about how you are imperiling funding for others. She added: We are in the process of trying to expand our relationship with Google on some absolutely key points. Slaughters second email came a year later and four days after Lynns June 26 statement in favor of the EU antitrust finding against Google. This is the email quoted in the New York Times where Slaughter states that the time has come for Open Markets and New America to part ways. The email appears to note the Google statement when Slaughter writes, I and other members of the leadership team regard your actions on Tuesday, June 26, as a breach of faith, imperiling the institution as a whole in a way that could have been avoided. She continued to outline a plan to consciously uncouple Open Markets from New America by Sept. 1, 2017, in a way that involves no disparagement by us of you or by you of us. A source within the Open Markets team with knowledge of the events told HuffPost that after the second email Slaughter met with Lynn in person and told him about Googles anger about his statement. There is also an email from Lynn to Slaughter that came between the second and third email that is not included in New Americas disclosure. The third email was sent on July 7, 2017, and acknowledges that Slaughters last communication with Google came immediately after the meeting between her and Lynn on June 26. She writes that she spoke with Susan Molinari, a former Republican congresswoman who is currently one of Googles top lobbyists in Washington. Slaughter claims that Lynn mischaracterized their prior conversation in the email he sent to her, which is not included in this disclosure. She then accuses Lynn of not behaving with the necessary degree of colleagueship that sets us all up to be successful in our various viewpoints and work. What is clear from all of the emails is that Slaughter repeatedly connected Googles broader funding of New America to the expression of the policy views stated by Lynn and his team. Lynn also appears to stand accused of not being collegial enough with Google. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The annual Islamic pilgrimage known as Hajj will gather a million and a half people or more from around the globe in the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia this year. While praying at the Grand Mosque, all Muslims are considered equal, and it's one of the few mosques in the world where men and women pray alongside one another. Immediately outside of this sacred site, however, the experience for worshipers varies immensely. For those who can afford it, the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia makes available a number of extravagant options to perform the annual spiritual journey. Travel companies that specialize in setting up pilgrimage packages capitalize on the yearly migration in a huge way, and the Saudi government itself raked in as much as $10 billion in 2015, according to BBC News. As the future of oil grows uncertain, Saudi Arabia is looking more toward tourism and pilgrimage as a means of generating revenue. Related: When does Hajj 2017 start and end? Over 1.2 million Muslims arrive for pilgrimage to Mecca One of the most expensive packages offered by Aleman Groups is a $11,500 per person two-week deal. This experience includes roundtrip airfare from New York to Jeddah and back, a total of six nights at the five-star Movenpick Hotel in Mecca, four nights at the four-star Dallah Taibah Hotel in Medina, additional camping in Mina and Arafat, air-conditioned buses and luggage handling by staff throughout the trip, among other perks. Other high-end accommodations near the Grand Mosque such as the Intercontinental Dar al-Tawhid, Raffles Mecca Palace and the massive Mecca Clock Royal Tower offer guests spas, fine dining and views of the holy sites for hundreds of dollars a night. Muslim worshipers pray at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on June 23, 2017, during the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The Saudi government's focus on luxury hotels and retail have drawn in billions in revenue, but have angered others who criticize the kingdom's leadership for demolishing historic sites to make way for more high-end features. BANDAR ALDANDANI/AFP/Getty Images Story continues Just a block from the Grand Mosque, the Saudi Binladen Group has resumed construction of the world's largest hotel, the Abraj Kudai. The gargantuan 45-story building consists of 12 towers with 10,000 bedrooms, 70 restaurants and five rooftop helipads, according to The Guardian. Five levels are reportedly reserved exclusively for use by the Saudi royal family. The intensified focus on luxury has drawn its fair share of controversy. In addition to fancy hotels, the Grand Mosque is flanked by a massive shopping mall filled stocked with a wide range of consumer outlets, from name brand retailers to fast-food joints. Much of Mecca's ancient history was demolished to make room for these modern structures. Some are even built on the grave sites and historic homes of some of Islam's most revered early figures, The New York Times and Time reported. Saudi Arabia's strict brand of Wahhabi Islam forbids recognition of such sites, making them a convenient target for lucrative real estate development, which the country plans to accelerate in the coming years. Muslim pilgrims shop at a mall near the Grand Mosque during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca September 27, 2014. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters Hoping to further invest in the hotel and hospitality sector, Muhsin Al-Sharif, a member of Saudi Arabia's Committee of Real Estate and Investment, said he hoped Hajj and Umrah, a similar journey to Mecca taken any time of year by Muslims, would generate up to $150 billion annually by 2022 and would host up to 30 million pilgrims by 2030, according to local daily newspaper Arab News. The cost of performing Hajj also affects citizens of different countries disproportionately. Islam is practiced by about 1.8 billion people, or nearly a quarter of the world's population, meaning pilgrims come from just about every background and every corner of the world. While those from majority-Muslim Malaysia on average spend half a year's salary on going to Hajj, those from poorer nations such as Bangladesh will need to put down up to three year's worth of income, according to Al Jazeera. Related Articles If youve ever been yelled at by someone in authority, you already know what its like to feel very small. But now, thanks to a $40 million tourist attraction in Times Square, you can become very small forever. Its called Gullivers Gate, and its strange and quixotic mission is to reproduce the world at 1/87th scale. The model makers have used every trick in the book laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and regular handwork to create 300 miniature scenes depicting 50 countries. Gullivers Gate is a $40 million Times Square tourist attraction. These vignettes include Big Ben, the Colosseum, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and so on, spread out over 50,000 square feet. When I visited recently, a cool-looking miniature airport, complete with planes that taxi and take off, was under construction. These arent just static scenes. Using an elaborate system of radio waves, ultrasound, and software, Gullivers Gate brings its cities to life. A thousand trains and 10,000 cars move constantly through the tiny cities. Millions of tiny LED lights twinkle. The locks of the Panama Canal actually fill with water, empty, open, and close, and container ships actually move through them. In Panama, the locks really work, and container ships really do move from one sea level to another. In the control center, you can watch the technicians in action and ask questions. Each miniature country in Gullivers Gate was built by artists in that countrythe Russian scenes were built in Russia, for examplebut an on-site repair and maintenance model shop is also visible, and you can also speak to the model builders there. The control room. When you enter, youre given a tiny, shiny chrome key (which you can keep as a souvenir). It fits into special keyholes at each scene; when you turn it, a hidden RFID tag in the key triggers an animation in that scene. In Iceland, you can make Santas sleigh and eight tiny reindeer fly overhead (on wires, of course). In London, you can make the Queen exit her palace and get into a tiny limousine. In Scotland, you can trigger an appearance by the Loch Ness Monster. In Greece, you can summon a lightning storm by the gods of Mount Olympus. Story continues Gullivers Gate is both tiny and vast. Here and there, the model makers have planted tiny Easter eggslittle jokesfor you to find. If you look closely, for example, youll find Spider-Man crouching atop the Brooklyn Bridge, or a bull holding the red cape in a Spanish arena, or police helping out a woman whos dropped her purse onto the subway tracks in New York City. You can spend hours in Gullivers Gate; its vast, alive with sights and sounds, and awe-inspiring. It is not, unfortunately, cheap; an adult ticket is a gulp-inducing $36. What may be the coolest part, though, is even more expensive: the full-size Cobra 3-D scanning booth, studded with 128 Canon SLR digital camerasone of only three such booths in the world. In a split second, it can capture you in a pose, digitizing you in 3D. The scan data is sent out to a 3D printing company, and in a few weeks, you get back a perfect, colorful, resin scan of you, in your choice of Small ($130), Medium ($190), or Large ($290). The 3-D printed Medium Me (foreground) captures me at this age, and in this pose, forever. As part of that package, you also get a second 3-D print of yourself at 1/87th scale, just like the rest of the attraction. Theres not much detail in this half-inch plastic statue, so youll have to trust that its you. You, at 1/87th scale (or, rather, me). Youre invited to place your tiny MiniMe into one of the Gullivers Gate scenes, your feet pinned down with SuperGlue, joining the 100,000 other micro-people and becoming part of the tiny world forever. The MicroMe gazes out to sea forever. For my tiny replica, I chose a spot along the water at Chelsea Piers, where I can gaze out to sea forever. I can face the future proudly, knowing that, in a very small way, Ill never leave New York. Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Gullivers Gate is the size of a city block. In fact, it is 50,000 square feet. The error has been corrected. More from David Pogue: The 5 best new features of this weeks YouTube redesign Samsungs Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked Is through-the-air charging a hoax? Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogues search for the worlds best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here, or you can sign up to get his columns by email. By Nick Carey and Eric M. Johnson (Reuters) - Major U.S. railroads have warned that it could be a long time before normal operations resume in the Houston area where Tropical Storm Harvey has caused catastrophic flooding. Closure of rail lines in the grain transport hub and nexus for cross-border traffic with Mexico presents a costly headache for customers ranging from automakers to farmers who use the lines to send ethanol, cereals and auto parts to and from Mexico or to be loaded onto ships. Union Pacific Corp and Berkshire Hathaway Inc's BNSF Railway, the two leading U.S. railroads, and regional railroad Kansas City Southern have suspended operations in the area affected by the storm. "We don't have a historical precedent with this one," said Thomas Williamson, owner of Florida-based rail broker Transportation Consultants Co. "I expect service to be disrupted anywhere from two to six weeks." Union Pacific, the No. 1 U.S. railroad, said that as of midday on Wednesday, sections of track were out of service in 18 of its 28 Houston-area subdivisions, and it was sending traffic along alternate routes through Longview and Dallas. The railroad said it was using helicopters and drones to inspect track and facilities in areas without road access. And it said workers were reorganizing major rail yards at Settegast, near downtown Houston, and Englewood, including assessing infrastructure, getting trains reassembled and cars back in the yard. A Midwest-based conductor at the railroad said parts of Union Pacific's Englewood Yard were flooded as of late Tuesday. The company, which has been rerouting rail traffic away from Houston, said traffic entering or leaving through the north and east sides of Houston was on hold, and its main line between Houston and San Antonio, to the west, was out of service. BNSF said in a Tuesday customer announcement that normal train flows in the area were unlikely to resume for "an extended period." Story continues A spokesman at CSX Corp, the No. 3 U.S. railroad, which has so far been unaffected by Harvey, said on Wednesday it was "closely watching the weather conditions in Louisiana and the southwestern portion of our operating network." COSTS UNKNOWN Loadings of wheat, corn and sorghum onto ships for export have been halted in Texas. And although coastal grain elevators have not been significantly damaged they have been unable to receive supplies. Archer Daniels Midland Co's grain elevators remained operational in Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas, but loadings there cannot resume until rail transportation begins again, a spokeswoman said. Louis Dreyfus Co, [AKIRAU.UL] which has grain terminals in Beaumont and Houston, did not return requests for comment on Wednesday. Kansas City Southern, with much of its business focused on U.S.-Mexico trade, may have greater exposure to disruption caused by the storm than the other two railroads, Cowen & Co analyst Jason Seidl said in a note to clients. Kansas City Southern said on Wednesday its lane between Houston and Laredo on the U.S.-Mexico border remained closed, but it said its infrastructure so far had not been significantly damaged. "We continue to monitor the situation, which has expanded and is now impacting new areas on our system, namely Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana," Kansas City Southern said in a written statement. Rail customers and their transportation providers will find ways to bypass Houston, said Rick Ehrensaft, chief operating officer at Grand Worldwide Logistics Corp, a warehouse and third-party logistics company with locations across the United States. "There will be some triaging using other modes of transportation to get around anything that's been routed through there," he said. "What that's going to do to costs is unknown." Once the rails are up and running, railroad operators will likely benefit as goods for recovery and rebuilding are sent to the region, said independent railroad analyst Anthony Hatch. "We can be sure that the rails will be quicker to recover than most as they have been through this before," he said. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 damaged about 200 miles (320 km) of CSX track on the Gulf Coast, causing about $250 million in damages, 90 percent of which was covered by insurance. (Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in New York and Michael Hirtzer and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney, Toni Reinhold) ORANGE, Texas (AP) -- A weaker Harvey replicated its devastating roll Wednesday, returning to shore with a deluge of rain that inundated homes and highways and left police and government officials struggling to pluck people from the water. The Texas-Louisiana border bore the brunt of Harvey's second coming, this time as a tropical storm before it was downgraded Wednesday night to a tropical depression. It caused a repeat of the flooding endured by Houston, its suburbs and nearby beach towns when it made first landfall last week as a Category 4 hurricane before meandering back to the Gulf of Mexico. It has dumped up to 50 inches of rain in spots, leaving more than 20 dead. But as Houston got its first glimpses of sunlight in days, areas to the east that had already seen rain were waking up to even more and to waterlogged homes. Orange, Texas, resident Mike Henry said he went to bed Tuesday with water only in his yard. He woke up to rain falling so hard it sounded like a "power washer." And then it quickly started seeping into his house. "I kept marking it on the wall, every 15 minutes," Henry said. It leveled off at 1 foot (30 cm). A neighbor delivered him, his longtime girlfriend, Rose Marie Carpenter, and her dog, Maggie May, to dry ground first in a truck, and then in a boat. They were trying to figure out what to do next as they waited along Interstate 10, where ambulances were taking the medically fragile to Louisiana. But many on the freeway didn't want to head there because they wouldn't take dogs. Carpenter uses a wheelchair, and Henry said he wasn't sure where they would go. Some motorists were stranded along elevated I-10 for nearly 24 hours after they pulled off the freeway, but couldn't re-enter when the ramps flooded. In Orange, more than two dozen vehicles including a news truck clustered around a closed convenience store when they could not return to the freeway. Erin Gaudet of nearby Beaumont, Texas, said she went home to pick up her kitten, then they spent the night in her SUV. She said she plans to name the kitten Harvey. Story continues Police in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, were recruiting anyone with boats to help check neighborhoods for potential rescues , with one meeting point for available vessels at a Walmart. Authorities said that instead of calling 911, many people were trying to seek help via social media, adding to the chaos. But Anna McKay, of Orange, said she tried calling 911 for help, and nobody answered. Neighbors helped bring her and 12 other people who had sought refuge in her home to a Baptist church on higher ground. There, people were planning to cook food they salvaged from their freezers after homeowners shut off their own power to avoid fires. Florida Wildlife Commission agents and soldiers with the Louisiana Army National Guard evacuated eight residents and three employees from the Golden Years retirement home in Orange. Most of the gray brick structure is one story, although staff took residents to a small second-story area as the water on the ground floor rose to thigh level. "I was just wondering if it was going to get any higher," said resident Madison Selph, 87. He said he could tell water had stopped rising by looking at a shed across the parking lot. Rescuers carried the residents out one-by-one, floating them to high-clearance National Guard trucks on an airboat. Three who were too weak to stand were lifted onto a mattress in the back of a truck. The other five got their pajama bottoms wet as they were helped into a second truck, shivering in the still-gusty wind as they sat on metal benches. "It's cold and I don't know where I'm going," a female resident said at one point, as the truck growled and jolted along a flooded Texas highway. The storm came ashore again before dawn Wednesday just west of Cameron, Louisiana, bringing maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (72 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Harvey had dumped rain as it lingered over Texas for days. Low-lying southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana are far more rural than the 6-million-plus Houston area and are home to many of the nation's oil refineries, including the biggest in the U.S. in Port Arthur. Motiva Enterprises closed the refinery because of flooding. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city and spilled into a storm shelter with about 100 people inside. ___ Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffamy and Adam Kealoha Causey at https://twitter.com/akcausey . ___ Causey reported in Dallas. Associated Press writers Josh Replogle in Beaumont; Michael Kunzleman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Emily Schmall and Claudia Lauer in Dallas contributed to this report. ___ Sign up for AP's daily newsletter showcasing our best all-formats reporting on Harvey and its aftermath: http://apne.ws/ahYQGtb . By Peter Henderson HOUSTON (Reuters) - The smell hit Martha Alexander West as she opened the door of her home on Wednesday, returning to see what damage Hurricane Harvey had done. "Oooh, we can't stay in here," she said eying wet muck on the floor, her bedroom covered in water and walls marred by a grimy waterline more than a foot (30 cm) off the floor. Furniture, a gun case and clothes had been piled on higher surfaces but the water had reached them all the same. It will all have to be thrown away, West said. "You can't try to dry stuff out because it still has that smell," said West, 62. Harvey is edging away from Houston, and a few areas are now dry enough for evacuees to return but they face a long process of rebuilding. The 9100 block of Oak Knoll Lane in northeastern Houston is a diverse community that faced a common shock on Wednesday as many were returning with their families. Black, Latino and white neighbors on the tight-knit street had abandoned their homes over the weekend. At their highest, flood waters had covered the mailboxes outside most homes on the street, and they had seeped under doors, buckling floors and leaving behind mud and debris. Across the street from West, the flowers from Glenda Butler's mother's funeral were flattened behind her house. Like many on the block, Butler said she was relieved that the damage was not worse, even as she and her husband, James Smith, 62, said they would rip up floors and walls, and throw away most of their possessions. Many have lived on Oak Knoll Lane for decades and remember 2001's Tropical Storm Allison, which sent flood waters another couple of feet higher (60 cm) than Harvey. "Start over, day by day. That's the plan," said Butler, 50, a medical screening technician who hopes to live with friends and relatives during the rebuilding. 'HE GIVES AND HE TAKES' "I was expecting a lot worse," said Benjamin Quezada, 34, who reconstructs houses for a living. By midmorning he had already ripped open his walls, cutting off the bottom two feet (60 cm) of sheetrock, while his family piled furniture by the curb. Quezada said his house was worth between $45,000 and $50,000, and he guessed it will cost $20,000 to $25,000 to repair. He said he had not yet filed a claim with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which offers aid. "Whatever they help me out with, it is a blessing," he said, calling the storm God's will. "He gives and He takes, bless His name," Quezada said. Many residents did not have flood insurance and they are not sure how they will pay for rebuilding, even with government help. Valerie Stephens, 32, lives with her 91-year-old grandmother, who moved into the house when the neighborhood was built in the 1950s. They did not have time to take much with them when they left, and like many neighbors, they did not have flood insurance. She said the water came so fast they had not time to try to save anything. "Before we could get everything picked up, it was like nine inches (23 cm) deep, and that was in 30 minutes," she said. "I'll probably be living with sheetrock and bare floor for a while." As she was talking, a neighbor drove by and shouted: "You OK?" "We're good," Stephens replied. The block has some older residents who will look to friends and family for help. Nathaniel Phillips, 67, was evacuated by a neighbor in a front-end load tractor. He spent most of the following days at the shelter set up at the city's convention center. Phillips hopes that a nearby church will help him rebuild, but he regrets the loss of furniture that he bought with his wife, who died a few years ago. "It's gone. Too old to start over. Got to start over," he said. (Reporting By Peter Henderson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler) As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un boasts of his military prowess and flaunts his high tech weapons to the world, his malnourished soldiers are said to be stealing corn from fields to stave off hunger pangs. Officers are ordering their troops to supplement their meagre food rations by plundering local fields, in order to keep up their strength for battle, according to a report in the Daily NK. The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent, a source in North Hamgyong Province told the news website. Inside North Korea They are even threatening their soldiers, saying: if you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties. Another source in Ryanggang Province claimed that soldiers carrying big sacks of unripened corn had frequently been spotted trying to sell their wares at markets. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. The desperate conditions of his army paints a stark contrast with Mr Kims brash threats since he fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a target strike exercise conducted by the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army Credit: AFP On Wednesday he hailed the test as a good experience inrocket operation for an actual war and as a meaningful prelude to containing Guam, the US Pacific territory he threatened with missile strikes earlier this month. North Korean citizens, some of whom now have to guard their fields from marauding troops, are reported to be unimpressed by his bravado. An increasing number of residents are pointing out that, for them, provoking the US is a losing battle, the Daily NK reported. Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers applaud as they watch a screen showing the missile test launch, in Pyongyang Credit: AFP Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) talk in a sniper position located in a house in Raqqa, Syria June 18, 2017. - REUTERS Islamic State jihadists in Raqqa are dressing up as US-backed forces and setting up fake checkpoints to catch civilians trying to escape the capital of the groups caliphate, residents say. The militants are posing as liberating Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, and capturing anyone that approaches. They took several families today, we do not know if they have killed them yet, Tim Ramadan, an activist with the anti-Isil group Sound and Picture living in the northern Syrian city, told the Telegraph on Wednesday. They set up checkpoints in the al-Murour neighbourhood in the south of Raqqa and were waving Kurdish flags," said Ramadan, who uses a pseudonym to protect his identity. "The families thought they had reached safety but then realised they had been fooled. Isil is using as human shields the remaining civilians - estimated to number somewhere between 7,000-20,000 - and threatening anyone who tries to leave with execution. Damaged building are pictured during the fighting with Islamic State's fighters in the old city of Raqqa Credit: Reuters The other day Isil dumped four corpses in one of the streets with a sign that said: They were killed because they tried to escape, people are too scared to leave their homes, Ramadan said. There are believed to be between 700 and 1,000 militants left in Raqqa, holed up in the centre. Most of the Western fighters left the city for the Isil-held province of Deir Ezzor before the offensive, leaving the battle to Arab militants. The SDF has encircled them and captured around 60 percent of the city. But the jihadists have been putting up a fierce fight for what had been Isils most important territory, using mortars, suicide bombs, and snipers. Ramadan described the dire situation for those trapped. Effectively besieged, nothing is getting in to areas still under Isil control and residents have had to resort to boiling grass and weeds for food. Some families gather in the evenings in one of their homes, and every family brings the food that they have to share, even if it is just grass soup: often that is the only meal they eat that day, Ramadan said. Story continues Water has been cut off for two months and residents are relying on old wells. An internally displaced girl who fled Raqqa city sits inside a camp in Ain Issa, Raqqa Governorate, Credit: Reuters He said he has been unable to leave his street for several weeks as Isil has booby-trapped the routes out and the US-led coalition has been bombarding his neighbourhood with air strikes. As many as 700 civilians have been killed since the SDF-led offensive began in June, according to AirWars, a UK-based monitoring group. Ramadan, who accuses the coalition of indiscriminate bombing, fears the real number is much higher. We have seen incidents in which entire families have been wiped out. The scale of things is increasing significantly, said Alex Hopkins, a researcher at AirWars. There has been a worrying increase in the rate of mass casualty incidents in recent weeks, he said, with disproportionate numbers of children being reported killed. Ramadan says civilians are sheltering together in homes, which is why there has been a high numbers of casualties from single strikes. Meanwhile in neighbouring Iraq, troops are battling the last hold out of Isil fighters outside the city of Tel Afar, northwest of Mosul. Fighters have entrenched themselves, said one Iraqi officer, who claimed the fighting there is multiple times worse than in Mosuls old city, which itself was one of the most complicated and bloody battles in a generation. Colonel Kareem al-Lami described breaching the militants' first line of defense in al-'Ayadiya as like opening "the gates of hell". Sniper shots, mortars, heavy machine guns, and anti-tank rockets were fired from every single house, he said. Raqqa, a dusty city lying on flat land in the desert, has proven much more difficult for Isil to defend than Mosul and its surrounds. SDF officials are hopeful it will be liberated within the coming two months. Initiative would have required employers to collect data on wages but would not yield the intended results says Trump, despite professed support of equal pay Ivanka Trump said in a statement that she believed the policy would not yield the intended results.Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Ivanka Trump, who came into her fathers administration vowing to fight for women in the workplace, has blessed a White House plan to roll back an Obama-era policy aimed at eliminating the gender pay gap. The initiative, which was unveiled by Barack Obama in January 2016, would have required employers to collect data on how much they pay their workers, broken down by gender, race and ethnicity. The administration confirmed this week it would halt the implementation of the rule with the backing of Trump, a White House adviser who has hosted numerous roundtables on womens economic issues. Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results, Trump said in a statement. We look forward to continuing to work with EEOC, OMB, Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap. An administration official told the Wall Street Journal that the Obama policy was enormously burdensome. We dont believe it would actually help us gather information about wage and employment discrimination, said Neomi Rao, an administrator from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a memo released on Tuesday, Rao cited concerns over privacy and confidentiality issues, as well as with the paperwork associated with the data collection. Under Obamas action, companies with more than 100 workers would have begun reporting more detailed information to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2018. Some of the requirements were set to kick in next month. The former president had signed the executive order on the anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an equal pay law Obama signed in 2009 that gave employees up to 180 days to file lawsuits after a discriminatory paycheck. Story continues Womens groups swiftly criticized the reversal, with some taking aim at Trump given her professed support for equal pay. Based on what weve seen so far, theres nothing shocking about Ivanka, self-styled champion for women, turning her back on women when it suits her or her father, said Alexandra De Luca, the press secretary for Emilys List, a Democratic group that works to elect pro-choice women to public office. Shes as much to blame for the relentless anti-woman agenda pushed by this administration as anyone in the White House. Fatima Goss Graves, the president and CEO of the National Womens Law Center, said the administrations move was an all-out attack on equal pay. Todays action sends a clear message to employers: if you want to ignore pay inequities and sweep them under the rug, this administration has your back, Graves said in a statement. The group also called out Ivanka Trump on Twitter, resurrecting a tweet on Equal Pay Day in April in which the presidents daughter said women deserve equal pay for equal work. Trump, who released a book this year titled Women Who Work, has vowed to advance womens issues in the White House but thus far shown little progress. She is reportedly looking to advance a child tax credit in the upcoming debate over tax reform in Congress, but has been criticized by progressive groups for not going far enough in her proposals to date. Trump joined her father at a speech on tax reform in Missouri on Wednesday, in which the president said he hoped a tax reform package would address the costs of childcare. Thats so important to Ivanka Trump, he said. So important to my daughter, its one of her very big beliefs. TWIN FALLS A purchase agreement for the building leased to C3/CustomerContactChannels fell through last-minute when the financial institution rescinded its $2.5 million offer. The Urban Renewal Agency began receiving multiple inquiries on the property at 851 Pole Line Road. The board decided to pursue selling the building earlier this year, and accepted the offer from Eagle Financial LLC in Twin Falls. But just when a sales agreement was ready to be signed, the bank backed out. I just dont trust that process, Chris Jones of Eagle Financial told the Times-News. It felt like they were playing games. I still feel like the building is a good value. Jones said the URAs words didnt always match its actions. But URA Executive Director Nathan Murray said the agency was direct with Eagle Financial and had to follow specific public disclosure guidelines which took longer than the financial company wanted. I hope we can still be partners in the future, Murray said. C3s lease of the building will continue through 2020. At a special meeting Thursday, the URA board will consider an offer from Alturas Capital for more than $2 million. The owners of the Costco Wholesale and Wilson-Bates Appliance and Furniture business park have first rights of refusal on any purchase agreements, URA Executive Director Nathan Murray said. Concept 91 and Systems Capital ownership groups, represented by Rick White and Bill Kyle, have 30 days from when they receive notice to meet the terms of the agreement or refuse them. The new building owners would take over the lease of the parking lot from the Manaus Group, which includes Concept 91, Systems Capital and other partners. Alturas Capital in Boise has stated it intends to continue leasing the building to C3. The URA purchased the building in the late 90s or early 2000s, Murray said. That type of agreement isnt allowed in Idaho anymore. Now, the URA thinks its a good time to pull out. That part of town, Pole Line and Blue Lakes, is thriving, Murray said. I dont know if we need to be out there anymore. Our focus is really downtown. In the past year, the URA received $215,000 in net income from the building. Its estimated that income would drop to $150,000 in the next year because of needed upgrades and a parking lot lease increase. The URA meets at noon Thursday at 305 Third Ave. E. The board will also hear updates on the commons plaza being built downtown, and adjourn to executive session for the purposes of acquiring interest in a property not owned by a public agency. By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's defense ministry on Thursday sought $160 million in a record budget request to develop swift, longer-range missiles to extend its military punch in East Asia, countering growing Chinese strength and an increasing North Korean threat. If approved, the proposal for a rise of 2.5 percent in defense spending to 5.26 trillion yen ($48 billion) for the year starting April 1 would be the sixth straight annual increase as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bolsters the military. The funds will pay for ballistic missile defense upgrades, six F-35 stealth fighters, four V-22 Osprey tilt rotor troop carriers, besides orders for new naval vessels, including a submarine and two compact warships. Around $90 million of the requested missile development funds of $160 million will go on studying hypersonic missiles to quickly penetrate enemy defenses. The rest will pay for research on extending missile range, technology that could potentially be used to help develop strike weapons. South Korea's air force conducted an exercise with two U.S. nuclear-capable bombers above the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after a North Korean missile fired over Japan sharply raised tension. "The research and development is for island defense," a Ministry of Defence official told a briefing, referring to the southwestern Okinawa island chain skirting the East China Sea, where Japan is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China. The funding for missile development, though relatively small, could nonetheless spark controversy, since Japan's war-renouncing constitution imposes restrictions on strike weapons for the military. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Japan had consistently hyped the so-called "China threat" to increase its defense spending, and urged it to learn the lessons of history and pay heed to its neighbors' security concerns. "Regardless of what its reasons are, Japan's defense spending is increasing every year and has reached a new historical high. We express concern about this," Hua told a regular press briefing. Some lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) argue that Japan needs weapons able to strike North Korean missile sites, so as to deter attacks by Pyongyang. The longest range missiles in Japan's arsenal, which includes anti-aircraft and anti-ship munitions, have ranges of less than 300 kilometers. A group of LDP lawmakers that recommended Japan acquire strike weapons was led by Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera before he took up his post in August. But such a proposed shift in military strategy would face stiff political opposition from critics in Japan who say Abe's hawkish policies have gone too far, hurting his already soggy popularity. "Striking enemy bases after an attack to stop subsequent launches would seem like a natural thing to do, but that would be difficult for people in Japan to accept under the current constitution," an LDP lawmaker said, asking not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The proposed defense budget will face scrutiny by Ministry of Finance officials who may seek to rein in military outlays as they juggle demands for higher spending on health and welfare for Japan's aging population. (Reporting by Tim Kelly, Nobuhiro Kubo and Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie) The Duchess of Cambridge has worn a lot of Dianas jewels. (Photo: PA) Its a widely known fact that the Duchess of Cambridge wears Dianas exquisite sapphire engagement ring. Presented to her in 2010 by Prince William, the ring has now become one of the most famous pieces of jewelry in the world. But thats not the only jewelry Kate Middleton has borrowed from Diana. From an iconic tiara to more subtle pieces including bracelets and necklaces, the Duchess of Cambridge continues to pay tribute to the mother-in-law she never met. The tiara Kate has taken to wearing Dianas iconic tiara. (Photo: PA) Kate rarely wears a tiara, but when she does, its always the same one: the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara, which was one of Dianas favorite pieces. It was made by royal jewelers Garrard for Queen Mary in 1914, using pearls and diamonds from her familys personal collection. When she died, Queen Mary left the eye-catching headpiece to Queen Elizabeth II, who was often seen sporting it at evening dinners and receptions. In 1981, the queen bestowed the tiara upon Diana as a wedding gift. The Princess of Wales went on to wear it at that years state opening of Parliament, as well as during an official visit to Washington. It now belongs to the Duchess of Cambridge, who has worn it at several diplomatic receptions. The tiaras most recent appearance on Kates head came at the state dinner held in honor of Spanish royals King Felipe and Queen Letizia. The ring William proposed to Kate with his mothers engagement ring. (Photo: PA) Obviously, we cant forget the ring. A little known fact is that Princess Diana actually chose her own engagement ring from a selection presented to her by the crown jewelers in 1981. The chosen piece consists of an oval 12-carat sapphire surrounded by a cluster of 14 diamonds set in white gold. William chose to propose to Kate in 2010 with the same ring in a sweet tribute to his mother. In 1981, the ring cost around $36,800 to make. However, its worth is now priceless thanks to the jewel being worn by two of the most famous royal women in history. The bracelet Kate wore Dianas bracelet during last months royal tour. (Photo: Rex/PA) During the royal tour of Germany in July, the Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing an elegant two-tiered pearl bracelet. Story continues Its original owner, Princess Diana, first donned the piece for the Birthright Ball in 1989. It also proved to be the perfect accessory to her memorable high-collared Elvis dress created by royal favorite Catherine Walker. The bracelets designer, Nigel Milne, was shocked to see that his creation was still being worn decades after its original outing. I am delighted to see in the national press that the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear one of her late mother-in-laws favorite pearl and diamond bracelets on the royal tour in Germany, he wrote on his site. This look was very typical of the style of jewelry that we were making at that time. The Princess of Wales was the most wonderful inspiration for us jewelers in that she wore her jewelry with such style and panache. Cant get more approval than that. The necklace The duchess was inspired by Dianas golden disk necklace. (Photo: Rex/Pinterest) OK, so this one isnt technically Dianas original piece. You may have seen the furor over the Duchess of Cambridges gold disc necklace bearing the name of her son George. Bought by sister Pippa as a gift in 2014, the simple $100 pendant is a hidden tribute to the Princess of Wales. Diana was actually given the same design by Prince Charles in 1982 to mark the birth of the couples first son, Prince William. It bore the handwriting of the prince and was worn by Diana in public only once: to a polo match in August of the same year. However, she clearly liked the present as she was known to sport it constantly in private. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Sen. John McCain will return to Washington D.C. next week as Congress comes back to work after its August recess. McCain, who revealed he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in July, started undergoing chemotherapy earlier this month, his daughter Meghan McCain said. The 81-year-old Arizona senator had previously said he planned to return to D.C. at the end of August. Senator McCain will return to the U.S. Senate next week as Congress begins a new legislative session and looks forward to continuing his work for the people of Arizona and the nation, read a statement from his office. Just days following his cancer diagnosis, McCain flew back to D.C. to cast the deciding vote against Republicans skinny repeal for the Affordable Care Act. McCain joined two Republicans, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in voting against the bill. The measure failed 51-49 in a massive defeat for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Kuwait City (AFP) - Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will hold talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington next week, state media said Thursday, as a three-month-old crisis splits the Gulf. Kuwait has emerged as a key mediator after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced on June 5 they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar. Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency said that Sheikh Sabah would leave the emirate on Friday for the United States to meet with Trump in Washington on Thursday next week. The United States has given mixed signals about its policy on the Gulf crisis. Trump immediately expressed his staunch support for Saudi Arabia after the Arab states announced sanctions against Qatar, but some other US officials including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later adopted a more measured tone. Riyadh and Doha are both key allies of the United States. Trump chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas visit as president in May, two weeks before the Gulf crisis erupted. Qatar is meanwhile home to a huge US air base, where the headquarters of Centcom -- the regional command which leads operations against the Islamic State jihadist group -- is based. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, of ties to Shiite Iran and fundamentalist Islamist groups. Doha denies the claims and accuses the other countries of an attack on its sovereignty. Muslim worshippers perform the evening prayers at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine. (Photo: BANDAR ALDANDANI via Getty Images) The annual Hajj pilgrimage is one of the worlds largest religious gatherings, as some 2 million people flock to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to participate in one of Islams five pillars of faith. Every year, the pilgrimage roughly doubles the number of people sharing space in Mecca, a city thats home to roughly 2 million residents. The pilgrimage falls between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3 this year, though Muslims from around the world typically begin arriving in Mecca in the days and weeks leading up to the official start date. Its considered an obligation for observant Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able. During the pilgrimage, Muslims from all over the world gather together for five days to pray as one community and celebrate the history of their faith. From the Masjid Al Haram, or Grand Mosque, complex to the hills of Mina, the rites include circling the Kaaba seven times and visiting sites of historical and religious importance. The holiday of Eid al-Adha takes place several days into Hajj and commemorates Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience of God. This year, Eid al-Adha falls on Friday, Sept. 1. Pilgrims are required to obtain a special Hajj visa and travel with their passport and proof of vaccination. Mansour Al-Turki, a spokesperson for the kingdoms Interior Ministry, told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday that over 450,000 were turned away for lack of legitimate visas. Hajj has suffered several major accidents and security issues, including a number of stampedes in recent years that have killed hundreds of pilgrims at a time. Going into this years Hajj, Saudi forces deployed more than 100,000 security forces to ensure the holy event runs smoothly. In spite of security risks, Hajj offers pilgrims an experience that can be both physically challenging and spiritually fulfilling. As one pilgrim previously described to HuffPost: Hajj requires extreme effort but then offers extreme beauty, peace and joy in return. Story continues Scroll down for a peek at this years Hajj pilgrimage: Muslim worshippers, some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the scorching sun, gather for prayer at Namirah mosque near Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahmah (Mount of Mercy), where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon. Pilgrims are seen gathered on the Mount Arafat. Pilgrims are seen as they pray on the Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahmah (Mount of Mercy). Muslim pilgrims take a selfie at the Grand Mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca. Muslim worshippers perform the evening (Isha) prayers at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca. A Muslim pilgrim reads the Quran in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, on the eve of the Day of Arafat -- the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage. Muslim pilgrims gather in the holy city of Mecca before heading to Mina for the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca. A young girl looks on as Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca. Muslim pilgrims sit and circumambulate around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque. Muslim worshippers pray outside the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. A Muslim man uses his cell phone as pilgrims walk and pray on Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma (Mount of Mercy), southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Also on HuffPost Pilgrims in 1920 at the Kaaba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the most sacred site in the Islamic religion. Mecca's great mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 1922. CIRCA 1935: Aerial view of the Mecca with the porticoes which surround the Ka'bah. The Kaaba in the centre of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 21st March 1967. The Kaaba in the centre of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, circa 1979. Picture dated May 1988 shows Muslim pilgrims during the Hajj in Mecca. MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA: Aerial view of the holy Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca 17 March 2000. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims throng Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine, late 11 December 2001 to mark the 27th night of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, known as Lailat al-Qadr. Muslims pray 23 January 2004 at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca ahead of the hajj, which begins on January 30. MECCA SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 14: Muslim pilgrims pray around the holist Al-Ka'aba mosque January 14, 2005 in Mecca Saudi Arabia. An aerial view shows the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, amid booming construction in the Saudi city of Mecca on December 9, 2008. A picture shows the under construction Mecca Royal Clock Tower hotel complex in the holy Saudi city of Mecca on April 13, 2010. An aerial view shows Muslim pilgrims walking around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque of the holy city of Mecca on August 6, 2012. The tallest clock tower in the world with the world's largest clock face at the Abraj Al-Bait Towers overlooks the Grand Mosque and its expansion in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. When Elijah Daniel was sworn in as the mayor of Hell, Michigan, this week, he immediately started implementing his agenda. Specifically, he outlawed heterosexuality in the unincorporated community of 72 people. Daniel, a YouTube comedian best known for writing a gay-themed erotic novel about Donald Trump, had spent a whole two days seeking higher office somewhere so he could carry out his plan. I was looking for a town willing to make me mayor, Daniel told HuffPost. Theyll do it in Hell for $100, so I caught a redeye to Michigan and got sworn in. As of today, August 30th, 2017 I am the legal mayor of Hell, Michigan. This is real. I am the mayor of Hell. pic.twitter.com/J7fuaLnFKV former mayor elijah (@elijahdaniel) August 30, 2017 Once he was in office, Daniel followed President Trumps lead and attempted to ban a huge swath of people from his community. My ban is a copy-and-paste of Trumps Muslim ban, but with heterosexuals instead, Daniel said, taking some rhetorical license. His mayoral proclamation explains that when he was growing up, he was often told that homosexuals would go to hell. But now the heterosexuals are trying to take that from us too, Daniel wrote. So, as mayor of Hell, he would establish new vetting measures to keep radical heterosexuals out of our town. To make sure his words reached as many people as possible, he posted the ban on Twitter. Lest he seem bigoted, Daniel offered local heterosexuals a chance to stay in Hell for a price: Fork over $84,000, which they would get back after one year of abstinence from straight sex. Reparative therapy to find ones gay side was also to be strongly encouraged. The alternative: being forced to wear a scarlet H and cargo shorts in the town square every morning for some public straight-shaming. As acting mayor of Hell, Michigan I hearby ban all heterosexuals from entering our town. pic.twitter.com/uDuGWFATmS former mayor elijah (@elijahdaniel) August 30, 2017 Daniel meant the decree to be a prank, but was impeached shortly after he released it. Story continues Thats actually not a problem, he said. Everyone who becomes mayor there gets impeached. Most of the people who visit are same-sex couples who want to be married in Hell. Being impeached was fun @realDonaldTrump, you should try it. former mayor elijah (@elijahdaniel) August 30, 2017 Daniels political career may have been short, but he has sweet memories of Hell. Its a great place to visit, he said. Donald Trump should go to Hell anytime. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Also on HuffPost Really Unflattering Donald Trump Mask Frankly, this Donald Trump mask is gross, tacky, horrifying ugly and repulsive to look at. Yep, it's a perfect match for the candidate. ($29.99, SpiritHalloween.com) Donald Trump Dog Poop Bag It's hard to tell what holds more crap: Donald Trump or this Trump-themed dog poop bag. Let's call it a draw, but we prefer the bag since we'll be able to get rid of it before November. 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($30, GumballPoodle.com) Trump Coloring Book Whether you color yourself red or blue, the Trump Coloring Book is a good way to pass the time between inflammatory Trump tweets. One downside: Trump's bizarre skin tone will make you use every shade of orange crayon. ($9.30, Overstock.com) Not Completely Horrible-Looking Trump Mask As Trump masks go, this one captures the smug pucker of his lips and his rubbery skin tone. However, the hair is too flattering and looks more genuine than the locks belonging to "The Donald" himself. ($21.99, SpiritHalloween.com) Donald Trump Hell Toupee Things will get hairy from now until November, but with this poster you can express the bald-faced truth. ($4.99, AllPosters.com) Donald Trump Watch This Trump-themed watch is like Trump in some ways and unlike him in others. Yes, it gets wound up a lot, but, unlike Trump, it's right more than two times a day. ($34.95, RevolutionWatch.com) Donald Trump Figure This Trump figure actually improves on the candidate. Not only is it cuter, but it has no mouth. ($9.09, AllPosters.com) This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The Trump-Russia investigation showcases a different star seemingly every week. This weeks bit player is Trump Organization lawyer Michael D. Cohen, whose emails with the Kremlin about building a Trump Tower in Moscow have landed him on front pages and on MSNBC chyrons during breaks from Houston flood coverage. Cohen bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Andy Kaufman, and some of his antics over the years would work well in a skit from the cult comics prankish repertoire. The problem with that, of course, is hes a lawyer and close to the most powerful man on Earth. Regardless, Cohen could be said to rank just a few degrees below former White House Communications Director Anthony the Mooch Scaramucci on the De Niro Taxi Driver You talkin to me? rant scale (see below). President Donald Trump has denied trying to do business in Russia. But Cohen confirmed to the House Intelligence Committee in a statement that the Trump Organization considered a Trump Tower Moscow proposal in the months from September 2015 to January 2016, but dropped it. Cohen copped to it after a leak of his January 2016 email to the Kremlin, asking for help with a Trump Tower project in Moscow. At the time, Trump was dominating the GOP primary contenders in debates but hadnt yet won a primary. In a total Andy Kaufman move, Cohen sent the now-damning email not to an individual, but to the Kremlin press services general email address. The Kremlin has confirmed receiving the email, but said it never replied. We dont respond to such business topics. Its not our job, and we left it without a response, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Cohen is scheduled to testify before the House committee investigating Russia election interference sometime next month. His personal attorney, Steve Ryan, told Newsweek he will cooperate with the committee. In preparation for the testimony, here are 10 memorable facts about Mr. Cohen. Story continues 1. He has a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan, and he and his wife got rich in the (what some would refer to as sleazeball) world of New York City taxicab medallions. 2. Cohen packs heat: The New York Times has reported that he carries a licensed pistol in an ankle holster. 3. He has deep personal connections to Ukraine. He is married to a Ukrainian, as is his younger brother, Bryan. The brothers dabbled in Ukrainian business, and his name is on two family financial companies in Ukraine incorporated in 1998. He and his younger brother were directors of International Ethanol of Ukraine, according to 2006 filings, Bloomberg reported. 4. Cohen once threatened to ruin a 26-year-old Miss USA contender who claimed the Trump-owned contest was rigged. Its going to be my privilege to serve it to you on a silver platter like I did that idiot from Pennsylvania in Miss USA, because I think youre dumber than she is, Cohen told a reporter. Sheena Monnin, another one that wanted to defame Mr. Trump and ended up with a $5 million judgment. Thats going to be nothing compared to what I do to you. Monnins father confirmed the threats. 5. As of last year, Cohen didnt believe spousal rape is illegal. (It is illegal in all 50 states.) Responding to a call about Ivana Trumps claim in a divorce case deposition that Trump raped her, the lawyer replied: [U]nderstand that by the very definition, you cant rape your spouse. You cannot rape your spouse. And theres very clear case law. 6. Cohen likes to threaten journalists. I will make sure that you and I meet one day while were in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still dont have, he said to a Daily Beast reporter who called him about the rape claim. So Im warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what Im going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting. You understand me? You write a story that has Mr. Trumps name in it, with the word rape, and Im going to mess your life upfor as long as youre on this frickin planet Youre going to have judgments against you, so much money, youll never know how to get out from underneath it, he added. He also re-tweeted threats to Megyn Kelly: After she grilled Trump on his treatment of women, he called her a liar and retweeted Lets gut her, as well as others calling her a snake and a psycho. 7. Cohen went ballistic when Trump lost the cameo role of POTUS in Sharknado 3 to billionaire Mark Cuban. The role included a scene in which the president shoots sharks inside the White House before impaling a Great White with an American flag. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cohen called a producer after Cuban got the part and shouted at him, How dare you? Donald wanted to do this. Were going to sue you! Were going to shut the entire show down.' 8. Earlier this year Cohen tweeted pictures of his college-age daughter in black lingerie to his 218,000 followers. Jealous? he tweeted at critics. 9. Donald Trump Jr., himself a Trump-Russia Star of the Week not long ago, hooked Cohen up with his job in the Trump Organization back in 2006. 10. Cohen is such an ardent, lifelong Trump fan that he has let it be known he read Trumps Art of the Deal twice as a teenager. Related Articles WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday declined to support the idea of replacing President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman. Ultimately, well be looking at this issue, Mnuchin said during an interview on CNBC. Its not something that Im focused on at the moment. Mnuchin said the number one issue the Treasury Department is concerned with is preventing the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, adding that any potential changes to denominations are primarily related to security concerns. Asked about the cultural significance of persons who appear on U.S. notes, Mnuchin demurred once more. This is something well consider, he said. Right now we have a lot more important issues to focus on. Jack Lew, who served as Treasury secretary under President Barack Obamas administration, announced the planned change to the front of the $20 bill in April 2016. He said the back of the bill would feature an image of the White House as well as an image of Jackson, the nations seventh president. Lew also announced that the movement to give women the right to vote would be featured on the back of the $10 bill and that the designs of the new bills would be revealed by 2020, marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. During the campaign, candidate Donald Trump called the move to replace Jackson on the $20 bill pure political correctness. I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic, but I would love to leave Andrew Jackson or see if we can maybe come up with another denomination, he said. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) responded to Mnuchins comment Thursday, tweeting that he should commit to this popular effort that has bipartisan support. Women on 20s, the nonprofit campaign leading the push to put a woman on the $20 by 2020, said it was confident that Mnuchin would discover that changing the face of the bill is in the nations best interest. Security is mostly embodied in the advanced innovations in paper and ink that our money is printed on, not in the faces we choose to honor, said Barbara Ortiz Howard, the groups founder. Including women on our currency can enhance our standing as a nation by bringing us together instead of tearing us apart. Story continues A Treasury Department spokesperson did not elaborate on Mnuchins comments, noting that an updated $20 bill isnt scheduled to be in circulation until 2026 at the earliest. This story has been updated with a response from a Treasury Department spokesperson. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. TWIN FALLS The CSI Community Education Center will be offering Dog Obedience from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, September 6-25. The class will meet on the Expo Center Lawn on the CSI campus. Cost of the class is $65. In this class, students will learn how to teach their dog in a fun format. Through positive reinforcement and behavior modification, students will socialize and train their dog in basic obedience and beginning agility training. Goals of this class include better mannered and socialized dogs and more educated and empowered owners. This class is taught by Donna Stalley, a licensed clinical counselor with 30 years of experience as a dog obedience instructor. Class will be held outdoors near the Expo Center Lawn but will move to an adjacent indoor location in cases of bad weather. Soliders in North Korea are being told to prepare for war (Rex) North Korea may not have gone through with their threat to attack Guam but it is reportedly still prepping its soldiers for war. The secretive state backed down on launching missiles on the US territory in the Pacific earlier this month but an attack is apparently still on its mind. According to Daily NK, authorities in North Korea has been emphasising a combat readiness posture for total war with the United States. However, starved soldiers are said to be more concerned about eating, and have resorted to stealing food. A source told the publication: The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent. Kim Jong-un has threatened to launch missiles against Guam (Rex) They are even threatening their soldiers, saying, If you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties. Tensions between North Korea, led by Kim Jong-un, and the west remain heightened. Theresa May said today that the countrys missile programme presents an unprecedented threat to international security. MORE: Theresa May refuses to rule out military action against North Korea MORE: Deluded Theresa May responds to backlash over claims shell fight next election The Prime Minister vowed to speed up the implementation of sanctions against the regime as a result. At a press conference alongside Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister said the UK condemned the latest missile launch in the strongest terms possible. Mrs Mays presence in Tokyo comes after Pyongyang launched a missile which flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Theresa May and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe condemned North Koreas missile launch (PA) Mr Abe said the launch of the missile which flew over Japan was outrageous, adding: This is an unprecedented serious and grave threat. We absolutely do not tolerate the nuclear and missile development by North Korea. In London, the Foreign Office summoned North Koreas ambassador Choe Il for a meeting with Asia Minister Mark Field to underscore the UKs position on the missile programme. It is understood the United Nations is discussing increasing sanctions against North Korea, including stopping it selling oil products to China. The failure of UN sanctions to even slow North Korea's nuclear missile program has many in Washington pushing for unilateral US action against the finance houses doing business with Pyongyang -- a move that would set up a confrontation with China. World powers maintained a show of unity on Tuesday when the UN Security Council voted unanimously to condemn North Korea's latest missile test, in which it provocatively fired an intermediate range weapon over Japan and into the ocean. But the quick condemnation did not arrive with any promise of a new UN sanctions resolution, amid reluctance from China and Russia to turn the screw too hard or too fast. US President Donald Trump's administration was frustrated by the outcome. Trump vented some of this anger at the slow pace of diplomacy on Wednesday in one of his daily Twitter blasts, declaring: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" Some will see in Trump's intemperate intervention a warning that he may again be considering a pre-emptive military strike to rain "fire and fury" -- in his own phrase -- on North Korea's missile bases and nuclear facilities. But US officials play down the idea, arguing that it is too late to hope to quash Kim Jong-Un's banned programs in one fell swoop, and that the risks of retaliation against US forces and their allies in the Pacific -- including South Korean civilians -- are too great. Even the more hawkish voices in Washington favor instead stepping up US sanctions against those foreign banks and companies -- particularly in China -- that help North Korea maintain links to the world economy despite six previous rounds of UN sanctions. - Unruly neighbor - Previous US administrations and some diplomats within Trump's current government have been cautious about such measures, concerned that they could provoke China into withdrawing what support it has been giving to efforts to pressure its unruly neighbor. Story continues But in recent weeks, Washington has begun to take some steps, albeit ones that so far have yet to touch the most powerful Chinese banks. Current and former officials now expect to see much tougher measures in the months ahead. These could come through new enforcement actions by US Treasury agents against foreign banks with ties to the huge US financial sector, from legal cases brought by district federal prosecutors or through new legislation from Congress. "There was some criticism that the Trump administration policy is the Obama administration policy -- it's clearly not," said Anthony Ruggiero a veteran sanctions and non-proliferation expert who has served in the State and Treasury departments. "The Trump administration has taken at least six separate actions, whether it's towards Chinese companies, individuals or banks," argued Ruggiero, who is now a senior fellow at the conservative think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Senior US diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, also defend the administration's record on secondary sanctions, insisting that US officials will take action where foreign firms with operations under US jurisdiction are found to be in breach of sanctions law. But they are more cautious than some campaigners, and insist that China is already losing patience with Kim and may yet help bring him to the table to discuss nuclear disarmament if Washington avoids provoking a negative response -- an idea Ruggiero dismisses. - Banks are next - "There's a lot of rhetoric back and forth, but the Chinese are not going to react in the harsh way that everyone's predicting," he said. "If you're a senior official in a Chinese bank, you have to be asking yourself serious questions this week, because they're next. It's very clear that they're going to be next, whether it's significant fines or some kind of legal action." At a public event last week, former assistant secretary of state for human rights Tom Malinowski said he agreed that Chinese banks could be sanctioned, but warned against forcing Beijing to cut all ties with its impoverished and unpredictable ally. He urged the US administration "not to try to kill all trade and commerce and communication between North Korea and China, because that is what permits ultimately, in the long run, the North Korean people to bring change to their country." Above all, however, diplomats are concerned that secondary sanctions on Chinese banks would break the one most concrete success of their work at the United Nations -- the unanimous front presented so far by the Security Council. Whether the sanctions themselves bite economically or damage the missile program is only one factor. Perhaps more important is the message sent Kim by the sight of his only real ally, Beijing, signing on to condemn his tests alongside the US ambassador. This was not inevitable, a UN diplomat told AFP. Given the North's extremely provocative choice to fire a missile over Japanese territory, even China felt obliged to protest. "But, at bottom, the positions stayed the same," he warned. "Some want a tougher stance to force North Korea to meet its commitments. Some want a more open dualogue and to avoid any provocations." Kim Jong Un has ordered more missile tests and described the most recent launch as a "meaningful prelude" to containing Guam. The North Korean leader's comments came as the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss Tuesday's test of a ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said it was a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile that the North first successfully tested in May and threatened to fire into waters near Guam earlier this month. Mr Kim was present for the intermediate-range missile launch over Japan. He expressed "great satisfaction" over the launch which he called a "meaningful prelude" to containing Guam, which is home to key US military bases that North Korea finds threatening. KCNA added that it is "necessary to positively push forward the work for putting the strategic force on a modern basis by conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future". :: North Korea threat: What does Kim Jong UN really want? Following urgent talks, the UN Security Council described North Korea's actions as "outrageous" - and accused Pyongyang of deliberately undermining peace and stability in the region. A statement added: "The Security Council, resolute in its commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula, emphasises the vital importance of immediate, concrete actions by the DPRK to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula and beyond." The council also said it was committed to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation. China and Russia's ambassadors to the UN said they opposed any unilateral sanctions on North Korea and reiterated calls to halt deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea. Only last month, the council had imposed its toughest-yet sanctions on North Korea. It is not immediately clear whether any further actions could follow. Story continues The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said: "It is time for the North Korean regime to recognise the danger they are putting themselves in. "The United States will not allow their lawlessness to continue, and the rest of the world is with us." Following the launch, President Trump had said "all options are on the table". "The world has received North Korea's latest message loud and clear: this regime has signalled its contempt for its neighbours, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behaviour. "Threatening and destabilising actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world." SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A man with a high-powered rifle fatally shot a policeman at a hotel in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday and wounded two other officers who were searching for a suspected car thief, officials said. California Highway Patrol officers had knocked on the door of a room in a Ramada Inn when someone inside fired through the door and walls, wounding two of them, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tony Turnbull told reporters. Deputy Sheriff Robert French, a 52-year-old grandfather, was shot when the gunman exchanged fire with police from a rear balcony, and he died as he was being rushed to a hospital, Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones told reporters. The two Highway Patrol officers were hospitalized in stable condition. After exchanging gunfire with officers, the suspect got into a car and drove away from the hotel with police in pursuit, Turnbull said. He later crashed the car and again exchanged fire with police before he was struck by gunfire and arrested, Turnbull said. Police did not identify him, but they said he was hospitalized in critical condition. Heavily armed enforcement officers converged on the Ramada Inn, as they sought to determine whether any other suspects were inside the room where the gunfire broke out, but none were found. Two women suspected of involvement in the car theft were arrested after a separate vehicle chase before the shootout at the hotel, Turnbull said. California Governor Jerry Brown in a statement said he and his wife joined "all of Sacramento in grieving the loss of Deputy French, who died today while protecting our community." (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Grant McCool & Simon Cameron-Moore) (Photo: imtmphoto via Getty Images) The impact of prejudice and racial bias on health shouldnt be underestimated, a new study affirms. Researchers looked at the relationship between discrimination and suicide ideation, or suicidal thoughts, among older Chinese-Americans. The results, published earlier this month in the The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, showed that those who reported experiencing prejudicial treatment or racial bias were twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts as those who didnt. The findings show that the effects of discrimination shouldnt be taken lightly, Lydia Li, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and a co-author of the study, told HuffPost. Its a serious matter. Its not something you can just forget that you can just brush off. Its lingering. It cuts into peoples thoughts about their place on this planet, Li told HuffPost. [Race] might be a social construct, but discrimination really does affect peoples lives. The study examined more than 3,000 Chinese-American seniors (ages 60 and older) in the greater Chicago area and found that more than 4 percent had experienced suicidal thoughts within a 30-day period. Those who reported facing discrimination were significantly more likely to do so. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of suicide ideation for the general older U.S. adult population is under 3 percent over a yearlong period a much longer period than in the new study. The elders in the recent study said they most often suffered prejudicial treatment in public spaces and on the street, Li explained. Many also mentioned they experienced discrimination at work. Li speculates that difficult immigrant experiences coupled with certain values in Chinese culture could potentially account for the higher rates of suicidal thoughts among Chinese-American elders who have faced discrimination. Many are immigrants and dont have the support networks theyre typically used to in their home countries, she explained. When encountering bigotry or intolerance, they may feel alienated and start to second-guess whether moving to the United States was the right choice for them. Story continues This experience with discrimination can make people think, Maybe I just dont belong here. she said. Theres a sense of that theyre not welcome here. And because older immigrants may not have had to grapple with discrimination in China, processing these hurtful experiences may be particularly difficult for them. Its not something theyve been trained to deal with, Li said. They didnt have this experience in the first half of their lives. They didnt have to cope with that. Li added that the concept of losing face or bringing shame to families and loved ones can also make it more difficult to deal with discrimination. When Chinese-American seniors experience a racially charged event, like being told to go back to their country, its possible they could internalize the bigotry, Li said. They could question whether they did anything wrong and could even end up blaming themselves for the incident. Whats more, when Chinese-American elders find themselves distressed by these experiences, they often wont seek out mental health help, Li said, which could ultimately contribute to the occurrence of suicidal thoughts. She explained that the seniors may avoid treatment or solutions due to pride, or simply because the proper language resources dont exist for them. Many others just dont know what kinds of services exist or where to go for help. And without getting the assistance they need, suicide may start to feel like a viable alternative for them, Li said. Li also noted that Chinese studies also showed higher rates of suicide ideation among seniors compared to studies of seniors in the U.S. Its possible that suicide may be relatively permissible in Chinese culture and therefore contribute to the higher rates of suicidal thoughts in Chinese-American seniors. She also notes that rates of suicide ideation among older Chinese-Americans could look different in rural regions, since participants in this study all lived in the Chicago area. She also mentioned that the discrepancy in the rate of suicidal ideation in Chinese-American seniors versus that of the general U.S. adult population could be partially due to difference in methodology. However, the studys results are still startling, Li said, and shouldnt be discounted. They point to a serious need to recognize the harmful consequences of bigotry and prejudice. To start, Li feels that the public needs to gain awareness about the very real health effects of discriminatory behavior. And ultimately, advancing civil rights could actually be a form of suicide prevention. People who have suffered prejudicial treatment and racial bias must be empowered to properly cope with these situations, Li added. She suggested helping new immigrants in particular by stressing that they arent alone and that these hateful instances arent their fault. People arent being oversensitive, she said. This is a real experience. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. OMDs Paul Humphreys and Andrew McCluskey. (Photo courtesy of Pledge Music) American music fans of a certain age know Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark OMD, for short as the English duo that soundtracked Pretty in Pinks prom scene with their 1986 top 5 hit If You Leave. Many may also recognize them as the opening act on Depeche Modes seminal 1987-88 Music for the Masses arena tour; once seen, Andy McCluskeys herky-jerky jig, which may or may not have inspired Elaine Beness moves on Seinfeld, is impossible to forget. Snagging that supporting slot introduced the Liverpool act to a whole new wave of fans stateside, including the more than 60,000 Depeche fans who held tickets for the tours massive June 1988 finale at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. But by that time, McCluskey and Paul Humphreys had already amassed a dozen British top 40 singles, the first of which was responsible for informing Depeche Modes all-electronic mission and sound. Vince Clarke told us that they heard Electricity by us in a club in Basildon [England, Depeche Modes hometown] and went, We want to do that, recalls McCluskey. Adds Humphreys: Vince went to buy a synth, and the first riff he learned to play was a song called Almost, which was on our first album [1980s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark], and also the B-side to Electricity. (Clarke, founder of Depeche Mode, Yaz, and Erasure, and widely regarded as an electronic-music genius, corroborates these statements in my new wave oral history, Mad World: An Oral History of the New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s: The thing that changed in the 80s was that people used synthesizers to make pop records rather than concept records. Im a fan of Kraftwerk, but Im more of a fan of OMD, because I like emotional records. The thing that turned me on to synths was Almost. That was when I connected synthesizers with folk music.) In New York City to promote their 13th studio album, The Punishment of Luxury, the lifelong friends and electropop pioneers talk about being punk on synths, their influences (Kraftwerk, yes; the Beatles, not so much), their career-long proclivity for pretentious twaddle, and more. Story continues Yahoo Music: I saw OMD open for lots of bands in the 80s: Power Station, Thompson Twins, and Depeche Mode for their Music for the Masses Tour, which you actually lost money on. Considering the size of the venues, how was that possible? Paul Humphreys: Oh, but we did and If You Leave was flying high in the charts at that time. Andy McCluskey: They were doing their Making Enough to Retire Tour, and we were getting paid $5,000 a night. With the band, the crew, and all the transportation, we were losing money. We did massive tours trying to break the States, and we lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our joke is by the time we broke the States, the States broke us. Being from Liverpool, how important was it to you to make a mark on your city that was distinct from the Beatles? Humphreys: It was kind of important. Because the Beatles were a fantastic band and wrote amazing songs, but they werent really I mean, my brother used to listen to them, and they used to be blasting out of his bedroom, but they werent a great influence on us. We werent big fans of the Beatles when we were younger. McCluskey: The funniest thing is, the place we played our first gig, which was Erics Club in Liverpool, was on Mathew Street, where the Cavern was. But the building that the Cavern had been in had been flattened, and actually, that was the car park. We used to park on top of the Cavern to go to Erics. What were the hallmarks of the late-70s/early-80s Liverpool scene? McCluskey: Stupid names. Humphreys: From Echo & the Bunnymen to Frankie Goes to Hollywood to Teardrop Explodes. A Flock of Seagulls and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark! McCluskey: The thing is, we all started in this club Erics, which we call a punk club, but actually, there were no punk bands in Liverpool. All the bands in Liverpool were basically art school students, so thats why we all had these incredibly pretentious band names and thought we were going to try and change the world by doing something different. But it was amazing: Ourselves and the Teardrops and the Bunnymen all started in the same month in Erics, and I think our third gig, it was us, the Bunnymen, and Teardrops all playing together in Erics one night. Every single person who was in the audience at Erics was in a band that you got to hear of within a few years. Still, punk had an enormous impact on your generation. Didnt you once say something to the effect of Punks played two chords; we used one finger? Humphreys: We were punk on synths, werent we, really? McCluskey: When we first started making music together, we were 16. Id just got a left-handed bass guitar even though Im right-handed, because it was the only one I could afford in the secondhand shop and Paul was making these noise machines. Literally, we learned to play as we got our instruments, and we taught ourselves. And everything was really one finger, one note. Humphreys: Because punk opened the door for people just to express themselves. Up until that point, you had to have a musical background, you needed to be musically proficient, whereas punk allowed us all to just get up and express ourselves without any huge talent. McCluskey: The other thing was that punk clubs grew across the country, so for a brief period, all of the cities across the U.K. had their own clubs. So, for a couple of years, it decentralized. It wasnt just about London. And all the bands of our generation, almost all of us came from outside of London. Because we started off in these little, provincial punk clubs where you could get up and do what you wanted to do. No record company was going to hear you. You didnt care; you were just doing it for the fun of it. People like ourselves, UB40, Human League, Joy Division, Simple Minds, and U2 all started outside of London. That was the window of opportunity we all had. Andy, you saw Kraftwerk when you were 16, and the show had a profound impact on you. What do you remember about that? McCluskey: To give you some idea of how powerful it was [to] me, it was September the 11th, 1975, at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, and I was sitting in seat Q-36. I remember that. So, it was the first day of the rest of my life. And this was the days of long hair and flared denims and guitar solos, and these four guys come out wearing suits and ties, short hair, two of them playing what looked like tea trays with wired-up knitting needles. I was just like, This is the future! I want to do this! Oh, my God! Because I still had flares and a trench coat and had an Afro at the time! Humphreys: My mum wouldnt let me go to the gig, because I was still 15 at the time, and I had to wait until I was 16 before I was allowed to go to a concert. Im incredibly jealous to this day. In my book, Mad World, you talked about OMDs manifesto. One of the rules was that you forbade the use of the word love in your early songs. McCluskey: We saw certain things as rock cliches. For example, our drummer was not allowed to play a cymbal for the first three albums. And it was before you had samples or programmable drum machines, so you still had to have the bass drum, the snare drum, the hi-hat. But we wouldnt even let him play them as a kit he had to play the bass drum separately, then the snare drum, because we didnt want that rock n roll spill. And, yes, the word love: With the song Joan of Arc on our third album, I tormented myself, because I couldnt find a better word than the word than love, so I had to use it. But it really bothered me! Your excellent new album, The Punishment of Luxury, seems to combine earlier, industrial-sounding OMD with the lushness of your later work. Can we talk about the title track? It seems like a powerful statement. McCluskey: And wholly appropriate in 2017! The title is appropriated from a painting in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, which I have loved since I was a kid. However, the painting is actually a misogynist painting about bad mothers in purgatory, because its a Victorian painting, and women who wanted to be more than wives and mothers were considered to be wanting things beyond their station, so they were bad. They were sent to purgatory. Humphreys: But the song isnt about that. McCluskey: Weve stolen the title, but its not a misogynist song. Essentially, most people in the Western world live materially better off than ever before, and yet we seem to be more and more unhappy. We have replaced the imagined order of religion, royal decree, and nationalism with this brainwashing of consumerism, to the point now where you firmly believe in your subconscious that if you dont own this TV, if your car isnt this new, if your kids havent got the latest Xbox, essentially, youre not worthy of love. You should have more! Its just this constant bombardment by marketing people. Because all the major companies in the world who manufacture have got a massive overproduction, so the only way they can keep making their profits and keep making their bonuses is to make you buy the new one even though your old one is just fine. So that is the punishment of luxury. Its a very OMD title. Humphreys: Isnt it just? McCluskey: Pretentious twaddle again! Humphreys: At least were consistent with our pretentious twaddle. Audio of this conversation is available on demand via SiriusXM. Lori Majewski is the co-host of Siriuss Feedback morning show on the Volume channel. President Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, holds up a Texas flag on Tuesday after speaking with supporters in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he received a briefing on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP) Youd have to think that some part of President Trump was relieved to be in Texas this week to finally be confronting crisis rather than creating it, to be demonstrating some unity rather than driving people further apart. Of course, Trump being Trump, he somehow managed to speak at a briefing in the middle of a major disaster zone without once mentioning the victims of the hurricane, which he had already admitted to exploiting for its TV ratings. What a crowd! Trump exclaimed upon leaving his event at a firehouse, where 1,000 Texans had gathered for what he seemed to think was an impromptu rally. What a turnout! Back in Washington, though, there were no tributes only a growing sense, now openly discussed in both parties, that Trumps hold on the office is proving increasingly tenuous. Rebuked by congressional leaders for his tolerance of white nationalists and for a controversial pardon, abandoned publicly by some members of his own Cabinet, Trump is fast becoming the Tom Hanks of presidents, stranded on his own little political island, futilely throwing coconuts at the wall. His approval rating, now stuck at around 35 percent in a series of polls, opens the door wide not just to a tumultuous midterm election season, but also to a long and unpredictable presidential campaign after that. By this time next year, unless something major changes, every third Democrat in Washington will be lining up to form an exploratory committee. But the more interesting maneuvering may be in the Republican Party, where Im betting well see more than one serious primary challenger step forward. (Im looking at you, Marco Rubio.) And then theres the unlikely, emerging partnership between two idiosyncratic and popular governors named John Kasich, the Republican from Ohio, and Hickenlooper, his lesser-known Democratic colleague from Colorado who have begun acting very much like a possible bipartisan ticket in recent weeks, holding a series of events around health care. Theyre set to preview their reform plan in interviews today. Story continues Whether or not John Squared holds any real promise as a presidential campaign tandem (and well get to that in a moment), the whole thing raises a larger question that I find highly relevant in the post-Trump moment. Is America ready for an independent presidency? And should our two fossilized parties be a lot more worried about it than they are? Well, all right, thats two questions. But they get to the same central idea. In full disclosure, Im probably not the guy you should turn to first if you want a disinterested answer to all this. Ive been relentlessly harping on the potential for an independent president pretty much since I started following politicians around the country 20 years ago. When all youve got is a hammer, everything starts to look an awful lot like a nail. I happened onto the political scene as a writer in the moment just after Ross Perot a demonstrably disturbed person who announced that Republicans had tried to ruin his daughters wedding managed to score 18 percent of the vote as an independent candidate promising to balance the budget. For several years afterward, I spent a lot of my time in the company of politicians like Jesse the Body Ventura, the independent governor of Minnesota who for a time seemed like a formidable presidential contender himself, and John McCain, who back then captivated the country by taking on both party establishments. (Yes, millennials, that John McCain. Go look it up in Wikipedia, and stop expecting the rest of us to do all the work for you.) I absolutely thought Colin Powell had a chance to win the presidency as an independent in 1996, before he removed himself from contention. I was less convinced by a potential candidate I met in 1999 some billionaire with the last name of Trump. Heres what I came to believe back then, and what I have written many times since: America has no use for a third party, since most of us arent all that enamored of the two we already have. But thats a different thing from a truly independent bid, undertaken by someone (or a couple of someones) who dispenses with primaries and breaks the party paradigm altogether. My sense, still, is that were a lot closer to seeing that kind of campaign succeed than anyone in Washington really imagines, just as we were a lot closer to the hostile takeover of a national party than anyone thought before 2016. Over the last 20 years, during a time in which the emerging digital culture has weakened just about every institution in America, the grip of the two parties on our political system has loosened considerably. Our politics may feel more polarized between ideological camps, but thats mostly because the parties are controlled by an ever-winnowing group of diehard activists who present the rest of us with stark, binary choices. The countrys openness to more alternatives, as measured by the number of Americans who identify themselves as politically independent, has never been more palpable, or more consistent with the way we live our lives generally. In a very real sense, Trumps insurgent campaign represented a kind of independent movement inside the Republican Party, which he effectively occupied and then replaced with his family brand. He obliterated the outdated belief that party loyalty matters anything near as much as personality. Meanwhile, the two principal and related barriers to entry for an independent candidate the money needed to run a competitive race and the arcane ballot laws that vary wildly by state have been made vastly less onerous by the spread of broadband. Sure, its still not easy to organize a state-by-state ballot-access drive, or to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. But its way easier than it ever was before, and if anyone still buys the myth that money is the driving force in a national campaign, they should study this last election. It turns out free TV time and social media followings are exponentially more valuable. Which brings us back to Kasich and Hickenlooper, whose flirtation with a bipartisan ticket was reported last week by Axioss Mike Allen. That really shouldnt have surprised anyone, not least because Kasichs closest political adviser is John Weaver, whom I met when he was openly exploring the same thing for McCain in 2000. Weaver has long been a fellow traveler when it comes to upending the system. (In an interview last week on Meet the Press, Kasich, who came away from the last campaign with something of a national following, tried to brush aside questions about a joint ticket, and finally said it wasnt happening. Which Im sure is true at the moment.) Personally, I find Kasich and Hickenlooper to be among the more genuine and compelling characters in politics today. Neither man is going to be carried along in the prevailing currents of their parties, which are headed toward ideological stridency and confrontation. That makes running in primaries a dubious option. The problem for the two Johns, should they get serious about a historic joint venture, is that neither of them commands the kind of celebrity coverage that would follow, say, Kanye West or Mark Cuban. And neither of them is a billionaire like Mike Bloomberg, who briefly considered his own independent bid in 2016 (and probably wakes up every day wishing he had a time machine). Theyd have to build a large, grassroots organization of moderates, which is never easy, and theyd have to hope that the two parties ultimately rally around Trump, on one side, and an ideologue like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, on the other. Its not a high-percentage bet, to be sure, but neither would I call it crazy. It might also be good for the country. The larger point here, though, is that even by playing with the possibility, these guys are on the vanguard of something. Whether its a couple of governors like Kasich and Hickenlooper, or more likely some TV celebrity we havent even thought of yet, the nonaligned presidency is probably inevitable, and it could happen as early as 2020. Yeah, Ive been saying that forever. It just happens still to be true. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: OnStar, GM's in-vehicle security and communications subsidiary, is playing a role in helping victims of Harvey, the once-hurricane that has ravaged southeastern Texas with flooding. OnStar is fielding overflow calls from the Red Cross and evacuation requests from overwhelmed 911 call centers, Automotive News reports. The subscription-based service has about 200,000 customers in the region affected by the storm and has taken more than 18,500 calls related to it since Saturday, Cathy Bishop, OnStar's global emergency services manager in Detroit, told the publication (subscription required). She said the Red Cross asked for help, so OnStar worked with local emergency responders on a system where OnStar would pass along rescue requests via email to local 911 call centers if the caller wasn't in immediate danger. OnStar has a crisis team of six people who have been monitoring the storm since last Thursday from a situation room in OnStar's Detroit headquarters. Many OnStar operators have fielded calls from people stuck in their vehicles in the water. Also, "We had one gentleman whose home was right in the eye of the storm," Bishop was quoted as saying. "He had no power, no cellphone service his cellphone was wet so he went to his car in the his garage and told us his house was 'crumbling around him.' We were able to coordinate with the local 911 center to make sure he was safely evacuated." Since Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, Bishop said the company has added connected-vehicle and WiFi hotspot technology to its service, allowing people trapped by floodwaters and without power to use a laptop in their vehicle to communicate. Harvey is currently rated as a tropical depression moving northeasterly over Louisiana. Related Video: By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Zambia faces violence if a national dialogue brokered by the Commonwealth between the government and the opposition fails to reconcile the two sides, the main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema said on Thursday. Hichilema was freed from prison in August after the state dropped charges of plotting to overthrow the government, but a judge warned him he could be arrested again at any time. The case heightened political friction in Zambia, a major copper producer which is seen as one of Africa's more stable democracies, after a bruising election last year in which President Edgar Lungu's Patriotic Front defeated Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND). "Let me assure you, today in Zambia if you wore a UPND T-shirt, my party's T-shirt, you would be committing suicide because you can be killed for wearing that," he told media in Cape Town. Nevertheless, Hichilema said he was confident the talks would succeed in preserving order in the southern African nation. "If we were not confident, we would not embark on it, we would not be part of the process (talks). But, there is no alternative to that, the alternative is brutality and counter-brutality and lives will be lost," he told media in Cape Town. Hichilema, a wealthy businessman who is commonly known as "HH", said the dialogue was anchored on issues that led to strife in Zambia, among them, restoring human rights, protecting press freedom and ensuring the independence of the judiciary. "So when an election comes, we would have corrected these inadequacies that have created negative conditions in our country," he said. The next general elections are due in 2021. Hichilema called on the trade regional body SADC and South Africa to support the reconciliation talks. Zambia's High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba, rejected Hichilema's claims, saying the opposition leader's release from prison showed that the rule of law was upheld. "His own release demonstrates that Zambia has rule of law and is a tested democracy," he told Reuters via text message. "That's a demonstration of the independence of the judiciary." Mwamba said newspapers and radio stations were operating normally. Government and legal sources told Reuters Zambia would drop the treason charges and free Hichilema under a deal brokered by Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland. Scotland visited Zambia earlier in August and separately met Lungu and Hichilema, who was still in detention, and said the two leaders had agreed to a process of dialogue facilitated by her office to achieve political cohesion and reconciliation. (Additional reporting by Chris Mfula in Lusaka; Editing by James Macharia/Keith Weir) Volunteers Idaho Home Health and Hospice needs volunteers who will bring compassion, support and dignity to those facing a serious, life-limiting illness and their families. Volunteers can choose between offering respite to family caregivers or provide support with administrative tasks. Information: Heidi Walker, 208-734-4064 or Heidi.Walker@LHCgroup.com. Volunteers Horizon Home Health and Hospice is looking for volunteers to join their team to provide quality compassionate care to patients through the following activities: companionship, socialization, respite, and support for patients and families and much more. Information: Cynthia Nixon, 208-800-8085 or cnixon@horizonhh.com. Volunteers St. Lukes Home Health and Hospice is looking for new volunteers to join its team to share compassion and care and increase the quality of life for patients and their families. This program is designed to offer companionship and socialization to the patients as well as respite and support for the caregivers. Information: Marie Sharp, 208-814-7603 or sharpm@slhs.org. Volunteers Hospice Visions Inc. is looking for volunteers to visit with patients and their families, and volunteers to provide handyman services, play the piano at assisted living centers, and help with art projects for patients at assisted living centers. If you have a special talent to share with others, contact Nora Wells at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org. Volunteers Hospice Visions Inc is looking for men and women to serve as Veteran-to-Veteran volunteers for their veteran patients. All ages of veterans from all branches of service are welcome to join Hospice Visions volunteer forces as part of the We Honor Veterans program. Information: Nora Wells, volunteer coordinator at Hospice Visions, 208-735-0121 or nwells@hospicevisions.org. Volunteers The Twin Falls County Historical Society is seeking volunteers for various programs and general support. Volunteers are needed to paint, clean or work on docent projects and fundraising. No minimum amount of hours, commitment is flexible. Fill out an application at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum (Union School at Curry), open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Information: 208-736-4675. Volunteers The Jerome County Historical Society is looking for volunteers to help at the Depot Museum and at the Idaho Farm and Ranch Museum. Volunteers will receive training on duties at either museum. The in-town Depot Museum duties will include answering the phone, some filing, and showing visitors the artifacts. The IFARM Museum duties will mostly be outdoors helping to clean the grounds and repairing buildings, but also cleaning inside the buildings. Some machinery and building repairing may be included. Closed Sundays and Mondays. To volunteer, call 208-324-5641 from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Drivers The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteer drivers for its Road to Recovery program. Volunteers are needed to drive cancer patients to and from medical treatment facilities, especially for appointments in Twin Falls. The Cancer Society trains volunteer drivers and schedules rides for patients for free. Drivers must have a current and valid drivers license, a good driving record, a reliable car, and proof of car insurance. Volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles. The program is flexible for volunteers to provide as many rides as they want. Information: 1-800-227-2345. Volunteers The Twin Falls Senior Center has a ladies group (The Crazy Quilters), who are looking for individuals to put finishing touches on quilts as a group while socializing. The group meets from 9 a.m. to noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All quilt project proceeds are given to the Twin Falls Senior Center. Information: 208-734-5084. Rawalpindi (Pakistan) (AFP) - A Pakistani court Thursday branded former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial, but acquitted five men accused of involvement in the 2007 assassination. The verdicts are the first to be issued since Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, sparking street violence and plunging Pakistan into months of political turmoil. The judge also found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the court official said, making them the only people to have been convicted over the assassination. Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation. He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013, in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution. But he has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi ruled he had "absconded", a court official told reporters outside, saying it had also ordered the confiscation of his property. The judge also acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to kill Bhutto on December 27, 2007. They were set to walk free nearly 10 years after they were first arrested, though a defence lawyer said it was not yet clear when they would be released. "My clients were held for nine years and eight months for nothing," Malik Jawad Khalid, the lawyer for three of the men -- Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Sher Zaman -- told AFP. "This time in their lives cannot be brought back, but we thank Allah that they have been declared innocent." Story continues If the acquittals are challenged, he vowed, "my clients will again prove themselves innocent in the higher courts". Bhutto's son Bilawal, who now heads her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), tweeted that the decision was "disappointing & unacceptable", and the release of "terrorists" was "not only unjust but dangerous". He vowed the party would explore legal options. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes!" Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Zardari tweeted moments after the court's announcement. - 'Mystery remains' - Senior police officer Khurram Shahzad was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after the killing -- an act the United Nations described in a report as "fundamentally inconsistent with Pakistani police practice". Then-Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz was accused of both giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene, and of refusing multiple times to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. They were each sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on one count and seven on another, with the sentences to run concurrently, and fined 500,000 rupees ($4,700), according to a court order. Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented. The unanswered questions surrounding the case prompted a swirl of conspiracy theories. Rashid A. Rizvi, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, alluded to them Thursday when he noted that the acquittals were "as much a conspiracy as her murder was". The judgement, political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP, was unlikely to offer any clarity as it "has failed to answer the question of who actually murdered her". "Were they Taliban or Musharraf," he said, adding the prosecution "could not provide any evidence ... So the mystery remains unsolved". Musharraf is facing a string of cases connected to his 1999-2008 rule, and Pakistani courts have ordered his property confiscated on previous occasions. He was acquitted last year in the 2006 killing of a Baloch militant leader, but four cases remain against him: one accusing him of treason for imposing emergency rule, one alleging the unlawful dismissal of judges, one over a deadly raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007, and Bhutto's killing. A team of students from Germany sent a carbon-plastic pod whizzing through a tube at 201 mph (324 km/h) last weekend, securing the top spot in Elon Musk's second Hyperloop competition. Musk, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla and brain-interface company Neuralink, aims to revolutionize transportation with his Hyperloop concept, which he envisions as a series of underground vacuum tubes through which transportation pods levitated by air would zoom at nearly the speed of sound. In January, SpaceX held its first Hyperloop Competition for students to test prototypes of pods. The winning team, WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munich, again took top prize in the second Hyperloop Pod Competition, which was held between Aug. 25 and 27. The team's pod was one of only three that met the technical criteria for testing inside the 0.8-mile (1.28 km) tube at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. [Hyperloop, Jetpacks & More: 9 Futuristic Transit Ideas] The WARR Hyperloop pod was a complete redesign of the team's first winning structure, the student engineers wrote on their website. Made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, the pod weighs only 176 lbs. (80 kilograms) and can accelerate from zero to 217 mph (350 km/h) in just 12 seconds. The pod is a prototype, as SpaceX's test tube is a mere 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. But Musk envisions tunnels that can accommodate 6,800-lb. (3,100 kg) pods holding up to 28 people each, as he wrote in a white paper introducing the concept in 2014. Musk's vision is that the Hyperloop would provide fast transportation between cities less than about 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) apart. He claims the Hyperloop system could whisk people from San Francisco to Los Angeles, or from Munich to Berlin, in about 30 minutes. That would require speeds of about 760 mph (1,220 km/h). Hyperloop pod run by team WARR pic.twitter.com/ntaMsoxkZE Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 28, 2017 Story continues The WARR team's winning pod is powered by an electric motor and lithium-polymer batteries. Pneumatic brakes provide stopping power and stabilizers dampen vibrations at high speeds. In the SpaceX testing, the brakes decelerated the pod from its peak 201-mph speed in 3 seconds. On Twitter, Musk noted that fast accelerations and decelerations are necessary because of the test tube's short length, but a real system would spread the speed changes over miles, "so no spilt drinks," he said. Musk's plans include making the systems entirely self-powered by installing solar panels above the tunnels. The SpaceX test track isn't the only one where futuristic transportation pods have been tested. Since Musk published his Hyperloop manifesto, a series of unaffiliated private companies and academic groups have tackled the challenge of turning this futuristic transportation concept into a reality. Hyperloop One unveiled its 1,640-foot-long (500 m) Nevada test track earlier in 2017. The first European test track also opened this year, built by the company Hardt Global Mobility. Another company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, made a deal in 2015 to build a 5-mile test track along California's Interstate 5, but there has been little forward progress on permitting and construction since then, according to a January 2017 article on the company by Inverse Innovation. The WARR Hyperloop team poses for a group photo with Elon Musk. WARR Hyperloop As the enthusiasm of these companies shows, Musk's Hyperloop concept has some momentum behind it. But the technology is far from bulletproof, physicist James Powell, the co-inventor of superconducting maglev systems, told Live Science in 2015. Safety is a particular issue, Powell said: A slight kink in the tunnels perhaps caused by one of California's frequent earthquakes could ruin the system. The air compressor that levitates the traveling capsules and the equipment that maintains low air pressure in the tunnels would both have to be fail-proof, he added, because a loss of air pressure or vacuum would mean an immediate crash. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations (Photo: Joseph Rushmore for HuffPost) PORT ARTHUR, Texas Despite tough conditions, rescue efforts are still underway in this east Texas city overwhelmed by flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. After the citys main shelter flooded Tuesday night, forcing evacuees to relocate to another shelter that lacked food and other supplies, police were relying on volunteer rescue efforts to find and aid survivors. John Henry Foster, 70, identified himself as one of the people spearheading the volunteer rescue efforts through the group Veterans on Patrol. He spoke to reporters at the Central Mall in Port Arthur, where volunteer rescuers organized with boats, lifted trucks and four-wheelers. Rescuers were out until the early morning responding to calls. Some slept in tents or leaning against vehicles in the parking lot. Its been difficult, but the people are nice and theyre grateful, Foster said, adding that volunteers have traveled from as far away as Colorado. Weve pulled about 1,600 people out this week between Katy and here. We put them in the boat, get them to dry land and then someone else picks them up and takes them to the shelter. The process is complete, aside from them rebuilding their lives. Thats the tragedy of it. Despite the inherent sadness of the situation, there have also been moments of levity. At one point, Foster said he saw a real-life cowboy rescuing horses. I dont see him here now, but yesterday he had his lasso on the boat and there was a horse swimming around in a circle, Foster said. He threw his lasso around it and pulled him he was swimming and they got him on dry land. Doggone cowboy brought his lasso out to the flood. Port Arthur, located just west of the Texas-Louisiana border, was hit hard by the storm earlier this week, leaving residents desperate for help. Local authorities, inundated with distress calls, were forced to temporarily pull back first responders Tuesday night due to dangerous conditions. Theres nothing we can do, Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens told local news channel KDFM. We cant take the boats out right now. The water is rising and its coming there and [theres] no way to get to them. Story continues (Photo: Joseph Rushmore for HuffPost) Authorities called on volunteers Wednesday to aid rescue efforts. Were using the volunteers and their boats to get to those individuals [trapped by high waters], Marcus McLellan, a public information officer for the Jefferson County sheriffs office, told HuffPost. To do this on our own, we would have to have a fleet of several hundred boats. ... Thats just not feasible for a city or county to constantly have. Foster said that his group has around 25 boats, manned by armed security guards due to fears about boat thefts. The Coast Guard and the Port Arthur Police Department told HuffPost that they had not received any reports or calls about attempts to hijack boats. Many of the boats were out until the early hours of the morning on Thursday, and Foster said his group would be continuing efforts later in the day. Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman told ABC News that volunteers and first responders plan to go door-to-door on Thursday to check for survivors. We got about 20 inches of water in about 24 hours, and it devastated our city, Freeman said. Theres some parts that its receded, its gone down, but we still have people in 3 to 4 [feet of] water in some homes. This article has been updated with additional comment from Foster. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Of all the decisions we make in a lifetime, few are as personal or emotional as the one to move yourself, a spouse, a parent, or another loved one to an assisted living facility. We often go to great lengths to find the right car, phone, or refrigerator to meet our specific needs, so it goes without saying that choosing a residence we can trust to offer compassionate care to a beloved family member at a vulnerable time of life is of the utmost importance. With medical care growing more sophisticated and the population growing older, the average age of new assisted living residents was 84 in 2016and assisted living facilities now account for 17 percent of America's senior housing, a 33 percent increase from just five years ago. What's more, these residents tend to be sicker than previous generations. With all the stress that can come from caring for or paying for the care of an aging loved onea responsibility that research reveals falls disproportionately on adult children, especially daughtersit is vital that the assisted living marketplace operates in a way that puts the needs of consumers first. But as this industry grows, obstacles still remain that can prevent us from making the best choice for our family and getting the peace of mind we need. This month, in "Elder Care and Assisted Living: Who Will Care for You?," we'll provide insight and resources that allow you to better determine the quality, value, and safety of facilities you may be consideringand we'll update you on the importance of having meaningful staffing and training standards, greater price transparency, and the establishment of "resident rights" so that you can make this difficult decision with confidence and clarity. Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the October 2017 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. 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 2017, Consumer Reports, Inc. Princess Diana died in a high speed car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. Her death shook an entire world of people who admired her compassion, work ethic, love of children and yes, her style. Over the years, as Diana grew older and more confident, her style of course evolved. But whether she was cheering on Prince Charles at a polo match in 1981, stealing the show in a gorgeous white gown and tiara in 1989 or dropping jaws in a mini beaded dress in 1997, she wore every single outfit with a sense of elegance and grace. One of the ways well be honoring her life is by taking a look back at some of her most iconic style moments over the years. Which one is your favorite? 1970 In Itchenor, West Sussex. 1971 In Itchenor, West Sussex. 1980 After Princess Margaret's 50th birthday party in London. 1980 At the Young England Kindergarten in London. 1981 The day she and Prince Charles announced their engagement in London, England. 1981 With Prince Charles at their wedding at the St. Paul's Cathedral. 1981 In Balmoral, Scotland. 1981 In Tetbury, Gloucestershire. 1981 At the V&A Museum in London, England. 1981 At a polo match with Prince Charles in Windsor. 1981 In Romsey, Hampshire. 1982 With Prince Charles and newborn Prince William in London. 1982 In London, England. 1982 Watching Prince Charles play polo in Windsor. 1982 In Wrexham, Wales. 1982 At Guildhall in London. 1983 With Prince Charles in Australia. 1983 In Brisbane, Australia. 1984 At a charity event in London, England. 1985 With Prince Charles in Hawaii. 1985 At the London premiere of "A View To a Kill." 1985 In Newcastle. 1985 At a gala in Washington, D.C. 1985 At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. 1986 In Saudi Arabia. 1986 At the America's Cup Ball in London, England. 1986 In Japan. 1987 In Berlin, Germany. 1987 Welcoming King Fahd on his arrival in Britain. 1987 With Prince Charles in Munich, Germany. 1987 At the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. 1987 With Prince Harry in Balmoral, Scotland. 1988 During British Fashion Week in London. 1988 In Paris, France. 1988 With Prince William at Guards Polo Club in Windsor. Related... William And Harry Release Never-Before-Seen Photos Of Princess Diana Princess Diana Talks Mental Health In Newly Uncovered Interviews William And Harry Open Up About The Days Following Their Mother's Death Also on HuffPost 1982 With Prince Charles and Prince William. 1982 With Prince Charles and Prince William. 1982 With Prince William. 1983 With Prince William. 1983 With Prince William. 1983 With Prince William. 1983 With Prince William. 1983 With Prince William. 1984 With Prince William. 1985 With Prince William. 1985 With Prince William. 1985 With Prince William. 1986 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1986 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1986 With Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry. 1986 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1986 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1986 With Prince Harry. 1987 With Prince Harry. 1987 With Prince Harry. 1987 With Prince William. 1988 With Prince William. 1988 With Prince Harry. 1988 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1989 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1989 With Prince William. 1989 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1991 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1993 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1993 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1995 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1995 With Prince Harry. 1995 With Prince William and Prince Harry. 1997 With Prince William, Prince Harry and friends. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. WASHINGTON Special counsel Robert Mueller has joined forces with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman a longtime adversary of President Donald Trump to investigate possible financial crimes by Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to Politico. In recent weeks, Muellers and Schneidermans teams have been communicating frequently and sharing information, including evidence of possible money laundering, Politico reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The partnership, the publication noted, could give Mueller leverage to push Manafort to cooperate with his teams broader investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. A president cannot pardon someone for state crimes. The Washington Post reported in July that Trumps lawyers were looking into Muellers potential conflicts of interests and exploring the presidents power to grant pardons to aides, family and himself as a means of undermining the Justice Departments investigation. Trump himself had inquired about his constitutional powers, according to the report. Last month, FBI agents raided Manaforts home and seized documents and other items a move Trump described as pretty tough stuff and a a very, very strong signal. And NBC News reported last week that Mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas seeking testimony from public relations executives linked to Manafort. Sources told Politico no decision has been made as to whether charges will be filed against Manafort. Nothing is imminent, one person reportedly said. Manafort is a key figure in Muellers probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Manafort ran Trumps campaign for several months until he resigned in August 2016 amid reports about his work for pro-Russian forces in the Ukrainian government. He retroactively registered as a foreign agent for that work. Also on HuffPost President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the beginning of a meeting with his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and government cybersecurity experts at the White House on Jan. 31, 2017. Citing the hack of computers at the Democratic National Committee by Russia, Trump said that the private and public sectors must do more to prevent and protect against cyberattacks. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. TWIN FALLS Raul Labrador wants to shake things up in Boise. The way he sees it, you might not agree with him, but you know where he stands. You know with me exactly what youre going to get, the 1st District congressman and candidate to be Idahos next governor told the Times-News editorial board Tuesday. Labrador is one of the most prominent members of the federal House Freedom Caucus and much of his support among state political figures comes from the farther-right wing of the legislative GOP. He laid out a number of areas where his policies would differ sharply from Gov. C.L. Butch Otter and from many Republicans in the Legislature. If Labrador wins, one of his first acts would be to ask every state agency head to resign and reapply for their jobs. He would also spend the 2019 legislative session trying to get his 5-5-5 plan through 5 percent flat corporate and individual income tax rates and a 5 percent sales tax, while also getting rid of many of the existing tax exemptions. Labrador wants government to create a business-friendly tax and regulatory environment but stay out of the way and not pick winners and losers. He opposes the use of tax breaks to draw specific businesses, a position he admits could run into opposition in the Magic Valley, which has had success in recent years using incentives to lure major industries. He favors curtailing many of the current responsibilities of the state Department of Commerce and bringing them into the governors office. The state should stay out of the business of choosing which companies should come, he said. Labrador, who was a state House member from Eagle before being elected to Congress in 2010, is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination against Lt. Gov. Brad Little and Treasure Valley developer and doctor Tommy Ahlquist, in what is shaping up to be an expensive and hotly contested primary race. Otter is not running for another term. The primary is in May. Labrador believes using fuel tax and registration fees to fund transportation is not sustainable and that the state should start using some general fund money on roads and bridges. This is an issue on which Republicans in Boise are split while some agree with Labrador, others, including Otter, support a user pay system rather than having transportation compete for other dollars. Labrador suggested dedicating sales tax revenue from sales of tires and automobile parts to transportation. While he generally opposes local-option taxes, he said he might support ones to pay for specific local transportation needs. When he was in the state House, he advocated allowing local option registration fees. Idaho is one of the few Republican-run states to have created its own health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, rather than using the federal market. More than 100,000 people are insured through Your Health Idaho, and most of them pay for it with federal tax credits. Labrador said he opposed creating the exchange another big difference from Otter, who opposes the ACA but has been a strong proponent of the exchange. Labrador didnt say he would abolish it but didnt rule it out. He doesnt think it has succeeded in keeping insurance costs down. Now that its in place Im going to have to look at it pretty closely, he said. Labrador would like to see the ACA repealed, and voted for the American Health Care Act that passed the House in May. While this has been a goal of most Republicans since the bill passed, efforts to dismantle it have stalled in the face of GOP infighting and unanimous Democratic opposition. Failing that, Labrador would at least like to see smaller changes at the federal level such as letting states opt out of some regulations and extending antitrust laws to cover insurance companies. He said the Trump administrations desire to give states more leeway and his relationship with former congressman and current Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price could help him achieve this as governor. I have that personal relationship, Labrador said. That really helps. On education, Labrador wants to get rid of Common Core standards, which Otter supported, replacing them with a structure that sets basic high standards at the state level but gives school districts more flexibility in how to reach them. He also wants more state support for charter and private schools, saying his mothers decision to put him in private school got him an education that benefited him in life. I credit my success to the (fact) that she put me in private school when I was a young boy, he said. He supports a voucher system where dollars would follow students to private schools including to religious ones, a potentially fraught legal issue due to the state Constitutions ban on funding for religious institutions. One way around this, Labrador said, would be a system to give tax credits toward scholarships rather than direct support. Also, he said, the Idaho Constitution itself may have to be reexamined in light of a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of a church school that was denied funding for playground repairs due to a similar clause in Missouris state constitution. Thats going to be something we have to look at, he said. Does that ruling apply to every other spending at a state level? Labrador opposes legalizing marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, but favors allowing wider use of cannabidiol oil for medical purposes and said he would have signed the bill Otter vetoed in 2015 to let people use medical use as a defense if they are arrested with CBD oil. He also opposes mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent crimes. An Idaho bill to repeal mandatory minimums for drug crimes was introduced in 2017 with bipartisan support but didnt get further than an informational committee hearing. Committee Chairman Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said at the time the issue may come back in 2018. Residents living around the Energy Corridor of west Houston, Texas are rescued from flooded homes and apartments: Erich Schlegel/Getty Images While Donald Trump has promised victims of tropical storm Harvey all the funding they need, other Republicans have suggested cutting almost $1bn from federal disaster relief to pay for the President's border wall. Some Republicans have suggested slashing $876 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief account in the next fiscal year. The cut would pay for about half of Mr Trumps proposed wall on the US border with Mexico. The proposal is included in the federal spending bill that Congress must pass by the end of next month. It was drafted by two members of the House Appropriations Committee before the storm hit. They are now reconsidering the decision. "Circumstances have changed significantly since the bill was drafted earlier this summer," Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing said on Wednesday. "Given the current situation, the committee is reassessing the issue." Just last week, Mr Trump threatened to shut down the government if funding for his border wall was not included in the appropriations bill. The President has also suggested a $600m cut to FEMAs state and local programmes, as part of his 2018 budget proposal. But on Tuesday, Mr Trump promised to do everything he could to get relief funding to Harvey's victims. "You're going to see very rapid action from Congress certainly from the President," he told Texans, adding: "We're going to get your funding." The tropical storm has caused record rainfall in Houston, sparking mass flooding and driving an estimated 30,000 people from their homes. FEMA Administrator Brock Long said more than 450,000 people are expected to seek disaster assistance. Fema is going to be [in Texas] for years, he told CNN. This disaster is going to be a landmark event. According to the AP, there is only $2.3bn left in Femas disaster relief accounts. A senior Democratic aide told CNN that the costs of helping state and local communities will "likely to surpass" this amount. Story continues Despite Mr Trump's promises, the fight for additional emergency funding is never an easy one. In 2012, for example, a majority of Republicans voted against sending aid to New York and New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy. Both senators from Texas, and a majority of the states representatives, voted against the $50.4bn aid package that ultimately passed Congress. Their northeastern colleagues, however, say they dont hold it against them now. "Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I'll vote 4 Harvey aid, New York Representative Rep. Peter King tweeted on Saturday. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt deserve another. The Special Counsel is said to be probing possible money laundering by Mr Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort: Getty Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly teamed up with a powerful New York prosecutor to investigate Donald Trumps former campaign manager a disturbing development for the White House as the President does not have the power to pardon state crimes. Mr Muellers team is said to have already shared evidence and information with investigators working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The team of Mr Schneiderman, a Democrat who was appointed in May, has been looking at the financial transactions of Paul Manafort, Mr Trumps former campaign manager who resigned in 2016 as controversy grew about his links to Russia. Trump University paid $25M for defrauding students. DeVry paid $100M for defrauding students. Mr. President, stop the madness. https://t.co/U7WCPSQdrv Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) August 30, 2017 [The cooperation] could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trumps campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes, said Politico, which first revealed the development. Commentators pointed out the move is of crucial importance because while Mr Trump has the power to issue a federal pardon as he controversially did to former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was found guilty of contempt of court after being accused of racial profiling he does not have the same ability in relation to state law. Jeanne Zaino, Professor of Politics at Iona College, told The Independent she believed the news marked a critical development because it suggested Mr Muellers team was making a concerted effort to pressure Mr Manafort, and potentially others close to the President. As any one who has been under this type of pressure from federal prosecutors can attest, the impact on themselves, their families, their livelihood is tremendous, she said. Story continues This is, of course a standard tactic in these investigations and is clear evidence that the special prosecutor is trying to trade up. Manafort is likely just one a few key players in this investigation who is under this type of pressure and scrutiny. As a result, if Mr Manafort were to be found guilty in a New York State court or indeed, if Mr Trumps daughter or son-in-law or even himself were convicted by such a court the former reality television host could do nothing about it. Mr Manafort has always denied any wrongdoing and has maintained such a position, even after federal agents raided his Virginia apartment last month. The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues. Mr Mueller, a former FBI director, who was appointed to head a federal probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russias alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, has been looking into Mr Manaforts lobbying work and financial transactions, including real estate deals in New York. CNN said this week that Mr Mueller had issued subpoenas to an attorney who formerly represented Mr Manafort and to a spokesman for the consultant. Mr Muellers office has declined to comment, as has that of Mr Schneiderman. The White House has not commented on the developments. Politico said no decision had been made on whether to file charges against Mr Manafort. One source said: Nothing is imminent. Mr Schneiderman said in May that Mr Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey, a move that triggered the appointment of Mr Mueller, threatened the integrity of the agency. Mr Trump has hit back, by calling Mr Schneiderman a lightweight. Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 US and Mr Trump has similarly denied working with Russia and has dismissed various ongoing investigations into him as part of a witch hunt. Russia and Belaruss joint military drill is not, as some European countries fear, a simulated assault on NATO, its organizers argue. The exercise will instead take on the fierce (though hypothetical) foes that are Vaisnoria and its Western backers Wesbaria and Lubenia, according to the newly presented program for the upcoming event, Belaruss deputy defense minister said on Tuesday. The exercise, called Zapad (West) 2017, is scheduled to start September 14. It will last six days and involve around 12,000 troops, though past iterations of such drills have expanded tenfold nearer to the date, despite similar initial personnel numbers announcements. Formally, Russia and Belarus have called it a defensive drill, one with a focus on counterterrorism maneuvers, while Lithuania and others have described it as a simulation for war with NATO. The drill scenario described by Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Belokonev has done little to allay fears among Belaruss western neighbors. Vaisnoria, the main antagonist of the drill, is a hypothetical region of Belarus, held by mystery insurgents. It sits on Belaruss northwestern territory, bordering NATO allies Lithuania and Poland. The Belarusian regions under Vaisnorias imaginary rule are curiously ones with a higher number of Catholics, compared with the rest of the predominantly Orthodox Belarus. This choice has a peculiar parallel with the electoral map of Belarus, local news site Charter 97 pointed out. A quick look at where Belarus and Russia imagine the main partners of Vaisnoria sit is also unlikely to calm anybody concerned by Zapad 2017. Wesbaria and Lubenia occupy territory that in reality falls in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. All of them are NATO neighbors that are among the most concerned about the drill and its aftermath. Poland has suggested Russia is using the drill as a cover to pour military westward, into Belarus that it does not intend to pull back. Even the chosen names of the hostile, imaginary republics are neither Belarusian nor Russian but have their roots in the Baltic languages, Belaruss Nasha Niva newspaper reports. Story continues Belokonevs description of the insurgency also seemed to blur the lines between a military and militant target. According to the defense official, the exercise was designed that way to practice combat against international separatist and terrorist organizations, having external support, Belarusian state news agency BTA reports. Vaisnorias insurgency is in fact represented by a joint front, labeled the Western team, and the Northern team, consisting of Belarus and Russia, whose post-Soviet political alliance is also known as the Union State. The main reason for the intensifying situation is the attempt of the Westerners to destabilize the situation on the [Belarusian] republics territory and succeed in worsening ties between those in the Union state, Belokonev said of the exercise, national news website Naviny reports. Belarus is the one trying to contain the situation, and Russia supports it politically, financially, technically and militarily, he said. Fear of war among the Baltic states continues to be high since Russias annexation of Crimea from another former Soviet stateUkraine. Polls show more people in the Baltics currently fear war than extremist attacks. Related Articles Screenshot of villa complex allegedly owned by Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has been linked to ownership of a villa complex on a scenic island near the Finnish border where a Soviet version of Sherlock Holmes was filmed, according to two investigations. It is claimed in a YouTube video, which got more than 1.8 million views in 24 hours, that Mr Putin is the owner of the Sellgren Villa on Lodochny Island in the Bay of Vyborg, a red-brick home built in 1913 and recently expanded, according to separate investigations by the independent online channel TV Rain and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. A drone flyover of the expansive property by Mr Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation showed a new 1,500-square-metre wing on the villa, a helipad, a pier, a guest house built in the same style, and a large house and garage, presumably for staff. The villa is not mentioned in the president's 2016 income and property declaration, which said he owns a 1,500-square-metre land plot, two cramped flats, three Soviet-era cars and a small cargo trailer. Mr Putin has previously been tied to a palace on the Black Sea. Google Earth view of the Finnish island where Navalny claims Putin has a "secret dacha" Mr Navalny called on supporters to demand he be allowed into next year's presidential election despite a controversial embezzlement conviction that the authorities said would bar him from running. The villa was designed by well-known Finnish architect Uno Ullberg and served as the home of German spy Von Bork in a Soviet-era Sherlock Holmes film. Lodochny Island was part of the national forest reserves until it was rezoned for the construction of a tourist base in 2012. The two investigations claim to have now linked the property, where Google Earth imagery showed construction began in 2011-13, to several longtime friends of Mr Putin. Aerial picture of Villa Selgen Grab from a video released by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny Security refused to allow TV Rain onto the property, but the channel quoted a source close to the local authorities as saying that the villa had been rebuilt as a country home for Mr Putin, who had traveled there at least once. Locals said they had seen the presidential security service guarding it from the water. Photos and plans posted to a social media group in 2012 claimed the villa was being rebuilt with a pool, billiard room, sauna and fitness complex. Story continues TV Rain reported that according to the federal property register agency, the island and buildings are controlled by a company called Sever, which was owned by Oleg Rudnov, head of the Baltic Media Group and an old friend of Mr Putin who died in 2015. Rudnov's son Sergei now owns the company. Mr Navalny said Sever also rented a building in the Konstantinovsky Palace presidential residence where Oleg Rudnov created a museum to Mr Putin, replete with his judo uniform and first car. Other Sever shareholders were tied to companies that reportedly operated the ski resort where Mr Putin's daughter got married in 2013. A sign near the entrance to the Lodochny Island property identified it as a recreational complex for the company Sibur, which is owned in part by Mr Putin's reported son-in-law Kirill Shamalov and the president's old friend Gennady Timchenko. Oleg Rudnov also ran a media company owned by Mr Putin's friend Sergei Roldugin, a cellist who the Panama Papers leak revealed to be the conduit for massive offshore holdings of the president's inner circle. Mr Navalny's YouTube expose of prime minister Dmitry Medvedev's mansions, yachts and vineyard in Tuscany was viewed more than 22 million times this spring and inspired opposition protests around the country in March and June. The family of slain North Dakota woman Savanna Lafontaine Greywind is reeling after her body was discovered Monday wrapped in plastic and dumped in a river. The 22-year-olds mother, Noberta Greywind, recalled to People magazine the gut-wrenching moment she was informed her daughter had been located. Instantly, I had a bad feeling, she told People. Savanna was eight months pregnant when she disappeared from her familys apartment in Fargo, North Dakota, August 19. She texted her mother to let her know she was going to a neighbors apartment to help with a dress fitting but never returned. When her mother realized she hadnt come home, she went straight to the apartment of Brooke Crews and William Hoehn. Immediately, I ran upstairs and knocked on the door and asked for Savanna, her mother told People. [Crews] said, She came and left, and I said, How did she leave? and she said I dont know. I knew something was wrong. A weeklong hunt for Savanna scoured the area for any sign of the young woman. When kayakers happened upon her body Monday in Minnesotas Red River, it was wrapped with duct tape and plastic. We were terrified of what condition her body would be in, Norberta Greywind told People. We had fears that she wasnt going to be in one piece. Authorities eventually located a newborn baby believed to be Savannas inside Crews and Hoehns apartment. A DNA test was underway to confirm whether the baby belonged to Savanna. When questioned by authorities, Crews and Hoehn gave conflicting statements: Crews said Savanna gave her the baby willingly, while Hoehn said he arrived home to find Crews cleaning up blood with the newborn nearby. Hoehns said Crews told him, This is our baby, this is our family. The pair admitted the baby belonged to Savanna. [Crews] had come down a week prior to this trying to get my daughter to come upstairs, her mother recalled. I feel like I have a lot of guilt for not seeing this [coming] and not protecting my daughter. I didnt think that she was in danger, I didnt think anything like [this] couldve happened. Story continues Both Crews and Hoehn were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and giving false information. A preliminary autopsy revealed Savanna died of homicidal violence. Savannas boyfriend and the father of her child, Ashton Matheny, said he couldnt bear to take part in the search for Savanna. The child, whom the pair had already named Haisley Jo, was being held in protective custody pending the results of a DNA test. All I wanted was a life with Savanna and my baby, Matheny told the Forum News Service. But they took it from me. My worlds gone, man. They took my world from me. Related Articles Photo credit: Bring A Trailer From Road & Track If you're reading Road & Track, it's highly likely that you're the sort of person who realizes that you don't need to buy an SUV to transport family, dogs, or belongings. You're the sort of person who understands that a wagon will drive better than an SUV (as long as you aren't off-roading), look better, and accomplish everything else people think they need a crossover for. That means you, yes, you, are a potential buyer for an E34 BMW M5 Touring. This particular M5 is a 1992 with 105,000 kilometers (65,000 miles) on the odometer. It's in kilometers because the M5 Touring was never officially imported to the US, so you'd have the white whale that all wagon lovers search for: a low-mileage performance wagon that basically nobody else has. Photo credit: Bring A Trailer The 1992 M5 had a 3.8 liter straight six and a five-speed manual gearbox. This particular one has no sunroof, the black cloth interior, and the Nurburgring package, which included speed sensitive power steering, adaptive suspension, and a thicker rear roll bar. If you want this M5, you need to act quickly. There are about two hours left in the auction and bidding currently sits right below $39,000. Act quickly. Photo credit: Bring A Trailer You Might Also Like Over the past couple years, Shailene Woodley has become one of Hollywoods most outspoken political activists. Shes campaigned for Bernie Sanders, been extremely vocal about protecting the environment, and was one of the many people on the ground at Standing Rock protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. If youll recall, Woodley was arrested for participating in the protest (you may have seen her mugshot floating around the web or the Facebook live video that captured the whole thing). More specifically, she, along with 26 others, was arrested for criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot. Woodley opened up about her arrest and going to jail in the latest issue of Marie Claire U.K. I was strip-searched. Like get naked, turn over, spread your butt cheeks, bend over. They were looking for drugs in my ass, she revealed, adding, When youre in a jail cell and they shut that door, you realize no one can save you. If theres a fire and they decide not to open the door, youll die. You are a caged animal. The 25-year-old also revealed that shes currently on probation, as she signed a plea deal after her arrest. Ive gotta watch my ass, she said with a smile. Shailene Woodley on the cover of Marie Claire U.K.'s October issue. (Photo: Marie Claire UK) Woodley has continued to stay vocal about her beliefs, often using her Instagram platform to advocate for what she believes in. As she told Marie Claire, after getting involved with Sanders campaign, I got addicted and stayed addicted. She also recently admitted to The New York Times that a future in politics isnt totally out of the question. There was a point last year when I was working for Bernie Sanders where I thought, Huh, maybe Ill run for Congress in a couple years, Woodley said. And you know what? Im not going to rule it out. Who knows? Life is big, and Im young. To read her full interview with Marie Claire UK, head to their website. Also on HuffPost LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 13: Dwayne Johnson, Lauren Hashian and daughter Jasmine Johnson attend a ceremony honoring him with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 13, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix/ WireImage) WESTWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 13: Will Smith and Jaden Smith attend the Premiere Of Netflix's 'Bright' at Regency Village Theatre on December 13, 2017 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 13: Annette Bening (L) and Warren Beatty attend the Museum of the Moving Image Salute to Annette Bening at 583 Park Avenue on December 13, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 13: Alec Baldwin (L) and Colin Kaepernick attend Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Hosts Annual Ripple Of Hope Awards Dinner on December 13, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Ripple Of Hope Awards) HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 12: Actress Rebel Wilson arrives for the premiere of Universal Pictures' 'Pitch Perfect 3' held at The Dolby Theater on December 12, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 12: Actress Hailee Steinfeld arrives for the Premiere Of Universal Pictures' 'Pitch Perfect 3' held at The Dolby Theater on December 12, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 11: (L-R) Nick Jonas, Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, and Kevin Hart attend the premiere of Columbia Pictures' 'Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle' on December 11, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Sienna Miller attends the New York premiere of 'Phantom Thread' After Party at Harold Pratt House on December 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - DECEMBER 11: (L-R) Actors Sharon Stone, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Bell and Alfre Woodard attend Moet & Chandon Toasts The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards Nominations at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 11, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Moet & Chandon ) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron attend 'The Greatest Showman' World Premiere aboard the Queen Mary 2 at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on December 8, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 07: Gal Gadot attends the 2017 GQ Men of the Year party at Chateau Marmont on December 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for GQ) LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 06: Zac Efron seen at Capital Radio Studios on December 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Neil Mockford/GC Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Jennifer Aniston is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' on December 05, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 07: Cate Blanchett attends the IWC Photocall on day two of the 14th annual Dubai International Film Festival held at the Madinat Jumeriah Complex on December 7, 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF,) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 06: Demi Lovato attends Refinery29 29Rooms Los Angeles: Turn It Into Art at ROW DTLA on December 6, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Araya Diaz/WireImage) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 06: Janelle Monae attends Refinery29 29Rooms Los Angeles: Turn It Into Art at ROW DTLA on December 6, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 06: Sterling K. Brown (L) and Kathryn Hahn at The Hollywood Reporter's 26th Annual Women In Entertainment Breakfast presented in partnership with FIJI Water at Milk Studios on December 6, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 06: Angelina Jolie speaks onstage at The Hollywood Reporter's 2017 Women In Entertainment Breakfast at Milk Studios on December 6, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images) Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends The Hollywood Reporter 2017 Women In Entertainment Breakfast, on December 6, 2017, in Hollywood, California. / AFP PHOTO / VALERIE MACON (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - DECEMBER 05: Actor Ashley Judd speaks onstage at The Paley Center for Media on December 5, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Sebastian Stan, Craig Gillespie, Allison Janney, Steven Rogers, Bryan Unkeless, Tonya Harding, Ricky Russert and Margot Robbie attend NEON and 30WEST Present the Los Angeles Premiere of 'I, Tonya' Supported By Svedka on December 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for NEON) NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Diane Kruger discusses 'In The Fade' with the Build Series at Build Studio on December 5, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/WireImage) MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 04: Actress Jessica Chastain attends 'Molly's Game' Madrid premiere at Callao Cinema on December 4, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/WireImage) MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - DECEMBER 03: Actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis arrive at the 2018 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center on December 3, 2017 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images,) WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reese Witherspoon (R) and Ava Phillippe attend Molly R. Stern X Sarah Chloe Jewelry Collaboration Launch Dinner on December 4, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Sarah Chloe Jewelry) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 04: Chris Pratt is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' on December 04, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by BG017/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - DECEMBER 03: Julianne Hough attends The Trevor Project's 2017 TrevorLIVE LA on December 3, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix/ WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Armie Hammer and Saoirse Ronan poses with her award at the 2017 Gotham Awards sponsored by Greater Ft. Lauderdale Tourism at Cipriani, Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman attend the GreenSlate Greenroom at The 2017 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for GreenSlate) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Robert Pattinson and James Franco attend IFP's 27th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Actor Timothee Chalamet is seen Downtown on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce the engagement of Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been a couple officially since November 2016 and are due to marry in Spring 2018. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage) TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 27: Actress Jessica Chastain attrends the press conference for 'The Zookeeper's Wife' at Roppongi Hills on November 27, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Jun Sato/WireImage) SAN JOSE, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Katy Perry performs during her 'Witness' tour at SAP Center on November 14, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 24: Actors Jane Krakowski and Maya Rudolph attend FOX's 'A Christmas Story Live!' Lighting Event featuring the leg lamp at The Grove on November 24, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images) Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. FILER Kimberly teenager Travis Erickson was thinking about money when he decided on a 4-H project. The 14-year-old raised sheep for three years. But this year, he opted for two pigs. Ive just been told they make more money, he said Wednesday morning at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds in Filer. It was the first day of the Twin Falls County Fair. For children in 4-H and FFA, it means a busy week of preparing their animals and other projects for judging. Its the culmination of months of work. Children whove raised animals part ways with them Monday during a market animal sale. For many of the children, the money they make goes into the next years project or into a fund theyll eventually use to help pay for college. Financial management is one of the many life lessons children often take away from their time in 4-H and FFA. Responsibility In the sheep barn, 19-year-old Marisa Canfield of Hammett dried one of her sheep with a towel. Her father, Mike Canfield, held the animal between his knees to keep it still. The barn filled with loud bahs. Its a lot of responsibility having your own flock of sheep, Marisa said. It involves sheering, making sure theyre not sick and keeping an eye out on them while theyre giving birth. Marissa said its rewarding to nurse a sick animal back to health, such as when she saved a lamb with pneumonia. Marisa just came from a Boise-area fair and plans to compete in the open sheep show during the Twin Falls County Fair. She plans to show 10 Dorper sheep, a breed from South Africa. Its a project she started in 4-H four years ago. Cleaning Adults know its a challenge to try to catch up on cleaning when the house gets messy during a busy week. In a way, the same concept applies to 4-H children raising animals. In addition to feeding and walking his two pigs, Travis learned an important lesson: You need to clean out their pen a lot. Family and teamwork As a father, Mike Canfield said its cool to watch his children working together on 4-H projects and helping each other. Its fun to do with our family, he said. Responding to adversity Outside the beef barn, Lauren Hutchings and her sister-in-law Parker Bennett, 17 whos participating in the miniature horse show were helping with 10-year-old Stephens animals. Stephen, whos Hutchings son, raised a black angus steer and shorthorn heifer. Its his second year in 4-H. He shows them in the wheelchair, Hutchings said, pointing out her son, who was playing and kicking up dirt as he maneuvered in his motorized wheelchair. She also pointed out her daughter Maggie, 9, who was in the show ring for a steer show. Maggies animal, Big Mac, ended up becoming ill and losing 150 pounds. It was 17 pounds below the minimum weight needed to be able to sell at the market animal sale. It happens, Hutchings and Bennett said. Theres nothing you can really do. Hard work pays off Hunter Wilson, 8, had fun raising his rabbit, but it came with plenty of work. For Rebecca Rhodes, 14, its her first year in 4-H. Shes a member of the Clear Lakes Critter Gitters in Buhl. Going into 4-H, she expected it mostly to just be fun raising her rabbit. It turned into a learning experience and there was paperwork involved. It was work, but it was fun, she said. It really does pay off. ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Somali authorities have handed over to Ethiopia a senior official of the ONLF rebel group, which is fighting for the secession of Ogaden from Ethiopia, the group said. Abdikarin Sheikh Muse, an executive committee member who lived in the Somali capital Mogadishu, was detained by security in Galkayo in Somalia's semi-autonomous Galmudug state on August 23, the ONLF said in a statement. Quoting sources close to the Somali cabinet, it said the Somali government had "forcefully" handed over Abdikarin Sheikh Muse to Ethiopia without his consent in violation of U.N. convention relating to the status of refugees. Ethiopian officials were not available for comment. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) launched its bid for secession of the Somali Region, also known as Ogaden, in eastern Ethiopia in 1984. In 2007, Ethiopian forces waged a large-scale offensive against them after the group attacked a Chinese-run oil facility, killing 74 people. Analysts say the rebels have since been severely weakened but are still able to launch hit-and-run attacks. The region they operate may contain 4 trillion cubic feet of gas and major oil deposits, mining experts say. China's GCL-Poly Petroleum Investments signed a production sharing deal with the government in late 2013 to develop two gas fields. (Editing by Richard Balmforth) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hit back at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Wednesday, as he doubled down on his defense for opposing a 2013 relief package to aid victims of Superstorm Sandy. Im sorry there are politicians who seem really desperate to get their names in the news and will are saying whatever they need to do that, Cruz said during an appearance on Fox and Friends. The Texas senator was responding to Christie saying Cruz was lying about why he voted no on the $50.5 billion package to aid victims of the superstorm that devastated parts of New Jersey and New York. Cruz said he voted against the bill because it was a bad piece of legislation that was two-thirds full of spending unrelated to the superstorm. The Washington Post fact-checked Cruzs claim and found that claim untrue. The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters, the Post reported Tuesday. Cruz maintained his defense. For folks who are focused on raising political shots and snipes about the Sandy bill, facts matter, Cruz continued. And a simple fact was that Sandy bill was over $50 billion, and 70 percent of it was non-emergency. At the time, all but one Texas Republican voted against the relief package for Hurricane Sandy relief. Also on HuffPost Submerged Houston neighborhoods near Interstate 10 in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey on Aug. 29, 2017. Recreational vehicles lie on their sides in the floodwaters. People survey the flooded areas near their homes. Vehicles sit on a flooded portion of Interstate 10. People walk through flooded neighborhoods. A truck navigates through floodwaters in a residential neighborhood west of Houston. The water levels are high at the Addicks Reservoir. Portions of Interstate 10 are completely underwater. An aerial view of downtown Houston under dark clouds. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. (CLOVIS, N.M.) The teenager suspected of killing two people and injuring four others in a public library had been searching for inner peace shortly before the shooting, the youths pastor said.Nathaniel Jouett, 16, started attending Living Word Church of God three months ago and appeared to be turning his life around after having contemplated suicide several months earlier, Pastor David Stevens said. Jouett is now awaiting charges for Mondays deadly rampage. Authorities say their work has only begun as they talk to his family and friends and comb through social media posts looking for clues as to what may have prompted the violence. Police on Tuesday confirmed that the young suspect who was seen being led in handcuffs from the Clovis-Carver Public Library after Mondays shooting was Jouett, a student at Clovis High School. Its just more than we can comprehend. I dont know what happened, Stevens said. His mind had to snap. I dont know any other way to explain it. He was a good kid. He had straightened his life out. Authorities plan to charge Jouett with two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, four counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of child abuse, Police Chief Douglas Ford said. The Associated Press generally does not identify juveniles accused of crimes. But it is identifying Jouett because of the seriousness of the crime and because authorities said they plan to file a motion requesting the cases transfer from the juvenile system to adult court. Theres no indication Jouett knew the victims, and authorities have yet to determine a motive. They also are investigating where he obtained the two handguns believed to have been used in the shooting. Clovis Mayor David Lansford said the initial shock that reverberated through the community is beginning to wane, only to be replaced by heartbreak and a call for answers. Its such a senseless tragedy, and there really isnt a reason for it, Lansford told reporters Tuesday. I think when its all said and done, you can come up with a lot of explanations. But I dont think anyone will ever be able to put a reason on why these kinds of things happen. Story continues Jouett was a sophomore at Clovis High School and appeared to be doing well after a troubled period, Stevens said. The pastor said Jouetts father had started coming to church with him. The pastor said Jouett, who was dating his daughter, was on a two-day suspension because of a fight at school when the shooting happened. Jouett had said he fought back after another boy hit him, but there was nothing to indicate the suspect was overly upset about it, Stevens said. The boy about two weeks ago helped Stevens congregation sell popcorn at the county fair to raise money for a youth camp. On Sunday, the day before the shooting, Jouett had an anxiety attack while at church so the pastor said his daughter took him home. He ended up returning for the evening service and spent time later talking and playing video games with the girl. The teens talked twice on Monday, but the pastor said there were no warnings. The teen, Stevens said, was not known to be a regular at the library. It was unclear how many people were in the library when the shooting started. Police stormed the building with their guns drawn and found Jouett, who immediately surrendered. Witnesses have said the shooter seemed to fire randomly as parents, children and others hid under tables or behind closed doors. The two workers killed were circulation assistant Wanda Walters, 61, and youth services librarian Kristina Carter, 48. Another circulation assistant, Jessica Thron, 30, was injured and authorities identified the wounded library patrons as 10-year Noah Molina, his 20-year-old sister Alexis Molina and 53-year-old Howard Jones. The three adults were in serious condition, and the boy was in stable condition Tuesday at University Medical Center in Texas, across the state line from Clovis, chief medical officer Mike Ragain said. Library patron Nessa Aguirre said in an interview that she and her 11-year-old son were at the circulation desk when they heard a popping sound. I looked over and this guy shot into the ceiling, then in every direction, she said. I put my son in front of me, bent down and slid across the front circulation desk. After hiding in an office and being led by a library worker to a hallway, Aguirre and her son found a door and fled. Her husband, Lupe Aguirre, went inside to search for his family when he heard the shots. He saw smoke clearing from gunfire and shell casings on the floor before he was confronted by the gunman. He was happy, Lupe Aguirre told the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/2wQkPGS). He was just laughing, smiling the whole time until he came up real close to me, and then he put on that mean look. The gunman ordered Aguirre to get on the ground. As Aguirre kneeled, he told the shooter someone was looking for him in an attempt to distract him. Aguirre told the newspaper the shooter then turned around, saw a mother and child on the floor and told them to stay there or he would kill them. Then the shooter walked away in the direction that Aguirre had pointed, he said. Gov. Susana Martinez called the attack horrific and asked for New Mexicans to share their strength and support as Clovis recovers. She also visited the wounded victims in Lubbock on Tuesday. A flood-stricken chemical plant in Texas has exploded, sending flames and plumes of black smoke into the sky after its power systems were overwhelmed by Hurricane Harvey. Smoke and a double explosion were reported in the early hours of Thursday at the Arkema SA chemical plant in Crosby, some 25 miles from Houston. The company had evacuated remaining workers at the damaged plant on Tuesday, and Harris County ordered the evacuation of residents within a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) radius of the plant, which makes organic peroxides used in the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products. Flames shot up to 12m high, according to local officials. Police officers who were taken to hospital following the double blast at about 2am local time have been released, after being treated for eye irritation. "We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so," the French company added. The facility holds large amounts of sulphur dioxide, a toxic chemical, and methylpropene, a flammable gas. It had been battered by floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey, with levels reaching 6ft within its perimeter. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said no toxins were released and that there was no danger to the community. But at a news conference in Washington, DC, Brock Long, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he considered plumes from the explosion "incredibly dangerous". Arkema had warned of a potential explosion in an update on its website on Wednesday afternoon. Rich Rowe, its North America chief executive, said: "Our Crosby facility makes organic peroxides, a family of compounds that are used in everything from making pharmaceuticals to construction materials. Story continues "But organic peroxides may burn if not stored and handled under the right conditions. At Crosby, we prepared for what we recognised could be a worst case scenario. We had redundant contingency plans in place. "Right now, we have an unprecedented 6ft of water at the plant. We have lost primary power and two sources of emergency backup power. "As a result, we have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire. The high water and lack of power leave us with no way to prevent it." Volunteers who want to help w flooding rescues being stopped at roadblock bc of chemical plant explosion. #abc13 #Harvey pic.twitter.com/LJCcYyJUUS Courtney Fischer (@CourtneyABC13) August 31, 2017 Arkema submitted a plan to the federal government in 2014 outlining a worst-case scenario that said potentially 1.1 million residents could be affected by such an event over a distance of 23 miles, according to information compiled by a nonprofit group. The company said it had been using "multiple layers of preventative and mitigation measures" at the plant, including steps to reduce the amount of substances released. That made the worst casein which all controls failed and strong winds blew toxic chemicals towards Houston, 25 miles away"very unlikely", it said. The Houston branch of the National Weather Service said a light breeze was blowing in the opposite direction at about 4.30am local time. The plant falls along a stretch near Houston that features one of the largest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country. More than three dozen people have been killed since Harvey made landfall as a hurricane on Friday. Tens of thousands have been displaced. Moody's Analytics estimated the economic cost for south-east Texas at up to $75 billion, ranking Harvey among the costliest storms in US history. On Thursday people living near the border between Texas and Louisiana faced the threat of major flooding, as floodwaters began receding in the Houston area following five days of torrential rain. The storm had made landfall a second time on Wednesday, moving towards Louisiana. It was predicted to move northward after that. Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, struggled with rising water as the area was pounded with what remained of the weakening storm, while Houston's fire department said it would begin a block-by-block search on Thursday of thousands of flooded homes. Assistant fire chief Richard Mann said the searches were to ensure "no people were left behind." Additional reporting by agencies The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing "noxious" smoke and may explode successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times. The rules, which were set to go into effect this year, were halted by the Trump administration after a furious lobbying campaign by plant owner Arkema and its affiliated trade association, the American Chemistry Council, which represents a chemical industry that has poured tens of millions of dollars into federal elections. The effort to stop the chemical plant safety rules was backed by top Texas Republican lawmakers, who have received big campaign donations from chemical industry donors. Representatives from Arkema Americas and the American Chemistry Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In 2013, a West, Texas, chemical plant explosion killed 15 people, prompting the Obama administration to try to raise chemical plant safety standards (investigators later found the explosion was caused deliberately). In an executive order that year, President Obama proposed an overhaul of the Environmental Protection Agencys Risk Management Program with the goal of increasing safety and transparency at chemical plants by strengthening existing regulations. The EPA said the enhanced rules would seek to improve chemical process safety, assist local emergency authorities in planning for and responding to accidents, and improve public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated source. Arkema has six production plants in Texas and has received more than $8.7 million worth of taxpayer subsidies from the state. Arkemas Crosby plant which OSHA fined more than $90,000 for ten serious violations earlier this year and has spewed smoke in Crosby appears to be covered under the existing EPA rules because of the kinds of chemicals it uses. While Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has given chemical companies legal cover to hide the locations of their EPA-regulated chemicals, the Associated Press reports that the imperiled Arkema facility houses large amounts of toxic sulfur dioxide and flammable methylpropen, which required Arkema to submit a risk management plan to the agency and which would have subjected the company to the strengthened safety rules. Story continues However, those rules which would have taken effect on March 14 were blocked by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who as Oklahoma Attorney General demanded the rule be withdrawn. The move was a big win for the chemical industry that has spent more than $100 million supporting federal lawmakers since 2008. Among those who have received more than $100,000 from the industry are powerful Texas lawmakers including Sen. John Cornyn (R), Rep. Joe Barton (R), Rep. Pete Olson (R), Rep. Gene Green (D), Rep. Pete Sessions (R) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R). Will Likely Add Significant New Costs Documents reviewed by IBT show that Pruitts announcement followed a lobbying campaign by Arkema and its colleagues in the chemical industry. In May of 2016, Arkema sent a letter to the EPA criticizing the proposed rule. One part of the letter said the rules requirement of independent risk management audits will likely add significant new costs and burdens to the corporate audit process. The company also took issue with the rules Safer Technology and Alternatives Analysis (STAA) requirements. Those provisions would have required that companies consider using inherently safer technology that would encourage companies to substitute less hazardous substances and encourage firms to simplify covered processes in order to make accidental releases less likely or the impacts of such releases less severe. The additional requirement for STAA would be burdensome because there is no consensus methodology, definitions or standards for STAA, the company told the agency. Knowledge of inherently safer technologies can vary greatly depending on the process being examined and the knowledge and expertise of the team performing the analysis. As a result, implementation of STAA would likely be inconsistent across companies. Federal records reviewed by IBT show that Arkema specifically lobbied on the chemical safety rules. In the first quarter of 2017, as the Trump administration was reviewing the rule, federal records show the company was lobbying on EPA chemical regulations, including Significant New Use Rules and the Significant New Alternatives Policy program and EPA Risk Management Program regulations. The records show the company directly lobbied the EPA and the White House on the issue. In the second quarter, federal records show Arkema lobbying the EPA and the National Economic Council on EPA risk management program regulations. Of Arkemas six production plants in Texas, five, including the Crosby plant, are near the coast and in the Houston area, raising the prospect of additional explosions due to flooding. The town of Beaumont, where there is a taxpayer-subsidized Arkema plant, has experienced severe flooding. Another plant is located in Houston, and two more, in nearby Pasadena, sit right on the Trinity Bay; one of these plants took in nearly $5 million in subsidies. Arkema Push To Stop Rules Gets Boost From Its Lobbying Group & From Texas Republicans In its letter to the EPA, Arkema noted that it is a member of the American Chemistry Council a powerful lobbying group that has delivered $1.6 million of campaign donations to federal lawmakers since 2010. That Arkema-backed group helped spearhead the effort to block the EPAs chemical plant safety rule. In January, the council was one of 21 groups that sent a letter to congressional leaders asserting that the new rules costs were not worth the alleged safety benefits. The lack of identifiable and quantifiable benefits stands in stark contrast to the clear costs associated with this rule, said the letter. Whether it be the requirement of third-party auditor participation that will reduce the pool of qualified auditors, changing well-established audit procedures already designed to maximize safety effectiveness, or imposing ineffective requirements to consider inherently safer technology/design, the final rule includes a litany of costly changes that have not been shown to increase safety. The American Chemistry Council also lauded Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for co-authoring a letter slamming the chemical plant safety rule. The letter chastised the EPA for proposing to require chemical plants to more expansively disclose castatrophic releases of hazardous chemicals and berated regulators for requiring independent audits of facilities' safety procedures. "To complicate matters further, EPA is demanding that the auditors have no relationship with the audited entity for three years prior to the audit and three years subsequent," wrote Paxton and Louisiana Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry. "EPA is demanding that a professional engineer be part of the auditing team, that attorney client privilege cannot apply to the audits, and finding and reports be released to the public. It is difficult to fathom how this collection of burdensome, costly, bureaucratic regulatory requirements does anything to enhance accidental chemical release prevention...This unauthorized expansion of the program does not make facilities safer, but it does subject facilities to even more burdensome, duplicative and needless regulation." Paxton received $106,000 from chemical industry donors during his 2014 run for attorney general. His letter was backed by then-Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange (now a senator), who argued that disclosing details of chemical accidents would imperil national security. Pruitt's campaigns were supported by the Republican Attorneys General Association -- which he chaired and which received $50,000 from the American Chemistry Council during his tenure as a state official, according to data compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.com. The push to persuade the Trump administration to block the chemical plant safety rules was also bolstered by an American Chemistry Council-backed resolution introduced on February 1 by Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Among the 65 co-sponsors of the measure to block the rules were 10 members of the Texas Congressional delegation, including five who represent Houston area districts: Brian Babin (TX-36), whose district encompasses Crosby, where the Arkema plant lies; Michael McCaul (R-10), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, whose district sits northwest of Houston; John Culberson (R-7), whose district covers part of Houston; Randy Weber (R-14), who represents a coastal district just outside of Houston; Blake Farenthold (R-27), a representative whose coastal district lies southwest of Houston. Other co-sponsors include Louie Gohmert (R-1), vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Lamar Smith (R-21), chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology who has challenged climate science. Weber and Babin are also members of that committee. The Texas lawmakers who sponsored Mullins bill to block the chemical plant safety regulations have received more than $652,000 from the chemical industry, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Federal contribution data show the American Chemistry Council specifically has delivered more than $160,000 to the entire Texas congressional delegation since 2008, with top recipients including Gene Green ($20,288), Olson ($18,999), McCaul, who co-sponsored the Mullin bill ($13,500), and Barton ($16,500). Babin and Weber, who also co-sponsored the bill, each received $3,000 from Arkema. Also this year, Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn were two of 16 co-sponsors of a companion resolution in the Senate. Cornyn has taken more than $408,000 from the chemical industry over the course of his career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Cruz has recieved $234,000 from the industry. The National Institute on Money In State Politics reports that the American Chemistry Council has given more to federal lawmakers in Texas than legislators in any other state. ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, Koch Industries and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), a Saudi government-owned firm with multiple locations in the Houston area, including its North American headquarters, all lobbied on the legislation, which set the stage for Trump's administration to block the rules. In the lead up to that administration decision, the American Chemistry Council took its lobbying efforts directly to the EPA along with the U.S. House and Senate, the Department of the Interior, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Agriculture on both the legislation and the EPA rule on behalf of Arkema and its many other corporate sponsors. In a May 2017 letter to the EPA, the American Chemistry Council advocated that the implementation of the safety rule be delayed for at least eighteen months until February 19, 2019, arguing that the current rule would be too expensive for its members such as Arkema to implement. The Final Rule raises significant security concerns and compliance issues that will harm ACC members and others in the regulated community, the trade association wrote to the EPA. Certain provisions, such as the requirement to audit each covered process in a facilitys compliance audit, impose costly and burdensome obligations on facilities. UPDATED, 4:13pm ET: Arkema originally reported that there were two explosions at its Crosby facility. Law enforcement authorities have since said there were no explosions. The company's CEO has said that there is "noxious" smoke coming from the facility. This story has been updated throughout. Related Articles Mosques across the state of Texas are being turned into shelters for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH), which represents 21 Islamic centres in the area, has opened four of their properties as functioning 24-hour shelters. They will provide a dry place to stay, food and emotional support for displaced residents, its website says. The society is partnering with Muslim charity Baitulmaal, which is making hygiene products, food and water available to those in need. M J Khan, president of ISGH told the Mic news website: "This is an obligation, a religious obligation to help others. When you give you dont give only to your own family You give to anybody who needs help. In the beginning there was some difficulty, as many roads leading to the mosques were inaccessible. However Mr Khan made some phone calls, and volunteers soon arrived with bottled water, sleeping bags and supplies. Muslims transporting supplies and food the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston,Texas. Proud of my people <3. pic.twitter.com/GYmxAk7EQq StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) August 30, 2017 The numbers of Muslim volunteers grew so large that many were instructed to offer their services at local city shelters. The ISGH have also been fundraising, and both money and additional supplies are making their way to Houston from the Muslim community across America. In addition, 50 doctors from the community have offered their services, should anybody need it. We have mosques all over the greater Houston area, Mr Khan said. If you have no place to go, go to your neighbourhood mosque. News of the ISGH's generosity comes after Pastor Joel Osteen, of the 16,000 seat Lakewood Church was criticised for not opening the building to members of the public. It did eventually help with the relief effort. Mr Osteen later insisted that the city "didnt need us as shelter then. If we needed to be a shelter, we certainly wouldve been a shelter right when they first asked. As Hurricane Harvey ravages parts of Texas and Louisiana, volunteers have traveled from near and far to conduct rescues and offer aid to victims. One group of volunteers includes several off-duty police officers from Waco, Texas, who decided to use their own free time, money and equipment to help people in need. As the group headed down to South Texas, the Waco Police Department shared an emotional note that Commander Scott Holt received from his daughter Makenna before departing for the rescue mission. Dear Daddy, I hope you dont get hurt, but I hope you help other people that need it more than you do, the little girl wrote in her note. I hope everyone gets away [from] the hurricane. I love you! Waco Police Department spokesman Sgt. Patrick Swanton told HuffPost he knows Commander Holts family well. Makenna is just a little spitfire of a kid. Shes a daddys girl, he said. It took everything Scott could do to keep her from loading up in the truck to go with him. The sergeant asked Commander Holt if he could share the note on their Facebook page. I thought it was important that our community see that these officers are going down there on their own time, putting themselves in harms way and their families know what theyre doing and couldnt be more proud, said Swanton. Makenna knew her daddy was going into harms way, and the note shows her giving him permission to do what he was doing to do because she knew he would be helping people, he added. Shes a special kid, and I wanted to share that with folks. A little girl whose daddy means the world to her shes basically giving him away to the people of South Texas to do whatever he can do to help. The off-duty officers and their volunteer group have made many rescues since heading down to Kingwood, Texas on Monday, Swanton said. Theyve spent time rescuing people from houses, an apartment complex and even an assisted living center. Theyve also rescued multiple pets and other animals, including a deer. Story continues Though the group started in Kingwood, some of them have headed toward Beaumont after the storm caused devastating flooding there as well. Makennas note has spread beyond the Waco community. On Wednesday, the popular Facebook page Love What Matters shared it, and the post had received over 5,000 likes as of Thursday afternoon. Swanton said he didnt expect the note to go viral, but hes proud that he can shed light on the amazing work that police officers as well as firefighters, soldiers, first responders, EMS workers and more are doing in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. We are Texans and were going to help Texans when we can, said Swanton. I think the note also shows that we have such a strong support system behind us with our families, and we couldnt do what we do in law enforcement without that support from our families and peers behind us. Heres how you can help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Also on HuffPost This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Theresa May has vowed to lead the Tories into the next election (Rex) Theresa May has dismissed criticism of her deluded vow to fight the next general election, insisting she isnt a quitter. Senior Tories have cast doubt on the PMs vow to take Britain through Brexit in 2019 and into the next election as leader of the Conservative Party. Former ministers Nicky Morgan and Grant Shapp have said it would be difficult for her to continue following the disastrous election this year which saw her lose the Tory majority. Jon Trickett, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said Mrs May was deluding herself. But at a press conference alongside Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Mrs May said: I said I wasnt a quitter and there is a long-term job to do. There is an important job to be done in the United Kingdom, we stand at a really critical time in the UK. In an attempt to show that her administration would not be defined by Brexit, Mrs May insisted she was tackling long-term challenges to reform the economy and tackle injustices including in mental health care. These are real issues that we need to be dealing with and Im there to do it, she said. For most members of the public, they would say they want the Government to get on with the job and thats exactly what I and the Government are doing. A PM under pressure Rumours had suggested the Prime Minister had decided to quit the day before Britain exits the EU in 2019. However, when questioned on Wednesday night about her plans for the next few years, Mrs May defiantly vowed to carry on. Asked if she intends to fight the next election, she said: Yes. Theres been an awful lot of speculation about my future which has no basis in it whatsoever. Mrs May insisted she was not a quitter when asked about her future on a trip to Japan (PA) Im in this for the long term. Theres a real job to be done in the United Kingdom. Its about getting the Brexit deal right, its about building that deep and special partnership with the European Union, but its also about building global Britain, trading around the world. MORE: Princess Diana was no saint, says leading human rights campaigner MORE: Jacob Rees-Mogg calls Jean-Claude Juncker a pound shop Bismarck and amateur even at blackmail Pressed to rule out stepping down before the next election, due in 2022, she replied: Im not a quitter. Story continues After the disastrous June election that saw Mrs May lose the Conservative majority, the humbled PM told backbenchers she would continue to serve as long as the party wanted her to. But the Prime Minister struck a more strident tone as she visited Kyoto, Japans ancient capital, for meetings with counterpart Shinzo Abe. The Prime Minister lost her Commons majority in the June election (Rex) Mrs May said she was here for the long term and its crucial, what me and my Government are about is not just delivering on Brexit, we are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom. She set down the marker after a summer of speculation about her leadership, and mischief-making including suggestions that popular backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg could take the the top job. Mrs Mays declaration comes just two years after her predecessor, David Cameron, insisted he would remain in post even if he lost the EU referendum, only to quit weeks later when his worst fears were realised. Jon Trickett, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said Mrs May was deluding herself. He added: Neither the public nor Tory MPs believe her fantasy of staying on till 2022. Theresa May leads a zombie government. Tory backbencher Nicky Morgan said it would be difficulty for Mrs May to lead the Tories into the next election (Rex) The sooner the public has the chance to vote out her and her Government the better for our countrys future. Tory reaction There was a mixed reaction from Tories to Mrs Mays defiant stance to remain as leader for the long term. Tory former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said it would be difficult for the Prime Minister to lead the party into the next election. She told BBCs Hardtalk that no leader wants to put a date on their departure in advance because it is a sign of your own political mortality. But she added: I think its going to be difficult for Theresa May to lead us into the next general election. Lord Heseltine has said that the long term is the difficult one for Theresa May because I dont think shes got a long term while former party chairman Grant Shapps said: I think colleagues may well be surprised by this interview last night and I think it is too early to be talking about going on and on, as Margaret Thatcher once said. However, other senior Tory MPs rallied around the Prime Minister. Boris Johnson said he fully supported the Prime Minister (Rex) Nigel Evans, who was scathing in his criticism of the Tory campaign after Mrs Mays election gamble backfired, insisted that the Prime Ministers vow to continue was great news. He said: We need no more instability whilst the PM focuses on disentangling the UK from the EU. We have the right leader and PM to deliver this for us. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, viewed as a potential candidate in any Tory leadership contest, said the Prime Minister had his undivided backing. He added: We need to get Brexit done. Shes ideally placed to deliver a great outcome for our country and then deliver what we all want to see, which is this exciting agenda of global Britain. I think she gets it. She really wants to deliver it. Im here to support her. At least 16 people died after their 117-year old derelict building in Indias western port city of Mumbai collapsed early Thursday morning, following two days of incessant monsoon rain. Police said 24 others were injured in the six-storey Hussani building collapse located in the citys crowded Bhendi Bazaar, and over a dozen people were trapped under the debris of the building, which was declared uninhabitable by the municipal authorities six years ago. Members of the federal National Disaster Response Force, said the narrow bazaar streets and intermittent rain were making it difficult to bring in excavators to conduct rescue operations. The collapsed building was one of some 960 declared "dilapidated and dangerous to inhabit" by Mumbais municipality. Firefighters and rescue workers search for survivors at the site of a collapsed building in MumbaiCredit: REUTERS But almost all of them continue to be inhabited by the poor and indigent due to astronomical rents and inadequate accommodation in the land-scarce city. Over 100 people living in five tenements, similar to the collapsed Hussiani building, had died between April and June after they similarly crumbled. More than 60 per cent of Mumbais nearly 20 million inhabitants are forced to live in shantytowns and slums. Mumbais Dharvi slum, spread over less than one square mile, is the worlds largest slum with over 700,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, Mumbai was paralysed following two consecutive days of rain that eased Thursday, with tens of thousands of people stranded at their work places and the over stretched authorities struggling with relief and rescue operations. Commuters spent two nights at railway stations as all train services came to a halt and blinding rain and poor visibility forced Mumbais airport authorities to cancel, divert or delay flights. Rescuers using diggers could be seen sifting through the remainsCredit: REUTERS Story continues All offices, schools and colleges were closed across Mumbai that received 11.72 inches of rainfall on Wednesday. I had to spend the entire night at a suburban rail station along with thousands of other stranded passengers said housewife Badrinissa Sheikh. The rain was merciless, she added. Social media too was abuzz with accounts of people flocking to help strangers across the city. The lay man went out of his way to give a guiding hand, push stranded cars or carry children on their shoulders said Mumbai socialite Jimi Kapoor, stranded for five hours in the rain. Goodhearted people went out of the way to provide tea, food, snacks, water and even towels and clothes to the rain beleaguered she added. Meanwhile, some 1,130 people had died in floods across India and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal over the past four weeks, as rescue teams scrambled to provide clean water and food to millions stranded in the worst such disaster in recent times. People look on after a building collapsed in MumbaiCredit: REUTERS All three countries suffer flooding during the June to September monsoon rains, but relief officials said the situation this year was especially bad, with thousands of villages cut off and millions forced to survive with limited food and clean water. Federal Indian interior ministry officials in New Delhi, monitoring the relief and rescue operations, said some 850 people had died across six-flood affected states in the east and northeast. Officials in Nepal said floods had claimed 150 lives, whilst around 134 had died in Bangladesh and nearly six million rendered homeless. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has thanked Mexico for its offer of relief for the victims of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. Tillerson did not say whether the U.S. would be taking Mexico up on its offer of help, but he has said more on the matter than President Trump, who has not yet commented on Mexicos offer. Speaking ahead of a pre-planned meeting with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso, Tillerson said Mexico had offered a wide range of assistance. He added in comments carried by The Washington Post: It's very generous of Mexico to offer to help at this very, very challenging time for our citizens down in Texas. With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017 At least 30 people are believed to have died in the flooding that followed Harvey, with thousands of people displaced from their homes and others trapped by rising floodwater. Mexico has previously helped the U.S. following natural disasters, including in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Offering assistance this weekend, Mexicos Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: The Mexican government takes this opportunity to express its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States as a result of the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and expresses that it has offered to provide help and cooperation to the U.S. government in order to deal with the impact of this natural disasteras good neighbors should always do in trying times. Mexicos offer came following several messages on Twitter from Trump criticizing the country and discussing the border wall. With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other, Trump wrote, adding: We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada. Both being very difficult, may have to terminate? Related Articles TWIN FALLS Are you an expert on a topic who can teach, entertain or inspire? The Twin Falls Rotary Club is looking for community members to participate in its annual Bites of Brilliance series in October. Bites of Brilliance is an event featuring community members who give a short presentation on various topics that are of general interest to the community. Applications are at twinfallsrotary.org and the deadline for submitting is Sept. 20. The event will be held on Oct. 11 and funds raised by the Rotary club through Bites of Brilliance are used to support the Rotary Dictionary project, which gives every third grader in the Twin Falls area a dictionary. Emmanuel Macron faces a union showdown after he unveiled ambitious labour reforms and asked the "impatient" French not to judge him after only 100 days in office. France's major hardline union, CGT, blasted the reform as a "declaration of war" that spelled "the end of the work contract". It called for massive street action on September 12 from "workers, pensioners and the young", along with the smaller CFE-CGC union. Other protests could follow. The broadside came minutes after Mr Macron's government outlined a major overhaul of France's draconian labour code in what has been dubbed a "make or break" moment three months into the president's five-year mandate. While the CGT opposition was expected, in a blow to Mr Macron, the moderate CFDT union was also surprisingly negative, calling the reform "disappointing" and aspects of it "dogmatic" - but stopped short of calling for strikes. However, Force Ouvriere, another leftist union, struck a more conciliatory tone. With France's mainstream Left and Right in tatters, political opposition to the reform is being led by the radical France Unbowed of leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, which is planning a mass march in Paris on September 23. With his popularity nosediving, the reform is seen as a crucial test of Mr Macron's ability to drive through the reform by executive order and not bow to inevitable street protests. By acting fast, he hopes to avoid a repeat of the months-long, sometimes violent protests unleashed by labour reforms pushed through last year by his predecessor Francois Hollande. These led to mass rallies in major cities, and the blockade of fuel depots and even nuclear power stations. The difference here, Mr Macron insists, is that while Mr Hollande sprung his reform on the French, this one was a central plank of his manifesto. French President Emmanuel Macron Credit: v/AFP Story continues France's labour code is a collection of laws setting out workers' rights spanning over 3,000 pages, some dating back over a century. With the French jobless rate currently at 9.5 per cent of the active population Mr Macron on Thursday said: "France is the only major economy of the European Union that has not beaten mass unemployment". The centrist believes that hugely protective workers rights scare companies from taking on new workers, and a more flexible labour market will "free up" the economy. The overhaul had to be "ambitious and efficient enough" to spur job creation. Unveiling the reform, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, said he "assumed responsibility for differences of opinion" with unions but said these were "nuanced". French CGT union leader Martinez arrives to attend a meeting on the government's labour reform bill at the prime minister's Hotel Matignon office in ParisCredit: CHARLES PLATIAU/Reuters "Nobody can claim that the labour code today helps create jobs," he said. The new reform, he added, was "ambitious, balanced and fair" and would help France "make up for lost years". It would provide foreign investors with greater "visibility". Detailing 36 measures in five decrees, the labour minister, Muriel Penicaud, said that the very "spirit" of the labour code would change and the priority would "for the first time" be given to "small and medium and sized businesses". The reform aims to make it easier to adapt work time, pay and workplace mobility to market conditions based on agreements reached by simplified majority between employers and workers. Workers compensation for dismissal judged in a labour court to be unfair will be set at three months of wages for two-years in the company with the amount rising progressively depending on how long a worker was with the firm, unions said. However, normal severance pay will be increased from 20 per cent of wages for each year in a company to 25 per cent. French Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud holds a press conference after a meeting about the new labour law with representatives of French trade unionsCredit: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP Employers will have more freedom to negotiate terms and conditions with employees at the company level, rather than being bound by industry-wide collective agreements. Companies with less than 50 employees will be able to negotiate with a staff representative without union involvement. Bosses of companies with less than 20 staff will be able to call referendums on changes to conditions. Other measures include streamlining workers' committees, which are mandatory within large companies, and expanding the use of flexible "project contracts". In a further concession to companies, multinationals whose French operations are struggling will find it easier to lay off staff, while redundant workers will receive higher payouts. France's Medef employers' union welcomed the reform as one France has been waiting "for decades", describing it as a "bellwether moment" for Mr Macron. Francois Asselin, head of the CPME, the confederation of small and medium-sized businesses, called it a "success both in form and content". Mr Philippe said the reform was just the beginning, and that France also had to bring down the cost of labour. His government also announced a drop in corporate tax to 25 per cent from the current 33 per cent by 2022. It is unclear what effect the reform will have on Mr Macron's popularity, which melted over the summer to 40 per cent. An overhaul of the wealth tax and cuts to housing assistance have left a swathe of voters feeling Mr Macron's policies favour the rich, pollsters say. In a lengthy interview in Le Point magazine, he urged the French to be patient, saying: "One doesn't do things in 100 days, or else we'd be the only country that has a two-year presidential campaign to govern for three months." The plan, he said, was to "profoundly transform the economy, society and the political landscape," saying opposition to this came from "old parties, old politicians, and their allies". He pledged to make France a "major power full stop" and help make Europe "leader of the free world". At 39, France's youngest leader since Napoleon also claimed he wanted to bring "political heroism" back into fashion. The reform will be signed by executive order at a council of ministers meeting on September 22 and will be in force by the "end of September", said Mr Philippe. WASHINGTON The Trump administration ordered Russia to close three diplomatic facilities in the U.S., the latest move in a series of escalating diplomatic slights between the two countries. The U.S. is requiring Russia to shutter its consulate general in San Francisco and its annexes in Washington and New York by Sept. 2, a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday. The demand was a retaliatory response to Russian President Vladimir Putins order that the U.S. cut its diplomatic presence in Russia to 455 people by Sept. 1. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a phone call that the U.S. had complied with Putins directive and informed him of the order to close Russian diplomatic facilities. Although the demand from Putin meant the U.S. had to cut approximately 755 diplomatic staff members, Washington is only requiring that Moscow close the three facilities. Staffers who worked in those facilities, which house Russias trade mission, can be reassigned and continue to work in the U.S., the senior administration official said. The official declined to say which members of the U.S. mission in Russia were removed, but former diplomats have said they expected Russian local hires to be most affected by the cuts. The Trump administration order is the latest example of deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Russia. Last December, the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two diplomatic compounds in the U.S., a move described as retaliation for Moscows interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The Russian government initially suggested it would retaliate, but ultimately decided to wait and deal with the Trump administration, which was then weeks away from taking office. The Washington Post subsequently revealed that Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, spoke with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. about the sanctions before Trump took office. Flynn, who misled other members of the Trump administration about the content of his conversations with the Russian ambassador, was forced to resign over the episode. Story continues Both Trump and Putin have expressed a desire to pursue better relations between the two countries. But pressure from Congress, particularly from Democrats, to respond to intelligence agencies findings of Russian election meddling, have hampered those efforts. Last month, Congress passed additional sanctions against Russia. Putin responded by announcing sweeping cuts to the American diplomatic presence in his country. Putins goal, he said at the time, was to create parity between the two countries diplomatic staff levels. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern, the State Department said in a statement. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it would announce its response after studying the measures imposed by the U.S. To cite [Vladimir] Lenin, we dont need any hysterical outbursts, Anatoly Antonov, Russias newly appointed ambassador to Washington, told state-run news agency TASS. This story has been updated with information about diplomatic staff cuts in Russia. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. President Donald Trump dedicated his first tweet of the day on Wednesday to the ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, claiming that talking is not the answer in dealing with the North Korean regime. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! he wrote. The statement is puzzling as it contradicts multiple statements by Pentagon and State Department officials who champion diplomatic efforts over military action, but also because of its reference to extortion money being paid for 25 years. President Donald Trump wrote a puzzling tweet claiming the U.S. had been paying "extortion money" to North Korea for 25 years. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Fact-checking this statement means unpacking the three claims contained within it: that the U.S. has been talking to North Korea for 25 years, that the U.S. has been somehow financially supporting North Korea for 25 years, and that talks have been inconclusive. Diplomatic Efforts Begin in 1993 Lets go back some 25 years. At the end of 1991, North and South Korea had signed an agreement binding them to work towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the following year Pyongyang concluded a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and took steps to disclose information about its nuclear program. But following IAEA demand for special inspections, North Korea suddenly changed direction, threatening to withdraw its membership in the agency it joined in 1974. It was on June 2, 1993 that the U.S. first put together a negotiating team under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State Robert L. Gallucci at the U.S. United Nations Mission in New York to meet a North Korean delegation. That was the beginning of a complex and sometimes extremely tense relationship. After nine days, the U.S. and North Korea issued a first joint statement in which the U.S. granted assurances against the use of force and interference in Pyongyangs affairs, while North Korea renewed its commitment to the IAEA and its inspectors. Story continues The crisis was averted through talks but this lasted only for about a year and in June 1994 North Korea again announced its withdrawal from the IAEA. This crisis prompted former President Jimmy Carter to get involved. U.S. Aid 19952008, With Some Interruptions Carter went to Pyongyang against President Bill Clintons wishes and negotiated an agreement that laid the basis for Trump's claims of money paid to North Korea. Clinton would eventually agree to the Carter deal, signing the Agreed Framework in October 1994. This involved lifting sanctions in exchange for aid in the form of 500,000 tons of oil a year and $4 billion toward the construction of a light-water reactor capable of producing nuclear energy (but no nuclear weapons), and establishing the multilateral consortium Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization. In exchange, Pyongyang would abandon its the nuclear development programme and collaborate with the IAEA inspections. Although criticized by some for not resolving every issue on the Korean Peninsula, the Agreed Framework ended the immediate crisis and prevented the North from realizing its potential to develop dozens of nuclear bombs, recalled Madeleine Albright, who was U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations at the time the deal was negotiated, in her memoir about her time as Secretary of State, Madam Secretary. The deal was never fully implemented and, despite several rounds of talks with the U.S., North Korea eventually restarted its nuclear weapons program. By 2003 the deal was completely abandoned when North Korea admitted having a clandestine program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. The U.S. continued to hold talks with North Korea under the six-party talks framework that involved China, Japan, Russia and South Korea and a certain amount of aid continued to be delivered to Pyongyang in various forms. A new agreement was signed in 2005 in which Pyongyang pledged to scrap its nuclear program in exchange for economic and energy aid. That deal finally unraveled in 2008, as Reuters mentioned in 2013 in an article Trump should be aware of, as he shared it on Twitter at the time. According to a 2014 report from the Congressional Research Service, between 1995 and 2008, the United States provided North Korea with more than $1.3 billion in aid: slightly more than 50 percent for food and about 40 percent for energy assistance. But since early 2009 the U.S. has provided virtually no aid to North Korea, though episodically there have been discussions about resuming large-scale food aid. Diplomatic efforts too have mostly been limited to a mechanism known as the "New York channel," sending messages to one another through their U.N. delegationsmost recently discussing Americans detained in North Korea, as CNN reported earlier this month. Negotiation Success The fraught diplomatic relationship between North Korea and the U.S. has had its share of highs and lows. Serving as secretary of state under President Clinton, Albright made a historic visit to Pyongyang in 2000. Under the administration of President George W. Bush, assistant secretary of state James Kelly also visited in October 2002. While North Korea did not uphold its commitment to denuclearization and continued a clandestine uranium enrichment program, it did not test any missiles between 19931998 and again between 19992005, periods when the U.S. was providing assistance and engaging in intense diplomatic efforts. The aid lines up with the diplomatic processes and in the absence of those diplomatic processes, in the absence of aid, thats when the North Koreans have been feisty, Joshua Pollack, editor of The Nonproliferation Review and a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies tells Newsweek. All the [missile test launches] happened after we stopped doing diplomacy with them, after we stopped giving aid. President Trumps own cabinet members are aware of the importance of ongoing diplomatic efforts, with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stating ahead of a meeting with his South Korean counterpart that the U.S. was not out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday. The president has recently made several tough-sounding statements aimed at North Korea, warning of locked and loaded military solutions, fire and fury, stating that the time for patience is over, but repeatedly refusing to discuss the U.S. strategy. Trump has been advocating tough solutions since 2013. At the time, he also repeatedly questioned South Korea's financial compensation for America's engagement in the peninsula, despite the fact the two countries share a mutual defense agreement. According to the president, "very wealthy economic competitor" South Korea paid nothing for U.S. protection against North Korea and he wondered why that was the case. Trump's latest tweet also contradicts his own previous statements on dialogue with North Korea. In May, the president suggested he may go further than any of his predecessors and actually meet North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances. That doesn't seem all that likely now. Related Articles By Jack Kim and Kaori Kaneko SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korean and Japanese jets joined exercises with two supersonic U.S. B-1B bombers above and near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after North Korea sharply raised tension by firing a missile over Japan. The drills, involving four U.S. stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, came at the end of annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, said General Terrence J. OShaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces Commander, who made an unscheduled visit to Japan. This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat." North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and has recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. On Monday, North Korea, which sees the exercises as preparations for invasion, raised the stakes in its stand-off with the United States and its allies by firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan. On Thursday, its official news agency, KCNA, denounced the military drills in traditionally robust fashion, calling them "the rash act of those taken aback" by the missile test, which it described as "the first military operation in the Pacific." President Donald Trump, who has warned that the U.S. military is "locked and loaded" in case of North Korean provocation, reacted angrily to the latest missile test, declaring on Twitter that "talking is not the answer" to resolving the crisis over North Korea's weapons programs. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was quick on Wednesday to stress that a diplomatic solution remained possible, but on Thursday he told reporters he agreed with Trump that Washington "should not be talking right now to a nation that is firing missiles over the top of Japan, an ally." White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reiterated at a regular briefing on Thursday that all options - diplomatic, economic and military - remained on the table. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a "visible" form, Japan's defense ministry said. Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe said he and visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to urge China, North Korea's lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea. May and Abe also discussed the possibility of adopting a new U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea, a British government source said. SANCTION OPTIONS The 15-member U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of the missile over Japan as "outrageous" and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons programs. But the U.S.-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan has been urging Washington to propose new Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Korean laborers working abroad, oil supplies and textile exports. However, diplomats expect resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given that new measures were only announced on Aug. 5 after North Korea tested its first two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. A U.S. ban on travel by Americans to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, a step announced after the death of a U.S. student shortly after his release from a 15-year prison sentence in the country, where three other Americans are still detained. China repeated a call on Thursday for restraint by all parties. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. "China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions," Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. "The current tense situation on the peninsula isn't a screenplay or a video game," she told reporters. "It's real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region." For an interactive on North Korea's missile capabilities, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/NORTHKOREA-MISSILES/010041L63FE/index.html For a graphic on North Korean missile trajectories, ranges, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/NORTHKOREA-MISSILES/010050CG0RT/NORTHKOREA-MISSILES.png For a graphic on Kim's new act of defiance, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/NORTHKOREA-MISSILES/010050KV1C3/index.html (Additional reporting by Tim Kelly, Linda Sieg, William James and Nubohiro Kubo in Tokyo, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Idrees Ali and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) WASHINGTON A year after saying he would raise taxes on the rich, President Donald Trump is now pushing a proposal that instead would give those Americans an enormous tax break. Trump gave few details at a Wednesday speech in Springfield, Missouri, instead offering very broad priorities: a tax break for the middle class; fewer loopholes; bringing home companies overseas profits; a much lower corporate tax rate. Only on that final component did Trump attach a specific number 15 percent as a goal, down from the current 35 percent maximum. And it is that piece that would provide a huge benefit to the wealthiest Americans, who own a disproportionate share of the nations businesses, either directly or through shares of stock. Trump said providing that tax cut would help middle- and working-class Americans because businesses would hire more employees. We must reduce the tax rate on American businesses so they keep jobs in America, create jobs in America, and compete for workers right here in America, Trump said at Loren Cook Company, a manufacturer of fans and blowers. Millions of struggling citizens will be lifted from welfare to work. They will love getting up in the morning. They will love going to their job. They will love earning a big, fat, beautiful paycheck. Democrats, whose help Trump would almost certainly need if he wants permanent tax law changes, were quick to criticize that approach. Giving huge tax cuts to businesses in the hopes that wealth will magically trickle down to hardworking Americans is pure folly, and not supported by the facts, said Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal, the ranking member on the Houses tax-writing panel. And while Republicans and some Democrats argue that taxes are too high, taxes for all but the richest Americans are lower now than at any time since President Ronald Reagan took office, according to a HuffPost analysis of data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Story continues President Donald Trump speaks about tax reform during a visit to Loren Cook Company in Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) In years past, including as a candidate for president starting in 2015, Trump often spoke of the need for wealthier Americans to pay more in taxes. In August of that year in Iowa, Trump said he would increase the burden on those making hundreds of millions of dollars in income, because right now they are paying very little tax. In May 2016, Trump told ABC News that taxes for the rich will go up somewhat. If he still intends for that to happen, he offered no hint of it in a 34-minute speech that attacked the current code and Democrats who oppose him and his policies but gave no specific guidance on what he wants to see in a legislative proposal. I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. And I dont want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me? he said. I think Congress is going to make a comeback. I hope so. Trumps earlier remarks notwithstanding, his plans even as a candidate heavily favored the wealthy. A plan analyzed by the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation would have dropped the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent down to 25 percent, and would have cost the Treasury $10 trillion over a decade, even assuming increased growth of the economy. In October Trump promised the Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act, which he claimed would reduce taxes for a middle-class family by 35 percent although he offered no specifics on how that would be achieved or even what constituted middle class. But like his previous plan, it would have cut the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. Since his election, Trump has been characteristically vague on the tax package he would like to see, sometimes emphasizing how it would be designed to help the middle class while sometimes focusing on cutting the corporate rate. In the last week of April, as he tried to stack up accomplishments toward the end of his first 100 days in office, the White House released a single page of bullet points on what Trump wanted in tax reform. Those included the 15 percent corporate tax rate, but also included some specifics such as reducing the top individual rate down from 39.6 percent down to 35 percent and doubling the standard deduction. At that time, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration would have a detailed plan out by August a prediction he admitted last week would not happen. Instead, he said he hoped to see a bill pass Congress by the end of the year. Even that goal appears optimistic, though, given the legislation Congress must pass in the coming few months, including a spending bill for the budget year that starts Oct. 1; an increase to the Treasurys borrowing authority to pay for debt already incurred; and, given the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast, likely an emergency storm relief bill as well. At this point, no actual legislation exists, and the process of coming up with a plan has been assigned to the so-called Big Six: Mnuchin, Trumps top economic adviser Gary Cohn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and the GOP chairs of the two tax-writing committees. That group has not indicated a timeline, either, although Ryan in a prepared statement Wednesday called tax reform our top priority this fall. Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, though, predicted that congressional Republicans would have a much easier time with taxes than they did trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, because that law had powerful opponents in hospitals, doctors and insurance companies. Bottom line is tax reduction, tax reform is infinitely easier for Republicans to pass than healthcare, said Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. Fewer moving parts, no organized opposition. Ryan and McConnell could pass a tax bill with only Republican votes under a special budget rule, but it would expire after 10 years unless it did not increase deficits an unlikely scenario, given the steep tax cuts Republicans want. To make deficit-increasing tax cuts permanent, Republicans would need eight Democrats in the Senate to vote with them to overcome a filibuster. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Mica Rosenberg and Dan Levine HOUSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In the coming weeks, as Houston turns its attention to rebuilding areas devastated by Tropical Storm Harvey, people like Jay De Leon are likely to play an outsized role if they stay around. De Leon, 47, owns a small construction business in Houston, and he and his 10 employees do exactly the kind of demolition and refurbishing the city will need. But like a large number of construction workers in Texas, De Leon and most of his workers live in the United States illegally, and that could make things complicated. The Pew Research Center estimated last year that 28 percent of Texas's construction workforce is undocumented, while other studies have put the number as high as 50 percent. Construction employed 23 percent of working undocumented adults in Texas at the end of 2014, higher than any other sector, according to the Migration Policy Institute. However, undocumented immigrants are growing increasingly nervous in Texas because of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration that has cast a wide net. In addition, a new Texas law will take effect later this week that bars cities from embracing so-called sanctuary policies - where they offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants - and allows local police to inquire about a person's immigration status. De Leon, who has lived in the country for 20 years and has two citizen children, says the changes have spooked the citys migrant workforce. In recent weeks, he said, one of his employees left the state and another returned to Mexico. Both feared that if they stayed they risked arrest. Departing workers, he says, pose a problem for Houston in the wake of Harvey, which has killed at least 17 people and caused flood damage to commercial buildings, houses, roads and bridges expected to run into tens of billions of dollars. The situation that Houston is going through now with the hurricane is going to be the trial by fire for the Republicans and the governor that approved these radical laws, De Leon said. "They will need our migrant labor to rebuild the city. I believe that without us it will be impossible." Undocumented workers perform a wide range of construction jobs, from framing and dry-walling to plumbing and wiring. Stan Marek, chief executive of Marek Construction in Texas, said his company doesn't hire undocumented immigrants and has long had difficulty finding enough trained U.S. workers. "It's a crisis," Marek said. "We are looking at several thousand homes that have flood damage. There is no way the existing (legal) workforce can make a dent in it." Marek would like to see the federal government grant emergency work authorization for undocumented workers in the rebuilding effort, he said. Otherwise, those immigrants are likely to be hired by firms that do not pay payroll taxes or provide benefits like workers' compensation and legally mandated overtime. It isn't yet possible to estimate how many construction jobs will be added in Texas as it rebuilds, but in the 12 months after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Louisiana added 14,800 jobs in the sector, U.S. government data shows. About 25 percent of the construction workers involved in the cleanup of New Orleans were undocumented, according to a study by researchers at Tulane and UC Berkeley universities. Those without papers were "especially at risk of exploitation," the study found. WORKER EXODUS The labor shortages are likely to grow worse, many builders warn. Earlier this year, a group of Hispanic contractors sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott warning that the pending ban on sanctuary city policies would make it difficult to find and retain experienced workers. Javier Arrias, chairman of the Hispanic Contractors Association de Tejas and one of the letters signers, told Reuters that "many construction workers are already moving to other states." Abbott's office did not respond to a request for comment about the role undocumented workers might play in the recovery. Elizabeth Theiss, president of Houston-based anti-immigration group Stop the Magnet, sees another option besides looking to workers in the country illegally. She says the rebuilding effort should be used to help train U.S. veterans and other citizens who need jobs. Theiss acknowledged that reconstruction might proceed more slowly, at least initially, if immigrants without work documents are not part of the effort, but she noted that rebuilding would be slow under any scenario. PERSONAL HARDSHIPS Whatever role undocumented people play in rebuilding Houston, they could face hardships rebuilding their own lives. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides emergency food, water and medicine to anyone, regardless of immigration status, cash assistance and other longer term aid is only available to citizens and immigrants in households where at least one family member has legal status. Immigrant advocates are launching private fundraising drives to help fill the void. "It is deeply tragic and un-American that so many of those working men and women who will be rebuilding Houston and the rest of the state will be doing so while facing tragedy in their own lives," said Jose Garza, executive director of the Workers Defense Project. De Leon said his family was lucky and did not suffer flood damage. He is now busy rounding up supplies for immigrant families stuck at shelters who are afraid to seek out more help from authorities. In the end, he says, President Donald Trump has to know it's going to be impossible to rebuild Houston without the labor force of immigrants. It is illogical - what he says with his words and what really has to happen. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg in Houston and Dan Levine in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Sue Horton and Ross Colvin) (Reuters) - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Navy successfully conducted a missile defense test off the coast of Hawaii, MDA said in a statement on Wednesday. The test, scheduled well in advance, was done from the USS John Paul Jones and comes a day after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. The test, using Standard Missile-6 guided missiles, intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target. North Korea said its missile launch was to counter U.S. and South Korean military drills, and was a first step in military action in the Pacific to "contain" the U.S. territory of Guam. The launch was condemned by the United Nations as an "outrageous" act. The MDA said the test gives the naval component of the missile defense system higher ability to intercept ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. Japan has been worried that the United States has so far declined to arm it with a powerful new radar, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Japan is seeking a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, operational by 2023, as a new layer of defense to help counter North Korea's missile advances. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) Soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition tasked with battling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) engaged in a firefight in northern Syria Tuesday with Syrian rebels whose movement was once supported by the CIA. Ryan Dillon, a spokesperson for the Kuwait-based Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said the insurgents opened fire first near the city of Manbij, prompting coalition forces to shoot back before taking cover elsewhere. The belligerent Syrian fighters were not identified, but they were believed to have been part of a Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army group opposed to ISIS, the Syrian military and the mostly Kurdish forces supported by the Pentagon, all of which are vying for control in northern Syria. Related: Russian senator praises Trump for backing Kremlin in Syria by cutting ties to moderate rebels Our forces did receive fire and return fire and then moved to a secure location, Dillon told Reuters, adding that the coalition has admonished Turkey and told it to tell its allies that such an incident is not acceptable. RTS126R4 Khalil Ashawi/Reuters Dillon went on to say that coalition forces trying to defuse tensions between Syrian Arab rebels and the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces received fire multiple times over the course of the last two weeks, even though the U.S. and Turkey are NATO allies. Turkey has criticized U.S. support for Kurdish militias such as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), because it considers them connected to an insurgent Kurdish nationalist movement at home. While its uncertain if there is any link between the two events, the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Armys Ninth Brigade special forces released images of its fighters conducting training drills in northern Syria around the time reports emerged of the clash. The Free Syrian Army, a loosely knit band of armed opposition groups, was once one of the most powerful revolutionary groups in Syria, but it has suffered years of defections and defeats to jihadist groups also trying to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011. Story continues The Free Syrian Army was also the primary recipient of CIA funding to overthrow Assad, but this support diminished as ISIS and Al-Qaeda became increasingly influential among rebels. Turkey attempted to unify the remains of the Free Syrian Army in northern Syria in May, and reports emerged in July that the Trump administration had cut all CIA funding to rebel groups that refused to stop fighting Assad and at times clashed with the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which is now the U.S.s primary partner in Syria. The Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces have taken more than half of ISISs de facto capital of Raqqa since storming the city in June. Syrias armed forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have also managed to return to Assad large swaths of the country lost to rebels and jihadists. Both sides have their eyes set on the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, which has been under ISIS siege since at least 2014. RTS1BV9V Institute for the Study of War/Reuters Despite tensions and even violence between the U.S.-led coalition and pro-government forces in past months, the Trump administration has expressed its willingness to work with Russia in order to find a political solution to the six-year war thats already killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions more. The two powers have established a cooperation center in neighboring Jordan and have committed to a ceasefire between the Syrian military and a separate Free Syrian Army faction in the southwestern city of Daraa. Manbij was also the site of early, informal cooperation between the U.S. and Russia when both sent personnel to support their respective partners on the ground from a Free Syrian Army advance in March. Both the U.S. and the Russian military have conducted patrols in the city, which is administrated by a council backed by the Syrian Democratic Forces. A U.N.-led effort to end the Syrian conflict in Geneva has repeatedly stalled as opposition groups grow frustrated with Assads refusal to step down, especially as the military regains control over much of the country. Russia, Iran and Turkey are involved in separate ongoing talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in the Kazakh capital of Astana. This dialogue has produced four de-escalation zones not formally recognized by the U.S. Related Articles This is one of the biggest weeks of the year in Twin Falls, Idaho. Its Fair Week. Idaho is one of those states where county fairs are still a big deal. Just about every Idahoan has cable or satellite TV. We watch our favorite sports, sitcoms, Game of Thrones, etc., on big high-definition screens. We get a lot of our mail and news from the internet and even do a good chunk of our business from our pickup trucks on laptops or smartphones. About as many of us work at high-tech jobs as time-honored labors like carpentry, plumbing and of course agriculture (which isnt exactly low-tech anymore). But fair week has a way of bringing the entire lot of us together under the simple auspices of having an old fashioned good time. Sure, theres the midway and some glitz. But there are also 4H exhibits, animal judging, rodeos, antiques, home skills, arts and crafts, hobby displays, music and tons of glorious fair food. And lets dont forget ourselves. We. Us. The people. Friends. Neighbors. Relatives. Seniors. Kids. Teenagers. Visitors. Locals. Newcomers. We congregate, converse, cajole, commiserate, communicate and plain old connect. Sometimes its reconnecting after separations of time or distance. Sometimes its establishing a bond with strangers-turned-acquaintances over a picnic table snack of an elephant ear, taco or ear of corn. We care about seeing one another and checking with each other on everything else that we care about. Having a good time is one of the few things in life that provides universal satisfaction to almost everyone. With minor exceptions it bridges most social, political and religious barriers. Its an uplifting aspect of life because it reminds us when we gather for such good times that we are indeed a community of people with more in common than what separates us. If Anne Frank could write in her diary In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart, I have to believe annual rituals like our county fairs validate that perspective, even in these contentious times in America. It is, after all, the goodness of all our hearts that prods us to collectively take care of what we love and what we are responsible for. Idaho is a stunning state. Our nickname The Gem State has two meanings. We are famous for the valuable ores and gems the earth yields up to us. But, more importantly, the state is itself a true gem. Its beauty and natural wonders are tonics to the eyes and spirit. Merely opening ones eyes across our gorgeous vistas, inhaling our crisp clean air or drinking our refreshing waters sustains, energizes and refreshes us to our cores. Its something urbanites pay big bucks to experience for a handful of days on their vacations. We get to have it all 24/365. While at the fair we exist in a kind of benevolent cocoon that generally eases our differences and allows conversations (discussions?) on a wide range of topics with a bit more geniality than normal. Even when bantering about politics, the environment seems conducive to settling for participation trophies rather than having to declare definitive winners. We can usually find common ground on what we care for and care about, even if we arent on the same page regarding how to best exercise or accomplish that care. Ill bet we can all agree we care for our families, their health, their safety, their standard of living, their educations and future prospects, and jobs. We probably all care about breathing clean air and drinking clean water. We care about preventing crime. We care for all our basic rights outlined in the Constitution. And we care about having a voice in our community, state and national governments. Not just a voice, but also a fair and equitable response by our elected officials to the needs and concerns we express. We will probably always have disagreements. Yet, it has been my observation that most of the disagreements stem more from how we address matters we care about, rather than whether or not we actually care about them. Thats not always the case, but I think it accounts for the greatest source of animosity when our discussions turn truculent and inflexible. As the weeks progress and we become engaged, yet again, in election campaigns, the odds are well retreat into our ideological corners and throw up our long-evolved instinctive barriers around our set viewpoints. We may cede our thinking and judgement to pundits who operate from hidebound worldviews and perceptions, and who are paid big bucks to do so. And their pay may not even depend on sincerity (honesty?) or even accuracy of their punditry, but rather their effectiveness at swaying opinion. Frankly their role is sometimes (often?) designed specifically to divide us, rather than bring us together to effectively craft solutions to our concerns. But this is fair week. As in past years Democrats and Republicans will be in attendance and anxious to meet the public, chat about the things we all care about, and have a good time doing so. The Twin Falls County Democratic Party invites everyone to stop and visit under our tent. Lets have a friendly chat and trade thoughts on how we can work together to steward the issues and values we care about. With any luck the weather will be delightful, the conversations will be fun and we can identify ways to collaborate for a wonderful future for Idaho and all her people. The video above has exclusively obtained audio of Ubers all-hands meeting on Wednesday. Before Dara Khosrowshahi accepted the Uber CEO role a role hes called the opportunity of a lifetime the 48-year-old Iranian American tech executive had numerous discussions with Ubers board, according to leaked audio exclusively obtained by Yahoo Finance of Ubers all-hands meeting on Wednesday. The journey for me was meeting every single board member, Khosrowshahi explained at the company meeting. Every single board member had played their part in getting me here. It started with Travis [Kalanick], because things start with Travis. Funnily enough, Ubers former CEO insisted on chatting via FaceTime audio, not via phone. Travis has a weird obsession with FaceTime Audio, Khosrowshahi said with a laugh, adding that perhaps it had something to do with the audio quality being higher. He just spun this web or dream of transforming cities, the transportation grid and delivery and robots taking food from the street corner to the home. Just this incredible vision. Arianna Huffington, another board member, hosted Khosrowshahi at her New York City apartment during their talks. Her pitch? He could run Uber full-throttle but still get some rest a philosophy Huffington herself strictly adheres to. New Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshai recalled at Ubers all-hands on Wednesday how Ubers board members pitched him on the CEO role. Source: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File It was so charming, Khosrowshahi recalled. She looks at me and says, Dara, you can change the world and get 8 hours of sleep every night. I was like, Absolutely! Sign me up! Ill do it. Not every board member was quite as encouraging, however. Benchmark General Partner Matt Cohler, for instance, played bad cop, according to Khosrowshahi. Are you going to guarantee me that youre not going to quit within six months? Cohler demanded, according to Khosrowshahi. That pissed me off, Khosrowshahi added in a dramatic yet lighthearted retelling of their conversation. Obviously, Khosrowshahi won the board over in the end, beating other CEO candidates such as GE chairman Jeff Immelt and Hewlett Packard Enterprises CEO Meg Whitman. According to a company-wide note sent from Ubers board on Tuesday evening, the board voted unanimously to appoint Khosrowshahi as Kalanicks successor. Story continues He believed in the mission, Kalanick explained of Khosrowshahi at Wednesdays all-hands. He believed in the great people we have gathered for these game-changing efforts that we call Uber. Thats why we kept getting up, and thats how we get through the hard part of the journey. Its how we get to the next one. Prior to Uber, Khosrowshahi served as CEO of Expedia (EXPE) since 2005 where he helped expand the company to more than 60 countries and led acquisitions such as the $1.3 billion merger with rival travel business Orbitz in 2015, as well as the $3.9 billion purchase of HomeAway that same year. Prior to Expedia, the Brown University graduate served as chief financial officer of IAC (IAC), which also owns popular dating sites and apps, including Match.com, Tinder and Plenty of Fish. With Uber, Khosrowshahi inherits an embattled company rocked by months of scandal involving alleged sexual harassment in the workplace and questionable workplace practices. The company is also in the midst of a contentious legal battle with self-driving company Waymo, spun out by Google (GOOG, GOOGL) in late 2016, over allegations of misappropriated trade secrets. Khosrowshahis official first day with Uber is Tuesday, September 5. JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. More from JP: LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday it had summoned the North Korean ambassador to the foreign ministry to condemn its launch of a ballistic missile over Japan's Hokkaido island earlier this week. Earlier on Thursday Prime Minister Theresa May and her Japanese counterpart agreed to work together in countering the threat posed by North Korea during May's visit to Japan. "I summoned the North Korean ambassador to the (foreign ministry) today and made clear how strongly the UK condemns the regime's launch of an intermediate range missile over Japan," Mark Field, Britain's Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. "North Korea's reckless actions violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten international security ... I urge the regime to end its illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missiles and return to dialogue with the international community." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Elisabeth O'Leary) Geneva (AFP) - The UN human rights chief said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's relentless attacks on the media could trigger violence against journalists, suggesting the US leader would be responsible. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein voiced particular alarm over Trump's verbal assaults on CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post. "To call these news organisations 'fake' does tremendous damage and to refer to individual journalists in this way, I have to ask the question, is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists? "And let's assume a journalist is harmed from one of these organisations, does the president not bear responsibility for this, for having fanned this?" Zeid told reporters in Geneva. "I believe it could amount to incitement," he added, saying Trump had set in motion a cycle that includes "incitement, fear, self-censorship and violence." According to the rights chief, Trump's assault on the media has emboldened other countries to crack down on presss freedoms. "The demonisation of the press is poisonous because it has consequences elsewhere," Zeid said. He expressed specific concern over Trump's speech in Arizona earlier this month in which journalists were condemned by the US leader as "dishonest people" who "don't like our country". While the Trump Administration considers the future of an Obama-era program that has allowed over 800,000 undocumented youth to live freely in the U.S., immigrants and their allies are taking to the streets in protest. On Wednesday, supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will gather in New York Citys Columbus Circle for a rally and march to protect the program. Since it was enacted by President Barack Obama in 2012, DACA, has shielded qualified undocumented youth from deportation, allows them to get work permits, go to school, and all around live out of the shadows. Ahead of the Wednesday night rally, DACA recipients, have shared videos on social media outlining how the program has changed their lives. In a video posted on Twitter, DACA recipient Eliana Fernandez said DACA has given her emotional and financial stability. Through the program, shes been able to graduate from college, attend graduate school, and become a homeowner. DACA has given me an identity to come out of the shadows, she said. President Trump is reportedly considering ending DACA, despite promises he made early in his administration to treat beneficiaries of the program with heart. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has the future of the program continues to be under review, during a press briefing last week. A group of conservative state leaders, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has also threatened to sue the Trump Administration on Sept. 5 if the program isnt ended. As DACA hangs in the balance, immigration advocates are not taking any risks. We will not be pushed back in the shadows because this is our home and we are #HereToStay, Greisa Martinez Rosas, a DACA-beneficiary and advocacy director of the immigrant rights organization United We Dream, said in a statement last week. Moscow (AFP) - A Moscow deadline for almost two-thirds of US diplomatic staff to leave Russia expires on Friday, an exodus that starkly demonstrates the souring relationship between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. There were hopes of improved ties between Moscow and Washington after Trump's election to the US presidency last year, when both leaders showered each other in praise. But after the US Congress approved new economic sanctions against Russia over Moscow's alleged meddling in the November election, Putin in July ordered the drastic embassy cuts in retaliation. Putin said 755 diplomatic staff -- both Russian and American -- would have to stop work by September 1, although the US State Department has not confirmed the number. The number of US diplomatic staff will now be capped at 455, the same number that Russia has in the United States. "We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better," Putin said when he announced the cuts. "But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it's not for any time soon." Trump only reluctantly signed off on the Congress-backed sanctions, describing them as "significantly flawed" and partially unconstitutional. "Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," he tweeted. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Twitter the sanctions demonstrated Trump's "total weakness" and amounted to a "full-fledged trade war". It is not clear how many of the 755 staff losing their jobs will be physically leaving the country, or how many are Russian citizens. The RBK news site cited sources saying that at least 600 are Russian. The head of a firm servicing the Russian diplomatic corps, Alexei Izotov, said some former US embassy technical staff are applying for work and "have been added to the database". - 'It could have been love' - "It could have been love between Trump and Putin. Hope remained until the latest sanctions were passed but it seems Russian authorities have come to the conclusion that Trump is hopeless," said political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Moscow Centre. Story continues "Neither Putin nor Trump know how to build such a relationship. They don't have a strategy or a real topic of conversation except technical questions about Syria." While Trump has put a stop to US support for Syrian rebels, to the Kremlin's great satisfaction, he has fundamentally changed his thinking on other contested areas, digging in his heels over the Ukraine conflict, Moscow's annexation of Crimea and NATO's expansion in eastern Europe. During a trip to Kiev last week, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis vowed to continue helping Ukrainian armed forces as they battle pro-Russian rebel fighters. Trump himself has stressed his desire to "move forward in working constructively" with Russia, including on cyber security to prevent hacking of future elections. His own team, however, has been sceptical over any moves to draw closer to Moscow. The United States this month complied with a demand from Moscow to stop using a Russian country house and a storage facility. The request came as a response to a US move to close access to two compounds used by Russian diplomats last year, a move that caused much bitterness in Moscow. - 'Total impasse' - In another retaliatory move, Washington announced it would suspend the issuing of all non-immigrant visas in Russia between August 23 and September 1. Visa operations at US consulates will remain suspended indefinitely. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the decision "genocide of the common people" in an interview released Monday by independent Dozhd television channel. "The war of sanctions and counter-sanctions has got a new lease of life," political analyst Kolesnikov said, and sanctions have now become "the only way to demonstrate discontent." Noting the current state of relations, Moscow has appointed a hawkish new ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, known as a hardliner and a tough negotiator with a deep suspicion of the United States. "No one pays attention to Trump any more," said Kolesnikov. "All that remains is a battle between the Russian authorities and the US establishment. "The situation is mired in a total impasse." Miami (AFP) - A US judge agreed Thursday to extradite former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli to face corruption and other charges in his country. US District Court Judge Edwin Torres said Panama had demonstrated probable cause against Martinelli, who ruled from 2009 to 2014. The 65-year-old has lived in Miami since January 2015. He left Panama days before the Supreme Court there launched a corruption investigation against him. He was detained in Miami on June 12, accused of graft and spying on political foes at home. Panama filed an extradition request last year. Panama's Supreme Court alleged that Martinelli used public funds to illegally spy on telephone calls and emails of more than 150 prominent opponents. Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, denies the accusations, saying they are politically motivated. After the judge's ruling, a spokesman for the ex-president, Luis Eduardo Camacho, told Panamanian TV channel Telemetro that Martinelli would appeal. His Miami lawyers also confirmed the appeal plans. Martinelli also has a political asylum request pending in the United States. It is up to the State Department to decide whether to go ahead with the extradition. A department official declined comment Thursday, saying its was policy not to speak publicly about extradition issues. The official referred queries to the Justice Department. Allegations against the former president include accusations he helped embezzle $45 million from a government school lunch program, as well as other cases of extortion, bribe-taking, misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power. In his ruling, Judge Torres wrote "we find only that there are reasonable grounds to suppose him guilty of all or some of the offenses charged. As a result, good faith to the demanding government [in Panama] requires his surrender." Seoul (AFP) - US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live-fire drill in South Korea on Thursday, intended as a show of force against the North after its latest missile launch. "South Korean and US air forces conducted an air interdiction exercise in order to strongly cope with North Korea's repeated firing of ballistic missiles and development of nuclear weapons," the South's air force said in a statement. Two B-1B "Lancer" bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part. B-1B overflights of the peninsula from Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, infuriate the North, which condemned the drill on Thursday, the South's Yonhap news agency reported. "The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback" by Pyongyang's latest missile launch, Yonhap cited the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. Pyongyang had previously announced a plan to fire a salvo of missiles towards Guam. It was one of the moves that saw tensions spiral this month, along with a new set of UN Security Council sanctions and US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning to rain "fire and fury" on Pyongyang, and culminating with the North firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday. A frustrated Trump took to Twitter to condemn Pyongyang, saying "the US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" With tensions surging, Moscow urged Washington not to use force against North Korea and also said attempts to toughen sanctions would be counterproductive. In a phone call late Wednesday with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "underscored... the need to refrain from any military steps that could have unpredictable consequences," the foreign ministry in Moscow said. Story continues China on Thursday also condemned "destructive" calls for further sanctions, warning Japan, the US and Britain that diplomacy was needed to avert a crisis. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said sanctions alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue", amid reports the three countries were pushing for new restrictions on North Korean oil imports and foreign workers. "The current situation on the Korean peninsula is not a screenplay, it's not a computer game. It is a real situation that directly bears on the security of the people on the peninsula and the whole regional peace and tranquility," she said. - May calls to up pressure - On a visit to Japan on Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said London and Tokyo would work together to pressure North Korea "including by increasing the pace of sanctions" against Pyongyang". The UN Security Council has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, the most recent of which were passed this month, but the measures have done little to quell Kim Jong-Un's nuclear missile ambitions. Thursday's live-fire drill took place at the Pilseung shooting range in Gangwon province, some 150 kilometres (94 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. A South Korean air force spokesman said it was separate from the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint exercises, which wrapped up on Thursday. Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops took part in the largely computer-simulated exercise that ran for two weeks in the South. The annual drills are viewed by nuclear-armed Pyongyang as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion, and it always meets them with threats of strong military counteraction. A US Forces Korea official told the Yonhap news agency that Washington had avoided sending bombers to the peninsula during the UFG exercises "in hopes that the reduced scale would send a positive signal to North Korea and the region", but Pyongyang had responded with a series of provocations. The North's state media called Tuesday's Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile flight over northern Japan "a part of the muscle-flexing" against the war games. Kim Jong-Un called for more launches into the Pacific, the KCNA news agency said. North Korea says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against the US, and analysts say Pyongyang has made rapid strides in its ballistic technology in defiance of seven sets of United Nations resolutions. In July it conducted two successful ICBM launches which appeared to bring most of the US mainland into range. Washington (AFP) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson put aside controversy over US plans to build a wall on its southern border Wednesday and thanked Mexico for its offer of aid to flood-stricken Texas. Tillerson was welcoming his Mexican counterpart Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray to talks on trade and security when he made the comments, even as deadly Storm Harvey made a second landfall. "I want to thank the government of Mexico for its offer of assistance in the state of Texas," Tillerson, himself a Texan, said. "They've offered a wide range of assistance, in coordination with the governor down in Texas and also with FEMA," he said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "It's very generous of the government of Mexico to offer their help at this very, very challenging time for our citizens down in Texas and now moving towards the border of Louisiana as well." Videgaray replied: "You're very, very welcome." Neither Tillerson nor Videgaray said how much aid was offered nor whether the US would accept. But a US official told AFP: "The State Department is working with FEMA and our foreign partners, including Mexico, to determine the best way forward." FEMA is the federal disaster management agency. Ties between Washington and Mexico have been strained by President Donald Trump's insistence that America's southern neighbor will one day reimburse the cost of the planned border wall. Mexican leaders have insisted they will not do that, but Videgaray and his ministerial colleagues frequently visit Washington to talk about trade and fighting organized crime. The van in which six family members were tragically swept away to their deaths as Harvey's devastating flooding gripped Houston has been discovered. The grim find was announced Wednesday after deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Office discovered the van in 10 feet of muddy water in Green's Bayou. Read: Hundreds Plucked From Catastrophic Floods as Texas Officials Plea for Harvey Aid: 'People Are in Need' It was the very same body of water into which four children of the Saldivar family and their elderly great-grandparents were swept as the van floated off a bridge Sunday while the children's father watched helplessly. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the bodies of two adults had been spotted in the front seat, but that the water conditions and the angle of the vehicle did not allow for confirmation that the bodies of four children were also inside. Gonzalez recalled his deputies' discovery of the anguished father to reporters at a press conference. "On Sunday morning about 10 a.m... deputies were out here conducting evacuation efforts, assisting the public. At a distance, they could hear someone screaming," he said. They spotted a screaming man, later identified as Sammy Saldivar, clinging to a tree. While the deputies were able to save the father, Gonzalez said the van was dangerously out of reach in the swift floodwater and rescue efforts could not be initiated. On Wednesday, as waters receded, sheriff's deputies were able to get closer to the van. "We could briefly look into the van and see at least two bodies that are in there. We cannot yet see, based on the angle, what else or if there are any other bodies inside the van at this time. We are working collaboratively with the Houston police department. Their dive team is arriving so we can get a better look and get close to the van," Gonzalez said. Authorities believe the two bodies they saw are those of the great-grandparents, 84-year-old Manuel and 81-year-old Belia Saldivar. Story continues It can only be presumed that the remains of their four great-grandchildren are in the back. They are Devy Saldivar, 16; Dominic Saldivar, 14; Xavier Saldivar, 8; and Daisy Saldivar, 6, likely perished along with their great-grandparents. "The medical examiner's office is here, as well. I've spoken with the family that's standing by, to try to update them and comfort them as best I can. We also have a chaplain arriving on the scene," Gonzalez said. Family and friends of the Saldivar family have stepped up to help them offset funeral costs. The dentist who employs a relative of the children Esmeralda, a dental assistant has started a GoFundMe page to help benefit the grieving family. Dr. Terri Alani has worked with Esmeralda for about five years and says the whole office is devastated. "We are all in a group text," Dr. Alani told InsideEdition.com. "I said, 'Who's gone?' She writes, 'They died.'" Dr. Alani is hoping social media will help ensure finances aren't an issue as the shattered family begins to put back the pieces. Read: How You Can Help the Victims of Hurricane Harvey "There are 6 funerals," Dr. Alani said. "Thats why I am doing the GoFundMe... Its been a nightmare." As of Thursday morning, more than $25,000 had been raised for the family. Watch: Woman Spots 2 Alligators Swimming in Flooded Backyard as Hurricane Harvey Rages Related Articles: Geneva (AFP) - The widespread rights abuses committed against protesters in Venezuela has left democracy "barely alive", the UN said Wednesday, after France branded the Caracas regime a "dictatorship." A fresh UN report warned that the rights situation in Venezuela was at "grave risk" of unravelling further as the authorities continue to brutally repress demonstrators, and urged international action. Recent actions by Venezuela's authorities "support the feeling that what is left of democratic life in Venezuela is being squeezed", UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein told reporters in Geneva, where the report was launched. Democracy in Venezuela "must be barely alive, if still alive", Zeid said. He did not go as far as French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Tuesday accused his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro of creating a "dictatorship ... at an unprecedented humanitarian cost", in one of the harshest condemnations yet of the South American regime by a European leader. Caracas hit back against Macron on Wednesday, with the foreign ministry expressing "firm rejection of the deplorable comments" by the French leader. "They constitute clear interference in the internal affairs" of Venezuela, it said in a statement. - 'Crush dissent' - The UN report accused Venezuelan authorities of implementing a policy of repression to crack down on months of street protests against Maduro. "The generalised and systematic use of excessive force during demonstrations and the arbitrary detention of protesters and perceived political opponents indicate that these were not the illegal or rogue acts of isolated officials," it said. The extent of violations "in our view point to the existence of a policy to crush dissent and instil fear in the population with the intention of curbing these demonstrations," one of the report authors, Herman Vales, told reporters. Story continues Venezuela, which is suffering from an acute economic crisis marked by shortages of basic goods, has experienced months of deadly street demonstrations against Maduro that have left 125 people dead, according to prosecutors. Wednesday's report found that security forces and pro-government groups were responsible for at least 73 of the protester deaths. It remained unclear who was behind the remaining deaths, the rights office said. Zeid also pointed out that his office had documented "serious violations of due process and patterns of ill-treatment, in some cases amounting to torture." The tactics listed in the report included "the use of electric shocks, severe beatings, stress positions, suffocation, and threats of sexual violence and death." After receiving no response to repeated requests for access to Venezuela to investigate the situation, Zeid deployed a team of human rights officers to monitor the country remotely. The investigators conducted 135 interviews between June 6 and July 31 with victims and their families, witnesses, civil society organisations, journalists, lawyers and doctors, among others. More than 5,300 people have been detained in Venezuela since April 1, with more than 800 still held, the report authors said, adding that more than 700 detained civilians had had their cases handled in the military justice system. It also pointed to repeated attacks on journalists and media workers that "appeared to be intended to prevent them from covering protests." - 'Extremely serious' - While acknowledging that the number of demonstrations, detentions and deaths had decreased in recent weeks, Zeid expressed concern at efforts to criminalise Venezuela's political opposition. The country's all-powerful new constituent assembly announced Tuesday it would hold treason trials for opposition leaders it said are promoting economic sanctions imposed by the United States. Wednesday's report called on the UN Human Rights Council to "consider taking measures to prevent further deterioration of the human rights situation" in Venezuela, which currently holds a seat on the council. burs/nl-bs/pvh Vodafone is so desperate to be down with the kids, it's launching a new mobile network. Voxi, a sub-brand of Vodafone, will offer three SIM-only plans aimed at people aged 25 and under. All of them include "free" data for the following social media apps: Facebook and Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter and Viber. The rest of your allowance can then be saved for the essentials emails, navigation, that sort of thing and hefty streaming apps such as YouTube or Spotify. Customers can pay 10 for 2GB, 15 for 5GB or 20 for 15GB every 30 days. It's a month-to-month contract, meaning you can cancel at any time. Each plan also comes with unlimited texts, calls and no premium roaming in Europe, which of course is now mandatory thanks to the European Commission. If you burn through your monthly data allowance, you can buy another 1GB for 3 (Vodafone will send an alert when you've used 80 and 100 percent of your plan.) The company will also offer "passes" in the future so customers can use specific video and music apps for "free." If this sounds like zero-rating, that's because it is. Almost every major UK network is exploring the concept as a way to entice subscribers. Last month, Three launched its "Go Binge" plans with "free" Netflix, Deezer and SoundCloud streaming. Virgin Mobile disregards all Twitter, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp use. EE, meanwhile, is offering six months of free Apple Music streaming. These deals, while advantageous for consumers, arguably impact net neutrality. Critics worry the trend will suffocate innovative startups that offer superior services, but lack the funding to "buy in" to carrier and ISP zero-rating initiatives. Voxi is launching on September 8th. It will have its own distinct branding -- very Urban Outfitters -- and marketing campaign developed in partnership with young artists, filmmakers and designers in the UK. In short, the company is trying its hardest to differentiate Voxi from the rest of Vodafone, which has a pretty musty, "old reliable" image. "We've worked with hundreds of people aged 25 and under, and have really listened to them," Dan Lambrou, head of Voxi said. "They are a generation that's tired of being stereotyped and talked at." These comments, while a tad overkill, do suggest the company is serious about attracting a younger audience. A selfless rescue effort by a group of men in Houston including three brothers turned tragic after their boat drifted into live power lines, killing two and sending five others vanishing downstream. As of Thursday, two of the men remained unaccounted for after the boat, fresh from rescuing two families from Hurricane Harveys floodwaters, headed into the downed lines around 3 p.m. on Monday, The Washington Post reported. The three others are hospitalized after a harrowing night clinging to a tree. Everybody told them to stay, that they had already done their part, Stepheny Jacquez, 25, a relative of some of the victims, told the Post. But they said, No, we have to go back, theres a lot of people in danger. It was during their third trip out that the men lost control of their boat in the strong current, sending them into the live wires, Jacquez said. They all jumped in the water and got electrocuted, and the current took them, she told the Post. Family identified the two fatalities online and to the Post as Yahir Vizueth, 25, and Jorge Perez, 31. Vizueths brother, Benjamin Vizueth, 31, and family friend Gustavo Rodriguez-Hernandez, 40, are missing after being swept away in the water. A third brother, Jose Vizueth, 30, was found clinging to a tree on Tuesday with burns, along with news photographer Ruaridh Connellan, 26, and reporter Alan Butterfield. The journalists on assignment for the London-based news site, The Daily Mail.com had just joined the five men as they were embarking on the third rescue mission. Connellan, who spoke with The Telegraph from a hospital room on Wednesday, recalled everyone jumping off the boat and into the fast-moving water upon seeing the craft approaching sparks emitted by the power lines. Images from one of several live videos posted to a Facebook page belonging to one of the men whose rescue efforts ended in tragedy on Monday. (Photo: Ben Jimmy Vizueth) I just felt this electric current go through my body and I thought I was done for, he said. Then it stopped but it started again. I could see four of the men lying in the water one of them, floating on his back in his lifejacket. Story continues Connellan said he and the two other men scrambled to grab hold of anything they could as they were pulled by what he estimated as a 30 mph current. Butterfield and Jose Vizueth managed to grab onto a passing tree and pull themselves out of the water. Connellan also caught hold of the tree but said he initially couldnt muster the strength to pull himself onto it. I tried a couple of times but fell back in the water and thought I was going to drift off again, but I managed to hold onto the branch, he said. We took off our shoes to get a better grip on the slippery trunk and branches, Butterfield recalled on The Daily Mails website. One slip and the water would have carried you away to who knows where. One fall could end your life ... As the men clung for their lives, they shouted for help. At times they said they saw rescue helicopters flying around overhead, but none spotted them. A GoFundMe account created for the victims' families shows the five men whose boat struck power lines as they were rescuing others in Houston. (Photo: GoFundMe) They could see the helicopters and they were screaming and screaming, but nobody heard them, Joses wife, Juany Vizueth, told The Washington Post after joining her husband at a hospital where he was being treated. Jose tried to save his brother, but the current was so fast he wasnt able to reach him. It wasnt until about noon on Tuesday more than 20 hours after the boat struck the power lines that they were rescued by members of the Texas Department of Public Safety. By then, the three men had suffered frostbite to their hands and toes, and required antibiotics after spending so long in the filthy water, Connellan said. In addition to suffering electrical burns, Butterfield wrote of suffering a fractured toe, a gashed knee that required stitches, and a black eye. A Facebook page belonging to Benjamin Vizueth shows several live-streamed videos posted just before the tragedy occurred. It shows the group of men laughing and speaking in Spanish as they moved through flood zones on foot, in a truck, and in a boat. The last video was posted just after 3 p.m. on Monday. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help out the victims families. As of Thursday afternoon, it has raised more than $900. The Vizueth brothers all worked at a used car dealership owned by Benjamin, the eldest, according to the Post. News veteran Dan Rather penned a touching tribute to the men on Facebook Thursday, in which he lauded their heroism and referred to the racial and ethnic divisions that plague America. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. In our current fractured climate, there are some who would look at their ethnicity, their last names, the fact that they spoke Spanish and say they are not one of us, not part of our nation. But in a time of need no one asked for their papers, he wrote. As of Thursday, at least 35 people have died from the storm. Related... Why Houston Is So Prone To Devastating Floods Texas Celebrities Give Back To Houston Here's What Will Happen When Your House Floods Pizza Hut Surprises Harvey Victims By Delivering Pizzas By Kayak Also on HuffPost This article originally appeared on HuffPost. President Donald Trump suggested last week that he was willing to trigger a government shutdown to secure funding for his desired border wall with Mexico. But most people are not on board with that plan, according to a poll out Wednesday. Politico and Morning Consult released survey results showing that 69 percent of registered voters said they believed members of Congress should "take all necessary steps" to stop a shutdown over the federal budget if possible. Three-quarters of respondents said a government shutdown would make them "very" or "somewhat" concerned. However, some people's stances changed when pollsters specifically asked about the shutdown in relation to the border wall, which experts have estimated could cost $21.6 billion and take more than three years to complete, Reuters reports. In that case, 51 percent of GOP voters said they "strongly" or "somewhat" supported a shutdown. Only 13 percent of Democrats said the same. "Including the mention of the wall cues people to think of Trump and thus encourages them to consider the question along partisan lines," Jennifer Lawless, an American University professor of government, told Morning Consult. "Thats why Republican support for the shutdown skyrockets." As The Washington Post points out, Trump has addressed the idea of a shutdown before, tweeting in May that "our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess." But it could make the president even less popular than he already is. After the most recent shutdown, in 2013, 81 percent of votersincluding 92 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicanssaid they disapproved. "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," New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement cited in The New York Times. Story continues The Politico/Morning Consult poll was based on responses from 1,999 voters, collected from August 24-28. Related Articles Let America Vote, a progressive advocacy group that says it combats voter suppression laws, will expand its focus on key races in five states, the group announced Thursday. The Democratic-leaning nonprofit is focusing on a mix of gubernatorial, legislative and secretary of state races in Iowa, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada. Austin Laufersweiler, a spokesman for the group, said it had chosen to focus on those races because it saw them as voting rights hotbeds. The expansion signals Democrats sustained interest in focusing on voting rights as a potent political issue as courts have continued to strike down Republican restrictions on voting and as President Donald Trump makes unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud. I started Let America Vote to create political consequences for politicians who try to roll back voting rights, and thats exactly what were doing with our five-state field operation in 2018, former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander (D), the groups president, said in a statement. Were opening these offices as a direct response to efforts by politicians to make voting harder and their re-election campaigns easier, he added. Politicians in each of the five states will have to answer for their actions on election day, and politicians around the country will think twice before trying to change the mechanics of our elections for political gain. A handful of those five states have passed new voting restrictions this year. In May, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R), now Trumps ambassador to China, signed a new voter ID law, even though Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (R) said voter fraud was not a widespread problem. In New Hampshire, lawmakers passed a law requiring people to show proof they intended to stay in the state even though election officials said they had no evidence people were coming in from other states to illegally vote. In Georgia, a federal judge had to force the state to extend the voter registration deadline ahead of a special election runoff in June, a decision that made nearly 10,000 more voters eligible to cast a ballot in the contest, according to the Georgia secretary of states office. The state is also facing lawsuits over its process for removing voters from the rolls, which critics say violates federal law. Story continues Laufersweiler said the group would focus on Nevada because Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) vetoed a measure that would make voter registration automatic (it will be on a statewide ballot in 2018). Tennessee, Laufersweiler said, has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country. Launched earlier this year, Let America Vote already has field offices in Virginia and the group plans to open a field office in one city in each of the five states. The group said it had knocked on 130,000 doors in Virginia to support the gubernatorial campaign of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D). Also on HuffPost Alabama State Capitol (Montgomery, Ala.) Pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Alaska State Capitol (Juneau, Alaska) Pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Miller) Arizona State Capitol (Phoenix) Pictured on Friday, April 23, 2010. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) Arkansas State Capitol (Little Rock, Ark.) Pictured on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston) California State Capitol (Sacramento, Calif.) 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(Photo by Mike Munden/Getty Images) Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. WASHINGTON White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday pushed back on multiple new reports that President Trump has decided to end an Obama-era program protecting 800,000 young unauthorized immigrants from deportation. No offense to your colleague from Fox News, but I think Im a little bit better informed than they are in terms of when the White House has made a decision, and as I just said a moment ago, its not been finalized, Sanders said in response to a question about a Fox News report saying Trump had decided to kill the program. McClatchyDC also reported that Trump was leaning toward letting the program expire by not renewing any of the young peoples two-year permits. In February, Trump said he would treat the people in the program with great heart, and Sanders said Thursday that the president stood by that statement. The spokeswoman would not say when Trump would announce his decision. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy allows young people who were brought to the country as minors, are in school or have a high school diploma, and have no criminal record to apply for a temporary status that prevents them from being deported. Recipients can also apply for temporary, two-year work permits that allow them to work legally. The work permits are renewable, and so far the Trump administration has been processing applications for them, despite Trumps vows on the campaign trail to end DACA. Attorneys general from 10 states who have been suing the federal government over the program have asked for the White House to tell them by Sept. 5 whether the administration is extending it, creating a deadline for the president. Tom Bossert, Trumps homeland security adviser, told reporters that the lawsuit will affect the timing of the presidents decision. CNN reported that the White House is hoping to push back the deadline. Slideshow: Immigrants and advocates rally in support of DACA >>> Groups that are pushing for less immigration and whose views represent much of Trumps base have been pressuring the president to end DACA. Story continues We have been mobilizing our 8-million-member network since February in opposition to the President continuing to give out new DACA work permits and renewals, Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, said in a statement. It is time for Pres. Trump to stop breaking one of the clearest campaign promises he made and end DACA work permits. But announcing the decision in the middle of recovery efforts from Harveys devastating floods in Texas would doubtless provoke pushback from Democrats and Republicans alike. Texas has 124,000 recipients of DACA the second most of any state. Carolina Ramirez, a staffer for the United We Dream advocacy group and a DACA recipient in Houston, said she has been comforting friends and community members affected by the worst flooding in centuries while also frantically organizing calls to lawmakers to try to save DACA. Its been, I think, a storm in more ways than one, Ramirez said. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders answers reporters questions during a news conference at the White House, Aug. 31, 2017. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Democrats condemned the potential decision, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., calling it an abject moral failure. Even some Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have proposed giving these young people a path to earning permanent legal status. Those proposals could get new life if Trump decides to end the program. Failure to protect young people who have come out of the shadows and enrolled in #DACA would constitute an abject moral failure. #SaveDACA Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) August 31, 2017 Trump has struggled with what to do with DACA since taking office. This is a very, very difficult for me one of the most difficult subjects, Trump said when asked if he would continue the program, which was initiated in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama. I find it very, very hard doing what the law says to do. Immigration advocacy groups said the decision would throw hundreds of thousands of lives into limbo. There is no such thing as a humane winding down of the DACA policy, said Frank Sharry, the executive director of the pro-immigration Americas Voice Education Fund. If new applications are stopped and renewals are ended, hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of families will be plunged into crisis. Young people will start to lose jobs, leave universities, and lose the right to drive. But for now, Sharry says, hes just hoping the president will decide to continue the program. A girl sitting on the shoulders of her father holds a sign reading Keep Families Together at a protest in New York against President Trumps proposed end of the DACA program, which protects immigrant children from deportation, Aug. 30, 2017. (Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters) _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Newsweek published this story under the headline of Why Diana Moved Us So on September 7, 1998. With the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death approaching, Newsweek is republishing the story. AT THE TIME IT WAS A MYSTERY. A DIVORCED member of the royal family of a medium-sized European nation dies in a banal car accident in Paris, and for a week the sun, moon and stars are knocked off their appointed tracks. Within days, Europe suffers a shortage of cut flowers as tens of thousands of bouquets are laid before the house of the victim. Demand for newsprint soars; the funeral, watched live on television throughout the world, attracts an audience of 1 billion. A year later, the mystery remains. What was the Diana phenomenon all about? The easy answer is nothing -- or at least, nothing of lasting moment. The Queen, so criticized during Diana Week, is still on her throne; Diana's former husband, Prince Charles, is more popular than he has been for years. The French authorities are still looking for the white Fiat Uno. Real news -- terrorism, Russia, Bill Clinton's sex life, two pregnant Spice Girls -- knocks the event from the front pages. And we wonder: those flowers, that grief, "The People's Princess" -- were they all just a way of marking the end of summer, a break from the reality that wafts back each year with the cool of autumn? Before conventional wisdom assigns Diana the role of weird historical footnote, consider another view. Diana Week was like a strange shaft of light that enabled us to see more clearly than ever before the nature of our times. Consider, first, the public displays of grief. This was not feigned. Nor was it whipped up by the media, who, truth to tell, spent a week racing to keep up with the public mood. The reaction to Diana's demise crystallized, perhaps, another death -- that of the virtues that the classicists called Roman. Last year, stoicism, fatalism, muted emotions, all went by the board, as people not only felt, but showed what they felt, without shame. In a Western world where the obligations of religion, deference and submission to a greater cause have lost their sway, feelings, and sharing them, are our only comfort. Story continues The Roman virtues, of course, were masculine ones, and their celebrants male. Diana Week was not a guy thing. Sure, men wept. But Diana's champions were over-whelmingly women. Like many of them, she had a heartless husband, in-laws from hell, fickle boyfriends. She worried about and loved her kids, she wondered what life on her own would be like. Diana Week was a time in which women could celebrate and mourn one who had come through the vicissitudes suffered by millions and found, for a short summer, real happiness. What other lessons are there to be learned from Diana's death? That the media have become a boundless force, for sure, broadcasting and interpreting events to the ends of the earth. And that the division between the media and their subjects has become blurred -- not just because in her life Diana played the press and TV like a violin, which she surely did, but because the coverage of her became part of the story, in a way that still touches some raw nerves. Perhaps above all, Diana Week was a true global phenomenon. Globalization has become the decade's most overused word, but at its heart, it embodies a real truth: technology has made this a planet of shared experiences. Because globalization's theorists have primarily been economists, we tend to think of it in economic terms, albeit with political consequences. And as last week proved, we are right to do so -- the effects of a fiscal crisis in Thailand (Thailand!) threatens the comfortable assumption that post-cold-war Russia is, at bottom, just like us. But there's more to globalization than markets. Diana's death touched people in Peoria as much as in Paris. We are bound together more than we have ever been. Her death showed the world how small it had become, how much in common are our intimate senses and emotions. Remember her. Related Articles Sanaa (AFP) - Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh made his first appearance in Sanaa at the funeral of a colonel killed in clashes with his rebel allies, media run by Saleh's party reported Thursday. Coverage of the funeral of Colonel Khaled al-Radhi, a high-ranking official in Saleh's General People's Congress who was killed along with two rebels in a shootout last week, aired on the GPC-controlled Al Yemen Al Yom television channel. The footage, recorded Wednesday, showed the former president praying over what the channel identified as Radhi's casket before addressing a crowd of mourners. The appearance comes amid rumours that Saleh had either fled Sanaa, which he jointly controls with the Huthi rebels in their war against the Saudi-backed government, or was under house arrest by the Huthis following unprecedented violence between the allies at the weekend. Cracks have emerged in the rebel alliance between Saleh and Abdul Malik al-Huthi, head of the Shiite Zaidi Huthi rebels who is allied with Iran, escalating into an armed battle at a rebel checkpoint in Sanaa in which Radhi -- head of foreign relations with the GPC -- and the two Huthis were killed. An uneasy calm has since returned to Sanaa, with rebel and GPC sources saying armed forces loyal to both Huthi and Saleh have slowly begun to withdraw from the streets, after a heavy deployment following Saturday's shootout. A mediation committee has also been set up to try to restore ties between the two rebel forces, according to a security source involved in the committee. Saleh's forces are reportedly demanding the Huthis hand over those responsible for the killing of Radhi. A war of words broke out earlier this month between Saleh and his once-foe Huthi, with the former president terming his allies "a militia" and the rebels firing back that he was a "back-stabber" and "traitor". Huthi reportedly suspects Saleh has been negotiating with Gulf states in an Arab military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. Story continues Saleh resigned under popular and political pressure in 2012, ceding the presidency to his vice president, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Two years later, Saleh and Huthi joined ranks in a shock alliance that drove Hadi's government out of Sanaa and ushered the rebels in. The two have since fought troops loyal to Hadi as well as the Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in the war in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Hadi government. More than 8,400 civilians have been killed since the intervention, with political deadlock, a blockaded airport and ports, and poverty pushing the country to the brink of famine. Cape Town (AFP) - Zambia's main opposition leader on Thursday condemned his four-month imprisonment for alleged treason as an abuse of the criminal justice system by his political opponents. Hakainde Hichilema was released from custody two weeks ago after being detained for allegedly failing to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. "It is not because the police have done an investigation, it is because a member of the ruling party has instigated the police to arrest this citizen," Hichilema said. "You cannot have a criminal justice system that operates like that." The charges were widely seen as part of a crackdown on dissent by Lungu's Patriotic Front government. Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), was speaking at a joint press conference in Cape Town with South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane. Hichilema said he was "surprised" by his release as he was looking forward to being acquitted by the courts. He was freed on August 16, when all charges were dropped hours before the start of his trial. Hichilema, who narrowly lost last year's election and refuses to recognise Lungu as president, recounted details of his "brutal" arrest in April. He said that more than "200 policemen, heavily armed with machine-guns" and assisted by German shepherd dogs surrounded his house and "poison-gassed" him, his wife and children for 10 hours. Maimane, head of the Democratic Alliance party, was in May barred from entering Zambia after he landed in Lusaka airport to attend one of Hichilema's pre-trial court hearings. The Disney|ABC Television Group will air special programming in support of its Day of Giving initiative to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey, the company announced Wednesday. The programming will kick off with an ABC News primetime special City Underwater: Catastrophe in Houston anchored live by George Stephanopoulos on tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Throughout the following day on ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel, all ESPN platforms, A&E, History, Lifetime, ABC Radio, Radio Disney and across all network social platforms, there will be a call-to-action to donate to the American Red Cross, with those dollars targeted to benefit those most affected by this devastating storm. Viewers can contribute in three ways: Text HARVEY to 90999 to give a $10 donation to the Red Cross. Charges will appear on your wireless bill or be deducted from your prepaid balance. Must be 18+ years or have parental permission. Message & Data Rates May Apply. See redcross.org/m for full terms & details. Go to http://www.redcross.org/abc to make a donation of any amount. Call 1-855-999-GIVE. This number will bypass all the other menu options and direct your call to Hurricane Harvey relief. The fundraising begins in the early morning hours Thursday and will continue throughout the day on ABCs eight owned stations, including Houstons KTRK in the heart of the danger zone, as well as on more than 200 local affiliates. At 7 a.m. ET/PT Good Morning America will report the latest developments in the aftermath and the storms progression. At 8, GMA will air a telethon encouraging viewers to donate to the American Red Cross. The GMA team and special guests will be taking calls live until noon. With this Day of Giving across all our networks and platforms, the men and women of Disney|ABC, ESPN and the A+E Networks are answering the call to stand up and support the communities hit hardest by Hurricane Harvey, said Ben Sherwood, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney|ABC. In 2012, we rallied to support relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy, helping raise more than $18 million dollars. Now, we stand alongside the residents of Texas and the Gulf states who are battling the floods and devastation of Harvey. Story continues Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, announced Tuesday that TWDC and KTRK-TV Houston are committing $1 million to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts. In addition, eligible Disney employee donations to the American Red Cross and other qualified organizations involved in the Hurricane Harvey relief effort will be matched dollar for dollar. In addition, Comcast NBCUniversal announced that they will host a hurricane relief drive all throughout Wednesday on NBC Boston, Telemundo Boston, and New England Cable News (necn). The programming is running from 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. ET. NBC Boston will also air Hurricane Harvey Relief Drive a live, 30-minute special at 7:30 PM. The program will be simulcast on necn. Hurricane Harvey Relief Drive will be hosted by NBC Boston anchors Phil Lipof and JC Monahan, and will feature live interviews from the American Red Cross by reporters Jackie Bruno and Frank Holland. In addition, NBC Boston Meteorologist Chris Gloninger will deliver live reports from Texas about communities and individuals in Houston that have been affected by the Hurricane. NBC Boston, Telemundo Boston and necn will display a toll-free number via on-air and through their digital and mobile platforms, during their respective newscasts. The toll-free number 1-800-RED-CROSS will direct audiences to the American Red Cross. Viewers may also text donations to Harvey at 90999 or visit the Red Cross website. The efforts by the broadcasting and cable giants join the efforts by numerous local TV and radio outlets, many in Houston and the surrounding areas, to raise money to combat the destruction wreaked by the devastating storm. Menlo Park, Calif. Researchers from the Department of Energys SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have for the first time shown that neural networks a form of artificial intelligence can accurately analyze the complex distortions in spacetime known as gravitational lenses 10 million times faster than traditional methods. Analyses that typically take weeks to months to complete, that require the input of experts and that are computationally demanding, can be done by neural nets within a fraction of a second, in a fully automated way and, in principle, on a cell phones computer chip, said postdoctoral fellow Laurence Perreault Levasseur, a co-author of a study published today in Nature. KIPAC scientists have for the first time used artificial neural networks to analyze complex distortions in spacetime, called gravitational lenses, demonstrating that the method is 10 million times faster than traditional analyses. (Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) Lightning Fast Complex Analysis The team at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint institute of SLAC and Stanford, used neural networks to analyze images of strong gravitational lensing, where the image of a faraway galaxy is multiplied and distorted into rings and arcs by the gravity of a massive object, such as a galaxy cluster, thats closer to us. The distortions provide important clues about how mass is distributed in space and how that distribution changes over time properties linked to invisible dark matter that makes up 85 percent of all matter in the universe and to dark energy thats accelerating the expansion of the universe. Until now this type of analysis has been a tedious process that involves comparing actual images of lenses with a large number of computer simulations of mathematical lensing models. This can take weeks to months for a single lens. But with the neural networks, the researchers were able to do the same analysis in a few seconds, which they demonstrated using real images from NASAs Hubble Space Telescope and simulated ones. To train the neural networks in what to look for, the researchers showed them about half a million simulated images of gravitational lenses for about a day. Once trained, the networks were able to analyze new lenses almost instantaneously with a precision that was comparable to traditional analysis methods. In a separate paper, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team reports how these networks can also determine the uncertainties of their analyses. KIPAC researcher Phil Marshall explains the optical principles of gravitational lensing using a wineglass. (Brad Plummer/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) Prepared for Data Floods of the Future The neural networks we tested three publicly available neural nets and one that we developed ourselves were able to determine the properties of each lens, including how its mass was distributed and how much it magnified the image of the background galaxy, said the studys lead author Yashar Hezaveh, a NASA Hubble postdoctoral fellow at KIPAC. This goes far beyond recent applications of neural networks in astrophysics, which were limited to solving classification problems, such as determining whether an image shows a gravitational lens or not. The ability to sift through large amounts of data and perform complex analyses very quickly and in a fully automated fashion could transform astrophysics in a way that is much needed for future sky surveys that will look deeper into the universe and produce more data than ever before. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), for example, whose 3.2-gigapixel camera is currently under construction at SLAC, will provide unparalleled views of the universe and is expected to increase the number of known strong gravitational lenses from a few hundred today to tens of thousands. We wont have enough people to analyze all these data in a timely manner with the traditional methods, Perreault Levasseur said. Neural networks will help us identify interesting objects and analyze them quickly. This will give us more time to ask the right questions about the universe. KIPAC researchers used images of strongly lensed galaxies taken with the Hubble Space Telescope to test the performance of neural networks, which promise to speed up complex astrophysical analyses tremendously. (Yashar Hezaveh/Laurence Perreault Levasseur/Phil Marshall/Stanford/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; NASA/ESA) A Revolutionary Approach Neural networks are inspired by the architecture of the human brain, in which a dense network of neurons quickly processes and analyzes information. In the artificial version, the neurons are single computational units that are associated with the pixels of the image being analyzed. The neurons are organized into layers, up to hundreds of layers deep. Each layer searches for features in the image. Once the first layer has found a certain feature, it transmits the information to the next layer, which then searches for another feature within that feature, and so on. The amazing thing is that neural networks learn by themselves what features to look for, said KIPAC staff scientist Phil Marshall, a co-author of the paper. This is comparable to the way small children learn to recognize objects. You dont tell them exactly what a dog is; you just show them pictures of dogs. But in this case, Hezaveh said, Its as if they not only picked photos of dogs from a pile of photos, but also returned information about the dogs weight, height and age. Scheme of an artificial neural network, with individual computational units organized into hundreds of layers. Each layer searches for certain features in the input image (at left). The last layer provides the result of the analysis. The researchers used particular kinds of neural networks, called convolutional neural networks, in which individual computational units (neurons, gray spheres) of each layer are also organized into 2-D slabs that bundle information about the original image into larger computational units. (Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) Although the KIPAC scientists ran their tests on the Sherlock high-performance computing cluster at the Stanford Research Computing Center, they could have done their computations on a laptop or even on a cell phone, they said. In fact, one of the neural networks they tested was designed to work on iPhones. Neural nets have been applied to astrophysical problems in the past with mixed outcomes, said KIPAC faculty member Roger Blandford, who was not a co-author on the paper. But new algorithms combined with modern graphics processing units, or GPUs, can produce extremely fast and reliable results, as the gravitational lens problem tackled in this paper dramatically demonstrates. There is considerable optimism that this will become the approach of choice for many more data processing and analysis problems in astrophysics and other fields. Part of this work was funded by the DOE Office of Science. -Written by Manuel Gnida Citation: Y.D. Hezaveh, L. Perreault Levasseur, P.J. Marshall, Nature, 30 August 2017 (10.1038/nature23463) Press Office Contact: Andrew Gordon, agordon@slac.stanford.edu, (650) 926-2282 SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit www.slac.stanford.edu. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov. The Israeli government Wednesday chose to monitor Elias Karrams work for six months instead of revoking al Jazeera journalists credentials after the Jewish authorities accused him of endorsing the Palestinian resistance in his reporting. In light of his unequivocal remarks, the government press office has decided not to immediately revoke Karrams (press) card, and in the next six months to monitor his reports in Al-Jazeera in order to ensure that his clear statements are reflected in his actual journalistic work and were not mere words, the Israeli government press office said. Karram and his employer have been in the eyes of the storm in Israel since last month. The government, led by ultra nationalist leader Benjamin Netanyahu, last month threatened to revoke the credentials of journalists at al Jazeera Jerusalem office over accusation that the media incites violence. Karrams credential was put on the line August 16 pending a hearing, which took place five days later, AFP reports. The Arab-Israeli journalist has been blamed for being bias after a video of an interview recorded last year was released by the government press office. Karram in the interview called his work an integral part of Palestinian resistance to Israels occupation. The journalist during the hearing reportedly denied supporting the Palestinian resistance, the armed resistance in particular. The resistance means only media exposure to the reality of the Palestinian people living under occupation, Karram reportedly said. UN Chief Antonio Guterres ended Wednesday his three-day tour of Palestine and Israel by announcing $4 million aid for Gaza, which is living one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes the world have ever known. Guterres was in the enclaved Strip Wednesday on third day of his first tour in the region as UN Chief. Gazans have been living in almost complete darkness for months after Israel significantly reduced power supply to four hours in the day because of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbass decision to cut payment of Gaza electricity bill. The cut in power supply has worsened the humanitarian condition in the Palestinian territory, which has been living under blockades. I am deeply moved to be in Gaza today, unfortunately to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that Ive seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations, Guterres said. Israel has sealed off its border with the enclave since 2007, following control by the Strip by Hamas, which won Palestinian elections. Israel says the blockade is designed to prevent Hamas from staging terrorist attacks in Israel. Egypt, which shares border with Gaza, has also largely imposed a blockade only opening border on occasions. Cairo has accused Hamas of helping weapon smuggling into restive Sinai. But a breakthrough took place lately after meetings between Egyptian and Hamas officials, who agreed to thaw their relations. Guterres also called on Israel and Egypt to lift the blockades. The UN Chief was in Ramallah Tuesday where he met with Palestinian authorities after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday. Guterres condemned Israels continued occupation of Palestinian territories and called on Palestinian authorities to stop backing attacks. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. The Government of Ghana, on Wednesday, extended the credit facility program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by a year following a conclusion of an assessment of the fourth review of the Extended Credit Facility by the Washington-based international lender. The IMF board has also approved a $94 million disbursement following the program extension. Ghanas macroeconomic performance over the years has been mixed. Policy slippages have compounded the adverse impact of shocks and resulted in significant external and domestic imbalances. The extension of the IMF program contradicts the governments earlier position that it would not extend the program, which was expected to end in 2018. The authorities have taken some encouraging steps and the economy is showing signs of recovery. As risks remain tilted to the downside, careful fiscal management will be required to achieve the 2017 program targets and reverse the unfavorable debt dynamics, the IMF said. According to the IMF, Additional efforts are needed to address revenue shortfalls, while expenditure control measures should be fully enforced to contain current spending, and prevent the recurrence of domestic arrears. Ongoing fiscal consolidation and implementation of the medium-term debt management strategy will be key to further reducing domestic refinancing risks. The World Bank has earlier projected a growth target of 6 to 7 percent for 2017. It is however expecting the figure to inch up higher in 2018 and subsequent years. The 6 to 7 percent growth target by the World Bank is also higher than the governments growth projection of 6.3 percent in 2017. Emmanuel Vitus Dialogue on constitutional amendments depends on ruling party By Tina Tskhovrebadze Georgian opposition and ruling parties still tend to search for a consensus regarding the amendments in the Constitution of Georgia. After the first meeting of Georgian political parties on August 18, representatives of the parliamentarian majority asked opposition parties to write down and send their list of main priorities to the ruling party regarding the amendments in the countrys key document.The opposition parties have divided into two parts. Both of the groups contain 11 parties, but still they have two common demands: the first is to hold the proportional elections in 2020 and the second is to elect the president of the country by direct elections.The acceptance of these requirements is the basis to continue the dialogue between the two political sides.Despite the attempts, some still indicate at lack of trust between the majority and opposition as the main drawback for cooperation.However, the president of the country, Giorgi Margvelashvili, is positive about the attempts to reach a consensus; though he admits this will be possible if the ruling party changes its attitude towards the actors involved in the process. At a briefing on August 22, Margvelashvili expressed his hopes to adopt the draft based on the consensus achieved among the political parties.To support the consultations is the key mission of the meeting organized by the Venice Commission in Strasbourg in September.Since the opposition has defined their demands, now it is up to the Georgian Dream to provide a proper response. To see a complete picture and dwell upon further analysis of the issue, we need to observe what will be the proposal of the ruling party. Where To Go When Your Local Emergency Room Goes Bankrupt?" During the past ten years 84 California hospitals have declared bankruptcy and closed their Emergency Rooms forever. Financially crippled by legislative and judicial mandates to treat illegal aliens have bankrupted hospitals! In 2010, in Los Angeles County alone, over 2 million illegal aliens recorded visits to county emergency rooms for both routine and emergency care. The cost is $1,000 dollars for every taxpayer. VIVA LA RAZA? via @clairemcneill Veto be darned. Gov. Rick Scott may have nixed a huge higher education bill in June, but Florida lawmakers are already renewing their push to overhaul the states higher education system in the coming legislative session, starting with the tuition bills of top students. Proposed legislation filed by Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, would make permanent the Bright Futures boost that rewards more than 46,500 high-achieving Florida students by paying 100 percent of their tuition and fees at state universities. Galvano and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, pushed for that expansion this past session, but the provision was lost with the veto. Students still benefited because money was set aside in the budget. Now Galvano and Negron want to make the change permanent. They also have their sights set on another Bright Futures expansion, this time benefiting the second-tier Florida Medallion Scholars who could see 75 percent of their tuition and fees paid by the state. Florida Medallion Scholars used to receive funding for 75 percent of their tuition and fees, but as Bright Futures expanded and the economy contracted, lawmakers cut back. Now Medallion Scholars receive much less, about $2,310 per year, toward tuition and fees that cost about $6,000 at state universities. Medallion Scholars must have 3.0 weighted GPA; a 26 on the ACT or 1170 on the SAT; and 75 service hours. To hit the higher tier, Florida Academic Scholars, they need a 3.5 weighted GPA; a 29 on ACT or 1290 on the SAT; and 100 service hours. The new bill would also: -- Require universities to implement block tuition, which lets students pay a flat rate for tuition per semester, rather than by credit hour. Proponents say this incentivizes students to take more classes and gives them more flexibility, ultimately speeding up the path to graduation. -- Change the way the state determines which universities deserve extra money for being preeminent, by judging them based on their 4-year graduation rates, rather than 6-year graduation rates. -- Give a grace period to universities seeking preeminence status when it comes to that metric change. This will benefit the University of South Florida, which is on the cusp of preeminence under current standards. Any university that meets preeminence under current metrics will get to keep that status, and the funding, for 2018-19, regardless of the metric change. -- Tighten university relationships with the leadership, funds and public disclosures of their direct-support organizations. -- Expand need-based aid. -- Require universities to identify internship opportunities for students. -- Establish a program to help universities recruit world-class faculty. @alextdaugherty The push to punish Nicolas Maduro is getting attention outside of South Florida. On Thursday, Colorado Republican Rep. Mike Coffman announced his intention to introduce the "Protecting Against Tyranny and Responsible Imports Act," legislation that would ban the importation of Venezuelan oil into the United States. Coffman plans to formally introduce the bill once Congress comes back to Washington next week. Coffman took issue with Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. could use military force against Venezuela, arguing that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should pursue a ban on oil imports before considering military intervention. The price of the blood that could be shed by our own military has a greater value to me than any increase in the price at the pump caused by a ban on the sale of Venezuelan oil in the United States, Coffman, a Marine Corps veteran, said in a press release. The White House has said all options are on the table when it comes to Venezuela, and last week restricted Venezuelas ability to borrow money from American creditors. Although I am pleased that President Trump authorized additional sanctions against Venezuela, I believe that we must take stronger action to get Maduro to reinstate the National Assembly," Coffman said. His office estimates a ban on oil imports will lead to $10 billion in lost income for the Venezuelan government. Most South Florida politicians from both parties are in favor of banning Venezuelan oil imports, which would directly impact Citgo, a Texas-based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known as PDVSA. But there's disagreement in Congress among politicians from both parties over whether an oil ban would hurt Maduro's regime or fuel anti-American sentiment. The White House has yet to make a decision. I believe theres a crisis coming in Venezuela, and I think we need to be careful about not making ourselves the focus of that crisis, Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee said in July. Sometimes what we do unifies the chavistas. Venezuela exported 291 million barrels of oil and oil products to the United States in 2016. The United States buys nearly half of Venezuelas oil, and oil revenues account for 95 percent of Venezuelas export earnings, according to OPEC. In contrast, Venezuelan oil accounts for just eight percent of U.S oil imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. @alextdaugherty Nearly two dozen Democrats from 11 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to acting Department of Homeland Security secretary Elaine Duke on Tuesday calling for the expansion of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans currently in the United States, joining a growing chorus of lawmakers from both parties and Venezuelan activists pushing for the Trump administration to take action. Florida lawmakers including Sen. Bill Nelson and Reps. Kathy Castor, Val Demings, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Stephanie Murphy and Debbie Wasserman Schultz signed the letter. "Granting TPS in these circumstances is also in line with our national interest," the letter reads. "Venezuelans in the U.S. have not just become a vibrant part of our communities, but have also made important contributions including as lawyers, doctors, and small-business owners. Further, sending these individuals back could spur mass forced migration, destabilizing the region as neighboring Colombia implements its peace accord and as we seek to curb illicit narcotics flows to the United States." Donald Trump, who continues to talk tough on immigration, hasnt indicated that he is open to extending the program to another country. The TPS program is designed to help individuals affected by ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic or other extraordinary and temporary conditions, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Read the letter here. @ByKristenMClark A day after visiting a private religious school and a public charter school in Tallahassee, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spent Wednesday speaking behind closed doors with various education stakeholders, business leaders and advocates in Floridas capital city. The events were not disclosed on DeVos public schedule, as her office deemed them private activities. However, on Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Education released a readout promoting one of the gatherings after the fact a summit at Bethel Family Life Center with K-12 and HBCU [historically black college and university] leaders. Meanwhile, DeVos office also did not disclose nor offer a readout of a meeting reportedly held earlier Wednesday with about a dozen leaders of business, higher education and advocacy organizations at the Florida Chamber of Commerce. The News Service of Florida reported that DeVos had a warm reception there and urged the leaders to double down on efforts to expand choices for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Full story here. Photo credit: U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos participates in a lesson with fifth grade students at Holy Comforter Episcopal School in Tallahassee on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, as they use an online-learning platform to take a quiz about idioms. DeVos spent two hours visiting classrooms at the private Christian school. Kristen M. Clark / Herald/Times @alextdaugherty @patriciamazzei The race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen keeps getting bigger. Former Doral Councilwoman Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera will run as a Republican for Ros-Lehtinens Miami-based seat in 2018, she told Miami Herald. When I saw that she was not going to be running again, I thought that was interesting, and I had several people from the community call me and ask me to consider running, Rodriguez Aguilera said. I have been involved in community activism, human rights, economic development and international affairs all my life, and I feel that this is a good fit for me. Rodriguez Aguilera, 59, works as an entrepreneur and teaches at Miami Dade College. She was a Doral councilwoman from 2012-2014 and served as the citys first economic developer. Rodriguez Aguilera said the most important attribute she will bring to Washington is that she is someone who can listen and cut red tape. Bureaucracy is needed but not to the point that they stall businesses, she said. Rodriguez Aguilera avoided the word moderate when describing her political leanings, describing herself instead as a common-sense Republican. She said she voted for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. That puts her at odds with one of the two announced Republican candidates: Raquel Regalado, the former school board member and Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate, who did not support Trump. The other announced Republican candidate, Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, voted for Trump. What he did on the Cuba situation with Obama rolling it back was laudable, Rodriguez Aguilera said. With my father being a Cuban political prisoner, we needed to get some pride back. She also supports the presidents sanctions and tough talk on Venezuela. I think that no one is perfect but I think that the president in general has done a good job, though I dont agree with every single thing hes done, Rodriguez Aguilera said. National Democrats see an opportunity to flip Ros-Lehtinens district, which includes most of Miami and Miami Beach. The district voted for Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 percentage points over Trump, making it the most Democratic-leaning district in the country currently held by a Republican in Congress. Read more here. @PatriciaMazzei As early as Friday, President Donald Trump could end a program that protected from deportation young immigrants brought into the country illegally. But if the White House doesn't immediately eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, at least one Miami Republican member of Congress wants to try to make it more difficult for the Trump administration to act on its own. U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo recently filed three amendments to a House spending bill intended to block the use of budget funds to alter DACA. It appears to be a long-shot approach, given that the GOP-held House seems unlikely to oppose Trump on cracking down on immigration, an issue important to the president's base. One amendment would prohibit the White House from using any funds appropriated in the bill to change DACA. Another would ban the funds from being used to deport DACA recipients or cancel or suspend their work permits. A third amendment would allow DACA recipients, often called "Dreamers," to be eligible for government employment. The mega appropriations bill is scheduled to be considered in the House next week, after Congress returns from its summer recess. Some 50,000 people benefit from DACA in Florida. Curbelo filed a new version of the "Dream Act" -- legislation that would allow people brought into the country illegally as children to remain -- in March. Photo credit: David Santiago, el Nuevo Herald @PatriciaMazzei U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has lent his name -- and now, his voice -- to help a Republican friend campaign for the Florida Senate in Miami. Rubio recorded a robocall in English and Spanish for state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, who's running in a special Sept. 26 election for Senate District 40. Diaz faces Democrat Annette Taddeo and independent Christian "He-Man" Schlaerth. Rubio had already been featured in a mailer for Diaz, asking voters to sign up to vote by mail. The robocall "chases" those forms, asking voters to return them. Here's the call script, transcribed from an audio of the call obtained by the Miami Herald: His, this is Sen. Marco Rubio. I'm calling on behalf of my good friend Jose Felix Diaz, who's a candidate for state Senate District 40. I recently mailed you an absentee-ballot request form, and it's important that you return it today. Jose Felix Diaz voted to cut taxes by over a billion dollars in the past two years, saving you and your family money on school supplies, property taxes and small businesses. Jose will be what he's always been, a tireless champion for your family in the Florida Senate. But he needs your help to get there, so please return your absentee-ballot request form today. Photo credit: Al Diaz, Miami Herald staff @ByKristenMClark Gov. Rick Scott was within his executive authority in reassigning more than two dozen potential death penalty cases away from an Orlando state attorney who declared she wouldnt pursue the punishment for any case prosecuted in her district, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a 5-2 ruling, justices said Aramis Ayalas blanket opposition to seeking the death penalty negates her argument of having exercised prosecutorial discretion. Writing for the majority, Justice C. Alan Lawson a conservative judge whom Scott appointed to the Supreme Court in December said Scott, as governor, has leeway in his constitutional duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and the governor has not abused his broad discretion in reassigning the cases at issue to Brad King, a state attorney in Ocala. Full story here. Photo credit: AP The upcoming hunting season in Montana will be a little different this year because of hot, dry conditions across the state and numerous wildfires causing a few closures to public access. However, Mac Minard, the executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, said many hunters have not canceled reservations for guided services. Most of those people have made their arrangements well in advance, he said. But most sportsmen going into the field are going to have a little bit of heightened awareness of game spoilage and the dangers of fire cause by catalytic converters (on the undersides of vehicles) or striking up a campfire." He also said landowners are going to be hypersensitive to anything that would start a wildfire. "In fact, one of the bigger issues are landowner decisions, because many of them might say its just a little too dangerous for you to be out here," he said. Montanas upland game bird season opens Friday, Sept. 1, and the general deer, elk and antelope archery-only season begins Saturday, Sept. 2. Temperatures are supposed to hit the 90s in Missoula Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Every active fire in Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 2, which includes much of west-central Montana, has associated land or road closures, which means some U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, trails and roads will be off-limits to hunters. Vivica Crowser, a spokeswoman for FWP, said that closures are dynamic, so hunters can check InciWeb online at inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/27/ for current fire closures and maps, or they can call 406-542-5500. All Region 2 lands are open as of Aug. 30, but updates can be found at fwp.mt.gov/news/restrictions. There are some private lands enrolled as FWP Block Management Areas that are closed due to fire danger and activity, and the FWP website will have updates on those areas. Most places in western Montana are under Stage 2 fire restrictions, which prohibit all campfires and charcoal and welding, explosives, driving off established roads and use of internal-combustion engines from 1 p.m. until 1 a.m., Crowser said. Cooking is allowed on propane devices that can be shut off. She said that extreme fire danger likely will persist into late September, and hunters can do their part to prevent wildfires by taking the following precautions: Park your vehicle on bare ground or ground completely void of tall grass. Drive only on established roads. After you leave an area, wait for few minutes to make sure that a fire has not started where your vehicle was parked. Bring along a fire extinguisher or shovel, ax, or water-filled weed sprayer. Camp only in designated camping areas. Smoke only inside buildings or vehicles. Check on any fire restrictions in place in the area where you are hunting. Consider limiting activity until fire danger lessens. Joe Ashor, field manager for the Bureau of Land Managements Missoula office, said that his staff oversees 162,000 acres of public land in western Montana, but some of it may be closed due to fires. We have several thousand acres involved in the Little Hogback west of Philipsburg, and in fact its the biggest fire weve ever had in recent memory at our office, he said. Weve got closures there, and weve got about 3,400 acres south of the Jocko River closed as a result of the Liberty fire in the Mission Mountains. Ashor said theres seven or eight areas that are going to have closures to public access because of wildfires. Its something hunters will have to deal with, he said. Good news this year for the University of Montana: UM built a budget based on an enrollment of 11,000 students, and as of Wednesday morning, 11,540 students had registered. "We have stabilized and possibly increased our first-year students. That is what we were hoping for," UM President Sheila Stearns said Wednesday. The interim UM leader made her remarks to the campus in a welcome address that, UM announced earlier this week, would take the place of the traditional State of the University address. Stearns' comments Wednesday about stemming the enrollment decline among freshmen drew spontaneous applause. Stearns and Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs Tom Crady later offered more details in a media briefing, including the registration figures. Some metrics are heading the direction UM wants, but others are still going the opposite way. Overall enrollment is projected to drop as much as 5 percent to 8 percent because of the large size of the 2017 graduating class, Stearns said. However, she said she was optimistic about the results of UM's new recruitment efforts to date and for the long term. Stearns said the incoming class is at least even with last year's incoming class and appears to be slightly up. "That was a huge goal, so I feel good about that," Stearns said. *** At the media briefing, though, Stearns also said personnel spending remains too high compared to national benchmarks. In a midyear update in January, the president said UM spent more than 80 percent on personnel, and she wanted to see the number fall at least a few percentage points. Wednesday, she said UM is spending "nearly 90 percent, or 85 percent," on personnel, and it isn't investing as much as it should in recruitment. She said the goal is to eventually keep the cost of personnel at a percent in the low 70s. "The first thing we need to do is face facts. We may not like the facts," Stearns said at the briefing. UM is in the midst of a process to set program priorities and spending priorities and a report is expected by the end of the fall semester. An effort to cut, for spring semester, 34 faculty members who do not have the protection of tenure ran into trouble last week when the faculty union filed a grievance alleging UM failed to give the lecturers proper notice. Stearns said Wednesday the administration disagrees with the union's contract interpretation, and the grievance is pending. *** At the general address, Stearns issued a call to action to campus staff and faculty, and took the opportunity to celebrate UM's successes with a toast. She said UM made it through re-accreditation with no recommendations or qualifications and thanked associate provost Nathan Lindsay for leading the project. She also commended UM's research and philanthropic achievements. The UM Foundation raised $84.5 million this year, she said; a few years ago, the number was closer to $20 million. "Some of that credit is due of course to my predecessor, Royce Engstrom, who built wonderful relationships with donors over those years," Stearns said. Stearns took the helm of UM in December 2016 when Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian asked Engstrom to step down. Stearns agreed to fill the role temporarily. A search is underway for a permanent UM president with finalists expected to visit the campus this fall. (See related story.) Stearns may stay on board beyond 2017 if the new president can't start until after January 2018. *** In her welcome to the campus, Stearns shared her idea of the meaning of UM's motto, "We are Montana," and called faculty and staff to action. UM is a "magnificent summer place," with visiting scholars, a place with enrollment struggles similar to ones faced by other universities, and a changing place, the president said. "The University of Montana is challenged, but we are beautifully poised to prosper in every way," she said. She did not make direct reference to the divisive political environment in the nation, but she did encourage the campus to support colleagues across the country. She noted in particular those in Houston and Charlottesville, Virginia. In Texas, more than 20 people died after flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Earlier this month, three people died when white supremacists demonstrated in Charlottesville, marching across the University of Virginia; one woman died and many were injured after a man who admired Nazis drove a car into a crowd. "They had violence and fear on their campus," Stearns said. "It could be any campus." In the wake of the tension, she said UM needs to reinforce values of free speech and freedom of expression, and she encouraged people to stand up as allies in peaceful nonviolence for fellow human beings who feel endangered. "'We are Montana' to me means we are also connected to universities throughout the country," Stearns said. She anticipated UM staff and faculty also were connected and reaching out to friends in Lolo and Florence, where fires are burning. Reputable polls that show families feel less confident that a college degree is a worthwhile investment, the president said, and she ticked off the benefits: better quality of life, health outcomes, opportunity, and earning a million more dollars over the course of a lifetime. "Let's all make sure that we are advocates for higher education, as I know all of you are," Stearns said. A year and a month after the devastating Roaring Lion fire destroyed 16 homes and cost $11 million to fight, three of the young people whose campfire started the blaze received deferred sentences in Ravalli County District Court prompting cries of foul from several affected homeowners. Steven Banks, Tyler Johnson and Cody Knez agreed Monday to pay 10 percent of their income each year for five years, and to perform 100 hours of volunteer community service with the Forest Service each of three years. If they complete those conditions, the charges of felony and misdemeanor negligent arson will be dropped. The case against a fourth person a juvenile was dismissed. The four built a campfire three days before the Roaring Lion fire erupted on a small bluff near Roaring Lion Creek. Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright called the case highly emotional with no winner. He said he tried to strike a balance between the landowners who suffered great losses and the affected landowners who disagree with the charges that were filed. These young men desire to be good citizens and part of the community, Fulbright told Judge Jeffrey Langton. We also recognize that theyve been charged with the lowest level of criminal conduct. They had no intention or purpose to cause harm and that has to be weighed against the devastating results of the fire. Langton said he did not have a role in the agreement, due to a legislative change in 2015. The decision is the sole discretion of the prosecuting attorney, Langton said. The court has no authority. The term is five years unless an event triggers an earlier review. Nearly 10 landowners devastated by the Roaring Lion fire were unhappy with the agreement and angrily questioned Fulbright's decision after Monday's hearing. Fulbright explained that 10 percent of each defendants adjusted gross income will come to his office and he will deliver it to the landowners proportionately. It isnt going to be much because you know who they are 18, now 19-year-olds, he said. Several landowners remarked that the four had broken the law. Fulbright said that when Banks, Johnson, Knez and the juvenile lit their campfire, there was a burn ban in Ravalli County but there was no Stage One restriction by the Forest Service. At that time there were no restrictions once you crossed into Forest Service land, Fulbright said. I had to balance the evidence we have against the damage they caused and what the fire cost, which is huge. Fulbright said the cost of the fire would never be recovered. I would rather see something that is a reminder of why you dont do this, he said. Landowner Jan Moat called community service with the Forest Service a reward rather than a punishment. She said when her son was 18 he volunteered to work for the Forest Service. He was delighted and excited to get that job. That is not punishment for an 18-year-old, she said. He was delighted to get what you are giving these kids as punishment. Maybe they should be picking up litter. Fulbright said the Forest Service would determine their volunteer work. Landowner Bill Haberman disagreed with the number of hours. I think 300 hours is totally low compared with the damage that they did and the hardship that they caused to the people here and the others who couldnt come, Haberman said. He disagreed with having three summers at 100 hours a summer. Thats hardly over two weeks of work, Haberman said. All of us here put in a lot more than two weeks of work every summer to have our houses look the way they are. We not only lost our contents, we lost everything our feelings, our beliefs. Most of us here, as you can see, are not in our 30s. It is hard to start all over when you are in your 60s and 70s. Landowner Lyn Faunce-Haberman called Fulbright a liar. You misrepresented what youve done for the victims of this fire to that judge, she said. You told him you were in contact with us but you havent talked to us, personally, on your own. All that stuff you told the judge about having a good sense of what the victims of this case would like to have as a result of this prosecution was incorrect because you dont know. Fulbright clarified that the definition of his job did not allow him to represent individual citizens. He said he understands landowners want him to equate what happens in the criminal case with the degree of loss. Im ethically bound to take in to account the level of conduct, Fulbright said. If they had intentionally set to burn down Ravalli County, it would be a whole different case. Fulbright said unhappy landowners could possibly file civil lawsuits. Paul Greenwood, a deputy district attorney in San Diego, has prosecuted more than 600 cases of elder abuse physical and financial abuse alike over the past two decades. And over the next decade, he expects elder abuse to become one of the nations top five social issues, he told a crowd of about 300 people gathered Wednesday at the Big Horn Resort for AARP Montanas Operation Stop Scams conference. We have got to convince our legislatures and our courts that this is a serious problem, said Greenwood, who spoke for about an hour and was afforded a standing ovation when he was done. It is heartbreaking and emotional. Some victims never recover their dignity. They get depressed and they die brokenhearted. I have seen that happen several times. Greenwood mixed humor with practical advice speaking to the mostly senior crowd, which enjoyed free lunch and wisdom from seven panelists who touched on state and federal resources to protect residents from fraud. What should elders do when scam artists call seeking contributions for, say, Houston-area flood victims? Blow a whistle into the phone. Give them an earache, Greenwood suggested. If you and I do our part, I think we can certainly make a difference in the lives of many people. Who's the culprit? In 1996, his first year prosecuting crimes against elders, Greenwood took on 17 cases. This year, he and his team are on track to prosecute more than 450. Financial exploitation will be involved in almost 300 of those cases. The number one red flag, he said, is elder isolation. Greenwood recommends supporting isolated seniors by connecting them with friends, neighbors or churches. In San Diego, volunteers in the sheriffs office phone housebound residents every day as part of the You Are Not Alone program. That outreach and education, he said, is where we can make a difference. Greenwood said the most common type of elder physical abuse is perpetrated by the 35- to 55-year-old son who lives in the home of his widowed mother. He has an addiction typically methamphetamine, alcohol or gambling. He is also lazy, Greenwood said. When he asks victims why their son isnt working, he hears, he has a medical condition that prevents it. I tell them, Dont tell me its a bad back. It comes from sitting on your sofa eight hours a day playing video games. Dont think elder abuse is confined to scams, he said. Prosecuting The public holds a number of misconceptions about how prosecutors bring their cases to trial, he said. Among his least favorite is victims who tell him they dont want to press charges, particularly against family members. Who presses charges? Its the prosecutor, he said. Victims are witnesses, and they dont get to choose which cases I prosecute. Another pet peeve is when he hears police tell victims, Thats a civil matter. When I hear officers say that, I tell them that calls for a legal conclusion, and thats not up to you, he said. Send me the report and let me make the determination. He said he fondly remembers the day his father called him from his home in England to say he and Greenwoods mother had just scheduled their first ski vacation. "But dad," Greenwood said, "you two are elderly and moms never skied before." His dad laughed. Ski stands for Spend Kids Inheritance, Greenwood recounted, telling the large crowd: Dont ever feel guilty about spending money on yourself. You have worked long and hard for it. Dont let the crooks have it. I guarantee you there is a cruise ship waiting for you in San Diego harbor. In Montana Montana Attorney General Tim Fox told the crowd that he, too, has been the victim of a scam secondarily. Addressing the conference Wednesday morning, Fox said his photo was stolen possibly from his campaign website by a Nigerian national, who used Foxs image to meet women online. Over time, one woman from Indiana sent him $150,000. She was sincere about seeking out companionship, Fox said. The man was eventually arrested in Atlanta, tried and sentenced. I wish I could show you his picture, Fox said. Youd know why he was using my picture. When I told my wife hed used my picture, she said, I dont know what women see in you. Fox offered up these 2016 statistics on scams in Montana: The Montana Department of Justices Office of Consumer Protection received about 5,000 calls last year about 3,000 of them scam-related. In about 38 percent of those calls, the scammers purported to be IRS agents. Even your attorney general gets those calls, Fox said with a chuckle. I listen to them for a while and tell them, You just reached the top law enforcement officer in the state of Montana. Fox said he typically next hears, Click. Montanas consumer protection specialists, who can be reached at 800-481-6896 or contactocp@mt.gov, last year protected residents from sending $187,000 to scammers and recovered $600,000 more in money and services. I wish I could say we are immune, but we are all at risk of losing substantial amounts of money if we dont stay one step ahead of scam artists, Fox said. You (seniors) are the primary target, and AARP and we want to make sure you have the tools and weapons you need to combat these con artists. We are here to help. Youve heard that from government before, but we actually do it. GLACIER NATIONAL PARK High winds pushed the Sprague fire into Glacier National Park's historic Sperry Chalet Thursday, burning it down, according to InciWeb. "A highly skilled group of firefighters were staged at the Sperry Chalet over the last week. ... The firefighters, supported by three helicopters, made a valiant stand to save the structure but were unsuccessful in saving the main Sperry Chalet," the national wildfire information service posted shortly after 7 p.m. The chalet had been closed since Aug. 15, after the discovery of the Sprague fire, which was sparked by a lightning storm on Aug. 10 and tore through steep, heavily forested terrain that has not burned since the 1700s. But until Thursday, that closure was couched as a matter of the fire posing a danger to trail access, not to the chalet itself. For days, firefighters used an extensive hose lay pump system to defend the chalet and its outbuildings, Peri Suenram of the wildland fire management team said Thursday evening. But Thursday afternoon, the winds predicted by a Red Flag Warning that had been in effect for more than a day finally kicked up and the fire "made a really big push," Suenram said. "One small spot fire started on the cookhouse roof, but they were able to put it out. Shortly after 6 p.m., though, we got notified that the Sperry Chalet main building was completely engulfed in flames." The team of five firefighters remained on site Thursday night, she said. "We're not able to get them out right now, but they've assured us they are SAFE in capital letters." Those firefighters are continuing to deploy the system in place to try and save the remaining four structures, she said. "We're continuing to support them with bucket drops. The destruction of the chalet came a day after the park's Lake McDonald Lodge closed for the season because of hazardous levels of smoke. In 2003, the Roberts fire forced the evacuation of an estimated 3,000 people from the Lake McDonald Valley, including the lodge, Apgar and park headquarters. Sperry is one of the park's two backcountry chalets. While guests at the park's other chalet, Granite Park, toted their own food, those at Sperry had meals, drinks and bed linens provided. The chalet dates to 1912, when a crew of Italian stonemasons built the kitchen and dining hall in a glacial cirque at 6,580 feet, looking down at Lake McDonald and west toward the Whitefish Range, according to Ray Djuff and Chris Morrison, authors of View with a Room. In 1913, the kitchen began serving guests who stayed in a tent camp. That same year, work began on the chalet whose 17 guest rooms could hold 40 to 50 overnight guests, who hiked in. Comments stacked up on Glacier National Park's Facebook page after it posted the news Thursday evening."Sad," read several. "Heartbroken," said others. Suenram echoed them in her recital of the day's events. "It's sad," she said. "Oh, gosh, it's sad." *** The poor weather conditions troubling firefighters are expected to stretch into the weekend. The likelihood of thunderstorms was expected to peak Friday or Saturday, bringing lightning that could start new blazes and wind gusts that could fuel existing ones. A Red Flag Warning was in effect until 9 p.m. Thursday for many of the regions fires, with crews largely unable to conduct new controlled burns and waiting at the ready to attack any new starts.. Thw Lolo Peak fire put up a new plume Thursday evening, causing a stir on social media. "The fire was kind of sitting in one spot for five to six days," said fire information officer Todd Schoeder, but it started moving again Wednesday and kept going Thursday. It spotted south of One Horse Creek and continues to burn on a north-facing slope about 1.5 miles west of the mouth of the canyon, Schoeder said Thursday night. Retardant was laid down at the rate of 20,000 to 30,000 gallons an hour Thursday, he said. "We were hitting it hard all day ... and we'll have eyes on it all night long." Late Thursday night, "all of a sudden the wind laid down, the fire laid down," and the decision was made for burnout operations south from One Horse Creek to Bass Creek in order to strengthen the buffer along the primary control line, Schroeder said. Three 20-person crews, eight engines, and two water tenders, and 110 people, were on the operation, he said. Several evacuation warnings have been lifted along the fires perimeter, where the line has been controlled and fuels burned through. Warnings were lifted in the Highway 12 corridor from mile marker 24 near and including Arena Drive to the Highway 93 junction in Lolo. In the Highway 93 corridor, the evacuation warning was lifted for residents starting at mile marker 79 near and including the Gravel Pit off of Old Highway 93 and the McClain Creek Road north to the Highway 12 junction. The evacuation warning remains in place in the Bear Creek and Elk Creek areas on Highway 12 east of Lolo and in the Highway 93 corridor from McClain Creek Road south to Bass Creek Road. Also on Thursday, firefighters started preparing areas for burning operations to connect the already burned blocks created as a buffer along the primary control line south from One Horse Creek to Bass Creek. As the conditions allow, firefighters will conduct these smaller burnout operations in the upcoming days to protect residences in the Highway 93 corridor, according to InciWeb, the national wildfire information service. Officials on the Rice Ridge fire issued new evacuation warnings Wednesday night for about 90 residences in the Seeley Lake area from Tamarack Resort to Bear Grass Lane and extending toward Camp Creek. Fire officials said they would host a community meeting 6 p.m. Friday in Ovando at the elementary school. *** The only bright spot Thursday came in terms of air quality. "Hot dippity dog," crowed air quality specialist Sarah Coefield in her Thursday-afternoon report. "We're seeing legit valley-scouring winds this afternoon, and some parts of the county have seen significant air quality improvements." Clearwater Junction, Arlee, the Potomac Valley and the Swan Valley saw Moderate air quality Thursday afternoon, while elsewhere the air quality stood at Unhealthy for Sensitive groups, reported Coefield, of the Missoula City-County Health Department. But what's good news for firefighters that Thursday's winds were predicted to calm after midnight isn't so great on the smoke front, with smoke likely pooling near active fires, Coefield wrote. "Florence, Lolo and Seely Lake may have Very Unhealthy or Hazardous air quality. The rest of us are likely to see ground-level haze and a lot of overhead smoke in the morning," she said of Friday's outlook. And she reminded people that Seeley Lake continues to have incredibly bad air quality, hovering around three times the particulate concentration necessary to be deemed hazardous by technical standards. It was 10 times worse in Seeley Lake (than Missoula) and theyve been seeing numbers like this on a near-daily basis for the past month, Coefield wrote. The folks in Seeley Lake are seeing smoke like we've never seen before, and a lot of them are suffering. We should not become numb to the numbers. Cold, clear mountain water from Silver Lake hit the thirsty lower Warm Springs Creek on its way to the even thirstier upper Clark Fork River last week. Using settlement money garnered from its lawsuit in the 1990s against Atlantic Richfield Co., the state is paying Butte-Silver Bow County $11,607 for one week of pumping about 16 million gallons each day of Silver Lake water to the degraded system downstream of Anaconda. Butte-Silver Bow owns the water rights to Silver Lake. The states cost reimburses the county for the amount necessary for electrical and labor expenses the county will incur. If all goes well the state is expected to shell out an additional $7,105 of settlement money to the county to pay for a second week of clear, cold mountain water to make its way down into the depleted lower Warm Springs Creek and the upper Clark Fork River. Butte-Silver Bow Public Works director Dave Schultz said once the pumps are running, it doesnt cost as much to keep them going, which is why the second week is expected to be less expensive. The amount going into the river each day is about as much as Butte uses on a daily basis this time of year, Schultz said. The effort is a pilot project aimed at improving critical habitat for native bull trout, which are listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Jason Lindstrom, fisheries biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said that even though the pilot project is short-term, he believes that once 25 to 30 cubic feet per second hits the troubled waterways, the benefits to the fish will be immediate. Stan Bradshaw, Trout Unlimited project manager, said he hopes this is just the beginning. The joint effort to put water into the beleaguered upper Clark Fork system has been years in the making. At this time of year, the water in the upper Clark Fork is pushing 80 degrees, Lindstrom said. The combination of hotter temperatures due to climate change and irrigation takes a toll on the river and that, in turn, takes a toll on the native fish. Bull trout, which require pristine, cold water, suffer due to low flows and high temperatures. Without some kind of effort, the bull trout that live in upper Warm Springs Creek might not survive in the long term. Its not an unhealthy population but its not a robust one either. Theyre hanging on. Were trying to enable them to persist moving forward. They like connected habitat and move the long distances they require, Lindstrom said. But the additional water flows wont solve all of the bull trouts problems in the upper Clark Fork. Heavy metal deposits left behind by the 1908 flood washed mining and smelting waste downstream, meaning more heavy metals in the river. The state has been working to remove the metals, but it still has years of work before the cleanup work will be complete. Native fish bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout need the cleanest of the clean water, Lindstrom said. But that, says Casey Hackathorn, Upper Clark Fork program manager for Trout Unlimited, is not a reason to despair. Doing one action isnt going to fix everything, but fish need water so its definitely a step in the right direction, he said. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a 25-year-old Canadian man, whom officials say illegally entered the country by cutting down a border fence. The arrest happened near the Sweetgrass Port of Entry north of Shelby, according to a release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. An agent first saw a white pickup moving along the border. After stopping the truck, agents learned about the Alberta man's illegal entry, the release said. He drove southbound on dirt roads in an attempt to avoid detection. Agents arrested the man for illegal entry. He was not identified by the agency. A search of his vehicle turned up a weapon and "large amounts" of American currency, according to the release. A man prosecutors say raped, kidnapped and shot a developmentally disabled Billings woman was denied parole Wednesday. Floyd Tapson, 56, was sentenced in 2003 to 75 years in prison for the 1998 attack. He was charged with aggravated kidnapping, attempted deliberate homicide and rape of the 22-year-old woman. The rape charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement. All five members of the Board of Pardons and Parole voted to deny Tapson parole at his hearing Wednesday. Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito spoke at the hearing, along with witnesses in the case. He can re-petition for release in six years. Tapsons case was first tried in 1999 with the jury finding him guilty of attempted deliberate homicide. But Tapson appealed the conviction after the judge spent time with jurors without counsel present. (The meeting was to provide paperwork to jurors.) The Montana Supreme Court sided with Tapson and sent the case back to Yellowstone County District Court, where Tapson received the 75-year sentence. Tapson is being held at a facility run by the North Dakota State Penitentiary. At Tapsons sentencing hearing in 2003, the victim gave emotional testimony. "I won't ever feel safe from him unless he is in prison," the woman told the judge at the time, reading deliberately through her tears as Tapson sat a few feet away in the courtroom. "I don't think anyone will be safe from him unless he is in prison for the rest of his life. I strongly hope (Tapson) dies in prison." Tapson remains a suspect in similar separate cases in North Dakota and Minnesota, where the deaths of at least two women with developmental disabilities remain under investigation. Authorities say Tapson was in Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1994 at the same time a 22-year-old woman was murdered, and he was in Grand Forks, North Dakota, when a 19-year-old woman disappeared in 1996. The search committee for the University of Montana president will invite three or four finalists for the job for campus interviews, Higher Education Commissioner Clayton Christian said Thursday. He said the hiring process is dynamic, but at this point, the committee did not intend to extend invitations to any internal candidates or ones with known Montana addresses. Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau and once-candidate for U.S. House of Representatives had said she would apply for the position. Christian, chair of the search committee, said he does not have a preference for any particular candidate, and he said committee members took votes along the way. "I've never been more serious about impartiality in trying to find the best candidate we can find," Christian said. "It's just such an important juncture at the University of Montana. We need a highly qualified leader that can move this institution forward. "The good news is the pool looks to have that. I was overwhelmed by the quality of individuals we just interviewed. We've got a great opportunity for a fresh start." Invitations are slated to go out this week to finalists, including at least one woman and professionals with diverse career backgrounds, the commissioner said. Earlier in the week, a subcommittee interviewed 12 or 13 candidates in person and then conferred Thursday with the larger group of some 24 members. Christian said the committee will release the names of finalists who accept invitations for campus visits. Kevin McRae, spokesman for the Commissioner's Office, said he believes candidates will respond by next week, after Labor Day. The search started with 99 applicants, "probably twice as many applicants as we've had before, and they're good applicants," McRae said. The committee of campus and community members narrowed the list to 12 or 13 to interview in person and will bring finalists who accept invitations to campus in September or October. Each will spend a couple of days on campus visiting with various constituents, such as faculty, staff, students and the public. In recent years, internal candidates have landed at top UM and university system posts, including Christian, former chair of the Montana Board of Regents. Former UM President Royce Engstrom got the top post after serving as provost at the Missoula flagship; he was among three finalists selected after a national search, Christian said. He said one of those finalists took another job, and a second one subsequently bowed out. UM also hired Peggy Kuhr as vice president of integrated communications; the once-dean of the School of Journalism temporarily filled the vice president job and served as chair of the search committee before resigning as search chair and announcing her own candidacy. She retired from the post in 2016. McRae, though, said the university system more often than not selects external candidates, and it hears criticism from people who want to know why it is overlooking Montana talent. "We go for the best candidate, whether they are internal or external," McRae said. The commissioner will ultimately make a recommendation to the Montana Board of Regents, and the board will appoint a new president. In December 2016, Commissioner Christian asked Engstrom to step down and tapped former Commissioner Sheila Stearns to lead UM as interim president. UM has experienced falling enrollment, some 24 percent since 2010. However, last summer it hired a new vice president for enrollment, and Wednesday, the administration announced positive trends in the metrics used to track incoming freshmen (see related story). 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 [] The St. Helena Hospital Foundation board of directors has named Susan Dix Lyons as president and CEO. Dix Lyons is the founder and former CEO of Clinica Verde, a global health organization that provides medical services and health and nutrition education for women and children living in poverty in Nicaragua. Prior to this, Dix Lyons worked in media as an executive editor and publisher. She received a BA from American University in Washington, D.C., and an MA from UC Davis. Ive had the privilege of leading organizations outside of my community and now Im really looking forward to building on the success of St. Helena Hospital Foundation, said Dix Lyons. Dix Lyons lives in Angwin and is married to Tim Lyons, MD, chief medical officer and director of anesthesia at Adventist Health St. Helena. The Calistoga woman who died in a two-vehicle wreck on Highway 29 on Wednesday afternoon has been identified as 66-year-old Isabel Browne Driscoll, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Coroner. Driscoll was driving northbound on Highway 29 north of Bale Lane when she turned her vehicle to the left into a vehicle heading southbound on the highway, California Highway Patrol said in a press release. The front of the southbound vehicle, driven by Stephen Garcia, 65, of Sonoma, hit the right side of Driscolls vehicle, officials said. Driscoll was pronounced dead at the scene. CHP said that she was not wearing her seatbelt. Her family has been notified, but an autopsy has not yet been scheduled. Garcia sustained minor injuries, officials said. After losing an appeal with the St. Helena City Council, a group of concerned residents is seeking help from the courts to at least temporarily halt construction of a Beringer Vineyards project. The project to reconfigure Beringer's tank farm off Pratt Avenue was approved by the St. Helena Planning Commission last spring despite opposition by a group of residents who have named themselves Citizens for Responsible Winery Growth in St. Helena. The group says that the project was approved without any consideration of possible negative effects on the environment and the community, according to a petition for a writ of mandate filed in Napa County Superior Court against the City of St. Helena, St. Helena City Council and Treasury Wine Estates, Beringers parent company. The Planning Commission voted 2-1 on April 18 in favor of the proposal by Treasury Wine Estates to replace eight large tanks on the property with 130 smaller ones. Production capacity will decrease slightly from 796,800 gallons to 757,000 gallons, but the tank change will allow for production to focus more on premium, high-end wines, the winery said. Although the smaller tanks will be lower-profile than the large ones, Beringer agreed to enhance the surrounding landscaping in response to neighbor concerns. Apearances arent all residents are worried about. They are concerned that the changes will mean more truck deliveries, more noise, more water usage, more traffic and less parking for residents. During April's commission hearing, some neighbors said they were worried that the smaller tanks would result in more trucks entering and exiting the facility off Pratt Avenue. The area at Main and Pratt is already crowded and dangerous, neighbors said. Beringer's corporate parent, Treasury Wine Estates, declined to respond to the specific allegations. "We are a little saddened to hear about this," said Brent Dodd, public relations representative for Treasury Wine Estates in the Americas. Dodd said that the company has been in complete compliance and hopes to "resolve the issue in a timely manner." Work on the project has already begun, he confirmed. The city of St. Helena does not comment on litigation, City Attorney Tom Brown said Wednesday. Brown said that he expects the city to defend the case. If it does, the project applicant, in this case Treasury Wine Estates, is responsible for paying for the city's defense. During the Planning Commission hearing, Beringer officials and city planners responded to neighbors' criticism by saying that there was no reason to believe the reconfigured tanks would cause substantially more traffic or worsen the problems at the intersection. In its filing, the group says its concerned that the increased traffic and increased intensity of the work could also increase noise. Already, residents nearby can hear noise from the project site sometimes late into the night, according to the petition. City Attorney Tom Brown and Planning Director Noah Housh said the traffic issue was not within the commissions purview because the applicant was seeking only design review for the tanks, not a use permit amendment that would trigger more extensive environmental review of traffic and other factors. In its court filing, the neighborhood group says that there is no trace of Beringer ever obtaining a use permit. The group questions whether or not existing operations are in compliance, alleging that neither the city nor the company has been able to produce the original conditional use permit for the facility. Also, Beringer doesnt have a water agreement with the city, unlike other wineries, the group said.. This lack of water agreement results in a situation where an unknown and uncapped amount of water could be used by [Beringer] at the project site, the petition alleges. Labor Day weekend may be summers last hurrah, but with temperatures reaching into the 100s, county officials emphasize that its important to stay safe, especially if youre cooling off in the water. There were 588 boating accidents in California last year, the majority of which were caused by collisions with other vessels due to either operator inattention or inexperience, according to California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways statistics. Seventeen out of 18 boating accidents in Napa County last year occurred in Lake Berryessa. There were nine injuries. According to statistics, 24 percent of accidents on Lake Berryessa happened over a holiday weekend. Napa County Sheriff Deputy Bryan Sardoch, who has been patrolling the lake for the last five years, said that although there havent been any boating fatalities at the lake in two years, there have been swimming fatalities as well as major injuries. A Yuba City man died swimming in the area of Smittle Creek in July and, recently, one person sustained a concussion and some broken ribs jumping from the Pope Creek Bridge. Unless theres an emergency, much of what Sardoch does at the lake is about preventing wrecks and injuries or, as he says, helping people with their oversights and bad decisions. We have a lot of leeway compared to guys on the street as long as we're working towards public safety keeping people from dying, Sardoch said. Two weekends ago, Sardoch went around cutting rope swings down from places like the Pope Creek Bridge. Its one of those dangerous activities that people can die from, he said. Visitors think it is fun to swing and jump off of things, but, come August, they dont realize that the water isnt as deep as it was in the beginning of the summer, officials said. Alcohol can also be a problem on the water. Anyone who is boating under the influence gets evaluated, he said, so arrests and citations have increased compared to previous years. Mostly, though, those who are drinking while boating are under the legal limit. Under current laws, you can have an open container of alcohol while driving your boat, Sardoch said. The effects of alcohol may be more pronounced, however, on a boat compared with a vehicle, according to Boating and Waterways. Boat and engine noise, vibration, the sun, temperature, wind and wave action can make operating a boat while drinking even more dangerous. Drunken passengers on boats can be a problem, too, because they can easily fall overboard, swim near the propeller or cause loading problems by leaning over the side or standing up, causing vessels to capsize, according to Boating and Waterways. Sardoch does carry medical equipment in his boat and, in an emergency, can provide first aid and/or oxygen. He helps boaters on the water in other ways, too, like providing them a tow if they break down or run out of gas. Sometimes, he said, people dont realize that they dont have enough gas in their tank until theyre away from the dock since there was leftover gas in their fuel lines. He also carries a pump with him just in case a boat becomes partially submerged. Sardoch said that overall he has a lot of boater contacts out on the lake, but doesnt issue many tickets. Mostly he tries to educate people on the water about how to be safe and, if there is a safety problem, he is required to send them back to shore. This past month, he sent one boater back to the dock for having an empty fire extinguisher and educated another on how to use an extinguisher. When he makes a stop, he ensures that proper safety equipment is aboard the vessel, including a life preserver within reach of the driver. According to the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, vessels are required to have life jackets, registration and numbering, navigation lights, ventilation, fire extinguishers, distress signals and a battery cover and connections. For those who are just swimming on the lake, representatives with PG&E advise that swimmers know their own limits. Swimming in open water is different than swimming in a swimming pool; people tire more quickly, the temperature isnt regulated and there may be rocks or trees under water that arent visible from the surface, representatives said. One man has died this summer while swimming in the Smittle Creek area of Lake Berryessa. The 48-year-old Yuba City man was in distress and drowned before anyone could help him, law enforcement officials said. Theres not that many controls there on a big lake like that, Sheriffs Capt. Steve Blower said last year. Lake Berryessa, a 23-mile long, three mile wide man-made lake, doesnt have beaches like most natural lakes. And instead of having a gradual depth, it sometimes dips straight down, Blower said. There can be drop-offs and stuff, and all of a sudden you cant touch the bottom. If you slip, you may become surprised, gasp for air, get some water in the airway, shutting it down, he said. In the main, issues that dominate any session of the California Legislature reflect what the public and news media consider at the time to be the most burning. Thats why, for instance, the states acute housing shortage will receive much attention during the final month of this years session. During Jerry Browns first governorship four decades ago, the most burning issue was the states sharply rising crime rate. It decided many contests for statewide, legislative and local offices and worked particularly well for Republicans. Brown, Republican successors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson and legislators sharply increased penalties and built dozens of new prisons. Voters also reflected the lock-em-up tenor of the times with such measures as the three-strikes-and-youre-out sentencing law, imposing life sentences on repeat felons. It passed by a nearly 3-1 margin in 1994. California went from having about 20,000 prison inmates when Brown began his first stint as governor to a peak of over 160,000 before federal judges began ordering a reduction in severe overcrowding just before he returned to the governorship in 2011. Voter passage of the three-strikes measure occurred just after Californias dramatic increase in crime, both violent and non-violent, hit a peak. Its violent crime rate had more than tripled from 298 per 100,000 population in 1966 to 1,104 in 1992, according to the state Department of Justices recently updated crime report. Over the next couple of decades, crime rates trended downward, sparking a perpetual debate over whether the tough sentencing policies had paid off with less crime, or whether changing economic and demographic conditions had caused the decline. Since 2010, Californias attitude toward crime and punishment has undergone a dramatic change. With Browns return, a more liberal Legislature and federal court orders on prison overcrowding, California has reversed course, softening penalties for many crimes and adopting more lenient parole and probation policies. One landmark was Proposition 47, passed by voters in 2014, that downgraded many felonies, particularly drug offenses, to misdemeanors. Another was the Brown-sponsored Proposition 57 last year that undid many tough sentencing laws, including those he had signed during his first governorship. The states prison population has declined by more than one-fourth to comply with federal court orders, in part by diverting low-level felons into local jails via realignment. Law enforcement officials and prosecutors generally opposed the new leniency, warning that putting fewer miscreants behind bars would inevitably increase crime. And the latest state crime report may point in that direction. While property crimes such as burglary and car theft have continued to decline, down 1.9 percent between 2011 and 2016, violent crimes have spiked, up 7.4 percent during that period, with aggravated assault seeing the biggest jump. Releasing thieves to commit more crimes and allowing drug offenders to roam freely in the community without mandating and imposing treatment does absolutely nothing to diminish criminal behavior. It increases crime, and it is simply reckless, Robert Sass, vice president of the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said in a recent Los Angeles Daily News article. To be fair, the crime rate, 444 per 100,000 in 2016, is still a fraction of what it was a quarter-century ago, but the recent upward trend is troubling. Crime, after all, isnt just a statistical game. Its a human tragedy for the 174,701 Californians who were victims of violent crime in 2016, and Californias new leniency caused some of their pain. Were the upward crime trend to continue, it might once again re-emerge as a burning political issue. A Castro Valley resident was identified Wednesday as the suspect in the shooting death of a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy during an investigation at a Sacramento-area motel Wednesday, a sheriff's spokesman said. Deputy Robert French, 52, died on the way to a hospital after he was shot at the Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard in unincorporated Sacramento. Two California Highway Patrol investigators were also injured, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tony Turnbull. Homicide detectives identified Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, 32, as the suspect in the shooting. Littlecloud is in critical condition with life-threatening wounds at a hospital, according to Turnbull. The case began a little after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday when investigators found an allegedly stolen car in the Ramada Inn parking lot. Two women got into the car and when authorities tried to stop them, they drove away, prompting a pursuit, Turnbull said. The pursuit ended in Elk Grove. One of the women, Priscilla Prendez, 23, of Oakland, was arrested by the CHP on suspicion of vehicle theft and felony evasion and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, according to Turnbull. The other woman was questioned and released. Detectives found that Prendez was on searchable probation and registered to a room at the Ramada Inn. When the detectives knocked on the door of the room, a battery of shots were fired through the front door and walls of the room, hitting two CHP investigators, Turnbull said. Holding an assault rifle, Littlecloud tried to exit through the back balcony of the motel room. There were sheriff's deputies at the back of the building and Littlecloud engaged the deputies in gunfire, striking French, Turnbull said. Littlecloud jumped into a car, leading officers on a chase and then crashing the car just west of Watt Avenue. Littlecloud was struck by gunfire and was taken to the hospital, according to Turnbull. The car he was driving was reported stolen from the Bay Area, Turnbull said. The Sheriff's Homicide Bureau and Professional Standards Division will investigate the case, which is standard practice for any officer-involved shooting that happens in its jurisdiction, Turnbull said. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office and the Inspector General will conduct independent reviews of the shooting, according to Turnbull. The six other deputies involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, in accordance with the department's policies, he said. SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Department of State announced Thursday that it is ordering the closure of the Russian consulate in San Francisco and two annexes in New York and Washington, D.C. The closures must take place by Saturday and comes after a decision by the Russian government last month to reduce the number of American diplomatic staff allowed in their country, according to the announcement by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Then-President Barack Obama in December announced the expulsion of four employees and their families at the Russian consulate at 2790 Green St. in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood. The removals were part of sanctions against Russia for allegedly interfering with the U.S. election through computer hacking and harassing U.S. diplomats abroad. Donald Trump won the presidential election in November and is under investigation about possible collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. The statement Thursday from the State Department noted that the closures mean both countries will remain with three consulates each. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," the statement said. The latest symptom of America's deepening political illness is the rise of "antifa" - short for "anti-fascist." Clad in black and armed with clubs or pepper spray, these masked men and women style themselves the bane of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen and other extreme rightists wherever the latter may appear. Unlike the use of force by the state, which antifa activists abhor as a matter of vague but intense ultra-left ideology, their violence is righteous - according to them. Antifa and like-minded offshoots smashed windows and set fires in Washington on Inauguration Day, and committed such crimes again in Berkeley, California, soon after, to disrupt a planned speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. They were seen pummeling alleged right-wingers in Berkeley this past weekend, including a man they pushed to the ground and then kicked and punched until a journalist intervened. Whether the victim was or was not an actual fascist is not clear - but antifa's indifference to such details is. "There is a complete mob mentality here," the Los Angeles Times' James Queally reported from the scene. "People are randomly accusing random people of being Nazis." Exactly what kind of threat does antifa pose? We would not for a minute equate it to the menace of violent, ultra-right white-supremacist groups, which are enjoying an ugly renaissance bred, in part, by the succor President Donald Trump has given to racial and religious intolerance. Nor does the antifa movement pose a clear and present danger to the broader political system, though it has shown a disturbing capacity for intimidating and confusing various officials in locales from Middlebury, Vermont, to the West Coast. Portland, Oregon, canceled this year's Rose Festival parade because antifa-linked groups threatened to attack marchers from the local Republican Party. Rather, antifa's true danger is twofold: First, its violence does obvious and unjustifiable harm, both to free speech and to people and property; second, it tends to discredit, through association, the far broader peaceful movement against racism and hate. That movement must win if the United States is to flourish, and it can win only by upholding democratic norms and the rule of law, even in the face of everything the ultra-right may do to undermine them. Accordingly, "no enemies on the left" cannot be the rule, at least not as long as antifa is around. These people proudly are not liberals or democrats, much less liberal Democrats. To the contrary, if anyone should have qualms about the way police retreated when 100 antifamembers showed up in Berkeley on Sunday - if anyone should be urging police forces across the country to deal firmly but appropriately with them - it's the peaceful marchers against racism in that town, whose message was drowned out by the far more vivid violence of their ostensible defenders in black. Trump's equation of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, with those who rallied against them was false and repugnant, but antifaactivists' deeds hardly promote the moral clarity necessary to isolate right-wing hate groups. Over time, such violence only benefits the very forces antifa purports to oppose. In terms of objective political impact, the group is badly misnamed: "Profa" would be more accurate. Ty Lopez writes to correct my assessment of him whom I have dubbed Resistance Leader Paul Moser (All the wrong comparisons," Aug. 20). Lopezs trenchant prose runs through the very heart of my long-unchallenged analysis. Mr. Lopez, if humility consists of applying an unflinching eye for truth to our own faults, then you have truly humbled me. I should have expected it. Raymond Chandler tells us, in the voice of Philip Marlowe, that theres nothing tougher than a tough Mexican. Without in general wishing to give in to ethnic stereotypes, I endorse that sentiment. You, sir, are one tough Mexican unless, maybe, youre a tough Colombian. I was wrong, Ty Lopez. You are right. How could I have been so blind? Moser should not be compared to real or fictional opponents of the Nazis in the World War II era. Your arguments are overwhelming, and sweep aside the feeble objections that arise in my lesser mind as the new tide sweeps aside driftwood. That business about the names is a little labored, but you deserve points for effort. And the rest of your presentation is flawless. Patrick Swayze in Red Dawn it is, sir, though Ill leave the ladies to enjoy Mosers version of Dirty Dancing. I can even add a small point to your own invincible rush of verbiage. Patrick Swayzes little brother in Red Dawn, also a brave resistance fighter against Russians, is played by Charlie Sheen. And in real life, Sheen has been a resistance fighter against Trump, at least in his courageous Twitter feed. So you see, sir, that you are more right than you know. I have only one small caveat. In his latest transmission, Moser appears to dissociate himself from his status as leader of the Resistance. He reproaches me for introducing concepts of Greek tragedy into the battle against Trumpism. He represents himself as just an average joe at a computer screen, typing ordinary letters to the paper. If we take these disavowals at face value, then Patrick Swayze is not the right image for Moser. If Mosers just some regular side of beef, not our Resistance Leader, then a better emblem for his part in the struggle is Johnny Weissmuller in the old series of Tarzan movies. Weissmuller even fought comical Nazis (not, alas, Russians, who were our allies back then) in Tarzan Triumphs (1943). And, in this latest transmission, Moser essentially presents himself as the sort of guy who would say, Me Moser. You Napa. Me hate Trump! Pretty powerful Cro-Magnon stuff. Its a small caveat because I dont think we can take Mosers latest transmission at face value. Remember that Mosers stated model of virtue is our sly and coolly competent intelligence community. Hes a pretty slippery spymaster on his own account and, when he wants to be, a virtuoso in the art of misdirection. His latest feat of intellectual legerdemain lies in suggesting that it was I, humble-as-dust also-ran in the resistance department, who introduced Greek tragedy into the discussion. Hes depending on his Svengali-like powers of persuasion to get readers to accept this suggestion without question. But Moser is too clever to be himself mistaken on this point. He knows that, in reality, I started to talk about Greek tragedy only after he started to talk about Greek tragedy. Check the order of letters if you doubt me. Moser brought up Greek tragedy with jokes. I asked him only to clarify the implications of his brilliant insight. If youve been paying attention all year, youll remember that the same sort of thing has happened before. In an earlier transmission, Moser included a great big honking heap of quotation from Alexander Hamilton, then appeared to become upset with me for trying to figure out what he meant by this substantial incorporation of borrowed prescience. By now, its a well-established pattern. Am I insinuating that Moser raises these highbrow questions because of a terrible need to impress everyone with how cultured and intelligent he is a transgression of which he appears to accuse me? Not at all. Thatd be an unforgivable thought crime against such a prominent figure in the Resistance. I dont even think that Moser is serious in his attribution of such a weakness to me. No, Mr. Lopez. Moser is playing a deep game a very deep game indeed. He knows that I am going to analyze his insights. He foresees every point I make. And his goal is always to overcome the Trumpite/Russian occupation forces. So we put our trust in him. He is indeed the Patrick Swayze of our day. As you directed, so I cry: Wolverines! Tom Riley Napa The mayor of St. Helena, Alan Galbraith, was recently quoted regarding the Wine Train's latest activities, most specifically the Rock the Rails event held at V. Sattui last week. ("Napa Valley Wine Train gets into the music business," Aug. 28) "St. Helena Mayor Alan Galbraith predicted that locals would take Wine Trains later operating schedule in stride on Thursday nights devoted to Rock the Rails. 'There will be some noise associated with it, yet it is a special event and I would hope folks would bear with it, Galbraith said Monday." I would just like to make it very clear that Mayor Galbraith does not speak for me, or most of the people I know who live here in St. Helena. I cannot nor will not take in stride this constant assault on our community by outside developers who look at our home town and see nothing but ways to line their pockets. That they are allowed, and perhaps encouraged, to do so with the blessing of the mayor is abhorrent. Apparently, he was not listening when the residents of St. Helena spoke out loudly and eloquently against selling off the Adams Street property to the developer of a luxury hotel. It is clear that he is not listening to the citizens, nor does he have their best interests at heart. He should remember, too, that he ran unopposed in the last election and may be holding on to his position by a thread. Perhaps he, like the recently departed Director of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, Pam Simpson, who, according to her Facebook page, opted to leave town and escape to Lake County during BottleRock to avoid the ensuing mess and congestion, has the means to shelter himself from the problems he assumes the rest of us will take in our stride. But many of us do not. Mayor Alan Galbraith does not speak for all the residents of St. Helena, nor should he pretend to. Elaine de Man St. Helena Another Napa Valley Colleges 2018 bond proposal. Enough already. Again? Napa Valley College is planning to ask voters to approve a new school bond of $280 million in June of 2018. I know it is tedious to wade through a long letter, but I hope that some will take the time to read this so that our taxes don't reach new astronomical heights. This factual information was developed by members of the Napa County Taxpayers Association (NCTA) regarding this proposal. The $133.8 million Measure N bond (previously passed), plus $38 million in state funding, was spent to add 130,000 square feet of new facilities. The college has a total of 11.7 acres of buildings or 510,000 square feet on both the Napa and St. Helena campuses. The NVC Facilities Master Plan states community colleges are in the business of education, not construction. I don't know of anyone in the NVC college administration nor on the Board of Trustees who has ever managed a $280 million bond - either the construction management part of it or the financial management end of it. I am concerned that unless qualified, licensed and bonded managers are hired to manage a new bond there is a danger of another loss of bond funds such as the debacle that happened to Measure N when it was reported to have lost $70 million (over half of its purchasing power) while spending more than three times the recognized median cost for similar school facilities. I think of what experienced and qualified builders could build with $280 million, so here are some comparisons that are interesting for us Napans. A local news report shows that the recently constructed Archer hotel in Napa has 184,000 square feet of space, which was constructed at a total cost of $70 million, which translates a cost to build of $380 per square foot. Using this figure as a reference $280 million (new bond money the college wants) would build four Archer hotels. $280 million could have built one-fifth of the new $1.3 billion 49ers Levi's Stadium. That $280 million could have built one-fifth of the tallest and newest skyscraper, the Salesforce Tower, in San Francisco. News reports say that Sattuis Castello Amoroso has 121,000 square feet. It has 107 rooms, seven levels and cost about $40 million or $330 per square feet. That $280 million could have built seven of those castles. What could Napa Valley College actually build with $280 million? Using the cost of $330 per square foot from the above sources and assuming competent construction and finance management, Napa Valley College should be able to completely rebuild the 510,000 square feet of buildings in both campuses for only $168.3 Million saving taxpayers $112 million. I understand that a consultant has been hired by the college to tell them that the voters who have turned down their two most recent bond proposals now want to support a much more costly and equally non-specific bond measure. Really? However, based on the facts I've developed, we do not have any reason to believe that the $280 million bond proposal has any relation to what the college's actual needs are. I urge Napa residents to contact the college trustee who represents their area directly and provide their personal opinion about this new bond proposal. If you can't, please vote 'no' on yet another tax (bond) increase. Linda Stevens Napa Last week, I wrote about the dry riesling found in Nahe, Germany and the fact that 90 percent of German wine is dry. But fruity, sweet wines do still exist in Germany, specifically produced in the Mosel, Nahe and Rhinegau regions. When we talk about sweet wine in Germany, we are not talking about overly sweet, cloying wines. We are talking about wines of finesse. These are wines with fragrance, fruity acidity and a mineral undertone. We are talking about riesling, considered the king of wine grapes in Germany. Of all the white wine grapes, riesling grapes produce the most intense and flavorful wines. Unlike the dry riesling which is categorized under the VDP (Verband deutscher Pradikatsweinguter) system, the sweeter wines are classified under the traditional Pradikatswein. The levels of sweetness will vary and are dependent on when the grapes are picked. There is trocken (dry), kabinett (off-dry), spatlese (late harvest), auslese (select harvest), beerenauslese (berry select harvest) and trockenbeerenauslese (dry berry select harvest). To differentiate between these different styles, it was best described to me by a winemaker who likened these styles to bananas. Kabinett is described as the perfectly yellow banana whereas spatlese is a banana with brown spots. Auslese is the banana that is almost entirely brown and trockenbeerenauslese is a dehydrated, concentrated banana. On my recent trip to Germany, I spent three days in the Mosel Valley, the oldest wine grape growing area in Germany, first started by the Romans. The Mosel is 200 kilometers long, with the Mosel River, starting in France and ending at the Rhine, and its tributaries, the Saar and the Ruwer, running through it. The Mosel is one of the warmest climates in Germany with moderately cold winters, warm summers with sufficient rainfall and a long growing season. Clayish slate, Devonian slate, sandy, gravelly soil and chalky soils are what can be found on the very steep slopes. A sheltered valley location, the Mosel is a magical place. Over the three days, I tasted more than 75 rieslings, each varying in sweetness. The elegance, the aromas and, most importantly, the acidity I could not get enough! No matter how much residual sugar is in the wines, these wines are matched by acidity and the wines dance on the palate. And the wines are lower in alcohol and have great quaff-ability. Mosel producers you should know: Dr. Pauly Bergweiler Stefan Bergweiler is the 12th generation family member to run their winery, taking over from his father, Dr. Peter Pauly, 10 years ago. Ninety-nine percent of their production is riesling, of which 50 percent is fruity, 25 percent is half dry and 25 percent is fully dry. Dr. H Thanisch The Thanisch family can be traced back more than 350 years and at the end of the 18th century, the Thanischs acquired the Berncasteler Doctor vineyard, a very steep site with deep devon slate structure, situated behind and overlooking the rooftops of the quaint old town of Bernkastel. Today, the winery is run by Barbara Rundquist-Muller and her husband Erik. Barbara is the niece of Margrit Muller-Burggraef, a granddaughter of Dr. Hugo Thanisch. They have 40 certified sustainable acres of grapes and are working towards organic certifications. Weingut Ernst Clusserath Ernst Clusserath is the sixth generation in his family to run the winery, which was founded in 1956, With only four hectares planted, Ernst focuses exclusively on riesling production to produce 2,000 cases of wine per year. Weingut Werner A family property since 1650, Weingut Werner & Son has been managed by Margret and Bernhard Werner since 1987. With six hectares of vineyards, 80 percent is planted to riesling. Clemens Busch Located on the banks of the Mosel in Pundericher-Marienburg, the family house dates to 1663. Clemens and Rita Busch have 16 hectares planted in gray slate that sit at the top of the hill at 200 meters altitude. Ninety-nine percent of their production is dedicated to riesling and they are 100 percent dedicated to organic production. Dr. Loosen Born into the 200-year-old family winery, Ernst Loosen studied archaeology before returning home to take over the family business in 1988. With 50 acres in the best vineyards in the Mosel, Dr. Loosen produces exclusively riesling from blue slate, red slate and red volcanic soils. Axel Pauly Axel Pauley is the third generation in his family to run the winery. After working in Pfalx, New Zealand and California, Axel took over in 2009. While his fathers wines had more botrytis, Axel prefers a cleaner, lighter style. With 65 hectares planted on steep hills, Axel highlights the pureness, minerality and acidity of the wine. A wine without elegance is not a Mosel wine to me, he said. St Urbans HOF Nick Weis is the third generation of his family winery. Named after the patron saint of winemaking, Nicks grandfather started the winery in 1947, along with a nursery. With 40 hectares and six vineyard sites, St Urbans HOF produces 20 different rieslings. Or rather, what Nick says is, I dont make riesling. I make Mosel. Selbach Oster Tracing the wine grapegrowing in the family back to the year 1600, Johannes Selbach and his wife Barbara produce riesling in all styles from 22 hectares of steep, south-facing mountain slopes. Johannes first fell in love with making wine in 1975, when he was 16 years old. Today he is a traditionalist, making wines that represent the region and wines that he likes to drink himself. We are stewards of the soil. We are dependent on nature. What is in a bottle is the place, nature cooperating, the team and myself staying grounded. Each of these wineries are producing riesling that come from a specific place, the Mosel. And Nik Weis described it best. When you become a lover of riesling, you find the strength of it in the Mosel. Not just white wines, they range from dry to sweet. They have versatility. You can only make that kind of wine in the Mosel. Shortly after the historic Freemark Abbey Winery in Napa Valley was purchased by Jackson Family Wines, Freemark wine maker Ted Edwards did a portfolio tasting for the new owners, Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke. Often when a new owner takes over an older wine property, there is a fear that the wine maker will be asked to change the style of wines he or she has historically made. Edwards admitted he was concerned that the traditional Freemark Abbey style might not find favor with the new owners, but any anxieties he had quickly evaporated after he served the first wine. Barbara said, I live on chardonnay, but we dont want you to change a thing. That was really amazing. The reason was that Freemark Abbey had always made a more delicate, restrained style of chardonnay, one that emphasized acidity and less time in the barrel. It ran counter to the oak-driven, softer chardonnays so popular in 2006, at the time of the winery sale. The late Jackson, was always concerned about quality, but he also respected the house styles of all the wineries he acquired, said Jackson Family chief winemaker Randy Ullom. We have always believed that, with any new property, we want to maintain and keep the house personality, and then to allow them to grow by using our resources, Ullom said. Its the essence of what we do keep that house style intact. Edwards said he came to realize what this meant in real-world terms shortly after meeting with Jackson and Banke. Under Freemarks prior ownership, financial constraints limited his ability to acquire fruit from independent growers who had grapes that would greatly benefit some of his Napa Valley wines. Being part of a larger organization allowed him to buy fruit from anywhere in the valley (from Coombsville to Howell Mountain) where he could find the right flavor profiles to not only maintain the house style, but expand portions with higher-quality wine. A portfolio tasting with Ted a few weeks ago was enlightening. I was never more impressed by the quality and style of the Freemark Abbey wines and I have a relationship with that winery dating to 1971. In particular, what was striking was that Ted, who joined the winery in 1980, completely understood the house style that had been set in motion a decade earlier by the great wine maker Jerry Luper. It is exemplified by the 2015 chardonnay ($30), a most impressive zero-malolactic, delicate-oak style, with a lemon peel aroma and superb acidity. One of the most impressive red wines in the portfolio is a 2013 merlot ($34) with dramatic varietal character (traces of dried herbs such as thyme and sage plus olives). It tastes best after decanting. The winerys top red wine, its calling card, is the Bosche Cabernet Sauvignon from the vineyard of that name in Rutherford, and the new 2013 ($150) is nearly as good as my all-time favorite Bosche wine, the 1995. The aroma has faint hints of mint and walnuts(!), and the complexity is impressive. The winerys 2013 Rutherford Cabernet ($70) is nearly as good since 43 percent of it is from the Bosche vineyard. Each of the red wines represents a stylistic point of dramatic proportions, which is Edwards top achievement. Its a big part of our job to provide continuity from the past, he said. The winery makes a half dozen different cabernet sauvignons, as well as a stellar smaller-production cabernet franc ($60). It needs a bit of time in the cellar. One major factor in all these red wines is firm acidity, so the wines are virtually guaranteed to age beautifully. Decanting them allows them to be consumed soon. Soon after Jackson acquired the winery, his staff completely redesigned the property, installing a gorgeous new tasting room on Highway 29. The property now also includes additional hospitality spaces and Two Birds, One Stone, a new yakitori-inspired restaurant by chefs Douglas Keane and Sang Yoon. Wine tasting is now a sybaritic experience equal any in the valley. Wine of the Week: 2016 Freemark Abbey Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ($24): Lime, lemongrass, and a trace of peach are only three of the many subtle aroma Notes. The wine is dry (think oysters!), but succulent enough to work with slightly broader food as well, especially if it is not too cold. - Japanese businesses currently use the United Kingdom as a staging post for doing business in the European Union. - Japan seeks reassurances over transparency and predictability as Brexit draws closer. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visited Japan on Wednesday on an official visit where she was scheduled to hold discussions with Toyota's chairman during her three-day tour which starts in Osaka before moving to Tokyo where she will meet with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited Britain this year. "We're going to ask for transparency and predictability so as to minimise the impact on (our) companies," a Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of European affairs said ahead of May's visit. "The best scenario for us is that Britain cancels its Brexit decision," said Ichiro Hara, head of the international affairs bureau at Japan's top business lobby Keidanren. "But if that isn't an option, we are saying we need a transitional period to mitigate the negative impact," he told AFP. May who arrived in Osaka Wednesday and is to attend a traditional tea ceremony in nearby Kyoto will also be discussing issues tied to global terrorism and regional security, after North Korea sharply escalated regional tensions by launching a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. "The prime minister is outraged by North Korea's reckless provocation and she strongly condemns these illegal tests," a spokeswoman for May said Tuesday. "From our perspective, we are willing to continue to work with our international partners to keep the pressure on North Korea." May is also expected to focus on pushing forward with plans for a Britain-Japan free trade agreement. But analysts said there would not likely be much progress until Japan and the EU wrap up a nearly-finalised trade deal, and details of Brexit are worked out. "You cannot start official talks about such an idea until Britain leaves the EU," said Osamu Tanaka, a senior economist at Daiichi Life Research Institute. - Seven people Killed in checkpoint Bomb Blast in Yemen. - Impact from the blast pushed a taxi into a petrol station where it exploded. - 10,000 people killed and 40,000 injured so far in Yemen war. Five people have been confirmed killed as a result of an air raid by the Saudi-led military coalition on the checkpoint of the Houthis outside the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. According to Reuters and Al Jazeera, "Wednesday's bombing in the Masajed district, about 10km west of Sanaa, caused the car to veer into a nearby petrol station, setting it ablaze and complicating rescue efforts." The Saudi-led military coalition has launched thousands of air raids against the armed Houthi group which controls Sanaa and much of Yemen's north since March 2015. The ongoing Yemen crisis has already resulted in the death of around 10,000 people and injured about 40,000 already. Reading benefit set to help hurricane victims by Andrea Hahn Allison Joseph, director of the master of fine arts creative writing program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is hosting a benefit reading next month to help victims of the storms and flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The reading is set for 7-9 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the Harry T. Moore Auditorium in Faner Hall. There is no mandatory fee for readers or audience, but donations are encouraged. In the past, weve done similar literary fundraisers to help the victims of the Joplin tornado, Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, she said. All proceeds will go to the Red Crosss relief efforts in the area affected by this awful situation. Those willing to read for five to eight minutes may read their own work or may read work from writers from the areas affected by the storm and its aftermath. Interested readers should contact Allison Joseph at aljsoseph@siu.edu by Friday, Sept. 1. Touch of Nature seeks volunteers for trail work by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. Southern Illinois University Carbondales Touch of Nature Environmental Center is hosting two special events that will give the public an opportunity to help maintain and expand the miles of trails located at the outdoor, experiential education and recreation facility. In recent years, Mother Nature has overtaken many of the trails, but the programs will help reclaim and even enlarge the trail system to accommodate the many patrons and offerings of the 3,100-acre center, which is along the shore of Little Grassy Lake. Trail Stewardship Days is an ongoing program this semester that invites volunteers to come to Touch of Nature, located about eight miles south of Carbondale on Giant City Road, to help with the trails. Work shifts are planned on several Sundays and will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. The schedule for the free Trail Stewardship Days includes: Sept. 24 Oct. 1, 15, 22 and 29 Nov. 5, 13 and 19. Volunteers can register for one or both sessions on any or all days. No experience is necessary. The staff from Touch of Nature will coordinate the project and provide tools as well as help and instruction to assure their safe use. All helpers are welcome but those planning to attend are asked to pre-register at least 48 hours before the session you plan to attend. Sign up online at www.ton.siu.edu or by calling 618/453-1121. If you would like to help but Sunday work sessions dont fit your schedule, call and the staff will schedule a trail work session at another time. In addition, Touch of Nature and the American Hiking Society are partnering for the second Volunteer Vacation Oct. 15-21. Participants will stay in the camps rustic cabins for a week as they work together to clear paths and create trails. Volunteers ages 15 and older are welcome at this event, designed to foster public land stewardship and appreciation, provide camaraderie and benefit Touch of Nature and all who use its facilities. Equipment, lodging, meals, leaders and directions are provided. The cost ranges from $195 to $330. For more information about the American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation, or to sign up, visit https://volunteervacations.americanhiking.org. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 01:43:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said on Wednesday that the U.S. is "never out of diplomatic solutions" following the latest missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Mattis made the remarks while meeting with his South Korean counterpart Soon Young-moo at the Pentagon to discuss ways to address the threat posed by the DPRK. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation, our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today," Mattis said. On Tuesday, the Japanese government said that the DPRK fired a missile that fell into the Pacific Ocean after passing over the Japanese archipelago. On Wednesday, Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, their second conversation after the latest missile launch by DPRK. The two leaders confirmed their "continuing, close" cooperation on efforts to address DPRK's launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile this week, according to the White House. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 02:39:00|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Ren Ke BERLIN, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- It's only less than a month before the Germen federal elections day on September 24. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is leading in polls. But the overall situation in Germany is not so good as ordinary people believe. The long-term and sustainable solutions for refugee issues, and the rise of right-wing populism, among other difficult issues, need to be addressed by Merkel and the German government. To some extent, Germany is enjoying some best times after the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Its economy keeps gaining momentum for growth, its export is robust, and economic think-tanks keep raising their expectations of Germany's GDP growth rates. Employment is booming, as Merkel in her campaign outline vowed to achieve full employment by 2025. The sound economic situation made the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) enjoy its upper hand against the Social Democrats (SPD), a center-left party traditionally representing workers and employees and always paying attention to social justice. But in its coalition with SPD, Merkel's center-right Union has addressed a series of issues concerning social justice and showed center-left political stances, including supporting a welfare state and legal minimum salaries, and turning off Germany's nuclear power plants. SPD has also been accused of lacking difference between itself and the Union in both domestic and foreign issues. The latest polls showed that Merkel's CDU and its Bavarian sister Christian Socialist Union has quite a big leading edge in the support rate listings. The Forsa announced Wednesday that 38 percent of respondents would vote for the Union if the next Sunday were the Federal elections day, 14 percentage points higher than that of SPD led by Martin Schulz. However, another issue that voters care the most, security, is quite controversial. Many German people feel that the society is no longer as safe as before, and the country are now vulnerable to sporadic terror attacks. When it comes to security, refugee issues have to be mentioned, as some media has called as the Achilles' Ankle for Merkel. Since the summer of 2015, over 1 million refugees from the Middle East and North Africa poured into Europe, and Germany accommodated the most refugees in European Union. Although the refugee crisis has passed with a dropped number of new refugees, and Germany managed to handle the social and economic impacts brought by over one million of refugees, but it is true that some terrorists also entered Germany and launched a series of attacks here. Merkel admitted part of failure of the refugee policy and made some adjustments last year, however, she, on various occasions, including the summer press conference on Tuesday and several election campaigns, defended her decisions in 2015, and said refugees are welcome but the year 2015 would not repeat. Merkel on Tuesday called for a long-term and sustainable solutions to refugee issues, and accused Germany's EU partners of not pulling their weight. But Germany also needs to do more to send failed asylum seekers back home and help those succeed integrating into a new and strange society, taking into consideration of both its people and the people of its European partners. As the federal elections are coming and all parties are going all out for election campaigns, the refugee issues have been mentioned more than usual. Despite a cool-down of this issue, in a Europe facing increasing unpredictable lonely-wolf attacks, observers are concerned about a swing of voters' attitude if major perpetrations take place before the federal elections. Challenges brought by the far-right Alternatives fuer Deutschland (AfD) is another issue to be addressed. Gaining momentum during the refugee crisis, the anti-immigrant and anti-euro populist party now has become the third strongest party in terms of support rates, according to authoritative polling results, around 10 percent, far above the threshold of 5 percent for a party to be elected into the Bundestag. AfD always draws criticism and the latest one is that Alexander Gauland, one of the two AfD candidates in the federal elections, last weekend called for "disposing" Aydan Oezoguz, integration commissioner of the federal government, back to Turkey. Most of major politicians in Germany do not like AfD. Merkel ruled out any forms of cooperation with the party and accused Gauland's remarks as racist, and Schulz called AfD a shame. But the party does have popularity among underdogs of the society and in less-developed eastern Germany states. Last week in an election campaign event in Quidlingberg in Saxony-Anhalt, Merkel was interrupted by thousands of AfD supporters for several times when the Union candidate for chancellery was defending her refugee policy in 2015. Dr. Stephen Broechler, a political scientist on German and comparative government at Humboldt University Berlin, told Xinhua that for a long time in the future the AfD wont be part of the government. No party in the German Bundestag will form a coalition with the AfD. "The AfD will penetrate German parliamentarism, polarize party competition and make political debates more fierce," said Broechler. Merkel said last week that she will win back all supporters from AfD and spared no efforts to persuade doubters that her refugee policy was right. However, as Merkel also admitted, the process was not easy and would be a long-term one. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 02:49:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close DUBAI, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the Islamic feast of sacrifice Eid al-Adha, the Dubai Municipality warned residents not to bring animals to unlicensed butchers, local media reported Wednesday. Dubai Municipality said that "street butchers" can be slapped with a fine of 2,000 dirhams (545 U.S. dollars), or prosecution, depending on the case, the Gulf News reported. The slaughtering of animals outside licensed butcheries, also called abattoirs, is illegal in Dubai. However, street butchers are in high demand during the busy holiday season as many customers want to skip the long lines at the abattoirs. A street butcher can charge 250-300 dirhams for slaughtering a goat or sheep, and 800-1000 dirhams for a cow or camel. But abattoirs only charge around 15 dirhams for a goat or sheep, and 50-70 dirhams for a cow or camel. So, street butchers can make tens of thousands of dollars during the days of the Eid al-Adha. Local residents reported that unlicensed butchers, mostly from South Asia, come to the United Arab Emirates on tourist visas only to tout their illegal service to customers who are not aware of the local regulations, the report said. During the Eid al-Adha last year, 45 illegal butchers and two porters were caught in the cattle market area at Al Ghusais, it said. Eid al-Adha holidays, which follow the Islamic lunar calendar, extend from August 31st to September 4th in Dubai this year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 03:39:37|Editor: ying People take part in a rally to support the First Family in Harare, Zimbabwe on Aug. 30, 2017. A rally organized by the Zimbabwean ruling party Zanu-PF in solidarity with First Lady Grace Mugabe Wednesday ended up being held to show support to the First Family as a whole. (Xinhua/Stringer) HARARE, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- A rally organized by the Zimbabwean ruling party Zanu-PF in solidarity with First Lady Grace Mugabe Wednesday ended up being held to show support to the First Family as a whole, with the party's secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo being the guest of honor. Messages delivered at the gathering hovered around the issue of internal party squabbles and ignored the diplomatic tiff the First Lady was involved in while in South Africa two weeks ago. The First Lady had to invoke diplomatic immunity cover to evade court after she allegedly assaulted 20-year-old model Gabriella Engels whom she had found in the company of her two sons in their room. With the South African police wanting to interview her and human rights group AfriForum pushing for her prosecution, the South African government said it recognized her diplomatic immunity status and allowed her to leave the country. Grace left with President Robert Mugabe who had been attending a SADC summit there. While commissar for Harare Province, Shadreck Mashayamombe denied Tuesday that the solidarity rally had anything to do with what transpired in South Africa, one of the placards displayed at the rally -- written in a mixture of English and the vernacular Shona -- said Masvingo Province had declared that "Engels is not an angel." Many Zimbabweans had however expressed concern over a possible backlash by militant South Africans who could attack their loved ones there if the rally turned out to be supporting the First Lady over the South African incident. Chombo spoke on the need for discipline in the party and preparations for the 2018 elections. "If we love our President and the First Lady, just as we have displayed by today's meeting, let's take the same enthusiasm and energy to our provinces and vote so that we deliver all the constituencies to Zanu-PF. The First Lady and President Mugabe will be very happy," he said. He also criticized some war veterans for engaging in divisive activities in the party. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 04:20:00|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until May 31, 2018 and authorized a downsizing of troops. The council decided to reduce the level of uniformed personnel to a maximum of 21,626 by the end of this year, with a further reduction of uniformed personnel to 20,626 by Oct. 30, 2018, unless the Security Council decides to accelerate the pace of the reduction. The current maximum deployment level is 22,126 uniformed personnel, as set out in Resolution 2355. "The long-term objective for Somalia, with the support of its international partners, is that Somali security forces assume full responsibility for Somalia's security," said the newly adopted resolution. It noted that AMISOM remains critical to security during this transition. One of the strategic objectives of AMISOM is to enable the gradual handing over of security responsibilities from AMISOM to the Somali security forces contingent on abilities of the Somali security forces and political and security progress in Somalia, said the resolution. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 04:25:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura discussed on Wednesday Syrian crisis on the phone, stressing negotiations between Syrian warring parties. In a press statement, the ministry said that De Mistura phoned Shoukry and briefed him with the United Nations assessment of the current efforts for uniting the Syrian opposition and resuming political talks in Geneva. Shoukry stressed Egypt's support for the UN role in fostering negotiations between the Syrian parties. He said Egypt has been supporting a political settlement to the Syrian crisis in a way that ends bloodshed in the country and maintains the unity of its territories. Recently, Egypt worked with Russia to broker an agreement to create a de-escalation zone in the northern Homs countryside and also brokered an earlier deal to de-escalate conflict in Eastern Ghouta region in Damascus. Since its eruption in March 2011, the Syrian crisis has claimed lives of about half a million people, as well as displaced and wounded over 14 million. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 04:45:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRASILIA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and another 20 were injured on Wednesday in a 36-vehicle pileup along the Carvalho Pinto Highway in Brazil's Sao Paulo state. A thick cloud of smoke from a nearby fire blocked visibility along the highway in the city of Jacarei, leading cars and trucks to smash into one another around 7:40 a.m. local time, highway police said. The main catalyst of the accident was a truck transporting paint, which drove into the smoke, crashed and caught on fire. News website Globo published photos of fires burning along the elevated portion of the highway, and the charred remains of gutted vehicles and trucks. The body of one of the fatal victims was found below the highway, the other was retrieved from a car that had been wedged between two trucks. Firefighters brought the blaze under control after an hour and a half. Rescue teams were still working to retrieve victims. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 05:10:09|Editor: yan Video Player Close CARACAS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's government on Wednesday pledged 5 million U.S. dollars to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christie and Houston, two towns in the U.S. state of Texas. The aid will be delivered through Venezuelan-owned Citgo, which operates refineries and gas stations in the United States, and has its U.S. headquarters in Houston's Energy Corridor. "We are planning to earmark a percentage of the sales of our production of Citgo gasoline to spend on housing construction ... and in an initial phase on the refugees from the floods," Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza said. Despite political tensions with Washington, which opposes Venezula's ruling socialist party and the administration of President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela wants to reach out to U.S. citizens suffering from one of the worst natural disasters to hit the North American country, said the official. This is not the first time Venezuela has come to the aid of the needy in the U.S. For years, it has supplied low-income U.S. families with free fuel to heat their homes in winter. The Citgo-Venezuela Heating Oil Program, launched in 2005 by Venezuela's late former President Hugo Chavez, has helped more than 1.7 million U.S. residents across 25 states. Harvey has dumped record amounts of rain on communities in Texas, damaging tens of thousands of homes. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend a signing ceremony after their talks in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) MOSCOW, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia's hi-tech conglomerate Rostec Corporation is ready to strengthen cooperation with China on the development of military and civilian products, its CEO Sergey Chemezov said. "The portfolio of contracts that have been signed by Rostec's military export subsidiary and have entered into force exceeds 45 billion U.S. dollars. More than 15 percent of this amount comes from cooperation with China," Chemezov said in a recent interview with Xinhua. Rostec not only supplies China with military hardware but also transfers technology and conducts joint research with China on tanks, warplanes and guns, he said. Rostec is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Russia, comprising about 700 units under 14 holding companies, nine of which operate as military-industrial complexes and five in civilian sectors. Chemezov said Rostec's large-scale cooperation with China has extended to various civil and dual-use areas, including IT, composite materials, airborne equipment, aero engines, and helicopter and aircraft manufacturing. Rostec is expected to ink a contract with its Chinese partner by the end of 2017 to jointly develop a civilian heavy lift helicopter, he said. The helicopter's take-off weight will exceed 38 tons and it will be adapted for round-the-clock operation in highlands and in all weather conditions, Chemezov said. The Chinese side is expected to be the chief developer in charge of production, trials, certification and sales, while the Russian side is responsible for technological plans, he said. Both sides are also working on a wide-body long-range aircraft. The Russian tycoon said the testing of its engine is scheduled for 2022 and its certification for 2025. "Rostec's subsidiary United Engine Corporation together with the Aero Engine Corporation of China are developing the key components of the new aircraft engine," Chemezov said. He also said the Russian side will be responsible for the design of the aircraft and the production of components, while the Chinese side will be in charge of the development of the fuselage and the final assembly. Russia and China should continue to expand practical cooperation in various areas including industry, security and investment, he said. Supporters of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah hold a poster bearing a portrait of Hassan Nasrallah ahead of a speech by him to mark the 11th anniversary of the end of the 2006 war with Israel, in the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon on August 13, 2017. (AFP Photo) BEIRUT, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday extended the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year amid pressure from the United States for the UN force to take action against Hezbollah militants, local media reported. The council unanimously backed a French-drafted resolution over the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) tasked with monitoring a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. France argued that UNIFIL had succeeded in maintaining calm in south Lebanon but the United States pushed for action by the mission against Hezbollah militants it accuses of stockpiling weapons and readying for war. "Conditions in south Lebanon are very dangerous today. The clouds of war are gathering," the report cited a senior U.S. official as saying. It added that UNIFIL exists to help prevent war from happening again and it is supposed to do that. The resolution highlights that UNIFIL has the authority to "take all necessary actions" in areas where its forces are deployed and must ensure that its area of operations is "not utilized for hostile activities of any kind." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 07:35:47|Editor: ying Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- University of Washington (UW) researchers are developing a software application, or app, to allow people to screen for pancreatic cancer and other diseases by snapping a smartphone selfie. With a five-year survival rate of 9 percent, pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses in part because there are no telltale symptoms or non-invasive screening tools to catch a tumor before it spreads. The app, BiliScreen, uses a smartphone camera, computer vision algorithms and machine learning tools to detect increased bilirubin levels in a person's sclera, or the white part of the eye. One of the earliest symptoms of pancreatic cancer, as well as other diseases, is jaundice, a yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes caused by a buildup of bilirubin in the blood. The blood test currently in use to measure bilirubin levels is typically not administered to adults unless there is reason for concern. "The problem with pancreatic cancer is that by the time you're symptomatic, it's frequently too late," Alex Mariakakis, a doctoral student at UW's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, was quoted as saying in a news release. The ability to detect signs of jaundice when bilirubin levels are minimally elevated could enable an entirely new screening program for at-risk individuals. "The hope is that if people can do this simple test once a month - in the privacy of their own homes - some might catch the disease early enough to undergo treatment that could save their lives," explained Mariakakis, who as lead author of a paper will present the app at Ubicomp 2017, the Association for Computing Machinery's International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, in Maui, Hawaii, on September 13. In adults, the whites of the eyes are more sensitive than skin to changes in bilirubin levels, which can be an early warning sign for pancreatic cancer, hepatitis or the generally harmless Gilbert's syndrome. Unlike skin color, changes in the sclera are more consistent across all races and ethnicities. Yet by the time people notice the yellowish discoloration in the sclera, bilirubin levels are already well past cause for concern. Wondering if computer vision and machine learning tools could detect those color changes in the eye before humans can see them, the UW team built BiliScreen on earlier work from the university's Ubiquitous Computing Lab, which previously developed BiliCam, a smartphone app that screens for newborn jaundice by taking a picture of a baby's skin. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed BiliCam provided accurate estimates of bilirubin levels in 530 infants. The new app uses a smartphone's built-in camera and flash to collect pictures of a person's eye as they snap a selfie, then calculates the color information from the sclera and correlates it with bilirubin levels using machine learning algorithms. To account for different lighting conditions, the team tested BiliScreen with two different accessories: paper glasses printed with colored squares to help calibrate color and a 3-D printed box that blocks out ambient lighting. Using the app with the box accessory led to slightly better results. In an initial clinical study of 70 people, BiliScreen correctly identified cases of concern 89.7 percent of the time. Rescue team helps evacuate residents on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in southwestern Houston. (Xinhua/Liu Liwei) by Robert Stanton HOUSTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The weather may be getting better in Houston areas on Wednesday, but the panic and stress cannot easily go away. Sarah Golden cried tears of joy when she was reunited with her 6-year-old daughter after they became separated when Hurricane Harvey hit coastal area of Texas in the United States. Paisley, 6, had gone to play with her babysitter's daughter when the storm arrived in full force, putting their neighborhood in Dickinson under water. The area is about 50 km southeast of Houston. "We were upstairs in our apartment, and downstairs the water was almost to the ceiling," said Golden, 37, a waitress. "At the babysitter's house, they were all flooded out, too." The babysitter escaped the floods on a boat with Paisley, and Golden managed to get out with her kids on another boat. It was until a day later that the family was finally reunited. Golden and her daughters, ages 6, 3 and 1, along with other flood victims, were transferred to Galveston, where they were flown by a U.S. Air Force C-130 military aircraft to Fort Worth, near Dallas in Texas, to escape the storm. "We're together, and that's all that matters," she said before the flight out. "I guess we're starting over. As long as we have each other, it's fine." Shaunna White, 32, said her life has been a whirlwind since Hurricane Harvey arrived in Dickinson. She can still feel the chills when water came to her house. "We had water coming through the walls and under the door," White said. "We started picking up things and unplugging things, and within 30 minutes it was up to our ankles and 30 minutes later we were knee deep in water. Deep freezers started tilting over and beds started moving." When White's brother opened the door to look outside, a torrent of floodwaters rushed in and inundated the home. "We didn't know how we were going to get out of there," she said. "Some of the kids can't swim. It was a little scary to see the water that high. I've never seen a situation like that before. I've lost everything." Rescue team helps evacuate residents on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in southwestern Houston.(Xinhua/Liu Liwei) Several neighbors arrived with air mattresses and helped the family to higher ground. They stayed at a shelter in Galveston shortly before they took a military airplane to northern Texas. "We have our health and we're safe," White said before boarding the aircraft. "All we were worried about was, let's not get separated. We're all together now and that's all that matters." When floodwaters began to seep into Dan Oakes' apartment in Dickinson, he knew he had to get out with his girlfriend, Anita Taylor, and Hobo, the couple's 9-year-old English Springer Spaniel dog. "It was ankle deep at first, and when we left it was chest high," he said. "I knew everything was going to be wasted so I brought food and water out and gave it to our neighbors." The neighbors gathered in an upstairs apartment to escape the floodwaters, and 12 hours later the couple were aboard a boat to safety. A bus took them to a shelter in Texas City that allowed them to bring Hobo along. "I'm scared and I want this to be over," said Taylor. "It's a nightmare." Although being transferred to a safer place, they planned to return home as soon as they could. "We'll come back," Oakes said. "My family lives in Dickinson and this is home." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 11:16:49|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close by Levi J Parsons SYDNEY, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Army has heralded the "courage" of Chinese soldiers, after a six-day trilateral training mission that also included the United States wrapped up in Cairns, Australia. Now in its fourth year, exercise Kowari aims to strengthen defense cooperation between the three countries, as well as enhance mutual understanding and friendship between its participants. In total, three teams of 10 soldiers from each nation were chosen to take part, but unlike previous years which focused on survival training in Australia's Northern Territory and included activities like hunting crocodiles, this year in Cairns was all about adventure. "On this exercise we had people hiking across Bartle Frere (Queensland State's tallest Mountain)," Brigadier Neil Sweeney of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) told Xinhua on Tuesday. "We have had people sea kayaking, we've had them white-water rafting and we have also had a canyoning episode, where people have got to canyon down a waterfall." "It's really important we build skills like resilience, the ability to overcome fear, the ability to work in a complex environment and to build teams in an environment such as white-water rafting or sea kayaking." In contrast to more traditional joint military exercises where nations compete against one another, in order to test their capabilities, Kowari participants have to work with each other to overcome challenges. "Each and every team has faced the challenges head on, they all learnt new skills and they have all made a lot of friends in the process," Sweeney said. "They're particularly challenging activities for everyone," he said. "The Chinese soldiers, the U.S. soldiers and indeed the ADF soldiers have done a fantastic job." In particular, Sweeney noted that he was especially impressed with the bravery shown by the Chinese soldiers during the training. One activity, aimed at growing confidence, tasked participants with leaping off a 10-meter high rock face into waters below. After seeing "zero hesitation" before the jump, one Australian officer described the Chinese as "fearless" after this activity. "So the People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers have been fantastic in showing their courage here, from the courage that is built into their own training." Major General Zhang Haiqing, deputy commander of the army troops under the PLA's Southern Theater Command, also told Xinhua that he was very pleased with the outcome of training in Australia. "The programs are well-designed to challenge and enhance each soldier's ability, duration, endurance and strength as well as forge friendship and mateship in the testing Australian environment," he said. Sentiments that were also echoed by the United States. "I think exercise Kowari is a great opportunity for everyone who took part in it, not just to demonstrate the ability for teamwork and camaraderie across countries, but just getting through these things together and strengthening relations with continued defense cooperation." Major Matthew Wesmiller from the U.S. Army said. For those involved, Kowari 2017 was made all the more special with the inclusion of female soldiers for the first time. "It's excellent to see us broadening the scope of the exercise and we will continue to do that into the future, so both the U.S., the Chinese and the ADF have had female soldiers on our exercise and it's been great to see them out there pushing the guys along 100 percent all the way," Sweeney said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 13:07:21|Editor: ying Video Player Close HANOI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent nearly 3.5 billion U.S. dollars importing completely-built automobiles and components for assembly from January to August, declining 10.6 percent year-on-year. Specifically, Vietnam imported 66,000 completely-built automobiles worth nearly 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, down 4.4 percent in volume, and down 14.4 percent in value, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Thursday. Local traders said smaller volumes of imported vehicles and slower sales in Vietnam were partly attributed to the fact that many Vietnamese buyers are waiting for vehicle prices to drop further. According to the ASEAN Free Trade Area, tariffs on automobiles imported to Vietnam from other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been slashed from 50 percent in 2015 to 40 percent in 2016, to 30 percent in 2017, and to zero percent in 2018. Vietnam imported 113,567 completely-built automobiles, mainly cars and trucks, totaling approximately 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, last year, posting respective declines of 9.5 percent and 21.7 percent. Last year, Thailand was Vietnam's biggest automobile supplier with 34,336 vehicles, followed by India, South Korea and China. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 13:27:25|Editor: ying Video Player Close DHAKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a sunken boat packed with Rohingya people fleeing from Myanmar in a border river in southeastern Bangladesh rose to 20 on Thursday after another 14 bodies were retrieved, said a local police official. Chailau Marma, additional superintendent of police in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, some 292 km southeast of capital Dhaka, told Xinhua that 14 more bodies were recovered from the Bangladesh coast in the morning. "Six bodies were recovered by Wednesday night," he said. The police official said so far there was no exact information about the accident which occurred in Naf river. "We're yet to find a survivor to know what exactly happened at time and how many Rohingya people were on board boat which capsized in Naf River dividing Bangladesh and Myanmar." The boat reportedly anchored near the Shah Porir Island of Bay of Bengal for a couple of days as the Bangladesh forces did not allow them to enter into the Bangladesh territory. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday that More than 18,000 Rohingya people had fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's western Rakhain state amid a fresh wave of violence in the region since Aug. 25. Sources said thousands of Rohingyas people from Myanmar, mostly women, children and elderly people, have still been waiting in no-man's land along Bangladesh's southeastern Naikhyangchhari border to enter Bangladesh territory. Bangladesh, which shares about 271 km of border with Myanmar, has refused to repeated local and foreign appeals to accept Rohingyas fleeing the coordinated rebel attacks on Myanmar border posts on Aug. 25 that killed 100 people, including some 80 insurgents and 12 members of the security forces. Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Bangladesh had taken note of renewed clashes after the attacks on the Myanmar Border Guard Police posts in the Rakhine state on Friday. Recalling the influx of Myanmar people into Bangladesh due to similar military operations in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on Oct. 9, 2016 that resulted in about 85,000 civilians crossing over to Bangladesh, a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official expressed serious concern at the possibility of the recurrence of such a situation. He said Bangladesh has already hosted about 400,000 Myanmar nationals. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 14:37:54|Editor: ying Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for one year, till Aug. 31, 2018. The resolution reaffirmed the Security Council's authorization to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel, to take all necessary actions to ensure that its area of operations would not been used for hostile activities of any kind. It commended the positive role of UNIFIL, whose deployment together with the Lebanese armed forces has helped to establish a new strategic environment in southern Lebanon, and welcomed the expansion of coordinated activities between UNIFIL and Lebanese troops. Resolution 2373 was adopted unanimously by the 15-member council on Wednesday afternoon, giving relief to countries, particularly Lebanon, amid fears that the United States might have blocked the renewal. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, launched a severe attack on the peacekeeping force on Friday, blaming UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Michael Beary for being "blind" to the massive flow of illegal weapons to Hezbollah, adding that her country requests for changes in UNIFIL. But the Irish general rejected Haley's charges, saying there was no evidence of weapons being transferred to Hezbollah. The United Nations stood by the general. After the adoption of Resolution 2373, Haley could not withhold her fiery words against the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL is supposed to help prevent war from happening again in southern Lebanon, in particular, help the Lebanese government to ensure that there are no weapons outside of state control in UNIFIL's area of operations, said Haley. "For too long, UNIFIL's leadership has failed to make sure the goal is realized. In particular, UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Beary's lack of understanding of the threat Hezbollah poses to the region is baffling," she told the council. Conditions in southern Lebanon are very dangerous as Hezbollah is rearming itself, she warned. "The clouds of war are gathering." Anne Gueguen, the deputy permanent representative of France to the United Nations, thanked council members for a cooperative and constructive attitude during a difficult negotiation, in her capacity as representative of France, the UNIFIL penholder. UNIFIL provided a regional public good as manifested by the fact that southern Lebanon has been less violent in comparison with other regions in the Middle East, she said. The force could do better and do more, but no one on the council could imagine what the environment would be like without UNIFIL. The "interim" force dates back to 1978. The mission was expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah to allow Lebanese troops to have access to the country's south. UNIFIL's mandate would have expired on Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 15:18:17|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Six people were wounded on Thursday when an explosion occurred in Turkey's western city of Izmir during the passage of a prison vehicle, local media reported. According to Haberturk daily, the blast happened inside a garbage can in the district of Buca. A picture released by the daily showed a shuttle bus belonging to a prison was damaged in the blast. Other details are not immediately available, Haberturk said, noting ambulances and police teams have been dispatched to the area. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 15:38:22|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the country's basic stance of the denuclearized Korean Peninsula following local media reports that Defense Minister Song Young-moo mentioned the re-deployment of a tactical nuclear weapon during talks with his U.S. counterpart. Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a press briefing that the government's basic position is the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization via the complete dismantlement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program. His comments followed Yonhap news agency reporting that Minister Song, who was on a five-day trip to the United States, mentioned the tactical nuclear weapon re-deployment in his bilateral talks in Washington with U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis. An unnamed South Korean government official was quoted as saying the re-deployment was mentioned during the talks though it was not discussed in detail. Another government official was quoted as saying it was the mentioning of the opinions coming from opposition parties and some of local media outlets. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party has insisted on the re-deployment of the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea to counter the DPRK's nuclear threats. The U.S. tactical nuclear weapons, which had been possessed by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), were withdrawn from South Korea in 1991 after then South Korean President Roh Tae-woo declared the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in opposed the re-deployment of the U.S. tactical nuclear weapon. Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor to President, told lawmakers last week that the current government was never considering the re-deployment. A tactical nuclear weapon, dubbed non-strategic nuclear weapon, refers to a small-size nuclear weapon designed to be used at a battlefield for the tactical purpose. Tactical nuclear weapons, which usually have an explosive yield of less than 20 kilotons, include nuclear warheads mounted on short-range missiles and artillery shells as well as land mines, torpedoes and depth charges equipped with nuclear warheads. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 17:28:59|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's armed forces will strengthen patrolling and defense of the Dong Lang (Doklam) area to resolutely safeguard the country's sovereign security, a military spokesperson said Thursday. China's military has paid close attention to the situation and taken emergency measures to reinforce border controls since the Dong Lang incident occurred, said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference. "Chinese troops resolutely maintain the country's territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights," he said, adding that they have also used military diplomacy and border contact channels to promote the proper resolution of the issue. On June 18, more than 270 armed Indian troops with two bulldozers crossed the boundary into Dong Lang in Chinese sovereign territory to obstruct infrastructure construction. China on Monday confirmed that India had withdrawn personnel and equipment from Dong Lang after a military stand-off lasting more than two months. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 17:34:01|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close CANBERRA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Tibetan cultural exchange delegation has visited Canberra and briefed government officials, think-tanks and the Australian press about the latest development of China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The delegation met with Australian government officials on Wednesday. During the meeting, Australian officials said China's development is of great importance to Australia. Australian officials also spoke highly of the friendly relations between the two countries and the two peoples, expressing their readiness to boost cooperation and exchange with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the fields of agriculture, science and technology as well as tourism. While meeting with scholars from the National Library of Australia and the journalists from Australia's mainstream media, the Chinese delegation introduced them, with series of statistics, the achievements Tibet Autonomous Region has scored in the past more than 50 years, including socio-economic development, protection of cultural heritage and use of the Tibetan language, among others. With regard to the Tibet-related issues raised by the Australian side, Wang Yanwen, head of the delegation and associate inspector of the Department of Human Rights of China's State Council Information Office, stressed that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times. She said the Chinese government is firmly opposed to any interference in China's internal affairs as well as any activity that undermines peace under the pretext of religion and human rights. Wang also stressed that the Chinese government is especially against certain international forces colluding with the Dalai Lama clique to engage in anti-China separatist activities. The delegation's visit to Australia aims to introduce the current development of Tibet, especially good and stable life of local people, Wang said, noting that the two countries should respect each other and oppose irresponsible remarks on Tibet. The Australian side also had a discussion with the Chinese delegation on the development of human rights in Tibet. Wang said the Chinese government always attaches great importance to the rights and interests of the Tibetan people and respects the Tibetan culture and religion. She highlighted that the rights to subsistence and development are the primary, basic human rights, citing the great improvement of people's living standard in the autonomous region as the most notable achievement. Wang told Xinhua that she believed that the delegation's visit would help Australians better understand Tibet. She also expected more Australians to visit Tibet and witness Tibet's rapid development in person. The Australians scholars and journalists said they hoped to have a comprehensive and objective understanding of Tibet through more visits by such Chinese cultural exchange delegations rather than biased media reports. The Chinese delegation will also tour Auckland, New Zealand. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 17:39:04|Editor: Song Lifang People climb up a train at a railway station in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on Aug. 31, 2017, ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the festival of animal sacrifice. (Xinhua/Salim Reza) DHAKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- With merely a day remaining for the holy Eid-ul-Adha, a mad rush of home-goers continued at bus and launch terminals and railway stations in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Thursday. The home-goers seemed to ignore the hazards of journey to celebrate the festival of animal sacrifice with their families. Bangladeshis on Sept. 2 will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha, which is also to be celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Prophet Ismael as an act of obedience to Allah. The hustling and bustling Dhaka is now showing signs of tranquility in the coming days as people, with or even without seat-ensuring tickets, are gathering at the city's ferry terminals, railway and bus stations to join relatives in their village homes. On Thursday morning, many were seen even trying to climb up trains' roofs in different railway stations in Dhaka to reach their village homes. On Thursday afternoon, home-goers were also seen to climb on the roof of ferries which have already been packed with passengers at the city's Sadarghat terminal. Musammat Shirin Shilla is going to Bogra district, 197 km northwest of Dhaka. "It will take us the whole day to go home," said Shilla at a train station in Dhaka. "I am going home to celebrate Eid with the family members of my father's-in-law house." Mohammad Kabir Mia, a member of Bangladesh Army, said he was going home to spend Eid holidays with the family members. "I will enjoy the Eid with my parents and family members." Another Maswood Ahmed was seen busy trying to climb up an already jam packed train leaving Dhaka for Lalmonirhat district, 343 km northwest of Dhaka. "We are very happy though the journey is troublesome." Like previous years, sufferings of home-goers also worsened with long tailbacks on all highways connecting Dhaka because of a heavy rush of outbound buses and inbound trucks carrying sacrificial animals and shortage of ferries. According to some estimates, millions of people leave Dhaka twice in a year on Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Every Muslim who has the financial means needs to sacrifice animal and distributes the meat to the family and the poor. Millions of poor people in Bangladesh, who cannot afford to buy meat even once in a year, get the chance of eating meat this time every year. State-owned transport bodies have started special Eid services to ply on different inter-district routes in addition to the regular services to meet the demand of the home-bound city dwellers. To make the travel of the home-bound passengers easy, officials said additional forces have been deployed in Dhaka streets. Rescue workers and residents look for survivors at the site of a building collapse in Mumbai on Aug. 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Bi Xiaoyang) NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and 15 others injured after a five-storeyed residential building collapsed in India's financial capital Mumbai Thursday, police said. Ten others are feared trapped under the debris of the old building that collapsed around 8:45 a.m. local time on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road in Mumbai's busy Bhendi Bazaar area. "Eleven people have been rescued so far from the debris. We are looking for other survivors. The number of trapped people are, however, not confirmed," Mumbai Police officer Manoj Sharma told the media. While 10 bodies have been pulled out of the debris, the injured have been rushed to J.J. Hospital, where the condition of some are said to be serious. "As of now, the death toll stands at 10, and two firemen as well as 13 residents of the building, are being treated for their injuries," Dr. T. P. Lahane of J. J. Hospital told the media. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is on the spot and carrying out rescue work along with 10 fire tenders that have been pressed into service. The building, which was home to 11 families and a sweet shop on the ground floor, collapsed two days after Mumbai and its adjoining areas were lashed by heaviest rain in 12 years on Tuesday. On Saturday. a building being demolished in Mumbai's Chandivali had crashed killing at least six people. And in July this year, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building in the city crumbled during renovations. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 18:04:15|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close LUSAKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Over 500 asylum-seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) entered Zambian within a day on Wednesday, making it the biggest single entry of new arrivals in three years, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency said on Thursday. The asylum seekers were received in the northern part of Zambia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. The new arrivals are in addition to a sporadic and continuous stream that has characterized refugee inflows from the neighboring DRC into Zambia over the past three years, according to a statement released by the refugee agency. Pierrine Aylara, the UNHCR Representative to Zambia, confirmed the arrival and added that more were being hosted by local communities. The refugee agency is currently working with local communities in conducting a head-count to ascertain exact figures as the new arrivals were entering through different border entry points, some unmanned, she added. "We have continuously been receiving a steady inflow of new arrivals from the DRC for some time now. UNHCR together with the host government and the Zambia Red Cross Society are doing everything possible in our limited capacity to protect and assist the new arrivals pending durable solutions," she said. The refugee agency has since called for assistance from the international community for additional funds to enable it to address the basic humanitarian needs of new arrivals. According to UNHCR figures, over 3,000 asylum-seekers from the DRC have been received in Zambia from January 1 to August 31, with the month of August accounting for about 1,000 arrivals. Total population of DRC asylum seekers and refugees in Zambia currently stands at 25,063 as of July 31. Zambia currently hosts some 58,000 refugees and others of concern, mostly from Angola, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and Uganda. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 18:34:26|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close by Chris Mgidu NAIROBI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police are on Thursday interrogating 13 Ethiopian nationals after arresting them at a residential estate in Nairobi in a security swoop. Nairobi County Police Commander Japheth Koome said the Ethiopians, who were arrested on Wednesday night, would be charged in court later for being in the country illegally. Koome said the Ethiopian men had stayed in a rented house waiting to move out to South Africa, adding that major manhunt for the smuggler behind the syndicate was underway. "We don't know how they managed to arrive there but we are pursuing all angles in our investigations," Koome said, noting that those arrested are to be deported to their country after court processes. The police said they were tipped of the presence of the foreigners and that none of them could speak English or Swahili. The Ethiopians were believed to have come in small groups and police are looking for two women behind their visit to Kenya. Kenyan police and immigration officials have decried increased cases in which Ethiopian nationals are nabbed in the country while on transit to either Tanzania or South Africa. Tens of Ethiopian illegal immigrants are annually arrested in Kenya while on transit. On several occasions they have been discovered locked up in congested rooms in Kenyan towns and cities. The Kenyan authorities have blamed the vastness of the region for the runaway influx of foreigners in to Kenya through Moyale on Kenya-Ethiopia borders. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 18:49:34|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close JAKARTA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The government of Indonesia on Thursday issued a policy to simplify procedures in business licensing and boost ease of doing business in the country. A presidential decree was issued to support the efforts as the country plans to put all the process in the licensing into one spot so called "a single submission system," in coming months. Under the planned system, President Joko Widodo stressed that investors will only need to come into one building to get a business license. "All the process for the licensing will be there (in the building). All the provincial officials will take office in the building, preparing application system," President Widodo said at the Indonesian bourse. The single submission system is expected to kick off in January or February of next year, Widodo added. President Widodo reminded that the country has got a momentum for luring more foreign investment as it has secured investment grade level from S & P Global rating, Moody's and Fitch rating agencies. Under the decree, a task force will be set up to ensure the implementation of the policy and settle all the obstacles in doing business in the country, he stated. Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution disclosed that the policy would also include the usage of information technology and created an integrated licensing system. Widodo, who took office in October 2014, has undertaken a massive improvement in regulation, procedures and incentives, in an effort to boost investment climate in the country as he aims to pursue over a 7-percent GDP growth at the end of his five-year term. Indonesian economy is expected to expand 5.2 percent this year and 5.4 percent next year. Investment along with consumption and export is the major contributor to the country's GDP growth. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 18:54:38|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close JAKARTA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has provided a 2-million-U.S. dollar humanitarian assistance to Rakhine state of Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said here on Thursday. The aid would be channeled within two years in the sectors of health, post-conflict recovery efforts and education, Retno said. The Indonesian government has been actively involved in efforts to terminate conflicts and violence in Rakhine state, and seek solution of the problem. The recent conflicts and violence have left thousands of casualties of Muslim Rohingyas and many fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. File photo shows a local worker plants tomato sprouts inside a green house which was introduced by Chinese expert Liu Gaoqiong to Kenya at Egerton University in Nakuru, Kenya, Oct. 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) NAIROBI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenya should borrow lessons from China's economic miracle that came to light three decades ago thanks to policy reforms and modernization of agriculture and manufacturing sectors, an expert said on Wednesday. Alex Litu, an analyst specializing in informal economy, said in an article published by the People newspaper on Wednesday that China could offer Kenya valuable insight on how to leapfrog from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. "The route taken by China is one which Kenya can borrow a leaf from when looking for ways to transform and grow its economy through agriculture and manufacturing," Litu remarked. An estimated 75 percent of Kenyan population relies on agriculture for income generation while industrial take off is yet to be realized thanks to infrastructural, personnel and financing hiccups. Litu noted that a transformed agriculture sector that underpinned China's stellar economic performance could provide inspiration to Kenya as it embarks on a transition from subsistence farming to advanced manufacturing. "The significant improvement in agriculture helped China release labor from land to industry and service sectors," said Litu. Kenya should take a cue from China and embark on policy reforms alongside technology adoption in order to sustain its status as a regional economic and industrial hub. Litu hailed sweeping reforms that China undertook to realize phenomenal economic growth that spread benefits across the globe. "Over the years, China has managed to turn around its economy by instituting certain reforms which have seen the country's economy grow exponentially into a global economic powerhouse," said Litu. He noted that the development of a vibrant informal economy could help address poverty and unemployment crisis in Kenya. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 19:04:46|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has received wide praise after its disaster relief efforts in typhoon-hit Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), a military spokesperson said Thursday. "This is the PLA Garrison in Macao's first disaster relief operation in the SAR, and the troops have worked with the Macao SAR government to reduce the impact caused by Typhoon Hato and help local people resume life and production order," said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense. On Aug. 23, the powerful Typhoon Hato struck Macao SAR, causing grave causalities and property loss. At the request of the Macao SAR government and under the approval of the country's central government in accordance with the Basic Law of the Macao SAR and the Garrison Law of the Macao SAR, troops were mobilized on Aug. 25 for disaster relief and returned to their garrison on Aug. 28, according to Ren. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 19:09:49|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution set up by BRICS, is expected to offer loans totaling 2.5 billion U.S. dollars this year, according to a Chinese official Thursday. While the NDB approved loans totaling 1.55 billion U.S. dollars last year to seven programs on sustainable development, more loans are expected to be approved later this year, said Zhou Qiangwu, director of the International Economics and Finance Institute, a think tank under the Ministry of Finance. According to Zhou, the bank has made a lot of progress since it went into operation more than two years ago. For example, yuan-denominated green bonds with a value of 3 billion yuan (454.5 million U.S. dollars) were issued, while the Africa Regional Center of the NDB in Johannesburg was launched earlier this month. "The NDB is like a baby of the five nations," Zhou said. As leaders from the BRICS countries gather during the upcoming summit in China's southeastern coastal city of Xiamen from Sept. 3 to 5, the NDB is likely to see more progress, such as agreements to fund new projects in the five countries, Zhou said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 19:55:21|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Chinese ambassador to Syria Qi Qianjin (L) hands over school supplies to Palestinian refugee children in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Aug. 31, 2017. The Chinese embassy in Syria has provided school supplies to the Palestinian refugee children in Syria on Thursday. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani) DAMASCUS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Syria has provided school supplies to the Palestinian refugee children in Syria on Thursday. A variety of pens, pencils and other writing stationery, as well as school bags, were donated to the Palestinian children living in Palestinian refugee camps. During an event held at the Chinese embassy in Damascus with the presence of officials from the Palestinian embassy, the Chinese ambassador to Syria Qi Qianjin said the aid is designed to assist the children in their study. The ambassador said that China is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Syria and sympathizes with the people's suffering. He noted that China will continue to play a constructive role in finding a political solution, in tandem with its ongoing effort to provide aid. For his part, Anwar Abdul-Hadi, Director of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Political Bureau in Damascus, hailed China's stance in supporting the Palestinians and Syrians. Syria hosted a pre-war number of around 500,000 Palestinians who fled to Syria following the establishment of Israel in 1948. Large numbers of the Palestinian refugees lived in several camps across Syria, but such areas have suffered from the war in Syria since 2011. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:00:27|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China continues to enjoy strong growth which is projected at 6.7 percent for 2017, and shows potential to sustain the increasing momentum over the medium term, said International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a recent annual report. ACHIEVEMENTS OF PAST EFFORTS Key data released by China's State Statistics Bureau in July and August reflect the country has maintained smooth economic development with stable prices and employment in the first half of 2017. The economy is performing reasonably and stably. According to official figures, the first six months witnessed a year-on-year GDP increase of 6.9 percent, growing 0.2 percent faster, compared with the same period last year. Given the data falling within the range of 6.7-6.9 percent in eight straight quarters, China is improving its stability. The employment situation is optimized. Against the background of a proactive policies aiming to promote service sector, public entrepreneur and innovation, 8.55 million new jobs have been created in urban areas during the period, a year-over-year increase by 200,000, said Mao Shengyong, a spokesman of the statistics bureau. Mao added that the urban surveyed unemployment rate remained low, which dropped around 5.1 percent this July, down from a year earlier. The general price level is stabilized. In the first couple of months, the government managed to bring the prices under control with consumer price index (CPI) slightly rising 1.4 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics office. International balance of payments has been improved. Data released by the People's Bank of China indicated that by the end of July, the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) appreciated to 6.7283 yuan against the U.S. dollar, up 0.69 percent from last month. Meanwhile, the foreign exchange reserve has reached 3.0807 trillion dollars, increasing in the sixth month by 23.9 billion. China's supply-side structural reform, which has gained steam, has greatly improved the development efficiency and quality, backing up a promising market. As the economy is becoming more efficient, industrial enterprises at national scale have gained a profit increase of 21.2 percent, growing 14.3 faster year on year, National Statistics Bureau confirmed on Aug. 28. The quality also forges ahead. In a bid to conserve energy and natural resources, clean energy registered a 0.7-percent up in overall energy consumption than that in the same period last year, helping improving the country's environment. Market expectation trends up. As revealed by the bureau, in July, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of manufacturing sector continued to be above the critical point of 50 in 12 straight months, and the non-manufacturing PMI remained at or above 54 percent in 10 straight months, maintaining good posture. BRIGHT FUTURE IN SIGHT In IMF's report released on Aug. 15, the organization has come up with suggestions for China on future economic governance, including further deleveraging and boosting public and private consumption, views similar with China's ongoing efforts. Since China accelerates to its adjustment of economic structure, the development is becoming better coordinated and more sustainable. The Belt and Road (B&R) Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May has lifted domestic and international interconnection to a new level. According to data from China's General Administration of Customs, from January to July, Chinese exports to B&R members Russia, India and Malaysia rose 28.6 percent, 24.2 percent and 20.9 percent respectively. China has also made headway in science and technology research and development. New business models are growing at an incredible speed. The "Internet Plus" initiative promotes integration of online and offline services, in which process the Internet economy with online shopping as a representative has rocketed. In conclusion, China maintains stable and positive development in the first half of 2017. Its advancing reform stimulates growth momentum and optimizes the structure. In a world experiencing zigzag economic recovery, China is opening up a bright prospect by performing arduous reform tasks and moving forward one step at a time. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:05:33|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close ALGIERS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Two police officers were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the province of Tiaret, 350 km western the Algerian capital of Algiers. According to the Department of National Security (DGSN), a man with a gun and an explosive belt was intercepted while trying to target the police post in downtown Tiaret. A police guard stopped him, and the terrorist detonated his belt, killing himself and two police officers, the source specified. Located in a region plagued by unprecedented security and political instability, Algeria faces ongoing terrorist threats. A few militants affiliated to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and recently established Daesh affiliate groups are still taking refuge in the dense woods in the north, and remote desert areas near the troubled Libya and Mali. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:10:36|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close British Brexit secretary David Davis (L) and European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier attend a joint press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 31, 2017. No decisive progress has been reached in the third round of Brexit talks, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said here Thursday, warning that the talk mandate given by the European Parliament should not be underestimated. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan) BRUSSELS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- No decisive progress has been reached in the third round of Brexit talks, European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier said here Thursday, warning that the talk mandate given by the European Parliament should not be underestimated. "Protect EU order and Single Market is our top priority in Brexit talks...you cannot simply remain in the single market while shun EU responsibilities," said Barnier. "If we want the talks to be successful, we have to be as constructive as possible and as less ambiguous as possible," he added. For his part, British Brexit Secretary David Davis told reporters in the joint press briefing with Barnier that the two sides had deep negotiations in this tough week. "We want EU to be more flexible and the third round Brexit talks could be constructive," said Davis, noting that flexible and imaginative should be the right path of the European Council. Highly anticipated, the third round Brexit talks kicked off on Monday in EU Commission headquarters. There were three negotiating groups covering citizens' rights, financial settlement and other separation issues. The issues related to Northern Ireland and the governance of the withdrawal agreement were addressed by the Coordinators. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:10:38|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close ABUJA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Army on Thursday said government forces had killed five top commanders of terror group Boko Haram as troops intensify efforts to smoke out their remnants in the northeast region. Army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement that a "large number" of Boko Haram fighters and their leaders were neutralized in artillery bombardment and air strike by the government forces. The operation, undertaken based on credible intelligence information, targeted Boko Haram hideouts, according to the army spokesman. "The Nigerian military would continue with the concerted onslaught on the reported Boko Haram terrorists' locations till they have been eliminated," he said. Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.3 million others since its emergence in 2009. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:15:40|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close LONDON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement Thursday that she aims to lead the Conservatives into the 2022 general election has been greeted with mixed responses in Britain. Following the snap general election in June when May's Conservatives lost their overall majority, May faced calls for her to quit, fueling speculation that she would leave 10 Downing Street before the run-up to the next election to enable a successor to take the lead. In media interviews in Japan where she is on a three-day charm offensive, May said she wants to lead the Conservatives into the next general election and intends to remain in power for the long term. Labour's shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett said May is deluding herself with a fantasy bid to plough on until 2022. "The idea that the Conservatives can go on, and on, and on causing damage every day," he said on his social media site. In a media interview in Kyoto, May has said "I'm here for the long term. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit but delivering a brighter future for the UK." May added that she wanted to ensure global Britain could take its trading place in the world, as well as dealing with domestic injustices to ensure a strong, more global, but also fairer Britain, for the future. On the second day of her trip to Japan, May held official talks with her counterpart Shinzo Abe, but media coverage has zoomed into the question of her longevity as prime minister. May's visit is aimed at reassuring Japanese business leaders that Britain remains a safe bet for investment as it prepares to leave the European Union. Leading Conservative politicians were among those expressing reservations about May's plan to fight the 2022 general election. The Daily Telegraph reported former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan saying it would be difficult for May to lead the party into another poll after the disastrous set of results the party achieved on June 8. Grant Shapps, the former Conservative party chairman, said May could not jump straight from throwing away a Conservative majority to announcing an intention to remain as leader well into the next decade, signalling she would have to prove herself. Meanwhile veteran Conservative politician and one time deputy prime minister, Michael Heseltine, criticised May's announcement, telling the Telegraph that May had no long term future as the party leader. Heseltine predicted that Britain will face another general election within two years. Other Conservatives rallied to May's support, with leading Remain supporter Sarah Wollaston expressing loyalty to the prime minister on her social media site. Wollaston, who is chair of the House of Commons health select committee, said May was right to commit to the long term, adding the prime minister had been calm and effective in her role despite extraordinary pressures in recent months. In a poll among readers of the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror, 77 percent said May should quite Downing Street ahead of the next election. In its report the Mirror said May's defiant vow threatened to rip the Conservative civil war wide open again as the party prepared for its annual conference in October, their first major gathering since losing their parliamentary majority. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:20:46|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close KIGALI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Wednesday appointed a new cabinet after his pick for the prime minister, retaining almost all the old faces and dropping several positions. Earlier this month, Kagame was handed a third term in office after defeating two other contestants with an overwhelming victory of winning 98.79 percent of the total vote. He will serve a term of seven years. Kagame picked new Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente to replace Anastase Murekezi, who served as the prime minister since 2014 and is now appointed as the chief ombudsman. Kagame removed positions such as the minister of natural resources and the minister of youth and ICT, and added a few new members to his cabinet, including the minister of environment and the minister of land and forestry among others. Kagame also appointed provincial governors besides cabinet members. Under the country's constitution, the prime minister should be appointed within 15 days after the new president swears in, and the other cabinet members should be appointed within 15 days after the appointment of the prime minister. The cabinet is appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister, according to the constitution. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:45:57|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of three soldiers were killed and two others wounded on Thursday in a car bomb attack at a check point in eastern Libya, a security official told Xinhua. "A suicide bomber, who was driving a vehicle, attacked a checkpoint in Nawfiliya area where a number of police officers and army soldiers are stationed," the source confirmed. "The attack took place earlier this morning. The Islamic State (IS) is believed to be responsible, given the short distance between the checkpoint and Sirte city, where everyone knows that the remaining IS fighters are moving in valleys and desert areas," the source added. The source also confirmed that military forces had arrived at the site of the attack, and a number of military vehicles are securing the area. Nawfiliya, nearly 120 km east of Sirte, is a part of the Oil Crescent, which is controlled by the eastern-based army led by Major General Khalifa Haftar since 2016. Haftar's army has been engaged in a violent war against extremist groups in eastern Libya for more than three years. Nine soldiers and two civilians were slaughtered last week by IS members who set up a check point in a main road in central Libya. IS has been defeated in their former haven Sirte, some 450 km east of the capital Tripoli, last year by the UN-backed government forces. However, local officials fear that the extremist militants would regroup. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 20:56:07|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- German former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD) has hit back at criticism over his new involvement in the Russian oil company Rosneft on Wednesday night. Speaking at an SPD campaign rally in Lower Saxony, the retired politician defended his recently-announced decision to assume a position on the board of the enterprise. "I will do it. This is about my life, over which I -- and not the German press -- have control." Schroeder said. He added that he wanted to contribute to ensuring Germany's and Europe's energy security in the role. Schroeder denied that Rosneft constituted the "extended arm of the Russian government," noting that several international public and private entities such as British Petroleum (BP), the state of Qatar and Glencore held shares of the country's largest oil producer. Schroeder has attracted criticism for his close ties with Russia from some quarters in Germany. The recent outbursts were fueled by the news that he will join Rosneft's board and may even become its chairman. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has been amongst those who have prominently spoken out against her predecessor's corporate ambitions in Russia. "I do not consider what Mr. Schroeder is doing to be ok" she told the newspaper Bild, pointing out that Rosneft was affected by current European Union economic sanctions against Russia. "I do not intend to assume a private sector job when I am no longer chancellor," Merkel added. Former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) voiced similar concerns. "I am surprised how little resistance there is from his own party." Guttenberg said. Schroeder reacted unfazed when questioned on Wednesday night by audience members over his response to such attacks. He argued that it was economically and politically imprudent to isolate Moscow. "The demonization of Russia does not help anybody," the ex-chancellor said. Leading Social Democrat (SPD) politicians have also defended their former leader's plans to join Rosneft's board. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) described attacks on Schroeder's private sector career as a "political game" aimed at tarnishing the SPD's reputation before national elections in September. "It would be all the better if he becomes the boss as it would give him a louder voice [on the board}" Gabriel added, in response to speculations that Schroeder may assume Rosneft's chairmanship. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:01:09|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close XI'AN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- For centuries, the only means of connection between Mashuping Village and outside world was a narrow meandering path deep in the mountains. However, a new highway which opened this week has ended the isolation for residents of the village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. It now takes about five minutes to walk from Mashuping to the newly built Yanhuang Highway, which stretches for 828.5 km along the west bank of the Yellow River. The highway, which cost 6.9 billion yuan (1 billion U.S. dollars), will benefit more than 2 million people. In the past, construction materials could not be easily transported into the village, so many villagers, like Fu Changhong, 44, lived in cave houses. Children had to walk for hours through the mountains to get to school. If a villager became ill, they would be carried out by stretcher to the nearest road, where they could be taken to hospital by car, according to villager Zhao Hongyan. The lack of infrastructure meant there were no business opportunities. Persimmons would rot on trees unable to be transported to markets. Due to the isolation and poverty, men struggled to find wives willing to move to the village. "When I got married more than 20 years ago, I was brought to the village on the back of a mule. Ever since, I have regretted my decision," said Shi Bianrong. There is a Chinese proverb that says: "If you want to get rich, you must first build roads." The Yanhuang Highway promises to provide more opportunities for the villagers. Some plan to open guesthouses or stores on the side of the highway, which links several tourist destinations including Hukou Waterfall and Mount Huashan, one of China's five sacred mountains. Others intend to raise poultry or start other businesses. Poor transport infrastructure has caused China's west to lag behind eastern regions in terms of economic competitiveness. The central government unveiled a national strategy to accelerate economic growth in the inland west in 1999, including the building of a network of highways, railways and airports. Shaanxi now has around 5,000 km of expressways and that number is expected to surpass 6,000 km by the end of 2020, when all counties will be assessable by expressway. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed in 2013, aims to link the economies of dozens of countries, propelling growth and social development. Building more roads, railways and airports has become a necessity for China's western region along the ancient Silk Road. A new high speed railway linking the city of Baoji in Shaanxi with Lanzhou, capital of neighboring Gansu Province, began operation on July 9, connecting China's northwestern regions to the national high speed rail network. Tongwei, one of the poorest counties in Gansu, is now connected by high speed rail with major cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. Every Spring Festival, Wang Yadong, 55, and his wife travel from Tongwei to Guangzhou, in south China, where their son and daughter work. The journey previously took them more than 36 hours. "Now I can take the high speed train to Guangzhou," Wang said. "The travel time has been cut to 11 hours." Shaanxi has opened 46 international air routes and several freight train routes to Central Asia and Europe since 2013, according to Lou Qinjian, the provincial Party chief. It has also set up a free trade zone and inland port to facilitate the building of an international logistics hub, Lou said. More than 300 Shaanxi companies have invested in countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and foreign companies have come to the province looking for cooperation opportunities, he said. "China's west is an important area in the latest round of opening up," said Zeng Zhaoning from Xi'an Shiyou University. "Improved transportation infrastructure has transformed the western areas and people's lives." Fu has just purchased a smart phone to learn more about the outside world. He plans to open a guesthouse beside the Yanhuang Highway. He also wants to visit the famous Hukou Waterfall, which is only around 20 km away from the village, but few villagers have been there. "In the past, we had to travel more than 200 km through mountain ravines to get there. Now it takes less than an hour," Fu said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:01:10|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close by Chris Mgidu and Joy Nabukewa LAMU, Kenya, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed on Thursday after the vehicles they were travelling in were hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Tana River's coastal region in east Kenya. Lamu County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo confirmed the incident, saying that suspected Al-Shabaab militants also sprayed the two vehicles with bullets before escaping into the vast Boni Forest. It was not clear whether the three were shot dead or were killed when their vehicles ran over the explosive along the Garsen-Lamu road. "The two vehicles were on their way from Garsen to Lamu when they ran over the IED and exploded, killing three occupants on the spot. Several others were also injured," Kitiyo told Xinhua by telephone. He said the injured were rushed to Witu hospital where they are undergoing treatment, adding that a combined team of security agents drawn from regular police and military were immediately dispatched to the scene. The incident followed the beheading of four people by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Lamu County on Aug. 18. Tana Delta divisional police commander Riziki Ali said the affected vehicles were a truck and a salon car. He said the three are believed to have been shot dead by the militants. Ali said three other locals were attacked and injured on Wednesday night by the same gang. The local police chief said this is an indication the militants are still operating in the area despite intensified police operations. The militants have camped in the area, destroying property and killing security personnel in ambushes amid intensified attacks along the towns situated along the vast Kenya-Somalia border. Most of the ambushes take place in Wajir, Garissa, Lamu and Mandera counties as protest over the incursion of Kenya troops in Somalia. The incidents took place amid operations to flush Al-Shabaab fighters out of Boni Forest which the militants have been using as their hideout. The police believe the militants are using the forest for recruitment and training of Kenya youth to join the group and later to wage terrorist attacks in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:06:13|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere spoke out on Thursday in favor of further limiting the possibility of Syrian refugees to bring their family members to Germany. In an interview with Heilbronner Stimme newspaper, the minister advocated continuing a temporary policy measure which applies to migrants with subsidiary protection status. The current ban on family reunification for the affected group is effective until March 2018. De Maiziere did not offer any concrete figures for how many Syrians could be brought to Germany under the family reunification clause after the ban's lapse, but warned that the number was "staggering." "We estimate that one family member will follow for every refugee," he said. A report by Bild newspaper has suggested that 390,000 Syrians could bring in relatives. Given the outcomes of asylum applications between 2015 and 2016, there was a potential for 267,500 individuals to enter the country in this fashion. Authorities could already be confronted with as many as 120,000 such cases from May 2018. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she would only decide on whether or not to prolong the existing ban if she is re-elected in national elections in September. Speaking to Heilbronner Stimme, de Maiziere further addressed the prevailing high incidence of refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, something that had to be prevented. The minister proposed that "everybody who arrives with a trafficker [should have] no chance of remaining in Europe." "This would mean that we would send everybody intercepted at sea back" as long as the conditions in the country they were being sent back to were humane, he said. For such a thing to work, Germany would need the cooperation of North African states such as Libya. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:36:21|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the building collapse in India' financial capital Mumbai Thursday has risen to 21, while 34 others including four firemen were injured, reports said. The local media quoting health officials at J J hospital said death toll has risen to 21. Rescuers have pulled several people alive from the collapsed building and are digging into the debris to find out trapped ones. On Thursday morning at around 8:45 local time, a six-storey building collapsed on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road in Mumbai's busy Bhendi Bazaar area. The building in the densely populated locality was believed to be about 117 years old. Following the collapse, authorities rushed police, fire brigade personnel and disaster response force personnel to the spot to carry out rescue work. According to locals, 11 families were residing in the building, besides a sweets shop running from the ground floor. On Tuesday, Mumbai city experienced the heaviest rainfall in the last 15 years, triggering flood-like situation and water logging. The downpour caused disruption in road and rail traffic, following which authorities issued an advisory to people urging them to stay indoors. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the site of the collapsed building and announced a compensation of 7,800 U. S. dollars for the families which have lost members in the accident. Meanwhile Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the deaths in the incident. "Collapse of a building in Mumbai is saddening. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and prayers with the injured," Modi wrote on Twitter. In July, 17 people were killed in a building collapse in Ghatkopar, an eastern suburb of Mumbai city. Deadly accidents due to failing infrastructure, either new or old, are common in India. Construction experts blame the lax administration and corruption for flouting building rules, which often result in using poor quality materials, inadequate supervision and poor safety standards for workers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:41:25|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday congratulated Sapar Isakov on his new role as Kyrgyz prime minister. In his message, Li spoke highly of the good momentum in the development of the China-Kyrgyzstan strategic partnership as well as remarkable results in bilateral cooperation in various areas. Li expressed China's willingness to work with Kyrgyzstan to push forward bilateral relations, better benefiting the two peoples. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev signed decrees on Aug. 26 appointing the new prime minister and the cabinet members. Isakov, 40, who was previously the chief of the President's office, is the youngest prime minister in the history of the Central Asian nation. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 21:56:32|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close PARIS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The French government on Thursday unveiled its much awaited plan to reform the country's protective and rigid labor law, aiming to give businesses more flexibility in hiring employees. The key reforms include reducing severance pay, allowing small and and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to negotiate with employees on working terms without a trade union mandate, encouraging short-term contracts and limiting the appealing time to labor courts. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called the planned reforms "ambitious, fair and balanced," but admitted that there were "different opinions." "The labor law is at the heart of the French social model and it will remain so. We must protect it and ensure a constructive, serene social dialogue," said Philippe at a press conference. However, the prime minister underlined the urgent need to act in the face of the situation in France "characterized by decades of unemployment." "No one today can say that our labor law promotes and effectively protects hiring. That may have been the case in the past but not now. Indeed, for a boss of a small business or for a foreign investor, the labor law is perceived as a barrier to hiring and investment," he said. The prime minister added that the plan will be presented to the Council of Ministers, the French government's executive body, on Sept. 22. The French government had negotiated the reforms with business owners and trade unions for the past three months, but the unveiled plan was still met with strong disapproval from some of the country's major trade unions. "All the fears we had are now confirmed," Philippe Martinez, head of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the largest trade union in France in terms of votes, told media, calling the plan "the end of the employment contract." The CGT leader called on called workers, retirees and young people to participate in a nationwide protest on Sept. 12. Laurent Berger, head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), the largest trade union by membership numbers, said he's "disappointed" with the reforms. "Few of our proposals were accepted...The government missed the mark. It was a missed opportunity to strengthen social dialogue and negative provisions for employees," he told French media. Secretary-general of Workers' Force (FO) Jean-Claude Mailly, said that there are "points of disagreement that persist" in the unveiled plan, and that his team will continue to evaluate the details. However, both the CFDT and FO leaders said they would not recommend members to join street protests. Meanwhile, the far-left political party France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) led by former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon voiced a more furious response. "It is a notable aggression against the labor law, with more premeditation," said Alexis Corbiere, Melenchon's spokesperson. He called on the French to "not allow themselves to be abused" and "to give an answer to the high level of aggression." Nonetheless, some trade unions are satisfied with the proposed reforms. In a statement, the Confederation of SMEs (CPME) said the plan was up to their expectations. "The reforms reflect a profound change that takes into account the reality of small businesses by opening up the capacity of dialogue, which has been reserved until present in practice," the union said. The Union of Local Businesses (U2P), which represents artisans and craftsmen, also said it is "fully satisfied" by the plan, which it perceives as a "strong message of hope" in favor of small ateliers and workshops. The labor law reform was one of the key promises by French President Emmanuel Macron during his election campaign. With his approval rate dropping significantly only four months into his presidency, partially due to the planned reforms, Macron insists to justify his "pro-business" credentials with the labor law overhaul. In an interview with French magazine Le Point, Macron said it is necessary to introduce more flexibility into the rigid labor law so as to encourage hiring. "We are the only major economy in the European Union that hasn't been able to address high unemployment for over three decades," he said. The current unemployment rate of France stands at 9.5 percent, compared to 5.7 percent in Germany and 4.4 percent in Britain. However, nearly two French out of three do not trust the president and his government to reform the labor law, according to a survey published on Monday by research firm Odoxa. Overhauling the labor law is a bad idea for 63 percent of respondents, up 11 percent compared to another poll in May. Only 8 percent said they had "complete confidence" on this issue. Burke/Triolo Productions/Thinkstock Little Big Town will be inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame during a special ceremony September 14 in Nashvilles Walk of Fame Park. Zac Brown narrates On a Mission: Atlanta Rising, a profile of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, this weekend. You can watch it at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC. John Anderson returns to the road this Sunday after being forced to take some time off in August due to medical issues. Hell play the Hollywood Casino & Resort Gulf Coast in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. The Kentucky Country Music Association recently honored native son John Conlee with its first-ever Legends Award during a performance at the Kentucky Opry. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:11:36|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council said on Thursday that 57 people have been held following investigations into two fatal colliery explosions that killed 65 people last year. A State Council investigation team concluded that the tragedies in Chongqing and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were both workplace safety accidents caused by issues including lax regulation. On Oct. 31 last year, an explosion at Jinshangou Coal Mine in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality killed 33 people and resulted in direct economic losses of 36.8 million yuan (about 5.6 million U.S. dollars). Jinshangou Coal Mine operated illegally beyond its boundary, used banned equipment and ignored regulatory orders, according to the investigation report. The other explosion, at Baoma Mining Company in Inner Mongolia on Dec. 3, 2016 killed 32 people and caused 44 million yuan in losses. It was also caused by illegal operations. The 57 people have been held responsible for the accidents. The report blamed authorities in the two regions for failure to carry out their responsibilities and the State Council has ordered the local governments concerned to rectify problems found during the investigation. Mu Huaping, vice mayor of Chongqing and Wang Bo, vice chairman of the regional government of Inner Mongolia, were both found to have failed to perform their duties adequately. Despite regular calls by the central government for more focus on work safety, frequent tragedies still occur. A lack of safety awareness, poor regulation and lax safety regimes are among the factors leading to the accidents. Official data showed the number of workplace safety accidents fell 24.7 percent year on year during the January-July period, while related fatalities were down 16.8 percent. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:26:52|Editor: Song Lifang Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Thursday rejected as "highly unwarranted and unacceptable" remarks by Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. Forces and NATO in Afghanistan, that the Afghan Taliban leadership operates from the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar. Nicholson told Afghanistan's Tolo TV in Kabul at the weekend that the U.S. knows the Taliban leaders are living in the Pakistani areas. Pakistan Foreign Ministry's spokesman Nafees Zakaria rejected the remarks by the American General during his weekly briefing in Islamabad. "Pakistan has strongly rejected all allegations and insinuations regarding the presence of any safe havens of terrorists inside Pakistan. U.S. Gen Nicholson's remarks, therefore, are highly unwarranted and unacceptable," the spokesman said. When asked about Pakistan's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's policy focus on a military solution to the Afghan problem for now, he said Pakistan believes that there is no military solution to the complex Afghan conflict. "This is a lesson discernable from the long history of Afghanistan. Pakistan has instead advocated for an 'Afghan led and Afghan owned' political solution which in our estimation offers the best prospects of peace in the region," he went on to say. The spokesman called for involvement of all the stake holders pursuing a viable and workable political settlement in Afghanistan, adding that the region will continue to suffer from instability if efforts were not made to promote reconciliation in Afghanistan. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:37:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The 50-megawatt (MW) Reppie Waste to Energy facility, which Ethiopia claims to be the first of its kind in Africa, will be commissioned in December. Speaking to Xinhua on Thursday, Bizuneh Tolcha with the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) said the facility in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is 94.3-percent complete as of July. The project is being built on Ethiopia's largest landfill commonly called "Koshe" (meaning dirty in Ethiopia's official working language Amharic), lying on 5.3 hectares of land. The landfill in recent years has struggled to dispose of the city's increasing waste. Opened five decades ago when Addis Ababa was a small city, it is currently the main landfill for the city of 4 million plus population. "The project will cost 118.5 million U.S. dollars to complete. It is to be fully covered by Ethiopia's government and when complete will process 350,000 tonnes of solid waste annually," said Tolcha. He further said Reppie once commissioned will stop 46,494 tonnes of methane gas emission annually, helping achieve Ethiopia's Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy (CRGE). CRGE envisaged Ethiopia achieving zero net carbon emission by 2025 while moving it from a developing nation to an environmentally friendly middle-income economy. The project is being jointly constructed by British firm Cambridge Industries Limited and China National Electrical Engineering Company. Ethiopia plans to increase energy production capacity from the current 4,200 MW to about 17,300 MW by 2020 from hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass sources. Ethiopia hopes the series of energy projects it is currently undertaking will meet the demands of its fast growing economy and a rising population estimated to stand around 100 million currently. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:52:09|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close by Julius Gale JUBA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese youth who acquired university education in various Chinese universities said Beijing's educational engagement with the East African nation is vital for development of the war-torn country. William Garang Majok, who graduated with a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of International Business and Economics, said the Chinese education system is best suited for South Sudanese as it offers theoretical and practical education based on modern technology. He said that China's increased educational and human resource development partnership with African countries would boost cooperation in various sectors. "Studying in China is pretty much rewarding in terms of experience and education itself because China is a multicultural country. It is relevant to South Sudan," Majok said. Kur John Aleu, a student pursuing Masters Degree Program in Transportation Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University, said the way China has developed into the world's second biggest economy is the best thing South Sudan can copy in terms of development. He said Chinese education goes beyond classroom-based learning to enhanced cultural exchanges and people-to-people relations. "Chinese people believe in hard work and I think that is one aspect that the people of South Sudan should copy so that we work hard and believe in ourselves," Aleu said. While in China, Aleu said he learnt a lot about China's rich cultural and ethnic diversity and he would bring the new education and skills to develop his country which is currently facing ethnic division caused by more than three years of civil war. "China has 52 ethnic groups whereas in South Sudan we have 64. But the way they have managed their diversity could actually be the best model that South Sudan can use to forge national unity. So studying in China is the best thing that I have experienced in life and I'm impressed by the level of cooperation between the two governments," he said. Li Xiangfeng, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan, revealed last week that Beijing has offered at least 4,100 scholarships and short-term training programs for South Sudanese. Another batch of more than 200 South Sudanese students are due to go to China after being awarded Chinese government scholarships to study undergraduate and postgraduate programs at various Chinese universities. Andrew Vuga Jackson, who acquired a Masters degree from the Communication University of China, said the Chinese government's focus on African human resource and education development is relevant for win-win cooperation as scholarships are not just government-to-government relationship, but goes beyond to people-to-people and culture-to-culture relationship building. "Although China is considered as one of the developing countries, it offered us good and relevant education. I would like to thank the people of China for paying their taxes to the government and these taxes are being shared with the people of South Sudan," Vuga said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:57:12|Editor: yan Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The first test-flight base for civilian drones opened in Shanghai on Thursday, according to the East China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). There are about 110 manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in east China, nearly 30 percent of the national total, said Jiang Chunshui, Communist Party secretary of the administration. East China also boasts 40,000 registered drones, more than one third of the national total, according to Jiang. Private drones are popular in China and illegal drone activity has become a problem, especially at airports. China has required civilian drones weighing more than 250 grams to be registered under real names from June 1. Over 120,000 drones have been registered, according to Ke Yubao, executive secretary of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China. "Drone users needs a test flight ground where they can learn the law and regulations," said Ke. The base is located at Qingpu district in western Shanghai. Drones are required to fly under 150 meters and all test flights are be monitored for safety. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 22:57:13|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Tianjian, a multi-function cargo ship, loaded with over 36,000 tonnes of machinery, set off from east China's Lianyungang Thursday. Carrying tunneling machines bound for Russia to be used in subway construction work and wind power equipment heading for Denmark, Tianjian is the third of China's planned six cargo ships to ply the northern route to Europe in 2017. In June, China proposed three "blue economic passages" connecting Asia with other continents, including this one linking with Europe via the Arctic Ocean as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. In early July, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed to explore cooperation on the northern sea route and build a "Silk Road on Ice." The advantages of the Arctic passage are obvious. "The passage is shorter, takes less time and the seaway is comparatively empty," said Shen Jianxin, captain of the Tianjian. "We don't have to worry about pirates either." Tianjian will reach the port in Esbjerg, Denmark, 7,670 nautical miles away, after 25 days. By conventional route, via the Suez canal, the voyage takes 37 days, covering 11,060 nautical miles. In other words, the arctic passage uses 320 tonnes less fuel, saving more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2. "The arctic passage expands China's options, and provides customers with faster delivery," said Yu Zenggang, vice general manager of China Cosco Shipping, which manages Tianjian. For some years, Cosco has been exploring the potential of the arctic passage. By the end of 2016, nine voyages had been completed. According to Cai Meijiang, vice president of a specialist carrier affiliated to Cosco, canal and security costs are also cut via the northern route, and ships need not be concerned by monsoons on the Indian Ocean. "Over 90 percent of China's exports travel by sea," said Lin Shanqing, deputy head of the State Oceanic Administration. "The opening up of the arctic maritime passage means a lot to China." As the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean continues to recede, the shipping period along the passage is lengthening. And with improved technology, the northern route will make a big difference to the world trade structure, he continued. However, there are still plenty of obstacles to be overcome before the arctic passage becomes a regular choice. "Sea ice, polar days and nights and complex weather conditions are among the challenges both we and the ship have to face," said captain Shen. "Rescue facilities along the route are also limited." Cai agreed. "If there is an accident, rescue is much more difficult in the Arctic area," he said. As a counter measure, Cosco has rewritten operational manuals for crews that are bound for the Arctic, and made thorough checks of all ships involved. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:07:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it has detained two individuals from Central Asia suspected of planning terrorist attacks. It said in a statement that one of the detainees posted on the Internet a video message to the Islamic State (IS) pledging allegiance and declaring a plan to attack people with a knife. The second detainee admitted that he was an IS member and was going to become a suicide bomber, the FSB said, adding that an improvised explosive device was found at his residence. They planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Moscow and the surrounding region on Friday when the academic year starts in Russia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:37:40|Editor: yan Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Denmark's economy is expected to grow at the fastest pace of 2 percent in more than ten years, according to an economic survey released by Danish Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Interior on Thursday. The Danish government expects 2 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 as against a previously forecast of 1.7 percent, followed by 1.8 percent in 2018. "The Danish economy is in a new phase. The unemployment rate is low and employment is rising at a rapid pace," said Simon Emil Ammitzboell, Denmark's Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior, in a statement. The good development of the Danish economy is especially reflected in the labor market with 150,000 more people in employment since 2013. Supported by a historically large increase in the workforce, the employment growth is expected to continue, so that total employment at the end of the forecast period is expected to reach just under 3 million people. Analysis shows that the Danish economy has gained huge economic benefits as a result of globalization. "Looking ahead, the big risk is less globalization - no more globalization. If we do not continue seizing opportunities in the global economy, we lose wealth. Denmark is already well on its way, but we can be even better at reaping the benefits of globalization," Ammitzboell added. "This could happen, for example, through better conditions for investment, and by supporting companies in having access to foreign labor. " Pointing to slightly weaker growth abroad, sluggish growth in public demand, as well as the pressure on available production resources, the Danish government expects the growth to decline slightly in 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:42:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Japan and Britain agreed on Thursday to boost economic ties in light of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU). In a joint declaration by visiting British Prime Minster Theresa May and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the two countries confirmed that they will work quickly to form a "new economic partnership" as Britain exits the EU. Abe told a joint press conference after his meeting with May that he has asked the British side to ensure "transparency and predictability" of the transition to minimize the impacts of the "Brexit" on Japanese companies in Britain and that May gave him an encouraging answer. "The UK is clear that it wants a smooth and orderly transition to its new relationship with the EU and our key partners, including Japan," said the joint declaration. In another joint declaration, the two countries said they will work with others in the international community to further strengthen pressure against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after the DPRK's recent ballistic missile launch. The two sides also pledged to cooperate further in security area. May arrived in Osaka in western Japan on Wednesday afternoon, marking her first visit to Japan since she became prime minister in July last year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:47:47|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Bedah Mengo NAIROBI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Joseph Malenya, a dairy farmer in Kakamega, western Kenya, knows too well the pain of losing a high-yielding cow. And the agony is more severe when such a highly-priced dairy animal dies from a cause that is preventable. Four months ago, Malenya returned home in the afternoon to find his Friesian cow that was producing 18 liters of milk per day - not a mean achievement -sleeping at the cowshed. The animal had not left the shed since morning, which was unusual, despite its handler trying as much as he can to persuade it. Kept under a semi zero-grazing system, the animal and four others would be shepherded out of the units for grazing at an open field in the morning hours before being returned in the afternoon for intensive feeding. "I called a veterinary officer urgently upon realizing the animal was sick and he arrived later that afternoon and diagnosed the cow had a problem with its stomach. He did what he could to treat it but unfortunately it died later that evening," he recounted Wednesday. The following day the vet with the help of the farmer dissected the animal only to find several plastic bags inside its rumen. "I was disheartened. Apparently the animal had ingested several plastic bags while grazing in the field and yet the farm worker had not told me," he said. Malenya is among the hundreds of livestock farmers in the East African nation who are happy with a recent move by the government to ban production, use and importation of plastic bags. Gone with the plastics are meaningless death of their animals. The ban took effect Monday and Kenyans are currently transiting to alternatives to plastic bags which include canvas bags and carton boxes. Anyone found with plastic bags will now be arrested and charged, with the offence attracting a fine of between 19,417 dollars and 38,834 dollars, a jail term of between one and two years, or both. Kenyans used up to 24 million plastic bags monthly, with half ending up in the environment due to poor disposal. "If we were not using plastic bags then and disposing them badly, my cow would not have died. The death was preventable if people were careful not to dispose the bags as they wished," said Malenya. Tens of farmers keeping their cows under zero grazing and the free range systems have been affected by the plastic bags after their cows ingested them. However, those affected most have been farmers free-ranging their animals, in particular the pastoralists in Northern Kenya. A number of their goats, sheep and cattle have died after consuming plastic bags as they roam from one region to another in search of pasture. A study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) released two weeks ago found that 15 per cent of all cows slaughtered in the capital Nairobi were full of plastics in their stomachs. The bags once consumed by animals over time end up in human bodies after people eat meat, with some researches indicating the plastics lead to cancers, birth defects, developmental problems in children and immune system suppression. "An animal is usually lucky to survive if it ingests plastic bags but a number die due to infections caused by plastics. You only learn of it when it dies or when you slaughter it and check the rumen where they lodge affecting motility," said Bernard Moina, an agricultural officer in western Kenya. Moina noted that unlike canvas material, which can be broken down by the cow's stomach, plastics cannot. "They tie themselves around the animal's intestines making it difficult for it to consume other feeds. Most animals eventually die," he said. However, despite being a menace to animals, some dairy farmers have for years been using plastic bags to pack their produce. While the practice was outlawed by the government, it had lived for many years until the Monday ban as farmers seeking better prices of their milk hawked the produce. "I am happy with the ban," said Rosemary Muthini, a chicken farmer in Ruai on the outskirts of Nairobi. "Plastics made life easier because one could buy eggs and I pack them in for them but they were a menace because they dirtied the environment." Since the ban, Muthini who also slaughters chickens and sells their meat at 4 U.S. dollars noted that initially he was packing the product in plastic bags but has now changed to aluminum foil. "It is expensive since the bags went for 0.05 dollars and aluminum foils cost double but I believe we will adapt to the change," he said. The National Environment Management Authority on Wednesday said the ban on plastic bags had largely succeeded as consumers were transiting to alternative even as it formed a joint team with manufacturers to address their grievances. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:57:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close HAVANA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Cuban experts have developed two new varieties of tobacco with a potential high yield in the plains of the western Pinar del Rio province, where the best leaves of the aromatic plant are cultivated in the Caribbean nation. According to Nelson Rodriguez, director of the local San Juan and Martinez Tobacco Experiment Station where the plants were developed, the new varieties, Virginia San Luis 23 and Virginia San Luis 24, have more than 30 useful leaves, while the others grown in the country produce about 18 leaves. "This means a potential of about 2.5 tonnes per hectare," said Rodriguez, adding that both varieties are intended for the production of cigarettes. He added that the two new types of tobacco are the result of collaboration with Brazil, including tests in the South American country to evaluate their resistance to "wildfire," a disease that does not exist in Cuba but which the island country is preparing for in case of its arrival. Rodriguez disclosed that other two varieties are being tested at the station for possible rolling in the famous Cuban hand-made Habanos cigars. The local San Juan and Martinez Tobacco Experiment Station was launched in 1937 and among its achievements includes the creation of 12 varieties of tobacco grown on the island, such as black, burley and virginia. Tobacco is Cuba's fourth largest industry, with famous cigar brands of high international demand, and revenues of more than 445 million U.S. dollars a year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-31 23:57:52|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close SINGAPORE, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam ended his term in office Thursday, when a farewell party was thrown in his honor in the presidential palace Istana. According to the Istana official website which posted the full text of the president's speech at the reception, Tan said the presidency, on a personal level, was a "deeply moving opportunity to see Singapore in all its diversity and to meet Singaporeans from all walks of life." Addressing the reception, the leaving president said that he was glad his experience had been a resource to the government, adding that he was determined that the President's Office should symbolize and champion the role to make Singapore a better society. In his speech, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong praised the president for his outstanding work and cited many milestones in the latter's six-year term. Tan was elected in the 2011 Presidential Election, after decades in public service as a Member of Parliament and a Cabinet Minister, among other roles. The farewell party attracted more than 200 guests, including Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament of the city-state. Starting from Friday, Council of Presidential Advisers chairman J. Y. Pillay will be acting president until a new president is elected next month. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:12:57|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRUSSELS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Members of the European Parliament said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) must improve information-sharing on food safety risks and sanction fraudulent pesticide producers. MEPs criticised national authorities for delays in notifying the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) during a debate about the Fipronil contaminated eggs, according to the Parliament's press release. The RASFF was created in 1979 and enables information to be shared between its members (EU-28 national food safety authorities, Commission, EFSA, ESA, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland). They also called for the information-sharing system to be improved. Some MEPs even said there are needs for fines for member states which fail to share crucial food safety information and truly dissuasive sanctions for fraudulent producers or suppliers of pest-control products, said the release. The calls were made in the wake of the fipronil contaminated eggs scandal that has affected 22 EU member states so far. Fipronil, an insecticide used inter alia to kill fleas and mites, is classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as moderately hazardous. Its use in the EU is prohibited for all food-producing animals. Millions of chicken eggs have already been withdrawn from the EU market and all farms where products containing Fipronil could have been used have been blocked from placing their potentially tainted products on the market. It was known in November 2016 that the problem existed in the Dutch company, Chickfriend, and the adequate measures were not taken. The Belgian food safety agency discovered the contaminated eggs on June 2, but reported the issue to the EU on July 20, while the authorities of Netherlands and Germany informed on July 26 and 31 respectively, according to Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokeswoman of European Commission. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:18:01|Editor: yan Video Player Close MADRID, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Both the Catalan regional government and police force (Mossos d'Esquadra) in Spain have categorically denied a report published on Thursday that they received a warning from the CIA in May about a possible terror attack on the street of La Rambla in Barcelona. The denials came after the Catalan daily paper "El Periodico" published what was presented as a copy of the warning which said the CIA had "uncorroborated information of unknown veracity from late May 2017 indicating that the ISIS were planning to carry out unspecified terrorist attacks during the summer against crowded tourist sites in Barcelona, Spain, specifically La Rambla street." The newspaper reported that this warning had been received by the Spanish National Center for Intelligence (CNI), the Civil Guard, the National Police, the Center for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) and Mossos d'Esquadra. In a rapid response, the Catalan regional authority posted a tweet insisting "We categorically deny the false information published by El Periodico claiming that the @CIA had warned @mossos of an attack in Las Ramblas." Meanwhile, the police also responded with a tweet saying "We have not received anything from the CIA. We defend the honor of our police force and the Mossos from those who look to discredit us." Also on Thursday noon, Joaquin Form, interior minister of the Catalan regional government, and commander of the Mossos, Josep Lluis Trapero, held a joint press conference in which Forn admitted they had received a warning of a possible terror attack, but insisted it was not from the CIA, explaining that the Mossos receive "dozens of warnings" about possible attacks every day. "It was a warning of very low reliability and we also discussed it with the Spanish central government and it was not considered as trustworthy in the two meetings we had to evaluate terrorist threat," said Trapero. The police chief reminded journalists that the perpetrators behind the August 17 attack in La Rambla had previously planned to attack a different target and that the CITCO had confirmed that none of the warnings the Mossos had received were related to that incident. Director of El Periodico, Enric Hernandez has said the note is genuine, but it is not a copy of the actual document, while Wikileaks have openly questioned its authenticity, pointing out several spelling errors, such as the use of "Irak" rather than the correct English version "Iraq". Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:23:05|Editor: yan Video Player Close JAKARTA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- An Indonesian cultural mission will go to Europe to participate in the upcoming Europe's biennial arts festival of Europalia. The mission, comprised of artists and traditional performers, will showcase Indonesia's traditions and cultural heritages in the event. This year, the 26th Europalia festival, themed "Heritage, Contemporary, Creation, Exchange," is scheduled to be opened in Brussels, Belgium on October 10 with programs and related events running until January next year. At a launching ceremony of Indonesia's participation in the upcoming festival on Thursday, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that besides introducing Indonesia's traditions and cultural heritages, Indonesia will use the event to promote its tourism in European countries. He added that his ministry has targeted to welcome 2 million European visitors this year, higher than 1.6 million recorded last year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:23:07|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on the Korean Peninsula situation. Wang reaffirmed China's principle stand of committing to the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and opposing Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches. China always strictly carries out related United Nations Security Council resolutions, playing a positive role in seeking a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, Wang said during his conversation at the invitation of Le Drian. Meanwhile, Wang called on the other parties concerned to jointly work to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and break the current vicious cycle of rising tensions as soon as possible. During the conversation, Le Drian expressed France's concern about Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile launches. He said France supports strengthened efforts by the international community to push forward the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula. The French foreign minister noted that his country supports China's continued role in solving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and firmly rejects the criticism that China fails to fulfil its responsibilities. France is willing to join China in its efforts to move toward a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:28:11|Editor: Zhou Xin Ministers and other politicians from the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and those of the Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova) attend a meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Aug. 31, 2017. The European Union's (EU) Eastern partners look forward to the upcoming EU-Eastern Partnership summit in November in Brussels, and can rely on the full support of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries - Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia - according to leaders of the concerned countries who met here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Attila Volgyi) BUDAPEST, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The European Union's (EU) Eastern partners look forward to the upcoming EU-Eastern Partnership summit in November in Brussels, and can rely on the full support of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries - Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia - according to leaders of the concerned countries who met here on Thursday. "The V4 countries attach strategic importance to the Eastern partnership of the EU," the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto declared at a joint press conference following the meeting of ministers and politicians from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova besides those of the V4 and the representative of Estonia. Estonia holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time in the second half of 2017. Szijjarto called for the adoption of a most ambitious and brave alliance at the Summit of the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries, to be held in Brussels in November. "The V4 will stand against the reduction of the support for the Eastern Partnership programs in the next seven year budget of the EU," Szijjarto underlined. He said that the countries of the Eastern partnership were of strategic importance for the EU, because they could "help block the migration process and provide easier access to the Far East markets." "By building a Europe-friendly alliance system, we strengthen our relations with countries that can prevent the spread of extreme ideologies that are the basis of terrorism," he added. Szijjarto listed the visa waiver program with Ukraine and Georgia, and the free trade agreement with Ukraine as important achievements so far. Speaking about energy security considerations, he pointed out that connecting the southern gas corridor and Central Europe was unthinkable without the Eastern partners. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowsky was hopeful that the Heads of State and Government of the countries concerned would support the further developing of relations with the Eastern Partners at the Brussels summit in November. "Citizens of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine can enter the EU without visas, I hope that in the near future other citizens will also be able to take advantage of this opportunity," Waszczykowsky declared. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin called the partnership a sign of European solidarity. An important moment will be when Ukraine's Association Agreement comes into force (this Friday) because "we are going to the European future despite Russian aggression," he said. The politician termed the meeting as "fruitful", where they discussed what to do before the November summit. "For Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, this is the road that leads to EU membership," he stressed. He underlined that his country wanted to build a European society, wanted to break all barriers between his country and the EU. Slovak State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lukas Pariz, emphasized the importance of cooperation. In November, the EU will also deal with the Eastern Partners, give them visions and develop cooperation, he said. "It is necessary for the EU to provide concrete steps for the Eastern Partnership countries," he said, adding that the six partner countries have confirmed to fulfill the reforms undertaken. Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov declared that his country was focusing on questions concerning trade, education and democracy but was also interested in the southern gas corridor, which could supply about 20 percent of the need for natural gas of the EU. He also spoke of the importance of global security policies, as "Four of the six partner countries were participating in different conflicts." Czech Foreign Minister Petr Gajdusek explained that although the objectives and opportunities of the Eastern partners had to remain the same, the EU should adopt an individual, tailor-made approach, taking into account the differences between the given countries. Mikheil Janelidze, Foreign Minister of Georgia was glad to announce that his country had been the cooperating partner of the EU since four years, and his citizens enjoyed a visa waiver program, but underlined that the final goal of Georgia was full membership. The representative of Armenia told that his country has been an active part of the Eastern partnership whereas the Deputy Foreign Minister of Moldova Daniela Morera explained that her country had chosen the European model of development. Finally, the Foreign Minister of Belarus Uladzimir Makei deemed the cooperation of his country with the EU in the fields of the economy, the energy and the transportation of the utmost importance, and called for the deepening of these ties. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:38:14|Editor: yan Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Danish government presented its draft budget for 2018 on Thursday, saying it would continue working on strengthening citizens' welfare, safety and security, as well as investing in better unifying the country. Denmark's budget expenditures are projected to be 716.8 billion Danish kroner (114.44 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, while incomes will total 694.8 billion kroner, which will result in a deficit of 22 billion kroner next year. In percentage terms, the deficit in 2018 will be equal to 1.0 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). According to the draft, the government will allocate a reserve of 500 million kroner annually over the next four years for core welfare with a particular focus on strengthening the health and elderly area. As such, the core welfare areas will receive a significant boost of 2.6 billion kroner next year, including the 1.3 billion kroner which is agreed in the framework for next year's economy for the municipalities and regions, and the 800 million kroner for the socially vulnerable. Meanwhile, the government will put 60 million kroner aside annually from 2018 onwards for new initiatives to fight gangs, and 65 million kroner per year for tougher penalties. "The Danish economy is strong and healthy, and therefore we can afford to invest in our safety and security. The police must have more resources to take care of Danes and fight against gangs," Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said in a statement. The government will also set aside 500 million kroner in 2018 and 5.5 billion kroner for 2018 to 2021 to rebuild and strengthen the tax system. Furthermore, some 410 million kroner will be earmarked over the next four years for road projects. At the same time, the government will continue to move public sector jobs from the metropolitan area to other regions across the country to ensure better distribution. "We allocate money to make it easier to get back and forth between regions so that we do not create barriers to future growth," Jensen added. According an economic survey released on Thursday, the Danish government expects 2.0 percent growth in GDP in 2017, which is the highest level since the financial crisis of 2008. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.26 Danish kroner) Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 00:38:15|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close HANOI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is deeply concerned about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s missile launch on Tuesday, a Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson said here on Thursday. The launch is a serious violation of United Nations Security Council's related resolutions and fuels tensions in the region, said spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang. "Vietnam consistently supports all efforts to strengthen dialogues and maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," the spokesperson stated. Vietnam also calls on the sides concerned to stringently comply with the related resolutions, and take constructive and pragmatic actions to help maintain peace, security and stability in the region and the world, she said. People take part in theLabor Day parade in Paris, France on May 1, 2016. Protesters made a new push to force the French government to drop a draft bill to reformthe country's labor code. (Xinhua/Zheng Bin) PARIS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The French government on Thursday unveiled its much awaited plan to reform the country's protective and rigid labor law, aiming to give businesses more flexibility in hiring employees. The key reforms include reducing severance pay, allowing small and and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to negotiate with employees on working terms without a trade union mandate, encouraging short-term contracts and limiting the appealing time to labor courts. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called the planned reforms "ambitious, fair and balanced," but admitted that there were "different opinions." "The labor law is at the heart of the French social model and it will remain so. We must protect it and ensure a constructive, serene social dialogue," said Philippe at a press conference. However, the prime minister underlined the urgent need to act in the face of the situation in France "characterized by decades of unemployment." "No one today can say that our labor law promotes and effectively protects hiring. That may have been the case in the past but not now. Indeed, for a boss of a small business or for a foreign investor, the labor law is perceived as a barrier to hiring and investment," he said. The prime minister added that the plan will be presented to the Council of Ministers, the French government's executive body, on Sept. 22. The French government had negotiated the reforms with business owners and trade unions for the past three months, but the unveiled plan was still met with strong disapproval from some of the country's major trade unions. "All the fears we had are now confirmed," Philippe Martinez, head of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the largest trade union in France in terms of votes, told media, calling the plan "the end of the employment contract." The CGT leader called on called workers, retirees and young people to participate in a nationwide protest on Sept. 12. Laurent Berger, head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), the largest trade union by membership numbers, said he's "disappointed" with the reforms. "Few of our proposals were accepted...The government missed the mark. It was a missed opportunity to strengthen social dialogue and negative provisions for employees," he told French media. Secretary-general of Workers' Force (FO) Jean-Claude Mailly, said that there are "points of disagreement that persist" in the unveiled plan, and that his team will continue to evaluate the details. However, both the CFDT and FO leaders said they would not recommend members to join street protests. Meanwhile, the far-left political party France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) led by former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon voiced a more furious response. "It is a notable aggression against the labor law, with more premeditation," said Alexis Corbiere, Melenchon's spokesperson. He called on the French to "not allow themselves to be abused" and "to give an answer to the high level of aggression." Nonetheless, some trade unions are satisfied with the proposed reforms. In a statement, the Confederation of SMEs (CPME) said the plan was up to their expectations. "The reforms reflect a profound change that takes into account the reality of small businesses by opening up the capacity of dialogue, which has been reserved until present in practice," the union said. The Union of Local Businesses (U2P), which represents artisans and craftsmen, also said it is "fully satisfied" by the plan, which it perceives as a "strong message of hope" in favor of small ateliers and workshops. The labor law reform was one of the key promises by French President Emmanuel Macron during his election campaign. With his approval rate dropping significantly only four months into his presidency, partially due to the planned reforms, Macron insists to justify his "pro-business" credentials with the labor law overhaul. In an interview with French magazine Le Point, Macron said it is necessary to introduce more flexibility into the rigid labor law so as to encourage hiring. "We are the only major economy in the European Union that hasn't been able to address high unemployment for over three decades," he said. The current unemployment rate of France stands at 9.5 percent, compared to 5.7 percent in Germany and 4.4 percent in Britain. However, nearly two French out of three do not trust the president and his government to reform the labor law, according to a survey published on Monday by research firm Odoxa. Overhauling the labor law is a bad idea for 63 percent of respondents, up 11 percent compared to another poll in May. Only 8 percent said they had "complete confidence" on this issue. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:18:30|Editor: yan Video Player Close KIGALI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on Thursday swore in a new cabinet, after appointing them on late Wednesday. Earlier before appointing the cabinet, the new prime minister, Edouard Ngirente, 44, was sworn in. The new cabinet retains almost all old faces and drops several. Former cabinet postions including Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Youth and ICT were not exsited in the new cabinet, while new positions like Minister of Environment, Minister of Land and Forestry, Minister of Youth and Minister of ICT were created. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation became Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and East African Community in the new cabinet. Speaking at the swearing in event held at the Rwanda parliamentary in the capital city of Kigali, Kagame emphasized the sense of urgency, selfless attitude and commitment to transform the country's social and economic growth. "We want improvements in all sectors: health, education, infrastructure, justice, among others. We must deliver on our promises," said Kagame. Kagame also appointed provincial governors and other senior officials on Wednesday. About 6.9 million Rwandans cast ballots in the presidential election held on August 4. Kagame won 98.79 percent of the votes. He was sworn in on Aug. 18 for this third term. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:28:37|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) views an honour guard with visiting President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon during a welcome ceremony before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 31, 2017. Rahmon is paying a state visit to China. During his stay in China, he will attend the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries held in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Li Tao) BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon here on Thursday, agreeing to establish comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Applauding Tajikistan's support for the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said both sides should synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with Tajikistan's national development strategy for the period up to 2030. The two countries should cooperate more in transportation, energy, ports and network infrastructure development to improve all-round connectivity, Xi said. The Chinese president suggested both sides break new ground in agriculture, industrial capacity cooperation and scientific innovation. Xi encouraged Tajikistan to establish links with Chinese financial institutions, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, saying China is willing to work with Tajikistan to facilitate trade and investment. As countries with great ancient civilization, China and Tajikistan can have more exchanges in culture, education and youth, according to Xi. As rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), China will work with Tajikistan for SCO progress in politics, the economy, security, culture cooperation and external exchanges, Xi said. He said the SCO members should intensify partnerships in security, connectivity and trade, and foster an integrated development in the region. Rahmon described China as a "good neighbor, partner and brother" and praised the close cooperation in politics, culture, trade and investment. Tajikistan backs the Silk Road Economic Belt and will work with China to expand partnership in finance, agriculture, water resources, energy and mining, among others, Rahmon said. He said Tajikistan looks forward to more coordination with China in regional and international affairs and more cooperation in law enforcement and security. Rahmon said his country will give full support for China's work as rotating chair of the SCO. After the talks, the two heads of state signed a joint statement on establishing comprehensive strategic partnership. China and Tajikistan agreed to jointly launch cross-border railway, road and natural gas pipeline projects, and explore cooperation in wind and solar energy, according to the joint statement. Both sides will better share intelligence to fight the "evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism, as well as cyber crime, drug smuggling and transnational organized crime, the joint statement said. Tajikistan follows the one-China policy, opposes any form of Taiwan independence and supports the Chinese government's effort to achieve national reunification, it said. The two presidents also witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents, including a bilateral cooperation plan, and agreements on science, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, human resources and media. Prior to the talks, Xi held a red-carpet welcome ceremony for Rahmon at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Also on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Rahmon respectively. Rahmon is paying a state visit to China from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at the invitation of Xi. He will also attend the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China's Fujian Province. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:33:38|Editor: yan Video Player Close ENTEBBE, Uganda, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) chief Jose Graziano da Silvaon Thursday said the agency will continue supporting South Sudan refugees in Uganda to boost their food production. Jose Graziano da Silva, told reporters here 40 km south of the capital Kampala that it is critical to increase the food production of the refugees in the wake of dwindling supply of humanitarian aid. He said the UN agency will supply the refugees with quick maturing seeds and equip them with better farming skills. "Government is giving them a piece of land where FAO provides technical assistance and seeds for them to grow cow peas, maize, beans and vegetables. With that they can start to produce at least part of their own food and not only rely on the food assistance," he said. Silva had just returned from visiting a South Sudan refugee settlement in northern Uganda on Wednesday where he launched a drip irrigation project. According FAO figures, the agency has in recent years implemented more than 3 million U.S. dollars' worth of projects to support the South Sudan refugees in Uganda. Some of the support includes providing them with locally-adapted and diversified seeds to grow quick-maturing, high-nutrient foods as well as with kits for livestock treatment, poultry production and micro-irrigation. Uganda is host to more than 1 million South Sudan refugees since fighting broke out in the country in late 2013. Relief agencies say they are grappling with feeding the influx of refugees in the face of dwindling donor support. The United Nations World Food Programme says it needs approximately 20 million dollars per month to provide food assistance to refugees at full rations. The food aid agency however cut the rations it gives to some refugees to more than 50 percent because of limited funding. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:48:47|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUDAPEST, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hungary stands firmly by Poland in its dispute with the European Union (EU), Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said here Thursday at a press conference. "We firmly reject the use of double standards by the European Union against anyone, and regrettably we observe that the European Commission strongly uses a double standard against Poland," Szijjarto declared in front of journalists. Szijjarto made the statement following a meeting of Visegrad Four countries -- Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia -- and states of the Eastern Partnership -- Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova. Poland has disagreed with EU institutions several times recently, notably on the issues of judiciary system reform, the logging of the Bialowieza forest, the migration crisis, and the European Commission's reform proposals on the posted workers directive. "Instead of picking on some countries based on unfounded allegations, the EU should focus on perfecting its security situation, which has never been worse than it is now," he added. "Hungary will never contribute to an EU measure aimed against Poland," he concluded. At the end of July, the European Commission pressed ahead to the second stage of legal actions against the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland over refugee sharing for "non-compliance with their legal obligations on relocation." This move came a month and a half after the Commission launched infringement procedures. If the countries still refuse to comply, they might face a financial penalty. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:48:49|Editor: yan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) on Thursday announced allocation of 21 million U.S. dollars to address "the most critical humanitarian needs" in Sudan. "The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) have together allocated 21 million dollars to address the most critical humanitarian needs," said UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement Thursday. The fund also aims to increase self-reliance of communities in newly accessible areas in Darfur's Jebel Marra area, as well as in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the statement said. "This timely funding support will enable humanitarian partners in Sudan to provide life-saving food support, nutrition, water and sanitation, health and other assistance to thousands of children, women and men in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile," said Marta Ruedas, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. In June 2017, the UN launched the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan with the aim to raise a total funding of 804 million dollars, to benefit some 4 million people. The UN says the humanitarian needs in Sudan remain significant, with 4.8 million people in need of assistance, including 2.3 million internally displaced persons. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:53:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close WINDHOEK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Namibia says it will host four Square Kilometer Array (SKA) remote stations in the quest to join the rest of the globe in building the world's largest radio telescope, with over a square kilometer of data collecting area. Namibia's Permanent Secretary of Higher Education, Alfred Van Kent, in a statement on Thursday said the project will eventually use thousands of dishes and up to a million antennas to enable astronomers to monitor the sky in new detail and survey the entire sky much faster than any system currently in existence. Van Kent said at the SKA Africa project at the 14th Ministerial meet held on Aug. 24 in Ghana, an agreement of nine countries that included, Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, was inked. According to him, the agreement is in accordance with cabinets decision of Oct. 11 2011 that gave its endorsement to Namibia to partake in the SKA project. According to Van Kent, the benefits of the project to the country will include frontier research being conducted in astronomy, astrophysics, high performance computing, with which major events being explained in understanding galaxies and the big bang theories, among others. Furthermore he said economic benefits will also arise with the construction and operation of the SKA facilities as well as hosting other big science and innovation projects, as a country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 01:58:54|Editor: Lu Hui Photo taken on Aug. 31, 2017 shows the Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco. The United States has ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, in response to Moscow's demand that the size of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia be reduced. Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco issued a statement Thursday to denounce the U.S. State Department order earlier in the day to close it down. (Xinhua/Xu Yong) WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United States has ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, in response to Moscow's demand that the size of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia be reduced. The U.S. has also ordered Russia to shutter a chancery annex in Washington D.C. and a consular annex in New York by Saturday, the State Department announced, adding that the move is "in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians." "The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries." The tit-for-tat action came after Russian President Vladimir Putin in July ordered the U.S. to reduce the number of diplomatic personnel in Russia by 755, in response to U.S. sanctions on Russia over its alleged intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each," Nauert said. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship." "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said, adding that the U.S. "is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted." The diplomatic row came at a low point of bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow, as the two sides hold differences on a range of issues, including the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and U.S. accusations that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, a charge Russia strongly denies. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he hoped the U.S. could have good relations with Russia, which would be "good for world peace." "I hope that we do have good relations with Russia," Trump said at a joint press conference with visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. "I say it loud and clear. I have been saying it for years. I think it's a good thing if we have great relationships, or at least good relationships, with Russia." "I believe someday that will happen...I think that's very good for world peace and other things," the U.S. President added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 02:34:10|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of 550 Chinese companies are currently showcasing their products in Johannesburg to get business deals with buyers from Southern Africa. They are taking part in the China Homelife and China Machinex South Africa 2017 which started on Thursday and will end on Saturday. Binui Pilai, chief operating officer of the exhibition told Xinhua, "We are expecting 8,000 visitors to the show this year and business of about 500 million U.S. dollars. We expect trade deals and leads. We are doing this show as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative which seeks to increase trade with the emerging markets," said Pillai. Pillai said the show presents companies from the region to have direct access to the Chinese manufacturers who produce high quality goods. "We are targeting Southern Africa to link them with the Chinese manufacturers of high quality products. They do not have to go through a trader. The companies exhibiting here go through a quality control process of a high turnover per a year and should show experience of doing business overseas," he added. Raymond Kobe, CEO of Kobe Holdings told Xinhua that he is looking for potential funders and those who want to expand business. He said, "I am here to network with the hope to get potential customers we can deal with in future. I am impressed with the quality of goods I have seen." Last year, there were 5,800 visitors to the China Homelife and China Machinex South Africa with trade of 320 million dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 02:44:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close GENEVA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A group of Chinese artists with disabilities on Thursday night gave a breath-taking show in the Palais de Nations, the UN headquarters in Geneva, to more than 1,000 audiences, including over 30 ambassadors and senior international organization leaders. The artists, from the famous China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, presented the audiences with their best pieces, especially the Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance and the beautiful Chinese folk song, Jasmine Flower. The performance, named My Dream, was jointly sponsored by the Chinese Mission in Geneva and the United Nations Office at Geneva. Ma Zhaoxu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the UN Office at Geneva, said during the opening of the performance that this world-famous group has toured 100 countries and regions since its founding 30 years ago, winning hearts and tears wherever they went. "Yes, they may have difficulty seeing this colorful world or hearing its beautiful sounds, but this does not shake their passion for art and life," Ma said. "They are the living examples of the value of life, the strength of willpower, and human dignity. They present the Chinese dream for a better and harmonious life," he added. According to the senior Chinese diplomat, there are 85 million Chinese living with disabilities. The Chinese government is committed to protecting and promoting their rights and fully implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In the past five years alone, Ma explained, 5.88 million people with disabilities in rural China were lifted out of poverty, and over 10 million people with disabilities around the country received state subsistence allowances. Michael Moller, UN Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, said that the outstanding work of the performing arts ensemble stands symbolically for China's efforts to better integrate people with disabilities and to encourage their participation in society. "My dream, the name of tonight's show, is about making dreams come true for people with disabilities, not only in China, but around the world," he said. Founded in 1987, the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe is supposed to promote self-respect, self-confidence, and self-reliance and its outstanding work has been recognized on many occasions. The President of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, Mr. Deng Pufang, who established the China Disabled People' Performing Arts Troupe, received the UN Prize for Human Rights in 2003. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 03:09:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The UN relief official on Thursday called on the international community to stay the course and sustain famine prevention efforts in Somalia. Peter de Clercq, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, expressed concern about the continued threat of famine in Somalia, whilst praising the collective efforts that have so far prevented famine from being declared. "Through robust humanitarian assistance and the modest benefits from the underperforming Gurains, the situation has stabilized but remains of serious concern at emergency levels," Clercq said at the launch of the latest food security and nutrition assessment results in Mogadishu. The statement comes after the release of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)-managed Food and Security Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) assessments show a decrease of the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance from 6.7 million to 6.2 million people. The report says the threat of localized famine countered by scaled-up humanitarian response is as relevant today as it was in the first months of this crisis. Clercq called on aid agencies to keep up the good work and maintain current efforts to avert a deterioration of the humanitarian situation. The Horn of Africa nation is experiencing an intense drought, induced by consecutive seasons of poor rainfall and is one of four countries faced by the threat of famine in 2017, including Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. The Gu harvest will provide temporary relief for some communities in terms of food availability, but the harvest is reduced due to poor rains and access to food remains constrained and prices will remain elevated through at least early 2018. "Whereas there is a modest decline in the number of people in need, we have seen an increase in the number of persons in the emergency-phase (IPC 4) compared to the previous assessment," Clercq said. "When we announced the threat of famine in February, the number of people in need stood at 6.2 million and therefore Somalia is unfortunately not yet out of the woods," he added. Malnutrition, one of the leading indicators of the crisis, has reached emergency levels in a number of locations in southern and central Somalia, primarily, though not exclusively among displaced populations. The report says some 388,000 acutely malnourished children are in need of critical nutrition support, including life-saving treatment for more than 87,000 severely malnourished children. FAO Representative in Somalia, Daniele Donati, said unlike the 2011 famine, this year, drought related displacement occurred mostly in localized areas. "We must seize the opportunity to support the voluntary return of IDPs, while at the same time preventing new displacements by providing integrated support in rural areas," Donati said. "We proved that together we can stave off famine with sustained humanitarian assistance. In the long term, livelihoods must be restored in order to make lasting improvements to food security - these efforts cannot diminish - neither in speed nor scale." The Horn of Africa nation experienced the worst famine of the twenty-first century in 2011, affecting an estimated 4 million people, three-quarters of a million of whom faced famine conditions. The famine resulted in the loss of more than a quarter million lives. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 03:44:40|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUDAPEST, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban asked the European Union to pay half of the costs of the country's anti-immigrant border protection, Minister of Prime Minister's Office Janos Lazar said here on Thursday. The prime minister made the request to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in a letter, asking the Brussels-based organization to cover half of the costs of the Hungarian anti-immigrant border protection, which is estimated at some 800 million euros ((952 million U.S. dollars), Lazar said at a press conference. According to Lazar, the issue of border protection should also be discussed in the case of European solidarity, which should be manifested also in practice. Thus, the European Union must also bear the costs incurred on the Hungarian side. "We want to have solidarity not only in messages, but also in concrete actions," he said, stressing that since the outbreak of the migration crisis, Hungary kept the Schengen border of the European Union safe by building a frontier fence and by training border guards - financed by Hungarian taxpayers - not only protecting themselves, but also protecting all citizens of the continent against the flood of illegal immigrants. "It is not an exaggeration to say - that the safety of European citizens is also created by Hungarian police and soldiers," he added. The EC had already assisted a number of countries; Greece has already received the promised 1 billion euros, Italy 656 million euros, and Bulgaria 100 million euros. It is time for Hungary to submit its request, too, according to Lazar. Lazar also pointed that the plan for building camps in Libya was in line with the Hungarian standpoint, as well as returning the migrants back to their country of origin and the elimination of the causes of immigration at their roots. He recalled that the Hungarian government has proposed hot spots for two years now. The question of building migrants-camps in Libya, where they can present their request, is on the table now in Libya. He also confirmed that the government extended the crisis situation due to massive immigration until March 7 next year. At the end of July, the European Commission pressed ahead to the second stage of legal actions against the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland over refugee sharing for "non-compliance with their legal obligations on relocation." This move came a month and a half after the Commission launched infringement procedures. If the countries still refuse to comply, they might face a financial penalty. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 03:54:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military gave an official "settlement" status to the Jewish settler community in the West Bank city of Hebron, a military spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday. The move aims at strengthening the settlers in the flashpoint Palestinian city. Head of the Central Command, Major General Roni Numa, signed a military order establishing a municipal services administration for the settlers. The order was signed following a decision by Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to upgrade the status of the settler community in the area. The move means the community would now be eligible to receive the same services that the Israeli authorities provide to other settlements in the West Bank. Local media quoted Lieberman saying he is "determined to continue to promote settlement so that it will flourish and thrive, and I will do so with responsibility and discretion." The Israel settlement watchdog group Peace Now denounced the move, saying in a statement that "by granting an official status to the Hebron settlers, the Israeli government is formalizing the apartheid system in the city." Hebron, one of the most tensed cities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is home to some 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Jewish settlers who live there in a heavily guarded enclave. The settlements are located on lands which Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East war. The international community has repeatedly condemned the settlements as a breach of international law and a hurdle to peace. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 04:09:48|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close LAGOS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian security agencies are on high alert over possible terrorism attack during or after the Eid-el-Kabir celebration and holiday. The Nigerian government has declared Friday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 4 as public holidays to mark the Eid-el-Kabir celebration. Salisu Fagge, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of zone 8, has assured citizens of adequate security during and after the forthcoming Eid-el-Kabir celebrations. Fagge said the three commissioners of police in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Niger and Kaduna states had been issued with operational order to provide effective security during and after the period. He said the zone would also increase its patrol teams on Abuja-Kaduna federal highway to ensure the safety of road users. He assured motorists that security measures put in place would deal with any form of threats. On his part, Abdullahi Muhammad, the Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) has directed the deployment of 40,000 personnel and sniffer dogs across the country for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration. The deployment would be to strategic places across the country, he said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub. It disclosed that places to be covered included praying grounds, market squares, recreation centers, shopping plazas and malls as well as other noted black spots. The statement added that deployment of sniffer dogs, Mobile Surveillance Vehicles (MSV) and ambulances at designated areas had also been concluded. Other specialized units for the assignment include the Special Weapon and Tactical Squad (SWAT), Chemical-Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear Unit (CBRN), Surveillance team, Disaster Management/Rescue team and Special Force for the protection of Critical Infrastructure and National Assets. In the same vein, the Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC) has deployed its personnel to mosques, prayer grounds and flash pints in Nasarawa State ahead of this year's Eid-el-Kabir. The proactive strategy was to ensure a hitch-free Sallah celebration, Bala Joshua, Commandant of the corps in the state, said. He said the corps embarked on this in the interest of national security, stability, peace and development. Meanwhile, the Police has announced a restriction on vehicular movements during Eid-el-Kabir prayer session in Maiduguri metropolis of restive northeast Borno State. The restriction would be applied to the use of cars, tricycles, bicycles and animals, Isuku Victor, the spokesperson said in a statement reaching Xinhua. The statement warned youth against carrying knives and dangerous weapons to the praying grounds, zoo and recreational parks, warning that defaulters will be prosecuted. Maiduguri is the center of the eight-year-old fight against Boko Haram, which has been trying to set up an Islamic caliphate in the northeast. More than 20,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram's campaign to establish a caliphate in the Lake Chad basin. A further 2.7 million have been displaced, creating one of the world's largest humanitarian emergencies. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 04:29:55|Editor: yan Video Player Close LILONGWE, Aug. 31, (Xinhua) -- Malawi has intensified restrictions on importation of poultry and poultry products following an outbreak of Avian Influenza, also known as bird flu in some of its neighbouring countries. Acting Director in the Department of Livestock and Animal Health in the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Patrick Chikungwa, told local press Thursday that the country was at risk of the disease outbreak particularly due to regional cross-border trade. He said: "The threat for Malawi is real due to presence of potential risk factors which include porous borders, large susceptible domestic birds, illegal movement of animal and animal products and relaxed surveillance after long period of inactivity with respect to bird flu." He thus assured that as part of preparedness, Malawi had reactivated its taskforce and technical working group on bird flu, which would be co-chaired by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development and co-chaired by Ministry of health. "Government has since intensified its prevention measures through enforcement of importation restrictions such as ban of poultry and poultry products from the infected countries," explained Chikungwa. He also disclosed that Government had engaged key stakeholders such poultry producers, importers, parks and wildlife in efforts to successfully effect the preparedness. Chikungwa went on to say there had also been strengthening of the diagnostic capacity of screening and confirmation of the disease, and intensification of surveillance for early detection and response. In the SADC region, the disease was first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo followed by Zimbabwe and recently South Africa. The government has since appealed to all Malawians to collaborate and cooperate by adhering to the set up strategies. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 05:30:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close HELSINKI. Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- In its budget decisions, the Finnish coalition government on Thursday announced a breakthrough in the long debate on domestic child care, and plans for tougher security laws. In a major political turnaround, the government will make the system of compensated legal time-off from work more equal. The current system has given mothers twice as much time off than fathers. It has resulted in shorter careers for women and lower pension accrual. Finnish children have legally mandated right to "early education" in day care centers. In the future, families can also get domestic care support until the child is three years old. Following the brutal stabbing attack in Turku, funding for the ordinary police and the security police will be further increased. Legislation will be planned to strip a dual citizen of Finnish nationality if he or she has been found guilty of terrorism. Moreover, hiding of an asylum seeker by a citizen will be criminalized, and rejected asylum seekers can be kept in custody if a threat analysis indicates they are dangerous. Ari Hakahuhta, leading political correspondent of the national broadcaster Yle, said on Thursday the government now wanted to show unity and its ability to function, after the split of the Finns Party. Hakahuhta noted that although tax concessions were given, many previous cutbacks have remained valid. To finance tax concessions, the government plans to increase the alcohol tax. There will also be a special tax on power plants that use fossil fuels. The total budget for 2018 is 55.7 billion euros. The deficit is 2.96 billion and will be covered with new loans. Prime Minister Juha Sipila said he believes the levelling off of the debt has started. Earlier this year, the need for new loans was seen as 5.4 billion euros. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 05:35:12|Editor: yan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi military said 68 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Thursday in Iraq's airstrikes on an IS-held town near the Syrian border in the western province of Anbar. Iraqi jet fighters carried out the airstrikes on four IS posts in the town of al-Qaim, some 480 km northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Iraq's Joint Operations Command said in a statement. The first two airstrikes destroyed a weapon warehouse in Nahdha neighborhood and a car bomb-making site, killing 30 and 15 IS militants respectively, the statement said. Another airstrike hit an IS headquarters in 7th Nisan neighborhood, leaving 11 militants killed, the statement said. A fourth airstrike targeted an IS post housing suicide bombers in Se'dah village near al-Qaim, killing 12 IS militants and destroying two of their vehicles, the statement added. The airstrikes came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared full liberation of the city of Tal Afar and surrounding areas from the IS. "I declare to you that Tal Afar has joined the liberated Mosul and returned to the homeland," Abadi said in a statement issued by his office. The Iraqi forces still have to wage more offensives to dislodge IS militants from their redoubts in Hawijah in southwestern Kirkuk, the adjacent sprawling rugged areas in the eastern province of Salahudin, in addition to the remaining IS strongholds in the border areas with Syria, including the towns of Aana, Rawa and al-Qaim. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 05:50:14|Editor: yan Video Player Close OTTAWA, Aug.31 (Xinhua) -- Canada Border Services Agency has already begun sharing information with the U.S. Homeland Security department on all U.S. citizens entering Canada each day, according to Canada Broadcasting Corporation Thursday. The United States is expected to provide Canada with similar information about Canadians entering the United States. Under a 2011 security pact, Canada and the United States agreed to set up a co-ordinated system to track the entry and exit information of travellers to bolster security and help enforce other laws related to public health and safety. The system includes exchanging entry information collected from people at the land border so that data on entry to one country serves as a record of exit from the other. The first two phases of the program were limited to foreign nationals and permanent residents of Canada and the U.S., but not citizens of either country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-01 06:35:29|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Consulate General in San Francisco, a city on the U.S. West Coast, issued a statement Thursday to denounce the U.S. State Department order earlier in the day to close it down. Referring the State Department order as an "unfriendly decision," the consulate said it is "another step of the U.S. authorities, which, first of all, will hit hard on Russian citizens residing in the consular district, as well as on American citizens." In addition, acknowledging that it will stop receiving visitors on all consular issues and that the U.S. side gives only two days for its closure by Saturday, the consulate noted in the statement that it issued more than 16,000 tourist visas for American citizens in 2016. However, the consulate remained operational Thursday, as dozens of people gathered in front of the building in downtown San Francisco, Northern California, waiting to be allowed into the visa office. They were told by a Russian official that they could pick up travel documents already processed but no new documents will be accepted and processed, and future processing of these documents will be handled by Russian consulate in Seattle, a city in Washington state. While the consulate official declined to answer any question by reporters, a phone number posted on the consulate's website was never answered when called throughout the day. The United States has ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, in response to Moscow's demand that the size of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia be reduced. The U.S. has also ordered Russia to shutter a chancery annex in Washington D.C. and a consular annex in New York by Saturday, the State Department announced, adding that the move is "in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians." "The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries." The tit-for-tat action came after Russian President Vladimir Putin in July ordered the U.S. to reduce the number of diplomatic personnel in Russia by 755, in response to U.S. sanctions on Russia over its alleged intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each," Nauert said. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship." "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said, adding that the U.S. "is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted." The diplomatic row came at a low point of bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow, as the two sides hold differences on a range of issues, including the war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and U.S. accusations that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, a charge Russia strongly denies. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he hoped the U.S. could have good relations with Russia, which would be "good for world peace." "I hope that we do have good relations with Russia," Trump said at a joint press conference with visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. "I say it loud and clear. I have been saying it for years. I think it's a good thing if we have great relationships, or at least good relationships, with Russia." "I believe someday that will happen...I think that's very good for world peace and other things," the U.S. President added. Top cop goes on leave today Williams is expected to travel to Australia to be the recipient of an award from members of the International Womens Police Association. He will then travel to China to attend an INTERPOL conference for commissioners of police then proceed on a short vacation with loved ones. Sources revealed that Phillip was also due to proceed on a three-month course in Washington which would have started in a few days time and Acting Deputy Commissioner Deodath Dulalchan would have acted as commissioner in the absence of Williams. However, sources also revealed that Phillip and Acting Deputy Commissioner Earla Christopher, who was supposed to travel to Australia to attend a conference, were called to a meeting on Saturday and informed that they were not granted permission to leave the country. It remained unclear why leave for the two officers was not granted. As a result of the new development, Assistant Commissioner of Police Surujdean Persad will act as deputy commissioner of Police in charge of crime. Efforts to contact both Williams and Phillip proved futile. Phillip was reported to be in meetings with the Director or Public Prosecutions yesterday seeking direction in an investigation against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan. Sources also revealed yesterday that, prior to proceeding on leave, Williams sent messages to several senior officers that they were transferred to various sections and branches. Shake up at Special Branch Newsday understands Assistant Commissioner of Police Ainsley Garrick, who is in charge of Special Branch, is expected to be sent on leave. He will be replaced by Senior Superintendent Wendy Wilkinson who heads the Western Division. Other changes made by Williams include Senior Superintendent Inraj Balram being sent on leave and Senior Superintendent Rawle Hercules being transferred to the Port of Spain CID. Superintendent Gallindeau has been elevated to the rank of Snr Supt at the Homicide Bureau. Senior Superintendent Anthony James will serve as acting Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner Harrikrish Baldeo will act as Deputy Commissioner. Sources alleged Williams actions stemmed from an alleged conflict between Special Branch and an elite intelligence unit. It was revealed that a high-level meeting was recently held among the high-ranking officers during which there was a heated argument. Newsday understands the matter was reported to Williams. Lee is to be replaced by Wendell Williams who is in charge of the Port of Spain CID. The new person to fill the post at the Port of Spain CID is Ag Snr Supt Ajith Persad. Contacted for comment, Garrick told Newsday he was not aware he was being sent on leave. Efforts to reach Williams proved futile. Magistrate slams police for taking glasses When Andrew John, 45, of Deigo Martin, appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates court yesterday, it was evident to Magistrate Natalie Diop that the defendant was slightly visually impaired. The defendant needed to see his way around and the magistrate, by law, wanted to ensure that the defendant before the court could read documentation relating to the charges because he had opted to represent himself since he could not afford an attorney. The charges read to John, are that: on Tuesday, at Navet Road, San Fernando, he drove a vehicle without insurance; a second charge alleged he did not have a drivers permit in his possession and the third was that he is not a holder of such a permit. After reading the charges, Diop made the observation that John seemed to have eye problems. You are looking all over the room. Do you have an eye problem?, Diop asked. John replied, I am minus 12 in one eye and minus 13 in the other. When Diop asked John if he wore glasses, the defendant said he did. However, he complained to the magistrate that upon his arrest and being taken to the San Fernando Police Station, police took away his personal belongings, including his glasses. The prosecutor, Sgt Chanardath Jhilmit, told the magistrate the glasses, including Johns wallet, were handed over to his wife. Diop however, said she could not fathom the thought that glasses which are required to enhance ones vision, would be of interest to the police in such a matter as a traffic offence. Diop said, I have been in the presence of this man for less than a minute and I can already see he has vision issues. Im wondering why the police would see it necessary to take his glasses. How it is they didnt see he has eye problems. This is something that needs to be addressed. I cannot read the charge if the defendant is not properly before me. He must be able to read whatever document is to be handed to him. However, John attempted to read the document of previous traffic charges that were handed to him, in order for the magistrate to determine the bail she posted. He placed the document inches away from his eyes and tried to read. Yes, this is me Your Honour. Diop granted him own bail in the sum of $10,000. He is to return to court on September 13. Man fined $8,000 for speeding while drunk This warning was sounded by a magistrate yesterday to a motorist in the San Fernando Magistrates court, who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and also, exceeding the speed limit. The court has to ensure the public safety, and yours as well. Putting all that into the mix, you took quite a dangerous course, Magistrate Natalie Diop told Nicholas Rico Mohammed, 25, who was arrested on Tuesday night along the northbound lane of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway. Mohammed was fined a total of $8,000 for both offences. The legal speed limit on the highway is 80 kilometres per hour and 65 kilometres per hour on secondary roads. Brought in handcuffs into the courtroom, Diop read the charge that when a breathalyser test was done on Mohammed, it was revealed that the alcohol content in his breath was 75 microgrammes. The second charge alleged that he exceeded the speed limit by 53 kilometres per hour. The prosecutor, Sgt Chanardath Jhilmit, said it was at about 9.29 pm when WPC Rajpatie Mahabir who was on a speed-test exercise with other police along the highway, stopped Mohammeds vehicle - TDJ 6786, in the vicinity of Corinth. She told him that he had exceed the legal limit of 80 kilometers per hour. The officer then detected, the prosecutor added, a strong scent of alcohol which emanated from Mohammeds breath. Asked why he opted to drive whilst drunk, especially a heavy goods vehicle and, to compound matters, was speeding, Mohammed told Diop that he had suffered a bout of frustration while at work that night. A mechanic by trade, he said that he had applied for a loan, but the bank turned down his application. I was trying to get over something in my personal life. I have been really stressed out. So, after work I went out, had a few beers and when I was finished, I was just trying to get home safe and was unaware I was over the speed limit. Before passing sentence, Diop told Mohammed, In your attempt to get home safe, you acted in a manner that made you unsafe. You are now worse off than you were last week, because you are now standing before the court as an accused. Your duty is to keep yourself safe as well as others. Diop fined him $6,000 on the drunk driving charge, failing which he will serve nine months in jail. For exceeding the speed limit, he was ordered to pay $2,000 or serve two months. He has four months to pay the fines. Murder accused complain about lengthy proceedings They are being represented by Criston J Williams, Fareed Ali and Wayne Sturge. Lara said he and the other accused have been languishing in prison for the past seven years. However, Earle-Caddle reminded them she was not the chief magistrate at the time of commencement of the case, however she was seeking to move the matter along as quickly as possible. I am here everyday, Earle- Caddle said. While there have been matters that were restarted, I have ensured that some of them are approaching their closure. I cannot see about what took place in the past, only the present and the future. One of the accused said when last he spoke to his attorney, they were seeking to file an application before the High Court but was unsure of the status. However Earle-Caddle said she was not aware of any such application. The men are expected to reappear in court on September 14. They are charged with the murder of Diego Martin labourer Russell Antoine. This is one of the 52 cases left in abeyance after the appointment of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar as a judge of the High Court. Anand on $750,000 bail The charges stem from an allegation made by director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), David West that he (West) was asked to withdraw his witness statement in a defamation lawsuit Ramlogan had filed against then opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley for comments made about Section 34 and extradition proceedings involving businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson. West is alleging that Ramlogan, in a telephone interview on October 31, 2014, promised him he would be appointed PCA director if he withdrew from the lawsuit. Yesterday, Ramlogans attorneys Pamela Elder SC and Gerald Ramdeen exited the Port of Spain CID office on St Vincent Street at about 6.30 pm. Speaking to reporters, Elder said the charges laid against Ramlogan were very serious and she was prepared to meet West in court. My client, as you all know, has been the former attorney general who has served this country with distinction and is of unblemished character. Moments later, Ramlogan was seen in the back seat of a car being driven out of the CID compound. On Tuesday, Ramlogan was questioned for several hours. He was allowed to speak with relatives for a brief period that night. Sources say he was unable to sleep. Yesterday, he was served breakfast consisting of bake and saltfish and juice. He was also allowed to take medication and have a shower. At about 7 am, Ramlogan was met by Ramdeen during which time he was able to speak on the phone with his wife Nalini and two children. Ramlogans wife was heard sobbing and was assured by Ramlogan that everything was in Gods hands. Ramdeen was later joined by attorney and UNC senator Wayne Sturge and Elder. One hour later, justice of the peace Ackbar Khan also arrived at the Port of Spain CID and went to the office where Ramlogan was being kept. Khan authenticated a 40-page statement given by Ramlogan and left. At about 3pm, Ramdeen served Ramlogan a meal consisting of rice, chicken, salad, a bowl of fruit and coconut water. Meanwhile, investigators were moving to and from the office of Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard SC who was advising them on the matter. (With reporting by Nalinee Seelal) Villagers claim harassment Woods, of Indian Walk, however admitted villagers become unruly and not only cursed police officers, but seized a pair of handcuffs which fell out the hands of the police as they tried to handcuff another villager known as Fathead. They also seized a spent shell after the melee which erupted at Teesdale Road Junction, Indian Walk. Video footage of the incident have since been uploaded on social media. We are fed up with the police, Woods said. The men in here are always the usual suspects. Is stereotyping all the time. My husband is a rasta, he is a mason, a quiet person who dont interfere with anyone and he was on his way to work with a bag filled with tools. He did not have a gun. She said it was the reason the community immediately came to his defence and the situation escalated. Woods told Newsday because of Juless past experiences with police, he opted to run away instead. Only last year and two other men were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, she said. She alleged when Jules ran into the bushes, police fired two shots at him. It is one of those shells that residents recovered and refused to turn over to the police when they came to investigate allegations. They however handed members of the St Marys Police Post the handcuffs which the officers lost in the melee. Yesterday in a media release, police said a warrant is to be issued for the arrest of a male suspect who allegedly assaulted police officers during the conduct of their duties. Once held, he is expected to face charges including assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and using obscene language. Meanwhile, police are also searching for an individual who allegedly seized the gun which police claimed fell from the initial suspect. US Congressman: Anyone can fight violent crime As long as you believe you can make a change for the better, it can be done, Lungren said. Lungren was the main speaker at yesterdays launch of the Caribbean Security Forum 2017 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. He said it took a wedding photographer, in recent years, to lobby for legislation in California to increase the penalties to 25 years for a felon after two convictions. During a robbery, the photographers daughter was shot dead by a felon who had several convictions and had recently been released from jail. Lungren said that when the photographer engaged with lawmakers to increase the penalties for convicted felons, they literally questioned, Who are you to come before us to tell us how to write law? The photographer, he said, then went through the process in California and, despite opposition, he won. That law, Lungren said, was one of the key elements that was helping to keep the crime rate down. The Caribbean Security Forum is an initiative of the Global Business Leadership Forum and the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Services Industry which will be held on September 21 and 22 in Port of Spain. Our hope is that this forum would be one of the means to make that change (in TT), Lungren said. The forum, which is being organised by the business community to share ideas on how the current crime and security issues were affecting the TT society in general, will involve non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and faith-based organisations, among others. The forum will tap into a number of local and international experts. Their objective is to devise a plan that is workable for all stakeholders and could be implemented by all committed parties. Prior to travelling, Lungren said, he took note of the US State Departments status for American tourists in terms of safety and security in TT. It said, critical for crime. That was the highest level of concern by the US State Department, he said, noting that violent crime was a critical issue in this country. Having worked to reform the criminal justice system in California when the state was experiencing escalating violent crime over a 25-year period, Lungren said changes had to be made in the way the criminal courts operated. He said aspects of the bail system were changed along with certain aspects in the definition of crime. Lungren said, he was not suggesting that what was done in the US should be done in TT, however, some things could be adapted while other innovative measures could be taken to suit prevailing conditions. Shirley Caesar cancels meeting with Carmona The sit-down was scheduled for 11.30 am yesterday at the Office of the President, however, waiting members of the media were informed that the songstress had cancelled the meeting because she was feeling unwell. Newsday understands Caesar wanted the meeting postponed to another day this week but the Office of the President said they were unsure if that could be achieved. Attempts made by Newsday to get further comment from the Office of the President were unsuccessful. The 78-year-old gospel star, known as the First Lady of Gospel Music, was scheduled to perform at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, last night at the Trinidad Revival Independence Concert, hosted by religious non-Governmental organisation Men on the Move. Calls made to Men on the Moves administrative department to get further comment on Caesars health condition, went unanswered. PoS, no-fly zone for drones today A ministry release said the reminder is in keeping with the Civil Aviation Act and the Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. The public is reminded drones should not be operated in any open air function or over any mass public gathering. They should not be flown at a height greater than 121 metres or 400 feet above the ground. They should not be operated in a manner that may endanger people or property. They should also not be operated within five kilometres from any manned aircraft operations including the boundaries of the Piarco and the ANR Robinson international airports. Asking the public to desist from operating drones in the Port of Spain area and other designated areas, the ministry referred to the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority website: https://caa.gov.tt/ unmanned-aircraftsystems- uas-drones/ which has listed the areas where drones should not be flown Regional corp employee accused of overstepping her boundaries At a statutory meeting on Tuesday at the corporations building at High Street, Siparia, councillor for Siparia West/Fyzabad, Doodnath Mayhroo first raised the issue saying he had evidence to prove certain information originated from the server of a female employee. Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Kazim Hosein and permanent secretary Desdra Bascombe attended the meeting. In April, the Peoples National Movement (PNM) council members filed a motion of no confidence against chairman Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh. After a contentious debate in May, Ramadharsingh cast his vote and broke the six-six deadlock. There is one independent member. If it is in fact correct information, it is something that could be sent to the ministry for determination, Ramadharsingh said of the information in which the employee is allegedly implicated. From what I saw in the document, it came from the server of the SRC. If you have persons preparing reports or motions that they should not be preparing, then that is certainly something that has to be looked at. Ramadharsingh said if the allegation is true, then it was outside of her job description. I am sure the ministry will look at the matter in a holistic way. At the meeting, councillors raised issues ranging from leaning trees; staff shortages, especially in the technical department; flooding; deplorable road conditions and electricity woes at two buildings. Councillor Maurice Alexander said the electricity supply at the Siparia market and the sporting facility was disconnected. But Ramadharsingh said he was only made aware of the disconnection at the market on Monday. That matter is simply a matter of communication. I do not understand how it escaped the acting CEO (Asha Nathaniel). She was in the hospital and T&TEC came to disconnect. They (SRC staff) probably did not make emergency arrangements. Ramadha r s ingh claimed he did not have information in terms of the amount of arrears and for what time period but was confident the matter was being addressed. Bascombe told the council, as public servants they must always serve the people. Speaking to reporters on the issue of the no-confidence motion, she said as far as the ministry was concerned, that matter was resolved. Hosein called on the 14 municipalities to each set up a committee geared at training employees to treat with the public in a courteous manner at all times. He said, as minister and as a former mayor and councillor he received and continues to receive complaints about poor customer service. This problem was not limited to his ministry alone but throughout the country, he said. Basic simple things in life help a lot. You must know how to treat people when they come in. People are looking at this lightly, but it is very very important. Why does someone from Rio Claro, for instance, have to write me for a complaint when there is a chairman or CEO in their area? Tardiness is another issue Hosein believed ought to be addressed, as some workers spent minimal hours on duty. Japanese government and business leaders urged Britain on Thursday to minimize the negative impact of the country's exist from the European Union, or Brexit. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking at a Japan-Britain business forum, called for due consideration to Japanese companies operating in Britain. "Realizing the exit smoothly and successfully is extremely important for Britain, Europe and the world economy," Abe said. Japanese industry minister Hiroshige Seko held talks with visiting British International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and sought to avoid negative effects from Brexit on Japanese companies. Share 5G is whats next in cellular. So, companies like Rohde & Schwarz (News - Alert) are getting ready for it. The company just announced enhanced versions of its Over-the-Air test systems that address 5G millimeter wave environments. The company plans to display these new solutions next month at Mobile World Congress Americas 2017 in San Francisco. The company today sells the R&S TS8991 OTA Performance Test System. It includes an anechoic chamber, positioning equipment, antenna (link & measurement) systems, test instruments and automated measurement software. And its compliant with CTIA (News - Alert), joint CTIA & Wi-Fi Alliance and 3GPP test plans. Testing technology that leverage millimeter wave frequencies which are at 28 GHz, 39 GHz, and beyond is particularly important given signal absorption rates are much higher, Rohde & Schwarz explains. That calls for beamforming, or directional transmissions/reception, to boost the gain, the company says. Only test systems that can handle three-dimensional center-of-beam and off-center-of-beam measurements in a radiated environment with extremely accurate positioning systems can properly characterize a 5G device, the company says. This includes the measuring of EIRP/EIS, beam transmit signal quality, beam receive performance, beam acquisition timing and beam tracking performance, and side lobe measurements effecting total radiated power including in-band and out-of-band spectrum emissions related performance. The enhanced OTA Rohde & Schwarz modular solution comes in different sizes, and can be custom configured. Customers can elect to buy the components separately and integrate the pieces themselves, or buy the entire solution as a turnkey offering. Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri recently talked about how there will be significant 5G trials next year and meaningful deployments of 5G the following year in China, the U.S., and elsewhere. Verizon (News - Alert) says its confident it will be able to roll out services based on 5G commercially next year. Edited by Erik Linask We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Libyan oil production has plummeted by more than 30 per cent after armed militants blocked pipelines and closed oilfields, resulting in loss in revenues of about $160m, the national oil company said on Wednesday. The largest Libyan oil field, Sharara, has been closed for more than ten days while another, El Feel, shut this week, after militias seized pipelines linking them to export terminals. Hamada has also been closed because of a pipeline blockade. This has reduced production by 360,000 barrels a day. These gangsters are not only harming the country but their own people, said Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the National Oil Corporation. I call on tribal leaders to cut out this cancer once and for all. Since the fall of the regime of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has plunged into chaos, with no central government. The Islamic State has taken advantage of the situation to conquer vast swaths of land in the country, mostly in coastal regions where many criminal gangs indulge in illegal migrant trafficking. Rival groups signed a political accord that hashed out a Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Serraj. Despite strong and vast backing from the international community, the GNA is still struggling to assert its authority challenged by Islamists and armed groups. Western powers have called many times on all Libyan warring factions to refrain from hostilities and avoid any action that could damage or disrupt Libyas energy infrastructure. Restoring oil exports is vital to generating revenues that can provide for the essential needs of the Libyan people, including electricity, healthcare, and infrastructure, said a statement issued by NATO allies. The World Bank issued a report mapping out actions needed to prevent water scarcity from impacting growth and stability in the MENA region. The report, dubbed Beyond Scarcity: Water Security in the Middle East and North Africa, estimated that the inadequate supply of water and sanitation is costing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region around $21 billion per year in economic losses. This World Bank publication, launched during a special session on the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, shows that limited water resources need not restrict the regions future, but that a combination of technology, policy and management can convert scarcity into security. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of water stress in the region and sheds light on the challenges to maintain and extend access to affordable water services, and the growth of water-related risks and the adequacy of the actions taken to address them. Drawing water from rivers and aquifers faster than they can be replenished is equivalent to living beyond ones means, and it undermines a countrys natural capital, affecting longer-term wealth and resilience. But there are solutions, and they start with clear incentives to change the way water is managed, said Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa. With the urban population in the region expected to double by 2050 to nearly 400 million, a combination of policy, technology and water management tools should be used to improve the water situation, the report said. The same source said that more than 60 percent of the MENA regions population live in areas under high or very high water stress, compared to 35 percent worldwide. Yet, despite the scarcity of water, regional authorities impose the worlds lowest consumption charges. Terrorism has no nationality or religion because terrorist groups bring together extremists hailing from all countries and violate all the Islamic precepts of moderation, peace and coexistence inherent to Islam, said the head of Moroccos counterterrorism agency (BCIJ), Abdelhak Khiame. Khiame, in an interview with the Moroccan news website Le360, offered insight on a set of issues that came to the fore following the terrorist attacks against Barcelona and Cambrils, notably the radicalization of Muslim youth in Europe, Moroccan-Spanish security cooperation and the need to oversee religious discourse at European mosques. On Moroccan Spanish security cooperation, Khiame pointed out to the topical meeting between the interior Ministers of Morocco and Spain, saying that Moroccan-Spanish cooperation has been strengthened following Catalonia attacks in order to push forward investigations on this case. He explained that two suspects linked to the Catalonia attacks were arrested in Morocco, adding that one has been released while a native of Nador who was brainwashed and radicalized in Spain is still under detention. Investigations show that he pledged allegiance to IS and was showing signs of terrorist propensity, said Khiame, noting that the suspect was in touch via social media with IS recruiting agents and plotted attacks against the Spanish Embassy as well as targets in Melilla, in addition to Moroccan institutions. Khiame said that despite having Moroccan origins, the perpetrators of Catalonia attacks were raised in Spain where they were radicalized in a record time by an unqualified Imam, known as Es Satty. He made it clear that the fact that these attackers are of Moroccan origins does not mean that they espouse the religious values of tolerance and moderation inherent to the Moroccan society. Therefore, he stressed the need to supervise the religious discourse within Spains mosques to avert radicalization and safeguard the younger generations of Muslims in Europe from being brainwashed. Hence, the security approach by itself is inadequate in stemming the threat of terrorism, Khiame said, adding that Morocco is willing to benefit Spain with its experience in the reform of the religious sphere to counter radicalism. While the president is expected to make a decision on DACA in the next few days, a broader immigration deal could change everything. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images With an ultimatum from Republican state attorneys general about to run out, multiple reports indicate that the president will tomorrow announce the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects around 800,000 Dreamers (young people brought into the country illegally as children who meet various criteria indicating exemplary behavior) from prosecution. According to McClatchy, which has the most thorough initial account, Trump will end new DACA designations and renewals, which means current DACA enrollees will be protected from prosecution until their two-year work permits run out (which will happen at varying times over the next two years depending on when they were issued). Several hundred thousand more DACA-eligible immigrants will be out of luck for the time being. The timing isnt ideal, with Trump trying to show a compassionate side in the wake of the disaster in Houston, where an estimated 68,000 DACA-eligible immigrants live. You could say the same of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, the ringleader of the group threatening to haul DACA before the same unfriendly Texas federal judge who stopped Barack Obamas effort to expand DACA and also provide protection for the parents of Dreamers. But with just six days to go before the September 5 deadline Paxtons group set for Trump to act, the White House apparently decided to act. Details aside, ending DACA could curdle an already sour relationship between Trump and key elements of the business community, who might otherwise be drooling over the prospect of corporate tax cuts. As Mike Allen of Axios puts it: Trump has faced an escalating revolt from CEOs starting with the Muslim ban, increasing with his climate-change decision, and peaking with his handling of Charlottesville. Scores of high profile CEOs would pummel him publicly if he clears the way for mass deportation of kids. But Trumps nativist base proved to be a more compelling factor. Breitbart News sneered at CEO pleas to save DACA with this headline: Masters of the Universe Beg Donald Trump to Save DACA Amnesty. With Trump quite possibly on the brink of abandoning a threat to shut down the government if he doesnt get border-wall funding, another immigration-related disappointment could cause some heartburn in the base. In the broader scheme of things, however, DACA could be a bargaining chip in a deal that includes not only border-wall funding but restrictions on legal immigration and other nativist priorities. Congressand Congress alonecan provide a permanent resolution of the plight of Dreamers (whose very moniker, after all, was created by a never-enacted bill called the DREAM Act, which refers to Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). Trumps decision to slowly kill DACA instead of exposing the entire eligible population to the possibility of immediate deportation (not that the federal government has the resources to do that anyway) seems highly compatible with a strategy of making a deal that doesnt look like a flip-flop. I am a Dreamer. Photo: Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, may be on the verge of pulling the biggest legal stunt a state has ever attempted on a sitting president. And on a president of his same party, no less one who has built his brand and brief time in office around being a master deal-maker. In a letter Paxton addressed to Jeff Sessions in late June, he and attorneys general from nine other states, plus the governor of Idaho, gave Donald Trump until September 5 to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The initiative, better known as DACA, has for the past five years granted some 800,000 undocumented immigrants all of them brought to the U.S. as children a temporary reprieve from deportation and work authorization. Nothing about Paxtons missive is enforceable, which is to say Trump and his lawyers have no legal obligation to do anything with it. And yet somehow the letter has taken on a life of its own, worrying Dreamers as DACA beneficiaries are known and showing up in hundreds of articles and editorials lamenting the presidents predicament on the programs future. As if somehow he is between a rock and a hard place and has no choice but to end DACA. God forbid Texas make good on his threat and sue a friendly administration. This is a false choice. Texass threat lacks merit, is internally inconsistent, and theres little evidence that it was dreamed up for any other reason than political grandstanding. If Trump is the grand negotiator that he claims he is, he would be well advised to ignore it. First things first: Paxtons deadline is a sham. Federal policy that applies nationwide doesnt rise or fall because someone threatens a lawsuit. And any president, no matter the party, would look weak if his decision-making depended on a cease-and-desist letter that shows up in the mail. Thomas Saenz, a lawyer who has fought Texas before the Supreme Court over another program that is similar in nature to DACA, is correct to note that Trump and Trump alone has the upper hand here. He may, quite literally, throw Paxtons letter in the trash and keep DACA on the books if he so wishes. Thats not to say Paxton doesnt have some leverage, but its not much. In 2015, he led a coalition of 26 states that convinced a sympathetic federal judge near the Mexico border, some 350 miles from the Texas capital, that a companion program to DACA, which expanded protections to parents of American citizens and green-card holders, was unlawful because it was not rolled out according to the Administrative Procedure Act. But tellingly, neither Judge Andrew Hanen nor the appeals court that reviewed his ruling went much further than that. Texas wanted the courts to rule that President Obama had violated the Constitution itself that deferring someones deportation was somehow an abdication of his duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Courts never touched that issue. And rightly, Paxton omits it from his threat to Trump. Sessions and other immigration hard-liners in the Trump administration may believe the tale that DACA is unconstitutional, and could be preparing talking points to that effect. But no court has ever so held. And Trump can rest assured that a judge will be hard-pressed to disturb a five-year-old policy that, for all its political frailty, remains settled in practice, if not as a matter of law. This leads to another anomaly in the Paxton letter: It was signed by only 10 of the 26 states that mounted the legal challenge that ended up in Hanens courtroom. Where are the other 16? Your guess is as good as mine. Mississippi is one notable absence: The state went to federal court a little over a week after Obama announced DACA in 2012, only to see its efforts fail because Mississippi couldnt show the program caused it any concrete harm. In the past month, Ive sent three separate emails to and left a voicemail for Drew Snyder, an adviser to Governor Phil Bryant who has worked on DACA-related issues, and Ive yet to receive a response to why Mississippi didnt sign on to Paxtons letter. The answer, naturally, may be that the letter is little more than political posturing. Paxton has insisted that his intention is not to see Dreamers deported, or even to see their DACA status revoked. He only wants for Trump to phase out the program. But thats disingenuous: Once the protections are removed and existing permits expire, any and all of the hundreds of thousands who are DACA recipients will be fair game for Trumps deportation machine. To eliminate deferred action is to initiate it. That would be a political disaster for Trump. Dreamers remain a popular group with Democrats and Republicans alike, are a boon to the economy, and Trump himself has said that they shouldnt be very worried because he has a big heart. If those words mean anything to him and as of Thursday, Trump seemed on the brink of pulling the plug on DACA, according to a Fox News report the president should stand his ground against Texas and reject the bad deal hes being offered. Thered be a lot to gain and very little to lose. And Trump doesnt like losing. The Arkema Inc. chemical plant on August 30, 2017. Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP As predicted, the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, exploded early on Thursday morning after the site flooded in Hurricane Harvey. Two explosions were heard around 2 a.m. local time, and a plume of black smoke was coming from the building. Julia Bagg of NBC 6 in Miami said deputies near the plant complained of headaches and dizziness after the blast, and they headed to the hospital. Firefighters had reporters move another two miles away from the plant. #Breaking Just saw plume of smoke over flooded chemical plant in Crosby, TX. Firefighters evacuating us @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/9pN8drDCcq Julia Bagg (@JuliaNBC6) August 31, 2017 #Update Some deputies near #Crosby plant just left complaining of headaches & dizziness; going to get checked out, "refused" ambulance @NBC6 Julia Bagg (@JuliaNBC6) August 31, 2017 One deputy taken to hospital after inhaling fumes from Archem plant in Crosby. 9 others drove themselves to hospital as precaution. HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) August 31, 2017 MORE: Deputies near Arkema chemical plant in Crosby complained of headaches, dizziness after 2 reported explosions. https://t.co/fX5QV8OtAr pic.twitter.com/iqtQvjr06O KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) August 31, 2017 Arkema said it had prepared for the hurricane and had contingency plans in place, but unprecedented flooding overwhelmed our primary power and two sources of emergency backup power. That meant there was no way to refrigerate the volatile peroxides produced at the facility, which burn if they arent stored at low temperatures. Eleven workers remained at the plant in the early days of the storm, but on Tuesday they were sent home and residents within 1.5 miles of the plant were evacuated after Arkema determined that there was no way to prevent an explosion. The company released a statement confirming the explosions: We have been working closely with public officials to manage the implications of this situation, and have communicated with the public the potential for product to explode and cause an intense fire. Organic peroxides are extremely flammable and, as agreed with public officials, the best course of action is to let the fire burn itself out. We want local residents to be aware that product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains. Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so. I apologize to everyone impacted by our situation, added Arkema CEO Rich Rowe. People protest Senate Bill 4 outside the federal courthouse in San Antonio on June 26, 2017. Photo: Eric Gay/AP A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the nations most extreme antisanctuary city law on Wednesday, two days before it was set to take effect. The preliminary injunction is a setback for the states Republican leaders, as well as the Trump administrations crackdown on sanctuary cities. Senate Bill 4, which Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law in May, requires local law enforcement officials to comply with federal requests to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally. Those who fail to comply could be fined $25,500 a day, ejected from office, or jailed for up to a year. The law also allows law enforcement officials to ask about the immigration status of anyone they detain. Several Texas cities including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin sued to stop the law, arguing that it could lead to racial profiling, make it difficult for local police to combat crime, and spark a backlash that would hurt the states economy. The Trump administrations Justice Department has filed statements of interest siding with the state of Texas. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that several parts of the law are likely to be found unconstitutional. He said a provision saying local authorities may not adopt, enforce, or endorse policies limiting the enforcement of immigration laws violates the officials right to free speech. The government may disagree with certain viewpoints, but they cannot ban them just because they are inconsistent with the view that the government seeks to promote, Judge Garcia wrote. SB 4 clearly targets and seeks to punish speakers based on their viewpoint on local immigration enforcement policy. According to the Texas Tribune, Garcia did allow the provision that permits police officers to question people they detain on their immigration status. However, he said they cant use that information to arrest the person, they can only share it with the proper authorities. Governor Abbott said the state will appeal, which would send the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, one of the most conservative appeals panels in the country. Todays decision makes Texas communities less safe, Abbott said. Because of this ruling, gang members and dangerous criminals, like those who have been released by the Travis County Sheriff, will be set free to prey upon our communities. U.S. Supreme Court precedent for laws similar to Texas law are firmly on our side. This decision will be appealed immediately and I am confident Texas law will be found constitutional and ultimately be upheld. Houston police chief Art Acevedo, a critic of the law, learned of the decision while in a shelter for victims of Hurricane Harvey. Acevedo high-fived another officer and said, We needed a break. Thats a break for us. Joe Manchin. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Last November, Donald Trump won West Virginia by more than 40 points. The new presidents overwhelming popularity in the state led some to suspect that West Virginias Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, would decide to switch parties or, at least, support Trumps top legislative priorities. But, as of this writing, Manchin has done neither. The states newly elected Democratic governor, Jim Justice, converted to Republicanism; West Virginias Republican senator, Shelley Moore Capito, did Trumps bidding on health care, even though doing so required her to vote for massive Medicaid cuts that would have devastated her beleaguered state. But Manchin stayed in Chuck Schumers caucus, and voted against every iteration of Trumpcare that was put in front of him. A new MetroNews West Virginia Poll suggests Manchin made a wise choice: The survey finds that 51 percent of West Virginians approve of the Democrat, giving him a higher approval rating than Justice, Capito, and even the president himself. West Virginia approval ratings: Manchin 51/34 Capito 40/38 Trump 48/39 Justice 34/44 https://t.co/pXBNL2sxa0 Steven Shepard (@POLITICO_Steve) August 31, 2017 Manchins resilient popularity in an increasingly red state is a testament to the strength of his political brand. But it also reflects the profound unpopularity of the congressional GOPs agenda. In 2018, 11 Senate Democrats will face reelection in states that Trump won. Had the Republican Party allowed Trump to start his presidency by pushing a policy with popular support like an infrastructure stimulus many of those Democrats would have played ball (and alienated the liberals in their base in the process). But the GOP donor class doesnt want to repair Americas crumbling roads and bridges; it wants to redistribute income away from social services and into their own bank accounts. And so the first thing Trump and his party did with federal power was to push a health-care bill so audaciously regressive it couldnt attract the support of the Senates moderate Republicans, let alone its conservative Democrats. Instead of driving a wedge into Manchins base, the GOPs approach to Obamacare repeal allowed the West Virginia senator to win public favor by toeing his partys line. And Trumpcare seems to have done a similar favor for the Democrats other embattled senators. In July, Morning Consult found that North Dakotas Heidi Heitkamp, Indianas Joe Donnelly, and Floridas Bill Nelson all grew more popular with their constituents over the course of 2017. Meanwhile, the only senator up for reelection in 2018 with a negative approval rating is Arizona Republican Jeff Flake. All the red-state Democrats retained the approval of their electorates, even as they torpedoed Trumps top agenda item. This all has major implications for tax reform. The president and his party have released a wide array of different tax plans. But all have been united in their lack of fine detail, and emphasis on redistributing income upward. Tax cuts for the rich arent much more popular than the Medicaid cuts that the GOP just failed to pass (in an attempt to create budget space for tax cuts on the rich). And its far from clear that Republican senators with idiosyncratic political brands like Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain are reliable votes for their partys tax package. The White House recognizes this fact, which is why the Trump administration has tried to woo red-state Senate Democrats in recent days. That seduction could be going better. All but three Senate Democrats have already publicly promised to oppose any plan that cuts taxes on those who make over $1 million a year. The three that havent signed onto that pledge Manchin, Heitkamp, and Donnelly all saw their approval ratings go up after they opposed the presidents health-care bill. And now, if this new poll is to be believed, Manchin has a stronger grip on his states electorate than Trump does. None of this guarantees that Manchin & Co. wont fold. A ton of corporate money is going to be invested into pressuring red-state Democrats to back tax cuts. Nonetheless, Chuck Schumer has a much better chance of keeping his party in line on tax reform than most thought just a few short months ago. Medicaid, Social Security its all welfare, amirite? Maines relentlessly abrasive conservative Republican governor, Paul LePage, is engaged in an interesting if rather evil political experiment: Can labeling Medicaid as welfare sufficiently undermine support for the program to defeat a ballot initiative that would make the state the 31st to accept the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion? Having vetoed legislation accepting the Medicaid expansion on five occasions, LePage is now battling a ballot initiative to do what he would not let the legislature do. An expansion would make an additional 70,000 Mainers eligible for Medicaid, at a relatively low cost to the state. But the exact wording of the initiative has yet to be certified by Maines secretary of State. Initiative proponents want the ballot to describe Medicaid as a health insurance program, which it most definitely is. LePage wants the venerable low-income program to be described as welfare, that ancient term of racially tinged abuse. Its free health care paid for by the taxpayers, and its got to be said that way, LePage told talk radio hosts at WGAN last Thursday. Its pure welfare. If you dont want to call it welfare, call it an entitlement. Entitlement is another ancient term of abuse, at least for conservatives. If any taxpayer-provided or -subsidized good or service that is free to the beneficiaries qualifies as welfare, then all sorts of federal, state, and local government grants, agricultural commodity payments, and other unmatched benefits might be so described. And virtually all public programs, including the wildly popular Social Security and Medicare, offer benefits beyond the cost-sharing burdens or individual contributions made to support it. Are they all at least partially welfare? This is not just a rhetorical question for LePage, who got into hot water back in 2014 for arguing that personal income figures for the various states should not include welfare money, including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance. Beyond those questions, its worth noting that the proposed expansion changes nothing about Medicaids eligibility rules apart from raising the income level slightly above the federal poverty line, as TPMs Alice Ollstein explains. So in effect LePage and his allies are trying to change perceptions of an existing program under the guise of opposing a change thats hardly a change. Its unlikely that Maines secretary of State, Democrat Matthew Dunlop, will go along with LePages demands when he rules on the wording at the end of the week. But the governor has vowed to sue him if he doesnt. If it works, then the conservative rhetoric machine that boasts of such past accomplishments as rebranding inheritance taxes for very wealthy people as a death tax will have scored another victory. Special counsel Robert Mueller. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images Donald Trumps ability to issue presidential pardons has been the ultimate weapon looming over Robert Muellers investigation. Trump could potentially pardon himself of any crimes. More important, he could dangle a pardon to his former staffers to encourage them not to supply Mueller with any incriminating information on Trump. Mueller is apparently handling his investigating like the prosecution of a mob boss, pressuring underlings to flip on the boss. Trumps advantage is that, unlike a mob boss, he can give out an unlimited number of get-out-of-jail-free cards. Trump has reportedly mused in public about using the pardon and his pardon of Joe Arpaio flaunted his willingness to use it on behalf of a political ally, even in outrageous fashion. But it turns out that there is a flaw in Trumps strategy. The presidential pardon only applies to federal crimes. As NBC reported last night, it is possible for state governments to press charges in some of the alleged crimes committed by Trumps cronies. You would have to find that one of those [election] crimes occurred in New York, Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC. Of course, some of the alleged crimes almost certainly did take place in New York. And sure enough, Josh Dawsey reports, Mueller is teaming up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Muellers and Schneidermans teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering, he notes. Trump can pardon anybody facing charges from Mueller, but not from Schneiderman. It is probably significant that Mueller is letting this fact be known to Trumps inner circle. Trumps biggest source of leverage over Mueller just disappeared. Yousef al-Otaiba. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Yousef al-Otaiba, the U.A.E. ambassador to the United States, is an extremely influential man in Washington, D.C. With the deep pockets of his oil-rich nation at his disposal, Otaiba pays exorbitant fees to think tanks who advance the U.A.E.s interests and throws lavish parties to curry favor with some of the governments powerful people. He also, as a bombshell investigation in the Intercept lays out, has a history of hard partying, connections to sex-trafficking, and an apparent lie in his official biography about graduating from Georgetown. Oh, and as of January 21, 2017, he has a good friend in the White House too. President Trumps son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner only met Otaiba last year, after being introduced by billionaire Trump supporter Tom Barrack, but as Politico reported in February, the two are in almost constant phone and email contact. The Intercept and reporter Ryan Grim have previously reported on Otaibas influence in Washington, where hes gained a reputation as a power player who sends journalists iPads for Christmas and takes long meetings with senators. Ive spent probably more time with Yousef than I have anybody, Senator Richard Burr told the Huffington Post. But this latest report, which relies in part on hacked emails, delves into the often salacious details of Otaibas private life. There was, for example, the trip to Las Vegas that Otaiba and his friends planned over email. After checking with his boss, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Otaiba emailed a group of friends that the trip was on and asked, Is my diplomatic immunity valid in Vegas? A friend replied with a contract they could bring along on the trip: I, (insert name of dumb girl), agree to let (insert name of one of us filthbags) hit it. I (insert dumb broads name again if her drunk ass can remember it), am at least 18 years old. Signed (little chicks signature). Everything is nice and legal. :) This story is about more than gross emails though. One former member of Otaibas inner circle told the Intercept that women, some of them employees of Washington strip clubs and others escorts in the U.A.E., were always around. Over time he became concerned that some were victims of sex trafficking. You cant say that [Otaiba] is a human trafficker hes not. But some of the girls I was sent over there were trafficked girls, Roman Paschal said. Other emails showed Otaibas extensive relationship with a Washington madam, who offered to send girls to him in your country or wait until you are in the U.S. The most sordid stories of Otaibas past appear to have taken place a decade ago. Hes now married and has at least one child, so while this prurient stuff is fun, its not the most significant thing about him. After all, this is the ambassador from a country that supports a hawkish line against Iran and is accused of human rights abuses in Yemen, who happens to have influence over Jared Kushner, the man responsible for forging peace in the Middle East. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images The version of Donald Trump who appeared yesterday in Missouri was a familiar figure from the campaign trail: a populist outsider, enemy of the Establishment, and traitor to his class. He pledged to get rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests and to protect ordinary Americans who dont have an army of accountants. At one point, he claimed in an aside, Im speaking against myself when I do this, I have to tell you. The message, in other words, was almost the perfect inverse of the actual policy Trump was selling: a large regressive tax cut that has thrilled the party Establishment, the economic elite, and Washington lobbyists. Trump has done many shocking things in office, but most of them follow directly, even explicitly, from the persona he put on full display during the campaign. Trump promised the country he would unleash law enforcement without restraint. He made clear his warm feelings toward Vladimir Putin justifying his authoritarianism and even going so far as to literally ask him in public to hack his opponents email. He may not be building the wall and imposing tariffs, but he is at least trying. Even Trumps, shall we say, free-form managerial style was well known. His utter subservience to the partys donor class breaks from the pattern. It is a complete reversal of his promise to drain the swamp. Decades ago, academics formulated a term that roughly corresponds to the swamp. Its regulatory capture, which describes a process by which staffers in government make rules designed to benefit incumbent industries rather than the general public. Much of the work of government under Trump has consisted of turning over public policy directly to the Washington business lobby. Trump may like war heroes who werent captured, but he likes regulators who were. Environmental Protection Agency director Scott Pruitt has secretly worked in concert with oil and gas lobbyists in the past, and in Washington has essentially bypassed the bureaucracy to turn the work of regulation directly over to fossil-fuel lobbyists. The landing team at the Department of Energy was headed by a lobbyist for Koch Industries. Tom Price, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a doctor closely tied to the medical lobby. Price has received the most attention for his role as advocate of Obamacare repeal. Where he has achieved more influence is in a series of low-profile rulings with the consistent effect of ratcheting up Medicare payments for doctors. This week, he is advancing another rule to increase payment rates for medical equipment firms. Making the federal government spend more money enriching the medical industry is not a conservative principle at all. It is, however, a cause Trumps administration has advanced rapidly. His Federal Communications Commission has handed a series of victories to cable and telecom firms, encouraging consolidation and discouraging competition. Despite promising to break up the big banks during the campaign, Trump has abandoned his pledge and placed a Wall Street lawyer in charge of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has given his two most important economic policy positions to Wall Streeters (Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn), and has made stock prices his favorite metric of economic success. The so-called tax-reform plan Republicans are formulating has been deeply shaped by the business lobby, which has formed a phalanx of support. Some of the most astonishing regulatory capture is under way at the Department of Education. The appointment of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos provoked frenzied opposition, on the basis of her lack of experience and ideological fascination with vouchers. But the focus on DeVoss beliefs about primary education was always misplaced, for the simple reason that primary education is financed overwhelmingly at the state and local level, so DeVos could not ruin public schools even if she tried. Where DeVos has had a massive impact is in higher education. The federal government has much higher leverage over post-secondary education due to its involvement with student loans. These loans have often subsidized for-profit colleges, which lure customers using federally backed student loans, and furnish them with substandard or useless education. The Obama administration began cracking down on the for-profit industry in a variety of ways: imposing standards and conditions for its loans, rather than spraying them out indiscriminately to whichever college could vacuum them up. DeVos has turned her department over to the for-profit college industry, which has used its power to protect its own rackets. One ruling allowing lenders to recover more money from indebted students was issued by Taylor Hansen, a DeVos aide and former lobbyist for the for-profit industry. DeVoss special assistant is Robert Eitel, the chief compliance officer at a for-profit institution facing multiple investigations for deceptive practices. She has selected A. Wayne Johnson, the CEO of a student-loan company, to run the departments student loan program. The Departments General Counsel, Carlos Muniz, is a consultant who has worked for a for-profit institution that is also facing multiple state investigations for misconduct. This week, she appointed Julian Schmoke, Jr. to run the Student Aid Enforcement Unit, which the Obama administration created to expose and halt fraud by colleges and universities. Schmoke comes directly from DeVry University, which last year had to pay $100 million over its misleading practices. The spectacular and telegenic failures of the Trump administration are obscuring the highly effective policies under way. Trump has transformed the government into an apparatus for protecting and enriching incumbent wealth. His chaos and incompetence are tolerable to his party because Trump is fashioning an American oligarchy. Evacuees line up to apply for FEMA aid at the Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on August 29, 2017. Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images As the remnants of Harvey battered east Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday, the Houston area saw blue skies for the first time in days. With nearly 35,000 people living in shelters across Texas, the focus is still on day-to-day survival. Many still dont know whats left of their homes and businesses, but its likely theyre facing massive bills and huge hurdles if they attempt to seek government assistance. During a press conference on Monday, President Trump began by reading a prepared statement acknowledging this reality, and promising to stand with the storms survivors. Recovery will be a long and difficult road, and the federal government stands ready, willing, and able to support that effort, he said. Yet when asked during the same press conference about what Texans can expect in terms of long-term recovery, Trump suggested the road actually wouldnt be all that long. I think that youre going to see very rapid action from Congress, certainly from the president. And youre going to get your funding, he said, adding, We think youre going to have what you need and its going to go fast. Trump then said he expects the area to be up and running again very quickly, repeating the phrase two more times. Addressing his supporters in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Trumps timetable got even more ambitious: Were going to get you back and operating immediately, he said. President Trump speaks to supporters in Corpus Christi on August 29, 2017. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images But in prepared remarks he delivered on Wednesday, it slowed down again. He said, Recovery will be tough, but assured the people of Louisiana and Texas, We are here with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover and rebuild. While the discussion this week has centered on the optics of Trumps disaster response, the real test of whether this is his Katrina moment will come as Texas and Louisiana seek federal money for recovery. The process probably wont be anything like what off-the-cuff Trump described, since rebuilding after Katrina and Superstorm Sandy took years. But the Trump administration does have an opportunity to apply the lessons of those disasters to improve the federal response to Harvey. The first order of business is for the Trump administration to submit a request for emergency funds to Congress. Trump could be partly right about very rapid action from Congress. A number of thorny fiscal issues must be addressed by the end of September, and reports suggest congressional leaders want to secure support for funding the government and raising the debt ceiling by attaching those measures to a disaster aid bill. There are several potential complications. First, Trump has already threatened to veto any appropriations bill that doesnt include funding for his border wall, so Congress would have to convince him to save that fight for another day and they arent on great terms. Second, since floodwaters are still rising in some areas, its too early to say how much money is needed. Texas governor Greg Abbott said the federal aid package should be far in excess of the $120 billion spent on the Katrina recovery, and U.S. representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Houston, suggested it should be as much as $150 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports that theres talk of approving a smaller aid request, then negotiating a larger relief package down the line. There might be more than one Harvey relief package just because we dont know the extent of the damage, Representative Tom Rooney, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday. He added that it would have to be carefully constructed so we dont run into the same problems we did with the Sandy bill. That could prove tricky. Congress passed an initial Sandy aid package tied to a short-term spending bill in late 2012, then negotiated a $50 billion aid package several weeks later. By that point, images of the storm-ravaged Northeastern shore were no longer dominating the headlines, and 179 House Republicans wound up voting against the bill. Evacuees seeking financial help consult with FEMA agents at the Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on August 30, 2017. Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Getting federal funds to Harveys victims presents another array of problems. According to the Washington Post, only 16 percent of homes in the counties declared a federal disaster area have flood insurance through the federal flood-insurance program. That program, which is up for reauthorization next month, is deeply in debt and in need of serious reform, but Harvey makes that even less likely. By Wednesday morning, 195,000 people affected by Harvey had filed for assistance from FEMA. As FEMAs website explains, it provides grants to disaster victims to help pay for temporary housing, emergency home repairs, uninsured and underinsured personal property losses and medical, dental and funeral expenses, among other disaster-related expenses. However, the grants arent intended to fully cover these costs. To help with additional expenses, the federal government offers low-interest disaster loans through the Small Business Administration. Renters and homeowners may be eligible for loans of up to $40,000 for property losses and homeowners can borrow up to $200,000. That program has been plagued by problems too. Politico reports: After both Katrina and Sandy, the natural disaster was followed by a bureaucratic one, as an agency whose main job is small-business boosterism suddenly transforms into Americas last-ditch emergency lender. After Katrina, the SBA needed an average of more than 65 days to process disaster loan applicationsa delay that led to a congressional backlash and major reforms. When Sandy struck, the agency was again unprepared; it took SBA an average of around 40 days to process loan applications. Following Katrina, Congress created three new emergency loan programs, but they were never implemented. SBA says the programs are no longer needed because theyve made other improvements that should enable them to process loan applications far more quickly. On average, it took the agency less than two weeks to process disaster loan applications after flooding in Baton Rouge last August. However, it was only dealing with 66,000 applications, while Katrina yielded 385,000. Earlier this year, members of Congress pressed James Rivera, who runs SBAs Office of Disaster Assistance, on whether his office was ready for a major disaster. The trend is in the right direction, he said. But, I hate to say this, until we are able to process a disaster like Sandy or Katrina, we are going to continue to have these same discussions. Hopefully, a number of federal agencies have stepped up their game since Sandy, and President Trump will ensure that his administration does everything it can to ease the process. If not, Harveys victims are facing a years-long bureaucratic process thats unlikely to fully cover the cost of recovery. Per the New York Times: I refuse to believe that summer is over. August is the best, and I wish it would last forever. All you people who talk about summer being over are honestly just mean. Whatever your feelings about fall, heres another good beauty sale to cushion the blow: Dermstore is taking 20 percent off for Labor Day (code LONGWKND), starting today. Its not as extensive as their last sale, but there are plenty of beauty products for those sunny days of September which is really just the last month of summer, if you ask me. Cover FX Natural Finish Oil-Free Foundation I wore this for a week straight and people kept asking me what I was doing differently with my skin. At first, I thought I had finally figured out the optimal place to apply highlighter or that I was frequently stumbling into good lighting. Then I stopped using it, and the compliments stopped. The texture can be a little thick but it easily sheers out, and it lasts all day without giving you oil-slick face. Original Price: $40 Sale Price: $32 (20 percent off with code LONGWKND) at Dermstore Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. 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, pillows for side sleepers, ultra-flattering pants, 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. COPYRIGHT NZCIVAIR All information and photographs used on this blog are copyright to NZCIVAIR. In addition to the negative repercussions of hurricane Harvey, which heavily impacted the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production and petrochemical plants, global oil markets are facing disruptions from the Middle East. The market has not been focusing on geopolitical security issues lately, but over the coming months geopolitics is sure to become an increasingly important factor. Political instability and civil wars, particularly those involving OPEC member states, are far from reaching a conclusion. The markets optimism about the heavily reported production increases of Libya, Iraq and Nigeria may be misplaced. Libyas return to the market, with production reportedly breaking 1 million bpd while targeting 1.3 million bpd, could already be a thing of the past due to growing instability on the ground. Libyas production increases, which have been questioned by insiders, have proven to be unsustainable due to fighting between militias and government forces in oil producing regions. After the shutdown of the Sharara oilfield last week, two other main producing fields have now been hit by armed militias in Libyas western region. Sources reported that an armed militia from Zintan, directly linked to the heavily armed Petroleum Facilities Guard, which was set up to protect the countrys oil and gas infrastructure, has closed the El Feel and Hamada fields by blocking their respective pipelines. The Petroleum Facilities Guard is also slated to be involved in the Sharara oilfield shutdown. Officially, the militia claims it is fighting for better living conditions and the pay of salaries and services. However, it seems the current developments are not linked solely to social issues, but rather to the growing instability and tensions between the main military power factions in the country. The Zintan militia has already threatened to shut down the Wafa oilfield if their demands are not met. Related: Venezuelas Oil Fire Sale To Benefit Russia, China A military conflict appears to be brewing between the Libyan National Army of General Haftar and the western militias. Egyptian sources have reported that a new military confrontation is expected soon between armed militias and the LNA in the so-called Oil Crescent Area. The Oil Crescent Area has been in the hands of Haftars LNA since 2016 and is a bone of contention for Libyas main political parties. Severe clashes have already been reported in and around the Tripoli area, where militias are fighting each other in Suq al Khamis and Al Hira. Libyan sources claim that the militias are supported by the GNA, which is headed by Libyan leader Fayez Sarraj. Since the end of 2016 two attempts have been made by anti-Haftar groups to remove the LNA from the region. Major mobilization efforts are currently ongoing in and around the city of Sirte in preparation for a military assault on the LNA strongholds. Haftars advisors expect that the militias will try to attack the Gulf of Sidra area in an attempt to gain control of the ports and oil installations up there. A possible onslaught is also expected to reach Benghazi and Derna. Derna is currently in the hands of anti-Haftar militias, perceived to be Al Qaeda supporters. At present, the LNA is also confronted by internal splits and confrontations with affiliated militias. In recent days, a political rift has emerged between the Awaqir tribe in Benghazi and Haftar following the election of tribesman Faraj Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior in the government of the Tripoli-based Presidential Council. Haftar, until now, has openly rejected the Presidential Council, which is led by Fayaz Serraj who chose Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior at the request of the tribe. Awaqir reportedly decided to join Sirrajs government in Tripoli because Abdullah Al-Thannis government in east Libya is powerless. The Awaqir tribe also has Mihdi Al Barghati as minister of defense in the Council. The son of Haftar, Saddam, has already threatened to remove the council or arrest its members in response. The position of the LNA, and especially its Dignity Operation to remove opposition, Daesh and Al Qaeda in the eastern regions, is now under threat. Egaim was chief of the so-called Special Tasks Force in Benghazi, a tribal militia group that used to work under Dignity Operation. Related: Hurricane Harvey Is A Disaster For OPEC The LNA is also continuing its siege of the city of Derna. Haftar stated on TV that he would reject any mediation that targets the lifting of the siege on Derna. For the last four weeks a military force has been trying to remove the opposition from Derna. The instability in this part of Libya has increased immensely. In addition to the ongoing internal power battles and military operations against armed militias, the LNA is also still having to fight pockets of Daesh/IS groups. While the optimism about the fight against IS has been high, the fundamentalist group is not dead and still fighting. The recent massacre and beheadings of several LNA fighters by Daesh is a prime example of this. Libyas oil and gas future is at risk. Increased insecurity has already shutdown several of its oil fields and the Al Zawiya oil refinery. A total military clash in the region would bring the whole sector to a standstill. The removal of almost 300,000 bpd of crude oil will have its impact on the market. The current oil price scenarios appear to have not calculated this in however, as all media is focused on the effects of hurricane Harvey and the Gulf of Mexico. Once Hurricane Harvey passes, the market will have to refocus on the long-term (and continuing) effects of the loss of Libyan production. Taking out 300,000 bpd or more at this crucial point in time will have its effects. Prices will go up, as supply disruptions force markets into balance. Libyas future is still very bleak, while Nigerias and Iraqs production increases are far from certainties. By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: As the political and economic climate in Venezuela continues to deteriorate and oil output sinks to new lows, a production vacuum is opening up in the Caribbean. Seeing an opportunity to take up the gauntlet, the Mexican finance and foreign ministries are working hard on a plan to become the regions new reigning oil producer. The plan begins in nearby Cuba. Venezuela had been providing Cuba with generously subsidized oil for over a decade, making the region entirely dependent on agreements and alliance with Caracas. Now Mexico is considering replacing these subsidies to Cuba in addition to a few other Caribbean nations, potentially ending the 18-year alliance between Cuba and Venezuela. If the plan comes to pass, it would compound Venezuelas issues and isolation, making it possible for the U.S. to impose even heavier sanctions and scoring points for Mexico in Washington D.C. Just this week Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro called Venezuelan bond holders to a meeting with Economy Minister Ramon Lobo to discuss the consequences of U.S. sanctions. Maduros administration has pointedly claimed that the people who will be hurt most by the sanctions aimed at stymieing the nations ballooning debt will be shareholders in the U.S. Indeed, there is outcry that the potential banning of oil imports from Venezuela--the 3rd biggest supplier of oil to the U.S. behind Canada and Saudi Arabia--will dramatically drive up gasoline prices and hurt the U.S. job market. Additionally, the sanctions will block Venezuela from refinancing its debt with U.S. investors and prevents U.S. firms from issuing dividend payments to bankrupt nation. In order to replace the Venezuelan oil subsidies deal, known as Petrocaribe, Mexico would have to supply Cuba with 55,000 barrels per day and another 39,000 barrels per day to other Petrocaribe nations in the Caribbean and Central America. This is actually a tiny amount compared to what Venezuela was doling out before their production went into steep decline. 5 years ago Venezuela was exporting about 100,000 barrels per day to Cuba and another 120,000 barrels daily to Central America and the Caribbean. If Mexico goes through with the plan, it will be a bold step. The amount of shipments, especially at a subsidized price, would be a big financial burden on Mexico. The move may improve relations with the U.S. and give Mexico better leverage in NAFTA negotiations, but is likely to be politically unpopular in a time when oil domestic production is less than its best and the economy is volatile. Related: Hurricane Harvey Is A Disaster For OPEC The plan is being pushed ahead by Mexicos ministries of finance and foreign affairs, who see the possible fall of Venezuela as an opportunity to create more allies in Central America and the Caribbean. On the other hand, the Mexican energy ministry is not nearly as gung-ho, voicing their considerable concerns about Mexicos low levels of crude production. Although there is hope for a boost in local production after the country opened its oil fields to foreign investors this year, its going to be hard to make the kind of turnaround needed after a 13-year production decline. Thanks to the proposed Venezuelan sanctions, the U.S. will also be much more thirsty for Mexican oil after losing their 3rd biggest supplier. The gas-guzzling giant will likely be looking to import in much larger quantities of heavy oil from Canada, Mexico and Colombia to meet demand, and Mexico would be foolish to say no to an influx of dollars. The question is, will Mexico be able to respond to demand from the United States and replace Petrocaribe at the same time? Theres no way to predict the future, but its extremely unlikely, to say the least, at the rate theyre going. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The oil price recovery that analysts and investors were expecting early this year have failed to materialize, battering the energy sector stocks in 2017. Shares of energy companies are set to book their steepest monthly drop in August since the end of 2015, when the oil price crash was in full swing. U.S. energy companies reported at the end of July and early August generally better earnings compared to last years low comparison base, but this was not enough to convince investors to start seeing the stocks as attractive. Some companies trimmed capital budget plans as an answer to the persistently low oil prices and as reassurance to investors that they would embrace financial discipline. Others reported higher-than-expected production and raised output guidance for this year. However, this signaled to investors that rising supply from the U.S. would continue to depress global oil prices, and further drag energy shares down. So far in Augustwith data in as of August 29the energy sector in the S&P 500 was down 17.2 percent year to date, Yardeni Research said, based on its analysis of the S&P 500 sectors & industries performance. To compare, the S&P 500 Index has gained 9.3 percent year to date. Energy has been the worst-performing sector this year, and is one of two sectorsout of 11that has booked a negative performance, the other being telecom services. In August alone, the S&P 500 Index was down 1.0 percent through August 29, and most of the other sectors, except for information technology and utilities, are also down. But the energy sector dropped the most, by 6.2 percent so far this month. Related: Venezuelas Oil Fire Sale To Benefit Russia, China Last year, the energy sector was the biggest winner of the S&P, rising 23.65 percent, and followed by financials and telecom. But in 2016, oil prices recovered from the below-US$30-lows in February, with WTI closing last year at US$53.72, up by 45 percent since January, for its best performance since 2009. At the end of 2016, oil prices rallied on expectations, and later the confirmation, that OPEC would start cutting production this year to prop up prices and draw down the global glut. Early into this year, analysts and investors were way more optimistic about the oil price recovery, but as global inventories continued to stay high and OPEC lost its market charm with the cuts and compliance, prices started dropping again, and WTI has traded mostly below US$50and frequently below US$45since early March. This failed recovery slammed energy stocks. According to data by Morningstar, cited by The Wall Street Journal, energy-focused stock funds have seen around US$2.7 billion of outflows between January and July, compared to some US$5.8 billion inflows in 2016. According to analysts briefed by the Journal, Q2 results reports contributed to the energy sectors poor performance this month. Some, like Pioneer Natural Resources, had an especially bad month after encountering problems with wells in the Permian. Others boosted production guidance, contributing to investors concern that rising U.S. output will continue to put downward pressure on oil prices. We did fall behind operationally on our completions in the Spraberry/Wolfcamp in large part due to unforeseen drilling delayswe now find we have a higher percentage of what we kind of refer to as train wreck wells, where we have all kinds of problems, Pioneer Natural Resources President and CEO Timothy Dove said at the Q2 results conference call. Pioneers stock has lost 21.54 percent in August, with year-to-date performance down by 29 percent. Chesapeake Energy Corp beat Q2 estimates in terms of financials, but production fell short of expectations. The stock is down 26.61 percent this month, and down 48 percent year to date. Related: Texas Shale Hit Hard By Hurricane Harvey These companies attracted fund flows because of production growth. Now theyre in this Catch-22 situation where investors also dont want companies increasing supply dramatically, David Deckelbaum, an energy analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets, told the Journal. Some analysts consider the international oil majors to still be attractive, while others believe that energy stocks may not be worth buying because in the lower-for-longer oil prices, growth may be underwhelming. Overall, our team does not think energy equities look cheap at all, John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management, told the Journal. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The skies are clearing over Houston, but the damage from the remaining elements of Hurricane Harvey has spread east to Port Arthur and Lake Charles along the Texas-Louisiana border. That has knocked more refineries offline, including the largest refinery in the United States. In the aftermath of the storm, the most serious threat to the energy industry is the extended outage of refineries and pipelines, according to Goldman Sachs. The problem actually looks worse than it did earlier this week as the deluge has shifted towards Port Arthur, another refining hub. Motiva, which runs the U.S. largest refinery in Port Arthur, began to completely shut down its 600,000 bpd facility on Wednesday. Goldman says the refinery shut downs, as of August 30, have spiked to 3.9 million barrels per day (mb/d), although upstream oil production outages have dropped below 1 mb/d. More ports are now closed in addition to Corpus Christi and Houston, the ports of Lake Charles, Beaumont, and Port Arthur have shut down. These outages, the investment bank says, will mean that the ongoing recovery in production will only be partial. The refinery and pipeline closures are leaving the oil market long 1.9 mb/d of crude vs. last Thursday, short 1.1 mb/d for gasoline and 0.8 mb/d for distillate. Related: Venezuelas Oil Fire Sale To Benefit Russia, China More worrying is that the recovery might not be quick. While most refineries had controlled shut downs, there are quite a few, especially in the Port Arthur region, that have been inundated with water, which means that the damage to them is still unknown. Based on the past major hurricanes of Rita and Katrina, Goldman speculates that about 10 percent of the 4 mb/d of refining capacity that has been disrupted will remain offline for several months. Other analysts agree that the damage could result in lengthier outages than many had hoped. I'm actually quite concerned about Beaumont-Port Arthur because they just got a huge amount of rain in 24 hours, and we've already seen flooding within the refineries themselves, so we don't know exactly how bad it's going to be, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNBC. If it is bad, you're looking at six to eight weeks of outages over in Beaumont-Port Arthur. Ultimately, that could mean that upstream oil producers will be unable to return to full production. Damage to pipelines, storage and processing facilities will also inhibit a full recovery. "It will be a while before operations can return to normal and the U.S. refining industry is bracing itself for an extended shutdown," Stephen Brennock of PVM wrote in a research note. The prospect of lasting damage to the energy industry is sinking in. Back to normal is months, not weeks, for exports and for the industry and the region. We have to acknowledge that, Barclays analyst Michael Cohen wrote. While much of the focus is (rightly) centered on the effect on gasoline supply, the refinery outages could eat into crude oil demand for quite some time. In fact, on balance, Goldman says that the supply outages could be outweighed by the destruction of demand. Houston alone accounts for around 750,000 bpd of oil demand. Goldman Sachs estimates the region will see demand fall by about 0.7 mb/d in the first month after the storm. Related: Oil Prices Rise As Texas Braces For Hurricane Harvey Landfall That will make it harder for OPEC to rebalance the market and maintain bullish sentiment," Barclays' analysts said. OPEC has been struggling to drain inventories for almost a year, but without a substantial portion of U.S. refineries online, inland crude oil storage facilities in the U.S. could fill up once again. And the dip in demand could mean OPECs time horizon for balancing gets pushed out a bit more into the future, just as the cartel was hinting that it might have to extend its production cuts anyway. But the problem is more complex because U.S. data will be much noisier and less useful as a high frequency indicator at the very time OPEC needs it most, Barclays says. Storage might increase, refinery runs will bounce around, production figures will edge up slowly in short, the trend lines that the market has become accustomed to will be all out of whack. And because the U.S. offers the most transparent data, closest to real-time as one can get, it has an outsized impact on market psychology. The data will be really messy for weeks to come, which will complicate OPECs strategy. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: President Trump signed an array of sanctions against Russia, Venezuela, and North Korea, with those against Russia specifically targeting the countrys energy industry. The idea of sanctions, theoretically, is to pressure a government into changing its behavior. In reality, U.S. sanctions on Russia do not seem to be having the desired effect, and its business as usual for Russian oil and gas, according to a Reuters report citing a number of local industry insiders. Russias oil industry has been the target of U.S. sanctions since 2014, with punitive measures including a cutoff of E&Ps access to foreign lenders, which constituted a major source of funding prior to the Crimea annexation. Oil industry insiders, however, claim to have found a way around this by reaching into their own pockets and the pockets of Russian banks. Now, the biggest challenge, according to Reuters, is to find a way around a reduction of the period over which U.S.-based entities can supply Russian energy firms with funding. Up until August 2, this period was 90 days, which gave traders ample time for trade financing, a common practice in the oil industry that involves oil traders as third parties that pre-pay a cargo to the seller, to keep liquidity gaps under control, Reuters authors Katya Golubkova and Gleb Gorodyankin explain. Now, this period has been cut to 60 days, which will make trade finance more challenging. In addition to using their own cash reserves or selling assets to fund trades, Russian energy companies might opt for collecting funding in small increments, which would involve more participants in a deal and will increase these companies operating expenses. Despite this, Reuters sources say, the industry will adapt to the new sanctions just like it adapted to the initial ones. Related: Russias Comeback In The LNG Race One recent report supported the suggestion that asset sales are on the table as a source of cash. Lukoil said it will sell its Swiss-based trading arm, Litasco, with Reuters quoting industry sources as saying the sale plan was in response to the new U.S. sanctions. However, Lukoil announced last year that it was considering the divestment of its downstream assets in Europe to focus on its exploration and production operations at home, so it might be a bit of a stretch to draw a causal link between the sale of Litasco and the new sanctions. Gazprom also seems unfazed by the new round of sanctions. Yesterday, a company official said at a conference call that Nord Stream-2 will continue as planned because the formulation of the new sanctions allowed for more than a single interpretation. Nord Stream-2 is a target of the sanctions, as they include measures against foreign companies funding Russian energy projects. Nord Stream-2 is a partnership between Gazprom and five European companies including Shell, Austrian OMV, German Wintershall and Uniper, and French Engie. Each of these companies will supply 10 percent of the new pipelines cost. European companiesand governmentsare not too happy with the new sanctions. Last month, the French Foreign Ministry warned the new sanctions were illegal and could affect European entities and people. So did Germanys Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries. Russias Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev equated the new sanctions to a trade war, adding that the country will cope and by the looks of things, it is. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The East Coast will start feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey as the gasoline supplied from the Gulf Coast starts to dry up. One of the most important pipelines that ships refined products to the Eastern Seaboard shut down on Thursday, which means that the U.S. Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast could see supply disruptions and price increases. The Colonial Pipeline carries gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from several refineries in Houston, Port Arthur and Lake Charles, along the Texas and Louisiana Coast, up through the U.S. Southeast to Washington DC, Baltimore, and New Jersey. The pipeline had been operational through the worst of the Hurricane, easing fears about supply disruptions. But the outages at the nations top refineries along the Gulf Coast have forced the Colonial Pipeline company to announce on Wednesday that it was shutting down Line 2, which carries diesel and jet fuel due to supply constraints. And on Thursday, the company shuttered Line 1, the pipeline that carries gasoline. The pipeline company said that operations would only resume when it can ensure that its facilities are safe to operate and refiners in Lake Charles and points east have the ability to move product to Colonial. It is hard to overstate the critical role that the Colonial Pipeline plays. It carries 2.5 million barrels of refined products per day, or as the FT notes, roughly one in every eight barrels of fuel consumed in the country. More importantly, it is one of the only suppliers for major cities on the eastern seaboard, including New York, Washington DC and Atlanta. Related: Can Mexico Capitalize On This Golden Oil Opportunity? With no refineries between the Gulf coast and Pennsylvania, the south-east is largely dependent on pipelines from the Gulf coast for their fuel, with Colonial being the largest, Jason Bordoff, the director of Columbia Universitys Centre on Global Energy Policy, told the FT. With Colonial shut and a quarter of Gulf coast refining capacity out, the south-east will need to get fuel from storage, other forms of transport from the Gulf like trucks and ships, and imports. Consumers will see the impacts of these disruptions and higher cost alternatives in higher prices paid at the pump. It is unclear when the refineries will be able to come back online, but there are some signs of recovery. Corpus Christi, a major refining and oil import/export center that was slammed by the hurricane, is starting to bounce back. According to IHS Markit, the city is faring the best among the cities on the Texas coast that were badly hit, with its four major refineries set to resume operations this week. But that does little for the Colonial Pipeline, which depends on refineries further up the coast along the Texas-Louisiana border, an area that was dealing with catastrophic flooding mid-week. The disruption of nearly a quarter of the nations refining capacity has already led to a spike in gasoline prices. But gasoline futures continue to surge, made worse by the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline. During midday trading on Thursday, gasoline futures for September were up nearly 12 percent. Its one thing to not have refiners, Dan McTeague, an analyst at GasBuddy.com, told Bloomberg. Its quite another thing to not have pipelines. Consumers along the East Coast will soon see the effects. Bloomberg reports that Valero Energy has stopped supplying gasoline stations that are not Valero-branded outlets. Shell has reportedly also curtailed fuel supplies at the retail level. East Coast refineries are struggling to keep up as the gap has grown too big. Reuters reported that at least two refineries on the East Coast are out of gasoline. Ive never seen a situation this bad, one East Coast market source told Reuters. In the short run, refiners from Europe and Asia could help fill the gap, sending supplies to the U.S. East Coast. But the Reuters source says refiners abroad wont be able to resolve everything. Imports cant make up for this. ... This is going to be the worst thing the U.S. has seen in decades from an energy standpoint. It should be noted, however, that many market watchers view the supply disruptions as temporary. Related: Russias Comeback In The LNG Race When things get back to normal, there will be strong demand for both crude oil and refined products. WTI has suffered a heavy discount relative to Brent, so the U.S. will have no problem finding customers, even as far away as Asia. And so far, there has not been reports of major damage at the Gulf Coast refineries, although with flood waters still in the Port Arthur area, it is still unknown how quickly they will return to operation. There are some reports as of Thursday that the Colonial Pipeline could resume operations within days, which, if true, could prevent the gasoline shortage from getting too bad. The federal government is also trying to accelerate the recovery. With an eye on the nations fuel supply, the Department of Energy authorized a release of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in order to help Phillips 66 get its Lake Charles refinery up and running. The SPR release is reportedly an emergency exchange agreement a swap or a long of sorts in which Phillips 66 has to pay back in crude at some point in the future. Phillips 66 will receive 500,000 barrels (200,000 barrels of sweet and 300,000 barrels of sour) of oil for its refinery. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In a little more than a months time, Russia will formalize its claim for a bigger role in the ever-expanding global LNG market. Early October, when the Yamal LNG will see its commissioning and first cargo delivered, expect to hear Russia and LNG in the same sentence in increasing frequency. Yet in Yamal LNG, Russias bid to consolidate its claim as a gas stronghold and to garner at least 10% of the global LNG market, one can discern a quite unconventional project for Russia. Although led by NOVATEK, a non-state-owned company (albeit with multiple connections to the political establishment) and not the usual suspect Gazprom, it stands a good chance to propel Russia into the LNG vanguard. This being said, behind the viability of Yamal LNG stand several factors absent which the project would be commercially feasible only with gas prices strictly above $11-12/MMbtu most importantly, large-scale government help. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been a matter of disquiet for the Russian energy sector for quite some time. Since the 1970s, various variants have crept up, virtually all based on the idea of selling LNG to Asia Pacific and North America. The first such assumptions were put forward in the 1970s but were cut short by the Reagan Administration shortly thereafter, the 1990s brought renewed interest in LNG, yet only the Sakhalin LNG hub got past the plan-making stage. Up to now, Russias entire LNG potential was condensed in the Far East island of Sakhalin, where an annual production of 9.6 Mtpa (14 BCm) have allowed Moscow to secure 4.5 percent of the global LNG market. A lack of market outlets has bogged down the Shtokman LNG project, which was destined to supply North America when the shale upsurge took place, a similar fate met Vladivostok LNG. The Yamal peninsula is a more than adequate spot to locate Russias new LNG venture. With total 3P reserves of 26.5 TCm, it is the most gas-rich first-phase region on the planet. Yamal LNGs main feed will come from the South Tambeyskoye gas field that contains 1.3 TCm. The project will see the gradual commissioning of 3 LNG trains, all 5.5 Mtpa/year, the first to be brought online this October, the last most likely late 2018-early 2019. Although the construction of the $27 billion Yamal LNG project was almost entirely carried out within the sanctions regime, its ambitious timeline will most likely be fulfilled even quicker than expected. From the first LNG terminal inside the Arctic Circle, Sabetta, which was specifically built for the Yamal LNG project, the state-owned SovComFlot will operate a fleet of 15 ice-class LNG tankers. It is assumed that most of Yamal LNG will go to Asia for this to happen, the tankers will take the Northern Sea Route in the navigable period (July to November) or transship at the Belgian Zeebrugge terminal at all other times. Related: Venezuelas Oil Fire Sale To Benefit Russia, China A short navigation period in the Arctic Ocean is just one of the manifold challenges NOVATEK had to face when pushing forward the Yamal LNG project. Port Sabetta was built completely from scratch, mostly from government funds as it is deemed a project of federal importance it is expected to grow into a massive LNG hub, becoming a home for both Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG-2. The construction work also included the dredging of the Ob Bay for it to be more easily navigable. Yet the government did not stop there it has also built a first-category airport, a power plant to cater the needs of Yamal LNG, and various sorts of necessary urban infrastructure in Sabetta. The institutional conditions for LNG to develop in Russia are nothing short of providential. The government abolished the export duty on LNG deals, exempted producers from paying the mineral extraction tax for the first 12 years after coming online, as well as from paying VAT on imported LNG-related equipment. The massive government backing might make it seem as if Yamal LNG was built in an impracticable location, however, the polar conditions at the Yamal Peninsula have upsides, too. For instance, the liquefaction of gas to the desired temperature of -170 C is much more profitable when the outside temperature is -50 C than in subtropical conditions. Moreover, on the back of global warming processes, the navigation period along the Northern Sea Route might gradually become longer and longer. The thawing of ice ridges in the Kara Sea and massive zones of thick ice in the mostly shallow Laptev Sea might render the crews life less difficult (although polar winds are expected to intensify). Thus, if today it takes around 15 days to reach the Asia Pacific region from Sabetta during the navigation period, it is not implausible to see a decline to 12-13 in the foreseeable future. What is more, apart from increasing Russias LNG footprint, Yamal LNG puts out a geopolitical statement, too that Moscow takes its Arctic commitments seriously and is there to stay from now onwards. Related: Oil Prices Rise As Texas Braces For Hurricane Harvey Landfall Whilst enumerating the ways the Russian government helped Yamal LNG, one might lose track of NOVATEK, the projects main shareholder operator. First, it managed to attain an optimal shareholder structure on the project, namely 50.1 percent went to itself, 20 percent - to CNPC and Total, 9.9 percent - to the Silk Road Fund. Second, the long-term LNG supply contracts NOVATEK managed to secure allow its partners to be flexible with delivering the allotted volumes. Apart from marketing LNG through its own NOVATEK Gas & Power outlet, Yamal LNG will also flow to world markets through Total (4 MMtpa), CNPC and Gazprom (3 MMtpa) and Gas Natural Fenosa (2.5 MMtpa). Since the contracts include a flexible destination clause, the LNG, mostly believed to be destined for Asia, can be essentially traded to any destination. Thirdly, the way NOVATEK managed to keep Yamal LNGs construction delivered on time is a rare phenomenon in a country where almost all energy projects suffer delays or postponements. Yet NOVATEK will not stop after Yamal LNG had been commissioned, the company intends to become the worlds largest LNG exporter in 10 years time. This May, the company has already concluded an agreement with Linde and Technip on designing NOVATEKs next top project, Arctic LNG-2 (the platforms will be built by Saipem). Arctic LNG-2, located nearby Yamal LNG, right across the Ob Bay on the Gydan Peninsula, will be fed from NOVATEKs Salmanovskoye and Geofizicheskoye fields (total estimated and potential reserves of 1.2 TCm). Moreover, just to prove that NOVATEK is genuinely intent on establishing the Gydan Peninsula as one of Russias leading gas hubs, it secured late August three new licences the Verkhnetiuteyskoye, Zapadno-Seyakhinskoye and Shtormovoye fields which combined boast estimated and potential reserves of 1.37 TCm. If institutional conditions remain unchanged, both Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG-2 will be profitable above the $6-7/MMbtu level. Now that Gazprom is making headway with Baltic LNG, Russias LNG prospects are a far cry from being as dim as ten years ago. By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Angola, Africas second-largest crude oil exporter, is finding it hard to make ends meet with oil prices at their current levels, according to Petroleum Minister Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos. In an interview with Bloomberg, the official said Angola needs crude to rise to US$60 a barreland the sooner the better. Botelho de Vasconcelos added that Weve been getting signs from the market that prices could reach $60 by the end of the year, although he did not elaborate on where these signs were coming from. Angola is heavily dependent on oil revenues for the livelihood of its economy, like most other OPEC members. In fact, Fitch Ratings in April estimated that Angola needs oil at US$82 a barrel if it is to balance its 2017 budget. It also needs a diversification of the economy an idea that Botelho de Vasconcelos has pledged to push forward, after his party, the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, won the elections earlier in August. Prior to the civil war that began in 1975 after Angola gained its independence from Portugal, the country was a large exporter of agricultural goods such as coffee, bananas, and sugarcane. However, Bloomberg notes, the war forced a lot of farmers to the cities and cost Angola its standing as an agricultural producer and exporter, making it exclusively dependent on its oil wealth. Angola has proven crude oil reserves of 9.52 billion barrels, with daily production at 1.65 million bps last month, according to IEA figures. The country is taking part in the OPEC production cut agreement from last November and the July daily production rates suggest it had cut deeper than agreed, Bloomberg notes. Related: Russia Claims To Have Invented Alternative To Fracking Angolan crude oil exports last month hit 1.66 million bpd, data from Kpler showed, down from 1.757 million bpd in June, while other OPEC producers upped their exports during the same month. Yet, compliance is not everything and Angola needs new investments, Botelho de Vasconcelos said. Oil and gas block tenders that were suspended earlier in the year will be carried out after the formation of a new government in September. Around 10 blocks in total will be put up for bidding. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Saudi Aramco is deploying advanced seismic testing technology to explore again areas of the desert known as the Empty Quarter, a move that could help it to raise its proved oil and gas reserves ahead of the planned listing of 5 percent in the company next year, expected to be the worlds biggest IPO ever. Aramcos crew is exploring an area spanning 15,400 square kilometers (5,946 square miles) around Turayqaan onshore conventional gas field discovered in 2013, which contains no oil. Part of that desert area has been explored before by Aramco joint ventures with foreign firms, but previous exploration efforts did not find recoverable volumes of oil or gas. Data processing is ongoing. The area partially covers areas relinquished by some of the joint ventures, Aramco told Reuters. According to the feature on Aramcos website, technology has made giant leaps in recent years and Data that would have previously taken 15 to 20 years to collate can now be consolidated in two to three years. According to industry and technology experts briefed by Reuters, the advanced seismic technology may boost the chances of successful exploration missions, but in order to prove reserves, drilling still will be necessary. It is yet unclear if those state-of-the-art technologies will change Aramcos crude oil and condensate reserves, which Saudi Arabia has been reporting at around 260 billion barrels for decades. In Saudi Aramcos 2016 annual review published last month, crude oil and condensate reserves are placed at 260.8 billion barrels, slightly down from 261.1 billion barrels in 2015. Related: Texas Shale Hit Hard By Hurricane Harvey Now Saudi Aramco must open its books for auditing ahead of the initial public offering, and any significant change in oil reserves will greatly impact the companys valuation for the IPO. Saudi officials claim the company is worth around US$2 trillion. Earlier this year, most fund managers were evaluating Aramco at below US$1.5 trillion. That was just before Saudi Arabia cut the tax rate on Aramco to 50 percent from 85 percent, which caused some analysts, including Rystad Energy, to raise their valuation of the Saudi companys upstream portfolio. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Federal officials should release fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent gas prices from rising in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Democratic Senator Edward Markey from Massachusetts told President Donald Trump in a letter on Wednesday. An immediate release of gasoline or crude oil, if also warranted, from the SPR would help protect consumers from price spikes at the pump and tame any market speculation that could be unduly affecting markets and harming consumers, Markey wrote, according to The Hill. The SPR was previously used in 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and Harvey has been quite detrimental to oil production in the Gulf. Approximately 18.5 percent of production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in and 13 refineries, which total to 20.9 percent of American refining capacity, remain closed. Currently, the reserve holds 678.9 million barrels of oil. The effects of the shutdowns will reverberate well outside of Texas. For example, the massive refineries on the Gulf Coast send gasoline through a major artery to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The disruption will mean that much of the country could see higher gasoline prices soon. The Gulf Coast also exported 2.7 mb/d of refined products in May, much of which was sent to Latin America and Europe. In fact, as the worlds largest refined product exporter, disruptions in the U.S. will be felt around the world. Any hiccup in U.S. refined product exports is highly disruptive to the supply chain given the dependency of nations like Mexico and other Latin American countries on the U.S., Michael Tran, director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Reuters. Worse, refined product output in Latin America has fallen recently, with Mexico and Venezuela most vulnerable to supply outages in Texas. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A medium-sized oil tanker that was smuggling crude oil in the Mediterranean Sea was apprehended by the Libyan coastguard on Thursday, according to a new report by The New Arab. The ship, called Rex, had ten crew members, all of whom have been captured by the coast guard. Colonal Abu Ajila Abdelbarri told reporters that the crew and boat had been under tight surveillance prior to their arrest in Libyan waters. The tanker flew the Tanzanian flag and carried 1.16 million liters of diesel. The crew contained five Turks, three Georgians and Two Indians. Last Sunday, the same coast guard captured a crew of 20 Filipino sailors who had been smuggling 6 million liters of illicit crude. Tripoli loses $400 million to oil smuggling every year, Libyan authorities say. The North African country holds the largest reserves of oil in Africa and its fields produced 1.6 million barrels per day, before the topping of Muammar Ghaddafis regime in 2011. Recent disruptions of oil production in Libya have cost the country 350,000 barrels daily in lost output, the central bank of the country said this week, adding that the effects of these disruptions will force it to curb spending further even though it has been trying to avoid this. Related: Venezuelas Oil Fire Sale To Benefit Russia, China Before the recent string of production disruptions, which were caused by militant blockades on pipelines carrying crude from three fields to export terminals, Libya was pumping over 1 million barrels of oil daily, eyeing 1.2 million bpd in output by the end of the year. But earlier this month, the largest field in the countryShararashut down, followed by El Feel and Hamada shutdowns last week as well. The Hamada field resumed production on Monday, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed source. It is, however, the smallest of the three, so most of the production that the recent attacks took offline remains offline. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: How posting all public spending online is uncovering governments best kept secrets By speaker Adam Andrzejewski, Founder Open the books and Forbes writer Wed. Sept 6th 7:00pm Portland Airport Shilo Inn, 11707 NE Airport Way Event is free $20 dinner option available The open-government movement: how posting all public spending online can transform U.S. public policy (Especially in Oregon) By speaker Adam Andrzejewski, Founder Open the books and Forbes guest writer Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman, wrote Louis Brandeis in 1914. Today, the Freedom of Information Act and internet make it possible to post online all spending at the federal, state, and local levels. This kind of radical transparency can transform U.S. politics. Since 2011, American Transparency, a nonprofit, has built and operated OpenTheBooks.com, the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. The ultimate goal: post every dime, online, in real time. To date, OpenTheBooks.com has captured 3.5 billion government-spending records, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending since 2000; 48 of 50 state checkbooks; and expenditures in 60,000 localities across America. In 2016, OpenTheBooks.com exposed the $20 million luxury-art procurement program at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which forced a public apology from the V.A. Secretary and the adoption of new rules to stop the abuse. OpenTheBooks.coms discovery of many other government corruption scandals has led to congressional hearings, subpoenas, accountability audits, and corrective legislation. Adam Andrzejewski is founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.com. Previously, he cofounded HomePages Directories, Americas largest publisher of community telephone books. In 2010, Andrzejewski ran for governor of Illinois in the Republican primary. He holds a B.A. from Northern Illinois University. Mufti Shakir confessed of carrying out attack on SP Chaudhry Aslam KARACHI: Mohammad Shakirullah alias Mufti Shakir, who was arrested over charges of killing policemen and carrying out the suicide attack on CID SP Chaudhry Aslam in 2014, was released on bail and subsequently fled to Afghanistan and is now running an active training camp for militants, it emerged on Wednesday. During interrogation by a joint investigation team (JIT) inside the Karachi Central Prison in March 2014, he had confessed to having killed, along with his accomplices, 10 policemen and an army soldier. It said Shakir was born in 1981 in the SITE area and was raised among six brothers and nine sisters. He received primary education from the KMC school there but later studied at three famous seminaries of Karachi where he memorised Quran by heart and completed a course for religious scholars in 2009. In the same year, he established a seminary in SITE and became its principal. The seminary was sealed recently. The JIT report disclosed that Shakir joined a militant outfit, Harkatul Mujahideen, when he was studying in a famous seminary in 1996. When differences erupted in the group and Jaish-i-Mohammad emerged in 2000, he abandoned it. However, in 2012, he joined outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (Khyber Agency) on persuasion of the outfits then Karachi chief. He received militancy training in Mansehra in 1999 and bomb making in Khyber Agency in 2012 and carried out three bomb blasts on an experimental basis there. Shakir told the JIT members that in July 2012 he had received a chit amounting to Rs10,000 as fine imposed by the TTP (KA) on him. The TTP (KA) in its chit had said they were imposing the fine on him because two of his brothers had links with CID personnel and advised him to stay away from them. He further told the JIT members that subsequently he along with his mother and two brothers visited the Khyber Agency where he met TTP (KA) chief and rejected the charges. After staying there for 40 days, he returned to Karachi where he started working for TTP (KA) and formed a cell which comprised 10 persons, four of whom were killed later. He had also confessed to having killed, along with his accomplices, 10 policemen and an army soldier from 2013 till his arrest in early 2014. During this period, he along with his accomplices carried out around 20-25 attacks, including grenade attacks, on police vans. The victims were identified as army soldier Imran, CID head moharir, police constables namely Mohammed Anwar, Mohammed Sher, Pervez Akhtar, Shahzad Raza, Rajab Ali, Rashid, Amir, Shabbir, Waqar and Fazl Amin. All law enforcers were gunned down in the SITE area in 2013. In the same year, he had also attacked a police van outside a factory along with his accomplices Fazl Rehman and Abdullah alias Mukhtar (both killed later on). Shakir radicalised a seminary student, Naeemullah, 25, who carried out the suicide attack on SP Aslam on January 9, 2014. The alleged suicide bomber was a son of a religious scholar who ran a seminary in the Pirabad area. The report revealed that Shakir had developed ties with one militant linked with banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) who in December 2013 asked him to provide a suicide bomber for carrying out the attack on SP Aslam. Initially, Shakir indicated his desire to carry out the attack but the LJ militant told him that he was a religious scholar and his preaching skills were needed more. Therefore, another person was prepared for the attack. Shakir mentally prepared Naeemullah and motivated him at his home for seven to eight days continuously. During this period, Naeemullah told Shakir that he belonged to TTP (Swat) and without approval of his groups chief, he could not carry out the terror act. However, Mufti Shakir motivated him that SP Aslam was such an important target that the consent of the emir (chief) was not needed, according to the JIT report. The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher, Audio Attachment: Listen to Samuel Ofosu Ampofo on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' "He had no choice in this matter, NDC Director of Elections, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo told host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FMs 'Kokrokoo' regarding Hon. William Quaitoos resignation. Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, William Quaitoo, has resigned from his post. Hon. Quaitoo came under intense fire for describing northerners as "liars" and "difficult" in a radio interview. Though he apologized for his unsavory comments, the Minority in Parliament and other individuals called for his immediate resignation or dismissal by President Akufo-Addo. According to the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, Hon. Quaitoo tendered in his resignation on Tuesday with the President accepting it. The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, this evening accepted the resignation from office of the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Hon. William Quaitoo, which takes immediate effect. The President wished him the very best in his future endeavours, Eugene Arhin said in statement. Mr. Ofosu Ampofo believed Hon. Quaitoo had no choice but to resign because as an Agric Minister, his mandate was to improve the agriculture sector and the three northern regions are significant areas in the sector. So, to him, making such derogatory comments about the northern Ghana would have made it difficult for him to work. I want to conclude that I sympathize with him. He is a human being. To err is human. Let us forgive him . . . and let it be an example to all others," he said. Central Regional Minister Commends Hon. Quaitoo Also addressing the issue on 'Kokrokoo', the Central Regional Minister Kwamena Duncan commended the Deputy Agriculture Minister for taking a bold step to resign. Hon. Kwamena Duncan told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that as government appointees, it is advisable to watch your tongue and the words that one spills out of the mouth because it could potentially result in jeopardy. He noted that Mr. Quaitoo's resignation would serve as a deterrent to him and all government appointees. He however found it unfortunate that Mr. Quaitoo had resigned because he (Mr. Quaitoo) is a brilliant and competent person, whose services would have helped the NPP government. Touching further on the issue, the Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Allotey Jacobs also believed "it is good for him to have resigned". He asked Ghanaians to accept the apology by the Deputy Agriculture Minister following his disparaging remark about northerners in the country. "We should accept his apology in good faith and Ghana should move on," he stated. The NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary Sam Payne also commended the Deputy Agriculture Minister for setting an example for all government officials. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video MOREAU A Moreau teenager was killed Thursday when the car he was a passenger in crashed on Bluebird Road. The accident happened at about 5:30 a.m. A 2007 Chevrolet Malibu driven by an 18-year-old male was traveling west on Bluebird Road when it went off the left shoulder and struck several trees, according to State Police. State Police said Zachery Brown, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 14-year-old male passenger was taken to Albany Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The driver was treated at Glens Falls Hospital and released. The cause of the crash is still under investigation and no charges have been filed at this time, police said. The State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit cleared the scene early Thursday afternoon after the vehicle was towed. The South Glens Falls Fire Department and Moreau EMS assisted at the scene. Monica Fish of 206 Bluebird Road said she awoke to a loud noise and called 911. There was a terrible crash, she said. Tire tracks were observed at the scene. The car took out a light post and came to rest in a cedar tree about 2 feet from a house, according to Fish. It appeared that the vehicle had left the travel lane and crossed into the opposite lane. Fish said some pavers were found in the neighbors yard and scattered across the road. Fish said she saw two people at the scene, milling about, with one person inside the car, who was Brown. The people outside the car did not say very much. That section of road is a straightaway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour. I cant imagine how fast they were going, she said. According to Superintendent Michael Patton, Brown attended South Glens Falls Central School District and BOCES and was about to enter his sophomore year. Patton described Brown in a letter to the community as a polite, very likable young man who had a wonderful sense of humor. This is the second tragedy for the school in a little more than two weeks. Ryan Vieira was struck and killed Aug. 15 while bicycling on Route 32 in Moreau. The school district is offering counseling services to all students and staff from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday in the high school library. A counselor may also be reached by calling 518-792-9987. Patton offered condolences and thoughts to the entire Brown family and Zacherys friends. I was heart-moved by the devastation and losses of so many in Texas and by the courage, caring and kindness of rescuers. But I felt heart-sickened that once in a hundred years disasters now happen frequently, predicted by all who understand cause and effect: paving over wetlands and creating canals for uncontrolled oil drilling in Louisiana destroy natural flood protection; explosive development, crumbling infrastructure, no zoning regulations amplify Houstons tragedy, Petro continually contaminating poor communities now spewing millions of pounds of toxic pollution. We know or should know global warming causes stronger winds, larger storm surges, melting glaciers, flooding; warming oceans intensify storms; record heat causes droughts. The news shows disastrous flooding, not mentioning climate change or that one-third of Bangladesh is under water, over 1,000 people dead or sub-Sahara Africa is becoming unlivable, intense heat destroying crops, animals, livelihood. MITs report predicts over one billion climate refugees fleeing uninhabitable lands, food and water scarcity, violence. What arent we thinking? Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind At 3:23 p.m. Thursday, Illinois Gov Bruce Rauner took his place in state history by signing a bill that aims to deliver more money to school districts. Called SB 1947, the bill represents a school funding reform agreement among all four legislative leaders and the governor. It sets a minimum funding level for districts, sets up a property tax swap formula, moves the pensions from Chicago Public Schools to the "pension" part in the state code, amid other measures. The signature has local district leaders somewhat relieved after a contentious legislative battle. "Down the road, this new formula will be very beneficial," Michael Oberhaus, superintendent in the Rock Island-Milan district, said. "Overall, we are cautiously optimistic this legislation will bring about needed change," Jay Morrow, superintendent of the United Township district, said. Kristin Humphries, superintendent of the East Moline district, was most enthusiastic. "This is a blessing," he said, also calling it "life-changing and historic for our kids." Each school leader applauds the evidence-based funding formula now in place. It's based on 27 variables, has gotten support from both Republicans and Democrats, and is a system that took three years to work out. "Illinois was the worst state for funding disparities," Oberhaus said. "ZIP codes should not be as much as a factor." On the other hand, officials in all three districts recently found out there will be a reduction in funds they receive from the Illinois Department of Revenue. This is through the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax, and it's a significant number: $600,000 in East Moline, $500,000 at United Township and $1.2 million in Rock Island-Milan. Oberhaus said the tax was established decades ago, when the area had several manufacturing operations. It is money that goes into the district's general revenue stream. That reduction means that although Rock Island-Milan gets $2 million through the historic legislation, the net will be $800,000. That, Oberhaus said, will help the district balance its books, because there also is a $1.1 million budget deficit. In East Moline, even the $600,000 loss from the corporate tax still translates to an overall gain of $436 per student in the district, Humphries said. At United Township, Morrow said the state has been prorating its funding since 2009, and it's too early to celebrate any windfall. It's also too early to celebrate anything that is reported to be in the bill. "I'm looking at this with a cynical, careful eye and am cautiously optimistic it will make a difference," Morrow said. His greatest concern is the $75 million the legislation creates to help private school students and "where that might lead." The three districts had explored alternative forms of funding, in case the legislation did not pass and school payments were not received. East Moline will not be going out for special funding or lines of credit, according to Humphries, for two reasons: Payments are expected within the next 10 days or so, and East Moline will have a positive fund balance. "We now have the funds to operate well into the future," he said. For his part, Oberhaus also is focused on the future. "It will be a very beneficial move forward for education," he said. When Merlyn Kuhl served in the Navy in the late stages of World War II and for a time afterward, his assignments took him to the USS Alabama, but also to the Naval Research Center in Washington, D.C. Because of that duty in D.C., Kuhl, 91, of Clinton, said he never felt the need to participate in an Honor Flight. Id already been there, Kuhl said Wednesday as he sat with his daughters, Margaret Kuhl and Carol Crigger, at the Hy-Vee Northgate Place in Davenport during a pre-flight dinner. Crigger is his guardian on today's trip. Kuhl will be part of the 41st Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities, which departs this morning with about 100 veterans representing World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Kuhl, who grew up in Dubuque, said he registered for the draft in July 1944. I waited and waited and they never called me up, Kuhl said. So I went and took a job. In September 1944, his number came up and he was taken by the Navy to work in electronics. Kuhl did his duty and returned to earn an economics degree from Loras College and a masters degree from the University of Iowa before spending the next 32 years working for Clinton Foods, which became ADM Clinton. While he may have not felt the need to take an Honor Flight, Margaret had other ideas. Weve been trying to get him to go, said Margaret Kuhl, who is one of Merlyn Kuhls nine children. Us four girls got together on my front porch, she added, talking about her sisters. The four women, with Margaret as the lead conspirator, got their dad to fill out the application and send it in. Kuhls family has a history of military service. Our brother, Luke, is a Persian Gulf War vet, Margaret Kuhl said. Their brother, Mark, served in the Air Force. Margarets son, Alex Dodd, is a Marine. We love vets and the USA, Margaret Kuhl said. As the veterans marched into Northgate Plaza, they were greeted by the band from Sudlow Intermediate School in Davenport, playing the appropriate anthem for the branch of the military in which the veteran served. Standing at attention were members of the ROTC programs from Davenport North and Central high schools. The festivities and dinner began with the presenting of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the national anthem. A blessing and a prayer of remembrance of the fallen and those who have passed on was accompanied by the playing of taps. The bugler then sounded the mess call. The veterans and escorts, called guardians will fly from the Quad-City International Airport, Moline, to Washington, where they will spend today touring military monuments and take part in a special service near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Among those taking the flight will be three brothers, Bill, Don and John Hudson, all of Davenport. Bill is 78, while twins Don and John are 72. Bill said he has twice been on the honor flight as a guardian. This is the first time his brothers, both Vietnam veterans, will be taking the trip. The three brothers graduated together from Davenport Central High School in 1963. I quit high school and joined the Navy, Bill Hudson said. That was in 1956. When his hitch was up he returned to high school for his diploma. He didnt rejoin for Vietnam. One six-year tour was enough, he said with a smile. Don served on the USS Constellation from 1966-1967. John was in the Air Force and was stationed on Okinawa for 18 months. We had to wait for Vietnam veterans to be eligible to go on the flights, John Hudson said. We wanted to wait until the three of us could go together. There are still memories, not all of them good. That war was dirty politics, Bill Hudson said of Vietnam. It was a waste of a lot of good people, Don Hudson said. The real heroes are the ones who didnt come back, John Hudson said. After their tours the men returned to Davenport to build their lives. Bill retired as a machinist and tool maker at the Rock Island Arsenal. Don retired from Deere & Co. John served as a Davenport firefighter. They will return to Qua-City International at about 9:30 p.m. today. The public is invited to welcome the veterans home. A good Thursday to all. Another couple of days of A-1 weather is on tap for the Quad-Cities. Here are the weather details from the National Weather Service. 1. High in the mid-70s today Today will be partly sunny with a high near 75 degrees and a low around 51 degrees. Friday will be sunny with a high near 75 degrees and a low around 48 degrees. 2. Former Alderman Bill Boom sentenced to probation in federal case Former Davenport 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Boom was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation for lying to a federal grand jury during a crystal methamphetamine investigation in 2016. He also must serve 80 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine. Boom, 66, pleaded guilty April 18 in U.S. District Court, Davenport, to one count of false declaration before a grand jury, a felony. He resigned from the City Council the same day. Read more. 3. Ickes: Buyer beware on iWireless tickets Times columnist Barb Ickes discovers that some popular websites are double-selling seats to local concerts leaving some Quad-City fans out in the cold. Read more. 4. Exelon begins $20M in new construction at Q-C station Nearly eight months after new Illinois energy reform ensured its continued operation, Exelon's Quad-Cities Generating Station is moving forward with $20 million worth of construction, plant leaders revealed Wednesday. Read more. 5. Clinton announces road closure The city of Clinton reports that because of a sewer/road project, North 2nd Street, from 26th Avenue North to 32nd Avenue North, will be closed for asphalt paving today, Friday, September 5 and September 6. The road will be closed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. No on-street parking will be allowed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Garbage pickup will remain on the regular schedule. 6. Handicapped accessible mailboxes A Times reader asks: "I recently moved to a housing development that has mailboxes in a central location rather than each house having a mailbox at the curb. The cement pad surrounding the mailboxes has limited space for walking from the curb to the individual mailboxes -- the mailboxes are inaccessible to anyone using a walker or wheelchair. Apparently these group mailboxes aren't covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. If they are covered, which governmental body is responsible for inspecting and approving them the U.S. Postal Service or the city's building inspector?" Our Ask the Times columnist Roy Booker goes searching for the answer. CEDAR RAPIDS A coalition of Democratic-leaning groups is running a television ad calling on 1st District Rep. Rod Blum to stop voting to repeal federal health care legislation. The ad features Cedar Rapids area activists and highlights Blums vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The group, called Keep Iowa Healthy, says that would create an age tax, allowing insurance companies to charge people 50 and older five times more than they charge other people. The repeal of the ACA, or Obamacare, also would end affordable coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, the group says. Iowans cant afford to pay the age tax that Congressman Blum would create with his vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said Sue Dinsdale, director of the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans. Thousands of Blums constituents would suffer if the bill he voted for became law. He should listen to the Iowans speaking out in opposition and do whats best for the people he represents. Blums vote to repeal the ACA would put more than 1.2 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions at risk of losing coverage, including 174,000 children, according to the Center for American Progress. In the 1st District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque and Marshalltown, 318,300 Iowans have pre-existing conditions, including 42,500 children. The bill the U.S. House approved, with Blums support, would raise out-of-pocket costs for older Iowans by as much as $12,671 by 2026 and would allow health insurance companies to charge older Americans up to five times more, establishing what AARP describes as an age tax. Keep Iowa Healthy is a coalition of local groups fighting the repeal of the ACA. They include the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, Iowa Citizen Action Network, Iowa State Education Association, Progress Iowa and Iowa Main Street Alliance. The 30-second advertisement will air on local television stations in the Cedar Rapids media market, as well as in online ads. The ad also can be viewed online at youtube.com/watch?v=y3YuwFr-7IM. President Trump's pardon of Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, has drawn predictable responses. The left, which long ago exceeded its sell-by date when it comes to ideas that work, denounced the decision as racist (that's all they have) and a perversion of justice. Some moderates, like Sen. John McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake, both Arizona Republicans, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, joined the critics. Arpaio, who is 85, was convicted of disobeying a 2011 federal court order to halt traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. He faced up to six months in prison. The White House issued a list of reasons for the president's decision, which included Arpaio's age, his service to the country, including enlistment in the military at the start of the Korean War, and his work as a police officer and special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Arpaio's defenders say he was trying to help the federal government identify people in the country illegally. His opponents say he profiled Hispanics only, and thus engaged in racism. Given that Mexicans, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, make up the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, it made sense to focus on this group. That the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico has been decreasing, matters little, as the number of immigrants from Central America and Asia has increased. Even critics must acknowledge that any president has sole discretionary authority under the Constitution to pardon anyone for almost anything, except offenses against the United States and curtailing the impeachment process. It is instructive to review some of the hundreds of pardons delivered by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama when they were president. Many were granted to people whose resumes do not come close to the services rendered to the nation by Sheriff Arpaio. President Obama issued 70 pardons during his two terms as president. He pardoned minor drug offenders, bank embezzlers, military deserters, and, according to the Chicago Tribune, a young sailor court-martialed and demoted for taking four pounds of butter from his Navy base in 1947. Bill Clinton's pardon list contained names of people who committed crimes a little more consequential, some even a little suspect. His most notorious pardon was granted to Marc Rich, a major donor to the Clinton campaign. The Rich pardon came during Clinton's last hours in office and was condemned by leading Democrats, including former President Jimmy Carter. For those with short memories, Rich was indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion and making controversial oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. Rich, who fled to Switzerland when he was indicted, never returned to the U.S., and died there in 2013. Clinton later said he regretted the Rich pardon. Without a hint of irony, he said, "It wasn't worth the damage to my reputation." Most of Clinton's other pardons were far less controversial. They included convictions for bank fraud and "odometer rollback." The president's pardon of Arpaio is a far cry from those granted by Clinton and Obama. He was correct in sighting Arpaio's age and service to the country among his reasons for granting it. His conviction had political overtones and it is perfectly fitting that the pardon addressed his conviction partially on a political level. Arpaio reached the same conclusion when he tweeted: "Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama Justice Department." Over the past 30 years, the U.S. economy has seen government policy with Wall Street lobbyists take away the American Dream, the middle-class, labor unions, collective bargaining, and the right to vote for union bargaining rights. The minimum wage is below the poverty level. So why is the government only helping the wealthy, and not the other 90 percent? Because the government is now owned and operated by the wealthy. They make policy that only helps them and hurts everyone else. Today, both parties work for the wealthy. Wages are now worse than ever. Inequality is now at record highs. Most people cannot afford health care, housing, childcare, or college tuition. But, here is where the problem is never discussed, in the media. So why doesnt the media address this dangerous problem that has been going on for 30 years? Well, the wealthy also own and operate the media. The media will continue to keep telling us that the stock market is doing great and that unemployment is at its lowest in 15 years. But, the media refuses to talk about the real issues because they do not know or care what the real problems are that people are facing today. Government wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and for corporations, so there will be no money for social programs to help the poor and needy. And, American businesses want us to support them, but they refuse to pay a living wage. Congress and big business have all but destroyed American Labor. Now, go out there and have a great Labor Day. Dave Fuller Davenport SIOUX FALLS | A judge has denied bond for an 18-year-old man charged with fatally shooting another teen at a Sioux Falls park. Dylan Holler made an initial appearance at the Lincoln County Courthouse Wednesday where Judge Doug Hoffman decided he was too much of a flight risk and a danger to the community to set a bond amount. Holler is charged with first-degree murder, robbery and aggravated assault in what police say was a drug deal that turned into a robbery and deadly altercation in Bakker Park Monday night. Holler is accused of shooting a 17-year-old boy once in the chest. Authorities say Holler, the victim and two other males were in a vehicle together when an argument started over drugs. Police say the four got out of the vehicle and continued a fight which ended with gunfire. PIERRE | A South Dakota man has been sentenced to 87 years in prison on sexual abuse charges. Forty-three-year-old Christian Thomas, of Plankinton, was convicted in May on 26 counts, including rape, sexual contact with a child under 16, and possession of child pornography. Authorities say the charges stem from incidents that involved two minor victims. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says the horrific facts in the case justify the lengthy sentence, which he says is needed to protect the public. BELLE FOURCHE The final stage of the battle of la Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965 has been brought into focus by author J.L. Bud Alley in his book The Ghosts of the Green Grass. His story concentrates on more, though, than just fighting. Alley, a life member of Vietnam Veterans of America, walks a reader through a chaotic month of assembling the battalion at Fort Benning for deployment to Vietnam and on to la Drang Valley. The Belle Fourche Public Library will host Alley on Thursday, Sept. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., giving attendees an opportunity to share in his story as he gives insight into a time of equipment and manpower shortages that hindered planners and left officers and sergeants uncertain. Alley served as a 2/7 second lieutenant in 1965-66. Part of an experimental U2 (untrained second lieutenants) program, he went from college to his unit without attending a basic officer course. Tennessee State Historian Carroll Van West, PhD, has written that The Ghosts of the Green Grass is a compelling, insightful narrative of one soldiers Vietnam War during the fighting at la Drang Valley in 1965. Bud Alley has added immeasurably to our understanding of American boys of the Seventh Cavalry fighting a dangerous foe in an alien land. Ally writes about how the impulsive and unpredictable leadership stalled the battalions development into a fighting force. The Army was thin with experience across the board, Ally writes. Six weeks after the battalion arrived in country, its stressed-out commander asked to be relieved. When the battalion finally deployed in the field, no strategy existed to counter an enemy attack. The battle that followed became a fight for survival. Alley graphically describes the intensity of combat that cost the battalion 155 dead and 134 wounded. He weaves in first-hand accounts worthy of awe and admiration. Alley inks the 7th Cavalrys Vietnam War experiences to the 1876 Little Bighorn Battle. Alley pints out many similarities between the ghosts of Gen. George Custers last days and the 2/7s encounters. Another author, Larry Gwin, says of Alleys book that it is a heartfelt, gripping account of the bloodiest one-day battle of the Vietnam War. To hear more about this compelling work, meet the author at the Belle Fourche Library Sept. 7, 6-8 p.m. WASHINGTON, D.C. Marking the 51st anniversary of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) this week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today asked for input from the public to help determine potential updates to the laws licensing requirements. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is tasked with upholding and enforcing the AWA. The AWA was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 24, 1966. As a trained veterinarian, humane standards of care for animals are close to my heart and central to my love and concern for our four-legged friends, Perdue said. Administering the AWA is a key USDA mission, and we are always looking for ways to improve. We welcome comments from the public as APHIS considers changes to the licensing requirements to help us fulfill this important responsibility. Each year, USDA issues nearly 6,000 licenses to people who breed, sell, or exhibit animals for commercial purposes. The department is responsible for ensuring that these licensees comply with the AWAs humane standards of care, which enables the American public to confidently purchase pets and view animals on public display. The full list of potential changes will be published in the August 24, 2017 Federal Register and be available after publication at the Regulations.gov website. Comments will be accepted through October 23, 2017, either online at Regulations.gov after August 24, 2017 or in writing at: Docket No. APHIS-2017-0062, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. On August 18, 2017, APHIS unveiled a refined public search tool that provides access to AWA compliance records. The public search tool is a component of the Animal Care Information System and will allow APHIS to make animal welfare information publicly available and ensure compliance with all applicable laws. LEAD | Listen long enough as winds comb through the boughs of towering pines and youll hear the century-old whispers of steam-fired trains chugging through the forest to service the fabled Homestake Gold Mine. Now, more than 100 years after hundreds of faceless miners scraped and blasted a rail bed through the remotest regions of the Black Hills, hikers and mountain bikers have the opportunity to retrace the route of a narrow-gauge railroad that brought needed supplies from Deadwood to its sister city of Lead and the Homestake Mine. The new three-mile Homestake Railroad Grade Trail returns to life a major transportation portal that traces its origins to 1890, when the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad constructed the line to haul myriad supplies to the burgeoning gold camp of Lead. According to Rick Mills, director of the South Dakota State Railroad Museum in Hill City, the regions newest hiking trail allows outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to explore a segment of Black Hills history that has virtually been erased over time. Its significant because this was one of the lines that has not really been explored by historians, Mills said last week. Three tiers of tracks once existed in Lead, so this allows people to see how they used the grades, the contours of the land, to see Pluma and the east side of Lead. Mills also said the new trail, established courtesy of an easement from Barrick Gold Corp., the Canadian company that purchased the Homestake Mine and its land holdings, presents vistas that allow hikers to view the ethnic neighborhoods of Lead, as well as the historic neighborhoods of Deadwood. You will get to see the different little communities that made up Lead and Deadwood that you otherwise would never see, he said. This trail presents a whole new perspective, and it allows us to look at our collective past. Two years in the making and achieved largely through the volunteer efforts of the Northern Hills Recreation Association, the path through the forest begins at trailheads located at the Dog Park near Leads massive Open Cut and at Deadwoods new Powerhouse Park. In its fourth year, the nonprofit recreation association, armed with a mission to promote economic growth through family fun recreation, hosted 48 mountain bikers on the new trail in its Mile High Bike Challenge in July, according to NHRA Vice President Dustin Heupel. Amid putting the finishing touches on the newly opened trail last week, Heupel credited his organizations most recent success to a diverse membership that includes the towns of Lead, Deadwood and Sturgis, as well as representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, state Game, Fish & Parks, Backcountry Horsemen, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts, as well as the support of Chicago-based Coeur Mining. Hundreds of volunteer hours have gone into this project, Heupel said. Ideally, we want to link all the communities in the Northern Hills with walking and biking trails, and this was the easy one to deal with first. Heupel noted Sept. 9 grand opening and dedication ceremonies of the trail are set for 9 a.m. at the old headframe near the Lead trailhead and at 11 a.m. at Deadwoods Powerhouse Park. Lead City Administrator Mike Stahl, who represents his community on the recreation association, said the new trail provides tangible evidence of the 141-year-old link between the sister cities of Lead and Deadwood a connection that was never abandoned, even after the original narrow-gauge track was torn up in 1934. We started to realize about five years ago that there was no reason for us to be separate communities, and this trail provides a unique way to link the two towns, Stahl said. This is economic development, and it will encourage people to come here and stay longer. Its evidence of a good partnership. That same partnership recently led the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission to award a $9,000 grant to the recreation association for interpretive signage and restroom facilities. As scheduled, eight signs will be placed along the trail next spring that will include trail maps, historical facts and descriptions of the two towns historic neighborhoods, explore the 125-year history of the Homestake Mine and examine what it took to transport supplies to the largest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. But for Stahl and other backers, the Homestake Railroad Grade Trail will give local residents and Black Hills visitors a new opportunity to step back in time and revel in a natural environment away from the worries of their everyday lives. This beautiful trail gives users the chance to get away from everyone in just a short time, Stahl said. In five minutes, youre out in the bushes under a canopy of Ponderosa pines and you can have a solitary experience, a group experience, or a historical experience in just a few moments. The sentence was so unusual the judge himself asked if it might be illegal. On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced a Rapid City businessman to a year in prison to be served only on weekends for evading business taxes. Ken Orrock, 48, earlier pleaded guilty to willful failure to collect and pay over tax as owner of Black Hills Patrol security agency. He admitted not remitting to the IRS $17,000 in taxes he had collected from employees during the last quarter of 2015, including Social Security and Medicare. At his sentencing at the Rapid City federal courthouse, the prosecutor asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge Jeffrey Viken to impose a prison time of three years, a year more than the maximum Orrock was facing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson cited Orrocks failure to pay tax over an extended period. Orrock earlier admitted also to not paying $162,000 in employees taxes, as well as $100,000 in employers taxes from 2011 to 2015, but was not charged under his plea deal with the government. Earlier this summer, after Orrock had already pleaded guilty to tax evasion, the IRS discovered that he hadnt paid most of his business taxes for 2016 and 2017, said Special Agent Brian Pickens. Since this was considered a violation of the conditions of his pre-sentence release, Orrock was detained at the Pennington County Jail until a judge allowed him back out after 11 days. He was effectively engaged in a criminal livelihood since 2011, Albertson told the court, stealing from the government and, by extension, law-abiding citizens, to support his lifestyle. Orrock paid $70,000 in back taxes while he was detained, which Albertson attributed to having experienced the conditions of a night in jail. Orrock had used part of the tax money he owed for personal expenses, including payments for private school tuition and cruises, according to the statement of facts that accompanied his plea deal. Defense attorney Stanton Anker, on the other hand, asked the judge for probation coupled with community service at a school on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He talked about Orrocks history of service, including being a U.S. Army veteran, former states attorney in Bennett County and volunteer for various community organizations. The lawyer said also that in order to pay restitution of $280,000, Orrock needs to keep Black Hills Patrol going and that no one knows the business better than he does. Orrock had surrendered his license to practice law in South Dakota following his conviction. Seven friends and family members also testified in court, including Orrocks wife, Julia Orrock. She talked about them having a son with special needs, who is severely dyslexic and has difficulty dealing with lights and sounds. She said the boy responds best to Orrock, who helps take care of him during her long hours as a hospital nurse. (Ken) is able to get him to fight and try a little harder, she told Viken. I truly do not know if I can keep this job if he is incarcerated. Orrock walked up to the podium to talk to the judge. Between wiping away tears, he admitted responsibility for his offense and said he had no excuse to offer. Im very ashamed of my conduct, Orrock said. Im sorry we ever got to this. I never intended for this to happen. He also confirmed not paying personal income tax for several years. Viken expressed bewilderment at how someone of Orrocks stature and education can fail to meet his tax obligations. These are not mistakes, Viken said pointedly. This is serious criminal conduct. Theres criminal thinking here, sir. He said many people in the community work multiple jobs just to make ends meet yet manage to pay their taxes. At the end of a nearly five-hour-long hearing, Viken handed down an extraordinary sentence influenced by Orrocks responsibility to pay the government a huge sum and the unique parenting needs of his son. The judge sentenced him to 12 months in prison to be served from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Sunday, beginning Sept. 8. The sentence would take about three and a half years to complete, Viken said, with Orrock excused for the weekends of Easter and Christmas each year. Is it an illegal sentence? Viken asked the prosecutor and defense attorney before officially pronouncing it. Is there any legal reason why the sentence should not be imposed? There was a pause before each side answered, No, but described the sentence as uncommon. When the U.S. government gave federal judges discretion over the fashioning of sentences, Viken said, I took them at their word. The courtroom erupted in laughter. After the hearing, Anker said he thought the sentence was just. Albertson declined to comment beyond saying that he respected the judges ruling. The Bureau of Prisons will determine Orrocks detention facility, which Orrock hopes will be somewhere in the Black Hills. For safety reasons given the nature of Orrock's business, Anker asked that he not be placed at the Pennington County Jail. A Rapid City teen accused of killing a convenience store clerk in January has agreed to be tried as an adult. The 17-year-old initially requested that his case be moved to juvenile court. Carlos Quevedo is charged with alternative counts of first-degree and second-degree murder in the stabbing of 45-year-old Kasie Lord while she was working at the Loaf N Jug on Mount Rushmore Road. Quevedo is also facing a count of first-degree robbery in a beer theft that police say preceded Lords killing and involved another man. A person can be convicted on only one of his alternative charges. Because Quevedo was a minor when he allegedly committed the crimes, he is entitled to a hearing that would determine if his case can be transferred to juvenile court. In June, his lawyer, Randy Connelly, made the request for a transfer hearing. At that hearing, at the Pennington County Courthouse on Wednesday morning, Quevedo instead said he had agreed to be tried as an adult. Dressed in a dark blue shirt bearing the initials of the Western South Dakota Juvenile Services Center where he is detained, Quevedo told 7th Circuit Judge Heidi Linngren that he was waiving his right to a transfer hearing. The waiver also means that under South Dakota law, if he commits another offense before turning 18, he would automatically be tried as an adult on the new offense, Linngren told Quevedo. Quevedo turns 18 in less than a month. Connelly told the Journal that Quevedo made the decision after they had spent hours discussing the waiver and its consequences. He told me he would handle the outcome of this case as an adult, the defense lawyer said, adding that the factors that went into Quevedos decision were personal and private. The punishments handed down in juvenile court are less severe that those in adult court, with a focus on rehabilitative and remedial options, Connelly earlier said. When asked to comment on Quevedos waiver, the case prosecutor, Pennington County Deputy States Attorney Sarah Morrison, said, I think it was the right decision. Quevedos charge of first-degree murder is punishable by death or life in prison; second-degree murder, life in prison without parole; and first-degree robbery, up to 25 years in prison. But under the law, juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. This applies even if theyre tried and convicted as adults. Quevedo is scheduled to return to court Oct. 17. Meanwhile, his co-defendant, Cody Grady, is set for a two-week trial starting Dec. 4. Grady, 19, is charged with two sets of alternative counts: first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, as well as aiding and abetting first-degree robbery and grand theft. He is detained at the Pennington County Jail with no bond. Lords killing was the second of Rapid Citys five homicide cases to date in 2017. A liberal South Dakota blog is the unlikely star of an appeal request and response in an $18.55 million immigrant-investor lawsuit. The money was lost by a group of 35 Chinese residents who invested in a failed South Dakota beef-packing plant through the federal EB-5 program. The program grants employment-based, fifth-preference visas and permanent-residency green cards to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in a U.S.-based economic development project that creates at least 10 jobs. The Chinese investors want their money back and are suing the state and other defendants, but a state circuit-court judge recently dismissed state government from the lawsuit. The Chinese investors are now asking the state Supreme Court to consider an appeal of the dismissal. In a seven-page petition filed in support of the appeal request, the second numbered argument offered by the lawyer for the Chinese investors, Steven Sandven, of Beresford, is a lengthy excerpt from a May 21 post on the Dakota Free Press blog. The post implied that the state of South Dakota's role in the EB-5 program may have led investors to make false assumptions about the safety of their investments. "South Dakota's EB-5 program wasn't just another private profiteer; it was a reliable public agency, using the official state logo in its offering memoranda," said part of the post, which was written by blogger Cory Allen Heidelberger of Aberdeen. In state government's seven-page response to the appeal request, attorneys Paul Bachand, of Pierre, and Robert Morris, of Belle Fourche, criticized the use of a blog to make a legal argument. "Plaintiff's Petition alleges the State engaged in fraudulent inducement with no proof save citations to the Dakota Free Press online blog," the response says. "The Dakota Free Press blog is neither a disinterested factfinder nor is it a credible authority. ... "More to the point, this Court should send a clear message that no online blog can impugn the wisdom of the Circuit Court's decision which rests upon clear legal authority." The state Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the appeal request Sept. 7. Thirty-five Chinese investors who lost $18.55 million in a failed South Dakota economic development project will take their fight to the state Supreme Court next week, adding another chapter to the states controversial participation in a federal immigrant-investor program known as EB-5. The investors want their money back and are suing several entities for it: the state of South Dakota and two state departments; a man named Joop Bollen, of Aberdeen, who formerly managed the states immigrant-investor center under a contract with the state; and two of Bollens business entities. The state won a dismissal from the lawsuit July 18 in a decision by Sixth Circuit Court Judge John Brown, who is based in Pierre. But the Chinese investors, who want to keep the state in the lawsuit, have asked the state Supreme Court to consider an appeal of the decision before the lawsuit is resolved. The high court is scheduled to consider the appeal request Sept. 7. Aaron Scheibe, deputy commissioner of the South Dakota Governors Office of Economic Development, issued a written statement to the Journal in response to questions about the states dismissal. The State believes the judges decision was firmly based in the law and opposes the appeal, Scheibe wrote. The lawsuit, which dates to 2015, stems from a long-running and multifaceted scandal surrounding South Dakotas participation in the federal governments EB-5 program. The scandal emerged into public view in 2013 following the death of Richard Benda, a former state official whose death by shotgun which was ruled a suicide happened while he was under investigation for an alleged theft of state grant money that was intended for an EB-5 project. The EB-5 program is for foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in a U.S.-based economic development project that creates at least 10 jobs. Qualifying applicants are issued an employment-based, fifth-preference visa or EB-5 for short to enter the country, followed by a permanent-residency green card. Each paid $530,000 The Chinese investors put their money in an EB-5 investment vehicle called SDIF Limited Partnership 6, or LP6, which was set up by Bollen to help finance the construction and operation of the Northern Beef Packers plant in Aberdeen (the same plant to which the state grant money allegedly diverted by Benda was supposed to go). Beginning in May 2010, according to their lawsuit, the investors each sank $500,000 into the project. They also paid $30,000 apiece in fees and expenses. The beef processing plant was eventually built and put into operation, but it went bankrupt in 2013 and the 35 Chinese investors lost their entire investment, according to their lawsuit. The beef plant was eventually sold and reopened by new owners under the name DemKota Ranch Beef. The recent dismissal decision by Judge Brown applied only to the state-government defendants in the lawsuit, leaving Bollen and his business entities as remaining defendants. Bollen, meanwhile, is trying to force a Chinese man, Henry Zou, and the Henry Zou Global Consulting Group which helped recruit the investors into the case as third-party defendants. The Chinese investors allege they were defrauded by state government and by Bollen through intentional or reckless misrepresentations and omissions in the beef plant's project documents. The lawsuit alleges, for example, that the Chinese investors were falsely led to believe that the beef plant was substantially complete at the time of their investment, and that the plant would begin operating and generating revenue when they handed over their money. The lawsuit also alleges that information was omitted from project documents, including the failure of an effort to sell tax-increment financing bonds for the project, the existence of liens against the project and unpaid property taxes owed by the project, and the need for at least $30 million in additional financing to put the plant into operation. At issue in the appeal request is whether state government can be held liable for losses suffered by the Chinese investors. Brown, in his July 18 memorandum decision, wrote that claims against state government in the lawsuit are barred by the states right of sovereign immunity, which he defined as the right of public entities to be free from liability for tort claims unless waived by legislative enactment. The Chinese investors and their attorney, Steven Sandven, of Beresford who did not respond to an email or phone message from the Journal have argued in part that sovereign immunity does not apply to commercial enterprises such as South Dakotas effort to recruit investors for EB-5 projects. Other pending EB-5 matters Even if the state's sovereign immunity is upheld, it will not be the end of its involvement in the EB-5 scandal. In other EB-5 matters, the state is defending itself against an effort by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to terminate South Dakotas EB-5 regional center. The termination proceedings began in 2015 because of alleged improprieties in the administration of the EB-5 program in South Dakota. The state, which cut ties with Bollen in 2013, appealed the termination. The Administrative Appeals Office of the USCIS withdrew the termination in March and remanded it for further review. Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard, said last week that the state does not yet know the outcome of the review. A USCIS spokesman told the Journal this week that the agency is "unable to comment on active adjudications." Another ongoing EB-5 legal fight is playing out between private parties in federal court. A company called Tentexkota is battling with Bollen and his business entities over $32.5 million that his SDIF Limited Partnership 2 raised from EB-5 investors and loaned to Tentexkota, for the conversion of the historic Homestake slime plant into the Deadwood Mountain Grand hotel-and-gaming resort in Deadwood. Bollen is seeking repayment of the loan, but members of Tentexkota want their personal loan guarantees voided. They claim Bollen duped them into signing the guarantees by falsely claiming they were a requirement of the EB-5 program. Various other legal matters stemming from the EB-5 scandal have been resolved during the past several years. In February, for example, Bollen pleaded guilty to unauthorized disposal of personal property subject to a security interest, and he was sentenced to a $2,000 fine and two years of probation. The charge arose from his diversion of about $1.2 million from an account that was created to protect the state against EB-5 costs and liability. He eventually put most of the money back into the account all but $167,000 was accounted for but he also used some of the money to buy Egyptian artifacts. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Darryl Wilson, president of the Yellowstone River Parks Association, will be the guest speaker at the Magic City Fly Fishers meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Billings Rod and Gun Club. Wilson will present an overview of the YRPA Dover Park project and Joel's Pond (behind Scheels). Both represent new urban fishing opportunities for Billings. Wilson's presentation is at 7:30 p.m. and is preceded by a brisket barbecue. The meeting is free and open to the public. The barbecue is $7. The greater short-horned lizard is a master of disguise and is also good at hiding, so a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist is asking all of you to help out. There is very little information on where the lizard, also known as a horny toad, lives or how many of them there are in Montana. In the late 1800s the lizard was considered the second-most abundant reptile along the Missouri River, behind only to the western rattlesnake, but it is no longer thought to be common in the state. Heather Harris, a wildlife biologist in northeastern Montana, has been looking for the lizards in Eastern Montana to determine how many there are and where they live, but it hasn't been easy because the lizards are so sneaky and well camouflaged. So she and other biologists are seeking the help of folks out walking around the countryside to let her know if they see any horny toads. If you happened to observe one anywhere in the state, please record the location, getting GPS coordinates if possible, date, number observed and a photograph if you can, Harris said. Observations can be reported by email to Harris at heharris@mt.gov, or your local FWP biologist. Here are some tips about where to look and what the lizards look like: Adult greater short-horned lizards are active during warmer daylight hours. Their color varies so they blend in with their surroundings. They have a broad, flattened body with a heart-shaped head. They live on ridge crests between coulees, and can be found in sparse, short grass and sagebrush with sun-baked soil. They are also found in flats of relatively pebbly or stony soil with sparse grass and sagebrush cover. Marc Kloker, Fish, Wildlife and Parks A Floral Montana mural on the south end of the floral building at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds provides a public art experience and welcomes visitors. Artist and teacher Gayle Roege coordinated the painting of the mural as a learning experience for her students and as a show piece of public art. It provides an opportunity for youth to showcase their art talent, Roege said. It serves to engage teens in collaborative work that is relevant to them and a service to their community. It also offers the community a sense of relatedness, of shared meaning for its members. The mural project was sponsored by Dan and Nora Cassens, owners of the Art Focus Gallery in Hamilton, as a part of the Summer Art Camp Program. Roege coordinated the design and painting efforts of three teens sisters Naomi and Maria Goman and Rachel Cassens. The Goman girls said the mural painting workshop was a great opportunity. It started this spring and I designed the mural with a flower theme, said Naomi Goman. I was shocked when we selected my design; from there we added lots of details. The design sketch was approved by the Fair Commission before painting began. The 8-by-8-foot mural features a bridge, a pond and a stone path leading to a gazebo. The mural has the Bitterroot Mountains, birds, butterflies and plenty of flowers poppies, roses, columbines and Bitterroots, which is the Montana state flower. We had to include the mountains to show it is Montana, Naomi Goman said. We gridded the original sketch, looked at each square in the grid and transferred it over square by square. It worked out really well in the end. The painting portion of the project took five days in Roeges garage, which provided plenty of ventilation, shade and space for the painters to work. We had multiple buckets of paint and it was warm, but not too hot, Maria Goman said. The finished mural was hung two weeks ago for fairgoers to enjoy this week. Naomi Goman said she feels proud to be involved in the project. I feel really accomplished, she said. I have my name on it and feel really good about it. My favorite part was learning new painting skills and having my communication skills grow. This process was a lot of fun. Maria Goman said the mural adds to the fairgrounds and will endure for many years. I feel it is a big accomplishment and Ill get to see this mural for years, she said. Maybe my own children will get to see it. Ill be able to say I did that. Both sisters said they enjoyed the teamwork and learned from the cooperative experience. I didnt know we could communicate so well but it was better than I expected, Maria Goman said. Im excited for my peers to see it. Rachel Cassens said she enjoyed the process and teamwork. I loved hanging out with the other girls that did it as well, Cassens said. I really like doing a mural for the community. The whole thing was just really fun. Cassens said shes glad the community gets to view their work. I hope no one critiques it too much, she said. The other girls are amazing but Im not the best. I hope the community appreciates all the work that went into it and likes it in general. Roege said the project was supported solely by donations. We would like to thank David and Andi Evans, owners of Ace Hardware; and Jeff and Deana Wolfe, owners of Massa Home Center, for their generous contributions in support of this project, Roege said. The team has plans to add more panels to the mural during the next three years. Cryss Anderson, director of the Ravalli County Fairgrounds, said the Summer Art Camp Program also painted the big mural by the fairgrounds office last summer. We were delighted to have them back this year, Anderson said. I am delighted about the placement of this mural; it brightens up the front entrance, and gives everyone driving past on Fairgrounds Road an opportunity to enjoy the public art. I hope everyone who attends our great fair this year stops to enjoy the mural up close and personal at the south end of the floral building. The Ravalli County Fair celebrated its 100 plus years with an official ribbon cutting by the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Al Mitchell, director of the Bitterroot Valley Chamber, gave a welcome to the fair board, fair staff and chamber ambassadors. Weve had a great fair and enjoy the unity, Mitchell said. This fair is the best in Montana, (the) best in the west. Cryss Anderson, fairgrounds director, said the fair actually has been around for more than 100 years. We missed our centennial celebration, Anderson said. There were years we missed having a fair World War II and 2000, when we were a fire camp. Anderson said the ribbon cutting was special to commemorate the Best Family Friendly Fair and helps mark opening day. We are a proud partner with the chamber of commerce and value what they do for small businesses, Anderson said. It was great for them to kick off the fair. Ron Catlett, a representative of Sen. Steve Daines, read a letter from the senator who said the fair generates community spirit and pride. Generations of Montanans have found the Ravalli County Fair, and other fairs across our great state, as a place where families can come and enjoy time together in the company of friends and neighbors, Daines said. The businesses at the fair were busy Wednesday, with some new businesses and non-profit groups replacing some familiar foods and faces. Commercial food vendors pay 12 percent of their gross sales to the fairgrounds and another 8 to 10 percent to a non-profit organization in order to give back to the community. Anderson said that all commercial vendor booths were sold, in advance of the fair, and there was a waiting list of folks trying to get in. The premium location spots were snagged up quickly, early in the spring, Anderson said. The rest of the vendors slowly made their decision to participate in our fantastic event. Anderson said the goal is to always have a wide variety of booths. Non-profits, educational booths, lots of vendors selling everything from jewelry to shirts and hats to toys, she said. We only allow one independent consultant per business, so we have amazing representatives from companies like DoTerra, LuLaRoe, LipSense, Scentsy, Keto and more. Anderson said businesses at the fair are successful. Business is moving well. We have great WiFi coverage this year, thanks to the folks from CyberNet1, she said. We have expanded our ability to process credit cards at the gates, thanks to our friends from Global Wireless, who provided the phones for our swipe devices. MineShaft Pasty Company co-owner Kristen Hoenstine said they are thrilled with their new booth location. Business is good and weve enjoyed partnering with the Hamilton Players, Hoestine said. We were here last year but we were in the very farthest corner. We got moved to the main area and its been great. Spuds-R-Us has moved from a trailer behind the grandstands to one of the main food booths. Four different small non-profits share the costs, profits and efforts to man the booth - Corvallis Grange, Daly Mansion, St. Marys Mission and the Bitter Root Humane Association. Marie Nicholson, with the Corvallis Grange, said the groups are excited to have the move. Weve seen more traffic, she said. We share the costs, share the profits and can take cash or credit cards. It works for us and were glad we moved to the food court. Anderson said the fairgrounds have received the Economic Driver Award from the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce. That is due to our hosting the countys biggest annual event, as well as the volume of events held in the event center throughout the year, Anderson said. Personally, the fair is a huge drain on my pocket book and waistline! Longtime Missoula Independent publisher Matt Gibson has been named the general manager of the Missoulian, the Ravalli Republic and the Independent, three news outlets owned by Lee Enterprises. Mike Gulledge, Lee Enterprises publishing vice president and regional publisher of the Missoulian and Billings Gazette, made the announcement during a staff meeting alongside Gibson on Wednesday morning. Matt has a proven track record of effective leadership and is passionate about the Missoula region, Gulledge said. His strong business relationships in the Missoula community and across Montana are very impressive. I look forward to working with him in this new and exciting role. The Missoulian and Ravalli Republic newsrooms will continue to report directly to Gulledge. Gibson will oversee advertising, circulation, production and finance at the Missoula and Hamilton news organizations and will oversee all operations at the Independent. Brad Tyer, Indy editor, will report to Indy general manager Andy Sutcliffe. Gibson stepped down as publisher of the Independent on Wednesday to take on his new role. He has been the publisher of the Indy, an alternative weekly newspaper and website in Missoula, since 1997 and was the owner of the publication when it was bought by Lee Enterprises earlier this year. Gibson started his journalism career as a reporter for the Livingston Enterprise in 1990 and is a former president of the Montana Newspaper Association and a board member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. Im grateful for the opportunity to help lead the best news business in western Montana, Gibson said. Lee has great people in Missoula, and Im committed to the work of ensuring that the Missoulian, the Ravalli Republic, and the Missoula Independent remain the strongest, most effective and most respected news and advertising operations in the region. Longtime Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney wanted to know if the two papers are going to maintain their editorial independence going forward. The distinct character of the two papers is a strength that we want to maintain, Gibson said. Our audiences complement each other and our reach complements the value that we can deliver to the advertisers. So, having two different niches in the market is exactly what we want to attempt to do. People may be skeptical about that, and thats OK. But everybody needs to know that Mikes committed, Im committed, the editors are committed to running two strong, distinct (Missoula) newspapers with distinct voices, distinct audiences and distinct sales staff. Gulledge said that when he began talking with Gibson about Lee purchasing the Independent, they both agreed that the worst thing that could happen was that the Independent not be independent anymore. Were not merging staff, Gulledge said. Gibson will be moving into an office in the advertising department in the Missoulian. With the Independent and the Republic and the Missoulian together, we can do things that nobody else can do and its not even close, Gibson said. And having the opportunity to lead the effort and be a part of it is everything I want out of my career and what I want for Missoula for the craft of journalism. Were going to do some great work together. Lee Enterprises owns news outlets across the country that serve 50 markets in 22 states. Lee's newspapers have an average circulation of 900,000 daily and 1.2 million on Sunday. Even as weary firefighters around western Montana braced for predicted high winds and lightning storms Wednesday, the governors budget director announced that the state's firefighting fund will be empty by the end of the week. About half of the fund, $30 million, was removed in July to patch holes elsewhere in the state budget. The state has already spent $44.5 million fighting fires this year. Budget Director Dan Villa announced Wednesday that state spending would be cut even more, in part because law requires the state to find more money to pay for wildfire suppression. The governors office said they are seeking $40 million to cover the rest of this year and next years fire season. "The state will not stop paying for fire suppression efforts across the state," the governor's office said in a statement. "The safety of firefighters, Montanans and their property is the governor's top priority." The news came on a day when possible thunderstorms and unstable, gusty winds threatened new problems for area fires, with lightning creating sparks or winds fueling expansion. As winds picked up Wednesday afternoon, fire managers cast a wary eye on the northwest edge of the Rice Ridge fire. A new evacuation warning was issued to some 90 more residences in the 5 miles from Tamarack Resort along Seeley Lake to Bear Grass Lane, at the outlet of Lake Inez. Residents on both sides of Highway 83 were asked to prepare for a short-order evacuation. The warning extended to Bear Grass Lane and Loon Lane on the west side of Inez, and Camp Creek across the highway. The north and south sides of Boy Scout Road north are included for the first mile to the Fawn Creek Intersection. Evacuation orders on Monday affected 1,028 address points, according to Inciweb. The fire had jumped another 1,600 acres to 32,222 by Wednesday morning, with more expected during a Red Flag warning set from 1 p.m. Wednesday to 9 p.m. Thursday. Low humidity and unstable, gusty winds associated with thunder cells were playing havoc with the fire. The fire information board at Roveros in downtown Seeley Lake was discontinued Wednesday. The information board at Valley Market south of town will continue to be staffed by fire information officers and representatives of the Missoula County Sheriffs Department. A shelter site is located in Missoula at the UCC Church, 405 University Avenue. Anyone seeking shelter may call the Red Cross of Montana at 1-800-272-6668. The Missoula County Sheriff's office on Wednesday evening lifted an evacuation warning for the Lolo Peak fire for the first nine miles east of Lolo on U.S. Highway 12, and on the Highway 93 South corridor for roughly five miles south of Lolo. It pertains to residents living in the Highway 12 corridor from milemarker 24, near and including Arena Drive, to Lolo, and to those living along Highway 93 South from milemarker 79, near and including the gravel pit off Old Highway 93 and McClain Creek Road, north to Highway 12 at Lolo. The fire saw minimal growth Tuesday and Wednesday morning, but dry thunderstorms moved into the area Wednesday afternoon and evening from the southwest. They brought with them the possibility of outflow winds, lightning and the potential for new fire starts. A new incident management team transitioned into place. In a video update, Special Operations Chief Mike Granger said the fire's northern edge was quiet, with nothing showing on heat radar, so it was placed into patrol status. Crews continued mop-up work along the eastern edge and scouted south in case the fire continued to burn that direction. The fire glow seen at night is largely from spot fires just north of Carlton Creek near the center of the blaze that's shaped like an upside-down horseshoe, Granger said. The Lolo Peak fire is the most expensive of western Montanas fires at an estimated cost of $33.8 million. The southwest portion of the Sunrise fire on the east side of Trout Creek in Mineral County remains the most active. Winds were mostly out of the west and the fire was backing and flanking to the west against the winds. The Trout Creek road was reopened Wednesday. Fire managers asked that the public drive slowly, not stop along the roadway, watch for fire vehicles and obey the special closure that remains in effect in and around the fire perimeter. The burn area of the Sunrise fire remained at just under 26,000 acres before the winds picked up Wednesday evening. The 23,000-acre Meyers fire in Granite County experienced moderate to extreme behavior with uphill runs, running, flanking fire, group torching and short-range spotting. Lightning sparked the fire on July 14 and containment remains at just 5 percent. Projected and scattered dry lighting could result in a significant commitment for local IA (interagency) resources, Inciweb reported Wednesday evening. Large fire activity is expected to increase incrementally depending on extent and severity of the thunderstorms and associated winds. The fire on the northern perimeter continues to move to the north and east near Zeke Meadows, and is expected to increase significantly once it becomes established on the west and south aspects of Lone Pine Ridge, immediately east of Zeke Meadows. On the southern perimeter the fire will continue to spread to the south, though slope and wind direction should check the growth to the south and west. A Forest Service structure at Frog Pond is threatened. *** Air conditions hit Unhealthy throughout all of Missoula County on Wednesday afternoon, according to air quality specialist Sarah Coefield. That actually represented an improvement for Lolo, Florence, Rainy Lake, Arlee and Seeley Lake. Missoula itself saw little or no change Wednesday afternoon, while the air in Frenchtown and Alberton deteriorated to Unhealthy, according to the Wednesday afternoon air quality update from Coefield, of the Missoula City-County Health Department. The lingering smoke prompted the Health Department and Climate Smart Missoula, with the assistance of partner agencies, to provide HEPA filters to classrooms in Seeley Lake and Lolo to clean air for students. And, the University of Montana moved its Wednesday convocation, which welcomes incoming students, indoors to the Dennison Theatre due to the smoky skies. "The smoke is going to continue for a long time, but I'm feeling a bit more confident that (Thursday) we may see some clearing, thanks to a passing cold front, Coefield wrote. Still, she warned, "we may see conditions get worse before they get better." The prolonged exposure to unhealthy air conditions has a cumulative effect, Coefield said, adding that the conditions could hang around for another month. When air quality is Unhealthy it is important that you respect not only the current conditions, but also the fact that your body has been fending off the pollution's effects for a month, and is likely getting a little worn down," Coefield wrote. WASHINGTON The Interior Department inspector general's office has dropped an investigation into whether the Trump administration pressured Alaska GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan over their health care votes. A pair of House Democrats had sought the investigation over phone calls Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made to the senators. Zinke reportedly suggested Alaska could pay a price if they crossed President Donald Trump on the GOP's plan to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office "does not believe it could meaningfully investigate the matter further" because Murkowski and Sullivan declined to provide statements or be interviewed. Sullivan voted in favor of the GOP health repeal bill that failed in late July, while Murkowski was opposed. GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio - A 120-acre logjam in Garfield Heights is starting to clear, after more than eight years of litigation and stagnation. Recent legal filings show that something is stirring at Interstate 480 and Transportation Boulevard in this inner-ring suburb, where two troubled shopping center sites have been tied up in court since 2009. That's no small milestone for this bedroom community, where the hard hit of the housing crisis lingers and vacant retail boxes are reminders of unmet promises. On Aug. 23, a court-appointed receiver in charge of Bridgeview Crossing asked a judge for permission to sell the 70-acre unrealized development to the note-holder, a California retail investor who has been trying to gain control of the land since 2011. The receiver's motion notes that key parties in a long-running foreclosure lawsuit finally have reached a settlement. And filings Wednesday in a separate court case revealed that a mysterious buyer group has purchased the severely distressed debt on City View Center, a failed 50-acre shopping center where the only tenants left in more than 500,000 square feet of space are Giant Eagle and Applebee's. The note sale follows settlements of claims in at least two lawsuits related to City View. And it could be an early step in the laborious process of reviving a project where environmental concerns snowballed into an economic crisis and an eyesore for the city and Cuyahoga County. "It's been an up-and-down deal," Garfield Heights Mayor Vic Collova said of watching both properties, which flank I-480, languish in court. "But this, right now, this is the closest I've been to having something really good happen - on both sides." Garfield Heights Mayor Vic Collova hopes recent legal actions in two long-running court cases will lead to new investment on troubled retail properties along Interstate 480. Fog could be lifting at City View Built on former municipal landfills, City View Center opened in 2006 and quickly ran into problems. Walmart, then an anchor tenant, started complaining about methane leaks that year. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency sounded alarms. And the state sued, leading to changes including installation of a better monitoring and control system for methane on the site. Walmart left, followed by neighbors including PetSmart, OfficeMax and Bed Bath & Beyond. An $81 million loan on the project landed in default. This week, a group identified only as 6807 Farnsworth LLC bought the note on City View, positioning itself to step into the prior lender's shoes in a receivership case filed in 2009. A filing identified George Simon, an entrepreneur and attorney who has a relationship with Cleveland-based law firm McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman, as counsel for the buyer. Simon wouldn't identify the investors during a phone conversation Wednesday evening. And he said it's premature to talk about their plans for the troubled, but prominent, property. "In a week or 10 days, we'll be able to give you a lot of information," he said. "Right now, it's still a little sketchy. There's a number of investors. They're from all over. And we've just got to put it together." He confirmed that the buyers bought the debt at "a substantial discount," though Empty big-box stores line the rippled parking lot at City View Center, which opened in 2006 and quickly declined. Simon wouldn't say what they paid. The property's owner, City View Center LLC, owes more than $132 million between principal, interest and fees, based on a 2012 foreclosure judgement. By buying the note, the Farnsworth group positions itself to push for a sale of the property - and to either purchase the real estate or attempt to turn a profit on what's likely a modest investment so far. Donald Shapiro, a Chicago-area real estate executive who has been the court-appointed receiver in charge of City View since 2009, didn't have much to say Wednesday evening. "I haven't heard anything," he said. "I'm not privy to note sales. My responsibility is the property, and I got the same filing as you saw in the federal court. We'll find out in the future as the new noteholder decides how they're going to move forward. But I don't know anything." Shapiro said he believes the property is safe, without lingering environmental concerns. But he still hasn't been able to secure new tenants during his eight-year run as receiver. Loan records compiled by Trepp, a company that tracks commercial mortgages that are bundled and used to back bonds sold to investors, show that City View has been losing money. It's unclear how much the property is worth. A 2016 appraisal referenced in the Trepp records lists a shocking figure of only $200,000 - down from $103.4 million a decade ago. The vacant Walmart has been stripped. Other buildings appear to be in better shape, but the entire center radiates an air of abandonment. Trees wind skyward through the skeletons of unfinished stores. The parking lot, which has settled over the years, ripples, cracks and pulls away from the buildings. Rear stairs that used to touch the ground now dangle, hanging over asphalt that has dropped a foot or more. An unfinished retail building is overgrown at City View Center, which has been in receivership since 2009. When Collova ran for mayor in 2009, he campaigned, in part, on a promise to clean up the City View mess. He admits that he was naive. "It's eight years later," he said. "It's worse. Because you don't realize that once it gets into court ... we couldn't do anything." In March, Morgan Stanley & Co. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. settled a complex fight in New York federal court over who bore responsibility for troubled mortgage. Terms of that settlement weren't disclosed. And in July, Shapiro reached a settlement with Walmart in a long-running argument over whether the retailer's departure was legitimate. Terms of that deal also are under wraps, though neither party accepted any fault and Walmart paid $100,000. Soon after, NAI Global Capital Markets solicited buyers for the note, through a sealed-bid process. Reached early this week, Gisella Haidar of NAI Global wouldn't discuss the sale. "To hear that it got to this point ... just gives us hope," Collova said. "And I know it's still years down the road before we can probably see something really great. But at least there's an opportunity now." Bridgeview site proffers retail possibilities Across I-480, where more than 150,000 cars swish by each day, prospects appear even brighter at Bridgeview Crossing. A dingy sign perched over the freeway reminds passersby of pre-recession plans for the property, where JCPenney, Target and Lowe's were meant to anchor a $90 million office-and-retail project. Building frames barely started rising from the ground when construction stalled in late 2008. Banks failed. Retailers pulled back on expansion plans. And the financial crisis kicked in. Developer Snider-Cannata Interests ended up snarled in litigation, including a foreclosure suit filed by Panzica Construction Co. and Independence Excavating based on unpaid bills for work at Bridgeview. The Bridgeview Crossing site sits dormant along Interstate 480 nine years after construction stopped. Now a hearing has been set for Sept. 13 on receiver David Browning's request for the authority to turn the property over to an affiliate of Craig Realty Group, the California-based outlet-mall developer that purchased the note on Bridgeview six years ago. In a recent filing, Browning's attorney wrote that Craig and Panzica have resolved their differences. There are other parties to the case, so it's unclear whether the receiver's request will hit roadblocks. Browning, managing director for the CBRE real estate brokerage in Cleveland, declined to comment. Steven Craig, president and chief executive officer for Craig Realty Group, didn't respond to inquiries, and neither did a marketing representative for his company. Originally, Craig was eyeing the Bridgeview site for an outlet mall. But he pivoted away from those plans at least a year ago. Rumors are flying about other potential retail uses - chief among them, the possibility that Swedish furniture and housewares retailer Ikea might bite off 20 or so acres of the site. Joseph Roth, an Ikea spokesman, said the company hasn't committed to any Northeast Ohio site. "We continue to be interested in opening a store there," he said, "but it continues to be a challenge to find the perfect location." Asked specifically about Bridgeview, Roth said "I think it's fair to say that any available piece of land that is rumored for sale, that is potentially for sale, that's bigger than 15 acres on 480, 490 or 77, we've looked at. We have a very, very comprehensive list." Collova is watching his words. "That's probably a good rumor," he said in response to a question about Ikea. "But that's all it is, is a rumor. That's about all I can say on that. I'm hoping that an announcement will be coming out in the not-too-distant future." The mayor said he expects whatever happens at Bridgeview Crossing to include a mix of retail and other uses, with the potential to support 900 jobs. Construction is scheduled to start later this year on a $5.2 million road-widening project that will touch Transportation Boulevard, the I-480 ramps and Granger Road - to accommodate anticipated traffic to the site. That construction will be paid for through a mix of federal highway money and private funds, according to an online project summary from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a transportation and environmental planning organization. That project summary and meeting records don't identify potential tenants for Bridgeview. "We believe that the project will be a go," Collova said, adding that Craig Realty has spent millions of dollars and waited patiently while the foreclosure case sat in court, with little apparent momentum. "But what the project's going to end up being, we're not 100 percent sure. And I mean that sincerely. "We certainly are hopeful that it's going to be what we're hoping for," he added, somewhat cryptically. "But it could be anything." 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. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. " " Shorebirds flock at sunset over The Nature Conservancy wetland program field in Sacramento Valley, California. The Nature Conservancy/Drew Kelly The sharing economy, which has changed everything from how people get around to how they rent rooms for vacation, is even seeping into ecology. In California's Sacramento Valley, farmers are temporarily leasing flooded rice paddies to The Nature Conservancy so migratory shorebirds have a place to stop and feed while traveling the Pacific Flyway, the major north-south route that extends from Alaska to Patagonia. The program, dubbed BirdReturns, has been in development by The Nature Conservancy since 2014 and is helping conservationists deal with the short-term needs of migrating birds. Because of urbanization, agriculture or climate change, the migrating birds have less access to wilderness to mate, feed, nest and rear their young. At the same time, the project gives farmers the opportunity to support conservation efforts and maybe earn a little extra money without negatively impacting crop production. Advertisement "We think it's a novel approach to stretching our scarce conservation resources to meet the needs of a changing world," says Mark Reynolds, Ph.D., lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy's California Migratory Bird Program. During February and March 2014, the pilot season for the program, 9,600 acres (3,885 hectares) of the 494,211 acres (200,000 hectares) of rice fields were turned into shallow water for shorebird habitat. That season, the pop-up wetlands supported more than 180,000 birds, representing 57 different species. On average, the researchers found three times more bird diversity and fives time greater density on rice paddies that participated in the program compared to un-enrolled fields. Reynolds and his colleagues published the results of a study analyzing the program in the Aug. 23, 2017 issue of the journal Science Advances. Migrating animals, like shorebirds, are in jeopardy as their ranges cover vast swaths of land. A 2015 study published in the journal Science from researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia reported that just 9 percent of 1,451 migratory bird species had access to protected areas for all the stages of their annual cycle. In California, in particular, says Reynolds, 90 percent of the original 3.95 million acres (1.59 million hectares) of wetland habitat has been lost to agriculture and urban development. Since The Nature Conservancy was founded in 1951, it has worked to conserve habitat by working with landowners to purchase land or permanently limit the use of their land in order to maintain its wildness. Each agreement is worked out individually, a process that's expensive and can take months or years to develop. Reynolds and his colleagues, including Sandy Matsumoto, the team's project manager, and Eric Hallstein, the team's economist, thought the demand for purchasing migrating bird habitat could far exceed their resources. "We were looking at our habitat needs and thinking, how do we buy our way to success?" Reynolds says. "Sandy said, 'Do we need to buy [land] for the whole year? It looks like the animals need it part of the time. Eric, with his background in economics said, 'We could do a reverse auction.' I said, 'a reverse-what?'" A reverse auction overturns the conventional role of buyer and seller. Instead of buyers competing to out-bid each other to obtain a good or service, sellers compete to offer their goods or services to one buyer at a competitive price. Do you feel this content is inappropriate or infringes upon your rights? Click here to report it, or see our DMCA policy We don't cover a lot of child and youth oriented content here at Screen Anarchy but, y'know, kids can be pretty darn anarchic and good filmmaking is good filmmaking. And Natalie van den Dungen's Bunny New Girl definitely showcases a lot of good filmmaking. Seven-year-old Annabelle arrives for her first day at a new school wearing a homemade rabbit mask. Despite the reassurances of her kindly teacher, her classmates wonder what Annabelle is hiding. It takes the empathy of a new friend to give her the courage to be seen just the way she is. That synopsis comes from the film's appearance at the TIFF Kids festival in Toronto and after a very extensive festival run the full short is now online. Check it out below. Thoughtful account of what to think about risk assessment tools | Main | Federal district judge finds Colorado's Sex Offense Registration Act, as applied, amounts to unconstitutional punishment August 31, 2017 Florida Supreme Court says Gov was within authority to remove prosecutor from capital cases The Florida Supreme Court issues a ruling today in Ayala v. Scott, No. SC 17-653 (Fla Aug 31, 2017) (available here). Here is the start of the opinion and the some of its analysis section: Aramis Donell Ayala, State Attorney for Floridas Ninth Judicial Circuit, petitions this Court for a writ of quo warranto, challenging Governor Rick Scotts authority under section 27.14(1), Florida Statutes (2016), to reassign the prosecution of death-penalty eligible cases in the Ninth Circuit to Brad King, State Attorney for Floridas Fifth Judicial Circuit. We have jurisdiction. See article V, 3(b)(8), Fla. Const. For the reasons below, we deny Ayalas petition.... Ayala argues that the Governor exceeded his authority under section 27.14 by reassigning death-penalty eligible cases in the Ninth Circuit to King over her objection because article V, section 17, of the Florida Constitution makes Ayala the prosecuting officer of all trial courts in [the Ninth] [C]ircuit. While quo warranto is the proper vehicle to challenge the Governors authority to reassign these cases to King, see Fla. House of Representatives v. Crist, 999 So. 2d 601, 607 (Fla. 2008), Ayala is not entitled to relief because the Governor did not exceed his authority on the facts of this case.... [T]he executive orders reassigning the death-penalty eligible cases in the Ninth Circuit to King fall well within the bounds of the Governors broad authority. Finch, 254 So. 2d at 204-05. Far from being unreasoned or arbitrary, as required by section 27.14(1), the reassignments are predicated upon good and sufficient reason, namely Ayalas blanket refusal to pursue the death penalty in any case despite Florida law establishing the death penalty as an appropriate sentence under certain circumstances. See generally 921.141, Fla. Stat. (2017). Notwithstanding the Governors compliance with all of the requirements of section 27.14(1), however, Ayala and her amici urge this Court to invalidate the reassignment orders by viewing this case as a power struggle over prosecutorial discretion. We decline the invitation because by effectively banning the death penalty in the Ninth Circuit as opposed to making case-specific determinations as to whether the facts of each death-penalty eligible case justify seeking the death penalty Ayala has exercised no discretion at all. As New Yorks high court cogently explained, adopting a blanket policy against the imposition of the death penalty is in effect refusing to exercise discretion and tantamount to a functional[] veto of state law authorizing prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in appropriate cases. Johnson v. Pataki, 691 N.E.2d 1002, 1007 (N.Y. 1997). Two Justices dissented, and the dissenting opinion starts this way: This case is about the independence of duly elected State Attorneys to make lawful decisions within their respective jurisdictions as to sentencing and allocation of their offices resources, free from interference by a Governor who disagrees with their decisions. The issue before this Court is whether a duly elected State Attorneys choice to forgo seeking one potential penalty in a class of criminal cases, in favor of seeking another penalty authorized by statute, constitutes good and sufficient reason for the Governor to exercise his removal power under section 27.14(1), Florida Statutes (2017). I dissent because the State Attorneys decision to prosecute first-degree murder cases but not seek the death penalty at this time does not provide a basis for the Governor to remove State Attorney Aramis Ayala. August 31, 2017 at 03:53 PM | Permalink Comments An easier option ... If suspect is caught "red handed" , committing a capital offense .. Summary execution on the spot If error , then publish an "Oops!" Saves time $$$$$$ and stress on victims and jurors Kindly DJB Posted by: Docile/Kind Soul in OR | Aug 31, 2017 4:25:25 PM And this would be trivial for a future prosecutor to get around, just don't announce a policy but say that after review each case is not worth pursuing. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Aug 31, 2017 5:24:36 PM Quince should know better than to dissent here. She was an Assistant State Attorney previously and I would think she would understand the decisions to be made to carefully select cases to seek the death penalty. Posted by: DaveP | Aug 31, 2017 6:33:10 PM Quince should know better than to dissent here. She was an Assistant State Attorney previously and I would think she would understand the decisions to be made to carefully select cases to seek the death penalty. Posted by: DaveP | Aug 31, 2017 6:33:10 PM Stupid court. First, Soronel is correct. All this will do is in the future is cause DAs to lie and play games. Encouraging that type of behavior by elected officials is bad public policy. Second, the court writes. "As New Yorks high court cogently explained, adopting a blanket policy against the imposition of the death penalty is in effect refusing to exercise discretion and tantamount to a functional[] veto of state law authorizing prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in appropriate cases. Johnson v. Pataki, 691 N.E.2d 1002, 1007 (N.Y. 1997)." That is nonsense. The decision to not exercise discretion is an act of discretion no different than a person who refuses to speak at all is exercising their 1A rights. In effect the Supreme Court is now compelling the DA to speak. They can't compel the DA on the content of her speech but they can compel her to speak. When people are compelled to speak against their desire to speak then...shockingly...they lie. So what has the court actually accomplished to improve civic life? Nothing. Justice Holmes once said that when the law has done all it can it has done all it should. The corollary is that when the law can do nothing at all it should stay silent. Posted by: Daniel | Aug 31, 2017 6:58:15 PM The ruling as noted in comments should be easy to get around though for crimes with more numerous prosecutions (let's say a local law against prostitution where only fines, never jail time is provided) simply saying "no" over and over and over again will likely practicably be considered as a blanket "no." This suggests the prosecutor made a somewhat foolish move especially since she could have qualified it a bit and had a stronger case. A specific policy not to choose a punishment in effect is different from the usual discretion though it is an act of discretion too (that can be changed as one feels fit). So, overall, it's a rather fine line though perhaps past precedent made the majority's position stronger somehow. Posted by: Joe | Aug 31, 2017 8:09:50 PM Because we commit 3 felonies a day, I am just grateful for the discretion of multiple prosecutors to not indict me. Every day I am not indicted is a precious gift from the lawyer profession. I really appreciate it. I have suggested an algorithm replace judges. One should also replace prosecutors, for Equal protection, for equal enforcement, for the elimination of the imposition of sick personal feelings of lawyers on crime victims. Posted by: David Behar | Sep 1, 2017 12:44:25 PM "I have suggested an algorithm replace judges. One should also replace prosecutors, for Equal protection, for equal enforcement, for the elimination of the imposition of sick personal feelings of lawyers on crime victims" It won't have that effect. All it will do is entrench the imposition of sick personal feelings under the guise of "math" making them that much more difficult to identify and remove. Posted by: Daniel | Sep 1, 2017 1:39:04 PM Daniel. If the crime rate goes up, the algorithm writers must be fired. The measurement of crime may only be by household survey, and not by police reports. Judges, police, and legislators should be fired by algorithms tied to the real crime victimization rate. Human beings are just terrible, and must be replaced by algorithms,as sson as possible. It is possible now. Posted by: David Behar | Sep 1, 2017 8:26:45 PM @David "Human beings are just terrible, and must be replaced by algorithms" Algorithms are written by people and are infected with the same biases people have. There is no way to get people out of the system except by something truly random. Posted by: Daniel | Sep 2, 2017 3:05:52 PM Daniel. Cars are made by people. They are 100 times better than horses. Computers made by people beat the best Chess and Go human players. These have concrete, measurable outcomes. Arrival in safety and comfort. Loss of a game. Engineers can do the same for the justice system, with the crime rate in household surveys as a concrete and measurable outcome. People like you and me would have to step up, help the engineers get there. The lawyers are rent seeking, evil, morons, the stupidest, most failed people in our nation. Life skills students, learning to eat with a spoon, would do better, if knowledgeable people refuse to help the computer engineers. Posted by: David Behar | Sep 2, 2017 10:41:57 PM Docile. Come live in my lawyer neighborhood. Not capital offenses, but the very slightest crime gets blasted by the agents of the prosecutor, the police. Only a few miles from Fallujah like, lawless neighborhoods, crime is close to nil. Not only is that true, but the County Commissioners have switched to Democratic. I have not been able to get the wife to move from this now horrible neighborhood. Nevertheless, with the crime rate soaring in Philadelphia, crime has not arrived here. All the criminals mistaken thinking they can do well here, are deceased. Posted by: David Behar | Sep 2, 2017 10:47:26 PM This seems to flow from the Florida statute giving the governor the authority to reassign prosecutors to handle cases from another circuit in the interest of justice. I know that my state does not have such a statute (local prosecutors can ask for assistance from our state AG or voluntarily recuse from a case -- in which circumstance the court appoints the replacement). I wonder how many states have such a statute giving the governor such authority? Posted by: tmm | Sep 4, 2017 11:03:08 AM Post a comment SIOUX CITY | One of three people accused of using counterfeit cash at Sioux City's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has pleaded not guilty. Jackelen Hartsock, 27, of Le Mars, Iowa, entered her written plea Wednesday in Woodbury County District Court to one count of forgery. Hartsock was arrested last month after an investigation showed that she and Kurt Jones and Brittany Derby had made several cash transactions at the casino on Aug. 5. The bills were later found to be counterfeit. Jones, 26, and Derby, 29, both of Le Mars, both are charged with forgery and have yet to be arraigned. This week we talked with all five of the Sioux City School Board candidates. Monday, we kicked off the series with Jeremy Saint. Tuesday, we talked with Ron Colling and Perla Alarcon-Flory. Wednesday, we visited with Miyuki Nelson, and Thursday, we met with Shaun Broyhill. You can view the question and answer sessions with all five candidates on our website, siouxcityjournal.com. SIOUX CITY | Nine candidates will vie for three seats on the Sioux City Council this fall after meeting Thursday's filing deadline. The high number of candidates means an October primary will be necessary to narrow the field to six. Incumbent City Councilmen Dan Moore, Pete Groetken and Alex Watters will all look to retain their seats on the council. Challengers include residents Jake Jungers, Brett Watchorn, Nick Davidson, John Olson, Doug Waples and Dennis Quinn. Moore and Groetken are concluding their first four-year terms on the council, while Watters is running again after he was appointed in February to fill out the remaining months of former Councilman Keith Radig's term. Since more than six candidates filed -- meaning there are more than two candidates per available seat -- a primary election will take place Oct. 10. The top six finishers will then advance to the Nov. 7 general election. The winners will join Mayor Bob Scott and Councilwoman Rhonda Capron on the council. Scott's and Capron's seats will be up for re-election in the fall of 2019. Quinn, 68, was the final candidate to announce his run for office. Quinn is a retired transportation specialist with the Sioux City Community School District who has lived in Sioux City for 36 years. He has previous experience working as a police officer and is a Vietnam veteran. Quinn said his experience serving in the public sector had made him consider a run, and he said he wants to continue what he sees are positive developments in Sioux City. I love Sioux City; its a great place, he said. I helped raise three great kids here, and now Ive got three beautiful grandkids that are going to school here. Quinn said he brings a positive attitude to the table and values supporting longtime Sioux City businesses while also working to draw in new ones that complement them. He said he also sees maintenance of the citys infrastructure as an important issue. MAPLETON, Iowa | U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Thursday that President Trump and majority Republicans in Congress have had a harder time delivering on key campaign promises than he anticipated. Speaking to about 100 people in a town hall meeting in Mapleton as the monthlong congressional recess neared the end, Grassley said he thought Republican priorities would move more quickly. Grassley said Republicans for seven years had vowed to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act put in place by President Obama and majority Democrats. He had thought a Republican replacement health care plan would have been set by Easter, and said he figured tax reform as a big second piece would "be done by now." Rather, he said, when lawmakers reconvene in September, "We are going to pivot to tax reform. That doesn't mean we won't do anything on health care." He also addressed the Republican health care bill collapse in the Senate in July, saying, "I am not proud of that. I am embarrassed by that." Grassley, 83, took questions from 17 people over the hourlong event in the Mapleton Community Center. The top topic of questions was health care. Other notable topics were crop insurance in upcoming Farm Bill deliberations and propping up Social Security. Evelyn Thies, of Mapleton, said she was worried about Trump's tax reform plan negatively impacting farmers. "If it wasn't for the deductions we could take, we wouldn't be farming for 50 years...Farming, it is a survival every year," she said. Nonetheless, Thies encouraged all federal Republicans to be more outwardly supportive of Trump policies. If that doesn't happen, she cautioned, Democrats are poised to win back the House and Senate in 2018. If Republicans lose control, Thies said, "The Muslims are going to take over this country. I am worried about Muslims, not Mexicans or anyone else. It is the Muslims who will kill us." Grassley did not respond to the Muslim portion of the Thies comment. He said if Republicans do not deliver legislatively, there could be electoral consequences. After the meeting, Grassley told the Journal, "I don't disagree with (Thies) that Republicans ought to get together behind the president...The president, if he is a player, it helps. If not, we've got our own constitutional responsibility." People in the crowd wore t-shirts that said "Health Care Voter" and blue shirts with the "Grassley Works" slogan that was used in his last re-election campaign. Tammy Mohr, of Ute, urged Grassley to help efforts to build a wall at the Mexican border to halt illegal immigration. Mohr said she previously told Grassley in a call 20 years ago that illegal immigration highly concerns her. "We are footing the bill for them to live the American Dream," Mohr said. "If the money is appropriated," it will be built, Grassley responded, sitting down in an empty front row chair as he spoke with Mohr. Trump has threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress does not include funding for the border wall in an omnibus budget bill funding for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Grassley also described the federal response to Hurricane Harvey, which has blasted Houston with more than 50 inches of rain in and around the nation's fourth-largest city, causing massive flooding. Trump will visit Houston on Saturday for the second time this week. "It has been a long time since we've had that kind of a disaster," the senator said. Grassley said federal aid on top of the available Federal Emergency Management Agency money will be forthcoming. He said it is not necessary to know definitively now if the ultimate costs will be $10 billion or $100 billion. "The government has taken the position of being an insurer of the last resort on disasters," Grassley said. One light moment came when Alice Masters, of Mapleton, said, "We have voted for you every year and we appreciate you, but..." Many in the crowd laughed, and Grassley said, "The other shoe is going to drop." A few seconds later Masters said Grassley should tread lightly in doing bipartisan work with Democrats. On Thursday morning, Grassley also appeared at Bishop Heelan in Sioux City. As part of his annual tour of all 99 Iowa counties, he also stopped this week in the Northwest Iowa cities of Sibley and Primghar. WINNEBAGO, Neb. -- A Ho-Chunk Inc. subsidiary was awarded a five-year $46 million federal contract. The Flatwater Group was awarded the contract by the U.S. Department of Interior Indian Affairs Division of Energy and Mineral Development. This agency assists tribes with the environmentally responsible exploration, development and management of their energy and mineral resources to create sustainable economies for reservations, generate new jobs and economic self-sufficiency. Ho-Chunk Inc. is the economic development corporation of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The contract, awarded to Flatwater Inc., a company within the Flatwater Group, is for professional services, including petroleum and mining, engineering, geologic and geophysical mapping, economic development personnel, geologists, NIOGEMS software development, and other administrative support. Initially, the contract includes 29 personnel, with a potential for expansion of personnel throughout the life of the contract. In a release, Erin Morgan, vice president of the Flatwater Group and a Ho-Chunk executive, said she was pleased her the company was once again able to work with the Department of the Interior. This particular contract is our first with the Division of Energy and Mineral Development, and we are excited to utilize our capabilities in professional services to provide quality solutions and excellent customer service, she said. The Flatwater Group is a group of small businesses specializing in business and technology products, raw and fabricated metals, and business services for both private industry and the U.S. government. Flatwater is headquartered in Winnebago, but also has offices in the Bellevue/Omaha area and outside of Washington, D.C. SIOUX CITY | Sioux City's sister city, Lake Charles, Louisiana, was partially spared from the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey as it made its third landfall early Wednesday at the Texas-Louisiana border. Harvey appeared to have produced little damage overnight in southwest Louisiana, where hundreds of people were rescued from floodwaters earlier this week, officials said. Harveys heaviest rains continued to stay west of Louisiana, just across the Sabine River in Texas. Lake Charles, located in the southwest region of Louisiana, recorded less than an inch of rain overnight. Earlier this week, a heavy band of rainfall forced hundreds of people to evacuate from a neighborhood in Lake Charles, which has numerous lakes and waterways running through the city. The sister cities of Lake Charles and Sioux City have forged a relationship for 22 years by sending delegates back and forth between the similarly sized towns for Mardi Gras festivities. Lake Charles resident John Chavanne, who has traveled to Sioux City for 20 straight years, said his home downtown has been relatively undamaged. "We got very lucky, because 50 miles west of us on (Interstate 10), Texas is experiencing catastrophic flooding," Chavanne, a fashion designer, emailed Wednesday. "I believe our city is expecting to house many of those displaced in southeast Texas flooding." Tens of thousands have had to be evacuated as Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in southeast Texas last Friday. It then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. Rescue efforts for those stranded continue as the storm exits the area and heads northeast. Its with mixed emotions that I leave the only job I have known for much of my life. The sadness is leaving those I have worked with the last 37 years: the great employees of the Sioux City Police Department, both civilian and sworn, the management team of the city of Sioux City and the citizens of this community who I have come to know and who work so hard to help us make this community a safe and better place. The happiness is I have completed a career in a profession I have had a passion and desire for since I can remember and now can enjoy all those things that I have put off. This job has afforded me a lot of opportunities. I have met presidents and those who wanted to be president. Ive met and worked with our elected officials in Washington, D.C., and those at the state and local level, and many of our federal and state law enforcement partners. I have seen the bad: the crash of Flight 232, the Adam Moss killings, accidents, suicides, officer-involved shootings and how poorly we can treat each other. I have seen the good: the response of this community and police department to tragic events and the good samaritans who are always there to help. As I look back on my eight years as chief, I am proud of our accomplishments that include a new Animal Control building, renovation of the Police/Fire Headquarters, better training and equipment for our officers and the implementation of a policy management system. We computerized our property control system and added a shelving system to the property room that will increase its functional life for an additional 25 years. We use Facebook and a website to stay in touch and we have focused community outreach that allows us to interact with citizens, especially with our minority citizens. We have also added a museum in the Police Department which will preserve the history of the department. During this time, we were able to increase our manpower and the department received the highest recognition from the Commission on Accreditation. And I would be remiss if I didnt mention the speed cameras on Interstate 29. We have not had a speed-related fatality on the interstate in this area for many years. Law enforcement is always evolving. Future challenges that need to be addressed are: more transparency and accountability, a continued focus on building community trust, increased training for officers and a greater focus on officer safety and well-being. Recruitment of quality police candidates and retaining those officers is essential. Diversity within the department should reflect that of the community the department serves. We must keep pace with available technology and utilize social media whenever possible to keep in touch with the public. The Sioux City Police Department is already addressing these challenges. The leadership that is in place and the quality of the officers, along with their dedication and professionalism, will make this department a leader in policing in the 21st century. I am leaving a great department I am very proud of. I would like to thank the city of Sioux City for giving me the opportunity to lead such a great organization, the citizens who are always there when we need them and my family and friends who have supported me during my amazing career. Today is the last day on the job for retiring Doug Young, who is chief of police for the city of Sioux City. On Friday, Rex Mueller replaces Young as Sioux City's new police chief. In her Aug. 27 Regulars column, Charese Yanney denoted the abysmal state of affairs in our nation as depicted by recent riots and the destruction of historic artifacts. Ms. Yanney identified lack of respect as a major player in these current events. I remember a time when respect had to be earned. One obtained an education, earned a living, supported one's family, paid one's debts, took pride in and reflected integrity in personal appearance and behavior, and sought to be recognized in the community as a hard worker and good neighbor. Voila. Such a person was routinely respected. Somewhere along the way, respect became an entitlement. Today, respect is something owed to everyone, by virtue of being born. Virtually all of the things mentioned above that allowed one to earn respect are either to be set aside as unimportant or are provided by government-managed entitlement programs. Disregard for personal pride and integrity are the most damaging elements which, when lost, diminishes the respect we have for one another, for no government program can entitle one to have those character inclusions. Many persons who have never tried to earn respect can be found at the head of riots claiming that anger and violence are warranted because theyve been disrespected." Imagine that. - Lon Zimmerman, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa ALAMOGORDO, N.M. Many advances in space travel and exploration were first discovered and developed in wide open spaces of New Mexico. The history of those scientific achievements is being saved at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. The museum has everything from an 86-foot-tall rocket to a tiny moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Some of the larger exhibits and artifacts are on display outside the museum in the John P. Stapp Air and Space Park. The park is named for aeromedical pioneer Dr. John P. Stapp. The Sonic Wind I rocket sled on display in the park was developed and tested by Dr. Stapp. The purpose of the sled was to test the effects of sudden deceleration on the human body. The sled was powered by nine solid fuel rockets with 40,000 pounds of total thrust and would burn for 5 seconds. On March 19, 1954, Stapp rode the sled that reached a speed of 613 feet per second. During acceleration Stapp was subjected to a force of 22 times that of gravity. He made two other runs with the sled with the last test reaching a speed of 632 miles per hour causing a force of 40 gs on Stapps body. Also on display in the park is the 86-foot-tall Little Joe II rocket used to test the Apollo Launch Escape System. The Little Joe II is the largest rocket ever launched in New Mexico. Remnants of a V-2 German WWII rocket developed by Nazi Germany as a terror weapon against Britain and other Allied countries is also on display near the Little Joe II. The portions of the V-2 at the museum were recovered from the White Sands Missile Range where the rockets were used for research. The V-2 stood 42 feet tall. Inside the museum are galleries devoted to different areas of space history and travel. The Living and Working in Space area shows how scientists worked to create solutions for the problems of extreme environment in space travel. On display are space suits and clothing worn by astronauts, a space toilet and American and Soviet space food. A rocket exhibit tells the history of rocketry and honors pioneers in the field such as Robert Goddard, who developed the first liquid fuel rocket engine. Visitors are encouraged to push a button and listen to the distinctive sounds of different rocket engines. Instruments from German V-2 rockets tested at White Sands Missile Range are on display along with the training coveralls worn by New Mexico astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the only scientist to walk on the moon. The museums International Space Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to recognize the achievements of those who have worked to expand the ability to explore space. Astronauts such as Buzz Aldrin, Gordon Cooper, Frank Borman and Alan Shepard have been honored. Those who have supported the space program such as newsman Walter Cronkite are also honored. Icons of Exploration is a display that features the museums most valued space artifacts. Among the objects on display is a moon rock. The lunar sample was picked up by Astronaut Harrison Schmitt in December 1972. The moon rock is estimated to be 3.7 billion years old. Also on display in the Icons of Exploration are replicas of the first man-made satellites, Sputnik and Explorer. The museum features the New Horizons Dome Theater and Planetarium, named for the spacecraft that flew by Pluto in 2015. It is the first dome theater in the world to have the Spitz SciDome 4k Laser full dome planetarium system. The theater offers giant screen films, full dome digital planetarium shows and live astronomy talks. Outside the museum is a plaque dedicated to a special space pioneer. The memorial plaque honors Ham, the first primate to be launched into space. Ham, which is an acronym for Holloman Aero Med, was a chimpanzee born in Central Africa who was captured and sent to a farm in Miami, Florida. He was later purchased by the U.S. Air Force. Ham was trained to respond to lights and sounds. He made a suborbital flight as part of Project Mercury on January 31, 1961, perched on top of a Redstone rocket. The information gained from Hams flight allowed astronaut Alan Shepard to make the first human spaceflight as part of Project Mercury in May 1961. The plaque dedicated to Ham reads in part, Ham proved that mankind could live and work in space. South Korea's Defense Ministry is taking steps to reduce its reliance on the power of the US military by constructing a more robust national security apparatus allowing Seoul to "quickly switch to an offensive posture in case North Korea stages a provocation that crosses the line or attacks the capital region," President Moon Jae-in said Monday. Military planners have begun drafting a plan that would allow South Korean commanders to mobilize assets and occupy Pyongyang in a matter of weeks without the help of additional US personnel, Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean daily, reports. Moon pressed defense officials to "further improve the military's mobility, landing abilities and air defense capabilities," during a Monday briefing, the right-leaning newspaper notes. South Korean officials have reportedly whittled the plan down to a offensive led by parachuting troops pouring into the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the sky and US Marines already stationed in South Korea "to quickly bring down the North Korean regime," a military official told the Chosun Ilbo. "The ultimate aim is to keep any war as brief as possible," the paper says. US aircraft carriers, likely the USS Ronald Reagan Nimitz-class supercarrier stationed in Japan as a forward presence, fifth-generation F-35s and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, would comprise the central components of the plan to seize Pyongyang before the arrival of US reinforcements. The crew of roughly 28,000 US service members deployed to US Forces Korea would be called on as well. While the new plan emphasizes expediency, some of the top minds in the US military have warned that promises of quick victory often feature elements of hubris. Writing from Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2013 now-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster observed that even the mention of a clean, decisive plan for military victory exemplifies a failure to learn from history. "Our record of learning from previous history is poor," McMaster began. "One reason is that we apply history simplistically, or ignore it altogether, as a result of wishful thinking that makes the future appear easier and fundamentally different from the past." Before and after September 11, 2001, "many accepted the conceit that lightning victories could be achieved by small numbers of technologically sophisticated American forces capable of launching precision strikes against enemy targets from safe distances," the commander noted. Instead, McMaster argued in a New York Times column dubbed "The Pipe Dream of Easy War," that any plan cannot brush over the brute reality that "war is uncertain ... What we can afford least is to define the problem of future war as we would like it to be, and by doing so introduce into our defense vulnerabilities based on self-delusion." The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. In 2015, a United Nations working group, consisting of three delegates, investigated the status of womens equality in the United States. Their findings revealed that leadership and economic opportunities for women in the U.S. lag behind opportunities for women from many industrialized countries on the global spectrum. They found the low numbers of women who hold political, judicial, and executive positions. At the time of their report, the gender pay gap was at 21 percent. More recent studies show that the economic status of women hasnt improved much since then. Safety, access to healthcare, and reproductive health and rights were three other areas that presented a concerning portrait of womens equality in America. The researchers also pointed out that the U.S. is the only country in the industrialized world that has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). According to the U.N, this is a crucial factor since CEDAW is an international treaty that was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly. Established on Sept. 3, 1981, it is an international bill of rights for women and has been ratified by 189 countries, which by doing so, have confirmed their commitment to womens equality. In failing to ratify CEDAW, the U.S. joins the ranks of six other countries: Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tonga, and Palua who have not ratified CEDAW. Despite marginalization and inequality, women throughout the nation and all over the world take up the role of being activists just by living as women. Very few women can say that they have never, in some form, hit the proverbial glass ceiling. For some women, there are layers to that glass ceiling when they belong to additional marginalized groups. Cases in point are the extra layers that women of color, disabled women, women with marginalized religious affiliations, senior women, transgender women, lesbian and bisexual women, economically marginalized women, or women whose bodies do not meet the standards assigned to them by society experience every day. In these cases, women have to fight even harder for visibility and inclusivity. The following is an intersectional pro le of three South Florida womens equality activists who are each breaking the glass ceiling: Photo: Lori Lynch (Center). Courtesy. Lori Lynch Executive Director, The Hub at the LGBT Visitors Center A New York City native, Lori Lynch serves as the executive director for the Hub at the LGBT Visitors Center in Miami Beach. She has a background in performance art and is also passionate about activism and sees the two as a coexisting force. Art is a sanctuary to escape pain and teach you about discipline, work ethic and business, Lynch said. According to Lynch, to sustain a career in performance art, one must engage in head to toe maintenance. She said that this not only includes a disciplined health regiment and hard work, but also keeping an impeccable reputation and being true to your word so that people want you back. Lynch said that she learned about the world and culture through performance art, saying, I learned more about American history through music than I did history books. Lynch mixes her passion for performance art and social activism by programing a yearly dinner and performance extravaganza, the Pink Flamingo Awards, which serves as a key fundraiser for the Hub. In 2016, Lynch rebranded the Hub from an LGBT Visitors Center to the Hub at the LGBT Visitor Center to better reflect its new mission to build a strong community by fostering social engagement and community wellness. In addition to the continued essential resources for LGBT tourists and the promotion of socioeconomic development and tourism, the Hub now also provides programming such as educational workshops, panel discussions, recovery groups, and support groups for transgender people, cancer, grief and loss, smoking cessation, and pet bereavement. In addition, HIV testing and various social activities are provided at the Hub. Its womens programming includes family planning, womens health issues, financial planning for women, and many other relevant topics. An advocate for gender equality, Lynch stated, I believe gender equality is important in creating a healthy society. We need to change the conversation from women needing equal pay, which is just one of the many important factors, to how we can create institutional, economic, cultural and other conditions so that women can equally contribute a better society. She said that she has experienced hitting the glass ceiling as there is a problem with womens visibility and inclusivity in the nonprofit sector, and every sector and industry for that matter. Women are still not being treated as equals. As a woman in a top role, I've managed to beat the odds. However, I dream of a world where it isnt such a big feat. Women should have an equal opportunity to lead, stated Lynch. In terms of the long standing fight for gender equality, Lynch added, I believe the issue here in the United States is that there is very little overall commitment to gender equality. Imagine the impact if our government were to establish a clear commitment to gender equality and backed it up. What would the impact be on our schools? On our children and families? What if there were more women at the top of organizations or in positions of influence in the government? She continued, What matters most is that we all question inequality and set out to do something about it in our own ways, in our own communities and industries. Aryah Lester. Photo by Carina Mask. Aryah Lester Founder and Director of Trans-Miami Aryah Lester, also originally from New York, is the founder and director of Trans-Miami, National Alliance of Transgender Advocates and Leaders (NATAL). Lester said that upon her arrival to Miami in 2005, she was surprised to find a scarcity of services for the transgender community, especially among women of color. She devoted much of her time and energy towards education, advocacy, and implementation of programming for a disenfranchised population. In the midst of her work, she developed business relationships with universities, local nonprofit organizations, and federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Florida Health Department, Homeland Security, and the Department of State. On gender equality, Lester stated, Gender equality is important because it is not existent during our current times. Income disparities and standard of living inequality permeates our modern society in a bewildering matter. No matter who you are, how you identify, or what your background is, we should all be allowed to maintain an equal status with those equal to us as human beings. When discussing the glass ceiling that women often speak of having to break through to achieve income equality or other states of equality in society, race presents an additional layer, as does being a transgender woman. As a transgender woman of color, I experience a three-layered glass ceiling in many situations. A racial pane of glass prevents me from 'taking a seat' in many environments led by mostly white cisgender individuals, Lester said. I then encounter barriers with gender equality by being both a woman and more specifically a transgender woman. I have utilized both my presentation and intellect to navigate these spaces, and break through the glass ceilings to some extent, although I realize there is much work to still accomplish. Lester said that she lets her work speak for her. The core of everything I do is to address equality for my community in the aspects of health, housing, employment, and with figures of authority, she said. I worked to instate the first transgender organization for Miami-Dade County, and worked as a consultant for most of the programs and organizations we have today that address issues in the transgender community. When asked her opinion on what steps would be needed for communities across the nation to foster gender equality, Lester said, We as a people need to take a deep look at the influence of femininity in our world, the power and respect we have for our mothers, daughters, sisters, and female friends. We need to personalize our struggles and fight, and take our struggles straight to the face of our oppressors. We have to realize empathy towards the individual, and their self-identities. We must not be silent, and call-out stigma and discrimination at every turn. She elaborated that a good indicator of accomplishment in gender equality will come with the numbers. Equal pay in income, approximate 50/50 split in gender for leadership positions (both locally and nationally), and lesser numbers of women being assaulted, raped, or lacking access to resources. Photo: Amy Bloom. Courtesy. Amy Bloom Director of Outreach and Engagement, National Council of Jewish Women's Miami Section Chair, MDGLCC Women's Council Hailing from the Highland Park suburb of Chicago, Amy Bloom grew up in a Jewish family and community. Her alma matter is Emory University, where her concentrations were political science and French. Bloom stated, I love learning about languages, cultures, people, politics, and equal rights. I am a connector. I love planning and organizing, as well as supporting causes and informing people about them. In Chicago, she worked with organizations in the LGBTQ community to engage and educate women about philanthropy. Upon moving to Miami several years ago, Bloom began to collaborate with organizations and causes. As the chair of a newly formed Womens Council at the Miami Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC), she helps facilitate networking and educational opportunities for women and allies who are members of the MDGLCC. Bloom said that through constantly meeting new people, traveling, and learning about companies and organizations, she connects with others who she thinks could benefit from collaboration. Bloom recently began a new role as the director of Outreach and Engagement at the National Council of Jewish Women's Miami Section. Bloom stated, My role and goal is to re-engage its 1,000 members and introduce the organization to new people. We are a grassroots organization supporting women, children, and families through advocacy and social justice, based on the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, which means to repair the world. When asked if she has ever hit the glass ceiling, Bloom explained that she has had two additional barriers involved with the glass ceiling that women encounter Yes, I have. I am a woman, I am a lesbian and I am Jewish. I grew up noticing and therefore feeling that men were superior. I also felt less than while growing up for loving women. I felt that I would never be accepted. I grew up thinking that neither a woman, nor a Jew, could ever be the president, she said. As a Jew, compared to other religions, people and cultures, I was lucky to grow up in a time and place in which I was accepted and could fit in. I grew up in a community with a lot of people who were like me regarding religion. I learned about the Holocaust, and the years of persecution of Jews, but never witnessed it up close. Now I read almost daily about temples being desecrated and destroyed, and people being the target of hate crimes for being Jewish. Bloom said she tends to gravitate to causes that involve gender equality, LGBTQ equality, Jewish social programs, and religious pluralism. On the steps needed to eliminate sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism, Bloom said that learning about each others struggles, collaboration, and supporting one another is key. I found strength when I became more sure of myself as an honest, loving person, and learned that there was a community of people and activists who stood up and spoke out for themselves and others, she said. I knew I wanted to help and be a part of it. Getting involved, learning about differences, and finding ways to collaborate, is what is going to help women from all walks of life overcome those glass ceilings. Joan Schaeffer Finds Strength in her Faith The former president of Temple Israel of Greater Miami could have been Catholic. Joan Schaffers bloodline connection with her faith goes back to a time where its members were heavily persecuted. The past president of Temple Israel of Greater Miamis family lived in Europe during the second World War, hiding away because they were being pursued. Schaffer recently visited family in France whose upbringing was much different than her own. Its emotional for me because they are not Jewish due to the fact that the mother one of my cousins was hidden during the war by a Catholic family so she could live, she said. So theres a whole side of my family that is Catholic, but Im very happy because my grandfather got out and went to Brooklyn. Being raised in New York by her parents, Schaffers upbringing differed from that of her Catholic relatives. Judaism was a very important part of my life but it wasnt always that way. My parents aren't that religious, they are what I would call secular Jews. They ate Jewish things and lived in a Jewish neighborhood but they didn't pray a lot. Despite her parents less traditional approach, Schaeffer practiced her faith. Her mindset at the time played a huge role in how she approached life. For me, although I didnt acknowledge it until I was in my 20s, I knew I was different and it turned out that difference was I was gay. But when I was young I didnt identify it in that way, I just didnt really fit in with the other girls. With those feelings of isolation, Schaffer found strength in Judaism. That boost helped connect her further with god and create a tight bond within her life. My parents didnt force me to do it, unlike most kids, she said. I felt drawn to it naturally. Initially when Schaffer moved down to the area in the 80s, she said her gay identity took over her faith because she went to the Metropolitan Community Church. But not wanting to be baptized in a different religion led her to the rabbi at Temple Israel. Ironically he was looking to the gay community to help fill the temple, she said. I found a home at Temple Israel. As she spent more time there, including the start of a gay group at the temple, Schaffer got more involved. She became a member of the board, an officer, and then finally became president of the temple. Somebody told me I was going to be president and I was like, Me? So that happened and while it was a very difficult experience, it was very valuable during that time. It was so hard because I always felt like I was being watched and eventually I just did my best and that was that, she continued. Schaeffer thinks more women are getting chances at leadership positions because theyve started to gain respect for showing they can do the job like anyone else. For those looking to break in, she says the people around her have helped her best. Its important to have support systems in place so that when it gets lonely, and it does, that there are people that can hold you up, she said. I think its very important for women, especially young women, to assume leadership positions. Photo courtesy: Metropolitan Community Church. Lea Brown creates a new path After being stopped from becoming a military chaplain because of her sexuality and nearly losing her faith, the Metropolitan Community Church pastor has fought through to lead her own congregation. For Lea Brown, her desire to serve wasnt just for her faith, but for her country as well. Brought up in a Baptist home in Oklahoma, Brown said she was initially unsure of the path she wanted to take. But going to Oklahoma Baptist College helped her clarify what she desired out of her religion. So when I got there I was taught it was really OK to question, she said. By the time I was a junior I started feeling called to religious leadership. I did some Bible studies on my own and read a few other books that taught me to see things in a different light. I first realized it was OK if I was in ministry. Initially she thought her only two options as a single woman were to be a missionary or to serve as a religious education teacher. But after looking into those options, Brown looked at her roommate's father and saw a different option: becoming a United States Army Chaplain. One day I woke up and thought, Wow, I really want to be an Army Chaplain. But that was very tricky because the Baptists were still not very keen on ordaining women in the ministry. There were only two churches at the time that would ordain women as Baptist ministers, one in San Francisco and one in Louisville, Kentucky. So she headed west to go to seminary in the late 1980s to help accomplish her goal. After college, Brown became a chaplain candidate in the U.S. Army. Training from 1988-89, she later had to resign and be honorably discharged due to her coming out. It just shattered my heart, I love the ministry, Brown said. Military chaplaincy is a very vibrant, important industry. Chaplains are not there to convert, they are there to provide support and be a shoulder to lean on. Brown later also left the Baptist church because of her coming out, subsequently joining Metropolitan Community Church and trying to be ordained there. But with the loss of her chance at chaplaincy, she struggled with her feelings and later left faith for a while. For quite a while I was really hurt, bitter and disillusioned with it, she said. I went into therapy, did really hard work in that for four or five years. When I came back, whatever magic happened to me, MCC suddenly felt like home. Serving at both MCC San Francisco and MCC Wichita Falls in Texas, Brown eventually became senior pastor at MCC of the Palm Beaches in 2011. While Brown says her path was challenging, she encourages people to think about what they want to do. The best advice anyones ever given me is to follow your calling, she said. They said that when I wasnt sure if I wanted to go to Wichita Falls and they told me, If you feel called to that church, go. On the hard days, the only thing that will keep you there is if you feel called. Photo courtesy: YouTube. Anne Atwell Makes Her Place In a male dominated position, the reverend from Sunshine Cathedral is part of a trend of more female leaders in faith. Anne Atwell initially never considered that she would be able to be ordained as a minister in her lifetime. If you had asked me 20 years ago, would I have been a pastor, I would have thought you were nuts, she said. I would have said, No way, that could never happen. Growing up in the 1970s in Brockway, Pennsylvania in a Presbyterian family where her mother was an ordained elder and her father helped as church accountant, faith was a huge part of the minister of connections life. The thoughts of leadership came not from her mother or family though, but from an outside source. When I was 14 or 15, I had a Sunday school teacher who, he kind of really challenged me, Atwell said. He gave us permission to read the Bible and ask questions. Meeting him and having him as a teacher made me realize that I had a call to ministry, but quite honestly as a woman I didnt think that was possible. Atwell took courses at Penn State and a few Pennsylvania community colleges, but eventually ended up at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton to try and save money. Working toward a psychology degree, Atwell graduated and later got her Masters in divinity from St. Thomas College in Miami. At the same time in the 80s as she was getting her degrees, Atwell became more active with Sunshine Cathedral, a local LGBT-friendly church in Fort Lauderdale. Starting as a greeter, she later worked as an usher with the chancel ministry and helped with the consecration of communion. Coming out as a lesbian, I felt like I didnt connect with a faith community until I found Sunshine Cathedral, she said. Once I found that, I was like, This is it. This is my path, this is where Im being led. Going into seminary with the encouragement of the staff here at Sunshine Cathedral, it turned my life around 180 degrees. After getting out of seminary, Atwell did notice more women were getting into schooling related to faith. Whether it was for her masters or the doctorate she is currently working on at Boston University, she said that there has been a change in mindset for those females. Women are finally giving themselves permission, they are not waiting for people to say, Ok, you can do this. Were giving ourselves permission to say, This is something that is part of us. This is part of our journey and were not going to let anybody say we cant do it. Despite this trend, Atwell says some sects of the church are advancing slower than others. She believes that the best way to challenge what has been a male dominated field is to step up to the challenge and follow where your faith is guiding you. I mean in churches, people still look at me like Im the church secretary and I have as much education as my colleagues, she said. Just being open to where youre being led and having the courage to do it, those are some of the biggest steps you can take. Photo by Carina Mask. Noah Kitty clears path in Judaism for LGBT women The former Congregation Etz Chaim president worked through a personal tragedy to eventually lead her congregation. Rabbi Noah Kittys path to leadership was something she thought was quite a journey. Starting out in an average middle class family in New York, one might not think that the congregation Etz Chaim board member and former president was in for a ride. Raised by Jewish reconstructionist parents, faith was part of their lives but was not the biggest influence for Kitty until later on. The fact that her family was not pushing her into the field and instead allowed her to make the choice to go into rabbinical school on her own separated her from many of her peers. The process begins as seeing yourself as a member of the people, then you grow in your desire to serve and then you go to rabbinical school, Kitty said. As a lesbian, it became clear what community I was meant to serve. Finishing up school in 1994, Kitty worked in Brattleboro, Vermont at congregation Shir until her fathers death. In the wake of his passing, she moved to South Florida in the late 1990s to take care of her mother and eventually became a member of Etz Chaim. She first started attending the church in 2006, working as a volunteer in leading services and holiday programs as a volunteer. She was hired as executive director for the Wilton Manors-based congregation in 2011. Kitty said she has noticed more women are starting to look into rabbinical school and consider the career. A lot of it has to do with more schools being available to ordain women Rabbis than when I first was going. Even with that progress, Kitty said that there are some obstacles for women entering the field, especially the patriarchal structure, which has mostly been the same over time. That traditional field can react negatively when someone follows in Kittys path. As soon as women enter the field, it loses authority, she said. Women get lower pay and its not their fault, its a traditional field. Even with those challenges facing women entering the rabbinical field, the rabbi encourages them to consider the role if it feels right for them. Even if they do not try to take the same faith path as her, she thinks its good for people to take on leadership roles. Regardless of if you are a man or woman, I encourage anyone to take on any issue in a community they are passionate about, she said. Go for it, Im always pleased when someone takes the initiative to lead and I would do everything I could to help them. Walking into a Brooklyn coffee shop in the dead of summer can be a jarring experiencea quick jolt from the city streets into a too-curated landscape, with sharp changes in light, noise, and even air. Not the case at Sey Coffee, which opened in early August right along the border of Bushwick and Williamsburg: With its roll-up door aloft, the deep, airy spacethink of a shoebox crossed with an airplane hangarfeels almost like a side alley to Grattan Streets mellow bustle. Factor in three skylights, an array of plants, and an uncluttered designbuilt-in benches, scattered stools and tables, and a long, attention-grabbing barand you get a scene where light and breeze commingle amiably with the scents of the trade. The shops opening highlights a transformative year for its owners, Lance Schnorenberg and Tobin Polk, whove been living and roasting at a nearby loft for the past few years under the name Lofted Coffee (with local clients including Greenpoints Budin, Joe Pro Shop, and Soho cart service Peddler). Earlier this year, the two old friends (both are 33, and they even share a birth date) changed the companys name to Sey, after a long legal battle with Lofty Coffee of San Diego. Wed been dealing with the whole court thing for almost two years, says Schnorenberg, displaying the weariness of both the legal hassle and having just opened a shop in New York City. Opening a coffee shop together was an idea well before Lofted arose in the early 2010s, though. It was the first thing we ever talked about back when Polk pauses and looks at Schnorenberg, who finishes the thought: Back when we were dishwashing in cafes in Seattle. Being stupid and 22, the culture of coffee shops was far more appealing than the coffee itself. But when they landed in Brooklyn in 2010, the first space they found was more suited to roasting, so roast they did. When they eventually found a spot for a shop, Polk led the way on design (which included pouring the massive, L-shaped concrete bar top in one piece). It was primarily me and some buddies, he says. We worked with an architect at the beginning to try to stir up some ideas but veered pretty immediately into our own designs. We mostly just wanted to work with natural elements: wood, concrete, plants. Schnorenberg says finding a single-story spot with skylights was crucial. Natural light was a huge thing we wanted in the coffee shop experienceand a roll-up door, so we could have an open-faced front. Their objectives for the setting echo their approach to roasting itself. We work with a handful of importers very closely, and try to select the highest-quality raw [beans] we can get our hands on, says Schnorenberg, adding with laughter, From there, we just try not to fuck it up. Hospitality, too, is progressive hereSey is a gratuity-included operation, meaning theres no tip jar cluttering Polks sleek concrete counter. Put simply, Seys coffee is excellent. At the bar, separate single origins are dedicated to espresso drinks (prepared on a La Marzocco Linea PB), batch brew (via Marco JET), single-brewed cups (courtesy of the Marco SP9), and iced coffee. Grinding is done on Mahlkonig EK43s and, for espressos, a PEAK. And while the neighborhood is packed with shops, do consider getting your coffee to stay: All drinks, not just espresso-based ones, are served on a flight board with a glass of sparkling water as a palate cleanser. Daily pastries are supplied by Gus Reckel of Bushwicks LImprimerie bakery, but dont look for an expanded food program anytime soonthe next steps for Sey are all coffee-oriented. For starters, the owners are keen to bring the roasting operation from the loft to the shops back room. Well move it here as soon as we can afford to, says Polk, with a mix of fatigue and excitement. Were already outgrowing our [Probat] L12, so we dont want to move it just to then upgrade it. The team also has plans to bring in a regular cast of rotating guest beans, bringing the multi-roaster cafe concept back to a city thats largely strayed from that gambit during the last decades roasting boom. Look for them to begin featuring roasters The Coffee Collective and April Coffee Roasters, both out of Copenhagen, Denmark, along with Swedens Drop Coffee, in coming weeks. And once operations are under one roof, the plan is to let customers see some of the work by replacing the back wall between shop and roastery with glass. A fluid continuation of the space from the neighborhood sidewalk all the way back to what in other cafes would be behind the scenes. Coffees hard, says Schnorenberg, because trying to get consumers connected to a product thats grown far away can be pretty difficult. But transparency is a main factor behind what we dohaving glass here will make the experience as integrated as possible. Mike Wolf is a New York City-based editor and dog person whos written and/or finessed wordage for Time Out NY, the Village Voice, MTV News, the NY Post, and others. Photos by Liz Clayton for Sprudge Media Network. Frank Chick's Awsome Valley ($13.40, Russell Foster) was a 1:55.4 winner in the $16,000 Open Trot Wednesday (August 30) at Harrington Raceway. Awsome Valley took the lead at the opening quarter mile in 28.1 seconds as I Like My Boss relinquished in second. The 1-to-5 favourite Wind Of The North got in gear in second-over position behind Theresademoninme while the leader marched to the half mile in 58 seconds and three-quarters in 1:26.4. Awsome Valley drew away from his rivals in the stretch for a dominant win over Theresademoninme and I Like My Boss. Wind Of The North was fourth. It was the 39th career win for Awsome Valley, a son of Valley Victor who is trained by Kevin Lare. Foster drove three winners on the program. In the sub-featured $11,000 Open II trot, Jonathan Newman's Heres The Magic ($6.60, Allan Davis) was a 1:56.4 winner for trainer Josh Green in his first Harrington start after competing most of the summer in New York. Davis joined Foster with a driving triple. On the undercard ($10,000 trot), Louis Catana and Vincent Bradley's Sunset Mike ($11, Tyler Davis) had an auspicious local debut with a 1:57.3 triumph for co-owner/trainer Bradley, who recently acquired the four-year-old trotter from the Indiana racing circuit. (Harrington Raceway) The greatest ever meet of harness racing at the Erie (Pa.) County Fair, and one of the best meets anywhere in Pennsylvania fair harness racing over the last couple of decades, took place on Tuesday (August 29) and Wednesday (August 30) in Wattsburg, located in the northwest corner of the state. On Tuesday, the all-age track record for pacers was broken by a two-year-old; on Wednesday, given over to sophomores, that newly-minted all-age pacing mark was duplicated, and the tracks all-time trotting standard, first established 29 years ago, was also equalled. The two-year-old who went the monster mile was Venier Hanover, the Well Said-Valmctorian gelding who went fractions of :29.3, :59.2, and 1:29.3 en route to completing his mile in 2:00.1, a clocking which knocked two-fifths of a second off of the 2013 effort of the sophomore filly Shesalilfireball, and also annihilated the tracks former two-year-old pacing colt mark of 2:03 (Twilight Artist, 2010). Dave Brickell, also the trainer and co-owner of the wunderkind with Mitchell York, was as usual in the sulky, with Venier Hanover garnering his fifth track record at the fairs). Venier Hanovers record at the fairs is now 9-8-1-0, and overall he has 10 victories, second in North America among freshmen to the undefeated Ohio baby Carmensdaleyapple, who has 12. Trainer Ron Burke, who has dominated the North American statistical training scene over the last few years, has found a new world to conquer his home states county fairs and two of his charges were the sophomores who tied all-age track records at Wattsburg on Wednesday. Midway Island had made his fair debut last week by rewriting the Meadville all-age standard to 1:58, and this week he tied Venier Hanovers 2:00.1 local record. Chris Shaw handled Midway Island, an altered son of Somebeachsomewhere, in a mile with fractions of :30.1, 1:01.2, and 1:31.1, with a sprint home in :29 to get a tie on the top line of the pacing column, as well as reduce the local three-year-old pacing colt record of 2:01 previously first set by Straight Character in 2010 and then equalled by Royaltyhasarrived five years later. Burke Racing Stable, LLC, Weaver Bruscemi, LLC, Knox Services, Inc., and David Wills are the owners of Midway Island, and this quartet also owns the Yankee Glide gelding New Heaven, who equaled the Wattsburg all-age trotting mark of 2:04 first set by Smokey Crown in 1988 and then finally tied by Major Matter last year, and also their shared divisional track record. New Heavens record mile came with fractions of :30, 1:01.2, and 1:32.4, and it left him undefeated after four starts on the fair circuit. Chris Shaw again had the sulky duty for trainer Burke. One other three-year-old worth mentioning is the Dragon Again filly Camera Lady, last years winningest two-year-old in all of North America, and currently on a skein of five wins in her last six starts after a sharp brush down the backstretch put her in front and in position to carry out a 2:03.1 effort. Camera Lady is a stablemate of Venier Hanover, with Dave Brickell training, driving, and co-owning with Mitchell York on this solid pacer as well. Chris Shaw had three wins on Tuesday and then five on Wednesday to make him by far the leading driver, upping his season-long fair lead over Roger Hammer to 53-47 (despite Hammer winning seven races earlier in the week at Indiana, Pa.). Chriss brother Jason conditioned two winners each day to top all Wattsburg trainers, and he narrowed Hammers lead in the conditioners contest to 43-31. Two-year-olds are back in action at Stoneboro on Thursday (August 31), while three-year-olds will get their final start on the western part of the Pennsylvania fair circuit on Monday (September 4). From there, the circuit comes east for its final seasonal stops at York, Gratz, and Bloomsburg. (Pennsylvania Fair Harness Horsemens Association) Three-year-old trotting colts and geldings took centre stage at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Wednesday, August 30, as a pair of $91,550 New York Sire Stakes divisions of the New York Sire Stakes were won by sons of Chapter Seven. Lord Cromwell (Chapter Seven- Oh Oh Its Magic) was moved out to the early lead by driver Jim Morrill Jr. in his split, and the Ed Hart trainee ended up rebuffing a challenge from the favoured Eye Ofa Tiger As (driven by Jason Bartlett) before posting a career best win in 1:54.3. The win time was just one fifth of a second off the all-time track record for three year old trotters. Eye Ofa Tiger As had to settle for second but extended his streak of finishing first or second to eight consecutive starts. Lord Cromwell, victorious at Saratoga on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 (Photo courtesy Melissa Simser-Iovino) Swell Chap (Chapter Seven- Gia) recorded his first NYSS victory on Wednesday, as he went coast-to-coast with Wally Hennessey in the sulky. The Todd Rooney-trained trotter sizzled through a first quarter (:27.3) before backing things down and getting a fairly soft middle half. Swell Chap held strong in the stretch to record his fifth win of the campaign. His win time was 1:55.4. Cresurrey (Credit Winner), part of a Trond Smedshammer-trained entry, wound up as the runner-up to Swell Chap. New York Sire Stakes action will return to Saratoga this coming Saturday night when two-year-old trotting fillies will be in the spotlight. Live racing at Saratoga will continue on Friday night with a first-race post time of 7:05 p.m. (With files from Saratoga) With her win on Tuesday night, Australia's Kerryn Manning is now the most successful horsewoman on the planet. Already the worlds leading female harness racing driver, Manning has won more races than any female of any horse racing code thanks to her victory with Mr Mojito. Kerryn is more than 1,500 wins clear of the next best harness racing driver - Germany's Rita Drees - and has piloted winners in Group One races in Europe (European Grand Circuit event, the Harley Davidson Trot in Norway with Knight Pistol), New Zealand (Arden Rooney in the New Zealand Cup) and Australia (26 Group One victories). Heading to the country venue of Terang tied with American jockey Julie Krone on 3,705 lifetime wins, Manning now owns the record outright after the four-year-old gelding outclassed his rivals in a slick 1:53.9MR over 1,680 metres. Beginning her career as a green 16-year-old, Manning registered her first win with Gorgeous Gambit, which scored at Ararat on May 27, 1993. Since then Manning has been a trailblazer with accolades and records arriving at an amazing rate. Some of Mannings achievements include: First female to win the Victorian Metropolitan and State Drivers Premierships First female to be Australias leading driver First driver to win more than 300 races in a season First dual Vin Knight Medallist Setting the Australian driving record for the quickest century and double century seasons Becoming the youngest driver to win a Group One in Victoria (with files from Harness Racing Australia) In Wittenberg, Vision for 'Church of Tomorrow' is Formed Contact: Media Office , World Council of Churches, +41 79 507 6363 GENEVE, Aug. 31, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- As the 44th conference of the International Ecumenical Fellowship (IEF) came to a close, those gathered departed for their home countries with a vision for "the church of tomorrow" and a renewed commitment to unity. In a closing sermon, Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, reflected that there is much we long for when we envisage the future of the church. "We yearn for a church that will give strength to all those who are weary, who labour and are heavy laden, who want to find rest again in a world which is spinning ever faster," he said. "A church, in which we can perceive something of the joy and lust for life that comes with an awareness of the gifts God grants us every day, and for which we give him thanks and praise." Coming to the table together Conference participants attended a closing service on 27 August entitled "Celebrating Together at the Lord's Table." They celebrated the Eucharist according to the Lima Liturgy, led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. The Lima Liturgy was drawn up by the late French theologian Max Thurian in preparation for the plenary session of the WCC Faith and Order Commission held in Lima in 1982. Over the years, the Lima Liturgy has drawn ecumenical attention to the belief that the final locus for doctrinal convergence is table of the word and the table of the bread and wine. "This celebration and sharing of the Eucharist by so many church families would not be possible when the WCC was founded. Almost 70 years after we continue to harvest the fruits of the ecumenical dialogues and the commitment to unity," said Tveit. "This is a reality even when we are honest about what is still dividing among the church families. We need to nurture the vision of more visible unity. For me as a Lutheran pastor it was particularly meaningful to be doing so in the church in Wittenberg - in front of the altar with the painting of the preaching of Jesus Christ as the centre of our faith and our unity." This particular Lima Liturgy also commemorated 500 years since the start of the Reformation and 50 years since the creation of the IEF. The service was held at Stadtkirche St. Marien zu Wittenberg, and the central liturgical texts were spoken together by Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant worship leaders. Concelebrants were, in addition to Bedford-Strohm and Tveit, Rev. Martin Engels, moderator, Reformed Alliance; Rev. Dr Margriet Gosker, Protestant Church in the Netherlands; Bishop David Hamid, Diocese in Europa of the Anglican Communion; Bishop Jurgen Johannesdotter, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe; Bishop Dr Matthias Ring, Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany; Bishop Volker Schulz, Moravian Church (Herrnhuter Brudergemeine); and Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, Evangelical Methodist Church. Celebrants were Rev. Dr Johannes Block, pastor at St Marien Church; and Bishop Dr Anba Damian, Coptic Orthodox Church. A witness for unity Bedford-Strohm shared a vision of a church that gives a sense of direction in a world where over-simplification, intolerance, nationalism and programmatic egoism find approval: "A church which never ceases to protest against the moral scandal of 24,000 people dying every day because they do not have enough to eat or lack the medicines that they need, although there is sufficient supply of all of these available in the world," he described. "We yearn for a church which in such a world testifies in both word and deed to the love of God, a church which is itself a manifestation of what it talks about." Such a church can never remain as a church in which those who address each other as sisters and brothers still remain separated at the Lord's table, said Bedford-Strohm. "Such a church must at the same time be a witness for unity." There is a hunger for love, he continued: "For being able to accept oneself. For being able to accept others and to live in relationship with them. For not having the person whom I love say about me: money-back guarantee if not satisfied," he said. "Jesus is the bread of life, because his love is a radical love, which does not stop at any of the borders that we erect, a love that even includes our enemies." Bedford-Strohm also spoke of a hunger for forgiveness, for mercy, for community, for hope - and of Jesus as the bread of life. "He satisfies our hunger for love, our hunger for forgiveness, our hunger for mercy, our hunger for community, our hunger for hope," he said. "And he gives us himself today, when we break bread with one another and share the wine with one another." As those gathered celebrated the Lord's Supper in the framework of the Lima Liturgy, Bedford-Strohm acknowledged that not everyone saw themselves in the position of being able to take part. "But we can still send out a symbolic message," he noted. "As the representatives of many Christian churches we can still celebrate this service together." The theme of the IEF conference, held 21-28 August, was "From the True Treasure of the Churches Discovering the Gospel Together." The assembly released a "Declaration of Wittenberg: We walk towards the visible unity of the Church," a statement that challenges people to transform a painful history of conflict and indifference into a journey of reconciliation and unity. "An extraordinary chance" for hope, Tveit reflects in Wittenberg (WCC press release 25 August, 2017) Wittenberger Okumenische Versammlung 2017 Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace 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. At least 350 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines (an Azerbaijani state-run company) flights transported weapons for war conflicts across the world over the last 3 years. The state aircrafts of Azerbaijan carried on-board tens of tons of heavy weapons and ammunition headed to terrorists under the cover of diplomatic flights. Documents implicating Silk Way Airlines in arms supplies were sent to me by an anonymous twitter account Anonymous Bulgaria. The leaked files include correspondence between the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Bulgaria with attached documents for weapons deals and diplomatic clearance for overflight and/or landing in Bulgaria and many other European countries, USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, to name a few. According to these documents, Silk Way Airlines offered diplomatic flights to private companies and arms manufacturers from the US, Balkans, and Israel, as well as to the militaries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and the military forces of Germany and Denmark in Afghanistan and of Sweden in Iraq. Diplomatic flights are exempt of checks, air bills, and taxes, meaning that Silk Way airplanes freely transported hundreds of tons of weapons to different locations around the world without regulation. They made technical landings with stays varying from a few hours to up to a day in intermediary locations without any logical reasons such as needing to refuel the planes. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations, operators, transporting dangerous goods forbidden for transportation by air by civil aircrafts, must apply for exemption for transportation of dangerous goods by air. According to the documents, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has sent instructions to its embassies in Bulgaria and many other European countries to request diplomatic clearance for Silk Way Airlines flights. The embassies sent diplomatic notes to the Foreign Ministry of the relevant country to request such exemption. The Foreign Ministry sent back a note signed by the local civil aviation authorities giving exemption for the transportation of dangerous goods. The requests for diplomatic clearance included information about the type and quantity of the dangerous goods heavy weapons and ammunition. However, the responsible authorities of many countries (Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Germany, UK, Greece, etc.) have turned a blind eye and allowed diplomatic flights for the transport of tons of weapons, carried out by civil aircrafts for military needs. Under IATA regulations, the transport of military cargo by civil aircrafts is not allowed. To get around this legality, Silk Way Airlines applied for diplomatic exemption through local agencies. U.S. sends $1 billion worth of weapons Among the main customers of the diplomatic flights for weapons service provided by Silk Way Airlines are American companies, which supply weapons to the US army and US Special Operations Command. The common element in these cases is that they all supply non-US standard weapons; hence, the weapons are not used by the US forces. According to the register of federal contracts, over the last 3 years American companies were awarded $1 billion contracts in total under a special US government program for non-US standard weapon supplies. All of them used Silk Way Airlines for the transport of weapons. In some cases when Silk Way was short of aircrafts due to a busy schedule, Azerbaijan Air Force aircrafts transported the military cargo, although the weapons never reached Azerbaijan. The documents leaked from the Embassy include shocking examples of weapon transport. A case in point: on 12th May 2015 an aircraft of Azerbaijan Air Forces carried 7,9 tons of PG-7V and 10 tons of PG-9V to the supposed destination via the route Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas-Nasosny (Azerbaijan). The consignor was the American company Purple Shovel, and the consignee the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. According to the documents, however, the military cargo was offloaded at Incirlik military base and never reached the consignee. The weapons were sold to Purple Shovel by Alguns, Bulgaria, and manufactured by Bulgarias VMZ military plant. The documents leaked from the Embassy include shocking examples of weapon transport. A case in point: on 12th May 2015 an aircraft of Azerbaijan Air Forces carried 7,9 tons of PG-7V and 10 tons of PG-9V to the supposed destination via the route Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas-Nasosny (Azerbaijan). The consignor was the American company Purple Shovel, and the consignee the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. According to the documents, however, the military cargo was offloaded at Incirlik military base and never reached the consignee. The weapons were sold to Purple Shovel by Alguns, Bulgaria, and manufactured by Bulgarias VMZ military plant. According to the federal contracts registry, in December of 2014 USSOCOM signed a $26.7 million contract with Purple Shovel. Bulgaria was indicated as the country of origin of the weapons. According to the federal contracts registry, in December of 2014 USSOCOM signed a $26.7 million contract with Purple Shovel. Bulgaria was indicated as the country of origin of the weapons. On 6th June 2015, a 41-year old American national Francis Norvello, an employee of Purple Shovel, was killed in a blast when a rocket-propelled grenade malfunctioned at a military range near the village of Anevo in Bulgaria. Two other Americans and two Bulgarians were also injured. The US Embassy to Bulgaria then released a statement announcing that the U.S. government contractors were working on a U.S. military program to train and equip moderate rebels in Syria. Which resulted in the U.S. Ambassador in Sofia to be immediately withdrawn from her post. The very same weapons as those supplied by Purple Shovel were not used by moderate rebels in Syria. In December of last year while reporting on the battle of Aleppo as a correspondent for Bulgarian media I found and filmed 9 underground warehouses full of heavy weapons with Bulgaria as their country of origin. They were used by Al Nusra Front (Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria designated as a terrorist organization by the UN). Another U.S. contractor involved in the same program for non-US standard military supplies is Orbital ATK. This company received $250 million over just the past two years. Information as to what type of weapons and to whom those weapons were supplied is classified. According to the documents, Orbital ATK transported weapons on 6 diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights in July and August of 2015 flying the route Baku (Azerbaijan)-Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-Baku-Kabul (Afghanistan). The weapons were exported by IGMAN j.j. Konjic, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) commissioned by Orbital ATK. The consignee was the National Police of Afghanistan. Interestingly, all these diplomatic flights with weapons had technical landings and a 7 h 30 min stop at Baku before their final destination Afghanistan. Military aircrafts of Azerbaijan transported 282 tons of cargo (PG-7VL and other grenades) on 10 diplomatic flights in April and May 2017 to the destination Baku-Rijeka (Croatia)-Baku. The consignor was the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, and the consignee Culmen International LLC, USA. This same company has been awarded two contracts ($47 million each) along with other contractors for non-US standard weapon supplies on 18 February 2016 and 19 April 2017 respectively. Culmen International LLC has also signed a $26.7 million contract for foreign weapons with the Department of Defense and a $3.9 million contract for newly manufactured non-US standard weapons. Chemring Military Products is another main contractor in the program for non-US standard weapon supplies to the US army through diplomatic Silk Way Airlines flights. This military supplier has 4 contracts for $302.8 million in total. The weapons were purchased from local manufacturers in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania and according to documents transported to Iraq and Afghanistan via diplomatic flights. One of those flights in particular, on 18 October 2016, carrying 15.5 tons of 122 mm rockets bought by Chemring in Belgrade, Serbia, was diverted from its destination Kabul, and instead landed in Lahore, Pakistan. After a 2-hour stop, the aircraft took off to Afghanistan. The only possible explanation for the extension of the flight by a thousand kilometers is offloading in Pakistan, even though documents stated that the cargo was destined for Afghanistan. The largest non-US standard weapons supplier to the US army is Alliant Techsystems Operations-USA with contracts totalling $490.4 million. In December of 2016, this company transported tons of grenades (API 23115 mm, HE 23115 mm, GSH 23115 mm) from Yugoimport, Serbia to the Afghani Defense Ministry on diplomatic flights to the destination Baku-Belgrade-Kabul. The largest non-US standard weapons supplier to the US army is Alliant Techsystems Operations-USA with contracts totalling $490.4 million. In December of 2016, this company transported tons of grenades (API 23115 mm, HE 23115 mm, GSH 23115 mm) from Yugoimport, Serbia to the Afghani Defense Ministry on diplomatic flights to the destination Baku-Belgrade-Kabul. Saudi Arabia sponsor and arms distributor Besides the USA, another country that has purchased huge quantities of Eastern-European weapons and exported them on Silk Way Airlines diplomatic flights is Saudi Arabia. In 2016 and 2017, there were 23 diplomatic flights carrying weapons from Bulgaria, Serbia and Azerbaijan to Jeddah and Riyadh. The consignees were VMZ military plant and Transmobile from Bulgaria, Yugoimport from Serbia, and CIHAZ from Azerbaijan. The Kingdom does not buy those weapons for itself, as the Saudi army uses only western weapons and those weapons are not compatible with its military standard. Therefore, the weapons transported on diplomatic flights end up in the hands of the terrorist militants in Syria and Yemen that Saudi Arabia officially admits supporting. The Arab Kingdom also distributes military cargo to South Africa a region plagued by wars over the control of the wealth in gold and diamonds found in African countries. On 28 April and 12 May this year, Silk Way carried out two diplomatic flights from Baku to Burgas-Jeddah-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo). The military cargo on-board of both flights was paid for by Saudi Arabia, according to the documents leaked from Azerbaijans Embassy to Bulgarian sources. The aircraft made a technical landing at Jeddah airport with a 12 h 30 min stop for the first flight and 14 h stop for the second one. The aircraft was loaded with mortars and anti-tank grenades including SPG-9 and GP-25. These very same weapons were discovered by the Iraqi army a month ago in an Islamic State warehouse in Mosul. Islamic State jihadists are also seen using those heavy weapons in propaganda videos posted online by the terrorist group. Interestingly, the consignee on the transport documents, however, is the Republican Guards of Congo. Coyote machine gun 12,7108 mm appeared in videos and photos posted online by militant groups in Idlib and the province of Hama in Syria. The same type of weapon was transported on a diplomatic flight via Turkey and Saudi Arabia a few months earlier. In February and March of 2017, Saudi Arabia received 350 tons of weapons on Silk Way diplomatic flights flying to the route Baku-Belgrade-Prince Sultan-Baku. The cargo included 27 350 psc. 128-mm Plamen-a rockets and 10 000 pcs. 122 mm Grad rockets. The consignor was Tehnoremont Temerin, Serbia to order by Famway Investment LTD, Cypruss. On 5 March 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft carried 1700 pcs. RPG-7 (consignor: Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan) and 2500 pcs. PG-7VM (consignor: Transmobil Ltd., Bulgaria) for the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic flights from Burgas Airport to Prince Sultan Airport on 18 and 28 February 2017 each carried a further 5080 psc. 40 mm PG-7V for RPG-7 and 24 978 psc. RGD-5. The weapons were exported by Transmobile, Bulgaria to the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Such munitions and RPG-7 originating in Bulgaria can often be seen in videos filmed and posted by the Islamic State on their propaganda channels. UAE is another Arab country that has purchased Eastern European weapons which are not compatible with its military standards and were apparently re-supplied to a third party. On three flights to Burgas-Abu Dhabi-Swaihan in March and April of 2017, Silk Way transported 10.8 tons of PG7VM HEAT for 40 mm RPG-7 on each flight with technical landing and a 2-hour stop in Abu Dhabi. The exporter is Samel-90, Bulgaria, the importer Al Tuff International Company LLC. The latter company is involved with Orbital ATK LLC, which is the Middle East subsidiary of the American military company Orbital ATK. Although the ultimate consignee is the UAE army, the documents of the flight reveal that the sponsoring party is Saudi Arabia. Cash Payments On 26 February 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft took off from Baku and landed in UAE, where it loaded two armored vehicles and one Lexus car. The request for diplomatic clearance indicated the payment as cash US dollars. The aircraft landed in North Sudan and, the next day, in the Republic of Congo. The exporter was Safe Cage Armour Works FZ LLC, U and the receiving party was the Republican Guards of Congo. The sponsoring party, however, was Saudi Arabia. On 26 February 2016, an Azerbaijan Air Force aircraft took off from Baku and landed in UAE, where it loaded two armored vehicles and one Lexus car. The request for diplomatic clearance indicated the payment as cash US dollars. The aircraft landed in North Sudan and, the next day, in the Republic of Congo. The exporter was Safe Cage Armour Works FZ LLC, U and the receiving party was the Republican Guards of Congo. The sponsoring party, however, was Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic Flights carry deadly white phosphorus White Phosphorus is an incendiary weapon whose use is very controversial due to the deadly harms it can inflict. On 31 March 2015, Silk Way transported 26 tons of military cargo including white phosphorus from Serbia (exporter: Yugoimport) and 63 tons from Bulgaria (exporter: Arsenal). On 22 March, another 100 tons of white phosphorus were exported from Yugoimport, Belgrade to Kabul. No contract is attached to the documents of those flights. On 2 May 2015, a Silk Way aircraft loaded 17 tons of ammunition, including white phosphorus, at Burgas airport. The exporter was Dunarit, Bulgaria. The aircraft made a technical landing and a 4-hour stop at Baku before reaching its final destination Kabul. The consignee was the Afghani police. No contract is attached as proof. Baku international hub for weapons Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense was repeatedly the consignee of weapons which it actually did not receive. On 6 May 2015, an Azerbaijani military aircraft flew to Burgas (Bulgaria)-Incirlik (Turkey)-Burgas. It carried aviation equipment from Bulgaria to Turkey with the consigner: EMCO LTD, Sofia, and consignee Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. However, the cargo was offloaded in Turkey and never reached Azerbaijan. Some of the weapons that Azerbaijan carries on diplomatic flights were used by its military in Nagorno-Karabakh against Armenia. In 2016, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of using white phosphorus. Armenia denied the allegations and in turn accused Azerbaijan of fabrication, as the only piece of evidence was based on a single unexploded grenade found by Azerbaijans soldiers. According to the documents from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Sofia, white phosphorus munitions were carried on a diplomatic flight via Baku the previous year. Baku plays the role of an international hub for weapons. Many of the flights make technical landings with stops of a few hours at Baku airport or other intermediary airports en-route to their final destinations. Moreover, these types of aircrafts flying to the same destinations do not typically make technical landings. Therefore, a landing for refueling is not actually required. Despite this, Silk Way aircrafts constantly made technical landings. A case in point: in December of 2015 Silk Way carried out 14 flights with 40 tons of weapons on each flight to the destination Ostrava (the Czech Republic)-Ovda (Israel)-Nososny (Azerbaijan). The exporter is not mentioned in the documents while the receiver is consistently the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. Strangely, the aircraft diverted and landed at Ovda airport (a military base in Southern Israel), where it remained for 2 hours. In 2017, there were 5 flights from Nish (Serbia) via Ovda (Israel) to Nasosny (Azerbaijan). Each flight carried 44 tons of cargo SPG Howitzer, RM-70/85. The consignor is MSM Martin, Serbia, the consignee: Elbit Systems, Israel, and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. All aircrafts landed in Israel and stayed for 2 hours en-route to Azerbaijan. The same Israeli company Elbit Systems on a flight from Barno (the Czech Republic) via Tel Aviv (Israel) to Bratislava (Slovakia) re-exported armored vehicles (TATRA T-815 VP31, TATRA T-815 VPR9). They were sent by Real Trade, Prague to Elbit Systems. The ultimate consignee, however, was the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The aircraft landed in Tel Aviv and then in Bratislava, where the cargo was imported by another company MSM Martin, Slovakia. It is not clear why the plane flew from Europe to Asia and then back to Europe with the same cargo on-board. Ultimately, it did not reach its final destination Azerbaijan. This type of aircraft, IL 76TD, can carry cargo of up to 50 tons. This one carried only 30 tons according to the documentation provided. Therefore, it could carry additional cargo of 20 tons. Since the flight was diplomatic, it was not subjected to inspection. A military coup after a diplomatic flight to Burkina Faso Some diplomatic flights carry weapons for different conflict zones crossing Europe, Asia and Africa. Such is the case with two Azerbaijan Air Forces flights to the destination Baku-Belgrade-Jeddah-Brazzaville-Burkina Faso on 30 August and 5 September 2015. The consignors were CIHAZ, Azerbaijan, and Yugoimport, Serbia. The consignee was the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Congo. The aircraft made two technical landings in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The 41.2-ton cargo from Baku and Belgrade included: 7, 62 mm cartridges, 12 pcs. sniper rifles, 25 pcs. 12 Black Spear calibre 12,7108 mm, 25 psc. RBG 4046 mm/6M11, and 25 pcs. Coyote machine gun 12,7108 mm with tripods. The same heavy machine gun appeared in videos and photos posted online by militant groups in Idlib and the province of Hama in Syria a few months later. The aircraft also carried: 1999 psc. M70B1 7,6239 mm and 25 psc. 69 82 . On 26 February 2016, a video featuring the same 69 82 mm weapons was posted to Youtube by a militant group calling itself Division 13 and fighting north of Aleppo. Interestingly, the aircraft that carried the same type of weapons landed in Diyarbakir (Turkey), 235 km away from the border with Syria. Another type of weapon, RBG 40 mm/6M11, which was from the same flight and supposedly destined for Congo too, appeared in a video of the Islamic Brigade of Al Safwa in Northern Aleppo. Interestingly, the aircraft that carried the same type of weapons landed in Diyarbakir (Turkey), 235 km away from the border with Syria. Another type of weapon, RBG 40 mm/6M11, which was from the same flight and supposedly destined for Congo too, appeared in a video of the Islamic Brigade of Al Safwa in Northern Aleppo. After Turkey, the aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia and remained there for a day. Afterwards it landed in Congo and Burkina Faso. A week later, there was an attempted military coup in Burkina Faso. 300 tons of RPG-s, machine guns and ammunition for the Kurds In March of 2017, over 300 tons of weapons were allegedly sent to the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in Northern Syria. Six diplomatic flights transported 43 tons of grenades on each flight from VMZ Military Plant, Bulgaria, to the Defense Ministry of Iraq. There are no contracts applied, however. On 28 March, 82 tons of cargo (AKM 7,6239 mm and AG-7) were sent from Otopeni (Romania) to Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan). The consignor was Romtechnica S.A., the consignee again the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad. No contracts are provided for this flight either. On 16 March 2016, yet another Silk Way diplomatic flight carried 40 tons of military cargo from Slovenia to Erbil: the exporter is ELDON S.R.O., Slovakia, the importer Wide City Ltd. Co, Erbil, the final consignee the government of Kurdistan. Wide City Ltd. Co has three offices in Limassol (Cyprus), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Erbil. The office of the Bulgarian company Techno Defence Ltd is at the address in Sofia. On the website of the company, the owner of Techno Defense Ltd Hair Al Ahmed Saleh claims that he has an office in Erbil and that his company manufactures Zagros weapons in Azerbaijan (K15 zagros, 919 mm and automatic K16 zagros). These types of Zagros weapons appeared in propaganda footage posted by the military wing of the Kurdish PKK party, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev is also an ethnical Kurd. I reached out to all sides concerned involving my investigation. However, I have not received any comment. SEE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJzOg_qcAj4 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. Iran is already well on its way to controlling Iraq, Yemen and to a large extent is already in practice in control of Lebanon, Reuters We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel. Reuters quoted Netanyahu as saying. Israel opposes Irans 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, 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. said Netanyahu, as quoted by Haaretz. I made it clear to Putin that Irans 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 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 Irans smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah. 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 March, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Moscow,, 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. Putin has not publicly responded to Netanyahus comments about Iran, which Moscow considers a partner in maintaining the de-escalation zones in Syria. However, on Tuesday Russias ambassador to Israel Alexander Petrovich Shein said that it will keep Israeli interests in mind when dealing with Syria. We take the Israeli interests in Syria into account, Shein told Channel One television. Were it up to Russia, the foreign forces would not stay. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov particularly At the same time, Russia repeatedly emphasized the importance of the role that Iran plays in Syria. The Russianparticularly praised the trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran, and Turkey as the most effective way of resolving the Syrian crisis, adding that the Russia-Iran-Turkey troika has proven with actual deeds that it is in demand. After the Sochi meeting, Netanyahu flew back to Israel, where he is due to sit down with US President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. In response to the crisis of opioid use among pregnant patients, PeaceHealth St. John is establishing a first-of-its kind hotline for health care providers in Cowlitz County. The new program will be administered by Youth & Family Link, which will employ four full-time staff to take calls from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The hotline is intended for use by medical professionals who are seeking to direct addicted patients to places where they can get help. Organizers are not publishing the number to avoid overloading the staff as the program launches. Link Executive Director Steve Watters said the hotline will primarily help drug-affected pregnant women. Watters said the program could serve an estimated 400 women in the community. Nearly 50 percent of women who give birth in Cowlitz County have a substance abuse problem, The Daily News reported earlier this month. Opioids are a disaster of catastrophic proportions, said Dr. Phyllis Cavens, who has been a pediatrician in Longview for 40 years. Now when you work in the newborn nursery, the number of women who say theyve used drugs during the pregnancy is just amazing, she said. Cavens was present at Wednesdays event announcing that the hotline is up and running. Additionally, pediatricians can use the hotline to make referrals for any child or mother they feel is at risk, Watters said. People can also call for more general medical, dental or behavioral health needs. The overarching idea is to make sure that every child has health insurance, an identified pediatrician and that they get a child wellness exam that directs what services they need, Watters said. We want to engage those who are disengaged and really need the services, Watters said. If we dont get them involved in care, theyre not going to go away. Theyre just going to end up in different parts of our system, he said. According to the programs organizers, Link was identified as a natural fit because the organization already has mobile staff who help connect people to services. When a provider calls about a new mother with a baby suffering from withdrawal symptoms, Link can dispatch a community health worker to meet the mother within an hour, Watters said. Link staff can also help patients follow through on their care plans and help homeless mothers find a place to live, he said. The Child and Adolescent Clinic, Family Health Center and Happy Kids Dentistry are also participants in the program, while St. John Executive Director Cathy Barr stressed that the hotline is open to any community health care provider. Anyone can call, she said. We want these kids healthy and ready to learn. The program grew out of a 20-group task force that met over the course of three years, Barr said. The $240,000 program will be paid for equally through a partnership between The Health Care Foundation and PeaceHealth. As a non-profit hospital system, PeaceHealth is required to reinvest profits back into the community to maintain its tax-exempt status. Link is also contributing $73,000 which includes operational oversight, work space and all technologies related to the program. St. John Community Health Board Chairman Brian Magnuson said the hotline is also part of the hospitals push to focus on population health. Population health involves delivering preventive health care services to people outside of a traditional hospital setting. Were looking at a hospital differently, he said. Population health is really taking the hospital out into the community. An effort to turn the old Weyerhaeuser Co. Woods Railroad into a trail linking Longview to Toutle has hit a speed bump. Weyerhaeuser, which still owns the land along the abandoned line, says it wont allow the route to be turned into a rails to trails project for safety reasons. Spokesman Anthony Chavez said the timber company works too closely to the rails to make them suitable for a biking or hiking path. At this point, we have a diverse age class of timberland along those 22 miles, so at any given day there could be operational activity, he said. Its just not compatible with having a trail against those timberlands. Florida-based Patriot Rail LLC purchased the 30-mile railroad from Weyerhaeuser in 2010. However, Weyerhaeuser retained ownership of the land under them in the upper 22 miles from Ostrander to Toutle and a 1.5-mile stretch at the Longview mill site. Patriot owns the 7-mile portion that winds through Longview, crosses the Cowlitz River and ends in Ostrander. When Patriot abandoned the line in 2015, it sparked talk about turning the old line into a rails to trails project. Cowlitz County Building and Planning Director Elaine Placido said shes aware of Weyerhaeusers opposition to the trail, but she did note that negotiations havent officially begun yet. On Aug. 11, Patriot sent an abandonment filing to the Surface Transportation Board, according to Placido, letting the county know it is officially giving up the rails. Building and Planning then filed a notice of interim trail use, which states that the county will be willing to assume financial responsibility in developing the trail. Now, the county has to negotiate with Patriot Rail for its portion of the line. Placido said her department has been constantly in touch with Patriot Rail, and the Jacksonville, Florida-based company should be willing to talk. Patriot did not return multiple calls for comment. Placido warned that the process could take a while. Were so far at the beginning, theres no way to tell (how long the process will take), Placido said. Some rails-to-trails projects take years to complete. I think after we get started on negotiations, well have a better idea of how long the acquisition process will take. Then we need to build up a group thats interested in championing the process. So we probably have years. She also said she has absolutely no estimate of how much money the entire project will cost. However, she suggested that non-profit groups, the parks board, trails groups and other organizations could help raise money for the trail. Its unlikely the county could finance the project without grants and outside assistance. Its had little recreation money to spend in recent years, prompting its decision to give Willow Grove Park to the Port of Longview. Placido also pointed out that within 50 days of the abandonment filing, if another railroad is interested in the abandoned railway, that company can submit an offer to purchase the line, and it would trump any rails to trails project. Placido said the project is a stellar idea. Theres lots of trails, but a trail that links the urban areas into the rural areas is unique and different, she said. Theres people that look for those rails-to-trails projects and see them. Its just another draw for Cowlitz County. In Lewis County, Washington State Parks is halfway finished with a similar rails-to-trails project: Willapa Hills Trail. According to Brian Yearout, the construction project coordinator for Washington State Parks, the Willapa Trails price tag is around $12 million so far, mostly from state grants. The trail currently goes 26 miles from from Chehalis westward to the Lewis County line. The eventual trail end will be at Raymond in Pacific County. Pierce Countys rails-to-trails project, the Foothills Trail, has been under development since 1989 and currently runs 15 miles from Puyallup through Orting to the tiny community of South Prairie. Buzz Grant, the president of the Foothills Rails To Trails Coalition, said although the project has been expensive nearly $1 million per mile he said that the steep cost is worth the numerous benefits of a large paved trail. You go out on a trail on a certain day and see the people out there, and theres lots out there. I remember, many years ago, calling a friend of mine and saying, Weve got trail gridlock out here. Theres so many people on this trail. CATHLAMET Betsy Whisenhunt doesnt like boats, but her 13-year-old daughter Aly does. On Wednesday, Aly got to go for a boat ride and try out a brand new, pink fishing pole at Cathlamets third annual Warriors and Widows Salmon Derby. The two-day derby welcomes and celebrates Gold Star military families, veterans and emergency personnel. My daughter and I love coming down here (to Cathlamet), Gold Star widow Whisenhunt said. The welcome the town gives us makes her feel special. The derby kicked off at 10 a.m. Wednesday with 27 boats and about 50 participants cruising the Columbia River in search of salmon. But the derby is about much more than just catching fish. Korean War veteran and Cathlamet resident Bud Mickelsen started the event after past successes with a sturgeon derby helped raised money for local high schools. Were a close-knit community and we always want to give back, Mickelsen said. Its a small community coming together and doing something good for good people (service members) have been through a lot and its our way of saying thanks. Whisenhunt and her friend, Melanie Anderson, both 36, met at a support group for military widows. They said that events like the Warriors and Widows derby brings together people with similar experiences who can relate to one another. They get you when youre having a bad day for no reason, said Anderson, whose 10-year-old son enjoys fishing. Having any of these groups out here that provide events for Gold Star families and veterans is such a huge opportunity, Whisenhunt added. It is an honor that they include us. Ryan Caldwell of Got Your 6 Fishing, an organization that provides free outdoor recreational opportunities for active duty military and veterans, said community events help form a support system for military members. Its therapeutic, the Purple Heart recipient said. (The derby) is an interaction with the community to show their appreciation and for the community to say thanks it takes (the veterans and servicemen) out of the norm to a place where they can open up and have a good time. Last years event was featured in the Veterans of Foreign Wars national magazine. Since then, Mickelsen said he was pleased to hear from other communities around the country that want to replicate the program. The fisherman or -woman who catches the largest salmon, along with the boats skipper, will receive a Western-style sterling silver belt buckle. Mickelsen said he has seen past winners wearing the belt buckle with pride. He added that they are also giving away about $4,000 in fishing equipment and prizes to everyone that participated. Event coordinator Sherrill Bollen, who was raised in a military family and whose daughter is now a military spouse, said everything was provided for the participants: Local community members and fishermen volunteered their boats, fishing equipment and fresh salmon for dinner. Volunteers from local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters also attended the event. Boats from as far away as Toutle came for the competition, according to VFW District 16 Commander Donn Dale. This is one of the greatest things that ever got started in Cathlamet and the entire area, Dale said. Its so good for participants to get out away from everyday duties and responsibilities. Warm tides have made the fishing season difficult this year, and few were biting midday Wednesday, but the fishing will continue through Thursday. Competition aside, Mickelsen said Warriors and Widows was all about enjoying time together. I dont think you can do too much when you look at what (service members and families) have been through, he said. Life is a pleasure. The purpose of life is seeing people smile and have a good time. .. Its been a blast being with these people. Editors note: Todays editorials originally appeared in The Columbian and The Olympian. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News. House Speaker Paul Ryans visit to the Boeing plant in Everett last week contained plenty of ideology, politicking, and lobbying for Republican efforts to reconfigure the U.S. tax code. But it was woefully short on facts a situation that should play a role in the upcoming congressional discussion about how much American corporations pay to the government. For Boeing, we are taxing this business, these planes, your jobs in this country at a much higher rate than our foreign competitors tax theirs, said Ryan, R-Wis. You know what the tax rate here is? Thirty-five percent. Im just in awe that in spite of all that, youre still doing so well. The awe actually should be over Ryans selective use of facts. As Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times reported: Not only is Boeing gushing cash, but its own financial documents show it has actually paid an average federal income tax of just 3.2 percent of profits over the past 15 years. Thats less than one-tenth the figure Ryan cited. Westneat also quoted Matt Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy as saying, The question with Boeing isnt whether high taxes are hurting them, because thats ludicrous on the face of it. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, have taken aim upon the United States allegedly exorbitant corporate tax rate, turning it into a trope that requires more examination than they are willing to provide. According to NPR fact-checkers, the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent is, indeed, the highest among industrialized nations. But because of a broad swath of loopholes and tax breaks, few American companies pay that percentage. American corporations typically pay taxes at a rate of 18.6 percent. As Gardner told The Seattle Times: Corporate profits are gangbusters right now. Corporate taxes as a share of the economy are, in the past 10 years, as low as theyve ever been. One study of 258 profitable Fortune 500 companies found that 18 of them have paid no corporate taxes over the past eight years, despite profits of $177 billion. Boeing, one of the 10 largest manufacturing companies in the United States in terms of revenue, has become symbolic of how corporations lobby for lower tax rates in order to boost profits and benefit stockholders. In 2013, the Legislature approved a 16-year tax break expected to save the company $8.7 billion in exchange for assembling the 777X in the state. Almost immediately, Boeing began shedding other jobs from its Washington operations, adhering to the letter of the law if not the spirit. Since then, the company has removed more than 12,000 jobs from its workforce in the state, but in 2015 and 2016, the tax breaks saved the company a total of $547 million in state taxes. Meanwhile, Boeings stock prices have increased 50 percent this year. Boeing remains the largest private employer in Washington and provides numerous benefits to the economy. In addition to its facilities, it supports hundreds of suppliers throughout the state that help make the Northwest a hub of the high-tech aerospace industry. And while Boeing is essential to the Washington economy, it is incongruous for Ryan to point to the company while making the case that corporate taxes are harming U.S. businesses. Republicans want to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. In pursuing that goal, congressional leaders should employ facts rather than misleading rhetoric. Penned salmon spill needs closer look Last weeks escape of as many as 185,000 penned Atlantic salmon into the waters of Puget Sound could have been handled better. The Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, which owns the mangled fish pen near Cypress Island, was not forthright about the cause or size of the Aug. 19 spill. Company spokesmen initially estimated closer to 5,000 fish escaped, and the firm was too quick to blame the pen breakage on high tides related to the solar eclipse. The real cause, however, remains under investigation by experts from three state natural resources agencies that formed a command center near Anacortes. Cooke and its insurers also are reportedly investigating. Meanwhile, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a halt to new fish-pen permits issued by the Washington state Department of Ecology until a thorough investigation of this incident is completed. The moratorium on permits and new marine leases for fish pens is a prudent call at least until state experts get a good handle on what happened and how this kind of release can be prevented. Washington is one of the nations top producers of net-pen-raised fin fish. Cooke Aquaculture operates eight net-pen facilities in state waters, and it has a proposal to relocate and expand one operation in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, according to Ecology spokeswoman Jessie Payne. Cooke also has an upland fish farm near Rochester. Some of Cookes escaped fish were found as far south as Hood Canal, and Canadian fisheries were monitoring their waters to the north for impacts. Atlantic salmon are non-native fish and may compete with native runs that are already under stress for survival. Tribal representatives have expressed worry that the Atlantic species will eat up smaller food fish needed by native salmon, or even eat juvenile salmon in the Sound. By Monday, the Lummi tribe near Bellingham reported capturing some 200,000 pounds of renegade fish. That amounts to about 20,000 individual Atlantic salmon averaging 10 pounds. State Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Cori Simmons said 120,000 fish also were recovered in the pens but that up to 185,000 might have gotten loose. Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish tribe, called for a closure of the salmon-pen industry in Puget Sound. Investigators should help determine whether closures or other regulatory steps are needed to ensure safer operation of net-pen operations. Though there is some dispute about the extent of impact that nonnative fish have on native salmon, it is foolish to take big risks with native fish that our state and federal governments are spending millions to save from extinction. Given the wider concerns about intruder species in our marine environments, most of the burden for proving the safety of Atlantic salmon farming must fall on industry. About me I'm Avi Green From Jerusalem, Israel I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best. My profile Archives - Archives - July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 Harvey moves inland, leaves trail of destruction in Texas Local residents wade through flooded streets after Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Crosby, Texas on Wednesday. Reuters, Lake Charles : Tropical Depression Harvey weakened as it moved inland over Louisiana on Thursday, leaving behind record flooding that drove tens of thousands from their homes in Texas, with the death toll rising as bodies were found in receding waters. The storm that paralyzed Houston is predicted to be one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history and presents the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump with massive humanitarian and rebuilding challenges. (GRAPHIC: Storms in the North Atlantic - http://tmsnrt.rs/2gcckz5) The storm has killed at least 35 people and forced 32,000 people into shelters since coming ashore on Friday near Rockport, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico Coast as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in half a century. The Houston Fire Department will begin a block-by-block effort on Thursday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann told reporters. On Thursday Harvey is forecast to move northeast through Louisiana into Mississippi, dumping 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Flood watches and warnings extend from the Texas-Louisiana coast into Kentucky. "Our whole city is underwater," said Port Arthur, Texas, Mayor Derrick Foreman in a social media post where he also broadcast live video of floodwaters filling his home in the city of 55,000 people, about 100 miles (160 km) east of Houston. Nearly 30 inches of rain hit the Port Arthur area, the National Weather Service said. Beaumont, near Port Arthur, said it had lost its water supply due to flood damage to its main pumping station and residents in the city of about 120,000 people would lose water pressure from Thursday morning. Fort Bend County ordered a mandatory evacuation on Thursday for areas near the Barker Reservoir, which was threatening to flood. The reservoir is about 20 miles west from Houston. The county did not say how many people would be affected by the evacuation order. Clear skies in Houston on Wednesday brought relief to the energy hub and fourth-largest U.S. city after five days of catastrophic downpours. The first flight out of Houston since the storm hit boarded on Wednesday evening. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hoped the port of Houston, one of the nation's busiest, would reopen soon. The latest reported deaths on Wednesday included a married couple who drowned while driving through high water near Simonton, Texas, Major Chad Norvell of the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter. Police in Harris County, home to Houston, said 17 people remained missing. Nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana and Texas were without power on Thursday, utilities reported. NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS Another threat was the possible explosion of a flood-hit chemical plant in Crosby, 30 miles northeast of Houston. Arkema SA, which ordered an evacuation on Tuesday of residents within a 1.5-mile radius of its plant, expects chemicals to catch fire or explode at the facility in the coming days because of lost power to its cooling systems, a company official said on Wednesday. Flooding shut the nation's largest oil refinery in Port Arthur in the latest hit to U.S. energy infrastructure that has sent gasoline prices climbing and disrupted global fuel supplies. [O/R] Moody's Analytics is estimating the economic cost from Harvey for southeast Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion, ranking it among the costliest storms in U.S. history. At least $23 billion worth of property has been affected by flooding from Harvey just in parts of Texas' Harris and Galveston counties, a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and property data showed. "The worst is not yet over for southeast Texas, as far as the rain is concerned," Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday. He warned residents of storm-hit areas to expect floodwaters to linger for up to a week and said the area affected was larger than that hit by 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in New Orleans, and 2012's Superstorm Sandy, which killed 132 around New York and New Jersey. Houston's metropolitan area, with an economy about as large as Argentina's, has a population of about 6.5 million, far greater than New Orleans' at the time of Katrina. Abbott asked that the federal government spend more on rebuilding Texas' Gulf Coast than it did after the earlier storms. A day after visiting Texas to survey the damage, Trump pledged on Wednesday to stand by the people of Texas and Louisiana. The storm made it less likely Trump would act on his threat to shut the federal government over funding for a border wall with Mexico, Goldman Sachs economists said. They now estimate that probability at 35 percent, down from 50 percent previously. Vice President Mike Pence and several Cabinet secretaries will travel to Texas on Thursday to meet residents affected by the storm as well as local and state officials, Pence's press secretary said. An army of volunteers has turned out to help the thousands of police, National Guard personnel, Coast Guard flood teams and emergency crews to ferry thousands of people stranded in floodwaters to safety. In Port Arthur, major highways in and out of the city were cut off by floods. "We are country people. We are helping each other. We have neighbors coming to the aid of neighbors," Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Captain Crystal Holmes said in a telephone interview. SAIDPUR( Nilphamari) : Md Bazlur Rashid, UNO, providing financial assistance to Ashida Begum of Khatamodhupur Union who earns her livelihood by frying puffed rice for 18 years. Influx of Rohingyas in Port City aimed at collecting Jakat Chittagong Bureau : Fleeing Rohingyas from Myanmar are gathering in port city ahead of Eid-ul- Azha. Many Rohingyas including children and women came here for begging and collecting money of Jakat, according to sources. Salima Khaton, a Rohingya woman along with two children and husband crossed the border and entered Cox's Bazar and later reached the port city. She is running to door to door for Jakat and new cloths for her children in Chittagong just before the Eid-ul- Azha . She said, Rohingya people heard that the people of Chittagong are rich and give huge money and cloths to the poor. So, she came here like many others through the border and trying to collect money. "If anybody supports to stay here, she will live in Chittagong," she said. "Many Rohingyas are living here. I hope some one of them will help her family to live here," she believed. Not only Salima Khaton many other Rohingya people gathered in Chittagong. Many of them are seen in front of markets, many other in the important places in the city. Sources said, huge Rohingyas have crossed the border through illegal process recently. Despite measures of the government, the Rohingyas are crossing the border regularly. Commi-ssioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Iqbal Bahar told the journalists that if the entrance of Rohingya continues, the law and order situation would be deteriorated Despite abundant supply of sacrificial animals in Ctg markets, prices still high Chittagong Bureau : Abundant sacrificial animals from nearby Myanmar , Nepal and India are reaching the cattle markets in the port city. But, sufficient supply of sacrificial animals from the locality in the cattle markets cannot ensure a fair price. Cattle markets in the city and the district have gained momentum with lots of buyers and thousands of sacrificial animals started swarming just a week before Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival for the Muslims. A huge number of sacrificial animals are being brought for sale at different cattle markets in the city including Bibir hat Bazar, Sagorika Bazar, Nurnagar housing society hat, Patenga City Corporation High School premises, Komol Mohajan Hat and Shah Amanat Bridge and Shikolbaha areas. Sources said, hundreds of cattle are entering through border of Myanmar for the upcoming Eid-ul- Azha in last several days. Several hundreds of cattle are coming in the local markets from Myanmar every day. According to the sources, now, sufficient supply of sacrificial animals cannot control the higher prices this year. The buyers of the sacrificial animals have started to buy sacrificial animals from Friday. The cattle traders alleged that the extortion and the threat of the terrorists already took control of the market this year. The cattle traders hoped that huge imported cattle from nearest country would reach within very short time. The prices of the sacrificial animals will come under control following arrival of imported cattle. On the other hand, many temporary cattle markets are seen in the port city. There are many cattle traders who tied their cattle at the lanes or mohallas in the port city and they are selling the cattle to the locals with nominal profits. There are at least 300 such types of centers here and there in the port city. The total demand for cattle in Chittagong is some 7 lakh for sacrificial purposes. Of them, some three lakh cattle are imported from India every year. Some of them were also imported from Myanmar in the local market. The cattle traders said they paid Tk five hundred for each cattle as tax. According to the sources in district administration, the Chittagong dwellers sacrificed a total of 5.40 lakh cattle last year. But, the administration hoped that in the current year the number of sacrificed cattle will be more at least 10 percent of the last year. District Livestock Officer Reazul Haque said, the number of sacrificial cattle will be more than 5.91 lakh during upcoming Eid. "We hope that at least 10 percent will be increased in the current year." Meanwhile, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) took special steps to arrest the extortionists and cadres who are involved with collecting of tolls at the cattle markets in Chittagong. At least two teams of police already been deployed at each cattle market in the port city. The two permanent Cattle haats Pahartoli Sagorika Cattle Market and Bibir Hat Cattle Market leased for one year. Other five temporary Cattle hats were leased for only nine days before the Eid- ul- Azha. The CCC approved the lease of Pahartoli Sagorika Cattle Market and Bibirhat Cattle Market for one year. Around five hundred cattle markets including regular and temporary are organized in the 14 upazila areas in the district before the Eid- ul- Azha. Around 200 regular cattle traders supplied cattle in these haats. Seven CHT municipals fail to ensure proper water supply A Correspondent : The seven municipalities in three hill districts- Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban, have failed to ensure proper water supply to the dwellers. Mayor of Khagrachhari Municipality Md Rafiqul Alam said this in a workshop which was held at Khagrachhari Municipality on Sunday noon. Mayor Md Rafiqul Alam said, "The authorities of 321 municipalities in 61 plain districts are entitled to serve water to its citizens through pipeline. All 321 municipalities are getting huge allocation from Urban Governance Infrastructures Improvement Project (UGIIP) to ensure proper water supply to their citizens. But around 3 lakh citizens of Khagrachhari, Matiranga, Ramgorh, Rangamati, Baghaichhari, Bandarban and Lama municipalities are deprived of these facilities as the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) has failed to ensure the proper water supply to the citizens due to their poor services." Death anniv of Dr Maniruzzaman September 3 City Desk : The 9th death anniversary of noted educationist, poet and media personality Professor Dr Maniruzzaman will be observed on September 3, said a Dhaka University release on Thursday. To mark the day, various cultural and literary organizations will recall the noted personality during his death anniversary and doa mahfil will be arranged at his family level in Jessore. His relatives including his mother, brothers, widow and his daughters and son have sought doa for his eternal peace of his departed soul. Prof Dr Maniruzzaman, former Chairman of Bangla department of Dhaka University died on 2008. Bangladesh Awami Ulama League formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Thursday protesting killing of Muslims in Myanmar. Australian number plate sells for nearly $2m AFP, Sydney : A black-and-white number plate with the single digit "4" has sold at a Sydney auction for a record-breaking near US$2.0 million, reportedly to a Chinese-Australian sex toy entrepreneur. The sale shattered pre-sale estimates of up to Aus$1.5 million, with the auction hammer coming down at Aus$2.45 million-more than twice the average cost of a Sydney home. "Just nine of these New South Wales number plates were ever issued, making them ultra-collectible and irreplaceable," said Shannons auction manager Christophe Boribon. "Their unique status and desirability is never going to change. "The opportunity to acquire such a plate is exceptionally rare, as most single-digit plates remain in family hands, are usually passed down through generations and rarely, if ever, come onto the open market." The auction house refused to reveal who the buyer was, but the Sydney Morning Herald said it was Chinese-Australian billionaire Peter Tseng, who made his fortune in sex toys. It said he arrived at the Sydney auction on Monday evening in his red Ferrari bearing a No.2 licence plate. Rupa's body exhumed for fresh burial Rape incidents increasing due to lack of punishment Staff Reporter : The body of Rupa, the law student who was gang-raped and murdered in a running bus in Tangail area, was handed over to her family for burial on Thursday. The victim's body was exhumed from the grave in presence of Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Tangail and Executive Magistrate Abdur Rahim in the afternoon. The whole process was done as per order issued by Tangail District Magistrate Khan Mohammad Nurul Amin, also the Deputy Commissioner of the district, after minimizing a disagreement between the judicial and executive branches. Prior to that Tangail Judicial Magistrate refused to pass order to exhume the body saying that the matter was beyond his jurisdiction when the victim's brother Hafizur Rahman Pramanik pleaded for the exhumation, defence lawyer and human rights activist Atoar Rahman Khan Azad said. At first, Rupa was buried at Tangail central graveyard as an "unclaimed" just after the incident. Rupa, who also worked in a multinational company in Sherpur, went to Bogra on Friday to sit for a teachers' registration examination. Officer-in-Charge of Madhupur Police Station Shafiqul Islam said victim's elder brother Hafizur Rahman submitted a prayer to bring his sister's body to his village home Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district for burial. Rupa, a resident of Sirajganj's Tarash, was raped and killed on a moving Chhowa Paribahan bus on Friday night and her body was thrown out from the bus. Later, based on information provided by a bus passenger, police recovered the body of Rupa Khatun Pramanik, 27, beside a highway in the Pachish Mile area. Meanwhile, the police arrested five bus helpers on charges of killing and gang-raping the law student on a moving bus on August 25. They are Habib, 40, Gendu, 35, Shamim, 30, Akram, 30, and Jahangir, 20. All of the arrestees have given confessional statement confessing the guilt. Police said the crimes took place in a bus of Chhowa Paribahan heading to Mymensingh from Bogra. Rupa boarded the bus from Bogra. All passengers of the bus got down at one point in the journey and helper Shamim took Rupa to the rear and tried to rape her. At one stage, to rescue herself from the criminals Rupa gave Shamim Tk 5,000 and her mobile phone to Shamim and pleaded to let her go. According to their confessional statement, Shamim took the money and the phone and then raped her. Two other helpers Akram and Jahangir also raped her while Habib was driving and Gendu was sleeping. When the bus reached near Madhupur, Rupa started screaming. The three bus helpers then broke her neck and threw the body out in a secluded area. The victim's identity was revealed when her elder brother Hafizur Rahman Pramanik came to the police station on Monday night after seeing her picture in newspapers. Meanwhile, incidents of rape and repression on women have increased in the country compared to the previous years at an alarming rate. As per a report prepared by Ain O Shalish Kendra, about 218 women were raped from January 1 to May 31 this year; of them 10 were instantly killed by the rapists. Besides, 36 others narrowly escaped from the brutality, and four of them had committed suicide. Another study revealed by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad said a total of 499 women and baby girls were raped in the first six months of the current year. Of them 64 were the victims of gang rape. There are several rape incidents where the victims did not get justice till the date as the criminals were too powerful. An example can be cited here where family of Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu,19, who was raped and murdered in Comilla Cantonment on 20 March 2016, is yet to get the justice. Concerned circles said if proper punishment is not ensured for the culprits, the crime will increase in phases. Last year, around 1500 cases were reported in court against rapists but appropriate punishment for the accused was a few. In many cases, the rapists escape punishment due to corruption. On other hand, the rape victims are deprived of proper judgment because it is seen that most of the victims are from poor families who have no money power. Not only that, the "powerful criminals" settle the cases in exchange of money The criminals also threat victim's family members showing their muscle power. For these reasons, the victims' families do not dare lodge complaints, according to sources. Foolproof security during Eid Staff Reporter : Top bosses of law enforcement agencies have said sufficient security measures have been taken across the country to ensure a peaceful and smooth celebration of Eid. According to them, a considerable number of police and RAB members have already been deployed countrywide, including Dhaka and all divisional cities. 'We have taken all possible security measures to ensure safety for peaceful celebration of the Eid,' said Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque. Against the backdrop of the militant attack last year, the government has beefed up security measures at the country's largest Eidgah, Sholakia, at Kishorreganj with deployment of five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh, and a large number of law enforcers. Asked about intelligence report of militant attack centering the Eid, Director General (DG) of RAB Benazir Ahmed said, 'We have no such information. Stringent security measures have been taken across the country, especially in the Eidgahs keeping every possible threat in mind.' For a smooth and jubilant Eid celebration, RAB, police and different intelligence agencies, both in uniform and plain clothes, are active at different strategic points in the cities, including bus terminals, railway station, river-ports, launch and ferry ghats, to prevent any untoward situation. Law enforcers in large numbers are now working to curb snatching, robbery toll collection, the dope gang and other crimes. They are also monitoring buses, launches, trains, auto rickshaws, cars, micro buses and other vehicles at all strategic intersections in the big cities and its adjoining districts to thwart all kinds of criminal activities. Several mobile teams are patrolling big cities and vulnerable areas to maintain law and order. Law enforcers, particularly RAB, are monitoring the highways for safe and sound journey of homebound people. To make the security foolproof check posts have already been set up at different strategic points across the country, which are now being monitored by the law enforcers round the clock. All officers-in-charge of the police stations across the country have already been instructed to remain vigilant in the areas under their purview to restrict suspected criminals and their activities. UNSC meet on Myanmar violence ends inconclusive BD Coast Guard recovers bodies of 20 Rohingyas New Rohingya refugees wait to enter the Kutupalang makeshift refugee camp, in Cox\'s Bazar. Special Correspondent : The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday held a closed-door meeting on the military crackdown on Rohingyas in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. Council members discussed the violence in Myanmar and called all the parties to maintain peace in the country's trouble torn Rakhine State, the home to over one million Muslim Rohingyas, report agencies. There was no formal statement from the 15-member council following the closed-door meeting but British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there were calls from council members for de-escalation. "We all condemned the violence, we all called on all the parties to de-escalate," Rycroft told reporters. The latest crackdown by the Myanmar security forces in the state has forced 18,500 Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh. Bangladesh coast guards found the bodies of 20 Rohingya people who drowned in the Naf river on Wednesday. They fled Myanmar escalating violence in Rakhine state that erupted after Rohingya rebels attacked 30 police stations last Friday, triggering a military response. More than 100 people, mostly insurgents, have been killed and more than 27,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled. Myanmar's military has been carrying out sweeps for militants, with residents reporting that security forces were torching villages. Britain requested the meeting on Myanmar, but diplomats said China was resisting stronger involvement by the UN council in addressing the crisis. It remained unclear whether further action was planned, but the issue is expected to be discussed during the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly in September. Rycroft said the council still supports Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel prize laureate and democracy icon who now leads the government in Yangon. "A lot of us are hugely supportive allies of hers who have followed her progress with admiration from afar," he said. "We look to her to set the right tone and to find the compromises and the de-escalation necessary in order to resolve the conflict for the good of all the people in Burma." Rycroft pointed to recommendations put forward by former UN chief Kofi Annan calling for an end to restrictions on citizenship and movement imposed on the Rohingyas as a way out of the violence. 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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe President Xi Jinping greets his Tajikistani counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, at a welcoming ceremony on Thursday outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY China and Tajikistan signed 13 documents to enhance cooperation in such areas as agriculture, energy, finance and infrastructure on Thursday. The agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed at the Great Hall of the People. Present were President Xi Jinping and his Tajikistani counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, who is on a seven-day visit to China that started on Wednesday. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration to upgrade their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors with close relations, and are strategic partners with high mutual trust, Xi said, adding that the two countries have made fruitful progress in cooperation in such areas as politics, economy, security and people-to-people exchanges. "We have treated each other as always with mutual respect, understanding and support," Xi told Rahmon. China highly appreciates Tajikistan's support for the Belt and Road Initiative from the very beginning, Xi said. The two nations should connect their development strategies and strengthen cooperation on transportation, energy, cyberspace and infrastructure, he added. In June, the two presidents had talks during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. The repeated meetings of the two leaders within three months shows their "special and high level" ties, Xi said. Xi noted that China and Tajikistan have launched a number of important exchange programs and achieved great progress in military and security areas since Rahmon's last state visit to China in May 2013. China would like to make joint efforts with Tajikistan to seize the opportunities of the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, strengthen strategic communication and deepen mutual beneficial cooperation, Xi said. Calling China a good neighbor, friend and brother, Rahmon said that Tajikistan supports the building of the Belt and Road. The two sides should deepen cooperation in such areas as agriculture, production capacity, minerals and science parks, the Tajikistani president said. Rahmon will attend the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries, which will be chaired by Xi in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Tuesday. The leaders of the five BRICS countries, as well as the leaders of Egypt, Mexico, Tajikistan, Guinea and Thailand, will attend the dialogue. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday that the dialogue will focus on deepening cooperation and promoting common development, and a statement will be released on the outcomes. "It is in the interests of all sides to strengthen cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries through the BRICS platform. Therefore China has proposed the BRICS Plus concept based on past experience," Wang said. Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said, "BRICS cooperation has not only helped the countries themselves, but enhanced the right to speak on global issues for all developing countries." If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs. [The following is the text of a private email Dennis sent to some friends. I thought it did a great job of conveying the combination of excitement and stress involved in a complicated shoot of a fast-changing one-time-only event, so I asked Dennis if I could publish it more or less as written. He agreed and here you are. Ed.] Words and pictures by Dennis Huff We're home now and I can start processing a few images. Here's what I have so far. For the eclipse, I had two cameras set up; The Sony A7RII with the Rokinon 12mm lens, shooting one image every five minutes which will be composited to show the path of the sun during the eclipse [last photo]. The second camera was the Canon 5D Mark IV with the 600mm + 1.4 teleconverter, all mounted on a guided telescope mount. I would have manually guided the camera but the exposures during totality were calculated to be 12 seconds, and I feared at 840mm the sun would be blurred. I framed the Sony using a phone app which calculated the sun's position during the eclipse. The guided mount with the Canon has go-to so it found the sun and followed it nicely. I also had a 7" monitor mounted on the Canon to check focus and framing. Everything went well early on but after a few minutes clouds rolled in and at times the sun was not visible, and I was constantly racking exposure to compensate for cloud cover. Even so, I was thrilled that I was getting mostly good shots. As totality approaches one must be ready to remove the solar filter and change camera settings (on both cameras!). I had C1, C2 and C3 programmed to various settings on the Canon and with the Sony, went to aperture priority during totality. Sounded easy enough... So now we are in totality (one minute and 50 seconds), and I have finished shooting the Canon for totality and now move to the Sony, remove the filter and before I can change settings and fire, the group I'm with begin oohing and aahing and crying out so much I looked up at the sun. Oh boy, totality. Magnificent! Astounding! Soul-stirring! Oh crap we're now starting into the diamond ring effect as the sun is uncovering... ...and I haven't shot the Sony yet and I'm so discombobulated, I don't know what to do next. I jump back to the Canon to shoot and, oh no the filter! So now the filter is on and I'm shooting the diamond ring and, oh no the filter for the Sony. Whew, I didn't melt anything! The Sony image will need some Photoshopping to make it right though. We are now out of totality and things are proceeding well. Suddenly, the mount has stopped tracking. I futzed with it for a bit but just tracked the rest of the eclipse manually. So that was my eclipse experience. I'm thankful the group was so vocal during totality or I probably would never have looked away from my cameras! Next total eclipse across the US is in seven years from Texas to Vermont; mark your calendars! Dennis Big thanks to Dennis. I could just feel the stress and "discombobulation" from his words! MJ. 2017 by Dennis Huff, all rights reserved Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. Always in totality Give us a Like or Buy yourself a telescope (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.) Featured Comments from: Geoff Wittig: "Wow! Beautiful photographs of the eclipse. I've screwed up more than a few potentially good wildlife photos by getting discombobulated and fumbling with camera controls I should be able to manage in my sleep. The relentless 'gotta get it right now' pressure of shooting the eclipse is a whole 'nuther level. The only thing I've done that's remotely comparable was photographing a massive controlled blast at a limestone quarry using a pair of tripod mounted D-SLR's. Everything had to be set well in advance for max frame rate JPEG captures, with exposure and focus pre-set, holding down the cable release starting a second before the blast. The whole thing was over in 5 seconds, without the option of asking 'Hey, can you do that again?'" Ed Rosch: "Above is my eclipse picture taken with my Olympus Pen F with a 15mm lens. Its a composite of two shots taken a few seconds apart and was at the Feather River Winery in North Platte NE." Mike replies: Your shot makes a very interesting contrast to Dennis's pictures. You're recording the experience; he's recording the object/event. Philosophically speaking, I'd say those are different subjects. And offer a clue toward understanding different approaches to the practice of photography. I could go on about thisbut please don't consider that a threat. :-) Ed: "You hit the nail square on the head with your comment about my picture. I indeed was attempting to capture the feeling of experiencing the eclipse. I figured that there would be plenty of pictures of the eclipse itself and most of them would be better than anything Id be able to do. As you point out, very different subjects neither 'superior' to the other. Id suggest that a viewer engaging with Dennis's images and then looking at mine would have a better vicarious eclipse experience than viewing either alone. "Delving deeper into the differing ways that photographic subjects and photography itself might be approached is hardly a threat but a very useful topic to be explored. Might I assume youre familiar with the book Photography Changes Everything?" Mike: I'm not, but I will add it to the list.... Elton Pinto: "Haha! I love the sense of excitement! That picture of totality is amazing. Thanks for sharing your experience. I also cannot help but think of how photographers sometimes miss experiencing the event in the process of documenting the event." John Masters: "I felt a lesser amount of Dennis's stress on eclipse day. "My health hasn't been great lately and I wasn't even going to attempt photographing the eclipse here in Palm Bay, Florida. We were expecting 84% sun coverage. "I perked up about a week and a half before the eclipse and ordered a sheet of Solar Film, the stuff that knocks down the sun's brightness 100,000 times. After receiving the solar film, I had four days to make some filters for my camera lens and binoculars. I used cardboard, tape, black magic marker, etc., to create filters similar to a bajillion DIY ones on the Internet. "I ended up sitting out in my back yard from 1 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. that day, and got the best shots of the eclipse I could personally do. I used a Fujifilm X-T20 with a Nikon AI lens adapter, a Nikon 300mm /4.5 lens, a Nikon TC-14 teleconverter, and my semi-homemade filter built into a 72mm to 77mm step up ring. All this on my trusty tripod. My wife and daughters came outside every little while and used the binoculars and the rear screen of my X-T20 to watch the changes and see our peak coverage. "So, without the bazooka lenses many photographers have, my shots aren't going to be in National Geographic. But with careful work in Lightroom and Photoshop, I ended up with this souvenir shot of the whole eclipse as seen from the back yard of chez Masters, Palm Bay, Florida. "Works for me." Mike adds: Many TOP readers have sent me accounts of their eclipse experiences or links to their own posts about it or photos of it, including Gary Sutto, Mark Berman, and Gary K. Froehlich, and many others. I'm sorry I can't publish them all! A reminderif you want to publish a picture in a comment, the picture has to be on the Internet (with a URL) and be no more than 470 pixels wide, and the code to use is: Of course, you need to replace "image.jpg" in that string with the URL of your image. Sorry this isn't easier, but TypePad isn't set up to easily allow images in comments. David: "My wife, my son, and I went to Oregon to see the eclipse. It was to be the first total eclipse any of us had ever seen. On the advice of an acquaintance I just set the camera to make a video recording of us watching it, starting a few minutes before totality. That was the best advice I ever received. The video captures the feelings that the eclipse evoked in us far better than any picture I could ever have produced." ADDENDUM: I mentioned above that Gary K. Froehlich (who comments as GKFroehlich) was one of those who sent additional material about photographing the eclipse. I have urgent things to do this weekend, but I felt I'd be remiss if I didn't add a couple of Gary's remarkable photos to this post. For one thing, he was one of a very few photographers who managed (not at all by luckthe documentation of his methods he sent me was very involved, and his preparations were exacting) to photograph the transit of the International Space Station across the sun as the eclipse was happening. Here's a time lapse composite of the transit: Really remarkable. Another thing Gary did was, in one of many fascinating pictures, was to superimpose a scale image of Earth on an image of the totality and the solar prominences: Just awe-inspiring. This is just a detail of the much larger image he sent me, to allow you to see it in spite of our limitations on image size. Here's Gary and Ann: Many thanks to Gary for sharing these with us! The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. PBS is set to release the latest docuseries by prolific director Ken Burns, and this time the focus is on the Vietnam War. There's an opportunity to preview the new film for free in Carbondale next week 10 days before its world premier. WSIU and The Varsity Center are sponsoring the preview event at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, in the main performance room of The Varsity Center, at 418 S. Illinois Ave. Refreshments will be provided and a cash bar will be open. "The Vietnam War" is a 10-part docuseries that includes digitally remastered archival footage from sources around the world, photos taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the 20th century, historic TV broadcasts, home movies and audio recordings from the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations. "The Vietnam War" will air on WSIU-TV at 7 p.m. every night from Sunday, Sept. 17 through Thursday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 24, through Thursday, Sept. 28, with a rebroadcast immediately after each episode. The Southern A juvenile has been charged in connection with a sexual assault incident at Carterville High School. The 17-year-old male has been charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault with bodily harm, a class X felony, and one count of criminal sexual assault with force, a class 1 felony. Deputy Chief Mike Flaningam of the Carterville Police Department confirmed that incident occurred at about 12:35 p.m. Aug. 24 at Carterville High School. Flaningam said that because juveniles are involved in the case, limited details are being released. He said that the investigation is ongoing and that he does not anticipate that further suspects will be charged. The defendant made his first appearance in court Aug. 25. His $10,000 bond was posted Aug. 28. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Sept. 11. In a statement, Caterville Schools Superintendent Keith Liddell said, An incident occurred on the campus of Carterville High School on Thursday, August 24th. Law enforcement was immediately contacted and the student involved was removed from the premises. As Superintendent of Schools, I want to assure every student and parent that this was an isolated incident and that there is no on-going threat to the safety and well-being of students at the High School. He added that no further information or comment could be provided because the matter involves students of the district. DU QUOIN When Ron Porter was a little boy, he loved seeing all the people pull into town for the Du Quoin State Fair, setting it up and getting it ready for all the crowds to come. When he was 6, his father got him a job at the fair running the photo finish of the winning horse from where it was produced, across the harness race track to where the announcer would announce the winner. The notion that he was carrying a powerful picture in his little hands, the transiency of the fair population, all the other components made him just love that event all the more. Good for him, and good for the local economy, as he was able to convert that love of all things fair into a profitable business, Fare Foods, headquartered in Du Quoin. Porter estimates that 75 to 80 percent of the food served at this weeks Du Quoin State Fair came through or from his business. I had the passion to be at the fair, I wanted to go to the fair, so I created Fare Foods so I could go to that fair, to go to many of the fairs, actually, Porter said. So that was the passion that started as a young child. I wanted to go out there every day that the fair was going on, so the passion built I just wanted to go to fairs." Inherent in that, he said, is his attraction to the fair types. I think it was that transient folks that would come to town that became friends that you would only see once a year, Porter said. One family was the Sivori family out of Louisville, with whom the Porter family became friends with and are still friends with today. He actually launched his fair food distribution business in 1993, when the idea began to take hold. He said he was approached by Frank King, who asked him to bring some food to him at the fair in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was hooked and dreaming of the possibilities, he said. By 1999, he completely left Porter Foods, the wholesale food company that his father, Raymond Porter, had established and that Ron had purchased from him. More than 20 years later, he is supplying traditional fair foods to some 4,500 fairs and other events across the country. He employs about 42 employees, including sales staff, customer service, graphic artists and truck drivers, the bulk of whom are based in the Du Quoin area. His wife, Laura, 27-year-old son, Trampas, and his daughter-in-law, Jessie, also work in the business. He notes, though, that his entire workforce contributes significantly to the success of the business. The Fare Foods business supplies funnel cake mix, corn dog mix, hot dogs, just all sorts of products to the mobile food vendors. One of Fare Foods biggest things is its drink cups, particularly a 100-ounce drink cup. Right now, we just created what we call a Jumbo Tanker, Porter said. Its a very big cup that could serve a whole family, but people get a kick out of carrying them around at a fair. So the bigger the better. Fare Foods works intensely from about mid-January to late October getting food to fairs and other events. From November to December and mid-January, work slows down somewhat, with sales staff attending shows, like one in Las Vegas, he said. He said one other aspect about the company that makes it successful is its very location in Du Quoin, where he grew up. Du Quoin is centrally located in the United States, Porter said. We can go north, south, east and west and (this) gives us a great location to be able to hit all the fairs in the Midwest. Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi said the Porter family is hardworking, and employs local people and continually supports the community donating to its Christmas lights projects and for an overhaul of the Du Quoin swimming pool. Alongi said Ron Porter had turned the family business into a "bonanza" for himself. "Ron saw a niche in the fair business, where he knew that if he would take wholesale food out to the fair and park what they call a 'reefer,' a big tractor trailer full of food, he can sell directly to those people," Alongi sad. "He's taken that idea and he's just taken it all over the United States." Porter himself thinks Fare Foods is a great addition to the city. I think that were making a very big impact, Porter said. Were constantly looking for talent to come into our business to come to work for us, so were constantly trying to hire locally when we can. DU QUOIN For Tony King, a day at the Du Quoin State Fair is just another day at the office. King is part of Kings Food Service, a family-owned company in Herrin that offers mobile concessions, catering, event design, site management, consulting, coordinating event personnel, food and beverage sales and services, electrical requirements and more. When asked what the family business is, King has two replies. The easy answer is we sell corn dogs and salt water taffy for a living," King said, "but the hard answer is how long do you have? The King family owns and operates five different corporations, including event planning (KFS Events), a sign shop, Chittyville Mini Warehouses and Sutters State Fair Taffy. They employ about 15 people full-time, all year, plus others during the fair season. My dad started in 1986 with a baby blue trailer selling corn dogs and lemon shake-ups, King said. Weve managed to create careers for a lot of people. Tonys parents, Frank and Vickie; his wife, Krista; and sister, Tabatha, are all part of the business. His youngest sister, Taylor, helps out when needed, but has chosen another profession. Tony jokes that they love her anyway. His aunt owns Ms. Peggys, another concession business based in Herrin. A typical year if there is such a thing starts with the Kentucky Derby festival and race and includes HerrinFesta Italiana, three county fairs in Indiana and one in Illinois, state fairs in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Texas, the SEMO District Fair and other events. They also cater private events like weddings. King said the family has four stands at this years Du Quoin State Fair, including the popular State Fair Pork Tent and Kings Taters. Although the list sounds massive, King said he is actually only gone from home for about a month for the state fairs. Other events are spread out and allow staff to return home between festivals and fairs. The one factor that sometimes makes logistics interesting is the part of the business that provides storm services. King has spent time every day this week loading tents, tables, chairs and other supplies to head to the Houston area. King explained that first, the National Guard clears the roads, then electrical workers come in to restore power. The Kings are hired by the electric companies to take care of their workers. We have worked every major hurricane since Katrina, King said. We work for the power companies. We literally drive in behind the power companies. The Kings basically build a tent city to house 1,000 people, providing tents, showers and food. After Hurricane Katrina, they prepared 15,000 meals per day for 90 days. They cook two meals per day and prepare box lunches. They can be on site and set up in 48 hours. We just supply the utilities companies. They bring in outside workers. They can come to one central location and we handle all their needs, King said. Trailers will be positioned closer to Houston, while the Kings wait for the final go-ahead. It is one way the family can help with storm recovery. Usually, King and his dad share duties of running concessions at Texas, allowing Tony to spend no more than week away from his three children, Mason, 9, Matilda, 5, and Merritt, 2, after school starts. The hurricane recovery may require him to be away a little longer. I was 2 when my dad started the business, so the fair life is all I know, King said. My sisters, my wife and I all went to college, but we really love this. It gets in your blood. A Mount Vernon man is seriously injured after a single vehicle crash Wednesday on Interstate 57. According to a report from the Illinois State Police District 13, around 6:26 p.m. Wednesday, Roger Modglin, 45, of Mount Vernon, was driving a 2013 Peterbilt truck tractor pulling an enclosed box trailer on Interstate 57 north when he exited on the Interstate 64 westbound ramp. The report said for unknown reasons ISP suspects medical causes Modglin drove off of the road on the right side, driving through grass, and eventually crossed the I-64 westbound ramp from I-57 south. According to the report, Modglin continued a short distance until he struck several trees and eventually overturned the vehicle. Modglin was transported via ambulance to an area hospital and was later airlifted to St. Louis with serious injuries. The ISP report said charges are pending. Trooper Christopher Watson said all lanes of traffic were reopened at 3:30 a.m. Thursday after scene investigation and cleanup. The Southern MURPHYSBORO Staff from two Murphysboro animal rescue agencies are headed to the Houston area to provide relief to animals and shelters there. St. Francis CARE Animal Shelter and MARS of Illinois Midwest Animal Rescue Service of Illinois, a smaller dog rescue agency plan to start the 10-to 12-hour drive toward Houston sometime about 4 p.m. Friday, according to Christin King, event coordinator for St. Francis CARE. The two agencies will be operating independently in Texas, but decided to make the trip together, she said. St. Francis staff plan to give donated items to area animal shelters, treat injured animals and then bring back some of the animals already housed in Houston-area shelters to make room for the pets of people whose lives have been disrupted by Hurricane Harvey. Traveling from that agency will be Dr. Kay Creese, the agency's veterinarian, and board members Lynda Kuether and Dawn Boyd. St. Francis is collecting donated items to take down to area shelters; King said St. Francis has enough food supplies, but is now seeking donations of: Towels Gauze Dish and laundry detergents Leashes, collars and harnesses Flea and tick medications and antibiotics Other veterinary supplies. The items will be loaded into the agency's adoption bus, a former wheelchair-accessible vehicle that has been outfitted with 13 affixed steel kennels. King said the St. Francis CARE staff plan to put a few more kennels in the aisles, hoping to bring at least 20 pets back to Southern Illinois, where they will be adoptable. The community has really stepped up, King said. We have received so many monetary donations to help with meds so the community has definitely stepped up, and were very proud of our community right now. CHICAGO Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed into law sweeping changes to the way the state funds schools, calling it a historic day that will bring "more equality, more fairness and better opportunity for all the students of Illinois." Besides distributing state aid more equitably, the long-sought deal the Legislature approved this week gives districts more flexibility on state mandates, allows residents in well-funded districts to reduce their property taxes and creates a new tax credit for donations to private school scholarships. It also provides more than $430 million in new funding to Chicago Public Schools. That's roughly $150 million more than the amount Rauner stripped from an earlier plan and railed against as a "bailout." Asked Wednesday about the turnaround, the Republican said the measure is a compromise and includes "many of the goals I recommended." Here's a look at the plan: Aid to districts For decades, Illinois schools have relied heavily on property taxes, creating wide disparities between wealthy and poor districts. Under the new plan, Illinois will consider how much money districts need to adequately educate their students and how much money they can generate from property taxes. State aid will be prioritized to districts that need the most help bridging the gap between those two numbers. No school will lose money this year compared with last year. Chicago The state will begin covering the cost of pensions for teachers in Chicago, just as Illinois does for all other districts. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Democrats who lead the Illinois House and Senate have lobbied for the change for years, saying it's unfair that Chicago taxpayers have to foot the bill for their teachers' pensions while also paying taxes that fund pensions outside the city. The change means the state will pay $221 million for CPS pensions this year, up from about $12 million last year. CPS also is getting additional state aid, and legislators gave the board of education authority to raise at least $120 million more in additional property taxes, also to help with pension costs. State mandates The new law provides relief from so-called unfunded mandates, something Rauner has wanted to scale back since taking office in 2015. Schools will now be able to privately contract driver's education and face fewer requirements for daily physical education. Illinois officials have bragged that the state was the first nationwide to require daily PE classes under a decades-old law, something educators argue is more critical than ever with widespread anti-obesity efforts. However, the Illinois State Board of Education says most districts offer only four days a week on average. Schools say they often don't have staff or facilities. The new law cuts the requirement to three days a week. Property tax relief Rauner has made reducing property taxes one of his top priorities, saying Illinois property owners have one of the highest tax burdens in the U.S. and it's causing people and companies to move elsewhere. The new plan allows people living in school districts where funding is more than 110 percent of the adequacy target essentially wealthier districts with large cash reserves to try to have their property taxes reduced. Ten percent of a district's registered voters would have to sign a petition to put a question on the ballot. Tax credit The plan creates a tax credit for people who donated to a private school scholarship fund. Up to $75 million in credits may be granted annually starting next fiscal year, though lawmakers haven't yet identified a way to cover that cost. The program will expire after five years unless lawmakers extend it. Lawmakers say it will provide scholarships for between 6,000 and 10,000 students statewide. The students must come from households with an annual income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $73,000 for a family of four. LONDON Before all of the drama that characterized Prince Charles and Princess Diana's relationship the estrangement, divorce and her tragic death 20 years ago this month there was the fairytale wedding. The lavish ceremony in London's St. Paul's Cathedral was watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Some 36 years after its original publication, and to coincide with the release of restored original footage, The Associated Press is making available correspondent Hugh Mulligan's report on the wedding. It was first published on July 29, 1981: The royal wedding as witnessed from the pews of St. Paul's today was just as Prince Charles wanted it to be: "a marvelous musical and emotional experience." The bridegroom didn't spend half the time in tears, as he had predicted in a wedding eve interview. In fact, he smiled through much of the ceremony, except when the massed choirs sang "Let all the people praise thee, O God" he brushed as his eyes several times as if wiping away tears. But his voice was manly and robust when he answered, "I will," to the marital vows administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lady Diana Spencer's responses were more frail but quite audible in Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent cathedral, where at the archbishop's words "I pronounce that they be man and wife together" she was transformed into the Princess of Wales. It was all a splendid royal and ecclesiastical spectacle of trumpet blasts and surging choirs, even if at one point the bride stumbled over her spouse's four Christian names, and he left out the word "worldly" in promising her all his goods. The assembled heads of state, crowned heads of Europe and honored guests like first lady Nancy Reagan, all joined in the singing of the hymns, as did the wedding couple. The Queen of Tonga cooled the brow of her husband the King by majestically beating a large rattan fan in time to the music. Leaving the high altar after the 80-minute ceremony, the princess' father, the Earl Spencer seemed to lean heavily on the arm of an usher as if worn out or emotionally drained by it all. The earl, who suffered a stroke two years ago, also got the seating arrangements mixed up after the newlyweds had signed the register, and did a little switching act with the Queen Mother. He was helped into the carriage with the queen, but went off waving and smiling down Ludgate Hill to the post-noon wedding breakfast. The five bridesmaids, down to 5-year-old Clementine Hambro, one of the new princess' former kindergarten charges, had quite a time turning and gathering in the bride's 25-foot long train. But they handled it with aplomb. And very pretty little maids they were, too, not "eight as ugly girls as you could wish to see," as Lady Somerset sniffed when the future Edward VII was the last Prince of Wales to marry 118 years ago. Those of us in the hired morning suits found that the grey topper made an excellent desk, even if it was a bit difficult to take notes in nylon gloves. Of course this wouldn't qualify as a royal media event if lenses, film canisters and other shrapnel didn't come cascading down from the scaffolding where the photographers lurked. An explosion of fallen camera gear during the Archbishop of Canterbury's address turned the plumed and helmeted head of the leader of Her Majesty's Honorable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. And speaking of turned heads, Prince Philip for some reason did turn and gaze about when the Archbishop, Rt. Rev. Robert Runcie asked if either the bride or bridge groom knew of any impediment to the marriage. Outside, subway stations near the route were packed. Newspaper boys did a brisk trade. Most papers poured out greetings. "Diana, This Is Your Day," bannered the conservative Daily Express. Even the staid Financial Times, which normally displays major business news on its first page, carried the wedding as its main story of the day under the headline, "A Right Royal Street Party." If you pass by 1585 Johnson St. in Orangeburg and hear someone talking loudly, it may just be a woman thanking God for her longevity and a loving family who stands ready to meet her every need. Thelma Goodley, who marked her 100th birthday on Aug. 23, enjoys looking out of her window and talking to the person who has allowed her to see another day filled with relatively good health and many other blessings, including a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren. "I sit here many days looking out. I got two windows I can look out of. I talk to the Lord, and sometimes I get kind of loud. I say, 'Hey, let me kind of stop a little bit here,' because people will pass through here and say, 'The lady in the house crazy; go get her out,'" Goodley said. "Sometimes you get kind of carried away, but I am glad I'm here. The Lord watch over me night and day. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is throw my curtains back, look out and say, 'Lord, thank you!" she said. The no-nonsense but charming Goodley sits up in her wheelchair with neatly arranged hair and painted nails. She thanks her family and others for taking such good care of her, including her special caretaker, Rosalyn Haigler. Goodley said she realizes it's a blessing to be catered to by her family, who satisfy her good appetite with just about everything, including her favorite dish of fried chicken. "Oh, yeah! That's my favorite. Anybody who comes here and asks what I want, I say, "Go to the store and get me some chicken wings.' They know what I like and usually get what I want," she said, smiling. She lets you know she's not a fan of cantaloupe, okra, red apples, broccoli or squash. "I'm glad to be here because God is over all of us. I do know that. And when I talk, I try to talk the right thing and do the right thing. I ask God to give me understanding of what to do and how to do it with everybody -- not only my family," Goodley said. Her family held a pre-birthday celebration for her at her church, Jerusalem Baptist Church, on Sunday, Aug. 20, but Goodley said she's not all about frills and frou-frou. "That don't bother me. ... I don't need all that. God has gotten it all straightened out with me and helps me, so that's it," Goodley said. She said she's happy to only have an occasional ache or pain and to be of relatively sound mind. "I don't know about all of my senses, but I got some of it. I know I got some of it because I can remember good. I don't tell nobody I got all my senses because there's still plenty I forget, but I I thank God for what I got," she said, laughing. Goodley added, "I feel good and nice to have the help I got and enjoy it. I got a lot to be thankful for. I'm glad I'm here, but I won't be here always. When my time come, I've talked to the Lord about it, and I ain't worried about it. "I'm still praying, asking him for health and strength and to guide my mind. That's just the way it is. I don't worry about nothing." She recalled going at age 15 to New York, where she worked as a house cleaner in Brighton Beach, an ocean-side neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. "I remember growing up. I grew up by myself; I mean no sisters or brothers or nothing were with me. ... My aunt sent for me to come to New York. She got a job for me," Goodley said, noting, however, that she was relieved to come back home after her stepmother, Nettie, became ill. "I was glad to come home. So my aunt was saving the money I was making and put me on the train and sent me back. I was home a couple of months before I was grabbed up for marriage," she said. She is the widow of the late Nathan Goodley. She has one son, Raymond Hook, and two stepsons, Matthew Goodley and Albert Goodley. She also has a host of loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren. Granddaughters Ramona Hook and Coralie Hook of New York recall visiting Goodley every summer. Ramona said, "She would take us to church every Sunday. She would give me one peppermint, and dared me to move the whole service. That's what I remember most about my grandmother. To this day, I go to church every Sunday, and I got that from her." Ramona said she also got her feistiness from Goodley. "For this world and everything, you have to be kind of rough and tough. That's one of the good qualities that I got from my grandmother. She made me very strong. I thank God for her each and every say. She's been a great grandmother to me," she said. Coralie said she remembers her grandmother making them say The Lord's Prayer. "My grandmother used to always make us kneel and say The Lord's Prayer. My grandmother is a strong woman. She literally could control us from the choir or pulpit. She would just give you a look. ... I got manners and respect from her and just making sure that you were a good citizen," she said. "She would never just discipline you and not give you the history of why you shouldn't do something. She's definitely a strong woman and a true believer in God. I know that my grandmother prayed for me. She was always praying." Goodley's great-granddaughter Natasha Charles said, "She's just a woman of wisdom. There's not a time you can come to her and leave without something powerful to actually empower your life. She makes a very good impact not just on my life, but my children's lives. "I just thank God for her being this long on this earth." Goodley's grandsons Ronald Brown and Raymond Grant share the same thoughts about their grandmother. "She's my anchor. She's kept me anchored," Ronald said. Raymond added, "I'm just blessed that she's still alive." Mary Brown, Goodley's granddaughter-in-law, said Goodley is also special to her. "It's truly a blessing to be of that age and her mind be so sharp. My mother is 94 and actually doesn't remember half of the things that Ms. Goodley remembers. ... She can dial the phone and can get in contact with you if she needs to," Mary said. "She actually has my home number, cell number and work number. She has an excellent appetite and is always talking about the Lord and the goodness of the Lord," she added. Goodley doesn't watch much TV and prefers looking out of her window and talking to the Lord and thanking him for providing her with so much support. She said, "You just got to love your family. They love you and you love them. That's all to say there. You just love one another, and I got a loving family." ST. MATTHEWS -- South Carolina Department of Transportation representatives and local officials' reached a stalemate over the need to repair Church Camp Road near Cameron, which sits atop a dam that was breached in the October 2015 flood. The discussion, contentious at times, took place at Monday night's Calhoun County Council meeting. Its a disgrace that that roads got dirt sitting there blocking the road, County Council Chairman David Summers said. Take the stuff out of the way. We can take a couple of mules in there and fix the road. SCDOT Chief Engineer for Operations Andy Leaphart said, From (the flooding in) 2015 across the state, we still have 25 roads that are closed because they sit on top of privately owned dams. He said SCDOT owns the road but not the dirt it is sitting on. We dont own or maintain dams, Leaphart said. We cant fix that road until that dam is repaired. What has DOT done to bring some action on this? Its been sitting around for two years," County Administrator Lee Prickett said. The agency officials said they have been in contact with Steven and Katherine Patterson, who they believe are the owners of the dam at Church Camp Road near Cameron. Leaphart presented several options to address the road. He said if the owners can fix the dam, well repair the road. Leaphart also suggested permanently breaching the dam. If they do that, well put a pipe in, culvert, bridge, whatever it takes, and well fix the road, he told the council. Summers said he does not believe Steve Patterson is the owner of the dam. Theres no dam owner, Finance Director Denise Christmas said, suggesting that state Department of Transportation condemn the road. Were not going out to condemn it, Leaphart said. Were there on an easement; we dont have a right-of-way. He added, If we have projects in there, we can condemn. We absolutely have those powers, but that is not a path we have chosen on any other dams. Summers said he is concerned DOT is not putting forth any effort because of the size of Calhoun County. Theres no reason why you guys cant go in there and fix that thing, he said. Its been two years. Thank God nobodys gotten sick because it would take the ambulance an extra 15 minutes to go around there to get them to the hospital. Its like, Oh thats Calhoun County -- just a little small county, Summers said. No, sir, the size of the county has nothing to do with it, Leaphart said. How we do things in the past isnt always how we do them now. Its not always good, its not always bad, its just different. Summers said, Its a mess now. It is a total mess. All youve got to do is just put your iron bars across it and fix the road, he told the SCDOT representative. Leaphart said the problem isnt that simple. Im not going to put my stamp on something and say its safe for people to go across until I know its fixed properly, he said. Samuel B. Glover, SCDOT 6th Congressional District commissioner, said, Believe me, the commission has discussed this. We have discussed this in depth from the very inception of the dam being breached and the flood, Glover said. It has nothing to do with the size of the county. He added that a meeting does not go by where we dont talk about dams and what were going to do with them. Leaphart said Rep. Russell Ott had introduced legislation that would give the SCDOT the power to move quicker with dams where there is not a clear owner. Under Otts bill, owners of washed-out dams with public roads on top of them would be given a deadline to tell the state whether or when they plan to rebuild, he said. That would really help us in these situations to help that owner move to a decision, Leaphart said. My concern is that theres no action to try to bring it to a head, Prickett said. That road may never open up. Leaphart said, We are very much at the mercy of that pond and dam owner. We want to find a solution. Also during the meeting: SCDOT representatives presented a 10-year plan for road repairs and other projects to be funded through the revenue from the increased gas tax. The new gas tax will be increased by 2 cents per year for six years, and is expected to raise $600 million by the time the full 12 cents is implemented in 2022. Calhoun County Resident Maintenance Engineer Lyle Davis said SCDOT is planning for a funding increase of $800 million annually beginning in 2024. The revenue will be invested into upgrading safety features on 1,000 miles of rural roads, 465 new bridges, 140 miles of interstate improvements and progress to reverse 30 years of neglect. We have the highest fatality rate in the nation, Davis said. About 1,000 people are dying on our roads annually. Some of the improvements will include road widening along I-26 from Charleston to Columbia and along I-95 at the Georgia line. Council approved first reading of an ordinance authorizing the transfer of authority for conducting municipal elections in the town of St. Matthews to the Calhoun County Board of Voter Registration and Elections. Council voted to hold a public hearing date to discuss the golf facility at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 11, in council chambers. This is take place prior to the regular council meeting. Council authorized the administrator to move forward with an application for state Parks and Recreation Department grant funding for the St. John Recreation Facility. Prickett said the grant is for $55,000 and would be for the construction of a concession area, bathrooms and work on the parking lot. The county would be required to provide a 20 percent match. Council approved second reading of an ordinance for the issuance and sale of $360,000 in general obligation bonds. Council approved first reading, by title only, of an ordinance authorizing the execution of a tax agreement between the county and a project currently operating anonymously under the name Project Ganymede. Prickett reported that 600 computer-read water meters were installed on the Belleville/Fort Motte System. Maintenance on a water tank on Highway 176 was completed a week before school started, the administrator reported. Prickett reported the county is preparing a wastewater pre-treatment plan. Council went into closed executive session to discuss two economic development project updates concerning Project G-2 and Project Ganymede. A Norway Town Council member has been banned from serving in that capacity until a pending criminal charge is resolved. Gov. Henry McMaster suspended Michael Andrew Singleton, 42, from office after an Orangeburg County Grand Jury indicted him for hindering/interfering with a police officer. The Grand Jury handed down its indictment a week ago in connection with an incident that occurred on April 9. In a press release Wednesday, Norway Police Chief Scott Ward said McMaster suspended Singleton for a crime involving moral turpitude. I have no comments at this time regarding the suspension because there is nothing to say really. I will say this. The Grand Jury has it all wrong; they don't know the back story surrounding these alleged allegations, Singleton said on Wednesday. According to the arrest warrant sought by the town and issued by Magistrate Peggy Doremus, at approximately 6:31 p.m. on April 9 while at Harrison Avenue and 3rd Street in Norway, Officer Jamie T. Lucas of the Norway Police Department was conducting a traffic stop when Singleton arrived and parked his vehicle in the roadway. The warrant states that Singleton exited his vehicle and demanded the officer tell him what was going on. At Singletons bond hearing in April, Ward said Singleton "approached the vehicle, then he started getting loud and boisterous. The encounter occurred prior to Lucas issuing a traffic ticket to one of Singletons family members -- his cousin, Shyneka Tyler, who was driving her mothers car. After his court appearance in April, Singleton told The Times and Democrat, "I think its my duty as a council member in the town of Norway to advocate for those that are not able to have a voice for themselves." A bystander called Singleton to the traffic stop that night. Singleton said he chose to respond to the scene after a culmination of events over the past few months, along with feeling that the Norway Police Department was profiling his family. It was unfortunate that it was my relative, but it wasnt that fact that I came because it was my relative. Had it been anyone, I wouldve came anyway because Im tired of the calls, Im tired of the visits and Im tired of people begging for help in Norway and cant get no help. Its ridiculous, he said. Singleton said citizens are literally harassed by our police department because they need to make money to pay salaries. He said Lucas routinely conducts traffic stops and tells citizens to go to the store to purchase money orders and make them out to the Town of Norway. He will stop you, you have to go to the store and get a money order and pay him on the spot, Singleton said. Things like that concern me. Ward later responded to Singletons allegations about the police department. Money orders pay for the tickets ... not pay the police officers, the police chief said. I dont see no corruption. In addition to the charge of hindering/interfering with a police officer, Singleton is charged with "blocking outside of a business/residence." Public defender Peggy Hinds has been appointed to represent him on the charges. If found guilty of these misdemeanors, Singleton faces a maximum penalty of a $3,000 fine or imprisonment for no more than three years, or both. His next court date has not yet been scheduled. To many, serving in the military and being a public school educator is probably like Kiplings poem: "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." But Col. Rick Leonard, Cope Area Career Centers new principal, says that just isnt so. He served in the U.S. Army for 31 years. During 18 of those years when he was not on active duty, he worked as a teacher and public school administrator. They are very much alike, Leonard said of the two fields. Both are structured, both deal with learning and both students and soldiers have objects theyre trying to reach. His says his favorite part of both jobs is the interaction he has with different kinds of people. Interaction is a major aspect of public education, he said, noting he deals with people from all walks of life, with teachers and administration, students and parents, etc.. People have asked him how he can be around kids all the time, Leonard said. You develop a rapport with them, he said. They need structure and guidance, and we provide it for them. They normally respond well to it and are open to the instruction, he said. If they dont respond to the teachers, they usually will do so when special speakers are brought in from the community, he noted. Leonard says hes found teaching to be a calling. The best thing about it is being able to lead students where you want to take them, he said. You set the pace, get them motivated and interested in what youre trying to accomplish, the CACC principal said. The greatest thrill is seeing a kids eyes light up when they suddenly gain understanding of what youre trying to get across to them, he said. On the other hand, teaching can be discouraging because you often dont get immediate feedback, Leonard said. He said sometimes that feedback doesnt come back for years. Then, you run into a former student at Walmart and they tell you how much they learned from you, he said. Leonard has created a new slogan and brand for Cope Area Career Center. We are a pathway and a great education that leads to employment, he said. One of the most exciting aspects about CACC is that it serves five feeder high schools from three different districts, Leonard noted. They include the high schools in both Bamberg school districts as well as all three high schools in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four. While CACC serves so many students, many people, even in Orangeburg County, know very little about it, Leonard said. He said he hopes to inform the public about the school through its quality graduates, by word of mouth, through putting out brochures, along with use of the new brand. College is not for everyone, Leonard said. While many students do go on to college in their selected career fields, CACC also provides other students with training and certification that make them job-ready when they graduate, he said. Often, however, business leaders say they cant hire graduates with the hard skills because they lack the soft skills, Leonard said. A lot of kids, not just here but across the nation, dont have manners and other needed people/work skills, he said. CACC is teaching students that they have to be at work on time and have their equipment ready when they get there, Leonard noted. They have to learn to communicate with fellow workers, how to deal with irate customers and how to take direction from the boss, he added. These are skills that earlier generations learned at home, but now the schools have to teach them, Leonard said. The teachers will be teaching these skills, but CACC will also be bringing in guest speakers from the business community to talk with them, he said. Overall, the kids are open to the message, Leonard said. But sometimes you have to repeat it over and over and finally they decide (that) if so many people are saying it, it must be true, he said. Leonard says his number one priority is to do the best job possible, noting that his goals for CACC are to keep the schools excellent teachers and programs and expand them whenever possible. Currently, he needs an additional health sciences instructor, he says. Hes also looking at getting parents more involved and making more contacts with various business people to set up apprenticeships and job shadowing opportunities, Leonard said. He says he also hopes to set up an advisory board for CACC made up of people from major businesses in the area. In addition, the principal says hes looking for volunteers to mentor and work with students. This is Leonards second year at CACC. He spent last year serving as assistant to Sandra Jamison, who was the acting principal of the school for several years. Hes also served as a teacher and assistant administrator at Branchville High School, and has held teaching and administrative positions in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five. Leonard is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania; he retired as a full colonel. He was deployed in Afghanistan twice and Iraq once. Leonard has been awarded the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Star Medals and a Combat Action Badge. He was inducted into the U.S. Army OCS Hall in Fort Benning, Georgia in 2011. He currently serves as a brigadier general in the S.C. State Guard and member of the Orangeburg Airport Commission. He and his wife, the former Lee Tedder, have two sons. WASHINGTON -- There is something eternally bonding about a shared near-death experience, which is how I first met Michael Cromartie. This was 15 or so years ago, before I had moved to the nation's capital for an up-close look at power. Cromartie had called to invite me to one of the Faith Angle Forums he hosted for a select group of journalists and scholars to discuss religion in the public square. I happened to be driving when my cellphone rang. "Kathleen, you don't know me, but I've got a fabulous invitation for you!" His enthusiasm was such that he was nearly chirping and I do believe there was a choir of angels humming in the near-distance when suddenly another car shot out of nowhere. I was forced into the median, across two lanes of oncoming traffic and onto the grassy shoulder on the far side of the road. Whew! Shaking and gasping for air, I realized I was still on the phone with Cromartie, who was sputtering and trying to determine what had happened. Was I all right? Yes, no, I don't know, I think so. For the next 30 minutes or so, we chatted away, he in his office and I still sitting roadside in my car, about everything under the sun -- life, death, God, gratitude. When a conversation suddenly swerves from cordial hellos to, "Oh-my-God-that-person-almost-killed-me," one is allowed to bypass several centuries of pleasantries and cut to the chase. We also nearly died laughing, both from relief at my having thwarted death and appreciation for having forged this strange and serendipitous friendship. Yes, of course, I'd love to attend the Faith Angle Forum, I nearly shouted into the phone. How could I not? Miguel, as I called him, delighted in retelling this story -- often, and each time slightly more embellished. Another decade or so and I'd have been killed instantly and resurrected from the dead. The forums, meanwhile, became a gift to a handful of journalists invited to convene with religious scholars, rabbis, imams, priests, preachers and prayer leaders. Cromartie, who was vice-president and director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Evangelicals in Civic Life program, felt strongly that the public's perception of journalists as unfriendly toward religion and especially toward evangelical Christians, though not unwarranted, was a reflection of the media's lack of exposure to and understanding of America's faithful rather than willful animus. He was, in other words, one of Washington's relatively unknown elves who work diligently and without fanfare to make the world a better place. The forums, which were his brilliant idea, were held twice a year in Key West and more recently Miami's South Beach. In between lectures -- a total of three over a day-and-a-half -- invitees convened for lunches, cocktails and dinners interspersed with free time for carousing, bike riding -- or dancing. Cromartie loved to dance. There are stories. Atheist Christopher Hitchens, who died nearly six years ago, was a chapter unto himself. There were at least two romances -- then marriages or pending nuptials -- that blossomed over the debate table. Epic tales of nightlife that will remain in the cone of silence, as well as ghost stories told one night under the spell of moonlit waves lapping against the dock. Those were glorious, fun-filled, intellectually stimulating days that probably have benefited the country indirectly through the enlightenment of more than 220 journalists from roughly 30 newspapers, magazines and broadcast networks. Cromartie, though ill, had promised another this fall, but when I saw him recently, it was clear there'd be no more under his watch, if at all. The ravages of the cancer he had been fighting for more than a year were etched in his hollow cheeks and in eyes that betrayed a deep sadness. We pressed our foreheads together as if to connect our minds more fully, perchance to discover some elusive bit of information that would solve the riddle and reverse the course of events. "It's horrible, horrible, just horrible," he whispered. I doubt Cromartie feared death because he was a man of enduring faith, though he may have grieved the loss of a life well-lived but not yet finished. When he died Monday morning at 67, he left a void that will be felt by hundreds of friends, admirers and, of course, his family. For them -- and even the greater world for which he steadily prayed -- the loss is immeasurable. And, yes, Miguel, it was a fabulous invitation. Media not allies of people Allies of the people" (T&D, Aug. 24) is a hypocritical editorial that no one believes. Ask a liberal and he will tell you that Fox News and some others offer information warped to fit the conservative viewpoint. Ask a conservative and he will tell you the same thing about NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and most newspapers. Independents feel that true factual news has been dead since the era of Huntley, Brinkley, Cronkite and Brokaw. I agree with the independents. No media are allies of the people and all cannot be trusted. No matter how much you try to convince the readers, they will never believe the news media. I do not believe the media can be more aggressive than it is in spewing their version of twisted news. And regardless of how much more aggressive the media get, no one will believe them. It is hypocritical to claim otherwise. You have the word "Democrat" (meaning liberal) even in the name of your publication. Dream on. Eruch Tata, Lexington Leaders must know right, wrong When I read the House sergeant at arms report regarding the incident occurring between Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Rep. Jerry Govan in May, I decided to write this on behalf of my wife and granddaughters. If Cobb-Hunter were white, would the facts be swept under the rug? Why wasn't the white male House member involved in the same discussion interviewed publicly after Govan got in his face? Is it be because Cobb-Hunter is a strong black woman, a social worker, working with domestic violence and prevention most of her life? Being a strong black woman does not indicate ignorance, rather competency, not fear, rather caution, most of all, not lack of feeling, rather intense feelings representative of all women fearing domestic violence who may not be as strong. After an internal investigation, the speaker of the House ruled that both were at fault. When Govan became angry and moved closer to Cobb-Hunter, she put her hand forward. Govan pushed her, grabbed her arm, twisting and bruising it. Recent developments around our country indicate uncontrolled racism, anger and hate. These suppressed feelings divide us as a nation. When our elected officials reflect the same emotions, it reflects a lack of leadership. South Carolina ranks near the bottom on issues that provide a quality life to all of our citizens. Regardless of party, we need leadership who know the difference between right and wrong when the facts are obvious. Charles Brave Jr., Mount Pleasant Tobacco tax hike needed Responding to the recent article, S.C. scores poorly on cancer report card, Aug 11: The House Majority Leader Rep. Gary Simrill stated that "raising the tax doesn't necessarily translate into lower smoking rates." Research has consistently shown the exact opposite. According to The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, raising the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack would cause 39,500 current adult smokers to quit and would help keep 29,700 kids from ever starting to use cigarettes. Further, raising the tax could save South Carolina $1.39 billion in long-term health care costs and would generate $266.60 million in new reliable annual revenue. Raising the cigarette tax would be a win-win-win for South Carolina. It would reduce health care costs, prevent tobacco use and raise needed revenue. It's up to our Legislature to fully protect South Carolinians from tobacco. Project Life: Positeen Inc., has a booth set up at several sites in Orangeburg through December. Please contact us at 803-534-4263 or send an email to lizkeitt23@yaloo.com. Liz Zimmerman Keitt, Orangeburg By Azernews By Sara Israfilbayova A national shopping center of Azerbaijan, Baku Plaza, will operate in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Baku Plaza will welcome customers starting from September and provide a number of services. Ateliers, repairs and tailoring, dry cleaning, beauty salon and grocery stores will operate at the Center. A special exhibition hall - "Carpets of Azerbaijan" to be opened on the first floor will familiarize Russian with world-famous carpets of Azerbaijan. A total of 100 people will be employed at Baku Plaza. Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover. Enterprises of 71 regions of the Russian Federation cooperate directly with Azerbaijan. Roughly 15 regions of Russia have relevant agreements with Azerbaijan on trade and economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation. The trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan amounted to almost $376.51 million in January-March 2017, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee. Moreover, Azerbaijan appointed its first trade representative abroad to Russia. In January 2017, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree About appointment of trade representatives in embassies and consulates of the Republic. Trade representatives main mission is to take measures to expand Azerbaijan`s economic and trade relations with foreign countries, protect economic interests of Azerbaijan, increase export of Azerbaijani goods and services, promote Azerbaijans business environment and investment opportunities. Additionally, Azerbaijan seeks to open its second Trade House in Russias Arkhangelsk region. Azerbaijans first Trade House was opened in the Belarusian capital Minsk, on May 26. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani carpets, renowned worldwide for their beautiful designs and vivid colors, are the illustrative history of the art and the culture of the nation as the carpets of each period reflect various patterns and elements of their time. Its distinct color palette and design allows to easily recognize Azerbaijani carpet. An unusual scheme of cherry red, yellow-green and sky blue adds color distinction to masterful draftsmanship of the Azerbaijani carpets. Its patterns differ depending on the region in which and the layout and material from which it is woven. The Azerbaijani carpet is the soul of the room with its amazing color and unique design. While they beautify the interior design, carpets are considered both a property and an investment. The number of carpets spread on the floor, their quality and texture is a sign of a familys prosperity. However, the Azerbaijani carpet is more than just an item of beauty or a property for trade. The carpet weaving sector annually creates a range of employment opportunities, brings currency to the budget and also spreads the traditional Azerbaijani art and culture in the world. Washington D.C. will soon host an exhibition of Azerbaijani carpets and rugs. Guests of the event scheduled for September 7 will be able to get aquatinted with Azerbaijans traditions of carpet weaving, Report.az informs. The exhibition will be held at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and will be followed by an official reception. In 2010, the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO. Ancient Azerbaijani carpets are stored at the White House, the U.S. State Department, and many other museums across the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Museum of Art in Philadelphia, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Hermitage in St. Petersburg. By Trend The illegal visit of Canadian MP to Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia is another political provocation of Armenia, said Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev. This illegal visit of Canadian parliament member Tony Clement to the occupied Azerbaijani territories is organized by the Armenian National Committee of Canada and the Armenian lobby, with which Tony Clement had close relations as an exchange for financial reward, said Hajiyev. This person, who has repeatedly been accused of bribery and corruption, having visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in exchange for financial reward, is trying to hide behind the veil of lies and justify the aggression and the bloody policy of ethnic cleansing committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, noted the spokesperson. Tony Clement also tries to get financial support from the Armenian lobby of Canada in future elections as an exchange for this services, added Hajiyev. According to him, such actions, accompanied by violation of laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, norms and principles of international law, as well as moral, ethical and humanistic values, should first of all be viewed as contempt for Canadian voters and the traditions of parliamentarism in Canada. We hope that the relevant ethics committee of Canadas parliament will consider Clement's actions outside the country, said the Azerbaijani official. He noted that Armenias Foreign Ministry deliberately introduces NGO Head Majed Al Shafi, who accompanied Tony Clement during this visit, as a member of the Canadian parliament. We call upon Majed Al Shafi, who deals with the rights of religious minorities, to draw attention to the fact that Armenia has become the only monoethnic state in the world. Armenia subjected to ethnic cleansing more than 300,000 Muslims living in Armenia, persecutes the Yazidis, Assyrians and Russian Molokans living in this country, and also shows intolerance towards representatives of other Christian churches and communities, said Hajiyev. He added that Armenia has completely destroyed the material and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in the occupied territories. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has expressed its concern and discontent to the Canadian Foreign Ministry and parliament. The names of Tony Clement and Majed Al Shafi will be included in the list of undesirable persons. By Azernews By Amina Nazarli The problems of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) were the main topic of a meeting between Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov and Ukrainian Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, George Tuka. Speaking at the meeting in Baku, Tuka said that Ukraine is interested in Azerbaijan`s experience in tackling social and housing problems of refugees. The Ukrainian deputy minister hailed Azerbaijani governments efforts to improve social conditions and employment opportunities of more than one million refugees and IDPs. In turn, Hasanov gave an insight into the governments work to provide better social and housing conditions for Azerbaijani refugees. He pointed out the existence of the international standard legislative base for tackling social and housing problems of refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan. Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms. With the growing economic and political situation of the country, the state pays much attention to the most difficult problems once concerning the refugees and IDPs. The state improves the living conditions of refugees and IDPs and it has adopted relevant state programs and legislative acts. Azerbaijan spent over 6 billion manats ($3.5 billion) over the past years for solution of problems of refugees IDPs. By Azernews By Ali Mustafayev The U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center has put the Azerbaijani Army at the 58th place in the list of world's strongest armies. The nation of 9.8 people outperformed the countries of the region in the global ranking of military powers for 2017. Azerbaijan is currently ranked 58th among 133 countries considered for the annual GFP reviews, with power index rating of 0.8875 (0.0000 being perfect). The report reads that countrys manpower available is 5 million people, of whom over 3.75 million are fit for the service. The total military personal is 374,500 people, with 67,000 active personal. Noting that war goes beyond simple physical "strength-in-numbers", relying heavily on financing and effort as much as any one piece of hardware fielded, the report says that Azerbaijans military budget is over $3 billion. The Georgian Army was ranked the 82nd, while the Armenian Army took the 93rd place. The first three places of the rating belong to the U.S.A, Russia and China respectively. The top 10 also includes India, France, Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Germany and Egypt. Iran is placed on the 21st place. The Global Firepower organization functions since 2006 and provides its unique analytical display of data concerning over 130 modern military powers. The ranking is based on each countrys potential war-making capability across land, sea and air. The results incorporate values related to resources, finances and geography with over 50 different factors ultimately making up the final annual rankings. The history of the modern Azerbaijani army dates back to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic created in the early 20th century. The Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan Republic were created on June 26, 1918 to protect the country from the military aggression of Armenia and Russia. Today, the Azerbaijans Armed Forces consist of Air Force and Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces. The Azerbaijani army was repeatedly named the strongest and most modern army in the South Caucasus region. Azerbaijan pays special attention to the professional training of its military personnel. Alongside the exercises inside the country, Azerbaijani Armed Forces participate in various military exercises conducted at the international level, including those with the Turkish, Russian and Georgian armed forces. The national army possesses modern weapons and technical equipment for maintaining a high level of combat capability. These weapons are both purchased from other countries, such as Turkey, Israel, Russia, the U.S., and also are of domestic production. By Trend Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region isnt going to cancel the independence referendum scheduled for Sept. 25, 2017, said Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, the countrys media reported on August 31. Barzani noted that there is no mutual understanding between the central government of Iraq and the Kurdish autonomy. The government of Iraq conducts unilateral policy, the principles of democracy dont work in the country, Barzani said. Earlier, Masoud Barzani had warned that opposition to the referendum would be met with a bloody war. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regret if it holds an independence referendum. Iraqs integrity is a priority for Turkey, noted Erdogan, adding that a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy means the beginning of Iraqs disintegration. By Trend About 100 militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group were killed on the Iraqi-Syrian border as a result of operations of the Iraqi Air Force, Iraqs Defense Ministry said in a message on August 31. There are two field commanders among the killed terrorists, says the message. The Air operations against IS terrorists were carried out in response to the execution of an officer of the Iraqi army by the terrorists, according to the message. By Trend Chinas Gulf Cable Trading Company has commissioned a plant for the production of glazed ceramic granite and ceramic tiles in Uzbekistan, the press service of the countrys State Committee for Investments told Trend, August 31. The cost of the project is $21.1 million. It is being implemented by the National Ceramics OJSC joint venture, of which 90 percent of stocks belong to the Gulf Cable and the remaining 10 to individuals (Uzbek citizens). The designed capacity of the enterprise, established in the Angren free economic zone in the Tashkent region, is 4.5 million square meters of finishing materials per year. According to the business plan, the annual capacity of the project is two million square meters of ceramic granite and 2.5 million square meters of ceramic tiles. It is envisaged that, at least 30 percent of the total production volume will be exported. Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov held a meeting with the Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Abdulaziz Usman Al-Tuwaijri, who is on an official visit in Uzbekistan. The prospects of relations between Uzbekistan and ISESCO were discussed during the meeting, according to the information published on the website of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry. Al-Tuwaijri stressed that the motto of the Uzbek chairmanship in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC Education and Enlightenment as the Path to Peace and Creation put forward at the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent and the initiative of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev fully correspond to the aims and tasks of ISESCO. This is evidenced by the opening of a special ISESCO chair on the study of Islamic civilization at the Tashkent Islamic University on August 26. Following the talks, Kamilov on behalf of Uzbekistan conveyed a written notification of intention to become a full member of ISESCO to the Director-General and formally signed the charter of this organization. Dubai-based DP World, a global trade enabler, has completed the Phase 2 North expansion project designed to increase container throughput at Prince Rupert's Fairview Container terminal in Vancouver BC, Canada. DP World Group chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade, Government of Canada, marked the occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony in Prince Rupert, in the presence of First Nation representatives, along with senior government and state officials. DP World acquired the Fairview Container Terminal in August 2015 with the Phase 2 North expansion project launched shortly thereafter. The terminal supports 800 direct jobs and the original capacity of 750,000 TEU has increased to an approximate 1.35 million TEU annually. A second berth has been added with the extension of the existing berth by 440 metres to a total berth length of 800 meters. The total terminal footprint has also increased to 32 hectares (320,000 sq m) with the reclamation of 4.5 hectares (45,0000 sq m) of land. The increased capacity will support importers and exporters who favour Fairview for its position as the most efficient and fastest route from Asia to North American markets. "The expanded container terminal is an economic engine for the city of Prince Rupert and is directly responsible for hundreds of jobs with many others in the local community and beyond benefitting from its operations, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem added. We are delighted to mark this occasion today which marks our commitment to Canada and the local community. This is all part of our plans to provide capacity to meet Canadas Pacific container terminal capacity requirements for decades to come in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner." DP World Canada general manager, Maksim Mihic, said: "Prince Ruperts success has been driven by its unparalleled geographical position on the Trans-Pacific trade route, high terminal productivity and consistent low dwell times that have been sustained alongside our significant growth in throughput over the past two years. Strong relationships with our partners ILWU, the Prince Rupert Port Authority and CN Rail have resulted in a reliable and competitive service for our customers." As a modern, efficient intermodal terminal, Prince Rupert Fairview features three new Super-post Panamax cranes in addition to its existing fleet of four Super-post Panamax cranes and direct on-dock access to the CN Rail network. The addition of 6,000 feet of on-dock rail and six rubber tired gantry cranes (RTGs) to the rail yard ensures the smooth and efficient flow of goods. Together, the upgrades allow Prince Rupert to efficiently handle the largest vessels in the world with a carrying capacity of 20,000-plus TEUs. DP Worlds commitment to Canada will receive a further boost later this year with work to expand the companys Centerm terminal in Vancouver due to start. TradeArabia News Service Saudi Arabias Sabic, a global leader in diversified chemicals, has announced a donation of $200,000 to the American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast Region to assist with relief efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. "Sabic is committed to supporting communities impacted by this devastating natural disaster in their time of need. We hope that this donation can help these communities recover and rebuild, said Mohammed al Wakeel, vice president, US Growth Projects. "Our thoughts are with members of the Gulf Coast community and the surrounding area who are experiencing the effects of Hurricane Harvey," Greg Adams, vice president, Americas, said. The American Red Cross is mounting a massive relief effort in the face of the most devastating hurricane to strike the Gulf Coast in more than a decade. TradeArabia News Service Narrativa, the technology company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to translate data into easy-to-understand content, has announced the closing of its pre-Series A round, making it one of the first AI start-ups to receive funding in the UAE. Twofour54, Abu Dhabis media free zone, led the round with participation from a number of large media companies and business angels from Europe, the US and the UAE, said a statement. Narrativa uses proprietary AI technology to automatically transform large data sets into accessible narrative content. It is the only company worldwide to automatically generate content in Arabic along with several other languages, it said. David Llorente, CEO, Narrativa, said: We are at the forefront of natural language generation technology and this latest round of funding shows strong confidence in our growth and future prospects. The rise of big data, the rapid development of computing capabilities and the evolution of AI are revolutionising the way we produce and consume content, he said. Our AI technology helps companies in the media, e-commerce and enterprise reporting space to exponentially increase the amount of content generated, significantly reduce costs, and develop new revenue streams, he added. Narrativas client base is primarily in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Europe. With this funding round, the company is looking to penetrate the wider MENA market and expand into other industries where content can be generated, such as the financial services and oil and gas sectors. In the long term the company aims to target the global digital content licensing market, which is estimated to be worth $4 billion. Funds raised from this latest round of investment will go towards team expansion, sales and marketing, and technology development to further enhance the evolution of Narrativas proprietary AI technology, said a statement. Before closing the round, Narrativa successfully participated in two acclaimed media start-up accelerator programmes: Next Media Accelerator in Hamburg and Flat6Labs in Abu Dhabi, it said. Maryam AlMheiri, CEO of the Media Zone Authority Abu Dhabi and twofour54, said: Our investment in Narrativa is in line with our vision to champion the creative community and foster the production of content. The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region provides ample opportunities for expansion, and is bolstered by a young, dynamic, tech-savvy population that has one of the highest consumptions of social media per capita worldwide, she said. Less than 2 per cent of online content is in Arabic; making start-ups like Narrativa so valuable. We are thrilled to be part of the next stage of its growth story, she added. TradeArabia News Service The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority and Siemens have partnered in a bid to seek to extend the sources of spare parts for the Dubai Metro and increase their availability, reduce obsolescence issues and enable getting improved parts with better performance and increased features. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) is an additional step that will practically enhance RTAs already applied 3D printing initiative, a statement said. Abdul Mohsin Ibrahim Younes, CEO of Rail Agency signed the MoU for RTA and Alexander Biron von Curland, senior executive vice president, Mobility, Siemens Middle East signed it for Siemens. This step would certainly consolidate RTAs constant efforts to back up Dubais endeavours in becoming the worlds smartest city in three years, which would definitely contribute to make the residents of Dubai, its visitors and tourists happier and more satisfied, said Younes. Joining forces with an international prestigious company such Siemens would certainly empower RTA to realize its technological targets and innovation objectives as per the timeline scheduled for the evolvement of 3D printing technology at the maintenance operation of the Rail Agency, Younes added. Von Curland said: We are proud to be working with the RTA to advance industrialized 3D printing in Dubai, in line with the emirates vision to be the worlds smartest city. Siemens has been a pioneer of 3D printing worldwide, and this digital technology is changing the way we design and manufacture spare parts for mobility systems such as metros. RTAs Rail Agency rolled out during the second half of 2016 the utilization of 3D printing technology on the Dubai Metro. The team of the Rail Agency Maintenance Department succeeded to print parts for the metros subsystems. 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. 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 Climate change is real. Global warming is real and is happening and the effects are going to be catastrophic. A new research suggests that parts of South Asia, which is home to one fifth of the worlds population, will, in less than 100 years, become too hot for human habitation without adequate protection from deadly heatwaves. This just emphasises the critical crossroads the world now finds itself at if we are to do something to reverse the direction the planet is heading to. In my recently published book The Energy Budget, I referred to global warming as the biggest failure of the human race. Collectively we have, over the course of the past century, consumed and wasted precious energy without a thought for what our actions mean for the future. The latest research, published on Science Advances, points to rising temperatures and humidity in densely populated agricultural areas of the Ganges and Indus river basins soaring to levels that far exceed human survivability levels. Weve already seen the signs; in 2015 a deadly heat wave that gripped large parts of India and Pakistan claimed more than 3,500 lives. Studies such as this one are vitally important to keep the issue in the spotlight and highlight the need for urgent action. During the course of my 31 years in the engineering industry I have carried out extensive work and pioneered many new technologies. My goal has always been to improve efficiency in energy use and protect our precious environment, but my efforts and the collective efforts of all environmentalists worldwide are still not sufficient to stop global warming. The Paris Agreement on climate change, an agreement of 195 nations signed in December 2015 that binds individual countries to a collective global goal of combating global warming, is a start but we must do more. The commitment of the countries to cut CO2 emissions by 2030 is a positive step, yet it still gives nations such as China, the worlds biggest emitter of CO2 emissions, the capability to do what it wants for the next 13 years. That being said, renewable energy is picking up worldwide. China is, publicly at least, being seen to be acting as the worlds biggest investor in green technology solutions. And despite US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw his country from the agreement, the number of Americans employed in renewable-energy and jobs centred around sustainability is increasing year-on-year. Steps are being taken as the world awakes to the issue of climate change. However, the real problem the world must face up to if it wants a greener earth is that energy remains decidedly cheap. Energy is abundant and valuable but it should not be provided at a low cost because the traditional fossil fuel methods of creating and burning energy have an undisputed negative impact on our planet. Humans have been entrusted with the responsibility of looking after this beautiful planet, but it shouldnt be left to politicians to decide the best course of action. The complexity of energy creation and usage should prevent anyone other than highly-qualified experts in the domain to make decisions on the subject. In The Energy Budget I propose a structured formal plan whereby every country, city, town and factory will abide to a specific energy budget. That budget would not be set by politicians but by independently-elected or appointed energy governors - similar to a Central Bank Governor - which is then cascaded to every home, commercial building, factory and transportation body within a countrys borders. With this framework there should be a system to reward efficiency by providing lower rates for efficient users and producers; inefficiency would be penalised with higher rates. Unless taxed, this system wouldnt be a revenue generator for a countrys economy. What it would do is benefit the whole population as penalties would be used as a self-financing mechanism by each country or city to fund district energy in existing buildings and factories, as well as new research into the use of renewables, hydrogen and bio fuels. George Berbari, CEO of UAE-based DC PRO Engineering, an electromechanical consultancy firm specialising in district energy services and green buildings MEP design. Berbari is a recognised regional leader in sustainability and author of The Energy Budget. Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced a strategic collaboration with Gitex Future Stars to launch the first-ever Dubai Tourism Startup Competition - Futurism. The competition invites bright minds and innovators from around the world to submit ideas and business plans that will further revolutionise the citys travel and tourism sectors. In line with the Dubai 10X initiative launched under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which is guiding the emirates journey towards becoming a global hub for innovation in the next 10 years, the competition is also an effort towards discovering innovative solutions and facilitating further growth of the startup ecosystem, in alignment with Dubais Tourism Vision 2020, to attract 20 million visitors per year by 2020. Speaking about the Dubai Tourism Futurism Competition, Yousuf Lootah, executive director - Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism, said: Dubai has grown to become the business capital of the region and, through the launch of the first-ever Dubai Tourism Futurism Competition, we aim to continue to encourage pioneering thinking, and offer a platform for startups to succeed. As we progress towards the future, startups play a crucial role not only in the growth of the economy, but also in discovering solutions to meet evolving needs and tackle industry gaps. We are proud to collaborate with Gitex Future Stars to drive entrepreneurship forward, and are committed to building an environment that will help nurture innovative ideas and facilitate success. The Futurism competition features two key pillar categories hospitality and visitor experience for which individuals and startups can submit innovative ideas and business plans. Each submission will be judged by panel of experts, and a shortlist of the top 30 submissions will be awarded exhibition space at this years edition of Gitex Technology Week, scheduled to take place in Dubai from October 8-12, offering a platform for the shortlists to showcase their innovative solutions to attending conglomerates, investors and venture capitalists. Ultimately, three winners will be selected in each category who will receive access to Dubai Tourism experts, as well as industry leaders to transform their vision to reality. A total prize value of $100,000 has also been allocated to be distributed to the six winners as initial startup capital. Gitex Future Stars is designed to bring creative technologies and innovation to the forefront of the industry. The Dubai Tourism Futurism Competition will provide a stage for the worlds best travel technology startups to come together to enhance and disrupt technology solutions for travelers across the world. Dubai has long been a world leader in both technology and tourism, making it the ideal location to launch a global travel technology competition that is sure to enhance the way the world travels and support tourism in Dubai and beyond, said Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, Events Management, Dubai World Trade Centre. The Dubai Tourism Futurism Competition was launched at an exclusive Breakfast Workshop held on July 31 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The workshop, attended by over 100 participants, was led by Dubai Tourism representatives and industry experts including: Amadeus, Beco Capital, Roya, Startupbootcamp and Astrolabs. Offering insights into the challenges and opportunities for startups, a panel discussion during the workshop also shed light on potential gaps within the travel and tourism sectors that could pose as opportunities for startups to innovate. - TradeArabia News Service Abu Dhabi hotels welcomed up to 2.6 million guests during the first seven months of 2017, with a 4 per cent uplift recorded this month compared to July, according to figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA). Around 400,000 guests checked in during July, maintaining an annual growth of 7 per cent, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency. The figures were mentioned in a recent report released by TCA and showed that 396,548 guests checked into the emirates 164 hotels and hotel apartments in July delivering 928,502 guest nights. Hotel revenues for the month were Dh327 million ($89 million) from a total of almost 33,000 available rooms. All three regions of the Emirate Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra posted guest arrival increases on the back of strong domestic tourism visitors from within the UAE, with these 138,273 arrivals accounting for 35 per cent of all monthly visits. Double-digit growth from key tier one markets of the UK and the US, up 28.5 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, reflect an upsurge in summer demand, with Chinas phenomenal expansion continuing unabated, posting a monthly comparable increase of 87 per cent. "The launch of a full programme of Abu Dhabi Summer Season events has helped underpin these figures," said Saif Saeed Ghobash, TCA director general. "Julys growth in visitors from China, UK, and US, and the months UAE visitor arrivals total of 138,000 is encouraging and compares favourably when adjusted to take into account the Eid Al Fitr boost contained in the July 2016 figures. India and Saudi Arabia continue to perform well. Though there is still additional ground to cover, we have to consider the advances that are being made against the backdrop of a destination which has seen a nine per cent increase in hotel room inventory this year compared to last, he added. Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village City Manager Carter Napier announced in a memo this week that all city employees salaries or wages will be frozen as of Monday. Napier, who began his tenure about two months ago, was tasked by City Council with reigning in spending and reducing the approximately $4 million in reserves being used in the budget. This compensation freeze should save the city about $500,000 annually, according to Napier. These decisions are being made with the intent to hold off, as best as possible, the less desirable option of reductions in force, he said. Multiple changes regarding disability leave benefits will also take effect Monday. The memo stated that city employees who have over 200 hours of disability time will have their excess hours reduced down to 200, and employees will no longer be permitted to convert excess disability time to vacation time or the salary equivalent at the end of each calendar year. Napier estimated that these two changes should annually save the city $220,000 and $117,000, respectively. Lastly, the memo announced that street sweeping services will be moved to the Solid Waste Division of the Public Services, which Napier predicted will annually save the general fund about $200,000. The city manager thanked city employees in the memo for their dedication and service and explained that these choices were not easy to make. However, Napiers decision to freeze wages is especially notable considering city staff had explicitly avoided doing so during the budget session in May, which was overseen by then-Interim City Manager Liz Becher. Human Resources Director Tracey Belser said at the time that Caspers employee pay was in the 75th percentile in the market, a benchmark that was important to ensure that city jobs could compete for talent with private companies. Councilman Chris Walsh, a former Casper police chief, expressed concern about the fact many standard raises had already been eliminated for public employees in the city. Its been a couple years since our people have seen any kind of cola (cost-of-living adjustment) or raise or anything, Walsh said during a May budget session meeting. Thats what I want to look at. Councilwoman Amanda Huckabay raised the same issue, noting that the hiring freeze had led to employees being asked to serve in multiple roles. Becher agreed that this was a problem and something taken into consideration when crafting the budget. We have worried as to how thin the employees can get stretched, she said. But Councilman Dallas Laird pushed back on the issue of employee compensation, noting that some private sector employees have already taken pay cuts given poor economic conditions in the state. I get a lot of people telling me this year they didnt get their bonus and they didnt get their raise and that stuff, Laird said. So I guess theyve accepted it in some areas. The budget prepared by Becher did not include cost-of-living adjustments but retained so-called step increases, where city employees receive a 5 percent raise for their first five years of employment in a given position. The city also absorbed increased health insurance costs in the budget, a move praised by Mayor Kenyne Humphrey, who said that raising insurance costs for employees would be equivalent to cutting salaries. I know how bad it feels when thats the way it goes, she said in May. So, yay. But while avoiding personnel or salary cuts in the budget, which was finalized in June, several City Council members said they expected Napier to find ways to save money once he arrived in Casper. Napier began his job in late June and said that while his goal was a budget that did not require the use of reserves, there were no obvious areas to eliminate spending. Speaking at a budget meeting attended by several city employees, Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco cautioned Council not to amend the proposed budget to cut personnel. But he also noted that a new city manager might encourage Council to do just that, at which point he might become open to it. Youre doing something to peoples lives, Pacheco said in the spring. We are going to have to make cuts but I believe its going to have to be incrementally done. Peaking out of a hole knocked into drywall are multi-colored bricks. Another spot reveals a carefully-designed circular window. The findings are just bits and pieces right now. Nothing too stunning. But what they imply is much more interesting. Underneath the ceilings and white-painted dry wall of the old Plains Furniture store are the remnants of Nolans Chevrolet dealership, a 1920s staple in downtown Casper. Old photographs show those same bricks and circular window to help prove the buildings origins. And the discovery may well save that old furniture store from becoming a parking lot. Community Development Director Liz Becher led City Council members on a flashlight-lit tour of the building Tuesday to share the recent findings. City officials who purchased the building for about $3 million last year looked over old photographs and peered up through removed ceiling tiles at metal beams and the circular window that once overlooked the front of the business. A dozen steps led down to a damp, low-ceiling basement where the company stored vehicle parts and other equipment. It caused some controversy when City Council purchased the structure in early 2016: Some questioned the price tag, as an appraisal for the property came in at about $2.7 million, and others were concerned about the uncertainly surrounding the buildings purpose. City council decided earlier this year to demolish the structure and possibly use the space for parking, but after Tuesdays tour, Mayor Kenyne Humphrey said council will have to reconsider. I suspect that (this discovery) will change the direction of what council will want to do, but we will have to talk about it at a later date, she said. The mayor added that she was tempted to tear down more of the current structure to see what else they might find. Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco was also intrigued. Calling the discovery wonderful, the vice mayor said council members need some time to process all the new information before deciding on their next steps. City Council members werent the only ones on the tour: About 40 other local residents tagged along. Kathy Dolan was intrigued by the recent discovery, because shes passionate about historic preservation. When you lose the symbols of your history, you lose your history, she explained. I think its good to know where we came from. City Planner Craig Collins said he only expected to see city officials on the tour, but was thrilled that other citizens were interested in viewing the dealerships remains. The public needs to know about this kind of stuff because not everyone appreciates it, he explained. Some people just want to clear [old buildings] and make room for the new, but its part of our history. Pointing out that the western part of the United States tends to have fewer historic buildings than its eastern counterpart, Becher said she thinks its especially important for this region of the country to try and preserve older structures. Although many were shocked by the discovery, at least one Casper resident was already aware of the buildings secret. Virgil Smith, 87, said he started working for the Plains Furniture company right after it opened and remembers that the business opted to build around the remains of the dealership instead of knocking it down. He didnt know the specifics but said it was cheaper to use parts of the old building. Smith, who retired from the company in 1995, said he worked in repairs and delivery. He also recalls hearing that the building used to be a Ford dealership prior to being overtaken by Chevrolet. Oddly enough, this isnt the buildings first historic discovery. Back in October, City Council learned that the building next door a restored 1920s fire station that now houses commercial space had a garage that was later covered by the furniture store. Anthony Jacobsen with Stateline Architects told Council during an October meeting that he found the garages remains. We get in Plains Furniture, pop up some ceiling tiles and lo and behold theres still cornice, theres still all the detailing, he said at the time. CHEYENNE City council members in Wyoming's largest city are holding off on plans to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Cheyenne council members say they want to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a Colorado case involving a baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. Councilman Richard Johnson says if the court sides with the baker, nondiscrimination ordinances like the one proposed in Cheyenne would need to be rewritten. Johnson said that worries other council members who haven't decided whether to support the ordinance. The ordinance would make it illegal to fire employees or refuse to provide housing or other services on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. On a clear day, Rob Boner can see 100 miles to the Bighorn Mountains from his property near Douglas. So when federal officials told him that proposed oil wells on his ranch may not be permitted because they obstruct the view from historic Native American sites, he wondered how far could that view protection extend? Ranchers, county officials and oil and gas advocates brought similar complaints about protected viewsheds before state lawmakers at a meeting Wednesday in Casper. Landowners say the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees permitting of federal minerals, has recently taken a broad view of the visual impact that oil and gas development has on historic sites like rock cairns and tepee rings. But they also say federal regulators have given conflicting explanations of the law to different ranchers. The BLM, for its part, says it hasnt changed the way it considers historic sites, but more private lands are being impacted by federal rules. Changes in technology allow access to a mixture of federal, state and private minerals lying beneath the surface. The context of this regulatory confusion, and considerable frustration from landowners, is the evolution of the oil and gas industry, many noted Wednesday. It used to be simpler for landowners in Converse County to work with oil and gas developers on their property. Wells went straight down, and though the surface owner may not own the minerals beneath him, there were fewer instances of mixed minerals with the federal government, ranchers say. Directional drilling is the norm today, and a well in Converse County may extend laterally beneath the surface for miles. It is inevitable that a well drilled on private land will hit federal minerals, and with federal minerals come federal rules. On the surface, the protected view then extends for miles across the flat expanse of Converse County. *** The BLM was not present at the meeting Wednesday, but explained in earlier interviews that locals were mistaken about a supposed change in the agencys approach to permitting. Contemplating the way modern technology marks the landscape near historic sites has long been a practice for the agency in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act. When potential Native American sites are identified near a proposed well, the BLM is obligated to contact tribal governments, officials say. There are 18 tribes with a history in the Wyoming region. Ten of those tribes, including the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone, regularly work with BLM on local sites, verifying their origins and whether the tribes want the sites to be protected. Boner, the Converse rancher, said he refused to allow more than a dozen tribes to inspect the sites on his property. Its nothing against the tribes said his son, Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas. Its the idea that the federal government is dictating to us whos coming on our property and thats too far for many of my constituents. Most are happy to protect the actual historic sites, multiple ranchers told lawmakers Wednesday. Ranchers have many sites on their lands, whether they are Native American cultural sites or rock piles placed there by sheepherders. Its the indiscriminate visual buffer around the sites that bothers them. Boner, the rancher, closed out his comments with a warning. I dont mean to sound alarmist, he said But, they could shut down the Powder River Basin with this. *** Representatives from the Wyoming Petroleum Association, the Wyoming Mining Association and the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association corroborated the landowners testimony that BLMs implementation of the viewshed impact has been intrusive and inconsistent. Lawmakers asked BLM officials come to the meeting Wednesday, said Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance. The agency said it needs approval from Washington to present at a public meeting, and likely wont get that approval until the committee gathers again in October. Lindholm said he reached out to Washington and couldnt verify that the local BLM officers had made that effort to attend. The committee of state lawmakers cant do much about the federal law, nor how the Bureau of Land Management interprets it. They did share the common concern voiced at the meeting that the regulations as interpreted were impractical and burdensome. Theres a lot of confusion as far as the process goes, said Boner, the Douglas lawmaker. Just in principle, we see this creep of the federal government becoming ever more intrusive in our lives. The committee voted to draft a letter to Wyomings congressional delegation providing examples of how the BLMs interpretation of the federal rules has impacted Wyoming industry and private citizens. The letter will be made public and will also be sent to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the BLM and the state minerals committee. Tucsons last Furrs cafeteria, the bastion of buffets for the mostly senior set, closed last week, ending a run that dates back at least to the late 1980s. With little fanfare, the restaurant, which dubbed itself on one wall of the building as Furrs Buffet and on its main sign as Furrs Family Dining, was gone. It apparently closed sometime last week, said a Furrs manager at a location in New Mexico the closest Furrs to Tucson after all the Phoenix-area restaurants closed over the past several years. But on Wednesday, a sign on the front of the building at 1095 W. St. Marys Road was still lit. I wish they would have let me know they were closing, Tubac resident Bill Clark said just after peering into the empty restaurant and reading the sign on the door: To our valued guests, this location is now CLOSED, it read, then thanked customers for their business and directed them to visit the companys sister restaurant Old Country Buffet. That buffet chain also is gone from Tucson, its Park Avenue restaurant shuttered and the phone ringing a constant busy signal. An employee at Old Country Buffet in Mesa said there are only three restaurants left in Arizona and all are in the Phoenix area. Furrs was owned by Texas-based Food Management Partners, which acquired the Furrs chain and its sister Old Country Buffet and a couple other buffet imprints in 2014 and set about the next couple years shuttering locations. Tucson also lost its Hometown Buffet restaurants as part of an assets purge by Food Management Partners. The company apparently didnt pick favorites, shuttering restaurants at a feverish pitch in early 2016 when it closed 92 locations in a single weekend more than half of its properties, according to a report in Nations Restaurant News. But customers on Wednesday said they had no idea the St. Marys Road restaurant, which was popular with older folks on fixed incomes, was on the chopping block. An older mother-daughter duo peered into the window just after 2:30 p.m. looking for life after they found the front doors locked. Its closed, the younger woman called out as another customer pulled into the parking lot. A couple from New Mexico who said they were staying at a hotel on West Valencia Road were equally surprised. The woman said they would probably drive around until they found something. Clark said he was heading over to Costco on South Park Avenue to get a $2 slice of pizza. But he said he would miss his nearly monthly lunches at Furrs. I always enjoyed this buffet, said Clark, who was a regular for 17 years and was last there three weeks ago. No one mentioned the restaurants days were numbered, he said. I guess there are too many Californians here. They want to be served, he joked, saying that California residents were not fans of buffets. Mary French Sentenced To 4-5 Years In Prison Displaying not a flicker of emotion, Mary Rae French, a slender, 19-year-old brunette, heard herself sentenced yesterday to spend four to five years in State Prison for being involved in the slaying of Alleen Rowe, 15. She stood silent and unbending as the sentence was passed but later she burst into tears as she walked down the stairway leading from the courtroom. The teenager who was apprehended in Belton, Texas, on Nov. 14 received two concurrent sentences on charges of concealing and compounding a felony and being an accessory to the murder of the Rowe girl. She had entered a plea of guilty to the charges on Nov. 25. Superior Court Judge Robert Roylston told the former Palo Verde High School student that he could not give her probation which was urged by Jack Redhair, her court-appointed attorney. Redhair told Roylston before sentencing that Miss French was only 17 years old at the time of the killing of Miss Rowe on May 31, 1964. "She was under the influence of an older man (Charles Schmid, 23, also charged with the murder) she loved this man and he told her not to tell of the crime loved ones do not tell on each other," Redhair said. The attorney claimed that Miss French did not know there was going to be a murder until it happened. He said her only crime was in not telling of the murder after it happened. Following the slaying she went to Texas and severed her relationship with Schmid. "When she was contacted by the police in Texas she told the whole truth about the crime," Redhair said. "She cooperated 100 per cent." Redhair pleaded for probation for Miss French for about 15 mintues. He claimed the girl should be rehabilitated rather than punished by putting her in prison. He said she should be given the opportunity to complete her high school education so that she can become a useful member of society. Miss French stood with her head bowed at times before Roylston. The only thing she said was "No, sir" when the judge asked if she had anything to say before sentence was pronounced. Roylston said he had received preliminary reports from the Adult Probation Office ever since the girl pleaded guilty. He had a very comprehensive report last weekend which included psychiatric reports, letters to and from the girl and various versions of the crime as told to the probation officers by Miss French and others involved in the murder. The judge said none of these reports are public. The maximum sentence which could be given Miss French on each charge was five years. In pronouncing the sentence Roylston merely said he could not place the girl on probation and he then set the term at four to five years on each count to run concurrently. The actual sentencing took no more than 20 to 30 seconds. The hot, dry weather dominating Arizona and the Southwest during the last week had a direct effect on the historic rain and flooding in Texas from what was Hurricane Harvey. There were two high-pressure systems, one to the east of the hurricane and one to the west, said Nancy Selover, Arizona state climatologist, in a statement. Those and the low-pressure trough between (them) sort of trapped Harvey, keeping it in place. Typically, hurricanes fall apart within hours, because they get cut off from energy source once over land, said Michael Crimmins, University of Arizona associate professor of global change and soil, water and environmental science. But Harvey stalled and continuously drew in huge amounts of warm water onto land. The storm even moved back into the Gulf of Mexico to gather more steam as it began its path to the northeast. More than 50 inches of rain historic totals fell in some places in and around Houston. All the while, Tucson saw below-average rainfall only 0.13 of an inch and somewhat higher than average temperatures during the last week. Since Saturday, Tucson has seen highs of about 5 to 6 degrees above normal for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service. Our weather system also had another impact keeping out of Harveys rainy reach. The high pressure to the west was over us, and is keeping most of Harveys moisture from getting to Arizona, Selover said. This configuration of high-pressure systems had a specific effect in keeping Harvey stalled over the Houston area as opposed to what typically might have happened. Had the subtropical high over the Southwest been stretched across all the southern United States it can sometimes have this configuration Harvey would have blasted west into Texas and decayed rather quickly over the mountains of Mexico, Mark OMalley, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said in a statement. As the high-pressure system in the eastern United States let up, Harvey moved over Louisiana, and began weakening in its path across Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. By Thursday morning, Harvey was a tropical depression and was expected to move across the Ohio valley by Saturday as a post-tropical low, according to the National Hurricane Center. In Tucson, we turn our attention now to (Tropical Storm) Lidia at the Gulf of California, Crimmins said, which might break the dry spell and bring moisture next week. Monsoons not over, he said. Its getting close but theres one or two surprises left. It will remain warm through next week in Tucson with highs in the low 100s on Saturday and Sunday and near 100 Monday through much of next week, according to the NWS. The chance of rain was at 10 percent for the weekend. PHOENIX The states top prosecutor is charging a major Arizona manufacturer of opioids of using unfair and deceptive marketing practices designed to pad company profits at the expense of patient safety. A lawsuit filed late Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court claims Insys Therapeutics engaged in a nationwide scheme to deceive patients, doctors and insurers about the safety of Subsys, its sublingual spray form of the powerful opioid fentanyl. Insys lied to insurers, concealed key facts from doctors and patients, and paid doctors sham speaker fees in exchange for writing prescriptions, all in order to increase the sales of Subsys, without regard for the health and safety of patients, charged Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Insys made hundreds of millions of dollars from its deceptive scheme but also put countless patients in harms way, exposing them to unacceptable and unnecessary risks of addiction and death. Brnovich is using the states Consumer Fraud Act to ask a judge to block Insys and its employees from engaging in unfair, deceptive or misleading acts. That allows him to demand the Chandler-based company to both pay restitution to consumers who should never have been prescribed the drug as well as force the company to surrender all of its profits from what Brnovich says is the companys illegal practices. There was no immediate comment from an Insys spokeswoman, but the company clearly knew it was under investigation. In June, Insys told the Securities and Exchange Commission the firm had received a civil investigative demand from officials in Arizona as well as other states. The company said the demands sought information about its sales and marketing practices related to Subsys, which happens to be the companys only federally approved product. What Brnovich learned formed the basis for the litigation not only against Insys but against three doctors who he said were responsible for 64 percent of the nearly $51.9 million Subsys sales in Arizona during a five-year period. At the heart of the lawsuit is Brnovichs contention that Insys promoted Subsys in ways designed to generate sales while ignoring health concerns. Brnovich said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Subsys only to manage breakthrough pain in cancer patients 18 years of age and older who are receiving and tolerant to around-the-clock opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain. At the same time, he said, the FDA-required label spells out the things it should not be used for, things like postoperative pain and for headaches and migraines. In fact, he said, the FDA warns that deaths have occurred in patients give fentanyl products who are not tolerant of opioids. But Brnovich said Insys ignored all that to promote sales. One of the biggest schemes, he said, has been getting insurers to pay for the expensive drug, even in situations where its use was neither necessary nor appropriate. In general, a doctor must get prior authorization from the insurer, sharing information like the patients medical history and current conditions. In late 2012, Brnovich said, fewer than a third of those requests were granted. But in 2013, he charged, Insys inserted itself into the process, having doctors contact Insys and company employees contacting the insurers. Brnovich said those employees manipulated the (patient) information provided to insurers to convince them that a Subsys prescription was needed. By July 2013, the lawsuit says, Insys got prior payment authorization more than 75 percent of the time. By November, the companys board of directors was told that had increased to 100 percent. It wasnt just that Insys employees were the ones calling the insurers. Brnovich said Insys instructed its employees to lead insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to believe they were calling from a doctors office when in fact they were calling directly from Insys. Worse yet, Brnovich said Insys employees falsely claimed that patients had cancer and breakthrough pain, since that was the only diagnosis for which the FDA had approved the drug. Brnovich said Insys employees told insurers that patients had tried other medications and found them ineffective when in fact patients had not tried those medications. The lawsuit also claims the companys so-called speaker fees program was really a thinly disguised effort to reward doctors who prescribed the most Subsys. In the case of the three doctors named in the suit Dr. Sheldon Gingerich of Tucson, Dr. Nikesh Seth of Maricopa County and Dr. Steve Fanto of Maricopa County Brnovich said they collectively wrote about nine Subsys prescriptions a month before they started getting money from Insys. When the checks started coming in, that figure averaged about 62 prescriptions a month. Those startling statistics were no accident, Brnovich said. Instead, they were the predictable and calculated results of a scheme operating by Insys both in Arizona and nationwide. The results, said Brnovich, resulted in nearly $200 million in profits in 2014, more than $300 million in 2015 and in excess of $215 million in 2016. The new lawsuit is far from the companys first legal problem. Earlier this month, Insys paid $4.5 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Illinois attorney general, who charged that the company was deceptively marketing Subsys for off-label uses. In agreeing to that deal, the company put out a press release saying it reflects our firm commitment to take responsibility for actions by our former employees. But there were limits to that admission. We do not believe it is factually accurate to state that Insys has materially contributed to the opioid crisis in the state of Illinois or the nation, the statement said. Insys also reported it entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance with the state of Oregon that requires us to maintain certain control and processes around our promotional sales related to Subsys in Oregon. While the company said it did not admit to any violation, it did agree to pay about $1.1 million. The company also reported it paid $2.9 million to New Hampshire and a $500,000 contribution to a charity to be used to prevent or remediate problems relating to abuse, misuse or misprescribing of opioid drugs. PHOENIX One of the three doctors including one from Tucson accused of prescribing opioids for money is denying he or the others did anything wrong. Dr. Nikesh Seth, the only one of the doctors who returned a call seeking comment about the civil lawsuit filed Wednesday by Attorney General Mark Brnovich, acknowledged he did get money from Insys Therapeutics to speak about its drug Subsys. In fact, Seth told Capitol Media Services that he along with the other two doctors named in the lawsuit Steve Fanto of the Phoenix area and Sheldon Gingerich of Tucson were the only three in the state that were speakers for Insys. The lawsuit separately charges the Chandler-based company with misleading patients and doctors about the dangers of the drug and of lying to insurers about the condition of the patients in a bid to get payment for the drug. But Seth denied any link between the number of prescriptions he wrote for the sublingual version of the powerful opioid fentanyl and the money. They were educational programs that we were paid for where multiple providers across the country and in the Valley attended, the Scottsdale pain management specialist said. So they were actual legitimate speaker programs. Thats not the contention of Brnovich, who charges in the lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court that Insys paid doctors sham speaker fees in exchange for writing prescriptions, all in order to increase the sales of Subsys, without regard for the health and safety of patients. To back his contention, Brnovich said that in the two years before Seth began receiving speaker fees he wrote just 11 prescriptions for Subsys. Then in the three months immediately before his first fee, he wrote 18 per month, a figure that increased to about 23 per month while Seth was actually getting paid an average of $207,000 a month. Yet in the seven months after the fees stopped, Brnovich said Seth was prescribing Subsys at a rate of two a month. The fact that we prescribed the product or that I prescribed the product is that its a very good product and we had an appropriate clientele of patients that got the medication, Seth said. And Seth said most of those patients had breakthrough cancer pain, the only use for which the federal Food and Drug Administration approved the drug. Seth acknowledged that he and the other doctors prescribed the drug to others experiencing pain, saying patients were warned about the dangers. And there is nothing illegal about off-label use. Also named in the lawsuit along with Insys and Seth is Dr. Steve Fanto, who until July was in the practice of pain medication in Scottsdale. His license was suspended after the Arizona Medical Board found he had improperly prescribed Subsys. Among the boards findings was that he was starting patients off with 800 micrograms of Subsys, the highest available dose, despite FDA-required labeling that said they should be started at 100 micrograms with the dose slowly increased until there was an adequate pain-relieving effect with tolerable side effects. Brnovich said these prescriptions did more than put patients at risk. They also generated substantial revenue for Insys, he said. The higher the dose of Subsys, the more money Insys made. Also named in the lawsuit is Tucson pain management specialist Dr. Sheldon Gingerich. The lawsuit said before Gingerich started getting speaker fees, he wrote fewer than one Subsys prescription a month. That increased to 10 a month in the three months before the fees started and 16 a month while he was getting paid a total of $83,100 in speaker fees and $7,200 in consulting fees. Gingerich did not return phone calls for comment. All totaled, Brnovich said, the three doctors were paid nearly $600,000. But the attorney general said it was a good investment for Insys, with their additional prescriptions above their historic averages generating more than $25 million for the company. But Brnovichs harshest claims in the lawsuit were aimed at Insys and not just for what the attorney general said was that sham speaker fees program. He said the Chandler-based firm deceived insurers and pharmaceutical benefit companies into agreeing to pay for the expensive drug by misleading them to believe that the payment request was coming from a doctors office and not the company making the drug. Brnovich also said those Insys employees misrepresented the medical conditions of the patients, lying that they had breakthrough pain, lying that the patients had tried other medications, and lying that the patients needed the sublingual spray rather than less expensive pills marketed by other firms because they had difficulty swallowing. The lawsuit asks a judge to not only enjoin all the defendants from unfair, deceptive or misleading acts in the future but also seeks restitution to customers and an order that they surrender money they obtained as a result of their illegal conduct. Insys did not respond to requests for comment. After the presidential election, it seemed every arrest of an immigrant who was in the country illegally set off waves of shock in the national media. The hard-working mother of U.S. citizen children; the man who sought sanctuary inside a church; the "dreamer" who was at the wrong place at the wrong time it was all Trump and his promise to be tough on illegal immigrants. For many, this is what they had been waiting for, what voters throughout the country thought needed to be done. For Trump supporters, his inauguration on Jan. 20 was a new day for immigration enforcement. Arizona just called it a Friday. While Trumps rhetoric and shift in policies are more strident compared to the latter years of the Obama administration, the effects are nothing new, especially not in border communities and especially not in a place where being tough on immigration has been part of local and state politics. An investigation by a team of Star journalists found that, at least in Southern Arizona, the federal immigration enforcement apparatus that has been running for years and was boosted statewide by Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the so-called show me your papers legislation of 2010 had already done most of what the president is taking credit, and blame, for. Consider the facts on the ground: Arrests at the border have declined precipitously since Trump took office, which means fewer people are trying to cross, but that number was already going down. In the Tucson Sector, 65,000 people were detained last year; compare that to more than 500,000 in 2000. First-time border crossers are being criminally charged, but with fewer people crossing, immigration prosecutions are now fewer than they were during the Obama administration. Nationally, arrests are up, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement averaging more than 13,000 arrests per month, but deportations are down. It is harder to deport people who have been living here for years and can appeal to an immigration system that faces a backlog of more than 600,000 cases. These numbers provide fodder for critics and supporters alike, who can pick and choose what they focus on and either call it the return of the rule of law or a crisis for immigrants. But seven months into the Trump administration, the numbers dont show a big shift in enforcement at least not yet. Along with pushing for the improbable and unneeded border wall, President Trump has called for increased detention space, additional immigration judges and 15,000 more agents 5,000 for the Border Patrol and 10,000 for ICE. Every item on his wish list faces almost insurmountable financial and logistical obstacles, and many practical changes would be needed for the presidents tough talk to become real. What is real right now is the increased fear. Star reporters talked with people who say they are more careful now when they drive, when they go out. Some are reconsidering whether to check in with immigration services because theyve heard stories of people who have done that and found themselves deported to Nogales, Sonora, within hours. At the same time, the immigrant community has learned from SB 1070 and many are turning that fear into action to protect their families. They are organizing, learning about their rights and preparing. Some parents are drafting their older U.S.-born children to take care of their younger siblings if the worst happens. Regardless of who is taking credit for what, the spotlight that follows the president is shining on an immigration system that our reporting has long shown is broken, keeps people in fear, tempers economic growth and hurts public safety and that affects us all. If Congress fails, yet again, to act on real and functional immigration reform, the question to ask is what happens after Trump is gone? What happens after that spotlight moves on and its back to a president like Obama, quietly deporting 5 million people including the mom, the sanctuary seeker, the dreamer? The president may be to blame for giving a megaphone to anti-immigrant sentiment, but that attitude has been there for a long time, along with the policies. Exxon Mobil Corps Blue Whale gas project, Vietnams biggest, could start in November, Vietnam Television (VTV) reported on Tuesday. The Blue Whale field has an estimated 150 billion cubic metres of reserves. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Exxon Mobil on Tuesday he hoped to have the project starting officially at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November when U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. government officials are expected to attend, state-run VTV reported. Vietnam is trying to switch to cleaner energy from coal-fired power plants. The country is also planning solar and wind power plants. Jon Gibbs, Exxon Mobils vice president in Asia Pacific and Middle East, said the U.S. company aimed to produce the first gas for Vietnamese power plants in 2023, VTV reported. PetroVietnam, Exxon Mobils Vietnamese partner, has said the project would contribute nearly $20 billion to the state budget. Exxon Mobil established an exploration and exploitation unit in Vietnam that distributes lubricant and petrochemical products, a Vietnamese government news website said. Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was found to have lied about having a brother-in-law who served as former vice-director of a pharmaceutical company whose leaders are being investigated for importing fake cancer drugs. The pharmaceutical firm, VN Pharma JSC, imported 9,000 boxes of H-Capita 500mg, a cancer medicine, in 2013. Documents regarding the drugs origin, specifications, and quality assurance were forged, while the drugs themselves were found to be 97 percent capecitabine, a low-quality ingredient that is not recommended for humans. VN Pharmas general director Nguyen Minh Hung and eight other accomplices were tried and sentenced last week to up to 12 years each behind bars for trafficking, a verdict that had been criticized by legal experts as a misinterpretation of the cases nature. The High Peoples Procurator of Ho Chi Minh City has since announced that it will appeal the case to review relevant evidence. Nguyen Minh Hung, former chairman and general director of VN Pharma, stands trial at the Peoples Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre In a surprising turn of events, Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was found to have lied about having a relative who worked at VN Pharma. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, a member of Vietnams lawmaking National Assembly, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper she was absolutely certain that Tiens brother-in-law Hoang Quoc Dung had served as vice-director of the pharmaceutical firm. According to Lan, a former deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, Dung held the position before the firms scandal was discovered and did not resign until after Nguyen Minh Hung and his accomplices had been arrested. Hung confirmed the information for a second time in an interview with Tuoi Tre on Wednesday, saying Dung had worked at VN Pharma since 2013 or 2014, and was primarily in charge of the firms construction and investment. Hung rejected rumors that Minister Tiens son had also worked as counselor for VN Pharma. The revelation contradicts Tiens previous claim that she had no relatives who are leaders at VN Pharma and her dismissal of such rumors as fabricated stories." A caricature depicting Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien claiming I have no relatives who are leaders of VN Pharma. Photo: Tuoi Tre At a regular government press briefing in Hanoi on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien defended his superior, saying the minister had made no mention [of her brother-in-law] and never denied it. I dont know whether anyone who works at the Ministry of Health is aware of the fact, but I have personally never asked the minister about the issue, the deputy health minister said. He added that Vietnams anti-corruption laws only ban parents, spouses, and children of high-ranking officials from holding executive positions in the officials respective fields of governance, with no actual mentioning of in-laws. The prime minister has given a directive to open a government investigation into the Ministry of Healths licensing of drug importation and registration to VN Pharma, Mai Tien Dung, Vietnamese Minister and Chairman of the Government Office, said at the press briefing on Wednesday. The investigation will be comprehensive." The PMs stance is to handle this issue until it is resolved and the ultimate truth is uncovered, he added. There will be no restricted area. Ex-leaders of VN Pharma stand trial at the Peoples Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The statement was made by Vietnamese Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung on Wednesday as he took questions from reporters during a regular government press briefing. According to Dung, the consistent stance of the Vietnamese government and its head has been to facilitate an equal business environment for foreign investors to thrive in Vietnam. If a certain local administration or authority violates their agreement [with foreign investors] or breaks the law, these investors reserve the right to sue the countrys government, Dung said. We can only wait, until the international court has finished investigating the case. The prime minister has given clear directions to approach this issue with transparency in order to maintain [investors] confidence in our business environment, he added. The minister and chairman promised to keep the press informed as more details become available. Trinh Vinh Binh is a Vietnamese-Dutch businessman who was born in 1947 in the southern province of Soc Trang. After spending time abroad, Binh returned to Vietnam in 1992 and invested heavily in real estate, purchasing over 2.5 million square meters of land and more than ten houses in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau. Four years later, on December 5, 1996, Binh was arrested and prosecuted in Ba Ria Vung Tau on charges of bribery and violating regulations on land management. Binh was released on bail on June 25, 1998. Between December 7 and 11 the same year, Binh and five others stood trial at the provincial court for their alleged crimes, with the businessman facing five years for his land management violation and eight years for bribery. On May 4-5, 1999, the appellate court of the High Peoples Court of Ho Chi Minh City reduced Binhs total sentence to11 years. However, Binh had fled abroad before his jail time was actually enforced. The government of Vietnam later pardoned Binh and allowed him to return to his home country as a free man. Binh recently filed a lawsuit against the Vietnamese government with the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, demanding US$1.2 billion in compensation for financial losses related to the ordeal and the return of his previously owned assets in Vietnam. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A German-themed office building is expected to be inaugurated in Ho Chi Minh City next month, creating more opportunities for better relationships between Vietnam and the European business community. The Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh, or German House Ho Chi Minh City in English, has been open for lease in preparation for its grand inauguration on September 5. The building complex is located at the corner of Le Duan and Le Van Huu Streets in District 1. The construction was initiated in November 2014 at a cost of US$120 million. The structure has 25 stories and covers an area of 40,000 square meters. According to the project developer, the German Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, several businesses from Germany and some European countries have already signed deals to rent offices at the building. Ho Chi Minh City officials visited the building on Wednesday to review the newly-built structure. A model of the German House is seen in this photo taken from the projects official website Speaking at the event, German Consul General Andreas Siegel considered the building a symbol of friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and Germany. It is intended to contribute to the two nations ties in culture, economic matters, and investment, the diplomat said. According to Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, the German House has unique features of German architecture but is still in harmony with nearby buildings and the surrounding environment. The structure will serve diplomatic and economic purposes upon its opening, Nhan continued. The official expressed his belief that the building will be a bridge between Vietnam and businesses from Germany and Europe. The Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee will work with the German Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam to provide favorable conditions for the successful operation of the building complex, he said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Environmental police are investigating the origin of two rare leopards and an Asian golden cat that were raised without permits or documents stating their origin at a water park in Ho Chi Minh City. Local residents originally notified authorities that three wild animals were being raised at the venue. Environmental police officers under the Ministry of Public Security, along with competentagencies, met with managers of the Cu Chi Water Park on Wednesday to investigate the incident. During the meeting, the water parks managers claimed that the rare animals had been brought to the facility by two unidentified men on a motorbike. The two leopards at the Cu Chi Water Park, located in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre The two men are still unidentified and the park's managers claim not to remember the exact vehicle license plate number. The pair gave the cats to the park without asking for money or anything else in return. Initial examinations preformed by the Ho Chi Minh City-based Institute of Tropical Biology showed that the animals included two leopards (Panthera pardus) and an Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), all of which are listed as rare species and in need of protection. The case has been transferred to the police department in Cu Chi District for further investigation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nearly 300 officers from various government and military organizations participated in an anti-terrorism exercise at a major port in the central city of Da Nang on Wednesday. The training, organized by the Vietnam Maritime Administration and Ministry of Transport at Tien Sa Port, aimed to boost Vietnams anti-terrorism security capabilities in order to ensure port safety and security. About 300 officers from nine units, including police, the military, paramedics, and search and rescue teams, participated in the exercise. The scenario for the exercise involved a group of terrorists abducting several hostages and planting explosives across the seaport. Officers patrolled the area in smaller groups to simultaneously attack the terrorists and defuse the bombs. During their mission, controlled explosives were detonated and rescue units were required to extinguish the subsequent fires that broke out at several warehouses and ships at the port. According to Nguyen Van Cong, Deputy Minister of Transport, the exercise was successfully executed within the ministrys standards. Cong considered the drill a large-scale event necessary to ensure the rapid growth of international trade coming to Vietnam, and its accompanying challenges. Attacks by pirates and terrorists in Southeast Asian waters are a constant threat to maritime safety and security, the official elaborated. The drill was designed to prepare relevant units for such a situation and contributing to the preservation of port security in accordance with international law, he stated. Officers approach targets during the exercise. Photo: Tuoi Tre Rescue units put out a fire on a ship docking at the port. Photo: Tuoi Tre Officers defuse a bomb planted by terrorists during the drill. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! New Zealands Ambassador to Vietnam paid a visit to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper earlier this week, where she discussed the local media landscape and initiatives to further cooperation between the two countries with the publications leaders. Ambassador Wendy Matthews, who arrived in Hanoi for her new post at the New Zealand Embassy in December 2016, was received by Tuoi Tre deputy editor-in-chief Le Xuan Trung at the newspapers head office in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday. Matthews said she wants to study the media landscape in Vietnam and hoped for insight from Tuoi Tre, which she views as one of the most successful newspapers in the Southeast Asian country. The ambassador asked how Tuoi Tre has responded to the global shift from print to digital. In response, Trung admitted that while Tuoi Tre is the number-one newspaper in print media, its online publication is still developing and ranks lower than some local peers. The deputy editor-in-chief admitted that the dailys print sales are dropping and Tuoi Tre is investing heavily in its online platforms. On September 2, the 72nd anniversary of Vietnams National Day and the 42nd birthday of Tuoi Tre, the newspapers online publication, tuoitre.vn, will unveil its redesign as part of a master plan to enhance its performance and ranking, Trung added. The Tuoi Tre leader also asked Ambassador Matthews if she could share with them how media outlets in New Zealand have dealt with the shift. The guest said the situation of slumping print sales is no different in her country, adding that New Zealand media agencies and newspapers are also struggling to adapt to the changes. New Zealands Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews (L) is pictured during the meeting at Tuoi Tre's head office in Ho Chi Minh City on August 29, 2017. Ambassador Matthews also sought recommendations from Tuoi Tre as to how New Zealand can introduce itself better to the Southeast Asian country. "New Zealand is known to most Vietnamese as a far-flung nation with a lush green environment and good education systemand as 'the birthplace of the Hobbits,' the ambassador joked, adding that she is seeking ways to help local Vietnamese learn more about her country. Trung said New Zealand is now a popular destination for Vietnamese students to study abroad and suggested that the Kiwi government and embassy in Hanoi hold more culture, tourism, and exchange programs to promote its image to Vietnam. Tuoi Tre is more than willing to cooperate with the New Zealand government and embassy to organize these activities, Trung underlined. Ambassador Matthews appreciated the offer from Tuoi Tre, adding she can help connect the newspaper with journalism programs and scholarships offered by the New Zealand government. (L-R) Bui Tien Dung, managing editor of Tuoi Tre's international desk, Ambassador Wendy Matthews, and Tuoi Tre deputy editor-in-chief Le Xuan Trung pose for a photo after the meeting. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Netflix will screen The Day I Met El Chapo a biographical account of Mexican actress, Kate del Castillos meeting with one of the worlds most notorious drug lords and a Hollywood star (presumably Sean Penn, although the release does not detail). The three-part series tells her side of the story using never-before-seen footage. As an actress Ive been given the opportunity to portray fascinating fictional characters, roles I am very proud of. Now I get the chance to tell my story, my reality, my truth. This project will dive into how it began, why I pursued accepting the rights to the life story of one of the most controversial narco figures and what happened after, said del Castillo. I was extremely excited to delve into the craziest life imitating art saga Ive ever heard, a story wrapped around a core of complex social and political issues. Im honored that Kate gave me the opportunity to tell her truth, said David Broome, series creator and executive producer. Friday October 20 on Netflix. Upcoming Foxtel feature Australia Day will have a cinema release on September 21 ahead of its availability through the Foxtel Store and Dendy Direct on September 27. The Brisbane film by Kriv Stenders (Red Dog) is a new strategy being trialled by Foxtel, in conjunction with Dendy Cinemas. The Hoodlum film written by Stephen M. Irwin (Secrets & Lies) has already featured at the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals, CinefestOZ and will feature at the Brisbane International Film Festival on Saturday. Its a real thrill and honour to be a part of this exciting and hopefully precedent setting distribution platform. I believe the future of niche Australian film distribution has finally arrived, and truly hope that other local filmmakers, distributors, broadcasters and exhibitors will be able to continue to build and expand upon the innovative template that Foxtel, Icon and Dendy have now created, said Stenders. Foxtels Director of Content Ross Crowley said: Foxtel is excited to be part of this initiative to bring selected movies into Australian homes even sooner. We love going to the movies, and we love when the movies come to us. Australia Day is the perfect title to lead our expanded Foxtel Store offering, making a great Australian feature available to homes around the country one week after cinema. Australia Day joins thousands of movie titles available on Foxtel Store across IQ2+ and HD boxes. Australia Day stars Bryan Brown in his third collaboration with Director, Kriv Stenders, alongside a wealth of Australian talent including Matthew Le Nevez (The Kettering Incident- Foxtel and Offspring), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, The Gods of Wheat Street), Sean Keenan (Glitch and Puberty Blues), Daniel Webber (The Punisher), Elias Anton (Barracuda), Jenny Wu (Foxtels Top Of The Lake: China Girl), Miah Madden (The Sapphires, Redfern Now), Isabelle Cornish (Puberty Blues), Phoenix Raei (Indefinite) and Ernie Dingo. Shot entirely in Brisbane, this new Australian film by Brisbane based Hoodlum productions from Australia Day takes place over a 12-hour period on our most controversial national holiday, interweaving the stories of three Australians from diverse backgrounds 14-year-old Indigenous girl, April (Madden); 17-year-old Iranian-Australian boy, Sami (Anton) and 19-year-old Chinese teen, Lan (Wu). Whilst the nation celebrates with beach/backyard barbeques and Hottest 100 / pool parties, these three individuals find themselves alone and facing issues of racism, oppression and violence each terrified for their own life. When their respective paths cross with police officer Sonya (Sebbens); Australian teen Jason (Webber) and failed farmer Terry (Brown), all must make choices and sacrifices. All will find there is a heavy price to pay, but heart and hope will help them to create meaningful change. On Sunday Night this weekend, Hollywood legend Goldie Hawn plus the money being made behind cat videos (and not just the ones on Seven). Ca$ed Up Kitties No doubt about it, cats really do make us laugh out loud. But If you thought those cute and hilarious YouTube videos were just a passing fad, youd be wrong. Cats now rule the internet and some felines and their lucky owners are making an absolute fortune from their fame. Its now a multi-million industry and this week on Sunday Night, youll meet the families behind some of the worlds biggest feline stars and learn the secrets to their success. Jenna the Brave At four years old Jenna Hansford was like any other child her age, until she was struck down with a deadly strain of meningococcal. But miraculously, Jenna defied the odds. Two-years on and 30 operations later, this brave little battler surprised both her family and doctors with her courage and resilience. But her survival wasnt without some severe side effects. As part of her treatment, Jennas right arm was amputated below the elbow and she lost the fingers on her left arm. One of the most frustrating parts of the entire ordeal for Jenna and her family was that she was immunised, but she caught a strain of the disease most parents dont know exists. Sunday Nights Alex Cullen sits down with Jenna and her family in this emotional interview. Golden Goldie Whatever happened to Goldie Hawn, Hollywoods classic ditzy blonde with the dimples and the infectious giggle? She just seemed to disappear from our screens. It turns out Goldie decided her family was more important than fame, so they packed up and moved to Canada. That was 14 years ago. But this year she came back to the big screen with a vengeance and an unlikely co-star the brash and brazen comedienne Amy Schumer in the movie Snatched. And as Mike Amor discovers, Goldies still the golden girl we first fell in love with. 8pm Sunday on Seven. WIN begins broadcasting TEN programmes in Northern NSW and Gold Coast from Friday September 1. The WIN Networks purchase of television assets and operations covers Newcastle, Tamworth, Taree, Coffs Harbour, Lismore and the Gold Coast. From September 1 TEN will be broadcast by WIN on Channel 5. TEN HD screens on Channel 50. ONE will move to Channel 51, ELEVEN will broadcast on Channel 52, TVSN is on Channel 54 and Gold is on Channel 55. Viewers may need to rescan their television sets on September 1 as their favourite programs may be on a different channel number. WIN Network CEO Andrew Lancaster said, We have Australias largest regional television network and we have proven ourselves to be committed to working with each and every one of our communities. By teaming with Network TEN we are supplying a programming line-up with the ability to appeal to a broad audience and we look forward to engaging with our new viewers. While most digital televisions, Set Top Boxes and Digital Video Recorders will automatically locate and update the new channels, some older devices may not automatically update. If this is the case, viewers may see a black screen or the phrase no signal on the screen on the channels where they used to watch Ten, One or Eleven. Re-scanning your television set on September 1 is simple and fast. Just check your manual or, in the menu on your remote, search for set-up and take the auto-tune option. Be aware you may need to re-allocate favourites or any special options you have on your set. To help viewers with any enquiries about the channel changes, WIN has set up a telephone hotline and has posted FAQs on its website. WIN Support Line: Ph 1300 640 166. www.wintv.com.au Help India! By Shafeeq Hudawi, TwoCircles.net Thiruvananthapuram: The case of Hadiya, a girl who converted to Islam and married a Muslim has once again come under the limelight for the partial stand by the Kerala police. On Wednesday, the police blocked a group of women activists including media persons outside her house while they tried to meet Hadiya, who has been confined on the order of Kerala High Court. Support TwoCircles Besides, the group was manhandled by alleged Sangh Parivar activists outside the house in the presence of police. Few weeks ago, the police had permitted Hindu preacher and activist Rahul Easwar inside the house and no action was taken against him after a complaint was issued by Hadiyas father against him for recording Hadiyas video without the familys permission. Rahul managed to enter the house, where six policemen stand around the clock, inspect vehicles and stop journalists even from taking pictures of her house and surroundings. On Wednesday, six members of Feminist Reading Group, a Facebook collective, arrived T V Puram in Kottayam district. We arrived at the spot to hand over some sweets and books to Hadiya, who is in confinement. We also wanted to express our solidarity saying some women use to hear your grievances and we are with you. But were denied entry, said a Facebook live video by group member Ammu Thomas. Apart from Ammu, the group consisted Sajna Shas, Mrudula Bhavani, Bhoomi J N, Anusha Paul and Shabna Sumayya. While the women were denied entry, they started a silent protest outside the house. We heard Hadiya crying save me. The windows were soon closed, said Ammu. Soon after the protest was started, a group of local residents, which came in a group started to harass them and threatened attack. The police team,according to Ammu, threatened them that they will be arrested. Though the group went away, police took Shabnas husband Faisal to custody. Ammu said Faisal only accompanied Shabna and was waiting for his wife away from Hadiyas house. Faisal was later released and police said he was taken into custody to avert some unwanted incidents. Wednesdays incident has however triggered wide protests against police. Police allows none inside citing court order. But, Rahul Easwar was permitted and he could even record her video, said K C Naseer, who is giving legal assistance to Hadiya and his husband Shefin Jahan. No Love Jihad, No Compulsion: Hadiya converted by choice Media term Hadiyas case as Love Jihad case. But, the affidavits by Hadiya in Kerala High Court deny it and tells a different tale. Hadiya (Akhila Ashokan) joined a private college at Salem in Tamil Nadu in 2011 to study Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery. The 18-year-old Hindu girl made Muslim friends and began to follow Islam. No compulsion has worked behind her conversion. She was attracted to Islam after she started staying with her friends Faseena and her sister Faseela from Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district. She started reading books, Naseer said. I was attracted to Islam after finding my two Muslim friends timely performing prayers, said an affidavit, submitted by Hadiya in Kerala High Court on January 9, 2016. Akhila started performing prayers by 2015 and she demanded help from Faseena and Faseela to formally convert in January, 2016. She went to Kozhikode and registered at Therbiayyathul Islam Sabha, the authorised institution for conversion to Islam, with the help of Jaseenas father Aboobacker. The issues started after Hadiyas father Ashokan filed a petition in Kerala High Court alleging his daughter was being forcibly converted. Akhila, who denied the allegation in court, was allowed to go free and the petition was dismissed. In July, 2016, she got a certificate from Therbiyyathul Islam Sabha and changed her name as Hadiya. In August, Ashokan filed a habeas corpus petition alleging some organisations were trying to take her daughter abroad and they wanted to make part of ISIS. The petition was filed following the missing of Kerala Muslim youths, who were feared to have joined ISIS. But, Hadiya didnt even have a passport, Nazeer said. The case was continuously adjourned by the court and on December 19, 2016, Hadiya got married with Shafin Jahan while the case was being heard by the court. On December 21, court expressed its dissatisfaction over marriage while Hadiya appeared before it and sent her to a nearby hostel under police surveillance. It also ordered a police investigation into the marriage. A report by Perinthalmanna DySP M P Mohanachandran said nothing wrong was in the marriage and it was held under Islamic law. After citing the police report unconvincing and a crime branch probe was initiated by the Kerala police after the court directed police chief to investigate into Shafins whereabouts. The court also nullified the marriage on May 24 and Hadiya was sent to her parents house at T V Puram. Shafin Jahan approached the Supreme Court and on August 16, Supreme Court ordered an NIA probe into Hadiyas conversion. Shafin and Hadiya are now waiting for justice from apex Court. There are numerous EU politicians who are doing everything in their power to ensure Brexit fails. The EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, wants the UK to pay a divorce settlement before it quits the trading bloc. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has dismissed the Government's Brexit papers and is plotting with Tony Blair behind the scenes. And now, the former Belgian prime minister who is now serving as Brussels' Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, said he wants a transitional deal that is no different to the UK's EU membership. He does not want Brexit to happen at all Mr. Verhofstadt blames Brexit Secretary David Davis for this outcome. He said that Britain's refusal to pay an exit bill has caused significant delays, which will prevent Brussels from having sufficient time to implement a temporary deal that will enable Britain to leave the trading bloc by the time of the next general election. However, in reality it is clear he does not want Brexit to happen at all. The reason why a transitional deal may not be drawn up is not because of Mr. Davis's refusal to pay the divorce bill; it is because the former Belgian PM fears that a British trade deal similar to what Canada has with the trading bloc will trigger a chain reaction throughout the EU that will persuade other member states that the best course of action is to leave. If he provides Britain with a provisional deal that mimics EU membership, other countries would have less reason to leave. Mr. Verhofstadt hates the idea of this country leaving The EU is governed by an authoritarian structure. There is inadequate space for democratic reform. The European Commission is unaccountable to voters. The trading bloc's share of global GDP is shrinking and the Euro is teetering on the verge of collapse. The Eurozone is growing, but it is volatile to disruption. Poland is facing a constitutional deadlock with Brussels and may well leave without a referendum. The migrant crisis has shattered the social foundations of modern Europe and has destroyed the EU's founding principles, like the free movement of people. It is an outdated and backward-looking organisation and that is why Mr. Verhofstadt hates the idea of this country leaving. It is ironic that Brussels have awarded him with the title of "Brexit negotiator." He does not intend to negotiate anything at all. And if he wins, he will trap this country and its potential. These Eurocrats cannot afford to triumph. Three weeks ago Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull announced Australians will be offered the opportunity to vote in a postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage costing the Aussie taxpayer AU$122 million. This means your neighbour, your workmates, your boss, everyone you see on the street decides whether you a gay person and your partner have the right to get married. Of course, if you are heterosexual then no problem get married whenever you like. But if youre gay, then you need permission from the Australian community to do something as simple and loving as get married. Why? It seems that Malcolm Turnbulls Liberal party, in coalition with the Christian valued National party, oppose any proposed amendments to the current Marriage Act 1961 which stipulates that marriage is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others. 1961 it was a different world but this is now 2017 and this archaic act is still the law in Australia. Same-sex marriage bill A bill has been drafted by two Liberal MPs for a vote on same-sex marriage but Turnbull will not support the bill until there is a vote by the Australian people. If it is a no vote no bill will proceed, while a yes vote will place amendments to the existing marriage act under consideration. Yes, under consideration, yeah that means well think about it, but we dont really want gays marrying all over the place do we? It would still have to go through Federal parliament and theres no promise it will get voted in anyway. Anti-gay propaganda Now the campaigning has begun and all sorts of anti-gay propaganda are being fed into the media. Just released is an ad made by The Coalition for Marriage, a Christian campaign group that opposes same-sex marriage. This 30-second ad features three mothers fearful of what will happen to their children if they attend a school with children of same-sex couples. One woman says her sons school said he could wear a dress if he felt like it. Another woman says When same-sex marriage passes as law overseas this type of program becomes widespread and compulsory. Seriously?! Well, I live in a country where same-sex marriage is legal and Ive never heard of that happening, but if your boy wanted to wear a dress so what? Australian Labor party leader Bill Shorten has labelled the ad as offensive and hurtful. This type of scaremongering propaganda is dangerous, it stigmatises the LGBTI community by spreading prejudices and separatism and that hatred and suspicion reflect on their children. Research shows children of LGBTI parents are no different than those with heterosexual parents. A 2010 meta-analysis of 33 studies, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family by Timothy J. Biblarz - University of Southern California and Judith Stacey - New York University found claims that children need both a mother and father for crucial development were dubious. Their conclusion: The gender of parents correlates in novel ways with parent-child relationships but has minor significance for children's psychological adjustment and social success. Protest There has been plenty of protest in Australia against this plebiscite, the groundswell in support of same-sex marriage shows the majority of Australians want the bill to pass. The plebiscite is a Waste Of Time, even voting for it in parliament is a waste of time. No one has any right to say if a gay person can get married or not. It beggars belief while the Australian Government cannot see this. The next round of Brexit discussions are due to begin this week, with the focus set to be on Ireland, EU citizens' rights and the divorce bill. The Irish border and the rights of British citizens living in Europe and European citizens residing in the UK are fundamentally important. But the divorce bill is an intended distraction which the purpose of irritating the British Government. There is no denying that Brussels owes this country money, as Peter Bone brilliantly reminded Sky News the other day. Yet that is not the way they see it. These Brexit talks are going to fail, and Julian Jessop, Chief Economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs, is right to say that bureaucrats deserve to be blamed for this eventual outcome. The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, deserves credit for the way he has approached these negotiations. He has scored more notable victories than many people realise. For example, the EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, may request that the European Council allows trade discussions to be brought forward earlier than expected. Mr. Davis has called Brussels' bluff Whilst this is not certain, it shows Mr. Davis has called Brussels' bluff. How can the post-Brexit Irish border be decided if there is no clarification as to how a trade deal would impact cross-border transactions? Yet the EU has got its priorities completely wrong. Trade is a significant issue, and if it is not resolved, it will be German car manufacturers, French winemakers and Belgian chocolate makers that will suffer the most. Considering Mr. Barnier is focused on how much money Britain should pay the trading bloc to leave, the Brexit Secretary is right to approach Ms Merkel and Mr. Macron for trade talks. But which body has purposefully designed the rules to prevent that from happening? The European Council. If the Brexit negotiations collapse, they and the European Commission will both be entirely responsible for causing this outcome. They may keep us in the EU by the backdoor In theory, it is time for Theresa May to walk away from these negotiations. They are fruitless and it appears the EU is not serious about discussing trade, the most substantial issue of all. But if the Prime Minister does leave, does she have the executive power to do that? Would it have to go to a vote of Parliament, the majority of whom are predominantly pro-Remain? It opens up a whole new constitutional question. Considering the Conservatives lost their majority at this year's election, this will enable Brussels to dilute the Government's Brexit demands further. They may keep us in the EU by the backdoor. Brussels has intentionally stitched the British up. The best thing to happen now is that the whole organisation collapses. Brexit Secretary David Davis is considering bypassing negotiations with the European Commission and speak directly to EU leaders. With Brussels dismissing Mr. Davis's argument that trade should be discussed before Ireland, EU citizens' rights and the divorce bill, he hopes to talk directly to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron about a free trade deal. Downing Street has confirmed that they hope to receive a warmer reception about this issue from the French and German leaders. Not good enough The move comes after the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, both dismissed the UK's approach to the negotiations. Mr. Juncker lambasted Mr. Davis's Brexit papers which aimed to clarify what Britain's relationship with the trading bloc will look like after it has left, which the Commission's President said "were not good enough." Mr. Barnier urged the UK to start approaching these discussions "more seriously." Brussels officials have watered down Mr. Davis's suggestion to go directly to the EU member states' leaders, saying each of them would abstain from separate negotiations. The European Council has said that the UK cannot discuss matters pertaining to its exit from the trading bloc with individual members. The French Government issued a statement saying it supports Mr. Barnier's negotiating strategy. Flexibility and imagination The latest round of negotiations are due to begin this week. They are set to focus on the Irish border, EU citizens' rights and the exit bill. Mr. Davis called for "flexibility and imagination" from both sides and said that his final goal has not changed, which is a relationship between Britain and the EU that works for both of them. He defended the Brexit Department's negotiating papers, saying they are the result of hard work behind the scenes. In a further blow to the Brexit Secretary, Guy Verhofstadt, the EU's Brexit negotiator, said that any transitional deal must reflect Britain's membership of the trading bloc. He said there is not enough time to discuss a unique deal that applies to the UK. He told the European Parliament that it is the British Government's dithering approach to the negotiations that has caused this situation. A transitional deal is necessary Mr. Verhofstadt dismissed claims that Prime Minister Theresa May was willing to walk away from the negotiations, saying a transitional deal is necessary to prevent disruption to businesses. This would mean the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and the free movement of workers would still apply for another three years after March 2019. The Brexit negotiator also blamed Britain's refusal to agree on a final divorce bill for the delay in discussing trade. He revealed that plans to settle the issue of EU citizens' rights was being presented to the European Parliament in October. The former Belgian prime minister said the jurisdiction of the ECJ should still apply to EU citizens after March 2019. Mrs May has insisted that the free movement of workers and the ECJ's supremacy over British laws should end on the day Britain leaves the EU. She wants the UK to preserve its access to the Single Market for three years after March 2019. Many European politicians fear this would mean providing former members with privileged access. Julian Jessop, chief economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs, told CNBC that the EU were the ones holding up talks. He said it is easier said than done in relation to both sides showing more flexibility and imagination. Mr. Jessop said the UK would have a lot to lose in the short-term if talks break down, but he said Brussels should show more flexibility instead of being excessively bureaucratic. The economist said that whilst he sympathises with the EU negotiators, the trading bloc is negotiating on behalf of 27 other nations who created a rigid framework for how they intend to approach the talks. Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson confirmed on Thursday that Nigeria has asked to purchase military equipment from the UK to fight Boko Haram militants. British soldiers are already training 28,000 Nigerian troops fighting the Terrorist Organisation in the northeastern parts of the country. "They have put out a request for more help with material - equipment of one kind or another. We are going to look at that," Johnson told Reuters in Lagos. "We will look at that very seriously on counter-IED provision, on a request for more help with attack helicopters, for instance. Let's have a look at what we can do," he added. US already providing aid The United States of America confirmed the sale of 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons worth $593 million to Nigeria this month. Britain's Foreign Office has, as of yet, not provided the details of its arms and ammunition sale to the African nation. Johnson was in Nigeria and visited Maiduguri, the troubled northeastern city at the heart of the insurgency. He also held talks with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on Thursday. Use of child bombers has increased Boko Haram are notorious for using child bombers to attack important buildings and towns. The abhorrent use of child bombers has seen a four-fold increase compared to the previous year, according to UNICEF. As many as 83 children have been used as human bombs, out of which, 55 were girls mostly under the age of 15, and 27 were boys. As per the figures released by UNICEF, only 19 human bombs were used last year. More than two million people have been displaced or had to flee their homes as Boko Haram's insurgency in Nigeria enters its eighth year. The terrorist organisation has been directly responsible for more than 20,000 deaths. According to Reuters, the frequency of suicide bombing has also increased in the region, with a reported 170 people killed since June 1 this year. Nigeria's president Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemned these rampant atrocities last week, vowing that his government will relentlessly pursue its aim to destroy the organisation. Boko Haram is trying to create an Islamic State in the Lake Chad region which incorporates parts of Nigeria as well as Cameroon, Niger and Chad. The militants first came to the world's notice when they kidnapped 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in April 2014. Aid groups that are volunteering in the region have claimed that the terrorist organisation has also kidnapped countless adults since coming into the fray. U2 fans got their first taste of the band's forthcoming fourteenth album Songs of Experience yesterday. The song, The Blackout was released in live form on the band's official Facebook page. The new song had been secretly filmed in July at Amsterdam's Westerunie venue on the European leg of U2's Joshua Tree 2017 tour, which marked the 30th anniversary of the band's biggest selling album. However, The Blackout will not be the first single from Songs of Experience. The accompanying message for the new song said, "'The Blackout' just for you. From the new album, 'Songs of Experience'. Tune in August 30th. First single, 'You're the Best Thing About Me' coming Sept. 6th along with album news. #U2TheBlackout#U2SongsofExperience. In the darkness, we learn to see." Following the upload of the song on Facebook, it was quickly put on YouTube by fans. However, as of today, these videos are being taken down by Universal Music Group due to copyright infringement. A short clip of the video can be found on the video below. What does 'The Blackout' sound like? The Blackout is much noisier than any of U2's recent material with a sound that harks back to that found on the band's 1991 album, Achtung Baby. Thematically, the song appears to be about the destruction and reconstruction of the Earth, with Bono singing lines such as, "Dinosaur wonders why it still walks the Earth, The meteor promises it's not gonna hurt ... When the lights go out in the darkness where we learn to see." U2 have recently collaborated with OneRepublic front man Ryan Tedder, an experience which may have influenced 'The Blackout's catchy pop-driven chorus. What we know about 'Songs of Experience' Songs of Experience is the sequel to U2's 2014 album Songs of Innocence. The band have also hinted at the title Songs of Ascent, which may be that of a third instalment of the series. As well as The Blackout, U2 have also played the new song The Little Things That Give You Away on The Joshua Tree 2017 tour, which is also expected to be on the new album. Songs of Experience was actually completed last year, but its release was put on hold due to the band feeling that, in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential win, the album did not suit the changed political and social climate. In the interim period, the band have removed three songs from the album's track listing, which now features twelve songs. The Blackout is the first taste of what is certain to be one of the music highlights of 2017. U2 are currently completing the final leg of their 'Joshua Tree 2017' tour and it is thought that they will start the supporting tour for Songs of Experience next year. Los Angeles based Female Entrepreneurs Penelope Gazin and Kate Dwyer set up an art marketplace online to sell original work but had problems hiring web developers and graphic designers to work with them on their Witchsy Website. They came up with the idea to create a fake male co-founder to get both respect and get the work done. No respect from developers to the two female entrepreneurs Gazin and Dwyer came up with the idea for their Witchsy art website after Etsy kept censoring their work. They decided to set up a marketplace where artists could sell their witchcraft-related work, but as women in a tech field, they had problems getting web developers and graphic designers to take them seriously. As reported by the International Business Times, Dwyer said the collaborators they needed to set up their website all work in a male-dominated tech world and took their time to reply, while often being rude and cold. One developer even went so far as to not use their names in their emails, using the term OK girls instead. Ladies create an imaginary male co-founder and things change Dwyer said there are not many women in tech at the moment, leading to male dominance in the field. However, after they decided to come up with Keith Mann, an imaginary and fake male co-founder, suddenly things changed and they starting getting some respect. According to the two ladies, the replies they received to "Keith's" emails came through faster and with less condescension on the part of the male developers. To offset sexism in tech, these female cofounders invented a fake male partner: Keith Mann https://t.co/rgmcgtCOoD pic.twitter.com/do8he3cjZl Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) August 29, 2017 And it worked so well. Dwyer said the imaginary co-founder would send out emails to chase matters up and ask the status of the work and the responses were always pretty quick. She also noted that, unlike with their own emails, Keith was always addressed by name and there was a definite difference in the tone of the responses. Start-up is making profit after its first year While Gazin and Dwyer refused to get angry over having to use subterfuge to get the job done, their imaginary co-worker has made plenty of progress. Their start-up has now been running for a year and is making a profit. Witchsy has sold around $200,000 worth of dark-humored and offbeat art from several different artists online, all of whom receive 80 percent of the money earned for their work. Dwyer told Fast Company magazine in an interview that their experience was part of this world that we're in right now." However she said that while bringing in a male co-founder helped the business take off and run, their ultimate goal is to make a change in peoples attitudes towards women in the tech field. Saying the developers were a necessary part of getting their website up and running, they added that without Keith they would never have made any progress. However she closed by saying that now Witchsy is established and running, they can send Keith on vacation. A typical example of what the two female entrepreneurs had to face was the recent news about a Google employee, who lost his job after saying women were not suited to tech. Googles CEO Sundar Pichai said the employees email, which said biological differences were the reason for fewer women working at Google, broke their code of conduct. It's no secret that Donald Trump prefers to communicate through social media instead of speaking to the press directly. While many have complained that Trump has obsessed over his use of Twitter, the president doesn't seem ready to tone down his actions anytime soon. Trump on Twitter When Donald Trump first announced his campaign for president back in June 2015, he quickly got on the wrong side of the mainstream media when he referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." At this point, Trump decided to tap into his large social media following and popularity and pushed his message out on Twitter and Facebook as a way to bypass the media. In the two years that have followed, Trump and Twitter have gone together hand and hand, with the former host of "The Apprentice" increasing his use of the social media platform ever since he pulled off the shocking upset win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November. After seven months in office, Trump's relationship with the press has only gotten worse, leading to the president firing back once again at the media during a tweet on August 1. Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2017 Taking to Twitter on Tuesday was Donald Trump as he once again sent out several tweets, with one in defense of his use of social media. "Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people)," Trump tweeted out, before adding, "Only way for me to get the truth out!" In addition, Donald Trump also expressed his anger at the media for not giving him enough credit for the current state of the stock market. "Stock Market could hit all-time high (again) 22,000 today. Was 18,000 only 6 months ago on Election Day," Trump posted, while stating, "Mainstream media seldom mentions!" Stock Market could hit all-time high (again) 22,000 today. Was 18,000 only 6 months ago on Election Day. Mainstream media seldom mentions! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2017 Next up While Donald Trump continues to use Twitter to bash his critics and gloat about his alleged success as president, the commander in chief is facing many other issues. With the Russian scandal growing by the day and his inability to rally enough Republicans in Congress to repeal Obamacare, Trump is also dealing with internal issues in his administration, ranging from the recent firing of Reince Preibus as Chief of Staff to the resignation of Anthony Scaramucci as White House Communications Director after just 10 days on the job. With an approval rating of just 35 percent, the billionaire real estate mogul appears to be doing whatever it takes to spin the news in the White House as a positive. President Trump stirred up more controversy eight months into his presidency last Friday by pardoning former Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The pardon spurred outrage among Americans only weeks after the President was soft on condemning racist hate groups that lead to three deaths in Charlottesville, Virginia. Only a few Republican lawmakers had come out to condemn the President's statements while Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) declared that he would begin filing articles of impeachment as soon as Congress returned back to Washington. Unless some savvy guru of law is able to "yank" Arpaio back for a conviction, there's every indication that he's got a free pass. Arpaio's contempt of court ruling for profiling Latinos The former sheriff had been notorious for profiling Latinos and stressing the limits of civil rights, violating the rights of many, even with his own prisoners. That resulted in the ruling this year by a federal court that he was in contempt of a court order. That conviction would have had him serve a prison sentence of six months which he was due to start in October. The conviction was determined when the allegedly racist, white nationalist sheriff had knowingly and repeatedly defied the court's orders, much like Donald Trump does as president. Both of them are similar in every way. Arpaio wrongfully arrested two journalists for negative story about him Four years ago, the Phoenix New Times reported on another incident which also mirrors the kind flirting with authoritarianism that the former sheriff shares with President Trump. The media resource reported back in 2013 that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors had made a unanimous decision to approve a $3.75 million dollar settlement to the founders, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin. The settlement was the result of a case they had been fighting with Arpaio for 10-years. The final straw it would seem was in 2007, when both Lacey and Larkin were arrested by Arpaio's deputies in the middle of the night for what Arpaio claimed was them "violating the secrecy of a grand jury." Arpaio's investment dealings It turned out, however, that no grand jury had been convened and that it was clearly abuse of power by the then-sheriff of Maricopa County. Again, much like Trump, Arpaio hates the media and took action to have these media founders arrested for an incident that started back in 2004. At the time, a reporter published a story that dove into the sheriff's real estate transactions and a large sum of money he had invested into commercial real estate property. The large sum of money was suspicious because it seemed way past the salary of a county sheriff. Illegal arrest, seeking protection, defying law and order The articles revealed information which was already public, such as the sheriff's home address. Arpaio was able to get a special prosecutor and convened a grand jury to subpoena sources, notes, records and even the readers of those articles from the Phoenix New Times site. This would result in Lacey and Larkin's arrest before it was discovered pretty quickly that the special prosecutor had not followed the correct process with the court or the grand jury to make the arrests. It's likely that if they had done so, they would not have gotten the warrants. But this is also similar to how Trump and members of his administration have tested the system where they fail to follow the Rule Of Law for their decisions, leaving everyone else to scramble or not even bother. But Lacey and Larkin sued Arpaio, who tried to get the courts to grant him and his special prosecutor immunity against getting sued. This is also similar to how Donald Trump operates, as both the president and the former sheriff use the law when they want protection but otherwise defy it when it's used against them. One of the more pernicious (among many) practices of the Obama administration was its tendency to micromanage the military, down to the tactical level. The reason the previous president kept a short leash on his soldiers was that he neither liked nor trusted them, except when they could serve his political purposes, such as when the Navy SEALs executed Osama bin Laden. In any event, the United States Military is pleased to serve under President Donald Trump now. He knows how to delegate. How a commander in chief handles matters of war The United States Constitution designates the president of the United States and Commander In Chief of the military. The principle of civilian control of the armed forces is considered sacred. The founding fathers did not want the military to have a role, except perhaps advisory, in setting policy. The armed forces are an instrument of foreign and national security policy, not a maker of it. Various commanders in chief and how they did Traditionally, presidents have set overall policy and have left it to the commanders to devise ways to execute it. The approach worked well from Abraham Lincoln (albeit not until Ulysses Grant became commanding general of the Union Army) and Franklin Roosevelt, who benefited with great commanders such as Marshall, Eisenhower, Nimitz, and MacArthur. Modern communications technology has allowed more recent presidents to micromanage more than their predecessors were either able or inclined to. Sometimes that arrangement was advantageous, such as when President Kennedy kept a tight grip on matters during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Truman was also well within his rights to relieve MacArthur when he publicly chafed at White House policy that limited his response to the Chinese intervention in the Korean War. On the other hand, President Lyndon Johnson created a disaster in Vietnam with his meddling and unwise strategy. Obama has been the same in various conflicts on his watch, with the loss of blood as a result. Trump has returned to the traditional role of a presidential commander in chief in that he sets policy, but the generals and other commanders in the field are the ones who carry it out. The effects have been dramatic. ISIS has been ejected from Mosul in Iraq and bottled up in Raqqa in Syria. The terrorist army will, within the next few months, seek to be a force on the field with a territory to defend. ISIS will remain an underground group capable of mass casualty attacks. However, their caliphate will soon be on the ash heap of history. That will be Donald Trumps singular first accomplishment that escaped Obama for the last five years of his presidency. Thousands of fans are now excited for the imminent release of the highly-anticipated Deadpool 2 movie. Recently, sequel director David Leitch revealed the chances of tackling the lead characters pansexuality in the upcoming second installment. Is Blake Livelys husband playing as a pansexual antihero? Bleeding Cool News reported that director David Leitch has commented on the speculations that Deadpools sexuality is going to be explored in the sequel movie. Speaking to The Huffington Post, the American filmmaker said that everything is possible to happen but he cannot confirm nor deny if the upcoming sequels would focus on that notion. Thats whats fun about Deadpool, you really dont know and youre willing to ask these questions about him. I think that, right there, says it all, Leitch said. The Deadpool 2 director added that he would respect the original movie while also allowing himself to spice it up with some twists and turns. In a separate interview, Ryan Reynolds has also expressed his thoughts about the theories claiming that Wade Wilson is pansexual. The Canadian actor said that Deadpool could be different from other popular comic heroes like Superman and Batman. Reynolds added that the mysterious identity of his character could be played up more in the forthcoming Deadpool 2 movie. Speculations about Deadpool not being a straight guy sparked after Wade Wilson (Reynolds) and Vanessa Carylsle (Morena Baccarin) had an awkward sex position while celebrating International Womens Day in the first installment. More characters added in the upcoming sequel Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds has shared the first look of Domino on social media. Played by Zazie Beetz, the new sidekick in the Deadpool 2 film is said to be a mutant with a the ability to manipulate luck. In the viral photo, Domino was seen lying on the top of Deadpool. Reports have it that the image is a parody of Burt Reynolds famous photograph. Aside from Zazie Beetz, Jack Kesy, Julian Dennison and Shioli Kutsana are also said to be joining the incoming Deadpool 2 movie, Forbes reported. However, no official details about their roles have been made public up to this writing. In other news, Rob Leifield has confirmed the tandem of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Cable (Josh Brolin) to the classic move Rush Hour. Because of this, fans cannot help but speculate that the upcoming sequel movie will be packed with thrilling and action scenes. Deadpool 2 is scheduled to hit theatres on June 1, 2018. Stay tuned for more news and spoilers on Ryan Reynolds upcoming movie. The last time DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince aka Will Smith were seen together was back in 2016. The two had come together after a long time to produce a track for Marvels comic book-based, The Black Panther, film. The hip-hop legends are back again but this time they are experimenting with a completely new genre of music. Their latest track titled, Get Lit, is an EDM track that tests the bounds of the duos chemistry. The performance took place at an event during the Livewire Festival, 2017. Earlier hits by the duo According to a report by Pitch Fork, the two artists have delivered several hits including Summertime, Parents Just Dont Understand, and Lovely Daze, among others. Dj Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince first shot to fame when they appeared together in the 1990s sitcom, Bel-Air. They havent been seen working up an EDM song before though, therefore, it was perceived to be an interesting event for their fans. Throughout the song, Will Smith can be heard rapping, You need the beat to make you light it up. As pointed out by People, Will Smith seems to have lost touch with making music lately. He has made small appearances here and there, for example, Smith was seen in JAY-Zs Footnotes, earlier this year. The celebrity actor has been cast as the Genie in the upcoming Aladdin remake and is expected to sing out several CGI rhymes during the movie. Smith on 'Get Lit' - A meaningful son During the ongoing event at Livewire Festival, Smith admitted to the attendees that the duo had been working on a record that the fans havent heard before. After making this announcement, the two went on to carry out the Get Lit performance. According to Smith, the track was a response to the recent chaos and confusion taking place in the world. They wanted to create a song that enables people to "shine bright through their light," the actor added. He said that everyone has an inner light and they should let it out. People can say stuff to you and tell you, you cant do but you know you can, he encouraged the already riled-up crowd. Get Lit is the first proper collaboration between Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff since 1998, where they launched the record-smasher, Lovely Daze. The partners concluded the event by singing many other classic tracks including, Just the Two of Us, Miami, Girls Aint Nothing But Trouble, Getting Jiggy With It, and Men In Black. A billboard advertising Vip.com in Shanghai. [Yan Daming/for China Daily] It was quite a coup for startup Vip.com. The e-commerce company announced it would sell products from Make Up For Ever, a high-end cosmetics brand and part of global giant LVMH, on its platform. But then, this was just another important step for the Guangzhou-based group as it expands its luxury label portfolio. Vip.com is dedicated to selling famous luxury brands involved in fashion, beauty goods, luggage and perfumes. "Compared with other online luxury platforms, our company is built around competitiveness," said Hong Xiaobo, chief operating officer of the company. The online retailer has a unique way of operating by using "virtual outlets" and "flash sales". Every morning at 10, the website offers 12 to 17 luxurious brands at big discounts. Each product is on sale for three to five days. This business model is common in the United States but relatively new in China's major cities. Launched in 2008, Vip.com is one of the few online e-commerce platforms involved in "flash sales" here. "Another advantage of our website is that we offer a wide range of luxurious brands, including popular labels from overseas markets," said Hong. "These might not be familiar to domestic shoppers." Vip.com has put together various deals with marque names, agents and fashion buyers. A company report showed the e-commerce startup generated revenue of 17.52 billion yuan ($2.63 billion) in the second quarter, up 30.3 percent year-on-year. It also made a profit for the 19th straight quarter but declined to give detailed financial figures. Even so, Vip.com has had to tighten its security process after media reports claimed that customers had been sold fake goods. "Some suppliers may provide counterfeits to increase profits," said Chen Tao, an analyst at internet consultancy Analysys in Beijing. "If Vip doesn't strictly control its products, fake ones are likely to appear on its e-commerce platform," Chen added. Leaders of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are scheduled to meet in Xiamen, a resort city in Fujian province, from Sept 3 to 5. Earlier in August, BRICS commerce ministers also reached agreements at a meeting in Shanghai to boost trade, investment, e-commerce and cooperation in intellectual property rights. Here are 10 cases of Chinese companies exploring BRICS markets beyond their home market this year, which can offer a glimpse of business dynamics in this bloc. Let us take a look. No 1 Gezhouba discloses its plan to buy Brazilian water utility A man passes by the headquarters of China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, on Dec 24, 2014.[Photo/VCG] Construction conglomerate China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd announced on March 30 that its subsidiaryChina Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment Co Ltdwill spend up to $200 million to acquire 100 percent stake of Sistema Produtor Sao Lourenco, a water supply company in Brazil, China Daily reported. Gezhouba added that it would also be able to acquire the operational rights of the water supply program in Sao Paulo state. The water system, once completed, will serve 1.5 million local residents, according to the Sao Paulo state government's official website. BEIJING - Chinese authorities are soliciting public opinion on a provisional regulation that aims to further regulate activities involving private investment funds. The regulation focuses on risk prevention and protection of investor rights during fund raising and investment operations, the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, said Wednesday in a note regarding the soliciting of opinions. It is necessary to issue such a regulation given the irregularities arising in the fast-developing industry in recent years, according to the office. The regulation states that fund managers and custodians should join the industry association to submit information on fund operations and that the association should establish a mechanism to handle investors' complaints. The public can provide feedback on the provisional regulation by visiting the office's website before Sept 30, 2017. A Chinese team works on a cat food feeding machine at the finals in Beijing of a youth innovation contest this month. Two reports detailed the best cities for innovation. YANG KEJIA/CHINA NEWS SERVICE Beijing narrowly beat Shanghai as China's most ideal city for scientific research and innovation this year, while central and central-western provinces are catching up fast. The Ministry of Science and Technology published two reports on Wednesday about China's innovation status in 2016 and 2017. One evaluates the overall innovation capability, and the other is a detailed ranking and analysis of each province's innovation conditions and resources, from funding to market. According to the reports, China's top five most-innovative municipalities and provinces on a scale of 100 are Beijing, 85; Shanghai, 84; Tianjin, 80; and the provinces of Guangdong, 77, and Jiangsu, 76. Last year, Shanghai topped the list with 84.57 points. The points are calculated based on the area's R&D spending, industrial productivity, commercialization of research findings, economic structure, talent pool, number of patents, environment and other factors affecting science and innovation. The bottom five areas are the provinces of Qinghai, 42; Yunnan, 41, and Guizhou, 40.83; and the Xinjiang Uygur, 40.75; and Tibet autonomous regions, 31. The 2017 average innovation index for all provinces is 67.57, a 1.08-point increase from a year earlier. "In general, the whole nation's innovation capability has improved remarkably over past five years," said Xu Jing, director of the ministry's Office of Innovation and Development, adding that the nation's average has increased by 7.3 points in the past five years. "The coastal provinces are taking more than half of China's overall innovation output, but the central and central-western provinces are catching up fast," he said. Some notable examples include Hubei province, seventh place; the municipality of Chongqing, eighth place; and Anhui province, 15th place, all of which jumped several ranks in the past five years. As for western provinces like Sichuan and Shaanxi, "their overall innovation capability is growing at breakneck pace, but they still lag behind other more developed provinces," Xu said. "Innovations from western provinces are also more closely linked with the Belt and Road Initiative, which can be a unique and fruitful development opportunity." To help western regions catch up, local governments have increased funding for basic research and commercialization of technologies, said Wu Yishan, vice-president of the ministry's Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development. In the past five years, western provinces saw a 68.6 percent growth in funding, slightly higher than eastern provinces' 67.3 percent. At the same time, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has quadrupled its patent outputs, while the Tibet, Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, and Qinghai have doubled theirs. Although China's patent and innovation outputs are rising, the reports also pointed out some issues, such as the average wages for researchers in 24 out of the 31 survey provinces, are below the national line. At the same time, funding from governments and companies is starting to slow down in 2017, and pollution in more than a dozen provinces still fails to reach national standards. The 134-year-old Chicago Stock Exchange now handles about 0.5 percent of US stock trading.[file photo] The US government says it welcomes foreign investment, but its paranoia in politicizing and fearmongering of Chinese foreign direct investment is again on display this month. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a freeze on Aug 9 to put an indefinite hold on a $20 million acquisition of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a group of buyers led by Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group. The decision was made after some US Congressmen voiced concern over the national security threat of the deal, despite the fact that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) okayed the transaction in December. No wonder the lead of a Wall Street Journal news article on Monday reads like this: The Chicago Stock Exchange is a relic of history, trading less than 0.5 percent of US stocks and in such straits that it has been looking for a buyer. That isn't how US officials see it." Robert Reed, a columnist at the Chicago Tribune, was more explicit in his column last month, titled "Time to OK Chinese investors' controversial Chicago Stock Exchange deal". In the article, Reed hoped the SEC doesn't cave to the oversized political anxieties that Chinese government is behind the buyout and could use the exchange to launch cyberattacks or game the US financial markets. He said if given the go-ahead, this deal promises to be a plus for the local economy and a needed lift for the Chicago Stock Exchange. Members of the Chicago City Council also supported the deal. Reed believes that it would be a big mistake to slam the door on the deal "because of unspecified and broad-based suspicions about Chinese government influence or venality". The paranoia exhibited over the Chicago bourse deal was one of the many in recent years. Two months ago, Reuters cited an unreleased Pentagon report warning that China is skirting US oversight and gaining access to sensitive technology through transactions that currently don't trigger CFIUS review. US lawmakers are drafting legislations that would give CFIUS more power to block foreign technology investments. In February last year, Republican US Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa charged that the acquisition of Swiss agribusiness firm Syngenta by ChemChina would threaten US food security, and the Obama administration complied. Later no plausible threat could be found and the deal went through. In 2012, President Obama personally intervened to block the acquisition of wind farms in Oregon by Chinese-owned Ralls Corp, citing its proximity to a military facility. In the same year, a House Intelligence Committee report described Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese telecom equipment giants, as posing national security threat. To many in the US, the sheer fact that Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei once served in the People's Liberation Army is enough evidence for such an accusation. If such US paranoia could be justified, the Chinese government should look into major US companies to see if any of their founders and top executives have served in the US military or intelligence agencies. The close ties to US military by firms like the General Electric, Honeywell, Boeing should be sufficient reason to blacklist them for investment in China. In 2010, MasterCard, VISA, PayPal, the Bank of America and Western Union, under US government order, blocked banking service for WikiLeaks after it published US government documents. Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, called these institutions "instruments of US foreign policy." If this is the case, should the Chinese government conduct extra scrutiny as they seek growing presence in China to make sure that they won't disrupt the Chinese market under any circumstances? And this is a serious national security issue. The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. UN condemns DPRK and calls for renewed talks, which China backs Beijing urged all parties on Wednesday to honestly and fully implement UN Security Council resolutions on Pyongyang, and called for those directly involved to take a responsible role amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also dismissed statements that "China should do more to pressure Pyongyang", saying that some of the parties concerned were only selectively carrying out the UN resolutions by emphasizing sanctions yet ignoring dialogues. "When it comes to sanctions, they storm to the front, but when it comes to pushing for peaceful talks, they hide at the very back. This is not the attitude responsible countries should have," she said. Hua was speaking following a strong condemnation on Tuesday by the UN Security Council in a president's statement of the latest missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The DPRK fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday. The Security Council requested Pyongyang not to conduct any future nuclear tests or any further provocation, while expressing its commitment to a peaceful solution to the situation. "We hope all related parties will implement the provisions of the resolutions in an honest, comprehensive and integrated manner, and pull the peninsula nuclear issue back to the right track of peaceful resolution," Hua said at a news conference. Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said on Wednesday that China was discussing the situation with other Security Council members and will make the "necessary response". However, Wang noted that all measures against the DPRK should be under the Security Council framework and should be carried out according to Security Council resolutions. Wang urged all parties to avoid actions that exacerbate tensions. The DPRK said on Wednesday the launch was a first step in military action in the Pacific to "contain" the US territory of Guam, after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that "all options are on the table". Yu Shaohua, a researcher of Korean Peninsula studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the unbalanced implementation of UN resolutions has existed for quite a long time. "The consequences are unfavorable for all related countries and the whole region as well," she said. A supplier of consumer products to Wal-Mart Stores Inc has moved production to the US from China by opening a factory in Jacksonville, Florida. Hans-Mill Corp, affiliated with the Millennium Group of China, remodeled an existing 121,000 square-foot facility that used to be a printing plan and opened it in May. It will produce stainless steel trash cans which will be sold at Walmart stores. Millennium is a major supplier of consumer home products and has manufacturing facilities in Suzhou and Dongguan in the mainland. "Hans-Mill is a US manufacturing operation that was set up to make products in the US that were previously made in China," Jeff Ahearn, senior vice-president of business development said in an interview. "We are already up to 40 workers at the plant," he continued. "Eventually we should get to 50 to 60 workers when we reach full production," he added which should be in the second half of 2018. Ahearn said the plant is part of Walmart's $250 billion initiative to reshore or bring back US manufacturing jobs that had been outsourced to China and other nations. He said Hans-Mill focused on the southeastern states when it began looking for a plant site in the US, and that "we were impressed with Jacksonville, the infrastructure and availability of Hans-Mill President and CEO James Han told the Florida Times-Union that he was lured to Jacksonville after at least two years of negotiations with business leaders and an economic development initiative of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. News reports said that Hans-Mill received an incentive package valued at about $200,000 based on the project meeting certain requirements. paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com Canadian farmers are fi nding demand for their wild blueberries in China. NA LI/ CHINA DAILY Wild blueberries from Atlantic Canada and Quebec are surging in popularity among the world's health-conscious - and adding to Canada's export coffers. The rising demand for the low-brush blueberries and byproducts - especially from the massive Chinese market - has stimulated development of farms and related businesses and contributed significantly to the economies of five Canadian provinces. Atlantic Canada includes the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador province. Nova Scotia is the wild blueberry capital of North America. With its favorable oceanic climate and soil, its wild blueberries are managed on a two-year crop rotation cycle, leading to the production of about 60 million pounds each year. That translates into C$100 million in worldwide sales, mainly to the US, Europe and East Asia. There are an estimated 1,100 wild blueberry growers in Nova Scotia, many who have passed the farmland and family businesses from generation to generation. Art Sargent, who runs an old garage, C.E. Sargent & Son Ltd in Parrsboro, owns 850 acres of wild blueberry farms on the outskirts of Halifax. He has tended to the family farm business for decades. In an interview with China Daily, Sargent introduced his daughter Stephanie as a third-generation hand at running the sprawling family blueberry farm. "The wild blueberry business has been a great family business for us the last 25 to 30 years, and we hope to get another 50 years out of it," said Sargent. "Nova Scotia is a natural producer of wild blueberries; there is a big market, and it works both ways." Sargent's parents started the business in 1951. They regularly bought and leveled land, cultivating and expanding as well as pruning crops manually. "Now harvesting machines have been added to the farm, as nobody wants to tend to it," he said. Last year, the Sargent family farm exported 1.8 million pounds of wild blueberries. An average of 3,000 to 6,000 pounds per acre could be harvested under the right weather conditions. "But last year's output of 1.8 million pounds was the largest," he added. According to Sargent, wild blueberries should get at least an inch of rain per week, and during drier weather, some irrigation. Sargent believes that the big Chinese market would give the industry a much-needed boost. "We need new markets now, and we hope more and more of our products can be sold to China." Michel Baril is another second-generation grower, who owns 200 acres of wild blueberry land in St-Felicien, Quebec. Although the berry price has fallen compared to last year's price of 35 cents a pound, Baril and his family would like to spend more time harvesting at night while there is always dew on the crops to ensure their freshness. "You have to love and have a passion for what you do," Baril said. "We have been in agriculture for a long time, and there's ups and downs, and if you're not passionate about it, (and) you're only in it for the money, that's not going to work. You have to be passionate about getting quality product." Peter J. Rideout, the executive director of the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia, said that global demand for Canada's wild blueberries, known for their excellent taste, nutritional value and other health benefits, has increased. The industry in Nova Scotia encompasses 44,000 acres of naturally grown wild blueberries that could further drive the growth of the crop in the Atlantic region. "Farmers, producers, manufacturers and officials have been encouraged by the immense economic contribution of this crop," said Rideout, who is also the head of the Wild Blueberry Research Institute at the Dalhousie University. "Our research centre had been set up to encourage cultivators to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply to meet global demand." The United States is requiring Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two annex buildings in Washington and New York City, the State Department said on Thursday, in response to the Kremlin's decision to shrink the US diplomatic mission in Russia. Last month Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. "We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, and a consular annex in New York City," Nauert said. "These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2." Reuters New Orleans is a vibrant city on the Mississippi River, famous for its nightlife, unique inns, music, free attractions, family activities, great seafood and other fantastic cuisine. Explore the historic French Quarter, visit the New Orleans Museum of Art, and take a cooking class. Listen to jazz at one of the local music clubs, and go on a Mardi Gras World Tour. Here are the best things to do in New Orleans. We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times. 1. The French Quarter, New Orleans, LA Courtesy of Fotoluminate LLC - Fotolia.com The French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, and it is steeped in history and heritage. Dating back to 1718, the district was established by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville and grew around the central square of the Vieux Carre. Home to magnificent historic buildings, cathedrals, and famous jazz clubs, the French Quarter is one of the top New Orleans attractions. It has a history that goes back 200 years and it has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Resting at the heart of the French Quarter is the 18th century historic Jackson Square, formerly known as the Place dArmes. It was later renamed in honor of Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans. Overlooking the Mississippi River, the square is surrounded by famous old buildings, including the St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere and Cabildo Museums, and the stunning Pontalba Apartments, as well as a plethora of restaurants, museums, cafes, and art galleries. -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 2. Things to Do in New Orleans: New Orleans Garden District Courtesy of Natalia Bratslavsky - Fotolia.com Tucked between St. Charles Avenue and Magazine Street in uptown New Orleans, the historic Garden District is a famous neighborhood that is home to a beautifully preserved collection of antebellum mansions, immaculate gardens, and tree-lined avenues. Established by Barthelemy Lafron in 1832 as an upper class settlement for new American residents in the city, the area flourished as lavish homes were built in the Italianate, Greek Revival, and Victorian styles on large plots surrounded by spectacular gardens. Today, the district is home to several movie stars and celebrities, the famous Lafayette Cemetery # 1, and quite a few boutiques and excellent restaurants, including the renowned Commanders Palace Restaurant. -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 3. New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of 1L26 - Fotolia.com The New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park is the home of jazz, and it hosts live educational performances at two locations in the city - the Old U.S. Mint on Esplanade Avenue and the visitors center on North Peters Street in the heart of the French Quarter. Excellent 11-stop guided tours of both venues are offered, starting at the modern visitor center in Peters Street, where visitors can learn about the history and culture of New Orleans jazz from ranger-led demonstrations, talks, video documentaries, and live music. If you are wondering what to do in New Orleans today, this is a great place to visit. Enjoy live music performances by world-renowned jazz artists every Saturday and Wednesday night, as well as during guided tours. 916 N. Peters Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-589-4841 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 4. New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans Museum of Art Established as the Delgado Museum of Art in 1911, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city. Situated in City Park, the Museum is home to a renowned sculpture garden and a magnificent permanent collection of almost 40,000 art pieces. The collection, which has a distinct focus on French and American art, consists of several paintings, including works by masters of the School of Paris such as Picasso, Braque, Dufy and Miro, drawings, photography, glass, and African and Japanese works. he New Orleans Museum of Art is one of the best things to do in New Orleans. The five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden features over 60 sculptures dotted around a beautifully landscaped site. Winding footpaths, ancient oak trees, and pedestrian bridges, surround the garden, which is one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States. One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-658-4100 -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend with Friends" -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend with Friends" Back to Top 5. Things to Do in New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection The Historic New Orleans Collection The Historic New Orleans Collection is an institution dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans. Founded in 1966, the museum has a collection of over one million items from more than three centuries across four exhibitions spaces namely the Williams Gallery, the Louisiana History Galleries, the Boyd Cruise Gallery, and the Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art. These galleries are home to both permanent and rotating exhibitions that showcase fine art and celebrate the history and culture of the Southern Gulf. The Williams Research Center offers scholars and students a wide variety of publications to explore the various genres of art and decorative art, history, and culture. Visitors can also enjoy two guided tours of the Williams Residence and the historic buildings that make up the complex in an Architecture and Courtyard Tour. 520 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-523-4662 -- You are reading "What to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend" -- You are reading "What to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend" Back to Top 6. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: The Spotted Cat Music Club Courtesy of Zsolt Biczo - Fotolia.com Located in the heart of the charming Faubourg Marigny District in the French Quarter, The Spotted Cat Music Club is a famous jazz club that is a favorite amongst locals. Known simply as The Cat and world-renowned for its music and ambiance, this quintessential New Orleans jazz club offers a variety of music from blues and jazz to funk, klezmer, and more. Their stage hosts up to three bands a night. The club does not serve food, but there are several restaurants close by, including Snug Harbor, Cafe Negril, Praline Connection, and Adolfo's. 623 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, Louisiana -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 7. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: Maison Bourbon Courtesy of GeoffGoldswain - Fotolia.com Maison Bourbon is one of two historic jazz clubs that still exist on New Orleans famous Bourbon Street, and it is legendary for being the home of many notable jazz musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr. Dedicated to the preservation of jazz music, the club is a popular tourist attraction that showcases authentic jazz every evening in a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere. A quaint courtyard and wrought iron balcony overlooking Bourbon Street offer an ideal place to relax with a drink and enjoy the music. The club has two private event venues that can be rented for special occasions - the Jazz Parlor, which is located above Maison Bourbon and the Speakeasy. 641 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-522-8818 , From LA -- You are reading "What is There to Do with Kids in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 8. Things to Do in New Orleans: FreeWheelin' Bike Tours Courtesy of Hayes - Fotolia.com FreeWheelin Bike Tours is a family-owned company that offers visitors a relaxing and healthy way to experience New Orleans. Passionate, experienced local guides lead bicycle tours that take visitors through various parts of city, including City Park, the Garden District, and the French Quarter, and the guides share interesting information and facts along the way. Guests ride through the town on reliable cruiser bikes, which boast comfortable 13-inch seats, puncture resistant tubes and tires, and eye-catching chrome. Visitors can book private tours for two or special family group trips, and FreeWheelin Bike Tours also provides services for corporate and team-building events as well as specialized VIP tours. 504-522-4368 9. Things to Do in New Orleans: New Orleans School of Cooking Courtesy of zadorozhna - Fotolia.com The New Orleans School of Cooking offers an introduction to the diverse cuisine and food culture of New Orleans and Louisiana through a range of cooking lessons using products from the Louisiana General Store. Located in an early 1800s molasses warehouse that has been beautifully renovated in the heart of the French Quarter, guests can take advantage of cooking lessons, tips, and tricks taught by Cajun / Creole experts who share their expertise on local Gumbo, Jambalaya, and Pralines, along with their culinary history, trivia, and interesting foodie facts. The New Orleans School of Cooking offers individual and private group classes, as well as catering for special events and off-site events. The Louisiana General Store is packed with local Louisiana delights such as cookbooks, spices, gift baskets, and cookware. 524 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 800-237-4841 -- "Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" -- "Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" Back to Top 10. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: 21st Amendment at La Louisiane 21st Amendment at La Louisiane 21st Amendment at La Louisiane is a stylish French Quarter cocktail bar that pays tribute to the Prohibition era of the 1920s. Located in a historic 1881 building that now houses the Hotel Mazarin, the speakeasy-style bar is decorated with black and white photographs and memorabilia of some of the country's most infamous mobsters who lived during the time of Prohibition. The bar offers a unique menu of handcrafted cocktails and custom libations created with a range of infused spirits, homemade syrups, and locally grown herbs. Guests can enjoy a line-up of live jazz and blues music every night from Tuesday to Saturday, and up to three bands play on weekends. 725 Iberville Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-378-7330 11. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio Courtesy of wip-studio - Fotolia.com The New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio features a gallery of glass works and prints, open working studios where visitors can watch nationally and internationally renowned artists at work, and free, hands-on daily demonstrations. Located in the American Sector on celebrated Magazine Street, the studio offers mini-workshops where visitor can learn to blow their own glass and short courses on glass and printmaking. The studio also provides instruction in glass torchworking and copper enameling, and stained glass programs are available for all ages and areas of interest. 727 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana Next read: 24-hour restaurants in New Orleans -- "New cool stuff to do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- "New cool stuff to do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top or Romantic Getaways 12. Things to Do in New Orleans: Sylvain Sylvain Sylvain is an old-world bistro steeped in the rich history and tradition of New Orleans. Located in a three-story carriage house overlooking St. Louis Cathedral, the restaurant has been beautifully renovated into a stylish and sophisticated space with a warm ambiance. A roguish copper bar is the focal point of the elegant gastropub, and it serves an array of handcrafted cocktails, signature beers, and boutique wines. The restaurant, on the other hand, serves a simple yet sophisticated menu of appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts, along with classic sandwiches, burgers, seafood, and pasta. If you are looking for romantic date night ideas in New Orleans, this is a great place to try. Well-worn wooden floors, a tucked away side alley entrance, and ambient lighting emanating from the street lamps and candles create a sultry, yet cozy atmosphere that has visitors returning time and again. 625 Chartres St, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-265-8123 13. High Hat Cafe, New Orleans, Louisiana High Hat Cafe Open seven days a week from brunch until dinner, the High Hat Cafe is a casual neighborhood eatery serving food from Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. Located in the old Longs Bakery building, the restaurant features a menu consisting of dishes made with locally sourced, sustainable ingredients such as American farm-raised catfish, which is a menu favorite, and locally caught shrimp and fish. The High Hat Cafe offers a full bar service with an impressive wine list of local and international vintages, local craft beers, and a range of signature, handcrafted cocktails and spirits. 4500 Freret Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-754-1336 14. Modernist Cuisine Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana Modernist Cuisine Gallery Modernist Cuisine Gallery features the artwork of photographer Nathan Myhrvold. It is the worlds first gallery completely dedicated to food photography created by a single artist. The gallery walls are covered by large-scale pieces made to order for each clients space and cannot be found anywhere else. The gallery is located in a beautifully preserved historic building that once housed furniture by the designer Prudent Mallard and was for a time the home of writer E. Hoffman Price. In the heart of French Quarter, surrounded by other art galleries and New Orleans famous restaurants, Modernist Cuisine Gallery is in the right neighborhood. 305 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-571-5157 15. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: MoPho MoPho Southeast Asia meets Louisiana at MOPHO on City Park Avenue. Combining a delicate fusion of Vietnamese and Louisiana cuisine, Chef and co-owner Michael Gulotta has created a menu featuring po-boys, pho, rice and noodle bowls, and the ever-popular sweet-crispy-salty chicken wings. The drinks menu is as off-beat as the food menu, and it offers cocktails that include cooking ingredients, such as tamarind-honey syrup, as well as a range of medium-bodied white wines to offset the Southeast Asian spices. Dark spaces and exposed ductwork in the dining room create a svelte, rather cool ambiance, and a shaded back patio is great for outdoor dining on warm evenings. MoPho is open for lunch and dinner, Wednesday to Monday. 514 City Park Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-482-6845 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top or Amazing things to do around me 16. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: Pizza Delicious Pizza Delicious One of New Orleans best pizza restaurants, Pizza Delicious is a comfortable, family-friendly neighborhood hotspot ideal for a hot date or a family feast. Owned and managed by Michael Friedman and Greg Augarten, Pizza Delicious, also known as Pizza D, offers several daily specials, including homemade spaghetti, bucatini carbonara, and a variety of pizzas, including everyday favorites like cheese, pepperoni, and Margherita pizzas. Diners can enjoy pizza by the slice or as a whole pie and an uncomplicated menu of wines and beers are available to accompany the food. 617 Piety Street, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-676-8482 17. Kayak-iti-Yat, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of upslim - Fotolia.com Experience New Orleans from a different perspective on a Kayak-iti-Yat tour. Kayak-iti-Yat offers a range of kayaking tours through the city on the historic bayous of Bienvenue and St. John. Glide through the historic waterways of New Orleans and take in the citys most beautiful sights and attractions, stunning natural scenery, and exciting wildlife along the way. Kayak-iti-Yat offers three tours of different levels to cater to every level of physical fitness and kayaking experience. There are two urban-based trips along Bayou St. John, which gives paddlers a feel for the city, and one in Bayou Bienvenue, a wilder and more nature-based experience for adventure-lovers. Kayak-iti-Yat offers year-round kayaking tours which need to be booked in advance. 3494 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 985-778-5034 or 512-964-9499 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 18. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: SoBou SoBou SoBou is a popular eatery and lounge designed as a modern Creole saloon located in the W New Orleans hotel in the French Quarters SoBou (South of Bourbon) neighborhood. The place is famous for its inventive cocktails and elevated pub grub with a Creole touch and produced by Chef Juan Carlos Gonzales. Try his sweet potato beignets or yellowfin tuna tartar with basil and avocado. While the service is excellent, if youd rather not wait for the refill of your beer of wine, choose one of the tables in the restaurants beer garden, which has built-in wine and beer on tap so you can serve yourself. There is always something going on at SoBou, so check out their list of events for the next jazz evening or Burlesque Brunch. French Quarter, Rue Chartres, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-552-4095 19. Things to Do in New Orleans: Brown Butter Restaurant Brown Butter Restaurant Brown Butter Restaurant is a locally owned and operated eatery that offers a creative menu rooted in Southern culture and tradition. Located in Mid-City New Orleans, the restaurant was founded by Chef Dayne Womax and Simon Beck, who wanted to provide New Orleanians with food that is both thought-provoking and consistently delicious. They serve their dynamic cuisine in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Dishes are made with the freshest seasonal and local ingredients to come out of the south, and the bar serves a range of delicious, signature cocktails, micro-brewed beers, and in-house sodas. Brown Butter Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and the bar serves small plates and drinks. 231 North Carrollton Avenue Suite C, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-609-3871 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 20. Things to Do in New Orleans: Mardi Gras World Tour Courtesy of David - Fotolia.com Mardi Gras World Tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Mardi Gras on a fantastic one-day tour of the Blaine Kern Studios, which is world-renowned for building magnificent parade floats for Mardi Gras and other parades all over the world. Knowledgeable guides lead visitors through the vast studios, sharing the history of the unique and festive tradition of Mardi Gras. Tour goers will gain a better understanding of the planning and work that goes into the annual parade. Visitors get to see how the massive floats and props are built and can explore the art behind the costume making before enjoying a complimentary slice of King Cake. Tours are offered seven days a week and run every 30 minutes. 1380 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-361-7821 21. Pythian Market Food Hall Pythian Market New Orleans is famous for its creole cuisine, but youll find much more than that at Pythian Market. A hugely popular hangout spot with New Orleans natives, this food hall and event space is filled with local food and drink vendors, curated retailers, rotating pop-ups, and more. A super location for foodies and friends, the Pythian Market is also a place to engage with New Orleans as a city, feeling the soul and spirit of Louisiana all around you in this community-focused gathering space that really celebrates and honors the people and culture that make the Big Easy such a unique location. The Pythian Market is housed in the Pythian, one of the most storied and celebrated buildings in the whole city of New Orleans. Instantly recognizable with its unique architectural style and imposing facade, this building was constructed back in the early 1900s and actually played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement for New Orleans, becoming a beacon of sorts for the local African American community. It was a place for people to come together and feel like they were in their own 'home away from home', enjoying live entertainment and good company. That same spirit is present in the Pythian to this day, thanks to the Pythian Market. 234 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70112, Phone: 504-481-9599 22. The Where Y'Art Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana The Where Y'Art Gallery Located in the historic Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, The Where Y'Art is a unique art gallery with satellite galleries across the city where visitors can discover, buy, and experience the best of New Orleans art. It is also an online gallery that represents more than 100 New Orleans artists painters, sculptors, craftsmen, and jewelry designers. The Where Y'Art Gallery helps visitors get the curated picture of the rich art offering of New Orleans, and it offers artists the opportunity to connect with buyers and art lovers. The online gallery offers 24-hour access to New Orleans art and information about the artists behind each piece. It allows art lovers to search artworks by category, collection, color, price, or neighborhood. It directly connects potential buyers with participating artists and provides information on the latest trends in the art world of New Orleans. 1901 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70117, Phone: 504-325-5672 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 23. Bevi Seafood Co., New Orleans, Louisiana Bevi Seafood Co. Bevi Seafood Co. is a neighborhood seafood market and restaurant that serves seasonal dishes according to the traditions associated with New Orleans' crawfish, crab, shrimp, and oyster seasons. Located in Metairie and soon to be located in Mid-City, Bevi Seafood Co. works closely with local seafood suppliers to ensure their seafood is sea-smacking fresh. Menus feature made-from-scratch Po-Boys using homemade ingredients and a variety of hot plates and platters laden with fresh Louisiana seafood. The menu also features specialty-to-go items such as various soups, salads, and sauces, and it also caters special occasions and private events. 236 Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-488-7503 24. Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of Patrick Rolands - Fotolia.com The Audubon Nature Institute was established to celebrate the wonders of the natural world through a variety of museums and parks dedicated to nature. The aim of the institute is to preserve Louisianas natural habitats and exhibit the diversity of wildlife that live within them, as well as encourage and inspire visitors to learn more about the natural world and to work towards conserving it. There are eight museums and parks that make up the Audubon Nature Institute: the Audubon Park and Riverview, the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, the Audubon Zoo, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, Audubon Wilderness Park, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, and the Entergy IMAX Theater. 6500 Magazine St. New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-581-4629 25. Commander's Palace, New Orleans, Louisiana Commander's Palace Occupying the spectacular blue mansion snuggled in the middle of the historic Garden District and shaded by 100-year old trees, Commanders Palace is one of New Orleans most venerated restaurants, and it has been in operation since 1880. Grand, elegant rooms, terraces, and gardens are spread throughout the palace. Commanders Palace is the place for celebrations and festivities, and this New Orleans icon will give you one of the best culinary experiences of your life. Executive Chef Tory McPhail continues the tradition of world-renowned chefs like Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, and Jamie Shannon to provide guests with superbly prepared and expertly presented Haute Creole cuisine. The wine list has 2,400 titles, with 240 half-bottles and 50 wines by the glass. 1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-899-8221 25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana Best New Orleans Trolley Rides New Orleans is an incredible city with a vibrant culture, never-ending nightlife, rich cuisine, and fascinating annual festivities. It's a must-visit Louisiana location, and there are a lot of things to do in New Orleans, so any visitors will need to be familiar with one of the most popular ways to get around the city quickly and easily: the New Orleans trolleys. Also known as streetcars or trams, the New Orleans trolleys run all around the city and have been in existence since the 1800s, making them one of the oldest trolley or streetcar systems in the entire world. New Orleans Trolley Rides Beloved by locals and tourists alike, the New Orleans trolleys provide a fresh, fun, original way to get around and see the sights, soaking up a little of the city's Creole culture on the way and enjoying convenient transportation at great rates. If youve never visited New Orleans or ridden the citys trolleys before, you might need a little information to figure out how the system works, how much it costs, and which line you should be taking to get to where you need to go. Read on to learn all about the New Orleans trolley system. You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top First of all, one important thing to note about New Orleans trolleys is that the locals will always refer to them as 'streetcars'. They are basically trolleys, looking and functioning in the same way as the trolleys you'd find in other major cities all around the United States, but they're known as streetcars in New Orleans so if you need to ask for directions from a local, remember to ask for a streetcar station if you don't want to sound too much like a tourist! The New Orleans trolleys run on five separate lines which are color coded on maps as blue, yellow, red, light green, and dark green. Each line also has its own names. There's the Riverfront Line, which is blue on maps; the Loyola/Rampart Line, which is yellow; the Canal St Line running to Cemeteries, which is red; the Canal St Line running to the City Park Avenue and the Museum of Art, which is light green; and finally, there's the St Charles Line, which is dark green on travel maps and is typically regarded as the main and most popular line on the New Orleans trolley system. It's important to note that the New Orleans trolleys run around the clock almost all year long. This schedule is only interrupted by special events and festivities like New Orleans' famous Mardi Gras celebrations. Train schedules will vary but the trolleys can run as often as every five minutes during peak rush hours. It's important to keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times as these trolleys can pass quite close to trees and other obstacles, and you'll need to pull a wire above your head to signal that you'd like the car to stop. Riding the New Orleans trolleys or streetcars is very simple. The fares are really cheap, with single tickets available for only $1.25. Unlike some other trolley systems that you may have encountered around the United States, the New Orleans streetcar system involves payment on board the cars, so you don't need to worry about buying a ticket from machines in advance. Simply step on and pay your $1.25 for a one-way ticket. You can also choose to buy a 'Jazzy' pass which will give you full streetcar access for a whole day. Multi-day passes are available too and offer significant savings for people who are staying in New Orleans for several days or weeks. New Orleans Trolley Lines You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top As previously mentioned, there are currently five lines in operation on the New Orleans trolley system. Read on to learn key details about each line, including schedules and important stops along the way. - St. Charles Line The St. Charles Line is the longest and most historic in New Orleans. It's the oldest continuously operating street trolley anywhere in the world, so it has a lot of history behind it, and it runs through the 'American' side of the city. It's one of the most popular lines with tourists, making major stops at places like the Garden District, the Audubon Zoo, the World War 2 Museum, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. - Loyola/Rampart Line The Loyola/Rampart Line starts at Union Passenger Terminal, so it's a good starting point for people who are getting into New Orleans by public transport like bus or train. It heads off along the side of the French Quarter and through the business district of the city. It offers easy access to some of the bars and eateries in the French side of the city. - Riverfront As its name suggests, the Riverfront line runs along the side of the Mississippi River. It's a good line to choose if you're looking to visit key areas in the French District like the French Market. You can also use this trolley line to check out locations like Jackson Square, the Convention Center, and the Audubon Aquarium. - Canal Lines The two canal lines have different end points but follow more or less the same routes. These lines are good options for people who want to enjoy the bars and restaurants of Canal Street itself. The line that heads up to Cemeteries is a good option if you'd like to explore the city's world-famous gravesites, while the Museum option is a good option for the New Orleans Museum of Art and surrounding City Park area. More ideas: City Park City Park is one of the nations oldest urban parks, and it is home to beautiful botanical and sculpture gardens with ancient oaks and picturesque moss canopies, walking and biking trails, tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, and several outdoor concert venues. Established in 1854, the charming 1,300-acre urban oasis has enchanted visitors to the city for decades, offering something for everyone. Stroll through the Besthoff Sculpture Garden or the beautifully maintained collections of the Botanical Garden. You can also enjoy a game of tennis on one of 26 tennis courts or ride a flying horse on the one-of-a-kind antique wooden carousel in the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park. 1 Palm Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-482-4888 You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. BKAV Technology Group spent eight years and VN500 billion (US$22 million) to make the first Made in Viet Nam, Designed by BKAV smartphone. Viet Nam News speaks with Nguyen Tu Quang, chairman and CEO of the company, about its latest offering, the luxury Bphone 2017. Why did BKAV choose the hard way by designing and manufacturing a luxury smart phone and not a budget or medium-level phone in the market where the competition is intense? BKAV Technology Group has a long vision and great passion to contribute to Vietnamese development with progress in technology, and we hope in the near future Viet Nam will have a technology brand name like Apple or Samsung. To start with, we decided to invest capital and human resources to create a smart phone fully manufactured by the Vietnamese. After eight years, we are very proud to say that we have achieved our goal. Our Bphone 2017 is fully made in Viet Nam, with only 0.9 per cent of parts sourced from China, and totally designed by BKAV staff. The quality of our Bphone 2017 matches that of any other luxury phone in the world, and we can proudly say that we can do everything in the design and manufacture of smart phones that famous technology companies in the world like Apple and Samsung can. Now, at a price of nearly VN9.8 million ($440), we still have to suffer a loss of around several million ong (around $200) on each phone. But this is the only way to position our product as luxurious and top quality. With our current technology, it is very easy for us to make a budget smart phone. We might achieve success with regard to income but we would never become a big name like Apple or Samsung. Budget Chinese smart phones offer a lot of benefits, but in customers minds, they are low-level products. Its exactly what we dont want to do. In the future, we might introduce mid-range products, but the Bphone brand must be closely linked with luxury. BKAV has the Gold Bphone export version. Can you tell us about it? We have orders from our Dubai partner for very highly secure smart phones. We are manufacturing the Gold Bphone version to meet the requirements of the luxury market, and of course the price of the Gold Bphone would be much higher than that of the local version. The core business of the BKAV Technology Group is network security. All the money ($22 million) that we invest in designing and manufacturing the Bphone comes from network security. This is our strength and it allows us to make a highly secure smart phone. Besides Dubai, we also think about other markets around the world, but we have recognised that no smart phone can be successful outside before achieving success in the domestic market. So we are focusing on the local market with a fully Vietnamese high-tech product and I believe our Bphone can meet all requirements. Right now, we have to gain Vietnamese customers confidence that a Vietnamese company can manufacture a really good smart phone, and it could be among the products in the world with the smallest ratio of Chinese parts at only around 0.9 per cent. When we manage to gain customers trust, turnover and profits will follow. We have a desire that in future every Vietnamese will have a Bphone and Viet Nam will have a technology brand name like Apple and Samsung. Why did you take a long time for Bphone? As I said before, BKAV Technology Group is a network security. We are very strong at software but had little experience in hardware, especially smart phones in the beginning. We got the idea of making smart phones after, in 2003, I visited Japan and was excited to see their smart houses where everything was controlled automatically. After returning to Viet Nam, BKAV started to manufacture smart devices for homes, and we have achieved great results despite the fact that the Vietnamese market is not very big. With this foundation in software and hardware, we moved to smart phone manufacturing. But in the first three years, major companies refused to make them for us and we had to go to small companies, but they were not professional and we had to struggle to fit the mainboard. Later Qualcomm agreed to make chipsets for us. All other tasks like engineering, electronics, software, marketing, sales were also very new for us. The first version of Bphone was introduced in 2015, but it was not as successful as expected. But from that we learnt a lot and many improvements have been made in Bphone 2017. Now I can proudly say that Bphone 2017 is good enough to fit into the VN10 million segment. We have also improved our distribution by co-operating with The Gioi Di ong, the leading smart phone retailer in the market, to bring Bphone 2017 to customers. VNS HA NOI The national index for industrial production (IIP) increased 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported. The metric was lower than the growth of 7.2 per cent recorded in the first eight months of 2016, and 9.9 per cent recorded in the same period of 2015, GSO said. The low growth rate was due to the reduction of 6.9 per cent in production in the mining industry, one of key industrial production sectors. Other industrial products with drops in production included crude oil (10.8 per cent), natural gas (9.2 per cent) and liquid petroleum gas LPG (13.4 per cent), automobiles (4.5 per cent) and mobile phones (0.8 per cent) The processing and manufacturing industry, which accounted for over 70 per cent of total industrial output, saw a yearly IIP rise of 10.8 per cent. Many industries also enjoyed a surge in IIP, such as electric production and distribution (8.6 per cent), water supply and waste treatment (7.4 per cent), metal production (21.2 per cent), electronics, computer and optical products (17.8 per cent), rubber and plastic products (10.4 per cent), paper production (10.1 per cent) and weaving (10 per cent). Among key industrial products that posted high IIP increases in eight months were television sets (34.4 per cent), raw steel and iron (23.9 per cent), urea (17.3 per cent), fabric (17.7 per cent) and processed seafood (9.4 per cent). According to the GSO, the consumption index of the processing and manufacturing industry rose 9.5 per cent year-on-year, higher than the growth of 8.1 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2016, contributing to the growth of production in this industry. GSO said that to continue growth in industrial production in the future, the industrial sector should increase the index of consuming products to reduce inventory because the inventory index of the sector in the first eight months witnessed a year-on-year surge of 9.8 per cent, higher than the 8.9 per cent year-on-year growth in the first eight months of 2016. VNS Belgian Rent-A-Port N.V. on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines). Photo VIR HA NOI Belgian Rent-A-Port N.V. on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines). The MoU is on possible co-operation in grain terminal, processing area and logistics system projects in Lach Huyen and general cargo terminal in inh Vu in northern Hai Phong City. Under the MoU, the Belgian firm and Vinalines will jointly explore and study the possibility of a joint venture for developing a grain terminal in the area of Hai Phong International Gateway Port (Lach Huyen). Another joint venture is also in the work to develop a logistics hub with scale of some 250ha opposite the grain terminal to optimise loading and unloading, storing, processing and distributing grain to meet demand. Rent-A-Port N.V. will also participate in the 630m general cargo terminal project in inh Vu. This project has been invested by Vinalines inh Vu, with Vinalines holding 51 per cent of charter capital. In addition, the Belgian firm could acquire 10 per cent of Vinalines charter capital upon its equitisation. As such, Rent-A-Port N.V. would provide support to Vinalines following equitisation in terms of new technology transfer, human resources training, financial improvement and administration, as well as service rendering and market expansion. With a broad range of port, logistics and industrial infrastructure, management experience and financial ability of both sides, the two companies expect their cooperation will boost competitiveness and help to maintain their key role in Viet Nams port and logistics sectors. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Belgian Ambassador to Viet Nam, Jehanne Roccas said the MoU marked an important step in Viet Nam-Belgium cooperation. She said Rent-A-Port has also invested into renewable energy, which is getting significant attention in Viett Nam. Rent A Port N.V. is the port related investment and management arm of the Belgian Holding Ackermans & van Haaren, which was founded in 1885 and is one of the largest stock-listed holding companies of Belgium with assets worth 2.7 billion euros. In Viet Nam, through the Deep-C consortium (including the Belgian Governments investment), Rent A Port has already invested an amount in excess of US$200 million and has also committed to invest an additional $250 million in the next 10 years in various ports and IZ in provinces of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh. Vinalines, a leading shipping company in Viet Nam, specialises in seaports and marine services in Hai Phong. Two projects the Vinalines Lach Huyen general cargo port and seaport and the logistics services at Hai Phong International Gateway Seaport in Lach Huyen (via Hai Phong Port Joint Stock Company) -- are Vinalines priorities in the future. VNS HCM CITY Dutch DJ and producer Paul Hazendonk, owner of renowned Manual Music Label, will perform at the Lighthouse on September 16. The musician, also host of Hazendonk FM radio show in Rotterdam, will bring his own music, a blend of house and techno, to the city. Hazendonk began his career after winning several local DJ contests in his teens, and performed his first club date at age 18. A former resident DJ at famous Dutch clubs Las Palmas and Asta, he has performed in more than 25 countries. He founded his own label in 2005, and released his first album Adapt in 2014. The show will begin at 9 pm at 104 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St in District 1. Entrance is free before 10pm and VN100,000 after 10pm. VNS To mark Malaysias National Day on August 31, Viet Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Malaysia to Viet Nam Zamruni Khalid. Malaysia marks 60 years of togetherness Today, August 31, 2017, marks the sixtieth anniversary of Malaysias National Day. On this day in 1957, our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, declared independence by shouting Merdeka seven times at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The word has become a rallying cry for Malaysians today as it unites all people from different cultures, ethnicities, religions and economic background. Malaysias 60th National Day theme, Negaraku, SehatiSejiwa (My Country, One Heart One Soul) reflects our continuous effort to empower national integration. The theme is based on the unity and solidarity of all Malaysians. The theme is aimed at inculcating the spirit of patriotism, including for Malaysians abroad. It also provides a platform for Malaysians to remember the journey hat has led the country to success. From humble beginnings, Malaysia has grown tremendously over the past 60 years. In fact, when it achieved independence in 1957, not many people gave it much hope of standing as a nation, given the diversity of its population. Malaysias combustible ethnic make-up did explode in a race riot in 1969. However, with the foresight of its leaders at the time, Malaysia came out with policies to remedy the situation. The policies were aimed at instilling national unity and harmony among its multi-racial population, re-structuring society by eliminating identification of race by economic function and geographical location, and eradicating poverty as well as ensuring fairer distribution of wealth. The results were remarkable. Malaysia reduced the economic gap among the various ethnic groups through industrialisation and active participation in globalisation. The country expanded its GDP per capita from US$357 in 1970 to more than US$9,500 in 2015. At the same time, a period of rapid economic growth and redistribution of wealth has almost eradicated poverty. It was reduced from 49 per cent in 1970 to about one per cent in 2015. Furthermore, unemployment fell from 8 per cent in 1970 to an average of 3.1 per cent in 2015 as a result of increased job opportunities. These successes were not easy. They required tremendous efforts, hard work and visionary planning. One of the welcome outcomes of rising living standards and a more equitable sharing of wealth was the upsurge in the sense of national identity, pride and confidence that did not exist before. This has contributed to an harmonious and peaceful living environment in which ethnic groups intermingle through mutual understanding and tolerance. In the international arena, Malaysia has an independent, principled and pragmatic foreign policy founded on the values of peace, humanity, justice and equality. The thrust of its foreign policy has been to safeguard Malaysias sovereignty and national interests as well as to contribute towards a just and equitable community of nations. Being one of the founding members of ASEAN, the regional association remains the cornerstone of Malaysias foreign policy. The establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015 has further elevated Malaysias approach and engagement at the regional level. On Malaysia-Viet Nam relations, both countries have a long-standing friendship with excellent cooperation in many areas since the establishment of diplomatic relations on March 30, 1973. Our relations have been further strengthened and elevated into a more strategic level, especially after the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement in 2015. Malaysia and Viet Nam have also recently agreed on the Plan of Action (POA) under the Strategic Framework for the period of 2017 to 2019. Through this POA, both countries will coordinate the implementation of various activities and initiatives as stipulated in the Agreement. From the economic point of view, our relations continue to intensify, with trade stood at US$10.3 billion last year, an increase of over 10 per cent from the previous year. As of May 2017, the trade figure stood at $4.6 billion, an increase of 22.6 per cent from the corresponding period in 2016. With this momentum, the target of $15 billion bilateral trade by 2020 is well within our reach. Over the years, Viet Nam has emerged as the fourth largest trading partner of Malaysia within ASEAN and the twelfth largest in the world. At the same time, Malaysia has also emerged as the seventh largest FDI contributor to Viet Nam with a total registered capital of $12.3 billion in 2016. The people-to-people relations between the two countries are also very encouraging. More and more people from the two countries are visiting each other. This is evident with the increase in air connectivity between Malaysia and Viet Nam. In 2018, our two countries will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This is a testimony of our strong relations. We will be organising many political, economic and cultural events to celebrate this important milestone. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Malaysians and friends of Malaysia in Viet Nam Happy 60th National Day. VNS HCM CITY The International Travel Expo HCM City returns for the 13th time as the most established annual international travel trade event in the Mekong sub-region from September 7 to 9 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre. Themed Your Gateway to Tourism in Asia, the ITE HCMC is being held during the 50th Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Ngo Hoai Chung, deputy director general of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. The number of international tourist arrivals to Viet Nam rose year-on-year 35.1 per cent this month to reach more than 1.2 million. In the first eight months of this year, more than 8.47 million foreign tourists visited Viet Nam, a year-on-year increase of 29.7 per cent, Chung said. This was serious growth. However, it is a tough task to achieve the target of receiving 13 million foreign tourist arrivals this year set by the Government, he said at a press meeting held yesterday in HCM City. Last year, Viet Nam welcomed a record 10 million foreign tourists, an increase of two million tourists compared to the previous year. The tourism sector needs to boost the countrys tourism promotion programmes as well as strengthen connection between airlines, travel agents and accommodation facilities, and tourism sectors in the region, he said. ITE HCMC is one of the countrys tourism promotion programmes that aims to boost the countrys tourism potential as well as strengthen connection with countries in the ASEAN region, he added. ASEAN is a highly integrated and dynamic political and economic organisation, enhancing connectivity and cooperation among the country members in all sectors, and tourism is one of the most important areas of cooperation, said Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of HCM Citys Department of Tourism. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism in the ASEAN region has achieved positive and overall encouraging results, with the Travel & Tourism sector contributing to the regions economy higher than other regions in the world, Vu said. The expo attracts international and local travel companies from 25 countries as well as hundreds of travel companies, large resort hotels, and small- and medium-sized enterprises from HCM City and other 30 provinces and cities across the country. The 3rd Tourism Ministerial Conference of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) will take place on September 7 that aims to evaluate and assess the cooperation results in the tourism industry among ACMECS countries, and set specific cooperative directions in the coming years. The conference will be attended by the Tourism Ministers of the ACMECS countries. ITE HCMC is organised by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in coordination with HCM City Department of Tourism; Vietnam Trade Fair & Advertising Joint Stock; and Informa Exhibitions Pte Ltd. VNS HA NOI The Goethe Institute will host a two-day dance workshop with Isabelle Schad on September 21and 22, within the framework of the Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance Festival 2017. The workshop will cover different types of movement, theories on harnessing energy with different Asian techniques such as Aikido, sword-fighting, acupressure, acrobatics, and breathing techniques; as well as other physical activities. It also aims to help participants connect with their bodies, create harmony between their body and mind and be aware of their egos so they can fully express their existence. This emphasis on the inner-self helps participants connect with their dance partner, the group, and the world. Isabelle Schad studied classical dance in Stuttgart and worked with different choreographers before starting her own projects in 1999. Since then, she has developed projects and dance performances in collaboration with choreographers, performers, musicians and visual artists, which have been presented internationally in theatres, galleries and festivals. The fifth Viet Nam-Japan defence policy dialogue took place in the south central province of Khanh Hoas Nha Trang City yesterday under the co-chair of Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart, Manabe Ro. Photo tienphong.vn KHANH HOA The fifth Viet Nam-Japan defence policy dialogue took place in the south central province of Khanh Hoas Nha Trang City yesterday under the co-chair of Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart, Manabe Ro. The two sides discussed world and regional issues of mutual concern and reviewed the outcomes of implementing co-operation reached at the previous event in Tokyo in November, 2016. Both sides expressed pleasure at progress in defence co-operation as well as the activeness of Vietnamese and Japanese relevant agencies involved. The two sides agreed to continue strengthening partnership in fields such as exchange of delegations, personnel training and sharing experience in UN peacekeeping activities. Overcoming the aftermath of war, including bomb and mine clearance and dioxin detoxification was also discussed. They also agreed to work closely in cyber security, maritime security, defence industry and technology transfer. In addition, the officers also consented to create favourable conditions for defence units to conduct co-operation activities in the spheres of rescue, military medicine and exchange information among strategic research agencies of the two defence ministries. Vinh said the Party, State and Peoples Army of Viet Nam had paid great attention to dealing with the war consequences and were calling for support from the international community. He said Viet Nam expected Japan would provide official development assistance (ODA) to help the country test new dioxin detoxification technologies in Bien Hoa Airport in the southern province of ong Nai and carry out bomb and mine clearance projects. The Japanese also agreed to consider the possibility of co-operation in building and operating an information technology and foreign language centre of the Communication University of the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence. VNS Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) receives Governor of Utah Gary Herbertin Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has urged businesses and educational establishments of the US State of Utah to expand investment in Viet Nam, especially in transport infrastructure, science, water resources management, sustainable agricultural development, urban planning and climate change response. He made the call during a reception in Ha Noi yesterday for Governor of Utah Gary Herbert, who is visiting Viet Nam from August 29 to September 3. The host said the Vietnamese government is determined to carry out comprehensive reforms, with a focus on sustainable economic development, building a facilitating, transparent and action-oriented cabinet, and ensuring the interests of investors. Governor Herbert, for his part, affirmed that Utah push forward the friendship and and co-operation with Viet Nam, contributing to the bilateral ties. On the occasion, the US delegation met Secretary of the Ha Noi Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai, Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung, Chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong, leaders of the ministries of industry and trade, science and technology, and businesses from the two cities. VNS HMC CITY A new circular issued by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has postponed the opening of modern slaughterhouses and delayed the closing of old facilities. In late August, contractors finished levelling ground for the US$15 million slaughterhouse of An Ha LLC in Cu Chi District, HCM City. However, Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, director of An Ha Company, is worried that the construction of some important departments will be delayed while other facilities will need to be changed to adapt to standards regulated by the new circular. The company will have to adjust its design plan or move some departments to avoid violating the circular. We have to move the factory away and upgrade animal shelters to fit regulations, Tham told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. However, the most difficult condtition is that a slaughter has to locate at least 500m from residential areas, schools and hospitals which was not cited in former circulars. Therefore, An Ha Company stopped building its cold storage facility and moved the main slaughter away from neighbours fences to meet the requirement. How can we make sure our factory is 500m away from residential areas since beyond the fence is their land? In the future, if they build a house, we will, again, violate the circular, she said. Due to those changes, nearly 100 containers of equipment imported from Germany are being stored at a port, awaiting shipment to Viet Nam. At present, we are dividing the plan into smaller categories. For each category, we must prepare documents to report to city authorities, Tham added. An Ha Company is not alone. Many other slaughterhouses approved by HCM Peoples Committee will have to adjust their plans to adapt to the circular. Miss the goal The city has planned to develop modern slaughterhouses to replace old ones since 2010, according to HCMC Department of Agricultural and Rural Development, with the city Peoples Committee approving a plan aiming to operate six industrial slaughterhouses by the end of 2016. However, due to financial and administrative difficulties, no facility opened last year, and thus the city still could not close the old facilities . On April 25, 2017, HCMC Peoples Committee approved The planning of slaughterhouse system in HCMC from 2016 to 2020. Its goal is to put six industrial slaughters into operation by the end of 2017 and close all existing outdated slaughterhouses except for two plants in Can Gio District. Per the plan, all the citys slaughter activities will be run in six industrial slaughterhouses with capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 pigs per day. However, at present, the goal seems likely to be missed as almost all the projects wont be finished by the end of 2017. For some projects, investors have just started levelling the ground, while the An Ha Company project has to change its design and plans to begin operating by 2018 at the earliest. Bach ang Quang, director of Tan Hiep Cooperative, the investor of Tan Hiep Food Processing Factory in Hoc Mon District said that they were facing difficulties in terms of infrastructure. Specifically, though the co-operative has the capital to build a factory and set up facilities, the road leading to the factory has not been built, despite the city promising to build it. The current riverside road is small and seriously eroded. We do not know whether there will be a new one for lorries when the factory is built, said Quang. VNS HCM CITY The Ivory Free Vietnam Campaign to stop the illegal trade in ivory and contribute to the global efforts to save elephants from extinction, has been launched in HCM City by Centre of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE) and WildAid. Speaking at the launch in HCM City yesterday, executive director of CHANGE, Hoang Thi Minh Hong said the campaign comprises three main activities: producing a series of international quality communications products; collaborating with authorities and national parks to organise workshops and training for law enforcement officers and raise awareness at border gates; and calling on the public to join the campaign to save the elephants, informing authorities to help close down shops selling ivory products, and persuading government agencies not to display ivory in their offices. o Quang Tung, deputy chief of the office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the Government has made a commitment to the international community to fight the illegal ivory trade and trafficking and makes great efforts to save wild elephants in the country. In order to effectively stop the global wildlife poaching and cross-country trade, the country needs the collaboration and contribution of international and local non-government organisations. In Viet Nam, elephants are revered and protected, and trade in ivory is prohibited. However, large ivory shipments have illegally been made to the country in recent years. Le Nguyen Linh, deputy head of the Saigon Port Zone 1 Customs, said around six tonnes of illegal ivory were caught at the port in just three last months of 2016. WildAid chief programme officer, John Baker, congratulated the customs authorities for their vigilance and success in interdicting illegal ivory shipments, and said his organisation looks forward to working with its partners, including government agencies. We are hoping to help Viet Nam become a leader in saving elephants by ending the ivory trade here, including transit shipments to other countries. The 2015 Miss Viet Nam Universe, Pham Huong, said: I will use my influence to help spread the campaign messages wide and far to stop the illegal ivory trade, to save elephants from extinction. The inaugural event also saw a sand art performance by Nguyen The Nhan that narrated a moving story about ivory consumption and two videos featuring goodwill ambassadors. VNS LONG AN After seven years of development, I can proudly state that Thai farmers now cannot compete with limes from the Chanh Viet Company, said Nguyen Van Hien, the owner of the largest lime plantation in the Mekong Delta. Born into a poor family, Hien had to overcome a number of challenges when leaving the central province of Quang Nam to study in HCM City. Upon graduation he worked at the HCMC Department of Construction for five years before establishing a private construction company. On a visit to Thanh Loi Ward, Ben Luc District, in Long An Province, Hien and his friends decided to buy 20ha of isolated farming land along National Highway 2. At the time, we planned to build a retreat for us to gather at the weekend. However, eventually, we decided to do something with the land, Hien told the Lao ong (Labour) newspaper. At first, he aimed to plant dragon fruit then gave up when estimating the high cost of investment. Hien consulted experts from HCM Ctys Agriculture & Forestry University for a new planting direction. Coincidentally, he met Prof. Vo Tong Xuan, principal of Nam Can Tho University as well as other leading agricultural experts in Long An Province and the Mekong Delta. They recommended that we plant limes using organic methods to increase the products value. Therefore, we applied European processing standards from the beginning, aiming to compete with foreign companies, he said. The company has invested about US$7 million into the farm and has no plans of stopping. After seven years, an isolated area has turned into a 150-ha lime plantation directed by the Chanh Viet Company with its Chavi brand going far beyond the Vietnamese border. Why Thailand and not us? Organic planting methods sound simple but created a lot of difficulties for Hiens company. Approaching a partner who has experience in exporting goods to EU markets was the first step. To be accepted, they had to send several lime samples to Europe for quality tests. Another issue was the variablity in size and shapes of lime since they were planted organically. Only 30 to 40 per cent of fresh limes qualified to be exported to Europe. We lose a lot of money if we sell the rest at a domestic price. Therefore, we have to come up with ways to process them, said Hien. The idea of manufacturing products from lime was approved by Prof. Vo Tong Xuan and other agricultural experts. The cooperation between science and agriculture was started with lime-based essential oil which contains more than 20 anti-cancer agents. Hien ordered Kha Chan Tuyen and his partners from HCM City Agriculture & Forestry University to research how to obtain oil from lime peel. According to our survey, there is an absence of pure lime oil extract in the market since most current products are mixed with artificial chemicals and flavours, he stressed. Lime peel can be used for oil, what about the flesh? After several experiments, Chanh Viet Company gradually introduced variable processed products including lime juice, lime powder, dried lime, lime seasoning powder and salt with lime. Besides Europe, Chanh Viet Companys products will be sent to difficult markets such as Japan, Germany, France, some Asian countries and the US in the near future. Profit was not Hiens goal when investing in lime, he said. We are passionate about agriculture, so money is not a big deal. At present, we can live well with the profits from selling lime. Of course, we can earn more working in HCM City. However, our mission is beyond money: to make quality products for the national agriculture sector. Thats why we chose the name Chanh Viet (Viet Nams Lime), Hien added. Also, he refused some cooperation invitations from China since the partners asked to increase the products storage time which means that presevatives will be added during production. We can sell less but never sacrifice our values, Hien said. Additionally, the biggest motivation for Hien is Vietnamese pride. Thai people purchase Viet Nams fruits at low price, process them and export to Malaysia or Singapore with higher value. Every time, I asked myself Why can Thai people do it, but we cannot? This question became Hiens drive to improve Viet Nams agricultural values, starting with a lime. VNS HCM CITY APEC-member economies agreed to continue enhancing regional cooperation to achieve the Bogor Goals of freer and open trade by 2020 in the Asia-Pacific region, an official said at a press conference held on Wednesday in HCM City. The press conference was held to conclude the third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum held in the city from August 18-30. Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, the APEC 2017 SOM chair, said: In the context of concerns about the unequal distribution of the benefits of globalisation and trade liberalisation, APEC members have affirmed their determination to continue bringing APEC cooperation into practical benefits for each economy, community and business. SOM3 aims to continue promoting the completion of the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the region by 2020, he said. Participants reached a consensus that the implementation of Bogor Goals must be associated with creating equal opportunities for every citizen and enterprise to contribute to, and benefit from, achievements of regional economic growth and linkage, and to contribute to global efforts for sustainable development, he added. In parallel, APEC needs to enhance response capability and creativity in the context of the rapidly developing fourth industrial revolution, he added. During the two-day SOM3 meeting, APEC senior officials discussed major issues in the fields of healthcare, micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, food security and sustainable agriculture, e-commerce facilitation and the internet-based economy, among others. Senior officials have adopted three guiding documents for cooperation, including the e-commerce facilitation framework, support industry initiative document, and APEC Supply Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan. Delegates agreed to report these findings to the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting to be held in a Nang in November. In addition, Viet Nam reported on outcomes of the High-level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Tourism, the High-level Meeting on Health and the Economy, and the High-level Policy Dialogue on Food and Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change. Viet Nam also reported the outcomes of the Symposium on Advancing Inclusion in the APEC Region and updated the proposed APEC Action Agenda on Promoting Economic, Financial and Social Inclusion in the APEC region. The country updated preparations for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Ministerial Meeting, and the Women and the Economy Forum. Son said the Food Security Week in Can Tho produced important results with three key documents being adopted: Can Tho Statement; action plans on food security; and rural-urban development. In addition, the High-level Meeting on Health and the Economy, attended by health ministers, sought ways to improve patient-first investment and build capacity for healthcare financing and access in the region with an aim to ensure a healthy and productive workforce, he said. During the meeting, SOM3 discussed the recent development of Regional Trade Agreements and Free Trade Agreements (RTAs/FTAs) and the SOM Dialogue on RTAs/FTAs, according to Son. It also discussed the implementation of Lima Declaration on Free Trade Agreement in the Asia-Pacific Region (FTAAP), as well as the next steps to develop the APEC Post-2020 Vision, including the possibility of a leaders statement on APEC Toward 2020 and Beyond, Son said. With only three months to go for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in a Nang, Viet Nam is ready for everything to ensure a successful APEC year, Son said. Speaking at the press conference, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, Dr Alan Bollard, praised Viet Nam for organising the APEC this year professionally. Viet Nam, which has a big role in hosting the APEC this year, has chaired the meeting very professionally, considering how many delegates participating in the event and how many events it has hosted so far, he said. Its quite a skill to get agreement from different economies, big and small, market and less market, developing and developed economies. And that has been done very well as well, he said. Viet Nam has been pooling some ideas from other economies about other initiatives, some of which will be announced in a Nang by the leaders, he said. We notice some trade tension, but we definitely are focused on Bogor Goals to achieve free and open trade in Asia-Pacific no later than 2020, he told Viet Nam News. Some challenges facing Viet Nam include the workforce getting older, more worries over resource exhaust and climate change, as well as some disruption about technologies, according to Bollard. Bogor Goals The Bogor Goals include a subset of elements such as commitment to the multilateral trade system, trade facilitation, consultations on economic growth strategies, regional capital flows and other macro-economic issues, as well as to increased development cooperation to attain sustainable growth and equitable development for APEC economies. APEC is currently finalising its second-term Bogor Goals review. The initial findings suggest that, since the Bogor Goals were launched, average applied tariffs have fallen and it is getting faster and cheaper to trade across borders. Extreme poverty has dropped by 83.5 per cent, life expectancy continues to increase, and enrolment in tertiary education has more than doubled. However, the initial findings also suggest that some sectors, especially agriculture, have seen higher tariffs, and greater use of non-tariff measures affecting trade. Behind-the-border restrictions continue to affect services trade and investment, while negative perceptions on restrictions facing foreign investors are more prevalent. On average, unemployment and inequality are higher than it was before the global financial crisis. This challenge should be addressed as much as possible in the coming years, and should also inform our development of APECs post-2020 vision, according to Son. VNS Government Donates to Charitable Organisations Government have announced that fifty of the original bicycles from the GibiBike scheme introduced in 2011, have been refurbished and made roadworthy and donated for use in Morocco via the International Lions Club and the Association Mediterranee de Developpement et de Formation. "The GibiBike scheme started with 130 bicycles and 13 docking stations. Only 6 months later, just 47 bicycles remained fully functional and only 8 docking stations were available for use: many bikes were permanently locked in their stations, not because they were broken but because they could not be released due to software malfunctions. Other bikes just went missing" explained a Govt statement. "The Government repeatedly requested the Company to rectify the breach of contract and to repair the equipment and bicycles but the company failed in these obligations. Within 6 months of its launch, the service was discontinued and its parent company in the UK had folded with a cost of over 300,000 to the Gibraltar tax-payers. "Of the 130 Bicycles purchased 18 were permanently locked in docking stations, 31 had their anti-tilt tags broken with no spares to repair them, 12 others required spares to make them roadworthy. A further 22 were held in reserve, leaving just 47 available for a client base of 419. "The scheme was launched on 27th November 2011 and, within 6 months, only 47 bikes were operational and many stations were out of action." On behalf of the Lions Club, Mr Pepe Palmero said: On behalf of the President and Members of the Lions Club, I thank you Minister for having had the initiative to donate these bicycles; helping us to help others. We are sending these bicycles to people in need who live 4 miles from their school or work. They will help children to get to school and their fathers to work. I would like to thank the Government and the people of Gibraltar for helping us, which is why we are here. Mr Abel Suisi of the Association Mediterranee de Developpement de Formation also gave his heartfelt thanks for the donation of these bicycles to his association. He said: These bicycles will be put to good use helping people get to their places of work and education. The Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Paul Balban said: I am satisfied that we can finally put what remains of the failed bicycle rental scheme to some worthy use. These bicycles will give greater mobility to some less fortunate people so that they can access their schools and places of work. I would like to thank these two charities for their work and I am delighted to be able to assist them. CHARLES CITY Charles City has a rich and well-deserved reputation in eastern Iowa for public art. The library is home to the Mooney Art Collection, which includes works by Old Masters and legendary 21st century artists like Picasso. Central Park boasts a public art piece on all four corners and granite plaques along the sidewalks that tell the story of this river city. Now private collectors are opening their doors for the first-ever Home Art Tour on Sept. 24. This is a first-time event presented by the Design Committee of Community Revitalization, said Mark Wicks, Chamber of Commerce director. We were brainstorming new ideas we do a holiday home tour people really enjoy and we were talking about Charles City as having a lot of public art on the riverfront, the Mooney collection and a wonderful art center, but we also have some wonderful private collections. We have some tremendous art in this area that most people never get to see because it is in private homes, so this is a terrific opportunity to view some of these treasures, explained Steve Schiller, who along with Christopher Anthony chaired the organization of the tour. Several collectors and artists were approached, and surprisingly, the reaction was very positive. People are very proud of their collections and like to share, Wicks said. Five stops and six collections will be featured from 1 to 4 p.m., including Jon and Ann Schneckloth at 3050 227th St.; Donna and Larry Stewart at 1208 Ellis Drive; Norma Breitbach at 1207 Ellis Drive; Art and Susan Strong at 99 Riverside Ave.; and Janiece and Bruce Bergland at 2534 155th St., near Floyd. The Breitbach stop will not only feature some of Normas art collectibles, but also some of the artworks owned by Joe and Lori Nettleton, as well as a few pieces from the collection at Cambrex. Janiece Bergland and Ann Schneckloth are both regional artists. Art Strong is a retired high school art teacher who has been active for decades in the Charles City art scene. Paintings, ceramics, sculpture and other artwork, as well as collectibles brought home from travels, will be displayed. Community Revitalization is part of the Main Street Iowa program and is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining downtown Charles City as part of a great place to live, work and play. Main Street is all about new opportunities and improving the quality of life, and art is a big part of that. Its another opportunity to see what Charles City has to offer, Wicks said. Tour tickets are $10 each, with proceeds going toward downtown beautification efforts. Tickets will be available at the Community Development Office at 401 N. Main St. beginning Friday, as well as at each of the Home Art Tour locations the day of the event. The library and art center also will be open to visitors. For more information regarding the Home Art Tour, please contact the Community Development Office at (641) 228-2335 or mark@charlescitychamber.com. INDEPENDENCE A judge has allowed reality TV star Chris Soules to travel to New York while he awaits trial in a fatal crash. On Tuesday, attorneys for Soules asked the court for permission to allow him to leave the state between Sept. 7 and Sept. 11 for a trip to New York City. District Court Judge Andrea Dryer granted the request in a decision filed on Wednesday. The court has granted two earlier travel requests, most recently for a trip to Winnetka, Ill., on late August. Soules, 35, of rural Arlington and known, who stared in "The Bachelor" and "Dancing with the Stars" TV programs, is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the April crash that killed 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher near Aurora. He is currently out of jail on a $10,000 bond with GPS tracking and pre-trial supervision. Trial is currently scheduled for January in Buchanan County District Court in Independence. WATERLOO A Waterloo teen said armed robbers took his cash and cell phone and forced him from his car early Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made. Robber flees when victims hurl beer bottle WATERLOO --- Bar patrons drove off a would-be robber armed with a gun on Wednesday night. The 17 year old told police that he was parked in the Cadillac Lanes lot at 650 LaPorte Road around 3:30 a.m. when another vehicle pulled up and two men exited. One was carrying a shotgun, and the other had a handgun. After taking the teens property, the assailants made him leave his car and walk away before they fled in their own vehicle. Waterloo man reports mugging WATERLOO A Waterloo man told police he was beaten and robbed early Sunday morning. LITTLETON The public has had twice the typical amount of time to weigh in on a dam removal project here, but a meeting this week proved theres still skepticism. Littleton resident Nancy Coventry summed up the sentiment. I think they like to spend money that we dont really need to spend. Thats my opinion, and thats the opinion of a lot of people. The status quo, to us, right now is all right, Coventry said. Why ruin something thats been status quo for just about 90 years? UPDATE: Floods soak Northeast Iowa SUMNER Heavy rains Friday night and Saturday deluged the community of Sumner, and basement The project is part of a long-term DNR effort to mitigate the hazards of low-head dams, man-made structures typically hidden below the waters surface that can pose a drowning threat. Nate Hoogeveen, river programs coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the Littleton Mill Dam is dangerous. He said low-head dams create swirling eddies experts call drowning machines. Im sure theres people who are still frustrated about whats happening. But on the other hand, it is my job and responsibility to work on these problems, and its one that once were sort of on this path, we couldnt really just walk away from it, Hoogeveen said. There have been nine deaths near the dam since it was built in 1934. Hoogeveen said thats not the highest in the state, but it is concerning given the dams rural location. A DNR study from 2010 found only two low-head dams with as many or more fatalities, in Polk and Wapello counties. But Coventry, whose son, Randy, owns property on one side of the Wapsipinicon River where an easement was granted, and others stress the vast majority of users use appropriate caution. Such a project typically takes three to four years from beginning to end. Since the program began in 2008, the DNR has completed 19 mitigation projects and has around 25 more in the pipeline. Quasqueton celebrating 175th anniversary QUASQUETON One of Buchanan Countys oldest towns will celebrate its 175th anniversary this The dam in Buchanan County has been eyed for removal since 2008. The department had a property easement on one side of the river but not the other. That changed this summer. The second easement made the estimated $401,000 project likelier to move ahead. The plan is to replace the aging dam that as of the 2010 study was still in good condition with a rock rapids. Hoogeveen said that will preserve the recreation and wildlife the area is known for while removing the swirling eddy hazard and be easier for fish to navigate. He calls it a very reasonable alternative that keeps most of what they like about the dam. Coventry said the plan Hoogeveen presented at this weeks meeting is the best yet proposed, but she worries it wont live up to the promise. She also is frustrated the meeting was called after a two-year hiatus when the DNR did not have the right to access to the private property when the time frame for moving ahead is still uncertain. The easements move the project closer to reality, but its uncertain when it will move ahead. The easement was unexpected so the project wasnt budgeted, and the states financial woes make funding such projects difficult. Hoogeveen said the project is at a phase where funding and permitting processes are the only remaining obstacles. There will be another update for the public when the project gets underway, but this weeks meeting was the last public input session. Once started, the project should take a month to six weeks and will briefly interrupt recreation. WATERLOO City workers are clearing dead trees cluttering the Cedar River downtown. Waterloo firefighters used inflatable rescue boats to ferry two city forestry employees to a massive trunk stranded on a rock pile just below the dam. They are huge trees, and they are too big to float away unless we have a major flood event. Some of the council people asked us if we could do it, and weve been waiting for perfect conditions, said Battalion Chief Mike Moore with Waterloo Fire Rescue. Using chainsaws and axes, forestry workers Luke Even and Crager Cook carved the deadwood into manageable pieces and sent them downstream, although larger chunks of the tree wont be washed away until water levels rise. The crews also tackled a second dead tree was stuck on the dam. The tree-removal job was also good training for firefighters, who used two inflatable rapid deployment crafts normally used for river and ice rescues, Moore said. Its really designed for water just like we are in. Its very durable, and you cant sink it, so its extremely safe, Moore said. Waterloo firefighters took part in a similar operation in 2011 by hooking a cable to trunks caught on the dam and pulling them with a vehicle-mounted winch on shore. STRAWBERRY POINT -- No one was injured in a crash in a roundabout at a rural Fayette County intersection Thursday. The Fayette County Sheriff's Office said the crash was reported shortly after 8 a.m. on the roundabout at Highway 3 and Highway 187 west of Strawberry Point. Once deputies arrived it was learned that Jeremy Van Auken, 33, of Wilton, was traveling north in a 2013 Ford Econoline in the roundabout while Andrea Paris, 34, of Strawberry Point, was driving a 2015 Chevy Traverse on Highway 3 traveling west. Deputies said she failed to yield to Van Auken causing the crash. Paris received a citation for failure to yield the right away. By The Associated Press Aug. 30, 2017 | 09:21 PM | FRANKFORT, KY A group of black lawmakers, pastors and advocacy groups have called for the removal of a Jefferson Davis statue in the Kentucky Capitol. The Capitol Rotunda includes five statues of famous Kentuckians. They include former President Abraham Lincoln and Davis, the only president of the Confederacy. The Kentucky chapter of the NAACP and other groups have tried twice before to have the statue removed but were unsuccessful. The Kentucky Historic Properties Advisory Commission governs the statues. Its members are appointed by the governor. Democratic State Rep. Reginald Meeks said it was time to "put aside the politics of the past" and remove the statue. Republican Gov. 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your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was writing about the Surfbirds, and the long trip to their Alaska breeding grounds. Well, they are back. This last week we took a trip over to the Pacific side of the Baja to see who had arrived back from their summer up north. Given the large amounts of birds that have arrived in the La Paz area, I felt is would be a worth while trip. For the most part, I was quite disappointed. The Surfbirds saved the day. All in all I counted 42 of these stocky, little shorebirds. With their spotted breasts, and still retaining some of the gold iridescence from their breeding plumage, it wont be long before they are off, on their way farther south. Many of the Surfbirds travel as far as Tierra Del Fuego. True to their names, they are found on the rocky shore lines of both the North and South American Pacific shores. LOS ANGELES, CA, August 31, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- This festival event takes place at the Hollywood home of the Academy, The Mary Pickford Center's Linwood Dunn Theater, and is part of the Academy's participation in Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA. A lineup of the featured films follows: Our Barrio - Directed by Ryan Casselman, USA Our Barrio tells the story of Gabriela, a young woman on the verge of adulthood, who lives with her family in a diverse neighborhood. Struggling with her identity, Gabriela is forced to reckon with herself when her life comes to an abrupt halt. Ryan Casselman is a San Diego-based award-winning filmmaker with an interest in character-driven films. His films have screened across the country and have won and been nominated for numerous awards including an Emmy nomination at the Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards for Con Boys. The Machine - Directed by Adolfo Mena Cejas, Cuba After being informed that she has won the American Visa Lottery, Lazara decides to leave Cuba - even if she has to abandon her family. But her best friend will make her reconsider, with one revealing fact. Adolfo Mena Cejas is a Cuban filmmaker with a BFA in Art History from la Universidad de la Habana. He has written and directed three award-winning short films that have been screened globally in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and beyond. Remember This Voice - Directed by Jeff Chan, USA A Los Angeles transplant from Venezuela who believed his broken English was an insurmountable hindrance, he was ready to give up on his passion for Hollywood, but a single defining moment launched his accomplished career as a Spanish-commercial voice actor who has recorded promos for over 400 film titles and won multiple Emmy Awards. Jeff Chan is a director and writer. He studied Film and TV Production at NYU, and splits his time between NYC and LA. Remember this Voice was produced by The Bindery and created in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter and Principal, a global financial investment company. NERON (NERO) - Directed by Rubin Stein, Spain Alma, a Spanish journalist, is carried to a secret place where a Latin American dictator is hidden after a tragic terrorist attack to his family. Rubin Stein creates film, video, branded content, photographs and art. He received a B.S. in Telecommunication Engineering as well as a B.A. in Audiovisual Communication. His short films have been screened at over 400 festivals and have won more than 50 awards worldwide, including the 2014 Golden Melies Nomination for the Best European Fantastic Short Film. NewFilmmakers Los Angeles hosts the world premiere of NERON. xx (doble equis) - Directed by Jorge Ossio, Peru A young woman from Lima spends her days looking for ways to not feel so lonely. Jorge Ossio is a Peruvian screenwriter and has written 6 short films in the past 5 years. xx (doble equis) has been shown at Lima Film Festival 2016 where it received a Jury Mention, Pachamama Cinema de Fronteira 2016, Film Week Universidad de Lima 2016 where it received Best Short Film and the Transcinema Film Festival 2016. La Madre Buena - Directed by Sarah Clift, Mexico A Mexican mother embarks upon an epic journey across land and through her politics, to find her son's birthday request - a Donald Trump pinata. Sarah Clift has been working in commercial media as a Creative Director for 18 years, but has recently began to focus on a directing and writing career where she, in the last 12 months, co-directed her first commercial for Buchanan's Whisky featuring Chris Hemsworth. She is now the UK partner of Madrefoca Production Services in Mexico. Her film La Madre Buena is her debut short has played in over 40 festivals including Palm Springs, Ann Arbor and Rhode Island and won numerous awards including Gold Young Directors Award at Cannes Lions, 5 Golds at the Kinsale Short Film Festival, and overall Winner at A&E Networks Shorts Competition. Anto (Never) - Directed by Joe Torres & J. Rene Guerra, Venezuela The inclement sun. A damn endless desert. Three women gather to wait for transportation. They are survivors of an extinct world, of a time apart. They are afraid. They are suspicious of each other. Joe Torres, producer, writer, and director, grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. He began his career as Producer of A & B Producciones. He's worked with directors Mark Foster (Hungry Man) and Tom Shadyac (Universal Pictures). His film Anto has received accolades at the Elche International Independent Film Festival and the Budapest International Short Film Festival. J. Rene Guerra is a director and actor, known for Anto (2017), Translucido (2016) and Des(pecho)truccion (2013). Prior to Anto, she earned a B.A. in Performing Arts and was a Stage Manager and Curator at the Poets Den Theater and Gallery. Neemkomok - Directed by Douglas Cushnie, USA 1810: Isadora, an Indigenous Californian (Gabrielino/Tongva) woman, faces a battle to survive after being emancipated from the abusive Los Angeles mission where she was raised. She's helped by Domingo, a Franciscan friar, on the journey to bring her to a Native village where she can finally be safe. Douglas Cushnie is a filmmaker from the town of Sherman, CT, and is currently an MFA Directing fellow at the American Film Institute. Having traveled extensively through Latin America, he has shot projects for non-profits and coffee companies in Nicaragua and abroad since the age of 16. His 2012 short, "Volar en linea recta," has shown in film festivals around the world. 2500KM - Directed by Daniela Arguello, Guatemala / USA Based on a true story, 2,500 kilometers from the U.S border in a small town in Guatemala: Sandra, a young mother of two is faced with the decision between keep trying to fix her relationship with her abusive husband or run away to U.S in the hopes to find the American dream of a better life. Daniela Arguello is a Guatemalan director, writer and the founder of Twenty-Four Productions. Arguello graduated from the UCLA Extension Program and was voted as one of the top three emerging young filmmakers in Florida at the Palm Beach International Film Festival Student Showcase. Her short 2500KM was recently purchased by HBO and is on HBO Now. This is the US premiere of the film. Fragil Equilibrio (Delicate Balance) - Directed by Guillermo Garcia Lopez, Spain Three stories of contradictions that unfold in different places in different socio-cultural spheres, united by the words of Jose Mujica, former president of Uruguay, who throughout the documentary addresses universal issues threatening humanity and questioning some of the foundations of the world we live in. Guillermo Garcia Lopez is a Spanish filmmaker. He studied at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Instituto Puerta Bonita de Madrid and Universidad Complutense. His first short as a producer, La Gran Desilusion, was nominated to Best Documentary Short at the Goya Awards 2014 and has more than 50 official selections at other international film festivals. His feature film, Fragil Equilibrio, has been nominated at 3 festivals and has won many awards at festivals like the Austin International Film Festival of the Americas, Valladolid International Film Festival and more. Doors will open to the public at 4pm with the event concluding at 11:30pm. There will be pre-screening receptions before each program where attendees can sip cocktails and mingle with industry professionals and festival-selected filmmakers in the lounge. Q&A sessions with the filmmakers will follow each program. For information or to reserve tickets to the NewFilmmakers LA September 16th, 2017 screening, please visit http://www.NFMLA.org. # # # Maanvi Singh in NPR: In medieval Europe, those who could afford to do so would generously season their stews with saffron, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Sugar was ubiquitous in savory dishes. And haute European cuisine, until the mid-1600s, was defined by its use of complex, contrasting flavors. "The real question, then, is why the wealthy, powerful West with unprecedented access to spices from its colonies became so fixated on this singular understanding of flavor," Srinivas says. The answer, it turns out, has just as much to do with economics, politics and religion as it does taste. Back in the Middle Ages, spices were really expensive, which meant that only the upper class could afford them. But things started to change as Europeans began colonizing parts of India and the Americas. "Spices begin to pour into Europe," explains Krishnendu Ray, an associate professor of food studies at New York University. "What used to be expensive and exclusive became common." Serving richly spiced stews was no longer a status symbol for Europe's wealthiest families even the middle classes could afford to spice up their grub. "So the elite recoiled from the increasing popularity of spices," Ray says. "They moved on to an aesthetic theory of taste. Rather than infusing food with spice, they said things should taste like themselves. Meat should taste like meat, and anything you add only serves to intensify the existing flavors." More here. | Thousands of people rescued from rooftops and plucked from rising water had to leave everything behind when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last year. For many, prescription drugs were among the items they abandoned. The same may happen to those fleeing the potentially devastating Hurricane Florence, expected to make landfall in the Carolinas and Virginia later this week. Being without essential medicine for days can pose a health threat and adds to the sense of panic people feel during such emergencies especially natural disasters. That's why your hurricane preparation should include making sure that you have enough medication to last for a few weeks. Even if your prescription isn't up for refill yet, many states permit pharmacists to make medically necessary exceptions during an emergency. State laws in North Carolina and South Carolina, both now in official states of emergency due to Florence, allow pharmacists to refill a prescription, as much as a 30-day supply, during a natural disaster without a doctors authorization. (Thats for the majority of medications labeled Schedule III or IV; the law is more rigid for Schedule II drugs, considered to have a high potential for abuse, such as morphine, fentanyl and codeine.) In Virginia, the state of emergency declaration notwithstanding, pharmacists are allowed to dispense only certain medications without a doctor's approval, and only if the medication is due for refill within the next 7 days. Because you might be evacuated or stuck at home for days after the storm due to flooding, it's important to have at least a two-week supply, says Barbara Young, editor of patient medication information at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. If you have had to evacuate, have run out of medication and are no longer near your usual pharmacy, it is easy to transfer the prescription to a different location. Most pharmacies allow you to switch your prescription to a different store by phone or in person; in the case of major drugstore chains such as Walgreens and CVS, you can also change your pickup location online. And it doesnt have to be to a store within the same company; you can move your prescription from a CVS in Virginia to a Walgreens in Pennsylvania, for instance. Either take your prescription bottles with you or keep on hand a list of your medications, including their names, dosages, how often you take them and the name of the prescribing doctor, Young suggests. "It's useful information for both emergency personnel and pharmacists," she says. People who are able to gather their medicines before evacuating their homes may be concerned about drugs that require refrigeration. Its important to check with medical experts or a pharmacist for advice. In the case of insulin, one of the most common drugs stored in the refrigerator, Young says that it's better to leave it at room temperature than to put it on ice and risk it freezing. If insulin freezes, it needs to be discarded. The Food and Drug Administration says insulin retains its potency unrefrigerated for as long as 28 days. Drugs that have been exposed to flood water or unsafe tap water should be discarded, too, as they might be contaminated. If you are facing heavy rains and flooding, put your medications in a resealable plastic baggy. HHS Secretary Tom Price has given hospitals and medical providers permission to let family members know if their loved one is a patient at their facility and to talk with them about the individual's condition and care needs. The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that a patient give permission for such communication. Passed in 1996, HIPAA provides data privacy and security provisions to prevent a patients medical information from being shared with those who shouldnt have access to it. Medical and health professionals face stiff fines and other sanctions if they violate HIPAA rules. But in an emergency situation like the cataclysmic storm that pounded Texas and Louisiana, and the one headed for Florida, the HHS secretary has the power to waive such penalties in the affected areas. And thats just what Price has done. The HIPAA Privacy Rule allows patient information to be shared to assist in disaster relief efforts, and to assist patients in receiving the care they need, the agency's bulletin on Hurricane Harvey and HIPAA explains. Connie Zeller, director of education at the Professional Patient Advocate Institute, said the HHS action is just what loved ones and their caregivers need. We shouldnt make it insurmountable for families to connect during this time, Zeller said. In general, she added, older adults dealing with such a crisis are much more vulnerable. And they may be disoriented. For example, someone with diabetes may not have his medications handy. But that individual may not think to explain this to a volunteer who is helping triage people in a large shelter like the convention center in Houston, where thousands are being cared for and housed. The relaxation of the HIPAA privacy rules enables easy communication between a medical professional and a family member who lives hundreds or thousands of miles away. An adult child can provide vital medical details, such as the specific medicines a parent takes or what nursing facility she resides in, in case the individual has become separated from a caregiver. Having a relative help the medical professionals with medication needs and a medical history can be critical, Zeller said, especially when computer systems are down and a patients medical records cannot be accessed easily. The emergency rule also means that hurricane victims dont have to sign the HIPAA forms the government requires providers to keep before people can receive medical care. Even without Prices actions, there are exceptions to HIPAA, say, when public health is at stake or the patient would be in imminent danger if medical professionals didnt have access to the information they need. HHS established a federal medical station at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The American Red Cross has a web page where victims of either hurricane can list themselves as safe and family members and friends can search for the names of missing loved ones. Jefferson cruises to 11AAA state title over Harrisburg in 2nd year Head coach Vince Benedetto asks his team the same question after every game: "Can we play better?" But Saturday, "it doesn't matter because we're champions." Appendix 4E & Annual Report Brisbane, Aug 30, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The directors present their report on the consolidated entity (Group). The Group consists of China Magnesium Corporation Limited ( ASX:CMC ) (Company or parent entity), a public, limited liability company incorporated and domiciled in Australia, and the entities it controlled at the end of, or during the year ended 30 June 2017. Managing Director's Report Financial summary The Group has recorded a net loss after tax of $0.987M compared with a 2016 restated loss of $2.022M. Pingyao magnesium production During the year the Company completed the installation and testing of semi coke crackers. This allowed commencement of magnesium production using semi-coke gas instead of coal-to-gas facilities. Management progressed all operational matters including kiln firing preliminary to production in March and early April 2017. In April 2017 SYMC (the operating subsidiary of CMC based at Pingyao) management along with other businesses in the province were informed that production was to immediately cease pursuant to action by the Minister of Environmental Protection to effect measures to ensure compliance with emissions standards. These measures were focused on a variety of production plants in Beijing, Tianjing, Hebei, Shanxi and surrounding provinces including magnesium plants. The directive from the Minister of Environmental Protection was not from specific issues identified with the Pingyao plant, but was rather a "blanket cease of operations" for manufacturing plants. The Environmental Protection Department (EPP) has implemented a 5 step environmental supervision process comprising [i] site inspection [ii] engagement of EPP to investigate issues [iii] EPP progress assessment [iv] EPP interviews & [v] engagement of EPP special inspectors where issues remain unresolved. Companies unable to meet EPP emissions standards will be closed by the end of September 2017. In August 2017 SYMC staff met with the chief of Pingyao Environment Protection Bureau, who confirmed that pollutant standards dated October 2017 as applicable towards SYMC which are stated in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report of SYMC are unchanged from the original Pingyao plant specifications and comply with the EPP discharge standards. CMC is confident that the Pingyao plant will satisfy the disposal/emission specifications, and thereby pass the inspection and review by the expert environmental team as the prerequisite for production recommencement. SYMC management have conservatively projected additional initial emission discharge control work will be completed for production return by March 2018, at a total cost of $1.1M. CMC have in place funding to complete the additional work. Monitoring of environmental discharge is anticipated to be effected by controls within all relevant plants with regular reporting thereon to the EPP, together with physical inspection by EPP officers on an ongoing basis. Lithium tenements CMC has acquired 2 tenements in the Greenbushes area of Western Australia. In September 2016 CMC announced it had entered into a conditional Framework Agreement to finance the assessment and exploitation of lithium from the 2 tenements. Upon satisfaction of the conditions and intent of the Framework Agreement CMC's interest in the tenements will reduce to 40%. CMC's executive management do not intend to be involved with the management of the project, other than contributing to the overall strategy and early establishment of key personnel. Jiexiu City Baiyun Quarry On 31 July 2017 the mining license of Jiexiu City Baiyun Quarry was cancelled. Impairment of Quarry assets at carrying value of $77,010 (RMB401,214) and land use and mining rights at $524,348 (RMB2,731,800). CMC will seek to recover $575,827 (RMB3 million) under the Option and Purchase Agreement. Management has sourced alternative dolomite supply for production. Commodities Trading Desk The international trading desk is the exclusive trading desk for a number of Fengyan operations in addition to the CMC Group. Error on interest calculation The financial statements include an adjustment correcting an error where interest had been calculated on the wrong principal balance. The overstatement correction has been brought to account in the relevant periods affected. The current full year results include $127,286 and accumulated losses have been adjusted by $448,764. Funding Agreement In June 2017 the Company entered into a Controlled Placement Agreement ("CPA") with Acuity Capital. The CPA provides the Company with up to $3 million of standby equity capital over the coming 2 years. CMC entered into the CPA to complement its funding initiatives and to strengthen its overall capital management program by adding a further capital raising tool. The CPA provides CMC with the flexibility to quickly and efficiently raise capital, including the ability to take advantage of suitable opportunities as they arise. The Company retains full control of the placement process, including having sole discretion as to whether or not to use the CPA. The Company is under no obligation to raise capital under the CPA, and there are no break fees if the CPA is not utilised. Fine Chemicals & Fertiliser Agreement In the previous financial year CMC signed a conditional agreement with Taiyuan Hailifeng Science & Technology Co. Ltd for the 20 year lease of business and production facilities in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. This plant currently produces G3 (a cross linking agent in powder coatings for various indoor and outdoor applications), G1 (used in water treatment, in paints and coatings & also as slow release fertiliser) and other chemicals. Negotiation for a second 20 year lease at Shandong (Shandong Province) producing magnesium nitrate, sodium nitrate and other chemicals remains in progress. CMC has continued small scale chemical and fertilizer trading in the current financial year. Working capital Under the 2013 Investment and Co-Operation Agreement, Fengyan has continued to provide direct working capital facilities to the CMC Group. CMC & Fengyan continue to evaluate other financial facilities, for which Fengyan has indicated its intention to act as guarantor. CMC also continues to explore alternative working capital facilities including for lithium tenement acquisition and development. Rights and options raising CMC successfully completed a rights and options issue which raised $2.1M to provide CMC with additional general working capital and to further Australian and Chinese operations including acquiring assets. On exercise of options by December 2017 at $0.05 a further $2.1M could be raised. As noted under Shareholder Information, directors hold 14,598,540 (34%) of options on issue, which includes take-up of a shortfall in rights which was underwritten by several shareholders including two directors. Looking forward Subject to CMC completing all environmental work necessary, CMC projects recommencing production in March 2018. We are encouraged by the sustained improvement in magnesium prices. We continue to seek diversification in the market offerings from magnesium and magnesium alloy into an array of other manufactures including semi coke and calcium metal. CMC remains committed to becoming one of the world's largest, integrated, low cost magnesium producers, whilst building capacity in other industries to further leverage our strengths and advantages. To view the full report, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/7E2OR5TC About China Magnesium Corporation Ltd China Magnesium Corporation Limited (ASX:CMC) owns a 91.25% interest in CMC China which owns a 100% interest in a magnesium ingot production operation. The operations are licensed to expand output to 105,000tpa, which would make it one of the world''s largest magnesium producers. Studies have been completed which indicate a positive environment for CMC to conduct a major expansion of its magnesium operations. CMC has converted its existing coal to gas plants to 5 semi-coke crackers (total semi-coke capacity 200,000 tpa) at the site of its existing 20,000 tpa capacity magnesium plant. Waste gas from semi-coke production is now used to provide the energy source required to produce magnesium. Consequently the combined semi-coke and magnesium plants are expected to significantly lower production costs than for magnesium-only production using the coal-to-gas facilities as originally envisaged when the magnesium plant was built. Raises $2 Million Perth, Aug 31, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Impact Minerals Limited ( ASX:IPT ) is pleased to announce that it has completed a Placement of $2 million of the Shortfall from the Company's recent Share Purchase Plan following recent results from the ongoing drill programme at the 100% owned Commonwealth Project, 100 km north of Orange in New South Wales. - $2 million raised via Placement of Shortfall from the recent Share Purchase Plan - Funds to be primarily used for the ongoing drill programme and resource work at the Commonwealth gold-silver-base metals project in New South Wales Impact Minerals' Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said "We are very pleased to have had strong and mostly unsolicited demand for this shortfall because we are now well funded to continue the major drill programme at our emerging high grade gold-silver discovery at Silica Hill." The Company has received firm commitments from sophisticated and professional investors to raise $2.0 million through the Placement, being 111,111,111 Shares and 166,666,667 free attaching Quoted Options. Shares and free attaching Quoted Options issued under the Placement will be issued on the same terms and conditions as those under the Share Purchase Plan, being 1.8 cents for each Share, with three free attaching Quoted Options exercisable at 4 cents on or before 15 June 2020 for every two new Shares subscribed for. The Company will lodge a prospectus with ASIC for the purposes of section 708A(11) of the Corporations Act to remove any trading restrictions on the Shares and Options issued under the Placement. To view the Investor Presentation, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/8V7M5130 About Impact Minerals Limited Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) is an exploration company listed on the ASX in November 2006. The Company manages extensive tenement holdings (>2,000 km2) within Australia featuring significant potential for high-grade mineral deposits of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, nickel and PGM's. The Directors of the Company have extensive experience in mineral exploration and a strong history of exploration success, business development and corporate management. Impact Minerals intends to build wealth for its shareholders through a vigorous campaign of project generation and evaluation with a view towards profitable mining operations. Just 20 years imprisonment for this dhongi baba? Shouldnt he be imprisoned for life? He should be held accountable for the deaths of 36 odd people who died in the havoc wreaked by Dera Dogs. Other religious gurus should learn a lesson from this and stay away from committing sins like these. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is nothing but a carbon copy of Asaram Bapu involved in similar crimes with different tactics. If I were the Supreme Court judge, I would sentence the baba and all his 1 lakh or 2 lakh followers to death. Indians are so blinded by the so called God-men that they are ready to sacrifice anything including their own children to them. I hope other God-men will learn a lesson from this. There must be a law to deal with these pseudo sadhus committing crimes in the name of religion. (The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.) Uttar Pradeshs flood woes continued as the toll rose to 104 with one more death, while over 2.8 million people are affected as raging waters of the rivers emanating from Nepal caused havoc in vast swathes of land. Citing a report compiled till Wednesday, the relief commissioners office in Lucknow said around 300,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps in the affected districts of eastern parts of the state. The death toll in the floods has reached 104 in the state, where 3,097 villages in 24 districts are inundated affecting a population of over 2.8 million, it said. Army choppers, NDRF and PAC (flood) personnel continued relief and rescue operations round the clock in the severely affected areas of the flood-hit districts of the state. The release of water in the rivers emanating from Nepal and incessant rains impeded rescue work, they said. Twenty-eight companies of NDRF, 32 companies of PAC (flood) along with two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and several Army personnel were working round the clock to save lives and properties in the affected areas. A Central Water Commission report in Lucknow said the Sharda river was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan and near the danger mark at Shardanagar while the Ghaghra river was flowing above the red mark at Turtipar in Ballia. The Rapti river was also flowing well above the red mark at Rigauli and Birdghat in Gorakhpur, while the Quano river was flowing above danger mark at Chandradeep Ghat in Gonda, it said. British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted she would lead the Conservative Party into the next general election, in interviews broadcast Thursday. Her announcement followed reports that she was preparing to stand down when Britain leaves the European Union in 2019. She told Sky News television there was absolutely no basis for those reports whatsoever. Im in this for the long term. May called a snap general election in June, hoping to extend the centre-right Conservatives slim majority and strengthen her hand going into the Brexit negotiations. But the gamble backfired, she lost her majority and is now propped up by the support of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionists. Asked by the BBC if it was her intention to lead the Conservatives into the next election scheduled for 2022 she replied: Yes. Im here for the long term. And its crucial. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit. We are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom, she said, during a visit to Japan. It is my intention not just to deliver a good Brexit deal for the UK but also to ensure that global Britain can take its place in the world, trading around the world and that we deal with those injustices domestically that we need to do to ensure that stronger, more global but also fairer Britain for the future. May could face a tricky time at the annual Conservative Party conference in September. Some MPs are bristling about her handling of the general election campaign, which saw the party blowing the massive opinion poll lead it held over the Labour main opposition. In the midst of heavy rains, on July 25th Siddhi Sai building in Ghatkopar had crashed killing 17 persons, while on August 26, a vacant building at Chandivali had collapsed claiming seven lives. Now, a six-storeyed building has collapsed in south Mumbais Bhendi Bazaar area claiming 16 lives and injuring 12 persons. This report is shocking for a city that is still reeling from the aftershocks of Tuesdays inundation. Meanwhile, one more badly decomposed body was excavated from the debris of the collapsed eight-storeyed building in Chandivali on Wednesday, taking the death toll to six. Police suspect at least two more people are still trapped as they claim there is still a smell emanating from under the debris. On Saturday, partly demolished Crystal Plaza Business Park in Chandivali came crashing down on workers. Police claimed that there were around nine people who were working when the building collapsed. Cops have registered a case against Kaushal Mukesh Builders & Developers and Spark Infrastructure under IPC sections 34 (common intention) and 304 (A) (death by negligence). No arrests have been made yet. Let us first rescue people, said Sakinaka, senior police inspector, Avinash Dharmadhikari. The residential building, named Arsiwala, located near JJ Junction in Pakmodia street, collapsed around 8.30 am. Ambulances, 10 fire brigades and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been rushed to Arsiwala Building, which was located in a busy market area. The Chief Fire Officer and Commissioner of Police have also been mobilized. The building had 12 rooms and six godowns on the ground floor was around 100 years old. It had two wings, both of which collapsed. When AV spoke to Madhukar Chavan, ex-MHADA president, former Congress MLA said, The state government and BMC is responsible for the recurring building collapse incidents occurring in the city. The government usually allocates Rs 200 crore for the redevelopment of old buildings. However, this year only Rs 80 crore has been spent. Therefore the repairing work gets hampered. Too much corruption is happening in the BMC pertaining to the redevelopment of old buildings. They are also responsible for the recent waterlogging incidents that happened in the city. The government must pay Rs 5 lakhs to the kin of deceased person and pay Rs 2 lakhs for injured persons. Their medical expenditure should be borne by the government, he added. The number of people trapped in the buildings debris is yet to be determined but initial reports suggest as many as 50 could be trapped. However, residents were requesting authorities to start digging the debris to rescue the trapped residents. The police also suspected gas leakage in the area, following which electricity was cut off in the surrounding buildings and the police could be heard appealing to people not to light any inflammatory material or use electricity that could trigger a possible fire. Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, Mumbai Mayor said, The building belongs to MHADA and it is more than 100 years old. A private builder was supposed to redevelop the building. This issue is concerned with MHADA and state government. The BMC is already doing its work and is involved in rescue operation work along with NDRF team and Fire brigade. Despite receiving evacuation notices, tenants failed to vacate the building. The government had given all the permission to the Trust to develop the building in 2011.There was an ultimatum to demolish the building last year. The government had also provided transit camp lodging. The delay that led to the tragedy will be understood only after an inquiry said Prakash Mehta, Maharashtra Housing Minister. Mohamed Rehman, resident of Bhendi Bazar said, BMC babus who facilitate illegal constructions or ignore taking action against legal but dangerous constructions due to money game and political nexus should be booked under serious crimes. Shiv Sena supporter Amit Badricha saidA larger point here is that Bhendi Bazaar is such a notorious area and its citizens take pride and tell that Bhai apne Area mein to police bhi aane se pehle dass baar sochti hai If citizens themselves cant change we shouldnt completely blame government and babus. Another shop owner of Bhendi Bazar, Ashraf Sheikh said BMC and government in Maharashtra will not accept its their fault and would say its natural disaster. People are made fools first by spending so much money in doing nothing to storm water sewers (its a scam by itself) and now they dont even know which buildings are old and is dangerous. Whats the exact role of government in first place? Old and dangerous buildings are routinely pulled down in all places except in our country where some or the other excuse retains them. One can witness countless such old buildings in all places waiting for disasters to happen. The civic body had conducted a survey this which revealed that 617 structures in the city were identified as unsafe for living. Out of these 112 were vacated while 42 were referred to the technical advisory committee. In the year 2011, MHADA had declared the building unsafe and had offered transit accommodation to tenants and occupants. When the building had collapsed nine families were staying in it. The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given USD 225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has much to lose by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trumps promised changes will bring explicit conditions on military aid. Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson, officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury, it said. Aiken, SC (29801) Today Clear skies. Low around 35F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 35F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. August 30, 2017 CAIRO The Egyptian minister of trade and industry, Tarek Kabil, told Shorouk News on Aug. 22 that in the first half of 2017, Egypts exports to Turkey rose by 30% to $1.07 billion, while Turkeys exports to Egypt dropped by 50%, reaching $912 million in the same period. Turkey is one of Egypt's biggest sources of imported clothing, and the trade volume between the two countries reached about $3 billion in 2016 in fields such as engineering, food, energy and agriculture, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. Turkish investments in Egypt decreased following the January 25 Revolution of 2011, and a Turkish delegation visited Cairo on Jan. 30 of this year in an attempt to reboot the investments. The delegation, led by Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the head of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, sought to pave the way for the return of Turkish investments in Egypt. In the interview with Shorouk News, Kabil indicated that although there are political differences between Egypt and Turkey, that should not hinder trade between the two countries. Relations between Cairo and Ankara deteriorated after the Egyptian army ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests in 2013. On Nov. 23, 2013, Egypt ordered the Turkish ambassador to leave and decided to reduce diplomatic relations with Turkey. The Egyptian government's State Information Service even deleted all references to Egyptian-Turkish relations from its website. Still this is the first year since Morsis ouster that relations between Ankara and Cairo have witnessed relative calm, as both sides have refrained from making statements that would give rise to more tension. Tensions escalated between Egypt and Turkey in 2015-16, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Egypts president on several occasions, accusing him of acceding to power through undemocratic ways. Egypts Foreign Ministry responded by issuing a statement on Aug. 23, 2016, saying that "a top condition for restarting ties with Turkey is for Ankara to respect Egyptians' will." Yet Kabil told Shorouk News that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is trying to separate between politics and trade when it comes to Turkish-Egyptian relations. In a phone interview with Al-Monitor, Medhat Nafea, the vice president of the Sustainability Working Group at the World Federation of Exchanges, said the ministers statement was overly idealistic and far removed from reality. Nafea said, Natural relations among countries result in a state of boosted trade, tourism and investment activities. This state between Egypt and Turkey cannot be [accurately] measured or monitored at this time, despite Turkeys investments in Egypt reaching about $5 billion. He said that Turkey wants to develop its financial position to become the strongest in the Middle East and Africa, and that Egypt represents a good access point for Ankara into that target region and a big market for Turkish products. Trade activities between the two countries are carried out by the private sector amid a political deadlock, Yasser Gaber, the media adviser at the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry, told Al-Monitor. The ministers statement is a message that welcomes official trade normalization with Turkey. Salah Labeeb, an independent researcher in Turkish affairs, told Al-Monitor that the future of ties between the two countries is bound to how each sees the future of cooperation. He said, The Egyptian-Turkish dispute is not limited to Turkeys nonrecognition of the legitimacy of the Egyptian post-June 30 regime. Rather, the two countries entered a regional conflict. For instance, Egypt and Turkey stand on two different sides of Libyas conflict, as they support rival groups. He added, Turkey is tilted toward Qatar in the latest Gulf crisis, unlike Egypt, which accuses Qatar of undermining its internal security. Turkey also seeks more influence in the region by getting closer [links] to Hamas, which would undermine Egypts historic role in the Palestinian cause. Labeeb said it was unclear whether Egypt would build relations with Turkey by trying to come to understandings over disputes involving Egypt's internal affairs (in reference to Ankara's considering Morsis ouster a coup) or instead seek further regional cooperation, ignoring the internal matters for the time being. He noted that the most likely scenario is that Cairo works with Ankara to cooperate on external strategic issues affecting Egypts national security, such as the Libyan crisis, as well as coordination concerning the Palestinian cause, as Ankara appears to have a remarkable influence over Hamas. Turkey provides Hamas with significant diplomatic and financial support and is carrying out several aid and humanitarian projects in the Gaza Strip. An example of regional coordination would be that on July 23, Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received a phone call from his Turkish counterpart to discuss the situation in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa crisis. Hasan Sivri, a Turkish political analyst and writer for the private news agency YDH, told Al-Monitor by phone that while an economic normalization between the two countries is possible, he ruled out the possibility of any political rapprochement in the near future, even though Turkey is attempting to adopt a new foreign policy to have fewer enemies in the region. Legislator Bassant Fahmy, a member of the Egyptian parliament's Economic Committee, told Al-Monitor, The economy should not pay the price of political disputes. She said Turkey is one of Egypts biggest trade partners in the region. However, Tarek al-Khouly, the secretary of the parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, said the countries' economic interests might push them to put political differences aside for the sake of ensuring continued trade activity. Egypt did not prompt any escalation against Turkey in the past, as it adopted a reaction-only policy, Khouly said, adding that Cairo may resort to consultation and coordination with Ankara on issues of tension in the region to overcome the disputes arising from Egypt's internal affairs (Turkey's position over the ouster of Morsi and Abdel Fattah al-Sisis accession to power). Al-Monitor could not reach Egypts Foreign Ministry for comment on this matter. Kabils statement may reflect a new period in relations with Turkey, as Cairo previously objected to the development of economic ties between the two countries unless Ankara recognized the legitimacy of the June 30 Revolution that ousted Morsi in 2013. August 31, 2017 CAIRO The spokesman of Egypt's Ministry of Supply, Mamdouh Ramadan, in an attempt to reassure citizens, told Reuters Aug. 22, Egypts wheat reserves are sufficient to cover the countrys needs until the end of February 2018. On the same day, Mohammed Suwaid, the media adviser of the Ministry of Supply, said during a talk show on satellite channel ONTVLive, The reserves are safe and exceed the global limit. However, it seems that the officials boasted about the wheat reserves in an attempt to reassure Egyptians, without addressing the price paid to obtain these strategic reserves. Indeed, the Ministry of Supply procured record quantities of imported wheat in July, which by the end of the month reached about 1.245 million tons supplied to Egypt through four tenders. On Aug. 17, Ramadan announced in a press statement that the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) affiliated with the Ministry of Supply signed a contract through a state tender to purchase 355,000 tons of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, bringing the total wheat imports to 1.6 million tons. GASC had launched two state tenders, on Aug. 15 and Aug. 29, to import unspecified quantities of wheat from global suppliers in September and October 2017, raising doubts about the achievement of the government's wheat self-sufficiency plan over the last four years, as outlined by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in May 2013. In October 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that it aimed to increase the wheat cultivation area by 200,000 acres to reach 3.5 million acres in 2015. This is in addition to the wheat cultivated by the armed forces and the ministry as part of the 1.5 million acres reclamation project launched by Sisi in the city of Farafra on Dec. 30, 2015. The Ministry of Supply started purchasing wheat harvested from this project on April 12, 2017. Sisi's wheat self-sufficiency plan is also based on a successful experiment by the National Water Research Center of two wheat planting seasons, in February and September, rather than only one in December. The experiment consists of cooling dry wheat seeds before planting them in the soil, so they can withstand the heat during hot periods, thus enabling two consecutive harvests per year. However, doubts shroud the self-sufficiency plan, especially as Minister of Supply Ali Meselhy announced during a July 29 press conference a plan by the ministry to import 7 million tons of wheat in 2017-18, despite the increase in the wheat cultivation area and the double planting season. The Egyptian government imported about 5.580 million tons in 2016-17 and about 4.440 million tons in 2015-16. The head of the Egyptian General Farmers Union, Rushdi Abu al-Wafa, justified the targeted increase of wheat imports because of the drop in domestic wheat to the government in 2017. He told Al-Monitor, In 2017 domestic wheat supply to the government fell to about 3.4 million tons from 5.2 million tons in 2016. Domestic wheat has not been supplied to the government since some private sector traders are offering higher purchase prices not to mention the governments failure to pay the farmers dues on the agreed payment dates, which pushed them to refrain from concluding contracts with the government. The undersecretary of the Egyptian parliament's Agriculture Committee, legislator Raef Tamraz, told Al-Monitor, The Ministry of Supply is showing a delay in pricing wheat supply and concluding the relevant contracts. The ministry should set prices and conclude contracts for the purchase of wheat before planting it, as does the private sector. Ramadan said, A large part of the contracted quantities with the farmers last year did not make it to the state silos. Deals were signed whereby some farmers got money for the wheat they were supposed to supply to the state, but which was sent to the private sector instead. He added, This year, the Ministry of Supply is strictly controlling the quantities supplied locally to the state silos. A large part of the quantities said to be supplied last year were not and perhaps this is why the quantities supplied locally dropped." Ramadan was referring to the wheat corruption scandal that led to the resignation on Aug. 25, 2016, of former Minister of Supply Khalid Hanafi. A source at the Ministry of Supply told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The main reason for the importation of larger quantities of wheat is the government's desire to constitute greater reserves to avoid any shortage crises. The imported quantity will not be used in the fiscal year 2017-18. The state may use these imported quantities in the following year, which will reduce the wheat import bill on the 2018-19 budget. Nader Noureddine, a professor of water resources and irrigation at Cairo University's agriculture faculty, told Al-Monitor, The two wheat planting seasons experiment entails a loss of millions of tons of wheat because it is not applicable to Egypt. Talking about the success of this experiment is just a media hype. The wheat planting season is in December only. Early planting in September in light of the annual rise in temperatures puts the wheat crop at risk, as this crop will probably not make it until a drop in temperature in December. Also, the crop planted in February will not withstand the heat in May and June. He added, This experiment was successful in some European countries, Canada and the United States since the temperatures in these countries do not reach as high as those in Egypt. Egypts delay to achieve wheat self-sufficiency since 2013 and its importation of record quantities of wheat could be due to the corruption scandals in previous years, the poor handling of pricing and payment policies with the farmers or the attempts to create media hype about the wheat reserves. However, the expansion of cultivated lands has been praised by the experts, raising hopes that wheat self-sufficiency is attainable, as long as the state overcomes the current obstacles. August 31, 2017 TEHRAN, Iran An interview with the son of prominent Reformist leader Mohammad Reza Aref, a member of the parliamentary Hope faction, has led to a new controversy in Iran. The July 20 interview features Hamid Reza Aref talking about how the children of Iranian elites, locally known as "aghazadeh" (noble-born), have "good genes." The interview has not only introduced a new terminology on nepotism to Iran's political lexicon but also brought social media attention to the positions held by these "aghazadehs." In the interview, the younger Aref said, "The discussions over being an 'aghazadeh' are a way of escaping reality because we are used to blaming someone for our problems. Now they [people] want to lay the blame on the 'aghazadehs.' Naturally, when my mother and father are successful individuals, that [same] gene and blood will also be transferred to me and so it's not that people haphazardly reach a position. Lineage is not a small thing to have someone come out and claim that they have lineage." Social media users, and especially those on Twitter, immediately responded to Aref's interview with heavy criticism especially regarding what was seen as his sense of superiority. While public outcry grew on social media, the son of another well-known Reformist politician added even more fuel to the fire. Mostafa Mousavi Lari, the son of Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, who was interior minister under former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami as well as a candidate on the Reformist ticket for the May 19 Tehran city council elections before withdrawing his candidacy, published a provocative post on his Instagram account on July 23. "The Lion King's death is one of the most famous death scenes in the world," he wrote. "However, there was a point which I found very attractive about this. [It was where] the hyenas scare a number of buffaloes, all of which suddenly start running. Most of the buffaloes don't even know what is happening, meaning they don't know what they are running away from or what goal they are suddenly running toward. They just run with the crowd and in the midst of it all, kill their beloved king! The Twitter waves being launched these days strangely remind me of this scene." This text, which was posted along with a picture of the scene from the film, prompted even more criticism about the idea of politicians' children benefiting from good genes. To the public, Mousavi Lari's post was broadly tied to Aref's remarks, even if he may not have intended that and only sought to lessen the wave of criticism through his post. However, the use of key words such as hyenas, lion and buffaloes all of which Mousavi Lari highlighted with hashtags amid the debate about good genes and good blood, was a reminder of the ancestral superiority that Aref seemingly perceived himself as enjoying. The concept of benefiting from good genes became a topic for assessing the other ties of politicians' children, especially those within the Reformist camp. Mousavi Lari's Instagram post was followed by so much controversy that he was forced to remove it only hours after posting it. The same day, he also took to Twitter and wrote, "Given the misunderstanding this Instagram post has caused among some friends, I [would like to] remove the post and apologize to [both] like-minded fellows and Reformists, and hope that they forgive me." Although this tweet put the debate to rest to some degree, the concept of benefiting from good genes became a topic for assessing the other ties of politicians' children, especially those within the Reformist camp, as well as the positions they had obtained as a result of being "aghazadehs." One such example was Ahmad Araghchi, the nephew of Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi. Upon the decree of the Central Bank of Iran's governor, Valiollah Seif, the younger Araghchi was appointed on Aug. 8 to the key position of central bank deputy governor for foreign exchange affairs. Not even 40, he got the job after reportedly only having some four years of work experience on his resume. It should be noted that Ahmad is not Araghchi's only nephew to catch the public's attention. Another nephew, Ali Araghchi, apparently received firsthand news of the nuclear negotiations from his uncle during the high-level talks in Switzerland and Austria, and posted them on his personal Twitter page as exclusive news. However, the subject of Reformist "aghazadehs" did not end there. Mohammad Ali Vakili, a Reformist member of parliament from Tehran, is another individual who has appeared in the spotlight during the recent debate over good genes. On Aug. 19, while parliament met to vote on President Hassan Rouhani's proposed ministers for the new Cabinet, news began to circulate about Vakili's 20-something son having been hired as the head of an industrial mining company that operated under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Media reports and social media posts claim the latter was why Vakili did not oppose Rouhani's proposed minister of labor and social affairs. While widely prevalent, nepotism and the concept of good genes are not restricted to the Reformist camp. Amir Bahmani, the young son of Mahmoud Bahmani, central bank governor under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected as mayor of Hashtgerd, a city located 42 miles west of the capital Tehran, without having any relevant experience in the Hashtgerd city council. According to the runner-up, Bahmani's election was the result of extensive lobbying and intensive meetings he had with members of the Hashtgered city council. Soon afterward, Komail Lahooti, the son of parliament member Mehrdad Lahooti, who represents Langarud in the northern province of Gilan, was chosen as mayor of Chaf and Chamkhaleh, a city in the central district of Langarud county. The appointment of children of politicians to various positions as a result of family connections is nothing new in Iran. However, the reason this sort of nepotism has attracted particular attention now is perhaps due to the expansion of social media networks and the rising influence of Twitter, Telegram and Instagram in Iran or maybe even the odd remarks made by Aref's son regarding good genes an issue which is perhaps seen more prominently among Reformist figures. August 31, 2017 A young Iranian cleric lit social media on fire with claims that a censorship committee blocked his speech to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a recent visit with clerics. Hojat al-Islam Heydar Abbasi, a former student official with Basij Organization, took to his Telegram account to publish the text of his speech that he says caused him to be eliminated as one of those who was to deliver a speech to Khamenei. Abbasis speech, which was never delivered, first begins with some of the positive outcomes of the Iranian revolution. However, it quickly dives into his many criticisms. Abbasi complained of the governmentalized nature of student groups that he says have a top-down aspect, whereas the revolution had always aspired to have the peoples participation. He wrote that this tiered system has made the people secondary to the state and government. Abbasi also wrote that there is a new trend in interpreting the role of the supreme leader, which he framed as wanting to please the leader. He wrote that this frame of thinking automatically ostracizes anyone who wants to criticize the leader. He asked rhetorically, In the seminaries and universities, shouldnt the environment be free in order to think about the issues of the revolution? Are all the intellectual activities correct only when they are limited to the statements of Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] and yourself? He discussed the issue of corruption and elitism in both elected and appointed positions in the government, and he asked Khamenei what his views on them were. After the text of the speech went viral, Abbasi added information about the censorship process while following up on Telegram. He said there was a committee specifically designed to review the text of those who were to deliver a speech to Khamenei, adding that the committee was opposed to any type of critical or questioning text in the speech. Abbasi wrote that this committee made both general and specific editorial requests of the text and did not present clear criteria of what was acceptable and what was not. He wrote that the only general criteria explained to him by some of the committee members was to speak in a way that Agha [Khamenei] would like. In response to Abbasis claim of censorship, many people on Twitter shared clips of an older Khamenei speech in which he discussed criticisms addressed to him. Do not think that I become upset when I hear such things [criticisms], Khamenei said. For if these things were not said, I'd become upset. He continued, I welcome criticism. And many do. There is a great deal of criticism. Some Iranian Twitter users brought up Khameneis recent meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and his new administration. In the meeting, Khamenei urged Rouhani to listen to the voices of criticism. Iranian Twitter accounts used the hashtag Agha would like it to share various criticisms of the censorship process and other social and political issues in Iran. August 31, 2017 No effort is being made to cloak the warming of relations between Hamas and Iran in a veil of secrecy. A key figure in this budding rapprochement is senior Hamas official Salah al-Arouri, who was expelled from Turkey two years ago after Jerusalem and Ankara reached a reconciliation agreement. Photos from Aug. 2 show Arouri meeting in Beirut with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special assistant for international affairs to Iran's Shura Council. Also in attendance were Osama Hamdan, Hamas' point man for international relations, and Ali Barakeh, the movement's representative in Lebanon. After the meeting, Arouri flew straight to Tehran, where he joined a high-level Hamas delegation attending the inauguration of President Hassan Rouhani for a second term. Arouri, Hamdan and Izzat al-Rishq held a series of meetings with top Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, senior adviser to the supreme leader on international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati and Strategic Committee for Foreign Policy Chairman Kamal Kharazi. On Aug. 6, Barakeh released a statement announcing that Hamas' political bureau head, Ismail Haniyeh, would soon be visiting Iran and that Hamas and Iran were allies again. Iran sees continuation of resistance in Palestine as a vital issue and Hamas, too, knows that relations with Iran would strengthen the Palestinian resistance, said Barakeh. What this means is that Hamas has chosen military and economic aid to rearm itself at the expense of Gaza residents, who believed that improved relations with Egypt offered the best hope of easing the siege in any significant way. When Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza and an advocate of rapprochement with Tehran, met with Gaza journalists Aug. 28, he informed them that ties with Iran had been renewed. Also on Aug. 28, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Israel's coordinator of activities in the occupied territories, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, to discuss the possible easing of the closure against Gaza to prevent a humanitarian crisis. The answer he received was that Israel is doing everything it can to provide for the needs of the civilian population and ease restrictions on them, while Hamas is blocking all attempts to improve the lives of Gaza's people. The Hamas terrorist organization takes advantage of the people of Gaza again and again in an effort to exploit Israeli aid, despite the difficulties in Gaza, Mordechai told Guterres. From there, the secretary-general paid a visit to Gaza. It left him in shock. At a meeting with journalists at a school supported by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, he said, I am deeply moved to be in Gaza today, unfortunately, to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that I have seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations. Guterres called on Egypt and Israel to open the border crossings, but Hamas, by choosing to throw its lot in with Iran, has effectively ensured that the secretary-general's emotional plea will go unheeded. If there was any chance for a humanitarian solution in Gaza as a result of the warming of relations between Hamas and Egypt, the recent decision by the movement's leadership sealed the already miserable fate of Gaza's people and ensures permanent control of the territory by the movement's military wing. Not all of Hamas' leaders find the renewed alliance with Tehran acceptable. There was a bitter argument within the movement regarding whether Sinwar and Arouri are gambling with the movement's character and future, and even more important, with any chance it might have to lift the siege on Gaza. Supporters of a pragmatic approach include Mousa Abu Marzouk, Ghazi Hamad (once responsible for border crossings and now head of Gaza's Energy Administration), Ahmed Yousef and others. In Gaza, they are known almost disparagingly as the Egyptian faction, or in other words, the group identified with the Egyptian approach. The members of this moderate group were pleased when relations with Egypt warmed up, considering it to be nothing less than a light at the end of the tunnel. They now worry that all their efforts to reconcile Hamas and Egypt have been in vain. It is not yet clear how the group advocating for closer relations with Iran see this evolving at the practical level. Given Egypt's war in the Sinai against radical Islamic groups and its close monitoring of the border area, it is much harder to smuggle weapons and armaments into Gaza through the border tunnels. Can this bet on Iran as an ally be as effective as it was during the second intifada (2000-2005)? At the time, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ignored the massive development of the network of tunnels in Gaza. Will todays Egypt even allow Haniyeh to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi knows that he is going to meet his sworn enemies in Tehran? It is hard to believe that these senior Hamas officials are oblivious to the risks lying in wait for them by gambling on a distant ally, knowing that it could cause problems with their next-door neighbor, Egypt. After all, Cairo has the power to decide whether they survive or fall. As a Fatah member in Gaza told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, It is quite possible that this warming of relations with Tehran and the astonishing publicity that it is receiving were actually orchestrated to convince Sisi to offer Hamas a better deal, if only to ensure that Hamas doesnt fall into the arms of his rival. Otherwise, it is very hard to understand [Hamas leaders] motivations and plans. August 31, 2017 What do the leaders of Iran and Israel have in common? Both sides foresee a short lifespan for the Zionist state. On Aug. 25, Irans military chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, predicted, Israel will cease to exist within the coming 25 years. Two years ago, Irans supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, said, God willing, there will no longer be a Zionist state in 25 years. Back in 2008, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had forecast, Israel will be wiped off the map of the world, with or without Irans involvement. Iranian leaders do not hide their desire for Zionisms demise, but they also do not identify Iran as what will actively bring about this demise. On the other hand, Israels leadership works diligently and effectively to accelerate the elimination of the Zionist state. On Aug. 28, at a ceremony in one of Israels settlements in the occupied West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, This is the heritage of our forefathers, this is our land. We came back in order to remain for eternity. Using the biblical name of the northern region of the West Bank, the prime minister explained that Samaria is a strategic asset for Israel and further pledged, There will be no more uprooting of settlements in the Land of Israel. Netanyahu appears to have forgotten that Israel, according to his own supposed viewpoint, has no desire to control a large Palestinian population, to run their lives, to impose on them its own flag and culture. That was the vision of peace he articulated in his landmark speech at Bar Ilan University in June 2009. Now, in the summer of 2017, Netanyahu views the stillborn vision he described two free nations living side by side in good neighborly relations and mutual respect as heretical to the principles of the Zionist vision. He not only vowed to never evacuate a settlement in the occupied territories, he also announced to the celebrants gathered at the Barkan Industrial Park that he has plans to deepen Israels roots, to build, to strengthen and to settle even more Jews in the West Bank. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settlement HaBayit HaYehudi, was not to be outdone. It cannot be that we [West Bank settlers] have been here 50 years, and we are still considered second-class citizens, Bennett said on the same occasion. In a clear reprimand of Netanyahu, he added, The time has come for you, Mr. Prime Minister, to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria from now on." Imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and its residents would be the realization of a dream for the enemies of Zionism. Imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and its residents would be the realization of a dream for the enemies of Zionism. A study by Sergio Della Pergola, a leading demographer, and Arnon Soffer, reveals that the Jews would constitute a minority in their state not within 25 years, but by 2025. According to their study, published by the Knessets Research and Information Center in 2011, Jews along with non-Jewish immigrants, mostly from the former Soviet Union, and Israeli residents of other religions will soon make up 44.9% of the population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, while Arabs, Druze and Bedouins will constitute the majority. Even discounting the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip, Jews will only comprise 54% of the population, while 46% will be Arabs. This ratio does not compute with the Zionist vision, the essence of which is establishing a state Jewish in nature. Imposing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories without granting its residents Israeli citizenship would be the final nail in the coffin of the Zionist vision. The frame of the coffin is ready and waiting in the Knessets woodshop: The Nationality Law being formulated by lawmakers to bolster Israels Jewish identity makes a mockery of the yearning that Israel be embraced by the comity of nations that is reflected in Israels core Zionist document, the Declaration of Independence (1948). What democratic state wants a family member that holds the principles of equality in contempt? True, Israels military occupation of Palestinian lands does not bother Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is always happy to host Netanyahu and provide him with yet another platform to try to move the Iranian threat to the top of the agenda. Such was the case at their Aug. 23 meeting, after which Netanyahu told reporters that their conversation had largely been devoted to Iran's growing presence in Syria and Lebanon and Tehran's attempt to create territorial contiguity from Iran to Israels border. We do not forget for a minute that Iran keeps threatening daily to annihilate Israel, the prime minister said. We will protect ourselves by all possible means against this threat. The most effective means against the Iranian threat is to isolate the Shiite regime, which is striving to expand its hegemony across the Middle East. Almost nothing scares the Iranians more than the prospect of a coalition between Israel and Sunni Arab states built on mutual defense, diplomacy and economic interests. A regional peace agreement between Israel and these states would result in the isolation of Iran and its allies that threaten Israel, led by the Lebanon-based and Shiite Hezbollah. Tragically and paradoxically, Irans official organs attacked the Palestinians over their willingness to adopt the 2002 Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative. On the other hand, senior Palestinian officials speaking to Al-Monitor privately condemn the Iranians, who are willing to fight Israel to the last drop of Palestinian blood. Running away from resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatens the Jewish national movement. It threatens it no less than it threatens the Palestinian national movement. Netanyahu-style declarations about deepening the occupation, and the type of calls issued by Bennett to annex the territories, are fodder for religious zealots, Jewish and Muslim alike. To witness the demise of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, Iran does not need military bases in Syria, nor does it require nuclear arms. It need only arm itself with patience. Time and Israels leadership will take care of the rest. The snails pace at which the peace process is being conducted and accelerated settlement construction guarantee that Israels enemies will not have to wait 25 years for the elimination of Zionism. It will happen much sooner. August 30, 2017 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last week visited the Kurdistan region of Iraq. His agenda with Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), focused on the independence referendum the Kurdish administration is preparing for. Among the Kurdish officials the Turkish minister met was Sadi Pire, a member of the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is led by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. But just as Cavusoglu was on his way back to the Turkish capital, the PUKs Ankara office was shut down and people working there were asked to leave Turkey. The abrupt closure of the PUK office, which had been operating in Ankara since the 1990s, came as a surprise because nobody could explain it. Why did Turkey take such a radical step when relations with the Kurdish administration were at their best? Ankara didnt say anything, but information obtained through leaks in Ankara indicated the decision was taken at the request of the Foreign Ministry and had to do with the seizure of Turkish intelligence agents by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish guerrilla group. Among those asked to leave Turkey within 24 hours was Behroz Gelali, the Ankara representative of the PUK. Actually, while the Ankara government and the Turkish news media kept mum, the news broke out with a statement Gelali made after he arrived in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. In his press statement, Gelali widely referred to the PKK presence around Sulaimaniyah, which is controlled by the PUK, as a primary cause of tensions between Turkey and the PUK. Gelali said, We did good work the region. We lived through many political crises in 17 years and never reached this level of tension. Last week there was a crisis in Sulaimaniyah that had nothing to do with the PUK. It was mostly Turkeys mistake. Their Foreign Ministry informed us of their displeasure over an incident in the PUK region. That unfortunately went so far as closing the PUK office in Ankara. Such incidents happen in politics and diplomacy. We remember how the US Army went after Turkish soldiers in 2003 in northern Iraq. Mr. Talabani had mediated for peaceful resolution of the problem between the Turkish and American militaries. States usually solve such problems through diplomacy. But this time Turkey followed a rigid course for solution and told us to keep the office closed until the problem is resolved. Gelali said this is the first time the PUK has had such a serious crisis with Turkey and warned the PKK to be aware of the sensitivity of the area and behave accordingly. So what made Turkey so angry? Turkey has not yet said a word about the incident, presumably because unofficial efforts are ongoing to conclude it. The allegation is that the PKK kidnapped two agents of Turkeys National Intelligence Service (MIT) in an area controlled by the PUK. Security sources of the Kurdish government who did not want to be identified confirmed the reports to Al-Monitor. They said the incident happened near the town of Dokan. The MIT agents whose real mission in the area is not yet known were kidnapped with the help of two PUK members, hence the crisis, the sources said. They said that Turkeys searches in the area were futile and that the PKK did not respond to the KRGs demands for meetings. The location of the incident is far from the Turkish border but close to the Qandil Mountains where the PKK has its headquarters, making it very likely that the two MIT agents were taken there. Sources in the region claimed the Turkish agents were in the area to either abduct or kill senior PKK leader Cemil Bayik. A website close to the PKK said the Turkish agents had diplomatic passports. PKK sources said Turkey asked the PUK to recover the Turkish agents from the PKK. When the PUKs attempt did not produce results, the crisis erupted. The first pertinent clarification came from Pire. He told regional NRT TV that the MIT had planned an operation against the PKK but failed. Pire said, An operational team coming from Turkey, including some senior officials, was apprehended by the PKK while preparing for an assassination against PKK leaders. Ankara held the PUK responsible for the failure of their operation. This is why they reacted by closing our office in Ankara. We met with Turkeys foreign minister to solve the problem and our contacts are continuing." Pires statement was followed by one from the PKK. Diyar Xerip, a senior official in the Kurdish umbrella organization Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), claimed some MIT personnel had been captured. Xerip said the MIT agents were in the area to launch an operation against Kurdish leaders and said the KCK is ready to show the MIT agents to journalists. Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said Gelali was at the root of the problem. They said the Foreign Ministry was disturbed by what it saw as Gelalis attitude of being supportive of the PKK. The sources said the PUK had been warned about this earlier, and that when nothing changed, the decision was taken to shut down the Ankara office. The same ministry sources, however, remained mum about the claims that MIT personnel had been abducted. Ankaras total silence about the incident reinforces the belief that the abduction happened. The PKKs statement of taking credit for the incident is not, however, enough because it was not accompanied by the usual visual material related to such claims. If the claims are true, then this would be the first time that the PKK has abducted MIT personnel. This would have political repercussions in the region. If true, what course will Turkey follow to retrieve its personnel from the PKK? Is it possible that this might be a reason that Turkey last week issued a state of emergency decree authorizing the state to exchange prisoners with foreign powers (whose definition remained vague)? August 31, 2017 Turkeys fraught relations with the United States are heading for further turbulence after a grand jury in Washington indicted 15 Turkish security officials accused of attacking pro-Kurdish protesters in the US capital on May 16 during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They include Muhsin Kose, the head of Erdogans security detail. In all, 19 people who engaged in acts of violence against the demonstrators outside the Turkish ambassadors residence on Sheridan Circle were indicted. In the indictment, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia charged the defendants with conspiracy, bias-related hate crimes, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with significant bodily injury, felonies that are punishable by a statutory maximum of 15 years. Sixteen of the defendants had already been indicted in June. Three security officials, including Kose, were added to the list in Tuesdays indictment. An initial hearing has been set for Sept. 7. Coming only weeks before Erdogan is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Sept. 19, the indictment has prompted worry that the Turkish president may choose to boycott the event just as the administration seeks to repair ties. In a statement yesterday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called the indictment biased and purely political and claimed that the indictment included the names of people who had never even been in the United States. A Turkish official contacted by Al-Monitor declined to identify them by name. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, complained that the indictment erroneously placed some Turkish security personnel on Embassy Row when they were in fact at the airport. Erdogan has not yet commented on the latest indictment. He blasted the earlier one in June, saying, "What kind of law is this? If my security guards are not going to protect me, why would I bring them with me to America?" Turkish officials claim the security guards intervened because DC police and the secret service present at the scene failed to provide sufficient protection for Erdogan. Kose, who would have been in charge of organizing security for Erdogan during his New York visit, has headed Erdogans notoriously thuggish security detail since 2012. He oversaw the violent scuffles that erupted between his men and demonstrators outside the Brookings Institution in Washington a year earlier as Erdogan made a speech. Your correspondent witnessed members of Erdogan's security detail lunge at Kurdish protesters standing opposite Brookings unprovoked. Turkish-US relations remain rocky over the Pentagons alliance with a Syrian Kurdish group that has close links to Kurdistan Workers Party rebels fighting for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey. Many of the Sheridan Circle protesters were carrying placards vaunting the Syrian Kurdish group known as the Peoples Protection Units, which is seen as the most effective force against the Islamic State. Some chanted Baby killer Erdogan as the Turkish leader pulled into the Turkish ambassadors driveway in a black Mercedes sedan. Footage analyzed by the investigative journalists collective Bellingcat suggests that Erdogan may have authorized the assault. They show a man in a suit with an earpiece leaning into Erdogans car and then signaling his men, ostensibly to go after the protesters. The indictment notes, On or about May 16, 2017, between approximately 4.05 p.m. and 4.13 p.m. Muhsin Kose, Yusuf Ayar, Feride Kayasan, Ahmet Karabay, and other persons whose identities are known and unknown to the grand jury communicated with one another via earpieces. Nine people, including two women, were hospitalized after the melee. Lucy Usoyan, an ethnic Yazidi and the founder of the Yazidi Relief Fund, a nonprofit to raise awareness about the mass murder and enslavement of Yazidis by IS, was repeatedly kicked in the head by a member of Erdogans security detail until she fell unconscious. Three months on, she still suffers dizzy spells. She told Al-Monitor, I cant say I feel happy about the indictments. I wish none of this had happened. Usoyan added, Those people did not act on their own. They were responding to orders from Erdogan. It is he who should face justice and be punished. But he wont. August 31, 2017 The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it would start taking into account temporarily deployed military units when reporting troop numbers in Afghanistan, with updated numbers for Iraq and Syria to follow. With the change, the US military now acknowledges it has 11,000 troops in Afghanistan, up from a previously reported 8,400. Until now it had only shared force management levels, which account for troops and units meant to complete a mission but do not count the hundreds of personnel temporarily deployed into the fight. Military officials indicated a change was needed to prepare units deployed to the battlefield to fight. The old accounting rules put limits on the number of troops that could remain in the battlefield for long periods, forcing commanders to chose between combat troops and support personnel. Those forces that are temporarily deployed, those will now be reported, Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters. We all recognize that whole units are more ready. Thats why were going to have a little bit of flexibility. It is not clear when that flexibility will extend beyond Afghanistan, however. The Pentagon has not yet decided when it will reveal updated troop numbers for Iraq and Syria. According to official force management levels, the United States has more than 5,262 troops in Iraq and 603 in Syria, primarily in an advisory capacity. Those figures do not account for troops that are temporarily deployed to those theaters. The Barack Obama administration began using force management levels first established in the 1980s to limit US forces in Europe to draw down the number of US forces in Afghanistan and establish a limited presence in Iraq and Syria to defeat the Islamic State. But that method of accounting, Pentagon officials say, has hurt the US militarys training and readiness in critical situations, forcing ground commanders to keep support troops out of battle such as mechanics and maintainers for military vehicles and equipment that are not deemed necessary to the fight. It has led to training and discipline issues, creating problems for unit cohesion and forcing the military to rely on contractors to repair equipment that they are not familiar with. The fight is different in Iraq and Syria, but in both theaters, we will eventually apply the same flexibility, McKenzie said. Those numbers will be forthcoming. Wells Fargo & Co. announced today it has found another 1.4 million accounts which were created without customers' knowledge. The total, which came about through an independent review, raises the number of bogus accounts to 3.5 million. According to the Los Angeles Times, the review looked at more than 165 million retail banking accounts created between January 2009 and September 2016. The earlier review scanned 93.5 million current and former accounts opened between May 2011 and mid-2015. The company said about 190,000 accounts incurred fees and charges, about 60,000 more than had been previously announced. Wells Fargo announced it would provide another $2.8 million in refunds and credits. The company has already paid out $3.3 million after the first review. And the company is already looking at accounts going back to 2002, according to Reuters. Wells Fargo last year reached a $190 million settlement with regulators over phony accounts, which employees created to meet aggressive sales targets. Nicolas Cage spent about an hour at USA Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile on Wednesday, according to a hospital spokesperson. During the surprise visit, the Oscar-winning actor greeted pediatric patients in the USS Hope, an infusion suite, and went from room to room shaking hands and giving fist-bumps. Sporting shoulder-length hair and a beard, Cage also visited with staff members on the elevators between floors, posed for dozens of photos and gave out a few autographs. Cage is in Mobile to shoot "Between Worlds," an indie supernatural thriller, according to IMDb.com. He starred in two other movies filmed in Mobile, including "Rage" in 2013 and "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" in 2015. In the new movie, Cage will play Joe, a down-on-his luck truck driver haunted by the memory of his deceased wife, Mary (played by actress-model Lydia Hearst) and child, according to Deadline.com. Franka Potente, who starred in the first two "Bourne" movies and FX's "Taboo," as well as "The Conjuring 2," will play Julie, who enlists Joe in a desperate attempt to find the lost soul of her comatose daughter, Billie (played by Penelope Mitchell of "The Vampire Diaries" and "Hemlock Grove"). But Mary's spirit, determined to settle some unfinished business, possesses Billie's body. The movie is written and directed by Maria Pulera and will be filmed in Mobile and Sweden, according to Deadline.com. Pulera will produce the film along with Eric Banoun of Rise Up Films and Deviant Films' David Hillary. Three inmates of a federal prison in Alabama have been indicted for assaulting other inmates. The indictments involve two assaults at the women's Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Birmingham's FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. Those indicted are Mireya Garcia-Romo, 34, Maribel Gomez-Meza, 31 and Michelle Vasquez-Yado, 35. The charges involve two separate assaults that happened in May According to authorities, Garcia-Romo and Gomez-Meza, are charged in connection with a May 13 attack on another inmate with a weapon made of razor blades. They are charged with acting in conert to commit an assault that resulted in serious bodily injury, committing an assault with a dangerous weapon that resulted in serious bodily injury, and possessing contraband for having a handmade object consisting of four razor blades wrapped together and secured with tape. The three-count indictment against Michelle Vasquez-Yado stems from a May 17 assault on a fellow inmate with a broken piece of mirror designed for use as a weapon. The indictment charges Vasquez-Yado with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with a dangerous weapon that resulted in serious bodily injury and possessing contraband by having the mirror fragment intended for use as a weapon. The maximum penalty for assault resulting in bodily injury is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possessing contraband in prison is five years, which must be served consecutively to the sentence being served when the crime was committed, and a $250,000 fine. The FBI investigated the cases, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Meadows is prosecuting. Birmingham Mayor William Bell has proposed giving more money to libraries, city schools and neighborhoods in his newly revised 2018 fiscal year budget proposal. The funding for some of those groups, though, doesn't reach the levels the city council countered with earlier this month. The mayor's office first submitted the proposed operating budget for the next fiscal year to the city council in mid-May. Bell met with city councilors on Wednesday afternoon in a special-called Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall in an attempt to come up with a compromise that the both sides can accept. The 2018 fiscal year started on July 1. Without an approved budget the city is operating based on the prior year's spending levels as the mayor and council are at loggerheads over the new budget. Councilors are meeting again on Wednesday, Sept. 6 to discuss the budget. "We need to take time to go over this budget and digest it," Council President Johnathan Austin said. "We still have plenty of time to go back and get it right." Councilors saw the mayor's new proposal for the first time on Wednesday. Bell on Wednesday said the biggest changes he made to the budget was adding $1.1 million for longevity pay for long-time city employees. He also dropped the council's requested Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Bell said a staff member in his office can head up that effort, rather than creating a new position. The mayor is now proposing allocating $16 million to the Birmingham Public Library. The council wants to fund the library at $17.6 million. In his initial budget proposal, the mayor had suggested $15.6 million. Birmingham City Schools would receive $3.6 million in city money in the mayor's new budget. The council wants to fund schools at $3.9 million. The mayor's new proposal is about $1.3 million more than what the mayor initially allocated. Bell contends he wants to spend more on neighborhoods, including $1.5 million for weed abatement, $2.5 million for home demolition (additional money could come from federal hardest hit funds), $11 million for street paving plus an additional $2 million from the Alabama Department of Transportation and $1.5 million for new police vehicles. Earlier this month, the city council proposed cutting the 2018 operating budget for general city government by about $7.1 million. The largest departments in general government are equipment management, information management services, finance and the mayor's office. City finance director Tom Barnett on Wednesday said about $5.2 million was added back into the budget for general city government. He said equipment management can't be cut because that department pays for gas and maintenance of city vehicles, including police vehicles. "We knew that really couldn't be cut because we knew we will have to spend it ....," he said. Councilor Lashunda Scales said the council didn't propose cuts to the general government. "The only money that the council decided to eliminate from the budget is the excess of the amount of money that you projected that we needed and never spent," she said. "We didn't go in and cut departments." A Georgia man was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for having more than a dozen fraudulent credit cards in Jefferson County. Claudell Ralph Petit, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon to serve a total of 33 months in prison. He will receive credit for time he has served awaiting his sentencing. Following Petit's release from prison, he was ordered to serve two years on supervised release. Petit was indicted along with another man, Gregory Simeon, in September 2016 on charges of illegally possessing 15 or more unauthorized credit and debit cards in Jefferson County in 2015, records showed. Authorities said Petit and Simeon were charged jointly with another count of fraud and identity theft, while Simeon alone was charged with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. U.S. Marshals took custody of Petit following the hearing. Petit was represented by Bill Myers, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Kay Atwood and Thomas Borton IV prosecuted. The Secret Service, Birmingham police, and the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office investigated the case. Alabama's Republican Senate campaign erupted Thursday afternoon with Roy Moore questioning President Trump's endorsement of U.S. Sen. Luther Strange in a national radio interview and Strange demanding an apology for it. Appearing on the Laura Ingraham radio show Thursday, Moore said Trump will take a hit if he continues supporting Strange, whom he endorsed before the Aug. 15 GOP primary. Moore and Strange are facing off in the Sept. 26 GOP primary runoff. The winner will face Democrat Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 general election. "This is a very important race," Moore said on the radio show. "It's not just Alabama. It signals the GOP divide. I'm taking out the CNN article from July 2 that says Alabama Senate race is a test case for GOP divide." Ingraham responded, "Are you saying Donald Trump is disconnected from the populist, conservative base? Is that what you're saying?" "I think that he may be," Moore said. "I think he'll find it a hard way if he comes down or he doesn't come down. As long as he stays with a candidate who is going to lose, he's going to lose credibility. I think he's being badly advised out of the White House." Strange included part of that exchange in social media posts on Facebook and Twitter. As the audio played, the background image states, "Roy Moore slams Donald Trump!" "Roy Moore must apologize for slamming Donald Trump," the social media posts said. "He's no better than the establishment obstructing the president's #MAGA agenda." Minutes later, Moore responded by referring to Strange as one of "McConnell's cronies." Moore also reiterated his support of Trump's agenda. Moore also said in the Ingraham interview that he does not believe Trump will visit Alabama to campaign for Strange. "He's got enough understanding that if he comes down and (Strange) loses, it's really going to look bad," Moore said. "We won't lose this race, Laura. They know it." In an interview with AL.com on Thursday, Strange was asked about a Trump visit to the state. "Given what's going on in the world right now in Korea and Houston of course, the disaster and things, I'm not asking him to take time away from national priorities but of course I'd welcome his presence if he can fit it into his schedule," Strange said. In alluding to the bad advice Trump is getting in backing Trump, Moore pinned it on Jared Kushner - the president's son-in-law and senior adviser. Moore also said he believes he has a bigger lead than recent polls have indicated. In four post-primary polls, Moore has led in all four but the two most recent polls have he and Strange in a statistical tie. "They know their candidate is losing," Moore said of Senate Leadership Fund backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that has poured millions of dollars into supporting Strange. "Quite frankly, it's probably a minimum of 10 to 12 points that I have in the lead and it could be even more. "Basically, I think they put out false polls to try to get the president to come down and further endorse Luther Strange. That's the only thing he has to help him win this race. He's losing and losing badly. And they know it." Click here to listen to the full Moore interview with Ingraham. Updated today, Aug. 31, 2017, at 6:37 p.m. with Moore's tweeted response to Strange. When Lady Diana Spencer first burst into the public eye in 1980, she was a 19-year-old nursery school teacher sharing an apartment with some girlfriends. With a sly smile and quick to blush, she seemed so relatable. Those of us who were her contemporaries felt she was just like us -- only prettier, more aristocratic and about to marry the man who was destined, one day, to be the king of England. We remember staying up with our mothers one summer night in July 1981 to watch her walk down the aisle of London's St. Paul's Cathedral as her wedding was broadcast live to 750 million around the world. "Here is the stuff of which fairytales are made," pronounced the archbishop of Canterbury after Diana exchanged vows with Prince Charles, 32, and began her life as princess of Wales. Little did we know that she and Charles would not live happily ever after. Instead of a fairytale, their marriage was more like a soap opera. The joy brought by two sons, William and Harry, eventually was overshadowed by his resentment of her popularity, her rage, his silence, her jealousy, their insecurities, her eating disorders and their infidelities -- all discussed and dissected in public. They officially separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Diana's true love affair would be with the British people, who adored her cheekiness and compassion, her youth and shrewdness. For not only was she a glamorous fashion icon, she appeared to be a model of the Bible's Golden Rule, the giver of hugs. Both attributes -- and her unpredictability -- set her apart from the rest of Britain's royal family, especially Queen Elizabeth, whose pledge to God and country included boring clothes and a reserved demeanor. The royal family's gravitas may have helped Britain survive the Blitz, but clashed with Diana, who liked to think of herself as a "free-spirit." Diana certainly spoke freely, a rarity for a royal. In a 1992 book and a jaw-dropping TV interview in 1995, she admitted her bouts of depression, bulimia and cutting herself, and the love affairs that crowded her marriage. She also talked of how the monarchy was distant and lacked understanding, and that she'd "like to be a queen of people's hearts." Diana sought out the sick, disabled and the homeless. By greeting people without wearing gloves and embracing them, Diana helped remove the stigma of AIDS and homelessness. "Hugs can do great amounts of good, especially for children," she once said. "I miss those hugs," her son, Harry, now says. The spotlight never left her; we always knew what she was up to. One day she was campaigning against land mines in Africa, and the next she was cruising the Mediterranean with a millionaire playboy. On Aug. 31, 1997, people couldn't believe the news: Diana was dead at 36. The British, who had defied Hitler, now failed to keep a stiff upper lip. In London, thousands openly sobbed as floral tributes piled up in London's streets for days in Diana's honor. Then they became angry as Elizabeth remained in Scotland, as a mother and grandmother trying to let Charles and Diana's boys grieve in private. But people in the streets demanded the queen show her face, and some emotion. They wanted the flag to fly at half staff over Buckingham Palace, even though it never had before. There was the risk "that the country's sense of loss turned to a sense of anger and grievance, and then turned against the monarchy," recalls then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, who dubbed Diana "the people's princess." We could never have imagined that 16 years after her wedding we would be up all night once again -- this time to watch her funeral carried live on television. The flag was lowered over the palace and the queen bowed as Diana's coffin passed. The heartbreaking sight of her young sons walking stoically behind her coffin. Not since the assassination of JFK had there been such outpouring of grief or controversy over the cause of what killed a public figure. Despite official inquiries that concluded a traffic accident was to blame for the deaths of Diana, her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and their drunken driver, conspiracy theories and the what-ifs still linger. As the 20th anniversary of Diana's death approached, her sons, Princes William, 35, and Harry, 32, gave unprecedented interviews about their mother. "Very sadly, a lot of my memories revolve around trying to cheer her up," William tells the BBC. "I feel very sad and I still feel very angry that we were not old enough to be able to do more to protect her, not wise enough to step in and do something that could have made things better for her," he explains in GQ. Former officials and others, including Diana's brother and some of her closest friends, also recently spoke on the record. Here are some of the most surprising revelations about what happened surrounding Diana's death and her funeral on Sept. 6, seven days that shook Britain, and threatened the continuity of the 1,200-year-old monarchy: Don't go Dominic Lawson and Rosa Monckton, close friends of Diana, tried to persuade her not to accept the invitation of Mohamed Fayed, then most famous as the owner of Harrods department store, to join his family for a vacation in the south of France that summer. Fayed is a known liar and fantasist, they told her. Diana ignored their advice, and Fayed took the opportunity to introduce her to his son, Dodi. A haunting phone call After the divorce, Charles and Diana shared custody of their boys when they weren't at boarding school. That August, while Diana was continuing to vacation in France, her sons were at Balmoral, the castle in Scotland where Britain's royal family spends the last weeks of summer every year. In what would turn out to be the final few hours of her life, she phoned her sons, then 15 and 12, who were busy playing with their cousins. "Harry and I were in a desperate rush to say 'goodbye,' 'see you later' and 'we're going to go off.' ... If I'd known what would happen I wouldn't have been so blase about it," William tells ITV. "That phone call sticks in my mind quite heavily." Bridge of the Soul Diana, who knew how to manipulate the press, had alerted British photographers so that they could capture pictures of her in a swimsuit and with her new boyfriend, Dodi, on their Mediterranean holiday. But as soon as the couple landed in Paris on the afternoon of Aug. 30, she was unable to control the 30 paparazzi on motorbikes who pursued her and Dodi in their chauffeur-driven car. Dodi panicked and told his driver to speed up. Diana screamed for him to slow down, the Fayeds' former chauffeur recalls. Diana was seen in tears at the Ritz, owned by Dodi's father. Within a few hours, another Fayed employee, not a trained chauffeur, would be behind the wheel of a Mercedes carrying Dodi and Diana, while the professional chauffeur drove a decoy car. It was Dodi's idea. But a posse of paparazzi would discover the ruse and chased after the Mercedes. A British inquest determined that Henri Paul, the Mercedes' drunken driver, and the dangerous pursuit by the paparazzi is what caused the car to plow into pillar 13 of the underpass of the Pont de l'Alma -- Bridge of the Soul in one possible translation. The only person to survive, a Fayed bodyguard, was also the only person in the car wearing a seatbelt. It's worth noting that no certified chauffeur in France has ever been involved in a fatal accident. 'A conspiracy' Within hours of the tragic accident, Dodi's father instructed Ritz executives to tell the French police he believed there was "a conspiracy to murder" his son and Diana. Fayed would later allege that Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, was behind the plot. But Philip was fond of Diana; his letters to her were affectionately signed "with much love, Pa." A shocking eulogy Diana's brother, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, stunned those gathered at Westminster Abbey with his emotional eulogy. Much of what he said was considered a slap in the face to the royal family, who sat in front of him. "She needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic," he said, referring to the fact that Diana lost her title in the divorce. And Spencer pledged to her sons "that we, your blood family" would continue to raise them and protect them. Now some wonder if Spencer was feeling guilty, because at the time of her death he wasn't talking to his sister. Her brother had refused the cottage on the family's estate she wanted as a getaway and he had demanded she return the family's tiara. Some of his last letters to Diana have become public. In one, he tells Diana, "Our relationship is the weakest I have with any of my sisters. ... Perhaps you have more time to notice that we seldom speak." In another, he says, "I fear for you. I know how manipulation and deceit are parts of the illness. ... I pray that you are getting appropriate and sympathetic treatment for your mental problems." That walk behind the coffin A few days after Diana's funeral, a man who lives near Charles' country home, where William and Harry were staying, told the boys that everyone was proud of the way they walked behind their mother's coffin. It was a common sentiment. People watching Diana's funeral assumed that it was the boys' way of showing the respect and love they had for their mother. But it was Blair's government who pressured the royal family to involve William and Harry in the funeral procession. The boys didn't want to do it. Philip, their grandfather, tried to plead on their behalf with Blair's officials, using some colorful language. Then the night before the funeral, Philip made a deal: "I'll walk if you walk." William tells the BBC: "It wasn't an easy decision and it was a sort of collective family decision. ... There is that balance between duty and family and that's what we had to do." In the end, all the men in Diana's life -- Charles, her sons, Philip, and her brother -- made the solemn journey on foot. Harry tells Newsweek: "My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television. I don't think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances." William says it was "one of the hardest things I've ever done." But Harry also tells the BBC, "looking back on it," he is "very glad" to have taken part. King William Diana has forever changed the British monarchy, according to Tony Blair, the former prime minister. "Today, we see Prince William and Prince Harry as people that people feel a close connection with. They speak like normal people, they act like normal people. People don't find them hard to relate to," Blair tells the BBC. "It's important to wind back 20 years and realize she was the first member of the royal family who people really felt behaved and acted like a normal human being." And Diana's beliefs could still shape the succession. She openly questioned Charles suitability for the throne, blamed his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles on the failure of her marriage and suggested that her son William should inherit the throne when Elizabeth, now 91, dies. Although Charles and Camilla have been happily married since 2005, recent polls suggest that the British people still blame them for Diana's unhappiness. Only 25 to 38 percent want to see Charles become the next monarch, while about 50 percent would prefer King William. Sources: BBC; ITV; "Diana, the Last Days," by Martyn Gregory; The Telegraph; the Daily Mail. A former pain doctor, who operated in Baldwin County, that was facing federal charges for defrauding Medicaid pleaded guilty to on Thursday morning. Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement that Dr. Rassan M. Tarabein, 58, a neurologist residing in Fairhope pled guilty before Chief United States District Judge Kristi K. DuBose to one count of health care fraud and one count of unlawful distribution of a schedule II controlled substance. Tarabein previously operated the Eastern Shore Neurology and Pain Center, a private clinic in Daphne where he offered services relating to neurology and pain management, such as spinal injections. On June 28, a federal grand jury for the Southern District of Alabama returned a 22-count superseding indictment against Tarabein, charging him with health care fraud, making false statements relating to health care matters, lying to a federal agent, unlawfully distributing schedule II controlled substances, and money laundering. He was arrested two days later. In his plea agreement, Tarabein admitted that from around 2004 to May 2017, he ran an insurance scam in which he induced patients to visit his clinic so that he could bill health care benefit programs for medically unnecessary tests and procedures. The purpose of Tarabein's admitted scheme was to maximize personal financial gain by fraudulently seeking payments from health care benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, and other private insurers. Tarabein also admitted to violating the traditional standards of care in his medical practice by failing to provide informed consent to patients about procedures, discriminating against Alabama Medicaid patients in services rendered, fraudulently documenting patient records, submitting false claims to insurance companies, and issuing prescriptions for schedule II controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose. As part of his plea agreement, Tarabein will no longer be able to practice medicine and prescribe controlled substances in the United States. Chief Judge DuBose has scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2018. Tarabein faces up to ten years in prison for health care fraud and up to twenty years in prison for unlawfully distributing a controlled substance. He also has pending state criminal charges in Montgomery County. On June 16 a state grand jury returned a 2-count indictment against Tarabein charging him with Medicaid fraud and first-degree theft of property, each a felony offense. On September 20, Tarabein is expected to plead guilty in state court to Medicaid fraud. A the son a missing 60-year-old woman from Semmes, was told he would have to wear an ankle monitor by a Mobile District Court Judge on Thursday morning in connection with his arrest last week. Nathaniel Sebastian, 32, was charged with obstructing governmental operations on August 28 when volunteer workers with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office searched his home located at 6153 Glenwood Way. Sebastian shared the home with his mother, Susan Mayo, 60. The MCSO reported that law enforcement and volunteers were searching the property with cadaver dogs, Sebastian started yelling and swearing at the volunteers. Mayo was reported missing by her family on June 17. Since then, the MCSO has not been able to locate Mayo and they have not found any activity on her cellphone and bank accounts. MCSO Captain Paul told Al.com that Sebastian wasn't being cooperative during the investigation. Sebastian later came to the sheriff's office on July 26 for questioning because authorities believed he had knowledge about Mayo's disappearance. In court on Thursday, Mobile District Court Judge Bob Sherling set Sebastian's bond at $3,000 and ordered that he receive an ankle monitor should he post bond. With the ankle monitor, he will be restricted to staying within 150 of his home. A trial is set for September 21 at Mobile District Court. By Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries Shortly after I enrolled at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, some students tried to set my dormitory room on fire. My roommate and I were black students on a white campus that had recently integrated. Our presence at UT-Knoxville was a sign of progress, but not everyone could accept equality. Black students faced constant harassment and threats to our safety. No one was held accountable for the arson, but rather than cowering in fear or accepting the university's blind eye, I stood with black students on campus to fight for what was right. Working together, we compelled the university to hire staff to support Black students, won recognition of the Black Student Union, and eventually elected the first black student government president. I went straight from organizing for justice on campus to organizing at my first job assembling parts for military and commercial airplane wings at Nashville's AVCO Aero Structures, where we had a union. With our union, I made three times the minimum wage, got vacation time, health insurance and a retirement plan. With our union, my black and female coworkers had a way to challenge harassment and discrimination without fear of retaliation. Our employer was resistant to hiring more black and female workers, but our union kept the company accountable to a federal government mandate to open opportunities for everyone in the plant. I organized on campus and at the factory at the height of the civil rights movement, when men and women across the country bravely marched, sat-in and raised their picket signs to demand racial and economic justice. It's time to jumpstart the movement for civil and worker rights. Despite the strides our country has made since the 1960s, black communities are still fighting for fairness and equality. Nowhere is that more apparent than here in Birmingham, a city where 74 percent of the residents are black and nearly a third of those residents live below the federal poverty line. When the predominantly white state legislature blocked a minimum wage raise passed by the majority black city council, it underscored the need for a renewed workers' movement to win union rights. While our legal case awaits a hearing in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, I can't help but think that if every underpaid worker across Birmingham had a union fighting for them, things would be drastically different. The legislature and governor would not be able to cut 40,000 workers' pay with the stroke of a pen. With the protection of a union, all workers, but especially black workers, wouldn't need to rely on politicians or the slow justice of the courts; they'd already be making enough to support their families and enjoy health and safety benefits. I know that unions work, and not just from personal experience. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, black union workers earned $24.24 an hour, compared to $17.78 for their non-union counterparts. Unionization rates in Alabama have declined from 13 percent to less than 7 percent, and this trend hurts all workers since unions increase wages for non-unionized workers too. Plus, they fight for the public good. Birmingham was a union town when I moved here a few decades ago, and unionized workers used their power to push for better health care, increased funding for public education in the state legislature and divestment from companies that supported South African apartheid. The civil rights movement may have officially ended in the 1960s, but the fight for fairness and equality continues today. I've witnessed first-hand the power of people organizing together, so this Labor Day, you can find me on the streets of Birmingham marching with underpaid workers in the fight for $15 to demand union rights for workers in every corner of this country. Founded in 1969 in response to urgent human and justice needs in the greater Birmingham area, Greater Birmingham Ministries is a multi-faith, multi-racial organization that provides emergency services for people in need and engages the poor and the non-poor in systemic change efforts to build a strong, supportive, engaged community and pursue a more just society for all people. New Zealands abundant rivers have been central to its reputation as a land of natural beauty but are its waterways as sparkling as the tourist ads suggest? I had lived in New Zealand for two years in the early 2000s. In 2015, I moved back here. I was astonished to see how much the country had changed in those 15 years. It has become wealthier on the back of an urban property boom, mass immigration and the explosive growth of intensive dairy farming which began back in the 1990s. I also discovered that the country is harbouring a disturbing secret, little known to the rest of the world: its freshwater is in severe crisis. Two-thirds of New Zealands rivers are too polluted to swim in and half its lakes are irreversibly damaged. This pollution, say many independent environmentalists, scientists and economists, is primarily a by-product of the laissez faire growth of the countrys dairy industry. The government, dairy industry, and irrigation lobby disagree. They say its a legacy of over 100 years of farming. I set out to investigate why New Zealand, a country which markets itself as a clean, green paradise, has in fact got disturbing water pollution problems which only appear to be getting worse. While I was researching the story an event happened which I believe has been pivotal in awakening New Zealanders to the dire state of their freshwater. In August 2016, the tiny town of Havelock North, on the east coast of the countrys North Island, was incapacitated by an outbreak of campylobacter in their drinking water. Over 5,000 of its 15,000 inhabitants were made ill by the bug and three deaths were later linked to the outbreak. Upon investigating the Havelock North water poisoning I was alerted to an even bigger, and more pertinent story in the wider Hawkes Bay area. The regional council had been striving for years to get a controversial billion-dollar irrigation scheme off the ground, called the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme. But as I found, local and national opposition to the dam, especially after the Havelock North contamination outbreak, was becoming more vocal. I quickly realised that this was a crucial part of the story. The growth of New Zealands highly profitable dairy industry has, to a large extent, been made possible by irrigation schemes which deliver the massive volumes of water needed to produce milk. Every litre of milk produced requires about 1,000 litres of water. The most irrigated region of New Zealand is Canterbury, on the east coast of the countrys South Island. It has seen significant economic growth on the back of dairy farming but, over the same period of time, has also seen a drastic decline in the quality of its waterways. Opponents of the dam in Hawkes Bay were worried that the same environmental degradation would take place in their region if it went ahead. They were also concerned that the council, hell-bent on the scheme, were ignoring glaring flaws in the dams business case. Freshwater pollution A regional election, coming only a month after the Havelock North debacle, was gearing up to become a referendum on the dam and it gave me the perfect vehicle to explore the arguments. At the time, the nine-member council was divided between five pro- and four anti-dam representatives. All it would take to thwart the dam was for anti-dam councillors to win a single seat. And the winning of that seat would have national repercussions, because the Ruataniwha project was seen as the poster child for other planned irrigations schemes, most of them along New Zealands drought prone east coast. Eager to understand their vastly opposing views I followed the election campaigns of two local politicians. Alan Dick, a regional councillor, was one of the dam projects originators. The other, Paul Bailey, is a former bank manager turned green politician. He was running for office for the first time under the slogan Can The Dam. On the surface, the arguments of the pro-dam lobby sounded very reasonable. I was told the dam would alleviate drought concerns, boost economic growth and improve the quality of rivers it fed into by flushing away pollution. In tandem with constructing the dam, much stricter environmental regulations would come into play to keep contamination below an environmental limit which was set by the Environmental Protection Agency. But as I investigated further I found what seemed to be serious flaws in their arguments. And indeed, upon examination, the commercial case for the dam didnt seem to add up either. As youll see, these are documented in the first film and continue into the second episode in which I also look at allegations of high-level political interference in the project and other related issues. Over the many months, Ive spent investigating this story, anxiety and anger about freshwater pollution has grown to make it New Zealands top environmental concern and now, reflecting many of the same arguments Id encountered in Hawkes Bay, its also become a key issue in the countrys current and ongoing general election campaign, which reaches a climax on September 23. Barely a day goes by without the problem being reported in the media here and seemingly everyone has an opinion whether they be environmentalists arguing for a better way of managing a vital natural resource or dairy farmers who are angry at what they see as grossly unfair criticism of their role in the crisis. The fury of the latter and they are a powerful lobby in New Zealand was brought home to us several times on location when our attempts to film generic roadside shots of dairy cattle were interrupted by the animals suspicious owners. My main hope is that some of the questions raised by these films will contribute to the debate around New Zealands freshwater problems problems that all agree will have to be addressed by whichever party takes office after the election. One thing is certain, urgent action on pollution cannot be delayed. Editors note: On August 30, as these two films were being prepared for broadcast, Hawkes Bay Regional Council announced it was withdrawing support for the Ruataniwha dam, leaving the projects future in some doubt. Nevertheless, with the current New Zealand government and many in the powerful dairy industry continuing to be strong supporters of irrigation schemes, it may be too soon to write the scheme off entirely. Nablus, Occupied West Bank From a distance, the Urif Boys Secondary School looks like any other school in the occupied West Bank, built of plain cement with a Palestinian flag propped on its roof. On closer inspection, however, the rocks scattered across the schools protruding windowsills and the holes pierced in its water pipes reveal the ugly reality of Israeli settler violence in the area. Our curriculum reflects that of other Palestinian schools, science teacher Abdel-Hakim Shihada told Al Jazeera. But we also teach the students how to handle Israeli settler attacks on the school, including undergoing practice drills. In this USAID-funded school, all teachers are certified in first aid, while half of the some 200 students are certified to administer emergency medical aid. In Abdel-Hakims science class, students learn to manufacture face masks to protect them from tear gas, often shot by Israeli forces to prevent Palestinians from approaching settlers on village lands. INTERACTIVE: Building the occupation Israels Yitzhar settlement was established in the area in 1983, and like the rest of Israels settlements in the occupied West Bank, it is considered illegal under international law. Yitzhars approximately 1,300 residents are infamous for their frequent attacks on neighbouring Palestinian villages. Palestinians residing in the villages of Asira al-Qibliya, Madama, Burin, Huwwara, Einbus and Urif have had hundreds of their olive trees burned by settlers from Yitzhar, while more than 700 hectares of the villages lands are inaccessible to Palestinian residents due to the routine settler violence, according to the United Nations. Fawzi Mahmoud Shihada, the former head of Urifs village council, told Al Jazeera that the attacks started when Yitzhar expanded towards the eastern part of the village, completely taking over the adjacent Salmen al-Parsi Mountain. The settlers constantly look down on us from the mountain. It makes it easier for them to come down and attack us, Fawzi said. The secondary school was constructed in 2003 in the eastern part of the village. Around 23 percent of the villages land is in Area C (PDF), which is under full Israeli military control, and Palestinian construction is mostly prohibited. As one of the closest points to Yitzhar, the school became a prime target for settlers aiming to thwart Urifs expansion. The school has been attacked dozens of times by settlers, Fawzi said, noting that when settlers are spotted, residents are immediately notified on the villages WhatsApp group and a warning is blared from the local mosque. The settlers often pelt rocks at the school, aiming at the windows and water pipes. The school must buy new pipes every few months due to the attacks, residents say. On the roof, one of the schools water tanks has been pushed on its side. They like to target the water sources, Fawzi said. The USAID-funded water reservoir next to the school has also been attacked by settlers. The students will be frightened, Hakim said. But we keep them in the classrooms, close all the windows, and lock the doors to prevent settlers from entering the building. Students have also been trained to hide under their desks when Israeli forces shoot tear gas canisters, sound bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the school. The constant threat of attacks has had damaging effects on the students, Hakim said, noting that many suffer from uncontrollable urination and have difficulty concentrating. Others are scared to the point of refusing to go to school. READ MORE: Israeli settlers attack activists in the West Bank Just downhill from the school, Munir al-Nuri sits on a mattress outside his under-construction house; the roof and walls are crumbling due to damage caused by settlers smashing the house with iron bars. Nuri and his family had been living in a Red Cross tent while they constructed their home, bit by bit, over the years. Two years ago, they moved into the unfinished house in an effort to protect it from settlers, who they feared would burn it to the ground. The settlers want me to leave this land by any means necessary, Nuri said, as his sons helped to lift him into a wheelchair. Both of his legs were broken during a settler attack in late April, which began after a Yitzhar resident offered Nuri a large sum of money to pack up his belongings and leave the area. He refused. They started to come down the mountain in groups, Nuri recalled. There would be 20-25 masked settlers, some of them armed, and they would just stand in the distance looking at us for hours. Soon after, large groups of settlers began to attack the home. In one incident, dozens of settlers chased Nuri as he fled from his home, pelting rocks and firing live ammunition. A rock struck his leg, breaking it. When he collapsed to the ground, another settler began hitting him with a steel bar, breaking his other leg. Israeli soldiers quickly arrived on the scene, and Nuri screamed to them: Look at my legs! Look at what the settlers have done to me! One of the soldiers pointed his gun at Nuri, he said, and told him: Shut up or Ill shoot you! A spokesperson for the Israeli army denied this account, telling Al Jazeera in a statement: On April 26th 2017, a clash abrupted between Palestinians and settlers near the settlement of Itzhar and the village of Urif. [Israeli army] forces reached the point in order to disperse the crowd by using means of crowd control. No weapon was aimed at the Palestinian mentioned. Nuri says he spent several days in hospital after the attack. If there was anyone to charge these settlers with a crime, they would be scared to behave like this, he said. But they are never punished for anything they do. We are always panicked. An attack can happen at any moment. Any Palestinian in the occupied West Bank who files a complaint with Israeli police has a less than two percent chance of having the incident effectively investigated, and a suspect identified, prosecuted and convicted, said Gilad Grossman, a spokesman for the Israeli rights group Yesh Din. READ MORE: West Bank watchmen on guard for Israeli intruders [This] reflects a trend of protracted failure regarding investigations into ideologically motivated offences committed against Palestinians, Grossman told Al Jazeera. The fact that so few offenders are indicted, and that even among these most are not convicted, emboldens future assailants. Mohammad Shihada is among 50 residents who make up Urifs neighbourhood watch a group of volunteers equipped with night vests, flashlights, fire extinguishers and stretchers who patrol the village in search of armed settlers. It is estimated that at least 86 other Palestinian villages have been forced to develop these autonomous units to protect their communities. If we find settlers, we warn the rest of the village, Mohammad told Al Jazeera. We also treat people who are injured by settlers or soldiers and put out fires that the settlers start around the village. Still, residents fear that the attacks will only get worse, as the Israeli government has continued to advance the expansion of illegal settlements throughout the West Bank, and earlier this year passed legislation to legalise unauthorised settler outposts. In reality, we are not able to change our situation, Mohammad said. But we are forced to defend ourselves. Look at what the settlers are doing. Imagine what they could do to us if we didnt face them and at least try to stop them? We would all be doomed. Rohingya villages are being razed in Rakhine state as the Myanmar government steps up nationalist rhetoric. Yangon, Myanmar The suffocating smell of charred wood has followed 19-year-old Ahmed for days. On Saturday, a group of armed men set fire to his home village of Ywa Thai Kay. With flames licking his heels and the sound of bullets cutting through the air, Ahmed, who spoke under a pseudonym, was forced to flee his childhood home, desperately clutching his most prized possessions his English books. Five days later, Ahmed is again facing the threat of arson, this time in the remote village of Myoma Kayin Dan where he and 2,000 other unarmed Rohingya civilians have sought refuge after losing their homes. Surrounding villages were burning on Wednesday. There is a big river behind this village, said Ahmed in a phone interview. The women and children will not be able to cross it. We are so worried because we are trapped between the river and the military with no food to eat. He continued: If they start to burn this village, then we will all be in trouble; we have nowhere to go. According to satellite imagery collected by Human Rights Watch (HRW), at least 10 areas over about a 100km stretch in northern Rakhine State, which lies in the countrys west on the border with Bangladesh, have been razed over the past five days. There is no ARSA here, Ahmed said, referring to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the ethnic armed group which launched a series of attacks against dozens of government checkpoints last Friday, in which more than 70 were killed, including 12 security officers. We informed the military that there are no fighters here, that they can come check for themselves, but instead they are firing their guns at us and burning down our houses we dont have anywhere to go, everyone is distressed and people are trying to commit suicide, he said with despair. At least 109 people have died in the military operation and clashes that have followed last weeks attack. According to the government, most of the victims are Rohingya fighters although members of the security forces and civilians are also included in that figure. In the past week, nearly 50,000 Rohingya Muslims have been on the run from the violence. About 27,000 of those fleeing have crossed the border into Bangladesh, while 20,000 are trapped in a no mans land between two nations, according to UN sources, Reuters reported Thursday. The bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children were today recovered from a capsized boat by Bangladeshi border guards. READ MORE: Rohingya Even a baby was not spared by the army This is the worst outbreak of violence in Myanmars troubled Rakhine State in the past five years, and the death toll is expected to rise. We already have satellite data that shows that more burning has taken place, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW. This will continue to spread. With independent monitors prohibited from entering the military zone, HRW has not been able to confirm the cause of the fires. However, several Rohingya sources say that ethnic Rakhine civilians perpetrated the arson attacks, supported by the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police (BGP). We saw two military men in the town holding guns and then behind them were two Rakhine villagers with the petrol and a lighter. The military shot their guns into the village so that we ran away and after that, the Rakhine burned our houses, said Ahmed, describing the events in his home village. The governments spokesperson, Zaw Htay was not immediately available to comment on these accusations. A foreign aid worker, evacuated from Maungdaw township in Rakhine State three days ago, witnessed violence similar to what Ahmed experienced. He asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation amid growing nationalist fervour. I saw lots of burning houses and I heard from multiple sources on the ground that Rakhine villagers were participating in the burning and that the BGP and military were offering them security, he said. READ MORE: Myanmar needs to get serious about peace Yesterday, U Wirathu a firebrand monk from the Buddhist nationalist organisation Ma Ba Tha gave a fervent speech at a rally in the capital Yangon, demanding all international NGOs be expelled from Rakhine State so that military rule and Buddhist sovereignty could be established. An adoring crowd waved placards that called for a crackdown on so-called terrorist and foreign incursions. Pandering to this rhetoric, Myanmars de facto leader, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, released a statement accusing the international aid community of participating with extremist terrorists. In another statement, she warned both foreign and local journalists that writing in medias in support of extremist terrorists and ARSA are banned. The ARSA has rejected the terrorist label championed by the government. In a statement released via an unverified Twitter account purporting to represent ARSA, Commander Ataullah said that they exist legitimately under international law to defend, salvage and protect Rohingya community in Arakan with its best capacities in line with the principles of self-defence. But with the government emboldening the countrys hardline nationalists forces, it is likely these calls will fall on deaf ears. The State Counselors messaging on the situation is inflammatory. Her office is drumming up anti-Rohingya and anti-aid worker sentiment at a time when she should be instilling calm and calling for restraint, said Matthew Smith, executive director of the human rights organisation Fortify Rights. People are calling for blood. The government is shaping public opinion towards the notion that all Rohingya are deceptive and pose an existential threat to the nation. Its inexcusable, he said. But it is with this government approval and unflinching public support that the Myanmar military and Rakhine citizens continue their scorched earth campaign against the besieged Rohingya Muslims. At least I have my books, Ahmed said with resignation, as clouds of black smoke encircled the village of Myoma Kayin Dan. However desperate my situation, I will always find solace in them. He says the villagers can only now wait to see if the military decides to set fire to their location or let them be. Israel has been gradually stripping thousands of Palestinian Bedouins from various villages in the southern Negev region of their citizenship status, claiming that they had been granted nationality in error a move residents and legislators say is part of a state plan to do away with the minority population. Although Israel has employed the revocation policy for more than two decades, Knesset Member Aida Touma-Suleiman of the Joint List says it has since 2010 become an increasingly widespread phenomenon that is in clear violation of Israels Citizenship Law. I found out about this [policy, implemented by the interior ministry] by chance during a site visit to one of the villages in the Negev I was approached by some individuals who informed me of their dilemma, Touma-Suleiman, who has been researching the policy and its effects for more than a year, told Al Jazeera. Bedouins who approach the Israeli Ministry of Interior for routine procedures to renew passports or issue new ones are informed on the spot that they are not citizens of state despite being born in Israel and having lived there their whole lives. Residents say the policy is applied arbitrarily. There are at least 200,000 Bedouins living in Israel, but are mainly centred in the countrys southern region. According to Touma-Suleiman, representatives of the interior ministry had pointed out during an urgent Knesset meeting, that the policy is in place to correct a state error dating back to 1951 three years after the establishment of the State of Israel. In their response to Touma-Suleiman, the ministry said that Palestinians were required to register themselves under a population registry between 1948 and 1951. But for a period of 17 years, Palestinian Bedouin villages and towns were declared closed military zones when Israel declared itself a state in 1948, making it impossible for residents to leave these areas without a permit. And due to the military rule that was in place, many of the residents at the time were unaware of the registration requirement. The ministry claims that there are 2,600 Arabs whose citizenships have either already been revoked, or are under threat of revocation, according to Touma-Suleiman. I think that the number is much higher than this, she said, adding the policy is clearly targeting the Bedouin community in specific. They [Bedouins] already reside in unrecognised villages when you deny them living rights, you deny them the right to exist in that area. For decades, Israeli authorities have been regularly carrying out home demolition orders in the Negev, claiming that villages lack necessary building permits, which residents say are impossible to obtain. Instead, Jewish-only towns have been encroaching on Palestinian lands, forcing families out of the areas. Those who remain have no access to basic infrastructure or development opportunities. To date, some 40 unrecognised Bedouin villages tens of thousands of Palestinian homes are under existential threat in southern Israel. When they strip them of their citizenship, they are ultimately stripping them of their only remaining weapon [their rights as citizens used to fight against forced evictions], Touma-Suleiman explained. READ MORE: They want to uproot me and bring a Jewish citizen Similarly, Adalah lawyer Sawsan Zaher believes that the citizenship revocation policy is not a single occurrence. One cannot ignore that this policy is being enforced in the Negev, while parallel to that there are other policies of forced eviction and home demolitions of Bedouins in place to establish new Jewish-only towns, Zaher told Al Jazeera. Describing the policy as absurd, Zaher explained that those who wish to reinstate their citizenship status are advised to apply as foreigners or newcomers to the state. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, is now representing Touma-Suleiman in an effort to cancel the policy and pressure the state into restoring citizenship status to those affected. Were trying to tackle this collectively as a policy and not on an individual basis, Zaher said. In a letter addressed to the Israeli interior ministry, Adalah explained the defects of the policy, demanding that the policy be immediately cancelled and citizenship be returned to those who lost it. Israels 1952 Citizenship Law does not grant authority to the state to revoke citizenship, even in the case of an error in registration. According to Zaher, such authority only lies with the high court. The only scenario where they can cancel citizenship is if youre a foreigner and asked for a naturalisation process and then provided the state with false information, Zaher said. Only then can citizenship be revoked and only by the interior minister no less than three years from when the citizenship was granted otherwise the high court is the only entity that can revoke citizenship. According to Zaher and Touma-Suleiman, the interior ministry has not denied the existence of such a policy. The ministry has not made a formal acknowledgment and did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment on the matter in time for publication. Following months of parliamentary work, both Touma-Suleiman and Zaher say that they have exhausted all of the legal channels available in tackling this phenomenon. I received a letter from the Ministry of Justice [earlier this week], and in their response, they clearly shy away from providing an honest answer and this is why we are now considering to approach the high court in this regard, Touma-Suleiman said. INTERACTIVE: Building the Occupation Currently, there are families with mixed statuses, with some members recognised as citizens, and others rendered stateless a status that violates international law. Sallam Al Saraheen, a 23-year-old resident of the Bir Hadaj village, says that he has been trying to obtain Israeli citizenship for the past year. Five of my brothers were successful, but three of us [siblings] were not, he told Al Jazeera. The policy is almost arbitrary and is used intermittently to keep us quiet, he said. Similarly, 50-year-old Salim Al Dantiri told Al Jazeera that he has been chasing his tail for more than two decades. On a routine visit to the interior ministry, Al Dantiri was told that he was not a citizen of the state. I told them Im most definitely a citizen I used to go and vote in the parliamentary elections, how am I then not a citizen? Al Dantiri recalled. Many of us were unaware that this policy existed we, Bedouins, lead a simple life, and most of the time never have to leave the country at all so we live/operate with our IDs, which clearly state that we are Israeli citizens. Some people until today are under the impression that they are citizens, and never had the need to issue a passport but many rushed to do so just to make sure that they were, in fact, citizens. Over the past 25 years, Al Dantiri faced mounting difficulties in his attempts to issue visa for travel. Often times, his Israeli travel document is not recognized by many embassies representing numerous countries around the world. To date, he was able to visit Jordan for a limited time of two weeks, which he says was a onetime exception. Every single time I got my papers in order, proved that I was born in the state, and submitted a comprehensive application, they tell me to wait at home for six months and say they will send a package But I waited time and time again and never received anything, he said. They never provide a valid reason, he said. Residents of the villages who fall under such a policy are hoping that their parliamentary representatives can resolve the matter in time. But Touma-Suleiman says that Palestinian Bedouins need to address and respond to the matter as a united front. We have to work to educate the people of the Negev about this policy unfortunately, many of those who had their citizenships revoked were under the impression that this was an administrative procedure, she said. We must empower those who are under the threat of revocation and must work to form a united front when dealing with this case. A look at how water pollution has become a major concern for the country Pristine waters and untouched islands are synonymous with New Zealand, drawing international and domestic travellers by the millions, annually. According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, tourism is one of New Zealands largest sources of revenue, with a direct GDP contribution of $12.9bn (or 5.6 percent). It is also responsible for 7.5 percent of total employment in New Zealand (in the year ending March 2016). Dairy and agriculture are also major contributors to New Zealands GDP, and there has been significant growth in both industries. Dairy is also New Zealands largest export goods sector, accounting for more than one in four goods export dollars coming into New Zealand. But as the dairy and agriculture industries grow, they are placing an ever-greater strain on the countrys water supply and raising concerns about the quality of New Zealands water. In August 2016, more than 5,000 people fell sick with gastrointestinal illness in Havelock North, a suburb of New Zealands North Islands Hawkes Bay district. The suburbs drinking water had become contaminated, resulting in the poisoning of a third of its population and contributing to the deaths of three residents. The incident shook the publics confidence in the safety of New Zealands drinking water, and led to an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs. But what exactly is tainting the quality of New Zealands fresh water supplies and could a potential solution have a knock-on effect on all of New Zealands main economic contributors? What are the main causes of water pollution in New Zealand? Urbanisation, the drainage of wetlands and the damming or modification of rivers, have all placed pressure on fresh water bodies around the country. However, according to the Ministry for the Environment, land use and population growth are the main factors affecting the health of New Zealands fresh water. Farmlands contribution to the economy and the need to provide for a growing population are both factors in the concentrated efforts to expand New Zealands agriculture and dairy industries. New Zealand boasts one of the worlds highest rates of agricultural land intensification. Between 1990 and 2012 alone, the estimated amount of nitrogen leached from agricultural land increased by 29 percent. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the two nutrients causing the most concern. These nutrients occur naturally in water sources, but, in high concentrations, are known to create inhospitable environments for plant and animal species. High nitrate-nitrogen concentrations can also make water unsafe to drink and nitrate-nitrogen concentration is 18 times higher in urban sites compared with native sites. An estimated 137 million kilogrammes of nitrogen were found in tested soil in 2012. New Zealand also faces an increase in E coli, or Escherichia coli, in fresh water sources as a result of the growth in farmland. E coli is a group of bacteria usually found in the intestines of mammals and is, therefore, present in New Zealands rivers through the leaching of livestock faecal matter into nearby water sources. Swimming in water infected with the bacteria puts the swimmer at risk. High concentrations of E coli are also associated with Campylobacter (a gastrointestinal illness). What is being done to resolve New Zealands water pollution crisis? A number of solutions have been put in place to alleviate the pressure placed on New Zealands fresh water. The Clean Water Package set the target of making 90 percent of New Zealands rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040. Clean-up and protection projects are in place across the country. Economy-focused solutions have also been proposed, such as the controversial Ruataniwha water storage scheme, a dam pitched as a long-term sustainable water supply solution for Central Hawkes Bay. The dam had a 600 million New Zealand dollar ($432.5m) price tag and it promised farmers opportunities to diversify into other types of land use (dairy, horticulture and crops) and was forecast to increase annual regional GDP by a minimum of 130 million New Zealand dollars ($98m) and to create more than 1,000 new jobs. However, independent conservation organisations like Forest and Bird strongly opposed the project, posing environmental risks as a major concern. The environmental risk assessment was deemed close to obsolete before the scheme was completed, with factors too difficult to quantify. The parties opposed to the scheme pointed to fears that an increased number of farms could lead to fertiliser and cow-urine deposits into the Tukituki River home to declining numbers of freshwater fish species and a forecast that parts of the river may flood. The Hawkes Bay Regional Council decided to pull all financial support from the project this week, writing off millions of dollars already spent on planning and resources. Donald Trump has exposed the seminal myth of American democracy that it enjoys an inherent immunity from fascism. All along, the truth was there plain and neon-bright for those willing to see and accept. The truth, of course, is that Donald Trump doesnt simply flirt with fascism at the margins, but embraces it not only rhetorically, but as the governing ethos of his perverse regime. A coterie of writers and historians has long understood that Trump is indeed a fascist, while the centrist-hugging commentariat vacillated and quibbled about whether he is or isnt. Not burdened by such equivocating sensibilities, other, more astute observers, instantly recognised a profoundly hazardous man who, on the incessant, winding road to the White House wittingly or unwittingly channelled the spirit, words and deeds of his avowedly fascist American political and cultural ancestors, including the prewar evangelical anti-Semitic huckster, Father Charles Coughlin; the rabid 1950s Communist-hunting Congressman, Joseph McCarthy; and the slick, 1960s segregationist Alabama governor, George Wallace. Like Trump, each of these fanatics separated only by a few generations attracted a legion of equally fanatical followers who converted popular support into great power and influence, which not only emboldened them, but also fuelled resistance to their odious racial edicts and modus vivendi. Cloaked in Roman Catholic vestments and scripture, Coughlins blatant racism and anti-Semitism had the patina of profundity and eloquence that Trumps spontaneous, sputtering expressions of white, Christian nationalism lack. Still, beyond history, what binds these intolerant charlatans is the conviction that young, torch-wielding anti-Semites wearing brown or polo shirts are patriots who warrant approbation, not condemnation. OPINION: Is this really how fascism takes hold in the US? Like McCarthy, Trump claims crudely that America is infected by a lengthy list of concocted enemies who allegedly pose an existential threat to its exceptionalism and patrimonial purity. Trump's brand of fascism pilfered from the not-so-distant past and was refashioned for broadcast on modern, establishment media that treated the brash, ubiquitous, let's make-a-deal reality star as an entertaining, harmless diversion. by Trumps malignant ledger extends from Mexican rapists, terror-prone Muslim fifth columnists to sick journalists that he alone is determined to root out and vanquish to restore Americas faltering greatness. This same messianic impulse to defend besieged white America from the insidious others inside or outside its geographic and ancestral borders, prompted Governor Wallace to declare: in the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever and personally block an entrance to the University of Alabama in a futile, but symbolically charged bid to bar black students from attending. (Buoyed by his popularity, Wallace also ran for president several times, before denouncing segregation on the eve of his death.) Its unlikely that Trump will ever experience a similar transformative epiphany since he, and the foaming acolytes who populate his hysterically reactionary administration, have, in effect, not only appropriated and resurrected Wallaces bigoted epitaph, but consider it a political imperative to assuage their feverishly xenophobic base. Every instructive measure of this sordid American history was, as I said, apparent long before Trump assumed the presidency. Trumps brand of fascism pilfered from the not-so-distant past and was refashioned for broadcast on modern, establishment media that treated the brash, ubiquitous, reality star as an entertaining, harmless diversion. The nadir of this revolting coddling of Americas latest and most egregious incarnation of fascism was, I suppose, late-night talk-show host Jimmy Fallons memorable appeasement of a celebrity fascist, which culminated in his tussling of Trumps orange mane on national TV just weeks prior to the presidential election. Fallon was not alone. Far too many others were prepared to play along figuratively and literally with the menace from Manhattan. Still more learned types dismissed the use of the blunt, sharp word fascism in the context of Trumps ascendancy as a facile simplification, as well as an irresponsible, hyperbolic label that did a disservice to the victims of real fascism. OPINION: The Invention of the White People The hesitancy and semantic evasions quickly evaporated after a young, courageous woman didnt debate competing interpretations of who or what constitutes a fascist, but chose instead to confront the army of fascists who descended on Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month to raise their arms in Neo-Nazi salutes and pledge blood and soil allegiance to their philosophical leader, Donald Trump. Heather Heyer was murdered by one of the loathsome locust of fascists who were, as we know, defended as very fine people by a president who re-confirmed his well-established white supremacist credentials in the immediate aftermath of her horrific death and has, since then, reiterated repeatedly in appalling, unambiguous language that he would gladly walk among them, tiki-torch and hateful vitriol readily at hand. Remember too, the exculpatory line proffered by journalists and politicians who insisted that Trumps initial appeal and subsequent electoral success had more to do with rampant economic anxiety, rather than his rampant racism. That canard was exposed emphatically by a recent poll (pdf) that found that nine percent of respondents the equivalent of 22 million Americans believe that holding Neo-Nazi or white supremacist views is acceptable. A slightly higher number acknowledged supporting rancid racists euphemistically dubbed the alt-right. So, if accurate, the poll suggests that, taken together, more than 50 million Americans have sympathy for Neo-Nazis and their ideological spawn. The prevailing wisdom is that Trump has not only defamed American democracy, but bit by abominable bit, eroded the legitimacy of American democracy perhaps beyond repair. This cockeyed reasoning fails to acknowledge that Trump is not a historical outlier. His fascistic nature which has been on routine and undeniable display is not a new or surprising phenomenon, nor is the nationwide succour it attracts. Today, American fascism has finally taken up residence in the Oval Office. Arguably, this sinister reality is a natural, inevitable consequence of Americas foul, decidedly less mythical, and deeply entrenched past. To be sure, as before, millions of enlightened Americans are repulsed by what theyve seen, heard and experienced and are resisting in small and large ways despite the often violent, sometimes deadly retribution exacted by Trumps thuggish torch bearers, incited by their thuggish commander-in-chief. READ MORE: Trumps America Where activists face felony charges And yet millions of Americans remain faithful to, and exalt in, Trumps ugly modus operandi, as he deliberately and systematically goes about desecrating previously sacrosanct institutional and societal norms. By pardoning fellow birther conspiracy theorist and disgraced former Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio who was convicted in July of contempt of court for defying a judges order to stop racially profiling Latinos Trump has, true to his autocratic nature, rendered the rule of law hostage to his mercurial and arbitrary whims, while signaling to other racist, judicial-snubbing police, that he approves of their repugnant ways and means. In so doing, Trump has exposed the seminal myth of American democracy that it enjoys an inherent and rebar-sturdy immunity from fascism and the strongmen who personify it. Wrong. Fascism can and is happening in America, just as it has always been alive in America. Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning investigative reporter and journalism instructor. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Dreamers young immigrants who arrived in the US as children face losing protection from deportation. New York, US Aside from a slight Spanish accent, there is little to separate Juan Escalante from many people who were born and bred in the United States. The chinos, Ray Ban sunglasses and love of coffee are as all-American as the next man. Escalante, however, was brought to the US by his Venezuelan parents at age 11. He was undocumented, but won a modicum of security under a 2012 government deal to not deport young arrivals like Escalante and his two younger brothers. That temporary reprieve called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has helped 800,000 younger, undocumented immigrants get a legal status, work permits and driving licences, but is now in the crosshairs of President Donald Trumps administration. OPINION: The long reach of the US border I feel American; all Im missing is a piece of paper that validates that my loyalties lie with this country, Escalante, now 28 and a rights campaigner from Tallahassee, Florida, told Al Jazeera. At the end of the day, when we talk about the DACA programme, were talking about people who have grown up in the United States who want to contribute and want to continue to make it their home. After months of delays, Trump a Republican is expected to decide within days on the fate of DACA recipients often called dreamers as he faces pressure to come good on hardline campaign pledges and meet a looming deadline. A group of Republican state legislators, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has threatened to mount a legal challenge to DACA unless the government rescinds the scheme and stops issuing work permits by September 5. Trumps wavering on DACA Trump has signed tough immigration orders, such as banning travellers from six Muslim-majority countries, but he has wavered on his plans for DACA. During last years election campaign, he branded it an illegal amnesty. Since entering office in January, the billionaire has praised the incredible kids, who continue to apply for, and receive, two-year, renewable work permits from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to the dismay of immigration hardliners. Trumps wavering highlights how dreamers are, in many ways, poster children for undocumented immigrants often far removed from the bad hombres that he promised to kick out during the campaign. A study by Tom Wong, a scholar at the University of California, San Diego, backed by left-leaning groups, such as the Center for American Progress, showed that DACA helps the US economy as well as the schemes recipients. Some 97 percent of dreamers are currently employed or in school. Permission to work has helped many climb the career ladder, meaning average pay rises of 69 percent and, thus, more tax revenue filling government coffers. Dreamers pay rent and buy cars and laptops. The survey of 3,063 recipients found that 16 percent bought houses and five percent launched businesses; overall, they will add $460bn to the US economy over the next decade, Wong told Al Jazeera. At least 72 percent of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies employ DACA beneficiaries, meaning that any decision to stop renewing work permits would force big corporations to spend time and money recruiting new talent, he added. Americans are sympathetic to children who were brought to the US by their parents, often via risky land routes through deserts and ganglands. Three-quarters hail from Mexico; the average age at entry was six-and-a-half years old. An opinion poll by Morning Consult in April found that 78 percent of voters wanted to let dreamers stay in the US; 56 percent expressed support for eventual citizenship. Only 14 percent of respondents said they should be sent packing. DACAs critics DACA has its critics not least those who accuse former President Barack Obama of acting unconstitutionally five years ago when he carved out a waiver for a whole category of people who had entered America illegally. While immigration always benefits immigrants they wouldnt come otherwise it can have adverse consequences for others in our society, Dave Ray, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told Al Jazeera. It affects peoples jobs, their wages, essential public institutions, and the allocation of scarce public resources. Significant numbers of undocumented minors affects the schools they attend, which are almost always in districts where the schools are already struggling. READ MORE: Undocumented migrants await Trumps next move Steven Camarota, from the right-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, argued in the National Review that DACA mostly hurts blue-collar Americans. Dreamers can pass background checks, meaning more competition for jobs such as security guards, truckers and delivery van drivers. Dreamers are a less sympathetic group than immigration reformers make out, he added claiming that many speak English poorly, are well-acquainted with their home countries, and in some cases, have ties with criminal gangs. Were not going back into the shadows Trumps move on DACA comes amid heightened tensions over race and immigration following a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his decision to pardon a former sheriff who flouted an order to stop racially profiling Latinos. The president has several options. He could order the DHS to stop issuing new DACA work permits immediately, or at a future date. Or the administration could continue issuing the permits, triggering the Republican legal challenge, and then choose not to defend the measure in court. Alternatively, he can use DACA as a bargaining chip to pressure Democrats into backing his plans for immigration, the budget, and raising the debt ceiling. Human Rights Watch has warned that dreamers are now pawns in a political slugfest. This week, activists and dreamers have stepped up pressure on legislators. Angelica Villalobos, 31, a mother-of-four from Oklahoma, and other DACA-recipients who spoke to Al Jazeera, vowed to not go down without a fight. Yajaira Saavedra, 28, who works in her parents Mexican restaurant in New York, noted that dreamers like her had chosen to reveal themselves to the government on DACA application forms. Were not going back into the shadows, she said. Scrapping DACA would not immediately trigger a mass deportation of 800,000 dreamers. Instead, they may lose that status and see work permits lapse as they revert to the undocumented status they held previously. This offers little comfort to Escalante. His parents have no legal safeguards, and he notes the risk they take each time they drive to buy groceries. A police stop for a busted taillight could spiral into deportation proceedings back to Caracas. It just seems that Donald Trump is willing to go after anyone and everybody regardless of whether they have a parking ticket or committed a serious crime theyre essentially moral equivalents, said Escalante, a two-time graduate of Florida State University. Going back to Venezuela isnt an option for me. I havent been back since I came to the US in 2000. Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl Bodies of at least 26 Rohingya women and children were recovered after boats sank in the Naf River, officials say. Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh, killing at least 26 people, according to officials. The bodies of 15 women and 11 children were recovered in Coxs Bazar after the vessels, which carried an unknown number of Rohingya, sank in the Naf River on Wednesday, Bangladesh border guard commander Lieutenant Colonel SM Ariful Islam said on Thursday. He added that it was unclear whether anyone was still missing, according to The Associated Press news agency. The top official in Coxs Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them. Officials in Bangladesh say growing numbers of Rohingya Muslims are trying to cross the Naf river that divides the two countries in rickety boats ill-equipped for the rough waters as they become increasingly desperate to escape the worst outbreak of violence in the restive Rakhine state in years. One survivor told AFP news agency that the small, overcrowded boat he was travelling on had been tipped over by huge waves where the Naf river opens out into the sea. Nobody knew how to navigate the sea waters. When huge waves tilted the boat, we panicked, Shah Karim said. READ MORE: Nearly 50,000 Rohingya flee violence in Myanmar Residents and activists have accused soldiers of shooting indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children and carrying out arson attacks. However, authorities in Myanmar say close to 100 people have been killed since Friday when armed men, reportedly from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), launched a pre-dawn raid on police outposts in the restive region. Myanmar authorities say Rohingya extremist terrorists have been setting the fires during fighting with government troops, while Rohingya have blamed soldiers who have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings. Thousands flee into Bangladesh Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Friday, three UN sources said, according to Reuters news agency. The violence comes amid reports of Buddhist vigilantes burning Rohingya villages in Myanmar, Reuters said. Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no mans land at the countries border, the International Organization for Migration said. Satellite imagery analysed by US-based Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze. READ MORE: Fire and destruction as Myanmar army targets Rohingya Most of Myanmars estimated one million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognise them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Long-standing tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. The quarterly reports findings come amid growing tensions between Iran and US, threatening to torpedo landmark pact. Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal made with world powers, according to a UN atomic watchdog report. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday that Irans stock of low-enriched uranium is being used for peaceful purposes, and did not exceed the agreed limit of 300kg. The report was the third since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to dismantle the disastrous accord between Iran and six major powers curtailing Tehrans atomic activities in exchange for sanctions relief. While US sanctions imposed over Irans nuclear activities remain suspended, Washington has ramped up others related to Tehrans support for terrorism, its ballistic missile programme and its human rights record. Iran says this contravenes the spirit of the deal, an accusation fired back by Trump at Tehran because of its funding and supplying of armed groups across the region. The 2015 accord covered only Irans nuclear activities and the new IAEA quarterly report showed that these remained in compliance. What the report says The report did not explicitly say Iran is honouring the deal but mentions no deviations by Tehran, The Associated Press news agency said. The confidential report obtained by various news organisations said the agency continues to hunt for undeclared nuclear material and activities. READ MORE: Iran Top priority to protect nuclear deal from US It added that Iran has not pursued the construction of the Arak reactor which could give it weapons-grade plutonium and has not enriched uranium above low purity levels. The number of enrichment centrifuges also remained as agreed, while Irans store of heavy water, a reactor coolant, was 111.0 tonnes after it exported 19.1 tonnes to an unnamed country. Iran had previously inched above an agreed ceiling of 130 tonnes. The plant producing the heavy water was shut down for maintenance earlier this year and has now restarted, the IAEA said. Trump is due in October to certify to Congress whether Iran is sticking to the nuclear deal. In July he told the Wall Street Journal he would be surprised if they were in compliance. As well as the United States, the hard-fought agreement also includes China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday there is no alternative to the deal. Tehran has warned that if the deal falls apart it can ramp up its atomic programme again within five days, giving Trump a second nuclear crisis to add to the standoff over North Korea. Haider al-Abadi says town and the entire province of Nineveh liberated from armed group after 12 days of fighting. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has declared victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group in the northern city of Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh. US-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive against ISIL fighters, who had been holding Tal Afar for three years, on August 20. Tal Afar has been liberated, Abadi said in a statement on Thursday, congratulating the Iraqi security forces. We say to the Islamic State fighters: wherever you are, we are coming for you and you have no choice but to surrender or die. OPINION: Post-ISIL Iraq Breaking the cycle of violence Al Jazeeras Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, said the loss of Tal Afar and the northern province is a big blow to ISIL. The loss of Nineveh province is crucial because this is where ISIL declared its caliphate, Bin Javaid said. This province was also the engine of the ISIL economy. It is where they used to smuggle oil to other areas. It is also where they used to generate big revenues in terms of taxes, he added. Iraqi forces had been waiting to clear the small town of al-Ayadiya, 11km northwest of Tal Afar, before declaring complete victory in the offensive. ISIL fighters had retreated to the town and put up heavy resistance. Very difficult battle ahead Tal Afar and the surrounding area were among the last pockets of ISIL-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in Mosul, the countrys second-largest city, in July. 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. It had a population of about 200,000 before ISIL captured it in 2014. READ MORE: What is left of ISILs caliphate? Last week, the Iraqi army said it believes some 10,000 civilians remain inside the city, adding that it had secured safe corridors for them. Officials with the US-led coalition said the recapture of Tal Afar would spell the end of ISIL in northern Iraq. Yet, they cautioned that victory over ISIL cannot be declared unless ISIL is pushed out of every pocket it holds in the country, including in their stronghold of Hawija, a town in Kirkuk province around 300km north of Baghdad that is expected to be new the new frontline against the group, and in the vast Anbar desert in the south near the border with Syria and Saudi Arabia. There is going to be a very difficult battle ahead for the Iraqi forces because they are now moving away from urban areas and going to areas where ISIL can easily camouflage itself, Bin Javaid said. Challenges ahead Dlawer Ala-Aldeen, president of the Middle East Research Institute, described the retaking of Tal Afar as a big milestone to celebrate, but added that it was by no means the end. Its actually the beginning of the bigger political and administrative issues that will follow, he told Al Jazeera from Britains capital, London. When you get rid of the last stronghold you pay the way for reconstruction, reconciliation and all the process of recovery, as well as people getting to their houses, Ala-Aldeen added. READ MORE: ISILs smouldering footprint in Qayyara But actually that is it, because the next is the biggest challenge: providing security and services and dealing with the many armed groups. And, of course, there is the big challenge of Hawija by no means the fighters in Mosul would have disappeared altogether because ISIL in Hawija and the Kirkuk area are actually more prominent, more visible and provoking greater excursions and reactions. Sheikh Sabah will travel to Washington as he seeks to resolve months-old dispute between Qatar and its neighbours. The emir of Kuwait will hold talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, next week, according to Kuwaiti state media, as a three-month-old diplomatic crisis splits the Gulf. KUNA news agency said on Thursday that Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah would depart for the United States on Friday and that a meeting with Trump was scheduled for September 7. The emir is a key mediator between Qatar and its neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. The trio and Egypt cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar on June 5, imposing an air, land and marine blockade on the country, accusing it of ties to Iran and extremist groups as well as interference in their internal affairs. Qatar denies the claims and accuses the four countries of an attack on its sovereignty. READ MORE: All the latest updates about the Gulf crisis On Thursday, Qatars Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called on the blockading countries to stop attempting to influence his countrys foreign policy. There is no [evidence] against Qatar. Qatar never interferes in any countrys politics, and doesnt accept others to interfere in our politics, he said at a news conference in Brussels, Belgium. The US has given mixed signals about its policy on the Gulf crisis. Trump immediately expressed his support for Saudi Arabia, but some other US officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, later adopted a more measured tone. On Wednesday, Trump spoke with Saudi King Salman and urged an end to the dispute. Riyadh and Doha are both key allies of the US. OPINION: GCC crisis Why is Kuwaiti mediation not working? Trump chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas visit as president in May, two weeks before the Gulf crisis erupted. Qatar is meanwhile home to a huge US airbase, where the forward headquarters of Centcom the regional command which leads operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group is based. The armed group used to control one third of Iraqs territory and a large part of Syria, but now it has lost most of it. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group has suffered a string of defeats on the battlefield that have left its caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria in tatters, three years after it was declared. With Baghdads announcement on Thursday that Nineveh province is back under Iraqi government control following the recapture of Tal Afar, ISIL has been ejected from one of its last bastions in Iraq and is left facing an advancing Arab-Kurdish force across the Syrian border in Raqqa. Whats left of the caliphate? In its heyday in 2014, almost one third of Iraqs territory was in the hands of ISIL fighters. Today, they are left with no more than 10 percent, according to the US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces, in two areas: Hawija, 300km north of Baghdad, and the three locations of Qaim, Rawa and Anna in the western desert bordering Syria. READ MORE: The rise and fall of ISIL explained Across the border, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) penetrated the groups de-facto capital of Raqqa in June and have expelled ISIL from 60 percent of the city which they had seized in 2014. Between 5,000 and 10,000 ISIL fighters, including commanders, have fled to the Euphrates Valley region, according to coalition officials. The region under ISIL control runs 160km from the eastern Syrian city of Deir Az Zor, through the province of the same name and across the border to Iraqs Qaim. On the Syrian side, ISIL is also facing the advance of Russia-backed Syrian regime forces towards Deir Az Zor province. What power does ISIL retain in Iraq? Despite its military defeats, ISIL has sleeper cells that have carried out devastating attacks, mostly targeting Shia Muslims, whom the Sunni group regards as heretics, in cities recaptured by Iraqi forces and in Baghdad. ISIL returning to insurrection mode poses a serious challenge for security forces and is a constant threat to Iraqi civilians in a predominantly Shia country where sectarian strife is easily stoked. ISIL power abroad According to many security analysts, the disintegration of the ISIL caliphate and dispersion of its members have heightened the risk of attacks abroad. Even without its territorial base in Iraq and Syria, ISIL has become a franchise, they say. Groups pledging allegiance to ISIL and lone-wolf assailants have carried out deadly attacks in Europe in the name of the group. Streets, monuments and about 100 fermentation tanks found in the Mediterranean, confirming a theory about Neapolis. Roman ruins stretching over 20 hectares have been discovered off the coast of northeastern Tunisia, confirming with certainty a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD. Its a major discovery, Mounir Fantar, the head of a Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission which made the find off the coast of Nabeul, told AFP news agency on Thursday. He said that an underwater expedition had found streets, monuments and about 100 tanks used to produce garum, a fermented fish-based condiment that was a favourite of ancient Rome. This discovery has allowed us to establish with certainty that Neapolis was a major centre for the manufacture of garum and salt fish, probably the largest centre in the Roman world, said Fantar. Probably the notables of Neapolis owed their fortune to garum. Fantars team started work in 2010 in search of the port of Neapolis but only made the breakthrough find of the ruins this summer thanks to favourable weather conditions. The discovery also proved that Neapolis had been partly submerged by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD that badly damaged Alexandria in Egypt and the Greek island of Crete, as recorded by historian Ammien Marcellin. Pentagon chief declines to comment on number of additional troops but reports say the figure could be as high as 4,000. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis says he has signed orders to send additional soldiers to Afghanistan, without specifying the size of the force. Yes, I have signed orders but it is not complete. In other words, I have signed some of the (orders for) troops that will go and we are identifying the specific ones, Mattis told reporters on Thursday, adding that the members of Congress would be briefed before details are made public. Mattis declined to comment on how many more soldiers were included in the deployment orders. However, US officials told Reuters news agency that President Donald Trump had given Mattis the authority to send about 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Other officials, speaking to The Associated Press news agency, said the US will send about 3,900 more troops to the country. It is more advisers, it is more enablers, fire support, for example, Mattis said, adding that no additional troops had moved in yet. Its going to take a couple days, he said. Higher number of troops Mattis comments came a day after the Pentagon disclosed that US troop strength in Afghanistan had reached 11,000 soldiers thousands more than it had previously stated. The undetermined increase in soldier figures will be in addition to the existing 11,000. READ MORE: World reacts to Trumps new strategy on Afghan war After a months-long review of his Afghanistan policy, Trump committed the United States last week to an open-ended conflict in the country and promised a stepped-up campaign against Afghan Taliban fighters. The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated for the US and Afghan government over the past few years. The Afghan government was assessed by the US military to control or influence almost 60 percent of Afghanistans 407 districts as of February 20, a nearly 11 percentage-point decrease from the same time in 2016, according to data released by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Crowds visit Mount Arafat to spend day in contemplation where Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered final sermon. Around two million Muslims are gathering near Saudi Arabias Mecca for the peak day of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. From dawn to dusk on Thursday, the crowd will visit Mount Arafat to spend the day in supplication and contemplation. Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon on the granite hill more than 1,400 years ago. We hope that Allah will forgive our sins, and we hope to have a new start with our God, Khaled Ahmed, a 47-year-old pilgrim from Egypt, told the Associated Press news agency. In his sermon, the prophet is believed to have called on his followers to repay their debts, beware of Satan, perform five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan and give to charity. He also called on those with the means to do so to perform the Hajj once in a lifetime and reminded worshippers of womens rights. No ethnic group or race has superiority over another, except in piety and good action, he is quoted in Islamic texts as saying. During the Hajj, male pilgrims are required to wear seamless, white terrycloth garments for the entirety of the pilgrimage. Women wear loose clothing, cover their hair and forgo makeup and nail polish to achieve a state of humility and spiritual purity. Noura Sulieman, a pilgrim from the Philippines, said she had been to the Hajj several times before and was praying for her family. I came here to Arafat to pray for my family, for my daughter, and my son, and all my family, and all the Philippine Muslims, and all Muslims in all countries, she said. God willing, Allah will accept our pilgrimage. READ MORE: Hopes fade for Qatar residents to perform Hajj As Eid approaches, however, hope faded for residents of Qatar who wanted to perform Hajj following the Gulf diplomatic crisis. I want[ed] to go on Hajj but I am not allowed, Mohammed Shafiq, a resident of Doha from Pakistan, told Al Jazeera. The Saudi embassy is closed so how am I supposed to go? I am an old man [this could be my last chance] and maybe I will die tomorrow, said Shafiq, who has been working hard to finance his once-in-a-lifetime trip to Mecca. Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam, and is mandatory for Muslims who are able to perform the pilgrimage. Following Washingtons move, Moscow express concern about the escalation of tensions between the two countries. The United States has told Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco, in retaliation for Moscows demands that the size of the US mission in Russia be cut, according to the State Department. The announcement on Thursday also included a demand for a reduction in Russian diplomatic presence in Washington, DC, and New York by Saturday with the closure of a chancery annex in Washington, DC, and consular annex in New York. Last month, Russia ordered the US to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. In spirit of parity, we require #Russia to close its consulate in SF, chancery annex in DC, and consular annex in NYC by Sep. 2. pic.twitter.com/8YeFncDO4l Department of State (@StateDept) August 31, 2017 We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries, Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday. In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, DC, and a consular annex in New York City, Nauert said. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2. READ MORE: Trump thanks Putin for expelling US diplomatic staff In response, Russias foreign ministry said in a statement that Moscow will closely study the new measures announced by the Americans, after which our reaction will be conveyed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also held a phone conversation with his US counterpart, Rex Tillerson, and expressed his regret about the escalation of tensions between the two countries. The dispute began when former US President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats in December over allegations of Russian interference in last years presidential election. This is a back-and-a-forth that has been going on, Al Jazeeras Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said. Certainly this is a stepping-up by the US in terms of the tit-for-tat relationship that has been going on, and many would see deteriorating, in recent months, she added. In order to deal with the reduction of staff in Russia, Washington said last week it would have to sharply scale back visa services, a move that will hit Russian business travellers, tourists and students. The Russian consulate in San Francisco handles work from seven states in the western US. There are three other Russian consulates separate from the embassy in Washington, DC. They are in New York, Seattle and Houston. Police boss says officer Greg Abbott will be dismissed over unacceptable comments made during traffic stop last year. A white police lieutenant in the US state of Georgia who was recorded on video during a traffic stop saying we only kill black people will be fired, a local police chief has said. Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register told reporters on Thursday that he has started the process to terminate the employment of Lieutenant Greg Abbott. Dashcam video from July 2016 shows a car stopped on the side of a road. A white woman can be heard telling Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her mobile phone, local television station, WSB-TV reported. Abbott interrupts her and says, But youre not black. Remember, we only kill black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? Abbott, who has been an officer in Cobb County for more than 20 years, was placed on administrative duty last week, pending an investigation. Earlier on Thursday, Abbotts lawyer, Lance LoRusso, said in a statement to The Associated Press that Abbott is cooperating with the investigation, and his comments were meant to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. But Register said later on Thursday that regardless of the context, such comments are unacceptable. READ MORE: Donald Trump to police Dont be too nice to suspects No matter what the context, statements like these are unacceptable and are not indicative of the type of culture we are trying to facilitate here in the police department, as well as within the county, Register said in an emailed statement. LoRusso was not available for comment regarding the expected termination of employment. More than 1,000 killed US police departments have been under increased scrutiny in recent years for the disproportionate number of shootings of black Americans by police. According to the Guardian newspapers The Counted database, at least 1,093 people were killed by police in the US last year. Nearly a quarter of those killed were African Americans although the group accounts for roughly 12 percent of the total US population. READ MORE: Structural racism in the US wont diminish with time Civil rights campaigners and activists say the disproportionate number of black Americans killed by police is part of a broader pattern of racial discrimination in the countrys justice system. These disparities, particularly the killing of African Americans by police, have prompted the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, a popular civil rights movement aimed at ending police violence and dismantling structural racism. Mohamed Labidi is the head of the Quebec City mosque that was targeted in a deadly shooting in January. Six months after a deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque, its heads car was deliberately set on fire, officials said on Wednesday. Another hateful act targeted the mosque and its head, Mohamed Labidi, in addition to a long series of other incidents, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec said in a statement. The fire was set on August 6 but was only made public on Wednesday in order to allow police to investigate. Mosque officials and the mayor linked the fire to an August 4 announcement of the upcoming opening of the citys first Muslim cemetery. It would be a strange coincidence if the two were not somehow related, said Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume. OPINION: Quebec mosque shooting Beyond the official rhetoric Police are not ruling out any motive, whether it was a hate crime against Muslims or just a random act of vandalism, said police spokesman Jean-Francois Vezina. Labeaume had championed the new Muslim cemetery as a sign of support for Quebec Citys relatively small Muslim community following an avowed white supremacists killing of six worshippers at a local mosque in January. The increase in hateful gestures towards the Muslim community in Quebec City is worrying, Labeaume commented. These incidents come as nationalist or right-wing extremists in the Canadian province have become more vocal against immigration and radical Islam. In June, a group left a pigs severed head at the entrance of the mosque targeted by the lone gunman. Police are investigating these incidents but no suspects have been named so far. Pentagon says US troop level reached 11,000, exceeding previously stated 8,400 set under former President Obama. US troop strength in Afghanistan has reached about 11,000 soldiers, exceeding the previous official level of 8,400 US forces, the Pentagon said. Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, Pentagon joint staff director, confirmed the higher than previously disclosed force strength in a press conference on Wednesday. The revelation was made in an effort by Secretary of Defense James Mattis to promote transparency, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. President Donald Trump last week announced an expansion of US forces to increase operations against armed groups and to train and advise Afghan government security forces. READ MORE: World reacts to Trumps new strategy on Afghan war The undetermined troop increase is to be added to the existing 11,000. Washingtons involvement in Afghanistan since late 2001 is the longest war in US history. US raids kill civilians Afghan provincial authorities earlier on Wednesday blamed 12 civilian deaths on a US air attack, in what would be the second such incident of civilian casualties in a bombing raid this week. Women and children were among the dead, Logar provincial council member Hasibullah Stanekzai told reporters. The air raid was conducted by foreign forces late Tuesday in Bari village near provincial capital Pul-e-Alam, he said. US forces are the only foreign military conducting air raids in Afghanistan. The attack targeted two well-known Taliban commanders who at the time were hiding in a civilian house, Stanekzai said. Both Mawlavi Ahmadullah, the Talibans self-appointed governor for Khoshi district in Logar, and a deputy commander of Taliban forces in the region, Qari Naqibullah, were killed in the raid, along with several other fighters. READ MORE: Pakistan parliament condemns Trumps Afghan policy A spokesman for the provincial governor, Mohammad Salim Saleh, spoke of civilian casualties in a foreign forces air strike, but provided no details. US military spokesman John Ross said: We are still not clear on what happened there. We are looking into it. It is the second air raid this week against Taliban forces that also killed civilians. On Monday, a raid left 13 civilians dead and seven wounded in western Herat province. The rate of US and Afghan air raids against the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group has soared recently. With Afghan forces stretched thin and demoralized, the military is often relying on air attacks as a last resort to drive the fighters back. According to the United Nations, the number of civilian casualties from US and Afghan air attacks in the first six months of 2017 increased by 43 percent compared with the same period in 2016. US president calls on Gulf countries to resolve Qatar dispute, in phone call with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump urged the countries embroiled in a regional dispute with Qatar to find a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing rift. The White House said Trump discussed the issue on Wednesday in a telephone conversation with Saudi Arabias King Salman. Trump told King Salman that a diplomatic resolution would fulfil a commitment made when Trump visited Riyadh to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. Analysts say the Trump administration is concerned about Qatars growing relationship with Iran as a result of the ongoing crisis. We need to see this within the context of Qatar making a decision about one week ago to return its envoy to Tehran after nearly 21 months of him been pulled back to Doha, Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a geopolitical risk consulting firm, told Al Jazeera. The trump administration is very concerned about something thats going on in the Gulf that is the growing relationship between Qatar and Iran as a consequence of the current crisis in the GCC, Cafiero said. READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates Also on Wednesday, Russia said it supports Kuwaits mediation efforts to defuse a three-month long diplomatic crisis. We welcome all initiatives to resolve the Gulf crisis, and we support the Kuwaiti efforts in that direction, Russias foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said during a joint press conference in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdelrahman Al Thani. Lavrov, who will visit Saudi Arabia and Jordan in September, said the only way to resolve the crisis is through negotiations and dialogue between all parties. The diplomatic crisis began in June, when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties to Qatar over allegations that it was funding extremists and was too close to Iran. Qatar has denied the allegations. Spanish intelligence officials were warned of security threats on Las Ramblas weeks in advance, newspaper reports. Since this article was published, the director of El Periodico de Cataluna has said the NCTC briefing note was not real and was a recreation built from information received from unspecified sources. US security agencies warned Spain in May that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group was planning an attack in Barcelona, where the group claimed a deadly van rampage earlier this month, local media reported. The daily El Periodico de Cataluna reported that the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) alerted Spanish intelligence officers to the threat weeks before a man ploughed his vehicle into crowds of tourists along Barcelonas Las Ramblas boulevard on August 17, killing 14 people. Unsubstantiated information of unknown veracity from late May 2017 indicated that the [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] was planning to conduct unspecified terrorist attacks during the summer against crowded tourist sites in Barcelona, Spain, specifically [Las Ramblas] street, according to an NCTC briefing note published by the paper. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack without naming those behind the assault. A spokesman for Spains CNI intelligence agency, contacted by AFP news agency, refused to confirm or deny anything on communication with other intelligence services. The interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment. But the Madrid-based Cadena SER radio station quoted anti-terror sources suggesting that the document published by El Periodico de Cataluna was authentic. Spain is still recovering from the twin vehicle attacks in August that left a total of 16 people dead and more than 120 wounded in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils further south. ISIL claimed both attacks. La Cia and El Periodico were trending on Twitter following Thursdays report. Eid al-Adha holidays in 2017 range from 16 days in Saudi Arabia to three in Uganda. Traditionally, Eid al-Adha is celebrated for four days as an official holiday in all Muslim-majority countries. For 2017, Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on Friday, September 1 in most countries, and on September 2 in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the following public holidays have been officially announced for Eid: Saudi Arabia: a 16-day public holiday from Thursday, August 24 until Saturday, September 9. Qatar: a 10-day holiday from Thursday, August 31 until Saturday, September 10. Turkey: a 10-day holiday from Friday, August 25 until Monday, September 4. Egypt, Oman , Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine : a five-day holiday from Thursday, August 31 until Monday, September 4. : a five-day holiday from Thursday, August 31 until Monday, September 4. Pakistan, Lebanon Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana Eid al-Adha is a public holiday in the Philippines since 2002, established by the Republic Act 9177. 2016 holiday Eid al-Adha 2016 was celebrated on Monday, September 12 in Saudi Arabia and in most other countries, and on September 13 in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The following public holiday breaks were officially announced: Saudi Arabia: a 12-day holiday break, which will include the days of the Hajj pilgrimage. Gulf Arab countries of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman: a nine-day public holiday from Friday, September 9 until Saturday, September 17. Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Sudan also announced a nine-day public holiday on the same dates as in the Gulf. Turkey: a nine-day public holiday from Saturday, September 10 until Sunday, September 18. Bangladesh: a six-day Eid holiday, from Friday, September 9 until Wednesday, September 14. Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria: four-day long weekend holiday, from Saturday, September 10 until Tuesday, September 13. Pakistan: a three-day holiday from Monday, September 12 until Wednesday, September 14. Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Ghana: three-day long weekend holiday, from Saturday, September 10 until Monday, September 12. To compare with the holidays of Eid al-Fitr in 2016, check here. Billy Dean is coming to Gainesville to make Katie Slays final wish come true. Slay, 41, has been battling spina bifida, a birth defect where the spine develops improperly, and is currently in hospice care, said Ernie Evans, the vice president of Shake Rag Cultural Center Inc. On September 8, Dean, the Grammy-nominated country music star, will perform at the Thomas Center, located at 302 NE Sixth Ave., as a part of the centers Jewel Box Concert Series for Slay and 230 others. Katie Slays mother, Mary Slay, said her daughter has been a fan of Dean ever since her older brother went to school with him in Quincy, Florida. When the Slay family requested that Dean perform in Gainesville, he was quick to oblige. Since then, Dean has gone above and beyond for Slay and called her to ask for her top three song requests for the concert, which left her beaming. Hes really gone out of his way to do something special for her, Mary Slay said. The doors for the concert open at 6 p.m., and the show will begin at 7 p.m. Shake Rag Cultural Center Inc. is paying Dean but declined to disclose how much. General admission tickets are $20, and VIP, front row seats are $30. Tickets are being sold online but are expected to sell out quickly, Evans said. Concerts are very different (at the Thomas Center) than they are in big stages and big arenas, he said. Its very very up close and personal. Dean said hes stopped chasing fame and fortune and instead has found more value in helping people like Slay. The Country Music Association award winner said he hopes the concert will bring a sense of healing to the Slay family and all those who attend. Were going to have some laughs, Dean said. Were going to have some music medicine. The concert is meant to help people escape from the real world for a little while, Dean said. For him, the performance means more than a trophy at the Grammys or a sizable bank account; its an opportunity to help a fan who feels more like family. With Katie Slay, it is, its kind of like family needing you to step up to the plate, he said. So Im glad to do it. @jessica_giles_ jgiles@alligator.org Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now From more than 260 miles away, about 25 Gainesville residents watched and listened Wednesday as four Palm Beach panelists spoke about opioids in Florida. HealthStreet, a UF community engagement center, hosted the live viewing at 6 p.m. as part of its Our Community, Our Health town hall event series, designed for community engagement on health issues. The four panelists Dr. Jim Hall, a senior epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University; Dr. Henry Young, a UF professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine; Dr. Jay Kuchera, an anesthesiologist who works in Port St. Lucie, Florida; and Kevin Twombly, a 911 operator in Martin County, Florida spoke and answered questions from audience members at the town hall in Palm Beach County State College. Catherine Striley, the co-director of HealthStreet and a UF assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, said Wednesdays town hall was particularly urgent. Fourteen people die of drug overdose in Florida every day, she said. Were trying to reach peoples consciousness and understanding about the threat. Dr. Hall said that aside from being mixed to enhance commonly known illegal drugs, opioid drugs are also being sold as fake prescription drugs. Hall said nine people in Pinellas County, Florida, died in 2016 from consuming strong opioids they thought were Xanax tablets. Thats what killed Prince, and its killed thousands of other people as well, Hall said, referring to the legendary pop star who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016. This is truly an epidemic of deaths. During the Q&A portion of the town hall, Twombly spoke of the danger of stigma around people who use these drugs. Twombly said when he gets emergency calls while behind the desk as a 911 operator, he sees cases turn into death or overdose that could have been avoided. People will call in an emergency, but be too afraid to say they overdosed over the phone for fear of facing criminal charges, he said. There may be someone in the bathroom with a needle next to them, Twombly said. Theyll often say, I dont know, when they do know whats wrong. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now After the livestream ended, Marlena Massie thought of her friends and family. Massie, a 36-year-old Gainesville resident and veterinary technician, came to the town hall to learn how to offer more help about opioids and possible solutions. She said she personally knows people who take opioid prescriptions and face addiction. I want to help them, Massie said. They tell you theres no problem, but you can tell. Gainesville resident Jerome Smith Jr. said hes looking for more ways to reach out to the community. Smith, a 37-year-old retired veteran who served from 1996 to 2002, came to the event as part of the Back on Track recovery group for veterans, a joint effort by HealthStreet and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Smith said although hes currently unemployed, hes using the group to find ways he can give back. Were all here for a reason, right? Smith said. Im trying to be a productive member of society. Catherine Striley, a co-director of HealthStreet, gives a PowerPoint presentation on the dangers of opioid drugs to about 25 Gainesville residents on Wednesday evening ahead of a panel discussion live-viewing, hosted by the UF Health Community Engagement Center. Start-up companies in Gainesville will soon have a new space to develop in. The Innovation Hub, a technology incubator that provides resources and expertise to start-up companies, will double in size to nearly 100,000 square feet after its expansion is complete, said Jane Muir, the director of the Innovation Hub. The expansion, located at 727 SW Second Ave., is using $8 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and $9 million from UF to develop, Muir said. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with no specific date set, she said. The expansion will add more offices and laboratories as well as The Collaboratory for Women Innovators, which will be a program to engage women in technology start-ups, Muir said. We were basically operating at capacity, Muir said. We wanted to have additional space so that we could help that many more companies. The Innovation Hub opened in 2011, and Muir wrote a grant to expand the facility in 2016, Muir said. In three and a half years, companies housed in the Innovation Hub created more than 700 jobs and attracted more than $60 million in private investment to the community, Muir said. Benjamin Kings company, HealthSteps, which synchronizes a persons digital healthcare plan to their smartphone, is a start-up company in the building. King said the Innovation Hub offers several benefits for people starting their own business, such as cheap office space, access to mentors and a community of like-minded individuals. King said the expansion shows the growth of entrepreneurial spirit in Gainesville. I hope that this helps encourage more people in Gainesville, especially recent grads from UF, to want to start companies and develop new products and technologies, King said. Matthew Donovans company, txtsignal, a text marketing and mass communication platform, is also housed in the Innovation Hub. Donovan said the expansion is great for companies who are ready to grow but are not ready to occupy commercial space. It gives us an opportunity to grow into a different type of office space but still have access to the mentors and to the resources that the Hub provides, Donovan said. Donovan said he looks forward to a collaborative environment with more companies in the expanded Innovation Hub. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Its been a really interesting process to watch, Donovan said. To see it go from parking lot to now a nearly completed building, its neat to be a part of a growing history. English News BRICS Xiamen Summit sets new model for cooperation Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 31 Aout 2017 Chinas efforts to propel pragmatic cooperation among the BRICS countries, perfect global governance as well as its appeals to lift position of emerging markets and developing countries have won applause from the international community, the article emphasized. Source: People's Daily The forthcoming ninth BRICS Summit to be held in Xiamen of Fujian province will bring forth new ideas and present a satisfactory blueprint for BRICS cooperation, formulate a wide-ranged partnership for development and build new platforms for South-South cooperation, the Peoples Daily said in a commentary under the byline of Zhong Sheng on Thursday. China, as a firm advocate and participator of the BRICS mechanism, has made extraordinary contributions to the cooperation and development of the BRICS countries, the article published ahead of the meeting pointed out. Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his attendance of four BRICS summits, has provided new ideas, proposals and remedies to deepen cooperation among the members. Chinas efforts to propel pragmatic cooperation among the BRICS countries, perfect global governance as well as its appeals to lift position of emerging markets and developing countries have won applause from the international community, the article emphasized. Embracing its second decade, the BRICS mechanism shoulders the heavy responsibilities of summarizing the experience and formulating new blueprint for cooperation, the article pointed out. Since China took over the BRICS presidency at the beginning of this year, the country has, based on the theme of "deepening the BRICS partnership and opening up a brighter future", made efforts to reap new breakthroughs from pragmatic economic cooperation, score new progress from political security cooperation and foster people-to-people and cultural exchanges into a new pillar for the cooperative mechanism, the paper said. The BRICS mechanism, as a result, has entered into a new stage featuring the three pillars of economic, political and cultural cooperation, it stressed, adding that China is now driving the BRICS mechanism toward a more standardized direction and actively exploring the new model of BRICS Plus. The mechanism has achieved many eye-catching firsts, the commentary said. For instance, the first-ever Press Communique was released at the BRICS Leaders' Informal Meeting on the margins of the G20 Hamburg Summit in this July. In the firstever meeting of foreign affairs ministers of BRICS countries held in Beijing this June, the ministers agreed to strengthen their coordination through regular meetings among their permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and send out voices of BRICS in international fora in a timely manner. In a July meeting of ministers of science, technology and innovation from BRICS countries, the "BRICS Action Plan for Innovation Cooperation (2017-2020)" was signed to seize the historic opportunity of industrial revolution. Other signed documents such as the "BRICS Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap and Outline for BRICS Investment Facilitation will cement trade and investments role as an important engine of global economic growth. A total of over 30 outcomes in economic cooperation will form a stronger cohesive force for the BRICS countries, according to the article. BRICS cultural events, including the BRICS Games, the first movie co-produced by BRICS directors, the BRICS cultural festival and as well as other 20 events will promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and lay a solid social foundation for BRICS cooperation, the article continued. During the Xiamen Summit, China will for the first time invite leaders of five emerging markets and five developing countries to attend a dialogue, reflecting the inclusiveness of the BRICS, the article pointed out. Under the theme of Deepening Win-win Cooperation, Promoting Common Development, the BRICS countries will discuss with the emerging markets the implementation of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, so as to build a wide-ranged partnership for development, construct new platforms and inject new impetus into South-South cooperation, the paper said at last. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China accelerates green, low-carbon development World-class astronomical obervation base takes shape in Qinghai province China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News Xiamen summit to usher BRICS cooperation into another golden decade Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 31 Aout 2017 In the China Year, BRICS bloc will grow into a propeller driving the cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries by pooling more energy, and the BRICS plus mode will give a boost to the glorious process. By Pei Guangjiang, Zhang Mengxu, Bai Yang from Peoples Daily The three-day long ninth BRICS Summit is expected to open on Saturday in Xiamen, during which leaders from the five members would, based on the theme of "deepening the BRICS partnership and opening up a brighter future", further propel their multi-dimensional cooperation as the mechanism has come to a new stage driven by three pillars of political, economic and cultural collaboration. Todays world is faced with more uncertainties and chaos as some developed nations in the West are withdrawing from the international system made by them. Against such context, the BRICS bloc, composed of five emerging markets namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is facing a challenge of whether it can create a new pattern for political and security cooperation and play a constructive role in safeguarding the world peace and stability. China has proposed a global governance plan within the framework of BRICS cooperation, urging the BRICS members to unswervingly promote the building of an open world economy, multilateralism, global economic governance and common development, which was unanimously agreed by leaders from other BRICS partners. BRICS countries have gained fruitful achievements from their economic and financial cooperation, which can be evidenced by the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) and Contingency Reserve Arrangement, as well as the institutionalization of ministerial meetings in economy, trade, agriculture and customs. The Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership, for instance, drew a roadmap for economic cooperation among members. Eight major outcomes were reaped from meetings of trade ministers, among which BRICS Trade and Investment Facilitation Plan is the first document on investment facilitation around the world. In 2016, the NDB approved seven projects worth $1.5 billion submitted by five member states and it is expected to provide $2.5 billion to $3 billion in total to another 10 to 15 projects this year. The first branch of the NDB was officially started up in Africa on August 17. The success of BRICS cooperation has fully proved the inclusiveness and cooperation potential among different social systems, development patterns and various cultures and values. In 2017 when China took over the BRICS presidency, people-to-people and cultural exchanges were chosen as one of the three pillars of BRICS cooperation for the very first time, in addition to political security and economic and financial development. Over 20 cultural events, ranging from BRICS Games, film festival, youth forums, seminars on governance to forums organized by sister cities, political parties, think tanks and civil society organizations, have tightened the bonds of the public of the five countries. The BRICS cooperation is now more appealing and attractive after more public have benefited from the mechanism participated by increasingly diversified entities. Embracing its second decade, the BRICS cooperation is standing at a key transforming stage when it needs to figure out how the members can seek for a louder voice and more institutional rights for the vast emerging markets and developing countries. China has explored modalities of BRICS plus with an aim to turn BRICS cooperation into the most influential platform for South-South cooperation by launching outreach dialogues with more developing countries and emerging markets, building a more wide-ranged partnership and widening the circle of friends. This year, leaders from non-BRICS countries including Egypt, Mexico, Tajikistan, Guinea and Thailand were unprecedentedly invited to attend the Xiamen Summit. Chinas proposal has caught world attention and got thumbs up from overseas research institutions and media. In the China Year, BRICS bloc will grow into a propeller driving the cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries by pooling more energy, and the BRICS plus mode will give a boost to the glorious process. Dans la meme rubrique : < > China accelerates green, low-carbon development World-class astronomical obervation base takes shape in Qinghai province China, Germany should keep to overall direction of bilateral ties from strategic height: Xi Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) Starting Sept.15, the Luxembourg-based all-cargo airline will offer flights to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and on Oct. 3, the Cameroon city of Douala will also become a Cargolux destination. Including the cities of Douala and Lubumbashi, Cargolux will now have 35 destinations on the African continent. Luxembourg-based cargo-only airline Cargolux is adding two cities in Africa to its list of destinations. Starting Sept.15, the airline will offer flights to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and on Oct. 3, the Cameroon city of Douala also becomes a Cargolux destination. Flights to Lubumbashi are scheduled to leave Luxembourg each Friday evening and arrive in the Congo at 5:25 am local time Saturday mornings. The return flight is routed via Johannesburg, Nairobi and also serves London Stansted Airport in the UK. Its scheduled to arrive in Luxembourg at 1:25 pm local time on Sundays. Lubumbashi is the Congos second largest city after the capital Kinshasa, and acts as a hub for the DRCs mining industry. The city produces textiles, food and beverages and copper smelting. Its estimated that Lubumbashi produces over three percent of the worlds copper and half of its cobalt. The city is also home to one of the countrys largest financial institutions, Trust Merchant Bank. Douala services are scheduled to depart from Luxembourg at 4:15 pm each Wednesday, and will be routed via Bamako International Airport in Mali. Flights are scheduled to arrive in Cameroon at 1:55 am Thursdays, with return flights arriving back in Luxembourg at 10.55 am Thursdays. Douala, which is Cameroons largest city, is the countrys economic and commercial capital, handling most exports, including oil, cocoa, coffee, fruits, metal and timber. The city is also home to Central Africas biggest seaport, the Port of Douala. Cargolux said it sees promising potential for growth in the region; including Douala and Lubumbashi, Cargolux will now have 35 destinations on the African continent. Africa has always been and will always be an important market for Cargolux and we are happy to be able to support the continents trade lanes to Europe, the United States and Asia as well as across the Cargolux network worldwide, Cargolux Regional Director Africa Jonathan Clark said in a statement. When historians look back, I fear theyll view the events of Charlottesville, Va., as a turning point, a crossing-the-Rubicon moment that preceded the inevitable fall of a great civil right. Free speech is a righta privilege, reallywith an uncertain fate. The outcropping of press clippings questioning the efficacy and morality of unencumbered expression are a portentous sign. The protection guaranteed by the First Amendment has always been threatened, or curtailed, in our countrys history. What transpired on the streets of Charlottesville is different. The gratuitous killing of Heather Heyer was awful enoughbut it also provided plenty of fodder for those looking to curtail problematic political opinions. This wouldnt normally be an issue. But the general malaise that has beset the U.S., like a thick gray fog of discontent, has robbed the country of a robust defense of civic duty. The average American, it seems, is too distracted or burned out to take interest in the larger challenge of defining the public good. So its been left to the crazies, whose combined lack of volume control and employment make them perfect activists. The First Amendment takes for granted a nation that implicitly supports it. Laws dont matter when the larger society ignores them. As Scott Alexander writes, Having free speech laws on the books is a necessary precondition, but its useless in the absence of social norms that support it. And as weve seen following Charlottesville, the countrys biggest and most dedicated institutions to the free flow of ideas and information are turning their backs on free speech. Facebook and Twitter announced a new wave of crackdowns on hate speech on their respective platforms. Googlewhose power to shape public perception is unmatchedis wiping extremist websites from its logs. Paypal is cutting its indispensable service to distasteful groups. The media has turned on itself, running commentary pieces questioning the need for open and free expression. The Washington Post ran an op-ed by Skidmore College professor Jennifer Delton supporting the silencing of controversial conservative speakers on college campuses. The New York Times printed a breathless tired by K-Sue Park (someones actual name) urging the American Civil Liberties Union to reconsider its stance on free speech. Most alarmingly, the ACLU has taken the criticism to heart and is now questioning its foundational principle. After defending the right of white supremacists to gather in Charlottesville, the civil advocacy group is asking for forgiveness. One board member of the Virginia branch resigned in protest of the organizations actions, tweeting, Whats legal and whats right are sometimes different. Taken together, these broadsides dont bode well for the future of free expression in America. The cultural winds are blowing us closer toward Europe, where speech deemed hateful is proscribed and offenders are jailed. A U.K. man was just jailed for posting critical messages about Islam on Facebook. Is there any doubt, after Charlottesville, that the left would eagerly embrace such Orwellian law enforcement? Free speech stands on wobbly legs because some individuals chose to exercise their right for an evil. The swastika-clad marchers in Charlottesville knew their tiki torch promenade would be provocative. They were well within their rights to demonstrate; but, being within ones rights doesnt necessarily justify ones actions. Feelings of racial superiority are a sinthat is especially so for white supremacy. The white race might have created the modern world, but it came pretty damn close to exterminating it. That said, it doesnt warrant the deep digs at free speech, and the growing movement to overhaul our understanding of what expression is protected and what isnt. The sociologist Philip Rieff said societies are defined by a list of thou shalt nots;" conventions and mores are usually the provenance of laws. In America, speech has never been totally free, not even in private conversation. As the great Roger Scruton has written, In everyday conversation, it is not as a rule advisable that all aspects of a question be openly discussed, and laws of libel, public order, and sedition protect people from hurtful or provocative language. Those sensible limits present an opportunity to speech skeptics. Liberals want to expand the sphere of proscribed talk. Their efforts are destined to backfire, much like how the Communist Party U.S.A. backed the use of the Smith Act to persecute a Trotsky-aligned group during World War II, only to be convicted themselves years later under the same law. History is a great teacher when you listen. Sadly, liberals are more attuned to their gut feelings than the struggles of their forebearers. It was once understood that giving your opponents the benefit of the law was reciprocalthey in turn would allow you the same benefit. As Robert Bolts Thomas More famously replied asked if he would give the Devil the benefit of the law, And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you where would you hide....Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake. The anti-fascist left has ditched mutual benefit. Self-righteousness has infiltrated their ranks, divinizing their mission. In their holy crusade, cool reasoning is not a convincing force. Does that mean the right should embrace free speech absolutism? Conservatives are supposed to be wary of philosophical absolutes. The mini-bursts of hysteria displayed by the left at the hint of Nazism shows the dangers of ideological zealotry. Like a Hegelian dialectic gone awry, self-styled antifa must follow the inexorable logic of eliminating hatred, root and branch, from the world. So they cold-cock Trump supporters in the street and call it freedom fighting. Lawful absolutes have a tendency to be taken too far, to the point of absurdity. But were living in absurd times right now, where speech is violence, facts are relative, biology is fake, and common ground recedes under our feet. Free speech absolutism may be necessary for the time being. Whether itll be enough to stem the tide of liberalisms new illiberality is another question. In August of 2005, the coastlines surrounding New Orleans were devastated by a Category 3 hurricane. More than 1,800 people were killed in the aftermath. Most of the deaths were related to the breach of levees in New Orleans. Though the event took place 12 years ago, the disaster remains an important communication archetype for modern media as they attempt to assist the public in processing the current events of Hurricane Harvey, enveloping communities in and around Houston. One of the leading journals of communication recently published an academic essay lauding the excellent response of New Orleans mayor Nagin and decrying the deplorable ineptitude of President Bush during Katrina. Katrina was an escalating media story built around the premise of "not letting a good crisis go to waste." Rahm Emanuel, who is now the mayor of Chicago, made this an operational communication thesis in the first term of President Obama when he served as chief of staff. In 2005, Katrina's landfall near New Orleans was predicted by experts to lead to more than 10,000 deaths in a city long understood as built below sea level and dependent upon a complex array of levees and flood control pump systems. Chicago and New Orleans have the dubious distinction of being American murder capitals under their respective mayoral leadership. The Quarterly Journal of Speech for 2017 commemorates the character assassination of President Bush surrounding Katrina: incompetent, careless, and downright malicious toward black Americans. The racist thrust of the crisis was embodied by the embarrassing live television observations from Kanye West about the president on an awards show. FEMA director Browney was excoriated as exceptionally poor at his job, and the vivid depictions of flooding and desperate inhabitants of New Orleans led to a media circus aimed at exposing the political inferiority of President Bush and his administration. It was political payback to a nation that once again made the wrong choice, according to interpretive elite, in electing a Republican president. The local military leader charged with New Orleans activities on behalf of the federal government, General Honore, described the media spectacle directed at such partisan ends as "stuck on stupid." In fact, the federal response to Katrina was impressive and dramatically life-saving. In anticipation of the crisis, President Bush and the Navy ordered naval support vehicles to follow Katrina from its initial impact in Florida to New Orleans. As the storm was rising away to the north, fleets of Blackhawk helicopters from supporting naval vessels swooped into the region and made more than 32,000 rooftop rescues of the New Orleans regions, saving thousands of lives. On occasion, rescues were suspended when residents began firing on the helicopters in a public statement of defiance. The ideological exploitation of the crisis that was Katrina was focused upon the apex of a political triangle with blame assigned to President Bush within the national media spectacle, while the lower legs of the local triangle, Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco, both Democrats, were facilitated by national media in shifting blame to the federal government. This point was commemorated in the ideological piece produced this month in the Quarterly Journal of Speech applauding Nagin's emotional plea of blame on radio against the inaction of the federal government. Professor Grossman approvingly quotes Paul Krugman: The point is that after Katrina the government seemed to have no idea what it was doing; this time (Sandy under Obama) it did. And that's no accident: the federal government's ability to respond effectively to disaster always collapses when antigovernment Republicans hold the White House, and always recovers when Democrats take it back. In reality, Nagin and Blanco were decisively indecisive with regard to ordering evacuations and calling up the national guard. They knew that a partisan media nationally had their backs. But Blanco was unceremoniously dismissed by Louisiana voters in the next election despite the national media blame game against President Bush. For President Bush, the Katrina crisis was the beginning of a long, slow grind down from a 45% approval rating to 25% by the fall of 2008. Up to that point, his popularity had ups and downs typical to American presidencies. Katrina was an ideological attack designed to serve up an early lame duck. Today, New Orleans sits on the nervous cusp of hurricane Harvey, hoping to be spared the worst of Houston's flooding rains. The Democrat mayor of New Orleans is ready and able to speak about and spend money tearing down Confederate monuments built by his ideological predecessors, but he is less sure or assertive about repairing the flood pumps in his city that for over a decade have been studied as needing repair to preserve the city in the event of flooding. This summer, local officials lied about pumps running at full capacity during previous bouts of flooding. Today, the Democrat mayor of Houston is actually facing some criticism for refusing to order even limited evacuations of the city in flooding predicted a week ago and widely expected to bring record rainfalls well beyond totals that regularly flood parts of Houston. The mayor sought to make the same rhetorical plays as Nagin and Blanco by refusing to return the phone calls of Republican governor Greg Abbott. So far, that cynical ploy is not working to demonize either the Republican president or Republican governor, contra the P.R. assault against President Bush in 2005, re-affirmed by academic scholarship in 2017. The world of Texas politics even as it relates to natural disasters is quite different from Louisiana politics. Even the mundane pathological endeavor of looting faces far more grave consequences in Texas than it may face anywhere else in the nation. The mediated struggle over the meaning of hurricane Katrina twelve years later is a testament to how the media culture of America has changed for the better. The ideological forces that seek, from the Alinsky model, to demonize Republicans as wanting innocent people especially black Americans to die in disasters are met with more robust ideological resistance that champions the volunteer spirit of America a testament to her exceptional character. The propaganda framing of Katrina as a racist conspiracy is an important chapter of media deception to deconstruct as a nation. In truth, the successes of the Bush administration in preventing the 10,000 deaths in New Orleans predicted by experts should serve as a marker for current actions. Rooftop rescues remain a likely need in the days ahead, but that heroic measure is lost in the false memory of President Bush's supposed Katrina failure. The refusal of Democrat mayors to order even voluntary evacuations from areas of cities they know will flood should be held to public account. Ideologues need to reconsider the lengths they are willing to go in exploiting tragedies for their own audience inciting benefits as suggested by Alinsky disciples such as Rahm Emanuel. The media observers do well to report the facts in a way that enables neighbors to love neighbors, by providing for the observed needs. That is a vital feature of the good nation that is America. Hopefully, the spirit of America will prevail in the current crisis unfolding in Houston and the region. Dr. Ben Voth is an associate professor of corporate communication and public affairs and director of debate and speech programs within the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He is the Calvin Coolidge Foundation debate fellow. Professor Voth details the corruption of American media and institutions in a new book with Dr. Robert Denton, Social Fragmentation and the Decline of American Democracy by Palgrave Macmillan. Journalists in the Mainstream Media practice the magicians art of misdirection, leaving important stories in the dark, focusing attention on subjects that serve their political agenda of discouraging his followers and whipping up the energies of his opponents. For instance, the Associated Press continually reports the news that President Trumps approval ratings are low. They take skewed polls and try to push those who support Trump into believing they are extremists and out of the norm. What the AP and other MSM do minimal reporting on is what Trump is actually accomplishing. Trump has done tremendous things for the VA, has opened pipelines, has helped coal companies and workers, is pushing for vocational training, is reducing regulations as fast as he can and issuing few new ones. Consumer confidence and business confidence has risen substantially since Trump took office. The public supports smaller government and lower taxes. The public does not support sanctuary cities and states. Polls have shown that the public supports the RAISE immigration Act just like Trump. Polls support Trump on keeping the statues. Trump has done great work reducing illegal immigration and going after gangs. Polls show overwhelmingly that the public supports photo IDs for voting. Trump is trying as hard as he can to fix the disastrous cascading failure of ObamaCare and is working to fix the complicated tax code and to lower rates. The problem is Congress, where Democrats in lockstep and some Republicans are doing what they can to obstruct Trump and protect the power they have amassed. Obama left a disastrous ObamaCare, massive new regulations, never went through Congress on immigration, rarely passed a budget, and left disasters in Syria, The Middle East, North Korea and other places for Trump to attempt to fix. The media continually says Trump lies about voter fraud, but recent reports from Chicago have shown more votes than actual voters. Why wont WP, NYT or AP do an investigative report of this obvious fraud? Dont they want the public to know? Obama and the Democrats rarely passed a budget, ran up debt by $10 trillion, and instead of Congress attempting to work with Trump go from one vacation to the next saying Trump doesnt know what he is doing. He doesnt know that the goal is to not do much while pretending that they do. Obama and the Democrats actually shut down government over ObamaCare funding and threatened to shut down government if Planned Parenthood didnt get $500 Million. Of course the media repeated the Democrat talking points that Republicans were at fault. Emanuel Macrons approval rating has dropped from 66% to just 36% in just four months despite massive adoration from American and European media, while according to Rasmussen Trumps has held in the 40s. I cant understand why the American media arent reporting this loudly and why his ratings would drop so much since he is a big supporter of the Paris Climate accord. It looks like Justin Trudeau and the Canadians are going to have to get tougher on immigrants and refugees with the novel concept of enforcing the law and the borders. I wonder why this isnt widely reported? Somehow, they will turn away Haitians in the same way Obama turned away Cubans. I wonder why Obama and Trudeau have never been called racists and xenophobes the way Trump has for wanting to enforce the border. President Obamas poll ratings stayed high throughout his term, despite Democrats continually losing seats nationwide. No matter how many Republicans won, the polling organizations always skewed their sample with a significant over-sampling of Democrats. That way they get the results they want. What would it take for polling entities to sample an even number of Republicans and Democrats? I would love for some AP reporter or any reporter to list out Obamas successful and popular domestic and foreign policies, especially ones that he passed through Congress. I can think of few, so why was he popular? On a side note: As an Illinois resident, I am so proud to have a pretend-Republican governor who believes being a sanctuary state is the way to go. As Illinois chases away taxpayers and businesses with higher taxes, he welcomes in more illegal immigrants. That will obviously help Illinois. Our politicians are so brilliant in Illinois that we have a 16% maximum estate tax while many states have zero. It seems to be above the comprehension of Madigan and others to understand why the wealthy move away or wont come to spend and invest their money here. It is such a tough concept to understand. Does Rauner think Madigan, Emanuel, other Democrats and reporters will now be more receptive to Rauner and will support him in the next election, because he welcomes people willing to break our immigration laws? The proper response of conservatives to the moronic and vicious attack by leftists toward any monument that could conceivably offend the highly developed leftist sense of aggrieved feelings is to join the campaign by identifying monuments to corrupt leftists who have been eulogized in politically corrupt history. There is no problem finding such corrupt leftists. Consider JFK and all the wicked machinations involving his sordid career. He used organized crime to win the West Virginia primary in 1960, which paved the way for his winning the nomination. JFK stole the 1960 election through massive voter fraud. JFK had affairs not only with movie stars like Marilyn Monroe, but also with underage interns whom he tried to entice into using drugs. President Kennedy also betrayed the Bay of Pigs forces who tried to overthrow Castro with his blessing. His gross incompetence nearly led the nation into nuclear war over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy also began America's major involvement in Vietnam, albeit with no clear plan to win that war, just to send our sons to die in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Or consider Betty Friedan, another idol of the far left. This Marxist toady fought ferociously for America not to send help to Britain when Britain was standing alone against Hitler. Friedan took the position that there was no difference between Britain and Nazi Germany right up to the day Hitler attacked Stalin. During the period in which this ghastly woman was on the side of both Hitler and Stalin what could be more evil? she followed Moscow's party line slavishly. Friedan rewrote her life into something that never resembled truth. She wrote of the drudgery of housework, though she had household servants who did the real work. She invented whatever was needed to fill her narrative as an exploited woman. Might we also want to remove all public images of Franklin Roosevelt, who allowed the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and who sold down the river all those people in Eastern Europe who had been victims of Nazism Poles, Czechs, Estonians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Yugoslavs into being victims of Stalinism? These were not people whose government had sided with Hitler. They had resisted Hitler. FDR tried to pack the Supreme Court. He created fascist-like government departments whose oppression of ordinary Americans was well documented at the time. FDR might have even allowed the attack on Pearl Harbor John Tolland and a number of other historians found that argument compelling, which would surely qualify FDR as the most monstrous president in history. Surely also America ought to remove every monument to Robert Byrd, the middle-level leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who elicited not the slightest protest from "Civil Rights" leaders, lackeys of the Democratic Party. If Americans could be persuaded to remove these goons and creeps of the left from all monuments and buildings, then who should replace them? Barry Goldwater would be a good choice. He was a champion of civil rights when that was unpopular, he strongly supported reasonable environmentalism when that gained no votes, and his whole life was a story of brave integrity whatever the cost. Even leftists have nothing really bad to say about Goldwater. Certainly another candidate is President Reagan, whose life was another example of courage, wisdom, and strength and who, like Goldwater, had no a hint of scandal, bigotry, or self-indulgence. If everywhere that a statue of Robert E. Lee was taken down, a statue of Ronald Reagan were put in its place, that might cool the left into reluctant quiescence. There are many more noble figures on the right who could replace the sleazy left: William F. Buckley, Douglas MacArthur, Robert Taft, Walt Disney, Phyllis Schlafly, and other conservatives whose life stories are inspiring and whose accomplishments are real. It is not hard to find great conservatives, but it is difficult to find leftists who can survive in the squalid amorality of dishonest and power-hungry cadres. The predictably stupid leftist jihad against long dead Confederate generals opens the door for us to counterattack, both by demanding that leftist icons whose feet are worse than clay be banished from public life and by insisting that exceptional conservatives take their place. The best defense is a good offense, and that is nowhere more true than in the battle over monuments. His presidency is a flop. He has not made even a single legislative accomplishment. His healthcare reform plan was knocked out three times, he has a really low approval rating, and he is getting nothing done. This is the message that the leftist (mainstream) media is feeding America, and most people eat it up with savor, no questions asked. Coupled with Donald Trumps personality, numerous White House personnel changes and the ongoing Russia investigation, one would think that Trump is doomed, counting the days until his failed presidency crashes down with impeachment or ends in grave defeat at the hands of a Democrat less than three and a half years down the road. But alas, this very reasonable and seemingly proven and compelling prognostication (as the media presents it) is pure hogwash, as is so much else that is directed at the public in the name of truth. While it is so that Donald Trump has not yet succeeded with major legislation, the golden key to his presidency is the executive one: executive actions and initiatives that lie within the exclusive jurisdiction of the President. It is here that the Trump presidency is a smashing success, in defiance of its innumerable detractors. Every President operates on two levels -- the legislative and the executive -- and most Presidents do not easily succeed at both. Those Presidents who pushed through sweeping legislation without sizeable majorities for their parties in Congress were typically moderates who were wary of taking bold executive actions, and whose accomplishments were thus largely limited to the legislation they promoted. In contrast, those few Presidents with bold personalities and gutsy plans were often not well received by the majority on Capitol Hill, and they instead got things done on the executive level. The rare exception is someone such as Ronald Reagan, who was blessed with a personality that earned him the reputation as The Great Communicator, and who was able to shine both on Capitol Hill and in the Oval Office. President Trump, whatever one thinks of him, has taken off flying on the executive level. As a result of aggressive deregulation, the economy is roaring -- record-low unemployment and a record-high stock market, plus an impressive rise in GDP, with new and major companies building and hiring. North Korea is being heavily sanctioned and dauntlessly confronted. (Imagine if Obama were President now; weakness is the last thing we need at this moment. Thank God that Trump is the Commander-in-Chief, rather than his predecessor, who left North Korea [and so many other totalitarian regimes] totally unchecked and enabled it to become a nuclear power.) Street gangs, such as MS-13, are being robustly prosecuted. Energy is on the move, including coal and the Keystone KL pipeline project. ISIS is on its deathbed, Taliban forces are in for a nasty surprise, and Iran and Syria have finally been shown that the U.S. means business. FEMAs response to Hurricane Harvey was hailed and contrasted with the federal governments response to disasters under previous administrations. This progress is all the result of executive decisions, not legislation or anything related to Congress. While it might be argued that many of those who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination would have met success on the legislative level, due to their character and popularity, one can imagine the lack of action on the part of many of these same people on the executive level. Rather than boldly canceling out countless Obama-imposed regulations that were suffocating the economy, it is easy to envision these challengers taking a far more cautious approach, establishing balanced committees and study groups to deliberate each regulation, and thus getting little done in comparison. When Kim Jong-un threatened Guam over a month ago, Trump stared him down and threatened back with unprecedented firepower, and the North Korean tyrant quickly reconsidered (despite starting up again now); would the Presidents challengers have been so forceful and drastic? It is clear from the reactions of moderate Republicans that others would have shied away from the response of Trump -- and that would have been dangerously unwise. It is the intrepid and maverick approach of the current White House that cuts through the red tape and rushes to get things done, indifferent to naysayers and the weighty forces of inertia on the part of career politicians. Trump is Americas CEO, and his executive-level successes will create his legacy and leave detractors to grope in their comfortable cloud of bureaucratic dust. Avrohom Gordimer is a senior rabbinic fellow at the Coalition for Jewish Values, a public policy institute reflecting traditional Jewish thought. He serves on the editorial board of Jewish Action magazine, is a staff writer for the Cross-Currents website, and is a frequent contributor to Israel National News, Yated Ne'eman, and a host of other publications. He is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America and the New York Bar, and he works as an account executive at a large Jewish organization based in Manhattan. The views expressed in the above article are solely those of the writer. Tim Cook, J.P. Morgan, and George and Amal Clooney should realize that some[i] of the millions they are donating to the Southern Poverty Law Center is going to end up on the Cayman Islands or in other offshore secrecy havens. The SPLC is a big business that raises far more than it spends, and it is building up assets in places that offer secrecy as a marketing point. SPLC's building iin Montgonery, Ala. We know this thanks to some admirable (and often tedious) digging through publicly available documents filed with the IRS by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Joe Schoffstall of the Free Beacon deserves much credit: The SPLC has turned into a fundraising powerhouse, recording more than $50 million in contributions and $328 million in net assets on its 2015 Form 990, the most recently available tax form from the nonprofit. SPLC's Form 990-T, its business income tax return, from the same year shows that they have "financial interests" in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. No information is available beyond the acknowledgment of the interests at the bottom of the form. However, the Washington Free Beacon discovered forms from 2014 that shed light on some of the Southern Poverty Law Center's transfers to foreign entities. The SPLC's Form 8865, a Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, from 2014 shows that the nonprofit transferred hundreds of thousands to an account located in the Cayman Islands. SPLC lists Tiger Global Management LLC, a New York-based private equity financial firm, as an agent on its form. The form shows a foreign partnership between the SPLC and Tiger Global Private Investment Partners IX, L.P., a pooled investment fund in the Cayman Islands. SPLC transferred $960,000 in cash on Nov. 24, 2014 to Tiger Global Private Investment Partners IX, L.P, its records show. The SPLC's Form 926, a Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation, from 2014 shows additional cash transactions that the nonprofit had sent to offshore funds. The SPLC reported a $102,007 cash transfer on Dec. 24, 2014 to BPV-III Cayman X Limited, a foreign entity located in the Cayman Islands. The group then sent $157,574 in cash to BPV-III Cayman XI Limited on Dec. 31, 2014, an entity that lists the same PO Box address in Grand Cayman as the previous transfer. The nonprofit pushed millions more into offshore funds at the beginning of 2015. On March 1, 2015, SPLC sent $2,200,000 in cash to AQR Managed Futures Offshore Fund Ltd., which the SPLC marked to an address in Greenwich, Ct., on its form. However, the entity is located in Canana Bay, Cayman Islands, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records. Individuals at AQR Capital Management, a global investment management firm, act as executive directors of the fund and are located in Connecticut. Another $2,200,000 cash transfer was made on the same day to AQR Style Premia Offshore Fund Ltd., whose primary address and principal place of business is located at the same address as the previous fund in the Cayman Islands, according to SEC records. AQR Capital Management in Connecticut also manages this fund. No information is contained on its interests in Bermuda on the 2014 forms. SPLC's financial stakes in the British Virgin Islands were not acknowledged until its 2015 tax form. Now, to be clear, using offshore investments in secrecy havens is not a crime, and there are no doubt legitimate reasons for their use. And offshore banking secrecy has been radically diminished. But why would charities want to locate millions of dollars where tracing their ultimate destination becomes all but impossible? That is the opposite of transparency. And call me old-fashioned, but it seems to me that if you receive tax deductibility for allegedly serving the public good, then transparency is a moral obligation. Tucker Carlson refers to the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "fraud," and Stella Morabito documents multiple ways in which it is a scam. Nobody from the SPLC was available to comment, and we can be sure that the MSM will continue to present the SPLC as a legitimate arbiter of hate. Hat tip: Dennis Sevakis Yesterday, I saw an article by Jonah Goldberg. He related a story about two men helping each other. It indeed confirmed that Houston revealed the best of America, and he is so right: And yet, I couldn't help but notice that there is a "feel good" aspect to the whole catastrophe. The best example is the hyper-viral story of two men loading up their boat and driving into the storm. CNN's Ed Lavandera found them under a highway overpass readying the vessel. "You guys just jumping in to help out?" Lavandera asked. "Yes, sir," says one of the men. "What are you going to do?" Lavandera asks him. "Go try to save some lives." That man was African-American. His partner appeared to be Caucasian or maybe Latino. But it doesn't matter at all. We don't know if they're Republican or Democrat, pro-Trump or anti-Trump, NRA members or fans of gun control. (Though let's be honest: This is Texas, so we can guess on that one.) All they wanted to do was help. While it was a journalistic faux pas not to get the men's names, it almost made the story more endearing that we didn't get them, because it reinforced the idea that they were just normal Americans. On August 30, 2017 Bloomberg reported: Why has Guterres never made similar statements about Tibet? Tibetan students in New Delhi demonstrate at a U.N. Information Center (photo: R.T.Y Rohini). In his five-point peace plan, the Dalai Lama called to stop Chinese colonization of Tibet. When the newly formed People's Republic of China invaded Tibet in 1949/50, it created a new source of conflict. This was highlighted when, following the Tibetan national uprising against the Chinese and my flight to India in 1959, tensions between China and India escalated into the border war in 1962. Today large numbers of troops are again massed on both sides of the Himalayan border and tension is once more dangerously high. The real issue, of course, is not the Indo-Tibetan border demarcation. It is China's illegal occupation of Tibet, which has given it direct access to the Indian sub-continent. The Chinese authorities have attempted to confuse the issue by claiming that Tibet has always been a part of China. This is untrue. Tibet was a fully independent state when the People's Liberation Army invaded the country in 1949/50. Since Tibetan emperors unified Tibet, over a thousand years ago, our country was able to maintain its independence until the middle of this century. At times Tibet extended its influence over neighbouring countries and peoples and, in other periods, came itself under the influence of powerful foreign rulers the Mongol Khans, the Gorkhas of Nepal, the Manchu Emperors and the British in India. It is, of course, not uncommon for states to be subjected to foreign influence or interference. Although so-called satellite relationships are perhaps the clearest examples of this, most major powers exert influence over less powerful allies or neighbours. As the most authoritative legal studies have shown, in Tibet's case, the country's occasional subjection to foreign influence never entailed a loss of independence. And there can be no doubt that when Peking's communist armies entered Tibet, Tibet was in all respects an independent state[.] ... Human rights violations in Tibet are among the most serious in the world. Discrimination is practiced in Tibet under a policy of 'apartheid' which the Chinese call 'segregation and assimilation'. Tibetans are, at best, second class citizens in their own country. Deprived of all basic democratic rights and freedoms, they exist under a colonial administration in which all real power is wielded by Chinese officials of the Communist Party and the army. Although the Chinese government allows Tibetans to rebuild some Buddhist monasteries and to worship in them, it still forbids serious study and teaching of religion. Only a small number of people, approved by the Communist Party, are permitted to join the monasteries. While Tibetans in exile exercise their democratic rights under a constitution promulgated by me in 1963, thousands of our countrymen suffer in prisons and labour camps in Tibet for their religious or political convictions[.] ... The massive transfer of Chinese civilians into Tibet in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), threatens the very existence of the Tibetans as a distinct people. In the eastern parts of our country, the Chinese now greatly outnumber Tibetans. In the Amdo province, for example, where I was born, there are, according to the Chinese statistics, 2.5 million Chinese and only 750,000 Tibetans. Even in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (i.e., central and western Tibet), Chinese government sources now confirm that Chinese outnumber Tibetans. The Chinese population transfer policy is not new. It has been systematically applied to other areas before. Earlier in this century, the Manchus were a distinct race with their own culture and traditions. Today only two to three million Manchurians are left in Manchuria, where 75 million Chinese have settled. In Eastern Turkestan, which the Chinese now call Sinkiang, the Chinese population has grown from 200,000 in 1949 to 7 million, more than half of the total population of 13 million. In the wake of the Chinese colonization of Inner Mongolia, Chinese number 8.5 million, Mongols 2.5 million. Today, in the whole of Tibet 7.5 million Chinese settlers have already been sent, outnumbering the Tibetan population of 6 million. In central and western Tibet, now referred to by the Chinese as the "Tibet Autonomous Region", Chinese sources admit the 1.9 million Tibetans already constitute a minority of the region's population. These numbers do not take the estimated 300,000-500,000 troops in Tibet into account 250,000 of them in so-called Tibet Autonomous Region. For the Tibetans to survive as a people, it is imperative that the population transfer is stopped and Chinese settlers return to China. Otherwise, Tibetans will soon be no more than a tourist attraction and relic of a noble past. The U.S. bombed the road being used by a convoy of ISIS fighters and their families who had been granted transit to the Syria-Iraq border by the government of Lebanon and Hezb'allah. The Lebanese government negotiated a ceasefire with ISIS on Sunday after declaring "victory" over the terrorists. As part of the deal, they allowed 600 ISIS fighters and their families safe passage from the Syria-Lebanese border to an ISIS-controlled area near the Syrian border with Iraq. Lebanon hopes to begin negotiations with ISIS for the return of nine soldiers held by the terrorists since 2014. The U.S. did not sign off on the deal and neither did Iraq, which wasn't thrilled by the prospect of hundreds of ISIS fighters being dropped off so close to its border. CNN: US officials confirmed the airstrikes took place to prevent buses carrying armed ISIS fighters continuing eastward. Coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told CNN that the "coalition conducted air strikes to stop a convoy of ISIS fighters and their families from reaching an ISIS-held area in eastern Syria from the Lebanese border under a truce deal." He added that "the coalition has not struck the convoy. In accordance with the law of armed conflict, the coalition will take action against ISIS whenever and wherever we are able to without harming civilians" "The coalition is not a party to the agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS. Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told CNN. "ISIS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with is not a lasting solution," Pahon added, saying "the coalition is monitoring the movement of these fighters in real-time. In accordance with the law of armed conflict, the coalition will take action against ISIS whenever and wherever we are able to." Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Kurdish leadership condemned the ceasefire deal after it was announced. "We are not happy with the deal and we consider it a mistake by transferring territories to an area nearby the Syrian-Iraqi border," he said at a news conference in Baghdad Tuesday."ISIS is dying and we should not give it a chance to breathe," al Abadi added. Hezb'allah, which has the Lebanese government under its thumb, doesn't care if several hundred ISIS fighters infiltrate back into Iraq to fight the Iraqi military. The important element in the ceasefire for them is that it frees their own fighters to battle insurgents farther south. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi certainly has the right attitude: don't give ISIS a chance to regroup somewhere else. The U.S. military agrees and will try and prevent the convoy from leaving the Lebanese border. But as long as ISIS is traveling with women and children, we aren't likely to bomb the convoy itself. This presents itself as an Iraqi problem that Baghdad is going to have to deal with eventually. What about the Buffalo Soldier statue? Is it time to tear it down? The Buffalo Soldiers are mostly known for killing Native Americans during the Indian Wars. Can we really tolerate a statue to them, despite the fact that it is part of our history? They also fought in Cuba, Mexico, and the Philippines, where they killed Cubans, Mexicans, and Filipinos. Are any of their descendants outraged by the statue? I suspect that most people tearing down Confederate monuments have never heard of the Buffalo Soldiers. The Cheyenne Indians named the Army's black soldiers the "Buffalo Soldiers" because they thought their black, curly hair resembled a buffalo's coat. The Buffalo Soldiers comprised four regiments: the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. The first of the regiments was formed in September, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; the last was disbanded in 1951. The Buffalo Soldiers were known for their courage. A total of twenty-three of them earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. (Should there be a demand that the medals be returned?) In 1992 at Fort Leavenworth, a statue was dedicated to the Buffalo Soldiers. It was dedicated by Gen. Colin Powell, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The sixteen-foot-high bronze statue, which cost $850,000, was erected to honor the men who so valiantly honored the country for which they had enlisted. Like the soldiers from the South during the Civil War, they followed the orders they were given. And then there is the additional problem of Cathay Williams, the only female Buffalo Soldier. Since women were not allowed in the military, she changed her name and passed herself off as a man. Her deception was discovered two years later during a physical examination, and she was dismissed. A monument to her was unveiled on July 22, 2016. Should that one be taken down, too? (ANSA) - Cortina, August 30 - A restaurant client in Cortina d'Ampezzo, jewel of the Dolomites, complained on Tripadvisor about a black waitress dressed in traditional local costume. "The restaurant was enchanting but I sincerely did not appreciate the fact that it was a coloured person serving in an Ampezzo costume," said the client of the El Brite de Larieto agriturismo outside the tony Alpine resort, Fabio C from La Spezia. He said "it would be different if we were in an international restaurant in Milan, but it's like going to a restaurant in Morocco and finding a blond German dressed like a Moroccan". Owners Ludovica and Riccardo Gaspari said they were "stunned" at the criticism of the 26-year-old woman from Guinea-Bissau who has lived and worked in Verona for several years. They complained that the review fostered race hatred and asked for it to be removed, and Tripadvisor complied amid widening coverage, after first saying it "respects our guidelines. "Phrases that may be considered wounding for some people may not be for others", it had stated. "That rationale is absurd," said Ludovica Gaspari, quoted by the Corriere del Veneto newspaper. "All the staff wear Ampezzo costumes and I have no intention of making one of my waitresses change clothes just because she is black. Why should it bother anyone that she is African?" The restaurant, Gaspari said, "has always had people of various nationalities: what counts for us is their professionalism and skill, not the colour of their skin". BRUSSELS - Qatar's foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, met with European Parliament members and called on Gulf nations to engage in dialogue in order to lift the blockade they imposed on the country 90 days ago. Since the placing of the ''illegal blockade'', he said, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt ''have failed to legitimize the unprecedented measures against Qatar''. Kuwait, mediator of the crisis, ''wrote three weeks ago to all the countries, asking for the opening of dialogue, but so far only Qatar has answered'', the minister continued, and thus Gulf countries want ''to continue the blockade and not try to seek a solution''. ''Iran is a country that is close to the entire Gulf region and geography cannot be changed by leaders,'' the minister said in responding to those accusing Doha of having a ''special relationship'' with Tehran. The problem, he added, is that the blockading countries ''do not accept opinions that are different from theirs'' and ''they believe that anyone that has them is a terrorist''. ''Qatar's policy in Syria will remain the same,'' the minister said, underscoring his country's' commitment as ''active member'' of the global coalition against terrorism. The minister praised the initiative taken by US president Donald Trump, who on Wednesday called Saudi Arabia's King Salman, asking him to find a diplomatic solution. On Wednesday, the Qatari foreign minister met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on a visit to Doha intended to seek a solution. Lavrov assured him that Russia would be supporting the initiatives by Washington and Kuwait. NAPLES - The ruins of the 12,000-year-old Turkish settlement of Hasankeyf are at risk of being submerged by the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. The Guardian reports that the dam will be built 50 kilometers away from the site but will raise the water level to the point of submerging 80% of Hasankeyf, which is located in southeastern Turkey near the border with Iraq. Turkish authorities have begun to collapse cliff faces around the ruins of the citadel, famed for the thousands of caves dug in ancient times. The Guardian reports that ''local authorities have announced that the rocks were broken off 'for safety reasons' and that 210 caves - a fraction of thousands of manmade caves in the area - would be filled before the town's inundation in order to prevent erosion.'' The Ilisu dam, part of the Southeast Anatolian project (Gap) and one of Turkey's largest hydroelectric projects to date, has been mired in controversy ever since it was first drafted in 1954. The dam will submerge more than 300 historical sites that have still not been explored by archaeologists. ''The Tigris river basin is one of the last areas where a river runs freely in Turkey without having been dammed," Ayboga told the Guardian. "The dam will completely destroy the river banks. The microclimate will change due to the dam, a phenomenon we have already seen after the dams on the Euphrates. The biodiversity will suffer; the rich variety of plant and animal life will be severely diminished." In 2009, Germany, Austria and Switzerland pulled their financial contribution out of the dam construction in protest but the Turkish government went ahead and allocated 1.1 million euros for the works. The dam is expected to produce energy and water for irrigation, necessary for the area. (ANSAmed) - - Italy has offered to train this year 1,000 members of the Libyan coast guard, "anti illegal emigration service" and "criminal investigations" as well as "theoretical and practical instruction" for motorboat crews, the Libyan government has said. The offer was made during the meeting of the joint Italy-Libya committee on the fight against human trafficking in Tripoli on Wednesday. In addition, "the Italian side says it will continue repairing motorboats in the Tunisian port of Biserta", a statement posted on Facebook read. During the meeting Libya said "illegal emigration" costs the country "more than 30 million dinars per year" (the equivalent of nearly 19 million euros) in reception costs. Some 16,000 illegal migrants have been detained this year and "will be repatriated with help from the embassies of their countries", the statement continued. UN renews mandate of peacekeeping mission in Lebanon UNIFIL contributes to calm and stability, Ambassador Cardi says (ANSAmed) - New York, August 31 - The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to renew for one year the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon known as UNIFIL involving over 1,000 Italian soldiers. The UNIFIL mandate is now set to expire on August 31, 2018. "Italy voted in favour of this resolution to reaffirm its strong support for a mission that contributes to maintaining calm and stability in a region afflicted by conflicts and divisions," said Sebastiano Cardi, Italy's permanent ambassador to the UN. "Italy is proud to be a member of UNIFIL, a mission whose excellent work is due to the quality, dedication and courage of the troops provided by 41 countries," he added. The ambassador then stated the need to keep the duties of the government and peacekeeping mission separate. Each have "very different responsibilites, that must be preserved as such to ensure UNIFIL's full operational capacity and protect the sovereign prerogatives of the Lebanese authorities," Cardi said. "It is important that the Security Council has maintained its long tradition of unity and consensus on UNIFIL," he added. Italy, together with Indonesia, is the largest contributor of troops to the mission and has also provided it with three of its last five commanders. (ANSAmed). Qatar FM calls for dialogue to lift Gulf blockade Nations 'accusing those who think differently of terrorism' (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, AUGUST 31 - Qatar's foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, met with European Parliament members and called on Gulf nations to engage in dialogue in order to lift the blockade they imposed on the country 90 days ago. Since the placing of the ''illegal blockade'', he said, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt ''have failed to legitimize the unprecedented measures against Qatar''. Kuwait, mediator of the crisis, ''wrote three weeks ago to all the countries, asking for the opening of dialogue, but so far only Qatar has answered'', the minister continued, and thus Gulf countries want ''to continue the blockade and not try to seek a solution''. ''Iran is a country that is close to the entire Gulf region and geography cannot be changed by leaders,'' the minister said in responding to those accusing Doha of having a ''special relationship'' with Tehran. The problem, he added, is that the blockading countries ''do not accept opinions that are different from theirs'' and ''they believe that anyone that has them is a terrorist''. ''Qatar's policy in Syria will remain the same,'' the minister said, underscoring his country's' commitment as ''active member'' of the global coalition against terrorism. The minister praised the initiative taken by US president Donald Trump, who on Wednesday called Saudi Arabia's King Salman, asking him to find a diplomatic solution. On Wednesday, the Qatari foreign minister met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on a visit to Doha intended to seek a solution. Lavrov assured him that Russia would be supporting the initiatives by Washington and Kuwait. (ANSAmed). If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. These changes will deliver additional benefits to the eight million passengers who have travelled more than 65 billion kilometres on the combined network since 2013, increasing customer choice as well as frequent flyer earn and redeem opportunities. The adjustments announced today will also deliver financial upside to both airlines, with Qantas annualised net benefit estimated at more than AU$80 million from FY19 onwards. Meeting in Sydney, Australia, to finalise the extension, both airlines agreed the first five years of the partnership had lived up to the promise of serving their customers better, together. Changes to the joint network are designed to reinforce this for the next five years. Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: Emirates long term pact with Qantas has delivered huge success over the last few years for both airlines in the face of stiff competition and its no surprise that they want to extend this deal for a further five years. It is likely that regulatory approval from the ACCC will be granted, especially since most of the network changes are happening with Qantas re-routing London flights via Singapore. This move away from Dubai allows Emirates to better manage and gain more slots and gate space at its home hub which as we know is already at a premium given how much traffic passes through the airport every month. Ahmad added: Theres nothing stopping Qantas from shifting any future European flights back to Dubai International if it so chooses provisions for that flexibility is key to their partnership so that customers are afforded multitude of travel and connection options. With competitors like Qatar Airways under pressure due to the regional blockade and Etihad Airways reassessing its business strategy, there has never been a better business environment for Emirates and Qantas to deepen their collaborative efforts and its likely that this contact extension will not be the last one either. Future steps may include broadening the integration of each of their respective low cost arms in Jetstar and flydubai bringing them into the fold would allow expanded capability and connections to Trans-Tasman and wider GCC city pairings. KEY CHANGES The key change will see the airlines better leeraging each others networks, by providing three options to Australia from Europe via Dubai and Singapore, and direct to Perth. Qantas will re-route its daily London - Sydney A380 service via Singapore rather than Dubai and upgrade its existing daily Singapore-Melbourne flight from an A330 to an A380. As previously announced, Qantas existing London-Dubai-Melbourne service will be replaced with its direct Dreamliner service flying London-Perth-Melbourne. A detailed summary of the changes, including effective dates, is provided at the end of this release. Customer demand for flights from Dubai to Australia with Emirates will remain well-served. Emirates will continue to operate 77 weekly services from Dubai to five cities Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney including seven daily A380 flights. CEO COMMENTARY Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the changes represented an evolution of the partnership to deliver additional benefits for customers, including the millions of frequent flyer members of both airlines. The first five years of the Qantas-Emirates alliance has been a great success. Emirates has given Qantas customers an unbeatable network into Europe that is still growing. We want to keep leveraging this strength and offer additional travel options on Qantas, particularly through Asia. Our partnership has evolved to a point where Qantas no longer needs to fly its own aircraft through Dubai, and that means we can redirect some of our A380 flying into Singapore and meet the strong demand were seeing in Asia. Improvements in aircraft technology means the Qantas network will eventually feature a handful of direct routes between Europe and Australia, but this will never overtake the sheer number of destinations served by Emirates and thats why Dubai will remain an important hub for our customers. Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said: The Emirates-Qantas partnership has been, and continues to be, a success story. Together we deliver choice and value to consumers, mutual benefit to both businesses, and expanded tourism and trade opportunities for the markets served by both airlines. We remain committed to the partnership. Emirates has worked with Qantas on these network changes. We see an opportunity to offer customers an even stronger product proposition for travel to Dubai, and onward connectivity to our extensive network in Europe, Middle East and Africa. We will announce updates in the coming weeks. Customers of both airlines will continue to benefit from the power of our joint network, from our respective products, and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. BOOKINGS AND REGULATORY APPROVALS The airlines will shortly seek re-authorisation from relevant regulators, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to continue coordination of pricing, schedules, sales and tourism marketing, under an expanded partnership. Tickets for Qantas new services will be available from tomorrow. Customers with existing bookings impacted by the changes will be re-accommodated onto the airlines new services or will be given the option to change their flights. KEY CHANGES IN EFFECT FROM MARCH 2018: The choice of three hub options between UK/Europe and Australia Dubai, Perth and Singapore. From 25 March 2018, QF 2/1 A380 service will operate London - Sydney via Singapore, replacing one of the existing Singapore - Sydney A330 services. The second Singapore -Sydney daily service will continue to be operated by an A330 aircraft. From 25 March 2018, one daily Qantas Singapore Melbourne service will be upgraded from an A330 to an A380 (QF35/36), with the second three per week service increased to a daily A330 service (QF37/38) KEY PARTNERSHIP STATS SINCE ITS AUTHORISATION IN 2013: More than eight million passengers have travelled on the joint network, travelling more than 65 billion kilometres. Frequent Flyer members of both airlines have earned and used points flying on more than five million flights, travelling over 47 billion kilometres on the joint network. On average more than 10,000 Emirates passengers have travelled on Qantas domestic and regional services within Australia each month, increasing to 20,000 during peak periods. Customers can access over 2,000 routes over the joint network. For Emirates customers, the partnership opens up access to over 60 Australian destinations that Emirates does not serve, and for Qantas customers, it gives access to over 40 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North America, not served by Qantas. CODESHARE DESTINATIONS CONNECTING THE GLOBE: Together Qantas and Emirates provide customers with more than 100 codeshare destinations including: 33 codeshare destinations in Europe 60 codeshare destinations in Australia and New Zealand 14 codeshare destinations in Africa and The Middle East 2 codeshare destinations in Asia Held in Vienna, Austria, from August 29 to 31, the three-day event provides a platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities surrounding emerging space activities and civil aviation. Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, delivered a key note speech during the welcoming session, alongside Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA, and Hajime Yoshimura, President of Air Navigation Commission at the ICAO. The session comes ahead of the UN-UAE High Level Forum in Dubai, which is titled Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development and will be held November 6 9. Speaking to the global inter-sector audience, Dr. Al Ahbabi spoke of the current applications and possibilities offered by space: From communications to financial operations, agriculture to accurate weather forecasting, remote sensing to navigation, surveillance to treaty monitoring outer space and its applications are playing an increasing role in the activities of all nations and their peoples daily lives. Over the past few years, the space sector has experienced new trends, following the development and implementation of a range of remarkable technologies. He went on to discuss some of the most prominent challenges facing the global space sector, before addressing solutions being implemented by the UAE: Space debris poses an increasing threat to orbital bodies, satellite frequency bands are limited and prone to interference, growing space traffic is leading to orbital congestion, and cybersecurity presents a new range of challenges in space. In the UAE we are of the firm belief that we need to be better prepared for such challenges in order to ensure the long term sustainability of space activities. We believe such preparation should take place on two levels. On the national level, through the development of appropriate regulatory regimes; and on the international level, through the expansion or modification of existing governance systems and mechanisms. Naser Al Rashedi, Director of Space Policy and Regulation, UAE Space Agency spoke on a panel exploring the regulatory, operational and practical perspectives of aerospace activities. The discussion sought to foster a better understanding of legal and regulatory mechanisms under international aerospace and space laws. The panel also addressed factors affecting aerospace operations, with a view to ensuring safe and sustainable civil aviation operation, suborbital operations and space activities, as well as promoting reliable and consistent national regulatory frameworks. The ICAO is the United Nations organization responsible for codifying principles and techniques of international air navigation, and ensures the safe development of international air transportation. UNOOSA is mandated with implementing and overseeing decisions of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, working with a range of national space agencies and non-governmental organisations involved in space activities. An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2022 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in Singapore, compiled by the professionals at Dezan... New Delhi: Two months after the rollout of GST, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said apprehensions with regard to the indirect tax regime have been proven to be unfounded and a smooth transition has happened. He asked chief secretaries of all states to further boost efforts to increase registration under GST (Goods and Services Tax) and to achieve a quantum jump in this regard within a month, a PMO statement said. The prime minister was chairing his 21st meeting of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), a monthly interaction with top officials of states through a vide conference. GST was rolled out on July 1, ushering in a uniform indirect tax system in the country. The last 20 meetings of PRAGATI have seen a cumulative review of 183 projects with a total investment of Rs 8.79 lakh crore, according to the PMO statement. Resolution of public grievances has also been reviewed in 17 sectors, it said. In Wednesday's meeting, the prime minister reviewed the progress of nine vital infrastructure projects worth over Rs 56,000 crore in the railway, road, power and oil pipeline and health sectors, the statement said. These projects are spread over several states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, and Kerala, it said. He reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to patents and trademarks. He noted the improvement in performance and asked the officers concerned to work towards further expediting the processing of patent and trademark applications, the statement said. Officials explained the steps taken towards speeding up the grant of patents and trademarks, including enhanced manpower, it said. The prime minister emphasized the importance of using latest available technology, to streamline the process, and reach global standards in this regard, the statement said. The projects reviewed on Wednesday included the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and construction of four new AIIMS at Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh, Kalyani in West Bengal, Nagpur in Maharashtra and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister also reviewed the progress of the Smart Cities Mission and appreciated the participation of cities in the challenge route, the statement said. He said the challenge before everyone is now to ensure implementation and expeditious completion of the work in the 90 identified cities, with high quality, the PMO said. Reviewing the progress of the Forest Rights Act, the prime minister emphasized the importance of using space technology to determine the rights of tribal communities, and settle claims expeditiously. On Government e-Marketplace (GeM), he said the portal has improved transparency, and has reduced wasteful expenditure, the statement said. He asked the chief secretaries of all states to give priority to GeM in government procurements. Following the discord at the first screening, all previews of Baadshaho have been cancelled. Reports of this weeks big ticket-releases, according to sources, are disheartening. Apparently, producer Bhushan Kumar hosted a screening of Baadshaho for family and friends on Monday night. The films Mumbai and Maharashtra distributors were invited too. And the distributors reportedly did not like what they saw. Sources say there was a major argument that erupted between the T-Series honcho and the distributors. Following the discord at the first screening of the movie, all previews of Baadshaho have been cancelled. Says a source, Now, after the response at Bhushans private screening, no previews of Baadshaho are to be held. The press show is this morning. The negative reports for the movie, on top of the crippling weather conditions in Mumbai, and the violence in Haryana and Punjab over Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs conviction spells bad news for Ajay Devgn. The actor seems to be counting heavily on this film, after the limited success of his last release, Shivaay. Emraan Hashmi too hasnt had a hit in recent times and will be affected by Baadshahos fortunes. This weeks other release, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan however, carries rather encouraging reports. The films lead pair, Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar, have a success each in Bareilly Ki Barfi and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha behind them. Besides, small town rom-coms seem to be the flavour of the year. A cheque of Rs 25 lakh was sent by 'Dangal' star through courier and was received at the office of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Aamir Khan's blockbuster 'Dangal' is still playing in theatres in Hong Kong. New Delhi: In a noble cause, Aamir Khan has donated Rs 25 lakhs to the Chief Minister's relief fund for a smoother relief operations for Bihar floods victims. He has also urged his fans to help the victims. A cheque of Rs. 25 lakh was sent by 'Dangal' star through courier and was received at the office of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. This is not the first time the actor has donated such a big amount to a state. Earlier this month, Khan donated the same amount for the flood victims in Assam and Gujarat. Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal took to Twitter to thank Aamir Khan for the generous contribution. Over one crore seventy lakh people have been affected by the floods in Bihar. The death toll has mounted to 415, with 21 districts being affected by the deluge. 22 lakh people of the district Darbhanga have been affected by the floods. Power Sub-Station Poria in Darbhanga district has been flooded, electricity in many villages has been affected badly. According to the locals, power sub-station has been flooded for the last 15 days due to which power supply has hit badly. District Magistrate of Darbhanga, Chandrashekhar has given the assurance that the alternative arrangements are being made in villages and the situation will get better in next one or two days. The situation continues to worsen in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and Darbhanga districts. Urban areas of Muzaffarpur have been deluged following the overflow of water in Tirhut Canal. Rail traffic on Darbhanga-Samastipur section continues to be disrupted. After the Patiala portion is done, the Raazi crew will be flying to Kashmir where a major part of the film is to be shot. Actress Alia Bhatt and the rest of the cast and crew of Meghna Gulzars Raazi had to call off their shoot in Patiala after violence broke out in Panchkula and parts of Haryana, as a result of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahims arrest. However, as of Wednesday, the mob violence seems to have settled down in the area, and the team is ready to start shooting once more. Things are better here and we are planning to get back to our shooting schedule from today. The entire cast and crew are absolutely safe and fine, a source on the sets revealed. After the Patiala portion is done, the Raazi crew will be flying to Kashmir where a major part of the film is to be shot. Raazi, which is being directed by Meghna Gulzar and produced by Karan Johar, is the story about a Kashmiri girl (played by Alia), who marries a Pakistani officer (played by Vicky) and spies for the Indian Intelligence. Its based on Harinder Sikkas novel Calling Sehmat. Two STF teams are interrogating the couple at separate destinations. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday arrested Dr Rajiv Misra, the suspended principal of Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur, and his wife Dr Purnima Shukla. The two were arrested from G.T. Road in Kanpur while they were moving towards Allahabad. The couple had come to take legal advice from a well-known lawyer in Saket Nagar in Kanpur. Two STF teams are interrogating the couple at separate destinations. The police, earlier in the day, also carried out raids at multiple places in Gorakhpur for another accused Dr Kafeel Khan, former nodal officer of the encephalitis ward in BRD Medical College, but he could not be found. Meanwhile, the UP health department filed two separate caveats before the Allahabad and Lucknow benches of the high court against BRD Medical College. The state health department said it was fully aware and vigilant about the August 10 incident at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, which resulted in the deaths of over 33 children due to lack of oxygen supply to the wards. The case has been transferred from Lucknow to the Gulhariya police station in Gorakhpur and DSP Abhishek Kumar Singh is leading the investigating team. In the past 48 hours, the police have collected documents and records from the principals office, seized records of employees named in the case that was filed at the Hazratganj police station here on the night of August 23. It has been alleged that former principal Dr Rajiv Misra and employees of the medical college did not clear dues of the oxygen supplier, Pushpa Sales Private Limited, and allowed `2.50 crore fund to lapse. Kickbacks were allegedly the main reason for delay in clearance of arrears. Dr Misra went on leave without informing senior officers even though he was aware of the oxygen crisis in the medical college. Head of the department of anesthesia, Dr Satish Kumar, who was in-charge of the oxygen supply, too went on leave. Dr Kafeel Khan, the then nodal officer of the encephalitis ward, was found involved in private practice and used the media to misguide the medical after the death of the children, according to the FIR. The other accused in the FIR are chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal, accountant Sudhir Pandey, assistant clerk, Uday Pratap Sharma of Pushpa Sales and Manish Bhandari. The case has been filed under Sections 409, 308, 120 (b) and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides Section 7/13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act. The CJI said that since the deadline was being extended till Dec 31, the petitions would be listed for final hearing in the first week of November. While opposing the relaxation of the order, it was argued that Aadhaar was an invasion of privacy and a violation of basic human rights. (Representational Image) New Delhi: The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it would extend the deadline for mandatory Aadhaar linkage to avail social security benefits from September 30 to December 31. Last week a nine-member bench had held the right to privacy to be a fundamental right and had referred a slew of petitions regarding the validity of Aadhaar for a fresh hearing by a three-judge bench. Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal made this submission on behalf of the Centre before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitav Roy and A.M. Kanwilkar when senior counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners, sought an early hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar being made mandatory for a host of schemes. The CJI said that since the deadline was being extended till December 31, the petitions would be listed for final hearing in the first week of November. At this juncture, the A-G urged the CJI to list these matters before a five-judge Constitution Bench and not before three judges. The petitioners contended that the biometric data and iris scan being collected for issuance of the Aadhaar card violated the fundamental right to privacy of citizens as personal data was not protected, and was vulnerable to exposure and misuse. While opposing the relaxation of the order, it was argued that Aadhaar was an invasion of privacy and a violation of basic human rights. They challenged the various notifications issued by the Centre insisting on Aadhaar for availing various benefits, including the mid-day meal scheme, scholarships, admissions to various institutions, domestic air travel, mobile phones. The petitioners said the Aadhaar scheme couldnt be made mandatory. They noted that Aadhaar enrolment had been made without adequate verification and in many cases the Centre has itself said enrolment was over 110 per cent of the recorded population in many states, giving rise to concern about fraud within the system. In some places, including Delhi, the enrolment level was in excess of 115 per cent. They argued that people were being denied access to basic needs like food and adequate nutrition; mid-day meals in school; rehabilitation benefits due to rescued bonded labourers; rehabilitation benefits for families of victims and survivors affected by the Bhopal gas leak, etc. The Centre, in its response, said Rs 49,650 crores had been saved in two years through transfer of benefits via the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme due to Aadhaar. There was a large public interest involved in continuing such savings, it said. At the same time, it must be noted that for various schemes under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, the government has also been disbursing benefits and subsidies to beneficiaries through the Aadhaar-based authentication, minimising the use and wastage of paper. The Asom Gana Parishad, a partner in the government, also opposed the decision and sought a review. Guwahati: Defying the oppositon, Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday inaugurated two colleges named after RSS ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Adarsh Mahavidyalaya, one in Bongaigaon and another in Golaghat district. On August 4, Mr Sharmas announcement the decision to set up model degree colleges had sparked angry reaction from various groups. Students and youth organisations such as the All Assam Students Union, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, and the Students Federation of India, along with opposition parties, leading intellectuals, litterateurs, artists, scientists, and educationists, had joined the protest. They demanded that the government should abandon the idea of naming the degree colleges after Deen Dayal Upadhyay who is barely known to the state. The intellectuals and some litterateurs wanted that these colleges should be named after cultural, literary icons, freedom fighters and renowned personalities of Assam. The Asom Gana Parishad, a partner in the government, also opposed the decision and sought a review. However, the states education minister refused to budge and went ahead with their plan. He stated that it was not the people but few intellectuals who are opposing colleges in the name of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Mr Sarma said, If some intellectuals, propagating left ideology in Assam, say that they do not know Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, it is nothing but their intellectual bankruptcy. The Assam BJP also stood by the decision of the government. Assam BJP president Ranjit Kumar Dass said, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was a philosopher. He is an ideologue of the BJP. We must shed the narrow outlook with which we are trying to look at Assam. We are part of Indian society and Assam [is] a soul of Indian society. If Assam needs to be protected then India must be protected first. Mohammad Shahabuddin had challenged the sentence that was awarded by the Siwan District Court on December 11, 2015. Patna: The Patna high court on Wednesday upheld the life imprisonment awarded to former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and three others in the 2004 acid attack case. A three-judge bench of the high court rejected the petition challenging the trial courts judgment filed by Mohammad Shahabuddin. The bench said, The court finds no merit to interfere in the conviction awarded by the trial court. Mohammad Shahabuddin had challenged the sentence that was awarded by the Siwan District Court on December 11, 2015. The trial court in its verdict had pronounced Shahabuddin and his three men Rajkumar Sah, Sheikh Aslam and Arif Hussain guilty under sections 302 (murder), 364 A (Kidnapping), 201 (providing false details regarding the case) and 120 B (Criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Lawyers representing Shahabuddin had pleaded that the trial courts verdict be quashed as his name was not figured in the initial FIR. Sources said that Shahabuddins lawyers are now planning to move Supreme Court for relief in the case. Shahabuddin and his henchmen were found guilty of abducting and killing two brothers Girish and Satish by pouring acid on them. The incident had occurred on August 16, 2004, when three sons of a local businessman Chandkeshwar Prasad were picked up from their house and taken to Pratappur, the native village of Shahabuddin where the crime was committed. Rajiv Roshan, the third brother somehow managed to escape from the scene of occurrence but was later killed on June 16, 2014 three days before he was to appear in the court as a witness. Shahabuddin who was earlier declared Type A history sheeter by the state police has around 39 criminal cases pending against him. Besides being convicted of murdering two brothers in 2004 Mohammad Shahabuddin has been held guilty in eight other cases. Sources said, until November 2014, he had around 38 criminal cases pending before magistrate and sessions court in Siwan. Shahabuddin who is currently lodged in Tihar jail is also facing trial in connection with the murder of senior the journalist Rajdeo Ranjan. Doris Leuthard is on an official three-day visit to India till Friday New Delhi: The issue of black money stashed away by Indians in Swiss banks is expected to figure prominently in talks on Thursday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard, who will be on a state visit to India from August 30 to September 1. The Swiss head of state will reach New Delhi late on Wednesday evening. In a statement issued earlier this week, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had said, H.E. Mrs Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation, will be on a State visit to India from 30 August-1 September 2017... India and Switzerland enjoy robust economic ties, with Switzerland being seventh largest trading partner and eleventh largest foreign investor for India... The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity to both sides for holding wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, global and regional issues of mutual interest. Swiss Presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier in 1998, 2003 and 2007. During the visit, Swiss President will have a meeting with Rashtrapatiji and hold talks with the Prime Minister, the MEA added. The Swiss embassy said, With regard to tax issues, Switzerland and India signed on November 22, 2016, a joint declaration on the introduction of the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) in tax matters on a reciprocal basis. The signing of the joint declaration with India confirms Switzerl-ands international commitment to implement the AEOI standard and that it is moving forward to strengthen its network of AEOI partner states. The Swiss Embassy added, In 2018, Switzerland and India will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Swiss-Indian Treaty of Friendship signed on 14th August 1948. This was the first of such treaties signed by independent India and an important milestone in the Indo-Swiss relations. On Monday, India and China agreed to end their over two-month-long stand-off in the Doklam Plateau by reaching an understanding. At the invitation of the President of China, Prime Minister Modi will visit Xiamen in China's Fujian province between September 3 and September 5 to attend the 9th BRICS Summit. (Photo: PTI/File) Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Xiamen in China's Fujian province between September 3 and September 5 to attend the 9th BRICS Summit, to raise the issue of Doklam and to solve this tension once and for all. The Sena, in an editorial published in its mouthpiece 'Saamna', said, " Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Xiamen in China's Fujian province between September 3 and September 5 to attend the 9th BRICS Summit, must raise the issue of Doklam on the platform and to solve this tension once and for all." At the invitation of the President of China, Prime Minister Modi will visit Xiamen in China's Fujian province between September 3 and September 5 to attend the 9th BRICS Summit. On Monday, India and China agreed to end their over two-month-long stand-off in the Doklam Plateau by reaching an understanding to not let their long standing differences become disputes. India-China standoff at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan trijunction, had been going on for more than two months and the situation arose after China started constructing a road in the area. India objected to the road construction after the Chinese troops ignored Bhutanese protests, triggering a face-off on June 16. After his meeting with Shah, the Haryana CM said his government had acted with restraint and he was satisfied with its work. New Delhi: Rejecting the Oppositions demand for his resignation over mishandling the situation after the court verdict against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, when over three dozen people died in violence, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Wednesday that his government is satisfied with our work and there will be no change (of guard) in the state. Mr Khattar met BJP president Amit Shah and submitted a report on the violence. Most of the deaths were due to police firing after the Dera chiefs followers went on a rampage when he was convicted of raping two of his women followers. Later, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After his meeting with Mr Shah, the Haryana CM said his government had acted with restraint and he was satisfied with its work. Even the BJP central leadership had indicated earlier there would be no change of leadership in Haryana, where the BJP formed its first government in 2014 barely six months after its stunning performance in the Lok Sabha elections. Despite the central leadership making it clear that Mr Khattar will continue as chief minister, it is also aware of the growing dissension within the state unit against him, with questions being raised over his style of functioning. Besides being the first BJP CM in Haryana, Mr Khattar is also a non-Jat CM ruling a Jat-dominated state. Last year too, Mr Khattar faced flak over the Jat quota stir when nearly 30 people had died during the violence. Then too the top BJP leadership had rejected demands for his removal. Replying to queries after his meeting with Mr Shah, the Haryana CM said that his government had acted with restraint as its first target was to ensure that the self-styled godman appeared before the court in Panchkula in Haryana. The Haryana government was accused of having mishandled the matter as lakhs of dera followers had assembled in Panchkula before the verdict on their chief was to be pronounced in the rape case. Justifying his governments actions, Mr Khattar said that had something happened before the controversial sect head appeared before the special CBI court on August 25, Gurmeet ram rahim might have used that as an excuse for not turning up in court. We acted with restraint. We achieved our aim, said Mr Khattar. When asked about the demand for his resignation, he shot back: Anybody can say anything... We are satisfied with our work. Whatever we did was right. There will be no change. He said the state police had used minimal force and had showed no laxity against those indulging in violence. To a question on the BJP having sought the dera chiefs support in elections, Mr Khattar said political parties seek everyones cooperation but there is never a condition for such support that somebody breaks the law. Nobody is above the law, he said, while claiming that his government had no deal with the dera chief as being alleged. Mr Khattar also rejected reports that the dera chief was given VIP treatment after he was convicted. Samajwadi leaders have stopped visiting the patriarch and even the courtesy visits by opposition leaders have dried up. Lucknow: Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is becoming increasingly irrelevant in Uttar Pradesh politics. For someone who held the centre stage of state politics for almost three decades, Mr Yadav is facing isolation both within the party that he formed and also the family that he built up. Samajwadi leaders have stopped visiting the patriarch and even the courtesy visits by opposition leaders have dried up. Even in the Lok Sabha, he ploughs a lonely furrow because the other four MPs owe allegiance to Akhilesh Yadav. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav continues to ignore his father on political issues. If he forged the alliance with the Congress against Mr Mulayam Singh Yadavs wishes for the assembly elections earlier this year, he also turned a blind eye to his fathers threat of breaking away from the party and attended the Patna rally organised by Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav to showcase opposition strength. Three days before the Patna rally, Mr Mulayam had said that he would quit the Samajwadi Party if it continued its alliance with the Congress or joined the proposed grand alliance. Netaji (Mulayam) is ignoring the changing political dynamics in the country. This is an era of coalition politics and we cannot move ahead without taking together like-minded forces. Netaji remains our inspiration and our guide but when it comes to political issues, it is Akhilesh who calls the shots, said a MLC known for his proximity to the SP president. Mr Yadavs political isolation within his party is evident from the fact that he has neither been invited nor has he attended any party function since Mr Akhilesh Yadav took over. As the party prepares for its national convention next month, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav will not be a part of the event. On the family front too, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav is losing support. His lone supporter during the recent crisis has been his younger brother Shivpal Yadav. Most other family members, especially those in politics have also distanced themselves from the patriarch. However, if sources are to be believed, Shivpal is being pressurized by his supporters to either break out on his own or give up politics. It is noteworthy that Mr Shivpal has repeatedly said that he would float a new front that would be led by Mr Mulayam. Singh Yadav. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, however, has pulled back his brother form floating a new front and this has irked his supporters. Time is running out and Mr Shivpal Yadav will lose out on his support base if he continues to delay a decision. It is clears that there is no place for him in Akhileshs Samajwadi Party and he now has to choose between his brother and his politics, said a Shivpal supporter. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday held a 'strategy session' with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. (Photo: Twitter | ANI) New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday held a "strategy session" with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, PP Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman were also present at the meet. While Jaitley is the in-charge of elections in Gujarat, the other ministers are co-in-charge of the polls. BJP's general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shah's residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. "The party held a strategy session to achieve the target," Yadav told reporters after the meeting. The Assembly polls are due in Gujarat in the end of 2017. Yury Trutnev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Governors of some of the Far Eastern Regions, among other engagements. Chennai: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Russia on a three-day visit from September 5 to participate in the third Eastern Economic Forum to be held in the Russian city of Vladivostok. In a statement, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said, During her visit, the external affairs minister will participate in the Opening Ceremony of the Forum on September 6. Yury Trutnev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Governors of some of the Far Eastern Regions, among other engagements. The high level Indian participation in the Vladivostok Forum follows the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Guest of Honour at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2017. Find out what happened that fateful day. In this Tuesday Sept. 24, 1996 file photo, Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, arrives for dinner in Washington. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the peoples princess. August 31, 1997 was the day Princess Diana's life came to a horrific end. Even 20 years later, the public's appetite for stories about her time on Earth has not diminished. A detailed account of her last day has been pieced together in a report by The Washington Post. It began as a leisurely day on her new love Dodi Al Fayed's yacht on Emerald Coast in Sardinia. Fayed's butler remembered them being in "good mood". They had been dating less than a month, but their romance was of such public interest because it had it all from thrilling to scandalous. The son of Harrod's department store owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, Dodi was rich. Diana was divorced from England's Prince Charles who cheated on her. A CHANGE On that fateful day, Diana called her friend Richard Kay to tell him she had made a decision to "radically change her life", The Washington Post reported. "She was going to complete her obligations to her charities," Kay is quoted as saying by The Washington Post and would withdraw from public life by year end. While she never told him why, Kay suspects it would have been likely she and Dodi were planning to marry. Over the years, there have been conflicting reports about their love story. Diana's relatives and friends say it wasn't serious. Dodi's family believe otherwise. Recently, the Daily Mail reported Diana's private secretary believed the princess was about to end her relationship with Dodi soon after their trip. THE RING The report by The Washington Post stated Dodi was going to propose to the mother of the future king of England that very night in Paris. Fayed is reported to have purchased a six-figure diamond ring for his lady. For that day, there was only a single entry on Fayed's calender - pick up the ring at 6:30 p.m. It was 11:30 a.m., when the couple got off the boat and boarded a plane to Paris. From the moment they arrived in the city they were hounded by photographers wanting to get their shot of the two. The sheer volume of paparazzi would increase as they day moved forward and was a sign of things to come. They arrived at the The Ritz, one of his father's hotels. There they parted ways while he went to the jeweller and she visited a salon for a hair appointment. After resting in the hotel's Imperial Suite, they left for Dodi's apartment to get ready for dinner. Just before that, she called her children Prince William and Prince Harry, who were with their father and Queen Elizabeth in Scotland. "For the first time in years, all was well with her world," Kay wrote in the Daily Mail. As they made their way to his apartment, photographers followed their every move as more waited outside the building. When they were finally inside the home, Fayed allegedly told his butler he was going to propose that night over dinner, the report revealed. HOUNDED BY PHOTOGRAPHERS However, their dinner plans were a bust. They intimate dinner at the Chez Benoit was interrupted by relentless photographers. So they headed for The Ritz's dining room hoping to enjoy their time together. She reportedly ordered vegetable tempura and he ordered grilled turbot. However, the other diner's indiscreet stares forced them back to the Imperial Suite where they asked their food to be delivered. Their plans were ruined once again as hundreds of photographers were waiting at the hotel. So they decided on a new plan. Diana and Dodi would sneak out the back door in a borrowed car, while their driver and bodyguards would leave from the front pretending to make way so the couple can leave. However, what happened after that has been scrutinised, investigated and even resulted in many conspiracy theories. While they did manage to escape, the driver was found to be drunk. After photographers received a tip of their escape, they quickly darted off to catch them. They couple's driver tried to speed off but crashed the car inside the Pont de l'Alma tunnel near the Eiffel Tower. Dodi instantly died and the people's princess died at the hospital. She was only 36. BJP president Ashish Shelar asked him to 'shun arrogance and apologise' for the chaos caused by rains on Tuesday. Thackeray was asked to explain the causes behind the city getting water-logged every year and people dying in monsoon, despite the Shiv Sena being at the helm of the MCGM for the last 25 years. (Photo: File) Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday flew off the handle when questions were posed to him on the monsoon preparedness of the party-ruled Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai or MCGM, a day after heavy rains virtually clogged the city. Faced with a barrage of questions at a press conference in Mumbai, an irked Thackeray told the reporters "stop the rains yourself". Latching onto Thackeray's comments, city BJP president Ashish Shelar asked him to "shun arrogance and apologise" for the chaos caused by rains on Tuesday. Earlier, fielding the query of a reporter, the Sena chief said, "You stop the rains then...Tell me what should I do? Do not think that you have the sole monopoly over Mumbai. We do serve the people, which are why they vote us back to power." Thackeray was asked to explain the causes behind the city getting water-logged every year and people dying in monsoon, despite the Shiv Sena being at the helm of the MCGM for the last 25 years. The reporter sought Thackeray's reaction, asking him about the MCGM's claims that it spends crores to ensure that the city does not get flooded, that desilting works are completed on time and pothole-ridden roads are fixed. In response, Thackeray said, "Shiv Sainiks are much more in touch with the common people than you (media) are. Our workers went to homes of people (to help them), but you did not." Responding to Thackeray's outburst, Shelar said, "Instead of speaking in an arrogant tone, you should humbly apologise to stranded people and rectify your mistakes." Referring to the Sena chief's statement that the administration can fight nature only to a certain extent, Shelar questioned if it was limitations of those in power rather than limitation against nature that led to the flooding. "Will you (Thackeray) answer where did Dr Amrapurkar go missing?" he questioned. Dr. Deepak Amrapurkar, a renowned gastroenterologist of the Bombay Hospital, went missing near the Elphinstone Road station following heavy rains which lashed the megapolis. According to eyewitnessses, he fell into a manhole, the police said. The BJP leader also questioned what would happen to the families of those, whose homes got inundated with water on Tuesday. "Where were those in power hiding (when Mumbai was flooded)? The BJP MLAs, corporators were out on streets helping people as part of their duty," he said. The Shiv Sena is under fire after Mumbaikars suffered a double whammy of the inundated roads and disruption of the rail along with vehicular traffic yesterday. Thackeray and MCGM Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had said that the civic body had done a commendable job in the given circumstances. Avinash Dharma-dhikari, senior police inspector at Saki Naka police station confirmed the number of casualties. Officials said that since two bodies found on Tuesday and Wednesday were in pieces, it would be difficult to identify them. Mumbai: Despite Tuesdays heavy downpour, rescue operations at the Chandivali building collapse continued albeit at a slow pace. The rescue operations were stopped on Tuesday evening for about three hours, as there was no power supply but resumed early on Wednesday morning. The death toll has now reached five following the recovery of two unidentified bodies, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. Officials said that since the bodies were found in pieces, it would be difficult to identify them. The NDRF team and the Fire Brigade officials have rescued eight people since Saturday evening, out of which five were dead. Ever since the collapse, five bodies have been recovered from under the debris, of which only three have been identified as Gaurav Mallar (32), Naval Naik (22) and Naseem Akhtar (30). Avinash Dharma-dhikari, senior police inspector at Saki Naka police station confirmed the number of casualties. The rescue operation has been going on since Saturday. Four days after the incident, two men are feared dead. We are trying to recover all the bodies, and the operation will not stop till then. We have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in their deaths and are trying to reach their families. Fire chief officer Prabhat Rahangdale said, The death toll has reached five, and two are still missing. The rescue operation is underway, and stops only at night, but resumes early next morning. The building, Crystal Plaza Business Park, located near Sangharsh Nagar in Chandivali was being demolished so that it could be converted into a residential complex. The structure collapsed at around 5:35 pm on Saturday after a slab broke off from the middle portion of the building during the demolition process. An official involved in the rescue operation told this paper that only the middle portion of the building had collapsed, while the other parts were intact. Users will be able to turn to their Echo device later this year and say, "Alexa, open Cortana." Amazon.com and Microsoft have joined forces to let their voice-controlled virtual assistants talk to each other, offering users the ability to seamlessly tap into work, their homes and shop online. The partnership is the first time two technology companies open up their artificial intelligence-powered virtual aides to each other, and will be aimed at outsmarting rivals Google Assistant and Apples Siri. The move in itself is rare as most virtual assistants are known to use data from their own ecosystems and not talk to one another. Users of Amazons Alexa will be able to ask Microsofts Cortana to do a range of activities from booking a meeting to reading work email. And Cortana users will be able to call on Alexa to play music or turn on house lights. Not to be left behind, Alphabet said on Wednesday Google Assistant will soon be available on third-party speakers and other home appliances. Starting later this year, with manufacturers like LG, youll be able to control your appliances, including washers, dryers, vacuums and more from your Assistant on your smart speaker, Android phone or iPhone, Google said. Several technology companies are trying to grab a share in smart homes, which allow consumers to control various connected appliances such as refrigerators and lights from a central hub or a smartphone. In the long run it would seem that Amazon has more to gain from this deal, as Cortana remains trapped within the PC...while Amazon has won a powerful ally in its battle against Google, Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said. While Amazon introduced voice-controlled Alexa with its Echo speakers in 2014, Google launched Assistant on its Google Home speakers last year. Apple in June introduced HomePod, powered by Siri. Amazon Echo devices will claim a 70.6 percent share of the U.S. market this year compared with a 23.8 percent share for Google Home, research firm eMarketer said in May. Users will be able to turn to their Echo device later this year and say, Alexa, open Cortana, or turn to their Windows 10 device and say, Cortana, open Alexa, the companies said. It is surprising to me that these competitors have collaborated, that speaks to the quality of their respective CEOs, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. They understand that they will benefit more by working together than trying to destroy one another. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, White House said. Washington: US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders. "The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region," it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists' funding and combat extremist ideology. "The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones" in the catastrophic storm, the White House said. Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulf's worst political crisis in years. The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies. Trump has responded with his own threats, warning North Korea it would face fire and fury if it threatened the United States. Such flyovers are common when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, official said. (Photo: AFP) Seoul: South Korea said its air force conducted an exercise with two US nuclear-capable bombers above the Korean peninsula on Thursday two days after a North Korean missile fired over Japan sharply raised tensions. The drills, involving two supersonic US B-1B bombers, four US stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean fighter jets, came at the end of annual joint US-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. North Korea strongly objects to the exercises, which it sees as a preparation for invasion and has responded with a series of threats and missiles launches in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump has responded with his own threats, warning North Korea it would face fire and fury if it threatened the United States and that the US military was locked and loaded in case of any provocation. Trump on Wednesday declared talking is not the answer to resolving the long-standing impasse with North Korea. The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years, Trump, who last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was starting to respect the United States, wrote on Twitter. Talking is not the answer! However, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, when asked by reporters just hours later if the United States had run out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea, replied: No. We are never out of diplomatic solutions, Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a visible form, Japans defense ministry said. SANCTION OPTIONS The 15-member U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan as outrageous, and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons program, but the US-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan was pushing the United States to propose new U.N. Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Koreas laborers working abroad, oil supply and textile exports. Diplomats expected resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given new measures were only recently imposed after North Korea staged two long-range missile launches in July. Asked if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump talked about restricting North Koreas fuel supply when the two spoke by telephone on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said an embargo on oil and oil-related products would be an option. A US ban on travel to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, curbing one of its few remaining supplies of foreign currency. China, North Koreas neighbor and main ally and trading partner, again urged restraint from all parties. Defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions, Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. I also want to stress that the current tense situation on the peninsula isnt a screenplay or a video game, she told reporters. Its real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region. KEY MILESTONE Early in August, North Korea announced plans to fire four missiles into the sea near the US Pacific territory of Guam. The Pentagons Missile Defense Agency and the crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted a complex missile defense flight test off Hawaii on Wednesday, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target, the agency said. The agencys director, Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, called the test a key milestone in giving US Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ships an enhanced capability, but did not mention North Korea. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea routinely says it will never give up its weapons programs, calling them necessary to counter perceived American hostility. The judges found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene, the court official said. Islamabad: A Pakistan court Thursday branded former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial, but acquitted five men accused of being involved in the 2007 assassination. The verdicts are the first to be issued since Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, sparking street violence and plunging Pakistan into months of political turmoil. Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation. He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013, in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution. But he has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi ruled he had "absconded", a court official told reporters outside, saying it had also ordered the confiscation of his property. The court acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to kill Bhutto. They were set to walk free nearly 10 years after they were first arrested, though a defence lawyer said it was not yet clear when they would be released. However the judges found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the court official said. The police officers -- Saud Aziz, who was chief of Rawalpindi police at the time, and senior officer Khurram Shahzad -- are now the only two people to have been convicted over Bhutto's assassination. Shahzad was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after the assassination took place -- an act the United Nations described in a report into the assassination as "fundamentally inconsistent with Pakistani police practice". Aziz was accused of both giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene, and of refusing to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. They were each been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 rupees ($4,700), according to a court order. Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented. The local bishop is still talking with the head of the local Religious Affairs Bureau. No solution has been reached to satisfy the local Catholic community. The faithful plan night vigils and prayers. Changzhi (AsiaNews) Catholics in Changzhi (Shanxi) are still engaged a 24-hour sit-in to protect the Wangcun Church and the surrounding land from confiscation and demolition. In order to stop believers from communicating with each other, Wechat App, a Chinese version of WhatsApp has been blocked. The website of the local diocese has also been blacked out. Until yesterday it carried information, pictures and videos of the sit-in and the violence against local Catholics and priests by hooligans working for the local authorities. All online news about the affair have also been censored. After decades, the Wangcun Church, dedicated to Saint Stephen, and the surrounding land, was returned to the diocese in 2012 in accordance with Chinese laws. Since then, the local congregation began to restore it, but a few months ago local authorities decided to expropriate the land to build a public square. Some members of the congregation are concerned that the church will also be seized (and demolished) in favour of highly profitable real estate projects. Two days ago, the government began tearing down a wall, but was stopped by the pressure of at least a thousand people and priests. Hooligans, soldiers, and policemen seriously beat a number priests and believers. After the violence, the village chief stopped the demolition, but the bulldozers remained nearby. Local Catholics have decided to continue their 24-hour sit-in. Last night hundreds of faithful were still praying and reciting the rosary. Over the coming days, groups of at least ten people are expected to take turns to maintain a night vigil. The local bishop, Mgr Peter Ding Lingbin, is still talking with the authorities, but so far no solution has been reached that can satisfy the congregation. Today, the bishop met with the head of the local Religious Affairs Bureau. The Pope and Patriarch of Constantinople, for the first time, co-sign the Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, marked on 1 September. Nature is not seen as a gift, but as a private possession to lord over. "The human and the natural environment are deteriorating together." Climate change affects primarily the poor. We need a "shared and accountable" responsibility, giving priority to solidarity and service. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - For the first time, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew have released a joint message on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, established by the Pontiff in 2015 on September 1st. The Pope had mentioned it during the Angelus of August 27th. In the Message, published in full below, the two leaders emphasize that the degraded environment is the result of a degradation of human ecology, where man no longer sees himself as guardian of creation and "collaborator of God ", but as an "over lord ". The prayer for a change of mindset is accompanied by a pressing demand for all those who have economic, social, political, cultural responsibilities to work in harmony "for the healing of our wounded creation," of which "those who live In poverty in every corner of the globe" are the greatest victims. The need for " shared and accountable" responsibility, giving priority to solidarity and service" is underlined. The story of creation presents us with a panoramic view of the world. Scripture reveals that, in the beginning, God intended humanity to cooperate in the preservation and protection of the natural environment. At first, as we read in Genesis, no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground (2:5). The earth was entrusted to us as a sublime gift and legacy, for which all of us share responsibility until, in the end, all things in heaven and on earth will be restored in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:10). Our human dignity and welfare are deeply connected to our care for the whole of creation. However, in the meantime, the history of the world presents a very different context. It reveals a morally decaying scenario where our attitude and behavior towards creation obscures our calling as Gods co-operators. Our propensity to interrupt the worlds delicate and balanced ecosystems, our insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planets limited resources, and our greed for limitless profit in markets all these have alienated us from the original purpose of creation. We no longer respect nature as a shared gift; instead, we regard it as a private possession. We no longer associate with nature in order to sustain it; instead, we lord over it to support our own constructs. The consequences of this alternative worldview are tragic and lasting. The human environment and the natural environment are deteriorating together, and this deterioration of the planet weighs upon the most vulnerable of its people. The impact of climate change affects, first and foremost, those who live in poverty in every corner of the globe. Our obligation to use the earths goods responsibly implies the recognition of and respect for all people and all living creatures. The urgent call and challenge to care for creation are an invitation for all of humanity to work toward sustainable and integral development. Therefore, united by the same concern for Gods creation and acknowledging the earth as a shared good, we fervently invite all people of goodwill to dedicate a time of prayer for the environment on September 1st. On this occasion, we wish to offer thanks to the loving Creator for the noble gift of creation and to pledge commitment to its care and preservation for the sake of future generations. After all, we know that we labor in vain if the Lord is not by our side (cf. Ps. 126-127), if prayer is not at the center of our reflection and celebration. Indeed, an objective of our prayer is to change the way we perceive the world in order to change the way we relate to the world. The goal of our promise is to be courageous in embracing greater simplicity and solidarity in our lives. We urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the earth and to attend to the needs of the marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of millions and support the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation. We are convinced that there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, unless we give priority to solidarity and service. From the Vatican and from the Phanar, 1 September 2017 Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew The Statement between Jerusalem and Rome is presented. The latter emphasises common traditions, as well as theological differences. Catholics are "partners, close allies, friends and brothers". Moral behaviour and religious education are a way "to influence and inspire ". The pope expressed his best wishes for the Jewish New Year. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis on Thursday met with representatives of the Conference of European Rabbis, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, who are involved in talks with the Holy Sees Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. The meeting included the presentation of the Statement between Jerusalem and Rome. In his address, the Holy Father said that religions must not use war, coercion or social pressure to exert their influence. Following greetings from Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, former Moscow chief rabbi and president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Francis underlined the growing relations between Catholics and Jews thanks to the conciliar declaration Nostra Aetate, which represents the Magna Charta of our dialogue with the Jewish world. The latter notes that the origins of the Christian faith are to be found, in accordance with the divine mystery of salvation, in the Patriarchs, in Moses and in the Prophets. The pontiff praised the new Statement Between Jerusalem and Rome, [which] does not hide, however, the theological differences that exist between our faith traditions. All the same, it expresses a firm resolve to collaborate more closely, now and in the future. Your document is addressed to Catholics, speaking of them as partners, close allies, friends and brothers in our mutual quest for a better world blessed with peace, social justice and security. For Francis, it is very important to affirm that religions must use moral behavior and religious education not war, coercion or social pressure to influence and inspire. This is most important: may the Eternal One bless and enlighten our cooperation, so that together we can accept and carry out ever better his plans, plans for welfare and not for evil, for a future and a hope (Jer 29:11). The pope also expressed to the Jewish representatives his best wishes for the Jewish New Year which will begin in a few weeks. Shanah tovah! Fear of Kim Jong-un's threat fuels arms race. This is Japans sixth annual defence spending increase. Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) Japan plans to boost defence spending next year by 2.5 per cent to 5.26 trillion yen (US $ 48 billion). This would be the sixth annual increase under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who ended a decade-long defence budget cuts. Japans Defence Ministry made the request to parliament in response to the growing threat from North Korea. The budget request covers appropriations for missile interceptors with expanded range, altitude and accuracy. The ministry also sought 19.6 billion yen towards the development of a new radar system with improved abilities to detect and track ballistic missiles, as well as 10 billion yen to study technologies to create high-speed glide bombs. Two days ago, a North Korean missile flew over Japan, ending up in the northern Pacific Ocean. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Tuesdays missile firing an unprecedented, grave and serious threat. The next day, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said Tokyo must quickly upgrade its missile arsenal. The ministry also wants to add the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defence system, whilst considering an option for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), which is opposed by the Catholic Church in South Korea. The Defence Ministrys budget request comes as British Prime Minister Theresa May visited a Japanese warship Thursday to underscore, as she put it, the growing cooperation and partnership that we have on defence matters. May and Onodera boarded the Izumo on Thursday at a naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. Best Razors for Shaving Your Head The Best Tools for Achieving a Clean, Sleek Dome 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. Shaving can be a daunting and treacherous experience for the average man. Being misinformed by major marketing ploys from companies can lead to difficult dates in the bathroom. The selection process for choosing razors can sometimes be a whirlwind of pain and first class ticket to irritation to the skin. Various parts of the body may require more attention when its comes to introducing it to metal blades. RELATED: How to Shave Your Head The head remains one of the most delicate areas to shave. At best, they should be taken with sensitivity, time, and effective preparation and exit strategy. With head shaves, its important to understand your bone structure and razor limitations; the skin may be listed as the largest organ in the body but its not immune to receiving wounds, bruises, scars, and cuts. What to Consider When Shopping for a Razor to Shave Your Head Sharpness: What kind of machinery will you need? What kind of machinery will you need? Blades: How many blades does your skin type allow? How many blades does your skin type allow? Prep: Will you need extra preparation tools (ex. Lubrication products) Will you need extra preparation tools (ex. Lubrication products) Cleanliness: Is it easy to maintain? Electric shavers are a great base for achieving a clean cut for the head. Unlike like using razors on the head, its the most time-efficient process. With a simple plug in or even wireless device(s) it's a sure way to eliminate length without any risks of cutting yourself or irritating the skin. See below for our top picks that marry efficiency, cost and longevity of product. Best for a Quick, Close Shave Andis Shaver 17200 Andis This candy bar designed clipper is always ready to work. Its compact and lightweight making it super easy to control in the hands. One thing to keep in mind is that the bronze foil-attachment) should be cleaned out after every 2x times of using to extend the lifespan. Replacements are sold separately and easily be order online. The shaver is built with a lithium-ion battery. After one full charge the shaver lasts an impressive eighty minutes of shaving time, which is more than almost any other shaver on the market today. Note: For maximum removal of stubble, its better to cut in the opposite direction of hair growth. After a couple runs along the scalp, the shaver finishes strong with a quick & easy takedown. $69.33 at Amazon.com Most Luxurious Shaver Braun Series 9 Braun Braun Series 9 is another part of the supreme collection of electric shavers within the Braun family. The German-made blades are equipped with a rotating head for comfortability allowing a smooth glide. Its also packed with a locking mode on that will stabilize the head in 1-5 positions. Braun Series 9 is a fully flexible shaving system which adapts to all the sections of the head. It may be striking to the wallet but the advanced technology of this device guarantees proper execution & superiority. It includes a charging station with a built-in fan to dry off the razor minimizing any additional cleanup work. $239.14 at Amazon.com Best for Clipper Fans Wahl Balding Clipper Wahl The name speaks for itself because thats exactly what these Wahl Clippers are made to do: Bald. If skin irritation and ingrown hairs are an ongoing concern for you these are ones for the toiletry arsenal. Not only is the motor very powerful, but the teeth on the blade are tightly knit for that single pass that can remove virtually all visible hair. With this level of power, there are some small maintenance responsibilities which includes brushing out any hair that may get caught underneath the blade. Its also recommended to oil your clippers, after each use, to make sure theyre continuing to cut effectively after each pass. $59.86 at Amazon.com Best for Cordless Control Bevel Trimmer Bevel We love the sleek design of this cordless trimmer from Bevel. You get up to eight hours of use on a single charge, while the body shape makes it easy to hold and control with a single hand. The blade itself is sharp and easily adjustable, and treated with an antimicrobial coating to repel dirt and oil. The screwdriver-free design makes this thing very easy to clean, too. $199.95 at GetBevel.com Best Budget Option HeadBlade ATX HeadBlade Part of a successful head shave is being able to attack certain tight, troublesome spots like behind the ears, folds of the neck etc. With the newest Head Blade ATX, youre able to do just that. Unlike any four-blade or more system on the market, it features two wheels on the device that increases control and pacing as it glides smoothly across the head like a moving train. The length of the ATX is only about the width of three fingers and smaller than a safety razor. Its ability to adjust to all heads is supported by the metal spring that is attached below the blades which is an immediate call to comfort. After a couple tries, your hands easily conform to this standout device and head shaving surely will never be the same. $15 at Amazon.com Best Classic Design Option Harrys The Winston Harrys has been stirring the pot in the shaving world. Their latest release includes the refined Winston handle. Its presented with a sturdy, sleek handle made up of aluminium. Furthermore, theres a rubberized attachment in the middle which leaves you in total command of the head shave. Its German engineering & Swedish steel carry a reputation of excellence when talking razor composition. The lubricating strip (top) makes up for a smooth finish. If youre a person of diligence, it wont hurt your wallet to know the individual blades start at $2 or simply grab the entire kit which includes its soft products for a complete set. Read our review of the Harry's subscription box here. $20 at Harrys.com You Might Also Dig: AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. By Geoff Goodhill, Professor of Neuroscience and Mathematics, The University of Queensland MriMan/shutterstock What does this mean: wht has Don Trm don nw? Youve probably decided the intended question is: What has Donald Trump done now? But how did you reach that conclusion? The word fragments could be part of many different words. You even expanded two almost identical fragments Don and don to different words Donald and done. When you enter those partial words into a Google search, none of the top search results relate to the current President of the United States. Google search/screenshot So Googles not that smart after all. Clearly, its search programmers and engineers need to better understand what is going on in the human brain if they are to improve their search engine algorithms. And thats why theyre turning to neuroscientists for help. Read more: Terminator 2 in 3D reminds us what weve still to learn about AI and robotics Brain interpretation People are astonishingly capable of making sense of language, even though it is often ambiguous. Even a simple sentence of well-formed words has many different interpretations. For instance time flies like an arrow could mean you should time flies like you would time an arrow, or time flies like an arrow would time flies, among many other options. You can understand that these are all possible but you probably chose the most common interpretation, time moves fast in a similar way to an arrow. How do you do that? Understanding language is just one example of the amazing feats of computation you are performing at every moment, without even being aware of it. Another is understanding visual images. Every two-dimensional image on your retina could have been generated by any number of three-dimensional scenes. Each edge could be part of several different objects, or indeed just noise. But you almost always get it right. One difficult example is segmenting objects from background, even when the images (and thus object borders) are very noisy, and the objects are complex shapes, which is often the case with medical imaging. Even without noise it can be hard for algorithms to segment out whats important. Another difficult example is adversarial images, specifically designed to fool computer vision algorithms, even though humans have no problem with them. Current computer algorithms and programs are catching up with human skill in domains like language understanding and processing visual images. Flickr/Janaina C Falkiewicz, CC BY Google/Screenshot But Google and other tech companies would love to get better at this, to improve both their products and their ability to extract statistical patterns from vast amounts of data. Tech needs neuroscience Thats why they have been hiring from the neuroscience sector to gather people with backgrounds in understanding how biological brains perform computations. For example, earlier this year Uber hired Zoubin Ghahramani, an expert in machine learning and former neuroscientist, as its chief scientist. Demis Hassabis, founder of the start-up DeepMind (subsequently acquired by Google for more than 400-million) who also has a background in neural processing, recently boasted another recruit from neuroscience. These are just some of the high-profile cases; there are others who are being hired from PhD and postdoc positions who dont make headlines. The research in AI at Google is producing results, with a rise in the number of papers published in academic journals. Biological thinking Biological brains work nothing like digital computers. Brains are massively parallel, harnessing the power of a huge number of relatively slow and simple processing elements working together. Each neuron is connected to many others so that in the human brain there are about a million billion connections. Digital computers instead do one thing at a time, albeit extremely fast. Even so-called parallel computers simply split the problem up into smaller chunks, but each chunk still involves performing many individual steps. Brain-like parallel computation can be simulated on digital computers. Indeed, deep learning is a method for a machine to learn from large amounts of data that was originally inspired by neuroscience, and is now a key ingredient of Googles algorithms. But on digital computers this requires large amounts of power, while the human brain uses less power than a light bulb. Simultaneously, our knowledge of the brain itself is being transformed by new technologies. These include new methods for recording large-scale neural activity at single neuron resolution. Read more: We all need to forget, even robots In humans non-invasive techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) average together the activity of tens of thousands of neurons. But in animal models it is now possible to label neurons with fluorescent markers that glow brighter when neurons are active. Using new types of microscopy then allows us to see every neuron in a large region, sometimes even the whole brain, working together to solve problems. New neuroscience techniques such as these are poised to revolutionise our understanding of how biological brains perform their astonishing feats of computation. These new insights will then help drive new innovations in the algorithms that power technology companies, by revealing the computational tricks that biology uses to stay competitive. Algorithms are gradually allowing computers to think more and more like a human. But as AlphaGo recently demonstrated, predictions of how long it will take for computers to achieve human (or superhuman) level performance on any particular task are often wrong. So how long before a Google search will be able to understand the phrase at the opening of this article? Let me just finish by saying (and check for yourself how Google fails on this one as well): Wlme t th ftre Geoff Goodhill receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council. Originally published in The Conversation. Auto Rental News reached out to Avis Budget Group regarding how the company is managing business affected by Hurricane Harvey. All Avis Budget Group employees have been accounted for, and we continue to manage their personal needs to ensure their safety as a priority, said Katie McCall, Avis Budget Groups vice president of communications. Our thoughts are with all those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Avis Budget is helping to support those areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. Our field operations are working around the clock to assess areas impacted so that we may continue to serve and support during this time, said McCall. Avis Budget Group has a longstanding partnership with agencies such as The Red Cross and FEMA, which enable us to be at-the-ready when community support is needed. The Red Cross has established base operations within one of our facilities at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). We are working with other partners and corporate customers to provide vehicles to customers who have lost their personal cars, added McCall. We are moving vehicles into the affected areas, but as this situation is still unfolding, we do not yet know how many of our vehicles will ultimately be involved. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. What transpires on the court ruling tomorrow will be determined by the Judges today in a secluded hotel in Nairobi. The judges are busy looking for ways of getting away with the case and end the chapter.According to the latest updates, it shows that the ICT experts from both ends did not have enough access to the IEBC server hence denied the right to excise their duty. They were given the logs on an external hard drive and a booklet talking about the logs and processes.The seven judges are in a secluded Nairobi hotel. This comes a day after receiving a judiciary-commissioned audit indicating anomalies in at least 121 Forms 34B, used to declare constituency presidential results.It has been received 70,000 pages to consider. Opposition chief Raila Odinga wants the court to overturn President Uhuru Kenyattas reelection and order a new election. He calls the August 8 vote shambolic, a charade.Also on the bench are Chief Justice David Maraga, DCJ Philomena Mwilu and Justices Jackton Ojwang, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu and Isaac Lenaola.Expert reports tabled before the court show at least 121 forms out of 291 scrutinised contained various anomalies.According to the report by Supreme Court Registrar Esther Nyaiyaki, 291 forms 34B representing the 290 constituencies and the diaspora were scrutinised by NASA experts.Some 56 forms did not have watermarks, a security feature that was part of the contract between the IEBC and Dubai printer Al Ghurair.Another 31 forms had no serial numbers, while five forms were not signed by returning officers.Railas lawyer James Orengo has termed the Judiciary report the smoking gun and argued nearly five million votes were at stake in constituencies with irregular forms.Our case has been proved that forgery, alteration of documents fakery and deception have been used in various ways, including one in which the server was used, Orengo told the court on Tuesday night.Raila has built his case that Uhuru was declared without requisite statutory forms and then IEBC fraudulently procured fake forms to justify the win. Lawyers for the IEBC and Kenyatta have rubbished the claims. The judiciary audit indicates, however, that of the 291 forms, 236 forms bore watermarks, while another 261 had serial numbers.At least 281 were signed by returning officers, 225 were signed and stamped by the ROs and two were only stamped. Some 260 forms were signed by agents, and 32 not signed, according to the report.Besides the audit of forms, there was a separate audit by the court on the ICT system, including the IEBC computer servers.The report prepared by Professors Elijah Omwenga, Joseph Sevilla and Janet Kadenyi observed that IEBC allowed only partial read-only access to its servers, with no copy capability or access to database logs.The NASA and Jubilee verdict will be given tomorrow and leaders across the world urged the people in Kenya to excise peace and accept the Out come. "The judges are your sons and daughters, brothers and Sisters so we believe there will be peace but not dividing the country into pieces. " UN official said. KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion will be sworn into the parliament as a nominated MP today. The fearless KNUT secretary general ignored today the rumours that he wanted to decline the offer.Mr Sossion, the Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), recently publicly turned down his nomination but is listed on August 25 Kenya Gazette of nominated members to the National Assembly.Mr Sossion has been nominated to the House by Mr Raila Odingas Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).Others who joined politics from the Unions are Kuppet Chairman Omboko Milemba and assistant national treasurer Ronald Tonui won the Emuhaya and Bomet Central MP seats, respectively.Kuppet gender secretary Catherine Wambilianga is the Bungoma Woman Representative while the Nyatike MP is Mr Tom Odege, secretary-general of the Union of Kenya Civil Servants.In urging them not to turn down their seats, Mr Atwoli cited celebrated independence hero the late Tom Mboya, Dennis Akumu, Fred Kubai and Juma Boy who was elected to Parliament while still union officials.The COTU secretary general has warned the unionists not to fall on the political traps as they will kill the Unions in future because of personal gains.[no-sidebar] The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Gov. Rick Scott has the authority to take death penalty cases away from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala after she announced about five months ago that she wouldn't seek capital punishment for anyone. And in response, Ayala has announced that she will create a death-penalty review panel. But Gov. Scott's office said that's not enough. It's the latest political defeat for Ayala, who has faced an uphill battle after she announced in March that she wouldn't seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd, the man accused in the shooting deaths of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton. The newly elected state attorney said during a March news conference at the Orange County Courthouse that "while I currently have the discretion to pursue death sentences, I have determined that doing so is not in the best interests of this community or the best interests in justice." In a response later that day, the governor removed Ayala from the Loyd case and additional murder cases as the months went on, assigning them to State Attorney Brad King. In April, King filed paperwork indicating the state would seek the death penalty against Loyd. In April, Ayala filed a federal lawsuit against Scott because he reassigned nearly two dozen death penalty cases. "The people of Orange and Osceola counties overwhelmingly elected State Attorney Aramis Ayala to serve as their prosecutor, not Governor Scott or State Attorney King," Ayala's attorney, Roy L. Austin, said in a statement at the time. "Just because Governor Scott disagrees with State Attorney Ayala's exercise of her lawful discretion, he does not have the authority to interfere with her ability to do her job because of his political position." The court's ruling and reaction On Thursday, the state's highest court ruled the governor does have the authority. "The executive orders reassigning death-penalty eligible cases in the Ninth Circuit to King do not exceed the Governor's authority on the facts of this case. Therefore, we deny Ayala's petition," the court concluded. The court stated Ayala's "blanket refusal to seek the death penalty in any eligible case" shows that she "at best, (has) a misunderstanding of Florida law." Ayala said that she will respect the Supreme Court's decision, but in a surprising twist, she announced that she plans on creating a death-penalty review panel. "The Supreme Court of Florida ruled today that a case-specific determination must be made on first degree murder cases. To ensure todays Courts decision is heeded, I have organized a Death Penalty Review Panel comprised of 7 well-versed and experienced Assistant State Attorneys. This panel will evaluate each first-degree murder case in the 9th Judicial Circuit," she stated in a press release. She also said that she believes that with this panel in place, her office will prosecute all first-degree murder cases that happen within her jurisdiction. News 13 is attempting to reach Ayala and the governor for comment regarding this revelation. Scott stated the ruling is a win for many who have been impacted by violent crime. "Today's ruling is a great victory for the many victims and families whose lives have been forever changed by ruthless, evil acts of crime. I absolutely disagreed with State Attorney Ayala's shortsighted decision to not fight for justice," he said in a news release. However, his office also issued this statement regarding Ayala's announcement of a Death Penalty Review Panel: Until State Attorney Ayala fully recants her statement that she will not seek the death penalty in any case, and the Governor is convinced that crime victims will be protected and justice will be served, our office does not plan to return any of the 29 cases that are being prosecuted by State Attorney Brad King. State Attorney Ayala needs to make it clear that her office will seek the death penalty as outlined in Florida law, when appropriate. State Attorney Ayalas statement today leaves too much room for interpretation. Orlando Police Chief John Mina released the following statement on the decision: "I am extremely grateful for the Florida Supreme Court ruling on the reassignment of death penalty cases by Gov. Rick Scott. Under the prosecution of Brad King, the heinous murders of Lt. Debra Clayton, Sade Dixon and her unborn child have a chance to have their killer punished to the full extent of the law. I have seen the video of Markeith Loyd executing Lt. Debra Clayton while she lay defenseless on the ground. She was given no chance to live. A cop killer, who also killed his pregnant girlfriend, should not be given that chance. The crimes that he committed in our community are the very reason we have the death penalty as an option under the law." State Attorney General Pam Bondi called the court's decision a victory for victims and their loved ones, and she reaffirmed Scott was right to reassign the murder cases, which includes the case against Evertt Glenn, who is accused in the shooting deaths of two Kissimmee Police officers. Justices Jorge Labarga, Charles T. Canady, Ricky Polston and C. Alan Lawson sided with Scott, with Justice R. Fred Lewis "concurs in result." Justices Barbara J. Pariente and Peggy A. Quince disagreed with the majority of the judges. A Citrus County man loaded up his boat and headed to Texas to help people in need right after Harvey battered the state's east coast. James Creel of Crystal River helping in Port Arthur, TX Creel using Zello app as walkie talkie to find people needing help Creel says work far from over Crystal River resident James Creel has been helping with water rescues in Port Arthur near Beaumont, Texas. His parents, meanwhile have been staying in touch with him as often as they can. Creel has been keeping them updated with pictures along the way. "I know people out there, myself as a mother, thinking about all the children, that was my first thought of all these babies mothers and children to be rescued, that he would do and be able to accomplish and more proud than I could say," Debbie Creel, Creel's mother, said. The parents say Creels been using the Zello app to figure out where help is needed. Its like a digital walkie talkie -- if he hears a call come in and he's close by, he grabs his boat and heads that way. "We talked to him for a few minutes this morning he just brought in another boat load of 10," said father Jim Creel. "Last night, yesterday evening, he was up to over 200." We talked with James over the phone briefly while he was at a fire rescue station in Orange County, Texas. He told us his work is far from over. "There's a lot of panic going on right now due to the fact the storm has passed, but just the massive amount of water it's dumped to the north," Creel said. "Toledo Bend and up north along the Sabine River, all that water is now moving to the south, and a lot of these people are thinking that they are safe and that, you know, the storm has passed the water is going to start going down, but actually they are opening more flood gates." Because of the risk of more flooding, Creel said he doesn't plan to leave anytime soon. He's there with a friend from Louisiana, and the two continue to collaborate with fire officials and other volunteers to keep helping affected residents. "He says, 'Mom this is unstoppable.' I'm going to go until ... we're just going to go," Debbie said. Vibrant seashells, loopy crabs and minimal damage followed Hurricane Harvey as it slammed into the Gulf Coasts treasured Padre Island National Seashore Friday. The park opened its gates Wednesday and will return to its normal schedule ahead of Labor Day weekend. The main campground at Malaquite Beach is open, but no camping is allowed at the Bird Island Basin Campground. Authorities said Wednesday a 3-year-old girl found clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal in Beaumont is recovering from hypothermia. The child's mother, Collette Sulcer, 41, was the first of four local storm-related deaths. Beaumont Fire & Rescue Capt. Brad Penisson said Sulcer's vehicle got stuck Tuesday afternoon in the Plaza 10 parking lot just off Interstate 10. Squalls from Harvey were pounding Beaumont with up to 2 inches of rain an hour at the time with 38 mph gusts, according to the National Weather Service. Penisson said a witness saw the woman take her daughter and try to walk to safety when the swift current of a flooded drainage canal next to the parking lot swept them both away. The child was holding onto Sulcer when a police and fire-rescue team in a boat caught up to them a half-mile downstream, he said. Rescuers pulled them into the boat just before they would have gone under a railroad trestle where the water was so high that the boat could not have followed. First responders lifted the girl from her mother's body and tried to revive the woman, but she never regained consciousness. The girl was taken to the Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, where Officer Carol Riley said the girl was doing "very well" and was chatty. "Everybody at the hospital and the officers just fell in love with her," Riley said. The girl was expected to be released on Wednesday. "She's doing well and she's with her family," Officer Haley Morrow said. Sulcer was the first local Harvey-related death. Two people were killed in Jasper County around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday night when a tree fell on their truck traveling down FM 777. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the deceased Wednesday as Russell Barnes, 51, and Ginger Barnes, 43, both of Alvin. Russell Barnes was behind the wheel of the 2012 Ford pickup at the time of the accident, authorities said. Winds gusts were already high Tuesday night in Southeast Texas as Tropical Storm Harvey neared a daybreak landfall at Cameron, Louisiana. Harvey dumped more than 26 inches of rain in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area in a 24-hour period Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Beaumont police found a woman's body floating early Wednesday near Guess Road and Old Voth Road in the city's North End. Mayor Becky Ames issued a voluntary evacuation order earlier this week for low-lying areas in the North End. The woman's "name will not be released until tomorrow when we've made sure to notify the family," Morrow said. The woman's body was released to a local funeral home, she said. The Associated Press contributed to this article. MGstalter@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/morgGstalt Christus St. Elizabeth has begun water conservation care for 256 patients at the hospital, officials announced around lunchtime Thursday. "The hospital is urging the community to only visit St. Elizabeth if there is a critical, life threatening medical need," the hospital said in a statement. "The situation is critical, however, St. Elizabeth infrastructure was built to sustain during crisis situations as the one our community is enduring due to massive amounts of rain and flooding from Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey," said Christus Southeast Texas Health System CEO Paul Trevino. "We have assessed and secured our facilities to ensure the safety of our patients and Associates, and have enacted water conservation protocol. We have support and supplies from our corporate office in Dallas that allows for care of patients." Two water wells on the Christus St. Elizabeth campus provide non-potable water for infrastructure operations and patient care, the statement said. Potable water is stored on campus for emergent crisis situations. Potable water can be replenished as needed. "We are estimating 1 gallon of potable water per person per day on our campus, which means we only have essential medical staff caring for patients," Trevino said. "Our resources are limited, therefore asking our community to not visit the hospital unless there is a critical medical need." All non-essential, non-medical persons at the hospital are being moved to shelters in the area, the statement said. Christus is evaluating and considering selective transfers for patients who require specialized services that cannot be reliably provided due to the water situation, the hospital said. This includes 11 NICU patients, who we believe are awaiting transfer, the hospital said. Entergy Texas said more than 64,000 customers were without power as of 4 p.m., down from a peak this morning of over 80,000. Currently, there are 4,322 customers that are without power and are unable to be restored at this time due to high water, the company said in a statement posted on its website. "Entergy has restored 128,664 outages since Harvey began impacting our area on Friday," the statement said. Here's a breakdown by city from the Entergy statement: Beaumont There are currently 12,734 customers out in Beaumont and the surrounding areas, down from a high of 15,100 this morning. Approximately 5,000 of those customers without power are currently inaccessible due to flooding. Although still hindered by water, workers have been able to assess damages in most areas and begin restoring customers. Currently, workers are making repairs near the Municipal Airport on Keith Road, the sewer plant on Lafin Road and other emergency services while addressing hazardous downed power lines. Trees on power lines are the main cause of outages in the area as well as broken poles along Eastex Freeway. South County areas of Fannett and La Belle as well as Bevil Oaks, Pinewood, Countrywood and Northwest Forest remain inaccessible due to flooding. Orange The Orange area currently has 30,203 customers without power and is the most heavily impacted area in the Entergy Texas service territory. Flooding is preventing most scouting and restoration efforts at this time with many areas inaccessible due to high water. Workers have been able to restore 3 substations in West Orange, Winfree and Bridge City along with 5 main power lines this morning. There are an additional 51 Entergy workers committed to the Orange area who will arrive once safely able to travel from Lake Charles, Jasper and Woodville. More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available. Port Arthur There are currently 7,121 customers without power in the Port Arthur and Mid-County areas. Overnight damage to this area was extensive and workers continue to deal with heavy rain while restoring power around the area. The Taylor Landing area is inaccessible due to water covering Texas 73 and Sabine Pass is still not reachable due to high water. The Medical Center of Southeast Texas has power. Scouts continue to assess the damage in the areas that are reachable. Workers have restored power to approximately 1,000 customers in the accessible areas of Port Arthur and Mid-County, but new outages continue to be identified. Restoration will continue in Port Arthur, Groves, Nederland, Port Neches and Port Acres, as soon as the areas are reachable and it is safe to do so. Additional crews will be arriving to the area once they can safely reach the affected areas. Silsbee, Kountze, Woodville Currently there are 14,163 customers without power in the Silsbee, Kountze and Woodville areas with damage assessments approximately 30 percent complete. Outside workers are unable to get to most of these areas at this time due to flooded creeks and water across roads. Entergy workers are currently focusing efforts on restoring a damaged substation located on Hwy 418 in Silsbee. Most outages in the Lumberton area have been restored while the majority of Kountze is without power and workers cannot access this area to restore at this time. In Woodville assessments are 70 percent complete. There are 26 workers in the Wildwood, Village Mills and Spurger areas restoring power with additional crews en route. The city of Chester has 171 customers without power that we are unable to restore at this time, due to a large tree that has fallen on power lines in a fast-moving creek. Winnie There are currently 4,821 customers without power in the Winnie area. Flooding is having an impact on restoration efforts with many areas inaccessible due to the high water, including Boondock, Cottonwood, Oilfield, County Road 1051, Big Hill, Craigen Road, Highway 124 and Brush Island. Workers are still restoring the damaged transmission line from Winnie to Anahuac and from Stowell to the Shilo substation. Once that power line is repaired restoration work will then continue in Hamshire, Winnie, Anahuac, and the Bolivar area. Crews have restored 885 outages in the Winnie area and full restoration will continue in all areas as soon as it is safe to do so. The month of October is an exciting time for many, as leaves start to change color and cooler weather takes hold. For Beverly Hills, Calif.-based 90210 Surgery Center Administrator Benita Tapia, RN, October marks one of her favorite events: Becker's ASC 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs. As a leader in the ASC field, Ms. Tapia has to keep tabs on the latest trends impacting the outpatient space. She helped build 90210 Surgery Medical Center from the ground up nearly 11 years ago, with her outpatient career dating back to 1982 when she worked at an ophthalmology-driven ASC. Since then, she has seen major changes taking hold, including dwindling reimbursement. To advocate for surgery centers, Ms. Tapia spends time lobbying in Washington, D.C., to discuss with legislators how healthcare leaders can safely and effectively perform more procedures in surgery centers. Ms. Tapia increases her knowledge on the industry and learns key strategies to improve her own ASC's operations by attending events, including Becker's October conference. Ms. Tapia spoke with Becker's ASC Review about why she attends the conference each year and how leaders within the ASC space can benefit from venturing to Chicago for the three-day event. Note: These responses have been slightly edited for style and clarity. Question: Why have you attended Becker's October conference in the past and what are you excited for this year? Benita Tapia: The things that excite me the most are learning the future of ASCs. Healthcare is a changing environment and ASCs are a part of it. It doesn't matter how long I have been in this industry; there hasn't been a single time that I haven't learn something from my peers. [I take what I learn] to improve the running of the surgery centers I manage. I am always looking for ideas to improve quality and profitability. Q: What is the most important insight you have learned at this event in the past? BT: Learning about new procedures like total joints and spine procedures that have recently been added to the ASC approved list. [It has been helpful to learn] how to manage those new procedures and also how to make them cost effective in the ASC environment. There are great speakers and leaders that are hands-on in the ASC environment. [The event is] a great place to learn and ask questions. Learn more from Ms. Tapia at the 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs in October 2017. Click here for more information. Here are four practices with gastroenterology services making news: Columbus, Ohio-based Taylor Station Surgical Center joined National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable's initiative to boost colorectal cancer screening rates. Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine gastroenterology physicians Avi Ketwaroo, MD, Richa Shukla, MD, Yamini Natarajan, MD and Jordan Shapiro, MD, met with U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas. Brian Liem, DO, joined the staff of Maywood, Ill.-based Loyola Medicine. Addison, Ill.-based Bariatric Endoscopy Institute gastroenterologist Nitin Kumar, MD, will address a group of community members at Dine with a Doc The following organizations announced they hired individuals with revenue cycle management experience, or for a RCM-related role, in August. 1. The American Health Council, a collaboration for advancement in healthcare, added Stephanie DeHart-Giberson, director of health information management/patient access and revenue cycle at Oskaloosa, Iowa-based hospital Mahaska Health Partnership, to its industry board. 2. Quadax, a healthcare IT and revenue cycle company in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, named Walt Williams director of revenue cycle optimization and strategy. 3. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's revenue cycle subsidiary, Frisco, Texas-based Conifer Health Solutions, named James "Jim" Logsdon president of its hospital revenue cycle management business unit. 4. Chicago-based R1 RCM, a provider of revenue cycle management and physician advisory services, named Gary Long executive vice president and chief commercial officer. 5. Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health named Jon Vanator CFO of its East Central Region, which includes Muncie, Ind.-based IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and Hartford City, Ind.-based IU Health Blackford Hospital. Mr. Vanator previously served IU Health as vice president for systemwide revenue cycle services. 6. Kensington, Calif.-based consulting firm Freed Associates hired Shirley Kwok as a healthcare consultant. Ms. Kwok, who has significant population health knowledge as well as experience with areas such as value-based payment and revenue cycle management, will join the Northern California team, according to Freed. 7. Alpharetta, Ga.-based revenue cycle management company nThrive named Carl Couch, MD, CMO. Here are 16 recent news updates on health IT companies. Allscripts ranked the most active acquirer of digital health companies, according to a CB Insights report. Allscripts integrated Vidyo's Vidyo.io platform to power virtual consultations embedded in its FollowMyHealth patient portal. Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna reportedly tapped Ben Wanamaker, head of Walmart's health division, to lead its joint venture with Apple. Cerner entered into a strategic partnership with DoseMe, allowing Cerner EHR users to use real-time precision dosing software, DoseMeRx, within the platform. Doc.ai launched its natural language processing platform, which enables healthcare companies to answer patients' questions through "robo-doctors." Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Epic, ranked No. 73 on Forbes' third annual "Richest In Tech" list. Google and the National Alliance on Mental Illness teamed up to increase access to a tool that allows people to screen themselves for clinical depression. Illumina Accelerator will collaborate with Helix to support startups building direct-to-consumer genomics products. MDLive, a Sunrise, Fla.-based telemedicine provider, is offering free remote visits to individuals impacted by Hurricane Harvey between Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. NantHealth and Asia Genomics entered into an agreement to offer NantHealth's GPS Cancer tests to physicians throughout Southeast Asia. Outcome Health tapped Nandini Ramani, former vice president of engineering at Twitter, as its chief engineering officer earlier this month. Pfizer launched activity-tracking and education technologies targeted toward patients with hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder. Royal Philips will open a business and technology center in Middle Tennessee, which it expects will create more than 800 jobs. Samsung launched two fitness-focused smartwatches and a pair of wireless earbuds that work with its voice assistant Bixby. Teladoc is providing free remote visits to individuals in Hurricane Harvey evacuation areas, including displaced residents who are not members of Teladoc. VMware, a provider of cloud computing and platform virtualization services, joined forces with ZingBox, a provider of Internet of Things security solutions, to manage enterprise security of IoT implementations and infrastructures. San Diego-based Scripps Health said in a news release it will transition its hospice service to The Elizabeth Hospice, San Diego County's largest hospice services provider. Under the arrangement, The Elizabeth Hospice will manage Scripps Hospice staff, all of whom were offered jobs with The Elizabeth Hospice. Hospice physicians have been offered job options with Elizabeth Supportive Medical Specialists, while Scripps Hospice patients may receive care through The Elizabeth Hospice or other hospice providers, according to the system. Scripps said it began working with patients Aug. 23 so they could make a decision on the provider they want to use, and the transitions are slated to take place between Sept. 5 and Sept. 15. "Scripps is focused on providing as smooth a transition of care as possible for all hospice patients and is working with The Elizabeth Hospice and other hospice care providers throughout the region to ensure that happens," system officials added. Scripps cited financial reasons in its decision to end hospice service, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune. Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder told the publication, "We've lost between $2 million and $3 million per year." Scripps Hospice began in 2013. Though Hurricane Harvey broke the national rainfall record for a tropical storm, crisis management coordination between the state and Texas hospitals ensured care was minimally interrupted. The SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council now believes roughly 90 percent of facilities will return to full service by October, according to STAT News. Roughly 20 out of Houston's 110 hospitals had to evacuate a total of 1,500 patients, but SETRAC CEO Darrell Pile believes the outcomes could have been much worse, considering the "paralyzing" nature of the storm. He noted, however, that mitigating Harvey's effects required an ingenuity that no other crisis has necessitated. "[Harvey] challenged every plan we've written, every resource, every piece of inventory. I mean, we've run out of wheelchairs," Mr. Pile told The Washington Post. "I mean it just was unimaginable." Though some hospitals were affected more seriously than others, Mr. Pile asserts that almost all Houston hospitals will be operating regularly by the end of September. More Articles on Patient Flow: Flooding closes MD Anderson, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land How Hurricane Katrina impacted healthcare in New Orleans and what that may mean for Houston: 5 takeaways HHS sets up medical shelter in Houston Though Hurricane Harvey is no longer beating down on southeastern Texas, the public health threats facing Houston and surrounding areas are just beginning, according to The Hill. Listed below are five public health crises Houston faces in the wake of Harvey. 1. Contaminated water still floods as much as 30 percent of Harris County, where Houston is located. In addition to human waste, chemical and energy plants have flooded and sent an untold number of dangerous pollutants into the water that engulfs much of the area. 2. Mosquitoes breed near standing water, and experts predict a boom in the mosquito population, along with the diseases they carry, after Harvey's flooding. "The impact on mosquito-borne illnesses could be around for another year," said Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Waco, Texas-based Baylor University. 3. Thousands of flooded homes means lost medication for thousands of residents, and supplying people with the medicines they need is a pressing concern, according to HHS Secretary Tom Price. 4. Mold is likely to grow in the once-flooded homes, causing anything from an allergic reactions to more serious medical conditions, such as asthma. 5. Crowded shelters housing more than 300,000 displaced people across Texas are breeding grounds for infectious diseases. Beyond physical illnesses, mental health problems stemming from the trauma of enduring a hurricane are likely to abound as well. More Articles on Population Health: Houston mayor imposes citywide curfew to ensure public safety Price declares public health emergency in wake of Hurricane Harvey Survey: What tools do patients want for chronic condition management? Seven spine surgeons offer advice on avoiding financial missteps in both professional and personal spheres. 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 is the best book you have read so far in 2017? Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 5 p.m. CST. Question: What are some of the most common financial mistakes that independent surgeons make? Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Founder of the Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: In my younger years, I was setting my fee schedule too low. It is best to work with a billing company that has access to community data. Set the fee schedule in the middle percentile. Finding ways to make money should never preclude taking care of patients, though. Another mistake is not spending money where it counts, such as spending a little more to get competent people in the office. The value of a 20-year-old employee with no experience versus a 56-year-old employee with 20 years of medical office experience is immeasurable. Isador H Lieberman, MD. Spine Surgeon at Texas Back Institute (Plano): They invest in something they know nothing about. Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): Not investing in great people to work for you while they will command higher salaries, the return on investment is usually worth it in terms of increased productivity and higher quality work. Not all marketing expenses are created equal, for example, TV and radio ads cost a lot of money and look great, but yield very little in terms of new business for an independent spine surgeon. Learn how to code and bill for your procedures accurately. A lot of money may be left on the table if you do the work but do not bill for it properly. Kern Singh, MD. Co-Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (Chicago): Managing debt is the responsibility of all physicians and typically starts anywhere from college to medical school expenses. Collectively this interest adds up, especially for physicians who become independent. Independent surgeons must add on loans for leasing, equipment, managerial and business operations. Not preparing for managing all this debt is a common mistake that leads to high turnover for private practices. Another common error is not adequately preparing for potential liabilities. Having insurance to cover malpractice, liability, disability and life, to say a few, is important to an independent surgeon's job security. Avoiding these pitfalls are essential components of a successful private practice and an independent surgeon. Jack Zigler, MD. Co-Director of the Center for Disc Replacement at Texas Back Institute (Plano): The most common mistake made by independent surgeons, especially those just starting out in practice, is to invest in sexy-sounding, high-risk ventures. Although promises of multiples on your investment are enticing, the batting average of successful returns on these investments is pretty poor. Young docs should interview and establish a relationship with a credentialed financial planner who will meet with them regularly, keep track of their financials and be available for guidance and advice between meetings. But their most important role is to put financial restraint on the young surgeon, guiding them into investing their early income strategically. The more safely you handle your money early in practice, the safer your family's financial health will be in your mid-and later-career. There will be time to make high-risk, potentially high-reward investments once you have established your base. Impulsive investing by surgeons early in their career has left many with the need to work harder and longer than they want at the tail-end of their careers. Plas T. James, MD. Spine Surgeon at Atlanta Spine Institute: You have to have a hands-on approach. You can't just leave it all to your office manager. You actually have to be able to code your own surgeries for sure, that matters from the front end. Also make sure you're on top of the bills and that they're all going out. And then be able to keep track of your surgeries, keep track of trends in your service line. And make sure you're getting paid. You need to be in control of the office. Rey Bosita, MD. Spine Surgeon at Texas Back Institute (Plano): Surgeons, like most other doctors, tend to be horrible investors. The errors that they make can be characterized by a few common mistakes that have plagued surgeons probably since ether masks were used in the Civil War. Imperfect information is one. Most of us are not investment professionals. We spend the vast majority of our day taking care of people and operating. For those of us who try to manage our own investments, time can often be limited as we try to sift through the incredible amount of investment information that is circulating. We may not be aware of all the market forces that are affecting a particular company's stock price at any given moment. There is also a lack of understanding risk tolerance. We all want great returns. We all want our money to double quickly and effortlessly, but a lot of times we do not understand the risk that comes with investing in some of these high-gluing stocks. Many companies fail. Sometimes money can be lost. The stock market will go down sometimes. Just because a whole industry may be growing does not mean that every company in that space will grow. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding the concept of liquidity. Some investments may do great on paper. Just because an investment grows on paper does not mean that a doctor can get cash out to spend. Such growth can also have tax implications, where a growing non-cash-producing investment can create a tax burden for the doctor, who must now get cash from another source to pay the taxes, maintenance or other interest payments on the illiquid investment. Contributing to family investments is another common error. It's hard to say no to cousin Johnny who wants to open up a Taco Casa in Norman, Oklahoma. Or Uncle Ted who wants to start a biotech company with just a few thousand dollars of your seed money. It is even harder to try and collect on a debt or try and hold accountability over family members who fail to perform. Most doctors have trouble setting a long-term budget. How much money will be needed and when? When are the kids going to college? When do I want to retire these questions must all be answered before the first dollar is invested so that the doctor can choose the right investment vehicles for the right purpose at the right time of their lives. Also, young doctors who finish their training often experience a dramatic rise in their incomes as they start their jobs as attending physicians. We all want to experience life and try out our new-found financial and personal freedom. We buy that new BMW. We go on cool vacations. After all, we have been delaying gratification for 10 years or so! Medical school debt is the evil specter that often keeps a new doctor's net worth negative for many years after finishing residency. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below A Co Tyrone construction company has confirmed it is to build nearly 60 new 'eco-friendly homes' in a 6m investment. Western Homes - part of the Western Building Systems Group - is constructing the houses at Derrywinnen Heights off Bush Road in Dungannon. Shane Canavan of Western Building Systems said the timber-framed homes would meet a "pent-up" demand for houses in Dungannon. "We know there is a strong demand for high quality, affordable housing in the Dungannon area. "The location of these new homes makes them a sensible choice for those wishing to commute to local towns such as Cookstown or Dungannon or further afield to Belfast with their proximity to the M1." Timber-framed homes are regarded as environmentally-friendly as the methods of harvesting and transporting timber are less harmful to the environment than other materials. Western Building Systems is based in Coalisland and employs around 50 people. Google is set to expand its Irish operations further with a planned move to offices in Sandyford in south Dublin. It's understood the US web giant has reached an agreement to lease space for several hundred additional employees at the Blackthorn Building at the heart of the newly-branded Sandyford business district. Google's latest planned expansion will see it occupy all four floors at the Blackthorn Building. The company's agreement to rent the Irish Life-owned property follows discussions with the owners of several buildings in the Sandyford area. Google is understood to be in advanced talks with US real estate giant Kennedy Wilson to take space at the Chase Building and with the owners of the Atrium, which was formerly occupied by Microsoft. Google's move into south Dublin represents something of a new departure from the strategy it has pursued to date in relation to the location of its Dublin operations. Since acquiring its EMEA headquarter offices on Barrow Street and the nearby Montevetro Building in 2011, the company has concentrated its search for additional office space within that immediate area, earning it the moniker of 'Googletown'. Earlier this year, Google reached agreement to rent the newly-constructed Velasco Building on Grand Canal Street. The 51,000 sq ft property is within walking distance of the company's Barrow Street headquarters. Meanwhile, it's understood Google remains in informal discussions with the owners of the Treasury Building in relation to its possible acquisition. Outside of its presence within Dublin's central business district, the US web giant entered into a 10-year lease on Block L at Freeman House in East Point Business Park in 2013. Confirmation of Google's arrival in the Sandyford business district will be seen as a major boost to the area's efforts to draw fintech employers. RTE is seeking to become smaller and more efficient Irish broadcaster RTE is looking to cut 250 members of staff through voluntary redundancy. Director-general Dee Forbes told employees today that "painful choices" lie ahead to make the broadcaster smaller and more efficient. RTE has said voluntary exit and early retirement schemes will open next week when staff will receive details of the packages available. It is thought around 250 people will leave the organisation. Ms Forbes admitted there will be "painful choices", as well as "an exciting future". "Our financial situation requires us to reduce costs and employee numbers. We need to become a smaller, more efficient organisation. That will mean that we will lose some colleagues," she said. Ms Forbes added: "It will also affect the scope of what we are able to do. Critically, we must ensure that we are investing in the programmes, reporting and content valued by our audiences." RTE employed 1,984 people in 2016 its annual report shows. A total of 278 of this number were part-time or casual staff. The scheme is part of a broader restructuring of RTE first announced in March. Mr Forbes said "sitting still was not not an option in what is a radically changing market" She added that RTE will be a "better organisation" fort the restructuring. "In a world of fake news, misinformation and opinion; diminishing trust in public institutions and where the media environment is increasingly dominated by international programming and perspectives, it has never been more important that RTE continues to have a unique and invaluable role to play," she continued. "I believe that role is worth defending, worth supporting and worth renewing. The changes announced today will help us to fulfil this role." X Factor star Nicole Scherzinger has accused Simon Cowell of stealing her best lines when they are filming the show. The competition judge said she was often giving feedback to a contestant when Cowell repeated what she was saying, and it is his repetition that made it into the final show. Expand Close Brit Awards 2017 Show London PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brit Awards 2017 Show London Speaking at the launch of the new series, she said: Ive had to tell him off, hes stealing all of my lines. She continued: I say I just said that, youre repeating the same thing. And he says not in the edit, darling. Fellow judge Louis Walsh backed up her claims, saying: Thats true. What a lot of people dont realise is she will say something very intelligent about a song or about an artist and Simon will repeat it and then he will say to Nicole guess which one is going to be used. Expand Close The X Factor Press Launch London PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The X Factor Press Launch London Scherzinger added: Now we do when a thing when hes talking I try to speak over him so they cant use it. The Pussycat Dolls star, 39, also denied she has been lying about her age, after Walsh claimed she is older than she says she is. The Irish TV star said: I was joking! I didnt think she would see that, while Scherzinger told reporters: I wish I was lying about my age, thats the thing that sucks. Expand Close The X Factor Press Launch London PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The X Factor Press Launch London Ive never lied about my age, I should have started lying a while ago. Im just really grateful Louis is still with us. Scherzinger added that she has been known to cause drama when the judges houses segment of the show is filmed and she thinks Walsh has been given a better location. Read More She said: The only real conflict is if he has a better judges home and Im like whatever he has I want that one. Walsh added: She normally gets what she wants because she goes to the producers behind my back. Expand Close The X Factor Press Launch London PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The X Factor Press Launch London Scherzinger joked she lands the better property because she makes wild promises, telling a press conference: I say I will come in naked on a jetski. Louis, are you going to come in naked on a jetski? The judges also took jabs at each other over their lists of demands while filming, with Cowell, who appeared via a pre-recorded video, saying: Louis, in his contract now, has to have a cosmetic doctor on 24 hour standby within 10 miles of whatever venue or studio we are working in, that is true. That didnt happen 14 years ago. Walsh shot back: I have it for Simon and for Sharon. Expand Close Daily Mirror Pride Of Britain Awards London PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daily Mirror Pride Of Britain Awards London Cowell, who has introduced a string of changes to the new series of the show, including fewer live episodes and more original music penned by the contestants, said he is hoping and praying it is relevant. He said: The show has a really good track record of finding artists and I hope that that will happen in real life from the first time the auditions shows go out, that people see these people have got talent and why they have come on the show. Expand Close X Factor 2017 London PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp X Factor 2017 London He added: Im excited and I hope, pray, that its relevant. Youre in your bubble when you make the show but you hope it has an effect in what I call the real world afterwards. The show will return to ITV on Saturday at 8pm and it has been confirmed that show alumni Harry Styles will appear as a musical guest at some point during the series. Janet Collins and Sylvia Morrison The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Caitlin - ? - and Megan The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) James Kelly and James McCamely The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Jonny and Jan with their children Logan and Mason The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Caoimhe McKeown / Belfast Telegraph) The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Caoimhe McKeown / Belfast Telegraph) A choir performs as The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The RAF as The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The RAF as The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The RAF as The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) IMPS MOTORCYCLE TEAM at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) IMPS MOTORCYCLE TEAM at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) IMPS MOTORCYCLE TEAM at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Highland Dancers at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Caoimhe McKeown / Belfast Telegraph) FANFARA MAGENTA at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) FANFARA MAGENTA at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Highland Dancers at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Highland Dancers at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Highland Dancers at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Highland Dancers at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) LUME DE BIQUERA at The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) RAF Flyover at the Belfast Tattoo takes place in the SSE Arena on August 31st 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) The 2017 Belfast Tattoo has kicked off in style with two RAF Tornado fighter planes flying over the SSE Arena. The huge annual event takes place over three days from Thursday, August 31 - Saturday, September 2. Hundreds of performers from across the world are appearing at the SSE after final rehearsals were completed on Thursday. Over 600 people took part in last year's spectacle, with spectators travelling from Germany, USA, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Spain, France and Canada to attend the Belfast Tattoo. Producer Colin Wasson said: Last year was, without doubt, the biggest and most memorable show we have presented to date and we are particularly delighted that The Imps Motorcycle Display Team will be performing in Belfast in 2017. "They have recently performed to sell-out crowds at The 2016 Edinburgh Tattoo, and their display is sure to wow the audiences in Belfast. "We will also be joined by The Winnipeg Police Band, who have over 900 years of history, as well as Lume De Biqueira Bagpipe Band from Madrid, who first performed in Belfast in 2014. "We will once again have stage performances from the best of our local talent, including the Coleraine Fife and Drum Band, Kellswater Flute Band, and welcome the return of Cahard Flute Band. We look forward now to The Belfast Tattoo 2017 which will be bigger and better than 2016." The EU and UK have been engaged in meetings throughout the week. Talks on how to resolve the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic have been "fruitful" however, there has been no "decisive progress" in the overall Brexit talks, the EU's chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier said the EU and the UK were still "quite far" away from being in a position to begin discussions on future trade arrangements. Mr Barnier acknowledged there had been some "fruitful" discussions on the issues surrounding the relationship between the Republic of Ireland and Ulster, but he struck a pessimistic tone overall following the latest round of Brexit negotiations in Brussels. Read More At a joint press conference with Brexit Secretary David Davis, Mr Barnier said: "We did not get any decisive progress on any of the principal subjects." The UK wants to begin trade talks as soon as possible, but Brussels insists that discussions about the future relationship after Brexit can only begin once "sufficient progress" has been made on the arrangements for withdrawal - including on the so-called "divorce fee". Mr Barnier said: "At the current state of progress we are quite far from being able to say that sufficient progress has taken place, sufficient for me to be able to recommend to the European Council that it engage in discussions on the future relationship between the UK and EU at the same time as we would, during the course of 2018, go on working on finalising the exit and withdrawal agreement." Mr Davis said the UK has presented its legal analysis on the financial settlement. "The Commission has set out its position and we have a duty to our taxpayers to interrogate it rigorously. "At this round we presented our legal analysis, on on-budget issues, on off-budget issues, and on the EIB - European Investment Bank. "It's fair to say across the piece we have a very different legal stance, but as we said in the Article 50 letter the settlement should be in accordance with law and in the spirit of the UK's continuing partnership with the EU." McKeown was released on bail but barred from entering the city. The longest serving Northern Ireland Office Minister has said Belfast needs an elected Metropolitan Mayor to ensure it can get the best from Brexit. Sir Richard Needham served as under-secretary of state for Northern Ireland between 1985 and 1992. He said an elected mayor could help protect the city from a "potentially catastrophic Brexit" and the position would need to be on a power-sharing basis similar to how the Executive operates. Metropolitan mayors are becoming more common in other parts of the UK. In London, current Mayor Sadiq Khan is elected and responsible for the over-arching strategic direction of the city with powers such as planning, transport and business development. Whereas Belfast City's current Lord Mayor is more of a ceremonial position. Sir Richard said a discussion was needed on an elected more powerful position in Belfast which would cover the greater outlying metropolitan area with more powers devolved down from the Assembly. "Belfast is completely different to what it was 25 years ago, but it is in danger of falling behind cities such as Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester or Leeds because it doesn't have a political leadership that can drive the metropolitan area forward," he told the BBC. Belfast needs some way of establishing itself as a leading world class city and needs someone to stand up for it. "Something has to be done to to bring forward projects new technologies and new opportunities in Belfast and the greater metropolitan area. Expand Close Sir Richard Needham back in Belfast Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Richard Needham back in Belfast "Not least because Northern Ireland faces a potential catastrophe with Brexit. If any part of the UK is going to suffer the most because of the wrong sort of Brexit [it will be Northern Ireland]. Don't think Brexit will not lead to a border because it will, I can't see any solution without that. "Belfast needs some way of establishing itself as a leading world class city and needs someone to stand up for it." Sir Richard said that although the position would no doubt have conflicts with a working Northern Ireland Executive, it was "no reason not to do it". He added: "That is something the Executive itself will have to come to terms with - what extent of powers will it be willing to devolve to Belfast and indeed a greater metropolitan area in order for the city to run smoothly. "You can't have future of Belfast constantly determined by MLAs which have no responsibility for it." He said that while there were no easy solutions, "to do nothing was not an option". Expand Close Belfast Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister. The current position is more ceremonial. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Belfast Lord Mayor Nuala McAllister. The current position is more ceremonial. "Northern Ireland is over-governed, but the present banging along the bottom with everyone throwing in their halfpenny's worth is not a long term solution. "In light of Brexit we have to look at how Belfast is to improve and help its people." Sir Richard also said that if the British Government imposed direct rule on Northern Ireland it would be "retrograde" and officials would only "sit on their hands, terrified to take any steps which would upset one side or the other". He said the government should, along with the Irish Government, work to re-establish the insitutions. "Once you restore direct rule, it is very hard to go back," he added. Geng Feng Shi (23) was found in the River Lagan after going missing in March 2015 More than 50 PSNI officers have been disciplined after blunders in missing persons investigations in a six-year period. Staff from the Police Ombudsman's Office found missed opportunities to gather evidence, a failure to properly assess reports and problems with supervision and searches. Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said the PSNI needed to rethink how it handles missing persons cases. It follows an investigation into how police responded to reports of a missing Chinese national. Geng Feng Shi (23) was found on March 27, 2015, in the River Lagan at Belfast Harbour - three weeks after he was reported missing by relatives. Ombudsman investigators found a series of lapses in the investigation. Between 2010 and 2016, the watchdog has investigated six separate missing person reports and recommended a total of 55 officers be disciplined. Dr Maguire said: "I'm aware that the PSNI get on average 13,000 reports of people missing each year, very few of which are referred to my office. "Yet some of the failings we identified in 2010 were still happening in 2015, which represents a real risk to public confidence in the way police deal with missing persons investigations. "Many of the officers we spoke to have talked of difficulties in balancing the resources needed in responding to missing person reports with those for other urgent enquiries. "Police officers have to carry out proper risk assessments in each case if there are to be effective investigations. "It is also important that police ensure these investigations have the necessary resources which are then properly allocated and tasked." Dr Maguire said he has made a series of recommendations, including setting up a central resource to provide specialist assistance to officers across Northern Ireland. In the Geng Feng Shi case, Ombudsman investigators found that although it was likely that he was no longer alive by the time he had been reported missing, the way in which police responded to concerns about him included common failures. On March 3, 2015, Geng Feng had been assessed by a psychiatric doctor in hospital. Police had seen him twice behaving abnormally - lying in the street singing and at a cemetery refusing to communicate. But when his family rang on March 5 to say they could not contact him, he was not logged as a missing person. Dr Maguire added: "This decision was a fundamental failure, given PSNI guidance. It resulted in an unacceptable delay in police undertaking proactive and robust enquiries." On March 20, police contacted Geng Feng's family in China - 15 days after he had first been reported missing. The family said they believe he was depressed and normally kept in regular online contact. As a result of this conversation, police changed Geng Feng's status to that of a high-risk missing person. CCTV footage showed Geng Feng near Lanyon Place, close to the Waterfront Hall and the River Lagan at around 7am on March 4. His body was later recovered from the river. The investigation recommended 14 officers be disciplined for failings linked to the case. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said new guidelines have been issued. "This case illustrates that missing person reports present policing and partner agencies with significant challenges that need to be managed in a manner that is consistent and commensurate with the risks," he said. "This is a challenge which continues to grow due to the sheer scale of missing person reports and the complexity of many of the cases." Mr Todd said that in the 12 months to April, the PSNI investigated 12,821 reports of missing persons, an increase of 5.2% from the previous year. He said the figure is increasing year-on-year. Julie Faith with Pat before they went to Bulgaria A grieving mother-of-two whose husband died suddenly on holiday in Bulgaria has spoken about the ongoing nightmare of trying to get his body home to Northern Ireland. Julie Faith was lying in bed beside her partner of 35 years, Patrick Faith, when he suffered a heart attack and passed away one week ago today. The Ballymena couple, who have two sons, were on what was supposed to have been a two-week break in the Sunny Beach resort with friends when Julie woke up to discover the 56-year-old had died. She also told of the bureaucratic nightmare of getting the former factory employee's remains repatriated - and revealed how she is facing a bill of over 5,000 after her insurance company refused to pay out. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph from her Co Antrim home, Julie (54) gave a harrowing account of the moment she realised that her beloved husband had died in the family room they were sharing with their youngest son Callum, who is 18. "I woke up that morning and he was dead," she said, fighting back tears. "Callum and I had been at a restaurant the night before but Pat, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease five years ago, wasn't feeling well so he stayed in the hotel. "Our friend Leonard, who hadn't gone out either, gave him his medicine at 10pm and when we got back later, Callum went up to the room and everything was fine. "Before I went to bed I heard him snoring. He was definitely alive. "The following day, the alarm went off at 7am as usual. Expand Close Pat with Julie on their wedding day Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pat with Julie on their wedding day "I nudged him and told him it was time for his meds but got no response. I just thought he was sleeping. "I got up anyway and prepared his tablets and pushed his foot. He still didn't answer. Then I felt his face. It was cold, but I thought it was because of the air conditioning in the room." But she added: "Then I remember saying to Callum 'I think Daddy's dead'. He raced across the room and started to feel for a pulse but there was nothing." Expand Close Pat as a boy Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pat as a boy Alerted by her screams, Julie recalled how close family friend Leonard Wharry (36), who was staying in a nearby room with his wife and children, rushed in and also began feeling for Pat's pulse to no avail. "I said 'Don't tell me' but I already knew he was gone," she added. "I just squealed. I kept shouting 'No' but I couldn't stop myself. I just went into complete shock." Expand Close The couple with sons Patrick and Callum Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The couple with sons Patrick and Callum In the midst of her distress, Julie said that Leonard - whose family she calls her "tower of strength" - stepped in to notify the hotel porter, who in turn contacted the police. But unfortunately for Julie, the horrific ordeal, which started off with Pat's sudden death in the early hours of that late summer morning, was only just beginning. "The police arrived first and I remember telling the officers that I didn't murder him," said care worker Julie, who admitted that she was, by then, beside herself with grief. "A female doctor finally came but that wasn't until much later, maybe noon. It felt like forever. We couldn't do anything or go anywhere because Pat's body was in the room. "At one point we were told by hotel staff that we would have to move out of the corridor where we had been standing, because there were other guests in the hotel." Leonard phoned the couple's other son, Patrick (30), to break the terrible news. Julie and Callum were comforted by his wife Maggie (34), their kids - Ryan (15), Sophie (12) and eight-year-old Callum - and Leonard's 66-year-old mother Mary Teresa, while Pat's body was removed. Unsurprisingly, both families said the experience was "horrendous" for the children, who were extremely distressed, especially 'wee Callum', who was very close to Pat. Yesterday, Leonard, who was at the house along with Julie's sister Caroline, said Callum hasn't stopped crying since it happened. The St John's Ambulance volunteer added: "Callum said to me, 'This means I won't be able to push Pat around in his wheelchair any more'." The Faiths, who set off on holiday on August 14, were due to return home on August 29, but Julie spent over 900 to get her and Callum home three days earlier so that they could be with her oldest son Patrick. But, as she revealed through tears, the anguish surrounding the former Michelin worker's death, is continuing. Although a post-mortem was carried out on Pat last Friday, the family weren't told the results - "he had a massive heart attack" - until Monday evening, two days after they returned. To make matters worse, the insurance company the couple have used for five years has only just informed Julie that they won't be paying the 5,000-plus costs of repatriation. "They're saying we didn't disclose Pat's full medical condition, but that's not true," she said. "Pat was always looking for a bargain; he actually asked the salesperson to knock some money off the premium, but he was told that the only way to make it cheaper was not to disclose his ailments and I was horrified." It has now been one week since Julie lost "a brilliant man, father and husband" and one "who worked tirelessly to provide everything for our family". She still doesn't know how long she has to wait before she can arrange his funeral but she hopes it will be within the next 10 days now that the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust has vowed to help her bring him home. "The boys and I are devastated," said Julie. "We've already waited five days for his body to come home but the charity has told us they'll look after everything from here on in and it's such a relief because dealing with Pat's death has been difficult enough." Pat's illness meant he was prone to infections that sometimes saw him hospitalised but his wife said he had recently been doing well. Julie added: "Before we went to Bulgaria, our son Callum warned him that he'd better not be sick while we were away because the medical treatment wouldn't be up to Northern Ireland's high standards. Little did we know what lay ahead." A charity has called on the Department of Health in London to explain how it plans to ensure women from Northern Ireland can access free abortions on the UK mainland A charity has called on the Department of Health in London to explain how it plans to ensure women from Northern Ireland can access free abortions on the UK mainland. Abortion Support Network (ASN) has reported a 14% increase in calls from pregnant women in the province in the last year. Health authorities are expected next month to spell out how women here will be able to access free abortions on the NHS on the mainland. But the Department of Health in Northern Ireland said it is not yet clear how NHS chiefs across the water intend to deliver on the commitment made earlier this year. And the department said it will consider what role health services may have when it has more information. But the ASN director Mara Clarke said: "Even if the government will be covering the procedure and all other associated costs, this is still only a plaster to the disease that is the abortion law in Northern Ireland. "While this will ease the financial burden for those in NI who need abortions, there will always be cases of people who cannot travel, or for whom travel to another country is a hardship, and the only answer is access to safe, legal abortion for those from Northern Ireland, in Northern Ireland." Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland in all but exceptional circumstances, even cases of rape and incest. But every year hundreds of women travel across the Irish Sea to undergo the procedure in Great Britain. Earlier this year the UK Government backed funding for women from Northern Ireland to access free abortions after an amendment to the Queen's Speech tabled by Labour MP Stella Creasy. It followed a Supreme Court ruling narrowly rejecting an appeal from a mother and daughter, who was 15 when she travelled from Northern Ireland to Manchester for an abortion for which she was reportedly charged around 900, including travel costs. The judges ruled women in Northern Ireland were not entitled to receive free abortions in the NHS in England, citing "respect to the democratic decision of the people of Northern Ireland". Ms Creasy then dropped her amendment, however, after Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the policy change. Theresa May said progress on discussing a trade deal would be good for the UK and the EU Theresa May and Shinzo Abe wait for their Shinkansen bullet train bound for Tokyo at Kyoto station (AP) A row over the Brexit divorce bill has dominated the latest round of talks between the UK and the European Union, with both sides in the Brussels negotiations voicing their frustrations. Brexit Secretary David Davis said there had been a "tough" discussion over the fee Brussels wants the UK to pay to settle its obligations after British officials challenged the legal basis of the demand. Brussels' chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there had been no "decisive progress" on key issues and the two sides were still "quite far" away from meeting the test of making sufficient progress for talks on future trading arrangements to begin. Mr Barnier said it was clear the UK does not feel "legally obliged" to honour its "obligations" after leaving the bloc in March 2019. Claiming there had been a shift in the Government's approach, he said: "In July the UK recognised that it has obligations beyond the Brexit date but this week the UK explained that these obligations will be limited to the last payment to the EU project before departure." No figure has yet been put on the payment, but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested it could come in at around 60 billion euro (55 billion), while unconfirmed reports have put it as high as 100 billion euro (92 billion). Mr Davis defended the "rigorous" line-by-line examination of the EU's demands carried out by British officials in response to the " unspecified but undoubtedly large" sum demanded by Brussels. He added: "It will, of course, lead to difficult exchanges - nobody will pretend it was anything but a tough exchange this week - but I think the British taxpayer would expect nothing less." Mr Davis said the UK side had presented its legal analysis, looking at on-budget issues, off-budget issues, and the European Investment Bank. "It's fair to say across the piece we have a very different legal stance, but, as we said in the Article 50 letter, the settlement should be in accordance with law and in the spirit of the UK's continuing partnership with the EU." The Brexit Secretary said there had been "some concrete progress" during the latest round of talks but again called for the EU to shift from its rigid approach to the negotiations, which mean that talks on the future relationship cannot begin until sufficient progress has been made on priority issues including the financial settlement, citizens' rights and other issues relating to the withdrawal. "This is not about skipping ahead or trying to reopen previous discussions; it is about pragmatically driving the process we all want to see," he insisted. Mr Barnier is expected to present his assessment of whether enough progress has been made to move on to the second phase of talks, looking at the future relationship, ahead of a summit of EU leaders in October. "At the current state of progress we are quite far from being able to say that sufficient progress has taken place," he said. He hit out at the "simply impossible" demands made by the UK over its future relationship outside the single market. "The UK wants to take back control, wants to adopt its own standards and regulations - but it also wants to have these standards recognised automatically in the EU," he said. "That is what UK papers ask for. This is simply impossible. You cannot be outside the single market and shape its legal order." He added: "In some proposals I see a sort of nostalgia in the form of specific requests which would amount to continuing to enjoy the benefits of single market membership, without actually being part of it." Mr Davis shot back: "I would not confuse a belief in the free market for nostalgia." Also in Brussels, Tony Blair met Mr Juncker for talks, with the Commission president greeting the former prime minister with a kiss. The Brexit Secretary said he would not comment on the "movements of private citizens". A drunk HGV driver, from Omagh, who was three times over the limit has escaped jail after being caught trying to perform a u-turn on a busy motorway. Unbelievable images show Martin Kelly, who had drunk a quarter bottle of vodka, attempting to spin his Volvo truck around on the M6 in Cumbria. Kelly was found dazed and barefoot by another motorist who was forced to take evasive action to avoid a serious collision by mounting the grass verge to avoid the HGV. Furness magistrates court heard Kelly had drunk a quarter bottle of vodka about an hour before the incident on August 14 when he stopped at a motorway service station. His roadside breath reading recorded by police was 107 microgrammes of alcohol, in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit 35 is microgrammes of alcohol. The dad of two appeared at court in Barrow on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle dangerously and drunk driving. Chairman of the magistrates described his actions as potentially catastrophic but despite this only gave the 32 year old a suspended sentence. Prosecutor, Mr Peter Kelly, said: "He was turning back against the flow of one way traffic. It was a reading of 107 microgrammes of alcohol on the M6 motorway from someone driving a HGV. "Fortunately there was no accident but there was a risk of serious injury to others." Referring to the driver who was forced to mount the grass verge, Mr Kelly added: "His attention was drawn to a HGV on the hard shoulder which was starting to move. "He moved lanes to allow the lorry to move out. The truck turned sharply and started making a u-turn." The court heard how the driver of the other vehicle found Kelly to be dazed and not wearing any shoes. His Volvo Euro 500 HGV was left blocking the entire carriageway. Defending Kelly, Mr Graham Quigley said the defendant is a man of previous good character, who is "deeply sorry for what happened," and had cooperated with police. He has driven HGVs for some years, with experience of driving across the UK. Kelly's job is with AGRO Merchants Group in the garage, however he was doing weekend work driving HGVs. Mr Quigley added Kelly has an alcohol problem and in November 2016 he was in rehab and was discharged in February 2017. Two months later he started his job. The defence solicitor said Kelly was not in a good mood after being disturbed by a crowd on the boat over to Cairnryan. Mr Quigley said Kelly had trouble with his sat nav and he was rebooting it on the hard shoulder, but then he may have blacked out. "The next thing he remembers is seeing the male driver he said. Mr Quigley said he had asked Kelly what had happened, but the solicitor said: "He can't tell me." Mr Quigley said Kelly is the dad of a four-week-old baby, a two-year-old and his wife is in remission from cancer. He received excellent references from his employer which expressed that his "remorse is unequivocal". Brian Carruthers of the Probation Service made a pre-sentence report. Mr Carruthers said: "He is extremely remorseful about it. He has been having flashbacks about what could have happened. He understands that it could have been catastrophic and he could have killed many people that day. "It has frightened the life out of him what could have happened." Mr Carruthers said Kelly had not had a drink since, and was attending AA meetings and doing a 90-step rehab programme. Kelly's family are behind him, and Mr Carruthers said if Kelly went to prison his wife would struggle to pay the household bills and they could lose their home. Chairman of the magistrates, Mr Gary Ormondroyd, told Kelly: "Your actions were potentially catastrophic". Kelly, of Drumnakelly Road, was sentenced to 26 weeks in custody and six weeks in custody, both suspended for two years. He was also banned from driving for two years and will have to take an extended retest after the disqualification period. He was ordered to pay 85 costs and a 115 victim surcharge. Arlene Foster will tonight declare that, despite the DUP's powerful position at Westminster, her priority remains restoring power-sharing at Stormont. Mrs Foster is set to address her party's executive in a south Belfast hotel this evening amidst growing speculation that neither the DUP nor Sinn Fein is genuinely interested in reaching a deal. Read More The DUP leader will directly tackle the claim that, given her MPs now hold the balance of power at Westminster, she is less committed to re-establishing the Stormont Executive. She will tell her party colleagues that Northern Ireland's long-term interest lies in devolution and that a new power-sharing administration should be set up as soon as possible. "I've heard it said that the unprecedented position that the DUP now finds itself in at Westminster means we don't want or need a return of devolution," Mrs Foster is expected to say. "Unionism has never had so much influence in Parliament and nationalism's voice isn't heard at all in Westminster. "But, as appealing as it first appears, that view fails to take account of our longer-term best interests. "The DUP has always believed that Northern Ireland is best governed by a democratic, fair and accountable government comprising locally elected representatives." Mrs Foster will acknowledge that although the make-up of the House of Commons currently favours the DUP, that isn't clouding the party's judgement. "While the new parliamentary arithmetic delivers a measure of influence, it does not change our fundamental belief in Northern Ireland shaping its own destiny. I want to see devolution restored immediately," she is set to say. Mrs Foster will point the finger of blame for the current political stalemate at republicans. "As we all know, Sinn Fein have built a barrier to the return of Stormont and, as I indicated earlier in the summer, I question whether Sinn Fein is serious about wanting to see an early return of Stormont," she will say. "I want to get government up and going again, not so the DUP can take up ministerial posts. "But rather because we need an Executive in place to take crucial and increasingly pressing decisions on a raft of important issues such as public finances, health and education reform and infrastructure development." Mrs Foster will challenge Sinn Fein claims that the DUP has broken its promises on past agreements including on introducing an Irish Language Act. "Sinn Fein has said that they won't go back into office until so-called previous agreements are implemented. Many of the issues they cite are not, in fact, part of previous agreements with this party and, in some cases, the issues they pursue were not part of agreements with any party or government in the past," she is set to declare. Sinn Fein had called on Secretary of State James Brokenshire to begin the talks this week but no date has yet been set for the resumption of negotiations. The British government is expected to contact the parties next week to outline its plan to restart the discussions which ended for the summer holidays in July. Both nationalist and unionist sources are deeply pessimistic about agreement being reached and a return to some form of direct rule is widely anticipated. The DUP is refusing to budge on an Irish Language Act and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams yesterday said: "There won't be an assembly without an Acht na Gaeilge. The DUP know that, the two governments know that." One Stormont insider said that "everybody knows any new talks won't work - it will just be about going through the motions". In her address tonight, Mrs Foster will celebrate her party's "tremendous victory" in June's Westminster election. "We returned the highest number of MPs in our history. We secured the highest percentage share of the vote for the party ever. And we obtained the largest total vote for any party in Northern Ireland since 1985," she is set to say. "We know - because we knocked doors across the country and spoke at length with voters - that it was, above all, a victory for our precious Union. People turned out to vote for the Union. "As a party, let me say to them that we do not take their support for granted. "Nor do we believe that they are all sudden converts to the DUP. "We know that, for many, they saw a vote for the DUP as the best way to express support for the Union they care so deeply about." Reid was refused compassionate bail for the burial of his grandmother in west Belfast amid claims his presence could add to the alleged victim's trauma. A man accused of stamping on his aunt's head cannot be released from prison to attend a family funeral, a High Court judge has ruled. Christopher Reid was refused compassionate bail for the burial of his grandmother in west Belfast amid claims his presence could add to the alleged victim's trauma. The 24-year-old, of Derryveagh Close in the city, is charged with carrying out an attack which resulted in his aunt losing four teeth and having to undergo facial reconstruction surgery. He allegedly launched the unprovoked assault at her Glen Road home following a chance encounter on May 27. At a previous hearing prosecutors said police called to the address discovered her badly cut and bleeding profusely from the mouth. Reid was located at another property, where he allegedly tried to head-butt an arresting officer. The court heard his aunt had invited him back to her home when they met on the street for the first time in three years. He then allegedly launched the attack after drinking alcohol at the house. His cousin told police she saw him kick her mother to the head with the sole of his feet in a stamping motion at least four or five times, according to the prosecution. Reid is accused of punching both of them during the incident, and throwing a plant pot at the property after exiting. His aunt was said to have been knocked unconscious, sustaining injuries including a fractured cheekbone, smashed upper mouth palate and severe facial lacerations that required up to 18 stitches. Her teeth had to be surgically removed as part of facial reconstruction, the court was told previously. Reid denies charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, common assault, criminal damage, and assault on police. He applied for temporary release from custody following the death of his grandmother, who is also the mother of his alleged victim. Opposing his attendance at Friday's funeral service, Crown lawyer Conor Maguire stressed that Reid's aunt and her daughter - a witness to the alleged assault - will be at the service. "They are entitled to attend the funeral without the additional trauma of being confronted by their alleged attacker," he argued. Defence counsel acknowledged the "fractious" relationship between family members, but suggested Reid could arrive late and remain at the back of the church. Denying compassionate bail, however, Mr Justice Deeny pointed to the risks of a breach to the peace or distress to other mourners. A man killed in a road crash was "free-spirited and kind-hearted", mourners at his funeral heard. Feargal Magennis, a 43-year-old father-of-one from Downpatrick, was killed near Cabra, Co Down, on Saturday evening. He died when the motorcycle he was riding was in a collision with a car on the Castlewellan Road. Relatives gathered at the family home in Downpatrick for a private remembrance before attending Requiem Mass at St Patrick's Church. Fr Brendan Smith said the family was bereft at the "sudden, untimely, traumatic and so unnecessary death" and were trying to answer the impossible question of why it happened. He told mourners: "The line between life and death, at times, for some of us, is barely distinguishable, unable to be seen, as it was for Feargal on Saturday evening. "We, as a family, both his blood family and the family of the church, cannot make sense of what has happened. "What we must ensure is that Feargal's death is not a lost experience. "With this in mind we, in the prayers of the faithful will pray for those who have lost their lives through road deaths, and that no more families will have to go through what the Magennis family have endured these last few days." Mourners heard how Mr Magennis loved his family and socialising. A peaceful man, his motto was 'live and let live' and he did not believe in holding a grudge, the funeral was told. Fr Smith added: "It was obvious that Feargal chose to live life his way, but with those underlying currents of love and respect of people and nature. "For Feargal, worth was not something measured in pounds and pence, but rather in beauty. "The beauty that often shines out in a world darkened by selfishness. "He sought his pleasure, his joy, in simple things. "However nothing became that important that he wouldn't want to part with it, after it achieved in him its purpose, he passed it on to others willingly." Afterwards Mr Magennis' remains were buried at Struell Cemetery. He is survived by his son Ciaran, his partner Souniamh Duffy and his parents Pat and Marie, all of whom are "devastated" and "heartbroken" by the tragedy. The family requested that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the regional acquired brain injury unit at Musgrave Park Hospital c/o the JustGiving website. Police are still appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward. The watchdog identified a string of lapses in the police's handling of the case of missing man Geng Feng Shi in 2015 Fifty-three police officers have been disciplined after failings surrounding missing person investigations in Northern Ireland, the Ombudsman said. Some PSNI members did not properly assess reports and there were further problems with supervision and searches plus missed opportunities to gather evidence, the watchdog said. Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said the force needed to rethink how it handled such investigations, but acknowledged very few of the 13,000 reports it deals with a year reached his office. He said: "Yet some of the failings we identified in 2010 were still happening in 2015, which represents a real risk to public confidence in the way police deal with missing persons investigations." Between 2010 and 2016, the ombudsman's office investigated police handling of six separate missing person reports and recommended 55 officers be disciplined. Fifty-four were disciplined, one overturned it on appeal. Another officer retired before the sanction could be administered. Dr Maguire said the PSNI should establish a central unit offering specialist help. He also urged the force to consider reminding officers of guidance that anyone whose whereabouts are unknown must be recorded as a missing person and not as a concern for safety or suspicious issue. The watchdog established a string of lapses in how police responded to reports that Geng Feng Shi, a 23-year-old Chinese man, was missing. His body was found in the River Lagan at Belfast Harbour in March 2015. Ombudsman investigators found that although it was likely that Geng Feng was no longer alive by the time he had been reported missing, the way in which police responded to concerns about him included some common failures. Geng Feng had been assessed by a psychiatric doctor in hospital. Police had seen him twice behaving abnormally, once lying in the street singing and once at a cemetery refusing to communicate. Despite this, when his family rang them to say they could not contact him he was not logged as a missing person. The Ombudsman said: "This decision was a fundamental failure, given PSNI guidance. It resulted in an unacceptable delay in police undertaking proactive and robust enquiries." The investigation recommended 14 officers be disciplined. A senior officer said n ew guidelines to police officers and staff were issued after this case. Assistant chief constable Alan Todd said: "This is not just a challenge for the police service but also other statutory agencies, who, like the PSNI are faced with an increasing number of people suffering from mental health issues and decreasing resources and facilities to deploy in relation to them, and indeed the very many other demands on daily service provision." Work with other agencies will focus on prevention, early intervention and risk management and in improving safeguarding in such cases. In the financial year 2016-17, PSNI investigated 12,821 reports of missing persons - an increase of 5.2% from the previous year and a figure which is increasing year on year. On average there are approximately 35 missing person reports made daily to police. A Northern Ireland-born aide to the Foreign Secretary has claimed he was hacked after a string of messages challenging Brussels' chief Brexit negotiator on the UK's exit bill from the European Union were posted from his Twitter account. Tory MP Conor Burns, who was born in Belfast and is currently Parliamentary Private Secretary to Boris Johnson, appeared to send three messages to Michel Barnier asking him to publish how the EU is calculating the so-called divorce bill. The tweets, since deleted, read: "@MichelBarnier why don't you publish how you are calculating UK bill based on law: ie Treaty obligations and directives? Hard facts help." Another said: "@MichelBarnier Britain pays her obligations. Why don't you publish them based on law ie Treaty obligations and directives. Legal facts help." The third read: "@MichelBarnier UK pays her obligations. Why don't you publish what you think they are based on law ie Treaty obligations and directives?" Mr Burns was accused of embarrassing the UK by taking to social media to criticise the EU's chief negotiator. But he later tweeted: "Have been out on visits since 10am this morning. Home to find both twitter and email hacked. Passwords changed." Negotiations between the UK and the EU continue in Brussels after Mr Barnier said he was concerned about the lack of clarity from Britain and insisted "we must start negotiating seriously". A Northern Ireland postman caught stealing gift cards he was supposed to deliver has avoided jail. Jonathan David Mawhinney received a three-month suspended sentence for thefts carried out while on his rounds in Belfast last year. The 24-year-old, of Beech Park in Portadown, Co Armagh, was detected after Royal Mail bosses used test packages to discover where missing post was ending up. Belfast Magistrates' Court heard staff based in the city had received multiple complaints about letters and packages not reaching addresses. It was established that the undelivered mail were on a postal route assigned to Mawhinney. Three tracked letters were then included in his allocated post in a bid to confirm the pilfering. Mawhinney's vehicle was searched in September 2016, once it was confirmed that none of them made it to their intended destinations. The test packages were uncovered along with 500 other postal items he was supposed to have delivered earlier that day. Mawhinney admitted a charge of stealing 14 greeting cards and their contents, including gift cards of an unknown value belonging to Royal Mail Group and its service users. He also accepted a further count of being a postal operator interfering with mail by intentionally delaying the delivery of 500 postal packets. Defence counsel Joel Lindsay stressed there was no theft of those letters, which were merely to have been posted earlier in his client's shift. Mr Lindsay told the court Mawhinney's actions came at a time when he was going through a personal crisis due to his domestic situation. The defendant has no previous record and is deemed unlikely to re-offend, the court heard. Imposing the three-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, District Judge Oonagh Mullan accepted Mawhinney acted out of character and while under pressure. ends A leading cancer charity has described the growing number of people languishing on waiting lists in Northern Ireland as a "symptom of a Health Service hindered by a lack of direction". A leading cancer charity has described the growing number of people languishing on waiting lists in Northern Ireland as a "symptom of a Health Service hindered by a lack of direction". This comes as new statistics from the Department of Health show that every Ministerial waiting-list target was missed at the end of the second quarter of 2017. The targets lay out where the Department of Health aim to have waiting list times by March 2018. Speaking about the figures, Cancer Research UK's public affairs manager Margaret Carr said: "Its worrying that people in Northern Ireland are still waiting too long for tests a symptom of a Health Service hindered by lack of direction. "Quick access to tests is a vital part of diagnosing cancer early, and some of these people might have cancer. Patients must be diagnosed and treated early if they are to have the best chance of surviving cancer." The Ministerial target for diagnostic tests is for 75% of patients to be seen within nine weeks, with no patient to wait more than 26 weeks. At the end of June, 109,571 patients were waiting for a diagnostic test, with 43.5% waiting longer than nine weeks, an increase from 36.5% at the end of March. Almost 12,700 patients (11.6%) were waiting more than 26 weeks for a diagnostic test. Concerns about delays in diagnosing patients was shared by Roisin Foster , chief executive of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland who said: "The continuing failure to meet targets set for patients waiting for diagnosis and cancer treatment is of major concern. "We need targeted work to reduce cancer patient waiting times immediately, to lower patient anxiety and the fear that their cancer is progressing while they wait. But the recent demand for a 70m cut to the Heath Trust budgets will undoubtedly impact directly on patient care and lead to even longer waiting times." "Designed to reform a broken system" Responding to the figures, Alliance Party health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw called for the immediate restoration of the Executive. "It is clear the big two parties are now shirking their responsibilities with regards to managing the health service and the reform programme to which they committed, said Ms Bradshaw. Implementation of the recommendations of Bengoa is urgently required as they are specifically designed to reform the broken system which leads to far too many people on waiting lists. It was also the DUP and Sinn Fein who chose not to raise health spending in line with England, and they cannot run away from their responsibility to fix that." In October 2016 then Health Minister Michelle O'Neill unveiled the Bengoa Report, a 10-year action plan that made a number of recommendations for the overhaul of Northern Ireland's Health Service. Health spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party Roy Beggs said that the number of people waiting longer than is medically safe had grown to an "unprecedented and terrifying level". "The tragic reality is we have now crossed the point beyond which people will be coming to avoidable harm as a result of the delays they are facing," he said. What do the figures show? Along with growing waiting lists for diagnostic services, there were also increases in the length of time that patients waited for consultant-led outpatient appointments and inpatient and day-care admissions. The department aims for no one to wait more than a year for their first consultant-led outpatient appointment, and for at least 50% of patients to wait no more than nine weeks for their first appointment. At the end of June there were 264,451 patients waiting for their first appointment, an increase of more than 11,000 on the figure at the end of March, and a 17% jump - nearly 39,000 - on the same point in June 2016. Despite aiming for zero, almost a quarter of all patients (64,074) were waiting more than a year to receive their first outpatient appointment - an increase of 21% from the end of March, and 13.4% from the end of June 2016. For inpatient and day case admissions, the department aims to have 55% of patients waiting no more than 13 weeks, with no patient waiting more than a year. Patients waiting more than 13 weeks for inpatient appointments came to 59%, 4% wide of the department's target, but still an increase on the 56% of patients waiting at the end of March and the 53.1% waiting at the end of June last year. Here is a breakdown of how the health service performed in each of its Ministerial targets at the end of June: Waiting time for first consultant-led outpatient appointment Total number of patients on waiting list: 264,451 Ministerial target: At least 50% of patients waiting no longer than nine weeks, no patient waiting no longer than 52 weeks. Percentage of patients waiting more than nine weeks: 71.6% Patients waiting more than a year: 24.2% Waiting time for inpatient and day care admission Total number of patients on waiting list: 72,480 Ministerial target: At least 55% of patients waiting no longer than 13 weeks, no patient waiting no longer than 52 weeks. Percentage of patients waiting more than 13 weeks: 59% Patients waiting more than a year: 15.5% Waiting time for a diagnostic service Total number of patients on waiting list: 109,571 Ministerial target: 75% of patients waiting no longer than nine weeks, no patient waiting longer than 26 weeks. Percentage of patients waiting more than nine weeks: 43.5% Patients waiting more than 26 weeks: 11.6% Nicola Mallon, SDLP; Steven Agnew, Green Party; Gerry Carroll, People Before Profit; Paula Bradshaw, Alliance; Ciaran Mac Giolla Bhein; Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein; and president of Conradh na Gaeilge Dr Niall Comer An Irish Language Act remains a make-or-break issue for power-sharing, Gerry Adams has warned. The Sinn Fein president delivered the blunt message at an event in Belfast yesterday. For the first time, representatives from five parties - Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Alliance, Greens and People Before Profit - have come together with Irish language advocacy group Conradh na Gaeilge to display their support for standalone legislation. Overall they represent 50 of the 90 MLAs. Mr Adams said: "The British Government and unionist parties have failed to fulfil their commitment to an Acht Gaeilge and to the full implementation of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements. Implementation of these matters must be a bedrock of any future Executive. Equality must be a bedrock for any future Executive. The rights of Irish speakers must be recognised and respected." As part of the campaign for a standalone Irish Language Act, Mr Adams was joined by the SDLP's Nichola Mallon, Green Party leader Steven Agnew, Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw and People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll. Also present were officials from Conradh na Gaeilge. Niall Comer, president of Conradh na Gaeilge, said the idea was to show that cross-party support does exist for an Irish Language Act. Alluding to the efforts of language activists in Scotland and Wales, Mr Comer said the situation in Northern Ireland was especially complicated. "We find ourselves in a situation where the politicisation of the Irish language is done by politicians," he added. Paula Bradshaw said an Irish Language Act was not a vanity project, adding there would have to be a "real, tangible outcome" to justify expenditure. Nichola Mallon, meanwhile, repeated her party's support for legislation. "An Irish Language Act threatens no one and no tradition," she insisted. The DUP and UUP did not attend the event. Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said he would not accept "giving Gerry Adams a blank cheque for discrimination against non-Irish speakers". TUV leader Jim Allister said the "unequivocal rejection of the Sinn Fein demand should be the unified response of unionism". Unionists have warned the SDLP that Donald Trump could punish Belfast if the council votes next week to boycott the White House's St Patrick's Day celebration. An SDLP motion calls on the Lord Mayor not to attend the event next March in protest at the US President "giving succour to bigots and racists". It goes on to urge Belfast's first citizen, Alliance's Nuala McAllister, to decline any invitation to "champagne socials at the Trump White House". But Unionists branded the SDLP motion "very foolish", and urged the party to reconsider it. And one of three nationalist councillors who recently resigned from the SDLP said he was unsure whether he could support the proposal. Veteran Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers issued a stark warning. "This motion could have dire consequences for Belfast. President Trump is a ruthless man who takes revenge on his enemies," he said. "The amount of people he's fired from his staff shows what he's capable of. "When he finds out that Belfast doesn't want to be associated with him, he could take it out on us on a number of fronts." Mr Rodgers went on to say that the US Consulate in Belfast could be closed, meaning people would have to go to Britain or Dublin for visas. He also feared that US companies employing people in Northern Ireland could pull out. "Many of us worked for years to get Belfast's Lord Mayor on the White House guest list for St Patrick's Day. Until then, it had been only government ministers and party leaders," he said. "Now that Northern Ireland's capital city is represented, it is irresponsible to throw that away. "The Lord Mayor gets only a few minutes with the president, but the time with key advisers in Washington is vital." Independent councillor Declan Boyle, one of the SDLP trio who left the party in June, said he hadn't decided if he would support the motion. "I agree with most of the criticisms of Trump. Although I would add that previous presidents have made many blunders, including waging a war in Iraq which brought untold death and destruction," he added. "Many Americans loathe Trump, but a lot like him too and I would worry about insulting them. "They could interpret this as an attack not on the man, but on the office of president." SDLP councillor Brian Heading, who is proposing the motion, said Trump had "attempted to ban travel access to an entire religion, mocked the disabled and bragged about the sexual assault of women". America's special envoy to Northern Ireland faces the axe amid plans by the US government to slash its overseas diplomatic operation. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has proposed abolishing more than half of envoys. The last envoy to Northern Ireland was former Democrat Senator Gary Hart. His appointment lapsed when the Obama administration left power, and the position has not been filled by President Trump's team. A spokesman from the US State Department in Washington told the Belfast Telegraph: "Regarding the personal representative for Northern Ireland issues - that position will be retired. "The 1998 Good Friday Agreement has been implemented with a devolved national Assembly in Belfast now in place. "Legacy and future responsibilities will be assigned to the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs." It comes amid a substantial reduction in American involvement in the peace process in recent years. The US has sent a special envoy to Northern Ireland for more than two decades. Bill Clinton floated the idea in the early 1990s amid growing transatlantic interest in Northern Ireland's affairs. But it was not until 1995 that a decision to appoint a special envoy was finally made. The first envoy was former US Senator George Mitchell, who played a key role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. He served between 1995 and 2001, and was followed by Richard Haass who later led talks to resolve the impasse on issues surrounding parades, flags and the legacy of the Troubles. Mitchell Reiss and Paula Dobriansky followed, before Hillary Clinton named the New York-based Irish businessman Declan Kelly as economic envoy in 2009. The position was vacant from 2011 until Mr Hart's appointment in 2014. Slashing some of the special envoy positions has been on the cards for several years, amid criticism their role and impact was reduced by the sheer number of posts. Mr Tillerson proposed the cuts in envoy posts in a letter to Senator Bob Corker, chair of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Trump administration has vowed to slash the funding of the state department, which manages US relations with foreign countries and governments. Mr Tillerson has suggested that the special envoys for climate change and the Iran deal, Afghanistan-Pakistan, disability rights, international labour affairs and for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, as well as the Northern Ireland role, will be eliminated. However, Democrats have pledged to oppose the move. Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, took issue with the idea of eliminating several posts. He said: "None of these are incidental. Each one of these areas has a reason why they have a special envoy." In 2014, the American Foreign Service Association said that the number of special envoys and representatives had "increased substantially, diluting the brand and reducing effectiveness". Billy Dickson from the Boyne Bridge Defenders delivers a petition to the Strategic Planning Division at Clarence Court on Adelaide Street A bid to save an historic bridge reputedly once crossed by King William has received strong support from people in west Belfast, campaigners have said. The Boyne Bridge in the Sandy Row area could be demolished to make way for a new 175m transport hub. The current bridge was built in 1936 but incorporates two arches of the original Great Bridge. Campaigners have joined together to form the Boyne Bridge Defenders, aimed at saving the historic structure. Yesterday, group founder Billy Dickson submitted a petition to civil servants from the Department for Infrastructure's Strategic Planning Division. Mr Dickson said there had been a huge response to the campaign. "We now have over 3,000 signatures, online and on paper, and we are really pleased with that," he said. "I am very encouraged because even in the last week, we have got support from all of the main historical groups throughout Belfast, in particular west Belfast, which has come out very strongly in support." The Boyne Bridge was originally built in the 1600s and is said to have been crossed by King William's horse on the way to battle in 1690. Translink initially proposed plans to demolish the bridge to build the new transport hub. Since then Translink has revised plans to replace it with a new streetscape within the new Hub. An architect supporting the Boyne Bridge Defenders' cause submitted a letter of objection. Declan Hill, a director at the Belfast Urban Studio Community Interest Company, said it is important the bridge is saved. "There is a very important link between the bridge and history. The recent bridge was built in 1936, the construction of which is plate steel riveted together," he said. "The rivets that went into that bridge are probably the closest link that we have with the Titanic, because the bridge was built by Harland & Wolff." Violet and Tom Croker, who lived on Sandy Row for 25 years, said the bridge holds sentimental and historical value. Mrs Croker said: "It shouldn't be taken away, too many of these buildings and iconic landmarks were taken away over the years and it is a disgrace." A Translink spokesperson said: "We have worked closely with local communities during the consultation phase for the Belfast Hub and we will continue to do so. We are fully mindful of the need to respect the past as part of this project. "We intend to reuse and integrate the steel, lights and plaque from the existing Boyne Bridge within our contemporary design scheme and the project will benefit from the work of an artist, specifically commissioned to work with our communities in weaving local history and heritage into the new development". David Davis said there had been a "good discussion" on maintaining the Common Travel Area Gerry Adams says the British Brexit plans are unworkable and unrealistic. (Liam McBurney/PA) Gerry Adams has said Ireland should prevent Brexit talks on links between Britain and the EU. The Sinn Fein leader claimed Britain's plans so far were unworkable and unrealistic. The EU has decided that discussions on its future relationship with Britain, including trade, can only start once sufficient agreement is reached on issues like the Irish border. In the latest round of negotiations genuine progress was made on issues like maintaining freedom of movement for citizens of the two countries between the UK and Ireland, Europe's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said - but he added no decisive breakthrough had been made. Mr Adams said: "The fact that no definitive progress has been made in these talks is evidence that the British Brexit plans are unworkable and unrealistic. "The Irish government should insist that the negotiations are not ready to move to the next stage." The UK's only land frontier with an EU state post-Brexit will run between Northern Ireland and the Republic and citizens of both countries fear they could be particularly disadvantaged. Irish citizens living in Great Britain have also raised concerns. A good discussion was held on retaining the open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, British Brexit Secretary David Davis said. Mr Barnier said: "We have made genuine progress on the question of the Common Travel Area (CTA), on the basis of guarantees from the United Kingdom." The CTA is a decades-old deal between Britain and Ireland ensuring freedom of movement of people from both countries. In Brussels, Mr Davis said they had a good discussion on maintaining it and on safeguarding the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, on the basis of a UK paper. "We think there is a high degree of convergence on these key issues, and we agreed to work up shared principles on the Common Travel Area." Chancellor Philip Hammond was in Ireland on Thursday to meet the Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Coveney. Mr Coveney said he had "urged" the Chancellor to "listen to those who stand to be most negatively impacted by Brexit across these islands". "The Government is determined to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and to maintain to the greatest extent possible the status quo. "I have reminded the Chancellor of the Irish Government's conviction that the UK remaining in the Customs Union and the Single Market is the best way in which this can be achieved." He reiterated the Government's objective that there should be no new impediments to the all-island economy which has been able to develop over the last two decades as part of the peace process. In an article for The Irish Times, published on Thursday, Mr Hammond said the British and Irish economies were "already closely entwined" and that the Government is "clear in our determination to avoid any physical border infrastructure on either side of the Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland". He added: "After Brexit, goods must be able to move smoothly across the Border between the UK and Ireland, but so too must people." Flags of the European Union fly outside the European Parliament in France. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) The high cost of translating material into Irish is being blamed for the European Parliament overspending its budget by millions of euro. At more than 40 (36.80) a page, Irish is said to be the most expensive language to translate. The parliament set up a website earlier this year that aims to become a virtual library of testimonials and stories from people across Europe. Participants were asked to upload text and images to the My House of European History page to explain what Europe means for them and how they see themselves as having contributed to its history. However, the project was hit with controversy after it emerged officials had asked for an extra 1.5m (1.38m) to help fund its translation department. According to documents obtained by the Telegraph, the upkeep of the website has cost 3.7m (3.4m) more than expected. It had a budget for the year of 8.2m (7.54m). Documents cite the higher-than-expected need to translate material into Irish as central to the cost overrun. Private translators in Brussels charge on average 21.91 (20.16) per page, but for some languages the cost can be higher. Irish is the most expensive, according to the internal document, at a going rate of 42 (38.65) per page. British politicians have linked the controversy to the ongoing dispute with the EU over how much the UK should pay for Brexit. Some have described the project as a "vanity" website and propaganda. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: "This is why we should resist the huge so-called EU divorce bill." Police officers at the scene of the incident in Londonderry last night Police have said nothing was found in a security alert in Londonderry after the report a device was left in the area. It was thought a suspect device was left near the family home of a unionist activist with republicans blamed. Police were called to the address in the Lettershandoney area shortly before 7pm on Wednesday. The home in question was evacuated shortly afterwards as well as several neighbours. "I have been nowhere near my house since I left it this morning," the unionist activist told the Belfast Telegraph. "I have just been told that I'm not allowed to go anywhere near the road, what it all entails I don't really know. "I don't know what my house has got to do with it. "Yes we have been put out of our house until further notice until we find out what is going on and that is quite disgraceful. It is a first for me and hopefully the last." SDLP councillor Jim McKeever said it was an "attack on the local community" and condemned those responsible. "We do not yet know the full picture but families in this community have expressed their concern," he told the Belfast Telegraph last night. "The immediate priority is to ensure the safety of all in the area." One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said that he had to bring his three young children out of their home as they were preparing for their first day at school. "We got a knock at the door this evening," he said. "It was the police. They said there was a suspect device and we had to get out immediately. "I have three young children here, the youngest is just two, and they have been put out of the house and into the street. "I have to take them to my mother's for the night. It's an awful disruption, a nightmare." The local community association opened up its hall to residents affected. The security alert remained ongoing late last night. It ended around midnight. Inspector Greg Smyth said: "Information was received by police that suggested a device may have been left in the area. To ensure the safety of local residents and those travelling in and around the area it was necessary to carry out a thorough search and clearance operation. "Nothing was found during these searches and evacuated residents were then able to return home. "When it comes to public safety we cannot take chances and we would like to thank local people for their patience and understanding throughout the operation." Brother of Manchester bomber faces trial in Libya over the June attack (PA Wire) The brother of Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi will be tried in Libya over his role in the attack, the countrys chief investigator in the case said. Hashem Abedi was held in the war-torn country following the atrocity at the Manchester Arena in which 22 people were killed. According to the BBC, Libyas chief investigator in the case Asadiq Al Sour said Abedi is suspected of having helped his brother and collected materials for the attack. Expand Close CCTV of Salman Abedi on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack (Greater Manchester Police/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp CCTV of Salman Abedi on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack (Greater Manchester Police/PA) Their father Ramadan, who was also detained in Libya, has been released, the broadcaster said. Asadiq Al Sour told the BBC that Abedi will be taken to court within two months, and that British police have already questioned Abedi in Tripoli several times. The BBC was also told that authorities in Libya have given British police a list of names of people in the UK who they say should be questioned. The broadcaster said the people are not necessarily suspects but could provide important information about the bomber and his brother. Expand Close Flowers left in tribute to the victims of the Manchester bombing (PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers left in tribute to the victims of the Manchester bombing (PA) Last month Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said officers were engaged with the authorities in Libya. At the time, he said: We want to to speak to Hashem Abedi and I can now say we are currently engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Libyan authorities. Mr Jackson said attempts to speak to Hashem Abedi were part of an ongoing process but he refused to elaborate or say whether British police had travelled to Libya. Salman Abedi killed 22 people when he detonated his bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariane Grande concert on May 22. Prominent entrepreneur Sir David Tang, a friend of the royals and A-list celebrities, has died. For the past few weeks, the 63-year-old founder of the Shanghai Tang fashion chain had been at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where he died on Tuesday evening. Celebrities including Naomi Campbell, Sir Tom Jones and Russell Crowe have since paid tribute to the businessman. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Speaking to the Press Association, Ewan Venters, chief executive of Fortnum & Mason, said the world is a little duller after Sir Davids death. Mr Venters, 45, who had known him for a decade, said he was informed of the death by Sir Davids wife, Lady Lucy Tang. He was one of lifes unique people who had an extraordinary network of people from all walks of life. He was a very generous, kind-hearted, spirited individual, Mr Venters said. Personally, I think the world is a little duller for the loss of David and at such a relatively young age. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Sir David announced earlier this month that he was throwing a farewell to life party at The Dorchester in London after receiving the news he had a couple of months to live. Mr Venters said the event was due to take place in the ballroom at the luxury Mayfair hotel on September 6, but that sadly he didnt quite make it. He added: David had been unwell on and off for a period, but actually his recent illness is a relatively short (one) this has all happened in the last four weeks. There was an understanding amongst his friends, and hence why he organised a memorial, that by definition he was not going to come through. It was a matter of time. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference As the news of his death broke, Hollywood actor Russell Crowe tweeted: RIP dear friend Sir David Tang, the privilege was mine. Witty, charming, intellectual, salacious, hilarious, loving and funny as f***. Veteran entertainer Sir Tom Jones posted: A most generous, exceptional & loving friend, Sir David Tang, RIP. The stories & laughs will forever echo. Our hearts go out to Lucy & family. Presenter Stephen Fry tweeted: We all knew it was coming, but the death of the great, outrageous, kind, brilliant, original & wholly marvellous David Tang is a rotten blow. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Posting an image of herself with Sir David on Instagram, Naomi Campbell wrote that there would never be another person like him, as she extended her condolences to his family. The model added: Mind, body and soul and your beyond generous spirit, bursting with this amazing infectious energy. We were all your students. Campbell also said the loss of Sir David is felt by the world, and that he was a man who lived life to the fullest. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Sir Mick Jagger posted on Twitter: So sad to hear about David Tang. He was so generous and so much fun we will all miss him. This friendly seal was in a playful mood as it waved to a passing coastguard team on a weekly training exercise. The repeated greeting was caught on camera by Howth Coast Guard as it conducted a session in Dublin Bay. The super cute footage, shared on the coastguards Twitter and Facebook page, attracted hundreds of likes, retweets and shares. Donnchadh Mac Cobb, 31, from Dublin, was taking part in the training on Monday evening outside Howth Harbour. He said: Wed just completed a few search patterns and stopped to debrief. We hear a noise and there was this big fella sitting in the water right beside us. One of the fellas says we should head off and waved at him and then he waved back. Im completely guessing but with the amount of people on the pier and kids waving down on them then there might be a bit of imitation going on. People couldnt resist having some fun with the video. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The coastguards video is not the first time the seals of Howth Harbour have been catapulted into fame. One seal who likes to wave at tourists and boats, has his own Facebook page under the name Sammy the Howth Harbour Seal. Pictures of a seal known as Cheery Charlie circulated in 2011. He waved to encourage tourists to throw their fish treats to him over rivals, according to a Daily Mail report. The order came under fire from environmental groups who argued it could cause environmental damage and create conflicts between miners and indigenous groups in the Amazon (AP/Andre Penner) A Brazilian judge has suspended a presidential decree that stripped protections from a reserve in the Amazon and would have allowed mining. The order, first issued last week and later revised, lifted the reserve designation from a gold-rich area larger than the Netherlands in two northern Brazilian states. It came under fire from environmental groups who argued it could cause environmental damage and create conflicts between miners and indigenous groups. President Michel Temer's administration has said mining would not be allowed in conservation or indigenous areas within the reserve. In a preliminary decision late Tuesday, a judge argued that removing the reserve designation from an area in the heart of the Amazon could only be done with the consent of Congress. Mr Temer's office said on Wednesday that it would appeal against the decision. A suspect believed to be involved in the shooting of law enforcement officers is taken from the scene by Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputies (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) A gunman with an assault rifle shot and killed a California sheriff's deputy and wounded two other officers at a Sacramento hotel. Police believe a stolen vehicle ring was being run out of the hotel, which was later surrounded by officers searching for suspects. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's vehicle theft task force was investigating the ring on Wednesday when officers engaged in a 20-mile car chase that began at the hotel. The police say they learned while arresting the two women in the suspected stolen car that one had a room at the hotel. Officials say the shooting began when officers returned to the room and knocked on the door to investigate. T hey were hit with gunfire coming from inside the room, and a man inside then left through the back, where he shot Robert French and fled in a vehicle. After a short pursuit, police exchanged fire with the man, who was hit, sheriff's spokesman Tony Turnbull said. Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tyres squealing and saw a grey Dodge Charger speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street. He estimated he heard 12 shots, and said: "It was like the Wild West." The man suspected of killing the deputy is in custody, but officers believed other suspects may still have been holed up in a room where the shots were fired. Guests at the hotel were told to shelter in place. After an hours-long search police said no other suspects were found at the hotel. Mr French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, died on the way to a hospital from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones said. The 52-year-old is survived by a girlfriend and several adult children, Mr Jones said. The two wounded California Highway Patrol officers were expected to survive. AP North Korea has vowed to execute reporters from two South Korean newspapers, saying they insulted the country's dignity while reviewing and interviewing the British authors of a book about the isolated nation. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency carried a state court statement expressing anger over the descriptions of North Korean lives as increasingly capitalist. It also objected to the translated title of the South Korean edition as Capitalist People's Republic Of Korea and the book's cover that replaced the red star in North Korea's official seal with the US dollar mark. The court also "sentenced to death" the presidents of the newspapers and said the North will "track down to the end and cut off the dirty windpipes" of those responsible for such provocations. The North did not directly threaten the British authors of North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters And Defectors, but said the book "viciously defamed and distorted" the country's realities. The book was written by Daniel Tudor, a former Economist reporter, and James Pearson, a Reuters correspondent. North Korean propaganda is often filled with odd and extreme threats. In June, it vowed to execute South Korea's former president and her spy chief over an alleged plot to assassinate its leadership. Seoul's National Intelligence Service denied the claim. The North also threatened South Korean news organisations in 2012. Its military warned that its troops had aimed artillery at the specific co-ordinates of some Seoul-based newspapers and TV stations over their critical reports on children's festivals that had been taking place in Pyongyang. The North did not carry out on the threat to wage a "merciless sacred war" over the perceived insults. AP Forensic workers collect the bodies of a woman and two men who were executed in the Alta Progreso neighborhood in Acapulco, Mexico (AP) Mexican authorities say seven people have been murdered in the beach resort of Acapulco as the city continues to grapple with a violent crime wave. The killings on Tuesday include the slaying of two men and a woman at an apartment used as an office for a taxi service. Guerrero state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said on Wednesday that both men were bound with tape and all three were shot in the head. Family members said the men were taxi drivers. Acapulco registered 483 murders in the first seven months of the year. That was down about 13% from the same period last year, but still on pace for it to remain Mexico's deadliest city. Nationwide, murders are up 27% so far this year. AP The reported launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP) The US has flown some of its most advanced warplanes to South Korea to take part in bombing drills aimed at intimidating North Korea after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan earlier this week, the South said. Two US B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35 stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea that simulated precision strikes against the North's "core facilities", an official from Seoul's Defence Ministry said. The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35s came from a US base in Iwakuni, Japan, the official said. The North, which claims Washington has long threatened Pyongyang by flaunting the powerful US nuclear arsenal, describes the long-range B-1Bs as "nuclear strategic bombers" although the United States no longer arms them with nuclear weapons. North Korea has made it clear that it sees its weapons programme, which demands regular testing to perfect, as the only way to contest decades of US hostility, by which it means the huge US military presence in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific. Washington, in turn, seeks with its joint drills with Seoul and bomber flights to show that it will not be pushed from its traditional role of supremacy in the region. In Beijing, North Korea's ally China warned that war is not an option in finding a solution to Pyongyang's growing nuclear capabilities. Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Ren Guoqiang told reporters that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. The bombing exercise came as the United States and South Korea wrapped up their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills that involved tens of thousands of soldiers. North Korea condemns the annual US-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion and described Tuesday's launch over Japan as a countermeasure against the drills. Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this year's drills. The United States often sends its warplanes to South Korea, mostly for patrols, when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea on Tuesday flew a potentially nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over northern Japan and later called it a "meaningful prelude" to containing the US territory of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch was a "curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures" against the US-South Korea war games and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has been maintaining a rapid pace in weapons tests this year as it openly pursues an arsenal of nuclear-armed, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into the US mainland. Experts say Kim wants a real nuclear deterrent against the United States to ensure the survival of his government and probably believes that it will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. Pyongyang had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s towards Guam, which is home to key US military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening. It also flight-tested two developmental ICBMs in July. South Korean analysts said that the North's threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are probably attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. The US and South Korean militaries say the Hwasong-12 the North fired over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido flew for about 2,700 kilometres (1,677 miles). South Korea's vice defence minister Suh Choo-suk told politicians on Thursday that the North might have fired the missile at about half its maximum range. AP Currently, in the north, the Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney are scurrying around, seemingly oblivious to the "busy fool" concept. James, as he views his broken shire, is said to be feverishly working behind the scenes in a bid to pull it all back together again by having the main protagonists meet in secret. More upfront, Simon Coveney has taken to gallivanting from one part of the Bantustan to another, meeting him, her and Uncle Tom Cobley. By now, he must understand that the term 'Minister for Foreign Affairs' is most apt when he visits a place like the north, where he is certain to be confronted with its mish-mash of alien ideas, archaic attitudes and an insufferable political narcissism which helps comfortably blinker out of view what the chief executive of Co-operation Ireland, Peter Sheridan, referred to as "the rights of the other community". If both ministers express optimism, even if only for the optics, about a rapid resumption of the Executive, they remind us of another concept they have forgotten: that in the north no pessimist was ever proven wrong. While each behaves like the character from Sean O Faolain's short story, "who hadn't got a spare sixpence of an idea to fumble for", the north's political class continues doing what has long defined it - procrastination. It is hugely enamoured to the notion of delay and defer, which was ingrained in their collective psyche by Tony Blair, who visited the place around 40 times, almost certainly more than he travelled to Iraq, where he both started and waged an unjust war. The lesson learned by the political class was that, if it throws the rattle out of the pram and howls enough, it will attract attention and copious quantities of pacifiers. Having established a pattern of penultimate deadline by endless postponement, the two governments should at least desist from expressing displeasure at the monkey when it reaches out for low-hanging fruit. The DUP, as usual, has taken to blaming Sinn Fein for the administrative hiatus. The nationalist party stands accused by Sammy Wilson of having "demands and red lines ... so unrealistic that there is not going to be an agreement". While it might come as no surprise to learn that Roy Beggs of the UUP backed Wilson, an eyebrow or two might be raised in the direction of the SDLP's Claire Hanna, who earlier this week tweeted that: "Danny Morrison today gives SF thinking in a nutshell - killing Good Friday & handing us all to Tories is worth it to make point to the DUP." So, in a nutshell of a different sort, it is all Sinn Fein's fault: the party prefers direct rule to a power-sharing executive; its eye more on power in the south than progress in the north. How representative Morrison is of what Sinn Fein believes prior to the commission of the party's approved thinking is not as readily apparent as Hanna might hypothesise. He has often been behind the curve on these matters. He is not a policy-maker, but someone who often wrongly anticipates what way the cat might jump and leaps first, only to find the cream has soured. Hence his serious errors of judgment about IRA weaponry decommissioning and the party response to visits from British royalty. Morrison is much more adept at falling into line with party policy than he is at predicting it, as is evidenced from his reading of the party's relationship with the DUP at the "moment of creation". Writing prior to the DUP-Sinn Fein coalition in 2007, he said: "Increasingly I think we must need our heads examined. Just because he represents the largest party might entitle him to be First Minister - but, in truth, who could work with this one-man Executive? He is ill-mannered, arrogant, pompous and bigoted. "We want the north to change, to modernise, and not to be stuck in the Sixteenth century having the Protestant Reformation shoved down our throats. What an advertisement he would be around the world. We would be a laughing stock. We would be building on gas." In short, Morrison is not a reliable barometer of Sinn Fein policy. Party luminary Jim Gibney waxes somewhat more sanguine than Morrison. He is also more in tune with what is being thought within the party, even if he inherits ideas rather than patents them. His view is that "it is difficult to say if the north's executive, assembly and all-Ireland ministerial council will function again in the foreseeable future". He has floated the fanciful notion that, if observers look past the DUP, "there is clearly some new and fresh thinking taking place among a section of unionist opinion". This is a regurgitation of the old Sinn Fein shibboleth, supported by strategic nothingness, of identifying a unionist de Klerk. It is born not of acuity, but of aridity. Courtesy of Tory misfortunes, the DUP is in the ascendancy and there is nothing for Sinn Fein to look past other than the wilderness of direct rule, which the vastly experienced Ken Bloomfield suggests is the most likely option should the shouting fail to reach a mutually agreed conclusion. Better for Sinn Fein as suggested by Morrison? Hardly. It only makes political, strategic and indeed historic sense for Sinn Fein to "smash Stormont" if in its stead there was to be a move towards more rule from Dublin and less from London, even with the latter remaining the dominant partner: a rolling transfer of sovereignty, where power shifts incrementally from London to Dublin. There is not the slightest sign of this happening. Because Sinn Fein is so heavily focused on the south - it has little strategic choice - it does not follow that the northern institutions can simply be permanently upended. For, if the party is to succeed in its pretence that a united Ireland of sorts - just not the one "traditionally envisaged", to cite Adams - can be put in place, it requires the apparatus in the north to be firing on all cylinders. Sans executive resumption, at some point prior to the next southern general election, Sinn Fein, with its ceiling of ambition limited to propping up Fianna Fail, or Fine Gael, merely becomes a strain of the Labour Party. The latter's death by deception will serve as a salutary warning to Sinn Fein. While Morrison's observation that the Sinn Fein base has shifted seems accurate, there has been no party leadership in the island more capable of getting the base to slaughter sacred cows than the current camarilla and cabal heading Sinn Fein. If there is no groundswell against the politically promiscuous search in Dublin for any suitor - no matter how conservative - it is difficult to imagine the base continuing to hold the line against a resumption of the Executive, no matter how weak the terms, at a point when it is most conducive to leadership ambitions. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. 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You can also view past papers by clicking the e-edition header above. More than 300 million people rely on the waters of the River Nile. The Nile river basin contains over 10% of Africa's landmass, in 11 countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Kenya. Many of these countries rely almost exclusively on the Nile as their source of freshwater. The River Nile at Cairo, Egypt. Flickr/Emad Faied Water demand throughout the region is expected to soar. This is on the back of rising populations as well as ambitious initiatives, particularly in Egypt and Ethiopia which have plans to develop hydroelectric power. The need for cooperative sustainable management of the trans-boundary water, and related, resources of the basin has never been more compelling. The Nile is one of more than 260 so-called international drainage basins throughout the world where water, and related, resources are shared between two or more nation states. Historically, vying for these scarce resources has been a source of friction as well as a catalyst for peace, as nations are forced to work together. Disparate, but successful, examples of turning adversaries into improbable partners include: the Indus River Treaty between India and Pakistan, which has survived three wars, and the Senegal River Treaty where four countries share joint ownership of water related infrastructure. In these examples, finding a way to equitably and reasonably share international waters has been the key to success. Grey Area The UN Watercourses Convention requires every country that shares an international drainage basin to participate in its use, development and protection. But there is a grey area. The convention leaves it up to individual countries to negotiate what they see as equitable and reasonable. And despite many decades of concerted effort no comprehensive deal between all 11 countries has yet been reached in the case of the Nile River Basin. Meanwhile, tensions have continued to mount including between Egypt and Ethiopia. Both Egypt and Ethiopia are arguably more heavily dependent on the Nile river basin than any other countries. The Nile is functionally the only real source of water for Egypt. The preponderance of Egypts fast growing population lives in the Nile Valley and nearly all of whom are farmers that rely on the water to grow crops. Yet more than 80% of the water reaching Egypt comes from the Blue Nile which originates in Ethiopia. Ethiopias population growth rate is equal to or greater than Egypts, establishing an equally compelling need for water for increased food production. The urgency of reaching an agreement to reasonably and equitably share benefits on the Nile Basin cant be overstated. Apart from the need to manage a precious resource carefully, the very process of reaching cooperation would create a stabilising and more transparent atmosphere in the countries that depend on the Nile basin. It would widen political participation, build political stability and spread confidence between states. This is important given that the potential for friction will likely continue to increase as the Nile faces new challenges. New challenges Fresh evidence now points to the fact that both the political and ecological situation in the Nile basin is becoming more precarious. Water quality appears to be worsening, there are growing water quantity issues and agricultural yields appear to be falling. These challenges are exacerbated by the looming completion of various dams on both the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The biggest of these is the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia. There are also new, and increasing, concerns over the potential impact of climate change on the Nile river basin. Recent studies point to two contradictory scenarios that would require completely opposite adaptation strategies: one entails floods and increased runoff, the other water scarcity and possible drought. At least one study suggests that an increase in global temperatures will cause more evaporation, leading to greater water scarcity. Another study suggests increased evaporation in Egypt will result in increased precipitation in the Ethiopian highlands. This could lead to increased runoff downstream, in Egypt, which may cause floods. These uncertainties are intensified by the fact that most of the nation states sharing the Nile Basin are generally more likely to be increasingly water scarce by 2050. This is due to climate change and increased water demand due to population growth. On top of all these challenges many Nile countries, particularly Egypt and Ethiopia, continue to have ambitious plans to use more water as well as develop hydroelectricity projects along the Nile. For example Egypt has embarked on the New Valley Project. This is designed to redirect approximately 4.94 billion cubic metres of water to create and maintain an attractive, habitable area in the Western Desert. These developments underscore the need to successfully design institutions and legal frameworks, using adaptive management, for the shared water resources. Adaptive management is a process which aims to reducing uncertainty over time via system monitoring. Moving forward There is no one-size-ts-all approach to these challenges. But whats clear is that such agreements can protect the environment whilst also stabilising and enhancing security at the regional level. Now is the time for all 11 Nile sharing nation states and the international development community to pull together. They must redouble their efforts to successfully establish and maintain a Nile Basin wide cooperative framework agreement and a Nile Basin Commission. This is not a panacea for all that ails the Nile Basin. However, these initiatives would clearly help focus the region on establishing a nascent international river basin organisation that could eventually embrace larger water and energy governance solutions. A Basotho pony is struggling up a cliff, burdened by jerry cans that have been filled up at a spring. Behind the animal, far below and out of reach, lies the fat gleam of Katse Dam. This is the memory that sears through me when I recall my visit to Lesotho in July 2016. I travelled there with photographer Dave Southwood, who has been visiting the mountainous kingdom frequently over the past two years. Initially, he came to make portraits of the balaclava-clad shepherds who mind their flocks on the steep slopes above the dam. It was a way of exploring how, in portraiture, a blank mask complicates "the act of seeing and being seen", he says, triggering "questions about the viewer's projections and the subjects' power". But, as he worked, the backdrop intruded. Ever-present and preternaturally still, the dam's "ridiculous, unnatural vertices" and "dense and depthless magnetism" captivated him. Southwood wanted to dive deeper into the socioeconomic and cultural ramifications of Katse's construction. It, Mohale Dam and various reservoirs and tunnels form the first phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. By June 2017, the project had earned the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, which manages the scheme, almost R8bn from 19 years of supplying water to Gauteng. Some have described this as a win-win - with impoverished Lesotho getting much-needed revenue for its "white gold", while helping to quench its big, industrialised neighbour's relentless thirst. But what of those whose lives have been inexorably altered by the dam's presence? We headed to Sephareng, one of the many tiny villages dotted around Katse, to find out. Among those we spoke to was Tsenyeho Sehole, who trained as a teacher in Maseru, but has since been unable to find work. Sitting across from us in her immaculately tidy hut, she explained that the dam initially created jobs for her parents' generation: the men helped build and the women cooked and washed clothes. "The work is finished now," she says. Most people are jobless - the fish farm and Katse Lodge (the only hotel for miles) employ only a fraction of the adults in the area. She says communities around the dam are not allowed to use Katse's water (which is intended for SA only) and rely on springs that weaken to a trickle in times of drought. "We are running short of water." Although taxis and buses ply the tarred roads that were built as part of the project, "they are too expensive" if you don't have an income. It costs Tsenyeho R12 to get to Katse village, where a clinic was constructed and there are now two bank branches. And so she walks there if she is well enough; she takes the taxi only if she is too sick. Tsenyeho's grandfather Ramatseliso Sehole is also grateful the road has made access to services much easier, but he mourns the way the dam has made travel to once close-by villages so much harder for those without a vehicle. He says the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority promised the villagers boats to allow them to cross the dam easily - but these have not been provided. "We are unable to reach our friends and bury our beloved ones who have passed away. We are not happy with this dam." Before the water filled the valley floor "all the animals were grazing very nicely and there was a lot of pastoral land", Sehole says. "Even when the snow had fallen, there was still pasture for the animals." While the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority has provided compensation for the loss of arable land (in the form of money or food), this has not made farming on the cramped, infertile slopes any easier. Before the dam, villagers would fish in the river. Although he is a fan of the trout introduced into the dam (which is exported to Japan), Sehole said "we are not allowed to fish anymore". He says people are arrested if they are caught doing so. The dam "has affected us a lot when it comes to spiritual things", he says. Sangomas in the area require flowing water for their rituals; the dam has denied them access to this. "It's clear that phase one, like most massive damming projects, has fomented socioeconomic problems that haven't been fully addressed by those responsible," Southwood says. "If these problems are not addressed in law, countless thousands of Basotho will continue to have their lives negatively affected as successive phases of the scheme unfold." Encouragingly, there has been some success in using the legal system to improve the lot of those affected. In 2012, Seinoli, Lesotho's first independent public interest legal centre, won a court case with an order that forced the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority to restore access to running water for the 610 residents of Mapeleng village after phase one had resulted in them losing this. It is a legal precedent that will benefit more than 4,000 other Basotho who have also lost water. Another court victory three years later resulted in the authority having to pay compensation to the Ha Lejone Community Co-operative for brushwood, fodder and medicinal plants lost as a result of the dam. The ruling should lead to compensation for the 63 other co-operatives formed to represent the interests of affected communities. Although about seven years behind schedule, preparations for the next phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project are under way. With roughly 5,000ha that will be flooded to make way for the new Polihali Dam, phase two is likely to cause similar upheaval for the communities who live there. Tente Tente, divisional manager for phase two, says this time it will be different. "A much-improved compensation policy, a Livelihoods Restoration programme and a strong public participation approach are some of the improvements that underpin the intent of the Lesotho Highland Development Authority," he says. He did not respond to further questions about what these would entail. With the grinding poverty and near non-existent employment prospects around Katse, I ask why there haven't been greater efforts to deliver job opportunities to the communities affected by phase one. Tente suggests that "many avenues of beneficiation were created". This included "vocational training (plumbing, metal works, shattering, bricklaying, handicrafts, cooking and catering). Many schools, clinics and community centres were also built at this time and handed over to the government at the completion of this phase." Asked how many people received vocational training and how many schools, community centres and clinics were built, he did not reply. Should funding allow, Southwood intends to document the region that will be affected by phase two - the lure of Katse remains strong - and he will be returning to the dam soon. His visits are as much about solidifying relationships, listening and sharing images as they are about capturing new ones. A portable printer he keeps in the boot of his car ensures that all of his subjects receive hard copies of their photographs. His images from the dam were posted over the course of a week on the Open Society Instagram account in August 2016, while a portfolio of more than 20 photographs will be exhibited at the 2017 Joburg Art Fair from 8-10 September. Southwood's images offer a reminder of the human cost of ensuring SA's water security, even as the media focuses on phase two's delays and tender irregularities. (The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse plans to take legal action against the Department of Water and Sanitation over alleged delays.) Through continuing to document and share the stories and struggles of people at Katse, he hopes they - and the others who will be affected by future phases of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project - ultimately get a better, fairer deal. A portfolio of Dave Southwood's Lesotho prints will be showcased at the AVA Gallery booth Ao5 at the 2017 FNB Joburg Art Fair. Source: Business Day Namibia - The National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) is in the process of establishing a biotechnology and genetically modified organism (GMO) testing laboratory to facilitate full implementation of Namibia's Biosafety Framework. Marcin Balcerzak via 123RF The innovation hub, formerly the head office of the commission is currently undergoing renovations to host these laboratories as well as other national projects such as the Science Demonstration Centre, Incubation Centre for Innovators and Entrepreneurs, Demola Namibia and the Southern African Innovation Support (SAIS) II Programme. Renovations to the innovation hub started on 9 August and are scheduled to be completed on 9 December 2017. The facilities will be designed to ensure compliance with international standards and would be prepared for accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. Enhacing research, science, technology, innovation and food security "As part of the commission's very distinct mandate to provide national facilities that could further enhance the promotion of research, science, technology, and innovation in the country, the idea of hosting these facilities and projects also ties in well with the commissions strategy on national science technology and innovation infrastructure provision," said the office of the chief executive officer at the commission. Meanwhile, the first phase of the renovations at the innovation hub will mainly establish the biotechnology and GMO laboratories. These laboratories will provide testing services for GMO's as is required by the Biosafety Act, 2006 (Act no. 7 of 2006). Biotechnology research facilities through coordinated research efforts will aim to stimulate the transformation of knowledge to enhance food security through agricultural production, improve livelihoods and helping national entities to expand agricultural growth. RSTI: the bigger picture "The bigger aim is to establish the National Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (RSTI) Valley, a project that is envisaged to be completed by 2020. Upon completion of the RSTI Valley, all current projects being hosted at the innovation hub will be transferred to the valley and the innovation hub will be used as a satellite site," Vincent Nowaseb, general manager: innovation and technology development at the NCRST said. According to the commission, the innovation hub will provide entrepreneurs and innovators a suitable environment in which they can attain high-quality standards in terms of their innovative products and services that can compete in the market. Furthermore, the hub will promote technology innovation and incubation, capacity building on RSTI and will house facilities for exhibition and market place development. The hub also aims at promoting research and development of academia in partnership with industry to assist in the growth of new ventures. Other facilities such the research and testing laboratory will allow academia and industry to have access to state-of-the-art equipment for their research as well as product and technology development initiatives. The facilities will enable users to undertake excellent research and deliver innovative outcomes. African governments should give attention to tourists from within the continent to further grow the sector rather than focus most on those from across the oceans, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi has said. Kituyi was speaking at the 41st Annual World Tourism Conference, which is currently underway in Kigali. Dereje Belachew via 123RF Kituyi said African countries often fail to appreciate and give attention to tourists from the continent, which is the fastest growing source of visitors. Instead, countries focus on tourists from Europe, America, and Asia, who tend to be seasonal. Intra-African tourism can sustain industry better than season, international tourism Kituyi said tourists from the continent visit the country throughout the year as opposed to the 'preferred tourists' who only visit seasonally. "The fastest growing tourism is intra-African tourism. Movement of tourists from one African country to another. There are very many positive components about Intra-African tourism, one is that it is not seasonal. It is 12 months a year, conference tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism and business visits. This sustains the industry better than the occasional seasonal tourism," he said. According to statistics from UNCTAD, tourists from the continent make up a total of 44 percent of the total visitors received in the continent and this is expected to grow to 50 percent in coming years. "Intra-African tourism grew from 34 percent to 44 percent of the total number of tourists in Africa. The projections are that it will be above 50 percent in the next 10 years," Kituyi said. Spill-over effects The prioritisation of tourists from outside the continent, he said, has consequently led to issues such as poor service delivery to African tourists and has also influenced the messaging of African tourists' destinations. "There is a traditional attitude that tourists are European, American, and more recently Chinese arrivals and African tourists are considered as distraction. Even in the messaging of attractions, we talk to everyone else other than the growing tourists. "It is incumbent for Africa to know that they cannot grow their efficiencies as tourist destination unless they start appreciating that those African visitors are the main visitors of the future," he said. African countries can also boost intra-Africa tourism by advocating and rolling out visa-free regimes and passport-less travel across the continent. Jose da Silva Goncalves, the Cape Verde minister for economy and employment, admitted to giving more priority to connect to Western countries as opposed to the rest of the continent. The country is currently well connected to the US and Europe but the minister said that going forward, they will invest in increasing connection to the rest of the continent. Kituyi faulted African countries for not allocating sufficient budgets and resources to develop the tourism sub-sector and instead preferring traditional sectors such as mining. "Africa receives much more from the tourism sector that it appreciates. We still live in a time where public budgets are going into traditional sectors with limited dynamism and less assured potential of creating sustainable employment and less capacity for the gender gap," Kituyi said. He said the sub-sector yields about 8 percent of the continent's Gross Domestic Product with tourist receipts standing at over $47bn while tourism exports fetch over $50bn. BERLIN, Germany: Ryanair chief executive Michael O' Leary on Wednesday said his airline would not make a bid for insolvent Air Berlin, slamming what he called a German "stitch-up" designed to benefit Lufthansa. Several airlines are jostling to take over parts of Air Berlin after it filed for insolvency earlier this month, a process Ryanair has been fiercely critical of. The chief executive of the Irish no-frills airline said at a press conference in Berlin that Ryanair would only join the scramble for assets if it "was a fair and open process". "But we are not getting involved in this process because it is a stitch-up," O'Leary said. Air Berlin filed for insolvency after the main owner Etihad Airways suddenly pulled the funding plug following years of losses. The German government then stepped in with a 150 million ($180 million) bridging loan to keep the carrier's planes flying for the coming weeks. O'Leary accused the government and the two German airlines of conspiring to allow Lufthansa to take over a debt-free Air Berlin in violation of anti-trust rules, charges the government rejects. The pugnacious Ryanair boss said awarding Air Berlin to Lufthansa would give Germany's flagship carrier control over "95 percent of the domestic market". This would make Lufthansa "not just a German champion but a German monster who will increase the cost of air travel for millions of Germans for the next 10, 15, 20 years". German newspaper Bild has reported that Lufthansa - which already leases 38 of Air Berlin's 140 planes - could buy up to 70 aircraft with as many as 3,000 crew for its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings. Other interested airlines cited in media reports include package holiday firm TUI, British low-cost carrier Easy Jet and Thomas Cook subsidiary Condor, as well as Bavarian entrepreneur Rudolf Woehrl. German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said last week that "for competition reasons, no single company can take over Air Berlin". Ryanair has lodged complaints with German and European Union anti-trust authorities, urging them to investigate the "obvious conspiracy playing out in Germany". Source: AFP SAA has received a commitment from the Angolan government to pay the money it owes for airline tickets, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba says. Angola is one of four African countries that owe South African Airways (SAA) more than R1bn for airline tickets. The others are Zimbabwe, Senegal and Nigeria. "SAA has faced, over the years, serious revenue management challenges. They have resulted, amongst others, in being owed fees from certain governments totalling about R1bn," said Gigaba. "We are addressing that internally. We are also engaging with the governments owing us, including the Angolan government, for the repatriation of the money they owe us so we can close down on those books." Gigaba said Angola was aware of the importance of SAA's financial stability. Repatriation discussions "We have discussed with the Angolan government about repatriation. We hope and expect that the new government is going to continue to honour the agreement which we have reached. We know that Angola is facing many economic challenges, but so are we and many other countries." More clarity would be provided, he said, on whether SAA would get a bail-out in September. SAA's financial state was dire and a bail-out could be the only way out of the quagmire, apart from privatisation. "We expect that to be made by September, given that the current credit line has been rolled over until the end of September. So, we need to make a decision by then which would enable us to inform the lenders of the financial arrangements and capital structure that is going to be finalised this year." Discussions with lenders, affected parties All except one of the national airline's major lenders was willing to roll over its loans to accommodate September, he said. However, discussions with all lenders and affected parties would continue. "At the moment, it's Citibank and we are negotiating with other lenders to possibly continue rolling over until we are in a better position and until we have a proper financing model. We are exploring various financing options," he said. "There are a number of companies that require funding from the government. I am obviously taking a hard line on the matter, given the fact that SA is in a difficult fiscal situation. The fiscal outlook is quite difficult. "There is no money lying around for us to bail out state-owned companies." Referring to state-owned enterprises in general, Gigaba said the space SA had on the expenditure side of the budget had become limited. "It will not be possible for us to announce bail-outs for everybody now. It may happen over the next few financial years, but I am taking a hard line. Stance on bail-outs "Clearly, the government needs to take a stance on bail-outs. Either it runs as a business, or it goes down." Government guarantees, he said, should not be used to fund operational expenditure. "Ministers must be hard on the agencies they lead. They place demands on them and have high expectations of them and tell them that we are in a difficult fiscal space and nobody must continue behaving as though the economy is growing at 5% per annum. "We need to be very constrained in what we do." Source: Business Day YAOUNDE, Cameroon - Fall armyworm has spread to Cameroon. The pest has attacked crops in at least 24 African countries. In Cameroon, the Ministry of Agriculture says it is particularly concerned about the impact of the Fall armyworm infestation in the north and the east of the country. Minister-delegate Ananga Messina says fall armyworm has infested six of the central African state's 10 regions. Mikhail Kochiev via 123RF She says the armyworms have been a serious threat to food security in Cameroon because cereals like maize, sorghum, rice and legume plants like cowpea, peanuts and beans are increasingly being attacked every day. She says the situation is particularly worrisome on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria where the population and 100,000 Nigerian refugees are already suffering from food scarcity due to the Boko Haram conflict. The Ministry of Agriculture says nearly two million people are currently in need of food assistance in northern Cameroon. Messina told VOA about half of Cameroons 23 million inhabitants and millions of livestock risk hunger in the months ahead. She said the armyworms have extended to Cameroons eastern border, putting neighboring Central African Republic at risk, a country gripped by a severe humanitarian crisis after years of conflict. Use of chemicals not the best approach Cameroon has launched a task force to manage the infestation. Some farmers have been using chemicals to kill the pests, but agriculture technician Anicet Mvondo says that is not the best approach. "The problem is that the insecticide is not good for the health of the farmer," said Mvondo. "It is not good for the environment. It kills other organisms in the environment. Using insecticides is not a good way. We should try to look for other solutions because these insects on the field are also eaten by other organisms." Drawing from lessons learned in Americas on sustainable Fall armyworm management The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports Fall armyworm was first detected in four countries in West Africa in early 2016. It has since spread to at least 20 other countries. Experts say the Fall armyworms can reproduce rapidly and can fly long distances in moth form, though it remains unknown how the pest spread to West Africa from South America. The FAO is leading the regional response efforts in Africa, and it says it is drawing from lessons learned in the Americas on sustainable Fall armyworm management. FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, David Phiri says methods like regular monitoring and hand-picking of worm larvae can be effective. "Fall armyworm has a lot of natural enemies and we should enhance their use to control the fall armyworm... So the message is that Fall armyworm has come here to stay and also that use of chemical pesticides should be reduced to a minimum, said Phiri. Staple crops like maize, sorghum, rice, and sugarcane have been hit hard in Africa, though the Fall armyworm can ravage more than 80 other plant species. Losses for Africa are estimated at at least $13bn. The Coca-Cola Company and its foundations recently announced a combined donation of more than $10m to support immediate humanitarian relief efforts and future rebuilding and development assistance in the 10 countries in the African Sahel experiencing a devastating famine. The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation will contribute more than $1.2m in cash and in-kind donations to immediate relief efforts that will be undertaken across affected countries, with an additional $9.6m allocated to community resilience and strengthening programmes within its continuing Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). The initial $1.2m emergency relief donation combines a $1m cash donation composed of $500,000 contributed to CAREs work in Somalia and $500,000 contributed to eight NGO organisations that have formed the Global Emergency Response Coalition to deliver aid across 10 countries where more than 20-million people are at risk of famine. In Somalia alone, more than 6.7-million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, of which more than 1.4-million are severely malnourished children. The remaining $200,000 will be donated through in-kind contributions by Coca-Cola and its bottling partners, providing water and other beverages to those directly affected by the famine and drought, and supporting the awareness campaign of the coalition through local media. New RAIN programmes The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation will direct Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) programmes to famine and drought relief in five African countries which include new programmes in Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda, and an initiative already underway in Somaliland. In total, the five programmes will support nearly 850,000 afflicted people in vulnerable communities and refugee populations with clean water, sanitation and training and programmes designed to help empower women and youth with economic opportunities. It is anticipated that The Coca-Cola Africa Foundations $9.6m investment in the programme will be leveraged with more than $28m in additional partner co-financing. Organisations forming the Global Emergency Response Coalition include CARE, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children and World Vision. Through the use of satellite and mobile phone technology, OOH audience measurement data, using the same units of currency (reach, frequency, GRP's, etc), is now available in South Africa and Kenya, and will soon arrive in Uganda, Tanzania and other markets. 36516989 via 123RF One of the major inhibitors to the OOH advertising industry has been the lack of tools to measure audience and campaign effectiveness, compared with other types of advertising, according to IT-Online, as quoted by Matt Angus-Hammond, business development lead: global key accounts and custom research, GeoPoll. Angus-Hammond was presenting at the annual Pan African Market Research Organisation (PAMRO) conference held in Cape Town, South Africa, this week. For the first time, a common currency is available allowing advertisers to compare OOH with other channels on a like-for-like basis as new methodologies allow the calculation of audience metrics for OOH channels, including: impacts, audiences, reach, frequency, GRPs. The #PAMRO2017 audience were told that the measurement of OOH media audiences in most countries therefore relies on a combination of survey data and mobility modelling to engage the audience for all panels to be estimated sufficiently accurately for the market to operate, while keeping the cost of measurement to an acceptable level. GeoPoll, in partnership with Cuende Informetrics system from Spain, is combining SMS surveys with satellite imagery technology that produces unprecedented data on OOH ratings in major urban areas across Africa. GeoPoll does the traffic survey to overlay onto that data to: Monitor reach and effectiveness of billboards and other street-side advertisements. Better understand which locations have the highest audience size on weekdays and weekends by key demographics. See when and where target audiences travel throughout the day. This OOH measurement standard is currently available in Nairobi, Kenya; and in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. The data is also running in other African cities and will be available soon in: Durban, South Africa; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Kampala, Uganda; and Lagos, Nigeria. Angus-Hammond said the bottom line is that advertisers advertise because they want to sell stuff and make money, so reliable measurement metrics are key. In a case study run in Lusaka, Zambia, they measured the metrics before a billboard went up and afterward and then measured the impact for the FMCG brand being advertised on the billboard. Angus-Hammond recounted that there was an improvement in brand awareness from before the billboard went up (41% brand awareness) to 67% brand awareness after the billboard went up; and a 9% increase in those who consumed the brand after the billboard went up (from 70-79% consumption improvement). Media comparisons In the battle for the African consumers attention, the most important question remains, however, what does the data tell us? Akinyi Okulo from GeoPoll Kenya, says there is always a tendency to compare Out of Home advertising with what TV and radio reach tells us. We are trying to get the best possible ROI in terms of advertising. Its all about one methodology across the different platforms which would give us the best return on investment. She explained how GeoPoll measures TV and radio audiences in Africa: Overnight media data, 365 days a year. SMS/app surveys capture individual behaviour. Four hour recall is most accurate in the market. Media planning and evaluation tools increase return on investment (ROI). One consistent methodology across all countries in Africa is used by GeoPoll: KGMM, which is currently live in: Cameroon, Mozambique, DRC, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Liberia. There are still baby steps to OOH measurement, but we can borrow from the positive outlooks we have seen, and things we can pull from television and radio measurement, said Okulo. Egypt has extended its assault on freedom of expression by blocking dozens of websites, including well-known media sites, United Nations experts have warned. Kheng Guan Toh via 123RF The Egyptian authorities have reportedly blocked access to the websites of at least 21 news agencies, including well-known sources of information as MadaMasr, RASSD, Al Watan, and Huffpost Arabi, as well as the websites of human rights organisations such as Reporters without Borders, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and the Alkarama Foundation. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Fionnuala Ni Aloain, have raised grave concerns with the Government of Egypt over its ongoing assault on freedom of expression. The human rights experts expressed particular alarm over reports of the expanding list of websites shut down or otherwise blocked by authorities for spreading lies and supporting terrorism, according to the state-run news agency MENA. The situation for journalism and the freedom of expression and access to information in Egypt has been in crisis for several years, the experts noted. It takes many forms, including the unlawful detention and harassment of journalists and activists. Denying access to websites of all sorts, but especially news sites, deprives all Egyptians of basic information in the public interest, they said, warning that around 130 websites may have been blocked so far. However, the Special Rapporteurs added that the lack of public record and transparency about the blockings, and the lack of prior or subsequent notification, make it difficult to verify the total number. Limiting information as the Egyptian Government has done, without any transparency or identification of the asserted lies or terrorism, looks more like repression than counter-terrorism, they said. The experts also noted that the authorities have not provided any evidence to prove that blocking websites would meet the tests of international human rights law. They recalled that, under international law, any such measures must be provided by law and be necessary and proportionate to meet a legitimate objective. In the case of the widespread blockings in Egypt, the experts pointed out, the blockings appear based on overbroad counter-terrorism legislation, and they lack any form of transparency and have extremely limited, if any, judicial control. The Special Rapporteurs and other UN human rights experts have previously urged the Government to release journalists, and to lift all restrictions on their freedom of movement. We want to take this opportunity, to also remind the authorities of our grave concern for the rights of all those detained based on their writing or their work in public space, they concluded. Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries SUBSCRIBE The media and e-commerce businesses of Media24 brought about a double-digit growth in the past year. The company passed on the news to its shareholders at the Welkom Yizani annual general meeting (AGM) in Cape Town on 28 August 2017. 24.com, Media24's digital media division, grew monthly by 35% and revenue by 31% in the financial year. E-fashion site Spree had a 75% increase in orders and 84% increase in revenue. Two years after the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement was signed in October 2015, the countrys peace process has only become more intractable and divided, according to an official from the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee. The number of signatories has not increased from the original eight organizations over the past two years. It looked like there was progress in discussions with the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council], but talks did not become reality, said Sai Kyaw Nyunt, secretary of the UPDJC, a body headed by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and composed of the eight ethnic armed groups that have signed NCA, as well as representatives from political parties, the Union government and Tatmadaw. Sai Kyaw Nyunt was speaking during an August 29 panel discussion, organized in part by Burma News International. It wont be easy to achieve peace if the way we think and handle the ethnic armed organizations doesnt address all of their issues, he said, alluding to continued opposition to the NCA. As the second anniversary of the NCA, the landmark achievement of former president U Then Seins peace effort, looms on October 15, peace-focused organizations are taking stock of the current status quo. Even at the time of its signing, the NCA was criticized for excluding most of the armed ethnic groups still engaged in active hostilities only two signatories, the Karen National Union and the Restoration Council of Shan State, still retained significant fighting forces. A key precondition to signing the NCA, demanded by the Tatmadaw, stipulated that armed groups must disarm in order to participate in political dialogue. The provision has proved a critical stumbling bloc for including several ethnic armed groups in the Union Peace Conference. Although the National League for Democracy-led government is still pursuing negotiations with the United Nationalities Federal Council to sign the NCA, talks have broken down with the Northern Alliance, a faction of ethnic armed group fighting in northern Kachin and Shan states. The Chiang-Mai based UNFC, once a leading representative for Myanmars armed ethnic organizations, has seen its influence wane this year following a series of resignations over opposition to signing the NCA: The Kachin Independence Army and the Wa National Organization pulled out of the alliance in April. Earlier this month, the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army North announced its indication to withdraw as well, which would leave the hobbled-bloc with just four members: the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Arakan National Council (ANC) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU). Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) general secretary Zhao Guo-ann slammed the voting system established under the NCAs political framework as a trap for ethnic people, the Irrawaddy Burmese Edition reported on August 29. He also criticized the UNFC for failing to recognize the drawbacks in the governments NCA-led peace process. Earlier this week, government-led negotiation teams held a roundtable discussion to review and prepare for the third installment of the Union Peace Conference, or the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference. Previous installments of the conference, from August 31 to September 3 in 2016 and May 24 to 29, 2017, were criticized for failing to address more forcefully address points of contention and achieve tangible breakthroughs in the peace process. More than 6,000 Shan refugees, currently living in six camps along the Thai-Burmese border, are suddenly faced with the prospect of surviving without support from the international community. Monthly rations and aid to each camp will be cut as from October 2017, according to a joint statement released by the Shan State Refugee Committee (Thai Border) and Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) yesterday. The six camps affected are: Kong Moong Murng Camp, opposite Mok Cham Pae, Mae Hong Son province; Loi Tai Laeng IDP camp, opposite Bang Ma Pha, Mae Hong Son province; Loi Lam IDP camp, opposite Wiang Haeng, Chiang Mai province; Koung Jor refugee camp, Wiang Haeng, Chiang Mai province; Loi Sam Sip IDP camp, opposite Fang, Chiang Mai province; and Loi Kaw Wan IDP camp, opposite Mae Fah Luang, Chiang Rai province. Four of those makeshift villages are recognised as IDP camps, meaning they shelter internally displaced persons, or IDPs, because the camps reside on the Burmese side of the border. These camps have existed for up to 18 years, read the joint statement. Most of the refugees fled the Burma Armys massive scorched earth campaign in central Shan State during 1996-1998, in which over 300,000 villagers were forced at gunpoint from their homes, and hundreds of villagers were tortured, raped and killed. Despite the hardships refugees can expect to face once the funding runs out, few will be able to return to their homes in Shan State due to ongoing fighting between Burmese government forces and myriad ethnic armed groups. The current situation is exacerbated by the expansion of military operations by the Burmese army throughout Shan State; simultaneously, reports of human rights abuses have increased. Despite the fact that the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] has been signed, the fighting is still going on. Its impossible to go back home at this time, said Loong Sai Leng, the leader of Koung Jor refugee camp, which is not recognized as an official refugee camp by United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Koung Jor was set up on the Thai-Border in Chiang Mai province in 2002. Also there are landmines around our villages [now occupied by Burmese troops], he added. Sai Peing, one of the leading members of the Loi Tai Laeng camp, situated on Thai soil since 1999, explained that refugees have long been dependent on aid because they have no land for cultivation. He said that a lack of humanitarian aid will most impact children, women, the elderly and disabled people. He said that one male refugee had recently hanged himself due to the stress of the imminent cut in rations. Speaking at Chiang Mai University yesterday, Charm Tong, a Shan activist and spokesperson for the joint-statement, said, The reason donors have cut the funding is because they believe Burma is under a peace process. They have moved the funds away from the border. She added: But the Burmese army continues to expand its military presence. This is because of the many mega projects [in the Shan region], such as dam construction, mining, and other operations. Unless there is a genuine nationwide ceasefire, a withdrawal of Burma Army troops, and a political settlement to end the civil war, the displaced villagers dare not return home, the joint-statement said. Until such time as the refugees can return voluntarily, in safety and dignity, international donors are urged to maintain adequate humanitarian support for the refugee and IDP camps along the Shan-Thai border. Camp leader Sai Peing concluded: We want to live our lives as human beings, so we wish the international community to continue supporting us. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) Residents of a Yunnan border town are accusing Chinese police of beating to death a Myanmar man while he was in custody for an undisclosed reason. The death comes amid sweeps for undocumented Myanmar migrants in the province, according to locals. Sai Maung Nyunt, a native of Shan State and resident of Jal Mai Village near Ruili, was arrested on August 17, according to a neighbor. His body, bearing bruises, was returned to his family on August 22. Residents have demanded the local police station be brought to justice for alleged murder. Over 100 residents of Jal Mai Village staged a protest in front of the Naodong Police Station on August 25. We demanded the Naodong Police explain to us why he was arrested, why he was beaten and why he died. But the police didnt give us any response. They neglected us, said U Lone Yi, head of Jal Mai Village. We are demanding the police station give us compensation money [so we can] hold a seven-day funeral service. We staged more protests against Naodong Police on August 29 and 30. The police said it was impossible [to meet our demands]. We will continue to protest if they fail to handle this fairly, he added. The family has refused to bury Sai Maung Nyunt until the circumstances around his death are revealed. Sai Maung Nyunt was on his way home from a donation ceremony when he was arrested, according to Sai Maung, another resident of Ruili. When the police informed his family on the 22nd, they gave back his bruised corpse. The Jal Mai Village head and residents are protesting against [the Chinese authorities] and demanding an investigation in order to have justice, said Sai Maung. Sai Maung Nyunt, 53, was a native of Man Mawn Village in Mansi township along the divide between Kachin and Shan states. He married Pa Kham Pin from Ruili, and lived with her in China. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. According to Ruili residents, Chinese police have been cracking down on Myanmar migrant workers in the areas since early August. I Eggplant Indiana -- the baked Imam Bayildi Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner Reviewed: Ana Antic, Therapeutic Fascism. Experiencing the Violence of the Nazi New Order in Yugoslavia, London, Oxford University Press, 2017. While Ana Antics expression therapeutic fascism is compelling and intriguing, it is nevertheless also obscure and confusing. This expression primarily refers to the Institute for compulsory re-education of Communist youth at Smederevska Palanka, where 1,270 men and women were held during a period of two years, from September 1942 to October 1944, in Yugoslavia. Set up in a former camp for political prisoners, this Institute was created by the collaborationist government of General Milan Nedic to re-educate high school and university students who had joined the Communist movementthe latter representing, under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, the first force of resistance against Nazism and collaborationist governments at the time. However, Antics book does not limit itself to studying the Institutes activities. Its argument is clearly much broader: namely, to understand the impact of the war on Yugoslav psychiatry and society. Obviously, one cannot generalize conclusions drawn from a hospital population, but Antic succeeds at least in revealing the tensions that cut across society in the 1940s. Thus, while the history of the Occupation is examined through the lens of psychiatry, the history of psychiatry allows for an original reading of the Occupation. Established in 1929 as an absolute monarchy, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia succeeded the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, itself a constitutional monarchy formed after the First World War, in 1918. In April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers after it rejected an offer of alliance from the Third Reich. It was then dismembered and occupied by Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The Third Reich also set up two puppet governments: the Independent State of Croatia and the Serbian Government of National Salvation. Both carried out a systematic policy of exterminating the Jews and mercilessly massacred populations deemed foreign along with political opponents. In order to complete her fine research, Antic mobilized various published sources: medical forms, archives, interviews, and patient files. The latter came from six hospitals, including the two oldest and largest of Yugoslavia: the Belgrade psychiatrist hospital and the Vrapce psychiatrist hospital in Zagreb. Antic explored 949 cases from the 1929-1946 period. The book opens with a methodological reflection on the analysis of patient files, which it presents as complex documents that must meet multiple objectives: In addition to serving as tools of communication between members of a medical team, they are used by the hierarchy to control the management of care. Taking the content of these files seriously, Antic uses an approach inspired by literary studies to deconstruct and interpret its narrative components through close reading (p. 30). She then shows how changes in the structure and style of patient files reflected more general changes in Yugoslav psychiatry and societyif only because psychiatrists interrogated patients about their political orientation throughout the conflict. A Renewed Approach to Mental Illness In Yugoslavia, the late process of specialization of psychiatry was not complete until the early 1920s. The main Yugoslav psychiatrists of the interwar period had been trained in the best European universities and research centers, which had guaranteed their successful entry into the professional circles of Central Europe. In the Kingdom, they presented themselves as educators capable of reforming the spirit of the nation. Indeed, they sought to promote hygienism for the purpose of social and national progress. This ambitious political project, however, conflicted with their conception of mental illness: Insofar as the biological paradigm posited the innate nature of disorders, it limited the possibilities of therapy and of social reform. Thus, psychiatrists were unable to truly participate in the development of public health, and they struggled to conceive measures for the prevention of mental disorders. As a result, they experienced tremendous frustration. A paradigm shift nevertheless occurred as a result of the war. Confronted in daily hospital life with the victims of repression and mass violence, psychiatrists were led to reconsider their theoretical and practical postulates. Despite the Nazification of their professional environment, they developed the notion of psychic trauma, renewed their understanding of disorders, and transformed the management of mental illness. There took place in Yugoslavia what had already occurred in Russia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and in France during the First World War: Social factors were included in the explanation of mental illness, and a psychodynamic model emerged according to which the psyche can change under the influence of internal and external factors. [1] Antic views the analysis of patient files as particularly illuminating in this respect. It shows that before the end of the war, disorders were reconceptualized so as to integrate the patients experiences and environmental influences. Thus, psychiatrists came to recognize that schizophrenia could be triggered by social factors, while continuing to assert its biological character. A Profound Political and Moral Confusion Inmates were detained because they were deemed incapable of performing their function in the social body. A review of their files reveals how violence had spread throughout society and how it affected everyones lives. Fear and the feeling of insecurity were such that they remained in patients for a very long time: Hospital psychiatrists treated them as symptoms of their disorder. And yet, patients narratives also tell us about the political situation in Yugoslavia during the war. Antic highlights two elements. The first is the state of political confusion in which inmates found themselves. It was not easy for them to take a position because the political and military configuration was particularly complex, but also because doing so in a time of omnipresent danger had consequences for individuals and their families. Thus, a significant number of inmates in Zagrebs Vrapce hospital evoked their ambiguous relationship with the Communist resistance. For while it was not uncommon for Bosnian and Croatian peasants to assist resistance fighters, many feared the latters reprisals against those suspected of collusion with the regime. Yet, political confusion was by no means restricted to the people. Collaborationists, too, were internally conflicted: They wanted to serve the regime but also skeptical as to the means being implemented. The second element is the inability of some of the patients affiliated with a political partywhether Fascist or Communistto describe its doctrine and values. Far from being all disciplined, loyal, and ideologically driven, Croatian death squad and army members were often frightened and politically ignorant. According to Antic, the patient files make clear that the Croatian and Serbian states had not succeeded in transforming the political consciousness of their citizens. A Failed Attempt at Shaping the Psyche Confronted with the Communist resistance, collaborationist authorities and intellectuals came to define Communist sympathies and tendencies as a mental pathology. However, such an interpretation rested on a fundamentally pessimistic view of society and of the state in which it found itself. For if mental disorders had a biological and hereditary origin, then commitment to the Communist movement was predetermined. And if, moreover, a significant number of young people joined this movement, then most of the social body was sick. From 1942 on, collaborationist psychiatrists challenged the biological paradigm by stressing the notions of trauma and psychological vulnerability. Communism continued to be thought of as the manifestation of a mental illness, but it was no longer seen as a degenerative pathology. Now considered in psychogenic terms, it became curable through proper education and psychotherapy. Thus psychiatrists proposed the creation of an Institute for the re-education of young people who had joined the Communist Youth, its mission being to persuade them of their error and to treat them. For Antic, the opening of the Institute in May demonstrates very well how: [T]he wartime realities transformedeven revolutionizedthe dominant conceptions of human psychology and human nature beyond the narrow confines of the psychiatric profession. Thus, Serbian fascists started to define the human psyche as entirely formed by social factors and influences (p. 144). Education was at the heart of the Institutes activities. The program, which lasted from six months to one year, offered general and political education classes. In addition, teachers called on inmates to take part in all kinds of extracurricular activities, as they believed that their inclusion in a group was a crucial step in their recovery. The drama section was particularly active, with the staging of classical and original plays, and hence quickly became quite well known. At times the benevolence of teachers came up against inmates resistance, which went from violating the dress code to establishing contact with Communist units. In such cases, teachers did not hesitate to punish patients, even to threaten them with death. As the conflict progressed, and as the collaborationist authorities became more vulnerable, discipline in the Institute deteriorated. Its leadership thus decided to implement a form of military regime in January 1944. All elements who thwarted discipline were isolated, and those who did not publicly expiate their fault were sent to the Banjica concentration camp. What results did the Institute achieve after two years of existence? Antic claims that 104 persons voluntarily joined one of the anti-Communist collaborationist organizations. Yet, she also evokes the failure of the re-education project, as evidenced precisely by the gradual deterioration of discipline and the recourse to punitive measures. The Infantile Disorder of Socialism At the end of the war, Communist Partisans were experiencing an epidemic of hysterical neurosis: Several thousands suffered from the disorder. Particularly affected were those whom the Communist Party hierarchy had entrusted with responsibilities, even though they were a priori unprepared to assume them due to their low education and their political immaturity. This disorder made them unfit for military service or for any political or ideological activity. Psychiatrists were divided as to how this should be interpreted. The resulting dispute revived the split between supporters of the biomedical model and advocates of the psychodynamic approach: While the former spoke of oligophrenia and simulation, the latter evoked an internal conflict between the urge to save ones life and the desire to fulfill ones duty. The controversy led to the gradual emergence of psychoanalysis as the main framework for analyzing and treating the so-called Partisan neurosis. As Antic highlights, psychiatrists expressed their concerns about the upheavals associated with the socialist revolution, and warned of the danger that an elite might be formed from within the ranks of the resistance. Presenting social mobility as a source of instability, they formulated solutions to limit the risk of anomie. Thus, faced with what they described as an infantile disorder of socialism, they promoted educational and social-prophylactic measures. Partisan neurosis went from being a psychiatric and medical category to being one of the major political and ideological problems of the immediate postwar period. Psychiatrists presented themselves as capable of helping the population adapt to the new circumstances, and reaffirmed their interwar desire to contribute to social and national development. Unlike the biological paradigm of the time, the psychodynamic approach rested on an optimistic view of society and of its future evolution. Antic has written a rich and copious book. While she would likely have gained from highlighting the key elements of her demonstration, not the least of her merits is that she succeeded in showing with tremendous precision how medicine and politics are intertwined, as well as how the relationship between the two evolves over time. From this perspective, the Institute at Smederevska Palanka is a unique experiment that implemented psychiatric proposals to transform individuals and convince them of the soundness of the collaborationist governments orientations. Yet, in many respects, this experiment constituted the matrix from which socialist psychiatry emerged in Yugoslavia: While the latters approach agreed with that defended by Soviet psychiatrists during the interwar period, it moved away from the physiological paradigm (based on Ivan Pavlovs theory of reflexes) that they embraced starting in the 1950s. [2] NEW DELHI (PTI): Major reforms will be carried out in the Indian Army to enhance its combat capability which will include redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and other ranks as well as ensuring better utilisation of resources, the government has announced. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and "far-reaching" reform process is being initiated in the Army. Replying to a question on whether the exercise was undertaken keeping in view the Dokalam episode, Jaitley said, "This is not specific to any incident. It had been going on much prior to Dokalam." The reform initiatives were prescribed by a committee headed by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) which had a mandate to recommend measures for enhancing of combat capability and rebalancing defence expenditure of the armed forces to increase "teeth to tail ratio". The 'tooth-to-tail' ratio refers to the amount of supply and support personnel (termed as tail) for each combat soldier (tooth). The panel had suggested 99 recommendations for structural changes in the Army and out of which the defence ministry has accepted 65 after consultations with all the stakeholders, Jaitley said. He said operationalisation of the reforms begins "now" while the defence ministry stated that the process will be completed by December 31, 2019. The Army has a total strength of around 12 lakh personnel and is one of leading ground force globally. "The net effect of this is, as to various, different functions in the Army, as per the changed environment of technology, economy, combat capability of the Army, how it is to be best utilised," Jaitley told reporters. In a statement, the ministry said civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the armed forces for improving efficiency. Army sources said around 31,000 civilian staff will be redeployed including in new formations, adding reform will be carried out in the Army's education corp as well. Jaitley said the Union Cabinet was on Thursday apprised of the defence ministry's decision to carry out the reform process in the Army. The Shekatkar committee was appointed in May last year and it had submitted its report in December. "In a first ever exercise after Independence, the Ministry of Defence in consultation with the Indian Army has decided to reform the Indian Army in a planned manner. These decisions were approved by the Defence Minister," the ministry said in a statement. In the first phase, it said the reforms will involve redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers, junior commissioned officers and other ranks and civilians. It said optimisation of signals establishments, closure of military farms and army postal establishments in peace locations as well as restructuring of repair echelons in the army including base workshops will also be part of the extensive exercise. The ministry said there will be redeployment of ordnance echelons to include vehicle depots, ordnance depots and central ordnance depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms. The reform will also be carried out to ensure better utilisation of supply and transport facilities and animal transport units. There will be enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in the Army as also steps will be taken to improve the efficiency of the National Cadet Corps. "Implementation has begun with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security to close 39 military farms in a time bound manner," the ministry said. The Army's commanders in April had deliberated extensively on enhancing the force's overall strike capability. "Restructuring by the Indian Army is aimed at enhancing combat capability in a manner that the officers/JCOs/ORs will be used for improving operational preparedness and civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the armed forces for improving efficiency," said the defence ministry. It said optimisation of signals establishments will include radio monitoring companies, corps air support signal regiments, air formation signal regiments, composite signal regiments and merger of corps operating and engineering signal regiments. MUMBAI (PTI): Mahindra Defence Systems in association with Lockheed Martin has opened the C-130J Super Hercules simulator training center at the Hindon Air Force station near the national Capital. The Hindon facility will train the air crew who operate the C-130J special operations aircraft acquired from Lockheed Martin in 2011. SP Shukla, group president, aerospace and defence sector and chairman of Mahindra Defence Systems, said the facility will help deliver the objectives of the Air Force of building indigenous military capabilities. "The center will deliver qualitative and quantitative training to hone the tactical and operational skills of the C-130J pilots, combat system operators and loadmasters to conduct special operations across the national and international boundaries," Shukla said. Commenting on the development Lockheed Martin India chief executive Phil Shaw said, "the commencement of formal training on the C-130J weapons systems trainer demonstrates our commitment to meet the defence needs of the government. Our rotary and mission systems division will provide lifecycle support to C-130J Super Hercules pilots and aircrew." The Mahindras entered the aerospace business in 2008 with utility aircraft and aerostructure manufacturing. Its utility aircraft business, based in Australia, currently produces the Airvan 8 aircraft. Mahindra Aerospace has also developed next-gen 10-seat turboprop, the Airvan 10 which has been certified in the US and Australia. Mahindra Aerostructures is based in Bengaluru and produces parts, components and sub-assemblies for platforms produced by global OEMs. Mahindra Defence's product range includes armoured vehicles, underwater warfare equipment, radars and surveillance equipment among others. Ryanair's boss has reiterated his warning that a hard Brexit could stop all flights between the UK and the EU. Michael O'Leary says the airline industry needs to be consulted more in the negotiations. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has criticised Theresa May's decision to visit Japan, claiming she should be in Europe working on Brexit negotiations. The airline's chief executive accused the UK Prime Minister of "drinking tea and sake" when there is a "crisis coming down the road". Mrs May met her counterpart Shinzo Abe for meetings focused on North Korea but also touched on a possible trade deal for when the UK quits the European Union. Mr O'Leary said he did not have full confidence in Mrs May. He told Sky News: "I fail to see what she's doing in Japan for three days at the moment, why she's not in Brussels or in Frankfurt or in Paris, which is where these negotiations need to take place. "She's just come back from three weeks' holidays in the Swiss Alps. Now, everybody is entitled to their holidays, but there's a crisis coming down the road here (for) the UK economy in the next 12 months. Brexit is going to be a disaster for the UK economy. "She needs to be over there negotiating or at least removing these roadblocks, not swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake." Later on Thursday Ryanair will announce details of an increase in UK flights next summer, including several new routes. Mr O'Leary said the Dublin-based carrier is "planning on the basis that somebody in the British Government will sort out Brexit", but added that he does not have "great faith in them at the moment". He added: "We're going continue to invest in the UK and grow jobs here." He warned that flights between the UK and the EU will be grounded in summer 2019 if no agreement on aviation is reached as part of the Brexit negotiations by September next year. "We need to know six months before March 2019," he said. "If there isn't the likelihood of an agreement there will be skin and hair flying. "People trying to book their holidays for summer 2019 here in the UK this time next year ... the options will be driving to Scotland or getting a ferry to Ireland." The single market for aviation, created in the 1990s, means there are no commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU. The UK aviation industry has called for the liberal market to continue after Brexit. Frederick Freddie Thompson has lost an application to have a murder charge against him dismissed. The 36-year-old from Loreto Road in Maryland in Dublin is accused of the murder of David Douglas at a shoe shop on Bridgefoot Street in Dublin in July 2016. The family of Irishman Ibrahim Halawa who has spent the last four years in jail in Egypt are preparing to sue over delayed verdicts in the trial. Ibrahim Halawa, 21, had been expecting a judgement on Monday on charges over Muslim Brotherhood protests which took place in Cairo in August 2013. Following the latest delay, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated his position to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that he could not intervene until verdicts were delivered. Somaia Halawa, one of Ibrahim's sisters, questioned the judge's decision not to give verdicts. "You just feel that there is something that's in this trial that no-one knows," she said. Ibrahim Halawa, a student and son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin - Sheikh Hussein Halawa - was jailed after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo four years ago amid protests over the removal of president Mohamed Morsi. He was 17 at the time. Along with scores of others he is accused of murders, bombing, possession of firearms and explosives, arson, violence against police and desecration of Al Fatah Mosque. No specific evidence was introduced in the long-running trial relating to the Dubliner. It is understood no formal explanation was given for the delay in the verdicts but there were unconfirmed reports of references to security concerns and a threatened prison escape by inmates involved in another case. Mr Halawa's solicitor Darragh Mackin, of Belfast-based human rights legal firm KRW Law, has spent a year preparing a legal case against Egypt over the delays in the mass trial. The ending of the trial would clear the way for president el-Sisi to use Decree 140 to deport Mr Halawa, a commitment he gave a delegation of Irish politicians when they visited Cairo in January. A lawsuit is expected to be launched if the judge does not deliver verdicts on September 18. Ms Halawa said: "Ibrahim's mental health is being played around with. We as a family can't accept it anymore. "There has to be a deadline to this joke. "The Egyptian government are playing with us because they know very well that there's not much pressure being put on them. They know very well we are waiting for a trial. There's no pressure to tell them you have a limit." Mr Halawa is said to have become more withdrawn since the latest delay. His older brother, Ahmed, visited him in Wadi Natrun prison. "He just feels hopeless," their sister Somaia said. "He doesn't want to talk. He just feels that he has lost trust in everything, even his own brothers and sisters.". Mr Halawa is facing the threat of a death sentence if found guilty. Hearings in the mass trial involving Mr Halawa and 493 others have been adjourned and delayed numerous times over the past four years. The prosecution case ended last month. Planning permission has been granted to build the new National Maternity Hospital on the campus of St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin. The decision means work on the 300m facility can now go ahead. The 244-bed hospital will replace the existing maternity hospital at Holles St in Dublin city centre. In a decision published today the board said the proposed location and design was the most appropriate solution for maternity care and that it did not believe the development would have any significant impact on residents or traffic. The new hospital will be five-six storeys high, and includes an extension to the existing multi-storey car park on the campus. Earlier controversy over the ownership of the facility resulted in the Sisters of Charity ending involvement with the St Vincent's Healthcare Group. The Sisters of Charity said they would instead sell its land at Elm Park in Dublin to a newly-formed organisation called St Vincent's for the new facility. At the time, Health Minister Simon Harris called the move "a very significant development for the healthcare sector". The potential involvement of nuns in the running and governance of a maternity hospital had caused deep unease in some medical circles and among the public. The controversy arose after details of a confidential deal emerged between the Sisters of Charity, the St Vincents Healthcare Group, medics and management at the National Maternity Hospital and the Department of Health to build the new maternity hospital at St Vincents. It would have seen the nuns give land at Elm Park for the new hospital but retain ultimate ownership under a complex corporate structure. It prompted leading obstetrician Dr Peter Boylan, a former Master of Holles Street, to resign from the board of the current National Maternity Hospital. The Chairman and Master of the existing maternity hospital at Holles St in Dublin, Mr Nicholas Kearns and Dr Rhona Mahony, were delighted at the announcement. They released a statement which said: "This news comes after a huge amount of hard work by very many people to bring the project this far. "It is a very important milestone and we look forward to ongoing cooperation with St Vincents Hospital Group to ensure this vital project proceeds to completion as soon as possible." A 22-year-old man has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after he tried to smuggle five people into the UK hidden in cabinets in a van. The Home Office said Huzaifa Hasan Musa, from Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, was driving the vehicle when it was stopped by Border Force officers at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles, France, in February 2016. The officers searched the furniture-filled van and found a woman and child in one cabinet as well as three men in another. All five people were Iraqi nationals. A spokesman said that Musa was found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration into the UK after a two-day trial at Canterbury Crown Court, in Kent, and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Musa, of Mary Street, Scunthorpe, was arrested at the scene and claimed that he had been to visit his step-grandmother near Dunkirk, though he could not provide an address to officers. The spokesman said he gave officers a number of stories about why he had the furniture in the van but mobile phone analysis identified a string of suspicious messages including one Musa had sent saying that as soon as he got through the tunnel he would get paid. Director Paul Morgan, from Border Force South East and Europe, said: "Musa expressed surprise when the five people were found, but they had been quite deliberately hidden. They could not have got there by themselves. "People smugglers like Musa exploit the vulnerable and put lives at risk. Border Force targets its resources on prevention, protection and prosecution activity, working in close partnership with other law enforcement agencies, to prosecute those involved in this criminal trade." Assistant director David Fairclough, from the Immigration Enforcement Criminal Investigations team, said: "Our officers built a compelling case to prove that Musa's story was a pack of lies. "He claimed the purpose of his visit was to visit family, when in reality he was engaged in people smuggling in order to line his own pockets and with no thought for the safety of those he was transporting. "I hope this case serves as a clear warning that those who try to break the UK's immigration laws will be brought to justice." A chemistry teacher in the UK who sent a schoolgirl indecent photographs of himself with his private parts covered by emojis has been jailed for 15 months. Christopher Wood, who taught at a school in Solihull, West Midlands, sent the youngster images of himself being given oral sex and having sex with a previous partner. The 33-year-old, formerly of Dorridge, was convicted of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity after a trial heard how he used "smiley face" emojis to censor the images. The trial was told the victim in the case sent images to Wood of herself clad only in a towel after he gained her trust by presenting himself as a "cool young teacher" on Snapchat. Passing sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Mark Wall QC said Wood, whose wife has left him, had attracted the respect of many of those he worked with. During his sentencing remarks, Judge Wall rejected Wood's claim that internet searches relating to "inappropriate relationship" conducted in 2009 were attempts to find out what would happen to teachers wrongly accused of misconduct. The judge told Wood: "I recognise that through your own conduct and the verdicts of the jury you have now lost your good character, your profession and the respect of those who were unaware of the side of your character that the jury have heard about. "This exchange of images would have been completely unacceptable between any man in his 30s and an under-age girl - they are so much more so when one considers the position of trust that you were in. "You chose to send her a photograph which showed you being given oral sex. "You covered your private parts with electronic emoji stickers when you sent the images, but they left little to the imagination. "Your conduct is deserving of a prison sentence and I shall pass one on you. You get no credit for a guilty plea or remorse - neither was forthcoming." Wood, described in court as an "intelligent and sensitive" man rated as outstanding by Ofsted, was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years. Wood was also found guilty of causing a child to watch a sexual act but cleared of a similar charge relating to a second youngster. The Trump administration has taken another step toward building a wall on the US border with Mexico, even as funding for the project remains in question. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced it will award contracts to four companies to build four prototypes for the wall. A police lieutenant in the US has been moved to administrative duty after being heard on video during a traffic stop in Georgia saying "we only shoot black people". News outlets said dash-cam video from July 2016 shows a white female driver telling Cobb County police lieutenant Greg Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her mobile phone. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Talk about history repeating! Invading Redcoats drove Gen. George Washington and his Continental Army out of Green-Wood Cemetery in a thrilling re-enactment of the Battle of Brooklyn on Aug. 27, delighting youngsters with a performance that celebrated American independence, according to a rebel soldier. A lot of young kids love it, said Antoine Watts, who played an American fighter. For them its like the Fourth of July all over again. The 1776 battle the first major conflict of the Revolutionary War was fought 241 years ago. It pitted Washington and his troops against British Gen. William Howe, who chased the Americans across Long Island and onto Battle Hill, which is located in the present-day graveyard, where hundreds of continental soldiers stood their ground in one of the revolutions bloodiest fights. The Brits eventually won, but not before the courageous band of troops whose remains some historians argue are buried nearby heroically fought them off long enough for Washington to retreat to the distant isle of Manhattan. The terrain today looks a bit different than it did back then, however, and the mausoleums and headstones that dot the historic incline prevented a restaging of the entire battle, according to Watts. Instead, actors demonstrated revolution-era combat using equipment including muskets and cannons, which exploded as soldiers in both armies fell to their fake death, he said. Well go through the tactics of the time, and some people will take casualties, Watts said. Well do everything except actually bayonet each other. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams A swanky, state-of-the-art rehab facility will open in Dumbo on Tuesday, offering five-star perks including aromatherapy, a rooftop gym, and views of the Manhattan skyline to its patients. But the Phoenix Life Centers services, which go for thousands of dollars a week, are for all who struggle with addiction, not just the elite, according to employees. We are not marketing to an exclusive audience, we want to be open to the community at all levels, said Dr. Kamala Green Genece, the centers program director. The building it occupies, on Jay Street between Plymouth and Water streets, was donated to Phoenix House which runs several treatment centers across Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island in the 70s. It was a warehouse before being converted into a residential center for men, which it remained until September 2016, when honchos began a $9-million renovation. The new campus dubbed Riverwalk because of its proximity to the East River accepts men and women, and will boast additional amenities including an in-house chef from the Culinary Institute of America and e-readers loaded with patients treatment plans and other materials. The Phoenix brand made headlines in 2015, when New York state banned new admissions at its facilities after discovering a history of illegal drug use, bad care, poor record-keeping, and lax discharge policies, Reuters reported. But a rep said the company made some big changes that included hiring new executives after that information came out, and locals shouldnt worry about the center disrupting the community. Weve completely changed leadership since then, the article prompted a big change, said spokeswoman Ashley Womble. Genece added there will be heavy security measures such as surveillance systems, key card access, and guards to keep Dumbo residents and the centers clients safe. There are regulations and rules to keep the Dumbo community safe, she said. We take that very seriously. Patients will be admitted following an assessment of their conditions and will recuperate for around two weeks, depending on how much care they require, the doctor said. A stay in the facility costs $18,500 per month. Phoenix does not accept Medicaid, but takes most major insurance plans. The company also welcomes donations so it can provide patients with financial aid. And Genece hopes the center will show that its possible to offer high-end, top-notch care for everyone battling addiction. We are moving towards spreading the word that addiction treatment is like any other healthcare treatment, and it should be accessible to the community, she said. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Her ride is over. A 51-year-old woman was indicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday for allegedly stealing more than $1-million worth of theme-park tickets from a Red Hook charter-bus company. The treasure trove of 36,000-plus passes to Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure would have allowed the defendant, a resident of bucolic Staten Island, to ride the Pennsylvania and New Jersey parks roller coasters every day for the next century. But if convicted, the alleged thief may have to seek her thrills behind bars for up to 25 years the maximum sentence for her crimes, according to Brooklyns acting District Attorney. We intend to hold the defendant fully accountable for her egregious acts, Eric Gonzalez said. The woman worked for 16 years in the Red Hook offices of charter service Best Trails and Travel, on Sigourney Street between Ostego and Columbia streets, where she was responsible for buying amusement-park tickets with a company credit card, accepting their delivery, and storing them in a company safe. But between 2014 and 2016, however, she ordered 23,136 passes to Dorney Park and 13,102 to Six Flags, which she stored in a separate safe only she could access, Gonzalez alleges. The defendants employer discovered her scheme in 2016, after an audit revealed the company card was used to buy many more tickets than the bus service could sell, according to the top prosecutor. She is being held on $250,000 bail and was charged with grand larceny in the first and second degree, as well as criminal possession of stolen property in the first and second degree, Gonzalez said. 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. latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... Democrats largely prevail in SJ, but reversals loom in two townships Democratic incumbents held on to many seats, but GOP challengers made inroads in two large townships NOTES ON A FOREIGN COUNTRY An American Abroad in a Post-American World Suzy Hansen Farrar, Straus & Giroux 276 pages; $26 When I was 12 years old, living in Cairo, my parents enrolled me in the American school. Most of the Americans there appeared oddly stifled, determined to remain, if not physically then sentimentally, back in the United States. It seemed particularly inconvenient that they had ended up in an Arab country. The schools architecture and grounds did all they could to remedy this. Even the urinals and hand dryers had been shipped from America. It was as though they believed, as Suzy Hansen observes in her remarkably revealing book that as you went east, life degraded into the past. This was in the early 1980s, before the two gulf wars and the war on terror, and yet even back then I wondered whether to be an American in the world was to be limited by a sort of imaginative obstacle. This is what concerns Ms Hansen. According to her, the situation has gotten worse. We cannot, she writes, go abroad as Americans in the 21st century and not realise that the main thing that has been terrorising us is our own ignorance our blindness and subsequent discovery of all the people on whom the empire-that-was-not-an-empire had been constructed without our attention or concern. Born and raised in New Jersey, Ms Hansen became a journalist (she is a contributing writer for The Times Magazine), moved to New York and, after September 11 when Americans, as she puts it, had all lost their marbles moved to Istanbul. Her book is a deeply honest and brave portrait of an individual sensibility reckoning with her countrys violent role in the world. In the period between 9/11 and the election of President Donald Trump, she lives in Turkey and travels to Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran and the Mississippi Delta. She uses these places, their complex histories and fraught present, as lenses through which to look at her own nation. Ms Hansen is not only unnerved by but also genuinely interested in the ways her country fails to interrogate itself. She asks why, given the extent to which America has shaped the modern Middle East the lives it ended, the countries it fractured, the demons it created, its frantic and fanatical support of Israel it did not feel or care to explore what that influence meant. She is unsettled by how absent or illusive or, worse, unnecessary this fact is to many Americans, including herself for, before anything else, Notes on a Foreign Country is a sincere and intelligent act of self-questioning. It is a political and personal memoir that negotiates that vertiginous distance that exists between what America is and what it thinks of itself. That dramatic, dizzying and lonesome chasm is Ms Hansens terrain. One of the causes of this disparity, she proposes, is that Americans are surprised by the direct relationship between their country and foreign ones because we dont acknowledge that America is an empire. She is curious about the nature of the impediment, about how ignorance is vulnerable to the atmosphere it is exposed to. Without realising it, she too had absorbed a fear of Islam and the idea that Muslims were people that must be restrained. She admits, My problem was that not only had I not known much about the Middle East, but what I did know, and how I did think, had been an obstacle to original and accurate and moral thinking. Ms Hansen also shows the ways in which America, in its anti-Communist craze, has consistently supported the religious right in the Middle East and aided the rise of Islamic extremism. Hansen wants to uncover the lie, and this, of course, is both dangerous and hopeful, for as much as this book is a lament what its author calls a study in American ignorance it is also a plea. The tone is at once adamant and intimate. This is a book that is spoken softly rather than screamed; and one senses that it took great personal discipline to be so. In fact, what is admirable is the extent to which Hansen implicates herself. She does this soberly and without self-pity. Strangely though, and as un-American as this book might seem, Notes on a Foreign Country is in fact a very American book. It is interested in personal transformation; it is both a record of conversion and an optimistic attempt to convert. Because, as she writes, no one tells Americans that they will spend their first months abroad feeling superior to everyone around them and to the nation in which they now have the privilege to live. The problem, however and it is a problem to do with conversion is that it is assumed that the question is one of persuasion. If only America were like Ms Hansen: Disquieted, self-analytic and imaginative. Perhaps, in other words, Americans know that they feel superior and are quite content with their superiority. Perhaps their naivete, if that is what it is, is not as deep as Ms Hansen imagines; perhaps they are aware of the myth of themselves and have simply decided it is too useful a myth to give up. For as she herself notes, The largest existential threat to Americans might have been admitting the Afghans would be better off without them. Copyright: New York TImes News Service, 2017. James Quincey, the 52-year-old newly appointed president and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Coca-Cola Company, has a packed schedule on Thursday and Friday on his maiden trip to India. The government needs to improve business climate further, encourage self certification and trust entrepreneurs for promoting new businesses, NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal said today. Agarwal said that there is need to set standards and follow environment norms at sustainable and highest level. "One simple thing, which is very important is trusting entrepreneurs and self certifications. All over the world, which we have seen is, things don't have to go to the government," he said during a panel discussion at the Economist Summit here. Agarwal, who is the chairman of metal and mining giant Vedanta Resources, said except environment clearances, there should not be any need for Indian to secure approvals for business. Noting that the government has started auctioning process of iron ores, he said he is looking for two things from the government. "One is, not need to be greedy and not to look at how much money other side is making. And other is, improve ease of doing business, encourage self certification, trust entrepreneurs and trust the people," he said. Singapore-based (Sembcorp) has said it would acquire IDFCs stake in Sembcorp Green Infra (SGI) in a Rs 1,410.2-crore deal, or for approximately $301 million. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sembcorp Utilities, has entered into an agreement to acquire IDFC Private Equity Fund IIIs remaining 28 per cent stake in SGI. With this, Sembcorp would become the sole owner of SGI. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals suffered a 63 per cent decline in net profit in the last quarter as implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) led to de-stocking. Annaswamy Vaidheesh, managing director of the British drug makers India unit and vice-president of its operations in South Asia, spoke to Aneesh Phadnis & Abhineet Kumar on the companys growth strategy in the near future. Edited excerpts: A court in Gaya, Bihar, on Thursday held Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) MLC Manorama Devi's son Rocky Yadav, her husband Bindeshwari Prasad and two others as guilty in the murder of a class 12 student in a road rage incident last year. The court would pronounce the quantum of sentence on September. Additional district judge Sachchidanad Singh passed the order holding Rakesh Kumar Ranjan alias Rocky, his father Bindi Yadav, cousin Teni Yadav and his mother's security guard Rajesh Kumar as guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). While Rocky Yadav was found guilty of IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 427 (mischief causing damage) and section 27 of the Arms Act, Bindi Yadav has been held guilty under sections 212 (harbouring the offender) and 177 (furnishing false information). Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar have been found guilty under sections applicable in the case of Rocky Yadav. All the four convicts were taken into custody soon after pronouncement of verdict and sent to Gaya central jail under tight security, police said. Rocky Yadav had fatally shot at Aditya Sachdeva, son of a Gaya-based businessman, after the latter's car overtook his luxury standard utility vehicle (SUV) on May 7, 2016. Rocky had fled from the spot after committing the crime and took shelter at his father's factory at Bodh Gaya from where he was arrested 48 hours later. His parents too were arrested and charged under different sections of the law. The police had filed charge sheet against the accused persons a month after the commission of the crime. During the trial, the victim's four friends who were travelling with him in the same vehicle on a fateful day, turned hostile but the prosecution pressed on the charge on the basis of scientific evidences against Rocky and others. Rocky was granted bail by the Patna High Court on October 19 last year, but the state government challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which had on October 27 stayed the order. A more than a century-old five-storey residential building collapsed on Thursday in the congested Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai, killing at least 19 people and wounding 12 others, officials said. They were declared dead at the state-run J J hospital, where they were taken after being pulled out of the debris, as rescue teams with heavy machinery continued to look for survivors of the crash, a senior police official said. About 30 others are still feared trapped under the mounds of concrete and twisted iron rods. The process of identifying the bodies is on. At least 12 people injured in the incident were carried out on stretchers and rushed to the J J Hospital in ambulances that faced difficulty in navigating the narrow streets due to the crowd gathered around the place. The official also said five fire brigade personnel and an NDRF jawan also sustained injuries during the rescue operations. They have also been shifted to the J J hospital. Fire brigade officials said some nine families lived in the dilapidated Husaini Building. The building also housed a play school but children had not arrived yet when the tragedy occurred. The building, mostly housing lower-middle class families, was located in the Muslim-dominated Pakmodia Street close to the J J Hospital. Fire brigade and NDRF personnel carry out the search and rescue operation following the collapse of building at Pakmodiya Street in south Mumbai on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) What now remained of the 117-year-old structure was a large mound of concrete rubble and steel rods encircled by other houses including what appeared to be a tall building. Rescue workers in hard hats clambered up the mound and banged large concrete slabs with hammers to reach underneath and pull out survivors and bodies. Cranes and bulldozers were also deployed to scoop up the debris. Residents helped with bare hands. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the spot and announced a solatium of Rs five lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. He also said that the entire medical expenses of those injured will be borne by the state government. "The exact number of trapped people cannot be known immediately," deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) Manoj Sharma said. "Our priority is to pull out at the earliest those trapped under the rubble of the dilapidated building," said state Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who is also the guardian minister for Mumbai. "Once the rescue work gets over, the government will conduct a probe to ascertain the factors behind the building collapse. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty," he told reporters. Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and a host of local politicians and corporators also visited the collapse site. The disaster management cell of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) received a call about the collapse at 8.40 am. Fire brigade and NDRF personnel carry out the search and rescue operation following the collapse of building at Pakmodiya Street in south Mumbai on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) "We immediately rushed fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue the trapped people," a senior MCGM official said. The rescue operation is being carried out by the NDRF team with the help of fire brigade personnel. The incident occurred two days after the city was pummelled by torrential rains, which may have caused damage to the building. Some residents claimed that about 40 people belonging to nine families lived in cramped rooms in the structure, which was declared "unsafe" by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), which was to have undertaken redevelopment of the 117-year-old structure, said the building housed a total of 13 tenants -- 12 residential and one commercial. "Of them, the trust had already shifted seven families in 2013-14," it said in a statement. "MHADA notices dated March 28 and May 20, 2011, declaring the building dilapidated, were issued along with an offer of transit accommodation to the remaining tenants and occupants," it said. This is the second major building collapse in the city in just over a month, after the crash of a residential complex in suburban Ghatkopar on July 25, which left 17 people dead. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) failed to hurl a backup navigation satellite into space on Thursday, setting back the country's attempts to complete the constellation of reliable homegrown GPS satellites for its strategic needs. Prime Minister and Swiss President Doris Leuthard on Thursday held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and international issues and also discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. Modi thanked the visiting dignitary for her country's support for India's entry into the Nuclear Supplier's Group (NSG). India is grateful to Switzerland for supporting India's membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), he added. "We had productive talks on international, regional and bilateral issues," Modi said at a joint press event with Leuthard. Asserting that transparency in financial transactions was a matter of concern worldwide, the prime minister said bilateral cooperation with Switzerland in the area continued. The two leaders noted that India and Switzerland had very good cooperation on combating tax evasion and black money. Leuthard was hopeful of the law on automatic exchange of information being cleared by the Swiss Parliament by the end of this year. The two sides also inked two pacts for cooperation in the railway sector. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Swiss president and discussed various bilateral issues. "First engagement for an honoured guest. External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/A01BIIE1oV Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 31, 2017 Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. Swiss presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier -- in 1998, 2003 and 2007. Modi visited Switzerland in June last year. During the visit, the country announced its support to India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The two countries had also resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. The state-run Haryana Roadways suffered a loss of nearly Rs 14 crore before and during the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for rape, a minister said on Wednesday. Haryana Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar told the media that the losses arose as buses remained off the roads due to tension in some districts of the state. He said bus services in the state had resumed except in Sirsa, where curfew had been imposed around the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters complex. He said no buses of Haryana Roadways, private operators or of other states were damaged during the violence that followed Ram Rahim Singh's jailing. Also Read: Mix of religion, welfare and politics that is Ram Rahim Singh's Dera The minister, who also holds the portfolio of Jails, said Ram Rahim Singh was being treated as an ordinary inmate and no additional facility was being provided to him. Panwar said stringent security measures had been put in place in the jail. At least 38 people were killed and 264 injured in violence following the conviction of the sect chief by a CBI special court in Panchkula on August 25. The sect chief was on Monday sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. CLOSE The Chhattisgarh government would spend Rs 5,100 crore in villages affected by mining as part of a three-year action plan, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand said on Thursday, emphasising that the people should not suffer due to development activities. A draft policy on operating pilot-less low flying objects will come up next month to ensure security in country's air space, Union Home Secretary said on Wednesday. Mehrishi also said security forces should exercise maximum precautions while using China-made gadgets in sensitive installations. "We are working on a draft Drone Act, which will focus on regulating the use of drones and similar low flying objects instead of putting a total ban. It should come out in public domain by September after which comments will be taken from stakeholders," he said here. Asked about action against "erring" NGOs, during his two-year tenure which comes to an end tomorrow, the home secretary said there is a law (Foreign Contribution Regulations Act), which has to be complied with by everyone. "Merely because it was not looked into earlier, does not mean that those not following law can take foreign funding illegally," he said. When asked whether there was "pressure" from the US after an American NGO, Compassion India, was put on "prior- permission" category by the home ministry last year for alleged violation of law, Mehrishi said "pressure" was a very strong word, but "yes, the US had asked us to look into it". Commenting on Pakistan, the home secretary said the country is a "rogue state, a terror state" and everyone will realise it slowly. Asked about the possibility of hacking or leak of government data or information through the use of Chinese equipment or technology by security forces, Mehrishi said that such problems happen with a lot of countries but "we need to be more cautious about the use of Chinese technology and equipment. Commenting on the threat of Middle-East terror group ISIS in India, the home secretary said the group is a threat but response by Indians to their call has been lukewarm. Referring to the porous Indo-Myanmar border, Mehrishi said there is a need to have border outposts (BoPs) on that border and have border checking. "Presently we don't have border checking there. There is free regime under which people living along the border can travel up to some distance without any travel documents. But it does not mean that we can have an open border there," he said. The recent crisis in Doklam has diverted attention from deeper questions on India-China relations: Can there be an Asian century without India and China coming together (as Deng Xiao Ping said to Rajiv Gandhi)? Is that sentiment redundant now? Or does it still advance the interest of the peoples of both India and China today? If so, why is there no progress in that direction? These questions taken together constitute the conundrum referred to in the title of this article. Days after the contentious Doklam issue between India and China was resolved, the government has reiterated its support for a joint proposal by the nations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against farm subsidies provided by rich nations to their farmers. In May 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, the delegation from invitee country Bhutan was more than delighted. Bhutan Foreign Minister Rinzin Dorji was reported saying, "Narendra Modi is a prime minister who delivers. From the interaction, we could sense he has concerns for Bhutan and the region. The PM also expressed concerns on why the implementation of Bhutan's hydropower projects was delayed." A day after the Reserve Bank of Indias annual report stated that 99 per cent of high-value demonetised notes had come back into the system, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated his note ban defence and said that illegitimate, unaccounted wealth had also found its way back. A day after the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) annual report stated that 99 per cent of high-value demonetised notes had come back into the system, the Narendra Modi government ramped up its outreach on traditional and social media in defence of . The finance ministry said it was still hopeful of a higher dividend payment from the RBI in FY18. As Odisha was not eligible to avail itself of financial incentives under the Centre's Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), it is looking to sign an operational memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of India. The state government was keen to implement the scheme through its power purchase firm Gridco Ltd. But Gridco being neither a discom nor a holding company, hence it got disqualified. The profitability of the located in the southern region of India, especially those in Tamil Nadu and South Karnataka, is likely to be adversely impacted in FY18 due to an increase in the cost of production. Budgetary support to PMAY, a refurbished version of the erstwhile IAY, has increased by 127 per cent under the NDA government, to Rs 23,000 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 10,116 crore a year ago The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is inviting applications for the post of Junior Interpreter (Chinese) to be hired by Ministry of External Affairs. Candidates willing to take up the post can apply for the same till September 9, 2017 (Saturday). The number of vacancy is one reserved for UR (0), OBC (0), SC (0) and ST (1). The qualified candidate would be offered the salary as per 7th CPC Level 10 in the Pay Matrix Total Emoluments Rs. 56,100 (pre-revised-Pay Band-3, Rs. 15600-39100 plus Grade Pay Rs.5400). The post carries probation of one year and is based in New Delhi and abroad. has dismissed reports that she plans to quit as British Prime Minister and said that she will lead the Conservative party into the next general election. Addressing the media during her ongoing visit to Japan, May sought to dismiss murmurs in the UK media that she plans to step down as Conservative party leader at the end of the Brexit process in 2019. "I am not a quitter. I am in this for the long term," she said when asked if she expects to fight the general election scheduled for 2022. "There's a real job to be done in the UK. It is about getting the Brexit deal right, it is about building that deep and special partnership with the European Union but it is also about building global Britain, trading around the world," she said. The speculation around May's departure from 10 Downing Street was triggered by media reports last week that claimed that the British PM planned to step down by August 30, 2019. Her comments have been received with a mixed response by her party, with backbenchers questioning this "long-term" strategy. May has been widely seen as being on borrowed time as party leader since her gamble to call an early general election in June this year backfired, losing the Tories their overall majority in Parliament. In the immediate aftermath, several MPs called on her to reconsider her position and former Chancellor George Osborne, who has become a newspaper editor after being sacked by May, even said that she was a "dead woman walking". But May's message during her Japanese visit was defiant: "What I am clear that I want to do is, yes, get on with the job of Brexit, but it's not just about Brexit. What I want to do is a lot more about the long term, which is about changes domestically, on issues like social justice". UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson, among the candidates in line to step in as the prime minister, continued to back May. "She is ideally placed to deliver a great outcome for our country and then deliver what we all want to see, which is this exciting agenda of global Britain. I think she gets it. She really wants to deliver it. I am here to support her," he told the BBC during his ongoing official visit to Nigeria. But former Tory chairman Grant Shapps said it was "too early" for May to talk about going "on and on" like Margaret Thatcher. "I think it's going to be difficult for to lead us into the next general election," said Nicky Morgan, a Tory MP who has been very vocal in her opposition to . The California State University-Northridge (CSUN) in association with the Southwestern Law School has inaugurated a "Legal Support Clinic" to provide pro bono assistance to students on immigration issues. "The university students are (great) ... but many come (here) under a lot of stress because they're undocumented," Julia Vazquez, an attorney and professor at the Southwestern Law School here told Efe news on Wednesday. She added that despite having grown up in the US, after being brought here illegally by their parents, the majority of such students "are feeling the pressure of federal immigration policies". The Legal Support Clinic will open its doors on Wednesday at the Oviatt Library at CSUN, where two days a week Vazquez will "confidentially and privately" advise undocumented students and who need professional legal assistance with immigration matters. "We're an educational project where CSUN will provide an office and (funds) for the legal support clinic," the professor said. About 1,400 undocumented students are the potential beneficiaries of the programme, out of CSUN's student body of 40,000, according to calculations by the "Dream Centre", which assists beneficiaries of the Deferred Action (DACA) programme. President Donald Trump's potential cancellation of the DACA programme would drastically change the lives of almost 800,000 people who benefit from it. Former President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2012 establishing the programme to provide undocumented immigrants brought here as young children with identity documents, drivers' licenses and work permits, among other things. is increasingly desperate for foreign investment. Yet foreign are less and less interested in what it has to offer. How this problem gets resolved may be one of the most important questions facing Chinas economy. The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given USD 225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released - a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. NASA has said it is providing technical assistance and scientific expertise to help respond to which has been a disaster of unprecedented proportions for those who live and work in southeast Texas. With no atmospheric steering mechanism to move the storm once it made landfall, Harvey has been producing rainfall totals measured in feet, rather than inches, presenting exceptional challenges to local, state, and federal emergency managers and first responders. "This is an immense weather event that is creating a unique challenge," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "NASA is working to enable and enhance the capabilities of our partners across federal agencies and elsewhere to ensure they are able to do the best job possible in assessing the threat and providing rescue and response services," Zurbuchen said. At the forefront of the agency's efforts, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Team is providing support to local, state, and federal agencies in their response to the extreme flooding in the Houston area and related damage associated with Harvey. Scientists at NASA centres and external partners are providing analysis of satellite imagery, output products, and other decision-support aids to inform disaster mapping and response efforts. Coordination so far has included the generation and distribution of flood maps, using NASA analyses applied to data from several synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments on partner satellites. The orbiting SAR instruments penetrate clouds and operate day and night, providing detailed, high-resolution, all-weather imagery of Earth's surface. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission team has produced rainfall accumulation graphics and unique views of the structure of Harvey during various phases of development and landfall. Starting Thursday, NASA said it would fly the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument aboard a NASA Gulfstream III aircraft to collect higher spatial resolution SAR observations over rivers, flood plains, and critical infrastructure. The response team also will use other SAR data of opportunity, including the ESA's (European Space Agency's) Sentinel 1A and 1B mission SAR data made available through ESA open-data sharing to support flood response efforts. has now weakened to a tropical depression with its centre now located in southwest Louisiana, but continues to cause heavy rains, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) announced. In the public advisory released late Wednesday night, the NHC indicated that Harvey has maximum winds of 55 km/h and is located 15 km southwest of Alexandria, Louisiana, Efe news reported. A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday declared ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf an "absconder" in the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and acquitted five people of the killing. As an absconder, Musharraf legally must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan after being allowed to leave the country in 2016. The court also ordered Musharraf's property in Pakistan seized. Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide and gun attack in Rawalpindi in 2007, weeks after she returned from exile to campaign in elections to bring back civilian rule. Five accused members of the Pakistani Taliban were found not guilty for lack of evidence by the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, just outside Islamabad. Musharraf was charged in 2013 of being culpable in Bhutto's murder. He seized power in a 1999 coup but stepped down nine years later after allowing new elections. He is now in self-imposed exile, having been allowed to leave the country in March 2016 for health reasons while awaiting trial on that and other charges. The court also found two police officials guilty in the case, one of mishandling security at the Bhutto rally and the other of mishandling the crime scene. Each was jailed for 17 years. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict in court, where former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad suspects out on bail were also present. Aziz and Shahzad were sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. While five other accused have been acquitted, former president Musharraf has been declared a proclaimed offender, with an order to seize his property. US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders. "The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region," it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists' funding and combat extremist ideology. "The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones" in the catastrophic storm, the White House said. Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulf's worst political crisis in years. The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies. US President will launch a series of "globally competitive" tax reforms which he said would bring back trillions of dollars stacked abroad. While announcing his plans, Trump warned members of Congress not to "disappoint" him, predicting that lawmakers would make a "comeback" to pass a comprehensive measure to overhaul the tax code. "This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hardworking Americans, and I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. I don't want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me? Do you understand?" Trump said, amidst applause from his supporters in Springfield in Missouri. Noting that the last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago, Trump said the new tax reforms will eliminate dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduce the number of tax brackets from fifteen to two, and lower tax rates for both individuals and businesses. Trump said his "globally competitive" tax reforms are based on four principles. "First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests," he said. "Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. It's time to give American workers the pay raise that they've been looking for many, many years," he said. Trump said the third principle for reform is tax relief for middle-class families. "We will lower taxes for middle-income Americans so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. That really means buying product ideally made in this country, but that means they'll go out, and they'll spend their money," he said. "Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high US tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there," said the US President. The amount of money we're talking about is anywhere from USD 3 trillion to USD 5 trillion. "By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation," he said. Trump said his administration is embracing a new economic model. "It is called very simply: The American Model. Under this system, we will encourage companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild our American cities and communities," he said. "That is how we will all succeed and grow together, as one team, with one shared sense of purpose, and one glorious American destiny," said the US President. "The tax reform plan Trump announced today is a vital measure for strengthening US prosperity as well as global prosperity through investment and job creation," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "A strong is a fundamental element of US foreign policy, and the State Department will continue to engage in economic diplomacy to bolster the prosperity of our nation through increased investment and trade," he said. However, Trump's Democratic opponent described this as a billionaires-first tax plan. "Instead of offering the American people a plan for real, job-creating tax reform, President Trump is pushing a billionaires-first, trickle-down tax scheme that hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, at the expense of American families," said Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic leader. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said the tax plan is a "joke". "It provides no details and has no basis in reality. After nine months in power, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have failed to provide any solutions to lower the tax burden for working Americans or to make our tax code simpler for small business owners," he alleged. Ubers board has picked Dara Khosrowshahi, leader of the online travel company Expedia, to replace the embattled chief executive, Travis Kalanick. But the companys troubles run deeper than Mr. Kalanicks flubs and scandals, and new leadership alone wont be able to right this distressed ship. August 31 is the 20th anniversary of the stunning, tragic death of in Paris, France, when Dianas chauffeured Mercedes hit a pillar inside an underpass just after midnight, killing her, her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, and her driver, Henri Paul. Risk aversion among global fund managers due to geopolitical tensions has applied brakes on the stellar run seen in the (EMs) this year. Foreign funds pulled out over $4 billion from EMs, weighing on the performance of key such as India and South Korea. Both the shed over two per cent in dollar terms during the month. Other EMs such as Indonesia and Mexico ended the month little changed. The MSCI EM Index saw a slight uptick because of gains in the China market, an index heavyweight which largely depends on local flows. Horticulture production for the 2016-17 crop year is now estimated to be a record 300 million tonnes, according to the third advanced estimate released on Thursday. This is almost 4.8 per cent higher than last years and 1.58 per cent more than the second estimate released in February. Shares of fell as much as 6% to Rs 178 in intra-day in an other-wise volatile market on reports that the lender is under RBI scanner after US fined Pakistan's Habib Bank. Habib Bank's promoter, AKFED Group, holds 15% stake in . For the first time ever, the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged that about 1,000 United States troops are placed in Afghanistan, which is higher than the number disclosed in the recent years. Earlier, the Defense Departments officials revealed that a total of 8,400 troops were present in Afghanistan as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Resolute Support mission, reported the New York Times. It added that another 'publicly acknowledged' 2,000 American forces were there to help local troops to conduct counter-terrorism missions. As per a defense official, the new count includes covert as well as temporary units. Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the staff of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that thousands of American troops were sent to Afghanistan under President Donald Trump's new strategy to conduct the war effort there. As per the Defense officials, the numbers are expected to rise by close to another 4,000 troops. Pentagon officials said that they are now ready to be more transparent. "The secretary has determined we must simplify our accounting methodology and improve the public's understanding of America's military commitment in Afghanistan," Pentagon Press Secretary Dana W. White said of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. "We owe the American people as much transparency as possible while still protecting sensitive information," he said. US former president Barack Obama reportedly ended American combat missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan when he was in power, but American warplanes continued to target the Islamic State and the Taliban. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Joint Secretary Binay Tamang on Thursday announced that the indefinite bandh in Darjeeling Hill, which started on June 15, has been lifted for 12 days. The relaxation of the band will start from 6 am tomorrow. Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with the GJM delegation to combat unrest in the hilly area. A delegation of the GJM leaders met Mamata on August 29 and submitted a memorandum demanding a judicial inquiry into the deaths caused due to police action. The meeting was also attended by other hill parties like the Gorkha Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Jan Andolan Party (JAP). Accord to reports, the TMC chief said that the meeting was held on a positive note and was cordial. "It's the beginning of a dialogue process. We are happy we have been able to sit across the table. We have requested them to withdraw the strike since it's causing a great hardship to the people," Mamata had said. The hearing on the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case will continue on Thursday in the Allahabad High Court. On Wednesday, the petitioner's counsel, S.F.A. Naqvi, said that the order to not give the prosecution recommendation was incorrect. Naqvi said that the order had been made 'in the back date' because on May 4, during the hearing, the public prosecutor said that there was no information about this order and demanded time for the information. After the last hearing, it was told that the order to deny the prosecution recommendation for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was issued on May 3. It was also said that in today's era with availability of number of communication channels any information can be sent or received from one country to another in a moment. In such a situation, the lack of information on the order of May 3 is under scanner. Earlier in May, the Uttar Pradesh Government denied permission to the Allahabad High Court for the trial of Adityanath in the matter. The Allahabad High Court has exempted Adityanath from personal appearance and has also allowed to ratify the writ petition. Uttar Pradesh Advocate General Raghvendra Singh told the Allahabad High Court that the principal secretary had denied permission to try the Chief Minister. Earlier, the High Court had summoned the principal secretary and had directed him to bring all documents related to the case. The court had asked the principal secretary to appear in person on May 11 and produce all documents including the sanction given by the state government to prosecute the accused. He was also asked to file an affidavit. The order was passed on a petition filed by Parvez Parwaz in 2008 at the Cantonment Police Station, in which the then local MP, Adityanath, was named as an accused for inciting communal violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Keeping the culture and roots alive and bringing the folks under single platform, the Adi community of Arunachal Pradesh who are residing in the capital came together and celebrated one of its biggest festivals 'Solung festival.' India's northeast region is known for its vivid and exotic fairs and festivals which are celebrated throughout the year. Festival has been an essentials part of the region since time immemorial and its diverse and unique culture and traditions are reflected through fairs and festivals. Solung, primarily an agro-based festival is the most popular festival of the Adis of Arunachal Pradesh, which also reflects the socio-religious features of the people, is celebrated on September 1 every year. Though, in the capital, it was celebrated on last Sunday itself. 'Solung festival' is celebrated to invoke and appeasement of God's blessing for their providence and praying for bumper harvest. There are three main parts in the celebration of this festival. They are: I. Sopi---Yekpi (also called Limir-Libom), the first part and the sacrificial day; II. Binnyat, the second part, the ritual offering to goddess of crops, Kine Nane, and III. Ekop (also called Taktor), the ritual made for protection against harms by evil spirits by appeasing to Gumin-Soyin, the household guardian, and Doying Bote, god of wisdom and human welfare. This agro based festival also symbolizes the socio-religious aspects of the Adi community and celebrates to promote a sense of unity and strengthen the feelings of friendship and brotherhood along with merry-making and feasting. The event was organized by the Adi's student council who are studying in Delhi. Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore attended the event along with other Members of Parliament. Speaking at the event, Rijju said, "I am very happy to see that a team from Arunachal Pradesh have come here and performed the wonderful dance. I think as usual it has been done in a very attractive manner, Solung 2017 and without taking much time, I am happy to share that I am fortunate to participate in any kind of festival and Solung is one of the most important festivals of Arunachal Pradesh." The event highlighted the various indigenous forms of dances and art form that evolve during the festival and other agriculture based festivals in the landlocked Arunachal Pradesh. Reliving their rich and unique culture as well as showcasing the varied collections of Adi community's traditional attires, students also sashayed down the ramp by enthralling the audience. Apart from promoting their culture, celebrating such festivals enable to enrich the community's bonding and builds a sense of oneness amongst the society. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the defence and prosecution completed their arguments yesterday , Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan of the Anti-Terrorist Court, Rawalpindi, will announce its verdict in Benazir Bhutto assassination case on Thursday. Benazir Bhutto, who was the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief and a two-time prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. It is expected that the judgement will be announced at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail this week, as Judge Khan earlier said he would require two days to scrutinise and compile all the records. During the case, 68 witnesses appeared on behalf of the prosecution and recorded their testimonies. The police presented three challans before the court, whereas the FIA presented five. The judge hearing the case was changed eight times. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar has said that former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has been declared the "most wanted" in the case but could not appear before the court because he is under threat by the Al Qaeda. Naseer Tanoli, the lawyer of Aitzaz Shah, who is accused of helping and financing the attack, told the court that the FIA's investigation into the case is full of defects. Tanoli observed that the FIA had not asked any of the suspects about when they were arrested, the Dawn reported. The FIA prosecutor argued that if there were discrepancies regarding the dates of the arrests of the suspects, the fault lies with the police, not the FIA. He added that a person named Ismail, who was mentioned as an "operator" in the challan at the time of the assassination, had absconded from the court. "The attack was carried out from outside the car [that Bhutto was riding in]. Why would we investigate those who were inside the car?" the prosecutor asked. Police told the ATC that Ismail had tapped a phone call from Baitullah Mehsood - the former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan chief who was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009 - who was declared "most wanted" in the murder case, along with Emad Gul, Akramullah, Abdullah and Faizullah. In February 2008, a trial of five suspects began after they were apprehended by the police. However, once PPP won the 2008 elections, the investigation was handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency. In 2013, FIA's special prosecutor in the case was killed by unknown assailants. Doctors said he had been killed with 10 bullets targeting his chest and shoulder. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The death toll in Mumbai's rose to 22. The three-storey Husaini building was collapsed on Thursday in Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar area. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh for the kin of those who died in . Taking stock of the situation the Chief Minister also assured that action would be taken in case of any negligence in the incident. The Chief Minister visited the accident spot and also ordered a detailed enquiry into the matter. "Action will be taken in case of any negligence. I am personally monitoring the situation," Fadnavis told the media here. The Chief Minister also directed the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner to focus on immediate medical assistance to the injured persons. At least 10 people have been injured after Husaini building, located near J J junction in the Pakmodia Street of Mumbai's Dongri area, collapsed at around 3:30 pm. The injured people have been admitted to the J J hospital for the medical treatment. As of now 30 people have been rescued from the debris and the rescue operation is still underway. The rescue operation is being carried out by the police team, a team of the Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the fire brigade and ambulances. Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French died and two other Patrol officers were wounded in a shootout at an Auburn Boulevard hotel. 52-year old French died on his way to the hospital, said Sheriff Scott Jone, reported a local newspaper. French was serving the country from past 21-year and worked as a training officer with the north area patrol unit. "This is certainly the most difficult thing a department can go through. We'll survive this as a community. We've been through it before. But it is painful. It will take a period of grieving," Jone said. The two California Highway Patrol officers are hospitalized and are expected to survive, Jones said. The Police have arrested three suspects in connection of the incident, which took place at the Ramada Inn in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard, while investigation of a stolen vehicle. Tony Turnbull, Sheriff's Department spokesman said that two additional suspects may remain inside the motel. As per Turnbull, a vehicle theft task force had gone to hotel parking lot, where two suspects, both women, then led the officers on a chase that ended in the Laguna area of Elk Grove, where the women were taken into custody. The officers then checked then returned to the Ramada Inn in search of possible suspects in a room. When they knocked on a hotel room door, a man opened fire through the door. Additional deputies responded on the back side of the room, but the male suspect wielding a high-powered rifle, in a shootout that killed French. The suspect then jumped off the balcony and got into a car in the parking lot. He escaped on Fulton Avenue and crashed near Watt Avenue. After exchanging gunfire again with officers, he was struck and then arrested. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday gave ample indications of a one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit next week, saying "China will make proper arrangements." Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: "During multilateral meetings, arranging bilateral meetings is practice. If time allows, China will make proper arrangements." Prime Minister is visiting China for attending the BRICS summit at the Chinese city Xiamen on September 3 and if there is a meeting between the two leaders, there will be discussions about the 71 days military stand-off border row in Doklam between two countries. " Doklam issue is between China and India and now the issue has been resolved and this serves the common interests of the two sides and this is good for both the sides. I think that this is a basic fact and we have seen," Hua Chunying said. "Peace and tranquility of the border areas can continue to play a positive role for the development of the bilateral relations ," Chunying added. Both leaders met during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet at Astana in June. China made it clear that it "would not be appropriate" to discuss Pakistan's counter-terrorism record during the BRICS Summit in Xiamen. "Pakistan is at the forefront of counter-terror efforts and has made sacrifices for this. The international community should recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by Pakistan," Chunying said. The spokesperson further stated that the relevant parties will hold discussions on stronger partnership for a brighter future and try to take BRICS route for our pragmatic cooperation in economy and people to people exchanges . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has hinted that he would not be serving the post for long. Responding to a poser, during a press briefing, on his tenure as the defence minister, the union minister said, "At least I hope not very long. That's anyway not me to decide." Re-iterating his stand on the cash squeeze that has posed a threat for the terrorist elements in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, Jaitley yesterday claimed that the shortage of currency has resulted in a shortage of 'stone throwers' for the separatists. "For the first time, the RBI has scrutinised each note, which has helped them differentiate between fake notes from the authentic ones. The cash squeeze is evident, since these terrorist elements are finding it difficult to mobilise support for them. Without enough cash notes, it is difficult to gather stone throwers as before," said Jaitley. Speaking on the way forward, Jaitley stated that the next step would be to put an end to black money used in elections, adding that the final stage of proposals is being deliberated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A French chemicals group Arkema on Thursday confirmed that two explosions took place at its plant in Texas's Crosby and said there was a risk of further explosions at the site. "We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so," it added. According to The Telegraph, smoke and an explosion were reported today morning at the flood-hit chemical plant. On Tuesday, the company has already evacuated the remaining workers at the damaged plant, and Harris County ordered the evacuation of people within a 2.4-kilometres radius of the plant. One Sheriff's Deputy has been taken to the nearby hospital after he inhaled fumes from the explosion. A company official had said earlier that Arkema SA expected chemicals to catch fire or explode in the coming days because the plant has lost power to its chemical cooling systems. The company has said that it has chosen not to move chemicals before the storm but made wide preparations. The plant is 40 kilometers northeast of Houston, The Telegraph reported. With heavy deluge from the Tropical Storm Harvey swallowing the entire Texas cities, the US military force has mobilized its warships and aircraft to help local law administration for the rescue operations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already activated the Texas National Guard, which comprises of nearly 12,000 troops, reported CNN. State, local and military rescue units till now rescued thousands of stranded residents from the water and flooded homes. Two US Navy warships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Oak Hill, are being deployed to Texas, to quicken the relief and rescue process. Both the warships have been loaded with disaster relief supplies, like water and food and a unit to help the victims of the catastrophic deluge in Texas. US Northern Command deployed nine search-and-rescue helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft and para-rescue teams to Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth. Meanwhile, the death toll in the catastrophic flooding due to Tropical storm Harvey has mounted to 24. The number of suspected storm-related deaths in Harris County is 17 so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday condemned the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for keeping a manhole open, in which Dr. Deepak Amarapurkar fell and died yesterday. "The entire doctor community across India is quite upset over such a careless and negligent incident. There must be safety measures in place as when any manhole is opened," the Board said, in a letter to the Municipal Commissioner. They also requested the Municipal Commissioner to investigate the entire episode and take an appropriate action to avoid such incidents in future. Dr. Amarapurkar was a leading Gastroenterologist at the Bombay Hospital. He fell in an open manhole on the Matkar road in the Elphinston area near Dadar on Wednesday during the heavy rains. The heavy rains in Mumbai have been aggravating the poor infrastructure and posing danger to lives since Tuesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Switzerland have decided to cooperate in the fight against black money, which is being used for arms and drugs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held delegation level talks with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, wherein they discussed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association. "The talks have already begun on the provisions of this agreement. This is a welcome move. Both sides have expressed their commitment to fulfill this agreement," Prime Minister Modi said. He also mentioned that India and Switzerland have signed a joint declaration for the automatic exchange of tax related information, last year. The Prime Minister also said that under this agreement, when the internal process is completed in Switzerland, the information will be shared with India on an automatic basis. This information also pertains to the black money stashed away by Indians in the Swiss banks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Switzerland in June 2016, wherein tax evasion and black money menace were discussed. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister thanked Switzerland for its continuous support for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and for its support for the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) membership. Swiss Confederation President Doris Leuthard said that India and Switzerland can be relevant and reliable partners in programmes like Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Startup India and Smart Cities. Addressing a joint statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Leuthard said that both the countries would launch Swiss-Indian friendship activities. "We will launch Swiss-Indian friendship activities; we came here with 30 representatives of the business society. We can be relevant and reliable partner in programmes like Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Startup India and Smart cities," she said. President Leuthard said that Switzerland has one of the strongest laws on money laundering and they would be happy if other countries follow Switzerland. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Swiss President and discussed various bilateral issues. "First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio is using his wealth for a good cause. It was reported that United Way Worldwide has announced the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund that "will distribute 100 per cent of donations for recovery in the affected areas, community by community, in the months and years ahead." And, the inaugural donation has been made by Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation - of USD 1 million, reports E! Online. Brian Gallagher, the President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, shared, "We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation. Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us - and that's what this gift represents." He continued, "United Way's Harvey Recovery Fund will provide the much-needed help for the communities along the Gulf Coast where lives have been changed forever." The Oscar-winning actor is not the only one to step up for thousands of residents displaced by flooding and other damage. Actress Sandra Bullock pledged USD 1 million to help the victims, while Kim Kardashian and her family donated USD 5,00,000 to the American Red Cross. Meanwhile, Kevin Hart also launched his own Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge that encourages stars to give USD 25,000 to assist the Texas residents. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With films like 'Singham', 'Gangaajal', 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' and 'Shivaay' to his credit, Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has proved to be an actor par excellence. In his 25-career spanning over 25 years, the 'Shivaay' actor has tried his hands in all genres. Be it comedy, action or romance, Devgn excels in all. During an exclusive conversation with ANI, Devgn said he likes to rotate all genres and is not interested in taking up repetitive roles. "The roles that I have taken up earlier and roles that I am doing excites me but as far as genres are concerned, I would to like to rotate genres. I do not like to be repetitive as it gets very boring." "Doing similar kinds of roles do not excite me as it makes me feel boring and, then, one stop enjoying his work. As an actor, I like doing all genre films. Now, I have done 'Baadshaho', earlier I did 'Golmaal' both are of different genre films. So, I keep exploring all genres and that's keep me going," he added. The 48-year-old actor, who will be seen playing a gangster 'Bhawani' in the Milan Luthria directorial, also dismissed the reports of his badass character bearing similarity to his role in 'Kachche Dhaage'. "Every character is different and the way Milan Luthria has written up the character for me, it has got lot of layers. It's a grey shade character. And I enjoyed doing it. The whole character is completely different from my role in 'Kachche Dhaage'. I like a lot of grey shades roles with of layers as it helps one to perform better," he explained. The actor was recently in the national capital on 'Baadshaho' promotional spree along with film's entire cast Emraan Hashmi, Ileana D'Cruz, and director Milan Luthria. On a related note, 'Baadshaho' that marks fourth collaboration of Ajay and Milan, is set during the emergency period. Also starring Vidyut Jammwal and Esha Gupta, the film is set to hit theaters tomorrow. (ANI) . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here on Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Meat exporter Moin Qureshi by four days in connection with a money laundering case. Moin Qureshi on Wednesday challenged his arrest in the Delhi High Court in regards to the matter. The High Court had issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and sought their response within five days. A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Nazmi Waziri issued notice to the government and the ED, asking them to file the reply within five days. Qureshi, was arrested on August 25 and sent to five-day custody of the ED by a trial court the next day for a thorough investigation in the case against him and others. During the hearing, advocate R K Handoo, appearing for Qureshi, contended that he has been illegally detained by the ED. He claimed Qureshi had been directly arrested when he was called for questioning and was not informed about the grounds of arrest. Central Government standing counsel Anil Soni, who also appeared for ED, said that there was due compliance of Constitution mandate regarding informing a person about his arrest. The bench, however, said a person cannot be taken into custody without telling him the grounds and giving him an effective legal aid. "Information is not just to make a person read the grounds of arrest. You have to give him a copy of it," the bench said and asked the Centre and ED to show the official records pertaining to the arrest on the next date of hearing on September 13. The agency had told the trial court that "the witnesses have confirmed in their statements that they have delivered crores of rupees for Qureshi and his associates through his employees and one of the witnesses has stated that nearly Rs 1.75 crore have been exported by the accused from him and his friend in lieu of the help provided to him in a CBI case." According to the agency, Qureshi was arrested late night on August 25 here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he was not cooperating in the probe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The new Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Mahendra Nath Pandey on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah for giving him an opportunity to serve the people of the state. "Under Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi the BJP party is doing a good job in UP. I am thankful to BJP chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi for giving me this opportunity. I am going to work for the BJP party in UP and will make sure that all the works of Central government reach to each and every person," he told ANI. BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday appointed Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Pandey as the next UP BJP chief with immediate effect. Pandey is a BJP MP from Chandauli constituency. Pandey has replaced Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who was serving as UP BJP chief. Maurya also congratulated the new BJP chief. "The BJP has announced Mahendra Nath Pandey for the party state president of UP. I congratulate him for the next UP BJP chief. I am sure that UP BJP cadre will work good under him. Each and every BJP worker is happy with this decision. Earlier also he has done good work for the party," he told ANI. The decision to appoint a new chief has come forth as Maurya is expected to be elected to the Legislative Council to continue as Deputy Chief Minister of UP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet before the NIA Special Court, Lucknow against eight accused persons for being members of the proscribed organisation ISIS and their involvement in the conspiracy to carry out terror acts in furtherance of the activities of ISIS. The accused persons who have been Charge-sheeted are: Mohammad Faisal, Gauss Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Azhar, Atif Muzaffar, Mohammad Danish, Sayed Meer, Asif Iqbal, and Mohammad Atif. Action against the accused Saifullah is abated since he is dead. The case was initially registered by Uttar Pradesh's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) On March 3 this year. The NIA found that accused persons took Bay'th (oath of allegiance) to the ISIS, hatched a criminal conspiracy with intention to further the terrorist activities, recruited persons, raised funds, organized terrorist camp and carried out terrorist acts. The accused propagated the ideology of the ISIS to attract, motivate and recruit youths in the ISIS for carrying out terrorist acts. "The accused visited various border areas in India to migrate to ISIS held territories in Iraq-Syria, but having failed there, they procured arms, ammunition and explosives to carry out terrorist acts in India and planned for targeting non-Muslims / Muslims scholars of other Sects and religious places within India. Their hideouts in Lucknow as busted and the IED materials along with incriminating articles were recovered," says the NIA chargesheet. During the police operation by the UP ATS, one Saifulla was killed. Mohammad Faisal, Atif Muzzafar along with Saifulla had earlier killed Ramesh Chandra Shukla of Kanpur Nagar on December 24, 2016 in Kanpur. The NIA chargesheet said that accused persons conducted reconnaissance of Sufi shrine Dewa Sharif in Barabanki and other religious places for planting IEDs. To further the terrorist activities of the ISIS established, the accused established terrorist camps at Lucknow. On March 7, Atif Muzzafar, Mohammad Danish and Sayed Meer travelled to Bhopal and planted an IED in a general compartment of Bhopal-Ujjain Train. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) conducted a mega mock drill across the state this week. The mock drill was organised in a manner to suggest as if a real earthquake had struck the state. All disaster management forces across Nagaland were swung into action to contain perceived damages caused by a 8.4 magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was located between Kohima and Phek at a stretch of around 80-90 kms from the state capital. The NSDMA in association with DDMAs and concerned governmental departments, civil societies and the communities conducted the 'Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise' (NEPEx). The exercise was to generate awareness among communities and different agencies on how to establish a mechanism for effective response to any disaster. The mock drill recorded a real time disaster response across the 11 districts. At the Incident Command Post, the tragedy and damage report showed a heavy loss across the state. Most districts reported damages of properties like collapsed buildings, land erosions and people trapped under debris. Massive landslides and electrical break downs were the main issues hindering rescue operations. The exercise began with an emergency siren in all district headquarters, villages and institutions. In Dimapur, the exercise was carried out in various market areas, school and many other places simultaneously after it was flagged of at the DDSC Stadium Immediately, people in schools, institutions and offices were asked to respond by a method of Drop, Cover and Hold for two minutes until the siren was sounded for the second time. The State Emergency Operation Centre and District Emergency Operation Centers were activated during the emergency exercise. Volunteers from different departments and villages participated in the mock drill. Nagaland lies under Seismic Zone V and is vulnerable to many natural calamities such as earthquake, landslide, flashflood, thunderstorm, hailstorm, forest fire etc. The two-hour long exercise added some awareness to all line departments and the public to respond to such calamities. NEPEx showcased the possibilities of a multi impact of disaster effects and it will further organise such drills annually during different seasons of the year to make the state a safer and resilient society. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Events taking place over the past couple of days suggest that all is not well within the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) or with the foreign policy initiatives of Islamabad. Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit's acerbic open letter to that country's former foreign secretary and now Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, describing him as one of the worst persons to have headed Pakistan's foreign service and as the sole person responsible for compromising Islamabad's national interests globally, has opened a can of worms so to speak, as well as led opinion makers, analysts and observers, both domestic and foreign, into believing that the "Deep State" in Pakistan has had a behind-the-scenes role to play in this latest verbal fracas between two very senior diplomats. It is a well acknowledged fact that Ambassador Basit has always been and seen as a loyalist of this "Deep State" and in all probability wrote this controversial letter to Chaudhry at their behest. It can be assumed as well that through this letter, Ambassador Basit may have vented out his frustration at being deliberately overlooked by the Sharif administration for the coveted post of foreign secretary - once in 2013, when Chaudhry was made the foreign secretary, and the second time this year, when Sharif chose Tehmina Janjua to be Pakistan's first woman foreign secretary, and nudged Basit towards opting for premature retirement (Basit was to superannuate next year). The "Deep State" which is identified with the pro-Army, pro- ISI and pro-Islamic element in Pakistan, it seems, had always wanted Basit to be the nation's foreign secretary, and according to sources, were upset when Prime Minister Sharif chose Tehmina Janjua in place of him. They were also apparently upset with Chaudhry, as they clearly saw him as a Sharif loyalist facilitating his efforts to normalise relations with India. The fact that Ambassador Basit squarely blames Chaudhry for failing to project a better image of Pakistan before the Trump Administration that led to the censuring of Islamabad as a haven for terrorists through a nation-wide broadcast from the White House, and that he was responsible for setbacks Pakistan had suffered diplomatically through the Ufa Joint Statement and the 'humiliating defeat' at the UN Human Rights Council with regard to the situation in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir is a pointer to the "Deep State" thought process. It would not be far-fetched to assume that the "Deep State's" next target after Chaudhry will be Tehmina Janjua, and the indication of this is the reference in Basit's letter to Pakistan's failure at the UN Human Rights Council, when she was her country's envoy in Geneva before assuming charge as foreign secretary. A recent seminar of eminent British and American academics held in London that focused on the omnipresent "Deep State" syndrome in Pakistan majorly concluded that Pakistan is a "sham democracy". The theme of the seminar organized by The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) at London University was entitled "The decline of democracy in Pakistan and the role of the Deep State". Farzana Shaikh, a Pakistani-origin associate fellow at Chatham House, described Pakistan as a "bonsai democracy" or a state restricted by its environment, and pointed out that the summary dismissal of a duly-elected civilian government and Nawaz Sharif from the office of Prime Minister by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, established this fact more than ever. Christine C. Fair, Associate Professor at the Washington-based Georgetown University, said Sharif's ouster was simply put an "army-cum-judicial coup". "The judiciary in Pakistan was not an independent actor, but a part of a new condominium emerging between the country's army and the Supreme Court. The army had to develop new tools to keep pruning the grass of democracy to prevent it from taking root in Pakistan," she claimed. Professor Lawrence Sez, Professor of Political Economy in Asia at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, said Sharif's disqualification though initially correct has given room for increased unaccountability in Pakistan. Burzine Waghmar, a senior teaching fellow at the SOAS, highlighted the complicity of the "Deep State" with the "pick up and dump" routine and suppressing the freedom struggle in the Baluchistan province. "Democracy does not seem to be the system of choice among the young in Pakistan and there is a tendency towards a pro-order and/or pro-army view, especially among the more educated youth," said Professor Marie Carine-Lall, chair of education and South Asian studies at London University's Institute of Education. Some in the Pakistani diplomatic community are of the view that discrediting Chaudhry might complicate matters for Islamabad in terms of projecting a better image of itself before Washington. Basit should not have circulated the letter, most say, as Pakistan is confronted with critical foreign policy challenges at this juncture, be it with the United States or the immediate neighbourhood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd (PEHS), a screening and diagnostic laboratory of PerkinElmer, Inc. today announced that it has kicked off a series of seminars for neurologists, paediatricians and gynaecologists in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mangalore, India. These events serve as an ideal platform for discussing PerkinElmer's recently launched affordable gene panels, whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) services using next generation sequencing and other complementary assays to address the broad range of genetic disorders. At the first conference, which took place in Delhi, Dr. Madhuri Hegde, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, PerkinElmer Diagnostic Laboratory Services, delivered a talk, 'Simplifying Genomics: Transforming Complexity into Meaning' to a group of clinicians. Starting her presentation, Dr. Hegde said, "A growing interest in personalized medicine calls for genome sequencing in clinical diagnostics, but major challenges must be addressed before its full potential can be realized. This talk on a medical genetic testing algorithm will help clinicians select the most appropriate molecular diagnostic tool for each scenario." Dr. Hegde also serves on the board of ACMG Foundation for Genetics and Genomic Medicine and is an Adjunct Professor of Genetics and Paediatrics at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. IC Verma, a pioneer in the field of Genetic Medicine joined the session in Delhi and commented: "This is a most exciting time in genetics. As a result of the new genomic sequencing technologies, we can arrive at a diagnosis in many more patients than before. Finding the variation in genes is leading to the development of new treatments for the genetic disorders. The medical professionals must take advantage of the genomic tests being offered in India at an affordable rate. The genetic tests enable screening of couples for being carriers of genetic disorders, genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis to prevent disease and the possibility of new treatments." Dr. Verma is a renowned medical geneticist. He received genetics training in the UK, USA & Switzerland. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He has received a number of national awards - Ranbaxy Science Award, ICMR, NAMS and BC Roy Medical Council award. He is a Member and Vice-chairman of the Ethics Committee of the International Human Genome Organization (HUGO) and serves as an adviser in genetics to the WHO in Geneva, and to Roche Genetics in Basel. "The launch of our genetics service is all about providing quality and specialized service to clinicians in India. Dr. Hegde brings our customers high confidence in PerkinElmer's quality sample analysis and reporting," said Jayashree Thacker, President, PerkinElmer India. "We have been observing a high demand of sequencing services for rare inherited disease. Combining these offerings with our current portfolio will help address the evolving needs of our customers." PerkinElmer now offers its customers a global genomic lab testing platform that performs screening and diagnostic testing, specializing in newborn screening and high throughput next generation sequencing for rare inherited diseases. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked Switzerland for its continuous support for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), in a joint statement with President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard. "India will get help from the NSG membership in fulfilling India's increasing clean energy requirements," he said. Prime Minister Modi emphasised on the climate change and said it is a big challenge, being faced by all the countries. He further said that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important base of the economic relations between the two countries and India, specially, welcomes Swiss investors. Prime Minister Modi expressed his happiness on Switzerland recognising 'Ayurveda' and showing interest for more cooperation in this field. Both countries signed two agreements on technical cooperation in railways, ahead of the joint statement. Two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed, one for technical cooperation in railways and the other between India's Konkan Railway and Swiss University ETH Zurich. In his address, Prime Minister Modi also thanked Switzerland for its support to Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) membership. Before the joint statement both countries held delegation level talks at India-Swiss Business Engagement at the Hyderabad House. Earlier, she met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Leuthard is on her three-day visit to strengthen bilateral, global and regional issues of mutual interest. In 2018, Switzerland and India will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Swiss-Indian Treaty of Friendship signed on August 14, 1948. This was the first of such treaties signed by independent India and an important milestone in the Indo-Swiss relations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yoga guru Ramdev took to Twitter on Thursday to express his pride for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Army, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for "showing China its place" over the disengagement of both countries' Army troops from Tibet's Doklam plateau. Known for being politically active, Ramdev also announced his upcoming visit to Delhi for teaching Yoga to the ITBP jawaans. "Proud of Narendra Modi ji, Army, and ITBP for showing China its place. Going to Delhi to teach Yoga to ITBP jawaans on September 2," he wrote on Twitter. The Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) came to a mutual agreement on August 28 to disengage from Doklam, thus ending the months' long stand-off. India-China stand-off at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan trijunction, had been going on for more than two months and the situation arose after China started constructing a road in the area. Meanwhile, Ramdev will take hold a significant Yoga Camp for the brave ITBP cadre at the Tigri 22 Battalion, New Delhi beginning on September 2, at 5 a.m. External Affair Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that it is paramount for New Delhi to ensure safety and security of the Indian Ocean. Addressing the Indian Ocean Conference, Swaraj said the vision of highlighting security needs in the waters of Indian Ocean was propelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the concept of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) "Our vision for the Indian Ocean region is to preserve its organic unity, while advancing cooperation. We envisage Indian Ocean as an engine for growth and prosperity in our region and beyond. It is of utmost importance that these waters remain safe and secure. This vision was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2015 when we put forward the concept of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region). This is a clear high level articulation of India's vision for the Indian Ocean," said Swaraj. Further elaborating on Prime Minister Modi's vision of SAGAR, Swaraj elucidated its extensive nitty-gritty. "SAGAR has distinct but inter-related agreement and underscores India's engagement in the Indian Ocean these are, 1) Enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories. 2) Deepening economic and security cooperation. 3) Promoting collective action to deal with natural disaster and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism and emergent non-state actors. 4) Working towards sustainable regional development," she said. "The principles enshrined in SAGAR provide us with a coherent framework to address some of the challenges relating to economic revival, connectivity, security, culture and identity. The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas including food, medicines and clean energy," she added. Asserting that today Indian Ocean is one of the busiest and critical maritime transportation mean in the . And that the economies of the many of the literal countries depend heavily on it Swaraj said, "The Indian Ocean is of vital importance for India. And, 90 percent of our trade by volume almost all of our oil imports come through the sea." Swaraj yesterday landed in Sri Lanka to attend two-day the Indian Ocean Conference. India Foundation, a Delhi-based think tank, is hosting the Indian Ocean Conference 2017 (IOC) in collaboration with Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, and National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Colombo -- both research and study centres -- and the theme of the conference is peace, progress and prosperity. Around 35 nations are participating in the Conference. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court, on Thursday, will be hearing the plea of a 13-year-old rape survivor, who is seeking permission to abort her 30-week-old foetus. In the last hearing, the Apex court had asked the concerned hospital to examine the minor girl and ascertain the condition and advisability of permitting abortion. The minor girl's mother moved the apex court, seeking its permission to terminate the pregnancy of her daughter. Earlier, on July 28, the top court had rejected a petition, on medical grounds, filed by another 10-year-old rape victim, who sought permission to terminate her 32-week-old pregnancy. The minor girl had recently delivered a child in Chandigarh. The order came after reviewing the medical reports, which said, abortion would neither be good for the girl, nor for the foetus. On a related note, during the historical verdict on Right to Privacy last week, the nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, discussed the debate surrounding abortions. The verdict on the issue said that right to terminate life falls in zone of right to privacy. "A woman's freedom of choice whether to bear a child or abort her pregnancy are areas which fall in the realm of privacy.. To sanctify an argument that whatever is not found in the text of the Constitution cannot become a part of the Constitution would be too primitive an understanding of the Constitution and contrary to settled cannons of constitutional interpretation. Such an approach regarding the rights and liberties of citizens would be an affront to the collective wisdom of our people and the wisdom of the members of the Constituent Assembly.. Constitution is not merely a document signed by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly. It is a politically sacred instrument created by men and women who risked lives and sacrificed their liberties to fight alien rulers and secured freedom for our people, not only of their generation but generations to follow. The Constitution cannot be seen as a document written in ink to replace one legal regime by another," the verdict said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eminent Social Activist Parull Mahaajan was recently felicitated for her phenomenal contribution in the field of Women Empowerment by Smt. Krishna Raj Central Minister of State for Women and Child Development. She was honoured with the 'Shri Shakti Samman' for her exemplary contribution to the society at the 'Shri Shakti Parv' organised by Dr. Archika Foundation at the Constitution Club of India recently. Parull Mahaajan is an Inspiring Lady who wears many hats at the same time. A Lawyer, Interior Designer specialising in green and sustainable designs, Advisor Delhi Literature Festival and Social Activist working actively in the areas of Environment Conservation, Swachh Bharat, Women Empowerment, Supporting and Promoting the interests of Weavers and Artisans and 'Make in India'. She recently organised an Environment Conclave under Bharat Niti with Ch. Birender Singh Union Minister of Steel and Sh. P. P. Chaudhary Union Minister of Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology. Books-o- Sansad'-2017, A Creative Exhibition of books authored by Members of Parliament - An exhibition of books authored, edited and published by more than 80 MPs named 'Books-o- Sansad' was organized between 3 pm to 8 pm on 2 Aug, in the Constitution Club, located at Rafi Marg, New Delhi. The exhibition 'Books-o- Sansad,' displayed 80 frames of books authored by 80 MPs , each in a single 2' x 3' frame with the brief of the author and the preface of the book. This was an opportunity for the visitors to learn about the writing skills of literature passionate MPs. This event was organized in association with Transparency International India by Drishti Creative Productions Pvt. Ltd.' along with Social Activist Parull Mahaajan and Gaurav Gupta. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard is on a three-day visit to India, beginning from today, to strengthen bilateral, global and regional issues of mutual interest. Leuthard's visit to India assumes much significance as India is seeking its entry into the 48-member elite nuclear club, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), of which Switzerland is the chair. Accompained by a large business delegation, Leuthard will hold talks with her Indian counterpart, President Ram Nath Kovind, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu. "Both countries share common views on many major global issues. The visit will provide an opportunity to both sides for holding wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, global and regional issues of mutual interest," stated a press release, ahead of the visit. In addition to the Presidential and the ministerial visits, the two countries hold yearly political and thematic consultations and dialogues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Switzerland in June 2016, wherein tax evasion and black money menace were discussed. Switzerland and India have regularly been conducting political dialogues since 2005. Since 2012, the two countries have also been involved in a dialogue on migration and consular matters. The two nations have signed numerous bilateral agreements in several sectors including trade, development cooperation, vocational education and training, visas,migrations, air traffic, investments, finance, taxation, disaster management, and cooperation in science and technology. In 2018, Switzerland and India will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Swiss-Indian Treaty of Friendship signed on August 14, 1948. This was the first of such treaties signed by independent India and an important milestone in the Indo-Swiss relations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Swiss Confederation President Doris Leuthard on Thursday said that India and Switzerland can be relevant and reliable partners in programmes like Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Startup India and Smart Cities. Addressing a joint statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Leuthard said that both the countries would launch Swiss-Indian friendship activities. "We will launch Swiss-Indian friendship activities; we came here with 30 representatives of the business society. We can be relevant and reliable partner in programmes like Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Startup India and Smart cities," she said. President Leuthard said that Switzerland has one of the strongest laws on money laundering and they would be happy if other countries follow Switzerland. She further said that Switzerland is and will be an important financial place. "We have all an interest to be transparent, cooperative and be a good reliable partner," she added. President Leuthard said Switzerland is the 11th largest investor in India and the seventh largest recipient of the Indian investments. "We share same values and open-mindedness when it come to investments," she said. She also paid her condolence to the victims of the Mumbai floods. Meanwhile, both the countries signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) The MoUs were signed between the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich and another between the Ministry of Railways, India and Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of the Swiss Federation on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi thanked Switzerland for its continuous support for India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), in a joint statement with President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard. In his address, Prime Minister Modi also thanked Switzerland for its support to Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) membership. Before the joint statement both countries held delegation-level talks at India-Swiss Business Engagement at the Hyderabad House. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Swiss President and discussed various bilateral issues. "First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has organised 'India-Tanzania Forum' on Wednesday to boost trade and investment relations between India and Tanzania. Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Tanzania Charles Mwijage proposed that a special forum could be organized in Tanzania for 10-days where Indian industry could visit sites and move around Tanzania and then take a call regarding setting up their in the country. "Discussions were being held with the Tanzanian delegation with respect to a bilateral investment treaty, easier visa regime for business travelers from India to Tanzania and technology transfer," said Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Manoj Dwivedi. "Tanzanian government should urge its industry to prepare good projects that can be taken up by Indian investors," he added. Tanzania with peace and political stability, strategic location, attractive investment regime, investment incentives and guarantees, abundance of natural resources, high growth potential, memberships of bilateral trade agreements, export processing and special economic zones, and leisure destinations, offered immense potential for trade and investment. Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI and Dr Samuel Nyantahe, Chairman, Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), also shared their perspectives on ways to boosting trade and investment between India and Tanzania. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The two missing children of triple talaq petitioner have been traced on Thursday. Officer in-charge of Golabari Police Station confirmed that the police have traced the kids who were taken to a relative's place by Ishrat's husband. Earlier, Ishrat had alleged that two of her four children - a daughter and a son - are missing in Kolkata. The 31-year-old accused her husband of kidnapping them. Ishrat also registered a complaint in Golabari Police Station in the same regard. The petitioner has been facing social boycott in Kolkata, soon after the Supreme Court pronounced the judgment on August 22. The apex court struck down triple talaq and declared the Islamic practice unconstitutional in a 3-2 majority verdict. Two days after the apex court judgment, Ishrat asked Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for protection saying she had faced condemnation and attacks from members of her community, especially her husband's family. Her in-laws and neighbours called her a "gandi aurat" (bad woman) for challenging Islamic laws. Ishrat was divorced over phone by her husband from Dubai in April 2014. Also, Ishrat's lawyer, Nazia Elahi Khan earlier said that the females in the society have stared boycotting them and called them wives of Hindus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi King Salman and urged all the parties in the Qatar dispute to find a diplomatic resolution to end a crisis. The white House, in its statement, said that the president urged parties to find solution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. King Salman praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey and offered his condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the flood. Both the leaders discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorist funding and combat extremist ideology. Saudi Arabia, together with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, have cut ties with Qatar, accusing the latter of supporting terrorism and maintaining ties with Iran. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States is sending mixed signals to Kim Jong-un with President Donald Trump saying that "talking is not the answer" when it comes to reining in North Korea - contradicting his Cabinet officials, who insist that Washington would continue to seek a diplomatic resolution to Pyongyang nuclear and ballistic missile programme. Indicating a military option to deal with North Korea, Trump tweeted, "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" It was not clear whether Trump was referring to the financial and food aid given to the North Korean regime in exchange for Pyongyang's commitment to curb its nuclear programmes. Meanwhile, defence secretary James Mattis has opted for diplomatic talks and has said that the U.S. is "never out of diplomatic solutions" for dealing with the North Korean aggression. "We're never out of diplomatic solutions," he said. "We always look for more. We're never complacent," Mattis said, days after North Korea launched a missile that flew over northern Japan. The North Korean launch was "the first step of the military operation (of the North Korean military) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," North Korean state media said, doubling down on Pyongyang's threats in early August to strike the U.S. territory, home to strategic U.S. military bases. "The idea that this is part of a "good cop, bad cop" strategy seems to be an attempt to excuse the reality that the Trump administration is in chaos when it comes to North Korea," CNN quoted Abraham Denmark, a former assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, as saying, who sees no coherent administration strategy on Pyongyang. In a statement from the White House on Tuesday, Trump said "all options" are on the table regarding North Korea. "Threatening and destabilising actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," the President said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday discussed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation and stressed on their hope to reach an agreement by the end of this year. Trump had earlier threatened to terminate North American Free Trade Agreement talks with Canada and Mexico, saying that both are "being very difficult" in renegotiation of NAFTA. "We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico and Canada. Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?" Trump said in a tweet. Trump had recently emphasised that negotiations talks of the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico would not achieve a successful end. "I think we'll probably end up terminating the NAFTA at some point. We have been so badly taken advantage of," he said. "Personally, I don't think you can make a deal," he added, noting that if a mutual agreement to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement cannot be met, the United States will plan to withdraw. Earlier this month, representatives from the U.S, Canada and Mexico began renegotiation talks over NAFTA. NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, which came into force on January 1, 1994. Trump also spoke about the continuing devastation from catastrophic flooding in Texas and Louisiana caused by Hurricane Harvey with Trudeau. He thanked Trudeau and the people of Canada for their offer of assistance and underscored the close ties between our two nations. With heavy deluge from the Tropical Storm Harvey swallowing the entire Texas cities, the US military force has mobilized its warships and aircraft to help local law administration for the rescue operations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already activated the Texas National Guard, which comprises of nearly 12,000 troops. State, local and military rescue units till now rescued thousands of stranded residents from the water and flooded homes. Meanwhile, the death toll in the catastrophic flooding due to Tropical storm Harvey has mounted to 24. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States administration has approached Pakistan through backdoor channels to address its reservations on the new U.S. policy for South Asian countries, especially Afghanistan. Through backdoor channels, the White House has told Pakistan that Washington wants to maintain its relations with Islamabad. This comes after Pakistan expressed its anger over the United States President Donald Trump's accusation that the country has been providing safe havens to militants. The Pakistan government received this message after its government started reviewing its policy towards the U.S., The Express Tribune reported. The U.S. wants to keep balanced ties with Pakistan and is ready to address the concerns raised by Islamabad, a source said. However, Pakistan has categorically said that it wouln't initiate further talks until the U.S. administration gives a clear signal of change in its new policy. Earlier, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had stated that Islamabad has temporarily suspended talks with the United States as well as official bilateral visits in protest against Trump's speech, in which he lambasted Pakistan for keeping double standards in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan parliamentarians have also discussed thoroughly to suggest a policy guideline for the government in response to the new U.S. policy on Afghanistan. "As an immediate reaction, he postponed his first visit to Washington as foreign minister last week," a source quoted Asif, as saying. Similarly, U.S. acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Alice Well's tour had also been postponed, Asif added. Pakistan is also convening an international conference to highlight its contribution towards the war against terrorism and to adopt a new policy, which will call a halt to Washington's unending demand to 'do more' on the issue. While rolling out the new Afghan Policy, Trump had said, "People in Pakistan have suffered from terror, but at same time Pakistan has been safe haven for terrorists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK Government announced a five-year package of help to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria, costing an extra 200 million pounds to prevent 1.5 million people from famine and to help 100,000 boys and girls to provide education. The announcement was made by UK Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel, who along with UK's foreign secretary Boris Johnson, recently traveled to Boko Haram, uprising in Nigeria to show solidarity with the fight to bring the jihadists under control. The package also include the restoration of infrastructure and services in the north-east of the country. In their first joint visit, the two ministers travelled to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, which has suffered the highest rate of killings by the Islamist terrorist group. "Boko Haram has generated suffering, instability and poverty on a huge scale, with profound knock-on effects far from Nigeria's borders," Johnson said after his visit. Johnson said he was proud of the help the UK was providing. "This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration," he said. UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has claims the number of child suicide bombers in 2017 in Boko Haram has reached 83, which is more than four times the figure in 2016. Boko Haram has overall killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 1.7 million. Borno has seen more than 27,000 killings by the terrorist group and others. Boko Haram is trying to create an Islamic state in the Lake Chad region and parts of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With heavy deluge from the Tropical Storm Harvey swallowing the entire Texas cities, the US military force has mobilized its warships and aircraft to help local law administration for the rescue operations. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already activated the Texas National Guard, which comprises of nearly 12,000 troops, reported CNN. State, local and military rescue units till now rescued thousands of stranded residents from the water and flooded homes. Two US Navy warships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Oak Hill, are being deployed to Texas, to quicken the relief and rescue process. Both the warships have been loaded with disaster relief supplies, like water and food and a unit to help the victims of the catastrophic deluge in Texas. US Northern Command deployed nine search-and-rescue helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft and para-rescue teams to Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth. Meanwhile, the death toll in the catastrophic flooding due to Tropical storm Harvey has mounted to 24. The number of suspected storm-related deaths in Harris County is 17 so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States will send its additional forces to Afghanistan as a part of the new U.S. strategy to break the stalemate in a war against the Taliban and other insurgent groups. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday signed orders to deploy more troops to Afghanistan after President Donald Trump recently unveiled a new U.S. strategy for war in Afghanistan. However, Mattis did not specify the exact number of additional forces that would be deployed in Afghanistan "I have signed orders for fresh deployments. The fight will still be carried by the Afghan security forces .. by and large this is to enable the Afghan forces to fight effectively," local media reports quoted Mattis as saying to reporters. He added that the deployment of additional troops would strengthen the U.S. mission to advise and assist Afghan security forces in their fight against the Taliban and other terrorist groups. According to reports, nearly 4,000 new American troops will be added to Afghanistan in the future, raising the U.S. force there to about 15,000. United States President Donald Trump had recently unveiled a new U.S. strategy for war in Afghanistan and vowed to commit U.S. troops to Afghanistan to fight against the resurgent Taliban without announcing a precise number. Addressing the crowd at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Trump proclaimed the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, saying that the objectives will include "obliterating ISIS" and "preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan." Trump added that to achieve these goals, he would expand authority for the US to target criminal and terrorist networks in Afghanistan. "Afghan will secure and build their own nation and define their own future. We want them to succeed. But we will no longer use American military to construct democracies in faraway lands or try to rebuild other country in our own image," he said. Trump further said that that America will now work with allies and partners to protect their "shared interests". Trump also said that a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan is not feasible, pointing to the lessons the US learned from Iraq. "The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable," Trump said, adding, "We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake we made Iraq." Trump's decision comes as Taliban militants have been resurgent in recent months, posting a series of recent gains against Afghan government forces, which are backed by a US-led coalition of NATO allies. ISIS, through a regional affiliate known as ISIS-K, has also established a foothold in Afghanistan in recent years, carrying out a series of deadly terrorist attacks and coordinating assaults with the Taliban. For the first time ever, the Pentagon had earlier acknowledged that about 11,000 United States troops have been placed in Afghanistan, which is higher than the number disclosed in the recent years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alongside attending Australia Business Week in the capital, Deputy Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook will be travelling to Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, during his week-long trip to India that commenced on August 29. The trip focuses on growing Western Australia's business relationships in India, healthcare and new Sister State relationship. Andhra Pradesh and Western Australia signed a Sister State Agreement in December 2016, and since then both parties have been working to establish public and private sector partnerships in a variety of fields, reads a media statement by Government of Western Australia. It also says that the Deputy Premier is expected to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and together witness the formalisation of a number of these partnerships in areas such as road safety, education, geology and public service. "I look forward to representing the new Government at Australia Business Week in India, and building on work done over a number of years to grow our presence in India, like the new Sister State agreement with Andhra Pradesh," said Deputy Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook. Adding, "India is fast becoming a world leader in the development of new medical technologies and research, and during this trip I'll be exploring how Western Australian companies can play a part in this growth." The delegation that will accompany the Deputy Premier comprise of: - Emma Collyer, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Deputy Premier of Western Australia; - Peter Baldwin, Regional Director (India), Government of Western Australia's Trade Office; - Svetha Venkatram, Government Relations Manager, Australian Consulate General; - Maurice Johnson, Security Officer, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian High Commission. India and Western Australia's total trade was valued at 2.14 billion dollars in 2016-17, with gold and copper products among India's top imports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At meeting held on 31 August 2017 Vedanta announced that the Board of Directors of the Company in their meeting held on 31 August 2017, have considered the following: 1.Cessation of term of Thomas Albanese Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer w.e.f. 31 August 2017; 2.Appointment of Kuldip Kaura as the Interim Chief Executive Officer w.e.f. 01 September 2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the norms for establishing equivalence of posts in Government and posts in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), PSBs etc. for claiming benefit of OBC reservations. This addresses an issue pending for nearly 24 years. This will ensure that the children of those serving in lower categories in PSUs and other institutions can get the benefit of OBC reservations, on par with children of people serving in lower categories in Government. This will also prevent children of those in senior positions in such institutions, who, owing to absence of equivalence of posts, may have been treated as non Creamy Layer by virtue of wrong interpretation of income standards from cornering government posts reserved for OBCs and denying the genuine non creamy layer candidates a level playing field. The Union Cabinet also approved the increase in the present income criterion of Rs. 6 lakh per annum for applying the Creamy Layer restriction throughout the country, for excluding Socially Advanced Persons/Sections (Creamy Layer) from the purview of reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The new income criterion will be Rs. 8 lakh per annum. The increase in the income limit to exclude the Creamy Layer is in keeping with the increase in the Consumer Price Index and will enable more persons to take advantage of reservation benefits extended to OBCs in government services and admission to central educational institutions. These measures are a part of the Government's efforts to ensure greater social justice and inclusion for members of the Other Backward Classes. The Government has already introduced in Parliament, a bill to provide Constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes. It has also decided to set up a Commission, under section 340 of the Constitution, to sub categorize the OBCs, so that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs. All these decisions, taken together, are expected to ensure greater representation of OBCs in educational institutions and jobs, while also ensuring that the more under-privileged within the category are not denied their chance of social mobility. Background: In its judgment dated 16.11.1992 in WP(C) 930/1990 (IndraSawhney case) the Supreme Court had directed the Government to specify the basis, for exclusion of socially and economically advanced persons from Other Backward Classes by applying the relevant and requisite socio-economic criteria. An Expert Committee was constituted in February 1993 which submitted its report on 10.03.1993 specifying the criteria for identification of socially advanced persons among OBCs i.e. the Creamy Layer. The report was accepted by the then Ministry of Welfare and forwarded to DoPT which issued an OM dated 08.09.1993 on exclusion from the Creamy Layer. The OM of 08.09.1993 specifies six categories for identifying Creamy Layer (a) Constitutional/Statutory post (b) Group 'A' and Group 'B' Officers of Central and State Governments, employees of PSUs and Statutory bodies, universities, (c) Colonel and above in armed forces and equivalent in paramilitary forces (d) professionals like Doctors, Lawyers, Management Consultants, Engineers etc. (e) Property owners with agricultural holdings or vacant land and/or buildings and (f) income/wealth tax asessee. The OM further stipulates that the said parameters would apply mutatis mutandis to officers holding equivalent or comparable posts in PSUs, Banks, Insurance Organizations, Universities, etc. and Government was required to determine equivalence of positions in these organizations with those in Government. Pending the equivalence to the established in these institutions Income criteria would apply for the officers in these Institutions. However, this exercise of determining the equivalence of posts in Government and posts in PSUs, PSBs etc. had not been initiated. The determination of equivalence of posts has been thus pending for almost 24 years. The matter of formulating equivalence has since been examined in detail. In PSUs, all Executive level posts i.e. Board level executives and managerial level posts would be treated as equivalent to group 'A' posts in Government and will be considered Creamy Layer. Junior Management Grade Scale-1 and above of Public Sector Banks, Financial Institutions and Public Sector Insurance Corporations will be treated as equivalent to Group 'A' in the Government of India and considered as Creamy Layer. For Clerks and Peons in PSBs, FIs and PSICs, the Income Test as revised from time to time will be applicable. These are the broad guidelines and each individual Bank, PSU, Insurance Company would place the matter before their respective board to identify individual posts. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Civil Aviation Ministry is working on a four-pronged strategy to enhance capacity of airports across India, union minister, Mr Jayant Sinha said at an ASSOCHAM event. We have been spending a lot of time thinking and planning about what we should do about airport capacity, we are working on four different aspects, said Mr Sinha. The Union Minister said that while the Aviation Ministry is simultaneously working on enhancing capacity at major airport hubs of Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, it is also working on developing new green-field and brown-field airports and smaller airports in tier III and IV cities. We are significantly adding green-field capacity, we are examining brown-field PPP (public private partnership) models for mid-sized airports and we are also looking at very cost effective ways of commissioning and operating smaller tier III and IV heliports, said Mr Sinha. He also said that second edition of UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme will help India's civil aviation sector sustain the current 15-20 per cent growth along with various supportive policy measures. Just like the way we have opened up the tier III and IV airports during UDAN round-1, our expectation is that we will open up all helipads, smaller air-strips in the hilly areas of states like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and in the north-east, said Mr Sinha. Adding that it is possible through a supportive set of policy measures to be able to open up more remote locations for air connectivity under second round of UDAN, the Minister said that government expects tremendous support from helicopter operators, NSOPs (non scheduled air operators) and others in this regard. We think that just like the fixed-wing order book has started to bulge, our expectation is that we will see a tremendous upsurge in demand for helicopter flying in India and that we think will enable us to take the number of operational commercially available helicopters in India, which is just 200 to a higher magnitude, he said. Terming the first round of UDAN as a game-changer, he said that 31 new airports have been added to the aviation network under this scheme, while in contrast, post-independence only 70 airports had been added to aviation network. The Minister further informed that bulk of these 31 airports (28-29) that have come up under the first round of UDAN scheme will be up and running by September 30. The few will be remaining because we are still trying to work out some of the logistics and some of the permissions necessary to activate these airports. He also said that airlines have placed unprecedented orders for aircrafts seeing the demand and supported policy regimes. India has the largest order book of any country in the world right now as 850 planes have been ordered. Mr O. P. Singh, director general, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which is looking after security of all 59 airports in the country said, We are all geared up for the kind of scenario that has been projected and anticipated and we have already prepared a whitepaper on that. We have also been projecting the future requirements in the years to come and with the support of Ministry of Civil Aviation and all important stakeholders, the CISF would play its pivotal role in making the journey very-very memorable and very experienced one, said Mr Singh. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For technical assistance in manufacture of commercial vehicle brake friction materials in India Hindustan Composites has signed a Long Term Technical Assistance Agreement with TBK Co., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan to obtain technical assistance for manufacture of commercial vehicle brake friction materials in India. TBK Co. controls about 70% market share for heavy and medium duty commercial vehicle brakes in Japan. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 2.90 points at the opening bell amid mixed Asian stocks. The market may remain volatile as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month August 2017 series to September 2017 series. The near month July 2017 derivatives contract expire today, 31 August 2017. Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed amid receding concerns about North Korea's firing of a missile over Japan late last week. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, reflecting continued firmness in the world's second-largest economy, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months. Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015. Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000. Crude-oil futures ended lower yesterday, 30 August 2017 as gasoline prices rallied to a 2-year high, with traders expecting upcoming government reports to reveal the impact of Hurricane Harvey-related crude production and refinery shutdowns. Among corporate news back home, Wipro said it has fixed 15 September 2017 as the record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of equity shareholders who are eligible to participate in share buyback. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. The company's board on 20 July 2017, approved a proposal to buyback up to 34.37 crore shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 11000 crore. Reliance Industries (RIL) said it will make an offer for issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 2500 crore next week. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised inter-alia for refinancing of existing borrowings and for any other purpose in the ordinary course of business, it said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. Meanwhile, RIL said it fixed 9 September 2017 as the record date for the proposed 1:1 bonus issue of the company. NTPC will be watched after the government received bids for 7% stake in NTPC, which will fetch about Rs 9100 crore to the exchequer. At the end of the two-day offer for sale (OFS), the government retained oversubscription it had received from institutional investors after retail investors bid for only 73% of the quota allocated for them. The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5% holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of oversubscription. On the opening day on Tuesday, 29 August 2017, institutional investors bid for 46.35 crore shares against 32.98 crore shares offered to them, according to stock exchange data. Yesterday, 30 August 2017, retail investors bid for 8.45 crore shares against 11.58 crore shares on offer. The government has reportedly decided to retain oversubscription, and after adjustments a total of 7% stake was sold in the OFS, garnering Rs 9100 crore. The shares were offered at a floor price of Rs 168 each. Key benchmark indices logged modest gains in a steady session of trade yesterday, 30 August 2017 led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and HDFC Bank. Positive global stocks boosted sentiment on domestic bourses. The Sensex gained 258.07 points or 0.82% to settle at 31,646.46, its highest closing level since 28 August 2017. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 12.46 crore yesterday, 30 August 2017, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 290.78 crore yesterday, 30 August 2017, as per provisional data. On the macro front, the government will announce data on Q1 June 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) after market hours today, 31 August 2017. India's GDP rose at moderated pace of 6.1% in Q4 March 2017, which is the lowest pace of growth in last nine quarters. The GDP growth decelerated sharply from 7% growth recorded in the preceding last quarter and 8.7% surge posted in the corresponding quarter last year. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key benchmark indices were trading with tiny losses after slipping into the red shortly after opening with mild gains. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 9.60 points or 0.03% at 31,636.86. The Nifty 50 shed 9.85 points or 0.1% at 9,874.55. Mixed Asian stocks provided no clear direction to the local markets. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.36%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 789 shares rose and 359 shares fell. A total of 38 shares were unchanged. Hindalco Industries (up 1.16%) and L&T (up 0.46%) gained. Wipro rose 1.49% after the company said it has fixed 15 September 2017 as the record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of equity shareholders who are eligible to participate in share buyback. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. The company's board on 20 July 2017, approved a proposal to buyback up to 34.37 crore shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 11000 crore. Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 0.94% after the company said it will make an offer for issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 2500 crore next week. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised inter-alia for refinancing of existing borrowings and for any other purpose in the ordinary course of business, it said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. Meanwhile, RIL said it fixed 9 September 2017 as the record date for the proposed 1:1 bonus issue of the company. NTPC declined 2.14% after the government received bids for 7% stake in NTPC, which will fetch about Rs 9100 crore to the exchequer. At the end of the two-day offer for sale (OFS), the government retained oversubscription it had received from institutional investors after retail investors bid for only 73% of the quota allocated for them. The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5% holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of oversubscription. On the opening day on Tuesday, 29 August 2017, institutional investors bid for 46.35 crore shares against 32.98 crore shares offered to them, according to stock exchange data. Yesterday, 30 August 2017, retail investors bid for 8.45 crore shares against 11.58 crore shares on offer. The government has reportedly decided to retain oversubscription, and after adjustments a total of 7% stake was sold in the OFS, garnering Rs 9100 crore. The shares were offered at a floor price of Rs 168 each. Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed amid receding concerns about North Korea's firing of a missile over Japan late last week. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, reflecting continued firmness in the world's second-largest economy, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months. Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015. Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moody's Investors Service says that its outlook for the Indian banking system is stable, with the system's ongoing progress in managing legacy asset issues offsetting the significant capital shortfalls some banks continue to face. "The outlook for the system is also in line with the stable outlooks for 10 of the 15 banks we rate in this system and reflects a stable operating environment and improved prospects for asset quality, among other factors," says Srikanth Vadlamani, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer. The outlook expresses Moody's expectation of how bank creditworthiness will evolve in the system over the next 12-18 months. The 15 banks rated by Moody's in India together account for about 70% of assets in the system. "Moody's believes that the operating environment is -- as indicated -- stable. Our baseline scenario assumes GDP growth of 7.1% in the fiscal year ending in March 2018, the same pace as the prior year," says Vadlamani. While headline growth is robust, private investment remains relatively weak. In the near term, the economy will continue to recover from the temporary liquidity shock from demonetization, while adjusting to the new goods and services tax (GST). "Indicators, such as net new nonperforming loan (NPL) formation and problem loan ratios, suggest a bottoming of the credit cycle," says Vadlamani. However, deteriorating asset quality in agriculture, and micro, small- and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) portfolios pose risks. Capitalization will continue to bifurcate public and private sector banks. The common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratios of public sector banks remain far below those of their private sector peers. The gap is likely to persist due to the government's reluctance to infuse more capital into private sector banks. However, the system's overall loan loss coverage will likely further improve, which, coupled with subdued loan growth, will ease pressure on capitalization. Profitability remains low, but is improving. Lending margins will be stable because a drop in funding costs following demonetization will likely offset pressure from re-pricing of loans to the marginal cost of lending rate (MCLR). Banks still face higher credit costs due to tighter provisioning requirements for stressed loans, but these charges will be lower in absolute terms. Smaller treasury gains, however, will weigh on profitability. In addition, banks will continue to have strong funding and liquidity Banks have seen a surge of low cost deposits following demonetization, which has lowered their funding costs. All rated banks will be able to comfortably meet liquidity coverage ratios (LCR) norms. Government support will remain strong for public sector banks, despite a reluctance to bolster bank capital. The government has maintained support to public sector banks through a range of policies, since failure for any of these banks could pose risks to systemic confidence. To reflect this, we continue to position public sector banks in the "very high" support bucket in our Joint Default Analysis (JDA) model. At the same time, the amount of capital infused by the government in the past four years has not been enough to fully rehabilitate the public sector bank balance sheets. As a result, we have repositioned the number of support notches to the mid-point of notches allowed for banks in the "very high" support bucket. Of the 15 banks rated by Moody's, four are private sector banks with an average baseline credit assessment (BCA) of ba1, while the other 11 are state-owned entities with weaker standalone fundamentals and BCAs of as low as caa1. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key benchmark indices traded with small losses in morning trade with losses in most Asian stocks dampening sentiment. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 58.48 points or 0.18% at 31,590.19. The Nifty 50 shed 12.65 points or 0.13% at 9,871.75. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.1%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.32%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1145 shares rose and 758 shares fell. A total of 78 shares were unchanged. Telecom stocks were mixed. Bharti Airtel (down 0.76%), MTNL (down 0.31%) and Idea Cellular (down 0.11%) declined. Reliance Communications (RCom) (up 0.44%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.75%) gained. Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 2.4%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel. Capital goods stocks gained. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 0.35%), BEML (up 1.6%), Havells India (up 0.7%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.91%), L&T (up 0.37%), Thermax (up 1.11%), and Siemens (up 0.14%) gained. Infosys declined 0.96% after the company clarified with respect to news article titled "LIC to Seek Briefing on Infy Strategy" that there is no meeting scheduled with LIC to discuss any of the matters. The clarification was issued during market hours today, 31 August 2017. LIC holds 7.03% stake in the firm as on 30 June 2017. Aksh Optifibre rose 5.27% after the company announced that its services division has bagged a national level banking correspondent contract from Bank of Baroda. Under this programme, the company plans to set up 5,000 banking kiosks through its flagship services arm, 1 STOP AKSH in the upcoming year. Under 1STOP AKSH the company is operating 10,000 plus e-Mitra kiosks in Rajasthan, out of which 500 plus are already serving as banking kiosks. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. The company also plans to mobilise the rest of the kiosks to offer 360 degree banking services, which will be operated on behalf of Bank of Baroda, primarily in the rural areas. The key focus areas for the company will be to create awareness and educate villagers about saving habits, use of micro finance solution and RuPay card, along with imparting knowledge about optimal funds management practices and debt counseling. Schaeffler India jumped 13.07% after the board of directors of Schaeffler India (formerly FAG Bearings India), INA Bearings India and LuK India, approved the draft scheme of amalgamation for the merger of INA India and LuK India into Schaeffler India. Schaeffler India will issue 10 equity shares to shareholders of INA India, for every 65 equity shares held. It will issue 10 equity shares to shareholders of LuK India, for every 35 equity shares held. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. Overseas, most Asian stocks edged lower amid volatility. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, reflecting continued firmness in the world's second-largest economy, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months. Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015. Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Through private placement of NCDs Reliance Industries announced that the Company proposed to make an offer for issue of Non Convertible Debentures (NCDs- Series C)(3rd Tranche) on private placement basis on 04 September 2017 aggregating Rs 2500 crore, to be listed on stock exchanges. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised for refinancing of existing borrowings and for any other purpose in the ordinary course of business. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reliance Industries (RIL) said it will make an offer for issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 2500 crore next week. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised inter-alia for refinancing of existing borrowings and for any other purpose in the ordinary course of business, it said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. Meanwhile, RIL said it fixed 9 September 2017 as the record date for the proposed 1:1 bonus issue of the company. Wipro said it has fixed 15 September 2017 as the record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of equity shareholders who are eligible to participate in share buyback. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. The company's board on 20 July 2017, approved a proposal to buyback up to 34.37 crore shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 11000 crore. ONGC said that its board of directors considered the proposal for acquisition of 51.11% of share of HPCL from the Government of India and given the 'in principle approval' for the same. Further, the board has constituted a committee of directors to examine various aspects of the said proposal and to provide its recommendations to the board of director. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. ONGC will need a bit over Rs 37000 crore to pay for government's 51.11% stake in HPCL at current market prices. NTPC will be watched after the government received bids for 7% stake in NTPC, which will fetch about Rs 9100 crore to the exchequer. At the end of the two-day offer for sale (OFS), the government retained oversubscription it had received from institutional investors after retail investors bid for only 73% of the quota allocated for them. The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5% holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of oversubscription. On the opening day on Tuesday, 29 August 2017, institutional investors bid for 46.35 crore shares against 32.98 crore shares offered to them, according to stock exchange data. Yesterday, 30 August 2017, retail investors bid for 8.45 crore shares against 11.58 crore shares on offer. The government has reportedly decided to retain oversubscription, and after adjustments a total of 7% stake was sold in the OFS, garnering Rs 9100 crore. The shares were offered at a floor price of Rs 168 each. Biocon announced after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017, that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has delayed by three months its decision on whether it will approve Biocon and Mylan's breast cancer biosimilar drug while it reviews additional information submitted by the companies. The approval was earlier expected on 3 September 2017. USFDA has notified Mylan it will extend the target action date for their application of the drug, Trastuzumab, to 3 December 2017, Biocon said. This is in order to review some clarificatory information submitted to the regulator as part of the application review process, a Biocon spokesperson said. This three month extension has no impact on the anticipated timetable for commercialisation of this product in the US, Biocon added. Biocon and Mylan have together developed the trastuzumab biosimilar, which is a copy of a complex biologic drug developed by Swiss biotech giant Roche. Wonderla Holidays said that Wonderla Kochi has introduced India's first reverse looping roller coaster - RECOIL, which will give a whole new experience of thrill. This roller coaster is imported from the Netherlands. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a sharp recovery from negative zone in early afternoon trade, key benchmark indices hovered within a narrow range around the flat line in afternoon trade. At 13:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 13.48 points or 0.04% at 31,632.98. The Nifty 50 index lost 3.15 points or 0.03% at 9,881.25. Volatility was witnessed due to expiry of near month futures & options contracts today, 31 August 2017. After opening with small gains, indices soon slipped into the red and traded with small losses till mid-morning trade. Indices recovered and turned positive in early afternoon trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.01%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's slide in percentage terms. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.45%, outperforming the Sensex. The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,362 shares rose and 1,002 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged. Realty stocks were mixed. Sobha (up 2.95%), Godrej Properties (up 1.38%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.26%) and Oberoi Realty (up 0.15%) advanced. DLF (down 0.68%), HDIL (down 0.64%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.52%) and Unitech (down 0.27%) declined. Auto stocks mostly edged higher. Bajaj Auto (up 1.84%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.26%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.62%) and Tata Motors (up 0.04%) advanced. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.91%) and Eicher Motors (down 0.08%) declined. Lupin rose 0.51% at Rs 992 after the company announced the launch of Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base). Lupin's alliance partner Natco had received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier. Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets are indicated to reduce serum phosphate in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017. IndusInd Bank was up 0.08% at Rs 1,659.05 after the bank said it has inaugurated a new branch in Faridkot, Punjab. The bank now has 101 branches in Punjab. The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017. Vedanta was up 0.07% at Rs 305.65. The company said its board of directors today, 31 August 2017, appointed Kuldip Kaura as the Interim Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 September 2017. The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017. Overseas, European stocks opened higher as investors look to upcoming data and news coming out of the political sphere. Sentiment was positive following a positive close on Wall Street overnight, and a mixed session from Asia. Asian stocks were mixed amid volatility. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months. China's official non-manufacturing purchasing-managers' index, a measure of activity outside the nation's factory gates, fell for a second straight month to 53.4 in August from 54.5 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015. Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 10 persons were killed and another 20 injured when a six-storeyed old residential building collapsed near J.J. Hospital here on Thursday, an official said. Another 60 people are still feared trapped under the debris of Huseini Building, which came crashing down with a huge booming sound around 8.25 a.m. War-like efforts were on to rescue those trapped, a BMC Disaster Control official said, adding the death toll could increase. Twenty persons were rescued from the rubble within three hours of the incident, he added. The building is situated in a heavily congested locality of south Mumbai's C Ward, and rescue teams with their big vehicles and heavy equipment faced a tough time approaching the crash site. The injured, that included two firemen, were rushed to hospital. According to a woman, the building also housed a nursery-cum-playschool. The playschool was scheduled to open at 10 a.m., two hours after the building collapse. Local residents, mainly Dawoodi Bohra community members and others, initiated their own manual rescue efforts, moving the rubble with their hands to help the victims. A 90-strong team of NDRF, State disaster management, a 150-strong team of fire brigade personnel and workers, two sniffer dog squads, electronic gadgetry along with five fire engines, two JCBs, one crane and other machines were deployed to rescue the people buried under the massive heap of rubble. A BMC bulletin at noon said the structure included an uninhabited godown on the ground floor and total 10 tenements on the remaining upper floors. It added that the building - a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) cessed structure - was part of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) redevelopment project, and declared unsafe for living at least six years ago. "The dangerous building was served evacuation notice in 2011 and the occupants ordered to vacate it to make way for the SBUT redevelopment project, but they failed to heed the warnings," said a BMC official. According to the Fire Brigade, the building's two wings have completely collapsed. The cause of the crash is being probed. This is the first major building collapse after Tuesday's deluge in Mumbai, and the second in five days after the Chandivali Crystal Business Park crash on August 26, that claimed six lives. --IANS qn/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is mulling pumping in $1.5 billion (Rs 9,599 crore) in six new projects in India that includes Rs 1,279 crore in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a top official has said. India has been trying to attract investments for NIIF from several international institutional investors. The Indian government has committed Rs 20,000 crore to the NIIF. "The bank is considering contributing to NIIF in addition to other projects across India. For the proposed investment into the NIIF, the estimated fund is $200 million. The bank is currently reviewing six projects in India. The projects are focused on improving transport, energy and urban infrastructure across the country," Danny Alexander, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, AIIB, told IANS. The $1.5 billion proposed investments by in the country, include Mumbai Metro Line 4 Project ($500 million), Bangalore Metro Rail Project Line R6 ($338 million), NIIF ($200 million), Amaravati Sustainable Capital City Development Project ($200 million), Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project ($141 million) and Transmission System Strengthening Project ($100 million). "All projects have to be assessed in detail against the bank's strict criteria and policies before a final decision is made," Alexander said. "Developing countries, including India, will be the primary recipients of financing from the bank. The bank will consider projects that are financially sound, environmentally sustainable, and will have a positive social impact. We expect to finance many more projects in India in future." As a founding member and the second-largest shareholder in the China-backed AIIB, the total investment in India as of now stands at $638 million. It has provided loans to two projects -- the Gujarat Rural Roads project and the Andhra Pradesh 24x7 Power for All project -- and has made an equity investment into the India Infrastructure Fund (IIF). "Our equity investment into the private sector-run India Infrastructure Fund is an example of how our bank can assist with crowding in private investment. We are confident that our investment in the fund will attract additional funding from the private sector," he said. The IIF, sponsored by IDFC Limited, Citigroup Inc and India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) as founder investors, is a SEBI-registered domestic venture capital fund focused on long-term equity investments in a diversified portfolio of infrastructure projects. Emphasising upon the role of multilateral banks in infrastructure development, Alexander said that Asia is facing a significant infrastructure gap that cannot be solved by local governments, private companies or multilateral organisations working in isolation. "Multilateral development banks are well positioned to help reduce investment risk and to facilitate the potential of private financial investment, which we believe India will benefit from greatly," he said. To date, has invested more than $2.83 billion in infrastructure projects across Asia. AIIB, headquartered in Beijing, opened its doors for business on January 16, 2016, following a 15-month participatory process during which 57 founding members worked collaboratively. India's NIIF is considering investments in third party-managed funds focused on clean energy (Green Growth Fund), affordable housing and medium-sized infrastructure companies. Strong investment pipeline with investment opportunities in the roads, ports, aviation and power sectors are said to be under consideration by NIIF. The Fund has a team of employees, including the CEO, with offices in Delhi and Mumbai. (Meghna Mittal can be reached at meghna.m@ians.in) --IANS mm/vsc/vm/tb/ky Actress Gayathrie has joined hands for the third time with actor Vijay Sethupathi in the upcoming Tamil drama "Aneethi Kathaigal", which she describes as a special film. "I play Vijay's pair for the third time in 'Aneethi Kathaigal'. It's going to be a very special film. That's all I can say at the moment," an excited Gayathrie told IANS. Working with Vijay Sethupathi, with whom she has already worked in "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom" and "Puriyaatha Puthir", makes it even more special. "We started our careers around the same time. He's a much bigger star today. Working with him is always special because he is a great friend too," she said. The film is directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja, best known for his critically-acclaimed Tamil film "Aaranya Kaandam". On teaming up with Thiagarajan, she said, "I've been told he's a task master and doesn't get easily convinced. I'm looking forward to be challenged. It'll be a very different experience." The film also stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu. --IANS iv/nv/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches on Thursday joined English Premier League (EPL) club Swansea A.F.C. on a season-long loan. "Swansea city have completed a season-long loan for Bayern Munich'a Euro 2016 winner Renato Sanches," the club confirmed. The 20-year-old joined Bayern Munich last season from Benfica for 27.5 million ($35.40 million) after impressing in Portugal's successful Euro 2016 campaign, in which he was named best young player of the tournament and the recipient of the journalist-nominated Golden Boy award. He made 26 appearances for the German giants last season, helping them lift the Bundesliga title. His arrival further bolsters Clement's options in midfield, which has been boosted by the recent signing of midfielder Sam Clucas from Hull City. The Portugal international has made 12 appearances for his country since 2016. --IANS sam/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani court is set to announce its verdict in the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Thursday after about a decade, officials said. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Asghar Ali Khan reserved the verdict on Wednesday after conducting day-to-day proceedings in the case, reports Dawn news. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned prosecution evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation of the former chief of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a cleric in which he had congratulated five terrorists on carrying out the successful attack on Bhutto. Chaudhry termed it a "fake story" fabricated by former President retired General Pervez Musharraf to mislead the investigators. He claimed that General Musharraf, through his aide former director general of the National Crisis Management Cell retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, had disseminated the fake evidence to save himself. Musharraf was accused of conspiring to to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule. The ATC will announce the verdict with regard to five TTP suspects and two police officers, Dawn news reported. It will then resume trial against Musharraf after his return to Pakistan. Bhutto, Pakistan's 11th Prime Minister and Pakistan People's Party leader, was assassinated at a poll campaign rally on December 27, 2007. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur on Thursday sent suspended BRD Medical college Principal and his wife to 14-day judicial custody in connection with 60 children's deaths within seven days. Rajeev and Poornima Mishra were arrested by the state police's Special Task Force from Kanpur two days back. They were brought to Gorakhpur on Wednesday and presented before the anti-corruption court on Thursday. The couple is facing arious charges. Mishra was suspended by the Yogi Adityanath's government following the spike in the number of deaths, reportedly due to disruption of oxygen supply, at the Baba Raghav Das Medical college in the Chief Minister's home constituency. The couple is accused, among other things, of sitting over payment files of the oxygen vendor. An FIR was lodged against Mishra and seven others for dereliction in duty among other charges. This came in the wake of the probe report by a high-powered committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajeev Kumar, which indicted Mishra and others in the tragedy. The FIR was lodged in Lucknow's Hazratganj police station and the case was later transferred to Gorakhpur. --IANS md/in/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain on Thursday observed Princess Diana's 20th death anniversary. Dubbed the "people's princess" by then Prime Minister Tony Blair, Diana died after a car crash in Paris with her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed on August 31, 1997, aged 36, reports the BBC. On Wednesday, her sons Prince William and Prince Harry visited the Kensington Palace, where Diana lived for more than 15 years during her marriage to Prince Charles and after their divorce. The princes will mark the anniversary in private. But other public services will take place across the UK, including at East London's Mildmay Mission Hospital which the princess regularly visited when it was a hospice caring for HIV patients. Diana's car collided with another vehicle in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. A 2008 inquest in the UK found the Princess was unlawfully killed as a result of "grossly negligent" driving by her chauffeur, Henri Paul, who lost control of the vehicle at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. Paul, who was killed in the accident, was found to be drunk at the time of the crash and was attempting to flee pursuing paparazzi photographers. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One of Kerala's top CPI-M leaders, P. Jayarajan, already out on bail in the murder of an RSS activist, got a jolt on Thursday when the CBI charged him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the same case. The CBI filed the second charge sheet against Jayarajan, the Kannur district secretary of CPI-M, at the CBI court here, where the trail in the case is underway. Though he is the 25th accused in the 2014 murder of RSS activist Kathirur Manoj, the CBI chargesheet says that without his knowledge the murder would not have taken place. The first accused in the murder case was a very close aide of Jayarajan. After the first charge sheet, Jayarajan was arrested in 2016 and after being in jail for over three weeks he secured bail. Manoj was one of those accused of trying to kill Jayarajan in 1999. Manoj was in turn attacked by a seven-member gang on September 1, 2014, at Kathirur near Kannur. The assailants first threw a bomb on his vehicle and later hacked him to death. A former legislator of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the 64-year-old Jayarajan is a close aide of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also hails from Kannur. Reacting to the turn of events, Jayarajan told reporters in Kannur that the central government is going forward with "political vendetta" against him. "The CBI has not followed the basic guidelines of seeking the state government's permission when UAPA charges are clamped. We will seek legal recourse," said Jayarajan. --IANS sg/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday hinted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit next week. Asked if the two leaders will meet, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: "During multilateral meetings, arranging bilateral meetings is practice. If time allows, China will make proper arrangements." A Modi-Xi meeting, if it happens, will follow the resolution of the over two-month military stand-off border row which had plunged ties between the two countries to a new low. The annual Summit of the BRICS begins at the Chinese city Xiamen on September 3. This will be their third meeting between Modi and Xi this year. Their last bilateral meet was during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet at Astana in June. They met informally at G20 in Germany the following month amid the border crisis. --IANS gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Communist Party of China (CPC) will hold the 19th National Congress - the most important political event in the country -- on October 18, the state-media said on Thursday. The once in five years affair is crucial for Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, who will look to consolidate more power at the event. According to official news agency Xinhua, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided on Thursday to submit the proposal on the schedule to the seventh plenary meeting of the 18th CPC Central Committee to be held on October 11. The 25-member Political Bureau is the second most powerful body after the Polit Bureau of the Standing Committee which contains seven members. Xi is the member of the supreme body of the CPC. The 19th CPC National Congress will review the Party's work over the past five years and summarize experiences under the leadership of the Central Committee with Xi at the core since the 18th National Congress, Xinhua said. Xi has emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in China and arguably on par with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping after he was conferred the title "core leader". Before Xi, the honorific was given only to Mao and Deng. Xi succeeded Hu Jintao as China's President in 2013. The October event will thoroughly examine the current international and domestic situation and take into account the new requirements for the development of the Party and the country as well as new expectations from the people. The Congress will draw out guidelines and policies that respond to the "call of the times", according to the meeting. A new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the Congress. The CPC was founded in 1921 and it took power in Beijing in 1949 after a long civil war. --IANS gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after resolving an over two-month-long military stand-off with India, China on Thursday said it will step up patrolling in Doklam where the two armies were locked in a face-off over a strategic border road. China's armed forces will strengthen patrolling and defence of Doklam area on the border, a Chinese military spokesperson was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. China's military has paid close attention to the situation and taken "emergency measures" to reinforce border controls since the Dong Lang or Doklam incident occurred, said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence. "Chinese troops resolutely maintain the country's territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights," he told the media, adding they also used military diplomacy and border contact channels to promote the proper resolution of the border row. The stand-off began on June 18 when Indian troops crossed into Doklam, claimed by both Bhutan and China, triggering a dragging stand-off. The issue was diplomatically resolved on Monday. India on Monday said both sides decided to disengage from Doka La in the disputed Doklam plateau where Chinese troops were building a road. However, China said it will keep patrolling in the area. Beijing has been ambiguous whether it will resume constructing the road in Doklam that is controlled by China but claimed by Bhutan. --IANS gsh/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bringing differences within the party to the fore, a section of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders on Thursday announced withdrawal of the ongoing indefinite shutdown in the north Bengal hills for 12 days, even as some top leaders of the party claimed otherwise. According to sources close to the GJM, some central committee members held a meeting in Darjeeling district's Kurseong and decided to withdraw the ongoing shutdown from September 1 to September 12. Party joint secretary Binay Tamang, who convened the meeting, could not be contacted even after several attempts. However, denying such a move, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri claimed the shutdown would continue and said the party chief Bimal Gurung has not taken any decision to withdraw it. "Bimal Gurung said the shutdown has not been withdrawn," Giri said in a message. "The shutdown is going to continue. We will later decide whether the party would participate in the state government sponsored all party meeting on September 12. The news about withdrawing the shutdown is incorrect," Giri claimed. Tamang led a five-member party delegation at the state government sponsored all-party meeting along with other major hill parties in Kolkata on August 29 and claimed that the peace and normalcy in the hills should be restored immediately. Normal life has been paralysed since June 12 due to the indefinite shutdown called by the GJM, severely impacting the region's economy based on tea, tourism and timber. --IANS mgr/ssp/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Passengers on a Bengaluru-bound Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus were attacked by dacoits early on Thursday. Four dacoits decamped with jewellery and money, threatening the passengers at knife-point. The incident occurred around 2.45 a.m., near Channapatna in Karnataka, a passenger told the media. The four men approached the bus when the driver had stopped on the way and got down. They had come on two bikes. The men enquired about the destination and boarded it, the passenger said. "Soon though, they drew out their knives. Five passengers were forced to hand over their jewellery and money." By the time the driver re-entered and started the ignition, the four had jumped out, said the passenger. Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra confirmed the incident. He said he has already spoken to his Karnataka counterpart R.K. Dutta. "Dutta has assured that the criminals will be found very soon. We will ensure necessary security arrangements on interstate routes," Behra said. The bus was moved to the Channapatna police station for a further probe. --IANS sg/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Johnny Depp is selling off the luxury Kentucky ranch he bought for his late mother Betty Sue, 15 months after her death. The actor paid $950,000 for the farm in Lexington, Kentucky, back in 1995. Featuring six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, three barns, a guest house and a four-car garage, the estate sits on 41 acres of land, and includes 10 paddocks. But after losing Sue to a "long illness" last May, Depp has put the property up for auction, reports mirror.co.uk. "It's a gorgeous farm with tremendous potential," said Jim Halfhill, senior auctioneer of the Halfhill Auction Group, which is organising the sale. "There has been an amazing level of domestic and international interest in this property due to its famous owner." Gary Denton of Ractor Hayden Realtors describes the property as a "beautiful estate with a spectacular location, just two miles from the world renowned Keeneland Race Course". --IANS nn/sug (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rescuers have located and identified the body of renowned gastroenterologist Deepak Amarapurkar, who went missing on Tuesday evening after falling into an open manhole during the Mumbai deluge, officials said on Thursday. Untraceable since he left for home in his car from Bombay Hospital, Amarapurkar had accidentally fallen into the manhole on a flooded road barely a kilometer from his residence in Prabhadevi. After the flood waters receded on Wednesday, BMC workers launched a massive search for him inside the manhole and connecting drains but could not locate him. Much later, his body washed off the Worli seashore and he was identified by his imported wrist-watch. An umbrella was stuck on the manhole cover, officials said. Amarapurkar, 58, was a senior gastroenterologist working with Bombay Hospital and is survived by his wife and two children. Late on Tuesday, witnesses said they had seen him walking on the flooded roads after his car stalled and suddenly falling into the open manhole near Senapati Bapat Marg. The residents had reportedly shifted the lid to allow the flood waters flow into the drains and marked the location with some bamboo rods but this failed to prevent the tragedy. Just before he disappeared into the manhole, he had called his wife Anjali Amarapurkar, a pathologist, saying he would reach home in five to 10 minutes. His colleagues and the medical fraternity had flooded social media groups with messages and photos seeking information about his whereabouts since Tuesday when Mumbai notched over 330 mm rainfall - the highest since the great Mumbai floods of July 2005. Since Thursday morning, the social media was flooded with messages of condolence for Amarapurkar. Film actress Genelia D'Souza-Deshmukh tweeted: "The city where you saved a zillion lives including my father's (TCS official Neil D'Souza) has failed you. I am so sorry as a Mumbaikar. Deeply saddened." Assistant Commissioner of Police Worli, S. Deshmukh said the body has been sent for autopsy and will be handed over to the family later for last rites. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After volatile trading on the day of futures and options (F&O) expiry on Thursday, the key Indian equity indices pared all losses to close in the green, supported by short covering in consumer durables, automobile and oil and gas stocks and positive European markets. However, investors remained cautious ahead of the announcement of the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the first quarter of the fiscal year slated to be announced later in the evening. The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed above the psychologically important 9,900-mark at 9,917.90 points -- up 33.50 points or 0.34 per cent from its previous session's close. The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,685.44 points, closed at 31,730.49 points -- up 84.03 points or 0.27 per cent from its previous close at 31,646.46 points. The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,510 advances and 1,062 declines. "Carrying on from the previous session, markets continued to rally on Thursday after a shaky opening and a volatile session on the day of derivatives expiry. A rally in the European markets helped boost the market sentiments locally in the afternoon session," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS. In terms of the broader market indices, the S&P BSE mid-cap index was up 0.22 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.78 per cent. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Market recouped from the previous day's loss, taking cues from positive global markets due to no further escalation in the geopolitical tensions." "The domestic market was also filliped by the better than anticipated tax collection under the GST regime," Nair added. On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 11-12 paise to 63.90-91 to a US dollar from its previous close at 64.02. "Investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the GDP data for the June quarter to be released later in the day. Covering up of pending short positions by speculators on the expiry of the August derivatives contracts helped the index recover in the last hour of trade," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS. Sector-wise, the S&P BSE consumer durables index rose by 104.54 points, followed by the automobile index by 85.89 points and the oil and gas index by 83.61 points. On the other hand, the S&P BSE healthcare index fell by 62.11 points, the banking index by 34.86 points and the metal index by 8.84 points. Commenting on the recent rally witnessed in oil and gas stocks, Jonathan Baratt, CEO of CelsiusPro Australia, said: "Gasoline (prices) will continue to drive higher... We are seeing a high level of demand." "We are seeing that those inventories we now draw in the crude area, that will affect whatever crude that is out there, that obviously is being refined, and is causing a spike in the gasoline prices. So I think at the moment, we are going to see that to continue," Baratt told BTVi in an interview. Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: Wipro, up 2.54 per cent at Rs 299.05; Bajaj Auto, up 2.24 per cent at Rs 2,808.45; Reliance Industries, up 1.88 per cent at Rs 1,593.50; Maruti Suzuki, up 1.67 per cent at Rs 7,696; and Cipla, up 1.44 per cent at Rs 575. Major Sensex losers were: Coal India, down 1.45 per cent at Rs 238; Infosys, down 1.22 per cent at Rs 915.30; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 1.13 per cent at Rs 1,344.75; ONGC, down 1.01 per cent at Rs 157; and Dr. Reddy's Lab, down 0.98 per cent at Rs 2,020.40. --IANS ppg/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Already mired in several controversies, Google once again was at the receiving end of condemnation after a tech giant-funded think tank ousted a group of scholars who hailed European antitrust regulators' decision to fine the company $2.7 billion in late June. The New America Foundation, headed by Anne-Marie Slaughter, has received more than $21 million from Google that helped New America establish as an elite voice in policy debates on the American Left and helped Google shape those debates, a report in the New York Times said on Wednesday. The foundation ran an initiative called Open Markets which was headed by scholar Barry Lynn, who in June praised the European Union's penalty against Google in a statement posted on the foundation's website. "The Open Markets Team congratulates European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager and the European competition authority for this important decision," Lynn wrote on the website. "Google's market power is one of the most critical challenges for competition policymakers in the world today. By requiring that Google gives equal treatment to rival services instead of privileging its own, Vestager is protecting the free flow of information and commerce upon which all democracies depend," Lynn added. He called upon US enforcers, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and states Attorney Generals, to build upon this precedent -- both in respect to Google and to other dominant platform monopolists including Amazon. "US enforcers should apply the traditional American approach to network monopoly, which is to cleanly separate ownership of the network from ownership of the products and services sold on that network, as they did in the original Microsoft case of the late 1990s," Lynn wrote. Google's parent company Alphabet's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt communicated his displeasure over the statement to Slaughter, following which the statement was removed, only to be posted again without explanation a few hours later. "But word of Schmidt's displeasure rippled through New America, which employs more than 200 people, including dozens of researchers, writers and scholars, most of whom work in sleek Washington offices," the report said. The episode left some people concerned that Google intended to discontinue funding, while others worried whether the think tank could truly be independent if it had to worry about offending its donors, the report added. Amid these fears, Slaughter summoned Lynn and told him that "the time has come for Open Markets and New America to part ways". An email sent in this regard suggested that the entire Open Markets team, including nearly 10 full-time employees and unpaid fellows, would be exiled from New America Foundation. Slaughter asserted that the decision was "in no way based on the content of your work," but was taken because Lynn imperiled the institution as a whole. Lynn alleged Slaughter caved to pressure from Schmidt and Google. "Google is very aggressive in throwing its money around Washington and Brussels, and then pulling the strings. People are so afraid of Google now," Lynn said. Meanwhile, Google rejected any suggestion that it played a role in New America's split with Open Markets. Earlier this month, an anti-diversity "manifesto" went viral inside the company and damaged the company's reputation. This came following a case in which Google emerged victor in its fight with the US Department of Labour over supplying pay gap data. The department alleged that the tech giant tried to restrict media coverage of the gender discrimination case. The Department of Labour had accused Google of systematically underpaying women. --IANS sku/vgu/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unscientific harvesting of the caterpillar fungus, one of the world's highest-prized biological commodities and globally dubbed the "Himalayan Viagra", may lead to the extinction of the species in India, warns a researcher. He favours tough regulation as its trade has a vast black market, especially in China. "The caterpillar fungus is the new-found natural commodity for the communities who live in the Himalayan region. In the Indian Himalayas, many of the harvesters do not even know its medicinal use and they only harvest it owing to its high economic value," researcher Pramod Yadav, who is based here in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, told IANS. He said the lure of easy money from its trade has resulted into enormous ecological threats to the species, leading to its sharp decline in its natural habitat. There is even the establishment of an informal trade regime -- like Himalayan gold rush -- in the region, he said. Trade insiders say a single caterpillar fungus sells in India for about $4 to $7, depending on the health and size of the fungus, while traders sell it to wholesalers or exporters for $12,000 to $18,000 a kg. It's much sought after in China for its medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities. In India, the caterpillar fungus grows in the high meadows of Kanchandzanga Biosphere Reserve in Sikkim, Dehan-Debang Biosphere Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh and Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, both are in Uttarakhand adjoining Tibet in China. It appears above the ground just as the snow melts in May or June. Some people are able to collect 30 in a single day, others not even a single one for days together. Its collection is a difficult business as it involves the risk of illness. Besides, competition often turns into clashes among the collectors. "During my field visits, villagers appeared worried about the decreasing production of caterpillar fungus, resulting in increasing conflict among local communities year by year," Yadav said. He said even the locals, whose primary livelihood is subsistence farming, are aware of the fact that unscientific over-exploitation is leading to its depletion. The huge human pressure during the collection season is affecting the fragile mountain ecosystem, situated between 3,000 and 4,500 metres above sea level. Yadav's work is supported by the Future Conservationist Award of Conservation Leadership Programme, a partnership programme of Birdlife International, Fauna and Flora International and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). It has also been supported by the Rufford Small Grant and Idea Wild Grant. In Uttarakhand, thousands of villagers, most of them belonging to the Bhotiya tribe, go for the mass collection of caterpillar fungus, locally known as Keera Jadi, that is worth its weight in gold, carrying with them tents, food and domestic animals. During the collection period, threats like overgrazing, logging of trees, non-degradable garbage and increased human activity in the Alpine pastures may have a deleterious effect on caterpillar fungus and native biodiversity. The "Himalayan Viagra" is literally transforming local economies. During the study, Yadav noted that the income of the locals involved in the fungus trade has grown tremendously. They are spending their additional income on children's education, family healthcare and subsistence needs. "Now, we do not have to rely completely on agriculture, which is subject to rainfall and wildlife demolition," the study quoted 36-year-old villager Prem Sing Rana, who also banks on harvesting the caterpillar fungus, as saying. According to a Nepal Rastra Bank report last year, about 83-183 tonnes of caterpillar fungus is collected globally, generating revenue of $5-11 billion per year. Yadav's work primarily focuses in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve -- a World Heritage Site -- and Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand government has set certain guidelines for the collection and trade of caterpillar fungus through village-level forest councils. However, its commercial exploitation from the wildlife sanctuaries and national parks is completely prohibited. "Currently, there is no management practice to mitigate or reduce generated garbage during stay of the harvesters, which may cause ecological threats in the alpine meadows that are prone to climatic vulnerability," Yadav said. There is also need to educate the harvesters about conservation and sustainability of the caterpillar fungus in the landscape, he added. Yadav favours the regulation of the rampant exploitation and implementation of scientific, sustainable harvesting of the caterpillar fungus. "There is also a need to take integrated initiatives by its range countries like Bhutan, China, India and Nepal for conservation, sustainable harvesting and trade of the fungus," he added. (Vishal Gulati is an Internews' Earth Journalism Network Biodiversity Fellow. He can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in) --IANS vg/vm/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India on Thursday called for a peaceful, stable and secure Indian Ocean with its waters free of any traditional and non-traditional threats. Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day Second Indian Ocean Conference in Colombo, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's concept of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) is a "clear, high-level articulation of India's vision for the Indian Ocean". "But most of all, for the Indian Ocean economic revival to be sustainable, the waters must not only be better connected but they should remain free from non-traditional and traditional threats that could impede the seamless movement of goods, people and ideas," she said. "Security is fundamental to the SAGAR vision. If the revitalised maritime economy of the Indian Ocean region is to be a force for global economic growth in the coming years, it is essential that the waters remain peaceful, stable and secure." This year's Indian Ocean Conference, after the first edition in Singapore in September last year, is being jointly organised by the India Foundation, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Colombo, with the theme "Peace, Progress and Prosperity". Over 35 countries are participating in the event. Sushma Swaraj said that the the economies of many of the Indian Ocean littoral countries depend heavily on the ports, the shipping and the vast natural resources that enrich these waters with an abundance of marine life. "For India, of course, the Indian Ocean is of vital importance - we have an extensive coastline of 7,500 km and several hundred islands between Lakshadweep in the west and the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the east," she said. "Our southernmost tip is just 90 nautical miles from Indonesia. Our Exclusive Economic Zone is 2.4 million square km and 90 per cent of our trade by volume and almost all of our oil imports come through the sea. Clearly, it is but natural that India's role as the key pivot in the Indian Ocean region is a given, not only geographically but by virtue of a shared historical and cultural heritage that binds us all across these waters." The Indian External Affairs Minister said the principles enshrined in SAGAR provide for a coherent framework to address some of the challenges relating to economic revival, connectivity, security, culture and identity, and India's own evolving approach to these issues. "The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment, and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas, including food, medicines and clean energy," she stated. She referred to the emergence of the Blue Economy and said that it was "a promising new pillar of prosperity in the region, with immense economic and employment potential". "We are already engaging our neighbours in Blue Economy initiatives, particularly in the areas of marine bio-technology, exploration and sustainable exploitation of ocean mineral resources, sustainable fishing practices, and harnessing of ocean energy." Sushma Swaraj said that India was implementing targeted programmes for re-energising economic activity in its islands and coastal areas. "There is also a renewed focus on strengthening marine research, developing eco-friendly marine industrial technologies, promoting sustainable fisheries and, ensuring the protection of the maritime environment," she stated. "We remain committed to extending port connectivity among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean and beyond. This is the objective behind the Sagarmala initiative, which aims to establish new ports and modernise old ones." Stating that connectivity was one of the major themes of India's Neighbourhood First policy, Sushma Swaraj said: "We continue to work on a range of projects to improve maritime logistics in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. Our other initiatives include the Kaladan transport project leading to Sittwe port in Myanmar; the Trilateral Highway to Thailand; and, the Chabahar port project in Iran." Earlier on Thursday, soon after her arrival in Colombo, Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera. She is also scheduled to call on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and hold a meeting with new Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana. --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Atmospheric scientist and MIT Professor Ronald G. Prinn, whose group's findings the Donald Trump administration used to justify pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, hopes the US exit from the accord is temporary and says any way in which countries like India can help get the US to reverse its decision would be "welcome." Prinn and John Reilly co-direct the MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. After the US pull-out from the Paris accord, Reilly had -- in various editorials, including in the Washington Post -- alleged "his (Trump) administration cherry-picked my group's findings to help make their case". "We had an editorial in Wall Street Journal. It really annoyed us. We were not pleased. They totally misquoted us and they get away with it," the New Zealand-born Prinn told IANS here. "To them, it didn't matter what the scientific basis was. So, they misused our reports... so the fact they locked in MIT was probably not a surprise because our centre is well known." "I think any brilliant way in which countries like India can think of helping us get back into the accord, I personally would welcome it with open arms and so would most in the US," he said. Prinn was in the city to deliver the lecture on 'Climate Change Risks and the Challenge of Avoiding 2 degree Celsius Warming' on Wednesday as part of Centenary Celebration of Bose Institute. The expert said what "really disturbs" him is that the Paris agreement decision is "another example where the US in the past decade has lost global leadership in wind, solar and nuclear" to China. "I am hoping that this is temporary. I hope multiple pressures on Trump will force him to see that it is bad for US economy, it's bad for US image around the world, it's bad for US exports to other parts of the world, it's just bad on so many fronts that we need to get back in," he said. Citing recent polls and surveys in the US that showed the majority of the voters in the US want the country to re-join the Paris accord and be a part of the global community, Prinn stressed: "It's a minority view (exit from the deal) that has prevailed simply because the minority involves the President of the US." "I am hoping that after further reflection and work through various avenues the President will reverse his policy and get us back in the global policy." He said already in the US there are various groupings at state level that are going to pledge in the Paris accord (California and northeast states). "They can go it alone, states' rights are very strong in the US. I hope it goes on stronger and stronger, so that may be the push that gets us back into it." "One way or the other, the US should not just be back in it but should be leading the Paris agreement, not pulling out," he added. The Paris climate accord is a global agreement dealing with climate change. US President Donald Trump, after coming to power, withdrew the US from it, saying it will "undermine (the US) economy". --IANS sgh/ssp/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Railways on Thursday signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Switzerland for technical cooperation and to establish George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology (GFITT) in Goa. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss Confederation President Doris Leuthard, who is on a three-day state visit. According to Railways, the first MoU is between the Railway Ministry and the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport and Communications of the Swiss Confederation for technical cooperation in rail sector. The MoU is a follow-up on bilateral cooperation in rail sector discussed in the meeting held between Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Swiss Ambassador to India Andreas Baum in July 2016. The MOU aims at cooperation in the areas of traction rolling stock, EMU and train sets, traction propulsion equipments, freight and passenger cars, tilting trains, railway electrification equipments, train scheduling and operation improvement, railway station modernisation, multimodal transport and tunnelling technology. The second MoU was signed between Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. It will help Konkan Railway in establishing the GFITT in Goa, especially for assimilation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of tunnelling. According to Railways, the GFITT aims not only to train Konkan Railways' own manpower for its tunnelling projects but also wishes to generate qualified and trained personnel for the benefit of other government organisations, private sector and even foreign organisations to bridge the huge gap in levels of knowledge and qualified manpower required to meet the key segment of infrastructure development in India. --IANS aks/him/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Switzerland on Thursday agreed to enhance cooperation in the fight against tax fraud while acknowledging the need for a global level playing field for implementation of the international standards on tax transparency. A joint statement issued following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Swiss President Doris Leuthard said that "both leaders emphasised their willingness to further enhance cooperation in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion". "They acknowledged the importance of a global level playing field for effective implementation of the international standards on tax transparency," the statement said. "They noted with satisfaction the signing of the Joint Declaration in November 2016 on the implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) and, in this context, President Leuthard briefed Prime Minister Modi about the ongoing parliamentary procedure in Switzerland," it said. Addressing the media with the visiting dignitary after the delegation-level talks, Modi said India will continue to work with Switzerland to combat black money while the Swiss President stressed that her country has one of the strongest laws against money laundering. "Transparency in financial transactions is an issue of concern in today's world, whether it be black money, dirty money, hawala or arms and drugs financing," Modi said. "To combat this global problem, we will continue to cooperate with Switzerland," he said. Modi said that with two countries signing a joint declaration for automatic exchange of tax information last year, India will get such information on an automatic basis once it is internally ratified in Switzerland. On her part, Leuthard said that the law was now with the Swiss Parliament for ratification and hoped that such information can be shared with India from 2019 onwards. "This is important because Switzerland is, and will be, an important financial place and we have all interest to be transparent, cooperative, and a good reliable partner," she said, adding that both her country and India can go hand in hand on this. Leuthard said Switzerland had one of the strongest laws against money laundering and hoped other countries will follow suit. According to the joint statement, Modi also expressed his expectation that Switzerland will implement the recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information in Tax Matters with the view to further improve mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, the statement said. In his address to the media, the Prime Minister said foreign direct investment is an important pillar of economic cooperation between India and Switzerland. "We specially welcome Swiss investors in India. "We agreed to continue discussions on a bilateral investment agreement. Swiss companies have a lot of expertise to partner India in its road to development." Modi said that in a meeting of business leaders of the two countries he attended along with Leuthard, it was clear that both sides were eager to have business-to-business collaborations. The Swiss President said she discussed with Modi the issue of an investor protection agreement on which negotiations were underway. Switzerland is the seventh largest trading partner for India with a total bilateral trade, including merchandise exports, bullion and IT services and software exports, of $18.2 billion in 2016-17. From April 2000 to September 2016, Switzerland invested approximately $3.57 billion in India, thus becoming the 11th largest investor and accounting for about 1.2 per cent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. Stating that the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and India also came up for discussion, Modi said that both sides were committed to an early conclusion of this. He also said that both countries have agreed to work together for the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Following Thursday's talks, the two countries signed two agreements on cooperation in the railway sector. Leuthard arrived here on Wednesday on a four-day visit to India. Swiss Presidents have earlier visited India in 1998, 2003, and 2007. Modi visited Switzerland in June 2016 in what was the first prime ministerial visit from India to that country in several decades. --IANS ab/tsb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India wants to help Myanmar build a strong physical infrastructure for growth focused on creating public assets for the country rather than commercial assets for its own business, Indian Ambassador Vikram Misri said here, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit next week. "We don't want to do what some other countries are doing. We want to create public assets for Myanmar to use, not commercial infrastructure to primarily promote our business," Misri told Mizzima News in an interview on Thursday. Most of the development projects supported by India are financed by grants and some by concessional Line of Credit. "But the idea is not to create for Myanmar a financially unsustainable debt burden, our projects are to help Myanmar's economy bloom," he said. The ambassador said the first two phases of the Kaladan Multi Modal project were ready, the port and inland waterways infrastructure. "Work will soon start on the 109-km road connecting Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui on Myanmar's border with Mizoram state in northeast India. The construction is expected to start after the monsoon in October. The contract has been awarded," Misri said. But the project has not been included in Prime Minister Modi's programme because of the situation in Rakhine state. Ambassador Misri said Modi's visit will focus on the bilateral "strong civilisational linkages" and project the great diversity of Myanmar's culture. The ambassador said India was offering and would offer more support to Myanmar during its transition to democracy "as we have the most relevant experiences to offer in nation-building, federalism, democratic participation and so much more." "But we don't want to push any agenda in Myanmar, as some nations want, we don't want to lecture Myanmar on what they should do but just offer and let them make the choice. At the end of the day, the Myanmar government and people have to decide what is best for them." "We may not offer Myanmar the glitziest of gadgets or the most flashy of lifestyle products but we will offer something that is relevant for Myanmar. That is because we share the same existential experience," he said. Misri said Modi will meet Myanmar leaders at Nay Pyi Taw on September 6 after arriving from the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. "Then he will visit the Ananda Pagoda at Bagan which has been restored by Indian archaeologists who have uncovered priceless murals during the unlayering. We have put this on his programme keeping in mind the place the Ananda Pagoda has in Buddhist cosmography," Ambassador Misri said. He said the Indian restoration work at Bagan has received huge acclaim even from the Burmese diaspora. Misri said work on the two segments of the Asian Trilateral Highway will start after the monsoon. "During the PM's visit, we will also raise the issue of focusing on a softer side of hard infrastructure like roads and ports, that involves putting in place arrangements for easy border crossing and motor vehicles agreements," he said. "We want transport corridors to be converted into growth corridors and that is possible when you have arrangements for easy movement, liberal customs regime and that kind of thing," Misri said, adding that India wanted "a cascading impact on local economy to come from the new physical infrastructure created". Misri said India would open up its higher education sector, including specialised areas like Infotech, banking, finance with more scholarships. "We will review all these arrangements during PM Modi's visit and we will try to do what Myanmar wants," said Misri. He hinted that some energy projects with Indian support were also up for consideration. --IANS subir/rn/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stressing on limiting consumption of natural resources, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan told key UN and business leaders here on Thursday that India will not disappoint the world on environment issues. "I assure you that India will never let you down on the issue of climate change as this is a part of our DNA," the Minister said. Vardhan was speaking at the Business-Climate Summit 2017, along with Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Fijian Minister Inia Seruiratu. Pointing out at the current urban flood situation in Mumbai, Espinosa said unprecedented weather conditions were a result of climate change and cost a fortune. "Right now, in Mumbai, Bangladesh and China, we see massive human and economic losses due to flooding. Many lives have been lost due to unprecedented extreme weather events," she said. The two-day summit held under the aegis of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) was earlier held in London and Paris. The summit aims at bringing leaders from business and environment world to chalk out ways for green and sustainable solutions. The summit began here with the quantification of creating 65 million green-jobs by 2030. Reminding the developed world of its commitment to the developing countries ahead of the COP 23, to be held in November in Germany's Bonn and presided over by Fiji, Vardhan said that the UNFCCC must push the developed nations for their pre-2020 commitment -- extending financial and other support to countries like India. The pre-2020 financial commitments are un-quantified unlike the post-2020 which will come into effect after the Paris Climate Agreement is implemented. Under the Paris accord the developed nations would raise $100 billion annually for developing countries for mitigation and adaptation of climate change. "It is, however, also critical that equal focus is given to pre-2020 action by developed countries under Kyoto Protocol. They must fulfil their commitments of providing effective finance, technology, transfer and capacity building support to developing countries," the Minister said. Speaking of India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Minister said that of 175 GW of renewable power by 2022, 58.2 GW of installed capacity has already been achieved. "India is also planning to establish a voluntary carbon market with the World Bank's assistance to focus on uncovered areas," Vardhan said. He pointed out that it was India, which had the terms like "climate justice" and "sustainable lifestyle" inserted in the landmark Paris Agreement. Espinosa stressed upon India to collaborate with the private sector to promote sustainable business solutions. "India and all other major players in the global economy must collaborate with private sector. It is in everyone's interest to have this work finalised as soon as possible," she said. "Business community, your government needs them. All countries need to support countries like India in open access and to finance technology and building capacity for action as soon as possible," Espinosa said. She also appreciated India's initiatives toward climate change, especially mentioning key private players like Dalmia Cements, which during Marrakech climate talks (COP 22) in 2016 resolved to use 100 per cent renewable energy sources and the Tata Motors' for their electric bus project. "India was named second most attractive country in renewables," she said. Pointing out that 2016 was the hottest third year in a row, she said "Third time this summit has happened under such circumstances." "These trend cannot continue if we meet the main objectives of Paris Climate deal limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we may avoid the most immediate impact in developing and developed world," Espinosa said. --IANS kd/in/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of a self-professed Islamic State module collected arms and ammunition to carry out terrorist activities in India and to target non-Muslims when they failed to go to Iraq and Syria, a NIA chargesheet said on Thursday. This emerged during investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing a module unearthed in March from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The members of the module visited various border areas in India in a bid to go abroad to join the Islamic State, the chargesheet said. After failing to reach Iraq and Syria, they bought arms, ammunition and explosives to carry out terrorist activities in India. It said the module had planned to target non-Muslims, Muslim scholars of other sects as well as religious places in India. "The module propagated the ideology of the Islamic State to attract, motivate and recruit youths to carry out terrorist acts." The anti-terror agency on Thursday filed the chargesheet before a special NIA court in Lucknow against eight persons of the module for being members of the Islamic State and their involvement in the conspiracy. The NIA booked the accused on charges of waging war against the government and preparing to procure arms and ammunition and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act and the Explosive Substance Act. Those named in the chargesheet are Mohammad Faisal, Gauss Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Azhar, Atif Muzaffar, Mohammad Danish, Asif Iqbal, Mohammad Atif and Syed Meer Hussain. Sayed is a resident of Kannauj while others belong to Kanpur -- all in Uttar Pradesh. Another accused, Saifullah, also from Kanpur, was killed in a shootout in Lucknow. NIA investigators said Saifullah along with Atif, Danish, Syed and Gauss was allegedly involved in a blast on a Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train in March. On August 8 a chargesheet was filed against Atif, Danish, Syed and Gauss in a special court in Bhopal. The case was initially registered by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad in March before it was taken over by the NIA. "They took 'Bayath' (oath of allegiance) to the Islamic State, hatched a criminal conspiracy with intention of (committing) terrorist activities, recruited persons, raised funds, organized terrorist camps and carried out terrorist acts," the NIA said. It alleged that they conspired to threaten India's sovereignty. They shifted their hideouts in Lucknow, conducted a trial blast and killed a man in Kanpur, Ramesh Chandra Shukla, on October 24, 2016, the NIA said. An NIA statement said the accused conducted reconnaissance of Sufi shrine Dewa Sharif in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and other religious places for planting IEDs. Later, Atif, Danish and Syed travelled to Bhopal and planted an IED in a general compartment of the Bhopal-Ujjain train on March 7. They were held at Pipariya in Madhya Pradesh while trying to flee to Lucknow. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) --IANS rak/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has assured that the files pertaining to Mohalla Clinics in the city will be cleared by Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday. Sisodia said Baijal had further assured that he would call them on Monday or Tuesday in case any clarification was needed and will clear the files by September 5. Mohalla Clinics is a pet project of the Aam Aadmi Party government that was launched in 2015 to set up 1,000 clinics across Delhi. Only 160 clinics have been set up so far, as the project ran into red tape. On Wednesday, over 40 AAP MLAs laid siege to Raj Niwas, the official residence of the Lt Governor, for over six hours and accused him of "sitting" over files pertaining to the Mohalla Clinics. Later, Baijal clarified that no file was pending with him and dubbed the conduct of ruling party MLAs as "rude and discourteous". On Thursday, speaking to the media after meeting Baijal, Sisodia said the government received the files around 6 p.m. on Wednesday and these were sent back to Baijal on Thursday evening after they were processed. "The L-G said we all will get together and set up Mohalla clinics," he said. Sisodia said there shouldn't be any on Mohalla Clinics as these pertained to the healthcare for the poor. He said no blame game should be played to ensure that "no Gorakhpur-like tragedy occurrs in Delhi". --IANS nkh/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan and the United Kingdom on Thursday agreed to join forces to step up pressure on North Korea amid its constant weapons tests and to expand military cooperation with measures including joint military manoeuvres. British Prime Minister Theresa May, in her first official visit to Japan, signed a joint statement with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe stressing the need to expand military cooperation in the face of the growing threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programme, Efe news reported. The statement also backed greater involvement of the British army in operations in the Asia Pacific region. "The close cooperation between our two countries is particularly important in this critical juncture, with North Korean provocations presenting an unprecedented threat to international security," May said at a press conference. "I want to express the strong sense of solidarity that the UK shares with the people of Japan," she added. At the press conference after the meeting with May, Abe said they had agreed to exert more pressure on North Korea and urged China to play a greater role in the dispute. Among other concrete measures that each country must implement in its national plans is the deployment of British aircraft carriers in the region and the participation of its troops in joint exercises by Japan and the US in the Pacific. Tokyo and London also pledged to work with the international community to strictly implement the United Nations Security Council's sanctions on North Korea with a view to bring about its denuclearization, according to the statement. Both countries also vowed to cooperate in the development of defence equipment and technology, the fight against terror and the field of cybersecurity. May arrived in Japan on Wednesday on a three-day official visit to the country, marked by the escalated North Korean threat. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Militants on Thursday shot and injured a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district. Police said the militants fired at Sub-Inspector Gowhar Ahmad at Imam Sahib area of Shopian town. He was shifted to a hospital and then moved to Srinagar for specialized treatment, the police said. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Swiss President Doris Leuthard here on Thursday ahead of delegation-level talks between the two sides. "Deepening ties for mutual development," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. He said Modi received Leuthard at Hyderabad House. The two leaders then attended a meeting of business leaders of India and Switzerland. Earlier, Leuthard, on a four-day visit, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Leuthard later paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and also met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who called on her to discuss a wide range of issues. "I hope this visit will boost Indo-Swiss ties. Pending negotiations on trade and partnership will be done. We will try to have a new investment protection agreement," Leuthard said after the ceremonial welcome. "Switzerland is one of the most innovative countries in the world... that will bring jobs to India," she added. Switzerland is the seventh largest trading partner for India with a total bilateral trade, including merchandise exports, bullion and IT services and software exports, of $18.2 billion in 2016-17. From April 2000 to September 2016, Switzerland invested approximately $3.57 billion in India, thus becoming the 11th largest investor and accounting for about 1.2 per cent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. About 100 Indian companies have invested around $1.42 billion between 2013-14 and 2015-16 in Switzerland, placing it among the top five European investment destinations and top 10 places globally for Indian investors. Major Indian IT companies including TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra have their offices in that country and provide services to major Swiss pharmaceutical companies, banks and insurance firms. Modi visited Switzerland in June 2016 in what was the first Prime Ministerial visit from India in decades. Swiss Presidents have earlier visited India in 1998, 2003 and 2007. --IANS ab/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rabat, Aug 31 (IANS/MAP) Moroccan King Mohammed VI has sent a message of congratulations to Malaysia's King Sultan Muhammad V on his countrys Independence Day on Thursday. The Moroccan King wished the Malaysian people progress and prosperity. "I should like to take this opportunity to praise the relations rooted in fruitful cooperation and active solidarity between our countries," Mohammed VI said. The sovereign underlined his determination to continue working with the Malaysian King to strengthen bilateral relations as well as contribute to greater inter-Islamic cooperation and solidarity. --IANS/MAP soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moshe Holtzberg, the son of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg who were killed by terrorists during the attack on Chabad House in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, has received an entry visa to India. India's Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor granted Holtzberg the visa on Wednesday, Arutz Sheva newspaper reported. Holtzberg's maternal grandparents, who are raising him, also received entry visa. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the visa during his visit to Israel on July 5. During his visit to Israel, Modi met Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Moshe, his Indian nanny Sandra Samuels who saved him from the terrorists, and Moshe's grandparents. Gavriel and Rivka were killed in the November 2008 attack when terrorists entered their Chabad House in Mumbai and slaughtered them. Moshe's life was saved by his nanny, Sandra, who managed to escape the area holding the then two-year-old Moshe in her arms. According Moshe's grandfather Shimon Rosenberg, Moshe, now 11 years old, plans to take his parents' place as the Chabad emissary to India when he gets older. "He was born there, and for him, that's his home," Rosenberg explained. "He wants to hold his bar mitzva in India, and go on a tour of the area to find his roots. Obviously, he will also visit the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe at the same time." "Moshe told me yesterday that the Indian Prime Minister said that when he's eighteen, he can go back to India and be a Chabad emissary and the country's Chief Rabbi," the Israeli newspaper reported. During his meeting with Modi on July 5, Moshe had read out a short speech: "Namaste, aapka swagat hai hamare desh mein (welcome to our country)," Moshe had said. "Dear Mr Modi, I love you and your people in India." "I love to play, I try to be a good student... Please continue to love me, always remember my parents," Moshe said. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai. When I live there I will be the director of Chabad house." Modi had assured, "Anytime you can come to India. Anytime you can go...." Moshe lives with his grandparents in Afula, around 90 km from Jerusalem. --IANS rn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the worst building crash this monsoon, at least 22 persons were killed and another 34 injured when a 117-year-old, six-storey building collapsed near the J.J. Hospital here on Thursday morning, an official said. Another dozen plus people were still feared trapped under the debris as hectic efforts continued to save them till late this evening, the official said, adding the death toll may increase. So far, 34 injured persons were rescued from the heap of rubble of the collapsed residential structure. The cause of the crash is being probed. The Huseini Building on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road in the congested Bhendi Bazar in south Mumbai had been red-flagged as "dangerous" six years ago. It crashed suddenly with a roar at 8.25 a.m, catching all its occupants unaware. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief. "Collapse of a building in Mumbai is saddening. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and prayers with the injured," Modi tweeted. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the crash site and ordered a probe into the disaster. Rehabilitation Minister Chandrakant Patil announced a compensation of Rs 500,000 to the kin of the deceased and free treatment to the injured. Opposition leader Dhananjay Munde blamed MHADA for not ensuring the redevelopment of the building though it was entrusted to a private group, Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT). "Redevelopment projects languish or take 25 years to complete, the people are not ready to vacate and live elsewhere for so long. Instead of focusing on dream projects, the authorities should redevelop dilapidated buildings within a specified time-frame and concentrate on saving human lives," Munde said. Among the injured were five firemen and an NDRF jawan. A woman said the building also housed a nursery-cum-playgroup with around two dozen children. It was scheduled to open at 10 a.m., two hours after the building collapsed. A BMC bulletin detailed the two-wing structure comprising an uninhabited godown with a sweetmeat shop on the ground floor and 10 residential tenements on the remaining upper floors, which have completely collapsed. "The dangerous building was served evacuation notice in 2011 and the occupants ordered to vacate to make way for the redevelopment project, but they failed to heed the warnings," said a BMC official. The NDRF, state disaster management, fire brigade personnel, dog squads and electronic gadgetry were deployed to trace those buried under the rubble. As the building is situated in a heavily congested locality of south Mumbai, rescue teams and their large vehicles faced a tough time approaching it. In the meantime, local residents, mainly Dawoodi Bohra community members, initiated their own rescue efforts, moving the rubble with their hands to help the victims. This is the first major building collapse after Tuesday's deluge in Mumbai and the second in five days after the Chandivali Crystal Business Park crash of August 26 claimed six lives. Earlier, on July 25, 17 persons were killed when the Sai Darshan building crashed in Ghatkopar. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea on Thursday rejected the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement condemning its latest test firing of a medium-range ballistic missile. The North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Pyongyang "categorically" rejected the UNSC's presidential statement, Xinhua news agency reported. "The intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill carried out by the Strategic Force of the KPA (Korean People's Army) this time is only a curtain raiser to the resolute countermeasures to be taken against the US, as it responded to our warning by waging the belligerent Ulji Freedom Guardian joint drills," said the spokesman. The spokesman said by holding the joint drills, the US "had denied the DPRK's proactive measures to defuse the extreme tension and acted with imprudence". North Korea on Tuesday conducted a medium-range ballistic missile test firing from Pyongyang, in which the missile flew 2,700 km with an altitude of 550 km across northern Japan and hit its targeted waters in the north Pacific, calling it a prelude to further missile strikes in the Pacific against US targets. The UN Security Council condemned the missile launch and asked North Korea not to proceed with any further launches using ballistic missile technology and to comply with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government has urged the Centre to set up a national institute for sickle cell disorder in Odisha, an official said on Thursday. Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi requested Union Health Secretary C.K. Mishra to set up the institute, which will be a means of support for the entire eastern region of the country as the nearby states of Assam, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, among others, report high incidence of this disease. He said sickle cell disorder is a serious health concern in tribal and western Odisha. "Sickle disease predominantly exists among the tribal communities and certain other distinct groups in different states of the country. However, as per studies, not only is the highest frequency of sickle cell gene in India reported from Odisha, but even the average load of sickle cell disease in the state is almost double the national average," Padhi said in a letter. He said the state government has already established a sickle cell institute in 2010 on the campus of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Burla. But the high incidence, high morbidity and high mortality of this disease require the support of national level research and monitoring, which can only be effectively conducted through a National Institute of Sickle Cell Disorder, the Chief Secretary said. Since Odisha has a high incidence of sickle cell disorders, the state is a natural choice for setting up the institute, he added. --IANS cd/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of opposition parties including the DMK, Congress, CPI and CPI-M met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday and demanded an immediate floor test in the Tamil Nadu assembly. The DMK and other opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday accused Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao of playing a "partisan" role and refusing to convene a meeting of the assembly so that the K. Palaniswami government can be asked to prove its majority. The opposition parties in Tamil Nadu had been demanding a floor test claiming that the government has been "reduced" to a minority with 22 MLAs owing allegiance to T.T.V. Dinakaran's AIADMK faction. An Anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on Thursday declared former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf absconder in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto while acquitting all the five accused arrested in the case. The court also sentenced former Rawalpindi Central Police Office Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad to 17 years each in jail, the news.com.pk reported. Both the police officials were arrested from the courtroom. In November 2008, an ATC indicted Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul for killing, hatching criminal conspiracy to kill, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terrorism on December 27, 2007 when 22 people, including the former Prime Minister, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving after attending an election rally. As the defence and prosecution completed their arguments here on Wednesday, the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC), Rawalpindi, Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan reserved its verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, which was announced on Thursday. Benazir Bhutto, who was the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief and a two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. --IANS rn/him (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan on Thursday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad over alleged ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control in which a civilian was reportedly killed. Director General (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces in Kotera Sector on August 29, leading to the death of 55-year-old civilian Muhammad Rashid, the foreign office spokesperson said in a press release. The release said that despite calls for restraint, India "continues to indulge in ceasefire violations", and added that in 2017 to date, Indian forces have carried out more than 700 "ceasefire violations" along the LoC and the International Border which, it claimed, has led to the deaths of 29 civilians and injuries to 113 others. --IANS rn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea halved the real range of their ballistic missile in its latest test earlier this week, which fell into the waters of the Pacific Ocean after passing over Japan, the South Korean Defence Ministry said on Thursday. The North Korean regime's intermediate-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12, launched on Tuesday, was fired at a "normal" angle but at half its range, according to a ministry report. The missile launched from Pyongyang flew over part of Japan's northern territory and travelled about 2,700 km before falling into the Pacific some 1,180 km off Cape Erimo, but its actual range would be between 4,500 and 5,000 km, according to the report. It said the possible range would be sufficient to reach the US military bases on Guam Island, which North Korea has threatened to target its vicinity with missiles, a rhetoric that heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, reports Efe news. North Korean warned on Wednesday that the latest test was a "warning" for the US and a "meaningful prelude to containing Guam", while its leader Kim Jong-un called for more missile launches into the area. North Korea's 14th successful missile test has earned the country new criticism and condemnation from the international community, including China, its biggest ally. In his last statement, US President Donald Trump said that "talking is not the answer" with Pyongyang. "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Trump had already warned North Korea earlier that "all options are on the table" and said that the regime's latest missile launch is a further sign of Pyongyang's "contempt for its neighbours, for minimum standards of acceptable international behaviour". --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A record 10.5 million tourists visited Spain in July, marking a 10.1 per cent increase on the same period last year, new official figures revealed on Thursday. The latest data brings the total of tourist visits to Spain in the first half of 2017 to 46.9 million people, reports Efe news. Once again, tourists from the UK topped the ranks and in July comprised 22.1 per cent of the overall number of foreign vacationers who chose Spain as their summer destination. Over 10 million Britons travelled to Spain in the first six months of this year, followed by Germans, 6.8 million of whom visited in that period. The prosperous northeast region of Catalonia, where the culture-hub city of Barcelona is located, proved most popular among foreign visitors to Spain and welcomed more than 2.5 million foreign visitors in July -- 24.3 per cent of the total number and a 6.5 per cent uptick year-on-year. Following closely behind with 23.6 per cent of the overall share was the Balearic Islands region, location of the ever-popular tourist hotspots Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca. The third most-popular choice for foreign visitors was the sun-drenched southern region of Andalusia, home to the cities of Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Malaga, Cadiz and Marbella. --IANS ksk/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Russian aerospace force is expected to receive the first batch of fifth-generation Su-57 fighters in 2019, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov has said. The Russian Defense Ministry plans to sign a purchase contract in 2018 with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation and they are now working on the deal, Borisov told a news conference on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. The Su-57 warplane, formerly known as T-50, is being developed by the Sukhoi Company under the United Aircraft Corporation. The single-seat twin-engine jet features supercruise, stealth and supermaneuverability. Su-57 made its maiden flight in 2010 and will complete its first stage testing by the end of 2017. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sikh American man was stabbed to death in his taxi in the US by a 19-year-old who was upset over not getting admission into his choice of university. The incident happened this week in Bonner County in Idaho. The victim was identified as 22-year-old Gagandeep Singh, a final year student of software engineering. He hailed from Jalandhar in Punjab, community newspaper News India Times reported on Wednesday. Singh was attacked by Jacob Coleman, 19, whom he picked up from Spokane International Airport. Coleman flew from Seattle to Spokane to attend Gonzaga University but was denied entry. He later hired Singh's cab and asked him to be driven to a fictitious friend's house. However, Coleman became homicidal during the drive and fatally stabbed Singh with a knife he purchased on the way during the drive. Coleman later surrendered himself to the police and told officials he was upset as he didn't get admission to Spokane-based Gongaza University where he wanted to study, reports said. The police, however, found no record of his application at the university. Coleman was charged with first-degree murder. A former resident of Preet Nagar in Jalandhar, Singh settled in Spokane, some 100 km from Bonner County, in Washington state in 2003 with his family. Kamaljit Kaur, Singh's mother, told the police she called her son who told her he was carrying a "white man" in his taxi. Singh was also the nephew of Jalandhar-based Congress leader Manmohan Singh Raju, the report said. Reacting to the incident, Raju said: "My nephew became a victim of racial hatred. As the Trump government is now showing exit doors to Asians due to few job opportunities, Indians and Asians as a whole are becoming the victims of racial hatred." --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farmers from different states on Thursday presented their first-hand experiences on how rapeseed-mustard yields can be boosted substantially by deploying simple, safe and sustainable methods. These farmers from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan, at a press conference organised by the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), explained how the average yields by practising agro-ecology based System of Mustard Intensification (SMI) were significantly higher than their conventional yields or of other farmers. This system is also called as System of Crop Intensification (SCI) or System of Root Intensification (SRI). According to data collected by ASHA, the best yield with SMI method in a farmer's field was in a Madhya Pradesh government extension programme. "There was a production of 5,728 kg/ha in Umaria district during commercial cultivation of Brassica carinata surpassing the average yields of farmers in the region," said Rajesh Tripathi, Deputy Director Agriculture, Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. He said the government's SMI yields were reported as 4,693 kg/ha on an average from four villages of Umaria district. Compared to their conventional yields (baseline), farmers had experienced a three-fold increase. "It is important to note that SMI has been proven to be equally successful in its yield-enhancing capabilities across different species of rapeseed-mustard (B. carinata, B. rapa as well as B. juncea)," Kavitha Kuruganti from ASHA explained. Felicita Topno, a 46-year-old SMI farmer from Odisha, said: "I find two important benefits from adopting SMI practices in my mustard cultivation -- one, reduction in the use of inputs... this means saving on costs." "Secondly, I also have higher yields from adopting SMI. The yields increase anywhere between 50 per cent and 100 per cent from what I used to get or what other farmers get on an average." She explained that this system requires taking up transplanting of rapeseed seedlings using wider spacing between the seedlings. "While seeds were initially supplied, this method does not require me to buy seeds from any external agency season after season as we built our own seed stocks. There is also no use of chemical fertilisers, further saving costs," she said. Hukam Singh Lodha, a farmer from Rajasthan who is also a breeder, shared information on the Sitara Sringar variety that he developed in 2010 through natural crossing of Brassica juncea or Sarson with Raphanus sativus or Sengri. This variety gives yields of 3,000 to 3,500 kilos per hectare with one irrigation, under line sowing, and has 42 per cent oil content. After obtaining stability of Sitara Sringar, Singh started multiplying seeds in sufficient quantities and has distributed them to farmers in Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar and Dausa districts of Rajasthan. Explaining how the principles of SRI have been incorporated into mustard cultivation, Soumik Banerjee, a biotechnologist from Jharkhand, shared that even line sowing increases yields significantly, while transplanting shows a higher potential. He averred that enabling resources for poor farmers in different states, seed sovereignty and savings on external inputs were critical. "The experience of civil society groups shows clearly that what farmers need is an effective extension system," Banerjee said. "More research is required within SMI. Even this requires very little investment, which the government ought to make, if it is serious about improving mustard production and yields in the country", he added. --IANS mg/amit/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A year after the Supreme Court's landmark verdict on Singur land acquisition, dwellers of this rural hamlet in West Bengal's Hooghly district are still voicing contradictory opinions on whether they have benefited from repossession of land and efforts to resume cultivation. Last year, on August 31, the apex court had set aside 997.11 acres acquired by the previous Left Front government in the state for a Nano car plant, saying that due processes and procedures were not followed. The court also ordered that the acquired land be returned to farmers within 12 weeks and asked the government to provide compensation to all of them. Accordingly, the state's Mamata Banerjee government had kicked off the process of returning the land on October 20. "Cultivation has commenced in 400-450 acres and efforts are on to make the rest of the land cultivable. We hope cultivation would be on in full swing by the next Rabi season across the entire acquired land," Mahadeb Das, a farmer who was against forcible land acquisition, told IANS. On the other hand, Singur Silpo Bachao Committee's (Singur Save Industry Committee) Convenor Udayan Das told IANS: "Many farmers are saying misleading things by suppressing facts. Nowhere has cultivation started afresh. In fact, it was not possible to restore the land to its pre-acquisition status." "Cultivation was on only on a 50-60 acre plot adjacent to Gopalnagar Mouza. This plot was within the acquired area but no development or concretisation was done there. Farmers used to cultivate in the plot even before the Supreme Court verdict came," Udayan said. Both, however, said the process of returning land was not yet complete due to "some litigation and technical problems". In fact, agricultural experts had voiced doubts over the "ecological and economical viability" of restoring the land to its pre-acquisition status. Chief Minister Banerjee earlier claimed that 932 acres of land was made cultivable, while work was going on to develop the remaining 65 acres. Banerjee -- who had spearheaded the anti-land acquisition protests from 2006-2008 as the supremo of Trinamool Congress, demanding 400 acres out of the 997.11 acres acquired for the project be returned to those farmers who did not want to part with their land -- had commenced cultivation in a symbolic gesture by sowing a mustard seed. "Where is the yield from the mustard seed," Udayan Das asked. However, following a sustained and violent agitation by the peasants lead by Banerjee's then main opposition Trinamool Congress, the Tatas announced, in October 2008, that the project will be shifted out of Singur. Later, the Nano rolled out from Sanand in Gujarat. --IANS bdc/ssp/vgu/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has said that "talking is not the answer" in dealing with North Korea's military operations. "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," he wrote on Twitter, BBC reported on Wednesday. But US Defence Secretary James Mattis, insisted on Wednesday that there was still room for diplomacy. North Korea has said its firing of a missile over Japan on Tuesday was "the first step" of military operations in the Pacific. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by phone that any further strengthening of sanctions against North Korea would be counter-productive. Trump's comments come just days after he said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "starting to respect" the US. On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan's northern Hokkaido island, triggering public alerts to take cover before landing in the sea. Speaking ahead of a meeting at the Pentagon with his South Korean counterpart, Song Young-moo, Mattis said, "We are never out of diplomatic solutions." Russia has said that US military activity in the region is partly to blame for the increase in tensions, and has urged restraint and called for negotiations. Lavrov stressed on Wednesday that diplomacy was the only way to overcome tensions on the Korean peninsula, which have been escalating in recent months. North Korean state media this week also repeated threats to the US Pacific island of Guam, which it called "an advanced base of invasion". --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump began his campaign to achieve comprehensive tax reform, although such an overhaul of the tax code must go through Congress for approval. Trump launched his campaign with a rally at a Springfield, Missouri, manufacturing plant on Wednesday promising workers lower taxes, reports Efe news. "Our tax system should benefit loyal hard-working Americans and their families," Trump said, promising "to work with Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike" on the matter and claiming that his tax reform plans are bipartisan. "So let's put, or at least try to put, the partisan posturing behind us and come together as Americans," Trump said, going on to declare that his tax overhaul plan - which he called "The American Model" - will create "millions and millions" of new jobs, bring back "trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas" and give the US a "competitive edge" in world markets. With Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at his side, along with other members of his Cabinet, Trump wanted to make his speech a milestone marking the beginning of his efforts to achieve one of his key political goals. The president said the US needs a tax code that is simple, fair and easy to understand and that eliminates legal loopholes and the complexities of the current tax system, but he did not provide any details about how he intends to achieve it. He said that lowering taxes will increase the salaries of the working class. Ideally, Trump has said, he wants to reduce corporate taxes from their current 35 per cent level to 15 per cent and also to include an increase in deductions for citizens, although he has not specified how new tax income will be produced for the government or how to deal with the country's rising public debt. After the fiasco he and Republican lawmakers endured in trying to repeal and replace the health care reform implemented by his predecessor, Barack Obama, Trump is looking for a victory in Congress. Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned a few hours before Trump spoke in Missouri that his party will oppose cuts in taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Schumer said in a statement that tax reform must not increase the tax burden on the middle class and there must not be a tax cut for the richest 1 percent of Americans, "period." To deal with Democrats' - and others' - doubts about his plan, the president intends to meet with congressional leaders of both parties next Wednesday at the White House, legislative sources confirmed to Efe news. Meanwhile, Trump must also negotiate an increase in the federal debt ceiling and budget for the coming fiscal year during September, among other pending issues. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said that US President Donald Trump's attacks on the could amount to incitement and embolden followers to attack certain communities. "It is really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, something that the United States defended over the years is now itself under attack from the President himself," the UN human rights chief told a press briefing here on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. "It's a sort of stunning turnaround, and ultimately the sequences are dangerous one: incitement and fear, self-censorship, banning and then violence," he added. The UN official also expressed special concern about derogatory remarks by the US President about journalists and institutions. "I wish to also draw on the President's repeated attacks on three of the most well respected news organisations in the world: The New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN repeatedly referring to the organisations as liars, as crooks and most recently in Arizona, he went as far as to refer to journalists as really really dishonest people, bad people, who don't like the country," Zeid said. Speaking in Arizona last week, US President Donald Trump has defended his response to a white supremacist-organised rally in Virginia, and criticized news organizations for their coverage of the violence in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, calling journalists "truly dishonest people". "I have to ask the question: is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists ? And let's assume a journalist is harmed from one of these organizations, does the President then not bear responsibility for this? " Zeid noted. "The demonization of the press is poisonous because it has consequences elsewhere", he stressed. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has urged Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Aziz in a call to find a diplomatic resolution to end the Qatar crisis, the media reported. The US President spoke to the Saudi King on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt had cut off diplomatic ties and imposed sanctions on Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Other countries including Libya, Yemen and the Maldives have followed suit. Qatar strongly denied the charges against it, while rejecting a list of 13 demands put forward by the bloc for resuming diplomatic ties. Kuwait has been trying to mediate the crisis and several top Western diplomats have toured the region to try to defuse the row, including US Secretary of States Rex Tillerson. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The two children of Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners to the Supreme Court who challenged the triple talaq practice, went "missing" on Thursday morning but were found by police and returned to their mother by evening. Jahan, a resident of West Bengal's Howrah district, on Thursday lodged a police complaint stating two of her children were kidnapped from her residence, police said. "My two minor children have been kidnapped from my lawful guardianship at around 11.30 a.m. on August 31 from near my residence in Howrah," a copy of the complaint lodged by Jahan in Golabari police station said. In the complaint letter, Jahan alleged that her children - a seven-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, went missing while playing outside the house. She could not trace them in spite of repeatedly calling out their names and looking for them in the neighbour's house. Confirming that an FIR was lodged on the basis of Jahan's complaint, police said the children went out with their father and have been traced. "This was not a case of kidnapping. The two kids went out for shopping with their father. They have been traced already," a senior officer from Golabari police station told IANS. "The two children have been returned to the complainant by the police," he added. --IANS mgr/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that the US is "never out of diplomatic solutions" following the latest missile launch by North Korea. Mattis made the remarks on Wednesday while meeting his South Korean counterpart Soon Young-moo at the Pentagon to discuss ways to address the threat posed by North Korea, Xinhua news agency reported. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation, our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today," Mattis said. On Tuesday, the Japanese government said that North Korea fired a missile that fell into the Pacific Ocean after passing over the Japanese archipelago. On Wednesday, Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, their second conversation after the latest missile launch by North Korea. The two leaders confirmed their "continuing, close" cooperation on efforts to address North Korea's launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile this week, according to the White House. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Health Ministers from South-East Asian countries will attend WHO's 70th Regional Committee Session to discuss climate change and improving access to essential medicines for all, an official said on Thursday. The discussions will take place during the Annual Governing Body Meeting of the World Health organisation (WHO)'s South-East Asian chapter, being hosted by Maldives this year from September 6 to 10, WHO said in a statement. WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia region, Amitabh Bachchan, will join the meeting to advocate urgent action against viral hepatitis, a preventable disease that kills approximately 410,000 people in the region every year. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom and Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh will address the meeting, which will also be attended by health officials from member-countries and representatives of partner organisations. The subjects to be discussed during the entire session also includes intensifying efforts to end tuberculosis. "Strengthening primary health care and the health workforce and progress towards universal health coverage are among other priority issues being addressed at the meeting, reflecting the region's drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal for health," the global health body said. According to it, the focus of the meeting will be also be on climate change as a well prepared and responsive health system is crucial for preventing and minimising the increasing health risks posed by climate change. "The ministers will also deliberate on accelerating efforts to end tuberculosis as the region bears a disproportionate 45 per cent of the global TB burden," it said. The meeting will also deliberate on the action needed to cut down road traffic injuries, which cause 316,000 deaths in the region every year. "Vector control will also figure prominently at the governing body meeting, as countries across the region bear a high burden of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and lymphatic filariasis," the statement added. --IANS rup/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Imagine a swarm of rubber band-catapulted armed mini-drones flying in large formations over a battlefield? Now, ponder the fact that each drone was modified, armed and operationalised from off-the-shelf models worth less than $200 each. The future of aerial warfare has landed. With reference to K Shankar Bajpais article, Afghanistan, US and lessons for India (August 31), in the present global political environment, no country can claim to have a completely safe and secure foreign policy. Bajpai has rightly pointed out that wars can no longer be treated as won and over. International strategies, not only of India but also of other nations, have changed drastically, with the emphasis shifting from commerce to defence. Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister is on course to become the third successive chief minister of the state to become a member of the Upper House (Vidhan Parishad) for retaining the high post as opposed to contesting direct polls for a Lower House (Vidhan Sabha) berth. A series of developments on Thursday confirmed that a reshuffle of the union council of ministers could take place before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for China to attend the BRICS Summit on Sunday afternoon. A rickety 117-year-old building with residences, godowns and a play school collapsed in the congested Bhendi Bazaar in south Mumbai today, killing 22 people and wounding 12 others, officials said. Eight to 10 people were still suspected trapped under the rubble of the five-storey structure, they said. Thirtyfour people were pulled out of the massive stone- and-twisted-steel debris of whom 21 were either declared brought dead at the state-run J J Hospital or succumbed during treatment. These included five women. The tragedy struck barely two days after torrential rain brought the city to its knees, crippling road, rail and air services, inundating homes and leaving at least 10 people dead. Many suspect the downpour caused further damage to the ramshackle structure, causing its crash. Five fire brigade personnel and an NDRF jawan also sustained injuries during the rescue operations and were shifted to the J J hospital. Two of them were said to be critical, while four others were discharged after treatment. Fire brigade officials said some nine families lived in the dilapidated Husaini Building, which also housed a play school. The children had a providential escape as the building came crashing down minutes before they arrived. The ill-fated building had got clearance for redevelopment in 2011, and was supposed to be vacated, Minister of State for Housing Ravindra Waikar said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who visited the spot, ordered an inquiry by the state's additional chief secretary. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased. The government will bear all medical expenses of those injured, he said. Additional chief secretary has been asked to conduct a probe to find out what led to this unfortunate incident, the chief minister said. "The redevelopment project had been approved by the agencies concerned, and subsequently this building was supposed to be demolished. The final approval for demolition was granted in May 2016, but a few families opted to stay in the dilapidated building which led to this unfortunate loss of life," he said. Soon after the building crumbled around 8:30 am, rescue workers in hard hats were seen clambering up the mound and banging large concrete slabs with hammers to reach underneath to pull out the survivors and bodies. Cranes and bulldozers were deployed to scoop up the debris. Residents helped with the rescue efforts, hauling concrete slabs with bare hands. Siren blaring ambulances had a trying time navitating the narrow streets in the presence of large crowds that had gathered around the place. Prabhat Rahangdale, the city's chief fire officer, told PTI that salvage operations will continue overnight. "The operations will continue till the time the entire debris has been cleared and all bodies and survivors pulled out," he said. A 90-member team of the National Disaster Response Force is also involved in the operations. Some residents claimed that about 40 people belonging to nine families lived in crammed rooms in the structure, which was declared "unsafe" by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), which was to have undertaken redevelopment of the 117-year-old structure, said the building housed a total of 13 tenants -- 12 residential and one commercial. "Of them, the trust had already shifted seven families in 2013-14," it said in a statement. "MHADA notices dated March 28 and May 20, 2011, declaring the building dilapidated, were issued along with an offer of transit accommodation to the remaining tenants and occupants," it said. This is the second major building collapse in the city in just over a month, after the crash of a residential complex in suburban Ghatkopar on July 25 which left 17 people dead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With their palms facing the sky in supplication, and many with tears in their eyes, around 2 million people from around the world gathered today in an effort to start anew, erase past sins and beg God for forgiveness and guidance in the peak day of the hajj pilgrimage. From dawn until dusk, the massive crowd of people will be gathered here in Mount Arafat to spend the day in supplication and contemplation. It is here, on this mountain surrounded by desert, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon more than 1,400 years ago. "We hope that Allah will forgive our sins, and we hope to have a new start with our God," said Khaled Ahmed, a 47-year- old pilgrim from Egypt. In his sermon, the prophet called on his followers to repay their debts, beware of Satan, perform five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan and give to charity. He also called on those with the means to perform the hajj once in a lifetime. He also reminded worshippers of the rights that women have, and said that no ethnic group or race has superiority over another except in piety and good action. During the hajj, pilgrims are expected to shed symbols of materialism, though the trip itself can be quite expensive for most. Male pilgrims are required to wear seamless, white terrycloth garments for the entirety of the hajj. Women wear loose clothing, cover their hair and forgo makeup and nail polish to achieve a state of humility and spiritual purity. The large crowds gathered from more than 160 countries around the world, dressed in nearly identical white garments, are meant to symbolize unity among Muslims, humility and equality before God. The rich and poor among men are to dress the same while performing the rites of hajj. The hajj is required of all Muslims once in a lifetime. The physically demanding journey tests pilgrims' patience as they withstand long waits and thick crowds on their path to achieving spiritual purification and repentance. Noura Sulieman, a pilgrim from the Philippines, said she'd been to the hajj many times before and was here again to pray for her family. "I came here to Arafat to pray for my family, for my daughter, and my son, and all my family, and all the Philippines Muslims, and all Muslims in all countries," she said. "God willing, Allah will accept our pilgrimage." Muslims believe the rites trace the footsteps of the prophets Ibrahim and Ismail Abraham and Ishmael in the Bible. The movement of such a large and diverse crowd of people in a short period of time in limited spaces is a logistical challenge for the Saudi government. Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 security forces to secure the hajj and assist pilgrims. Additional doctors, nurses, ambulances and mobile health centers are also deployed in the areas of hajj. Many begin their pilgrimage by traveling to Medina, the site of both the Prophet Muhammad's first mosque and where he is buried. The rites of the hajj, however, begin in Mecca, the site of Islam's holiest place of worship. There, pilgrims circulate the cube-shaped Kaaba and kneel in prayer facing it. The Kaaba represents the metaphorical house of God and the oneness of God in Islam. Observant Muslims around the world face toward the Kaaba during the five daily prayers. After Mecca, pilgrims spend the day in Mount Arafat before heading to an area called Muzdalifa. There, they will pick up pebbles for a symbolic stoning of the devil and a casting away of sins that takes place in the Mina valley for three days. Male pilgrims will shave their hair and women will cut a lock of hair in a sign of renewal for completing the hajj. Around the world, Muslims will mark the end of hajj with a celebration called Eid al-Adha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three members of a gang allegedly duping people impersonating as bank managers were arrested by Kolkata Police their houses in North 24 Parganas district, police said today. Jitendra Nath Sikder (54) of Belgharia, Biswajit Maitra (37) of Chakdah and Dipankar Sadhukhan (44) of Naihati were yesterday arrested on the charge of duping a city-based doctor who had complained to the police. The complainant got a call from someone posing as the manager of a nationalised bank and received his bank account details and OTP saying that otherwise his debit card would be blocked, a senior Kolkata Police officer said. "A total of Rs 64,990 was siphoned off from the complainant's account and was stashed to various e-wallets," he said. During investigation it was found that the trio have been part of an inter-state racket defrauding people posing as bank managers, the IPS officer added. When produced before a city court, the three were remanded to police custody till September 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Algerian policeman was killed today when he threw himself on a suicide bomber before the attacker's explosives belt detonated, state media said, citing the police department. The officer had intervened when the attacker tried to enter the police headquarters in the region of Tiaret, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers, the official APS agency reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anganwadi workers across the country will now undergo training to be able to provide pre- school education to children aged between three to six years at the state-run day care centres. The move is aimed at making the role of the these workers more meaningful and reshaping the government's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme which provides food and primary healthcare to children under six years of age and their mothers at these Anganwadi or day-care centres. "There will be a shift in the role and duties of the Anganwadi workers from food distribution to children and lactating mothers to imparting pre-school education. The idea is to make their role more meaningful and make ICDS more effective," Union Misiter for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandh said today. The Ministry officials said they have figured out alternative ways of distributing food so that the anganwadi workers can focus more on imparting education which is crucial for the development of a child. Gandhi, who presented the National Level Awards 2016-17 to the anganwadi workers, alleged that they have been "misused" for over four decades as they were made to work for elections and attend political meetings and even greet VIPs, which was banned after she took over. According to a senior ministry official, there are around 27 lakh anganwadi workers including assistants in the country. The awards for the year 2016-17 were given to 51 workers today. These awards are given away annually. Gandhi congratulated the awardees and urged them to keep up their dedication to the cause of child development, community mobilization and awareness generation while delivering the ICDS Services. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The body of a 22-year-old man, who was killed along with seven others after an ill-fated car skidded off the road and fell into a river near Narian in Rajouri district three day ago, has been fished out about 1.5 km away from the accident spot, police said today. With the recovery of his body, the death toll in the accident went up to eight, they said. "The body of B Tech student, Vaqar Ahmad Mughal, who was also travelling in the ill-fated car, was fished out yesterday by army divers about 1.5 km downstream from the site of the accident," a senior police officer said. He said the student had boarded the vehicle at Jammu while returning to his residence in Rajouri for Eid. Forty-one-year-old Mahmood Ahmad,personal assistant to deputy commissioner Rajouri and brother-in-law of the student, his wife JamilaBegum(38) and their children -- Rehan(11), Alisha(9) andHusnain(7)--his brother Abdul Aziz(32) and sister Akhter Begum(25) were killed in the accident on Monday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists have created music from the Saturn's moons and rings - converting their rhythmic orbits into musical octaves - to celebrate the Grand Finale of NASA's Cassini spacecraft next month. The Cassini spacecraft has been collecting data while orbiting Saturn since its arrival in 2004 and is now in the throes of a final death spiral. It will plunge into the planet itself on September 15 to avoid contaminating any of its moons. After centuries of looking with awe and wonder at the beauty of Saturn and its rings, we can now listen to them, scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada said. The conversion to music is made possible by orbital resonances, which occur when two objects execute different numbers of complete orbits in the same time, so that they keep returning to their initial configuration. The rhythmic gravitational tugs between them keep them locked in a tight repeating pattern which can also be converted directly into musical harmony. "To celebrate the Grand Finale of NASA's Cassini mission next month, we converted Saturn's moons and rings into two pieces of music," said Matt Russo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA). "Wherever there is resonance there is music, and no other place in the solar system is more packed with resonances than Saturn," said Russo. "Saturn's magnificent rings act like a sounding board that launches waves at locations that harmonise with the planet's many moons, and some pairs of moons are themselves locked in resonances," Dan Tamayo, a postdoctoral researcher at CITA. The musical notes and rhythms both come from the orbital motion of Saturn's moons along with the orbits of the trillions of small particles that make up the ring system. For the first piece which follows Cassini's final plunge, the researchers increased the natural orbital frequencies of Saturn's six large inner moons by 27 octaves to arrive at musical notes. "What you hear are the actual frequencies of the moons, shifted into the human hearing range" said Russo. The team then used a state of the art numerical simulation of the moon system developed by Tamayo to play the resulting notes every time a moon completes an orbit. Saturn's moon Titan actually gives the Cassini probe the final push which sends it hurtling towards its death in the heart of Saturn. The music follows Cassini's final flight over the ring system by converting the constantly increasing orbital frequencies of the rings into a dramatic rising pitch; the volume of the tone increases and decreases along with the observed bright and dark bands of the rings. The death of Cassini as it crashes into Saturn is heard as a final crash of a final piano chord, which was inspired by The Beatles' "A Day in the Life", in which a rich major chord follows a similarly tense crescendo. In addition to the soundtrack, Russo has had a large wood carving made of Saturn's rings so people can follow along with their fingertips while listening. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australian Minister for Trade, Investment and Tourism Steve Ciobo MP today visited the Asia's largest fruits and vegetables wholesale market at Azadpur in the national capital. He visited the new fruit market in Azadpur to inspect the largest fruit wholesale market in Asia, a statement said. Australia currently exports counter season fresh fruit to India including citrus, apples, pears, stone fruits, table grapes, and cherries. "Ciobo is keen to see this trade grow and expand," the statement said. Australia also imports mangoes from India. Ciobo is currently leading the largest Australian business delegation to visit India in several years, including some of Australia's leading agricultural and food companies. Australia is exploring business opportunities in India in the field of agriculture and food. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A million-dollar Sikh awareness campaign to inform Americans about Sikhism has increased the positive perception about their religion, according to a recent survey. The month-long "We are Sikhs" ad campaign was launched by the non-profit organisation National Sikh Campaign on April 14 on the occasion of Vaisakhi, a holy day for the community. The survey was carried out in Fresno, California, where tens of thousands of Sikhs live and where violence towards Sikh Americans has been occurring repeatedly in the past few years, including two deaths in the recent months. The Fresno effort included grassroots events, television ads, digital ads and significant coverage. Since April, the campaignhas been holding grassroots events in Gurdwaras across the US and airing ads and presenting Sikhs as neighbours and proud Americans on CNN & and Fox nationwide. The main goal of the USD 1.3 million campaign was to get the information out to Americans across the nation about who Sikhs are, their belief in equality, respect for women and all religions and that Sikhism is the fifth largest religion. According to the survey, 59 per cent of Fresno residents - a clear majority - say they know at least something about Sikhs who live in America. Sixty-eight per cent saw Sikhs as good neighbours and 64 per cent saw Sikhs as generous and kind. The proportion of residents who saw the adsare nearly twice as likely to say they know at least something about Sikhs who live in America(78 per cent) than those who did not see the ads (40 per cent), it said. As per the survey results,57 per centwho saw the ads are also more likely to associate a bearded man wearing a turban with Sikhism, while 67 per cent of Fresno residents who saw the Sikh ads believe that Sikhs believe in equality and respect for all people. And 60 per cent of Fresno residents that saw theSikhs ad believe Sikhs have American values. "Despite tense race relations and an extremely polarised political environment, theWe Are Sikhscampaign has been able to make headway in creating awareness of Sikh Americans, who can commonly be identified by their turbans and beards," said Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates. "This effort is a testament to the Sikh community's commitment to reaching out to people of all faiths to help them recognise that we all have shared values, and that is a ray of hope that proves that understanding can bring people of all walks of life together," he said. In the years since the 9/11 terror attacks, Sikhs remain more likely to be targeted in cases of profiling, bigotry and backlash than the average American. In July, two Sikh Americans were killed in two separate incidents in one week in California. In March, a 39-year-old Sikh man was shot in the arm outside his home in Kent, Washington, by a partially-masked gunman who shouted "go back to your own country". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The children of Pakistan's assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto today voiced their disappointment over the verdict by an anti-terrorism court, saying there would be no justice until "Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes". The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi sentenced two former police officers to 17 years in prison for failing to protect Bhutto, but the same court acquitted five suspected Pakistani Taliban militants who had confessed to taking part in her 2007 assassination. Benazir, 54, was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007 when Musharraf was president of Pakistan. The court also declared former dictator and army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the case and ordered seizure of his property. A joint investigation team had implicated Musharraf in the case, saying that his government did not provide adequate security to the former prime minister despite her repeated requests. Musharraf, 74, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on pretext of medical treatment. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the "decision is disappointing and unacceptable", adding that the party would explore legal options. Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the youngest of the siblings, said that "they were still awaiting justice". In another tweet, she said that there would be no justice until "Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes". Sharing her sister's sentiments, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari also expressed displeasure with the verdict, saying "police men arrested but actual terrorists acquitted #Shame". Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman for PPP, expressed "disappointment and shock"over the verdict, saying "justice has not been done." Babar said the acquittal of the suspected militants "seems a triumph of al-Qaida." He said that while the court convicted the two officers, it did not determine who had ordered them to destroy evidence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah today held a "strategy session" with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the coming assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, P P Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Niramala Sitharaman were also present at the meet. While Jaitley is in charge of the election in Gujarat, the other ministers are co-in charge of the polls. BJP's general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shah's residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. "The party held a strategy session to achieve the target," Yadav later told reporters. The assembly polls are due in Gujarat later this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The body of renowned doctor Deepak Amrapurkar, who had gone missing on Tuesday following heavy rains in the city, was today recovered from a nullah near the Coast Guard office in central Mumbai's Worli, police said. The Bombay hospital gastroenterologist had slipped into an open manhole while wading through the water-logged streets near Elphinston Road station. Torrential rains had pounded the metropolis throughout the day on Tuesday. Dr Amarapurkar (58) had left for home on Tuesday evening in his car, but due to waterlogging he left the vehicle near the Elphinstone Road station and started walking, a senior police official had said. After he went missing, a rescue operation was launched by the police and fire brigade and a complaint was registered in this regard at Dadar police station. "Police found his body at Worli around 6.30 am in a nullah, which is connected to the city's drainage system and empties into the sea," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Dadar) Sunil Deshmukh said. The body has been sent to Sion hospital for post-mortem and will be handed over to his family members soon, he said. "If we find any negligence on the part of the civic body for the open manhole in which he fell, action will be taken accordingly," Deshmukh said. The Santa Cruz observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) here registered 331.4 mm rainfall on Tuesday, the heaviest since the July 26, 2005 record of 944 mm, which had caused the worst havoc in decades in the city. Torrential rain, accompanied by strong winds, had disrupted rail, road and air services, uprooted trees, swamped houses and brought the megapolis and its satellite towns to their knees. Many people had to spend the night at their respective workplaces as the roads and railway tracks were waterlogged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court is likely to hear tomorrow the politically sensitive Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case, amidst recent media reports suggesting a financial quid pro quo for the Rs 1,437 crore Howitzer gun deal in 1986. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is scheduled to take up the plea by BJP leader and advocate Ajay Kumar Agarwal, who had challenged the Delhi High Court May 31, 2005 judgement quashing all charges against the Europe-based Hinduja brothers in the case. The apex court had on October 18, 2005 admitted his petition which was filed after the CBI failed to approach the top court with the appeal within the 90-day deadline following the High Court verdict. The hearing assumes significance in the wake of a demand in Parliament by ruling BJP MPs for reopening of the probe into the Bofors kickback scandal after the media reports quoting Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom's suggested the alleged bribery at the top level. Agarwal, who had contested the Rai Bareli Lok Sabha elections in 2014 against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had said he will also draw the attention of the apex court that he had written a letter to the Enforcement Directorate seeking investigation into the trail of the kickback money under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. In the July 28 letter to the ED, he has claimed that the alleged crimes were committed continuously till the year 2006 when two London accounts held by Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi, who was accused as being one of the middlemen in the deal, were de-freezed. The BJP leader had said he was writing a letter to the CBI asking it to file an affidavit about the facts and course of investigation in the case, as during the brief hearing on December 1, 2016, the agency had told the apex court that the authorities had not permitted it to file an appeal against the May 31, 2005 verdict. Agarwal said he will try to convince the apex court through his petition that the "High Court had quashed the charges against the accused persons on technical grounds and the order was totally perverse which is liable to be set aside." Justice R S Sodhi of the Delhi High Court, since retired, had on May 31, 2005 quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers -- Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand -- and the Bofors company and castigated the CBI for its handling of the case saying it had cost the exchequer about Rs 250 crore. Before the 2005 verdict, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice J D Kapoor (since retired) on February 4, 2004, had exonerated late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case and directed framing of charge of forgery under Section 465 of IPC against the Bofors company. The matter was last listed on February 28 this year when it was adjourned. The apex court had on October 18, 2005 allowed Agrawal to file an appeal against the high court verdict in the absence of any appeal by CBI. The December 1, 2016 hearing had taken place after a gap of almost six years since August 12, 2010. The Rs 1,437 crore deal between India and the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm Howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered on March 24, 1986. The Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987 had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel. The CBI on January 22, 1990 had registered the FIR for the alleged offence of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery under the Indial Penal Code and other sections of Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then President of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and Hinduja brothers. The CBI had alleged that certain public servants and private persons in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on October 22, 1999 against Chadda, Quattrocchi, then Defence Secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet against Hinduja brothers was filed on October 9, 2000. A special CBI court in Delhi On March 4, 2011, had discharged Quattrocchi from the case saying the country cannot afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which has already cost Rs 250 crore. Quattrocchi, who fled from here on July 29-30, 1993, has never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on July 13, 2013. The other accused persons who have died are Bhatnagar, Chadda and Ardbo. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh next year, Chief Minister Raman Singh today announced a bonus to farmers for the last season's as well this season's paddy procurement. Paddy farmers are protesting at many places in the state demanding a minimum support price of Rs 2,100 and bonus of Rs 300 per quintal, as promised by the ruling BJP in its poll manifesto in 2013. "Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction, the state government has decided to give a bonus to farmers for paddy procurement in 2016-17 and 2017-18," Singh said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here. Earlier, Singh attended a meeting of BJP MPs, MLAs and office-bearers. "Bonus to the tune of Rs 2,100 crore for paddy procurement in the last year's season (2016-17) will be disbursed ahead of Diwali which will benefit 13 lakh farmers. A bonus for the procurement to be done in this season (2017-18) will be given next year during Vikas Yatra," Singh said. The chief minister said he had raised the issue of drought-like situation in Chhattisgarh in his meeting with Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. "I had informed the PM that more than 50 development blocks in the state are facing drought-like situation due to scanty rainfall, and this will lead to a drinking water crisis. Subsequently, the PM directed me to disburse a bonus to farmers," he said. Later in the evening, the state Agriculture Department issued an order to pay a bonus of Rs 300 per a quintal of paddy procured in 2016-17. The Congress, however, accused the ruling party of treating farmers only as voters. "The BJP has cheated farmers by giving bonus for only one year. It is nothing but a failed attempt to gain the support of farmers in the polls," said state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel. "The BJP had promised MSP of Rs 2,100 and bonus of Rs 300 during 2013 elections. It cannot escape (its responsibility) by giving bonus for only one year," he said. The government should give the promised bonus and MSP for three years (since 2013), the Congress leader demanded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May attended Japan's top security meeting today, as the two countries vowed to work together to confront nuclear-armed North Korea over its firing of a missile over the Asian nation. May, who is in Japan on an official visit, is reportedly only the second foreign leader to attend a meeting of the National Security Council after Australia's then-prime minister Tony Abbott in 2014. The Council, which was created at the end of 2013, consists of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and key ministers. "Just two days ago, North Korea again went ahead with a reckless act of firing missiles, this time over Japan, and I do hope Japan and the United Kingdom can work together to deal with the threat" from Pyongyang, Abe said at the start of the meeting. "With the participation of Theresa, I will look forward to having a discussion on the way forward of how we can strongly and aggressively advance our security cooperation," he added. May described Japan as "the UK's closest security partner in Asia" and a "like-minded partner". "We must work together to enhance our collective response to the threats to the international order and global peace and security," she said. "That must include confronting the threat that North Korea poses and ensuring that this regime in North Korea stops its aggressive acts." Britain wants new United Nations sanctions against North Korea that would target guest workers sent mostly to Russia and China, and whose wages are a source of revenue for Pyongyang. The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously condemned North Korea over the launch of the missile, which flew over Japanese territory before crashing into the Pacific. Early today, May visited a naval base on the outskirts of Tokyo with Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera before attending a business forum and the security meeting. "We have a long history of cooperation in these areas," May said. "And by the visit today it gives a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership that we have on defence." Japan's defence ministry on Thursday said it would request its largest-ever annual budget to beef up its missile defence systems. May arrived in Japan yesterday with an eye to soothing Brexit fears and pushing ahead on early free-trade talks with the world's number three economy. She will hold a joint press conference with Abe today evening and meet Emperor Akihito on Friday before leaving. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain will give Nigeria aid worth ?200 million over five years to help it cope with the brutal insurgency being waged by Boko Haram jihadists, the foreign ministry in London has said. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson visited Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's northeast Borno State and epicentre of the Boko Haram organisation, to meet some of those involved in the fight. The Islamist militant group has increasingly used child suicide bombers and targeted civilians in its eight-year insurgency which has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million. "In Maiduguri I met casualties of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and saw for myself the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created," Johnson said in a statement yesterday. The ?200 million (USD 260 million, 220 million euros) will help supply food to 1.5 million people facing famine as a result of the bloody insurgency, while providing treatment for 120,000 children at risk of malnutrition and assisting 100,000 children with education needs. British military teams will also continue to help prepare Abuja's security forces for counter-insurgency operations, having already helped to train 28,500 Nigerian personnel. The uprising by Boko Haram, which is seeking to impose hardline Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, has included a campaign of civilian kidnappings. More than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram from their school in the remote town of Chibok in April 2014. A total of 106 of the kidnapped girls have been released, rescued or escaped after more than three years in captivity, while 113 are still being held. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 26-year-old man, said to be of Bangladeshi origin, was today charged with a terror offence for injuring three police officers with a sword outside the Buckingham Palace last week, Scotland Yard said. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, from Luton in England, has been charged with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on August 25. "Choudhury was charged on Thursday, August 31 with an offence contrary to Section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 namely, on or before 25 August 2017 engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism," the Metropolitan Police said. Choudhury, believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, had been caught with a four-foot sword shouting "Allahu Akbar" near Queen Elizabeth II's London residence. Three police officers had been injured in the course of the attack. Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command had earlier revealed details of the attack, which took place at approximately 20:35 hrs on August 25 when a man stopped his blue Toyota Prius car in a restricted area near a police vehicle on the Mall roundabout near Spur Road. Officers at the Mall spotted a large bladed weapon in his vehicle and went to arrest him. During the course of detaining the man, three male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm. Two of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment and have since been discharged. The suspect was taken to a London hospital for treatment of minor injuries and has now been taken to a central London police station for questioning. "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of these officers who quickly brought this incident under control. Their vigilance, courage and the swiftness of their response demonstrates how our officers are protecting the public at this time," Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, had said. "We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage. While we cannot speculate on what the man was intending to do - this will be determined during the course of the investigation - it is only right that we investigate this as a terrorist incident at this time," Haydon had said. Another 30-year-old man was detained on suspicion of terrorism offences a few days later at an address in west London in connection with the palace attack. No further information has been released on that arrest. Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family were not in the Buckingham Palace at the time. The 91-year-old monarch was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and other senior members of the royal family were also away during the summer holiday season in the UK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man arrested wielding a sword outside Queen Elizabeth II's Buckingham Palace residence has been charged with a terror offence and is due in court later today, London police said. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, is accused of "engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism", police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today termed sub-6 per cent GDP growth as a "catastrophe" and said slow growth, low investment and no jobs were markers of the slide in economy. He said the GDP and GVA figures were more evidence of former prime minister Manmohan Singh's indictment of "monumental mismanagement". "Our worst fears have come true. Sub-6 percent growth is a catastrophe," the Congress leader tweeted. "1 pc decline in GDP is a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. 2% decline is a loss of Rs 3 lakh crore (sic)," he posted on Twitter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A first-ever workshop, which aims to provide special care training to the airport-guarding CISF personnel in handling passengers suffering from autism, was inaugurated here today. The day-long session is being held for jawans and junior ranking officers who "screen" and frisk travellers before they board aircraft in Delhi. Staffers from the customs and the immigration departments who are deployed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGIA) airport also attended the workshop. CISF Director General (DG) O P Singh, who inaugurated the workshop, said the aim was to make air travel for autistic passengers hassle-free and respectable. "I firmly believe that each passenger who travels through an airport guarded by us is our responsibility. If they are not satisfied with our service, then it is our failure. Passengers...Need to be looked after well," Singh said. The central paramilitary force has tied up with an NGO -- Action for Autism -- to train its personnel in handling such special commuters. Talking about the need to have such a workshop, Singh said passengers who suffer from autism need to be given special treatment as perhaps not everyone understands them and their requirements. "We want to touch their lives in a professional and sensitive way," he said. A few years ago, the force had conducted a workshop for its personnel on handling specially-abled passengers. The CISF chief said efforts would be made to have a special provision and lane at the airports, like those for VIPs, where such special passengers could be frisked. He said the force, which has a strength of about 1.80 lakh personnel, will also conduct a survey to find out the staffers who have such special children so that they can be "gainfully employed" to render the frisking tasks for these children. The DG said efforts would be made to extend it to all the 59 airports guarded by the force and to the personnel who guard the Delhi Metro. The need to have such a training was also felt after a few incidents where the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel came across children who suffer from autism and some confrontation occurred between them. Sometime back in Mumbai, a senior official said, a young boy suffering from autism had a tough time with the CISF security personnel at the airport when they began frisking him. The training module prepared by the NGO will help CISF personnel to be more courteous and caring while dealing with such passengers, the official said. Autism is a medical condition and disorder that impacts the nervous system and affects the overall communication, emotional, social and physical health of the person affected by it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ill-fated Husaini Building in Bhendi Bazar in South Mumbai, which collapsed this morning killing at least 19 people, had got clearance for redevelopment long back, and was supposed to be vacated. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the spot and ordered an inquiry, apart from announcing a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased. The government will bear all the medical expenses of those injured, he said. "Additional chief secretary has been ordered to conduct a probe to find out what led to this unfortunate incident," the chief minister said. "Redevelopment project had been approved by the agencies, and subsequently this building was supposed to be demolished. The final approval for demolition was granted in May 2016, but a few families opted to stay in the dilapidated building which led to this unfortunate loss of life," the CM said. Minister of State for Housing Ravindra Waikar said the collapsed structure was one of the 380 buildings that had been granted no-objection certificate for 'cluster redevelopment' (redevelopment of several buildings together). "We will probe how the developer concerned failed to redevelop the project when it was granted the NOC way back in 2011," said Waikar. Housing Minister Prakash Mehta also visited the spot. Forcible eviction could have saved lives, he said. "It is high time we started forcible eviction of tenants living in such dilapidated buildings across the city, because we can't be simply mute spectators, seeing people die...Our ministry is going to think seriously about this," he said. There are over 2,500 dilapidated buildings in the city, he said. Earlier, Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who is the guardian minister for Mumbai, said a meeting will be held with the chief minister and an action plan prepared to rehabilitate those residing in such structures. The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), run by the Bohra community, was granted the rights to redevelop the cluster of old buildings in the area, including the collapsed building. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French comedian Dieudonne, who has been convicted for racist and anti-Semitic comments in the past, has announced that he plans to travel to North Korea next month. Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala will travel there on September 9 along with far-right writer Alain Soral, who has already visited Pyongyang to "work for peace", the comedian said in a video posted on YouTube last week. "At a time when the United States is organising military exercises on the Korean peninsula, I believe we have to take action," Dieudonne said, adding that he would take part in a "peace festival" in Pyongyang. Early on Tuesday, the reclusive state fired a missile over Japan, the latest n a series of launches, prompting US President Donald Trump to insist that "all options" were on the table in an implied threat of military action. The UN Security Council denounced North Korea's latest missile test, unanimously demanding that Pyongyang halt its missile programme. The comedian has often made headlines, most notably with his trademark "quenelle" hand gesture that looks like an inverted Nazi salute, but which he insists is merely anti- establishment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Corporate India's social responsibility graph is headed up with 47 per cent jump in CSR spend since it became mandatory, with 300 BSE listed spending Rs 6,871 crore on this front in 2016-17, says a report. According to India CSR Outlook Report 2017 by NGOBox, a (CSR) research platform in India, the 300 spent Rs 6,871 crore on CSR in 2016- 17 while in 2014-15, when it became mandatory in India, the actual figure was Rs 4,678 crore. On a yearly basis, the actual CSR spend of the entities rose 8.34 per cent in 2016-17, from Rs 6,342 crore in 2015-16. This increase in CSR funding in the last financial year, the report said, has given a lot of push to quality education initiatives along with intensifying Skill India Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission. Education projects received 32 per cent of the CSR money while Swachh Bharat related programmes accounted for 7.3 per cent, the report said. Going by the state-wise distribution, Maharashtra received the maximum at 16.5 per cent, followed by Gujarat with 6.9 per cent. Odisha has seen a sharp jump on CSR funds beneficiary matrix, jumping to the 3rd slot in 2016-17, from 8th in 2015- 16, the report said. However, seven north-east states together received just 2 per cent. However, urban slum development and welfare for Army veterans got scant attention from businesses, with just Rs 34 crore spent in both these areas. Technology incubation for start-ups is gradually gaining traction with Rs 20 crore CSR expenditure. Healthcare projects received 17 per cent of CSR funds. " are spending CSR funds on enhancing teachers' capacities as well as learning outcomes for students rather than just on school infrastructure. Similarly, companies are looking at cluster-based development models to bring sustainable impact in specific regions," NGOBox CEO Bhomik Shah said. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal today told a meeting, which was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, that a decision on mohalla clinics would be taken after ensuring sufficient safeguards, so that quality healthcare could be offered to Delhiites. The development comes a day after 45 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs camped at the Raj Niwas for hours, seeking an immediate nod for the mohalla clinics, an initiative of the party. Besides Kejriwal, the meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary M M Kutty, Finance Secretary S N Sahai, Principal Secretary (Vigilance) Ashwani Kumar and other officers. After the meeting, although Sisodia claimed that the LG had assured that the files on mohalla clinics would be cleared by Tuesday, Baijal said a decision on offering quality healthcare to the residents would be taken only after incorporating safeguards to ensure transparency and objectivity. "Hon LG has assured that Mohalla Clinic files would be cleared by Tuesday. If he has any queries, he'll call us for clarification (sic)," Sisodia wrote on Twitter. Jain had submitted the files on mohalla clinics to the LG at the meeting. The LG also told the meeting that all the issues pertaining to the project should be addressed. According to a statement issued by the LG's office, the health secretary gave a detailed background of the project. "The secretary also explained the gist of the complaints received regarding setting up of these clinics such as no transparent method to select the premises, the rent of the premises being higher than the market rate, the premises of party workers being taken on rent etc.," the statement said. It added that there were also complaints about the clinics being located far from the existing dispensaries, that the four-hour time period for the functioning of the clinics was not sufficient and that there was no proper accounting while deciding payments to be made to the doctors. Following the health secretary's explanation, the LG said it was of utmost importance that while implementing such a vital project, all the issues were addressed to ensure that it achieved its goal. Yesterday, there was high drama at the LG's office as 45 AAP MLAs camped there till late evening, insisting that he cleared the files on the mohalla clinics immediately. The LG later described the act of the legislators as "laying siege to the office of a constitutional functionary". The episode has marked a fresh confrontation between the ruling dispensation in Delhi and the LG's office. The two have frequently been at loggerheads. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today announced no major changes in its tariff schedule for 2017-18, but hiked the fixed charges for consumers with 3-5 KW connections in the range of Rs 5-Rs 75. The new tariff schedule will come into effect from September 1, DERC member B P Singh said at a press conference here. "The new tariff schedule has been prepared considering affordability and paying capacity of consumers," he said. The commission has accepted the Delhi government's recommendation for funding an amount of Rs 694 crore for the Pension Trust, to be met by a surcharge of 3.7 per cent payable by the consumers. This will be besides the additional surcharge paid by consumers at 8 per cent rate. In a move aimed at benefiting consumers running small-scale commercial establishments, the power regulator has decided to deem all such consumers having 5 KW load connection as domestic consumers. Earlier, this clause was only applicable to those in slum areas, but now it will be applicable across the city, Singh said. Gaushalas and paying guest accommodations registered under any scheme of the Delhi government will also be covered under the domestic category, Singh said. The DERC has also benefited low end domestic consumers with sanctioned load upto 1 KW, reducing their fixed charge from Rs 40 to Rs 20 per month. For those having 2 KW load connection, the fixed charge will remain Rs 40. The fixed charge for consumers having 3 KW load has been revised from Rs 100 to Rs 105. For 4 KW load, the fixed charge has been raised by Rs 40, while for 5 KW it has been hiked by Rs 75, it said. The fixed charge hikes will result in 0.14-1.13 per cent increase in power bills of the low-end domestic consumers, i.E. Nearly 15 per cent of all domestic consumers in the city will be affected. The domestic consumers number around half of the total consumers of the three power distribution companies in the national capital. The DERC has created a separate category for charging stations, especially for e-rickshaws and other e-vehicles, having a flat rate of Rs 5.50 per KWh. The limit for sanctioned load for agriculture category has been increased from 10 KW to 20 KW. The last tariff revision of 5 per cent was in July 2014. Power experts said Delhi's total revenue gap (regulatory assets) owed to the three discoms, including BSES companies BRPL and BYPL and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), is over Rs 34,000 crore till 2015-2016. Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia hailed the DERC decision of not hiking the energy fares. He told reporters here that the AAP government has not allowed any hike in power tariff for three consecutive years, whereas in BJP-ruled states, power tariff has been increased upto two times. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has sought External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's intervention into a reported "ban" on a Sikh article of faith 'Kirpan' in a school in Australia. DSGMC general secretary and legislator Manjinder Singh Sirsa has written a letter to Swaraj urging her to take up the matter with Australian authorities. "It has come to our notice that the Education Department in Queensland, Australia, has banned the wearing of Kirpan by Sikh students," he said in the letter. Sirsa said that it was a "discriminatory" move that "harassed" students from the community. Reports had it that the school's principal was told by Queensland authorities that it was wrong to allow a parent of the faith to carry a ceremonial knife (kirpan) onto the school grounds. He hoped that the Indian government's intervention will help in lifting the ban. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A unique and very personal letter written by German physicist Albert Einstein to his close friend Michele Besso, discussing about various topics including God, is expected to fetch over USD 60,000 at an auction in the US. Datelined from Princeton, April 15, 1950, the letter by Einstein melds the philosophical with the scientific and gives insight into the disciplined scientific mind of the great physicist. In the letter, Einstein writes about wide-ranging content spanning from the spiritual - referencing God as "Him" - to his Unified Field Theory, with equations from the theory in his hand, that he believed neutralises his critics, according to Nate D Sanders auction house. "There is one thing that I have learned in the course of a long life: It is devilishly difficult to get closer to 'Him', if one does not want to remain on the surface," Einstein wrote. "There is no such thing as a 'particle' in the strictest meaning of the word," Einstein writes taking aim at quantum physicists. He even tackles the tricky issue of knowledge itself writing "no guarantee that it will ever be possible to know whether the theory is 'true'". The two paged letter is signed as "Affectionate greetings. Your A.E." The letter measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is accompanied by the original envelope postmarked from Princeton on 16 April 1950. The online auction bidding will end on September 28. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The induction of the iconic English Electric Canberra jet into the Indian Air Force will complete 60 years tomorrow. The Canberra Jet bomber was first inducted into the IAF in No 5 Squadron (Tuskers) at Agra on September 1, 1957. "It was the first generation Jet Bomber manufactured in large number through the 1950s. The prototype of Canberra, first flew in May 1949 and in January 1957 the aircraft was selected by the IAF to equip its bomber and strategic reconnaissance fleet," the IAF said. When political turmoil broke out in Belgian Congo in 1961, the UN had requested India for strike aircraft. On October 9, 1961, six Canberra aircraft of No 5 squadron had taken off from Agra for Leopoldville, over 6000 km away to join the UN multinational force in the Congo. "This was the first ever-Indian fighter-bomber contingent to take part in UN operations. The offensive operation in Congo earned the Squadron two Vir Chakras, one Vayu Sena Medal and five Vishisht Seva Medals," the IAF said in a release. The Canberras took part in all major operations including the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars and 1987 operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. "The Canberra last saw action in the Kargil war in 1999 where it flew recce missions, during one of the missions one aircraft's engine was hit by a missile. The sturdy Canberra could survive the enemy's missile attack and landed safely with all vital information," the IAF said. After 50 years of glorious service to the Nation, the IAF bid adieu to its legendary old war horse on May 11, 2007 at air force station, Agra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former principal of BRD Medical College Rajiv Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla were today sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court in connection with the deaths of scores of children in the state-run facility. Meanwhile, 13 more children died at the hospital yesterday, taking the toll so far this month to 309, newly- appointed principal of the college Dr PK Singh told PTI today. He said that since flood waters were receding, chances of infection were high. With these deaths, the toll has reached 1,269 so far this year. "On August 30 till midnight as many as 59 children were admitted. Of them, 13 died. As of now, there are 354 children undergoing treatment," Singh said. In a related development, the Allahabad High Court today sought a "detailed report" on the infrastructure and medical facilities at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice M K Gupta directed the secretary of the state Legal Services Authority to personally visit the medical college hospital and file a report along with photographs of various wards. Earlier in the day, the doctor couple, arrested on Tuesday by Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF), was produced before the court of additional sessions judge Shivanand Singh, who sent them to the Gorakhpur district jail on a 14-day judicial remand. They were named in an FIR lodged by the UP government. The two were brought to the court here amid tight security. Mishra was suspended as principal of the medical college on August 12 after the deaths were reported. He resigned the same day owning moral responsibility. There were allegations that the deaths happened due to disruption in oxygen supply as the vendor had not been paid for several months. While the Uttar Pradesh government vehemently denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths, a high-powered probe committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar indicted Mishra and others of laxity and some other charges. Mishra was accused of sitting over on the issue of payments to the vendor supplying oxygen gas to the hospital. The doctor couple were booked on the basis of the report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the chief secretary. Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12. The two doctors were picked up from Kanpur, where they had reportedly gone to consult a lawyer. The medical college attracted global attention when more than 60 children, mostly infants, died at the hospital within the span of a week earlier this month. The issue also acquired a political colour with the opposition attacking the government over it. Following the deaths, cases were registered under various sections of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Medical Council Act against Mishra, his wife, Dr Kafeel Khan, Dr Satish, Chief Pharmacist, Gajanan Jaiswal, Accountant Sudhir Pandey, Assistant Clerk, Uday Pratap Sharma of Pushpa Sales and Manish Bhandari. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former principal of BRD Medical College Rajiv Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla were today sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court in connection with the deaths of scores of children in the state-run medical college hospital. The doctor couple, arrested on Tuesday by Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF), was produced before the court of additional sessions judge Shivanand Singh, who sent them to the Gorakhpur district jail on a 14-day judicial remand. They were named in an FIR lodged by the UP government. The two were brought to the court here amid tight security. Mishra was suspended as principal of the medical college on August 12 after the deaths were reported. He resigned the same day. There were allegations that the deaths happened due to disruption in the oxygen supply as the vendor had not been paid for several months. While the Uttar Pradesh government vehemently denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths, a high-powered probe committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar indicted Mishra and others of laxity and other charges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India today expressed grief over the death of a Bollywood technician during the outdoor shoot of a Hindi film in South 24 Parganas district. "It is an unfortunate incident. We have apprised our all India unit about the death of a technician at an outdoor shoot on Tuesday night," Federation president Swarup Biswas told PTI today. "According to our information, Shah Alam, the technician, went up to switch off the power line after end of the day's shoot when the tragedy struck," he said. The tragedy involving Alam, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, took place at the location spot of Anushka Sharma starrer "Pari" at Korolberia under Leather Complex police station limits. He was declared dead at a local hospital, police said. Karnesh Sharma, the co-producer of the film, had yesterday said, "In an unfortunate incident while shooting yesterday, we lost one of our unit members, Shah Alam from lighting department. Despite our best efforts and medical assistance, he could not be saved. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the top foreign stories at 1725 hours today: FGN19 PAK-2NDLD BHUTTO Islamabad: Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf was declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court which ordered seizure of his property and sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassination. By Sajjad Hussain FGN17 BRICS-CHINA-PAK Beijing: China said that concerns over Pakistan's counter-terrorism record is not an "appropriate topic" to be discussed at the next week's BRICS summit where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to meet.By K J M Varma FGN8 US-LD PAK Washington: The Trump administration has notified Congress that it will give Pakistan USD 255 million worth of conditional military assistance if it takes more action against internal terror groups launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, according to a media report. By Lalit K Jha FGN5 US-PAK-PRESSLER Washington: The US must declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, a former top senator who was instrumental in imposing tough sanctions on Pakistan in 1990s has said as he welcomed President Donald Trump's decision to elevate ties with India.By Lalit K Jha FGN18 UK-DIANA London: Thousands of admirers of Princess Diana paid tributes with flowers, posters and images at the gates of Kensington Palace here as the UK today marked the 20th death anniversary of the "people's princess". By Aditi Khanna FGN4 SAUDI-HAJJ Mount Arafat: With their palms facing the sky in supplication, and many with tears in their eyes, around 2 million people from around the world gathered today in an effort to start anew, erase past sins and beg God for forgiveness and guidance in the peak day of the hajj pilgrimage. (AP) FGN12 US-HARVEY-2NDLD CHEMICALPLANT Houston: Local emergency officials reported two explosions at a flooded chemical plant in the Texas town of Crosby, its operators Arkema Inc said. (AFP) FGN13 ALGERIA-LD BOMBING Algiers: A suicide bomber killed two Algerian policemen, including one who threw himself on the attacker whose explosives belt then detonated, state media said, citing the security services. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gunmen ambushed and killed four soldiers and a civilian in Nigeria's oil-rich south, local sources have said, breaking months of uneasy calm after unrest over the distribution of the country's oil revenues. Armed men ambushed the military contingent in the Ekeremor waterways area of Bayelsa State as they returned from an assignment in the Letugbene community on Monday. The gunmen, who outnumbered the soldiers, forced the servicemen to surrender, marched them to a creek, executed them and stole their weapons and military gear. A civilian boat driver with the military detachment attempted to escape but was also shot and killed by the attackers. Nigeria's oil-rich south and southeast had been ravaged by violence orchestrated by groups seeking to force the government to more evenly share petroleum revenues with local residents. But violence had fallen away sharply in recent months after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo led negotiations with armed groups that reduced the frequency of attacks on oil production facilities that had cut output and hammered earnings in 2016. Tare Porri, a local youth leader, confirmed the killings. "(The attack) was bizarre and unprovoked," said Porri, chairman of the Central Zone of Ijaw Youths Council. "Four military officers were killed in cold blood alongside a civilian. Military officers went to Letugbene community and on their way back, some persons accosted them and killed all of them," he told AFP. "Only one of them escaped. The military, yesterday morning, retaliated, invaded the communities and burnt down houses. The operations are still ongoing and it is spreading to other communities," Porri added. A senior security official confirmed the incident and denounced the increased level of violence against security forces. "Security operatives are now endangered species. It is unacceptable the way security officials deployed to Niger Delta are killed without provocation by people they dedicated their lives to protect," said the source, who declined to be identified. "In Bayelsa, policemen, civil defenders and soldiers are constantly killed. It is barbaric." There was no immediate response from the military joint task force responsible for security in the region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lending a helping hand in the flood relief operations in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, has committed $1 million to NGOs Goonj and Save the Children. While Save the Children is responding to the floods in all three countries, with the aim to reach a total of 1,60,000 people, Goonj aims to help 75,000 families in nine affected states in India, according to . Save the Children's efforts include providing food and livelihood support, temporary shelter materials for those most in need, hygiene items, and water source restoration, while also focusing on setting up child-friendly spaces where children can gain access to educational materials. Goonj's relief efforts include providing families with food, mats, blankets and hygiene items. In the long term, it aims to help rebuild and revive community structures such as roads, bridges and schools. Apart from offering funds to the NGOs, Google's crisis response team has also activated SOS alerts in the three countries. "These alerts include the latest news about the floods, an approximate map of the affected area, and local updates from Twitter and other resources. "Our thoughts are with the people of the region," Rajan Anandan, vice president- for Southeast Asia and India, said. Google.Org and Google employees have committed USD 1 million to Goonj and Save the Children for their relief efforts in India and across South Asia. In a company blog, Google Vice President (South East Asia and India) Rajan Anandan said millions of people have been affected by severe flooding and landslides across Bangladesh, India and Nepal. At least 1,200 people are known to have died, and tens of thousands of houses, schools, and hospitals have been destroyed, leaving people in urgent need of support during and after flood waters recede, he noted. ********** Paisabazaar.Com partners CASHe for short-term personal loans * Paisabazaar.Com, an online marketplace for loans and cards, today said it has partnered with CASHe to offer short term personal loans through the Paisabazaar.Com platform. "We get customers from across the spectrum on our platform... These customers have varied credit profiles, with credit scores ranging from 'Excellent' to 'Poor'," Naveen Kukreja, CEO and co-founder of Paisabazaar.Com, said in a statement. The partnership with CASHe will help improve access to credit for young salaried professionals with below par credit scores, he added. "Not only is it a great platform to access credit for short term, it is also an excellent medium for consumers to behave responsibly on this loan and build their credit profile," he said. Paisabazaar.Com and CASHe are together aiming at disbursing 35,000 loans by the end of 2017. ********** Info Edge invests Rs 8.66 cr in Canvera * Info Edge -- which runs online job portal Naukri.Com -- has invested Rs 8.66 crore in Canvera. "Info Edge has invested Rs 86,666,530 in Canvera Digital Technologies through its wholly-owned subsidiary for a cash consideration," it said in a BSE filing. Canvera offers digital printing solutions including IT- enabled design services, primarily relating to photobooks, calendars and prints. This is a follow-up round of investment in Canvera. Canvera's turnover stood at Rs 48.89 crore in 2016-17. The aggregate shareholding of Info Edge in Canvera would be 62.22 per cent on fully converted and diluted basis, the statement said. ********** ABC Consultants acquires significant stake in QuezX.Com * Recruitment firm ABC Consultants today said it has acquired a significant stake in online recruitment aggregator QuezX.Com for an undisclosed amount. Apart from a series A investment in QuezX, ABC Consultants has merged its online business unit - HeadHonchos - with the operations of QuezX, a company release said. HeadHonchos.Com is India's leading online career services marketplace that offers a range of services for senior professionals to upgrade their skills and prepare for career transitions. "QuezX is at the leading edge of a digital shift in the recruitment industry where the power of technology and artificial intelligence is harnessed with the human skills of recruiters to serve both job seekers and employers more efficiently," ABC Consultants Managing Director Shiv Agrawal said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government today said it is examining a proposal to set up a committee for selection of Chairman-cum-Managing-Director of state-owned CIL. The current Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Coal India (CIL) Sutirtha Bhattacharya is scheduled to retire today. "I am looking at creating a search cum selection committee and I have sent in a proposal to have a search cum selection committee to look at newer candidates or assess the suitability of the candidate," Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said on the sidelines of a function here. The government head-hunter PESB has earlier suggested that the Centre may choose an appropriate course of action for selection of CMD for Coal India Ltd as it did not find any of the six candidates interviewed as fit for the top post. Bhattacharya assumed charge as CMD on January 5, 2015. Prior to joining CIL, Bhattacharya was the CMD of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL). The PESB had recommended Bhattacharya's name from 12 contenders who were interviewed for the key post. Replying to question on the power purchase agreements (PPAs) not being honoured because tariffs are falling the minister said that "we have written to states to take a more holistic view and not just get bogged down by one price discovered in one contract". He further said that the government is finalising the methodology on commercial coal mining. "So, I am trying to make a very simple and easy to operate mechanism to have commercial mining started," the minister said. On the new hydro policy, he said "now that the GST numbers are out I think we will get a faster acceptance on new policy on hydro also". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One law-enforcement officer was killed and two others wounded when a gunman carrying a high- powered rifle shot through the door of his hotel room, then leapt out over a balcony and led police on a brief chase. He was captured minutes later when he crashed and was wounded by responding officers yesterday. Hotel guests were trapped in their rooms for most of the day as police methodically cleared the area and confirmed no other gunmen stayed behind in the hotel room. Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, died from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones said. "It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events," Jones said. The day began with a routine investigation by a car-theft task force involving officers from multiple agencies. Investigators suspected a car-theft ring was being run out of a Ramada Inn in an unincorporated neighborhood of Sacramento. Two women who got into a stolen vehicle were chased for 20 miles before being apprehended in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. Arresting officers learned they were staying at a room in the Ramada Inn. When officers knocked on the door, a gunman opened fire through the door and walls, striking two California Highway Patrol officers before turning to the balcony, shooting French, who was outside monitoring the back door, and fleeing. He was found with a rifle and high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to purchase in California, sheriff's Sgt. Tony Turnbull said. The names of the wounded officers were not released. Jones said they were taken to a hospital and expected to survive. Dozens of heavily armed officers from around the region searched the hotel for hours before determining that there were no other suspects inside. It's unclear why the suspects responded so aggressively when police arrived, Turnbull said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an unprecedented move, Delhi High Court judges led by Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Gita Mittal today paid surprise visits at the lower courts here and found that several had not started functioning as the judicial officers were late. ACJ Mittal, who herself visited the Patiala House courts complex here to get the first-hand account of punctuality of judges, working atmosphere and cleanliness, found that out of 27 judicial officers there, only eight were presiding over the courts at 10 AM, the reporting time for the lower courts. Registrar General (RG) Dinesh Kumar Sharma told PTI that the surprise move was aimed at checking various aspects of functioning of the lower judiciary including punctuality and discipline. Sharma said other senior judges carried out similar inspections of trial court complexes at Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka and Saket. "Justice Ravindra Bhat visited Tis Hazari courts, Justice Sanjiv Khanna went to Rohini courts, Justice G S Sistani showed up at Karkardooma courts, Justice S Muralidhar at Saket court and Justice Vipin Sanghi went to Dwarka court," the RG said. He said the "unprecedented" decision to conduct surprise checks was taken by ACJ Mittal. On being asked whether any action would be taken against the judicial officers who were late-comers, the Registrar General said the high court will take "appropriate action". Court sources said that a majority of judicial officers were found to be late and many of them arrived only after 10:30 AM, though the reporting time is 10 AM. The High Court, in the recent times, has taken strict view of laxity and impropriety on the part of judges of the subordinate judiciary. Recently, the services of a judicial officer was terminated days before taking charge as a Metropolitan Magistrate in Tis Hazari court. The high court had also compulsorily retired an additional sessions judge over graft allegations which came to fore in a complaint lodged by the Enforcement Directorate. The High Court reviews the performance of a lower court judge at the age of 58 to decide whether he or she can be allowed to superannuate at the age of 60 years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhiites had a harrowing time today as vehicles waded through waterlogged stretches following heavy rains in the city. Long tailbacks were seen across the national capital after it received 59.0 mm rainfall. A senior traffic police officer said additional staff was deployed to manage the traffic situation and reserve staff was called in to help commuters. Regular tweets were sent out by the Delhi Traffic Police's Twitter handle, cautioning people about waterlogged roads and stretches. People were stuck in jams on several key stretches in south Delhi like Moolchand, Modi Mill flyover, Pul Prahladpur underpass, Savitri Cinema flyover, Moti Bagh, Chirag Dilli and Saket. Major intersections like Ashram Chowk, Britannia Chowk, Kashmere Gate, ITO, Mukarba Chowk, Mehrauli-Badarpur road, Mehrauli-Gurgaon road also witnessed chock-a-block situation. The traffic situation worsened a bit as a DTC bus broke down on the Raj Nagar flyover, affecting the traffic movement between the flyover and Safdarjung. Many residents also took to Twitter to share about their traffic woes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Himachal Pradesh BJP leaders today accused the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh government of trying to "derail" investigations into the Kotkhai rape and murder case to "save the real culprits". The party also sought the resignation of the government on the issue. The latest developments in the investigation into the case has exposed the virtual absence of governance, leading to loss of faith of the people and the civil society in the government, Union Health minister J P Nadda alleged. The intension behind constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the state government was to ensure fair and impartial probe, but its conduct has come under cloud, he claimed. "Though the investigation is underway and the matter is subjudice, the actual culprits of the dastardly act are yet to be nabbed. The arrest of the complete SIT by the CBI isnot something routine... It shows that officers sitting at the top tried to influence andgive a twist to the direction of this case," Nadda said. The minister's remarks come after the CBI on Tuesday arrested the inspector-general of the Himachal Pradesh police, Zahur Haidar Zaidi, and seven other policemen in connection with the custodial death of an accused in a rape case. He said that the entire BJP state unit had been demanding a fair and unbiased probe into the case, and had echoed the sentiments of the people. "The entire tenure of the present government is synonymous to nepotism, corruption and inefficiency, and now towards its fag end, things have gone from bad to worse," the minister said. The chief minister and the party are at loggerheads, and busy making a beeline in Delhi rather than caring for minimal governance for which they have been mandated, he claimed. Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader P K Dhumal alleged that the very purpose of constituting the SIT was to give a "twist" to the probe and "save" the real culprits. "Virbhadra Singh has pushed the state into morass of crime and there has been spurt in incidents of heinous crimes due to protection given by the government to criminals and he must resign, and pave the way for a fresh assembly polls in the state," he said, adding "the sooner he quits the government, better it would be for the state". Dhumal said that the chief minister has no right to remain in power and he should resign in view of the arrests by the CBI. Accusing the chief minister for misusing the police to serve his vested interests, he said that the rape and murder case had "sullied" the image of the entire police force. "It is unfortunate that the chief minister not only misled the Assembly and the people, but also patted the SIT for good work," he said. "To derail the probe, it has become a habit of the chief minister to give clean chit to culprits even before the investigations are completed, and in this case also, efforts were made to twist the facts to save the real culprits," Dhumal said in a statement. Meanwhile, BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur demanded the resignation of Singh on the issue. State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti and chief party spokesman Rajiv Bindal have also accused the government of trying to save the culprits by implicating the wrong people in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of Iranians attended the funeral today of Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the country's most influential dissident politicians and a former foreign minister. The ceremony took place in a mosque north of Tehran and was attended by many of Yazdi's political allies as well as ordinary Iranian citizens. His coffin was draped with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and friends acted as pallbearers. Yazdi died at age 85 on Sunday in Izmir, Turkey, where he was being treated for complications from cancer after being denied a US visa for follow-up treatment in Houston, Texas, in January. He had worked as a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas until the mid-1970s. Yazdi was a close ally of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, his party, the Freedom Movement, later turned against the clerics as they consolidated power. Yazdi was frequently sentenced to prison on security charges, including an eight-year term in 2012. A former member of parliament, Yazdi resigned as foreign minister in 1979 in protest of the takeover of the U.S. embassy by militant students who kept 52 Americans hostages for 444 days. Washington later cut diplomatic relations with Tehran. Yazdi argued that the takeover led to a harsher stance by Washington against Iran's Islamic revolution and emboldened former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to wage an eight-year war against Iran, which left more than 1 million casualties on both sides. He was among a small group of politicians who believed the war should have come to end in early 1980s. It lasted until 1988. Yazdi was the English-language spokesman for Khomeini during the revolution, both in exile in France and in early 1979 after the toppling of pro-Western monarch Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Abolhassan Banisadr, the first Iranian president who now lives in exile in Paris, did the same in French. During his long stay in the U.S. In the 1960s and 1970s, Yazdi established the biggest Muslim association in the country in Houston and earned a reputation for protesting the Shah in various states. At today's funeral the crowd occasionally raised the traditional demand for the release of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi who have been under house arrest since 2011.They both challenged the 2009 re-election of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two persons died of swine flu and related complications during August at a state-run hospital here, an official said today. The deaths occurred this week, he said. A bulletin issued by the Telangana government two days ago had said that 165 positive cases of swine flu have been reported in the state since the beginning of this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Voicing concern over the "falling standards" in certain sections of the media, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayantoday urged the journalists to identify their weaknesses and correct them from within. He said this after inaugurating the renovated office building of the Calicut Press Club here. "There are many who have served the profession with dedication, but the falling standards (of the media) can also be seen among certain sections," Vijayan said. He added that this needed to be addressed and corrected from within. The chief minister was all praise for the role of the media during the country's freedom struggle. "The media scenario has changed a lot with the advent of information technology. Despite the absence of such facilities, publications like 'Mathrubhumi' and'Desabhimani' had contributed immensely to the freedom movement," he said. Member of Parliament M K Raghavan and MLAs M K Muneer and APradip Kumar were also present on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India today issued 10-year multiple entry visas to the young Israeli survivor of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Moshe Holtzberg and his grandparents, to ease their travel to the country. Holtzberg, who is now 11 years old, had expressed his wish to visit Mumbai during an emotional meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on July 5 this year. "I am very excited at this nice present from Prime Minister Modi. This is going to help me when I grow up", Moshe said on receiving the 10-year visa from an official at the Indian embassy. The young boy in the past had said expressed his desire to live and work as Chabad emissary in Mumbai, a role his father was carrying out when he was killed in the Mumbai terror attack. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House," Moshe had told the Prime Minister who embraced the young boy on seeing him. "With God's help, this is my answer," the boy had said reading from a prepared script concluding, "I love you and your people in India." Modi had responded by saying, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere". Moshe's grandfather Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, confirmed that they have been issued long-term visas to "help them travel to India whenever they wish, as per the promise made by Prime Minister Modi". "It is such an honour. I have no words to describe the feeling. The Indian Prime Minister promised us long-term visas for the whole family and he has followed up on it. We are thrilled. We love India and would look forward to visiting soon", Rosenberg told PTI. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Moshe to join him when he travels to India. Rosenberg had earlier said that the family wishes to celebrate Moshe's 'bar mitzvah', a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13 which some Israeli scholars compare with upnayana, or the thread ceremony, in Mumbai for which he would invite Modi. Moshe's parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at the Nariman House, also referred to as Chabad House, which also came under attack in November 2008 by Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The boy, then a two-year-old toddler, was saved in a daring move by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuels, who ignored her own safety and rushed inside the Nariman House to rescue him after hearing him cry. Samuels now lives in Israel and has been felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the by the Government of Israel so that she could live in the country and be with Moshe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The issue of climate change figured in talks between India and Switzerland today, Swiss President Doris Leuthard said, condoling the death in the recent rains and the subsequent flooding in Mumbai. Addressing a joint press session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said they discussed ways to operationalise the Paris climate accord and the gradual replacing of fossil energy with renewable sources. In her opening remarks, Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, expressed her condolences to the families of the victims of flooding in Mumbai, triggered by torrential rains throughout the day on Tuesday. "During our conversation we also discussed climate change and its effects and negative impact on society and that is why India and Switzerland are very much engaged in all these discussions on how we can make operational the Paris agreement, on how we can replace fossil energy with renewable energy," she said. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. Swiss presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier -- in 1998, 2003 and 2007. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata group hospitality arm Indian Hotels Company Ltd plans to open seven hotels in the next two years as part of its expansion plans going forward. Altogether, the new properties to be opened by the company will add 581 rooms to its inventory, IHCL said in an investor presentation. As on March 31, 2017 Taj Group had 134 hotels with 16,675 rooms. Out of the seven new properties, hotels at Rishikesh, Shimla and Tirupati will be under the Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts and Safaris brand and will follow management contract model, it said. IHCL said it will also open a property under the brand at Andamans which will be owned by the company. Aurangabad and Lucknow are among other locations, where the company plans to open properties under the Ginger brand through its arm Roots Corporation. In Surat, the company also plans to open a new Ginger property through management contract. In 2017, the company has opened four Ginger hotels with two at Ahmedabad and one each at Mumbai and Gurgaon adding 299 rooms. Shares of Indian Hotels Company Ltd today closed at Rs 118.60 (rpt) Rs 118.60 per scrip on BSE, up 3 (rpt) 3 per cent from its previous close. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian student in Singapore was today sentenced to five months in jail for molesting a woman last year, according to a media report. Ravi Kumar, 27, was jailed for molesting the 27-year-old woman in Redhill housing estate on the night of September 9, The Straits Times reported. Kumar was drinking beer with his friend when he saw the victim at Block 84, Redhill Lane, and struck up a conversation with her. The victim was with her elder sister, who was talking on her cellphone. Shortly after, Ravi stood up and gave 10 dollars to the victim's sister and told her to "buy drinks". He then sat next to the victim, put his arm around her shoulder and tried to molest her, the paper said. The victim scolded him and called the police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reza from Iran is torn between the joy of taking part in this year's annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites and bitter memories of the 2015 stampede that killed hundreds of his compatriots. Iranian pilgrims stayed away from the 2016 hajj after regional rivals Saudi Arabia, custodian of the sites in the west of the kingdom, and Iran failed to agree on arrangements and logistics. Arrangements for the hajj, a religious duty which devout Muslims must accomplish at least once in their lifetime, are thorny and security paramount for the two million pilgrims who throng Islam's holiest sites in western Saudi Arabia. In 2015, a human river of pilgrims was performing the final major rite of the hajj, the "Stoning of the Devil", near Mecca when a stampede killed hundreds of Muslims from across the world. Riyadh issued a death toll of 769, while figures compiled from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally of around 2,300 dead. Tehran reported the largest number of stampede victims, with 464 Iranians among the dead. "They were murdered, they (Saudi authorities) didn't help them," said Reza, a 63-year-old former oil company official, seated in the lobby of a Mecca hotel. But Reza said that new security measures now left him feeling safer. "Everything is clear this year," he said, speaking in English. "They've taken more security measures otherwise we would not have come," he said. And "the hajj leaders of Iran have given us instructions and times" for the rituals, to avoid any repeat of the 2015 disaster. Iranian authorities say more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are taking part in this year's hajj, each equipped with an identity bracelet in case of any accident. The "made-in-Tehran" bracelets can be connected to smartphones, allowing access to information on the hajj. Iran lambasted Saudi Arabia in the months following the stampede, condemning its organisation of the hajj and questioning the kingdom's very right to serve as custodian of Islam's holiest places. In January 2016, Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran broke off diplomatic ties after angry Iranian protesters stormed Saudi diplomatic missions over the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Tehran and Riyadh stand on opposing sides in several regional disputes, including the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, as well as this year's Gulf diplomatic crisis between Qatar and a Saudi-led Arab bloc. But a breakthrough accord on Iranian pilgrims taking part in this year's hajj was struck in March after several months of negotiations during which the two Gulf states traded bitter recriminations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP today hit back at National Conference working president Omar Abdullah for accusing the coalition government in the state of 'engineering communal divide'. The party said that the NC leader's "aggressive posture and acts of instigation" might lead to the division of the state. "Omar's aggressive posture and the act of instigating the people against the government through his presumption that Supreme Court would turn down Article 35A, biased policies of National Conference against Jammu and Ladakh regions may divide the people on communal and regional lines and lead to the division of the state. "If it so happens, he(Omar) and his party (NC) will be responsible for this development," BJP State spokesperson Virender Gupta said. Addressing a workers' rally at Kalakote in Rajouri district yesterday, the former Chief Minister accused the PDP-BJP government of dividing the society on communal lines to hide their "governance deficit and administrative inertia". He had said his party would not allow the society to be divided for satiating the "nefarious agenda of communal forces". Reacting to the statement, Gupta alleged NC has a history of playing communal politics and has acquired expertise in it to grab the political power. "Right from the day of its first birth as Muslim Conference, it exploited Kashmiri Muslims against the Hindu Maharaja on communal lines and engineered 1931 riots targeting Kashmiri Pandits, resulting into their massacre and destruction of their property. "The demand of special status (Article 370) in a country, that has a secular constitution and ethos of respecting and embracing all the faiths with the belief that all leads to the same Almighty, had communal connotation," the BJP leader said. He said, "not allowing Hindu and Sikh refugees from Muzaffarabad (capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to settle in the Valley, exodus of Kashmiri Hindus and at present making their resettlement a difficult affair in the Valley, and not allowing establishment of Sainik Colony in the Valley, are the consequences of communal politics being pursued under the patronage of National Conference". "Role of Omar and his party during Shri Amarnath land row in 2008, was a clear example of divisive politics of National Conference and other Kashmiri leaders," he alleged. The BJP leader claimed that the discrimination with Jammu region, which has Hindu majority was a clear cut example of communal politics that is being played or was played by Kashmiri political leadership. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan's coastguard expelled hundreds of North Korean fishing vessels from its waters this summer, officials said today, as tensions soar in response to Pyongyang launching a missile over its neighbour. The agency said it fired water cannon at some boats whose crew refused orders to leave the Yamato Banks, a rich fishing ground in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), adding that the expulsions started in mid-July. It was the first time the coastguard revealed it has being booting the North Korean ships from Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The announcement came two days after North Korea launched a missile over Japanese territory, drawing global condemnation and stoking calls for more sanctions against the regime. Japan's coastguard said it issued at least 820 warnings to North Korean boats trawling illegally in its economic zone, which extends some 200 nautical miles from its coastline. The agency added that a particular boat might have received more than one warning. "Since mid-August, we haven't seen North Korean fishing vessels in waters around the Yamato Banks," an agency official said. Every year, badly damaged boats -- sometimes with rotting corpses inside -- wash up on Japan's shores. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court today directed a lower court to proceed with the trial against actor Sooraj Pancholi, accused of abetting the suicide of his actor girlfriend Jiah Khan in 2013. A division bench of Justices R M Savant and Sandeep Shinde was hearing a petition filed by Jiah's mother Rabia Khan seeking appointment of advocate Dinesh Tiwari as special public prosecutor in the matter. Rabia in her petition claimed that she did not want the prosecuting agency CBI's counsel to conduct the trial on behalf of the prosecution as she did not agree with the CBI's conclusion that Jiah had committed suicide. Rabia has been claiming that Jiah was murdered by Sooraj. The high court today posted Rabia's petition for hearing on September 11 but said, "We make it clear that proceedings in the trial court not stayed. The trial can go on against the accused person." Jiah had committed suicide on June 3, 2013. Her then actor boyfriend Sooraj was arrested for abetting her suicide on June 10, 2013, but released on July 2 the same year after the HC granted him bail. The case was transferred to the CBI by HC in July 2014 on Rabia's petition that police was not probing it properly. However, when the CBI filed a charge sheet in the case and booked Sooraj on abetment charges, Rabia again petitioned the court seeking a Special Investigation Team to be set up to probe the case afresh. Rabia was against the CBI's concurrence with the findings of Mumbai police that it was a case of suicide and not homicide. The high court had then dismissed her petition seeking an SIT to be set up. Later, the Maharashtra government appointed advocate Dinesh Tiwari, who had initially appeared for Rabia, as special public prosecutor in the case. This was challenged by the CBI in the high court which said it would appoint its own counsel. The government had earlier this month informed the HC that it has withdrawn its order appointing Tiwari as prosecutor in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The White House has said that it has put all options on table to tackle the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea, which fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday. "I think the President (Donald Trump) has been very clear about his position on North Korea, certainly in his statement by saying all options are on the table, and that continues to be the case," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters yesterday on board with Trump on the Air Force One. She was responding to questions on statements by the president and his Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on the repeated ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang. In a tweet, Trump had riled out talks with North Korea, while Mattis has said that US is not out of diplomatic options. "...As we've said before, we're going to use all methods and that will continue to be one of them, but only a part of the integrated policy and plan moving forward," Sander said. She said the Trump administration has been taking serious action by putting strong sanctions on North Korea, continuing to put pressure across the board, and weighing its options. "When the president makes a decision about next steps, we'll certainly keep you guys in the loop on that front," she said. The missile, fired on Tuesday, travelled around 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) and reached a maximum height of 550 kilometers (341 miles) as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The launch appeared to be the first of a North Korean missile to cross over Japan, though some rockets were used to put satellites into space have done so. It also appeared to be the North's longest-ever missile test. Meanwhile, Senators Joe Donnelly and Ben Sasse pushed for increased sanctions on both North Korea and China to crack down on Pyongyang's weapons program. The two lawmakers sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, outlining recent findings on the North Korean sanctions and outlining key questions for future full committee hearings. "...There is a strong consensus that the level of pressure necessary to get the Kim Jong-un regime to the table, let alone reach an agreement, will be extraordinarily high and must be coupled with a full court diplomatic effort with our allies and with China directly to persuade China to engage more directly with the DPRK," the letter said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming demonetisation as a "money laundering exercise that helped convert black money into white" at the expense of people, the Left today said the Prime Minister should come clean on it and accountability must be fixed as the note-ban "failed" to achieve its objectives. "Was this entire exercise done to protect the corporates who are refusing to return the loans they had taken from our nationalised banks? Was this done to prevent the banks from collapsing as a consequence of these loans?" CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury asked. While announcing demonetisation on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated the move will help combat the problems of corruption, black money, terror funding and counterfeit currency. Yechury claimed that none of these were achieved and instead corruption "has reached hitherto unknown levels". Another Left party, the CPI, stated that RBI's annual report for 2016-17, released yesterday, raises several questions, given there is no information on quantum of black money unearthed due to demonetisation, and also attributed the falling GDP to the note-ban. "M Venkaiah Naidu, when he was a minister, had said demonetisation has short term pain and long term gains. There is absolutely no gain, only pain in both short and long terms," Yechury told reporters here. Rather, he alleged, it benefited corporates "under the mask of digitisation" and at the cost of common people. He alleged the move also legitimised counterfeit currency. "It has now been completely confirmed that this has been a money laundering exercise to allow black money to be converted into white," he alleged. "Normally we would demand a white paper. But since this is all about the prime minister's fight against black money, I think there should be a black paper," he added. The Marxist leader put a 14-point poser to the government, asking it to come clean on it. He sought to know who decided to undertake demonetisation and who was responsible for the "more than 100 deaths" of people who had queued up outside ATMs/banks to withdraw their money after the note ban "Reportedly, more than 100 per cent of the demonetised currency is coming back after Bhutanese, Nepalese... Currency is taken in. This shows it's a successful money laundering scheme," he alleged. Yechury objected to Modi's picture in print advertisements of a private company after demonetisation was announced and alleged the intention was to give a profit bonanaza to corporates. Yechury claimed that the informal sector, which employs two-third of India's work force, has "collapsed" because of demonetisation and held the Centre responsible for it. Similarly, the "ill-effects" of demonetisation on rural markets and agriculture heightened the distress among farmers, he alleged. The CPI(M) leader said that in addition to the "failures", demonetisation put extra burden by way of printing new notes which cost Rs 8,000 crore and recalibrating ATMs by spending Rs 35,000 crore. Referring to a report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Yechury said the informal sector suffered Rs 1.50 lakh crore loss, thereby taking the total "additional expenditure" caused by demonetisation to Rs 2 lakh crore. "So, we, therefore, want accountability on this to be fixed. Those responsible for this must be punished and all the needle of suspicion points to the prime minister and the prime minister's office. So, issue a black paper and answer all these questions," he said. The government had yesterday said a "significant portion" of over Rs 15 lakh crore of junked currency that came back into the banking system could be black money. Yechury sought to dismiss the government's claim, arguing that since PAN card was used to accept the invalidated Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the returned currency stands legalised. The CPI's national secretary D Raja echoed Yechury on the issue. He claimed neither the prime minister nor the finance minister minister and the RBI Governor have answers to what happened to achieving the objectives of demonetisation. He also said that no one knows the quantum of black money unearthed or to what extent the move affected small and medium size businesses and their workforce. "Government has no figure on this. So, the RBI reports raised many questions. Now the government itself has today admitted that GDP is going down due to the demonetisation," Raja said. The RBI had yesterday said that as much as 99 per cent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system. The Reserve Bank, which has so far shied away from disclosing the actual number of junked currency deposited after November 8 last year, said in its annual report for 2016-17 that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency had come back into the banking system, leaving only Rs 16,050 crore out. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sarita Singh, one of the AAP MLAs who camped for hours at the Raj Niwas yesterday, has accused Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office of not allowing her access to medicine and food, despite she being in the seventh month of pregnancy. Refuting the charge, an official at the LG office said the MLA did not inform the Raj Niwas staff that she needed medicine or food. He added that another woman AAP MLA had also left the LG office after feeling unwell. Singh, the Rohtash Nagar MLA, was one of the 45 Aam Aadmi Party legislators who camped at Baijal's office yesterday, insisting that he cleared the files on mohalla clinics. They left the Raj Niwas after six-and-a-half hours with an assurance that the LG would hold a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the officers concerned today. "I had not gone to accept any kind of hospitality, but my health started failing since I did not get the medicines," Singh wrote in a letter to Baijal. She alleged that despite Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba and Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti repeatedly requesting the LG office staff, she was not allowed to bring medicines and food from her car. "Your officers said this was being done on the orders of the LG that we should not be given anything. We made repeated requests for drinking water and tea and yet we were not given anything to eat," the MLA wrote in the letter to Baijal. The official at the LG office said an appointment was granted to four AAP MLAs yesterday and Singh's name did not figure in that list. "Another woman MLA had left the conference hall at the LG office after feeling unwell. Sarita Singh should also have done the same. She was not forced by the staff at the LG office to stay back for hours," he added. An ambulance was always on standby at the Raj Niwas and both female and male doctors were present to attend to any medical emergency, the official said. "After 6 pm, the office is closed. However, had she asked for something, our staff would definitely have made arrangements," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A juvenile was today apprehended and another man arrested from northwest Delhi's Bharat Nagar for allegedly killing a 16-year-old boy in front of his mother, following a fight over sharing whitener for inhalation to get a high, the police said. In the afternoon, the police were informed that a teenager was declared "brought dead" by the doctors at a hospital after being attacked with a broken glass bottle. The deceased, Shahrukh, was a resident of Kabir Nagar. The deceased and the accused were said to be addicted to whitener. The two used to frequently fight with each other over sharing the substance, the police said. The accused, also a resident of the same area, told the police that as Shahrukh had refused to share whitener with him, he decided to confront him. Another man, Dinesh Chegi, was also present when the altercation between the accused and the deceased took place and all three were sitting by the Kabir Nagar railway tracks, the police said. Dinesh allegedly instigated the accused to launch an attack on Shahrukh, said a senior police officer. The accused subsequently slit the victim's neck with a broken glass bottle and along with Chegi, fled the spot, he added. Meanwhile, the deceased's mother was informed of the scuffle between her son and the accused. She reached the spot and saw Shahrukh collapse, the officer said. With the help of the locals, she rushed her son to a hospital, where he was declared "brought dead" by the doctors. A case was registered on a complaint by the deceased's mother, the police said, adding that subsequently, Dinesh was arrested and the juvenile accused apprehended. Shahrukh's body was sent for a post-mortem, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who heads the Congress's policy planning group on Kashmir, will lead a team of party leaders to Jammu and Kashmir next month for discussion on current situation in the state. The Singh-led panel will visit Jammu on September 10 and 11 and Kashmir Valley on September 16 and 17, Congress state unit president G A Mir said here today. Mir said Singh and other members of the team would meet party leaders and workers. According to a party statement, the group will visit Ladakh region on a later date. The Congress set up the policy planning group, headed by the former prime minister, on Jammu and Kashmir in April this year following worsening situation in the valley due to widespread street protests in the wake of eight deaths in security forces firing on April 9 during bypolls to the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee met here today to discuss overall political, social and security situation in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former principal of BRD Medical College Rajiv Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla were today sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court in connection with the deaths of scores of children in the state-run facility. The doctor couple, arrested on Tuesday by Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF), was produced before the court of additional sessions judge Shivanand Singh, who sent them to the Gorakhpur district jail on a 14-day judicial remand. They were named in an FIR lodged by the UP government. The two were brought to the court here amid tight security. Mishra was suspended as principal of the medical college on August 12 after the deaths were reported. He resigned the same day owning moral responsibility. There were allegations that the deaths happened due to disruption in oxygen supply as the vendor had not been paid for several months. While the Uttar Pradesh government vehemently denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths, a high-powered probe committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar indicted Mishra and others of laxity and some other charges. Mishra was accused of sitting over on the issue of payments to the vendor supplying oxygen gas to the hospital. The doctor couple were booked on the basis of the report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the chief secretary. Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12, a day after the deaths of children were reported at the hospital. The two doctors were picked up from Kanpur, where they had reportedly gone to consult a lawyer. The medical college attracted global attention when more than 60 children, mostly infants, died at the hospital within the span of a week earlier this month. The issue also acquired a political colour with the opposition attacking the government over it. Following the deaths, cases were registered under various sections of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Medical Council Act against Mishra, his wife, Dr Kafeel Khan, Dr Satish, Chief Pharmacist, Gajanan Jaiswal, Accountant Sudhir Pandey, Assistant Clerk, Uday Pratap Sharma of Pushpa Sales and Manish Bhandari. Meanwhile, 13 more children died at the hospital yesterday, taking the toll so far this month to 309, newly- appointed principal of the college Dr PK Singh told PTI today. With this, the death toll has touched 1,269 so far this year. "On August 30 till midnight as many as 59 children were admitted. Of them, 13 died. As of now, there are 354 children undergoing treatment," Singh said. The Allahabad High Court today sought a "detailed report" on the infrastructure and medical facilities at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College, where scores of children have died this year triggering nation-wide concern. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice M K Gupta directed the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to personally visit the medical college hospital and file a report along with photographs of various wards. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Making health systems resilient to climate change, improving access to essential medicines for all and intensifying efforts to end tuberculosis are among key issues that will be discussed at a meeting of health ministers of WHO South-East Asia Region next week. The 70th regional committee session of WHO South-East Asia Region is being hosted by Maldives from September 6-10, said an official statement. World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom and Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh will address the meeting. WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region, Amitabh Bachchan, will join the meeting to advocate for urgent action against viral hepatitis, a preventable disease. "Strengthening primary health care and the health workforce and progress towards universal health coverage are among other priority issues being addressed at the meeting. "The focus of the meeting will be climate change - on how to build health systems' resilience to climate change. A well prepared and responsive health system is crucial for preventing and minimising the increasing health risks posed by climate change," the statement said. The Regional Committee will also review recent progress on priority programmes and discuss next steps to safeguard the health of people throughout WHO South-East Asia Region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Miranda Otto and John Corbett are set to star in the Constantin Film/EMJAG Productions feature "The Silence". They join previously announced Kiernan Shipka and Stanley Tucci, reported Deadline. John R Leonetti is attached to direct the film, which is based on the novel by Tim Lebbon. The Van Dyke Brothers, Carey and Shane, have adapted the screenplay. The story centers on Ally, a deaf teenager, who lived in New Jersey where a colony of bats are attacked by a parasitic insect and soon morph into a new lethal species called Vesps. As the blind, winged creatures quickly grow, spread and attack the human population, Ally's heightened senses become her strength. She and her family seek refuge in the woods where they must live in total silence and amidst the creature chaos, they learn that humans can be just as dangerous. Robert Kulzer, Alexandra Milchan, and Scott Lambert are producing the project. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard today held extensive talks, covering the entire spectrum of their bilateral relationship, including ways to boost trade and investment ties, officials said. The two leaders also deliberated on regional and global issues of mutual interest. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Swiss president and discussed various bilateral issues. "First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. Swiss presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier -- in 1998, 2003 and 2007. Modi visited Switzerland in June last year. During the visit, the country announced its support to India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The two countries had also resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. Modi had then said that combating the menace of black money and tax evasion was "shared priority" for both the countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The demonetisation drive is the biggest scam in independent India that broke the backbone of the country's economy, the AAP said today. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh also lashed out at the Reserve Bank of India for "lying" to the nation about the total amount of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation before the drive. He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that withdrawing the high denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would put an end to the menace of black money, curb terrorism and naxalism, it has instead "dealt a severe blow to the economy". The central bank had yesterday stated that as much as 99 per cent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system. The Reserve Bank, which has so far shied away from disclosing the actual number of junked currency deposited after November 8 last year, said in its Annual Report for 2016-17 that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency had come back into the banking system, leaving only Rs 16,050 crore out. AAP leader Ashutosh said the economy grew between January to March 2016 at the rate of 8.5 per cent, but it declined to 6 per cent for the same time during 2017 due to the severe impact of demonetisation. "The RBI initially said there were Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes amounting to Rs 14.18 lakh crore in circulation, but now it has raised the figure to Rs 15.44 lakh crore. The RBI is lying," he said. Attacking Modi, Singh questioned the rationale behind introducing the move as "none of the objectives behind the initiative were achieved". "We have been saying since day one that demonetisation is one of the biggest scams in independent India which has broken the backbone of the country's economy. The prime minister should apologise to the nation," he asserted. AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, an ardent critic of the move, had addressed rallies in several states opposing demonetisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Deputy Chief Inspector of Boilers has been sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment by a local court in a 15-year-old disproportionate assets case. B Yogeshwar Rao was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday by a special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court here for possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs 46.48 lakh. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000. He was held guilty under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Judge K Shailaja also held that Rs 46.48 lakh, the assessed value of the disproportionate assets of the officer, shall be confiscated to the state after the appeal time gets over, Deputy Superintendent of Police of ACB (Hyderabad), J Ashok Kumar said. "The accused officer shall deposit Rs 46.48 lakh in the court within four months from the date of this judgement and the amount shall in turn be remitted to the government, failing which, the state shall take steps for realisation of the amount by selling his assets mentioned in the charge sheet," he said. When the FIR was registered against him in 2002, Rao worked as the Deputy Chief Inspector of Boilers (Factories Department) in Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today inaugurated a unit to process small onions in Perambalur district in Tamil Nadu and said this will help farmers of this region earn extra income. Indian agriculture needs to be supplemented with food processing and value addition for achieving the target of doubling the farmers' income by 2022, she said. Badal was speaking after launching the food processing incubation centre for shallots (small onions) via video conferencing. The unit, set up at Chettikulam village at a cost of Rs 1 crore, will process small onions to produce vacuum packed peeled onion, onion paste, onion flakes and onion powder. While vacuum packed peeled onion will last for 1 month (under refrigeration), the shelf life of Onion powder will be 6 months, onion paste 5 months and onion flakes 6 months. "Perambalur is the hub of small onions. Farmers of this region had suffered huge losses due to lack of post harvest handling facilities," Badal said. The minister said farmers in Perambalur district are producing 70,000 tonnes of shallots per year in a cultivation area of 8,000 hectares land. "Today, agriculture needs to be supplemented with value addition to ensure farmers income increase," Badal said. She said farming is difficult due to rising input cost, unpredictable weather, disease outbreak and farmers not getting adequate prices in the market. The minister praised the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) Thanjavur for taking initiatives to help double farmers' income by 2022. This unit will ensure that small onions do not get waste and increase farmers income. IIFPT Director C Anandharamakrishnan said the institute has decided to take one crop per year and develop processing technologies and related infrastructure for that crop. In this regard, Mission Banana was implemented in the previous year and this year it is Mission Onion. He said the IIFPT is working on Mission Coconut, which will be launched next year on World Coconut Day (2nd September 2018). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his note ban decision was "reckless" and dubbed demonetisation as the country's "biggest scam" and a "money laundering exercise". The Congress said the prime minister should apologise for demonetisation as it had inflicted "misery" on the people and dealt a "body blow" to the economy. Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said none of the measures that Modi had promised with the ban on high-value currency notes, put into effect in November last year, had been realised. He also said in the last six quarters under Modi, the GDP growth sank from 9.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent. "The GDP numbers released for the (April-June) quarter confirms that the reckless decision of the prime minister on demonetisation and the policy defaults have led to a major crash in the Indian economy," Sharma said. The CPI-M termed demonetisation as a "money laundering exercise that helped convert black money into white" at the expense of people and asked prime minister to come clean on it and fix accountability as the move "failed" to achieve its objectives. The AAP said demonetisation broke the backbone of the country's economy and lashed out at the Reserve Bank of India for "lying" to the nation about the total amount of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation before the drive. "Demonetisation is the biggest scam, as the government has helped the wrong people legitimise their illegitimate money through it and has betrayed the poor people of the country with false promises," Anand Sharma said. Congress incharge of communications Randeep Surjewala drew a parallel of Modi with 14th-century monarch Muhammad bin Tughlaq for his decision to demonetise and demanded his resignation for "misleading" the people of the country. "PM Modiji will go down in history alongside Mohammad- Bin-Tuglaq for Demonetisation Scam. If morality has a place, he should consider to quit," Surjewala said on Twitter. He also said that Modi made a disaster of demonetisation due to which India's economy was wrecked and asked what gains did note ban bring to the country. "Will PM Modi introspect and apologise to the nation? If morality has any foundation, will he now step aside for lying to the nation and misleading the nation?," Surjewala asked. "GDP growth slows from over 8 pc to 5.7 pc yet those living in glass houses of demonetisation disaster remain oblivious in their ivory towers. "In last 6 quarters, the economy under Modiji sank from 9.2 pc to 5.7 pc! This is by new method of calculation! Is this demonetisation success formula?" Surjewala asked. Sharma stressed it was the prime minister's "direct responsibility" as it was his personal decision to implement note ban. "Prime Minister owes an explanation. He has to accept moral responsibility. He must apologise to the country and we will continue to force accountability on this issue," he said. Sharma alleged demonetisation had led to a GDP loss of Rs 2.25 lakh crore. He said Modi had promised to unearth black money and end corruption, terror funding and counterfeit currency. None of the promises made by him while announcing the decision had come true, he said. The opposition attack came after the Reserve Bank said in its annual report yesterday that banks had received Rs 15.28 lakh crore or 99 per cent of the invalidated currency. "Was this entire exercise done to protect the corporates who are refusing to return the loans they had taken from our nationalised banks? Was this done to prevent the banks from collapsing as a consequence of these loans?" CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury asked. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, "We have been saying since day one that demonetisation is one of the biggest scams in independent India which has broken the backbone of the country's economy. The prime minister should apologise to the nation." Another Left party, the CPI, stated that RBI's annual report for 2016-17, released yesterday, raises several questions, given there is no information on quantum of black money unearthed due to demonetisation, and also attributed the falling GDP to the note-ban. CPI's national secretary D Raja echoed Yechury's views on the issue. He claimed neither the prime minister nor the finance minister minister and the RBI Governor have answers to what happened to achieving the objectives of demonetisation. Sharma wondered what the note ban decision had achieved as 99 per cent of the money had been returned, and accused the prime minister of "changing the narrative" on the issue. "The prime minister made a sensational announcement on November 8 that unleashed financial anarchy and economic chaos in the country. The Reserve Bank figures yesterday exposed the falsehood propagated by the government," he said. Sharma said dozens of people died and committed suicide. "Who is responsible for it," he asked. Training his guns on Modi, Sharma said he kept "changing his narrative and kept pace with a species called the chameleon, which keeps changing its colours". He added that Modi's ministers, too, had a "direct responsibility". Sharma accused Modi of defaming his own people before the world. Had this happened in any other country, the PM would not be in office, he added. He asked the prime minister to explain his Independence Day speech where he mentioned that Rs 3 lakh crore of black money had been unearthed and challenged him to make public the list of companies and individuals whose undeclared money it was. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than Rs 1.5 lakh was allegedly siphoned off from a senior government official's account by cyber criminals last month, the police said today. Jaspal Singh, the victim, is posted as joint director at the Office of the Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, they said. The incident took place last month, but a case was registered yesterday at the Deshbandhu Gupta Road Police Station, the police said. On July 4, two transactions were carried out, and Rs 1.60 lakh was withdrawn from his account. Singh's debit card was with him when the transactions took place, they said. In his complaint, Singh told the police that Rs 40,000 was withdrawn twice from his account, and transferred to another account. Later, Rs 80,000 was withdrawn using his ATM card, he claimed. According to the complaint, he, initially, approached the Tilak Marg Police Station with a complaint which was later transferred to South Avenue. Singh has alleged that a case was registered after senior officials were apprised of the matter. The police said that it is suspected that Singh's debit card was cloned and the transactions were carried out using it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf was today declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court which ordered seizure of his property and sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassination. Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time prime minister, was killed along with more than 20 people in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54. The case was registered soon after her assassination and the trial went through many ups and down until it concluded yesterday in Rawalpindi. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict, declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordered seizure of his property. Musharraf, 74, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on pretext of medical treatment. The judge sentenced former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad - suspects out on bail - to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. Both police officers - who were present in the court, have been arrested from Adiala Jail. Five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted over lack of evidence. The suspects - Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid - were arrested soon after the crime and have been in jail. They had denied the charges. All accused were present at the time of announcement of trial except Musharraf. The trial of five suspects started in January 2008, while Musharraf, Aziz and Shahezad were implicated in 2009 after fresh probe by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). "10 years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free," Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted soon after the verdict was announced. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes," she tweeted. Bhutto's another daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari tweeted, "Musharraf ordered crime scene washed & doors locked trapping SMBB vehicle inside #ArrestMusharraf." Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sheila Raza also expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict. "We had reservations over the probe and the FIR lodged by the government," she said. Eight different judges heard the case during this period who were changed due to different reasons. Initially TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for murder and Musharraf government issued a taped conversation of Mehsud with a certain operator in which he was congratulating the operator for the murder. But FIA Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation. He termed it a cooked up story by Musharraf to mislead the investigators and to save himself. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan has launched the first- ever probe against a Chinese firm in a high-profile money laundering case, according to a media report. Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) yesterday forwarded the request to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after pressed both by Pakistan and Chinese officials. Dawn reported that the case is among the most complicated issues faced by the SECP and the commission has remained secretive about the matter for a long time. It was not even shared with the Finance Minister by the now suspended chairman of the SECP Zafar Hijazi. Investigations against the Jiangsu Yabaite Technology, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), were initiated last year after undue foreign inflows were detected in its accounts. The company told the Chinese regulators that it had received the amount after executing work on the Multan Metro Bus project and the CSRC approached the SECP in December for assistance in information, including certain documents. However, Hijazi did not refer the case to the FIA or even the finance ministry for almost seven months and the relevant files were managed by only two persons heading the relations and law departments of the SECP. Finally, the SECP yesterday forwarded letters to the FIA and provincial authorities along with the information and documents pertaining to the case. The SECP acknowledged that there were certain issues related to the Chinese company and the Multan project after the CSRC authorised it to share certain segments of its request with the authorities concerned in Pakistan. A statement released by the SECP said the CSRC was not conducting any investigation into the Multan metro bus project. Once the SECP would receive the CSRC's investigation report, it would be in a position to assess any possible violation in Pakistan, it said. During the investigation by the CSRC, the Yabaite China had said that it worked as a subcontractor of the Capital Engineering and Construction Company, a subcontractor itself of a consortium for a section of the project. He claimed that like the Panama Papers about off-shore wealth had exposed ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family's corruption, the Chinese had exposed Multan metro bus 'fraud' allegedly implicating Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance has also taken notice of the case and summoned the SECP authorities on September 7. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, the committee's chairman, said the SECP had been asked to give a briefing on the project and the inquiry conducted by the Chinese securities regulator. "China's regulator has investigated the corruption case in Multan metro bus project and sent a letter to the SECP. Parliament should be briefed on it to make an independent investigation into the matter," he said. He added that for the first time a foreign country had asked the SECP to investigate an allegation and it would have to respond to the CSRC. Pakistan and China call themselves all-weather allies and Beijing has invested billions of dollars in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about US President Donald Trump's harsh remarks and it will share its perspective with the top US leadership, the Foreign Office said today. Trump last week slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so. At his weekly media briefing here, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about Trump's statement and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will share Pakistan's perspective in his future interaction with the US leadership. Terming the remarks of Gen John Nicholson - the top US commander in Afghanistan - as "highly unwarranted and unacceptable", Zakaria said Pakistan strongly rejects all allegations and insinuations regarding the presence of any safe havens of terrorists. "While rejecting the baseless US assertions in this context, the National Security Committee in its statement of August 24 expressed Pakistan's concerns about the presence of sanctuaries/safe havens inside Afghanistan from where anti- Pakistan elements, particularly India, continue to operate against Pakistan," he said. He also said Pakistan believes that there is no military solution to the complex Afghan conflict and it has advocated for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political solution. Zakaria also raised the Kashmir issue and accused India of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He allged that India has been systematically and deliberately exonerating perpetrators of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack and Pakistan took up the issue with India "many times in the past." The spokesman also welcomed the end of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Dokalam. "We expect India to resolve its differences with all its neighbours in a similar way. We appreciate the sagacity and restraint shown by the Chinese side in this standoff and resolving the issue amicably," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today asked the CBI why it has not completed in one year a preliminary probe into a matter in which BSNL officials allegedly caused a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer by releasing unauthorised payment to the subsidiary of a Chinese firm by fabricating documents. The high court, however, allowed the CBI's plea seeking time to complete the probe and listed the matter for further hearing on October 25. "One year has passed. When are you going to complete the preliminary enquiry (PE)? What have you done? This is purely record and documentation," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said. The court was hearing a petition by NGO Telecom Watchdog, being argued by advocate Prashant Bhushan who alleged that officials of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) had connived with M/s ZTE Telecom India Pvt Ltd, a Chinese contractor, and forged official records of BSNL so that "undue payments" of about Rs 1,000 crore could be released to the firm. Bhushan cited a Supreme Court judgement and said CBI has registered a PE and have kept it pending for a year. He said they have to register an FIR and conduct the investigation. CBI standing counsel Sanjeev Bhandhari submitted that in such cases, PE is required to be registered and the agency will place the outcome of the enquiry before the court on the next date. The NGO's counsel had earlier said they had filed a complaint on the issue on March 11 last year before CBI, which has not taken any action. The petitioner has sought a direction to CBI to probe the complaint in a time-bound manner. The petition claimed that in 2011, BSNL had invited tender for north, south and east zones for 14.37 million GSM mobile telephone lines on a turnkey basis and following a transparent competitive bidding process, M/s ZTE emerged as the successful bidder for all three zones at a cost of Rs 4,204.85 crore. The plea alleged that in its tender, BSNL had prescribed eight milestones for releasing payments, according to which only 50 per cent payment was payable upto delivery stage and the balance to be released in stages on installation and commissioning. "During implementation of the project, for unknown reasons, BSNL kept releasing purchase orders without caring for demand in the field. As a result, a huge quantum of the ordered material started piling-up at M/s ZTE's stores for which BSNL had already paid 50 per cent of the equipment cost including customs duty as per the tender clauses," it alleged. The plea claimed that certain officials of BSNL and ZTE entered into a conspiracy to release undue payment of 95.10 per cent "illegitimately for all such uninstalled equipment". "It is apparent that the respondent (CBI) is not taking any action on the complaint filed by the petitioner for some unknown reasons even in such a serious matter where hundreds of crores of rupees have been released illegitimately in criminal conspiracy between officials of BSNL and a Chinese contractor by forging documents in a contract worth Rs 4,204.85 crore," the petitioner alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate, which has been interrogating controversial meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi since August 26, was today allowed by a city court to continue quizzing him for four more days in a money laundering probe against him and others. Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj sent the accused to custody after the probe agency said he was required to be questioned about his foreign bank accounts to unearth the trail of crime proceeds. The ED said Qureshi was to be confronted with documentary evidence, witnesses and other co-accused. ED's special prosecutor N K Matta sought nine-day custody of Qureshi claiming he was to be confronted with the government officials who allegedly received money or proceeds of crime from him. He also said the properties purchased from the proceeds of the crime were to be ascertained by questioning Qureshi. "The data of e-mail server of the accused company M/s Forum Sales Pvt Ltd seized by Income Tax Authorities are to be confronted with viz-a-viz for transfer of proceeds of crime by hawala channels through TT's from Dubai onward. "The associates of the accused who were involved in the transfer of proceeds of crime from various other sources needs to be confronted with... The foreign trade associates are to be identified towards their involvement in layering and laundering of the proceeds of crime," the ED said. It said the entire money trail of foreign remittances and their sources are to be ascertained and verified through the accused. "Various bank account statements and other records needs to be confronted with and he will also be question in regards to the audio recordings," the ED said. The agency claimed that during the earlier five day custody, the accused did not reveal any information appearing on record and the remaining needs to be shown and required to be confronted with. The agency claimed that it has got inputs about some foreign accounts which belonged to Qureshi and his associates. During the five day custody, he was confronted with six of his associates, the counsel said, adding that quantified proceeds of crime in India was to the tune of around Rs 12 crore, besides other properties. The advocate appearing for the accused opposed ED's plea. Qureshi was produced before the court today on expiry of his five-day ED custody. The court had on August 26 sent him to five-day ED custody "considering the seriousness of the allegations and to enable the ED to complete thorough investigation." The agency had told the court that "the witnesses have confirmed in their statements that they have delivered crores of rupees for Qureshi and his associates through his employees and one of the witnesses has stated that nearly Rs 1.75 crore have been exported by the accused from him and his friend in lieu of the help provided to him in a CBI case." According to the agency, Qureshi was arrested late night on August 25 here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after "he was not cooperating in the probe". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Swedish policeman was stabbed in a bustling Stockholm square today, police said, indicating that a man had been arrested in connection with the attack. "A police officer has been stabbed in the back and the neck," inspector Ronnie Tellberger told AFP, saying the assailant had attacked him from behind. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. Sweden has been on edge since April when an Uzbek asylum seeker deliberately ploughed a truck into shoppers in central Stockholm, killing five people including an 11-year-old girl. The incident occurred around 10:30 am (0830 GMT) near a subway exit in Medborgarplatsen Square in the Sodermalm neighbourhood. "A preliminary enquiry has been opened into attempted murder," Stockholm police said in a statement. The police officer was taken to hospital, but his life was not in danger, it said. A witness told AFP he saw police arrest a man at the scene. "It happened so quickly, there was barely time to notice anything," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pope Francis launches an emotionally charged visit next week to Colombia, to call for reconciliation as the country emerges from Latin America's longest civil war in a contested peace process. In his fourth visit to his native region of the world since becoming pope four years ago, the 80-year-old Argentine now heads to one of Latin America's most troubled countries. On a five-day tour starting Tuesday, he will meet with victims of the war at a delicate time as the country gradually turns the page on more than half a century of conflict. Colombia's biggest guerrilla group, the FARC, has disarmed under a historic peace accord, though critics say the rebels are getting off too lightly. "It is true that the pope is coming to a very polarised country, but he knows that all Colombians desire peace, in the spirit of unity and justice," said Monsignor Octavio Ruiz, a member of the papal delegation. "Such a peace is only possible if the causes of social injustice, inequality and oppression are tackled." Francis's visit comes at a key moment in the peace process, which he has supported. The FARC is transforming into a political party. Meanwhile Colombia's last remaining rebel force, the 1,500-strong ELN, hopes to announce a ceasefire as it holds its own peace talks with the government. Colombians narrowly rejected the peace deal in a referendum last year. Pope Francis tried unsuccessfully to mediate between President Juan Manuel Santos and the lead opponent of the accord, conservative leader Alvaro Uribe. Santos and the FARC tweaked their agreement and the government pushed it through congress in spite of ongoing resistance from Uribe's side. The Colombian conflict has left 260,000 people confirmed dead, 60,000 unaccounted for and seven million displaced. With the peace deal raising bitter debate about justice and compensation for victims, Francis is expected to talk to Colombians about reconciliation. The slogan of his visit is "Let's take the first step". "Taking the first step means recognising the suffering of others and forgiving those who have hurt us," said the Colombian bishop heading the organising committee for the trip, Fabio Suescun. This means "understanding the pain of those who have suffered, healing our hearts, discovering the country hidden behind the mountains and building a country in peace", he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 'Is Congress ok for Gujarat? Never!.Only BJP works in Gujarat' - large hoardings carrying this common catchline have emerged in several parts of the city in the run up to Assembly polls in the state that are likely to be held by year end. While the state BJP unit claimed that the advertisement campaign was not launched by them, Congress dubs it as ruling party's threat to the opposition ahead of the Assembly polls. In these pro-BJP ads, Congress has been blamed for stalling Narmada project, diluting peaceful atmosphere and indulging in corruption for 60 years. These hoardings, have apparently emerged during the last few days in at least three major spots in the city -- Satellite, Shivranjani and near Ambawadi. One of the advertisement says "Will Congress work if we want to preserve Gujarat's peaceful atmosphere?..Never! Only BJP works in Gujarat. Another says "Does Congress, which stalled Narmada project, works in Gujarat? No. Only BJP works in Gujarat. While the BJP claimed the hoardings were not put up by them, Congress accused the ruling party of hijacking their idea and converting it into a negative campaign against the Congress. "These hoardings were not put up by BJP. We have learned that some NGO has done that. But, whatever issues highlighted in these hoardings are genuine and reveal the truth. There is nothing wrong if someone wants to draw people's attention to such issues," said Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya. Reacting to BJP's claim, state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi claimed the ad campaign was inspired by their own social media campaign against BJP government. "These hoardings were indeed put up by BJP to counter our social media campaign, in which, we raised issues of unemployment, price rise and arrogance by leaders. Now, BJP has hijacked our idea and came up with this ad campaign," said Doshi. "While our social media campaign was issue-based, people-centric and not aimed at targetting any party, BJP has turned it into a negative one and targetted Congress as if they are threatening us through these ads," claimed Doshi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six month after a deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque, its president's car was deliberately set on fire, officials said today. "Another hateful act" targeted the mosque and its president Mohamed Labidi in addition to "a long series" of other incidents, the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec said in a statement. The fire was set on August 6 but was only made public on Wednesday in order to allow police to investigate. Mosque officials and the mayor linked the fire to an August 4 announcement of the upcoming opening of the city's first Muslim cemetary. "It would be a strange coincidence" if the two were not somehow related, said Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume. Police are not ruling out any motive, whether it was a hate crime against Muslims or just a random act of vandalism, said police spokesman Jean-Francois Vezina. Labeaume had championed the new Muslim cemetary as a sign of support for Quebec City's relatively small Muslim community following an avowed white supremacist's killing of six worshippers at a local mosque in January. The "increase in hateful gestures" toward the Muslim community in Quebec City is "worrying," Labeaume commented. These incidents come as nationalist or right-wing extremists in the Canadian province have become more vocal against immigration and "radical Islam." In June, a group left a pig's severed head at the entrance of the mosque targeted by the lone gunman. Police are investigating these incidents but no suspects have been named so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The radiotherapy unit at the Safdarjung Hospital which was closed for not complying with the directives of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) on safety measures has reopened. The radiotherapy services resumed on August 28 evening. "The radiotherapy services have resumed. We have procured the AERB permission to use this machine for the treatment of patients suffering from cancer. Around ten patients have started undergoing therapy since it was opened," Dr A K Rai, the medical superintendent said. The treatment facility for cancer was asked by the AERB to shut down for not complying with the board's directives on safety measures in November 2015. The hospital does not have a treatment planning system (TPS) for precise administration of dosage and has been using cobalt-60 machines for radiotherapy services for the last several years. Every year, India reports around 11 lakh new cancer cases and five lakh deaths due to lack of treatment or delayed diagnosis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was two when terrorists attacked Nariman House and killed his parents in 2008, wants the South Mumbai building to be registered in the name of the now 11-year-old boy. Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg said he conveyed his request to the Indian ambassador in Israel today. "We requested the Indian ambassador that the Nariman House building be registered with the land registry department as belonging to Moshe Holtzberg and not to any other party," Rosenberg told PTI from Afula in Israel. The building, home to a Jewish community centre, was owned by Moshe's parents, he said. His grandfather made the request to the Indian envoy when the latter handed over a special long-term India visa to Moshe, who had expressed a desire to visit Mumbai during an emotional meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on July 5 this year. "We are happy that Prime Minister Modi has kept his promise of giving Moshe a long-term visa to India," Rosenberg said. Moshe was "very excited" about the visa, he added. "Now he can go to India whenever he wants to and continue what his father and mother did and started in Mumbai," Rosenberg said. During his Israel visit in July, Modi had met Moshe, his grandparents and his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuels. Samuels had managed to escape with baby Moshe and saved his life when Nariman House was attacked by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. Moshe's grandparents, Rabbi Rosenberg and Yehudit Rosenberg, were also given visas to visit India. "We received open visas to visit India. We are also very excited about it," he added. He said the family would celebrate Moshe's 'bar mitzvah' (Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, performed for boys when they turn 13) in Mumbai at Nariman House. "The ambassador promised to help us. We are happy that whatever Prime Minister Modi promised us has been fulfilled," Rosenberg said. Moshe's parents Rivka and Gavriel Holtzberg, serving as emissaries of Chabad, a Jewish community organisation, in Mumbai, were killed along with six others by the terrorists. Nariman House was one of the five places targeted by the terrorists during the attack that killed 166 people across the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers appeared imminent with minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigning on Thursday night amid speculation that some more ministers might quit ahead of the exercise expected before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for China on Sunday. BJP chief Amit Shah, who held a meeting with some senior ministers at his residence in the morning, met Modi later in the day. Sources said more ministers might resign as Modi prepares to induct new faces, including those from the JD(U) and AIADMK, into his Council of Ministers. Rudy is expected to be given an organisational assignment in the BJP, sources close to him said. Sources said Kalraj Mishra, who had met Shah on Thursday, might also resign. He is well above 75 years, the age bar the party has informally set for ministers. Earlier in the day, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, creating one more vacancy in the Council of Ministers. The reshuffle might take place before Modi departs for China to attend the BRICS summit. Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has also reportedly offered to quit on health grounds. AIADMK's Thambi Durai and K Venugopal are being seen as among likely representatives of their party in the Cabinet if the Tamil Nadu party joins the Modi government. At least two members of the JD(U) are also likely to join. There are several vacancies in the government while some senior ministers, including Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan, are holding additional portfolios. The President is scheduled to leave for Tirupati on Friday. As of now, nothing has been communicated to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, according to sources. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today expressed "regret at the escalation of tensions" after the United States told Moscow to shut its consulate in San Francisco. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Lavrov as Washington announced it was ordering Moscow to shut the consulate, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "In response the minister expressed regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations," it said. "Moscow will examin the new measures announced by the Americans in detail after which our reaction will be announced." The US State Department ordered Moscow to close the consulate and two annexes in Washington and New York in two days, saying the decision was made "in the spirit of parity" following a Moscow-imposed cap on the US diplomatic presence in Russia. "The Consulate General will act in accordance with the decision that will be taken by the Russian leadership regarding this decision by the Americans," the consul in San Francisco Sergei Petrov told RIA-Novosti agency. "Right now the foreign ministry will decide on the procedure of the shut down, where people will go, and so forth," he said. Russia has had a diplomatic presence in San Francisco since 1852, according to the consulate's website. It closed in 1924 because of a lack of funds but reopened in 1934 after Washintgon established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has launched a new YouTube corruption attack against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny's video showed a lavish villa purportedly owned by a son of Putin's friend that the president had allegedly used. The online video accusing Putin of corruption has been seen at least 2 million times since its release yesterday. The video included aerial footage of the seaside mansion surrounded by a large park near Vyborg, close to St. Petersburg. It's the latest in a series of YouTube videos by Navalny exposing alleged ill-gotten assets of senior government officials and Kremlin-friendly tycoons. Navalny, who rose to prominence with his corruption investigations, has declared his intention to run for president in the March 2018 election. A conviction that he calls politically motivated bars him from running, however. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran actor Harrison Ford quipped that he did not punch Ryan Gosling on the sets of their upcoming film "Blade Runner 2049", but the actor himself "walked into" his fist. The 75-year-old actor, who features with Gosling in the upcoming film "Blade Runner 2049", said it was he who got injured in the fight scene, reported People magazine. "He walked into my fist. My hand was slightly injured, but I didn't hold it against him," Ford said. The "Indiana Jones" actor said he had a great time working with the "La La Land" actor working on the sequel to the 1982 cult movie. "Mr Gosling is always prepared, has very inventive ideas and he's very articulate about them. He's a great pleasure to work with," he said. "Blade Runner 2049" hits the screen on October 7. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Saif Ali Khan today said his film "Kaalakaandi" is currently in the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and he is hopeful that the film will come out with a few cuts. There were reports that the Central Board of Certification (CBFC) ordered for as many as 73 cuts in the film, post which the makers went to FCAT. "I wouldn't say that the film is stuck. There were a lot of cuts (suggested by CBFC). There is a government body of films called FCAT. So, films that go there with a lot of cuts come out with no cuts or really less cuts," he told reporters. "Hopefully it will come out with few cuts because it's a lovely movie and the process is still on. We think the trailer should come out after we know what the final cut is," the actor added. When asked how hopeful he was that films would no longer be censored since lyricist Prasoon Joshi has replaced Pahlaj Nihalani, he said, "I am always hopeful and also realistic. I don't know what will happen let's see." He was speaking at the trailer launch of his latest, "Chef", in which the 47-year-old actor plays the role of a father to a teenage son and how he rekindles his relationship with him. Saif said he tries to strike a balance between his personal and professional life in a way that he also gets to spend time with his son, Taimur. "When I am working I'd like to do a 7-7 shift if I can. That's really good because I get to see him (Taimur) in the morning and when I get home I get to spend a decent amount of time with him. If you shoot in the wrong shift, you don't get to see your children at all sometimes," he said. "In the earlier days, I remember senior actors telling me that they used to do so many shifts that they often didn't get to see the family for a long time. I think today we all have become more conscious of it now and we balance." The actor said the aim is to find the right balance and he is happy the way he and wife Kareena Kapoor Khan manage their personal life. "I am lucky we have some help at home. My wife and I try to balance it as much as we can so one of us is around always. It's all about the balance, which is the most important thing," he said. The actor's son, Taimur, is already used to getting snapped by the paparazzi and Saif feels it is only fair that the media does this as there is an audience for that. When asked today star kids are getting fame right from the beginning, Said said, "The world is a free market. If there's a need for something, it is supplied. So, I think the press likes taking pictures and people are interested while having coffee to see the pictures, so it sells." When quizzed that Taimur is already a star, so how he sees that, the actor quipped, "I will take his autograph then." "Chef" is scheduled to release on October 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to the bail plea of former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh who has been chargesheeted in connection with a money laundering case. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao issued notice to the ED and asked it to file its response within two weeks. Singh has approached the apex court challenging the order passed by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court denying him bail in the matter. In his plea before the Allahabad High Court, he had contended that he was technically entitled to bail since the chargesheet was not submitted by the probe agency within the statutory period. However, the high court had dismissed his petition considering the ED's submission that the chargesheet was filed on time. In 2015, the ED had slapped money laundering charges against Singh, who was engineer-in-chief of the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI. Earlier, an Income Tax raid in November 2014 had revealed that Singh's assets were hugely disproportionate to his income, following which he was suspended by the then Uttar Pradesh government. In July 2015, the Allahabad High Court directed the CBI to investigate the case stating that the allegations were most serious. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AICC General Secretary Venugopal today expressed confidence that "secular people" in Karnataka would vote for the Congress in the assembly elections due next year. Countering charges against Congress that it was playing polarisation politics through separate Lingayat religion and anti-Hindi issues, he told reporters here that BJP was playing such politics by "imposing" Hindi. Venugopal, who is in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka, is here to hold fresh round of talks withvarious committees as well as have a meeting separately with ministers in government. "The BJP is creating polarisation in all issues. Everybody loves their language. Being an MP I got a letter written in Hindi last week from rural development minister. They are imposing Hindi," he alleged adding it was not acceptable. On the contrary, during UPA rule, MPs were getting letters in both, Hindi and English languages, he said. Venugopal said he was confident that "secular people" would vote for the Congress in the next election. He also accused the Haryana government of failure to deal with violence after the sentencing of Dera Sach Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases. Replying to a query, Venugopal said Amit Shah had no moral right to call Siddaramaiah government as the most corrupt government in the country. "In fact, there are no major allegations against Siddaramaiah government," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Security forces arrested five persons including four militants from various parts of the state, police said today. Two militants belonging to the proscribed outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and a former militant were apprehended yesterday from Imphal valley, Superintendent of Police of Imphal East, Kabib said, A double barrel gun, demand notes and stolen vehicles were seized from the two arrested UNLF militants, the SP said. A cadre of Kangleipak Communist Party was apprehended from Loushangkhong locality of Imphal East district by a combined team of police commandos and personnel of Assam Rifles, the police said. A militant of the banned Kanglei Yawol Kanba Lup (KYKL) was arrested by the state police commandos from the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh yesterday morning, said a senior police officer based at Moreh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Realtors' apex body CREDAI today said image of the entire real estate industry is being hit due to stalled projects of some big builders in Delhi-NCR and offered its help in completing their under-construction flats. A meeting was held today among a group of ministers of the Uttar Pradesh government, senior official of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities and developers to discuss the problems of homebuyers, particularly of three builders -- Jaypee, Amrapali and Unitech. CREDAI-NCR President Pankaj Bajaj said the association's members can become co-developers in the stalled projects, provided they have legal safeguards backed by a state policy. Delhi-NCR property market is currently witnessing huge protests by homebuyers of Jaypee Group and Amrapali due to significant delays in delivery of projects. These two firms have also defaulted in repayment of loans to lenders. Buyers of other developers such as Unitech, The 3C Company, Today Homes, Cosmic Group and Earth Infrastructure are also protesting on streets. Representatives of Jaypee and Unitech did not attend today's meeting, while Amrapali's top management was present. A three-member panel has been formed by the state government to address issues being faced by home buyers. "CREDAI has come forward to resolve the difficult situation of stalled deliveries of a few larger developers. The image of the entire industry is suffering because of this situation," said Bajaj. He said the association has given its suggestions to the group of ministers. "Once a viable structure for appointing co-developers in stalled projects is found, we shall be circulating the list of available projects amongst our members. We hope the situation gets resolved," he said. However, Bajaj made it clear that CREDAI's role would be that of a facilitator and not a developer or guarantor. "We also want to appreciate the all-out efforts of the state government to ensure deliveries to the home buyers," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spain told the North Korean embassy today to reduce its staff in the country in protest against Pyongyang's repeated missile launches and nuclear weapons tests. North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes "create a serious threat to peace in the region and to global security," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The embassy of the DPRK had been warned by the foreign ministry that the continuation of these actions would have consequences on bilateral relations," it added. "Today the DPRK ambassador has been summoned and the position of the Spanish government has been reiterated and he was informed of the decision to reduce the number of diplomatic staff at his representation in Madrid." The ministry did not say how many diplomats it wanted removed. North Korea -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- has repeatedly conducted missile launches in recent months, despite being barred from doing so under United Nations rules. The country fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday in a major escalation that triggered global alarm and a furious response from Tokyo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seventy-six Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, were today ordered to be released by a Lankan court, police officials said here. The Oorkavalthurai court set free the fishermen, lodged in a Jaffna jail following their arrest in separate incidents over three months this year, they said. Among those ordered to be released were 12 fishermen from Rameswaram, six from Mandapam, 46 from Pudukottai and eight from Nagapattinam. Rameswaram fishermen's Association President S Emirit said the fishermen are expected to reach Karaikal in a day or two. Their release came on a day when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from today. Fishermen Association sources said four fishermen are still lodged in Jaffna jail. Meanwhile, eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents today for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Swiss President Doris Leuthard today pressed for pragmatic solutions to conclude talks on long-pending free trade pact between India and a four-nation European block as she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed a range of issues, including counter-terror efforts. Leuthard, whose visit to India also marks start of the 70th anniversary celebrations for the Treaty of Friendship of 1948 between the two countries, also emphasised the need for a bilateral investment protection agreement. In a statement, her office said the discussion topics during her talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi included common concerns regarding climate change. "The situation in South Asia, efforts to combat terrorism, issues surrounding migration and the political and economic situation in Europe were also addressed," the statement said. In a joint declaration, Switzerland and India reiterated their long-standing ties and the will to deepen the good cooperation in economic matters through the envisaged free trade agreement. The official talks focused on relations between Switzerland and India, particularly the ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (of which Switzerland is a member along with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and India. "Both sides are aware that the potential in economic relations is not yet being fully exploited. They therefore reiterated their commitment to bringing the negotiations to a conclusion. "President Leuthard stressed that Switzerland was seeking pragmatic solutions. She also emphasised the need for a bilateral investment protection agreement. Good investment protection is important to promote economic relations," the Swiss government said. In addition, declarations of intent were signed between Switzerland and India on cooperation in the field of rail transport, as well as between the ETH Zurich and Konkan Railways. The talks also covered financial and fiscal policy. Noting that international cooperation on combating tax evasion and tax fraud has improved markedly in recent years, the Swiss government said there was a discussion following on from the joint declaration of November 2016 on the introduction of the mutual automatic exchange of information in tax matters with India. The official talks were further attended by State Secretary Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, the director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), State Secretary Joerg Gasser, director of the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF). President Leuthard and Prime Minister Modi also met Swiss business representatives. At the start of her visit to India, President Leuthard was received by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi, after which she laid a wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Raj Ghat. Later, she was to attend a state banquet hosted by President Kovind and meet a number of government ministers during which she will discuss energy, transport, environmental, financial and trade issues. The focus of her visit tomorrow will be the Treaty of Friendship of 1948 in which Switzerland and India assured each other of 'perpetual peace and unalterable friendship'. The president's visit marks the official start of a series of events to celebrate 70 years of Swiss-Indian friendship under the motto 'Connecting Minds - Inspiring the Future'. Leuthard will also attend a business event tomorrow on digitalisation with Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She is also expected to attend a gathering with students on the topic of energy policy and climate change, and pay a visit to the Hope Project, a social project on education, health education and the advancement of women in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The system of root intensification (SRI) has helped farmers increase significantly yield of mustard, experts said today, claiming that extensive use of the technique could bring down the country's growing edible oil import bill. The technique adopted by some farmers in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand has led to as high as 57 quintal per hectare yield of mustard, said Kavitha Kuruganthi of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA). Felicita Topno, a farmer from Odisha who adopted SRI technique in her fields to grow mustard alongside potato, radish and pea, shared her experience at a press conference. "We yielded on an average 31 quintal of mustard per hectare," Topno said. A deputy director of Madhya Pradesh's Agriculture Department, Rajesh Tripathi, said that the experiment has shown promising results in Umaria and Balaghat districts where it has been adopted by thousands of farmers. "We invited five farmers who used SRI technique to grow mustard and rice to train farmers. Now, this technique is being practised in 10 districts of the state," he said. In Umaria, yield of mustard was as high as 57 quintal per hectare, he said. The SRI technique involves ecological, organic ways to promote root growth by spacing mustard plants through nursery technique. India imports rapeseed-mustard worth Rs 70,000 crore annually which could be substantially brought down by putting in an effective extension system to promote SRI technique to increase yield in the country, Kuruganti said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Private steel major Tata Steel will pay Rs 165 crore on account of annual bonus to its employees for the accounting year 2016-17. A Memorandum of Settlement has been signed here today between the company management and the Tata Workers' Union in this regard, a Tata Steel release said. A total of 26,095 eligible employees will get the bonus in the range of Rs 17,193 and Rs 1,72,365. The release said though majority of the employees draw salary or wage higher than the legal limit to be eligible to get bonus, the company is going to pay bonus to all employees in the unionised category respecting the old tradition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are top stories of the northern region at 1830 hrs: DES1 UP-FLOODS Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's flood woes continue as the toll rises to 104 with one more death, while over 28 lakh people remain affected as raging waters of the rivers emanating from Nepal cause havoc in vast swathes of land. DES4 DRI-SMUGGLING-POSTOFFICE New Delhi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seizes gold, steroids and other goods, worth Rs 15 crore, illegally imported from abroad via Foreign Post Office (FPO). DES10 CUSTOMS-GOLD New Delhi: A father-son duo is arrested by customs authorities at the international airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle in gold valued at about Rs 50 lakh here, officials say. DES21 UP-LD ASARAM-RAPE VICTIM Shahjahanpur (UP): Close on the heels of Supreme Court questioning the tardy pace of trial in a case involving self- styled godman Asaram Bapu, the district administration bolsters the security of the rape victim here. NRG12 JK-LOC-SCHOOLS Jammu: A day after ceasefire violations by Pakistan, all the schools in Nowshera sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir remain closed for the second consecutive day, officials say. NRG20 UKD-IIT ROORKEE Roorkee (Ukd): IIT Roorkee aims at recording one of the highest pre-placement offers this year with 23 top-notch companies visiting the prestigious institute ahead of the placement season in December. NRG18 JK-DOCTOR ARREST Jammu: A doctor is arrested on charges of molesting a patient at his clinic here, police say. NRG14 PB-STUDENTS-ACCIDENT Phagwara: Three students of a private university die after their motorcycle is hit by a truck near here, the police says. NRG3 UP-TIGER-CARCASS Bahraich (UP): The carcass of a tiger is found form Saryu canal in Kakraha range of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, forest officials say. DES7 UP-STUDENT-SLAPPING Lucknow: A private school teacher here allegedly slaps a class three student mercilessly and drags him for not responding to roll call, following which she is booked by the police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ishrat Jehan, who was one of the five petitioners in the triple talaq case, today accused her former husband and in-laws of kidnapping her two children, who were later found with their father by the police. Ishrat filed a police complaint, claiming that her former husband, who had returned from Dubai on August 29, had taken the children away. "At around 11 AM, my son and daughter had gone to play in the neighbourhood from where they went missing after some time," Ishrat told PTI. Howrah city police commissioner D P Singh said the children were later found with their father and were brought to a police station. "The children said they were with their father on their own volition," Singh said. One of the five petitioners in the triple talaq case that was decided by the Supreme Court on August 22, Ishrat said in her complaint today that the children had been kidnapped by her former husband, aided by his brother and his wife. Ishrat, who lives in the Pilkhana area of Howrah, said she filed the complaint with the Golabari police station. She had recently written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking security, saying that neither she nor her children had been provided with any police cover. Ishrat wrote to Banerjee after allegedly facing threats from her former in-laws and neighbours following the court verdict banning the practice of instantaneous triple talaq. She has a 13-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son. Ishrat's husband had divorced her over the phone from Dubai in 2014 by uttering the word 'talaq' thrice, a practice struck down by the apex court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) About 1,400 people sought refuge in storm shelters in the Los Cabos resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula as Tropical Storm Lidia gained strength and closed in on an area just north of the resorts. Lidia spread rains over a broad swath of Mexico, including Mexico City, yesterday where it was blamed for flooding that briefly closed the city's airport. An enormous sinkhole about 30 feet (10 meters) in diameter opened on a street in downtown Mexico City because of an accumulation of water. Civil Defense Commissioner Luis Felipe Puente said strong winds and rain were lashing Los Cabos at midday. Authorities also warned residents to prepare for a possible dangerous storm surge. The US National Hurricane Center said Lidia could produce total accumulations of as much as 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) across much of Baja California Sur state and western Jalisco state on the mainland, threatening flash floods and landslides. Lidia's maximum sustained winds rose to 65 mph (105 kph) at midday and some strengthening was possible before landfall expected later in the day. Its center was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Cabo San Lucas and heading north- northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). Far out over the Atlantic, meanwhile, Hurricane Irma formed while following a course that could bring it near the eastern Caribbean Sea as a Category 4 storm by early next week. Its maximum sustained winds had increased to near 100 mph (155 kph). Irma was moving west-northwest near 10 mph (17 kph) and that general motion was forecast to continue through early today. Forecasters said Irma likely would become a major hurricane by Thursday night and was expected to be an extremely dangerous hurricane for the next several days. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Turkish businessman sought by the United States on allegations he sold equipment to Iran's military in violation of sanctions asked a Romanian court today to free him from arrest. The businessman, Tavan Resit, owns a Turkish-based company, Ramor Group, which the US Treasury Department alleges provided marine power equipment to Iran's navy. He was arrested June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with US officials. His lawyer, Catalin Predoiu, a former Romanian justice minister, said he went to Romania to deny any wrongdoing to the Americans. Predoiu asked a court to transfer him to house arrest due to ill health. He also said that Romanian officials did not have a copy of the US arrest warrant, as is required in extradition cases. He claimed his client had not broken Romanian or Turkish laws. Resit has said the case concerns two yacht motors he sold to Iranians which can be used for military purposes. Another lawyer, Mihai Mares, said a US compliance officer in February approved the equipment that Resit's company was intending to export. On July 18, the US Treasury Department put Resit on a list of people and groups that allegedly aided Iran's military or its elite Revolutionary Guard. The Romanian court will rule later today or Friday on whether to release him from arrest. A hearing on his possible extradition has been set for September 21. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two persons, including a stock broker, were today arrested for allegedly duping Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar of Rs two crore on pretext of doubling his money through share market investment. The accused were carrying a reward of Rs 10,000 each on their heads, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Amrendra Singh. Acting on a tip off, police arrested Manmohan Singh Saini and Anil Tanwar from Bhawankuan area, Singh told reporters. He said Saini was a broker in a stock brokerage firm. It is alleged that he lured Kumar to double his money within few years and received about Rs two crore in instalments from the ace marksman between 2014 and 2016 when he was posted at Mhow. Saini also signed a fake agreement with Olympic player promising him to pay a dividend at the rate of five per cent every month. But, he did not invest this money in the stock market and instead, transferred it to the bank accounts of his family members and his partner Tanwar and later absconded without returning the money, he added. All this transpired when Kumar was stationed in Mhow as an army officer and was taking training for shooting at Army Marksman unit. He has retired from the post of Army Captain a few months back, said the official. The ASP said initial probe revealed that the accused had also duped some other Army officers and further investigations in this connection are underway. Vijay Kumar had won the silver medal for India in the 25-meter rapid-fire pistol event in 2012 London Olympics. Meanwhile, Kumar also reached Indore today after getting the information about the arrest of the accused. Kumar told PTI, "I suspected when Saini started making excuses instead of returning the money. Later, I came to know about the cheating. Then I filed a police complaint and came to know that he had also cheated several other people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh's flood woes continued as the toll rose to 104 with one more death, while over 2.8 million people are affected as raging waters of the rivers emanating from Nepal caused havoc in vast swathes of land. Citing a report compiled till Wednesday, the relief commissioner's office here said around 300,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps in the affected districts of eastern parts of the state. "The death toll in the floods has reached 104 in the state, where 3,097 villages in 24 districts are inundated affecting a population of over 2.8 million," it said. Army choppers, NDRF and PAC (flood) personnel continued relief and rescue operations round the clock in the severely affected areas of the flood-hit districts of the state. The release of water in the rivers emanating from Nepal and incessant rains impeded rescue work, they said. Twenty-eight companies of NDRF, 32 companies of PAC (flood) along with two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and several Army personnel were working round the clock to save lives and properties in the affected areas. A Central Water Commission report here said the Sharda river was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan and near the danger mark at Shardanagar while the Ghaghra river was flowing above the red mark at Turtipar in Ballia. The Rapti river was also flowing well above the red mark at Rigauli and Birdghat in Gorakhpur, while the Quano river was flowing above danger mark at Chandradeep Ghat in Gonda, it said. US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live-fire drill in South Korea today, intended as a show of force against the North after its latest missile launch. "South Korean and US air forces conducted an air interdiction exercise in order to strongly cope with North Korea's repeated firing of ballistic missiles and development of nuclear weapons," the South's air force said in a statement. Two B-1B "Lancer" bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part. B-1B overflights of the peninsula from Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, infuriate the North, which condemned the drill today, the South's Yonhap agency reported. "The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback" by Pyongyang's latest missile launch, Yonhap cited the official Korean Central Agency (KCNA) as saying. Pyongyang had previously announced a plan to fire a salvo of missiles towards Guam. It was one of the moves that saw tensions spiral this month, along with a new set of UN Security Council sanctions and US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning to rain "fire and fury" on Pyongyang, and culminating with the North firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday. A frustrated Trump took to Twitter to condemn Pyongyang, saying "the US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" With tensions surging, Moscow urged Washington not to use force against North Korea and also said attempts to toughen sanctions would be counterproductive. In a phone call late yesterday with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "underscored... the need to refrain from any military steps that could have unpredictable consequences," the foreign ministry in Moscow said. China today also condemned "destructive" calls for further sanctions, warning Japan, the US and Britain that diplomacy was needed to avert a crisis. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said sanctions alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue", amid reports the three countries were pushing for new restrictions on North Korean oil imports and foreign workers. "The current situation on the Korean peninsula is not a screenplay, it's not a computer game. It is a real situation that directly bears on the security of the people on the peninsula and the whole regional peace and tranquility," she said. On a visit to Japan today, British Prime Minister Theresa May said London and Tokyo would work together to pressure North Korea "including by increasing the pace of sanctions" against Pyongyang". The UN Security Council has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, the most recent of which were passed this month, but the measures have done little to quell Kim Jong-Un's nuclear missile ambitions. Today's live-fire drill took place at the Pilseung shooting range in Gangwon province, some 150 kilometres south of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US intends to work with Pakistan to take down terrorists, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today, asserting that this is what a responsible nation does. He was responding to questions on Pakistan's reaction to the Afghan and South Asia Policy announced by US President Donald Trump last Monday. Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. Mattis did not respond to questions on timeline, if any, for Pakistan to take action against terrorists and terrorist groups. "We intend to work with Pakistan in order to take the terrorists down. I think that's what a responsible nation does," Mattis told Pentagon reporters. His remarks remarks came after the State Department notified to the Congress to place a pause button on USD 255 million foreign military financing for Pakistan. The Department notified Congress on August 30 of its intent to obligate the amount in FY 2016 Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan. "At the same time, the Department is placing a pause on spending those funds and on allocating them to any specific FMF sales contracts," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI. "Consistent with our new South Asia strategy, this decision allows us the flexibility to continue reviewing our level of cooperation with Pakistan prior to committing new security assistance resources to projects in Pakistan," the official said. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. "As this relates to FY 16 Foreign Military Financing (FMF), before moving forward with funding actual FMF cases, the United States will take into account Pakistan's efforts to address key US concerns, including the threat posed by the Haqqani Networks and other terrorist groups that enjoy safe haven within Pakistan," the spokesperson said. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States today told Myanmar that its security forces must refrain from attacking civilians and aid workers in its response to attacks by Rohingya militants in Rakhine state. At least 18,500 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh following attacks by militants on August 25 and a crackdown by security forces who have torched villages and targeted civilians, according to witness accounts. US Ambassador Nikki Haley chastised the security forces in a statement. "As Burmese security forces act to prevent further violence," Haley said, "they have a responsibility to adhere to international humanitarian law, which includes refraining from attacking innocent civilians and humanitarian workers and ensuring assistance reaches those in need." The UN Security Council met behind closed doors yesterday to discuss the violence but there was no formal statement on the crisis. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who requested the meeting, said there were calls from council members for de- escalation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal government will provide free software to small traders for filing goods and services tax (GST) returns, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said here on Thursday. "We are in touch with the NIC (National Informatics Centre) and work is on to develop the software," Mitra said while addressing a seminar on GST. West Bengal would be one of the few states to provide under the new tax regime in the country. Mitra requested the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA), organiser of the seminar, to submit a detailed project report (DPR) for setting up a trading logistical hub in and around Kolkata. He also said that CWBTA, being one of the apex trade bodies, should organise an international Trade Summit in Kolkata to highlight the development taking place in the area of trade and e-commerce. Defending the state government's decision to start a web portal pertaining to Madrassa Board, Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Minority Welfare Baldev Aulakh today said the move was aimed at improving the madrassas. "How to improve the madrassas and how to get the correct information about the madrassas. The madrassa portal was launched on August 18. "The previous governments had indulged in looting the funds of madrassas, and they were least bothered about the money going to the madrassas, and how it was being spent," Aulakh told reporters here today. In a bid to check "irregularities in madrassas", the Uttar Pradesh government had launched the portal of UP Madrassa Board for online registration of all such Islamic institutions. "There were a number of complaints of irregularities in madrassas and it was decided to make the registration online so that details of all madrassas, their management, teachers, etc are available online," UP Waqf Minister Mohsin Raza told reporters here. Elaborating further he said, "The government of Yogi Adityanath is a transparent government. When our government is paying the salary of the madrassas and scholarships, then we want to know whether the money given by the state government is utilised properly. Hence we are gathering the correct information through the portal." The minister on this occasion also said, "Hindi is our mother tongue. Nearly 90 per cent of people do not know Urdu, hence we want that along with Urdu, the madrassas should write their name in Hindi as well, so that more and more people can know about them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator said on Thursday that no "decisive progress" had been achieved in the third round of Brexit negotiations in Brussels, and that opening talks on the two sides' future relationship in October was unlikely. "Over the course of this week we have made a number of useful clarification on a number of points, for instance the status of border workers," Michel Barnier told a joint conference with Britain's Brexit minister David Davis. "However, we did not get any decisive progress on any of the principle subjects, even though on the discussion we had about Ireland - that discussion was fruitful." Barnier scolded London for demanding the "impossible" - including having a say on the EU's single market rules while being outside of it - in a series of position papers the British government released last week. He said both sides disagreed again on Thursday on the EU's demand, firmly rejected by Britain, that the European Court of Justice must be allowed to police the enforcement of rights of EU citizens residing in Britain after Brexit, and vice versa. "In July, the UK recognised that it has (financial) obligations beyond the Brexit date," Barnier said. "But this week the UK explained that its obligations will be limited to their last payment to the EU budget before their departure." "Yet we have joint obligations to third partners... After this week it's clear that UK does not feel legally obliged to honour these obligations after departure." Barnier made clear the EU's and Britain's positions on Brexit remained so far apart there was little chance the EU would agree to start talks about its future relationship with London as had originally been expected in October. "Which such uncertainty - how can we build trust and discuss future relationship?" Barnier said. "We are quite far from being able to say that sufficient progress has taken place, sufficient for me to be able to recommend to the European Council that it engage in discussions on the future relationship between the UK and EU." (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Jan Strupczewski, Philip Blenkinsop, Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Ralph Boulton) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy said on Thursday that it was releasing a total of 1 million barrels of oil from the nation's emergency crude reserve in two equal batches to a Phillips 66 refinery in Louisiana after Tropical Storm Harvey shut refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a series of underground caverns in Louisiana and Texas operated by the Department of Energy, holds 678.9 million barrels of crude, enough to meet total U.S. needs for 33 days. The United States also has a gasoline reserve, created after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve holds about 1 million barrels, stored in New York Harbor, Boston and Maine. The International Energy Agency's 29 member countries also store petroleum, which can be made available in case of a supply disruption. The Paris-based organisation advises Western governments on energy policy. The IEA members' reserves include both crude and refined products, which can be deployed in response to an international disruption. The Gulf Coast is a major exporter of refined products to Latin America and other regions, and any serious hurricane damage to the region can have an impact on global supply. Releases from reserves can help avoid or moderate any price spikes by bolstering supply that would otherwise be interrupted. The U.S. president can call for an emergency drawdown from the SPR if the country is confronted with an economically threatening supply disruption. That was the case after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which shuttered major U.S. oil producers and refiners. The SPR can also release oil in an exchange agreement, in which it loans crude to a company, which later replaces it and supplies the reserve with premium barrels as a form of interest. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Tom Brown) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Gwladys Fouche STAVANGER, Norway (Reuters) - The future of Norway's oil sector is emerging as a key issue for voters in a Sept. 11 parliamentary election, nowhere more so than in the oil capital of Stavanger. The right-wing bloc of Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg is neck-and-neck in opinion polls with an opposition grouping led by Jonas Gahr Stoere's Labour. Should neither secure a majority, the smaller Green party - which pledges to stop oil exploration and phase out production within 15 years - could become kingmakers. There is little chance of the Greens being able to call time on Norway's number one industry, which all major parties back to the hilt, accounts for half of national exports and employs over 180,000 people. But they have been gradually gathering support over the past four years and are polling at about 5 percent of the vote, underlining changes in Norwegian society and divisions over the future of oil. Should they hold the balance of power, they could seek to force compromises to trim the oil industry's ambitions, with environmentalists in recent months focusing on the need to limit oil companies' expansion in the Arctic. The Norwegian oil sector is still in recovery mode after thousands of local jobs were lost when crude prices crashed between 2014 and 2016. So the risk of any curbing of its prospects is high in people's minds in Stavanger, a windswept west coast city set among fjords. "If you were to just close down this industry, what are we supposed to live off? This is a big question for many," said Egil Ellingsen, 38, a Lutheran pastor who said he had counselled many people in the area who had lost their jobs. Ellingsen organised a public debate at his church last weekend with local parliamentary candidates, attended by about 800 people. The subject of jobs - how to create them, how people would survive if the oil industry declined - surfaced regularly during the debate. At one point Ellingsen asked the local Green candidate: "Can you give me concrete examples of what jobs people could do if oil stops?" The candidate cited the offshore wind industry and the forestry and fisheries sectors as examples. 'WE NEED CLEAR DIRECTION' Such assurances are not assuaging the concerns of workers at Dusavik port, outside Stavanger, which Total, ExxonMobil and Statoil use to ship equipment to their platforms in the North Sea. On a cloudy morning, staff are unloading drilling fluid from the Normand Leader ship just back from the Johan Sverdrup oil and gas field, which Norwegian state-controlled Statoil and its partners are developing offshore. Production at the giant field - up to 3.3 billion barrels of oil - is due to start in 2019 but it is already keeping the harbour busy. After Johan Sverdrup was discovered in 2010, the port's operator, NorSea Group, invested 220 million crowns ($28.53 million) in its infrastructure to accommodate increased activity. Even as crude prices plunged, it kept all its 150 full-time employees at Dusavik, but let go the 20-30 workers who were on temporary contracts at Dusavik and its sister port in nearby Tananger. Rune Veenstra, the port's managing director, said the election campaign was sending out conflicting signals and creating uncertainty. What his company needed more than anything was clarity and predictability so that it can make long-term investments, he added. "If we can't have a clear direction, it is no good for anyone," Veenstra told . ECONOMY ON THE MEND The main parties say they will not give ground to the Greens or any other group seeking to curb Norway's oil sector, which is pivotal to a national economy that is turning a corner after a couple of slow years. In the first half of 2017, the economy grew more than expected and reached 0.7 percent in the second quarter, data from Statistics Norway showed on Aug. 24. The current government coalition, the centre-right Conservatives and the populist Progress Party, claim credit for the turnaround. Their approach has been to cut taxes on businesses and individuals and plug the gap thanks to Norway's near-$1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. "This is a sign that the economic policy that the government has been running over the last years has been (right)," Health Minister Bent Hoeie, a Conservative, told . That view is shared among some voters, such as 47-year-old Finn, a former oil worker who says he will vote for the Conservatives. When met him in October 2015, Finn had just been laid off and was looking for work (http://reut.rs/2iwkxPq). He is now employed by a state agency working for the Norwegian armed forces. "I am interested in schools and creating workplace opportunities ... the Conservatives have a better programme," he said. He declined to give his full name. But Labour, which was in government in 2005-2013, is emphasising that, even though the economy is on the up, there are still challenges to address if the country wants to finance its cradle-to-grave welfare state in the future. "We have to make sure that more of those who are outside (the job market) get an opportunity to have a job in the future," Hadia Tajik, Labour's deputy leader, told Reuters. Many Labour supporters told Reuters they would vote for the party because it was best at delivering good public services, such as schools and hospitals. "When Labour was in power, the schools, the hospitals, everything was good. Now it is not," said Atif Nisar, a 39-year-old taxi driver. "My whole family has decided, we are all voting Labour." ($1 = 7.7124 Norwegian crowns) (Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Pravin Char) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's government scrambled to defend its attempt to crack down on the shadow economy by banning high denomination bank notes, after data showed almost all of the abolished currency had made it back into the banking system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally led the shock move last November to outlaw 86 per cent of the cash in circulation to target undeclared "black money" and fight corruption. The idea was to make it difficult for hoarders of undeclared wealth, known in India as "black money", to exchange their undeclared cash for legal tender. But a report released by the central bank late on Wednesday said 99 per cent of the 15.44 trillion rupees ($242 billion) of banned notes previously in circulation had since been declared to authorities. Newspapers, some financial experts and opposition politicians rounded on the government on Thursday, with criticism sharpened by separate data showing the economy had slowed to its weakest growth rate in three years. "It should never have happened," said N R Bhanumurthy, an economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, a Delhi-based think-tank that operates under the finance ministry. "It was heavily loaded with politics and less with economics." At the time, officials said that at least 20 per cent of the outlawed currency was expected to be wiped out as tax evaders destroyed notes rather than open themselves to scrutiny by depositing the cash. Modi was quoted by local media as saying that evaders were throwing their notes into the Ganges river. "We thought that all that money would never come back," a senior adviser at the finance ministry told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. He and two other finance ministry officials said the government had overestimated how much black money was held in cash, rather than assets such as property or gold, and misunderstood the ways in which tax evaders would be able to game the system and legally deposit cash. HASHTAG CAMPAIGN Modi's government on Thursday dispatched officials and ministers to tell the media that the central bank report did not undermine the case for . The finance ministry rushed out a lengthy statement detailing the positive impacts, including improved tax collection, a widening of the tax base and new information on possible tax evaders. The government said the number of tax returns in the year to end-March had grown 17.3 per cent. Around 1.7 trillion rupees of deposited cash was also being investigated by the tax authorities, officials said. Several of Modi's federal ministers also took to Twitter to defend the note ban, highlighting its benefits by using the hashtag #DemonetisationSuccess. LONG-TERM BENEFITS? Economists largely expect that, in the long-term, the economy should be boosted by a wider tax base and a shift towards a less cash-based economy. Several analysts said on Thursday it would be wrong to call a failure, as there were several positive consequences. Despite the chaos caused as people spent days queuing to swap old notes for new and cash-dependent businesses suffered a slump in sales, many people supported after Modi framed the decision as a fight for the poor against the corrupt rich. Modi's party has won several state elections since last year, and his approval ratings remain high. But data on Thursday showing the economy had grown by 5.7 per cent in the three months to end-June, its slowest rate in 13 quarters, will raise further questions about whether the longer-term benefits outweigh the short-term pain. Critics said that the government's response was further evidence that Modi's administration had changed its justification for demonetisation to suit the facts. "The government has changed the goalposts more times than they can count," P Chidambaram, finance minister under the previous Congress party government, told Reuters. He was referring to Modi's promises to uncover black money, remove counterfeit notes and hit at financing of terrorism. At a local furniture market in New Delhi, some traders said they felt cheated by the news that most of the abolished currency was back in the system after their businesses had suffered for a cause they were told would hurt the corrupt. "The prime minister's missile on tax evasion missed the target," said Pankaj Revri, president of the market association. "Instead of hitting tax evaders, it only hit the economy, businesses and labourers." (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Suphanida Thakral Bangkok (Reuters) - Rice prices dropped this week in Thailand, Vietnam and India due to weak demand for the staple, traders said on Thursday. Thai benchmark 5-percent broken rice was quoted at $370-$375 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, down from $375-$377 a tonne last week. The fall in prices can be attributed to the release of new crops. "Export market demand is currently at a low level, perhaps due to buyers waiting to see whether a further slump in prices will occur or not," said a Bangkok-based trader. Prices in Thailand are expected to fall next week and remain relatively stable until the end of October, according to rice traders. Vietnam benchmark 5-percent broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 tightened slightly to $385-$390 a tonne this week, FOB Saigon, from $385-$395 last week. This drop has occurred as fresh demand was scarce after harvesting ended for the summer-autumn crops. "The market has been quiet on low demand. Prices have declined in Thailand, so Vietnam's prices also went down," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. Thailand and Vietnam are the world's second and third biggest rice exporters. In India, the world's biggest rice exporter, 5-percent broken parboiled rice prices fell by $3 per tonne to $400 to $403 per tonne. Weak demand is the result of a strong rupee which dents export margins. "We are out priced. Buyers are asking for less than $400 per tonne, which is not possible due to strong rupee," said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. India's non-basmati rice exports are likely to slow over the next few months as its shipments of the grain have become too expensive due to a rally in the rupee and an increase in local paddy prices. Meanwhile, Bangladesh is set to buy 250,000 tonnes of white rice at $453 a tonne from Cambodia in a government-to-government deal, officials said. It had earlier imported 200,000 tonnes of white rice at $430 a tonne and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice at $470 a tonne from Vietnam in a state-to-state deal at rates much higher than in tenders. Demand from Bangladesh has been crucial to rice prices in the global market this year as the country's government is battling to build buffer stocks to combat high domestic prices after flash floods in April wiped away around 1 million tonnes of rice output. (Reporting by Mi Nguyen in Hanoi, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Suphanida Thakral in Bangkok; Editing by Vyas Mohan) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first thing you see when you walk into the offices of the New America Foundation in Washington is the Eric Schmidt Ideas Lab, a space named after the executive chairman of Googles parent company. Google, Mr. Schmidt and his familys foundation are the principal funders of that think tank. Sweden's combat aircraft manufacturer Saab will tie up with India's Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircraft in India, an aerospace consultant aware of the proposed partnership told Reuters on Thursday. The partnership will compete with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with single-engine jets to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make-in-India" initiative. The Saab-Adani partnership would be aimed at producing planes under India's new 'strategic partnership' policy, said Ratan Shrivastava, an independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at India's industry lobby group FICCI. The partnership will likely be announced on Friday, Shrivastava said. Saab declined to comment. Saab President and Chief Executive Hakan Buskhe will host a media event in New Delhi on Friday, Saab said in a press invitation issued on Wednesday. It did not give details. There was no immediate comment from Adani, which is a $12 billion group with businesses ranging from energy and logistics to real estate and defence. Shares in Adani Enterprises Ltd, a group company, rose on Thursday after the news of the planned Saab tie-up and were trading about 2.7 percent higher. Saab shares were up 1.8 percent. Under India's new defence partnership policy, a foreign aircraft maker will collaborate with an Indian firm to develop a world-class indigenous aeronautical base that India has struggled to build for decades. Lockheed has already picked India's Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner to produce its F-16 fighter planes that will compete with Saab's Gripen aircraft. The government will issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official told Reuters earlier this week. India's air force needs hundreds of aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet, but Modi wants the planes built in India to help boost the domestic industrial base and cut imports. The government has received bids for 7 per cent stake in India's largest power producer NTPC, which will fetch about Rs 9,100 crore to the exchequer. At the end of the two-day offer for sale (OFS), the government retained over-subscription it had received from institutional investors after retail investors bid for only 73 per cent of the quota allocated for them. The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5 per cent holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of over- subscription. On the opening day yesterday, institutional investors bid for 46.35 crore shares against 32.98 crore shares offered to them, according to stock exchange data. Today, retail investors bid for 8.45 crore shares against 11.58 crore shares on offer. Officials said the government decided to retain over- subscription, and after adjustments a total of 7 per cent stake was sold in the OFS, garnering Rs 9,100 crore. The shares were offered at a floor price of Rs 168 apiece. Shares of NTPC closed marginally lower at Rs 168 on the BSE. The government has so far this fiscal raised over Rs 8,800 crore through disinvestment in six companies, including selling stake in L&T through Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), and one share buyback. This is against Rs 72,500 crore targeted to be raised in 2017-18 through stake sale in PSUs. The total sum includes Rs 46,500 crore from minority stake sale, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of PSU insurance companies. Close to 99 per cent of the scrapped old 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes have come back into the banking system, according the RBI's annual report released on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank's annual report for 2016-17 discloses that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency has made its way back into bank accounts across the country, leaving out only Rs 16,050 crore in black cash that has been weeded out. As on November 8, 2016 there were 1,716.5 crore pieces of Rs 500 and 685.8 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 in circulation, adding up to a total of Rs 15.44 lakh crore. RBI said just 8.9 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 notes or 1.3 per cent of the scrapped ones have not returned. It, however, did not give a specific number for the old 500 rupee notes. "Subject to future corrections based on verification process when completed, the estimated value of specified bank notes (SBNs) received as on June 30, 2017 is Rs 15.28 lakh crore," the RBI said. The RBI, which had so far not disclosed the actual amount of junked currency that had been deposited in bank accounts after the shock demonetisation announced by the Modi government on November 8 last year. Post-demonetisation RBI spent Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17 on printing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 and other denomination notes which is more than twice the Rs 3,421 crore spent in the previous year. The RBI also stated that just 7.1 pieces of Rs 500 note per million in circulation and 19.1 pieces of Rs 1,000 notes per million in circulation were found to be fake in its sample survey. After the note ban, old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny. A collateral damage as a result of rise in printing and other cost was the dividend RBI pays to the government. The apex bank said its income for 2016-17 decreased by 23.56 per cent while expenditure jumped 107.84 per cent. The year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 306.59 billion as against Rs 658.76 billion in the previous year, representing a decline of 53.46 per cent, it said. The government has replaced old Rs 500 notes with new ones, but no replacement for Rs 1,000 notes has been made. Instead, a new Rs 2,000 note was introduced after the ban. RBI said there are as many 588.2 crore of Rs 500 notes in circulation as of March 31, 2017. As of March 31, 2016, there were 1,570.7 crore Rs 500 notes in circulation. As many as 328.5 crore pieces of new Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation as on March 31, 2017. Besides, new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, the RBI has also circulated new Rs 200 notes last week. Former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi said demonetisation will have long-term impact. Expectations of various quarters that sizable portion of the demonetised currency won't return has not been fulfilled. With over Rs 15 lakh crore of junked currency coming back into the banking system post demonetisation, the government said a "significant portion" of it could be black money. The tax authorities have found undisclosed income of Rs 17,526 crore and Rs 1,003 crore has been seized so far, the finance ministry said in a statement. "A significant portion of SBNs (Specified Bank Notes) deposited could possibly be representing unexplained/black money," the finance ministry said in a statement. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the objective of demonetisation was to shift India from a predominantly high cash economy. "We intended to give a blow to black money and... expand the tax base of the country. It is obvious that post demonetisation, the direct tax base has already started expanding substantially," he said. The RBI in its Annual Report for 2016-17 said that 99 per cent of the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes has returned to the banking system. An estimated Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth old 500 and 1000 rupee notes were demonetised on November 8. The minister said government has taken steps to squeeze out cash from the system and his next step would be stop use of black money in elections. Demonetisation, he said, has left terrorists and separatists in Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir cash starved. Jaitley said note ban has compelled people to deposit money into bank accounts. "So more tax payers, bigger tax base, both in direct and indirect tax, more digitisation, lesser cash in the system, integration of the formal with the informal economy. "This was also one of the principal objects as far as demonetisation was concerned. And I think there is far greater evidence now that that has started moving in the right direction," Jaitley said. As per the annual report, while the counterfeit currency made up for a minuscule number, RBI post-demonetisation spent Rs 7,965 crore on printing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 and other denomination notes, more than double the Rs 3,421 crore spent in the previous year. Jaitley also dismissed the impact of demonetisation on GDP. He said it was only a "transient impact" and when more money comes into the system, it impacts the formal economy. Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg tweeted, "With RBI disclosing the numbers of returned notes today and the measure having been successfully implemented, debate should be over." Jaitley vehemently defended the note ban decision, which sucked out 86 per cent of the currency in circulation, curbed economic activity and put common man at great inconvenience, saying the move was not intended to confiscate money but to bring it in formal channels and tax it. The move, he said, was aimed at flushing out black money, eliminating fake currency, strike at the root of terror financing, convert non-formal economy into a formal economy to expand tax base and employment, and to give a big boost to digitalisation of payments to make India a less-cash economy. With the return of the money, the anonymity associated with cash has gone, he said, adding the tax department is scrutinising 18 lakh bank accounts with unusual deposits post note ban. To former finance minister P Chidambaram's criticism of the demonetisation move, Jaitley said, "People who had not taken a single step during their tenure against black money have not understood the intent behind demonetisation." "The government had expected all the SBNs (old 500 and 1000 notes) to come back to the banking system to become effectively usable currency. "The fact that bulk of SBNs have come back to the banking system shows that the banking system and the RBI were able to effectively respond to the challenge of collecting such a large number of SBNs in a limited time," the ministry statement said. The effective currency in circulation today is only 83 per cent with full remonetisation having taken place, it added. The statement said transactions of more than 3 lakh registered companies are under the radar of suspicion while 1 lakh companies were struck off the list. The government has already identified more than 37,000 shell companies which were engaged in hiding black money and hawala transactions. Around 163 companies which were listed on the exchange platforms were suspended from trading, pending submission of proof documents. The Income-Tax Directorates of Investigation have identified more than 400 benami transactions up to May 23, 2017 and the market value of properties under attachment is more than Rs 600 crore, the statement added. Nokia is back and that too with Android operating system. Something, all Nokia fans had been hoping before the company went to Windows Mobile OS way and eventually the hardware division got sold to Microsoft. The new home for Nokia smartphones is HMD Global, that has the license to market Nokia branded smartphones. HMD had announced three Android smartphones earlier this year, Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, and we are reviewing the latter. Design: One thing I always loved about Nokia smartphones was the built-quality and HMD has successfully managed to continue the legacy. The Nokia 6 has been crafted from a single piece of metal and feels sturdy to hold. My review unit had matte black finish with sleek metallic lines running on the sides and around the power key and volume button. The 5.5inch full HD display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass looks bright and has got decent sunlight legibility. There is a home button below the display housing fingerprint sensor and two capacitive keys for back and multitasking. The camera module and the Nokia branding are in a straight line at the rear. Nokia has continued with the microUSB port for charging and there is a 3.5mm port for plugging in the headphones (I had my concerns about the headphone quality) OS & Performance: Smartphone manufacturers have been adding custom UI to their Android smartphones which brings onboard a lot of bloatware. But HMD has adopted pure Android experience for the Nokia phones. There is an app tray that can be accessed by sliding up from the bottom of the home screen. It gives access to a search bar followed by a row of the most used apps on the top and all apps are placed below in an alphabetic manner. App shortcuts can be added across home screens. Running Android Nougat, it comes with the basic apps along with Google services and Amazon apps (Kindle, Shopping and Prime Video). There is also a setting of 'tap and pay' and by setting up the payments app, the phone can be used for paying at the terminals, but we could not try this feature. There is also an option to quickly launch the camera by pressing the power key twice from any screen, which can be activated from the settings. HMD claims to offer regular Android updates, as and when released by Google. I was able to browse the web, stream video, access emails and social networking with ease. There wasn't any lag. But it isn't meant for heavy usage. The device started to slow down while playing heavy graphic games or switching between two heavy apps. The sound output is also impressive and makes it a great content consumption device. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor and is paired with 3GB of RAM. It also comes with 32GB of internal storage of which only 22GB is user accessible as 9.80GB is used by system settings. Nokia does support 128GB of expandable memory card. Camera: The 16MP camera with the dual tone flash isn't the highlight of this phone. The camera app is basic with HDR, panorama and beautify mode. It is quick to lock focus and captures fair amount of details in well-lit surroundings. It there is some light-source around, it does a pretty decent job in low-lights too. Overall, the camera is just above average and not in league with the images captured using Moto G5 Plus or Redmi Note 4. The 8MP front facing camera captures good images. Battery: The Nokia 6 comes with a non-removable 3000 mAh battery lasted me a day with usage including web browsing, two emails accounts, WhatsApp, Twitter, music and half hour of camera usage. It doesn't support quick charging. Bag it or Junk it: Sturdy hardware with pure Android OS is let down by the average performance Price: Rs 14,999 Plus: Hardware, Android OS Minus: Camera, power Rating: 3.5/5 | BY Ricki Green | Social Soup continues its commercial success and rapid growth, opening a Melbourne office and hiring Sally Callan (left) as Melbourne sales director. Melbourne is key to Social Soups commercial growth with an impressive existing client base including LOreal, CUB, and Mondelez. As influencer marketing continues to grow and is now a go-to strategy for most brands wanting to increase marketing impact, an on the ground presence in Melbourne is crucial to connect with brand and agencies in the city. Says Sharyn Smith, CEO, Social Soup: The Melbourne market has always been a key focus for Social Soup. Our enduring partnerships and growth opportunities have led us to the exciting decision to establish a base. Working with Sally, a well-respected, established marketing professional allows Social Soup to maintain our strong relationships and ignite many more. Callan brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Social Soup having built a rich commercial career in the Melbourne media market over the past 18 years. She has worked with major brands and publicly and privately listed companies, from a career start at the Seven network to start-up roles at OK! Magazine with Northern and Shell publishing, Crocmedia and Shopper Media. She is a passionate advocate for leading brand innovation into the digital media landscape, evidenced in her most recent new media role, focusing on how to drive world-leading user experiences across multiple devices in the path to purchase environment. Social Soups advocacy based model in the influencer marketing space connects the above and below the line media strategy for clients to maximise their brand objectives. Says Callan: With an influencer marketing model built on a leading tech platform, I am honoured to be working with such a formidable team and a leader in the influencer marketing space. | BY Lynchy | Following the success of the Apa yang di tunggu- tunggu setiap kali Raya film that garnered over 5 million views, FCB Kuala Lumpur and RHB Bank have continued their collaboration with a new film to celebrate the countrys Merdeka Day. Titled,RHB Syukur Merdeka the film is done in a style of a music video and blends together local rap sensation Altimets hit song Syukur (Grateful) with scenes of the nations progress. Its upbeat and catchy delivery was deliberately designed to appeal and foster appreciation in Merdeka amongst Millennial Malaysians. Released on RHBs Facebook page three days ago the film has already garnered over 300,000 views and a host of positive reviews from Malaysians. Brands need to work at remaining relevant to their audiences, especially the younger set. To do so we must go beyond mere messaging and take on a behaviour that connects with them at an emotional level, said Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, RHBs Chief Marketing Officer As part of the campaign, Malaysians were asked to contribute lyrics by sharing on Facebook what they are thankful for as Malaysians. Over a 1,000 submissions were received in the four days after the call for submissions were made earlier this month. We too are Syukur for the opportunity to shake things up with RHB and create work thats both fresh for category and relevant for the current sentiment towards Merdeka, said FCBs Syed Ferohaizal, Associate Creative Director and Syahriza Badron, Senior Account Director. Credits Chief Creative Officer: Ong Shi Ping Associate Creative Director: Syed Ferohaizal Art Director: James Voon Copywriter: Kelvin Teow AV Producer: Brandon Chai Production Company: Chilli Peppers Film Film Director: Wang Liang Wei Producer: Fendi Harjoh/Mimi Senior Account Director: Syahriza Badron Account Manager: Eva Lim Strategic Planning Director: Eldon DCruz Clients: Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, Tunku Hazli Bin Tunku Tolha, | BY Lynchy | Naga DDB Malaysia has today released a new film for Telco giant, Digi to commemorate Merdeka Day in Malaysia. The spot was directed by Directors Think Tank director Maurice Noone and was supported by fellow DTT directors Zaim Rosli and Wei Peow. The film was shot in the North, East, South and West of Peninsula Malaysia, including East Malaysia all within a week. Naga DDB ECD Alvin Teoh said they wanted to create something that represented whats going on in the minds of Malaysians and how they could approach the question of unity in a very real way. Too often we sugar coat things and write scripts for actors so this time, we wanted to capture the real faces of Malaysia by going out into the streets and show a kaleidoscope of people of all color and language and tribe and beliefs as is and trying to be as inclusive as possible. Because thats what we are about. And underneath all this diversity, reflected on what makes us one?, said Teoh. Noone said: Once in awhile a project comes along where we get to be truly grateful for our profession. For this shoot, we sent three teams out to try to capture Malaysia in all her glory. Her colour, her people, her textures. It was really special being able to meet people I would normally never meet and have a conversations with. A flower seller on the street. A devotee in a temple. A busker in kl. A orang asli man who play flute with his nose. These are just some of the few wonderful people we met on our journeys. What was wonderful was that everyone was friendly and accommodating the moment we told them that the project was for Merdeka. We take for granted how diverse and beautiful our country is, and yet even though we are different, Malaysians are unique that we can get along and share stories and moments. All we have to do is reach out to one another. We wanted to make sure that we capture honest portraits of Malaysians that we would normally never see on a screen. The forgotten, the overlooked, the person just next to you that if you just stopped to look and talked to them, it would change the way you look at Malaysians. We wanted Malaysians to see other Malaysians. Teoh said they decided to work with Directors Think Tank because they belong to a small cluster of story tellers who have soul: They are close to the ground and genuinely love this land as much as we do. The first question I asked Maurice when we first briefed him was, do you believe in this narrative? Do you care for the message? Does it resonate with you? It was an obvious yes and that how it all happened. We hope weve done justice to the message. Kudos to Digi for sharing this vision and being brave enough to put this out there. Credits: ECD : Alvin Teoh Deputy ECD : Paul Lim Creative Director : Ellison Fernandez Head of Content Production : Ling Chen Creative Group Head : Naqib Shamsuri / Andrea Yap Digital Group Head : Zaheer Kaisar Copywriter : Firdaus Head of Brand Management : Kevin Teh Senior Brand Manager : Brian Khoo Senior Brand Executive : Ng Mun Tyng Film Director : Maurice Noone Exec. Producer : Pat Singh DOP : Simon Chin 2nd Unit Directors : Zaim Rosli / Wei Peow Producer : De Shen Line Producer : Gray Loi Production Manager : RK Subash Krishnamurthy Editor : Affandi Jamaludin Post Production : VHQ KL Christina Applegate says 'Dead to Me' might be her last acting role "ATODA is encouraged that need of Canberrans have been responded to, especially by providing more drug and alcohol counselling services - this means that more people can get treatment while still living at home, maintaining employment and family commitments," she said. While states and territory governments get two per cent of their total revenue from the federal tobacco excise through the GST, or about $1.4 billion shared among all jurisdictions in 2014-15, that money goes to consolidated revenue in the ACT. The existing electorates of Fenner and Canberra will be subject to redistributions to create the new seat, the first time since the late-1990s that Canberra has had more than two lower house representatives. Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. The court heard Mr Abuuh had gone to police the next day with one of the alleged co-attackers, who had left his phone in the apartment, and the man told him to make up a story to tell police. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. The countdown to the Frankfurt Motor Show continues as BMW has unveiled its plans for this years event. Set to cover over 10,500 square meters (113,021 square feet), the BMW Group display will showcase a variety of models under the banner of This is tomorrow. Now. Starting with the production models, BMW will unveil the 6-Series Gran Turismo, the i3 / i3S, and the X3. Of course, one of the real highlights will be the debut of the 2018 M5 which features a 4.4-liter TwinPower Turbo V8 that produces 600 PS (441 kW) and 750 Nm (553 lb-ft) of torque. Backed up by all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission, the sedan will accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.4 seconds before hitting a limited top speed of up to 305 km/h (189 mph). Fans looking for something more luxurious can check out the 7-Series Edition 40 Jahre. Designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the companys flagship sedan, the special edition features an M Aerodynamics package, premium leather upholstery, and special interior trim. Other notable highlights include the introduction of the M8 GTE which promises to have the ideal credentials for endurance racing. Visitors will also want to see the stylish 8-Series and Z4 concepts. Motorcycle fans havent been forgotten either as BMW Motorrad plans to display the HP4 Race and the Link concept. Of course, the company could still have a few surprises as the automaker is expected to introduce an electric concept and X7 concept with a fuel-cell powertrain. Photo Gallery Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Hyundai and General Motors have all announced a number of discounts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. Starting with FCA, the company is offering a $500 disaster discount to victims of the hurricane on most new 2017 and 2018 models, including the Ram 1500, Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee. To be eligible, residents from select Texas and Louisiana counties will need to provide an insurance claim to their local dealer detailing the damage they endured because of the hurricane. Cars Direct reports that Hyundai also has a similar discount on offer, albeit totalling $750 and offered across all 2017 and 2018 Hyundai vehicles. Hyundais discount is offered to residents of all Texas and Louisiana counties and can be paired with other promotions and rebates. It will be valid until January 2, 2018. Last but not least is General Motors. It has a $500 discount on offer for victims and is eligible for all new 2018 and 2018 Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac vehicles. PHOTO GALLERY Mercedes cant seem to shake their diesel problems as Autocar is reporting the company has suspended sales of the E350d in Germany. The decision appears to be voluntary as the company has reportedly decided to make several changes to the engine in order to lower its nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. According to sources who spoke with the publication, Mercedes will make changes to the injection process and install a larger SCR catalyst. The latter change will reportedly provide a larger surface area for the AdBlue solution to atomize. This, in turn, should help to further reduce NOx emissions. Despite the changes, the model is still expected to be equipped with an AdBlue tank that holds 24.5 liters (6.4 gallons) of the treatment solution. The report goes on to suggest the amount of AdBlue used during injection wont be changed and the reduction in emissions will be largely due to the use of the larger SCR catalyst. It remains unclear when sales of the E350d will resume but the model could be recertified within a few weeks. When the recertification process is complete, the turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine could continue to develop 258 PS (190 kW). Photo Gallery Porsche is one of the few companies that champions the manual transmission but dont go looking for a stick in a hybrid variant. Speaking at the unveiling of the third-generation Cayenne, Porsche engineer Dr. Gernot Dollner told Road & Track the company wont offer a manual transmission on models equipped with hybrid technology. As he explained, hybrid and electric powertrains can only be efficient when paired to automatic transmissions. The reasoning seems to make sense as modern automatics are more fuel-efficient than their manual counterparts. Offering a less efficient transmission on a hybrid model would seemingly negate the purpose of the vehicle. While its doubtful that Cayenne and Panamera hybrid owners would mourn the absence of a manual transmission, it brings up some interesting questions about a possible 911 hybrid. Dollners statement seems to suggest the model would only be available with a PDK gearbox like a handful of other 911s. Of course, we dont have to worry about the issue quite yet as Porsches head of 911 development recently confirmed plans for a plug-in hybrid variant have been dropped. The decision was reportedly made last year as the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. Photo Gallery After its initial unveiling in Colombia last year, the Renault Alaskan is finally making its way into Europe, powered by a 2.3-liter dCi turbodiesel engine. Like the closely related Mercedes-Benz X-Class, the Alaskan is based off the Nissan NP300 Navara. While in some markets, Alaskan buyers can also opt for a petrol-powered 2.5-liter unit, European customers can only get the 2.3-liter diesel, which is available either with a single turbocharger and 160 PS (157 HP), or with a twin-turbo setup and 190 PS (187 HP). With the help of either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic, Renault says that the Alaskan is best-in-class for acceleration and efficiency. Following Alaskans release in Latin America, its availability in Europe is further evidence of Renaults global ambitions. Alaskan is a robust, powerful pick-up that has been designed to meet the needs of demanding business customers and private buyers alike, stated Renault-Nissan LCV boss, Ashwani Gupta. Meanwhile, Renault Europe chairman, Jean-Christophe Kugler, feels that the Alaskan will have a chance to blossom alongside a growing segment on the Old Continent. Renault is entering Europes particularly buoyant one-tonne pick-up segment which registered growth of 25% in 2016 and 19% in the first half of 2017. As a major player in the LCV market and with a network of almost 9,000 sales outlets across Europe, Renault continues to extend its range with Alaskan. Manufactured at Nissans Barcelona plant, the Renault Alaskan will first be available for European customers in Double-Cab 44 form. The range will however expand progressively in accordance to different market needs across the continent. Also, while French buyers will receive a two-year manufacturer warranty with unlimited mileage, other European countries will get a three-year/100,000 km warranty. Among its many interior features, is the five-inch TFT 3D color display in the center of the dash, the seven-inch color touchscreen, an available 360-degree camera and keyless entry. As for vehicle control aids, the Alaskan comes with an electronic limited slip differential, Hill Start Assist, Hill Descent Control and three different driving modes (2WD, high-ratio 4WD and low-ration 4WD). Once it hits European roads, Renault claims that an average fuel consumption of 6.3 liters/100 km (37.3 US mpg / 44.8 UK mpg) is achievable, making it the most efficient pick-up in its segment. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: Wayne Moore MP Dan Albas, right, with Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer during an event in Kelowna Tuesday. An Okanagan MP has been named to the Conservative shadow cabinet. Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled the list Wednesday. It includes Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas, who will serve as critic for small business. Albas was formerly the deputy finance critic. Albas, in his second term, spent the day Tuesday with Scheer as he toured the Central Okanagan. He's one of seven BC Tory MPs named to the shadow cabinet. Dianne Watts, thought to be a possible candidate for leadership of the BC Liberals, was named critic for employment, workforce development and labour. Alice Wong was named seniors critic, while Ed Fast is critic for environment and climate change. Mark Strahl is chief opposition whip. North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold didn't make the list. "Our shadow ministers are united, energized and diverse," said Scheer in a statement. Scheer, who surprised most when he won the leadership by a thin margin on the 13th ballot on May 27, also found critic positions for many of those who also contested the leadership of the party. His main competitor, Maxime Bernier will watch over the Liberals innovation and science ministry, while third-place finisher Erin O'Toole gets foreign affairs. The Conservative caucus will meet in Winnipeg next week to map out a strategy prior to the resumption of Parliament Sept. 18. The Liberal Caucus will do the same thing when they convene for three days meetings in Kelowna beginning next Tuesday. Photo: File photo The cross examination of Witness B has been delayed until the end of September. The cross-examination of a witness who testified in the Jonathan Bacon murder trial in mid-August won't take place until the end of September. The first-degree murder trial for Michael Jones, Jason McBride and Jujhar Khun-Khun began in May, almost six years after the midday shooting that left Bacon, leader of the Red Scorpion gang, dead and three others injured. Throughout August, defence for the accused have taken issue with the pace of the Crown's disclosure of evidence, specifically police notes from conversations with several key witnesses. These witnesses are former associates of the accused, who have since become co-operating Crown witnesses. Witness B, who can't be named due to a publication ban, testified about his involvement with the Dhak gang and the accused on Aug. 16. While the defence was meant to cross-examine Witness B following the Crown's questioning, this has been postponed due to the defence not having all the Crown's evidence in time. Instead of the cross-examination in August, along with testimony from other similar witnesses, the Crown intended to bring forth evidence related to communication between the accused and their associates using PGP encryption, an encryption technology that helps protect the identity of the users. Following the seizure of several gang members' Blackberry phones, technology was developed in 2014 that allowed police to access the encrypted messages. On Wednesday, the court decided defence needed more time to prepare for the PGP evidence. Given what counsel have indicated to me today, I'm not going to press the matter of having this PGP evidence entered, particularly in light of the position of the Crown, said Justice Allan Betton. The PGP evidence is expected to be entered into court during the week of Sept. 18, and the cross-examination of Witness B by defence is expected after that. Testimony by two other key Crown witnesses will follow Witness B's cross-examination. This is a matter that needs to progress and needs to get to its conclusion at its earliest possible time, while ensuring that the trial is fair, Justice Betton said. Crown Prosecutor Dave Ruse told the court Wednesday that there is very little non-PGP evidence left for the court to consider, perhaps, in total, maybe four days. Despite the delays, Ruse assured the court that they are not at risk of delaying this trial any further, due to agreement between the Crown and defence on admissions that will cut out some of the trial time they thought they would need. Photo: SD23 Teachers were in class this week preparing for the new school year. Recent events around the world will help shape what kids learn when they return to school in the Central Okanagan Tuesday. District Supt. Kevin Kaardal says he has asked district leaders to be "intentional in focussing on social and emotional learning, in particular kindness to ignite empathy, compassion and inclusion as we start the year." Kaardal says the directive is in response to the societal climate around the world, specifically in light of conflicts with North Korea and the United States and the aftermath of violent protests in Charlottesville which have grabbed worldwide headlines. "It isn't who we are as Canadians, and it isn't who we are as a community," said Kaardal. "Schools have a chance to help form citizenship, and I hope we achieve that by being intentional throughout the year." To meet those objectives, Kaardal says experts on the subject from UBC and UBC Okanagan were brought in to speak at the district's leader's institute last week. "I really want our schools to be a beacon of hope, and inclusion, and empathy, and really meet our goals to be collaborators and great contributors." He says research shows it also supports academic achievement. Meantime, Kaardal says he expects the district welcome well over 22,000 students when classes open Tuesday. About 325 new students, including 25 international students will be welcomed into classrooms this year. That increase, along with retirements and the court mandated restored language in the collective agreement, means the district was busy hiring new teachers for the coming year. "We have targeted, recruited and hired 175 new teachers," he said. In all, 256 contracts had to be filled, since some of those receiving full-time contracts were already in the district on a part-time basis. The district also had to add 59 new classrooms due to the increased number of teachers and, what he hopes is a reduction in class size based on the restored language. Kaardal adds educators have spent much of this week in a classroom themselves preparing for the upcoming school year. Earlier this week they sat through sessions on Inclusive Planning and the province's new redesigned curriculum with teacher and author Shelley Moore. Photo: Contributed Similkameen river near Princeton, where that town has issued an emergency water conservation order. The town of Princeton implemented an emergency water conservation order on Tuesday. The order affects the Third Bench, Hospital, Mine subdivision and Westridge areas. No watering or sprinkling is permitted in the affected areas. All residents are also asked to conserve household water use, as there has been a mechanical issue at Princeton's well site No. 4. Those affected will be notified by officials when the order is rescinded. Princeton and the Similkameen region is currently in a drought level three. Photo: Google Maps Kelowna's Forty Foot Fred is still out there. Maybe. If you have a few moments to kill on Google Earth, you can see him for yourself. The larger than life Flintstones character and historic icon of Kelowna's old Bedrock City amusement park was rotting away in a field just north of Kelowna International Airport. As recently as 2016, he was still lying there. That's when Google last mapped the area. But the field is deep inside a huge private ranch said to be owned by local land developer R.J. Bennett, brother of former B.C. premier Bill Bennett. And R.J. is rumoured to have dismantled the mascot once word got out about its location. We couldn't reach Bennett for confirmation, but chatter on the Old Kelowna Facebook page seems to indicate Fred has gone back into hiding. The story of Fred makes the rounds every so often, and is rekindled now and then on social media. He used to welcome kids to Kelowna on Highway 97, near where the McCurdy Corner strip mall sits today. Before the mall, Bedrock City was a Flintstones-themed amusement park, complete with dinosaurs, caves and other kitschy novelties. It was a Kelowna landmark in the 1970s and '80s before closing in 1998. You can check out users' photos of Fred on Old Kelowna, or scan the area north of the airport on Google Earth, on the east side of Ellison Lake, also known as Duck Lake Fred can be found at the co-ordinates 4959'39.2" N 11922'52.8" W. Photo: Facebook Leslie John McCulloch, left, and Rebekka Rae White were both charged after police conducted a drug raid on a West Kelowna business. The man who produced a fentanyl-like drug for the purpose of trafficking at his business in West Kelowna has yet to be sentenced and remains out of custody, despite pleading guilty more than six months ago. Leslie John McCulloch's commercial business on Auburn Road was raided on March 2, 2016, and police found what they believed to be large amounts of fentanyl. McCulloch was arrested and remained in custody until Feb. 22, 2017, when he pleaded guilty to production and possession of acetylfentanyl, an analogue of fentanyl. The American Drug Enforcement Agency describes acetylfentanyl as similar to fentanyl, and says it has been linked to a number of overdose deaths. Acetylfentanyl still falls under the Canadian controlled drugs and substances act. Despite the guilty plea and a denied bail application in October 2016, the Crown agreed to McCulloch's release on $15,000 bail to allow him to to get his affairs in order prior to sentencing. On Wednesday, McCulloch, who has yet to have a sentencing date set, applied to have his bail conditions eased. His first request was to allow him to travel to Saskatchewan so he could sell several antique vehicles that would help him pay his bills, while the second was to relax his 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. curfew to allow him to take a job as an on-call tow truck operator. It was never the Crown's expectation that this gentleman would be out of custody this long, the sentencing we thought would occur months ago now, said Crown Prosecutor Clarke Burnett. The Crown's position on sentencing is for this gentleman to be facing a significant period of jail. We're going to be asking for a sentence north of 10 years. Burnett expressed concern with loosening the strict conditions of McCulloch's bail, which currently include electronic monitoring and the curfew. The Crown is very concerned about any flight risk, et cetera, given what he's facing, which is why he's on a very tight leash, Burnett said. On Oct. 3, McCulloch will apply to have the drug samples found during the raid, which include 406 grams of acetylfentanyl and 938 fake Oxycontin pills containing acetylfentanyl, to be independently analyzed to ensure the entire samples contain the illegal drug. This is taking way too long to get to sentencing, said Justice Jim Threlfall. If I were a cynical judge, I'd say somebody was icing the puck here, but not being a cynical judge, I would simply say that we've got to get on with things quickly. Justice Threlfall denied McCulloch's application to have his curfew changed to allow him to work the tow truck job, but said he was open to allowing him to take a day trip to Saskatchewan to sell his vehicles, if that was the only option. Burnett said he would look into determining if the vehicles could be sold without McCulloch's attendance. I don't want to go anymore than you guys don't want me to go, McCulloch told Burnett and Justice Threlfall. The opioid overdose crisis has plagued B.C. for more than a year now, led by an increase in fentanyl appearing in drugs. In the first five months of 2017, 36 people died in Kelowna alone from drug overdoses. On Wednesday, Interior Health issued a warning after seven people died from suspected drug overdoses in the span of nine days. Photo: Contributed Liberal backbenchers have been getting an earful this summer from small business owners outraged by the Trudeau government's proposals to end what it calls "unfair tax advantages." And now they're preparing to unleash the concerns of their constituents on Finance Minister Bill Morneau during the government's summer caucus retreat next week in Kelowna. "From what I'm hearing right now, the highest priority thing is to engage in a meaningful discussion of the proposed tax changes to Canadian-controlled, private corporations," said Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr. "There are a whole host of people i.e., the ones that are on the receiving end of the tax proposals that are not happy ... My job is to deliver their input or that message to my colleagues." Fuhr is far from alone. "I think we're all hearing from small business" about the planned tax changes, said Liberal caucus chair Francis Scarpaleggia, a Montreal MP. "The small business people that I'm speaking to obviously would like to see some changes ... I've told them that I'm going to take their concerns to Kelowna, for sure." The backlash from doctors, lawyers, accountants and other small business owners has been building since mid-July, when Morneau released a controversial, three-pronged plan aimed at closing tax loopholes used by a growing number of small businesses, creating what he called an "unfair playing field." One change would restrict the ability of business owners to lower their tax rate by sprinkling income to family members in lower tax brackets. Another would limit the use of private corporations to make passive investments in things like stocks or real estate. A third would limit the ability to convert a corporation's regular income into capital gains, which are typically taxed at a lower rate. The government is allowing 75 days for consultation on the proposed changes, a period that ends Oct. 2. Backbenchers are hopeful that it means Morneau would be open to adjusting the plan in order to address the concerns. Fuhr is hoping the government can find some middle ground that increases tax fairness but avoids unduly penalizing small business owners. "I think there's a mediated solution in there somewhere. I think, I hope." Photo: National Post This week, the prime minister shuffled his cabinet. Although media often portray cabinet shuffles as a type of crisis-level event, there are many reasons why a shuffle occurs and, in this case, I believe the Liberals are refocusing in several key areas. Most important is the decision to divide the current ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs into two new and separate departments. One of the new departments will be Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, headed up by Minister Carolyn Bennett and the other will be the Department of Indigenous Services with former Health Minister Jane Philpott in charge. What will these two new departments do? In essence, one will focus entirely on the relationship between government and Aboriginal leadership, while the other will focus on delivery of services to First Nations communities. The Liberal government said the former ministry had become too large, delivered far too many services with an equally large mandate to be truly effective. The Liberals believe that having two ministries with different mandates will be a more effective solution. My thoughts? I believe few would suggest that the status quo was not in need of improvement. However, there are also concerns with this particular decision. One aspect of governance that I have come across that applies at all levels, is that joint accountability can often lead to no accountability. In this case, there will be a strong requirement for these two ministries to work together while avoiding overlaps and missing gaps, all at the same time. Another concern is creating another department with yet another minister adds even more bureaucracy to a system that is already considered by many to be administratively overburdened. The time line for First Nation communities needing decisions or approvals from Ottawa on important projects, delays and hurdles can be significant. Adding another department and minister to the fold is unlikely to help the process. What would have been an alternative? This Liberal government has had one minister for the ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. Perhaps a shuffle with a new and different minister may have been a prudent course of action before engaging in the costly split and creation of an entirely new department. As an example of this, it is not a secret that the former Conservative government had some struggles with the department of Veterans Affairs. Fortunately, a shuffle and the introduction of a new face with extensive experience, Minister Erin OToole, made a significant positive change of direction in getting the department back on track. Ironically, Prime Minister Trudeau also just shuffled a new minister of Veteran Affairs into this portfolio for similar reasons as Seamus ORegan takes over from Kent Hehr. Ultimately, how a minister runs a department from my experience can make a significant difference. My question this week: Do you support the splitting of the department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs into two different ministries or should there have first been a change in minister? I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free 1-800-665-8711. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Contributed A growing number of caregivers in British Columbia are feeling distressed, a problem the seniors' advocate says could be costly for the health care system. Isobel Mackenzie's office released a report Wednesday that says 31 per cent of home care clients have a caregiver in distress, meaning they're angry, depressed or feel like they can't continue providing care. Policies designed to keep aging people in their homes aren't working because the study shows services like home support and adult day programs aren't keeping pace with the needs of caregivers, Mackenzie said. "When you add all of this up, what you see is the burden is shifting from the public caregiver to the private caregiver, to the family caregiver. And that is why we are seeing increasing distress levels." Read more Alanna Kelly UPDATE: Thursday 4:15 p.m. RCMP are investigating suspicious fire activity that started in a gully in The Lakes subdivison on Wednesday night. Kelowna RCMP officer attended the scene on Thursday morning with BC Wildfire Centre Fire Origin and Cause Specialists along with the Fire Chief Steve Windsor to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire. "The scene examination has now been completed, and its believed to be human caused. However, were currently unable to determine the exact causal factors," Cpl. Tania Carroll said in a press release. Investigators are looking at information compiled from previous fire incidents in order to determine whether this most recent fire is associated to previous incidents. Anyone with information is being urged to contact police at Lake Country RCMP at 250-766-2288. UPDATE: Wednesday 11:55 p.m. The cause of a fire in Lake Country is believed to be human caused at this time. Investigators wont go into the fire area tonight due to the steep terrain, but Fire Chief Steve Windsor said they will investigate Thursday. We suspect it was human caused; there hasn't been lightning or fireworks, said Windsor. We'll have a better idea tomorrow. Bob Meredith was evacuated from his home in the Cariboo on Wednesday and caught himself right in front of another fire Wednesday night. Pretty scary. I have property up in the Cariboo, and we just got evacuated from that today because of the big fire up there ... this was way too close to home. This has been a pretty emotional day, he said. Meredith called 911 after seeing smoke and sparks coming from below him. This scared us a lot, and for good reason. It was a grassy slope ... the wind was blowing up the slope and it was picking up, he said. Forestry came to the scene with a three-man initial attack crew to attack the fire. It is in very steep terrain, but crews got down to it, said Windsor. They are now doing containment and overhaul of the site. UPDATE: 10:15 p.m. A small grass fire in Lake Country is under control, according to Fire Chief Steve Windsor. The fire, which started in a trail area behind houses on Lake Hill Drive was human caused, Windsor said. A large firefighting contingent went in to the area to fight the fire. UPDATE: 9:43 p.m. A Lake Country resident said at least five large firefighting vehicles and five smaller trucks were at the scene of the fire. A vehicle towing a water tank also arrived at the scene. UPDATE: 9:19 p.m. Emergency vehicles have arrived at the scene of a grass fire in Lake Country, near Cliffstone Court and Lake Hill Drive. ORIGINAL: 9:13 p.m. Firefighters are responding to reports of a grass fire in Lake Country. Crews responded to the call at about 8:45 p.m. near Cliffstone Court near Lake Hill Drive. Castanet is sending a reporter to the scene and will update once more information becomes available. A wildfire in Joe Rich appears to have done the most damage to the first kilometre of Philpott Road. Firefighters working at the scene believe the fire started in one location and strong winds caused it to jump to two other spots. A tour of the area shows torched trees far into the forest from Philpott Road. Homes dont start appearing until about three kilometres up. The majority of the activity you will see, smoke and the odd hot spots mostly visible at night, really will be in that centre area, said Ben Wasyliuk, Fire Chief Joe Rich Fire Department. There has been a lot of work put in by the forestry crews, by our fire crews around the homes to make sure the perimeter of the fire is out and has moved back to a safe distance away from valuable property and from the ability to grow outside of that. A water supply area has been set up at Three Forks Road to allow water to be taken out of the creek by both fire department trucks and the Ministry of Forestry trucks. Eighteen homes have sprinklers set up on them, said Darrell Belgrove, Divisional Supervisor for Philpott Fire. "They are on high risk homes in the wooded areas, so these sprinklers are set up so they can start them up and evacuate the area. Our activity will continue to decrease along with the fire behaviour and that could carry on for a little while, said Wasyliuk. Complete extinguishment isnt actually our goal with this, our goal is to work from the perimeter of the fire in to a point that we feel its safe for the community, he said. There is not an expected date when Philpott Road residents can return home but progress is being made each day on the fire. Photo: The Canadian Press Harvey's floodwaters started dropping across much of the Houston area and the storm weakened slightly Wednesday, but major dangers remained for the U.S. Gulf Coast area, including the threat of an explosion at a stricken Texas chemical plant and major flooding further east near the Texas-Louisiana line. The scope of the devastation caused by the hurricane came into sharper focus, meanwhile, and the murky green floodwaters from the record-breaking, four-foot deluge of rain began yielding up more bodies as predicted. The confirmed death toll climbed to at least 31, including six family members four of them children whose bodies were pulled Wednesday from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou. "Unfortunately, it seems that our worst thoughts are being realized," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said after the van that disappeared over the weekend was found in 10 feet of muddy water. As the water receded, Houston's fire department said it would begin a block-by-block search Thursday of thousands of flooded homes. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said the searches were to ensure "no people were left behind." While conditions in the nation's fourth-largest city appeared to improve, another crisis related to Harvey emerged at a chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston. A spokeswoman for the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, Texas, said late Wednesday that the flooded facility had lost power and backup generators, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. "The fire will happen. It will resemble a gasoline fire. It will be explosive and intense in nature," said Janet Smith, spokeswoman for the French company. The last of the plant's employees evacuated on Tuesday and residents within 1.5 miles were told to leave. Arkema submitted a plan to the federal government in 2014 outlining a worst-case scenario that said potentially 1.1 million residents could be affected by such an event over a distance of 23 miles, according to information compiled by a non-profit group. But the company said Wednesday that a worst-case scenario was "very unlikely." Forecasters downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression late Wednesday. Photo: Jen Hal, Flickr Two Kelowna men have been sentenced for killing a cow moose out of season near Beaverdell. According to conservation officers, the men killed the animal in November 2015. Randy Watson took responsibility for killing the moose and pleaded guilty to hunting out of season, unlawful possession of wildlife and resisting or obstructing an officer from exercising their duties. Watson was fined $2,200 and must perform 52 hours of community service. He also was slapped with one year's probation and a one-year hunting prohibition. Burc Colins took responsibility for aiding in the killing and pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife and resisting or obstructing an officer from exercising their duties. Colins received fines totalling $1,000 and a one-year hunting prohibition. In lieu of the forfeiture of a seized firearm, both men were given the option to provide a public letter of apology. I knew it was wrong to shoot this animal and to be in the possession of the animal, however the price of store-bought meat was very high and I had not been successful during the hunting season, so I made the poor decision to shoot and retrieve this animal for processing and consumption, said Watson. Watson and Colins admitted to providing false information to the conservation officer. I have let down my friends, my family and all other hunters in our great province and am truly sorry, said Colins. Photo: Jon Manchester You'd better gas up if you want to avoid paying higher prices for gasoline. The price of a litre of regular gas has jumped at some stations in the Central Okanagan to $1.23.9 and $1.24.9. That's a rise of between six and seven cents per litre from the previous price of $1.17.9. The increase has been predicted by industry analysts after Hurricane Harvey pounded the Texas coast. The storm has forced several refineries along the Gulf Coast to close temporarily, causing an increase in oil futures. Plus, the wholesale price of gas in Canada was expected to rise between two and four cents per litre. And, on top of that, we're headed into a long weekend, when prices traditionally jump. Photo: Alanna Kelly Several Joe Rich residents can breathe a little easier. The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre has rescinded the evacuation alert notice for a number of properties on alert as a result of the Philpott Road fire. The entire community was evacuated when the fire broke out last Thursday. Those who have since been allowed to return home remained on evacuation alert. At noon today, the EOC rescinded a number of those alerts. Those properties remaining on alert, include: 10201 HWY 33 E 10509 HWY 33 E 10623 HWY 33 E 10710 HWY 33 E 10720 HWY 33 E 10737 HWY 33 E 10740 HWY 33 E 10750 HWY 33 E 10751 HWY 33 E 10780 HWY 33 E 10863 HWY 33 E 10874 HWY 33 E 10879 HWY 33 E 10993 HWY 33 E 11001 HWY 33 E 11100 HWY 33 E 11103 HWY 33 E 11231 HWY 33 E 11250 HWY 33 E 11361 HWY 33 E 11480 HWY 33 E 11481 HWY 33 E 11484 HWY 33 E 11490 HWY 33 E 11491 HWY 33 E 11500 HWY 33 E 11501 HWY 33 E 11600 HWY 33 E 11601 HWY 33 E 11700 Greystokes Rd 11800 Greystokes Rd 11900 Greystokes Rd 12025 Greystokes Rd 12280 Greystokes Rd 12300 Greystokes Rd 12310 Greystokes Rd 12326 Greystokes Rd 12342 Greystokes Rd 12447 Greystokes Rd 12458 Greystokes Rd 12474 Greystokes Rd 12490 Greystokes Rd 11251 Thelwell Rd 11365 Thelwell Rd 11370 Thelwell Rd 11371 Thelwell Rd 11401 Thelwell Rd 11150 Three Forks Rd 11200 Three Forks Rd 11211 Three Forks Rd 11251 Three Forks Rd 11300 Three Forks Rd 11400 Three Forks Rd 11481 Three Forks Rd 11493 Three Forks Rd 11505 Three Forks Rd 12491 Three Forks Rd 12521 Three Forks Rd 12530 Three Forks Rd 12531 Three Forks Rd 12641 Three Forks Rd 12751 Three Forks Rd Residents of 35 properties between 310 and 1495 Philpott Road remain under an evacuation order. Madison Erhardt With seven fatal overdoses in the Kelowna area in just nine days, the timing of Drug Awareness Day couldn't have been more appropriate. A day of speakers and workshops was held Thursday at Evangel Church in Kelowna. "It's number one to commemorate the lives we have lost. It's important to really honour them and give them dignity. They didn't have it when they lived in their addiction, and they didn't get it when they died," said Helen Jennens, a member of advocacy group Moms Stop The Harm. Speakers at the awareness day shared how they have been touched by overdoses. Harm reduction education co-ordinator Sheila Kerr brought naloxone kits to the event and went through training on how to properly administer the overdose-reversing drug. "It's good to be able to get that hands-on experience, regardless if you think you need it. You just never know," Kerr added. A candlelight vigil will be held tonight to honour those lost, 8 p.m. at the Sails in Kelowna. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Senator Lamar Alexander on Wednesday said that the U.S. Education Departments approval of Tennessees new state education plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) means Tennesseans are back in the drivers seat for decisions on how to help Tennessee students learn and how to get talented teachers into our classrooms. This is an exciting day for Tennessee students. With the approval of its new state plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Tennesseans are back in the drivers seat for decisions on how to help Tennessee students learn and how to get talented teachers into our classrooms. He said, I congratulate Governor Bill Haslam and our states education commissioner, Candice McQueen, on todays news, and I am eager to see what this new chapter holds for Tennessee students. As chairman of the Senate education committee, Senator Alexander was the primary Republican sponsor of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed in 2015 and reversed the trend toward a National School Board run from Washington, D.C. The legislation was called the largest devolution of federal control to states in a quarter century by the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will halt all lane closure activity on interstates and state highways for the Labor Day holiday travel period. Construction crews will stop all lane closure activity beginning at noon on Friday, September 1 through 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 5. This will provide maximum roadway capacity for motorists traveling during the busy Labor Day holiday. Because we anticipate thousands of motorists will be traveling Tennessees roadways during the Labor Day holiday, we are halting lane closures for the busy weekend, said TDOT Commissioner John Schroer. We want to do what we can to get travelers to their destinations safely, and without road construction delays. While lane closure activity will be stopped, workers will still be on site in many construction zones, and drivers are urged to obey posted speed limits. Drivers convicted of speeding in work zones where workers are present face a fine of $250 to $500, plus court fees and possible increased insurance premiums. From your desktop or mobile device, get the latest construction activity and live streaming SmartWay traffic cameras at www.TNSmartWay.com/Traffic. Travelers can also dial 511 from any land-line or cellular phone for travel information, or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TN511 for statewide travel. 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Core applications of these products are in industrial protection and disinfection. The products, which are mainly known under the brand name Preventol, have been used for decades for the preservation of paints and coatings, detergents, metal working fluids, adhesives, additives and wood protection. Biocides are subject to many regulations. From mid-2019, it is proposed that a new regulation will come into effect which will classify all products preserved with MIT (methylisothiazolinone) as sensitizing substances. Some MIT applications will thus disappear completely. Lanxess consistently pursues the development of MIT-free preservation systems and will, together with Krahn, support its customers in their transition to MIT-free systems. "The Preventol biocides complement our portfolio perfectly. Lanxess is one of the worldwide leading manufacturers of biocides and sets new standards in customer service with its technical application laboratories and regulatory expertise. With such a powerful partner, we will be able to offer our customers flexible, effective and individual solutions in the field of preservatives", says Ibrahim Zidan, Business Segment Manager Coatings and Construction Chemicals of Krahn Chemie GmbH. Daniel Schlawe, Head of Sales EMEA of the Lanxess biocides business unit: "The sale of biocides is challenging and demands comprehensive technical, biological and regulatory competence. With KRAHN CHEMIE, we have gained a partner who, thanks to their extensive experience in the consultancy and sales of biocidal products, can transmit these competences to our customers." Krahn Chemie and Lanxess already work successfully together in the field of additives for industrial lubricants. A further cooperation exists with Arlanxeo, a joint venture of Lanxess and Saudi Aramco, for the distribution of synthetic rubber. This is the last week to submit comments to federal regulators who want to undo the government's net neutrality rules for Internet service providers in a move that could have sweeping implications for the future of the Web. The push to weaken or eliminate the rules has been met with praise from industry officials who argue that deregulation will support renewed investments in America's Internet networks, while consumer groups have slammed the proposal as a handout to big businesses and a potential threat to consumer choice. Advertisement The looming deadline reflects the end of the Federal Communications Commission's public comment period, a weeks-long window during which regular Americans can weigh in on agency proposals. As of Wednesday, nearly 22 million comments had been filed in the net neutrality docket, with more than 8.5 million of those flooding in over the last month. Here's why technology experts see this as such a big deal, and how you can weigh in. Advertisement What is net neutrality? Net neutrality is the idea that your Internet service provider, be it Comcast, Verizon, AT&T or Charter, shouldn't be allowed to arbitrarily manipulate Internet content you've requested as it travels across their networks. It's a concept that says all websites, applications and services should be equally accessible to the consumer and not slowed down, blocked or subjected to extra fees before it reaches your screen. In 2015, the FCC approved a set of rules that sought to codify that principle into practice. Led by Democrats at the time, the agency rammed the proposal through over the objections of Republicans some of the same officials who now control the FCC in the Trump era. And these Republicans are the ones who want to undo the rules? Precisely. The FCC's chairman, Ajit Pai, has made no secret that he opposes the net neutrality regulations his predecessor put in place. When the rules first passed, Pai called them "intrusive government regulations that won't work to solve a problem that doesn't exist using legal authority the FCC doesn't have." Essentially, Pai argued, Internet service providers weren't interested in blocking websites or throttling content, so there is no need for the FCC's "Open Internet order" prohibiting the practice. Is Pai right? For what it's worth, some Internet service providers have pledged to uphold the ideals of net neutrality. Comcast has said it supports strong and legally enforceable net neutrality rules. "We don't and won't block, throttle, or discriminate against lawful content," the company said in a July blog post. "We also believe in full transparency; you'll know what our customer policies are." Other industry groups, such as the cable trade association NCTA, have made similar pledges, including taking out newspaper ads portraying themselves as on the side of consumers. Are their promises too good to be true? In general, companies that make misleading or deceptive statements in their marketing are at risk of a lawsuit or other enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission. (There's a side debate over how much jurisdiction the FTC has over Internet service providers, but we won't go into it now.) So you can probably rely on the specifics of these pledges, as far as they go. But it means that how words are defined and what isn't being said are just as important as what is being said. Advertisement What about this idea that Internet service providers support net neutrality? Since net neutrality is fundamentally a principle or ideal, anyone can claim to support it without necessarily backing the specific legal machinery the government has put in place to defend it. Internet service providers have explicitly made this argument, saying that while they back "net neutrality," they just don't support the FCC's implementation, which sought to regulate providers such as legacy telephone companies. Proponents of this move, known as reclassification, said this particular approach was the only way the principle of net neutrality could properly be preserved. Industry supporters say there are other ways it could be done, such as with an act of Congress or by using a different part of the FCC's powers, but critics of that approach say it's fraught with loopholes and opportunities for Internet service providers to game the system. And that brings us back to what isn't being said? Right. Even though many Internet service providers are willing to say they don't or won't block content, that's not the only tactic the industry has considered as it tries to adapt to a rapidly changing business environment. Providers have tinkered with the idea of giving you discounts if you allow them to sell your browsing history; of giving you "free" access to Netflix and Spotify if you agree to a lower-quality stream; of getting users to watch proprietary TV content over cellular data. Each of these new models has ostensible benefits as well as drawbacks to the consumer. The question is: How far can carriers go to find new ways of profiting off everyone else who uses the Internet, websites and app developers included? That's ultimately what the net neutrality fight is all about. And even as Internet service providers claim to support strong rules, or oppose blocking and throttling, you can rest assured that those same companies are constantly on the lookout for revenue schemes that challenge our conventional assumptions about what it means to be an Internet service provider. And they'll be seeking to shape any net neutrality regulation in ways that permit them to continue experimenting. What can I do about this? Whether you support or oppose the FCC's deregulatory effort, you can file a public comment on the issue by visiting the relevant docket on the FCC website, then clicking "+New Filing." What happens next? The FCC is supposed to take all those comments into account as it designs the final order that closes out the issue. Hasn't there been controversy over the FCC comments? There has. People on both sides of the debate have complained of comments being falsely submitted in other people's names, bots and automated comments, hate speech and even hacking of the FCC's systems. So far, the FCC has sought to distance itself from the fray, saying it'll lend more weight to "high quality" comments but declining to really define what that means. Advertisement Ultimately, none of that may matter, because politically speaking, Republicans at the commission have all the votes they need to accomplish their goal of rolling back the net neutrality rules. Outnumbering Democrats by 3 to 2, Republicans now have an opportunity to deliver some payback in response to what they saw in 2015 as an unprecedented, unilateral move to regulate industry. So why should I file a comment? Once the FCC votes to repeal its rules (probably later this year), opponents of the decision will have an opportunity to challenge it in court. Internet service providers did the same thing in 2015 after the FCC voted for the initial implementation of the rules. If the FCC's latest proposal winds up being challenged by consumer groups, you can expect the number of comments filed on behalf of either side to come into play. JULY 12, 2017 - A banner at the top pf he Netlix site defends net neutrality, Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Some of the Web's biggest names - Amazon, Google, Netflix and Twitter - joined thousands of smaller websites Wednesday in urging users to tell Washington to leave the Internet the way it is. On website banners, pop-up widgets, blog posts and videos, Web companies said that could only be accomplished by keeping tough net neutrality rules for online traffic in place in the face of a push by Republicans and Internet service providers to dismantle them. (Netflix) Fung writes for the Washington Post. Attorney Juan Thomas, president of the National Bar Association, is photographed Aug. 25, 2017, in the atrium of Willis Tower in Chicago. Thomas began his one-year term as head of the nations largest and oldest network of black lawyers and judges in early August. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune ) Juan Thomas was a senior in college, a bit adrift and unsure where life might take him next, when he woke up to the news one morning that Carol Moseley Braun had beaten serious odds to win the 1992 primary for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat. The Aurora native decided then that he would return to his home state to help her become the first black woman senator. "It gave me a sense of purpose and direction," Thomas said. Advertisement Twenty-five years later, after several forays into politics, Thomas feels a new, weighty purpose as president of the National Bar Association, the nation's largest and oldest network of black lawyers and judges. The Chicago attorney has taken the helm of the 92-year-old organization during what he believes is a time of national crisis "a crisis of consciousness, a crisis of character and a crisis of competence," he said. Advertisement One of Thomas' first orders of business as he began his one-year term in early August was to announce that chapters will provide pro bono legal services to peaceful counterprotesters arrested at white supremacist rallies. That offer does not extend to those who resort to violence. Thomas, 46, is founder of The Thomas Law Group and of counsel to Quintairos, Prieto, Wood and Boyer. He graduated from Morehouse College, a historically black men's college in Atlanta, and got his law degree at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Thomas has served as Aurora Township clerk, as a member of the West Aurora School Board, and as labor counsel to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. He traces his political experience to high school, when he was president of the Illinois Association of Student Councils. "I was kind of a nerd, if you will," he said. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Chicago attorney Juan Thomas is the new president of the National Bar Association, the nation's oldest and largest network of black lawyers and judges. He reveals the best advice he has received. Q: Was there a formative moment that shaped your interest in law and politics? A: I was always a news junkie. My parents bought me, when I was 9 years old, presidential trivia cards. And I decided I wanted to be the first black president. And I'm still upset today that Obama beat me to it. But the presidents were either farmers or lawyers. And I have asthma, and my grandfather had a farm in Mississippi and I used to spend my summers down there. And I quickly realized that if I wanted to be president I wasn't going to be a farmer, so I was going to be a lawyer. Also, two men from afar inspired me. Jesse Jackson running for president. And then Harold Washington here in Chicago running for mayor in 1983. Q: How do you view the role of the National Bar Association in the context of the current state of the country? A: At no point in my lifetime have we seen what we are seeing today, what I consider an attack on our democracy, our rule of law, when people in high office question the competency of judges because of their ethnicity, when we have a president that will deliberately create terms like "fake news" and attack the media. There is a serious problem in our society when that becomes normalized. I believe black lawyers need to be the conscience of the nation and speak out because so much of what our country is has been built on the backs and the sweat and tears of people of color. Advertisement This country is becoming much more diverse. In the next 20 to 30 years, our white brothers and sisters will be the minority. There's a tension, there's a fear, and I understand that to some extent. But we need leadership in this country that works to bring people together. People that are uneducated living in rural America that tend to be white have more in common with urban blacks who are also suffering from poor schools, lack of education, lack of economic development. But because of the race line that's been drawn, poor whites don't see themselves in the same boat as poor blacks and poor Latinos. So it's important we really show how we have more in common than we have that divides us. We also have to work to fix the Voting Rights Act, we have to work on criminal justice reform, immigration policy needs to be addressed. Q: You mentioned working on immigration, which the White House has said hurts Americans competing for low-skill jobs. Do you think that's true in poorer African-American communities where unemployment is high? A: I think that is a false narrative that's been espoused to keep communities apart. In my experience, many of those low-wage jobs that the immigrant population ends up doing cutting grass, picking crops, dish-washing a lot of folks in other communities don't take those jobs because the pay is so low. Q: But what if employers had to raise wages to attract them? A: Well, I do believe in a living wage minimum wage. There are employers who pay people who are not citizens this dangerously low wage, I think it's a travesty. But when you (raise wages), business is going to increase prices. Q: What's an urgent priority you want the association to address? Advertisement A: We just launched our political action committee, and we are trying to raise money to help elect candidates who support our legislative and policy agenda. Q: How do you think companies' diversity and inclusion policies are going? A: There's still room to grow. For me, it's truly about inclusion, and are we allowing people to be who they are. And I think corporations and government entities have to be intentional about it. I don't see the intentionality. I see: "Well, we can't find the qualified minority, they don't want to work here." That's a bunch of hogwash. You have to go seek it and cultivate it. Every time it's time to hire minorities, qualifications becomes part of the conversation. We don't talk like that when we hire white people. Because one of two things are true: We presume the white candidate is qualified, or there is some sense that this person is a good fit because they're one of us. And that's the discussion we don't always like to have. Because white people have affirmative action too. It's called the good ol' boys system. Their uncle went to school with the senior partner, they've been buddies for 30 years and now he needs a job, and he gets a job. But when it's time to hire me, it's about qualifications. This is where I think the debate gets lost. The evaluation is different. I don't like these white supremacists marching either, but that's easy to call racism. What's much more impactful, what happens every day, is the implicit bias, the different standard of review. It's not that you deny me because I'm black; you evaluate me differently because I'm black. aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com Twitter @alexiaer A United Airlines plane is towed Tuesday at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The airline has resumed flights to the airport, which closed in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. (David J. Phillip / AP) Airlines are working to resume flights out of storm-battered Houston as passengers nationwide head to the airport for Labor Day weekend. Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport reopened Wednesday afternoon but fielded just a handful of arrivals and departures. Advertisement Getting back to normal operations in Houston, struck by devastating floods in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, will take weeks for Chicago-based United Airlines, said airline spokesman Charlie Hobart. A typical day would see 480 departures from Houston, United's second-largest hub. On Thursday, 27 United flights were expected to depart from Houston, Hobart said. Advertisement United expects to restart regional flights out of Houston on Friday. "Right now we're focused on building our schedule, connecting the right crews and equipment to whatever flights we can operate," he said. Friday is expected to be the biggest travel day of the Labor Day weekend, according to industry group Airlines for America. U.S. airlines are expected to carry an estimated 16.1 million passengers worldwide between Aug. 30 and Sep. 5. The trade group released those estimates before Harvey struck Houston. While passengers trying to get in and out of Houston will continue to deal with cancellations, Hobart said United doesn't expect the disruption in Houston to have a significant effect on the rest of its system over the holiday travel period. United is still encouraging passengers flying to or through Houston and nearby airports to consider travel waivers, and encouraging customers elsewhere to arrive early. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which don't have hubs in Houston and operate fewer flights through the city, also said they didn't expect lingering disruptions in Houston to affect overall holiday weekend travel. Delta canceled about seven flights at Bush Airport and two at Hobby on Thursday, out of about 30 and seven departures, respectively, on a typical day, said spokesman Michael Thomas. The airline expects to get back to its regular schedule relatively quickly, he said. Southwest Airlines is waiting until Saturday afternoon to restart Houston flights. The airline canceled about 2,000 flights. Last week, United began shifting crews and aircraft to other airports and added a few extra flights at some hubs to accommodate customers who had planned to connect through Houston, Hobart said. Advertisement Travel waivers, which let customers switch to a different flight with no added fee in advance of events like Hurricane Harvey, helped minimize the number of people stranded in Houston or in need of last-minute rebooking, Hobart said. A recent change in how United schedules its aircraft also helped limit Houston's impact on the rest of the airline's flights. An airplane flying from Houston to Chicago turns around and flies back to Houston, rather than continuing on to a new destination. That helps keep cancellations at one airport from rippling throughout the airline's network. Even if airlines say the storm won't throw off holiday travel plans for passengers steering clear of the region, it could take a toll on the airlines' finances, particularly at United, said analyst Helane Becker of Cowen and Co. Becker estimated United could take at least a $265 million financial hit, with little opportunity to recover lost sales, she said in a Tuesday report. lzumbach@chicagotribune.com Twitter @laurenzumbach Alexa has suddenly developed a taste for organic quinoa. On Monday, Amazon closed on its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market much earlier than many expected and immediately slashed prices on staple items in a savvy bit of marketing that had been announced a few days prior. Headlines blared the news. Competitor stock prices tumbled. Advertisement Here are five takeaways from week one of Amazon-owned Whole Foods. Amazon knows how to make an entrance Advertisement When was the last time a grocery retailer was able to stir up this much excitement? Amazon effectively cannonballed into the placid waters of the grocery industry by grabbing headlines with price cuts. But the longer-term potential of Amazon-owned Whole Foods and what worries competitors is that it could fundamentally transform how shoppers buy groceries through data insights and e-commerce options, forcing massive change throughout the industry, some experts say. "It's brilliant marketing from day one lower prices, more to come. ... It's exciting and it's probably the most excitement we've seen in a pretty staid industry," said Phil Lempert, a grocery store analyst who runs the Supermarket Guru website. Price cuts might be more splash than substance Amazon-owned Whole Foods wasted no time in reducing prices on certain food items across the store, including avocados, tomatoes, bananas, ground beef and eggs. A few examples: At a Whole Foods in Evanston, a dozen white eggs went from $3.39 to $2.99; New York strip steak, from $18.99 a pound to $13.99; and organic bananas from 99 cents a pound to 69 cents. But some analysts say the price cuts were mostly about creating buzz. Gordon Haskett Research Advisors, a New York-based market research firm, compared 114 items before and after the announced changes at a Whole Foods store in New Jersey and found an average price decline of only 1.2 percent, with 78 percent of the items unchanged from the previous week. Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot appear on sale at a Whole Foods Market in New York on Aug. 28, 2017. (Joseph Pisani / AP) "All told, we will continue to monitor the situation going forward, but our initial checks suggest that Amazon's bark may be greater than its bite," Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom wrote in the report. Advertisement Still, there's plenty of reason to believe Amazon will continue to lower prices through supply chain efficiencies, as it has in other industries. "As for whether the price cuts were just PR, it's really too early to tell. But you can't blame the retailer for doing exactly what it said it was going to do," said Randy Hofbauer, digital and tech editor for Progressive Grocer, a trade publication. Private label is a sneaky big part of the plan Hundreds of Whole Foods' 365-branded private label products everything from packaged deli meat and dairy products to vitamin supplements are now available in the Chicago area through Amazon Fresh, a grocery delivery service available to Amazon Prime members for an extra cost. The Amazon website declares: "We are stocking up on new items weekly." "That hasn't gotten the publicity that the price cuts have, but it's a big deal," said R.J. Hottovy, an analyst with Morningstar, a Chicago-based market research firm. Advertisement Consider that about two-thirds of the estimated 75 million Amazon Prime members already have some interaction with Whole Foods, according to Hottovy's calculations, and you begin to see the opportunity for Amazon. Selling the private label goods online is also a way to offset the cost of price reductions in the stores because they generally have higher profit margins, Hottovy said. Likewise, some of Amazon's own private label brands likely will end up on Whole Foods shelves, he said. The next frontier: When Amazon begins delivering Whole Foods' fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood to consumers, as anticipated. Right now, those products aren't available through Amazon Fresh in Chicago, but many analysts see that as a potential game-changer for the entire industry. Fresh product delivery through Amazon could begin early next year, Hottovy said. "That's my best guess. I think they're still trying to figure out what they have and what kind of engagement they have with Amazon Prime members," he said. Change is going to come Advertisement Whether it's because of Amazon's pricing pressure or e-commerce breakthroughs, other grocery stores likely will have to step up their game to compete. And while Amazon has been tight-lipped on how it will use technology in Whole Foods stores, the company likely will use data analytics to help tailor the in-store experience to exactly what shoppers want at a given location, Hofbauer said. That means a more curated shopping experience and product assortment at Whole Foods, with lower prices and more discount deals offered through Amazon Prime membership, he said. "Consumers are the big winners here. Anytime you get a better store experience with cheaper prices, it's a good thing," Lempert said. Success is a long game Despite all the buzz, Amazon still has a long way to go. Once the darling of the grocery world, Whole Foods struggled with falling sales in recent years as competitors of all shapes and sizes caught up, enticing shoppers with natural and organic food offerings, often at lower prices. Advertisement Hottovy said he believed Amazon would succeed, largely because of the crossover appeal for its Prime members. "As Amazon integrates Whole Foods' supply chain and distribution into its existing infrastructure, I think Prime members will become more willing to try Amazon's grocery platform, with the endgame being a higher Prime pricing tier. Still, I believe it will take some time before we can define the acquisition as a success," Hottovy said. gtrotter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GregTrotterTrib Naoki Nakashima, left, and Tim Hockett, chef-partners at ASAP Poke, prepare a poke bowl Aug. 31, 2017, in the kitchen of Naoki Sushi in Chicagos Lincoln Park neighborhood. ASAP Poke is a delivery-only service that Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises introduced in July. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune ) As restaurant delivery goes up, more drywall is coming down. The rise in food delivery and digital ordering in recent years has meant restaurant owners have had to learn quickly about the latest technology. They've also had to learn how to wield a hammer. Advertisement From added food preparation lines to reconfigurations that expand space for people to stand and wait for takeout orders, joining the digital revolution has required restaurants to make physical changes in their kitchens and dining areas. And industry watchers say it's only the beginning. "It's proliferating widely right now, especially with quick-service and casual dining," said Doug Roth, founder of the restaurant consulting firm Playground Hospitality. Advertisement Some changes are as small as adding a shelf to stash mobile orders awaiting pickup. But the changes can be much bigger, all the way up to creating a separate kitchen altogether to handle all the new mobile orders from those who prefer eating restaurant-prepared meals on their couch. It's a good time to make changes, because delivery, though seemingly ubiquitous, is still in the early stages. Delivery made up just 3 percent of total restaurant transactions in the year that ended in June, according to research firm The NPD Group. But interest in eating outside the confines of a traditional restaurant is clear. Customers only sat down to eat at restaurants 37 percent of time during the year that ended in June with carryout representing a slightly larger piece of the pie (39 percent) and drive-thru visits accounting for 21 percent of restaurant transactions. And delivery growth also is in contrast to a slowdown in restaurant traffic overall, according to NPD. Still, redesigning a restaurant to accommodate the burgeoning trend toward mobile ordering and meal delivery can be a risky move for restaurants, Roth said. For example, creating two lines for customers one to wait for food ordered on the premises and the other to pick up mobile orders makes sense, but it also could raise labor costs because more employees may be needed to staff both lines. Those added costs can make a difference, especially in times of slower business. "When restaurants are doing well, it hides a lot of ills," Roth said. How restaurants are changing Restaurateurs have had to work fast to keep up with the quickening pace of change in dining technology. Mobile ordering apps and food delivery services mean a professionally prepared meal is never more than a finger swipe away. Restaurant operators say they're adjusting their dining rooms accordingly in a number of ways. Advertisement Panera's CEO once referred to the mass of people waiting to pick up orders as the "mosh pit." But the chain has reduced wait times and human logjams with a mobile ordering app, touch-screen ordering, and the most humble of advancements: A shelf that houses digital orders waiting to be picked up. Corner Bakery has a similar setup for online order pickups. For Big Star, a taco hot spot in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, adding a separate kitchen to fuel a new to-go window didn't just allow for more to-go business, it also solved a big problem. "Our former to-go window shared a kitchen with the main restaurant, which meant we'd often have to shut down to-go service during our busiest times of year," said Terry Alexander, managing partner of the restaurant's parent, One Off Hospitality. "Now that we have a dedicated to-go space, we're able to fulfill carryout and delivery orders without impacting the flow of service in the restaurant." The new to-go window launched the restaurant's delivery business and allowed it to expand its hours. It also let the restaurant continue to cater to its typically raucous crowd inside while setting up a new, bigger space for families outside its to-go window. For Stephanie Izard's Duck Duck Goat, the lure of adding to-go service combined with a desire to do a unique street food menu led to the carving out of a service window that allowed customers to walk up and place orders without disrupting guests in the dining room. Four months after opening Duck Duck Goat, Duck Duck Ta Go was born. Serving out of the window added off the kitchen, "Ta Go" serves Chinese and Taiwanese street food-style dishes that aren't offered on the regular Duck Duck Goat menu. The to-go service operates out of its own tiny kitchen. Advertisement Some bigger Chicago restaurant companies are meeting growing demand for food that can be consumed off-site by developing digital-only eateries that operate out of existing kitchens, with some small tweaks. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a Chicago-based restaurant group that operates dozens of eateries, in March established a Lincoln Park area takeout- and delivery-only spot called Seaside's that operates out of the kitchen at Oyster Bah, a sister property. In July, the company introduced ASAP Poke, a delivery-only service that operates out of Naoki Sushi in Lincoln Park. "As we open new concepts like this, there certainly are thoughts on food preparation and training and making sure delivery can be executed in a really seamless way," said Scott Barton, an executive partner and divisional president who oversees Naoki and ASAP Poke. "We are trying to make sure that the space and layout fits for the technology involved." That balance between technology upgrades and concrete changes is key, according to Jon Lawrence, senior director of solution strategy for NCR, which develops a number of back-end restaurant systems. "It's a little bit of chicken and egg," he said. "Without tech you can't make the physical changes and without the physical change, you won't always serve the guests more effectively." There's been more demand recently for improved technology in part because the ways restaurants get customers online, mobile, delivery are changing so rapidly, Lawrence said. Advertisement "There has been a growing interest to use these systems now that there are orders coming in from new channels," he said. "And now that these channels are opening up, (restaurateurs) are starting to look at how changes can be made in design." Designing restaurants of the future Even diners who still choose to eat in a restaurant are spending their time there differently, which restaurants must also keep in mind when reconfiguring their spaces. Dwayne MacEwen, founder of Evanston-based DMAC Architecture, said that restaurant design is changing to cater to more "alone-together" guests, or those that come to eat solo but still want to be in the company of others. "They have their earbuds in, their laptops open, but they still want to be in a dining room," he said. Andrew Kaplan gets an ice cream order from Alex Marvin, right, at the walk-up window Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017 at Duck Duck Ta Go in the West Loop. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) MacEwen, whose firm has designed spaces for restaurants including Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House, Roka Akor, Untitled Supper Club, Michael Jordan's Steak House and Doc B's Fresh Kitchen, said the first design change restaurant customers may notice is the host stand. Advertisement "With so much grab-and-go business today, take-out is moving away from the bar," he said. "It used to be that customers would wait over a drink at the bar, but now we're tethered to our phones." That means host stands are getting larger and some are being retrofitted with added shelving so to-go customers can get in and out quickly. In the kitchen, there is more space allotted for hot boxes, heat lamps, and delivery drivers, he said. Expediting counters where hot food waits to be picked up by a server are being staffed more by delivery drivers and less by servers, MacEwen said. Restaurants also are being laid out with less waiting space in front, because many restaurants can now alert customers with a text when their table is ready. And cash register space is becoming less vital, as technology makes it possible for customers to pay at their tables or with the swipe of a card by a server. And with customers' desire to be more connected comes the need for more power outlets, MacEwen said, a feature that's becoming essential. He said more outlets are being added at places where singles tend to congregate, like the bar and at communal or smaller tables, so customers can take advantage of them without holding up a full table. "It's all about a morphing of how people live and work," he said. "It used to be that we ate in the dining room and watched TV in the living room. Now your desk has moved into your pocket, and the food comes with you on your way. The old rules don't really make sense now." Advertisement sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SamWillTravel An Illinois man is suing Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. over a $2.49 bag of Starburst candy, claiming buyers remorse because the fruity chews allegedly were packaged with inaccurate calorie information on the front of the bag. (Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. ) Talk about counting calories. An Illinois man is suing Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. over a $2.49 bag of Starburst candy, claiming buyer's remorse because the fruity chews allegedly were labeled on the splashy front of the package as having 130 calories per serving when, according to the nutritional information chart on the less-conspicuous back, they had 140. Advertisement Artur Tyksinski never would have bought the corn syrup- and sugar-sweetened Gummies Sours candy at a Chicago-area drugstore earlier this year had he known it contained 8 percent more calories, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court. The lawsuit against Chicago-based Wrigley seeks class-action status. The class could include "hundreds, if not thousands," of indignant Starburst buyers, the suit says. Advertisement Tyksinski bought a six-serving package. "So instead of consuming a product which the plaintiff believed contained 780 calories in the entire package, he received a product that contained at least 840 calories," the lawsuit says. Allegations in the lawsuit, which also names Wrigley owner Mars as a defendant, include unjust enrichment and violations of Illinois consumer fraud and food, drug and cosmetics laws. The company said it's too early to comment on the lawsuit. Tyksinski is seeking actual and punitive damages, lawyers' fees and costs, and an injunction prohibiting further sales of the product with the allegedly inconsistent labeling. Federal judges in Chicago recently have been taking a skeptical view of class-action lawsuits over allegedly misleading food claims. A settlement in a class-action lawsuit claiming Subway's "footlong" subs weren't really a foot long was recently tossed by a federal court. One judge wrote that the Subway case was "no better than a racket" because only the lawyers benefited. Another federal judge in Chicago last week tossed out lawsuits against Kraft Heinz and numerous retailers that alleged the companies violated state consumer protection laws by selling products that were marked as 100 percent Parmesan cheese despite containing an anti-clumping ingredient. byerak@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @beckyyerak Park Ridge resident Suzie Tinagli listens as Dr. John Cunningham, chairman of the pediatrics department at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Childrens Hospital, talks with her son Sam earlier in August before he headed to college. The 18-year-old has been in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia since he took part in a clinical trial for a new therapy, which gained FDA approval Aug. 30, 2017. ( University of Chicago Medicine ) University of Chicago Medical Center and Lurie Children's Hospital could be among the first hospitals in the country to offer a new, breakthrough pediatric cancer treatment approved Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The treatment, which uses a patient's own modified cells to battle a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is the first gene therapy approved for use in the U.S. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. Advertisement Its $475,000 price tag is drawing jeers from some advocacy groups, but many are also excited about the treatment's potential to save lives. Here's how the CAR-T cell therapy works: Immune cells called T-cells are collected from a patient's blood and genetically engineered to fight the leukemia. Those supercharged T-cells are then put back into the patient's body, where they kill the cancer cells. The therapy came out of a collaboration between Switzerland-based Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania. Advertisement The treatment is intended to help the roughly 15 to 20 percent of children and young adults with the disease who don't respond to initial treatment or whose cancer returns after initial treatment, according to the FDA. Until now, children with those tougher cases of the disease had low survival rates, said Dr. John Cunningham, chairman of the department of pediatrics at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital. In a clinical trial, more than 80 percent of patients who underwent CAR-T cell therapy went into remission, according to the FDA. "In my 30 years of being an oncologist, that's the most dramatic difference I've ever seen," Cunningham said. "I've never seen something so spectacular." University of Chicago Medicine has been participating in a clinical trial of the treatment, which will be marketed under the brand name Kymriah. More than 3,000 people under age 20 are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia each year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and the new treatment is designed for the most common form of it. For now, only a select group of hospitals across the country will be allowed to offer Kymriah commercially because of its potentially severe, life-threatening side effects, including high fever, flu-like symptoms, infections and low blood pressure. The FDA is requiring hospitals and clinics that offer the therapy to be specially certified and have another newly approved drug on hand to treat some of those side effects. Representatives from University of Chicago Medicine and Lurie Children's Hospital confirmed Wednesday they are working with Novartis to be part of a network of hospitals offering the therapy commercially. Cunningham said University of Chicago Medicine could potentially begin offering the treatment to patients within weeks. Lurie could also begin offering it in coming weeks, said Dr. Reggie Duerst, clinical director of Lurie's stem cell transplant program. Advertisement Novartis spokeswoman Dana Cooper said in an email Wednesday she could not provide the names of hospitals that will offer the therapy commercially in Chicago. Novartis is aiming to have at least 20 medical centers certified to offer the treatment within a month, she said. The company hopes to have 32 centers certified by the end of the year. Novartis said Wednesday it will charge $475,000 for the therapy, and it's working with insurers to make sure they provide coverage for patients. She said the price is below current standards of care, such as the cost of some stem cell transplants. Novartis believes the $475,000 price will "support sustainability of the health care system and patient access while allowing a return for Novartis on our investment," she said. But the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing criticized the price tag. "While science behind Kymriah is revolutionary, the business decision to price it at nearly half of a million dollars per treatment is not," it said in a statement. "Kymriah's price tag is simply a continuation of the pattern of sky-high launch prices that spins further out of control each year." The group did, however, say it's excited about the therapy's potential to save lives. Some patients, such as Sam Tinaglia, of Park Ridge, have already seen the difference it can make. Advertisement Tinaglia was diagnosed with the disease when he was 5 years old, but he relapsed after initial treatment. He endured about eight years of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant before Cunningham, his doctor, helped him take part in a clinical trial of the treatment in Philadelphia in 2015. Like many patients, he suffered severe side effects from the therapy. He had high fevers, memory loss and a seizure, said his mother, Suzie Tinaglia. But within about a week in the clinical trial, those symptoms cleared. He's been in remission ever since. Sam, now 18, graduated from Maine South High School this year, and his parents dropped him off at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, for his freshman year about two weeks ago. "We never thought he would even be able to go to college," Suzie Tinaglia said. "You just go back to your life and your body heals itself. It's really amazing." Suzie Tinaglia said Novartis covered the costs of her son's treatment because he was part of a clinical trial. Several other companies have also been conducting clinical trials for CAR-T cell therapies. Advertisement lschencker@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lschencker The 2018 Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid vehicle is the volume product in Hondas 3-in-1 electrification strategy, which also includes a hydrogen fuel cell car and full battery electric vehicle. Clarity is a compact sedan with a 42-mile all-electric range, and 330-mile total range with the 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. Pictured Aug. 15, 2017, in Chicago. (Robert Duffer/Chicago Tribune ) Being first to innovate the market does not mean best. Honda launched the first hybrid in the U.S. in 1999 with the two-seat, three-door, odd-pod Insight. Toyota followed with the more practical Prius. The Insight was discontinued in 2016, the Prius is the best-selling hybrid in the world. Honda is now the first automaker to offer a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, or FCV, with a 366-mile range, a full electric vehicle, or BEV, with an 89-mile range and a plug-in hybrid vehicle, or PHEV, all under the banner of one electrified model, the Clarity. Advertisement Hyundai has done something similar with the Ioniq, though with a traditional hybrid instead of FCV. Honda's rival Toyota has separated its FCV, the Mirai, from the Prius hybrid and Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. Honda expects the Clarity PHEV to be the volume seller of a targeted 75,000 Clarities in the first four model years. It has to be, because an electric vehicle with only an 89-mile range is at the meager end of the range spectrum, and the FCV is still the long-term play completely dependent on infrastructure. Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 43 The A3 hatchback has a 1.4-liter turbo 4 engine with a 8.8 kWh battery powered motor to make 204 horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque. Range: 16e/380 MPGe: 83 MSRP: $38,900 Availability: Nationwide (Audi) Visually, it doesn't stand out from the sedan class as obviously as the Civic or Accord, but it also isn't as eco-dorky as the Insight was, with the exception of a modest partial rear wheel cover over the 18-inch wheels. Also unlike the Insight, the aerodynamic elements are discrete, with front and rear air curtains through the wheels and a full cover under the body, directing wind unbroken to the rear. Behind the wheel, the Clarity PHEV is punchy like any electric, with 232 pound-feet of torque giving it a jolt from a stop and providing plenty of pep while passing. There is a seamless transition of power from when the motor, which propels the car at low speeds and light loads, gets supplemented by the gas engine under heavier feet and at highway speed, when the four-cylinder Atkinson engine is at its most efficient. In our 200 or so miles with the car over a 24-hour period, we had to check the power display in the instrument cluster to determine if we were in EV mode or standard operation. It becomes nominally noticeable with the windows up and radio off. We beat the estimated 42-mile range thanks to regenerative braking, which takes the kinetic energy from coasting wheels to replenish the battery. It operates like a normal gas car with continuously variable transmission, but it can be charged from home overnight, or a Level 2 charger will juice it up in about 3 hours. Despite normal operation, there are some oddities to the Clarity. There is a narrow window between the two rear headrests to look out over the trunk, not unlike the top half of the split Prius window. Like in the Prius, I spent too much time looking at the window in my rear view instead of the cars behind me. It provides more rear visibility, at the least. 60/40 split rear seats offer greater storage access to the trunk. Overall the cabin optimizes space in a luxury-leaning trim. The center console has a clever storage cavity below for handbag, phones and other accoutrements of the modern road warrior. The top is covered with what felt like beautiful wood trim extending up to dash and doors. The center is a gear selector panel consisting of five rectangular buttons. This isn't an eco-oddity but part of the trend of electric gear shifters replacing the traditional pull shifter. Meh. Toggling through the info button, touch screen, and four-way arrow buttons on the steering wheel control takes getting used to. Hit the info button for the row of icons for nav, audio or trip meter, then use the arrows to dig deeper into those functions. The steering wheel controls are cluttered and counterintuitive but it could be mastered in more than a day. But no volume knob. The instrument display is bright and easy to read. The Clarity PHEV is a nice addition to a burgeoning segment. Honda wasn't first to a PHEV compact, but the 3-in-1 strategy should provide the flexibility it needs to deal with whatever the market demands in the imminent future. rduffer@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @DufferRobert 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV at a glance Vehicle type: plug-in hybrid compact sedan Estimated price: $35,000 Honda estimated MPG: 105 MPGe Electric range: 42 miles Advertisement Total range: 330 miles Powertrain: 1.5-liter four-cylinder with 17 kWh battery Parting shot: The plug-in lets Honda compete as it builds out its electrification program. A former partner at the law firm Sidley Austin sold her four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot condominium unit in the Lincoln Park area Tuesday for $4.533 million. (VHT.com) A former partner at the law firm Sidley Austin sold her four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot condominium unit in the Lincoln Park area Tuesday for $4.533 million. Susan A. Stone was a partner at Sidley Austin for 21 years until joining insurance brokerage and risk management giant Marsh & McLennan in New York in February as its general counsel. Advertisement Stone paid $4.249 million in 2014 to buy the 22nd-floor condo in the Park West neighborhood of the Lincoln Park community area from the building's developer. She first listed it in January for $5.25 million and cut her asking price in May to $4.995 million. The unit has 4baths, a library, views of Lake Michigan, a large mudroom, a formal entryway and three private terraces. Advertisement "It (is) a really special property that (lived) like a single-family home," listing agent Emily Sachs Wong of @properties said. Public records do not yet identify the buyer. Records show that Stone recently purchased a four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot co-op unit on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 (VHT Studios) Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Billionaire Ken Griffin, Illinois richest man, paid $58.75 million in November for the top four floors in the Near North condominium building at 9 W. Walton St., known as No. 9 Walton. This photo shows a rendering of the lobby. (JDL Development / E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune (inset)) Families hold an immigration vigil Tuesday outside Lake County Jail in response to the state's recently enacted Trust Act. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/Lake County) A few hours after Guillermina Vazquez and others prayed outside Lake County Jail for the release of her son, the anguished 57-year-old mother was able to bail him out and take him home. Vazquez's son was being held at the jail after his arrest earlier this month on felony drug charges, officials said. He also had a federal immigration detainer blocking his release, officials said. Advertisement "I felt like I could breathe again," Vazquez said of the moment she saw her son come out through the doors and into her arms. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the Illinoist Trust Act into law Monday, a move that paved the way for 32-year-old Luis Antonio Camacho Vazquez to be released after his bond was posted. Authorities said he was the first detainee at the Lake County jail released under the state's new Trust Act. Advertisement The Trust Act prohibits local and state police from searching, arresting or detaining a person solely due to their immigration status, or based on a federal immigration detainer. Police, however, will be able to communicate with immigration agents and hold someone for immigration reasons if there's a valid criminal warrant, according to the new law. There are currently 28 people in custody being held on local charges that also had an immigration detainer but can now post bond, Lake County sheriff's office spokesman Christopher Covelli said. Vernon Hills police arrested Camacho Vazquez on Aug. 19 after he and a passenger were stopped and found in possession of cocaine, authorities said. Camacho Vazquez was charged with possession of cocaine, a felony, and is scheduled to be back in court Wednesday, authorities said. His mother tried to bail him out last week, but wasn't able to due to a federal immigration detainer, she said. Vazquez said her son is from Jalisco, Mexico. On Tuesday, a day after the new law took effect, Julie Contreras of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Lake County called on local authorities to release anyone in jail who was being held solely on an immigration detainer. "They can have their day in court, but they should not be denied their right to pay their bond like everybody else," Contreras said. Following a prayer session that Contreras led, LULAC members accompanied Vazquez to the jail and helped her pay her son's bail. Vazquez said her heart felt like it would cut through her chest while she waited to to find out whether she would see her oldest son that night. Families hold an immigration vigil Tuesday outside Lake County Jail in response to the states recently passed Trust Act. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/Lake County) "I wanted to hug him. It's a terrible thing for a mother to have a child in jail," Vazquez said. Advertisement On Tuesday, it took a few hours for the chain of command to work through Camacho Vazquez's release. Covelli said it will take some time to train all employees to insure the sheriff's office is in compliance with the new process. Police will only detain a person under a warrant signed by a judge, per the new law, he added. Sheriff Mark Curran supported the Trust Act. He said he's been an advocate of immigration groups and causes. What the Trust Act dictates is in the best interest of local authorities because it allows them to work with the residents of the communities they protect and serve, Covelli said. "We support this legislation because trust is paramount in our community. We have developed a tremendous amount of trust over the years with our immigrant residents. They trust us enough to share information on criminal activity. (The Illinois Trust Act) doesn't change the way we do business. The lines of communication are still open between us and federal authorities," Covelli said. Adding that immigration detention is the job of the federal government, Covelli said that not having that trust between community residents and local authorities undermines the role of keeping everyone safe through community policing. But the Trust Act, even before it was enacted, was rife with controversy. Advertisement "This was not an easy bill to pass, let's be clear," Rauner said on the day he signed the measure into law. Conservative members of Rauner's Republican party lobbied against it. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok called the law a threat to public safety. "The Trust Act prohibits Illinois law enforcement agencies from honoring ICE detainers. The new Illinois law instead requires that criminal aliens who are held in local jails be released to the streets, rather than turned over to ICE. This is an irresponsible law that will undoubtedly have tragic future consequences at the expense of innocent Illinois residents and visitors," Rusnok said. Others, such as U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, have praised Rauner for listening to both sides of the argument before signing the bill. Rauner has said he sought the opinion of law enforcement while contemplating whether to sign or veto it. "My hope is that Congress will soon follow by passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation," Schneider said. Advertisement Immigration lawyer Drew Elesh thinks the Trust Act is a response to the stringent immigration policies that President Donald Trump's presidency is urging. The Chicago-based lawyer said not every person living in the country illegally poses a threat to society. And it costs money to keep people locked up when they can go back to their families and continue to support them while their cases are pending, Elesh said. "Don't think of this as a vacuum. Put it into perspective," Elesh said. "Rauner's legislation is kind of a response to the president's strict national effort to make everyone a priority." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun. Chef Sarah Grueneberg, a native Texan, is donating proceeds from menu specials to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Houston is chef Sarah Grueneberg's hometown, and so the chef/partner at Monteverde (1020 W. Madison St.) is dedicating part of her restaurant's profits to Hurricane Harvey victims. She has added four Texas-inspired items to the menu; the profits from those sales will support the Greater Houston Community Foundation's Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. Advertisement Items include grilled Texas redfish with tomato-rye panzanella, wok-fried shrimp arrabbiata with black tagliolini, and a bruleed butterscotch budino with pecan toffee. If you order a Lone Star beer, those profits head south too. Advertisement Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic. pvettel@chicagotribune.com Twitter @philvettel RELATED: MillerCoors sends 50,000 cans of water to Hurricane Harvey victims The bar is one of just a few in the country to serve beer at multiple temperatures about 35 degrees for most taps and, for the malt-forward beers whose flavor pops a bit warmer, 44 degrees. (Michelle Kanaar / Chicago Tribune) Aha! So that's how the nation's most iconic craft beer is supposed to taste. Advertisement When Chris Quinn decided to expand The Beer Temple from one of the city's renowned beer shops into a beer shop with a cutting-edge bar, he had an unlikely wish: a steady tap handle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. But the wish came with a twist. The beer had to be less than a month old when tapped. Arguably no single beer has had a bigger impact on the craft beer movement than Sierra Nevada's legendary pale ale, which debuted in 1980. But by the time it lands in our Midwestern glasses from California or North Carolina, it's often months old. Advertisement Not so at The Beer Temple, which opened last week with what Quinn hopes is a steady supply of fresh Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. "They said it's the same batch at their taproom right now," Quinn said, handing over a 10-ounce pour of the ruddy amber brew. It had been kegged two weeks earlier. I inhaled deeply, then took a swig. By modern beer standards, it was miles from flashy or trendy. Amid the hop notes of fresh pine and light orange citrus, the beer had a touch of malt sweetness and faint breadiness. It was spry. Refreshing. Pleasingly bitter. "There's just nothing wrong with it," Quinn said. "Goes down so easy. And it's only $3!" The 16-ounce pour is an even better deal: $4. That's just one of many reasons to visit what I consider Chicago's most highly anticipated new bar, which doubles as The Beer Temple's new bottle shop. (Both sit one door down on Elston Avenue from the old Beer Temple, which was a bottle shop without a bar.) The tap list is a mix of hard-to-find contemporary gems (read: hazy IPA) and a handful of classics, which included not just Sierra Nevada on opening day, but Edmund Fitzgerald porter from Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing and Fuller's ESB, a toasty, sweet and malt-forward British ale first introduced in 1971. It, too, is antithetical to the current trends. Quinn offers a deliberately varying beer menu: 20 rotating taps plus one cask line (typically served warmer and often with less carbonation), one dedicated to beers spontaneously fermented with wild yeast, a tap handle for cold Dark Matter coffee and one for fruited soda made by Transient Artisan Ales. There will be a steady flow of local beer, but it won't get any special favors. Diversity is the key. Advertisement "I'm not going to say no to a great beer because it's not local, and I'm not going to put something on that's local if I don't think it's exceptional," Quinn said. "We realize people come to us for our curation, and we won't throw something on tap that would tarnish what we're building." The bar is also one of just a few in the country to serve beer at multiple temperatures about 35 degrees for most taps and, for the malt-forward beers whose flavor pops a bit warmer, 44 degrees. Quinn calls The Beer Temple's bar an amalgamation of his favorites: Map Room and Hopleaf in Chicago, Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, ChurchKey in Washington, D.C., Toronado in San Francisco and Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Ore. They all share what he called "casual excellence." "Those places have amazingly curated beer lists that are served well," he said. "It's not really about how many bells and whistles you have; when you care, it shines through, and that's what all those places, in their own way, have shown me." Beyond the beer and how it is served, bells and whistles are indeed few at The Beer Temple, which was built to convey timelessness. Dark wood predominates with a sprinkling of red vinyl on the chairs and stools. There are no TVs and few modern-day trends, such as exposed brick or Edison bulbs. (There is, however, coffee service in the mornings.) Advertisement Quinn's primary indulgence was the custom-made neon signs created for five breweries he features prominently on draft: Scratch from the southern end of Illinois, Transient from southwest Michigan, Stockholm's Omnipollo, and Half Acre and Marz, both of Chicago. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Soon after launching in early 2013, The Beer Temple became one of the city's renowned bottle shops. That aspect of the business will likely recede as the bar takes prominence. Beer is, after all, very much a social sport. However, the part of the revamped Beer Temple that most excites Quinn is the bottle shop's walk-in cooler, a space meant to blend in with the rest of the store similar shelves, floor and lighting. He also plans to eventually move his popular weekly podcast "The Beer Temple Insiders Roundtable" from the WLPN radio studio in Bridgeport to a newly built event space that will also be used as a classroom. It's all part of what Quinn sees as an increasingly ambitious Beer Temple that's about more than simply selling beer. "The bar side of it was not in the original plan," he said. "That sprang from seeing the limitations of what I could do in the old space. I found myself saying, 'If only we had a bar, we could do so much more.'" 3173 N. Elston Ave., www.craftbeertemple.com Advertisement jbnoel@chicagotribune.com Twitter @hopnotes We are a nation up to our eyeballs in buttercream icing, ganache, fondant and the cakes that support them. Layer cakes. Cupcakes. Bundt cakes. It is a passionate love affair. Fantastically decorated sweets fill bakery shelves, TV screens and cookbooks. To put it simply: We've got a serious case of cake love, and we've got it bad. "We are a cake-centric society," said Rose Levy Beranbaum, America's reigning queen of cakes. "We always have been, and it has only gotten more so. I think it's because of the 'Iron Chef' syndrome." The symptoms? Constant viewing of sweet-TV. Shows such as TLC's "Cake Boss," with Buddy Valastro's family at Carlo's bakery in Hoboken, N.J. Or maybe Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," with Duff Goldman and his team in Baltimore. Not enough for you? Click on TLC's "Ultimate Cake Off" or We TV's "Amazing Wedding Cakes." And if you can wait until later this year, Bravo will add "Top Chef: Just Desserts" to the mix. "People don't know how to do it themselves, so they really love seeing somebody else doing it," said Beranbaum, author of "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" and "The Cake Bible," in its 44th printing. "Cake Boss" Valastro would agree. "You know, it's kind of like watching that show on the Discovery Channel," he said. "I get sucked into that because it's, 'Ahh, how do they make Reese's Pieces?' And you see it." Such sweet-TV fuels our appetite for cakes. So do hundreds of bakeries and cupcakeries. The final swirl atop this multilayered phenomenon? Dozens of cake cookbooks, from "Cakewalk," by New York sugar artist Margaret Braun on through "The Whimsical Bakehouse," by mother-daughter bakers Kaye and Liv Hansen from Westchester, N.Y. Coming in April: "Simply Spectacular Cakes," by London-based Peggy Porschen, who's done sweets for Elton John and Madonna as well as the centerpiece cake for Stella McCartney's wedding. How over the top can cakes get? "The cake I'm most proud of I did in the shape of a NASCAR car," Valastro said. "And it was actual size. That was a monumental task. It took like three days." Cake "is the fanciest, most visual aspect of food," Beranbaum said. "When food starts getting too fussy, you don't want to eat it. But when it comes to cake, that's different. It's a symbol of celebration." Something you do for loved ones. One other reason to bake a cake? "Decorate with your kids at home," said Valastro, a father of three. "Hey listen, if it comes out lousy, you can still eat it. And the kids'll never forget that time." jhevrdejs@tribune.com Resources From decorating tools to classes to how-to online videos, here are a few helpful Web sites: "Ace of Cakes": Food Network's Duff Goldman's team creates a cake "Viking ship," wedding cakes, offering inspiration. foodnetwork .com/ace-of-cakes/index .html "Cake Boss": Videos of old-school piping (TLC-TV's Buddy Valastro goes swag crazy) and decorative roses, etc. tlc.discovery.com/tv/ cake-boss/cake-boss. html Rose Levy Beranbaum: Cake cookbook whiz's blog plus instructional videos on lacquer glaze and more. realbakingwithrose. com Wilton Industries: The "Decorating 101" page is especially instructive. Want to mix mauve, plum or lavender tinted frosting? Check out the color chart. wilton.com "Rose's Heavenly Cakes," by Rose Levy Beranbaum Cream cheese pound cake Prep: 40 minutes Bake: 50 minutes Makes: 16 servings Note: This is adapted from "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro's basic pound cake. The cake can be decorated as you like or served simply with citrus-glazed fruit. Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 2 cups sugar 2 1/3 cups cake flour, sifted 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 large eggs, separated 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar Citrus-glazed fruit, see recipe, optional Whipped cream, optional Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in 1 3/4 cups of the sugar until smooth; beat in flour and vanilla on low speed until batter has a dry, crumbly appearance. Add yolks, one at a time, beating each until incorporated. Clean beaters. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into batter; repeat twice. Pour batter into buttered and floured 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Cool cake in pan 15 minutes. Invert onto cake rack; cool completely. Decorate as desired, or serve with citrus-glazed fruit and whipped cream. Citrus-glazed fruit: Mix 1 cup each sugar and water plus grated zest of one lemon in a small saucepan; cook over low heat until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly. Cut enough fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, for example) to make about 3 cups. Place fruit in bowl; pour glaze over fruit. Nutrition information: Per serving: 329 calories, 46% of calories from fat, 17 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 122 mg cholesterol, 40 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 62 mg sodium, 0 g fiber. In the 1950s and '60s, led by the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, the countercultural, soul-searching Beats traveled the globe to experience new cultures and define their own for a generation of followers. Beatniks, on the other hand, were the original hipsters, black- and beret-clad, shallow in their artistic pursuits and too cool for school caricatures of their more literate counterparts. Advertisement Taking its cues from the former, even as its name references the latter, Beatnik is the newest restaurant from the Bonhomme Hospitality Group (Celeste, Black Bull, Fulton Market Kitchen). Opening next Wednesday, at the corner of Chicago and Ashland avenues in West Town, the concept is at once Bohemian and opulent, global and approachable. At least, that's the team's goal. Manning the open kitchen are executive chef Marcos Campos and chef de cuisine Jonathan Meyer. Campos, who also calls the shots in Spanish-focused Black Bull, is using the opportunity at Beatnik to expand his worldview. Advertisement Guests visit Black Bull for tapas true to Spain, he says, "but here, (Meyer) and I get to do whatever we want. We're not married to some idea of authenticity here." The globe-spanning menu is an international dinner party, says Campos, remixing the Mediterranean concept of mezze (small plates) with flavors from Korea, Mexico and India, to name a few. "People want to travel, try something new. We can serve that at the table." Large-format, family-style fare will round out the smaller offerings. Many opening dishes are noticeably colorful. Scallop crudo is artfully scattered on vintage-style plates, and dotted with peach and hibiscus aguachile, hearts of palm and sesame chia seeds. Curry meatballs are a shock of orange, set in a pool of vibrant green English pea puree; violet-hued beet hummus is topped with blue cheese, fried chickpeas, roasted pepitas and drops of fragrant basil oil . Lego-like bricks of fried halloumi are served with tomato and quince jam with preserved lemon and cucumber yogurt. "We want to cover your table with great food," says Meyer. "We're ready to play with techniques can Korean barbecue transform a Lebanese dish? Why not?" Drinks come from Bonhomme's group beverage director Liz Pearce (also owner of The Drifter), with an assist from bar director Jacyara de Oliveira. (Fun fact: They've both been regional winners of the Speed Rack bartending competition.) "We want people to lean into brunch and hang out a little bit," says Pearce. "We want to serve drinks that don't have you feeling like a scumbag on a Sunday afternoon." Inspired by the London cocktail duo Kelsey Ramage and Iain Griffiths, who founded Trash Tiki, Pearce and de Oliveira are adopting sustainability practices for the bar from the outset. "There can be a lot of waste," says Pearce, from straws to food scraps. "We want to rethink how we prep" and use ingredients, says de Oliveira. Take the "cutting board vodka," an ever-changing offering currently being infused with the remaining citrus zests from cut fruit and garnishes. The two are also preserving seasonal ingredients to use in the height of winter. Advertisement De Oliveira has spent time behind the bar at Drawing Room and Sportsman's Club, but recently returned to Chicago from working in Seattle and, before that, Brazil. For her, the drink list at Beatnik reflects the narrative of a traveler "who has spent time in all these places, absorbing the culture and the people," expressing those influences through food and drink. Eleven cocktails make up the opening menu, with slushies and large-format offerings in the works. Mirroring the kitchen's ethos, spirits span the globe, as evidenced in the Equatorial Gatherings, made with tequila, pimento dram, guava, grapefruit and lime, or the Color of the Crocus, a blend of Mexican aguardiente (a clear spirit similar to rum), carrot, saffron, ginger and elderflower. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Pearce manages Beatnik's wine list. Bottles will hover around a very reasonable $45, with 15 or so by-the-glass choices. "It's not precious," says Pearce. Common options like New Zealand sauvignon blanc and Aussie shiraz will share space with wines from Macedonia, Serbia and Sicily. "These wines are made old-school, so fewer chemicals, and by default, more organic and sustainable, because that's how they've always done it." Bottles from lesser-known regions will be sourced with an eye toward grapes indigenous to those areas. Beatnik's decor is as eclectic and colorful as its menu. Three spaces "vignettes," says Daniel Alonso, Bonhomme partner define the sprawling restaurant, which occupies a former discount clothing store. "We only kept the four walls." The front cocktail lounge, with layers of old paint and drywall and an opulent brass bar set atop a vintage Italian counter, is inspired by warmly worn tavernas in cities like Madrid and Buenos Aires, says Alonso. The large, enclosed, year-round courtyard, filled with lush palms, slowly climbing ivy, and stately fiddleleaf figs, was inspired by the interior courtyards common throughout Andalusia in Spain. The large dining room is layered with colorful rugs, midcentury chandeliers sourced from Hollywood's Century Plaza Hotel, even doors once found at grand homes in Indonesia. Does the aesthetic hark back to the Beats? Jury's still out, but the effect of the design is warm opulence, which Alonso is proud of. "We want to age into our decor. We want the space to reflect the warmth of the kitchen and food," he says. "Come eat, stay a while." To borrow a phrase from Beatnik parlance: "Sounds wild." Advertisement Beatnik, 1604 W. Chicago Ave., www.beatnikchicago.com jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @joeybear85 Chicago native Chloe Bennet, who stars on "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," said she changed her last name from Wang to Bennet because "I had to pay my rent, and Hollywood is racist and wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable." Bennet, who grew up near the United Center and now lives in the Los Angeles area, made the comment on Instagram in response to a conversation sparked by her praise of actor Ed Skrein, who announced this week he is backing out of a role in the upcoming "Hellboy" reboot after complaints that Hollywood was "whitewashing" a character that was portrayed as Asian in the original comic book. Advertisement Bennet thanked Skrein for "standing up against Hollywood's continuous insensitivity and flippant behavior towards the Asian-American community." In the comments section, a social media user pointed out that Bennet changed her last name, People magazine reports. Bennet is her father's first name. "Changing my last name doesn't change the fact that my blood is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin, or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese," Bennet replied. "It means I had to pay my rent, and Hollywood is racist and wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable. I'm doing everything I can, with the platform I have, to make sure no one has to change their name again, just so they can get work." Advertisement Bennet, 25, left St. Ignatius College Prep on the Near West Side midway through her studies to pursue a singing career in China. She recorded songs in Sweden before returning to America about a year-and-a-half later. Season 5 of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is expected to air later this year on ABC. Bennet also stars in the movie "Valley Girl," which is due out next year. tswartz@tribpub.com @tracyswartz [ RELATED: Chloe Bennet brings humor and heart to 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' ] [ 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' star Chloe Bennet ready for Chicago homecoming ] [ Actor Ed Skrein explains why he is backing out of the 'Hellboy' reboot after whitewashing criticism ] Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Tomorrow, Genoveva Ramirez, a 67-year-old grandmother and immigration activist from Berwyn will appear at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters for a second time this year since receiving notice that her case would be reevaluated. Five other undocumented community members, also scheduled for a check-in in the upcoming weeks, will accompany Ramirez before her meeting to rally for "fair treatment," said Lissette Castillo, a community organizer. Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia and state Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez are expected to be present. On May 10, while celebrating Mexican Mother's Day, Ramirez received an unexpected letter from Immigration authorities. She was to attend a check-in at the local ICE office downtown to reevaluate the stay of deportation that has allowed her to remain in the U.S. Advertisement Ramirez, a native of Mexico City who overstayed a tourist visa in 2001, had been considered a low priority for deportation since 2015, she said, when she appealed her case with the support of community organizations and lawmakers, including federal Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-4). However, President Donald Trump's administration has abolished the system of priorities that gave her that security. According to Trump's January 25th executive order, anyone with a final removal order will be considered an enforcement priority. Advertisement Ramirez was detained and put in a detention center for about 2 weeks in 2013, she said, after a DuPage county policeman stopped her for a traffic violation while leaving work. "Immediately they handed me over to Immigration", said the grandmother of 10, eight of whom live in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens. She fought her case and the same year she won her deportation stay, Ramirez participated in the 100-Mile March: a group of 100 women, the majority Latinas, many of them undocumented, who walked from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. to urge Pope Francis to advocate for the undocumented during his visit to the U.S. capital city. She also became a member of Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), the same organization that fought for her case. On May 30, accompanied by members of that organization, her family, fellow union members from the Service Employees International Union, and a representative of the Mexican Consulate of Chicago, Ramirez said she felt very positive, as she entered ICE headquarters. About an hour later, Ramirez walked out, without the good news she was hoping for, Ruiz-Velasco said. The grandmother was ordered to return August 31 for another appointment. Although she remains optimistic, she said it's the thought of losing her grandchildren, "that hurts the most." "When I was in the detention center, I would sit on the floor and cry," she said. "They're very attached to us". The check-in is scheduled to be at 10:30 a.m. at 101 W. Congress Pkwy. Alice Waters is a restaurateur and food visionary who took French ideals of seasonal cooking to Berkeley, Calif., where her now-legendary Chez Panisse restaurant has been inspiring generations of American chefs, diners and home cooks since Aug. 28, 1971. (The New York Times/Penguin Random House) Alice Waters is a restaurateur and food visionary who took French ideals of seasonal cooking to Berkeley, Calif., where her now-legendary Chez Panisse restaurant has been inspiring generations of American chefs, diners and home cooks since Aug. 28, 1971. "People want to know how I came to open a restaurant at twenty-seven years old," she writes in the preface to her fine memoir, "Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook." "I never went to culinary school. I never cooked professionally. Why a restaurant? Why this kind of restaurant? Why this kind of cooking? How did I have the courage to open it? And the truth is, I'd never really thought deeply about it until now." Advertisement "I'm not a reflective person by nature." she adds. "My answer has always been that I was disillusioned with politics and needed a way to make money, and I loved to cook and I thought I'd just open a little place for my friends, a refuge from the turbulent activity in the streets around us. And this was partially true but not the whole story." Looking back at her life, Waters writes that she discovered that the years leading into young adulthood "held the seeds of my own edible education" and that it was "in a sense inevitable" she would open a restaurant like Chez Panisse. "And although I didn't think about it much back then, that little French restaurant on its opening night held not only the important threads of my past but all the deep, idiosyncratic potential for what was to come." Advertisement Autobiographies are often vanity projects, but there's a sensible modesty to this book, whose title page lists Waters as author with Cristina Mueller and Bob Carrau. She doesn't, for example, take credit for helping people eat better and more smartly although Waters surely did just that. Instead, she owns up to introducing Americans to mesclun, that now-ubiquitous mix of salad greens "you really couldn't find anywhere outside a forty-five-minute radius of Nice." "I loved it so much that I bought the seeds and planted them in my backyard so we could serve them at Chez Panisse," she writes. "Mesclun became a staple on the menu, and we probably served salad grown in my backyard for a good five years, before farmers in northern California realized the demand and began planting the seeds themselves. I think if there's one thing I'm responsible for in this country, something that I can take a little credit for, it's the propagation of real salad in the United States." "Coming to My Senses" is extremely easy to digest, even for non-foodies, largely because Waters views her eventful life with a touch of wonderment that is at once wide-eyed and slyly observant. This book is nicely peppered with telling details, wry and often self-deprecating quips, perceptive character sketches of family, friends, mentors, and even an occasional recipe, such as her idea of the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Although Waters has sometimes been called "Saint Alice" by critics who can't stomach some of her loftier pronouncements on how the world should approach food, work, education and related issues, there's very little here that's overtly didactic. Waters comes across as intelligent, creative, intuitive, exacting, brave and, always, learning. I still can't decide, however, if working for Waters would have been a gas or a pain in the ass. I suspect both, perhaps in terrifying rotation. Her approach toward firing at Chez Panisse was forged when a stint as a Montessori school teacher soured: "A firing is a two-way street," she writes. "The person being fired should be helped to understand that they don't want to be in a place where they're not valued. You need to be in a place where you're cared about, and where you care about being." Waters' story from birth to the opening days of Chez Panisse is presented in roughly chronological order. But peppered throughout are anecdotes and observations that move freely through time and space. These passages are often in italics, and I learned to anticipate them because they were always much fun to read and often delightfully dishy. Consider that mesclun, a story nestled amid recollections of a first trip to France. Clearly she was proud of that salad, for she took it to New York City in the late 1970s for a Playboy magazine reception honoring America's top 25 restaurants at that time. Waters can't resist adding parenthetically "We were number seven!" before proceeding with her story about feeling more than a little outgunned to be presenting mesclun amid ice carvings, salmon quenelles and some sort of "lobster extravaganza." The exclamation mark, after all these years, says it all as does Waters noting she was the only woman among the chefs and that her salad "was what people talked about the next day." "But that response really woke me up. It made me realize my naivete, but I also felt kind of a pride in the simplicity of what we're doing at the restaurant," she wrote. "That I could think of going to New York and presenting green salad as our dish from Chez Panisse! I remember talking all night to anyone who came to my station about how James Beard had loaned me his salad bowl, as if to give me some credibility! Like, Well at least he thinks this salad is all right." Advertisement Beard, once considered the dean of American cooking, had indeed lent her his salad bowl. Marion Cunningham had suggested she borrow the bowl and make the dressing at Beard's Greenwich Village townhouse. Of course. But it seems both entirely plausible and natural that Waters would do exactly that because she has been blessed with a lifelong knack for befriending people who are, or will become, big somebodies in their field whether it's a teenage John Daley, son of Chicago's mayor and a future Cook County commissioner, or Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, or filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola on the cusp of his "Godfather" fame. Then there are her stories about the food people she knew and worked with, folks like Beard, Cunningham, Julia Child, Elizabeth David, Richard Olney, Paul Prudhomme and M.F.K. Fisher. Never do the dropped names seem shoehorned into the text; they belong and they help spice up the narrative for both foodies and the general reader alike. That Waters was able to encounter so many prominent or soon-to-be-prominent people in the 1960s and 1970s was due, in part, to her friendships and interests, notably her deep love for cinema. But Berkeley and the Bay Area were clearly places to be in the 1960s, particularly if you wanted to make a difference by challenging conventional norms. Waters certainly did. She writes about sex, communal living and her one and only time trying LSD. Though proud of her counterculture sensibilities, the hippie culture was never for her, "the food in particular." "My friends and I valued a European aesthetic that was at odds with the Summer of Love aesthetic," she wrote. "You were either a beatnik or a hippie; I was more in the beat place, in an intellectual place. And I never smoked dope, that was a defining thing for me it felt like dropping out (although wine was a different story). I couldn't drop out, I was an activist. But I was a sensualist, too." And it was through the sensual art of eating that Waters discovered how she could really make a political statement. Food, she discovered, "is the most political thing in all our lives. Eating is an everyday experience, and the decisions we make about what we eat have daily consequences. And those daily consequences can change the world." Indeed. Most people, I think, would credit Waters for a whole lot more than mesclun. Through Chez Panisse, her decades of writing, advocacy and, yes, dreaming, Waters has helped change how Americans eat for the better through the culinary expression of her counterculture convictions. Advertisement wdaley@chicagotribune.com Twitter @billdaley 'Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook' By Alice Waters with Cristina Mueller and Bob Carrau, Clarkson Potter, 320 pages, $27 RELATED STORIES: Alice Waters will celebrate new memoir release at Maple & Ash in Chicago Advertisement Grilled cheese, the Alice Waters way Princess Diana with her sons Harry and William, and Prince Charles watch the parade march past as part of the commemorations of VJ Day on August 19, 1995 in London. Diana famously said, I want my boys to have an understanding of peoples emotions, their insecurities, peoples distress, and their hopes and dreams. (JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty Images) Diana, princess of Wales died Aug. 31, 1997, after a car crash in Paris. Six days later, on Sept. 6, her two sons, Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, walked behind her coffin through crowded London streets to Westminster Abbey for the funeral service. Millions around the world mourned Diana for her good works, her humanitarian causes, her fresh and refreshing take on what it meant to be a modern royal. But her story didn't end with her burial at Althorp, the Spencer family estate. Advertisement Twenty years after the death of the princess, Diana's legacy lives on in ways both large and small. A red scallop, a heraldic symbol of the Spencers, was included in the design of the royal coats of arms granted to her sons. Her image appeared on a commemorative 1999 5-pound coin, proceeds of which went to fund other memorial projects. Her famous gowns toured the world. Her iconic sapphire and diamond engagement ring reappeared on the hand of Catherine Middleton when she became engaged in 2010 to Prince William. A memorial fund created in Diana's name gave 727 grants to 471 organizations totaling 112 million pounds (almost $145 million). And her sons and daughter-in-law continue to promulgate and support humanitarian and charitable causes that meant much to her. "I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, people's distress, and their hopes and dreams," Diana famously said. She led by example. Advertisement While married to the Prince of Wales, Diana was president or patron of over 100 charities. As the royal family's official website notes, "the princess did much to publicize work on behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/AIDS." In the year before her death, following her 1996 divorce, Diana focused much energy on halting the use of landmines, famously visiting Angola and Bosnia to highlight the problem. William and Harry set up in 2009 a charitable foundation, known now as The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. It is, according to the foundation's website, "the main vehicle for their philanthropic activities," with a focus on helping those in the military and veterans, children and young people, and conservation. Prince William, as noted in his royal family website bio, has spoken out against illegal wildlife trade. Through the foundation, he brought together seven of the world's major conservation groups to create United for Wildlife to address "global challenges that threaten the world's natural resources." The Duke of Cambridge serves as president of the organization. Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge, who is often compared to the famous mother-in-law she never knew, makes news with practically everything she does, from what dresses and tiaras she wears to the causes she supports, notably those focused on children in the areas of mental health, addiction, hospice and palliative care, according to her royal family website biography. Prince Harry has been a prominent organizer of the Invictus Games, an "international adaptive sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veteran," according to his royal family website biography. He also co-founded, with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, an organization called Sentebale to help orphans and "vulnerable children, many of whom are affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic." William, Catherine and Harry also sparked headlines last April when they took part in a Heads Together video to end "stigma around mental health," according to the campaign's website. The 20th anniversary of Diana's death has spawned a new outpouring of books, stories, television segments, documentaries and rare public recollections by her sons of Diana as a mother. "There's not many days that go by that I don't think of her," Prince William said in the ITV documentary, "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy," on HBO. "A 20th-anniversary year feels like a good time to remember all the good things about her and hopefully provide maybe a different side that others have't seen before. Advertisement Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, all of this fresh focus on the Princess of Wales' death has, according to the British newspapers, sparked a sharp decline in the popularity polls for her ex-husband, Prince Charles, and his second wife. Since their 2005 wedding, the former Camilla Parker Bowles has been known as the Duchess of Cornwall rather than Princess of Wales, as is her right, "out of respect for Diana's memory," according to Sally Bedell Smith's book, "Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life." Diana relished being a mother. One of her most famous quotes is: "I live for my sons. I would be lost without them." Her most essential and elemental legacies are, of course, her now-grown sons and her grandchildren let's not forget that Prince William and Catherine's daughter is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. "With the birth of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, admirers the world over have found a new royal family to celebrate," notes "Remembering Diana: A Life in Photographs" (National Geographic, $30). In that documentary about his mother, William said he constantly talks about "Granny Diana" with Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, 2, and has put up more photographs of his mother in their house. "So, I do regularly, putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try and remind them that there are two grandmothers, there were two grandmothers in their lives, and so it's important that they know who she was and that she existed," he said. wdaley@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @billdaley [ Remembering Princess Diana 20 years after her iconic, public life ] [ Diana's last day: Dodi's yacht, a Ritz suite, a diamond ring and relentless photographers ] [ Princess Diana: 15 unforgettable fashion moments ] This photo of a rescue during Hurricane Harvey has stirred discussion about gender equality. (David J. Phillip / AP) In the same way that manure can fertilize a bounty of flora, an absolute garbage tweet can, on occasion, give birth to a fruitful discussion. So it is with conservative commentator Matt Walsh's tweet this week that co-opted a Hurricane Harvey rescue image and used it, bizarrely, to condemn gender equality. Advertisement "Woman cradles and protects child," Walsh wrote alongside a photo of a man carrying a woman and child through floodwaters. "Man carries and protects both. This is how it ought to be, despite what your gender studies professor says." It's the sort of logic-free nonsense that Twitter sinks its teeth into and runs with for days. Parody tweets using "despite what your gender studies professor says" sprang immediately and gleefully forth. Advertisement Then Christina Wolbrecht, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, weighed in. Her areas of expertise include gender and politics, and she co-wrote "Counting Women's Ballots: Female Voters from Suffrage Through the New Deal" (Cambridge). "I was going to stick w sarcasm," she tweeted, "but as an actual gender studies prof, there's just so much to unpack here, I can't help myself." She then launched into a multi-tweet thread that I've condensed into paragraphs here for ease of reading. Unlike the tweet that inspired it, her words are fact-based, thoughtful and essential. Here goes. (Tweets are unedited): "Care work (for children, infirm, elderly) is necessary for human flourishing & has been traditionally performed by women for free, which contributes to women's lesser financial & politics power. "As care work has moved into the market, it remains poorly paid & overwhelmingly female, which again makes women more vulnerable. "We love to laud a woman 'cradling her child' but don't provide paid maternity leave or support quality childcare & good pay/benefits for childcare workers (women, immigrants). "But wait! There's more! As budgets for care work (mental health, health care) have been cut, a lot of that work has shifted to agencies like police & fire, who often lack training & capacity, and result in troubling outcomes. Advertisement "At same time, economists note that a central challenge to male workers is skills mismatch men reluctant to take jobs in expanding care sector, partly bc jobs are 'female,' partly bc they are low paying, low prestige (bc their 'women's jobs'). "IN SUM your rigid and illogical sexual division of labor, & related hierarchy of value, hurts both women & men, the US economy, & the flourishing of society as a whole. "The value of work holding the baby or carrying the mother should be recognized & rewarded, no matter who performs it. Given how much care is needed, all hands on deck. "For the record," Wolbrecht concluded, "I realize the poster (who I won't tag) is a provocateur. I don't intend to engage or convince him. This is for everyone else." By Thursday morning, her thread had been favorited more than 110,000 times and retweeted more than 50,000 times. Thank you, Dr. Wolbrecht, for knowing just what a gender studies professor needed to say. Advertisement hstevens@chicagotribune.com Twitter @heidistevens13 [ Related: If Lady Gaga (plus Rizzo and Skilling) can cry at work, why not the rest of us? ] [ Evanston Township High School adopts a kinder, gentler dress code where leggings are OK ] [ 'Go back to India' Chicago CEO goes public with racist taunts he receives ] Southwest Airlines has pledged to donate 5 million frequent flier points to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, and it's asking customers to follow its lead. (Wilfredo Lee / AP) Those frequent flier miles were never going to get you to Bora Bora, so you might consider donating them to a good cause. Southwest and Alaska airlines are encouraging customers to hand over their miles (or, in the case of Southwest, points) to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Alaska says it will "match the first million miles donated," while Southwest customers are able to divert their points to a variety of organizations. Southwest tweeted that it's kicking in 5 million points to the Red Cross and other groups. Advertisement But if you just can't let the Bora Bora dream go, United and American are here for you. Both airlines are offering frequent flier miles in exchange for donations to Harvey relief. Through Sept. 24, members of American's AAdvantage program can earn 10 miles for every dollar donated with a minimum $25 donation to the Red Cross. United, meanwhile, is pledging to match the first $200,000 in donations to various organizations while offering members of its loyalty program up to 1,000 bonus miles for a minimum $50 donation. [ Related: Chicago shelters taking in animals from Houston will clear space for stranded pets ] [ Chicago-area companies contribute to Harvey relief efforts ] [ United Airlines CEO will personally give up to $1 million to help employees hurt by Harvey ] Fish year-round for trout no license or equipment needed at Wisconsins Rushing Waters Fisheries, and then have your catch cleaned and cooked at the onsite Trout House restaurant. Rushing Waters is about a two-hour drive from Chicago. (Lori Rackl and Randi Stevenson / Chicago Tribune) PALMYRA, Wis. At Rushing Waters Fisheries, fresh rainbow trout isn't just on the restaurant's menu. It's swimming in the 50-plus ponds spread across this sprawling property in southeast Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine State Forest. And it's yours for the taking. What's the catch? As much as you want. Advertisement Grab one of the free-to-use fishing poles, bait, bucket and net and try your luck plucking a trout out of the public fishing pond, open year-round. A Wisconsin fishing license and trout stamp $20 for one-day for out-of-staters aren't needed. And there's no admission fee for the 80-acre compound. You only pay for what you catch, and it's $8.75 a pound. Staffers will clean your trout for you. If you want to eat your triumph on-site, you can opt for the "hook and cook" option offered 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. For an additional $11, they'll cook your catch pan-seared or beer-battered and serve it with a slew of side dishes at the rustically stylish Trout House at Rushing Waters restaurant. Or you can take it home. Advertisement Don't worry if you're not exactly Ernest Hemingway when it comes to angling. "You usually have something on the line within 45 minutes to an hour," said Rushing Waters manager Peter Fritsch. That was an understatement the summer morning I was there. I followed a three-generation posse from suburban Milwaukee: Gary Paul and his son, Sam, who wanted to take Sam's toddler, Theo, fishing for the first time. Theo was captivated by the bucket of night crawlers while his dad and grandfather baited the hook and cast the line. The trio tended to reel in their line every time the bobber twitched. When they finally landed a 1-pounder, they turned over the rod to Theo and grabbed the net. Elapsed time: 15 minutes. Don't tell Theo, but luck and skill had little to do with this. The third-of-an-acre fishing pond is usually stocked with about 9,000 serving-size rainbow averaging three-quarters of a pound. The catch-and-eat feature at Rushing Waters is a smaller component of an enterprise that has about 750,000 live fish on-site at any given time and which wholesales roughly 6,000 fish per week to the likes of Whole Foods and Mariano's. "This," Fritsch said, "is the largest rainbow trout farm in Wisconsin." Advertisement Trout: A fish tale There are good reasons trout particularly rainbow can command $12.99 a pound for fillets in Chicago stores. Like brook and brown trout, the rainbow's lifestyle requires clean, flowing water in streams, rivers or ponds. The tasty fish is in great demand. Bob Haase, a septuagenarian from Eldorado, Wis., has been fishing for trout since he was 16. He said his state is overlooked as a trout nirvana, despite having hundreds of miles of trout streams. Haase is the education chairman of the Wisconsin chapter of Trout Unlimited, a national nonprofit conservation organization. Though he prefers "brookies," Haase said rainbows put on a better show: "When a rainbow takes the bait, it will dance around on the water's surface. Those acrobatics make them a fun fish. Brown trout, in comparison, will stay down a bit more." Another plus: "Clean, cold water is a requirement for trout; if the water warms above a certain temperature, the fish will not survive. Rainbow can tolerate warmer temperatures, in the lower 60s. That's why they're easier to raise commercially." Rushing Waters' Palmyra operation also makes, packages and wholesales smoked trout as well as trout spread (a fish-plus-cheese appetizer that tastes better than it sounds). These, and other goodies, can be purchased at the farm store adjacent to the restaurant. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 People can fish year-round at the public trout pond at Rushing Waters Fisheries near Palmyra, Wis., about a two-hour drive from Chicago. (Lori Rackl/Chicago Tribune ) Angling for market share About a two-hour drive from Chicago, Rushing Waters, N301 County Road H, can be found near Palmyra via a series of increasingly smaller roads that bob and weave through the Kettle Moraine area. Many visitors combine a fishing visit with hiking, biking or other outdoorsy activities in the hilly region. (There's a hitching post across the street from the fish farm; a horse trail is just down the road.) Advertisement From the street, Rushing Waters looks like a collection of pole-barn machine shops where doorknobs might be manufactured. A small building toward the back is all that remains of the small fish farm Madison-based investor Bill Graham bought in 1994. Three years later, Graham hired Fritsch, who'd just wrapped up a fisheries biology major at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. Fritsch: "This was before the local food movement. But Graham knew it was coming." Rushing Waters now has 56 ponds. Eggs are hatched in sheds, netted into fingerling tanks and then moved to outdoor ponds. Through their "teen" stage and beyond, the rainbow are carefully seined and advanced from one pond to the next: Pond population is segregated by size because larger trout love to eat smaller brethren. The trout eat all-natural food pellets that look like the kind of stuff you'd find in a dog bowl. Throw a handful into any pond, and watch the fish swarm for it. Because the fish spend their entire lives on Rushing Waters acreage, they're considered private property. As such, guests of the fish farm do not need fishing licenses. Even so, the fish, water and processing are regulated by the state. The ponds are fed by water from springs and artesian wells; that water eventually flows into a few fish-free settling ponds, where "suspended solids" uneaten fish food, fish poop, etc. sink. The cleaned water flows into the Bark River, a tributary of the Illinois-bound Rock. Advertisement Eat it there At the public pond stocked with mature rainbow, you capture your catch with the provided fishing tackle no personal equipment is allowed. Another rule: No catch and release. You land it, you buy it. When you're done, take it inside for weighing and paying. The Trout House restaurant opened in 2013 in the same large building that houses visitor check-in, a small store and the processing area that's off-limits to the public but visible through a wall of windows. A second Trout House location debuted in August in Delavan near Lake Geneva. The original Trout House evoking the feel of an old-school Wisconsin supper club has about 20 tables and a good-sized bar well stocked with Midwest craft beers. It's open for lunch and dinner Wednesday to Saturday and for brunch Sunday, and the menus cast a far wider net than just trout. Dinner entree options include shrimp scampi, beef tenderloin and fettuccine Alfredo, while Wisconsin cheese curds, a smoked-fish-and-cheese board and extraordinarily good a trout tapenade served with crackers are some of the small plates. Thursdays are all-you-can-eat crab nights. The restaurant takes reservations for any day except Friday evening during the popular fish fry, when you can expect an hourlong wait. That's when the guests are biting. Advertisement John Bordsen is a freelance writer. [ Related: Get a taste of fun and fine wine at these Midwest food events ] [ 6 supper clubs worth tackling on the way to Green Bay ] [ Scandinavian heritage, quirky charm await on winsome Washington Island ] Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash arrives for the start of his trial at the courts of justice in Vienna, Austria on Feb. 21, 2017. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 on an American warrant charging him with bribery and other offenses. (Ronald Zak / AP) The likelihood that Ukrainian billionaire oligarch Dmitry Firtash will be forced to answer racketeering charges in a Chicago courtroom increased this week when the Austrian courts rejected an alternate bid to extradite him to Spain. But Firtash who has ties to President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort continues to hope he can stay out of the United States. Advertisement Late Wednesday his lawyers acknowledged in court papers that, the Spanish request having been rejected, "Firtash has no right to any further court proceedings in Austria." Still, they hope U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer will render his extradition moot by dismissing the case before he can be put on a plane by the Austrian government. Firtash, who is free on bail in Austria after posting a $174 million bond, has been fighting extradition since his 2014 arrest in Vienna on charges he orchestrated an international titanium mining racket involving Chicago-based Boeing. His case had been in legal limbo while the Austrian courts considered the rival bid to extradite him to Spain. Advertisement Political machinations have formed the backdrop for the case from day one. Initially, Firtash, who is close to the Kremlin, claimed he was being punished by Barack Obama's administration for Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea. More recently, his ties to Manafort, with whom he discussed an abandoned plan to buy a New York hotel in 2008, have fed the sense of intrigue. Manafort's home was last month raided as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Lanny Davis, the former Clinton White House counsel who is part of Firtash's legal dream team, declined to comment Thursday. But in the court filing, another Firtash lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, repeated the argument that the case against him is an "unreasonable" prosecution that has nothing to do with Chicago or the U.S. kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews Shortened version of dashcam video of Chicago police responding to a shooting involving Officer Gildardo Sierra and Flint Farmer on June 07, 2011. (Chicago Police Department) (Chicago Police Department/Handout) The father of a man who was fatally shot more than six years ago by a Chicago police officer petitioned Thursday for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether criminal charges should be filed. Flint Farmer was unarmed when he was shot and killed by then-Officer Gildardo Sierra in June 2011 in an on-duty incident captured in part by a police dashboard camera. Advertisement At a news conference Thursday, Farmer's father, Emmett, said he is seeking a special prosecutor in an attempt "to get justice for my son." The Chicago Tribune broke the story in the fall of 2011 after learning the Farmer shooting was Sierra's third and second fatal one in a six-month span. Advertisement In spite of video suggesting Sierra stood over Farmer as he shot him in the back, then-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez declined to criminally charge Sierra in 2013, saying the officer reasonably mistook a cellphone for a gun pointed at him on a darkened South Side street. Although Sierra fired his weapon 16 times hitting Farmer seven times, including three times in the back prosecutors said they did not think they could show that the shooting was unreasonable, a key component to prove the officer guilty of a crime. Last year, though, the city's Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings by Chicago police officers, determined Sierra was unjustified in shooting Farmer. But the decision a rare ruling by the agency in finding a cop at fault for a shooting came nearly a year after Sierra had resigned. Former Chicago police officer Gildardo Sierra exits the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in May 2016. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Farmer told reporters that State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office has declined to revisit the case, citing a letter Alvarez sent to then-Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy when she declined to pursue criminal charges. Foxx's office declined to comment to the Tribune beyond saying that "we are reviewing the petition." Foxx has explained in the past that she favors special prosecutors handling investigations of police-involved shootings because she believes the state's attorney's office has an inherent conflict of interest since it works closely with police. Lawyers who filed the petition on behalf of Farmer intend to appear before Leroy Martin, presiding judge of Cook County's criminal division, next week at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. "I just believe that now is the time for someone to do something," Farmer told reporters in the courthouse lobby. Advertisement The FBI also had been investigating the shooting, but a spokesman Thursday could not provide an update on where that inquiry stands. Sierra could not be reached for comment. Emmett Farmer, 57, speaks about a petition that was filed seeking a special prosecutor to launch a criminal investigation into the 2011 police shooting of his son. He held a news conference Aug. 31, 2017, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) (Alyssa Pointer/Chicago Tribune) The appointment of a special prosecutor in Cook County has rarely been done over the years. But the court-ordered release in November 2015 of the video of a Chicago police officer shooting teen Laquan McDonald 16 times has changed the landscape. The video showing Officer Jason Van Dyke opening fire as McDonald walked away with a knife in his hand, contrary to the accounts given by officers at the scene sparked political turmoil, promises of systemic change from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that blasted police for routinely abusing citizens' civil rights. Van Dyke was also charged with first-degree murder, and special prosecutors were appointed to prosecute not only Van Dyke but also three officers indicted on charges of covering up the circumstances of McDonald's shooting. In the 52-page petition and memorandum of law filed Thursday, lawyers representing the elder Farmer said the Cook County state's attorney's office has a "long history of failing to adequately investigate and prosecute police officers for their criminal acts that continues to this day." Advertisement The lawyers listed about two dozen police-involved shootings in which the state's attorney's office did not bring charges while noting that lawsuits stemming from those same shootings led to awards of multimillions of dollars. The memorandum pointed out that Alvarez's office never took a statement from Sierra during its investigation into whether charges should be brought. The memorandum ended with an unorthodox conclusion of only three words "Black Lives Matter." Emmett Farmer, 57, holds onto a petition seeking a special prosecutor to launch a criminal investigation into the June 2011 shooting of his son, Flint Farmer, by then-Chicago police Officer Gildardo Sierra, on Aug. 31, 2017, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. ( Alyssa Pointer/Chicago Tribune ) Farmer was shot on the South Side during the early morning hours of June 7, 2011, when Sierra and a partner, assigned to the Englewood police district, responded to a call of a domestic disturbance allegedly involving Farmer and his girlfriend in the 6200 block of South Honore Street. "My baby daddy, he just jumped on me and he just beat up on me and my kids real bad," Farmer's girlfriend, Tanesha Whitaker, could be heard saying on a 911 call that Alvarez's prosecutors played for Tribune reporters when they explained during a 2013 interview why they chose to not charge Sierra. When police arrived, Farmer fled to South Wolcott Avenue, one street west. He got as far as the parkway when Sierra reportedly yelled at him. Advertisement Prosecutors said Farmer, 29 and unemployed, pointed his burgundy cellphone at Sierra, prompting the officer to empty his handgun. A patrol car that arrived during the brief confrontation captured video of Sierra as he stepped onto the parkway, walked around the injured and unarmed Farmer in a semicircle and fired three shots into his upper back. An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner's office showed that those shots were the fatal wounds. Before Farmer's death, Sierra had fatally shot Darius Pinex, 27, in January 2011 and wounded a 19-year-old man in a shooting in March 2011. All three shootings took place after midnight in the impoverished and crime-ridden Englewood and West Englewood neighborhoods. The city settled separate lawsuits by the Farmer and Pinex families for about a combined $7.6 million without admitting wrongdoing. The Police Department ruled Farmer's shooting justified, but then-Superintendent McCarthy later told the Tribune, without identifying Sierra by name, that he considered the case "a big problem" and that the officer involved should not have been on the street. Sierra later admitted that he drank "multiple" beers before he went to work that night, but the city waited more than five hours to give him a breath test, according to a court filing by an attorney for the slain man's estate. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > In its ruling finding the Farmer shooting unjustified, IPRA called the dashcam video "critical evidence," saying it showed Sierra shoot Farmer as he lay on the ground with his back toward the officer. Advertisement After viewing the video, Sierra said he fired the last three shots because he saw Farmer move and felt he was still a threat, according to IPRA. The video shows no such movement, IPRA ruled. "Rather, the video shows that (Farmer) is lying motionless on the ground, posing no threat," the ruling said. IPRA cited alleged discrepancies in Sierra's accounts of what happened and said the agency would have recommended he be charged with disciplinary violations for giving a false statement if the officer had not already resigned. The ruling against an officer in a shooting is a rare one by a widely criticized agency in the midst of upheaval since the McDonald shooting. Of more than 400 shootings by Chicago police since IPRA's inception a decade ago, the agency found that an officer used unreasonable force in only seven cases, including Farmer's. Five of those rulings have come since IPRA's current chief administrator, Sharon Fairley, took over the agency in December 2015. jgorner@chicagotribune.com Sean Maroney, a 20-year-old Ohio resident, was charged with felony DUI and the driver of another car he hit head-on, Molly Paige, 25, was charged with misdemeanor DUI, following a crash in Oakbrook Terrace on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. (DuPage County sheriff's office ) Both drivers were under the influence of alcohol when their cars collided in Oakbrook Terrace on Sunday, according to DuPage County prosecutors. Authorities said Sean Maroney, a 20-year-old Ohio resident, was driving into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of Roosevelt Road when he crashed head-on into a car driven by a Lombard woman. Advertisement Maroney was charged with felony aggravated DUI and on Wednesday was ordered held in lieu of $150,000 bond by Judge Michael Reidy, prosecutors said. Maroney and the driver of the other car, Molly Paige, 25, were taken to a hospital for treatment, as were Paige's three passengers, though prosecutors say no one suffered life-threatening injuries. After an investigation, Paige was charged with a misdemeanor count of DUI, officials said. Advertisement State's Attorney Robert Berlin issued a statement Wednesday reiterating that DUI accidents are "100 percent avoidable." "People have got to learn that if you have been drinking, don't think you are all right to drive. Call a taxi or call a friend you'll thank yourself the next morning," Berlin said. Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter. Chicago police are asking West Side residents to be alert after a woman tried to lure a teenage girl Tuesday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. Around 4:45 p.m., a woman approached a 16-year-old girl who was walking in the 500 block of North Lawndale Avenue. The woman asked the girl what school she went to before she told her that her son attended the same school. Advertisement The woman then touched the girl's school identification, which was around her neck, and told her, "Oh you so pretty, come to my house so you can meet my son." The girl ran to a friend's home and the woman left the scene. Advertisement The woman, who was riding a black mountain bike, was described as black, in her 30s or 40s, with a dark complexion, short Afro hairstyle and a heavy build. She was wearing blue jeans and brown boots at the time of the incident. Police are asking anyone with information to call Area North Bureau of Detectives at 312-744-8200. Anonymous tips can also be submitted at Tipsoft.com. A 31-year-old truck driver living in west suburban Villa Park was arrested by the FBI on Thursday on charges out of New York that alleged he raised money in 2015 to help send fighters from the U.S. to ISIS fronts in Syria. At a hearing in federal court in Chicago, prosecutors asked that Dilshod Khusanov, a native of Uzbekistan, be detained as a flight risk and danger to the community. Advertisement He would then be taken to Brooklyn to face the two-count indictment charging him with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State and a second terrorist organization, al-Nusrah Front. Each count carries a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted. U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman will rule on the removal proceedings next week after an attorney for Khusanov asked for more time to speak with his client about his rights. Advertisement Khusanov was arrested just after 6 a.m. Thursday at his home in Villa Park, authorities said. Public records show he'd lived there only a short time, with previous addresses listed in New York. In a court filing Thursday, prosecutors said Khusanov has been working as a truck driver and "frequently travels across the East Coast." Khusanov appeared in court dressed in a red-and-white checkered shirt, khaki pants and bright red gym shoes, with shackles clanking around his ankles. At one point, Khusanov asked Weisman for a more detailed explanation of what it meant that he had been indicted and therefore was not entitled to a preliminary hearing. According to a release from the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, Khusanov was part of a cell of "like-minded individuals" seeking to aid ISIS and al-Nusrah Front in Syria. Four other members of the support group, as well as two people who allegedly tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS fighters, have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy, according to prosecutors. The investigation began when one of Khusanov's co-conspirators, Abdurasul Juraboev, posted on an Uzbek-language website that he wished to martyr himself on U.S. soil, possibly by assassinating then-President Barack Obama, according to prosecutors. Another co-conspirator, Akhror Saidakhmetov, was arrested in February 2015 at Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to travel to Turkey and then Syria "for the purpose of waging violent jihad on behalf of ISIS," according to the charges. Advertisement Khusanov helped fund those efforts by providing his own money and promising to raise other funds to help pay Saidakhmetov's travel expenses, prosecutors alleged. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > In the week before Saidakhmetov was scheduled to leave for Turkey, Khusanov transferred money into the personal bank account of another co-conspirator, Akmal Zakirov, that was earmarked for Saidakhmetov's travel, according to prosecutors. Both Juraboev and Saidakhmetov had been secretly recorded talking about a wide range of terrorist plots, according to the charges filed against them in New York. In one conversation from November 2014, Saidakhmetov talked about joining the U.S. military as an ISIS spy, according to a criminal complaint. When Juraboev criticized that plan, Saidakhmetov responded he could always just "open fire on American soldiers and kill as many of them as possible," the complaint alleged. Two months later, Saidakhmetov was recorded by an FBI informant talking about another plan to secure an automatic weapon and shoot a police officer, the complaint alleged. "Boom ... then we will take his gun, bullets and a bulletproof vest (and) do the same with a couple of others," Saidakhmetov allegedly said. "Then we will go to FBI headquarters, kill the FBI people." Advertisement jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Twitter @jmetr22b Ald. George Cardenas is part of a group of Little Village neighborhood residents and officials calling on Chicago Public Schools to build a new school facility for an area elementary and high school program. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) A group of Little Village neighborhood residents and two elected officials Wednesday called on Chicago Public Schools to build a new, multimillion dollar school facility for an area elementary and high school program. The proposal would bring big changes to a cluster of four schools that use separate facilities located within feet of each other in the West Side's predominantly Latino neighborhood, almost two years after CPS tried to consolidate some of those same buildings. Advertisement "We're always marginalized by the politics of the moment, where glitzy high schools are being proposed in various parts of the city, some north, some south," said Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, during a news conference. "We, on our end, ask ourselves what do we have to do to get the attention of officials and those that are in power to make sure the resources are spread evenly to everyone." District officials have signaled they'll consider community-led building proposals and are currently working through plans to create two new high schools. One is a new site to replace a group of struggling campuses in the Englewood area; the other a controversial effort to open an open-enrollment high school in the growing South Loop by closing an elementary school with a largely African-American student body. Advertisement But it's not clear if the latest idea has the needed support from CPS to actually get built. The district did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Residents want the city and state to construct a two-story building of roughly 50,000 square feet on part of a parking lot adjacent to the current Saucedo Elementary campus, which is a few blocks north of the Cook County Jail. Saucedo currently shares parts of its building with Telpochcalli Elementary School. The plan would have Telpochcalli move some operations into the new facility, but the building would largely become the new home of the Spry Community Links High School. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Spry, a small high school program with less than 200 students who study year-round and graduate in three years, now shares some facilities with the nearby Spry Elementary School but also leases space from a neighborhood organization. The plan would keep the Spry elementary school in its current location while the high school would move across the street. "The designs that you see right here should not go unnoticed, because parents that are here today, that are standing right here, that's because they worked so hard and they're so passionate about prioritizing the needs of our students," state Rep. Silvana Tabares, D-Chicago, said Wednesday. "They want a better building, they want to be able for kids to have more resources." In December 2015, the district proposed consolidating Spry's high school grades into the building currently used by the Saucedo and Telpochcalli schools. The original CPS proposal would have allowed the high school to end its rental arrangement and gradually move students into the single building by the 2018-19 school year. CPS abandoned the plan months later amid intense community opposition, while saying officials wanted to find an agreeable solution for the area. The proposal's advocates could not specify where the money would come from to finance estimated construction costs that could run higher than $20 million. Advertisement jjperez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @PerezJr Sean Liggett, 26, was denied bail in the July 4, 2016, fatal shooting of a man who was sheilding his girlfriend from gunfire. (Chicago Police Department) Several people gathered the afternoon of July 4 in front of the Riverside Village apartment complex on the Far South Side. The group consisted of friends, family and children. But when a fight erupted nearby, fireworks were replaced with gunfire, killing a man who was shielding his girlfriend, prosecutors said at a bail hearing Thursday. Advertisement Sean Liggett, 26, was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Aaron Gordon, 21, of Country Club Hills, prosecutors said. Cook County Judge James Brown denied bail at a hearing Thursday. Shortly after 5 p.m. July 4, two brothers and their friends pulled up at a housing complex in the 200 block of East 132nd Street and saw Liggett, whom the brothers have known for years, prosecutors said. Advertisement Soon after, Liggett got into an argument with one of the brothers that ended when Liggett went into his grandmother's building. The other men proceeded to park the car, prosecutors said. As they were parking, Liggett came out of his grandmother's building, reached through an open window and punched one of the brothers who was seated in the rear of the car, prosecutors said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > A fight ensued, and eventually the brother was hanging out of the car window. Prosecutors said Liggitt stated, "B----, I'll kill you." Aaron Gordon was in a separate car that was parked near the disturbance. Gordon's girlfriend, one of her friends and her small children were shooting off fireworks, prosecutors said. Her friend saw Liggett holding a gun, so she ran with her children to hide. Liggett then fired about seven shots in the direction of the brother with whom he was fighting. He missed the brother, but he struck Gordon, who was shielding his girlfriend in the back seat, prosecutors said. Gordon suffered a wound to the face. The bullet entered his nose and exited the back of his skull. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead later that day, prosecutors said. After the shooting, the intended target fired shots into the air and fled the scene. Liggett fled as well, prosecutors said. Police recovered one shell casing from a large-caliber bullet with a head stamp "Speer" that was found near a dumpster. They also recovered a Crown Royal bag from the grandmother's house that had 47 bullets with the head stamp "Speer," prosecutors said. Advertisement A no-bail arrest warrant was issued July 13 naming Liggett. He was caught in Indiana in mid-August and extradited to Chicago on Wednesday. Franshuan Myles is seen at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago onAug. 4, 2016. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune ) The former owner of a small nonprofit on Chicago's West Side was sentenced to 21 days in jail Thursday for spending thousands of dollars in state grant money on herself instead of giving summer training jobs to teenagers. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo told Franshuan Myles that the damage done undermining the public's confidence in such grant programs was substantial even if the amount of the fraud was small. Advertisement "Any corruption is not OK," Bucklo said, adding that she did not feel Myles had taken full responsibility for her crime. Still, the sentence was far below the up to two-year prison term sought by prosecutors. Myles' lawyer had asked for probation. In a tearful statement to the judge, Myles said she had good intentions with the grant but got in over her head when she took over the nonprofit, Divine Praise, after her mother's death from cancer. Advertisement "Due to my lack of judgment, I've come up short," said Myles, pausing as she was overcome with sobs. "I wish I could go back in time and correct my wrongs." Myles said helping people in her impoverished West Garfield Park community has always been her passion. She was the first in her family to graduate from college and went on to earn a master's degree, she said, asking the judge to spare her prison time so she could continue to work and pay back the money she owed. "I'll pay it back!" Myles cried at one point during her remarks. "I swear I'll pay it back!" Myles was also ordered to repay $19,000 in losses to the state and perform 250 hours of community service. After a weeklong trial in May, a federal jury needed just 40 minutes of deliberations to convict Myles, 39, on one count each of wire and mail fraud. . Bank records showed that in September 2011, long after the grant program had wrapped up, Myles made 41 purchases for herself using state funds, prosecutors said. She bought shoes and clothing at retail stores and home improvement supplies from Home Depot, paid down her car loan and paid for her cellphone plan, all using a bank account containing state funds. In arguing for a sentence of up to two years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said Myles' crime is the type that "breeds cynicism" not only in the public but also by making legislators less inclined to approve funding for state grants because they assume the money is being misspent. "It gives them every excuse to say these programs are too corrupt," Bhachu said. Advertisement Myles' case sparked interest because of ties to several current and former Chicago-area politicians. In 2016, the Tribune revealed that Myles wrote a Divine Praise check for $4,932 to 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, identified by authorities only as "Individual A," just two days after the state money landed in her bank account. Ervin was not accused of wrongdoing, and prosecutors never alleged there was anything illegal about the check sent by Myles to the alderman. Prosecutors alleged the $60,000 Illinois Youth Recreation Corps grant at the center of the fraud was a pilot program intended to employ 20 youths ages 16 to 19 to instruct other kids in physical activities, arts, crafts and other programs. Although Myles submitted paperwork to the state showing she had hired 22 instructors during the summer of 2011, jurors heard testimony that at least two of them actually spent their summers doing other jobs. One teen purportedly on the grant payroll actually worked that summer as an intern for longtime state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, answering phones and performing clerical duties in the senator's west suburban office, testified Marla Skinner, a longtime aide to Lightford. Advertisement Another teen who records show is the grandson of former state Rep. Coy Pugh had instead spent his time as a paid intern for a private accounting firm that had done business with Pugh, according to testimony. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Also shown to the jury was a $100 check from Divine Praise to a campaign fund controlled by then-state Sen. Annazette Collins a contribution that prosecutors argued had nothing to do with the youth training. Records also showed Myles' grant application was faxed to state officials from Collins' West Side office. Myles' attorney, Michael Petro, argued at trial she was guilty only of sloppy bookkeeping. "Unfortunately for Ms. Myles, she did not have the financial stability or the business skills needed to pull off such ambitious goals," Petro told jurors. "Her business plan was the plan of a young, starry-eyed student, not a professional person." Prosecutors, however, argued that what Myles did with the grant money was straight-up fraud. Advertisement jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Twitter @jmetr22b An armed 13-year-old boy wanted in a Minnesota shooting was arrested Wednesday by Chicago police downtown after they chased him to the Chicago Domestic Violence Courthouse, authorities said. Having learned from a relative of the teen's that he was arriving in Chicago from Minnesota on a Megabus, police went to the Megabus stop at Polk and Clinton streets in the South Loop and spotted him there around 9:30 a.m., authorities said. Advertisement When he saw the officers, the boy, who had a 9 mm handgun in his waistband, ran away, authorities said. The officers caught up to him a few blocks away outside the courthouse, at 555 W. Harrison St., where he ran onto a ramp in a prisoner van intake area, authorities said. There, the officers, with the help of Cook County sheriff's deputies, arrested the teen and confiscated the gun. Advertisement Authorities said the teen was being sought in a shooting that occurred Monday in St. Cloud, Minn., about 475 miles northwest of Chicago. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg in an attack late Monday in St. Cloud, according to a release from the local Crimestoppers organization in the St. Cloud area. The boy's injuries weren't believed to be immediately life-threatening, according to police. Emergency crews have recovered the body of a man who disappeared in Lake Michigan early Thursday while swimming near Bryn Mawr Avenue on the North Side, officials said. The man, 55, and a woman had gone into the lake just south of the Ardmore Hollywood Beach around 12:45 a.m., according to Chicago police. The woman got out but noticed the man was struggling in the water. She and another friend tried to rescue the man but were unable to get him out of the water, police said. They called for help when they lost sight of him. The Police Department's marine unit along with the Chicago Fire Department responded. Divers called off the search around 2:15 a.m. because of rough water conditions, according to fire officials. Advertisement The search resumed at daybreak and the man's body was found near the dog beach in the 700 block of West Foster Drive. His body was recovered by fire and Coast Guard crews, officials said. A beach hazard had been issued by the National Weather Service overnight because of waves that could reach 5 to 7 feet. There were also strong rip currents, the weather service said. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg addresses the United States Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach, Fla., on June 26, 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending $3 million more to air a new TV ad backing the controversial penny-an-ounce Cook County tax on sweetened beverages. The $3 million is on top of $2 million Bloomberg already plowed into a different ad supporting the tax, which went into effect Aug. 1. Advertisement Meanwhile, the beverage industry continues an effort to push back. The Can the Tax coalition on Thursday took its campaign to Hazel Crest in the south suburbs, where retailers said the tax is harming their businesses. That's in the district of Commissioner Deborah Sims, who voted for the tax. Last week, the coalition was in Chicago's Little Village, where the group joined retailers and the local Chamber of Commerce to advocate for repeal of the tax. That event was in the heart of the district represented by Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who voted for the tax. Advertisement A showdown of sorts is set for Sept. 13, when a vote on repealing the tax is expected to take place at a County Board meeting. But passing a repeal and getting it to stick is a tall order. Board President Toni Preckwinkle in November broke a rare tie vote to approve the pop tax, following an 8-8 tie vote. The late Commissioner Robert Steele was hospitalized and unable to attend that meeting. If all 17 commissioners attend the upcoming meeting, and new Commissioner Dennis Deer backs the tax, it would take two changed minds to repeal the tax. Deer said when he was appointed to the seat that he favors the beverage tax. And if a repeal vote succeeded, Preckwinkle would likely issue a veto. Then, it would take even more commissioners reversing their votes to repeal the tax. The Bloomberg ads will be airing in the meantime. The billionaire media empire owner has long backed efforts to curtail the intake of sugary sodas, perhaps most famously when he backed an ultimately failed effort to ban Big Gulps and similar oversize sugary drinks in New York City. The new ad features Dr. Javette Orgain, a family physician who is an associate professor of clinical family medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Soda companies are targeting our children, and every day I see the results," Orgain says in the ad. "Obesity leads to heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes. It makes me angry, and it should make you angry too. The soda tax will mean healthier kids, healthier families, healthier communities. If we don't protect the kids, who will?" The Can the Tax coalition was dismissive of the Bloomberg ad campaign, making reference to a poll conducted shortly after the tax went into effect that concluded it was highly unpopular. It was conducted by a firm affiliated with the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Advertisement "When Cook County and President Preckwinkle desperately need New York City billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his $5 million to try and whitewash a tax nearly 90% of Cook County residents have rejected, it's clearly time to repeal the beverage tax," read a statement issued by the coalition. The statement said the "tax has nothing to do with public health and everything to do about raising taxes to fuel more County spending." hdardick@chicagotribune.com Twitter @ReporterHal Gov. Bruce Rauner answers questions about the new school funding reform bill passed by the Senate during a news conference Aug. 30, 2017, at Ball Charter School in Springfield. (Rich Saal / AP) 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 Gov. Bruce Rauner toured downstate schools and met with students Wednesday, touting the compromise education funding bill he plans to sign into law Thursday. Advertisement The governor welcomed students as they arrived for class at Springfield Ball Charter School on Wednesday morning. He later joined Democrat and Republican lawmakers in the school gym in an attempt to explain the complex school funding bill to a group of middle-schoolers. "We're here to celebrate today," Rauner said. "And tomorrow we are going to sign this new law that says from now on, we're going to fund our schools fairly and the same for all kids regardless of where they live, regardless of how much money their parents have." Advertisement He's set to sign the bill into law Thursday afternoon at a Chicago elementary school. The governor's support comes after he used his amendatory veto powers to rewrite portions of a similar proposal legislators approved in May. He contended that bill contained too much money for Chicago Public Schools. However, the agreement he is now backing would provide even more money for CPS. Rauner chalked it up to "compromise." He dismissed questions about whether he backed the bill to avoid another embarrassing override, after some Republicans last month joined Democrats to reject his veto on a budget plan and tax hike. The governor pointed to provisions long backed by Republicans that were added to the proposal, including tax credits to support private school tuition, the relaxation of some unfunded mandates and the potential for residents of well-funded school districts to petition to lower their income taxes. "This is just a compromise that we have all worked very hard to achieve together," Rauner said. (Monique Garcia) What's on tap *Gov. Bruce Rauner is set to sign a sweeping school funding bill in the afternoon at a Chicago elementary school. *Mayor Rahm Emanuel will open the new Washington and Wabash CTA station in the morning and attend Rauner's bill-signing ceremony in the afternoon. *The City Council's Public Safety committee is set to meet. Advertisement *Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker's bus tour stops in Bloomington, Stanford, Decatur, Taylorville and Belleville. *Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider will appear at a morning rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago with environmental advocates to rally for Environmental Protection Agency funding. From the notebook *Quick spins: Gov. Rauner named Lise T. Spacapan as his new general counsel. She goes to the job from the Department of Children and Family Services and replaces Dennis Murashko, who resigned last week. ... U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Wednesday sent a letter to new FBI Director Christopher Wray, saying the agency should investigate President Donald Trump adviser Carl Icahn. "Mr. Icahn appears to have abused his role as a special advisor to the President of the United States on issues relating to regulatory reform by participating personally and substantially, through recommendation and the rendering of advice, on a government matter that directly affects his own financial interests," the letter reads. What we're writing *Ald. Beale wants fingerprinting of ride-sharing drivers, surge pricing limits. *CPS special education teacher charged with federal weapons offenses. *Fed Governor Jerome Powell defends new banking rules to Chicago audience. Advertisement *Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's kidney transplant "successful," hospital says. *Little Village residents, officials ask CPS for new school building. What we're reading *Judge says controversial ex-Chicago police detective 'has to testify.' *Move over, Sue. World's largest dinosaur taking center stage at Field Museum. *United Airlines resumes some Houston flights. Advertisement Follow the money *Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin reported $52,600 in contributions. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *How to get rich in Trump's Washington. *Trump talks tax cuts in Missouri. *Some disaster relief agencies can't get into flooded areas to help. Advertisement *Former DeVry official to lead unit that examines higher-ed fraud. *U.S. clears breakthrough gene therapy for childhood leukemia. Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed into law a new state school funding formula, putting in place the final and perhaps most politically crucial component of a new budget that ensures classroom doors across Illinois remain open. Affixing his name to the bill marked the most significant win of the Republican chief executive's first term, setting him up to run for re-election next year as the "education governor." Advertisement It also represented a rebound from a rocky summer that saw Rauner teeter on the edge of political irrelevancy as Republican lawmakers bucked him and his campaign cash to join Democrats in ending a two-year budget stalemate. That move left the governor without much leverage to achieve his long-stalled economic agenda and his administration in turmoil. The victory, however, came at a steep political cost: Rauner got almost none of what he had hoped to get out of a school funding deal. Advertisement The governor had spent years criticizing Mayor Rahm Emanuel for "caving in" to the Chicago Teachers Union. And earlier this month, Rauner vetoed a similar Democratic-passed school funding bill, repeatedly blasting it as an overly generous "bailout" to Chicago Public Schools, especially during speeches Downstate where such rhetoric plays well. But the governor's veto rewrite of the bill at the start of August affected far more than Chicago's schools, and Rauner risked another Republican revolt from re-election-seeking lawmakers anxious to get something done on the third-rail issue of education. And so it was Emanuel who got to gloat, noting last week that the bill Rauner eventually signed Thursday gave CPS all the money it already was slated to get "and more." Rauner spent May insisting on a statewide freeze of property taxes, which provides the bulk of funding for public schools in the state. That didn't happen, though the new law contains a scaled-back concept allowing voters in some wealthier school districts, mainly in Republican suburbs, to hold a referendum to cut property taxes. Rauner also repeatedly had pressed for relief from what he called costly state mandated rules and regulations on local school districts, including the ability to allow greater privatization that would cut into union jobs, such as janitorial services. But that was downsized to give local schools the ability to reduce physical education instruction and use private instructors for drivers' education. The governor has long backed school choice efforts, including a voucher system. He didn't get that, but the final compromise contained the consolation prize of a private school tuition scholarship tax credit. The plan will serve only about 6,000 students, and Cardinal Blase Cupich is widely credited with helping get it done. In addition, Rauner had demanded that CPS accept either continued funding for a long-awarded block grant for special programs or a state pickup of pension funding. Under the law he signed, CPS will get both. As part of his veto, Rauner sought to make sure that Chicago and other school districts that are within tax increment financing districts would no longer get additional state dollars to make up for property tax wealth the schools couldn't capture. The new law merely creates a task force to study the issue. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, the chief sponsor of the bill, noted that Rauner had been largely absent from the discussions about the funding formula change, from as far back as February when the governor's task force produced recommendations that the governor did not incorporate in a budget proposal he delivered weeks later. Advertisement "He's twisted and turned into different positions on these issues over the past months," Manar said of Rauner. In the end, Rauner's chief accomplishment was largely to make sure schools got funded and stayed open. Asked by a reporter after the bill-signing ceremony in the gymnasium of Ebinger School in Edison Park whether he had been "bamboozled," the governor laughed. "This is a good compromise bill that moves the state forward and makes sure that every child in the state of Illinois has an equal chance at a great education," said Rauner, who called the concessions he and Republicans received "a really big deal." The new law creates the first revision in two decades of the way general state-aid dollars to schools are distributed, establishing a multifaceted procedure for determining need and setting a goal for "adequacy" of funding in each of the state's 852 school districts. With all districts guaranteed to receive at least the same amount of money as they got last year, the plan is to annually provide at least $350 million in new revenue to schools through the new formula, giving priority to districts with poor property wealth. Advertisement For financially troubled CPS, the legislation achieves a long-sought goal of Emanuel's of having the state pick up a large share of teacher pension costs in line with all of the other school districts in the state. In addition to an increase in state aid, it also allows the Emanuel-controlled school board to raise property taxes to help fund pensions. The Chicago Board of Education could raise property taxes by an additional $120 million, Democratic legislators said. Cook County Clerk David Orr's office, however, put that figure at closer to $148 million. The new money would go into the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund. The property tax increase, if approved by the school board, would come on top of record-high $543 million property tax increases City Hall is still phasing in to increase contributions to pension funds for police officers and firefighters. And it comes amid building taxpayer fatigue, most visibly expressed by anger over Cook County's soda pop tax. The new law also creates a program offering $75 million in income-tax credits to individuals and businesses that donate up to $1 million to help pay for tuition of poor students in private schools. Labor leaders pushed hard against the provision, and a CTU leader has said the group will weigh a lawsuit. While touted as a big win for Republicans, neither Rauner nor House GOP leader Jim Durkin nor Senate GOP leader Bill Brady mentioned the tax-credit program during the bill-signing event. Afterward, Rauner told reporters the tax credit gives "an opportunity for more school choice for low-income families who would like the opportunity to choose a school the way higher-income families can." Advertisement Efforts to end inequities in Illinois' school funding scheme have been attempted for decades, with supporters saying they were trying to bring fairness to a system so dependent upon real estate taxes and property values that the quality of schools was often determined by ZIP code. Previous attempts failed largely because they would have created winners and losers among school districts. Wealthier suburban school districts are loathe to give up even the small portion of state aid they receive. The central thrust for those ambitious and costly plans was the idea of shifting the primary burden for funding public schools from the local property tax onto state taxes. A bid by Gov. Jim Edgar in 1996 to make such a swap failed amid complaints from his fellow Republicans. The new law guarantees no school district loses money. That avoids the competition for dollars, but also means the plan is more modest by comparison. The state distributes more than $5 billion a year in general state aid. The new law, however, only covers how an additional $350 million a year is doled out. That means the primary goal of those who pushed the issue making funding more equitable will proceed slowly. It also will be costly, which is why some lawmakers voted against it. Despite all that, throughout nearly an hour of speeches before Rauner signed the bill at a school desk, lawmakers and the governor repeatedly used the term "historic" in describing the new law. "This legislation ends the least equitable system of school funding in the country. We know that. We indicted the system, but we didn't just indict it, we put something in place that would correct all of the ills that surround it," said Manar, the Senate sponsor. Advertisement Lawmakers also touted the legislation as a rare instance of Democrats and Republicans coming together after years of government instability. "I think this is the start of something that we can do more often," said Durkin, the House Republican leader credited with encouraging Rauner to take the deal. "As I've said over and over again for the last two years, we can accomplish great things when both sides recognize and respect the priorities of each side." But partisan strains were still evident. Absent from the event was Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, Rauner's chief political nemesis. Emanuel also said he wanted to "specifically thank the governor for coming to a Chicago public school" to sign the bill. Rauner has long battled CPS and its teachers' union, even before he was governor. Active in school reform involving the Chicago Public Education Fund, Rauner told other wealthy activists in a December 2011 email that half of CPS teachers "are virtually illiterate" with a "hostile union" and half the principals are "incompetent." That email was made public by Emanuel's office under a court order in a Tribune public records lawsuit, and afterward Rauner apologized. Advertisement In January 2016, Rauner led unsuccessful Republican efforts to try to force a state takeover of CPS in a move viewed as a precursor to declaring the district bankrupt. It was around then that Rauner began railing at Democrats who control the General Assembly of trying to force a "Chicago bailout" of the city's schools a phrase that became ubiquitous whenever the governor discussed K-12 public education. In June 2016, Rauner likened many of the city's public schools to "crumbling prisons." The governor also criticized Democratic Senate President John Cullerton as "corrupt" for saying the state needed to fix its formula for schools before it approves any new money. On Thursday, as he stood in front of about 250 people to sign the new formula, Rauner adopted a different tone. He said it was "an honor for me to work with" Emanuel and Mayor Richard M. Daley before him, as well as CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and his predecessors. "And as governor, it's an honor for me to work for Chicago Public Schools," Rauner said, "and all the schools across the state of Illinois." Chicago Tribune's Kim Geiger and Monique Garcia contributed to this report. Advertisement rap30@aol.com Twitter @rap30 LaDawn Jones is a black Democrat from Atlanta. For four years, her seatmate in the Georgia House of Representatives was Jason Spencer, a white Republican from the southern tip of the state. They see the world differently and, she concedes, there were many conversations where "we've had to walk away from each other because the debate was so intense." Those debates didn't end when Jones left the Legislature to resume practicing law last year they were still frenemies on social media. And this week, the pair got into an online scuffle in which some say Spencer made a violent, racist threat. It involved two of the most emotionally volatile issues in the American South: Confederate monuments and lynching. The discussion started when Spencer posted a picture of himself next to a memorial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Jones, who has advocated for removing Confederate memorials from the state's most vaunted places, posted a comment warning her former colleague that he should "get it in ... before it is torn down." It soured from there. The lowest point was when Spencer told her that if she and others kept up their fight to rid the state of Confederate monuments, "I cant guarantee you won't be met with torches but something a lot more definitive." Later, removing any doubt, he said the people who want the statues gone "will go missing in the Okefenokee," referring to a swamp and national wildlife refuge near his hometown. "To many necks they are red around here. Don't say I didn't warn you." The entire thread (it has some profanity, harsh language and an epic "Game of Thrones" reference) was posted online by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At one point, Jones told Spencer to "put your hoods and your tiki torches away. We are no longer afraid. We will not let you hide behind your heritage . . . Lock those photos in your memory because we are about tear that s- down! #byefelicia #byeStonewall #byeLee" Spencer replied: "Hate for others and American history (good and bad) drives your quixotic journey to erase history like the Bolsheviks. Looks like you are afflicted with the same poison you claim to fight against." Spencer's office did not immediately respond to an email message from The Washington Post seeking comment. He told the Journal-Constitution that his words weren't a threat, but a "warning to of how people can behave about this issue." "She is from Atlanta and the rest of Georgia sees this issue very differently," Spencer told the newspaper. "Just trying to keep her safe if she decided to come down and raise hell about the memorial in the back yards of folks who will see this as an unwelcome aggression from the left." According to the Journal-Constitution, Spencer asked that the newspaper include a picture in the story of him standing next to a monument of Martin Luther King Jr. that was unveiled on the Georgia capitol grounds. Jones said that while she thinks her former colleague's comments "absolutely and completely crossed the line, I personally did not feel threatened." There may be people in the state willing to get violent over Confederate monuments, she said, but she doesn't think her former seatmate is one of them, even if they are diametrically opposed when it comes to the statues and memorials. Anti-Confederate sentiment intensified after nine black churchgoers were killed on June 17, 2015, at a church in Charleston, S.C., in a racially motivated massacre. The killer, Dylann Roof, was seen on one website holding a gun in one hand and a Confederate flag in the other. The tragedy mobilized once-hesitant Southern cities to get rid of polarizing Civil War statuary. The debate intensified after violent, deadly protests in Charlottesville, Va., which began with a protest of authorities' decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a public park. The debate is playing out across the American South, including in Georgia, a state that has a bas-relief image of Confederate luminaries carved into the side of a mountain. The Peach State, and Spencer, have been at the center of other controversial debates. As The Post's Lindsey Bever reported, Spencer was the author of an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have prevented Muslim women from wearing religious garb in public places in Georgia. Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director for CAIR-Georgia, told Bever his group "suspects motivated by a desire to discriminate against Georgia Muslims," and added that the bill was "a bad solution to a nonexistent problem." Citing the reaction to the legislation, Spencer ultimately decided to withdraw the bill, saying it "would withstand legal scrutiny, but not political scrutiny." Nine months later, Spencer was again being scrutinized for words that offended minorities. Jones said her former colleague called her to let her know he wasn't making a personal threat against her, but he stopped short of apologizing. Jones said she's disappointed he didn't renounce his comments. She worries they encouraged racial violence, instead of promoting a rational, civil debate about where Confederate memorials fit in 21st century America. "I think his comfort with the fact that people in the south of Georgia would believe the right action still does make me uncomfortable," she said. "Who would want to murder someone over some statues?" White House adviser Jared Kushner watches as President Doanld Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 9, 2018. (Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post) After the sister of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner dropped his name in early May while pitching a real estate development to wealthy Chinese investors, one of Kushner's lawyers quickly released a statement that he had already divested all interests in the venture known as One Journal Square. More than two months later, Kushner released an amended financial disclosure that suggested a more complicated reality: At the time of the public statement, he maintained a connection to a subsidiary of the One Journal Square project. Kushner held a "contingent right," which allows an investor the chance to gain ownership if certain benchmarks of financial success are met - such as revenue targets. Advertisement Kushner's lawyer, Blake Roberts of WilmerHale, said that he stood by his initial statement that his client had divested from One Journal Square. He said that Kushner had sold his ownership stake in the project on March 7 to his mother's trust and that the contingent right, which was discovered only after the public statement, no longer held any value because it was connected to a prior version of the project that had fallen through. "Jared divested that legacy contingent right as soon as it came to our attention," Roberts said. Advertisement Kushner divested the right by moving it into his mother's trust just three days after the speech by his sister Nicole Kushner Meyer to investors in Beijing willing to put up $500,000 in exchange for EB-5 visas granting fast-track immigration into the United States. The move illustrates the complexity of Kushner's private holdings, which have been the subject of public scrutiny amid revisions to his financial disclosure forms and the fallout from his family's sales pitch. More than 100 days after Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, entered the White House, his legal advisers were still grappling with the sprawling nature of his assets. Kushner did not include the contingent right - one of 27 related to Kushner Cos. properties - in his financial disclosure form filed in late March. The rights were first disclosed in July in an amended form with a notice that they had been "inadvertently omitted." Josh Raffel, Kushner's White House spokesman, said that the divestiture of the contingent right was not triggered by Meyer's comments but was part of a process that was already underway to provide more information to ethics officials. Raffel declined to make Kushner available for an interview for this story. In May, federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York issued a subpoena to Kushner Cos. for documents related to the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The Times reported that "the authorities, in part, are looking into the role of Mr. Kushner's sister, Nicole Meyer." "EB-5 is a long-standing federal program that is frequently used by many real estate developers to raise funds and help create jobs," according to a statement by Kushner Cos. "The company is cooperating with legal requests for information about its participation in the program." The One Journal Square project is slated to include two luxury towers, with commercial and residential space and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. Construction has not begun. On May 6, Meyer appeared in a hotel ballroom at around 2:30 p.m. in Beijing to promote the project to a group of about 100 investors. She told them that the project "means a lot to me and my entire family," according to the Times. She also mentioned her brother's past role with the company and his new role in the White House. Advertisement Kushner Cos. later issued an apology and said that the reference to her brother was not "an attempt to lure investors." By the morning of May 6 in the United States, Kushner's team had received a flood of media inquires about possible ethical issues posed by Meyer's remarks. Roberts issued a statement early that afternoon. "Mr. Kushner divested his interests in the One Journal Square project by selling them to a family trust that he is not a beneficiary of, a mechanism suggested by the Office of Government Ethics," he wrote, adding that Kushner had already pledged to recuse himself from any discussions involving EB-5 visas. At the time of his sister's remarks, Kushner was observing the Jewish Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and was not told about the statement issued by his lawyer until after it was released, according to two individuals close to Kushner. Late on May 7, Kushner's legal team discovered that he still held the contingent right to gain ownership in a subsidiary company affiliated with the One Journal Square project. His lawyers have said that they were already working with ethics officials in April to learn how Kushner should report his contingent rights and had communicated with Kushner Cos. to seek that information. However, they declined to say who eventually turned over the details of the contingency rights, and why it took until May to do so. Advertisement The following day, on May 8, Kushner divested the right by giving it to a trust held by his mother, Seryl, according to Raffel. When asked by The Post why the right was gifted rather than terminated if it had no value, Kushner's lawyers have said that it was a simple, expeditious way to remove it from Kushner's holdings. They declined to make the contingent agreement available to The Post. Kushner Cos. also issued a statement to The Post saying that "the structure of the transaction involving One Journal Square changed in late 2016, rendering the contingent right valueless because it was outdated by May 2017." Kushner's lawyer, Roberts, has said that the right was dependent on a now-defunct deal with WeWork, a start-up company that specializes in shared working spaces. When the One Journal Square project was pitched to New Jersey officials, WeWork was both an equity partner and the planned anchor tenant. Bloomberg reported on May 8 that WeWork was no longer involved in the deal as an anchor tenant. Roberts said that Kushner had no contingent rights for the new version of the project that Meyer pitched in China. A spokesman for WeWork, Dominic McMullan, said last week that WeWork was still an equity partner in One Journal Square. He said WeWork had no knowledge of the value of any Kushner Cos. contingent rights. Advertisement Both White House and ethics officials have said that revisions to financial disclosure forms are common. A spokeswoman for the Office of Government Ethics said that the office does not comment on questions related to individual disclosure forms. The most significant revisions on Kushner's disclosure form involve a company called BFPS Ventures. On Kushner's first form, the company was labeled as New York City real estate valued at over $50 million. But after the revision in July, BFPS's value decreased to less than $25 million and it was relabeled as a holding company that contained the 27 contingent rights and Kushner's stake in Cadre, a real-estate investment venture founded with his brother, Joshua. Don Fox, who previously served as a general counsel and acting director of OGE, said that he had read through Kushner's new public form and noticed the revisions related to BFPS. "Maybe it took them that long to peel back the onion that is BFPS and to figure out everything that's in it," Fox said. "There's a lot of stuff in it." The new form also included a position that Kushner had not previously disclosed: He served as a managing member of BFPS Ventures from 2011 until May 2017. According to a footnote, Kushner had intended to resign from BFPS in January. Advertisement The Washington Post's Shawn Boburg, Emily Rauhala and William Wan contributed to this report. MILWAUKEE The tough-talking sheriff of Milwaukee County, David Clarke, resigned without explanation Thursday, capping a tumultuous year for the divisive, provocative lawman whose unabashed support for President Donald Trump and in-your-face personality earned him a national following among some conservatives. Clarke submitted his resignation in a one-sentence letter to the county clerk that gave no reason for his departure more than a year before his term is up. In a brief statement a couple of hours later, Clarke also didn't explain. Advertisement "I have chosen to retire to pursue other opportunities," the statement said. "I will have news about my next steps in the very near future." The national spotlight shone on Clarke during the Republican National Convention last year, when the cowboy-hat-wearing sheriff took the stage as one of the few African-Americans to speak in support of Trump's candidacy. Advertisement But while Clarke gained the admiration of conservative backers of Trump, he faced lawsuits back home and criticism over the operations at the county jail he oversaw, where four inmates died last year. One of the inmates died of dehydration because jail staff shut off water to his cell as punishment. Clarke's many liberal foes welcomed his departure. "After years of abuse at his hands, the people of Milwaukee can sleep soundly tonight," state Sen. Lena Taylor, a Democrat from Milwaukee and a frequent Clarke critic, said in a statement. Voces de la Frontera, an advocacy group for immigrants and low-wage workers, had sharply criticized Clarke for seeking authority for his deputies to perform the functions of immigration agents. The group called his departure "a victory for the people of Milwaukee County and the state of Wisconsin" and claimed credit for driving him out of office. Clarke's most recent Twitter post from Thursday afternoon showed him posing with law enforcement officers at the National Fraternal Order of Police convention in Nashville. The firebrand sheriff made himself a darling of the political right through his brash social media presence, his staunch support for Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and his support for patrolling Muslim neighborhoods. He has been vocal about gun rights and critical of what he called the "hateful ideology" of the Black Lives Matters movement, saying at times, "Stop trying to fix the police. Fix the ghetto." Clarke announced in May that he had taken a job at the Department of Homeland Security, but the agency never confirmed it. He later said he withdrew his name. He recently published a memoir, "Cop Under Fire." On Sunday, Trump sent a tweet promoting the book. Advertisement Clark has been sheriff of Milwaukee County since 2002 and spent more than two decades before that with the city's police department. Some Wisconsin conservatives had encouraged Clarke in recent months to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, but he repeatedly rejected their overtures. But while he remained popular with some, he faced repeated calls for his resignation from state and local officials who criticized him for spending too much time away from Milwaukee, earning more than $105,000 last year in speaking fees almost as much as his sheriff's salary at more than three dozen events across the country. He was also a frequent guest on Fox News programs. This year, two former inmates who were pregnant during their time at the sheriff's jail filed lawsuits alleging they were shackled while giving birth. And the family of the man who died of dehydration, Terrill Thomas, also filed federal lawsuits. At the same time, Milwaukee prosecutors are considering criminal charges against some members of Clarke's jail staff for Thomas' death. A lengthy inquest in that case revealed that Clarke's staff routinely shut off water to inmates' cells as a form of punishment. Prosecutors are not considering charges against Clarke because they said he wasn't directly involved in the events that led to Thomas' death. Advertisement Republican Gov. Scott Walker would be responsible for appointing someone to serve the remainder of Clarke's term, which runs through 2018. Walker's spokesman Tom Evenson said once he receives official notification of his resignation, the process of finding a replacement will begin. Evenson did not immediately respond to an email seeking reaction from the governor to Clarke's decision to resign. One of Clarke's biggest foes in local government, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, called the sheriff's resignation "an opportunity." Around the time news broke of Clarke's resignation, Abele tweeted a gif without comment of former President Barack Obama clapping. But Abele was more restrained while speaking with reporters outside his office. "We have an opportunity, more than we usually do, to make some big steps forward," he said. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. President Donald Trump calls out to the media as he walks from Marine One across the South Lawn to the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, as he returns from Springfield, Mo. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) In his most sharply worded criticism of President Donald Trump yet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said that freedom of the press is "under attack from the president" and that Trump's salvos against journalists "could amount to incitement." Speaking Wednesday at a news conference in Geneva, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein also voiced alarm over Trump's comments about women, Muslims and Mexican immigrants in particular. He wondered aloud whether Trump's pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio meant that he supported racial profiling. Advertisement "Does the president support racial profiling, of Latinos in particular, does he support abuse of prisoners? Arpaio referred at one stage to the open-air prison that he set up as a concentration camp. He later recanted, said it was a joke," Hussein said. Implicit in Hussein's remarks, however, was a sense of the United States' immense power to influence global affairs and the spread of democratic values. Hussein lamented what he called Trump's "reckless" wielding of that power. Advertisement "I almost feel that the president is driving the bus of humanity and we're careening down a mountain path," he said. "And in taking these measures, at least from a human rights perspective, it seems to be reckless driving." Trump has made the "mainstream media" his favorite domestic punching bag. After getting panned in much of the media for his public remarks after a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly, Trump called journalists "truly dishonest people." "To call these news organizations 'fake' does tremendous damage and to refer to individual journalists in this way, I have to ask the question: Is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists?" Hussein said. "The president prides himself as a taboo breaker. Indeed, his supporters see him as such. But at the time I expressed my feeling that this was grossly irresponsible, because it has consequences, it emboldens those who may think similarly to sharpen their assaults on these communities," he said. The United Nations has had occasion to criticize the U.S. government in the past few years, taking on issues such as police brutality and environmental degradation. The Trump administration is threatening to roll back funding for the sprawling international institution. U.N. statements have become more and more shrill since Trump's emergence on the American political landscape. Earlier this month, and in response to the unrest in Charlottesville, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued an "early warning" for the United States - a measure that had most recently been applied to Burundi. Although the statement didn't mention Trump by name, it called out "the failure at the highest political level of the United States of America to unequivocally reject and condemn the racist violent events." In September 2016, in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election, Hussein compared Trump's populist rhetoric to that of right-wingers in Europe and said it benefited extremist groups such as the Islamic State. "Both sides of this equation benefit from each other - indeed would not expand in influence without each other's actions," he said in a statement at the time. "Communities will barricade themselves into fearful, hostile camps, with populists like them, and the extremists, as the commandants. The atmosphere will become thick with hate; at this point, it can descend rapidly into colossal violence." Politico reported Wednesday that New York's attorney general Eric Schneiderman is now working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the probe of financial transactions involving Paul Manafort, a story independently confirmed by The Washington Post by a source familiar with the investigation. While the involvement of Schneiderman could produce nothing and is in an early stage, the news sends an important message to President Donald Trump: his pardon power does not extend to state crimes. Advertisement In the event Manafort or anyone else is charged under New York law, or threatened with indictment, there will be nothing Trump can do about it. His "power to grant reprieves and pardons" only covers "offenses against the United States," according to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. Advertisement Reports of Schneiderman's interest in Manafort are not new. Perhaps most important story of this busy news day: Mueller teams up with NY attorney general in Manafort probe https://t.co/12XR9QaRVm Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) August 31, 2017 But the news that the New York attorney general is teaming up with Mueller attracted a good deal of attention from Trump critics because of the pardon issue. Trump pointedly tweeted in July that he has "complete power to pardon" aides, family members and possibly even himself. His pardon Friday of former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio was seen by some as strong message that he is willing to use the pardon power liberally. "So much for strategic use of pardon power with Manafort," tweeted Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe. According to the Politico report: "The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller's and Schneiderman's teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering. "No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. "Nothing is imminent," said one of the people familiar with the case." A spokeswoman for Schneiderman declined to comment. Manafort has denied any wrongdoing. Advertisement There are plenty of points of entry into the Manafort probe for a New York prosecutor. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., were examining Manafort real estate transactions across the U.S., including in New York, "for indications of money-laundering and fraud." NBC News reported that some of those New York loans were financed in part by a Ukrainian emigre to the U.S. Manafort told NBC through a spokesman that his transactions were "executed in a transparent fashion . . ." But NBC reported that Manafort's name and signature did not appear on loan documents. Manafort was chairman of Trump's campaign until he resigned amid growing scrutiny of his decade of work in Ukraine on behalf of a Russia-friendly political party, the Party of Regions. Manafort's personal finances may be totally unrelated to Mueller's probe into possible coordination of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Advertisement But Mueller could conceivably use any jeopardy faced by Manafort in New York to gain his cooperation into the broader investigation, without the hindrance of a Trump pardon of Manafort. Indeed, The Post reported earlier this month that Manafort's allies feared that Mueller wants to build a case against Manafort independent of the 2016 campaign "in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump's inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure." WASHINGTON With each crisis of the young Trump administration, reporters and pollsters have documented the steady support he continues to get from his most ardent backers, the roughly one in four Americans who consistently tell pollsters that they approve of his performance in office, agree with him on most issues and like his personality. Tuesday night at a focus group in Pittsburgh, a group of reporters heard from a different slice of Trump voters ones he's lost for now. Advertisement "Outrageous," "disappointed," "not ready" were among the adjectives that focus group members tossed out when asked for a single word to describe the president and those were from the participants who had voted for him. "He has got to be his own worst enemy," said Tony Sciullo, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident and a registered independent who works for an insurance agency and described Trump as an "abject disappointment." Advertisement "He's such an incredibly flawed individual who has articulated so many of the values that I hold dear," Sciullo said, adding that he almost wished Trump were on the other side of the political divide because of the damage he sees him doing to conservative causes. Brian Rush, a registered Republican who works as a sales representative, voiced a slightly more supportive view. "I'm still going to hold off judgment," he said. "I'm hoping things can turn around." Trump "does want this country to be great," Rush said. He likened the administration to a once-new car that now has several dents and is "not running the way it should" while the mechanics "don't know exactly why." Focus groups such as this one, which was conducted by veteran pollster Peter D. Hart as part of a project for Emory University, aren't polls; they provide insights into how people are thinking, not into how large a particular group may be. This group, which reporters could view remotely, included a dozen people five who voted for Trump, six for Hillary Clinton and one who voted for neither. None of the five Trump voters said they currently approve of the president. Numerous public polls provide insights into how common such views are. Fewer deflated Trump voters exist than hard-core Trump backers: Most of those who voted for the president last year remain behind him. But the disappointed voters nonetheless could be critical in the future. Trump won each of the three states that provided his margin of victory Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin by less than a percentage point. He carried Pennsylvania by just over 44,000 votes out of some 6 million cast. By comparison, the share of self-identified Republicans who say they approve of Trump's performance in office has dropped by about 10 percentage points, from the high 80% range to the high 70% range, since he took office, according to averages of publicly available polling. A significant slide in his approval among Republicans has occurred since early July, coinciding with the Senate's rejection last month of measures to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Trump's controversial comments this month about the violence surrounding neo-Nazi demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va. Advertisement That still gives Trump a big majority within his party enough to intimidate some GOP elected officials. But presidents in the polarized political environment of the last few decades usually can count on support from 90% or more of their fellow partisans. That was true for President Obama and for President George W. Bush for most of their tenures. A recent survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that about one in five self-identified Republicans said they don't like the way Trump "conducts himself as president" while about half said they had mixed feelings, and about one-third said they liked what he does. Asked about his specific positions, roughly three in 10 Republicans said they agreed with Trump on only a few (22%) or no (8%) issues. Pew conducted the survey among 1,893 adults nationwide, Aug. 15 to 21; the margin of error is 2.9 percentage points in either direction. Both the polling data and the focus group indicate that the way voters react to Trump's behavior and personality, not his positions on particular issues, drives the way they feel about him. A second Pew survey asked both Trump supporters and opponents what they liked and disliked about him. On both sides, his personality dominated the results. Among those who approved of Trump's performance in office, for example, about half listed aspects of his personality when asked what they liked about him. Only about one in eight cited a specific policy position. Among those who disapproved of Trump's job performance, an even smaller share, 7%, mentioned specific policies, But nearly six in 10 said they disliked everything about him. That survey was conducted online, using a panel of 4,971 adults chosen to reflect the demographics of the U.S. population; it has an estimated sampling error of 2.3 percentage points in either direction. Advertisement For both sides, Trump's use of Twitter has come to symbolize several aspects of his behavior his pugnacity and willingness to quarrel with those he perceives as having slighted him; his tendency to blurt out what's on his mind, even if that might hurt his long-term objectives; and his unwillingness to be controlled by his handlers. To many of his supporters, those traits indicate authenticity and Trump's willingness to take on the political establishment. To critics, including those within his own party, that same behavior conveys a sense of indiscipline and chaos they find troubling. "He apparently has a lot of time on his hands," Christina Lees, a registered independent who was one of the focus group's Trump voters, said when asked about his Twitter habit. He needs some restraint, she said. "His tweeting is for his own ego," said David Turner, a Republican and another of the disaffected Trump voters. "His learning curve has been a little disappointing." David.Lauter@latimes.com @DavidLauter Former President Barack Obama speaks about civic engagement at the Logan Center for the Arts on the University of Chicago campus on April 24, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) The Obama Foundation on Wednesday said it has selected four finalists to manage construction of the Obama Presidential Center and also laid out ambitious hiring goals for the firms. Community activists and residents have been pressuring the foundation to commit to a signed contract guaranteeing long-term, well-paid jobs for residents in the surrounding neighborhoods as well as jobs set aside for youths, seniors and ex-offenders. Advertisement With construction of the Obama Presidential Center slated to begin in 2018, the Obama Foundation is in the process of gathering information from four firms chosen as finalists to manage the project, officials said Wednesday afternoon. While the foundation has so far balked at a signed promise for community-based jobs, foundation officials said they want each of the firms to submit proposals that outline not only how they would get the work done but how they would ensure a diverse workforce employing residents from the South and West sides of the city. Advertisement "This really comes from President (Barack) Obama's desire to use this opportunity to make a real impact on the South Side and the city," said Michael Strautmanis, vice president of civic engagement with the foundation. "We want people of color, African-Americans, and people from the South and West Sides working on this project. And not just to check a box, and not for a photo op, but for good jobs." In its proposal request, the foundation asked that the firms commit to awarding more than half of the subcontracts to minority and women owned businesses and businesses owned by veterans, individuals with disabilities and individuals that identify as LGBTQ. The foundation wants at least 35 percent of the subcontractors to be minority-owned firms. "The Obamas chose to develop the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side to give back to the community that has given so much to them," said David Simas, the CEO of the foundation, in a released statement. "The Foundation has established significant and aggressive goals for diversity and inclusion." Strautmanis said the team will select a firm not only based on its proposal, but also by considering its history of inclusive hiring. The selection committee is also going to scrutinize the firms' philanthropic efforts. "We think the status quo isn't good enough," he said. "The president sees we have an opportunity to model what progress can look like and should look like. We've set high standards." The four firms competing for the contract are: Clark/Smoot Presidential Builders; Lakeside Alliance; Power Mortenson Partners; and W.E. O'Neil Construction Co. A choice is expected by the end of the year. In addition to hiring South and West side residents, the foundation wants the firms to describe their strategy for retaining those employees through the duration of construction. The firms also will have to outline how they will recruit specifically from the Washington Park, South Shore and Woodlawn neighborhoods. Those hiring goals exceed the industry standards, officials said. Still, there's no clear indication of what would happen if those long-term goals and standards aren't met. Advertisement Foundation officials on Wednesday would not reveal how much the contract is worth because the center is still being designed. But construction is expected to cost $300 million to $350 million. As plans to build the center in Jackson Park move forward, residents and local activists have been vocal about how they want the project to benefit neighborhood residents. Some residents fear the project could lead to gentrification and eventually displacement. In Woodlawn, a neighborhood adjacent to where the center will be located, unemployment is 1.5 times the rest of Chicago. The per capita yearly income is $18,900 and the share of households below the poverty level is 28.3 percent. An infusion of jobs could change that community, but only if the residents there aren't priced out. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > A collective of four groups is pushing for the foundation to put its promises in a legal contract. In addition to jobs, the groups want the development to benefit local schools, and want a commitment to preserve affordable housing. Officials with the foundation have said a community benefits agreement is not the tool for this project. Earlier this week, it was announced that a 25-member nonprofit task force has been established to help spur economic development related to the center in Woodlawn, South Shore and Washington Park. Historically, minority-owned firms have struggled to secure large contracts mainly because they don't have access to capital or because they don't have the expertise to bid on the projects, said Larry S. Bullock, president of the U.S. Minority Contractors Association, an advocacy agency. Advertisement "At times it's difficult because of union barriers," he said, explaining that a number of minority-owned firms are not unionized because they don't agree with the politics of those groups. In many cases, larger firms will ask for a waiver to get around minority hiring requirements, Bullock said, a tactic his agency can fight when it comes to public contracts. But the same rules don't apply to private projects like the Obama center. lbowean@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lollybowean Evidence that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was pursuing a lucrative business deal with Russia and that his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, emailed Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal spokesman to intervene raises the stakes in Robert S. Mueller III's investigation substantially. The Washington Post reports: "Cohen's email to [Dmitry] Peskov provides an example of a Trump business official directly seeking Kremlin assistance in advancing Trump's business interests ... Cohen said he discussed the deal three times with Trump and that Trump signed a letter of intent with the company on Oct. 28, 2015. He said the Trump company began to solicit designs from architects and discuss financing." Ethics expert Norman Eisen warns: "Now we have a second group of emails from those in Trump's orbit suggesting high-level outreach to Russia in and around the election season. Like the now-famous email exchange with Don Jr. about Russia's 'support for Mr. Trump,' these new documents promising that 'Putin's team' will 'buy in' on Trump raise the question of what the president knew of all this and when he knew it." He tells me, "The emails add important additional evidence to the special counsel's investigation, both as to possible collusion and as to obstruction of justice, inasmuch as they deepen the suspicion of a possible malign Trump motive for attempting to block the Russia investigation." Now, Cohen insists to The Post that the Trump Tower Moscow proposal was "not related in any way to Mr. Trump's presidential campaign." But of course, we don't know that and neither does he. Mueller, however, will be looking for evidence, as Eisen puts it, "that Trump or his agents actually agreed to better treatment for Putin and Russia in exchange for a present or future Trump Tower Moscow." That would, he says, "go beyond collusion to outright corruption." But even without a smoking gun showing a quid pro quo, the extent to which Trump was compromised and may remain so should concern Congress and the voters. Was Trump trying to keep on Putin's good side to advance his deal? Did he think Putin was someone the United States could do business with because he was seeking to do business with Russians? Trump's effort to conceal his finances and mislead the public about business dealings, with a foe of the United States no less, may have affected his rhetoric and decisions in ways we have yet to discover. As we learn more about Trump's Russian dealings, his actions in trying to shut down the investigation become more understandable. "These new emails make the obstruction charge more substantial, because it gives heavier context to the cover-up," says Fordham law professor Jed Shugerman. "There was fire under all that smoke. The firing of Comey was already impeachable as obstruction, but it's politically more powerful in connecting the cover-up to real corruption." The extent of Trump's political and legal jeopardy slowly comes into focus with new, daily discoveries. Clint Watts, a former FBI special agent (who has testified on Russian meddling) and now a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, tells me, "Trump's claims to have nothing to do with Russia are clearly false with revelations Cohen emailed the Kremlin directly to gain support for a Trump Tower Moscow. Trump's laudatory comments of Putin came at times when Trump's companies also sought Kremlin-assisted business help." He continues, "Some will interpret Felix Sater's comments as over-the-top salesmanship leading to no direct connections with the Kremlin. But why would Sater believe he would get 'Putin on this program' and that the Kremlin could get Trump elected?" Unless Sater chooses to take the Fifth Amendment, we won't have to guess; Mueller's team will no doubt question him and include the findings in his final report. Some in Congress are disturbed that Trump himself has not been forthcoming or, indeed, has been misleading about his Russia dealings. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, tells me, "If this new report is true, why wasn't this disclosed sooner? Why, like so many times before, are the American people forced to find out new details about the President's relationship with Russians from strong investigative reporting instead of from the President himself?" All of this comes in the context of Trump's eagerness during the campaign for Russia to hack and release Hillary Clinton's emails. "[The Cohen] emails came at a time when Russia's hacking teams breached the DNC and numerous other American targets and Russian media began promoting Trump even though he seemed nothing more than a reality TV star looking for attention," Watts observes. "For those that continue to deny Russian meddling, I can't imagine what additional evidence they would need to know that Russia sought to elect Trump, and Team Trump wasn't adverse to it, and maybe even hopeful for it." The interaction of Trump's personal finances with foreign powers should also remind Congress and voters that Trump continues to receive money through his businesses from foreign governments, be they be in the form of bookings at his hotel or benefits derived from expedited trademarks. This is the essence of financial corruption when someone benefits financially because of his official position. The extent to which it affects judgments on policy issues invariably remains murky. And in the case of Trump who assumes anyone who likes him and treats him well is a "good guy" the combination of personal finances and presidential powers is unconscionable. Republicans have refused to address this issue in any serious way, allowing the conflicts to fester and Trump's finances to remain opaque. Congress has the power to legislate to disallow emoluments, require divestiture of businesses, bar relatives (with their own holdings) from serving in government and mandate disclosure of tax returns. In failing to take any action, Republicans are complicit in Trump's debasement of the presidency and of our democracy. So long as Republicans retain the majority in both houses, the problem will deepen. Either their indulgence of Trump or their majorities must go if we are to re-establish normal government and reject foreign corruption of our political system. Dear Tom, "Smog" sounds like it is formed from "smoke" and "fog." Could that possibly be the explanation? Advertisement Billy Contelle Dear Billy, Advertisement That is the actual derivation, and its explanation is interesting. London physician Harold Des Veaux coined the word "smog" in 1905 to describe natural fog contaminated by smoke: "smoke" plus "fog" yielded smog. The Industrial Revolution had been in progress in England for more than a century by the early 1900s. London's naturally moist and foggy climate had also grown smoky and sooty from industrial pollution and widespread burning of coal. The meaning of "smog" has gradually shifted since then, and today it is the term popularly applied to visible, problematical, largely urban air pollution with or without fog as a constituent. Another long summer weekend means another opportunity to make the most of the warm weather before it bids us adieu in a few short months. Check out the art, food and culture that our city has to offer before our annual hibernation begins. Chicago Fringe Festival Advertisement When: Aug. 30-Sept. 10 Where: Jefferson Park, multiple locations Advertisement How much: $10 The skinny: Head to Jefferson Park for a lottery-determined lineup of performances focusing on the weird and uncensored. Great American Lobster Fest When: Sept. 1-3 Where: Navy Pier (600 E. Grand Ave.) How much: $44-$139 The skinny: Eat all the lobster you can handle at this three-day festival at Navy Pier. African Festival of the Arts Advertisement When: Sept. 1-4 Where: Washington Park (5100 S. Cottage Grove Ave.) How much: $15-$250 The skinny: Spend your Labor Day in a simulated African village and appreciate art and culture from the continent all weekend long. Taste of Polonia Festival When: Sept. 1-4 Advertisement Where: Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave. How much: $5-$10 The skinny: Chicago's thriving Polish community comes together for this weekend-long festival celebrating cuisine, music and drinks. @shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 60 Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest: Aug. 18-20 Want even more fests? Check out our ultimate guide to 135+ Chicago summer festivals. Logan Squares sport pepperoni that curls up like a contact lens as it cooks, letting its juices pool in the middle. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) As sacrilegious as it sounds, not everybody is a fan of deep-dish pizza. For transplants to Chi-town, a literal pie with tomatoes and cheese might not be their cup of tea. Thankfully, Chicago is a city built on diversityright down to our pizza selection. We gathered options from around the city to help you satisfy your cravings for other types of piesbut don't think this means we're giving up our deep-dish love. Advertisement DETROIT STYLE This pizza is the most similar to Chicago style, which makes sense given that Detroit isn't all that far away. Essentially, take a Chicago deep-dish pie and put it in square formand switch around the topping orders a little bit. Voila, Detroit style. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Paulie Gee's Advertisement 2451 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-360-1072 Not every pie at Paulie's is Detroit-style, but the aptly named "Logan Squares," exclusive to the Logan Square location of the Brooklyn-based pizzeria, are just that. Three options include the Carnivore, Herbivore and Omnivore ($18-$19). Union Squared 125 S. Clark St. 773-770-6168 Head to Revival Food Hall to personalize your very own Detroit-style pizza. Toppings are offered on a rotating basis, with four options available daily, and pies are available by the slice or by the pan. Jet's Pizza Various locations If you're looking for something above Pizza Hut but not so high-end you feel ridiculous, Jet's is the spot for your Detroit-style needs. It has all of the familiarity of ordering a quick pizza with none of the fuss. Advertisement Candlelite Chicago 7452 N. Western Ave. 773-465-0087 This West Ridge pizza joint expanded its strictly thin-crust pizza repertoire to include a Detroit-style pizza offering last year. The pan pizza is available in one size, 10-by-14 inches, and serves two to three people. QUAD CITIES STYLE You might be saying to yourself, "This isn't a thing. Why is this a thing? Like, seven people, tops, live in the Quad Cities." Ah, but as long as a restaurant claims to be Quad Cities style, it will be a thing. Roots Pizza West Town, 1924 W. Chicago Ave. 773-645-4949 Advertisement Lincoln Square, 2200 W. Lawrence Ave. 773-433-5959 Roots was "born in the Quad Cities, raised in Chicago," and serves pizza made with dark-roasted hand-thrownmalt crust, with toppings covered by a top layer of cheese. The pie isn't cut into squares or triangles, but strips. Simple enough, right? CALIFORNIA STYLE Those pesky West Coasters weren't satisfied just hogging all the sunshine. They had to go ahead and make their own style of pizza too. This thin-crust pizza is inspired by New York style, but topped with uniquely California ingredientsaka the fancy schmancy stuff we wouldn't dream of tossing on a deep dish. Stella Barra Pizzeria 1954 N. Halsted St. 773-634-4101 This pizzeria from Lettuce Entertain You is peak pretentious California pizza, with toppings like fennel, kale and butternut squash. Looking to impress a first date? This is a safe bet. Advertisement California Pizza Kitchen 52 E. Ohio St. 312-787-6075 Seems obvious, right? Though CPK is less pizza joint, more general dinner spot, it still serves up its namesake California-style pizzas if you're looking for a tried-and-true place to take it for a test drive. NEW HAVEN STYLE Unless you're from New England, chances are you've never been to New Haven, so you may not be entirely sure why they get their own style of pizza. But, alas, it exists, and it's concocted of an oblong thin crust with a conservative serving of cheeseaka no mozzarella unless you ask for it. Piece Brewery & Pizzeria 1927 W. North Ave. 773-772-4422 Advertisement This Wicker Park spot serves up New Haven-style pizza alongside small-batch brews, as well as traditional red pizzathe stuff you're used toand white pizza, plus a barbecue offering featuring sauce from Lillie's Q. Homeslice 938 W. Webster Ave. 312-789-4600 Just to clarify: Homeslice does NOT specialize in New Haven-style pies. However, if you want to take New Haven for a test run without pigeonholing your meal, you can test out their "Sammilton" pie ($12-$32) without any mozz to see how you dig it. And then fall back on their other offerings if you're not into it. NEAPOLITAN STYLE Perhaps the most specific of the pizza styles, Neapolitan pizza is made with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella cheese on top of dough made from wheat flour and Neapolitan yeast. We can't guarantee these spots get that specific, but they sure do try. Pizzaiolo by Panino's Advertisement 3704 N. Broadway 773-472-5004 Pizzaiolo prides itself on using the "old world ingredients, recipes and baking techniques of Naples," so if you're looking for authentic, this is your place. Forno Rosso Pizzeria Napoletana 1048 W. Randolph St. 312-243-6000 If the extra-long name didn't tip you off, this pizzeria in the West Loop sticks to its Italian roots and wood-fires all of its pizzas, which you can nosh on while sipping their craft cocktails. Spacca Napoli Pizzeria Advertisement 1769 W. Sunnyside Ave. 773-878-2420 Spacca Napoli calls its pizzas "pizze" and lists every time a pie calls for San Marzano tomatoes on the menu, so you know it's authentic. Pizza Capri 1501 E. 53rd St. 773-324-7777 Sure, you can stick with the traditional tomato and mozzarella combination here, but you can also pair it with a "Thai Pie" or "Spicy Chicken Pesto" if you're looking to add some variety to your dinner. Naples Pizza Advertisement 4601 S. Ashland Ave. 773-376-7640 Though not explicitly a Neapolitan-style pizza joint, you can still grub to your heart's content on Neapolitan-ish thin crust pizza with fresh tomatoes, onions and mozz. NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA We had to save this one for last. There's no arguing we do pizza better here in Chicago, but for those of you who are partial to the slimy, flimsy pizza from the East, here are your best bets. This list by no means includes every New York-style pizza joint in Chicago, but you won't be disappointedhopefullyby any of them. Jimmy's Pizza Cafe 5159 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-293-6992 This New York-style pizza joint is a multitasker, offering beignets and coffee in the morning. If you're not feeling a whole pie, grab a single slice like you would while wandering the streets of Manhattan. Advertisement Dante's Pizzeria 3028 W. Armitage Ave. 773-342-0002 This Logan Square spot specializes in huge, foldable slices, just how the fast-talking, side-eye serving New Yorkers like it. With names like "Gorgon" and "Minotaur," you better come prepared for a slice that won't go down without a fight. Gigio's Pizzeria 4643 N. Broadway 773-271-2273 This Uptown pizzeria embraces its "no-frills" label, serving up pizza by the slice or by the pie. One slice can be yours for under $3, so ballin' on a budget is welcome. Advertisement Big G's Pizzeria 1132 W. Taylor St. 312-432-0045, 3716 N. Clark St. 773-281-1444 Get that by-the-slice fare from Big G's without being limited to the usual suspects. At Big G's, unusual toppings run rampant, as evidenced by their "Mac N Cheese" pie. Paula and Monica's Pizzeria 1518 W. Chicago Ave. 312-929-3615 Sometimes you just get a craving for a greasy pizza slice the size of your head. Enter Paula and Monica's in West Town. Advertisement Falco's Pizzeria Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > 2806 W. 40th St. 773-523-7996 This pizzeria has been on the South Side for more than half a century, so it may be a Chicago staple, but its foldable slices definitely evoke a Big Apple feel without betraying Chicago too much. Craft Pizza 1252 N. Damen Ave. 773-442-7238 Though Chicagoans may fundamentally disagree with this spot's "manifesto" that New York is ground zero for pizza or that deep-dish isn't legit, if you're digging New York-style dough, here's your spot. Advertisement @shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com In an earlier version of this story, we included Robert's Pizza Company in Streeterville, however the pizzeria is closed indefinitely. A 3-foot pet lizard held authorities at bay for more than 10 hours Wednesday after it holed up in a storm drain in Yorkville. ( Yorkville Police Department ) A 3-foot pet lizard held authorities at bay for more than 10 hours Wednesday after it holed up in a storm drain in Yorkville. By the time the 6-year-old female lizard was finally secure, it was about 9 p.m., said Yorkville police Deputy Chief Terry Klingel. Advertisement Yorkville police responded to a "found animal" report at 10:36 a.m. Wednesday near Cannonball Trail and Fairhaven Drive. The monitor lizard, which has not been named, had been in a drainage ditch "basking in the sun," police said in a statement. Advertisement When an officer saw the lizard, it immediately retreated into a storm drain, police said. Considering the "possible territorial and aggressive nature" of the animal, and how close it was to residential homes, authorities decided they should to try to get it out of the drain safely, according to a news release from the Police Department. Monitor lizards typically live on islands in the southwest Pacific, Australia, Africa south of the Sahara, and south and southeast Asia, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Monitors include 50 species that can range from 8 inches to 10 feet long, and most are carnivorous, according to the encyclopedia. Klingel said he had no clue about the monitor's species. Officials with the Department of Natural Resources, Kendall County Animal Control and the Bristol Kendall Fire Department became involved, making what police described as "numerous attempts to extract the lizard" as the day wore on. "Multiple times, the lizard came within inches of the openings only to re-enter the storm drain and avoid capture," police stated. Following a series of failed attempts, the team tried a new strategy, blocking off one side of the drain pipe and setting a live trap on the other side, police stated. Meanwhile, as many as 30 people had gathered to watch the activity, Klingel said. Advertisement "Once all the excitement calmed down and most individuals were gone, the lizard emerged," police said in the statement. The live trap caught the lizard without hurting it, police said. A qualified zoologist cared for the lizard until its owner showed up, reportedly unaware of how it got away, according to the statement. Authorities determined the lizard was legally owned and appropriately housed in Illinois. Police said no charges had been filed against the owner, and the investigation is ongoing. Laura Pawson, director of Kendall County Animal Control, said during her time on scene, she barely caught a glimpse of the lizard when its head peeked out from the drain. Animal Control doesn't deal with lizards much, and handling this one involved a lot of brainstorming among the agencies who responded, Pawson said. They considered some kind of trap early on, but worked out other ideas while waiting on equipment, she said. Advertisement "It was more about trying to be patient, trying to wait for (it) to pop (its) little head up and see if we could possibly maybe get (it) with a catch pole," Pawson said. Though the situation was unusual, it wasn't stressful and turned out to be a good learning experience, Pawson said. She said there is certainly one thing she learned from the situation. "I guess there is no quick way to get something out of a drain if it doesn't want to come out," Pawson said. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont talks to a packed house at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Aug. 30, 2017. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News ) The lines to get into the Paramount Theatre in Aurora Wednesday evening to hear U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders were a sign that the former presidential candidate's "political revolution" hasn't lost its spark among his supporters. In fact, the lines were so long down Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenue they forced the event to begin 15 minutes late. Advertisement Lynn Maher of Wheaton called Sanders "my inspiration to get involved in politics." "I've been following Sanders since 2015, and feel he's right about things like income inequality, which has been stagnant since I've been in high school," she said. Advertisement Sanders was at the Paramount to discuss his new book "Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution" that is aimed at giving youngsters the tools they need to make changes in the political process. Sanders mocked himself by admitting he was there "to talk about his book" and actually quoted himself from the preface, noting that the book "was written for young people" but that older people who "are young at heart can buy it too." "This book is about converting idealism into political activity, and when you do that, you and others like you create a world much better than the world we gave you," Sanders said. "The good news is that I see that energy all over this country." A Bernie Sanders fan gets ready to enter the Paramount Theatre in Aurora Wednesday evening to hear U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders speak. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News ) He said that positive energy can be seen in how American citizens are responding to the devastation brought to Texas by Hurricane Harvey. "We are reminded that this is when America is at its best," Sanders said. "Nobody helping those people there cares if they are black or white or gay or from America or elsewhere. This is what we do best when people come together and address the crisis. The president has done nothing but divide us up, and our job, in a profound way, is to stand together as we have never stood before." Jacob Sutherland, 18, of Wheaton, came to hear Sanders and said he believes there is a lot of apathy among his age group in terms of political involvement, but that voting in the last election helped energize him. "I think it's our personal duty to support causes and the fact I've voted now once in a national election makes me a part of history, even if it was something small," he said. Aurora's Thea Myers said Sanders "speaks for 99 percent of us" and believes that Sanders' ideas can be put in motion because "of people power." Advertisement "There might not be a breakthrough because of money, but people have power," she said. "I think he has star quality and is a decent man with a lot of integrity. That's why I'm drawn to him." Steven Ostrowski of Lombard said "if Sanders was president, he'd probably have the same problems as President Obama." "There has to be at least a starting point in terms of turning things around, and it's time to try something else," Ostrowski said. "Sanders' ideas are closely aligned with mine." Stacy Daniels of Plainfield said she admired Sanders' tenacity. "Even after Sanders lost in the election last year, he didn't put his tail between his legs and run away," Daniels said. "You have to respect that." Anderson's Bookshop hosted the event, which owner Becky Anderson said was "among the top 10 all time in terms of attendance" for the store. Advertisement Hundreds line up along Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenue in Aurora waiting to get into the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday evening to see U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. ( David Sharos/The Beacon-News ) David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News. Animal rescuer Rachel Ralston-Miller drove her horse trailer into flooded Hankamer, Texas, to pick up more than 30 animals whose shelter had been inundated with water. Several of the dogs she took in are bound for PAWS in Tinley Park. (Rachel Ralston-Miller) At 4 a.m. Thursday, 18 dogs two of them riding copilot began the journey out of hurricane-ravaged Texas in search of forever homes in Illinois. Beth Berenson and Will Hastert, volunteers with Peoples Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Tinley Park, set their sights on arriving back to Chicago's south suburbs later that night, when the dogs would be welcomed and plans for the next trip south would be finalized. Advertisement Just a day earlier, Berenson and Hastert made the 15-plus hour trek south with a van load of goods to a ranch that has become a way station for much-needed supplies headed into the storm-affected area and animals heading out of it. After spending the night, the volunteers loaded up their new cargo and headed north. "We put a notice on our Facebook page Tuesday morning asking for supplies," said Terri Buckley, vice president of PAWS. "And people just started bringing all kinds of stuff." Advertisement By Tuesday evening, the shelter was overrun with blankets, bags of food, collars, leashes and hygiene supplies, Buckley said. "People went above and beyond with donations," Buckley said. The shelter received so many supplies that it is now seeking a storage unit to keep them in. "We will be making another trip within the week, and more after that," Buckley said (A few miles away, another van loaded with bags of dog food and other animal supplies, pulled out of South Suburban Humane Society in Chicago Heights on Wednesday morning. It too was headed south to the storm-ravaged Houston area.) Incredible journey Rachel Ralston-Miller was some 12 hours into Wednesday's animal rescue mission when she could finally pause to chat with a reporter. Just an hour outside her ranch south of Fort Worth, the animal rescue worker talked about interstates awash in whitecaps, about having to rely on locals to navigate her horse trailer around flooded highways and about the 30-plus dogs, one of them blind, that she was transporting to drier ground. Many of those canines, plucked from rising floodwaters that inundated the shelter where they were being cared for, would soon make their way even farther north, to Tinley Park. "I've worked with PAWS for about five years now," Ralston-Miller said via phone. "I'm from Illinois. I moved to Texas and then created a relationship with PAWS and other Illinois shelters so we could move animals from the South to the North simply because there is such an overpopulation of animals in the South." Advertisement Animal rescuer Rachel Ralston-Miller receives a "face snuggle" from Homer, a dog with terminal cancer that was among more than 30 animals she rescued from a flooded shelter in Texas. Several of the dogs she took in are bound for PAWS in Tinley Park. (Rachel Ralston-Miller) With a new wave of homeless pets now in need of shelter and care, many Houston area rescues are making room by sending pre-hurricane residents to other shelters across the country. But sometimes the rescuers need rescuing. Among the Houston area shelters that has had a special place in Ralston-Miller's heart is Tall Tails Rescue in Hankamer, located along Interstate 10, midway between Beaumont and Baytown, both areas badly ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. "Tall Tails takes in blind and deaf animals," she said. "They were doing well during the hurricane," Ralston-Miller said. "But they were only given a couple hours' notice that a dam north of them would be releasing water. It was not enough time to get all of the animals out and the water quickly got to them." And so Ralston-Miller quickly reached out to her contacts at PAWS, who made arrangements to deliver supplies and pick up animals. Advertisement Then the volunteer rescuer and mother of three hit the road with her horse trailer no small feat in an area where the main mode of transportation is now boat. "All of the animals survived the flood," Ralston-Miller said. But they, as well as the shelter's founders, were in desperate need of a new home, she said. Another shelter out of Dallas came in and picked up 100 of the Tall Tails occupants, leaving just over 30 for Ralston-Miller to rescue. With rivers predicted to crest late Wednesday, Ralston-Miller knew the window of opportunity to save the animals at Tall Tails was a small one. "So, it was critical I got in. And I barely got out," she said. "When I left this morning, Highway 90 had whitecaps on it. It's terrible." The animals she loaded into her trailer "are all ages and sizes. There's a blind dog on this trip," she said. "All are in stable condition. They are amazingly resilient. We have crates stacked like Jenga pieces, floor to ceiling," she said. "Twelve dogs and one cat are in crates in the nose of the trailer that overhangs my truck." Advertisement In another vehicle, driven by the shelter's owners, were an additional 18 dogs and cats. Desperate times This story is but one of thousands taking place all over the area, Ralston-Miller said. Hurricane Harvey has now moved out of the Houston area, she said. But the mass catastrophe is far from over, she added. "All transport is being done by boat. People were being told by law enforcement to take their animals with them but it was the boat drivers who determined whether the animals could go on board or not," she said. "We've had people tell us they had to leave their animals behind. They gave their address and said, 'Please go get them.' Rescuers have been going back out to try and get to the animals," she said. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 21 A cat tries to find dry ground around an apartment complex after it was inundated with water following Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 30, 2017 in Houston. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) There is still much more work to be done, Ralston-Miller said. Advertisement Just weeks before the storm, she had a local contractor give her an estimate on installing dog kennels on the ranch where her her family had just moved. "At the time, I didn't know the hurricane would hit. I've just always helped Texas dogs," she said. "And I wanted to continue to do that." On the drive home, she was expecting the coming night to be even more intense than the day had been. But when she pulled the trailer full of homeless dogs and cats into her driveway, an army of volunteers, organized by that local contractor, was waiting to help unload the animals as well as walk, feed and comfort them. "He had the local feed store donate dog food. And PAWS sent dog food," she said. "It was an incredible turnout. I was in shock myself." At one point, she said, the entire barn went quiet, as all of the animals seemed to settle in and relax. "It was amazing," she said. Advertisement The outpouring of help, Ralston-Miller said, was an emotional lift after what had been a harried day of rescue work. So was the "face snuggle" she received from one of the rescued dogs. Homer has terminal cancer, she said, yet he seemed to be showing gratitude for being rescued. Already, she added, one of the volunteers has adopted him. Ongoing assistance "The animals will be sent to Chicago in various waves," Ralston-Miller said. "I've been coordinating with PAWS and we determined it was safer for them to stage at my residence" than to try and navigate the storm-ravaged streets. PAWS volunteers will empty a van of supplies and then load it up with animals. "We have a big building with a temperature controlled area where the animals can be crated safely" until PAWS workers can get to them, Ralston-Miller said. "And we don't have a lot of rain in our forecast." Advertisement Because she knows the area better, Ralston-Miller said she will then transport the supplies to shelters located in the storm-affected areas. Buckley said she expects the bucket brigade of supplies moving south and animals moving north to continue well into the fall months. Taking animals out of the storm area will increase their chances of finding forever homes while simultaneously making room for the expected swell of strays and left-behind pets, Ralston-Miller said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > "And there are many." To help Ralston-Miller said people who'd like to help should find a reputable 501(c)3 rescue in the Houston area, which includes Katy, Cypress and Baytown. Charity Navigator can help (go to charitynavigator.org/), For information on the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, go to www.houstonspca.org/ Advertisement A national effort is also being coordinated by the Humane Society of the United States (go to humanesociety.org), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (go to aspca.org) and other organizations. Locally, people can donate supplies to PAWS (go to pawstinleypark.org) or South Suburban Humane Society (go to southsuburbanhumane.org). Check the shelters' Facebook pages for updates. Designate monetary donations with #prayfortexas or #texasdogs on checks, she said. dvickroy@tribpub.com Twitter @dvickroy Police said Wednesday they are investigating a fatal shooting involving an off-duty Chicago police officer who had arranged Tuesday to meet two people in Hazel Crest who were going to sell the officer a computer. One of two males who approached the officer with the intention of robbing him was shot and killed by the officer, according to a news release from Hazel Crest police. Advertisement The incident took place shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday on Birchwood Drive. The identity of the dead person was not immediately available. Advertisement Police responded to a call of shots fired and on arrival found a man with his hands in the air who identified himself to officers as a Chicago police officer, according to the release. The officer said his weapon was on the hood of his personal vehicle. Police found a male subject, face-down on the ground between two homes, and he was holding a gun and next to him was a Chicago Police Department badge, according to the release. Money was also strewn about the area, police said. Paramedics were unable to revive the person, police said. The police officer had arranged through an online sales network to meet with the two males to buy a computer, but when he got out of his car and was approached by the men, one of them drew a gun, police said their initial investigation shows. The officer was held at gunpoint while the two removed items from his pockets, including his badge, police said. Before they could take his gun, which was on the officer's belt under his shirt, the officer was able to fire at both, police said. The second male fled. Hazel Crest police said they are investigating the armed robbery of the officer while the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit will oversee the investigation into the officer's use of force, according to the release. The Marian Catholic High School marching band performs recently at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, recently. Band members, including, from left, trombonists Ryan Lavin, of Tinley Park, Patrick Zhou, of Frankfort, and horn player Matthew Goncher, of Crete, played the national anthem as well as the Star Wars Theme Song because tt was Star Wars night at the ballpark. The performance marked the first time the Marian Catholic marching band performed at Sox park since 1988, according to director Greg Bimm. (Mary Compton) SXU prof earns grant for racial zoning research How did city planners play a role in using new school construction to create residential segregation, especially in southern cities that once had substantially mixed-race housing patterns? A Saint Xavier University professor's research investigates the implications of racial zoning in southern cities from the 1920s to the present. Karen Benjamin, associate professor of history, was recently awarded a $43,917 grant from the Spencer Foundation to fund her research. Her research project titled "City Planners and the use of School Sites to Impose Racial Zoning on Southern Cities before WWII" explores the close collaboration between city planners and school boards before 1930 and its effects on the field of residential segregation. Through her research grant, Benjamin will travel to Dallas, Austin, Birmingham and Raleigh to collect data. Benjamin also is the social science education coordinator and the director of African-American studies at Saint Xavier. Advertisement Lincoln-Way students have Canada canoe adventure In July, 10 Lincoln-Way students had the opportunity to experience first-hand one of the world's last primitive wilderness areas. Students paddled lakes and followed paths on a 10-day canoe trip to Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. The students paddled and portaged through the park, following the routes once traveled by aboriginals and French-Canadian voyageurs. They learned the art of paddling a canoe in a variety of conditions, as well as map and compass reading, route finding and Leave No Trace wilderness living principles. Students learned to take calculated risks, practice critical thinking skills and develop self-reliance. They learned how to care for one another, work together and accomplish more than they ever thought possible. The trip ended with a night back at the lodge where students participated in a talk about the importance of protecting wilderness areas like the one they had just enjoyed. Advertisement Governors State hosts inaugural car, motorcycle show Governors State University will host its first Car and Motorcycle Show from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 8 in east lots 2 and 3 of the GSU campus in University Park. Sponsored by the Department of Public Safety and the GSU Library, all proceeds will benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Specialty car and motorcycle owners are invited to participate. Those displaying their vehicles will have an opportunity to receive an award, get goodie bags, a dash plaque, and door prizes. Displaying a vehicle requires a $10 donation. The event will be family and child-friendly and entry for spectators is free. More information is at 708-534-4900 or with Lee Taylor at ltaylor1@govst.edu. Send news to communitynews@southtownstar.com. Tinley Park officials will consider installing more surveillance cameras at key intersections in the wake of a recent home invasion in the village. As many as 20 cameras could be installed along streets, including Harlem Avenue, LaGrange Road and Oak Park Avenue, but trustees want more information about the total cost before committing to any expansion of the current system of closed-circuit cameras. Advertisement Residents have demanded that more cameras be put in place following an Aug. 12 home invasion in the 8000 block of Pottawatomi Trail in which cellphones, electronics and cash were taken from people inside the home, who were then locked in the home's basement. Cameras can cost from $10,000 to nearly $13,000, with higher prices for cameras that have sharper resolution and can read vehicle license plates, according to Steve Mancione, vice president of Pace Systems, who gave an overview of the village's current network and its limitations. Advertisement The Naperville company has done previous installations of cameras in the village, including at the 80th Avenue Metra station and the convention center. The village's system includes 138 cameras, and some of them are license plate recognition cameras, including at the Oak Park Avenue Metra station, Mancione said Tuesday at a Village Board committee meeting. Residents at a recent Village Board meeting following the home invasion said that cameras that can read vehicle license plates are needed, particularly near the interchange of Harlem and Interstate 80. There are two cameras at the intersection of Harlem and 183rd Street, just north of the interchange, but the cameras are not effective at providing clear details, or license plates, of specific vehicles, and the view they offer at night is "just about useless," Mancione told trustees. At some intersections, Mancione said the village could beef up the number and type of camera currently available, and also consider installing at locations where there are no cameras currently, such as near 183rd and LaGrange Road. At 183rd and Harlem, for example, there is one camera pointing northeast toward the intersection that offers a "general overview" of traffic moving through, and a second camera focusing on traffic heading south on Harlem, he said. "Ideally, you'd like to have all four directions (of traffic) covered," Mancione said. Tinley Park had previously budgeted $115,000 to install a dozen surveillance cameras around the Brookside Marketplace shopping center, at the southwest corner of the Harlem/I-80 interchange, though plans did not call for cameras that could read license plates and installation of the cameras was put on hold. Advertisement Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Previously, Police Chief Steve Neubauer said that federal agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were assisting Tinley Park police in their investigation of the home invasion. The Illinois State Crime Commission previously said it is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals "who committed, conspired or aided" in the home invasion. The commission said it was making the reward offer at the request and recommendation of Mayor Jacob Vandenberg. Also at the committee meeting Tuesday, trustees agreed to proceed with getting a cost estimate for a new fountain for Zabrocki Plaza. The former fountain was toppled and heavily damaged in an act of vandalism over the Labor Day weekend last year. Rather than repair or replace it at that time, the village opted to remove it. Rather than replace it with a tiered fountain such as the one that was knocked over, trustees said they want to explore installing a fountain that has a single bowl with jets of water around the bowl's perimeter that shoot water toward a central geyser. mnolan@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @mnolan_J The Walmart in East Dundee closed after a 186,000-square-foot super center opened in Carpentersville in June 2016. A Kane County judge recently dismissed a lawsuit on the matter filed by East Dundee. (Erin Sauder/Courier-News ) East Dundee will likely not appeal a recent Kane County court decision to dismiss its lawsuit against Walmart, officials said. "We thought we presented a good argument but unfortunately the way the law was written the judge did not see there was any recourse," Village President Lael Miller said. "Based on the judge's ruling I don't think there's any movement going forward with this." Advertisement In the suit, East Dundee officials had asked the judge to rule on whether the $4.3 million in tax increment finance funding approved by Carpentersville trustees can be used to help the store relocate to a site on Route 25 near Lake Marian Road. East Dundee cited "anti-poaching provisions" legislation to prevent towns using TIF or other incentives to lure businesses from neighboring communities. Advertisement This was the third suit brought by East Dundee to be thrown out by the courts in the past few years. In the meantime, Walmart moved ahead with constructing a 186,000-square-foot super center in Carpentersville at 365 Lake Marian Road which opened in June of 2016. The East Dundee store closed a few days prior to that opening. Carpentersville officials could not be reached for comment. East Dundee learned in August 2012 the retailer planned to relocate to Carpentersville, meaning a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in various revenues to the East Dundee's coffers. Miller called the mid-August ruling to dismiss the lawsuit "disappointing." "We thought this was a stand on principle because (state) law clearly states an anti-poaching provision so that one community couldn't take business from another community less than 10 miles away. We understand why it was written that way but unfortunately it doesn't seem the language is strong enough or enforceable," he said. He said East Dundee officials would like to work with their village attorney to present language on the issue to state legislators "to make sure this doesn't happen to the next town down the river." "I strongly feel this needs to be changed," Miller said. Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. Adam Frisch keeps calm waiting for all ballots to be counted in CD-3 The organizers of an online sale of art by people with learning difficulties have moved to clarify doubts, after the charity raised millions of yuan in just a few hours, reports thepaper.cn. The donation page of the art sale [Photo: Chinanews.com] Some netizens raised questions over whether the paintings had actually been made by people with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and Down's syndrome. Others wanted to know what the charity was going to do with such a large amount of money. The art sale was initiated by Shanghai-based private nonprofit charity 'World of Art Brut Culture' (WABC) on the charity platform of the Chinese internet giant Tencent. A total of 36 paintings by 25 people with learning difficulties aged 11 to 37 were put on sale. The project began on Aug 17 but discussion heated up in earnest on Tuesday on the social media platform WeChat. Donations since the project began totaled more than 15 million yuan. About 5.8 million people participated. By noon on Tuesday, 2 million people had participated and donated 8.4 million yuan. But the donation page was closed at 4 pm after the target of 15 million yuan was reached. Many WeChat users praised the artworks, saying they were touched by the sincerity shown in the paintings and were moved by the pretty colors. Others wondered whether the pictures had been painted by autistic people at all. Miao Shiming, founder of WABC, explained that although people with learning difficulties perhaps lacked language skills, they were usually able to express themselves well in some other ways. Miao said all the painters of the art works on sale were students of WABC studios, which offer free art lessons to people with learning difficulties, trying to help them integrate into society through art. The world's most iconic lingerie fashion show, Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, is coming to Shanghai for the first time ever this year. The world's most iconic lingerie fashion show, Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, is coming to Shanghai for the first time ever this year. [Photo/ecns.cn] This annual fashion event, usually filmed in New York, was also previously hosted in Miami, Los Angeles, and international cities of London and Paris. Among the Angels who will be heading to the east for the lingerie extravaganza are returning superstars Adriana Lima, Behati Prinsloo, Alessandra Ambrosio, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Jasmin Tookes, Candice Swanepoel, announced Victoria's Secret in a statement on Tuesday. Musical performers will be announced later, said the statement. This decision to hold the show in China comes with no surprise. The announcement was made following the company opened their first two fully-stocked stores on China's mainland, including one flagship store in Shanghai, earlier in February, with four more to be opened later this year. This year's show will also feature a record number of Chinese models, seen as another signal of the brand's increasing focus on the expanding market of China. "We continue to be pleased with the first two full assortment Victoria's Secret stores on China's mainland," said Martin Waters, L Brands International president, on an August 17 conference call with stock analysts. "We continue to be very bullish about our growth opportunities in China and around the world." China is expected to equal if not exceeding the US in sales in the long term, executives have said. As Euromonitor's study indicated, the country's female lingerie market is lucrative with an expected retail value of 25 billion US dollars in 2017, and will grow to 33 billion US dollars by 2020. As the market is still highly fragmented with no major brands leading the way, industry observers say there's room for more competition. The annual show is seen in more than 190 countries and racked up more than 1.4 billion views worldwide, according to information from Victoria's Secret. You are here: Home Samsung Electronics Co. signed agreement Wednesday with the government of northwest China's Shaanxi Province to expand its chip production capacity there. Samsung will inject an initial investment of 7 billion U.S. dollars into the second phase of its chip plant in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, which will primarily produce advanced flash memory chips. The first phase of the plant at the Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone went into operation in May 2014, with a total investment of 10 billion dollars. The opening of Samsung's semiconductor project has attracted more than 100 supporting companies to the zone, and its expanded capacity is expected to strengthen Xi'an's role as a major semiconductor industry base. Brazil on Wednesday said it was "inclined" to appeal a request by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it should eliminate industrial subsidies. "Our inclination is to appeal, but I am not going to enter into the details of the content for obvious reasons of strategy," Carlos Cozendey, the undersecretary general for Economic and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, said at a press conference. Earlier, the WTO issued a decision that gave Brazil 90 days to remove subsidies to the automobile, telecommunications and computing sectors, after Japan and the European Union complained of unfair competition. Brazil now has a period of 60 days, as of Sept. 19, to decide whether to appeal. The subsidies were in the form of tax breaks and other benefits, such as prioritizing national goods over imported ones in public-sector purchasing, that were implemented during the administration of Dilma Rousseff to boost national industry. Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb is considering a run for governor in 2018. The Canandaigua Republican said Wednesday he's been asked by party leaders, other elected officials and members of the business community to challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who will likely seek a third term next year. "I am definitely giving it serious thought," Kolb said in an interview. "I think I could be a great governor. Having said that, you have to get elected and the first step is can you have the support of the party statewide? Can you raise enough funds to support a credible campaign?" Kolb, 65, is the longest-tenured state legislative leader. He was selected to lead the Assembly Republican conference in April 2009. He was first elected to the state Assembly in 2000. His district includes all of Ontario County and part of Seneca County in the Finger Lakes region. Before districts were redrawn in 2012, he represented nine towns in Cayuga County. He has considered running for higher office before. He was mentioned as a possible candidate for Congress in 2010 and 2012, but he opted not to run. He asked to run against U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010. He passed on that race, too. A former businessman, Kolb co-founded the North American Filter Corporation, a Wayne County-based company that manufactures air, gas and liquid filtration systems. He previously served as president of Refractron Technologies, a ceramics manufacturer in Wayne County. As the Assembly minority leader, he has been critical of Cuomo's policies. When the governor recently announced a plan to invest $7 million from bank settlements to support college education programs for inmates, Kolb accused Cuomo of prioritizing prisoners over law-abiding students. After Cuomo signed the SAFE Act, a gun control measure adopted in 2013, Kolb said it was the "worst piece of legislation" he's seen during his Assembly career. Kolb has raised questions about how the new Tappan Zee Bridge will be financed. He's also called for ethics reform in the aftermath of several public corruption cases, including one involving Cuomo's former aide Joe Percoco. He conceded that Cuomo would be a formidable opponent. The Democratic governor not only has enrollment on his side there are 3 million more active Democrats in New York but he has more than $25.6 million in his campaign war chest. "That's tough to compete against," he said. Kolb added, "But I think when you really start breaking down on issues and how the governor has run the administration and he's had his own people that are going to trial, I think there's a lot to talk about on a legitimate policy and issues platform that has nothing to do with him being a Democrat. It has everything to do with how he's governed and what he's pushed for." One issue that could loom large in the 2018 election is the status of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City's mass transit system. Delays throughout the city's subway system have caused problems for commuters. Kolb called the subways "a disaster." He cited the MTA's woes as a reason new leadership is needed. He also mentioned the ongoing squabbles between Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He said the spats are "childish." "I think you need somebody that's willing to work with everybody. I think I've demonstrated that as the (Assembly minority leader) and also as an assemblyman that I can reach across the aisle." Kolb is the latest Republican to express interest in the gubernatorial race next year. Other names mentioned as possible candidates include Harry Wilson, a corporate restructuring expert who ran for state comptroller in 2010, and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro. Two past Cuomo challengers, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, are considering bids for governor. Kolb isn't the only Republican state lawmaker who is exploring a gubernatorial run in 2018. State Sen. John DeFrancisco, a Syracuse Republican, has been traveling across the state to gauge interest in his potential candidacy. Republicans believe Cuomo is vulnerable in 2018. A Siena College poll released in July found Cuomo's favorability at 52 percent the lowest level since February 2016. Voters are split on whether they would support the governor for re-election. You are here: Home China has completed verification of the country's seawater warning levels, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) Wednesday. Since 2012, the SOA has re-verified seawater warning levels in 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and divided China's coastal areas into 259 warning areas. "The verified warning levels will help prevent or reduce ocean disasters," said Wang Hua from SOA. The seawater warning level refers to the level of coastal water that warns of potential tide disasters being met or exceeded. China's meteorological department will issue severe weather alerts based on the warning level, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is expected to convene on Oct. 18 in Beijing. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided at a meeting on Thursday to submit the proposal on the schedule to the seventh plenary meeting of the 18th CPC Central Committee, which will be held on Oct. 11. The Political Bureau meeting was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The 19th CPC National Congress will review the Party's work over the past five years and summarize precious experiences that the Party has gained from the historical process of uniting and leading people of all ethnic groups to carry on and advance socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core since the 18th CPC National Congress. It will thoroughly examine the current international and domestic situation, and take into account the new requirements for the development of the Party and the country as well as new expectations from the people. The congress will draw out guidelines and policies that respond to the call of the times, according to the meeting. A new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the congress. Flash Missile force of Korean People's Army attend a military parade in central Pyongyang, April 15, 2017. [File Photo/Xinhua] China said Wednesday sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) must be within the framework of the UN Security Council. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's remarks came after the UN Security Council released a president's statement, which strongly condemned Monday's missile launch by the DPRK as well as several launches Friday. "The Security Council expresses its grave concern that the DPRK is, by conducting such a launch over Japan as well as its recent actions and public statements, deliberately undermining regional peace and stability and has caused grave security concerns around the world," said the statement. Noting the statement reflects the consensus of the international community, Hua said, "China is opposed to any unilateral sanction or long-arm jurisdiction in accordance with one country's domestic law." Hua said China hopes all parties will implement Security Council resolutions earnestly, comprehensively and completely. When asked about China's communication and coordination with Russia on the issue, Hua said China and Russia share the same goal, which was, by and large shared by all other permanent members of the UN Security Council and the whole international community. It's only that some countries may differ on specific approaches to realize the goal at this stage, she said. China is willing to continue coordination and cooperation with Russia, to maintain peace and stability in the region and around the world, she added. Flash The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Wednesday said that U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on the media could amount to incitement and embolden followers to attack certain communities. "It is really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, something that the United States defended over the years is now itself under attack from the President himself," the UN human rights chief told a press briefing here. "It's a sort of stunning turnaround, and ultimately the sequences are dangerous one: incitement and fear, self-censorship, banning and then violence," he added. The UN official also expressed special concern about derogatory remarks by the U.S. President about journalists and media institutions. "I wish to also draw on the President's repeated attacks on three of the most well respected news organisations in the world: The New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN repeatedly referring to the organisations as liars, as crooks and most recently in Arizona, he went as far as to refer to journalists as really really dishonest people, bad people, who don't like the country," Zeid said. Speaking in Arizona last week, U.S. President Donald Trump has defended his response to a white supremacist-organised rally in Virginia, and criticized news organizations for their coverage of the violence in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, calling journalists "truly dishonest people". "I have to ask the question: is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists ? And let's assume a journalist is harmed from one of these organizations, does the President then not bear responsibility for this? " Zeid noted. "The demonization of the press is poisonous because it has consequences elsewhere", he stressed. Flash The U.S.-led coalition carried out airstrikes Wednesday to block Islamic State (IS) fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, local media reported. Hundreds of IS fighters and civilians were evacuated Monday from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a ceasefire deal and were headed to an IS-held town near Syria's eastern frontier with Iraq. The airstrikes hit the road leading from the Syrian town of Hmaymah to the IS-held town of Albukamal further east, the report cited the coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon as saying. The evacuation deal was negotiated between IS and Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which has intervened in the war in neighboring Syria to prop up the Damascus government. Hezbollah fought a week-long offensive against IS on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, coinciding with a simultaneous assault by Lebanese troops on their side of the frontier. The battles ended Sunday with the announcement of the deal to bus IS forces hundreds of kilometres from Syria's western border with Lebanon to its eastern frontier with Iraq. Flash A boy focuses on the writing. [Photo/UNESCO] The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday announced the winners of the 2017 International Literacy Prizes, which honors excellence and innovation in the field of literacy worldwide. The awards will be handed out to five laureates from Canada, Colombia, Jordan, Pakistan and South Africa on the occasion of International Literacy Day, which falls on Sept. 8. The prizes are divided into two categories, namely the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy sponsored by China, and the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize sponsored by the Republic of Korea. This year's Confucius Prize, which rewards projects that benefit rural populations and out-of-school youth, particularly girls and women, is given to the AdulTICo Program from Columbia, The Citizens Foundation from Pakistan, and the FunDza project from South Africa. The King Sejong prize, dedicated to mother-tongue literacy education, is shared by the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance from Canada and the We Love Reading program from Jordan. The five winners will each receive a medal, a certificate and 20,000 U.S. dollars. This year's prizes are focused on "literacy in a digital world," the UN agency said in a press release. "Digital technologies permeate all spheres of our lives, fundamentally shaping how we live, work, learn and socialize," said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. "These new technologies are opening vast new opportunities to improve our lives and connect globally, but they can also marginalize those who lack the essential skills, like literacy, needed to navigate them," she added. Since 1967, the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have been awarded to more than 475 projects led by governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world. According to UNESCO figures, 750 million people in the world still lack basic reading and writing skills, and this population includes 102 million young people aged between 15 and 24. You are here: Home Flash Pakistan on Thursday summoned Indian envoy over cross-border shelling, which killed a civilian along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region, officials said. The foreign ministry said Indian forces fired in Kotera Sector on Aug. 29, resulting in the death of a 55-year-old civilian, Muhammad Rasheed, resident of village Mithidhara. The Director General at the South Asian Desk at the Foreign Ministry Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J.P. Singh and condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, a foreign ministry statement said. China Aviation Daily | Aug. 31, 2017 Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services Co., Ltd., (Boeing Shanghai) and Xiamen Air celebrated today the completion of the first 787-8 base maintenance check, also known as a C-check and Wi-Fi modification at Boeing Shanghai's hangar at Shanghai Pudong Airport. The relationship with Xiamen Air solidifies Boeing Shanghai's position in the global market for 787 heavy maintenance and connectivity modifications as it enters China's market. "We are very pleased with the 787 C-check and Wi-Fi modification performed by Boeing Shanghai. Their expertise in the field contributes significantly to program reliability, safety and improving flight services for our customers. We hope this successful program is a good start for our future cooperation with Boeing Shanghai in more areas," said by Tang Jianqi, General Manager, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering, Xiamen Air. A C-check is an extensive check of the airplane's systems and components that can require several days to perform. "The successful completion is a testament to Boeing Shanghai's capability in the 787 maintenance and modification market. We are very grateful for the confidence Xiamen Air has placed in our team," said Dermot Swan, CEO of Boeing Shanghai. "Xiamen Air is an important and prestigious 787 carrier and we look forward to a long, mutually rewarding relationship with them." Established in 1984 and based in Xiamen, China, Xiamen Air operates scheduled passenger flights to major cities in China, as well as international routes to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and North America. Currently Xiamen Airlines operates an all-Boeing fleet consisting of 9 787s, four 757s and about 140 Next Generation 737s. Boeing Shanghai is a joint venture between Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authorities and China Eastern Airlines. As a Center of Excellence for Next-Generation 737 Boeing Converted Freighter modifications and 787 heavy maintenance and modifications, Boeing Shanghai provides a comprehensive range of services from engineering, aircraft maintenance and modification to component repair and overhaul and supply chain management. Its base and line maintenance capabilities also support 737, 767, 777 and 747 models and cover major and minor checks, composite repair, structural modifications including winglet and pylon, cabin upgrades, engine and landing gear replacement and full paint hangar. Contributed by Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services Japan's Defense Ministry is seeking by far its highest budget for fiscal 2018 beginning next April, which, if approved, will be the sixth consecutive increase in the country's defense expenditure, reflecting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's penchant for military expansion. The proposed 2.5 percent hike will raise the budget to 5.26 trillion yen ($48 billion), which the ministry says is needed to pay for upgraded missile interceptors, six F-35 stealth fighters, four V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and new naval vessels, including a submarine and two compact warships. A country constitutionally bound to maintain armed forces purely for defensive purposes certainly doesn't need such military equipment for national security, most of which is anyway provided by its military ally, the United States. Yet Japan, under a bellicose Abe, has been setting one record after another not only in increasing military budgets but also in leading Japan on the dangerous path of militarism. Instead of sincerely reflecting upon Japan's wartime past and atoning for the atrocities the Japanese army committed before and during World War II, Abe has made every effort to revise Japan's pacifist Constitution, so that he can build a strong military. To justify Abe's military expansion plans, many Japanese media outlets have accused China of posing a threat to Japan. They have used Japan's maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea as an excuse for the hikes in Japan's defense budgets, disregarding the fact that Tokyo was solely responsible for escalating the dispute. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, too, is high on Japan's blame list, and by test-firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday, Pyongyang seems to have played into the hands of Tokyo. The DPRK deserves the strongest condemnation for its provocative action, but it remains unclear as to how great a threat it poses to Japan. More importantly, countering a potential threat by building a bigger arsenal could lead to counterproductive and even dangerous outcomes, not only for Japan but also for the whole of Northeast Asia. The current deadlock over the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue shows using military action as an option to resolve it will worsen and complicate the situation further. To salvage the situation, which seems to have reached a tipping point, the parties involved need to exercise strategic patience and establish communication. But what Japan is doing, instead, could trigger an arms race, throwing the strategic equilibrium in the region off balance, setting alight the tinderbox that the peninsula has become. Should such a scenario become reality, Japan will find the consequences of its military ambition almost impossible to swallow. LONDON - Chinese investment offers "a great opportunity" for both China and London as uncertainties remain over negotiations on Brexit, senior officials of the City of London said Tuesday. "We welcome investment from around the world and certainly we welcome all the Chinese investors," said Gwyn Richards, the head of design and assistant director of Built Environment, told Xinhua. In a signed article on the Evening Standard last week, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said the investment from his country to Britain is mutually beneficial and win-win for both sides, rebuffing the investment threat allegation. Liu said that recent British media reports on the so-called threats of Chinese investment to British national security is a confusing mixture of paranoia and exaggerations about China's appetite to buy out Britain. "That's certainly not the City's position," said Richards, "We welcome all the Chinese investors coming to us knocking on our door. Certainly we do not see it as a threat. We see it as a great opportunity for both the City and China." The City of London, a leading international financial and business services center, contributes 14 percent of London's GDP and over 3 percent of British GDP. Sherry Madera, the City of London special advisor for Asia said China is an important marketplace considering how it is expanding internationally. If London strives to be a global financial center in the context of Brexit, it needs to taking care of its investments seriously, Madera said. "As evidence to that, Chinese financial investors are some of our key stake holders," said Madera. The Asia advisor said cooperation with a diverse country like China could focus on a few "Tops" -- green finance, the internationalization of renminbi, and cooperation to create a legal system for contract possibly along the Belt and Road. The British government from 2010 onwards has played an active role in promoting London's financial capabilities to China, one of which was in propelling the internationalization of the Chinese currency renminbi. The advisor proposed a "2.0 next generation renminbi initiative" in an effort to find different ways in using renminbi internationally and using London as the hub as the renminbi continues to grow in the next 20 to 30 years. Noting that London is the western end of China's Belt and Road Initiative, Madera sees the potential that London Stock Exchange could serve as a key vehicle for raising finance not only in China, but also across the Belt and Road. "We need to grow our relationship with China, and foster really great link between the UK and China," she said. Acknowledging that Brexit is "annoying, irritating and worrying," Medera said the City of London, along with most other stakeholders are calling for clarity for how the Brexit negotiation will be going forward. Richards, on the other hand, seemed more optimistic. He said the City of London remains strong to the challenges of Brexit and the development schemes and discussions in the City are on full swing. Activity from Asia-Pacific investors, including China, was at its highest in five years in property investment in the City during the first half year of 2017. "So certainly from my perspective, Brexit has not made any difference to us at the moment. If anything, we have never been busier," he said. GEDDES As the keynote speaker at the New York State Fair's annual Women's Day luncheon Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul urged attendees to address "unfinished business" 100 years after women won the right to vote in New York. The unfinished business mentioned by Hochul is the gender gap in positions of power, whether it's upper level management positions at a corporation or the U.S. Congress. Hochul, who chairs the New York State Women's Suffrage Commission, noted that women hold 27 percent of the seats in the state Legislature. That's slightly higher than the national average of 24 percent in state legislatures in the U.S. The ratio gets worse at the federal level. Women hold nearly 20 percent of the seats in Congress. "It's kind of lonely, and it's not right," Hochul said. The gender gap also exists in local government positions. Thirty years ago in New York, 17 percent of chief administrative offices, such as mayors, county executives and county clerks, were held by women. Today, the percentage is the same. Hochul acknowledged that there are women in some prominent chief administrative roles across the state. Stephanie Miner, a Democrat, is in the final year of her second term as Syracuse mayor. Lovely Warren, also a Democrat, is seeking another term as mayor of Rochester. But Miner, Warren and mayors in Albany and Saratoga Springs are in the minority. Most of those offices are held by men. "I'm not here to depress everybody but to tell you this has got to end," Hochul said. "This is a problem." One reason Hochul believes women are hesitant to run for political office is the confidence gap. She said women tend to hold themselves back because they incorrectly think that they need to be more qualified than other candidates in the field. She didn't have to look far for an example of the confidence gap. She recalled her experience when she first ran for a seat on the Hamburg town board. She was initially reluctant to run despite being 35 years old with an extensive resume. She was an activist, businesswoman and served as an attorney for U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It wasn't until a 22-year-old man entered the race that she changed her mind. She told attendees at the luncheon not to make the mistake she did and believe they're not qualified to run for office. "Never hold yourselves back," she said. The first flagship store of Victoria's Secret opens to invited customers in Shanghai, Feb 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Victoria's Secret, the world leading retailer of women's lingerie, will have its first fashion show in Shanghai this November, further elevating its brand awareness in the country. Dubbed the world's most celebrated fashion show, the runway event will be seen in more than 190 countries and regions. Last year's show received 1.4 billion views. The US-based lingerie designer and manufacturer has invited its all-star line-up of Victoria's Secret Angels, including returning models Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Behati Prinsloo, as well as new faces. L Brands Inc, the parent of Victoria's Secret, considers China its most important global market, according to reports by Inside Retail Asia. Its executive said last November that they expect, within five years, the markets of China, Western Europe and the Middle East will each account for $1 billion in annual sales. In March, Victoria's Secret opened flagship stores in Shanghai and Chengdu. The Shanghai store is the third outlet in the world after New York and London to have a Victoria's Angel Suite, providing a private shopping area and luxury experience. The US company currently has 30 stores on the Chinese mainlandbut most focus on body and beauty products rather than lingerie, swimwear and activewear. The country's female underwear market is booming. According to Euromonitor, a market research provider, China's woman's underwear has market value of up to 139.4 billion yuan in 2016 from 129.7 billion ($19.35 billion) in 2015. It forecasts the market volume will grow to 169.9 billion yuan by 2021. Domestic brands dominate the market. Cosmo Lady tops the market share by 3.7 percent, followed by Beijing Aimer Lingerie Co Ltd's Aimer at 2.4 percent and Tingmei Group Heath-care Science& Technology Co Ltd at 1.2 percent. L Brands Inc reported net sales of $2.75 billion for the second quarter ended July 29, 2017, compared to sales of $2.89 billion for the second quarter ended July 30, 2016. The company reported a sales decrease of 8 percent for the second quarter ended July 29, 2017. China may not encounter a major financial crisis like the one that hit the United States almost a decade ago given the former's tight financial regulation and low household mortgage ratio, a senior economist said. "Many people are concerned that China may face systematic financial risks similar to the US nine years ago," Zhu Ning, deputy director of the National Finance Research Institute of Tsinghua University, told China Daily. Zhu Ning, deputy director of the National Finance Research Institute of Tsinghua University. [Photo provided to China Daily] "I think there are two things that are good about China. First, China has a comparatively more strictly regulated capital market and financial market, making related risks less complicated and more controllable. Second, we have a much lower resident leverage ratio in the property market," said Zhu, who is also the Oceanwide professor of finance at Tsinghua. China's household mortgage to overall loans ratio is about 15 percent, compared with about 40 percent in the US. Still, Zhu warned that "at the moment, property prices in China are running at a rate much higher than the basic rate of general investment returns". Stricter financial regulations imposed in the wake of the National Financial Work Conference in July should have a major impact on China's financial sector, and finance regulation should be on the same page with the country's rapid financial innovation, Zhu said. "The National Financial Work Conference held in July will undoubtedly have a long-term, deep impact on China's financial sector, and what we should mostly pay attention to at the moment is not let a new mode of financial monopoly replace the old ones amid stronger regulation," Zhu said. Zhu is also the author of the book China's Guaranteed Bubble: How Implicit Government Support has Propelled China's Economy while Creating Systematic Risk. The book was written from 2014 to 2015, and was published in February 2016 in both English and Chinese. In the book, Zhu looks at the risks accumulating in China's economy, especially in the financial and real estate sectors. He explained that some of the key drivers behind many problems facing China's current economic transition, such as excessive production capacity in traditional industries, high property prices, as well as the reform of SOEs, are a longtime implicit guarantee from the government so that people have already taken such guarantees for granted, and are much less aware that with any investment, there will be risks. "Implicit Chinese government guarantees, which have helped drive economic investment and expansion, are also largely responsible for the challenges the country now faces. But it's important for us to realize that it might be hard for the growth model of the past three decades to continue to bolster China's economic development," he argued. He believes that China's economic growth will depend on how successful policymakers are in delivering supply-side structural reforms and economic rebalancing. "Many developed countries have long been critical about China's development model. But China turned out to be one of the largest contributors to the world economy during the 2008-09 global financial crisis and is now the world's second-largest economy," he said. A Tmall mascot poses with a Maserati SUV Levante 350HP in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, after the luxury carmaker sold its first 100 models on the Alibaba online platform. Starting at 999,800 yuan, Maserati sold all 100 cars in 15 minutes last year. [Xu Kangping/for China Daily] JD Fashion and Alibaba's Pavilion site battle it out to showcase blue chip brands as they root out internet fakes Luxury labels are at the center of a new online battle between Chinese internet giants looking to cash in on the consumer craze for designer fashion. Big players such as JD.com Inc and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are going head-to-head to capture a market which is worth billions of dollars a year. In a move to dominate the industry, JD Fashion was rolled out earlier this year. Then in June, parent company JD.com announced a strategic partnership with Farfetch UK Ltd by taking a $397 million stake in the London-based online fashion group. Two months later, Alibaba hit back by launching the Luxury Pavilion site for blue chip brands on its e-commerce platform Tmall. "We are making a major push in fashion this year," said Liu Hong, general manager of jewelry, luxury goods and accessories at JD Fashion. "The next frontier of e-commerce is fashion and we plan to win it." Less than a decade ago, the majority of top-of-the-range labels were bought by Chinese consumers when they traveled abroad. Many were personal shoppers, who would bring back preordered designer brands to avoid custom tax, a practice known as daigou. But those days are being consigned to history as high-end retail districts sprout up in major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, catering for the affluent middle class. A report by the consulting firm Bain & Co showed that China remains an "engine of growth" for luxury fashion items, capturing 30 percent of the global market last year, which was a slight decrease compared to 2015. Still, in another research document, KPMG, one of the big four global auditors, revealed that up to 50 percent of domestic luxury consumption in China will be generated online by 2020. With eye-watering figures like these being bandied around, it is hardly surprising that JD.com and Alibaba are starting to make waves in the sector. "The newly-created JD Fashion is a separate business unit with a staff of more than 1,000 people, which demonstrates our commitment to this market," said General Manager Liu. To help mastermind the operation, the e-commerce juggernaut brought in Winston Cheng to spearhead its international business development. He had previously worked for LeEco, the multinational electronics conglomerate based in Beijing. "We are putting resources into Europe and the United States to win over brands, and prove how serious we are about the luxury sector," Liu said. Already JD.com has lined up leading labels, such as Swiss watch maker Zenith and Austrian jeweler Swarovski, as well as Trussardi and Tag Heuer. The deal with Farfetch in the UK has further strengthened its grip on the industry. JD.com has even wheeled out a "white glove" express delivery service in which smartly dressed couriers in electric cars drop off purchased items to customers. "Luxury fashion brands will see that we really understand them," said Liu, adding that the company plans to roll out more initiatives without going into details. Last year, China's cross-border e-commerce import transactions reached 1.2 trillion yuan ($180.2 billion), an increase of 33.3 percent compared to 2015, a report released by China E-Business Research Center revealed. This year that figure is expected to increase by 54.5 percent to 1.85 trillion yuan. With so much at stake, Alibaba has been quick to take up the challenge by launching Luxury Pavilion. The new site on Tmall features an array of designer labels from apparel, perfumes and beauty products to watches and jewelry from Burberry, Hugo Boss and LVMH-owned marque names Guerlain and Zenith. Part of Luxury Pavilion's appeal is that leading labels can launch their "official stores" on the site and run the businesses on a daily basis. "Luxury brands increasingly want to use new retail technology and consumer insight to connect with younger shoppers, as well as drive business-model innovation," said Liu Xiuyun, the head of Tmall's fashion business. Combating counterfeit brands has also become a priority with JD.com taking a tough stance by controlling inventories and vetting retailers on its fashion site. The move has paid off. "As a testament to our commitment to authenticity, we have become the first and only Chinese e-commerce company to join the American Apparel& Footwear Association, where we will work with them on intellectual property issues," General Manager Liu said. Alibaba has gone down a similar road to beat the "pirates". Earlier this month, the online giant joined forces with the Kering Group to weed out counterfeit brands. The French company based in Paris owns labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Bottega. Protecting those intellectual property rights in China has become a priority as the group rides a new wave of online shopping. "Luxury brands are catching on and e-commerce is the next frontier for growth in a crucial market," said Liz Flora, editor of the Asia Pacific region for market research company L2. But the problem of fake labels has left many online shoppers wary of buying luxury items, Lu Zhenwang, CEO of Wanqing Consultancy in Shanghai, stressed. "Making sure the authenticity of luxury products will boost customer confidence in China (and increase sales)," Lu said. Chinese insurers with rule-breaking and dishonorable records will face stricter market access as the country's top insurance regulator intensified crackdown in cooperation with other government agencies on Wednesday. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with 30 ministries and regulators including the People's Bank of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, to jointly crack down on illegal activities in the insurance sector, and they vowed to hold wrongdoers accountable. Insurers will face restrictions in establishing banking, securities and insurance subsidiaries or branches for their wrongdoings and will be restrained from participating in government procurement and getting government subsidies, according to the MoU. Rule-violating records will also affect insurers' future fundraising as the regulators will take the records as key reference when approving their share sales and access to bank loans and foreign exchange. Individuals with dishonorable records will also face disqualification for senior executive positions at financial institutions and State-owned enterprises. The MoU, which specified 28 measures to punish wrongdoing in the insurance sector, came as Chinese regulators have stepped up their efforts to contain financial risks. While China's insurance industry is growing rapidly, with total assets exceeding 15 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) last year, the regulators are becoming increasingly wary about risky and aggressive domestic and overseas investment by some insurers that runs the risk of mismatching their assets with liabilities. Liang Tao, vice-chairman of the CIRC, said that the MoU will increase the regulatory deterrence and effectiveness and it was a milestone in the development of a credit system for the insurance industry. "It will help improve the industry's ability to prevent and resolve financial risks," Liang said at a news conference in Beijing. "The cooperation of various government agencies will help ensure the penalties are effective and the wrongdoers are held accountable." "A good credit record is the lifeline of the insurance industry and the core competitiveness of insurance companies," he added. Xu Xiaobo, an official with the NDRC, the country's top economic regulator, said that greater information sharing among various government agencies is crucial to improve the regulation of the insurance industry. China is building a unified credit information platform to pool the information from different government agencies and local authorities and to establish a complete credit record of companies, according to Xu. State-owned rail builder and engineering company China Communications Construction Company saw an uptick in its net profit in the first half of 2017. The company also vowed to promote the transfer of equity interests in its subsidiary company, though it was not included in the pilot mixed-ownership reform scheme. "We will promote the negotiated transfer of equity interests in our subsidiary Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited steadily, in order to further highlight the strengths of our main businesses," said Fu Junyuan, chief financial officer of China Communications Construction. The company will advance the subsidiary's reform of its salary distribution system, profoundly implement classified assessment and differentiated distribution, actively explore the implementation schemes for employee stock ownership, stock option incentives and equity dividends, and promote mixed ownership pilot reform in business segments or subsidiaries where conditions are appropriate. In the future, China Communications Construction will gradually develop into a builder and operator of large urban complexes. It has signed contracts with Nansha district in Guangzhou of Guangdong province, but the project needs five to 10 years to produce the desired result. The company's net profit increased 8.4 percent to 7.87 billion yuan in the first half of 2017, compared with the same period of the previous year, due to the improved infrastructure construction business. Its revenue grew 3.8 percent to 189.28 billion yuan for the reporting period. Basic earnings per share increased to 0.43 yuan, compared to 0.4 yuan for the corresponding period of 2016. The value of new contracts for the first six months surged 52 percent to 431.2 billion yuan, while the value of newly signed PPP contracts reached 40.3 billion yuan, representing 9 percent of that total value. "The central government issued documents regulating the financing behavior of local governments in the first half of the year, which alleviated the impetus of PPP (Public-Private Partnership) to infrastructure construction in the short run, so the percentage of PPP projects in newly signed contracts decreased to 9 percent in the first half. But we believe in the long run, the regulations can reasonably prevent the financing risks of local government, safeguard the legitimate interests of the social investment entities, making PPP the only compliant mode for the government's infrastructure investment projects," Fu added. Hong Kong listed China Communications Construction dropped 1.7 percent to close at HK$10.42 (85 US cents) per share on Wednesday. In comparison, the benchmark Hang Seng Index grew 1.19 percent to 28,094.61. XI'AN - Samsung Electronics Co signed agreement Wednesday with the government of northwest China's Shaanxi province to expand its chip production capacity there. Samsung will inject an initial investment of $7 billion into the second phase of its chip plant in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, which will primarily produce advanced flash memory chips. The first phase of the plant at the Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone went into operation in May 2014, with a total investment of $10 billion. The opening of Samsung's semiconductor project has attracted more than 100 supporting companies to the zone, and its expanded capacity is expected to strengthen Xi'an's role as a major semiconductor industry base. Customers pose for photos at the first overseas branch of Beijing Roast Duck in Vancouver, Aug 28, 2017.[Photo/IC] The Beijing Roast Duck, a time-honored Chinese brand, opened its first overseas branch in Vancouver on Monday. The popular Chinese food has been localized to cater the taste of customers in the new market. For example, slices of Peking Duck can be eaten with crisps and pieces of kiwi fruits at the new Beijing Roast Duck. Sun Yawen, president of the Beijing Roast Duck Vancouver, said they will stick to the strict standard of food quality and share traditional Chinese culture with Canadian friends. "We will provide traditional Chinese artistic and cultural performances on a regular basis each week so that the customers can enjoy delicious Chinese food and wonderful performances at the same time." In addition to the localized services, the price setting of the Beijing Roast Duck Vancouver is also affordable for local people in Canada. Chinese companies enlarged investment on cloud security as cloud computing has become prevalent in the country, industry experts said on Thursday. To meet the increasing demand, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen. The CSA, established in 2008 in the US, is a non-profit organization to formulate industry standard and provide qualification recognition for above 400 members around the world, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Huawei Technologies and Google. The two parties will work together on cloud securitys standard formulation, talent training and qualification recognition in China market. Yale Li, Chairman of CSA Greater China region and also the chief security scientist of Huawei, said he was positive about the future of cloud security in China. "Cloud computing is already prevalent in China and the country will lead the development of cloud security in the world in a few years,"he said. Yale added while business only took off in past two years in the country, the gap between China and the US has been shrinking as major technology companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei, amplify their investment in this area quickly. Aliyun, Alibaba's cloud computing subsidiary, has realized a three-digit-growth of sales, he said. Lisa Li, PwC China cybersecurity and privacy partner, said 45 percent of IT system of companies in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong are operating under cloud technology. [Photo/China Daily] In their upcoming summit, BRICS countries are expected to discuss using free trade zones as an early, practical step toward fulfilling their goal of enhancing regional trade and investment, experts at high-level government think tanks said on Thursday. "By the end of 2020, each BRICS member is expected to set up a clear road map for promoting trade," said Ye Fujing, director of the Institute for International Economic Research, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner. "As part of that effort, BRICS members will discuss establishing free trade zones during the upcoming summit." The BRICS Summit will be held in Xiamen, Fujian province, from Sunday to Tuesday. Ye said the idea of setting up such zones among those countries is "preliminary". There is no specific timetable yet. "Member countries can start by lowering trade barriers under the WTO framework, gathering some experience for establishing free trade zones." Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the Ministry of Commerce, said it may take a long time to get the idea off the groundit is a big challenge to balance the interests of members that have all joined other regional groups and alliances. Bai cited the example of Brazil, a member of Mercosur, a common market in Latin America. The regional bloc's members have eliminated all tariff barriers that could affect their economies and apply a common external tariff to nonmember economies. "Brazil needs to seek the consensus of other members (of Mercosur) before getting involved in a new free trade alliance," he said. Bai said BRICS can speed up the process by inviting nonmembers into the discussion of building free trade zones. They might be trade partners of BRICS countries, who are expected to have interests similar to those of BRICS members. This year, China came up with the idea of extending the partnerships of BRICS and widening the circle by inviting other developing countries under a new banner, BRICS Plus. Five nonmember countriesEgypt, Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan and Thailandwill attend the summit as guests. Improving BRICS trade facilitation is a practical step that can be taken in the short run, at a time when trade frictions are common among its members, according to Feng Xingke, deputy secretary-general of Tsinghua University's BRICS Economic Think Tank. While friction is quite normal among emerging economies and can be properly solved via the WTO, it means the countries can only gradually turn cooperative visions into practical steps, Feng said. "There is no shortcut," he said. "Free trade zones will be a natural outcome with fewer trade disputes and more resilient regional economies." AUBURN An Auburn man will spend up to the next five years in prison for brutally stabbing one of his neighbors in the stomach. Sammy Sheffield, 49, of 9 Barber St., pleaded guilty to felony first-degree assault in June. At the time, he told the court he fought with his neighbor at 11 Barber St. earlier this year. Cayuga County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Valdina said the fight broke out on Jan. 15 after the victim, a 44-year-old man, forcibly touched Sheffield's girlfriend. "(Sheffield) had some beef with the victim ... and he literally eviscerated the victim," Valdina said Thursday in court. "This was borderline attempted murder. It's one of the worst things I've seen in 19 years (with the district attorney's office)." During his plea in June, Sheffield answered several questions from Judge Thomas Leone and the district attorney's office, stating he and his neighbor "got in a fight." He also confirmed that the victim's intestines were "coming out of his stomach." However, at sentencing Thursday, Sheffield asked to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming the victim "had a knife too" and arguing that the man fell on the knife during the fight. Valdina said there was no evidence of that, noting that the victim's surgeon testified that a "twisting mechanism" had been used to stab and eviscerate the man. In the end, Leone denied Sheffield's request to withdraw his plea and moved forward with sentencing. Sheffield faced a maximum of 25 years in prison, but Leone agreed to sentence him to the minimum of five years in prison. Sheffield also received 2 1/2 years of post-release supervision. He said he plans to appeal his sentence in a higher court. A worker fastens a screw at a production line in a JAC Motors plant in Anqing, Anhui province. [Jiang Sheng/for China Daily] China's JAC Motors said on Tuesday that it will produce autonomous cars with the country's internet giant Baidu Inc, with the first mass-produced model scheduled to roll off the assembly line in 2019. The announcement came in Shanghai, as the automaker delivered 32 cars to Baidu to collect information for high-definition maps. JAC Motors' share price rose to a six-week high of 10.29 yuan ($1.53) on Wednesday morning, but dipped a little to close at 9.95 yuan, a 4.08 percent rise from the previous day. The cooperation came within two months of Baidu's launching its Apollo plan, which aims to provide open, comprehensive, and reliable software for the development of autonomous vehicles. JAC Motors said that Baidu will offer a comprehensive solution that covers high-definition maps as well as location, sensing, planning and decision-making technology. But the automaker did not reveal how it will acquire the important hardware required for such vehicles. Automotive suppliers, including Bosch, are currently involved in the Apollo plan. According to Caixin magazine, Li Weibing, a senior executive at JAC Motors, said the two sides are planning to base their development on a new energy car and the first car is expected to be finished in early 2018 for testing autonomous functions. When mass-produced in 2019, the model will be technologically prepared for Level 3 autonomous functions, based on the six-level framework defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers International. Analysts said a key difference between Level 3 and Level 2 functions, like those found in Tesla cars, is that drivers will be allowed to take their eyes off the road and perform other activities under certain traffic or environmental conditions. But Li added that whether the model finally available in the market has Level 3 functions will depend on a number of conditions, including whether such cars are allowed to hit the road. China currently does not have legislation in this regard, but autonomous cars are currently not allowed to be tested on public highways. Last month in Spain, Audi debuted an A8 sedan with Level 3 functions, which will reach the market in 2018. Meanwhile Ford and Volvo are planning to skip Level 3 to Level 4, at which a vehicle can drive itself without human intervention in most driving conditions. A court verdict on Tuesday brought an end to a seven-year trademark conflict between a local maker of electronic products and a US chip maker, both of which sell their products under the Chinese name "Gao Tong" in the Chinese market. Gotop, a Shanghai-based private business, lost the trademark infringement lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc, including a request for 100 million yuan ($15.2 million) in compensation, in Shanghai High People's Court, based on the conclusion that the business scope of the two companies, which both hold the Chinese name Gao Tong, don't overlap. Gotop, founded in 1992, makes a variety of electronic products, such as video graphics cards, LCD touch screens and electronic tags for commodities on supermarket shelves. It also makes semiconductor chips for mobile phones and tablets. Qualcomm, founded in 1985, which manufactures a range of electronics related to telecommunication, entered the Chinese market in 1994. In 2010, the US company asked China's Trademark Office to revoke two Gao Tong trademarks registered by Gotop. Qualcomm was using the name to brand its telecom products and services. The revocation request was approved because the trademarks had not been used for three years, which makes them invalid under Chinese law. Gotop twice lost appeals against the decision. It turned to the Shanghai High People's Court in April 2014, requesting that Qualcomm stop using four Gao Tong trademarks on various products and services, claiming its use could confuse consumers and render them unable to distinguish between the products of the two companies. The trial opened in May last year. Gotop insisted during the trial that it had the right to make and sell products under both names of Gotop and Gao Tong. It also blamed Qualcomm for "maliciously" attempting to confuse the two companies and their products, which it claimed were in the same business category. Qualcomm defended itself by saying its products were different from Gotop's, and that it did not violate anyone's intellectual property rights. It also told the court that the Qualcomm name derives from "quality communication", which translates as gao tong in Chinese; hence it was merely coincidence that the two companies had the same Chinese name. The court ruled in favor of Qualcomm. "One of the trademarks that Gotop believed was infringed, for example, was where it used the trademark in telecom services and meant for general consumers, while the US company used it on mobile phone chips and meant for phone manufacturers," said Gao Yuan, a publicity officer for the court. "The two products of the two companies have different functions, sales channels and target consumers. People won't think that there's a particular connection between the two based on general understanding." The Samsung logo at the entrance of Samsung 837 studio in New York, Oct 11, 2016. [Photo/VCG] Samsung Electronics Co (SEC) plans to build a second phase of its memory chip plant in Shaanxi province, with a $7-billion investment confirmed through the signing of an agreement with the provincial government on Wednesday. Hu Heping, governor of Shaanxi province, and Kinam Kim, president of Samsung's semiconductor division, attended the signing ceremony at the Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone. "The Xi'an first project, setting up the Samsung China Semiconductor Co, proved to be a huge success, yielding an annual output value of more than 20 billion yuan ($3.03 billion) and drawing more than 100 supporting companies to the zone," he said. "SEC has formed a complete industrial chain integrating manufacturing, packaging and testing in Xi'an." The partnership with SEC will strengthen Xi'an's role as a major base for the semiconductor industry and sharpen its international competitiveness. Wang Yongkang, Xi'an municipal Party secretary, expressed his appreciation for the support from the company and the government, and said Xi'an will provide the best service to ensure the cooperation and mutual development on a wider scale. Shaanxi province has made great efforts in facilitating external business. It has halved the average import customs clearance time, and reduced the export time by 70 percent after the China (Shaanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone officially began operations. More students in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are taking out loans for plastic surgery as access to the financial service increases. About one-sixth of the 300 or so students who had cosmetic surgery at Guangzhou Huamei Aesthetic Hospital over the summer borrowed money for the purpose, according to Peng Weihong, assistant to the general manager of the hospital, one of the largest cosmetic surgery providers in the city. Since mid-2015, a number of lenders targeting cosmetic surgery have tried to grab a slice of the market. Ant Financial Services Group, the online finance company backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, began offering loans and installment payment programs for cosmetic surgery in March, said Ke Sufang, a senior researcher at Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, a consulting agency. Loans to students for cosmetic surgery at Peng's hospital generally ranged from 10,000 to 30,000 yuan ($1,520 to $4,560), he said. The boom in such loans is attributable to huge demandthe market sector was valued at 796.3 billion yuan in China last year, with annual growth of about 20 percentas well as the hefty cost of the procedures, Ke said. The Guangzhou Mylike Aesthetic Medicine clinic saw 40 percent growth in clients aged 18 to 24 in July over the same month last year, as the acceptance of cosmetic surgery continues to increase, according to public relations manager Du Xiuming. Some students were accompanied by their parents, indicating a more open attitude on the matter, Du said. Students mostly choose minor surgeries for double-folded eyelids, removal of acne and body hair, treating teeth and dermal fillers, Du said. Students made up 12 percent of those opting for cosmetic surgery last year, behind only white-collar workers and people in the fashion industry, Ke said. A postgraduate student in Beijing, who gave only his surname, Guo, said he had a dermal filler and a Botox injection in June that he paid for with 10,000 yuan borrowed from Alipay because people around him were doing it. "Seeing the plastic surgeries my classmates got, I suddenly felt the urge to take out a loan to pay for it," the 23-year-old said. With part-time work, he paid off the loan in six months, "with a few hundred yuan in interest", he said. A 22-year-old college student from Shanxi province, who didn't want to give her name, said that many students she knew had borrowed money to get plastic surgery. She got her first loan7,000 yuanfrom an online lending platform shortly after Chinese New Year to change her eyelids and nose. Representatives of a beauty institute had come to her school and told students that installment payments would be accepted, so she grabbed the chance and took the loan. "I had no savings to pay for the surgery, and my family still has traditional opinions, so it was hard to get their approval or financial support," she said. By cutting costs she paid back the loan in three months, she said, adding that she would do it again. Huamei Aesthetic Hospital's Peng thought the number of students seeking plastic surgery would continue to expand, with more people believing in the importance of appearance in success, and with the influence of TV drama stars and internet celebrities. Ke, however, said loans for cosmetic surgery may become harder to get, as the authorities have tightened rules for on-campus loans. The loan market remains chaotic, and students, given their relatively weak spending power and immature judgment, may have trouble repaying loans and are prone to default, Ke said. Peng Peng, vice-chairman of the experts committee at South Nongovernmental Think-Tank, said students should assess their financial capabilities before borrowing money and warned against loan sharks and "naked loans", which involve extortion. The lenders demand nude photos of borrowers that they threaten to release if payment isn't made. Cosmetic surgery does not necessarily lead to a good job, he said. Li Jiayue in Beijing and Zhong Yongshi in Guangzhou contributed to this story. A new hospital will be built in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, near the border of China and Russia, to cater to the increasing number of Russians seeking healthcare services in China. The Heihe China-Russia Friendship Hospital will have 600 beds and is expected to become a top international hospital and develop into a major platform for medical exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, the government of Heihe said. Sun Hongtao, president of Heihe No 1 People's Hospital, who will serve as president of the new hospital, said approval had been given by the Heilongjiang provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, and that construction is likely to begin next year. It is slated to start providing services in 2019. A nursing facility that occupies 8.4 hectares and accommodates 800 seniors will be built along with the hospital to provide nursing and healthcare services, he said. "The hospital and nursing home will mainly receive Chinese and Russians, but they will also accept people from other countries," Sun said. The hospital will be the only one of its kind in China, he said. "It will greatly improve medical services for the large number of tourists from Russia in Heihe and neighboring areas," Sun said. "For example, they can be sent to the hospital for proper treatment in case of emergency." After opening, the hospital will be assisted by Heihe No 1 People's Hospitalthe major hospital in the city. Top hospitals and medical schools in China and Russia will also provide support, he said. Amur Oblast, a Russian territory across the Heilong River from Heihe, also needs such a hospital for some patients, Sun said. "Some hospitals in Harbin, Heilongjiang's capital, are receiving a great number of Russian patients with cerebral palsy," he said. "We expect Russian patients with the disease will seek treatment at the China-Russia Friendship Hospital in Heihe, since it will be on their doorstep." Tao Wei, director of the department of oral medicine at Heihe No 1 People's Hospital, said last year that the hospital received more than 600 patients with dental problems from Russia seeking medical treatment. "Compared with some hospitals in Russia, we offer more convenient services," he said. "A patient can finish a dental implant within five days at our hospital, while in a hospital in Russia it may take weeks or even longer." More than 8,000 seniors from Russia visited Heihe in the first half of the year for tours and healthcare services, according to the city's publicity department. Multiple satellite lifts will set a record for single type of carrier, designer says China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, a major space contractor, said on Wednesday that it will launch four Kuaizhou 1A rockets within one week in early 2018. Each of the rockets will lift a remote-sensing satellite into orbit for a client, said Zha Xiongquan, a senior rocket designer at CASIC and vice-president of Expace Technology, a subsidiary of CASIC that provides commercial launch services. He did not disclose the name of the client or the timetable for the missions, saying only that they will "definitely set a world record for launch frequency for a single model of carrier rocket". No other rockets in the world have been used four times within one week, he said. Zha made the remarks at the Third China International Commercial Aerospace Forum, which was sponsored by CASIC in Wuhan, Hubei province. Nearly 400 government officials, company representatives and industry experts from more than 20 nations, including the United States, Russia and Iran, attended the event and discussed technological developments and business opportunities in the space industry. The Kuaizhou 1A, a solid-fuel carrier rocket developed by the CASIC Fourth Academy in Wuhan, has a liftoff weight of 30 metric tons and is capable of sending a 200-kilogram payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300-kg payload into a low-Earth orbit. Unlike most Chinese carrier rockets, it uses a transporter-erector-launch vehicle for liftoff rather than a fixed launchpad. The first flight of the Kuaizhou 1A, carrying three small satellites, was in January. It was launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The CASIC Fourth Academy began to develop Kuaizhou-series solid-fuel rockets in 2009 in hopes of presenting a low-cost, quick-response rocket family to the commercial launch market. It has launched three of the rockets. Zha said a new-generationthe Kuaizhou 11is under development and will make its first flight next year to send six satellites into orbit. He added that the rocket is undergoing testing. According to the academy, the Kuaizhou 11 will have a liftoff weight of 78 tons and will be capable of placing a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km. The academy is also building the Wuhan National Space Industry Base, which will have an area of 68.8 square kilometers, in Wuhan's Xinzhou district. CASIC will invest 1.7 billion yuan ($258 million) in the base to build production and assembly plants for Kuaizhou rockets. It said it plans to make about 20 rockets at the base each year. The CASIC Second Academy will also invest 300 million yuan to construct a research, development and manufacturing complex at the Wuhan base for making small satellites. The aerospace company has said it will launch 156 small communications satellites into low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of 160 to 2,000 km, from 2018 to 2025. They would form a network capable of global coverage. A road is packed with vehicles in Sanya, Hainan province, during Spring Festival in February last year. [Photo/NAN TIAN/CHINA DAILY] Road tripsespecially short onesare a major form of travel during national festivals and holidays, according to a report released on Wednesday by the China Tourism Academy. Most road trips are made by middle-class people, the report said. The average distance traveled per trip during the first half of 2017 was 142.8 kilometers. And 80 percent of the trips covered a distance of 50 to 400 kilometers. In 2016, Chinese people made a total of 4.44 billion trips. Of those, about 58 percent were road trips, according to the China National Tourism Administration. Tourists from Guangdong province, with 22.92 million road trips during the first six months of the year, appeared to be the most passionate about overland trips, followed by tourists from Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hebei and Shandong provinces. Wang Feng, a tourism data engineer at China Telecom E-Cloud who participated in generating the report, said the number of road trips made by tourists is related to factors such as transportation, population, the number of registered vehicles and the regional economy. "That's why more road trips are made in East China," he said. The report said about 40 percent of domestic tourism revenue annually comes during the seven national holidaysNew Year's Day, Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Last year, 1.4 billion trips were made during those holidays, accounting for almost one-third of all trips made during the year. Three holidays last yearSpring Festival, National Day and Tomb Sweeping Daygenerated tourism revenue of nearly 900 billion yuan ($137 billion), accounting for about 23 percent of the year's total, the report said. Zhang Youyin, a researcher who helped compile the report, said tourists' consumption and choice of destination are greatly affected by the length of the holiday, climate, temperature and distance. "For example, tourists usually choose nearby destinations for road trips, such as suburbs or outskirts of their city, during three-day holidays, such as Tomb Sweeping Day and May Day. But during seven-day holidays, such as Spring Festival and National Day, people like to travel farther," he said. "Also, for holidays in winter, such as New Year's Day, people often travel to South China to escape the cold or go north to experience ice and snow," Zhang said. "Large numbers of tourists prefer the coasts and beaches of East China for holidays in summer." National political advisers met in Beijing from Monday to Wednesday to improve the targeting of poverty relief. Vice-Premier Wang Yang delivered a report on Monday at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, pointing to some major problems. Political advisers said that more training should be provided to improve grassroots officials' ability to carry out poverty relief work and provide more intensive support and more effective measures. Some said that more efforts should be put into eliminating the root causes of poverty to provide a stable basis for poverty relief. Xu Shaoshi, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and former head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a meeting on Tuesday that it's necessary to improve the efficiency and sustainability of government financing aimed at poverty. He Wei, vice-chairman of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Partyone of the non-Communist parties on the Chinese mainlandand a member of the CPPCC National Committee, suggested ways that health services in poor regions could be improved. "The central government should continue to build and improve local medical health networks. It should also provide more training and long-distance medical support," He said. To prevent people from being thrust into poverty because of the high costs associated with major diseases, he also suggested, the central and provincial governments should provide medical subsidies to families in poverty. Zheng Jianmin, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, stressed the importance of education in poverty relief. "It is necessary to set up a cooperation mechanism between good urban schools and rural schools, helping rural teachers improve their professional skills. Long-distance classes through the internet can allow good urban teachers to give lessons to teachers and students in rural areas," Zheng said, adding that it's also important to build more dorms and increase salaries for young teachers to attract them to rural areas. Efforts should be made to strengthen microfinance to enable it to play its role in targeted poverty relief, said Song Hai, a member of the CPPCC National Committee. Han Yong, another adviser, called for strengthened regional coordination to help alleviate poverty. Xinhua contributed to this story. Purchasing a train ticket via an app can make the process go much more smoothly. [Photo/JIN PENG/CHINA DAILY] More than 70 percent of tickets are now purchased in advance It's not only trains in China that have gotten faster over the past five years. Passengers have also become more nimble in securing tickets thanks to online booking services. More than 70 percent of rail tickets are now bought online, either through the official 12306.cn website or via mobile app, according to China Railway Corp, the network operator. It's website has 300 million registered users, but its app appears to have made an even greater impact, accounting for more than 70 percent of all online sales, the data show. China's online booking system is the world's largest in terms of trade volume, the company said. The changes in rail transportation brought by the digital age stand in stark contrast to five years ago, when long lines were a common sight at train station ticket windows, especially around national holidays. The 12306.cn booking website quickly began to reduce the crowds when it was launched in early 2012. At the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush that year, the site sold 1.19 million tickets in a single day. This year, the most tickets sold in a day was 9.33 million, again during the Spring Festival rush. Zhang Meng recalls his days trying to catch a train home to Shandong province while he was a student in Beijing in the early 2000s. "My roommates and I used to go to the station after dinner and spend the whole night waiting to buy a ticket home for the winter vacation," he said. "The most depressing thing was when you finally made it to the window and the tickets were sold out. It was a real headache back then." He added that he no longer worries about traveling on the railways. Nowadays, "it's all just about touching my finger on a smartphone to buy a ticket". The website and app, which allow users to check availability and book up to 30 days before the intended departure date, have noticeably improved the travel experience for passengers. At train stations, automatic machines also help. They allow people to buy tickets and pick up preordered ones. In some cases, passengers need only show their ID cards to board. Some charitable organizations are even teaching migrant workers and seniors to use the online booking technology, which can make their lives easier. According to CRC, an average 5.32 million tickets were sold online every day last year. Li Jing, 45, has worked in railways for 25 years and was the top ticket seller at Taiyuan South Railway Station in Shanxi province. She sold 40,254 train tickets during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in 2011(Jan 19 to Feb 27). She averaged sales of 1,006 tickets a day, among the fastest for a human seller, the railway said. Li is deputy director of the ticket center and in charge of the inquiry and assistance desk at Taiyuan South station. "The ticket-selling hall was always filled with people. Passengers could line up in front of the ticket window and wait for as long as 15 hours to get a ticket home," she recalled of the ticket rush during past Spring Festivals. "More people buy tickets online now, and the crazy lineups are rarely seen," Li said. After serving more than two decades as the Springport town clerk, Deborah Waldron has agreed to resign after admitting she attempted to inflate her state retirement benefits, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. Waldron, 62, pleaded guilty Wednesday to official misconduct and attempted computer trespass, both misdemeanors. According to a DiNapoli press release, the comptroller conducted an investigation with New York State Police and the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office after a discrepancy was found during an audit. That investigation revealed that Waldron, a part-time employee, had inflated her hours reported to the pension system from 2010 to 2015 to make it appear she had worked full time. Cayuga County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Valdina said Waldron had reported working 22 days a month as the town clerk when she had only worked 15 days a month. "She was portraying herself as a full-time employee and, had she retired, she would have received a higher pension than she was entitled to," he said. Fortunately, Valdina said, the comptroller's office re-calculated her actual hours and benefits, which prevented Waldron from receiving extra money she did not earn. "Although there wasn't a monetary cost, there was certainly a time cost because the state and the town had to take the time and effort to correct it," Valdina said. "State police looked at it very carefully, (the district attorney's office) looked at it very carefully and the comptroller's office looked at it very carefully." Meanwhile, Waldron's defense attorney, Rome Canzano, said Waldron did not dispute that the retirement figures submitted to the state were different. However, Canzano said the discrepancy was not intentional. "She maintains that difference was a mistake; the county maintains that difference was intentional," he said. "She was not interested in prolonging the matter or facing the prospect of being charged with multiple felonies, and this (plea) deemed an appropriate way to resolve the matter." Waldron, a 25-year town employee, was initially charged in May with first-degree filing a false instrument, a class E felony. That felony was dismissed Wednesday as the district attorney allowed her to plead guilty to two misdemeanors in full satisfaction of the charges. Valdina said he believes the discrepancy was intentional as Waldron kept two calendars that documented her hours one for the state, the other for herself. He said her personal calendar as an elected official reflected the "actual hours" she was working. "It was not anywhere near the 22 hours she was claiming (to the state)," Valdina said. "She had to sign off on (her state hours). ... There's no way she could have done this unintentionally." "This defendant abused the trust of the citizens who elected her," Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann added in a press release. "Had the fraud not been detected, it could have cost the taxpayers thousands. This prosecution shows that there will be consequences for public officials who abuse their office to benefit themselves." Upon her plea of guilty in Aurelius Town Court, Waldron was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay $755 in fines and surcharges. She was also ordered to resign by the close of business Friday, Sept. 1. She will not be allowed to run for public office in the future. Waldron, a Republican, had served as the town clerk since January 1992. As of July 22, Waldron was running for re-election against Jennifer Schenck. Schenck, a Democrat, is the daughter-in-law of Springport Town Supervisor David Schenck. Canzano said Waldron will be removing her name from the ballot effective Friday. A commissioner with the Cayuga County Board of Elections said the board had not heard from the court, but would do whatever the court instructed. Waldron is the second town official to be arrested in Springport in recent years. Sabra Kay Hall, the town's former tax collector, pleaded guilty to official misconduct in July 2015. She was charged with stealing $12,000 from the town. "This case is a warning to any public employee who falsifies retirement records: You are risking arrest and tarnishing your reputation," DiNapoli said. "I hope this case will deter others who attempt to defraud the New York State and Local Retirement System." Twenty-one children from Afghanistan with congenital heart disease arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Wednesday to receive free surgical treatment. The children, all under age 14, are the first to benefit from a humanitarian program for Afghan children with severe problems under the Belt and Road Initiative. The Red Cross Society of China will take groups of children who have been screened for surgery to receive free treatment. Screenings were carried out by the Chinese Red Cross foreign aid medical team in Kabul, Afghanistan, in late August, according to team leader Sun Shuopeng. In its first phase, the program is expected to provide free medical treatment for around 100 Afghan children, Sun said. The Afghan Red Crescent Society estimates that nearly 7,000 Afghan children with congenital heart disease are in urgent need of treatment. The program is funded by the Belt and Road Fraternity Fund, which was launched by the Red Cross Society of China in May. The fund aims to boost humanitarian activities and cooperation in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. Proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the initiative is an umbrella term for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Humanitarian threats such as military conflicts, natural disasters and uneven socioeconomic development are common in Belt and Road regions, so local demand for humanitarian aid is immense, said Wang Ping, vice-president of the society. With financial support from the fund, the society established an emergency care center in Pakistan's Gwadar Port in May, alongside its local counterpart, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society. For many people, cockroaches are despised pests that trigger feelings of disgustbut for Li Yanrong, the insects are a source of income. On a 1,800-square-meter plot 2 kilometers from Shawan village in Jinan, Shandong province, the 50-year-old businessman has built a facility to research ways of harnessing cockroaches. "We spent six years doing research into using cockroaches after finding that they can feed on kitchen waste and create no pollutants," said Li, general manager of Qiaobin Agricultural Technology. Cockroaches are not just pests, but can be beneficial to society, Li added. At a workshop in the plant, where simple equipment is used to process kitchen waste, the air smells foul. Every day, kitchen waste, which comes from the environmental sanitation agency, is broken down and piped into a concrete building filled with millions of cockroaches. Li has 300 metric tons of American cockroaches that can eat 15 tons of kitchen waste a day, about 25 percent of the amount produced in the city's Zhangqiu district. And he is planning to expand. He has signed a contract with a Beijing company that will invest in a new plant. "We will equip the new facility with high-quality equipment to ensure no odor is discharged," Li said. When the new facility is completed this year, the company will be able to process 60 tons of kitchen waste a day. If the company can handle 100 tons a day, it will earn 7.59 million yuan ($1.14 million) a year, Li said. In addition, the company can earn 36.5 million yuan a year from selling protein feed produced from the eggs of cockroaches. "A cockroach begins laying eggs when it is 4 months old. It lays one egg each week, and can lay eggs for eight months," Li said. "Using insects to solve big problems is being done around the world. The most successful case is Australia's use of dung beetles to deal with cow dung, which prompted us to think of using cockroaches to deal with kitchen waste," he added. "We are the first in the world to do so and we have applied for patents for the project." Li's research team consists of five people all with master's degrees. Before their work with cockroaches, they focused on developing medical equipment. "Using cockroaches to deal with kitchen waste is good for our country and for business," Li said. "Social problems created by kitchen waste will be eradicated." For a scholar focusing on Australia's public diplomacy, working as a recreational manager in China may never be part of his career path. But Bradley McConachie does have lots to say now about his special experience at a resort in the picturesque tropical coastal city of Sanya in South China's Hainan province. The 33-year-old Australian is actually a student in international relations completing his PhD through Griffith University. He came to Beijing for a cooperative research at Peking University less than two years ago. Such an academic life was just added color with a chance offered by the cultural exchanges project, "I'm in China". Bradley was lucky to win the most "likes" for his photo story about his life in China and became one of 20 winners to visit locations after a global recruitment by the project this summer. All the winners' experiences were filmed to produce a reality show, My Chinese Working Day, which will be broadcast by mid-September. "What I liked most about the experience was it was something completely different that you would never be able to do as a regular tourist," Bradley said in an exclusive interview with chinadaily.com.cn. Bradley was chosen to work as a recreational manager for a Chinese wedding. The film crew took them to many "amazing sites" and the staff at the resort taught them a lot about how to "incorporate modern Chinese traits while still keeping traditional customs", Bradley said. "I would have to say two things stick out as the most memorable: the helicopter ride and talking with the staff at the hotel about how they organize weddings here in China," he said. That was Bradley's first time to be in a helicopter, and he was too absorbed with the "stunning" view of the beautiful coastline. "I think it is so important to show other Australians the different landscapes China has to offer. I think so many Australians, when they think about China, imagine the historical sites of Beijing and the exciting things to see in Shanghai but have no idea about other beautiful places, like Sanya or the many other places people have been taken to in this TV series," Bradley said. As to the Chinese wedding, the ceremony was quite familiar to Bradley, which he said was "very much like any wedding he had been to back in Australia". But it was still "interesting to see how Chinese couples balance the desires of a modern wedding while keeping Chinese traditions", after decorating the wedding suite. "It was nice to experience these little touches and understand what makes a wedding day so special for a Chinese couple. I was happy to be a part of that experience!" Bradley said. "I'm in China" is a project sponsored by China Intercontinental Communication Centre and other institutions under the guidance of China's State Council Information Office. It invites foreign natives worldwide to experience unique jobs and participate in activities that one can find nowhere else except in China. Shooting My Chinese Working Day is part of the project. An online contest to select who gets to be the front-line cultural ambassadors, kicked off on July 31. More than 10,000 photos and articles were submitted from around the globe by over 6,00 applicants, which has earned tremendous web views, likes and shares. While September brings new life to students, it also reminds the soon-to-be retired soldiers it's time to wave goodbye to their army days. Here are eight females from Jiangmen Customs of Guangdong Provincial Frontier Defense Corps who are going to be discharged from the army after completing their two years' military service. During the past two years, those real-life Mulan presented a series of outstanding performances with zero mistake. After retirement, some of them will go back to their hometowns, others will choose to study further in military academies. A group of before-and-after comparisons shows their transformation to brave soldiers during their time in military. China's leading e-commerce platform JD released this year's autumn season 3C education products on Tuesday in Beijing to meet increasing demand as the new school year is kicking off in September. Wang Yanling, general manager of 3C products marketing section of JD at the launch ceremony Together with major education 3C brands including BBK (BuBuGao) and ASUS laptops, JD aims to provided solutions to parents whose children are receiving primary and secondary education. According to Wang Yanling, general manager of 3C products marketing section of JD, on the platform there are more than 50 million who are parents aged between 35-45. Health, security, happiness and study mark the top four concerned issues of these group of people who lacks custody to their children because of busy schedule at work. XiaoTianCai, a children's smart GPS watch can help parents track their children's movement. ASUS released routers that can be customized by parents to control their children's time on line and filter unhealthy contents. In terms of study, BBK released translator machine for children which speaks English, Japanese, Thai and Korean. YouXuePai launched a tutor machine with online classes from fine teachers. JD pledged to build a one-stop service to integration manufacturers, teachers, service providers and consumers on the platform to help more children receive better education. Chinese tourists make selfies in a lavender field in Valensole, southern France, June 18. [Photo/Agencies] If you made plans for the Golden Week holiday in October, this might not be good news. Ctrip, China's largest online travel agency, released a report about travel trend in the holiday period that showed popular destinations will be full of tourists. During the first week of October, the golden week of holiday, 650 million domestic trips are expected to be made in China and over six million people will travel abroad, according to the report. This will be the longest public holiday, eight days, as Mid-Autumn Festival will join the National Day holiday. According to Ctrip, the most popular travel length is four to six days. At the same time, the number of people who pick travel plans of seven to 10 days and over 10 days have risen by 140 percent and 300 percent respectively, compared to the same period of last year. Thailand, Japan and US are the top 3 countries favored by Chinese tourist this year. Ctrip also predicts next month, the number of people who book trips to countries like Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia with easy visa application process and short travel length is going to grow. Domestic travel is even hotter than overseas travel. Many travel desinations will have double visitors than that of last year. Provinces like Gansu, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia that were not so popular travel destinations are in big demand thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative. The report from Ctrip said that between the summer holiday in August and the National Day holiday in October, for the prices of travel products will fall. People who are able to travel around this time should definitely avoid the madness of the rush expected in October. JINAN -- Police in eastern China's Shandong province have caught 22 tomb raiders and retrieved 229 cultural relics, local authorities announced Thursday. The tomb raiders belong to two gangs and are suspected of illegal excavations in Dahan village, an ancient ruin consisting of many tombs, according to the public security bureau of Tengzhou city. The recovered artifacts include bronzeware and jade. Among them, 54 were under class A, B, or C state cultural protection, police said. One of the most valuable antiques was a dagger-axe, dating back to the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC), said police officer Zhao Kai. The tomb raiders even had their own cultural relics expert, a suspect in his sixties who once worked as a temporary worker in an institute of archaeology and knew the structure of tombs, according to police officer Wang Chengfeng, Police said more than ten suspects were still on the run. The investigation is ongoing. Tengzhou is home to more than 700 ancient cultural ruins, mostly in remote fields and villages. BEIJING -- The full text of remarks made by Chinese President Xi Jinping when presiding over a symposium on poverty relief on June 23 in northern China's Shanxi Province was made public by Xinhua News Agency Thursday. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for joint efforts and precise measures to eradicate extreme poverty. The text will also be carried in Friday's Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee. Islamabad to work with regional countries for peace in Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A vast majority of Pakistanis believe that the United States has failed in the war in Afghanistan and that US President Donald Trump is using Pakistan as a scapegoat. In a major shift in his preelection approach to pull troops out of Afghanistan, where US forces have been involved in their longest war of 17 years, Trump last week decided to deploy more soldiers to the country. Pakistanis also seemed upset at the US president's ignorance of Pakistan's anti-terrorism role, which has claimed about 73,000 lives, including over 6,000 security personnel, since 2003 when Pakistani troops were sent to tribal regions to fight against militants, many of whom had been forced to cross the border to Pakistan due to US military action in Afghanistan. Trump had warned that his administration could 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." Experts in Pakistan are unanimous that Trump's new policy for South Asia is the continuation of the policies of his predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, to use the military option in Afghanistan instead of pressing for political negotiations. Veteran Pakistani diplomat Ayaz Wazir argued that because the US is not winning the war in Afghanistan, it has started accusing and putting more pressure on Pakistan. "This is a fact that Pakistan is very important and that is why Russia and China opposed pressure on Pakistan after President Trump unveiled his review for the region. Pakistan's role is more important even than the US in peace and stability in Afghanistan and the US should use this role," Wazir said. Senior security expert Sayed Qaiser Hussain Shah said Trump has admitted that the US policy in Afghanistan has failed since the start of the war in 2001. "As the US new policy is mainly shifted the blame to Pakistan, the government should increase its understanding and cooperation with Russia, China, Iran and other regional countries to jointly work for peace talks in Afghanistan," said Shah, who has served as Air Marshal in Pakistan Air Force. He also pointed out that Kabul also lacks a clear policy to deal with the situation and efforts for political dialogue in Afghanistan could also reduce the influence of India. Rahimullah Yousafzai, the resident editor of The News daily, said the US policy for South Asia is based on Trump's wishes, and that the US president did not recognize Pakistan's sacrifices against terrorism. People in Pakistan backed the government's decision to postpone the visit to Washington by Foreign Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif in the wake of Trump's serious accusations against Pakistan. The visit was reportedly scheduled last week. US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells also had to postpone her visit to Pakistan that was planned for this week at Islamabad's request amid tensions. A senior Pakistani official who missed to remain anonymous said that the country had valid reasons to delay Asif's visit. "It would show our weaknesses if the foreign minister visit the US despite wild accusation and to discredit Pakistan's unprecedented sacrifices against terrorism," said the official. However, he added that Pakistan would engage with the US and there could be high-level contacts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next month. The official said Pakistan is focusing on consultations with regional countries, including China, Russia, Iran and Turkey, to jointly work for peace in Afghanistan and the region. Xinhua (China Daily 08/31/2017 page11) War for the Planet of the Apes will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Sept 15. [Photo provided to China Daily] Software-created on-screen magic has reached a new level with the sci-fi movie War for the Planet of the Apes. In clips of the new franchise movie, recently released by 20th Century Fox at a Beijing event, most viewers were amazed to see actor Andy Serkis' seamless transformation into Caesar, the story's leader of the apes. When Serkis performs as an orangutan, he wears skin-tight clothing and his movements as well as emotions are captured with the help of sensors, making his act life-like. Though special effects have become a must-have for most big Hollywood movies, this film's behind-the-scenes footage still enthralled Chinese viewers. "The scenes look incredibly realistic," says Lu Chuan, a Chinese film director who attended the event. The third installment of the studio franchise the Planet of the Apes will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Sept 15, two months after its North American release. In the new tale, Caesar and the other apes are forced into a war against a ruthless colonel and his soldiers. To avenge the murder of his wife and son, and rescue his captive fellow primates, Caesar embarks on a tough journey. So far, the movie is listed as one of the most anticipated films in September, according to the movie news portal mtime.com. Anders Langlands, the visual effects supervisor of Weta Digital, a top company in the field from New Zealand, talks about how human actors are turned into primate fighters on screen. "We spent a lot of time observing apes. A huge part of our job is just observing," says Langlands, who led the visual effects teams for X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Martian. Q: Some national parks have bronze plaques honoring the first director of the National Park Service, Stephen T. Mather. Do any of the three Flagstaff-area National Monuments have a Mather Plaque? A: Yes. As Superintendent of the Flagstaff-area monuments, it was my pleasure to host a ceremony at Walnut Canyon to dedicate a shiny new Stephen T. Mather plaque on Friday, the 101st anniversary of the National Park Service (NPS). Many, but not all, NPS areas have Mather Plaques. Mather was appointed to that post a few months after creation of the NPS in 1916 and led the agency until his retirement in 1929. Mather's leadership of the national parks actually began in 1915, a year before the agency itself was established. After a visit to Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks in 1914, Mather complained to Secretary of the Interior Franklin Lane about their poor condition. Lane, a college friend of his, invited Mather to run the parks himself if he didnt like things -- and Mather accepted. During his time as director, Mather worked to promote and publicize the national parks and to advocate for creation of more parks. A rich man himself, he convinced his wealthy friends to purchase lands to enlarge parks. Mather felt the parks should be accessible to Americans of all income levels, and he engaged the auto industry to achieve that goal. When Mather died in 1930, his friends, associates and others commissioned and paid for a memorial plaque to honor him. Twenty-two national parks, two national monuments and NPS headquarters received Mather Plaques that year. Another run of plaques was made in 1959. Over the years, often for special anniversaries, more plaques were placed in NPS units as far flung as Alaska and the Virgin Islands. The most recent plaque recipient is our own Walnut Canyon National Monument, created by President Woodrow Wilson late in 1915, as Mather was just finishing up his first year of running NPS. Walnut Canyons plaque was presented by my father, John E. Cook, retired NPS Regional Director, and Art Janssen, Mather Plaque enthusiast and scholar. The plaque was given to honor the lasting inspiration of Stephen T. Mather and to recognize the role of Walnut Canyon National Monument in uniting two NPS families the Cooks and the Guillets in 1958. Here is where the story gets personal. That year, Dad married my mother, Dani Guillet. Dads father, John O. Cook (a second-generation NPS employee) was the Superintendent at Wupatki and Sunset Crater National Monuments that year. Moms father, Meredith M. Guillet, was Superintendent at Walnut Canyon. John E. and Danis wedding reception was held June 7, 1958 at the Superintendents house at Walnut Canyon, which is still in use today as employee quarters. Dad, as a third generation NPS employee, went on to have a 40-plus-year career with the agency, which included serving as the Intermountain Regional Director, overseeing over 80 NPS units including Walnut Canyon NM. In 2013, Walnut Canyon became one of my parks too when I became Superintendent for the three Flagstaff Area National Monuments. Im very proud to be continuing my familys connection to these special places. August 25 was a significant anniversary for me, as it is for most agency folks. Those of us who wear or have worn the NPS uniform identify strongly with the agency mission preserving these special places for the enjoyment of current and future generations and the places themselves. We are also inspired by the energy and vision of those who came before us people like director Stephen T. Mather and my great-grandfather, both grandfathers, and father. As it says on every Mather Plaque, There will never come an end to the good that he has done. My NPS coworkers and I will do all we can to perpetuate that good and build on it for the future. We hope you will visit Walnut Canyon National Monument to be inspired by its beauty and history, and by the new plaque gracing the entrance to the visitor center. Beach, by Feng Huairong. [Photo/namoc.org] As landscape oil paintings become more popular among artists and collectors, increasing numbers of painters are shifting their attention to this genre. An exhibition featuring about 100 oil paintings themed "Sound of Nature" was held at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing from Aug 24 to 31. The black mountains, grey clouds and bright orange sun on the canvas presented the emotion and feelings of the three generations of Chinese artists. A boy focuses on the writing. [Photo/UNESCO] On Wednesday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the winners of the 2017 International Literacy Prizes, honoring excellence and innovation in the field of literacy worldwide. The awards will be handed out to five laureates from Canada, Colombia, Jordan, Pakistan and South Africa on International Literacy Day, which falls on September 8. The prizes are divided into two categories: The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy sponsored by China and the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize sponsored by South Korea. This year's Confucius Prize, which rewards projects that benefit rural populations and out-of-school youth, particularly girls and women, is given to the AdulTICoProgram from Columbia, the Citizens Foundation from Pakistan, and the FunDza project from South Africa. The King Sejong prize, dedicated to mother tongue literacy education, is shared by the Center for the Study of Learning and Performance from Canada and the We Love Reading program from Jordan. The five winners will each receive a medal, a certificate and 20,000 US dollars. This year's prizes are focused on "literacy in a digital world," the UN agency said in a press release. "Digital technologies permeate all spheres of our lives, fundamentally shaping how we live, work, learn and socialize," said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. Since 1967, the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have been awarded to more than 475 projects led by governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world. According to the UNESCO, 750 million people in the world still lack basic reading and writing skills, and this population includes 102 million young people aged 15-24. US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that "all options" are again on the table after Pyongyang tested a ballistic missile, this time a rare firing of a projectile over Japan. The new missile test has triggered consternation on the ground, causing sirens to blare in Japanese towns, stocks to dip on Wall Street, and diplomats from Seoul and Beijing to Moscow to call for either further sanctions or more restraints. But what can the average citizen do under the apocalyptic threat of a missile or nuclear war? Among a myriad of answers, the headline of a news story caught my attention: "Bomb shelter business booms as Trump and North Korea posture". The escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula has raised the specter of a nuclear attack, which has given rise to the bomb shelter business in the US and elsewhere, according to a report from McClatchy new agency in Washington. Ron Hubbard, president of Atlas Survival Shelters in Montebello, California, which produces what it touts as the "only bunkers tested against the effects of a nuclear bomb", said he expects to sell at least"1,000 big bomb shelters and tornado shelters combined" this year compared with 10 bomb shelters in 2011. "The rise in shelters (sales and inquires) has increased in both America and Japan", Hubbard said on Tuesday, adding that there were no customers in China but a few inquiries from the Republic of Korea. Another company, Rising S Bunkers in Murchison, Texas, has sold 67 bomb shelters this year, mostly to Japan, compared with just nine in 2016, according to the McClatchy report on Sunday. Hubbard may be right to claim that "shelters are the only solution to the crisis and there is nothing else a person can do except taking shelter if a bomb comes in". But the question is not only how many people can afford the luxury, or how many such bunkers would be enough. The root cause of the current war rhetoric of the leaderships, the panic among the masses, and the impulse for some to own a shelter, is that we have seen a cycle of endless nuclear tests, missile launches and military drills. Each party has its own legitimate security concerns. Pyongyang vows to never give up its weapons programs, or take "tough counter-measures" against hostility from the United States and its allies, particularly the ongoing annual US-ROK military drills. On Tuesday, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that "enough is enough", while Russia's ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said: "It's troubling, because tensions are high and whose nerves are stronger, we don't know." Beijing has proposed "dual suspension"Pyongyang suspends its nuclear and missile activities and the US and the ROK suspend their big military drills. The proposal accommodates the legitimate security concerns of all parties, serves to draw them back to the negotiating table and seek a balanced resolution, while ensuring long-term peace and stability on the peninsula. The Chinese initiative should, therefore, be taken seriously by all parties. Hours after Pyongyang test-fired the latest missile test, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing: "I suggest you think about the scenario when China calls for restraint, calmness and dialogue, while directly concerned parties keep conducting military exercises and ratcheting up military pressure, against the background of flying missiles launched by another party." "Then, who should take the blame and who should do more?" Hua asked. The US is now grappling with and recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, which killed at least 11 people and paralyzed Houston. The fourth most-populous US city has opened more megashelters to house flooded families. Let's forget the bomb shelters for now, and go all out to prevent man-made disasters. The author is deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily USA. huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Reactions to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's latest provocation have followed the age-old script: Pyongyang insisted it was exercising its legitimate right to "self-defense" by firing a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. For the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan in particular, it was an exceedingly provocative gesture not seen in almost a decade. So much so that Japan activated its J-Alert system in northern areas, conducted drills to test its anti-ballistic missile system PAC-3; ROK President Moon Jae-in personally ordered live fire drills to exhibit his country's "overwhelming" fire power, with an officer counter-threatening the DPRK leadership with "extermination"; and US President Donald Trump repeated his previous warning that "all options are on the table". Despite the widespread condemnations, from the United Nations, Japan, the ROK, the US, China, Russia and other countries, the DPRK appears defiant as ever, threatening to fire more missiles into the Pacific. The story has been unfolding exactly the same way as on each past occasion, and the outcome seems set to be the same: Pyongyang and its critics continuing wrangling over the chicken or the egg causality dilemma, with the former refusing to give up its nuclear pursuit and the latter remaining hopelessly divided over what to do. If Pyongyang's latest provocation has exposed the helplessness of the international coalition against its nuclear and missile programs, the worse may be yet to come. One fundamental reason for the international community's inability to curb the DPRK's dangerous adventure has been the contradictory agendas of those that ostensibly have shared interest in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. If the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system is the first wedge driving the fragile coalition apart, another, more damaging one seems on its way as Seoul and Washington reportedly engage in talks on deploying additional "strategic assets" on the ROK's soil. Seoul has already confirmed corresponding talks between ROK and US militaries. Pyongyang's continuous provocations may serve as a catalyst for the potential deployment of additional but controversial and divisive "strategic assets". But like THAAD, US strategic weapons can do little to prevent the feared civilian losses when a war with the DPRK breaks out. However, they can seriously undermine the precious, though already weak, global consensus on the denuclearization of the peninsula, as combined with THAAD, they will constitute a potential, substantial threat to Chinese and Russian national security, and inevitably invite strong reactions from both. When that day comes, Pyongyang's nuclear/missile programs may turn out to be of secondary concern to the world. The 38th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, presided by President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, approved a document aimed at improving the system and strategy for main functional area. The concept of main functional area is regional in nature and is defined by an area's specific, core function based on its environment, social and economic strength, and development potential. The idea is to ensure different main functional areas cooperate and collaborate with each other to achieve joint development and prosperity. In 2013, the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body, issued a document on implementing the main functional area strategy and promoting the construction of main functional areas. And Tuesday's meeting emphasized that the main functional area construction is a big strategy for economic development and environmental protection. In the next stage, the focus should be on improving the main functional area strategy and system, allowing main functional areas to help develop and protect land, implementing the main functional area strategy at the city and county levels, and improving the long-term mechanism of differential coordinated development of main functional areas. And systemic reform and legal construction should be expedited to lay a solid foundation for the development and protection of land nationwide. The Commander of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, testifies before a House Armed Services Committee hearing on "Military Assessment of the Security Challenges in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region" on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, April 26, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] The Washington Post reported on Tuesday Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, is likely to be the next US ambassador to Australia. The Post and several other news outlets focused on Harris' past with a tough rhetoric about China on the maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and assumed he would rally Australia to counter a rising China. Even though Harris' record seems to justify the speculation, I believe that's an inaccurate job description for Harris, or anyone who takes up that post. His mission should be to improve US-Australia relations rather than drive a wedge between Australia and China, who has had relations grow by leaps and bounds over the past decades. US-Australia relations took a hit in February after President Donald Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the phone over a refugee resettlement agreement former president Barack Obama had made between the two countries. While the two leaders' meeting in New York in May seemed to mend ties, leaked video showed Turnbull mock Trump sarcastically in June at the Australian Parliament's annual midwinter ball. China is Australia's largest trade partner, with a surplus in Australia's favor. Their bilateral trade is 2.4 times larger than that between Australia and the US. Chinese investment in Australia reached its highest level since the global financial crisis of 2008, at $11.49 billion in 2016, up 12 percent from 2015. For those who want to play up the threat of Chinese investment in Australia, they should know the accumulated US direct investment in Australia is five times that of China's. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in December 2015, has been described by the Australian government as the most favorable trade deal China has ever struck with a developed economy. Expanding China-Australia ties have gone far beyond trade and investment to include education, culture, science and technology, tourism, political and military areas. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met Turnbull in Canberra in March for the fifth China-Australia Annual Prime Ministerial Meeting. On Aug 28, the Chinese and Australian militaries held their 20th defense strategy consultation in Canberra to discuss bilateral and regional issues. It is true that like any two nations, China and Australia may not see eye-to-eye on every issue, such as the maritime territorial disputes over the South China Sea. But tension in the South China Sea has greatly eased in the past year. The relationship between China and the Philippines has improved remarkably. China has been working with ASEAN countries to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, deepen their maritime cooperation and push forward consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. These are positive signs that both the US and Australia should encourage. It is absurd for anyone to assume that China whose economy, more than any other country, depends on the peace and stability in the South China Sea wants to destabilize the region. Some Americans believe Harris, if he does get the ambassador post (as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon hoped he would), wants to prevent Australia from getting too close to China. They expressed deep concern after then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ignored a US warning in March 2015 and joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Australian leaders, like other government leaders in the Asia-Pacific, have repeatedly expressed the sentiment that they don't want to be forced to choose between China and the US. That is what Harris, or whoever becomes the next US ambassador to Australia, should bear in mind. The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com DAMASCUS - The US-led coalition carried out airstrikes Wednesday to block Islamic State (IS) fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, local media reported. Hundreds of IS fighters and civilians were evacuated Monday from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a ceasefire deal and were headed to an IS-held town near Syria's eastern frontier with Iraq. The airstrikes hit the road leading from the Syrian town of Hmaymah to the IS-held town of Albukamal further east, the report cited the coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon as saying. The evacuation deal was negotiated between IS and Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which has intervened in the war in neighboring Syria to prop up the Damascus government. Hezbollah fought a week-long offensive against IS on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, coinciding with a simultaneous assault by Lebanese troops on their side of the frontier. The battles ended Sunday with the announcement of the deal to bus IS forces hundreds of kilometres from Syria's western border with Lebanon to its eastern frontier with Iraq. BEIJING - China said Wednesday sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) must be within the framework of the UN Security Council. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's remarks came after the UN Security Council released a president's statement, which strongly condemned Monday's missile launch by the DPRK as well as several launches Friday. "The Security Council expresses its grave concern that the DPRK is, by conducting such a launch over Japan as well as its recent actions and public statements, deliberately undermining regional peace and stability and has caused grave security concerns around the world," said the statement. Noting the statement reflects the consensus of the international community, Hua said, "China is opposed to any unilateral sanction or long-arm jurisdiction in accordance with one country's domestic law." Hua said China hopes all parties will implement Security Council resolutions earnestly, comprehensively and completely. When asked about China's communication and coordination with Russia on the issue, Hua said China and Russia share the same goal, which was, by and large shared by all other permanent members of the UN Security Council and the whole international community. It's only that some countries may differ on specific approaches to realize the goal at this stage, she said. China is willing to continue coordination and cooperation with Russia, to maintain peace and stability in the region and around the world, she added. The app, BiliScreen, uses a smartphone camera, computer vision algorithms and machine learning tools to detect increased bilirubin levels in a person's sclera, or the white part of the eye. [Photo/VCG] SAN FRANCISCO - University of Washington (UW) researchers are developing a software application, or app, to allow people to screen for pancreatic cancer and other diseases by snapping a smartphone selfie. With a five-year survival rate of 9 percent, pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses in part because there are no telltale symptoms or non-invasive screening tools to catch a tumor before it spreads. The app, BiliScreen, uses a smartphone camera, computer vision algorithms and machine learning tools to detect increased bilirubin levels in a person's sclera, or the white part of the eye. One of the earliest symptoms of pancreatic cancer, as well as other diseases, is jaundice, a yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes caused by a buildup of bilirubin in the blood. The blood test currently in use to measure bilirubin levels is typically not administered to adults unless there is reason for concern. "The problem with pancreatic cancer is that by the time you're symptomatic, it's frequently too late," Alex Mariakakis, a doctoral student at UW's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, was quoted as saying in a news release. The ability to detect signs of jaundice when bilirubin levels are minimally elevated could enable an entirely new screening program for at-risk individuals. "The hope is that if people can do this simple test once a month - in the privacy of their own homes - some might catch the disease early enough to undergo treatment that could save their lives," explained Mariakakis, who as lead author of a paper will present the app at Ubicomp 2017, the Association for Computing Machinery's International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, in Maui, Hawaii, on September 13. In adults, the whites of the eyes are more sensitive than skin to changes in bilirubin levels, which can be an early warning sign for pancreatic cancer, hepatitis or the generally harmless Gilbert's syndrome. Unlike skin color, changes in the sclera are more consistent across all races and ethnicities. Yet by the time people notice the yellowish discoloration in the sclera, bilirubin levels are already well past cause for concern. Wondering if computer vision and machine learning tools could detect those color changes in the eye before humans can see them, the UW team built BiliScreen on earlier work from the university's Ubiquitous Computing Lab, which previously developed BiliCam, a smartphone app that screens for newborn jaundice by taking a picture of a baby's skin. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed BiliCam provided accurate estimates of bilirubin levels in 530 infants. The new app uses a smartphone's built-in camera and flash to collect pictures of a person's eye as they snap a selfie, then calculates the color information from the sclera and correlates it with bilirubin levels using machine learning algorithms. To account for different lighting conditions, the team tested BiliScreen with two different accessories: paper glasses printed with colored squares to help calibrate color and a 3-D printed box that blocks out ambient lighting. Using the app with the box accessory led to slightly better results. In an initial clinical study of 70 people, BiliScreen correctly identified cases of concern 89.7 percent of the time. Chinese and British researchers are collaborating in a joint effort to combat the spread of avian diseases. Around 100 experts are gathering in London on Thursday at the third annual conference hosted by the UK-China Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases. Delegates will discuss solutions for major avian viruses, and best management practices to avoid these viruses' spread. "China and the UK's collaboration in avian disease is highly important, given the current situation in China," said Shen Zhiqiang, director at the Shandong Binzhou Academy of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine. The first reported human cases of H7N9 avian influenza were reported in China in 2013. Since then, more than 1,500 cases have been reported. About 40 percent of those infected have died. Shen said the UK's advanced avian disease research and disease control technology, as well as its management expertise on poultry farming can "generate great benefits" for China. Both China and the UK have well established poultry industries, but sustained growth in both countries is hampered by continued challenges from a large number of avian diseases. Tackling avian disease is high on the Chinese government's agenda. It recently set new policy directions to strengthen the monitoring of poultry farms in China by 2020. This includes introducing stricter standards on poultry cultivation and management. "To improve best practices on poultry farms, it is crucial for the government to introduce new policy measures on best farming practices, and academic research is very important to support these policy directions," Shen said. The UK-China Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases was established in 2015 with 50 million pounds ($64.6 million) of joint Chinese and British government funding. Previous conferences have been held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. Yao Yongxiu, a scientist at the UK's Pirbright Institute, said British specialists believe it is important to share the country's advanced avian disease knowledge with other countries around the world, including China. "The UK suffered severely from avian disease in the 1980s, and our heavy investment into controlling these diseases back then led to great results," Yao said. "China is now facing the same challenge, and we hope our technology can help China, and we look forward to work with Chinese scientists to advance avian disease scientific discussions forward." Shen said she hopes collaboration on avian disease will continue to flourish in the future. "We can encourage British scholars to come to our universities to lead projects, or alternatively we can send more of our students to the UK schools for them to gain experiences." cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com Summer may not be over yet but the Coconino County Board of Supervisors is already turning its attention to the upcoming winter season and the conundrum of snowplay traffic. In an attempt to address at least part of the problem, the board is considering amending its seasonal parking ordinance to make it illegal to park on certain county rights of way during winter months. The idea came out of community discussions about snowplay gridlock as well as discussions with law enforcement, Supervisor Art Babbott told the board in a meeting last week. He also said it would be important to coordinate with new signs being placed along Highway 180 by the Arizona Department of Transportation. ADOT is in the process of installing the signs along a 9-mile section of the highway just north of Flagstaff to discourage parking along the road shoulder for snow play, spokesman Ryan Harding wrote in an email. The first sign in each direction will read, Emergency Parking Only, Next 9 Miles and signs posted along the rest of the stretch will read Emergency Parking Only, Harding wrote. The county no parking ordinance would apply only to specific neighborhoods that experience the heaviest impacts from snowplay-seekers, such as the Fort Valley and Baderville areas and parts of Kachina Village, Mountainaire and Munds Park, Coconino County Civil Attorney Brian Furuya told the board at the meeting. Those neighborhoods get inundated with people that park on the side of the road and then get out and play on private property, Furuya said. Some ask to use homeowners bathrooms, build fires on private land and leave trash in their wake, he said. The ordinance is intended to address those trespassing issues, Furuya said. He also noted that this year could be even worse with the closure of Wing Mountain Snow Play Area, which could cause more people to flood into neighborhoods instead. After hearing about the ordinance, board members gave the go-ahead to move forward with it. The change to county law also has the support of Sheriff Jim Driscoll, who said it is among the low-hanging fruit to help address traffic problems related to wintertime recreation. It is one small piece of a large large problem, Driscoll said. The idea of how do you make 10,000 cars go away in an hour is very difficult, but if we can keep them from engaging early on in those behaviors we may be able to reduce it or mitigate it somewhat. Enforcement of the ordinance will need to be addressed if it is passed, he said. Furuya said the county is working on a timeline to have the new ordinance in place by the beginning of this winter season. That includes a 15-day notice period before any hearing on an ordinance change, as well as a 30-day referendum period after any ordinance is passed before it can go into effect. The public works department will work with the supervisors and the sheriffs office to develop a list of roads that should be included in the ordinance. County Public Works Director Lucinda Andreani named several areas that her department would likely consider for parking regulations, including the Fort Valley area, Old Munds Highway, the Mountainaire access roads, Kachina Trail and Ancient Trail in Kachina Village, Purple Sage Trail near Fort Tuthill, Pinewood Boulevard in Munds Park, parts of Lake Mary Road and Perkinsville Road in the Williams area. When it comes to putting up signs notifying drivers about the ordinance, Babbott said he wants to make sure the county strikes a balance between oversigning and not having enough signage in the affected neighborhoods. British Prime Minister Theresa May takes part in a tea ceremony at Omotesenke Fushin'an in Kyoto, western Japan August 30, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] KYOTO, Japan - Prime Minister Theresa May said she wanted to continue as Britain's leader beyond the next parliamentary election, not due until 2022, dismissing expectations she could stand down after Brexit as early as 2019. May's authority has been badly damaged by a ill-judged election campaign earlier this year which cost her Conservative party its majority in parliament and failed to provide a clear mandate for her Brexit strategy. After apologising for her election mistakes, May won a temporary reprieve, with many Conservative Party members afraid that ousting her could collapse a fragile minority government and let the leftist Labour Party into power. While some Conservatives continue to see her as an interim leader being kept in place to deliver Brexit, May insisted that she had broader ambitions in office and had no plans to step down. "I'm not a quitter," May said in an interview with ITV News during a visit to Japan. Asked directly in a separate interview, with the BBC, whether she intended to fight the next election as leader of the Conservative Party she said: "Yes ... I'm here for the long term and it's crucial, what me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit, we are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom." The next national election is not scheduled until 2022, three years after Britain is due to leave the European Union. Reuters The Commander of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, testifies before a House Armed Services Committee hearing on "Military Assessment of the Security Challenges in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region" on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, April 26, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] The Washington Post reported on Tuesday Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, is likely to be the next US ambassador to Australia. The Post and several other news outlets focused on Harris' past with a tough rhetoric about China on the maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and assumed he would rally Australia to counter a rising China. Even though Harris' record seems to justify the speculation, I believe that's an inaccurate job description for Harris, or anyone who takes up that post. His mission should be to improve US-Australia relations rather than drive a wedge between Australia and China, who has had relations grow by leaps and bounds over the past decades. US-Australia relations took a hit in February after President Donald Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the phone over a refugee resettlement agreement former president Barack Obama had made between the two countries. While the two leaders' meeting in New York in May seemed to mend ties, leaked video showed Turnbull mock Trump sarcastically in June at the Australian Parliament's annual midwinter ball. China is Australia's largest trade partner, with a surplus in Australia's favor. Their bilateral trade is 2.4 times larger than that between Australia and the US. Chinese investment in Australia reached its highest level since the global financial crisis of 2008, at $11.49 billion in 2016, up 12 percent from 2015. For those who want to play up the threat of Chinese investment in Australia, they should know the accumulated US direct investment in Australia is five times that of China's. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in December 2015, has been described by the Australian government as the most favorable trade deal China has ever struck with a developed economy. Expanding China-Australia ties have gone far beyond trade and investment to include education, culture, science and technology, tourism, political and military areas. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met Turnbull in Canberra in March for the fifth China-Australia Annual Prime Ministerial Meeting. On Aug 28, the Chinese and Australian militaries held their 20th defense strategy consultation in Canberra to discuss bilateral and regional issues. It is true that like any two nations, China and Australia may not see eye-to-eye on every issue, such as the maritime territorial disputes over the South China Sea. But tension in the South China Sea has greatly eased in the past year. The relationship between China and the Philippines has improved remarkably. China has been working with ASEAN countries to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, deepen their maritime cooperation and push forward consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. These are positive signs that both the US and Australia should encourage. It is absurd for anyone to assume that China whose economy, more than any other country, depends on the peace and stability in the South China Sea wants to destabilize the region. Some Americans believe Harris, if he does get the ambassador post (as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannonhoped he would), wants to prevent Australia from getting too close to China. They expressed deep concern after then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ignored a US warning in March 2015 and joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Australian leaders, like other government leaders in the Asia-Pacific, have repeatedly expressed the sentiment that they don't want to be forced to choose between China and the US. That is what Harris, or whoever becomes the next US ambassador to Australia, should bear in mind. The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com A government delegation from Brazil's Bahia state visited Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital on Thursday to discuss health cooperation with China's major hospitals. The delegation, led by Bahia's governor Rui Costa, discussed topics such as hospital management and application of advanced medical equipment with hospital executives and doctors during the visit in Beijing. The delegation also visited a center at the hospital showcasing high-end medical equipment developed and made by Chinese companies. Bahia is planning to build new comprehensive hospitals in the state, and it hopes to gain insight from China on the management of big hospitals, Costa said. Shen Liqiang, a hospital official, said the Bahia government is interested in high-end medical equipment developed by Chinese companies and may introduce such equipment to its hospitals in the future. Members of the delegation will also participate in the BRICS Summit, to be held in Xiamen, in Fujian province. BRUSSELS - The European Unions chief Brexit negotiator said on Thursday no "decisive progress" had been achieved in the third round of Brexit talks, and that opening talks on the two sides' future ties in October was doubtful at the current pace. Britains Brexit minister David Davis said the sides "made some concrete progress", that there was "high degree of convergence" on the future Irish border and that London would interrogate rigorously what it would pay the EU on departure. Brexit talks have resumed in Brussels more than a year after Britons narrowly voted in a national referendum to leave the EU. Despite both the EU and Britain being on a short deadline to deliver a deal, the talks have seen a slow start. "Over the course of this week we have made a number of useful clarifications on a number of points, for instance the status of border workers," Michel Barnier told a joint news conference with Davis after the latest round of talks. "However, we did not get any decisive progress on any of the principle subjects, even though on the discussion we had about Ireland - that discussion was fruitful." Barnier scolded London for demanding the "impossible" - including having a say on the EUs single market rules while being outside of it - in a series of position papers the British government released last week. He said both sides disagreed again on Thursday on the EU's demand, firmly rejected by Britain, that the European Court of Justice must be allowed to police the enforcement of rights of EU citizens residing in Britain after Brexit, and vice versa. China is willing to enhance cooperation with Tajikistan in key areas such as energy, infrastructure construction and manufacturing to bring greater benefits to the people of both countries, Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday. Li made the remarks when meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan in Beijing. He said China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors, and relations between the two countries have taken great strides over the past 25 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. He added that China is willing to deepen mutual trust with Tajikistan and expand mutually beneficial cooperation under a framework such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and expand people-to-people exchanges. Li stressed that China firmly supports the development path that Tajikistan people chose for their country, and is willing to link up such a path with the Belt and Road Initiative to improve connectivity in areas such as transportation and telecommunications. He called for the Tajikistan side to offer better convenience. Rahmon said Tajikistan and China are cooperative partners, and have achieved long term development in areas such as business, trade and people-to-people exchanges. He said Tajikistan is willing to strengthen ties with China in their development strategy, and enhance cooperation in electricity, finance, agriculture, transportation and tourism. With the ninth BRICS Summit to open in Xiamen, Fujian province, Where Has Time Gone?, the first movie coproduced by five BRICS countries, will be showcased at the summit, giving an insight of cinematic cultures and customs. Jia Zhangke, a famous art house director, known for his fancy of Shanxi province-set stories, led the project as the movie's chief producer. The movie, which will have selected screenings next month, will gradually be released across the country later this year. The inspiration to create Where Has The Time Gone? came from a seminar, in which Zhang Hongsen, the deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said cinema is the art of time and space. A song with the same title has also become a hit since it was sung at the 2014 Spring Festival gala. Jia recruited a team with a majority of its members both speaking English and Chinese. "The world has undergone rapid social and economic change, and most people now lead incredibly fast paced lives," he said. "Time flies, and it is the theme of time that resonates with the five filmmakers from different countries." After he sent invitations to Alexey Fedorchenko of Russia, Madhur Bhandarkar of India, Walter Moreira Salles Jr. of Brazil and Jahmil X.T. Qubeka of South Africa, they all joined the project to co-direct the movie. It marks the first time in history that five BRICS countries team up on co-producing a movie. For Jia, the project is a fresh try, and he said the biggest challenges were language, to unify the filming format and differences in time zones. "At one point, we translated the dialogue of the Brazilian and Russian stories from English, but linguists told us that handling things that way resulted in the original flavor being lost, so we retranslated both versions from Portuguese and Russian," he said. The 110-minute movie consists of five stories respectively centering on one BRICS country. All five stories end in an old saying or a famous line about time to connect the following one. The Brazilian story, titled When the Earth Trembles, looks into the lives of survivors after a massive mudflow caused by a mine dam bursting struck Minas Gerais state on Nov 5, 2015. In the Russian section of the film, titled Breathing, a man suspicions about his wife's loyalty is accidentally injured, seriously, as they quarrel. To save her husband's life, the woman has to turn a broken accordion into an oxygen pump. The director, Alexey Fedorchenko, said he got the inspiration from a Chinese news report about such an unlikely use of the musical instrument. He made this comment while in Chengdu. PHOENIX A judge has slapped down efforts by Republican lawmakers to block local government from requiring private employers to provide greater fringe benefits to workers than the minimum required by state or federal law. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joshua Rogers rejected arguments that a voter-approved law setting a state minimum wage and allowing cities and counties to go even higher affects only the actual salary of employees. He said a plain reading of what voters approved also permits them to enact their own mandates dictating what fringe benefits companies must provide. That conclusion is important because the Arizona Constitution sharply restricts the ability of lawmakers to tinker with anything approved at the ballot. And Rogers said that means Legislature acted illegally last year in telling local governments they have no right to force employers to provide fringe benefits. Unless overturned, the ruling paves the way for citizens to petition local governments to require private firms to provide things they may not now, ranging from vacation time and maternity leave to even employer subsidized health insurance. It already is having an effect. Regina Romero, a member of the Tucson city council, said the ruling, released Wednesday, frees her to once again pursue her bid to require employers in the city to offer paid maternity leave. Romero's efforts had stalled after lawmakers approved the 2016 legislation pushed by Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, which forbade local elected officials from mandating any fringe benefits. Now, Romero said, she will work with not only her colleagues on the council but with community leaders to craft a new ordinance. She said such a requirement, part of what she calls a working families agenda, is long overdue. The U.S. is so far behind when it comes to providing paid time off to new mothers and new parents, she said. It is precisely that kind of local law that the Republican-controlled Legislature sought to prevent. Mesnard said he opposed both the original 2006 initiative that set the state's first-ever minimum wage at something higher than required in federal law, as well as the 2016 initiative that increased it further. Employers now must pay workers at least $10 an hour as compared with the $7.25 figure set by Congress. That is slated to increase to $12 an hour by 2020. Last year's initiative also requires employers to provide at least three days of paid personal leave. Having been approved by voters, Mesnard and his GOP colleagues are powerless to alter any of that. But Mesnard, seeking to limit the effect of the measure, wrote a law to redefine wages the thing that the state cannot preempt because it was approved at the ballot to include only the salaries being paid to workers. Everything else was defined as nonwage compensation, ranging from sick pay, vacation pay and severance benefits to commissions, pension contributions and maternity leave. More to the point, his measure dictated that local governments cannot approve any forms of nonwage compensation beyond what is already required by law. Mesnard defended the move. The challenge becomes businesses trying to adhere to a patchwork of regulations, he said. One place they have to offer certain benefits and right down the street they don't. Anyway, Mesnard said, the Legislature wants to create an environment that's conducive to new businesses as well as help those here to grow. That creates jobs, he said. Rogers, however, said none of that overcomes the legal flaws in Mesnard's legislation. That includes that what voters approved spells out that local governments can require not only that companies pay higher wages but also benefits. That left Assistant Attorney General Rusty Crandell to try to convince Rogers that the word benefits is ambiguous and can have many meanings beyond the additional forms of compensation that employers provide to their workers. For example, he argued, a benefit could mean things like the advantages and privileges given to workers. Rogers sniffed at that contention. He said the key to concluding what a word means is to look at it in context. That includes not only how the word is traditionally understood but also how it is used. The most obvious and commonly understood relationship between the word 'wages' and 'benefits,' especially in the broader context of a labor law such as this, is that both represent two complementary parts of employee compensation, Rogers wrote. And he said the fact there are other definitions of benefits doesn't alter that. While the meaning proposed by the state may be a permissible meaning of 'benefits' according to a dictionary definition of the word, it is not a reasonable meaning in light of the context of the word, he said. There was no immediate response from the Attorney General's Office on whether it would appeal the ruling. Police in Sudan arrested and interrogated seven church leaders last week in Omdurman, Sudan before releasing them on bail, sources said. The Christian leaders were jailed for six hours on Wednesday (Aug. 23) and charged with refusing to comply with an order to turn over leadership of their congregation to a government appointed-committee. Omdurman lies across the Nile River from Khartoum, the capital. The Rev. Ayoub Mattan, Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) moderator, and Kwa Shamaal (also transliterated Kuwa Shamaal), head of missions at the SCOC, were among the church leaders arrested. Pastor Shamaal was previously arrested on Dec. 18, 2015 and acquitted on Jan. 2 this year of charges ranging from spying to inciting hatred against the government. Sudans Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments had written a letter dated Aug. 14 ordering them to hand over church leadership to the committee appointed by the government ministry, sources said. When they refused, police opened a case against them, though it was unclear under what law. Police asked if we still maintain our stance on our refusal to acknowledge the committee appointed by the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments, and we said yes, because it is not the work of the [government] ministry to appoint committees for the church, Pastor Shamaal told Morning Star News. Police said that in arresting them they were implementing orders from the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments to impose its committee as new SCOC leadership, presumably to sell off the church property in Sudans bid to rid the country of Christianity. The pastors said the committee was contrary to SCOC's constitution, which calls for general elections every three years to appoint new leadership. Pastors Mattan, Shamaal and the others are still members of the legitimate executive committee of the SCOC, sources said. The current leadership term expires in March 2018. Police also arrested the Rev. Yagoub Naway and pastor Musa Kodi, both from the SCOC. The four Christians were interrogated along with the three other church leaders, including SCOC Finance Secretary Abdulbagi Ali Abdulrahaman and SCOC Deputy Finance Secretary El-Amin Hassam Abdulrasool, before they were all released on bail. Six other SCOC members are in hiding after learning police were searching for them to arrest and interrogate them, sources said. Another SCOC pastor, the Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor, had received a 12-year sentence earlier this year after being charged with spying and trying to tarnish Sudans image, but he was freed along with Abdulmonem Abdumawla of Darfur on May 11 after receiving a presidential pardon. He had been arrested along with Pastor Shamaal in December 2015. They were convicted on baseless charges of assisting Czech aid worker Petr Jasek pardoned and released on Feb. 25 in alleged espionage, causing hatred among communities and spreading false information, according to their attorney. Foreign diplomats and international rights activists took notice of the case after Morning Star News broke the story of the arrest of pastors Abdelrahim Tawor and Shamaal. Their arrests were seen as part of a recent upsurge in harassment of Christians. Most SCOC members have roots among the ethnic Nuba in the Nuba Mountains of Sudans South Kordofan state, where the government is fighting an insurgency. The Nuba along with other Christians in Sudan face discrimination and harassment, as Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has vowed to introduce a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and Arabic language. In its campaign to rid the country of Christianity, Sudan has designated 25 church buildings for destruction, and on Aug. 2 it demolished a Baptist church in Omdurman. On May 7 Khartoum state authorities in Sudan demolished a church building in the Khartoum suburb of Soba al Aradi, which began as a refugee camp for south Sudanese. A bulldozer sent by Jebel Aulia locality and the Ministry of Planning and Urban Development destroyed the SCOC building. Authorities had notified church leaders of the impending demolition just a week prior. The government reportedly claimed the churches were built on land zoned for residential or other uses, or were on government land, but church leaders said it is part of wider crack-down on Christianity. Harassment, arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. The Sudanese Minister of Guidance and Endowments announced in April 2013 that no new licenses would be granted for building new churches in Sudan, citing a decrease in the South Sudanese population. Sudan since 2012 has expelled foreign Christians and bulldozed church buildings on the pretext that they belonged to South Sudanese. Besides raiding Christian bookstores and arresting Christians, authorities threatened to kill South Sudanese Christians who do not leave or cooperate with them in their effort to find other Christians. Sudan fought a civil war with the south Sudanese from 1983 to 2005, and in June 2011, shortly before the secession of South Sudan the following month, the government began fighting a rebel group in the Nuba Mountains that has its roots in South Sudan. Due to its treatment of Christians and other human rights violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended the country remain on the list in its 2017 report. Sudan ranked fifth on Christian support organization Open Doors 2017 World Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.o rg/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved. If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at http://morningstarnews.org/don ate/ ? As tropical storm Harvey has been hitting regions of Texas and Louisiana with record-breaking amounts of rain, leaders and members of churches in the area -- and even outside of the state -- have rolled up their sleeves to provide shelter and services for evacuees. The storm brought almost 52 inches of rain to Cedar Bayou as of Tuesday, breaking the continental U.S. record, according to the National Weather Service. Officials in Texas estimated that 30 people have been killed due to the storm. In the wake of the storm, churches themselves have also been affected, and many have been forced to close its Sunday services. Though many have expressed desire to provide help, they are waiting on significant relief efforts until the "danger has passed" for their churches. "We are following the guidance of our officials and hunkering down in order to remain safe while they focus on those in the most immediate danger," Andrew Doyle, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, told Christianity Today. "We want to emphasize that we need to wait until the danger has passed to make our response so as not to complicate further the ongoing rescue operations." Churches that were located in higher elevation were able to act as temporary shelters or meeting points, such as Fallbrook Church, Windsor Village United Methodist Church, and CityView Church, among many others. Non-profit organizations and church-affiliated agencies have also come to the aid of evacuees. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) Disaster Relief units sent help in the form of chaplains, laundry and shower units, food, water treatments, and others. Samaritan's Purse aid workers also arrived on the field and began gathering volunteers to provide additional help. Members of the church community from outside of Texas also provided aid, such as the Southern Illinois Worship Center. "We know that in a time like this, we are to come together to assist those that are in need," said Jason McKinnies, pastor of SIWC, on Facebook. "The most immediate needs are financial. Due to the horrific flooding, most churches are unable to hold their weekend services and they are in need of additional resources to respond to this crisis. If you are not already giving to a church or another organization directly for your part in the relief efforts, we have provided a place for you to give: https://siwcenter.securegive.com/SG/WebOnline/Home/Index." Catholic churches in Charlotte, NC, will be collecting and sending donations to Texas, WBTV reported. And Church of the Highlands, the largest church in Alabama, will be sending teams with resources to help meet needs, according to ABC. Weve been able to send resources and currently we are sending very small teams over to do some recon work with those churches, get on the ground there, Church of the Highlands Pastor Layne Schranz told ABC. Everyone of us at Church of the Highlands feels the responsibility to pray, to give and to go, Schranz added. So we dont want to sit back and feel weve done something because we said a prayer or we even gave money toward helping someone. We actually want to go. In 1517, Martin Luther staked his soul on two revolutionary ideas: sola fide, that justification is dependent on faith alone; and sola scriptura, that Scripture is the only ultimate authority for Christian belief and practice and does not need oversight from church leaders or tradition to be read and understood. The 95 theses Luther nailed to the door at Wittenberg served as the catalyst for one of the worlds largest religious splits, as thousands broke off from the Roman Catholic Church. His legacy, 500 years later, is 560 million Protestants across the globe, making up more than a third of the worlds Christians. But many of them dont actually agree with him. Today, half of American Protestants say that both good deeds and faith in God are needed to get into heaven (52%); the same number believe that in addition to the Bible, Christians need guidance from church teachings and traditions, according to two studies released today by the Pew Research Center. The numbers dont change in Western Europe. In Luthers home country of Germany, 61 percent of Protestants believe good deeds are needed for salvation. In John Calvins Switzerland, 57 percent agree, as do 47 percent in Abraham Kuypers Holland. In fact, in every country [in Western Europe] except Norway (where 51% of Protestants say salvation comes through faith alone), belief in sola fide is a minority view even among Protestants, Pew reported. (For this study, Pew defined sola fide as faith in God alone is needed to get into heaven, and defined sola scriptura as the Bible provides all religious guidance Christians need.) About half of Catholics and Protestants in Europe now say that the two religions are more similar than they are different, while only about a quarter say theyre more different than they are similar. In America, where many followers of the Reformation fled to escape Catholic persecution, more than half of Protestants now say that Catholicism is more like Protestantism than the two are different (57%). However, most Americans know the two arent exactly the same. When asked to define Protestantism in their own words, a plurality of adults said not Catholic (32%) or generally Christian (12%). Though American Protestants were largely able to pinpoint Martin Luther as the inspiration (71%) and the movements label as the Reformation (70%), just 3 in 10 said they believed in both sola fide and sola scriptura (by Pews definitions). If Luther has an heir, it appears to be the white evangelical. White evangelicals are the only Protestant subgroup analyzed in the survey in which most take the opposite position, Pew said. Almost 6 in 10 said the Bible provides all the religious guidance Christians need, while almost 7 in 10 said that faith alone is needed to get into heaven. Fewer white evangelicals believe in both sola fide and sola scriptura (per Pews definitions) at the same time (44%), but the number is still higher than for black Protestants (19%) and white mainline Christians (20%). (Two-thirds of black Protestants identify as evangelical, according to Pew.) White evangelicals are also least likely to believe in the Catholic teaching of purgatory: 24 percent, compared to 31 percent of white mainline Christians and 47 percent of black Protestants. Perhaps predictably, white evangelicals who attend church weekly are even more likely to believe in sola fide and sola scriptura (per Pews definitions). Eighty percent believe in faith alone, 68 percent believe in the Bibles ability to stand alone, and 59 percent believe in both. The vast majority dont believe in purgatory (86%). Education ups the numbers even further. Among white evangelicals who attended college, most believe in sola fide (81%) or sola scriptura (72%); in fact, most believe both (65%). Just 7 percent believe in purgatory. Pew also asked an open-ended question on salvation. White evangelical Protestants were more likely than any other religious group to say beliefs determine whether a person gains eternal life, Pew reported. Fully two-thirds of white evangelicals said belief in Jesus or having a personal relationship with Jesus is the key to gaining eternal life. According to one white evangelical Protestant respondent, whether or not they have accepted Jesus as their personal savior determines whether one will gain eternal life in heaven. White evangelicals were more likely than the average American to know that the Reformation was the term for the historical period when Protestants broke away from the Catholic Church (75% vs. 65%), though a solid minority thought it was the Great Crusade (19% vs. 18%). Three-quarters of white mainline Christians (73%) and more than half of black Protestants (58%) also got the correct answer. Atheists got it right most often (85%), perhaps because atheists tend to be better educated (83% of those who went to college also got it right). White evangelicals were less likely to know that it was Martin Luther whose writings inspired the Reformation (67%). White mainliners (69%), black Protestants (77%), and atheists (75%) were more likely to know the right answer, as were those who went to college (80%). White evangelicals second best guess for who started the Reformation was John Wesley (21%); most knew it wasnt Thomas Aquinas (7%). They were a little more confused on Pews question about which religious groups traditionally teach that salvation comes through faith alone. Pew found that 2 out of 5 said only Protestants (42%), while another 2 out of 5 said both Catholics and Protestants (39%). Sixteen percent said neither, and 3 percent said only Catholics. The question is a tricky one. Thirty years after Luther posted his 95 theses, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) laid out the Catholic position on justification. [N]one of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification, their decree said, regarding initial justification. But, about subsequent justification, it also said that if anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works, but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase, let him be [excommunicated]. Its a slim hair to split, and today Catholics (41%) as well as Protestants (44%) say both religions traditionally teach salvation through faith alone. Black Protestants (40%), atheists (43%), and white mainliners said the same (53%). Analysis of the data shows that for Protestants, knowing that only Protestantism traditionally teaches that salvation comes through faith alone is closely linked with believing that salvation comes through faith alone, Pew reported. Among Protestants who know that only Protestantism traditionally teaches that salvation comes through faith alone, about three-quarters (77%) embrace the concept of sola fide. But among the much larger share of Protestants who are not aware that sola fide is solely a Protestant teaching, far fewer (35%) believe that faith is all that is needed to get into heaven. Correction: This article originally defined sola fide as stating that salvation is dependent on faith alone, whereas justification is the correct word. Change is the silent killer in the church, a pastor friend once said to me. Ive spent years consulting organizations on managing change and teaching on the subject, so Im painfully aware that change can be hard. Restructuring small groups, starting new building projects, energizing volunteer efforts, motivating discipleship, updating governance structurechange is inevitable at every level of a church. Isaiah 43:19 tells us that our Creator is always doing new things, therefore how we do the work of the church, too, depends on change. But why does change in the church disrupt the work of the church? Fixated on this question, I spent a great deal of time researching and interviewing pastors about the challenges their churches face and the problems that prevent them from growing. Some see hope when facing change. Others feel overwhelmed by the list of tasks required to serve their attendees, elders, staff, and volunteers. Managing change effectively can provide ... You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Subscribers have full digital access to CT Pastors articles. 1 In many accounts of the Rwandan genocide, the church is cast as complicit in the killings that took one million lives in a country the size of Maryland. Indeed, since 1994, United Nations tribunals have found many church leaders guilty of murdering neighbors or aiding Hutu in hunting down Tutsi and moderate Hutu. But Immaculee Ilibagiza, a Tutsi, has a Hutu pastor to thank for saving her life. When Ilibagiza was 23, Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimanas plane was shot down over the Kigali airport, inciting HutuTutsi violence the country over. In response, Ilibagizas father sent her to hide with the pastor, who took in seven other women and hid them in his familys three-by-four-foot bathroom. They stayed there for 91 days while Hutu militia came by the house daily searching for Tutsi. The bathroom became the setting for Ilibagizas test of faith and forgiveness, which began by praying the Lords Prayer many times a day. When I visited Rwanda this summer (with HOPE International, a microfinance nonprofit based in Pennsylvania), I was told to avoid asking two questions: What tribe do you belong to? and What was the genocide like for you? Rwandanswho have enjoyed a remarkable level of peace and stability under president Paul Kagamesee the topics as unnecessarily divisive. Yet Ilibagiza speaks openly about both so that others may know that forgiveness is possible and can heal both offender and offendee. Ilibagiza spoke recently at the 2017 Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Afterward, she sat down with CT to share about the process of forgiving the man who killed her entire family. 1 10 things to know about Henri Cartier-Bresson Considered one of the greatest 20th-century photographers, Cartier-Bresson bore witness to world-changing events from Spains Civil War to the death of Gandhi while capturing decisive moments in the lives of ordinary people 1. Painting and drawing were his first loves Born in 1908 in a village outside Paris, the young Cartier-Bresson was meant to inherit the family textile business but the budding artist had other ideas. After failing his baccalaureate exams three times, his parents finally allowed their 17-year-old son to study twice a week with French painters Jean Cottenet and Jacques-Emile Blanche. 2. He moved in Bohemian circles After studying at Magdalene College in Cambridge from 1928 to 1929, Cartier-Bresson took up with the Paris art crowd. He regularly attended the wild parties thrown by Harry Crosby (nephew of J.P. Morgan), where he socialised with Salvador Dali and Max Ernst, met Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, and was introduced to New York gallerist Julien Levy. Levy would later give Cartier-Bresson his first commercial break, staging an exhibition of his work in 1933. 3. He contracted blackwater fever in Ivory Coast and expected to die In his early twenties Cartier-Bresson lived for nearly a year in Ivory Coast, where he spent much of his time hunting. He also travelled to Cameroon and Togo, and along the Niger River. A lack of access to painting materials inspired him to start taking photographs of the people he met. Few of these early images remain; Cartier-Bresson only belatedly recognised their decisive importance, and added them to his portfolio toward the end of his life. The adventure came to an end when he contracted blackwater fever (a complication of malaria) and returned to France to recuperate having already sent instructions to his family for his funeral. 4. He made no secret of his political leanings After spending time in Mexico and the United States, Cartier-Bresson worked as an assistant to filmmaker Jean Renoir on Une partie de campagne and La Regle du jeu. In between, Cartier-Bresson made three documentaries in support of the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War. He later said of the period, Hitler was at our backs. We were all on the Left. There is nothing to be ashamed of. There is nothing to be proud of. 5. He spent three years as a prisoner of war and escaped on his third attempt Eager to join the fight against Fascism, Cartier-Bresson volunteered for the war effort and in 1940 was assigned to a film and photography unit in Metz, France. Captured by the Germans soon after enlisting, he spent three years in captivity. After two failed attempts at escape, he finally managed to reach a nearby farmhouse. He spent the rest of the war working to liberate others, and photographing the occupation of France with his beloved Leica camera. The American Office of War Information commissioned Cartier-Bresson to make a documentary about returning French prisoners (La Retour, 1946), which became the focal point of the artists first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1947. The museum planned the show as a retrospective, as Cartier-Bresson was thought to be dead. But the artist was very much alive and was present at its opening. 6. Somehow, he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time Cartier-Bresson moved seamlessly between art and commerce, participating in gallery shows while working as a photojournalist for titles including Harpers Bazaar and LIFE. In 1947, with his close friend Robert Capa and several other photographers, he founded Magnum Photos, a cooperative that allowed members to retain the rights to their own images. Cartier-Bresson spent three years travelling around Asia and the Middle East, together with his first wife, Carolina Jeanne de Souza-Ijke, a Javanese dancer who performed under the name Ratna Mohini. Earning a reputation for being in the right place at the right time, he documented the funeral of Mahatma Ghandi having met with the Indian independence leader just hours before his assassination. He documented the civil war in China in 1948, the fall of Shanghai to the Communists in 1949, and the Indonesian War of Independence. In 1954 he became the first Western photographer in seven years to be allowed to shoot inside the Soviet Union, charging LIFE a small fortune for his images through Magnum. 7. He turned discretion into an art In order to achieve the candid shots for which he became famous, Cartier-Bresson sought to blend in with his surroundings as much as possible. He never used flash, and covered his chrome Leica camera with black tape to make it less conspicuous. His 1952 album Images a la sauvette (Images on the sly), references this working method. The books cover was designed by his close friend Henri Matisse, whom he photographed in 1944 a work that featured in Cartier Bressons 1947 solo show at MoMA. Cartier-Bresson went to great lengths to preserve the anonymity that facilitated his work. When collecting an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1975, he hid his face from the crowd with a piece of paper. 8. Truman Capote described him as dancing along like an agitated dragonfly In 1946, Cartier-Bresson was sent on assignment with Truman Capote, the American novelist. As Capote would later describe: I remember once watching Bresson at work on a street in New Orleans dancing along the pavement like an agitated dragonfly, three Leicas swinging from straps around his neck, a fourth one hugged to his eye: click-click-click (the camera seems a part of his own body), clicking away with a joyous intensity, a religious absorption. This swift-footed motion was confirmed in a 1962 documentary that shows Cartier-Bresson taking pictures on a French street. The photographer is constantly on the move, hiding his camera behind his back until the last possible moment. Cartier-Bresson once said of his work, To me, a photograph is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organisation of forms which give that event its proper expression. This idea gave birth to the concept of the decisive moment, which remains synonymous with Cartier-Bresson. Perhaps no image better illustrates this sensibility than Behind the Gare St. Lazare (1932), in which an anonymous, silhouetted figure is caught mid-skip across a mirror-like expanse of water. Beaumont Newhall, the first curator of MoMAs photography department, exhibited Gare St. Lazare in Cartier Bressons 1947 solo show The Photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson at the museum in New York. Sign up today Christies Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe 9. He resigned from Magnum, the agency he had co-founded, to focus on drawing After spending the 1950s and 1960s travelling the world on assignment returning to China, India and Mexico, as well as visiting Cuba and Japan Cartier-Bresson eventually grew weary of his globetrotting lifestyle. He married a second time in 1970, to fellow Magnum photographer Martine Frank, and the couple soon had a daughter. In 1974 he resigned from Magnum and switched his focus to portrait and landscape photography. He also returned to his initial calling: painting and drawing. 10. He left behind more than half a million negatives Across his extraordinary career, Henri Cartier-Bresson documented some of the 20th centurys most dramatic moments, from the coronation of George VI to the collapse of Beijing. He photographed famous artists, writers and film stars including Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Albert Camus, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, among many others. When he died in 2004, shortly before his 96th birthday, he left behind more than half a million negatives taken over the course of 50 years in more than 40 countries. As floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey recede, motorists are returning to streets to realize there are potentially widespread gasoline shortages in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Regional fuel prices could spike by 50 cents a gallon in the coming days - and perhaps 40 cents nationally - after Harvey forced more than 20 percent of the nation's oil refining capacity offline along the Texas Gulf Coast, said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. The massive Colonial Pipeline, which carries fuel from Houston to much of the Southeast and East Coast, shut down early Thursday as well. RELATE: Gasoline surges as Harvey closes major U.S. fuel pipeline Fuel shortages and price spikes may mean long lines at pumps and likely searching for stations that still have fuel, DeHaan said. These problems may last for a month, and possibly longer, as it takes weeks for the region's major refineries to return to full capacity. Some Louisiana refineries that are still operating already are tapping into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve for oil supplies. "It's the worst-possible scenario," he said. "It's beyond even my worst-case concerns." Everyone panicking and rushing to fill their tanks, however, will only exacerbate the problems, he said. The problems will be only temporary. "I don't think motorists realize the power is in their hands. Patience is a virtue. Motorists are going to have to wait for supplies and prices to return to normal. Try to buy only what you need," DeHaan said. RELATED: U.S. refinery capacity at 7-year low as Harvey rolls east Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton on Thursday afternoon urged calm and argued the state has no shortage of gasoline. "We have more than 230 million barrels of gasoline supply in Texas," he said. Nevertheless the shortages are real in Houston because so many stations and refineries are offline. The panic is also real, but it is is creating larger problems than necessary, DeHaan said. For instance, the League City Police Department put out a statement Thursday warning that citizens in the heavily flooded city should stay home. "Officers are advising there is no gas available and recommending that citizens stay home and do not waste gas. Stations are unsure when supplies will be available," the department said. Outside of the Houston area, and in Dallas especially, gas stations are running out of fuel as motorists scramble to fill their tanks ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Haley Gonzalez, who lives north of Dallas in The Colony, said she visited several stations in search of fuel before finding it in Plano, a northern suburb. Even then, she could only fill about half of her tank before the pump went dry. "It's insane," said Gonzalez, 23. "It's wild that we're directly affected by something like this so soon." People were waiting at least 30 minutes to pump, only to end up buying premium fuel after regular ran out. Dallas fuel prices have surged almost 30 cents a gallon since before Harvey made landfall. Gonzalez and her friends were planning a short Labor Day weekend vacation to Lake Texoma, about 75 miles away. That's now changed. "We're having to think way more local," she said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Harveys lumbering path into Louisiana has expanded the number of shuttered oil refineries, with almost one-quarter of U.S. capacity offline. Harvey made a second Gulf Coast landfall Wednesday morning near the Texas-Louisiana border. Flooding and power failures associated with the latest hit have reduced U.S. fuel-making capacity by about 4.25 million barrels a day to the lowest since 2010. Motiva Enterprises LLCs Port Arthur facility in Texas, the biggest U.S. refinery, is shutting because of severe flooding. Total SAs refinery in Port Arthur is out with a power loss, a person familiar with the matter said. The two refineries join more than a dozen others with a combined 23 percent of U.S. capacity that are at least partially offline. Gasoline futures rose to more than $2 a gallon for the first time in more than two years, and the fuels premium to crude is at a two-year high. These closures are already impacting markets with crude prices lower on a perceived drop in demand and gasoline prices spiking in response to lower supply, Sandy Fielden, director of research for commodities and energy at Morningstar Commodities Research, said in an emailed note. RELATED: Gasoline prices rise as largest U.S. refinery shuts down Harveys move into southwestern Louisiana threatens five oil refineries, with total capacity of 787,200 barrels a day. That includes Phillips 66s Lake Charles at 239,400 and Citgo Lake Charles at 427,800. The capacity for the Port Arthur plant owned by Saudi Arabias national oil company is 605,000 barrels a day, while the plant run by Paris-based Total has a capacity of 225,500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, Exxon Mobil Corp. is in the process of a systematic shutdown of several of its units at Beaumont, Texas, just north of Port Arthur, while a majority of operations at its Baytown, Texas, complex have been shut, Charlotte B. Huffaker, a company spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday. Some of the first refineries to close were in Corpus Christi, near where Harvey initially made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday. The storm dumped more than 50 inches of rain over parts of Houston. Now that Harvey has moved east, Valero Energy Corp., Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Flint Hills Resources LLC are preparing to restart those Corpus Christi refineries, according to regulatory filings and people familiar who asked not to be identified because the plans arent public. Those plants, and another that Valero shut in nearby Three Rivers, account for more than 930,000 barrels a day or refining capacity. RELATED: Perry taps federal oil reserve U.S. plants processed about 17.5 million barrels of oil a day the week ending August 18. A return to that level wont be quick or easy. Even as plants recover, the restarts will be delayed by distribution issues and crude supply, compounded by port closures cutting off imports, Fielden said. The Port of Houston partially reopened Wednesday, while Corpus Christis port is expected to resume normal operations by Sept. 4. The affected refineries imported about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day last year, including 410,000 from Mexico, 380,000 from Saudi Arabia and 340,000 from Venezuela, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Colonial Pipeline, the largest conduit for gasoline and diesel from the Gulf Coast to the eastern U.S., suspended service on its main diesel line on Wednesday and expects to shut its main gasoline pipe on Thursday, according to a statement on its website. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the forecast Thursday for the next few days predicted no rain and some sunshine for the Houston region recovering from Tropical Storm Harvey, frightening reports emerged from Crosby where explosions were reported at a flooded chemical plant. The Harris County Emergency Operations Center reported two explosions and black smoke coming from the Arkema chemical plant early Thursday, according to a statement from the company. A Harris County sheriff's deputy was taken to a hospital after breathing in fumes from the plant. Arkema said Harris County officials notified the company about the explosions around 2 a.m., adding that residents may hear additional explosions because the product is stored in multiple locations within the plant, which is 25 miles northeast of downtown Houston. Crosby officials had been bracing for an explosion at the Arkema plant where floodwaters knocked out power and generators needed to keep volatile chemicals stored at the facility cool. Plant employees had been evacuated already late Tuesday, as were residents from about 300 nearby homes. The evacuation of people from their homes has become an all-too common sight this week in the Houston region. Though a slow return home appears to be on the horizon. County Judge Ed Emmett announced Wednesday that only two mega-shelters would be left standing over the next few days. "I am basically announcing we are going to turn the NRG Center into a regional shelter for whoever can come in and use it," said County Judge Ed Emmett on Wednesday. Emmett said officials would consolidate evacuees into the NRG Center south of the medical center, which has a capacity of 10,000, and the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center, which has been operating well above its initial capacity of 5,000. However, the chief of Houston's housing authority said Wednesday evening that the city would not close any shelters, marking a point of tension in joint city-county relief efforts. "We'll let the client make that decision," said housing authority director Tom McCasland. "We will provide clients the option to move to NRG if they want." '8,000 empty cots': County judge confident NRG Center has enough capacity As the curfew for Houston extended into its second night, Fort Bend County announced they would put a curfew into place starting Thursday. Fort Bend County issued a curfew starting Thursday, ordering residents not to travel between midnight and 6 a.m, according to Major Chad Norvell with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. The curfew goes into effect starting Thursday, Aug. 31, at 12:01 a.m. and will end at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6. Even as large parts of the city came back to life Wednesday, much of the Houston area remained in crisis as worsening conditions around a reservoir sent more water pouring into thousands of homes in west Harris County and rising river levels threatened thousands more to the south and east. People who ventured out found shorter lines at gas stations, fresh milk on grocery store shelves and an Astros game planned for Saturday. But to the west of Houston, emergency crews struggled with overflowing dams, trying to stop water from pouring into homes and flooding Interstate 10 - one of the state's major arteries. The northeastern suburb of Kingwood, a community with about 80,000 residents, resembled a river, with roiling currents and water covering street signs and submerged cars. People begged rescue workers at a boat launch to check on elderly parents they hadn't heard from in days, and to save their pets. 'We just floated them all out': Katy residents evacuate in floodwaters, trailing pets on air mattresses "We still have a long way to go," said Mayor Sylvester Turner, calling for the federal government to cut through red tape and get assistance to the tens of thousands of people displaced by the storm. "We're still in the midst of these challenges and they're immense." The number of people known or believed to be dead in the Houston-Galveston area climbed to above 30 on Wednesday after rescue workers reached a van holding a family of six, including four children. In Fort Bend County, a Katy pastor and his wife died after driving into floodwaters midday Wednesday. Houston police, who have helped rescue more than 3,000 people during the past few days, reported midday that they had found 27 of 47 missing people. Twenty remained unaccounted for. "We're afraid we'll see a lot more of this as the waters recede," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Wednesday. Harris County flood control officials reported that "nearly every watershed is experiencing devastating flooding." But many also have started dropping, offering some hope. Much of the attention Wednesday turned to the towering Addicks and Barker reservoirs 17 miles west of Houston that reached records levels after Harvey dumped more than a trillion gallons of rainwater on the region. For days, officials have intentionally released water from the reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou, which snakes through the heart of Houston, hoping to reduce the upstream flooding behind the dams, where an estimated 4,000 homes took on water. The Addicks reservoir spilled water into its overflow on Wednesday as officials scrambled to build a barrier to keep the water from flooding Interstate 10. The Barker had yet to overflow as of late Wednesday. David Miller said his house in the Wilchester subdivision, sandwiched between the Addicks reservoir and Buffalo Bayou, had not flooded since he moved into it in 2006. "Not a drop," he said. A few blocks west, Sherri Tefft, wearing wading boots, stood in the street watching water creep toward the front door of the house her father built in 1977. The home never previously flooded, she said. "I understand they need to release water, but they need to plan it better," Tefft said. Some smaller creeks and tributaries will keep rising, part of a natural adjustment officials believe will carry water from neighborhoods into the reservoirs, designed to protect the city from floodwaters. People who live on the west side of the reservoir that have not yet flooded likely will not flood, said Jeff Lindner, the Harris County Flood Control District's meteorologist. The situation is not as rosy on the other side of Buffalo Bayou, which officials said would not crest in some areas until Friday. There was no estimate for how many homes along the Buffalo Bayou flooded because of the releases, though officials estimated it likely was in the thousands. Fort Bend County made evacuation orders mandatory early Thursday in neighborhoods near Buffalo Bayou. The county's emergency management office warned of "imminent flooding" as the Barker Reservoir reached 101.1 feet in the early morning, with further increase likely. All sections of Canyon Gate, Grand Lakes and Ricefield Village now must evacuate. Many sections of Cinco Ranch and Kelliwood must evacuate. In Willow Fork, Greens Section 1 must evacuate. Residents are instructed to evacuate at daylight. Officials also warily eyed the Brazos River in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, and said mandatory evacuations for neighborhoods at risk would not be lifted until the river began to go down and road conditions improved. "This is a dangerous situation at this moment," Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said. Beaumont and Port Arthur to the east of Houston were the next to be hit by Harvey, which moved on early Wednesday into Louisiana. "Our whole city is underwater right now, but we are coming," Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted on Facebook. Looting was reported from Kingwood down to Dickinson, where officials had ordered mandatory evacuations. The CEO of a chemical plant in Crosby admitted that there was no way to stop chemicals caught without the necessary coolant from catching fire or exploding. An area 1.5 miles around the Arkema plant was evacuated as officials waited for temperatures to rise, likely setting off the explosion. Many hospitals were still hampered by flooding, but were accepting critical patients. Andrew Kragie, Mike Snyder, Lindsay Ellis, Margaret Kadifa, Mike Morris, Mihir Zaveri, Robert Downen, Emily Foxhall, Gabrielle Banks, Jacob Carpenter, St. John Barned-Smith, David Olinger, Bridget Balch, Lise Olsen, Rebecca Elliott, Cindy George, Brooke A. Lewis, John D. Harden and Monica Rhor. A proposed change to funding regulations could put Flagstaff on the fast track to receiving funding for a veterans home, city leaders said. This change will directly benefit northern Arizona, and all rural communities in the United States, Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans said. The proposed regulation changes would incorporate a consideration for veterans in rural areas into the ranking priorities for grant applications. The current funding formula prioritizes veteran demographics and nursing home and in-home care needs within a state, which can make it difficult for rural areas to compete for VA State Home Construction Grants, the Department of Veterans Affairs said in a press release. We want to remove the red tape, VA Secretary David Shulkin said in a press release. Veterans in rural areas need to be able to get nursing home care when its needed as close as possible to their homes, families and friends. Changes in VA regulations can save families from having to travel long distances to visit a loved one in a facility far from home. Evans said the change puts us in an even better position to receive funding, and said the existing formula was skewed to advantage more urban areas and bigger cities. The change allows rural places to compete on an even playing field, Evans said. A veterans home is especially appropriate in Flagstaff due to the citys proximity to the Navajo and Hopi reservations, Evans said. Native American people have served in the armed forces at a higher rate than any other group, Evans said. According to the VA press release, the department expects the changes to be completed by the end of 2017. The changes will then be available for public comment. The city originally discussed donating the land to create the home on McMillan Mesa in 2015, but Evans had been researching the possibility since 2011. In May 2016, Gov. Doug Ducey approved the appropriation of $10 million to help fund the construction of the home. When Evans and other members of the Flagstaff City Council traveled to Washington, D.C., they spoke with both Arizona senators and other VA staff about the need for a home in Flagstaff. John McCain and Jeff Flake have been extremely helpful in moving this forward, as well as VA administration in D.C., Evans said. Evans said Flagstaff is already ranked first in priority for a new facility, and said the change could give the project the boost it needs for funding. She said Yuma also has a veterans home project in the works, and the changes could help them secure funding as well. The VA in Washington understands that veterans, wherever veterans live, deserve services, she said. The city must now wait for the federal budget to be approved. Once the funding is approved at the federal level, Evans said it is expected to take two to three years to build the home. Evans said she and former Councilman Jeff Oravits worked together on helping the project move forward. He truly was a driving force, Evans said. We worked together on this and its exciting to be at this point in the process. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Receding waters are allowing wireless providers and cable companies to begin assessing the damage. AT&T and Verizon deployed drones to inspect cell towers in areas not accessible to cars or trucks due to flooding. RELATED: Harvey could blast $10 billion hole in Texas infrastructure Comcast dispatched its maintenance technicians to begin restoration efforts throughout the Greater Houston area, including Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty and Montgomery counties. Sprint crews are making site repairs and using generators to get affected sites back online, and Verizon is out assessing the damages. Verizon said there were no outages caused by Hurricane Harvey. Some of its sites were damaged by the storm, but nearby sites picked up the traffic. READ ALSO: Maps show what Harvey's impact would look like in other states Sprint said its network is 97 percent operational in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. AT&T said its network continues to perform well, though it did not provide specific information about outages or customers affected. In the face of flooding and power outages, it has deployed three temporary cell sites in the Beaumont and Baytown areas, and an additional temporary cell site to Spring. More resources are on the way. T-Mobile said its network in Corpus Christi is almost back to normal and that its network in Houston remains unaffected. It did not provide more detailed information about outages or customers affected. Comcast said it is working diligently to restore service to all impacted customers as quickly and safely as possible. Originally, about 10 percent of its customers lost service after Hurricane Harvey. As of Thursday afternoon, less than 5 percent of its customers remain without service and most of those are due to the loss of commercial power to Comcast's network in that area. The company is deploying generators in affected neighborhoods to power the network until commercial power is restored. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Daniel Armenta stacked 25 planks of baseboard moulding on a Lowes lumber cart on Telephone Road, preparing for weeks of nonstop work. High rises and homes that flooded during Tropical Storm Harvey needed drywall, carpet and woodwork replacements, and widespread store closures had made it impossible for the contractor to stock up on supplies. His phone had already started ringing. "I haven't been able to buy this since the storm," he said. "I'm going to be very busy." Lowes and Home Depot, the region's two largest home supply chains, brought a substantial number of Houston-area stores back online Wednesday, marking the start of a scramble for tools and equipment to repair homes and buildings inundated during the deluge. Customers lined up with carts full of plywood, sheetrock and cleaning supplies as the clouds at last parted. Both retailers have expedited shipments of recovery materials throughout the region, but they're facing the same supply-chain challenges that have kept some grocery and big-box stores closed for days. Flooded roads have blocked access to certain locations, and the regional disaster rendered it difficult or impossible for some employees to report to work. Lowes managed to open the majority of its roughly 30 stores in the area by Wednesday afternoon as its drivers navigated alternate routes to complete deliveries. Its command center has shipped more than 900 truckloads of emergency supplies to the region. A handful of stores remained closed, though, flooded or cordoned off by high water. The store on Beechnut along the swollen Brays Bayou had set up makeshift "closed" signs in the parking lot, and employees there said it would be several weeks before it dried out and reopened. Home Depot opened nearly 40 of its area stores, drawing heavily from a Baytown distribution center where employees had staged supplies days before the storm struck the Texas coast. The company has dispatched about 500 truckloads of supplies since the storm slammed ashore. Fifteen stores, including several in heavily flooded areas, remained closed. Company spokesman Matthew Harrigan said the company has for days been tracking road and weather conditions for truck drivers and planned to bus in employees from other Texas cities to help restart operations. "We're literally monitoring by the minute," he said. "We are opening stores as soon as it is safe to do so." Hundreds of customers descended on store locations as they opened throughout the city, particularly in areas hardest hit by flooding. At a Lowes store in Atascocita, where boats are still rescuing residents, a line snaked out the door. At the Lowes store on Telephone Road, store manager Trinidad Rodriguez managed to summon enough employees to open for the first time in days. He estimated about 20 of his workers had been affected by the storm, but nearly 30 had made it there to run the registers and help frazzled customers. By midafternoon Wednesday, the store had sold out of box fans to dry sodden flooring. Customers formed a long line in front of relatively few registers, carts laden with soil, tools and lumber. One man snagged a Texans doormat to replace one that had washed away. Marlene Vences pushed a cart stacked with lattice. She was staying with her parents near Hobby Airport after the storm destroyed her home on the northeast side, and she trekked to the store with her dogs in mind. "We're trying to build a fence so they can go outside," she said. Mike Cordova acknowledged his luck as he assembled a stack of Sheetrock. Harvey left his home near Hobby Airport with only minor leaks, nothing that couldn't be repaired within a few days. "I'm high and dry," he said. "I'm very lucky." Other customers helped each other push carts stacked with plywood to the parking lot. Rodriguez said his store, located near several East End communities, is a frequent destination for contractors, and he expects brisk business as their work orders come in. "It's going to be busy," he said. "Likely for years." The most recent cover of French magazine Charlie Hebdo mocks victims of Hurricane Harvey with art of neo-Nazis drowning and text that translates to, God Exists! He Drowned All the Neo-Nazis of Texas. The cover features an image of swastika flags and arms in the Nazi salute being submerged in rainwater. The hurricane and massive flooding in the Houston area has killed at least 31 people and left thousands stranded. The typically controversial satire magazine was the victim of a terror attack in 2015 when a gunman opened fire on the staff for mocking Prophet Mohammed. The terrorists with Al-Qaeda tied killed 12 of the magazines staffers. An evil, despicable cover. Also, the losers at Charlie Hebdo have a God-given right to publish it, & no one has the right to shoot them pic.twitter.com/isOVjkXPR0 Tiana Lowe (@TianaTheFirst) August 30, 2017 Also Read: 28 Stars Who Have Donated to Hurricane Harvey Relief, From Beyonce to Kevin Hart The cover is presumably poking fun at the tragic events in Charlottesville earlier this month when violence erupted at a White Supremacy rally, killing three people. Users quickly rushed to Twitter to criticize the cover, with many people noting that the magazine has the right to print whatever it wants. Free speech is wonderful isnt it, Charlie Hebdo? You have every right to publish this, and I have every right to call you a piece of st, one user wrote. Another person tweeted, You know why I love this picture of Charlie Hebdo? Because nobody will murder them over it. That is why western culture is superior to Islam Check out some of the reactions: French rag Charlie Hebdo mocks Harvey victims as Neo Nazis Charlie Hebdo makes fun of everyone but Muslims. Cowards https://t.co/VUnXuN1ARy Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 31, 2017 Remember when terrorists attacked Charlie Hebdo, and the Right grieved? This is their thanks. God Exists (referring to the Houston floods) pic.twitter.com/OuIAnjwSbM /pol/ News Infinity (@polNewsInfinity) August 31, 2017 France's Charlie Hebdo mocking Houston flood victims as Nazis. Remember when we mocked their dead? Me neither. pic.twitter.com/0Sn7J73FiD Bearzus (@bearzus) August 31, 2017 #CharlieHebdo makes fun of everything. What a shame. It's disheartening Yusuf Mohammed X (@OtunbaYM) August 31, 2017 This is such a trash response to everything going on in the USA. Je ne suis pas #charliehebdo . https://t.co/Pk27wsj7vD Thom S. Esque (@TSesque) August 31, 2017 Of course this is safe for them. Charlie Hebdo knows a team of evangelical Texans will never storm their offices shouting "Praise God" ????JustJoan ???????? (@6thgentexan) August 31, 2017 @dagenmcdowell Charlie Hebdo should recall how many Texans died kicking Nazis out of France mpav (@mpav) August 31, 2017 Clearly, the editors of #CharlieHebdo watch #CNN and this is what they think of #America https://t.co/tTbA28T3R6 John Marshall (@John_W_Marshall) August 31, 2017 @Charlie_Hebdo_ Is it too late to give France back to Germany? Wonder how many have Nazi blood because their grandma's laid with Nazis? Matt (@99Zeus99) August 31, 2017 Can anyone explain to me by the way why the latest Charlie Hebdo cover is DEFINITELY mocking Harvey victims? Russian Takoyayki (@dicrowmatic) August 31, 2017 @Charlie_Hebdo_ From America to you we wish you nothing but the worst after we sympathized with you after the attack you stab us in the back JohnPicciano (@johnpiccianojr) August 31, 2017 Read original story Charlie Hebdo Cover Portraying Harvey Victims as Neo-Nazis Shocks Twitter: Evil (Photo) At TheWrap This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fort Bend County authorities said one person died in a Katy area road rage incident on Wednesday. At 12:30 p.m., a sheriff's deputy responded to a reported shooting at Peek Road and Westheimer Parkway. The deputy found one person with a gunshot wound on the ground and another person sitting in a convertible with their hands up. The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said witnesses told authorities the road rage began when both drivers got into a "traffic altercation" at a red light and "one subject ran up to the other and began punching him in the head." GRIM NEWS: Death toll rises as flooding continues in the Houston area In response, the driver in the convertible, who was allegedly attacked, shot the assailant, authorities said. Authorities said John Somich, 51, of Katy was killed in the road rage incident. The shooter, who police say was lawfully carrying a firearm, was detained and released. The case will be referred to a grand jury for review. See which Texas cities have the most violent crime rate above. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Marcus Davis, pastor at Christian Victory Center in New Caney, woke up Tuesday, Aug. 29, he had no idea in a matter of hours, he would be performing water rescues for nursing home residents in Kingwood. Davis and his wife, Alisha Davis, already established a bond with the residents of the Regent Care Center in Kingwood, where they have regularly pastored for years. When Harvey's destructive forces began devastating the Kingwood area, the Davises sought ways to help the community however they could. "We were sitting at home, feeling a bit hopeless, feeling like we needed to find ways to get out and help," Alisha Davis said. DRONE FOOTAGE: Aerial photos show Kingwood flooding Marcus Davis started going around Kingwood, checking water levels at locations where water typically rises during flood events. When he arrived at the site of the Regent Care Center, a nursing home in Kingwood, he saw the facility might be taking on water. "He called the Regent Care administration, and they said there was water coming in and they were waiting on a team to evacuate," Alisha Davis said. "He immediately went into rescue-mode." He rushed to Woodland Hills in Kingwood with the mission of finding a rescue boat. Almost immediately upon arriving, he spotted a steel flat-bottom boat, approximately 20 feet long. AUTHORITIES: Harvey floodwater has high E. Coli levels "When I saw that, I knocked on the window and asked the man if he could help us," Davis said. "That man called three of his friends with boats." When Davis and the volunteers arrived with the rescue boat, they started evacuating residents 10 to 15 at a time. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, Davis said more and more rescue boats began showing up and helping in the efforts. After multiple hours, approximately 130 nursing home residents had been safely evacuated, along with their necessary medical equipment. "The people at Regent Care blew me away," Davis said. "While we're getting people, they're getting equipment. They grabbed hospital beds; the lady in the kitchen grabbed the puree machine. They didn't miss one medication I think they got every single supply out of Regent Care. The nurses and residents were transported to Victory Christian Center, where the staff set up equipment to resume serving their residents as usual. The owner of the building in which Victory Christian Center is housed gave the church access to five additional spaces in which they could set up the shelter. For two days, volunteers and donations came out of the woodwork. "Over those two days in a row, there easily had to be 300 volunteers, probably more than that, and 90 percent I'd never met before in my life," Davis said. "I've been a pastor for five years, and I am just amazed by what I saw. People in unity, working together. People just walked up, asked 'What can I do?' and jumped right in." Over the course of those days, eventually all of the nursing home residents were transported to more permanent care locations. However, this is not the end of the line as far as Victory Christian Center's post-Harvey efforts. "We were receiving so many donations," Davis said. "Now, I have a whole warehouse full of supplies that we're getting ready to distribute to the community. We're in phase two now." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Houston Independent School District announced on Wednesday that it had received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture to waive the required application process for the National School Lunch/Breakfast Program. "All HISD students will eat all school meals for free during the 2017-2018 school year," the district said in a release Wednesday morning. Families still need to apply for this waiver though. RELATED: Harvey forces shutdown of nation's largest refinery in Port Arthur The impact of Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath put this plan into motion. This takes care of one more thing for families and students who have much work ahead of them over the next few months. "The waiver will allow all HISD students to receive free lunch for the school year. Despite the federal waiver, HISD is still asking parents and guardians to complete and return the application," the district added. Now Playing: Houston pulls together to face Hurricane Harvey. Video: David Funchess/Houston Chronicle The National School Lunch/School Breakfast Program applications and surveys are available here online for families that will be in need. RELATED: Heartbreaking photos show Texans evacuating homes as flood waters rise during Harvey The flooding that is affecting the city of Houston has been devastating to so many. Some of the areas that are the hardest hit are filled with working parents whose limited funds will need to go toward recovery efforts, said Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza. The waiver will take effect immediately when school in the district eventually resumes. There is also help on the way to feed children dinner as well. Just last week, the Texas Department of Agriculture approved the district's application to offer free supper to all of the district's students. This latest announcement supports the districts goals of reducing food insecurity and providing food to as many students as possible, the district said in the statement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Residents in northwest Houston found shelter in churches and schools as Hurricane Harvey poured endless gallons of rainwater over the area. While most of the roads that were closed by city officials due to high water since Saturday have opened, only two major roadways were closed by Wednesday. These included area of Holderrieth Road from Texas 249 to South Cherry Street and Hufsmith-Kohrville Road between Holderrieth Road and Boudreaux Road. On Sunday, the Tomball Community Emergency Response Team and city officials set up a shelter at First Baptist Church Tomball. Around noon on Wednesday, the Red Cross transferred the remaining 34 evacuees to Lone Star College-Tomball. DOGS AT SCHOOL: Pearland High becomes temporary shelter for people and pets During the storm, the shelter housed between 50 to 100 people, said CERT shelter manager Angie Fontenot. The remaining evacuees were transferred to the Lone Star College System campus in three small church buses. Six members of the Texas State Guard arrived from Midland to assist evacuees. The campus housed 58 evacuees before accepting the church evacuees, said Texas State Guard Lt. Wayne Frost. "We couldn't be doing any better under the circumstances," he said. During the storm, the Tomball Fire Department performed six water rescues to pull people out of vehicles stuck in high water, said Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr. An additional 15 people were evacuated from their homes who were flooded or were under threat of flooding, he said. South of Tomball, Graceview Baptist Church posted a sign on its front door warning people not to donate more items. Graceview deacon Lewis Sumrall said that when he put out the call that the church would open as a shelter on social media on Tuesday morning, he was not expecting to be overwhelmed by donations of needed items. "We had a double line coming in," he said of the cars lined up in the parking lot on Tuesday to drop off items. He said they had to stop taking donations once they ran out of space. He and volunteers are directing people to donate at other nearby churches. "We were going to take in overflow people from (other) shelters," said Dinana Donahoo, 58, a volunteer at Graceview. "We knew so many of the other shelters were full, so we were ready for them." When the call for help from the community went out, Donahoo said it was "peaceful, but busy" with so many community residents donating items. Jenna Malisheski, 23, and Nicholas Bishop, 25, said they had been turned down as volunteers by other shelters who had too many workers. At Graceview, Malisheski sorted and packed diapers and baby supplies into cardboard boxes. "We've been hearing from people that there's an overwhelming excess of supplies and help and everything, which, of course, that's never a bad thing," she said. "People have been going out of their way to really help." Her neighborhood in the Ashford Grove subdivision didn't suffer any flooding, she said. "The neighborhood next to us was completely underwater and ours is on a hill," she said. "We could get out of our house when a lot people can't." She said a former coworker informed her that her father-in-law and dog were trapped in waist high water. She and Bishop waded through the water to get them out. "We walked in front and behind him to make sure he didn't slip or fall," Bishop said. They set the man's belongings and dogs in a raft and dropped him off with his daughter-in-law. The church had more volunteers than people seeking shelter since two rescue volunteers from Alabama spent the night at the church instead of area residents, Sumrall said. Once a constable Harris County Sheriff's Office informed him that there probably wouldn't be more evacuees seeking shelter in the area, Sumrall said the church decided to shift into a distribution center with volunteers sorting clothing, blankets, toiletries and other items. "What we're trying to do right now is kind of get it organized and situated," he said. "Then our next step is figuring out how to get it out to people because we also operate a daycare here in the church and we're trying to get it up and running because people are going to have find a place for their kids when they have to go back to work. We need to get something organized. BEAUMONT - Thousands of southeast Texans climbed on top of their cars and roofs, pleading for help from friends and strangers, after Tropical Storm Harvey unloaded more than 2 feet of rain late Tuesday and Wednesday and left neighborhoods in ruins with nowhere for floodwaters to drain. The stranded were rescued in boats, helicopters and dump trucks. Others were still waiting for help Wednesday afternoon, as officials and volunteers fielded nonstop calls for help throughout the night and day. Officials asked residents who needed assistance to hang white sheets from their houses to help rescuers identify them while they searched flooded streets for those who were trapped. Many of those ferried to safety were dropped at staging points or ill-equipped shelters, where organizers were asking for food, bedding, diapers and any other donations to give evacuees, many of whom fled with pets in hand. Many shelters were at capacity by Wednesday afternoon and had to turn away tides of people ferried from flooded homes. At least two shelters were evacuated after they began flooding - Port Arthur's Bob Bowers Civic Center and Lumberton's Parkway Life Church - while others were dry inside but accessible only by boat. Jefferson County officials said they considered moving evacuees from three shelters near Hamshire-Fannett where flooded roadways left the shelters as islands. City and county officials called the situation in Port Arthur "dire" and urged residents to go into survival mode. Port Arthur's 911 received so many calls that Beaumont and Jefferson County dispatchers answered calls for at least 18 hours. "If you're still in your home, we're coming," Mayor Derrick Freeman said in a Facebook live video Wednesday afternoon, as residents frantically posted addresses in the comments section asking for help. 26 inches in 24 hours Although Harvey's rains ebbed late Wednesday afternoon as the tropical storm head northeast for Louisiana, floodwaters are not expected to recede any time soon. The storm dumped 26 inches of water in 24 hours in Beaumont, and more than 5 feet in five days in some parts of the region, leaving water in streets, houses and buildings with nowhere to go. Record flooding in Pine Island Bayou, Village Creek and the Neches River, on top of major flooding for the Sabine River, left the region drenched. The Neches River Saltwater Barrier has been engulfed by flooding, according to Lower Neches Valley Authority executive director Scott Hall. Hall said the barrier has been open during the entirety of Harvey, allowing all water to flow through. "The river is so full that the barrier isn't even showing," Hall said. "When there's flooding, the structure is only meant to keep the tide back." The Sabine River Authority is releasing water through spillway gates because of rising water levels at Toledo Bend Reservoir, sending more water downstream. The reservoir's level was 172.94 feet Wednesday afternoon, prompting the Authority to open 11 gates 2 feet each. In an earlier announcement Wednesday, they warned that flooding along the river, which is already full from the week's rain, could lead to evacuations. Record discharge expected The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced in a statement it expects to release historic amounts at B.A. Steinhagen/Town Bluff Lake between Jasper and Woodville. Officials said the discharge rate had been increased to more than 44,100 cubic feet a second, which likely "exceed those experienced in the 2015 floods." "Local emergency management officials have been notified and preparations for evacuation of affected downstream areas are underway," the statement continued. Even after the rain slowed Wednesday, most roadways in southeast Texas remained impassable, blocking would-rescuers and resources from arriving. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said ambulance buses that were supposed to arrive were rerouted to Austin because of closed roads. Rescuers loaded at least 60 elderly patients from flooded nursing homes into boats, one or two at a time, and carried them to the Port Arthur Little Theater before sending them to area hospitals. Other residents were brought for medical attention in the backseats of military trucks and dump trucks, which Mary Poole at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas said were the only vehicles high enough to travel through some areas. Port Arthur Coast Guard Commander John Lovejoy said 10 to 20 helicopters were deployed by multiple agencies for the rescue efforts. "Basically, we're working with air directors and first responders to identify people in need and get them assistance as quickly as possible," he said. While helping rescue those who can't evacuate, helicopters also are delivering food and other supplies to shelters. Lovejoy said aircraft have landed at Jack Brooks Regional Airport to make deliveries, but also are willing to land in parking lots and shopping centers to reach those in need. "The call volume is very significant, so we're trying to work through those and keep up," he said. Monique Batson, Matt Faye, Morgan Gstalter, Danny Shapiro, Mike Tobias and Tim Collins contributed to this report. (function() { (function(){function b(g){this.t={};this.tick=function(h,m,f){var n=void 0!=f?f:(new Date).getTime();this.t[h]=[n,m];if(void 0==f)try{window.console.timeStamp("CSI/"+h)}catch(q){}};this.getStartTickTime=function(){return this.t.start[0]};this.tick("start",null,g)}var a;if(window.performance)var e=(a=window.performance.timing)&&a.responseStart;var p=0 =c&&(window.jstiming.srt=e-c)}if(a){var d=window.jstiming.load; 0 =c&&(d.tick("_wtsrt",void 0,c),d.tick("wtsrt_","_wtsrt",e),d.tick("tbsd_","wtsrt_"))}try{a=null,window.chrome&&window.chrome.csi&&(a=Math.floor(window.chrome.csi().pageT),d&&0 =b&&window.jstiming.load.tick("aft")};var k=!1;function l(){k||(k=!0,window.jstiming.load.tick("firstScrollTime"))}window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener("scroll",l,!1):window.attachEvent("onscroll",l); })(); M. Bakri Musa Seeing Malaysia My Way About Me Name: M. Bakri Musa Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States Malaysian-born Bakri Musa writes frequently on issues affecting his native land. His essays have appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, Education Quarterly, SIngapore's Straits Times, and The New Straits Times. His commentary has aired on National Public Radio's Marketplace. His regular column Seeing It My Way appears in Malaysiakini. Bakri is also a regular contributor to th eSun (Malaysia). He has previously written "The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia" as well as "Malaysia in the Era of Globalization," "An Education System Worthy of Malaysia," "Seeing Malaysia My Way," and "With Love, From Malaysia." Bakri's day job (and frequently night time too!) is as a surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife Karen live on a ranch in Morgan Hill. This website is updated twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 5 PM California time. View my complete profile Plotical Versus Mental Merdeka (Independence) Solving The Malay Problem: Learning From Others A Different Approach To "The Malay Problem" Malay Underdevelopment Beyond Politics and Public ... The Continuing Failure of Malaysian Leadership and... Malay Political Sophistry, Not Sophistication The Many Bedeviling Malay Hantus Time For Single-Payer Helath Insurance - Support S... Malaysian Reactions To DOJ Lawsuits Reflet Ignoran... The Legacy of Tun Razak's Oldest Son Courtesy of Syed Azidi Aziz of kickdefella.wordpress.com Make Malaysia Tanah Melayu Again? Make Malaysia Tanah Melayu Again? Reflections on the Sixtieth Anniversary of Merdeka M. Bakri Musa www.bakrimusa.com Liberating The Malay Mind will resume next Sunday, September 3, 2017] [The serialization of mywill resume next Sunday, September 3, 2017] The deadly white supremacists riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, and the much less lethal but no less dangerous fracas at the Nothing-to-Hide 2 Forum in Shah Alam the following day, may have occurred at literally opposite ends of the globe and in a diametrically different cultural milieu, nonetheless the underlying racial and socio-political dynamics share many eerie and frightening similarities. Factoring time zone differences, the two events took place at about the same time. There were other similarities but before pursuing them it is worth recalling the differences. While mega terabytes were consumed by tapes of and commentaries on that Charlottesville riot, as befit a tragedy that shook and shocked the comfortable core assumptions of America, the Malaysian fracas was remarkable for the silence of the establishment and mainstream media, reflecting their tacit approval. Only with the vigorous alternate media was this shameful and glaring deficit exposed. The New Yorkers series Mourning For Whiteness following President Trumps marginal electoral victory, she foresaw early the link between that and the future Charlottesville riot. In America, no commentary touched me more than the brief and prescient essay by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. Written last November fors series Mourning For Whiteness following President Trumps marginal electoral victory, she foresaw early the link between that and the future Charlottesville riot. To me, born and raised in Malaysia but now domiciled in America, Morrisons Making America White Again illuminated as much about my adopted country as of my native land. The choices made by white men who are prepared to abandon their humanity out of fear of black men and women, Morrison wrote, suggest the true horror of lost status. The status referred to is white privilege in America. kerises, threatening to soak them with the blood of non-Malays. This true horror of lost status, even the hint or threat of, is also what drives Malays to a frenzy of abandoning their humanity out of fear of their fellow non-Malay Malaysians. It prompts young Malays into slipper- and firebomb-throwing riots while their leaders brandish their, threatening to soak them with the blood of non-Malays. Ketuanan Melayu in local lingo, and the underlying dynamics are comparable and no less ugly. Substitute white privilege for special privileges, orin local lingo, and the underlying dynamics are comparable and no less ugly. Ketuanan Melayu, not in the heat of emotional electoral debates or idle coffee shop talks but in the lofty air-conditioned halls of party headquarters and modernish ministerial suites at Putrajaya. Those in our public universities too are afflicted by this virulent virus. Inflammatory words are uttered and crude gestures mimed by UMNO and PERKASA leaders invoking, not in the heat of emotional electoral debates or idle coffee shop talks but in the lofty air-conditioned halls of party headquarters and modernish ministerial suites at Putrajaya. Those in our public universities too are afflicted by this virulent virus. Immigrants to America know (and knew) that if they want to become real, authentic Americans, observed Morrison, they must reduce their fealty to their native country and regard it as secondary, subordinate, in order to emphasize their whiteness. United States holds whiteness as the unifying force, she continued. Here, for many people, the definition of Americanness is color. The whiteness equivalence in Malaysia is not skin color (thank Allah, for Malaysians come in various hues!), rather its equally sinister correlaterace. In Malaysia that is also tied to religion, making for an extra toxic and very volatile brew. In America during slavery, color ranking was obvious; there was little need to be explicit. Non-whites knew their place, or ought to! Breach that or in any way be seen as being uppity, and you would pay the terrible consequences. In todays post-civil rights America, white peoples conviction of their natural superiority is being lost. Rapidly lost. There are people of color everywhere threatening to erase this long-understood definition of America, wrote Morrison. We already had a black President. What more do blacks want, mocked Morrison. Another black President? A predominantly black Senate? Three black Supreme Court Justices? The threat is frightening. What more do blacks want? That recalls Prime Minister Najibs earlier chilling threat what more do the Chinese want? following his partys near-death experience with the Chinese tsunami of the last general elections. As in pre-emancipation America, racial identity (and the inevitable ranking) in Malaysia is explicit, enshrined in her constitution and institutions. At least our past leaders rationalized that on the need to ameliorate the socio-economic marginalization of Malays, the countrys largest ethnic entity. Today that provision is being exploited with a vengeance to ape the old colonial divide and rule imperative and imperialism. With norms of human rights and racial equality becoming universal, Malays conviction of our natural superiority is being challenged, and fast being lost, echoing Morrison on white privilege. Everywhere, Malaysia and America included, economic power and political realities on the ground trump established legal provisions and pat historical assumptions. Non-Malays, from the peninsula to East Malaysia, threaten to erase this long understood and accepted definition of Malaysia. I do not presume to know what non-Malays want. A non-Malay Prime Minister? Appeals Court packed with non-Malay judges? Predominantly non-Malay cabinet ministers? As in America, the threat is both real and frightening. Witness the raging controversy, public as well as in the rarified chambers of the Bar, to the extension of the due-to-retire Chief Justice Raus Sharif, an ugly manifestation of the fear that the top judicial post could go to a non-Malay, and from East Malaysia to boot. Tanah Melayu (Land of the Malays) again. To limit this possibility of untenable change, and restore Malayness to its status as a marker of national unity and defining character of Malaysia, a number of Malays are sacrificing themselves, like white Americans over their privileges. Malays have begun to do things we clearly dont really want to be doing, as with abandoning our sense of human dignity and risking the appearance of cowardice, all in the pursuit of making Malaysia(Land of the Malays) again. Much as Malays hate our behavior, and know full well how craven it is, we are willing to let, for example, Malay babies be abandoned rather than be adopted and showered with love by non-Malay families, desecrate the venerated symbols of other faiths, and engage in obscene behaviors in front of homes of non-Malay leaders. As shameful as such demonstrations of weakness are (make no mistake, those are expressions of weakness and desperation, not of courage or wisdom), we continue doing so. Ketuanan Melayu illusion, Malays tuck our heads under the banner of Malay sultans and legendary heroes like Hang Tuah, while shunning the necessary hard work needed to prepare for modern realities and current challenges. No surprise then that we are overrepresented among the socially dysfunctional. To them, Ketuanan Melayu remains a titillating tease at best and a cruel hoax at worse. To keep alive thisillusion, Malays tuck our heads under the banner of Malay sultans and legendary heroes like Hang Tuah, while shunning the necessary hard work needed to prepare for modern realities and current challenges. No surprise then that we are overrepresented among the socially dysfunctional. To them,remains a titillating tease at best and a cruel hoax at worse. What Malays have done, egged on by our leaders, are not acts of courage or deeds of the wise. Quite the contrary. Only the frightened would do that, and the dumb. after the Civil War; for another, more diverse), likewise todays Malaysia is far different from the old Tanah Melayu. There is minimal Malayness today or in the past in Sabah and Sarawak, or Penang for that matter. Just as America of the Confederacy was very different than todays Union (for one, it is considerably larger, with most states joining inthe Civil War; for another, more diverse), likewise todays Malaysia is far different from the old Tanah Melayu. There is minimal Malayness today or in the past in Sabah and Sarawak, or Penang for that matter. Ketuanan Melayu, in contrast to the mirage of Tuan perpetrated by our leaders or the crippled-on-crutches caricature portrayed by those contemptuous of us, may be difficult but is no secret. Get a good education, pursue something productive, and contribute to society. Then we could become Tuan even in lands other than Tanah Melayu and live Hang Tuahs immortal words, Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia! (Malays shall not be lost in this world!) Anything less and we are doomed to be hamba (slave) even in Tanah Melayu. The path to genuine, laudable and enviable, in contrast to the mirage ofperpetrated by our leaders or the crippled-on-crutches caricature portrayed by those contemptuous of us, may be difficult but is no secret. Get a good education, pursue something productive, and contribute to society. Then we could become Tuan even in lands other than Tanah Melayu and live Hang Tuahs immortal words,! (Malays shall not be lost in this world!) Anything less and we are doomed to be(slave) even in Tanah Melayu. Ketuanan Melayu. Unshackle yourselves. Modify the rallying cry of our forefathers from Merdeka Tanah Melayu to Merdeka Minda Melayu! To the sons and daughters of my native Malaysia, on this the sixtieth anniversary of Merdeka, do not be led astray by the false prophets and delusional aspirations of. Unshackle yourselves. Modify the rallying cry of our forefathers from to ! This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Twelve years ago this month, Houston mayor Bill White did the seemingly unthinkable, opening the doors of his thriving city to a traumatized flood of homeless Katrina evacuees - more than 200,000 of them in all. It was a complicated political gamble, which he justified in shockingly uncomplicated terms: "You should treat your neighbors the way you'd want to be treated," he argued. The decision was a controversial one at the time, but is remembered as one of the city's finest moments. THE LATEST: Get rolling updates on Harvey and the newest photos here Now Playing: Conversation with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett Video: JW Player Now the man who is known for sheltering displaced evacuees during a historic disaster is himself in need of shelter. On Sunday, White's home in the upscale Memorial neighborhood of west Houston was engulfed by Tropical Storm Harvey's fast-rising floodwaters, leaving the prominent Houstonian to fend for himself like so many others in the sprawling, urban pond. A photo taken by a neighbor moments after he was forced from his home shows the 63-year-old wading cautiously in waist-deep, coffee-colored waters, a hiking pole in one hand a black briefcase full of work documents in the other. On his face, a faint smile, his attempt to stay upbeat amid tragedy, he said, is barely visible. Asked what he thought the public might make of the distressing image, White paused. PHOTOS: See what Harvey images Houston residents are sharing on social media "I hope it says we're all in the same boat here in Houston, regardless of who you are," he said, speaking on his cellphone from a neighbor's house, where he is living at the moment. --- Five days after Harvey arrived, that boat remains in the thick of what has begun to feel like a protracted, slow-motion nightmare. The former politician - now working as a senior adviser for a financial services firm - joins tens of thousands of his fellow Houstonians in an epic communal struggling to endure the biggest rainstorm in the history of the continental United States. Unlike Katrina, which hurt New Orleans' most vulnerable residents, Harvey saturated vast swaths of Houston, a 650-square-mile metropolis. The result was a storm that left almost no neighborhood untouched, forcing rich and poor and suburbanites and city-dwellers of all backgrounds into the streets of one of the most diverse cities in America. "It has hit people across the economic spectrum," White said. "Neighborhoods in northeast Houston, where home prices are $20,000 and $30,000 are underwater and some of the most expensive houses in the metro area along Buffalo Bayou had extensive damage and required people to be rescued." The number of people in the city who sustained damage to a vehicle or a home will be "in the hundreds of thousands," he predicted. --- White never expected to be one of them. He and his wife built their home on stilts overlooking one of the city's well-known bayous. Sitting above the 100-year flood plane, the home was designed so that water could flow underneath the structure during a flood. On Sunday, White said, that didn't matter, as the bayou started "swelling like a river," surrounding the home. Like countless Houstonians taken by surprise by Harvey's deepening waters, White realized he didn't have much time. White's wife, Andrea - an author of young adult books and an editorial writer at the Houston Chronicle - was working outside the house at the time, he said. "Then I heard the gurgling of the water pressing against the floor boards and in a few minutes it started pouring out of cracks and electrical outlets until it was up to my ankles," he said. "I grabbed a few vital papers and put on a backpack that I prepared and I carried what I could to the upstairs. Then, with neighbors looking from afar, I waded into the waist deep water until I could get to higher ground." He wore khaki shorts, water proof hiking boots, wool socks and a T-shirt, and carried some extra socks and underwear in his backpack, he said. "I was trying to have a good attitude and I was smiling at my neighbors, who were looking at their neighbor and former mayor wading chest-deep in water," White added. Despite being homeless, White said he has spent recent days glued to his phone, talking to relatives and professional contacts, as well as fielding calls from emergency responders eager to tap some of the knowledge he amassed navigating Houston through powerful storms like hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike. Andrea White is staying at the family's country home about 20 miles outside town. Their three children are grown and living on their own. Tuesday night - with city shelters overflowing - Harris County officials reached out to White, former Harris County judge Robert Eckels and former Houston mayor Annise Parker to assist them in quickly opening a shelter for storm victims at NRG Park, a convention-style hall next door to the stadium where the NFL's Houston Texans play. The shelter, run by local nonprofit Baker-Ripley, will be able to house as many as 10,000 people and will include a pharmacy, a children's center and an area for pets, County Judge Ed Emmett told reporters, according to NBC affiliate KPRC. "Volunteers are stationed and ready at newly opened #NRG Center. Shelter officially opens for neighbors at 10:00 p.m. - BakerRipley (@BakerRipley) August 30, 2017" --- The shelter is a temporary solution, White said, a lesson city officials learned after Katrina, when newly arrived flood victims were given apartments vouchers that allowed them to settle in 35,000 vacant apartments. In the process, NPR reported a year after the storm, Houston spent far less money than the Federal Emergency Management Agency did on sheltering evacuees in trailers and hotels in other states. "We got people out of shelters and into apartments so people could be going to work and going to school rather than the FEMA approach," White said, noting that he thinks the same approach will work for Harvey flood victims. "If we end up now with over 100,000 people with homes that are uninhabitable, well you need some kind of voucher program that puts people quickly into modest apartments. "The many Houstonians who were living at the margin of existence on minimum wage or who are seniors living off Social Security, that's what they'll need." White doesn't know if his home is salvageable. If it is, he said, he intends to rebuild, but isn't worried about his residence at the moment. "We lived in the house 18 years and raised the kids there - had a lot of memorable events there," White said. "I arise each day lucky to be alive and I know there are people who don't have the safety net that my family does." "And frankly, my thoughts are more about them than material things I have lost," he added. craigslist: thailand jobs, apartments, for sale, services, community, and events craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, services, local community, and events This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Despite rising floodwater, 25-year-old Andrew Pasek headed out Tuesday to try to save his older sister's 15-pound cat. Her house in Bear Creek Village had already flooded, and the west Harris County subdivision was under voluntary evacuation because of the inundated Addicks Reservoir. Deliberate reservoir releases and additional water backed up upstream from the dam forced thousands of residents, including Andrew's sister, out of their homes for up to three months. THE LATEST: Recovery efforts, other developments in Harvey's wake But that didn't stop Pasek, a determined animal lover with a propensity for rescuing strays off the street. His parents, JoDell and Al Pasek, waited anxiously at their home, alongside a dog and a cat Andrew had convinced them to adopt, for news of his success. Andrew's sister and her fiance had taken their dog from the home, but lacked a carrier for the cat, a Maine Coon named d'Artagna. So Andrew -- who lived in northwest Houston and worked in the auto repair industry -- headed to the rescue. He parked his 10-year-old Jeep Cherokee near the entrance to the neighborhood and, with a friend, walked through the floodwaters. A few blocks in, Andrew screamed to his friend that he felt an electric current. "Get out of here! Don't touch me!" cried Andrew, a Memorial-area native. He stumbled in the deep water. He grabbed ahold of a mailbox post to break his fall. A jolt of electric current running through a faulty wire rushed through his body, JoDelle Pasek said. Andrew's friend called 911. Then, he called his mother, who called JoDell Pasek, 66. Without a second thought, JoDelle and Al Pasek piled into their car and drove from their home, off of Interstate 10 in Memorial, to Bear Creek Village. When the Paseks arrived in the subdivision, they looked for Andrew's Jeep - which he had owned since he was a teenager - but couldn't find it. Then, they spotted EMS vehicles, staffed with first responders who were around the corner from, but still couldn't reach, their son. They were waiting, the first responders said, for CenterPoint to shut off the electricity coursing through the floodwaters so they could safely get to him. The Paseks panicked. "I just need to see my son," a distraught, Al Pasek, 69, said. "I need to help him." Their 27-year-old daughter and her fiance arrived. The four of them waited over an hour, JoDell Pasek said. Once the power was off, first responders ventured into the floodwaters. Andrew was already dead. They brought his body back, wrapped in a black bag. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, as floodwaters recede, the number of fatalities confirmed to be linked to hurricane has reached 18, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. Andrew's is the only death so far listed as having been caused by electrocution. But, two men trying to rescue a neighbor in northeast Harris County drowned Monday, after rapid currents flowing through Greens Bayou slammed their boat into a power line. "The safety of the public and our employees continues to be our highest priority," CenterPoint wrote in a statement about Andrew's death. "Because downed power lines and other hidden issues in flood waters are dangerous, we continue to urge everyone impacted by flooding to be safe during flooding situations. In rare instances when we are instructed by safety or emergency response officials and/or regulators to do so, we will shut off electricity." That Tuesday, there wasn't time for JoDell Pasek to say goodbye. Per protocol, the body bag was quickly put into a vehicle, before Pasek got a chance to grab Andrew's cell phone or car keys or wallet. She knew she wouldn't be allowed to see her son's face, she later said. But, JoDell Pasek added, she wished she could have at least touched the bag. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A little girl with long black braids in a peach Hello Kitty tank top ran over when she heard Gloriana Gomez, dressed in a blue gown and long blond wig, singing "Let it Go" inside NRG Center, which became a shelter for flood victims as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. Hugs came next in what was one of the lighter moments inside one of the region's growing number of shelters housing thousands of Houstonians, many of whom were going on their third or fourth night sleeping on a cot alongside other victims from across the area who had lost everything in Harvey's floods. At least 32,000 people sought shelter Tuesday night in more than 230 facilities across Texas Now Playing: Tuesday at the Red cross shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Video: Nancy Sarnoff, Chron.com The NRG shelter, across from the Astrodome, was housing some 900 Houstonians Wednesday afternoon. Officials from the Baker-Ripley House, which is operating the shelter in partnership with Harris County, were expecting about 1,500 more over the next several hours. The facility is able to house 10,000. Gomez, dressed as Elsa from Frozen, said she planned to come back Thursday to volunteer. She and three friends - dressed as Wonder Woman, the Black Widow and Super Woman - worked in the "kid zone," an area of the shelter set up for the youngest flood victims. "We were OK, we fared well and we wanted to do something to help the families," said Claudia Macias, an education consultant and children's book author dressed as Wonder Woman. With about eight times as many evacuees, the shelter at downtown's George R. Brown Convention Center looked more worn Wednesday. Evacuees lingered outside on cigarette breaks. Blankets were huddled in corners. Yet food and supplies had been coming in throughout the day and more services were being offered to flood victims. The Red Cross said there are enough shelter supplies for more than 50,000 people in Texas and that trailers of kitchen supplies are on the ground - with six more on the way - that support six kitchens, each producing 10,000 meals a day. There are also 116,000 ready-to-eat meals that have arrived with an additional 39,000 on their way. The number of evacuees at the downtown facility fell to around 8,000 Wednesday morning, according to a facility official, down from a high of about 10,000. Help from Mexico Late Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city was not accepting any new evacuees to the downtown shelter. Those who come in will be transported to NRG. "I would encourage any individual who may need shelter to go to the NRG. There's plenty of space; they're well equipped," Turner said at a news conference. Toyota Center was set up as a "relief valve for GRB" when it hit 10,000 people and will be closed in the coming days, he said. FEMA was onsite after arriving Tuesday and was set up in the GRB's main concourse, assisting people who could not register online. Tables were set up near the entrance offering free legal advice through Lone Star Legal Aid. Signs were advertising interpreters, hotel information and transportation services. The Red Cross said its volunteers would be joined by the Mexican Red Cross to help support shelters and connect with Spanish speaking evacuees. Christina Cave, a spokeswoman for BakerRipley, formerly Neighborhood Centers, a nonprofit operating the NRG shelter along with Harris County, said evacuees were coming in from everywhere, including Kingwood, where many were recently displaced. Others had come from different shelters. She said the facility had nurses, doctors and social workers on hand along with 400 volunteers helping sort donations and serve meals. Baby with a fever FEMA had not yet arrived, which was frustrating to a pair of women who had both come to NRG in the middle of the night after being moved from the another shelter, the American Legion Hall in Crosby. One of them, Isabel Correa, scrolled through pictures on her phone her son had sent her showing the damage to her two-story condominium near Interstate 45 and Federal. The water line on her walls was about4 feet from the floor. She does not have flood insurance. Downtown, a number of families Wednesday were leaving, headed home to check on their properties, or to stay with friends or relatives. They took with them the few bags or boxes of belongings they had. Volunteers helped them carry their things on dollies or wheeled carts to their rides waiting outside. "A lot of people are going back home to see what the damage was. Some are going to other people's homes," said Rita Moreno, a fourth-grade teacher at Tijerina Elementary in the East End who was helping a Hispanic family of four out. A few days ago, Moreno had offered to take in another family of four with a 1-year-old and a 2-week old who live on Broadway near Hobby Airport. The family opted to stay at the shelter a few days because their baby was wet when they came in and they wanted to be sure they'd have medical care in case he got sick. He ended up getting a fever and was treated for it at the shelter, and the family went home Wednesday. "I took their number," said Moreno, who plans to check in with the family. Mike Morris contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Even as large parts of the city came back to life Wednesday, much of the Houston area remained in crisis as worsening conditions around a reservoir sent more water pouring into thousands of homes in west Harris County and rising river levels threatened thousands more to the south and east. People who ventured out found shorter lines at gas stations, fresh milk on grocery store shelves and an Astros game planned for Saturday. But to the west of Houston, emergency crews struggled with overflowing dams, trying to stop water from pouring into homes and flooding Interstate 10 - one of the state's major arteries. The northeastern suburb of Kingwood, a community with about 80,000 residents, resembled a river, with roiling currents and water covering street signs and submerged cars. People begged rescue workers at a boat launch to check on elderly parents they hadn't heard from in days, and to save their pets. "We still have a long way to go," said Mayor Sylvester Turner, calling for the federal government to cut through red tape and get assistance to the tens of thousands of people displaced by the storm. "We're still in the midst of these challenges and they're immense." The number of people known or believed to be dead in the Houston-Galveston area climbed to above 30 on Wednesday after rescue workers reached a van holding a family of six, including four children. In Fort Bend County, a Katy pastor and his wife died after driving into floodwaters midday Wednesday. Houston police, who have helped rescue more than 3,000 people during the past few days, reported midday that they had found 27 of 47 missing people. Twenty remained unaccounted for. "We're afraid we'll see a lot more of this as the waters recede," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Wednesday. Harris County flood control officials reported that "nearly every watershed is experiencing devastating flooding." But many also have started dropping, offering some hope. Much of the attention Wednesday turned to the towering Addicks and Barker reservoirs 17 miles west of Houston that reached records levels after Harvey dumped more than a trillion gallons of rainwater on the region. For days, officials have intentionally released water from the reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou, which snakes through the heart of Houston, hoping to reduce the upstream flooding behind the dams, where an estimated 4,000 homes took on water. The Addicks reservoir spilled water into its overflow on Wednesday as officials scrambled to build a barrier to keep the water from flooding Interstate 10. The Barker had yet to overflow as of late Wednesday. David Miller said his house in the Wilchester subdivision, sandwiched between the Addicks reservoir and Buffalo Bayou, had not flooded since 2006. "Not a drop," he said. A few blocks west, Sherri Tefft, wearing wading boots, stood in the street watching water creep toward the front door of the house her father built in 1977. The home never previously flooded, she said. "I understand they need to release water, but they need to plan it better," Tefft said. Some smaller creeks and tributaries will keep rising, part of a natural adjustment officials believe will carry water from neighborhoods into the reservoirs, designed to protect the city from floodwaters. People who live on the west side of the reservoir that have not yet flooded likely will not flood, said Jeff Lindner, the Harris County Flood Control District's meteorologist. The situation is not as rosy on the other side of Buffalo Bayou, which officials said would not crest in some areas until Friday. There was no estimate for how many homes along the Buffalo Bayou flooded because of the releases, though officials estimated it likely was in the thousands. Fort Bend County made evacuation orders mandatory early Thursday in neighborhoods near Buffalo Bayou. The county's emergency management office warned of "imminent flooding" as the Barker Reservoir reached 101.1 feet in the early morning, with further increase likely. All sections of Canyon Gate, Grand Lakes and Ricefield Village now must evacuate. Many sections of Cinco Ranch and Kelliwood must evacuate. In Willow Fork, Greens Section 1 must evacuate. Residents are instructed to evacuate at daylight. Officials also warily eyed the Brazos River in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, and said mandatory evacuations for neighborhoods at risk would not be lifted until the river began to go down and road conditions improved. "This is a dangerous situation at this moment," Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said. Beaumont and Port Arthur to the east of Houston were the next to be hit by Harvey, which moved on early Wednesday into Louisiana. "Our whole city is underwater right now, but we are coming," Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted on Facebook. No good damage estimate Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced all but two mega-shelters would close around Houston so evacuees could be consolidated in the massive NRG Center - which can house 10,000 people - and the George R Brown Convention Center, which was at capacity. Houston Housing Director Tom McCasland said late Wednesday the city would not be closing any shelters despite Emmett's announcement, marking a point of tension in city-county relief efforts after the storm No one had a good damage estimate for the Houston metropolitan area, the fourth-largest in the nation. The number of homes in the region impacted ranged from 40,000 to 100,000, but officials said they were days away from having an accurate assessment of the devastation. Local officials said they needed more help, and faster. They wanted the federal government to pay for recovery efforts, which do not yet have a price estimate. "We need a whole lot of FEMA representatives now," Turner said at a news conference. "We need the red tape to be cleared." Good news seemed to follow bad. The airports reopened. Looting was reported from Kingwood down to Dickinson, where officials had ordered mandatory evacuations. The CEO of a chemical plant in Crosby admitted that there was no way to stop chemicals caught without the necessary coolant from catching fire or exploding. An area 1.5 miles around the Arkema plant was evacuated as officials waited for temps to rise, likely setting off the explosion. Many hospitals were still hampered by flooding, but were taking critical patients. And many people got a first look at their flooded homes. David DeLeon maintained a stoic smile as an airboat whirred through the muddy waters in Kingwood, past flooded apartments and water-soaked homes, through a familiar landscape now made unrecognizable by natural disaster. The head of Harris County Sheriff's reserve command bantered with his fellow officers, warned other rescue boats to slow down and swerve around sunken cars, kept a watchful eye out for looters and residents still stranded in abandoned neighborhoods. He held the smile even as the boat circled toward an elegant two-story house encircled by eddying water reaching the middle of the first floor. His house. The home he had not seen since Sunday when he first began rescuing people from Harvey. His wife and 24-year-old disabled son had make it out safely, but everything had been left behind. There had been no time to pack, to shuttle valuables upstairs. No time even to grab his son's medications. That was what he hoped to do now, on Wednesday morning, during a patrol of Kingwood's flooded streets. Capt. Denise O'Leary, who normally works missing person, went in with him. They emerged a few minutes later, dripping up to their belts and carrying two plastic garbage bags, two black carry-on suitcases, medications and a waterproof case - all DeLeon could salvage. As the boat pushed away from the house, O'Leary put a consoling arm around her chief's shoulder. The two stood for a moment, the enormity of the loss washing over them. Then DeLeon sat down, glanced out at the rushing water, and smiled hard enough to keep tears at bay. "We gotta rebuild," he said later. "That's all we can do." To laugh or cry? Up and down Houston streets, in block after block, wet couches, bookcases, wood strips, paneling, carpets and mattresses decorated the sidewalks on both sides. In Meyerland, at their home on Braeswood Boulevard, where a "never flooded" sign drew David and Susan Reeves and their daughters to the buyers' table in 2010, the couple consoled themselves with a happy, though sodden, discovery. "We found our wedding license floating in the water," Susan Reeves said. She laughed. He laughed. He said he does that because it's better than crying. Then he looked down and said quietly that he sometimes cries, too. "About half and half," daughter Julianna chimed in. Andrew Kragie, Mike Snyder, Lindsay Ellis, Margaret Kadifa, Mike Morris, Mihir Zaveri, Robert Downen, Emily Foxhall, Gabrielle Banks, Jacob Carpenter, St. John Barned-Smith, David Olinger, Bridget Balch, Lise Olsen, Rebecca Elliott, Cindy George, Brooke A. Lewis, John D. Harden and Monica Rhor contributed to this report. SAN ANTONIO - In a 94-page ruling, a federal judge Wednesday halted the main provisions of Texas' ban on "sanctuary cities." The ruling by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio prevents Texas from implementing the most controversial provisions of Senate Bill 4, which created penalties for local governments that prevent police from asking about immigration status or don't honor detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill was scheduled to take effect Friday. "The best interest of the public will be served by preserving the status quo and enjoining, prior to Sept. 1, the implementation and enforcement of those portions of SB 4 that, on their face, are preempted by federal law and violate the United States Constitution," Garcia wrote. The decision, which can be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, is a blow to one of the toughest immigration laws in the nation. In order to obtain an injunction, the local governments and organizations challenging the law needed to prove they were harmed by it and likely to succeed in their claim that it is unconstitutional. "We won over 90 percent of it," said Luis Vera, a lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, which represented the border city of El Cenizo in the lawsuit. "The state cannot mandate to the cities or police officers or sheriff's offices how they run their police departments." Gov. Greg Abbott said the decision "makes Texas' communities less safe." "U.S. Supreme Court precedent for laws similar to Texas' law are firmly on our side," Abbott said in a statement. "This decision will be appealed immediately, and I am confident Texas' law will be found constitutional and ultimately be upheld." The ruling found the plaintiffs made their case and were even helped during oral arguments by the state. For instance, the judge noted the state "essentially concedes that the irreparable harm requirement is met." The judge quoted an argument made by one of the lawyers with the Texas Attorney General's Office: "The state of Texas concedes, Your Honor, that if Senate Bill 4 is unconstitutional or a provision of it is severed by this court or this court finds it unconstitutional, if it is, and it would violate the constitutional rights of the public, then there is irreparable harm." The judge found that certain provisions of SB 4 conflict with, and are pre-empted by, federal law because enforcing SB 4 will interfere with the federal government's authority to control immigration. The judge also found that enforcing SB 4 will result in First Amendment violations. The judge also determined that vague prohibitions in SB 4 violate due process and "create a real danger of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement." In addition, he found that enforcement of the mandatory detainer provisions "will inevitably lead to Fourth Amendment violations." Signed into law in May, SB 4 allows the attorney general to fine or remove from office local officials who "adopt, enforce, or endorse a policy under which the entity or department prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of immigration laws." Another provision allows for criminal penalties for officials who don't honor ICE requests to hold at local jails immigrants suspected of being eligible for deportation. San Antonio Police Department policy prevents officers from asking about immigration status, which would put it in violation of the law. Bexar County officials said they honor ICE detainers. The lawsuit was led by the border community of El Cenizo, which along with Maverick County filed a lawsuit in San Antonio challenging SB 4 on May 8, the day after Abbott signed it into law. They were later joined by cities and counties across the state, including San Antonio. Abbott had made the issue an emergency item for this year's legislative session, signaling that it's one of his priorities and allowing lawmakers to vote on it earlier than other bills. Garcia held a hearing on the injunction in June. While past state immigration laws have been challenged by the Justice Department, the Trump administration has weighed in supporting Texas' position that the law is constitutional. Fort Bend County issued a curfew starting Thursday, ordering residents not to travel between midnight and 6 a.m, according to Major Chad Norvell with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. The curfew goes into effect starting Thursday, Aug. 31, at 12:01 a.m. and will end at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6. The county's emergency management office clarified in a tweet that it only applies to unincorporated areas of the county, though many cities already have their own curfews. AUSTIN -- After the storm comes the prayers. Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday officially designated Sunday as an official Day of Prayer in Texas, a day of thanks for the efforts of first responders and rescuers who saved countless lives and for the start of what promises to be a massive rebuilding effort. In his proclamation, Abbott urged Texans "of all faiths and religious traditions and backgrounds to offer prayers on that day for the safety of first responders, public safety officers, and military personnel, and for the healing of individuals, rebuilding of communities and the restoration of the entire region struck by this disaster." "Throughout our history, Texans have been strengthened and lifted through prayer, and it is fitting that Texans join together in prayer in this time of crisis," Abbott said in announcing the day of prayer at the First Baptist Church in Rockport, during an event with Vice President Mike Pence and noted evangelist, the Rev. Franklin Graham. "Throughout this disaster, we have seen the power of Texans helping Texans, and I am hopeful this proclamation will bring people together once more," Abbott said. "We have remained strong throughout this ordeal, and this Day of Prayer will make us even stronger together." As Houston ISD continues to sort out which of its schools were damaged in Tropical Storm Harvey, school officials are postponing the start of the school year until Sept. 11, two weeks after school was supposed to start. In an email to campus leaders, Houston ISD said school administrators in Texas' largest school district will report for duty on Sept. 5, while teachers will report to their schools Sept. 8. Students will return Sept. 11. READ ALSO: Houston-area schools, universities working to re-open after Harvey Now Playing: FOX 26 News meteorologist John Dawson Video: Brandpoint Superintendent Richard Carranza told the Chronicle more than 35 campuses have been damaged in the storm, though its unclear how many of those sustained extensive damage and how many received minor damage. "We are eager to get our students back into the classroom and learning. We want to provide the stability of a routine, as well as the three nutritious meals a day that so many of our families depend on," said HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza. "But we also need to be sure that our campuses are safe and that Houston's infrastructure and roads are ready to handle transporting our students safely to school. Our team is currently assessing any damages to our more than 280 schools from Hurricane Harvey, and I want to thank them for their efforts." In the email to principals, Carranza wrote that at least seven campuses would be re-routing students or would start a bit later. The email did not specify which schools were among the seven. The district had said earlier it would try to open its schools to students by Sept. 5, but that was before facility crews could assess damaged buildings. Classes for students were scheduled to begin Aug. 28. Some other local districts, though, could start as early as next week. THE LATEST: As Houston dries out, rescues and recovery continue Alief ISD Spokesman Craig Eichhorn said none of that district's campuses sustained flood damage, and only a couple of small roof leaks sprang up, none of which damaged flooring. Now principals are trying to reach teachers to see how they were effected by the floods and if they would be able to report to work as early as Tuesday. They said they will know more about the school start date later Thursday or Friday. Katy ISD officials reported only three of its campuses may have sustained water damage: Creech Elementary, Beck Jr. High and Bear Creek Elementary. This is a developing story, check back with the Houston Chronicle for updates. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Katy preacher and his wife who went to check on a family member Wednesday afternoon died when they drove into floodwaters that proved too deep to escape. The sheriff's office identified the victims as Donald Rogers, 65, and his wife Rochelle. Donald Rogers died a few feet from the road named after his grandfather, and just down the street from his uncle's home. That's who he and his wife were going to check on when they steered their Toyota Tundra into high water on Pool Hill Road, a hazard that family members believe should have been better marked or blocked off. The sheriff's office said the couple called around 12:40 p.m. But by the time deputies were able to send officers and a helicopter, it was too late. "This is just a remote area, and it takes time to get out here," said Major Chad Norvell. The water along Pool Hill Road, just past Rogers Road in west Fulshear, was "deep" with a "current," he said. Up and down the street, homes -- many of which sit hundreds of feet from the road -- were already flanked by water. The neighborhood is about two miles west of the Brazos River, and many of its houses were submerged Wednesday. Pool Hill Road was for the most part dry. But hours after the accident, family members questioned why there weren't any signs blocking the area or noting dangerous waters on the stretch that proved deadly. "They didn't have signs up," said Donald's niece Kemosha Washington, 29. "Look at how many homes are out here, and there's no roadblocks." "If they had had those barricades, my brother would be alive," said Thelma Hooker, 65, the sister of Donald Rogers. "He would have followed the rules," she said. But police, who spent much of Wednesday monitoring the rising crest of the nearby Brazos River and moving barricades around the county, said they simply can't block every flooded area. "Because of the scope of the flooding across the region, there are just too many roads," Norvell said. "There's just too much." As of Wednesday, more than 30 people had died or were feared dead in greater Houston and other Texas counties in flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey, according to local officials. Donald Rogers was a preacher at Second Baptist Church in Katy, and his wife was a florist. "It still hasn't really hit," his sister said a few hours after the accident that killed one of her four remaining brothers. A firetruck was still blocking views of the area in which the couple drowned, and family members were quickly gathering to get details and offer condolences. By 4 p.m. there was a procession of vehicles stretching down Pool Hall Road. At the time, Hooker still hadn't told her mother, who was still waiting for a visit from her son at her home in Katy. "He had just spoke with my mom," she said. "(Donald) said he was on the way. So she's expecting him to come." She and others, she said, were already getting phone calls from the Rogers-Parker matriarch. Her mom had already lost one son, Edward Parker, to cancer, and another, Robert "PeeWee" Parker, six years ago. "I just don't know how to tell her," she said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate All but the two mega-shelters in Harris County will close over the next few days so displaced residents can be consolidated into the larger facilities, County Judge Ed Emmett announced Wednesday evening. Emmett said officials would consolidate evacuees into the NRG Center south of the medical center, which has a capacity of 10,000, and the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center, which has been operating well above its initial capacity of 5,000. However, the chief of Houston's housing authority said Wednesday evening that the city would not close any shelters, marking a point of tension in joint city-county relief efforts. "We'll let the client make that decision," said housing authority director Tom McCasland. "We will provide clients the option to move to NRG if they want." McCasland said the city would not make evacuees move between shelters or force smaller shelters to close. However, Mayor Sylvester Turner did say that new arrivals to the convention center would be bused to the NRG Center. "I would encourage any individual who may need shelter to go to the NRG," Turner said at a Wednesday evening news conference. "There's plenty of space, they're well equipped." When Emmett made his announcement, he also invited the region's rural counties including Liberty, Chambers, San Jacinto and Polk to bring those who need shelter to the NRG Center. I am basically announcing we are going to turn the NRG Center into a regional shelter for whoever can come in and use it, Emmett said. He said the grocery chain H-E-B and others have transformed NRG into a little city of its own, complete with a grocery store, a shop for donated clothes, a child care center and medical facilities. He said other shelters in Harris County did not provide the same resources and level of support. Emmett said many people who were rescued during the storm had already left shelters after getting in touch with family elsewhere or finding a place to stay. He said he is not concerned about the NRG Center becoming over-crowded. Well worry about that when the time comes. We have over 8,000 empty cots, we have the capacity, he said. I dont think we will get overcrowded. You have to remember, surrounding counties dont have nearly the population Harris County does. NRG Center's shelter is operated by local nonprofit BakerRipley, while the American Red Cross runs the shelter at the downtown convention center. The Red Cross did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday about whether it would consolidate its Houston-area shelters aside from the convention center. Mike Morris contributed to this report. AUSTIN - As unofficial damage estimates from Hurricane Harvey continued to grow, state officials acknowledged Thursday for the first time that another special legislative session could be necessary next year to address the state's growing tab. In addition, legislative leaders warned that the killer storm could have a devastating impact on the state budget, as property tax revenues in the hardest-hit areas take a dive and as heavily damaged or destroyed businesses take months to reopen -- an impact that could mean the state's projected budget revenues will run short during the next two years. "My personal assumption right now is that we will probably be back in Austin at work no later than January," said Senate Republican Caucus Chair Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, echoing the sentiments of other House and Senate members. "The governor and the Legislative Budget Board have the ability to move around quite a bit of money in current appropriations, but it probably won't be enough when all the bills come in. This storm is going to cost more than (hurricanes) Katrina and Sandy put together, and I'm thinking we'll be breaking the $200 billion mark before this over." While the state would be liable for only a fraction of that amount, after insurance and federal payments come in, but whatever that (remaining) amount is will be something the Legislature will probably have to address." Using Rainy Day Fund That, say other lawmakers, will most likely involve a politically charged debate over tapping the state's so-called Rainy Day Fund - a $10 billion account officially known as the Economic Stabilization Fund - to pay for some of the storm-damage tab. Conservative Republicans have steadfastly opposed tapping the fund in recent years to pay for routine state expenses, while moderate GOP members and Democrats have pushed to use that money to restore deep cuts in recent years to core education and health programs. For the first time, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told the Chronicle on Thursday that he will support using Rainy Day Fund monies to pay the Harvey repair bills, even though no decisions have been made about "when we will tap the Rainy Day Fund or how much we will tap it." "I'll be supportive of doing so but that will be determined in the future," Patrick said. "This is one of the reasons we have it and must always protect it for its intended purposes." "This is why we drew a line in the sand in the Senate on not spending one dollar of the Rainy Day Fund during the regular and special session on anything outside its intended purpose," he said. Gov. Greg Abbott, who is in the midst of overseeing hurricane recovery operations, has said he will make up to $100 million in funding for disaster recovery grants available and signed a proclamation a week ago - as Harvey first started pounding the Texas coast - to allow making state funding immediately for the emergency. In a Thursday letter to House members, House Speaker Joe Straus said he will be issuing selective interim charges - directives for legislative recommendations - "in the near future to address these challenges" resulting from the massive destruction caused by Harvey, especially to schools. "The House Appropriations Committee will identify state resources that can be applied toward the recovery and relief efforts being incurred today, as well as long-term investments the state can make to minimize future storms," the San Antonio Republican said in his letter. "When the appropriate time comes, other committees will review the state's response and delivery of services." The Legislative Budget Board, jointly headed by Patrick and Straus, can make key decisions on reallocating state funds to meet emergency needs - up to a point, officials said. Half of its members - three senators and two House members - represent areas devastated by Harvey. Most damaging storm At the same time, well over a third of the entire Legislature represents areas heavily damaged or impact by Harvey -- likely a record. The 1900 hurricane that leveled Galveston and killed between 6,000-12,000 people is listed as the worst hurricane in terms of loss of life. The death toll from Harvey reached at least 38 on Thursday, officials said. On Thursday, as lawmakers mulled the mounting tab for damages from what is now being billed as the most damaging storm in U.S. history, discussions seemed to center on how much will be needed from the Rainy Day Fund and when the Legislature might have to meet in a special session to approve that transfer. But lawmakers in both the House and Senate warned that in addition to tapping the Rainy Day Fund to pay for the recovery, the state's current, two-year $217 billion budget is almost certain to take a significant hit from tax revenues that will most certainly fall short of expectations in a wide part of Texas' economy. That does not include significant budget shortfalls that local governments will certainly face in storm-thrashed areas, as their tax revenues dip, and in schools that face hefty rebuilding costs as their state payments will dip because thousands of students will not be in school. "This is the exact kind of thing that we have the Rainy Day Fund for, and we move forward with the recovery from this storm I'm thankful that the fund is there and that we saved as much in it as we did," said state Sen. Joan Huffman, a conservative Houston Republican and member of the Legislative Budget Board. As rescue and recovery operations continue from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana state line east of Beaumont, Abbott has not yet addressed the rising costs. He and other officials have stressed that enough funding is available to cover any and all emergency operations. Eric Gay/STF AUSTIN -- The Supreme Court granted Attorney General Ken Paxton's request to stay a decision by a federal court that ordered lawmakers to redraw nine state House districts due to "intentional discrimination" by race. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court also granted a reprieve from an order invalidating two of the state's congressional districts. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - State officials vowed Thursday to fight a court order that blocked parts of a controversial state immigration law that outlawed sanctuary cities and would have penalized local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal deportation efforts. In contrast, immigration advocates and community organizers hailed the ruling from a San Antonio federal court late Wednesday as a major victory for more than 1 million undocumented immigrants in Texas who live in fear of deportation. DACA might end Immigrant advocates were relieved by the court decision, but they feared an impending loss on another front as a new round of leaks Thursday suggested President Donald Trump soon will announce the potential end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program that shields immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation and allows them to work and study here. Senate Bill 4, one of Gov. Greg Abbott's key legislative priorities that was set to go into effect Friday, would have punished police chiefs, sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies who prevent their officers from asking about a person's immigration status during an arrest or detention. It also would have required jail officials to honor all requests from federal agencies to hold an inmate for possible deportation. SB4 also forbids local governments from "adopting, enforcing, or endorsing" policies that materially limit immigration enforcement. But late Wednesday night, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia wrote that parts of SB4 are likely unconstitutional and granted a preliminary injunction against many of the law's key provisions. "This is an astounding defeat for the state's attempt to conscript local officers into becoming deportation agents," said Andre Segura, legal director at the ACLU of Texas, who represented several communities and cities in the lawsuit against the state. Garcia temporarily blocked the state from punishing local officials, saying that infringes on their free speech rights. He also wrote that local officials, including law enforcement, provided "ample" evidence that the law will "erode public trust." "The court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature," Garcia wrote. "However, the State may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution." Abbott said the decision makes Texas communities "less safe," and said the decision will be appealed "immediately." Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the San Antonio federal court Thursday to stay its decision while he appeals the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals. His request was turned down. "Because of this ruling, gang members and dangerous criminals, like those who were released by the Travis County Sheriff, will be set free to prey upon our communities," Abbott said in a written statement. Paxton said SB4 was intended to set a "statewide policy of cooperation" with federal immigration authorities. In January, Trump signed an executive order threatening to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities, but a federal judge halted the order, saying it was too broad. "Texas has the sovereign authority and responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens," Paxton said. "We're confident SB4 will ultimately be upheld as constitutional and lawful." But immigration advocates and community organizers are confident all the provisions in SB4 will be blocked. "We know we have a big fight ahead of us, in the court and on the ground," said Mary Moreno, communications director with the Texas Organizing Project. "In a way, not much has changed for us, except we did get a little breathing room." Knowing their rights The Texas Organizing Project and others, including the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said their priority is to connect with immigrant communities so people understand their rights. The court's ruling allows officers to inquire about someone's legal status during a lawful arrest or detention. Officers can turn that information over to federal authorities. But advocates say people can refuse to answer, and an officer cannot make an arrest based on a person's answer or refusal to provide immigration information. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. South Koreas Supreme Court said a former worker in a Samsung LCD factory who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis should be recognized as having an occupationally caused disease, overturning lower courts verdicts that held lack of evidence against the worker. In a milestone decision that could aid other sickened tech workers struggling to prove the cause of their diseases, the Supreme Court ruled there was a significant link between Lee Hee-jins disease and workplace hazards and her working conditions. Lower courts had denied her claim, partly because no records of her workplace conditions were publicly available. The Labor Ministry and Samsung refused to disclose them when a lower court requested the information, citing trade secrets. In its ruling Tuesday, the court said a lack of evidence, resulting from Samsungs refusal to provide information about workplace conditions, citing trade secrets, and an inadequate investigation by the government should not be held against the sickened worker. Instead, it said, such special circumstances should be considered in favor of the worker. Lee, 33, began to work at a Samsung LCD factory in Cheonan, south of Seoul, in 2002 when she was a high school senior. She evaluated nearly one hundred display panels per hour on a conveyor belt, looking for defective panels and wiping them with a chemical substance known as isopropyl alcohol. Three years after she joined Samsung Electronics, she first reported the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a rare disease that affects central nervous system, which is diagnosed among 3.5 out of 100,000 people. She was 21. The average age of reporting multiple sclerosis in South Korea is 38. A panel of four justices at the Supreme Court faulted the government agency tasked with investigating workplace conditions for failing to measure workers exposure levels. The ruling also noted that Samsung Electronics and the labor ministry refused to disclose information about chemical toxins at the LCD factory claiming that that they were trade secrets, making it impossible for the worker to prove the type of toxins she was exposed to or the level of exposure. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AKRON, Ohio - Hundreds of Akron senior citizens on Thursday crossed an item off their bucket lists -- a run down Derby Downs in a Soap Box Derby race car. About 540 seniors paid $14 to race an adult-size Derby car, have lunch and attend a health fair at the fourth annual event. Families, couples and groups of friends, including Red Hat Society members decked out in the group's signature scarlet and purple outfits, came to race. Many women said they've wanted to fly down the hill since they were kids. "From 1934 to 1970, girls were not allowed to race," said Derby Vice President Bobby Dinkins. "We hear a lot 'my brothers or cousins used to race, now I get a chance, too.'" Many of the men had raced as boys but hadn't been back to the track since, he said. This year, the oldest racer was 93-year-old Barbara Wetherbee who raced alongside her daughter, Wendy Armstrong. Why did she race? "Because it was there," Wetherbee laughed. "Except I didn't stop." According to Armstrong, her mom just kept going at the bottom of the hill, causing Derby Downs workers to sprint after her car to stop her. "She wins because she went the farthest," Armstrong said. "We learned our motto from my 26-year-old daughter, Alyssa; YOLO -- you only live once." After their spin down the hill, racers were invited to have a photo taken with racing props, complete with a checkered starting flag and winner's cup. The Humane Society of Summit County was on hand with its new Mobile Adoption Center, featuring cats, kittens, bunnies and dogs, all available for adoption, said volunteer Betsy Bagstad. A health fair enabled attendees to interact with four on-site doctors from Cleveland Clinic Akron General, and get health and blood pressure screenings, eye exams and other health information. An art therapy area enabled attendees to design racing flags. "This event keeps them active and keeps them moving," said hospital marketing director Mary Brackle. "And hopefully they can check off something from their bucket list." Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Museum of Art is using its new exhibition on Auguste Rodin, opening Friday, as the moment to share that it recently got a tip about the unsolved 1970 bombing of the artist's "Thinker" sculpture on its south steps. In a booklet accompanying the exhibit, the museum says an unnamed person claiming to know the bomber's identity contacted it earlier this year. It was the first word the museum said it had received about the case in decades. "However," the booklet states, "without corroborating evidence to support such a claim, the bomber's identity remains unconfirmed." The museum provided the new information to the FBI by letter in April, Griswold said. FBI response FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson said she couldn't confirm whether the agency received the information, or whether an investigation is underway. "If information came our way about this, obviously we're going to work it," she said. Anderson said the U.S. Attorney's office would determine which federal law applied to the bombing, and whether a statute of limitations also may apply. Mike Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Northern Ohio, said that the statute of limitations typically would have expired after 47 years, but there are exceptions for acts of terrorism. He said a court would rule on such a question. Under the Ohio Revised Code, charges for most felonies, with the exception of homicide, must be brought within six years. Given the passage of time, museum director William Griswold said it's possible the identity of the Rodin bomber may never be known. "From a law enforcement viewpoint, it's ancient history," he said. The booklet for the Rodin show, written by William H. Robinson, senior curator of modern art, and Julie Dansereau-Tackett, a doctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University, explores Rodin's life and work, and the museum's collection of his sculptures. Turbulent time It also describes the political climate in 1970, when protests raged against the war in Vietnam, and members of the Weathermen and Students for a Democratic Society, the SDS, were active in Cleveland. The bombing at the museum, which occurred shortly after midnight on March 24, 1970, took place against this background, just weeks before National Guardsmen opened fire on protesters and students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, and killed four. "No one claimed responsibility" for the Rodin bombing, Robinson and Dansereau-Tackett wrote in the essay, "but the phrase painted on the [sculpture's] pedestal indicated it was a political act: '[illegible word] the ruling class.' " Griswold said the museum couldn't share details about the tip from the informant because it has no idea whether the information is true. "I would say that an individual contacted a curator, the curator felt that the story could in fact be true, but we have no evidence, we have no way of corroborating that story, and it seems to us entirely inappropriate to state otherwise or to even suggest otherwise," he said. "It's hearsay," he added. "We have absolutely no idea if the information is correct, and we have absolutely no way of corroborating the information." He said only that the alleged bomber "has been dead for almost 40 years." Two text messages Chief curator Heather Lemonedes added that the contact from the informant consisted of "an exchange of two text messages." The museum took steps to verify the informant's claim, but Lemonedes declined to provide additional details. "I can't tell you the specifics of what we did, because I have to honor the person's request to not reveal the name," she said. The exhibition "Rodin-100 Years," is part of an international observance of the centenary of Rodin's death that includes museums around the world. Rodin (1840-1917) is widely considered one of the world's greatest artists because of his ability to use "the human form as the ideal vehicle for conveying inner emotion and complex symbolic thought," as the museum's new booklet states. "The Thinker" was originally supposed to represent the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri brooding atop "The Gates of Hell," a large sculptural doorway commissioned in 1880 by the French government, according to the essay. Rodin produced a number of large-scale versions of the sculpture, including the one cast in bronze and installed on the museum's south steps in 1917. Deciding against repairs After the bombing, the museum determined that the sculpture couldn't be repaired without diluting its artistic integrity. It decided instead to reinstall the work on the south steps, where it has remained in its damaged condition. Griswold considers the work a reminder of the violent responses that art can sometimes provoke. "The damaged artwork signifies not only the remarkable role that that objects play our culture," he said, "but it is a reminder in its current state of how fragile the social fabric that binds us all really is." Exhibition Preview What's up: "Rodin - 100 Years," works by Auguste Rodin from the permanent collection. Venue: Cleveland Museum of Art Where: 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland. When: Friday, Sept. 1, through Sunday, May 13, 2018 Admission: Free. Call 216-421-7240 or go to clevelandart.org. CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Rock Hall will unveil a new display honoring 2012 inductees Small Faces/Faces. The Small Faces, which formed during the peak period of the British invasion, scored big overseas with songs like "Sha La La La Lee" and "Itchycoo Park." But many still remember the band for its Faces era, when Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood joined and turned the band into an arena rock act during the early 1970. Small Faces/Faces members Steve Marriott, Kenney Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, Wood and Stewart were all inducted into the Rock Hall five years ago. The museum will honor them with a new Small Faces/Faces display in the Rock Hall's Legends of Rock exhibit beginning Thursday morning. SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio Burglary, South Belvoir Road: A woman reported at 7:43 a.m. Aug. 22 someone had broken into her home overnight and stole a laptop computer, digital camera, pocket watch, Swiss Army knife and two iPhones. She believed the door to the home had been left unlocked. Her husband said a wallet, containing $600 cash, was stolen from his vehicle. Officers had arrested a Cleveland boy, 16, and an East Cleveland man, 18, overnight as suspects who had broken into several vehicles in the area. The two were found in possession of several of the items missing from the home, as well as other items that were reported missing from vehicles. Property damage, Cedar Road: A utility pole was found vandalized Aug. 20 with gang-related graffiti, in the parking lot just north of the Starbucks drive-thru. The damage was estimated at $50. Animal cruelty, Elmwood Road: Officers responded to a residence Aug. 22 for a report of a dog with its leash wrapped around a pole outside and no water. A woman at the home said the dog belonged to the father of her child and he was not home at the time. She said the dog, a pit-bull, was not her responsibility and she was going nowhere near it. The woman, 25, was cited for cruelty to animals. Theft, Mayfield Road: Officers responded Aug. 17 to a report of a shoplifter who had left CVS. The Cleveland man, 45, was located in the Walgreen's parking lot and subsequently arrested for theft. It was determined he had stolen over $300 worth of disposable razor blades from CVS and 19 boxes of 5-Hour Energy drinks from Walgreen's. Information received, Covington Road: A man located a cell phone in his driveway Aug. 19 and saw a video on it of a male with a rifle and ammunition. He said there were also text messages that referenced the owner of the phone having illegal drugs. The detective bureau is trying to obtain a search warrant to identify the owner of the phone. Disturbance, Argonne Road: A woman reported Aug. 20 she was assaulted by the girlfriend of her child's father when she arrived at their home to pick up her son. Officers did not locate any signs of injury and the suspect said the woman exited her car with a rock in her hand and began yelling. She said she defended herself by hitting the woman. Due to the conflicting stories, no charges were filed and the woman was advised to speak with the prosecutor. Theft, Harwood Road: A man reported Aug. 19 the side-view mirror was stolen off his vehicle, which was parked in his driveway overnight. Officers noted that only the mirror was missing and appeared to have been removed by someone who properly disconnected the wires. There were no suspects identified. Theft, South Green Road: A man reported Aug. 17 an unknown male had entered his friend's car at A&M Mart and stole his friend's iPhone. He said the male, along with a boy and girl, ran from the area. Officers located the boy and the girl, but not the suspect who had taken the phone. The boy and girl were uncooperative and disrespectful to officers. Their mother arrived to pick them up and tried make the situation a racial matter, although the person reporting the incident and the victim were of the same race. According to store employees, the boy and girl were acting as lookouts for the unknown suspect who stole the phone. The incident is under investigation. Traffic stop, Sheffield Road: Officers attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding Aug. 23 but the driver continued on until she turned into a driveway on Prasse Road and ran from the vehicle. Inside of it was a purse with an ID belonging to a 27-year-old resident. While officers were investigating, the owner of the vehicle called to report the vehicle stolen. He said his girlfriend told to him she was with a friend and did not know where the vehicle was. The woman was subsequently located near Dollar General and apologized for running from the vehicle. She was cited for speeding, driving under suspension and obstructing official business. The owner of the vehicle, a 28-year-old Cleveland man, was cited for wrongful entrustment because he had let her use the vehicle with the knowledge that her license was suspended. Theft, Warrensville Center Road: Two Cleveland men, 18 and 20, were cited for theft at Walmart Aug. 23 after they attempted to steal two bicycles by pushing them out the south exit doors. Impaired driving, Mayfield Road: A Seven Hills woman, 23 was arrested for OVI after she drove off the road in front of Get Go around 9 a.m. Aug. 15. She was found unresponsive and administered Narcan, before being taken to the hospital. There was suspected heroin and drug abuse instruments located inside the vehicle. The woman is also being charged with failure to control, driving under suspension and possession of drug abuse instruments. See more South Euclid news at Cleveland.com/south-euclid. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page. Staff members with the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry have begun traveling the state to present the Chambers 2017 legislative forums. The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce will visit a total of 25 Nebraska communities, including Lincoln, Grand Island, Omaha, Bellevue, Fremont, Nebraska City, Hastings and Kearney, among others. For more than 30 years, the Chamber has conducted these legislative forums in cooperation with local Chambers of Commerce across Nebraska. The forums allow the state Chamber to gather input from business leaders on important issues, while staff members summarize recent state legislation impacting the business community and review 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; the latest state rankings in areas important to the business community. Chamber of Commerce members, along with members of the news media and state lawmakers, are invited to attend. From workforce and housing shortages, to taxes and regulations, the business community has its share of challenges, said Nebraska Chamber President Barry Kennedy. But there is also much reason for optimism in Nebraska. These forums will provide business leaders an opportunity to convey their concerns to the State Chamber, while highlighting ways state leaders are addressing the issues affecting the private sector. To make reservations for a forum near you, contact your local Chamber of Commerce. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Wednesday night candidate forum drew nine people running to unseat Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson -- and nearly all of them said they opposed a recently canceled deal to spend taxpayer funds overhauling Quicken Loans Arena. The audience question that got the candidates talking about The Q actually came from a disappointed supporter of the deal, which would have directed a projected $88 million in future city revenues raised by a ticket tax toward the arena. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert walked away from the deal on Monday, citing delays resulting from a legal challenge by opponents seeking to place the deal on the ballot in a referendum. One candidate, City Councilman Jeff Johnson, said if he wins, he would seek to re-open negotiations on the deal. "Over the next four years, I will try to bring them back to the table," said Johnson, who added that he would attempt to provide more of a check on Cleveland's corporate leadership. "Because I have no interest in losing the Cavaliers, but I have no interest in keeping them at the expense of the neighborhoods." Brandon Chrostowski, the founder of the nonprofit Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute in the Shaker Square neighborhood, said the Q deal was a "bad deal" from the start. "I went hard against this. Many of us here were passing around the petitions that led to this being blocked," he said. "For those who were heartbroken here, you have to look at why did this not happen? If it was such a good deal, why did they back out?" "I think it's lunatic to re-build a stadium based on a guy [LeBron James] who's already left us once, and might leave us again," said Eric Brewer, the former East Cleveland mayor. "And then dangle a carrot in front of us that we might get an All-Star game that I don't really think benefits everybody in Cleveland." The other candidates who attended were City Councilman Zack Reed, State Rep. Bill Patmon, former nonprofit executive Robert Kilo and self-identified "community advocate" Dyrone Smith. Two write-in candidates also participated -- James Jerome Bell, a perennial candidate, and Camry S. Kincaid, a 2015 Cleveland schools graduate. Jackson, who has attended two public forums in the past two weeks but avoided others, was not present to defend the deal. But in a video recorded as part of a "Twitter town hall" organized by City Hall officials earlier Wednesday, the mayor said the project would generate construction jobs, convince the Cavs to extend their lease by seven years (through 2034) and help the arena remain competitive in attracting visitors downtown. Besides Jackson, one other candidate -- Tony Madalone, the CEO of Fresh Brewed Tees -- did not attend. The forum, organized by the League of Women Voters, was held at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library and attended by about 100 people. Organizers said the event was video-recorded, and will be available for viewing online. Candidates were also asked about a litany of other topics, including public safety, education, lakefront development and public transportation. As he has throughout his "safety first" campaign, Reed pivoted most of his responses back to public safety. Even in his response to the question about The Q deal, which he said he would renegotiate as mayor, Reed worked in one of his campaign catch phrases: "Nothing stops a bullet like a job." Patmon touted his experience as a state legislator and a former member of Cleveland City Council. He also referenced his previous run for mayor in 2009, when he lost to Jackson by 55 percentage points. "I ran in 2009, and I said we must escape the nightmare. It is now a full-blown reality," he said. Kilo said he wants to be a "humble servant" for the people of Cleveland. Smith said The Q deal wasn't necessarily a "bad deal," but said people should have been given an opportunity to vote on it. BEDFORD, Ohio -- A 19-year-old man accused of killing a 1-year-old girl he was babysitting is jailed without bond following his first court appearance. Tariq Debardeleben is charged with murder in the Aug. 26 death of Morgan Dilliard. The girl died from blunt force injuries to her stomach and head, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office said. Debardeleben pleaded not guilty Thursday during his appearance in Bedford Municipal Court. He waived his preliminary hearing and the case was bound over to a Cuyahoga County grand jury. Bedford Municipal Judge Melissa Paris ordered Debardeleben jailed without bond. Defense attorney Antonio Nicholoson said Debardeleben is getting his GED and has no violent criminal history. Debardeleben's family members declined to comment after the hearing. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner determined Morgan suffered a skull fracture, a lacerated liver, internal bleeding and had severe bruising on her face, according to police reports. Debardeleben was babysitting Morgan, who is his girlfriend's niece, and five other children under the age of 4 in the Walford Apartment Complex on Walford Road in Warrensville Heights. Debardeleben told investigators that he was giving Morgan a bath when he propped her up and left her in the bathtub for about two minutes to check on the other children, who were "getting loud," according to police reports. He told investigators that he returned and Morgan was still playing in the tub and splashing around, according to court records. He took her out of the bathtub, dried her off and began to dress her when her body went limp, according to court records. Debardeleben splashed Morgan's face with water and yelled her name to try to get a response, he told investigators. He called 911, then gave the girl CPR until an ambulance arrived, according to police reports. Debardeleben carried Morgan downstairs and ran her out to the paramedics when they arrived. Morgan was taken to University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, where she died. Officers noted in police reports that the bathtub was wet and there were feces covering the side of the tub. Investigators wrote in police reports that the death appeared to be from drowning or some illness. But the medical examiner's ruling that Morgan died from blunt force injuries caused them to investigate the case as a homicide. Investigators charged Debardeleben after learning Morgan had no injuries as of 8 a.m. that day. They also learned Morgan was alone with Debardeleben the entire day, according to police reports. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A former Cuyahoga County Public Library delivery driver was placed on probation for stealing thousands of DVDs and CDs from the system over a 12-year span. Kelvin Shaw, 43, pleaded guilty last month to a felony theft in office charge. Cuyahoga County Judge Carolyn Friedland sentenced him to nine months in prison, but she suspended the sentence and placed Shaw on probation for a year. Friedland also ordered him to repay the library $1,000. Shaw, who worked for the library for 12 years, said he took advantage of a "silent rule" in which library employees regularly took home DVDs without formally checking them out. The library sent a memo several years ago ordering employees not to take items home, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Anna Woods said. But Shaw took advantage of the rule thousands of times and never returned the DVDs. Investigators grew suspicious, and Parma detectives placed a tracking device in a Blu-Ray copy of the movie "Inferno." Shaw took the movie, and they tailed him back to his apartment. Shaw agreed to let investigators search his apartment in January, and they discovered nearly 4,000 DVDs and CDs. Several had been taken out of circulation and had stickers with a logo that the library system stopped using nearly a decade ago. Police arrested Shaw the day of the search. Shaw, a father of five and grandfather of two, told his family not to come to court on his behalf because he was embarrassed, his attorney Joseph Lonardo said. "This could have easily been avoided had he brought the movies back on time, or just checked them out," Lonardo said. Shaw apologized to the library and called his actions "stupid, lazy and dumb." To comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page. After 23 years of hosting Festival Family Days throughout New Zealand, the Storylines Childrens Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand is this year bringing its Storylines National Festival Story Tour directly to schools and libraries throughout New Zealand. The Storylines National Festival Story Tour will visit community venues and facilities in metropolitan and regional centres, smaller cities and towns, extending Storylines regional reach to communities that have not previously had access to their central city-based Family Days. And from September 11-15, this inaugural, dynamic tour of presentations and storytelling, which has already entertained 15,000+ children in Northland, South Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, is coming to Nelson and Blenheim. Taking part in this leg are well known childrens authors Juliette MacIver, Apirana Taylor, Gareth Ward and Melinda Szymanik . These four storytellers will be entertaining school children at 22+ schools, five libraries and one pre-school. There will also be two evening events for adults, sponsored by the NZ Book Council. The first will feature Apirana Taylor at Takaka Library for Maori Language Week on Tuesday 12 th, followed by Storylines Rosemary Tisdall at Springlands School Hall on Thursday 14th. After Blenheim and Nelson the tour moves onto schools and libraries in the Queenstown/Invercargill regions Dr. Libby Limbrick, Chair of the Storylines Childrens Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand says The Storylines National Festival Story Tour which started in May this year in Northland is proving very effective. Its been a joy to see how taking activities that promote young peoples active engagement with childrens literature directly into schools and community centres has been so well received, and we are looking forward to bringing this experience to many more children across New Zealand this year. The aim of the Storylines Festival Story Tour is to connect children's writers, illustrators, poets and storytellers with their readers and audiences, to enjoy books and reading, and to encourage literacy. The tour and programme is completely free to enable access to all to high quality New Zealand children's literature. The Ryniker Morrison Gallery located in Tech Hall on the campus of Rocky Mountain College will host Creative Life Skills from AWARE, the largest service provider for people with disabilities in the State of Montana. The works created by AWARE clients in the Cold Mountain Pottery and Growth thru Art programs will go on up Thursday, and there will be a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. The artwork in this display showcases the AWARE clients need to explore their creative endeavors or to learn to produce art in a vocational setting. The exhibit is up through Sept. 28. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Just what noir is and why Montana is the suitable backdrop for the dark genre is part of the lure of a new short story collection, Montana Noir. The collection features 14 original short stories set in different parts of Montana. The stories all share a dark undertone. Even though Montanas beauty makes the idea of dark alleys and neon lights seem incongruous, noir also represents struggle, and doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. The authors include Livingston writer Thomas McGuane, who set his story in Jordon, and Billings author Carrie La Seur who writes a fictional story set on the South Side. Her story, Bad Blood, deals in family secrets about the Indian Homestead Act. Missoula writer Walter Kirns Oasis is about an all-night pizza delivery service based in the Billings Heights where the owner is a gambling addict who sometimes pays his drivers with pills. James Grady, known for his best-selling novel Six Days of the Condor which he wrote while living in Montana, is one of the editors of the collection. He contributed a short story set in Shelby, The Road You Take. Missoula native Keir Graff is co-editor of the collection and he contributed Red Skies of Montana, a short story set in Lolo. Montana Noir is due out on Sept. 5 through Brooklyn publisher Akashic Books. It was a tough sell at first, convincing Akashic Books that there could be a collection of stories to fit the noir theme. Akashic has published a series of noir books, typically set in metropolitan communities. But with Montanas sparse population, Graff said the idea was to spread the stories out across the state, inviting some of Montanas best fiction writers to contribute. In a recent phone interview from his home in Chicago, Graff said he met Grady at the Festival of the Book in 2009 in Missoula. They got to talking about the idea of publishing a book of noir short stories set in Montana. Jim said for years, hes had this dream of noir short stories. This idea unfolded over the next year or two. Grady was part of a Washington, D.C. noir-themed collection and Graff signed on to help make a pitch to Akashic. It was a no-go. After the second no, Graff reached out to Montana booksellers to add their commitment to the project. But before he made the pitch, Grady came up with a more interesting one. Grady wrote a short story in the noir style about some shady characters approaching Akashic publisher and editor-in-chief Johnny Temple in a bar. It worked. The book includes a map of Montana showing the location of the stories with a body marking the spot. Graff said some writers got the noir genre right away. Others needed a nudge. The classic tropes are characters down on their luck. Jamie Ford wrote about a female mixed martial arts fighter who goes home to Glendive, Graff said. He expects there to be interest among Montanans and tourists alike. When the stories started coming in, they took me back home. Place is inseparable in these stories, Graff said. Graff and Grady are self-funding a promotional tour of the book, hitting Bozemans Country Bookshelf on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m., and making stops in Missoula, Helena, Great Falls and Butte in September. We are doing it because we love it and were excited to come back to Montana, Graff said. The book is available at Amazon, the Billings Barnes and Nobel store and This House of Books. Gustavo Belotta, manager at This House of Books in Billings, said he is working with the publishing company to set up a reading this fall in Billings. There can never be a happy ending in noir but there can be the possibility of redemption. It's the little guy against big forces and as Montanans, we can all appreciate that fight. Leaders in banking, finance and health insurance were named Wednesday to the Montana Business Hall of Fame. The 2017 inductees will be honored at the fourth annual Montana Business Hall of Fame Banquet Sept. 29 at the Northern Hotel. The Montana Business Hall of Fame is located at the Montana State University College of Business. This years honorees are: Bill Coffee, president and chief executive officer of Stockman Bank. Coffee was named CEO of the Montana banking company in 2009. Stockman Bank, founded in Miles City in 1953 with an emphasis on community banking, has expanded across the state and is recognized as one of Montanas strongest banks, one of the states most active commercial lenders and the states largest agricultural lender. Bill Johnstone, chairman of the board, D.A. Davidson Companies. D.A. Davidson has experienced tremendous growth under Johnstones guidance. The companys employee base has doubled, and key measures such as revenues, the number of clients, client assets and the number of offices have tripled. Johnstone has served on numerous boards across the state and was tapped by Gov. Steve Bullock to co-chair the Main Street Montana Initiative. He has also served on the Montana Board of Regents. Nicki and Rick Larson founded Billings-based Employee Benefit Management Services, one of the nations first and most successful third-party administrator companies for self-funded health insurance plans, in 1980. The company designs strategies to transform the health and well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. A Billings manufacturing company for which the Larsons designed their first self-funded health insurance plan has remained a loyal customer for more than three decades. EBMS remains one of Montanas greatest success stories in health care. The emphasis is to look at our business leaders that have provided so much to communities across the state, have also shown a real love for the communities, said Bill Kennedy, president and CEO of the MSU Billings Foundation. This years honorees were announced at a Wednesday news conference. Mercedes Eggleton-Garcia, vice president of MasterCard Worldwide, is the keynote speaker at the Montana Business Hall of Fame Banquet. Garcia joined MasterCard 1994 to open the Venezuela office. She moved the companys headquarters to Purchase, N.Y., in 1998 to join the Global Product Group, supporting the development and global rollout of various MasterCard payment card programs. Two days of community events and fundraisers will take place surrounding Garcias visit. On Sept. 28, she will join Montana State University Billings chancellor Ron Larsen and task forces for dinner and will discuss fraud and security. On Sept. 29, she will host the MasterCard Women and Business Luncheon at noon at the Double Tree by Hilton. Proceeds from the luncheon and the Hall of Fame Banquet will go toward scholarships for MSUB College of Business students. Now if abolitionists wanted to ask whether the United States is isolated among predominately white countries in using the death penalty, there would be a different answer. But being politically correct, they prefer to avoid that question. Next question: There are eight countries in the world with a population over 150,000,000. How many have an active death penalty? Answer: Seven. A: Although we are often told that the answer is "yes," in fact the answer is "no, not at all." Applications & OS News Infosys And MongoDB Expand Business Transformation Partnership With Joint Mainframe Solution Rick Whiting Share this Next-generation database developer MongoDB is extending its alliance with IT services giant Infosys by co-developing a mainframe off-loading solution designed to help businesses migrate critical business processes away from legacy systems. The move expands a global application modernization partnership the two companies launched in December 2016. "Companies are looking to cut costs and be innovative" and legacy mainframe systems can hinder both efforts, said Alan Chhabra, senior vice president of worldwide partners at MongoDB, in an interview with CRN. [Related: 2017 Big Data 100: 35 Coolest Data Management And Integration Vendors] Infosys provides consulting and systems integration services for businesses and organizations that are modernizing their legacy applications often as part of a digital transformation project or a migration to cloud computing. Under the partnership established in December Infosys is using the MongoDB as a key component of that practice, which already has some 1,000 consultants with MongoDB expertise, Chhabra said. The two companies also established a joint innovation lab in Bangalore, India. Infosys will offer the new MongoDB-based solution to businesses that want to offload specific workloads from mainframes: Chhabra used the example of a bank that uses a mainframe to maintain financial records, but wants to utilize more lower cost distributed systems to run the applications that consumers use for online account access. "Mainframe offloading" is frequently a key step in IT system modernization initiatives. In some cases workloads will be migrated off the mainframe altogether onto MongoDB systems. Sometimes businesses will run MongoDB on the mainframe as a way to reduce costs and be more agile, Chhabra said. "Infosys is focused on helping our clients improve their performance while reducing costs through mainframe offloading, which is one of the key modernization initiatives," said Ravi Kumar S, Infosys president and deputy chief operating officer, in a statement. "Our endeavor is to recreate the success we have seen in accelerating digital transformation for our clients through our earlier partnership with MongoDB, mainframe offloading will bring forth the significant benefits of flexibility, scale and performance." Aging mainframes are also often unable to handle huge volumes of data or run today's more complex applications. MongoDB has been building up a stable of channel partners that includes systems integrators, resellers, ISVs and OEMs. While Chhabra said MongoDB deems the partnership with Infosys to be "very strategic," it is not an exclusive relationship. Internet of things News For IoT Startups In A Fiercely Competitive Market, Building Channel Strategies Can Make Or Break A Business Lindsey O'Donnell Share this When Internet of Things sensor startup Monnit launched in 2010, the company sold its first-generation product direct to "anyone who would buy it." Years later, the company's channel strategy has changed dramatically, and CEO Brad Walters has launched a multi-tiered channel program with the goal of working through up to 30,000 resellers. "While we sold direct at first, as we matured we found that partners who were vertically oriented were important for our strategy," said Walters, who signed Ingram Micro and Arrow Electronics as distributors to help fuel the company's channel charge. "Our first-generation technology was sold direct to anyone who would buy it. But over time, we realized the product was missing a lot, including an adequate margin for partners and a vertical strategy." [Related: The 10 Coolest IoT Startups Of 2017 (So Far)] With investors like Cisco Systems, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures all aiming to cash in on IoT's potential, funding for IoT startups is at an all-time high. IoT startups attracted $846 million in financing in the first quarter of 2016, up from $680 million in the year-ago quarter, according to a report by market research firm CB Insights. Once funded, all these IoT startups need an adequate channel strategy. As Monnit and others have discovered, that requires solution providers who already have the customer relationships and vertical market knowledge required for IoT solutions. IoT security startup Armis, , which recently closed a $17 million funding round from Sequoia Capital and others, is one such company looking to build out its channel program. The Palo Alto, Calif.-company, started in 2015, offers an agentless IoT security platform that lets enterprises see and control any device or network. It hopes to use the channel's value add capabilities to integrate its platform with existing IT infrastructure. "Our goal is to be 100 percent channel focused," Armis CEO Yevgeny Dibrov told CRN. "Today, we're seeing a huge security blind spot in vertical market organization, and this is a huge opportunity for channel partners to bring their customers a lot of immediate value and frictionless deployment. Our channel approach will help us scale and bring our platform to a variety of verticals and larger customers." Many startups are struggling to reach customers in niche markets who may have specific requirements as part of their overall IoT solution. After getting over the initial hurdle of creating products, distribution strategies are posing a bigger issue for startups. They can't merely sell IoT products to a broad scope of customers. They instead need to work with customers in vertical markets and each customers has its own priorities and time constraints. For Monnit, the startup in June announced its premier IoT partner program, IoTvantage, which provides distributors, VARs and systems integrators with market-ready kits to help them easily sell solutions to end users. These include HVAC, agriculture, and industrial manufacturing kits, all equipped with Monnit's ALTA enterprise wireless sensors. Samsara, an IoT startup that announced it had secured Series C funding this past year of $40 million, is another startup that has recognized the importance of the channel to its overall sales strategy. "IoT is a hot space, and we do see competition from other startups as well as companies in the industrial market," said Kiren Sekar, vice president of product management and marketing at Samsara. "I think we have an advantage over some of our peers in the startup community because we've had the opportunity to build a large channel business and work with some of the best solution providers out there. The channel is a natural way to build a win-win situation and get our technology into the customers' hands." Samsara in 2015 released its Internet-connected sensor solution, which includes wireless gateways that transmit data to software in the cloud, for industrial customers. The company was founded by CEO Sanjit Biswas and CTO John Bicket, who previously founded and led Meraki a successful cloud networking company that was acquired by Cisco in 2012 for $1.2 billion. A large part of Meraki's success was its channel, said Sekar, so when the Biswas and Bicket founded Samsara, they launched a channel offense right away and even tapped into existing partner relationships. Sekar said that a large reason Samsara's products have been successful in the channel is that the startup has focused on making them easy to sell. "The technology is designed in a way so that it is easy for partners to sell," he said. "It's easy to do a demo and proof-of-concept this has paid off and really helps us differentiate ourselves in a market where many IoT solutions are complex to deploy which ultimately limits the number of solution providers." David King, the CEO of Foghorn Systems, which was named a "Cool Vendor In IoT Edge" this year by Gartner, said that systems integrators with specialized knowledge of OT play a "critical component" in consulting with and implementing the IoT platform for industrial customers. "As companies push into the IIoT game it is creating new opportunities for consulting partners customers don't just want to take big data and process it for insights, they want to take sensors and figure out how to make their industrial processes better," he told CRN. "Its a very different set of businesses processes that IT systems integrators consultants can handle." On the channel side, meanwhile, partners see working with startups as positive because they bring a fresh new perspective that is necessary to pin down the new business models and solution design behind IoT. Startups understand that they need to bring solutions and strategies to the table that trump the "traditional methods" that other vendors use, solution providers said. "Every company has unmanaged and IoT devices in their business. In fact, in a few short years, there will be more unmanaged devices that managed devices. The traditional methods wont work," said Jon Jensen, vice president of sales at RedSky Solutions, a Denver, Colo.-based solution provider. "So this is a growing opportunity in terms of business and helping our customers." Redsky partnered with Armis because it was looking for a unique approach to help businesses protect themselves beyond more traditional security technology, like firewalls. Jensen said that as more startups gain traction in the future, they need to realize the value of the channel partnerships as part of their overall sales strategy. In Redsky's case, a strong relationship with Armis has helped both companies successfully bring IoT security solutions to market quicker and more efficiently. "This is a partnership where we go to market together," he said. "Armis already has a growing customer base, so they understand what we need to have to approach our customers, working side by side, and providing critical expertise on their solution when needed." Internet of things News Solution Providers Look To Hire IoT Specialists With Startup Savvy Lindsey O'Donnell Share this Solution providers are looking to hire more people with startup expertise to help customers break into the Internet of Things market. "For our customers, each IoT project feels like a 'start up within the parent' organization," said Brian Blanchard, vice president of cloud solutions at 10th Magnitude, a Chicago-based solution provider. "Respecting that fact, we look for entrepreneurial spirit and preferably some level of startup experience. We want team members that can join the customer in that start up journey." Customers that have IoT business goals aren't necessarily asking about IoT-related technology right off the bat, said Blanchard. They're aiming to solve problems, he said, noting that their goals are around improving productivity and efficiency. They want to understand how IoT solutions can help them reach long term goals and how partners can design a strategy to achieve these aims, Blanchard said. [Related: DataXoom Amps Up IoT, Mobile Expertise With New Bundle For Transportation Industry] Reed Wiedower, CTO at New Signature, a Microsoft partner based in Washington, D.C., said that "breaking in" customers to IoT requires " technical knowledge, business development chops, and certain entrepreneurial focus." Wiedower, whose company is actively hiring around IoT, said that he wants to build up a team who understand the vertical background of customers, as well as how they can actively solve underlying issues. "IoT has a real impact on a companys bottom line, so when we sell to customers we have to get them to first realize they have a problem that can be solved with an IoT solution, and then we have to be able to deliver value quickly, in a matter of weeks, not months, to achieving objectives," he said. Wiedower isn't alone in looking for new IoT talent. According to a survey of vendors, service providers and solution providers by 451 Research, 46 percent of respondents said they face an IoT skills shortage. Roughly 71 percent of IoT survey respondents will train existing IT administrators on IoT skills, and 50 percent will hire new staff. However, 10th Magnitude's Blanchard said that business problem solving is a skill that can't necessarily be taught. His firm is looking for experts who have already worked in startups and have experience with proofs-of-concept or "seeing the bigger picture." "Weve found that this skillset is impossible to teach," he said. "If engineers are willing to help the customer see a much bigger picture, its better for the customer in IoT engagements." Blanchard says 10th Magnitude does also look for technical skills while hiring IoT specialists but understanding how to guide customers through business problem solving processes is more important. These specialized skill sets include data transformation skills, like a deep understanding of connectivity, endpoint management, infrastructure, application modernization, serverless coding, and API management. "Technical skills are important However, the challenge with IoT is less about the technology. There are a number of repeatable tools, approaches, and assets that we leverage in IoT projects," he said. "Since IoT is so broad, we want people that are brave enough to push the conversation beyond their technical comfort zone." Security News This Week In Cybersecurity News: 10 Things To Know Sarah Kuranda Share this The Biggest Cybersecurity News The security industry moves fast, and this week was no exception. The past seven days saw the launches of multiple new security products, as well as new partnerships and acquisitions to position vendors into new markets. Much of this week's news centered on VMworld 2017, being held in Las Vegas, with vendors forming new partnerships and launching new products around application security and virtualization. This week also saw updates on threats both new and old, with reports of a new massive spambot and recalls and court rulings over previously announced breaches. Here are 10 things you need to know. /**/ /**/ VMware Launches AppDefense VMware led the way with security moves at VMworld, rolling out its long-awaited cloud-based and virtual machine-based security offering. The company said the offering, formerly known as Goldilocks but now called VMware AppDefense, helps customers protect applications and infrastructure based on the VMware NSX software-defined networking platform. The platform includes a focus on applications, infrastructure security, and the overall ecosystem with technology vendor partnerships. Tying the platform to VMware NSX also allows AppDefense to capture and discover applications and determine their behavior, detect something going wrong with an application, and respond to attacks on applications. /**/ /**/ Forcepoint Acquires RedOwl Forcepoint kicked off the week with the news that it had acquired security analytics and user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) company RedOwl. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. RedOwl offers UEBA technology that looks to analyze large amounts of data and human behaviors to pinpoint anomalies and threats. The company won the prestigious RSA Innovation Sandbox startup contest in 2014. In an interview with CRN, CEO Matt Moynahan said the acquisition builds on the Austin, Texas-based company's strategy to focus on "human-centric" elements of security, rather than traditional indicators of compromise. The two technologies are already integrated due to a previous partnership, but Moynahan said the technologies will be integrated further as a layer across all Forcepoint products. /**/ /**/ Palo Alto Networks and Okta Team Up Palo Alto Networks and Okta said this week at Oktane 2017 in Las Vegas that they were teaming up with a new enhanced partnership to bring further identity and access management capabilities to the network security vendor's platform. The move will secure organizations at the identity level and at the network, cloud and endpoint. Okta said the integration will simplify multifactor authentication enforcement before an event, as well as automate workflows with identity and user access to information in response. The integration brings deep identity capabilities to the Palo Alto Networks platform, Okta co-founder and COO Frederic Kerrest said, extending the company's perimeter approach to identity, which is the "new perimeter" of security. Okta fills that gap in the Palo Alto Networks portfolio, as the company invests in and builds out other areas of its portfolio, he said. The integration also builds on a push by Okta to form more deep technology integration partnerships, Kerrest said. /**/ /**/ FDA Recalls 465,000 Pacemakers After Vulnerabilities Discovered After earlier reports that found vulnerabilities in 465,000 pacemakers offered by Abbott (formerly St. Jude Medical), the FDA announced this week that it had recalled the medical devices. The vulnerabilities could allow hackers to reprogram devices, adjust operation or rapidly drain the battery. The FDA said those affected by the recall could update the firmware in the device instead of having to replace it entirely. Devices affected include the St. Jude Medical pacemaker and CRT-P devices named Accent, Anthem, Accent MRI, Accent ST, Assurity and Allure. The FDA said the recall did not affect cardiac defibrillators or cardiac resynchronization ICDs. /**/ /**/ Spambot Discovered With 711 Million Emails Reports of a new, massive spambot emerged Tuesday. The spambot, called Onliner, reportedly includes 711 million email accounts, including email addresses, passwords, and email servers to send spam. Most of the credentials appear to have come from other data breaches, as first reported by ZDnet. The significance of the spambot is that it can potentially allow more spam to get through to users as it is being sent from legitimate email addresses. /**/ /**/ Bromium Secure App Extensions Bromium at VMworld unveiled the launch of Bromium Secure App Extensions. The launch adds to the Bromium Secure Platform to extend its application protection capabilities to legacy applications. The offering uses virtualization for application isolation and control, making sure each legacy application is hardware-isolated in a micro-VM. "Our customers describe legacy and often unsupported applications as one of their highest risks," Gregory Webb, Bromium CEO, said in a statement. "They know it's a problem, but these apps are often part of a company's DNA to swap them out requires an incredible effort. They often have hundreds of these applications, and while organizations work to move them to the cloud or a modern infrastructure, they remain at risk." /**/ /**/ Carbon Black Teams Up With VMware Carbon Black said it was teaming up with VMware to bring together the company's endpoint security offerings with VMware's new AppDefense offering. Carbon Black said AppDefense can now leverage the company's Collective Defense Cloud feed to help classify applications. Carbon Black said the combined offerings include capabilities for behavioral controls of virtual and cloud environments, orchestration and automation, and converged operations. "With AppDefense, VMware is redefining security for the software-defined data center," said Tom Corn, senior vice president of security products at VMware, in a statement about the partnership. "By working with Carbon Black, we are moving the industry toward a new security model and empowering customers to protect their virtualized environments from the latest advanced threats." /**/ /**/ Kaspersky Lab Versus The FBI The latest in the ongoing saga between Kaspersky Lab and the FBI this week was a report out Monday by Cyberscoop that U.S. spies believe the investigation is being mismanaged, including deliberate media leaks and overblown briefings. The report follows on one from the week prior, which said the FBI had been in talks with multiple private companies to urge them against signing a deal with the vendor, to varying degrees of success. It also builds on a growing contention between the two groups, with the FBI alleging Kaspersky has improper ties to the Russian government and Kaspersky vehemently denying the claims. /**/ /**/ Yahoo Data Breach Update On Thursday, a U.S. judge in San Jose, Calif. said Yahoo must face litigation surrounding its two massive data breaches that occurred between 2013 and 2016 and were brought to light in late 2016. The ruling follows up on Yahoo pushback that victims of the breaches, which affected 1 billion accounts and 500 million accounts, did not have standing to sue the vendor. The judge said Yahoo delayed disclosing the breach, which then delayed users in resetting their password and prolonging the impact. Users also faced increased costs around identity theft and data misuse. Yahoo was acquired by Verizon shortly after the breaches were disclosed for $4.76 billion and is now called Oath. /**/ /**/ Unisys Unisys said Thursday that its Unisys Federal unit had teamed up with Computer Marketing Associates to expand its security offerings further into the public sector. The partnership surrounds Unisys' Stealth suite of security software, which includes micro-segmentation technologies for adaptive protection across users, data, applications and systems. Unisys said the new partnership will allow CMA to offer Unisys Stealth technology and professional services to its multiple contract vehicles with the federal government, including NASA's Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V small business contract and the NIH CIO-CS contract. "By teaming with CMA, Unisys will be able to deliver its Stealth security solutions at unprecedented speed to meet government demands," Susan Becker, vice president of alliances at Unisys Federal, said in a statement. "This agreement provides a new avenue for all federal agencies to gain access to this critically important solution set to provide data and network protection where and when it is most needed." /**/ /**/ Officers and crew members from the USS Billings joined volunteers with Habitat for Humanity to build the organization's 79th home in the Billings Heights on Thursday. The home on Megan Circle will be owned by Jim Brown, and will be the first fully ADA-compliant house built by the local Habitat chapter. Started earlier this month, the home is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Funds for the project came from Apostles Build, a consortium of churches and other organizations. The alarming number of unfilled jobs in information security has many leaders in the industry wondering how to solve the manpower problem. Awareness is part of the problem in that the pipelines aren't getting filled fast because many young people don't know about jobs in security. A second problem of awareness, though, is the inherent problem in a majority of security operation centers (SOCs) programming language. New people require training. As a result, the N00bs often start off in a basic workflow where they sit and stare at a screen. When a green light turns red, they then turn that over to an experienced analyst. Bobby Filar, a senior data scientist in the Threat Research and Adversary Prevention Unit at Endgame, said they need to empower analysts sooner. To that end, he talked with me about Artemis, a language-agnostic platform that provides a more natural interface. Endgames Alexa integration which they believe is a first in the security industry utilizes natural language understanding to let security analysts simply ask their network whats going on. They can ask anything from a general check-in to specific queries about attack types, and execute commands to keep their system safe. The idea is that junior analysts can sit, ask questions, and take actionable steps without being crippled because of syntax or query language. "We wanted to tackle the problem of learning language," Filar said. "It's a good way to help move up to a senior analyst more quickly." Though, I did wonder how it would be possible to move up to a senior analyst without learning the programming language. "What we try to do," Filar said, "is provide a framework that can grow with the experience of the analyst. We support a query that is a little more yes/no or why. Those are the questions you are thinking about when starting off." Essentially, the analyst grows both through and with the flexibility and intuitive nature of the platform. "A more senior person who has had experience that is more syntax driven can still employ that language into the framework, and Artemis will pick up that language," said Filar. Artemis: A security chatbot Natural language understanding looks for entities or concepts and pulls those out to surmise their intent. It's a chatbot with a distinction. While there are a limited number of ways to say "book me a flight," Filar said analysts create queries that are a lot more complex. "There are all the different verticals and user levels, ranging from hunters to managers and tier 2 and tier 3. The goal is to encourage the user to use natural language as much as they want," he said. With Artemis as an Alexa integration, Endgame is trying to increase the work flows analysts employ. "If they see an alert, they do a, b, and c. But for new hires, that can be difficult to determine. They end up having limited roles until they've gained experience," Filar said. As a tool to help narrow the skills gap, Artemis aims to empower less-experienced analysts in a more intuitive way so that they can move up the experience ladder faster. That's a power the industry really needs moving forward. Frederic Vezon has Aspergers. Hes president at ASPertise, an application development, big data and cybersecurity services company that has offices in Paris and Montreal. The ASP in ASPertise stands for Asperger Syndrome which the company explains as being manifested by significant difficulties in social interaction, associated with restricted interests and repetitive behavior. A unique value proposition from ASPertise is their team of cybersecurity experts with Aspergers. Vezons firm expands on the syndrome, stating that Asperger people have difficulty interpreting and adapting to other's nonverbal behaviors (eye contact, facial expressions, body postures, etc.), love repetition and routines, and lack social and emotional reciprocity. These difficulties are often accompanied by other features, such as hypersensitivity to noise or specific kinds of foods, monotonic speech delivery, and resistance to change. ASPertise says the syndrome is often called the "invisible disability" because people with Aspergers are frequently of normal or above average intelligence and exhibit great intellectual curiosity. The syndrome is then only manifested during social and professional interactions with behaviors that may seem surprising, unexpected or inappropriate that offend the "common sense" and social conventions. Asperger people as Vezon calls them bring distinct advantages when it comes to combating cyber crime. In an email interview, he explained why. His reasons are below. 10 reasons why Asperger people are better at cybersecurity Most hackers are atypical. A research document from Scotland Yard last year indicates the majority of hackers in England are Aspergers. Some of them are identified; others dont disclose it. Aspergers are extremely detailed oriented, which leads to a "no stone unturned" approach to cybersecurity. Aspergers are cognitively different, so they are naturally "out of the box" and find innovative solutions to problems without the usual cognitive "Blind spot" of non-autistic people. Aspergers are extremely focused and can have a high level of concentration. They are capable of hyperfocusing and never let go when they are looking for something. They have a high capacity for analysis. You can find brilliant Asperger people working as Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts, for example. They have a demonstrated superior capacity to identify patterns. The Israeli army has created an elite squad ("unit 9900") composed solely of Autistics to deduct with pattern recognition troop movements on satellite images. Its been scientifically proven that Aspergers are methodological and make more rational decisions (less cognitive biases). Many Aspergers are "optimal problem solvers" they focus on finding the best solutions, not one of the best. Autistics have what is called Specific Interests: They will read and memorize huge amounts of information in an obsessive way and, therefore, excel in their field of expertise. People on the spectrum search for intellectual stimulation, complex challenges, and many have the "investigator profile," which is highly valuable for forensics and pen testing. Cybersecurity recruiting initiatives Cybersecurity Ventures predicts there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021, up from 1 million openings in 2014. The tech industry is searching for new solutions to crack the code on the growing labor shortage of cyber fighters. IBM is sponsoring alternative education models, such as Hacker Highschool and Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), while defining new workforce approaches to reach a broader pipeline of employees based on skills, experience and aptitudes, as opposed to traditional hiring models that focus on degrees alone. Palo Alto Networks and Girl Scouts of the USA recently announced a collaboration with the introduction of 18 new cybersecurity badges. Girls Scouts of all ages will be able to explore opportunities in STEM while developing problem-solving and leadership skills. ASPertise may be on to the next and biggest wave of cybersecurity recruits Asperger people. Vezons team currently works on physical and wireless network and security assessments, cyber social engineering, domain password audits, architecture development, vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, policy assessments, and firewall rule review. While artificial intelligence is often hyped as the biggest cybersecurity innovation to curb the workforce shortage, Asperger people may be the real intelligence that organizations need to fill their open positions. Aspergers, anyone? There's a lot of cybersecurity jobs waiting for you. Visit SteveOnCyber.com to read all of my blogs and articles covering cybersecurity. Follow me on Twitter @CybersecuritySF, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Send story tips, feedback and suggestions to me here. DANBURY Western Connecticut State University is considering the need for additional safety measures after a student was hit by a car while crossing White Street Tuesday afternoon. The incident is just the latest instance in which a pedestrian has been injured while crossing there. Police said Cody Moules, 27, of Woodbury, was hit by a Mercedes-Benz driven by Danbury resident Anita Edwards, 57, when he was crossing the street in a crosswalk around 5 p.m. Tuesday. Moules was taken to Danbury Hospital with injuries that authorities said were not life threatening. Police said the operator of the vehicle and the student remained at the scene until police, fire and EMS personnel arrived. We started talking last night about other things that we can do to make the area safer, Paul Steinmetz, a spokesman for the university, said Wednesday. We may put more emphasis about teaching students about the dangers and we are also looking to see if there is more we can do to warn drivers about the heavy foot traffic in the area. Mayor Mark Boughton said city officials have been in contact with the university about the accident and has pledged to provide whatever support the city can provide to help improve the area. A lot of these accidents have occurred during either the early morning hours or later in the afternoon when it starts to get dark, so thats something we may want to take a look at, he said, adding that Western is an important anchor for the citys downtown. Anytime a pedestrian is hit by a car in the city we are concerned. We want students coming to our city to have the most positive experience possible. More Information A history of pedestrians being struck on White Street November 2011 - Student Dong Lin was killed when crossing White Street in front of the university. August 2013 - A 54-year-old Danbury man was injured after being struck by a car while crosing White Street October 2015 - A 23-year-old New Milford man in injured after being struck by a car while crossing White Street that fled the scene. August 2017 - Student Cody Moules, 27 of Woodbury is injured after being struck by a car while crossing White Street. See More Collapse New signs and lighting at the two crosswalks in front of the university, which began classes this week, were put into place nearly five years ago after a student was killed while crossing the street. Nineteen-year-old Dong Lin was struck and killed on Nov. 22, 2011, while crossing White Street near Westerns White Hall. Another student Eugene Robinson, who fled the scene after hitting Lin, was later arrested by police and was sentenced to six months in prison on an evading responsibility charge. In August 2013, a 54-year-old Danbury man was taken to the hospital after he was struck while crossing White Street and a New Milford man was struck there in October 2015. Both men had minor injuries from the accidents. Police said Wednesday that Edwards, the driver involved in Tuesdays incident, told police she didnt see any crosswalk lights activated as she approached the area, shortly before hitting Moules. She was given a verbal warning by police for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, authorities said. University officials said the lights, which were installed several years ago at the recommendation of the White Street Task Force, are button operated. We do talk to both the students and the faculty about the importance of pushing the button and starting the lights before you cross the street, he said. We also encourage students to use the pedestrian bridge that crosses over White Street so that students can avoid traffic altogether. Its really the safest way to cross, Steinmetz said. He added that both city and university police often patrol the area for motorists who are blowing through the crosswalks. They are pretty good about giving out tickets to drivers who dont obey the law, Steinmetz said. dperrefort@newstimes.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Special counsel Robert Muellers reported alliance with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is aimed at Connecticut-born Paul Manafort. And it may have as much to do with mutual investigative interests in Trump campaign ties to Russia as it does with insulation against possible pardoning by President Donald Trump. POLITICO reported late Wednesday that the two prosecutors had joined forces in pursuit of Manafort, who is related to a New Britain family long prominent in construction and that citys Republican politics. Manafort served briefly as Trumps 2016 campaign chairman, and has a long history of business dealings with Russia and Ukraine. The Mueller/Schneiderman bond may be aimed at guarding against the possibility of Trump pardoning Manafort. A presidential pardon would free Manafort from federal charges, but the 68-year-old veteran GOP consultant would still face New York state charges, if a Schneiderman investigation were to prove fruitful. A call and an email to Schneidermans press office were not returned on Thursday. Trump last week pardoned controversial former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who faced sentencing for violating court orders on racial profiling of Hispanics detained for possible immigration violations. Trump has called the investigation of possible campaign collusion with Russia a hoax. Theres no love lost between Trump and Schneiderman, either, especially since the New York attorney general settled a fraud case against Trump University last November for $25 million. Schneiderman and Mueller have been previously reported to have a common interest in Manafort, particularly on the question of whether his all-cash purchases of three New York City properties including a condo in Trump Tower constituted illegal money laundering of payments from Ukraine. Were not talking about anything novel or unprecedented here, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., himself Connecticuts attorney general between 1991 and 2010. State attorneys general often cooperate with federal law enforcement. Manafort may have sought to avoid paying taxes on foreign earnings. And he only registered last month under U.S. law as a foreign agent working on behalf of the pro-Russia Party of Regions in Ukraine, even though his relationship stretches back a decade or more. Its a practical cooperation between two law enforcement authorities who have mutual respect and complementary but independent jobs to do, said Blumenthal, who added that he has no independent knowledge of the Mueller/Schneiderman connection. Cooperation is also a force multiplier, because neither has unlimited resources, he said. It is a way of sharing or dividing resources and responsibilities. In doing business in Ukraine on behalf of the party of deposed pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych, Manafort allegedly has traveled a fog-shrouded international money trail befitting a spy thriller. It is full of shell companies, black ledgers, money routed through a tax haven Cyprus and a failed Ukrainian cable TV deal put together with a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A dossier gathered last year by a former British intelligence officer with deep experience in Russia stated that in an August 2016 meeting with Putin, Yanukovych confirmed that substantial kick-back payments had been made to Manafort. Yanukovych assured Putin that the lack of a paper trail protected them against exposure, but Putin and others in Russias leadership remained skeptical, the dossier said. Manafort had remained commercially active in Ukraine, the dossier said, right up to March 2016, when Trump appointed him campaign manager. Manafort resigned a scant five months later, after news reports spotlighted his dealings in Ukraine and Russia. dan@hearstdc.com BRIDGEPORT A dispute over a moving company job led to the fatal shooting last month of a local man, police said. Richard Steve Evans, 37, of Dogwood Avenue, surrendered to police Thursday morning after being told there was a warrant for his arrest. He was charged with murder, criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit, and was held in lieu of $1 million bond. Evans lawyer, John R. Gulash, confirmed that his client had been arrested without incident, but declined further comment. Evans is accused of fatally shooting Reginald May on July 2 in front of Mays Alice Street apartment building. May, 44, was shot once in the chest and died at St. Vincents Medical Center. He was the citys 16th homicide of the year. Police said Evans works for a local moving company and had previously hired May for a job that took them to Virginia in June. However, once they got to Virginia, police said, the two men got into an altercation over money that ended when May punched Evans in the face. Police said witnesses told them that after getting punched Evans responded, OK, Reggie, I got you, which the witnesses took to mean that Evans was going to retaliate. Detectives viewed surveillance video from Alice Street at the time of the shooting and saw a hooded figure walking away from the shooting scene and then getting into an older Cadillac Escalade that matched one owned by Evans, police said. Police said they later found the gun they believed was used in the shooting at the West Rock Nature Center in Hamden. The definition of quit is to stop, cease or discontinue; to give up or resign, to relinquish, or to acknowledge defeat. People quit jobs long before they officially quit. Sales people also quit. They quit a prospect when they no longer follow-up. To be a winner, you cant be a quitter. The moment you quit following up is the moment you surrender the sale with that person. Here are three great ways to continue pursuit of your customers so that you can get that sale. This is the most powerful form of follow up, but also the most expensive. Salesforce did a study that said field sales cost $276 per visit, while a phone contact is much less. Its expensive in money and time to go somewhere. It takes resources, and it takes you off the phone. How many phone calls can you make versus visits? A lot. Selling is a numbers game. You can sell more on the phone but the personal visit -- getting face-to-face -- remains powerful. Its the most underutilized form of follow up, and I think it's because of technology that nobody is doing the personal visit. Its expensive, it takes time...but it works. Try visiting your client in person to get that sale. Related: Why Face-to-Face Communication Won't Disappear (Infographic) 2. Handwritten letter. Has anybody sent you handwritten mail this year? Im not talking about the Christmas card. Thats not follow up. Everybody sends those, so it doesnt stand out anyway. When I get 200 Christmas cards, do you really think that I open them? Someone else opened them, put them up on the little table and took them down after New Year. Holiday cards are not follow up. A hand written note, thats follow up. Everyone has abandoned it. I was on the Neil Cavuto Show on Fox News twice, and both times he sent me a handwritten note telling me thanks for stirring things up and that he appreciated my views. It made me feel good. It could be on a legal pad, a little sheet of paper or on a card. Add your cell number to them. You need their physical address, you need to keep it short, but it is powerful folks. Send some snail mail today. Related: The Business Benefits of the Handwritten Letter 3. Gifts Look at any gifts as an investment in a client. A little gift goes a long way. People want money from a client but cant spend a little money on the client. You call the client cheap because he wont invest any money but you wont invest any money in him. I see a lot of people making mistakes on this when you start doing little gifts. The salesperson buys the nice bottle of wine and I think, why would you send a gift from another company? It almost feels like an obligation then. You dont want people to be wondering why you bought them something. If you get an expensive bottle of wine, then you start feeling guilty, like you have to do something with the person. You dont want to produce feelings of obligation because it will cause resentment. You want to move your brand and ideas into the customer. I do gifts with my brand, and you have to figure out what your brand is. On holidays or anniversaries, instead of giving them something unassociated with your business, give them a product or service that you do. Related: Avoid These 4 Business Gift-Giving Faux Pas I hope these three ideas will help you today get that sale youve been after. Keep following up, and dont quit. For much more on sales, get yourself a ticket to 10XGrowthCon 2018 being held at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This will be a three-day event no entrepreneur should miss. Related: Follow Up Is the Sales Pro's Super Power 5 Powerful Habits of the Wealthiest Salespeople 7 Closing Strategies to Double Your Average Sale Size Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com After a wildfire blew up over the weekend and briefly threatened as many as 30 homes in the West Boulder area south of Springdale, the fire team managing the blaze declared it 100 percent contained by Wednesday evening. The more than 130 personnel assigned to the 1,275-acre blaze will begin demobilizing Thursday and heading to other wildfires, the evening update from fire information officer Crystal Beckman stated. As of 6 a.m., the incident had been turned over to the Sweet Grass County Fire Department. No homes were lost to the fire, which grew rapidly after it was first reported Aug. 26 and prompted a temporary evacuation order that was lifted by the following day. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The first of nine failing freezer trailers filled with volatile chemicals exploded early Thursday at the problem-plagued Arkema plant in Crosby, sending a plume of black smoke into the community east of Houston and setting off a round-the-clock watch for inevitable explosions to come. The initial blast about 1 a.m. Thursday sent 15 Harris County sheriff's deputies to the hospital after they inhaled fumes and got smoke in their eyes, but all were discharged by Thursday afternoon. Crosby officials had been bracing for days for explosions at the plant after six feet of floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey knocked out power and generators needed to keep the volatile organic peroxides used in making plastics and rubber stored at the facility cool. The chemicals explode if they get too warm, officials said. The explosion left unanswered questions about how contingency plans failed to keep the chemicals cool and how dangerous the fallout could be to a sprawling metropolitan area recovering from the biggest rain event in continental U.S. history. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long on Thursday called the plume "incredibly dangerous." Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later. Arkema President Richard Rennard said the health effects are relative. "They're noxious, certainly," Rennard said. "If you breathe in the smoke, it's going to irritate your lungs." Arkema CEO Rich Rowe said earlier in the week that the explosions could not be stopped. "There is no way to prevent an explosion or fire," Rowe said. THE LATEST: Get rolling updates, newest photos on Harvey here The company has a history of regulatory problems. In 2006, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality cited Arkema for a fire caused by improperly stored organic peroxides. In 2011, the same plant was cited for failing to maintain proper temperatures of its thermal oxidizer. In 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Arkema $91,724 after finding 10 violations at the Crosby site, many involving the mishandling of hazardous materials. Arkema's CEO Richard Rowe said earlier this week that the company spent millions of dollars on upgrades after the fines and believed all issues cited in the inspections had been addressed. The Houston area is home to more than 2,500 chemical facilities. An investigation by the Houston Chronicle in 2016 found 55 facilities including Arkema with a high potential for harm to the public, based on an analysis performed in conjunction with the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University. The study factored risks based on the amount and type of dangerous chemicals on site and their proximity to the public. At least 13 of the facilities with the highest potential for harm lie within the 100-year flood plain. The Arkema plant lies within the 500-year flood plain, according to a Chronicle analysis. Arkema officials wouldn't say the company had the ability to neutralize the chemicals before the situation became so volatile, and wouldn't answer questions about whether the back-up generators were elevated before the storm hit the area late Saturday. Rennard said that other highly toxic chemicals on the site were in a "remote location," far from the exploding organic peroxides. Officials had not provided a requested map of the facility by late Thursday. READ ALSO: Politico blasted for cartoon that critics say mocks Harvey victims The Arkema plant lost power late Monday, knocking out the primary supply and back-up generators and forcing employees to move the organic peroxides into 18-wheeler box vans with cooling systems. One employee was evacuated Monday night. Eleven other employees were evacuated Tuesday when the refrigeration in the back-up containers also began to fail. Local officials ordered the evacuation of residents after seeing the chemical inventories for the facility, which the company has not publicly released. Company officials said they expected the refrigeration to fail in all the trailers and that additional explosions were inevitable. The incident came as chemical facilities throughout the Houston area began drying out and restarting facilities that had been shut down as Hurricane Harvey approached last week. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued a safety alert Thursday urging the facilities to take special precautions as they resumed operations. "Restarting a refinery poses a significant safety risk," CSB Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said in a statement. "When operators follow established startup procedures and checklists, it reduces the risk to a catastrophic accident that could cost lives and incur substantial product disruptions." The environmental damage from those startups can be enormous. About 2 million pounds of emissions have been released during Harvey-related shutdowns and incidents, compared to more than 5.2 million pounds all of last year. Emissions from Aug. 23 through Monday in the Houston area represented nearly 40 percent of the region's releases for all of 2016, based on pounds of chemicals, according to Luke Metzger, director of the advocacy group Environment Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a relaxing of state environmental reporting laws during Hurricane Harvey, and companies are still reporting leaks and other incidents voluntarily, according to TCEQ spokesperson Andrea Morrow. Among those voluntary reports was a roof collapse at an ExxonMobil facility in Baytown that caused the release of more than 12,000 pounds of material. 'NO WAY TO PREVENT': Read Wednesday's update on the chemical plant's risk In Crosby, neighbors in and around the evacuation zone remained worried Thursday, saying they had received little official information and a lack of a clear perimeter. "But homes two miles away are safe?" asked Alicia Garcia, who had recently returned to the family's home about four miles away after evacuating Sunday because of flooding. At least one couple didn't leave. Leo and Lajayne Opelia, who are in their 70s, texted friend Frances Breaux that they intended to stay. "And if they didn't make it, they loved us," Breaux said. Deputies wouldn't allow Breaux into the neighborhood Thursday to check on the couple. "You know how older people are," she said. "They just don't want to leave their place." Derek Davis, 36, lives outside the evacuation zone but shared his neighbors' questions and concerns. "What was the basis of the blast zone? How was that calculated? How was safety taken into consideration? Do they expect a mile-and-a-half radius? Are they taking a fudge factor into account? Did they consider the wind? What was the fail-safe program they had?" he asked. "It seems like they're trying to save the product and risk the residents." 'IT'S TERRIFYING': Family returns to flooded home, finds new danger nearby CHEMICAL BREAKDOWN: In November 2014, four workers died at a DuPont plant in La Porte after being exposed to a toxic gas. Responding emergency workers weren't sure what was in the air. The surrounding community wasn't, either. A Houston Chronicle investigation dives deep into Houston's hidden world of explosions and toxic releases and probes the regulatory failures that put us in jeopardy. Click here to read our series. 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 Montana Supreme Court decides many cases in which the law appears to be ambiguous. Former state legislator Art Wittichs appeal wasnt one of those. Wittich, of Bozeman, who was convicted by a jury for civil violations of Montanas campaign finance law, appealed to the states high court, claiming that the case against him was unconstitutional, that the judge erred and that the commissioner of political practices lacked authority to bring charges against him. Last week, the Supreme Court upheld Wittichs conviction for accepting in-kind campaign contributions from third parties that coordinated with his state 2010 Senate election campaign. The decision was unanimous. In an opinion written by Associate Justice Beth Baker, the court rejected all of Wittichs claims, concluding that former Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl properly investigated a complaint filed with his office and did not violate any law when he filed an action against Wittich in Lewis and Clark County. The court affirmed trial rulings of District Judge Ray Dayton and held the judge acted within his authority to enter judgment against Wittich in the amount of $68,232.58 three times the amount of the jurys verdict. Wittich cronies have insisted that Motl pursued charges against Republicans because they were Republicans. However, the scheme that Wittich and the others participated in targeted Republican candidates in the 2010 Primary Election. Money from a national right to work group was funneled through a shadowy organization then called Western Tradition Partnership. Republican candidates who agreed with the national organizations legislative positions got a valuable package of campaign support, including multiple mailings that attacked their Republican opponents. Republican Debra Bonogofsky of Billings was the target of Western Tradition Partnership mailings that supported her opponent, Dan Kennedy. Bonogofsky filed a complaint with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, alleging that Kennedy and others illegally coordinated with and received political contributions from an organization that turned out to be Western Tradition Partnership. As the COPP investigated, evidence showed that Kennedy and Wittich were among nine candidates who coordinated campaign support with Western Tradition Partnership. Motl charged all nine with civil violations of Montanas campaign finance law. Most admitted the violations, paid a fine and moved on. The misdeeds of Wittich and the other candidates had real effects on Montanas election system. Bonogofsky, a political newcomer, lost her election. Republican John Esp, a veteran state lawmaker from Sweet Grass County, won the 2010 election, but did not seek a subsequent term, having been picked on and soured by the negative, illegal campaigning. The case couldnt have been tried without the efforts of COPP Chief Legal Jamie McNaughton and Gene Jarussi, who served as a special attorney general without compensation. The COPP budget (which is set by the Legislature and governor) doesnt have money to take a case to jury trial. In fact, some Republicans attempted in the 2017 session to abolish the COPP. They failed because not all Republicans agreed that political spending should be an unaccountable free-for-all. In 2015, while charges against Wittich were pending, conscientious Republicans and Democrats passed the Disclose Act, which Gov. Steve Bullock signed to increase transparency and accountability in Montana election spending. The present COPP, Jeffrey Mangan, commended Bonogofsky, Esp and Karolin Rockvoy, who provided the COPP with information on Western Tradition Partnerships Montana campaign operations. As Mangan said: Thanks to the thoughtful persistence of Montana citizens Debra Bonogofsky, John Esp and Karolin Rockvoy, Montana campaign finance and disclosure laws remain a strong and powerful ally for openness and transparency in Montanas election process. The law is vitally important, but it wont work without the support of honest citizens candidates and campaign workers who speak up when they see wrongdoing, even if its easier to stay quiet. Collette Dinnigan has dressed everyone from Charlize Theron to Nicole Kidman, but when it comes to her newest fashion venture she found inspiration closer to home. The Australian fashion designer was inspired by her daughter to launch her first ever eyewear collection for kids with Specsavers. Collette, 51, said the idea for her own children's eyewear line came about when her daughter Estella, 13, began wearing spectacles. Australian fashion designer Collette Dinnigan was inspired by her daughter to launch her first ever eyewear collection for kids with Specsavers Collette set out to design a line that would reflect not only what teenagers like, but the particular size of frame that they need to wear Estella first got glasses when she was nine after she began having a lot of headaches and got her eyes tested. But the teen recently had a difficult time finding suitable glasses that actually fit. 'There were either adult glasses that were too big or children's glasses that were too small,' Collette told Daily Mail Australia. So Collette set out to design a line that would reflect not only what teenagers like, but the particular size of frame that they need to wear. 'Girls aged 13 to 14 are very particular about what they want to wear,' she said. 'They want glasses that make them feel confident and don't feel too childish, but also not too mature.' 'And if the child likes their glasses, they're going to wear them and it's going to be good for their eyesight and give them confidence.' Collette, 51, said the idea for her own children's eyewear line came about when her 13-year-old daughter Estella (pictured here with brother Hunter) began wearing spectacles Collette's line ranges from pale pink frames that 'disappear on the face', to a striking red, flowers, and checkerboard prints Although she is no longer showing at Paris Fashion Week, the designer is still keeping busy with interior designing, and lines in linen, lingerie, and children's wear Collette's line ranges from pale pink frames that 'disappear on the face', to a striking red, flowers, and checkerboard prints. The eyewear collection joins a variety of ventures that Collette has embarked on since she closed the boutique that made her a household name four years ago. Although she is no longer showing at Paris Fashion Week, the designer is still keeping busy with interior designing, and lines in linen, lingerie, and children's wear. Collette also recently returned to Australia after spending a year abroad in Italy with her husband Bradley Cocks and their children Estella and four-year-old Hunter. It was an influential move for Collette, who was inspired by the glamour of the Malfi Coast and the Italian Riviera as well as the country's most creative people. 'Italy is made up of many small businesses that actually have all these different craftsmen, from ceramics to embroidery,' she said. Collette is still creating and designing as much as she was before she left high fashion - but her method to the madness has changed now that she's become a mother 'They're the country's unsung heroes, there's so much done by hand there it's incredible.' Collette, who was recently awarded an Order of Australia honour, is still creating and designing as much as she was before she left high fashion - but her method to the madness has changed now that she's become a mother. 'I used to work 24/7 and it wouldn't faze me,' she said. 'I still work very hard, but I'm much more organised about what I have to get done and I prioritise rather than have things happen organically.' 'I've lost the ability to do whatever I feel like, but at the same time it makes you much more productive and focused.' And now without the demands of Paris Fashion Week, Collette is free to block out school holidays to spend more time with her family. 'It's a very different kind of energy when you have children,' she said. 'It's relentless, but it's not noticed because it's what you have to do.' Have you ever popped a familiar packet or jar into your trolley only to realise later that its a cheaper copycat? This month, a study found retailers take advantage of how we shop on autopilot, with a fifth of us absent-mindedly buying budget versions of branded products. Food companies, which spend huge sums on branding, are less than happy with this. Last month, Toblerone announced it was suing Poundland over its planned new Twin Peaks chocolate bar. Amanda Cable asked the experts to share their verdict on similar budget and branded products with surprising results But with little legislation protecting the big brands labels, its difficult to stop the copycats and improvements in chemistry make it easier to recreate famous brands using similar ingredients. So, are the budget alternatives any good? Amanda Cable asked the experts and their verdicts could change your shopping habits forever. VANISH STAIN REMOVER, 4.50 FOR 500g VERSUS SAINSBURY'S STAIN REMOVER POWDER , 2.50 FOR 500g YOU SAVE: 2 per tub, or 44 per cent per 100g. OUR TEST: The Sainsburys powder looks and feels the same though it has some added blue flakes and a stronger detergent smell. The Vanish lists more than 30 per cent oxygen-based bleaching agents, while the Sainsburys version says it has less than 30 per cent. They both have less than 5 per cent of non-ionic surfactants, anionic surfactants and optical brightener. Sainsburys lists perfume, while the Vanish option contains enzymes and something called zeolite (natural minerals that soften water). Nikki Stopford from Which? rated the branded stain remover as more effective than the budget version EXPERT VERDICT: Nikki Stopford from Which? says: On both jars, we are given non-specific terms, such as anionic and non-ionic surfactants, basically custom-made cleaning agents, whose recipes are a closely-guarded secret. That means we cant be certain of differences here. Still, the higher levels of bleaching agents and the minerals give Vanish the edge. WINNER: Brand. FAIRY PLATINUM WASHING UP LIQUID, 2 FOR 625ml VERSUS ALDI MAGNUM PREMIUM , 75p FOR 500ml YOU SAVE: 1.25 per bottle, or 53 per cent per 100ml. OUR TEST: The Aldi liquid smells the same and has the same consistency, although the Fairy is a richer colour. The Fairy bubbles last eight hours, a good measure of how high quality the ingredients are. But Magnums bubbles last even longer: eight hours and 15 minutes. Nikki also said both the budget and branded washing up liquid she tested were of equal quality EXPERT VERDICT: Nikki Stopford from Which? says: Labels on washing-up liquids dont have to state quantities in which they are used, unlike food items. The ingredients are the same in many of these products, and it is the packaging and the scent that change. WINNER: Draw. PRINGLES ORIGINAL, 2.25 FOR 200g VERSUS TESCO CHIPZ ORIGINAL, 85p FOR 165g YOU SAVE: 1.40 per tube, or 54 per cent per 100g. OUR TEST: I generally avoid cheap crisps, as they are usually over-salted and lack crunch. But I found these lookalikes just as moreish as Pringles. Nutritionist Angela Dowden said the budget version crisps rated higher because of their lower salt content EXPERT VERDICT: Nutritionist Angela Dowden says: Theres little difference. The Pringles have fewer calories 516 per 100g compared with Tescos 554. But Tesco has less saturated fat (3g per 100g compared with 1.4g) and the Tesco salt level is lower at 1g compared with 1.4g. For me, Tesco wins. WINNER: Copycat. LURPAK, 3.25 FOR 500g VERSUS NORPAK (ALDI), 1.75 FOR 500g YOU SAVE: 1.50 per tub, or 46 per cent per 100g. OUR TEST: Lurpak is made in Denmark, while Norpak is from Ireland, where costs are cheaper. Aldis option has the same subtle taste, spreads thickly and melts on potatoes without the butter splitting a common fault with cheaper brands. She also chose the budget version sandwich spread because of its health content over the branded version EXPERT VERDICT: Angela Dowden says: The ingredients are identical both contain 64 per cent butter and 26 per cent rapeseed oil, lactic cultures, water and salt. Aldi says: Our customers want a simple experience when they visit our stores and we package our exclusive brands in such a way that they are easily recognisable to savvy British shoppers. WINNER: Copycat. OREO COOKIES, 1.08 FOR 143g VERSUS SONDEY NEO (LIDL) , 79p FOR 180g YOU SAVE: 29p per pack, or 42 per cent per 100g. OUR TEST: My family simply cant see the difference so Neo wins, because it is cheaper. Angela said despite the budget biscuits being smaller they rated better than the branded version EXPERT VERDICT: Angela Dowden says: Both biscuits boast a 29 per cent vanilla creme filling. The Neo has slightly more cocoa powder, but it has 13g of saturated fat per 100g, compared with 9.8g for the Oreo. The Neo has 37g of sugar, while the Oreo has 38g. The only difference is that the Neo biscuits are very slightly smaller. WINNER: Copycat. AUSSIE MEGA VOLUME SHAMPOO, 4.19 FOR 300ml VERSUS CIEN MEGA VOLUME SHAMPOO (LIDL), 99p FOR 300ml YOU SAVE: 3.20 per bottle, or 76 per cent per 100ml. OUR TEST: Both are thick and leave my hair clean and soft. Gill Smith, a cosmetic chemist rated the budget version shampoo best as the quality was equal with the more expensive brand EXPERT VERDICT: Gill Smith, a cosmetic chemist, says: Lidl has invested in a top team of fragrance buyers and good perfumes, which used to be skimped on by budget brands. Lidl says: Our packaging reflects market norms . . . [and] all our products are clearly labelled, so customers can make informed decisions about what they buy. WINNER: Identical so the copycat. GALAXY MINSTRELS, 1.50 FOR 118g VERSUS POUNDLAND MIRACLES, 1 FOR 200g YOU SAVE: 50p a pack, or 61 per cent per 100g. OUR TEST: The packaging is uncannily similar and they taste the same a sugar shell with a smooth inner kernel of chocolate. Angela Dowden also said the budget version chocolates werer better value because of their high cocoa concentrate EXPERT VERDICT: Angela Dowden says: Miracles originate from Spain, where chocolate is superior as they use more cocoa solids to cater for the Continental preference for richer chocolate. Theyre just as good as the Minstrels. WINNER: Copycat. HELLMANN'S REAL MAYONNAISE, 2.49 FOR 600g VERSUS BATTS REAL MAYONNAISE (LIDL), 65p FOR 500ml YOU SAVE: 1.84 a jar, or 42 per cent per 100ml/g. OUR TEST: My family blind tests them and all five of us vote for . . . Lidl. Theres an eggy, fresher flavour, while Hellmanns is vinegary and tart. Nutritionist Angela Dowden rated the copycat mayonnaise higher than the branded version because of its low salt content EXPERT VERDICT: Nutritionist Angela Dowden says: Both have 6.2 per cent saturated fat, but theres less salt in the copycat 1.16g per 100g compared with 1.5g in the Hellmanns. Cheaper sauces used to be loaded with salt, but supermarkets have made own brands much healthier. WINNER: Copycat. Lilia Tarawa is unlike many young women her age. The 26-year-old New Zealander grew up in the repressive, fundamentalist religious cult of Gloriavale Christian Community, which was founded in 1969 by her grandfather, Neville Cooper, who is known as Hopeful Christian. She was a member of the commune on the west coast of New Zealand's south island for 18 years where she followed its strict, oppressive rules, before she eventually escaped to live as the woman she does today. Ms Tawara spoke to FEMAIL about life inside the cult, her grandfather, Neville Cooper - who is an Australian sex offender who was jailed on three counts of indecent assault against girls aged 12 to 19 - and how she finally broke free only to return to the cult as a modern woman to look back on her experience. Lilia Tarawa (pictured centre with Shepherd Fervent Stedfast and Shepherd Howard Temple), 26, grew up in the repressive, fundamentalist religious cult of Gloriavale Christian Community which was founded in 1969 by her grandfather, Neville Cooper (not pictured) Ms Tawara (pictured back row, second from left with some of the girls on her working team) spoke to FEMAIL about life inside the cult, which required women to wear long dresses While Ms Tawara's life inside Gloriavale as a woman was one of submission, domestic servitude and fear of eternal damnation and hell, Ms Tawara said her earliest memories were in fact ones of happiness: She also opened up about how she finally broke free to live in the modern world today (pictured now) 'I learned to work as a team when I was a girl,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'What with all the sewing, cooking and domestic chores, we were always busy and the girls did everything together.' However, things soon turned sour when the then-six-year-old received a school report, which praised her 'leadership qualities'. 'My grandfather read it aloud at dinner and mocked me in front of everyone,' she remembered. 'He called me "bossy" and said we didn't want bossy women in the community. 'I was humiliated and still struggle with a lack of self worth sometimes today because of that,' she told FEMAIL. From there, things only got worse for Ms Tawara, who witnessed a boy 'being belted with a metal strap by a teacher' at her community-run school. 'Old-fashioned corporal punishment was encouraged. Those memories are hard, but I shared those stories because it's when I started to think "this isn't right",' she explained. Lilia (pictured in a yellow dress, third from left) and her High School classmates attended a concert in costume - females were allowed to remove head coverings for theatrical purposes, but always had to wear modest clothing While she knew that things weren't right, Ms Tarawa was actively encouraged not to speak out in the repressive community. Women were considered to be subordinate to men within the cult - forced to wear headscarves, alongside loose, full-length blue dresses, high necklines and long sleeves. The costumes for the recent TV series, The Handmaid's Tale, were inspired by New Zealand's Gloriavale community. If I didn't cleanse myself then I'd be damned to eternity with Satan... I'd rather look like an idiot now than lose my salvation Children were even lower than women in the hierarchy - and everyone was made to share everything - whether it was meals, prayers or breastfeeding. Meanwhile, young girls were married to much older men in arranged marriages. 'I couldn't speak out,' Ms Tarawa said. 'Your whole life is lived in fear of hell and damnation.' On another occasion from her childhood, Ms Tarawa admitted to stealing rolled oats, after her charismatic grandfather told the community that it was better to speak out than stay silent and be damned: 'Grandad reminded us of the consequences of stealing. "If your hand or foot causes you to sin then it's better for it to be cut off than have all your limbs and be cast into everlasting hell fire,",' she recalled. 'I wanted to ignore my conscience but the guilt was too much. Condemnation festered in my soul. If I didn't cleanse myself then I'd be damned to eternity with Satan... I'd rather look like an idiot now than lose my salvation.' Ms Tarawa is pictured here with her grandfather, Hopeful Christian (Neville Cooper), making her commitment At the age of 16, like many of the women in the 90 families inside the Gloriavale community, Lilia made a vow to her grandfather during her commitment ceremony. She promised, like others, that she would submit to males, look after her home and remain 'meek', 'modest' and 'pure'. At this point, she also renounced adultery, divorce, birth control and abortion. 'Gloriavale told me that I wasn't allowed to have sex with anyone until I was married,' Ms Tarawa told FEMAIL. 'In fact, it wasn't until I escaped the cult later and had sex for the first time, that I was finally broken free from the religious chain. 'I realised I wasn't going to go to hell for having sex. That was the beginning of my freedom.' Elisabeth Moss is pictured in the cult TV series, The Handmaid's Tale Ms Tarawa's grandmother, Nga Honore Roimata Tarawa, is pictured here at a wedding in 2017 Ms Tarawa's freedom came about partly thanks to her two older siblings, who began a rebellion within the cult and eventually ended up running away and escaping. 'It was hard when they left. I was 15 and I remember seeing my mother sobbing in the kitchen,' she said. Ms Tarawa wrote her new book because she felt as though she needed 'healing' from her time in Gloriavale 'When people leave, they are shunned. There's no coming back.' Later on in her teenage years, Ms Tarawa's parents moved to a separate house close to Gloriavale, remaining part of the cult. This allowed Ms Tarawa to be exposed to things many modern women take for granted - outside influences of different clothes, pierced ears and more. 'I was living two lives, but could see elements of a different world out there,' she said. Eventually, the Tarawa family left Gloriavale for good, at which point Ms Tarawa broke free from the religion which had defined her childhood and embraced the modern world and everything it brings: 'I decided to write the book, Daughter of Gloriavale - My Life in a Religious Cult, because every time there was media about Gloriavale, I felt not too great about it. 'It stirred a lot of feelings in me, and I felt as though I needed to talk to someone. I was tired of feeling like I didn't belong in the real world like I did in Gloriavale and I wanted to let go. 'So I said to myself I would put it into words. That was really healing.' Ms Tarawa's parents, Perry and Miracle Tarawa, are pictured here at home in Christchhurch in 2016 WHAT IS GLORIAVALE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY? * Gloriavale Christian Community is a small Christian group based at Haupiri on the west coast of the south island in New Zealand. * The group was founded in 1969 by Neville Cooper, an Australian-born evangelist who was invited to preach in New Zealand. * In 1995 Neville Cooper was jailed for almost a year on sexual abuse charges. He was convicted based on the testimony of his son and of a young woman who had fled the compound. *Neville Cooper has changed his name to Hopeful Christian. * Members of the community live a fundamentalist Christian life in accordance with their interpretation of the teachings of the New Testament. * The group teaches that the only true way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to the commands of God. Advertisement Ms Tarawa (pictured) concluded that she hopes that her book will 'empower' and 'inspire' others to stand up to regimes, whether they are in an abusive relationship or a cult Daughter of Gloriavale (pictured) is out now Ms Tarawa writes in her book of the occasion where she returned to Gloriavale as a modern woman to see what it was like from her new perspective. She told FEMAIL of her return: 'My grandfather treated me like a stranger. He wouldn't talk to me. He treated me like an outsider. 'It was hard, but I wanted some closure from the world I had left. Part of me still wondered what life was like in Gloriavale. 'It's a tough world out here, but it made me thankful I am here - there is so much here that lights me up.' She concluded that she hopes that her book will 'empower' and 'inspire' others to stand up to regimes, whether they are in an abusive relationship or a cult. 'You don't need to believe the sh*t that people say you can and can't do,' she said. 'This book is a message of hope. Look at me now compared to where I was. You can do it. You can break free.' Daughter of Gloriavale - My Life Inside a Religious Cult is published by Allen & Unwin, AUD $32.99. It is available in stores and here. He was the best-connected man in London and counted the Duchess of York and Kate Moss as close friends so how fitting that when Sir David Tang, who founded The Dorchester restaurant China Tang and fashion brand Shanghai Tang, died on Tuesday aged 63, he should receive such glowing tributes from societys most eminent movers and shakers. David Camerons mother-in-law Annabel Astor hailed him as a great life enhancer while comedian David Walliams called him a legendary wit. It was a party to be near him. Hollywood paid homage via actor Russell Crowe: The privilege was mine. Witty, charming, intellectual, salacious, hilarious, loving and funny as f***. Sir David Tang is knighted for charitable services by the Queen. The prominent entrepreneur, a friend of the royals and celebrities has died aged 63 Sir David is seen with Princes Diana. He was widely seen as the best-connected man in London and founded The Dorchester restaurant China Tang and fashion brand Shanghai Tang Fashion favourite: Supermodel Kate Moss holidayed with Sir David and Sarah Ferguson aboard a yacht off the coast of Greece just last year Sir David, who described himself as everyones token Chinese friend, planned to throw a farewell to life party at The Dorchester after receiving news he had just months to live following a battle with liver cancer. I thought the best way to go would be to give a party where we can see each other one more time, rather than at a memorial service where I shall be dead as a dodo, he said. The celebration was to due take place at the Mayfair hotel on September 6, but sadly he didnt make it. So who was Sir David? Tang arrived in the UK from Hong Kong at the age of 13, speaking no English. He was educated at the Perse School in Cambridge, where he failed his English O-level six times (despite passing Latin, French and Russian), then Kings College London, where he read philosophy, then law. His businessman grandfather founded Hong Kongs biggest bus company and endowed his grandsons education. High rollers: Partying with Jerry Hall in London in 2013, left, and cosying up to actress Sienna Miller Algy Cluff, the legendary oil and mining tycoon, was an early employer. He tells an illuminating tale about the first time Tang invited him to dinner. I thought it slightly strange, my most junior employee inviting me to dinner, but when I arrived, there was the Attorney General [at that time Lord Havers] and the Lord Chancellor and a crowd of important people. Over dinner, Lady Havers said: It must be wonderful, working for David. In London, Tang developed a gambling habit which almost destroyed him. But his luck improved in the mid-Eighties after he befriended Fidel Castro and secured an exclusive licence to distribute Havana cigars to all the countries of the Pacific rim. Sir David went on to make a fortune from the Shanghai Tang fashion label, selling it in 2006. Beloved: The Duchess of York cuddles up to her Tangito, with whom she shared a close friendship for 30 years True blue: Tang adored Lady Thatcher, pictured here at a book launch in 2002 Royal pals: Camilla Parker Bowles and her son Tom greet Sir David An art lover, philanthropist and Financial Times agony uncle, he was once Hong Kongs Honorary Consul to Cuba and excelled as a raconteur. He once recalled having accidentally slept with Tracey Emin on board a boat in the Adriatic. I saw the face of Tracey Emin from her parting hair. What the devil are you doing here, I slightly screamed. I dont know! she replied, jumping out of my bed with a sheet around her. Although he denied he was a playboy (no playboy gets up at 6.30am and gets to his office at 7), he knew how to charm. Both Naomi Campbell and Wonderbra model Eva Herzigova, 44, visited him in hospital before his death. I was looking forward to this embrace and smile all summer long, said Eva. Sir David married Hong Kong actress Susanna Cheung, with whom he had two children, Victoria and Edward. He was introduced to his Essex-born second wife, Lucy, a paint manufacturers daughter, by Tania Foster-Brown, once an aide to Sir Philip Green. The couple married in 2003 after a seven-year engagement. Someone once said of Tang that he was far more interesting than he pretended to be, which might explain his popular appeal. Soulmates: With second wife Lucy. They met through an aide to Sir Philip Green Sirs soiree: At a 2008 party to celebrate his knighthood with Jemima Khan Poignant: Eva Herzigova visits Tang in hospital He retained his sense of humour to the end and last year published Rules For Modern Life, which offered entertaining fashion tips. I find flip-flops highly unsavoury. Flip-flops and short trousers with hairy shins is absolutely disgusting. You dont really want to show your toes to people, unless you are Jesus Christ. Tang remained a devoted friend of Fergie even when she was ostracised by the royals. She joined Tang and Kate Moss on a yachting holiday last year in Greece. Yesterday, Fergie expressed her admiration for the man she dubbed Tangito. I have known him for 30 years, and we laughed, we cried, and we lived every moment. He made castles in the sky for my girls and me, we travelled the world together with him and his steadfast and devoted Lucy by his side. He was my brother Sun and I was sister Moon. To have known David has changed my life. Every time he played the piano or recited a poem, I cried with admiration. To Lucy, you were the blood in his veins and he loved you with all his heart, and you have been the most loyal wife and you made Tangito walk on and walk tall. He was so proud of Edward and Victoria and his little grandson Rocco. Go in peace Tangito, and thank you for our castles in the sky. We two are onesie: The couple joking in a rainproof overcoat She was the raven-haired, green-eyed, feline temptress who won the most coveted female role in cinema history as the wilful Southern minx, Scarlett OHara, in the most celebrated film ever made, Gone With The Wind. He was the impossibly handsome, dark, and brooding Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, acclaimed as the greatest actor of the 20th century, and the youngest ever to be knighted. The volcanic passion that drove Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier to destroy both their first marriages and to abandon their children, prior to their gilded 20-year reign as the King and Queen of stage and screen, is an iconic love story. In their heyday, the Oliviers were as famous globally as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton later became, and as George and Amal Clooney are now. But in the words of one of their close friends, theirs was a marriage made in hell, a love that turned to hatred, overshadowed by violence, promiscuity, cruelty, jealousy and madness. Next month, Larry and Viviens astonishing life together is to be resurrected when Sothebys auction more than 300 of Leighs artefacts and her extensive library. The sale, which follows the death in 2015 of Viviens only child, Suzanne Farrington, is a landmark theatrical and cinematic event. And at the centre of it all is the romance that, decades on, still has the power to captivate. Home movies included in the sale show Larry and Viv, scantily dressed, racing delightedly into each others arms beside the swimming pool at Notley Abbey, their Buckinghamshire estate, where I visited them on occasion. Her treasured jewellery includes an Eternally ring, inscribed on the inside, Laurence Olivier Vivien Eternally, and a wrist watch engraved on the back, Vivien Larry Only! Darling Xmas 1940. A very glamorous phonebook Well connected: Vivien's 1953 appointments book Only the best connections: Viviens 1953 appointments book had the choicest venues in London. Still around are: Claridges, the Cafe de Paris, The Connaught, Le Caprice, The Ritz, The Ivy and The Savoy. A-list friends included Douglas Fairbanks Jr and John Gielgud (whose name she misspelled). The Finch on the list is probably actor Peter, whom she announced as her lover when her marriage to Olivier was breaking up. Advertisement Among numerous photographs of Olivier that Vivien kept after their divorce, there is one in which his inscription spells out the word, LOVE: From L tO his V for Ever. And there are Viviens personal and engagement diaries, in one of which she wrote Told Leigh [Holman], an admission to her first husband of her adultery with Olivier. Six days later she made another entry: Left with Larry. Vivien Leigh was born the daughter of a British Cavalry officer and strict Catholic mother in Darjeeling in 1913. She married barrister Leigh Holman, 13 years her senior, in 1932 and their daughter was born a year later. Marriage and motherhood did not deter Leighs ambitions for a stage career, and at 22 she enjoyed her first West End success playing a prostitute. That same year, she first set eyes on Olivier on stage. Right: Viviens eternity ring. Left: Their names entwined She was fond of Holman, but hed begun to bore her. Thats the man Im going to marry, she confided to a girlfriend, who pointed out she and Olivier were both married. It doesnt matter, Vivien replied. Ill still marry him one day. And when they did eventually meet, the attraction was mutual and instantaneous. For Olivier, however, it was more complicated. In 1930, he had married the actress Jill Esmond and she was expecting their first child. But by the time his wife was six months pregnant, Olivier had succumbed to Viviens relentless campaign of seduction. Bowman showman: David Niven gave this picture of himself to Vivien When Olivier and Jill went on holiday to Capri, Vivien showed up there as well. She also arrived, uninvited, at the christening of the Oliviers son, Tarquin. Olivier would later confess to being a really worm-like adulterer, slipping in between another mans sheets, but the actress Phyllis Konstam, who knew them both, told me: No one could have been more wicked than Vivien was. She deliberately set out to destroy that marriage. I know for a fact that she even made lesbian overtures to Jill [who was bisexual], knowing her proclivities, in order to infiltrate her way into their lives. It was as if she had the Devil behind those beautiful green eyes. After Vivien had left Holman and their toddler daughter, and Olivier had left Jill and their baby son, the lovers lived together while their divorces were finalised and played opposite each other in the film Fire Over England, where their torrid affair was the talk of the set. Uninhibited: The cine film shot at Oliviers country estate Im done in already, Olivier complained to a friend. But its not the stunts [in the film]. Its Vivien. Its every day, two, three times. Shes bloody wearing me out. Viviens voracious sexual appetite was part of the illness that would come to dominate their relationship. She suffered from manic depression, or bipolar disorder, as it is now known. It was during their appearance in Hamlet, in 1938 at the Old Vic, that Olivier first realised there were problems. Backstage for no apparent reason, Vivien veered from silence at one moment to hysterical yelling the next. She had gone bonkers, having attacked [Olivier], having had a fit of some kind. She went ahead with her performance, the audience unaware of what had happened, and later had no memory of the event. After winning the Best Actress Oscar for the role of Scarlett OHara Viviens character was so similar to that of the scheming, selfish Scarlett that it seemed almost like type-casting she and Olivier married in 1940, in a quiet ceremony with Katharine Hepburn as one of the witnesses. The clinch: Ecstatic, the scantily-clad couple embrace Back in London, Vivien performed in a skit for a charity gala, singing a song with the words Im Scarlett OHara, the terror of Tara. By this point, terror is what Viviens manic depression was creating in her distraught husband and her friends and family. Eventually, she was persuaded to undergo electro-convulsive therapy to try to reduce the symptoms. She did not help herself by starting to drink heavily. In 1944, while pregnant during the filming of Caesar and Cleopatra, she fell and suffered a miscarriage which triggered another bout of depression. A year later, tuberculosis was diagnosed. Despite the trauma of his personal life, Olivier was prospering on his way to supreme theatrical greatness, with superlative stage performances in Richard III, King Lear and Oedipus Rex. In 1947, aged 40, he was knighted. Vivien, now Lady Olivier, was desperate not to be left behind, and so accepted the stage role of Blanche duBois in Tennessee Williamss A Streetcar Named Desire, playing a fading Southern beauty with a past characterised by notorious sexual promiscuity, alcoholism and eventual mental collapse. For the rest of her life, she would believe playing Blanche tipped me over into madness. The passion: Olivier and his lover in red share a kiss It did not, however, stop her reprising the role on screen in 1951 and she won a second Oscar. She also had a sexual dalliance with her co-star, Marlon Brando as did Olivier. David Niven later wrote that he discovered Brando and Larry swimming naked in the pool. Larry was kissing Brando... For both Olivier and Leigh, bisexuality was a recurring theme and they regularly cheated on each other with partners of both sexes. One biographer claimed that Vivien used male prostitutes, picked up at Scottys Garage in Los Angeles, an undercover brothel which had one petrol pump and 22 male attendants. It was after Oliviers long, flamboyant affair with Danny Kaye that Vivien informed her husband coldly I dont love you any more. Pointing the finger: Were they angry about being filmed? By 1953, the marriage was effectively over and Leigh announced she was in love with Peter Finch, a young Australian actor her husband had discovered and mentored, and her co-star in the film, Elephant Walk. It was during filming in Ceylon that Vivien experienced her worst manic episode of all, wildly and randomely reciting Blanche duBois dialogue from Streetcar and having to be held down and sedated before being dragged kicking and screaming onto a plane home to London. She was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor. She recovered sufficiently to play opposite Olivier in Terence Rattigans The Sleeping Prince. But when the play was filmed in 1956, Marilyn Monroe, 13 years her junior, was brought in to co-star with Larry in the role that Vivien, at 43, was now considered too old to play. A month after Monroe arrived on set, Vivien suffered a second miscarriage, losing her last chance of having a child by Olivier. Vivien Leigh was born the daughter of a British Cavalry officer and strict Catholic mother in Darjeeling in 1913. She married barrister Leigh Holman, 13 years her senior, in 1932 and their daughter was born a year later It was during this period that, according to her close friend Joan Thring, Leigh became fiendish about sex and began to seek out sexual encounters with strangers. She propositioned taxi drivers and delivery men. Once, after it had been raining, she came home bedraggled, covered in mud and looked terrible. She had been in the Square [behind her London home] with someone. That sort of thing happened all the time. For Olivier, Vivien was now more of a stranger to me than I could ever have imagined possible. In July 1957, after Vivien discovered Larry was having an affair with the 27-year-old actress Dorothy Tutin, there was violence between them, leading to a gash above Viviens left eye, and Olivier realised with horror that each of us was quite capable of murdering or causing death to the other. They separated and Olivier fell in love with 28-year-old actress Joan Plowright, with whom he was appearing in John Osbornes play, The Entertainer. Three months after he and Vivien divorced on January 6, 1961, Olivier married Plowright, with whom he would have a son and two daughters. Viviens attitude towards her successor as Lady Olivier was vindictive for the remainder of her life. Joan Plowright wouldnt be too bad, she wrote cruelly, if only she didnt smell so. Her own mental and physical health continued to deteriorate even while her talent remained. At the age of 50 in 1963 she won a Tony award for a Broadway musical but during one performance, she had run amok on stage. Her French co-star, Jean-Pierre Aumont, said: She began to claw me, slap me in the face and kick me in the balls. [She] looked at me, then through me at the entire world, with hatred . . . and she walked off. When Aumont returned to his dressing-room, he found that Vivien had destroyed pictures of his wife and family, and doctors were trying to sedate her with morphine. For the last nine years of her life, Vivien lived with a handsome, younger actor, John (Jack) Merivale and he found her dead on the floor of their flat in Belgravia in July 1967. She was 53. Olivier was being treated for prostate cancer, but on receiving the news of her death he left hospital and went to the flat. I stood and prayed for forgiveness for all the evils that had sprung up between us, he wrote. It has always been impossible for me not to believe that I was somehow the cause of Viviens disturbances. For her part, she had once told an interviewer that I would rather have lived a short life with Larry than a long one without him. In 1986, three years before his own death at the age of 82, the Right Honourable Baron Olivier of Brighton, as he had now become, was discovered by a visitor to his Sussex home weeping over a Vivien Leigh movie on TV. This was love, he said. This was the real thing. - Vivien: The Vivien Leigh Collection will be auctioned at Sothebys, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA from 10.30am on September 26. An Australian mother-of-two has invented a potentially life-changing 'pregnancy patch' that could revolutionise the way women experience childbirth. The ground-breaking device named Oli - has been developed by 31-year-old PhD candidate Sarah McDonald using the latest wireless technology to monitor pregnancy and labour in real-time. Ms McDonald said she realised there had to be a better way for women to track their pregnancies after her own 'traumatic' experience of childbirth. Sarah McDonald (pictured) said her own experience of a difficult birth led her to thinking about the limitations of current technology The mother-of-two said she was motivated to create 'Oli' because she wanted to improve outcomes for mothers and babies She told Daily Mail Australia she'd experienced first-hand the difficulties of a complicated birth when her second child was born prematurely. 'I went from having an amazing experience with the birth of my first child to something that was quite anxiety-provoking and traumatic,' she said. 'Complications during labour meant I was attached to CTG monitors by two huge bands tied around my waist.' The mechatronics engineer previously developed an at home testing device to monitor Parkinson's disease Finding the cumbersome monitoring bands 'uncomfortable, restrictive and highly invasive' led the mechatronics engineer to start thinking about ways she could improve the birthing process. 'As an engineer I was a bit frustrated because I knew the technology that should be available could be less invasive to me as a mother,' she said. Ms McDonald's background in designing medical devices naturally lent itself to the research work into childbirth she pursed as a PhD candidate at Sydney University. Sarah McDonald (pictured left) pose with current bands women wear around waist for CTG monitoring The real-time monitoring device is currently being trialed through the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney Under her supervisors, head of high-risk obstetrics at RPA Professor Jon Hyett, Dr Graham Brooker at the Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney, and RPA research midwife Dr Hala Phipps, she developed the device with a view to also helping hospitals allocate resources and improve scheduling on maternity wards. 'Being able to design a technology that is going to be able to work in a hospital system is extremely important,' she said. A prototype is in the final stages of a proof-of-concept study involving 75 pregnant women at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Sarah McDonald and the Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research Brad Hazzard at an ceremony this week where she was awarded a funding grant Sarah McDonald (pictured left) with Carla brown (centre) and Rishi Ramakrishnan (pictured right) from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics Although there's no expected date as to when it's likely to hit the market, a recent funding boost of $1.47 million by the NSW government means it could be a step closer. 'My hope is that Oli will improve outcomes for mothers and babies in a way that allows them to labour and deliver and carry in pregnancy how they want to,' Ms McDonald said. 'I want to help women to have the experience they want.' Grouse, partridge seasons open Sept. 9 North Dakotas popular hunting seasons for grouse and partridge will open Sept. 9. State Game and Fish Department upland game biologist R.J. Gross says hunters will likely see fewer sharptails and Huns compared to last year, while ruffed grouse numbers are up from 2016. Hot, dry early summer weather likely reduced grouse production in many areas due to poor habitat conditions and low insect production, according to Gross. Numbers in the northeast show up a little better than other areas, Gross said. But yet, there will be localized areas with good chick survival in most parts of the state. Huns respond better to drought conditions and do better in dry years compared to sharptails. Huns have generally been a bonus bird the past handful of years, Gross said. Hunters will still find pockets of decent hunting, but it may require more time in the field. Ruffed grouse spring drumming counts were up in the Turtle Mountains, and good numbers of broods were reported in the Pembina Hills. Shooting hours for the upcoming season are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Sharptails, ruffed grouse and Huns each have a daily limit of three and a possession limit of 12. Hunters, regardless of age, must have a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and general game and habitat license. In addition, hunters age 16 and older need a small game license. For further season information and regulations, hunters should consult the North Dakota 2017-18 Small Game Hunting Guide. Swan licenses remain available North Dakotas swan lottery has been held and 522 licenses remain. Only hunters who do not have a swan license for the 2017 season can apply, as regulations limit hunters to one license per year. Beginning Sept. 6, all remaining licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Resident and nonresident hunters must apply online at the State Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. The license fee is $10 for residents and $30 for nonresidents. The statewide tundra swan hunting season is Sep. 30 through Dec. 31. Five bighorn sheep licenses allocated The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is allocating five bighorn sheep licenses for the 2017 hunting season, three fewer than 2016. Two licenses are available in Unit B3 and two in B4. Also, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in spring by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota. The number of once-in-a-lifetime licenses allotted to hunters is based on data collected from the Departments recently completed summer population survey. Results of the survey showed a total of 83 rams, or 21 fewer than 2016. Brett Wiedmann, a big game management biologist in Dickinson, said the 20 percent decline in ram numbers is the result of an ongoing bacterial pneumonia outbreak that was first detected in 2014. In addition, 2016 had the lowest lamb recruitment on record so very few yearling rams were observed, Wiedmann said. Encouragingly, no adult animals within the herds that were exposed to disease in 2014 showed clinical signs of pneumonia, and the summer lamb count in those herds improved. An Australian fitness and postnatal expert has shared her advice on the best way to increase your sexual pleasure after having a baby. Mother-of-two, Kimmy Smith, believes that an important aspect of this is core and three simple pelvic floor exercises. 'A lot of women are quite intimidated about going back into the bedroom, often at the six week check up time they feel like they should be having sex again but every woman's different,' Kimmy told FEMAIL. Mother-of-two, Kimmy Smith (pictured) believes that an important aspect of good sex is core and pelvic floor exercises She has shared her advice on the best way to increase your sexual pleasure after having a baby Kimmy recommends taking a step back to look after your health and your fitness which will help you get back to your sex life. 'A lot of women have incontinence and prolapse and just weak pelvic floor which means they might not have any sensation down there, they might feel really uncomfortable,' she said. She suggested seeing a professional as well as downloading an app with pelvic floor exercises to get back your confidence in the bedroom. '[Childbirth] can be quite traumatic and everything is often very sore and swollen but eventually women will begin to feel like everything's working as it's meant to as they'll feel more toned in the muscles and actually feel sexual pleasure again,' she said. Kimmy recommends taking a step back to look after your health and your fitness which will help you get back to your sex life (stock image) 'When you feel like everything's falling out, you feel really low in confidence - whereas if you start strengthening your pelvic floor and core and doing all the correct exercises then you start to feel more confident in your body,' Kimmy told FEMAIL. She said that she is a 'big believer' in affirmation and having a sense of self belief and not forcing yourself to bounce back straight away. Kimmy wants women to try and create a new strong body that embraces the changes it goes through during pregnancy. She said that she is a 'big believer' in affirmation and having a sense of self belief and not forcing yourself to bounce back straight away She suggested seeing a professional as well as downloading an app with pelvic floor exercises to get back your confidence in the bedroom (stock image) 'I feel like society is geared towards coming back and pretending you never had a baby but we're not designed that way. 'Your body changes to support and grow a baby so it's all about accepting those changes and building from that place of strength rather than trying to be somebody you're not anymore.' Kimmy also believes that new mothers should slow down, nourish their body and rehabilitate from their pregnancy before jumping straight back into the bedroom. 'I feel like societies geared towards coming back and pretending you never had a baby but we're not designed that way,' she said Kimmy also believes that new mothers should slow down, nourish their body and rehabilitate from their pregnancy before jumping straight back into the bedroom 'A lot of women go through quite a lot in their pregnancy and then we try and rush back to things and pretend like nothing happened. 'The best approach is to build inner strength through pelvic floor and core exercises and appreciating the changes that have happened. 'Communication with your partner about how you're feeling and what your concerns are and then being proactive about it and go about healing that area and create the optimal solution for yourself.' 'A lot of women go through quite a lot in their pregnancy and then we try and rush back to things and pretend like nothing happened' 'Often after pregnancy it's the first time we experience something wrong down there, whether it's incontinence, prolapse, general weakness and heaviness. 'That's usually motivation enough because it feels wrong and we're not sure things are not working as they should be.' She explained that women should be doing these exercises every day during pregnancy and after birth until your movements and strength are back to normal. Kimmy has recently released her app, Fit Mummy Project app to help mothers with their postnatal fitness. An Instagram star has posted a photograph of a fake bruise on her face created by make-up - in order to raise awareness of domestic violence. Diala Makki, who is based in Dubai, shared the snap of her and make-up artist Samira Olfat, along with the caption: 'How would you react if this wasn't make-up?' The shocking photograph shows very realistic-looking bruises on the cheeks of both women. Social media users quickly reacted to the picture, with many thanking Diala for her bold stand on the issue. Instagram star Diala Makki (right), who is based in Dubai, shared a picture of her and make-up artist Samira Olfat (left) with large bruises on their faces created by make-up The television presenter posted the powerful picture with the caption: 'How would you react if this wasn't make-up?' Sharing the picture on Instagram, Diala explained: 'I will dedicate this entire week for women , each and every one of us has a story .. don't be ashamed to share it , it might inspire or help others.' In Arabic, she also explained how she herself had been 'subjected to psychological violence'. Fans praised the 'powerful' photograph, describing the television presenter as a 'real inspiration.' One wrote: 'More awareness needs to come out of the Arab world on domestic violence thank you for bringing awareness to this subject.' Diala encouraged others not to be ashamed of sharing their stories, explaining in Arabic how she herself had been 'subjected to psychological violence' Another posted: 'Such an important message, thank you for putting the light on it.' Others also shared their own experiences of domestic violence after seeing the picture. One woman wrote: 'Its hard sometimes to get out of this relationship but not imposible... my last one was like this... '[N]o more for physical and emotional abuse we deserve better (sic).' The television presenter quickly won praise from her fans for the bold photograph Proud dad Prince Carl Philip of Sweden has taken time out from bonding with his newborn baby son to personally announce the arrival of the little Prince to the world. Earlier today The Office of The Marshal of the Realm revealed that Princess Sofia, 32, had given birth to her second child at 11.24 am at Danderyd Hospital and that mother and child were doing well. Just hours later fresh-faced Carl Philip - who was present throughout the birth - was ready to face the cameras, giving a press conference to reveal that the new arrival is a baby boy. He revealed that it was a quick birth and that he had cut the umbilical cord of his son who was born weighing 7.4 lbs and measuring 49 cm. But he initially seemed to give a rather alarming indication of the size of his son stretching one hand to the height of his face and the other to below the waist, while a member of staff giggled in the background. Although the couple have decided on a name for their son, the Prince said they had decided not to announce it just yet. The baby boy is the second son for Carl Philip and his former model wife Sofia, who welcomed Prince Alexander in April last year. On that occasion, the Prince also gave a press conference to reporters within hours of his son's birth. 'When asked if he had cried during the birth, the prince replied, according to People magazine: 'Yes, actually. Of course. Couldn't stop. 'For me and my wife, this is obviously a great day with a lot of emotion. Words cannot describe.' When Alexander was just 11-months-old, the couple announced that Sofia was already expecting her second child. In an official statement on the Swedish Royal Court's website, the couple said: 'We are happy to announce that we are expecting a child, a sibling to Prince Alexander. 'We are looking forward to welcoming a new little member to our family.' The statement also confirmed that Sofia would continue with her scheduled engagements as planned throughout the spring and summer of 2017. Earlier this year, Sofia opened up to Swedens Svenskdam magazine about life with Alexander, saying: 'Being a mother is amazing. It changes your whole life.' She said her son had a mix of both parent's personalities and is very 'sweet and well-behaved'. Meanwhile her husband admitted that being a first time parent takes 'some adjustment', but added 'its still absolutely amazing and wonderful'. Just a few days after Michael Phelps and his wife Nicole revealed they have another baby on the way, the expectant mom showed off her growing baby bump in a form-fitting gray tank dress. The 32-year-old former Miss California wore the comfortable jersey dress to attend a OneRepublic concert in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this week, and Nicole stood front and center and she and Michael, 32, posed back stage with the band. Nicole looks radiant in the image, which her husband proudly shared on his Instagram page on Thursday, two days after they announced her pregnancy. Motherly glow: Michael Phelp's wife Nicole showed off her growing baby bump in a tank dress while attending a OneRepublic concert in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this week 'So talented': Michael took to Instagram on Thursday to share a photo of him and Nicole posing backstage with the band 'These guys were amazing to see live the other night! So talented!' the Olympic swimmer wrote. Michael and Nicole, who are parents to a one-year-old son named Boomer, announced on Tuesday that they are expecting their second child together. The couple announced the news with matching social media posts, and the heartwarming photo sees Nicole holding Boomer who has her pregnancy test in his hand. 'Number 2 on the way!!!! So excited!! Wonder if it's a boy or a girl??' 32-year-old Michael captioned the image. Surprise! The couple revealed on Tuesday that they are expecting their second child by sharing a photo of their one-year-old son Boomer holding her positive pregnancy test Good question: When sharing the photo on Instagram, the Olympic swimmer questioned if the child is a boy or a girl Proud mom: Nicole shared the same photo on her Instagram page, noting that Boomer is going to be a 'big brother' Nicole is grinning from ear to ear as she cuddles her baby boy in the snapshot, which was taken in their back yard. The expectant mom is dressed casually in cutoff denim shorts and a black tank top, while Boomer looks adorable in colorful, striped T-shirt. Sharing the same image, Nicole, 32, added: 'Lil mans going to be a Big Brother!!!' The growing family is clearly thrilled with the news, and the couple also posted an announcement on Boomer's Instagram page, which has over 795,000 followers. Boomer looks ecstatic to be a big brother, and in the photo he his happily clapping as his mother shows him her positive pregnancy test. Too cute: The parents also posted an announcement on Boomer's Instagram account, which has over 795,000 followers Soon-to-be big brother: 'Do I get to have a brother or sister?' they captioned the image of Boomer clapping as his mom shows him her positive pregnancy test Love: Michael recently revealed that he and Nicole wanted to have more children together. They are pictured last month celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their first meeting A daughter on the way? The Olympic swimmer said is wife had brought up wanting to have a baby girl 'So excited to see what mama is having!! Do I get to have a brother or a sister?!?' the picture is captioned. Thousands of fans have liked the heartwarming images, with many taking to the comments sections of the posts to congratulate Michael and Nicole. 'Now they have enough members for a family relay,' one person joked. A few months ago Michael revealed to People that Nicole recently brought up that she would like a baby girl. 'We definitely want more kids, it just depends on when,' he said. 'Im sure Im getting pressure.' Doting dad: The couple welcomed Boomer into the world on on May 5, 2016, and the two have proudly documented their little boy's every move on Instagram Bonding time: Michael enjoyed a beach day with his son in July Celebration: Thousands of people have congratuled Michael and his wife on Instagram. They are pictured at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards last month After a surprise pregnancy, the couple welcomed Boomer into the world on on May 5, 2016, and the two have proudly documented their little boy's every move on his Instagram account. Nicole, who was crowned Miss California USA in 2010, began dating Phelps in 2009, though in 2012 the couple briefly split. They secretly married in June 2016, and less than two months later the family headed to Rio de Janeiro to cheer on Michael as he competed in his fifth Summer Olympics. There, he brought home a impressive five gold medals and one silver and was also selected to carry the United States flag during the opening ceremony. Just a few days after the news of their secret nuptials broke, the two walked down the aisle for a second time last October during their formal second wedding in Cabo. This year's Victoria's Secret fashion show will feature a rather dark angel with a criminal past - and a love of free candy. Dutch model Roosmarijn de Kok was arrested in New York City on July 2014, after a security guard caught her making her way out of the Tribeca Whole Foods with an expensive bottle of DHA fish oil and three chocolate bars - that she had not paid for - in her purse. At the time, the 22-year-old was accused of misdemeanor petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, but the charges were dropped after she served a day of community service at a soup kitchen. A dark angel: Newest Victoria's Secret angel, Dutch model Roosmarijn de Kok, 22, was arrested in 2014 for stealing fish oil and chocolate bars Model behavior? Charges against the model were dropped after her lawyer struck a deal with the judge that she would do community service and stay out of trouble for six months Turning things around: The model has since moved on from the awkward incident and recently landed herself a spot in the Victoria's Secret fashion show During the court case, Roos's lawyer Sal Strazzullo claimed that his client had simply put the items in her bag and forgotten about them when she went to the register to pay for a non-fat yogurt and some protein bars. 'While she was about to leave the store, she remembered what she had in her bag. When she turned around, the store detectives were like, "We got you,"' he told the New York Post at the time of the court case. He went on to insist that his client was completely innocent, adding: 'The complaint states that she attempted to leave it doesnt state that she did leave. Shes totally innocent.' Despite claiming innocence, however, a person who was close to the model at the time of her arrest told the New York Daily News that she was 'terrified' then cops handcuffed her - and was incredibly worried about the incident damaging her long-term career prospects. And the trouble didn't end there for the budding fashion star - who at the time had already chalked up some impressive portfolio work, modeling for Urban Outfitters and Vogue Thailand. Shortly after arriving at the Manhattan Criminal Court, where her case was heard, a Saint Laurent-clad Roosmarijn, who was then just 19, was reportedly scolded by the judge for crossing her arms. Not so angelical: The model, wearing Saint Laurent, was reportedly scolded by the judge during her court appearance for folding her arms An easy fix: Roosmarijn served her day of community service at a Manhattan soup kitchen with her friend, actress Rosario Dawson Strutting her stuff: Roos has proven time and again that she has what it takes to hold her own alongside some of the more veteran Angels Thankfully for Roos, however, her seemingly disrespectful behavior didn't harm her case. Indeed, her lawyer Strazzullo was able to strike a deal with the judge, who agreed that the charges would be dropped if the model stayed out of trouble for six months and did a day of community service. As part of the deal, Roosmarijn did not have to plead guilty to shoplifting. She served her community service time in October, 2014, at the Lower East Side Girls Club, where her friend, actress Rosario Dawson who's a board member of the charity. Roosmarijn and some of the world's top models like Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima will walk on the 2017 Victorias Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai in November. The Dutch beauty, who has previously modeled for Urban Outfitters and appeared in Vogue Thailand, was given the covered Victoria's Secret wings at the company's headquarters in Manhattan last week and said she was 'forever grateful' for the opportunity. In a sweet video posted on the Victoria's Secret Instagram account, and reposted by Roos, the model can be seen welling up with joy after being told by the brand's chief marketing officer Ed Razek that she had earned a spot in this year's fashion show, which is set to take place in Shanghai. Nicolas Cage found himself smitten with a beautiful woman at a sushi restaurant this week, but their flirtation quickly came to a halt when her husband showed up. The 53-year-old actor was dining with Back to the Future star Crispin Glover at Sushi Gen in Los Angeles on Tuesday when he struck up a conversation with an attractive stranger at the sushi bar. Nicolas was catching up with his former co-star over sushi, sake, and beer before he turned his attention over to the woman and introduced himself as Nicolas Cage. Feeling flirting: Nicolas Cage was photographed striking up a conversation with a woman who sat next to him at Sushi Gen in Los Angeles on Tuesday Three's a crowd: The brief flirtation came to an end when the woman's husband showed up and sat down next to her Strike out: The 53-year-old looked a bit dejected after the woman's husband showed up The National Treasure star was photographed reaching over and shaking the unknown's woman hand, and she looked surprised to be chatting with the A-lister. Nicolas, who was wearing a plaid button-up shirt and a contrasting plaid blazer, appeared to be flirting with the diner, who was sitting a few seats away from him. At one point, he was photographed with his hand on his chest as he looked intently at the woman. However, much to Nicolas' dismay, the conversation came to an end when the woman's husband arrived at the sushi restaurant and sat down between her and the actor. Old friends: Nicolas was at the restaurant with Back to the Future star Crispin Glover How you doing? Nicolas was enjoying some sushi, sake, and beer when turned his attention over to the unknown woman Charmer: The actor reached over and shook her hand, introducing himself as Nicolas Cage Getting to know each other: The woman looked surprised to be finding herself chatting with an A-lister The woman's husband didn't look pleased with the situation, and he appeared to be glaring at Nicolas after he sat down. Nicolas looked a bit embarrassed when the flirtation came to a halt, and he went back to enjoying his meal with Crispin, who seemed to find the awkward situation amusing. When they finished their meal, Nicolas gave a wave and walked out of the restaurant while the woman's husband watched him as he left. Nicolas, who is believed to be single, split with his third wife, Alice Kim, in January 2016 after 11 of years of marriage. Whoops! The woman's husband eventually put an end to the conversation when he joined his wife at the restaurant Laughing it off: Crispin seemed to find the awkward situation a bit amusing Enjoying himself: Nicolas appeared to drinking sake before he started talking to the woman Heading out: Nicolas gave a wave as he left the restaurant and walked past the couple They met in 2004, when she was just 19 and working as a waitress at a Los Angeles restaurant, and the pair got engaged two months later despite their 20-year age gap. Nicolas and Alice, 33, have an 11-year-old son, Kal-el Coppola Cage, together, and he previously admitted his Korean mother-in-law was unimpressed when she first met him. 'When my mother-in-law came to the house for the first time, before even hello or nice to meet you, all I got was, "She's too young!" And so I knew this was going to be an uphill battle,' he said. Mixing patterns: The National Treasure star was wearing a plaid button-up shirt under a plaid blazer Flirting fail: The man seemed to be giving his wife a look as Nicolas headed out the door Glaring: The man watched Nicolas as he walked out of the crowded restaurant Moving on: Nicolas is believed to be single after he and his third wife, Alice Kim, split in January 2016 after 11 of years of marriage. They are pictured in 2009 Nicolas added that he made a point to be with someone from another culture, saying: 'I made a very clear decision to marry out of my own zip code. 'I mean, way out of my own zip code. I married into another culture, and it's interesting because in Korea they call me the Son-in-Law.' He revealed the couple's wedding was pushed forward so that Alice could travel with him to South Africa while he was making Lord Of War, explaining: 'You can connect the dots... and we did it because we loved each other.' The Con Air actor was previously married to Lisa Marie Presley for almost four months in 2002 and to Patricia Arquette from 1995 to 2001. He also has a 26-year-old son, Weston Coppola Cage, from a previous relationship with model Christina Fulton. Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has backed a campaign to champion British food brands - despite two foreign companies sponsoring the hit show in its new home on Channel 4. It was announced last month that the new series of GBBO would be sponsored by American-owned Lyle's Golden Syrup and German-owned Dr Oetker's baking range in a 4 million deal. Now an activist for British manufacturing has said the restaurateur and TV critic, 77, should be lobbying for GBBO to ditch its foreign sponsors and opt for UK companies instead, calling the choice of sponsors a 'terrible shame'. Prue Leith is a renowned food critic, broadcaster and caterer. She opened her famous Michelin-starred restaurant Leith's in Notting Hill in 1969 before selling up in 1995 It was announced that Ms Leith would be replacing national treasure Mary Berry as a judge on the Great British Bake Off in March. One month later, she joined the National Farmers' Union's 'Back British Farming' campaign, and urged shoppers to buy British produce. However last month it was announced that the new series of Great British Bake Off would be sponsored by Lyle's Golden Syrup - owned by ASR Group - and Dr Oetker in a 4 million deal. It was the first time the show has ever been sponsored as it was formerly aired on the BBC, which does not run adverts on its channels nor accept sponsorship deals because it is funded by the taxpayer through the licence fee. Prue Leith (right) has replaced Mary Berry as judge on the Great British Bake Off alongside returning judge Paul Hollywood (left). They will join presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig (centre) Though Lyle's Golden Syrup was formerly a British brand owned by British company Tate & Lyle, Tate & Lyle was bought out by the US-based ASR Group in 2010. Kate Hills, the founder of UK manufacturing directory Make It British, called for Ms Leith to lobby the producers of the show to change its sponsors for next series so that British food brands can be promoted. 'I think it's a terrible shame,' she said. 'Maybe [Prue Leith] didn't know when she signed up, but maybe she should have put it into her contract. 'It is a shame because the show has the title "the Great British Bake Off" and there are so many fantastic food sponsors here.' Ms Hills added: 'Maybe she can campaign for the producers to change the sponsors for next series. 'I'm happy to push lots of great British food producers her way - though I'm sure she knows plenty herself.' Prue Leith has a world-renowned cookery school called Leith's School of Food and Wine, and was a judge on the Great British Menu for 11 series Prue has been a long-time supporter of the NFU's Back British Farming campaign. She urged shoppers in April: 'UK butter, flour and eggs are all easily available and choosing them really helps our fantastic farmers. 'So lets make the effort to buy British.' Prue Leith has been contacted by FEMAIL for comment. The NFU declined to comment. However, fresh produce champion Nigel Jenney said it was unrealistic to expect the Bake Off to only champion British food. Mr Jenney, who is chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, said: '[Prue Leith's] point of view is great because she is encouraging the consumption of British fresh produce, which is wonderful. 'There needs to be a sense of realism however as two thirds of fresh produce is not grown in the UK and comes from Europe and the rest of the world. 'The [Great British Bake Off] would be undermined if it was not allowed to use fantastic ingredients from around the world.' From a traditional Sunday roast to hearty sausage and mash, there's nothing like classic British comfort food. But those planning a trip to anywhere in the British Isles may well be put off if they chance upon the Wikipedia pages dedicated to our favourite traditional dishes. The problem was spotted by Twitter user Louise O'Connor who alerted followers to the fact that 'photos on the "Irish cuisine" Wikipedia page are just very grim', including corned pigs feet and bacon swimming in an unidentified creamy sauce. It turns out that the cuisines of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland don't look too appetising either. Visitors to Northern Ireland can apparently look forward to what looks like a large lump of gristle on a plate with chips, while tourists in the UK over Christmas might find themselves tucking into a rather dry roast dinner with no gravy. Although the dishes themselves may well taste delicious, these grim and gray interpretations are more likely to make your stomach turn than your mouth water. Enough to make you cancel your flight: Let's hope you won't be served this alarmingly pink bacon covered in paprika and cream sauce if you go to Ireland Haggis, neeps and tatties: This traditional dish of haggis with potato and turnip will not have anyone rushing to Scotland Fancy crubeens for dinner? The Irish dish is made with boiled pigs' feet, battered and fried but you won't find them on the menu at many restaurants in the Emerald Isle Pastie supper is a traditional treat in Northern Ireland: Mince, onion, spice and potato are combined like a burger and deep fried in batter, before being dished up with chips - but would this image tempt you to try it? Queen of Puddings? This mix of custard, cake and jam topped with a meringue does the desert's title something of a disservice Tatws Pum Munud: it may well taste delicious but these images will not make your rush to tuck into a traditional Welsh stew of bacon and potatoes But where's the gravy? There's nothing wrong with this Christmas feast in principle, but surely there should be some Bisto This slab of Dubliner cheese with white spots that look suspiciously like mould is unlikely to make visitors flock to the Irish capital Let's stick to the gelato! A spoonful of raspberry ripple probably won't part the Italians from their ice cream No Michelin stars here: An Angel Delight dessert that's meant to be the eptiome of British pudding It's said there's no such thing as a free lunch - unless you sing for it that is, as one Welshman has proved. Music student David Jones, 18, from Cwmbran, put his stunning bass vocals to good use to try and bag himself a free pizza at his local branch of Domino's on Thursday morning. Literally singing for his supper, he performed an oddly beautiful version of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables with pizza-themed lyrics, that began: 'I dreamed a dream of pizza sauce...' And his efforts paid off, as David walked off with a free large Hawaiian pizza just eight minutes later. Choir singer David Jones sang for his supper by performing a pizza-themed rendition of I Dreamed A Dream (left). He came away with a free pizza in his favourite flavour: Hawaiian (right) David's pizza rendition of I Dreamed A Dream in full I dreamed a dream of pizza sauce... With cheese on top and dough on bottom... And in between that pizza sauce... There was ham and pineapple and they called it Hawaiian... And the size it would be large... And the base Italiano... I have waited for this day... When they made my pizza free... Advertisement David, who will study music at the University of Bristol from September, posted a video of the hilarious rendition to Facebook this morning, which is now being widely shared online. Singing for pizza may seem like an odd thing to do, but David was prompted to sing his 40-second version of the classic musical number to bemused staff members after Domino's announced it would give out free pizzas for those willing to sing for their supper on Thursday in Wales. The competition is to mark the 20th anniversary of the pizza giant's first store in Wales. David is a member of the choir Only Boys Aloud, an off-shoot of the BBC's Last Choir Standing winners, Only Men Aloud - so naturally his singing pipes were up to the challenge. David, a bass singer, regularly performs in musicals and is part of the male choir, Only Boys Aloud David has just finished his A-Levels and is about to start studying music at the University of Bristol. As a result, he's currently on his summer holidays and so had time to pop to Domino's bright and early to sing for a free pizza (pictured with his free pizza, right) David told FEMAIL: 'Well, I woke up about 9am this morning to a message off my mum. 'She linked me to an article that said Domino's were going to give away free pizza to the first 20 customers that sung to their workers today as hey're celebrating 20 years since the opening of their first store in Wales. He added: 'So I thought, "Eh why not!" 'I headed to Dominos to see if they'd had anyone come into store yet. They said no so I sang! 'It took me all of five minutes to come up with the premise of the song. 'I knew what pizza I wanted so the lyrics were easy and I picked "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Mis because its a well-known song.' His friends went wild for the video, which has already had 1,000 views in just three hours. David said: 'In all honesty, I was wondering if it was going to be a gimmick, like a really belated April Fool's. 'But to my surprise it worked!' Joshua Speers, a spokesman for Dominos, said: 'Weve been absolutely blown away by the talented people of Wales and their enthusiasm to get involved in our 20th anniversary celebrations. 'We were especially impressed by Davids Dominos-inspired rendition of a Les Mis classic. Look out Sir. Tom!' GRAND FORKS How would local emergency responders react to an oil pipeline leak near Grand Forks? It was a question Enbridge staff and firefighters from Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Minn., worked to answer as they trained for the scenario Aug. 30 on the Red River. About 60 people attended the nearly four-hour training session near the Sorlie Bridge as responders deployed boats, oil booms and skimmers. One thing you will notice today is people stopping and asking questions, Enbridge spokesman Mark Lyman said. We probably would move a lot faster if this was a real problem, but in this type of exercise, you want to make sure the guy with six months of experience and the guy with 30 years of experience, whether you are on the fire side or the Enbridge side, that they are working together and things are going smoothly. Wednesdays drill focused on responding to a leak from an Enbridge pipeline that crosses the Red River about 5 miles south of Grand Forks. The company purchased the 55-year-old pipeline that runs from Williston, N.D., to Clearbrook, Minn., in the 1990s. Enbridge pipelines are monitored 24/7 for leaks and can be remotely shut down within minutes. Should we have a leak indicated, they would call our people onsite, said Kevin Ruffatto, Enbridges North Dakota region director. The field response team include people that are here today. They then would determine the extent of the leak and where to put the booms and skimmers. The pipeline company conducts four to eight drills on the line each year, and this is the second time it has done such an exercise in Grand Forks since 2015. The NHS will pay agencies up to 100 million to recruit GPs from abroad in a bid to tackle the growing staffing crisis as the seven-day working week comes into force. They will be paid 20,000 for every doctor found. An estimated 5,000 is needed by 2020, with up to 3,000 coming from overseas. It comes as part of a drive to increase the number of family doctors after a leading medic declared general practice is on the 'brink of collapse' due to increasing workloads and a dwindling workforce. The health secretarys promise to have doctors available every day of the week has placed further pressure on staffing numbers. Initially, plans had been put in place to recruit just 500 doctors from abroad by 2020/21, but this was expanded last week. International recruitment is hoped to begin in the autumn. A contract for 100m is on table for recruitment agencies to hire enough doctors for the seven-day NHS (file photo) Eight agencies, including Hays, Reed and Healthcare Locums, are in the running for the recruitment contract and work together to find the doctors. The news comes after it emerged thousands of patients have seen their GP practice close in the last year as pressure on the NHS escalates. Startling new statistics reveal some 202 practices across England closed or merged with another service in the last 12 months and only eight new practices have opened. Doctors warned morale is at an all-time low and many GPs are abandoning the profession. Yet the Government has pledged to ensure that people in every part of England will be able to see a GP from 8am to 8pm every day of the week by 2020. Contract could be extended A GP international recruitment office has been launched to run the scaled-up programme operation, with the aim of bridging the 'gap between the number of doctors practices want, and the numbers they are successfully recruiting and retaining', NHS England said. The recruitment agencies will identify, screen and interview potential candidates, as well as provide relocation services. The estimated value of the three-year contract is 100 million, and NHS England will have the opportunity to extend it for a maximum of a year if desired. Dr Arvind Madan, GP and NHS England director of primary care, said: 'Most new GPs will continue to be trained in this country, and general practice will benefit from the 25 per cent increase in medical school places over the coming years. Some 202 practices across England closed or merged with another service in the last 12 months - and only eight new practices have opened, it was recently revealed 'But the NHS has a proud history of ethically employing international medical professionals, with one in five GPs currently coming from overseas. 'This scheme will deliver new recruits to help improve services for patients and reduce some of the pressure on hard working GPs across the country.' Responding to the announcement, Susan Goldsmith, deputy chief executive of the General Medical Council, said: 'We all recognise the pressures faced by the GP workforce at present, and we support the idea of accelerating the recruitment of additional doctors to help ease the situation.' CUT PRICE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW Thousands of new 'doctors on the cheap' are being trained to prop up the cash-strapped NHS, it emerged in June. An army of 'physician associates' will work in GP surgeries and hospitals to diagnose patients, recommend treatments and perform minor procedures. There are currently just 300 of the physicians - who train for just two years and earn only a third of a doctor's salary - working in the health service. But figures indicated that there would now be more than 3,000 by 2020 - and at least 1,000 per year graduating after that. The dramatic expansion in their numbers came after the NHS urged more universities to start offering the two-year post-graduate training course, which is open to anyone with a science degree. Advertisement General practice crisis Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association one of the most powerful unions in Britain recently said an 'avalanche of work' is deterring young doctors from joining the profession. 'Even a seemingly secure practice is just one partner away from retiring to set off a domino effect, which could lead to collapse,' he said. Last month, further fears that the role of the family doctor is rapidly disappearing from the NHS were raised when it was revealed nearly half of patients are being seen by different GPs at each appointment. The scale of the GP crisis was laid bare by an official NHS report which reveals one in nine patients 11 per cent could not get an appointment the last time they tried. And more than a quarter 28 per cent struggled to even get through on the phone to seek an appointment. An investigation by Pulse magazine in April suggested more than a quarter of a million patients were forced to change surgery in 2016. GPs shun full-time jobs A couple of weeks ago it was revealed a quarter of trainee GPs are intending to shun a full-time job in the NHS by becoming locums. Research found many have been put off taking permanent posts by the long hours and intense workload and will instead seek the flexibility of working as stand-in doctors. The study by Warwick University found that only two-thirds planned to work as GPs six months after they finished training. The remainder were intending to take a career break, move abroad or quit working for the NHS altogether. The research questioned 178 doctors in the West Midlands who were nearing the end of their three-year GP vocational training and found that 23 per cent were intending to be locums. Such GPs are self-employed and often earn more money per hour than their permanent colleagues. But there is some evidence they are less safe than other doctors as they do not know the patients sitting in front of them. Each GP costs the taxpayer about 500,000 to train, including tuition fees and living expenses. The training usually lasts ten years, covering five years of medical school, two years on wards and three years of specialist learning. Government plans to force graduate doctors to work in the NHS for four years after qualifying appear to have been scrapped. Practitioners warned the policy, announced in October, may exacerbate the ongoing recruitment crisis within the health service. The compulsory tie wasn't mentioned in the Department of Health's announcement three weeks ago on the future of medical training. A woman has contracted spinal meningitis from a tick bite in New York City. Dee Vandenburg, of Staten Island, was at her home near a deer park earlier this year when she was bitten by a deer tick. 'It's the most excruciating pain I've ever had in my life,' she told CBS. However, after pulling out the tick, she thought nothing of it. But four months later, she started to experience a fever, rashes and intense nausea. Rushed to the hospital, she was diagnosed with life-threatening spinal meningitis. It took two weeks in intensive care for Dee to be stabilized. Now home, with a permanent IV drip to administer antibiotics, she is speaking out about her ordeal to warn others of the dangers of deer ticks. Dee Vandenburg, of Staten Island, was at her home near a deer park earlier this year when she was bitten by a deer tick. Months later she was hospitalized with meningitis. Pictured: Dee with her husband Due to increasing tick populations, Lyme disease cases on Staten Island have skyrocketed by 362 percent from 2010 to 2016, data revealed earlier this year. Lyme is the most common chronic development from a tick bite. However, some people can go on to develop life-threatening blood diseases triggered by the bacterial infection. Spinal meningitis is an infection of the fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Once infection starts, it can spread rapidly through the body. Without treatment it can cause brain damage in a matter of hours and can be fatal within 24 hours. The infection starts about two weeks before it shows symptoms. Symptoms include light sensitivity, fatigue, fever, muscle spasm, pain that radiates from the spine, seizures, and vomiting. Dee's experience comes amid a cluster of Lyme disease cases also on Staten Island. She lives near Wolfe's Pond Park, which has a growing population of deer - despite the city's efforts to funnel $2 million into sterilizing the animals. 'We have deer that walk down our street like they own it,' Dee told CBS. 'They're beautiful, but they're not so pretty anymore.' According to Dee, six of her neighbors have been diagnosed with diseases connected to tick bites this summer. HOW TO PREVENT TICK BITES Know where to expect ticks - areas of dense vegetation encourage the pest. Use a repellent - reapply regularly when the weather is humid or if you are swimming. Dress to deter ticks - choose clothes with elastic or drawstrings and tuck long trousers into socks. Take a walking stick with you - tap vegetation ahead of you to knock off any waiting ticks. Do the tick check - when you are out for the day, a quick inspection on clothing and exposed skin can help to detect ticks before they attach. Carry a tick remover - this helps to remove them sooner, lessening the chance of disease transmission. Dispose of ticks safely - wrap and squash it in a tissue and flush it or dispose of it in a bin. Protect your pets - tick-control products that are 'spot on' or 'spray on' are available. Deter ticks from your garden - ticks thrive in humid environments and avoid sunny, dry areas. Advertisement Source: Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness UK Two years ago, Dan Fabbio was a healthy 25-year-old man, working as a music teacher in New York, when his hearing started to go funny. He went to a neurologist who told Fabbio that he had a benign egg-sized tumor on the right side of his brain. A research team from the University of Rochester approached Fabbio and asked if he wanted to participate in an experimental procedure that would help them figure out which part of the brain processes music. Fabbio agreed to undergo the experimental surgery and, while on the operating table having his brain tumor removed, he played a song he knew from memory on his saxophone. This helped doctors make certain they had not damaged the part of Fabbio's brain responsible for processing music. Fabbio recovered from his surgery completely and was able to resume teaching students music in his hometown. Fabbio's procedure was not the first of its kind. In 2014, a concert violinist from Minnesota performed while undergoing a brain surgery and, earlier this year, a 37-year-old man in India strummed his guitar during a brain operation. And in June, a blogger posted online a video of her brain surgery, during which she was lucid. The video shows doctors testing the woman with flashcards - as she is being operated on - so that doctors could learn more about the seizures she had been having. 'Awake brain surgeries' are typically performed if a person has a tumor that is close to a part of the brain that controls vision, body movements or language. Removing these tumors while the patient is asleep can result in a significant function loss. The University of Rochester team that worked with Fabbio is trying to learn more about brain mapping and their goal is to be able to tell doctors how a brain surgery patient will respond to an operation before they have it. HOW MUSIC TEACHER DAN, 25, WAS DIAGNOSED WITH HIS EGG-SIZED BRAIN TUMOR Dan Fabbio, a music teacher, found out he had a tumor at 25 years old In the spring of 2015, Dan Fabbio was teaching music at schools in New Hartford, New York, while working towards getting his Master's in music education. 'He was a healthy, happy music teacher,' said Dr Webster Pilcher, a neurosurgeon at the University of Rochester Medical Center. That spring, something strange started happening to Fabbio, who had built his life around his passion for music. For 30 seconds at a time, music would sound different. Fabbio would be listening to a piece of music and, all of a sudden, the notes would not sound right for a few seconds. 'To him that was very profound,' Dr Pilcher said. The sensation Fabbio was experiencing was not specific to music: other sounds he was hearing were not registering in his brain the way he knew they ought to. Fabbio went to a neurologist and found out that he had a type of tumor called a low-grade glioma, which was about the size of an egg, above his right ear. 'I was 25 at the time and I dont think there is any age when it is okay to hear that,' Fabbio told researchers at the University of Rochester. He added: 'I had never had any health problems before and the first thing my mind went to was cancer.' The area of the brain that the tumor was pressing against is responsible for interpreting music. 'Those events were really tiny seizures,' Dr Pilcher said of the moments when, suddenly, sounds were not registering properly in Fabbio's brain. THE MEDICAL TEAM APPROACHED FABBIO WITH THE HOPES OF LEARNING MORE ABOUT BRAIN MAPPING Dr Pilcher and Dr Brad Mahon, a professor of Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, had been researching the way that human brains process music and Fabbio seemed like a perfect subject for them to study. They had been researching the topic by studying MRIs of the human brain and mapping out which areas were responsible for processing certain activities, such as playing music. 'All of the functions that make humans humans, we've mapped them,' Dr Pilcher said. Dr Pilcher and Dr Mahon wanted to watch Fabbio play the saxophone while he was under the knife to study the way the brain works while a person is playing music and to make sure that removing Fabbio's tumor was not going harm the part of his brain that processes music. 'We knew we would want him to play his saxophone in the operating room' Dr Pilcher said. Dr Mahon added: 'When we went into this, we wanted him to have his musical instrument.' The doctors approached Fabbio and asked him if he wanted to participate in their experiment. Fabbio was enthusiastic about what his case could help the doctors figure out so he agreed. 'Dan was absolutely on board,' Dr Mahon said. 'He was a very unique young man,' Dr Pilcher said, describing Fabbio's personality. 'He sees in three dimension.' Dr Webster Pilcher (pictured) approached Fabbio to see if he wanted to participate in an experimental surgery The medical team began preparing Fabbio for what would happen during his surgery. Fabbio would have to be positioned on his left side, unable to move an inch since his brain would still be exposed. Dr Mahon helped Fabbio chose a song to play during his operation. He knew he needed to play something relatively short and something he knew from memory. The two settled on a Korean song called Arirang which Fabbio was familiar with. 'We trained him extensively,' Dr Pilcher said. 'He worked with us to develop and design some of the tests he would preform.' He said that Fabbio's curiosity 'was able to really drive a lot of the scientific questions' the team was asking. Dr Mahon added: 'He went into the surgery with a lot of preparation, a lot of practice.' THE MUSICAL SCENE IN DR PILCHER'S OPERATING ROOM During the first part of the operation, Fabbio was sedated with an IV and part of his skull was removed. Halfway through, the team took the IV out and Fabbio woke up. Fabbio was not able to feel any sensation in the top of his head when doctors woke him up. The medical team engaged Fabbio in some testing to see if his brain was able to interpret music clearly, as Dr Pilcher stood poised above his exposed brains. Then, the team handed Fabbio his instrument. Fabbio played Arirang as the medical team watched on, astonished. Watchers in the operating room rejoiced as Fabbio finished the tune. 'The tumor was gone and that part of his brain was preserved,' Dr Pilcher said. But about two weeks after the surgery, Fabbio experienced the same signs that had led him to a neurologist in the first place. Fabbio noticed that his brain was not registering the sound that his electric toothbrush was making correctly. 'His brain was back to his old tricks,' Dr Pilcher said. Fabbio agreed to participate in the experiment and, during his brain tumor removal surgery, Fabbio played the saxophone so that doctors could confirm that their operation was not harming the part of his brain that is responsible for processing music However, to Fabbio's relief, this only lasted a few weeks. Dr Pilcher said that Fabbio's symptoms were consistent with what other patients who have undergone brain surgery have dealt with in its aftermath. He added that when this was happening, he explained to Fabbio that he would not be able to jog immediately after having a hip surgery. Dr Pilcher said that brain surgery works largely the same way: it would take some time for Fabbio's brain to function 100 percent correctly. WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BRAIN-MAPPING RESEARCHERS? HOW DOES 'AWAKE BRAIN SURGERY' WORK? There are three ways that 'awake brain surgeries' can be done: Patients can be awake during the entire procedure. They will receive a scalp or nerve block, which is an injection to stop pain in a certain area, as well as local anesthesia. The combination of the two will block pain from occurring on the top of one's head. Patients can be sedated at the beginning and end of a procedure but awake for the middle. Doctors simply remove the IV that sedated the patient at the beginning of the procedure when it is time for the patient to wake up, and they replace it when they want patients to go back to sleep. Patients can be put to sleep at the beginning and end of a procedure but awake during the middle. Rather than sedating patients, doctors will use a nerve block and general anesthesia to put a patient to sleep at the beginning and end of their operation. Advertisement Now, Dr Pilcher's team, which has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, wants to continue developing their research on brain-mapping. They want to continue to map the human brain and be able to give doctors more information about the areas of the brain they are cutting into when they remove tumors. 'Everybody's brain is organized more or less in the same manner,' Dr Mahon said. But there are some differences. Dr Mahon said that the part of the brain that interprets language in his brain could be located somewhere else in another person's brain, if only off by two centimeters. But those centimeters make a huge difference to a brain surgeon about to perform an operation. 'We need to develop the abilities to see exactly where these parts are [in different people],' Dr Mahon said. Their team is also developing technologies that will tell doctors how a patient will react to a surgery. They are creating software platforms in which doctors can simulate surgeries and, while they do so, the software they are using will tell them how their 'patient' would be doing three months after the hypothetical surgery. Dr Mahon and Dr Pilcher are very excited about the impact their research can have on the neuroscience and cognitive sciences field. Dr Mahon said that his research can help people with brain tumors get their lives back. 'Patients can go back to their families,' he said. Dr Pilcher is hopeful about the research grants his team has received, saying: 'The NIH is on the right track.' 'The more we can learn about the brain - patient by patient - what an amazing opportunity that is,' he said. FELIX THE RAILWAY CAT by Kate Moore (Penguin 7.99) FELIX THE RAILWAY CAT by Kate Moore (Penguin 7.99) At one time, most railway stations had a resident cat there is a photograph of Winston Churchill greeting one at Londons Liverpool Street Station. But modern management doesnt encourage furry employees so, when Gareth Hope, an announcer at Huddersfield Station, decided that his workplace needed a cat, he faced stiff resistance. However, when Gareth heard of a kitten in need of a good home, his dream became a reality, and his station acquired an official pest controller. Needless to say, Felix turned out to be far more than that a ball of charismatic black-and-white fluff who beguiled colleagues and the public alike, and even took a starring role in a production of Rising Damp at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford. ESTUARY, OUT FROM LONDON TO THE SEA by Rachel Lichtenstein (Penguin 9.99) ESTUARY, OUT FROM LONDON TO THE SEA by Rachel Lichtenstein (Penguin 9.99) The Greater Thames Estuary is more than 800 nautical square miles. It begins at Tower Bridge and extends to Clacton in Essex and Whitstable in Kent. In general, our rivers and coastline are regarded as beautiful, romantic places, but the Thames Estuary is an exception. The treacherous waters, with their shoals and sandbanks, are full of hazards for seafarers and the bleak, industrialised shoreline with its unlovely settlements tends to be treated with disdain by all but the few who appreciate its strange beauty. Lichtenstein belongs to that minority. She grew up in Southend-on-Sea and the mudflats of the Thames were the landscapes of her childhood. Her exploration of the ambiguous terrain where Dickenss Magwitch roamed is an evocative account of that bleak realm. THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES by Peter Wohlleben (Collins 9.99) THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES by Peter Wohlleben (Collins 9.99) From the big, mighty oak to the churchyard yew, trees have a special place in the British heart. We cherish their beauty and the promise of new life they offer each spring. What we dont generally imagine, though, is that our woodland trees have a social life and a communication system that are as busy as our own. Wohlleben writes: When I began my career as a forester . . . I knew as much about the hidden life of trees as a butcher knows about the emotional life of animals. He explains how his view of the forest changed as he discovered how trees communicate via scent compounds, fungal networks and even sound, signalling pain, danger and attraction feelings we tend to think of as human. Perhaps, he concludes, one day the language of trees will be deciphered. A LEGACY OF SPIES by John le Carre (Viking 20) A LEGACY OF SPIES by John le Carre (Viking 20) There are many pretenders to John le Carres crown as master of modern espionage, but, as his 24th novel superbly demonstrates, there is only one le Carre. Eloquent, subtle and sublimely paced, it returns to his stamping ground, the British Secret Service. Known as the Circus, it is a world he has detailed meticulously over the past 56 years. Peter Guillam, right-hand man of the inimitable George Smiley, has retired to his family farm on the Brittany coast. But he is suddenly summoned to London to answer questions about one of the Circuss most notorious Cold War escapades, the role of Alec Leamas as a double agent sent to infiltrate East Germany in Berlin. The original story was told in le Carres first big success, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, published in 1963, but now, we are shown that tale of deceit and despair through a fresh prism, as the novel weaves past and present to reveal the tragedy at its heart. Utterly engrossing and perfectly pitched, it is a triumph. CODENAME VILLANELLE by Luke Jennings (John Murray 14.99) CODENAME VILLANELLE by Luke Jennings (John Murray 14.99) Jennings, who was short-listed for the Booker Prize, has turned his hand to thrillers and created a memorable protagonist in Villanelle a female assassin working for a shadowy group of powerful men called The Twelve. A Russian orphan who took brutal revenge on her gangster fathers killers, she is rescued from prison and trained as a perfect hitwoman. One of her first tasks is to kill a well-protected Sicilian Mafia don in Palermos opera house during a performance of Puccinis Tosca. As the story unfolds, so Villanelles nemesis emerges a dogged MI5 operative named Eve Polastri who dedicates herself to finding the mysterious assassin. There are shades of the 1990 film Nikita, but there is an extra sheen of glamour that makes Villanelle more a James Bond than a mere killer. THE DEATH OF HER by Debbie Howells (Macmillan 12.99) THE DEATH OF HER by Debbie Howells (Macmillan 12.99) This third novel from the bestselling Howells evokes both the beauty and enigma of Cornwall as it opens with the discovery of a womans severely battered body in a maize field. She survives and wakes in hospital, knowing only that her name is Evie and she has a three-year-old daughter called Angel. When police circulate her photo, a local woman, Charlotte, recognises her. They were at school together but then, Evie was called Jen and a child in her care went missing, never to be found. The mystery deepens when police search Evies home and find no trace of a child having ever lived there. Then the body of a teenage girl appears, also in a maize field. Gradually, the possibility of a Satanic cult emerges, one based on human sacrifice at Halloween, which is only days away. Serpentine and well-told, this novel confirms Howells original promise. Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has called for a war on child sexual abuse, promising to voice the issue in his upcoming on-foot rally across India. Calling out violence against children in a broader perspective, he promised to 'save' the children in Kashmir as well. 'We will talk about violence against children. Use of children in Kashmir for violence, by Naxalite groups, would be taken up when we will pass through these states,' Satyarthi said in an interview to Mail Today. 'Children are being used as stone-pelters, as a shield, and are being manipulated. We are not going to keep quiet about this when we will pass through these areas.' Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has called for a war on child sexual abuse Children still wearing their school uniform throwing stones at police after class in J&K The 63-year-old gave up a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to campaign against child labour and has led numerous peaceful protests and demonstrations to draw attention to the plight of children exploited for financial gain. Promising to tame the widespread crime of child sexual abuse, Satyarthi said, 'There is a sense of fear around child sexual abuse. How can we then make a 'New India' if we are still driven by fear of reporting crimes against our children?' The campaigner shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai. He is now starting on an 11,000- kilometre road rally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, spanning 22 states. Nobel Peace Prize laureates Kailash Satyarthi (R) and Malala Yousafzai display their medals and diplomas during the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2014 Satyarthi will get child abuse survivors, campaigners and religious leaders of different faiths such as Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Islam into his Bharat Yatra, which will commence on September 11. He has also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue of violence against children. 'I felt encouraged after meeting the Prime Minister for discussing Bharat Yatra, and even the President,' he said. 'We are meeting religious leaders of all faiths, who will march together and go into schools, neighbourhoods, villages and colleges. 'Their presence as a faith leader is symbolic because several religious leaders confessed to be shocked to know that such cases exist and made it a point to send the message across.' The 63-year-old gave up a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to campaign against child labour and has led numerous peaceful protests and demonstrations to draw attention to the plight of children exploited for financial gain Welcoming the Supreme Court's verdict on right to privacy, Satyarthi said, 'Child pregnancies as an outcome of sexual abuse is the worst form of infringement of privacy. 'The question of whether foetus could be aborted is dealt under different law but I hope now that the right to privacy is declared a fundamental right by SC constitutional bench, such laws would be amended.' Terming marital rape a serious crime against children, he said this issue contradicts the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2003. The campaigner shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai. He is now starting on an 11,000- kilometre road rally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, spanning 22 states 'Sexual abuse of a child under marital age is a rape but sadly your marriage law permits it. This needs to be addressed,' he pointed out. 'While it (POCSO) is a strong law, one of the best I would say globally, the state of its implementation and enforcement is shameful and in a shambles. Only four per cent of the criminals have been convicted, 6 per cent have been acquitted. But 90 per cent cases are pending and in some states, 99 per cent cases are pending. It will take 40 years to dispose of these cases if no such crime takes place from now on.' Boxes full of women's undergarments and toys from foreign countries were headed towards a senior IAS officer's house in Delhi's Lodhi Estate. However these were no ordinary knickers for concealed inside were stashes of gold, steroids, cigarette, food supplements and saffron. An investigation by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has revealed that smugglers are importing banned and restricted goods through India Post's Foreign Post Office (FPO) - meant for international shipments - by planting them inside undergarments, fancy dresses and vanity boxes, and were misusing the senior bureaucrat's address for delivery. In a four-day long operation, India's top anti-smuggling agency has seized gold, steroids and other goods worth Rs 15 crore that were illegally brought in from abroad through the FPO. Officials seized Rs 8.5 crore worth of gold and steroids worth Rs 5 crore The DRI has found the involvement of a customs officer and some other government officials posted at the post office are under the scanner. The agency has arrested five people, including customs inspector Gaurav Kumar, posted at the FPO. The DRI conducted sweeping searches in Delhi and Faridabad and at the Foreign Post Office in the Capital, while busting two such gangs. Officials seized 28 kg of 24 carat gold worth Rs 8.5 crore, steroids worth Rs 5 crore and other high-value items. 'Goods from foreign countries are sent to the FPO, which are scanned by customs officers. If the items are cleared by them, they are delivered to the address. In case of some objectionable goods the recipients have to pay an import duty, while banned products are seized by the customs officers. A policeman shows gold rings that were painted to avoid detection 'In this case, the international gang was working in nexus with the customs officer who was clearing all the banned goods,' a senior DRI officer told Mail Today. Investigators claim the syndicate is being operated from Delhi and has its tentacles in several countries. It smuggles restricted and banned articles such as steroids, gold, electronic items, food supplements, saffron, cigarettes. There is a huge demand for such products in the country and Delhi is the largest market, sources said. For uninterrupted transport of these goods, gang members are working in cahoots with government officials and those involved in the delivery chain. Concealed inside were stashes of gold, steroids, cigarette, food supplements and saffron 'Gold in different forms and shapes was found concealed in undergarments, fancy dresses, vanity boxes. All the parcels were declared as toys, t-shirts, bags, belts, etc,' an official said. The parcels containing the goods had originated from Thailand, Dubai, Turkey, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Officials are yet to identify the offenders while a crackdown on consumers of these products is being carried out. Investigators say the network was active for the past one year and they are yet to arrest the mastermind who is a south Delhibased woman and is currently outside the country. 'All of these parcels had the address of a senior bureaucrat, but on checking it was found that these packages were never delivered there. 'The gang members used to collect the consignments from delivery men mid-way,' said the officer. About Rs 24 lakh of unaccounted cash and several incriminating evidences have been found from the accused's premises, he said. Marks and Spencer is in talks to sell its shops in Hong Kong and Macau to a Dubai-based conglomerate as it overhauls its international business. The British retailer, which has 27 stores in Hong Kong having started trading there in 1988, is looking to sign Al-Futtaim as the sole franchisee for M&S in the region. The move comes after the firm decided to simplify its international business. Sell off: Marks and Spencer is in talks to sell its shops in Hong Kong and Macau to a Dubai-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Last November M&S caused momentary panic among Hong Kongs strong British expat community when it announced it would close 53 loss-making international stores and exit 10 markets. Al-Futtaim, which has worked with M&S since 1998, operates in 43 of the retailers stores in the Middle East as well as in Singapore and Malaysia. Most recently the conglomerate extended the reach of M&Ss popular food-to-go chilled range and will be opening its first stand-alone food store in the Middle East. The retailer said it has now entered into a period of due diligence with Al-Futtaim, which is expected to take several months. Petrofac has slashed its dividend by 42% Scandal-hit oil firm Petrofac has slashed its dividend by 42 per cent as it struggles with a bribery probe and a slump in demand. Profits at the business dropped to 122million in the first half of 2017, down 4 per cent on the same period last year, and it is battling to reduce debts of nearly 800million. Petrofac supplies services to major fossil fuel drillers and has suffered from cutbacks by customers due to the falling oil price, which boss Ayman Asfari said were much deeper than anyone expected. He said the only response was to slash costs. The interim dividend was cut from 22 US cents per share to 12.7 US cents. In May, the Serious Fraud Office said it was probing Petrofac over bribery claims, prompting the firm to suspend its chief operating officer. Shares have since fallen nearly 50 per cent. And Italian authorities last week fined Asfari more than 275,000 for alleged insider trading, a decision he is appealing against. Shares fell 02.3 per cent, or 9.7p, to 413.5p yesterday. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Wednesday that there was still room for diplomacy in dealing with North Korea's provocative ballistic missile launches, after President Donald Trump said negotiations were 'not the answer.' 'We're never out of diplomatic solutions,' Mattis said as he went into a meeting with South Korea Defense Minister Song Young-Moo. 'We continue to work together and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss,' he added. 'We are never complacent.' The comment came after Pyongyang elevated the crisis over its growing potential nuclear threat with the test launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japanese territory on Tuesday. 'We're never out of diplomatic solutions,' Secretary of Defense James Mattis (left) said as he went into a meeting with South Korea Defense Minister Song Young-Moo (right) at the Pentagon in Washington on Wednesday Before Mattis spoke, Trump had tweeted: 'The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!' Before Mattis spoke, Trump had tweeted: 'The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!' North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un has promised more missile flights over Japan, insisting his nuclear-armed nation's launch was a mere 'curtain-raiser,' in the face of UN condemnation and U.S. warnings of severe repercussions. The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile unleashed by Pyongyang represented a major escalation of tensions over its weapons programs. The missile has the potential of reaching the U.S. military base at Guam in the Pacific. A photo made available by the official North Korean Central News Agency allegedly shows intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket being launched during a drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Tuesday In July, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that theoretically could carry a nuclear bomb to the continental United States. After the latest launch, Trump said that 'all options' were on the table, reviving his implied threat of pre-emptive U.S. military action just days after congratulating himself that Kim appeared to be 'starting to respect us.' On Tuesday, the UN Security Council - which has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang - unanimously condemned the North's 'outrageous' actions, calling them 'not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states.' North Korea must 'abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and immediately cease all related activities,' the Security Council said. Mattis has not been afraid to flex his independence in recent days. On Tuesday, Mattis released a statement saying that transgender soldiers currently enlisted in the military may continue to serve while the Pentagon conducts a study of Trump's order to ban them from the armed forces. Mattis said in a statement released Tuesday that the Pentagon, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, will develop a plan that 'will promote military readiness, lethality and unit cohesion.' Trump surprised Pentagon leaders in July by announcing via Twitter the ban on transgender people serving 'in any capacity'. The transgender ban reverses a plan launched by his predecessor Barack Obama that saw the military accept openly transgender recruits. A day earlier, a video clip of the defense secretary giving a motivational speech to soldiers in Jordan went viral on social media. Mattis has not been afraid to flex his independence. On Tuesday, Mattis released a statement saying that transgender soldiers currently enlisted in the military may continue to serve. On Monday, video emerged of him talking to soldiers in Jordan and urging them to 'hold the line' The retired general can be seen asking the service to not let recent political divisions inside the United States distract them from their duty. 'Youre a great example for our country right now and its got problems,' Mattis told the servicemen. 'You know it and I know it. Its got problems we dont have in the military. And you just hold the line, my fine soldiers, and sailors and airmen and Marines.' 'Just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it,' he added. A number of people interpreted those remarks as an implicit criticism of Trump, particularly since those comments were made against the backdrop of the aftermath of the race-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. An anti-racist demonstrator was killed and nearly two dozen others were injured when a suspected neo-Nazi rammed his car into a crowd that gathered to protest a white supremacist rally. Trump angered many when he refused to issue an unequivocal condemnation of the white supremacists. Instead, he said 'both sides' were to blame for the violence and that there were 'very fine people' among the white nationalist demonstrators. The state Supreme Court affirmed a lower courts decision to dismiss a felony charge in a Cass County DUI case Tuesday, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court case that originated in North Dakota. The U.S. Supreme Court said last year the Fourth Amendment doesnt permit warrantless blood tests in drunk driving cases, a ruling that came out of three consolidated cases under the title Birchfield v. North Dakota. The defense attorney involved in this weeks case previously said the Birchfield ruling didnt address urine tests. But in their opinion, issued Tuesday, the North Dakota justices said urine tests are like blood tests under Birchfield. We conclude a warrantless urine test is not a reasonable search incident to a valid arrest of a suspected impaired driver and the driver cannot be prosecuted for refusing to submit to an unconstitutional warrantless urine test incident to arrest, the state Supreme Court said. The case originated when a Fargo police officer stopped Steven Floyd Helm for driving without headlights at night in May 2016. Helm was ultimately arrested for driving under the influence and later refused to submit to a warrantless urine test, earning him a Class C felony charge because of his criminal record. "The state's interest in performing chemical tests to combat drug-impaired driving, while strong, does not overcome a person's Fourth Amendment right to be secure in his or her bodily fluids, urine included," District Court Judge Frank Racek wrote in his order dismissing the refusal charge in January. The other two charges against Helm had previously been dismissed. Reid Brady, assistant Cass County states attorney, said there are no plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision, but, he added, I dont know that theres been a final determination. More than two-thirds of Americans, 68 percent, view illegal immigrants as a 'serious problem,' a new poll found, though almost the same percentage wanted to see President Trump keep DACA. DACA, the acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the country as kids, to remain in the United States. The new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll found 64 percent of Americans supported DACA, while 30 percent opposed it. Scroll down for video While 68 percent of Americans viewed illegal immigrants as a 'serious problem,' a similar percentage would like to see President Trump (pictured) keep DACA in place Immigration advocates took to the New York streets on Wednesday, passing by Trump Tower, in order to show support for DACA. Two-thirds of the country is with them, a new poll shows Among the 68 percent who viewed undocumented immigrants as problematic, the biggest chunk of respondents, 40 percent, called them a very serious problem. Another 28 percent called their existence in the country somewhat serious. Twenty-two percent said the issue of undocumented immigrants it not too serious. Just 8 percent said it wasn't serious at all. Despite such a large percentage of Americans voicing their concerns, a large percentage, 71 percent, said they believed undocumented immigrants working in the United States should have a pathway to a legal status. Only about a quarter, 26 percent, thought those workers should be deported. Additionally, a majority of respondents, 57 percent, said they thought immigration helps the United States more than it hurts the country. On the flip side, 38 percent said it hurts the U.S. more than it helps. Nearly half, 49 percent, said the immigrants living in their community don't have much of an effect on Americans' job opportunities. Another 26 percent said immigrants make job opportunities better, while 22 percent believed immigrants made job opportunities worse. Pollsters also asked Americans about President Trump's controversial pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who faced prison time after blowing off a court order that demanded he stop the racial profiling of Latinos. Arpaio refused. The poll found that 60 percent of Americans felt Trump did the wrong thing in pardoning the Arizona sheriff. Another 34 percent were for Trump's pardon. NBC's SurveryMonkey polls are conducted online. While SurveyMonkey says it has access to a pool of nearly 3 million Americans, it may not be a representative sample of Americans' views as less than 1 percent of the population will ever be sampled. The organization says its sample is similar enough to the makeup of the larger pool of American adults. They have assigned a plus or minus 1.4 percentage point error estimate to this particular survey. Journeys on the UKs most popular roads could take more than three times longer than usual as the summer holidays end and children return to school, new figures show. Traffic information supplier Inrix warned that roads will generally be busiest on Monday September 4 as holidaymakers capitalise on the last few days of the break while other people resume their commutes. Routes back from the coast, ports and holiday destinations dominate the list of most congested roads. Warning: Journeys on some of Britain's busiest roads could take take up to three times longer over the coming days with the M25 clockwise between J14 and J24 expected to see the most significant delays Motorists returning from Devon and Cornwall, the Lake District and East Anglia will be particularly affected, according to Inrix. Drivers planning a trip on the M5 northbound from Exeter to Bristol are being warned to prepare for a trip of two hours and five minutes on the route, which takes one hour and 15 minutes in free-flow traffic. The most significant delays as a proportion of traffic-free conditions are expected on the M25 clockwise from London Heathrow to Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, where a 15-minute journey in free-flow traffic is expected to take more than three times longer - some 50 minutes - during the afternoons of Thursday and Saturday. Journeys are expected to take two hours and 20 minutes on the M6 southbound from Lymm, Cheshire, to Cannock, Staffordshire, on Monday afternoon, which is 2.8 times longer than without traffic. Trips on the M6 southbound from Lymm, Cheshire, to Cannock, Staffordshire, are expected to take two hours and 20 minutes on Monday afternoon, 2.8 times longer than usual Inrix chief economist Dr Graham Cookson said: All good things must come to an end. Sadly for most, the end of the summer holidays heralds a return to work, school and traffic. Holidaymakers hoping to make the most of the remaining few days should be aware that traffic will be worst on Monday afternoon and evening. He added that the fastest way home may not be the shortest distance, and urged drivers to consider alternative routes. Nine in ten MPs believe the social care system is not fit for purpose, a poll suggests. Research also found 86 per cent of MPs in England believe a cross-party consensus is needed to tackle health and social care. The survey of 101 English MPs reveals only 10 per cent believe the current system is suitable for the UKs ageing population. The Department of Health said it is committed to improving social care after a survey of 101 English MPs found only 10 per cent believe the current system is suitable for the UK's ageing population Politicians and campaigners said the system is creaking at the seams and confidence in it has virtually evaporated. Only 13 per cent of Labour MPs and 35 per cent of Conservatives believe that social care services in their constituencies are fit for purpose. The poll by ComRes also found only one in five Tory MPs (21 per cent) and less than one in ten Labour MPs in England believe there is sufficient funding for social care services, either in their constituency or in the UK. Only one in five of Theresa May's MPs believe there is sufficient funding for social care, with one in ten Labour MPs saying there is sufficient funding Janet Morrison, chief executive of the charity Independent Age which commissioned the poll, said: Confidence that the social care system can deal with the UKs ageing population has virtually evaporated among parliamentarians. The crisis in social care was front and centre in the election earlier this year, and it is clear from this poll that there is an overwhelming desire from politicians on all sides for the Government to work towards a cross-party consensus on a solution. The Government has promised a consultation on social care, but to work this must set out a long-term vision for health and care that has support from across the political divide. It must also lead to a lasting settlement that better integrates health and social care services and is sustainable. In January this year three committees of MPs warned the social care crisis was at breaking point and pleaded with Theresa May to call a cross-party review of the health and care systems. The heads of the health, public accounts and the communities and local government committees said a more fundamental, long-term solution was needed to a growing crisis. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb described the health and care system in England as 'creaking at the seams' The Prime Minister tried to tackle the issue of social care during the election campaign by announcing a proposal to make elderly people pay for care in their own home. But following a fierce backlash the plan was scrapped. Instead, it was said that ministers would hold a very wide consultation on reforming the care system, which would consider a cap and a floor on what individuals should pay. Commenting on the ComRes poll, Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: The health and care system in England is creaking at the seams. While ministers have promised a green paper on the future of social care, this falls short of the fundamental review of the health and care system we desperately need. The Department of Health said: This government is committed to improving social care in this country, which is why we have provided an additional 2billion for the sector, introduced tougher inspections to keep driving up standards and committed to consult on the future of social care to ensure sustainability in the long term. Heidi McIvor's husband has received vitriolic comments online after publishing an anti-gay marriage ad in the local newspaper, of which he is the advertising manager A mother and church pastor who appeared in a controversial advertisement against gay marriage have been viciously trolled online. Heidi McIvor and her husband, Julian, who are both active members of the City Builders church in Sale, Victoria, have been accused of being behind an advertisement in their local paper. The ad, published last week, also took a stance against same-sex marriage. Comments on social media directed at the couple ranged from taunts towards the family to threats against their church, despite the McIvor's claims they had nothing to do with the ad, The Australian reported. 'I hope he hasn't got children that have his DNA,' one local posted to Facebook. 'Let's burn their church,' wrote another. The ad, not written by any member of the McIvor family, suggests same-sex marriage should not be legal as a homosexual union could not naturally conceive children Julian McIvor (left) is the husband of Heidi McIvor (right), who recently appeared in a controversial anti-gay marriage television commercial The ad's publication resulted in locals returning their newspapers in disgust, with a Facebook event created to encourage others to do the same. It enraged not only same-sex marriage supporters, but also those who used IVF to conceive, as it shunned any artificial attempt at creating a family in its description of conception. 'When the wife's egg is fertilised by the husband's sperm in the marital act of love, a flash of light occurs and a baby is conceived,' the ad said. 'This is not physically possible for two people of the same sex. A baby produced has to be manufactured.' Ms McIvor said children in Year 7 had been asked to role play being in a same-sex relationship during her short time on screen The family have been threatened with cruel taunts, and one angry local suggested burning down the family's church Despite the public and angry response her husband received after merely printing a newspaper advertisement, not writing it, Ms McIvor is not concerned about the backlash she may receive for her participation in the Coalition for Marriage's television ad. She told The Australian she was happy to debate the issue with 'anybody' if they approached her regarding her appearance in the advertisement. But the church worship leader slammed people who took a stance against her without participating in a rational conversation. 'What does worry me... is that it seems no one can put forward an alternative opinion about marriage without it descending into personal attacks and threats,' she said. The McIvor family are not the only ones to face backlash for their contribution to the same sex marriage debate. Cella White, who appeared on the Coalition for Marriage's television ad alongside Ms McIvor, has also faced public shaming, with the principal of her son's school slamming her claims as lies. Cella White (pictured) has also faced backlash for her stance on marriage equality, but has strongly refuted claims she is lying about her son being told he could wear a dress to school Ms White said during the commercial that her son had been told he could wear a dress to school if he felt like it. The mother-of-four had shared the story on a national scale previously, while appearing on an episode of Q&A early last year. But John Albiston, the principal of Frankston High School where her son attended, denied the claims and said the incident 'never happened', and said she had not contacted the school before going public with the story. Ms White has not backed down, and told The Australian she had spoken to multiple members of staff at the school, and two people from the Department of Education. 'To suggest the school was not aware of my concerns is a lie,' she said. Police fired controversial Taser stun guns 11 times at a crazed knifeman without any effect, it was revealed yesterday. Joshua Hyde, 30, brushed off barbs from the weapons during a terrifying stand-off in which officers feared they could be killed. They resorted to attempting to run over the paranoid schizophrenic who was eventually shot in the chest, with the bullet narrowly missing his heart. Police fired taser stun guns 11 times at a drug-addicted drop-out but they had no effect Incredibly, the drug addicted drop-out survived and later told investigators he only felt pinching and stinging while being Tasered. An inquiry by the independent police watchdog concluded that officers acted reasonably with their increasingly desperate actions. But it raised serious questions about whether the American-made weapons have shortcomings which could put police at risk. Officials discovered Mr Hyde was wearing two jackets and that the metal barbs from the weapons did not penetrate his skin. The 50,000 volt stun guns operate by creating a circuit through the suspects body which incapacitate him by forcing muscles to contract. The confrontation began when officers were called to a hostel in Brent, north west London, after Mr Hyde threatened a neighbour. The 50,000 volt stun guns failed to create a circuit because their target was wearing extra clothing As they searched the suspect they discovered a large knife in his pocket, but he managed to escape before he could be handcuffed. The incident then spiralled as Mr Hyde went out on to the street, where witnesses described him with bulging eyes and deranged and crazy. Officers armed with Tasers were called to the scene as the suspect clutched a knife in either hand and he was zapped six times. The stun guns had no effect, leaving the knifeman to start slashing at the metal wires with the knives so he could walk away. Another officer arriving at the scene was so concerned his colleagues would be killed he drove his car at Mr Hyde, knocking him across the bonnet. But he got up, and began stabbing the car with a knife before puncturing the tyres. He was then Tasered a further five times, still with no effect. More than 30 minutes after the incident began, a convoy of armed officers arrived at the scene. They surrounded the knifeman and he was shot once. A bread knife, carving knife and screwdriver were recovered. Some of the shooting was captured on body worn video cameras. Two knives and a screwdriver were recovered after the suspect was finally detained by police Mr Hyde was charged with subsequently possessing offensive weapons and common assault and was jailed for 24 months, suspended for two years. Interviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), Mr Hyde said he remembered being surrounded by shouting officers. They were zapping me and shocking me and I heard an officer say the Taser aint working. I also heard an officer shouting higher voltage, higher voltage and then I felt pain. It was not bad pain, it was like pinching and stinging, and thats when I cut off the Taser wires. I remember Taser wires everywhere. The findings will concern senior police officers who have spent millions making Tasers available to more officers. Frontline police representatives want the weapons to be available to every officer and a new model, the X2 which can fire two shots, was licensed in March. The latest figures show police officers use the stun guns 30 times a day, including situations where they are only taken out of their holster or used to point a red dot. They were used on 11,294 occasions last year, up 9% on 2015. Officers fired Tasers 1,755 times, up 2% on the previous year. Cindy Butts, of the IPCC, said: They needed to stop him from causing serious injury or death to them, a member of the public, or himself. Taser was fired a total of 11 times. The man was found to be wearing extra clothing, which we believe reduced the effectiveness of Taser on at least one occasion. Yet he still posed a real danger to officers, leaving them with no option but to use further force we found that the force used was necessary and proportionate. Che Donald, the Police Federations firearms lead, said the new X2 Tasers are more intelligent, safe and effective weapons. They have slightly longer probes and are able to increase the charge when one of the barbs makes a poor connection, he said. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi, who is the national lead for Taser use, admittd Tasers do not always work. There are many reasons why deploying a Taser may not work properly, such as missing the target, or probes not connecting, she said. In these cases, police officers use the National Decision Model to consider alternative actions that may be more effective in safely defusing the situation. This is reinforced at every stage of the world-class training that officers must pass before carrying a Taser. Kezia Dugdale has denied claims that she was hounded out as leader of the Scottish Labour Party by Jeremy Corbyns mob. The 36-year-old, who had criticised the Labour leader, stepped down after mounting pressure from the Left wing of the party and days after Mr Corbyn had toured Scotland. She cited personal reasons and other factors, but sources in the party said the high-profile female leader was forced out by men after just two years in the job. Others said she was hounded out by Jeremy Corbyns mob and had received weeks of criticism for not delivering the leaders message at the General Election. Some sources have said Dugdale was hounded out by Jeremy Corbyns mob and had received weeks of criticism for not delivering the leaders message at the General Election Just hours after her surprise resignation on Tuesday night, activists moved to seize control of the party and replace her with a pro-Corbyn figure. Former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman called for another woman to lead the party, but two men have been tipped for the post. When Miss Dugdale announced she would go immediately, she denied suggestions she had quit before being ousted by the Left. Miss Dugdale, who announced in July she was dating SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, said: Im going on my own terms. Scottish Labour Party sources said any suggestion that she jumped before she was pushed was categorically untrue. In her resignation letter, she said her party needed a new leader with fresh energy, drive and a new mandate to take it into the next Holyrood elections in 2021, and it was time to pass on the baton. She insisted she left the party in better shape than I found it after taking on the job in the wake of the 2015 election, in which Labour lost all but one of its MPs in Scotland. She became the third Scottish Labour leader to quit since the 2014 independence referendum. Miss Dugdale, who announced in July she was dating SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth (left), said: Im going on my own terms' Miss Dugdale had faced criticism after she backed Owen Smith to replace Mr Corbyn during the Labour leadership contest in 2016, saying: I dont think Jeremy can unite our party and lead us into government. Her General Election strategy was criticised by Mr Corbyns allies and she was accused of being openly hostile towards him and of pushing supporters into voting for the Tories. A report by the Campaign For Socialism group headed by Labour MSP Neil Findlay, a close Corbyn ally said Mr Corbyns message of For the many, not the few was almost silenced by an anti-SNP campaign. There have been repeated calls for Miss Dugdale to be ousted. Last month, an influential Left-wing publication, the Scottish Left Review, said the Left needs to move to remove her, stating Labour cant win in Scotland with Dugdale. Pro-Corbyn MSP Richard Leonard looked set to be a contender for the job last night after Mr Findlay declined to stand. Another Left-wing MSP, Alex Rowley, who was Miss Dugdales deputy and is now interim Scottish leader, also said he would not put himself forward. Anas Sarwar, Labours Scottish health spokesman, is also thought to be among the likely candidates to take on the job. Scottish Labours executive meets on September 9 to begin the process of picking a leader. Special counsel Robert Muellers team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, Politico reported Wednesday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, Politico reported Mueller's team, which is investigating possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, and Schneiderman's aides have shared evidence and talked frequently about a potential case in recent weeks. The cooperation 'could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trumps campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes,' Politico's Josh Dawsey pointed out. Special Counsel Robert Mueller (left) has teamed up with New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (right) in investigating President Trump's ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort Both Robert Mueller and Eric Schneiderman are looking into the financial transactions of Paul Manafort (pictured) President Trump (left), photographed during last summer's GOP convention, can't pardon Paul Manafort (right) should he be found guilty of state crimes If Manafort thinks he's able to be pardoned he may be less willing to cooperate with the federal investigation, both state and federal prosecutors believe. Trump hasn't publicly said he planned to pardon Manafort, though has inquired about his pardoning powers. He also hasn't shied away from pardoning controversial figures, which could hurt him politically, as evidenced by his decision last Friday to pardon Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio. A new poll out Wednesday showed that 60 percent of Americans were against that move. CNN reported on Tuesday that Mueller had issued subpoenas to an attorney who formerly represented Manafort and to a Manafort spokesman. Manafort's Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month. The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, two people familiar with Mueller's work have said. Politico said no decision had been made on whether to file charges, and quoted one of the sources as saying 'Nothing is imminent.' Mueller's team has been looking into Manafort's lobbying work and financial transactions, including real estate deals in New York. Manafort, who headed Republican Trump's campaign for several months in 2016, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in May that Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey threatened the integrity of the agency. Trump has called Schneiderman a 'lightweight.' Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign and has condemned the investigation as political witch hunt. Donald Emery died last fall aged 85 The only wife of the four suspected penny loafer pervert brothers disappeared after just three months of marriage, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively. Sandra Emerys husband claimed in court papers that he could never find her and eventually divorced her 17 years later after court efforts to locate her failed as well. Sandra was married to Donald Emery, who died last fall aged 85. Police with cadaver dogs have been combing through his 14-acre property outside Shelton, Washington, since the weekend. They are looking to see if the brothers may be connected to the case of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum, who disappeared from her home, a half hour drive from the property, in 2009. Donalds three surviving brothers, Charles, 82, Thomas, 80, and Edwin, 78, are due to make their first court appearance when they are arraigned in Seattle on Thursday. Charles, who suffers from dementia, lived part-time with Donald. Each is charged with two counts of possessing child pornography. When cops raided their home in the Meridian district of Seattle they found a huge trove of material including pictures of child rape and murder and an extensive collection of childrens clothes including dozens of pairs of penny loafer shoes. Scroll down for video Police cadaver dogs began a grim search earlier this month of the secluded 14-acre waterfront property once owned by the the Emerys older brother, Donald, who died last year aged 85 A cadaver search team is pictured on the property of the former home of Donald Emery in Shelton, Washington on August 26 Similar material was found at Donalds tiny ramshackle house that overlooks picturesque Oakland Bay, an arm of the Puget Sound. Now the mystery of what happened to Sandra Emery, who would now be 77 if she is alive, is a new twist in the alarming case. Court papers uncovered in Tacoma by DailyMail.com show that Donald filed for divorce from Sandra in May 1987. He said they married in Shelton in June 1970. According to a notice in the local paper Donald Emery, then 39, and Sandra Eddy, 30, took out a marriage license that month. Eddy was the name of Sandras first husband, Henry, whom she married in 1956 when she was just 16, records show. Her maiden name was Hansen. Efforts by DailyMail.com to locate her have not been successful. Throughout the divorce papers, Donald Emery even spells the name of his wife wrongly. He calls her Samdra. He filed, saying his marriage had irretrievably broken down, and said he did not know where his wife was living. He claimed they had separated in September, 1970. They had no children. Court papers (pictured) uncovered in Tacoma by DailyMail.com show that Donald filed for divorce from Sandra in May 1987 He filed, saying his marriage had irretrievably broken down, and said he did not know where his wife was living Donald Emery even spells the name of his wife wrongly. He calls her Samdra' I believe (Sandra) is not a resident of this state or if she is in the State of Washington she is concealing herself, he said in a sworn statement, explaining why he could not serve her with divorce papers. I have made careful inquiry of relations, friends and business associatesand I cannot learn of her present whereabouts. A judge in Tacoma approved the divorce on September 8, 1987, four months after Emery had first filed. Calls to Seattle police about whether they are also looking for Sandras body were not immediately returned. The three surviving Emery brothers were turned in by a 49-year-old niece who had been appointed guardian of Charles in July. When she started rummaging through his property she found mountains of disturbing photographs and childrens clothes and reported it to police. She said, she, her mother and her daughter had all been molested by at least two of the brothers over the years. The abuse against her mother was so bad as a child that she had to leave the family home and was fostered out. Charles was arrested at a Seattle nursing home (pictured) where he had been living for less than a month DailyMail.com tracked the niece down to a home 100 miles from Seattle. Her husband said she did not want to speak. She is not doing well, he said. DailyMail.com is not identifying her as she is an alleged victim of sexual abuse. Charles, a former janitor at Seattle Childrens Hospital, was arrested at a Seattle nursing home where he had been living for less than a month. According to Newsweek, a detective walked in to the Aegis of Queen Anne on Galer facility, took a swab from Charless mouth as he slept and then woke him and started questioning him. The two younger brothers were held at their home. They have been held in jail on $500,000 bail ever since. Papers filed in Charless guardianship say he suffers from severe dementia. Mr. Emery will have continuing mental deficits which make it highly unlikely that he will recover from his challenges, the nieces lawyer wrote. He was taken to the hospital after his two brothers disappeared from the house. They returned on July 11 after a week, the papers say. Charles Emery 82 (above) along with brothers Thomas Emery, 80, and 78-year-old Edwin Emery were charged with two counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct As a result of his dementia, Mr. Emery needs assistance with several activities of daily living, the lawyer wrote. He needs prompting for dressing and personal hygiene grooming, bathing and oral care, as well as assistance with basic communication as he often repeats himself. Mr. Emery suffers from memory loss. He has reported his truck was stolen over 14 times, despite the fact that he sold the truck himself.' The papers said the hospital was ready to discharge Emery but the nursing home would not take him until they were paid a $13,000 entrance fee and a further $12,124 for the first months rent. According to the papers, Charles Emery has around a quarter of a million dollars in the bank and receives a $3,100 pension from Boeing. He is expected to inherit up to another $150,000 from Donalds will. Cops spent weeks combing through the brothers house in Seattle. They took away three vehicles, including a World War II-era Packard Super Eight convertible and a Ford Model A from the 1930s. Among the items discovered in the Seattle house were 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 the city. Police are pictured searching the Emery brothers' home on August 21, 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 Cops spent weeks combing through the brothers house in Seattle. They took away three vehicles, including a World War II-era Packard Super Eight convertible and a Ford Model A from the 1930s Police found several miniature vodka bottles. One of them contained the initials of the brothers great-niece with the inscription that her first half ounce of liquor came from this bottle. DO YOU KNOW SANDRA EMERY? Please contact Martin Gould at Martin.Gould@mailonline.com Advertisement Also discovered were: dozens of pairs of childrens 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; childrens 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. Of note, law enforcement discovered a pink childs 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. The niece told police that when she was a child, Charles made her dress in penny loafer 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. Cops are looking to see if the brothers may be connected to the case of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum (pictured), who disappeared from her home in 2009 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. Its very clear that these three individuals have an obsession with young female children, Capt. Mike Edwards of federal Internet Crimes Against Children task force told reporters. Theyve had this obsession for most if not all of their lives and in some cases acted out on that obsession against family members. Edwards told DailyMail.com the search at the Shelton home could go on for weeks. 'We have something like 14 acres to cover and it's not like it's all flat. It is hilly and wooded and difficult going,' he said He stressed there is nothing definite linking the Emery brothers to any missing child. 'But if we thought there was zero chance of finding anything there we would not be searching there,' he added. 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 In a statement to DailyMail.com, Lindsey Baums cousin Jasmine Pierpoint said: As this Emery brothers case is revealed, we find the thought of it horrific and unimaginable. It seems that as this case unfolds, that it will lead to answers for someone, if not for us regarding Lindsey. It shouldn't take a horrific scenario such as with the Emery brothers to bring the cases of all Missing Persons to light. We need to remind people that this sort of thing is real and it does happen and can touch. We certainly hope that we find our answers and our truths about what happened to our Lindsey, be it with this case or another. From dogs to pet snakes, a deer, an abandoned tortoise, a Texas Longhorn and a leopard gecko, it seems all creatures great and small are being saved from the atrocities of the Hurricane Harvey flood. Video footage shows the heroic moment a crew worked together to save an abandoned dog in the flooded Texas waters. The footage shows a man in a red sweater wading through the water while attached to a yellow rope. The other men pull him in with the dog in his arms. Scroll down for video The heroic moment a crew saved an abandoned dog in flood waters in Texas has been caught on video The video shows a man in a red sweater wading through the water attached to a yellow rope The crew successfully managed to save the black and white dog from the flood which has claimed the lives of humans and animals. Billy Hutson is hailed as a local hero after he got on his tugboat and saved a tortoise from the raging water floods. Speaking to Dailymail.com Hutson, who purchased the boat from Craigslist for this occasion, said: 'All I got is a truck and a boat.' When asked about the tortoise, who weighed at least 125 pounds and took two men to lift into the boat, he responded: 'You know that the tortoise cant swim, right? More animals need help. More people need help.' The crew successfully managed to save the black and white dog from the horrific flood The Texas local revealed that while people have been helping enormously there's still a long way to go: 'There are people that still need help. Do something.' Hutson was also seen saving a Texas longhorn - he can be seen guiding the animal through the waters. A rescued deer was pictured wrapped in a blanket on the office floor at the Lumberton Central Fire Station on Wednesday. Billy Hutson is hailed as a local hero after he got on his tugboat and saved a tortoise from the raging water floods Hutson (pictured here) was also seen saving a Texas longhorn - he can be seen guiding the animal through the waters Many Texas longhorns were seen walking through the flooded waters Alen Pogue was seen dragging a kayak carrying three pet snakes and a leopard gecko, as he trekked through the flooded waters. Another lonely dog was seen being rescued by Shane Montie, who helped the dog board an airboat. Since Hurricane Harvey made landfall last Friday local and national organizations have been doing everything they can to help rescue and evacuate animals. A rescued deer was pictured wrapped in a blanket on the office floor at the Lumberton Central Fire Station on Wednesday Alen Pogue (pictured here) was seen dragging a kayak carrying three pet snakes and a leopard gecko Another lonely dog was seen being rescued by Shane Montie (L), who helped the dog board an airboat A cat tries to find dry ground around an apartment complex after it was inundated with water following Hurricane Harvey A cat sits on top of a car which is surrounded by flood water in the parking lot of an apartment complex The Humane Society has several Animal Rescue Team responders on the ground already in Houston with more volunteers headed to the particular areas affected by the epic floods. On Tuesday a group of Hurricane Harvey refugee dogs were sent to New Jersey. According to Newsweek, the animals are going to a shelter in Madison called St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center. Volunteers in boats rescue people and their pets from their homes near interstate 45 in Houston Gayle Romain (R) and her daughter, Georgia Romain, meet their new dogs for the first time at Cutter Aviation Johnny Colunga feeds his pet monkey Prince as they take refuge in the Max Bowl, which was converted to a shelter for those displaced by flooding John Tuan returns to rescue his dog who was left in his flooded house in the Clodine district The animals will be sent off to one of 15 sister shelters in the area where they will be cared for. On Tuesday morning dozens of crated cats landed in Oregon from San Antonios Animal Care Services. Volunteers are lining up from all over the US to help people and animals during this horrific time. National nonprofit group RedRover in Sacramento is sending 400 volunteers and 15 vets to Texas later this week. Wings of Rescue co-pilot Jose G. Martinez reaches for one of the last of of a load of 35 dogs from Texas shelters flown to make space for companion animals rescued in the Hurricane Harvey aftermath A Texas National Guard soldier holds a rescued dog Spokeswoman Sheri Madsen revealed they are doing everything in their power to rescue and shelter animals around the country. When Harvey escalated to a Category 4 hurricane last Friday, shelter centers in the Gulf Coast areas had already started evacuating animals. After Katrina the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act was passed in 2006 to ensure that animals were included in emergency preparations, according to ABC. The Humane Society released a video showing several Animal Rescue Team responders on the ground already in Houston The video showed volunteers and helpers rescuing the animals The Humane Society showed their workers saving more animals from inside the buildings A millionaire was caught using a photocopy of his mother's disabled permit so that he could park his 35,000 car on double yellow lines. Errol Lipman, 58, used the crude copy of his elderly mother's Blue Badge in a bid to park the Mercedes E-Class where he pleased. However the property mogul was finally caught out in January after a warden raised concerns over the poor imitation in his car window in East Finchley, north London. Errol Lipman, 58, used the crude copy of his elderly mother's Blue Badge in a bid to park the Mercedes E-Class where he pleased To make matters worse, the badge belonging to his mother Dorothy, 85, had expired about six months before in July 2016. Lipman, who lives in a 7.5million mansion in Hampstead Heath, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation during a hearing at Willesden Magistrates' Court. Lipman, who lives in a 7.5million mansion in Hampstead Heath, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation during a hearing at Willesden Magistrates' Court Lipman parked on double yellow lines and a parking bay across this street in East Finchley An executive director of property company Safeland, the father of three was fined 1,000 and ordered to pay 1,000 court costs and a 100 victim surcharge. His lawyer Maria Stevens said her client had acted 'on impulse', The Sun reported, as he was late for an appointment. JAMESTOWN Members of the Ringdahl EMS strike team are in Texas helping with hurricane relief operations, according to PJ Hardy, North Dakota operations director for Ringdahl EMS. We have some staff and trucks from all of our locations, including Jamestown, Hardy said. The 13-member strike team, along with five advanced life support ambulances and two support vehicles from Ringdahl EMS ambulance services in Minnesota and North Dakota, were activated on Friday and arrived in San Antonio on Saturday morning, she said. The strike teams waited to be called out to assist hundreds of local, state and federal EMS units in hurricane relief operations throughout southeast Texas, she said. Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in southeast Texas as a category 4 hurricane on Friday, was reduced to a tropical storm on Saturday. Flooding continues in Texas and parts of Louisiana. Crews are dealing with difficult road access due to debris and floodwaters, but have been successful in all assigned missions to evacuate hospitals, care facilities and shelters, according to a report from strike team leader Bjorn Ringdahl, CEO of Ringdahl EMS. Our personnel are eager to work and the energy is high, Ringdahl said in a news release issued Tuesday by the company. Our involvement is a pure example of the heart and compassion extended to people in need by our EMS staff. We are happy to be here and proud to represent our home states of North Dakota and Minnesota. The length of the activation is unknown, and the strike team will assist until the mission is completed, Hardy said. The crews will be on a seven- to 14-day activation that can change as the situation evolves, she said. Ringdahl EMS is prepared to send additional personnel if the need for assistance goes beyond 14 days, Hardy said. The strike team deployment of personnel and resources does not affect the ability to provide timely medical response in any of the communities Ringdahl serves, she said. The American Red Cross reports that hundreds of volunteers from across the country are working around the clock to provide shelter and comfort to people affected by the most devastating hurricane to hit southeast Texas since 1961. Two victims of what is thought to have been an acid attack have water poured on their heads by a firemen - on the side of the road in Bethnal Green in July Acid attack witnesses are being told to 'report, remove, rinse' in new guidance as assaults soar across the country. Health officials said victims can be left blind or severely disfigured and the minutes after an attack are critical. They are urging witnesses and victims to report the attack by calling 999, carefully remove contaminated clothing and immediately rinse skin in running water. The advice was given emergency responders including police and ambulance staff amid increasing concern at attacks with corrosive substances. It comes after hoaxers caused several panics at the Notting Hill Carnival by spraying liquids in the air and shouting 'acid'. Three police officers were also injured when a suspected mild corrosive was thrown at them at the west London street party. Officers even searched revellers for acid in drinks bottle and brought large bottles of water and protective gloves in preparation for attacks. Health officials are deeply concerned at a rise in the number of people in England requiring specialist help after being sprayed with acid. In 2014, 16 people required specialist medical advice, rising to 25 in 2015 and 32 last year, NHS England said. The number of people requiring help from specialist burns units where the most severe cases are treated is expected to rise further this year. Police said more than 400 acid or corrosive substance attacks were carried out in the six months up to April this year. Professor Chris Moran, of NHS England, said: 'While this type of criminal assault remains rare, the NHS is caring for an increasing number of people who have fallen victim to these cowardly attacks. 'One moment of thoughtless violence can result in serious physical pain and mental trauma, which can involve months if not years of costly and specialist NHS treatment. 'So-called acid attacks are medical emergencies and people should immediately dial 999. 'We are issuing guidance today that sets out clearly and simply how people can help themselves and others in response to attacks. It comes after hoaxers caused several panics at the Notting Hill Carnival by spraying liquids in the air and shouting 'acid' 'Our guidance will outline what first steps to take in the event of an attack in those crucial minutes before professional clinical help arrives on the scene.' David Ward, of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, branded acid attacks 'vindictive'. He said: 'Surgeons specialising in burns and trauma have seen first-hand the devastating impact on patients admitted to A&E after vicious corrosive substance attacks. Australian model Isobela Fraser, 22, who was attacked in a London nightclub 'They cause severe pain, scarring which can be life-long, and can damage the sight, sometimes leading to blindness. NHS England estimates the average cost of care for victims requiring specialist burns treatment, eye care, rehabilitation and mental health treatment is 34,500. There has been a horrific spate in which violent criminals use highly corrosive chemicals to threaten and maim victims. In the capital the number of incidents rose from 186 between April 2014 and March 2015 to 397 in the same period in 2016-2017. Experts link the rise to a crackdown on the use of knives and guns, saying street gangs are increasingly using corrosive substances instead. Campaigners want the Government to make it more difficult to buy the substances and for those caught using them as a weapon to face harsher punishment. Among the victims have been pregnant women, motorists stopped at traffic lights, moped delivery riders and commuters. A 12-year-old schoolgirl killed herself after allegedly being shouted at for staining her uniform and bench with period blood. The young girl was on her period when her menstrual blood leaked onto her clothes and bench. She was allegedly scolded by her teacher for making a mess. A young Indian girl, left, took her own life after her teacher shouted at her for staining her clothes with menstrual blood. The 12-year-old student left a note, right, The girl was in seventh grade at Senthil Nagar school in the residential area of Senthil Nagar, Palayamkottai Town, in Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu State, Southern India. She took her own life near a neighbour's house. Her shocked parents said they did not know she was suicidal and only found out about her reasons in a letter she left. The note reportedly read: 'I don't know what to say. Until now you didn't hear any complaint about me but why did the teacher complain about me like this?' According to reports, the teacher allegedly shouted at the girl in front of her classmates. The incident sparked protests from the parents of pupils who were angry over the girl's death. Police managed to break up the crowd and promised to take action. An investigation has been launched, a senior police spokesperson confirmed. They added: 'Right now we are hearing different versions. Only after the completion of probe will we have clarity.' It is not known whether the unnamed teacher in question faces police action. The 'cheating' scandal which rocked a number of high-profile schools has deepened following new revelations. Eton College faces further controversy following reports of a second set of exam questions being leaked to students, meaning sixth formers' marks were again disallowed. Meanwhile Radley College becomes the fourth school - following Winchester, Charterhouse and Eton - to be caught up in the scandal after a teacher was alleged to have altered his students work. It comes after Mo Tanweer, deputy head teacher at Eton College, quit after an exam board ruled he had breached security when he shared questions with colleagues before the A-level equivalent tests. Eton College faces further controversy following reports of a second set of exam questions being leaked to students It comes after Mo Tanweer (right), deputy head teacher at Eton College, quit after an exam board ruled he had breached security. Pictured left: Eton College Headmaster Simon Henderson Radley College became the fourth school - following Winchester, Charterhouse and Eton - to be caught up in the scandal He sent exam 'practice questions' to three colleagues as part of a revision programme, and some pupils have received these 'inadvertently' according to a letter sent to the boys. The Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) board, constituted this a breach of exam security, and had voided the marks for one of the Pre-U papers, sat by candidates hoping to gain a place at top universities, as an equivalent to A levels. Then two more schools - Winchester and Charterhouse - were dragged into the mud amid allegations that students were leaked information about exam questions. Winchester College suspended head of art history Laurence Wolff after it was alleged that he gave students tips on what would feature in two exam papers. Charterhouse School in Surrey has also been investigated by the exam board after it reported concerns that students were given advance warning about questions on the papers. Now the Guardian has reported that Eton students studying art history had their results quashed following reports they knew what was going to be on the exam. Charterhouse School in Surrey has also been investigated by the exam board after it reported concerns that students were given advance warning about questions Winchester College suspended head of art history Laurence Wolff after it was alleged that he gave students tips on what would feature in two exam papers And Radley College is now found to have committed 'technical' breaches in its GCSE art course, the Telegraph reports. The school's head of art, who has not been named, is reported to have amended his students assessed work, as well as given them advice mid-exam. The school has since increased the number of invigilators 'voluntarily' but the teacher remains head of the department, according to the paper. A whistleblower is reported to have said the teacher's approach to the exam was 'a very relaxed affair' and the boys were not supervised at all times. Warden of Radley John Moule told the paper: 'One minor breach was found to have taken place in the 2014 exam process - not in the exam itself - but the advantage to candidates was described by the board as negligible. 'The board's advice was followed and departmental practice has been adjusted accordingly. ' Writer and feminism activist Clementine Ford has come under fire after reportedly refusing to answer the questions of young boys when she spoke at a Melbourne high school earlier this year. The parent of one child in attendance, known only as Darren, claimed to 3AW Ms Ford had refused to take questions from boys at Aquinas College, causing the girls to walk out. 'The ones that turned on her after she treated the boys like c**p, was the girls who got up and left,' he said. 'The boys wanted to ask her questions, and she refused to answer questions from boys. She goes "no no, I'm only taking questions from girls".' Clementine Ford has been slammed by a parent of a student at Aquinas College in Melbourne, who claims she 'refused to answer questions from boys' during a talk at a school in May The parent, known as Darren, told 3AW when Ms Ford ignored the boys, female students walked out of Aquinas College (pictured) Daily Mail Australia has contacted Aquinas College, but a spokeswoman declined to comment. Ms Ford was also contacted for comment, and responded: 'Get a real job'. Ms Ford has strongly rebuked the claims on Twitter, responding that she had answered questions for 15 minutes and had been trolled online by students at the school afterwards. 'I answered questions for 15 minutes afterwards, longer than I was contracted for,' she wrote. 'The reason I excused myself to leave was because my time was up and I had to get home to my baby so my partner could go to work.' The Fight Like A Girl author told her Twitter following she had received offensive messages and comments from students on her social media accounts following her talk. She said one message called her a c**t, and she had reported the messages to the school. Ms Ford strongly rebuked the claims on Twitter, claiming she had spent 15 minutes answering questions Abusive comments were reportedly left on Ms Ford's Instagram following her speech at Aquinas Darren, the parent of the Aquinas student referred to Ms Ford's online rebukes as 'going nuts' Darren told 3AW that Ms Ford 'went nuts, she crucified the boys online and the school had to do a massive backpedal'. One comment thread on Ms Ford's Instagram shows her followers fight back against a young boy who left now-deleted comments on a picture. When her actions were called into question by another follower, she responded noting the boys were 'rude in the session' and she is 'not paid to deal with ongoing bulls***'. 'All I've done is discussed the frustration of dealing with childish, defensive boys and shared comments they left publicly on my account,' she wrote. 'I was paid to speak for 50 minutes. I was not paid to deal with ongoing bullshit and demands from small minded boys who cannot handle being shown that their world view is limited. 'Their good opinion and approval might be extremely important to you, but I'm not interested in making sure they feel comfortable about their place on the social hierarchy.' Ms Ford said on Instagram the boys had been 'rude' during her session with students A letter sent out by the school a week after Ms Ford's talk warned students against 'online behaviour that might amount to targeted harrassment' Previously, the 35-year-old has complained about trolling and 'hate' she receives on social media and through online forums. In one case in 2015, a man called her a 'sl**' and was sacked by his Sydney-based employer. Ms Ford was recently called out for signing a copy of her book with 'have you killed any men today? And if not, why not?'. Ms Ford has an army of close to 300,000 fans across social media. A letter was sent home to parents of students who were at the talk, noting Ms Ford had spoken to many Year 10 classes over multiple years, but the program may need to be reconsidered in future. The letter referenced 'the reactions of some students immediately after the talk, and some unfortunate behaviour that has occurred following Thursday's assembly', and warned students against 'any online behaviour that might amount to targeted harrassment'. A Florida city commission voted Wednesday to strip the names of Robert E. Lee and two other Confederate generals from the suburb's streets, the latest in a recent spate of skirmishes over whether those who led the Southern army should still be honored 152 years after the Civil War ended. The Hollywood City Commission voted five to one to remove the names of Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Bell Hood from residential streets that hopscotch through the Fort Lauderdale suburb. More than 200 supporters and opponents of the change packed the commission chamber and the adjoining lobby, with most of the approximately 100 speakers generally spirited but polite. Mayor Josh Levy, who voted for the change, said he hoped it would bring the community together by showing a 'spirit of companionship' that recognizes that many black residents were offended by these names. Scroll down for video Protesters march outside Hollywood, Florida, City Hall on Wednesday, demanding that the city strip the names of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Bell Hood from city streets 'These streets are symbols of men whose deeds symbolized oppression and bigotry against a whole group of people,' Levy said. Five of the commission's six white members voted for the change. The one Hispanic member, Peter Hernandez, walked out of the meeting before the vote in protest over procedure. Before he left, he said he opposed the change because he says the commission had not followed its rules and he thought there would be a push to change other street names. Hernandez, a Democrat, also said the change was 'a Democratic national agenda that is being pushed upon us.' The commission will vote to rename the streets at a later meeting. The members indicated they will likely rename Forrest Street for Frankie Mae Shivers, a black, female city police officer who was shot to death in 1982. The change was supported by the city's Chamber of Commerce and by more than half of the meeting's speakers. Chris Tedino, a member of the League of the South, protests Wednesday against a proposal to strip the names of Confederate Gens Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Bell Hood from city streets. Tedino was later arrested after assaulting another protester Benjamin Israel, a black resident who was one of the early leaders to change the street names, said the idea that residents would be 'inconvenienced' by the name changes was 'ridiculous.' 'Think of the inconvenience of the Civil War. Over 600,000 were killed. This will help make a better America,' Israel said. 'This is not a racial matter. Most of the people killed in the Civil War were white.' Opponents argued that stripping the names of Lee, Hood and Forrest will be erasing history. John Jacobs of the group 'Save Our Streets,' which opposed the change, said the commission trampled on residents' rights when the members waived a city ordinance that says affected property owners need to be polled before a street name can be changed, knowing there would be little support. He said change supporters 'waged a propaganda campaign by making outlandish and false accusations' against the generals. Lee, he said, didn't fight to support slavery but to uphold his home state of Virginia's right to secede. 'These were not treasonous men. They were 19th century men and shouldn't be judged by 21st century standards,' he said. Some opponents, meanwhile, suggested keeping the name of Lee Street by renaming it for Harper Lee, who wrote the classic Southern novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' A few hours before the meeting, protests briefly turned tense when a lone pro-Confederate protester charged at about 100 anti-Confederate demonstrators. Hollywood police quickly tackled Chris Tedino, 21, of Miami, throwing him and his Confederate flag to the ground before he was led away. The confrontation occurred outside Hollywood City Hall, hours before the commission meeting opened. Hollywood will join Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, and the Gulf coast town of Bradenton as Florida cities that have removed Confederate memorials. Those two cities removed statues. Tampa will remove a statue in the coming weeks. Tedino had been standing alone, holding a flag that was half-Confederate battle flag and half a black X on a white field. He was yelling at the other group, calling them 'traitors.' Several street names dating to the city's 1925 founding honor military officers both U.S. and Confederate. Others are named after U.S. Civil War Gen. George McLellan, Adm. David Farragut, who led the Union Navy during the Civil War, as well as World War I Gen. John J. Pershing. The debate over Confederate street names, statues and other symbols is being conducted in several communities around the U.S. The memorials have been under increased scrutiny since deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, who were protesting the planned removal of a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. A photo of the woman who was killed in Charlottesville sits in front of a vandalized Confederate memorial in Atlanta, Georgia In Kentucky, group of black lawmakers, pastors and advocacy groups called anew this week for the removal of a Jefferson Davis statue in that state's Capitol. That landmark building is home to five statues of famous Kentuckians, including former President Abraham Lincoln and Davis, the only president of the Confederacy. Many Confederate statues and memorials have been vandalized in the wake of Charlottesville. One woman was killed and 19 injured when an alleged white supremacist plowed his Dodge Challenger through crowds of protesters a few blocks from the Lee statue on August 12. Since then, protesters have defaced several other Confederate memorials in the South. A statue of Confederate officer John B. Castleman was splattered with orange paint in Lexington, Kentucky A Confederate monument in Gainesville, Florida, was removed on August 14 The first discovered was a statue honoring Confederate officer John B. Castleman in Lexington, Kentucky. It was discovered splattered with orange paint around 8am on August 13. That same morning, another Confederate memorial in Tampa, Florida, was discovered painted red as well. The vandals wrote 'f*** fascists' on one of the marble slabs set up to honor Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War. In Atlanta, Georgia, a statue commemorating the end of the Civil War was splattered with red paint. A bust commemorating Confederate lieutenant general Nathan Bedford Forrest in Nashville, Tennessee, was covered with a black sweatshirt, while hand-drawn signs were set up at the base, calling Forrest a 'slaver,' 'traitor' and 'klansman'. The United States military deployed helicopters and rescue crews to southeastern Texas on Wednesday for dramatic airborne rescues of flood victims who were plucked one by one and flown to safety. The dramatic images show U.S. servicemen extricate residents of flood-ravaged Beaumont, Texas from their washed-out neighborhoods. The U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 carried out its mission Wednesday, bringing people to safety. The Coast Guard was also involved in the airborne rescue. Two rescuers from U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 are lowered to a house after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded a neighborhood in Beaumont, Texas A woman is rescued from Tropical Storm Harvey flood waters by a U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 crew in Beaumont Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that 24,000 National Guard troops, including 10,000 from outside the state, were being deployed in Texas in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey, and that 33 counties were now covered under a federal disaster declaration. 'Weve added 14 counties,' Abbott told a news conference in Austin, Texas. 'By being included in this federal disaster declaration, individuals as well as local governments are going to be eligible for aid from FEMA,' he said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Coast Guard on Wednesday said the ports of Houston, Texas City, Galveston and Freeport have been reopened with restrictions on vessel traffic after they were closed due to storm Harvey. A woman and baby are rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded their neighborhood in Beaumont A handout photo made available by the US Coast Guard shows a helicopter crew pull another flood victim to safety Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that 24,000 National Guard troops, including 10,000 from outside the state, were being deployed in Texas in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey However, the section of the upper Houston ship channel from Morgan's Point inbound to the turning basin would remain closed until weather conditions improve, the Coast Guard said in a statement, adding that all vessel traffic is limited to daylight hours. The Houston Ship Channel links the busiest U.S. petrochemical port to the Gulf of Mexico. The restrictions would prevent vessels from moving to the upper ship channel, where five of the Houston-area oil refineries are located. Also, only the smallest draft tankers would be allowed to travel to Texas City, where three refineries are located, since the Coast Guard has imposed restrictions on the size of vessels that would be allowed to navigate the waterways. Tropical Storm Harvey further damaged the heart of the U.S. energy industry on Wednesday, churning into Louisiana after flooding the biggest U.S. refinery in Texas, forcing major pipelines to halt operations and threatening a supply squeeze for weeks. Ivanka Trump supports her fathers decision to undo an Obama administration directive that was designed to help eliminate the gender pay gap even though she has said it was one of her signature issues, it was reported on Wednesday. In January 2016, former President Barack Obama introduced a measure that required employers to compile data on how much they pay their workers as categorized by race, gender, and ethnicity. The White House said this week that it would discontinue the policy with the blessing of Ivanka Trump. Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results, Ivanka Trump said in a statement whose contents were reported by Newsweek. Ivanka Trump (seen Wednesday on the South Lawn of the White House) supports her fathers decision to undo an Obama administration directive designed to help eliminate the gender pay gap even though she has said it was one of her signature issues, it was reported on Wednesday Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results, Ivanka Trump said in a statement In January 2016, former President Barack Obama (seen above) introduced a measure that required employers to compile data on how much they pay their workers as categorized by race, gender, and ethnicity We look forward to continuing to work with [the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], [the Office of Management and Budget], Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap. Ivanka Trumps statement outraged womens advocacy groups. Equal pay experts worked hard on this rule, but somehow @IvankaTrump on her own decided this policy "would not yield the intended results, tweeted the National Womens Law Center. Unsurprisingly, @IvankaTrump & her dad would rather listen to billionaire corporations than those fighting for the rights of working people. The NWLC tweeted a Brady Bunch-style picture montage showing a group of high-profile public figures and celebrities credited with bringing attention to the issue of unequal pay. Ivanka Trumps statement outraged womens advocacy groups, like the National Women's Law Center, which produced a meme that pointedly excluded the president's daughter from a group of people is considers 'champions of equal pay' On April 4, Ivanka Trump tweeted: '#EqualPayDay is a reminder that women deserve equal pay for equal work. We must work to close the gender pay gap!' The NWLC cited the tweet in criticizing the president's daughter for supporting the White House policy to roll back Obama-era regulations 'Thank you for being champions of equal pay,' the meme reads, honoring those like Obama, Serena Williams, Beyonce, and Kerry Washington. But the meme pointedly includes a portrait shot of Ivanka Trump, with the words 'NOT YOU' superimposed on her photo. Earlier on Wednesday, Ivanka Trump tweeted a picture in which she is seen standing alongside her father and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The photo was taken in Missouri, where the president gave a speech about his proposals for tax reform. We must reform our tax code so that all Americans can succeed in our modern economy and achieve the American Dream! Ivanka Trump tweeted. In response, MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski tweeted: But no equal pay. Wow. How disappointing. Who represents women in [the White House]? We hoped it would be Ivanka. Sad. Comedian Chelsea Handler was even more ruthless. During Trumps speech in Missouri, he told Ivanka to stand up, and she did, the Netflix star tweeted. Congrats girl on finally standing up for something. Earlier on Wednesday, Ivanka Trump tweeted a picture in which she is seen standing alongside her father and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The photo was taken in Missouri, where the president gave a speech about his proposals for tax reform Ivanka Trump has been subjected to the wrath of her fathers liberal critics who say she has failed to stand up for principle even though she fashions herself as politically progressive. Although she has publicly stated in the past that she supports causes such as protecting LGBT rights and combating climate change, her father has pursued policies that are antithetical to those positions. In June, President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Earlier this week, the president moved ahead with his goal of banning transgender service people from the military. The EEOC adopted the requirements last year under Obama, saying the information was necessary to identify and address discriminatory wage gaps. In response, MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski tweeted: But no equal pay. Wow. How disappointing. Who represents women in [the White House]? We hoped it would be Ivanka. Sad Comedian Chelsea Handler was even more ruthless. During Trumps speech in Missouri, he told Ivanka to stand up, and she did, the Netflix star tweeted. Congrats girl on finally standing up for something But the White House Office of Management and Budget in a memo on Tuesday said the rule was burdensome to companies and could pose privacy and confidentiality issues. The rule would have required businesses to begin reporting the information in March 2018. Currently, employers must report about 130 different categories of wage data to the EEOC each year. Under the new rule, they would have been required to report more than 3,300 categories. It was the Trump administrations latest bid to undo Obama-era policies designed to help workers or unions. The administration has also moved to scrap rules extending mandatory overtime pay to millions of workers and expanding reporting requirements for companies when they respond to union campaigns. Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he delivered a speech on tax reform in Springfield, Missouri. In a string of messages posted to social media, the best-selling author lambasted the President for concentrating more on commonplace policy initiatives such as simplifying the tax code and lowering business taxes to 15 per cent instead of focusing on more populist objectives. 'WTF! Why is @realDonald Trump back to tax cuts?,' she asked incredulously. 'His election was NOT about tax cuts.' Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter on Wednesday lambasted the President in a series of tweets The tweet storm occurred following Donald Trump's speech in Missouri, which focused on tax reform Coulter accused the President of neglecting his Make America Great Again promises Coulter also said that Trump was favoring wealthy elites on 'Wall Street' at the expense of his voter base During last year's presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to build a southern border wall with Mexico and deport illegal immigrants from the country, which appealed to a huge swath of American voters. Those positions curried favor with more ideological factions of the Republican Party, as well, including Coulter, who wrote a book about the former casino magnate titled 'In Trump We Trust.' But on Wednesday, Coulter's admiration for the commander-in-chief took another hit, and she took her former 'Emperor God' to task for allegedly back tracking from his 'Make America Great Again' platform she claimed won him the 2016 election. 'It's like Night of the Living Dead watching our beloved @realDonaldTrump go to DC & start babbling the same old GOP nonsense on tax cuts,' Coulter posted to Twitter. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One across the South Lawn to the White House in Washington, Wednesday 'Tax cuts are a (second) term issue. 1st term: BUILD THE WALL, End DACA, Deport Illegals, No Refugees, No Muslims, Immigrn Moratorium. SAVE USA!,' she wrote in another message. This is not the first time Coulter has spoken out against the President. Earlier this month, Coulter rebuked Trump for not adhering to his campaign promises in an interview with the Daily Beast soon after chief political strategist Steve Bannon was ousted from the White house. 'The millions of people who haven't voted for 30 years and came out to vote for Trump, thinking, "Finally, here's somebody who cares about us" Nope!' Coulter said during the interview. Coulter has also repeatedly accused Trump of trying to appease wealthy elites in Washington, claiming that Trump has been swayed away from his vision for the country by 'Wall Street' priorities. 'Oh stop pretending this is about letting "families" keep more of their money. HALF OF AMERICANS DON'T PAY TAXES! This is for Wall Street,' Coulter tweeted Wednesday. Ian Fackender (right) , 47, was shot dead by police after threatening them with a samurai sword. His daughter Karra (left) said he was her 'hero' and 'knight in shining armour' The daughter of a man who was shot dead by police after threatening them with a samurai sword has described him as her 'knight in shining armour'. Ian Fackender, 47, died at his home in the Bathurst suburb of Kelso on Wednesday night after police were called in relation to his 'recent behaviour'. Police say their actions were justified, with the officers feeling threatened in a difficult situation. Mr Fackender, who is believed to have a history of mental health issues and was known to police, was the sole resident of the house. His daughter Karra said Mr Fackender was her 'hero' and beloved 'daddy'. 'My hero ... no matter what you were always there for me to pick me up even when you were feeling blue,' she wrote on Facebook on Thursday. She said her father had taught her how to be a better person. 'You'll always be in my heart.' Mr Fackender, who is believed to have a history of mental health issues and was known to police, was shot dead in his Bathurst home Heartbreaking: Daughter Karra posted an emotional tribute to her father after his death The dramatic aftermath of the shooting was broadcast over police radio. 'We've got a male down. He's been shot,' a female officer said. 'We need an ambulance here urgently,' another said. 'Patient is not breathing.' NSW Police Assistant Commissioner and Western Region Commander Geoff McKechnie said several officers were at the back door of the home attempting to speak with the man before multiple shots were fired. It's understood he was armed with a samurai sword. Mr McKechnie said the officers were 'confronted'. 'They obviously felt threatened to a significant degree ... they used a number of tactical options, ultimately resorting to the use of their firearms,' he told reporters in Bathurst on Thursday. It's unclear if Tasers or pepper spray were used by police before the man was shot. 'There were other tactical options deployed that probably weren't as effective as they possibly could have been,' Mr McKechnie said. Mr Fackender's brother Mark described the circumstances as 'unfortunate'. 'Love you always my bro, gone but never forgotten,' he wrote on Facebook. The dramatic aftermath of the shooting was broadcast over police radio Mr Fackender's brother Mark described the circumstances as 'unfortunate' A critical incident investigation led by the homicide squad was under way, Mr McKechnie said. He said some of the officers involved were doing better than others but also backed their actions. 'It's one of those situations that police sadly sometimes find themselves in,' he said. 'From what I've seen thus far, I believe their actions in many ways are commendable as well as what I would say justified.' The Police Association of NSW declined to comment, citing the critical incident investigation. It's the third fatal shooting by NSW police in six weeks. On August 6, officers shot a knife-wielding man at Grafton in northern NSW. On July 26, officers shot dead 30-year-old Danukul Mokmool at Central Station in Sydney after he lunged at them with scissors. Critical incident investigations are being held into each shooting. Several officers were at the back door of the home attempting to speak with Mr Fackender (pictured) before multiple shots were fired It has been revealed that Ridsdale could have abused up to 1000 victims Judge sentenced him to another three years in jail, until at least April 2022 He has been in jail since 1994, serving an effective total sentence of 28 years Australia's worst paedophile priest abused at least 65 children over 30 years Paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale will likely die in prison with another three years added to his sentence Australia's worst paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale will likely die in prison with another three years added to his sentence. The 83-year-old will spend a total of almost 33 years in jail in total for his unprecedented child sex crimes over three decades. The former Catholic priest was on Thursday sentenced to 11 years jail for abusing another dozen children during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. They included a 10-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted on a church altar after her own father undressed her for him, a court was told. However, much of the new sentence will be served concurrently with his exiting 28-year prison term, adding only another three years because he is eligible for parole. The latest dozen convictions bring his total to 161 abuses against 65 children, 60 boys and five girls, but the full number may never be known. Victims' advocacy group Broken Rites Ridsdale has previously said the devious predator could have abused as many as 1000 children. Victorian County Court Judge Irene Lawson said Ridsdale abused his position of trust and exploited young and vulnerable victims for his own sexual gratification. 'Your actions were violent and abusive. You abused your position of power and trust over each of your complainants,' she said. 'You knew at all times what you were doing was wrong. You knew no boundaries, on occasion offending in your church, in the confessional and in various presbyteries.' The earliest he can be released is April 2022, and as he is in poor health after being first jailed in 1994 he will likely die before then. Ridsdale spent three decades sexually abusing vulnerable children in unprecedented offending which 'demands an unprecedented sentence', a prosecutor argued earlier this month. Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams recounted that in one particularly henious example in 1974 a 10-year-old girl was woken up by her father, while Ridsdale waited in the hallway, and driven with the priest to the church. '(The girl's) father carried her to the confessional booth and took her clothes off her then carried her to the altar and lay her down,' he told the court. The court was told that Ridsdale then indecently assaulted her before saying: 'Jesus died for our sins so we could be forgiven and if I confess to this sin I might be forgiven.' 'Then he kissed her on the cheek,' Mr McWilliams told the court. Ridsdale told another of his victims that 'it's our little secret', Mr McWilliams said. 'Ridsdale told him: 'Don't tell your mum and dad or your dad could die'.' The 83-year-old will spend a total of almost 33 years in jail in total for his unprecedented child sex crimes over three decades Judge Lawson agreed Ridsdale's case was the worst example of child sexual abuse ever dealt with in Victoria. His crimes took place over such a long period of time, involved so many people and destroyed so many lives that the interests of justice demand a sentence that could properly be called unprecedented, crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said. 'It is hard to imagine a man who has had a more devastating effect on those who have had the misfortune of coming into contact with him,' he told the Victorian County Court in the trial. 'He has preyed upon the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, seeking out victims for whom their families are already in trauma and tragedy, and using that trauma and tragedy to advance his own criminal pursuits of gratification among children. 'It must be among the worst offending these courts have had the misfortune to deal with. 'Unprecedented offending demands an unprecedented sentence.' Ridsdale was jailed on paedophile charges in 1994 for molesting children between 1967 - 1987 Ridsdale used his position as a parish priest to befriend the children and their devout Catholic families in parishes in western Victoria, telling some of his victims 'it's our little secret' and one that 'it's part of God's work'. The former Catholic priest has been in jail since 1994, serving an effective total sentence of 28 years with a 25-year non-parole period for similar offences. Defence counsel Tim Marsh agreed the offending was unprecedented but asked Judge Irene Lawson not to add to Ridsdale's current sentence or earliest possible parole date of April 2019. Mr Marsh said Ridsdale was now an old man and as the sentencing purpose of protecting the community has been achieved, the judge could and should go no further. 'At some point the court will need to say this man has served enough time in prison,' he said. This shocking photograph shows Gerard Ridsdale (right) with his 14-year-old victim Paul Levey 'In my submission, that time is now.' Mr Marsh said Ridsdale was already subject to a crushing sentence, although Judge Lawson questioned why the fresh charges did not also justify such a sentence. 'We are dealing with the worst possible scenario of this sort of offending over decades,' Judge Lawson said. The court heard there was no comparable case and Ridsdale has effectively become his own sentencing tariff, through his previous three County Court sentences. 'His own history informs the sentencing process,' Mr Marsh said. FARGO -- After 10 days of misery, Ashton Matheny finally got to feel a little joy this week. Matheny, boyfriend of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, the pregnant Fargo woman who disappeared and whose body was found eight days later in the Red River, finally got to see the baby girl that everyone assumes is theirs. The baby is being held in protective custody by Cass County Social Services until DNA results can confirm that they are the parents. Matheny got to visit her for 90 minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Savannas parents, Norberta and Joe Greywind, got to the see the baby for the first time on Wednesday, Aug. 30. It was the best feeling Ive ever had, Matheny said. I wish Savanna could have been there to enjoy it with me. After all these dark days, she lit my day right up. Matheny and LaFontaine-Greywind named the child Haisley Jo. She was expected on Sept. 20. LaFontaine-Greywind was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Saturday, Aug. 19, after going upstairs in her north Fargo apartment building to help a neighbor who asked her to model a dress the neighbor was sewing. She never returned. The following Thursday, Aug. 24, police entered the upstairs apartment by force and found a healthy newborn baby girl in the possession of the same upstairs neighbor, Brooke Lynn Crews. Crews and her live-in boyfriend, William Hoehn, were arrested and have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and providing false information. The suspects told police that the child belonged to LaFontaine-Greywind, but custody cannot be awarded until DNA results are received. Police have not released any information on whether the baby was born naturally, induced early, or taken from the mother violently. Remarkably, the baby has experienced no significant health problems, according to Matheny, despite the circumstances of its birth and the fact that it was born four weeks early. Shes my miracle baby, Matheny said. She was perfect coming in. Matheny, 21, got to hold the baby and take photos, though hes not yet willing to share those with the world. A social worker supervised the visit. Hes hoping to be able to visit her again soon. He brought the baby a rosary and a star quilt. Her grandfather, Joe Greywind, brought balloons. It was pretty overwhelming, Matheny said. Shes Savanna all the way Matheny and LaFontaine-Greywind, both members of the Spirit Lake tribe, met in 2011 at Devils Lake High School. They started dating two months later and had been together ever since. LaFontaine-Greywind had long, straight brown hair, big green eyes and freckles. Matheny looked at baby pictures of her before going to the hospital on Wednesday and said the baby looks exactly like her, particularly how she looked as an infant. Shes beautiful, said Matheny. Shes Savanna all the way. LaFontaine-Greywind, 22, lived in an apartment on Ninth Street North with her mother, father and siblings. She worked as a certified nursing assistant at Eventide Fargo, a senior citizens residence. She had moved to Fargo in January 2016 for her job. Matheny had been living in Minneapolis, working construction, when she became pregnant, but quit his job and moved back to North Dakota as the babys due date approached. They had rented an apartment together across McKinley Park from the building where the Greywind family lives and were scheduled to move in Sept. 1. He was looking for work in Fargo. Once custody is awarded, however, Matheny now plans to move back to the Spirit Lake Reservation with his daughter. He had been living there temporarily with his father, and doing construction on his dads house to earn money for the baby. Now he wants to return to the reservation permanently. Hes found a place to live and will look for a job once he returns. Hes now staying in a hotel in Fargo with his father, awaiting the DNA results and custody decision. He hasnt been told when to expect the test results or how long it will take for custody to be awarded. All Im doing now is playing the waiting game, he said. We have to go through the courts, the whole legal system. I wish I could have brought her home already. But they have guidelines to follow. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy officer Robert French (pictured here) was shot dead and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy officer has been shot dead and two California Highway Patrol officers injured in a shooting in California. The shooting took place Wednesday at a Sacramento hotel, which authorities believe to be the headquarters of a car theft ring. 52-year-old Robert French died around 12pm PST after being shot at a Ramada Inn. He passed away on the way to the hospital from a gunshot wound to his side, Sheriff Scott Jones revealed. The two wounded police officers, who were also on the job, were expected to survive. The currently unidentified gunman was wounded during a short car chase and was arrested, authorities have revealed. Jones described the scene: 'It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events,' according to the Chicago Tribune. Two women were also believed to be involved, who led the police on the chase, authorities say. This resulted in a 20-mile car chase. The chase occurred after cops spotted a gray Dodge Charger they thought had been stolen. A suspect believed to be involved in the shooting of law enforcement officers is taken from the scene Law enforcement officers in tactical gear arrive at the scene were suspects believed to be involved in the shooting of three law enforcement officers Guests of the hotel where three law enforcement officers were shot, board a bus to be transported from the scene on Wednesday Police say they discovered that one of the women had a room at the hotel, so the officers returned and knocked on the door of the room to investigate further. The man inside then opened fire and escaped through the back, which is when he shot French. The unidentified gunman managed to flee in a vehicle, as authorities say the gun he used held a high-capacity magazine, which is now illegal to purchase in California. Jeff Marshall, a man who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then saw a gray Dodge Charger speed by his home, going in the opposite direction down a packed street. California Highway Patrol officers look for suspects in the trunk of a car Students leave El Camino Fundamental High School after it was placed in a precautionary shelter-in-place Marshall believed he heard 12 shots, adding: 'It was like the wild West.' Among his colleagues, French was regarded as a 'well-known, well-respected' 21-year veteran of the department, who leaves behind his children, grandchildren and his girlfriend. Jones said: 'Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career.' The suspected gunman was shot by authorities, whilst the two women who were also involved in the tragedy are now in custody. A Chinese tourist accused of carrying out a cosmetic procedure that left a woman in a critical condition in hospital had been in the country less than a week and had a ticket to fly out today. Jie Shao, 33, appeared in Central Local Court charged with recklessly inflicting bodily harm and using a poison so as to endanger life. Each offence carries a penalty of 10 years in prison. The court heard Shao had admitted administering an anaesthetic despite not being a licensed medical practitioner in Australia. 'It is clear that she was working at a cosmetic surgery where these sort of treatments were carried out,' the police prosecutor said. Shao has been refused bail by the magistrate. Jie Shao (pictured) appeared in Central Local Court charged with recklessly inflicting bodily harm and using a poison so as to endanger life The court heard Shao had admitted administering an anaesthetic despite not being a licensed medical practitioner in Australia A 35-year-old woman was in cardiac arrest and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition when paramedics arrived at the beauty clinic Paramedics rushed to the Medi Beauty Group in Chippendale at 3.30pm on Wednesday following reports of a medical episode. A 35-year-old woman was in cardiac arrest and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition, a NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. Shao showed no emotion as she appeared via video link from Surry Hills police station. Police had fears would continue to practise such cosmetic procedures if granted bail. She is accused of administering the intoxicationg substances tramadol, an opiod pain medication, and lidocaine, a local anaesthetic, between 1.30pm and 3.30pm on Wednesday. Shao is accused of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm between 2pm and 3.30pm. She was arrested at 7.01pm. The skincare clinic, which only opened recently in the Central Park Mall, specialises in laser and contour treatment and 'injectable forms of beauty therapy' The tourist had been in Australia only four or five days, had been staying at a Mercure Hotel and was booked on a flight home to China today. It was unclear when that flight was booked, the court heard. In refusing bail, magistrate Sharon Freund said Shao had made admissions related to the administration of local anaesthetic and breast fillers. Ms Freund had also considered that Shao was not licensed to practise medicine in NSW or Australia. 'In my view it is a very strong prosecution case,' she said. 'And in the event that she is convicted of these offences I am of the view that she will serve a custodial sentence. 'As Ms Shao is only here on a tourist visa she is clearly a flight risk and also I agree there is a risk of her endangering the community if released on bail.' There was also a risk Shao would interfere with witnesses' evidence if granted bail, Ms Freund said. Clinic offers non-surgical facelifts, skin tightening, hair removal, fat freezing, 'anti-wrinkle injections', and a 'hyaluronic acid facial' (woman pictured has not been charged) The prosecutor said Shao's alleged victim was still in a critical condition and had not regained consciousness. 'If she does not survive, there will be more serious charges laid,' he said. There was also a risk Shao would interfere with witnesses' evidence if granted bail, Ms Freund said. Shao had spoken briefly with her husband in China after her arrest. The prosecutor said Shao was an unacceptable flight risk and an endangerment to the community. The case against her was 'strong'. Ms Underwood said her client had two passports, one of which was in her handbag at the clinic, the other at the Mercure Hotel. The matter was adjourned until September 5. Campaigners against gay marriage have had beer bottles and eggs pelted at their office. The Australian Christian Lobby's Canberra headquarters was vandalised, while posters were sent to them likening traditional marriage supporters to Adolf Hitler, along with other suspicious packages. The vile campaign against them escalated in early August when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced ballots would be sent to voters, in coming weeks, to canvass their views on redefining marriage. The Australian Christian Lobby was sent a poster of Adolf Hitler likening them to Nazis The campaigners against gay marriage have been sent powder and glitter in their mailbox Lyle Shelton, the ACL boss who is also the spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage, fears religious freedom is at stake in light of the harassment they have faced. 'This is an intolerant group of people who will not tolerate any version of marriage that doesn't accord with their own,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday. 'The harassment goes on and on and on. They smash beer bottles, they send white powder to your office. They make death threats. 'We've had eggs thrown at our office. Regularly, we're called bigots and homophobes, that's just par for the course. 'If this is what they'll do before the law changes, God help us if they have the law behind them.' Beer bottles have been thrown at the Canberra headquarters of the Australian Christian Lobby The head of the 'no' case for changing the Marriage Act fears parents will lose the right to oppose radical gender theory in schools. The committed Christian also fears workers face being hauled before state anti-discrimination commissions for voicing support for heterosexual marriage if same-sex couples are allowed to tie the knot. This could see employees sacked for expressing a traditional belief at work, he says. 'State-based anti-discrimination laws will be weaponised and become hate speech just to simply say out loud marriage is between a man and a woman,' he said. 'We've seen this overseas - they'll lose their jobs.' Australian Christian Lobby boss Lyle Shelton is spearheading the Coalition for Marriage campaign to preserve heterosexual marriage Lyle Shelton fears workers being sacked for speaking in favour of heterosexual marriage Mr Shelton also fears the right of parents to oppose their children being taught the Safe Schools program's radical gender theories on homosexuality. 'Our principal concerns are, of course freedoms, and what children will be taught at school through radical LGBTIQ programs,' he said. 'We'll lose our ability to say no to these things.' He also fears commercial surrogacy being legalised in Australia so homosexual male couples can have children. 'We do have a prohibition on commercial surrogacy in this country and I can't see that being able to be sustained should the Marriage Act change,' he said. Campaigners against gay marriage fear parents will lose the right to oppose Safe Schools The 'No' case at a glance The Coalition for Marriage is opposing gay marriage on religious and free speech grounds. Lyle Shelton says redefining marriage will lead to: - Workers losing their jobs for voicing support for heterosexual marriage - Parents losing the ability to oppose the Safe Schools program being taught to their children - The legalisation of commercial surrogacy to appease gay male couples - The acceptance of polygamy - Religious schools losing the ability to promote heterosexual relationships Advertisement Mr Shelton is also voicing a fear about gay marriage being a slippery slope towards polygamy, a month after Colombia allowed three men in a relationship to get married. He also has little faith in homosexual Liberal senator Dean Smith's private member's bill for gay marriage, which has a provision to protect churches and religious groups from anti-discrimination laws if they decline to conduct a gay wedding. 'It has the most narrow so-called protections you can imagine for a handful of professional religious clergy,' he said. 'It doesn't protect the freedom of speech or the religion rights of millions of other Australians, and not to mention Christian or Muslim schools who want to teach about this without being called bigots.' This proposal to protection religious freedom could still see religion-based schools prosecuted for teaching in favour of heterosexual relationships, Mr Shelton added. 'This creates a massive vulnerability for millions of Australians and for many Christian and Muslim and Jewish schools,' he said. Lyle Shelton says radical gender theories promoting homosexuality will become compulsory at school The Australian Christian Lobby's Canberra headquarters have been pelted with eggs Mr Shelton regards sex outside of a heterosexual marriage to be a sin. 'Anyone who is involved in sexual activity outside of man-woman marriage is living in sin, that's the Christian view of marriage,' he said. He also believes same-sex attracted people can marry someone of the opposite gender, but argues his opposition to defining marriage isn't about homosexuality. 'There's many examples of people who overcome their same-sex attraction,' he said. 'It's not about homosexuality. It's about a voluntary sexual morality code churches have adhered to for 2,000 years and you'll find that Muslims have a moral code that's not too dissimilar.' A primary school installed a secret camera in a kindergarten classroom without telling parents or police who were only notified when a casual teacher stumbled across it sitting on a desk. Ashtonfield Public School at Maitland in New South Wales Hunter Valley used a camera to record a kindergarten classroom without notifying parents of the young children, aged between five and six years old. Parents with grave concerns have approached their local MP Jenny Aitchison, and she is so troubled by the camera confusion that she has asked for a please explain from NSW Minister for Education Rob Stokes. Ms Aitchison said parents told her there were two cameras in the classroom, 'one was disguised as a gaming camera and the other as an alarm clock'. Ashtonfield Public School in New South Wales set up a secret camera in a kindergarten class When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, a NSW Department of Education spokesman said the school put one camera in the classroom in response to a police matter but a NSW police spokesman said they only became involved once the camera was found. Police said Central Hunter officers are investigating a series of incidents which happened at the school stretching back to November last year. These incidents all relate to the harassment and intimidation of a staff member at the school. School principal Deb Healey sent this letter to parents on Tuesday saying there was no danger to students or teachers In response to being asked about the correct timeline, the Department of Education spokesman said he had no reason to dispute the polices record of events. He refused to answer why the school didnt alert the police or parents before putting the camera in the classroom, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation. The spokesman said the camera was 'put in plain sight' in the classroom, and the matter being investigated 'does not involve nor put any students at risk'. Police said they are not investigating why the camera was placed in the classroom. In a letter to the Minister, Ms Aitchison implored Mr Stokes to get to the bottom of what has happened. This situation is not good for the morale of anyone in our school community. The longer it takes to resolve the situation, the more uncertainty, stress and anxiety it causes for all concerned. It is clear that neither the schools nor the Departments current processes for addressing this issue have resolved any of the issues, and have, in fact created more questions than they have answered. Parents said two cameras were in the classroom disguised as other things (stock image) 'The school community is rightly asking for a clear answer in relation to this situation. Given there have been a number of conflicting explanations from the Department and the school regarding who placed the camera or cameras, who authorised them, what their purpose was, and whether an investigation is still being undertaken, I would prefer any answers to be in writing. In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday and obtained by Daily Mail Australia, school principal Deb Healey said a casual teacher found the camera in the classroom and notified other staff. The camera was then removed. Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison was contacted by parents with grave concerns about the camera In the letter, Ms Healey said cameras were placed in one classroom to assist with identifying a perpetrator of repeated acts of vandalism and victimisation at the school. These acts were occurring when students and the class teacher were not in the classroom. The classroom in question was KS [kindergarten]. There is no danger to any students or teachers at the school. I am unable to comment any further due to ongoing investigations. At least 18 people have been killed after a building collapsed in Mumbai following heavy rains that have wreaked havoc in many parts of South Asia. A dozen others were pulled from the rubble of the four-storey residential building, which gave way around 8.40am in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar. It was the most recent deadly housing collapse to strike the teeming metropolis - shining a spotlight on poor construction standards in the Asian country - and came after flooding in the city killed 10 people. At least 18 people are dead and more are feared trapped after a building collapsed in Mumbai amid floods in the city Rescuers were seen pulling bodies from the collapsed building this morning. Families in the building were living above a sweet shop warehouse Rescuers used diggers as they desperately searched through the remains of the four-storey residential building which gave way around 8.40am A spokesman for the Mumbai civic authority's disaster control team said earlier that three bodies had been pulled from the rubble. But that figure was later increased to 18, while rescuers estimated more than 16 had been injured and taken to hospital 'Eighteen people have died. Another 12 have been admitted to hospital,' Vijay Khabale-Patil, a spokesman for Mumbai's civic authority, told AFP. Officials estimated that up to 40 people could have been caught up in the disaster. Khabale-Patil said rescue operations would go on into the evening. Ambulances rushed the injured to the nearby J.J. Hospital in the south of the city while locals joined a 43-member National Disaster Response Force team in picking through piles of debris in a desperate hunt for survivors. Building collapses are common in Mumbai, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September, when heavy rains lash the western Indian city, weakening poorly built structures. Severe downpours caused flooding and chaos across Mumbai and the neighbouring region of Thane on Tuesday although waters had receded by late Wednesday. Some 13 people have been pulled to safety after the collapse this morning, it has emerged The building housed a sweet shop warehouse on the ground floor and most families living on the higher floors were in their houses as the collapse happened early in the morning, officials said A large team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also involved in the rescue operations Bhendi Bazaar, a scruffy colonial-era market, is one of Mumbai's most historic districts and officials said the collapsed building was 117 years old. It had been marked for demolition as part of a $600 million redevelopment project that is replacing hundreds of ramshackle, decades-old low-rise buildings with around a dozen glitzy new tower blocks. -Distraught residents said they rushed to the scene of the collapsed structure after hearing a loud crash. 'There was a huge noise and we all came running,' Naseem Mogradia, who lives two lanes away, told AFP. Shahid Khan, 52, said he didn't know whether his friend and seven family members who lived on the ground floor were alive or dead. 'I am just trying to help with rescue operations,' he told AFP. Mumbai has been hit by several deadly building collapses in recent years, often caused by shoddy construction, poor quality materials or ageing buildings. Millions are forced to live in cramped, ramshackle properties because of spiralling real estate prices and a lack of housing for the poor. A police official told Reuters nine families were living in the old building, in the Dongri neighbourhood, an area of narrow streets with closely packed buildings, some nearly a century old The collapse, in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar, comes after days of heavy rain swamped India's financial capital It was the latest deadly housing collapse to strike the teeming metropolis - shining a spotlight on poor construction standards in the Asian country - and came after heavy rains and inundations in the city killed 10 people Emergency: Eight or nine families were thought to have been living in the collapsed building The collapse comes after days of heavy rains and severe flooding in Mumbai that have killed 10 people Activists say housing societies, private owners and builders often cut corners to save on costs. Rent control acts mean landlords cannot afford to maintain buildings while poor people choose to remain in homes even after they have been declared unsafe because they have nowhere else to go. 'Most of the buildings in Bhendi Bazaar are old and dilapidated. We always live in fear that they will collapse during monsoons,' 63-year-old Mohammed Shaikh told AFP. In July, 17 people including a three-month-old baby died when a four-storey building gave way in the northern suburb of Ghatkopar. In 2013, 60 people were killed when a residential block came crashing down in one of Mumbai's worst housing disasters. On Thursday officials in Mumbai said the death toll from floods in and around the city were expected to rise above 10 as the waters receded. 'We are still on the lookout for more missing persons and the number may go up,' Santosh Kadam, spokesman for disaster control in Thane, told AFP. More than 1,200 have been killed India, Nepal and Bangladesh in devastating floods this monsoon season. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, special counsel on the Russian investigation, leaves following a meeting with members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee A grand jury used by Special Counsel Robert Mueller has heard secret testimony from a Russian-American lobbyist who attended a June 2016 meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son, The Associated Press has learned. A person familiar with the matter confirmed to the AP that Rinat Akhmetshin had appeared before Mueller's grand jury in recent weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret proceedings. The revelation is the clearest indication yet that Mueller and his team of investigators view the meeting, which came weeks after Trump had secured the Republican presidential nomination, as a relevant inquiry point in their broader probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Donald Trump Jr. speaks at a rally for Republican Greg Gianforte as he campaigns for the Montana House of Representatives The meeting included Donald Trump Jr.; the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Emails released by Trump Jr. show he took the meeting expecting that he would be receiving damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid the Trump campaign. Politico also reported on Wednesday that Mueller is in contact with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in relation to Manfort and his financial transactions. The two are reportedly in frequent contact with one another and have shared evidence in their respective investigations concerning Manafort's alleged entanglements with financial crimes, including potential money laundering. Questions about Manafort's work with pro-Russian parties in Ukraine has raised eyebrows in Washington, but has yet to lead to formal charges against Trump's former campaign chairmen. Paul Manafort, former adviser to Donald Trump, is seen on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016 U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner Manafort denies any wrongdoing. Reached by the AP, Akhmetshin declined comment. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, also declined comment Wednesday night. The Financial Times first reported Akhmetshin's grand jury appearance. The confirmation of Akhmetshin's grand jury testimony comes after he spoke at length about his involvement in the Trump Tower meeting in an interview with the AP last month. Akhmetshin, a former Soviet military officer who served in a counterintelligence unit, is also a well-known Washington lobbyist. Rinat Akhmetshin (left) gave secret testimony to a grand jury over recent weeks He has been representing Russian interests trying to undermine the story of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison and is the namesake of a US sanctions law. Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence but he has denied that, calling the allegations a 'smear campaign.' Mueller and his team first signaled their interest in the Trump Tower gathering last month by contacting an attorney for at least some of the Russians who attended. The meeting at issue was disclosed earlier this year to Congress and first revealed by The New York Times. The cover of the latest edition of satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo depicts Texans who drowned in the flood waters of Tropical Storm Harvey as Nazis, it was reported on Wednesday. God Exists! He Drowned All the Neo-Nazis of Texas, the controversial weekly magazine writes for its cover story. The cartoon on the front page shows a torrential downpour drowning a group of people carrying flags with the Nazi swastikas. Some of the victims on the cover are under water as they do the Nazi salute with their arms outstretched at a 45-degree angle. The satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdos latest edition includes a cover depicting Texans who drowned in the flood waters of Tropical Storm Harvey as Nazis. God Exists! He Drowned All the Neo-Nazis of Texas, the controversial weekly magazine writes for its cover story A man points with his walking stick in the Tropical Storm Harvey floodwaters in north western Houston on Wednesday Presumably, the magazine intended to emphasize the fact that Texas voted for Donald Trump in the recent election. Trump, of course, came under fire for not unequivocally denouncing neo-Nazis and white nationalists at a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. Yet the floods caused by Tropical Storm Harvey have decimated Houston, a city with a Democratic mayor which voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. The surrounding areas of Harris County, which also voted in favor of Clinton, have also been hard-hit by the catastrophic flooding. Charlie Hebdo is a publication that goes out of its way to provoke angry reaction from its targets. Fiercely secular and left-wing, it has published scathing cartoons poking fun at religion, though its cartoons lampooning Muslims gained the most attention In June, Charlie Hebdo ran a cover depicting a decapitated British Prime Minister Theresa May in the wake of the suicide bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Charlie Hebdo is a publication that goes out of its way to provoke angry reaction from its targets. Fiercely secular and left-wing, it has published scathing cartoons poking fun at religion. The cartoons that have catapulted Charlie Hebdo into international headlines were those satirizing Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. Those cartoons sparked outrage in the Islamic world, with some calling for the deaths of Charlie Hebdo editors. In January 2015, two gunmen who claimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda killed 12 people including many of its star cartoonists in an attack on its offices in Paris. Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of France afterwards, rallying behind the slogan 'Je Suis Charlie' ('I am Charlie') in defense of the right to free speech. In January 2015, two gunmen - Cherif Kouachi (left) and Said Kouachi (right) - who claimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda killed 12 people including many of its star cartoonists in an attack on its offices in Paris Last week, Charlie Hebdo generated controversy once again for publishing a provocative front-page cartoon about Islam and the recent terror attacks in Spain. The previous edition of the magazine, which was targeted by Islamist gunmen in 2015 for a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, shows two people lying in a pool of blood having been run over by a van next to the words 'Islam, eternal religion of peace'. A dozen terrorists of Moroccan origin are believed to have plotted last week's attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, where 15 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a van and car were driven into crowds. The attackers are thought by investigators to have been radicalized by an extremist Islamic preacher who died in a house where the group was trying to produce explosives. As the cartoon became one of the top trending topics on Twitter in France, prominent Socialist MP and former minister Stephane Le Foll called it 'extremely dangerous'. In June, Charlie Hebdo ran a cover depicting a decapitated British Prime Minister Theresa May. The satirical weekly also features cartoons of terrified Brits fleeing a terror attack near Big Ben, alongside the caption: 'Slimming tips from ISIS - run fast.' Another cartoon, seemingly an homage to its notorious cover of the Prophet Mohammed, shows a British man saying: 'At least one never caricatured the prophet.' That edition was written just after the deadly suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester which left 22 dead and scores wounded. Boxer Amir Khan is set to halve his 25million fortune in a costly divorce from his model wife Faryal Makhdoom Boxer Amir Khan is set to halve his 25million fortune in a costly divorce from his model wife Faryal Makhdoom. The couple have suffered a public marriage collapse over recent months, with both parties accusing each other cheating on social media. But the marital woe is set to continue for Khan, 30, with an estimated 12million divorce bill. The former world champion is also likely to lose custody of his daughter Lamaisah and his unborn child with pregnant Makhdoom, 26. This will result in Khan forking out thousands in child support payments each month. The Olympic silver medalist has ploughed his substantial earnings into a string businesses during his career, some of which are looked after by his father. However, legal experts believe that he is in for a tough financial year. A solicitor told the Daily Star: 'The starting point will be a 50:50 division of all assets. Faryal will do very well. 'He will be told to break-up any firms and sell any investments to make sure he can pay the money into court.' Reports of Khan's impending split, comes just a week after he and his wife were rumoured to have turned to an Islamic sharia law expert in a last-ditch attempt to save their troubled marriage The former world champion is likely to lose custody of his daughter Lamaisah (right) and his unborn child with pregnant Makhdoom, 26 Pir Shaami posted a picture of him and the Bolton fighter with a caption saying Khan had invited him to his house for a Special Dawat (dinner) and to 'make dua for the forgiveness of his shortcomings'. In Islam 'making dua' means asking Allah for forgiveness by carrying out a set of specific steps. The spiritual leader said Khan had 'made a firm intention to abide by the laws of Islam.' A new law banning legal highs in the UK appears to be in crisis already after two major cases collapsed when judges agreed 'hippy crack' is not illegal. Hundreds have been arrested and 50 dealers prosecuted and even jailed under the Psychoactive Substances Act since it came into force in May 2016. Sellers of 'hippy crack' for recreational use were warned they faced up to seven years in prison under a Government crackdown on legal highs. Kenan Buckley (left, pictured today) and Ryan Egan (right) were both charged with possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply at Glastonbury - but their defence QCs successfully argued that the laughing gas cannot be counted as a 'psychoactive substance' But now two trials involving the supply of 'hippy crack' at music festivals have ended abruptly after it was argued the drug is exempt from new legislation. Even the Crown Prosecution Service's own top witness admitted that nitrous oxide is exempt under the act's 'current wording', which could lead to cases being axed, convictions quashed and people released from jail, experts have said. Ryan Egan and Kenan Buckley, who are in their twenties, were both arrested after carrying nitrous oxide into Glastonbury last year and charged with one count each of possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply. But their defence QCs said that the laughing gas cannot be counted as a 'psychoactive substance' and Judge Paul Garlick greed and threw out the cases at the hearing at Taunton Crown Court. A new law banning legal highs in the UK could be in crisis already after two major cases collapsed when judges agreed 'hippy crack' isn't illegal Even the Crown Prosecution Service's own expert witness admitted that nitrous oxide - usually inhaled with a balloon (pictured at Glastonbury) is exempt under the act's 'current wording' Southwark Crown Court where a defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was accused of intending to supply nitrous oxide at a music festival in Derbyshire also collapsed. In July last year William Cook, 29, became one of the first people in Britain convicted and jailed under the new law - but campaign groups say all cases should now be reviewed Prosecutor Adrian Fleming admitted expert witness Professor Philip Cowen has 'the firm view that nitrous oxide, as the legislation is currently worded, is an exempt substance'. Mr Fleming also said the CPS had told him the situation demanded 'a full review of the legislation and that will be carried out'. Drug charity Release says the cases prove the new law is 'fundamentally flawed' and has called for all cases to be reviewed. Kirstie Douse, head of legal services, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It's something that we've warned about and this is now wasted resources. 'These are two defendants who've had the confidence to challenge the law. But there's plenty of people who've gone before that I think around 50 people have been prosecuted for supplying nitrous oxide. 'We think that those previous prosecutions and convictions need to be reviewed as well. 'I don't know the reasons why those previous people were convicted they may have pleaded guilty for fear of getting a custodial sentence; there may have been some kind of bargaining going on there. Some substances including caffeine, alcohol, prescribed medicines, tobacco and chocolate are exempt from the ban and lawyers say nitrous oxide's medical use means that it should be on the list 'I would certainly urge anyone who has been affected by specifically the nitrous oxide part of the legislation and other parts to contact their solicitors for further legal advice.' Broad-brush legal high law may not be specific enough to outlaw laughing gas Nitrous oxide's use in medicine (pictured in an ambulance) has put a new law drawn up to outlaw its recreational use in peril The Psychoactive Substances Act came in last year and hundreds have been arrested since it came into force in May 2016. The Psychoactive Substances Act banned any substance that can affect a person's mental functioning or emotional state by stimulating or depressing their central nervous system. Some substances including caffeine, alcohol, prescribed medicines, tobacco and chocolate are exempt from the ban. The two key tests for prosecutors is whether it has 'psychoactive' effect and secondly if it exempted for medical reasons. Barrister Ramya Nagesh told Metro.co.uk that nitrous oxide should be one of the exempted substances. She said: 'The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 says that for a substance to be a 'psychoactive substance' it has to not only have a psychoactive effect but also that it can't fall into one of the exempted categories that the Act sets out. 'There are a number of these categories, and they include food, alcohol and caffeine. 'One of these categories is medicine, because of course some medicines may have a pyschoactive effect but also are legitimately used to help people. 'The argument was that nitrous oxide falls into this category because it can be used for various medical purposes, and so, the argument went, it is exempt from the criminal offences set out in the Act.' Advertisement Former deputy drugs tsar Mike Trace told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'If legal challenge succeeds against a carefully drafted act, then that's going to put the cat amongst the pigeons somewhat. 'Some of this was foreseen. When the act was passed last year, Release and many other charities were saying there were certain definitions in the act that would be open to challenge this is just one of them. 'To my knowledge this is the first successful challenge, but there may be more problems to come. 'The Government over the last couple of years were right to try and think how they can get around this conundrum of trying to pass a law for each individual drug, or a schedule, so trying to make much broader definitions. 'But it was obvious that if you come to those much broader definitions and say everything is controlled or prohibited, then there are going to be some very difficult definitional issues. 'For drugs to be included under this act, the law has to prove they have a psychoactive effect on humans. And for the vast majority of drugs circulating out there, there's no research to show that, so there are going to be some challenges.' In July last year, William Cook, 29, became one of the first people in Britain convicted under the new law. He was jailed for 42 months after admitting possessing nitrous oxide with intent to supply at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Milton Keynes. And just eight days ago a geography student became one of the first people to be sentenced under new laws for peddling bag full of potentially fatal 'hippy crack' at a festival. Nicholas Chroussis was charged with possession of the legal but pyschoactive drug after being found with almost 250 nitrous oxide canisters, a dispenser and 250 balloons, police said. The 22-year-old was stopped by security staff at Boundary Festival in Brighton, east Sussex, and claimed the large amount was for personal use. When Sussex Police revealed text messages on his phone that showed that he was planning on selling the cannisters to other festival goers, he admitted the offence. Release has argued that these and other similar cases should be reviewed. A teacher at an exclusive Christian private school in Melbourne has been suspended after it was exposed that he asked a 17-year-old Japanese school girl to send photos of herself performing a sex act. Yukihiro Nagashima, a former teacher at Beaconhills College, admitted he had told the teenager he was 'feeling horny' in a Facebook message in September 2015. He met the girl, who was a student at a Japanese sister school, only one time while on an excursion the previous year. The disgraced teacher denied accusations he asked the student to send a photograph of herself masturbating, but the allegation was substantiated by the Victorian Institute of Teaching, The Age reports. Former teacher at Beaconhills College, Yukihiro Nagashima, was suspended after he was found guilty of asking a 17-year-old Japanese school girl to send photos of herself performing a sex act A decision published this week stated Mr Nagashima, 'on his own admission, compromised and violated his professional relationship with the student.' 'He did so by using a social media messaging service to engage her in a conversation of a personal and inappropriate nature, in an unprofessional manner and without a valid context... 'During the course of the conversation used sexual innuendo when he told the student: "I want to sleep with you"; and "I'm feeling horny".' He had allegedly contacted the student via Facebook, where the two engaged in conversation about the after affects of a recent typhoon in Japan. A translated transcript of the conversation detailed Mr Nagashima's inappropriate messages: 'I want to sleep with you I feel horny,' he wrote. Mr Nagashima met the girl, who was a student at a Japanese sister school, once during an excursion the previous year Later continuing with: 'send me a photo of you masturbating. Are you asleep?'. The conversation reportedly spiraled from Mr Nagashima alluding to the fact the student's home had no space to accommodate a visit from him. It apparently began with banter from the student about him sleeping on the bed and her on the floor, before it extended to Mr Nagashima saying he wanted to sleep with her. But the discussion was reported to the school girl's teachers after it 'offended her, made her feel embarrassed and scared.' The decision explained how Mr Nagashima's preferred translation of 'horny' was 'aroused or excited'. A decision published this week stated Mr Nagashima, 'on his own admission, compromised and violated his professional relationship with the student' After being forwarded to teaching staff at Mr Nagashima's school in Melbourne, a teacher claimed he initially said the messages were the result of him being hacked, before blaming them on being intoxicated. Mr Nagashima denied making both claims. In a record of an interview with the teacher, he explained how he believed the student was a 'willing participant' in the flirtatious conversation. He believed she was behaving 'silly and sort of teasing', with him apparently under the impression she was being 'flirty'. He was found guilty of serious misconduct by the teaching watchdog, with him resigning from his position during its investigation in September, 2015. In a record of an interview with the teacher, he explained how he believed the student was a 'willing participant' in the flirtatious Facebook Messenger conversation Mr Nagashima will remain a registered teacher, but won't be let back into a classroom until February 2018 when his licence is reinstated. The decision states he will need to write a report about his inappropriate conduct and explain how to avoid it happening again in the future. He has also been ordered to attend at least four appointments with a psychologist. North Dakota state and tribal leaders spent several hours Thursday hashing out differences on tax agreements, including addressing the ongoing dispute over oil tax revenue from the prolific Fort Berthold Reservation. Leaders of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation told a legislative committee the reservation needs a greater share of tax revenue to address oil impacts, and they cant wait for the states next legislative session. The taxation is not about greed, Chairman Mark Fox told the Legislatures Tribal Taxation Issues Committee. Its about need. Fox gave the committee led by Gov. Doug Burgum a draft letter terminating the tribes participation in the oil tax sharing agreement, but said tribal leaders would rather work toward a compromise that would keep the tribe in the agreement. One proposal Fox presented was the tribe receiving 80 percent of tax revenue on all new wells drilled on trust lands, with the state receiving 20 percent. For new wells drilled on fee lands, Fox proposed the tribe would receive 20 percent and the state would receive 80 percent. Right now, the split is 50-50. Fox estimates his proposal would result in an additional $30 million a year for MHA, based on current oil prices. The committee took no action Thursday, but members pledged to keep working on a good faith effort. Theres plenty of common interest, Burgum said. Weve got to keep the dialogue going and see if we can reach a point of resolution. Representatives of several oil companies, who are nervous about the possibility of dual taxation at Fort Berthold, attended the meeting. North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness said afterward it was a great step to have the parties in one room having a dialogue. In addition to MHA, the committee also listened to presentations from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe the four tribal nations with headquarters in North Dakota. Many expressed interest in working with the state to share tax revenue from alcohol sales on reservations, which currently the state collects. The MHA Nation is moving forward with its own 7 percent tax on alcohol that would be charged in addition to the states tax, unless the two governments can reach an agreement on sharing alcohol tax revenue, Fox said. MHA needs to receive a share of alcohol tax revenue because the tribe has to fund law enforcement costs to arrest drunk drivers, respond to domestic violence calls and address other impacts related to substance use, Fox said. Tribes also have tax sharing agreements with the state on tobacco and motor fuels. In addition, several tribal leaders talked about the obstacle of not being able to negotiate directly with the governor on certain agreements, but instead having to wait two years for the state Legislature to take action. Karol Two Bears, tax director for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said the tribe spent four years bouncing back and forth among the Legislature, governor and tax commissioner to discuss tax collections. Sen. Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee, said hed like the committee to figure out a way to work with tribes within the two-year legislative cycle so its not an obstacle for them. The committee, which also includes legislative leadership from each party as well as other state officials, will continue meeting through the interim and present a report by the end of 2018. Representatives from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe also attended. A passenger was hauled off an international flight by federal police after an incident that forced the flight to land early. The Air New Zealand plane flying from Auckland to Perth was diverted to Adelaide when the passenger caused a commotion on board. They were believed to have had a mental health episode and were unlikely to be charged with anything, according to the Adelaide Advertiser. Australia will be an 'Asian country' with a population of 100 million by next century and there's 'not a chance in hell' we can stop it. That is the dramatic prediction of Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerald Harvey, saying population growth driven by record immigration was impossible to control. The 77-year-old said efforts by people like businessman Dick Smith, who launched a gloomy $1 million ad calling to limit immigration, to halt this were doomed to fail. Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerald Harvey (pictured) says population growth driven by record immigration is impossible to control Many have blamed immigrants for Australia's problems, with Chinese investors (pictured at housing sale) blamed for rising house prices 'Australia is going to become an Asian country, 100 per cent for sure. It's just a matter of when. You might have close to four billion Asians in the world, where do you think they're going to live?' he told News Corp. 'It's a utopian idea that some people have, in a lot of ways I can see the worth of it, but will you ever be able to hold it to some number under 25 to 30 million? Not a chance in hell.' Mr Harvey said Australia was a 'great big place and no one lives here' while other continents held much bigger populations. He predicted Australia would come under 'immense pressure' from 'boat people coming in huge numbers' or many other sources, and the rest of the world would force it to accept them. 'Australia is going to become an Asian country, 100 per cent for sure. It's just a matter of when. You might have close to four billion Asians in the world, where do you think they're going to live?' said Harvey (pictured) As a result, by 100 years from now Australia would have a population of 50 to 100million people, and implied many of them would have arrived from Asia (pictured are Chinese buyers at a housing sale) As a result, by 100 years from now Australia would have a population of 50 to 100million people he said, and implied many of them would have arrived from Asia. 'That's going to happen regardless of what Dick Smith thinks, I think or you think, it's just inevitable... Sometimes when you smell the inevitable you've got to go along with it,' he said. A growing number of commentators, and the public, blame immigration increasing from its historical average of 70,000 a year to 210,000 for Australia's problems. Chinese investors and immigrants were blamed for rising house prices in Sydney and elsewhere, along with declining living standards. Mr Harvey's comments come a fortnight after Dick Smith's (pictured) ominous advertisement warning of poverty, conflict and overcrowding if immigration is not halted Mr Harvey's comments come a fortnight after Dick Smith's ominous advertisement warning of poverty, conflict and overcrowding if immigration is not halted. The controversial ad is based on the 1980s Grim Reaper AIDS campaign and features original actor John Stanton. 'It [population growth] is a path to either more and more inequality, or famine, disaster, war and collapse. Are we that stupid?' the ad asks. One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson praised the campaign, saying a population policy is needed. Mr Smith (pictured) has said Australia will suffer from an increase in terrorist attacks if it continues taking in 200,000 migrants a year Ms Hanson said the ideal number of immigrants Australia should allow into the country to ensure stability was 'about 70,000', a number supported by Mr Smith. Mr Smith has said Australia will suffer from an increase in terrorist attacks if it continues taking in 200,000 migrants a year. He told Mark Latham automation and high population growth could leave 40 per cent of the population - 40million people by his estimate - impoverished by 2100. Advertisement Australian property mogul Tim Gurner who infamously slammed Generation Y for wasting money on avocados and coffees has put his Melbourne home on the market expecting $9million. Mr Gurner, 35, has shared the Toorak mansion with his wife Aimee for three years, The Herald Sun reported. The 1930s English-style residence has six bedrooms and last sold in 2014 for $5.3 million. Scroll down for video Mr Gurner (pictured), from Melbourne, was slammed by millennials for his comments about their spending habits and unrealistic expectations Australian property mogul Tim Warner who infamously slammed Generation Y for wasting money on avocados and coffees has put his Melbourne home on the market for $9million Tim Gurner (pictured with his wife Aimee), 35, claimed Generation Y need to stop travelling and spending money on overpriced food to save for their first home Mr Gurner, 35, has shared the Toorak mansion with his wife Aimee for three years Millionaire property mogul Tim Gurner who slammed Generation Y for buying '$19 smashed avocado and $4 coffees' has put his mega mansion on the market for $9.1 million Mr Gurner's comments caused outrage among Generation Y (his Toorak mansion is pictured) Mr Gurner made headlines in May when he weighed in on the debate on housing affordability for young people. 'When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,' he said. 'The expectations of younger people are very, very high. They want to eat out every day, they want travel to Europe every year. 'This generation is watching the Kardashians and thinking that's normal - thinking owning a Bentley is normal.' His comments caused outrage among Generation Y, with many claiming Mr Gurner got lucky because his grandfather lent him $34,000 for his first investment. The multi-millionaire responded, claiming it is 'incorrect' he had help getting on the property market. Tim Warner who infamously slammed Generation Y for wasting money on avocados and coffees has put his Melbourne home on the market for $9million The home boasts a heated pool, library, fireplace, large living area and marble reception Worth $473million, Mr Gurner has been named Australia's 157th richest person on the 2017 Financial Review Rich List (jios Toorak property is pictured) His first investment property was a flat purchased by his boss for $180,000 in Melbourne's St Kilda, he told news.com.au. He said he was offered to carry out renovations while his boss forked out the money. Set over three levels on a 1204 square metre block, Mr Gurner's Toorak property was designed for families, the agent said. The home boasts a heated pool, library, fireplace, large living area and marble reception. The basement includes a rumpus room and a wine cellar. Mr Gurner appeared on the BRW Young Rich List in 2015 in eighth place when he was worth $430million. That year, he made more than $10million in an hour when buyers snapped up penthouses in his luxury development in Melbourne, domain.com.au reported. Worth $473million, he has been named Australia's 157th richest person on the 2017 Financial Review Rich List. Set over three levels on a 1204 square metre block, Mr Gurner's Toorak property was designed for families, the agent said Mr Gurner appeared on the BRW Young Rich List in 2015 in eighth place when he was worth $430million (his Toorak property is pictured) Advertisement The US and South Korea conducted bombing drills along the border on Thursday, in a clear warning to North Korea following another ballistic missile launch earlier this week. However, the rogue-nation dismissed the joint training exercise and said it will not deter them from continuing their nuclear program. 'The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback,' said the Korean Central News Agency - which acts as the mouthpiece of dictator Kim Jong-Un. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35B stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea. The training mission simulated precision strikes against the North's 'core facilities,' according to the U.S. Pacific Command and South Korea's Defense Ministry. The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35Bs came from a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Japan. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning to North Korea. Above, two U.S. Marine Corps F-35 fighter jets participating in the live-fire drill Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35B stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea that simulated precision strikes against the North's 'core facilities' The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35Bs came from a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Japan The North, which claims Washington has long threatened Pyongyang by flaunting the powerful U.S. nuclear arsenal, describes the long-range B-1Bs as 'nuclear strategic bombers' although the United States no longer arms them with nuclear weapons. The dueling military displays open up the risk that things will get worse as each side seeks to show it won't be intimidated. North Korea has made it clear that it sees its weapons program, which demands regular testing to perfect, as the only way to contest decades of U.S. hostility, by which it means the huge U.S. military presence in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific. In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber drops a bomb over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea on Thursday The dueling military displays open up the risk that things will get worse as each side seeks to show it won't be intimidated. Above, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday Washington, in turn, seeks with its joint drills with Seoul and bomber flights to show that it will not be pushed from its traditional role of supremacy in the region. More missile tests, more bomber flyovers and three angry armies facing each other across the world's most heavily armed border raises the possibility that a miscalculation could lead to real fighting. The U.S. Pacific Command said the exercises were conducted in direct response to North Korea's recent missile launch. Over the course of a 10-hour mission, the B-1Bs, F-35Bs and two Japanese F-15 fighters first flew together over waters near Kyushu, Japan. The U.S. and South Korean warplanes then flew across the Korean Peninsula and participated in the live-fire training before returning to their respective home stations, according to the Pacific Command. 'North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly,' Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said in a statement. 'This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward-deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moment's notice if our nation calls.' In Beijing, North Korea's ally China warned that war is not an option in finding a solution to Pyongyang's growing nuclear capabilities. Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Ren Guoqiang told reporters that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. The bombing exercise came as the United States and South Korea wrapped up their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills that involved tens of thousands of soldiers. North Korea condemns the annual U.S.-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion and described Tuesday's launch over Japan as a countermeasure against the drills. Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this year's drills. The live-fire drill came a day after the U.S. tested its missile defense system off the coast of Hawaii. A missile was launched from a base in Hawaii (above) and then shot down by a destroyer Pictured, two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers fly from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a mission Pictured, US Air Force B-1B Lancer preparing to receive fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker during a mission from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam The United States often sends its warplanes to South Korea, mostly for patrols, when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea on Tuesday flew a potentially-nuclear capable Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over northern Japan and later called it a 'meaningful prelude' to containing the U.S. territory of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch was a 'curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures' against the U.S.-South Korea war games and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has been maintaining a torrid pace in weapons tests this year as it openly pursues an arsenal of nuclear-armed, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into the U.S. mainland. Experts say Kim wants a real nuclear deterrent against the United States to ensure the survival of his government and likely believes that it will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. Pyongyang had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam, which is home to key U.S. military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening. It also flight tested a pair of developmental ICBMs in July. South Korean analysts said that the North's threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are likely attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies The bombing test came a day after the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Navy conducted a successful missile defense test off the coast of Hawaii South Korean analysts said that the North's threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are likely attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. The U.S. and South Korean militaries say the Hwasong-12 the North fired over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido flew for about 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles). South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk told lawmakers on Thursday that the North might have fired the missile at about half its maximum range. The bombing test came a day after the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Navy conducted a successful missile defense test off the coast of Hawaii. The test, scheduled well in advance, was done from the USS John Paul Jones. A missile was fired from Hawaii and Standard Missile-6 guided missiles were shot off from the John Paul Jones to intercept the target. A drunk tourist has been arrested by police in Thailand after pepper spraying checkout girls to steal cigarettes and alcopops. Agust Gudmundsson, 49, stormed into the Tesco Lotus store on Tuesday at around 6pm demanding booze. Staff refused to serve him because he was aggressive and drunk - which sent the middle-aged man into a rage. He fired a bottle of pepper-spray at the two girls before walking behind the counter and grabbing packets of cigarettes and several bottles of 'Spy Wine Cooler', a sparkling wine. But the robber failed in his getaway bid and was caught a few metres after stumbling and falling over outside the store in Pattaya, Thailand. Footage shows the man, who police said was Irish, handcuffed on the ground spitting and swearing at the reporter while yelling 'hey, f*** you'. Shaken shop assistant Wassana Haru, 28, said: 'We saw him walking outside then he came in and asked for alcohol. Agust Gudmundsson, 49, stormed into the Tesco Lotus store on Tuesday at around 6pm demanding booze Staff refused to serve him because he was aggressive and drunk - which sent the middle-aged man into a rage 'He was rude and we told him that we could not serve him because the time was too late already. 'He was not happy and shot the spray at us. My eyes were burning a lot and it hurt, very painful. He walked away but we called the police and they were here so quickly to catch him.' Officers handcuffed the man who became abusive and began spitting and swearing. He is heard pleading helplessly 'help me' before yelling 'hey f*** you'. He fired a bottle of pepper-spray at the two girls before walking behind the counter and grabbing packets of cigarettes and several bottles of 'Spy Wine Cooler', a sparkling wine But the robber failed in his getaway bid and was caught a few metres after stumbling and falling over outside the store in Pattaya, Thailand Officers hauled him into a truck and fished out the bottle of pepper spray from a sewer where the suspect had tried to hide the evidence. Lieutenant Chakkrit Chantaramana from Pattaya City Police said the foreigner was held in a cell to sober up before being charged with drunken behaviour. He said: 'At 6:00 pm on August 29 we were notified that a foreigner had committed a theft from the Lotus store in Central Pattaya. 'At the scene we found employees standing with their hands covering their face. The foreigner had used pepper spray inside the store towards them. 'Officers caught the man outside the shop and he would not say his name and he was very drunk. Officers hauled him into a truck and fished out the bottle of pepper spray from a sewer where the suspect had tried to hide the evidence Lieutenant Chakkrit Chantaramana from Pattaya City Police said the foreigner was held in a cell to sober up before being charged with drunken behaviour 'He was taken to a cell and will be charged with drunken behaviour first and there will be further charges after proceedings continue and more evidence is gathered.' Lieutenant Chakkrit Chantaramana from Pattaya City Police added: 'The man's name is Agust Gudmundsson. He is 49 years old from Ireland. 'When we arrested him he did not have any documents or passport with him for the police report. 'He is still in a prison cell at the police station while we interview the victims and gather evidence to decide how to proceed.' This is the chilling moment a teenager and his cousin are forced to dig their own grave before being executed by a drugs gang in Brazil. Wagner da Rosa, 17 and his 22-year-old cousin Victor were captured by a rival gang and taken to a woodland area near Porto Alegre. The pair were then ordered to dig their own grave while being held at gunpoint by at least four men, who filmed the execution on their phones. Scroll down for video Horrific: Wagner and Victor da Rosa, both members of a local gang, were captured by rivals in Porto Alegre, Brazil The cousins are alleged to have been members of a rival gang, but did not have any criminal convictions, police say. One of them, believed to be Victor, can be seen smoking a cigarette while he calmly subjects himself to his fate, as a man stands next to the pit, holding a gun and a rifle. The two young men are then shot repeatedly with rifles. As their dead bodies like in the ground, they are doused with petrol and set alight. Police are now investigating the horrifying murder in the the Gravatai district of the city. Threat: The brothers were made to dig their own grave while being held at gunpoint Murder: The two young men were shot multiple times with a rifle, their execution filmed by the members of the rival gang Burned: Their bodies were doused in petrol and set alight, all in front of the rolling camera Felipe Borba from the Brazilian Civil Police said they believe the pair were killed after a factional row between drugs gangs turned increasingly violent. He said: 'The cousins had no criminal convictions. From the video we watched, it would look like a fight between factions for the drug trade. 'A young man who was near the scene of a crime with a firearm was arrested but denied involvement in the murder. 'Police are still investigating the crime and have not released the names of the gunmen. But we believe they are from a gang known as Anti-Bullet. 'The video would be an attempt to intimidate the local factions, instilling fear and intimidation into their enemies and showing that they do not feel sorry for anyone.' A furious mother has criticised a hospital after her one-year-old son's right eye was accidentally glued shut when he was treated for a cut. Kayleigh Fisk, 30, said her son Clayton was sent home 'screaming in pain' when medics didn't wash his eye out well enough, forcing them back to the hospital later that evening. Clayton was admitted to Ipswich Hospital's Accident and Emergency department after he cut his right eyebrow when he hit his head on a bedside table. He was treated with glue, but some slid down his face and into his eye, which medics then tried to wash out. Clayton Fisk, one, was taken to hospital with a cut above his right eye, which he got when he fell into a bedside table. The glue used to seal it dripped into his eye Ms Fisk said: 'It's just ridiculous because they glued his eye shut and allowed him to go home and come back again. 'I'm also worried he might have suffered some lasting damage to his eye. 'I still don't feel I've been given enough reassurance about this.' Ispwich Hospital bosses have now apologised for the blunder and promised it won't happen again. According to a letter of apology sent to Ms Fisk a doctor and nurse treated the infant by trying to glue the laceration with tissue glue. Ms Fisk, from Ipswich, said the nurse got her fingers stuck to the one-year-old's cheek as she treated him. Kayleigh, with son Clayton, at home in Ipswich. She was furious when medics didn't wash the glue fully from his eye, meaning they ended up back in hospital that night Ms Fisk said glue had dripped onto his eyelashes and face - sticking his eye together. Medics tried to wash the glue out of Clayton's eye with saline solution, but some of it dried on his eyelids. The distraught baby was sent home only to return at about 11pm that night 'screaming in pain' because his eye was so sore. She added: 'It was really bad because we just didn't know what was being done. 'You could see he was in pain. Clayton was left screaming in pain from the excess glue 'When we took him home he started to scream and cry in pain so we had to take him back to A&E to get the rest of the glue washed out. 'What I don't understand is why was this not done in the first place?' She alerted the hospital's Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and received a letter back from medics apologising for the fiasco. The doctor who treated Clayton apologised personally and said he'd not used his 'best judgement'. Ipswich Hospital spokesman Jan Ingle said: 'We are very sorry that this happened to Clayton when he came into us. 'We have carefully and thoroughly looked into all of the circumstances surrounding his care. 'In our letter to Clayton's family we set out clearly the steps taken to ensure that the tissue glue used to treat Clayton will not be used near eyes again.' She added: 'All of our staff have been informed about this. 'If Clayton's family still have concerns we would be more than happy to meet with them to discuss them.' Theresa May defied senior Tories today and insisted she was getting on with the 'long term job' of running Britain. The Prime Minister has been rebuked for vowing to fight the next general election in 2022 as Tory leader. But at a press conference in Tokyo Mrs May repeated her claim she was not a 'quitter' and insisted she was getting on with the 'long term job to do' in Britain. Earlier, former Tory chairman Grant Shapps demanded Mrs May deliver as Prime Minister now and warned the party would decide what happens next. Grandee Michael Heseltine piled on the pressure today to predict Mrs May would never contest another election - and even predicted the poll could be as soon as 2019. At a press conference in Tokyo (pictured) a defiant Theresa May insisted there is a 'long term job to do' in Britain and said she was getting on with it Theresa May (pictured today in Japan) has declared she want to fight the next general election after securing a Brexit deal The Premier has surprised many in Westminster by surviving the summer since the disastrous election results. Mrs May called a snap election in the hope of a huge victory only to lose the hard-won Tory majority. Last night in Japan Mrs May declared she was 'not a quitter' and signalled her intention to carry on for the long term in defiance of predictions she is a 'lame duck' PM. At a press conference alongside Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Mrs May said: 'I said I wasn't a quitter and there is a long-term job to do. There is an important job to be done in the United Kingdom, we stand at a really critical time in the UK.' In an attempt to show that her administration would not be defined by Brexit, Mrs May insisted she was tackling 'long-term challenges' to reform the economy and tackle 'injustices' including in mental health care. 'These are real issues that we need to be dealing with and I'm there to do it,' she said. 'For most members of the public, they would say they want the Government to get on with the job and that's exactly what I and the Government are doing.' Mr Shapps, who was party chairman during the successful 2015 election, led the charge against Mrs May today and said the Tories' 2017 challenge had been a disastrous failure. He became the first senior Tory to go public with a rebuke to Mrs May since her surprise declaration last night she wanted to carry on and on as PM. Grant Shapps (file image) today demanded Theresa May deliver as Prime Minister now and warned the party would decide what happens next Tory former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan (file image) said it would be 'difficult' for the Prime Minister to lead the party into the next election Mr Shapps told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'I don't think there's an appetite for leadership elections right at this moment. He said the Prime Minister should be judged on her performance in the Brexit negotiations but it was 'probably the case' that nobody wanted Mrs May to face Jeremy Corbyn at the ballot box again. He said: 'I think colleagues may well be surprised by this interview last night and I think it is too early to be talking about going on and on, as Margaret Thatcher once said. 'Let's get some progress for the British people first, I think that's the priority.' Former Tory deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine said: 'The long term is the difficult one for Theresa May because I don't think she's got a long term.' Tory former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said it would be 'difficult' for the Prime Minister to lead the party into the next election. She told BBC's Hardtalk that no leader wants to put a date on their departure in advance because it is a sign of 'your own political mortality'. But Ms Morgan added: 'I think it's going to be difficult for Theresa May to lead us into the next general election.' Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a surprise statement of support for Mrs May after her declaration. But many Conservatives will be privately surprised at the move, just weeks before a difficult Tory conference. Mrs May and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe (pictured today after official talks) have discussed Brexit and trade since the PM's announcement she would carry on in No 10 The official talks between Britain and Japan today (pictured) were focused on security and trade Speaking in Japan, Mrs May said she was 'not a quitter' and would remain in office to guide the country through Brexit and beyond. Her bold declaration could see her stay in office for another ten years if the Conservatives win the next election and she serves two full terms. Her pledge will shock Westminster after her decision to call a snap election resulted in the humiliating loss of her party's Commons majority. Many had assumed Mrs May would remain as Prime Minister only until Britain formally left the EU in 2019, before stepping down and handing over to a new leader to fight the next election. Indeed, many MPs believed they had a tacit understanding this would be the case. But as she arrived in Japan yesterday for the start of a three-day trip, Mrs May made clear she had no such intention of quitting. Mrs May (pictured today on board the Japanese navy's helicopter carrier JS Izumo) is already facing a backlash over her announcement The Premier (pictured today during a visit to the Japanese helicopter carrier JS Izumo today) has surprised many in Westminster by surviving the summer since the disastrous election results Mrs May's trip to Japan (included a Japan-UK Business Forum pictured) is a major trade mission intended to work alongside the Brexit talks She dismissed a recent report that suggested she would leave Downing Street in the summer of 2019 following Brexit as having 'no basis whatsoever'. Instead, Mrs May insisted there was still an 'awful lot more' she wanted to get done to deliver a 'brighter future' for the country. Asked if she intended to lead the Tories into the next election, the Prime Minister said: 'Yes. I'm here for the long-term and it's crucial. 'What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit, we are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom.' Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (pictured yesterday in Nigeria) has issued a surprise statement of support for Mrs May after her declaration She added: 'I'm in this for the long-term because there's a long-term challenge for the United Kingdom. A DECISION SHE MADE IN THE HILLS OF SNOWDONIA ANALYSIS BY JOHN STEVENS, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR WHO IS TRAVELLING WITH THE PM IN JAPAN Walking through the hills of Snowdonia with her husband Philip at Easter, Theresa May decided she was ready to fight. Less than a year into the job as Prime Minister in April, she made the biggest decision of her political life, calling a snap election so she could win a mandate as leader of the country in her own right. After suffering the humiliation of losing her precious Commons majority, you could forgive Mrs May for never wanting to return to the place where she chose to gamble and lost. Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured with her husband Philip in Italy in July, decided to continue as prime minister while walking through Snowdonia last week But over the Bank Holiday, she and her husband were back in the Welsh countryside where she says she gets the opportunity to 'clear her mind and her thinking'. Walking through the churchyard after attending the 18th century St Mary's church in Dolgellau on Sunday morning, Mrs May knew in her mind she had made another pivotal choice. And soon after taking off from Heathrow on Tuesday evening for a three-day trip to bolster trade with Japan, Mrs May shared with reporters her decision, which just weeks ago would have drawn scoffs and derision. But somehow, as she returns from the summer emboldened for a new fight, some are starting to believe she means it when she says she is 'not a quitter' and will take the Tories through the next election in 2022. Many in the ranks had assumed she would lead the country through Brexit, which should be finalised in March 2019, at an absolute maximum. But with Tory MPs scared of the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn, many have come to realise it is better to keep quiet and back Mrs May instead of going through an ugly leadership contest that would inevitably lead to demands for another election. As the weeks passed and none of the leadership rumours gained any real traction Mrs May slowly rebuilt her team, getting rid of her toxic former advisers, and renewing her Brexit strategy and policy ideas. Her confidence appears to have re-emerged just in time as she heads to the party's annual conference. Unlike some predecessors, who ran away when things got tough, Mrs May is not giving up without a fight. Advertisement 'We need to get the Brexit deal right, deliver the right deal for the people of the UK, but we also need to ensure that after we have left the European Union, global Britain is out there trading around the world, standing tall.' She then declared: 'I am not a quitter.' Mrs May's bold plan risks re-igniting leadership rows in the Conservative Party ahead of its annual conference in just a few weeks. Most colleagues were willing to accept her remaining in office as they feared a damaging leadership contest that could lead to another election and hand Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Downing Street. But by asserting her desire to cling on for the longer term, Mrs May could cause rumblings from those with their eyes on the top job thought to include Mr Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis and risks the leadership issue bursting into the open over party conference season. It is thought Mrs May has been emboldened because no one has emerged as a serious contender to take her on. In the days after the election, a contrite Mrs May told Tory MPs: 'I got us into this mess and I'm going to get us out of it. 'I will continue to serve as long as you want me.' But no serious opponent has merged and Brexit-supporting Tory MPs are worried that a change of leader could jeopardise their objectives in negotiations with the EU. Explaining why she thought she should continue, Mrs May said that while she had promised to 'get on with the job of Brexit', her vision for her premiership included securing 'changes domestically on issues such as social justice'. Over the summer, Mrs May said she had reflected on her election disappointment in June, but had decided that people wanted her to continue to deliver Brexit. She said: 'Obviously what I have done since the election is reflected on the messages and issues the public felt were important and that came through. 'I think coming out of it, the general view I got from the public in relation to Brexit was get on with it, but make sure you get a good deal.' Former Tory leader William Hague warned Cabinet ministers against plotting to replace Mrs May as he suggested her successor would be an outsider. Lord Hague said all ministers needed to 'concentrate on doing a good job in the job' they have got now and should not be 'manoeuvring to be a future leader'. He told the BBC: 'The ones who manoeuvre probably will not become the leader and they should get behind Theresa May and help her to do a good job in these exceptionally difficult circumstances. 'When I was elected 20 years ago, a few months before I was elected I was 66/1 against at the bookies. 'The most likely person hardly ever gets it. The biggest fuel system in the United States is temporarily shutting down its main line because of outages at its supply points from Tropical Storm Harvey and a lack of supply from refiners. The closure of part of the Colonial Pipeline Co, which connects the refineries of the Gulf Coast to the populous East Coast, threatens a major blow to the already storm-ravaged fuel system. Tropical Storm Harvey has pummeled the US Gulf Coast, burying Houston and the surrounding area under several feet of rain and forcing the closure of nearly a quarter of US refining capacity. Colonial shut down its main diesel and jet fuel line on Wednesday evening and will close its gasoline line on Thursday. The main line carries 1.4million barrels of gasoline from the Gulf Coast to as far east and north as North Carolina every day. The 1.4million barrels traveling through the main line provide 58.8million gallons of gasoline to the East Coast daily. Over all its lines, the system transports daily more than 3million barrels, or 126million gallons, of fuel. Scroll down for video Tropical Storm Harvey has pummeled the US Gulf Coast, burying Houston and the surrounding area under several feet of rain and forcing the closure of nearly a quarter of US refining capacity Colonial shut down its main diesel and jet fuel line on Wednesday evening and will close its gasoline line on Thursday. The main line carries 1.4million barrels of gasoline from the Gulf Coast to as far east and north as North Carolina every day 'I've never seen a situation this bad,' said one East Coast market source. 'Imports can't make up for this. ... This is going to be the worst thing the US has seen in decades from an energy standpoint.' Colonial became the second major fuel pipeline operator with origins in the Gulf Coast to suspend operations because of the storm that brought devastating flooding to the region. The Explorer Pipeline, which has a capacity of 660,000 barrels a day, said on Wednesday it had shut its main fuel line from Houston to Tulsa, Oklahoma, as supplies dwindled. At least two East Coast refineries have already run out of gasoline for immediate delivery as they scrambled to fill barges to markets typically supplied by the Gulf Coast, two refinery sources said. Others were seen operating at higher rates in order to boost profitability by meeting supply shortages. Kinder Morgan Inc's 700,000-bpd Plantation Pipeline system, which originates in Louisiana and ends in the Washington, D.C., area, remained fully operational, the company's spokeswoman, Melissa Ruiz, said in an email. Colonial said earlier it expected outages at its Houston and Hebert area fuel supply points in Texas would likely continue through the weekend as a result of Harvey. At least 4.4 million bpd of refining capacity were offline, or nearly 24 per cent of total US capacity, based on company reports and Reuters estimates. The Gulf is home to nearly half of US refining capacity. Colonial said of the 26 refineries that connect to the Colonial system, 13 were located between Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, an area affected by the storm. Floodwaters from the San Jacinto River inundate condominiums in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday 'Once Colonial is able to ensure that its facilities are safe to operate and refiners in Lake Charles and points east have the ability to move product to Colonial, our system will resume operations,' it said in a statement. The US Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday that it had expanded fuel waivers for gasoline throughout the US Southeast in anticipation of supply shortages. About 4.4 million barrels of US refining capacity have been shut by Harvey, including the nation's largest refiner, Motiva Port Arthur, which can process more than 600,000 barrels a day. The total shut-in is about 24 percent of US refining capacity - almost equal to Japan's daily consumption. Traders in Europe were rushing to reroute cargoes to the United States and Latin America to fill the gap left by refining and shipping closures, but supplies may not arrive fast enough to avert a crunch. 'Sourcing additional barrels from Europe is a potential solution, but an increased level of uncertainty is introduced surrounding the timeliness of delivery given the logistics of travel time and securing tankers,' said Michael Tran, director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Attracted by a surge in profits, refiners in Asia have also been trying to fix fuel cargoes to the United States, despite the huge distance across the Pacific. Advertisement Burning Man is taking a literal approach this year as a lightning strike Sunday has caused a massive fire forcing officials to close the main road to the festival. The main route into Burning Man between Reno, Nevada and the festival was closed Wednesday night but reopened on Thursday. "The wildfire came up on the side of the road and there was a lot of smoke and wind and they were getting really close to the roadway and it was too dangerous for our drivers," State Trooper Dan Gordon of the Nevada Highway Patrol-Northern Command West said to ABC News. "With the winds were at the beck and call of Mother Nature for stuff like that." The main route into Burning Man between Reno, Nevada and the festival was closed Wednesday night but reopened on Thursday after a lightning strike on Sunday caused a massive wildfire Called Tohokum 2 Fire, the wildfire destroyed approximately 30,000 acres and was one of five fires caused by lightning strikes that Gerlach Fire Department and national incident management teams had to manage. The fire isn't close to the actual festival, starting 70 miles northeast of Reno on State Highway 447 and has a while before it reaches Black Rock Desert. However, the spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, John Gaffney, told USA Today that he still considers the blaze a 'major safety concern.' But the heart of the Nevada desert is still alive with color and unusual art installations as the Burning Man festival continues. Participant Kila Carr-Ince makes her way through the city as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada It began on Sunday and is due to run until Monday next week with a spectacular burning ritual. A section of the Black Rock Desert has been transformed into a mini city, and an estimated 70,000 people have traveled from around the world to take part. Among the artworks on display are a central temple holding the wooden man built to commemorate the Golden Spike, the ceremonial final spike driven to join the rails of America's first transcontinental railroad. Also on display, a massive 40-foot pink flamingo with a ladder for guests to head inside and escape the heat. Temperatures are expected to shoot up over the weekend, when forecasters predict the mercury to hit 101F on Saturday. A fire installation at the heart of the Nevada desert, where tens of thousands are taking part in the festival which marks the end of summer People from all over the world travel to the Burning Man arts and music festival in Nevada, where a group is pictured gathered around an art installation A giant bear and two cubs are among the installations at the festival in the heart of the desert in Nevada, where an estimated 70,000 people have traveled to take part The Temple of Awareness is one of the key features at the Burning Man festival, where participants join in the effort to co-create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis People ride a mutant vehicle as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Participants dressed as furry animals perform on the art installation The Pier at the Burning Man festival, which this year is themed Radical Ritual A vehicle based on the image of an elephant walks through the Nevada desert as tens of thousands of people from all over the world join in the fun The festival is a chance for people to show off weird-and-wonderful art installations in the heart of the desert, described by organizers as 'an attempt to reinvent ritual in our post post-modern world' Hundreds of participants watch a performance yesterday at the Burning Man festival, where artists from around the world create a city in the Black Rock Desert The Black Rock desert has become a mini city filled with artists and revellers for the annual festival, which encourages participants to 'break down the distinction that divides belief from make-believe' A fire-breathing dragon is one of the eye-catching vehicles being used as part of the Burning Man festival in the heart of the Nevada desert A man is pictured next to an art installation, named Ursa Mater, at the festival, which attracts more than 70,000 people from all over the world A couple, Solene and Daniel, are pictured embracing at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, which this year is themed around challenging belief A man rides on a large art installation at the festival in the Nevada desert, which attracts thousands from across the world Organisers say Burning Man is permeated with rituals, and it will end with a large model of a man being burned A group guides an art piece across the playa area of the festival - a mini city in the middle of the desert - yesterday at the Burning Man event Day four of the annual Burning Man Festival arrived, marking the halfway point of the eclectic arts celebration Glimpses of the event have been making their rounds through the social mediasphere and this year, under the theme of Radical Ritual, several impressive structures and sculptures have been erected in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada Among the figures on display is a massive 40-foot pink flamingo with a ladder for guests to head inside add escape the heat On Thursday, daytime highs are forecast to reach the mid- to upper-90s in Gerlach, Nevada, the closest town to the event site Temperatures will shoot up over the weekend as the high on Saturday is forecast at 101F (Pictured, left and right, Natalia Kapchuk poses at the Burning Man Festival) Although temperatures are known to rise at the festival's site, numbers peaking above 100F are rare A number of celebrities have made appearances at the festival including hotel heiress Paris Hilton, Muse songwriter Matt Bellamy and model Elle Evans. Pictures of the festival on Tuesday show the 'community' inundated with thick choking clouds of sand, with some well prepared participants using gas-masks to fight through the earthly gust while others seem to embrace the natural phenomenon. Day three of the event has seen tens of thousands facing massive traffic jams to get to a remote stretch of Nevada desert for the annual Burning Man festival. A number of celebrities have made appearances at the festival including hotel heiress Paris Hilton (right) Joining Hilton at Burning was musician Matt Bellamy (left) and model Elle Evans (right), who have been dating for two years Dust storms in the Black Rock Desert have forced participants to don face masks and wear large glasses The highly-anticipated art and music festival runs over nine days from Sunday until September 4 in Black Rock Desert, which is about 120 miles north of Reno. Black Rock City has been transformed into a 'metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance' where about 70,000 people have descended upon. In a matter of days, volunteers for the event built what is likely to be the state's busiest airport in the middle of an ancient dry lake-bed. The airport, formally known as 88NV, is built every year and averages as many as 800 takeoffs and landings a day before it's taken down completely at the end of the event. Burning Man participants cling to the top of a 20 foot high art project pyramid tower called 'The Tower of !Babel' in the midst of a driving desert dust storm Burning Man participants perform a shibari rope scene during a driving desert dust storm inside the heart of the 'Identity Awareness - Family' art project Burning Man participants dance to the music in the midst of a driving desert dust storm on the 2nd day of the annual Burning Man Burning Man participants who go by the 'Playa Names' Coy (left) and Vance (right) in the midst of a driving desert dust storm on the 2nd day of the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Two Burning Man revelers who had just been caught in a driving desert dust and rain storm laugh at how dusty they have become Burning Man participant Kai Rey of Sebastopol, California, make sand angels alone amidst the 'Field of Fairies' art project to the sound of music from distant art cars in the midst of a desert dust storm Burning Man participants dance to the music of an art car in the midst of a desert dust storm on the second day of the annual Burning Man Burning Man participants dance on and around 'The Penetrator' art car near the effigy of "The Man" (L) as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world participate in the 2nd day of the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Participants march in costumes as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Participant David Huffman is covered by dust as he enjoys the annual Burning Man festival The highly-anticipated art and music festival runs over nine days from Sunday until September 4 A reveler wears a mask as he dances during the annual Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada Burning Man is an annual gathering that takes place at Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert Participants read the memorials in The Temple as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival A couple is married at the festival where around 70,000 are expected to attend Pippa Sutherland (left) and AJ Bertenshaw (right) dance during the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Participants perform aerial silks at the annual Burning Man Festival on Monday According to the event's website, dozens of art installations were constructed before the end of the weekend, some made from wire, others as patterns on the ground and some as immersive experiences. Stunning photographs show the larger-than-life art installations that are the focal points of this year's festival theme of Radical Ritual. The Radical Ritual theme this year is to honor rituals that humankind has made, including the festival. The event's website says: 'Burning Man is permeated with rituals. These rites speak of soulful need; the desire to belong to a place, to belong to a time, to belong to one another, and to belong to something that is greater than ourselves, even in the midst of impermanence. 'Throughout all ages temples have been built in order to induce these feelings.' Burning Man participant 'Mama Jax' (left) smiles from the back of 'The Penetrator' art car on the 2nd day of the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Burning Man participants bicycle past the 'Thunderbirds' art project by James Tyler in the midst of a desert dust storm as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world participate in the second day of the annual Burning Man festival Burning Man participant Denise Winkler of Dresden, Germany attaches a remembrance tag to 'The Shrine of Lost Moments' created by Berlin, Germany burners to honor the victims of Germany's Christmas Market attack Winkler offers a remembrance tag to be written on and added to 'The Shrine of Lost Moments' Burning Man participant Rita Poutivskaia of San Francisco ties a remembrance of her late grandmother to 'The Shrine of Lost Moments' Lauren Rock (right) recites her vows as she marries fiance Bob Peterson (left) in front of the 'Mucaro' owl art project Rock (right) throws her bouquet after marrrying Peterson (left) in front of the 'Mucaro' owl art project Burning Man participants look at the effigy of "The Man," which will be burned at the culmination of Burning Man 2017 The Burning Man art car 'Snailoon' drives through a desert dust storm on the 2nd day of the annual Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada Burning Man participants brave a desert dust storm on the second day of the annual festival Jen Van Schmus plays kickball on the Playa as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival Pili Montilla wears an ornate necklace and headdress and gazes at the sun at the Burning Man Festival on Monday The annual Burning Man Festival kicked off on Sunday in Nevada where thousands of attendees plan to participate in the iconic event that features larger-than-life art installations, like the one pictured above The highly-anticipated art and music festival runs over nine days from Sunday until September 4. Above two people ride in a golf cart that has been transformed into resemble a giant stuffed animal Stunning photographs show the larger-than-life art installations that are the focal points of this year's festival theme of Radical Ritual. The art installation above of the family of bears was created from thousands of pennies Black Rock City has been transformed into a 'metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance' where about 70,000 people have descended upon. Pictured above is a multi-passenger car transformed into art The popular event takes place in Black Rock City, which is about 120 miles north of Reno. Pictured above is one of the many cars transformed into art According to the event's website, dozens of art installations were constructed before the end of the weekend. Above one of the art installations is displayed for the event The vehicle on the left has to be one of the most detailed art cars created, with hand done wood work on the outside Pictured above are the art cars lining up to register with the Burning Man Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Ready to move: Vehicles are vigorously inspected and, depending on their functionality, will be issued a daytime or nighttime permit from the Burning Man DMV Every year, several 'temples' are built according to a theme and on the last day, they are burned down in a ritualistic ceremony. The festival, which began in 1986 as a bonfire, has erected a temple commemorating the Golden Spike and participants are invited to visit the shrine and make offerings that embody what Burning Man's culture means to them. The premise of the Burning Man festival is that almost everything is created entirely by its citizens, who are active participants in the experience. Since money is practically outlawed on the site, 'Burners' are urged to barter for commodities and in the past fans have taken to social media to swap items such as crystals for festival tickets. The remote week-long rave is often described as 'where Mad Max meets Woodstock'. Thirty years after its first incarnation, the event is populous with tens of thousands of people attending the dried up lake where the event is held which becomes Black Rock City. However, the festival risked relocation this year due to a pool of standing water, prompting officials in June to warn there was a possibility that the event could be moved from its location two hours north of Reno in Gerlach. The desert basin is transformed into mud every year by the run-off of melting snow, but this past season's high precipitation formed the lake, causing fears that the playa would be muddy and impossible to drive across. NORTH PLATTE, Neb. Pesticides are an important and controversial part of U.S. agriculture. Now, a North Dakota State University and University of Minnesota extension official is spearheading an effort to establish a pesticide application testing laboratory on the NDSU campus in Fargo. Why not us? said Tom Peters, NDSU and U of M extension sugar beet specialist, pointing to the growing need for pesticide application testing and the very small number of labs that offer it. The proposed NDSU lab would cost $2 million to $5 million and potentially could open in three to five years, he estimated. Peters talked with Agweek during a mid-August trip to North Platte, Neb., where the University of Nebraska-Lincoln operates its Pesticide Application Technology Laboratory. Three dozen people, most of them North Dakota extension officials, went on the trip, which included a tour of the lab, as well as visits to Nebraska fields infested with Palmer amaranth, a terrible weed working its way north. Peters organized the trip, which was funded by a grant from the North Dakota Soybean Council. The Nebraska lab is the only one of its kind operated by a U.S. academic institution. There are three comparable facilities: one is run by a private company in Wisconsin and another by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Texas, with the third in Australia. Built in 2012 and expanding on four decades on pesticide application research at the University of Nebraskas North Platte Research Station, the lab is equipped with a state-of-the-art greenhouse and wind tunnels. It collects droplet-size measurements and conducts simulated-drift studies, supplementing what the research station learns through field trials. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with registering new pesticides, is increasingly concerned that pesticide testing doesnt hurt the environment. So, the EPA wants at least some of that testing done indoors in controlled conditions, Peters said. I believe that safe application of pesticides is our responsibility, he said. The need for safe application of pesticides is heightened by the greater resistance to chemicals that many weeds are developing, as well as the growing threat from Palmer amaranth, he said. Complementary North Platte, a farm and railroad town of about 25,000, is in southwest Nebraska, just south of the Nebraska Sandhills. Though North Platte itself is not prominent, the lab has has national, if not international, prominence, he said. Establishing a similar facility in Fargo would help make NDSU unique, Peters said. It would be a way to stand out, with ancillary benefits including attracting faculty and graduate students and helping NDSU departments such as ag engineering, he said. Because theres so much potential for expanded pesticide testing, the North Platte lab is looking to collaborate with others, said Greg Kruger, University of Nebraska weed scientist application technology specialist and director of the North Platte lab. The proposed Fargo lab would complement, but not duplicate, whats being done now in North Platte, Peters said. We cant do it the same way Nebraska does. We need to think about how we can do this in a complementary fashion, Peters said. Thats what we have in mind. Peters said NDSU officials have expressed strong support for the project. He described himself as an idea guy and salesman and said he has no intention of running it himself. Though theres no timetable, Peters is optimistic that some clarity will develop on the proposed lab in three to five years. Any time you have an idea, you have to sell people and that takes time. Were patient on this. Were in it for the long term, not the short term, he said. Most of the estimated $2 million to $5 million price tag probably would come from state funding, though the private sector might be involved, too. The final cost would depend in part on whether a new building is constructed or an existing one is converted, Peters said. It takes courage to do these kinds of projects. But Ill say it again: Why not us? he said. This is the sickening moment an eminent cancer doctor was fatally stabbed by a patient - soon after the medic had given him the all-clear. Dr Igor Tyulenev is seen walking towards a hospital CCTV camera in his white coat when a man suddenly faces up to him and knifes him in the chest. The doctor falls back on a row of chairs in his clinic in the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk. Scroll down for video The attacker - a 67-year-old cancer patient - is seen after stabbing his doctor in Russia Dr Igor Tyulenev was killed when he was attacked by a cancer patient who had just been given the all clear The doctor died in his clinic in the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk, which is pictured here He then manages to forcibly kick away his attacker, and is even seen running for help. However, colleagues said he was fatally wounded, and died soon after the appalling stabbing despite his fellow doctors doing all they could to save his life. His attacker - a 67 year old patient who had been recently told by Dr Tyulenev that he was clear of cancer - then stabbed himself with the same knife and died at the hospital. The unnamed attacker had been a patient at other cancer clinics in Murmansk before seeing Dr Tyulenev. He had become convinced he was suffering from cancer and that doctors were hiding it from him, according to NTV. Shortly before the appalling stabbing, Dr Tyulenev, in his late 50s, had assured the man test results gave him the all-clear from cancer. 'Portmortem analyses has also confirmed that the attacker did not have cancer,' said a spokesman from the Russian Investigative Committee, seen as an equivalent of the FBI. A source at the clinic said: 'Our intensive care doctors did all they could to rescue Igor, but his wounds were fatal. 'The attacker was delivered into the same intensive care operating theatre, and another team worked to rescue him, too, but to no avail.' On the day he stabbed the doctor, the man did not have an appointment. Other patients praised the murdered medic who had worked at the cancer hospital for 25 years alongside his wife, who was also a doctor here. 'He was an exceptionally good doctor,' said one. Dr Igor Tyulenev is seen here walking towards a hospital CCTV camera in his white coat The attacker - a 67-year-old man - faces up to his doctor and stabs the clinician in the chest The doctor falls back on a row of chairs in his clinic in the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk 'He removed my grandmother's lymphoma, this is her seventh healthy year after the surgery...' Another said: 'I was due to see him next week. What a tragedy. He was one of a kind, patients would forever queue up to see him.' He was also described as 'incredibly caring and gentle, if somewhat reserved. Such an incredible loss.' The doctor died on 9 August at Murmansk Region Cancer Clinic but the video was released only now. An investigation is continuing into the murder. Russian politicians have called for greater security at hospitals - including metal detector tests at entrances - to stop such attacks. Police with high-powered rifles in armoured trucks have locked down a suburban street in Sydney. Dramatic raids are underway in Revesby in the city's south-west, with a BearCat vehicle blocking Ferndale Road. It is a planned operation and not believed to be related to terrorism, a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. Mt Druitt police may be executing an arrest warrant in relation to a previous kidnapping, Seven News reported. Streets were blocked off and officers were telling an individual to come out of a house, a witness said on Twitter. More to come. Heavily armed police with rifles and armoured trucks have locked down a suburban street in Sydney Sydney is about to swelter through 28C heat this weekend as winter officially ends and the country welcomes in spring. Temperatures are expected to soar into the high 20s in parts of New South Wales and Queensland on Sunday, which will mark the beginning of a 'warmer than average' spring for the country. While Sunday temperatures reached 28 degrees, residents were urged to keep their jackets handy in order to shield themselves from gusts reaching speeds of 30km/h. Sydney is about to swelter through 28C heat this weekend as winter officially ends and the country welcomes in spring While spring gets off to a warm start, experts from the Bureau of Meteorology warn it will also be a frosty one. Sydney residents will wake to cold and frosty mornings on the weekend and well into next week, before the days dry out and creep up in temperature. While warm weather was expected to grace the east coast at the weekend, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Scott Williams said it would not last. Mr Williams said the brief taste of spring would be replaced by blustery conditions across much of southeastern Australia after the weekend. Temperatures are expected to soar into the high 20s in the New South Wales capital city on Sunday, which will mark the beginning of a 'warmer than average' spring for the country People enjoy the water at Bronte in Sydney, as warm temperatures welcome in the start of spring People enjoy the sand at sunrise at Bondi Beach in Sydney - where temperatures will soar to 28C on Sunday Bureau of Meteorology map shows hot spots across the country - where temperatures are expected to exceed the median max in September 'After a chilly morning with inland frosts, the southeast of the country can expect a settled first day of spring, with plenty of sunshine and light winds,' he said. 'The first few days of spring will bring changeable weather across the south as a cold front moves across South Australia Saturday then Victoria, Tasmania and southern New South Wales on Sunday.' The Bureau's Climate Prediction Manager, Dr Andrew Watkins, predicted dry weather to continue throughout spring. Dr Watkins warned there would be below-average rainfall from September right through until November. He said south western parts of Western Australia would be hit hardest by the dry period. FORECAST: THE WEATHER RIGHT ACROSS AUSTRALIA SYDNEY Friday : Max 18, mostly sunny Saturday : Max 22, sunny Sunday : Max 28, windy BRISBANE: Friday : Max 24, sunny Saturday : Max 25, mostly sunny Sunday : Max 28, mostly sunny ADELAIDE Friday : Max 21, late shower Saturday : Max 23, windy with showers Sunday : Max 14, windy with showers DARWIN Friday : Max 33, sunny Saturday : Max 33, mostly sunny Sunday : Max 33, mostly sunny MELBOURNE Friday : Max 16, mostly sunny Saturday : Max 17, windy with showers Sunday : Max 17, late shower CANBERRA Friday : Max 15, frost then sunny Saturday : Max 18, frost then sunny Sunday : Max 19, windy with showers PERTH Friday : Max 16, showers Saturday : Max 16, possible shower Sunday : Max 17, possible shower HOBART Friday : Max 16, sunny Saturday : Max 18, late shower Sunday : Max 18, possible shower Advertisement The Bureau's Climate Prediction Manager, Dr Andrew Watkins, predicted dry weather to continue throughout spring (Marree in South Australia pictured) Dr Watkins warned there would be below-average rainfall from September right through until November (Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land pictured) 'Warm waters in the central Indian Ocean may result in higher pressures south of Australia, resulting in more easterly winds, keeping the west drier than average.' While the country's west suffered through the dry weather, he said southeast Queensland and far east Gippsland could see above-average rainfall in coming months. As Australia moves into spring, it leaves behind one of the driest ever winters recorded. Every Australian capital recorded a below average rain total in Winter, well below the long-term average. Bureau of Meteorology map shows the chance of above median rainfall for September Australia lived through its driest June month in 118 years, paired with above-average temperatures Australia lived through its driest June month in 118 years, paired with above-average temperatures. 'We've just experienced a very warm and dry winter. In fact, daytime temperatures were at record-high levels across much of the country this winter,' Dr Watkins said. 'These warm and dry conditions have meant fire potential in parts of eastern Australia has been unusually high this winter. Bushfires have already occurred in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.' Britain has received a massive Brexit boost as the Japanese prime minister declared he has full confidence in the UK economy after we leave the EU. Shinzo Abe told the chiefs of Japan's biggest firms he is convinced the country will remain a 'compelling' place to do business after Brexit. Speaking alongside Theresa May at a business conference in Tokyo, Mr Abe said: 'I have trust in the UK economy after Brexit.' Both prime ministers hailed the prospects for post-Brexit trade at a joint press conference in Tokyo. Despite the successful agreement to build ties, Mrs May was criticised today by Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary for 'swanning around drinking tea' while the Brexit talks stalled. Theresa May and Shinzo Abe hailed the prospects for new UK-Japan trade today at official talks (pictured) and a press conference Britain has received a massive Brexit boost as the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (left with Theresa May in Tokyo today) declared he has full confidence in the UK economy after we leave the EU Mrs May and Mr Abe (pictured together with their trade ministers in Tokyo today) have signed a memorandum of understanding on trade at the culmination of the PM's visit Mrs May told the Japan-UK Business Forum (pictured) she was 'determined to seize the opportunity' to build trade relations with 'old friends and new allies' as Britain leaves the EU In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, Mr Abe had voiced concerns about how it could affect Japanese firmes. But he said continued investments in Britain over the past year were testimony to their belief in the country's future. Mr Abe said: 'With the UK leaving the European Union, the UK is in the midst of great change. The UK's departure from the EU has to be successful for the UK, European Union and global economy - this is going to be quite important that this exit is going to be a successful one. MAY HAILS 500M DEAL FOR ASTON MARTINS TO JAPAN Theresa May has welcomed James Bond car maker Aston Martin's plans for 500million of trade with Japan. The plans were announced by the luxury car maker's boss Andy Palmer, who is travelling with the Prime Minister on a trade mission to Japan. Mrs May said the deal would help safeguard jobs at the firm's plants in the West Midlands and South Wales. She said: 'As we prepare to leave the European Union, it is vital that we build on our existing ties with friends and allies. 'Aston Martin is a prime example of the innovative and world-leading firms the UK is proud of and I'm delighted they are joining me on this important trade mission. 'Aston Martin's 500 million deal will directly benefit the Gaydon plant in West Midlands and the St Athan plant in Wales, helping safeguard existing jobs and opening new possibilities for future deals with Japan.' Advertisement 'Many Japanese companies even after the Brexit vote they have decided on new investments into the United Kingdom. This is testimony to Japanese companies' expectations of the United Kingdom. 'From the UK in the EU exit negotiation, there has to be transparency and predictability to minimise any damage on the businesses. We have received that commitment and we value this greatly. 'Even after Brexit the UK, for business people, it will continue to be a compelling place. I am convinced of that.' Mr Abe stopped short of giving any firm assurances on a future UK-Japan trade deal, but said: 'We will talk about the cooperation between these two countries, I look forward to that cooperation.' Theresa May told the business group she was 'determined to seize the opportunity' to build trade relations with 'old friends and new allies' as Britain leaves the EU. She said: 'There are few places where the opportunities of doing so are greater than Japan, the third largest economy in the world. 'Japanese companies already invest over 40billion in the United Kingdom, making the UK second only to America as Japan's top investment destination. While over a thousand Japanese companies already employ over 140,000 people in Britain. 'And as International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said, the last 12 months have seen our bilateral trade increase by more than 12 per cent. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox (pictured today making his own speech to the forum) In his speech, Shinzo Abe (pictured left at the podium) told the chiefs of Japan's biggest firms he is convinced the country will remain a 'compelling' place to do business after Brexit 'I very much welcome the commitment from Japanese companies such as Nissan, Toyota, Softbank and Hitachi, whose investments over the last year represent a powerful vote of confidence in the long term strength of the UK economy. 'I am here together with a business delegation representing some of Britain's biggest investors in Japan, because we want to build on that momentum.' By leaving the EU, Mrs May said the country 'will be free to engage more actively and independently, particularly in key Asian marks like Japan'. 'So I come seeking to lay the foundations to take our trade and investment relationship to a whole new level as we leave the EU,' she added. Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary (pictured on Sky News today) said the PM should not be 'eating cakes and drinking sake' as he slammed her for travelling to Japan Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary said the PM (pictured yesterday at a traditional tea ceremony) should not be 'eating cakes and drinking sake' Mrs May said a trade deal between the two countries would 'secure the jobs and investments that will bring prosperity to our peoples for generations to come'. Despite the economic success in Japan, Mrs May was slammed at home today for 'swanning around' the Far East while the Brexit talks stalled. Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary said the PM should not be 'eating cakes and drinking sake'. He told Sky News: 'What's really relevant to the British people is the state of the economy here and the Brexit talks are going nowhere, they are a bit of a shambles and they need a bit of leadership. 'Clearly David Davis is not delivering and you need the Prime Minister not swanning around Japan for three days but in Brussels, in Frankfurt, in Paris, doing the deal. Just parroting out cliches about doing a great deal for Britain, do it, get on with it.' Eton headmaster Simon Henderson (pictured) warned in a letter that details of an art history exam had been leaked Eton College has been drawn into another exam cheating scandal after it emerged pupils' results in an art history exam had been disallowed after students had gained access to the questions before sitting the test. It is the second time this summer the prestigious school, near Windsor, Berkshire, has been forced to disqualify exam results. This time, it involved an art history Pre-U certificate, a popular A level alternative. Pupils at another school had been handed the questions before the test and handed it to a student at Eton, who then passed them to others at the school. It comes after Mo Tanweer, deputy head teacher at Eton College, quit after an exam board ruled he had breached security when he shared questions with colleagues before the A-level equivalent tests. Eton College (pictured) has been drawn into another exam cheating scandal after it emerged pupils had gained access to exam questions before sitting the test In a letter seen by the Guardian newspaper, Eton headmaster Simon Henderson warned parents details of the Pre-U art history exam was sent by a teacher from another school to pupils who then passed it on to Eton students. Eton College said in a statement: 'Following an investigation by Cambridge International Examinations, pupils at Eton who sat Pre-U art history this summer were deemed to be inadvertent recipients of confidential information in relation to one paper. 'This matter related to information that Eton pupils had been sent via a pupil at another school in advance of the examination. No member of staff at Eton was involved in any way. 'Whilst the pupils had done nothing wrong, CIE awarded them assessed marks for that paper according to its established method. Eton co-operated fully with CIE's investigation throughout.' Meanwhile Radley College becomes the fourth school - following Winchester, Charterhouse and Eton - to be caught up in the scandal after a teacher was alleged to have altered his students work. Winchester College suspended head of art history Laurence Wolff after it was alleged that he gave students tips on what would feature in two exam papers. Charterhouse School in Surrey has also been investigated by the exam board after it reported concerns that students were given advance warning about questions on the papers. It comes after Mo Tanweer, deputy head teacher at Eton College, quit after an exam board ruled he had breached security when he shared questions with colleagues And Radley College is now found to have committed 'technical' breaches in its GCSE art course, the Telegraph reports. The school's head of art, who has not been named, is reported to have amended his students assessed work, as well as given them advice mid-exam. The school has since increased the number of invigilators 'voluntarily' but the teacher remains head of the department, according to the paper. A whistleblower is reported to have said the teacher's approach to the exam was 'a very relaxed affair' and the boys were not supervised at all times. Warden of Radley John Moule told the paper: 'One minor breach was found to have taken place in the 2014 exam process - not in the exam itself - but the advantage to candidates was described by the board as negligible. 'The board's advice was followed and departmental practice has been adjusted accordingly. ' A New Zealand beekeeper has got more than he bargained for after accepting a crazy dare to sit on a beehive. Jamie Grainger, 27, from Tauranga performed the crazy feat at a farm in Matamata earlier this month, with footage showing him dropping his pants to press his bare bottom on the swarming insects' home. The 27-year-old seemed to take the challenge in his stride though, managing to last 30 seconds before jumping off in agony. Scroll down for video Jamie Grainger, 27, (pictured) from Tauranga got more than he bargained for after accepting a crazy dare to sit on a beehive earlier this month Agonising video shows as Mr Grainger strips off his bottom half, before tentatively sitting on the open hive. Clutching his manhood, he is then seen cringing in pain and taking deep breaths, before calmly asking how much he would win. Swearing repeatedly as the bees stung him, he then remarks 'I'm squeezing my b**** so hard' as he tries to cope with the pain. As his friends count down the final few seconds, Mr Grainger leaps up before running into a field with his pants by his ankles, trying to brush away the bees and their stings. Agonising video shows Mr Grainger strip off his bottom half before tentatively sitting on the open hive and then grimacing in pain (pictured) Mr Grainger swore repeatedly during the experience, with his face contorting in pain as he was stung by the bees But the painful experience proved worth it, with the tradesman pocketing $1,000 for his efforts. The tradesmen told Daily Mail Australia that the hive was fine following the dare and that he cared for the bees. 'Being a commercial beekeeper you deal with dead bees and stings everyday it's a part of the job,' he said. The bet has been issued by friend Aurel Braguta, who said it was done as 'a bit of fun' and as a way to 'face your fears', according to Metro. The father-of-two had previously challenged another worker to try the stunt, however that man lasted just 19 seconds. Meanwhile, Mr Grainger said the task had been about 'as you can imagine,' but had proven a laugh for him and his partner. One thousand bucks for 30 seconds is the easiest money Ive ever earned,' he said. As his friends counted down the final few seconds, Mr Grainger (pictured) leapt up and ran into the field This is the moment bouncers and tourists were involved in an extraordinary brawl on a beach on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca. Holidaymakers watched on in horror as violent scenes erupted on the sand outside a club at the party resort of Magaluf. At one point, a doorman can be seen putting a tourist in a chokehold after a brutal exchange of punches and kicks before dumping him on the sand. The victim of the martial-arts-style stronghold, wearing just a pair of swimming shorts, comes round in seconds but still looks groggy after getting to his feet. Footage captures the moment bouncers and tourists were involved in an extraordinary brawl on a beach on the Spanish holiday island of Majorca Holidaymakers watched on in horror as violent scenes erupted on the sand outside a club at the party resort of Magaluf The catalyst for the confusing incident appeared to be a push by one of the tourists on a bouncer sitting astride one of his friends. Several doormen from the unidentified venue were filmed rushing over to the spot where the male holidaymaker was being restrained as his friends went to intervene. The two sides could be seen arguing, before chaotic scenes unfolded in front of families. Young children close to the violence watched a flurry of fists and kicks which ended with at least three people on the sand. The catalyst for the confusing incident appeared to be a push by one of the tourists on a bouncer sitting astride one of his friends. Shocked beach-goers watched on as the brawl broke out on the sand The nationalities of the holidaymakers at the centre of the violence, one of whom was carrying an orange beach towel in his hands, is unknown The bouncer filmed performing a chokehold could be seen calmly walking away as his victim lay motionless on the sand. The cause of the original dispute which led to a doorman at the beach club restraining a tourist by sitting on him was not immediately clear today. The nationalities of the holidaymakers at the centre of the violence, one of whom was carrying an orange beach towel in his hands, is unknown. The bouncers retreated to the venue they worked at as the group of men they fought with headed along the beach in the opposite direction. None of the onlookers, who included a sunseeker holding his toddler son in his arms, appeared to make any attempt to call the police. Forty people have been arrested for looting across Houston and its surrounding areas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, police said. Houston officials have imposed an overnight curfew running from midnight until 5am, but that hasn't stopped dozens of people from breaking into homes and stores looking for cash and other items. The city has also warned residents of scammers, posing as firefighters and Homeland Security special agents and telling people to evacuate in order to ransack their homes. Despite the 40 arrests, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the curfew and the increased police presence have helped keep most criminals at bay. Houston officials have imposed an overnight curfew running from midnight until 5am, but that hasn't stopped dozens of people from breaking into homes and stores looking for cash and other items. Pictured above, flooded homes are shown near Lake Houston Despite the 40 arrests, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the curfew and the increased police presence have helped keep most criminals at bay. Pictured above, debris lies on the ground at Copano Cove in Rockport, Texas 'It was effective,' he told the Houston Chronicle. 'It's going to remain in effect until we kind of get past the situations we're in.' Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said there were no arrests for curfew violation on Tuesday, the first night after it was imposed. On Tuesday and Wednesday, looters broke into stores across Houston, stealing cigarettes, cash from registers and cell phones. An Apple store in Houston had its door blasted open with a gun before it was looted, according to reports. Prosecutors issued a statement promising that looters would face tougher penalties under Texas law for committing burglaries during a crisis. 'People displaced or harmed in this storm are not going to be easy prey,' said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. 'Anyone who tries to take advantage of this storm and break into homes or businesses should know that they are going to feel the full weight of the law,' she added. 'Offenders will be processed around the clock without delay.' The city has also warned residents of scammers, posing as firefighters and Homeland Security special agents and telling people to evacuate in order to ransack their homes. Pictured above, houses are seen partially submerged in flood waters in Northwest Houston Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner said: 'Just like we can rescue you we can also arrest you - obey the curfew, don't engage in looting, let's focus on rebuilding our city.' Scammers posing as officials have also been knocking on doors in looting attempts. City officials warned people to ask anyone knocking on their doors for official badges and credentials with their name and organization. San Leon volunteer firefighter Jody Garcia told the Houston Chronicle that one person posing as a first responder pointed a shotgun at two residents who were trapped in their homes and told them to leave. US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has confirmed they will not be conducting any operations in Houston during the rescue effort. During Harvey relief efforts US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not conducting immigration enforcement operations in the area. Houston's 911 headquarters (pictured) is furiously trying to keep up with tens of thousands of calls for help related to Harvey. Operators are aiding panicked callers even as they're dealing with their own personal losses in the storm In Houston people coming into shelters will not have their immigration status checked. Houston's 911 headquarters is furiously trying to keep up with tens of thousands of calls for help related to Harvey. Operators are aiding panicked callers even as they're dealing with their own personal losses in the storm. At its worst, from Sunday into Monday, some 75,000 calls poured in, more than eight times the normal 24-hour load. 'This is like nothing we've ever experienced before,' operator Erika Wells said during a short reprieve between calls. The number of confirmed deaths linked to Harvey is at least 23. Authorities are investigating 17 more deaths to determine whether they were storm-related, and they fear many more bodies may be found as floodwaters start receding. Among the dead was a woman whose shivering toddler was found clinging to her body in a rain-swollen canal in Southeast Texas. A police officer says the woman's actions likely saved her daughter's life. Advertisement Incredible images show a primary school left awkwardly standing in the middle of a building site in Zhengzhou, China's Henan Province. Earlier this year, the city in central China approved a regeneration project affecting 27 districts. Villagers were made to relocate as construction work started but one primary school remained in an empty plot while other buildings were torn down. Shutter island! A primary school in Zhengzhou stood alone in a construction field after all nearby buildings were demolished The site can be seen covered by green cloths to prevent dust pollution to the surrounding area and Laoyachen Central Primary School According to Tencent News, Laoyachen Central Primary School is the only building that remains in the plot considered part of the regeneration plot in Zhengzhou. The nearby Laoyachen village had already been relocated and buildings were all torn down and covered with green anti-dust cloth. Aerial pictures show the primary school building looking as if it is on an isolated island. iFeng.com reported that students will have to travel further to their school if it was forced to relocate to another place. First day of school: The school was allowed to stay as companies considered the inconvenience brought to students However, they will all have to take a long walk along the construction site every day from the main road to reach the school Therefore, the school was excluded from being demolished and is now being built around. Teachers, parents and children will now have to walk along a pavement that takes them from the main road to the school. As students started going back to school on August 30, warning signs were set up to prohibit four-wheeled vehicles from driving past. No four-wheeled vehicles were allowed to drive in due to safety concerns, but bicycles or scooters were given permission The area is one of other 27 districts that was marked in the city's regeneration project to improve people's living standard The construction site around Laoyachen is just one of the 294 similar projects in Zhengzhou, as the renewal project was initiated in February under a public-private partnership investment plan that worth 197 billion yuan (23 bn), stated by iFeng.com. The plan involved over 27 districts across the city with the aim of improving its economic growth and citizen's living standard, said Song Xiangqing, chairman of Henan Commercial and Economic Association. Sibongile Mani, 27, poses with a new bag on her arm after receiving the bonus funds A student who received a staggering 850,000 instead of her usual 85 monthly university food grant is in hot water after going on a massive 73 day spending spree with her pals. Accountancy student Sibongile Mani, 27, who was on benefits to allow her to study was said to have undergone a Cinderella like transformation overnight after the cash blunder. Student leader Sibongile who is at the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa, gets 85 (1,400 Rand) each month put into her bank account in food and book allowances. But instead the company that administers the financial aid allowances at the university called Intellimali fouled up and sent 850,000 (14million Rand) in cash to the hard up student. Eyebrows were raised initially when her neat corn-row hairstyle was replaced with 180-a-time Peruvian weaves and she began wearing designer outfits and bought a brand new i-phone 7. She began flashing the cash kitting out her closest friends with new outfits and drinking 50-a-time bottles of whisky and jetting herself and her pals round the country to wild parties. Suspicions grew when a till receipt from a local SPAR shop was leaked showing that she he had more than 800,000 in her account and her wild spending became more lavish and talked about. She was finally outed by Samkelo Mqhayi, deputy branch secretary of the South African Students Congress (SASCO), who reported her to the National Students' Financial Aids Scheme. He told Herald Live: 'She threw surprise birthday parties for her friends and showered them with expensive gifts and flew them to events where she bought the best seats. 'When the SPAR receipt was leaked showing a balance of R13.6-million in her account I called NSFAS and they checked their records and confirmed that the initial amount was R14-million'. The accountancy student has gone from 'run-of-the-mill' to leading a lavish lifestyle By the time they reigned her in after her two-and-a-half-month spending spree they discovered she had been blowing 666 a day which is a staggering amount in South Africa. The total missing from the account is 50,000. A fellow student said: 'She went from a hard up, humdrum run-of-the-mill student to one who was leading a lavish lifestyle and seemed to have no bottom to her purse and lived the high life. 'She became very glamorous in beautiful dresses with all the accessories and we thought she must have won the Lottery. Poll Would you have spent the money? Yes No Would you have spent the money? Yes 3049 votes No 6833 votes Now share your opinion 'She must have thought she had won it too when she got that cash.' SASCO branch chairman Zolile Zamisa told Herald Live: 'We are shocked. Not so long ago we were protesting for thousands of students who were left without funding due to fund shortages. 'Yet she was living a lavish lifestyle hosting birthday parties for her friends at up-market champagne clubs and other expensive hangouts. This cannot be allowed to happen again'. In a Facebook post Miss Mani claimed she had reported the error to the authorities. She said: 'Today my personal life has become a social media scandal. I have been named and shamed in public. 'Today, I am a bad person, a person who stole the money of students. 'With that being said, and being named a thief, but as we all know in every story there is truth and there are lies with the very same story'. She said she was not denying anything but would tell her side later but she has fled the campus and gone into hiding and shut down her Facebook page. Student leader Sibongile who is at the Walter Sisulu University (pictured in artist's impression) in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa, is meant to get 85 each month put into her bank account in food and book allowances Miss Mani told the Daily Daily Dispatch: 'It is very clear that I didn't make the error.' Walter Sisulu University spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said the payment did not affect other students saying: 'All students who were due to receive NSFAS payments got them. 'She will have to repay the money'. Intellimali chief executive Michael Ansell said: 'Legal action will be taken against the student. A forensic investigator had been appointed.' The university has 30,500 students of whom 18,000 are funded by the NSFAS who are meant to spend their monthly grants on food and books. Legal experts have said Miss Mani could face a charge of theft. John Humphrys was mocked by listeners and accused of 'mansplaining' fashion to the former editor of Vogue during an interview on Radio 4. Alexandra Shulman, who has just stepped down from British Vogue after 25 years, was on Radio 4's Today programme to discuss changing fashion in the last 60 years. But she faced constant interruptions and even had to pull herself away from a conversation about Theresa May's leather trousers, as the presenter insisted the Prime Minister had been 'making a statement' with them. Listeners were quick to mock Mr Humphrys for his behaviour, accusing him of 'mansplaining' as the fashion discussion turned into an assessment of the catwalk and womens bodies. He insisted women now wanted to be 'skinny as a rake' despite her objections that the icons of today's style include women like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. John Humphrys was speaking to the former Vogue editor after she stepped down from 25 years at the helm of the fashion magazine Alexandra Shulman was supposed to be discussing 60 years of change in fashion but the conversation turned to women's bodies and shape Listeners bemoaned the interview on Twitter, saying it was a 'shame' the time with the fashion expert hadn't been better used As they opened the debate, he told her he thought she would say the idea of beauty had changed dramatically over the past few decades, with women now needing to be 'skinny as a rake'. She replied: 'I dont think thats entirely true. If you look at the heroines of our time, the style icons like Rihanna, Beyonce and Kim Kardashian. 'They are famous for their looks, skinny is not how people want to look.' Listeners were quick to notice Mr Humphrys frequent interruptions, as he insisted that the shape of models on the cat walk was a big influence on young women, and that Vogue played into that with 'skinny' models on their front cover. Former editor-in-chief of British Vogue Alexandra Shulman attempted not to be drawn on conversations about Theresa May's trousers Ms Shulman, 59, responded: 'We have a mix of people on the fronts. Under my editorship, we have had quite a range, those people I mentioned, weve had the Duchess of Cambridge, Adele, we have a number of not particularly skinny women in the next few months. 'They [young women] do want to be models, but I do not think the only criteria they are looking at is the person on the front cover of Vogue.' Mr Humphrys, 74, was slammed on Twitter after using the phrase 'reasonably cosy or comfortably shaped' to describe women's bodies. He then asked Ms Shulman what she thought of Prime Minister May's fashion sense, asking her if she had been 'making a statement' when she posed in the leather trousers for an interview earlier this year. Ms Shulman said: 'I don't think she is having any influence. 'I think Theresa May has far more to worry about than what she is telling young women. 'I think she really is interested in clothes and quite rightly and hopefully by being one of the most high profile women in society she can be powerful and interested in fashion. 'There is a view that if you are high profile and interested in fashion, you are a big lightweight.' Several suggested he was out of his depth after the interview, with some referencing earlier debates this week as well On Twitter, listeners were furious about the interview, and Mr Humphrys name was even trending in the UK, thanks to the number of tweets. Veronica Kelsey asked: 'Why do BBC R4 today bother getting an expert when John Humphrys apparently knows everything there is to know about fashion #mansplaining'. Amy said: 'Did John Humphrys just describe women's body shape as 'cosy and comfortable'? What shape is 'powerful and strong' I wonder?' Emily Burt said: 'John Humphrys on the Today Show mansplaining how teenage girls are influenced by fashion right now - so off base it hurts.' Although Ms Shulman has not commented since the interview, she has retweeted several messages praising her handling of the debate, and one claiming Mr Humphrys had 'zero idea' of fashion today. Among the tweets she shared was: 'John Humphrys interviewing @AShulman2 on fashion is even worse than you could imagine. Offensive, ignorant, bizarre.' She also retweeted: 'Hugely disappointed that subject was hijacked by Mr Humphreys. Well done 4 not sounding exasperated & annoyed, listeners were!' The BBC has been contacted for comment. A man suspected of stabbing his flatmate to death with a knife at a public housing block is being questioned by police. The 34-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday morning by detectives investigating the death of father-of-four Charlie Grace on Tuesday night. Emergency services were called to a unit in Chifley, on Sydney's eastern beaches, after the body of the 47-year-old was found by a female friend. A man (pictured) suspected of stabbing his flatmate to death with a knife at a public housing block is being questioned by police The 34-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday morning by detectives investigating the death of father-of-four Charlie Grace (pictured) on Tuesday night Police cordoned off the entire block after storming a stairwell at the apartment building on Namatjira Place, Nine News reported. The victim's niece described Mr Grace as a 'devoted family man' and said his parents and sister were devastated. 'They're totally heartbroken, I've never seen my grandparents so fragile,' she said. Mr Grace, who went to Bondi Beach Public School and Dover Heights High, had lived in Sydney for the majority of his life. Emergency services were called to a unit in Chifley, on Sydney's eastern beaches, after the body of the 47-year-old (pictured as a child) was found by a female friend The 34-year-old man (pictured) was arrested by detectives at a home in Botany on Thursday morning Police (pictured) found a knife near a local preschool and believe it is the murder weapon used to stab Mr Grace Charges have not been laid against the 34-year-old (pictured), who was arrested at a unit in Botany at 9am on Thursday Police found a knife near a local preschool and believe it is the murder weapon. Charges have not been laid against the 34-year-old, who was arrested at a unit in Botany at 9am on Thursday. The man in custody was known to Mr Grace, and is believed to be his housemate. Mr Grace's family are flying to Sydney from New Zealand to formally identify his body. The man in custody (pictured) was known to Mr Grace, and is believed to be his housemate Dr Manish Shah, pictured outside court today, is accused of assaulting 54 victims at the practice in the borough of Havering in East London over a period of nine years A doctor charged with 118 sex attacks at a GP surgery, including a sexual assault on a girl under 13, has appeared in court for the first time today and will deny the charges. Dr Manish Shah is accused of assaulting 54 patients at the practice in the borough of Havering in East London over a period of nine years. The 47-year-old, of Romford appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Shah, who trained and qualified at St Bartholomew's Hospital in central London in 1993, is accused of 65 counts of assault by penetration and 52 allegations of sexual assault. Shah is also charged with one count of sexual assault on a child under 13 years. Dark-haired Shah appeared in the dock wearing a dark suit, purple tie and striped shirt. The charges were not read to him during the short hearing. But his defence lawyer, Julian Woodbridge, indicated Shah would be pleading not guilty to all the charges. Emilie Morrison, prosecuting, said: 'In terms of the charges, there are a total of 118 charges in this case. 'There is one charge against section seven of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, 65 against section two of the same act, and 52 against section three of the same act.' District Judge Richard Hawgood said: 'I will take the indication from the defendant as to what his pleas are in relation to the matters as a whole.' Mr Woodbridge replied: 'Indication not guilty.' Shah stood in the dock, with his hands clasped behind his back, and confirmed that was correct. The judge sent the case to Snaresbrook Crown Court for a hearing on September 27. Shah (sketched in the dock today), who trained and qualified at St Bartholomew's Hospital in central London in 1993, is accused of 65 counts of assault by penetration and 52 allegations of sexual assault but denies them, his lawyer said Dr Manish Shah is accused of assaulting 54 patients at the practice in the borough of Havering in East London (pictured) over a period of nine years Judge Hawgood told him: 'I hear what your indication is. These are matters that can only be dealt with in the crown court. 'I am sending you for trial on these matters to the crown court at Snaresbrook, where you will have your trial on a date to be fixed. 'It is appropriate for me to inform you that if you weren't to appear for your trial, then your trial can take place in your absence.' Shah was granted conditional bail on the basis he is not to practice as a GP, or purport to do so. It is alleged that Dr Manish Shah, 47, assaulted 54 victims at a surgery in Havering, east London , between June 2004 and July 2013 He is not to attend the medical centre, and is not to contact any former or current patients of the medical centre. Shah is also not to contact any employee, past or present, of the centre. And he is also not to access and NHS medical records directly or indirectly. Shah, of Romford, east London, will appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on September 27. The NHS website says Shah, who has been registered as a GP since March 2006, is able to perform some minor surgery and his main interest is in family planning. The website adds that he is able to 'fit and remove [contraceptive] coils' but it is unclear if any of the allegations relate to intimate examinations. Shah, who also speaks Hindi and Gujarati and was not born in the UK, lives in a detached home on a leafy neighbourhood in Romford where the average home costs more than 800,000. Shah lives in a detached home on a leafy neighbourhood in Romford where the average home costs more than 800,000 Land Registry records show that Shah bought the property for 305,000 in 1999. Shah was arrested on September 23, 2013, and has remained on bail since then for almost four years. He was re-bailed multiple times as officers continued to investigate the huge number of allegations against him. Earlier this year, detectives received fresh information in the long-running case which led to him being charged earlier this month. A spokesman for the General Medical Council (GMC) revealed Shah had been suspended since 2014 and said he would not be allowed to practise as a doctor if suspended, and they were unaware that he was still listed as working on the surgery website. Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov, who is known to be exceptionally close with the Russian premier, dramatically said there needs to be 'peace by the will of God' between the two nations. The bishop, who is widely seen as Putin's spiritual adviser called the war, which began with Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February, an 'unprecedented tragedy' and said it 'should end with peace'. The remarks are an extraordinary intervention by the clergyman and have sparked suggestions that Putin may be open to a deal after his humiliating defeat in Kherson. Russian troops were forced to abandon the city late last week amid a counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops, with reports that some disguised themselves as civilians as they attempted to flee. In what appeared to be a final act of retaliation, the despot's troops blew up the Nova Kakhovka dam as they retreated across the Dnipro River, as well as allegedly destroying the Antonovsky Bridge, which is the other main crossing point over the river in the Kherson region. In an interview with Rossiya 1 channel, and presumably speaking with Putin's permission, the 64-year-old bishop admitted the conflict is beginning to weigh heavily on the minds of Russians. A Swedish police officer has been stabbed in the neck in a busy square in Stockholm. Officials have said it was an unprovoked attack at Medborgarplatsen Square and that the knifeman has been arrested for attempted murder. The attacker is said to have crept up behind the police officer before delivering a blow to the neck at around 10.30am this morning. A man with blood-stained jeans is dragged away by two police officers as horrified residents look on Heavily armed specialist officers descend upon Stockholm after the attack on the police officer A police officer carrying an assault rifle talks to a member of the public during the lockdown of Medborgarplatsen Square The attacker is apprehended by a police officer as half a dozen colleagues spring into action Three police officers carefully comb for evidence after one of their colleagues was stabbed Police immediately locked down the area and witnesses described a man aged around 30 being dragged away. A witness told Aftonbladet: 'I got up from the subway when the police dragged a man, he appeared to be at the age of 30.' The injured policeman was rushed to Karolinska Hospital but the extent of his injuries are unknown at the moment. Consumers will no longer be slapped with outrageous surcharges when they purchase items using a credit card come Friday. New rules, set to come into effect at the start of September, will strip small retailers of their ability to charge excessive flat rates for customers making purchases via EFTPOS. The rules restrict businesses from making profit from card fees and mean they can only charge what it costs them to accept credit card payments. New ACCC rules mean consumers will no longer be slapped with outrageous surcharges when they purchase items using a credit card With the cost of accepting card payments varying widely depending on banks and different businesses, no single surcharge limit can be set. The move has prompted banks to allude businesses to the costs of accepting credit card and debit payments in percentage terms, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer and Commission, Michael Schaper, explained how the cost imposed on consumers could be dramatically affected. Small retailers will be stripped of their ability to charge excessive flat rates for customers making purchases via EFTPOS 'Our message to business is that you are not allowed to add on any of your own internal costs when calculating what surcharge you will charge customers.' 'The only costs businesses can include are external costs charged to you by your financial provider.' Figures identify retailers would normally pay banks 0.5 per cent of a transactions value for debit card payments, up to 1.5 per cent for Visa and Mastercard, and between 2 and 3 per cent for American Express payments. The rules restrict businesses from making profit from card fees and mean they can only charge what it costs them to accept credit card payments The ACCC can issue fines up to $2,500 to sole traders who breach the rules, $12,000 for proprietary limited companies, or $120,000 for an ASX-listed company. Serious breaches can incur fines of up to $1.3 million from a court. Small business can still charge flat fees, but Dr Schaper said they needed to ensure surcharges were lower than the cost of accepting payment in percentage terms. The new rules mirror a ban enforced on big business last September which saw a dramatic decline in credit card fees charged when booking flights online. The wife of a Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for 'insulting Islam' has said crowds were 'cheering like they were at a beach party' as he was publicly flogged. Raif Badawi, 33, was sentenced to ten years in prison and corporal punishment in 2014, and the first 50 of his lashes - which his wife says nearly killed him - was filmed. She is now petitioning for the newly-instated Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to pardon her husband, urging Saudi-ally UK and Prime Minister Theresa May to put pressure on the Arab state. Scroll down for video Freedom fighter: Ensaf Haidar holds a picture of her husband Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison in 2015 Ensaf Haidar, who fled to Canada with the couple's three children in 2013, tweeted the video from 2015 of her husband being flogged publicly this week. 'This crowd is not a beach party, it's how moderate Muslims act when they flog someone for expressing his own opinions,' she wrote. Ms Haidar has been campaigning tirelessly to secure her husband's release, setting up the Raif Badawi Foundation to raise awareness of the case. The first 50 of the 1,000 lashes Mr Badawi faces were administered in 2015, but following punishments has had to be postponed due to his health. Ms Haidar says the 50 lashes nearly killed her husband, who suffers from high blood pressure. Abhorrent: The family of Mr Badawi, 33, pictured in 2012 before his arrest, is urging the newly-ascended Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to pardon him Disgusting: Crowds can be heard cheering as Mr Badawi was publicly flogged 50 times in 2015, a punishment which nearly killed him Torture: The father-of-three still has 950 lashes and eight years left of his sentence She adds that the family have no idea how he is doing or when he is going to be flogged again. 'We have not heard anything from Raif or from Saudi Arabia, but we know that he will face further punishment - we are not told when,' Ms Haidar told MailOnline. 'We urge the newly crowned Prince Mohammed Ben Salman to pardon Raif and prevent the 950 lashings being carried out as this is putting Raif's life at risk. 'We also ask why the government in the UK - an ally of Saudi Arabia - remains silent, and that Prime Minister Theresa May uses her good relationship with Saudi Arabia to work for Raif's immediate release and send him back home to Canada to his family.' Ms Haidar hopes that the recent crowning of a new second-in line to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, may help her husband's case. The Crown Prince, 32 - the youngest defence minister in the world - is known for his efforts to modernise Saudi Arabia, and for promoting social media and internet connectivity. Since his ascent, the powers of country's feared religious police have been curbed, and non-religious musical concerts are now allowed. His 'Vision 2030' plan for the country promises to build a 'tolerant and thriving country in which all citizens can fulfill their dreams, hopes and ambitions. Mr Badawi founded website Free Saudi Liberals and called for free speech and was first detained in 2008, but released after questioning. He was arrested again in June 2012, and charged with 'insulting Islam through electronic channels' before his conviction in 2014. An out-of-control car has been filmed ploughing from woodland just yards from President Donald Trump's motorcade in dramatic footage. Shocking video shows the white vehicle appear suddenly from woodland as the heavily-guarded commander-in-chief passed by. Stunned onlookers captured the moment on cameraphones, amid fears the driver was attempting to ram the President's car. Clayte Hefner, who filmed the video, said he saw two women inside the car as it appeared from the woods. The white car (on the right) suddenly emerged from woodland as the President's motorcade passed by The vehicle hit a ditch and was disabled, Ozarksfirst reports. A man in the video is heard shouting: 'Oh my gosh! Look at the car that came out of the woods. That car right there just drove out of the woods!' But police in Springfield have said failed brakes appear to be to blame. A spokesman told KYTV that the driver had driven down an embankment from a nearby Bass Pro warehouse. Qantas flights out of Australia will no longer stop in Dubai, with the daily Sydney to London route going via Singapore instead. With Melbourne to London flights already flying via Perth and then non-stop to Europe, the March 2018 move means passengers will say goodbye to Dubai. The shake-up is a response to growing demand in Asia, as the airline increases capacity on the Melbourne to Singapore route. Qantas flights out of Australia will no longer stop in Dubai, with the daily Sydney to London route going via Singapore (pictured, stock image) instead The shake-up is a response to growing demand in Asia, as Qantas (pictured, stock image) increases capacity on the Melbourne to Singapore route Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announced last week the airline is hoping to eliminate Australia to Europe stopovers altogether by 2022, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Codeshare partner Emirates operates 77 flights to Europe, the Middle East and Africa via its Dubai hub, meaning Qantas jets are not required to fly there. 'That means we can redirect some of our A380 flying into Singapore and meet the strong demand we're seeing in Asia,' said Mr Joyce. Qantas and Emirates have applied to extend their alliance deal by five years. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (pictured, stock image) announced last week the airline is hoping to eliminate Australia to Europe stopovers altogether by 2022 With Melbourne to London flights already flying via Perth and then non-stop to Europe, the March 2018 move means passengers will say goodbye to Dubai (pictured, stock image) The reshuffle towards Asia comes as total inbound and outbound flight capacity in the 2017 financial year increased by 8.5 per cent. Mr Joyce is asking aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to produce passenger planes capable of flying from Sydney to London. He says such jets are almost possible already, and expects technological leaps to enable direct flights by 2020. 'This is the last frontier in global aviation, this is the antidote to the tyranny of distance and a revolution for air travel in Australia,' he said. 'A direct flight would cut up to four hours of the travel journey time direct to London, removing the need for stops midway means your journey is uninterrupted.' A man claiming to be a former SWAT deputy has been filmed warning a potential looter that he's not afraid to shoot him in flood-hit Houston. Armed with a shotgun, he screamed at anyone who approached a Little York Food Mart store, making terrifying threats. In footage which has since gone viral, the vigilante is seen telling one man: 'Hey, dont you go back in that store! Im telling you one time. Im not scared to shoot you.' In the video, the man is seen shouting: 'Hey, dont you go back in that store! Im telling you one time. Im not scared to shoot ya' His threats appear to work, as looters are seen running away from the scene. And another potential looter is warned: 'I will cut your a** in half. Dont go in that store no goddamn more!' The voice of the woman who filmed him is heard praising his actions. She said: 'They're looting the stores and this man out here is trying to literally protect the community.' Explaining what he was doing, the man said he was 'protecting the community where I live' Explaining what he was doing, the man said he was 'protecting the community where I live'. He continued: 'I grew up in this area, Im a former law enforcement officer, so I understand what the law says. If youre looting, youre stealing.' And the man said Houston needs 'real men to step up and protect where you live'. He was also filmed stating that looters should use their energy to rescue people, not to steal. A man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl who vanished from a wedding attended by nearly 200 guests, amid fears she has been kidnapped. Maelys De Araujo has not been seen since 3am on Sunday at a family wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isere, in theFrench Alps. The man arrested was 'near the wedding venue' when she disappeared, and his account of his whereabouts that night contained inconsistencies, a police source said. Maelys De Araujo has not been seen since 3am on Sunday at the event in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isere Police have expanded their search for the nine-year-old, who investigators fear may have been kidnapped Around 150 police officers are now working on the case, with a kidnapping investigation opened by prosecutors. Scores of local police, search and rescue teams, divers and cavers are searching the heavily-wooded area for signs of her. Maelys attended the wedding with her parents - her mother is a cousin of the bride - and her older sister. Regional police chief Yves Marzian said three sniffer dogs had all lost the scent from Maelys's cuddly toy at 'the same spot' in the car park outside the venue. 'One of the possible theories is that little Maelys left in a car, one way or another,' Marzian said. Police are increasingly worried the young girl may have been bundled in a car in the carpark of the wedding venue in the early hours of Sunday Police have been searching woodland near the wedding reception venue where Maelys went missing, and today discovered a hair clip Police divers have been in rivers searching for the missing schoolgirl, who was last seen at around 3am on Sunday French gendarmes are pictured searching for evidence in Pont-de-Beauvoisin today as concerns grow for the missing nine-year-old 'We are not losing hope to find some trace,' gendarme official Jean Pertue told reporters today, in comments shown on BFM television. The search has been broadened around the town of Pont-de Beauvoisin, and divers, search dogs, volunteer citizens and helicopters are also helping. Homes have also been searched as authorities become increasingly worried about Maelys. People who were at two other parties are also being questioned. One of the wedding guests, identified only as Gregory, told Le Parisien: 'The DJ for the evening announced on the microphone that a child had disappeared. Suddenly, everyone started searching, in the main hall and outside. 'It was anguish. To see the disappearance of a nine-year-old, that's not nothing.' A missing poster erected in the area to help find Maelys De Araujo, who has not been seen since 3am on Sunday French gendarmes search for evidence in the forest today in the area around Pont-de-Beauvoisin, eastern france, after Maelys De Araujo disappeared It was initially thought she may be asleep after playing a game of hide-and-seek. Gregory told the French newspaper he believes the young girl was kidnapped. A source close to the investigation said 'each passing hour' makes kidnapping more likely than the possibility that Maelys was involved in an accident or ran away. 'It's likely she got into a car,' the source told AFP. The child's mother and other relatives were receiving psychological counselling, the RTL broadcaster reported. Bob Jamieson (pictured), 70, has had to seek emergency medication after he ran out of insulin when his flight from Romania to Glasgow was cancelled Hundreds of British holidaymakers have been left stranded in Romania after their plane home was cancelled and their airline were unable to offer any alternative flights for a week. Dozens of Glasgow-bound passengers have been left with no option other than wait for the next available Wizz Air flight from Bucharest next Monday. The plane was due to depart on Monday August 28 but was forced to undergo 'unscheduled technical maintenance'. It is understood other passengers have managed to fly home on rival airlines. One of those affected, company director Bob Jamieson, 70, from Peebles in the Borders, is now staying in a hotel near the airport. Mr Jamieson has had to seek emergency medication after running out of insulin to treat his diabetes. The abrupt cancellation in the Romanian Capital meant a scheduled Glasgow to Bucharest flight on Monday night also had to be scrapped. Mr Jamieson, who had been visiting Romania to attend a wedding, described the situation as 'crazy'. He said: 'The whole situation was crazy. We expected it at 10pm but no plane arrived. 'By 11pm people started getting very angry. There were 200 people and it was just pandemonium. The Wizz Airline flight (stock picture) was forced to undergo 'unscheduled technical maintenance' 'We were asked to check out of the airport as if just arriving and then check back in again, including travelling through security. Are you stranded? Are you stuck in Romania? Contact keiran.southern@mailonline.co.uk or call 02036151136 Advertisement 'It meant we had to take our bags back to the other end of the airport, through arrivals, through baggage check, everything as if we were booking for a new flight. 'By now it was 1am and children were crying. It was just crazy. 'And then a notice came up on the screen saying cancelled. 'We were wondering what on earth was going on. We were then diverted back to the Wizz Air desk, 200 people in a queue and given a boarding pass for the next flight to Glasgow. Which was next Monday - a week away.' Passengers were told they could stay at a hotel, but Mr Jamieson said there was a dispute over who would pay for the accommodation before the airline eventually agreed to cover costs. Holidaymakers were left stranded at Bucharest Airport (pictured) after the Glasgow-bound flight was cancelled and told there would not be another one for a week He added: 'I think there is maybe 30 or 40 people at the hotel. 'Others will book a new flight to London and get a connection at their own cost.' 'The problem was that when I came to the wedding last week, all the medication I have lasted me until yesterday. 'I am a diabetic and I take insulin injections and my insulin ran out last night. 'I phoned my doctor and the hotel organised a pharmacy in Bucharest to deliver medication for me. 'It was an emergency and I have been cold and shivering. 'I was told if I didn't get it in the next two hours I would go into a coma and be in hospital.' A spokesman for Wizz Air has apologised and offered a free rebooking or full refunds to those affected. He said: 'The aircraft operating Wizz Air flights W6 3017 Bucharest-Glasgow and W6 3018 Glasgow-Bucharest on August 28 needed to undergo unscheduled technical maintenance. 'Initially only a delay was predicted by the engineers but the works took longer than expected and unfortunately Wizz had to cancel the flights. 'Passengers were offered free rebooking or a full refund. 'Wizz Air sincerely apologises to all affected customers for any inconvenience caused. 'The safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority.' This is the romantic moment a man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the Pope at the Vatican. The moment happened directly in front of Pope Francis who was carrying out a 'routine audience' with a reception for Catholic legislators at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. But Venezuelan politician and activist Dario Ramirez took the opportunity to create a proposal to remember for his partner Maryangel Espinal. Ramirez is an exile from the Maduro regime in Venezuela, having fled the country in 2014. This is the romantic moment a man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the Pope at the Vatican He got down on bended knee and asked for her hand in marriage as the Pope beamed in the background. Mr Ramirez said: 'When we were introduced to the Holy Father, I explained the situation in Venezuela and the situation facing political prisoners. 'I then said to the Pope: 'There's a third thing I want to ask you. I explained to the Holy Father that the woman next to me is the woman of my life. I met her in church, God put her in my life, and I want to propose to her. So I got down on one knee and asked.' Ms Espinal was momentarily lost for words saying she had 'no idea' the proposal was coming, forcing the Catholic leader to intervene. The moment happened directly in front of Pope Francis who was carrying out a 'routine audience' with a reception for Catholic legislators at the Vatican in Rome, Italy Venezuelan politician and activist Dario Ramirez took the opportunity to create a proposal to remember for his partner Maryangel Espinal The Pope said: 'He asked you to marry him, what do you say?' to which she finally managed to say: 'Yes, of course.' The pontiff then officially blessed the pair and their upcoming nuptials. The proposal had been carefully planned, with Mr Ramirez having to obtain permission to pop the question from Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the patron of the International Catholic Legislators Network, who was also in the audience. Ramirez is an exile from the Maduro regime in Venezuela, having fled the country in 2014 The Pope said: 'He asked you to marry him, what do you say?' to which she finally managed to say: 'Yes, of course' But despite the preparation, Pope Francis was said to have been kept out of the loop and was very 'surprised'. The engagement comes after many years of hardship for the Venezuelan. He said: 'I had lost everything. I had lost my job. I was far from my family. I was in a country where I practically didn't know anyone. I was devastated.' Scammers are posing as fundraisers looking for kindhearted donations in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, officials have warned. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) issued a warning on Monday that scammers are taking advantage of the disaster by using social media and email to send out fake links promising to help victims. Instead, the links send viewers to phony websites where thieves steal credit card and personal information from visitors. Others have been setting up fake charities claiming to raise funds for Harvey victims but pocket the money instead. The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a warning on Monday that scammers are taking advantage of people wanting to donate to Hurricane Harvey disaster relief. Pictured above, Kathryn Loder sorts donated clothing at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey inches its way through the area on Tuesday The number of confirmed deaths linked to Harvey is at least 23. Authorities are investigating 17 more deaths to determine whether they were storm-related, and they fear many more bodies may be found as floodwaters start receding US-CERT said in a statement: 'Users are advised to exercise caution in handling any email with subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks related to Hurricane Harvey, even if it appears to originate from a trusted source. 'Fraudulent emails will often contain links or attachments that direct users to phishing or malware-infected websites. 'Emails requesting donations from duplicitous charitable organizations commonly appear after major natural disasters.' HOW TO AVOID PHISHING SCAMS IN THE WAKE OF HARVEY Donate to chairities you trust that have proven track records Be alert for charities that appear to have sprung up overnight Ensure your money is going to a disaster fun, rather than a general fund for charities Never click links or open attachments in emails unless you know the person who sent it Don't assume charity messages are legitimate Confirm donation numbers before texting or calling to donate Find out if the charity or fundraiser is registered Source: FTC Advertisement Dan Lohrmann, head of computer security company Security Mentor, told CBS that cyber criminals are posing as members of legitimate foundations to steal money from unsuspecting victims. For example, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund is accepting donations through the Greater Houston Community Foundation. But scammers posing to be part of the foundation are sending out emails with links leading people to counterfeit websites. Facebook, has pledged to match every donation up to $1million for a Hurricane Harvey recover fund, and Twitter have also been hit by the cyber criminals. Lohrmann said that scam charity pages have been set up on Facebook that appear to raise money for the Harvey relief effort, but instead lead social media users to phony websites. He said that on Twitter, bots have been using fake donation links that lead users to malicious software or to spam messages. Houston has also warned residents of scammers, posing as firefighters and Homeland Security special agents and telling people to evacuate in order to ransack their homes. Phishing scams have long been a worldwide problem after disasters. The Federal Trade Commision issued warnings after earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador in 2016. There are a number of legitimate foundations working to raise money for victims of Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey. Evacuees escaping the floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center that has been set up as a shelter in Houston There are a number of official charities that people can donate to in the wake of Harvey's destruction. The Salvation Army takes donations through its website, helpsalvationarmy.org, by phone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or by texting STORM to 51555. The Red Cross takes donations at redcross.org, by phone at 1-800-RED-CROSS, or by texting HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Charity Navigator has recommended a number of local charities that people can donate to, including Houston SPCA, Houston Humane Society, Houston Food Bank, Food Bank of Corpus Christi, and the San Antonio Human Society. Houston Texans star JJ Watt launched his own fundraising effort, and has raised more than $9million for the relief effort. Houston's 911 headquarters is furiously trying to keep up with tens of thousands of calls for help related to Harvey. Operators are aiding panicked callers even as they're dealing with their own personal losses in the storm. At its worst, from Sunday into Monday, some 75,000 calls poured in, more than eight times the normal 24-hour load. The number of confirmed deaths linked to Harvey is at least 23. Authorities are investigating 17 more deaths to determine whether they were storm-related, and they fear many more bodies may be found as floodwaters start receding. David Davis and Michel Barnier swapped barbs in Brussels today as the Brexit talks were left deadlocked after the third round of talks. The Brexit Secretary and EU Chief Negotiator concluded the August round of negotiations with a frosty press conference that demonstrated little progress. Mr Davis said he believed 'concrete' moves had been made on some issues but defended Britain's firm rebuttal of the EU's exit bill. He said EU leaders had to give Mr Barnier more room to negotiate 'imaginative' solutions if the impasse was to be breached. But in a withering response, Mr Barnier accused Britain of 'nostalgia', protested a lack of 'trust' on EU citizens living in Britain and warned he would never allow its single market to be watered down. And he said he was 'quite far' from recommending to EU leaders they authorise trade talks - pointing out again that time was fast running out for a deal. Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured today in Brussels) said there had been 'concrete progress' on a number of issues and insisted the approach was 'bearing fruit' But Mr Davis was accused of 'nostalgia' by Mr Barnier in a tense joint press conference in Brussels (pictured) In response, Mr Barnier (pictured during today's clash) accused Britain of 'nostalgia' and warned the European Union would never allow its single market to be watered down Mr Davis and Mr Barnier came face to face at the joint press conference today, said he remained dedicated to getting the best outcome for British people and business The EU agreed in March future UK-EU arrangements must not be discussed until Britain agrees an exit bill, rules on operating the Irish-UK border and reciprocal agreements for citizens after Brexit. The deadlock makes it likely the next round of talks in September will be dominated by the same issues. European leaders are not due to gather until October. At the end of the third round of talks: Both sides are far apart on the Brexit bill. The EU used this week to outline demands reportedly running to 90billion but Britain challenged it line by line Barnier warned there was still no 'trust' on sorting out citizens' rights - pointing out Brussels' fears had been heightened by the Home Office wrongly sending out deportation letters But Davis was able to reveal agreement on continuing 'EHIC' rules that allow British and European citizens to use health services while travelling The next round of talks in September are will now try to break the deadlock but will not be held before the next meeting of EU leaders Labour's Sir Keir Starmer revealed his alarm at the two sides appearing to drift further apart as talks continue Standing beside Brexit Secretary David Davis at a tense press conference in Brussels, Mr Barnier said he respected the British decision to quit the EU and the single market but he warned he would not let the market be 'undermined by Brexit'. Mr Barnier said it was 'impossible' for Britain to set its own standards for products and to expect them to be sold in the single market without EU oversight. In his own statement, Mr Davis said there had been 'concrete progress' on a number of issues and insisted the British approach was 'bearing fruit'. As the latest round of negotiations wrapped up in Brussels, Tony Blair visited to pay a regular visit to Commission President Jean Claude Juncker (pictured together today) Mr Blair has no role in Britain's negotiations but remains a close confidant of senior figures in Brussels following his decade in No 10 Mr Davis said he remained dedicated to getting the 'best outcome for the people and business of the EU and United Kingdom'. BLAIR SWEEPS INTO BRUSSELS FOR 'LOVE-IN' WITH JUNCKER Jean-Claude Juncker and Tony Blair embrace as they hold private talks in Brussels as UK government ministers and EU officials hold formal Brexit negotiations Remainer-in-chief Tony Blair swept into Brussels today where he embraced his old friend Jean-Claude Juncker. Mr Blair hugged and kissed the Eurocrat in front of the cameras as Brexit Secretary David Davis held crunch talks with the EU nearby. The former PM is desperate for Britain to stay in the bloc and earlier this year urged remainers to 'rise up' to defend the ties. It remains a mystery exactly what the former Labour leader is discussing with the European Commission President in their private talks. Mr Blair and Mr Juncker have known each other for many and are said to be personal friends after working closely together while the ex-Labour leader was in No 10. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels the meeting was 'certainly not part of a conspiracy' to undermine Brexit. Advertisement But he admitted there were still 'significant differences' on the crucial issue of Britain's exit bill - claiming the EU's demands had to be 'specified, they have got to be real'. Mr Davis said Britain would only pay in 'accordance with law and in the spirit of the EU's continuing partnership with the EU'. He insisted he had a duty to taxpayers to 'interrogate' the demand closely. And he complained: 'The UK's approach is substantially more flexible and pragmatic' than the Commission's'. In his opening speech, Mr Barnier warned that 'with every passing day we move closer to the date of Britain's departure from the EU'. He said the week's talks had led to useful clarifications on border issues, how social security will work and outstanding cases on Brexit day. But he warned: 'We did not get decisive progress on any of the principal subjects.' He said the 'fundamental question' that needed to be answered will be whether Britain's departure is 'properly organised'. The chief negotiator warned of 'consequences' if the negotiations fail. Mr Barnier said: 'In the interests if the European continent we believe the best way is with agreement.' He added: 'At the current state of progress we are quite far from being able to say sufficient progress has taken place, sufficient for me to recommend to the European council we engage in discussions on the future arrangements.' Mr Barnier warned: 'EU taxpayers should not pay at 27 for obligations undertaken at 28. In July, the UK recognised it had obligations beyond the Brexit date. Following today's negotiating session (pictured) Mr Davis said he remained dedicated to getting the 'best outcome for the people and business of the EU and United Kingdom' After today's talks Mr Barnier said it was 'impossible' for Britain to set its own standards for products and to expect them to be sold in the single market without EU oversight 'But this week it explained its obligations would be limited to obligations before departure.' Answering questions, Mr Barnier denied being angry but said he was both 'impatient and determined' to make progress. He said: 'If I do get angry it will be obvious.' WHAT DOES THE EU SAY BRITAIN MUST PAY FOR? Michel Barnier publicly presented a list of things he said Britain had committed to as an EU member it must still pay for: Long term loans to Ukraine Aid spending in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries via the European Development Fund Green infrastructure within Europe Advertisement Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said he was alarmed at the failure to make progress. He said: 'After three rounds of negotiations, real progress should have been made and in principle agreements reached on all phase one issues. Instead, the two sides appear to be getting further apart. 'The risk of not reaching the October deadline to move on to the main negotiations is now very real; which increases the risk of Britain leaving with 'no deal' in March 2019. 'No deal would be the worst possible outcome for the British people.' Discussing the contentious payment for the first time this week, UK negotiators rubbished the bloc's financial demands and accused the EU of forcing Britain to pay for 'everything including the kitchen sink'. So far Brussels chiefs have refused to discuss any future trade deal until Britain agrees how much it is willing to pay towards exit bill that could reach 90billion. The deadlock makes it likely the next round of talks in September will be dominated by the same issues. European leaders are not due to gather until October. But last night Theresa May appealed to EU leaders, including Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, to kick start the stalling talks or face a backlash from businesses across the continent which will suffer. And following a hostile meeting in Brussels, the Brexit Secretary is preparing to call on leaders of the 27 remaining member states to soften their demands. British officials believe Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the European Commission, has been left with little wriggle room due to the 'rigid' mandate previously set by EU leaders. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer (file image) said he was alarmed at the failure to make progress While the UK has guaranteed it will pay some money as part of any deal, the EU is determined to extract tens of billions to plug the hole left by our departure. British negotiators have this week presented 11 pages of legal advice, following months of dispute over our obligations, which raise significant concerns about the legality of the EU demands. The UK believes a Commission paper setting out the supposed obligations is 'not satisfactory' and wants to scrutinise each financial demand individually. A source familiar with the UK's negotiating position said: 'Nobody would write a cheque on the basis of the Commission's four-page paper.' An eventual deal could see the UK paying into the EU's budget for two years after Brexit as part of a transition arrangement, with more contentious demands struck out. The discussions come amid a deepening war of words over how to find agreement on the issue, with British ministers desperate to start trade talks as soon as possible. Director General at the Department for Exiting the European Union Sarah Healey, Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and the UK's Permanent Representative to the European Union Tim Barrow In a bid to get Brussels to see sense last night, the Prime Minister said: 'I think a good trade deal is not just about the UK, it is about what is good for businesses in what will be the 27 remaining states of the EU as well. I think it is in all our interest to move onto those trade talks and to get a good deal.' Despite his stern warnings as the third round of negotiations started on Monday, Mr Barnier yesterday hinted at compromise if Britain provides more detail about its position. He told reporters in Brussels: 'We need to know their position and then I can be flexible.' Writing on Twitter, he also said: 'European Commission guidelines are designed for serious and constructive negotiations, but we need clear UK positions on all issues.' Michel Barnier made his latest public intervention on Twitter last night, warning the strict rules for his tactics are 'designed for serious and constructive negotiations' However the Prime Minister hit back at accusations from European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Mr Barnier that Britain has so far failed to spell out in detail what it wants. Mr Juncker said it was 'crystal clear' that trade talks should not yet begin. Mrs May said: 'We have done a significant amount of work. You have seen some of the papers we have been publishing, we will be publishing more papers setting out more aspects of our future relationship and where we want it to go.' But she said Britain had no intention of putting a figure on how much it thinks that it owes towards the Brexit bill drawn up by the EU. Mrs May was speaking from Japan, where has been meeting this week with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the hope of laying the ground for a free trade deal after Brexit. However the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator poured cold water on the idea of breaking the impasse over the divorce bill. Guy Verhofstadt said moving to trade talks in October as hoped by the UK appears increasingly unlikely. The trio met yesterday meet at the British representation, on the sideline of the 3rd round of Brexit Negotiation with the European commission in Brussels, Belgium Mr Davis arrived in Brussels last night to tie off this week's discussions and is expected to stand alongside Mr Barnier at a press conference today This prompted an angry rebuke from Tory MEP Syed Kamall who accused the former Belgian prime minister of acting 'way beyond his pay grade'. Brussels has also insisted the future trade relationship will not be discussed until the UK makes 'sufficient progress' on agreeing citizens' rights and the Northern Ireland border. Britain however remains confident that trade talks will be given the green light during an EU leaders' summit in October and that the scope of the Brexit bill can be changed as officials 'peel away' various negotiating hurdles from EU guidelines. Despite this, several issues remain disputed, including the role of the European Court of Justice. Mr Davis's team has also been left perplexed by the EU's refusal to negotiate on the UK remaining part of the European Health Insurance Card scheme, which allows holidaymakers access to hospital care while they are abroad. Former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf has been branded a fugitive during the trial of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder. Ms Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, and then-president Musharraf was implicated in her killing, but resigned before fleeing the country to avoid trial. Today, a court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan acquitted five men accused of being involved in the murder of Ms Bhutto - the first female prime minister of a Muslim country. Runaway: Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf was charged with Bhutto's 2007 assassination in 2013, but is currently in self-imposed exile in Dubai The men were accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to kill Bhutto, but will now walk free. The verdicts are the first to be issued since Ms Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, an assassination which sparked street violence and plunged Pakistan into months of political turmoil. Musharraf, a decorated ex-army chief and president from 2001-2008, is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation. He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013. This was an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution. But he has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. Icon: Benazir Bhutto - the first female prime minister of a Muslim country - was assassinated in 2007, but no one has yet been convicted of her murder BENAZIR BHUTTO: A LIFE OF TURBULENCE Benazir Bhutto was killed little more than two months after returning from exile, in December 2007. She was born in 1953, and went on to study at Harvard and Oxford University. Her father, former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 on the orders of military dictator Zia ul-Haq. She headed to Britain after his death, maintaining a firm grip on the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from exile. Bhutto returned to Pakistan, and after Zia's death in 1988, Bhutto, then 35, became the first female prime minister of an Islamic country. But observers said that, without full control over the civil and military establishments, she was never able to govern properly. She was elected twice and both times thrown out of office on corruption allegations. Bhutto and her husband also faced a raft of corruption charges overseas, which they denied. Bhutto went back into exile in 1999 when military leader Pervez Musharraf took over in a bloodless coup. Her heralded return in 2007 was quickly marred by a suicide attack that killed 139 people. Before she was killed, aged 54, Bhutto was hoping for a third term in power in 2008 elections. Advertisement Today's ruling in court found that Musharraf has had 'absconded', a court official told reporters outside, saying it had also ordered the confiscation of his property. Judges in Rawalpindi also found two police officers guilty of 'mishandling the crime scene', the court official said. The police officers - Saud Aziz, who was chief of Rawalpindi police at the time, and senior officer Khurram Shahzad - are now the only two people to have been convicted over Bhutto's assassination. Shahzad was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after the assassination took place, an act the United Nations described in a report into the assassination as 'fundamentally inconsistent with Pakistani police practice'. Aziz was accused of both giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene, and of refusing to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. They were each been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 rupees (6,080), according to a court order. Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented. The woman fighting for life after suffering cardiac arrest during a botched boob job has been revealed as Jean Huang, 35, as it's discovered she was given ten times the normal dosage of painkiller. The Chinese tourist allegedly behind the botched procedure, Jie Shao, 33, - who holds no Australian medical license - is facing 20 years' jail. Jie Shao has been charged with causing reckless grievous bodily harm and using poison to endanger the life of Jean Huang who suffered cardiac arrest during the breast procedure at Chippendale's Medi Beauty Group clinic on Wednesday. Scroll down for video The woman fighting for life after suffering cardiac arrest during a botched boob job has been revealed as Jean Huang, 35 Ms Huang, 35, believed to be the manager and co-owner of the clinic, was rushed to hospital where she remains in a critical condition. 'If she does not survive there'll be more serious charges laid,' said the crown prosecutor during Shao's bail application at Central Local Court on Thursday. The court heard Shao, who appeared via audio-visual link, had made a number of admissions in relation to administering local anaesthetic and breast fillers at the Medi Beauty Laser and Contour Clinic. Court documents allege she administered 'an intoxicating substance, tramadol and lida caine (sic)' to Ms Huang who reportedly owns the clinic. Shao is not a licensed medical practitioner in Australia, the Crown said. Ms Huang, 35, (pictured) was rushed to hospital where she remains in a critical condition Jie Shao (pictured) appeared in Central Local Court charged with recklessly inflicting bodily harm and using a poison so as to endanger life A 35-year-old woman was in cardiac arrest and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition when paramedics arrived at the beauty clinic Shao's solicitor, Mary Underwood, said her client was a graduate of a Canton medical university and a specialist in dermatology who had practiced in China and Great Britain. She had arrived in Australia four or five days previously with two Chinese passports because her tourist visa - which expires in November - was attached to her old passport, Ms Underwood said. The Crown argued Shao, who was due to return to China on Thursday, was a flight risk and a danger to the community. Magistrate Sharon Freund agreed and formally refused bail, saying the prosecution case was strong and the maximum penalty for each of the offences was 10 years in custody. The matter was adjourned to the same court on Tuesday. Ms Huang, 35, (left and right) was rushed to hospital where she remains in a critical condition Ms Huang, 35, believed to be the owner of the clinic, was rushed to hospital where she remains in a critical condition According to its website, the Medi Beauty Laser and Contour Clinic offers state-of-the-art beauty services based on the latest medical technologies. 'All treatment facilities, materials, resources and products meet the stringent requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Medicines Australia,' it states. Professor David A Scott, president of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetics, told AAP he was worried by the incident. Only practitioners registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency can inject a local anaesthetic into the skin, he said on Thursday. Referring to reports Ms Huange was given 1.5 grams of tramadol (a pain killing drug) intravenously, Professor Scott said it was 'a massive excess of dose' and 'unsafe'. 'A normal dose would be less than one tenth of that,' he said. The skincare clinic, which only opened recently in the Central Park Mall, specialises in laser and contour treatment and 'injectable forms of beauty therapy' Clinic offers non-surgical facelifts, skin tightening, hair removal, fat freezing, 'anti-wrinkle injections', and a 'hyaluronic acid facial' (woman pictured has not been charged) Dr Gazi Hussain, vice president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons told AAP when it comes to cosmetic injectables there's a blurred line between medical procedure and beauty therapy. 'You don't need to have any medical training whatsoever to be injecting these substances,' he said on Thursday. 'It's worrying but it's also the reason why we've seen the explosion of walk-in clinics in shopping centres. 'These are invasive procedures and they do carry significant risks with them.' He said there needs to be better guidelines around who is able to inject or administer these drugs. The bodies of two dozen refugees trying to flee the violence in Burma have washed up on the shores of Bangladesh in the last two days. Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are making desperate attempts to flee the worst violence involving the Burma minority in at least five years. On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children, and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the river Naf after their boat overturned, local authorities said. Tragedy: People gather around the bodies of 11 children and nine women who died after a boat carrying Rohingya people capsized off Bangladesh's southeastern coast, in Teknaf On Wednesday, the bodies of two Rohingya women and two children were recovered after their boat was fired on by Burma's Border Guard Police, said Ariful Islam, a commander with Bangladesh's border guards. A Rohingya leader in Bangladesh cited survivors saying both boats were overcrowded. Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Burma since Friday, three United Nations sources said. Clashes in Rakhine state, which reportedly started with Rohingya insurgents attacking police posts and an army base, have killed at least 117 people. The Burma government says its security forces are carrying out clearance operations in northern Rakhine to defend the country against 'extremist terrorists'. Monitors say that fleeing Rohingya are reporting that the army and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have unleashed a campaign of arson aimed at driving the Muslim population out. Reuters reporters in Bangladesh on Thursday saw a huge fire across the Naf River on the Burma side of the border. Many villages were also on fire near the major town of Maungdaw in Rakhine, where another Reuters reporter saw charred debris and smoke billowing from the forest. The U.N. sources in Bangladesh said around 20,000 Rohingya were still stranded in no man's land between the two countries, with one predicting the figure could jump to 30,000 later on Thursday. Myanmar Border Guard Police officers travel in a wooden boat in the area where thousands have been forced to flee a week of violent clashes Burma has evacuated thousands of Buddhists from Rakhine since the start of the fighting that has mainly killed Rohingya insurgents but also security force personnel, according to the Burma government. The treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya in Burma is the biggest challenge facing national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long complained of persecution. In the Bangladeshi border district of Cox's Bazar, makeshift camps for the displaced set up since similar violence last October were being expanded. One of those arrivals, Mohammed Rashid, 45, wore a surgical dressing under his eye, which he said was the result of bullet splinters hitting him after the Burma army opened fire on a group of Rohingya. He said about 100 people made their way to the border together, and that he saw explosions and people dying. 'We hid in the forest for two days and then we were stopped at the border, but we got through. We heard that the houses in our village have burned down,' Rashid told Reuters at the camp. Chris Lewa, of the Rohingya monitoring group the Arakan Project, said it appeared Burma security forces were trying to drive out a large proportion of the Rohingya population. She also said that ethnic Rakhine vigilantes were now 'actively participating in the burning of villages'. Myanmar police guard from the roof of a truck carrying local U.N. staff as they flee from Maungdaw in Buthidaung, Rakhine State, western Myanmar during the violence 'What we're hearing is burning, burning, burning,' she said. 'And it seems to be spreading from south to north.' Burma has said it has the right to defend itself from attack, adding that security personnel were told to protect innocent civilians. The Burma army has said it was battling insurgents who continued to ambush government forces, blaming them for setting fires to the villages. Monitors say there have been few, if any, insurgent attacks reported since Friday's initial offensive. The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a similar but much smaller series of Rohingya attacks on security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Burma and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Burma since the early 1990s. Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country mainly by small wooden boats, though thousands of others have set up temporary camps along the porous land border between the countries, borders guards said. The International Organization for Migration joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in appealing to Bangladesh to admit people caught on the border. Bangladesh has insisted it does not have the resources to care for them, though many have slipped in, mainly at night. Aid workers operating in the area say contingency stocks of materials are low and the biggest problem facing relief workers is extreme overcrowding in the existing makeshift settlements. China has attacked UK Prime Minister Theresa May, calling her 'weak and vulnerable', as she urged Beijing take action against North Korea. Mrs May asked China to use its leverage as North Korea's main ally to put pressure on Pyongyang, following Tuesday's launch of a test missile over Japan. But Beijing has today said that war is 'not an option' to resolve the issue of North Korea's claims it is getting close to developing nuclear weapons. Mud-slinging: Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe during a business forum in Tokyo today, was accused of being 'weak' by China An editorial in the state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times said: 'May's Conservative party lost many seats, turning her into a vulnerable prime minister. 'Weak people often look for opportunities to show their strength. Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea.' The editorial also accused Mrs May of 'rehashing' U.S. President Donald Trump's statements on North Korea. Earlier today, China's Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Ren Guoqiang said that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. Ren said it's China's position that 'military means cannot be an option for resolving this issue.' Statement: Mrs May reviews an honor guard, together with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force's helicopter carrier Izumo at Yokosuka base, southwest of Tokyo Mrs May has asked China to use it's leverage as North Korea's main ally to put pressure on Pyongyang, who celebrated Tuesday's missile launch with televised 'parade', pictured No words: President Trump tweeted on Wednesday that 'talking is not the answer!' Beijing has also slammed a report that suggested the US, Japan and Britain were planning fresh punitive measures against the North, saying calls for sanctions were 'destructive' and that those measures alone 'cannot fundamentally resolve the issue'. The British Prime Minister's comments on China's role in de-escalating tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world came during her trip to Japan this week. Mrs May said: 'Now we need to ensure it's not just words of condemnation, but that action is taken, and China does have a particular position in this. 'They have leverage on North Korea, and I believe we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage.' Dear-anged Leader: Kim Jong-un viewed the launch of the long-range ballistic missile test on Tuesday in person The statements by China and Mrs May came after President Donald Trump declared that 'talking is not the answer' on North Korea. President Trump tweeted: 'The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!' The statement raised fresh uncertainty about the Trump administration's strategy for North Korea, as the U.S. and South Korea wrapped up their annual war games. Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops took part in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint military drills, a largely computer-simulated exercise that ran for two weeks in the South. The annual drills are viewed by nuclear-armed Pyongyang as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion, and it always meets them with threats of strong military counteraction. North Korea has said that Tuesday's missile test was a direct response to the annual drills, calling it 'a part of the muscle-flexing' against the war games. A bin man has admitted supplying Ecstasy that led to the death of a 15-year-old school girl. Jacob Khanlarian, 20, provided class A drugs for Leah Kerry, who died in a hospital a day after being found unconscious in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon, on July 14. Yesterday he plead guilty to five drugs charges when he appeared at Exeter crown court. Jacob Khanlarian (left), 20, admitted providing class A drugs to Leah Kerry (right) who died in a hospital a day after being found unconscious in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon Khanlarian walked into a police station and confessed hours after her death, the court heard. He admitted supplying a quantity of cannabis between January 2013 and July this year. He also supplied Ecstasy to one young girl and MDMA to another on the same day that Miss Kerry fell ill. Khanlarian plead guilty to supplying MDMA to others between January 2015 and July this year. His lawyer Jeff Segan asked for the case to be adjourned because he was still awaiting the results of a toxicology report on Leah's death. He said: 'There was a fatality involved in this case.' Mr Segan said it would be 'a betrayal of common sense' to sentence his client - who has no previous convictions - before the exact circumstances of that fatality are known 'and the part played by drugs supplied by my client'. Miss Kerry, 15, died after attending an all night drink and drugs party Miss Kerry died after attending an all night drink and drugs party. Two other young girlfriends were hospitalised, but later recovered. At a previous hearing Judge Graham Cottle gave a brief overview of the case saying: 'The defendant supplied drugs to a number of young girls in Newton Abbot, one of whom died. 'And when that news came to the defendant's ears he got in touch with the police to say that he had been the person responsible for the supplying of the drugs to the girl who had died and others as well.' Mr Segan said: 'That's correct, he made full and frank admissions at the police station.' Judge Cottle said: 'The sole outstanding issue is whether the drugs supplied were of the type the Crown say they were.' Miss Kerry's family said she knew about the dangers of drugs but thought she was invincible and 'rolled the dice' by taking them. They said in a statement: 'Sadly, despite being well aware of the risks, she thought she was invincible and she rolled the dice and had paid the ultimate price. 'If there are young people who have known Leah, or who have heard her story, I would urge them on Leah's behalf to not make the same mistake. 'If even one young person decides to reduce their risk taking behaviour and not take these dangerous tablets, then Leah's death has not been in vain.' Her loved ones called for former legal highs - known as NPS, or New PsychoactiveSubstances - to be at the top of the Government's drugs strategy. Khanlarian, pictured, leaving Exeter crown court, handed himself into police hours after Miss Kerry died They said: 'It's so shocking that a 15 year old girl who is socialising with other 15-year-old peers is able to easily have access to a drug so strong that it could lead to her death. 'The sudden and tragic passing of our beautiful Leah has been the most painful experience that we have all ever had to endure. 'Leah was a delightful, strong willed, caring and compassionate child and have developed into a courageous and confident young woman who was ready to take on the world. 'Leah had really started to engage in her education and for the first time since leaving primary school, felt very well accepted and supported by her school setting in Salisbury. 'She lit up any room she walked into with her incredible personality, sense of humour, striking looks and demeanour, those who know her will ache to hear the words 'you alright' one last time. 'Leah had the benefit of good information and advice from many different sources at various intervals of her adolescent life, Leah was well aware of the nature or different illicit substances and the risk attached.' Leah, who lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire,had been visiting family and friends in Torquay. At the time police said they believed she had died after taking a new psychoactive substance. The previous judge, Recorder Jeremy Wright, agreed to adjourn the case for three weeks but said 'hard pressed' staff must make the toxicology report available. Khanlarian was remanded in custody and is facing a long jail term for his drug supplying. A Melbourne doctor who vowed to help parents avoid compulsory immunisations for their children has agreed to stop practising medicine. Dr John Piesse entered into the agreement with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency on Thursday while they investigate claims against him. It comes just a week after the GP declared he would continue to advise people on vaccination exemptions 'until they deregister' him. Scroll down for video Doctor John Piesse (pictured) has entered into an agreement with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to stop practising medicine Dr Piesse, who works at the Natural Healing Centre in Mitcham, agreed to stop practising in the interim and could still have his licence suspended pending the health authorities' enquiries. He is among three general practitioners who are currently under investigation after allegedly offering services to parents who are against vaccinations, according to the Herald Sun. Dr Piesse has reportedly seen at least 450 children since 2015, but said he had not provided a letter of exemption against immunisations for 'every one', The Age reports. He was advised on Thursday that his medical registration could be suspended while the investigation occurred. It comes just a week after the GP (pictured) declared he would continue to advise people on vaccination exemptions 'until they deregister' him Dr Piesse, who works at the Natural Healing Centre in Mitcham (pictured), agreed to stop practising in the interim and could still have his licence suspended pending the health authorities' enquiries. Adamant that he had 'tried to help' and had done nothing illegal, Dr Piesse stated last week that he planned to continue advising parents. 'I will... until they basically deregister me... unless I can be persuaded that what I am doing is wrong,' he said. The Melbourne GP was previously captured on camera at an anti-vaccination film screening bragging about helping hundreds of families. He was filmed telling attendees that doctors can get around both 'no jab no play' and 'no jab no pay' regulations, 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 had previously said that he would continue advising parents until he was 'deregistered' (stock photo) Naturapathic physician Nerida James who is Dr Piesse's colleague also spoke at the screening to tell of the families they had helped. 'We can support you. We have been supporting about 600 families thanks to Dr John Piesse,' she said. Dr Piesse reportedly had reportedly explained that parents needed a doctor's letter of 'contrary indication' to help children avoid vaccinations. Legislation introduced in 2016 means childcare services must now obtain evidence of a child's immunisation history or note for medical exemption, before enrolment. After news of the investigation into Dr Piesse broke, the anti-vaxxer community raised nearly $100,000 to help him retain his medical registration. Both state and federal health ministers have called for AHPRA to throw the book at Dr Piesse. The CIA warned Spanish police three months ago that ISIS was plotting to attack tourist areas in Barcelona - and specifically mentioned Las Ramblas, it has emerged. A memo from the American intelligence service predicting a massacre at the busy street was sent to authorities including the Catalan regional Mossos d'Esquadra force on May 25. But 12 weeks later, 14 were killed when a jihadist drove a van through crowds of shoppers and holidaymakers. The CIA warned Spanish police three months ago that ISIS was plotting to attack tourist areas in Barcelona - and specifically mentioned Las Ramblas, it has emerged A memo from the American intelligence service predicting a massacre at the busy street was sent to authorities including the Catalan regional Mossos d'Esquadra force on May 25. But 12 weeks later, 14 were killed when a jihadist drove a van through crowds of shoppers and holidaymakers Respected Spanish newspaper El Periodico published what it claims was a copy of the warning message. It stated: 'Unsubstantiated information of unknown veracity from late May 2017 indicated that the Islamic State of Irak and ash-Sham (ISIS) was planning to conduct unspecified terrorist attacks during the summer against crowded tourist sites in Barcelona, Spain, specifically La Rambla Street.' A first paragraph in the message, dubbed secret, said: 'This information is provided only for intelligence purposes in an effort to develop potential investigative leads. 'It may not be used in any way that will expose or jeopardise intelligence sources or methods. 'It cannot be used in connection with any foreign or domestic court proceedings or for any other legal judicial or administrative purposes.' El Periodico said US government organisation the National Counterterrorism Center which includes the CIA and FBI, sent the warning to Spain's official intelligence agency the CNI as well as Spanish police forces including the Catalan regional Mossos d'Esquadra force on May 25. The tally of victims from the two terror attacks rose to 16 earlier this week after a woman died in hospital from her injuries It reported Spain's National Police contacted Mossos chief Manel Castellvi the same day to make sure he had received the information. Regional authorities in Catalonia denied reports that US anti-terrorism officials warned them of a planned attack. However, they admitted receiving tips of possible attacks from other sources they deemed not very credible. Catalan regional interior chief Joaquim Forn said regional police were not warned by the CIA or the National Counterterrorism Centre, adding that such warnings would be made through state channels. There was no immediate official comment from the Mossos d'Esquadra although the force announced a hastily-arranged press conference due to start at midday today on the back of El Periodico's exclusive. Spain's National Police passed requests for information on to the country's Ministry of Interior, who also said they had no-one immediately available to comment this morning. Initial claims by El Periodico hours after the Barcelona terror attack that the CIA had warned local police the famous street could be targeted, were met with denials by top-level officials including Mossos chief Josep Luis Trapero and regional government president Carlos Puigdemont. They said the Catalan force exchanged information with other police forces but not with international intelligence services whose dialogue was with the Spanish state. Mr Trapero complained earlier this week that Spain's National Police does not pass on all the information it receives from European security organisations relating to Catalunya. Mossos chief Josep Luis Trapero (right at a press conference today) complained earlier this week that Spain's National Police does not pass on all the information it receives from European security organisations relating to Catalunya Speaking against a backdrop of private and publicly-expressed unrest about the cooperation between Spain's national and regional police forces following the Barcelona attack, he said of the information flow: 'It doesn't pass from Madrid to here. It doesn't flow.' He has Insisted his force knew 'practically nothing' about radical imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, the alleged mastermind of the terror attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils hours later where five terrorists were killed as they went on a gun and knife rampage. He said the Mossos were permanently being questioned, adding: 'Some sprinkle the Mossos with flowers and other throw s**t.' Those comments, made on Catalunya Radio station, followed reports Belgian police warned the Mossos about Es Satty after he allegedly tried to recruit terrorists there during a three-month stay at the start of last year. He also claimed that Spain's National Police had failed to inform them in 2005 that they had put a tap on Es Satty's phone during an investigation. The radical preacher died during an explosion at a bomb-making factory in Alcanar in the province of Tarragona which sparked the terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. Explosives being prepared at the rural house were due to be used to bomb popular tourist spots in the Catalan capital including the Sagrada Familia. The Spanish government tried to kick Es Satty, 42, out of the country in 2014 after he served a sentence for drugs smuggling. But a judge said two EU directives gave Es Satty the right to stay in the country - because he did not pose a 'serious threat'. After the failed attempt to deport him, the radical imam went on to brainwash members of the cell who murdered 16 and injured more than 100 in the Barcelona and Cambrils terror attacks. One of the victims was a Spaniard stabbed to death by Las Ramblas van driver Younes Abouyaaqoub as he went on the run. The tally of victims from the two terror attacks rose to 16 earlier this week after a woman died in hospital from her injuries. Cobb County police Lt. Greg Abbott (above) was fired on Thursday after he was caught on dash-cam video saying 'we only shoot black people' The police lieutenant in Georgia who was caught on dash-cam video during a traffic stop saying 'we only shoot black people' has been fired. Dash-cam video from a DUI traffic stop in July 2016 shows a white female passenger telling Cobb County police Lt. Greg Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her cellphone because she didn't want to get shot, WSB reported. Abbott interrupts her and says, 'But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. 'All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?' Cobb County police chief Mike Register announced Thursday afternoon that Abbott was fired. 'There's really no place for these types of comments in law enforcement,' Register said during a news conference Thursday, WSB reported. 'In no context can I tolerate this type of language. 'I have known Lt. (Greg) Abbott for years and perceived him as honorable, but he's made a mistake. I don't know what is in his heart, but I know what came out of his mouth. Dash-cam video from a DUI traffic stop in July 2016 shows a white female passenger telling Cobb County police Lt. Greg Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her cellphone because she didn't want to get shot (above) 'We recommend that he be terminated and we are moving forward on that.' When the video was published on Wednesday by WSB in Atlanta, Register had placed Abbott on administrative duty pending an investigation. Register said that 'no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said.' Abbott has yet to comment on being axed from the force. Before he was fired, Abbott's attorney, Lance LoRusso, said in a statement that Abbott was cooperating with the investigation, and that his comments were meant to 'de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger.' Abbott interrupts her and says, 'But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people.' Cobb County police chief Mike Register said Abbott was fired on Thursday over the incident 'Lt. Greg Abbott is a highly respected 25-year veteran of the Cobb County Police Department,' LoRusso said in a statement. 'He is cooperating with the department's internal investigation and will continue to do so. 'His comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. Abbott had served on the police force for over 25 years in Cobb County, Georgia 'He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. 'In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest.' Register said that Abbott had been a good officer and that he had not received any racial bias complaints. 'We're not making excuses. We're meeting this head-on and we're going to deal with it,' Register, who was not police chief during the time of the incident, told WSB on Wednesday. 'We are going to keep going forward to make sure we, as a police department, service the community in a most professional way -- all segments of the community.' The attorney for the driver during the traffic stop, Suri Chadha Jimenez, said he believes the officer's response was sarcastic because the woman, 'gave him some lip,' but nonetheless said, 'it makes you cringe when you hear it. It's unacceptable.' The charges against the driver were dropped and the charges against the female passenger in the video were resolved, Jimenz told DailyMail.com. Male inmates at a New York City juvenile detention center are regularly abused by female staff, a new lawsuit claims. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by 18-year-old Franklin Maldonado, who spent time at the prison-like Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx between 2013 and 2014, when he was 15 years old. He says a female supervisor, Natalie Medford, forced him into a sexual relationship, and that other staff members looked the other way and some even encouraged the abuse. A former inmate at the Horizon Juvenile Center in New York City (pictured) says he was sexually abused by a female supervisor there when he was just 15 years old, according to a new lawsuit Medford, who was in her mid-40s at the time, took Maldonado aside and told him that if he 'took care of her needs' she would protect him from disciplinary action and give him 'special privileges' like the use of her cellphone, extra food and candy, and the ability to watch movies. Maldonado says that he had sex with Medford on three to four occasions, and that the acts would happen either in his cell or in her office. They also engaged in 'numerous other affectionate conduct such as kissing, holding hands and caressing his back'. When she approached him at his cell, she would shoo away other inmates hanging around so Maldonado would be alone when she approached him, and 'physically unable' to stop her advances. 'On several occasions, Meford performed oral sex on the plaintiff and threatened him by saying, "If you say something, I will get you in a lot of trouble. But if you don't say anything, I'll take care of you,"' the lawsuit claims. On other occasions, Medford would have another worker fetch Maldonado from solitary confinement and then bring her to her office for sexual encounters. Maldonado says the other worker, a tour supervisor named John Ike, and other staff members mentioned in the lawsuit, knew what was going on in the office. 'After the sexual encounters were completed, [Maldonado] was permitted to leave [Meford's] office and he would routinely encounter the other defendants, who would tell him "good job" and that [Maldonado] was a "special kid" and "be honest, you like her? And you like doing it, don't you?"' the lawsuit states. While he was being sexually abused by Medford, Maldonado says he knew of at least one other female supervisor who was grooming a male inmate at the center. He names that female supervisor as Jane Estrella. Maldonado says that the male tour supervisor, Ike, told him that female guards having sex with male inmates was 'business as usual' at the center. The lawsuit says the female staff plied inmates with alcohol, encouraging them to get drunk 'and then physically, sexually and mentally abused them'. The women at the center counseled the inmates, and gained their trust before using them to gratify 'their own sexual needs and desires,' the lawsuit states. The lawsuit seeks $6million in compensatory damages, either collectively or from each of the 10 defendants. A spokesman for the city's Law Department told the New York Post that they are investigating the complaint. An operator at Horizon told the paper that they could not locate anyone named Medford at the center. A wife who complained that a 3.5million divorce payout after she separated from a property tycoon was her 'worst case scenario' has had her appeal for more cash thrown out today. Karen Hart, 61, said she should have been handed more than 5million after her divorce from 82-year-old John Hart after 20 years of marriage. She argued she should have got at least half of a family fortune valued at 9.4 million and it was 'unfair and discriminatory' that he walked away with 5.9million. Mrs Hart's lawyer told the court in May that her 3.5million payout 'was, as it transpired, the worst possible result for her.' But Appeal Court judges today disagreed with her, pointing to the fact that Mr Hart was already a multi-millionaire when they married in the 1980s so he should get more than half. Karen Hart, 61, said she should have been handed more than 5million after divorcing rich husband John Hart - but judges ruled against her today and she must live with 3.5million A 'man of substance', he had built a property development empire after starting out on his father's market stall, selling fruit, in the 1950s. Mrs Hart was working as an air hostess when they met and 'had no assets save for a Porsche', said Lord Justice Moylan. Mr Hart, 82, pictured left with a blonde companion outside court previously, started out in fruit and veg and then made his money in property Despite the more than 20 years between their ages, the couple met and fell in love in 1979 and tied the knot in 1987. They had two, now adult, children together and lived in a 1.1m five-bedroom gated residence in Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield. Their palatial home boasted a gym, home cinema room, a separate guest annexe and garaging for five cars. Their prosperous lifestyle included holiday homes in Miami and Spain but they separated in 2006 and started divorce proceedings in 2011. Since then, the court heard, Mr and Mrs Hart have spent over 500,000 on lawyers' bills whilst fighting over money. Family Judge Stephen Wildblood in 2015 divided their assets unequally, handing Mrs Hart 3.5m to cover her 'reasonable needs.' That was just 37 per cent of the money pot, but the judge found that Mr Hart was 'wealthy before the marriage', bringing 2.6m with him into the union. Moving on from his father's stall, he branched out into financial services before shifting into property development around the time the couple started living together. By the time of the divorce, the family wealth came to 9.4m, including a trust fund worth 5.5 million, which was found to be 'the husband's resources'. Peter Mitchell, for Mrs Hart, argued that her 3.5million payout 'was, as it transpired, the worst possible result for her.' By focusing on her 'needs', rather than equally dividing the family assets, Judge Wildblood had reached an 'unfair and discriminatory result.' 'It is discriminatory to the wife to limit her to her reasonable needs and to say 'we are giving the husband everything else',' he argued. 'The resolution of the case on needs was the worst possible outcome for Mrs Hart. 'Marriage is a partnership of equals and, if you build up a pot together, you should share equally in that pot. 'It was the worst possible result, which precluded any sharing.' The 1.1m former matrimonial home of Mr and Mrs Hart near Sutton Coldfield (pictured) - they also spent time in villas in Spain and the US But Grant Armstrong, for Mr Hart, described the fortune Mr Hart brought to the marriage 30 years ago as an 'elephant in the room'. Compared to his resources at the time of the marriage, his young bride - just 27 when they met - was a financial 'mouse', he added. Mr Hart was already very rich by then, having several cars, yachts, the properties in Spain and Miami and all the trappings of wealth. 'He was coming into this marriage as a man in his 50s, after a lifetime of working in business and having considerable property assets,' said the barrister. 'This was not a case where a couple grew their assets together.' Far from being unfair to her, the divorce had left Mrs Hart 'a home, a holiday home, a lifetime income at a very considerable figure and clear of liabilities.' Ruling on Mrs Hart's appeal today, Lord Justice Moylan said there were 'deficiencies' in Mr Hart's evidence about the extent of his assets. But he concluded: 'I have, after much reflection, come to the conclusion that the judge did not fall into error when awarding the wife 3.5 million. 'The judge was plainly entitled to find that the husband had substantial wealth at the commencement of the relationship, because this was agreed. 'He was also entitled...to conclude that an equal division would be unfair to the husband and, equally, that an unequal division would be fair to the wife.' Lords Justice Lloyd Jones and Beatson agreed that Mrs Hart's appeal should be dismissed. A wild boar entered a hospital in China running free and injuring a cleaner before it was eventually captured. 12 Swat officers and four policemen had to join forces to trap the animal and catch it using a pole before they strangled it to death on August 30. The cleaner was reported to have a bit injury on her leg. The wild boar escaped and hid in the bike garage of the hospital before the police arrived Swat officers and policemen trapped the boar behind the gate and captured it by a catch pole Video footage taken by Jiangsu TV captures the moment a Nanjing SWAT team and police officers lure the wild boar into a noose on a pole before strangling the animal. The incident took place at Pukou Hospital in Nanjing, China's Jiangsu province in eastern China on August 30. The boar was first spotted near the Accident and Emergency zone. Ms Ye, a hospital cleaner, attempted to pull away the wild boar but then was injured as the boar bit her left knee and calves. 'I was trying to protect a child who got too scared and fell on the floor. I wanted to distract the boar but I was not fast enough to dodge it,' said Ms Ye to The Cover News. 16 officers joined force to ensure the wild boar not to escape from the hospital area The boar was strangled to death in the morning hours on August 30 16 police officers were sent to the hospital and found the boar hiding in a bike garage. Just seconds after the animal got its head in the noose on the pole, officers attempted to tighten the noose. The wild boar struggled and hit a metal gate. After a 15 minute standoff, the boar was strangled to death by the gap between the gate. A hospital security guard told the reporter that some onlookers saw the wild boar wandering at a nearby park the day before. It was then carried away by few police officers (left). The boar had previously attacked Ms Ye,a cleaner, as she tried to protect a children who fell on the ground (right) The boar will then be sent to forestry department and epidemic prevention department Nanjing police warned members of public to stay away from the boar. Wild boars can be aggressive and dangerous if they are irritated. Ms Ye was treated and wrapped with bandages after being inspected by doctors at Pukou hospital. The wild boar will be sent to the forestry department and epidemic prevention department for inspection. A six-foot Burmese python was captured near a popular Miami Beach pedestrian mall on Wednesday. Customers leaving Exprezo noticed the snake lounging beneath a palm tree. 'I figured, well, come on, how big can it be?' the store's owner Indika Wanigarathne told the Miami Herald. 'When I saw how huge it was, I freaked out. So did everybody else.' Miami Beach police were called, but two male officers were too afraid to go near it. It was a female officer named Traci Sierra who finally captured the snake. A python was found outside an Exprezo convenience store in Miami Beach on Wednesday Officer Traci Sierra put on some gloves to capture the snake and put it in a cooler so it could be taken to a wildlife refuge The shop's owner Indika Wanigarathne said that the male officers who responded to the call were too afraid to go near the python 'She was a genius. She didn't panic. She put on gloves and picked up the python with her hands and put it in a little cooler. 'The guys gathered around were screaming but she was calm,' she said. Police Chief Daniel J. Oates tweeted 'suspect apprehended!' with photos of the capture. The python, which may have been an escaped pet, will be turned over to a wildlife refuge, according to a police spokesman. Police Chief Daniel J. Oates tweeted photos of the capture with the caption: 'suspect apprehended!' Pythons have replaced alligators as the Everglades top predator as they invade the marsh and decimate native wildlife. The South Florida Water Management District is paying trappers by the hour and the foot. They've bagged 500 snakes in five months including a 16-foot, 10-inch monster. Along with the Everglades, they've been spotted in Key Largo, in Homestead, near Kendale Lakes. In efforts to control the population, the state hired snake trackers from the Irula tribe in India. The trackers hunted down 33 snakes in a month. A suspected jihadi accused of attacking police outside Buckingham Palace ranted that the 'Queen and her soldiers will all be in hellfire', a court heard. Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 26, sparked a major terror alert when he was arrested outside the royal residence. The Uber driver was found with a samurai sword in the passenger footwell of the blue Toyota Prius he was driving. Uber driver Mohiussunnath Chowdhury (pictured) has been charged with a terror offence after reportedly attacking police outside Buckingham Palace Chowdhury (pictured), 26, allegedly drove his blue Toyota Prius in the direction of a police van on Constitution Hill on Friday night He was sprayed with CS gas and wrestled to the ground as the palace was locked down. Three police officers suffered cuts and bruises to their hands. Yesterday, Chowdhury appeared before a district judge at Westminster magistrates' court in London. The British-born suspect, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, is accused of one charge of preparing terrorist acts, which carries a maximum life sentence. Mark Carroll, prosecuting, said a note to Chowdhury's sister Sneha, 23, was found by detectives. It read: 'To my dearest sister, By the time you read this Insha'Allah [God willing] I will be with Allah. 'Do not cry and be strong. The Shaheed [witness or martyr] will take 70 members of his family with him to paradise. I will take you there Insha'Allah. 'Tell everyone I love them and that they should struggle against the enemies of Allah The Queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire, they go to war with Muslims around the world and kill them without any mercy.' Chowdhury, flanked by two plainclothes officers in the reinforced glass dock, nodded as the note was read out. He spoke in soft, well-spoken English to confirm his personal details. No members of the Royal Family were at Buckingham Palace when Chowdhury was arrested on Friday evening last week. The Queen was at Balmoral. He stopped just a few feet away from the police van when he is then alleged to have reached for the sword in the foot well of the car while shouting 'Allahu Akhbar' Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 26 and from Luton, Bedfordshire, appeared before magistrates today and was remanded in custody Footage from the scene showed a car parked near a police van, in the shadow of the Queen Victoria monument on Constitution Hill. Chowdhury's note 'To my dearest sister, By the time you read this Insha'Allah [God willing] I will be with Allah. 'Do not cry and be strong. The Shaheed [witness or martyr] will take 70 members of his family with him to paradise. I will take you there Insha'Allah. 'Tell everyone I love them and that they should struggle against the enemies of Allah The Queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire, they go to war with Muslims around the world and kill them without any mercy.' Advertisement Mr Carol said the car stopped 2ft from a marked police vehicle, arousing the officers' attention. 'Officers approached the vehicle and the male driver reached for a large sword from inside and shouted 'Allahu Akhbar' several times,' he said. 'The officer struggled with the individual and sprayed him with CS spray.' Police seized mobile phones and a laptop from the 230,000 home Chowdhury shares with his parents and sister in a Luton suburb. They arrested a second man, aged 30, in west London, who was released without charge. According to one online profile, Chowdhury's sister is a graduate and a recruitment consultant. The family's former neighbours in Uxbridge, west London, said both siblings went to Church of England primary schools. Chowdhury was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on September 21. The Iraqi government has declared victory over ISIS in the key northern city of Tal Afar and the rest of Nineveh province. It had been almost entirely under the jihadists' control, and comes after footage circulated of terror group members surrendering. In a statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said: 'Our happiness is complete, victory has arrived and the province of Nineveh is now entirely in the hands of our forces.' Footage from the front-line in Iraq could show ISIS militants surrendering to the country's armed forces in Ninieveh province Iraq forces today declared victory in the war against ISIS in the key town of Tal Afar Footage emerged yesterday purporting to show suspected jihadis kneeling outside a desert town, which could be al-Ayadieh, patrolled by Iraqi peshmerga troops. ISIS fighters fled to al-Ayadieh after the key town of Tal Afar, one of its final strongholds in the country, fell last week. Yesterday, Iraqi military officials announced they had recaptured the eastern half of al-Ayadieh from the extremists. The video circulating on social media purports to show suspected jihadis kneeling outside a desert town, which could be al-Ayadieh ISIS fighters fled to al-Ayadieh after the key town of Tal Afar, one of its final strongholds in the country, fell last week. Pictured: Iraqi forces advance towards Al-Ayadieh Iraqi forces flash the sign for victory as they advance towards the al-Ayadieh area, north of Tal Afar Troops, police and special forces seized full control of the city of Tal Afar, ten miles from al-Ayadieh, last Sunday. Between '150 and 200 ISIS fighters moved with their families up to Al-Ayadieh', according to Brigadier General Andrew A Croft, deputy commander of the US-led coalition air units. Iraqi forces had said the fighting in the area had been 'multiple times worse' than the battle for Mosul's old city, which was retaken from ISIS last month. Hundreds of battle-hardened fighters were positioned inside most houses and high buildings inside the town, making it difficult for government forces to make any progress, army officers said. Iraqi government troops captured the town of Mosul from ISIS in July, but only after nine months of grinding urban warfare. But one Iraqi officer, Colonel Kareem al-Lami, described breaching the militants' first line of defense in al-Ayadieh as like opening 'the gates of hell'. Tough resistance from the militants in al-Ayadieh forced Iraqi forces to increase the number of air strikes. Between '150 and 200 ISIS fighters moved with their families up to Al-Ayadieh', according to Brigadier General Andrew A Croft of the US-led coalition air units Iraqi forces had said the fighting in the area had been 'multiple times worse' than the battle for Mosul's old city, which was retaken from ISIS last month One Iraqi officer described breaching the militants' first line of defense in al-Ayadieh as like opening 'the gates of hell'. Pictured: The entrance to Tal Afar They also brought in reinforcements from the federal police to boost units from the army, air force, Federal Police, the elite US-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and some units from the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week. Military intelligence indicated that many militants fled Tal Afar to mount a staunch defense in al-Ayadieh. Many motorcycles carrying the ISIS insignia were seen abandoned at the side of the road outside al-Ayadieh. Though the exact numbers of militants on the ground in al-Ayadieh was still unclear, al-Lami, the Iraqi Army colonel, estimated they were in their 'hundreds'. 'Daesh (ISIS) fighters in their hundreds are taking positions inside almost every single house in the town,' he said. Sniper shots, mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-armored projectiles were fired from every single house, he added. 'We thought the battle for Mosul's Old City was tough, but this one proved to be multiple times worst,' al-Lami said. Iraqi government troops captured the town of Mosul from ISIS in July, but only after nine months of grinding urban warfare. Pictured: Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance towards Al-Ayadiah village Though the exact numbers of militants on the ground in al-Ayadieh was still unclear, al-Lami, the Iraqi Army colonel, estimated they were in their 'hundreds 'We are facing tough fighters who have nothing to lose and are ready to die.' Two army officers told Reuters that no significant advances had yet been made in al-Ayadieh. They said they were waiting for artillery and air strikes to undermine the militants power. The extra Federal Police troops that were called in said late on Tuesday that they had controlled 50 percent of the town, deploying snipers on the high buildings and intensified shelling the militants headquarters with rockets, a federal police spokesman said in a statement. Tal Afar became the next target of the U.S.-backed war on the jihadist group following the recapture of Mosul, where it had declared its 'caliphate' over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway blasted liberals who criticized first lady Melania Trump's sky-high heels that she wore as she left the White House Tuesday to visit flood-ravaged Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. 'Predictable,' Conway said of the outcry. 'Look, we saw what was in the president's and first lady's hearts that day, not what was on their feet, and it suggested to me ... that the left is really worried that the president is successfully showing leadership and compassion and empathy and resolve and action.' Speaking to the hosts of Fox & Friends, Conway also accurately pointed out that the first lady had only wore the black, snakeskin stilettos as she boarded Marine and Air Force One, changing into sneakers when she arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas. 'By the way she didn't wear those shoes down in Texas, she wore them onto the plane,' the counselor to the president said. Scroll down for video Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway slammed 'the left' for criticism Melania Trump received over wearing sky-high heels en route to Texas Tuesday, with some Americans saying she looked out of touch Kellyanne Conway (left) appeared on Fox & Friends Thursday morning and defended the first lady, suggesting the condemnation came over fears that President Trump was handling the response to Hurricane Harvey too well On Tuesday, Melania and President Trump visited Corpus Christie and Austin, Texas, and the first lady sported stiletto heels en route to Marine and Air Force One The heels garnered all sorts of attention in the news and on social media, though once the first lady landed in Texas she was sporting white sneakers instead 'And, by the way, she can wear whatever she wants,' Conway added. A number of Americans criticized the first lady for looking out of touch in the shoes, which to them looked more appropriate for a New York City runway than a Texas disaster zone, but Conway took particular aim at one breed of complainers: feminists. 'This is what cracks me up about the feminists: "I'm a free thinker, I'm an independent, nobody tells me what to do,"' Conway said, quoting said feminists. 'They get upset if somebody says you're wearing a pretty dress or calls you "honey," but they have judgment end on end.' When people look at the first lady, the aide argued, they see 'elegance, beauty class.' 'But they should also know she speaks five languages, she's brilliant, she's incredibly savvy,' Conway noted. 'Those of us privileged enough to know her and work with her see what an important part of this administration she is and people ought to show some respect for her.' Beyond Melania Trump's original choice in footwear, President Trump received some criticism of his Tuesday trip for not visiting with flood victims, instead checking in on first responders and giving a brief pep talk to a gathered crowd. 'No one wants to be disruptive, they want to be helpful,' Conway said of administration figures traveling to the most flooded parts of Texas. Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to the state today. 'And that, of course, is why the president and first lady, two days ago, went to Corpus Christi and Austin instead of Houston,' she added. POTUS and FLOTUS are expected to get closer to the flood zones this weekend, Conway confirmed. 'Now the president does plan to get closer to the affected areas when those who know best on the ground say it is most appropriate to do so,' Conway said. She said the plan, as of now, is for Trump to travel to Texas, and possibly Louisiana, on Saturday. Shingopana songwensis Hinting at a Diverse African Titanosaur Biota A team of international scientists including Dr Eric Gorscak, a recent PhD graduate of Ohio University and now a post-doctoral researcher at the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, USA), have identified a new species of Cretaceous long-necked dinosaur from south-western Tanzania. This new species of plant-eating giant has been named Shingopana songwensis and its discovery helps to demonstrate how diverse the dinosaur fauna was in southern Africa during the Cretaceous. Writing in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, the scientists, describe the new Titanosaur, one that shows anatomical affinities to South American Titanosaurs, indicating that Shingopana was more closely related to South American dinosaurs than it was to those species known from Africa. The first fossils of this new dinosaur were found in 2002 by scientists affiliated with the Rukwa Rift Basin Project, an international effort led by Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine researchers Patrick OConnor and Nancy Stevens. Other elements associated with the specimen were found over the next two years. All the fossils come from Namba Member of the Galula Formation. An Illustration of Shingopana songwensis Picture Credit: Mark Witton In the beautiful illustration created by palaeoartist Mark Witton, (above), a herd of Shingopana can be seen in the background, whilst the foreground is dominated by the rotting carcass of S. songwensis. A crocodylomorph is scavenging and the corpse has attracted the attention of numerous carrion beetles some of which can be clearly seen on an exposed rib bone. The Enigmatic Galula Formation The Galula Formation consists of a 600-3000 metre-thick sequence of amalgamated, braided fluvial deposits that were deposited across an extensive braidplain system via multiple parallel channels that had their source in the highlands of Zambia and Malawi. Dating these mainly sandstone sediments has proved challenging. Magnetostratigraphic studies place these deposits, split into two main members (the Namba and the geologically older Mtuka members), as being no older than mid-Late Cretaceous (Turonian-Campanian) for the Namba and constraining the Mtuka to the Middle Cretaceous (Aptian Cenomanian). Although most of the vertebrate fossils discovered to date are fragmentary in nature, they hint at a rich biota made up of numerous crocodyliforms, turtles, Theropods, Sauropods plus evidence of several types of small mammal. The fossils represent around 10% of the total skeleton. They were excavated from a single location and the fossils were disarticulated. A comparison of the left humerus to that of the contemporaneous but not closely related Malawisaurus suggests that Shingopana might have exceeded 16 metres in length, although other media sources report that this dinosaur was under ten metres in length. Other fossils include part of the jaw (left angular), part of the hip girdle, cervical and dorsal ribs along with neck bones (cervical vertebrae). Wide Neck from the Songwe Region The name of this new dinosaur (Shingopana songwensis), is derived from the local Swahili term shingopana for wide neck. The neural spine of the cervical ribs show a bulbous expansion, that led the researchers to assign this new genus to the Aeolosaurini, all the dinosaurs assigned to this clade (as far as we at Everything Dinosaur know), come from South America. The trivial name honours the location of the discovery, the Songwe region of the Great Rift Valley. Shingopana is the first African Titanosaur that is closely related to Aeolosaurines. Shingopana Fossil Bones Being Excavated and Prepared for Field Removal Picture Credit: Nancy Stevens Commenting on the phylogeny of Shingopana, Dr Gorscak stated: There are anatomical features present only in Shingopana and in several South American Titanosaurs, but not in other African Titanosaurs. Shingopana had siblings in South America, whereas other African Titanosaurs were only distant cousins. This discovery supports the hypothesis that the biota of southern and northern Africa were very different during the Cretaceous. Dinosaurs from the southern part of the continent were probably more closely related to South American dinosaurs than they were to the dinosaurs that lived on the northern part of Africa. Shingopana co-existed with another Titanosaur, Rukwatitan bisepultus, but just like Malawisaurus, Rukwatitan was not closely related to Shingopana. To read Everything Dinosaurs article on the discovery and naming of Rukwatitan bisepultus: A Rare African Giant Rukwatitan Dinosaur CSI The researchers noted that the bones had been weathered prior to fossilisation. The fossils show extensive borings, most likely caused by the activities of carrion beetles. The presence of these trace fossils are particularly notable on the cervical vertebrae, the humerus and the pubis. Over 150 separate bore holes were identified on 10 different bones from the dig site. Insect borings such as these give palaeontologists an opportunity to reconstruct the timing of death and the taphonomy (the fossilisation process), of the fossil material. A Close-up View of Rib Bones with Trace Fossils (Insect Borings) Picture Credit: Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology A Changing Cretaceous Landscape As the super-continent of Gondwana began to break up, so Madagascar and Antarctica split from the landmass that we now know as southern Africa. This was followed by the gradual northward unzipping of South America. Northern Africa maintained a land bridge with South America, but southern Africa slowly became more isolated until the continents completely separated around 105 95 million years ago. Other factors such as terrain and climate may have further isolated southern Africa. The discovery of Shingopana highlights the different regional faunas between north Africa and southern Africa and suggests that tectonically driven separation of the landmasses may have influenced the development of progressively isolated southern African faunas throughout the Cretaceous. The three-year-old girl found clinging to her dead mother in freezing floodwaters later told family members that her mother had been saying her prayers. Collette Sulcer, 41, died on Tuesday after she got swept away by strong currents in Beaumont, Texas while trying to carry her daughter Jordyn to safety. The little girl was found wearing her pink backpack and suffering hypothermia when rescuers pulled her and her mother's body from the water. 'Mama was saying her prayers,' Jordyn, who was recovering in hospital on Wednesday, told a relative, according to the New York Times. Collette Sulcer, 41, died on Tuesday after she got swept away by strong currents in Beaumont, Texas while trying to carry her three-year-old daughter Jordyn to safety 'Jordyn told me they were in the yucky water for quite a while,' the relative added. 'It's a tragedy that her mama died, but it's a miracle that Jordyn survived.' Sulcer had been trying to flee the floods in her car at about 3.30pm on Tuesday when she became overwhelmed by the flooding roadway. She had pulled into a parking lot along Interstate 10 when her car got stuck. A witness told authorities she saw Sulcer take her daughter out of the car and try to walk to safety when the current from a flooded canal next to the parking lot swept them away. They were found floating about half a mile from her car. Police say the mother fought desperately to keep her child's head out of the water. Officer Carol Riley, a spokeswoman for the Beaumont Police Department, said the mother was found by rescuers floating in the canal with her daughter still clinging to her. She said Sulcer 'absolutely saved the child's life'. Rescuers found the little girl shivering and clinging to her mother's lifeless body in a canal Police said Sulcer (above in 2015) 'absolutely saved the child's life' after the little girl was found clinging to her mother's dead body The little girl was found by rescuers suffering from hypothermia. Her mother was already dead when they were found 'They were in the water for quite some time. The mother did the best she could to keep her child up over the water. 'The baby also had a backpack that was helping her float on her back and she was holding on to her mom.' Police and fire rescue divers in a boat spotted the mother and child floating. The first responders got to Sulcer and her daughter just before they went under a trestle. Police said water was already up to the trestle and they would not have been able to save the girl if they had floated under it. They managed to pull Sulcer's body and the girl, who was suffering from hypothermia, into the boat. The mother was pronounced dead shortly after they reached an ambulance. The child is in stable condition and will be released into the care of family members. Police and fire rescue divers in a boat spotted the mother and child floating on Tuesday afternoon Sulcer was driving at about 3.30pm when she became overwhelmed by the flooding roadway. She had pulled into a parking lot along Interstate 10 (pictured above) when her car got stuck A 64-year-old man was found dead and buried under a foot of debris in a Houston clock repair shop on Tuesday. A family of six were found dead in their van on Wednesday after their vehicle was swept away on Sunday. The storm that first came ashore on Friday has forced tens of thousands of people to flee deluged homes and caused damage estimated at tens of billions of dollars, making it one of the costliest US natural disasters. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said a record 51.88 inches (131.78 cm) of rain has fallen in Texas due to Harvey, a record for any storm in the continental United States. Neighboring Louisiana is set to bear the brunt of the tropical storm's massive downpours on Wednesday, with flash flood warnings in place across the entire state. Harvey has drawn comparisons with Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans 12 years ago, killing 1,800 people and causing an estimated $108 billion in damage. Advertisement Angels Flight, Los Angeles's beloved little railroad, is reopening to the public after being closed for four years. The funky little funicular that carried Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to the top of downtown Los Angeles in the film La La Land is scheduled to reopen to the general public on Thursday morning. After a ceremonial first ride by the mayor, the transit system the city proudly calls the world's shortest public railroad will resume doing what it first did on New Year's Eve 1901, ferrying riders up and down the city's stunningly steep Bunker Hill. Angels Flight, the small train that carried Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to the top of downtown Los Angeles in the film La La Land is scheduled to reopen to the general public on Thursday morning The 298-foot funicular, closed since a 2013 derailment, is scheduled to reopen Thursday just in time to ferry thousands of holiday weekend visitors up and down downtown's steep Bunker Hill, something it first did on New Year's Eve 1901 The 298-foot funicular, or cliff railway, was closed four years ago after a derailment left a handful of passengers perched precariously above a downtown street for hours The 298-foot funicular, or cliff railway, operates by using the counterbalancing weights of its cars to pull one up while the other descends. It was closed four years ago after a derailment left a handful of passengers perched precariously above a downtown street for hours. No one was hurt, but a subsequent investigation revealed numerous safety flaws and the state Public Utilities Commission shut the railway down. As part of renovations before its reopening, an emergency ramp was installed next to the railroad tracks so that if cars break down in mid-run, as they did in 2013, firefighters won't have to rescue the passengers this time. To the surprise of the public and the commission - which didn't know the funicular would be used in La La Land - Stone and Gosling climbed aboard for a scene that depicted a romantic nighttime ride. By the time the Oscar-nominated film was released last year, officials were considering plans to reopen Angels Flight. The state Public Utilities Commission had no idea that the railway would be used in La La Land until Stone and Gosling climbed aboard for a scene that depicted a romantic ride Roundtrips cost a penny when Angels Flight opened in 1901. For the next 68 years, it carried tens of millions of people from Bunker Hill's stately Victorian mansions to popular downtown shopping areas. It's pictured above in 1945 The railway, seen in it's original location next to the 3rd Street Tunnel in downtown Los Angeles in 1945, holds a special place in the hearts of LA residents of all ages who will tell you countless stories of coming downtown to ride it during their childhood But the movie seemed to give them added incentive. While it was closed, the public had to use an adjacent steep, smelly, trash-strewn stairway. 'La La Land was the last straw,' laughed local historian and preservation activist Richard Schave. 'It was like, 'OK, we have to get a yes on this now'.' Schave and his wife, Kim Cooper, had launched a popular petition drive to reopen the railway after an ugly graffiti attack damaged its two antique rail cars in 2015. 'I'm thrilled to see it back again,' said 71-year-old Los Angeles periodontist Gordon Pattison, who like countless other Los Angeles natives has countless childhood memories of taking a scenic ride along the 298-foot railway's narrow-gauge track. 'I think the first time I rode it was in my mother's arms. In 1946,' said Pattison, who plans to ride it again Thursday. The railway holds a special place in the hearts of LA residents of all ages who will tell you countless stories of coming downtown to ride it during their childhood. 'I was 5 years old,' said Ron Lozano, who still vividly recalls the short trip as being his first thrill ride. 'I didn't get to Disneyland until I was 17.' Los Angeles periodontist Gordon Pattison, 71, holds a photo his father took of the original Angels Flight railroad, as he visits the railway on Wednesday, a day before its re-opening As part of renovations before its reopening, an emergency ramp was installed next to the railroad tracks so that if cars break down in mid-run, as they did in 2013, firefighters won't have to rescue the passengers this time. Roundtrip rides on Angels Flight will cost $1 when service resumes, and those who use transit cards will pay just 50 cents The little railway was still a must-take ride for tourists and locals alike when it closed in 1969 for a decades-long redevelopment project that saw Bunker Hill's mansions replaced by high-rise office buildings, hotels, luxury apartments and museums Virginia Baies, an operator for Angels Flight railroad sits in the operators booth during test runs prior to opening day in downtown Los Angeles 'It was heartbreaking when it shut down,' said the engineer who for years worked in a downtown skyscraper overlooking the tracks. Roundtrips cost a penny when Angels Flight opened in 1901. For the next 68 years, it carried tens of millions of people from Bunker Hill's stately Victorian mansions to popular downtown shopping areas. Roundtrip rides will cost $1 when service resumes, and those who use transit cards will pay just 50 cents. The little railway was still a must-take ride for tourists and locals alike when it closed in 1969 for a decades-long redevelopment project that saw Bunker Hill's mansions replaced by high-rise office buildings, hotels, luxury apartments and museums. Four years after it reopened in 1996 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was closed again in 2001, however, after a failure of the counterbalancing system caused a crash that killed one rider and injured several others. The railway finally reopened in 2010, only to be closed three years later after riders had to be rescued by firefighters. Census data reveal there is only one place in Sydney where there are no foreign-born residents. Wheeny Creek, a tiny hamlet of just 327 people 86 kilometres north-west of Sydney's centre, is the suburb with all of its residents born in Australia, according to 2016 census figures. The small town was one of just 24 suburbs across the greater Sydney region that had fewer than 10 per cent of residents born overseas. The only Sydney suburb where no one is foreign, is Wheeny Creek, a tiny hamlet of just 327 people Wheeny Creek advertises itself as as place known for its 'peace and ambience of whistling bellbirds', and the ideal getaway location for Sydney residents. Wheeny Creek was followed by Forest Glen, with just 5.1 per cent of its residents born overseas, then Nattai, with 5.4 percent, and Mowbray Park with 6.1 percent. Those towns were in stark contrast to 111 suburbs which recorded more than half of their population born in another country, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Haymarket, in Sydney's inner city, recorded the highest overseas-born population with 90.3 per cent of its residents migrants. Sydney's Central Business District followed Haymarket, with 80.3 percent. Sydney itself had more overseas-born residents than any other capital city in the country, with almost four out of ten born outside of Australia. Haymarket (pictured), in Sydney's inner city, recorded the highest overseas-born population with 90.3 per cent of its residents migrants Wheeny Creek, 86 kilometres north-west of Sydney's centre, was revealed as the only suburb with all of its residents born in Australia, according to 2016 census figures China was revealed to be the most common birthplace for overseas-born residents in Sydney, with five percent of the city's inhabitants coming from the Asian country. The next most common was England, with 3.1 percent, followed by India at 2.7 percent, New Zealand at 1.8 percent and Vietnam at 1.7 percent. Out of the 6.16 million overseas-born residents, about one in five arrived in Australia in the past five years. The number of people migrating to Australia in the past five years soared by almost one million since 2011, according to the recent census. Advertisement Colourised photographs of British troops fighting during in the Malayan Emergency show the brutality of the battle that claimed 10,000 lives. The conflict against communist insurgents was dubbed 'Britain's Vietnam', and images show troops trekking through the tropical terrain of the former British-colony then known as the Federation of Malaya. Other pictures depict some of the 35,000 British troops deployed in the conflict carrying what appears to be a tied up communist prisoner on a pole through the jungle, whilst another shows one of the troops relaxing in his hammock with a dog for company. Amazingly, the battle was never branded a war due to insurance purposes. The prevalent rubber plantations and tin-mining industries had pushed for the use of the term 'emergency' instead, since their losses would not have been covered by insurers had it been called a 'war'. A squadron of allied soldiers including British troops trek through the jungle with a bloodied communist soldier slumped and bound over a wooden pole. Taken from a conflict against communist insurgents known as 'Britain's Vietnam', images show troops trekking through the tropical terrain of the former British-colony then known as the Federation of Malaya British troops are led through shoulder-high water as they wade through the jungle's rivers in the brutal, drawn-out Malayan Emergency. British soldiers land in Malaysia having been dropped off by a helicopter. Amazingly, the battle was never branded a war due to insurance purposes. The prevalent rubber plantations and tin-mining industries had pushed for the use of the term 'emergency' instead, since their losses would not have been covered by insurers had it been called a 'war' A British troop relaxes in a hammock whilst reading a book with a dog by his side. Described as a guerilla war, the Malayan Emergency was a conflict fought between the UK, Commonwealth and other security forces against Communist insurgents in Malaysia. It lasted from 1948 to 1960 and began after a period of sustained civil unrest in the region Described as a guerilla war, the Malayan Emergency was a conflict fought between the UK, Commonwealth and other security forces against Communist insurgents in Malaysia. It lasted from 1948 to 1960 and began after a period of sustained civil unrest in the region. The Malayan economy was left in turmoil following the withdrawal of Japan at the end of the Second World War. Attempts were made by the British administration to repair the country's economy, as revenue from Malaya's tin and rubber industries were important to Britain's own post-war recovery. However, food was scarce and expensive, wages were low and unemployment was high. Significant labour unrest resulted in a large number of strikes between 1946 and 1948. Protesters were dealt with harshly during the strikes, with many being arrested and deported. This resulted in protesters becoming more and more militant. The Malayan Emergency was sparked on June 16, 1948, by the first overt act of war; three European plantation managers were killed at Sungai Siput, Perak, and retaliation against Communist insurgents was swift. British troops and their allies march through the jungle during the Malayan Emergency. The Malayan economy was left in turmoil following the withdrawal of Japan at the end of the Second World War. Attempts were made by the British administration to repair the country's economy, as revenue from Malaya's tin and rubber industries were important to Britain's own post-war recovery Three helicopters branded G, J and K fly over the dense jungle in which the 12-year battle was fought. Back in Britain, food was scarce and expensive, wages were low and unemployment was high during the battle. Significant labour unrest resulted in a large number of strikes between 1946 and 1948 The photos we caringly brought into the 21st century by Electrician, Royston Leonard, 55, who discussed modern attitudes towards the conflict. 'Unfortunately, the war is more or less forgotten today, it is not even known as a war, just an emergency of which there was 12 years of fighting,' he said. 'The images really bring to life just how tough the conditions were where the combat was taking place. 'The original pictures were in poor condition and not of good quality so most needed repairing before I could begin the colourisation process. 'All in all, to repair and colour the photos it took around 50 hours.' The Malayan Emergency, which saw thousands of deaths, lasted from 1948 until 1960 and started after the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party began wreaking havoc in the British colony. A group of soldiers trek through the rivers of Malaysia. Anti-war protesters in Britain were dealt with harshly during the strikes, with many being arrested and deported. This resulted in demonstrators becoming more and more militant Four British troops carry supplies up a hill on their shoulders (left) while soldiers inspect a local's bag (right). The Malayan Emergency, which saw thousands of deaths, lasted from 1948 until 1960 and started after the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party began wreaking havoc in the British colony A soldier directs a bus, which has pulled up alongside a tank. The conflict was labelled as an 'emergency' because insurers would not have compensated plantation and mine owners, whose livelihoods were under attack from communist insurgents, had it been labelled a 'war' Malaya was granted its independence in 1957 and despite this appeasing many communists the combat continued for another three years until British and Commonwealth forces had freed most of the country from terrorist activity. It goes down as one of the few successful counter-insurgency operations undertaken by Western forces during the Cold War The conflict was labelled as an 'emergency' because insurers would not have compensated plantation and mine owners, whose livelihoods were under attack from communist insurgents, had it been labelled a 'war'. Malaya was granted its independence in 1957 and despite this appeasing many communists the combat continued for another three years until British and Commonwealth forces had freed most of the country from terrorist activity. It goes down as one of the few successful counter-insurgency operations undertaken by Western forces during the Cold War. A Houston man is one of the latest casualties of Tropical Storm Harvey after he died while walking in floodwater on Tuesday. Andrew Pasek, 25, was on his way to his sister's house in Bear Creek Village to feed her cat, according to his family. What Pasek and his friend didn't know as they waded through the knee-deep floods is that they were right near a downed landscape light that electrified the water. Andrew Pasek, 25 (left and right), was on his way to his sister's house in Bear Creek Village to feed her cat on Tuesday when he was killed after being electrocuted in the floodwaters He and his friend were unaware that a downed landscape light had electrified the water by the home (pictured). Pasek warned his friend to stay away as he stumbled and put his hand on an electrical light pole 'He told [his friend] Sean: 'I'm dying. Go away. Don't help me",' Pasek's mother, Jodell, told KPRC 2. 'He didn't want him to get electrocuted too.' Sean Stuart says Pasek stumbled and put his hand on the electrical light pole and then, with the electrical current racing through him, couldn't pull away. 'And he told me just to get away from him. Just get as far away from him as I could. And so I had to let him go,' Stuart told WFAA. His mother said that rescue crews couldn't revive him and couldn't reach him for more than an hour until electricity was turned off in the subdivision. Now, the Paseks say they to make sure people are aware of where they are stepping when wandering into floodwaters. 'It was just a terrible mistake, accident that shouldn't have happened,' Pasek's sister, Alyssa, told KPRC 2. 'Be aware of your situations, look around see if there's electricity on. It should have never been on, it should have been turned off.' Pasek's family, who describe him as an 'animal lover' say they are now sharing their story to warn others about the dangers lurking beneath the floodwaters (Pictured, Pasek's sister, Alyssa) More than 32,000 people are in shelters across Texas as Harvey continues to drench the state's Gulf Coast. So far, 38 deaths have been reported with the number expected to rise (Pictured, Rescuers go house-to-house in the Bear Creek neighborhood on Tuesday) Jodell added: 'He cannot die in vain. I mean we really want to get this out to the public to be aware, to know about the dangers of the water and electricity.' According KPRC 2 News, the grieving family has experienced this kind of agony before, with another son passing away in a car crash many years ago. 'I'm pulling my strength from the fact I've been through it once and I can get through it,' Jodell said. More than 32,000 people are in shelters across Texas as Harvey continues to drench the state's Gulf Coast. So far, 38 deaths have been reported with the number expected to rise. An American tourist who was among the last to leave North Korea before a US travel ban kicked in said he would happily return to Pyongyang for another holiday. Nicholas Burkhead, a 35-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma, landed on Thursday at Beijing Capital International Airport. It came just a day before a US State Department ban on travel to the isolated North Korea goes into affect on Friday. 'I was surprised at how friendly everyone was,' Burkhead said after stepping off the last scheduled flight to Beijing from the North Korean capital Pyongyang before the US travel ban kicks in. Nicholas Burkhead 35-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was on the last scheduled flight to Beijing on Thursday from the North Korean capital Pyongyang before the US travel ban kicks in Friday Burkhead, of Tulsa, Oklahoma said that North Korea was 'relaxing' and 'friendly' and that he ate delicious meals while in the isolated country Burkhead flew state-owned Air Koryo to Beijing after visiting Pyongyang as well as the city of Kaesong near the heavily armed border with South Korea 'It was very relaxing - beautiful scenery and they fed us very well in the restaurants there, but the exchange rate wasn't too good for the local won,' he told a waiting scrum of journalists. Burkhead arrived in Beijing on North Korea's state-owned Air Koryo after visiting Pyongyang as well as the city of Kaesong near the heavily armed border with South Korea. His a five day tour cost 1,850 euros ($2,200). Other Americans on the flight included two aid workers as well as Jamie Banfil, 32, who had led tours to North Korea but was visiting the country as a tourist. The United States last month announced a ban on US passport holders from traveling to North Korea, effective September 1. Journalists and humanitarian workers are allowed to apply for exemptions under the ban, which is similar to previous US restrictions on travel to Iraq and Libya. Burkhead, speaking to the media in Beijing, said that his five day tour cost 1,850 euros ($2,200) US citizen and and aid worker Heidi Linton of Christian Friends of Korea was also on the flight to Beijing Other Americans on the flight included two aid workers as well as Jamie Banfil, 32, who had led tours to North Korea but was visiting the country as a tourist. Pictured above is Linton, center, next to an unidentified man as she speaks to the media It was not immediately clear how many Americans had sought or been granted exemptions or how many were still in North Korea. An official at the state department said it was not able to give an estimate on the number of U.S. citizens in another country. North Korea is under growing international pressure over its nuclear tests and repeated ballistic missile launches, including one this week that flew over northern Japan. Washington's ban on travel to North Korea followed the death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed during a tour last year. Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for trying to steal a propaganda sign, was returned to the United States in a coma in June and died six days later. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear, including why he fell into a coma. North Korea, its leader Kim Jong-un pictured center above, is under growing international pressure over its nuclear tests and repeated ballistic missile launches, including one this week that flew over northern Japan People fill the square of the main railway station to watch a televised news broadcast of the test-fire of an inter-continental ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 on Wednesday Warmbier had been detained leaving the airport in Pyongyang. 'I was expecting a strict security check on exit but there was nothing like that,' Burkhead said. The State Department's notice declared US passports invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea. The restriction applies for one year unless extended or revoked by the secretary of state. North Korean state media has described the ban as a 'sordid' attempt to limit human exchanges. North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary, as well as three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. Earlier this month, North Korea released a Canadian pastor who had been imprisoned there for more than two years. Hundreds of Americans are among the roughly 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who visit North Korea annually, according to U.S. lawmaker Joe Wilson. Jerry Springer is considering a run for Ohio governor, a close friend said on Wednesday. Northern Kentucky's Jene Galvin, who co-hosts a weekly podcast with Springer, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the decision is one that has been in the works for a while. 'There have been who have asked him to run for governor, and he is considering it and will decide that pretty soon,' said Galvin to the Enquirer. Northern Kentucky's Jene Galvin, who co-hosts a weekly podcast with Jerry Springer, said that the talk show host would be deciding whether to run shortly 'He's about done figuring it out, but he had to give some serious thought to it first.' Speculation has been occurring for months, with Springer even going so far as to deny claims of his political return. Allegedly, the prospect got closer to reality just last week when the TV-host asked Cleveland Democrats 'Is it too late to enter the Ohio governor's race?' Springer wanted specific input from Senator Sandra Williams (pictured), of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and Representatives Janine Boyd and Stephanie Howse Specifically, Springer wanted input from Senator Sandra Williams, a leader in the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and Democratic Representatives Janine Boyd and Stephanie Howse. He has been meeting with consultants and assessing crowded gubernational race. 'I don't think it's too late for him to get into the race,' Williams said. Galvin added that Springer would decide in the next two weeks. Endorsements for the four current candidates have been held by many unions and Democratic leaders until the final list is named. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rich Cordray may be an additional candidate in the race. Serving on Cincinnati's city council, Springer was forced to resign in 1974 amid a prositution scandal, but he was soon re-elected the following year As far as advantage, Springer has name recognition and money on his side. Prior to television, Springer had a sketchy political career with several ups and downs. Since 1991 he has hosted the syndicated Jerry Springer show which frequently show guest in shocking skirmishes and brawls. It has been a hit for decades He had a fail run for Congress in 1970 followed by an unsuccessful bid for governor in 1982. Serving on Cincinnati's city council, Springer was forced to resign in 1974 amid a prositution scandal, but he was soon re-elected the following year. In 1977, he served as Cincinnati's mayor for one year on a rotating basis. Since 1991 he has hosted the syndicated Jerry Springer show which frequently show guest in shocking skirmishes and brawls. It has been a hit for decades. Former state Representative Connie Pillich was leading the Democrats in fundraising, but that number was easily squashed by the more than $4 million that the three Republican nominees have at their disposal. 'He has one thing that the others all crave and that's name recognition. Everyone knows who Jerry Springer is,' Democratic political consultant Bill DeMora said. Springer has been vocal about not running for governor in the past but did consider a run for U.S. House f Representatives as a challenger to Republican incumbent Brad Wenstrup. Following his political consultation, Springer spoke at Cleveland Heights jazz club Nighttown about Democratic values on Tuesday, not focusing on his political aspirations during the 15 minute speech. Springer spoke at Cleveland Heights jazz club Nighttown about Democratic values on Tuesday During the 15-minute speech, the talk show host didn't mention his political aspirations at all Williams added that the Springer was received positively by the crowd who had gathered to raise money for Howse and Boyd, two sophomore legislator. Boyd felt that someone like Springer could potentially draw more Republicans to Democratic ideas on voting, criminal justice reform and money for public transit. 'At this point, my Republican brothers and sisters, they don't need our insights. I would like for us to be in a position where they do,' Boyd said. On Monday, Springer will be in attendance at the Service Employees International Union 1199's Labor Day rally in Cleveland. Some Democrats have speculated that Springer is looking for the union's endorsement as he is also slated to attend Representative Marcia Fudge's picnic that same day. Williams added that the Springer was received positively by the crowd who had gathered to raise money for Howse and Boyd, two sophomore legislators Boyd felt that someone like Springer could potentially draw more Republicans to Democratic ideas on voting, criminal justice reform and money for public transit Hamilton County Democrats have reaped the benefits of Springer's fundraising abilities for years. He has also been a speaker at events for Democrats in various states. 'If Jerry decides to run for public office, I will do everything I can to support his candidacy,' said Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke who worked as Springer's legislative assistant when he was on Cincinnati City Council. He added: 'Jerry is also a tremendous speaker and has the ability to really motivate a crowd.' Springer's celebrity status and tough topic talks have been compared to that of President Donald Trump. 'I could be Trump without the racism,' Springer told The Enquirer in February. Ohioans will vote for governor in 2018. Current incumbent and 2016 GOP presidential candidate John Kasich can not seek a third consecutive term by law. A former Massachusetts police officer agreed to plead guilty to a federal extortion charge for using the power of his badge to take cocaine for personal use from a drug dealer. John R. Desantis Jr., who served 16 years on the Lawrence police force, agreed to plead guilty in the case in a US District Court in Boston on Wednesday, the Boston Globe reported. Prosecutors say the 45-year-old had been buying small amounts of cocaine, worth between $100 to $200. They say Desantis, a married father-of-four boys, made the purchases once or twice a week for about a year beginning in 2015 from the dealer. John R. Desantis Jr. (above), a former Massachusetts police officer, agreed to plead guilty to a federal extortion charge for using the power of his badge to take cocaine for personal use from a drug dealer Prosecutors say the 45-year-old (above with his wife) had been buying small amounts of cocaine, worth between $100 to $200 During that time period, he had not been identifying himself as a police officer. But on May 16, 2016, Desantis allegedly displayed his gun and badge during a drug sale at his home. Authorities say he seized three bags of cocaine and then threatened to arrest the drug trafficker if he did not cooperate with him. 'You will not be arrested at all if you do as I tell you to,' Desantis allegedly said to the trafficker in a text message. The drug dealer, who was an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is also facing drug-dealing charges in state court. Desantis is scheduled to be sentenced during a hearing on November 17th and court authorities have deferred acceptance of the plea until that date. Authorities say Desantis (above with his wife), a married father-of-four boys, made the purchases once or twice a week for about a year beginning in 2015 from the dealer The 45-year-old faces a maximum prison term of 20 years, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of 'incarceration or other confinement' for no longer than 18 months but for at least a year, records show. Prosecutors will also recommend that he serve two years of supervised release and a fine of $5,500. Desantis, who previously battled congestive heart failure, is currently free on $50,000 bond. According to a GoFundMe fundraising page, the former officer was even placed in a medically induced coma for 16 days as a result of the condition. It seems as though he began using the drug while he was on unpaid leave due to the non-work-related medical issue. In addition, his wife, Amy Desantis, left her job as a Salem, New Hampshire, police dispatcher back in June 2016, the Eagle-Tribune reported. This video captures the moment a bull took over at a bar after chasing away the staff during a bull run in a Spanish town. Footage shows the bull chasing people through the streets of Serrania Alta in Cuenca province, eastern Spain. The bull then veers off course and charges into a mobile bar which had been set up on the side of the street. Staff seemed horrified as the bull enters the shack, set up to sell drinks during the 'Zafrilla fiesta'. The bartenders can be seen climbing over the counter, scrambling past the beer taps in order to escape the huge animal. Locals were amused to see the bull behind the bar and some appeared to be trying to order drinks from it. One practical joker even turns on the beer tap as if to give the animal a refreshing drink. This video captures the moment a bull took over at a bar after chasing away the staff during a bull run in a Spanish town The animal was eventually led out of the bar using a red rag and the bull run continued. There were no reports of anyone being injured as a result of the bull entering the bar. Footage of the unusual bar tender was later uploaded online where it has received thousands of views. The mayor of the town, Antonio Sanchez, confirmed that a bull had entered a portable bar set up for the annual event. A former physician's assistant at a Veteran's Administration hospital in Kansas has been convicted of sex crimes against four patients. Jurors found 66-year-old Mark Wisner guilty Wednesday of criminal sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and three counts of sexual battery. Prosecutors alleged he performed unnecessary and improper genital and prostate examinations from 2012 to 2014 while working at the Eisenhower Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leavenworth. Scroll down for video VA sex scandal: Former Kansas VA staffer Mark Wisner, 66 (pictured left in mugshot and right in court Wednesday), was convicted of criminal sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and three counts of sexual battery Prosecutors said Wisner performed unnecessary and improper genital exams while working at the Eisenhower Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leavenworth (pictured) Wisner, himself as veteran, surrendered his medical license in 2015 after at least seven patients came forward, accusing him of abuse, and medical regulators said at the time that there could be more victims. Wisner agreed in a consent order that he violated the law by having inappropriate sexual contact with patients and overprescribing medication. The order cites a January 2015 letter that Wisner sent to the board. 'I am an impaired practitioner and not capable of patient care ... I will not nor find myself capable of any patient contact from the date of this letter and my license should be revoked from this date forward,' he wrote. At the conclusion of a three-day trial, Wisner was found guilty of groping four patients, but it is suspected the he had preyed on others. Brave: Some of the veterans had spoken on camera to Fox 4 KC prior to the trial, accusing Wisner of withholding medication from them if they refused to submit to his exams More trouble ahead: Wisner voluntarily surrendered his license to practice as a physician assistant in 2015. He now faces at least a dozen lawsuits from his victims Some of the veterans - all of them men - had come forward and spoken on camera to Fox 4 KC prior to the trial, accusing Wisner of withholding medication from them if they refused to submit to sexually invasive and unnecessary exams. Wisner's sentencing is scheduled for September 29. He also faces at least a dozen lawsuits, with some former VA patients seeking $3million in damages. Wisner's license to practice as a physician assistant was issued in 1993, and he voluntarily surrendered it to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts in in February 2015, according to the consent decree filed with the state regulatory board. PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Tornadoes spawned by a system associated with Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey touched down in Pascagoula and Ocean Springs Tuesday, but one reported in Gautier never existed. According to Jackson County Emergency Services director Earl Etheridge, a tornado hit Pascagoula about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing moderate damage to two homes. Then, shortly before noon, a tornado was confirmed in the Gulf Park Estates subdivision near Ocean Springs. In that instance, 54 properties suffered varying degrees of minor damage. "We're talking roof damage, siding damage, fences, out buildings -- but no major damage in either case," Etheridge said. Not long after the Gulf Park Estates tornado, the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) broadcast an alert which indicated a tornado had been "confirmed" near Hickory Hills in Gautier. Officials there said, and Etheridge confirmed, there was no tornado sighted there. "The alerts we get from the weather service come to us digitally," Etheridge said. "What we received came via email and said there was a thunderstorm with rotation capable of producing a tornado. But there was no tornado in Gautier." Other than the two twisters, Etheridge said the only other damage from the severe weather was about 10 homes in Moss Point which had 3-4 inches of flooding inside. Given the potential for damage from Harvey, Etheridge said Jackson County fared well. "Other than those incidents, I haven't heard of anything else in the way of damage," he said. "Mainly it was street flooding and a few trees down. There was no major damage. "We lucked out." Nevada - which in April received $5.6 million to combat opioid abuse - is to use a form of the drug to execute a convicted killer. In July Scott Dozier, who is on death row for two drug-related murders in the early 2000s, successfully pleaded with a judge to be killed, saying he was 'ready to go.' But critics say the method of his planned death - a previously untested combination of fentanyl and two other drugs - could result in Dozier waking up mid-execution, unable to move or express his distress as he dies, according to The Marshall Project. Execution: Scott Dozier (left and right), 46, is to be executed in November after killing two people. But his lethal injection will comprise a never-before-tried combination of drugs Opioid: The opioid fentanyl hasn't been used in an execution before, and there are concerns that Dozier could wake up from it mid-process. Nevada is also in the middle of an opioid crisis Dozier, 46, was convicted in 2002 of shooting dead Jeremiah Miller, 22, before hacking up his body, stuffing it in a suitcase and dumping it outside an apartment complex. His conviction and death sentence came while he was already serving 22 years for the killing of Jasen Green, also 22, whose body was found in a plastic container in the desert outside Phoenix. Now he is set to die. But the state has struggled to find a method. Lethal injections traditionally involve a three-drug cocktail, including a sedative to knock out the condemned, a muscle relaxant to paralyze them, and then the fatal injection. Sometimes the paralysis is used as the method of execution. Nevada used to use midazolam and hydromorphone as anesthetics, but drug manufacturer Pfizer is refusing to allow either to be used in executions. That has caused consternation across other states, such as Arkansas, which intended to kill 11 men in April before its supplies of midazolam went past their use-by date; ultimately only three men were executed that month. Now Nevada is turning to fentanyl to do the job, in conjunction with diazepam, which is best known under the brand name Valium, and cisatracurium, which causes paralysis - and can in turn suffocation, as the body cannot expand the rib cage. Death: Dozier will be injected with the opioid, Valium and a paralytic agent. The latter will make it so he can't move his rib cage, causing him to suffocate to death However, the order in which the drugs will be administered has not yet been revealed - and neither has their exact purpose. That concerns Susi Vassallo, a New York University professor of emergency medicine who has written about lethal injection. 'It doesnt make much sense; you dont need Valium if you have fentanyl,' she said, explaining that both can cause unconsciousness and death in large doses. She also warned that it takes a long, ongoing dose of fentanyl to render someone unconscious. If that doesn't happen, Dozier might be able to wake up - and experience the terror of slowly suffocating to death, unable to register his distress. 'People who have recovered from [cisatracurium] have said that they couldnt breathe, and they knew they were suffocating,' Vassallo said. 'The paralytic is only going to disguise whether the fentanyl is being administered properly.' Joel B Zivot is an Emory University anesthesiologist who has given expert testimony in court during legal challenges to execution protocols. He said that neither the fentanyl nor the diazepam would be enough to stop a conscious person from suffering before they died. 'The fentanyl takes away pain, and the Valium takes away anxiety,' he said. 'Both drugs are limited in their ability to do that, and of course neither is designed to block the pain or anxiety of death. So that's just a show. 'This is not actually science. It's not actually medicine. It is a grotesque impersonation of those things.' But none of this may bother Dozier until it's too late. In 2016, while incarcerated, Dozier began demanding that the state execute him - a wish granted by a judge on July 27, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. And according to 3 News Las Vegas, he told a court in AugusT: 'If they tell me, "Listen theres a good chance it's going to be a real miserable experience for you, for those few hours before you actually expire," I'm still gonna do it.' His death is now scheduled for November 14 in Ely State Prison, Nevada. The prison spent $900,000 to renovate its execution chamber last year. Martin Vincent Kelly, 32, attempted a bizarre three-point turn on the M6 in Cumbria A drunk lorry driver who could have caused a 'catastrophic' disaster after pulling a U-turn in the middle of a motorway has been spared jail. Martin Vincent Kelly, 32, feared he was going the wrong way and attempted a bizarre three-point turn on the three-lane M6 near Shap in Cumbria. Another motorist had to slam on their breaks and mount the grass verge to avoid ploughing into the Volvo Euro 500 lorry driven by Kelly, who was more than three times the drink-drink limit. But the father-of-two has avoided jail after Furness Magistrates' Court heard of his troubles battling alcohol and that his wife was fighting cancer. Kelly, of Omagh, Northern Ireland, admitted driving a motor vehicle dangerously and when his alcohol level was above the limit. He was sentenced to 26 weeks in custody and six weeks in custody, both suspended for two years, and banned from driving for two years. The scene of the near 'catastrophic' incident on the three-lane M6 near Shap in Cumbria He had drunk a quarter-bottle of vodka at a motorway service station just before the incident last August 12. But after getting confused with his satnav he first pulled on to the M6 hard shoulder and dozed off. Then thinking he had to turn round he attempted a U-turn in the southbound carriageway, which would have seen him turn directly into oncoming traffic. The court heard how after slamming on their brakes the driver of the other vehicle found Kelly to be dazed and not even wearing any shoes. Kelly's his roadside breath reading was 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Another motorist had to slam on their breaks and mount the grass verge to avoid ploughing into the Volvo Euro 500 driven by Kelly, who was more than three times the drink-drink limit Prosecutor Peter Kelly explained: 'He has been turning back against the flow of one-way traffic. 'It's a reading of 107 microgrammes of alcohol on the M6 and from someone driving a HGV. There is no accident fortunately. There was a risk of serious injury to others.' Referring to the driver forced to mount the grass verge, the prosecutor added: 'His attention was drawn to a HGV on the hard shoulder which was starting to move. 'He moved lanes to allow the lorry to move out. The truck turned sharply and was making a U-turn.' Kelly admitted driving a motor vehicle dangerously and when his alcohol level was above the limit Graham Quigley, defending, said his client was of previous good character and 'deeply sorry for what happened.' He said Kelly had driven HGVs for some years, with experience of driving across the UK. Mr Quigley admitted his client had an alcohol problem and last year was in rehab and discharged in February 2017. Two months later he started his job employed by Northern Irish firm Agro Merchants Group in the garage - but at weekends he drove the HGVs. But that day when travelling overnight on the ferry to Cairnryan in Scotland, he was tired after raucous passengers had disturbed his sleep. The court heard how after slamming on their brakes the driver of the other vehicle found Kelly to be dazed and not even wearing any shoes Mr Quigley said Kelly later had trouble with his satnav and he was rebooting it on the hard shoulder when he may have blacked out. He said: 'The next thing he remembers is seeing the man (the car driver). I asked my client what happened but he was unable to tell me.' Mr Quigley said Kelly was the father of a four-week-old baby, a two-year-old and his wife is in remission from cancer. He received excellent references from his employer which expressed that his 'remorse is unequivocal'. Giving a pre-sentence report, Brian Carruthers of the probation service said: 'He is extremely remorseful about it. He has been having flashbacks about what could have happened. Kelly, of Omagh, will have to take an extended driving retest after his disqualification period 'He understands that it could have been catastrophic and he could have killed many people that day. It has frightened the life out of him what could have happened.' Mr Carruthers said Kelly had not had a drink since, and was attending AA meetings and doing a 90-step rehab programme. The court also heard Kelly's family were behind him, and if Kelly went to prison his wife would struggle and they could lose their home. Kelly will have to take an extended driving retest after his disqualification period, while he was also ordered to pay 85 costs and a 115 victim surcharge. He was told by chairman of the magistrates Gary Ormondroyd: 'Your actions were potentially catastrophic.' Rep. Warren Love shared in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he hoped vandals who destroyed a Confederate monument were 'hung from a tall tree' A Missouri lawmaker is facing calls to resign after he posted a message to Facebook which some said appeared to demand the lynching of Confederate statue vandals. Republican Rep. Warren Love, 67, of Osceola, Missouri, was reacting to a news report of a Confederate statue at the Springfield National Cemetery in Missouri that was covered with paint. In his post, he condemned the vandals and said that it what they did was 'totally against the law' and that he hoped 'they are found and hung from a tall tree with a long rope.' The post has since been deleted although Love denies taking it down himself. In response Love said people had interpreted his post 'to be rather harsh and inciting violence.' 'I did not mean it that way and was only using and old cowboy statement that is a western custom of a penalty for thieves that steal cattle and horses and to all who this post offended I am very sorry.' Love, who ranches, said the term was a 'cowboy slang statement,' and not a call for lynching and that he meant to point out in his post that 'it's terrible when someone vandalizes or desecrates an object of remembrance.' The post from Rep. Love's Facebook. It has since been deleted although he denies doing it himself But Love has still received criticism from House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty who said he should resign. 'In calling for the lynching of those who vandalized a Confederate statute in Springfield, state Rep. Warren Love invoked a form of political violence used throughout the South to keep African-Americans subjugated for generations following the fall of the Confederacy,' McCann Beatty said. 'For that he must resign.' McCann Beatty also said Confederate monuments 'are monuments to white supremacy - there is no separating the two.' Stephen Webber, the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, called for Love's resignation as well. He shared in a tweet: 'This is a call for lynching by a sitting State Representative.' The Confederate monument at the Springfield National Cemetery that was vandalized 'Calls for political violence are unacceptable. He needs to resign.' Rep. Shamed Dogan of Ballwin, Missouri, the only black Republican in the Legislature, also posted a screenshot of the Facebook post and condemned it, according to STL Today. He posted in a tweet: 'Vandalizing property is wrong, but hoping for people to be hung/lynched over it?? Way over the line!! What is wrong with us #moleg?' Love said he's a member of both the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of Confederate Veterans. He sponsored legislation this year and in 2016 that would protect state historic military monuments and other memorials under Missouri Department of Natural Resources control, including Confederate monuments, from being moved or created without public input and an advisory council vote. This is the second time in as many weeks that a Missouri state lawmaker has been asked to step down over a Facebook post. Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal in mid-August said she wrote 'I hope Trump is assassinated!' in response to a post that suggested Vice President Mike Pence would try to have Trump removed from office. She later took the post down and apologized and refused to resign, despite pressure from top Missouri Democrats and Republicans. Britain is home to up to 35,000 fanatical Islamists of whom 3,000 are 'worrying' for the security service MI5, Europe's top anti-terrorism official said today. EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove singled out the UK as having more radicalised Muslims than any other country in Europe. Mr de Kerchove also warned Islamic State will attempt a cyber-attack on nuclear power stations or air traffic control systems within five years. This map shows the number of Islamist fanatics in four European countries, according to figures supplied by EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove De Kerchove singled out the UK as having more radicalised Muslims than any other country in Europe. Pictured: Armed Police at Westminster Abbey guarding a memorial for the victims of the Westminster Bridge terror attack This could be done by paying Russian hackers to break into vital computer systems. The official, who is in regular contact with security services, terrorism experts and governments around Europe, said: 'The United Kingdom has identified 20,000 to 35,000 radicals. 'Of these, 3,000 are worrying for MI5, and of those 500 are under constant and special attention. 'France has 17,000. Spain many less, but more than 5,000 I suppose. In Belgium almost 500 have been to Syria and there are around 2,000 radicals or more. 'I wouldn't like to put a concrete figure on it, but (in Europe) tens of thousands, more than 50,000. 'We must select those who are really worrying and the most dangerous, and they should be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.' Mr de Kerchove, who has been in his position since 2007, was speaking in an interview with Spain's El Mundo newspaper. He warned European countries will suffer further attacks inspired by ISIS - and said greater measures must be taken to prevent them. Police in Catalonia had been warned about Abdelbaki Es Satty, the alleged leader of the Barcelona cell, by counterparts in Belgium Asked about the 12-man cell who murdered 16 and injured more than 100 in attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils on August 17 and 18, he said: 'It's early to draw definitive conclusions, but we know that we need much greater efforts in prevention. 'How do we detect the first signals (of radicalisation), no matter how weak they are? They succeeded in preparing the attacks under the radar. 'We will suffer more attacks. Most, except for Brussels and Paris, were not directed from Raqqa, but they were inspired there. And later Islamic State claims responsibility. 'The propaganda of the organisation no longer requires people to go to the caliphate. They can attack in their places or origin, including on a small scale with home-made weapons.' Mr de Kerchove said it was vital that European intelligence agencies and police properly analyse the data they collect and share. For example, police in Catalonia had been warned about Abdelbaki Es Satty, the alleged leader of the Barcelona cell, by counterparts in Belgium, but failed to recognise the danger he represented. The counter-terrorism official warned that radicals were increasingly using the Islamic concept of 'taqiyya' - concealing their religious beliefs from those around them - in order to prevent detection. Mr de Kerchove said European security services had 'dismantled cells, destroyed plans, arrested people' And he said: 'We must work more at protecting so-called easy targets. Bollards, the re-designing of pedestrian streets are necessary. There is a clear effect of imitation in terrorism, and it seems clear that something like Barcelona will happen again.' Mr de Kerchove said European security services had 'dismantled cells, destroyed plans, arrested people. Spain has arrested 51 jihadis so far this year. In 2016, 69, in 2015, 75.' He added: 'This is a generational problem. It will take time, decades, it won't be resolved in months.' The official said to date there have been no recorded cases of cyberterrorism, 'in the sense of penetrating or intending to penetrate the systems of nuclear power stations, prisons, electrical stations or aerospace'. But he added: 'I would not be surprised if in the next five years it happens. Not that it works but that they try. One should not underestimate the potential of Islamic State. 'At the moment they don't have the knowledge for this. But in the dark net you can find system vulnerabilities for sale. 'Or they can buy the services of Russian hackers, because they have money.' Theresa May appears to have been snubbed by the Japanese PM after she gave him a framed copy of a bank note signed by Japan's founding fathers and she was given a cookery book. The two leaders swapped gifts to mark the British Prime Minister's official visit to Japan for a three-day charm offensive. Mrs May gave Shinzo Abe a copy of a rare, framed 1,000 Bank of England note signed by the Choshu Five - noblemen who went on to shape modern-day Japan. She also gave Mr Abe a framed print of a First World War painting marking Japan's assistance to the British in Malta in 1917. But while she showered him with the thoughtful gifts she was just given a simple cookery book on seasonal Japanese cooking in return. Although he did shower the British Prime Minister with compliments over her choice of attire during the trip. Speaking during a banquet thrown in Mrs May's honour, he said many people in Japan have been 'fascinated by your excellent sense of fashion, Prime Minister'. Theresa May and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pictured sharing a toast together in Tokyo today, exchanged gifts to mark the British PM's visit to Japan. But while Mrs May showered him thoughtful gifts she received just a cookery book in return Mrs May raised a laugh among guests as she delivered a speech at a dinner thrown in her honour in Tokyo. She is on a three-day Brexit charm offensive to the country The Choshu Five, pictured in 1863, used fake names to smuggle themselves out of Japan so they could study at London's world-famous University College London. They later returned to their homeland where they all rose to prominent positions in public life and helped shape modern-day Japan No 10 denied that Mrs May a keen cook had been snubbed and said she was pleased with the gift. He added: 'It was thoughtful of the Japanese Prime Minister to find out she loved cooking.' CHOSHU FIVE - MODERN JAPAN'S FOUNDING FATHERS The Choshu Five were a group of young noblemen who, disguised as British sailors, smuggled themselves out of Japan in May 1863. At the time it was illegal for any Japanese person to leave the country, but the young men were determined to study at university in London. After making the 135-day journey they were taken under the wing of UCL professor Alexander Williamson and studied at the university. They later returned home and founded the modern state of Japan and all were awarded 'the father of' titles. Hirobumi Ito became 'the Father of the Japanese Constitution', Kaoru Inoue was 'the Father of Modern Japanese Diplomacy', Yozo Yamao was 'the Father of Japanese Engineering'. And Masaru Inoue was 'the Father of Japanese Railways' and Kinsuke Endo was the 'the Father of the Modern Japanese Mint'. Advertisement It later emerged that Japan also plans to give Britain 1,000 cherry blossom trees to plant in the UK. travelled to Japan for a three-day Brexit charm offensive. It has echoes of Gordon Brown's trip to Washington in 2009 when he showered then President Barack Obama with thoughtful gifts but received 25 DVDs of American films in return. The Labour PM had given America's first black president an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880. Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. The Choshu Five were noblemen who used fake names to sneak out of Japan in the 1860s - when it was illegal to do so - in order to study at London's world-famous UCL. The Samurai group were from what is now modern-day Yamaguchi, where Mr Abe has a home. On their return home in the late 1860s they played a crucial role in shaping modern-day Japan. Each member of the group went on to rise to positions of power, including Ito Hirobumi, Japan's first prime minister, and Kaoru Inoue, Japan's first foreign minister. Mr Abe visited UCL in 2012 and saw a plaque dedicated to them on the campus. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, pictured with Theresa May today, praised her fashion sense which he said had been much remarked upon during her visit Shinzo Abe pointed out that Theresa May's outfit yesterday - when she partnered a red dress with a white blazer - looked a lot like the Japanese flag The British PM, well known for her love of fashion, sported a pair of tailored black trousers with a trendy light-grey jacket as she took a tour of the Japanese navy's helicopter carrier JS Izumo The Japanese PM used a banquet today which was thrown in honour of Mrs May to heap praise on her fashion sense. He pointed out that one of her choice of outfits - a red dress with a white blazer - bore an uncanny resemblance to the Japanese flag. Speaking from a lectern between Japanese and British flags at the event in Tokyo, Mr Abe gave a welcome toast thanking May for her visit. He said: 'You can really feel Japan and United Kingdom's economic tie is not only deep, but reaches a wide range of areas. 'On top of that you can all tell that everyone here is very much fascinated by your excellent sense of fashion, Prime Minister.' He made reference to the red and white outfit she wore on arrival in Kyoto in the colours of Japanese flag. Mrs May is well-known for her love of fashion, and her colourful choice of shoes - including some eye-catching leopard print kitten heels - have captured headlines. The FBI have captured a man they claim is the 'Broadway Bandit' - a bank robber who struck seven times in the space of just two weeks. A joint investigation was set up with the NYPD after the heists. Jaime Frierson, aged 47, was arrested at around 6pm yesterday in Manhattan, authorities have announced. Jaime Frierson, aged 47, was arrested at around 6pm yesterday in Manhattan, authorities have announced The wanted man was successful in four of his seven attempts. Between August 16 and August 29 he held up banks in Broadway, and was successful at three branches of Chase Bank and one branch of the Bank of America. But attempts to rob an HSBC, Chase Bank and Bank of America branch failed. No one was hurt in the robberies. Michael and Fadi Ibrahim will be extradited to Australia to face charges related to alleged drug and tobacco importation. Extradition requests from the Australian Federal Police are said to have been granted by the United Arab Emirates Minister for Justice in Dubai, according to The Daily Telegraph. Four other men, including Stephen Fawaz Elmir, Mustapha Dib, Koder Jomaa and Hakan Arif are also expected to be brought back to Australia under the ruling. Ibrahim brothers Michael (pictured right) and Fadi (not pictured) will be extradited to Australia to face charges related to alleged drug and tobacco importation The Ibrahim brothers were arrested in Dubai in early August as part of an AFP investigation into drug and tobacco syndicates. It came as raids were conducted by federal and state authorities across several Australian suburbs, in one of the biggest police operations against organised crime. On Thursday, lawyers for the men waiting to be extradited were said to be checking to see if there were any legal avenues to have the decision overturned. However, the situation reportedly 'appears as if it is a done deal,' according to News Corp. Fadi Ibrahim (pictured) was arrested with his brother in Dubai over alleged drug importation charges in August Extradition requests from the Australian Federal Police for the brothers (including Michael pictured centre) are said to have been granted by the United Arab Emirates Minister for Justice in Dubai The AFP reportedly began investigating two inter-related crime syndicates in mid-2016, with information suggesting criminals in Dubai and the Netherlands were also involved. Middle Eastern Crime Squad and Australian Federal Police officers conducted dawn raids on 32 homes scattered across Sydney on August 8, issuing 52 warrants. In these initial raids investigators arrested 17 people in three countries - including nine men and one woman in Sydney, five men in Dubai and two men in The Netherlands. One of the men alleged to be part of the syndicate lodged an application for bail in the New South Wales Supreme Court Thursday. Fares Derbas is accused of importing and distributing more than 900,000 packets of cigarettes. The items are believed to have had a worth of $1.8million, with Derbas allegedly assisting in five separate sales for them. Advertisement President Donald Trump and Melania will be returning to Texas on Saturday, after receiving flack for failing to meet with Hurricane Harvey victims and later claiming he saw wrath of the storm 'first hand' when he went on Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement during a press conference in Corpus Christi on Thursday, after spending the day touring the devastated Texas Gulf Coast and meeting with victims of the storm. Trump had received criticism for his speech to supporters who had gathered outside a fire station, with the president saying, 'What a crowd, what a turnout,' before waving a Texas flag and not mentioning the loss of life and suffering of victims. In his speech on Thursday, Pence commended state and federal officials who aided the relief effort before proclaiming his admiration of citizen volunteers and encouraged all Americans to find a way to help. The vice president also revealed that more than 311,000 people affected by the storm have already registered for disaster aid and said that Trump's administration expects Congress to 'move quickly' in funding legislation. Scroll down for video Vice President Mike Pence said President Trump and Melania would return to Texas on Saturday during a press conference in Corpus Christi on Thursday, after spending the day touring the devastated Texas Gulf Coast President Mike Pence toured storm damage in Texas, and vowed that the U.S. would see people through the tragedy. Pence (front) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (center in wheel chair) help move debris in the devastated area The vice president also revealed that more than 311,000 people affected by the storm have already registered for disaster aid and said that Trump's administration expects Congress to 'move quickly' in funding legislation He reached out to people in the crowd who had shown up to greet him as he touched down in Texas In his speech earlier that day, Pence said: 'I called the president on Air Force Two this morning. I asked him what he wanted me to tell you. And he just said tell 'em we love Texas,' Pence told a small crowd as he viewed some of massive damage wrought by 130 mile-per-hour winds. Pence offered reassurances and prayers and repeatedly referenced Trump, who visited Texas on Tuesday but took flack for failing to meet with those whose lives were upended by the massive storm. He hugged storm victims, and pledged that the region would come back 'bigger and better.' On Thursday afternoon, Pence donned a pair of blue work gloves and helped volunteers from Samaritan's Purse International volunteers haul wood from in front of a mobile home toward a curb. 'The fact that Trump and now he's here makes you appreciate what we have,' said Brittney Naro, one of the affected family members there. 'They didn't have to come. What more can you ask for?' 'President Trump sent us here to say we are with you, the American people are with you. We are here today, we will be here tomorrow, and we will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuilds bigger and better than ever before,' Trump said, holding a microphone hooked up to a small outdoor PA system. Pence headed to Corpus Christie and then on to Rockport, which sustained 130 mile-an-hour winds during the storm, and which is still suffering from streets strewn with rubble from damaged buildings. 'President Trump sent us here to ensure that the full resources of the national government are being brought to bear in a consistent way,' Pence said. Even as he outdid the president with a visit that featured emotional encounters with those whose lives were impacted by the storm, Pence referenced the president at every turn. Vice President Mike Pence and wife Karen Pence wave after visiting the Coastal Bend on Thursday after Hurricane Harvey destroyed several homes The Vice President got hands on and carried broken branches to a pile of debris in Rockport, Texas He joined with volunteers as he saw the devastation caused by the hurricane-turned-tropical depression that set a rainfall record and severely flooded the Houston area Pence offered reassurances and prayers and repeatedly referenced Trump, who visited Texas on Tuesday but took flack for failing to meet with those whose lives were upended by the massive storm 'As the president often says we're one American family,' Pence said. 'When one hurts we all hurt. So on behalf of President Trump, on behalf of this good governor, on behalf of all of us that have the privilege of public responsibilities, just know we are with you, and we will stay with you until Rockport and all of Southeast Texas come back,' he said. Pence boarded Air Force Two Thursday morning, accompanied by his wife, Karen Pence. Both were sporting jeans, and Karen Pence wore loafers. The vice president wore cowboy boots. Karen Pence stood at his side as he met with people who gathered in Rockport to hear his remarks. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, and first responders move into place to greet Vice President Mike Pence as he arrives to visit areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Corpus Christi, Texas Marah Kirkland, left, holds her baby, Madelyn, as she and Brittney Naro, holding Wyatt, watch as Vice President Mike Pence visits their neighborhood Pence's wife, who like the vice president is deeply religious, also actively participated in the event, conducting a prayer for those affected that was carried live by cable networks. 'Heavenly father, we thank you for these amazing people who are an inspiration to us all across the United States and across the world,' Karen Pence told a hushed crowd. Pence's tour comes after President Donald Trump tweeted that he saw the 'horror & devastation' wreaked by the storm 'first hand,' when in fact the president received multiple second-hand accounts and didn't meet with storm victims. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, talk as they prepare to visit areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Corpus Christi, Texas Trump few to Corpos Christie along with first lady Melania Trump, then flying to Austin, where he met with his own cabinet members and state and local officials including Gov. Greg Abbott. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning: 'After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey,my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!' The president tried to recast the situation during a Wednesday speech in Missouri, the president spoke in emotional terms about the suffering in Houston, providing reassurances that things would improve. HUD Secretary Ben Carson looks around on the tarmac as President Donald Trump directs his entourage as he arrives at the Corpus Christi International Airport on August 29, 2017 President Donald Trump began his tax reform speech Wednesday in Missouri with a message of hope for Americans stranded in Texas and Louisiana by Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters MSNBC mocked Trump for the optics of talking about income taxes while Texas deals with as many as 50 inches of rain On Wednesday, a day after he was criticized for visiting Texas without spending any time with rescued victims of Hurricane Harvey, the president said his government stands with them 'every single step of the way' as the storm continues to 'pose a grave danger to life. ... We must protect the lives of our people.' 'To the people of Houston and across Texas and Louisiana, we are here with you today,' Trump said. 'We are with you tomorrow. And we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover and rebuild.' 'Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people people! great, great people all affected by this tragedy.' Trump mused during a briefing at the Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday that the record flood waters in southern Texas might never recede. HIGH AND DRY: President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania TrumpDonald Trump visit to Texas People line up for food as others rest at the convention center that has been set up as a shelter for evacuees escaping the floodwaters from the massive storm Mark Ocosta and his baby Aubrey Ocosta took shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, where the evacuation center is over capacity with more than 9,000 evacuees TRUMP'S HURRICANE REMARKS BEFORE WEDNESDAY TAX SPEECH 'Before we begin, I'd like to take a few moments to discuss the deeply tragic situation in Texas and Louisiana. As we all know, our gulf coast was hit over the weekend with a devastating hurricane of historic proportion. Torrential rains and terrible flooding continue to pose a grave danger to life and to property. Our first responders have been doing absolutely heroic work to shepherd people out of harm's way, and their courage and devotion has saved countless lives. They represent truly the very best of America. 'We must be vigilant. We must protect the lives of our people. I was on the ground in Texas yesterday to meet with Governor Abbott, who is way, an incredible job. Local officials so that we could coordinate the very big and unprecedented federal response. In difficult times such as these, we see the true character of the American people, their strength, their love and their resolve. We see friend helping friend, neighbor helping neighbor, and stranger helping stranger. And together, we will endure and we will overcome. 'To those affected by this storm, we are praying for you and we are here with you every single step of the way. And I can speak, I know, for the people in this room. Every step of the way. To those Americans who have lost loved ones, all of America is grieving with you and our hearts are joined with yours forever. 'The citizens of Texas and the Gulf Coast need all the prayers, support and resources our communities have to offer. Recovery will be tough, but I have seen the resilience of the American spirit first-hand all over this country. To the people of Houston and across Texas and Louisiana, we are here with you today. We are with you tomorrow. And we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover and rebuild. Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people people! great, great people all affected by this tragedy.' Advertisement 'Nobody's ever seen this much water. The wind was pretty horrific, in particular, but the water has never been seen like this, to this extent. And it's, maybe someday going to disappear. We keep waiting,' Trump said in Austin. Pence is to be met by Gov. Greg Abbott, the Dallas Morning News reported. The paper also noted that Karen Pence, who is accompanying her husband, wore jeans and loafers. First Lady Melania Trump drew some derision online when she wore stiletto heels when she first boarded Air Force One to accompany the president on his trip. She later changed into sneakers. Also accompanying Pence are Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, and other cabinet members. A British son has issued a heartfelt plea for help for his mother and sister who have lost everything after they were caught up in Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Stephen Wishart's mother Tania and his sister Stephanie, who is 19, moved to Texas six years ago and have been caught up in the devastating storm over the weekend. Mr Wishart, who now lives in Belfast with his fiancee Chloe McGreevy, has set up a JustGiving fundraising page to try to help his family. He told supporters that his mother and sister, originally from Arbroath in Scotland, were alive, but had been split up, with his mother in a refuge centre and his sister staying with a friend. Tania Wishart with daughter Stephanie. The pair moved to Texas in 2011, and have been caught up in Hurricane Harvey, losing everything they own in the devastating storm Stephen Wishart and his fiancee Chloe McGreevy have set up a JustGiving page to try to raise money for his mother and sister, as they have lost everything in the storm Mr Wishart said: 'As most of you have seen and heard on the news, Dickinson, Texas is underwater due to flooding and Hurricane Harvey hitting the city. 'Unfortunately, my mum and sister have been victim to this storm and have lost everything they have, including their home, car and all their personal belongings. 'My mum woke up in the middle of the night with water in her bedroom and her ground floor apartment flooding. As she opened the door many of her belongings were drifting out onto the street with the water and she saw that her car was completely submerged. 'She and a neighbour made it into a first floor apartment block while the water rose but had to wait for hours before a rescue boat could reach them. My Mum had nothing more than the clothes on her back, her phone and $20 in her pocket. Mr Wishart with his fiancee Ms McGreevy. He said his mother may be considering starting all over again in the UK 'There was a lot of debris floating in the water and boats hitting cars and mum really feared for her life as she cannot swim. Eventually, she was taken to a rescue centre in Austin. However, she is now five hours away from my sister who was staying with friends that night. 'Although they are both still separated they are alive which we are so thankful for. As a family we are trying to support them in every way we can and hope they can be reunited soon. At the moment the priority is keeping them warm, dry and making sure they have food. Small things that we take for granted every day. 'We are still unsure of what the next steps are but an option is to come back to the UK and start a life again from scratch. At this point we don't think insurance will cover a flood like this to help with all of their personal belongings and the car is completely gone. 'Ultimately, everything has been taken from them and they will now need to rebuild their lives and that's why we have set up this appeal. Any donation no matter how small can make all the difference towards trying to rebuild some sort of life whether that's over in the US or back here in the UK.' Experts are describing Harvey as the worst natural disaster in US history, with more than 32,000 people in shelters across Texas and at least 38 people killed as a result of the devastating floods. In one area of Houston alone there were another 17 deaths reported on Wednesday. Mrs Wishart woke to find her apartment was flooding and her car submerged and had to escape with just her clothes and a $20 bill. Above, damage in Port Arthur, Texas Evacuees sit on a boat after being rescued from flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Port Arthur, Texas The cost of the damage, which includes 500,000 ruined cars, is likely to total $160 billion. The Texas Department of Safety revealed on Wednesday that 48,700 homes had been impacted by the floods. The National Hurricane Center also downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression on Wednesday evening, but warns of continuing flooding in parts of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Mr Wishart is trying to raise 1,200 and has so far raised nearly 900 for his family. Starving North Korean soldiers have been ordered to steal corn to ensure they are 'combat ready' for 'imminent war', it has been claimed. Kim Jong-un's army officers have reportedly given their malnourished fighters permission to raid crops from impoverished citizens. Pyongyang frequently boasts of the power of its military. But soldiers surviving on meagre rations have resorted to carrying sacks of unripened corn in a bid to sell it at markets, according to sources in Ryanggang Province. Soldiers surviving on meager rations have resorted to carrying sacks of unripened corn in a bid to sell it at markets, sources in Ryanggang Province told Daily NK Starving North Korean soldiers have been ordered to steal corn to ensure they are 'combat ready' for 'imminent war', it has been claimed (file picture) Kim Jong-un's army officers have reportedly given their malnourished fighters permission to raid crops from impoverished citizens Another source in North Hamgyong Province told the Daily NK website: 'Young soldiers tired of relentless hunger are frequently deserting the army to steal food. Even military officers are encouraging the practice. 'The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent. They are even threatening their soldiers, saying, 'If you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties.'' One source told the website that residents are becoming increasingly critical of army personnel and high ranking officers for not feeding their fighters properly. The claims surfaced as US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live fire drill in South Korea today, intended as a show of force against the North after its latest missile launch. 'South Korean and US air forces conducted an air interdiction exercise in order to strongly cope with North Korea's repeated firing of ballistic missiles and development of nuclear weapons,' the South's air force said in a statement. South Korea's F-15K fighter jets drop bombs during a training at the Taebaek Pilsung Firing Range today Two B-1B 'Lancer' bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part. B-1B overflights of the peninsula from Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, infuriate the North, which cited them when it announced a plan to fire a salvo of missiles towards the island. It was one of the moves that saw tensions spiral this month, along with a new set of UN Security Council sanctions, US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning to rain 'fire and fury' on Pyongyang, and culminating with the North firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday. A frustrated Trump took to Twitter to condemn Pyongyang, saying 'the US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!' With tensions surging, Moscow urged Washington not to use force against North Korea and also said attempts to toughen sanctions would be counterproductive. Email correspondence, flights, hotel bills and credit card statements will all be used as evidence of an alleged bribery scheme carried out for seven years by Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez. Menendez faces a corruption trial next week with Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor and close friend. Prosecutors say Melgen donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Menendez's political campaign and legal defense fund, and paid for expensive trips for the senator in exchange for help with business disputes. Bob Menendez (pictured) and his close friend Salomon Melgen are accused of having a 'quid pro quo' relationship going as far back as 2006 The outline of the Justice Department's case came one week before the trial begins on September 6 in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Menendez and Melgen have been charged with 18 counts of fraud and bribery crimes. Both have entered a plea of not guilty. Defense lawyers for Menendez and Melgen complained prosecutors filed a 'lengthy, lurid and one-sided narrative of the case' that includes 'new, irrelevant and inflammatory 'facts.' Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen (pictured) are charged with multiple fraud and bribery counts New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said Menendez 'deserves a presumption of innocence' heading into his upcoming corruption trial. Speaking on Wednesday on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program, the Republican governor said the 63-year-old New Jersey Democrat should have an impartial trial before a jury of his peers. The former U.S. attorney says the job of the federal prosecutor is to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Opening statements in the Menendez trial are scheduled for Sept. 6. Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen are charged with multiple fraud and bribery counts. Both men have denied there was any bribery arrangement. Frederick Demond Scott, 22 (pictured), suspected of fatally shooting five white men, threatened three years ago to shoot up a school and to 'kill all white people', according to court records A Missouri man, suspected of fatally shooting five white men, threatened three years ago to shoot up a school and to 'kill all white people'. Court records show Fredrick Demond Scott, 22, made the statement in January 2014 at an alternative school in Kansas City, The Kansas City Star reported. Prosecutors announced Tuesday that Scott, who is black, was charged in two killings and was a suspect in three more. The first four victims were killed in secluded areas, mostly on or near hiking and biking trails in the area. But Scott became over-confident and was captured after claiming his fifth and final victim in broad daylight on a city street and then getting on a bus, police told The Star. In an interview with The Star, Scott's mother said that he refused to get treatment for paranoid schizophrenia but did not show any hatred toward white people. Scott was cited in Kansas City municipal court in 2013 for assault on his mother, accused of shoving her several times. 'As far as I know Fredrick never had a problem with white people,' his mother said. 'He would do odd jobs for people and some of those people were white men.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Scott (pictured_ is believed to have murdered the middle-aged men men between August 19, 2016 and August 13 of this year near Indian Creek trail in Kansas City, Missouri Steven Gibbons, 57 (left), is the fifth and final victim, and was shot in the head in broad daylight. DNA linked Scott to his murder and to that of first victim John Palmer, 54 (right), police said Police are now working to link Scott to the other deaths linked to the killer: David Lenox, 67 (left); Mike Darby, 61 (center); and Timothy S Rice, 57 (right) Despite Scott's comments, police said they are not certain if the killings were racially motivated. All five were killed with varying types of ammunition, most in just one shot. Four of the victims were shot in the head and most were killed near trails in quieter areas of Kansas City. But at noon on August 13, the last victim, 57-year-old Steven Gibbons, got off a bus in Kansas City, unaware that Scott, who had been on the bus with him, was close behind, police claim. Despite the fact that it was broad daylight, Scott shot him in the back of the head before turning around and getting on another bus, according to authorities. Gibbons, whose body was found in the 1100 block of East 67th Street, survived on life support for more than a day before succumbing to his wounds. This was a break in Scott's usual pattern of secluded killings - and led to his capture after video footage of the men was taken from the bus, police said. Many of the victims were found close to the Indian Creek Trail and its associated trail, leading to the deaths being dubbed the 'Indian Creek Murders'. The slain men were John Palmer (1), David Lenox (2), Timothy S Rice (3), Mike Darby (4) and Steven Gibbons (5) Scott (left) said he was angry about his brother's death in a robbery in 2015. The man convicted of that killing, Jimmie Verge (right), was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Friday Detectives pulled DNA off of an iced tea bottle and cigarette he was seen dropping on CCTV near Gibbons's death, and matched them to Scott, they claim. They say Scott had been mowing lawns to make money, and working at a Burger King close to the site of three of the murder scenes. When questioned, Scott admitted that he used a 9mm handgun recovered by police to kill Gibbons, police said. He allegedly said it went off accidentally when he took it out of his pocket. But he also claimed that he used the Indian Creek trails regularly and visited a friend close to where one of the victims was killed. Police also Scott 'repeatedly' said he was furious about the death of his own brother, Gerrod H Woods, 23, in 2015. In an interview with The Star, Scott's mother that her son (pictured) refused to get treatment for paranoid schizophrenia but did not show any hatred toward white people When questioned, Scott (left and right) admitted that he used a 9mm handgun recovered by police to kill Gibbons, police said. He allegedly said it went off accidentally when he took it out of his pocket He was shot dead on December 14 of that year in a robbery, along with another man. On Friday, the man convicted in those killings - Jimmie Verge, a 22-year-old black male - was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Scott has been charged with the death of not just Gibbons, but also John Palmer, 54, the first of the supposed 'Indian Creek Killer'. Police are now working to link Scott to the other deaths linked to the killer: David Lenox, 67; Timothy S Rice, 57; and Mike Darby, 61. Police say they need the public's help to connect all five of the murders. 'If you have seen the defendant in the area of these homicides, or in the area of south Kansas City, please call us,' said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. 'If you heard shots in the area of these homicides, we're asking that you please call us.' The president's chief economic adviser Gary Cohn isn't bothered that his boss thanked a long list of lawmakers and senior staff yesterday at a tax reform event and failed to mention him, a senior White House official insists. Cohn is a 'significant player' on issues at the forefront of the president's agenda, the official said this morning, downplaying the snub. 'Gary certainly isn't offended, and knows how important he is to the president on his tax reform package and other issues like infrastructure, obviously hurricane relief,' the senior Trump aide posited. Cohn, whose work directly impacts tax code changes, publicly upbraided the president last week over his comments following a race-riot death in Charlottesville, Virginia. He's said to have written a resignation letter after President Trump blamed 'both sides' for the violence but held on to it. The president's chief economic adviser Gary Cohn (left) isn't bothered that his boss thanked a long list of lawmakers and senior staff yesterday at a tax reform event and failed to mention him, a senior White House official insists Trump name-dropped other senior officials by name on Wednesday as he began a tax reform speech and later mentioned his daughter Ivanka's work on tax reform - but left out Cohn, even though he was in the audience. In a litany that resembled an Academy Awards acceptance speech, he also name-checked six Republican members of Missouri's congressional delegation who were at the Springfield speech: Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, William Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Jason Smith and Ann Wagner. Trump also gave shout-outs to senior adviser Ivanka Trump, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon, Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and Lt. Gov. Michael Parson. 'Anybody I forgot?' Trump asked, surveying the room. 'Good, I got it.' President Donald Trump thanked more people than an Oscar winner on Wednesday as he began his tax reform speech in Missouri - but didn't mention Cohn Cohn (left), is working on the tax package but also criticized Trump loudly last week for his comments after the Charlottesville racial violence Presidential adviser Ivanka Trump (left), Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (center, background) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were all name-checked by Trump Mnuchin and Cohn have shared responsibilities in crafting Trump's tax overhaul plan, but only one of them merited a presidential mention. Cohn, who is Jewish, told the Financial Times last week that after Trump claimed 'both sides' shared responsibility for the violence that broke out between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters, he felt 'enormous pressure' to quit. 'This administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities,' Cohn said of white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan mobs. 'As a patriotic American, I am reluctant to leave my post,' he said, adding that 'I also feel compelled to voice my distress over the events of the last two weeks. ... Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK.' Trump's tax speech relied heavily on Cohn, who is Jewish and considered quitting this month over Trump's post-Charlottesville comments Cohn is said to have drafted a resignation letter that he ultimately decided not to submit to the president. The White House said later that Trump wasn't surprised by Cohn's interview. 'The president ... and Gary have spoken many times,' White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters last Friday after the Financial Times story went viral. 'Gary has not held back what his feelings are.' Sanders told reporters Wednesday on the ride home from Missouri that the president didn't snub Cohn on purpose. 'It's pretty standard practice for us not to specifically call out staff. He regularly mentions Cabinet members but very rarely mentions staff in speeches,' Sanders said. Aboard Air Force One, Sanders argued that Trump 'doesn't necessarily call out National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster even though he plays a very integral role in that process' when he talks about foreign policy in public. 'Look, Gary is here. The President is here. They're both working hard and extremely committed to providing tax relief for middle-class America,' she concluded. 'The President has made very clear this is a top priority for him, for his administration, and Gary is one of the people leading the charge in that effort for him and will continue to do that.' A premature child was found in a blue canvas gym bag after spending almost 18 hours outside a medical clinic in Chamblee, Georgia on Wednesday. The cleaning staff at Family Medical Clinic found the baby boy with his umbilical cord still attached in a blue canvass gym bag and called the police. The baby weighed 4.86lbs and appeared not to be full term. He was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite for treatment and is considered to be a miracle child. 'We have been in contact with the hospital and the baby boy took his first bottle this morning and he is doing well,' Lt. Jason Waasdorp told DailyMail.com. A premature baby was found in a gym bag with his umbilical cord still attached at a Chamblee, Georgia, medical clinic on Wednesday The bag had been left outside on Wednesday morning but was brought in by staff sometime during the day. The baby wasn't discovered until around midnight by a cleaning crew The bag was left outside the clinic early on Wednesday with the baby inside. 'At some point during the day the bag was brought inside by staff members who thought the bag belonged to a patient,' according to the police department's Facebook page. Staff did not open the bag when they brought it in so the baby remained inside for the entire day without nourishment or attention. Police reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses but have not yet determined who left the bag. The Division of Family and Children Services took custody of the child. Advertisement A passenger jet pilot was forced to fly around three water spouts in a frightening descent in Russia. Witnesses on the ground in Sochi filmed as the plane weaved its way its way through the intimidating tornado-like spouts in preparation to land. The incident happened on Tuesday when 12 spouts were raging in the Black Sea off the coast of the southwestern city. Scroll down for video The plane is filmed by people on the ground in Sochi weaving its way through the intimidating water spouts over the Black Sea A picture taken from a passenger on a plane shows the scary water spouts looming in the distance. It is not known whether or not this is the same plane as the one in the video The menacing water spouts can be seen formed over the Black Sea off the coast of Sochi where a boat can be seen in the water With one water spout behind the plane, the pilot advances as it looks to navigate through the next two on its way to the airport The sun loungers lined up on the beach in Sochi were made redundant as the foul weather rolled in over the Black Sea on Tuesday It's not known where the plane had come from, but at least nine other flights were diverted from the airport as a result of the menacing weather, according to the Sochi Express. They were forced to land in nearby Anapa and Krasnodar airports. The city, famed for hosting the now-controversial Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics amid the Russian doping scandal, returned to normal today. Although it hosted the world's biggest winter sporting spectacle, in the summer it is seen as a beach resort. Today the weather returned to a mild 69 Fahrenheit but by the weekend temperatures will soar to 87 Fahrenheit. It's likely the passengers would have experienced some severe turbulence while coming in to land, but it is understood it made it to the ground safely. The plane approaches a terrifying-looking water spout which would have caused some severe turbulence to those on board What is turbulence? There are different kinds of turbulence ranging from 'clear-air' - which is the kind most people experience on a flight, to 'wake turbulence'- which is slightly rarer. Turbulence is caused when a mass of air moving at a particular speed meets another mass of air that's moving at a different speed, like an aeroplane. The majority of the time, it is caused by weather conditions such as thunderstorms or jet streams caused by larger aircraft - it is particularly obvious when flying over mountains. British Airways pilot and Flying with Confidence course instructor, Captain Steve Allright, said: 'Turbulence is uncomfortable but not dangerous. 'Different aspects of the weather cause different types of turbulence. CAT is an abbreviation for Clear Air Turbulence the most common form of turbulence you are likely to experience, and is totally normal. 'A jetstream can sometimes be thousands of miles long but is usually only a few miles wide and deep. 'Depending on the direction of travel, our flight planners either avoid [into a headwind] or use [into a tailwind] these jetstreams to reduce fuel burn as they can flow up to 250 mph (400 kmph). 'The problem is, just like a fast-flowing river swirling against the riverbank, where the edge of the jetstream interacts with slower moving air, there can be some mixing of the air causing turbulence.' Steve Landells added: 'Turbulence is often associated with weather systems and thunderstorms. 'Fortunately these storms are visible both to the naked eye and show up very well on weather radars. 'When these storm cells join together then significant deviations may be required; I once flew 150 miles off course to avoid a line of thunderstorms.' The plane passes in front of one of the 12 water spouts that had popped up in the Black Sea as the pilot attempted to come in to land Can turbulence bring a plane down? Whether it is a fear of flying or confined space, the majority of passengers boarding a plane feel uneasy on some level. During turbulence, it is easy to picture the aeroplane as a helpless dinghy in a stormy sea, however, except in the rarest cases, the plane really is in no danger, said Pilot Patrick Smith. Writing on askthepilot.com, the author of Cockpit Confidential said: 'There's no more poignant reminder of flying's innate precariousness than a good walloping at 37,000 feet. 'For all intents and purposes, a plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket. 'Conditions might be annoying and uncomfortable, but the plane is not going to crash.' Captain Allright agreed: 'Without doubt, the single most shared common factor among fearful flyers is turbulence. 'Turbulence is part of flying, and it is not to be feared. Babies especially, who know no irrational fear, are routinely comforted by what is, at the end of the day, part of nature.' Two water spouts rage over the Black Sea as the pilot attempts to bring the passengers safely to ground in Sochi, southwestern Russia Will it cause damage to the plane? The level of turbulence required to dislodge an engine or bend a wing is something most will not experience in a lifetime of travelling, said Mr Smith. When the plane shakes from the turbulence, pilots view it as a convenience issue - not a safety issue. The main concern for the crew is the comfort of passengers, which is why sometimes the plane may slow down or accelerate to different levels, away from the wind tunnel. After a flight with particularly bad turbulence, the aircraft will be inspected by maintenance staff to ensure the aircraft is fully functional. Steve Landells said: 'Aircraft are designed to structurally withstand any punishment that turbulence can throw at them and significant damage due to turbulence is rare. 'Following a severe turbulence encounter an aircraft will go undergo a special turbulence check to ensure that it has not experienced any structural damage and that all fastenings are still secure.' Although sometimes the shaking may feel violent, there are no concerns that the wings falling off - instead pilots are more concerned in keeping customers relaxed and everybody's coffee where it belongs, Mr Smith adds. 'Turbulence is an aggravating nuisance for everybody, including the crew, but it's also, for lack of a better term, normal. From a pilot's perspective it is ordinarily seen as a convenience issue, not a safety issue. When a flight changes altitude in search of smoother conditions, this is by and large in the interest of comfort. 'The level of turbulence required to dislodge an engine or bend a wing spar is something even the most frequent flyer - or pilot for that matter - won't experience in a lifetime of travelling. The plane gets lower and lower to the ground as it makes its way over some docklands in Sochi having made it through the spouts How do pilots deal with turbulence? Pilots will evaluate the level of turbulence during a flight when it happens and depending on the severity, they will decide on the best course for the aircraft. Pilot Smith said: 'Pilots will slow to a designated 'turbulence penetration speed' to ensure high-speed buffet protection and prevent damage to the airframe. WHAT IS A TORNADO? A tornado is a narrow, rapidly spinning column of air around an intense low pressure centre that reaches the ground from cumulonimbus clouds, also known as thunderstorm clouds, according to the Met Office. Tornadoes have a narrow width, usually up to 100m but the damage can be concentrated and severe. As they develop, funnel shaped clouds extend from the base of the cloud and when these reach the ground, a tornado is formed. Tornadoes can have wind speeds up to 300mph, and when they touch the ground they can destroy trees and buildings in their path, throwing heavy objects like cars though the air like a Frisbee. Tornadoes which occur over water are referred to as a waterspout and those which do not touch ground are referred to as a funnel cloud. The highest surface wind speed ever recorded of 302mph is a result of the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. The greatest distance travelled by a single tornado was 219 miles (352km) from Ellington, Missouri to Princeton, Indiana, on 18 March 1925. The most tornadoes in a single year were recorded in 2004. There were 1,820. Advertisement 'This speed is close to normal cruising speed, however, so you probably won't notice the deceleration from your seat. 'We can also request higher or lower altitudes or ask for a revised routing. 'You're liable to imagine the pilots in a sweaty lather: the captain barking orders, hands tight on the wheel as the ship lists from one side to another. 'Nothing could be further from the truth. 'The crew is not wrestling with the beast so much as merely riding things out. Indeed, one of the worst things a pilot could do during strong turbulence is try to fight it. 'Some autopilots have a special mode for these situations. Rather than increasing the number of corrective inputs, it does the opposite, desensitising the system.' Steve Landells said: 'Pilots use every available tool to detect and, if possible, avoid turbulence, including talking to each other and reporting areas of turbulence to Air Traffic Control. 'This allows other aircraft to re-route or change altitude to make the journey more comfortable but the best way for passengers to avoid injury is to make sure that they always remain seated when the seatbelt signs are on. 'And that, then they are sitting down, they buckle up even if the pilots have not turned the signs on.' Captain Allright added: 'Many different things may cause turbulence, but each and every one of them is known and understood by your pilots. 'Every day I go to work, I expect a small amount of turbulence, just as I'd expect the odd bump in the road on the drive to work.' Where is the best place to sit to avoid the shakes of turbulence? Regarding turbulence, your position on the plane isn't likely to make a lot of difference. However, for a little bit of ease - the smoothest place to sit is over the wings as they are nearest to the plane centre's lift and gravity, explains Mr Smith. The roughest spot is usually the far aftthe rear most rows closest to the tail. Three of the 12 water spouts that formed over the Black Sea can be seen in the distance while vessels brave the stormy seas What is 'wake turbulence'? There's something known as 'wake turbulence.' This is a different phenomenon. Wake turbulence is exacerbated by a pair of vortices that spin from the wingtips. The vortices are mostly created when a plane is flying slow and the wings are working hardest to produce lift. The bigger the plane, the bigger the wakes. The most virulent wakes leave smaller planes more vulnerable should they run into one. HOW IS A TORNADO'S INTENSITY RATED? The Enhanced Fujita Scale, or EF scale, is used to assign a tornado a 'rating' based on estimated wind speeds and related damage. When tornado damage is surveyed, it's compared to a list of Damage Indicators and Degrees of Damage that help estimate the range of wind speeds the tornado likely produced. From that, a rating scale - from 0 to 5, is assigned: 0: 65-85 mph wind speeds 1: 86-110 mph wind speeds 2: 111-135 mph wind speeds 3: 136-165 mph wind speeds 4: 166-200 mph wind speeds 5: Over 200 mph wind speeds Source: National Weather Service Advertisement To avoid issues cause by wakes, air traffic controllers are required to put extra spacing between large and small planes. For pilots, one technique is to slightly alter the approach or climb gradient, remaining above any vortices as they sink, said Mr Smith. He said: 'Despite all the safeguards, at one time or another, every pilot has had a run-in with wake, be it the short bump-and-roll of a dying vortex or a full-force wrestling match. 'Such an encounter might last only a few seconds, but they can be memorable. For me, it happened in Philadelphia in 1994. 'Ours was a long, lazy, straight-in approach to runway 27R from the east, our nineteen-seater packed to the gills. 'Traffic was light, the radio mostly quiet. At five miles out, we were cleared to land. The traffic we'd been following, a 757, had already cleared the runway and was taxiing toward the terminal. 'At around 200 feet, only seconds from touchdown, with the approach light stanchions below and the fat white stripes of the threshold just ahead, came a quick and unusual nudgeas if we'd struck a pothole. 'Then, less than a second later, came the rest of it. Almost instantaneously, our 16,000-pound aircraft was up on one wing, in a 45-degree right bank. 'It was the first officer's leg to fly, but suddenly there were four hands on the yokes, turning to the left as hard as we could. Even with full opposite aileron - something never used in normal commercial flying - the ship kept rolling to the right. 'Then, as suddenly as it started, the madness stopped. In less than five seconds, before either of us could utter so much as an expletive, the plane came to its senses and rolled level.' The Spanish founder of the Zara fashion chain briefly overtook Bill Gates to become the world's richest man - only to drop to third hours later when shares slumped, it has emerged. Amancio Ortega was estimated to have a personal fortune of $85bn, $200 million greater than the Microsoft co-founder after shares of Inditex - Zara's parent company - increased by one per cent. But just hours later the 81-year-old was back $100 million behind Gates and by Wednesday morning had slipped to third behind Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos. The Spanish founder of the Zara fashion chain, Amancio Ortega (pictured), briefly overtook Bill Gates to become the world's richest man - only to drop to third hours later when shares fluctuated, it has emerged Ortega was estimated to have a personal fortune $200 million greater than the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (pictured) after shares of Zara's parent company - claimed by one per cent According to Forbes, Ortega was worth an estimated $85 billion on Tuesday, taking him to top spot in their ranking. This meant the net worth of Europe's richest man was up an eye-watering $1.2 billion in the last month alone. But by Wednesday he had been knocked off the top spot, and come Thursday afternoon his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be closer to $81.8billion. This put him behind Bill Gates at $85.1bn and Amazon's Bezos at $83.2bn. It is not the first time Ortega has topped the world rankings and overtook Bill Gates to claim the number one spot in September last year. Just hours later the 81-year-old (pictured) was back $100 million behind Gates and by Wednesday morning had slipped to third behind Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos Ortega has slipped to third in the global rich list behind Gates and Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos (pictured) On that occasion, his personal fortune leapt by $1.7billion to $79.5billion - taking the Inditex owner past the Microsoft co-founder's estimated $78.5billion. He was also briefly ahead of Bill Gates in October 2015 before a surge in Microsoft shares put him back in second place. The son of a railway worker from La Coruna in Spain, Ortega transformed clothing group Inditex from a tiny family dressmaker into Spain's biggest company. He has turned Zara into a byword in chic for the money-conscious, transforming the apparel business with its'fast fashion' model. Affordable imitations of catwalk designscan move from drawing board to store within two weeks, and poor sellers are pulled off the shop floor even quicker. In 2015, his sales blossomed as Inditex shares rose nearly 40 per cent. He holds a 59.3 percent stake in what is now the world's biggest fashion retailer, ahead of Gap and Hennes & Mauritz. It grew from humble beginnings in the rainy northern region of Galicia to more than 6,000 stores in some 90 countries with a stable of brands from high-end label Massimo Dutti to homewear chain Zara Home. The group is only the third Spanish firm ever to be valued above 100 billion euros, after bank Santander and telecoms giant Telefonica, both of which now lag well behind. In a country recently emerged from a recession that destroyed businesses and jobs, Ortega is a rare self-made mogul. The son of a railway worker started his professional life at 14 as a delivery boy with a shirt maker in the wind-swept northern city of Coruna. The son of a railway worker from La Coruna in Spain, Ortega transformed clothing group Inditex from a tiny family dressmaker into Spain's biggest company Within a few years he had set up a workshop making nightgowns, lingerie and babywear, and the first Zara opened in Spain in 1975. Ortega never gives interviews and is rarely photographed. He did not even attend the inaugural ringing of the stock market bell at the Madrid exchange when Inditex floated in 2001. In person, Ortega is a persuasive and enthusiastic businessman, who despite progressively handing over the day-to-day management of the company over the last decade continues as an active part of it, people familiar with Inditex say. He is known for selecting designs based on feedback fromshop assistants who zero in on shoppers' reactions. 'If he speaks to a shop assistant and he likes what they hadto say, he will pay more attention to that than to any of hismanagers,' a former Inditex director told Reuters. Since his ex-wife and Inditex co-founder Rosalia Mera diedsuddenly in August 2013, there has been intense speculation overthe succession. His second wife Flora Perez sits on the board. Ortega's majority stake in Inditex is held through another company, Pontegadea Inversiones, which Ortega has also used to channel the steady flow of dividends and build up a real estate portfolio with assets worth 8 billion euros at end-2014. This, as well as favourable inheritance laws in the Galician region, means that his heirs are likely to keep a tight control over the fashion empire. Ortega has turned Zara into a byword in chic for the money-conscious, transforming the apparel business with its'fast fashion' mode In July last year it was reported that Ortega's real estate assets in 2015 topped 6billion euros alone. Using massive dividend payouts from Inditex, which have nearly doubled over the last five years, Ortega has made largely debt-free purchases of prime buildings from London to New York, becoming a major commercial real estate player over that period. 'All the buildings he buys are in prime districts. It's a steady, reliable income stream, almost like a sovereign bond,' said Carles Vergara, finance professor at IESE Business School. Ortega's first big real estate purchase was Torre Picasso, an office building in Madrid, bought in 2011 around the time he handed the daily running of the world's biggest clothing retailer to chief executive officer Pablo Isla. Since then he has bought properties including an office block in London's Mayfair; a stretch of London's prime shopping drag Oxford Street; and the historic cast-iron clad E.V. Haughwout Building in SoHo, New York, which housed a world- famous cut glass and porcelain store in the 19th century and featured the world's first passenger elevator. Ortega not only rents out his commercial property to Inditex stores like Zara and upmarket label Massimo Dutti at market rates, but also to rivals such as H&M of Sweden and Gap of the United States. In Madrid, he owns No. 32 on the Spanish capital's main shopping drag Gran Via. The Art Deco building, built as one of the city's first grand-scale department stores in the 1920s, now houses biggest store in Spain for arch-rival Primark. In February last year, Ortega made his first foray into Asia, buying a 22-storey plaza in Myeongdong, Seoul's trendy shopping district. A Catholic college has allowed two male transgender students to wear the boys' uniform, use unisex toilets, and change their names on the official school roll. Trinity Catholic College principal John Hilet made the announcement last Friday after the two students confided in him, saying they identified as male and no longer wanted to wear the skirt or tunic. 'The students were hoping to wear a more appropriate uniform and felt very uncomfortable in it. One indicated she felt physically unwell getting dressed,' Principal Hilet told The Daily Telegraph. 'The students were hoping to wear a more appropriate uniform and felt very uncomfortable in it. One indicated she felt physically unwell getting dressed,' Principal Hilet said The two students at the Lismore school, in northeastern NSW, wore the male uniform to school for the first time on Monday, after Principal Hilet issued a letter to parents informing them of the update. 'During the past two weeks I have had the privilege of being taken into the confidence of two students who have been struggling with gender identity issues. Both identify as male despite being born female,' he said. 'I use the word privilege because it has taken great trust on their behalf and faith as both were not certain as to how this would be received. 'The students were seeking permission to wear a uniform that was more appropriate to their gender.' The two students at the Lismore school, in northeastern New South Wales, (pictured) wore the boys' uniform to school for the first time on Monday Principal Hilet sent a letter to parents to inform them of the two students' wishes and to ask for acceptance Mr Hilet said the school supported the students' wishes, and granted them permission to wear what they wanted. He also said it prompted him to consider a 'gender neutral uniform' for all students. 'One issue this situation has clearly raised is the lack of a more gender neutral uniform option for College we will be investigating this in the near future,' he said. In the letter sent out to parents, Mr Hilet asked for acceptance on behalf of the transgender children. 'I will address the other students at the usual Monday morning assembly about difference and will point out that it is essential as a Catholic community we offer our full support to the students,' he said. 'And that any comments seen as targeting or bullying these students will not be tolerated. 'I ask that you also support these students in any conversations you might have with your children.' Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, NSW, (pictured) announced in February this year one of its students was transitioning into a female and would graduate school under a new name Mr Hilet said the letter received a mixed response. While most messages were positive, he said some were not. He said one Lismore local said the news made them consider taking their child out of the school. The news comes after a student at a prestigious all-boys high school announced they would finished their Year 12 studies as a female. Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, NSW, announced in February this year one of its students was transitioning into a female and would graduate school under a new name. 'We believe our prime responsibility as a school is to protect, uphold and enhance the safety, happiness, health and prospects of students under our care. This guides all we do,' the school said. Russia has been flaunting its military strength with training drills taking place in the Black Sea. Marines have undergone strict training in the cruel terrain with ships, missile boats and naval aviation teams all part of the operation. Defence experts say that during the missions they stumbled across a previously undiscovered floating mine. They had to destroy it to complete in the exercise safely. Air defence training went on in the area as well as the anti-submarine machine Beriev Be-12 being used - a Soviet turbo-powered amphibious aircraft designed for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties. Bombing practice also took place in the area with air, coastal and surface targets used in the training missions. The Sukhoi Su-30, a twin-engine, two-seat fighter aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, was also on display. Russia has been flaunting its military strength with training drills taking place in the Black Sea The display of strength comes amid mounting concerns in the West about planned war games by Russia and Belarus. A war game is a military exercise carried out to test or improve the tactical expertise of a nation's armed forces. The manoeuvers, to be held September 14-20 in Belarus and western Russia, have raised NATO concerns. Some alliance members, including the Baltic states and Poland, have criticised Moscow for a lack of transparency and questioned its intentions. Amid spiraling tensions over fighting in Ukraine, Western worries about the planned manoeuvers have ranged from allegations that Russia could keep its forces in Belarus after the drills, to fears of a surprise attack on the Baltics. Marines have undergone strict training in the cruel terrain with ships, missile boats and naval aviation teams all part of the operation Russia's Deputy Defense Minister, Lt. Gen. Alexander Fomin, rejected what he described as Western 'myths about the so-called Russian threat.' 'The most improbable scenarios have been floated,' he said at a briefing for foreign military attaches. 'Some have reached as far as to claim that the Zapad 2017 exercises will serve as a 'platform for invasion' and 'occupation' of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.' Fomin said the Russian military will invite foreign observers to the manoeuvers, which will involve 5,500 Russian and 7,200 Belarusian troops, about 70 aircraft, up to 250 tanks, 200 artillery systems and 10 navy ships. Bombing practice also took place in the area with air, coastal and surface targets used in the training missions Moscow's assurances, however, have failed to assuage Russia's neighbours, which expect the drills to be far greater in scope than officially declared. Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik said last month that Moscow could deploy up to 100,000 troops for the manoeuvers. Poland's Deputy Defense Minister Michal Dworczyk also questioned Russia's official claims, saying that Warsaw expects many more Russian soldiers and equipment to be deployed. Speaking Monday on Polish state Radio 1, Dworczyk expressed hope that the exercise 'will not include any aggressive scenarios' and won't cause any incidents, adding that 'operations on this scale always run this risk.' The display of strength comes amid mounting concerns in the West about planned war games by Russia and Belarus NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that the alliance will send two observers to the manoeuvers, but noted that access offered by Belarus does not constitute real monitoring. He said NATO is seeking 'a more thorough way of observing' the drills. NATO has rotated military units in the Baltics and Poland and held regular drills in the region - activities that Moscow has criticised as a reflection of its hostile intentions. The alliance has watched Russian military moves with growing concern following Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Russia had leased a naval base in Crimea prior to its seizure, and used troops deployed there to quickly overtake the Black Sea peninsula. A university student has been caught on film going ballistic after her professor apparently confiscated her fake ID. The Syracuse University student had the very public meltdown on the first day of a public policy class taught by professor William D. Coplin. The video begins with the teacher asking the pupil: 'So I have a question for you. How old are you?' She sheepishly replies: 'Ummm 19.' After he informs her that he is confiscating the item, she launches into a foul-mouthed rant, yelling: 'Are you f***ing kidding me?!' But former pupils have come forward online revealing that the clip is actually a stunt pulled every year by the professor to frighten new students from carrying fake ID. G Foster said on Twitter: 'He's been doing that for years! Same thing happened in '98 except it was a dude. A university student has been caught on film going ballistic after her professor apparently confiscated her fake ID 'As I recall, he asked a student if they had a fake ID. Someone gave it up. He then proceeded to cut it in half. Dude went crazy.' Another commenter added: 'Apparently it happens at Syracuse University and the university sets it up every year to deter people from getting and having fake IDs MailOnline has contacted Syracuse University for comment. A Britain First supporter has been kicked off a tram for launching a foul-mouthed Islamophobic tirade. Passengers on a Sheffield Supertram service reacted with horror as the man ranted for nearly three minutes, spouting vile about Islam and Allah. When challenged, he threatened to 'knock out' terrified travellers and called the conductor a 'daft c***', before being ejected from the tram. Passengers on a Sheffield Supertram service reacted with horror as the man (left) ranted for nearly three minutes, spouting vile about Islam and Allah The thug boasted of his support for Britain First and for English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson. The man, riding the service to Malin Bridge last night, insisted he was not being racist and was simply quoting Islamic text. Victoria Hindle, 32, captured the vile tirade on her mobile phone and later posted it on Facebook, where it has been viewed more than 175,000 times. Miss Hindle tells him he is being recorded and is about to become an 'internet sensation'. The man shrugs and says: 'That's all right, fair enough. Do you think I'm bothered? I'm with Tommy Robinson on this. I'm with Britain First on this.' A red-haired woman asked him: 'Why are you doing this?' and he replied: 'Because I'm right' A female passenger sat next to him throws her arms up in the air and shakes her head. Outraged passengers shout 'we don't want to hear it' and tell him to 'shut up'. The female passenger puts her hand in front of his mouth and says 'shhh' but he pushes it away. Miss Hindle says she is going to send the footage to the police and get him arrested. He replies: 'Ok then, fair enough. I'm not being racist, I'm quoting things from the Koran. So, if I'm going to be arrested... how come Muslims aren't arrested for preaching it?' The red-haired woman asks: 'Why are you doing this?' He replies: 'Because I'm right.' And a male passenger tells him: 'Everybody's got their own beliefs.' The man, riding the service to Malin Bridge last night, insisted he was not being racist and was simply quoting Islamic text The yob then gets up, marches over to him and says: 'Don't put your hands up to me, mate, else I will f***ing knock you straight out.' A female conductor steps in between them as the tram arrives at the station and orders the man off. He calls her a 'daft c***' and stomps off down the carriage, threatening other passengers. The thug boasted of his support for English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson With arms outstretched he shouts: 'Come on then, all of ya. What are ya gonna do? What the f*** are you doing?' He eventually leaves, while continuing to hurl abuse at fellow passengers as they step out onto the platform. Miss Hindle said the rant was aimed at two black passengers who were just 'minding their business' and claims there was nothing to indicate they were even Muslim. She said the red-haired woman was travelling with the man and had taken part in the abuse but suddenly stopped when she realised she was being filmed. She said: 'There were two black passengers on the tram that they were aiming their hatred at. I don't know what religion they were, they were just sat minding their own business. One of them was a 14-year-old girl. 'Initially she (the red-haired woman) was talking about how she had a job now and all her taxes were paying for immigrants. She changed her tune when I started filming. 'The pair were talking very loudly and the woman was shouting that she worked and paid taxes and these were all going to immigrants. The man eventually left the tram, while continuing to hurl abuse at fellow passengers as they step out onto the platform 'She said that they were coming to our country but wouldn't let us go to theirs. They were really wanting to get the attention of the couple in front. 'The man in the video then started shouting what are you looking at? So I said: 'I'm looking at you being racist'. 'The whole incident was quite scary. He was one of those people that are all mouth and I just wanted to film it to show people what he was doing. 'It makes me angry that people can be so ignorant, but there were a few other people on the tram who didn't say anything. 'I can understand that it's hard when people like that are shouting, it can be very intimidating but I think we all have to say something.' A South Yorkshire Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are aware of the incident and we are investigating. Incidents of this nature are taken extremely seriously.' A Supertram spokesman said: 'We have a zero tolerance of any racist behaviour on our services.' The District of Columbia, Illinois, Oregon, and Tennessee all won approval from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos Wednesday for their accountability plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The plans detail how states will go about complying with the federal law in the coming years. The law goes into effect this fall. DeVos has now approved 10 of the 17 submitted state ESSA plans. All of the states that have turned in plans have received feedback from the department. As more and more state plans come under the departments review, I am heartened to see how states have embraced the spirit of flexibility under ESSA to improve education for individual students, DeVos said in a news release. Next month, 34 states are expected to turn in their plans, many of which will be voted on by state board members and reviewed by governors in the coming weeks. I appreciate U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss action on these plans and look forward to federal approval on the remaining submissions, Chris Minnich, the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers said in a statement. Heres what the department cited as among the unique elements in each of the latest plans to be approved: District of Columbia: Incorporating ratings and measurements about the quality of districts pre-K programs into its accountability system. Incorporating ratings and measurements about the quality of districts pre-K programs into its accountability system. Illinois: Judging schools climate partly on the basis of student surveys. Judging schools climate partly on the basis of student surveys. Oregon: Tracking how many credits high school freshmen have attained at the end of the year to make sure theyre on track to graduation. Tracking how many credits high school freshmen have attained at the end of the year to make sure theyre on track to graduation. Tennessee: New grants aimed at boosting teacher diversity and innovation, as well as teacher and principal residencies to promote career advancement. State education departments over the last year have had a politically and logistically difficult time devising ways to comply with several aspects of the law regarding school improvement and accountability, and many policy analysts have wondered out loud how flexible the department will be with states in approving those plans. The federal departments review process has come under scrutiny in recent months by civil rights activists, school accountability hawks, and some state department officials for the level of transparency and for whether the department is holding states to the letter of the law. Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Police have charged an eighth person with the bodies-in-the-box murders of a mother-of-three and her brother-in-law. The 28-year-old man from Auckland was charged over the gruesome murders in Logan after being extradited to Queensland from New Zealand. He has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday morning. The bodies of Cory Breton (pictured, right), 28, and Iuliana Triscaru (pictured, left), 31, were found in a large metal toolbox in a dam in Kingston in February 2016 Police have charged an eighth person with the bodies-in-the-box murders of a mother-of-three and her brother-in-law (pictured is the metal tookbox containing the bodies) The bodies of Cory Breton, 28, and Iuliana Triscaru, 31, were found in a large metal toolbox in a dam in Kingston in February 2016. Police found the metal tool box containing the duo's heavily decomposed remains submerged behind a Coates Hire equipment-leasing shop on February 11, 2016. The couple were believed to have been abducted before their deaths - with Mr Breton last seen on January 21 and his sister-in-law three days later at a Marsden address. Police found the metal tool box (pictured) containing the duo's heavily decomposed remains submerged behind a Coates Hire equipment-leasing shop on February 11, 2016 Their bodies were so badly decomposed forensic investigators were not able to determine a cause of death. Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 25, Ngatokoona Maretti, 36, Tepuna Tupuna Mariri, 25, Webbstar Latu, 31, Davy Malu Junior Taiao, 21, Stou Daniels, 21, and Trent Michael Thrupp, 22, have already been charged over the deaths. The man has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday morning (pictured is the box containing the bodies) An influential American think tank reportedly fired a top analyst who was critical of Google's market dominance after allegedly being pressured by the tech company's chairman and a major donor. Barry Lynn worked as a senior fellow at Washington think tank the New America Foundation and had spent years studying the quick growing power of tech companies like Facebook and Google. But Lynn was axed from the New America earlier this week by foundation president Anne-Marie Slaughter after the New York Times published emails that suggest Google was not pleased with his research. Since 1999, Google and executive chairman Eric Schmidt have donated $21million to New America as he has chaired the organization for a number of years. The New America Foundation reportedly fired senior fellow Barry Lynn (above) after he was critical of Google's market dominance. Lynn says he believes Google's top executives pressured the influential think tank to fire him Lynn worked as a senior fellow at Washington think tank the New America Foundation and had spent years studying the quick growing power of tech companies like Facebook and Google (file above) Lynn thinks that Google is a monopoly and he thinks his opinion of the company that's within his research cost him his job. 'I've been there for 15 years,' Lynn told the Guardian. 'And for 14 everything was great. In the last year or so it has got more difficult. 'And from every piece of evidence that we are seeing that has to do with pressure from Google. 'Everyday I see people waking up to the power of Google, Facebook and Amazon. We have to do something as a people, we have to do something through our government and address the power of these companies. 'The number of congressmen and others making statements on Capitol Hill about this is growing very rapidly. 'The number of businesses who are saying that something must be done about the power of these companies and the way they use their power.' Lynn ran the think tank's Open Markets initiative and said that his problems started last June when the European Union fined Google a record $2.7billion for breaching antitrust rules and abusing its market dominance. Lynn was axed from the New America earlier this week by foundation president Anne-Marie Slaughter after the New York Times published emails that suggest Google (file above) was not pleased with his research He posted a quick note that applauded the decision and called on regulators in the US 'to build upon this important precedent.' Lynn claims that the note ended his career at the New America. Slaughter called Lynn's claims 'absolutely false' in a statement and blamed his 'repeated refusal to adhere to New America's standards of openness and institutional collegiality' to relieve him from the job, the Guardian reported. A spokeswoman from Google said that it 'would not be a fair characterization at all' to blame the tech company for New America's decision to part ways with Lynn. 'I can confirm that our funding levels for 2017 have not changed as a result of NAF's June post, nor did Eric Schmidt ever threaten to cut off funding because of it,' a spokeswoman said via email to the Guardian. Lynn said this is more than just a disagreement with a think tank supporter, but instead represents a bigger threat to independent research. He said that things started to go wrong last summer when Open Markets began to help Sen. Elizabeth Warren with preparing for a speech on the country's monopolies. Pictured above is the note Lynn wrote commending the European Commission's findings against Google for Abuse of Dominance Warren warned that Amazon, Google and Facebook were companies that could become tools 'to snuff out competition.' 'Anyone who loves markets knows that for markets to work, there has to be competition. But today, in America, competition is dying,' she said. 'Consolidation and concentration are on the rise in sector after sector. Concentration threatens our markets, threatens our economy, and threatens our democracy.' However, before the conference, Slaughter emailed Lynn, which the Times obtained. 'We are in the process of trying to expand our relationship with Google on some absolutely key points just think about how you are imperiling funding for others,' it read. Lynn and his team were axed from New America shortly after the Times story was published earlier this week. 'They could say what they wanted to say,' Lynn told the Guardian. 'We had these units of expertise and the tradition at New America was that you trusted these experts.' He added that he guesses Google's attitude had changed when Open Markets had gained greater weight in policymakers and enforcers' eyes. 'Google is a very sophisticated team of people. They know how to spend their money and wield their influence in ways that usually get them what they want,' Lynn told the Guardian. 'In terms of researchers, the danger is that research and work writing about Google, about platform monopoly in general, work that should be be doing for the good of the American public will not be done.' Hurricane Irma has been upgraded for the second time Thursday and is now at Category 3 strength as it continues its voyage westward over the Atlantic Ocean. Its winds are now blowing at a sustained 115mph, Pix11 reported. 'Irma is forecast to become a major hurricane by tonight and is expected to be an extremely dangerous hurricane for the next several days,' warned National Weather Service forecaster Eric Blake. It was already upgraded from tropical storm to Category 2 hurricane on Thursday, and wasn't expected to reach Category 3 until Friday. It is projected to speed up to Category 4 status - meaning winds of 130mph - by Tuesday. Worse, one of its possible flight paths would put it on a collision course with the Carolinas by the Sunday after, Click Orlando reported. Scroll down for video Hurricane Irma is rated at Category 2, with maximum wind speeds of 100mph - and it's expected to get worse, reaching Category 4 level by Tuesday It will take Hurricane Irma a week to cross the Atlantic - at which point it could either head north-west toward the Carolinas, or west and strike Puerto Rice and its neighbors Hurricanes are ranked on a sliding scale from 1 - the weakest - to 5. A Category 2 hurricane has wind speeds of 96-110 miles per hour. Irma is currently rated at Category 3, with sustained winds of 115 mph. It is located about 1,845 miles east of the Leeward Islands and is moving toward land at around 12mph. And while the hurricane will take at least a week to cross the Atlantic on its trek westwards, it will increase in speed and danger as it does so. It's expected to grow into a Category 4 hurricane - with wind speeds of 130-156mph - on Tuesday. 'Irma is likely to become a major hurricane well before it reaches the Lesser Antilles [islands],' said AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. They are located around 200 miles southeast of Puerto Rico. THE HURRICANE CATEGORY SCALE As storms pick up wind speeds, they increase from tropical depressions to hurricanes. In increasing order, the categories are: Tropical depression: around 38mph Tropical storm: 39-73mph Category 1: 74-95mph Category 2: 96-110mph Category 3: 111-129mph Category 4: 130-156mph Category 5: 157mph and over Advertisement 'All interests in the eastern Caribbean will need to monitor the progress of this evolving and likely dangerous tropical cyclone.' At this point the hurricane has two likely paths. One would take it north-west in a curve toward North and South Carolina. If that happens, landfall is expected on Sunday September 10. The other path would see it striking Puerto Rico and the Hispaniola Island countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti much sooner. 'The American models take it to the Carolinas,' News 6 meterologist Troy Bridges told Click Orlando. 'The European models have it going to Cuba and possibly threatening South Florida. It's just too early to tell.' AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Thompson said that 'Steering winds will guide Irma close to the Leeward Islands and then perhaps Puerto Rico and Hispaniola around the middle of next week. 'At the very least, there will be an increase in surf in the northeastern Caribbean early next week.' Irma is now the ninth named storm this busy hurricane season. Irma still has some way to travel before it makes landfall and is currently moving westward at 12mph. If its path does take it to the Carolinas, it's likely to hit land on Sunday September 10 As well as marking the day when Irma could hit the Carolinas, September 10 will also mark the peak of hurricane season. On average 35 percent of storms occur during that month. The storms also become more potent, thanks to warmer waters in the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration forecasters said the Atlantic Ocean's 2017 hurricane season will likely be above normal, with 11 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to four major storms. In Houston, Texas, residents are beginning the grim search for bodies and survivors, as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey continue to recede. The official death toll across the entire Gulf Coast region is currently 38 but it is likely to become exponentially higher as the bodies of the dead are recovered. This map shows how far Hurricane Irma could move as the days pass; the cone shows its possible path, but not the size. It's expected to reach Category 4 on Tuesday Corpses were seeing floating in the wayer on Wednesday and many more are feared to be inside homes which have been inaccessible until now. Houston Fire Department Chief Terry Garrison said their mission had gone from rescue to recovery, and firefighters were now going 'block to block, door to door' to recover the bodies of the dead. Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned residents that it will take months for the state to recover from its devastating floods. 'The worst is not yet over as far as the rain goes for southeast Texas. There's more to come,' he said at a press conference on Wednesday where he described the catastrophe as being 'far larger' than Katrina or Sandy. In what experts are describing as the worst natural disaster in US history, more than 30,000 people have been left in shelters across the state. In one area of Houston alone there were another 17 deaths reported on Wednesday. The cost of the damage, which includes 500,000 ruined cars, is likely to total $160 billion. The Texas Department of Safety revealed on Wednesday that 48,700 homes had been impacted by the floods. It took an Isleworth Crown Court jury just fifteen minutes to unanimously acquit Simon David (pictured) today after a three-day trial A playwright has been cleared of groping a young actress's bum and breasts during a one-on-one rehearsal after claiming it was merely 'creative and dance-driven' contact. Simon David, 57, was alone with the 20-year-old in a room at the Royal Court Theatre in London while the two worked on a dramatic interpretation of his poems 'E is for Ecstasy' and 'Kiss Not Over.' David - of Tavistock Road in Notting Hill, London - always denied the charge of sexual assault made on December 8, last year. The 147-year-old venue is known as the 'Writers Theatre' and is renowned for non-commercial productions that encourage new artists. It took an Isleworth Crown Court jury just fifteen minutes to unanimously acquit him today after a three-day trial. Afterwards David, who has not been in trouble before, declined to speak about his ordeal, commenting: 'I've already spoken enough about this case.' The actress had told the court it was her second rehearsal with David - who has worked in the theatre's bookshop for sixteen years - and accused him of 'grabbing my buttocks' and touching her breasts when they were alone. He allegedly said afterwards: 'It was fun trying to do that, knowing you're not interested,' and: 'If you had said stop I would have stopped up to a point.' However, David told the court the contact was consensual: 'The intention was artistic, creative and dance-driven. 'As a performer I'm a little over-the-top in my movements. We both went one hundred per cent into it, we were both passionate and very strong. David, 57, was alone with the 20-year-old in a room at the Royal Court Theatre in London (pictured) while the two worked on a dramatic interpretation of his poems 'E is for Ecstasy' and 'Kiss Not Over' 'It's not just reading the poem. They have to do the movements and physicality.' The actress claimed she made it clear she was uncomfortable with the contact, but was too frightened to flee the room, believing David would try to 'kill' her. That claim is an example of her 'over dramatic' account of the events, David says, who has worked with thousands of performers during his long theatre career. He explained his 'E is for Ecstasy' poem includes embracing, but the actress says David deliberately pinned her hands behind her back. 'That's what upset me,' he told the jury. 'She says I was holding and grabbing her, but that is not the case. 'The hands behind the back was romantic, in line with the poem, along with a hand resting on the bottom, touching the throat and hand coming off her breast.' He said the interpretation of 'Kiss Not Over' required physical contact. 'It is passion-driven and she completely consented. 'She was going along with it in the context of the rehearsal and we were both in the moment.' David denied he became 'carried away' due to his passion for his work. 'I have a very strong moral grounding,' he said. David told Isleworth Crown Court (pictured) the contact was consensual: He said: 'The intention was artistic, creative and dance-driven' 'She was responding with full enthusiasm and dancing and embracing me in the same way I was embracing her.' David said the door of the rehearsal room was open at all times, with people constantly passing by. When arrested, he did not ask for a lawyer and gave a full explanation. 'I did not think I had broken the law and still don't. It was a shock when the accusations came.' The father who lost his parents and four grandchildren when their van drowned in the Houston floods has recalled the heartbreaking moment he found out they had all perished. Ric Salvidar, 53, described getting a horrific phone call from cops saying the vehicle had been swept off a road and plunged into the floodwaters. In an emotional interview with CNN, Salvidar described how he got hold of his brother Sammy, who was behind the wheel of the van at when it crashed, and heard his voice shake. Sammy told him that the group which included himself, Salvidar's parents Manuel and Belia, both 81, and Salvidar's four young grandchildren, Devy, Dominic, Xavier and Daisy were driving down treacherous roads Sunday in Houston when they came to a flooded bridge and needed to cross. Scroll down for video Ric Saldivar recounts how he found out that six of his family members died after their van was swept away in the floods by Hurricane Harvey His brother Sammy was the sole survivor, while his two parents and four grandchildren died Salvidar revealed in the interview he overheard his father tell Sammy it was safe 'to go' when he yelled out, 'You can make it! I can see the guardrail. Go!' Salvidar added, 'I can't see myself doing anything different ... (If) dad told me to go, I would have tried to make it of course, like anybody else.' Sammy successfully crossed the bridge, but once he got to the other side there was a dip in the roadway. It wasn't long until the entire family found themselves submerged under water. '(Sammy) got out of the van. He didn't even take off his seat belt, the window was have way open. He just slid out. He grabbed a branch or a twig (while he heard) the kids screaming and crying,' Salvidar recalled. 'He kept yelling at them, 'climb out the back, get out the back door!'' he added. Unfortunately, Sammy was the sole survivor from the nightmare event. 'I can already imagine Dad holding Mom's hand real tight as the water rushed in ... I know they went to heaven holding hands.' Salvidar said. Police previously released a heartbreaking photo of the van after it was found below 10 feet of water Wednesday in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston. The bodies of Devy Saldivar, 16, Dominic, 14, Xavier, eight, and Daisy, six, were all found in the back of the van when it was pulled from the water. The kids' great-grandparents were also found dead in the front seat of the van they were inside at the time of the tragedy. Samuel Saldivar tried to save his family from the floodwaters in a van. The vehicle was swept away in the flood waters, Samuel escaped but his family was trapped inside Police released a heartbreaking photo of the van after it was found submerged in about 10 feet water on Wednesday in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston The bodies of the six family members were retrieved from the van when it was pulled from the water on Wednesday afternoon Rescue crews removed the van from the water after the floods receded Manuel and Belia and their four great-grandchildren drowned while trying to escape the van in the rising floodwaters. Sammy told deputies he was in his brother's van rescuing his parents and the children from their flooded home on Sunday when the van was tossed by a strong current into the bayou as it crossed a bridge. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said family members returned to the area on Wednesday once the water had receded. They spotted the submerged van and notified authorities. Sheriff Gonzalez said the bodies of two adults could be seen in the front seat. The bodies of the four children were initially obscured because of the water conditions and angle of the vehicle but they were later recovered. The bodies of six members of a family - including Xavier Saldivar (left), eight, and his six-year-old sister Daisy (right) - were found in their white van on Wednesday They had just crossed a bridge in Houston when their van was swept away by strong flood-water currents. Devy Saldivar (left), 16, and her brother Dominic (right), 14, also died Their great-grandparents Manuel and Belia Saldivar (pictured), aged 81 and 83, respectively, also drowned. The driver - the children's great-uncle - survived the accident Witnesses to the incident said that although there were emergency crews in the area, it happened too fast for them to respond. Sheriff Gonzalez said it was a miracle authorities were able to rescue the driver. He said officers heard someone screaming on Sunday when they were in the area helping to evacuate. '(Officers) spotted a man clinging to a tree. They were able to use a rope and really performed a heroic effort getting him out,' he said. Sheriff Gonzalez said the van wasn't visible at that point and was at least 4 feet under water. 'The water was traveling at about 7 miles per hour,' he said. The van was found downstream from where it was initially swept away, according to the sheriff. A chaplain and the medical examiner were at the scene Wednesday, and family members were standing by as police prepared to tow the van out. 'They're very saddened, obviously,' the sheriff said. 'They're struggling with it.' A GoFundMe account set up to help the family of the dead children was posted to Virginia Saldivar's page. A mother and another woman have been arrested after a 12-year-old girl was spotted at an elementary school dance with a 'Jesus Loves' tattoo on her right shoulder. A fifth-grade teacher at Arnco-Sargent Elementary in Newnan, Georgia called police after she saw the tattoo on a 12-year-old girl wearing a strapless dress at a school dance. When the teacher asked the child if the tattoo was real, she replied 'Yes,' according to the police report obtained by DailyMail.com. Police arrested the girl's mother, Emmie Crystal Nolan, 35, who is unemployed, and Brenda Gaddy, 26, an aspiring tattoo artist. Scroll down for video Emmie Crystal Nolan (left) and Brenda Gaddy (right) have both been arrested for allegedly because of a 12-year-old girl's 'Jesus Loves' tattoo The tattoo was a bluish-green cross with the word 'Jesus' above the cross and 'Loves' below it. Because the girl is a minor, photographs of the tattoo are not available. Gaddy allegedly tattooed three children under the age of 18 in March. More than a dozen adults allegedly watched the woman tattoo the 12-year-old girl, according to documents obtained by DailyMail.com. The girl originally told police that her father made her get the tattoo and had picked out the design himself. She claimed that her father had brought her to a white male's home to get the tattoo, and that when her mother found out her parents fought about it. Photographs of the original tattoo are not available because the child is a minor The child then changed her story and said that her father didn't make her get the tattoo. She claimed that she wanted to get the tattoo. 'Each of the parents had a different story and it boiled down to frankly just finger pointing,' Coweta County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jason Fetner told 11Alive. The tattoo artist initially denied the charges, but then admitted to giving the child the tattoo with the mother's permission. Gaddy also admitted to tattooing at least two other minors, according to Fetnor. Brenda Gaddy (pictured) is heavily tattooed. She allegedly tattooed multiple minors After initially denying the charges, the tattoo artist admitted to giving the child the tattoo, but said that her mother gave permission to do so. She also admitted to tattooing at least two other minors, Fetner said. 'It's difficult to imagine how as a parent you think it's appropriate to supervise or allow someone to give your child a tattoo at that age,' said Fetner. The mother has been charged with a misdemeanor of being a party to a crime and Gaddy was charged with tattooing the body of a person under the age of 18. Investigators believe Nolan told her daughter to lie about where she got the tattoo. 'I think it's unfortunate in that the child actually wanted to get the tattoo,' said Fetner. 'It's not like the child was forced to get the tattoo, I think it just comes down to bad parenting.' This is the shocking moment a suspected drunk driver collides with a school bus in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Joey Thompson was driving 21 students from Jones Intermediate School and Tharrington Primary School when a driver crossed the center line and crashed into the bus near Riverside Drive and Mickey Lane around 3.30pm. The driver has been identified as 30 year-old Tommy Branch of Mount Airy. Troopers said Branch told them he looked down to search for a CD. They also said he he blew a .11 BAC, according to WXII.com. The legal drinking limit in all 50 states is .08. Branch is charged with driving left of center and DWI and was booked and released on 1,000 bond, according to WXII.com. Joey Thompson was driving 21 students from school when a drunk driver crossed the center line and crashed into them The collision occurred on Tuesday afternoon near Riverside Drive and Mickey Lane No one was injured and the bus driver managed to get all 21 kids to safety The mugshot for Tommy Branch who was charged with a DWI but released on 1,000 bond Court records show he has a prior DWI conviction from 2012. After the crash, Branch's pick-up truck burst into flames and rolled over leaving the bus that Thompson was driving damaged and filled with children. Thompson managed to get all 21 kids to safety citing his 'instincts' as the reason for the good outcome. 'I think adrenaline sets in and I think at that time, panic sits in, but it just gets pushed off to the side,' Thompson told WXII.com. A picture of the bus driven by Joey Thompson after Tommy Branch's pick-up truck drove into it The kids left the bus is a single file line and waited on a hill until EMS arrived 'I think instinct takes over. Your main concern is making sure those kids are safe and accounted for.' The students calmly got off the bus in a single-file line and waited with Thompson on a hill until EMS arrived and checkout out the students. Mount Airy City Schools posted on Facebook amazed at how Thompson handled the situation. Joey Thompson pictured above was applauded for using his 'instincts' to get the students to a safe area Mount Airy City Schools posted on Facebook praising Thompson for his quick-thinking The post said: 'Bus driver Joey Thompson did an amazing job with students. He accounted for all students, contacted emergency services, and notified district officials. He then walked students to a safe area.' But Thompson said it was a community effort between EMS and the bystanders who helped. 'Everyone came together as a team,' Thompson told WXII.com. 'It wasn't just a one man effort, it took everyone as a team and I think everyone did very well.' An 11-year-old girl is being treated in hospital following a suspected shark at a Spanish holiday resort. The alleged attack off Grao de Moncofa, a hotspot for British tourists just south of Benicassim, left the girl with deep wounds on her foot. After lifeguards plugged the heavy bleeding, she was rushed to the nearest medical centre on Saturday, according to local mayor Wenceslao Alos. An 11-year-old girl is being treated in hospital following a suspected shark at a Spanish holiday resort. Pictured: Her injuries Mr Alos said it was likely she was attacked by a small type of shark measuring between 60cm and 70cm. The lifeguards said they had 'never seen anything like' the attack but would not confirm it was a shark bite, El Periodico reported. Beachgoers were told to stay away from the scene of the attack but a full evacuation was not ordered because the creature was not spotted. It was the first shark attack to be reported in the waters for around ten years, officials claimed. There are said to be 90 species of shark in the Spanish Mediterranean but attacks are incredibly rare, with jellyfish providing more of a threat. The alleged attack off Grao de Moncofa, a hotspot for British tourists just south of Benicassim, left the girl with deep wounds on her foot In 1986, a suspected Great White bit a Spanish windsurfer on the leg, forcing him to later have the limb amputated, the Sun has reported. And in 1992, an injured Great White shark washed up in the Catalan resort of Tossa de Mar, but later died. Authorities were accused of covering up the incident through fear of upsetting the tourist trade. A British man has appeared in court accused of masterminding a wave of cyber attacks against two of the UK's largest banks. Daniel Kaye, 29, was extradited from Germany after he allegedly orchestrated the 'botnet' assaults which targeted Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays in January. The three-day onslaught directed at Lloyds prevented some Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers using their online accounts after the banks refused to pay a ransom. He is said to have developed malicious software enabling him to take control of computers all over the world, creating his own botnet. Daniel Kaye, 29, formerly of Egham, Surrey, was extradited from Germany after he allegedly orchestrated 'botnet' assaults which targeted Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays in January. (File photo) He was alleged to have launched distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults - where multiple infected computers bombard a system in an attempt to overwhelm its security and gain access to information. It is estimated it cost Lloyds 190,000 to get internet services back online, while it cost Barclays around 146,000 to get its systems fully up and running again. In one email to a potential client, he allegedly boasted he had between 555,000 and 1.5 million computers in his botnet. He allegedly said in the message he had created the network of malicious computers specifically to carry out cyber attacks. During a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Kaye stood accused of nine charges under the Computer Misuse Act, two of blackmail and one of possession of criminal property. Kaye was alleged to have launched distributed denial of service assaults - where multiple infected computers bombard a system to try to overwhelm its security and gain access to information. It is estimated it cost Lloyds 190,000 to get internet services back online, while it cost Barclays around 146,000. (File photo) Kaye, formerly of Egham, Surrey, but with dual British and Israeli citizenship, was extradited back to Britain on Wednesday under a European Arrest Warrant following an investigation involving the NCA's German counterpart the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). Listing his case for a plea and case management hearing on September 28 at Blackfriars Crown Court, District Judge Tan Ikram remanded him in custody until that date. Authorities allege Kaye used a botnet, called Mirai #14, against the banks. One of the charges also relates to an allegation he 'endangered human welfare' by carrying out a cyber attack against Lonestar MTN, the largest internet provider in Liberia, west Africa. A Lloyds spokeswoman said the January attack was 'successfully defended' but resulted in 'intermittent and temporary service issues' for some customers. She added: 'There was no attempt to access the bank's systems and no customer details or accounts were compromised.' The State Department fired what it hopes will be the last shot in the ongoing diplomatic spat with Russia, demanding the nearly immediate closure of three Russian diplomatic facilities in San Francisco, Washington, and New York. The move was a response to Russia's decision to expel 755 U.S. diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Moscow. Russia is fuming over a sanctions regime Congress approved in July in response to election interference. President Trump reluctantly signed the bill into law. The U.S. demanded the closures ''in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians,' according to a statement released by the State Department Thursday. 'It's our hope that with this move in the direction of parity, which the Russians said they were seeking, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both side,' a senior U.S. official told reporters Thursday. 'Our goal is really to find a way to get to better relations between our two countries.' The State Department is demanding the nearly immediate closure of three Russian diplomatic facilities in San Francisco, Washington, and New York The facilities to close are a San Francisco consulate, a private residence in the Bay area, an annex in Washington and one in New York. San Francisco has large population of Russian immigrants who would be affected. The consulate there is Russia's oldest in the U.S. and most established. With its closure, the U.S. and Russia are evenly matched, with three consulates each in the other's country. A U.S. official said Thursday that Vladimir Putin's government maintains more annexes in the United States even after the forced closures than Foggy Bottom controls in Russia. Russia will be allowed to operate the others as a gesture the U.S. hopes will 'arrest the downward spiral in our relationship,' the official said during a call with news outlets on the decision. Moscow ordered a steep reduction in U.S. diplomatic staff by September 1. The State Department said the action was 'unwarranted' and responded in kind. Unlike the Kremlin, the U.S. is not expelling the Moscow diplomats who work at the closing properties. They're free to relocate to another mission in the U.S. if that's what the Kremlin wants. The U.S. has also chosen not to seize the properties its closing. Russia can sell them the buildings or maintain them, if Putin likes. Russia may decide to hold onto the properties. A warmer shift in relations could lead to a reopening of the consulate, especially. The senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters said the closures don't have to be permanent. They could be revoked if Putin shows a willingness to address U.S. concerns. 'I think you all know the reasons why we took those steps. It had to do with harassment of our diplomats and interference in our domestic affairs, in our elections, so I think those actions spoke for themselves,' the official said of the actions Russia took to earn a rebuke from the U.S. in the first place. 'I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO': The U.S. ordered the closure of three Russian facilities, including the Consulate-General of Russia in San Francisco Rex Tillerson, U.S. secretary of State, speaks during a meeting with Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, not pictured, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 The Russian consulate annex in Manhattan is among properties Russia must vacate President Donald Trump signed into law new sanctions on Russia even as he complained about it According to the State Department's statement issued Thursday: 'The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries.' 'In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2,' the statement said. 'With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.' ROAD TRIP: U.S. Embassy officials leave their estate in Moscow's Serebryany Bor Park as they are no longer allowed by Russia's Foreign Ministry to use it starting from August 1, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the departure of hundreds of U.S. diplomats from Russia President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017 It added: 'The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted.' After Trump signed the sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a cut of about 60 percent of U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia by Sept. 1. He also said Moscow would take over a summer villa used by U.S. embassy staff. A U.S. official refused to confirm on Thursday how many diplomats it had previously in Russia while affirming that the Trump administration would comply with Putin's demands. The American diplomats will be reassigned to other missions in the U.S. the official said, reiterating on the call that President Donald Trump was being 'sarcastic' when he thanked Putin for a forced cut to the State Department's payroll. Shortly before he left office, President Obama kicked Russians out of compounds in New York and Maryland in retaliation for what the U.S. intelligence community concluded was interference in the U.S. presidential election. The Russians persistently complained about the loss of their getaway locations, which the administration said were used for spying. I dont usually start blog posts with apologies, but in this case its appropriate. Im sorry for the brain worm youve probably got now because of the headline here. To express my solidarity, Ive embedded a YouTube video to support you as you sing the song a few times. Go ahead; get it out of your system. Now lets get serious. Because Wichita linemennot the one in the song, the real linemenhave something to tell us about important changes that are reshaping the national conversation about college and career readiness. Look how much a Kansas lineman can earn: $99,000 a year after five years experience, according to a recent story in the Wichita Eagle . And no bachelors degree is needed. Why do we care what linemen in Kansas earn? Because these are the kinds of jobs that are getting a ton of attention right now as policymakers discuss what K-12 schools should be doing. Have you noticed the shift in the conversation? Just a few years ago, the college for all and college readiness mantras were drowning out nearly everything else. There wasand isa good reason for that, of course. We need college graduates, and bachelors degrees still command a wage premium compared with associate degrees and other credentials. But researchers have been pointing out that our economy also needs workers in skilled occupations that dont require a bachelors degree. And with the Great Recession barely in our rear view mirror, many are wondering whether student debt and questionable employability are acceptable tradeoffs for the benefits of a college degree. Where does that leave us? In the middle of a big swell of conversation about workplace and career readiness. Theres a buzz around career and technical education lately. Apprenticeships are high on the national radar. And people seem to be falling in love with the idea of education pathways that dont require a bachelors degree. Take a look at just a few of the recent articles and reports about it. At the top of the list is a new study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, which examines jobs that pay well and dont require a four-year college degree . Time magazine weighed in with an exploration of these kinds of jobs. So did Money and Forbes . Business Insider supplies a list of 26 jobs that pay well and dont require a bachelors degree. (And yes, it includes electrical power line installers and repairers, along with casino gaming managers, who average $78,000 annually; detectives and criminal investigators, at $79,600; and commercial pilots, who bring in an average of $84,000 per year. In the number-one spot are air traffic controllers, with salaries averaging $119,000, and only an associate degree required.) Now before you get too excited, its worth noting that there are big regional differences in what people in a given occupation can earn. Take that Kansas lineman, for instance. He might be raking in $99,000, but the national average for that job is $62,650, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . Within the occupation are variations in pay, too. The average salary cited by the BLS breaks down this way: installers for telecommunications companies average $53,000, while those who work for electrical companies average $68,000. As more policymakers embrace these kinds of pathways, I wonder if school staffers on the front lines are using solid information to guide students. How many counselors know about, and use, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data? Are they able to advise students that aiming to become an electrical line installer/repairer is a better bet than shooting for a similar job in the telecommunications industry? Look what else those counselors and students need to know: It isnt just pay that varies. Its job opportunities, too. The number of line-installer/repairer jobs is projected to grow 6 percent nationally by 2024, about average for all U.S. jobs, according to the BLS. But look closer and you will see that very little growth is expected in jobs for telecommunications linemen, but brisk growth (11 percent) is anticipated in jobs for electrical linemen. Theres more, too. How many counselors and teachers understand which occupations carry a good payoff for a bachelors degree, and which ones might even pay better without one? What about the choice of college major? Studies show that decision can matter a lot when it comes to a paycheck, too. The national conversation is clearly changing. People are trying to do a better job with the career side of college and career readiness. But this shift is going to put new demands on educators, who are guiding students in making some of the most important decisions of their lives. More than 1,300lbs of candles, many penis-shaped, filled with meth worth $1million arrived in 27 cardboard boxes in Long Island on Tuesday. A DEA task force allegedly tricked the group of drug dealers into delivering the boxes to a Paterson, New Jersey, warehouse, where they seized the boxes. 'It's kind of a cross between "Breaking Bad" and a "Sex and the City" case,' a source told the New York Daily News. The bust was part of a larger investigation into drug trafficking. More than 1,300lbs of candles concealing crystal meth were sent to a New Jersey warehouse Federal authorities believe that Mexican cartels are trying to create a market for meth in New York City. 'DEA has seen drugs smuggled in numerous ways: concealed in puppies, lollipops, furniture and produce. But secreting a million dollars worth of methamphetamine in wax candles of various shapes is shocking,' DEA Special Agent in charge James Hunt said. Five alleged members of a Mexican cartel have been arrested and accused of conspiring distribute designer drugs. Agustin Zamora-Vega, 30, Orlando Alcantara, 33; Cindy Carrillo, 27; Santos Minjarez, 26, and Jose Luis Gonzalez-Solis, 28, are facing 10 years to life in prison if convicted. A DEA task force used an undercover agent to convince the group to deliver the boxes to the warehouse where five people were arrested on conspiracy to distribute The defendants, a California man and woman and three Mexican men in the U.S. illegally, allegedly planned to use the warehouse to convert the methamphetamine into crystal meth. Investigators learned about the New Jersey-bound shipment on when an undercover agent met with Zamora-Vega, alias 'Julio Cesar', in a Manhattan hotel. The agent showed him an apartment in Yonkers and suggested it as a place to store methamphetamine and convert it into crystal meth. When Zamora-Vega didnt like the Yonkers spot, the undercover agent showed him the Paterson warehouse. When Zamora-Vega and his co-horts loaded the meth candles into the warehouse, the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations and NYPD revealed themselves. All five suspects were arraigned in Manhattan federal court. Four were remanded but Carrillo couldnt make her $250,000 bail. In 2013 more than 12.3 million people in the U.S. reported using methamphetamine at some point during their lifetime, according to a DEA report. A former member of Charles Manson's murderous cult is expected to get a court hearing to evaluate the role of her young age in the killing of a California couple four decades ago. Leslie Van Houten was 19 when she stabbed to death Leno and Rosemary La Bianca in 1969 with fellow cult members. She was sentenced to death for the murders, which was later downgraded to life in prison at the California Institution for Women. But now the 68-year-old could go free, after being sent to prison in 1971, thanks to a change in California law. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Leslie Van Houten, 68 (pictured in April 2016), is expected to get a court hearing to evaluate the role of her young age in the killing of a California couple four decades ago The former beauty queen was 19 when she held a pillow over the head of Rosemary La Bianca (left) while other cult members stabbed her to death. Her husband, Leno (right), was also stabbed to death and the word 'WAR' was carved into his stomach Van Houten was the youngest member of a cult, led by Charles Manson (pictured being escorted to court in March 1971), in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers A recent change in California law enables those who committed crimes when they were less than 23 years old to seek a hearing and for these issues to be later discussed at a parole hearing. Van Houten was the youngest member of a cult led by Charles Manson in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers Last year, Van Houten, who launched her first parole attempt in 1979 and has applied for parole 20 times, recounted her part in the killing of the La Biancas. The former homecoming princess, who described herself as 'a hippie' at the time of the murders, told of how she looked off into the distance until another Manson follower told her to do something before she joined in the stabbing. She went into graphic detail at a parole hearing last year about how she held down Rosemary La Bianca and secured a pillow with a lamp cord while another member of the Manson family stabbed her repeatedly. Her husband, Leno, was also stabbed to death before carving the word 'WAR' in his stomach. She said: 'I don't let myself off the hook. I don't find parts in any of this that makes me feel the slightest bit good about myself.' The La Biancas were killed a day after other so-called 'Manson family' members murdered actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others. Van Houten has taken 'self-help programs, classes and counselling' and provided an 'insight why she committed the crimes', a spokesman for the Department of Corrections said. The La Biancas were killed a day after other so-called 'Manson family' members murdered actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others (From left to right: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten in March 1971) Manson has been behind bars for more than four decades after being put away for the series of infamous Manson family murders in 1969 (pictured, left in October 2014, and right in March 2017) But not everyone agrees that the good behavior should warrant her release. 'Maybe Leslie Van Houten has been a model prisoner,' Cory La Bianca, Leno La Bianca's daughter, told the Los Angeles Times. 'But you know what, we still suffer our loss.' Speaking about her father, she said: 'He didn't get to live his, and I'll live it for him.' She added that her grandson had recently asked her about her father, leaving her speechless. 'How do you answer that to a six-year-old?' La Bianca said. 'It doesn't end. This doesn't end.' Van Houten (right), along with fellow Charles Manson cult members Susan Atkins (center) and Patricia Krenwinkel (left), leaves court after being convicted of first-degree murder in January 1971 Van Houten has taken 'self-help programs, classes and counselling' and provided an 'insight why she committed the crimes', a spokesman for the Department of Corrections said (Van Houten, right, and her attorney, Richard Pfeiffer, during a break at her parole hearing in 2016) It was later revealed that Van Houten received several letters from Manson during her 46 years behind bars, her attorney, Richard Pfeiffer, told the New York Post. The last letter, which arrived a few years ago, 'was condemning her for not supporting him and his whole movement,' Pfeiffer said. 'She wasnt happy, no. We were all shocked.' Manson, 82, and other followers involved in the killings are still jailed. Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles 'Tex' Watson have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009. Former Manson follower Bruce Davis was approved for parole but California Governor Jerry Brown blocked his release in 2014, citing the gravity of his offenses and his refusal to fully accept responsibility for his role in the murders of a stunt man and a musician. Davis was not involved in the Tate-La Bianca murders. A 24-year-old woman died in a car crash just hours after arriving for a cousin's wedding in Sudan. Malaz Elmosbah, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, was killed in the crash along with her Sudanese cousin and the car's driver on Sunday, August 27. The former fashion student even offered to buy her cousin's dress ahead of the wedding in her familys home country. Malaz Elmosbah, 24, was killed in a Sudan car crash that also killed her cousin and the vehicle's driver just hours after arriving in north Africa for a family wedding Extended family and friends are now travelling to north Africa to pay tribute to Malaz and support her loved ones. Malaz, who was also known as Hajja, was born in Bedford but spent most of her life in Greater Manchester. She had two brothers and a sister, as well as three nieces and a nephew. Tragically, her cousins mother also died in a car crash in Sudan eight years ago. Malaz had bought her cousin clothes in the run-up to the big day. In keeping with Muslim tradition, Malaz was buried the same day as the collision. A ceremony was held in Kassala. A memorial is expected to take place in Manchester. Malaz attended Xaverian College and went onto study fashion at Manchester Metropolitan University before landing a job in retail. Anfal Gadour, 27, a family friend from Manchester, said: 'She was perfect. That is the only way I can describe her. 'Perfect' Malaz studied fashion at Manchester Metropolitan University and had been buying her cousin clothing in the run-up to the wedding 'I knew her since she was three-years-old she was like a sister to me. 'She would do anything for anyone. She saved up all of the money to travel to Sudan for her cousins wedding. 'She wanted to pay for her wedding dress, she bought all these clothes for her. She was doing that for a long, long time. 'Her cousins mother also sadly passed away after a car crash. That is the reason why she really wanted to go - to support her cousin. 'Malazs mother is often in Sudan looking after her cousin because of that. 'Malaz looked after her dad at home and her brothers. She did absolutely everything at home. 'She was very mature for her age. She had a lot of friends.' Family and friends have launched a crowdfunding page for Islamic charity Penny Appeal in her memory. The Texas Attorney General's Office is investigating hundreds of complaints of businesses hiking up prices to exploit Houstonians grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. To date, Attorney General Ken Paxton has received 684 complaints of price gouging associated with Harvey, from $99 cases of bottled water to a service station charging $20 a gallon for gas. Price gouging is illegal in the state of Texas and is defined as 'selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, or another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price.' The Texas Attorney General's Office says it has received 684 reports of price gouging during Hurricane Harvey. Above, one publicized incident in which a Best Buy was selling $29 and $42 cases of bottled water 'Anytime catastrophic storms hit Texas, we witness the courage of our first responders and the generosity of neighbors coming together to help their fellow Texas,' Paxton said in a statement. 'Unfortunately, in the wake of the damage from storms and flooding, we also see bad actors taking advantage of victims and their circumstances.' Price-gouging complaints during Hurricane Harvey by industry Service Stations - 202 records Retail-Grocery & Convenience Stores - 171 records Travel-Hotels, Motels, & Resorts - 20 records Restaurant & Bars - 11 records Retail-Stores - 6 records Retail-Department & Discount - 4 records Travel-Airlines - 2 records Retail-General Merchandise - 2 records Physical Fitness Facilities - 2 records Miscellaneous Business - 2 records Auto-Rental/Lease - 2 records Utility-Electric Company - 1 record Travel-Hotels - 1 record Security & Protective Systems - 1 record Internet Sales - 1 record Internet-Market Place - 1 record Health Care-Pharmacy - 1 record Contractor-General - 1 record Auto-Towing Company & Booting - 1 record Grand Totals - 451 records* * The Texas AG's office is still working to catalog all of the price gouging complaints into specific industries, so the total does not line up to the total number of complaints: 684 Advertisement Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also spoke out against price gouging, calling it 'un-Texan'. Paxton has warned that those who violate the law will be prosecuted, and will face a heavy fine of $20,000 per incident. If the victim is over the age of 65, that fine is upped to $250,000. A spokesman for Paxton said that most of the complaints have involved price gouging on bottled water, fuel, groceries and shelter. A breakdown of the complaints show that at least 202 of the complaints are related to service stations. That breakdown isn't complete yet though, as the AG's offices is still working to catalog every complaint into a specific industry. So far, the AG's office has issued nine Civil Investigative Demands (CID) and are preparing more. 'In a few specific cases, weve seen $3.50 for gas in Houston, $8.50 for bottles of water and $99 case of water complaints. 'We also received a complaint about one Houston convenience store charging $20/gallon of gas and have issued a CID directly to that business. That last example was reported Monday afternoon and a CID was prepared that same evening,' Kayleigh Lovvorn, a spokesman for Paxton's office, said. Those who believe they are the victims of price gouging are being encouraged to make a report with the AG's office, by filling out a form online, emailing consumeremergency@oag.texas.gov or calling 1-800-621-0508 or 512-475-4413. Victims must submit a receipt along with a photograph of the gouged price. 'We are getting photographs of a high price, but a receipt proves that someone is really charging it,' Jim Davis, Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation told KVUE. Several incidents of price gouging have already made headlines. On Friday, a Twitter user shared a picture of cases of bottled water being sold at a Best Buy in Houston. One of the cases was being sold for $42 when it normally retailed for about $15. A Best Buy spokesman later apologized, saying it was a 'big mistake'. The spokesman explained that they don't even sell water bottles in their store, and that it was the idea of enterprising employees. 'Not as an excuse but as an explanation, we don't typically sell cases of water. The mistake was made when employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price for each bottle in the case,' the spokesman said. 'This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday,' the spokesman said. 'We're sorry and it won't happen again.' A crew member for news station KXAN also pointed out that they were charged $289.99 for a room in Houston when rates are normally $119 a night. A spokesman for the hotel chain immediately apologized and said they would be ceasing business with the local hotel owner. 'We are deeply offended and saddened by the actions taken by this hotel. As a result, we are immediately severing any affiliation with the hotel. This hotel's actions are contrary to the values of Best Western. We do not tolerate this type of egregious and unethical behavior,' the statement from the hotel chain said. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is dispatching 3,900 more troops to support the battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of Donald Trump's new war strategy. The move will see the president sticking to Barack Obama's approach of helping Afghans fight rather than going to the fighting for them, Mattis said. It comes after Trump readjusted his pre-election stance of getting troops out of the Middle East as fast as possible. 'By and large this is to enable the Afghan forces to fight more effectively,' said Matthis of the move, which other officials say will increase the numbers of US troops in the region to around 15,000. Scroll down for video Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced Thursday that more troops would be sent to help Afghan security forces battle the Taliban in the country - but they wouldn't lead the fight There are currently 11,000 troops in the Middle Eastern country, which America has been fighting in for 16 years. Mattis declined to describe exactly what the troops would be doing 'Yes, I've signed orders, but it's not complete,' Mattis told reporters in an impromptu news conference at the Pentagon. He would not say how many additional troops are deploying or what their exact roles will be. 'It's more advisers, more enablers,' he said, which would include 'fire support' teams - a term he declined to define but could mean artillery units. He said the additional US troops have not yet arrived in the country. Trump's decision to deepen the American military commitment was taken after months of debate within the administration over whether the risk was worth the potential reward. But it's hoped that the move will eventually stabilize Afghanistan to the point where its own forces can prevent a Taliban takeover and contain other militant threats. Mattis stressed that Afghan forces will remain in the lead, with the extra US troops taking a support role, adding that it would 'take a couple of days' to put into action. However, he promised that they would be sent to support Afghan soldiers (one seen during combat in April) in advisory and enabling roles rather than replacing them in the fighting It's hoped that the move will stabilize the country long enough that it can fight its own threats Afghan security forces are seen here on patrol in June In a speech announcing his new strategy on August 21, Trump did not mention that an increase in US troop levels was part of his new strategy. He said 'conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables,' will guide the strategy, and suggested troop levels will be kept largely secret. 'We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities,' he said. On Wednesday, at Mattis' instruction, Pentagon officials said that about 11,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, acknowledging publicly for the first time that the 8,400 figure that officials had used for many months was inaccurate. Mattis said he wanted to publicly clarify the current troop total before discussing how many more would be sent. He said he and other senior administration officials are scheduled to brief members of Congress on the latest deployments and the new war strategy next Wednesday. Critics have questioned whether sending a few thousand more troops will make a decisive difference in a war that began when US forces invaded to topple the Taliban regime in October 2001. The Afghan government only controls half of the country and is beset by endemic corruption and infighting. In the nearly 16 years since the United States went to war in Afghanistan, the number of American troops initially grew in spurts, as US leaders wavered about how much focus to put on the war. Taliban militias (three fighters seen in July) have been targeted by the country's security forces and by American soldiers Prior to the election, Trump had said America wasted too much 'blood and treasure' and needed to 'get out' of Afghanistan. He's said he changed his mind after becoming president Trump now believes leaving the country would create a vacuum that ISIS would fill. Trump did not indicate in an August 21 speech that he would be sending more troops in President Barack Obama came into office in 2009 saying he would give the war there the attention it required, and the number of American troops on the ground spiraled by mid-2010 to 100,000. Before becoming a presidential candidate, Trump had argued for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling the war a massive waste of US 'blood and treasure' and declaring on Twitter, 'Let's get out!' He also wrote: 'Do not allow our very stupid leaders to sign a deal that keeps is in Afghanistan through 2024-with all costs by USA. MAKE AMERICA GREAT!' In his August 21 announcement, just seven months into his presidency, he said that though his 'original instinct was to pull out,' he'd changed his mind. He'd since determined that approach could create a vacuum that terrorists including al-Qaida and the Islamic State would 'instantly fill,' he said. Huzaifa Hasan Musa, 22, was jailed after trying to smuggle five people into the UK A 22-year-old man has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after trying to smuggle five Iraqi nationals into the UK hidden in a van crammed with furniture. The Home Office said Huzaifa Hasan Musa, from Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, was driving the vehicle when it was stopped by Border Force officers at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles, France, in February 2016. The officers found a woman and child hiding in a cabinet and three man crammed in another after searching the furniture-filled van and found a woman and child in one cabinet as well as three men in another. A spokesman said Musa was found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration into the UK after a two-day trial at Canterbury Crown Court, in Kent, and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Musa, of Mary Street, Scunthorpe, claimed that he had been to visit his step-grandmother near Dunkirk but could not give officers an address. He was arrested at the scene. The van was packed with furniture and was also found to be concealing five migrants When he was caught with the migrants in his van, Musa claimed to have been visiting his step-gran in Dunkirk He then gave officers varied stories about why his van was stacked with furniture, but mobile phone analysis found a string of suspicious messages - including one Musa had sent saying he would be paid as soon as he was through the Channel Tunnel. Director Paul Morgan, from Border Force South East and Europe, said it was obvious what Musa was up to when he was stopped. 'Musa expressed surprise when the five people were found, but they had been quite deliberately hidden. They could not have got there by themselves. Migrants hid in cupboards in the van, which Musa had stacked with furniture to hide migrants 'People smugglers like Musa exploit the vulnerable and put lives at risk. Border Force targets its resources on prevention, protection and prosecution activity, working in close partnership with other law enforcement agencies, to prosecute those involved in this criminal trade.' Assistant director David Fairclough, from the Immigration Enforcement Criminal Investigations team, said: 'Our officers built a compelling case to prove that Musas story was a pack of lies. 'He claimed the purpose of his visit was to visit family, when in reality he was engaged in people smuggling in order to line his own pockets and with no thought for the safety of those he was transporting. 'I hope this case serves as a clear warning that those who try to break the UKs immigration laws will be brought to justice.' A man accused of kidnapping a 7-year-old girl and throwing her off a bridge into a Massachusetts lake now faces an upgraded charge of attempted murder. A state judge in Worcester on Thursday set bail at $1million for Joshua Hubert after a warrant alleging the new charge was issued. Prosecutors and the defense agreed on the bail amount. The 35-year-old Hubert was originally charged with kidnapping. Police say Hubert and the father of the little girl have known each other since the fourth grade, and the child herself knew Hubert prior to the incident. 'She knows. She has known him her entire life,' Worcester Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Riddle said in court. 'She knows him very well.' Hubert's lawyer says his client maintains his innocence. Joshua Hubert (above), is accused of kidnapping a 7-year-old girl and throwing her off a bridge into a Massachusetts lake. He now faces an upgraded charge of attempted murder Authorities say Hubert is a family friend who took the girl from her grandparents' Worcester home on August 27, choked her and threw her off the Interstate 290 overpass into Lake Quinsigamond But cops say the brave child identified him after swimming out of the 600ft-wide 85ft-deep lake and walking to a nearby home for help, Massachusetts Live reported. Authorities say that Hubert was attending a cookout at the home when he snatched the girl, who was sleeping on a chair, at around 2:30am. He then bundled her into his car, wrapped in a blanket, and drove off into the night, they claim. At one point he stopped the car and choked the girl before driving on Interstate 290 across a bridge over Lake Quinsigamond and throwing her over, cops say. But despite her young age, the brave girl survived her fall, and swam about 100 yards to shore and knocked on the door of a waterfront home in Shrewsbury at 4am. She told police that she then located the first house with lights on and knocked on the door. That home was located in Shrewbury, across the lake from Worcester. The seven-year-old girl was able to survive and swam about 100 yards to shore where she knocked on the door of a waterfront home in Shrewsbury at 4am. The bridge pictured above is thought to be the one she was thrown from Hubert, who has no history with the court system, is maintaining his innocence 'At approximately 4:30am, about two hours [after she was taken], a woman from Shrewsbury was awoken by knocks at her door and found the seven-year-old victim standing at her door in pajamas soaking wet,' prosecutor Cheryl Riddle said. Riddle did not suggest a motive for the shocking incident. The prosecutor said that after kidnapping the young girl, the suspect drove around for roughly 90 minutes. Authorities still do not know where he went as of Wednesday. But based on surveillance video and an eyewitness, he was spotted on the bridge where the girl was thrown off, Riddle said. 'There are injuries that support [the girl's] claim,' Riddle said without describing them. His defense attorney, Richard Welsh Jr., told reporters that he agreed to the bond amount because Hubert also has a new charge out of Westborough. 'The man has no history with the court system,' he said. 'Based on the nature of the charges, no judge is going to let someone out. His attorney said that since his arrest, his client is not 'doing well.' Hubert is scheduled to be arraigned in the Westborough courthouse Tuesday. 'That's why we agreed to it and will deal with it when all the charges, all the facts come through.' Hubert 'adamantly denies these offenses. The girl was not in the car. He did not throw her off a bridge,' his attorney said. Welsh said that since being arrested, his client is not 'doing well.' 'He's a gentleman with no record, a great life, and has donated a lot of time to community and now he's sitting in a jail cell with people he shouldn't be with,' Welsh said. He added, '(Hubert) is 'very concerned with the fact that the child was injured, but he doesn't know what happened to her. 'I'm hoping at some point we can get to the bottom of this and get this man back out and on with his life.' He is scheduled to be arraigned in the Westborough courthouse Tuesday. New footage captures the moment RAF fighter pilots take out a truck carrying ISIS jihadis in Iraq as part of an onslaught which liberated a province from the terrorists. British Brimstone missiles were blasted at the vehicle shattering it into a thousand pieces and killing the extremists inside. The devastating blow was part of an onslaught by the British airforce which helped the Iraqi military liberate the northern town of Tal Afar from the Islamic State. The video, released by the Ministry of Defence today, shows fighter pilots drop the precision rockets on the truck as it winds its way through streets in northern Iraq. The missile locks onto its target far below and then fires down on it, blasting it apart. A squad of two mixed pairs of RAF Tornados and Typhoons carried out two strikes on two pick-up trucks last Monday in support of Iraqi ground troops moving in on the city below. The RAF followed up one the successful attacks with a series of other air raids to drive out the barbarous Islamic State from Northern Iraq. Two days later, last Wednesday, a Typhoon flight used Paveway IVs to destroy two defensive positions in Raqqa, which IS forces were using to fire upon Syrian Democratic Forces. While Tornados bombed two groups of terrorists spotted on foot to the north-east of Tal Afar. And a mixed flight used a Brimstone to destroy an armed truck hidden under a building's overhang on the western edge of the city. The RAF fighter pilots locked on to the pick up truck carrying jihadis as they travelled through Northern Iraq The RAF fighter pilots were using Britain's devastating air power to support Iraqi troops below RAF Brimstone missiles were fired at the truck, blasting it apart in the strike The truck was torn apart by the blow, killing al of the terrorists travelling inside it The following day, Tornados and Typhoons struck a further four positions in Raqqa with Paveways, including a sniper and a machine-gun team. Britain's air power has been crucial in helping to pummel IS forces and drive them out of Tal Afar, which was fully liberated today in a major blow to the Islamic State, also known as Daesh. Hailing the moment, Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, said: 'I congratulate Prime Minister Abadi, and all of the Iraqi Security Forces who are fighting on the ground with great bravery and care to end Daesh's barbarous presence in Iraq. 'While the Iraqi forces and the Coalition have ended Daesh's control in the Tal Afar area, the task is not yet done. 'The UK will continue to support the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to finally clear Daesh from their country.' The pick-up trick was destroyed in the air raid, while other ISIS fighters were killed in a series of other RAF strikes in northern Iraq over the past fortnight The raids were carried out as part of a series of attacks from the skies by the RAF as Iraqi ground troops moved in to clear towns of the hate-filled terrorists The Iraqi Prime Minister today announced that Tal Afar has been 'fully liberated' from Islamic State. Iraqi forces, helped by British air strikes, have had the extremists on the run shrinking their so-called caliphate. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his troops had 'eliminated and smashed' the militant group in al-Ayadia district, north-west of Tal Afar, where they had fled last week. And he warned the terrorists that they face a simple choice 'death or surrender' as they are driven out of towns they had seized. He said: 'To Daesh criminals we say: Wherever you are we will come to liberate and you have to choose only death or surrender.' With the fall of Tal Afar, all of Ninevah province is 'in the hands of our brave troops', he said. Advertisement Retired Sgt. General Russell L. Honore slammed the military response to Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday The military commander who orchestrated rescue and recovery efforts in Hurricane Katrina gave a damning assessment of the government's response to Harvey. In a blistering interview, Russell L. Honore described the military's treatment of the catastrophe as 'amateur hour' and said those at the top needed to take control of recovery missions rather than leave them in the hands of overstretched local authorities. There are only 73 helicopters in Texas carrying out search and rescue missions over huge portions of the state. 100 high water vehicles are out searching for survivors, 8 para-rescue teams have been mobilized along with three C130 propeller planes and hundreds of boats. On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked for another 10,000 Texas National Guard troops to be deployed, bringing the total to 24,000. It is an increase the original contributions. Since Harvey made landfall on Friday, it has set the pace for military deployment. Gradually over the weekend and at the beginning of the week, more resources were deployed by the military and civil agencies. One official at the Department of Defense told DailyMail.com that the same growth was mirrored by other agencies including FEMA and Border Patrol. Katrina Military Cmdr. criticizes federal response to #Harvey: "We have a lot of citizens hanging on by a thread" https://t.co/WZlepit1Cu OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) August 30, 2017 'The level of support has been evolving and increasing across the board,' the unnamed official said. But Honore, who is credited with saving thousands of lives in New Orleans, said this was a fundamental flaw and that more help should have been sent when the first warning signs came. 'The American people have put too much confidence in us. We have been too successful overseas to come out in amateur hour and incrementally deploy the force. 'Something is seriously wrong with our control and command. There comes a point in time with the mission that it is too big for the state national guard and they need to get the hell over it and bring in the big dogs when youve got a big mission. 'In Katrina we had 40,000 national guard, 240 helicopters in the first 4 days. They just got 100 helicopters in Texas,' he told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday. Honore is in Texas helping with rescue efforts. He has been warning the government to 'scale up' its response to the disaster - which has so far wiped out 48,000 homes - for days. As Hurricane Katrina approached Louisiana in 2005, 10,000 troops were mobilized and on the ground before it made landfall. On Thursday, the military said another 30,000 troops were 'standing by' to join the 24,000 called up to deal with Harvey. Only 73 helicopters are operating in Texas to help rescue evacuees from the flood water. It is four times the number deployed to Katrina by this stage in the catastrophe. Above, Staff Sgt. Lawrence Lind and Sgt. Ray Smith save a boy from Port Arthur on Wednesday Honore is pictured above with George W. Bush in new Orleans in September 2005. He said the response to Harvey has been comparatively poor and that proper strategies are not being enforced There are 14,000 National Guard troops deployed in Texas with another 10,000 called up on Wednesday by the Governor but Honore says it is still not enough Louisiana National Guard help an evacuee on to a boat. There are 3,000 additional federal soldiers on the way to Texas President Trump visited Texas on Tuesday after spending the first few days of the hurricane praising looking efforts and marveling over the size of the beastly storm. He was generous in his praise of Governor Greg Abbott and commended Texans for their 'spirit' during his time in Corpus Christi - one of the first areas to be hit. After waving a Texan flag for crowds of fans who had gathered to see him, he moved on to Missouri a day later. Honore said those in charge were hasty in their self-congratulations. 'They need to stop patting each other on the back while these poor people are out here waiting to be rescued,' he said, adding that he hoped other governors or mayors did not look to the response to Harvey as an example. Honore slammed officials who are 'patting themselves on the back', saying the mission in Texas is anything but a success so far 'I hope the guy in Miami or Tampa is not listening and thinking this is a success because it is not.' Texan firefighters and police officers are working 48 hour shifts and napping on cots in evacuation shelters while thousands of Good Samaritans continue to put their own lives at risk to rescue neighbors, friends and strangers. There are thousands of Good Samaritans using their own boats and cars to rescue people who are stranded and help has also poured in from other states and cities. After Katrina, the military produced a study describing how it would 'do business differently', Honore said. Its focus was on how officials at a federal level needed to support state authorities when disasters like Harvey struck. It included a grid system devised by the air component of Northern Command which instructed how to search a vast area for survivors or victims. It ought to have been used in Harvey, Honore said, but there is still no sign of it. 'After Katrina, the component of the northern command wrote and curated a significant grid system for search and rescue. I don't know where that is. It don't look like anybody in Texas read that plan. President Trump visited the state on Tuesday and waved a Texan flag for fans. Vice President Mike Pence arrived on Thursday Honore said Texans were 'hanging by the thread of their lives'. Above, evacuee Janice Forse cries at the emergency shelter in Beaumont, Texas. 'Even Katrina wasn't this bad,' she said Harris County fire marshall and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez are among local officials working round the clock to save residents 'We need to get back and get back to that doctrine that was supposed to be supervised by 5th army and North Com because now we've got 50 different state solutions as to how we mark a house as being cleared or whether we forward deploy assets or we wait until the storm is over with. We've got to fix that,' he said. The Army was inundated with complaints after Hurricane Katrina but most lay with Corps of Engineers, the division responsible for river levees which burst and led to some of the most catastrophic flooding. There was an increase of the number of troops deployed to Louisiana after Katrina in 2005. By the end of the mission, some 70,000 had been sent to help. Northern Command is headed by General Lori J. Robinson who has made no public statement on the disaster. FEMA acting administrator Brock Long has made several statements publicly. At a press conference on Thursday, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert ensured help would be given to Texas as it was requested by local officials. Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Texas on Thursday to meet with evacuees and offer his support to Governor Abbott. There were calls this week to implement Honore as the new head of FEMA. He was inundated with compliments from fans who demanded President Trump consider him for a position in the administration. Advertisement The Royal Navy's largest ever warship will soon be fit to sail the seas. Workers are applying the final touches to the 3billion, 920ft-long HMS Prince of Wales which, along with the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is one of only two aircraft carriers of its class in the world. The Queen Elizabeth Class warships are capable of carrying as many as 40 aircraft and weigh 70,000 tonnes, though the HMS Prince of Wales is expected to be 3,000 tonnes heavier than its predecessor. Scroll down for video Workers are applying the final touches to the 3billion, 920ft-long HMS Prince of Wales (pictured) Along with the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Prince of Wales (pictured) is one of only two aircraft carriers of its class in the world The Queen Elizabeth Class warships are capable of carrying as many as 40 aircraft and weigh 70,000 tonnes It will officially be named in a royal ceremony attended by Prince Charles and wife Camilla, the ship's sponsor, next week. The ship, which is currently being fitted out in a dry dock, is not due to be launched until 2019, but project leaders believe lessons from the first ship will make sure it is ready 'swiftly'. The two vessels, described the Royal Navy as 'four acres of sovereign territory deployable across the globe', are the largest and most advanced ever built for Britain. Both ships are fitted with two 48,000 horse power Rolls Royce Marine Trent turbine engines and have a range of around 10,000 nautical miles. Up to 679 crew members - not including pilots - will populate the ship although it is said to have room for as many as 1,600. They are also capable of carrying 36 modern F35B Lightning II jets, the world's first supersonic STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing) aircraft. As well as boasting advanced stealth and 6,800kg worth of weapons payload, the fifth generation Lightning is capable of tracking enemy forces, jamming radars and disrupting attacks 'with unparalleled effectiveness'. Remarkably the massive HMS Prince of Wales is expected to be 3,000 tonnes heavier than its predecessor The two vessels, described the Royal Navy as 'four acres of sovereign territory deployable across the globe', are the largest and most advanced ever built for Britain. Pictured: A graphic of the Queen Elizabeth's capabilities The Prince of Wales, which is currently being fitted out in a dry dock, is not due to be launched until 2019 Both ships are fitted with two 48,000 horse power Rolls Royce Marine Trent turbine engines and have a range of around 10,000 nautical miles Up to 679 crew members - not including pilots - will populate the ship although it is said to have room for as many as 1,600. Both are far superior to previous leading naval vessels. The Queen Elizabeth, for example, is 300ft longer and 48,000 tonnes heavier than the HMS Invincible, the Navy's former leading aircraft carrier which served in the Falklands War and the Iraq War before being decommissioned in 2005. Going back even further, she weighs almost twice as much as her First World War namesake HMS Queen Elizabeth, which joined the fleet in 1915 to help the Gallipoli campaign and also went on to serve in the Second World War. While work continues to bring HMS Prince of Wales to life at Rosyth, HMS Queen Elizabeth has been undergoing sea trials since leaving the Scottish dockyard in June. 'As we brought Elizabeth to life and went through the trials we optimised systems and learned how things could be improved,' said Captain Ian Groom. He added: 'We're drawing those lessons into Prince of Wales so that we can build it as swiftly as possible to the highest quality.' One move to improve construction time has been to establish on board offices for the leaders of different trades and projects. They are also capable of carrying 36 modern F35B Lightning II jets, the world's first supersonic STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing) aircraft The fifth generation Lightning jet, which will populate the Prince of Wales, is capable of tracking enemy forces, jamming radars and disrupting attacks 'with unparalleled effectiveness' While work continues to bring HMS Prince of Wales (pictured) to life at Rosyth, HMS Queen Elizabeth has been undergoing sea trials since leaving the Scottish dockyard in June The Queen Elizabeth is 300ft longer and 48,000 tonnes heavier than the HMS Invincible, the Navy's former leading aircraft carrier Ship manager Harry McCluskey said: 'Rather than having guys based in offices 500 yards away we brought liaison draftsmen and supervisors on board the ship so that things are closer and save time when people need to discuss issues. 'What will be the dining room and galley of the ship is currently the meeting area. It's a lesson learned from ship one to improve communication and having all people closer to the ship. It saves a lot of time.' Mr McCluskey, who has worked on the aircraft carrier project for a decade, believes HMS Prince of Wales could be finished a year quicker than its sister ship took. Questions were raised over the 6billion cost and relevance of the massive aircraft carriers when HMS Queen Elizabeth was launched but captain Groom said the second ship is needed to fulfil the aim of the building project. He said: 'The reason we need two ships is to make sure that one is always available at very high readiness to provide choice to the government. 'That choice ranges from hard military power, delivering carrier strike, right down to humanitarian aid or promoting UK trade and industry. 'The ships will leapfrog one another through those roles and that is what continuous carrier availability provides.' The rain has poured down nonstop since Friday. Im lucky to be safe and dry, but I worry for the thousands of others who are not as fortunateparticularly many of my students, writes a Houston teacher in The New York Times . While its back to school for most of the country, in Texas, the historic Hurricane Harvey has shuttered hundreds of schools districts until after Labor day, or in many cases indefinitely. And now dozens of Louisiana districts are in the storms path as well. Teachers and students who have returned to the classroom are no doubt asking how they can help. DonorsChoose, a website that helps teachers fundraise for classroom projects, has set up a Hurricane Harvey Recovery fund , which is gaining traction quickly. The fund will help teachers rebuild and restock their classrooms with materials like books, furniture, classroom supplies, technology, and therapy resources, according to the site, and its raised nearly $600,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. The National Education Association Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the teachers union, is taking contributions for public school teachers and their families whove been affected personally by the storm. Estimates are that as many as one-third of NEA members in Texas have been impacted or will be in the days to come, the page states. In many cases, theyve lost cars and homes or sustained other serious property damage. The American Federation of Teachers also has a disaster relief fund set up, and the Texas AFT is accepting money for members in need as well. Teachers may also be interested in participating in an effort called KidLit Cares , run by popular childrens book author Kate Messner. Shes wrangled the childrens literature community to help auction off Skype and in-person visits with authors, signed books, and virtual writing workshops, with the proceeds going to the Red Cross. There are more than 200 items up for auction so far . (Also, see my colleague Kate Stolzfus piece about how a Houston teacher is using Facebook to encourage students to read as they wait out the storm .) Its important to remember that if youre far away and looking to give, as of right now, money is probably the best way to go. Schools and communities are still assessing their needs and, at times, well-meaning donations of physical goods can actually hinder relief efforts. (In emergency management, this is known as the second disaster .) Charity Navigator has a list of groups that are accepting donations for the storm (and ratings for each one). Image: Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey flow in the Buffalo Bayou area of downtown Houston on Aug. 28.LM Otero/AP For more news and information on the teaching profession: And sign up here to get alerts in your email inbox when stories are published on Teacher Beat. Related: The body of a British man killed fighting ISIS returned home to a hero's welcome after Kurdish commanders praised his part battling the 'fascist organisation'. Dozens waved flags and held posters for Luke Rutter from Birkenhead, Merseyside, as they lined the streets outside Manchester Airport. The 22-year-old died fighting in Syrian ISIS stronghold in July after joining the Kurdish People's Protection Units - also called the YPG - in March. Luke Rutter, 22, from Birkenhead, was ambushed and killed by Islamic State fighters in Syria Kurdish families in the North West showed their gratitude to Mr Rutter with chants, flags and photos of him pinned to their clothing. His body was driven past the parade in a black funeral services van after he was killed alongside Robert Grodt, 27, from California, and Nicholas Warden, 29, from New York, in Raqqa. The van slowed, allowing supporters to lay flowers on its bonnet and roof. Admirers lined the streets in Manchester to thank Mr Rutter for his sacrifice to Kurdish people Chris Scurfield whose son, Konstandinos, was the first Brit to die fighting ISIS said: 'As a British person I'm so proud that other people have stood up to ISIS and gone out to fight and I applaud him. 'I'm so sorry for his family because the shock must've been unbearable but I hope in time that they will come to understand his sacrifice for the Kurdish people.' After he was killed by the ISIS ambush, Mr Rutter's Kurdish commanders announced his death with a statement praising his bravery. It described him as a 'martyr' who 'participated actively in the collective life, which is promoted within the YPG'. Mr Rutter recorded a final message for his family, which was released by the YPG after he was killed fighting ISIS in their stronghold of Raqqa It added: 'At the end of training in the academy, when asked the usual question addressed to every volunteer: "Are you ready to fight?" He firmly responded "Yes" and said he wanted to fight the fascist organisation of IS.' He had travelled to Syria in secret, telling his mother Caroline he was going to join the French Foreign Legion. The first she heard about him going to the country was when a YPG fighter informed her of his death. Crowds swarmed around the car carrying Mr Rutter's body and chanted their appreciation for him near Manchester Airport Mr Rutter explained his decision to go and fight in a video released after his death by the YPG. 'I lied to people I care about in order to come here, I said I was going somewhere else. 'I apologise massively for that. Apart from that I don't regret my decision, and I hope you respect it.' The fourth Briton to die fighting ISIS with the YPG was described as a humble and brave fighter He was described by one comrade on Facebook as 'One of the greatest and most humble guys Ive ever met! Thanks for the lessons. Mr Rutter is the fourth Briton to die fighting for the YPG. Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, a former Marine from Barnsley, became the first when he was shot in the Syrian village of Tel Khuzela in 2015. Dean Evans, 22, from Warminster, died in Manbij, Syria, in July 2016 before Ryan Lock, 22, from Chichester, killed himself as he was about to be captured by ISIS in Raqqa in December last year. The White House insisted Thursday that President Donald Trump has not arrived at a decision yet on DACA, the Obama-era program protecting illegal immigrant children from deportation. A senior administration official told Fox News that Trump is determined to ax it - and he could make a formal announcement as soon as tomorrow afternoon. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told journalists shortly after the item went up that the policy was still under review, though, and took a slap at the president's favorite news network. 'No offense to your colleague from Fox News, but I think I'm a little better informed than they are in terms of when the White House has made a decision,' Sanders told a reporter from the New York Times, 'and as I just said, it has not been finalized and when it is we will certainly let you know.' An senior adviser to President Trump told DailyMail.com this morning that Trump had not 'firmed up' a decision, citing Tropical Storm Harvey and the unexpected amount of time and energy federal officials had spent responding to it. Scroll down for video The White House insisted Thursday that President Donald Trump has not arrived at a decision yet on DACA, the Obama-era program protecting illegal immigrant children from deportation, even though Fox News says he has Protesters marched on Trump Tower on Wednesday urging the president to keep DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, in place White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told journalists shortly after the item went up that the policy was still under review, though, and took a slap at the president's favorite news network An administration official told Fox News later in the day that Trump had come to a decision, and he intends to terminate the policy. Receipts of deferred action will not have their work visas yanked, the official said, meaning that illegal immigrants benefiting from the program can continue to live and work in the country until their documents expire. For some, that could be another two years. Some 800,000 illegal immigrants who came the the U.S. as children are under the protection of the Obama-era program. DACA, the acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows so-called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the country as kids, to remain in the United States on a semi-permanent basis. Recipients must reapply every two years for work permits. As a candidate, Trump said he would end the program that Barack Obama's administration put into place in 2012. But his White House said as soon as he took office that it had no immediate action planned and that it was mainly focused on the removal of criminals. Trump said himself in April that Dreamers should 'rest easy' for the same reason. 'This is a case of heart,' he said at the time. He similarly told ABC News, 'They shouldnt be very worried.' Remarking, 'I do have a big heart.' An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released this morning affirmed the popularity of the program with Americans. Nearly two thirds, 64 percent, said they supported DACA, while 30 percent said they are opposed it. Roughly as many Americans, 68 percent, said in the same poll that they view illegal immigrants as a 'serious problem. Despite their concerns about illegal immigration broadly, a large percentage of Americans, 71 percent, also said they believed undocumented immigrants working in the United States should have a pathway to a legal status. The mixed messages suggest Americans have a nuanced view of the country's illegal immigration fight, especially when it comes to Dreamers. Sanders told reporters this afternoon at the White House that Trump was still mulling his options. 'This is under review. There are a lot of components that need to be looked at and once a decision is made we will certainly let you guys know,' she said. A senior White House official indicated this morning to DailyMail.com and other outlets that nothing had changed. 'It's been a lengthy review process, and the president still hasn't firmed up his decision,' the official said, bringing up the 'unexpected circumstance of the hurricane which is absorbing the president, the vice president, really the Cabinet's...time and thoughts.' The official then said, 'Also, we want to hear from Congress.' Immigrants and advocates across the country are waiting to hear President Donald Trump's decision on whether he will keep DACA which allows young people who immigrated to the U.S. as children to temporarily escape deportation and receive other benefits, started under President Barack Obama in 2012 Reports circulating last week said that Trump was due to make a decision in the coming days. The adviser who spoke to DailyMail.com said that was not necessarially the case. 'The one thing that we're not really excited about are artificial time frames,' the Trump aide said. The remark about Congress raised the prospect that the administration would be willing to get behind legislation that grants Dreamers permanent resident status or offers them a pathway to citizenship. Lawmakers have proposed to do both at times. 'We call on President Trump to protect DACA and Dreamers - and we need every single Member of Congress and Senator to co-sponsor legislation that would allow Dreamers to work and live in the U.S. and demand a vote on the floor of the House and Senate,' FWD.us President Todd Schulte said this week. Eager to increase international interest in the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is giving Europe a chance to compete in America's greatest race next year. The racetrack said Thursday it is creating a series of seven races in Europe separate from the 35-race 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' series in the US. One starting spot will be awarded to the European-based horse that gains the most points and accepts an invitation to run in the May 5 race in Louisville, Kentucky. Churchill Downs racetrack announced its plan to include a European-based horse in next years Kentucky Derby The seven European races will award a sliding scale of points to the top four finishers. They will also be adding a prep race, Springboard Mile, at Remington Park in Oklahoma City in the Midwest as part of its points series that decides the 20-horse field. The Seven European Races Juddmonte Beresford on Sept. 24 at Naas in Ireland Juddmonte Royal Lodge on Sept. 30 at Britain's Newmarket Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 1 at France's Chantilly Racing Post Trophy on Oct. 28 at Britain's Doncaster Condition Stakes on March 1 at Britain's Kempton Park Patton Stakes on March 2 at Ireland's Dundalk Burradon Stakes on March 30 at Britain's Newcastle Advertisement Last year, the track introduced a series of races for a Japan-based horse to gain entry to the Derby. The Kentucky Derby is a stakes race for 3-year-old Thoroughbred horses. The race distance is one and one-quarter miles long, ran on a dirt racetrack and typically draws in about 155,000 people, according to their website. It is the longest continually held sporting event in America and one of the most prestigious horse races in the world despite its short length. It is referred to as 'The most exciting two minutes in sports,' which reflects the amount of time it takes for the winner to run from the starting gate to the finish line. The Kentucky Derby total winning purse is $2million with 1,240,000 awarded to the first place winner. One starting spot will be awarded to the European-based horse that gains the most points in Europe's new seven-race series A New York correction officer was treated at a hospital after a female captain allegedly yanked his genitals during a training session gone wrong. Correction Officer Mike Lynch claims that captain Shaseannia Pittman grabbed his genitals during a training session at the department's instruction center on Metropolitian Ave. in Middle Village, the New York Daily News reported. At the time of the alleged incident, he said that he was demonstrating how to get out of a choke hold that she had him in when she just yanked his genitals, the Daily News reported. Lynch went to the hospital for the painful injury, but was released a short time later. Correction Officer Mike Lynch (above) claims that captain Shaseannia Pittman grabbed his genitals during a training session at the department's instruction center on Metropolitian Ave. in Middle Village At the time of the alleged incident, he said that he was demonstrating how to get out of a choke hold that she had him in when she just yanked his genitals, the Daily News reported He returned back to work on Wednesday where he was back to instructing his fellow officers. The police union that represents correction captains said the incident would not have occurred had the department used same-sex instructors while teaching difficult moves. 'The academy needs to get up with the times,' Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains Association, told the Daily News. 'If they are going to do simulated self-defense moves and be physically touching one another, they need to do it by gender. Lynch went to the hospital for the painful injury, but was released a short time later. He returned back to work on Wednesday where he was back to instructing his fellow officers 'They should never have had a male staff member touching a female or vice versa because only bad things can come of it.' The training session was administered as part of a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit. It was designed to decrease potential attacks by officers against inmates. 'The training that they are giving is kind of ridiculous,' Ferraiuolo argued. 'You can't teach somebody a martial arts move by going to the academy for three days and expect them to apply that. Martial arts is taught over years. It's really a total waste of time.' The Correction Department declined to comment on Lynch's claims. DailyMail.com could not reach Pittman for comment. In 2012, Pittman was under investigation for carrying on a lengthy relationship with a career criminal who listed her as his fiancee on his death certificate. The youngest of the three suspected penny loafer perverts failed to appear in court on Thursday with attorneys saying he has been moved to the hospital with mental problems. Edwin Emery, 78, is now at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, a judge in King County Superior Court was told. Emery's two older brothers, Charles, 82, who court papers say is suffering from severe dementia, and Thomas, 80, both appeared in court before Judge Sean O'Donnell. The trio have been in custody since detectives raided the home they shared in the Meridian area of Seattle on August 9 and discovered mountains of child porn and children's clothing along with descriptions and pictures of child rape and sacrificial killings. All three brothers are charged with two counts of possessing child pornography. Thomas pleaded not guilty while Charles was referred to a hospital for mental evaluation before his plea is entered. Charles Emery (left) 82, who court papers say is suffering from severe dementia, and Thomas (right) 80, both appeared in court before Judge Sean O'Donnell Police are pictured searching the Emery brothers' home on August 21, 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 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 Charles appeared in court first, being pushed into the 12th floor court in a wheelchair. He stared blankly ahead throughout the three-minute hearing, appearing not to understand what was going on. A few minutes later Thomas shuffled in wearing heavy glasses, a short sleeved red jumpsuit, orange socks and sandals. He was remanded in custody until September 26. All three are being held on $500,000 bail. His public defender, Joshua Poisel, said he may ask for Thomas to be released. Judge O'Donnell said that if that happens he will have to agree to have no contact with any children. Police with cadaver dogs have been combing 14 acres of property in Shelton, Washington, that was owned by the brothers' elder sibling Donald, who died last fall, aged 85. They are looking to see if the brothers may be connected to the case of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum, who disappeared from her home, a half-hour drive from the Sheldon property, in 2009 - or other missing person cases. 'It's very clear that these three individuals have an obsession with young female children,' Capt. Mike Edwards of federal Internet Crimes Against Children task force told reporters. '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.' Charles appeared in court first, being pushed into the 12th floor court in a wheelchair. He stared blankly ahead throughout the three-minute hearing, appearing not to understand what was going on Thomas was remanded in custody until September 26. All three brothers are being held on $500,000 bail Edwards told DailyMail.com the search at the Shelton home could go on for weeks. 'We have something like 14 acres to cover and it's not like it's all flat. It is hilly and wooded and difficult going,' he said. He stressed there is nothing definite linking the Emery brothers to any missing child. 'But if we thought there was zero chance of finding anything there we would not be searching there,' he added. A further kink in the case involves the whereabouts of Donald's wife Sandra. Court papers unearthed by DailyMail.com show she went missing just three months after the June 1970 wedding. Divorce papers filed by Donald in Tacoma in May 1987 say he could never find her after she vanished. Sandra would now be 77 if she is still alive. Donald was the only brother who married. Donald Emery died last fall aged 85 He said they had married in Shelton in June 1970. According to a notice in the local paper Donald Emery, then 39, and Sandra Eddy, 30, took out a marriage license that month. Efforts by DailyMail.com to locate Sandra were unsuccessful. Eddy was the last name of her first husband, Henry, whom she married in 1956 when she was just 16. Her maiden name was Hansen, records show. Throughout the divorce papers, Donald Emery even spells the name of his wife wrongly. He calls her 'Samdra.' He filed, saying his marriage had 'irretrievably broken down,' and said he did not know where his wife was living. He claimed they had separated in September, 1970. They had no children. 'I believe (Sandra) is not a resident of this state or if she is in the State of Washington she is concealing herself,' he said in a sworn statement, explaining why he could not serve her with divorce papers. 'I have made careful inquiry of relations, friends and business associatesand I cannot learn of her present whereabouts.' A judge in Tacoma approved the divorce on September 8, 1987, four months after Emery had first filed. Seattle police would not say whether they are searching for Sandra. The three surviving Emery brothers were turned in by a 49-year-old niece who had been appointed guardian of Charles in July. When she started rummaging through his property she found mountains of disturbing photographs and children's clothes and reported it to police. Police cadaver dogs began a grim search earlier this month of the secluded 14-acre waterfront property once owned by the the Emerys' older brother, Donald, who died last year aged 85 A cadaver search team is pictured on the property of the former home of Donald Emery in Shelton, Washington on August 26 She said, she, her mother, and her daughter had all been molested by at least two of the brothers over the years. The abuse against her mother was so bad as a child that she had to leave the family home and was fostered out. When cops raided their home they found a huge trove of material including pictures of child rape and murder and an extensive collection of children's clothes including dozens of pairs of penny loafer shoes. Similar material was found at Donald's tiny ramshackle house that overlooks picturesque Oakland Bay, an arm of the Puget Sound. The brothers' niece lives 100 miles from Seattle. Her husband told DailyMail.com she did not want to speak. 'She is not doing well,' he said. DailyMail.com is not identifying her as she is an alleged victim of sexual abuse. Charles, a former janitor at Seattle Children's Hospital, was arrested at a Seattle nursing home where he had been living for less than a month. According to Newsweek a detective walked into the Aegis of Queen Anne on Galer facility, took a swab from Charles's mouth as he slept and then woke him and started questioning him. The two younger brothers were arrested at their home. They have been held in jail on $500,000 bail ever since. Charles was arrested at a Seattle nursing home (pictured) where he had been living for less than a month Papers filed in Charles's guardianship say he suffers from 'severe' dementia. 'Mr. Emery will have continuing mental deficits which make it highly unlikely that he will recover from his challenges,' the niece's lawyer wrote. He was taken to the hospital after his two brothers disappeared from the house. They returned on July 11 after a week, the papers say. 'As a result of his dementia, Mr. Emery needs assistance with several activities of daily living,' the lawyer wrote. 'He needs prompting for dressing and personal hygiene grooming, bathing and oral care, as well as assistance with basic communication as he often repeats himself. 'Mr. Emery suffers from memory loss. He has reported his truck was stolen over 14 times, despite the fact that he sold the truck himself. The papers said the hospital was ready to discharge Emery but the nursing home would not take him until they were paid a $13,000 entrance fee and a further $12,124 for the first month's rent. According to the papers, Charles Emery has around a quarter of a million dollars in the bank and receives a $3,100 pension from Boeing. He is expected to inherit up to another $150,000 from Donald's will. Cops spent weeks combing through the brothers' house in Seattle. They took away three vehicles, including a World War II-era Packard Super Eight convertible and a Ford Model A from the 1930s. Cops are looking to see if the brothers may be connected to the case of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum (pictured), who disappeared from her home in 2009 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 Among the items discovered in the Seattle house were 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 the city. Police found several miniature vodka bottles. One of them contained the initials of the brothers' 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. '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. The niece told police that when she was a child, Charles made her dress in penny loafer shoes and socks similar to those found in the house before the abuse. Court papers (pictured) uncovered in Tacoma by DailyMail.com show that Donald filed for divorce from Sandra in May 1987 He filed, saying his marriage had 'irretrievably broken down,' and said he did not know where his wife was living 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. Donald Emery even spells the name of his wife wrongly. He calls her 'Samdra' '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'. In a statement to DailyMail.com, Lindsey Baum's cousin Jasmine Pierpoint said: 'As this Emery brothers case is revealed, we find the thought of it horrific and unimaginable. It seems that as this case unfolds, that it will lead to answers for someone, if not for us regarding Lindsey. 'It shouldn't take a horrific scenario such as with the Emery brothers to bring the cases of all Missing Persons to light. We need to remind people that this sort of thing is real and it does happen and can touch. 'We certainly hope that we find our answers and our truths about what happened to our Lindsey, be it with this case or another.' Boris Johnson was pictured racing across water in an anti-pirate vessel alongside Navy personnel during a trip to Nigeria. He can be seen taking the wheel on the boat, which scrapes his trademark hair behind him as the boat speeds along. The foreign secretary was then snapped sneaking a stout as he supped Guinness during the official visit with aid secretary Priti Patel. Scroll down for video Boris Johnson took to the waves in an anti-pirate Navy boat during his trip to Nigeria The foreign secretary enjoyed a Guinness during his trip with aid secretary Priti Patel They travelled to the heart of territory dominated by Boko Haram insurgents to announce 200million for Nigeria's fight against terror and famine. Together with International Aid Secretary Priti Patel, the Foreign Secretary met victims of terrorist violence and helped malnourished children. Islamist militants Boko Haram has increasingly used child suicide bombers and targeted civilians in its eight-year insurgency which has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million. His trip to the country involved discussions over whether Britain will offer more help in the fight against Boko Haram British military teams will also continue to help prepare Abuja's security forces for counter-insurgency operations, having already helped to train 28,500 Nigerian personnel. Around 1.5million Nigerians face famine as a result of the bloody fighting and the UK aid with pay for treatment for 120,000 children at risk of malnutrition and assisting 100,000 children with education needs. Mr Johnson said: 'In Maiduguri I met casualties of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and saw for myself the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created. Boris Johnson met with Navy personnel, who treated him to a ride on their anti-pirate vessel 'Our military, diplomatic and development assistance is making a big difference. The British military has to date trained 28,000 Nigerian troops, equipping them with skills to turn the tide against Boko Haram, while our humanitarian aid is alleviating widespread suffering. 'This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration.' He also used the visit to call for closer trade links between Britain and Nigeria, which he said would help to 'secure a prosperous future for our two countries'. And he formally dedicated a new Commonwealth war memorial at the National Military Cemetery. The foreign secretary takes control of the boat in Nigeria, where the Navy is helping Nigerians fight off pirates Boris Johnson (pictured flying over Gwoza yesterday) has travelled to the heart of territory dominated by Boko Haram insurgents to announce 200million for Nigeria's fight against terror and famine Together with International Aid Secretary Priti Patel (pictured together at Maiduguri teaching Hospital yesterday) the Foreign Secretary met victims of terrorist violence and helped children suffering with malnutrition Mr Johnson visited members of the British Armed Forces at their HQ in Maiduguri, Nigeria, yesterday (pictured) to announce a new aid package Mr Johnson said: 'Our military links are close and longstanding. 'I am honoured to have dedicated the new Commonwealth war memorial to the memory of the thousands of Nigerians who fought side-by-side with Britain in the First and Second World Wars. 'And today, British military training is helping Nigeria to take on Boko Haram and to fight back against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Mr Johnson said he had seen first hand the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created (including at The University of Maiduguri teaching Hospital, pictured) Mr Johnson's visit (pictured) came after the uprising by Boko Haram, which is seeking to impose hardline Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north 'This close military cooperation is the cornerstone of our joint efforts to defeat terror and to create the conditions for peace, stability and prosperity.' Ms Patel said: 'It is catastrophic that at least 20,000 people have been murdered by Boko Haram's terrorist regime, and over five million people have been left hungry and many homeless. 'Babies' bodies are shutting down and mothers who have lost everything are fighting to keep their children alive. 'Global Britain is a country that stands tall in the world and the UK will not turn its back on people living in danger and desperation.' The uprising by Boko Haram, which is seeking to impose hardline Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, has included a campaign of civilian kidnappings. More than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram from their school in the remote town of Chibok in April 2014. A total of 106 of the kidnapped girls have been released, rescued or escaped after more than three years in captivity, while 113 are still being held. Charleena Lyles (pictured) was nearly four months pregnant on June 18 when two cops shot her dead in her apartment, after she called to report a robbery The father of a pregnant woman who was shot dead by police officers after she called to report a robbery in June has released her autopsy report. Charleena Lyles was nearly four months pregnant on June 18 when she called police to report an Xbox stolen at her Seattle apartment. It's still unclear how the confrontation unfolded, but in less than three minutes, the two officers opened fire on the 30-year-old mentally ill woman in front of three of her four children. The officers, Jason Anderson and Steven McNew, said that they started shooting at Lyles when she lunged at them holding knives. The autopsy report, released Wednesday, shows that Lyles was shot seven times, including twice in the back. 'Not one shot should have been fired, let alone seven,' lawyer Karen Koehler told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. One of the bullets perforated her uterus, striking her unborn baby boy. Both mother and son died at the hospital. The unborn baby boy would have been Lyles' fifth child. The report also included toxicology reports, showing that Lyles didn't have alcohol or drugs in her system at the time. An autopsy report released Wednesday shows she was shot seven times - including twice in the back The report also included toxicology results showing she didn't have drugs or alcohol in her system at the time Her father, Charles Lyles, told The Guardian: 'Hearing the details of the shooting just makes me feel more empty. I lost my daughter and my next grandson. I just don't have the words.' The fact that she was shot in the back leads family members to question the officers' side of the story. 'Did they shoot her as she fell to the ground? Was she running away?' cousin Katrina Johnson asked. 'How did she get shot in the back? I still don't know that and understand that, but any which way, it was excessive force. Seven times for her little pregnant 100-pound self was out of control.' Koehler said that they decided to release the autopsy report to dispel the public assumptions about the case. 'If you have been reading the dialogue you might have assumed she was a poor, single black woman with multiple children who must have been on drugs, and that is a false assumption and a false narrative,' Koehler told the Seattle Times. Jason Anderson (left) and Steven McNew (right) are the two officers who shot Lyles dead. They are on paid administrative leave pending the results of an internal investigation Lyles struggled with mental illness and had past interactions with the police. Just two weeks before she was fatally shot, cops responded to a domestic violence call at the house and found Lyles holding a pair of shears to one of her kids. She allegedly talked to police about morphing into a wolf and accused them of being members of the Ku Klux Klan. Eventually, the officers were able to persuade Lyles to drop the shears. They waited with her until her sister could arrive to take care of her kids and then took her to jail. She was released a few days before her death and ordered to seek mental health treatment. On the day of the fatal shooting, Lyles called police reporting a robbery at her apartment, saying that she came home and found her Xbox missing. Surveillance footage would later show that no one entered her apartment in the hours before she was shot. Surveillance footage shows the two officers responding to Lyles' apartment after getting a report about a robbery on June 18 Less than three minutes after arriving, the cops took out their guns and started shooting After receiving the call, one of the officers read a warning on Lyles' past behavior, saying she had been 'assaultive to officers'. He called for backup and once the other officer arrived, they had a discussion and decided it was safe to respond since she didn't have a mental health tag on her report (even though she did indeed have one.) When police arrived on the scene, their conversation with Lyles was at first cordial, according to audio released of the incident. It's unclear how things escalated but Lyles eventually started yelling at the pair. 'Do it! Do it ... Are you ready? mother f*****s' she said, according to court documents. The cops said they started shooting when she lunged at them holding one or two knives. Lyles' one-year-old and four-year-old children were crawling nearby. Her 11-year-old son was in another room. Lyles was pregnant with her fifth child when she was killed. Both mom and her unborn son died at the hospital In the wake of Lyles' death, much attention has been paid to the fact that one of the officers didn't have a taser on him, as is required. The Seattle Police Department is still investigating the deadly shooting, and both officers remain on paid administrative leave in the meantime. Earlier this month, Lyles' family filed a claim against the city - the first step in filing a lawsuit. Ninety days after the claim is filed, the family will be able to formally sue. The family's claim says the two officers 'lost their composure' when Lyles came at them with knives, and that they failed to order her to drop her weapons as a warning before shooting. They also say the two cops knew about Lyles' mental illness and should have had a plan for dealing with her, as is required by the 1999 Americans with Disabilities Act. 'The police narrative is that she had a knife and they were justified in shooting her dead,' Koehler said. 'They don't want to talk about the fact that they knew she had recent mental-health issues but chose to go in without any game plan.' Packed carriages are one thing. But this takes commuting to a whole new level - the roof to be precise. This was the incredible scene at a station in Dhaka, Bangladesh today as Muslims headed home to celebrate the Eid al-Adha festival with their families. The Islamic holiday is also known as the 'feast of sacrifice'. It commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim - also known as Abraham to Christians and Jews - to sacrifice his son before God stayed his hand. During the three-day holiday, Muslims slaughter livestock, distributing part of the meat to the poor. Eid al-Adha always begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the annual hajj pilgrimage. At this time of year, markets and shops in the capital are filled with vendors selling traditional foods and delicacies and customers buy new outfits for the celebrations. As the wildfires blazed through the western part of Canada, thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes and find safety. For Lynn Landry and her husband, they had to leave behind 90 of their sheep and two herding dogs to protect the flock from the flames, as well as bears and coyotes. The couple left 35-pounds of dog food for them in hopes that they'd be there when they returned. After 20 days of being away from home, the Landry's were given clearance to return to their property in North Vancouver, British Columbia. When they arrived, they found all but one sheep, and both dogs were safe. Tad and Sophie are the two Maremma sheepdogs that protected 90 sheep while record-breaking wildfires blazed around them Owner Lynn Landry returned to her home after 20 days to find all but one sheep had survived Tad and Sophie are the two Maremma sheepdogs that earned the title of heroes by doing their jobs under incredible circumstances. Though the animals and Lynn's home were in tact, the houses on either side had completely burned to the ground. The dogs also managed to protect the flock while helicopters flew overhead and everything was in flames around them. Lynn said: 'They protected them from wildfires, but also from bears and coyotes. The sheep would never have survived without them.' She posted a photo of the two animals after they were reunited referring to them as 'our beautiful but very dirty guardian dogs'. She added that 'they are happy dogs and live to work'. And while many Facebook users are praising the pups and pushing for a Purina Animal Heroes award, others are coming down on the owners for leaving them in the first place. Lynn took to Facebook to combat the negative comments. She wrote: 'These dogs are very loved and treasured. We worried about them every day. We applied daily for permission to go in but were denied due to the fire danger.' She also added that the animals had never been in a vehicle and to try to separate them would be 'cruel and cause them unbelievable stress'. The animals also had assistance from the Canadian Disaster Animal Rescue who went into the home and fed the dogs, opening another bag of food for them. The photo Lynn took from her home of the raging wildfire just before she was forced to evacuate on July 6 Lynn Landry left a 35 pound bag of dog food for Tad and Sophie while she was evacuated Lynn along with 45,000 other Canadians have been forced out of their homes since early July And like many of Canadians in British Columbia, Lynn described the forest fires as the 'July from hell'. The 2017 wildfire season is the worst in the province's history. Since April 1, close to 1,100 fires have destroyed more than 2.5million acres and forced 45,000 people out of their homes since early July. The financial deficit is now at $295million. Lynn told PRI's The World, 'There was nothing we could do, we had to leave.' The province declared a state of emergency on July 7. The day before, Lynn said she could see the plume of spoke in the distance. During the day, bombers would douse the fire with water and stopped when it got dark. 'It was then that the whole ridge from our place just went up in flames,' she said. Now Lynn and her husband are just thrilled to see all of the animals alive and well. She added that the family rewarded the dogs with 'steak and a good pat' and have settled back into their normal lives. A tropical storm in the Atlantic is expected to create more hazardous weather conditions for Houston area residents and beyond in coming days and weeks. AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski predicted a new storm to likely form over 'southwestern Gulf of Mexico this weekend into early next week,' according to the channel's website. Beginning over the of the holiday weekend, heavy rains will increase and move way from the western Gulf of Mexico and into the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. It means thousands of residents that have already been hit by the record-breaking rain in path of Hurricane Harvey could be inundated again. An Atlantic storm will create more hazardous weather conditions for residents of the Houston area in coming days and weeks Meteorologists say the storm will likely form over 'southwestern Gulf of Mexico this weekend into early next week,' according to the AccuWeather Kottlowski said that, as meteorologists continue to track the direction the storm, its severity within will further be determined for certain areas already troubled by Harvey. 'Should the system move more to the northeast, rather than the north, it may have a better chance at becoming a tropical depression,' Kottlowski said. 'A more northward drift as opposed to a northeastward drift may limit the system's development chances.' The prediction suggests a northward drift to likely send rains westward near the Texas coast. Over Labor Day weekend, precipitation will increase and move from the western Gulf of Mexico and into the coasts of Texas and Louisiana 'Should the system move more to the northeast, rather than the north, it may have a better chance at becoming a tropical depression,' Kottlowski said 'A more northward drift as opposed to a northeastward drift may limit the system's development chances' METEOROLOGISTS PREDICT MORE PROBLEMS FOR HOUSTON NEXT WEEK Continuous rainfall and flooding in future days and weeks Further damage to properties and businesses More roads/intersections closed off Disruption in supply deliveries Electrical outages and technical setbacks Hazardous and unsanitary streets and neighborhoods Advertisement More Texas storms are expected to cause further damage to properties and businesses in coming days. Shows are seen underwater in Houston after five days of relentless downpours Oklahoma teachers are among the lowest paid in the country. They havent had a raise in more than 10 years. Now charities are stepping in to rescue teachers who are struggling to make ends meet, according to the Associated Press . Habitat for Humanity has built homes for two Tulsa teachers, and has received applications from about a dozen more. English teacher Tiona Bowman, who makes $34,000 a year, was one of the recipients of a no-interest loan on a Habitat for Humanity home. She told the Associated Press she was grateful, but surprised that she qualified. I went to school for all these years, I have these degrees, and I qualify for a program like this? The George Kaiser Family Foundation , a charity based in Tulsa, also helps teachers secure housing that wont strain their wallets. Kaiser offers low-interest home loans for teachers and has transformed old downtown buildings into affordable apartments for Teach for America recruits. Some places are finding small ways to make life a little easier for teachers. Enid, a small town in northwest Oklahoma, has secured discounts for teachers from local businesses including supermarkets, office supply stores, restaurants, and hair salons. Theres also a big push for donations of school supplies across the state, with some teachers taking matters into their own hands. My colleague Madeline Will recently reported in the Teaching Now blog on an Oklahoma teacher who resorted to panhandling to raise money for school supplies. That teacher has since raised $27,881 on GoFundMe . Now she plans to set up a foundation to get supplies into the hands of teachers in Tulsa and eventually across the state. But can a little charity keep teachers in the Sooner State? Many are fleeing to neighboring states for jobs where they can command more money. Oklahomas 2016 Teacher of the Year Shawn Sheehan , together with his wife who is also a teacher, got a $40,000 pay bump by moving to a Dallas suburb just 2 hours away, reports the Associated Press. The mass exodus of teachers has forced Oklahoma to issue emergency teaching certificates. The Oklahoma board of education has handed out 1,429 emergency teaching certificates, the most in state history, according to Stillwater News Press . Five years ago, only 32 emergency teaching certificates were approved. There doesnt seem to be much relief in sight for teachers, save for charity. As Daarel Burnette II reports in Education Week , the collapse of the states oil industry has created a billion-dollar budget deficit and the states legislators in recent years have made sharp cuts to K-12 spending, resulting in overcrowded classrooms, cuts to extracurricular programs and, in some cases, a four-day school week. Photo: FOX 23 Sara Whaley /Facebook See also: A Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi was scrapped last weekend after African-American students discovered a banana peel in a tree, raising racial concerns. Members of fraternities and sororities at the University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss, had traveled to Camp Hopewell in Lafayette County to attend what was billed as a three-day leadership-building event. But the off-campus retreat ended abruptly on Saturday evening, hours after three members of a historically black sorority found the peel hanging from a tree at the camp. A Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss was scrapped last weekend after African-American students discovered a banana peel in a tree Makala McNeil, communication chair at Alpha Kappa Alpha and one of the women who made the discovery, alerted Greek Life leaders, sparking hours of heated exchanges about possible racial undertones, reported The Daily Mississippian, Ole Miss' student newspaper. Ole Miss accounting major Ryan Swanson, who is white, quickly came forward, admitting that he was the one who had tossed the banana skin into the tree, but he insisted that he did so because he could not find a garbage can and meant no offense to anyone. DailyMail.com reached out to Mr Swanson, vice president of recruitment with the Interfraternity Council at Ole Miss, seeking comment Thursday. Alexa Lee Arndt, interim director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Ole Miss, said in an internal email obtained by The Daily Mississippian that many members of the Ole Miss community were 'hurt, frightened, and upset' in the wake of the peel incident. Makala McNeil, communication chair at Alpha Kappa Alpha, was one of the students who made the discovery and alerted organizers. She says finding the peel felt like 'a slap in the face' Because of the underlying reality many students of color endure on a daily basis, the conversation manifested into a larger conversation about race relations today at the University of Mississippi, Arndt stated. McNeil, the Alpha Kappa Alpha leader who is also a prominent member of the NAACP at Ole Miss, said she and two of her sisters spotted the peel after taking part in a group discussion about race relations, which was followed by a communal breakfast where bananas were served. Speaking to the school paper, McNeil, who is a senior double-majoring in marketing communications and sociology, said the tone of that morning's conversation about race in Mississippi was 'heavy.' McNeil went on to say that it felt 'surreal' to later find the peel suspended 6 feet up a tree trunk. That, to me, was a slap in the face to see that banana hanging in a tree after talking about the personal truths of our campus, McNeil said. The incident came just three months after bananas were found strung up from nooses at the American University on the morning when the school's first-ever female black student was set to take over as student government president. 'Culprit': Ole Miss accounting major Ryan Swanson admitted that it was he who tossed the banana skin into the tree. He insisted that he did so because he could not find a garbage can As news of the banana incident spread through the camp Saturday, students gathered to voice their thoughts and concerns, but according to McNeil, the conversation soon stopped being 'constructive,' and a growing number of people began leaving - some in tears, other in anger. 'At that point, we didnt feel welcome; we didnt feel safe,' McNeil said. Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement Katrina Caldwell said she will be putting a plan together to deal with the fallout from the incident. Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, Ryan Swanson sent a statement to the school paper apologizing for his role in the scandal. 'Although unintentional, there is no excuse for the pain that was caused to members of our community,' he reportedly said. President Donald Trump was 'deeply touched' by offers of hurricane relief from Mexico and Candida and his administration now says there is 'no reason' not to take it. Mexico had offered support days ago after Hurricane Harvey barreled into Southeast Texas, but the State Department initially would not say whether the aid would be accepted. On Thursday, security advisor Thomas Bossert said at the top of a White House press briefing that the heads of state of Canada and Mexico had each called Trump and offered to help. 'The president was deeply touched by those phone calls,' Bossert said. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a tour of the Texas Department of Public Safety Emergency Operations Center in Austin, Texas, U.S., August 29, 2017. He was 'deeply touched' by offers of support by Canada and Mexico Bossert then got asked whether Trump indicated the U.S. would accept the aid. 'The president didnt get into the specifics and neither did the heads of state calling. I think their primary purpose was to express and extend their prayers and thoughts and condolences to those who lost their lives,' he hedged at first. 'What well do is turn over to FEMA the department of State to accept that request for additional actual concrete or tangible assistance. Theyll figure out how to integrate that with the operators,' he added. 'If we have unmet needs that we can offer some valuable supply for well take that, but heres no reason to not take that assistance,' he said finally indicated that the U.S. would accept aid. The White House put out a written statement on a call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada about the devastation and flooding wreaked by Harvey. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders walks to the podium to introduce US Homeland Security Advisor Thomas Bossert at the daily press briefing in Washington 'President Trump thanked Prime Minister Trudeau and the people of Canada for their offer of assistance and underscored the close ties between our two nations. The two leaders also discussed the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation and stressed their hope to reach an agreement by the end of this year,' the White House said. In an initial statement, U.S. officials said they would 'evaluate' Mexico's offer of hurricane relief. As Hurricane Harvey smashed into Houston, Mexico's government offered to provide the support. The offer to help from Texas's Gulf neighbor introduced a sensitive subject, given ongoing tensions between the two countries over President Trump's border wall, which he has repeatedly said Mexico must pay for. 'It is common during hurricanes and other significant weather events for the United States to be in close contact with our neighbors and partners in the region to share data and cooperate as needed and appropriate,' the State Department said, the Washington Post reported. Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico's president, center, pauses while speaking during the Pacific Alliance Summit in Valle del Cauca Department, Cali, Colombia, on Friday, June 30, 2017 President Donald Trump (r) is seen with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau ahead of the thrid plenary session of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 8 July, 2017 Foggy Bottom said it would coordinate with other agencies including FEMA to sort through offers of support, while making no commitment to accept Mexico's aid. 'In the event that federal assets are not available to meet a specific request, FEMA works with the State Department to coordinate and evaluate any offers of support from a foreign nation that may assist in meeting that need. The nation has stepped up before to help its wealthier northern neighbor, providing troops and supplies following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Texas was once part of Mexico. Trump said Monday Mexico would pay for the border wall 'one way or the other,' but Mexico has steadfastly refused. 'We need the wall. It's imperative,' Trump said at a Monday press conference at the White House. 'We may fund it through the United States but ultimately Mexico will pay for the wall.' Residential neighborhoods near the Interstate 10 sit in floodwater in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on August 29, 2017 in Houston, Texas President Donald Trump holds the state flag of Texas outside of the Annaville Fire House after attending a briefing on Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christi, Texas on August 29, 2017 Carlos Sada, Mexico's undersecretary of foreign affairs, told the BBC that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had 'immediately accepted' the offer when it was made, but that it was pending federal government approval. Abbott was with Trump Tuesday during the president's visit to the state. Mexico office of foreign affairs said it hadn't heard back from the U.S., the Daily Beast reported. 'We still haven't received any response,' an unnamed representative said. 'We made an offer, so we're just waiting for Texas to inform us if they need anything.' A second statue of Christopher Columbus has been vandalized in Queens, just two days after a statue of the explorer was beheaded in Yonkers. The words 'Don't honor genocide, take it down' were stenciled onto the statue's base with blue paint. The vandalism was discovered Thursday at Columbus Triangle in Astoria. The statue is one of many that has been vandalized in response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, where white surpremacists gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee. While Christopher Columbus has nothing to do with the Confederacy, he is regarded as unethical because of his association with the oppression of Native Americans. Vandals used a stencil to paint 'Don't honor genocide' in blue on the side of a statue of Christopher Columbus in Queens In Yonkers on Tuesday, remnants of a plaster statue were found n Columbus Memorial Park. It had been knocked off its pedestal and split in two pieces. The front of Columbus was found at the pedestal's base, while the back was discovered on a nearby hill. The same statue has been vandalized at least twice before with the original bronze statue stolen 12 years ago. A Christopher Columbus statue was destroyed in a Yonkers park on Saturday evening The plaster, bronze-colored statue was knocked off its pedestal and split in two pieces Pat Gamberdella called the police when he found the destroyed statue 'It's very upsetting that American values have sunken to the level they are today,' he told NBC New York. Yonkers police believe that it's just kids 'engaging in criminal mischief', but they still plan to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. Mayor Bill de Blasio said this month that there would be a review of 'all symbols of hate' throughout the city. Activists are adamant that another statue of the explorer at Columbus Circle on the southwestern corner of Central Park be taken down as well. A wave of protests across the country began after violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. The Charlottesville incident was prompted by white supremacists, who have been protesting the planned removal of a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. One woman was killed and 19 injured when an alleged white supremacist plowed his Dodge Challenger through crowds of protesters a few blocks from the Lee statue on August 12. Since then, protesters have defaced several other Confederate memorials in the South. North Korea has released a set of commemorative stamps to mark its successful test launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile. The propaganda set comes just days after it fired a rocket over Japan, sparking international outrage. North Korea launched two Hwasong-14s in July, which led to a fresh round of international sanctions aimed at curbing Pyongyangs efforts to build a nuclear-tipped warhead. North Korea has issued special stamps celebrating Monday's successful missile launch The stamps claimed the missile flew for 47 minutes and travelled 600 miles One of the stamps featured Kim Jong-un celebrating along with ecstatic troops The commemorative set, supposedly issued by the countrys stamp bureau and released by the official news agency KCNA, included images and descriptions of the second July launch. One shows leader Kim Jong Un clapping surrounded by cheering soldiers as the Hwasong-14 launch took place. Another stamp shows a picture of the missile being launched against the backdrop of a world map. And the thrid shows the missile mid-flight with the words Peak Height 3724.9 km - in English. There are other English phrases written on the stamps such as Demonstration of Strategic Nuclear Force of the Workers Party of Korea. The use of English on the stamps makes it clear they have been issued for propaganda purposes. It is unclear to what extent they will be used to send letters in North Korea. Earlier this month North Korea issued another set of propaganda stamps featuring a missile heading to Capitol Hill in Washington. Poor punctuality can sometimes cost you your job. But it seems for some of us, a morning caffeine fix is more important than arriving at work on time. A study of 2,000 Britons found that more than one in four men and a fifth of women have arrived late because they haven't finished their drink. In fact, the majority (54 per cent) of caffeine lovers say they couldn't go to work without a coffee and one in ten claim they would be unproductive without one. Over a quarter claim that it's an essential part of their morning routine and 16 per cent claim their body doesn't function properly without it. A study of 2,000 Britons found that more than one in four men and a fifth of women have arrived late because they haven't finished their drink A third said they feel grumpy without one. The study by Lyons Coffee said the most likely age group to be late for work due to enjoying a coffee was 25- to 34-year-olds (31 per cent). These were closely followed by 30 per cent of 35- to 44-year-olds, 27 per cent of 18- to 23-year-olds and 11 per cent of 45- to 54-year-olds. Only 6 per cent of those aged 55-plus said they would dare to call in late. Londoners are most likely to be late to get their caffeine fix while the Welsh are the biggest coffee lovers with one in ten drinking over seven cups a day. And it seems we differ in our strength preferences too, with Northern Irish coffee drinkers preferring it the strongest while those in Yorkshire have it the weakest. Over-55s are most likely to favour a strong coffee, with 15 per cent opting for the strongest option, compared to less than 10 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds. Nicole Hartnell, brand manager at Lyons Coffee, said: 'Our love affair with coffee is stronger than ever, as a quarter of us would rather skip breakfast than our morning coffee, which is especially true amongst women. 'Lyons Coffee Bags are handy for those keen beans wanting fresh coffee on the go but don't fancy a telling off from boss for being late!' With a dizzying fanfare, she was brought in as the 'face of modern diversity'. But days after she was announced as L'Oreal's first transgender model, Munroe Bergdorf launched an extraordinary rant declaring all white people racist. And today L'Oreal confirmed the 29-year-old British star, who appeared in its recent '#allworthit' campaign with Cheryl Cole and Katie Piper, has been dropped from her lucrative new role. Scroll down for video With a dizzying fanfare, she was brought in as the 'face of modern diversity'. But days after she was announced as L'Oreal's first transgender model, Munroe Bergdorf (pictured left in New York in 2016 and right in London for the Converse Winter Social 2016) launched an extraordinary rant on Facebook declaring all white people racist and has been sacked In a lengthy Facebook rant, she wrote: 'Honestly I don't have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people. 'Because most of ya'll don't even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s***. 'Come see me when you realise that racism isn't learned, it's inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege. 'Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth then we can talk. 'Until then stay acting shocked about how the world continues to stay f***** at the hands of your ancestors and your heads that remain buried in the sand with hands over your ears.' L'Oreal said: 'We support diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender and religion. 'The LOreal Paris True Match campaign is a representation of these values and we are proud of the diversity of the Ambassadors who represent this campaign. 'We believe that the recent comments by Munroe Bergdorf are at odds with those values, and as such we have taken the decision to end the partnership with her. 'LOreal remains committed to celebrating diversity and breaking down barriers in beauty.' Munroe Bergdorf (above), who appeared in L'Oreal's recent '#allworthit' campaign with Cheryl Cole and Katie Piper, has now been dropped from her new role after saying all whites are racist The stars of the advertising campaign were selected by L'Oreal as part of its ongoing drive to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in beauty. Earlier this year the company, which also uses Helen Mirren as one of its regular models, claimed its focus on diversity had pushed sales and led people to reappraise the brand. It also recently launched a mentoring initiative in partnership with The Prince's Trust, which aims to help young people become more confident. Last night a company insider said: 'L'Oreal do not in any way condone or agree with Munroe's comments. Obviously this is all highly embarrassing and very much goes against message. 'To drop her now would be something of a PR disaster but, at the same time, they cannot be seen to be endorsing any kind of racism or extremism. Conversations about her future are taking place.' Miss Bergdorf, who was born a boy called Ian, works as a DJ and trans activist in addition to her modelling. She began living as a woman at the age of 18 but was prescribed hormones by a doctor only four years ago. The London-raised campaigner recently spoke of how she hopes to play a part in the changing face of the beauty industry. In a Facebook rant, she wrote: 'Honestly I don't have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people'. Pictured: Bergdorf in the L'Oreal campaign 'To be the first trans woman in a L'Oreal Paris UK campaign feels amazing, and also kind of crazy,' she told Vogue Magazine. 'When I got the email about it I was just sat with my mum and I couldn't believe it. But I think it's great I mean, as women we're all so varied and L'Oreal are allowing more women to see themselves represented.' She added: 'It can be alienating, to see the same images all of the time and for none of them to relate to you. In primary school I loved Naomi Campbell and gravitated toward women of colour, even though they'd appear less on the pages than the white models. 'It's important to be represented, because if you just see images of white women then you start to measure yourself against a white standard of beauty, and obviously that's not something I'm ever going to achieve, or should ever feel I have to achieve.' The White House says an accusation that James Comey wanted to announce the end of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton months before she sat down for an interview is further proof that the president was right to can him. 'I'm not sure if he is aware of that revelation, but if it is accurate as they say it is, it would certainly give cause and reason that Jim Comey was not the right person to lead the FBI,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during her daily briefing. Two Republican senators have written the FBI to ask why James Comey attempted to draft a statement on the outcome of the case in April or May, even though Clinton had not yet spoken to investigators. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and a judiciary subcommittee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, sent a letter to the FBI on the matter yesterday that they subsequently made public. The White House says a report that James Comey wanted the announce the end of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton months before she sat down for an interview is further proof that the president was right to can him The lawmakers say they have copies of transcripts that were procured in the process of a probe into Comey that refer to his desire to draft a statement exonerating Clinton months before her July 2 interview with the FBI. They're asking the FBI's current head, Christopher Wray, to turn over all documents to the Judiciary Committee pertaining to the discussion between Comey and his employees. Grassley and Graham say they learned of the conversations through an Office of Special Counsel (OSC) review of Comey that had been requested by Democrats. Furious lawmakers from Clinton's political party accused Comey of violating the Hatch Act when he announced that the bureau was reopening its investigation into Clinton days before the presidential election. Clinton and other Democrats have blamed Comey's October surprise for the former secretary of state's surprise loss to Donald Trump. OSC ended its investigation into Comey when Trump fired him this spring - but not before it began conducting interviews with the former FBI chief's underlings. The investigative agency spoke to James Rybicki, Comeys chief of staff, and Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel of National Security and Cyberlaw, before it terminated its probe. OSC turned over highly redacted copies of its interviews with Rybicki and Anderson to Grassley and Graham at their request, the senators said. The transcripts revealed Comey's interest in drafting a statement on the outcome of the case before the FBI had spoken to Clinton or what the senators described as 17 key witnesses. 'Conclusion first, fact-gathering secondthats no way to run an investigation. The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy,' the senators said in their letter. Comey ultimately let Clinton off the hook, despite a charge that she mishandled classified information. He reopened her case in October after previously unrecovered emails were discovered on aide Huma Abedin's estranged husband's computer. Days later Comey called off the dogs once more, but the damage to Clinton's reputation had already been done. 'I'm not sure if he is aware of that revelation, but if it is accurate as they say it is, it would certainly give cause and reason that Jim Comey was not the right person to lead the FBI,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during her daily briefing Graham and Grassley received copies of OSC's interviews with Rybicki and Anderson on August 8, the letter to Wray they put out today said, and they have been trying to find out since why they the transcripts were so heavily blacked out. The unredacted portions led them to Comey's suggestion in April or May to select members of FBI leadership that they begin preparing a statement on Clinton. A transcript from what they surmise is Rybickis interview says that 'sometime in the spring,' perhaps, 'early spring I would say,' Comey emailed a subset of FBI officials 'to say, you know, again knowing sort of where knowing the direction the investigation is headed, right, what would be the most forward-leaning thing we could do, right, information that we could put out about. 'And -- and, you know, by that -- you know, so that -- and he sent a draft around of, you know what - what it might look like. . . .' the subject says. Later, the person said, 'I definitely remember spring. I had in my head like the April timeframe, but May doesn't seem out of the -- out of the realm.' The person confirmed in the interview that Clinton had not yet been interviewed with Comey proposed the draft statement. A second person, believed to be Anderson, gave investigators a similar timeline. 'The idea, Im not entirely sure exactly when the idea of the public statement um first emerged. Um it was, I just, I cant put a precise timeframe on it um but [redaction]. And then I believe it was in early May of 2016 that the Director himself wrote a draft of that statement ' Two Republican senators have written the FBI to ask why James Comey attempted to draft a statement on the outcome of the case in April or May, even though Clinton had not yet spoken to investigators. They are Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, left, and a judiciary subcommittee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham The subject claimed to have received a hard copy of the draft statement that Comey initially put together. 'There were many iterations, at some point there were many iterations of the draft that circulated,' the person said. Graham and Grassley included those portions of the transcripts in their letter to Wray. 'It is unclear whether the FBI agents actually investigating the case were aware that Mr. Comey had already decided on the investigations outcome while their work was ongoing,' they said. 'However, it appears that the answer to that question may be underneath some of the extensive redactions that the Department made to the transcripts.' The senators are trying to get their hands on the drafts of the statement that were discussed in the transcript now. 'Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Transparency is essential to restoring the publics trust in the FBI,' the letter ends. David Clarke, the Milwaukee County Sheriff and a prominent Trump supporter, has resigned from the force and is reportedly gearing up for a role at the White House. According to Politico, two sources say the outspoken official will undertake a role in the Trump administration. 'We have no announcement at this time,' White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said. Clarke said by text message: 'Will talk about my future plans next week.' Clarke delivered his letter of resignation to a county clerk on Thursday but the note didn't give a reason why he was leaving office more than a year before his term was over. David Clarke, the Milwaukee County Sheriff and a prominent Trump supporter, has resigned from the force without a reason, a clerk said on Thursday Clarke is a fierce supporter of Trump and vocalized his approval of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and support for patrolling Muslim neighborhoods. The frequent Fox News guest said he had taken a job at the Department of Homeland Security in May, but he later said he withdrew his name. Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said he received a resignation letter from Clarke. Clarke's office referred questions to an email address that he had provided. Clarke's most recent Twitter post from Thursday afternoon showed him posing with law enforcement officers at the National Fraternal Order of Police convention in Nashville. Some Wisconsin conservatives had encouraged Clarke to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, but he repeatedly rejected their overtures. He recently published a memoir, Cop Under Fire. Clarke reportedly 'rescinded his acceptance' of a Department of Homeland Security position in June because he believed he could promote the president's agenda in a 'more aggressive role'. The tough-talking, cowboy hat-wearing firebrand made himself a darling of the political right through his brash social media presence and strong support of Trump. Clarke is a fierce supporter of Trump and vocalized his approval of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and support for patrolling Muslim neighborhoods. Pictured together in August 2016 Clarke was one of the few African-Americans to speak at the Republican National Convention last year. He has been vocal about gun rights and critical of what he called the 'hateful ideology' of the Black Lives Matters movement, saying at times, 'Stop trying to fix the police. Fix the ghetto.' Clark has been sheriff of Milwaukee County since 2002 and spent more than two decades before that with the city's police department. A lengthy inquest into the dehydration death of a Milwaukee County Jail inmate earlier this year raised troubling questions about how Clarke managed the jail just as the White House was said to be considering him. Despite that investigation, Clarke remained popular with many conservatives. Clarke earned more than $105,000 last year in speaking fees almost as much as his sheriff's salary at more than three dozen events across the country. Republican Gov. Scott Walker would be responsible for appointing someone to serve the remainder of Clarke's term, which runs through 2018. Walker's spokesman Tom Evenson said once he receives official notification of his resignation, the process of finding a replacement will begin. Anthony Hunt, pictured, was sentenced to seven years and nine months following the seizure of more than 46,000 worth of Spice The crushing burden of the zombie drug Spice on police, prisons and the NHS is revealed today by a Daily Mail investigation. Police callouts involving the synthetic cannabis substitute almost doubled in the first three months of 2017. Officers in some cities are now reporting as many as six cases a day relating to the drug, which can leave its users staggering about the streets before becoming virtually comatose. Doctors warn that the problem is crippling health services, with Spice users increasingly being admitted to hospital with hallucinations, seizures and symptoms of schizophrenia. They believe the drug, which costs as little as 5 for a days supply, is more dangerous and powerful than heroin and crack cocaine. It comes after official figures this month showed Spice-related deaths have more than trebled from eight in 2015 to 27 last year. Formerly sold as a so-called legal high, it was banned in Britain last year. But experts warn that new versions of Spice have since made it more dangerous and unpredictable. Prison officers say abuse of the drug in jails has reached epidemic levels, and urged the Government to take immediate action. Police and Prison Officers fear the impact Spice, pictured is having on the streets and in jail Police have reported a massive increase in problems associated with people using Spice, the powerful synthetic drug which can leave people staggering around the streets like zombies Spice is so toxic that 20 prison officers were forced home after inhaling the fumes in jail Spice is not a single drug, but includes several related chemical concoctions known as synthetic cannabinoids that were created to mimic the effects of cannabis. The chemicals are usually sprayed on to dried plants before being smoked like a cigarette or in a pipe. Spice is popular among the homeless because it is cheap, and there is a lucrative trade in prisons because it does not show up in drug tests. Between April 2015 and March 2016, police dealt with at least 1,009 Spice-related incidents, according to figures given to the Mail following Freedom of Information requests. However, this rose to 2,287 between April 2016 and March this year. But these figures only relate to the 21 of Britains 45 police forces that responded in full to the FoI request, so the real toll will be far worse. In January, there were at least 223 police callouts across the UK. This almost doubled to 438 in March. Spice is a particularly urgent problem in big cities. In Manchester, police had to deal with 188 cases in March a rate of six every day and more than double the 72 recorded cases in February. Officers from West Midlands Police attended 55 callouts in March, up from 50 in February. Increasing numbers of deaths are being linked to Spice. Last October, 32-year-old Nicholas Williamson collapsed and died in central London after smoking Spice. After Spice was outlawed last year, it became an offence to possess it, supply it, possess it with intent to supply or possess it in custody. The maximum sentence is seven years in prison. The number of deaths associated with Spice are increasing as are hospital admissions But figures show many police forces made just a few dozen arrests in the months after the law changed. Former Labour Home Secretary Lord Blunkett said the lack of action against the drug discredits the law. Spice is a particular problem in prisons. Criminals smuggle so much into jails that 20 officers at a single prison went home sick during one week in July after inhaling fumes. Rioters also took over The Mount prison in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, for two days in July after the amount of the drug available there rocketed. Psychoactive substances including Spice were linked to the deaths of at least 79 prisoners between June 2013 to September last year, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said. Glyn Travis, of the Prison Officers Association, said addicts could be violent, adding: The problem has reached epidemic levels. More staff are being affected not just in prisons, but the police and NHS. A Home Office spokesman said the government's new drugs strategy 'placed recovery and protecting the vulnerable at its heart' as well as tackling the supply of narcotics Commander Simon Bray, drugs spokesman for the National Police Chiefs Council, said it put a strain on forces across the country. He added: This is a visible problem. A spokesman for the Home Office said: Our new drug strategy has placed recovery and protecting the vulnerable at its heart supporting people though treatment while tackling the supply of illegal drugs. Advertisement Scott Jones, who became a multimillionaire not long after founding Boston Technology at the age of 25, is getting rid of all of his worldly possessions that he collected while living in his mansion in Carmel, Indiana A tech multimillionaire who left his hometown in Indiana and resettled in Hawaii is having a massive yard sale and the items are not your normal selection. Scott Jones, who became a multimillionaire not long after founding Boston Technology at the age of 25, is getting rid of all of his worldly possessions that he collected while living in his mansion in Carmel, Indiana. A replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull can be had for $10,000 and a Steinway grand piano is available for $100,000, according to the Indianapolis Star. Jones, 56, is letting it be known that the sale is open to the public at his gargantuan home at 1150 W. 116th Street. The manager of the sale wants to emphasize to the public that it is just that a sale and not an auction. From September 14 until the 17, Jones is turning his house into a department store. 'Everything will be bar coded,' said Lee Parson of Aether Estate Sales Co., who's managing the sale. If Jones' high-priced items aren't enough, prospective buyers can have the biggest prize of all the home itself. Jones is listing his seven-bedroom, 14-bathroom, 27,000-square-foot home for just under $5million. Parson said that even those who don't have steep pockets can come away with something, like 'half-opened bottles of Windex that'll be 50 cents.' Jones decided to put his house on the market after two years during which he has resided in Hawaii. While living in Honolulu, he has turned his Indiana home into a makeshift computer coding school. He has also rented out bedrooms on Airbnb. Jones, 56, is letting it be known that the sale is open to the public at his gargantuan home at 1150 W. 116th Street in Carmel The home features a 33-foot high great room, an indoor tree house (above), a circular mahogany slide, a 25-foot long saltwater aquarium, and an indoor basketball court Buyers with cash to spare will be able to get their hands on historic artifacts that reflect the tech mogul's tastes, like this replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull which can be had for $10,000 The home, a 27,000 square foot mansion built in the style of an English country manor, took seven years and $20 million to build. One of its better addition is this sleek billiards table Jones is offering this Steinway grand piano for sale. It is available for $100,000 to one lucky buyer The suit of armor complete with a sword would make a focal point for any room Another neat artifact up for sale is this item which appears to be a gong The home has been featured on many popular shows, including HGTV, Mega Mansions, and MTV Cribs, where it won 'home of the decade' The manager of the sale wants to emphasize to the public that it is just that a sale and not an auction From September 14 until the 17, Jones is turning his house into a department store, where buyers can walk away with eccentric works of art like the item pictured above Jones decided to put his house on the market after two years during which he has resided in Hawaii Among the items up for sale is this replica sail boat that is estimated to be the size of a small child In the first episode of the 17th season of MTV Cribs, Jones was awarded the 'Best Home Theater' prize Jones lived in Indianapolis as a teenager, where he attended North Central High School One of the more modern items is this golf cart, which must come in pretty handy on a piece of property the size of Jones' home The item on the far left is a classic record player. The center item is a globe. The item on the right is a life-size knight in shining armor Jones lived in Indianapolis as a teenager, where he attended North Central High School. After graduating Indiana University, he moved to Boston. In the early 1990s Jones made about $50million on his company, which created the predominate form of voicemail, and he 'retired' at age 31. But he could not stay out of the game He founded Internet-based music service company Gracenote, now utilized by Apple, Yahoo, and Sony. Gracenote services are accessed globally at the rate of 24billion times per year by applications such as iTunes - the company was sold to Sony in 2008 for $260million. In 2008 he came up with ChaCha - a popular mobile service that allows users to text virtually any question to 242-242 and receive answers within minutes. According to the Star, Jones' vast fortune enabled him to amass an impressive collection of artifacts from around the world, including antiques, artwork, suits of armor, a model of a sailing ship, and a large telescope. Parson thinks it will be 'the best estate sale ever held in Indiana.' 'Everything must go,' said Jones' publicist, John Ross. 'This will be a nice opportunity for people to see how the other half lives.' The junta forces are said to have burned down the homes of local people in a clash with the Peoples Defense Forces in Tanintharyi Regions Palaw... Hot car mom: Samar Mansour Mari, 31, is accused of leaving her 2-year-old daughter alone in a sweltering car in California while she was shopping A California mother was arrested on child cruelty charges after police say she left her two-year-old daughter locked in a hot car outside a department store. Officers with the Ontario Police Department were called to the parking lot outside the Target store in the 4200 block of East 4th Street just after 6.15pm Tuesday after getting calls about a child sitting alone in a car. Bystanders Guadalupe Paz and her husband, Luis, reported that the vehicle's engine was off and the windows were slightly open. Temperatures in Ontario reached 106 degree on Tuesday amid an ongoing heat wave in Southern California, according to the National Weather Service. Mrs Paz told CBS Los Angeles she managed to get the girl's attention and then attempted to break a window in the car, but failed. Scroll down for video Rescued: A police officer is holding Mari's daughter after extracting her from the backseat Tuesday, when temperatures reached 106 degree in Ontario, California Minutes later, officers responded and rescued the toddler from the backseat, where she had been buckled into her car seat. The victim, who was described as sweating profusely and in distress, was taken to a hospital for a check-up and then released into the temporary custody of Child Protective Services, reported KTLA5. When the girls mother, 31-year-old Samar Mansour Mari, emerged from the store and returned to her car, she was arrested by police. Nabbed: When Mari emerged from the Target store and returned to her car, she was arrested by police (pictured) Mari reportedly claimed that she had left her daughter in the car for 15 minutes so she could buy something at the store. She was later booked into the West Valley Detention Center on one count of cruelty to a child. Jared Kushner's desperate search for investors to help bail out a heavily leveraged investment in a 5th Avenue skyscraper took his family business not only to China but to South Korea, Israel, and France as it scoured the globe. Kushner companies bought the building at 666 Fifth Ave. in 2006, before rental rates tanked. The firm took out a $1.2 billion mortgage as the family made its break into Manhattan real estate, putting up just $50 million in 2006. But the bad bet soon led the company controlled by President Trump's son-in-law and Kushner's father into a global search for investors who could help bail out the project, in a global treasure hunt that has yet to succeed, Bloomberg News reported. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner participated in an effort to scour the globe for international investors in a family business investment in a Manhattan skyscraper After many years of seeing payments on the massive debt surpass income on the property, Kushner companies decided that the hope for the investment was to knock it down and replace it with a gleaming new tower. A deal to have China's Anbang Insurance Group blew up shortly after the election. The firm had discussed investing $400 million in a deal in a $4 billion transaction that came under public scrutiny because of Kushner's influential position. The two sides 'mutually agreed to end talks regarding the property,' according to a statement in March. But the Chinese behemoth was by no means the only foreign investor the Kushner family company explored. Kushner also met in 2016 with the The Korea Investment Corporation, a South Korean sovereign fund which is controlled by the government in Seoul. It decided not to invest. A new report details Kushner company efforts to find foreign investors One potential investor was Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMG Wu Xiaohui, chairman and chief executive officer of Anbang Insurance Group Co., speaks during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2017 in Boao, China, on Sunday, March 26, 2017 A deal with China's Anbang Insurance Group fell through in March The Kushners also sought out investments in Israel. According to the report approaches were made to the Israeli firm Gaia, with Richard Goettlich serving as an intermediary, having met Charles Kushner in prison. The elder Kushner did time after getting convicted of making illegal campaign contributions. Saudi billionaire Fawaz Alhokair considered investing in 2015, according to the report. Simon Marshall, who was CEO of Alhokair, said the family firm's projections didn't work. Fawaz Alhokair, a Saudi billionaire, was another potential investor 'The numbers just didn't work,' Marshall said. The account describes Charles Kushner's initial head-long rush to invest in the building as a way to make his mark and burnish his reputation. 'I buy it, you make it work,' he said to his accountants,a meeting participant said. The detailed analysis by Bloomberg only hints at the unproven possibility that Kushner also pursued Russian investors. Another potential investor was Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH luxury brand. He is the richest man in France. Kushner had meetings with Sergey Gorkov, head of the Kremlin-controlled VEB bank, that he didn't initially disclose on government forms. But his representatives said it was in his role as a White House advisor, not as part of his business. A suspected terrorist accused of attacking police with a sword outside Buckingham Palace ranted that the 'Queen and her soldiers will all be in hellfire', a court heard. Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 26, sparked a major terror alert when he was arrested outside the royal residence last Friday. The Uber driver was found with a samurai sword in the passenger footwell of the blue Toyota Prius he was driving. He was sprayed with CS gas and wrestled to the ground as the palace was locked down. Three police officers suffered cuts and bruises to their hands. Uber driver Mohiussunnath Chowdhury (pictured) has been charged with a terror offence after reportedly attacking police outside Buckingham Palace According to a report, evidence taken from the scene appears to show Chowdhury had left his Luton home with Windsor Castle typed into his GPS - but he ended up at 'The Windsor Castle' pub. Pictured: What is believed to be the pub he was taken to in the Berkshire town Chowdhury is believed to have driven to The Windsor Castle pub - south of the actual Windsor Castle. He then went past the Victoria barracks before heading to Buckingham Palace in London Westminster magistrates' court in London heard a note to Chowdhury's 23-year-old sister Sneha was found which said: 'The Queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire, they go to war with Muslims around the world and kill them without any mercy.' According to new reports, evidence taken from the scene appears to show Chowdhury had left his Luton home with Windsor Castle typed into his GPS. The court was told he had originally intended to go to the castle but his satnav led to him to a pub of the same name instead. He arrived in Windsor at about 7.30pm - having left an hour earlier - but ended up at the pub rather than the royal residence. It is also reported that Chowdhury drove past the Victoria barracks in the town two minutes later, before ultimately setting off for London. He then drove around the Mall - the road between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square - in a loop until he stopped next to a police van and was soon arrested. Yesterday, Chowdhury appeared before a district judge at Westminster magistrates' court. The British-born suspect, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, is accused of one charge of preparing terrorist acts, which carries a maximum life sentence. Mark Carol, prosecuting, said the note to Chowdhury's sister read: 'To my dearest sister, By the time you read this Insha'Allah [God willing] I will be with Allah. It has been reported that Chowdhury typed Windsor Castle (pictured) into his satnav but failed to find the royal residence. He is also said to have driven past the Victoria barracks in the town before he set off for London He stopped just a few feet away from the police van when he is then alleged to have reached for the sword in the foot well of the car while shouting 'Allahu Akhbar' 'Do not cry and be strong. The Shaheed [witness or martyr] will take 70 members of his family with him to paradise. I will take you there Insha'Allah. 'Tell everyone I love them and that they should struggle against the enemies of Allah The Queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire, they go to war with Muslims around the world and kill them without any mercy.' Chowdhury, flanked by two plainclothes officers in the reinforced glass dock, nodded as the note was read out. He spoke in soft, well-spoken English to confirm his personal details. No members of the Royal Family were at Buckingham Palace when Chowdhury was arrested. The Queen was at Balmoral. Footage from the scene showed a car parked near a police van, in the shadow of the Queen Victoria monument on Constitution Hill. No members of the Royal Family were at Buckingham Palace when Chowdhury was arrested. The Queen was at Balmoral. Pictured: The scene outside the palace last Friday Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26 and from Luton, Bedfordshire, appeared before magistrates today and was remanded in custody A large police cordon was put up at the far end of The Mall. Pictured in the distance is Buckingham Palace Chowdhury (pictured), 26, allegedly drove his blue Toyota Prius in the direction of a police van on Constitution Hill on Friday night Mr Carol said the car stopped 2ft from a marked police vehicle, arousing the officers' attention. 'Officers approached the vehicle and the male driver reached for a large sword from inside and shouted 'Allahu Akhbar' several times,' he said. 'The officer struggled with the individual and sprayed him with CS spray.' Police seized mobile phones and a laptop from the 230,000 home Chowdhury shares with his parents and sister in a Luton suburb. They arrested a second man, aged 30, in west London, who was released without charge. According to one online profile, Chowdhury's sister is a graduate and a recruitment consultant. The family's former neighbours in Uxbridge, west London, said both siblings went to Church of England primary schools. Chowdhury was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on September 21. A Perth man will spend six-and-a-half months behind bars in Singapore after a two-week drunken rampage where he assaulted police and 'caused annoyance'. Jason Peter Darragh arrived in Singapore on April 20 on a stopover to the Philippines, Perth Now reported. At the airport, the 44-year-old assaulted a police officer, and the next day he was charged with using offensive language towards a police officer, and causing annoyance to another member of the public. His final charge came on May 1, after he was caught standing near a taxi rank with his hand on his groin. Scroll down for video An Australian man has been sentenced to more than six months behind bars in Singapore after assaulting police at Changi Airport at the start of what would become a two-week drunken rampage The 44-year-old's sentence was intended to act as a deterrent for others considering assaulting a police officer, said Judge Tan Jen Tse (pictured: Singapore Changi Airport) Darragh pleaded guilty to four charges before a court on Thursday. He appeared in chains, having refused bail since his arrest in May. His lawyer, S.S. Dhillon, claimed Darragh's actions were the result of the man's broken marriage which saw him separate with his wife and children and turn to drinking. The man's half-year sentence was intended to 'deter like-minded people from assaulting our police officers', Judge Tan Jen Tse told the court. After Darragh's arrest, shocking video of his assault on police at the Changi Airport emerged, which saw the Australian man taken out by seven police officers. In the video, the man can be seen tussling with two officers who are trying to grab him by the arms. Shocking video shows Darragh fight with two police officers who are trying to grab his arms One officer eventually grabs his left wrist, but the man breaks free and charges at the other officer, pushing him to the ground. Members of the public begin to converge on the scene and attempt to help the officers by kicking the man in the legs. However he seems unfazed by the their efforts, and continues to duel with the officers. They can be heard telling the man to 'calm down' and that he is under arrest on several occasions. 'Don't f****** touch me, alright? I'll knock your f******* head off,' the man can be heard saying. Eventually seven officers swarm on the man and tackle him to the ground. Members of the public begin to converge on the scene and attempt to help the officers by kicking the man in the legs Theresa May insists the public back her pledge to continue as Prime Minister for the long term as Tory critics warned she should not lead the party into the next election. The Prime Minister sparked a backlash among some of her MPs yesterday after saying she plans to stay and fight the next election, planned for 2022. Speaking at a Press conference in Tokyo yesterday, Mrs May dismissed the idea she could step down early, saying voters want her to get on with the job. I said I wasnt a quitter. There is a long-term job to done, there is an important job to be done in the United Kingdom. We stand at a really critical time, she said. For most members of the public, they would say they want the Government to get on with the job and thats exactly what I and the Government are doing. Colours of the flag: Theresa May in Japan Mrs Mays defiant stance was backed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who said the PM had the undivided support of ministers. Mr Johnson, who is on an official visit to Nigeria, said Mrs May was ideally placed to deliver Brexit and he was here to support her. Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, said there was a firm, fixed view within the party that there should not be a leadership contest at least for now. But other senior figures said it was not realistic to expect Mrs May to fight another election after losing the partys Commons majority in June. Former Tory chairman Grant Shapps ridiculed Mrs Mays suggestion that she could continue indefinitely. He said it was too early for Mrs May to talk about going on and on like Margaret Thatcher. He said that Mrs May had 18 months to earn the right to stay on, adding: We ran a very poor election. You cant go pretending it was anything other than a disastrous result, of course it was. You cant jump straight from that to Ill go on for ever. You need an in-between stage. Fashionable Theresa wows the Japanese Cossack hat: Mrs Thatcher in Russia Theresa May has repeatedly won praise at home for her eye-catching fashion choices. And now she is getting recognition from across the globe. Last night, in an echo of Margaret Thatchers 1987 style triumph in the Soviet Union, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe praised Mrs Mays fashion sense. You can all tell that everyone here is very much fascinated by your excellent sense of fashion, Prime Minister, he said, making reference to the red and white outfit the colours of the Japanese flag she wore on arrival. But after her fashion victory, Mrs May risked offending her hosts by admitting she has never sung karaoke in her life. Asked what her favourite tune to sing along to is, the Prime Minister told reporters: Look, Ive got a confession to make, which might be a shock to you all, but Im not a great karaoke fan. Have I ever done karaoke? Ah, no. As a sign of the close friendship between the two countries, Mr Abe announced plans to give 3,000 cherry blossom trees to be planted in the UK. Advertisement Former education secretary Nicky Morgan, who was sacked by Mrs May, said: I think its going to be difficult for Theresa May to lead us into the next general election. Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, who has been critical of Mrs Mays approach to Brexit, said she had no long-term future. The Tory peer, who was also sacked by Mrs May as a government adviser, said: I dont think its realistic that she will lead the Conservative Party into the next election I dont think there will be an appetite within the party to re-run the last election. The London Evening Standard, edited by former Chancellor George Osborne, published a blistering editorial, claiming Mrs Mays premiership staggers on oblivious like the Living Dead in a second-rate horror film. But Mrs May insisted she had a duty to continue in post. She said her decision to fight on was partly about Brexit, but also about tackling other long-term challenges, such as mental health.These are real issues that we need to be dealing with and Im there to do it. Burned from head to toe and submerged in Hurricane Harvey's raging floodwaters, Ruaridh Connellan could feel his strength ebbing away as he clung to just a flimsy branch for survival. But before the 26-year-old photojournalist could even contemplate letting go, a familiar voice called out through the darkness: 'Dig deep buddy, dig deep - nobody is dying on my watch.' The voice was that of his DailyMail.com colleague Alan Butterfield who, along with Connellan and five other men had boarded a rescue boat Monday afternoon only to be electrocuted and tossed overboard when it hit power lines. Two of the boat's crew drowned, another two are missing - but Butterfield, Connellan and a third man, Jose Vizueth, clung desperately to trees for 18 hours before they were finally rescued Tuesday - 18 hours later, Lucky to be alive! Senior reporter Alan Butterfield (right) and photojournalist Ruaridh Connellan were reunited in a Houston hospital on Thursday where they are recovering from their burns and other injuries The journalists desperately clung to branches and trees as they fought the current for 18 hours waiting to be rescued Connellan's miraculous survival owes much to his steely determination to see his family again - and to the dogged persistence of Butterfield who coaxed and cajoled his young friend through the night to keep him from submitting to Hurricane Harvey. The two men were reunited today for the first time since their harrowing ordeal amid emotional scenes at Houston's Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital. 'You remember asking me to tell your girlfriend and your parents that you loved them?' I was like no way dude, tell them yourself,' said Butterfield, 54, fighting back tears. 'I told you we were gonna make it. There was no way that stinky, dirty bayou was going to be my grave.' The pair hadn't seen each other since they were whisked to safety two days earlier on a Texas Department of Public Safety rescue boat and taken to separate ends of the hospital's ER department. 'I know it sounds cheesy but I had that Gloria Gaynor song 'I will Survive' playing constantly in my head because Alan kept promising me we would survive,' Connellan added. 'And here we are. Against all the odds - we are alive.' The two journalists were in Houston covering Hurricane Harvey for DailyMail.com but could have had no idea they were about to make the headlines themselves. The drama began about 3pm Monday afternoon when they chanced upon a group of volunteers trying to reach an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman trapped by floodwaters. Butterfield and Connellan board a motorboat with five others but as the vessel tried to navigate Houston's water-logged Normandy neighborhood the current dragged it towards fallen power lines. 'I looked over and saw sparks coming from the wires and the transformers,' said Butterfield, a father-of-two. 'I knew that if we went into it we would be fried. 'I leapt off the bow of the boat and the current took me right under the wires, they were a few feet above me. I would be gone if they had touched me.' Connellan also leaped off the boat to try to swim away but was impeded by his thick rubber raincoat and two heavy cameras slung over both shoulders. 'I looked over and saw sparks coming from the wires and the transformers,' said Butterfield, a father-of-two. 'I knew that if we went into it we would be fried. 'I leapt off the bow of the boat and the current took me right under the wires, they were a few feet above me. I would be gone if they had touched me.' 'I was holding on to the flimsiest end of the branch. I helped Alan take off his socks and shoes and pushed him up with one hand while holding on with the other,' said Connellan 'I felt my whole body being zapped. I've never felt anything like it,' he told DailyMail.com 'I was screaming with the pain but then it stopped. I felt relieved for a split second or so and then I felt the electricity again. Then I just started to drift away.' The trio of Butterfield, Connellan and Vizueth all managed to grab hold of a capsized dinghy that had been latched to their boat but had come loose. As the floodwaters swept them downstream Butterfield spotted a low-hanging branch and urged them to ditch the dinghy and grab it. Spanish-speaking Vizueth, 31, managed to quickly clamber up but neither Connellan nor Butterfield, who had suffered a dislocated shoulder, could get a foothold. 'I was holding on to the flimsiest end of the branch. I helped Alan take off his socks and shoes and pushed him up with one hand while holding on with the other,' said Connellan. 'But that left nobody to help me and I just didn't have the strength to do it by myself. After a while I came to terms with the fact I couldn't get up there. 'Rather than wasting my energy pulling myself up, I needed to preserve my strength to hang on to the branch.' The three survivors were just 200 yards from a freeway but as the hours began to tick by and a police helicopter flew overhead without spotting them, their hopes of a quick rescue began to fade. While Butterfield and Vizueth clung to the limbs of the tree, Connellan was powerless to do anything aside from gripping on to his branch measuring about 2.5 inches wide. 'I had been holding on for four or five hours. My arms hurt more and more. I feel like I kept hallucinating, seeing boats and dogs,' said Connellan. 'When I thought about just giving up and letting go I would remember my girlfriend Sarah, our dog Leroy and our apartment in New York. 'The thought of never seeing them again would make my grip stronger. 'And every time I felt weak I would hear Alan calling out to me. He would say we are gonna survive, you have to get through this.' Butterfield, who has a 26-year-old son himself called Andrew, was not prepared to see his colleague join the tragic toll of Hurricane Harvey's victims. 'You couldn't talk all that much because the winds were howling and it was raining hard, it sucked, it really did,' he said. 'But I I would yell out 'Ruaridh are you alive?' I said to him just be tough. Dude you gotta suck it up, go to the deepest depths of your soul. You're not gonna die, I promise you. The two men were rushed to the hospital after their 11:45am rescue where Connellan was treated for head to toe burns and lacerations to his hands. He also had bites from spiders and red ants all over his face and neck. Butterfield was treated for his injured shoulder, burns and various cuts and bruises. Both men are expected to make a full recovery Butterfield (pictured with hood on left) and photojournalist Ruaridh Connellan (right) was one of the seven men onboard a boat when it was electrocuted by submerged power lines in Houston on Monday. They were filmed on a Facebook Live video shortly before the accident 'I honestly believed it. I just kept saying pray to whatever god you believe in. I never had one thought about us dying.' In the early hours of the morning Connellan's branch eventually snapped off and he found himself once more being dragged away by the surging waters. However he managed to summon up enough strength to swim towards another crop of bushes. By a stroke of luck, the vegetation he grabbed hold of was tangled up with barbed wire and firmly anchored down. 'The bush was full of trash and all kinds of unsavory rubbish but it was like a little refuge from the storm,' Connellan said. 'Luckily it was only about 60 yards or so from Alan so I could shout back to say I was OK.' After daybreak the three men decided upon a new survival strategy that would ultimately save their lives: Taking turns to yell for help. 'There was wind and rain and rushing water so I doubted anyone would ever hear us,' said Connellan. 'But a few hours later I hear something - a reply. 'Someone was shouting back at me. Within half an hour we saw their boat come round the corner. I was the most relieved I've ever been in my life. 'I didn't have any strength left to climb up so they dragged me into the boat. I was in shivering uncontrollably. I just kept saying thank you to the state trooper for pulling me out.' Butterfield (left) and Connellan were swept away into the swollen and fast moving Greens Bayou and desperately clung to branches and trees as they fought the current for 18 hours waiting to be rescued Four of the men haven't been seen since Monday when their boat was electrocuted by power lines in Houston. Some can be seen above in a Facebook Live video prior to the accident The two men were rushed to the hospital after their 11:45am rescue where Connellan was treated for head to toe burns and lacerations to his hands. He also had bites from spiders and red ants all over his face and neck. Butterfield was treated for his injured shoulder, burns and various cuts and bruises. Both men are expected to make a full recovery. Their joy at being reunited was tempered by the knowledge that two of the boat's other occupants, 33-year-old Jorge Perez, a married father-of-two, and 25-year-old Yahir Vizueth, both drowned. Two more men, Benjamin Vizueth, 31 and Gustavo Rodriguez-Hernandez, 40, are still missing. 'These men were just trying to help people in need,' added Butterfield. 'My heart goes out to their loved ones and I just hope the missing guys are found.' Said a spokesperson for DailyMail.com: 'We are actively working with local authorities to determine the whereabouts of the other occupants of the boat. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with our reporting team and their families but especially with the families of the search party.' Gustavo Rodriguez Hernandez (left) is still missing but the body of Jorge Perez (right) was found Family of the men have been posting photos on social media in a bid to track them down. Yahir Vizuet Rubio (left) was confirmed dead and Benjamin Jimmy Vizueth (right) is still missing DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER ALAN BUTTERFIELD'S ACCOUNT We stopped the car at an off-ramp because the water was high and we saw a group of men with a boat who said they were going to rescue an elderly relative in a wheelchair and one of her neighbors,' explained Butterfield from his hospital bed. It was an older motorboat, about 17ft, had an open bow and was towing a dinghy. There was only one lifejacket in the boat. The men were speaking Spanish and I speak Spanish, so I asked if we could join them. I thought we were going to some nearby neighborhood but we went about a mile to a neighborhood near a bayou. I was sitting, talking with Ruaridh in the bow of the boat when I looked up and saw we were veering into power lines that had come down and were hanging low over a submerged bridge and in the water. The strong current was carrying the boat towards a power line. We were about 20 feet from the line and we could hear the transformers blow and see sparks flying. I was desperate to get away from the power lines so I jumped out of the boat and so did everyone else. I heard the boat crash into the lines, the noise was just awful. The boat was crackling and smoking. I couldnt see anyone else as everyone had jumped into the water. I was desperately trying to swim away from the power lines in the water. I felt electricity in the water, it paralyzes you for a second. How we survived electrocution, I dont know. I heard Ruaridh call my name, he was 50 feet on the other side of the power line. Luckily, I was swept under the power lines where they were hanging a little over the water and I was able to grab on to the capsized dinghy with Ruaridh and another man, Jose (31). At this point it was around 3.30pm in the afternoon. We were going downriver, the current was so fast. I was telling Jose and Ruaridh that we needed to grab onto a tree as we passed. We managed to direct the dinghy towards a tree and cling on. Jose got himself to the top of the tree. It took me longer as I had dislocated my shoulder. I wasnt aware at the time as I had kicked into survival mode. I dont know how I did it. I managed to get up the tree and I straddled the trunk of the tree. We took off our shoes to get a better grip on the slippery trunk and branches - one slip and the water would have carried you away to who knows where. One fall could end your life and we were just saved one time. Ruaridh didnt have any strength left in his arms to pull himself out of the water after fighting against the current, so he spent the whole night clinging onto a tree branch in the water and hoping that it wouldnt break. He kept asking me if we were going to die and told me to tell his parents and girlfriend that he loved them. I promised him we were not going to die, we were going to make it. We thought we were going to be rescued as we could see about ten helicopters flying overhead. One stopped around 100 yards away and was dropping ropes. We were yelling help and Jose was waving and wearing a yellow jacket at the top of the tree. But the rain was torrential and the winds must have been around 50mph, they couldnt see us. The water smelled putrid, - like stagnant sewage, mixed with everything else. There was heavy rain on us all night and I was trying to catch drops in my mouth to get some water. We began to suffer from frostbite in our fingers and toes as it got colder during the night and we had to remove our waterlogged clothes. We were taking turns in yelling for help in the darkness. We could see neighborhoods about 300-400 yards but no one came. We didnt see another person, a lot of the homes seemed to have been abandoned. We held onto the tree for 18 hours until about 11.45am the next morning. Thankfully, three guys from the Texas Department of Public Safety heard us while they were out on a powerboat. When we saw them our prayers were answered. They didnt even know about the accident or the missing men. Its been such chaos down here. Up until then, I thought we would be there for another night. I didnt tell the others, but I thought we might be there until at least Thursday until the water receded. I could see from the water mark on the trees that it had hardly gone down in the 18 hours we were there. The three men were taken to a hospital in Houston. I fractured my toe, I have a gash on my knee cap that required stitches and a black eye. I have electrical burns and I am under observation for my heart. We are all on strong antibiotics after spending so long in the water and have frostbite on our fingers and toes from exposure. We were pretty beat up, Ruaridh suffered badly from being in the water all night. The branch that Ruaridh was originally hanging onto broke and he was lucky to be able to latch onto another tree about 50 feet down current. His hands are badly beaten up. My girlfriend was frantically worried, she called me 40 times and has been calling the police department and the Red Cross. Advertisement The group is believed to have lost control of their motorboat (above) and drifted towards fallen power lines. The live cables are thought to have sent a powerful electric shock through the craft tossing the seven occupants overboard Britain is sending extra troops to Iraq to bring the defeat of Islamic State a 'step closer', the Defence Secretary announced last night. Sir Michael Fallon said the deployment of 44 troops to Anbar Province would support the coalition effort as it enters its final phase. British troops will work in non-combat roles at the Al Asad airbase to construct a squadron headquarters, accommodation and offices. Military officials said their arrival, which will bring the total number of British troops in Iraq to over 600, would free up coalition personnel to fight Islamic State in the region. Sir Michael said: 'We are stepping up our contribution to the fight against Daesh and fulfilling Britain's role as a key player in the global coalition. Sir Michael Fallon said the deployment of 44 troops to Anbar Province would support the coalition effort as it enters its final phase 'Daesh is being defeated. Iraqi forces, backed by coalition airstrikes, have now liberated 70 per cent of the territory Daesh held and the victims of its barbarism are being helped by our humanitarian support. 'These extra troops will help support operations to bring the defeat of Daesh a step closer.' Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minsister Haider al-Abadi, announced that his country's security forces, with the help of a coalition involving the UK, had liberated Tal Afar, one of the last ISIS strongholds in the country. In response, Sir Michael said: 'I congratulate Prime Minister Abadi, and all of the Iraqi Security Forces who are fighting on the ground with great bravery and care to end Daesh's barbarous presence in Iraq. While the Iraqi forces and the Coalition have ended Daesh's control in the Tal Afar area, the task is not yet done. The UK will continue to support the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to finally clear Daesh from their country.' Military officials said their arrival, which will bring the total number of British troops in Iraq to over 600, would free up coalition personnel to fight Islamic State The extra UK troops being sent, from 5 Armoured Engineer Squadron, 22 Engineer Regiment in Tidworth, will be deployed to Iraq for around six months. British personnel currently supporting the coalition effort in Iraq are primarily involved in training Iraqi security forces in battle winning infantry, counter-IED, engineering and combat medical skills, with over 58,000 Iraqis trained so far. In addition, RAF aircraft have carried out around 1,400 strikes against Islamic State from their base in Akrotiri, Cyprus. A cemetery official made more than 14,000 by burying bodies on top of each other in a fraud lasting nine years. William Henderson, 46, also pocketed cash by selling space that families had reserved for future bereavements and in areas of the cemetery where burials were not allowed. Henderson, former superintendent at Edinburghs Mount Vernon Cemetery, pleaded guilty to a single fraud charge when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday. William Henderson, 46, made more than 14,000 by burying bodies on top of each other as part of a nine-year fraud at Edinburgh's Mount Vernon Cemetery His criminal scheme at the citys only Catholic cemetery involved 13 cases of fraud between 2006 and 2015, totalling more than 14,000. He sold plots for as much as 6,500 although in one case he charged just 20 and altered records to make it appear the plots were vacant. He had no authority to sell the sites, which were already owned by others, on common ground or had remains interred in them. In one case he took 900 for a plot, even though it had already been used to bury a stillborn child, while another was sold despite being over an underground stream. One man went to Henderson looking for a burial site for his mother and was told that officially none were available. However, he said he owned a plot and was happy to sell it because he was going through a divorce and needed the money. The man paid 850 for the plot, only to discover later that it was actually owned by a family who bought it in 1988. As superintendent at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Edinburgh, Henderson even sold a plot that had already been used to bury a stillborn child The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh said it regretted the actions of its former employee, and was helping those affected. The court heard yesterday that the church had repaid all the money to the victims. Sheriff Donald Corke deferred sentencing to September 29, but warned Henderson: This is clearly a very serious matter and you should be aware that custody is the most likely outcome. Hendersons criminal actions came to light after a suspicious undertaker contacted the archdiocese in January 2015. Dr Elspeth Atkinson, chief operating officer at the archdiocese, said after the hearing: There are two victims of Willie Hendersons criminal behaviour: The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, which has been defrauded of thousands of pounds, but much more significantly and disturbingly is the impact on those families who were exploited by him at a time when they were grieving and vulnerable. Thats why his crimes are so shocking. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Grainger said: William Henderson targeted vulnerable families when they were grieving and distressed. His deception and exploitation led to Henderson amassing thousands of pounds from these families, which he hid from his employers. Anthropologists might be one step closer to solving one of the most enduring mysteries of Pacific history - the disappearance of Jean-Francois de Galaup de La Perouse in 1788. La Perouse was instructed by King Louis XVI to undertake a major voyage of exploration in the Pacific to emulate the feats of Captain James Cook. He departed the port of Brest in 1785 with two frigates and a complement of 225 officers, sailors and scientists but what became of them has baffled people for centuries. Researchers believe the last survivors of La Perouse's voyage were shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef near Murray Island, in northeast Torres Strait. His two frigates were eventually found off the tiny Solomons island of Vanikoro, northeast of New Caledonia and locals said the survivors built a vessel to sail back to France. After they left, they were thought to have vanished at sea. But the survival story of an Indian sailor, Shaik Jumaul, hints at a bloodier end for La Perouse and his crew - some 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) back towards Australia. Scroll down for video This is Nicolas-Andre Monsiau's 1817 famous oil painting 'Louis XVI Giving Final Instructions to the Comte de la Perouse', which is on display at the Palace of Versailles WHAT HAPPENED? Jumaul's tale, chronicled in The Madras Courier newspaper in 1818 but largely ignored until now, detailed the shipwreck of his merchant ship off northern Australia in 1814, according to Australian National University anthropologist Garrick Hitchcock. Hitchcock, who detailed his research in The Journal of Pacific History, said the Indian sailor was marooned on Murray Island in the Torres Strait. When he was rescued by merchant ships in 1818, he told the crew he saw cutlasses and muskets on the islands that were not English made, as well as a compass and a gold watch. 'When he asked the Islanders where they obtained these things, they related how approximately 30 years earlier, a ship had been wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef to the east, in sight of the island,' Hitchcock said. But according to the testimony, the shipwrecked sailors were not given a warm welcome. 'Boats with crew had come ashore, but in the fighting that followed, all were eventually killed, except a boy, who was saved and brought up as one of their own, later marrying a local woman.' Hitchcock said he believed the seaman's tale, mentioned briefly in a 2012 French book but dismissed as unreliable, could be true as it matched the chronology of the survivors' attempt to return home. Advertisement 'La Perouse's voyage of discovery in the Pacific is recognised as one of the most important of its era, rivalled only by the work of Cook', said Dr Garrick Hitchcock, of the ANU School of Culture, History and Language. 'He remains a very well-known and respected figure in eighteenth century scientific exploration,' he said. What is known is that La Perouse's ships Astrolabe and Boussole were wrecked in 1788 on Vanikoro, a small island in the Santa Cruz Group of the Solomon Islands. While researching a project on the history of Torres Strait, Dr Hitchcock came across an article published in an 1818 Indian newspaper, The Madras Courier. He is confident the article reveals what became of the survivors. The article tells the story of Shaik Jumaul, a castaway Indian seaman who survived the sinking of the merchant ship Morning Star which was wrecked off the coast of north Queensland in 1814. Jumaul made it to Murray Island, where he lived for four years, learning the language and culture of the Islanders. He was finally rescued by two merchant ships that passed through the area in 1818. 'Jumaul informed his rescuers that he had seen cutlasses and muskets on the islands which he recognised as not being of English make, as well as a compass and a gold watch,' he said. 'When he asked the Islanders where they obtained these things, they related how approximately thirty years earlier, a ship had been wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef to the east, in sight of the island. This is a feature map of the voyage of Comte de La Perouse's journey and potential final resting place. While researching a project on the history of Torres Strait, Dr Hitchcock came across an article published in an 1818 Indian newspaper, The Madras Courier WHO WAS LA PEROUSE? Jean-Francois de Galaup La Perouse (1741-1788) was born in Albi, France and entered the navy at 15. In 1775 he was promoted to lieutenant and captain in 1780. His campaign against the British in Hudson Bay in 1782 was considered a sign of his formidable leadership. He even demonstrated humanity by leaving the remaining settlers enough provisions to sustain themselves over winter. In 1783 the French government chose La Perouse to lead an expedition to the Pacific to complete the unfinished work of Captain Cook. They particularly wanted to know more about the Bering Sea - which had been a mystery since the sixteenth century. Louise XVI himself drafted a plan and itinerary. La Perouse left Brest on 1 august 1785 but never set foot on French soil again. Advertisement But according to the testimony, the shipwrecked sailors were not given a warm welcome and may have been murdered. 'Boats with crew had come ashore, but in the fighting that followed, all were eventually killed, except a boy, who was saved and brought up as one of their own, later marrying a local woman.' The La Perouse expedition crew list includes a ship's boy (mousse), Francois Mordelle, from the port town of Treguier in Brittany, northwestern France. Dr Hitchcock wonders if Mordelle could be the last survivor of the La Perouse expedition. 'The Indian newspaper article featuring the castaway's account was later reproduced in several other newspapers and periodicals of the day, in Australia, Britain, France and other countries, and observers noted that this might refer to the La Perouse expedition,' Dr Hitchcock said. 'Somehow, Shaik Jamaul's story was subsequently largely forgotten.' While a French book published in 2012 refers briefly to this newspaper article and discounts it as unreliable account, Dr Hitchcock believes otherwise. 'The chronology is spot on, for it was thirty years earlier, in late 1788 or early 1789, that the La Perouse survivors left Vanikoro in their small vessel,' he said. This is a map of the proposed final fate of La Perouse. The article in the Indian newspaper tells the story of Shaik Jumaul, a castaway Indian seaman who survived the sinking of the merchant ship Morning Star which was wrecked off the coast of north Queensland in 1814 Researchers now believe the last survivors of La Perouse's voyage were shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef near Murray Island, in northeast Torres Strait 'Furthermore, historians and maritime archaeologists are not aware of any other European ship being in that region at that time. This means that this is the earliest known shipwreck in Torres Strait, and indeed, eastern Australia' he said. The Torres Strait region, which includes the northern part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, is studded with reefs, rocks and sandbars, and has been described as a 'graveyard of ships'. Over 120 vessels are known to have come to grief in its treacherous waters. 'It could well be that the final phase of the La Perouse expedition ended in tragedy in northern Australia', said Dr Hitchcock. 'Future recovery of artefacts from the wreck site on the Great Barrier Reef - yet to be discovered - or the islands, will hopefully provide final confirmation.' A survey of 50 Nobel laureates asked about the greatest threats to mankind has revealed that environmental issues such as over-population and climate change are the biggest threat. Meanwhile, the threat of nuclear warfare and infectious diseases and drug resistance follows in second and third place. Distortion or the truth and ignorant political leaders also ranked highly, with President Donald Trump called out by name in this category. Scroll down for video The survey drew responses from almost a quarter of the living Nobel prize winners for chemistry, physics, physiology, medicine and economics. 34 per cent said that environmental issues, including population rise and environmental degradation, were the biggest threat THE GREATEST THREATS TO HUMANKIND A survey of 50 Nobel laureates posed the question: 'What is the biggest threat to humankind, in your view? And is there anything science can do to mitigate it?' Some respondents listed more than one threat, and responses were recorded, with the threats ranked as follows: Population rise/environmental degradation (34%, 18 respondents) Nuclear war (23%, 12 respondents) Infectious disease/drug resistance (8%, 4 respondents) Selfishness/dishonesty/loss of humanity (8%, 4 respondents) Donald Trump/ignorant leaders (6%, 3 respondents) Artificial Intelligence (4%, 2 respondents) Inequality (4%, 2 respondents) Drugs (2%, 1 respondent) Facebook (2%, 1 respondent) Fundamentalism/terrorism (6%, 3 respondents) Ignorance/distortion of truth (6%, 3 respondents Advertisement The survey, carried out by Times Higher Education and the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, asked the Nobel laureates the question: 'What is the biggest threat to humankind, in your view? And is there anything science can do to mitigate it?' The survey drew responses from almost a quarter of the living Nobel prize winners for chemistry, physics, physiology, medicine and economics - Peace Prize and Literature Prize winners were not asked. Other threats identified included fundamentalism and terrorism, Artificial Intelligence, inequality, drugs, and Facebook. 34 per cent of the respondents said that environmental issues, including population rise and environmental degradation, were the biggest threat. The respondents who cited environmental issues also mentioned concerns about struggles to provide food and water to a growing population, and the level of opposition to genetically-modified products, given their potential to boost agricultural output. Global warming was also frequently cited, with an emphasis placed on the need to make renewable energy solutions affordable and cost-effective to encourage widescale uptake. Ranking in second place, 23 per cent of the respondents said that nuclear warfare was the biggest threat to humanity. Against the backdrop of US-North Korea tensions and accusations of Russian interference in the election, this may not be surprising. In particular, the respondents complained of 'warmonger dictators' highlighted the risk posed by populist regimes and terrorists. In fifth place, six per cent of the respondents said that ignorance and distortion of the truth were the biggest threat, with another six per cent citing the ignorance of political leaders as a threat - with two laureates naming Donald Trump specifically among the greatest threats. The respondents who cited environmental issues also mentioned concerns about struggles to provide food and water to a growing population, and the level of opposition to genetically-modified products, given their potential to boost agricultural output Dr Peter Agre, who won the Nobel Price in Chemistry in 2003, said Donald Trump was 'extraordinarily uninformed and bad-natured.' 'Trump could play a villain in a Batman movie everything he does is wicked or selfish,' said Dr Agre. Dr Agre also said that it was a particular concern that the US president 'flaunts his ignorance' to appeal to Americans who are happy to dismiss the opinions of scientists. In fifth place, six per cent of the respondents said that ignorance and distortion of the truth were the biggest threat, with another six per cent citing the ignorance of political leaders as a threat - with two laureates naming Donald Trump specifically among the greatest threats The tendency of governments and political leaders to disregard well-established scientific fact and data was data was flagged as dangerous, with Donald Trump's dismissal of climate change as a 'hoax' being an example. Although Elon Musk has warned about the threat of Artificial Intelligence, only two of the 50 people surveyed identified AI as amongst the biggest threats to humanity. The threat of nuclear warfare was ranked second. Against the backdrop of US-North Korea tensions, this may not be surprising. Pictured is a mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb that exploded over Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, during World War II 'This survey offers a unique insight into the issues that keep the world's greatest scientific minds awake at night,' said John gill, the editor of Times Higher Education. 'Some of the threats they identify are predictable: nuclear war, antibiotic resistance and environmental degradation all feature. 'However, the Nobel laureates also voice concerns about technological advance, changes in human interaction, the potential 'weaponisation' of artificial intelligence, and an age of ignorance leading to political populism and a loss of respect for scientific evidence as existential threats. Although Elon Musk has warned about the threat of Artificial Intelligence, only two of the 50 people surveyed identified AI as amongst the biggest threats to humanity 'There is a consensus that heading off these dangers requires political will and action, the prioritisation of education on a global scale, and above all avoiding the risk of inaction through complacency.' Dr Peter Agre will discuss the thoughts of the living Nobel laureates at the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit taking place at King's College London on September 5, 2017. The Karen Unity and Peace Committee (KUPC) convened a summit of Kayin (Karen) State political parties on August 29 to discuss the formation of a united political front. Representatives from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, the Kayin Democratic Party, the Kayin State Democracy and Development Party, and the Kayin Unity Democratic Party attended the meeting at the Thu Maydar Yama Gyar Tawya Monastery in Hpa-an township. The parties have met regularly since reaching an agreement in principle to combine forces, following the November 2015 election, when they failed to net any seats and lost five Hluttaw posts previously held by Kayin representatives. The Kayin parties currently have no sitting MPs in either national assembly, and only one, from the Kayin People's Party, in the state assembly. We asked the Kayin parties for an update on the plan to merge. They [the Kayin parties] said they still intend to pursue it and are working on it, said Sayadaw U Sanda Wa Ya Ka, patron of the KUPC. He added that the KUPC intended to discuss the meeting, which did not include the passage of a resolution, with officials from two absent Kayin parties. No decisions have been set down yet. We only negotiated and the KUPC asked us questions. But, we wont be able to carry out the merger yet, said Mann Aung Pyi Soe, vice chair of the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party. Representatives also confirmed that the parties have not officially discussed a name for their unified coalition, despite rumors that one has already been submitted to the Union Election Commission. Magic Leap has just got closer to its long-rumored augmented reality glasses. On Tuesday, the company - which is backed by $1.4 billion in funding - was granted a patent for what appears to be the firm's AR glasses. The patent drawings depict somewhat bulky-looking glasses with cameras on both arms and what appears to be two pairs of lenses stacked on top of each other. Scroll down for video A front perspective of the glasses pictured in the patent. The patent drawings depict somewhat bulky-looking glasses with cameras on both arms and what appears to be two pairs of lenses stacked on top of each other In a twist, the document is for 'virtual reality glasses.' This is surprising since Magic Leap has previously released demonstration videos depicting augmented reality. However, VR and AR are used interchangeably enough that the glasses could still be used for augmented reality experiences, but seeing as this is a design patent, technical details are lacking. While the patent states that Magic Leap applied for it in September 2015 and that Magic Leap is the assignee, the company is denying it depicts its actual glasses. A Magic Leap spokesperson told Business Insider that these are not Magic Leap's product. 'As you know, we file lots of patents that take a long time to get approved and so what you are looking at is not our product,' she said. A side perspective. Investors who recently demoed the AR glasses spoke of two additional components: a large battery pack than can places in the wearer's pocked as well as a GPU and CPU that meant to attach to a belt Unnamed sources with knowledge of the company's hardware said the design is close in appearance but that the real design is bigger and bulkier, according to Business Insider. One source also said the glasses will have just one camera, as opposed to one on each arm as pictured. The source added that they are like 'thick-rimmed like hipster glasses.' MAGIC LEAP: WHAT WE KNOW In October 2015, Magic Leap announced it had raised $542 million in funding, led by Google. Other investors included Qualcomm, the world's leading phone chipmaker, Andreessen Horowitz, KKR, and Legendary Entertainment. Now others including Alibaba are on board, and the company has raised $1.39 million. Unlike current VR headsets, Magic Leap is a 'mixed reality' device. So, the user is able to see through the glass, called the photonic lightfield chip. Investors and other insiders who have tried the top-secret glasses said that while smaller than VR headsets, the glasses are on the bulkier side and like swim goggles with large lenses. They are larger than Snapchat's Spectacles, they said. Those demo units were said to have a large battery pack the size of two iPhones stacked on top of each other attached and able to be placed in the wearer's pocket. A separate component - meant to be worn on a belt - contained the GPU and CPU and was about the size of a portable CD player. This investor look was in the spring, which indicated the glasses depicted in the patent may be an older version that has already been scrapped. Advertisement Investors and other insiders who have tried the top-secret glasses said that while smaller than VR headsets, the glasses are on the bulkier side and like swim goggles with large lenses. They are larger than Snapchat's Spectacles, they said. Those demo units were said to have a large battery pack the size of two iPhones stacked on top of each other attached that could be placed in the wearer's pocket. A rear perspective. Unnamed sources with knowledge of the company's hardware said the design is close in appearance but that the real design is bigger and bulkier, according to Business Insider Another look at the patented glasses design. One source also said the glasses will have just one camera, as opposed to one on each arm as is pictured A separate component - meant to be worn on a belt - contained the GPU and CPU and was about the size of a portable CD player. This investor look was in the spring, which indicates the glasses depicted in the patent may be an older version that has already been scrapped. Magic Leap is backed by powerhouses including Alibaba, KPCB, and Google. Google released AR software called ARcore on Tuesday, but the companies have not commented on if the Magic Leap glasses will run it. 'As you know we are building full stack computing hardware, software, content, etc,' the Magic Leap spokesperson told Business Insider. In March, it was reported the company will releases its much-anticipated glasses - which are meant to compete with Microsoft's HoloLens glasses - later this year. A release date has yet to be announced, but it's believed they will cost around $1,000. 'The light-field eyewear is said to be smaller than Microsofts HoloLens, with a wider field of view, but larger than a regular pair of glasses,' the Financial Times report said. 'The headgear will be tethered to a small pack that provides battery and processing power, to put in a pocket or attach to a belt, and is likely to cost in excess of $1,000. Magic Leap declined to comment.' Florida-based start-up Magic Leap has revealed a few precious details of its futuristic eye wear, which it says gives users 'mixed reality'. A previous Magic Leap demonstration showed a solar system appearing in front of a user. The glassesare set to compete with Microsoft's HoloLens glasses and cost around $1,000 A demo released in April last year showed smartphone notifications and applications projected at eye level over the top of a user's office environment. As a message pops up in the notification window, the user can view the item and click an attachment to open up files. Last week, Facebook got closer to its own augmented reality glasses as well. 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. 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). 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. Pictured: A diagram of Facebook's near-eye-display (NED) FACEBOOK'S AR GLASSES PATENT Facebook's VR arm Oculus patented an augmented reality system for glasses that would allow wearers to see virtual objects - and presumably Facebook posts and notifications - in the real world around them. The technology will use a waveguide display to project light onto the wearer's eyes to show images and video. The approach is similar to the one used by Microsoft's HoloLens AR headset and the mysterious glasses being developed by the Google-backed startup Magic Leap. The pictured design is smaller and sleeker than the HoloLens headset. Pasi Saarikko, who came to Oculus as lead optical scientists after leading the optical design of the HoloLens at Microsoft, is one of the patent authors. Advertisement According to the filing, the display 'may augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements' and 'may be included in an eye-wear comprising a frame and a display assembly that presents media to a user's eyes.' Oculus will be developing the glasses, titled in the patent as 'waveguide display with two-dimensional scanner.' Using a waveguide display, the technology will project light onto the wearer's eyes to show images and video. The approach is similar to the one used by Microsoft's HoloLens AR headset and the mysterious glasses being developed by the Google-backed startup Magic Leap. In fact, one of the patent's authors is Pasi Saarikko, who came to Oculus as lead optical scientists after leading the optical design of the HoloLens at Microsoft. However, the pictured design is smaller and sleeker than the HoloLens headset. Zuckerberg has long been known to be placing big bets on AR. He believes that soon we won't even use phones and will be instead be connected through AR technology. 'Youll just have glasses, or eventually contact lenses - [Youll be able to] look around and see different things and interact with [by] using your hands and reaching out and grabbing stuff,' he told The Verge. 'That, I think, is the next logical step for how well interact with this.' 'Were really excited about pushing both of those trends forward.' The Facebook founder first unveiled the company's augmented reality system in March at the firm's annual F8 developer conference as part of the 'second act' in Facebook's camera strategy - a new platform to allow developers to build AR apps. 'We know where we want this go eventually - glasses or contact lenses that overlay this,' Zuckerberg said He also hinted at the firm's more distant future, confirming rumors it is developing a radical mind reading computer interface - and promised more details on the project 'soon'. 'We're building further out beyond augmented reality, and that includes work around direct brain interfaces that one day will let you communicate using only your mind, although that stuff is pretty far out,' he said. He first unveiled a new augmented reality platform allowing developers to build AR apps. Zuckerberg said new phone-based applications might include creating a three-dimensional scene from a single two-dimensional photo or splattering the walls of your house with colorful (virtual) art. 'You may have noticed we rolled out cameras across our apps, that was act one,' he said. Today, we're going to talk about act two - augmented reality. Zuckerberg showed several demos of possible Facebook AR apps 'We know where we want this go eventually - glasses or contact lenses that overlay this,' Zuckerberg said. 'This will help us mix the physical and digital in new ways, and make reality better'. 'I used to think glasses would be the firm major firm factor. But we are seeing versions with out phone cameras'. 'Giving developers the power to build for augmented reality. 'We'll start today with basic effect such as face masks. You'll have thousands of options.' However, Zuckerberg said the system will be more complex than simple snapchat-style filters. Last year, Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook's 10-year road map that calls for powerful technologies to radically alter how people connect with friends and family and the world at large. Zuckerberg said games were likely to be a key component, and showed off a demo of a game turning a table into an AR game, allowing children to interact with objects on it. 'This isn't going to happen overnight, over time I think this will change how we use our phones, and eventually all of our technology,' he said. 'Even if we were a little slow to add cameras to our apps, I'm confident we will move this along.' Zuckerberg also confirmed the firm was developing a 'mind computer interface' that will one day allow users to communicate machine and said more details would be made available about the project soon. It recently revealed the existence of a new division, known only as 'Building 8,' which is dedicated to creating ground-breaking products at the intersection of hardware, software, and content. And a new job advert posting suggested that the mysterious division could be working on mind-reading technology. One advert is for a 'brain-computer interface engineer' to work on a '2-year B8 project focused on developing advanced BCI technologies.' Details on what the job will involve are limited, but the advert adds that one of the key responsibilities will be applying 'machine learning methods, including encoding and decoding models, to neuroimaging and electrophysiological data.' The second advert is for a 'neural imaging engineer' who will be responsible for 'a project focused on developing novel non-invasive neuroimaging technologies.' Both jobs are based at the Menlo Park site in California. These limited descriptions suggest that Building 8 might be working on monitoring how brain activity changes when looking at pictures or videos. An ancient skeleton discovered in a Mexican cave could be one of the earliest examples of human settlement in the Americas, researchers have revealed. Isotopic analysis of the remains, found in the Chan Hol cave near Tulum, date the body to 13,000 years ago suggesting humans arrived to the area during the late Pleistocene. As experts have long debated the timing of humans arrival to the region, the new study, coupled with other well-preserved remains found in the caves, could finally help to pinpoint this milestone. Based on uranium, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the bones, along with stalagmite that grew through the pelvis, the researchers determined that the person died during a time when the cave floor was dry THE ANCIENT BONES The skeleton was discovered in 2012. But, after photos of the remarkable remains circulated across social media where the researchers first found out about it the site was looted, and all easily collectable bones were stolen. Based on the photographs and remaining fragmentary bones, the team was able to reconstruct the bodys original position. Its likely that the person died in the cave, and was not intentionally buried, as their analysis suggests the corpse was lying on its back with its head tilted to the side, and limbs splayed haphazardly. While the nature of the discovery means any interpretation of sex and age can only be speculative, they suspect the skeleton belonged to a young adult man. Advertisement Over the course of thousands of years, the Tulum cave system on the Yucatan Peninsula has undergone dramatic changes, as sea level rose and shrank hundreds of meters with the shifting climate. Based on uranium, carbon, and oxygen isotopes in the bones, along with stalagmite that grew through the pelvis, the researchers determined that the person died during a time when the cave floor was dry. The carcass first completely decayed on site, according to the study, and the decay of the stalagmite followed. The new insight suggests the person lived in an area thats now southern Mexico during the late Pleistocene, about 13,000 years ago. During Pleistocene stadials, sea-level was more than 100m below the recent level, thus leaving large parts of the cave system dry and accessible, the authors wrote in the study published to Plos One. Based on the photographs, the team was able to reconstruct the bodys original position. Its likely that the person died in the cave, and was not intentionally buried, as their analysis suggests the corpse was lying on its back with its head tilted to the side, and limbs splayed In contrast, during interstadials of the Pleistocene and the early Holocene, between 13 and 7.6 ky, the karst labyrinth was flooded preserving both archaeological and climate archives. Recent water levels were reached at approximately 4500y [before present], although oscillations of up to a few meters are known to have occurred during Maya times. Over the years, changes in the climate may have influenced the skeleton in ways that could affect the accuracy of dating it, the researchers note. With further studies, however, they hope to better refine the findings. The skeleton was first discovered in 2012. But, after photos of the remarkable remains circulated across social media where the researchers first found out about it the site was looted, and all easily collectable bones were stolen. Before and after images are shown above The skeleton was first discovered in 2012. But, after photos of the remarkable remains circulated across social media where the researchers first found out about it the site was looted, and all easily collectable bones were stolen. Based on the photographs and remaining fragmentary bones, the team was able to reconstruct the bodys original position. Its likely that the person died in the cave, and was not intentionally buried, as their analysis suggests the corpse was lying on its back with its head tilted to the side, and limbs splayed haphazardly. While the nature of the discovery means any interpretation of sex and age can only be speculative, they suspect the skeleton belonged to a young adult man. China has started looking into creating a 'high-speed flying train' that could reach speeds of 2,485 mph (4,000km/h), according to state-run space contractors. The 'flying train' is a passenger pod that travels through a vacuum tube using magnetic levitation - similar to Elon Musk's Hyperloop, which is looking to reach speeds of 760 mph (1,200 km/h). If the project goes through as planned, this super train could move at four times the speed of commercial flights and three times the speed of sound. Scroll down for video If the project goes through as planned this super train (pictured) could whip along at four times the speed of commercial flights and three times the speed of sound THE 'HIGH-SPEED FLYING TRAIN' The 'flying train' is a passenger pod that travels through a vacuum tube using magnetic levitation - similar to Elon Musk's hyperloop. If the train reaches these speeds it means it could whip along at four times the speed of commercial flights and three times the speed of sound. Contractors claims their tube system will be the first designed for supersonic speeds - although their first aim to to hit more modest speeds of 621 mph (1,000km/hour). Earlier this month, Hyperloop One completed the first successful test of the passenger pod for its radical transport system, travelling at historic speeds of 310 km an hour (193mph) Advertisement The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) owns more than 200 patents for the project, writes Quartz. CASIC claims their tube system will be the first designed for supersonic speeds - although their first aim to to hit more modest speeds of 621 mph (1,000km/h). The contractors announced they would be transporting the 'flying train' to sixty or so countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. They gave no timeline along with their announcement. The 'flying train' would also be ten times faster than the world's fastest bullet train - which is also in China. Chief designer, Mao Kai, dismissed concerns about tickets being too expensive for normal people. Earlier this month Hyperloop One completed the first successful test of the passenger pod for its radical transport system, marking what the firm says is the debut of 'the dawn of a new era of transportation'. The 'flying train' is a passenger pod that travels through a vacuum tube using magnetic levitation - similar to the hyperloop, which is looking to reach speeds of 760 mph (1,200 km/h) CASIC claims their tube system will be the first designed for supersonic speeds - although their first aim to to hit more modest speeds of 621 mph (1,000km/h) The Hyperloop One XP-1, the company's first-generation pod, accelerated for 300 meters and glided above the track using magnetic levitation before braking and coming to a gradual stop. The July 29 2017 tests hit record test speeds travelling nearly the full distance of the 500-meter DevLoop track in the Nevada desert. 'This is the beginning, and the dawn of a new era of transportation,' said Shervin Pishevar, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Hyperloop One. The contractors announced they would be transporting the 'flying train' to sixty or so countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa They gave no timeline along with their announcement. The 'flying train' would also be ten times faster than the world's fastest bullet train - which is also in China Chief designer, Mao Kai, dismissed concerns about tickets for this futuristic travel pod being too expensive for normal people The train could challenge Hyperloop One, which earlier this month completed the first successful test of the passenger pod for its radical transport system The 'high-speed flying train' that could reach speeds of 2,485 mph (4,000km/h), according to state-run space contractors 'We've reached historic speeds of 310 km an hour [193mph], and we're excited to finally show the world the XP-1 going into the Hyperloop One tube. 'When you hear the sound of the Hyperloop One, you hear the sound of the future.' During phase 2 on July 29th, Hyperloop One achieved record speeds, in a tube depressurised down to the equivalent of air at 200,000 feet (61,000 metres) above sea level. The 'flying train' is a passenger pod that travels through a vacuum tube using magnetic levitation - similar to Elon Musk's (pictured) ambitious hyperloop The Hyperloop One XP-1, the company's first-generation pod, accelerated for 300 meters and glided above the track using magnetic levitation before braking and coming to a gradual stop As several firms vie to create the first operational Hyperloop, Elon Musk's vision of a radical transport system that could ferry passengers above land at 760 miles per hour continues to inch closer to reality All components of the system were successfully tested, including the highly efficient electric motor, advanced controls and power electronics, custom magnetic levitation and guidance, pod suspension and vacuum system. With Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo are loaded into a pod, and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. Last week China reclaimed the crown for having the world's fastest train. A new generation of trains would make the the 1,250-kilometre (777-mile) journey from the capital to Shanghai in just 4 hours, 30 minutes from next month, authorities said. The latest trains were unveiled in June and have a top speed of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph), according to the official Xinhua News Agency. HYPERLOOP'S XP-1 PASSENGER POD With Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo are loaded into a pod, and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. The XP-1 passenger pod is 28 feet long and made from aluminium and carbon fiber. In the latest test, it reached its top speed in only five seconds, travelling 300 metres (980 feet) before slowing. Hyperloop One ultimately wants to get the pod's speed closer to 750 miles per hour (1,200kph), or around the speed of sound. With Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo are loaded into a pod, and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. The pod quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag. Pictured is the first image released of the Boring Company's tunnelling machine which is creating the underground tunnels The tech boss took to social media to share progress on his traffic-beating tunnel beneath Los Angeles, revealing it is now big enough to fit a Tesla Model S. Musk was given the green light last week to built a two-mile-long test track under the city Advertisement China first ran trains at that speed in August 2008. However, it cut speeds back to 250-300 kilometres per hour (155-186 mph) in 2011 following a two-train collision near the city of Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured 191. China has laid more than 20,000 kilometres (12,400 miles) of high-speed rail, with a target of adding another 10,000 kilometres (6,214 miles) by 2020. China has spent an estimated $360 billion (280 billion) on high-speed rail, building by far the largest network in the world. Railway workers pose for photos with the Fuxing, China's latest high speed train capable of reaching 400kph (248mph) during its maiden service from Beijing. China is relaunching the world's fastest bullet trains in September 2017, running at 350 kilometres (217 miles) per hour. Zhao Jian, Beijing Jiaotong University professor and a leading researcher on Chinas high-speed railway network, told the South China Morning Post that in order to avoid more accidents at higher speeds, the railway operator will need to reduce the number of trains in use at one time. The line is also one of the most profitable in China. China Railway has not released financial data for specific lines, but a bond issuance prospectus last year said the corporate entity running the line made a profit of 6.6 billion yuan in 2015, or about US$1 billion. Bizarre plans announced by a Russian cyrogenics firm will see the dead blasted into space after their bodies have been frozen. The unusual funerals are being offered to people who believe there may be a hope of bringing them back to life one day. With space a premium here on Earth, experts at KrioRus see outer space as a 'land of opportunity' for future burials. The cost of preserving a body to stay in space has been slated to start at around 240,000 ($250,000). Scroll down for video Bizarre plans announced by Russian cyrogenics firm KrioRus will see the dead blasted into space after their bodies have been frozen. This image shows one of the firms cryo-coffins being transported UNUSUAL FUNERALS - Lack of burial space means sarcophagi are making a come-back because they can be stored above ground. - A farmer in Wiltshire built a replica Neolithic long barrow in 2014 and a space inside costs 400 ($500). - Ashes can be transformed into a diamond for around 5,000 ($6,400). - For 3,000 ($3,860), you can have your ashes pressed into vinyl records, or mixed with paint and painted into a favourite scene. - 'Alkaline hydrolysis' means bodies can be turned into goo after being submerged in water and potassium hydroxide, pressurised and heated. - A cremation company in Vermont offers mourners the opportunity to have their loved one's ashes kept in a 3D-printed urn that bears an uncanny resemblance to them in life. A wig can even be added and the service costs from 1,657 ($2,600). Advertisement The Moscow-based cryonics company says frozen bodies, DNA samples and even the bodies of pets could be blasted into the atmosphere under the plans. They have made an agreement with Space Technologies, a new science and tech consortium, to provide liftoff for its cyro-coffins. Yulia Arkhipova, general director of the firm, said : 'Satellites with cryo-capsules will be launched into orbit by Russian rockets.' Since 2005, KrioRus says it has frozen the bodies and brains of 54 people, eight dogs, nine cats, three birds, and incredibly, even one pet chinchilla. Now the plans are to launch these corpses into space. The company they are working with was only started last year. So far it has no rockets or launch vehicles, but it is believed they soon will. Under the futuristic plans these frozen bodies will not 'just be hanging around in orbit' but kept in secure pods, but further details are scant. Ms Arkhipova added: 'The leading Russian space companies are developing these satellites, the technologies are unique and it's classified information,' refusing to be drawn on what 'leading space companies' these were. Cryogenics is the art of freezing bodies by preserving a dead body with liquid nitrogen. The Moscow-based cryonics company says frozen bodies, DNA samples and even the bodies of pets could be blasted into the atmosphere under the plans. This image shows flowers being laid in one of its cryo-coffins They have made an agreement with Space Technologies, a new science and tech consortium, to provide liftoff for its cyro-coffins Under the futuristic plans, frozen bodies will not 'just be hanging around in orbit' but kept in secure pods, although further details are scant Currently, it can only legally happen when someone has just been declared dead. The freezing process must begin as soon as the patient dies in order to prevent brain damage, with facilities currently only available in Russia and the US. In the procedure, the body is cooled in an ice bath to gradually reduce its temperature bit by bit. Experts then drain the blood and replace it with an anti freeze fluid to stop harmful ice crystals forming in the body. Since 2005, KrioRus says it has frozen the bodies and brains of 54 people, eight dogs, nine cats, three birds, and incredibly, even one pet chinchilla, at their facility The cost of preserving a body at the site, some 47 miles (76 km) northeast of the Kremlin, to stay in space has been slated to start at around 240,000 ($250,000) KrioRus charges 29,200 ($37,600) for 'whole body' preservation, 9,750 ($12,560) for neuropreservation (brain). It also offers cryopreservation services for your pets, including 8,234 ($10,600) to preserve a 'little cat' and 20,000 ($25,800) to preserve a 'big dog'. Remains are currently stored for decades, centuries or even longer in large Dewar flask deep freezers. They are located inside a modest, unheated warehouse in a quiet snow-covered village surrounded by private houses some 47 miles (76 km) northeast of the Kremlin. Neanderthals have become a byword for a lack of sophistication but new research has revealed their surprisingly refined understanding of tool construction. The manufacture and use of adhesives was crucial for hafting, the process of attaching bone or stone to a handle to create weapons or tools. Scientists found that Neanderthals may have developed the ability to produce tar by baking rolls of bark in the ashes of a fire 200,000 years ago. They believe this shows the species must have developed cognitive abilities that allowed them to recognise desirable properties in a material. The manufacture and use of adhesives was crucial for creating weapons or tools and researchers believe they have discovered how Neanderthals developed this ability. This image shows tar collected in a birch bark container TAR PRODUCTION Adhesives are one of the earliest technologies known to have transformed the way early humans and their relatives lived. Tar production itself is at least 200,000 years old. However, it is unclear how tar was produced during the Pleistocene, approximately 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, without the use of ceramic containers. Researchers from Leiden University have proposed a framework for how the production of tar may have evolved. Changes to the production process would have improved tar yield efficiency, consistent with the technology and resources available to Neanderthals during the Middle Palaeolithic era. Advertisement Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands examined three potential methods for producing tar using Palaeolithic techniques. Using materials and processes available to the hominid species, scientists believe they have established how they developed stone tools. This technology has become a focal point in the debate about the cognitive and technological capabilities of Neanderthals and early modern humans. Being able to precisely control fire temperatures to manipulate adhesive properties are believed to require advanced mental traits. Paul Kozowyk and colleagues carried out tests on the dry distillation of birch bark, which involves heating bark using a fire. They found that a bark roll in hot ashes could produce enough tar to haft a small tool. Repeating this process several times would have produced the quantities seen in the archaeological record. Writing in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team said: 'Our results indicate that it is possible to obtain useful amounts of tar by combining materials and technology already in use by Neanderthals. 'A ceramic container is not required, and temperature control need not be as precise as previously thought. 'However, Neanderthals must have been able to recognise certain material properties, such as adhesive tack and viscosity.' Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands examined three potential methods for producing tar using Palaeolithic techniques. A fossilised tar lump found in Germany (left) is compared with the maximum yield of tar they produced (right) Maximum tar production efficiency for each method is shown. If ash and embers from a fire used for other tasks were utilised then the process becomes more efficient 'In this way, they could develop the technology from producing small traces of tar on partially burned bark to techniques capable of manufacturing quantities of tar equal to those found in the Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record.' Adhesives are one of the earliest technologies known to have transformed the way early humans and their relatives lived. Tar production itself is at least 200,000 years old. However, it is unclear how tar was produced during the Pleistocene, approximately 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, without the use of ceramic containers. The maximum yield of birch bark tar obtained from a single attempt, 15.7 grams, was with an experimental set up called 'raised structure' (pictured). This is larger than any tar remains known from the Middle Palaeolithic Around 10 ml of birch bark tar produced using the 'raised structure' technique being prepared for analysis in the lab is shown left. Experimentally produced birch bark tar is seen dripping from a flint flake on the right Previous experimental attempts at tar manufacture using non-ceramic Palaeolithic technology have resulted in a tar yield too small for the effective hafting of tools. The researchers propose a framework for how the production of tar may have evolved. Changes to the production process would have improved tar yield efficiency, consistent with the technology and resources available to Neandertals during the Middle Palaeolithic. They believe that further investigation of the composition and nature of tar lumps may help to refine the history of the development of tar technology. It was an ornate case believed to have been built 3,000 years ago by the Israelites to house stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. But now, a team of archaeologists looking at the origins of the legendary Ark of the Covenant say it may have once carried Canaanite pagan idols. Researchers have been excavating Kiriath Jearim - an area where the Old Testament claims the ark was kept for 20 years before it arrived in Jerusalem. They believe that rather than being carried from there to Jerusalem by King David it was carried by Josiah around 400 years later. Before converting to monotheism, the Israelites were polytheists and carried their idols in boxes meaning the ark could have been associated with beliefs far removed from the orders of the Ten Commandments. Scroll down for video Researchers have been excavating Kiriath Jearim - the place where the Old Testament claims the Ark of the Covenant was kept for 20 years before it arrived in Jerusalem WHAT HAVE THEY FOUND? Sources suggest the Ark spent 20 years in in Kiriath Jearim but new findings indicate it could have been much longer. This could explain why there are no more stories about it after 609BC, according to researchers from the College de France and Tel Aviv University. Indeed, it could even have been Josiah - not King David - who brought the ark back to Jerusalem. This would suggest the ark came back to Jerusalem in around 600BC and not in 1000BC as suggested in the Old Testament. The ancient site is referred to as a place of worship multiple times in the bible, and has various names including Kiryat Ye'arim, Kiryat Ba'al, Ba'alah and Ba'ale Judah - which probably relate to its Canaanite origins. Before converting to monotheism, the Israelites were polytheists and carried their idols in boxes. Their findings suggest the ark could have contained Canaanite relics which were worshipped in the area in the 8th century BC. Advertisement Despite its fame, nobody has ever been able to find the sacred wooden and gold-plated box. The Old Testament says the Israelites took the ark through the desert where it was lost to Philistines in battle. However, legend has it God punished the Philistines with sickness which forced them to return their finds to the Isrealites in Kiriath Jearim, where it remained for 20 years. The story goes King David then took it to Jerusalem where it was put in King Solomon's Temple, from which point there are no further records of it. 'It is possible that the ark stayed much longer at Kiriath Jearim, and it was only Josiah who brought it to Jerusalem when he wanted to centralize all cultic and political activity there, and his scribes justified it by writing the story about David taking the ark,' Professor Thomas Romer, an expert in Hebrew at the College de France told Haaretz. New findings indicate it could have spent several hundred years in Kiriath Jearim. This could explain why there are no more stories about it after 609BC, according to researchers from the College de France and Tel Aviv University. Indeed, it could even have been Josiah - not King David - who brought the ark back to Jerusalem. This would suggest the ark came back to Jerusalem in around 600BC and not in 1000BC as suggested in the Old Testament. Kiriath Jearim is referred to as a place of worship multiple times in the Bible, and has various names including Kiryat Ye'arim, Kiryat Ba'al, Ba'alah and Ba'ale Judah - which probably relate to its Canaanite origins. Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark of the Covenant, which was believed to be kept at the ancient site of Kiriath-Jearim, in west Jerusalem WHAT DOES THE OLD TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT THE ARK? The Old Testament says the Israelites took the ark through the desert where it was lost to Philistines in battle. However, legend has it God punished the Philistines with sickness which forced them to return their finds to the Isrealites in Kiriath Jearim, where it remained for 20 years. The story goes King David then took it to Jerusalem where it was put in King Solomon's Temple, from which point there are no further records of it. New findings indicate it could have spent several hundred years in Kiriath Jearim. This could explain why there are no more stories about it after 609BC, according to researchers from the College de France and Tel Aviv University. Advertisement Their findings suggest the ark could have contained Canaanite relics which were worshipped in the area in the 8th century BC. Researchers have now uncovered a wall at Kiriath Jearim which could have supported a temple that was home to one of the most important cults in Israel at the time. Sources suggest it was located just 12 kilometres (7.4 miles) west of the city and would have rivalled the Temple in Jerusalem. This is the most important find and suggests Kiriath Jearim was powerful and much more likely to have been home to such an important relic. 'This site might have been one of the most important cultic centers of the country,' Christophe Nicolle, an archaeologist from the College de France told Haaretz. 'This reinforces the idea there was a temple here in the 8th or 7th century B.C.E., perhaps in competition with the Temple in Jerusalem'. Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, which contains the two stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments Archaeological evidence also suggests Kiriath Jerarim was home to cult activity during this time. This was well after King David was initially supposed to carry the ark off to Jerusalem. If these findings are correct, it could mean the ark only spent a few decades in Jerusalem before it was invaded by Babylonians. Excavators say they are not expecting to find the Ark of the Covenant but are hoping their research will help them better understand the ancient Israelites. Kiriath Jearim is referred to as a place of worship multiple times in the bible, and has various names including Kiryat Ye'arim, Kiryat Ba'al, Ba'alah and Ba'ale Judah - which probably relate to its Canaanite origins 'I want to know what's behind it, what it tells us about the history of Judah and Israel, of the cult of the God of Israel and the Temple in Jerusalem', said Dr Romer. Scholars have suggested over the years the ark story is in fact dated to the 8th century BC and was then incorporated into biblical texts. There is also debate over the accuracy of depictions of figures such as David and Solomon and the idea there was a unique Israelite kingdom in the 10th century as described in biblical texts. This research shows the reality is more complex and Christian beliefs incorporated a number of influences from other religions and cultures at the time. Apple has yet to unveil the iPhone 8, but the latest rumors of its 2018 smartphone have already hit the web. A new supply chain claim echos rumors that the iPhone 9 will be available in two sizes, including one with a massive screen that would be Apple's biggest yet. The 'Plus' size will reportedly have a 6.46-inch screen and will be sold alongside a smaller 5.85-inch model in a bid to compete with Samsung's Galaxy Note. Scroll down for video A new supply chain claim echos rumors that the iPhone 9 will be available in two sizes, including one with a massive screen that would be Apple's biggest yet. The 'Plus' size will reportedly have a 6.46-inch screen and will be sold alongside a smaller 5.85-inch model APPLE'S IPHONE 9 A report has revealed what is believed to be information regarding Apple's iPhone 9. Samsung and Apple have signed a non- disclosure agreement for 80 million OLED panels - Samsung would provide the screens. Because Apple's upcoming flagship is set to launch in September, the report has left many to speculate that the deal is in regards to the iPhone 9. It was also revealed that the iPhone 9 will display will be offered in two sizes - a 5.58-inch and 6.46-inch. Advertisement The leak comes from a source within Samsung Display, the sole OLED supplier for the upcoming iPhones. The source told The Korea Herald that Apple has started development work with Samsung Display and other part supply makers earlier than usual. 'The development schedule has been advanced considering diverse factors such as funding, facility investment and production plans,' a sources close to the matter said on the condition of anonymity. 'Work for this year's iPhone started in April, also earlier than usual.' The source also said the smaller version was originally going to be a 5.28-inch model but that the firm upped it to 5.85 inches because of growing consumer demand for bigger-screen phones. If everything goes as rumored, Apple will sell three OLED model phones next year following its debut with the screen on the iPhone 8. It's estimated Apple will secure OLED panels for 70 million phones this year and 170 million next year. The firm sells more than 200 million units each year. Earlier this month, Foxconn Vice President Luo Zhongsheng posted - and then quickly deleted - on the social media site Weibo claiming Apple has run into supply chain issues for the much-anticipated phone and is facing a 40 percent defect rate for its new OLED screen. The source also said the smaller version was originally going to be a 5.28-inch model but that the firm upped it to 5.85 inches because of growing consumer demand for bigger-screen phones (artist impression) Acclaimed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, of KGI Securities, has since refuted this, saying the iPhone 8 launch date will be right in line and right on the same day as the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, although it is expected to be available in limited quantities. Indeed it's now known the phone will be unveiled on September 12 at the new Steve Jobs Theater, but it's not clear in what quantities the new headsets will be available. Kuo said the phone will initially be in short supply, with the company producing only 3 to 4 million devices in this quarter. The supple chain leak about an early deal between Apple and Samsung Display for 6-inch screens on the iPhone 9 support rumors that came out in May. 'The two companies have recently signed a non-disclosure agreement on general conditions, including the screen size,' an industry source said in the report, which was first revealed by The Korea Herald. This could be the same source behind today's leak. However, the person familiar with the matter noted that other details including the smartphones designs and functions are 'still under development.' Leaked sketches of the iPhone 8 from different angles. The phone is rumored to come in 5-inch and 5.8-inch models IPHONE 8 RUMORS Several rumors have been circulating about the iPhone 8, and suggest the next device may have: - Dual-lens 3D camera - Augmented reality to generate real-time views of surroundings - Curved glass casing - Plastic OLED screen - Wireless charging - New 5 inch (12.7 centimeter) and 5.8 inch (14.7 centimeter) models with a wraparound OLED screen - 5.8 inch will be designed with the Touch ID finger print sensor 'under the glass or on the back - Aluminum back will be replaced with two reinforced glass panes and a metal frame in the middle - Facial recognition -Premium model could cost $1,000 Advertisement The May claim pointed to a 5.28-inch screen for the smaller device, which today's rumor says has been ditched and increased to 5.58 inches. OLED, or organic light-emitting diodes, works by putting electricity through certain materials that glow red, green and blue. This technology allows the scene on the screen to seem more colorful, vibrant and detailed, compared to what is shown on an LCD display. It may come as a surprise to some that rumors of an iPhone 9 are already floating around the web, as Apple has yet to unveil its highly anticipated iPhone 8 which is also said to boast an OLED display. And this is not the first time an agreement between Samsung and Apple has been revealed. In April, it was rumored that Apple had ordered 70 million OLED panels - also from Samsung. The massive request was said to fulfill Apple's expectations that its upcoming flagship smartphone will 'fly off the shelves' once it hits the market. The leaked order details were shared by a supply chain source familiar with iPhone designs with Nikkei Asian Review, which said coincides with a previous prediction by David Hsieh, senior director at research company IHS Markit. 'Apple has ordered 70 million units of OLED panels from Samsung this year, while Samsung is preparing to churn out as many as 95 million for Apple in 2017, in case demand exceeds expectations,' Hsieh said. And he also previously noted that Samsung would be the one to supply Apple with OLED displays. However, Samsung declined to comment to Nikkei Asian Review, stating it is unable to reveal customers' orders. Apple is set to release three phones for the iPhone 8 family and the premium could cost around $1,099, as it is said to be fitted with a curved OLED 5.2 inch screen. The other two smartphones are believed to measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, both of which will have the liquid crystal displays. Sources also told Nikkei that all three handsets will be designed with wireless charging functions if suppliers can solve the overheating issues with the technology. And it is said that the trio will also be waterproof. The person also noted that one of the smartphones will have a 3D sensor that lets users access it through facial recognition technology. Vast underwater ruins from an ancient Roman city have been discovered off northeast Tunisia. The find confirms a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD. It also verifies that Neapolis was once the largest centre in the Roman world for the production of garum, a fermented fish-based condiment that was a favourite of ancient Rome. Scroll down for video Vast underwater ruins (pictured) from an ancient Roman city have been discovered off northeast Tunisia THE CITY OF NEAPOLIS Neapolis, which means 'new city' in Greek, is an ancient city with remains scattered across the coastal Tunisian town of Nabeul. Nabuel is an Arabian settlement built on top of Neapolis as the old city was crumbling. The site has changed hands many times, starting out as a Greek settlement before periods of Carthaginian, then Rome, then Arab rule. Until recently the Tunisian government did nothing to protect the site, meaning hotels and other buildings in Nabuel have been built right on top of the ancient city's ruins. Historic accounts suggest that the city was hit by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD, a theory that has been confirmed by the new findings. Advertisement 'It's a major discovery,' Mounir Fantar, the head of a Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission which made the find off the coast of Nabeul, told AFP. He said an underwater expedition had found signs of streets and monuments. Around 100 tanks used to produce garum were also found. 'This discovery has allowed us to establish with certainty that Neapolis was a major centre for the manufacture of garum and salt fish, probably the largest centre in the Roman world,' said Mr Fantar. 'Probably the notables of Neapolis owed their fortune to garum.' Mr Fantar's team started work in 2010 in search of the port of Neapolis. They only made the breakthrough find of the ruins, which stretch out over 20 hectares (almost 50 acres), this summer thanks to favourable weather conditions. The discovery proved that Neapolis had been partly submerged by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD. The tsunami badly damaged Alexandria in Egypt and the Greek island of Crete, as recorded by historian Ammien Marcellin. Neapolis, which means 'new city' in Greek, is an ancient city with remains scattered across the coastal Tunisian town of Nabeul. The find apparently confirms a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD. Pictured is a monument found at the site Neapolis, which means 'new city' in Greek, is an ancient city with remains scattered across the coastal Tunisian town of Nabeul The find verifies that Neapolis was once the largest centre in the Roman world for the production of garum, a fermented fish-based condiment that was a favourite of ancient Rome Nabuel is an Arabian settlement built on top of Neapolis as the old city was crumbling. The site has changed hands many times, starting out as a Greek settlement before periods of Carthaginian, then Rome, then Arab rule. Until recently the Tunisian government did nothing to protect such sites, meaning hotels and other buildings in Nabuel have been built right on top of the ancient city's ruins. An underwater expedition found streets and monuments (pictured), as well as around 100 tanks used to produce the salty fish condiment garum were also found. Pictured is a monument found at the site The team started work in 2010 in search of the port of Neapolis, but only made the breakthrough find of the ruins stretching out over 20 hectares (almost 50 acres) this summer thanks to favourable weather conditions Historic accounts suggest that the city was hit by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD, meaning many of Neapolis' ruins are partly submerged. Little is known about the ancient site because during the Third Punic War, Neapolis sided with Carthage instead of the Romans. It must have been punished by the Romans for this, because there are almost no references to the city in Roman literature for an extended period. The discovery also proved that Neapolis had been partly submerged by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD Hundreds of studies have told us that apes are smart - but just not as smart humans. But apes' intelligence may be entirely misunderstood because researchers have so far failed to measure it fairly and accurately. The study suggests that what we think we know about apes' social intelligence is based on wishful thinking and flawed science, and apes may actually be smarter than currently thought. One of the suggestions made by the researchers is to conduct studies where apes are 'adopted' by humans to give the clearest available comparison between the two species, although they admit such tests would be unethical. Scroll down for videos In order to improve upon flawed experimental designs in ape intelligence studies, researchers cited four possible remedies. For example, if apes were cross-fostered - adopted by humans - it would give the clearest available comparison between the two species A team of researchers based in the UK and the US published their study in the journal Animal Cognition. 'The fault underlying decades of research and our understanding of apes' abilities is due to such a strongly-held belief in our own superiority, that scientists have come to believe that human babies are more socially capable than ape adults,' said Dr David Leavens, a researcher at the University of Sussex and the corresponding author of the study. 'As humans, we see ourselves as top of the evolutionary tree. 'This had led to a systematic exaltation of the reasoning abilities of human infants, on the one hand, and biased research designs that discriminate against apes, on the other hand. 'Even when apes clearly outperform young human children, researchers tend to interpret the apes' superior performance to be a consequence of inferior cognitive abilities. 'There is not one scientifically sound report of an essential species difference between apes and humans in their abilities to use and understand clues from gestures, for example. HOW TO IMPROVE APE STUDIES A new study argues that previous studies about apes have flawed methodology, leading to a misunderstanding about ape intelligence. In order to improve upon flawed experimental designs in ape intelligence studies, the researchers cited four possible remedies for what they describe as the pervasive superiority complex in comparative psychology research: Humans 'adopt' apes : When apes are 'adopted' by humans, it gives the clearest available comparison between the two species. The method has a long history and raises many ethical issues, so while it is a theoretically strong remedy, it isn't often ideal in practice. : When apes are 'adopted' by humans, it gives the clearest available comparison between the two species. The method has a long history and raises many ethical issues, so while it is a theoretically strong remedy, it isn't often ideal in practice. Only using objective measures : Where scientific explanations for comparisons between apes and humans are grounded in variables which can be objectively measures. One of the authors of the study says that many explanations for skills in comparative psychology research can't be observed or measured, and as such can't be scientifically tested. : Where scientific explanations for comparisons between apes and humans are grounded in variables which can be objectively measures. One of the authors of the study says that many explanations for skills in comparative psychology research can't be observed or measured, and as such can't be scientifically tested. Training apes too : This argues that is apes are to be compared to humans, they should first be given training and experience in the skills being tested. The researchers say that science has for too long assumed human behavior is spontaneous and not taken account of the training and experience a human child has, for example, in seeing others point and learning and understanding the gesture. As such, specifying the amount and types of training necessary for a naive ape to learn a skill would advance the field. : This argues that is apes are to be compared to humans, they should first be given training and experience in the skills being tested. The researchers say that science has for too long assumed human behavior is spontaneous and not taken account of the training and experience a human child has, for example, in seeing others point and learning and understanding the gesture. As such, specifying the amount and types of training necessary for a naive ape to learn a skill would advance the field. Comparing different types of humans and apes : Almost all studies comparing humans with apes have compared humans from a small group - Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic - with apes who have been orphaned and/or raised in sterile institutions. In 2014, the researchers proposed that more than a single group of humans should be compared to more than a single group of apes to determine the influence of environment on communicative outcomes. According to the researchers, this is not the first time that science has seen a collapse of rigor - 100 years ago scientists were sure that people of northern European descent were the most intelligent in our species Advertisement 'Not one. 'This is not to say such a difference won't be found in future, but much of the existing scientific research is deeply flawed.' According to the researchers, this is not the first time that science has seen a collapse of rigor - 100 years ago scientists were sure that people of northern European descent were the most intelligent in our species. This racial bias is now seen as antiquated, but this new study argues that the field of comparative psychology is applying the same bias to cross-species comparisons between humans and apes . Professor Kim Bard, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth and a co-author of the study, said that the team had found a gap between evidence and belief about ape intelligence. 'This suggests a deep commitment to the idea that humans alone possess sophisticated social intelligence, a bias that is often not supported by the evidence,' said Professor Bard. A new study suggests that what we think we know about apes' social intelligence is based on wishful thinking and flawed science, and apes may actually be smarter than currently thought According to the researchers, in comparative biology research, if an ape makes a pointing gesture, the meaning is ambiguous, but if a human does it, a double standard of interpretation is applied - concluding that humans have a degree of sophistication, a product of evolution that other species can't possibly share. 'For researchers interested in the origins of language, focusing on behaviors without considering the animal's specific learning experiences will easily and inaccurately load results in favor of humans,' says Professor Bard. An example of this bias is one large set of studies which included an analysis of children who were raised in Western households, well ware and exposed to the cultural conventions of nonverbal signalling, whereas the apes they were being compared to were raised without that cultural exposure. When both were tested on their understanding of Western conventions of non-verbal communication, the children out-performed the apes on some tasks, but it remains ambiguous whether this was due to their evolutionary histories or their specific learning experiences with respect to non-verbal communication. In another study, children aged 12 months were compared to apes aged between 18 and 19. The study concluded that humans alone have evolved the ability to point towards an absent object, taking no account of the differences in the humans' and apes' age, life history, or environment. But more recent studies have demonstrated that, like human children, adult apes do communicate about absent objects. In order to improve upon flawed experimental designs in ape intelligence studies, the researchers cited four possible remedies for what they describe as the pervasive superiority complex in comparative psychology research. For example, if apes were cross-fostered - adopted by humans - it would give the clearest available comparison between the two species. Another proposal suggests that scientific explanations for comparisons between apes and humans should only be grounded in variables which can be objectively measured, as many explanations for skills in comparative psychology research can't be observed or measured. Researchers suggest that if apes are to be compared to humans, they should be given training and experience in the skills being tested because science has not taken into account the training and experience a human child has The researchers also suggest that if apes are to be compared to humans, they should be given training and experience in the skills being tested because science has for too long assumed that human behavior is spontaneous, not taking into account the training and experience a human child has. Finally, the researchers said that almost all studies comparing humans with apes have compared humans from a small group - Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic - with apes who have been orphaned and/or raised in sterile institutions. In 2014, the researchers proposed that more than a single group of humans should be compared to more than a single group of apes to determine the influence of environment on communicative outcomes. Star Wars fans and their wallets are set to feel the Force like never before. Toy-makers and tech companies have unveiled the latest line-up of Star Wars gadgets ahead of Force Friday II, with everything from augmented reality headsets to your own personal R2-D2, complete with holographic simulations. The haul, which will become available September 1, also includes a peek at characters set to become fan favorites in the upcoming installment, The Last Jedi, revealing BB-8s evil counterpart BB-9E, and the adorable wide-eyed Porgs. Scroll down for video Toy-makers and tech companies have unveiled the latest line-up of Star Wars gadgets ahead of Force Friday II, with everything from augmented reality headsets to your own personal R2-D2, complete with holographic simulations HOW ROLLING DROIDS LIKE BB-8 WORK The engineers behind BB8 said when they were first presented with the challenge of creating a spherical robot by the Force Awakens director JJ Abrahms, they found several ways of creating the robot. One they settled on was to create a pendulum that sites inside the main body of the robot. The spherical body is driven by a rotating hub that spins the ball gyroscopes keep the pendulum upright at all times. At the end of the pendulum is a disk with magnets fitted to it. This allow the head to be magnetically attached on top of the body yet move freely while the body rotates under it. This pendulum set up also explains why the head tilts forward when the robot is moving forward. The centre of mass inside the body shifts, and the pendulum tilts forward. Advertisement Following in the footsteps of its hugely popular BB-8 toy, Sphero has unveiled two new personal droids for Fall 2017: R2-D2 and BB-9E. The two new products will pair with the Sphero Droids app, so you can control their movement and even view holographic simulations set in the Star Wars galaxy. While R2-D2 will be familiar to any fan, BB-9E is a fresh face, with the character set to be the First Orders evil twin to the much-loved BB-8 in next film. Both of the droids are equipped with authentic movements to mimic their onscreen personalities, LED lights, a speaker to emulate their sounds, and even the ability to interact with other Sphero droids. A highly-anticipated augmented reality experience is set to debut on Force Friday II as well. Disney has teamed up with Chinese technology firm Lenovo to create the AR headset and accompanying game, Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, which becomes available for pre-order on Sept 1. The platform includes a lightsaber motion controller, which will be tracked by two cameras on the headset. Following in the footsteps of its hugely popular BB-8 toy, Sphero has unveiled two new personal droids for Fall 2017: R2-D2 and BB-9E. The two new products will pair with the Sphero Droids app, so you can control their movement and even view holographic simulations While R2-D2 will be familiar to any fan, BB-9E is a fresh face, with the character set to be the First Orders evil twin to the much-loved BB-8 in next film It was first unveiled at Disney's D23 Expo, held in Anaheim, California this summer. The display itself uses a compatible smartphone that can be slipped into place inside the headset, like Samsung's Gear VR. This should mean the headset is more affordable than more complex headsets that come with a built in display. According to Lenovo, players will be able to engage in lightsaber battles, strategic combat, and even Holochess. Both of the droids are equipped with authentic movements to mimic their onscreen personalities, LED lights, a speaker to emulate their sounds, and even the ability to interact with other Sphero droids Its now available for $199.99 online and at local stores, or 249 in the UK. The fan favourite BB-8 will also dominate Force Friday II, with several iterations of the character available, from plushies to Legos. Spin Master has unveiled a 16-inch tall interactive BB-8 droid equipped with voice recognition and remote control capabilities, so it can roll around by your side. The toy has 360-degree remote control movement, and a Follow Me mode. Disney has teamed up with Chinese technology firm Lenovo to create the AR headset and accompanying game, Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, which becomes available for pre-order on Sept 1. It includes a lightsaber motion controller, tracked by cameras on the headset STAR WARS: JEDI CHALLENGE Star Wars fans have long dreamt of being able to wield a ligthsaber and this fantasy could soon come true, thanks to a new augmented reality headset. The new device will let fans of the science fiction franchise channel their inner Jedi and explore the Star Wars universe. Disney has teamed up with Chinese technology firm Lenovo to create the AR headset and accompanying game. It will feature a lightsaber motion controller, which will be tracked by two cameras on the headset. The display itself will be made up of a compatible smartphone that can be slipped into place inside the headset, like Samsung's Gear VR. This should mean the headset is more affordable than more complex headsets that come with a built in display. Star Wars: Jedi Challenges will be the first title released for the headset. Advertisement It also has lights and sounds that mimic those from the films. One company has even released a kit so you can build your own droids. LittleBits Droid Inventor Kit allows users to create an R2-D2-style bot equipped with self-navigation and even force drive meaning you can control its movements with the wave of a hand. Using the Droid Inventor Training App, and Draw Mode, it can even be used to draw out secret maps and messages. LittleBits Droid Inventor Kit allows users to create an R2-D2-style bot equipped with self-navigation and even force drive meaning you can control its movements with the wave of a hand Using the Droid Inventor Training App, and Draw Mode, it can even be used to draw out secret maps and messages Along with the well-known favorites, a new character is set to steal hearts on Force Friday. Fans have so far only seen teasers of the adorable avian Porg creatures but now, Hasbro has unveiled its $40 electronic Porg Plush, bringing the character right into your home. The interactive plush can move its arms and waddle around the room, and even tweets and chips like it does in the movie. The next film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is set to hit theaters December 2017. Spin Masters' toy has 360-degree remote control movement, and a Follow Me mode. It also has lights and sounds that mimic those from the films. A total of 63 party members, including a central executive committee member from Kyaikmaraw township, the township offices vice chair and secretary, as well as members from several surrounding villages, have allegedly all resigned from the party. U Min Nyan Linn, secretary of the MNPs Kyaikmaraw township branch, blamed an in ability to merge forces with the other main ethnic Mon party for costing votes in 2015, and limiting both parties effectiveness. He says he left the MNP because he saw no political future until the Mon parties present a unified front. It wont be easy in 2020 since I dont see any prospect for uniting the parties. Thats why we have resigned. I will continue to take part in nationalistic tasks from the literature field, he said. In their resignation letters, the members said they do not trust the party leaders, who they blamed for neglecting the desires of the public. We didnt urge the [other] members to resign from the party. We only explained the reasons whywe were resigning. Then they resigned on their own free will, said Min Nyan Linn. Nai Chin and Nai Chan Ai Mon, central committee members of MNP, also shared photos of their resignation letters on Facebook. The entire [Mon] people should work on establishing a single Mon party. We cant move forward in this situation now, said Min Sandar Non, a former central executive committee member of the MNP. A slew of other resignations and termination spreceded the recent walkouts, with many formermembers joining efforts to forge a new blog representing the Mon people. The party ousted one of its two sitting hluttawmembers, MP U Min Soe Lin (Ye township 1), onJuly 19, while the MNPs former vice chair NaiThet Lwin (currently the Union Minister of EthnicAffairs) also resigned from the party. Members of the other main Mon party, the All Mon Region Democratic Party (AMDP), have followed suit and also left their party to join the efforts to build a new, united political front. U Aung Naing Oo (the Mon State Hluttaw Deputy Speaker) and Nai Auk Sar, also known as Naing Aung Ba, both central executive committee of the AMRDP, were among those to leave. Advertisement How does it feel to live like an A-list celebrity? Booked into the 'hyper luxurious' Cayo Espanto, a five-star private island paradise in Belize, we were about to find out. The uber-private resort, with a staff-to-guest ratio of two-to-one, is a celeb favourite, with Tiger Woods, Robert De Niro, Leonardo Di Caprio, Penelope Cruz and Brad Pitt among the guests who have stayed there. Cayo Espanto is a five-star, ultra-luxurious resort on a private island in Belize, beloved by celebrities On the private island, guests stay in a tastefully decorated wooden villa, which comes with a plunge pool and private dock In the exclusive island hideaway, the seven villas in the luxurious resort are dotted among the island's palm trees In fact, it has proven so popular with A-list stars that a stay on the island was included in the 2011 Academy Awards goodie bag handed out to all nominees. Prior to arrival, guests are given a detailed survey to fill out where you are asked to state your favourite food, snack, cocktail, whether you prefer to be lavished with attention or left alone hell, even what time you like your coffee served in the morning. We were coming to Cayo Espanto from the bohemian island of San Pedro, three miles away, the gateway to the crown jewel of Belize - the second largest barrier reef in the world. The wonderfully private five-star resort is only a short distance away from some world-class snorkelling and diving spots We arrived at our boat rather flustered having struggled to locate the correct port. I was also sporting ridiculous panda eyes having worn my snorkel mask far too tight the previous day. But no bother! Within seconds we had been presented with a wet cloth (I think the first time I had been given one apart from on an aircraft), an ice-cold bottle of water and were happily en-route to the private island. As we approached the exclusive retreat I noticed that, incredibly, all 10 members of staff had lined up on our private dock to greet us. I scrambled around desperately trying to locate my sunglasses to disguise my absurd panda eyes, found them in the nick of time and then stepped off the boat and said 'hello' more times than I can remember. We were then led to our tastefully decorated villa by the friendly manager Erika Saldivar. Cayo Espanto only has seven 'rooms' and each is hidden within palm trees. All come with an infinity edge plunge pool, a private dock, Turkish bath robes, Alfresco showers, an outdoor hammock and the most extraordinary king-size bed with wondrous Egyptian cotton sheets. My girlfriend got into the bed at 9pm and despite not being the least bit tired struggled to get out again, happily cocooned in the luxurious sheets. Food at Cayo Espanto is exquisite and the portions are absolutely enormous, while there is also an extensive cocktail menu All rooms come with alfresco showers, an outdoor hammock and a king-size bed with wondrous Egyptian cotton sheets Three tailored meals every day are included within the cost of the stay, as well as all drinks (apart from wine and champagne) Master chefs prepare fresh meals every day tailed to fit each guest's preferences, filled out in a survey prior to arrival Guests can relax in the outdoor hammock or dip into the plunge pool that looks out onto the Caribbean Sea Cayo Espanto is a truly wonderful paradise island set in the warm turquoise waters of Belize After a grand tour, we were presented with a scrumptious plate of quesadillas (a favourite snack we'd mentioned in the survey) and then handed the five-course (five!) menu for the evening by chef Richard Gillett. We had to choose between one of three mains - the island paella; grilled grouper on wilted spinach or garlic marinated lamb champs. All tantalising. Unsurprisingly a night at Cayo Espanto doesn't come cheap but the three tailored meals every day are included within the cost of the stay, as well as all drinks (apart from wine and champagne). The food is, without question, some of the best I have ever tasted and the portions are absolutely enormous. Particular highlights were the scallop martini entree, shrimp and chorizo main course and apple crumble dessert. Staff at the resort are referred to as 'housemen' and are at your every beck and call. Cayo Espanto prides itself on this uniquely personalised level of service. Anything you want is a mere walkie-talkie conversation away. As they approach the villa they shout 'hello' before appearing with an exquisite cocktail or a plate laden with food. Before every meal they serve, they present guests with that wet cloth again do you wipe your face as well? I never knowbefore quietly disappearing from view. The resort offers its guests a romantic, castaway experience that's the stuff of dreams Cayo Espanto is a luxury four acre island resort where the likes of Brad Pitt and Tiger Woods have stayed The evening meals at the resort are incredible, with tables laid out quite beautifully Meals at Cayo Espanto are served by 'housemen' with uninterrupted ocean views and away from other guests TRAVEL FACTS A night at Cayo Espanto starts at 1,260 and includes three tailored meals a day, as well as all drink (excluding wine and champagne). Advertisement In terms of activities, Cayo Espanto has a whole book full of them that guests can choose from and it provides free transportation to and from its dock in San Pedro during the day. A top choice is a trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley marine reserve, Mexico Rocks or Tres Cocos - all snorkelling and scuba diving spots that are up there with the best on the planet. Our trip to Mexico Rocks, home to playful turtles and juvenile fish was a little more eventful than I'd anticipated as one American woman 'got cramp' and had to be rather dramatically rescued by the guide and towed back to the boat. Back in the more relaxing confines of Cayo Espanto, we enjoyed a last 'snack' of melting cookies and cappuccinos before bidding farewell to all the staff, who lined up along the dock once more. We then returned, reluctantly, back to reality. A year after coming out as gay, Colton Haynes has slammed Hollywood on Twitter for treating LGBTQ actors unfairly on Tuesday. The 29-year-old actor, who is engaged to celebrity florist Jeff Leatham, argued that filmmakers are too often swayed by an actor's 'personal life' rather than hiring them based on their skills. 'Hollywood is so f***ed up. So much of the focus is on your persowenal life & has nothing to do with the talent you have to bring to the table,' the Rough Night star told his 1.96 million followers in his first tweet. Getting it out: Colton Haynes, at the Variety Power Of Young Hollywood at TAO Hollywood on August 8, took to Twitter on Tuesday to slam the biz for not hiring more LGBTQ actors He followed it a few minutes later with a second one, saying: 'So disappointed Hollywood can't understand that playing a character has nothing to do with how u live your personal life.' Colton, who rose to fame playing Jackson Whittemore on MTV's Teen Wolf and Roy Harper on The CW's Arrow, will next appear as Detective Samuels in FX's American Horror Story: Cult. And he ended his rant by giving a shout out to three openly gay Hollywood executives who created those shows - Ryan Murphy, Greg Berlanti and Jeff Davis. Not doing enough: The 29-year-old actor, who came out as gay last year, lambasted Hollywood for its attitude in three hard-hitting tweets 'They believe gay actors are more than just their personal lives,' he said. The actor, who had a breakdown before he came out in 2016, said: 'It was an intense struggle for years,' in a Q&A with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM in June. 'All the self shame lead me to have a breakdown and I had to quit for a while. Once I came out it all went away. Out and proud: Colton got a big kiss from his fiance Jeff Leatham in this social media snap 'I got multiple offers for work and honestly haven't felt better. It changes your life and if someone isn't going to hire me for being born the way that I am...they don't deserve my time or energy.' And Colton says coming out as gay 'changed my life for the better.' 'It opened up so many doors for me...There's so much support I never knew was available for me and I am so proud to say that I am gay and it hasn't done anything to hurt what I love to do in life. Times are thankfully changing.' She was absent from the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show the last two years. But this year Karlie Kloss has decided to make an epic comeback to the iconic catwalk. The 25-year-old model took to Instagram on Wednesday to make the announcement with the caption: 'See you in Shanghai @VictoriasSecret' followed by and angel and heart emoji.' The stunner posted a throwback picture of herself Wednesday, in woven gold wings from her last appearance in 2014. Klassy comeback: Karlie Kloss has announced she will be walking in this years Victoria's Secret Fashion Show In the photo, Karlie is seen wearing a tight gold corset highlighting her beautiful curves paired with white lace underwear. The model appears to be wearing all gold jewelry that matches the perfectly placed set of angel wings. In 2015, it was reported that she would be leaving Victoria's Secret for good due to her studies. On Friday, Karlie was seen leaving Victoria's Secret headquarters in New York City, giving fans hope that she'd make a return to the brand's annual fashion show. Back where she belongs: The 25-year-old super model posted a throwback picture of herself Wednesday, in woven gold wings from her last appearance in 2014 The all-American girl decided to skip out on the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that took place in Paris, France, due to a 'work obligation' as she mentioned on her social media accounts. That didn't stop her from sending her well-wishes to all of her fellow Angels the night of the show. Karlie wrote: 'Unfortunately this year I have a work obligation that is keeping me from Paris.' Angelic: In the photo (posted on Instagram), Karlie is seen wearing a tight gold corset highlighting her beautiful curves paired with white lace underwear 'I'm sad to miss it but am wishing everyone all the best from afar! There is truly no show quite like the VS Fashion Show, and there is no feeling quite like walking on that magnificent runway.' She continued: 'To all my girls walking, good luck and enjoy every minute of it!!!' Despite skipping out on the past two years, Karlie has been focused on her foundation 'Kode With Klossy.' Memories: In 2015, it was reported that she would be leaving Victoria's Secret for good due to her studies Heavenly: Karlie was last seen walking the VS runway in 2014 due to focusing on her studies The foundation was created to empower girls and given them the opportunity to become leaders in tech. Karlie explained to TechCrunch: 'I grew up in St. Louis and didnt really know anything about fashion until I walked in a charity fashion show at my local mall and was signed to a modeling agency. 'Before my modeling career took off, I really loved my math and science classes in school. My dad was an ER doctor and as a girl, I dreamed of following in his footsteps. The leggy blonde finished with: 'Taking coding classes brings me back to the excitement I felt as a kid in first-period biology. Im a curious person and coding allows me to think about how our world is built.' Beauty and Brains: The tech-gal will be joined with her friends Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner for the first time The tech-gal will be joined with her friends Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, and Kendall Jenner for the first time. The ladies will be catwalking the lingerie runway this November in Shanghai, China, in November. She left Victoria's Secret after two years as an Angel in 2015. But Karlie Kloss has now announced she'll be returning to the brand to appear in the company's upcoming fashion show. The catwalk queen, 25, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share the big news, along with throwback photo of herself sporting her wings during the 2014 fashion show. Making her return: Karlie Kloss has now announced she'll be returning to the brand to appear in the company's upcoming fashion show on Wednesday 'See you in Shanghai @VictoriasSecret,' she captioned the image, referencing the city the upcoming 2017 fashion show is set to take place at. This year will be the first time Karlie has appeared in the show since 2014. Karlie sparked speculation she would be appearing in the iconic fashion show last week, after she was seen leaving the company's headquarters in New York City. The model had been working with the company since 2011, but in 2015, the lingerie giant's senior creative director Ed Razek revealed Karlie would be leaving when her contract ran out at the end of the year. Big move: This year will be the first time Karlie has appeared in the show since 2014 (pictured 2014) 'Karlie and I met several months ago to discuss the many things she hoped to do in her life and career. As we talked, it became clear she would not have the time to fulfill her myriad commitments,' he wrote on Instagram. 'Reluctantly, we agreed she would leave the brand at the end of her contract. 'Karlie is one of a kind, a very close friend, someone I truly admire and love. She is, without question, one of the best models ever. But she is an even better person. Her future is unlimited, and I am excited to see all the good she will do. 'Karlie Kloss will always be an Angel to me.' Booked: Last year, Karlie revealed to her Instagram followers she wouldn't be able to participate in that year's fashion show due to a 'work obligation' (pictured 2014) Last year, Karlie revealed to her Instagram followers she wouldn't be able to participate in that year's fashion show due to a 'work obligation.' The model had also been busy pursuing an education at NYU. 'I was waiting for the mail to arrive every single day,' she told Vogue in 2015 of receiving the acceptance letter. 'I'm incredibly ambitious and have lots of goals within my career that Im not slowing down on anytime soon,' the accomplished model added. They've been cast to walk the runway at the hottest show in town. Devon Windsor, Nadine Leopold and Georgia Fowler were spotted heading into fittings at Victoria's Secret headquarters in New York on Wednesday. The models were dressed to impress after being selected to walk in the November 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, China. Scroll down for video Model behavior: Devon Windsor, Nadine Leopold and Georgia Fowler were spotted heading into fittings at Victoria's Secret headquarters in New York on Wednesday After a bit of shopping before the fittings, Devon Windsor, 23, covered up in a playful ivory jumpsuit. Windsor showed hints of her tanned skin through the cold-shouldered top which featured a matching belt around her slender waist. Her luscious blonde locks were worn in loose waves and she accessorized with a large gold watch and matching ivory heels. Angel: After a bit of shopping before the fittings, Devon Windsor, 23, covered up in a playful ivory jumpsuit Runway ready: Windsor showed hints of her tanned skin through the cold-shouldered top which featured a matching belt around her slender waist Nadine Leopold, 23, looked ever-so angelic in a crisp white sundress as she turned the city streets into her own personal runway. The Austrian-born model's sweet summer dress featured ruffled detailing along the hem and sleeves. She carried a small red leather clutch in one hand as she trekked through the city streets in brown heels that laced up her slender ankles. Sexy in the city: Nadine Leopold, 23, looked ever-so angelic in a crisp white sundress as she turned the city streets into her own personal runway Catwalk: The Austrian-born model's sweet summer dress featured ruffled detailing along the hem and sleeves Georgia Fowler, 25, showed her spots in a flirty black and white polka dot ensemble. The New Zealand native looked ready to handle business in a buttoned down long-sleeved white shirt with black polka dots, which was unbuttoned to reveal just a peak of cleavage. Showing off her endlessly long legs in black pumps, Fowler paired her spotted down with a black skirt that featured white polka dots. The models will be joined by the likes of Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima, Lily Aldridge, Lais Ribeiro, Martha Hunt, Romee Strijd and Candice Swanepoel to name a few. Spotty: Georgia Fowler, 25, showed her spots in a flirty black and white polka dot ensemble Darling: Showing off her endlessly long legs in black pumps, Fowler paired her spotted down with a black skirt that featured white polka dots Later in the day Elsa Hosk was seen joining in on the fittings at the Victoria's Secret headquarters. The blonde, 28, wore a pair of red sunglasses with a floral print top and high waisted jeans for the outing, where her boots and bag were matched with her statement sunglasses. At one point the model's hair got hit with a gust of wind, completely covering her face. Here comes Hosk: Later in the day Elsa Hosk was seen joining in on the fittings at the Victoria's Secret headquarters Seeing red: The 28-year-old Swedish model wore red statement glasses that matched her bag and boots It's not surprising to see Hosk as part of the chosen models walking in the Victoria's Secret show, as earlier this month she was part of one of the brand's raciest shoots yet. Hosk was joined by Stella Maxwell, Jasmine Tookes, Candice Swanepoel and a bevy of other beauties for a Western-themed shoot in Colorado on August 14. South Sudanese model Grace Bol strut her stuff as she left the fittings, writing to her Instagram followers: 'it's always fun seeing you to my old and new fans thank you for the love love #shanghai here we come.' Gone with the wind: Her blonde locks blew in her face as she crossed the street in NYC Rapper DMX has left house arrest to check into rehab. The musician, 46, whose legal name is Earl Simmons, will finish his sentencing for tax evasion at a substance abuse facility in New England. 'House arrest wasn't working for me, so I made the decision to do something positive and better for myself,' said the Down Low Go Lower hitmaker on Wednesday. Scroll down for video Moving on: Rapper DMX, 46, has left house arrest to check into rehab on Wednesday A judge approved the move that includes removal of the GPS ankle monitor according to TMZ. Earlier this month, DMX was confined to his suburban New York City home Friday by a judge who said he repeatedly violated bail conditions on tax fraud charges. The musician left the Manhattan courtroom with an entourage of friends and casual bystanders. When he was asked how he would celebrate his freedom, the multi platinum hip-hop artist said: 'That's a celebration right there. Just being in there and being able to walk out.' New pad: The musician, whose legal name is Earl Simmons, will finish his sentencing for tax evasion at a substance abuse facility in New England Freedom food: Rapper DMX was ordered confined to his suburban New York City home Friday by a judge who said he repeatedly violated bail conditions on tax fraud charges A toast! The musician, 46, whose legal name is Earl Simmons, celebrated with a hot dog as he left the Manhattan courtroom late on Friday afternoon with an entourage The X Gon Give It To Ya hitmaker lit up a cigarette as soon as he walked out of the building, before treating onlookers to hot dogs and sodas. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the rapper must wear an electronic bracelet and ask his permission at least a week in advance if he wants to travel. 'A very strong argument could be made for keeping him in jail,' Rakoff said, but he added that judicial authorities are sometimes too quick in the United States to incarcerate people before trial. Sporting an electric blue tie-dyed Def Leppard t-shirt, the rapper was greeted by fans as he exited the courthouse. New York's finest: Sporting an electric blue tie-dyed Def Leppard t-shirt, the rapper was greeted by fans and officers as he exited the courthouse Ruff Ryder: The X Gon Give It To Ya hitmaker lit up a cigarette as soon as he walked out of the building, before treating onlookers to hot dogs and sodas Rules: U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the rapper must wear an electronic bracelet and ask his permission at least a week in advance if he wants to travel DMX wore loose dark denim pants and baby blue Timberland boots as he posed for pictures. DMX sported a large silver chain around his neck and a matching silver chain bracelet on his wrist. The rapper shielded his eyes from the crowd with a pair of dark black sunglasses. Once at the street meat stand, the actor drowned his sorrows in orange soda and hot dogs before posing with fans and local law enforcement officers. Celebrate! Sporting an electric blue tie-dyed Def Leppard t-shirt, the rapper was greeted by fans as he exited the courthouse Up in here: DMX drowned his sorrows in orange soda and hot dogs before posing with fans and local law enforcement officers The judge described several times DMX has been convicted of drug or gun possession crimes since 2002, but said he has largely avoided jail time. They added he 'maybe only learned that he's free to thumb his nose at the court' and Pretrial Services officers because he knows that his lawyer, Murray Richman, will always get him out of trouble. Rakoff said he was told DMX traveled to St. Louis and Chicago without permission and tested positive for cocaine since his arrest last month. The judge said DMX then rejected a Pretrial Services officer's offer of drug treatment, telling the officer he would remain drug-free on his own. In subsequent tests, he also tested positive for marijuana and opiates, the judge said. Slippin: DMX sported a large silver chain around his neck and a matching silver chain bracelet on his wrist as he prepared to make his way home to confinement DMX's lawyer demurred and said the drug tests weren't telling the whole story. "He's a very rational, decent, human being," Richman told Rakoff. The lawyer said that drugs can linger in the body for a month even after someone stops using them and that DMX had an opiates prescription for pain relief. Prosecutors say DMX owes $1.7 million in taxes. They say he moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in music royalty income into his managers' bank accounts, letting them pay him in cash so he could hide it from the Internal Revenue Service. He has pleaded not guilty and declined to comment on the charges outside court Friday. She's currently holidaying at the luxurious six-star Qualia Resort in the Whitsundays. And while most people might take the chance to relax their fitness regimes while on a relaxing break, PR queen Roxy Jacenko was up and at it on Thursday. The 37-year-old worked up a sweat in the gym, showing off her rock hard abs in a crop top during the session. Scroll down for video No rest for the wicked! Roxy Jacenko flaunts her rock hard abs in a crop top as she works out while on holiday Going makeup free for the exercise session, Roxy slipped into some sexy active wear, including a cutout top that exposed her generous cleavage. She teamed the top with black leggings and a fresh pair of white sneakers. It wasn't long before Roxy was shredding, demonstrating her gruelling workout on Instagram. She did ab exercises with a large medicine ball and also took to the treadmills for some cardio. Feel the burn! She did ab exercises with a large medicine ball and also took to the treadmills for some cardio The session comes after the mother of two showcased her incredibly toned figure in a red bikini on Wednesday. Roxy recently admitted that she became a gym junkie after her husband Oliver Curtis was sent to prison for insider trading. 'It was hard. I had really made up my mind that that was it,' she told Today Extra. Red hot: The session comes after the mother of two showcased her incredibly toned figure in a red bikini on Wednesday 'I became this obsessive gym person': Roxy recently admitted that she became a gym junkie after her husband Oliver Curtis was sent to prison for insider trading 'Then he came home and my life turned around.' She continued: 'I was miserable. That's why I put all of my energy into gym. I became this obsessive gym person and obsessive eating person.' Roxy and Oliver first tied the knot at Sydney's Quay in 2012. He was released from Cooma Correctional Centre in June after serving a year behind bars. Oliver proposed to Roxy for a second time on July 15 at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel. They're both among the final seven women vying for Matty Johnson's heart on The Bachelor Australia. But Elise Stacy, 29, hinted on Thursday that neither she nor her glamorous rival Lisa Carlton, 24, end up winning the show. She posted a photo of the pair taken during filming, also including front runner Laura Byrne, and Lisa soon commented below: 'Love you'. 'Love you': Elise Stacy (left) and Lisa Carlton (centre) remain very good friends after The Bachelor... so does this mean NEITHER captured the heart of Matty Johnson? Elise took to Instagram on Thursday, sharing a sweet photo of herself on an outdoor sofa with fellow contestants Lisa and Laura, 30. The marketing professional joked about Lisa being the 'blue sheep of the pack' as she wore a blue lace frock that night. This was in contrast to both Elise and Laura's ensembles, as they both wore white. What could this mean? Fans soon picked up on the affectionate exchange between Elise (left) and Lisa (right), with one writing: 'Love how all you beautiful woman are such good friends' Tough competition! Elise is rumoured to be the runner-up behind Laura Byrne (pictured), the bookies' favourite to win, and a possible contender for next year's Bachelorette Lisa commented, 'Hahahaha I was very blue hey!' before adding, 'Love you'. Fans soon picked up on the affectionate exchange, with one writing: 'Love how all you beautiful woman are such good friends.' Elise, Lisa and Laura are among the remaining seven women hoping to win over Bondi heartthrob Matty Johnson, 30. Runner up? In last Thursday's episode, Matty claimed he was gradually developing feelings for Elise - but the 'slow burn edit' rarely results in a winning contestant, fans have observed Elise is rumoured to be the runner-up behind Laura, the bookies' favourite to win, and a possible contender for next year's Bachelorette. During last Thursday's episode, Matty claimed he had slow-burning feelings for Elise. 'If you asked me how I felt about Elise a week ago, my answer would have been completely different to how I feel right now,' he said. Leonardo DiCaprio and Miley Cyrus are the latest Hollywood stars to reach into their pockets to help those in need in Texas. The Hollywood actor announced on Wednesday that his charitable foundation is donating $1 million to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund that has just been established to fund short and long term relief and recovery efforts. 'We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation,' said United Way Worldwide President and CEO Brian Gallagher. 'Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us - and that's what this gift represents.' Generous gift: Leonardo DiCaprio has donated $1 million via his charitable foundation to the newly established United Way Harvey Recovery Fund, it was announced Wednesday The nonprofit organization United Way has pledged that 100 percent of donations made to its newly established fund will be passed on to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. DiCaprio and his foundation have previously donated to recovery efforts following the 2004 tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Sandy. Leo's charitable foundation, which aims to help prevent climate change and preserving Earth's biodiversity, was set up in 1998 and has worked on projects in over 40 countries. In July 2016 his foundation donated $15.6 million to help protect wildlife and the rights of Native Americans, along with combating climate change. The following summer, a charity auction and celebrity concert put on by the foundation had raised over $30 million. Charitable: On Monday, the actor had put out a tweet asking his fans to support the Red Cross after the terrible flooding in Texas and Louisiana Likes to help: The Oscar winner and his foundation have previously donated to recovery efforts following the 2004 tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Sandy On Monday, Leo had tweeted about the terrible flooding taking place in Texas and Louisiana as a result of the hurricane and encouraging his fans to support the Red Cross. The 42-year-old Oscar winner was the first to make a donation to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund, before Miley announced that she is set to make a major donation to the organisation. The 24-year-old singer announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that her Happy Hippie Foundation have donated $500,000 to the cause. 'Im really happy to help in whatever way I can,' Miley said, holding back tears. The Happy Hippie Foundation was set up in 2014 to aid youth homelessness, the LGBTQ community, and other vulnerable populations. Helping out: Miley Cyrus also announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that her Happy Hippie Foundation have donated $500,000 to the cause Helping hand: Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Harvey on Tuesday saying, 'We all have to do our part' A post on the website reads: 'All donations received as of August 30, 2017 will support people affected by Hurricane Harvey. CELEBRITY DONATIONS TO THE HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF EFFORTS: Leonardo DiCaprio - $1 million to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund - $1 million to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund Sandra Bullock - $1 million to the Red Cross - $1 million to the Red Cross Miley Cyrus - $500,000 to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund - $500,000 to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund The Kardashians - $250,000 to the ARC and a matching sum to The Salvation Army - $250,000 to the ARC and a matching sum to The Salvation Army Kevin Hart - $25,000 to the Red Cross - $25,000 to the Red Cross The Rock - $25,000 to the Red Cross - $25,000 to the Red Cross Diddy - $25,000 to the Red Cross Advertisement 'Relief funds will be directed to the American Red Cross, Best Friends, the Greater Houston Community Fund, and other organizations providing important immediate and long-term relief and recovery services.' But they are not the first famous figures to give money to the relief efforts. On Tuesday, Sandra Bullock gave a million dollars to the American Red Cross. She told People: 'Im just grateful I can do it. We all have to do our part.' Ellen DeGeneres also joined forces with Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt who started a fundraising campaign to help victims of Harvey. Watt taped a segment for her chat show to air Thursday in which he talked about his plan to use donations to bring water, clothing, generators, and cleaning supplies directly to the people in need. Ellen also revealed that retail giant Walmart is pledging to give $1 million to Watt's relief efforts. The Kardashians also made donations giving $250,000 to the ARC and a matching sum to The Salvation Army. Actor and comedian Kevin Hart issued a challenge to some of his fellow celebrities to donate relief money, posting a video to his Instagram Sunday night. Giving: Walmart announced via the Ellen DeGeneres Show set to air Thursday that it's donating $1 million to the fundraising campaign set up by Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt 'I'm challenging a lot of my celebrity friends to follow my lead and donating $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey to the Red Cross.' he said. 'At this point this is a serious matter. I think that people are in bad shape and they need help. I'm going to lead the charge and step up this way,' he added. The Rock quickly stepped up with the Baywatch actor revealing he donated $25,000 to the Red Cross. Diddy, real name Sean Combs, also accepted the challenge. More than 30,000 people are in overcrowded shelters across Texas as floods continue to swamp Houston after the heaviest rainfall in US history. Governor Greg Abbott had a bleak message for residents of southeast Texas on Wednesday as he told them that the worst of Hurricane Harvey was yet to come. So far at least 38 people have been confirmed dead but the death toll is likely to rise dramatically as flood waters recede and more bodies emerge. Devastating: A man stood outside a home in Port Arthur, Texas, on Wednesday as more than 30,000 people evacuated to shelters as floods continue to envelop Houston and its surrounds Cast against type: Actor Warren Mitchell was a staunch socialist Few actors are as indelibly printed on the British national consciousness as Warren Mitchell. In a career lasting over six decades, he won a fistful of awards, including a BAFTA for his portrayal of the Conservative-loving, West Ham-supporting, London docker Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part, one of the BBCs classic sitcoms. So his fans will be surprised that Mitchell, who died in 2015 aged 89, left a gross estate of just 46,271 reduced, after tax, to 44,737. The will, which was drawn up in 1981 and has just been published, records that his estate was left in trust for his wife, Connie, whom he married in 1951, and their three children, Rebecca, Daniel and Anna. At first glance the figure might suggest that his brilliance went almost unrewarded, at least in financial terms. However it is more likely to be proof of astute tax planning. Mitchell was regularly congratulated by members of the public for the common sense he spoke as Alf, who condemned grammar school boy Edward Heath, then Tory leader, for his failure to have attended a proper school like Eton. His fictional alter ego rejected the Labour Party, believing them to pretend to represent the working class, while all theyd do in power is feather their own nests. However in real life Mitchell was a staunch socialist like Till Death Us Do Parts creator, the late Johnny Speight, and another of the series stars, Cherie Blairs father, Tony Booth, who played Alfs son-in-law, Scouse git Mike Rawlins. In 1989 Mitchell took dual Australian-British citizenship, saying that he preferred Australias egalitarian culture to what he considered the hidebound structure of British society. Mitchell was regularly congratulated by members of the public for the common sense he spoke as Alf in the sitcom Til Death Us Do Part Perhaps he was more receptive in his later years to the New Labour ethos personified by Lord Mandelson, who famously declared that he was intensely relaxed about people becoming filthy rich. Land Registry records disclose that he purchased a substantial house in Highgate in 1992. Happily, Connie remains its owner unencumbered by a mortgage. A neighbouring house in the street sold a little over a year ago for 8.25 million. Bloody marvellous, as Alf would have said. Lets hope Dragons Den star Deborah Meadens home has private grounds as she confesses shes fond of taking outdoor baths. My secret indulgence is my outdoor bath, Meaden, 58, says. On a freezing day, preferably with snow on the ground. I love taking a hot bath out of doors. All Oscars look the same, says five-time nominee Judi Dame Judi Dench with her Best Supporting Actress Award, won in 1999 Dame Judi Dench, 82, confesses she doesnt know why she has never yet won a Best Actress Oscar, despite a fistful of nominations. The actress, starring for the second time as Queen Victoria in the new film Victoria & Abdul (she also played the monarch in 1997s Mrs Brown), says: I won the Best Supporting Actress award for Shakespeare In Love in 1999. It doesnt irritate me at all that I havent won Best Actress, though I dont know why it escaped me. My Oscar looks exactly the same. Dame Judi has been nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award an impressive five times for Mrs Brown, Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Notes On A Scandal (2006) and Philomena (2013). The series hasnt even started but the new Strictly Come Dancing chief judge, Latin dance champion Shirley Ballas, has been dubbed scary by the shows reigning pro dancer Joanne Clifton. Joanne, who won with Ore Oduba but who has now quit the series to star in musical Flashdance, says: She taught me when I was competing. As a teacher, she could be scary as shes a real task master, but shell probably be more lenient with the celebrity beginners. They have moved from Sydney to Los Angeles to film a pilot on their 'open marriage'. And famous 'swingers' Charles Billich, 80, and his wife Christa, 70, indulged in a flirty photo shoot to show their love still burns hot after 30 years of wedding bliss. The mature couple engaged in numerous intimate poses as they spoke with journalist Karleigh Smith about leading a 'creative' sex life. Good enough to eat! Famous 'swingers' Charles Billich, 80, and his wife Christa, 70, indulged in a flirty photo shoot to show their love still burns hot after 30 years of wedding bliss The lovebirds, who are opening an art gallery in Los Angeles, posed poolside in a Hollywood Hills mansion where Charles was seen playfully 'biting' his wife's breast. In another shot, the pair, who rose to fame with cameo parts in reality series The Real Housewives of Sydney, kiss each other tenderly as Charles holds a pink flower. Christa revealed she has been on the lookout for local 'toy boys' for fun as Charles dedicates himself to building the gallery. Starry-eyed: In another shot the pair, who rose to fame with cameo parts in reality series The Real Housewives of Sydney, kiss each other tenderly as Charles holds a pink flower 'Toyboys come and go - they are not meant to be kept. You enjoy a lovely short-lived romantic affair and then you stay friends for the rest of forever,' she offered. While her husband limits his outside partners to his artistic muses, Charles stated he and Christa still lead a very 'creative' sex life. 'We have tantric, eccentric sex. It's a totally consensual relationship with a few frictions here and there. We have the freedom and the release and the relief,' he said. 'We have tantric, eccentric sex. It's a totally consensual relationship with a few frictions here and there. We have the freedom and the release and the relief,' he said Despite Charles' age, he is confident in his natural abilities in the bedroom. 'Viagra is going out of fashion. Its better to rely on the equipment you have. The whole body is an organ. You can keep the usage of your penis to a minimum,' he described. The twosome's reality show, titled Gallery, is being produced by Hollywood bigwig Adam Schroeder, the man behind The Truman Show, Zoolander and Clueless. They say there's no bond quite like the one between mother and daughter. And that is certainly the case for Rebecca Judd, 34, and her mini-me little girl Billie, three. The adorable duo are often pictured dressed in matching outfits to reflect their close bond, with the AFL WAG proudly sharing snaps on social media. Just like mum! Billie, three, was seen playing dress-ups in a J'Aton Couture gown worn by Bec at the Dior Gala on Saturday. Last week, the toddler was seen playing dress-ups in a J'Aton Couture gown worn by Bec at the Dior Gala on Saturday. Little Billie was seen beaming with glee while trying on her famous mum's expensive frock - which featured lace detail and a leather bodice. 'About last night,' Bec captioned. Twinning! Last year, Postcards presenter Bec was pictured trying on a dazzling pink J'Aton Couture number, which inspired her Logies dress At just three-years-old, the curly-haired toddler appears to already have expensive taste after taking a liking to a number of her mum's designer gowns. Last year, Postcards presenter Bec was pictured trying on a dazzling pink J'Aton Couture number, which inspired her Logies dress. Shortly thereafter Billie was also pictured wearing the same princess-style frock, which can retail for over $35,000. Furry nice! Proving to be quite the little fashionista, Billie also rocked the same pink faux fur coat as Bec and made sure to pose for a selfie - just like mum Kisses: They were also seen wearing matching raincoats in a poolside Instagram snap Proving to be quite the little fashionista, Billie also rocked the same pink faux fur coat as Bec and made sure to pose for a selfie - just like mum. They were also seen wearing matching raincoats in a poolside Instagram snap and later matching hats while swimming. It appears the pair's love of matching outfits began when the youngster was just a newborn, with Bec dressing her in identical quirky-print pants and sharing a snap on Instagram. Throwback: It appears the pair's love of matching outfits began when the youngster was just a newborn, with Bec dressing her in identical quirky-print pants and sharing a snap on Instagram However, their 'twinning' efforts are not limited to clothing - with the pair also seen wearing the same accessories and even makeup. Just like mum, Billie once wore matching designer sunglasses while posing alongside her model mum. In another snap, a then-one-year-old Billie applied the same bright orange lipstick as Bec with the Channel Nine personality showing off the hilarious results to her Instagram followers. Hat's nice: Billie wore a black visor while swimming, that looked similar to her mum's Last month, the slender beauty shocked fans when she revealed that three-year-old Billie is struggling with body image. 'Billie all of a sudden has started caring about her appearance so much. It's actually scary, and I don't know where it's come from,' she said on KIIS' The 3pm Pick Up. 'At home I wear activewear, pretty much, sneakers, chuck my hair up, barely put on any make up. Makeup fun: In another snap, a then-one-year-old Billie applied the same bright orange lipstick as Bec with the Channel Nine personality showing off the hilarious results to her Instagram followers She continued: 'She's got this brush, and she stands in front of the mirror and brushes and brushes her hair. She's got this curly hair. She brushes it and it springs back up. And she screams at the mirror, she's like, "arrrrgh!" She's just furious.' The WAG revealed that her daughter complained, 'Mummy, I don't like my hair. I want straight hair like you,' to which Bec replied to her toddler, 'Babe when I go to work I tong my hair so I've got curly hair like you.' Bec, who shares four children with her former AFL star husband Chis, said the issues arose during a family dinner outing. Mini-me: Just like mum, Billie once wore matching designer sunglasses while posing alongside her model mum 'We were going out in Port Douglas, we were going out for dinner. And I had these cool studded flats on and she had little flats with a pussy cat on them. 'We were just about to walk out the door, she goes, 'Mum, I can't go out for dinner; you look far more beautiful than me.' She's three!' the star, who signed up the youngster to be the face of Mattel's Barbie campaign earlier this year, at first told Today Extra she had 'no idea' why Billie has insecurities before blaming the fictional character. 'I have no idea ... Do you know what, it might be Elsa from Frozen,' she said. They've both kept themselves in the headlines for bad behavior and high profile romances. And on Wednesday, Blac Chyna revealed she and 'Hot Felon' Jeremy Meeks, 33, were working together on a project via a photo shared to Snapchat, the same day as Meeks sparked engagement speculation with Topshop heiress Chloe Green. The video vixen, 29, didn't give any context to the photo, in which she showed off her famous figure in a skintight orange mini dress with plenty of cutouts. New project: Blac Chyna revealed she and 'Hot Felon' Jeremy Meeks, 33, were working together on a project via a photo shared to Snapchat Wig aficionado Chyna, born Angela Renee White, chose a voluminous blonde wig with corkscrew curls for the day, in which she appeared to be on a photo shoot set. Meeks struck his best modeling face as he posed for the shot while wearing a camouflage top and ripped jeans. In another photo shared to the social media app, Blac proudly showed off the dress from another angle as a model had her picture taken in front of a backdrop behind her. On set: Chyna, born Angela Renee White, practiced for the camera while another model got her picture taken in front of a backdrop Meeks shot to fame after his Stockton, California mugshot for felony weapon possession went viral, turning him into one of the most in-demand male models in the fashion industry. As for Chyna, she's got a mugshot of her own for a January 2016 felony ecstasy possession, which was discovered after she was removed from a flight taking off from Texas for public intoxication. In November of that same year, she gave birth to her second child, daughter Dream Kardashian, who's father is of course Kim's little brother Rob. The pair are no longer together and are currently in the middle of a nasty custody battle over their nine-month-old. Criminally good: Meeks is seen in his 2014 mugshot for felony weapon charges (L), and Chyna was charged with felony possession of ecstasy in 2016 after being removed from a Texas flight Feeling her look: Chyna couldn't get enough of her blonde corkscrew curls and shared another photo with a Chanel bag sitting in the background Jeremy hit the headlines this week when his unlikely girlfriend, Topshop heiress Chloe Green, whose father Sir Philip is worth an estimated 3.8billion, displayed a diamond on her ring finger in a series of social media posts. The 26-year-old shoe designer sparked engagement speculation as she displayed an eye-popping diamond on her ring finger, in shots posted on Instagram pages during a trip to Malibu Beach on Tuesday, where they were spied looking extremely cosy, with Jeremy even cupping his girlfriend's cleavage before she perched on his lap. Chloe and Jeremy, 33, have received a huge amount of backlash over their relationship, which surfaced as an affair during his eight-year marriage to wife Melissa - yet they seemed totally undeterred as they got up close on the shores with the stunner looking sensational in a skin-tight black dress. Jeremy and Chloe have been publicly parading their blossoming relationship in the spotlight, despite his marriage to estranged wife Melissa ending shortly before. Surprising: Jeremy hit the headlines this week when his unlikely girlfriend, Topshop heiress Chloe Green, whose father Sir Philip is worth an estimated 3.8billion, displayed a diamond on her ring finger in a series of social media posts Bling, bling: The 26-year-old shoe designer sparked engagement speculation as she displayed dripping jewels, which she alternated between her two ring fingers throughout the day, in shots posted on both her and the convict-turned-model's Instagram pages during a trip to Malibu Beach on Tuesday The duo have made no attempt at keeping their new-found love low-key, with Jeremy posing at Topshop's LA shop window at The Grove earlier this month before being pictured on a string of public dates shortly after - with Tuesday's romantic trip to the shore only heightening the buzz surrounding their romance. Jeremy sent shock waves across the Internet when pictures first emerged of him kissing Chloe on a yacht in Turkey in July - yet the new images seem to allude to the couple taking their romance to the next level due to Chloe's choice of jewellery, with the one ring particularly catching the eye. As the couple kissed and cuddled blissfully, they could not keep their hands off each other shortly before Chloe shared another clip while professing: 'I love you'. 'My baby': She also posted a clip herself under which she added a gushing caption reading: 'Beautiful day on the beach with my baby' The rumour mill has gone into overdrive since the seventh season finale of Game of Thrones, as fans prepare to wait 18 months to see how the story will end. And Australian actor Brendan Cowell dropped what may pan out to be a huge spoiler this week when he hinted that his season 7 character Harrag may not be dead, despite losing his brawl with Theon Greyjoy . Speaking to News Corp this week, Brendan described how he managed to leave the question of Harrag's demise up in the air. 'I made sure I didn't do the blank-eye look': Game Of Thrones' Brendan Cowell has hinted his character Harrag may NOT be dead after his brawl with Theon Greyjoy 'I made sure I didn't do the blank-eye look,' Brendan said of his acting process while filming Harrag and Theon's deadly brawl. 'Who knows, it's a mystery,' he said when quizzed on whether Harrag survived Theon's blows. If Harrag does survive, he may return next season with a vengeance against the Ironborn for abandoning him on the shores of Blackwater Bay. 'Who knows, it's a mystery': Speaking to News Corp this week, Brendan described how he managed to leave the question of Harrag's demise up in the air He wouldn't be the only character to have taken umbrage with Theon and Yara's army in recent episodes. In episode two of season seven, Euron Greyjoy also locked horns with Theon and his sister Yara by ransacking their ship. He eventually takes Yara as his slave, leaving Theon to lead the Ironborn army alone. Will he seek revenge? If Harrag does survive, he may return next season with a vengeance against the Ironborn for abandoning him on the shores of Blackwater Bay Brendan also spoke to News Corp about his experience meeting the close-knit cast of Game Of Thrones. 'Theyre a real family, that cast and crew, because they grew up together on this show, theyre all really close. And once you get in there and knock a few scenes out theyre lovely to be around,' he gushed. He also confirmed that he has remained close friends with Alfie Allen (who plays Theon) since they filmed their brawl scene. 'Theyre a real family': Brendan also spoke to News Corp about his experience meeting the close-knit cast of Game Of Thrones She's often considered the originator of the saucy selfie. But Kim Kardashian wasn't leading the way when she re-posted a smouldering bikini snap on Wednesday that was over three years old. The reality star, 36, shared a photo of herself in a nude two-piece with the caption 'It's a really hot day' - but failed to mention that the sizzling snap was a throwback that originally appeared on her Instagram over three years ago on July 24, 2014. Scroll down for video Repeat offender: Kim Kardashian, 36, re-posted a smouldering bikini snap on Wednesday that was over three years old The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star made no mention of a throwback, so fans relished the idea of a new revealing pic. Follower Clove1965 shouted out: 'You always Da Bomb kimmy K' with the emphasis on always. Shrikant1126Damn posted ' why you're killing me...' which could have been avoided after all these years. And follower jessmcginn_ wrote : 'I was looking 4 u all day' when the search should have been dealt with 1095 days ago. Red handed: The reality star, 36, shared a photo of herself in a nude swimsuit with the caption 'It's a really hot day', but failed to mention that the sizzling snap was a throwback that originally appeared on her Instagram over three years ago on July 24, 2014 Unique icon: Kim posts so many saucy selfies that she may have had to recycle some older ones (pictured August) The original posting had a larger photo with the background including the pool and a shot of the ocean. It was captioned: 'Last day to get my tan in...' referring to the end of her Mexico vacation as reported in this Dailymail article. Meanwhile, Kim found herself in a bit of hot water for another recent photo. She channeled Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for a cover shoot of Interview magazine which caused a backlash. 'When we start comparing Kim Kardashian to Jackie Kennedy we have officially failed as a country,' a dissident tweeted. I loved reading the interview inside @interviewmag by @janetmock THANK YOU Janet! North's interview is so cute too! Thank you Penelope, Kaia Gerber, Millie Bobbi Brown & the Federline boys for asking North her questions A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Aug 28, 2017 at 12:06pm PDT And if channeling the beloved icon wasn't enough to spark a backlash, Twitter users also wanted to know why Kim's skin color was a darkened to match that of her daughter North, whose father is rapper. One of those who replied to Kim's original tweet gushing about how special she thinks the photos are pulled no punches. 'This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen,' she tweeted. 'This is a disgrace,' another person wrote. 'You are no Jackie O,' added another. 'Jackie O turning over in her damn grave right now,' another Twitter user chimed in. Simone Ormesher is not worried what Matty J would say. She was eliminated from The Bachelor Matty J after Wednesday night's dramatic episode, during which she touched Matty's crotch, but it appears the former topless waitress may have already moved on. The 26-year-old was spotted flirting and getting very cosy with Bachelorette hunk Courtney Dober in Sydney's Double Bay at Maxim magazine's sixth birthday party last Friday. Out: Simone Ormesher is the latest contestant to be booted from The Bachelor house, after not receiving a rose from Matty J in last night's installment but she has may have moved on And in an exclusive interview with Now To Love, the blonde beauty confirmed meeting up with the 30-year-old, and also said that she's ready to settle down in the near future. Flirting? Simone was spotted flirting and getting very cosy with Bachelorette hunk Courtney Dober (pictured) in Sydney's Double Bay at Maxim magazine's sixth birthday party last Friday Close? 'Courtney [is] pretty cute, [I saw him] when I was in Sydney,' the bubbly blonde told the publication 'Courtney [is] pretty cute, [I saw him] when I was in Sydney,' the bubbly blonde told the publication. She added: 'I dont want to party, Im just ready for someone to share my life with me. And, Im 26 now!' 'I dont want to party, Im just ready for someone to share my life with me': The blonde beauty said that she's ready to settle down in the near future. The British bombshell went on to reveal her thoughts about her time on the show and made some explosive remarks about Matty J, saying that she thought he wasn't a fan of her image. 'I've just had enough, and thought I wasn't good enough,' she admitted. Simone added: 'After the date with the parents he didn't give me anything so I don't think he's very nice.' Musing on why Matty didn't like her, Simone said: 'My hair is too blonde, I have fake boobs, Im too hyper. I dont know!' His ex had reportedly threatened his visitation rights with their three children if he didn't stop his partying ways. And now enjoying time with brood once again, Scott Disick, 34, stepped out with his youngest Reign, two, for a father-son lunch at Toscanova in Calabasas on Wednesday as his keeps his partying lifestyle in check. The reality star looked happy and healthy as she held his little tot's hand while they sauntered around Los Angeles shopping centre The Commons. Scroll down for video Quality time: Scott Disick, 34, stepped out with his youngest Reign, two, for a father-son lunch at Toscanova in Calabasas on Wednesday as his keeps his partying lifestyle in check Cutting a laid back figure, Scott sported a loose-fitting lightweight T-shirt for the occasion while he teamed his summer-inspired attire with stylish navy joggers. The E! star - who is also dad to Mason, seven, and Penelope, five - made sure to accessorise his look with his trademark gold watch, on-trend shades and white Nike trainers. Working a fresh crop, Scott sported his signature scruff around his jawline while his son stole the show in his adorable threads. Looking cute as a button, the two-year-old wore a camoflage T-shirt and matching dark grey Gucci shorts while his sun-kissed hair was worked into a stylish bun. Happy family: Scott shared some bonding time with their youngest son Reign, two Dressing in the same hue as his dad, adorable Reign sported a pair of white Yeezys and gold name plate necklace as they enjoyed their day out in the sun Scott appeared to be back on the straight and narrow after kicking his summer off with a wild spree of partying during the Cannes Film Festival in France back in May. It was speculated he bedded around eight women within the span of a week, and was seen getting handsy with actress Bella Thorne who left the trip early after finding Scott's partying to be too much. And though the New England bred bachelor called himself a 'sex addict' in the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, it looks like he is backpedaling on those comments. Daddy duty: Scott appears to have calmed down after having a summer of partying so wild that his ex reportedly threatened his visitation rights with their children He clarified his comments in an chat with E! News explaining, 'I would say I think it's a little rude that everybody keeps addressing me as a sex addict. 'I just like sex, but I'm not a sex addict. I said that in a humorous, joking fashion on the show and now I'm getting billed as one, and it's not the case. I do like sex, but I am not an addict.' Scott appears to be enjoying the bachelor life, but just last week a source told People that in Disick's 'ideal world... he would still be with Kourtney. 'He wants her back, but he just isn't taking the steps needed to make that happen,' the source continued. On track: Scott appeared to be back on the straight and narrow after kicking his summer off with a wild spree of partying during the Cannes Film Festival in France back in May Candid: It was speculated he bedded around eight women within the span of a week, and was seen getting handsy with actress Bella Thorne who left the trip early after finding Scott's partying to be too much 'Scott is really sad about it, and it's part of why he's lashing out,' the insider noted. Meanwhile, the half-Armenian socialite is still casually dating 23-year-old boxer-turned-model Younes Bendjima. 'Everyone around her knows she's just having fun and no one expects it to turn into anything serious,' a source told People. Despite Scott's wild weekend, TMZ reports, the former couple - who share children Mason, seven, Penelope, five, and Reign, two - have discussed putting their children first and Kourtney has agreed to let Scott have more access. Moving on: Meanwhile, the half-Armenian socialite is still casually dating 23-year-old boxer-turned-model Younes Bendjima Stepping out: Kourtney was spotted attending Hillsong Church on a Wednesday night Sister act: The beauty was joined by her sister and supermodel Kendall Jenner (R) at the service The E! reality star was reportedly banned from seeing his kids in May and told to 'clean up his act.' Now insiders close to the two have told the publication that Kourtney has lifted the New York native's limitations as long as he keeps his lifestyle in check for the sake of their children. They said: 'Kourtney's laid out the rules loud and clear to Scott. If things are gonna work, there's no more hard partying and he's gotta respect her dating someone else. So far, Scott's obliged and things have gone swimmingly. Cleaning up: The E! reality star was reportedly banned from seeing his kids in May and told to 'clean up his act' (pictured in 2015) Kourtney and Scott first got together in 2006 when Joe Francis, founder of Girls Gone Wild, introduced them in Mexico. In 2010, Disick, worth an estimated $12 million, proposed but Kardashian turned him down. Two years later, the couple's daughter, Penelope, was born on July 8, 2012 and their third child and second son, Reign, was born on December 14, 2014. They've been on-and-off and broke up for the last time two years ago. They're enjoying a romantic European getaway with rumours circling that an engagement is imminent. But while Georgia Love waits for her beau Lee Elliott, 36, to pop the question, she had another reason to celebrate - her birthday. Taking to her Instagram account on Thursday, the bikini-clad Bachelorette beauty shared a snap of the couple celebrating in style in Italy. Scroll down for video Happy birthday! The Bachelorette's Georgia Love (right) celebrated turning 29 with her beau Lee Elliott (left) in Italy and posted a cute couple snap to Instagram on Thursday In the photo, Georgia and Lee put on an animated display as they jumped with their hands in the air into the water below. The journalist wore a patterned bikini for the shot while her plumber boyfriend donned white board shorts. She captioned the photo: 'Jumping into the last year of my twenties like...'. Leaving no doubt about the reason for the celebration, she added the hashtags: '#29andfeelingfine' and '#itsmybirthdayandilldrinkaperolspritzifiwantto' That's one way to celebrate! The couple are enjoying a loved-up getaway in Europe 'Happy birthday to me': Georgia also documented the celebrations on her Instagram Story and revealed a boatload of friends had come to surprise her Georgia also took to her Instagram Story to document the occasion, posting a video of herself with Lee, which then cuts to the surprise arrival of her friends via boat. 'Here I am sitting on the beach minding my own business then all of a sudden a boat full of our friends rocks up. Yay! What a beautiful surprise!' she can be heard saying. The reality TV star then starts singing: 'Happy birthday to me'. Tying the knot? The genetically blessed couple have sparked engagements rumours after being spotted looking in jewellery stores while in Italy The genetically blessed couple has sparked rumours that they may be thinking of tying the knot. On Monday, they were spotted paying a visit to Rome's exclusive Tiffany & Co. boutique - possibly on the hunt for an engagement ring. It follows on from Georgia's touching one-year anniversary post earlier this month. Taking to Instagram, she shared a photo of the couple during last year's grand finale episode of The Bachelorette and gushed: ''One year ago, I stood in this exact spot and told the man of my dreams that I loved him. They sent tongues wagging after appearing to hint at a proposal in a series of loved-up videos this week. But Chloe Green has denied she is engaged to Jeremy Meeks, despite waving a huge faux engagement ring at the camera on Wednesday. The Topshop heiress, 26, confirmed she had not taken her controversial relationship with the 33-year-old former felon to the next level, in a statement to MailOnline. Scroll down for video Blinging: Chloe Green has denied she is engaged to Jeremy Meeks, despite waving a huge faux engagement ring at the camera on Wednesday 'Chloe is not engaged,' her representative confirmed of the pictures. The news comes after Jeremy shared a number of confusing videos to his social media. Taken as they embarked on a sun-soaked day out in Nobu, Malibu, the Phillip Plein model was seen hugging his British belle as they canoodled on the beach. Beaming at the camera, Chloe brandished a huge square cushion-cut diamond on her ring finger, set on a diamond band. No proposal: The Topshop heiress, 26, confirmed she had not taken her controversial relationship with the 33-year-old former felon to the next level, in a statement to MailOnline As she giggled at the camera, she appeared to snatch her hand out of the shot quickly, before the duo smirked at the camera together. This came after Jeremy documented their ride to the picturesque California city together, proudly showing off the Porsche logo as he took the wheel of their plush ride. Dancing along to the radio, the duo appeared in the blissful throes of new love. And having arrived at plush eatery Nobu, Chloe shared a loved-up boomerang as they enjoyed a romantic walk on the beach before heading into the ocean-side restaurant. 'Chloe is not engaged,' her representative confirmed of the confusing Instagram pictures Loved up: Taken as they embarked on a sun-soaked day out in Nobu, Malibu, the Phillip Plein model was seen hugging his British belle as they enjoyed a day on the beach Dressed in a simple black strappy dress and cap, she held hands with Jeremy, who showed off his rippling physique in an all-khaki ensemble. Despite the shockwaves their romance caused after the couple were spotted canoodling on a yacht in Turkey while Jeremy was still married to mother-of-three Melissa Meeks, the duo's relationship appears to be going from strength to strength. Meanwhile after Jeremy began the month by publicly parading his romance with heiress Chloe as they enjoyed carnival during a sunny Barbados holiday, his estranged wife Melissa Meeks appeared to take their continuous insensitivity in her stride as she took to Instagram to show off her sizzling physique last wek. The brave nurse, 38, appeared to be beginning a post break-up body make-over, posing in her underwear as she showed off her already enviable figure. Hiding something? Beaming at the camera, Chloe brandished a huge square cushion-cut diamond on her ring finger, set on a diamond band- before snatching her hand out of the shot Moving on: Meanwhile Jeremy's estranged wife Melissa took to Instagram to show off her sizzling physique last week 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'. She is married to millionaire Formula One boss Christian Horner. Yet Geri Horner shunned the flash cars that make her husband's fortune as she enjoyed a day out in London on Wednesday with her 11-year-old daughter Bluebell, from her relationship with Sacha Gervasi, as they opted for an electric motor. The 45-year-old former Spice Girl went for a matching denim ensemble to her beloved daughter, as they hopped into the eco-friendly Renault ZE Twizy, which markets for 6,995, for their day of shopping and bonding time. Scroll down for video Happy days: Geri Horner shunned the flash cars that make her husband's fortune as she enjoyed a day out in London on Wednesday with her 11-year-old daughter Bluebell, from her relationship with Sacha Gervasi, as they opted for an electric motor Geri looked sensational for her outing, as she slipped into the sexy denim ensemble which boasted high-waisted hot pants paired with a coordinating shirt, which she tucked into the waist band to help highlight her slender frame. The star, who shares eight-month-old son Monty with her husband, boosted her diminutive height while also lengthening her legs with chic wedges which added further glamour, particularly when paired with her aviator sunglasses. Her auburn tresses were worn in loose waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting while her make-up was kept dewy and natural. Bluebell meanwhile went for a take on her famous mum's look, in a pair of denim dungarees with a turquoise T-shirt underneath while keeping things funky and youthful with a pair of box-fresh white trainers. Stunner: Geri looked sensational for her outing, as she slipped into the sexy denim ensemble which boasted high-waisted denim hot pants paired with a coordinating shirt, which she tucked into the waist band to help highlight her slender frame Life in the fast lane: She is married to millionaire Formula One boss Christian Horner While Geri's glam look was no surprise, her choice of vehicle was certainly unusual given her husband's role in the car racing world. Last month she was spotted in the electric car for the first time, with the vehicle in contrast to the many she posts online belonging to both her and her husband. Earlier this year, the couple pulled up to a restaurant in a crimson AC Cobra 289, which markets for around a whopping 249,000. Vroom vroom: The 45-year-old former Spice Girl went for a matching denim ensemble to her beloved daughter, as they hopped into the eco-friendly Renault ZE Twizy, which markets for 6,995, for their day of shopping and bonding time Leggier than ever: The stunning star looked chic in her skimpy denim shorts Glamming it: Looking adoringly at her daughter, they were clearly loving the day out A bond so strong: The duo were sharing a giggle as they hit the shops Prior to their day out, Geri was making her big presenting debut on Monday's edition of This Morning, joining Spice Girls superfan Rylan Clark at the helm. And viewers took to Twitter to joke that Bluebell was putting her to shame after the youngster joined her mum for the cookery segment at the end of the show. Brimming with confidence and impressive baking skills, Bluebell won a legion of fans who clamoured for her to be given her own cookery show. Chatting away: It seems Bluebell struck lucky as her mum had treated her to some high street goodies Stunner: Her auburn tresses were worn in loose waves falling over her shoulders and tumbling from a centre parting while her make-up was kept dewy and natural Baking up a storm: Prior to their day out, Geri was making her big presenting debut on Monday's edition of This Morning, joining Spice Girls superfan Rylan Clark at the helm Viewers took to the micro-blogging site in their droves, with one fan writing, 'Bluebell is more natural than Geri on This Morning', and another posting, 'Bluebell showing Geri how presenting should be done #ThisMorning'. The bright child was inundated with compliments after her cupcake making masterclass, during which she cracked jokes, scolded her mum for icing the wrong cake and declared that one confection looked 'like a poo' - much to Geri's embarrassment. One viewer enthused, 'How lovely is Bluebell? So natural and unlike other celeb kids, she is not precocious. Loved how she told Geri off', while another enthused, '@GeriHalliwell Geri, well done on @thismorning and little BLUE BELL?! What a star! Give her a cookery show NOW @cbbc !'. Out and a pout: Earlier this year, the couple pulled up to a restaurant in a crimson AC Cobra 289, which markets for around a whopping 249,000 Entertainment / Celebrity by Staff reporter SOUTH African entertainer Zodwa Wabantu, famed for her skimpy dresses and not wearing panties, yesterday said she was flying to Zimbabwe despite her "ban" by government authorities."They contacted me today (yesterday) to organise the plane ticket bookings. I know nothing about this (ban)," she told South African media.Zodwa, who is officially booked to perform at a private event in Harare tomorrow, blasted local actress Anne Nhira for decampaigning her and lobbying the government to cancel her scheduled visit to the country."I have performed in the country before, so what is the problem now?" she asked, adding her revealing style was nothing unusual compared to Brazilian dancers scheduled to performed at the Harare International Carnival.The government on Tuesday cancelled Zodwa's performace at the Harare International Carnival after Nhira questioned why a South African was performing when there were many young Zimbabweans, who were working hard and more than capable of doing the same job.But Zodwa said: "To be honest, I don't even understand where she is coming from. If I was a nobody, I wouldn't have received the invite in the first place." Roxy Jacenko's daughter Pixie has inherited her mother's taste for the finer things in life. As a belated birthday gift from her stylish mother, the now six-year-old received a stunning necklace from Shannakian Fine Jewellery. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Roxy shared an image of Pixie receiving her luxurious gift from the high end accessories purveyor. Finer things: Roxy Jacenko's daughter Pixie has inherited her mother's taste for the finer things in life. As a belated birthday gift from her stylish mother, the now six-year-old received a stunning necklace from Shannakian Fine Jewellery 'YES YES YES', she captioned the image, adding a heart emoji. In the photo, Pixie's mouth gaped open while she looked down at the necklace, still in its polished packaging. While wearing a deer imprinted light blue long sleeve, the daughter of the Sweaty Betty boss wore a dark blue polka dot bow in her hair, while she looked amazed at her birthday present. Pixie recently turned six and celebrated her birthday at Nubo Play's activity centre in Alexandria. This comes after Roxy shared another sentimental piece of jewelry to social media on Wednesday. Happy birthday! Pixie recently turned six and celebrated her birthday at Nubo Play's activity centre in Alexandria Fancy: This comes after Roxy shared another sentimental piece of jewelry to social media on Wednesday The Eastern Suburbs fashionista flaunted a beautiful silver necklace on her Instagram story, with the initials O for her husband Oliver Curtis, 31, P for daughter Pixie, and H for her son Hunter, three. The necklace was also from Shannakian Fine Jewellery, with Roxy captioning 'deliveries' with an emoji with love hearts in its eyes. Meanwhile, things seem to be looking up for the PR queen, and it seems as if her family that was once broken is on the mend. Fixed! Meanwhile, things seem to be looking up for the PR queen, and it seems as if her family that was once broken is on the mend It wasn't too long ago that her husband Oliver Curtis was sentenced to a minimum of one year in prison, following conspiracy to commit insider trading. After being released back in June, the former banker recently got engaged again to the blonde publicist, asking her to forgive him for the mistakes he made in their past marriage. He proposed to her at Sydney's Four Season's hotel following his release, spelling out "Marry me again?' with gold balloons. He was noticeably absent from the last series of The Only Way Is Essex, after checking into rehab in Thailand earlier this year. And James 'Arg' Argent, 29, revealed all about his recent break from the spotlight, dating and his relationship with ex Lydia Bright, 27, while appearing on Thursday's instalment of This Morning. The brave reality star - who is making his TV comeback on E4's Celebs Go Dating - candidly reflected on his 10 week stint in Thailand to battle his demon, explaining he's 'lucky' to have another chance. Scroll down for video Candid: James 'Arg' Argent, 29, revealed all about his recent break from the spotlight, dating and his relationship with ex Lydia Bright, 27, while appearing on Thursday's instalment of This Morning The Essex native's stint abroad marked his second period in rehab, having spent time in The Priory after failing a TOWIE drug test in 2015. Now throwing himself back into work, a happy and healthy Arg - who arrived to the studio in his workout gear - admitted that appearing on the E4 show has given him a new lease of life. 'I am in a good place,' he began. 'I'm very lucky to be sitting here on this sofa and thank you guys for welcoming me and I do appreciate Lime Pictures and E4 and ITV for showing a lot of support and to come back from Thailand and be given a big job - a big show - straight away. 'They obviously value me and see the trust in me so I'm going to try and reward everyone by delivering and making it (Celebs Go Dating) a good show.' In the past: The ITVBe star - who is making a triumphant return to the upcoming series of The Only Way Is Essex - previously dated his co-star Lydia Bright before they split for good in February 2016 Split: Their break-up pushed Lydia to quit the ITVBe reality show in May 2017, amid claims that she wanted to avoid run-ins with him (Pictured in 2016) The ITVBe star - who is making a triumphant return to the upcoming series of The Only Way Is Essex - previously dated his co-star Lydia Bright before they split for good in February 2016. Their break-up pushed Lydia to quit the ITVBe reality show in May 2017, amid claims that she wanted to avoid run-ins with him. Despite wanting to focus on their owns lives, Arg was spotted spending time with his former flame at V Festival on August 20. Setting fans into a tizzy, Arg insisted that there's no possibility of them reconnecting in the near-future but they're happy being friends once again. Moving on: Despite wanting to focus on their owns lives, Arg was spotted spending time with his former flame at V Festival on August 20 (Pictured in 2016) Friends: Setting fans into a tizzy, Arg insisted that there's no possibility of them reconnecting in the near-future but they're happy being friends once again He shared: 'We're friends. I saw her at V Festival the other weekend and we spent a bit of time together. We got on really well - it was nice to have a catch up and stuff but we are just friends. 'As far as I'm concerned, I'm just concentrating on myself and going on dates and meeting new people so no we're not going to get back together.' Now moving on from the past, the TV personality admitted that he was excited to get back out there on Celebs Go Dating but wasn't prepared for the rejection which he opened up about on the couch alongside MIC's Georgia Toffolo and presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford. 'Lucky': The brave reality star - who is making his TV comeback on E4's Celebs Go Dating - candidly reflected on his 10 week stint in Thailand to battle his demon, explaining he's 'lucky' to have another chance (Pictured with MIC's Georgia Toffolo and presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford) 'You've really have to be able to take rejection on the show,' he said. 'That was the only thing I found hard. I got friend zoned and even got family zoned she said: You remind me of my uncle. And while he suffered some rejection, he explained that he was just delighted to be meeting new people, despite the dating experts, Eden Blackman and Lady Nadia Essex, saying he was eating too much. He shared: ' I was fortunate enough to meet nice women and I learnt about myself along the way. Nadia told me I had to work on my table manners. 'My dates went pretty well but a lot of my feedback was that I was hungry.... People think I'm restricting or starving myself but I'm just eating the right stuff. Looking forward: The Essex native's stint abroad marked his second period in rehab, having spent time in The Priory after failing a TOWIE drug test in 2015 Happy: Now throwing himself back into work, a happy and healthy Arg admitted that appearing on the E4 show has given him a new lease of life Caring: Host Ruth Langsford hugged Arg following his appearance 'I like to bust a few lyrics, sometimes that cringes girls. I try to be myself and charming but if they don't fancy me I want them coming away saying "Arg was a nice guy".' His appearance comes after he revealed he is taking the next step in his dramatic physical transformation by having cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of his nose. The Only Way Is Essex star will undergo surgery as he continues to rejuvenate his lifestyle and work on his physical appearance following a make-or-break 10-week stay at a Thai retreat in February. Speaking to Sun Online, James admitted slimming down during a physically gruelling stay in South East Asia left him feeling self-conscious about his nose, which he felt looked too big as a consequence of his remarkable weight loss. Camera ready: 'We're friends. I saw her at V Festival the other weekend and we spent a bit of time together. We got on really well - it was nice to have a catch up and stuff but we are just friends. He said: Ive always known Ive had a big nose, but where Ive been so up and down with my weight for so many years, my nose didnt stand out as much, but now Ive lost four stone my features show a lot more and Ive got this large bump and nostrils that are even more prominent.' I think if I have the bump removed and the nostrils made smaller it will make me feel a lot more confident and be another step into helping me better myself since leaving rehab and Im not gonna lie, better looking and more attractive.' The TV personality has opted to follow the route chosen by handsome TOWIE co-star Mario Falcone, who made the surprising decision to have rhinoplasty after being trolled about his nose on social media. Frank: He added: 'As far as I'm concerned, I'm just concentrating on myself and going on dates and meeting new people so no we're not going to get back together' Bidding adieu: James shared a friendly peck on the cheek with his Celebs Go Dating co-star Toff Keen to obtain the same results as Mario - who later admitted he was delighted with the procedure - James is paying 6,500 to be surgically enhanced by the same London based specialist, Dr. Riccardo Frati. And the reality star has very clear ideas about who he wants to look like. 'I want a nose like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas or Mark Ronson,' he said. 'Theyve both got really manly and Italian looking noses and thats exactly the look I want to go for, I dont want a tiny pixie nose, I want to look manly.' Kate Hudson has shaved her head for her new film Sister which stars Maddy Ziegler and is being directing by Sia. But before the blonde Hollywood bombshell went in for a buzz cut, she posed for the October cover of Cosmopolitan magazine in a sizzling shoot. The 38-year-old beauty stunned in a colorful striped bodysuit that showed off her chest as well as her very toned legs as she talked about the people she is closest to. Looking good: Kate Hudson showed off her incredibly toned figure on the October cover of Cosmopolitan magazine When she still had long blonde hair: The shoot took place in LA before she had her buzz cut The Almost Famous vet looked to be sporting a fresh beach tan and several pieces of gold jewelry as she placed one hand on her head and another on her trim waist. Inside the issue the Oscar nominee talked about her close bond with father figure Kurt Russell, who is not her biological father but has raised her since she was a very young child. The mother-of-two said the longtime beau of her mother Goldie Hawn is the person she most trusts with a big secret. And she sweetly referred to him as 'Pa.' Family first: Kate and Kurt in May in West Hollywood, left, and with her brother Oliver in 2015 The clan: Kate with Oliver, Kurt, Goldie Hawn, Wyatt Russell and the grandkids in 2016 Her brother Oliver Hudson is also very dear to her. She said when she is having trouble the first person she calls is him because he 'makes me laugh.' The best advice he ever gave her was: 'Nobody cares! Theres about 7 plus billion people in the world who dont give a sh**.' Next Hudson, who dates Danny Fujikawa, revealed her secret to staying fit. At work: The 38-year-old beauty got a buzz cut for the movie Sister; here she is seen with director Sia in early August on the LA set 'To me, being healthy means staying connected! Tuning in and listening to what your body needs. Exercise, meditation, sleep, etc,' she began. Her beau: The pinup with her new boyfriend Danny Fujikawa at Nobu in Malibu last week The Bride Wars star also said her happiest moment in the past year was working with Sia. She loves 'knowing that no matter what, I will always have a lifelong friend in her.' Kate then gushed: 'What a beautiful person.' The star - who was plugging her new lifestyle book Pretty Fun - also said she loves her new hairstyle because her shaved head 'cuts down on time spent post-sweat.' She then said the person she would most like to spend time with in Las Vegas is Matthew McConaughey who she made How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days with as well as Fool's Gold. And her choice for roommate would be Liv Tyler. The October 2017 issue of Cosmo is on newsstands Tuesday, September 5. She is one Chanel's top muses. And Kristen Stewart proved just why as she starred in the latest advert for the French fashion house's perfume Gabrielle, where she stripped off in an exquisitely shot video to the tune of Beyonce's hit Running (Lose It All). The 27-year-old Twilight actress looked sensational in the video which appeared to depict her being unravelled from bandages while dashing towards a brightness before she is heard to murmur the name of the perfume in seductive tones. Scroll down for video Nude ambition: Kristen Stewart proved just why as she starred in the latest advert for the French fashion house's perfume Gabrielle, where she stripped off in an exquisitely shot video to the tune of Beyonce's hit Running (Lose It All) Kristen's affinity with the fashion giant came in December 2013, when she was announced as the face of its latest campaign which was released the next May. The perfume is named after the legend behind the eponymous fashion brand, Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel, who Kristen played in an 11 minute short written and directed by creative director Karl Lagerfeld in 2015. In the latest clip, the stunning star not only showed her acting prowess but also her stunning good looks as she smouldered in the pared-back shoot. With Beyonce's track playing in the backdrop to eery effect, she is seen to wake up while in something of a cocoon as she has bandages peeled off her and runs. Wow: The 27-year-old Twilight actress looked sensational in the video which appeared to depict her being unravelled from bandages while dashing towards a brightness before she is heard to murmur the name of the perfume in seductive tones Glowing: The stunning star was showing skills in performing art for the shoot Running: She was showing off her natural beauty as she gazed into the distance Life is but a dream: 'She is endlessly intriguing. Even more so now. The more Ive learned the less I know, and that says a lot' When the stunning star reaches the end of the path, she is totally nude and met by glimmering lights while she is risen into the air. Speaking of the power of the advert, Chanel's head of global creative resources Thomas du Pre de Saint-Maur said: 'Instead of retracing Gabrielle Chanel's life, we chose to put the spotlight on her free and rebel-at-heart personality.' In March, Kristen spoke about her relationship with the brand and Karl in particular as she said: 'Karl has always, from the very beginning, made me feel like being myself was the right thing to do. And in the fashion world, that is a rarity. 'He's a compulsive and obsessive artist and it's contagious. And he's kind. He is who he is for a reason. I feel so lucky to be in his space so often.' Taking it all off: She was dazzling before stripping down to nothing Glowing: Kristen's affinity with the fashion giant came in December 2013, when she was announced as the face of its latest campaign which was released the next May Intense: On playing the legend of Coco Chanel, she said: 'I didnt have much of a chance to approach it until it was upon us, as we didnt receive scripts. From the outside . . . it looked as though he was making it up as we went' On playing the legend of Coco Chanel, she said: 'I didnt have much of a chance to approach it until it was upon us, as we didnt receive scripts. From the outside . . . it looked as though he was making it up as we went. 'And maybe he was. I took my cues from Karl in regard to the historical aspects of the piece and learned more about Gabrielle Chanel while shooting than I ever had. 'She is endlessly intriguing. Even more so now. The more Ive learned the less I know, and that says a lot.' TOWIE star Lydia Bright took to Twitter in a rage on Thursday after claiming budget airline Ryanair left herself and family members stranded in Italy. The Essex girl, 27, launched into a tirade of tweets after being told the flight was overbooked and she couldn't fly as a result. Denying Lydia's claims, Ryanair said that while the flight was delayed she had not been left stranded and did actually fly to her destination. Scroll down for video Drama: TOWIE star Lydia Bright, 27, took to Twitter in a rage at Ryanair after claiming to have been left stranded by the airline in Italy (pictured on holiday) The airline's social media team explained that there were seven empty seats on the flight meaning there was no reason why she wouldn't have been able to fly -prompting a further outburst. Tweeting directly back, Lydia said: 'If the flight wasn't overbooked, then why wasn't myself and 4 other passengers allocated seat numbers & prevented from boarding?' Adding: 'I wasn't allowed to board the plane until 2 mins before the already delayed flight departed. I was pacing the airport.' Fun in the sun: The TOWIE star had been holidaying with her mum Debbie, sisters Georgia and Roma and other family members in Porto Recanati, Italy The star continued her angry outburst to her 1.1 million followers. 'Trying to rearrange transport for my family, looking into new flights & waiting for somebody to help me. There certainly was a lot of issues,' she fumed. A representative for Ryanair has since informed MailOnline: 'This customers claims are untrue. We dont overbook flights, and this customer was not 'stranded' as she boarded the aircraft and flew to London with 7 vacant seats. 'We apologise for any misunderstanding. Our 131m customers agree, TOWIRyanair!' The TOWIE star had been holidaying with her mum Debbie, sisters Georgia and Roma and other family members in Porto Recanati, Italy. War of words: The Essex girl, 27, launched into a tirade of tweets after being told the flight was overbooked and she couldn't fly as a result. Denying Lydia's claims, Ryanair said that while the flight was delayed she had not been left stranded and did actually fly to her destination The star has been sharing a variety of snaps from her trip, where she has been enjoying the serene coastal setting. Making a splash in the sea, her gym honed body was on full display in a string bikini. In another snap showcasing her pert derriere she wrote: 'Put yo hands in the air if you been squatting for summer.' The star's impressive bottom would have certainly turned heads amid the stunning Porto Recanati shoreline. She's spent much of the summer hard at work promoting her two Netflix projects, To The Bone and Okja. And Lily Collins looked as though she was enjoying some well-earned downtime as she ran errands in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. The actress, 28, kept casual in a low-key ath-leisure ensemble, teaming tight workout leggings with a 90s-style oversized denim jacket. Keeping things casual: Lily Collins was enjoying some well-earned downtime after promoting Okja and To The Bone as she ran errands in Beverly Hills on Wednesday Feeding the parking meter as she prepared to drop off some dry cleaning, the Rules Don't Apply star seemed happy and relaxed as she went about her day. Lily - the daughter of British musician Phil Collins and former model Jill Tavelman - completed her look with a simple white tee and flat studded sandals. The brunette went make-up free to showcase her naturally beautiful features, and wore her mid-length locks flowing around her shoulders. Lily accessorized with cool shades to shelter her eyes from the Californian sun, while toting her belongings in a large black leather bag. Low-key Lily: The actress, 28, kept casual in a low-key ath-leisure ensemble, teaming tight workout leggings with a 90s-style oversized denim jacket The star's new Netflix movie To the Bone tackles the controversial topic of a woman's battle with anorexia. Lily lost a great deal of weight to portray Ellen, which she explained was close to home because she too had previously suffered from an eating disorder. She told USA Today: 'I personally knew that this was something I needed to do to tell this story. I wanted to be able to best exert my experiences by going to the lengths I felt comfortable going to as an actor. 'I was held accountable by a nutritionist, by our director, by my mother, by our producer. Gritty: The star's new Netflix movie To the Bone tackles the controversial topic of a woman's battle with anorexia Busy bee: The actress has also been busy after the release of her other Netflix movie, Okja, where Lily plays an animal-rights activist who tries to stop the mass killing of animals 'There was never any time limit, there was never a weight number, but I didnt want to get to the end of this experience and feel like I didnt access what I needed to portray Ellen.' The actress has also been busy after the release of her other Netflix movie, Okja, where Lily plays an animal-rights activist who tries to stop the mass killing of animals. Lily told the Independent: 'I've really got the period stuff covered I guess, that's why it's been fun to do To The Bone and Okja and go outside of the box people might put me in, because that's the last thing I'd ever want as an actor. 'I want to keep switching it up, to surprise them but also mainly to keep myself guessing.' She rarely puts a foot wrong in the style stakes. And ahead of the annual Spring Racing Carnival, Jennifer Hawkins has shared her fashion tips. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Friday, the 33-year-old revealed she'll be stepping out in the 'floral on floral' trend. 'It's a lot of floral on floral': In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Friday, Jennifer Hawkins (pictured) revealed her fashion tips for spring this year 'I'm loving the florals this season, it's a lot of floral on floral. The beautiful crowns and headbands are also on trend,' the Myer ambassador explained Jennifer added that she looked forward to Spring Racing Carnival every year. The runway veteran recently turned heads at the Myer spring/summer collection launch earlier this year. And after the festivities were over, the avid social media user took to Instagram to share that she was looking forward to indulging in a few carbohydrate-heavy treats. Taking to Instagram last month, the blonde beauty shared a photo that showed her looking svelte at the Myer Spring Social event at Sydney's Bronte Surf Life Saving Club. Cheat day! And Jennifer Hawkins, 33, has revealed that, now that the Myer spring/summer collection launch was over she was looking forward to some 'carb loading' Jennifer looked chic in a revealing two-piece ensemble that consisted of a pair of form-fitting white flared trousers and a matching crop-top. 'Best week with @myer I luvved being a part of it! #myerspring17 and now...carb load! Haha.' Jennifer's fans were quick to gush over the post with the likes of: 'Great outfit!! You look great in anything!! Most beautiful lady in Australia. gorgeous,' and: 'that's what perfection looks like.' Yum: This carb-laden meal, that featured on Jennifer's instagram page could form part of her 'cheat session' 'No makeup, no clothes': Jennifer Hawkins reveals hubby Jake Wall 'prefers her naked' Jennifer recently revealed that her husband Jake Wall, prefers to see his model wife fresh-faced and naked. Speaking to Yahoo7 Be at the Myer Collection Launch on Thursday, Jennifer confessed her hubby's favourite way to see her is: 'no makeup, no clothes.' The Myer ambassador was notably relaxed and open during the chat, with footage showing her doting over her longtime husband. His favourite! Jen agreed with the interviewer that wearing 'tracky-dacks and maxi dress with nothing on underneath,' was when she felt most comfortable She was then asked if becoming comfortable means she can wear: 'Tracky-dacks and maxi dress with nothing on underneath?' 'That's what he loves me in!' Jen insisted, 'he's like "no makeup, no clothes!"' Flaunting her assets in a black bustier crop top, the beauty then broke into laughter. Less is more! 'That's what he loves me in!' Jen insisted, 'he's like "no makeup, no clothes!"' before bursting into laughter Happy couple: Jen and Jake have been married for four years after tying the knot in 2013 She continued to gush over her man: 'We hangout together, he's my best friend and there's still sparks, and I just... I love him!' Jen also previously spoke to Daily Mail Australia, revealing 'ups and downs,' have left the couple 'stronger than ever.' 'What with a few things happening in my family and Jake's mum passing away, you become a team.' 'We're stronger than ever thanks to the ups and downs. I love doing life with him,' the face of Myer continued. My best friend! She continued to gush over her man: 'We hangout together, he's my best friend and there's still sparks, and I just... I love him!' Jake's mother, Lesslee, tragically passed away in 2012, while the model's own mother, Gail, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2015. The genetically-blessed pair have leaned on one another during their difficult times. Jennifer first met Jake in a nightclub in 2003, just months before she went on to win Donald Trump's famed beauty pageant, Miss Universe. Advertisement She put in a stylish appearance at the 74th Venice Film Festival earlier in the day. And Amanda Seyfried pulled off yet another show-stopping look when she arrived at the star-studded First Reformed screening on Thursday afternoon, held at Sala Grande. The 31-year-old actress was joined by glamorous jury member Rebecca Hall at the event, upping the glamour in two very different yet equally elegant dresses. Scroll down for video Belles of the ball: Amanda Seyfried (left) pulled off yet another show-stopping look when she arrived at the star-studded First Reformed screening during the 74th Venice Film Festival on Thursday afternoon, where she was joined by jury member Rebecca Hall (right) Amanda looked incredible in the dramatic black gown, which featured floral embroidery on the bodice. The Gothic inspired number boasted an asymmetric skirt with contrasting mesh panels and semi-sheer detailing showcasing her legs. She set off her look with a pair of skyscraper heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver earrings. Gorgeous: Amanda looked incredible in the dramatic black gown, which featured floral embroidery on the bodice Sheer delight: The Gothic inspired number boasted an asymmetric skirt with contrasting mesh panels and semi-sheer detailing showcasing her legs Cheers! The blonde beauty later signed a giant bottle of champagne at the First Reformed party Simple touches: She set off her look with a pair of skyscraper heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver earrings Elegant: Amanda wore her blonde locks up in a high ponytail and maximised her pout with a slick of red lipstick Joining forces: Amanda was joined by her First Reformed co-star Ethan Hawke on the red carpet Getting on famously! Ethan wrapped an arm around Amanda's waist as they smiled for the cameras Earlier in the day, Amanda donned a flirty minidress bearing a bold lipstick print, capped sleeves and an A-line hem. She set off her covetable dress with a pair of sky-high black stilettos and a pair of shades. Coordinating her lipstick to her outfit, Amanda wore her blonde locks down in loose waves. The Mamma Mia actress has been promoting her new drama First Reformed alongside Ethan Hawke. Ethan plays a man wrecked by grief over the death of his son, while Amanda portray a member of his church whose husband commits suicide. Firm friends: The pair seemed to be getting on famously as they posed on the red carpet Taking centre-stage: Amanda stunned as she posed alongside Ethan and Paul Schrader Meet and greet: The blonde beauty beamed as she walked over to adoring throngs of fans Ready for her close-up: She dazzled with minimal make-up and a berry lipstick Woman of the people: Seyfried happily signed autographs as she arrived at the premiere Quite the social butterfly: She mingled with guests later at the First Reformed party during the 74th Venice Film Festival Amanda wore her blonde locks up in a high ponytail and maximised her pout with a slick of red lipstick. British actress Rebecca, who is acting as a jury member, looked equally glamorous in a low-cut dress with an empire neckline. The cream number featured gold embellishment at the bodice, which perfectly coordinated with her fringed clutch bag. Centre stage: British actress Rebecca, who is acting as a jury member, looked equally glamorous in a low-cut dress with an empire neckline Golden girl: The cream number featured gold embellishment at the bodice, which perfectly coordinated with her fringed clutch bag Monochrome maven: Italian actress Desiree Noferini looked incredible in a gothic-inspired black lace gown Looking good: The 30-year-old actress looked sensational in her showstopping gown Glamorous arrivals: Earlier in the day, Amanda (left) was making a glamorous appearance, joining a host of stars including Kristen Wiig (right) on the jetty Sealed with a kiss! The Mean Girls star, 31, turned heads in a cute and quirky minidress bearing a bold lipstick print Cute: Amanda's flirty little teadress featured capped sleeves and an A-line hem, making the most of her long legs Bridesmaids actress Kristen was dressed in a funky, floral print number, featuring ruffled sleeves and a pleated skirt. The edgy number was set off with a pair of nude wedges and round shades as she arrived to discuss Downsizing. Kristen was joined by co-star and screen husband Matt Damon, who was suited and booted to perfection as he made his way across the red carpet with stunning wife Luciana Barroso. Downsizing sees Damon plays an unhappy every day man who tries to solve his problems - and help save the planet - by undergoing an experimental procedure that shrinks him to 5 inches tall. The Venice Film Festival is kicking off the Autumn cinema season with drama, glamour and a crop of new movies vying for attention, awards and acclaim. It's a jungle out there! Bridesmaids actress Kristen was dressed in a funky, floral print number, featuring ruffled sleeves and a pleated skirt Specs appeal: The edgy number was accessorised with round shades, perfectly offsetting her new crop Main men: Matt Damon (left) and Ethan Hawke (right) were also spotted putting in an appearance In recent years, Venice has been a launch-pad for Oscar winners including Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land. Clooney is in the running for the festival's top prize - the Golden Lion - with his latest directional venture, Suburbicon, which is due for release in October and stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. Jennifer meanwhile is expected at the festival for the much-anticipated Mother!, which also stars Javier Bardem. The Spanish star should also be on hand alongside Penelope Cruz for the drug-lord biopic Loving Pablo. An older generation of showbiz royalty will be well represented by stars including Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland and Michael Caine. Double act: The Mamma Mia actress was promoting her new drama First Reformed alongside her co-star Ethan Hawke Low-key: Italian model opted for a smart, menswear inspired shirt and a pair of ripped jeans Travelling in style: Italian Undersecretary Maria Elena Boschi flashed a beaming grin as she arrived on a boat Jane Fonda and Robert Redford star in the late-life romance Our Souls at Night and are being given lifetime-achievement awards by the festival. Actress Annette Bening is the festival's first female jury president since Catherine Deneuve in 2006. The rest of the jury line-up include Hungarian film director and screenwriter Ildiko Enyedi, Mexican film director, producer and screenwriter Michel Franco, Britsh actress Rebecca Hall and French actress Anna Mouglalis, Anglo-Australian film critic David Stratton,Italian actress Jasmine Trinca, British film director Edgar Wright and Taiwanese-Hong Kong film director Yonfan are also members of the jury this year. Leggy lady: Amanda's stylish little dress made the most of her long and toned legs First Reformed photocall: Ethan plays a man wrecked by grief over the death of his son, while Amanda portrays a member of his church whose husband commits suicide Show stopper: French actress and producer Julie Gayet turned heads in an elegant floor-sweeping number They went public with their romance in October 2016 when they were spotted holding hands as they left a Kings Of Leon concert. And Zoe Kravitz and her boyfriend of 10 months Karl Glusman looked more in love than ever as they packed on the PDA outside a bar in New York City on Wednesday night. The Big Little Lies star, 28, and her actor beau, 28, shared a passionate kiss as they enjoyed their night out on the town. Pucker up! Zoe Kravitz and her boyfriend of 10 months Karl Glusman looked more in love than ever as they packed on the PDA outside a bar in New York City on Wednesday night Wrapping his arm tenderly around his girlfriend, Nocturnal Animals star Karl looked utterly smitten as he grinned away while leaning in for a smooch. Earlier in the day, the couple looked loved-up as they strolled through Midtown, with Zoe wearing a sleeveless denim jacket undone at the waist to give a sneak peek of her tummy. The star looked very petite strolling through Manhattan with her 6ft2in beau. Loved-up: The Big Little Lies star, 28, and her actor beau, 28, shared a passionate kiss as they enjoyed their night out on the town The look of love: Wrapping his arm tenderly around his girlfriend, Nocturnal Animals star Karl looked utterly smitten as he grinned away while leaning in for a smooch Happy couple: Zoe and Karl went public with their romance in October 2016 when they were spotted holding hands as they left a Kings Of Leon concert The LA native is 5ft2in. The genetically gifted daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet covered her eyes with dark glasses even though the sun had long set and slung a black leather purse across her body. Karl looked smart in a black zipped jacket with gold features at the chest that he wore over a white shirt with a black design, black pants and black sneakers. Happiness: Earlier in the day, the couple looked loved-up as they strolled through Midtown, with Zoe wearing a sleeveless denim jacket undone to give a sneak peek of her tummy Warm evening: The smitten pair strolled hand-in-hand through the city Karl, who sported designer stubble and a small mustache, is presently co-starring with Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup in Netflix TV series Gypsy. The same day, Zoe posted a snap of herself and Karl both wearing Lumos T-shirts, the foundation benefiting children set up by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Zoe is co-starring in Rowling's Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 and is supporting the author's new prize draw to raise funds for the foundation. Beating the hear: Karl looked smart in a black zipped jacket with gold features at the chest that he wore over a white shirt with a black design, black pants and black sneakers All fans need to do to enter is make a donation to Lumos, which, of course, is the magic spell word for light. The winner will travel to the Leavesden Studios just outside London to meet the cast, including Eddie Redmayne who plays Newton Scamander and Johnny Depp. Donate before 11.59pm ET on Friday and you could also win a book signed by J.K. Rowling. Getting the work out: Zoe is filming Fantastic Beast And Where To Find Them 2 and she and Karl are supporting author J.K. Rowland's fundraiser for her Lumos Foundation for children Zoe, who plays Newton's love interest Leta Lestrange, captioned her snap: 'Im proud to support (Lumos) by wearing a Be The Light tee and raising awareness for an incredible cause. 'It is crazy that 8 million children around the world are in orphanages and 80% have a living parent. Your donations will support Lumos important work helping these children regain the right to family life.' Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 is due out on November 16, 2018. After sharing a video of herself with a Band-Aid on her face, Bethenny Frankel admitted to fans on social media Wednesday that she 'had a growth removed' related to 'basal cell.' The 46-year-old reality star is currently being tested for basal-cell carcinoma (the most common form of skin cancer) a source confirmed to People on Thursday. The Skinnygirl mogul just returned to her Hamptons home on Sunday after sunning herself on the Spanish isle of Ibiza while on vacation. Scroll down for video Oh no! After sharing a video of herself with a Band-Aid on her face, Bethenny Frankel admitted to fans on social media Wednesday that she 'had a growth removed' related to 'basal cell' Plaster: The 46-year-old reality star is currently being tested for basal-cell carcinoma (the most common form of skin cancer) a source confirmed to People on Thursday Catching rays: The Skinnygirl mogul just returned to her Hamptons home on Sunday after sunning herself on the Spanish isle of Ibiza while on vacation (pictured Friday) As of Thursday, Bethenny has raised $75K in donations to help women and families affected by Hurricane Harvey through her new charity, B Strong, which pledged $30K. Frankel has enlisted her famous friends like Ellen DeGeneres, Martha Stewart, and Hoda Kotb to help contribute to the Houston and Corpus Christi chapters of Dress for Success. 'Help women who can't help themselves,' the former talk show host - who boasts 3.9M followers - said in her Instagram video. 'Help women who can't help themselves': As of Thursday, Bethenny has raised $75K in donations to help women and families affected by Hurricane Harvey through her new charity, B Strong, which pledged $30K '#Housewivesworkingfortexas': Frankel has enlisted her famous friends like Ellen DeGeneres, Martha Stewart, and Hoda Kotb to help contribute to the Houston and Corpus Christi chapters of Dress for Success '#Thisisacrisis': There are 39 confirmed deaths after the record-breaking tropical cyclone flooded thousands of homes and displaced more than 30K people 'Right now Harvey is as much if not more of a crisis than ever.' There are 39 confirmed deaths after the record-breaking tropical cyclone flooded thousands of homes and displaced more than 30K people. Following Wednesday's Real Housewives of New York City reunion, the Manhattan socialite is hoping for more diversity in the 10th season. Caucasian overload: Following Wednesday's Real Housewives of New York City reunion, the Manhattan socialite is hoping for more diversity in the 10th season Bethenny told Parade last month: 'I'd like to see an African-American woman on the show. I suggested someone who didn't work out. There are really no Jewish women in the cast. There are also no Asian, Latino, or gay women on the show. I'd like it to represent New York more' 'I would like to see some younger castmembers,' Bethenny told Parade last month. 'I'd like to see an African-American woman on the show. I suggested someone who didn't work out. There are really no Jewish women in the cast. There are also no Asian, Latino, or gay women on the show. I'd like it to represent New York more.' On August 8, the New York District Attorney's Office confirmed to People that her ex-husband #2 Jason Hoppy's request to dismiss his harassment and stalking charges was denied. Legal woes: On August 8, the New York District Attorney's Office confirmed to People that her ex-husband #2 Jason Hoppy's request to dismiss his harassment and stalking charges was denied (pictured June 27) Caught in between: It's been a year since the longtime warring exes - who share custody of seven-year-old daughter Bryn - officially finalized their 2012 divorce The 46-year-old pharmaceutical sales exec - who was arrested on January 27 - is expected back in court for 'a possible trial on September 27.' It's been a year since the longtime warring exes - who share custody of seven-year-old daughter Bryn - officially finalized their 2012 divorce. Frankel will next serve guest judging duties on the ninth season of Shark Tank, which premieres October 1 on ABC. News / Education by Staff Reporter The President Robert Mugabe has commended Zimbabwean society and the education sector for not giving the girlchild the chance to excel in education.The President was speaking at the 3rd Education Conference and Expo in Harare yesterday where school and college heads gathered to further deliberate on the new education curriculum which has been designed to mould entreprenureurs and employment creators.President Mugabe noted that where as in the past families prioritised boys to be educated, society has changed and is striving to ensure that both girls and boys are educated.Government has also made it a policy that the girl child is not left behind in the new era of science and technology by ensuring that they are given the opportunity to undertake STEM subjects.The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education revealed that Zimbabwe has attained gender parity at primary school level. Her best friend Sandra Martin is currently grieving the death of her sister following a tragic battle with dementia earlier this month. And Sandi Bogle seemed determined to support her fellow Gogglebox star whisking her away for a sun-soaked trip to Spain on Thursday. The bikini-clad Celebrity Big Brother star, 51, appeared to be in good spirits as she larked around with Sandra, 55, on the beach and tested out some exercise machines. Scroll down for video That's what friends are for: Sandi Bogle seemed determined to support her fellow Gogglebox star Sandra Martin, whisking her away for a sun-soaked trip to Spain on Thursday Sandi looked every inch the beach babe in a khaki bikini, which featured a summery white lace trim. Debuting a new haircut, the TV star showed off a blunt fringe and sleek locks that perfectly framed her youthful features. Injecting a dose of sparkle to her beachside attire, Sandi rocked a pendant necklace and added some chunky embellished gold bangles. Having been evicted from Celebrity Big Brother last week, she appeared to be relishing her time away from the Borehamwood mansion as she joked around on the beach. Having a whale of a time: Having been evicted from Celebrity Big Brother last week, she appeared to be relishing her time away from the Borehamwood mansion as she joked around on the beach Staying strong: The bikini-clad Celebrity Big Brother star, 51, appeared to be in good spirits as she larked around with Sandra on the beach and tested out some exercise machines When two become one: Sandi stopped to adjust her best friend Sandra's earring during the fun-filled outing Looking good: Sandi looked every inch the beach babe in a khaki bikini which featured a summery white lace trim Sandi, who is the cousin of Naomi Campbell, stuck close to her best friend Sandra and ensured she was always laughing during the sun-drenched outing. Meanwhile Sandra showed off her sartorial flair in a leopard-print dress with a black skirt. Rocking a handcuff-motif necklace, she also added a selection of chic bead bracelets to her look. Mane attraction: Debuting a new haircut, the TV star showed off a blunt fringe and sleek locks that perfectly framed her youthful features Everybody was kung-fu fighting: Sandi channeled her inner ninja as she pulled off some fear-inducing moves Making waves: She erupted into laughter as she splashed around in the surf Having the time of her life: Sandra couldn't hold back her giggles as she played in the sea Their outing comes after Sandra revealed her sister passed away two weeks ago. The TV favourite took to Twitter hours after her tragic loss to announce the devastating news as she confirmed her sister died after a battle with dementia. In her heartbreaking post, the 57-year-old penned: 'MY SISTER PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING. SHE HAD DEMENTIA. AM ON MY WAY TO SEE HER AND FAMILY'S. WANT BE ON LINE FOR FEW DAYS. BUT AM OK EVERY 1'. Sandra, who became a fan favourite on Gogglebox after her first appearance back in 2013, was clearly heartbroken by the news announced to her 123,000 followers. Wild thing: Meanwhile Sandra showed off her sartorial flair in a leopard-print dress with a black skirt Stylish: Rocking a handcuff-motif necklace, she also added a selection of chic bead bracelets to her look Brave face: Sandra seemed to be in high spirits during the day out as she stayed strong after the horrific news of her sister's death Using the 'Pinned' function on the microblogging site, she placed the note on top of her page as she revealed she will bow out of social media while she grieves. Her news comes a month after she confirmed she is hanging up her telly-watching shoes and quitting Gogglebox, to the heartbreak of viewers. Appearing on This Morning, she confessed she will 'really miss' the Channel 4 series, but has decided to move on following the departure of her on-screen partner, Sandi Bogle, who is currently starring on Celebrity Big Brother. Sandra confirmed the sad news to Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, and explained that she finally felt ready to pursue other projects - such as pantomime. Loving life: Sandi, who is the cousin of Naomi Campbell, stuck close to her best friend Sandra and ensured she was always laughing during the sun-drenched outing Just hanging out: The pair cracked up laughing as they went to work on some exercise machines Working up a sweat: The pair seemed to be really getting into their new fitness regimes Speaking of her exit, she said: 'I am going to miss it, but I decided at that time I wanted to move on to other things.' Before continuing: 'It's been four and a half years now, and I'm just moving on, keeping up with the times.' However, she went on to explain that she also did not feel the show was 'the same' without her on-screen partner Sandi - who quit the series in December. Need a hand? The Gogglebox fan favourites found themselves in some tricky positions What you looking at? Sandra displayed her trademark vivacious sense of humour as she flicked a sassy glance over her shoulder Making friends: The pair later beamed as they posed alongside two beach-goers The 49-year-old had quit to pursue a career in singing, and was replaced with Sandra's daughter Chanchez for the last string of episodes. Yet, admitting it had not felt right without her pal, Sandra admitted: 'Sandi left last year as everyone knows, she's my TV partner, and my daughter came on after. 'I want to pursue my career to do other things, Sandi had gone before, but it wouldn't have been the same with my daughter.' While she loved appearing beside Chanchez, the fan favourite acknowledged there has been a slight barrier between the pair on-screen - as particular programmes had not been appropriate for mother-daughter viewing. Devastating: Gogglebox star Sandra Martin revealed her sister passed away on Thursday morning Partners in crime: The TV favourite took to Twitter hours after her tragic loss to announce the devastating news as she confirmed her sister died after a battle with dementia Moving on: Her news comes a month after she confirmed she is hanging up her telly-watching shoes and quitting Gogglebox, to the heartbreak of viewers She added: 'There are certain subjects that I cant discuss with a 24-year-old. 'There are certain subjects and when we are watching a show about ooh-ohh its difficult for me to talk about ooh-ooh with my daughter.' Sandra and Sandi, from Thornton Heath, south London, quickly became favourites on the series, after appearing on the very first episode back in 2013. However Sandi announced she was quitting the series just before Christmas last year, to focus on her singing career. Happy memories: Speaking of her exit she said: 'I am going to miss it, but I decided at that time I wanted to move on to other things. It's been four and a half years now, and I'm just moving on' Missing ingredient: However, she went on to explain that she also did not feel the show was 'the same' without her on-screen partner Sandi - who quit the series in December She was deemed surplus to requirements ahead of the forthcoming Victorias Secret fashion show. But any residual disappointment was brushed to one side as Izabel Goulart made her latest appearance at the 74th annual Venice Film Festival on Thursday evening. The stunning Brazilian model, 32, caught the eye in a striking sheer mini-skirt that ably exposed her toned legs as she arrived at the historic Italian citys Sala Grande for the premiere of new romantic horror The Shape of Water. Scroll down for video Here she comes: Izabel Goulart commanded attention as she made her latest appearance at the 74th annual Venice Film Festival on Thursday evening As if any reminder of the day were needed, Izabel added to her look with a fitted sweater emblazoned with the single word Thursday as she greeted onlookers with a playful peace sign. The model added to her look with a pair of stylish Giuseppe Zanotti strappy heels, while glittering hooped earrings proved to be her only visible accessory. Pulling her hair into a tight ponytail, Izabel revealed a naturally pretty face accentuated with subtle touches of smoky make-up. Looking good: The stunning Brazilian model caught the eye as she arrived at the historic Italian citys Sala Grande for the premiere of new romantic horror The Shape of Water Pins on parade: Izabel opted for a striking sheer mini-skirt that ably exposed her toned legs Ready for the weekend: As if any reminder of the day were needed, Izabel added to her look with a fitted sweater emblazoned with the single word Thursday Evidently in high spirits, the brunette beamed as she made her way across the red carpet ahead of her latest screening. Other guests to attend the event on Thursday evening included Sally Hawkins, who almost suffered a wardrobe malfunction as she poised for photos. Isabeli Fontana, Octavia Spencer and Matilde Gioli also walked the red carpet as director Guillermo del Toro launched his latest film at the annual film festival. Finishing touches: The model added to her look with a pair of stylish strappy heels, while glittering hooped earrings proved to be her only visible accessory Strike a pose: Izabel kept onlookers entertained as she strutted her stuff on Thursday evening Upbeat: Evidently in high spirits, the brunette beamed as she made her way across the red carpet ahead of her latest screening Izabel's outing comes after she failed to make the line-up for this November's hotly-anticipated Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The brunette beauty was spotted eagerly attending casting calls in New York earlier this week but it seems she didn't make the cut for the annual show. Models who did include Gigi and Bella Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, Elsa Hosk, Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel. In attendance: Isabeli Fontana also made an appearance at the screening on Thursday evening Steady on: Sally Hawkins almost suffered a wardrobe malfunction as she poised for photos Kim Kardashian has made a fortune from makeup. Not only does she sell contour kits through KKW Beauty, but she also presents The Master Class with makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic. And on Thursday the 36-year-old took to her website kimkardashianwest.com to post three behind-the-scenes images from her recent class in New York City on August 19. In one, she looked every inch the VIP as she curled up in her private jet on her way home. Poor little rich girl: Kim Kardashian flaunts her VIP life as she curled up on a jet in this behind-the-scene image she shared to kimkardashianwest.com on Thursday Her take: 'It was a quick (but always fun!) trip to New York for The Master Class with Mario,' she wrote on her paid site 'It was a quick (but always fun!) trip to New York for The Master Class with Mario,' she wrote on her paid site. 'Mario has created my signature glam look and my love for makeup is inspired by him! Mario has taught me every makeup trick I know and use until this day!' she said on The Master Class website. In one image she is sitting with her six-inch Perspex high heels in a private jet. Talk time: In the next image she is on her phone as she sits on a black sofa opposite Mario who is a white shirt The wife of Kanye West looks the epitome of high-class glam as she curls up on the leather seat that appears to have no seat belt. She is in all black with her makeup heavily done and her hair worn down and stick straight. A leather coat is next to her. Big crowd: The third image is of the audience as they watch her and Mario on stage. The Playstation Theater on Broadway seats 2,100 people And by the window is a tablet and a bottle of Fiji water. In the next image she is on her phone as she sits on a black sofa opposite Mario who is a white shirt. The third image is of the audience as they watch her and Mario on stage. The Playstation Theater on Broadway seats 2,100 people. On the Master Class website it explains that 'even modern day beauty icons need artists to shape, highlight and present their loveliness in the best light imaginable. For Kim, world-renowned makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic is that artist.' Big time: These photos were shared after a big week for Kim. She appeared as First Lady Jackie Kennedy with daughter North on the cover of Interview magazine Showstopper: The stunner also dressed up as Cher from the 1970s for a Harper's Bazaar Arabia cover Heartfelt: Her family also announced they were donating $500,000 to relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey The relationship is then detailed: 'For the past nine years Mario and Kim have revolutionized the beauty industry. 'Working side by side, they have dominated makeup artistry trends seen on magazine covers like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, on celebrity-studded red carpets, on television, in print, commercials and at weddings. 'All around the world Marios signature makeup techniques and the looks he creates for Kim are the most emulated and requested beauty looks of all time.' It was added that fans can now 'learn these essential beauty tips and tricks directly from the master artist and get the perspective from his celebrated muse Kim.' 'Coveted beauty secrets' are shared as Kim says 'personality and professionalism' is what she likes from her artist. 'Both offer advice about marketing your own business and building your social media presence a priceless lesson from the most followed woman on earth and the most followed celebrity makeup artist,' it was added. A mommy too: Here Kim is seen with Saint and North; she has said she is trying for a third child. It has been claimed she is using a surrogate Personal stories from their travels are also shared. VIP ticket holders get a photo with Kim and a gift bag. These photos were shared after a big week for Kim. She appeared as First Lady Jackie Kennedy with daughter North on the cover of Interview magazine. The stunner also dressed up as Cher from the 1970s for a Harper's Bazaar Arabia cover. Her family also announced they were donating $500,000 to relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey. He split from Uma Thurman in 2005 following seven years of marital bliss. And Ethan Hawke was clearly thrilled as he was joined at the star-studded First Reformed screening at the 74th Venice Film Festival with his son Levon Thurman-Hawke, 15, - who he shares with his ex-wife. Arriving at the Sala Grande in on Thursday afternoon, the 46-year-old actor proved it was truly a boys' day out as he was joined by the teen - who bares a striking resemblance to his famous mum. Scroll down for video Boys' day! Ethan Hawke was clearly thrilled as he was joined at the First Reformed screening at the 74th Venice Film Festival with his son Levon Thurman-Hawke, 15 Famous parents: The teen bore a striking resemblance to his famous mum, Uma Thurman While Uma wasn't present, Ethan and Levon proved to be having a great time as they made a very dapper appearance on the red carpet. Ethan proved to be undeniably suave in his fitted navy suit, which boasted slick black collars. He kept it simple as he forewent a tie and left his crisp white shirt to make a statement. The Boyhood star was dressed to impress as he was joined by his handsome son Levon, who couldn't wipe the smile from his face. Father and son: Arriving at the Sala Grande in on Thursday afternoon, the 46-year-old American actor proved it was truly a boys' day out as he was joined by the teen Handsome: While Uma wasn't present, Ethan and Levon proved to be having a great time as they made a very dapper appearance on the red carpet Trendsetter: Accompanying his famous father down the red carpet, Levon opted for a stylish black suit which perfectly complemented his navy tie Uncanny: With his blonde locks and piercing blue eyes, the teen looked just like his acclaimed actress mother, Uma (L) Accompanying his famous father down the red carpet, Levon opted for a stylish black suit which perfectly complemented his navy tie. With his blonde locks and piercing blue eyes, the teen looked just like his acclaimed actress mother, Uma. Ethan and Uma first met on set of the 1997 flick Gattaca and they married the following year before calling it quits in 2005. As well as Levon, the former lovebirds also share 19-year-old Maya. Meanwhile, the First Reformed screening proved to be truly a glamorous affair - bringing out the flick's leading lady, Amanda Seyfried. Love story: Ethan and Uma first met on set of the 1997 flick Gattaca and they married the following year before calling it quits in 2005. As well as Levon, the former lovebirds also share 19-year-old Maya Star-studded: Meanwhile, the First Reformed screening proved to be truly a glamorous affair - bringing out the flick's leading lady, Amanda Seyfried Stunning: The actress, 31, looked incredible in the dramatic black gown, which featured floral embroidery on the bodice Dramatic: The Gothic inspired number boasted an asymmetric skirt with contrasting mesh panels and semi-sheer detailing showcasing her legs - with Paul Schrader The actress, 31, looked incredible in the dramatic black gown, which featured floral embroidery on the bodice. The Gothic inspired number boasted an asymmetric skirt with contrasting mesh panels and semi-sheer detailing showcasing her legs. She set off her look with a pair of skyscraper heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver earrings. Ethan plays a man wrecked by grief over the death of his son in First Reformed, while Amanda portrays a member of his church whose husband commits suicide. The Venice Film Festival is kicking off the Autumn cinema season with drama, glamour and a crop of new movies vying for attention, awards and acclaim. Sensational: Amanda set off her look with a pair of skyscraper heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver earrings Plot: Ethan plays a man wrecked by grief over the death of his son in First Reformed, while Amanda portrays a member of his church whose husband commits suicide In recent years, Venice has been a launch-pad for Oscar winners including Gravity, Birdman, Spotlight and La La Land. Clooney is in the running for the festival's top prize - the Golden Lion - with his latest directional venture, Suburbicon, which is due for release in October and stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. Jennifer meanwhile is expected at the festival for the much-anticipated Mother!, which also stars Javier Bardem. The Spanish star should also be on hand alongside Penelope Cruz for the drug-lord biopic Loving Pablo. An older generation of showbiz royalty will be well represented by stars including Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland and Michael Caine. Eagerly anticipated: The Venice Film Festival is kicking off the Autumn cinema season with drama, glamour and a crop of new movies vying for attention, awards and acclaim Suited and booted: Ethan looked dapper in a navy suit and white shirt Working his angles: The Hollywood star seemed at ease in front of the camera Jane Fonda and Robert Redford star in the late-life romance Our Souls at Night and are being given lifetime-achievement awards by the festival. Actress Annette Bening is the festival's first female jury president since Catherine Deneuve in 2006. The rest of the jury line-up include Hungarian film director and screenwriter Ildiko Enyedi, Mexican film director, producer and screenwriter Michel Franco, Britsh actress Rebecca Hall and French actress Anna Mouglalis, Anglo-Australian film critic David Stratton,Italian actress Jasmine Trinca, British film director Edgar Wright and Taiwanese-Hong Kong film director Yonfan are also members of the jury this year. Jetting in: On Wednesday, Ethan was spotted arriving in Italy ahead of Venice Film Festival She loves to whip her clothes off any chance she gets. And former Bachelor star Megan Marx has gone topless again in a racy photo shoot, taken in Bali just recently. During the shoot, the 28-year-old stripped off her bikini top and revealed her pert derriere while posing provocatively on a plush bed. If you've got it, flaunt it! Ex Bachelor star Megan Marx goes TOPLESS again and reveals pert derriere in racy photo shoot One image saw Megan sitting cross-legged on a white bed, raising her lithe arms above her head. Leaving little to the imagination, the blonde bombshell revealed her ample bust, taut torso and a glimpse of her skimpy briefs. Offering her side profile for the camera, Megan's facial features were enhanced with a bronzed complexion, defined brows, kohl-rimmed eyes and a coating of pink gloss over her plump pout. From every angle: Another photo saw the Perth native staring intently at the lens, flaunting a significant amount of side boob Sultry: Mixing things up, Megan later knelt on the same plush bed, this time drawing attention to her pert derriere Another photo saw Megan staring intently at the lens, flaunting a significant amount of side boob. Her mid-length tresses falling in tousled waves behind her toned back, the Perth native placed her slender arms on her thighs, showing off a tattoo on her upper left arm. Mixing things up, Megan later knelt on the same plush bed, this time drawing attention to her pert derriere. Itsy bitsy: The Channel Ten personality then opted for just a tiny crochet G-string She's got some front! Once again, Megan's ample bust was on display as she stood in between plush white fabric Looking back at the camera in a sultry fashion, nearly every inch of the Channel Ten personality was on display. Other images within the racy photo shoot saw Megan sporting just a tiny crochet G-string, her bust once again on display. Meanwhile, Megan and her former girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon split earlier this year, but may be reuniting soon. The former lovebirds took to Instagram earlier this week, promoting the exact same celebrity cruise in the Philippines, they will both be boarding. Set to rekindle? Meanwhile, Megan and her former girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon split earlier this year, but may be reuniting soon Love on board? The former lovebirds took to Instagram earlier this week, promoting the exact same celebrity cruise in the Philippines, they will both be boarding Shortly after their debut on The Bachelor, the girls had fans questioning whether they were dating, from their very racy snaps shared to Instagram. Tiffany and Megan were seen posing in sheer lingerie, while another image saw the pair topless and eating a bowl of spaghetti. And back in November at Maxim's Hot 100 party in Sydney, the pair confirmed their relationship status to Daily Mail Australia. 'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship. It probably wasn't until we were in Bali together that it was like ''Oh, this is more'',' said Tiffany. History: Back in November at Maxim's Hot 100 party in Sydney, the pair confirmed their relationship status to Daily Mail Australia: 'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship. It probably wasn't until we were in Bali together that it was like ''Oh, this is more'',' said Tiffany Megan also confessed she wasn't expecting to fall for another woman while filming the TV dating series. 'We had very different experiences when we were on the show. Obviously I found Tiffany very attractive but I was there to get to know Richie,' she said. 'But instantly we knew there was a very strong connection.' However their romance wasn't to be, parting ways in March. They both appeared on reality television searching for love. And Married At First Sight star Nick Furphy, who was dumped by his on-screen 'wife' Sharon Marsh, appears to have taken quite a liking to Bachelor reject Steph Dixon. The not-so-shy pair, who were first spotted on a dinner date in July, were reunited on Thursday at the White Mojo VIP launch in Melbourne. Scroll down for video Perfect match? Married At First Sight star Nick Furphy, who was dumped by his on-screen 'wife' Sharon Marsh, appears to have taken quite a liking to Bachelor reject Steph Dixon Nick, 30, held onto Steph tightly as the gussied up twosome happily posed for photos together. Despite the wintery Melbourne chill, tanned and toned Steph, 26, flaunted her trim pins in a sheer jumpsuit with billowing sleeves. Nick cut a chic yet casual figure in a white shirt, blue blazer, khaki pants and brown boots. Daring: Despite the wintery Melbourne chill, tanned and toned Steph, 26, flaunted her trim pins in a sheer jumpsuit with billowing sleeves Understated: Nick cut a chic yet casual figure in a white shirt, blue blazer, khaki pants and brown boots The duo were first romantically linked at the end of July, when they headed out for dinner at the Oriental Teahouse. Their dinner date came after Nick fueled speculation Steph was dating his MAFS co-star Jesse Konstantinoff. Taking to his Instagram story the same month, the Melbourne carpenter posted videos of the Adelaide green grocer and model walking along the street together. Captioning one video '#jesse'sgirl', Steph was seen covering her face with her coat and whispering the word 'incognito'. Getting close: The duo were first romantically linked at the end of July, when they headed out for dinner at the Oriental Teahouse Meanwhile Nick and his 'wife' Sharon revealed in early July they had parted ways, two months after she moved from Perth to Melbourne to be with her beau. 'I love Nick, but after moving to Melbourne eight weeks ago to be with him, I soon realised I'm not in love with him,' Sharon confessed to New Idea at the time. In addition to Steph, Nick has been spotted out with model Bailey Scarlett, 20, and Miss Universe Australia 2016 Caris Tiivel since his split with Sharon. She's the Naked Dating contestant who prompted a warning from censors due to her raunchy behaviour. And after causing a stir on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O Show, Yasmin Scott is heating things up on the latest cover of adult publication People magazine. The 26-year-old is described as a '100 per cent Aussie nympho' by the publication, telling social media fans to 'hire my holes'. '100 per cent Aussie nympho': Kyle and Jackie O's Naked Dating contestant and porn star Yasmin Scott (pictured) sizzles on the latest issue of Australian adult publication People magazine Yasmin shows off her curves on the magazine cover in lacy red lingerie, which she pairs with stocking suspenders and stilettos. Wearing her brunette locks out over her back, the porn star offers a smoldering star to the camera. She describes herself as an 'international porn w***e' on social media, where she proudly boasts of starring in adult films and posing for X-rated magazines. She's not shy! Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that besides working as an 'international stripper', Kyle And Jackie O's 'Naked Dating' star Yasminis also a pornographic actress Yasmin, who told the Sydney breakfast radio program she worked as a stripper and personal trainer, has starred in several adult films. Besides starring on the cover of People, she has also appeared in the pages of Penthouse twice. It is not known whether Yasmin was recruited by producers or if they knew of her other adult work. KIIS FM did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Thursday. Porn star: Yasmin, who told the Sydney breakfast radio program she worked as a stripper and personal trainer, has starred in several X-rated films and posed for adult magazines Popular: Yasmin boasts a significant following on both Twitter and Instagram, and regularly shares topless and scantily-clad selfies online. Pictured on Wednesday's Naked Dating Yasmin declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Thursday. Meanwhile, she boasts a significant following on both Twitter and Instagram, and regularly shares topless and scantily-clad selfies online. On Wednesday's The Kyle and Jackie O Show, hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson were forced to intervene in their Naked Dating segment. Comment: It is not known whether Yasmin was recruited by producers or if they knew of her other adult work. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to KIIS FM for comment Yasmin and 24-year-old firefighter Azan Turoa ignored questions from the presenters and wouldn't stop passionately kissing and touching each other. Eventually, Kyle asked whether the couple planned on taking things further. 'Yeah I'll shag him,' Yasmin said enthusiastically, while Azan helpfully added he had 'some (condoms) in the car.' Getting frisky: Yasmin and 24-year-old firefighter Azan Turoa (right) ignored questions from the radio presenters and wouldn't stop passionately kissing and touching each other 'We are not allowed to broadcast sexual acts whether recorded or live': The raunchy segment, which was broadcast live on Instagram this week, resulted in an official warning from censors The radio hosts asked the couple to move to an empty office after receiving a warning from the censors. 'Hang on - I've been typed a note from our censors and legal department we are not allowed to broadcast sexual acts whether recorded or live,' Kyle explained. 'I can offer you the handicap toilets on level one,' he added. Azan later clarified to YahooBe that the pair did not have sex that day. As Gary Oldman worked with a make-up designer to come up with his look for his portrayal of Winston Churchill, he glanced in the mirror and joked that he looked more like Stan Laurel. That was in the very early stages of a 50-day process, in which he also worked with prosthetic designer Kazuhiro Tsuji; and months before director Joe Wright started rolling cameras for Darkest Hour. The stirring film tells how Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister in May 1940, and how he battled powerful forces in Britain urging him to agree a settlement with Hitler. Scroll down for video Gary Oldman portrays Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. It also stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill (pictured with Oldman), Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax, Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain and Lily James as a private secretary. The film will have its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival tonight There was blood, toil, tears and sweat, just to get me to look a little bit like Churchill, Oldman told me on the set. There was one look that was even more like Churchill than Churchill but it was spooky, and there had to be a little bit of me to come through. The idea is to give an essence of the man. I wasnt to be a man with a rubber face. Once the actor, designer, director and executives at Working Title and Focus Features were happy with the look, Oldman worked with costume designer Jacqueline Durran, on Churchills dress: opting to use the great mans tailor and shirt-maker for his outfits. Its about capturing a flavour, a sense, Oldman said. My girlfriend said: I go to bed with Winston Churchill, but I wake up with Gary, he joked. There was blood, toil, tears and sweat, just to get me to look a little bit like Churchill, Oldman told me on the set The result is a truly magnificent portrayal of a world leader particularly at a time when proper world leaders are few and far between. The film, which also stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill (pictured with Oldman), Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax, Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain and Lily James as a private secretary, will have its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival tonight. Screenwriter Anthony McCarten said the film shows a Churchill who had doubts. He wavered; there were uncertainties. Director Wright said he wanted to show Churchill the human being. Darkest Hour explains why Dunkirk happened, and how it gave Churchill the strength to scuttle the appeasers We know Churchill the icon. But I wanted the human being, with all his flaws and doubts. Its important to see that out of doubt comes great strength; and out of despair can come hope. Churchill was vulnerable as well as powerful. Thats what I wanted to come across. The films set against the backdrop of Dunkirk and makes an excellent counterpoint to Christopher Nolans hit movie. Darkest Hour explains why Dunkirk happened, and how it gave Churchill the strength to scuttle the appeasers. And Oldmans delivery of some of Churchills most famous speeches is breathtaking. Watch out for... Emma Williams, who will join fellow Half A Sixpence star Charlie Stemp (the show ends its run at the Noel Coward tomorrow night) in the big, glittery London Palladium panto Dick Whittington, which will begin a five-week run at the famous variety house on December 9. Williams will play Alice Fitzwarren, Dicks love interest. Lukus Alexander has been cast to play Eileen the cat. The starry line-up also includes Elaine Paige, Julian Clary, Gary Wilmot, Ashley Banjo and Diversity, Nigel Havers and Paul Zerdin. He was spotted visiting a building site for a craft beer brewery in July. And Karl Stefanovic, 42, has teased he may be leaving the Today show to pursue a career in the construction industry. Appearing on Friday's edition of the popular Nine breakfast program, Karl teased a big career change by flashing photos of himself standing on a building site wearing a hard-hat. Is Karl leaving the Today show? Karl Stefanovic, 42, teased he may be leaving the Today show on Friday to pursue a career in the construction industry 'This is Karl rolling up his sleeves in a bit of high vis and a helmet, showing us how it's done. He's gone all corporate on us,' Sylvia Jeffreys narrated. 'What is the story behind the pics, Karl?' asked Lisa Wilkinson. 'The story behind these pics is that I am launching into a different career on Sunday,' he beamed as co-hosts looked on in surprise. 'It is a very big announcement': Presenter Ben Fordham jokingly said that Karl may be planning a career in politics, but Karl refused to comment Presenter Ben Fordham jokingly said that Karl may be planning a career in politics, but Karl refused to comment. 'It is a very big announcement,' he said, confirming that he would reveal more details to the media on Sunday. Meanwhile, fans have speculated Karl may be dipping his toe in the construction business after being spotted at a building site for craft beer brewer Young Henrys in Sydney's Newtown. One Karlsberg thanks! Meanwhile, fans have speculated Karl may be dipping his toe in the construction business after being spotted at a building site for craft beer brewer Young Henrys in Sydney's Newtown The Today show host met with a Young Henrys staff-member before taking a tour of the premises, leaving onlookers wondering whether he is in fact an investor for the new development project. Meanwhile, Karl has been enjoying his new relationship with 33-year-old model Jasmine Yarbrough, having made his first public appearance by her side at Fashion Week earlier this year. The Channel Nine reporter is believed to have met Jasmine during a yacht party in December. In September last year, Karl split from his wife Cassandra Thorburn, 44, after 21 years of marriage. They've rarely been apart since they began dating in 2016. And things were no different on Thursday as Kristen Stewart and Stella Maxwell kept a tight grip on each other while walking through New York City. The actress and the Victoria's Secret model even dressed alike for the outing, both sporting dark shades, graphic t-shirts and jeans ripped at the knees. They match: Kristen Stewart and Stella Maxwell held hands as they walked down the street in New York City on Thursday afternoon in matching distressed denim and vintage t-shirts Kristen, 27, added a Raiders cap to her dressed-down look, in which she showed her love for English musician Joe Strummer on her tee. The former Twilight star's blonde locks could be seen growing out underneath the cap, she debuted a bleach blonde buzz cut on the red carpet in March of this year. Though the short cut was not required for her role in Underwater, which she filmed in New Orleans shortly after unveiling her new 'do, it did come in handy as her character wears a helmet through most of the film where she plays a mechanical rig who works in an oil rig on the ocean floor. Love story: They have been dating since 2016, Kristen had previously dated men in the past Stella, also 27, let her wavy blonde locks flow freely for the walk through the city with her love. Maxwell opted for a pair of flat black loafters with a chain detail across the front of them. She took a cue from her girlfriend by also wearing a vintage rock shirt, hers baring the logo from 1970's rock concert A Day On The Green. Rock on: Stewart wore a shirt with English musician Joe Strummer on the front while Stella rocked a t-shirt with the logo for 1970's rock concert A Day On The Green Stewart has dated both men and women in the past, infamously cheating on her Twilight co-star boyfriend Robert Pattinson with her Snow White And The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders. Though she said she was 'so gay' during her 2017 monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live, Stewart has admitted she's open to dating men again. 'Yeah, totally. Definitely... Some people aren't like that. Some people know that they like grilled cheese and they'll eat it every day for the rest of their lives. I want to try everything. If I have grilled cheese once I'm like, "That was cool, what's next?"', she told Harper's Bazaar UK. Switch hitter: Though she said she was 'so gay' during her 2017 monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live, Stewart has admitted she's open to dating men again Maxwell recently returned from a trip to Colorado to film a racy Victoria's Secret ad campaign directed by Michael Bay. She and her fellow VS Angels took fans along for the journey on Instagram, sharing plenty of behind the scenes shots of the Western-themed lingerie shoot. Stella has confirmed she will be taking part in Victoria's Secret's next fashion show in Shanghai, China. News / International by Kingstone Jambawo London - 30th of August 2017 - Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation (ZHRO) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) U.K. & Ireland Youth Assembly held joint demonstrations outside the Zimbabwean Embassy in London.The demonstrations one, in commemoration of the UN International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance was initiated by ZHRO's Mable Kayiya, Head of Marketing and the other, "NO to Violence" organised by MDC Youth Sharon Moyo, London Organising Secretary, were held in a great atmosphere of unity and purpose.In spite of the rain, the event was very well attended by many Zimbabweans, who came from across the UK, some as far as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.The event was also to raise awareness of the abductions that happen at home.Many highlighted the problem of missing activist in Zimbabwe calling on the government, SADC and the international community to do more to tackle the problem.The Government has since refused involvement or to acknowledge that Itai Dzamara was abducted yet the activist was abducted by five armed men in broad daylight on 9 March 2015 which has spread terror within Zimbabwe."As we remember victims of enforced disappearance. I can't stop to think about itai Dzamara. Can someone tell us where itai Dzamara is? Surely someone out there no where he is. There are many activities missing everyday and it's going to be worse as we go into election in 2018. For all missing people i will continue with the struggle till we are liberated from ZANU PF" said Sharon Moyo.The practice of enforced disappearances has become a tool for intimidating the population, and of evading accountability.Special attention should also be paid to family members of the disappeared who are torn between hope and despair."Today I saw the Zimbabwean community come together to commemorate victims of enforced disaperance. To many, enforced disapperance is not a clear concept. Often, persons subjected to enforced disapperance are being mistaken for missing persons, for example our fellow activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted on the 9th of March 2015 even though it is very different. Enforced disapperance is the deprivation of liberty of a victim and is a crime against humanity. The families of the victims are also victims themselves as they go through psychological trauma of not knowing the whereabouts of their loved one and also not being able to grieve. As the Zimbabwean Diaspora community today, we would like to remind the world of the importance of using the tools available to fight against enforced disapperance" said Sibongile Kadzima of ZHRO.The government needs to take responsibility for the multitude of serious human right violations, including the rights to personal liberty, and integrity."May I remind you that a government that systematically practice enforced disappearances does not care what families go through and will do nothing in terms of the legal uncertainty, financial support for the wives and children and not to mention, the emotional suffering of the relatives" said Pythias Makonese.It is the state's responsibility to prevent enforced disappearances perpetrated by either state or non-state actors. But when the state is responsible for arbitrary arrests, detention and abductions then its main objective is to ensure impunity. Rescue volunteers after clearing out all the evacuees from the Twin Oaks Estate in the Clodine district after Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston, Texas After pouring record rains on Texas, Tropical Storm Harvey made a second landfall Wednesday to strike Louisiana, a state that still bears deep scars from 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The second hit comes five days after the monster storm slammed onshore as a Category Four hurricane, pummeling the US Gulf coast with torrential rains that turned neighborhoods into lakes in America's fourth largest city, Houston. Harvey made its second landfall just west of the town of Cameron, the National Hurricane Center said, with "flooding rains" drenching parts of southeastern Texas and neighboring southwestern Louisiana. Louisiana residents braced for Harvey's ferocious maximum sustained winds nearing 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour, with forecasters predicting another five to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain could pour on the region. They expect Harvey will gradually weaken to a tropical depression by Wednesday night, meaning maximum sustained winds should slow. But low-lying New Orleans was still girding for the storm, just a day after the 12-year anniversary of Katrina, which ravaged the vulnerable city famous for its jazz music and cuisine. The New Orleans branch of the National Weather Service said a heavy rain threat remained over southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi through Thursday, when relatively drier weather is finally slated to arrive. One night prior to the second landfall, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu tweeted to "remind #NOLA that we are not yet in the clear," urging residents to "remain vigilant and cautious." - Rescue teams scrambling - Updated map showing major highways and streets hit by flooding in Houston, as of Tuesday In Texas emergency crews were still struggling to reach hundreds of stranded people in a massive round-the-clock rescue operation -- but the National Weather Service tweeted that weather conditions there were to at last improve. The storm had transformed roads into rivers in America's fourth-largest city, driving more than 8,000 people into emergency shelters. Houstonians woke up Wednesday from a nighttime curfew declared by Mayor Sylvester Turner aimed at aiding search efforts and thwarting potential looting in the flood-ravaged city. At least one bridge had crumbled, one levee had breached and dams were at risk in the Lone Star State. The full scale of the catastrophe's impact -- including the number of deaths and the extent of destruction -- remained difficult for authorities to gauge, as rescue efforts were ongoing and much of the city remained flood-stricken. US media reports indicated the death toll could have risen to 30, and authorities feared confirming more once the worst had past and search teams could again travel roads. A Houston police officer was confirmed the latest victim of the storm after the body of Steve Perez, who went missing after reporting for duty in the early hours of Sunday, was recovered by divers two days later. Harvey was previously known to have left at least three people dead, with six more fatalities potentially tied to the storm. - 'Overwhelming' - Residents were continuing to be evacuated from flooded neighborhoods of Houston on Tuesday Everywhere, the figures from the storm are staggering. The National Weather Service said over six million Texans have been impacted by 30 inches or more of rain since Friday. Residents living around a chemical plant in the county that includes Houston were evacuated as a precaution, over fears that some of the chemicals at the facility -- which produces organic peroxides -- might react or cause an explosion. Andrea Aviles, 16, fled her home along with her family on Tuesday. She and some 30 extended family members were now crammed into a hotel in the small town of Winnie. "I've never seen it like this," she said of the flooding. "All our yard is full of water." Hugging the road's central median in their Suburban vehicle -- water reaching halfway up the tires -- they passed ditches full of abandoned cars. "It was sad," she said. "It's overwhelming." President Donald Trump toured the Harvey disaster zone in Texas on Tuesday as he sought to project an image of leadership in America's first major natural disaster since he took office. Civilian rescuers like the ones here in Cypress, Texas have played an important role in the Harvey relief effort On Air Force One bringing Trump back to Washington, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president will return to Texas Saturday and perhaps go to Louisiana, too, depending on the weather there. The US leader and First Lady Melania avoided visiting Houston to avoid disrupting recovery efforts. But the president was nevertheless seeking to make a political statement, learning from the mistakes of former Republican leader George W. Bush, whose response to Hurricane Katrina was widely seen as botched. - 'Long way to go' - The National Weather Service tweeted Harvey appears to have broken a US record for most rain from a single tropical cyclone, with nearly 52 inches (132 centimeters) recorded in the town of Cedar Bayou. The Texas bayou and coastal prairie rapidly flooded after Harvey struck the coast on Friday, but the region's sprawling cities where drainage is slower were worst hit. Highways were swamped and homes were rendered uninhabitable, with power lines cut and dams overflowing, sparking massive floods across Houston -- a city of 2.3 million people -- and its wider metropolitan area of six million. Federal officials estimate up to half a million people in Texas will ultimately require some form of assistance -- but for now the focus remains immediate disaster relief, with many lives still at stake. "Recovery is a slow process," Brock Long, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said as he welcomed Trump in Corpus Christi along with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. "We've got a long way to go." A Palestinian girl plays in an impoverished area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, on April 26, 2016 UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted Wednesday as he visited the Palestinian enclave enduring "one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises" he had seen. "I am deeply moved to be in Gaza today, unfortunately to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that I've seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations," Guterres said. He later said it was "important to open the closures," in a reference to Israel's decade-long blockade of Gaza and to the border with Egypt that has remained largely closed in recent years. Guterres made the comments at a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008. Israel says the blockade is necessary to keep Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the enclave, from obtaining weapons or materials that could be used to make them. The blockade also serves to isolate Hamas. UN officials say the enclave is fast becoming unliveable, with sparse electricity and a lack of clean water. Guterres's comments came as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. He held talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday and was due to give a speech in Tel Aviv later Wednesday before departing. Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe successfully claimed diplomatic immunity in South Africa after a model accused her of assault Thousands of Zimbabweans marched through Harare on Wednesday in a show of support for first lady Grace Mugabe who evaded assault allegations in South Africa by claiming diplomatic immunity. The march, organised by President Robert Mugabe's all-powerful ZANU-PF party, came two weeks after Grace was accused of attacking a 20-year-old model at an upmarket Johannesburg hotel. Grace Mugabe had reportedly been expected to address the "solidarity rally" once marchers reached the party's headquarters in the capital, but she did not appear at the event. She is alleged to have assaulted Gabriella Engels with an electrical extension cable at the hotel where the Mugabes' two sons, who are in their 20s and have a reputation for partying, were staying. The marchers, who were mainly women and young men dressed in party colours, chanted slogans and sang praises for "Dr Amai" (Doctor Mother). Some street vendors and shopkeepers from the outskirts of Harare told AFP they were forced to close their businesses and join the march. "We support the president and Dr Amai all the way to elections in 2018," said 21-year-old unemployed mother-of-one Belinda Sunga, adding she relied on party-sponsored projects to survive. President Mugabe, 93, who came to power in 1980, is due to stand again in elections next year, with his wife, 52, seen as one possible successor when he leaves office. - 'A insult to women' - "We came here to march and mobilise support for our president and the first lady," said Lovemore Goka, 22, a motor mechanic who travelled by ZANU-PF transport from Gokwe, about 340 kilometres (210 miles) away. "Engels is not an angel," read one placard held by a supporter while another said "We Stand by Our Mother, Dr Grace." Engels suffered cuts to her forehead and the back of her head, and opened a police case in South Africa alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Zimbabwean opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) dismissed the marchers as "sycophants" trying to seek favour with the Mugabe regime. "If there should be any march, it should be against Grace Mugabe," MDC spokesman Obert Gutu told AFP. "The march is an insult to women. She had no decency to apologise after she was granted diplomatic immunity in suspicious circumstances." The state-run Herald newspaper on Wednesday ran a special supplement praising Grace Mugabe for her charity work and describing her as "a loving mother of the nation". The first lady is increasingly active in public life and in 2014 became the head the ZANU-PF party's women's wing. She regularly speaks at rallies across the country, railing against anyone alleged to be disloyal to the president, and handing out clothes and domestic goods. While speaking with Uber workers, Khosrowshahi shared his opinion that the private company should go public, hinting that could happen in 18 to 36 months, according to the Wall Street Journal and other US media Freshly hired Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi met with employees on Wednesday, promising to fight for the company and hinting a stock market debut is in its future. Khosrowshahi wore an Uber t-shirt as he was introduced to workers during an 'all-hands' gathering at the San Francisco headquarters, according to photos posted online. Khosrowshahi tweeted a picture of his new Uber employee access badge, and said that it functioned as promised. While speaking with Uber workers, Khosrowshahi shared his opinion that the private company should go public, hinting that could happen in 18 to 36 months, according to The Wall Street Journal and other US media. Uber announced Tuesday that it hired Expedia boss Khosrowshahi as its new chief executive, hoping that he can steer the ride-sharing service away from the string of controversies it has faced in the past year. Khosrowshahi is credited with turning Expedia into a global travel services behemoth, winning admiration from employees along the way. He replaces Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was pressured to resign as chief of the leading smartphone-summoned ride service. Khosrowshahi is known as an experienced top executive, willing to speak his mind and to advocate for women getting equal pay and leadership opportunities. A possible stock market debut for Uber, the world's most valuable private company based on funding rounds, has long been a source of speculation. The Iranian-American has responded to IPO questions by expressing the opinion that he would like to see it as late as possible. - Kalanick court win - Kalanick was the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world's most valuable venture-funded tech startup. But his brash personality and freewheeling management style, which some argue set a problematic tone at the company, made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing giant. He stepped down as chief executive in June due to pressure from influential investors including Benchmark Capital, which went on to file a civil lawsuit against Kalanick. The Benchmark lawsuit filed in a Delaware court accused Kalanick of fraud, breach of contract and of plotting to manipulate the board of directors to allow him to return as CEO. But in a legal filing, Kalanick claimed that Benchmark "began secretly planning an effort to oust him" and "executed its plan at the most shameful of times" following the death of his mother in a May accident. Kalanick scored a victory on Wednesday when a judge granted his request to have the dispute handled in private arbitration instead of open court proceedings, according to US media reports. The decision should prevent public airing of embarrassing testimony or evidence in the case, but could lead to a binding decision that can not be appealed as is the case with court verdicts. Based on how much investors got for their money during recent funding rounds, Uber is valued at some $68 billion. Some mutual funds have reportedly marked down their stakes in Uber in a sign that months of scandal were taking a toll on the private company's value. Khosrowshahi will face challenges including conflicts with regulators and taxi operators, a cut-throat company culture, and board members feuding with investors over Kalanick. Iranian pilgrims returned to the hajj in Saudi Arabia after their absence last year following a 2015 stampede that killed hundreds of them Reza from Iran is torn between the joy of taking part in this year's annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites and bitter memories of the 2015 stampede that killed hundreds of his compatriots. Iranian pilgrims stayed away from the 2016 hajj after regional rivals Saudi Arabia, custodian of the sites in the west of the kingdom, and Iran failed to agree on arrangements and logistics. Arrangements for the hajj, a religious duty which devout Muslims must accomplish at least once in their lifetime, are thorny and security paramount for the two million pilgrims who throng Islam's holiest sites in western Saudi Arabia. In 2015, a human river of pilgrims was performing the final major rite of the hajj, the "Stoning of the Devil", near Mecca when a stampede killed hundreds of Muslims from across the world. Riyadh issued a death toll of 769, while figures compiled from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally of around 2,300 dead. Tehran reported the largest number of stampede victims, with 464 Iranians among the dead. "They were murdered, they (Saudi authorities) didn't help them," said Reza, a 63-year-old former oil company official, seated in the lobby of a Mecca hotel. But Reza said that new security measures now left him feeling safer. "Everything is clear this year," he said, speaking in English. "They've taken more security measures otherwise we would not have come," he said. And "the hajj leaders of Iran have given us instructions and times" for the rituals, to avoid any repeat of the 2015 disaster. Iran says more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are attending the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia after the two countries agreed on security measures Iranian authorities say more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are taking part in this year's hajj, each equipped with an identity bracelet in case of any accident. The "made-in-Tehran" bracelets can be connected to smartphones, allowing access to information on the hajj. Iran lambasted Saudi Arabia in the months following the stampede, condemning its organisation of the hajj and questioning the kingdom's very right to serve as custodian of Islam's holiest places. - 'Holy sites for all' - In January 2016, Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran broke off diplomatic ties after angry Iranian protesters stormed Saudi diplomatic missions over the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Tehran and Riyadh stand on opposing sides in several regional disputes, including the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, as well as this year's Gulf diplomatic crisis between Qatar and a Saudi-led Arab bloc. But a breakthrough accord on Iranian pilgrims taking part in this year's hajj was struck in March after several months of negotiations during which the two Gulf states traded bitter recriminations. "It was a conflict between two countries, Iranians wanted to come here," said Mohammed, a 38-year-old engineer from the city of Arak, southwest of Tehran. Mohammad was at the doomed 2015 hajj and said some of his acquaintances had died in the stampede, while he himself had lost consciousness but survived. According to Fariba Adelkhah from the research and study centre of France's Sciences Po University, Iran could not have stopped its citizens from making the pilgrimage to Mecca for much longer. "The travel ban could not last long. Could politics call into question a religious duty? That question was at the centre of a debate in Tehran," said Adelkhah. An Iranian pilgrim reads the Koran as she waits at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia on August 27, 2017 "The Iranian government did not want to take responsibility for preventing their citizens again from going to Mecca," she said. At Reza's hotel filled with Iranian pilgrims in Mecca's bustling Al-Aziziya neighbourhood, the consensus was that lifting the ban on travel for the hajj was the right thing to do. Dressed in a black chador, Mariam, an English-language teacher from Babol in northern Iran, said holy shrines should be open to all Muslims "and Saudi Arabia cannot ban any country". "I wish that one day all Muslim countries will be able control the holy shrines, not just Saudi Arabia," she said. Custodianship of the Muslim holy places is a key plank of the Saudi monarchy's claim to legitimacy, and the Saudi king's official title is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," in Mecca and Medina. One of Abbott's greatest successes as Texas attorney general was his defense of a Ten Commandments monument in front of Capitol building in Austin Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been the ubiquitous face of the state's response to the havoc unleashed by Hurricane Harvey, but the arch-conservative hasn't always been the calm, reassuring figure he is today. Residents and officials have hailed his leadership throughout the crisis, with Democrats casting aside their differences to work together against one of the worst disasters in the Lone Star state's history. It has not always been this way. Prior to Harvey, one of Abbott's main claims to national fame was the staggering number of lawsuits he filed against the administration of then president Barack Obama -- more than 30, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune. Indeed, he reveled in being something of a liberal bogeyman in this largely conservative state that has in recent years become a testing ground for Republican policymakers looking to advance their hard right conservative agenda nationwide. But since Harvey came crashing down on the Texas coast Friday night, he has made common cause with elected officials from both parties, holding press conferences in a commanding, unflustered voice to keep citizens abreast of the latest developments as multiple local, state and federal agencies undertake relief operations. "We won't say congratulations," Donald Trump told him Tuesday on a visit to flood-stricken areas. "We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished. But you have been terrific." Abbott effectively stifled an early potential controversy, declining to criticize the Democratic mayor of Houston for not evacuating the city ahead of the hurricane. Rather, Abbott insisted there was no question of revisiting decisions already taken and said it was more important to look ahead. In emergency relief centers, most survivors appear satisfied. "Excellent from what I can see," said Derryl Bodreaux, a 68-year-old Democrat who came to a convention center shelter because no food stores were open. "I've been here 66 years and I haven't seen anyone respond like they responded for this particular incident." Some others said credit largely went to individual volunteers and private entities such as churches, but found little to fault the governor. The mayors of the state's major cities such as Houston and Dallas, Democratic islands in a vast Republican ocean, have avoided speaking out against him. -- 'True' American values -- The 59-year-old, who is a lawyer by training, was named to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1995 by then governor George W Bush. He entered the political fray in 2002 to become elected the state's attorney general. At the heart of his message was the accident which, at the age of 26, left him paralyzed below the waist when a tree fell on him while he was out jogging. "It was the lesson of never, ever giving up," said Abbott, who since that time has used a wheelchair. He transformed the post into a national springboard for defending conservative values, especially freedom of religious expression in public spaces, the right to bear arms, and reducing the powers of the federal government. To this end, he enlisted the services of a brilliant lawyer by the name of Ted Cruz -- now a Texas senator and ex-rival of Trump in last year's Republican presidential primary. One of Abbott's greatest successes was his defense of a Ten Commandments monument in front of Capitol building in Austin against a challenge in the Supreme Court by a citizen who had claimed it violated the separation of church and state. "They really proactively sought to use the office to advance what they would describe as conservative values across the country," said Patrick Svitek, a political journalist for the Texas Tribune, adding that Abbott sought to bolster his reputation through his lawsuits against the federal government. Elected governor in 2014, he has continued his obsession with making Texas a beacon for "true" American values -- unlike those of its eternal rival, California, a progressive bastion. "Ever since Abbott took office, California has been his number one boogeyman to push various policies," added Svitek. A major example is the fight against illegal immigration. In the state legislature he pushed a bill against so-called "sanctuary cities" -- Democratic municipalities where officials have refused to cooperate with federal authorities in cracking down on undocumented migrants. The law was set to come into force Friday but was challenged in court, and was temporarily blocked late Wednesday. Over the summer, he also supported a "bathroom bill" pushed by Republican hardliners in the state legislature which would have prohibited transgender people from using the toilet of their choice, though that measure failed. In polling, he is currently the most popular Republican in Texas. It remains to be seen whether he can leverage the exposure from Harvey to secure a future of the national stage. The last two men to hold his job -- George W Bush and Rick Perry, both ended up running for president. The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over the Asian island nation, triggering condemnation from world leaders including the US and Japan Nuclear-armed North Korea has warned Tokyo against "imminent self-destruction" for siding with Washington, as tensions soar after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan. The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over the Asian island nation, triggering condemnation from world leaders including the US and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced the launch as an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat" and agreed with US President Donald Trump to "further strengthen pressure against North Korea". The North's official KCNA news agency decried the former colonial power in a commentary, saying: "Japan has now come out with its sleeves rolled up in supporting its master's anti-DPRK war moves." The allies' "military nexus" had become a "serious threat" to the Korean peninsula and Japan was "unaware" it was "accelerating self-destruction", the statement late Wednesday said. It made a specific reference to US forces being based in Hokkaido -- the island that the North's missile flew over. "The DPRK's toughest countermeasures include a warning to Japan going wild, being unaware of its imminent destruction," and blindly following the US, it added. Pyongyang has warned of more similar tests to come. The authorities in North Korea are highly nationalistic and promote resentment of the US and Japan as part of their claim to legitimacy. KCNA said earlier that the missile launch was timed to mark the 107th anniversary of the "disgraceful" Japan-Korea treaty of 1910, under which Tokyo colonised the Korean peninsula. In 1785 Jean-Francois de Galaup de La Perouse was sent by King Louis XVI to chart the globe and map lands that had eluded English explorer Captain James Cook An Indian seaman's tale of being shipwrecked on a remote northern Australian island could shed light on the 230-year-old disappearance of a renowned French explorer, one of maritime history's greatest mysteries, an anthropologist said Thursday. In 1785 Jean-Francois de Galaup de La Perouse was sent by King Louis XVI to chart the globe and map lands that had eluded English explorer Captain James Cook. Three years later the explorer and his 220 crew were shipwrecked after setting sail from Botany Bay in New Holland -- now Australia -- in the direction of New Caledonia. His two frigates were eventually found off the tiny Solomons island of Vanikoro, northeast of New Caledonia and locals said the survivors built a vessel to sail back to France. After they left, they were thought to have vanished at sea. But the survival story of an Indian sailor, Shaik Jumaul, hints at a bloodier end for La Perouse and his crew -- some 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) back towards Australia. Jumaul's tale, chronicled in The Madras Courier newspaper in 1818 but largely ignored until now, detailed the shipwreck of his merchant ship off northern Australia in 1814, according to Australian National University anthropologist Garrick Hitchcock. Hitchcock, who detailed his research in The Journal of Pacific History, said the Indian sailor was marooned on Murray Island in the Torres Strait. When he was rescued by merchant ships in 1818, he told the crew he saw cutlasses and muskets on the islands that were not English made, as well as a compass and a gold watch. "When he asked the Islanders where they obtained these things, they related how approximately 30 years earlier, a ship had been wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef to the east, in sight of the island," Hitchcock said. But according to the testimony, the shipwrecked sailors were not given a warm welcome. "Boats with crew had come ashore, but in the fighting that followed, all were eventually killed, except a boy, who was saved and brought up as one of their own, later marrying a local woman." Hitchcock said he believed the seaman's tale, mentioned briefly in a 2012 French book but dismissed as unreliable, could be true as it matched the chronology of the survivors' attempt to return home. "Historians and maritime archaeologists are not aware of any other European ship being in that region at that time," he added. La Perouse arrived in Botany Bay outside Sydney days after it was claimed for the British by Arthur Phillip in 1788. Hitchcock told AFP he was hopeful marine archaeologists looking for shipwrecks in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef around Murray Island could find some French artefacts. He said he was also planning to undertake a search of the island with the help of locals. No caption Toshiba said Thursday that three groups are vying for its memory chip business, as reports said Apple has jumped into the race with a consortium offering to pay about $20 billion for the unit. The loss-hit conglomerate said bidders include a group led by US investment fund Bain Capital and Japanese state-backed investors and another that includes Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision, better known as Foxconn. A third consortium includes Western Digital, Toshiba's US-based chip factory partner, which has tried to block any sale to a third-party in court. Selling the profitable chip division is seen as key to cash-strapped Toshiba's survival as one of Japan's best-known firms struggles to plug multi-billion-dollar losses at its US nuclear power division, Westinghouse Electric. Toshiba did not mention Apple, which has joined the Bain-led consortium, according to reports in Japan's Nikkei business daily and top-selling Yomiuri newspaper. Toshiba poured cold water on reports that it would make a final decision Thursday, saying it had been unable to reach a "mutually satisfactory definitive agreement with one of the consortia". It did not elaborate. "The negotiation with each consortium has not reached the point which will allow Toshiba's Board of Directors... (to) make a decision regarding the sale" of the chip business, it added in a statement. Talks would continue with possible bidders with an eye on a reaching a deal "at the earliest possible date", it added. Earlier reports said Bain brought Apple into the bidding group to stay in the running as Toshiba leaned toward a deal with Western Digital. Apple relies on Toshiba's memory chips for iPhones and iPods, and wants a continued supply so it is not dependent on rival Samsung Electronics, Bloomberg News said, quoting people familiar with the matter. Toshiba is the world's number-two supplier of memory chips, behind South Korean titan Samsung. "There are supply shortages of that type of memory," said Michael Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity. "Theyre always looking to work closely with key suppliers and lock in long-term supply agreements," he said. Multi-billion-dollar losses at Westinghouse have raised doubts about the future of Toshiba, which is still recovering from a 2015 accounting scandal. Negotiations for the sale of its memory chip business have dragged on for months while Toshiba needs to raise money by the March end of the current business year to avoid delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. North Korea's latest missile launch has ramped up tensions in the tinderbox region Tensions between North Korea and the United States are spiking again in the aftermath of Pyongyang's latest weapons test, when it lobbed an intermediate range missile over northern Japan. The long-running face off between the little-understood regime in Pyongyang and the United States has intensified since the start of Donald Trump's unorthodox presidency, and shows no signs of calming down. Here are some questions and answers on the volatile situation: - What has happened? - In the last two months, Pyongyang has carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) apparently bringing much of the US mainland into range. North Korea says it needs a fearsome arsenal to defend itself against invasion by the United States and its weapons programme is a source of pride for ordinary citizens It has also threatened to send a salvo of missiles to "envelop" the US Pacific territory of Guam, which is home to significant US military facilities and which it sees as a beachhead for invasion. US President Donald Trump has issued apocalyptic warnings of raining "fire and fury" on the North, saying Washington's weapons were "locked and loaded", while his administration has repeatedly said military action was an "option on the table". Tuesday's firing of a missile over Japan -- which Pyongyang called a "curtain-raiser" for further launches -- was seen as an escalation by the regime because of its trajectory. The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion by the United States, and its possession of an ICBM enhances its deterrent, by enabling it to threaten US cities as well as South Korea and Japan, both of them US allies. - What will the North do next? - Leader Kim Jong-Un has called for Pyongyang to carry out more missile tests into the Pacific Ocean, and there is no reason not to take him at his word. Pyongyang has a long history of steadily pushing back boundaries. Kim Jong-Un proudly oversees North Korea's missile tests and has called for Pyongyang to carry out more Last year it fired a missile that came down in Tokyo's exclusive economic zone -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from Japan's coast. At the time it provoked consternation and condemnation, but there were several repetitions in the following months. Analysts say the North's next escalation could be to fire multiple missiles over Japan simultaneously. It could also look to demonstrate its capabilities by sending one further than the 2,700 kilometre distance Tuesday's missile travelled -- Guam is around 3,400 kilometres from the North. But the flight path of Tuesday's missile appears to have been carefully chosen not to go anywhere near Guam and risk provoking a physical response -- KCNA went as far as declaring: "The drill had no impact on the security of the neighbouring countries." - Is US military intervention possible? - Experts caution that military intervention in North Korea remains unlikely -- at least for now. Still, the Pentagon has 28,500 troops in South Korea and detailed plans for a potential conflict with the North. It has spent decades rehearsing with South Korean counterparts, including in the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint exercises which were ending Thursday. Options range from limited surgical strikes on nuclear targets to a pre-emptive "decapitation" attack to take out Kim and other senior leaders. The US military has been practising shooting down missiles in what it says is an effort to bolster its defence against any North Korean threat But North Korea also has decades of experience in tunnelling -- it dug passages under the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) after the Korean War -- and both its atomic arsenal and conventional artillery are believed to be well underground, protected from attack. A first strike would be highly unlikely to destroy all its nuclear weapons, and it has massed artillery within range of Seoul, home to 10 million people just 55 kilometres (30 miles) from the DMZ -- giving it the ability to inflict mass casualties even with just a conventional response. Despite Trump's rhetoric, many agree with his former chief adviser Steve Bannon, who told The American Prospect: "There's no military solution, forget it." - What about China and more sanctions? - In August the UN Security Council passed a seventh set of sanctions against the North over its weapons programmes, including bans on the export of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore as well as fish and seafood. North Korea major missile launches 2017 The measures were approved unanimously -- including by Moscow and Beijing, the North's sole major ally, but their effectiveness hinges largely on China, which accounts for 90 percent of trade with North Korea but is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures. The US has repeatedly tried to press China into taking a harder line on North Korea, but Beijing fears a collapse of Kim's regime. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed this week to increase pressure on the North. That could also include unilateral moves by Japan and the US -- Washington last week sanctioned 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of supporting the North's nuclear programme. Beijing and Moscow both back a mutual freeze in which the North stops missile tests and the US and South Korea halt joint military exercises. But that would leave the North with capabilities seen as unacceptable by Washington, which says the proposal would reward bad behaviour. - How about talks? - The message out of Washington is a little muddied. After the latest launch, Trump tweeted: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" But soon afterwards Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters: "We're never out of diplomatic solutions," and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has repeatedly said he hopes to persuade Pyongyang to come to the negotiating table. US Permanent Representative to the Geneva conference Robert Wood and other American diplomats have pressed for rounds of sanctions against Pyongyang, but the regime has shown no sign of changing course Pyongyang insists its weapons are not up for negotiation, and analysts say it is enhancing its military capabilities to strengthen its position in any future talks with the US -- it has shown no interest in discussions with Seoul. Through the 2000s, six-party talks among China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and the US appeared to draw Pyongyang, then under the rule of Kim's father Kim Jong-Il, towards a possible slowdown in its programme, but that process collapsed in 2009. The North has carried out five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and says it has mastered both miniaturisation and re-entry technology to fit a working warhead onto a missile. Questions remain about those and other issues, but Professor Koh Yu-Hwan at Dongguk University in Seoul told AFP that this week's launch was "a clear message" the North would not talk until it had nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the US. Having such a weapon, Pyongyang believes "will give the North the upper hand in any negotiations", he said. Preparing teens for their futures with soft skills Businesses of every size and industry continue to identify labor shortages as a top challenge across the country and... Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state... The value of uncoated groundwood paper imports to the US from Canada was an estimated $1.27 billion in 2016 The US Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday an investigation into whether imports of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada were being dumped in the United States. The probe, focused on whether Canadian producers received subsidies allowing them to sell their paper in the US market at a cut rate, could result in anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The department said in a statement it had received a complaint from a paper company in the northwestern United States, which alleged that Canadian products had sold from between 23.5 percent and 55 percent below market rate. The value of uncoated groundwood paper imports to the US from Canada was an estimated $1.27 billion last year, according to the statement. The announcement comes as negotiators engage in tense talks aimed at revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement that links the US, Canada and Mexico. The US has already slapped tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber as part of a trade conflict between the neighboring countries. Freight trucks snake from Mexico into California as they are inspected at US Customs, at the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego After days of threats from US President Donald Trump to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, negotiators get down to business Friday at the second round of talks aimed at revamping it. Having set an ambitious "accelerated" calendar during the first round -- held in Washington from August 16 to 20 -- US, Mexican and Canadian negotiators will now dive into the nitty gritty details at five days of talks in Mexico City. Trump has dialed up his anti-NAFTA rhetoric in the build-up to the second round, saying Mexico was "being difficult" and that the US would "end up probably terminating" the 23-year-old trade deal he accuses of shipping American jobs south of the border. However, Trump's power to shock and awe appears to be waning in Mexico, where his tweets were once capable of sending the peso into a tailspin. "The leverage and power that the US has in the context of NAFTA is perhaps a little bit less than the Trump administration thought it had," said Jean-Francois Perrault, chief economist at Scotiabank. Trade trends among NAFTA partners Mexico dismissed Trump's threat to scrap NAFTA as posturing -- his "peculiar" negotiating style, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray called it. And the government answered a series of vitriolic Trump tweets with an undaunted statement saying it would not renegotiate the deal over social media. Most experts now say NAFTA is likely to survive with moderate changes -- though with Trump, nothing is certain, they warn. "Base case is that all parties will be able to find common ground and small changes to the agreement are unlikely to affect trading relations within the bloc," Neil Shearing, an economist at London-based consulting firm Capital Economics, told AFP. Trump may ultimately have little room to maneuver. Some 14 million US jobs depend on trade with Mexico and Canada, according to the US Chamber of Commerce. And the president faces strong pressure from US industry to keep NAFTA in place. - Plan B - Mexico's economy is meanwhile chugging along despite Trump's threats, after wobbling in the wake of his election. It grew an annualized three percent in the second quarter, and the central bank nudged its 2017 growth forecast up Wednesday, to 2 to 2.5 percent. The bank cited "a reduced probability" of major disruptions in the relationship with the United States. Still, Trump being Trump, the Mexican government has come up with a Plan B in case the talks fail. It says it includes diversifying the country's trading partners to reduce dependence on the United States, where Mexico currently sends 80 percent of its exports. "He could still surprise us. Trump does have the executive authority" to pull out of the deal, said Alejandro Luna, a partner at Mexican business law firm Santamarina & Steta. He predicted a "difficult" second round of talks. There are numerous touchy subjects on the table, including US demands to scrap NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism and change the rules of origin for the auto sector to require a certain percentage of cars' components to be built in the United States in order to remain duty-free. Trump is also fixated on slashing the United States's $64 billion trade deficit with Mexico -- though economists say it is a structural issue that cannot be changed with trade talks. Mexico will face pressure to overhaul its labor laws and deliver wage increases to factory workers who make an average $2.30 an hour -- about one-tenth the average factory wage in the US. The talks next head to Ottawa in late September, then Washington in October. Negotiators are rushing to reach a deal before the process gets caught up in campaigning for Mexico's July 2018 presidential elections and the November 2018 US midterms. But few details are expected to emerge: all three sides have agreed to keep the talks secret until they are done, which they hope will be by the end of the year. The US air strike targeted Taliban insurgents in Dasht-e-Bari village in Logar province near Kabul on Wednesday Thirteen civilians from the same family were killed and another 15 wounded in a US air strike on Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan authorities said Thursday. US Forces-Afghanistan said it has launched an investigation into the incident which an Afghan official said also killed more than a dozen insurgents hiding in a house in Dasht-e-Bari village in volatile Logar province near Kabul on Wednesday. It comes days after Afghan officials said the country's own air force killed up to 13 civilians in separate strikes targeting a Taliban base in the western province of Herat. "In the operation the US forces came under the attack by the Taliban and foreign forces returned fire and forced the Taliban insurgents to hide in the civilian houses nearby," Saleem Saleh, a spokesman for the Logar provincial governor, told AFP. "Then the foreign forces called in air support and bombed the civilian house which led to civilian casualties." Saleh said the victims were from the same family and most of the dead were women and children. "I heard two big bangs and when I went out of my home I saw the building which was bombarded was totally destroyed," Nazar Khan Kochi told AFP. "We pulled out the dead bodies from the rubble and debris and buried them. "It was a very painful day for us," he said, describing the incident as a "massacre" and adding no Taliban were among the dead. Photos showed dead women and children wrapped in shrouds as relatives prepared to bury them. Logar provincial police spokesman Shahpoor Ahmadzai confirmed the number of casualties. The US is the only foreign force currently carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan. The US military said it has launched an official probe into the incident which comes three weeks after a US air strike allegedly killed 11 civilians in neighbouring Nangarhar province -- charges the Americans have vehemently denied. "United States Forces-Afghanistan takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and is working with our Afghan partners to determine the facts surrounding this incident (in Logar)," it said in a statement. Ordinary Afghans have borne the brunt of the grinding conflict which began in October 2001, with record high civilian deaths this year. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, with deaths in Kabul accounting for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to a UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report published last month. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa visited helicopter carrier Izumo at a base in Yokosuka before attending Japan's top security meeting Britain and Japan will step up the pace of sanctions against nuclear-armed North Korea after its "outrageous" firing of a missile over Japan, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday. "We condemn North Korea in the strongest words possible for a reckless act which was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," May told a press briefing during an official visit to Japan. "In response to this illegal action, Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe and I had agreed to work together and with others in the international community to strengthen pressure against North Korea including by increasing the pace of sanctions." Last week, Japan expanded its own sanctions against the North, after a similar US move. Britain wants new United Nations sanctions against North Korea that would target guest workers sent mostly to Russia and China, and whose wages are a source of revenue for Pyongyang. In July Pyongyang carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), apparently bringing much of the US mainland within range. On Tuesday, it fired a missile over Japanese territory. Japan's leader said Thursday that North Korea's missile tests proved it is now a "global threat". "It is not only a threat for Japan or Asia but it is a global threat," Abe said. "Almost all of Europe is within striking range of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles," he added. May pointed to the key role that China, the North's chief ally, can play in pushing for change. "Now we need to ensure it's not just words of condemnation, but that action is taken, and China does have a particular position in this," she said. "They have leverage on North Korea, and I believe we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage." Earlier Thursday, Beijing slammed a report that suggested the US, Japan and Britain were planning fresh punitive measures against the North, saying calls for sanctions were "destructive" and that those measures alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue". - 'Transparency and predictability' - May attended Japan's top security meeting Thursday, reportedly only the second foreign leader to attend a meeting of the National Security Council after Australia's then-prime minister Tony Abbott in 2014. The council, which was created at the end of 2013, consists of Abe and key ministers. The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously condemned North Korea after the launch of its missile, which flew over Japanese territory before crashing into the Pacific, but stopped short of issuing fresh punitive measures against the regime. Earlier Thursday, May visited a naval base on the outskirts of Tokyo with Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera before attending a business forum and the security meeting. May arrived in Japan Wednesday with an eye to soothing Brexit fears and pushing ahead on early free-trade talks with the world's number three economy. More than 1,000 Japanese companies do business in Britain, employing some 160,000 local people with many using Britain as a staging post to do business in Europe. But uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations has spurred some Japanese firms that have set up shop in Britain, or established European headquarters there, to look for alternative locations. "I have asked Prime Minister May to minimise the impact on Japanese companies and to ensure transparency and predictability," Abe said Thursday. The two leaders also discussed a possible Britain-Japan free trade agreement. But analysts said there would not likely be much progress until Japan and the EU wrap up a nearly-finalised trade deal, and details of Brexit are worked out. May is due to meet Emperor Akihito on Friday before leaving Japan. Video of the arrest of Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez as he took his daughters to school, filmed by his daughter Fatima (C), sparked outrage An undocumented father and US resident who was arrested earlier this year as he took his children to school has been released on bond, according to his lawyers. Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez, a Mexican who has lived in the United States for nearly three decades, was arrested in late February by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near his children's school in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. On Wednesday an immigration judge in San Bernardino County ordered his release on $6,000 bond, ruling Avelica-Gonzalez merits "discretionary release from custody" because of community connections "and critical ties to this country," according to a statement from his lawyers. One of his four daughters, Fatima, had filmed her father's arrest from the backseat of the car he had been driving, sobbing as she recorded the incident. The arrest came as federal agents were launching sweeps across the US following President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The video went viral, sparking outrage and coming to symbolize damage inflicted by the evictions of unauthorized migrants. Avelica's four daughters are American and rely on their father's income. "I almost cannot believe that my father will be back home with us," said Fatima. "This has been the most devastating six months of my life. But I have learned the power and strength of my family and community united." "I will never unlearn that." The release does not yet give Avelica-Gonzalez the right to remain in the United States. His legal proceedings will continue in immigration court. ICE spokespeople reached by AFP declined to comment. Immediately following his release Avelica-Gonzalez vowed to "savor every minute with my family." "I will fight for my right to remain with them and in this country," he said. "And I will never again be able to look away from how deportations are tearing families apart." Israel's army regularly acts against media it accuses of encouraging young Palestinians to take up arms against Israeli forces in the West Bank Israeli forces have shut down a Palestinian radio station in the occupied West Bank for six months, the army and sources at the station said on Thursday. Al-Hurria station in the southern West Bank city of Hebron was closed "for content inciting violence and encouraging terrorism," an army spokeswoman said without providing further details. A source at the station said technical equipment had been confiscated during a raid on the station's offices. Israel's army regularly acts against media it accuses of encouraging young Palestinians to take up arms against Israeli forces in the West Bank. Al-Hurria, which means freedom in Arabic, was one of two channels similarly closed for six months in November 2015 shortly after the start of a fresh wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The unrest has continued, killing more than 294 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 47 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Two B-1B bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live-fire drill in South Korea on Thursday, intended as a show of force against the North after its latest missile launch. "South Korean and US air forces conducted an air interdiction exercise in order to strongly cope with North Korea's repeated firing of ballistic missiles and development of nuclear weapons," the South's air force said in a statement. Two B-1B "Lancer" bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part. B-1B overflights of the peninsula from Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, infuriate the North, which condemned the drill on Thursday, the South's Yonhap news agency reported. "The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback" by Pyongyang's latest missile launch, Yonhap cited the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. Pyongyang had previously announced a plan to fire a salvo of missiles towards Guam. It was one of the moves that saw tensions spiral this month, along with a new set of UN Security Council sanctions and US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning to rain "fire and fury" on Pyongyang, and culminating with the North firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday. A frustrated Trump took to Twitter to condemn Pyongyang, saying "the US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" With tensions surging, Moscow urged Washington not to use force against North Korea and also said attempts to toughen sanctions would be counterproductive. In a phone call late Wednesday with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "underscored... the need to refrain from any military steps that could have unpredictable consequences," the foreign ministry in Moscow said. China on Thursday also condemned "destructive" calls for further sanctions, warning Japan, the US and Britain that diplomacy was needed to avert a crisis. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said sanctions alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue", amid reports the three countries were pushing for new restrictions on North Korean oil imports and foreign workers. "The current situation on the Korean peninsula is not a screenplay, it's not a computer game. It is a real situation that directly bears on the security of the people on the peninsula and the whole regional peace and tranquility," she said. - May calls to up pressure - On a visit to Japan on Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said London and Tokyo would work together to pressure North Korea "including by increasing the pace of sanctions" against Pyongyang". The UN Security Council has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, the most recent of which were passed this month, but the measures have done little to quell Kim Jong-Un's nuclear missile ambitions. Thursday's live-fire drill took place at the Pilseung shooting range in Gangwon province, some 150 kilometres (94 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. South Korean soldiers participate in an anti-terror drill on the sidelines of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills with the US A South Korean air force spokesman said it was separate from the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint exercises, which wrapped up on Thursday. Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops took part in the largely computer-simulated exercise that ran for two weeks in the South. The annual drills are viewed by nuclear-armed Pyongyang as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion, and it always meets them with threats of strong military counteraction. A US Forces Korea official told the Yonhap news agency that Washington had avoided sending bombers to the peninsula during the UFG exercises "in hopes that the reduced scale would send a positive signal to North Korea and the region", but Pyongyang had responded with a series of provocations. The North's state media called Tuesday's Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile flight over northern Japan "a part of the muscle-flexing" against the war games. Kim Jong-Un called for more launches into the Pacific, the KCNA news agency said. North Korea says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against the US, and analysts say Pyongyang has made rapid strides in its ballistic technology in defiance of seven sets of United Nations resolutions. In July it conducted two successful ICBM launches which appeared to bring most of the US mainland into range. Advertisement This was the scene today as two million Muslims from around the world began gathering at Mount Arafat for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia dedicated to prayers and reflection. Helicopters flew around the area as the faithful converged from dawn on the surrounding Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma - or Mount of Mercy - near Mecca. Dressed in white, the pilgrims could be seen climbing up the sides of the hill and taking up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun. Scroll down for video Two million Muslims from around the world began gathering on Mount Arafat today for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia dedicated to prayers and reflection Dressed in white, the pilgrims could be seen climbing up the sides of the hill and taking up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun Helicopters flew around the area as the faithful converged from dawn on the surrounding Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma - or Mount of Mercy Mass gathering: Muslim worshippers pray during the Hajj pilgrimage outside Namrah Mosque in Arafat, near Mecca Around 2.6 million muslim are expected to attend this year's Hajj pilgrimage, which is highlighted by the Day of Arafah, one day prior to Eid al-Adha On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, they invoked God as they walked with their palms facing the sky. Others rested in makeshift tents or on sheets along the side of the road amid empty bottles and waste. The second day of the hajj, a must for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it, is dedicated to prayer and reflection. The second day of the hajj - a five-day pilgrimage which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if physically and financially able - is dedicated to prayer and reflection With temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) under the desert sun, the faithful climbed the hill east of Mecca where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon some 14 centuries ago The second day of the hajj, a must for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it, is dedicated to prayer and reflection Arafat is the site where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon about 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on the pilgrimage On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, they invoked God as they walked with their palms facing the sky Pilgrimage: It was still not even 10am and temperatures were already over 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) A Muslim worshipper takes selfies using his mobile phone during the Hajj pilgrimage on Mount Arafat, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia WHY MUSLIMS FLOCK TO 'MOUNT OF MERCY' Mount Arafat is the spot where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have given his final sermon more than 1,400 years ago. Worshippers flock to the Mount of Mercy each year in what is seen as the peak of the hajj pilgrimage, in an effort to start anew, erase past sins and beg God for forgiveness and guidance. In his sermon, the prophet called on followers to repay their debts, beware of Satan, perform five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan and give to charity. He also called on those with the means to perform the hajj once in a lifetime. He also reminded worshippers of the rights that women have, and said that no ethnic group or race has superiority over another except in piety and good action. Advertisement Arafat is the site where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon about 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on the pilgrimage. 'I went up last night and prayed, taking pictures and calling my family and friends,' said Maia, 32-year-old from Jakarta. Noura Sulieman, a pilgrim from the Philippines, said she'd been to the hajj many times before and was here again to pray for her family. 'I came here to Arafat to pray for my family, for my daughter, and my son, and all my family, and all the Philippines Muslims, and all Muslims in all countries,' she said. 'God willing, Allah will accept our pilgrimage.' It was still not even 10am and temperatures were already over 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). In a hospital opposite the mountain, an area was set aside for people who suffer in the heat. 'We have deployed 326 ambulances on the pilgrimage route so they can take care of the sick very quickly,' said Meshal Alanazi of the Red Crescent. In the evening, the pilgrims will travel to Muzdalifa where they will stay the night before taking part in a symbolic stoning of the devil. The ritual at the Jamarat Bridge was the scene of a stampede in 2015 that claimed the lives of 2,300 pilgrims - the worst disaster in the history of the hajj. In the evening, the pilgrims will travel to Muzdalifa where they will stay the night before taking part in a symbolic stoning of the devil Saudi security control the traffic of the Muslim pilgrims' arrival at Arafat for the annual hajj pilgrimage, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 security forces to secure the hajj and assist pilgrims A Muslim worshipper reads the Koran during the Hajj pilgrimage on the Mount Arafat. Around 2.6 million Muslims are expected to attend this year's pilgrimage Ascent: The kingdom has deployed more than 100,000 security personnel to keep pilgrims safe at this year's hajj, according to the interior ministry A pilgrim reads on the Jabal Al Rahma holy mountain, or the mountain of forgiveness, at Arafat for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage Offering prayers: Muslim worshippers set off early in the morning to scale the mountain close to Mecca in Saudi Arabia At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers have been installed to control the movement of the crowds. 'They will be moved to enlarge the passages when there are more pilgrims,' said Ahmed al-Baraka of the Saudi security forces. The movement of such a large and diverse crowd of people in a short period of time in limited spaces is a logistical challenge for the Saudi government. Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 security forces to secure the hajj and assist pilgrims. Additional doctors, nurses, ambulances and mobile health centers are also deployed in the areas of hajj. Bulgaria, which specialises in the production of light-weight Soviet-style weapons and munitions, exported over 1.0 billion euros' worth of arms in 2016, nearly 60 percent more than the year before. Conflicts in the Middle East boosted Bulgaria's arms exports by almost 60 percent in 2016 to record levels not seen since the end of communism, official data showed Thursday. Bulgaria, which specialises in the production of light-weight Soviet-style weapons and munitions, exported over 1.0 billion euros' ($1.2 billion) worth of arms in 2016 compared to 642 million in 2015 and 402 million in 2014. Iraq and Saudi Arabia were the main buyers, followed by the United States, Afghanistan, Croatia, Azerbaijan, India, Egypt and Russia, the annual report of the export control committee showed. Experts believe that many of weapons exported by Bulgaria -- and other countries in the region -- end up in war-hit Syria and Yemen after being re-exported by Saudi Arabia and the US to armed groups in these countries. A 2014 study by the British Conflict Armament Research organisation concluded that one quarter of the munitions used by the Islamic State group in northern Iraq and Syria were Bulgarian-made. Bulgaria's economy ministry, which greenlights all arms exports, had downplayed the issue, saying that it cannot be held accountable for any re-exports. Bulgaria makes "Russian models that are not expensive and are easy to use," expert Tihomir Bezlov from the Sofia-based think-tank Centre for the Study of Democracy commented recently to AFP. During communism, Bulgaria traditionally exported an annual 800 million dollars' (670 million euros') worth of arms to pro-Soviet regimes and movements in the Middle East and Africa. Muslim pilgrims gather on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia for the climax of the hajj pilgrimage on August 31, 2017 Their palms facing the sky, around two million Muslims gathered Thursday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage, one of the world's largest annual gatherings. With temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) under the desert sun, the faithful climbed the hill east of Mecca where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon some 14 centuries ago. They gathered in prayer on Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy, for the second day of the hajj -- a five-day pilgrimage which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if physically and financially able. Nada and Fida, two sisters from Syria, said they had dedicated their prayers to their home country, where more than 330,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since its civil war broke out in 2011. "I want Syria to go back to the way it was before," said Nada, 52. "And for our youth to come back home," added her 47-year-old sister. At sunset, a sea of pilgrims clad in white made their way down the hill and headed to Muzdalifa to spend the night. On Friday, they will move on to Mina before sunrise for the hajj ritual of the symbolic "Stoning of the Devil". This year's hajj has seen the return of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran following a diplomatic row and a deadly stampede in 2015. But thousands who would normally make the journey from neighbouring Qatar are absent apart from a few dozen because of a diplomatic crisis shaking the Gulf. - All eyes on Mina - Muslim pilgrims walk and pray on Mount Arafat during the climax of the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on August 30, 2017 "I came up here last night and prayed, took pictures and called my family and friends," said Maolana Yahia, 32, who made the trip from Indonesia. Tunisian mother-of-three Fatima Arfawi said she was moved beyond words during the prayers on Mount Arafat. "This is the first time I see anything like this, ever," she said. "This day is dedicated to prayer for my three children and my family." In a hospital opposite the mountain, an area was set aside for people suffering dehydration or heat exhaustion. Saudi Arabia's Red Crescent said it had deployed 326 ambulances along the pilgrimage route to handle health emergencies. "Some pilgrims, for example, forget to protect their heads with an umbrella when they pray," said Bandar al-Harthi, a nurse at a hospital facing Mount Arafat. Muslim worshippers gather for the noon prayer at Namirah mosque near Mount Arafat on August 31, 2017, ahead of the climax of hajj pilgrimage On Friday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, all eyes will be on the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, where the stoning ritual is held. It was the scene of the 2015 stampede that claimed the lives of nearly 2,300 pilgrims, the worst disaster in the history of the hajj. - Politics and pilgrimage - Tehran reported the largest number of victims in the 2015 stampede, with 464 Iranians among the dead. A Muslim pilgrim takes a selfie in front of Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia during the hajj pilgrimage on August 30, 2017 The next year, amid heightened political tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Iranian pilgrims stayed away from the hajj after the two countries failed to agree on arrangements and logistics. Iranian authorities say more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are taking part this year, each equipped with an identity bracelet in case of any accident. Reza, a 63-year-old former oil company official from Iran, said he was torn between the joy of taking part and lingering grief over the stampede. "They've taken more security measures otherwise we would not have come," he said. Saudi Arabia says it has deployed more than 100,000 security personnel to keep pilgrims safe. At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers had been installed to control the movement of the crowds. Seated near the barriers, eight young women from Ghana who are all related took a brief respite after making their way from Mina. Aged between 18 and 30, for some of them it was their first time away from home. "This is the first time I leave Ghana," said 25-year-old Khadija. "My husband let me come alone because it is Mecca." Japan's coastguard said it issued at least 820 warnings to North Korean boats trawling illegally in its economic zone, firing water cannon at some vessels that refused to leave Japan's coastguard expelled hundreds of North Korean fishing vessels from its waters this summer, officials said Thursday, as tensions soar in response to Pyongyang launching a missile over its neighbour. The agency said it fired water cannon at some boats whose crew refused orders to leave the Yamato Banks, a rich fishing ground in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), adding that the expulsions started in mid-July. It was the first time the coastguard revealed it has being booting the North Korean ships from Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The announcement came two days after North Korea launched a missile over Japanese territory, drawing global condemnation and stoking calls for more sanctions against the regime. Japan's coastguard said it issued at least 820 warnings to North Korean boats trawling illegally in its economic zone, which extends some 200 nautical miles from its coastline. The agency added that a particular boat might have received more than one warning. "Since mid-August, we haven't seen North Korean fishing vessels in waters around the Yamato Banks," an agency official said. Every year, badly damaged boats -- sometimes with rotting corpses inside -- wash up on Japan's shores. They are believed by some experts to be North Korean fishing boats that had ventured far from their own coast in search of bigger catches to alleviate the impoverished nation's regular food shortages. In July, Tokyo said it has lodged a protest with Pyongyang after one of its patrol vessels was chased by an apparently armed fishing boat believed to be from North Korea within Japan's EEZ. Diane Rwigara was barred from running against Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the August election A Rwandan opposition figure who was barred from challenging President Paul Kagame in last month's election has been "taken" by police, her brother said Thursday, a claim denied by the authorities. Police officers took Diane Rwigara. 35, and some of her family members to an unknown location on Tuesday night after raiding her house in the Rwandan capital Kigali, her brother Aristide said. An accountant and political newcomer, Rwigara announced her intention in May to run in the August election against Kagame, who has held held de facto power in Rwanda since 1994. Nude photographs purporting to be Rwigara appeared online soon after she declared her candidacy. She was later disqualified from running against Kagame, after the national electoral commission accused her of using forged documents to acquire the required number of signatures supporting her bid. Kagame went on to win his third seven-year term with nearly 99 percent of the vote. Paul Kagame's long tenure has been criticised for muzzling political opposition and stifling free speech Rwigara's family say the former candidate, her mother and four siblings have been missing since the raid on Tuesday. "I know for a fact that they were taken to a place I don't know. I don't know how they are. Their phones and laptops plus the house was searched while they were held in handcuffs," Aristide Rwigara, who lives in the United States, said by phone. "This is about silencing my sister because she exposed some things and she speaks her mind against the wrong things that the government of Rwanda is doing." A week after her candidacy was turned down Rwigara launched the People Salvation Movement (Itabaza) -- a rights movement. "Diane was arrested and taken to an undisclosed location," said an Itabaza source who requested anonymity. They added that she and her mother had not been allowed access to legal assistance. Rwandan police denied arresting Rwigara. "The rumour that is currently circulating that Diane Rwigara has been arrested is not true," said police spokesman Theos Badege. "What is true is that police have conducted a search at her family residence as part of preliminary investigations on tax evasion and forgery." Rwigara's father was a onetime ally of Kagame and financial backer of the ruling party. He died in a car crash in 2015, with family members suspecting foul play. Kagame first became de facto leader when his Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels halted the 1994 genocide in which some 800,000 mostly Tutsis were killed at the hands of extremist Hutus. His long tenure has produced strong economic results but has been criticised for muzzling political opposition and stifling free speech. Kagame's critics have ended up jailed, forced into exile or assassinated. Benazir Bhutto, sitting in front of a poster of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hailed by the West as a moderate in the world's only Islamic nuclear power The first female prime minister of a Muslim nation, Pakistan's slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was an aristocrat embraced by the poor who said her own life mirrored Pakistan's "turbulence, its tragedies and its triumphs". Hailed by the West as a moderate in the world's only Islamic nuclear power, Bhutto was a shrewd but divisive figure at home where she was mired in corruption allegations and despised by religious extremists. "I didn't choose this life, it chose me," she wrote in her 1988 memoir, "Daughter of the East". The 54-year-old graduate of Oxford and Harvard was killed December 27, 2007, little more than two months after returning from exile as she campaigned to return to power. The most definitive accounts of Bhutto's death show an assassin shot her in the neck and then blew himself up, killing 24 people. She was laid to rest beside her father, former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979 on the orders of military dictator Zia ul-Haq, propelling his daughter to carry on his legacy. Nearly ten years later, showers of fresh rose petals over the grave show how deeply she is still mourned in her family's power base in Sindh province -- revered almost as a saint rather than a politician. Hundreds of devotees visit daily -- thousands on her birthday and death anniversary -- lighting incense and reciting the Koran inside the white-marbled family shrine reminiscent of India's Taj Mahal. Benazir Bhutto was born in 1953 -- six years after Pakistan was created as a Muslim homeland out of British-ruled India -- the eldest of four children in a powerful family dynasty in Sindh. Like her father, Benazir's gaze was turned to the West from an early age, although she nonetheless accepted an arranged marriage to businessman Asif Ali Zardari, with whom she had three children. Bhutto headed to Britain after Zia deposed her father. From exile, she maintained a firm grip on the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), sometimes to the resentment of allies who believed she ran it as a family fiefdom. Despite her affection for London's posh Harrods department store, Bhutto returned to Pakistan to run as a populist, rallying through the countryside with her trademark loose white veil. After Zia died in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, Bhutto -- at the age of just 35 -- became the first female prime minister of an Islamic country. But observers said that, without full control over the civil and military establishments, she was never able to govern properly. She was elected twice and both times thrown out of office on corruption allegations. Bhutto and her husband also faced a raft of corruption charges overseas, which they denied. On Saturday, just days before the first verdicts in the trial of his wife's murder were announced, a Pakistani accountability court found Zardari innocent of a corruption case filed against him in 1998. - Return to Pakistan - Bhutto went back into exile in 1999 when military leader Pervez Musharraf took over in a bloodless coup. She again shrewdly worked her contacts in the West, casting herself as the force who could save Pakistan from Islamic militancy. Her heralded return in 2007 was quickly marred by a suicide attack that killed 139 people. Musharraf declared a state of emergency, prompting international criticism and a backlash within Pakistan. Before she was killed, Bhutto was hoping for a third term in power in 2008 elections. Musharraf's government blamed her assassination on then-Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, a UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented. Musharraf was charged with her murder in 2013, adding to the indictments of two police officers and five alleged Taliban militants. On Thursday, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court declared him a fugitive in the case. It also found the two officers guilty of security breaches, sentencing them to 17 years imprisonment each in the first verdicts since the assassination almost a decade ago. But it turned the five alleged militants free, nearly ten years after they were first arrested. Bhutto's son Bilawal, currently the leader of the PPP, hopes to follow in his mother's political footsteps in elections due to be held by the end of 2018, though the party's power has largely faded outside Sindh since her death. Iraqi forces advance towards the city of Tal Afar on August 20, 2017 Iraq declared on Thursday that its forces had retaken the northern city of Tal Afar and the surrounding region in another major victory over Islamic State group jihadists. "Our happiness is complete, victory has arrived and the province of Nineveh is now entirely in the hands of our forces," said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. It comes weeks after Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition ousted IS from second city Mosul, three years after the jihadists declared a self-styled "caliphate" straddling Iraq and war-torn Syria. IS has lost much of the territory it controlled and thousands of its fighters have been killed since late 2014, when the coalition was set up to defeat the group. IS fighters in Iraq now control only the city of Hawija, 300 kilometres north of Baghdad, and a few areas in the desert along the border with Syria. The loss of Tal Afar, located between Mosul and the Syrian border, will deprive IS of what was once a significant hub for movement between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the "caliphate". Smoke billows from the village of al-Ayadieh north of Tal Afar as Iraqi forces advance against the Islamic State group on August 28, 2017 Iraq declared on Thursday that its forces had retaken the northern city of Tal Afar and the surrounding region, in another major victory over Islamic State group jihadists. IS, which seized nearly a third of Iraq in 2014 in a humiliating defeat for the army and police, now controls barely 10 percent of the country, according to the US-led international coalition ranged against the jihadists. The fall of Tal Afar, located in the northern province of Nineveh, deprives IS of what was once a key supply hub between its territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. After a 12-day battle by Iraqi forces backed by coalition air strikes and Shiite paramilitary fighters, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that Tal Afar had "regained its place in the national territory". Iraq: Government takes control of Tal Afar He vowed to liberate "every inch of Iraqi territory" from the group. "We say to the criminals of IS: wherever you are, we're coming to liberate it and you have no choice but to die or surrender," Abadi said. The full recapture of Nineveh province comes weeks after Iraqi forces ousted the jihadists from the provincial capital Mosul, three years after the jihadists declared a self-styled "caliphate" straddling Iraq and war-torn Syria. As promised by Iraqi officials, the victory also comes in time for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, which starts on Friday for Iraqi Sunnis and on Saturday for Shiites. Andrew A. Croft, deputy commander of the coalition, said the speed with which Tal Afar and surrounding areas were retaken was a "positive sign". It showed "the Iraqi forces' abilities against IS in Iraq. They have proven that the (coalition's) strategy is working," he said. - 'Stunning victory' - IS has lost much of the territory it controlled in the two countries and thousands of its fighters have been killed since late 2014, when the coalition was set up to defeat the group. But the jihadist group, which is also known as ISIS, continues to claim attacks in the Middle East and Europe. An Iraqi fighter flashes the victory sign while carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in Tal Afar on August 26, 2017 In a statement, the coalition against IS congratulated Abadi and the Iraqi security forces "on their stunning victory in Tal Afar" and Nineveh province. But it cautioned that "dangerous work remains to completely remove explosive devices, identify ISIS fighters in hiding and eliminate any remaining ISIS holdouts so they do not threaten the security of Tal Afar in the future." Croft said Iraqi forces had killed between 600 and 700 IS fighters during the battle for Tal Afar while around 100 more had surrendered. IS fighters in Iraq now control only the town of Hawija around 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Baghdad, as well as several areas in the vast western desert province of Anbar along the border with Syria. - Shiite enclave - IS jihadists overran Tal Afar, a Shiite enclave in the predominantly Sunni province, in June 2014. The city lies around 450 kilometres (240 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad and about 70 kilometres (40 miles) west of Mosul, Iraq's second city. A tank used by Iraqi forces is seen leaving Tal Afar on August 31, 2017 after the government captured the northern city from the Islamic State group At the time Tal Afar had a population of around 200,000, but it was unclear how many remained when the battle to recapture the city was launched on August 20. Officials have said the swift capture of Tal Afar would make it even more difficult for the jihadists to transport fighters and weapons between Iraq and Syria. Authorities had accused the approximately 1,000 jihadists believed to be in the city when the operation was launched of using civilians as human shields during Iraqi and coalition air strikes. Progress in Tal Afar was far more rapid than in Mosul, Iraq's second city which fell only after a gruelling nine-month battle that began in October 2016. IS has also suffered major losses in Syria, where US-backed fighters have retaken more than half of the group's de facto Syrian capital Raqa. Iraqi authorities are now expected to launch a new offensive against IS in their stronghold of Hawija in Kirkuk province. But the battle for the town is expected to be more complicated because of its location. Oil-rich Kirkuk province is at the centre of a long dispute and a source of lingering tensions between the Iraqi federal government and regional Kurdish authorities. An offensive targeting Hawija could also be postponed due to a referendum on Kurdish independence planned for September 25 -- which Baghdad has called "untimely". Hakainde Hichilema was released from custody two weeks ago after being detained for allegedly failing to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade Zambia's main opposition leader on Thursday condemned his four-month imprisonment for alleged treason as an abuse of the criminal justice system by his political opponents. Hakainde Hichilema was released from custody two weeks ago after being detained for allegedly failing to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. "It is not because the police have done an investigation, it is because a member of the ruling party has instigated the police to arrest this citizen," Hichilema said. "You cannot have a criminal justice system that operates like that." The charges were widely seen as part of a crackdown on dissent by Lungu's Patriotic Front government. Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), was speaking at a joint press conference in Cape Town with South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane. Hichilema said he was "surprised" by his release as he was looking forward to being acquitted by the courts. He was freed on August 16, when all charges were dropped hours before the start of his trial. Hichilema, who narrowly lost last year's election and refuses to recognise Lungu as president, recounted details of his "brutal" arrest in April. He said that more than "200 policemen, heavily armed with machine-guns" and assisted by German shepherd dogs surrounded his house and "poison-gassed" him, his wife and children for 10 hours. Maimane, head of the Democratic Alliance party, was in May barred from entering Zambia after he landed in Lusaka airport to attend one of Hichilema's pre-trial court hearings. A cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking moderate, Musharraf was a key US ally in the "war on terror" and escaped at least three Al-Qaeda assassination attempts during his nine years in office Pervez Musharraf, branded a fugitive by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court Thursday and the first former army chief to face criminal charges in the country, is today a far cry from the general who seized power in 1999. A cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking moderate, he was a key US ally in the "war on terror" and escaped at least three Al-Qaeda assassination attempts during his nine years in office. But when he returned from exile in 2013, ostensibly to run for election and "save" the country from militancy and economic ruin, he was met not with a hero's welcome but with apathy, ridicule, and a barrage of criminal cases. The Taliban threatened to kill him, local media mocked his ambitions and his plan to return to power was dashed when he was disqualified from running in the May election, won by Nawaz Sharif -- the man he deposed in 1999. He was confined to house arrest in his villa on the edge of Islamabad, cutting a lonely and powerless figure as the tangle of cases against him moved through the courts. But a travel ban against him was lifted in March of 2016, and he quickly left Pakistan for Dubai for what was described as urgent medical treatment. He began making regular television appearances as an analyst, and speculation briefly swirled earlier this month that he would return to Pakistan again after Sharif found himself deposed once more, this time by the Supreme Court. But Musharraf still faces a string of court cases connected to his 1999-2008 rule. He was last year acquitted over the 2006 killing of a Baloch rebel leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. However four cases against him remain -- one accusing him of treason for imposing emergency rule, another alleging the unlawful dismissal of judges, a third over a deadly raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007, and finally over Bhutto's killing. In his memoir "In the Line of Fire", he quoted Napoleon and Richard Nixon as models for leadership -- men known for their tenacity and whose hubris contributed to their downfalls. - Exile, then exile again - Musharraf was born in Old Delhi on August 11, 1943, and his family moved to the newly created Pakistan shortly after independence four years later. He said he had his first brush with death falling out of a mango tree as a boy. He joined the Pakistan Military Academy at age 18 and became a commando about five years later, rising through the ranks to reach the top when Sharif appointed him chief of staff in 1998. As army chief, Musharraf orchestrated the brief, high-altitude "Kargil conflict" in Kashmir that almost took Pakistan to war with its arch-rival India. When he ousted Sharif in 1999, many Pakistanis celebrated the end of an economically disastrous administration. Musharraf won a five-year term as president in a 2002 referendum, but reneged on promises to quit as army chief until late 2007. He aligned with the United States after the September 11 attacks of 2001, earning international praise for trying to tackle Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants and for presiding over a period of record economic growth. He faced no serious challenges until he tried to sack the chief justice in March 2007, sparking nationwide protests and months of turmoil that led to the imposition of a state of emergency. After the December 2007 assassination of Bhutto, the national mood soured further and he was left isolated by the crushing losses suffered by his allies in February 2008 elections. In August 2008, he finally resigned in the face of impeachment proceedings by the new governing coalition, going into exile until his ill-starred homecoming in 2013, exiling himself once more three years later. A UN report categorically held Pervez Musharraf's administration responsible for failing to provide Benazir Bhutto with the necessary security to ward off the attack A Pakistani anti-terrorism court declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial Thursday, nearly 10 years after the iconic political figure was gunned down in the streets of Rawalpindi. The court dismissed charges against five alleged Taliban militants accused of being involved in the killing, while two police officers were found guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", becoming the only people to be convicted in the case. The most definitive accounts of Bhutto's death claim an assassin shot her in the neck and then blew himself up, killing 24 people. But observers said Thursday's verdicts, the first to be issued in the decade since the assassination, offered no clarity into who actually orchestrated the killing. And in a country where conspiracy theories continue to envelop the myriad assassinations of its political figures over decades, Bhutto's death is no exception. Here is a list of the leading theories behind who killed Bhutto: The Pakistani state's theory Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on then-Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. Bhutto had been a fierce opponent of Islamic extremists in the country, and had promised to take the fight to militants based in Pakistan's tribal belt. She was threatened by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, local jihadist groups and potentially from elements in the Pakistani establishment. But Pakistani investigators largely focused on lower-level operatives, paying little attention to the hierarchy in the planning, financing, and execution of the assassination. In 2013 a Pakistani court formally charged Musharraf with Bhutto's killing in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief. Musharraf later fled Pakistan in 2016, drawing criticism from opponents after the government lifted a travel ban against him. He has remained in self-imposed exile ever since. The UN's theory At the request of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government that came into power soon after Bhutto's murder, a three-member UN team of investigators was dispatched to investigate the killing. In its 70-page report released in 2010, the UN categorically held Musharraf's administration responsible for failing to provide Bhutto with the necessary security to ward off the attack. "Bhutto's assassination could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken," the report said. The team also cited numerous failures by police to properly investigate the murder and preserve the integrity of the crime scene. Less than two hours after the attack senior police officer Khurram Shahzad hosed down the the scene. He was one of the two officers convicted Thursday. The second officer, then-Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz, also refused multiple times to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. Police told the UN commission that they collected just 23 pieces of evidence from the scene, "in a case where one would normally have expected thousands", according to the report. But the UN team hinted at something beyond police incompetence, saying the official investigation was likely stifled by the country's security establishment. "These officials in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken," it observed. However the UN team stopped short of naming suspects in the plot to kill Bhutto, saying the responsibility lay with the Pakistani courts. The conspiracy theories Following Bhutto's death, the PPP came to power and her widower Asif Ali Zardari was elected president -- but failed to make headway unraveling the mysteries behind the murder, drawing fresh allegations of conspiracy. Speculation was further fuelled after Zardari's senior aide Bilal Sheikh was killed by a suicide bomber in Karachi in 2013. Sheikh had been in charge of Bhutto's security when she returned to Karachi from exile in October 2007 when bomb attacks targeted her convoy, killing around 140 people. However, Chilean diplomat Heraldo Munoz, who led the UN investigation, said it was ridiculous to imagine Bhutto's widower had been involved in her death. Al-Qaeda wanted her dead, he has argued, while the Pakistani Taliban executed the attack -- possibly with support of rogue intelligence agents -- and local police did a cover-up he was convinced "came from higher up". He has further argued that Bhutto's own security failed her and those who encouraged her to return to Pakistan did not provide her with protection. Other unconfirmed speculation pointed towards Bhutto's trusted bodyguard Khalid Shahensha, with video clips showing him making strange gestures at the podium where Bhutto addressed the rally moments before her death. Months after the assassination, Shahensha was also gunned down mysteriously in Karachi. A Guide To Manscaping Your Body Hair You're Manscaping All Wrong, But This Will Help 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. All illustrations by Sarah Bean Manscaping. The term itself can be a bit off-putting its vague, mysterious and downright intimidating if you dont know what it implies. But its actually a false alarm; manscaping is just the guy version of getting cleaned up. It means smelling good, keeping your parts in order, and making a good impression on others in addition to feeling good about yourself. (Yes, manscaping can have a positive effect on your confidence levels.) Just think about it: Are you going to feel more confident walking into a job interview if your whiskers are trimmed and your skin is healthy, as opposed to overgrown and dry? What about going on a blind date knowing that youre ready for an intimate evening? Its simple logic: Manscaping isnt something to be afraid of, but rather embraced. Especially if you expect your partner(s) to maintain a certain appearance or beauty standard, you owe it to them to return the favor. And trust us, youll feel more relaxed heading into any close encounter knowing that youre in your best form. RELATED: Prickly, Itchy Skin? These Razors Will Have Women Getting Closer Manscaping isnt about excessive grooming either women dont necessarily appreciate a guy whos obviously spent the last 2 hours holed up in front of the bathroom mirror. You dont need to buy a bunch of useless products, and you dont need to be someone youre not. Its just about polishing up your natural assets and showing pride in the person you want to present to others. Contents What Is Manscaping? First, lets start with an official definition. Google states that manscaping is the removal or trimming of hair on a man's body for cosmetic effect. Although simplified, hair control is the essential component on manscaping, although the definition could be expanded to include other grooming tasks. In any case, however, the real question you should be asking is: How to manscape? Well, to understand the male grooming practice is to examine its full range, which could involve outlining one specific region of the body, or its entirety. Pre-Manscaping Essentials A whole world of hurt awaits you if you try manscaping under dry skin conditions. Same shaving dos and donts you practice on the face must be followed on your entire physique. Now meet the go-to products you should adopt before moving ahead. Shower gels are cool. Still theres more bang for the buck in Baxters 3-in-1 bar soap. Not only will you scrub off grime from the skins upper layer, but the product features rich ingredients to nourish skin without stripping moisture. Leave your coat feeling cleansed and refreshed right out of the tub before taking a blade to your junk. Stock Up: Baxter Of California Soap, $17.00 at Amazon.com Mainly used for facial purposes, shave oils soften hair and protect skin from burning. eShave offers a great selection spread across three aromatic channels Cucumber, Orange Sandalwood, and Verbana Lime each well mixed to keep skin moisturized and protected from colder, dryer temps. Cover the body with a few drops and massage it in to give the razor smoother glide action. Stock Up: Pre-Shave Oil, $22.00 at eShave.com The market is very low on translucent shaving gels. Lucky for you the search stops here. Recipe For Men creates a foam-free formula that bears a clear-blue appearance for accurate shaving. Special ingredients like sebustop tames acne by reducing skin oiliness. Aloe Vera and lemon extracts cool and purify skin in the process. Stock Up: Shaving Gel, $26.00 at Amazon.com The Target Zones Some get a rush flexing hairless chests at the beach. Others love the reaction they get in the bedroom unveiling their crown jewels. But what exactly falls under the manscaping pyramid remains a mystery to most guys. Reality is your whole body is fair game; we all have our different sweet spots. So, to guide you in the right direction, weve provided a full breakdown of all the major sections to consider deforesting, alongside expert manscaping tips, illustrations, and yes, manscaping treatments. Note: Remember, you can do as much or as little manscaping as you feel comfortable with. While some will naturally prefer less hair, others will enjoy maintaining a bit of their wild side. All are valid options. Groin Step 1: Trim & Apply Shave Gel Depending on the situation down there, a pair of hair-cutting sheers might suffice, though make no mistake, electric clippers perform better. The different guard lengths and shave settings will remove the bulk of hair. Head below the waist at a 45-degree angle and transition your way down to the perineumthe area between the anus and scrotum. Lets be clear: Vision is key (no pun intended). Here, we must insist on using shaving gels. They work best for lifting whiskers off the body, require less application, and provide skin protection plus nourishment. Most importantly, its translucent presence lets you see where your grooming tools should work, while averting slip-ups in areas where the skin is most delicate. Step 2: Taut and Razor-Ready Tug the skin back with your non-shaving hand because you dont want it getting caught under the blade. Start at the balls and perform one stroke, followed by a quick rinse of the blade. Go at it again. Head towards the shaft and hold everything upright as to not go against the grain with the blade. Be gentle. Feel free to pass through the perineum if necessary, just be careful since this area is friction-sensitive. Step 3: Use A Post-Shaving Agent Shaving any body part, let alone your balls will lead to some inflammation. Aftershave splashes and lotions can be risky as most utilize alcohol or fragrances that sting like hell. Opt for an aftershave balm to cool down and hydrate skin. Any with aloe or camphor in the ingredients list helps reduce irritability. For more deets on how to shave yourself like a pro, take the plunge and read our full guide on shaving your balls. Arms & Pits Step 1: Trim. It. Down. Same as the pubic area, its all about cutting back the forest. Match your hair length to the proper comb attachment and buzz away. If volume is light, use the trimmer head as is. Step 2: Exfoliate The Skin This necessarily applies everywhere, but arms and pits benefit hugely from a nice scrubbing. Learn how to exfoliate the body and value a good exfoliant to purge clogged pores and rid yourself of dead skin. Youll produce a smoother landscape for grooming tools to work better. (Razor. Trimmer. Whatever.) Step 3: Lather Up Stick with a shaving gel for the same reasons weve previously preached. Itll be much easier to navigate through the contours of your arms and pits. Application is much easier, too; only a little is needed. Step 4: Shave It Off Take a cartridge razor, one with a pivoting head and with no less than three blades. Start at the inside of the wrist and transition up to the forearm. Stop at the elbow and move across the forearm with soft strokes. Do the same when tackling the upper part of your arms. When working the pits, shave anyway you please since underarm hair naturally grows in all directions. Step 5: Rinse and Cool Down Manscaping in the shower lets you rinse off debris instantly. Let the water from the showerhead take care of the dirty work. Once finished, pat down arms and pits gently. Then top it off with a skin-soothing lotion featuring Aloe Vera or other cooling ingredients. Legs Step 1: Shorten Hair Length Ads and commercials might lead you to believe it all begins with a razor and some shaving cream. Hell no. You will need to pre-shave your legs with a beard or body trimmer. Step 2: Scrub-A-Dub Jump in the tub and apply some form of scrubbing agent (body wash, shower gel, etc.) on your legs. You can spread it across a shower grooming tool, like a loofah or exfoliating gloves, and rub it over the skin in slight circles to get rid of dead skin. Step 3: Apply Gel Foam up those calves, knee caps, thighs, and ankles. A translucent gel will ensure you dont miss any lingering hairs. Step 4: Put In Blade Work The way you approached the arms is no different from what youll need to do here. Take on the thinnest patches first to determine the razors maximum hair volume. Keep strokes short and be sure to rinse the blades. Shave with the grain (in the direction hair grows) going against it in sensitive areas like the inner thigh could irritate the skin. Step 5: Heal Your Legs A mans skin produces more natural oils than a womans. Rely on a good moisturizer or post-shave conditioner to enjoy healthy, smooth legs. These solutions will destroy any existing bacteria as well. Moisturize every day to prevent friction burns. Chest & Abs Step 1: Comb Through The Frizz Hairy chests are obviously common; and some women might love it. But if you want to clear it up, heres what you need to do. The last thing you want are the trimmer blades getting caught on tangled patches. End result: Pain. Keep a premium hair comb on hand to run through the chest and shoulders (if necessary), which will help untangle any hair knots. Step 2: Trust The Trimmer Your chest is prone to accumulate a good amount of fur over time. The abdominal area, not so much. And thats a good thing. Grab a trimmer and go as short as possible within a 45-degree angle in the direction of the natural grain of your hair. Doing so will give your razor some breathing room. Step 3: Employ A Shaving Agent Get a good amount of gel out of the jar or tube, lather it up, and spread across the chest and shoulders. Step 4: Shave It Off Play it safe with short strokes and shave following the direction of hair growth. Expect to pass the razor through the same spots a few times, primarily around the sternum and (rock-solid) pecs. Flare-ups might occur. Still, its nothing you cant treat. Step 5: Cool It Down A quick rinse with lukewarm water and a pat down might be enough depending on how flared up your chest becomes. Then again, an aftershave balm is always welcome. Shoulders & Back Step 1: Flex And Trim Were looking at two of the most difficult spaces to trim. Using a trimmer with flexibility and a long reach is a no-brainer. If it supports adjustable comb lengths, even better. Start with a low guard, power that sucker up, and put your contortionist skills to the test snatching up back and shoulder hair. Step 2: Start Gelling Youre probably capable of managing shoulder duty on this one. But a second pair of hands are required for the back. Get a girlfriend or part-time lover to smear some shaving gel right down to your crack. Step 3: Choose A Hair Removal Solution Razors on your shoulder are no sweat. Same cant be said for the back. Waxes or a topical cream remain the better option. Either way youre going to need another person to get it on. If youre insistent on using a razor, have the operator shave with the grain. Step 4: Wipe It Down Treat these areas the same way you would your arms and pits. Rinse, pat down dry, and prepare an aftershave balm. Step 5: Clean Up & ExfoliateLater On Ingrown hairs are inevitable. Prevention is the next course of action. Look into getting a back scrubber or have someone gently rub on a good body scrub. This should avoid any bumps, buildups, or redness. Don't forget to rinse off when you're through. Everywhere Else Step 1: The Moisture Effect Lotion works for a quick fix. A shower is even better. Again, steam opens up pores and moistens hair follicles for leveled trims. If too time consuming, apply a warm compression pad to the are youre working on. Step 2: Use A Portable Multi-Trimmer Most body trimmers host extra accessories to trim facial spots. The problem is that these machines are heavy and provide little-to-no versatility to reach difficult areas. Invest in a nose trimmer, one with multiple heads to clear off the check list. Step 3: Clean Up Most of that trimmed hair sticks to your body. Use a wet washcloth to wipe off any lingering whiskers. Maybe take a shaving brush or borrow a girlfriends makeup brush if need be. Our personal suggestion is body wipes for the cleansing and hydrating elements. Stock up on some Ursa Major Essential Face Wipes and never forget to rinse the head of the trimmer. The Techniques Shave & Trim Epilator. Razor. Trimmer. Choose your weapon. Each one compliments another and works best on specific body parts. Trimmers mow down hair most efficiently, while epilators handle hair in sensitive areas better than most tools. Razors come into play once hair is cut short or to stubble length, giving the blades enough room for a sleek shave. Keep these grooming instruments on your radar. A 3D pivoting shaving head combined with a built-in trimmer hosting 5 length settings, the Bodygroom practically accommodates every major body part. Abs. Chest. Shoulders. You name it. Even operate it as an electric shaver to earn a velvety mug. The self-sharpening blades will cut through shrubbery without any lubrication. Stock Up: Philips Norelco Shaver, $64.95 at Amazon.com Finally, a gadget to shred that rug on your back. Mangroomers extended trimmer is a godsend for grizzlies struggling to manage their rear, propelled by two shock absorber flex heads and a Power Burst mode that shaves over super-thick hair with finesse. The ultra-sensitive blades are hypoallergenic to warrant long-term use, and the ergonomic rubberized grip of the handle supports maximum control for stabilized trims. You can also use it as a standard body trimmer. Stock Up: Mangroomer Shaver, $49.71 at Amazon.com Mowing the entire lawn requires a one-stop manscaping shop. Braun blesses you with a full-on grooming kit designed for precision control across the body. The bundle comes equipped with four combs covering 13 precision setting lengths, plus a few other attachments and a Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor for final touches. Stock Up: Braun Grooming Kit, $41.92 at Amazon.com Yes. Epilators are most popular among women shavers, but that doesnt make them gender-specific. In fact, theyre awesome for undertaking pubic stubble. Brauns handheld machine comes built specifically to catch 4x shorter hair than wax (up to 0.5mm), which is as small as a grain of sand. The pivoting head, along with its wet and dry capabilities make the Silk-epil 7 great for trimming pits in the shower. Stock Up: Braun Epilator, $85.10 at Amazon.com Flexibility is everything in a razor, especially when aiming below the belt. Gillette sells the best manscaping option. The Fusion Proglide supports patented FlexBall Technology to let the razor head contour every angle and shape of the body. The streamlined comfort guard and enhanced lubrication strip adds relief and security to the chore. Stock Up: Gillette Razor, $10.77 at Amazon.com Eyebrows, ears, and nosewere talking three of the most neglected spots on a mans body. The Andis portable trimmer has the grooming prowess to clean up your mug in all areas with recessed cutting blades for closer, safer trims. Pack the device in any dopp kit when traveling or store it in the cabinet with a protective cap to preserve blade sharpness. Stock Up: Andis Personal Trimmer, $8.58 at Amazon.com Waxing Nightmares of Steve Carrell having his chest transformed into a checkers board run rampant as we speak. The scary truth is that the more hair you have, the more painful the experience is going to be. Follow protocol and trim first. Once in the waxing phase, results can last as long as four to eight weeks, with hair growing back much softer (and thinner) than before. These cold wax strips come 20 per box and are sized perfectly for the back, chest, and shoulders. Each strip can also be cut to manage smaller spots. Perfect for last-minute touchups or when hitting the road, they make for great quick fixes and help eliminate the messiness that usually comes with wax application. Stock Up: Wax Strips, $10.41 at Amazon.com Cant go wrong with a honey-based wax kit. BodyHonee has a variety of different options with this one being the most effective amongst fellers thanks to its all-natural contents (lemon, salt, sugar from honey). Equipped with two wooden spatulas, a 10-ounce jar of all-natural wax, and eight non-woven wax strips, it pulls hair at the root-level to meet your Brozilian needs. Stock Up: Waxing Kit, $18.99 at Amazon.com The Amazon Best Seller is a complete waxing set that caters to both genders. Most customers claim its easy to use with the wax heating at perfect temperatures to dab across the body. Inside are professional-grade products including a wax warmer, Brazilian hard wax, wood sticks, pre-epilation oil and post-wax cooling gel. Stock Up: Waxing Starter Kit, $56.95 at Amazon.com Topicals Creams and lotions get no love these days. Shame seeing as this category of products has helped lay down the foundation for many manscaping routines. Interestingly, results are said to last just as long as a complete shave. Furthermore, using these liniments will naturally exfoliate your skin certainly a bonus. Nairs affordability and simplicity has made it a consumer favorite over the past two decades. This body cream works best on limbs and the back/chest areas. However, its ability to activate while in the shower is what differentiates it from the crowd, producing a swifter wipe-down removal. Smear it on, wait a good 10 minutes, then let the shower rinse it off. Stock Up: Nair Hair Remover, $12.82 at Amazon.com All genital jokes aside, Nad's 4-minute lotion is suitable for every body part, including your balls. Aloe Vera is one of its signature ingredients to protect and soothe skin after eradicating it of rough hair. If you can tolerate the less-than-lovely scent, then consider your testes as smooth as Dominic Torettos dome. Stock Up: Nad Hair Removal Cream, $9.71 at Amazon.com The Post-Manscape Routine Hair removal takes its toll on the skin. Apply these skincare solutions to keep your skin feeling great before and after manscaping. The companys new hero product is a multi-tasking lotion thats garnered positive reviews across a variety of mens lifestyle sites. It's formulated with active ingredients to simultaneously tackle razor bumps, irritation, and ingrown hairs. Gently rub it into problem areas and allow absorption. Its soothing elements, like allantoin and chamomile, help stimulate cell regeneration. Stock Up: The Shavior, $24.00 at Amazon.com Several ingrown hair treatments are available to rid the body of coarse and curly threads. One of our favorites is Anthonys specialty hair serum, which uses glycolic acid to purge skin of dead cells. This in turn releases ingrown hairs by freeing bacteria under the skin and calming inflammation. Stock Up: Ingrown Hair Treatment, $32.00 at Nordstrom.com Johnson & Johnson just met its competition. This is the talcum powder youll fancy to help keep your privates comfortable and dry at all times. Use it anywhere (except the face) to avoid odorous funk, in addition to reducing itchiness. A light, fresh scent is an added touch. Suitable for all skin types. Stock Up: Super Powder, $16.00 at Amazon.com Related Readings Best Razors For Men Best Electric Shavers AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use. Supporters of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh held a mass rally in Sanaa on August 24 Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh made his first appearance in Sanaa at the funeral of a colonel killed in clashes with his rebel allies, media run by Saleh's party reported Thursday. Coverage of the funeral of Colonel Khaled al-Radhi, a high-ranking official in Saleh's General People's Congress who was killed along with two rebels in a shootout last week, aired on the GPC-controlled Al Yemen Al Yom television channel. The footage, recorded Wednesday, showed the former president praying over what the channel identified as Radhi's casket before addressing a crowd of mourners. The appearance comes amid rumours that Saleh had either fled Sanaa, which he jointly controls with the Huthi rebels in their war against the Saudi-backed government, or was under house arrest by the Huthis following unprecedented violence between the allies at the weekend. Cracks have emerged in the rebel alliance between Saleh and Abdul Malik al-Huthi, head of the Shiite Zaidi Huthi rebels who is allied with Iran, escalating into an armed battle at a rebel checkpoint in Sanaa in which Radhi -- head of foreign relations with the GPC -- and the two Huthis were killed. An uneasy calm has since returned to Sanaa, with rebel and GPC sources saying armed forces loyal to both Huthi and Saleh have slowly begun to withdraw from the streets, after a heavy deployment following Saturday's shootout. A mediation committee has also been set up to try to restore ties between the two rebel forces, according to a security source involved in the committee. Saleh's forces are reportedly demanding the Huthis hand over those responsible for the killing of Radhi. A war of words broke out earlier this month between Saleh and his once-foe Huthi, with the former president terming his allies "a militia" and the rebels firing back that he was a "back-stabber" and "traitor". Huthi reportedly suspects Saleh has been negotiating with Gulf states in an Arab military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. Saleh resigned under popular and political pressure in 2012, ceding the presidency to his vice president, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Two years later, Saleh and Huthi joined ranks in a shock alliance that drove Hadi's government out of Sanaa and ushered the rebels in. The two have since fought troops loyal to Hadi as well as the Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in the war in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Hadi government. More than 8,400 civilians have been killed since the intervention, with political deadlock, a blockaded airport and ports, and poverty pushing the country to the brink of famine. The Islamic State group losing Iraq's Tal Afar and surrounding areas is a major blow to the jihadist group The Islamic State group has suffered a string of defeats on the battlefield that have left its "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria in tatters, three years after it was declared. With Baghdad's announcement on Thursday that Niniveh province is back under Iraqi government control, IS has been ejected from one of its last bastions in Iraq and is left facing an advancing Arab-Kurdish force across the Syrian border in Raqa. - What's left of the caliphate? In its heyday in 2014, almost one third of Iraq's territory was in the hands of IS jihadists. Today, they are left with no more than 10 percent, according to the US-led coalition supporting Iraqi forces, in two areas: Hawija, 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Baghdad, and the three locations of Al-Qaim, Rawa and Anna in the western desert bordering Syria. Across the border, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) penetrated the jihadist group's de facto capital of Raqa in June and have expelled IS from 60 percent of the city which they seized in 2014. Between 5,000 and 10,000 jihadists, including commanders, have fled to the Euphrates Valley region, according to coalition officials. The region under IS control runs 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, through the province of the same name and across the border, to Iraq's Al-Qaim. On the Syrian side, IS is also facing the advance of Russia-backed Syrian regime forces towards Deir Ezzor province. - What power does IS retain in Iraq? - Despite its military defeats, IS has sleeper cells that have carried out devastating attacks, mostly targeting Shiites, whom the Sunni extremists regard as heretics, in cities recaptured by Iraqi forces and in Baghdad. IS returning to insurrection mode poses a serious challenge for security forces, and is a constant threat to Iraqi civilians in a predominantly Shiite country where sectarian strife is easily stoked. - IS power abroad? - According to many security analysts, the disintegration of the IS caliphate and dispersion of its members have heightened the risk of attacks abroad. Even without its territorial base in Iraq and Syria, IS has become a "franchise", they say. Groups pledging allegiance to IS and "lone wolf" assailants have carried out deadly attacks in Europe in the name of the jihadist group. The head of Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah (L), said he travelled to Damascus to see President Bashar al-Assad (R) The head of Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, who has lived in hiding for the past decade, said Thursday he travelled to Damascus to seek the Syrian president's approval of a jihadist evacuation deal. "I personally went to Damascus" to see President Bashar al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of his supporters in a televised speech. Nasrallah, 57, has only made rare public appearances since the 2006 war against his arch-foe Israel. As a figure on Israel's most wanted list, he said in 2014 that he often changed his place of residence in the utmost secrecy. On Monday, hundreds of Islamic State group fighters and civilians were evacuated from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a ceasefire deal and headed toward eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. The truce deal was negotiated between IS and Hezbollah, which has intervened in Syria's six-year war to prop up Assad's government. The agreement has been criticised inside Lebanon, as well by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq and especially by Baghdad, which protested that the jihadists were being brought to its doorstep. Nasrallah tried to justify the deal by saying it was necessary to acquire information about the fate of Lebanese soldiers taken hostage by IS three years ago. "We have a humanitarian cause. We wish you to help us," Nasrallah said he told Assad. "We can only know what happened to the soldiers through this compromise." He said that, before approving the deal, Assad responded: "This will make things difficult for me." The deal came after Hezbollah fought a week-long offensive against IS on Syria's side of the Lebanese border, at the same time as an assault by Lebanese troops on their side of the frontier. A US-led coalition spokesman said Wednesday it had carried out air strikes to block the jihadists and their families evacuated two days earlier from reaching their destination in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. On Thursday, a source on the ground told AFP that the convoy was back on the road but had changed its route. It was passing through a regime-controlled area of Homs province and headed for the IS-held town of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province instead of the original destination of Albukamal, or a little further from the Iraqi border, the source said. Officials set up roadblocks following a series of overnight blasts at a chemical plant in Crosby, northeast of Houston Explosions at a flooded Texas chemical plant sent a plume of smoke spewing from the site Thursday, triggering concerns about the impact on local residents. Here is what we know about the plant located in Crosby, northeast of Houston, and owned by French global chemical group Arkema: - What does the plant make? - The Crosby plant produces liquid organic peroxides, used in the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and polyester reinforced fiberglass, and acrylic resins. Those compounds are used in a vast range of everyday consumer products, from automobiles and food packaging to health and cleaning products. Organic peroxides end up in everything from countertops, paints and coatings for autos to hoses, gaskets, and headlight assemblies for vehicles, disposable cups and plates, PVC for pipes, packaging, and siding. - What sparked the fire? - Liquid organic peroxides must be kept cold. With Harvey headed for Texas, Arkema moved the chemicals into refrigerated containers with backup generators. But after the storm produced an unprecedented six-feet of floodwaters at the site, the generators failed in eight of the nine containers. Company officials warned they had no way to prevent an explosion and fires. At 2 am (0700 GMT) on Thursday, officials reported two explosions that released fumes and black smoke into the air. Firefighters are trying to contain the fire. A company executive said just one of the containers popped, releasing pressure building up inside due to the loss of refrigeration, but that he expected the others to degrade as well. - How dangerous is it? - Brock Long, the head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said the plume of fumes was "incredibly dangerous." However, Arkema Deputy CEO Michel Delaborde told AFP the fumes are not dangerous, despite the 10-meter high flames from the fires. "When it decomposes and burns, the organic peroxide releases a smoke that can be irritating but is non-toxic if there is no prolonged and massive exposure," he said, noting there were about 240 metric tons of the chemical stored at the plant. But the US Environmental Protection Agency said it was reviewing data from an aircraft that surveyed the scene and had no indication that dangerous concentrations of toxic materials have been released. The plant is located near the small town of Crosby, with about 1,300 households and less than 4,000 residents living within in a three-mile radius. Harris Country officials had previously ordered the evacuation of a 1.5 mile (three kilometer) area around the plant on Tuesday. Arkema also ordered the facility's 57 workers to evacuate the site. Area residents have been warned to stay inside and turn off air conditioners, and if exposed to the smoke, which irritates the eyes and lungs, to seek medical advice. - What is the plant's safety record? - Prior to the incident there had been no formal enforcement actions against the company in the past five years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. There were two informal actions in late 2013. The company reported a single injury resulting in lost work time in the past seven years. Arkema invested $700,000 in 2015 for improvements in its health, safety and environmental impact capabilities, including adding "emergency generators for safe shut down, and redundant refrigeration system for cold storage buildings." The magnitude of the damage to the plant, which houses other chemicals as well, is unknown at this time. Arkema is a multinational based near Paris, born of the restructuring of the chemical branch of French oil giant Total. The group has a long established presence in the United States with more than 3,000 employees working in more than 37 plants, including five in Texas. The Crosby facility generates annual sales of $30 million or just 0.4% of group sales. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah waves to MPs as he arrives to open session of the new parliament in Kuwait City, on December 11, 2016 Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will hold talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington next week, state media said Thursday, as a three-month-old crisis splits the Gulf. Kuwait has emerged as a key mediator after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced on June 5 they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar. Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency said that Sheikh Sabah would leave the emirate on Friday for the United States to meet with Trump in Washington on Thursday next week. The United States has given mixed signals about its policy on the Gulf crisis. Trump immediately expressed his staunch support for Saudi Arabia after the Arab states announced sanctions against Qatar, but some other US officials including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later adopted a more measured tone. Riyadh and Doha are both key allies of the United States. Trump chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas visit as president in May, two weeks before the Gulf crisis erupted. Qatar is meanwhile home to a huge US air base, where the headquarters of Centcom -- the regional command which leads operations against the Islamic State jihadist group -- is based. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, of ties to Shiite Iran and fundamentalist Islamist groups. Doha denies the claims and accuses the other countries of an attack on its sovereignty. A strong supporter of Israel, US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley has repeatedly criticized Iran at the United Nations and cast doubt over its commitment to the nuclear deal The United States on Thursday described remarks by a Palestinian Hamas leader boasting of strong military ties with Iran as a "stunning admission" that showed Tehran was violating a UN ban on arms exports. Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar, who heads the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza, told reporters on Monday that Iran was the "biggest supporter" of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. "The Iranian military support to Hamas and al-Qassam is strategic," said Sinwar, adding that ties with Iran had "become fantastic and returned to its former era." In a statement, the US mission to the United Nations recalled that Iran is barred from exporting weapons under a key UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "Once again, Iran is showing its true colors," said US Ambassador Nikki Haley. Iran must abide by UN resolutions or decide "whether it wants to be the leader of a jihadist terrorist movement," she added. "It's long past time for the international community to hold Iran to the same standard that all countries who actually value peace and security are held to." A strong supporter of Israel, Haley has repeatedly criticized Iran at the United Nations and cast doubt over its commitment to the nuclear deal. The United States considers Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, a terrorist organization. Hamas has run Gaza since 2007 and received Iranian financial and military support for years, but the movement had distanced itself from Iran over Tehran's strong backing of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Sinwar, however, has sought to rebuild relations, sending a high-level delegation to meet Iranian officials. US Marines salute during a handover ceremony at Leatherneck Camp in Lashkar Gah in the Afghan province of Helmand on April 29, 2017 The Pentagon has ordered new troops to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday, 10 days after President Donald Trump announced a surge in US forces to battle advances by the Taliban. "Yes, I've signed orders" for fresh deployments, Mattis told reporters, without specifying how many. "By and large, this is to enable the Afghan force to fight more effectively." On August 21, Trump announced a new Afghanistan policy to knock back the Taliban that could see thousands more US troops deployed, on top of the 11,000 there now. The decision came after a deep review of strategy in which US military leaders convinced Trump to back off his election campaign pledge to pull out of the war-torn country. Mattis said the added troops, which could eventually approach 4,000, according to some estimates, were not yet underway. "I just signed the order, it's going to take a couple days," he said. On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that the bulk of the additions will be paratroopers from two units, the 82nd Airborne Division and a brigade from the 25th Infantry Division. The Post also said the surge will include more F-16 fighter jets, A-10 attack aircraft and expanded support from the B-52 bomber fleet based in Qatar. Mattis continued to avoid questions on the total of new troops to be added to the 16-year-old war, or provide details of the overall strategy, saying he preferred to brief Congress first next week. US generals have for months been calling the situation in Afghanistan a "stalemate," despite years of support for Afghan partners and an overall cost to the United States of about $1 trillion. The new Afghan strategy will take a page from successful US efforts over the past two years to strengthen Iraqi security forces against the Islamic State group with better training, logistical support and the battlefield backup of US artillery and air strikes on enemy positions. Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma is barred by the constitution from standing for election again in 2018 after two terms in power since 2007 Irregularities in voter registration efforts in Sierra Leone, coupled with growing fears of intimidation of opposition groups, threaten to damage the credibility of national elections set for early next year, several NGOs have warned. Officials have begun voter registration drives ahead of the March 2018 vote, when President Ernest Bai Koroma is barred by the constitution from standing again after two terms in power since 2007. But independent observers have found several cases of lost or omitted personal data in several areas, according to Sierra Leone Elections Mega Observers, an alliance of advocacy groups. The data losses "hold a real potential to create chaos during the election," which could "undermine the credibility of the elections," the alliance said. On Thursday, another NGO, the National Election Watch (NEW), called for an independent inquiry into a fire this week at the headquarters of the Alliance Democratic Party, an opposition group. The party's leader, Mohamed Kamarimba Mansaray, said Tuesday that two people on a motorcycle threw molotov cocktails at the building, and alleged that the ruling All People's Congress (APC) was trying to "silence the opposition." "Such attacks and impunity are bound to meet the threshold of insecurity for opposition parties and candidates," NEW said in a statement. A spokesman for the APC, Robin Falley, rejected the claims, telling AFP they were "hollow". Canada, the United States and Mexico will launch their second round of NAFTA renegotiation talks on Friday in Mexico City US President Donald Trump and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau hope to reach a deal to revamp NAFTA by year's end, the White House said Thursday. After a phone call between the two leaders that discussed the tripartite agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, the White House said a common target had been reached. "The two leaders also discussed the ongoing NAFTA renegotiation and stressed their hope to reach an agreement by the end of this year," a White House statement said. Trump had earlier suggested that he could soon begin the process of terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement, accusing Mexico of "being difficult" in talks to rework the decades-old deal. "NAFTA is one of the worst trade deals ever signed at any time anywhere in the world, and I can understand why Mexico is being difficult, because why wouldn't they be? They've had it their way," Trump said on Monday. The three countries will resume their negotiations on Friday in Mexico City. Members of Myanmar's Red Cross help an elderly woman upon her arrival at Sittwe jetty in Rakhine State on August 30, 2017 The United States has told Myanmar its security forces must refrain from attacking civilians and aid workers after days of violence forced thousands to seek refuge across the border in Bangladesh, with 17 found drowned Thursday. At least 18,500 Rohingya have fled their homes following attacks by militants on August 25 in Rakhine State and a crackdown by security forces who have torched villages and targeted civilians, according to witness accounts. Officials in Bangladesh say growing numbers of Rohingya are trying to cross the Naf river which divides the two countries, in rickety boats that are ill-equipped for the rough waters as they become increasingly desperate to escape. On Thursday, Bangladesh coastguards found the bodies of 17 Rohingya, many of them children, who drowned when their boats capsized as they attempted to flee. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, later issued a statement chastising Myanmar's security forces. "As Burmese security forces act to prevent further violence, they have a responsibility to adhere to international humanitarian law, which includes refraining from attacking innocent civilians and humanitarian workers and ensuring assistance reaches those in need," Haley said. The International Organization for Migration says at least 18,500 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar's neighbouring Rakhine state last week Photographs from the scene showed the bodies of several small children lined up on the ground, covered with sheets. One survivor told AFP the small, overcrowded boat he was travelling on had been tipped over by huge waves near where the Naf river opens out into the sea. "Nobody knew how to navigate the sea waters. When huge waves tilted the boat, we panicked," Shah Karim said. On Wednesday, the bodies of two Rohingya women and two children also washed up in Bangladesh after their boat capsized. - 'Grave concern' - The Naf river is narrow in some places, but the Rohingya are increasingly crossing where the river is wider, or even venturing out to sea, after Bangladeshi authorities intensified border patrols. Bangladesh is already home to an estimated 400,000 Rohingya, a mainly Muslim stateless minority that rights groups say has long faced persecution in Myanmar. Most live in squalid and increasingly overcrowded camps in the coastal area of Cox's Bazar, and Dhaka has made clear it wants no more to come. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the US to put pressure on Myanmar to stem the flow. "We have given shelter to a huge number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds and it's a big problem for us," she said, according to the state-run BSS news agency. The latest clashes in Myanmar began last Friday when Rohingya militants staged deadly attacks on police posts, prompting raids on the community and searches by troops and police. The violence left at least 110 people dead, including 11 state officials. Ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and other tribal groups are also among the dead and displaced after allegedly being targeted by Rohingya militants. An estimated 6,000 Rohingya are massed on the border, having fled villages in Myanmar that they say were set on fire by police, troops and Buddhist mobs. UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee expressed alarm Thursday about a worsening cycle of violence in the area that she said was "of grave concern" and "must be broken urgently". "If human rights concerns are not properly addressed, and if people remain politically and economically marginalized, then northern Rakhine may provide fertile ground for radicalization, with people becoming increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by extremists," she said. - Bangladesh under pressure - Bangladesh is under intense international pressure to allow the fleeing Rohingya to cross into its territory, but it has pushed a number of them back, in what rights groups say is a contravention of its international obligations. On Thursday, a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) commander told AFP that 71 newly arrived Rohingya had been arrested for entering the country illegally and told to go back, though not forced to return. "The police arrested 71 Rohingya from inside Bangladesh and later on handed them to us," said Manzurul Hassan Khan. "We did not push them back, rather we told them... you should go back to your territory," added Khan, who said there was a "humanitarian crisis" developing along the border. Media access to Rakhine is restricted, but on Wednesday an AFP reporter on a government-led visit to the worst-hit section of the state saw plumes of smoke billowing from several burning villages. The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the violence but there was no formal statement on the crisis. United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JESUS ROJAS-ALVARADO, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-1104 Decided: August 29, 2017 Before BRISCOE, HARTZ, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY* Jesus Rojas-Alvarado, appearing pro se, seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) in order to challenge the district court's denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255. Because Rojas-Alvarado has failed to satisfy the standard for issuance of a COA, we deny his request and dismiss this matter. I Rojas-Alvarado pleaded guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement that included an appellate waiver provision. He pleaded guilty to three criminal counts: (1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846; (2) possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a quantity of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A); and (3) possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in violation 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A). Rojas-Alvarado was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 180 months for the two drug convictions and a consecutive term of imprisonment of 60 months on the firearm conviction. Rojas-Alvarado filed a direct appeal. The government moved to enforce the appeal waiver contained in the plea agreement. On February 6, 2014, this court issued an order and judgment granting the government's motion and dismissing the matter. In the order and judgment, this court noted, in pertinent part: To the extent that Mr. Rojas-Alvarado wishes to pursue a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, as indicated by his docketing statement, he should do so in a collateral proceeding under 28 U.S.C. 2255. United States v. Rojas-Alvarado, No. 13-1412, slip op. at 2-3 (10th Cir. Feb. 6, 2014). This court's mandate issued on February 28, 2014. Approximately three years later, on February 17, 2017, Rojas-Alvarado filed a pro se motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255. He asserted in the motion that he was factually innocent of the firearm conviction because [t]he government utterly failed to show a valid nexus between the gun that was found in his bedroom and the drug trafficking activity to which he pleaded guilty. Mot. at 3. He in turn argued that his guilty plea was prompted by incompetent advice of defense counsel. Id. at 1. On February 22, 2017, the district court issued an order denying Rojas-Alvarado's 2255 motion. In doing so, the district court concluded that Rojas-Alvarado's 2255 motion was untimely under 28 U.S.C. 2255(f)(1) because it was filed more than one year after his conviction became final. The district court also rejected the possibility that the one-year limitations period could have run from the date that Rojas-Alvarado allegedly discovered his claim: Although Mr. Rojas-Alvarado asserts that he only recently discovered what sort of factual predicate [wa]s necessary to support a conviction under 924(c)(1)(A), that discovery d[id] not support a later starting date under 2255(f)(4) because it [wa]s apparent that the facts necessary to support the ineffective assistance of counsel claim in the 2255 motion were known, or could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence, before his conviction was final. In other words, Mr. Rojas-Alvarado knew the factual basis for the firearm count when he agreed to plead guilty, and he knew what advice counsel had provided with respect to pleading guilty to that count. Whether he understood the legal significance of those facts is not relevant to the Court's analysis under 2255(f)(4). Order at 3. In addition, the district court concluded that Rojas-Alvarado's assertion of factual innocence was insufficient to justify equitable tolling of the one-year limitation period: Mr. Rojas-Alvarado fails to allege any facts to support a credible claim of actual innocence under Schlup[ v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995)]. Most importantly, he fails to present any new reliable evidence that demonstrates it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted him. Therefore, the Court finds no basis for an equitable exception to the one-year limitation period based on actual innocence. Id. at 5. Lastly, the district court concluded that Rojas-Alvarado had failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, and therefore was not entitled to a COA. II Rojas-Alvarado now seeks a COA from this court in order to appeal the district court's order dismissing his 2255 motion. See 28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(1)(B) (Unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability, an appeal may not be taken to the court of appeals from the final order in a proceeding under section 2255.). To obtain a COA, he must make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. Id. 2253(c)(2). A substantial showing means that reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). Where, as here, a district court dismisses a 2255 motion on procedural grounds, the petitioner must demonstrate that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling. Id. Having carefully examined Rojas-Alvarado's application for COA and the record on appeal, we conclude that he has failed to demonstrate that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in dismissing his 2255 motion as untimely. As the district court correctly noted, a prisoner in federal custody generally has one year to file a 2255 motion from the date on which the judgment of conviction becomes final, 28 U.S.C. 2255(f)(1), and Rojas-Alvarado's 2255 motion was filed nearly three years after his conviction became final. Further, reasonable jurists could not disagree with the district court's conclusions that the one-year statute of limitations was not statutorily tolled under 2255(f)(4) or equitably tolled based on Rojas-Alvarado's claim of actual innocence. Thus, we conclude that Rojas-Alvarado has failed to establish that he is entitled to a COA. III Rojas-Alvarado's motion to proceed in forma pauperis and his request for a COA are DENIED. This matter is DISMISSED. Entered for the Court Mary Beck Briscoe Circuit Judge A view of the metal fence along the border in Sonoyta, Sonora state, northern Mexico, between the Altar desert in Mexico and the Arizona desert in the United States The US Customs and Border Protection agency ordered prototypes for President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the US-Mexican border Thursday, even though a budget fight in Congress could leave the project unfunded for next year. Four companies were awarded contracts to build reinforced concrete models up to 30 feet (nine meters) high, Acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello announced. The prototypes have to have "anti-climb" features to deter illegal immigrants from sneaking into the United States. The government also expects to award contracts for non-concrete prototypes. They will be evaluated not only on the physical structure, but "all of the tools that help us secure the border," he said. Trump promised in his election campaign last year to build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. For the fiscal 2018 budget, the government has proposed $1.8 billion to begin building what could become a $20 billion project spanning the 3,200-kilometer (2,000-mile) frontier. But Congress is deeply split over the budget and worries are that it might not be able to bridge its differences and fund the government before the fiscal year begins on October 1. On Sunday Trump insisted that Congress must find a way to pay for his promised border wall, branding Mexico a hotbed of violent crime. And he has warned that he will close down the government if Congress does not give him funding for the wall. NEW YORK (AP) - Most things have changed in George Clooney's life since he and wife Amal welcomed twins in July. But as he prepares to unveil his latest directorial effort, "Suburbicon," some rituals remain eerily familiar. "I just have to clean the barf off of my tux," says Clooney. "It used to be my barf but now it's the twins' barf. So it all works out." It's a new chapter for Clooney, but one with some old moves. "Suburbicon," which Paramount Pictures will release Oct. 27, marries two twin passions of his: farce ("Burn After Reading," ''O Brother Where Art Thou") and socially conscious filmmaking ("Good Night and Good Luck," ''Ides of March"). FILE - In this April 26, 2017 file photo, actor-director George Clooney arrives at the 60th anniversary of the Omega Speedster watch in London. Clooney directs the upcoming film, "Suburbicon," written by starring Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac and Julianne Moore. (Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP, File) But despite the comic trailers, it leans a little more to the latter. Clooney believes the film, which peers into the dark racial tensions of 1950s suburbia, is deeply relevant to Donald Trump's America. It bristles, he hopes, with the spirit of Howard Beale, the truth-telling "Network" newsman who yelled, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." "I last week screened it for my good friend Norman Lear. When it was over, he looked over and said, 'This is the angriest film I've ever seen,'" said Clooney in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "It's a pretty angry film. There's a lot of anger out there. I think that's reflected in the film. "The main idea of the film was to pick some fights and I always like picking fights." That makes "Suburbicon" potentially one of the more combustible films of the fall movie season. It boasts a starry cast (Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac) and comes from an unproduced, decades-old script by Joel and Ethan Coen about rampant suburban paranoia and fear-mongering after a home invasion. For Clooney and his writing-producing partner Grant Heslov, the Coens' characters were perfect for plans of their own to dramatize 1950s Levittown, Pennsylvania, and specifically the enclave's response in 1957 to a black family moving in. It's a tale, they believe, that mirrors today's political landscape. "I found it interesting to talk about building walls and scapegoating minorities," said Clooney. "I think that's always an interesting topic but particularly when I was hearing these conversations on the campaign trail. I thought: It's always good to look back and remember that nothing really is new and every time we're shocked, we forget that we've had this behavior time and time and time again." Clooney and Amal last week announced a $1 million grant, through their Clooney Foundation, to the Southern Poverty Law Center to combat hate groups. The donation was a reaction to Charlottesville. Clooney, a longtime liberal activist, doesn't mince his words when it comes to President Donald Trump. "It becomes increasingly clear how in over his head and incapable this man is of being president of the United States," said Clooney. "The good news is that our other institutions - meaning press, finally, and judges and senators - have proven that the country works. There is a check and balance." But if Clooney sounds unusually pugnacious for a newfound father, he grants his life has changed drastically in the last two months. "Suddenly, you're responsible for other people, which is terrifying," he chuckled before heaping credit on his wife. "She's like an Olympic athlete," he says. "She's doing so beautifully." "Right now my job is changing diapers and walking them around a little bit," said Clooney, speaking from his home in Lake Como, Italy. "I really didn't think at 56 that I would be the parent of twins. Don't make plans. You always have to just enjoy the ride." "Suburbicon" is Clooney's sixth film as director and his first since 2014's "The Monuments Men." Filmmaking remains his focus, at least professionally speaking. "I'm in an interesting place in my life. I'm acting almost never - for a lot of reasons, mostly because I don't have any great interest in it and haven't read anything (good enough)," he says. "If somebody showed up with 'The Verdict,' I'd jump but it's not all that often you get 'Michael Clayton' kind of scripts. And if you're not going to get those, there's no real point at this point in my career." "They still let me do what I want to do," Clooney adds. "As long as that's the case, then I'm going to keep doing it. For me, you've got to keep pushing the envelope until they take everything away - which they eventually do with everybody." ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Julianne Moore, left, and Matt Damon in a scene from "Suburbicon." (Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Paramount Pictures via AP) FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2016 file photo, Amal Clooney, left, and George Clooney arrive at the world premiere of "Hail, Caesar!" in Los Angeles. Clooney directs the upcoming film, "Suburbicon," written by starring Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac and Julianne Moore. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Matt Damon, left, and Noah Jupe in a scene from "Suburbicon." ( Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Paramount Pictures via AP) PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) - A Polish citizen has been detained in Montenegro on suspicion that he started a fire that engulfed forests and reached near houses in a southern area along the Adriatic coast. Police say the man detained on Wednesday near the coastal town of Bar faces charges of endangering the public. The Polish citizen reportedly initially set a small fire on Tuesday to signal that he was lost but the fire quickly spread to an entire area. State TV reported that a group of Montenegrin hunters rescued the man from the forests around Bar late on Tuesday. Authorities say that firefighters have battled the raging fire throughout the night, while the situation remains serious. They have urged local residents to cut the shrubbery on their land to help stop the fire from spreading. Both Montenegro and neighboring Croatia have faced dozens of forest fires during an exceptionally hot summer this year. PORTLAND, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say one person has died and another has been seriously injured after a small plane crashed in Tennessee. Portland Police Department Assistant Chief Dewel Scruggs tells news outlets that the plane hit a tree before crashing into a field Tuesday night near the Portland Municipal Airport. Federal Aviation Administration officials say the plane is a Grumman American AA-1B. Scruggs says the plane was arriving at the Portland airport, but that it's unclear where the flight originated. One person was pronounced dead at the scene. The other person was flown to an area hospital. The victims haven't been identified. The FAA is investigating. A federal judge late Wednesday temporarily blocked most of Texas' tough new sanctuary cities law that was set to go into effect September 1. The law would have let police officers ask people during routine stops whether they're in the U.S. legally or not. The law, known as Senate Bill 4, had been championed by President Donald Trump's administration and was set to take effect Friday. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia temporarily blocked most of Texas' tough new sanctuary cities law that was set to go into effect September 1 - which would have allowed police officers ask people during routine stops whether they're in the U.S. legally or not It was widely viewed as the toughest immigration measure in the nation since Arizona passed what critics called a Show Me Your Papers law in 2010, which was later partially struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio was handed down as anxieties about immigration enforcement in Texas have again flared in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey. Houston officials have sought to assure families fleeing the rising floodwaters in the nation's fourth-largest city that shelters would not ask for their immigration status. Houston police Chief Art Acevedo, an outspoken critic of the law, got word of the decision while standing inside a downtown convention center where about 10,000 people have sought shelter. He high-fived another officer. 'We needed a break. That's a break for us,' said Acevedo, whose department has conducted thousands of high-water rescues and lost one officer who died in floodwaters as he tried to drive to work. The sanctuary cities law, known as Senate Bill 4, had been championed by President Donald Trump's administration and was set to take effect Friday The measure sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature despite months of protests and opposition from business groups, which worried that it could cause a labor-force shortage and send a negative economic message. Leading the lawsuit were Texas' largest cities - including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin - in a state where the Hispanic population has grown at a pace three times that of whites since 2010. Garcia wrote in his 94-page ruling that Texas' law was preempted by existing federal statute and therefore unconstitutional. The judge noted that when it was being considered in public legislative hearings, only eight people testified in favor of it while 1,600 'showed up to oppose it.' He also wrote there 'is overwhelming evidence by local officials, including local law enforcement, that SB 4 will erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe.' In June Lydia Balderas (L) and Merced Leyua (R) join others as they protest against a new sanctuary cities bill outside the federal courthouse in San Antonio He added that: 'localities will suffer adverse economic consequences which, in turn, will harm the state of Texas.' 'The court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature,' Garcia wrote. 'However, the state may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution.' Garcia's order suspends the law's most contentious language while suggesting that even parts of the law that can go forward won't withstand further legal challenges. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the law in May, said Texas would appeal immediately and expressed confidence that the state would eventually prevail. He also again took a swipe at the elected Democratic sheriff of Travis County, Sally Hernandez, who had announced on the day of Trump's inauguration that her Austin jails would no longer automatically honor all detainer requests made by U.S. Immigration's and Customs Enforcement. 'Today's decision makes Texas' communities less safe. Because of this ruling, gang members and dangerous criminals, like those who have been released by the Travis County Sheriff, will be set free to prey upon our communities,' Abbott said in a statement. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a press briefing the State of Texas Emergency Command Center at Department of Public Safety headquarters in Austin, Texas The U.S. Department of Justice, which has made 'sanctuary cities' a new priority under the Trump administration, had joined Texas is defending the law in court. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has threatened to pull federal money from jurisdictions that hinder communication between local police and immigration authorities and has praised Texas' law. The law had sought to fine law enforcement authorities who fail to honor federal requests to hold people jailed on offenses that aren't immigration related for possible deportation. Opponents of the law told Garcia that his ruling could determine if other states pursue copycat measures, while the Texas attorney general's office argued that the new law had fewer teeth than the Arizona measure. Since January, the bill has elevated political tensions in Texas, and it boiled over in May when Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi told Democrats that he had called federal immigration agents to report protesters in the Capitol who he said were holding signs that said they were not legal citizens. A Democrat whose district is near the U.S.-Mexico border admitted confronting and pushing Rinaldi, who has acknowledged telling him that he would 'shoot him in self-defense.' SEATTLE (AP) - Nearly 40 dogs that were in Texas shelters before Hurricane Harvey have arrived in Seattle by plane. Volunteers unloaded the animals Wednesday afternoon after their flight from San Antonio, Texas. Officials with Wings of Rescue say the transported animals were already in shelters before the storm and are being moved to make room in shelters for pets that have been displaced. Volunteers unload 35 dogs from Texas shelters flown to make space for companion animals rescued in the Hurricane Harvey aftermath, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Seattle. The dogs arriving in Seattle were already in Texas shelters when Harvey hit and are being transferred to Seattle-area shelters so animals displaced from the flooding can be cared for in Texas until they can be reunited with their families there. The rescue transfer is a collaboration between Humane Society of the United States, Wings of Rescue, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and other Seattle-area shelters. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) The rescue transfer is a collaboration between Humane Society of the United States, Wings of Rescue, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and other Seattle-area shelters. Officials with Seattle Human say the animals will be placed at their Bellevue shelter and will be available for adoption. Another flight of animals is set for Friday in the region from San Antonio to Hillsboro, Oregon. Wings of Rescue co-pilot Jose G. Martinez reaches for one of the last of of a load of 35 dogs from Texas shelters flown to make space for companion animals rescued in the Hurricane Harvey aftermath, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Seattle. The dogs arriving in Seattle were already in Texas shelters when Harvey hit and are being transferred to Seattle-area shelters so animals displaced from the flooding can be cared for in Texas until they can be reunited with their families there. The rescue transfer is a collaboration between Humane Society of the United States, Wings of Rescue, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and other Seattle-area shelters. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) One dog in a load of 35 from Texas shelters looks out while being unloaded after being flown to make space for companion animals rescued in the Hurricane Harvey aftermath, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, at Boeing Field in Seattle. The dogs arriving in Seattle were already in Texas shelters when Harvey hit and are being transferred to Seattle-area shelters so animals displaced from the flooding can be cared for in Texas until they can be reunited with their families there. The rescue transfer is a collaboration between Humane Society of the United States, Wings of Rescue, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and other Seattle-area shelters. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Volunteers unload one of 35 dogs flown from Texas shelters to make space for companion animals rescued in the Hurricane Harvey aftermath, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, at Boeing Field in Seattle. The dogs arriving in Seattle were already in Texas shelters when Harvey hit and are being transferred to Seattle-area shelters so animals displaced from the flooding can be cared for in Texas until they can be reunited with their families there. The rescue transfer is a collaboration between Humane Society of the United States, Wings of Rescue, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and other Seattle-area shelters. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri lawmaker said in a Wednesday Facebook post that he hoped whoever placed paint on a Confederate monument in Springfield is found and hanged, prompting Democratic leaders to ask him to step down over what they're describing as a call for a lynching. "This is totally against the law," Republican Rep. Warren Love wrote in the post. "I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope." Love said his post is no longer up, although the lawmaker told The Associated Press he did not take it down. Vandalism of the Confederate monument was discovered at the Springfield National Cemetery on Wednesday, at a time when heightened security surrounded President Donald Trump's visit to Springfield to discuss tax policy. The Greene County Sheriff's Department is investigating. Love, in a response he provided to AP and said he posted on Facebook, later said people had interpreted his post "to be rather harsh and inciting violence." Love is from Osceola, a western Missouri city where fewer than 1,000 people live. "I did not mean it that way and was only using and old Cowboy Statement that is a western custom of a penalty for Thieves that steal Cattle & Horses," the statement said. "To all who this post offended I am very sorry." Love, who ranches, told AP the term was a "cowboy slang statement," not a call for lynching. Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber and House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty both said Love should resign. A request for comment to Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson was not immediately returned Wednesday. "In calling for the lynching of those who vandalized a Confederate statute in Springfield, state Rep. Warren Love invoked a form of political violence used throughout the South to keep African-Americans subjugated for generations following the fall of the Confederacy," McCann Beatty, who is black, said in a statement. "For that he must resign." McCann Beatty also said Confederate monuments "are monuments to white supremacy; there is no separating the two." Love said he's a member of both the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of Confederate Veterans. He sponsored legislation this year and in 2016 that would protect state historic military monuments and other memorials under Missouri Department of Natural Resources control, including Confederate monuments, from being moved or created without public input and an advisory council vote. He said he meant to point out in his post that "it's terrible when someone vandalizes or desecrates an object of remembrance." This is the second time in as many weeks that a Missouri state lawmaker has been asked to step down over Facebook posts. Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal in mid-August said she wrote "I hope Trump is assassinated!" in response to a post that suggested Vice President Mike Pence would try to have Trump removed from office. She later took the post down and apologized. She's also refused to resign, despite pressure from top Missouri Democrats and Republicans. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sent more than 200,000 pieces of mail to constituents last winter. One letter invited women to self-defense classes, another highlighted a bird-watching event, and a third promoted a tree adoption day. The mailings, all sent in a two-week period, cost $62,000, and taxpayers foot the bill, according to data obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request. Last year, California Assembly members spent $3.2 million sending mail to their constituents, taking advantage of a legislative perk that allows them to use tax dollars to cover the costs. Senators spent $230,000 on postage costs in the same timeframe. FILE - In this June 15, 2014, file photo, Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles appears at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Gomez, who was elected to Congress in June, sent more than 200,000 pieces of mail to constituents last winter. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) Lawmakers aren't supposed to spend money on campaign mail. But Assembly spending data shows their spending on mail to constituents is typically higher during election years, and that those with the highest tabs are usually in the most competitive races. In Gomez's case, the letters went out as he was ramping up his campaign for an open U.S. House seat that attracted 23 candidates. Paul Seamus Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, said periodic mailings touting a lawmaker's efforts or highlighting a local event benefit incumbents. "When the spending is being done principally or disproportionately by legislators who are running for office, it certainly seems to be an abuse of taxpayer dollars," said Ryan, whose Washington, D.C., organization advocates government transparency. "You don't have to say 'Vote for me' in order to effectively encourage someone to vote for you." All 80 Assembly seats were on the ballot in 2016, while only 20 of 40 Senate seats were. Such mail is prohibited within 60 days of an election, which helps explain why Gomez's flurry - he sent more taxpayer-funded mail in two weeks than the entire previous year - ended two months before the primary election for the Los Angeles congressional seat Xavier Becerra vacated when he was appointed state attorney general. Once Gomez was within two months of the election, his congressional campaign logged its first mailing expense, according to Federal Election Commission records. Gomez, a Democrat, won that election and the June runoff to become California's newest congressman. Voters passed a law in 1988 prohibiting the use of public money for mass mailings to prevent lawmakers from spending tax dollars for political and campaign purposes. But the Fair Political Practices Commission, a California board that enforces campaign finance laws, has since written rules outlining exemptions that allow lawmakers to send non-campaign mail. "It may not be a campaign piece, but it can be made to make the candidate or officeholder look as good as possible," commission spokesman Jay Wierenga said. Each chamber's leadership establishes members' operating budgets, which include money for mailings. There's no cap on how much a lawmaker can spend on mailings. In response to the AP's records request, the Assembly provided a breakdown on the number, cost and content of mailings sent by the chamber's top spenders. During the first six months of this year, Assembly members spent more than $600,000 on mailings. Republican Catharine Baker was tops with more than $70,000, followed by Gomez, then Democrat Rudy Salas, who spent more than $50,000, according to the Assembly's latest expenditures report. Baker, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, represents a predominantly Democratic district in the San Francisco Bay Area. She sent mailings outlining her positions on innovation, California's bullet train project and small businesses. Salas, who represents a competitive Central Valley district, issued a statement saying the mailings are an "excellent tool that constituents have told me they appreciate." Bob Stern, a former Fair Political Practices Commission general counsel, said lawmakers should communicate with their constituents, and spending on mail in nonelection years generally doesn't bother him. But he said the commission should impose greater restrictions during election years. "It gives incumbents an unfair advantage," he said, noting Gomez's example is a "perfect case of where it shouldn't be allowed." Gomez spokeswoman Bertha Guerrero defended the mailings but did not answer questions about whether he used them to further his campaign. "During his entire time in the California Assembly, Congressman Jimmy Gomez put a priority on being accessible, responsive and engaging with constituents," she said in a statement. Assembly members spent nearly $300,000 more in 2016 than in 2015, even though blackout periods for mail leading up to last year's elections gave them less time to spend. The previous election cycle, they spent nearly $500,000 more. In 2016, Assemblyman Marc Steinorth spent the most - nearly $270,000. He narrowly won re-election in a Southern California district where Democrats outnumber Republicans. Former Assemblywoman Young Kim spent the second-highest amount - more than $220,000 - leading up to an election in Orange County where she was defeated by Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat Kim unseated in 2014. Baker was next, spending roughly $220,000, followed by David Hadley, who spent more than $195,000. Like Kim, Hadley was defeated by a Democratic challenger he had unseated the previous election: Al Muratsuchi. Spokespeople for Steinorth and Kim did not comment on their spending. Hadley said he consulted with GOP leaders and decided to spend on mailings, adding his seat was a priority for the party because it's a swing district. He said he often sent mail to invite constituents to town halls or to request feedback. When part of his district faced water-quality issues, he said he gleaned valuable information about the scope of the problem through a mailed survey. "In general, people really appreciated having been contacted," Hadley said. In this Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, photo, Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, talks at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Last year, Steinorth spent more than $270,000 on mail to constituents, the most of any other Assembly member. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) In this Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, photo, Assemblywoman Catharine Bakers, R-San Ramon, stands at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. During the first six months of this legislative session, state Assembly members spent nearly $600,000 on mailings, with Baker topping the list with more than $70,000 in mailing expenses. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) In this Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, photo, some of the mailings sent to constituents by members of the state Assembly are displayed at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Last year lawmakers spent more than $3 million on such mailings from the Assembly's operating budget. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) FILE - In this June 29, 2017, photo, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, left, talks with Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez , D-Los Angeles, center, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Gomez, who was elected to Congress in June, spent more than $63,000 in public money on mail to constituents last winter, nearly four times what any of his colleagues spent in the same time frame. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) TOKYO (AP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May sought to reassure Japanese business leaders about Brexit on Thursday, while also joining Japan in calling on China to use its influence to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons and missile development. May, whose visit came shortly after North Korea launched a missile over Japan, said the global condemnation of the launch needs to be matched with action. "China does have a particular position in this, they have leverage on North Korea and I believe that we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage," she said at a joint news conference after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, greets by her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, right, prior to a meeting at Akasaka Palace state guesthouse in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, Pool) The British leader said she and Abe had agreed to work with others to step up pressure on North Korea, including a speeding-up of the implementation of sanctions. On Brexit, May said she is seeking to lay the foundation to take the trade and investment relationship with Japan to "a whole new level" as the U.K. leaves the European Union. "This is a formative period in shaping the future of my country," she said in remarks earlier to a Japan-U.K. business forum. She pledged that Britain would deepen trade relations and become even more outward-looking post-Brexit. "There are few places where the opportunities of doing so are greater than Japan, the third-largest economy in the world," she said. Some Japanese companies with factories in the United Kingdom are worried about their ability to export to the rest of Europe after Brexit. Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and triggered the formal two-year exit process in March. May, on her first visit to Japan as prime minister, boarded a Japanese warship and attended a meeting of Japan's National Security Council to underscore her country's deepening security ties with Japan. She and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera met on the Izumo at a naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. "My visit today is a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership that we have on defense matters," May said in comments broadcast on Japanese TV. May noted that U.K. Typhoon fighter jets took part in a joint drill in Japan last year, the first country other than the U.S. to do so, and that British troops will join an exercise in Japan next year for the first time. British Prime Minister Theresa May, second left, reviews the guard of honor with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, during a welcoming ceremony at the state guest house in Tokyo Thursday Aug. 31, 2017. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, shake hands during a joint press conference at the state guest house in Tokyo Thursday Aug. 31, 2017. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May, second from left, inspects a guard of honor with Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, left, on board the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's escort vessel Izumo in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. May is on a three-day visit to Japan that is expected to focus on Brexit, trade and security. (Kyodo News via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May signs the visitor's book next to Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, right, as she visits the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's escort vessel Izumo in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. May is on a three-day visit to Japan that is expected to focus on Brexit, trade and security. (Kyodo News via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May, left and podium, inspects a guard of honor with Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, right on podium, on board the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's escort vessel Izumo in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. May is on a three-day visit to Japan that is expected to focus on Brexit, trade and security. (Kyodo News via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May, third right, talks with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, third left, during their meeting at Akasaka Palace state guesthouse in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, Pool) British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, shakes hands with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, left, prior to a meeting at Akasaka Palace state guesthouse in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, Pool) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech at Japan-UK Business Forum in Tokyo, Thursdaay Aug. 31, 2017. (Reiri Kurihara/Japan Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, right, exchanges memorandums with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige, left, while Prime Minister Theresa May, second right, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second left, look on, during Japan-UK Business Forum in Tokyo, Thursday Aug. 31, 2017. (Reiri Kurihara/Japan Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, left, delivers a speech as Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, center, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, look on, during Japan-UK Business Forum in Tokyo, Thursday Aug. 31, 2017. (Reiri Kurihara/Japan Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, attend at Japan-UK Business Forum in Tokyo, Thursday Aug. 31, 2017. (Reiri Kurihara/Japan Pool Photo via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at a table meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second right, prior to a meeting of Japan's National Security Council at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP) United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. DARCY PILOTO, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-10184 Decided: August 29, 2017 Before WILSON, JORDAN, and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges. Darcy Piloto appeals his 120-month sentence, representing a 79-month upward variance, for possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The sentence was imposed after his original 235-month sentence was vacated pursuant to Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). On appeal, Piloto argues that the district court plainly erred by failing to allow him an allocution before imposing his sentence. Further, Piloto argues that his sentence is substantively unreasonable because the district court relied too much on his criminal history to the exclusion of the other 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and his efforts at post-sentencing rehabilitation. After careful review, we affirm. I. Piloto argues that the district court plainly erred by failing to allow him an allocution before imposing his sentence. Allocution is the right of the defendant to make a final plea on his own behalf to the sentencing judge before his sentence. United States v. Carruth, 528 F.3d 845, 846 (11th Cir. 2008) (per curiam). Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(4)(A)(ii), the court must, before imposing [a] sentence, address the defendant personally in order to permit the defendant to speak or present any information to mitigate the sentence. We review for plain error a district court's failure to allow allocution, if the defendant did not timely object. United States v. Prouty, 303 F.3d 1249, 1251 (11th Cir. 2002). To find reversible error under this standard, we must conclude that (1) an error occurred, (2) the error was plain, and (3) the error affected substantial rights. Id. at 125152. To affect substantial rights, the plain error must be prejudicial: It must affect[ ] the outcome of the district court proceedings. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734, 113 S. Ct. 1770, 1778 (1993). During the sentencing hearing, the district court announced the sentence before allowing Piloto an opportunity for allocution. Because neither Piloto nor his attorney objected to the post-sentence allocution, the plain error standard of review applies. Piloto is correct that the sentencing court erred in announcing his sentence before an opportunity for allocution and that the error was plain. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(4)(A)(ii). However, Piloto fails to demonstrate that the plain error affected his substantial rights. The sentencing court afforded Piloto an opportunity to allocute before the end of the sentencing hearing and, while considering Piloto's allocution, left open the possibility of changing the announced sentence. Also, in response to the allocutionduring which Piloto stated that the court should consider his rehabilitation effortsthe district court explicitly stated that it accepted Piloto's representation of his rehabilitative efforts as true and considered them but that the efforts were not sufficient to change the sentence imposed. Piloto's argument that the district court plainly erred fails. II. Piloto argues that his sentence is substantively unreasonable because the district court relied too much on his criminal history to the exclusion of the other 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and his efforts at post-sentencing rehabilitation. The district court must impose a sentence sufficient[ ] but not greater than necessary to comply with the purposes of 3553(a)(2). 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). Also, the district court must consider all of the 3553(a) factors to determine whether they support the sentence requested by a party, United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 118990 (11th Cir. 2008). We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion, regardless of whether the sentence imposed is within the range recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S. Ct. 586, 597 (2007). During review, we must take into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance, and must give due deference to the district court's decision that the 3553(a) factors, on a whole, justify the extent of the variance. Id. In imposing Piloto's sentence, the district court explicitly considered all of the 3553(a) factors. Although the district court emphasized Piloto's criminal history during sentencing, [p]lacing substantial weight on a defendant's criminal record is entirely consistent with 3553(a) because five of the factors it requires a court to consider are related to criminal history. United States v. Rosales-Bruno, 789 F.3d 1249, 1263 (11th Cir. 2015). Also, the district court explicitly stated that it had considered Piloto's rehabilitative efforts but declined to grant a downward variance. Although a sentencing court may consider evidence of a defendant's post-sentencing rehabilitation, which could support a downward variance, the court is not required reduce a sentence based on a showing of post-sentencing rehabilitation. See Pepper v. United States, 562 U.S. 476, 481, 490, 505 n.17 (2011). In light of all the circumstances, we determine that the ultimate sentence is reasonable. AFFIRMED. PER CURIAM: BEIJING (AP) - Chinese police have opened an investigation on a new allegation, rape, against one of the ruling Communist Party's most wanted exiles, the New York-based billionaire Guo Wengui. It's the latest in the party's escalating effort to pressure Guo, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference. Two Chinese officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press police are requesting a second Interpol arrest notice for Guo, 50, for the alleged sexual assault of a 28-year-old former personal assistant. In this Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, photo, a Twitter page of Chinese exiles businessman Guo Wengui is seen on a computer screen in Beijing. Escalating efforts to repatriate one of its most wanted exiles, China's ruling Communist Party has opened a police investigation on a new allegation, rape, against New York-based billionaire Guo, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Guo and his representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The Associated Press reviewed documents related to the rape investigation and confirmed their contents with Chinese official sources in Beijing, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing case. RENO, Nev. (AP) - Triple-digit heat across much of the U.S. West hampered crews battling scores of wildfires Thursday, including one threatening dozens of structures in Montana and another that temporarily shut down the main travel route to the Burning Man counterculture festival in the Nevada desert. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes amid hot weather in Oregon, Montana and California, where a blaze burned 10 homes and threatened 500 more near a hard-hit community and another kept a popular road to Yosemite National Park closed. A wind-driven wildfire ripped through parched forest and grasslands in southeastern Montana on Thursday, threatening 35 homes and structures and forcing the evacuation of an undetermined number of residents scattered in the area. A tree continues to burn from a wildfire along Lumpkin Road near Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. The wildfire is among a series of wildfires burning across the U.S. West. (Bill Husa/Chico Enterprise-Record via AP) The fire that started in Custer National Forest about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Broadus on Wednesday burned at least 47 square miles (121 square kilometers) in a single day. Another fire about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of the Canadian border, destroyed five cabins and five other structures and threatened 130 more buildings Thursday in the mountains south of Havre. In Nevada, more than 70,000 people were expected at the Burning Man art and music celebration in the Black Rock Desert by the time it culminates Saturday night with the burning of a towering effigy, and the vast majority get there by a state highway that was closed for several hours because of the fire. "The traffic is moving, but you had a lot of congestion built up so it's very slow going," Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Gordon said of State Route 447. The lightning-sparked fire has burned about 80 square miles (207 kilometers) and is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the festival. Seven ranches were threatened, but there was no threat to the festival and there were no reports of injuries. "It's not close to Burning Man at this time," Interagency Fire spokesman John Gaffney said. "There's a considerable distance between the fire and the festival. At this point, the goal is to keep the road open as much as we can." Interagency Fire spokesman John Gaffney said the heat, expected to hit 100 degrees (37 Celsius) again on Friday, was one of the biggest concerns for crews fighting the flames by the air and ground. It's chewing through brush that's 1 to 2 feet high, he said, and high temperatures were expected through the weekend. Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham said in an email that the local festival airstrip, which is built each year, is open and the celebration was continuing as scheduled. "At the moment there is no impact," he said. Other fires in Nevada closed a 65-mile stretch of highway just south of the state line with California and burned a remote part of a vast former nuclear proving ground. Nevada National Security Site spokeswoman Tracy Bower said the lightning-sparked fire covered almost 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) but wasn't considered a threat to people or buildings. More than 1,000 nuclear detonations occurred at the former Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas from 1951 to 1992. It now hosts non-nuclear experiments and safety training. Elsewhere, thousands of people have fled about two dozen fires in Oregon alone. In Northern California, more than 1,000 firefighters were able to slow the growth of a nearly 5-square-mile wildfire (13-square-kilometer) overnight near the town of Oroville, an area already hard-hit by fire and a massive evacuation earlier this year caused by damage to sections of the nation's tallest dam. It was partially contained, but about 500 homes remained in its path. Gusty winds that fueled the flames Wednesday subsided but the oppressive heat did not. Fires also burned near Yosemite National Park, evacuating nearby towns and keeping a popular road into the park shut down. About 58 homes near the park were destroyed earlier this summer. Air quality from wildfire smoke is a problem in Montana and Oregon, where athletic events - from kayaking and half-marathons to high school football games - have been postponed in the outdoors-loving state. ____ Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco, Matt Volz in Helena, Montana, Steven DuBois in Portland, Oregon, and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report. Tenaya Lodge staff and guests watch as a large plume of the Railroad Fire continues burning just east of the lodge parking lot Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 30, 2017 near Fish Camp, Calif. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP) A Kings River Hotshot cuts down and remove limbs from trees along Sandy Road near where the Railroad Fire continues to burn Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017 near Fish Camp, Calif. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP) Graham Fraser, right, from Oceanside, Calif., walks with his wife Ann Fraser as they leave the Tenaya Lodge after retrieving their belongings as a wildfire continues to burn Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, near Yosemite National Park in Fish Camp, Calif. The wildfire is among a series of wildfires burning across the U.S. West. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP) A fire truck working on a wildfire drives past downed power lines along Lumpkin Road near Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. The wildfire is among a series of wildfires burning across the U.S. West. (Bill Husa/Chico Enterprise-Record via AP) TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Hundreds of Iranians attended the funeral Thursday of Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the country's most influential dissident politicians and a former foreign minister. Yazdi was a close ally of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but he opposed the takeover of the U.S. Embassy and his party later broke with the clerics as they consolidated power. Yazdi was the English-language spokesman for Khomeini during the revolution and was appointed foreign minister in early 1979 after the toppling of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a pro-Western monarch. Iranian cleric Mahmoud Doaei leads a prayer on the flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Hundreds of Iranians attended the funeral Thursday of Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the country's most influential dissident politicians and a former foreign minister. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) But he resigned as foreign minister later that year in protest at the takeover of the U.S. Embassy by militant students who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Washington later cut diplomatic relations with Tehran. Yazdi had argued that the embassy takeover led to a harsher stance by Washington against the revolution and emboldened Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to wage an eight-year war against Iran, which left more than 1 million casualties on both sides. He was among a small group of politicians who believed the war should have come to end in early 1980s. It lasted until 1988. After his resignation, Yazdi was frequently sentenced to prison on security charges, including an eight-year term in 2012. He appealed that verdict and never served the sentence. He remained in Iran until January, when he left to seek cancer treatment in Turkey. Prior to the revolution, during a long stay in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s, Yazdi established the biggest Muslim association in the country, in Houston, Texas, and earned a reputation for protesting the shah in various states. He had worked as a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas until the mid-1970s. Yazdi died Sunday at the age of 85 in Izmir, Turkey, where he was being treated for complications from cancer after being denied a U.S. visa for follow-up treatment in Houston. The funeral took place in a mosque north of Tehran and was attended by many of Yazdi's political allies as well as ordinary Iranians. His coffin was draped with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and friends acted as pallbearers. The crowd of hundreds occasionally raised the traditional dissident demand for the release of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since 2011.They both challenged the 2009 re-election of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ali Shakouri Rad, a reformist politician who attended the funeral, said Yazdi always sought freedom and pursued peace and reform. "He is an icon for those things," Rad said. "And that's why you see large crowds have participated in his funeral." Some Iranian leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as well as former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, offered condolence messages after Yazdi's death. Yazdi was buried in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran, home to a shrine to Khomeini and the gravesites of many prominent Iranians. He is survived by his wife, Sorour Talieh Yazdi, four daughters and two sons. Iranian mourners carry a flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian mourners carry a flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian mourners carry a flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian police control the scene while mourners attend the funeral ceremony of dissident politician and former foreign minister Ebrahim Yazdi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian mourners carry a flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian mourners pray over the flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian mourners carry a flag-draped coffin of Ebrahim Yazdi, a dissident politician and former foreign minister, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) BEIJING (AP) - A handful of Americans left Pyongyang on Thursday on a flight to Beijing, a day before the start of a U.S. ban on American citizens going to North Korea. Among those on the flight from the North Korean capital were aid workers who hoped to be allowed to return to continue humanitarian work. The Trump administration announced in July that it was barring American citizens from traveling to North Korea from Sept. 1 over concerns about detentions of Americans who travel there. Earlier this year, U.S. citizen Otto Warmbier was sent home in a coma and later died after spending more than a year in North Korean detention. In this image made from video, U.S. citizen and aid worker Heidi Linton of Christian Friends of Korea speaks to reporters after arriving at Beijing International Airport from Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. A handful of Americans left Pyongyang on a flight to Beijing before the start of a U.S. ban on American citizens going to North Korea. (AP Photo) Overall, though nearly all Americans who have gone to North Korea have left without incident, at least 16 have been detained in the last decade, American officials say. The ban also goes into effect amid heightened U.S. concern about Pyongyang's recent advancements in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The ban includes potential exceptions for journalists and humanitarian workers, and expires after one year unless extended. Heidi Linton, director of the U.S.-based charity Christian Friends of Korea, said she wasn't sure how long it could take for travel approval to come through. The organization, which fights tuberculosis and hepatitis, has been working in North Korea for more than 20 years. "The devil is always in the detail," she said, after landing in Beijing. "These trips take a long time to plan and organize and so, if travel approval doesn't come in a timely way, it's a de facto denial." Linton said the organization appreciated the U.S. government's concern for its people, but said there was a "tremendous need" for humanitarian work in North Korea. "I think it's very important that there be opportunities for people to understand one another in person," Linton said. Another Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang is due to land in Shanghai on Thursday evening. STOCKHOLM (AP) - The defense ministers of Sweden and Denmark say they would boost their military cooperation to counter the threat of Russian military buildup, cyberattacks and false news. Peter Hultqvist and Claus Hjort Frederiksen said in a joint statement titled "Russian fake news: A danger to our countries" that misinformation from Russia made their nations "increasingly unsafe." They said Thursday they would increase hybrid warfare cooperation, but stopped short of giving details. The two ministers from the neighboring Scandinavian countries cited an increased presence of Russian military vessels in the nearby Baltic Sea region, which has also seen several reports of airspace violations by Russian military aircraft. MADRID (AP) - Regional authorities in Catalonia on Thursday denied news reports that U.S. anti-terrorism officials had warned them of an attack targeting Barcelona, but acknowledged that they did receive tips of possible attacks from other sources that they deemed not credible enough. Catalan regional interior chief Joaquim Forn said regional police were not warned by the CIA or the National Counterterrorism Center in the U.S. about the Aug. 17 van attack on Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas boulevard that killed 14 people. Forn added that such warnings are typically made through state channels. Barcelona-based El Periodico newspaper reported that the U.S. sent a warning on May 25 to regional police, specifically mentioning Las Ramblas. Other Spanish media outlets published similar stories. Regional police senior officer Josep Lluis Trapero said there were generic warnings of an attack, including one received May 25, but he said both Spanish and Catalan authorities considered them not reliable though. He said the warnings did not come from the CIA or the NCTC but he gave no details on their source. Forn accused El Periodico of trying to discredit the regional police. The Aug. 17 van attack killed 14 people, and one other person was stabbed to death by the Barcelona attacker as he fled. Another attack in nearby Cambrils a day later left one dead. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group. The U.S. embassy in Madrid said it could not comment on intelligence issues. BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - A Turkish businessman sought by the United States on allegations he sold equipment to Iran's military in violation of sanctions asked a Romanian court Thursday to free him from arrest. Tavan Resit owns a Turkish-based company, Ramor Group, which the U.S. Treasury Department alleges provided marine power equipment to Iran's navy. He was arrested June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. His lawyer, Catalin Predoiu, a former Romanian justice minister, said he went to Romania to deny any wrongdoing to the Americans. Tavan Resit, a Turkish businessman the United States wants to extradite on suspicion of supporting Iran's military procurement plan, walks handcuffed after asking a Romanian court to free him from arrest, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Resit was arrested on June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Predoiu asked a court to transfer him to house arrest because of ill health. He also said that Romanian officials didn't have a copy of the U.S. arrest warrant, as is required in extradition cases. He claimed his client hadn't broken Romanian or Turkish laws. The court, however, later ruled to keep him under arrest. The court approved the lawyers' request to obtain information about the arrest warrant. Resit has said the case concerns two yacht motors he sold to Iranians which can be used for military purposes. Another lawyer, Mihai Mares, said a U.S. compliance officer in February approved the equipment that Resit's company was intending to export. On July 18, the U.S. Treasury Department put Resit on a list of people and groups that allegedly aided Iran's military or its elite Revolutionary Guard. A hearing on his possible extradition has been set for Sept. 21. Tavan Resit, a Turkish businessman the United States wants to extradite on suspicion of supporting Iran's military procurement plan, walks handcuffed as he exits a police van before asking a Romanian court to free him from arrest, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Resit was arrested on June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Tavan Resit, a Turkish businessman the United States wants to extradite on suspicion of supporting Iran's military procurement plan, walks handcuffed after asking a Romanian court to free him from arrest, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Resit was arrested on June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Tavan Resit, a Turkish businessman the United States wants to extradite on suspicion of supporting Iran's military procurement plan, walks handcuffed after asking a Romanian court to free him from arrest, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Resit was arrested on June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on developments in (all times local): 7:15 p.m. The leader of Hezbollah says he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss a deal to evacuate Islamic State militants from the Syria-Lebanon border. In a speech Thursday, Hassan Nasrallah said he sought Assad's help to negotiate the deal, which resulted in a cease-fire with the militants in return for information on the remains of nine Lebanese soldiers captured in 2014. "I went personally to President Assad and asked for his help to remove Daesh from" the area, he said, referring to IS by an Arabic acronym. Under the deal, hundreds of militants were bused out of the area through Syrian government-controlled territory, bound for an IS-held town near Iraq. That has angered Iraq and the U.S., which has launched airstrikes to block the IS convoy. ___ 3:30 p.m. The U.N. human rights chief is urging the U.S.-led coalition and other forces fighting in Raqqa against the Islamic State group's "murderous regime" to do more to protect civilians from airstrikes and other firepower. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein expressed concern that "forces involved in battling ISIL are losing sight of the ultimate goal of this battle." There are some 20,000 civilians trapped in the Syrian city. Al-Hussein's office said Wednesday that total civilian casualties from airstrikes and ground-based strikes on Raqqa are difficult to count, but that it was a "large number." It tallied 151 civilian deaths from six incidents in which at least six civilians were reportedly killed this month. Zeid also expressed concerns about the city of Deir el-Zour to the southeast, predicting it will be "the next big battle" after Raqqa. ___ Noon The media arm of Lebanon's Hezbollah says the group has received the body of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard member recently captured and killed by the Islamic State group. The handover of Mohsen Haji's body is part of a controversial deal brokered by Hezbollah to clear IS fighters from an area along the Lebanon-Syria border. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said Thursday that Haji's body was received by the group and is now awaiting a DNA test before being sent to Iran. U.S. airstrikes blocked the advance of an IS convoy carrying militants toward Iraq on Wednesday, derailing the Hezbollah-negotiated deal that removed some 600 extremists and civilians from the Lebanon-Syria border. The evacuation agreement had angered many Iraqis, who accused Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah of dumping the militants on the Iraqi border. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A man faces trial in Norway after he was charged with fighting alongside the Islamic State group in Syria. Norwegian news agency NTB says the man, aged 33, was charged with violating anti-terror laws that carry up to ten years in prison. NTB said Thursday that the defendant, who was not named, has denied the charges. The agency said the man traveled to Syria in November 2014 and left April 30, 2016, for Turkey, where he was arrested and eventually extradited to Norway. His trial is set to start on Oct. 2 in Oslo. No one with the Norwegian prosecution authorities was immediately reachable for comment. United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. Misternovo BAMACACIFUENTES; Byron Donaldo BamacaBautista; Abner Abdiel BamacaBautista, Petitioners v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES of America, Respondent No. 16-3104 Decided: August 29, 2017 Before: McKEE, COWEN and FUENTES, Circuit Judges. Theodore J. Murphy, Esq., Murphy Law Firm, 320 North High Street, West Chester, PA 19380, Attorney for Petitioners Todd J. Cochran, Esq., United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044, Attorneys for Respondent OPINION OF THE COURT I. INTRODUCTION Petitioners ask us to decide if the Board of Immigration Appeals abused its discretion by denying an untimely motion to reopen removal proceedings arising from a request for protection under the U.N.'s Convention Against Torture or CAT. Their petition requires us to determine if the time bar contained in 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) applies to motions to reopen based on a request for withholding of removal under the CAT. We have previously held that the time limitation does apply to these motions to reopen, but we have only done so in a non-precedential opinion that is not binding on this court. We now take the opportunity to affirm that principle in this precedential opinion. Accordingly, for the reasons that follow, we will hold that the procedural requirements in 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) apply with equal force to motions to reopen removal proceedings involving protection under the CAT. We will therefore deny this petition for review. II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Misternovo BamacaCifuentes and his sons, Byron Donaldo BamacaBautista and Abner Abdiel BamacaBautista are natives and citizens of Guatemala who first entered the United States in 1990, 1998, and 2004, respectively. In 1999, Misternovo filed an application for suspension of deportation or special rule cancellation of removal under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) that listed his sons as derivatives. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services refused to grant the NACARA application and referred the petition to an Immigration Judge for adjudication. In May 2008, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Misternovo and his two sons. They were charged with removability as aliens who were in the United States without being admitted or paroled, under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). At a hearing before the Immigration Judge, Misternovo admitted the allegations contained in the Notices to Appeal, and the Immigration Judge ruled that Petitioners were therefore removable as charged. Later, in January 2012, Misternovo's NACARA application received a full merits hearing before an Immigration Judge. The Immigration Judge denied the NACARA application, holding that Misternovo had failed to establish that he had timely registered for benefits pursuant to the American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh settlement agreement; consequently, Petitioners were ordered removed to Guatemala. Petitioners thereafter timely appealed, but the appeal was dismissed by the Board on May 29, 2013. The BIA concluded that the IJ had properly denied Misternovo's NACARA application. Petitioners did not seek review of that Board decision. More than two years later, on December 21, 2015, Petitioners filed a motion to reopen with the Board based on changed country conditions in Guatemala. DHS opposed the motion and the Board denied it on June 14, 2016. The Board found that Petitioners had not demonstrated a material change in country conditions since the time they last appeared before the Immigration Judge. This timely petition for review followed. III. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW The Board of Immigration Appeals had jurisdiction over Petitioners' motion to reopen under 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(b)(3), 1003.2(a), and 1240.15. We have jurisdiction to review the Board's final orders of removal under Section 242(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(1). We review the denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion and may reverse only if the denial is arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law. IV. DISCUSSION It is clear from the unambiguous text of 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) that the time and number restrictions in that regulation apply to all motions to reopen removal proceedings, regardless of the motion's underlying basis for relief: an alien may file only one motion to reopen removal proceedings (whether before the Board or the Immigration Judge) and that motion must be filed no later than 90 days after the date on which the final administrative decision was rendered in the proceeding sought to be reopened.9 The next section of the regulations, 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(3), outlines exceptions to the time and number restrictions articulated in 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(2). The section applicable here is 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(3)(ii), which provides that: The time and numerical limitations set forth in paragraph (c)(2) of this section shall not apply to a motion to reopen proceedings To apply or reapply for asylum or withholding of deportation based on changed circumstances arising in the country of nationality or in the country to which deportation has been ordered, if such evidence is material and was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the previous hearing.10 Thus, the 90day time bar (and restriction to file only one motion) will be waived for motions to reopen that (1) apply or reapply for asylum or withholding of deportation that are (2) based on changed country conditions and (3) supported by material evidence unavailable at the previous hearing. This changed-circumstances regulation effectively creates a procedural hurdle that must be overcome before an untimely motion to reopen may be considered. Despite these procedural hurdles, Petitioners claim that the Board abused its discretion by not conducting a thorough analysis of any of Petitioners' evidence that support their claims for [relief pursuant to the] CAT. Thus, Petitioners imply that the Board, when evaluating their untimely motion to reopen, should have ignored the time bar of 8 C.F.R. 1003.2 and its exceptions, and proceeded directly to the merits of the underlying CAT claim. This implication, however, is not supported by the logic of our precedents and by holdings of our sister circuits. As we noted at the outset, we have already concluded in a non-precedential opinion that 8 C.F.R. 1003.2's time bar applies to motions to reopen removal proceedings seeking withholding of removal under the CAT. In Thomas v. Attorney General, we applied the time and number limitations of 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) to a motion to reopen removal proceedings involving relief under the CAT that was based on changed country conditions. The panel's reasoning denying that motion is persuasive, and we adopt our colleagues' analysis in this precedential opinion. We also note that the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has correctly concluded in Go v. Holder that it appears that every circuit to have considered the question [of whether 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) applies to motions to reopen to seek protection under the CAT] has concluded that it does. Accordingly, we must now determine whether the Board erred in relying on 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) to reject Petitioners' Motion to Reopen Removal Proceedings Based on Changed Country Conditions. If the Board correctly concluded that (1) the Petitioners' motion to reopen was untimely, and (2) the untimely motion did not meet the changed country conditions exception, then the Board was procedurally barred from examining the underlying merits of any of Petitioners' claims, including their claim for withholding of removal under the CAT. Thus, in order to resolve Petitioners' appeal, we must determine whether these two conditions were met. We begin with the timeliness of Petitioners' motion to reopen. Petitioners filed their motion to reopen on December 21, 2015, well past 90 days after the Board's final administrative decision on May 29, 2013. Though the Board did not explicitly state that Petitioners' motion was untimely, its consideration of the changed country conditions exception necessarily implies this finding. The Board clearly did not err in this finding, as the untimely nature of the petition is obvious. We must next examine whether the Board erred in concluding that Petitioner did not meet the changed country conditions exception. As explained above, we can only reverse the Board's conclusion that the motion did not meet the changed country conditions exception if that decision were arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law. It is clear on this record that the decision was not arbitrary, irrational or contrary to law. To meet the changed country conditions exception, Petitioners had to prove changed conditions in Guatemala by providing evidence that (1) is material, and (2) was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the previous hearing. The Board found that Petitioners could not satisfy either prong. In reviewing the motion to reopen, the Board noted that Petitioners provided applications for asylum, United States government reports and non-governmental reports relating to country conditions in Guatemala; media reports covering Guatemala; an affidavit prepared by [Misternovo]; and, letters from persons in Guatemala advising of the situation there and the changes since [Petitioners] left 23 years ago. Because Petitioners' motion did not make clear the exact onset of the changed country conditions underlying the current request for relief, the Board considered evidence submitted that postdated January 31, 2012the date of Petitioners' hearing before the Immigration Judge. After review of Petitioners' evidence, the Board concluded that Petitioners failed to demonstrate a material change in country conditions since that date, and therefore refused to reopen the proceedings. A review of the evidence submitted confirms that it largely dealt with ongoing problems in Guatemala, and did not provide a basis for finding that there was a material change in conditions there after January 2012. Because the Board's decision is supported by the evidence, it cannot be characterized as arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law. Thus, the Board's failure to address Petitioners' underlying claims for protection under the CAT was not an abuse of discretion. V. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, we will deny the petition for review. FOOTNOTES . In order to avoid confusion, we refer to the three petitioners by their first names. . Misternovo left the United States in October 1996, after his wife was deported. He then returned in early 1997. . Misternovo also filed an application for asylum in 1993, alleging persecution based on claimed membership in a particular social groupspecifically, the civil patrol in Guatemalabut he later withdrew that application in January 2012. . DHS later added an additional charge of inadmissibility against Abner, alleging that he was an alien who had been convicted of, or who admitted committing the essential elements of, a crime involving moral turpitude, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). In 2007, Abner was convicted of theft and conspiracy in the third degree, in violation of the Delaware Criminal Code. . Misternovo also withdrew his application for asylum at this time. . 760 F.Supp. 796 (N.D. Cal. 1991). Under the terms of what has come to be known as the ABC settlement agreement, eligible Guatemalans and Salvadorans are entitled to certain immigration benefits. In order to qualify for these benefits, a Guatemalan must have (1) been physically present in the U.S. before September 19, 1990 and (2) sent in an ABC registration form by December 31, 1999. See U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs., American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh (ABC) Settlement Agreement, https://www.uscis.gov/laws/legal-settlementnotices/american-baptist-churches-v-thornburgh-abc-settlement-agreement (last visited Aug. 10, 2017). In this case, the IJ found that Misternovo had failed to comply with the registration requirement. . App. at 4. . Contreras v. Att'y Gen. of U.S., 665 F.3d 578, 583 (3d Cir. 2012) (citing Shardar v. Att'y Gen. of U.S., 503 F.3d 308, 31112 (3d Cir. 2007)). . 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(2). . 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). This regulation echoes the language of the INA, which states:There is no time limit on the filing of a motion to reopen if the basis of the motion is to apply for [asylum or withholding of removal] and is based on changed country conditions arising in the country of nationality or the country to which removal has been ordered, if such evidence is material and was not available and would not have been discovered or presented at the previous hearing.8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii). . Thomas v. Att'y Gen. of U.S., 308 Fed.Appx. 587, 593 (3d Cir. 2009) (citing Shardar, 503 F.3d at 314). . Petitioners' Br. at 12. . Go v. Holder, 744 F.3d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 2014). In addition, the First Circuit has applied 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c) to CAT claims. Gasparian v. Holder, 700 F.3d 611, 613 (1st Cir. 2012) (holding that new evidence of changed conditions failed to establish a prima facie case of claims for asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT relief). . 308 Fed.Appx. at 591. . Go, 744 F.3d at 60809 (collecting unpublished opinions from the Second, Third, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits). . App. at 19. . 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(2); 8 C.F.R. 1003.39. The government repeatedly characterizes December 21, 2015 as being nearly four years after May 29, 2013. Respondent's Br. at 2, 6, 13. Though this is plainly wrong, it does not change the fact that the 90 days had elapsed well before Petitioners filed their motion to reopen. . App. at 3 (We will consider the respondents' motion based upon the assertion of changed country conditions in the respondents' county of nationality and the evidence that has been submitted in support thereof that postdates the respondents' hearing before the Immigration Judge.). . Contreras, 665 F.3d at 583. . 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). . App. at 3. . App. at 34 (citing 8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(3)(ii); Matter of JJ, 21 I&N Dec. 965 (BIA 1997)). . App. at 4. . Indeed, Petitioners' evidence summaries note that some of Guatemala's street gangs have been in operation for decades, discuss the Continued Corruption and Government Collusion with Criminal Organizations, and detail the ongoing repercussions of the Guatemalan civil war that lasted from 19601996. App. at. 26, 30, 9495. . Shardar, 503 F.3d at 31415. McKEE, Circuit Judge. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A black man suspected of fatally shooting five white men, all but one of them along south Kansas City hiking and biking trails, threatened three years ago to shoot up a school and "kill all white people," according to court records. A municipal court citation for harassment said Fredrick Demond Scott made the statement in January 2014 at an alternative school in Kansas City, The Kansas City Star reported. Prosecutors announced Tuesday that Scott, who's 22, was charged in two killings and a suspect in three more. Scott's mother said in an interview with The Star that he refused to get treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia but did not show any hatred toward white people. Scott was cited in Kansas City municipal court in 2013 for assault on his mother, accused of shoving her several times. "As far as I know Fredrick never had a problem with white people," his mother said. "He would do odd jobs for people and some of those people were white men." Police said they did not know if the shootings were racially motivated. Scott told investigators he was upset about the 2015 stabbing death of his brother, according to police. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said a motive wasn't clear in the five killings. A phone call to a public defender listed in online court documents was not immediately returned. Scott is jailed in Jackson County on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action in the deaths of Steven Gibbons, 57, and John Palmer, 54. Prosecutors said DNA evidence connected him to the victims. Palmer was killed Aug. 19, 2016, in a wooded area near the Indian Creek trail, one of four deaths police connected in May because they were all near trails and the victims were middle-aged, white men. Prosecutors said Gibbons was shot in the back of the head as he walked along a south Kansas City street. His death had not been mentioned previously as related to four homicides along trails that were being investigated as possibly linked. Scott said he shot the two victims, investigators said. The other victims are Mike Darby, 61, who was found dead May 18 along Indian Creek Trail; David Lenox, 67, found killed Feb. 27 a few feet from his front door while walking one of his dogs; and Timothy S. Rice, 57, who was found dead April 4 inside a shelter at Minor Park. Baker said Tuesday that there wasn't sufficient evidence at "this moment" to charge Scott in those cases. ___ Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Alabama police have arrested a woman who they say left her 5-year-old son behind after stealing a pair of shoes. Mobile Police Department spokesman Donald Wallace tells news outlets 24-year-old Debrina Scott shoplifted the shoes Saturday from a Mobile shoe store. Wallace says that when Scott was confronted by security at the store, she took off running across the parking lot. Her son followed her and was nearly struck by a vehicle. News outlets report that Scott was arrested Tuesday on charges of theft and endangering the welfare of a child. She was released Wednesday evening. It's unclear if Scott has an attorney. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35B stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea that simulated precision strikes against the North's "core facilities," according to the U.S. Pacific Command and South Korea's Defense Ministry. The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35Bs came from a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Japan. North Korea, which claims Washington has long threatened it by flaunting the powerful U.S. nuclear arsenal, describes the long-range B-1Bs as "nuclear strategic bombers" although the United States no longer arms them with nuclear weapons. In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, bombs dropped by U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets hit a simulated target as they fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) Hours after the announcements by Washington and Seoul, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency issued a short statement calling the exercises a "rash act of those taken aback" by North Korea's recent missile launch. The dueling military displays open up the risk that things will get worse as each side seeks to show it won't be intimidated. North Korea has made it clear that it sees its weapons program, which demands regular testing to perfect, as the only way to contest decades of U.S. hostility, by which it means the huge U.S. military presence in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific. Washington, in turn, seeks with its joint drills with Seoul and bomber flights to show that it will not be pushed from its traditional role of supremacy in the region. More missile tests, more bomber flyovers and three angry armies facing each other across the world's most heavily armed border raises the possibility that a miscalculation could lead to real fighting. The U.S. Pacific Command said the exercises were conducted in response to North Korea's recent missile launch. Over the course of a 10-hour mission, the B-1Bs, F-35Bs and two Japanese F-15 fighters first flew together over waters near Kyushu, Japan. The U.S. and South Korean warplanes then flew across the Korean Peninsula and participated in the live-fire training before returning to their respective home stations, according to the Pacific Command. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly," Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said in a statement. "This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward-deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moment's notice if our nation calls." In Beijing, North Korea's ally China warned that war is not an option in finding a solution to the North's growing nuclear capabilities. Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Ren Guoqiang told reporters that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. The bombing exercise came as the United States and South Korea wrapped up their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills that involved tens of thousands of soldiers. North Korea condemns the annual U.S.-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion and described Tuesday's missile launch over Japan as a response to the drills. Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this year's drills. The United States often sends its warplanes to South Korea, mostly for patrols, when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea on Tuesday flew a potentially nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over northern Japan and later called it a "meaningful prelude" to containing the U.S. territory of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch was a "curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures" against the U.S.-South Korea war games and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has been maintaining a torrid pace in weapons tests this year as it openly pursues an arsenal of nuclear-armed, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into the U.S. mainland. Experts say Kim wants a real nuclear deterrent against the United States to ensure the survival of his government and likely believes that it will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. North Korea had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam, which is home to key U.S. military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening. It also flight-tested a pair of developmental ICBMs in July. South Korean analysts said North Korea's threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are likely attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. The U.S. and South Korean militaries say the Hwasong-12 fired over Japan's northern island of Hokkaido flew about 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles). South Koreans Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk told lawmakers on Thursday that North Korea might have fired the missile at about half its maximum range. In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korean F-15 fighter jets drop bombs over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, a U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber drops a bomb over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets drop bombs over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's been a year of transition for Fifth Harmony: The pop stars parted ways with member Camila Cabello, switched management teams, negotiated a new contract with their label and won greater creative control of their brand. Luckily the newly-minted quartet, who released their third album last week, had the fairy godmother of girl groups to guide them through the tumultuous times: Destiny's Child alum Kelly Rowland. "We were advised by THE Kelly Rowland," Dinah Jane, 20, said with reverence. "She just told us to, like, let the music speak for itself ... and just know your worth, believe in yourself and just be there for each other. So we've definitely honed into that. And for her to advise that, like, that says a lot because, you know, she's gone through the same things." In this Aug. 24, 2017 photo, members of Fifth Harmony, from left, Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane pose for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote their self-titled album. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) "And she said that she was really proud of us," beamed Normani Kordei, 21. Destiny's Child went through similar changes before settling on the final and most famous formation, the trio of Rowland, Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams. Fifth Harmony said they looked to the "Bootylicious" hitmakers when deciding to fill the spot left by Cabello, who exited in December to pursue a solo career. "We kept referencing that while we were in the moments of that whole thing happening. ... Like people, teams or whatever, suggesting, 'Oh maybe we get a fifth member?'" Lauren Jauregui, 21, recalled. "Like no, dude. If we're going to do this, it's the four of us. Period." "It's been us. It will be us," echoed Kordei. The group doubled down on that decision during Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, where a stand-in fifth member was quickly tossed from the stage as they began to perform. The dance-heavy performance, which came two days after the release of their new album, was well-received and boosted sales of the single "Down." The girls also won best pop video for the song's video, which features rapper Gucci Mane. Naming their third album after the group drives the point home - though they've downsized, they feel stronger than ever. "(The album) is more edgy and mature, of course, but the most harmonious we've ever been," Jane said. They say they are most comfortable now because they're in the driver's seat. They pushed for more creative control with their labels, Epic Records and Simon Cowell's Syco imprint, and sought legal counsel to gain ownership of the Fifth Harmony trademark. "When we hired our lawyer, Dina LaPolt, that's when our real transformation began because she really informed us about our business and informed us about our rights as artists," Jauregui said. "And we really, I feel, gained this sort of inner power that we didn't have before and this control and ownership of our music, of our brand, of our business." Fifth Harmony was formed on the U.S. version of "The X Factor" in 2012. In 2015 they released their full-length debut, "Reflection," finding chart success with the upbeat hit, "Worth It." They reached greater heights with the slick and sexy song "Work from Home" - the lead single from last year's "7/27" - peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But behind closed doors, the girls were struggling. "There are just so many crazy things that happen behind-the-scenes. So many honestly horrific situations that happen and we had to step up and say, 'You know what? We demand the respect that we deserve,'" recalled Ally Brooke, 24. "We need to write on this album. We need to be part of that process and that's exactly what we did." "Fifth Harmony" delivers more of the group's signature provocative pop/R&B sound along with an eclectic mix of messages. The women writhe on motel beds and showcase saucy parking lot dance sequences in the video for "Down." They touch on politics and encourage inclusivity in the uplifting album-closer "Bridges." And they issue a stern warning to those who misjudge them in the darker, F-bomb fueled "Angel," produced by Justin Bieber collaborator Poo Bear and grungy EDM star Skrillex. "Honestly it's a breath of fresh air," said Kordei of the group's new dynamic. "We're just so grateful and we thank God, like, literally every single day." "Even in those times where the storm was really, really heavy and we didn't know if it was going to end ... now I recognize what goodness actually feels like." _____ Online: https://fifthharmony.com/ _____ Follow Nicole Evatt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2017 file photo, Dinah Jane, from left, Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, and Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony pose in the press room with the award for best pop video for "Down" at the MTV Video Music Awards in Inglewood, Calif. The group releases their self-titled album this week. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) FILE - This Aug. 27, 2017 file photo shows Dinah Jane, from left, Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, and Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony at the MTV Video Music Awards in Inglewood, Calif. The group releases their self-titled album this week. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) JERUSALEM (AP) - A veteran Israeli lawmaker is denouncing what he says is his party's "ridiculous" loyalty to its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is engulfed in a string of scandals. With his remarks Thursday, Benny Begin emerged as the first prominent dissenting voice from within the Likud party since Netanyahu began a campaign meant to whip up support in recent weeks. Begin, the son of former Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, told Israeli Army Radio he thinks the party loyalty is "utter nonsense." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves during a rally of his Likud party supporters, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at the "fake news industry" over media coverage of investigations into corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the corruption allegations against him a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media. He has held boisterous rallies where he criticized the media to hundreds of cheering supporters. Likud lawmakers have rushed to defend Netanyahu. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida state attorney who refused to seek the death penalty lost her court fight Thursday with the Republican governor who reassigned her murder cases to another prosecutor. The state Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Rick Scott had the power to reassign cases from Orlando-area State Attorney Aramis Ayala. The power struggle between Scott and Ayala began in March when she said she wouldn't consider seeking the death penalty in any homicide case. Her decision outraged Scott and others because execution wouldn't be an option if Markeith Loyd was convicted in the slayings of an Orlando police lieutenant and Loyd's pregnant ex-girlfriend. FILE- In this Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, photo, State Attorney Aramis Ayala talks to reporters after her lawyer asked the Florida Supreme Court to return 24 murders cases Gov. Rick Scott reassigned to another prosecutor because Ayala won't seek the death penalty. The state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, Aug. 31, that Scott had the power to reassign cases from Ayala. (AP Photo/Brendan Farrington, File ) Scott has reassigned more than 25 cases to a neighboring prosecutor, including ongoing murder cases and resentencing hearings for people already on death row. "Crimes like these are pure evil and deserve the absolute full consideration of punishment - something that State Attorney Ayala completely ruled out," Scott said in a prepared statement. "She unilaterally decided to not stand on the side of victims and their families, which is completely sickening." The Supreme Court ruling said Ayala has shown a "misunderstanding" of Florida law by having a blanket policy against the death penalty, instead of considering the death penalty on a case-by-case basis. Ayala said in a news release that she respects the court's decision and that she would comply with it by forming a panel of seven assistant state attorneys to review every death penalty eligible case, although she did not explicitly say that pursuing death penalties would again be on the table in her jurisdiction. "It is my expectation that going forward all first-degree murder cases that occur in my jurisdiction will remain in my office and be evaluated and prosecuted accordingly," she said. In March, Ayala said the process of executing a murderer is costly, isn't a crime deterrent and drags on for years for the victims' relatives. When the Supreme Court heard her case in June, she said she has followed state law and there's nothing that requires her to seek the death penalty. The only other option in first degree murder cases is life in prison without parole. The court said in its 5-2 decision that Ayala's "blanket prohibition against the death penalty provided the Governor with 'good and sufficient reason' to reassign the cases at issue." The court also noted that Scott didn't mandate that the death penalty be sought in any of the cases he reassigned to neighboring prosecutor Brad King, but left it to King's discretion. Attorney General Pam Bondi's office represented Scott before the court. "The Governor has every right to reassign these cases to prosecutors who will uphold the laws of our great state. This year, we have seen the brutal murders of law enforcement officers in State Attorney Aramis Ayala's circuit, and her unconscionable decision to never seek the death penalty will not be tolerated," Bondi said in a prepared statement. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A former Puerto Rico government official has been sentenced to nine years in prison as part of one of the U.S. territory's biggest public corruption cases. Thursday's ruling comes nearly a year after Sally Lopez was found guilty of charges including wire fraud, bribery and extortion. She once served as director of Puerto Rico's Administration of Workforce Development. The case revolves around a former campaign fundraiser who pleaded guilty to offering items including concert tickets in exchange for political favors and government contracts. Anaudi Hernandez was described as a close friend of Lopez and also pleaded guilty of using his connections with top government officials to appoint people to positions. A total of 10 people were convicted in the fraud scheme that federal authorities said generated some $2 million. NEW YORK (AP) - A bust of Christopher Columbus has been knocked off its pedestal in a New York park, but it's unclear whether the vandalism is related to the recent controversy over the explorer. The Journal News (http://lohud.us/2iL6Wnm ) says the damage was reported Tuesday at Columbus Memorial Park in Yonkers, just north of New York City. The national soul-searching over whether to take down Confederate monuments has extended to other historical figures. In this Aug. 30, 2017 photo, the base of the bust of Christopher Columbus remains on top of its pedestal at Columbus Park in Yonkers, N.Y., after the statue was attacked by vandals. Although it is unclear whether the vandalism is related to the recent controversy, activists in New York and elsewhere have targeted Columbus statues. (Mark Vergari/The Journal News via AP) Activists in New York and elsewhere have targeted Columbus statues. The explorer is seen as a hero to many for "discovering" the New World, but he's considered a murderous colonizer to Native Americans and others. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says "the statue craziness" is "ridiculous and must stop." Police say it's also possible that "youthful vandalism" caused the damage. ___ Information from: The Journal News, http://www.lohud.com United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. TL OF FLORIDA, INC., Appellant v. TEREX CORP, d/b/a Terex Constructions America No. 16-4153 Decided: August 29, 2017 Before: GREENAWAY, JR., SHWARTZ, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges OPINION* In this appeal, Appellant TL of Florida, Inc. (TL) challenges the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Appellee Terex Corporation (Terex) in a dispute arising from its non-exclusive distributorship agreement. For the following reasons, we will affirm. I. Terex, a Delaware corporation that sells heavy equipment such as articulated dump trucks as well as parts, and TL agreed in 2008 that TL would become a non-exclusive distributor of Terex parts in south Florida. As part of the deal, TL was required to maintain a costly inventory of Terex heavy equipment. In 2013, however, TL brought this suit claiming that it was fraudulently induced into entering the agreement. Specifically, it claims fraudulent non-disclosure, negligent misrepresentation, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and violation of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. TL alleges that: (1) Terex misrepresented there was a market for Terex heavy equipment in Southern Florida (the Equipment Market Representation); (2) Terex misrepresented there was a market for Terex parts in Southern Florida (the Parts Market Representation); (3) Terex failed to disclose that it did not select distributors on the basis of demand in the marketplace or quality of the distributor, but entered distribution agreements with any person who asked for it and had the financial ability to purchase [heavy equipment] (the Dealership Selection Representations), JA59; and (4) Terex failed to disclose that TL was surrounded by other authorized sellers of Terex parts (called CPEX Accounts) who, unlike TL, were not required to maintain an inventory of heavy equipment and supporting infrastructure and therefore could undersell TL (the Dealer Representation and Omissions). Had it known all of these facts, TL says it would not have entered into a distributorship relationship with Terex. Earlier in the case, the District Court dismissed TL's claim of violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing for failure to state a claim, as well as all claims based on the Equipment Market Representation because they were barred under the applicable statute of limitations. The District Court then granted summary judgment in favor of Terex on TL's remaining claims, holding that no reasonable juror could find for TL on its proffered theory of lost profit damages. The District Court also rejected what it interpreted to be a materially different damages theory advanced by the Plaintiff at summary judgment as untimely. On appeal, TL primarily challenges these holdings as well as others. Because we agree with the District Court that TL has failed to provide sufficient evidence from which a jury could reasonably find for it on its damages theories, we will affirm. II.4 We exercise plenary review over a district court's grant of summary judgment, applying the same standard that the district court should have applied. Abramson v. William Paterson Coll. of N.J., 260 F.3d 265, 276 (3d Cir. 2001). A court grants summary judgment when there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). In assessing whether there are any material issues of fact, we must draw all justifiable inferences in [the nonmovant's] favor. Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 322 (3d Cir. 2009) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986)). The mere existence of some evidence in support of the nonmovant is insufficient to deny a motion for summary judgment; enough evidence must exist to enable a jury to reasonably find for the nonmovant on the issue. Id. Although TL asserts a number of independent claims, its theories of damages were common to each. It advanced two. First, TL argued that it was entitled to lost profits from sales that it could have made to the customers of CPEX Accounts. The District Court concluded that, because the record contained no evidence that CPEX Accounts sold Terex parts within TL's territory, TL could not prevail on this theory. Second, TL argued that it suffered losses from sales that Terex made directly to CPEX Accounts who operated in south Florida. The District Court rejected this second theory as untimely because it was a new theory of damages that had not been advanced until after discovery closed and shortly before trial was scheduled to begin. JA16. TL argues that both of these holdings were error. We address each in turn. A. Lost Profits from Sales Made by CPEX Accounts to CPEX Account Customers The District Court properly granted summary judgment regarding TL's claim for damages for lost profits from sales made by CPEX Accounts. The thrust of TL's Complaint was that it suffered damages from undisclosed CPEX Accounts who were selling Terex parts to TL's customers in TL's territory. As the District Court rightly noted, however, there is no dispute in the record that CPEX [A]ccounts in Southern Florida were set up in order to export parts to end users outside the United States where no Terex distributorships existed. JA 161. Nor was there any significant evidence that CPEX Accounts sold parts within TL's territory. TL, on the other hand, was expressly limited under the Distributorship Agreements to selling parts within its southern Florida territory only. On appeal, TL points out that the 2011 Distributorship Agreement prohibited only active[ ] solicit[ation] of sales outside of its territory, and the earlier 2008 Agreement contained no such limitation. As such, TL contends there is a genuine dispute of fact as to whether these foreign end users, in the absence of CPEX Accounts, would have purchased their Terex parts in TL's territory, and whether TL would have had to actively solicit them to do so. We disagree. Even if foreign end users could purchase parts from TL under the Distribution Agreements, TL cannot sustain its burden to survive summary judgment. There was nothing in the record to suggest that Terex's foreign end users, in the absence of competition from CPEX Accounts, would purchase Terex parts in south Florida, let alone from TL. TL points to its expert witness who generally opined that parts buyers like to purchase locally. But we see no evidence in the record from which a juror could reasonably infer that TL itself would be considered a local dealer to Terex's foreign end users, some of whom operate in Latin America, South America, and Africa. Indeed, TL could not produce a single record of a sale to a foreign user (and admitted as much at oral argument before the District Court). Rather, the record appears uncontested that TL did not even have a practice of soliciting such users outside its territory. We will therefore affirm this portion of the District Court's ruling. B. Lost Profits from Sales Terex Made Directly to CPEX Accounts in South Florida The District Court did not address this theory on the merits, but found that it was not advanced in a timely manner. TL attacks this ruling primarily on two fronts. First, TL rejects the District Court's finding that this theory represented a new theory of damages. TL argues that [b]ecause Terex sold to CPEX Accounts in South Florida, they displaced sales that otherwise would have gone to TL, as the natural, authorized source of Terex parts in South Florida. Appellant's Br. 11. As such, TL contends that its damages theory that it lost sales it could have made to CPEX Accounts is no different from its original damages theory that it lost sales made by CPEX Accounts to TL's potential customers. Id. But TL does not address the substance of the District Court's ruling that this theory was fundamentally different from the one it had explicitly alleged and upon which it premised its discovery requests. TL's Complaint assumes that it was harmed by Terex's failure to disclose the existence of parts-only dealers who surrounded TL in south Florida, i.e., CPEX Accounts. JA59. The Complaint makes no mention of competing with Terex. TL's subpoenas to CPEX Accounts, moreover, sought only documents related to sales of Terex Parts by [CPEX Accounts] to customers in Southern Florida as opposed to customers elsewhere. E.g., JA388; 395. Finally, TL's opening expert report explicitly relied upon TL's original, narrower theory. See JA522 (stating that analysis in report constitutes calculation of lost profits sustained by TL of Florida as a result of sales of Terex parts by other Terex dealers in South Florida. (emphasis added)). TL's allegation that it was unfairly forced to compete with Terex in supplying parts to CPEX Accountswhich it did not articulate until its second expert reportis an entirely separate concern. It was not error to conclude that this theory of harm was materially different. Second, TL argues that even if this theory of damages did amount to a new theory, the District Court still erred by finding that such a theory was untimely and by denying leave to amend. Although the District Court did not do so explicitly, we analyze this claim under the rubric of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, and review the District Court's denial of leave to amend for abuse of discretion. See Rolo v. City Inv. Co. Liquidating Tr., 155 F.3d 644, 654 (3d Cir. 1998). Under Rule 15, [t]he court should freely give leave when justice so requires. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). However, the District Court may deny leave on account of undue delay, bad faith, prejudice to the opposing party, or futility. See Alvin v. Suzuki, 227 F.3d 107, 121 (3d Cir. 2000); Lorenz v. CSX Corp., 1 F.3d 1406, 1413 (3d Cir. 1993). Here, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend. TL's new theory was not presented until three months before the scheduled trial and after discovery had closed. TL now blames Terex for conceal[ing] the existence of CPEX Accounts, Appellant Br. 16, but it forgets that it was aware before the close of discovery that CPEX Accounts sold only to end users outside of TL's territory. Yet, despite this knowledge, TL limited its discovery to (and predicated its expert report on) its first, flawed damages theory, all the while insisting that the case proceed to trial. The delay thus appears to be wholly of TL's doing. The District Court also found that allowing this amendment now at this late stage would require Terex to engage in significant, additional discovery related to the nature and identity of CPEX Accounts, the volume of parts sold to CPEX Accounts, and realistic capture rates associated with sales to CPEX Accounts. TL concedes this new discovery might be relevant to the issue. It was not improper to deny leave to amend so close to trial given these facts. See Adams v. Gould Inc., 739 F.2d 858, 869 (3d Cir. 1984) (citing Serrano Medina v. United States, 709 F.2d 104 (1st Cir. 1983) and DeBry v. Transamerica Corp., 601 F.2d 480 (10th Cir. 1979) for the proposition that eleventh-hour amendment or amendment introducing new concepts and theories that would require extensive additional discovery and create [a] risk that [a] trial scheduled for three months hence will have to be delayed constitutes prejudice sufficient to deny leave to amend). III. For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm. FOOTNOTES . The agreement was amended in 2011 (the 2011 Distributorship Agreement; collectively, the Distributorship Agreements). TL claims that the same misrepresentations, discussed infra, induced it to sign this amended agreement. . TL does not appeal these rulings. . This Order appears to have resolved all claims with respect to the Dealership Selection Representations and Dealer Representation and Omissions. Shortly after this ruling, the parties stipulated to dismissal with prejudice of any and all remaining claim(s) related to the Parts Market Representations. JA4. As a result, the District Court's Order granting summary judgment to Terex on the issue of damages is a final order we may review.Moreover, because we will affirm that holding, as well as the District Court's denial of leave to amend with respect to damages, we do not reach the District Court's alternative holding that Terex was entitled to judgment on the pleadings with respect to all claims arising out of the Dealer Representation and Omissions and the Dealership Selection Representations. . The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1332. The District Court's summary judgment Order as well as the parties' stipulation rendered the matter final. We therefore have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291. . We note that the subpoenas we refer to and the expert report were filed in an appendix that contained documents that had been filed under seal in the District Court. Notwithstanding Local Appellate Rule 106.1(c)(2), the parties filed an untimely motion to permit sealing in this Court that set forth no basis for sealing the documents. Upon request by the Court for the basis for sealing, the parties cited the District Court's sealing order and their agreement to keep all the documents in that appendix confidential. This is insufficient under our rule and runs afoul of our case law. See Pansy v. Borough of Stroudsburg, 23 F.3d 772, 787-88 (3d Cir. 1994) (requiring that party requesting sealing show [g]ood cause as to how disclosure will work a clearly defined and serious injury). Because we are mystified as to how there could be good cause for keeping the items we reference from public view, we refer to them herein as public information. Further, we will deny Appellant TL's pending motion seeking to file the appendix under seal. . TL requested leave to amend at oral argument on Terex's motion for summary judgment. . We therefore decline TL's request to reach the merits of its second damages theory. RENDELL, Circuit Judge: LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Three Planned Parenthood patients are asking an appeals court for a review after a panel of federal judges ruled that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to the organization. The three Planned Parenthood Great Plains patients asked the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday to reconsider the three-judge panel's decision. The panel on Aug. 16 vacated a federal judge's preliminary injunction that prevented Arkansas from suspending Medicaid payments for services rendered to patients in the state. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson ended the state's Medicaid contract with the organization in 2015 over videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. Planned Parenthood said a review by the full court is needed because the panel's ruling conflicts with four other appeals court decisions. NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - A natural-lawn advocate is fighting a citation for blight in her front yard at her Connecticut home. Maggie Redfern, of New London, is challenging local ordinances in a case that has rallied like-minded conservationists. She sees her yard as a rebuke to the chemical-soaked, manicured lawns of suburban America. Redfern argued for a change to the rules at a city hearing this week. Until now, the issue was academic for Redfern, an assistant director at the Connecticut College arboretum. Redfern organizes an annual conference on what's called the Smaller American Lawns Today movement. The campaign was launched in the 1990s by a college botany professor, and aims to return yards to more natural landscapes. WASHINGTON (AP) - Fourteen Democratic lawmakers are demanding the Trump administration outline how it's addressing a series of botched Drug Enforcement Administration missions in Honduras. The operations left four people dead in 2012, years before President Donald Trump took office. In a letter sent Thursday, the House members ask Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson if the administration is investigating the role of U.S. government personnel in the deaths. They also want to know what measures are being taken to ensure future incidents are investigated promptly and agents are held accountable for any wrongdoing abroad. The Honduras offensive, known as Operation Anvil, involved U.S. State Department helicopters and a special team of DEA agents working with Honduran security forces. Their goal was to stop drug smuggling planes carrying cocaine into the country. But a May report found sweeping problems with DEA's response to three violent encounters in 2012, including a raid that killed four people and wounded four others. Locals said the casualties were innocent civilians. The inspectors general for the Justice and State departments also said the DEA misled the public, Congress and Justice Department about its aggressive yet poorly planned strategy in the Central American nation. The DEA responded by saying the team involved in the incident no longer operates overseas. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga, one of the signers of the letter, said the report left many questions unanswered. "The biggest question of all is: What is our government doing to fix this and make sure that, going forward, any U.S. agent involved in the loss of innocent life abroad is held accountable?" he said. The State and Justice departments declined to comment. Earlier this month, a group of Senate Democrats sent a separate letter to Tillerson, complaining about the Trump administration's efforts to combat corruption and violence in Honduras. They urged Trump's top diplomat to condition U.S. aid on an improvement in human rights. ___ Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo PHILADELPHIA (AP) - An employee at Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation granted driving privileges to more than 30 people without requiring them to show proper documents or take driving tests under a bribery scheme that netted him nearly $14,000, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Henry Gibbs, 54, would approve driver's licenses based on fake documents provided by a middleman, Bakary Camara, 30. The documents included false insurance records, telephone bills and tax letters with stolen Social Security numbers, according to prosecutors. Both men were charged with bribery and conspiracy. Additionally, prosecutors charged Gibbs with lying to investigators and Camara with aggravated identity theft. Citing a court indictment unsealed this week, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported (http://bit.ly/2wVdSoh) Gibbs knowingly entered false information into state databases and often filled out driving test forms himself. He also copied test results from other drivers, according to the indictment. Camara paid Gibbs between April 2014 and May 2015 from the $1,500 to $3,000 he charged each client, according to prosecutors. Authorities have not disclosed how investigators discovered the scheme, and they have not identified the clients. A spokeswoman for the Transportation Department said Gibbs is no longer employed there. The agency has worked with the Department of Homeland Security throughout the investigation, she said. Gibbs was released on bond Tuesday. Camara remains in federal custody. Attorneys for both Gibbs and Camara have declined to comment. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Actor Mark Ruffalo has joined activists marching from Charlottesville, Virginia, to the nation's capital to condemn white supremacy recently on display in the Virginia city. "The Avengers" star tweeted photos of himself Thursday in "The March to Confront White Supremacy." In a statement, Ruffalo says he's marching in memory of Heather Heyer, who died when a car plowed into a group of people protesting the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. Ruffalo also condemned President Donald Trump's response that "both sides" were to blame for the violence. FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, file photo, Mark Ruffalo arrives at the 88th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Ruffalo joined activists marching from Charlottesville, Va., to the nation's capital to condemn white supremacy on display in the Virginia city. "The Avengers" star tweeted photos of himself Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in "The March to Confront White Supremacy." (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) Ruffalo says there's "no place for racism, violence, and hatred" in the country. Organizers said they had to stop Wednesday's portion of the march early because they received threats of an armed person waiting for them further along the route. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The European Jewish Congress expressed "grave concerns" Thursday over what it says is a rise in anti-Semitism in Poland and a "deteriorating relationship between the Polish government and the Jewish community." The Brussels-based organization says no Polish government minister has met with leaders of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland, the official community, for around a year amid the rise in anti-Semitic incidents. "Across Europe, governments consult with the local official leaders of the community to seek their counsel and coordinate a response to anti-Semitism," the group's president, Moshe Kantor, said. "However, Poland stands out as an example of a leadership which appears to have little interest in opening a dialogue with the Jewish community." FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday June 26, 2007, Russia's Moshe Kantor, the newly elected president of the European Jewish Congress attends a media conference in Brussels. The European Jewish Congress expressed "grave concerns" Thursday Aug. 31, 2017, according to Kantor, over what it says is a rise in anti-Semitism in Poland and a "deteriorating relationship between the Polish government and the Jewish community." (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, FILE) The statement comes after Jewish leaders in Poland wrote to ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski in early August with their concerns, noting the increased presence in public life of extremist far-right groups and greater hate speech and violence targeting Jews. They didn't receive an answer or a meeting with Kaczynski, but within days Kaczynski met with several Jewish representatives from other organizations, including the Orthodox Chabad movement. That meeting led to fears among official Jewish community representatives that Kaczynski was trying to marginalize them and whitewash the issue of anti-Semitism. Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said Jews still feel much safer in Poland than they do in parts of Europe where anti-Semitism is much stronger and sometimes violent, including France, Scandinavia and Hungary. But he said the situation is getting worse and "the biggest concern is a lack of communication with the government." "For first time in many years people are not feeling 100 percent comfortable, as they used to," Schudrich told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It's not that the government supports this but we need it to be more vigilant in articulating their rejection of any form of anti-Semitism or racism." A California man has pleaded guilty to illegally importing $3million worth of abalone from Mexico, according to federal prosecutors. Yon Pon Wong admitted in court Wednesday that he imported the hard-to-find mollusks using falsified commercial invoices, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said. Prosecutors have said Wong illegally shipped abalone from Mexico 43 times over three years and the amount that arrived in California weighed 148,500 pounds overall. Abalone is a type of marine snail. It is expensive and is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Abalone are difficult-to-find mollusks whose steaks are worth about $125 a pound A California man has admitted to illegally importing $3million worth of abalone from Mexico Abalone steaks are sold for about $125 a pound. Abalone diving is a popular sport in northern California and requires very little equipment and experience. As a result, the sport is perilous. At least four people died diving for abalone in 2016. The shells of abalone are often used as decorative items. California's coastal waters are home to an abalone population and are targeted by recreational fisheries. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is still alive, and most likely in hiding, a top U.S. officer in charge of forces fighting the terrorist group said Thursday. Al-Baghdadi, who declared a caliphate governed by Islamic law from a mosque in Mosul in 2014, was allegedly killed in a Russian airstrike earlier this year. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the coalition forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, said he based his claim on 'lack of evidence' of al-Baghdadi's death as well as intelligence of the contrary. Still alive? Russia claimed that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, pictured in 2014, had died in an airstrike on Raqqa, Syria, however Kremlin has struggled to prove this Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon over video-link from his headquarters in Baghdad, Townsend said: 'Do I believe he's alive? Yes.' He said his belief stemmed from a lack of evidence he had seen - 'rumour or otherwise' - that al-Baghdadi was dead. He then added: 'There are also some indicators in intelligence channels that he's alive.' Townsend did not elaborate on the intelligence. Russian officials said in June there was a 'high probability' that al-Baghdadi died when one of their airstrikes hit a gathering of ISIS commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa. However, come July, Kremlin admitted that they were struggling to confirm that al-Baghdadi had died, and both Western and Iraqi officials have remained skeptical. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the coalition forces fighting ISIS, said there's 'lack of evidence' of al-Baghdadi's death as well as intelligence he's alive Last month, Kurdish counter-terrorism official Lahur Talabany said he was 99 per cent sure that al-Baghdadi had simply gone into hiding. He said: 'Don't forget his roots go back to al-Qaeda days in Iraq. He was hiding from security services. He knows what he is doing.' The only 'confirmation' has been from the British-based monitoring group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who said in July: '(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank who is Syrian, in the Islamic State in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor.' It was reported that ISIS had admitted al-Baghdadis death, seemingly confirming it when a senior member of the group - Abu Haitham al-Obaidi, tdeputy mayor in Hawija in northern Iraq, declared himself the new leader in July. U.S. and coalition forces are actively searching for al-Baghdadi, Townsend said, adding that 'if they find him, they probably will kill him rather than capture him.' A good guess about where al-Baghdadi is hiding, Townsend said, would be the so-called Middle Euphrates River Valley, stretching approximately from the city of Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria to the town of Rawa in western Iraq. He said this area is shaping up to be the group's 'last stand' following its ouster from nearly all of northern Iraq. Losing: ISIS forces have been ousted from nearly all of northern Iraq, including its Iraqi stronghold, Mosul, and half of it's de-facto capital Raqqa, in Syria The most recent IS setback was in Tal Afar, west of the also recently-liberated city of Mosul, which had been the militants' main stronghold in Iraq. The Iraqi government announced Thursday that Tal Afar had been returned to government control. Townsend called it a 'stunningly swift' victory for the Iraqi army, moving 'like a steamroller' into the city in a matter of days. The IS militants, who swept into Iraq in 2014 against minimal resistance from the Iraqi army, still control a large area of eastern Syria along the border with Iraq, as well as parts of Raqqa, the capital of the group's self-styled caliphate. Townsend said U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces have recaptured about half of Raqqa in ongoing fighting. Assessing his 12 months in command of the U.S.-led coalition, Townsend said more tough fighting remains but signs are positive. It will be up to the Iraqi government, he said, to safeguard the gains troops have achieved since 2015, when Iraqi security forces began a U.S.-assisted counteroffensive in the western Anbar province. 'I think part of the rise of ISIS was disenfranchised peoples, most of them Sunnis, who looked at Baghdad and they didn't see their government representing them or their interests or their future,' he said. 'And I think that's probably the most important thing that the government of Iraq has to do. It has to reach out, reconcile, bring all Iraqis together and be the government of all Iraqis.' Townsend said he hopes the U.S. government works out an arrangement for a long-term military presence in Iraq to minimize the chances of another IS-like episode. He said such talks are under way. 'We all saw what happened in 2011 when we parted ways completely,' he said, referencing the pullout of U.S. troops under former President Barack Obama and Iraq's subsequent struggles. 'My personal view is I wouldn't want to repeat that,' Townsend said. 'So I think that our governments will work out something that will work for the future.' Townsend is ending his year in command in Baghdad and will hand off next week to another three-star Army general, Paul Funk II. He credited the Trump administration with putting greater trust in him and other commanders to execute the counter-IS campaign. 'The current administration has pushed decision-making down into the military chain of command,' Townsend said. 'And I don't know of a commander in our armed forces that doesn't appreciate that.' 'A key result of that is that we don't get second-guessed a lot,' he added. 'Our judgment here on the battlefield in the forward areas is trusted. And we don't get 20 questions with every action that happens on the battlefield and every action that we take.' CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's kidney transplant was a success and he was already feeling well enough to check his emails just hours after the surgery, doctors said Thursday. The 57-year-old Johnson will likely be released from the hospital this weekend, the doctors said at a news conference at Rush University Medical Center. His 25-year-old son, Daniel Johnson, who donated the kidney, was doing so well that he would likely be allowed to go home later Thursday, they said, "The superintendent looks really good, he's awake, he's sitting up (and) he's probably by now sitting in a chair," said Dr. Edward Hollinger, Jr., who took part in the transplant surgery at Rush University Medical Center. "We are very pleased with the function of the kidney." In this Monday, Aug. 28, 2017 photo, Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, left, and his son Daniel Johnson pose for a photo in Superintendent Johnson's office at Chicago Police Department headquarters. Daniel Johnson is donating a kidney to his father. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune via AP) Johnson disclosed in January that he had been battling a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the kidneys for decades and was on a waiting list for a new kidney - something doctors said on Thursday was becoming more and more urgent as his kidney function slipped to about 10 percent. They said he would have soon been forced to undergo dialysis if he did not receive a new kidney. The doctors who performed the 6-hour surgery said Johnson will soon feel better than he has in the years his condition has been deteriorating, and that his energy will improve as his new kidney removes toxins from his body that his damaged kidneys were unable to completely remove. They also said chances are slim that Johnson's body will reject the kidney, and the odds of rejection are even less because the kidney he received was from his son. They said the chances of rejection fall after the first month and that if there are no problems in the next year it's highly unlikely that Johnson's body will reject the kidney. Doctors said Johnson will be allowed to walk as much as he wants next week and they expect him to return to his office in three to five weeks. PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Gov. Paul LePage has asked President Donald Trump's administration to exempt eastern Canadian provinces from softwood lumber tariffs that he says will lead to layoffs and shut-down operations in Maine. The Republican president has argued Canada unfairly subsidizes its softwood lumber industry, which includes spruce, pine and fir used for everything from home construction to newspapers. The Trump administration this year began collecting preliminary tariffs on imported softwood lumber from Canada. A 19.88 percent tariff expired Saturday, though most lumber companies still pay a 6.87 percent duty. U.S. commerce and trade officials are investigating the industry and its impact on American producers. U.S. officials have until November to decide whether to reinstate the tariffs. LePage, a Republican, asked U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this month to exempt Canadian provinces New Brunswick and Quebec from the softwood lumber tariffs. The governor raised the issue with Canadian officials and fellow New England governors at a conference in Canada this week. The matter could be hashed out soon, at a time when United States and Canadian officials are reviewing the North American Free Trade Agreement. The 23-year-old pact did away with most barriers, including tariffs, on trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. LePage said the pressure for the duties is coming from the U.S. lumber coalition. He warned if new, hefty duties remain in place, there will be collateral damage to economies on both sides of the border. In an Aug. 3 letter to Ross, LePage said one company is moving production of shingles from Maine to British Columbia, Canada, while a Maine picket fence mill could move to New Brunswick. He also expressed concern about the impact of the "high price of pulpwood" on paper company Twin Rivers, which owns a pulp mill in Canada and a paper mill in Maine. "The tariffs complicate our lumber trade because the closest manufacturing infrastructure may be across the border in another country," wrote LePage, who speaks French and worked in the forest products industry in Maine and Canada for years. "Without the exemption, we expect other companies will soon curtail or cease their operations and lay off Maine workers." Only companies that prove the Canadian government doesn't subsidize their labor, electricity or fiber should receive exemptions, said Dana Doran, executive director of Professional Logging Contractors of Maine. "We lost sawmill capacity primarily due to the advantages that Canadians have over U.S. manufacturing," Doran said. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ANTWAN HARRIS, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-6660 Decided: August 29, 2017 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and SHEDD and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Antwan Harris, Appellant Pro Se. Tobin Webb Lathan, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Seth Morgan Wood, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. Antwan Harris seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing as successive 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 Harris has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, 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: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Descendants of black slaves, known as freedmen, who once were owned by members of the Cherokee Nation have a right to tribal citizenship under a ruling handed down by a federal court in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan ruled Wednesday in a long-standing dispute between the Cherokee Freedmen and the second-largest tribe in the United States which claims more than 317,000 citizens. "The Cherokee Nation can continue to define itself as it sees fit," Hogan wrote in the ruling, "but must do so equally and evenhandedly with respect to native Cherokees and the descendants of Cherokee Freedmen." Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree said in a statement the tribe does not plan to appeal the ruling. "The Cherokee Nation respects the rule of law, and yesterday we began accepting and processing citizenship applications from Freedmen descendants," Hembree said. "As the Attorney General, I see this as an opportunity to resolve the Freedmen citizenship issue and allow the Cherokee Nation to move beyond this dispute." Freedmen have long argued that the Treaty of 1866, signed between the U.S. government and the Tahlequah, Oklahoma-based Cherokees, gave them and their descendants "all the rights of native Cherokees." There are around 3,000 freedmen descendants today. "Nobody wants to have their rights unilaterally stripped away," said Marilyn Vann, president of the Oklahoma City-based Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that dates back to 2003. "I think the judge made it clear that the freedmen people have rights just like the rest of the citizens have rights, and we can't be removed at the whim of this chief or that chief. "Going forward, I am hoping that the tribe will come together and we can just be Cherokees, Cherokee people and not freedmen ... and maybe we can become the most powerful tribe in the entire country." Cherokee leaders had argued the tribe has the fundamental right to determine its citizens. Under the ruling, Cherokee Freedmen would have all the rights that tribal citizens have, including the right to run for office, vote in elections and receive benefits, including access to tribal health care and housing. While many white Americans owned black slaves until after the Civil War, so did some Cherokee tribesmen - but the practice generally ended with the 1866 treaty that afforded freed slaves the same rights as native Cherokees. Leaders of the Cherokee Nation, one of the largest and most influential American tribes, have been trying to change that policy by declaring that the descendants should not be considered Cherokee citizens unless they can show proof of Indian blood. In 2007, more than three-quarters of Cherokee citizens voted to kick out descendants of freedmen and other non-Indians. While the ruling directly affects the citizenship status of more than 2,800 Cherokee Freedmen, an attorney for the group, John Velie, said there could be as many as 25,000 people who would now be eligible to apply for citizenship. "The freedmen around the time of the Dawes Rolls were around 10 percent of the members," Velie said, referring to the historical record created by the federal government to identify citizens of the Five Civilized Tribes. "It's hard to guess, but I think all estimates are somewhere around 25,000." ___ Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy Theresa May has vowed to build international pressure on North Korea over its reckless provocation as she travelled to Japan for talks on the crisis. The Prime Minister, who was outraged by the launch of a missile by Pyongyang which flew over Japan, said she would discuss the situation with her counterpart Shinzo Abe during the visit. The missile is the latest in a series of test launches by Kim Jong Uns regime but the trajectory over the Japanese island of Hokkaido increases the tensions in a region already on heightened alert. US President Donald Trump said that all options are on the table in terms of a response to the latest launch. North Korea fires missile over Japan As she prepared to fly to Japan, Mrs May said: This action by North Korea is reckless provocation. These are illegal tests and we strongly condemn them. There will be an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later this afternoon and we will continue to work with our international partners to put pressure on North Korea to stop these illegal tests. And of course, I will have the opportunity on my visit to Japan over the next few days to be discussing these issues with Prime Minister Abe. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called it a reckless act (Kyodo News via AP) Asked if she had any reservations about the trip to Japan following the missile launch, Mrs May said: No. Im absolutely clear that trip to Japan will go ahead. It gives me the opportunity to sit down with Prime Minister Abe over the next few days to discuss the action that North Korea has taken. The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting in response to North Koreas most powerful nuclear test as the Trump administration warned any threat to the US or its allies would trigger a massive military response. The meeting on Monday, at the request of the UK, US, Japan, France and South Korea, comes after Kim Jong Uns regime carried out its sixth test of a nuclear device. US defence secretary Jim Mattis briefed President Donald Trump about the military options available if the crisis escalated, adding that Washington was capable of launching an effective and overwhelming response. While the US was not looking to the total annihilation of North Korea there were many options to do so, he said. But in the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson cautioned against a military strike, because North Korea already had the ability to vaporise large parts of the population of South Korea even without nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Theresa May said Pyongyangs actions posed an unacceptable further threat to the international community and urged world leaders to increase pressure on the regime. The test blast came after propaganda pictures were published of Kim examining what was said to be a nuclear warhead being fitted on to the nose of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Mrs May reiterated the call for tougher action, including increasing the pace of implementation of existing sanctions and looking urgently in the UN Security Council at new measures she had made alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during her visit last week. She said: This is now even more pressing. The international community has universally condemned this test and must come together to continue to increase the pressure on North Koreas leaders to stop their destabilising actions. The Foreign Secretary played down the prospect of military action although he acknowledged all options remained on the table. Boris Johnson Mr Johnson said: There is no question that this is another provocation, it is reckless, what they are doing is, they seem to be moving closer towards a hydrogen bomb which, if fitted to a successful missile, would unquestionably present a new order of threat. Arguing for a diplomatic solution he said: Its certainly our view that none of the military options are good. It is of course right to say that all options are on the table, but we really dont see an easy military solution. The Chinese government expressed firm opposition and strong condemnation and urged North Korea to stop taking erroneous actions that deteriorate the situation. But Mr Johnson urged Beijing to go further in putting economic pressure on its neighbour. He said: Our message to the Chinese is, and we are working ever more closely with them, we think there is more scope for you, the Chinese, to put economic pressure on the North Koreans. It has worked, we have seen signs in the last six months of Chinese pressure actually changing the approach of North Koreans lets see if we can do it again. The United States has retaliated against Russia by forcing the closure of its consulate in San Francisco and scaling back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York. The move is in response to the Kremlin forcing a cut in US diplomatic staff in Moscow, the State Department said. Spokesman Heather Nauert said the move brings the US and Russia into parity, with each having three consulates in the other country. (Wesley Johnson/PA) U.S. implemented unwarranted #Russia decision 2 reduce mission size & we require action by them to achieve their desire 4 parity @statedept pic.twitter.com/0wgGC7m5kX Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) August 31, 2017 Moscow forced the cut in American diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for US sanctions. Washington had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. The Russian offices must close by Saturday. The order affects Russias chancery annex in Washington and a consular annex in New York. Virat Kohli recorded his 29th one-day international hundred and Rohit Sharma went to three figures for the second time in five days as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 168 runs at Colombo to go 4-0 up in the series. Kohli now sits third on the all-time list of most ODI centuries and is only one behind Australia great Ricky Ponting after a majestic 131 from 96 balls in a second-wicket stand worth 219 with Rohit. #TeamIndia extend their lead to 4-0 against Sri Lanka in the 5-match ODI series #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/d3VdCoEiDr BCCI (@BCCI) August 31, 2017 Rohit was just as influential as he followed up an unbeaten 124 on Sunday with 104 while Manish Pandey (50no) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (49no) playing his 300th ODI steered India to 375 for five. India celebrate beating Sri Lanka Sri Lanka lost their top three inside the first eight overs of their reply and only Angelo Mathews was able to show any resistance with an 80-ball 70. But once he was seventh man out Sri Lanka duly crumbled and were all out for 207 in 42.4 overs and they now face the prospect of a series whitewash when they return to the ground for the fifth and final ODI on Sunday. India also won all three Tests comfortably. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has welcomed the Iraqi recapture of the town of Tal Afar from Islamic State. The RAF helped in the battle as part of an international coalition against the militant organisation. Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said the northern town had been fully liberated and Islamic States choice now was between death or surrender. (AP) Defence Secretary congratulates Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi Security Forces on the liberation of #TalAfar pic.twitter.com/4CtSxmJi8t Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) August 31, 2017 Sir Michael, who refers to Islamic State as Daesh, said: I congratulate Prime Minister Abadi, and all of the Iraqi security forces who are fighting on the ground with great bravery and care to end Daeshs barbarous presence in Iraq. While the Iraqi forces and the coalition have ended Daeshs control in the Tal Afar area, the task is not yet done. The UK will continue to support the Iraqi security forces in their efforts to finally clear Daesh from their country. The comments came as the Ministry of Defence released video of an RAF Brimstone missile strike on a truck near Tal Afar last week. Roger Federer survived a second five-set battle as his dramatic US Open campaign limped on. Having come into the tournament nursing a back problem, the Wimbledon champion insisted after narrowly scraping past teenager Frances Tiafoe in round one that he was just rusty. He began in fine fettle against Mikhail Youzhny but things became a lot more complicated when he failed to serve out the second set before he eventually recovered to win 6-1 6-7 (3/7) 4-6 6-4 6-2. Roger Federer overcame Mikhail Youzhny in five sets It is the first time in Federers long grand slam career that he has been taken the distance in his first two matches. It wasnt always like this, said the third seed. I won in straights or lost in straights. These five-set battles are actually quite a lot of fun. I feel quite warmed up by now. Federer, who played three five-set matches to win the Australian Open in January, was helped by Youzhnys own physical problems, with the Russian cramping in the final set. I havent played a lot of guys with cramps in the last decade so it was somewhat new, said Federer. "I've known Mikhail for a long time. We played each other in junior doubles in 1998. This was our best match." @rogerfederer#USOpen pic.twitter.com/mg9gQ1bPeU US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2017 It was hard to watch. I was feeling for Mikhail. We go back to the 98 juniors here, we played each other in doubles. Weve played a bunch of times and this was probably our best match. Federer and Youzhny have been battling each other on the senior circuit for 17 years, with the latter winning just four sets in 16 previous matches and never coming out on the winning side. He must have been encouraged by what he saw from Federer against Tiafoe and the 36-year-olds protestations afterwards that his back was no longer a problem rang a little hollow. However, having warmed up for the clash with a practice session in Central Park on Wednesday, Federer was relaxed and free-swinging as he raced through the first five games. This is the 1st time in @rogerfederer's career that he has started a Slam w/back-to-back five-set matches. https://t.co/zBI9pRNhSr #USOpen pic.twitter.com/24lbfY7E2t US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2017 It seemed another easy victory against Youzhny was on the cards but there were a few worrying signs as his service speed dropped and his backhand again became wayward. Federer was broken serving for the second set at 5-3 and Youzhny took the tie-break to level the match. When the Russian broke again early in the third set, it was clear Federers army of fans were in for another anxious wait. But Youzhny was ailing too, taking what appeared to be painkillers during the fourth set. Federer moved ahead, failed to serve it out again but then broke to level the match. # of sets Youzhny had taken off Federer since 2003: 2 # of sets Youzhny has taken today: 2https://t.co/zBI9pRNhSr #USOpen pic.twitter.com/F2sPeL8k6A US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2017 The unforced error count continued to rise from the Swiss stars racket, eventually reaching 68, but his opponents physical struggles were about to get much worse. During the third game of the decider, Youzhny collapsed to the court, apparently with cramp in his thigh. He carried on but both his movement and his serve were severely compromised. Still Federer made heavy weather of finishing him off but did so after three hours and eight minutes to set up a clash with another veteran in Feliciano Lopez. By Sophie Hares TEPIC, Mexico, Aug 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Unprecedented flooding unleashed by Hurricane Harvey in the southern United States underscores the need for even wealthy countries to ramp up their disaster plans to keep vulnerable people safe and help them deal with the knock-out blows climate change could bring, experts say. Yet few expect the devastation wrought by Harvey to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to boost government funding for disasters or reinstate regulations that would limit heat-trapping emissions and protect infrastructure from extreme weather, let alone reconsider his decision to quit the Paris Agreement on climate change. "What Hurricane Harvey is demonstrating to those few hold-out climate change sceptics is that this is our new reality. And its only going to get worse," said Heather Coleman, associate director for climate change and energy policy at Oxfam America. "As weve seen in other disasters here and around the world, its the poorest who are the most vulnerable." At least nine people have been killed and some 30,000 are expected to be forced from their homes by flooding brought by the slow-moving storm, which slammed into Texas from the Gulf of Mexico at the weekend. Police, national guard and rescue workers are helping people still trapped in Houston, the fourth most-populous U.S. city, and a state of emergency has been declared in Louisiana. The biggest storm to hit Texas in 50 years, Harvey could cause up to $20 billion in insured losses, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history, according to Wall Street analysts. Experts at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the World Meteorological Organization have said Harvey's extreme rainfall was likely made worse by climate change. "State governments, governors, city mayors (and) scientists all over the (United States) are very much agreeing that climate change is real," said Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development. "Harvey is sending tonnes and tonnes of water on their heads as proof that this is what is likely to happen with human-induced climate change." Besides promising to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris accord to curb global warming, Trump has threatened to cut billions of dollars in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is now coordinating the Texas relief response. Key posts at U.S. weather-tracking agencies remain empty, while a swathe of Obama-era environmental regulation has been dismantled under the Republican president, who is facing the country's biggest natural disaster since he took office in January. Earlier this month, Trump rolled back rules for environmental reviews and restrictions on government-funded building projects in flood-prone areas, revoking an executive order by his predecessor aimed at reducing exposure to flooding, sea level rise and other consequences of climate change. "PLAYING POLITICS" With disasters costing over $175 billion in economic losses last year, according to reinsurer Swiss Re, investing in measures to better protect those at greatest risk is essential, as the intensity and frequency of extreme weather is expected to increase, experts say. "Let us stop playing politics around what is happening with climate change and nature, and really make the long-term decisions that deal not just with infrastructure, but the lives and livelihoods of people," said Jo Scheuer, director for climate change and disaster risk reduction at the United Nations Development Programme. Key measures include "building back better" after a disaster, forecasting climate trends decades ahead, and factoring in estimates of sea level rise and storm surges when deciding how to rebuild shattered communities to reduce the impact of future storms, he said. In some cases, governments may have to decide to relocate people and infrastructure from disaster-prone areas, he added. "What we've gotten pretty good at overall is dealing with the immediate disaster event - meaning moving people out of harm's way... to eliminate the loss of life," said Scheuer. "In most cases, what we have not gotten good at is... to ensure that every investment we make is made with understanding the risk involved." Despite the hefty cost of Hurricane Harvey, many experts doubt that Trump will acknowledge the scientific link between climate change and weather disasters, or bolster funding and regulation to limit devastation from future floods and storms. "The Trump administration so far has not really shown any inclination to create policy based on realities on the ground - and certainly not based on challenges that every day people are facing," said Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns for ActionAid USA. (Reporting by Sophie Hares; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate) Aug 31 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Thursday. DEBT ISSUANCE Romania aims to sell 3.9 billion lei ($1.01 billion) worth of leu currency bills and bonds in September, including 405 million lei at non-competitive rounds of auctions, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. TAXES Romania's government approved on Wednesday a hike in excise duties for fuel from September, and a new split payment system for value added tax that aims to reduce tax evasion but which has been criticised by the business sector. WEALTH FUND Romania's government aims to send parliament a bill by end-September to set up a sovereign wealth fund, pending approval from the European Commission and its statistics unit Eurostat, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. FONDUL PROPRIETATEA Romania's investment fund Fondul Proprietatea is in talks to sell all its stakes in the Romanian subsidiaries of utility companies Enel and Engie, managers of the fund told Reuters. CEE MARKETS Central European stocks and currencies rebounded on Wednesday, tracking core European markets as caution eased somewhat in the wake of North Korea's latest missile test, and also helped by hawkish Czech central bank comments. For the long-term Romanian diary, click on For emerging markets economic events, click on For an index of all diaries, click on For other related news, double click on: --------------------------------------------------------------- Romanian equities RO-E E.Europe equities .CEE Romanian money RO-M Romanian debt RO-D Eastern Europe EEU All emerging markets EMRG Hot stocks HOT Stock markets STX Market debt news DBT Forex news FRX For real-time index quotes, double click on: Bucharest BETI Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX --------------------------------------------------------------- ALGIERS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A suicide attack on a police station in the western Algerian city of Tiaret killed at least one policeman on Thursday, local Ennahar TV reported. Officials did not immediately confirm details of the attack. Attacks and bombings have become rarer in Algeria since the end of the country's 1990s war against armed Islamists in which more than 200,000 people died. But al Qaeda and small brigades of militants tied to Islamic State are still active. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; editing by Patrick Markey) The next EnVision Bus Read more [...] By Francois Murphy VIENNA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers should keep his post until his term ends in January even if he loses his job as minister at home, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said on Thursday. There has been widespread speculation that Jeroen Dijsselbloem will lose his European post, which must be held by a finance minister, given his Labour party's poor showing in the last Dutch parliamentary election. But he has kept his role while negotiations on forming a new coalition government have dragged on for months. "Interestingly there is no rule on whether someone can see out their mandate if they are no longer a minister," Schelling told Reuters in an interview. Schelling cited the German parliamentary election on Sept. 24 as one reason not to "weaken" the group by changing its head, adding that euro zone finance ministers had not yet discussed who should succeed Dijsselbloem. "If surprisingly the Netherlands were to form a government -- they have been working on it for a long time -- and it happened in, say, September, then my personal opinion is that Jeroen Dijsselbloem should see out his mandate until January and that in the meantime the time should be used to agree on a succession plan," Schelling said. Schelling's conservative People's Party is running first in opinion polls ahead of Austria's parliamentary election on Oct. 15. He said whether he kept his job would depend on coalition talks but he hoped to stay on in the finance minister role. Schelling also said he backed the idea of developing the euro zone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund into a European monetary fund. "I think this discussion is advisable, sensible and necessary," he said, adding that he was more conservative on how long it would take than his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble, a proponent of the idea. "It is a long-term project. It won't happen from one day to the next," he said, adding that he thought it would require changes to the European treaty and the issue of how the fund would interact with the International Monetary Fund needed to be settled. "I don't see it happening in under 3-5 years... If I have understood Wolfgang Schaeuble correctly, he is saying three years," he added. (Reporting by Francois Murphy Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.) ALGIERS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A suicide attack on a police station in western Algeria killed two policeman after one officer jumped on the attacker to protect his colleagues from the blast, state news agency APS and police said on Thursday. Attacks and bombings have become rarer in Algeria since the end of the country's 1990s war against armed Islamists, but al Qaeda and small brigades of militants tied to Islamic State are still active and often target armed forces. In the attack early on Thursday morning, an armed militant wearing a suicide belt tried to enter a police post in Tiaret, around 300 kilometers (190 miles) west of Algiers. "One of the officers in an act of bravery, threw himself on the attacker to protect the others in the entrance of the police station," APS said. Another officer who was wounded in the blast later died, the national police said in a statement. It was the first suicide attack in months in Algeria. A militant tried to blow himself up at a police station in Constantine in April and another was shot dead in an attempted bombing in the same city in February. Gunmen attacked an Algerian military patrol in an area south of the capital in June, slightly wounding four gendarmes, in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the group's North Africa branch, is still active in Algeria, but small groups of militants loyal to Islamic State have also been carrying out more recent attacks. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Hugh Lawson) ADDIS ABABA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - USAID administrator Mark Green on Thursday said the United States would give an additional $91 million in emergency food assistance to help ward off starvation in areas in the south of the country teetering on the edge of famine. "I am announcing $91 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Ethiopia," Green said after a meeting with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in the capital Addis Ababa. "This funding will provide additional emergency food assistance and vital medical care." He also called on the government to create the political space to allow all sides of the political spectrum to have a say following protests that killed hundreds of people last year. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Maggie Fick) BANGKOK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Thai customs have confiscated 136 live pangolins, the world's most poached animal, and 450 kg (992 lb) of pangolin scales worth 2.5 million baht ($75,000), officials said on Thursday. Authorities managed to intercept the smuggled pangolins which entered Thailand from Malaysia late on Wednesday after a tip-off. Director-general of Thai Customs Department, Kulit Sombatsiri, said the market value and demand of the animals and their body parts remained high, which drove smuggling. "The smugglers keep doing this because the payment is so high and there are lots of demand for the consumption of these wild animals," Kulit said. Found only in Asia and Africa, the largely solitary and nocturnal pangolin, or "scaly anteater", is in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam, with their meat considered a delicacy and their scales used in folk remedies for ailments such as asthma, rheumatism and arthritis. The 136 pangolins would be taken to a conservation area under the care of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Thailand is a major transit point for the trade in endangered species to other Asian countries and Pangolins and their scales are usually smuggled to Vietnam and China. Since the beginning of the year, Thai authorities have seized more than 2.9 tonnes of smuggled pangolins and their scales, according to the Thai Customs Department. A ban on global trade of pangolins took effect in January after tougher international protection was agreed last September for the eight species of the mammal, which curls up in a ball when threatened by predators. All eight of the world's species of pangolin, which range from 30 to 100 cm in length, are threatened with extinction. (Reporting by Prapan Chankaew and Juarawee Kittisilpa; Writing by Panu Wongcha-um) By Ali Sawafta and Dan Williams JERUSALEM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - On any given day, Muslim pilgrims arrive at a Middle East airport on a journey to one of Islam's holiest sites. At Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, they rub shoulders with larger groups of visitors - diaspora Jews and Christian tourists - many of them headed for the same destination, a 45-minute drive away: the sacred city of Jerusalem. The Muslims are only a small part of the Holy Land's religious tourism market. But both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank are vying for their business. They come mainly to pray at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, in a compound that is one of the world's most contested and volatile holy sites. Al-Aqsa is the most important shrine in Islam after Saudi Arabia's Mecca and Medina, but less of a draw for foreign Muslims, many of whose countries spurn Israel or its claim of sovereignty over the eastern sector of Jerusalem, captured in the 1967 war. Israel's Tourism Ministry recorded 115,000 Muslim tourists in 2016 - 3 percent of the 3.8 million foreigners who arrived at its airports or land borders it controls with Jordan and Egypt. Half of these Muslim tourists identified as pilgrims, the ministry said. Most of them - around 100,000 - came from Turkey, which recognises Israel. But there were also some from Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not, and whose citizens Israel admits under special provisions for pilgrims. Each Muslim tourist spends an average of $1,133 on the trip, the Israeli ministry said. Palestinians fret that too much of that goes to Israel and want the tourists to opt for alternative Palestinian venues in Jerusalem or the West Bank. "We have been conducting a campaign to introduce Turkish tourist companies to Palestinian hotels in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and we have started to see many of them booking their rooms in these hotels," said Jereyes Qumseyah, spokesman for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. He said the Palestinians have permanent displays at major tourism conferences in Turkey. The Palestinian ministry offered no statistics on the scope of foreign tourism to the West Bank and East Jerusalem. But Qumseyah said Palestinians are also enjoying "big success" in teaming up their tour companies with counterparts in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Arab world so to draw more pilgrims. POLITICS AND RELIGION Beyond the economic benefits, Palestinians see such visits as cementing pan-Islamic sympathy for their goal of establishing a state with East Jerusalem - whose walled Old City is dominated by Al-Aqsa and the gilded Dome of the Rock - as their capital. To that end, Palestinian religious authorities dispute an edict by Youssef Al-Qaradawi of Egypt, Sunni Islam's top cleric, that non-Palestinian Muslims should not go to Jerusalem lest they be perceived as validating Israeli rule. Even for Palestinians, access is not a given: Since their 2000 uprising against Israel, it has routinely restricted their travel to Jerusalem from the West Bank and imposed a tighter clampdown on the Gaza Strip, which is under Islamist Hamas rule. Still, the senior Palestinian cleric, Grand Mufti Mohammad Hussein, sounded cautiously optimistic about foreign pilgrims. "An increasing number of Muslims are visiting Al-Aqsa. Maybe the numbers are not as high as we had hoped, but we hope they will increase in days to come," he told Reuters. One British pilgrim, Adeel Sadiq, came to Al-Aqsa this week with 15 fellow Britons. "We want to show our support to the people here, that you are not alone and Al Masjed Al Aqsa (Al-Aqsa mosque) is for all Muslims," he told a Palestinian reporter. Israel has no counter-campaign aimed at attracting Muslim pilgrims. The Israeli Tourism Ministry said its marketing budget is allocated to countries in North and South America, Europe and the Far East and Russia, and does not include Turkey. At the height of tensions in Jerusalem last month over Israeli controls on access to Al-Aqsa, Turkey's Islamist-rooted president, Tayyip Erdogan, urged his compatriots to flock there in solidarity with the Palestinians. The general manager of Turkish Airlines followed up with an ad offering $159 round-trip flights to "Jerusalem" - though in fact the planes land at Ben Gurion. Israel's envoy to Ankara, Eitan Na'eh, tweeted in turn: "We will always be glad to warmly welcome Turkish tourists to Israel and our capital Jerusalem." (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ceyda Caglayan in Istanbul; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Giles Elgood) BEIRUT, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Lebanese authorities detained and interrogated a suspected Islamic State commander and referred his case to a special court, Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported on Thursday. Security forces arrested the man in Arsal, a town in northeastern Lebanon near the enclave Islamic State held until a Lebanese army offensive pushed them from it last week. During interrogation the man confessed to participation in several attacks in Lebanon as well as recruitment, smuggling, kidnapping, arms procurement and financing Islamic State operations, NNA reported. Also on Thursday, a military investigative judge charged 39 individuals of Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese nationalities with belonging to and promoting the ideology of Islamic State. Islamic State has carried out several attacks in Lebanon in recent years, including a series of suicide bombings in the small town of al-Qaa in the Bekaa valley a year ago. (Writing by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Hugh Lawson) By Lefteris Karagiannopoulos and Jussi Rosendahl HELSINKI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Finland will introduce legislation next year to phase out coal and increase carbon taxes, a top government official told Reuters, which would require the country to find alternative energy sources to keep its power system stable. Coal produces roughly 10 percent of the energy consumed by Finland, which is the Nordics' heaviest coal consumer and burned about 4.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2016. "This strategy has a goal of getting rid of coal as an energy source by 2030 ... We have to write a law ... and that will be next year," Riku Huttunen, director general in Finland's energy department, said. The law will, however, leave "room for manoeuvre" to ensure security of supply, he said, meaning coal-fired power plants could still be available to avoid the risk of blackouts. The stability of Finland's power system will be under pressure as coal is more flexible than other forms of energy, a Thomson Reuters analyst said. Finland is increasing its nuclear capacity, which could replace coal. But that may not be sufficient, a Nordic power trader said, as Finland will receive less nuclear power from neighbouring Sweden, which is phasing out two reactors. "If you take away something used in the system, you have less supply and higher prices," the trader said. Helsinki is raising its nuclear power capacity to reduce dependency on Russian energy imports. Two new reactors, Olkiluoto 3 and Hanhikivi 1, are due to go online in 2018 and 2024, respectively. The owner of Hanhikivi 1, Fennovoima, has said the project is on track, but Huttunen, the government official, said the schedule may be "enthusiastic" given that the company had yet to submit several documents regarding safety and economy. Finland will also propose higher carbon taxes in 2018, he said, without giving further details. (Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Dale Hudson) By Leigh Thomas and Ingrid Melander PARIS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron's government announced reforms to loosen labour regulations and drive down unemployment, drawing criticism from unions but limited support for the street protests that have hindered previous reform bids. After weeks of negotiations with unions over the summer, the centrist government revealed measures including a cap on payouts for dismissals adjudged unfair and greater freedom to hire and fire. The plan would also give companies more flexibility to adapt pay and working hours to market conditions. The labour code reform is the first big test of Macron's drive to to re-shape the euro zone's second biggest economy with its near double-digit jobless rate, double that in Britain and markedly higher than Germany. He also seeks a "grand bargain" with Germany over broader reforms of the euro zone. For decades, governments of the left and right have tried to reform France's strict labour rules, but have always diluted them in the face of street protests. The reform makes no direct reference to France's 35-hour week but gives employers more flexibility to negotiate deals with employees to work around it. Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud described the five decrees laying out the reforms as "a transformation of labour rules on an unprecedented scale". Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said they were necessary to fight France's stubbornly high unemployment. "The truth is that for bosses, especially of small companies, and foreign investors, the existing labour law is seen as a brake on hiring and investment," Philippe said. Trade unions were less upbeat at what they perceived as the loss of long-cherished workers' rights. "All of our fears have been confirmed," said Philippe Martinez, head of the hard-left CGT union, after the government presented the decrees to unions and employers. He said the union would press ahead with its plan for a protest on Sept. 12. But Macron's assiduous courting of the unions over the summer appeared to have born fruit. France's biggest union, the reformist CFDT, said it was disappointed with what amounted to a missed opportunity to improve labour relations. But both the CFDT and the smaller Force Ouvriere, one of the spearheads of last year's anti-reform protests, said they would not be joining the CGT's protest. "This reform does not rise to the occasion", CFDT leader Laurent Berger told reporters, but he added: "Taking to the streets is not the only mode of action for unions." It sets a cap on compensation for a dismissal judged in a labour court to be unfair. This will be set at three months of wages for two years in the company with the amount rising progressively depending on how long a worker was with the firm. In a concession to unions, normal severance pay would be increased from 20 percent of one month's wage for each year in a company to 25 percent. Economists drew parallels with Germany and Spain. "This very much ressembles the labour reform carried out in Germany in 2004-2005," said Florian Hense, European economist at Berenberg Bank. "This could very well propel France to a golden decade like Germany had." Dutch bank ING said: "The ceiling on dismissal compensation is a milestone in labour flexibility and a real positive for permanent contract creation. In Spain, a similar reform kick-started an unprecedented labour market recovery." RISING DISCONTENT Pierre Gattaz, the head of the MEDEF employers federation, described the reforms as an important first step which would boost confidence within companies. The CPME, a small business lobby, was even more positive. "At last!," it said in a statement. "After months of negotiations, we got results. The reform we had been waiting for so long is there." The labour reforms comes as the 39-year-old president suffers a steep drop in popularity ratings. Early policy announcements including an overhaul of the wealth tax and cuts to housing assistance have left a swathe of voters feeling his policies favour the rich, pollsters say. The government plans to start talks on overhauling unemployment benefits in October before tackling pension reform next year. Parliament, where Macron's Republic on the Move party has a commanding majority, has already voted to allow the government to issue the decrees without a vote in the assembly. The government plans to adopt the decrees on Sept. 22. ($1 = 0.8437 euros) (Reporting by Caroline Pailliez, Michel Rose, Ingrid Melander, Richard Lough and Jean-Baptiste Vey; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Richard Lough and Ralph Boulton) BEIRUT, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday he travelled to Damascus to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to request the evacuation of Islamic State fighters from their enclave on the Syria-Lebanon border. The evacuation convoy left the border area late on Monday to take about 600 IS fighters and family members to the territory the group controls in eastern Syria, but it was blocked from entering IS areas on Wednesday by U.S.-led air strikes. (Reporting By Sarah Dadouch, writing by Angus McDowall) Aug 31 (Reuters) - Portugal winger Nani has joined Lazio on loan from Valencia, the clubs said in separate statements on Thursday. Valencia said the Cape Verde-born player would be loaned for one year and Lazio would have an option for the Serie A side to buy at the end of that period. Nani, full name Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha, was at Manchester United for eight seasons and has since spent one season each at Sporting, Fenerbahce and Valencia. The 30-year-old has made 112 appearances for Portugal scoring 24 goals. Lazio, fourth in Serie A last season, have spent modestly during the transfer window, with new signings totalling 17 million euros ($20 million), according to the specialist website Transfermarkt. ($1 = 0.8412 euros) (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Mark Potter) WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The United States is requiring Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two annex buildings in Washington, D.C. and New York City, the State Department said on Thursday, in response to the Kremlin's decision to shrink the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. Last month Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. "We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City," Nauert said. "These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati) By Nurul Islam COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Bangladeshi border guards have recovered two dozen bodies from the country's shore in the last two days, as tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims make desperate attempts to flee the worst violence involving the Myanmar minority in at least five years. At the United Nations, the U.S. ambassador to the world body, Nikki Haley, urged Myanmar's security forces to avoid attacking innocent civilians. Haley condemned recent attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army but added "as Burmese security forces act to prevent further violence, they have a responsibility to adhere to international humanitarian law, which includes refraining from attacking innocent civilians and humanitarian workers." She also urged security forces to ensure aid reaches those in need and to ensure the rights of all communities. Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Friday, three U.N. sources said, after Rohingya insurgents wielding sticks, knives and crude bombs attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, leading to clashes that killed at least 117 people. Myanmar said its security forces were carrying out clearance operations in northern Rakhine to defend against "extremist terrorists". Monitors said fleeing Rohingya reported that the army and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have unleashed a+ campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population. Reuters reporters in Bangladesh on Thursday saw a huge fire on the Myanmar side of the Naf River. Many villages were also on fire near the town of Maungdaw in Rakhine, where another Reuters reporter saw charred debris and smoke billowing from the forest. The U.N. sources in Bangladesh said around 20,000 Rohingya were stranded in no man's land between the two countries. One predicted the figure could jump to 30,000 later on Thursday. Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said the humanitarian situation was deteriorating rapidly. "Many thousands of people are increasingly at risk of grave violations of their human rights," she said in a statement. "The worsening cycle of violence ... must be broken urgently." Myanmar has evacuated thousands of Buddhists from Rakhine since the start of the fighting that has mainly killed Rohingya insurgents but also security force personnel, according to the Myanmar government. The treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya in Myanmar is the biggest challenge facing Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long complained of persecution. On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the Naf after their boat overturned, said Ariful Islam, a Bangladesh border guard commander. The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children were recovered on Wednesday after their boat was fired on by Myanmar's Border Guard Police, Islam said. A Rohingya leader in Bangladesh cited survivors saying both boats were overcrowded. In the Bangladeshi border district of Cox's Bazar, makeshift camps for the displaced set up since similar violence last October were being expanded. One arrival, Mohammed Rashid, 45, wore a surgical dressing under his eye, saying bullet splinters injured him after the Myanmar army opened fire on a group of Rohingya. He said about 100 people made their way to the border together, and he saw explosions and people dying. "We hid in the forest for two days and then we were stopped at the border, but we got through. We heard that the houses in our village have burned down," Rashid told Reuters. "BURNING, BURNING" Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, a Rohingya monitoring group, said it appeared Myanmar security forces were trying to drive out much of the Rohingya population. She said ethnic Rakhine vigilantes were "participating in the burning of villages". "What we're hearing is burning, burning, burning," she said. "And it seems to be spreading from south to north." Myanmar has said it has the right to defend itself from attack, adding that security personnel were told to protect innocent civilians. The Myanmar army has said it is battling insurgents who continued to ambush government forces. Monitors said there have been few, if any, insurgent attacks reported since Friday's initial offensive. The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a similar but much smaller series of Rohingya attacks on security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s. Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country though thousands have set up temporary camps along the porous land border, borders guards said. The International Organization for Migration joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in appealing to Bangladesh to admit people caught on the border. Bangladesh has insisted it lacks resources to care for them. Aid workers say contingency stocks of materials are low and their biggest problem is extreme overcrowding in makeshift settlements. (Reporting by Nurul Islam, Ruma Paul, Reuters Staff; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations in New York and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Krishna N. Das and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jonathan Oatis) MAPUTO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Mozambican opposition Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama, said he would sign a peace deal with the government by early November, in a bid to end almost three years of sporadic violence. Renamo and the ruling Frelimo party fought on opposing sides of a civil war from 1976 to 1992 in which a million people died before a peace accord ended the fighting. Violence has flared up again since Renamo challenged results of the southern African nation's 2014 elections. "It will be in October or November, no later than the beginning of November," Dhlakama told the weekly independent newspaper, Canal de Moz and quoted by Noticas, the pro-government daily paper on Thursday. Dhlakama said his party was negotiating cautiously with the government to avoid a deadlock, which has seen previous talks collapse. Issues still being discussed include plans to decentralise powers, constitutional reforms to allow provincial governors to be elected and reintegrating Renamos staff into the police and army. Renamo wants governors to be elected in 2019, seeing it as a chance to rule areas where it has popular backing. Nyusi and Dhlakama met in early August for the first time since 2015 to discuss the next steps in the peace process, which they hoped will be completed by the end of the year. (Reporting by Manual Mucari) BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A car bomb at a checkpoint killed four troops from Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's forces on Thursday, in an attack claimed by Islamic State, officials and security sources said. Haftar's Libyan National Army is one of the most powerful armed brigades in Libya, where rival factions and their military backers have competed for control since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 uprising. "The car bomb explosion that targeted a checkpoint in Nawfiliya town has resulted in two killed of Sirte Security Directorate and some other wounded," LNA spokesman Ahmad Mesmari told Reuters. Two security sources later said two more soldiers had died. Islamic State claimed the attack, according to the militant group's AMAQ news agency. Haftar's forces have been fighting against Islamist militants and other foes in eastern Benghazi and are besieging the city of Derna to try to oust militants there. Thursday attack in Nawfiliya was 80 km (50 miles) from Ras Lanuf, part of Libya's "Oil Crescent" and one the OPEC country's major oil exporting terminals. Libyan officials are concerned Islamic State may try to regroup there after defeat in nearby Sirte city last year. (Reporting by Ayman Al Warfalli; writing by Patrick Markey, editing by Pritha Sarkar) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday Iran had shown its "true colors" by restoring ties with Palestinian militant group Hamas and must be held to account by the international community. The new leader of Hamas in Gaza said on Monday that Tehran was again its biggest provider of money and arms after years of tension over the civil war in Syria. Hamas had angered Iran by refusing to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the six-year-old civil war. Haley described the Hamas leader's statement as a "stunning admission." Iran is subject to an arms embargo - with exceptions granted only in cases when it has received U.N. Security Council approval for imports or exports. "Iran is showing its true colors. Iran must decide whether it wants to be a member of the community of nations that can be expected to take its international obligations seriously or whether it wants to be the leader of a jihadist terrorist movement. It cannot be both," Haley said in a statement. "Its long past time for the international community to hold Iran to the same standard that all countries who actually value peace and security are held to," she said. Neither Hamas nor Iran have disclosed the full scale of Tehrans backing. But regional diplomats have said Irans financial aid for the Islamist movement was dramatically reduced in recent years and directed to the Qassam Brigades rather than to Hamas political institutions. Hamas seeks Israels destruction. It has fought three wars with Israel since seizing the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Hamas and Abbass Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are locked in a political dispute over the issue of Palestinian unity. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Tom Brown) By Mahmoud Mourad MUZDALIFA, Saudi Arabia, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Two million Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat on Thursday for a vigil to atone for their sins, then descended to Muzdalifa to prepare for the final stages of the annual haj pilgrimage. Pilgrims clad in white robes spent the previous night in an encampment at the hill where Islam holds that God tested Abraham's faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Ismail and where the Prophet Mohammad gave his last sermon. Other worshippers who had been praying in the nearby Mina area ascended in buses or on foot from before dawn as security forces directed traffic and helicopters hovered overhead. Some of the faithful carved out seats on the craggy hillside, carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. Others filled nearby roads, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Men and women from nearly every country in the world gathered side by side, some crying on their neighbour's shoulder. An elderly Syrian pilgrim sitting on the hilltop shouted out, "Oh God, take revenge on the oppressors". Others assembled around him responded, "Amen". Awfa Nejm, from a village near Homs, said: "We ask God to protect Syria and its people and return it to the way it was before." Twenty-seven-year-old Amin Mohammed from Nigeria said he was praying for peace in his country. Saudi Arabia said more than 2.3 million pilgrims, most of them from outside Saudi Arabia, had arrived for the five-day ritual, a religious duty once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey. 'BLESSED WITH ISLAM' Sheikh Saad al-Shathri, a senior Saudi cleric, delivered a midday sermon denouncing terrorism and violence against civilians. "Sharia came to preserve the security of nations and cultivate benevolence in (people's) hearts," he said, referring to the Islamic legal and moral code derived from the teachings of the Koran and the traditions of the Prophet. He urged pilgrims to set aside politics during the haj and come together with fellow Muslims. "This is no place for partisan slogans or sectarian movements which have resulted in great massacres and the displacement of millions," he said. Still, violence in the Middle East, including wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, and other global hotspots are sure to be on the minds of many pilgrims. As the sun set, they began moving to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa to gather pebbles to throw at stone columns symbolising the devil at another location called Jamarat on Friday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice). A crush in 2015 which killed hundreds occurred when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, on their way to Jamarat. It was the worst disaster to strike haj for at least 25 years. Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites - Mecca and Medina - and organising the pilgrimage. King Salman visited Mina to review the services offered to pilgrims, state media showed. Officials say they have taken all necessary precautions this year, with more than 100,000 members of the security forces and 30,000 health workers on hand to maintain safety and provide first aid. Saudi state television on Thursday morning showed a new kiswa, the cloth embroidered with verses from the Koran, being placed over the Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. Pilgrims will return to pray there at the end of haj. Abdelhadi Abu Gharib, a young Egyptian pilgrim, prayed in Muzdalifa before collecting stones for Friday's ritual. "The scene today in Arafat confirms that Muslims are not terrorists and that Islam is the greatest religion," he said. "God has blessed us with Islam." (Writing by Stephen Kalin, Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Alison Williams) Swings of Love is literally about swings. You see four of them as the curtain opens. There is a sash suspended, rope like, at the centre between them. The single character of this play literally cant exist without them. During the one hour duration of the play, she acts out her emotional life on these swings and the sash. The swings revolve around her and her life unravels on and around the swings. This experimental play is a fusion of ideas and talent between director M. Safeer and Italian actress Julia Filippo (though the word actor is now used for both sexes without gender bias in Europe). Based on a Sinhala script written by poet and novelist Manjula Wediwardena (translated into English by Dilini Eriyawala), Swings of Love may be described as an emotional unraveling (including mood swings) of a woman scarred, if not scorned, by love through monologue and physical movements which express her continuously shifting emotional states. Safir has an extensive experience in the Sinhala theatre. We have this classification of theatre and film according to linguistic and ethnic criteria, and there is of course a Sinhala theatre and an English theatre divided along these lines. As such, Swings of Love should belong to the English theatre, which essentially limits its scope because the latter is Colombo-based. Julia Filippo But this is a production with international scope, produced by Inter Act Art and to be premiered at the IAPR international theatre festival in Pune, India in November. It will be staged too, at festivals in South Korea and elsewhere. But, since this is a play produced in Sri Lanka, its worth looking at its impact on Sri Lankan audiences on both sides of the linguistic divide. As far as the Sinhala theatre is concerned, this would amount to culture shock. Julia Flippo is trained in the physical theatre, with its emphasis on expressing emotions and states of mind through body language. This is common enough in Europe where modern theatrical experimentation has been the standard for decades. In this country, with its fixation on conventional narrative, plot twists and an obsessive use of comedy when it comes to serious themes, there is little emphasis on body language. The same holds for the countrys English theatre. For most theatre goers, the idea of expressing the gamut of emotions that love can produce by using theatrical devices such as swings would be alien, even absurd. At the start of the play, the solitary female character is seen reclining on a swing, reading a book. She keeps on reading silently for quite a while. In our theatre, attention spans are much shorter. It would be hard for someone nurtured in the Sinhala theatre to focus on that solitary, ominously silent figure for so long without his or her attention wandering. Manjula When she starts moving, we notice that her dress is quite short unacceptably short for a local play. Last year, a play staged at the Peradeniya university open air theatre got booed because one female character wore a short dress. The length of an actors dress may seem immaterial, but this is all about cultural conditioning and resulting culture wars. A dress of this length would be daring, even unacceptable, if worn by a Sri Lankan actress. Its quite acceptable when worn by a Westerner. This is the double standard imposed on us by neo-colonialism and our own chronic inability to outgrow cultural stereotyping, the same double standard which allows kissing, sex and nudity in foreign films but bans them on our productions. Based on a Sinhala script written by poet and novelist Manjula Wediwardena Swings of Love may be described as an emotional unraveling (including mood swings) of a woman scarred, if not scorned, by love through monologue and physical movements There is no sex and nudity in this play. Instead, there is a miasma of sensuousness, fully embodied by that clinging white dress, befitting to the topic that is explored. Julia Filippo performs a series of movements with the swings and the sash graceful, and requiring the balance and skills of a gymnast. Her voice rises and falls, from a whisper to a shrieking crescendo, as she talks about love analyses, wonders, sighs, and screams. At times whimsical, she says repeatedly: There is love, after all. Sometimes, she hangs in there so precariously that one feels she might lose her balance and fall down. But its the body movements that command attention more than the words. This is a totally different theatre experience from what we are used to. The dress is designed to emphasize the body movements through which the actor conveys her emotional states. Understanding this requires a different set of interpretive skills than what Sri Lankan theatre offers its audiences. It will be staged too, at festivals in South Korea and elsewhere. But, since this is a play produced in Sri Lanka, its worth looking at its impact on Sri Lankan audiences on both sides of the linguistic divide A Sri Lankan actress, if trained properly, can perform similarly if we imagine for a moment that someone staged something similar for the Sinhala theatre. But the onus isnt just on the actress and the director. The audience too, must have the interpreting skills necessary to appreciate such a performance. One cant presume that reactions will be negative. One must do it and check. On the other hand, one can make a broad assumption that our training in the theatre isnt geared for this, and that training must start at school level. But we dont have the teachers skilled in such modern theatre techniques, except here and there. She keeps on reading silently for quite a while. In our theatre, attention spans are much shorter. It would be hard for someone nurtured in the Sinhala theatre to focus on that solitary, ominously silent figure for so long without his or her attention wandering On the whole, this is a bold new experiment as far as our theatre goes. The question is whether Swings of Love will remain festival theatre just as we have a stream of festival films which are geared to foreign film festivals and not for the local market. The acid test will be a Sinhala version performed by a Sri Lankan actress. Only then can we know. An organisation calling itself Anti-SAITM peoples Front launched protest vigil last night demanding the immediate closure of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said that the protest campaign was launched covering fifty cities across the country from 7 p.m. Monday to 12 p.m. yesterday. The main demonstration was held at Punchi Borella in Colombo last night whereas two other torch-carrying demonstrations were held in Maharagama and Avissawella. Several thovil functions were held in Panadura, Kurunegala, Buththala and Ampara, he added. He said that several other torch-carrying demonstrations were launched in Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Chilaw, Badulla, Moneragala, Anuradhapura and Mannar districts. He said that a street play with regard to the SAITM controversy was staged in Ampara last night and that a lamp Pooja was held in Ruwanweli Seya. Meanwhile, he said that President Maithripala Sirisena should reveal his stance on the SAITM controversy without further delay. We will be forced to take crucial decisions after September 15, if the Government would not provide us with a reasonable solution to the issue, he said. He added that a vehicle parade has scheduled to arrive in Colombo in protest of the SAITM on September 15 and added that they would seize Colombo on the day. (Kalathma Jayawardhane) 1 Princess Diana on her wedding day. 2 Diana with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. 3 Princess Diana with Mother Theresa. 4Princess Diana visiting a Brazilian hospital for abandoned children, many of them HIV positive, in 1991. 5 A childrens activist, Diana associated herself with many charities that fell out of the royal involvement. 6 Princess Diana visiting an old peoples hospice in Bethnal Green in London September 1990. 7 Princess Dianas famous trip to a minefield. Additional Solicitor General Dappaula de Livera yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that Perpetual Treasuries Ltd's IT executive Sachith Devathantri had admitted to the CID yesterday that he had lied when making the previous statement to CID officials of the PCoI regarding the PTLs phone recording system. ASG Livera said Mr. Devathantri was summoned again to the PCoI to be further questioned by the CID on the matter last morning. The ASG said during yesterdays questioning the IT person has admitted that he had lied in his previous statement to the CID. On an earlier occasion, Mr. Devathantri was summoned at the PCoI and a statement recorded by the CID officers. Meanwhile, Presidents Counsel Kalinga Indatissa cross-examined Chief Engineer of Metropolitan Ltd, Chief Examiner Nalin Dharmaratne with regard to the evidence he provided to the PCoI about the voice recording system. Presidents Counsel Anuja Premaratne appearing for Arjun Aloysius also cross-examined the witness. During the Cross-examination, the witness was seen uncertain with regard to specific technical questions put forward by the Presidents Counsel. According to the witness, Metropolitan Ltd had initially placed a voice recording system (Voice Logger System) on May 18, 2015 with eight ports with the capacity of storing caller details and voice recordings. This system was included with a main computer given by Metropolitan in which all the data was stored as voice recordings (wave files) and caller details. However, during the cross examination it was revealed that after the installation PTL had complained on June 4, 2015 about the system that there were errors in the recording system, which lacked the capacity to record all digits of outgoing numbers. The witness admitted during cross-examination that Metropolitan Ltd was unable to solve the problem for a certain period and only sorted it out in December 2015 with the assistance of Metropolitans mother company in India. The witness said that PTL had not complained thereafter about any major issues regard the system. Later, in September 2016, Metropolitan Ltd had again installed another 16 ports in the system on the request of PTL. It was revealed that these 24 ports were linked with PTLs extensions in the phone recording system. During the cross-examination, the witness seemed unaware about certain maters raised by Counsel Indatissa PC with reference to the contract agreement and service agreement of PTL and Metropolitan. When leading evidence of the witness, it was explained that when the Metropolitan's chief engineer examined the system on August 26, 2017 at PTL they could not find previous data relating to phone recordings. Thereafter, they had obtained the assistance of its Indian Company through a remote logging method, accessing the system online. Subsequently, the Indian Mother Company had sent a report on the system. The witness admitted that Metropolitan Ltd had no specialist technical officer to examine matters which were required by the Commission and that they had asked assistance from its mother company. The report said the system had been re-installed on July 6, 2017. Later, on July 20 the previous voice recording data (wave files) had been re-placed in the data base and a basic configuration done on July 21 to operate the system. It was also revealed that the July 21 configuration was only a basic one and still the system did not have the capability to record Caller Line Identification (CLI) in the system without doing an advanced configuration. It was also revealed that this basic configuration and re-installation had been done by PTL without the assistance of Metropolitan Limited. However, it was explained that PTL had shifted its office to a different address on July 3, 2017. It was revealed that at the new place, PTL had identified that the computer hard disk relating to the recording system had crashed for some reason. Thereafter they had replaced a new hard disk in the computer and re-installed the system on July 6, 2017 -- the day that PTL was suspended from being a Primary Dealer in Government Securities. Presidents Counsel Indatissa who appeared for PTL CEO Kasun Palisena was of the view that Metropoltan Chief Engineers testimony was not independent evidence because the witness was solely relying on their Indian mother companys report. PC Indatissa said the Indian mother company had only examined the system remotely by accessing online and provided details. He was of the view that such inspection was only a preliminary stage of a forensic examination; therefore a proper forensic examination has to be done to ascertain whether PTL had deleted or altered data in its phone records. When he asked whether it was the best way to ascertain such details, the witness answer was in the affirmative. Mr. Indatissa was also of the view that PTL CEO Kasuna Palisena had only looked at the system on August 18 and had prepared his affidavit, saying that PTL did not have a recording system which stored caller details. Adding some amusement to the questioning, Mr. Indatissa said Metropolitan owner Ambani did not know about the Metropolitan systems and in a similar fashion his client, PTL CEO was also unaware about the matter not being a technical expert. In the earlier affidavit which was submitted by the PTL CEO it was said that PTL had a recording system which only records the voice recordings with serial numbers. Justice Prasanna Jayawardena later questioned the witness about the Indian mother companys report. Justice Jayawardena: Did your Indian company examine the system after you made a request? Witness: Yes J: And their report says they cannot recover any data pertaining to the time period between February 2015- May 2016, right?, and that there had been a re-installation and re-configuration in July, right? W: Yes J: Can a remote method of examination find that sort of information? W: Yes Meanwhile, it was revealed that PTL had now given its previous hard disk drive, the new computer, and the four CDs containing back-up data pertaining to the time period after July 6, 2017 to the CID officials who are attached to the PCoI. Acceding to Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagodas request, the Commission yesterday also allowed the CID to examine all the devices handed over by PTL with assistance of Metropolitan officers. ASG Yasantha Kodagoda was of the view that since the previous computer was said to have crashed, they had to examine the reasons as to why it had crashed. At this moment Justice Prasanna Jayawardena in a lighter vein quipped in pithy Sinhala: Hena Wedunada Balanna (See whether it was struck by lightning) amid ripples of laughter in the courtroom. During the cross examination, there was a heated argument between ASG Dappula De Livera and PC Kalinga Indatissa. Counsel Indatissa questioned the witness about the affidavit and the one who attested it and the witness was unaware about the name of the counsel who had attested the Affidavit. The witness however, said he had signed the affidavit in the presence of that counsel but did not know his name. ASG Livera was unhappy about the line of questioning and objected to the questioning in an aggressive manner. The ASG asked whether that line of questioning implied suspicion towards the officers of AGs Department. Counsel Indatissa PC too responded in a higher tone of voice saying he did not mention about the AGs Department. This led to a heated argument between the two senior Presidents Counsel that went on for sometime. However, Justice Prasanna Jayawardena intervened and directed both parties to stop the argument. (Shehan Chamika Silva) HINDUSTAN TIMES, 30th AUGUST, 2017- Iranians and Qataris are among the more than 1.7 million Muslims gathered in the holy city of Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage, even though the governments in Tehran and Doha are at odds with Saudi Arabia. Despite closing the border with Qatar on June 5 as part of the Gulf countries economic and diplomatic offensive against the gas-rich emirate, Saudi Arabia has allowed 1,340 Qataris to enter the country for the Hajj. Doha earlier refused Riyadhs proposal to arrange charter flights for Qatari pilgrims. The Saudi minister of Islamic Affairs, Saleh al-Sheikh, told his countrys official news agency SPA that the kingdom serves all pilgrims without discrimination or exclusion on the basis of nationality, tribe or sect. Political tensions are overshadowing the great religious event, but have not prevented 86,500 Iranian pilgrims from coming to Mecca this year after they were excluded last year following a deadly stampede during the 2015 Hajj. Nearly 2,500 people - including 400 Iranians - died in the stampede, which Riyadh blamed on the Iranians, while Tehran faulted the Saudi government. The Jeddah-based International Islamic News Agency said that the pilgrims include 25,500 people from the United Kingdom, 20,500 from Russia, 17,000 from the United States and 10,000 from France, among many other nationalities. Rains exceeding 100 mm accompanied by strong winds and lightning are expected in the next few days especially in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva and Southern Provinces, Department of Meteorology said yesterday. Rains are expected in the drought-hit areas such as Anurdhapura, Jaffna and Polonnaruwa. The Met Department said the seas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil and the seas off Puttalam to Mannar would be rough at times with winds of up to 60 kmph. There was considerable rain yesterday with the highest rainfall of 32.6 mm at Norton while Lakshapana received 28.5 mm of rain, Canyon 23mm, Castlereagh 12.6 mm, Matugama 23.2 mm, Galle 10.5 mm and Ratnapura 12.6 mm (Yohan Perera) REUTERS, 30th AUGUST, 2017- Nearly 9,000 Rohingya Muslims, many sick and fearing for their lives, have fled the worst violence to grip northwest Myanmar in at least five years, while thousands more are stuck at the Bangladesh border or preparing to reach it in coming days. A series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in the north of Myanmars Rakhine state on Friday and ensuing clashes triggered the Rohingya exodus, while the government evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists. The United Nations, while condemning the attacks, pressured Myanmar to protect civilian lives without discrimination and appealed to Bangladesh to let those fleeing the military counteroffensive through. How the open market economy corrupted everything-including political parties, the State and all professions Within open market economy, Governments keep relaxing labour laws as incentives for investor promotion, who in turn take care of political parties and professionals The State controlled economy was not for regeneration of private capital thus denying the development of class conscious capitalists Recently in a live TV panel discussion, Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development Dr. Harsha de Silva said this country as a whole is totally corrupt. He complained that corruption was everything and everywhere and it was being only talked of superficially. With corruption, he said politics had become so nauseating, he was disgusted and wouldnt mind leaving politics. What he did not say is that it is this open market economy that has corrupted everything including political parties, the State and all professions. It is leaders of these corrupt political parties, the State and professionals, who design all plans and programmes and have them implemented in this open market economy to improve private sector profits. Within this open market economy, Governments keep relaxing labour laws as incentives for investor promotion, who in turn take care of political parties and professionals. It is for that sole purpose the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade (MoDS&IT) has stepped completely outside its responsibility of socio economic development and international trade to have the USAID with a heavily funded project to Reform Labour Law. The project with USAID would go on till 2020. What have USAID and the MoDS&IT to do with our labour laws? They have absolutely nothing to do with labour laws in Sri Lanka and they shouldnt have. Everything related to private sector labour in Sri Lanka from policy to law and their enforcement is the total responsibility of the Labour Department under the Ministry of Labour. No other ministry therefore is mandated to intervene in any way in labour related issues. The Labour Department and the ministry works with the ILO for want of expertise as they decide. Thus this intervention by the MoDS&IT with the USAID is an arrogant, unwanted intervention that needs to be paid serious attention to. This deal between the USAID and the MoDS&IT spells out the fundamentals of the politico economic programme of this Government under PM Wickremesinghe. The whole approach of this Government which knows nothing else is plain open market economics with maximum incentives offered for Foreign Direct Investors (FDI). There is no development planning to decide where FDI should be channelled for the advantage of the people. It is simply said FDI is necessary to establish factories for export manufacture. Deciding what is manufactured remains the privilege of the investor and not the country. Incentives in this open market economy mean nothing other than means for increased profits. This is what the Wickremesinghe Governments development is all about. Thus the proposed labour law reforms attempted by the USAID and the MoDS&IT has to be discussed within the larger canvas of Neo Liberal Economics in a country that has failed to establish an inclusive, secular and a pluralistic State for almost 70 years. With the popular argument the post-independent mixed economy failed to develop the country, the shift to an open market economy was said to have lifted Sri Lanka to the status of a developing country. Yet for the last 40 years this country still remains a developing country. The open market economy was introduced in a country that was ethnically polarising and moving into a bloody conflict. Within such polarising that created a dominant Sinhala psyche set for a protracted war, the State was gradually groomed into a Sinhala State. This had its impact in the economy, during the first thirty years after independence and thereafter in an accelerated form. The State controlled economy was not for regeneration of private capital thus denying the development of class conscious capitalists. They remained a trader-dealer community. They behaved more as an ethnically conscious State patronised community that played politics with the Sinhala political leadership. It was this deformed and stunted business that led to the emergence of crony capitalism in an open market economy. Meanwhile from the time of Colonial rule, organised labour that had the ability to pressure Governments, managed to consolidate their rights and privileges through numerous Ordinances and Acts. The Labour Department itself was established under the Indian Immigrant Labour Ordinance No. 01 of 1923. It was established initially to oversee welfare of Indian labour brought for plantation work. Compensation for workers who meet with accidents while on duty was accepted as important and made into law with the Workmens Compensation Ordinance No.19 of 1934. Trade unions were accepted and recognised legally with the State Council in November 1935 adopting the Trade Union Ordinance No.14. In 1939 the Maternity Benefits Ordinance No.32 was made into law by the State Council. After independence, the Industrial Dispute Act No.43 was adopted in 1950 by parliament. In 1954 the Shop and Office Employees Act No.19 was passed. With a strong politically organised working class the Bandaranaike Government was made to provide retirement benefit for the first time to the private sector employees with the adoption of the Employees Provident Fund Act No.15 of 1958. Most such Acts were the result of trade union agitations and so was the signing and ratifying of ILO Conventions by Sri Lanka. From 1950 to 2016, Sri Lanka has ratified 43 ILO Conventions and 32 of them are in force. That apart, the present Yahapalana Government re-applied for lost EU GSP Plus and regained same on condition that it would work towards improving Good Governance, democratic and human rights, labour rights and improve environment as well. Sri Lankas problem with development was not labour laws and labour rights. They were essential for development as a democratic country-necessary to have a satisfied labour force that ensures industrial peace and optimum production. The whole concept of Collective bargaining and of Collective Agreements first signed in old Ceylon in 1928 is about achieving industrial peace with a satisfied workforce. In open market economies businessmen demand free rides for bigger and bigger profits. For which they grease every governing structure. It is for that this Government wants USAID to help dismantle the labour law regime by way of reforms. USAID has identified areas to be reformed for the benefit of employers. They have argued the employer should have legal provision to dismiss a worker overnight at a low cost. What is not said is that, even now any employment can be kept under probation for almost three years with no right given to the worker to contest such a long probationary period. During this long probationary period employment can be terminated without cause. Formula for compensation was also what employers worked out and have agreed for. Another that is being highlighted is the calendar with a list of 26 public holidays per year including Poya holidays. Not counting these holidays employees are entitled for seven days of sick leave and seven days of casual leave. Also three months maternity leave for female workers is noted with concern. What is basically said is, workers dont need to have so many holidays, for that makes the employer pay extra for extra work during holidays. The idea of part time employment is also on the cards, argued as an opportunity for employees to do double jobs. What is not said is that most employees do odd jobs even now, as wages for full employment cannot keep them going for a full month. The USAID has come in big with this Government. The Industries and Commerce Ministry too has solicited their support to streamline Lak Sathosa and improve employee efficiency. This Government is banking on USAID and not on ILO expertise for labour issues. Most trade unions in the National Labour Advisory Committee (NLAC) walked out of the meeting convened for USAID representatives to present their scheme in reforming labour law with the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union taking a principle stand against USAID and the MoDS&IT intervening in labour law reforms. The Government and the Labour Ministry saved their faces with politically affiliated trade unions including that of the JVP (US Imperialism is irrelevant, when Government positions are available) opted to stay in the Working Committee on Labour Law Reforms. This Yahapalana Government will thus push its programme of dismantling labour laws through reforms proposed by the USAID. The final draft would thereafter be endorsed by the UNP, SLFP, and JVP trade unions with the CWC also in the Working Group. This leads to total confusion on the part of the Wickremesinghe Government. This Government cannot devalue labour laws in any way with the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of association and the ILO Conventions 87 and 98 in force. Violations of these Core ILO Conventions would make the Government liable for punitive judicial action in many fora both local and international. Added is the fact the Government is already bound by all conditions that come with EU GSP Plus benefits. They include Core ILO Conventions for the entire labour force and is not limited to companies that manufacture for the EU market as the Labour Ministry now tries to define EU GSP Plus conditions. An EU monitoring team is due next Saturday, 09 September that will compel the Government to lay down its framework for proposed labour law reforms. For the EU, the reforms will have to upgrade not degrade existing labour laws. For the Government its the reverse that is wanted in this wholly corrupt free market economy. That is the reason for all the nauseating corruption Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva said he was disgusted about. Wigneswaran, the former Supreme Court Judge wanted a fresh investigation against those cleared by his committee and they protested Wigneswaran also provoked another controversy with one of his letters sent to a member of his council With his decision he saved his neck and for the time being, that of Deniswaran and Sathyalingam On August 23 and 24, two Ministers in the North and the South were sacked from their ministerial portfolios. One was former Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and the other was the former Transport and Fisheries Minister of the Northern Provincial Council P. Deniswaran. There were some interesting parallels between the two Ministers. Both had been given time by their respective parties to tender their resignations but later were kicked out from their posts as they did not make use of the time given to them to voluntarily step down somewhat gracefully. Both Ministers were dismissed by their respective administrations for the similar reason-breaching the collective responsibility. Wijeyadasa was accused of violating the collective responsibility of the Cabinet, while Deniswaran had allegedly gone against a collective decision of his party, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) not to subscribe to the No-Confidence Motion against Chief Minister Wigneswaran in July this year. Despite their respective parties accused them of breaching collective responsibility, it seemed to be a ruse as they had already been destined to be dismissed from their posts for other reasons. Many back benchers and some of the front-liners of the United National Party (UNP) had been complaining for the past few months that the cases against the leaders of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government were moving at a snails pace and it was an indirect allegation against Justice Minister Rajapakshe. Deniswarans story was somewhat different and he seems to have been targeted by his Chief Minister unfairly. The Chief Minister had appointed last year a high powered committee to investigate the allegations levelled against all four members of the board of Ministers of his Provincial Council, excepting him. The committee found two Ministers Education and Cultural Affairs Minister T. Kurukularajah and Agriculture, Food Supply and Distribution Minister P. Ayngaranesan-Guilty of the charges. They resigned from the portfolios. However, Wigneswaran wanted the other two Ministers, who were cleared of charges, Deniswaran and Health Minister Dr. P. Sathyalingam also to resign along with the other two Ministers. They did not budge. Irritated by this lopsided decision by the Chief Minister, the members of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main party in the ruling coalition of the council, handed over a No-Faith Motion against the Chief Minister on July 14 to the Provincial Governor Reginald Cooray. Deniswaran also signed the motion. With the Chief Minister backtracking with his decision he saved his neck and for the time being, that of Deniswaran and Sathyalingam. However, Wigneswaran, the former Supreme Court Judge wanted a fresh investigation against those cleared by his committee and they protested. In the meantime, the Chief Minister provoked the leadership of the ITAK and that of the ruling coalition, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by appointing Ananthy Sasitharan-the wife of former leader of LTTEs political wing in Trincomalee- to one of the ministerial post fell vacant by the resignation of the two Ministers. The ITAK/TNA leaders, having prior information on this appointment requested the Chief Minister not to do so, as Ananthy had already been suspended by the ITAK. Wigneswaran being a former Supreme Court Judge might have felt guilty of appointing a person under suspension from the party to a ministerial portfolio. He declared that the new appointments had been made temporarily, only for three months. But he stopped short of explaining the reason for appointing temporary Ministers. Wigneswaran also provoked another controversy with one of his letters sent to a member of his council. He had requested the council members, who aspire to be appointed to the ministerial post fell vacant, to send in their self- appraisals. Replying to such a self-appraisal submitted by Kanthiah Sivanesan alias Pavan, a member of the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) the Chief Minister had said that he could not consider it since the member concerned had been accused in connection with a murder of senior journalist and columnist D. Sivaram alias Taraki. However, the PLOTE councillor, Sivanesan in a long reply to the Chief Minister had said that he had never been accused by anybody for the murder. Deniswaran came to the limelight again last month when his party, TELO sent him a show-cause notice for signing the No-Confidence Motion against the Chief Minister in July. Later, on August 20, the TELO decided at a high level meeting of the party in Vavuniya to suspend Deniswaran from the membership for six months, since he had refused to reply the show-cause notice. He argued that the TELO cannot suspend him from the party as he had never been a member of that party, despite the party having nominated him to the Northern Provincial Council. However, party decision stood and Wigneswaran who was already at odds with Deniswaran over the latters refusal to resign at his request entertained the TELOs missive at once and sacked him from the ministerial post. At the same time, he disappointed the TELO by ignoring its request to replace Deniswaran with K. Vinthan and appointed another TELO member Dr. Gnanaseelan Gunaseelan instead. However, later the TELO leader and Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Parliament Selvam Adaikkalanathan had welcomed the appointment of Gunaseelan as both he and Gunaseelan hail from Mannar. Again Wigneswaran was in a controversy when he appointed to a portfolio Kanthiah Sivanesan alias Pavan who was first rejected by him on the grounds that the latter had been accused in connection with the murder of Sivaram. He opened another can of worms by justifying his volte-face by pointing finger at another former PLOTE member Kanthiah Selvarasa, who had a similar alias as Kanthiah Sivanesan had, for Sivaram murder. Sivanesan is also called Thool Pavan and Selvarasas nom de guerre was Ooththai Pavan, when he was active in the PLOTE before he was killed in Vavuniya in 2008. Neither aliases connote anything pleasant. However, Chief Minister Wigneswaran had reportedly said that his assumption on Thool Pavans (Sivanesans) connection with the Taraki murder was later proved wrong and it was Ooththai Pavan (Selvarasa) that had been implicated in the case. Now Selvarasas wife S. Yogarani is challenging his new found assumption as well. Chief Minister Wigneswaran, from the beginning has been infuriating the constituent parties of his ruling coalition by ignoring their requests in respect of portfolios. When the Northern Provincial Council was first elected in 2013 he disappointed the EPRLF by appointing P. Ayngaranesan as Agriculture Minister ignoring its nominee. After the recent corruption committee saga, he appointed Ananthy, who had been suspended by the ITAK as Womens Affairs Minister. ITAK/TNA has then decided not to take part in the board of Ministers headed by Wigneswaran as he had repeatedly ignored its leadership. As a result of this Dr. Sathyalingam, one of the two Ministers cleared by the committee tendered his resignation as Health Minister last month. TELO wanted K. Vinthan be appointed as a minister at the latest reshuffle, but the Chief Minister appointed another TELO member, Gunaseelan instead. After his appointment of PLOTEs Sivanesan as a minister, another member, Linganathan of that party is said to be at odds with the party leadership over the issue. Even being a former Supreme Court Judge, who won the acclaim of many in the South Wigneswaran takes interesting decisions. He wanted two Ministers who had been cleared by his corruption committee to resign. Then he wanted a second investigation against them. A member of his party, ITAK who had been suspended was appointed a Minister ignoring repeated requests by the party leadership. He entrusted additional subjects to Ananthy at the latest reshuffle in spite of his own statement that she had been appointed only for three months. He first rejected the self-appraisal by Sivanesan citing Sivaram murder and later pointed finger at Selvarasa for it. He seems to be fond of controversies. Chief Minister Wigneswaran, from the beginning has been infuriating the constituent parties of his ruling coalition by ignoring their requests in respect of portfolios. Polythene and plastic, items which had been an issue for everybody, have been done away with. The law that bans the use of polythene will be imposed from September 1. According to the Central Environmental Authority a 10,000-rupee fine and a two-year jail term will be imposed on a person found guilty of using polythene and plastic Anura Wijethunga According to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) a 10,000-rupee fine and a two-year jail term will be imposed on a person found guilty of using polythene and plastic when the ban becomes legally effective from September. It has been made known that the production, sale and use of polythene, falling under the category less than 20 microns, are subject to this ban. CEA Chairman Prof. Lal Mervin Dharmasiri told The Daily Mirror that the law banning polythene and plastic will be applicable to everyone. We are in a firm position to put this law into effect irrespective of the circum stances. CEA as a responsible institute aspires to conserve the environment Ajith Weerasundara With the approval of the Cabinet to enforce the law on these items, the authority to nab and fine law breakers is vested with the Police, Prof. Dharmasiri said. Its coherent that both the Government and the CEA are trying to eliminate the use of polythene which is commended by the public. But what is important is how far the law will be enforced and whether wrong doers will be penalized. Nevertheless, CEA Director of Waste Management Ajith Weerasundara said that they would grant concessions when expenses are inquired as Taxes and VAT during the importation of biodegradable raw material and manufacturing machinery. We have requested the CEA to inform the Government to provide manufacturers with ample time to finish their stocks and after that to shift from High-density polyethylene to Low-density polyethylene We are in a firm position to put this law into effect irrespective of the circumstances. CEA as a responsible institute aspires to conserve the environment. For that, we need the assistance and co-operation of the general public, Weerasundara said. However, Chairman of All Ceylon Polythene Manufacturers and Recyclers Association (ACPMRA), Anura Wijethunga said that they are unable to adapt to the conditions imposed by the CEA and the Government until existing stocks of polythene are consumed. We have requested the CEA to inform the Government to provide manufacturers with ample time to finish their stocks and after that to shift from High-density polyethylene (HDPE) to Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Wijethunga said. He further said that the manufacturing companies affiliated to their union had stopped the production of lunch sheets, but added that they would release lunch sheets which were remaining in the stock to the market. He went on to state that the responsibility regarding the other companies lay with the CEA. With the approval of the Cabinet to enforce the law on these items, the authority to nab and fine law breakers is vested with the Police Prof. Lal Mervin Dharmasiri The law has been imposed too early and the alternatives arent effective. The Government should have discussed the matter with us earlier than this and taken a better approach to solve this issue. We too are in a position to put an end to polythene use, but the manner in which the Government and the CEA have addressed the issue isnt efficient nor fair. Therefore, we believe that the enforcement of the law will be abortive, he added. What the manufacturers are claiming is reasonable from their point of view. This is mainly because the time frame which has been provided to them to adapt to the new law is insufficient. Consideration must also be given to the fact that the manufacturers and their families depend on the revenue generated through the production of polythene and items related to it. The Government at this juncture should take productive and instant actions to address the issue. Its evident that most countries have banned the use of polythene totally, hence we should follow in their footsteps and adapted environmentally healthy usages. Lets strive to eradicate the use of polythene and get used to biologically degradable polythene. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce announced Leslie Miley as the keynote speaker for this years Spirit of Innovation event, the culmination of Startup Week, a series of seminars and celebrations for entrepreneurs. Mr. Miley, a Silicon Valley native, has worked in engineering leadership roles at Slack, Twitter, Apple and Google. The closing event takes place October 20. Mr. "Leslie Miley has led technology development teams at some of the worlds most innovative companies and is now helping build entrepreneurial communities around the country, focusing on hubs outside of the coasts, said Charlie Brock, CEO, Launch Tennessee. We are thrilled to welcome him to Chattanooga to celebrate Startup Week and honor some of the regions leading innovators. Mr. Miley began his technology career disassembling cable TV set top boxes, moved on to building his own computers and also taught himself programming languages. Leslie Miley brings a message that lands at the nexus of technology and inclusion, said Sandra Brewer, vice president, Member-Investor Services, Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. Were excited that our entrepreneurs and business leaders will have the opportunity to hear that message and act on it in Chattanooga. This year we joined forces with Startup Week promoters to increase our outreach and include as many young, new companies as possible, Ms. Brewer said. This event provides the perfect opportunity for leaders of new firms to connect with established companies. More information about Spirit of Innovation, Miley and Startup Week can be found here. Register for the Spirit of Innovation event here. BRICS may sound like an increasingly tired acronym for some observers in India, but across the border in China, it is hard to overstate its importance. China has always taken BRICS more seriously than the groupings other members Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. In China, there are dedicated BRICS think-tanks and institutes that churn out dozens of policy papers every year. India may have proposed the idea for the BRICS New Development Bank, but China has in some sense taken ownership of the Shanghai-based institution. In fact, some in Beijing believe that it was an eye on the upcoming BRICS summit that prompted China to seek a quick end to the two-and-a-half-month-long standoff at Doklam that was resolved on Monday. Beijing had publicly insisted on a unilateral withdrawal by India as a precondition for any talks. But quietly, both sides in Delhi and Beijing kept the channels open and negotiated a disengagement, which was made possible on Monday with India withdrawing troops and China removing its bulldozers and road construction equipment. BRICS has assumed even greater importance in recent months as China crafts a more prominent global leadership role for itself, with Beijing viewing it as one of the several key vehicles to push its view of a different world order. This effort has taken on urgency since the election of Donald Trump, with the view that an inward-turning United States will yield new opportunities for China. Hence Xi Jinpings visit to Davos and his striking speech in defence of globalisation. His pet One Belt, One Road initiative is another part of this push. Xi is expected to deliver a similar message to the developing world when he flags off the BRICS Summit with a keynote speech on September 4 in the picturesque coastal city of Xiamen. Foreign minister Wang Yi outlined the crux of Chinas BRICS agenda on August 30. Unilateralism is on the rise. We have spoken in a united voice on upholding multilateralism and in one voice on major issues on a timely basis, which has increased our voice in international affairs, he said. Wang pointed out Xi would also chair in Xiamen the biggest ever BRICS business forum and that China had this past year, as BRICS chair, held 84 meetings in finance, trade, technology, science and other areas, including 22 ministerial-level meetings, underlining the importance it was according to the summit. Xi will also chair a dialogue of emerging markets and developing countries in Xiamen with five invited non-BRICS countries. China is now floating the idea of what it calls BRICS Plus a loose framework to expand the grouping by associating it informally with other countries to more forcefully push certain global issues. In the past, it was customary for BRICS countries as part of regular regional outreach to invite countries from their neighbourhood to their summits, as India did with South Asian countries in Goa last year and Brazil did with Latin American nations. Wang, however, said China was following a slightly different and broader approach. It has invited a broader group to Xiamen, including Mexico, Egypt, Guinea, Tajikistan, and Thailand. BRICS cooperation has gone far beyond our five countries, he argued, and taken on global significance. So we have put forward BRICS Plus for broader partnerships. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, I am sure, knew the inevitable for the last couple of months. That's why his post RBI annual report statement was rehearsed, measured and as always crafted. Barely two hours ago the RBI annual report 2016-17 had presented the most awaited answer to the longest surviving question in recent times in form of a mere footnote. The central bank had taken almost seven months as well as old and freshly ordered counting machines to find the volume of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes that landed up in system after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year announced the demonetisation diktat. According to Reserve Bank of Indias annual report released on Wednesday, August 30, out of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of notes taken out of circulation, Rs 15.28 lakh crore came back to the system by way of deposits by the public. Which means that only Rs 16,000 crore was not deposited back into the banks. Buried in the voluminous report is the fact that RBI is yet to calculate the old notes lying in cooperative banks, which were stopped midstream from accepting banned notes fearing the hugely unaccountable system, now popular in large swathes of the country, was becoming a conduit for turning black money into white. A lot of old notes came from Nepal where Indian currency is as good as the Nepali. What if the total amount exceeds Rs 16000 crore? How will the government justify getting back more than it had withdrawn from circulation? Photo: Reuters Initially, Jaitley defended demonetisation by making it a good intent versus the Opposition battle. He said, Those who did nothing to fight black money during their tenures had tried to confuse people about the real objectives of the note ban." And now, he has followed it up with, "The objective of the November 8, 2016 ban of the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was not how much money would return to the system." What about snuffing out black money? The first line was completely in sync with PM Modi's November 8 note ban announcement speech. I list a few bullet points from the speech presenting the ban as an armour-breaching missile against the bastion of black money. - Corruption and black money are diseases rooted in this country, they are obstacles to our success. - Our measures to check black money are paying off. - A Special Investigating Team is making progress to identify who has sent money abroad. - Rs 1.25 lakh crores of black money has been recovered. And the following all-so-important bit on how the fight against black money and the decision to impose note-ban were inseparable, according to PM Modi. - We need to take a new solid step to fight black money. From now on, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will not be used. You have 50 days to turn them into banks and post offices. Jaitley is right that the objective of note-ban wasn't confiscation of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. What he is skirting is that at the core of the note-ban logic instead was snuffing out black money. Heres what was offered. If on November 8, 2016 there was rs 15.44 lakh crore in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, then the gap between this figure and the amount (in demonetized notes) which would come back to the banks eventually could be termed as black money, or black money snuffed out. During November and December 2016, in endless off-camera, off-record briefings, it was conveyed by men handling the demonetisation exercise, that around Rs 3 trillion (or Rs 3 lakh crore) would not return to the banking system, as it was unaccounted for, or black money. How calculations went awry Note-ban was challenged in the courts. Defending it in the Supreme Court in November, then then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Centre, had on record claimed that around Rs 4-5 trillion (Rs 4-5 lakh crore, or about one-third of the demonetised cash) would probably not find its way back into the system. The government may state otherwise but barely one month into the demonetisation diktat, in December 2016, it was becoming evident that tax evaders had managed to legalise their dishonest money using mules and proxies to deposit cash. The government was jolly well aware of the fact that high-value purchases and backdated bills were being used and helpful bank officials were colluding in the exchange of old currency for new. Photo: Reuters Cut to the present, and the government stands just as arrogant, despite the extent of demonetisation disaster becoming crystal clear. Even now, it hasnt admitted that its calculations went terribly wrong. Its assessment that note-ban would scare black money owners to hide and dispose off the dishonest shade of currency was faulty. Government wanted the calculations to go right as cash-strapped banks would get a quick liquidity fix and lending situation may improve. It expected a bounty, from the shortfall in currency, as the liquidated notes returned. Jaitley was right when he said that note-ban has produced results. India, the cash-loving economy, did court a more digital life for a while, until that too plateaued to pre-demonetisation levels. Left-wing ultras and militants have struggled somewhat to get funds. Even stone-pelting in Kashmir came down indicating a direct connection between black funds and anti-national activities. No breaching the armour plates But Jaitley and the government know that these were not the armour plates that note-ban was supposed to tear past and destroy. Plain and simple, it was the parallel economy of black money. Behind the Edwin Lutyens and Howard Baker designed walls in the corridors of North and South Blocks on the Raisina Hill, deep down there is resentment built on a realisation that while their colleagues worked overtime to meet the demands of jostling queues with old notes, thousands of bank staff, chartered accountants and legendary Indian jugaad capability defeated note-ban's key intent to snuff out a large chunk of black money. Black money owners were helped and abetted to use the little windows of relaxation to deposit what the government assumed they wouldn't. The Opposition will seek answers. Critics will remain divided between calling note-ban a move that was spurred by naivety or conspiracy. I feel the government is guilty of getting aroused merely by the eyeball strength of note-ban. It hoped that fear of the law and call of conscience would discourage the dishonest from reaching the cash counters in banks to exchange old for new. However, it simply didn't have the manpower to put all the money flooding the system under a microscope. Free hand to dishonesty Government should have known that while law is smart, lawbreakers are smarter. During those 50 post note-ban days, dishonest ingenuity had peaked. There were restrictions. Revenue guys were watching and banks allegedly had monitors, cops guarded banks. But we didn't see even a single Mr Money Bags standing in a bank queue to exchange notes. The black money hoarders were not sweating profusely as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said they would be. In a country where roughly 35 per cent of the population lives below subsistence levels, it's the poor and the middle classes who possessed most of the 15.44 lakh crore of demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Each person was allowed to exchange just Rs 4,000 per day for months. How did then Rs 4 lakh crore over and above the government estimate sneak back into the system? It's not through some great Indian rope trick that these men managed to push their dirty stash into the banks, making note-ban an exercise more inclusive in nature than the NDA governments Jan Dhan drive. The system helped them defeating the very government that supposedly wanted the black money hoarders to drown their useless stash into rivers. Notes on the money trail But the clouds have a silver lining. Yes, its true that clever accountants, financial whiz-kids devised methods to push in black money without any hitch in the system. But in the process, they made one mistake. Before note-ban it wasn't known who had what volume of money. Post note-ban, the government was watching. Note-ban was an unprecedented exercise in the annals of Indian history. It happened in the 21 century. Money now leaves a deeper, more visible trail than it did say when Bofors scam blew in the late 80s. Government has data to mine and scrutinise. If there are 25 lakh suspect transactions, they can lead the taxmen to the accounts of those who hold the money. If the taxmen can probe past the layers of transactions and mule/proxy account holders, note-ban will end up producing indirect results. But that would take years. RBIs annual report shows a steep rise in the number of transactions, which can be termed suspicious. Banks filed 361,214 such reports in 2016-17, up from 61,361 the previous year. FM Jaitley said that this proves that people have been forced to deposit the money that was illegitimately lying with them. Blend in all this and the conclusion sits closer to what jaitley meant when he said on Wednesday: The real objective of demonetisation was formalisation, attack on black money, less cash currency, bigger tax base, digitisation, and a blow to terrorism. And, we do believe that in each of these areas, the effect has been extremely positive. Photo: Reuters R Gandhi, former deputy governor of RBI, endorsed the governments assessment when he said, "The fact that the entire demonetised money has come back shows black money has been accounted for completely. In that sense, demonetisation has been a success. This puts the ball in the tax departments court. It has a job to do." Who owned what volume of money deposited in banks post note-ban is work in progress. In January 2017, the government decided to use data analytics to identify people whose deposits didnt match their known sources of income. A government release on Wednesday, August 30, said that 1.8 million accounts were being scrutinised as part of Operation Clean Money, and that from November 2016 to May 2017, a total of Rs 17,526 crore has been found as undisclosed income and Rs 1,003 crore has been seized. Transactions of more than 300,000 registered companies are under the radar. 100,000 companies have been struck off the list. The government has already identified more than 37,000 shell companies engaged in hiding black money and hawala transactions. The government also added that as a result of demonetisation, the number of income tax returns filed has gone up. In the first week of August there was an increase of 24.7 per cent, compared to 9.9 per cent the previous year. The new economic affairs secretary Subhash Garg, who replaced superannuated Shaktikanta Das who steered the titanic note-ban, said: "The short-term, small negative impacts on economic activity have played out fully. Long-term positives will continue to strengthen fundamentals. With the RBI disclosing the numbers of returned notes today (Wednesday) and the measure having been successfully implemented, debate should be over. There are more note-ban benefits visible. Finance ministry says that the volume of cash in the banking system has come down by 17 per cent, net currency in circulation has fallen from Rs 17.77 trillion on November 8, 2016 to Rs 14.75 trillion on August 4, 2017. Digital transactions are up. Finance ministry data shows that the 1.1 billion digital transactions recorded mean a 56 per cent rise between October 2016 and May 2017. Interestingly, RBI detected 762,072 counterfeit notes compared to 632,926 pieces last year. But it's way below estimates as the total value of fake notes is paltry Rs 43 crore. Criticisms abound The Opposition will continue to attack. Anand Sharma of the Congress said, "The government needs to answer what it achieved from the note-ban." Naresh Aggarwal of the Samajwadi Party, a member of the parliamentary panel for finance, said: "For long we were asking the RBI governor for the details of cash returned. He didn't give the details till the last meeting of the panel one day before the release of the annual report. This is a breach of privilege." The Oppositions anguish has a political reason. Note-ban didn't just send hapless millions to stand in long, meandering queues. There was a direct benefit for the BJP. Note-ban ruined the economy of political parties. Parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which have traditionally operated on donations and fund collections, in the absence of institutions or corporate donors, were rendered bankrupt by note-ban during November and December, 2016, barely one month before the make-or-break Assembly elections were due in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, recent media reports on BSP chief Mayawati's recorded telephonic conversations with one-time-confidante-turned-rebel Naseemuddin Siddiqui, are perfect indicators to the economic disarray the note-ban had created in political parties. BSP chief in the clandestine recordings is heard asking for cash donations promised by candidates (fielded by BSP) after the elections, as note-ban prevented them from doing so before the polls. Photo: Reuters The Opposition says that note-ban was the key reason behind BJP's historic UP victory. But it's also a fact that PM Modi and his team read the political fallout of note-ban right. The poor and those below prosperity line who stood in queues, lost savings and jobs in the unorganised sector, were nevertheless convinced that note-ban was a blow against black money and the corrupt. They loved the audacity of the move. The worst victims of corruption and the black economy that emerged unscathed from the note-ban exercise, felt Narendra Modi was a prime minister with spunk. Almost 10 months after November 8, 2016, no one with great sense of authority can deny or prove that all the money that has come back is now white or not. There, of course, are millions of transactions with discrepancies, which the RBI and tax department will eventually examine. A significant portion of the notes deposited may be representing unexplained, unaccounted for or black money. But the key question here is this: Did note ban succeed or did it flop? The clashing narratives from the government and the Opposition create a situation of a 400ml capacity glass with 200ml water in it. I have been a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter since birth. It's something like religion. You follow it because your family does. I was ecstatic when Vajpayee Ji was sworn in as prime minister. I was furious at the time when Sonia Gandhi was about to become PM. I hate the Congress, I hate them from the core of my heart. Three years ago I campaigned thoroughly in wanting to make the BJP win so this nation gets rid of Congress forever. I did it! We did it! BJP won, I remember bursting fire crackers after really long. I was standing by BJP's side for the majority of their present term, but then the cracks started to appear. Demonetisation didn't go as planned. "Make in India" wasn't really taking off. Religious intolerance seems to be increasing. And the economy seems to be slowly receding. Photo: Reuters They say I shouldn't expect magic from the BJP. They say what better option do we have. They say all is well. But I don't buy what they say. I think the BJP is lying. I think the BJP has got used to hiding facts. I think the BJP's sole agenda is to keep winning elections without really worrying about what happens to the nation. I think the BJP has become power hungry to the point that they can do all it takes to just be in power, everywhere. I don't like this BJP. This is not the BJP I used to support when Vajpayee ji was PM. This is not the BJP that opposed Congress for stupid decisions. This is a different BJP. It is an audacious, arrogant BJP which knows that the people of this nation have no other option so they can do whatever the hell they want to do. This doesn't feel like democracy where we have to think twice before criticising the people in power. This needs to change. The party in power may not change. But the attitude of the people in power needs to change. It needs to change because otherwise this arrogance will cost them and cost this nation dearly. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Region 3 fisheries biologists of the year has been awarded to Mike Jolley. Mr. Jolley started with the agency as a fisheries technician in 1993. After working his way through the ranks, he took his current role as the regional reservoir fisheries biologist in 1999. In a nutshell, his job entails monitoring and evaluating fish populations throughout the regions nine reservoirs or 150,000 acres of water. He and his crew also oversee reservoir stockings and warm water production of fish in the region. Mr. Jolley has a passion for fishing that stems from childhood fishing trips with his father. He said, Its a gift to be able to contribute back to the resources Ive enjoyed throughout my life and work to ensure future generations have this same gift. Region 3 is currently host to all of the current state black bass records. Mr. Jolley admits that this encourages and challenges him to keep working hard to maintain such topnotch resources. Despite these amazing records, he said, The driving goals are sustainable fish populations and great science. These two things are the foundation to our management. Mr. Jolley has implemented or been part of many undertakings in the region. Three accomplishments stand out for him. The first is the Florida largemouth bass program, which was just starting in when he stepped into his current role. Secondly, in 201,1 he implemented the regional walleye program. Were just now seeing the results of our work. Its awesome to see the success of our anglers, he said. Third on his list was the creation of the current warm water production ponds at the Hiwassee Refuge in which walleye, Florida largemouth and crappie are raised. Mr. Jolley and his crew are currently in the process of expanding production and diversity with changes and additions to these ponds. He said, Overseeing the production and stocking of fish along with many types of data collection and scientific studies has been fantastic. Mr. Jolley is part of many projects outside of his fisheries role. He is an avid educator and speaks with many groups and organizations throughout the year. He manages one of the largest kids fishing events in the state, attends career days, Earth day events and educated wildlife officers during field training days this year. Region 3 fisheries program manager, Mark Thurman said, Mikes passion for his work and dedication to science ensures great management of our reservoirs. Were grateful for him. To find out more about the TWRA visit tnwildlife.org. Is This Building Next To The Logan Square 'L' Stop About To Become A Hotel? By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 30, 2017 8:59PM After the rise of Airbnb, it seemed as if it were merely matter of time until the neighborhood hotel was "disrupted" right out of existence. But like wristwatches and vinyl, they've actually flourished, especially here in Chicago. With that context, now comes word that a highly coveted property, immediately adjacent to a CTA entrance that serves one of the city's most in-demand 'hoods, could be in the early stages of transforming into a hotel. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, whose 35th Ward includes a portion of Logan Square, told DNAinfo that a developer is working on a proposal to build a hotel at the old Grace's Furniture building (2618 N. Milwaukee Ave.), which towers immediately northwest of the south entrance of the Logan Square Blue Line station, right near the Illinois Centennial Monument. Ramirez-Rosa said that a proposal with renderings will be brought to constituents once the plan is more fully developed. If that property sounds familiar for another reason aside from development desirability and proximity to transit, you're right: it is also in fact the infamous Aloha billboard building, having sported a sky-high ad for the notorious Bradley Cooper/Emma Stone box-office-poison flop for a year after the dud was released. So mocked/loved was the billboard among neighborhood residents that it inspired its own Tumblr and planned party. In fact, a redevelopment for the property may have happened long ago if it weren't for legal squabbles related to the billboard slots that line the side of the building, DNA notes. If the hotel plan does finally come to fruition, it would join concepts like The Robey in Wicker Park, Ace Hotel in Chicago in the West Loop, and the under-construction Hotel Zachary in Wrigelyville among the in-the-nabe hotel development boom to hit the city in recent years. Just don't try to co-opt Jane Addams in a name; that's already been done. [H/T DNAinfo] A World Trade Organization dispute panel said Wednesday that a number of Brazil's programs to promote domestic production of its high-tech goods and automobiles contain provisions that violate WTO rules. The parties have 30 days to appeal the decision and Brazil must act in terms of the panel ruling within 90 days. "Otherwise, Brazil will be expected to remove its illegal tax program without delay," said the EU trade mission in a statement after the panel announced its decision. The complaints concern a wide range of industrial stimulus programs that Japan and the European Union complained about as unfair competition. The WTO panel said the unfair measures include tax breaks, regulatory discrimination, and local content requirements that are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measure (TRIMs Agreement). They also include the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement). A further two additional programs were found to provide illegal export subsidies in violation of the SCM Agreement. In December 2013, the EU and then in July 2015 Japan initiated WTO dispute proceedings against Brazil, targeting seven that include more than 90 legal instruments under those programs which they charged were inconsistent with WTO rules. Panels were established in December 2014 for the EU and in September 2015 for Japan, Both panels were staffed by the same three panelists and the chair of the panels later informed WTO members that the two disputes would follow a harmonized procedure. The EU trade mission statement described the dispute as one of most comprehensive disputes ever launched by the EU as it noted that the dispute panel found that numerous Brazilian tax programs are illegal under WTO rules. The ruling states that the program discriminate against EU automotive, ICT and electronic products and grant prohibited import and export subsidies to Brazilian companies. The dispute also covered fiscal incentives contingent on Brazilian firms meeting certain export performance requirements. The EU said Brazil is an important trade partner for the European Union. Since mid-2012, the EU has enjoyed a trade surplus with Brazil, which can be linked to the decrease in world commodity prices. EU exports to Brazil reached their peak in 2013 but have recently declined due to the economic slowdown in Brazil, the weakening of the real, and the Brazilians' increasing use of restrictive trade policies. The value of exports of goods to Brazil in 2013 was close to 40 billion euros (48 million U.S. dollars). In 2016, the value of exports was close to 31 billion euros (37 billion U.S. dollars). The EU said transport equipment, machinery and appliances constitute the bulk of EU exports to Brazil. However, the EU said the discriminatory taxes and other barriers undermine trade prospects. Rendering depicts a hyperloop train. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, one of the nation's major space contractors, announced that it has launched research and development into a futuristic ultrafast transport system popularly known as a hyperloop, in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Wednesday. The CASIC hyperloop will be a maglev line on which a streamlined, engineless train will travel on partly elevated tubes or tunnels at superfast speeds reaching 1,000 kilometers per hour, according to a news release published by the company at the Third China International Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan. CASIC is the first Chinese enterprise and the world's third, following the United States' Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Hyperloop One, that has started developing a hyperloop system capable of reaching 1,000 km/h. The project will benefit from the company's experience in systems engineering and supersonic vehicles, CASIC said. Mao Kai, chief designer of the system at CASIC, said his company is working with more than 20 domestic and foreign institutes on the project, adding that technicians are striving to develop key technologies like those used for building an elevated tube. "In the future, we will develop technologies that allow a train to travel at 2,000 and even 4,000 km/h," he said. "Once our development is successful, we plan to construct a short-distance line for trial runs." The 1,000 km/h and 2,000 km/h versions could be used for intercity networks while the 4,000 km/h version could form part of a transnational ultrafast transportation network, CASIC said. China's fastest bullet train travels at about 350 km/h though its designed maximum speed is 400 km/h, according to the China Academy of Railway Sciences. The nation has also tested an ultrafast bullet train that is able to travel around 600 km/h, but its designers said it was built to test next-generation railway technologies rather than for commercial operation. The maglev's acceleration and deceleration in the tube would be slow and smooth for passenger comfort, Mao said. Landforms and engineering considerations would determine whether a line is built aboveground or underground, he said. The idea of using magnetic levitation and a low-pressure tube to transport people or cargo was floated by scientists years ago. It gained new traction in 2012 when tech tycoon Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, made public his aspiration to build a hyperloop between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Hyperloop One have designed and produced prototypes and have inked agreements with several nations to perform feasibility studies, reports say. The Vietnam War, a new film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, will premiere Sept. 17 on PBS and will be shown as a 10-part series. But before it airs, a series of local events will set the stage for the release and offer opportunities to learn, reflect and pay tribute. Public television station WVPT starts its offerings with the First Fridays opening of a month-long exhibit focusing on local service members who died in the war. The free event will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at CitySpace. Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents whose names appear on plaques at Charlottesvilles Dogwood Vietnam Memorial and on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. will be honored, and a preview of The Vietnam War will be screened. From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, another event at CitySpace will give veterans and their children and grandchildren a chance to learn more about the war and the service members who were killed, missing or captured. American Legion Post No. 74 will present a program at 4 p.m. If youve never shared your war experiences with your family, the free event could give you the nudge youve needed. The whole community is invited. Mark your calendars for additional upcoming events in the series: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 13: A job fair for veterans and community members will take place at the Jefferson School City Center. Preregister online at Charlottesville.org/jobcenter, bring resumes and business cards and meet representatives from more than 40 businesses. The event is free; so is parking. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at McLeod Hall Auditorium at University of Virginia School of Nursing: Listen as UVa Department of Drama members read passages from A Piece of My Heart, Shirley Lauros play about five nurses who went to Vietnam. During a panel after the play, nurses who are veterans will speak about their own experiences. Its free. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at Paramount Theater: Forrest Gump, the popular 1994 film starring Tom Hanks, will be screened. Tickets are $7; theyre $5 for ages 12 and younger. 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Vinegar Hill Theatre: Before the live screening of the premiere episode of The Vietnam War, Clifford Haury will speak about the Vietnam War and his own experiences. Haury is professor emeritus of humanities, fine arts and social sciences at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Theres no charge for the event. For details, go online to wvpt.net A prominent figure in the white nationalist movement argued he is a shock jock who runs a racist podcast before he was denied bond on Thursday evening. Christopher Cantwell, 36, faces two charges of illegal use of tear gas, phosgene or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury by means of a caustic substance or agent. The charges stem from clashes Cantwell had with protesters during the torch-lit march that occurred at the University of Virginia on Aug. 11, the night before a violent white nationalist rally overtook Charlottesvilles downtown, resulting in the death of one woman and dozens of injuries. Two people testified to a magistrate that Cantwell had used pepper spray on them during the clashes. Both in court and in a teary video he posted before his arrest, Cantwell contended that his actions were taken in self-defense. Cantwell turned himself in last week in Lynchburg after UVa police announced that warrants were out for his arrest. On Thursday morning, an Albemarle County judge set bond for Cantwell at $25,000, but the countys head prosecutor had until 4 p.m. to appeal that decision. Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorney Robert Tracci did so, and after a bizarre hearing that lasted nearly four hours, Judge Cheryl Higgins reversed the lower court judges decision. While Cantwell rose to prominence in the white nationalist and other, similar pro-white movements through his podcast, Radical Agenda, he came into the public spotlight just this month after a Vice News documentary profiled Cantwell and his cohorts during and after the rallies in Charlottesville. In the documentary, Cantwell is seen calling for an ethno-state and making several comments about the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer during the Aug. 12 rally. Heyer was killed when 20-year-old James A. Fields allegedly plowed his car into a group of anti-racist demonstrators; while Fields is charged with second-degree murder in the incident, Cantwell is shown in the documentary calling the killing justified. Excerpts of the video were very nearly played during Thursday evenings court hearing, which saw Tracci squaring off with Pittsylvania County attorney Elmer Woodard, who repeatedly claimed during the early portions of the hearing that the video should not be shown. Woodard said during the hearing that Cantwell would not be a flight risk were he to be released on bond, because hed found a person to stay with in Virginia while his case is adjudicated and because he had voluntarily turned himself over to police upon hearing of warrants for his arrest. Offering photos taken from the Aug. 11 clashes, Tracci asked for the opposite, saying that Cantwells act of supreme bravery in turning himself in doesnt amount to much in the eyes of the court. He then pointed to excerpts from the Vice News documentary as evidence that Cantwell had a proclivity toward violence that would pose a public safety risk were he to be released. Before the video could be shown in court, Woodard objected to Traccis notions, calling Cantwell a radio personality akin to comedian Jackie Mason and prone to saying outrageous things. He further called the video hearsay and lamented having not had the time to authenticate it himself, adding that the video could have been edited or doctored. When this prompted Higgins to ask if the hearing should then be delayed to allow time for Woodard to authenticate the video, he demurred, saying it was the prosecutions job to do so. When Higgins then allowed the video proceed, Woodard reversed course, saying that hed misspoken and would prefer a delay in the case. The reversals led Higgins to call for a recess, with the intent of exhibiting the video when court resumed. When court was back in session, Higgins said the defense should be permitted to present evidence before the commonwealth by procedural custom, prompting Woodard to call Cantwell to testify. On the stand, Cantwell claimed that hed been distressed during the Aug. 11 rally and reiterated that hed used his pepper spray to ward off attacks by protesters. He added that hed lost track of the number of death threats hes faced since the rally, and added that Woodard had been his fourth choice of an attorney after several others declined to take his case. On cross-examination, Tracci asked Cantwell to clarify what kind of topics he spoke on in his capacity as a shock jock. Cantwell stated that his platform focused on race relations before eventually stating that he do[es] a racist podcast. This prompted Tracci to ask if Cantwell was in fact a white supremacist, but Higgins sustained Woodards objection of the question, calling it irrelevant to the hearing at hand. During further questioning, Cantwell said that if he was released, he would be able to stay in Virginia with someone he met during the rally but did not know very well. The need to view the video was negated when Tracci then asked Cantwell to verify comments hed been seen making in the video, which included claims that white nationalist groups had shown restraint, that Heyers killing was justified, that more people are going to die before we are done here, and that he and his cohorts had gassed up those k---- and t-------. Cantwell admitted to each comment, with slight revisions on some. Asked whether he meant those comments, Cantwell again chalked them up to his radio personality, saying that his radio program was intentionally shocking and that the purpose is to make money. His business is to shock people, Woodard said later in the hearing, further adding, If he was a flight risk, he would have flown. After a long review of the evidence, Higgins said there were too many questions raised about the clashes to consider the self-defense metric raised by Woodard, and that while he may be a shock jock, his comments following the rally should not be ignored and tend to show a certain level of approval of the violence that was used. She further noted that his living situation in Virginia was simply too tenuous, and ordered him held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail without bond. His next court appearance is set for Oct. 12. More than a dozen people arrested during a Ku Klux Klan rally in Charlottesville in July appeared in general district court Thursday morning including one man who immediately pleaded guilty. Thomas Freeman, 52, was charged with obstruction of free passage when he and a group of counter-protesters linked arms in an effort to stop the KKK from entering Justice Park to hold a demonstration on July 8. Although the city prosecutor had offered most protesters the opportunity to avoid a criminal conviction on record by performing public service, Freeman instead pleaded guilty, saying he felt obligated. I feel guilty, Freeman said following his hearing. I have all the privileges of being a white male and yet I remember my childhood I remember the violence and I remember being there and watching it. And I am ashamed, he said. I find its my obligation now to stand up and say, No, were not going back there. Were never going to do that again. Charlottesville Commonwealths Attorney Dave Chapman said he respected Freemans decision to accept a criminal conviction. The gentleman described to the judge how his preference was in keeping with his conception of civil disobedience, Chapman said in a statement. We applaud and admire a citizen who stands by his or her principles in a manner such as was exhibited today. Chapman said that during the Klan rally, Freeman and more than a dozen other protesters willingly submitted to arrest and walked with an officer to the court for processing. Those who willingly went with officers were offered a continuance of their cases until October to allow protesters to complete 10 hours of public service in exchange for the cases being processed without a criminal conviction. We will continue to offer the opportunity for citizens to avoid convictions in those free passage cases in which the citizen demonstrated the strength of his or her convictions and then willingly cooperated with law enforcement officers, Chapman said. Freeman said he made his decision to plead guilty and accept a criminal record based on his childhood experiences. He said he grew up in Hampton in the 1970s, where he witnessed the lingering pain of segregation and prejudice against people of color. As a young boy, he said his parents drove him to a pool across town so that they would not have to swim with people of color. I remember the hate, Freeman said. Freeman said he stood in front of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to send them a message that their bigotry and hate would not be accepted in Charlottesville. He said he felt he had to intervene because it was the right thing to do. Were not going to allow it anymore, Freeman said. Were going to stop violence. If we have to, well intervene. When DeAndre Harris was being beaten over there, people went in and stopped it. Its also important for us to stand behind people of color, behind people of different sexual identities, behind the people who pray to God differently than I do stand behind them and say, Were with you; we have your back, he said. Freeman will serve 10 hours of community service for pleading guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of free passage. Along with Freeman, 15 other individuals arrested on July 8 appeared in court. All of their hearings were continued until October. Cameron Bills, Kendall Bills, Jo Donahue, Veronica Fitzhugh, Nicolas McCarthy-Rivera, John Neavear, Jeanne Peterson, Sara Tansey, Evan Viglietta and Whitney Whiting each face a charge of obstructing free passage. Kandace Baker, Morgan Niles, Tracye Redd and Erika Ries each face a charge of obstructing justice. Rashaa Langston faces a charge of failing to disperse in a riot. You are here: Home Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday promised to make full use of China's political and institutional advantages to win the national battle against poverty. Wang was answering legislators' questions at a joint inquiry meeting on a report of State Council's poverty relief work Wednesday afternoon. "Our work plan will be more problem-oriented and more precise in the next phase. We must work harder to fight for the victory," said Wang. The meeting attended by top legislator Zhang Dejiang is part of the ongoing bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee. China lifted an average of 13.9 million people out of poverty each year from 2012 to 2016, and the annual per capita income in impoverished rural areas has grown 10.7 percent every year, according to the report. As of the end of 2016, there were 43.35 million people in China living below the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan (349 U.S. dollars) of annual income as constant with 2010 prices. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, People's Bank of China, Ministry of Education, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, State Ethnic Affairs Commission, National Health and Family Planning Commission and Ministry of Civil Affairs also answered legislators' questions during the inquiry. Members of NPC Standing Committee reviewed this report and talked over China'a poverty situation during a panel discussion Wednesday morning. Zheng Gongcheng, a committee member, said education is the most important part of the poverty relief work. "The overall education level in poor areas is quite low, and the reason why many impoverished people cannot find a job falls in the lack of education," said Zheng. Wu Heng, also a member of the committee, echoed Zheng's opinion in the discussion. Wu said improving the education level in poor areas was a long fight, but it helped the impoverished people in a more fundamental way. On a separate occasion, senior Chinese political advisors also offered suggestions on targeted poverty relief. The suggestions were raised at a three-day plenary meeting of the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, which was attended by Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. China has set 2020 as the target year to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society, which requires the eradication of poverty. To achieve the target, China needs to bring more than 10 million people out of poverty every year. Since the white nationalist rallies on Aug. 11 and 12, many University of Virginia students have felt frustrated with the administrations response and are seeking answers and transparency. A group of students plans to continue that dialogue, aided by an upcoming event that pushes fellow students to do the same and demand accountability. UVa Students United is holding Disorientation #1: Defending Charlottesville From Fascism on Thursday at Wilson Hall. The event will feature a handful of panelists from community organizations. The event on Thursday is going to be the first 'Disorientation' event of the year, and this one specifically is going to focus on the events that happened over the summer and the organizing thats been going on, Clara Carlson, a fourth-year student and member of UVa Students United, said, specifically to kind of bring that information and that knowledge to the student body. One of the biggest points UVa Students United is hoping to make Thursday is that the work of students and community members has been going on for years. We really just want them to be able to share their experiences with what happened this summer and the work that theyve been doing before, what they would like the UVa student body to know, how we can support them in their work, and we also hope for there to be time for audience members to be able to ask their questions, should they have any, said Anelle Mensah, a fourth-year student and member of UVa Students United. On the night of Aug. 11, hours before the Unite the Right rally at Emancipation Park, hundreds of white nationalists held a torch-lit march through Grounds from Nameless Field to the Rotunda. Along the way, they shouted blood and soil and Jews will not replace us, among other things. When they arrived at the Rotunda, a group of community members and students many of them with UVa Students United circled the base of Thomas Jefferson statue there and found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by the mob. Clashes between the groups followed, before police intervened and declared an unlawful assembly. Chris Cantwell, who was a scheduled speaker for the Unite the Right rally, was later arrested and charged in the incident. UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan issued a statement Aug. 15 acknowledging that the university knew these protesters would show up on Grounds but that the manner and scale of the events that evening were not what they expected. That same week, the university convened a working group of deans and community members to assess UVas response. Since then, the university has come under fire from students and the community for its handling of the Aug. 11 rally. Im definitely seeing a lot more students who are a lot more critical of the university, Mensah said. Theyre a lot more willing to not just accept what the university traditionally gives in terms of their responses and in terms of what they claim to be answers because I think students are starting to realize that what the university has been giving us is not enough. UVa Students United this year created a physical guide to easily disseminate information that will be discussed during Disorientation. The Disorientation Guide, a pocket-sized zine, includes information about the universitys history and leadership, a timeline of key events in the past year and a list of other student groups committed to activism. We aim to educate and inspire our readers to take action because we believe we love our university most when we change it for the better, the introduction reads. Part of the reason for the guide is to shine a light on parts of UVas history these students feel should be acknowledged. For instance, the Ku Klux Klan nearly 100 years ago donated $1,000 to the university, as reported by The Daily Progress on March 23, 1921. Theres a section in the guide devoted to the Board of Visitors, a 17-member voting body its members are appointed by the governor that approves policies and budgets for UVa. The section is included because theres a sense not many students know about the Board of Visitors or what their role is at the university. The guide includes a timeline of events leading up to the weekend of the Unite the Right rally, and starts with the forum Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th, held at the Batten School on March 31. Jason Kessler, organizer of the Unite the Right rally and a UVa alumnus, held a counter-protest to the students and community members protesting the limitations of his town hall. The next events on the timeline are the first torch rally on May 13 outside the Robert E. Lee statue, and then KKK rally on July 8 at Justice Park. The zine highlights other student activism groups, including the Black Student Alliance, DREAMers, Feminism Is For Everyone, Grad Student Coalition for Liberation, Living Wage Campaign, Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society and Virginia Student Environmental Coalition in Cville. I feel like were doing a lot better disseminating information on our part this time, said Todd Le, a third-year student and member of UVa Students United. These students hope that attention can be the catalyst of change at their university. Not only are students and just folks in the community watching them, but like the whole world is basically watching UVa right now, Mensah said. So any decisions that they make moving forward should be ones that hopefully will support and uplift those who have been injured physically, mentally, emotionally. The event will be held in Room 301 of Wilson Hall and starts at 7 p.m. The Disorientation Guide can be found at uvastudentsunited.wordpress.com. Speakers: Zhou Qiangwu, director general of the International Economics and Finance Institute of the Ministry of Finance; Ye Fujing, director general of the Institute for International Economic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission Chairperson: Hu Kaihong, spokesperson of the State Council Information Office Date: August 31, 2017 Hu Kaihong: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference. The BRICS summit is going to open shortly in Xiamen. Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry held a press conference, in which Minister Wang Yi made a brief introduction of the forthcoming meeting. As we know, the event has attracted great public attention, so today, we are holding this press conference to introduce the economic and financial cooperation of the BRICS countries. Present here are: Mr. Zhou Qiangwu, director general of the International Economics and Finance Institute of the Ministry of Finance, and Mr. Ye Fujing, director general of the Institute for International Economic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission. They will make an introduction and then answer some of your questions. Hu Kaihong, spokesperson of the State Council Information Office. [Photo/China.org.cn] Now, let's welcome Mr. Zhou to give his briefing. Zhou Qiangwu: Thanks. Good morning! The BRICS Xiamen summit is just around the corner. Iappreciatethe opportunity offered by the State Council Information Office to meet all of you here today. I'd like to start by sharing with you the achievements made by the BRICS cooperation in the economic sphere, especially in fiscaland financial areas, in the past decade, as well as the outlook for this year's Xiamen summit. Since the BRICS cooperation mechanism was launched ten years ago, the five member countries have upheld the spirit of openness,inclusiveness, cooperation and win-win results, expanded the fields of cooperation and improved the mechanism of collaboration. Step by step, the five countries have developed BRICS into a key platform for dialogue among major developing countries as well as global economic governance. The international influence and attraction of BRICS has also increased markedly. Now BRICS holds an overarching leaders' summit annually, coupled with more than 20 ministerial-level dialogues. In China, over 40 departments are involved in the BRICS cooperation mechanism, in which fiscal and financial cooperation is a major part. BRICS countries have kept strengthening communication and coordination regarding fiscal and financial issues over the years, including the establishment of the New Development Bank more than two years ago. The bank has achieved tangible results in many fields, contributing to the socio-economic development of BRICS countries and the improvement of global governance. I believe the upcoming Xiamen summit will producerich results in fiscal and financial areas.Now I'd like to introduce to you the expected results and possible highlights. You are here: Home Flash An Egyptian court decided on Wednesday to place 296 defendants loyal to the banned Muslim Brotherhood on the country's terror list for three years, official MENA news agency reported. The defendants admitted during investigations that they joined the group, which was deemed as hampering the rule of law and harming national unity through temptations to topple the ruling authority, according to the Cairo Criminal Court. The defendants confessed committing acts of violence against people and vital facilities of Armed Forces and police. On Tuesday, the court has made a similar decision against 56 brotherhood defendants. Egypt has been launching a massive crackdown on the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group since former President Mohammed Morsi, a brotherhood leader, was removed by the military in July 2013 after mass protests against his one-year rule. A later dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins in the capital and nearby Giza left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested and facing mass trials. Since then, growing anti-government terror attacks left hundreds of police and military men killed, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) group. A judicial panel in charge of the group's capital chain has previously seized funds of several Brotherhood-run businesses including supermarkets and private schools. The government has received bids for 7 per cent stake in NTPC, which will fetch Rs 9,100 crore to the exchequer. New Delhi: The government has received bids for 7 per cent stake in India's largest power producer NTPC, which will fetch about Rs 9,100 crore to the exchequer. At the end of the two-day offer for sale (OFS), the government retained over-subscription it had received from institutional investors after retail investors bid for only 73 per cent of the quota allocated for them. The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5 per cent holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of over-subscription. On the opening day on Tuesday, institutional investors bid for 46.35 crore shares against 32.98 crore shares offered to them, according to stock exchange data. On Wednesday, retail investors bid for 8.45 crore shares against 11.58 crore shares on offer. Officials said the government decided to retain over-subscription, and after adjustments a total of 7 per cent stake was sold in the OFS, garnering Rs 9,100 crore. The shares were offered at a floor price of Rs 168 apiece. Shares of NTPC closed marginally lower at Rs 168 on the BSE. The government has so far this fiscal raised over Rs 8,800 crore through disinvestment in six companies, including selling stake in L&T through Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), and one share buyback. This is against Rs 72,500 crore targeted to be raised in 2017-18 through stake sale in PSUs. The total sum includes Rs 46,500 crore from minority stake sale, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of PSU insurance companies. Kolkata: A Bollywood technician died after allegedly coming in contact with a live wire at the outdoor shooting of Anushka Sharma-starrer 'Pari' in South 24 Parganas district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place on Tuesday at the shooting location at Korolberia under Leather Complex police station limits, a senior police officer said. "We are looking into the matter. The body has been sent for post-mortem and we are waiting for the report. Primarily, it seems that the person died of electrocution," the police officer said. Shah Alam (28), a resident of Uttar Pradesh, had probably touched the live wire in a bamboo bush at the location spot after the shooting was over, the officer said. "The scene was shot around a bamboo bush where lights were fitted to illuminate the objects and the main characters. He probably touched one of the live wires," he said. Shah was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, he added. Karnesh Sharma, the co-producer of the film, confirmed the incident and said the team was collaborating with the authorities. "In an unfortunate incident while shooting yesterday, we lost one of our unit members, Shahabe Alam from lighting department. Despite our best efforts and medical assistance, he could not be saved. "We are collaborating with the authorities and his family to make requisite arrangements for his last rites. We share their grief and stand by them in this time of great personal loss," Karnesh said. Rishi Kapoor is no newcomer in the world of controversies. However, after his latest Twitter controversy wherein he posted an indecent photo of a minor child and had a police complaint filed against him, the veteran Bollywood actors family says they have had enough of him and these moot episodes. In fact, Rishi has been given an ultimatum by his wife, the no nonsense Neetu Kapoor either he behaves himself on the social media platform or shuts down his account. A prominent member of the Kapoor family spills the beans. Chintu uncle has embarrassed the hell out of Ranbir (Kapoor) who is just the opposite of his father opposite in temperament and attitude on social media. None of us has ever had the guts to tell him to stop. After every embarrassment caused by Chintu uncle, Ranbir and (his sister) Riddhima would plead with Neetu aunty to put a stop to the excesses on Twitter. But Neetu aunty would shrug in resignation, reveals the member. But now, the member adds, Neetuji has finally taken charge. Neetu aunty feels Chintu uncles drunken tweets may land him in jail one of these days. She has given him an ultimatum. Either he shuts down his account or she will filter, monitor and moderate each one of his tweets, the member says, adding, He is left with little choice. He will have to comply. Neetu aunty is the only person hes scared of. Mumbai: Actor Ajay Devgn says there was never any insecurity in his generation about working with contemporaries, but that does not seem to be the case with the young stars today. Ajay, who shared the screen space with Aamir Khan in 'Ishq' and worked with Salman Khan in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', says it is not difficult to shine while standing in a frame with another actor. Filmmaker Rohit Shetty said his 'Ram Lakhan' remake fell through, because the male actors were insecure about working together. Ajay, who has worked with Shetty extensively, voices the same concern and believes young actors are taking their work too seriously. "I don't know why that's happening. You have to ask them (young actors not doing two-hero film). But I think they are taking their career and work too seriously," Ajay told PTI. "You can stand in a frame with someone and shine. Why fear it? When you shine with somebody, you reach greater heights." The 'Shivaay' star says the major difference between actors today and his generation is that they never took their work as seriously as the young stars do. "We never took our work seriously at all. Honestly speaking, for the first 15-20 years of our life, we didn't. I was very lucky that I never had to struggle. But I did work hard. As the industry kept evolving, audience kept changing,our mindset (towards work) also kept changing." In the '90s, Ajay, 48, would have at least four-five releases a year, but that changed with time. It made him realise that he can't be doing way too many movies at a time. "There was a point when I was doing too much work. So, I cut down on my work. That's how the whole process started and it became a system with everybody, doing one film at a time." When the actor began his film journey in the early '90s, there were several star kids already in the industry like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. But Ajay says he never fought for his space with them as he had not intended to become an actor in the first place. "I was pushed into acting any which way. My first film started when I didn't want to do it in a way. It was a superhit and there was no looking back after that, no struggle. "When I look back... In 26 years, I think there must have been one or two years where I didn't have a hit, otherwise if one didn't work, the other did. There was never a low phase." His current film, 'Baadshaho', is scheduled to release this Friday. Apollo Hospitals, Visakhapatnam both hospitals in Arilova and Ramnagar has empanelled NTR Vaidya Seva for cardiology, nephrology, urology, neuro surgery, neurology, orthopedics, ENT, plastic surgery (Representational Image) Visakhapatnam: Apollo Hospital-Visakhapatnam conducted a free mega checkup camp at Judge Court in Vizag on Wednesday as a part of Social Commitment to fight the epidemic of Non-Communicable Disease (NCD), explained Dr Sandeep Chatrath, Regional CEO, Apollo Hospitals. The camp was inaugurated by District Judge P.V. Jyothirmayee. D. Sandeep Chatrath, Central Region CEO of Apollo Hospitals, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana explained this camp is focused on detecting hypertension, diabetes, cardiology, neurology, ENT, ortho and gastro problems. Apollo Hospitals, Visakhapatnam both hospitals in Arilova and Ramnagar has empanelled NTR Vaidya Seva for cardiology, nephrology, urology, neuro surgery, neurology, orthopedics, ENT, plastic surgery. Apollo Hospitals-Visakhapatnam is providing services with most affordable super speciality care with all specialties present under one roof at Apollo Hospitals-Visakahpatnam. Dr Sandeep Chatrath explained Apollo Hospitals-Visakhapatnam performed free health screenings and consultations for 700 persons (Judges and Lawyers) at Bar Association focused to spread awareness and detecting non-communicable disease (NCD) by our super specialists team of doctors including Dr I.Rajesh Venkat-Neurology, Dr Sesha Mohan Debta-General Medicine, Dr Naveen Kumar-ENT, Dr Sateesh Babu-Surgical Gastroenterology, Dr.A.Suresh-Cardiology, Dr N. Srinivas-Medical Gastroenterology and Medical officers, also Dr Sandeep Chatrath explained about 1066 ICU on wheels GPS enabled ambulance services which is very useful for the emergency patients. Birth deformities can make life a daily ordeal for children as survival can become next to impossible in some cases. But even at a young age some show extraordinary courage to defy everyone ruling out their chances of a normal life and manage to astonish everyone. A girl born without a face in Brazil has just celebrated her ninth birthday despite doctors telling parents that she wont be able to survive. A disorder called Treacher Collins Syndrome prevented 40 facial bones from developing leaving her eyes, mouth and nose displaced. The doctors showed no hope for Vitoria and even refused to feed her as they asked the heartbroken family to go home and prepare for the childs funeral. But now doctors are unable to explain how she has lived to celebrate her ninth birthday and are crediting the will and care of parents for it. Vitorias parents are determined to give their daughter a better life and the best appearance possible, as they are raising funds for the same. The girl suffers from a disorder affecting only one in 50000 people and has undergone eight surgeries to reconstruct her eyes, mouth and nose including one to stimulate motor functions. Although no one knows how long Vitoria can survive, the family has been standing by their daughter despite nasty comments about the appearance of the girl. Patients are advised to drop cigarettes for at least a month before any cosmetic procedure (Photo: Pixabay) Contrary to popular beliefs, a new study reveals that the practice of plastic surgery has an unexpected health benefit. It helps people quit smoking. According to the new study, as published in The Daily Mail, patients are advised to drop cigarettes for at least a month before any cosmetic procedure, since nicotine restricts blood flow and prohibits skin flaps from healing. The research published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery shows that the one month abstinence leads 25 percent of smokers to quit altogether. Another 40 percent smoke occasionally and 70 percent say that it was the first time they realistically considered quitting. The findings add to an already rising trend in plastic surgery which saw America spending a staggering $16 billion on cosmetic procedures. According to experts, nicotine has been shown to shrink capillaries, resulting in reductions in blood flow and it can lead a nip-and-tuck go horribly wrong, since the skin struggles to reattach. Surgeons urge patients to quit smoking full-stop, for general health reasons. However, studies have shown that a month without smoking makes enough of a difference to prevent major complications. Flash U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said on Wednesday that the U.S. is "never out of diplomatic solutions" following the latest missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Mattis made the remarks while meeting with his South Korean counterpart Soon Young-moo at the Pentagon to discuss ways to address the threat posed by the DPRK. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation, our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today," Mattis said. On Tuesday, the Japanese government said that the DPRK fired a missile that fell into the Pacific Ocean after passing over the Japanese archipelago. On Wednesday, Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, their second conversation after the latest missile launch by DPRK. The two leaders confirmed their "continuing, close" cooperation on efforts to address DPRK's launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile this week, according to the White House. Post-mortem report confirmed the rape and subsequent death of the puppy due to excessive bleeding and shock. (Photo: Pixabay) In a shocking incident, a taxi driver from Delhi has been accused of raping a female puppy, which later bled to death. According to an animal lover, the 34-year-old Naresh Kumar from Naraina area had boasted about what he had done to the animal lover and even took him to see the carcass. The report as published in India Today says that a post-mortem report confirmed the rape and subsequent death due to excessive bleeding and shock. According to the report, the incident took place on August 25, when Naresh, who was at that time, under the influence of alcohol, grabbed the puppy, allegedly raped her and left it bleeding. He later confessed to a few neighbours and the animal lover. The report which was originally published in Mail Today further said that Naresh, along with his brother, stuffed the puppy inside a jute bag and dumped it near the Naraina Industrial area. Abhishek Kumar who stays in the same colony went on to notice that the puppy is missing and on questioning an inebriated Naresh, he told them that he had dumped the puppy after raping it. He showed them the dumping place and ran away. The puppy was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre but was declared dead on arrival. There has been an increase in cases of animal cruelty recently with another incident which saw a chilling CCTV footage of a group of men killing a dog. It was later discovered that they had eaten the stray. A size 10 beauty queen in the UK handed back her crown after being told she couldn't compete at an international level because she was too fat. 28-year-old Zoiey Smale, from Nottinghamshire won Miss United Continents in June 2017, the Daily Mail reported. After she won the UK round, Smale excitedly awaited to compete for an international title in Ecuador. However, her joy was soon turned to hurt after organisers of Miss United Continents called Smale to tell her she needed to " lose as much weight as possible" to even have a shot at winning the title, the report revealed. Gutted and shocked she hung up and didn't call them for a few weeks. "It was one of those things, in the 21st century you don't actually expect people to be that blunt," Smale told Daily Mail. Adding, "I'm a size ten; I'm not big at all I'm just bang on average. I just think to be told to lose as much weight as possible for a competition, why would people say that? It's horrible and it made me feel so rubbish about myself for a long, long time." That was the moment she decided she did not want to participate in the competition anymore and dropped out. Now, she wants to promote healthy body image and warn other women about "rogue" competitions. The teacher, V. Ritika John, dragged the student by collar and hit his head on the blackboard. The boy can be seen pleading for forgiveness with folded hands. Lucknow: A class III student was given 40 slaps in two minutes by the class teacher in a school in Lucknow because he did not say present maam when his name was called out during the attendance call. The teacher has been sacked after the incident was captured in the CCTV cameras in the school. According to reports, the incident took place on Tuesday in the Saint John Vianny School near SGPGI in Lucknow where the teacher, V. Ritika John, lost her temper when the boy, Ritesh Gupta, did not respond to the attendance call. She is seen slapping the little boy repeatedly 40 times and then dragged him by the collar and hit his head against the blackboard. The boy can be seen pleading for forgiveness with folded hands. When the boy returned home from school, his cheeks were swollen and did not speak to his parents. The following day, the boys father went to meet the school principal after which the CCTV footage was scanned. The teacher was summoned and shown the footage after which she begged for forgiveness for her actions. The principal, however, refused to accept her apology and sacked her. The boy, Ritesh, meanwhile, said that he was busy completing his drawing and did not hear the teacher call out his name in the class. The officers said the store was unauthorised and the expiry dates of the milk products such ghee, biscuits, chocolates and skimmed milk had lapsed (Representational Image) Visakhapatnam: The officials of Vigilance and Enforcement Department in coordination with the Food Safety wing of GVMC and Civil Supplies conducted surprise raids on some godowns and seized the milk products that had crossed the expiry dates here on Wednesday. The officials, raided the premises of P. Suryakumari Agencies located in Vuda Colony near Madhavadhara area and seized the products and took into custody its owner K. Ganesh Kumar. DSP of Vigilance and Enforcement Department C. Murali Naidu said that the accused was running the store and two godowns without a valid licence. The officers said the store was unauthorised and the expiry dates of the milk products such ghee, biscuits, chocolates and skimmed milk had lapsed. A case is booked under Sec. 6 A of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the accused is handed over to the Civil Supplies department for further action. He murdered the child as he considered him to be a hindrance to his relationship with the woman, police said. Chennai: Three days after a three-year-old child was presumed to have died due to injuries suffered while falling down the stairs, police arrested the live-in partner of the childs mother for murder. The accused, Vijay (24) moved in with the childs mother, Jamuna Rani at a house in Othavadai Street in Puzhal few months ago. He murdered the child as he considered him to be a hindrance to his relationship with the woman, police said. The woman was married to one Gopinath and the couple had two children - a 4-year-old daughter and the boy, Sabarish. The couple got separated due to personal issues and Gopinath lived alone with his daughter while his wife moved in with her partner and her three-year-old child, Sabarish, police investigations revealed. On Sunday (August 27), only the accused and the child were at home. Jamuna Rani went to visit her parents at Annai Sathya Nagar in Vyasarpadi. The accused was the one who admitted the child to a private hospital near Puzhal saying that the child had fallen down the stairs. The child was moved to the Government Stanley Hospital where he died. Meanwhile, on a complaint from the childs father who suspected foul play in the death, Puzhal police began investigating. During investigations, it was found that the child had injuries on his head, a police officer said. Investigators took Vijay under custody and probed him to find out that he had smashed the child's head against a wall and rolled him down the stairs leading to his death. The accused worked as a casual labourer. Puzhal police altered the case from CrPC Section 174 (unnatural death) to 302 IPC (murder) and arrested the accused, Vijay. He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody. Ministers K.T. Rama Rao and P. Mahender Reddy at the ground breaking ceremony for a 2BHK colony in the city on Thursday. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday said the government would organise house warming ceremonies for one lakh 2BHK flats in the city by Dasara next year. He said the government would begin the construction on Diwali. While laying the foundation stone for 6,264 2BHK houses to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 549 crore near Rampally in Medchal Malkajgiri district along with transport minister P. Mahender Reddy, Mr Rama Rao said the government was developing the city with projects worth Rs 20,000 crore. For a slum-free city, the government has identified the need to construct 10,000 houses. The target is to construct 2.65 lakh 2BHK houses in the city at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore. If people from 1,400 slums volunteer, the government will construct houses for them at the same locations, he said. He said the beneficiaries were being selected in a transparent manner without the involvement of political leaders. We are repeatedly telling the people not to fall in the trap of conmen and middlemen. he said. Those who hadnt applied earlier would get a chance to apply for the 2BHK houses, he said. The government will provide 2BHKs beside the Infosys campus and near the Singapore Township, he said. He said the government had taken up beautification of the Musi at an estimated cost of Rs 1,665 crore. Later, Mr Rama Rao during a review meeting of work in the Malkajgiri Parliamentary constituency said Malkajgiri would get about 40,000 2BHK houses. Our focus is to provide flats and houses near the present location of beneficiaries. Previous governments used to allocate houses with two small rooms that were for a family, on the city outskirts, he said. The minister promised Cantonment MLA G. Sayanna that the Metro Water Board would provide water to the Secunderabad Canton-ment area. Officials from various departments briefed the minister on the progress of work on the 2BHK scheme, roads, water works, SRDP and other projects. GHMC commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy in a press release said We expect to construct 196 2BHK houses in Singam Cheruvu Tanda near Nacharam and 2BHK houses at Erukala Nancharamma Basti in Mansurabad by Diwali, he said. The Telangana Education Department on Wednesday released a government order regarding the introduction of a new website for all private and unaided schools, including those affiliated to the CBSE, ICSE, and Cambridge boards. HYDERABAD: The Telangana Education Department on Wednesday released a government order regarding the introduction of a new website for all private and unaided schools, including those affiliated to the CBSE, ICSE, and Cambridge boards. The order asks schools to enter details of their income and expenditures for the past three years and details of fee structure on the site. This comes as a victory for parents who had been protesting against fee hike. Vishnu Venugopal, a chartered accountant, says, There should be continuous monitoring of schools throughout the academic year to ensure that extra classes, tournaments and other events are conducted with the extra fees mentioned in the accounts. Many schools are yet to be notified about the order. The last date for submission of details is September 15. If schools fail to comply, action will be initiated against them. Mr S. Shankara Chary, the principal of Indus Universal School says, I am yet to receive information about the order. Obviously, some schools will not feel comfortable sharing this data. While parents hope that this step will help bring in more transparency, they also fear that data may be tampered with. Srinivasa Chary, the district educational officer of Warangal, says, The data entered by schools will not be accessible to the general public. It will be available only to the school management and the education department. Parents want to be involved in the implementation of this GO. A member of the Hyderabad Schools Parents Association says, The Centre has been successful in regulating fee hike through quick action. Schools have to upload information on: www.cdse.telangana.gov.in Indian Army has around 12 lakh personnel and is one of leading ground force globally. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: Major reforms will be carried out in the Indian Army to enhance its combat capability which will include redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and other ranks as well as ensuring better utilisation of resources, the government announced on Wednesday. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and "far-reaching" reform process is being initiated in the Army. Replying to a question on whether the exercise was undertaken keeping in view the Dokalam episode, Jaitley said, "This is not specific to any incident. It had been going on much prior to Dokalam." The reform initiatives were prescribed by a committee headed by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) which had a mandate to recommend measures for enhancing of combat capability and rebalancing defence expenditure of the armed forces to increase "teeth to tail ratio". The 'tooth-to-tail' ratio refers to the amount of supply and support personnel (termed as tail) for each combat soldier (tooth). The panel had suggested 99 recommendations for structural changes in the Army and out of which the defence ministry has accepted 65 after consultations with all the stakeholders, Jaitley said. He said operationalisation of the reforms begins "now" while the defence ministry stated that the process will be completed by December 31, 2019. The Army has a total strength of around 12 lakh personnel and is one of leading ground force globally. "The net effect of this is, as to various, different functions in the Army, as per the changed environment of technology, economy, combat capability of the Army, how it is to be best utilised," Jaitley said. In a statement, the ministry said civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the armed forces for improving efficiency. Army sources said around 31,000 civilian staff will be redeployed including in new formations, adding reform will be carried out in the Army's education corp as well. Jaitley said the Union Cabinet was on Wednesday apprised of the defence ministry's decision to carry out the reform process in the Army. The Shekatkar committee was appointed in May last year and it had submitted its report in December. "In a first ever exercise after Independence, the Ministry of Defence in consultation with the Indian Army has decided to reform the Indian Army in a planned manner. These decisions were approved by the Defence Minister," the ministry said in a statement. In the first phase, it said the reforms will involve redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers, junior commissioned officers and other ranks and civilians. It said optimisation of signals establishments, closure of military farms and army postal establishments in peace locations as well as restructuring of repair echelons in the army including base workshops will also be part of the extensive exercise. The ministry said there will be redeployment of ordnance echelons to include vehicle depots, ordnance depots and central ordnance depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms. The reform will also be carried out to ensure better utilisation of supply and transport facilities and animal transport units. There will be enhancement in standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in the Army as also steps will be taken to improve the efficiency of the National Cadet Corps. "Implementation has begun with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security to close 39 military farms in a time bound manner," the ministry said. The Army's commanders in April had deliberated extensively on enhancing the force's overall strike capability. "Restructuring by the Indian Army is aimed at enhancing combat capability in a manner that the officers/JCOs/ORs will be used for improving operational preparedness and civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the armed forces for improving efficiency," said the defence ministry. It said optimisation of signals establishments will include radio monitoring companies, corps air support signal regiments, air formation signal regiments, composite signal regiments and merger of corps operating and engineering signal regiments. Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister, was given additional charge of Defence Ministry when Manohar Parrikar became Goa CM in March this year. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Arun Jaitley on Thursday hinted that he would not be serving the post of Defence Minister for long. Responding to a poser, during a press briefing on Thursday, on his tenure as the defence minister, Jaitley said, "At least I hope not very long. That's anyway not me to decide." Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, was given additional charge of the Defence Ministry when Manohar Parrikar became the Chief Minister of Goa in March this year. Reiterating his stand on the cash squeeze, which has posed a threat for the terrorist elements in Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, Jaitley claimed on Wednesday that the shortage of currency has resulted in a shortage of 'stone throwers' for the separatists. "For the first time, the RBI has scrutinised each note, which has helped them differentiate between fake notes from the authentic ones. The cash squeeze is evident, since these terrorist elements are finding it difficult to mobilise support for them. Without enough cash notes, it is difficult to gather stone throwers as before," said Jaitley. Speaking on the way forward, Jaitley stated that the next step would be to put an end to black money used in elections, adding that the final stage of proposals is being deliberated. Bengaluru: A former ambassador who served in the Middle East and played a pivotal role in breathing new life into Indias relations with Saudi Arabia, believes that Indias strong civilisational links and its current engagement with the two pre-eminent powers in the region, Saudi and Iran, rooted in shared concerns, should be the driver in bridging the chasm between the two arch rivals to stop a possible descent into war. Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, speaking after a lecture at the Asia Centre here on Turmoil and Terror in West Asia Indias Recent Engagements with the Gulf and Israel, said a huge opportunity exists for an Indian role in promoting regional security by increasing confidence and trust between the estranged Islamic powers. Indian engagement with the Middle East were given a major boost with Foreign Minister Jaswant Singhs ground breaking visit to Riyadh in 2001 and PM Dr Manmohan Singhs visit to Riyadh in 2010 when he became the first prime minister in 28 years to visit the region since Indira Gandhi. This was followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modis string of high level visits to the region including his visit to Saudi Arabia as well as Iran, the UAE and Qatar through 2015-2016 and when he hosted UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan in January 2017, followed by a visit to Israel this July. Both the Gulf nations and Israel see India as their strategic partner, Mr Ahmad said, quoting Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar who had said our growing capabilities and stronger national branding makes us a credible partner. Indias energy needs, its economic linkages and its 8 million strong Indian expatriate community that live and work in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries and Iran, make it imperative for these relations to be sustained, Mr. Ahmad said. The remittances from the Indian community in the region alone have averaged between $70 - $100 billion a year. Any instability, any major confrontation between Saudi and Iran, the two nations that see themselves as the leader of the Sunnis and the Shii, respectively, would have catastrophic consequences for the region, but much more importantly for India as they would put the Indian community in danger and of course, affect millions in the country, who depend on these remittances, the former ambassador to Saudi, UAE and Oman said. Despite Indias advanced naval capability that successfully evacuated tens of thousands of Indians after the first Gulf War as well as, more recently, from conflict-torn Yemen and further afield in Iraq and Libya, Mr Ahmad says such an eventuality would put a huge strain on Indias resources. I believe its time, that we used our long standing ties with both Tehran and Riyadh, to play mediator and ensure that ties between the two Middle Eastern powers dont deteriorate further, Mr Ahmad said. His call for a greater role for India emanates from the growing divisions between Riyadh and Tehran, concomitant with their deepening rivalry that has seen Iran take control over former Saddam Hussain ruled Iraq and installing a Shia regime there, as well as securing the Bashar al Assad regime that has come under attack from Saudi backed forces. Riyadh, with the active support of Israel, has stepped up the rhetoric against Tehran, even as it ensured that the Trump administration was now on its side, a sea-change from the preceding Obama government which refused to participate in the Saudi-led onslaught on Syria, and brought Iran to the negotiating table in a hitherto successful bid to contain Tehrans nuclear capability. Flash Baba Raghav Das Medical College [File Photo] As many as 42 children have died at a government hospital in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a top health official said Wednesday. The deaths took place at Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur in the past 48 hours. "Of the 42 deaths, seven are due to encephalitis, while the rest are due to other pediatric diseases," Dr P.K. Singh, the medical college's principal, told the media. Some local media reports, however, said that there have been 61 child deaths at the hospital in the past 72 hours, though there has been no official confirmation. More than 70 infant deaths were reported from the same hospital just three weeks ago, from various causes, including oxygen shortage. The hospital, the biggest in state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's constituency, attends to hundreds of patients from neighboring Bihar, other districts of Uttar Pradesh and even Nepal. "The situation may worsen because of heavy rains and floods in Nepal, Bihar and large parts of Uttar Pradesh as more and more children are being brought to the hospital daily," a doctor said. The DMK had filed the plea seeking a direction forbidding police from preventing or interfering with Stalin's visit to inspect de-silting activities at various water bodies in the state last month. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams (DMK) plea seeking a direction restraining police from preventing its leader M K Stalin inspecting de-silting work on water bodies, saying the party DMK had attempted to convert the court into a political platform. The DMK had filed the plea seeking a direction forbidding police from preventing or interfering with Stalin's visit to inspect de-silting activities at various water bodies in the state last month. Justice M S Ramesh dismissed the petition seeking to call for records pertaining to the July 26 impugned order of police in Salem, quash it and direct them to release Stalin, the leader of the Opposition in the assembly, and other party office-bearers and cadres. Stalin had in a statement said he was detained by police on July 27 when he had attempted to participate in a human chain protest over NEET issue prior to inspecting de-silting work of a lake. The lake is in Chief Minister Edapaddi Minister K Palanisamy's constituency. Stalin was released later. The judge said that in view of the fact that Stalin and party office-bearers had been released from temporary detention, the prayer sought for needed no further orders. "Accordingly, the writ petition stands dismissed," he said. The matter relates to the petition filed by DMK legal wing secretary R Girirajan that Stalin was stopped at a toll plaza within Coimbatore district as he was on his way to Salem to inspect desilting of the Kacharayan lake. The petitioner said police had informed them that Stalin was detained as he had intended to participate in a 'human chain protest' against NEET, which was in contravention of the July 26 order. He alleged that police had misused the prohibitory order of the human chain protest to execute the arrest and prevent Stalin and party office bearers from visiting the lake. The judge said that in view of the fact that the statement had come from the leader of the opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, it could not be ignored. "It is in this background that this court, with discontention, is constrained to observe that the petitioner has attempted to convert the high court into a political platform by filing the present petition with contradictory averments." Public Prosecutor Rajarathinam submitted that Stalin and other DMK office-bearers had attempted to participate in the protest at Edappadi, in contravention of prohibitory orders and therefore, detaining them was within their legal powers. He also said soon after detention, Stalin and others were released and hence the prayer in the present writ petition had become infructuous. New Delhi: A delegation of opposition parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday, demanding a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The opposition parties in Tamil Nadu claimed that the government has been "reduced" to a minority with 21 MLAs owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran's AIADMK faction withdrawing their support to Chief Minister E Palanisamy and thereby, demanded a floor test. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was present at the meeting, argued that a party cannot rule a state if the party doesn't command the mandate of the state and believes that a floor test is the only way to come to a solution. "The point is that any government of a country has to enjoy the majority of legislative members that can be demonstrated only on the floor of the house. Without a floor test, any action taken by the government doesn't have the mandate of a majority," Yechury told the media after the meeting. Echoing Yechury's views, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma said the floor test is a necessary step to cope with the political instability in Tamil Nadu. He said, "The government and the Chief Minister have lost the majority. The leader of the opposition urged the governor to convene an urgent session of the TN Assembly." He added that the President has been conveyed of situation of 21 MLAs giving their letters of withdrawal of support to the AIADMK government. The meeting comes after DMK working president MK Stalin's criticised the mode of working of Governor C Vidyasagar Rao. Stalin said on Wednesday that the governor had "failed to discharge his duties" and stated this as the reason for planning to meet President Kovind. Stalin, while talking to the press, said Governor Rao was indulging in politics, adding, "We have been saying since the beginning that the Union Government is behind everything happening in Tamil Nadu." Stalin further said if no action is taken against Tamil Nadu Government even after meeting the President, then they "will consider legal action". Bengaluru: In a major embarrassment to the state government, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad has submitted a report and observation to the Chief Election Officer (CEO) DPAR (Elections), stating that eight MLCs had submitted false information for inclusion in Bengalurus electoral roll to ensure that the Congress bags mayoral poll despite not getting majority. The Commissioner has stated that proper procedure was not followed and the names of a few MLCs have been inducted into the voter roll hurriedly to empower them with voting rights for mayoral polls. The report has eight parameters and explains the errors at column 8 under the heading observations. According to the report as far as Allum Veerabhadrappa is concerned, the time and state of submission of Form 6 (to include name in electoral roll) and inclusion to the Bengaluru electoral roll is less than seven days. Due procedure has not been followed for inclusion. The elector being an MLC has claimed TA/DA from Ballari, his usual lace of residence. He had also enclosed the TA bills along with the factual report. As for M.D. Lakshminarayan, the family membes of the elector are not included in Bengaluru electoral roll, the report said. Regarding N.S. Boseraju, it was observed that Opposition leader in BBMP council Padmanabha Reddy had lodged a complaint with the Karnataka Legislative Council chairman D.H. Shankarmurthy stating that the eight MLCs have voted in BBMP polls, despite being the voters of other constituencies. Reddy had accused these legislators of misleading the Upper House to claim travel allowance. They had furnished an address in their home towns as proof of residence for claiming the allowance, despite officially registering themselves as residents of Bengaluru. Reddy had lodged a complaint in this regard. R.B. Thimmapur, Allam Veerabhadrappa, Boseraj, Raghu Achar, M D Lakshminarayana, S. Ravi of the Congress party and C.R. Manohar and Appaji Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular) party, had claimed in affidavits to be residents of Bengaluru, in order to take part in the mayoral polls as the Congress was short of numbers. The complaint was filed against all these eight members. As per the Karnataka Municipal Council (KMC) Act 1976, MLAs, MPs and MLCs representing Bengaluru have the power to vote on Mayoral poll. Since the BJP emerged a single largest party with 111 seats, in order to prevent it from coming to power, the Congress changed the voter address of some MLCs to Bengaluru. New Delhi: Around eight Union Ministers reached at BJP national president Amit Shah's residence in Delhi on Thursday. According to ANI, BJP election incharge of Gujarat Arun Jaitley and co-incharges NS Tomar, N Sitharaman, J Singh, PP Chaudhary held meeting with Amit Shah. Finance minister Arun Jaitley earlier on Thursday hinted that he would not be serving the post of Defence Minister for long. Jaitley was given additional charge of the Defence Ministry when Manohar Parrikar became the Chief Minister of Goa in March, 2017. Responding to a poser on his tenure as the defence minister, Jaitley said, "At least I hope not very long. That's anyway not me to decide." A reshuffle in the cabinet has been due for months now. Two key ministries opened up after M Venkaiah Naidu was named Vice President. The Environment ministry was reassigned as additional charge after the death of minister Anil Dave. Currently, EI AI provides direct connectivity between India and Israel and has three weekly flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv. Chennai: Israel has more than pilgrimage tourism to offer to the Indians. The layers of history and museums, besides other exotic destinations including Eliat would charm any visitor, claims Hassan Madah, director of Tourism, India & Phillippines. Though the financial aid provided by the governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have brought more tourists from south India, we have other segments like adventure, MICE and honeymoon destinations to offer. Of course, you need not miss your masala dosa, as there are vegetarian restaurants too, he added. Israel also boasts of numerous ancient vineries. Wine making is over 2,000 years old, he claims. According to Mr. Hassan, Israel received 34,300 Indian visitors this year (till July) and Israel hopes to welcome 55,000 Indian tourists by 2018. We hope to receive over two lakh Indian visitors in the next two to three years provided there is increase in air connectivity, he said on Wednesday. Israel recorded an exponential growth of 79 per cent in Indian arrivals in June compared to the same month last year. Currently, EI AI provides direct connectivity between India and Israel and has three weekly flights from Mumbai to Tel Aviv. Other connections to Israel include Turkish Airlines from Mumbai and Delhi to Tel Aviv via Istanbul, Ethiopian Airlines from Mumbai and Delhi to Tel Aviv via Addis Ababa and Aeroflot Russian Airlines from Delhi to Tel Aviv via Moscow.In continuation with its plan to increase the number of Indian visitors to the country, Israel Ministry of Tourism conducted their second road show for this year in India. The Israeli delegation was led by Hassan along with Judah Samuel director marketing, Israel Ministry of Tourism, India. KOZHIKODE: With the Onam-Bakrid festival season underway, the public as well as private buses and trains plying between Bangalore and Kozhikode are witnessing a heavy rush this week, with KSRTC operating a host of special services on the route. Thousands of students, businessmen and IT professionals are employed in Bangalore from the five districts of Malabar region. But the Malayalees in Bangalore are experiencing a difference while booking by KSRTC buses to Kozhikode as the corporation has ensured more services catering to the needs of the passengers. KSRTC will be operating 28 services to Kozhikode on Thursday, on the eve of Bakrid including eight special services. On Friday, the number of buses operating in the route are 27 including special services. Interestingly all the seats in the route are already booked. Saranya Thaloor, a student in Bangalore from Kozhikode told DC that all the seats from Bangalore to Kozhikode were already reserved on both private tourist buses as well as special services of the KSRTC. It was easy to reserve tickets in KSRTC this year as there are more special services to Malabar. However all the seats are now booked, she said, adding that a majority of services were Super Deluxe and Super Express services. Earlier we got reservations during the Onam season if we reserved tickets much in advance. This time I reserved a ticket only one week ago, but got it, she added. However, passengers forums like Anavandi, Bangalore unit alleged that the KSRTC was neglecting ordinary passengers from Bangalore as there were only one or two Superfast services toward Kozhikode. Aneesh P, a member of the group said that all other services were the elite Super Deluxe, Super Express services in which the fare was high and no standing tickets were allowed. The direct services to the Southern part of the state are much less, he said, adding that most of the buses towards the South were operating through the Mysore-Kutta route instead of the direct route through Salem. The passengers to the South are forced to travel about 5 hours more to reach the destination as the buses are travelling through the circuitous route, he said. Meanwhile, the travel operators and agencies have already almost doubled the fares on the Bangalore-Kozhikode route. Going by the reservation chart of private bus operators, the fare from Kozhikode to Bangalore varies from Rs 600 to Rs 900 whereas the return ticket from Bangalore to Kozhikode starts at Rs 1,000 and goes up to Rs 1,950. In a Twitter message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the building collapse. (Photo: File | PTI) Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed grief over the Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar building collapse and also condoled the death of people in the tragic incident. "Collapse of building in Mumbai is saddening. My condolences to families of those who lost their lives & prayers with the injured," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Collapse of a building in Mumbai is saddening. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives & prayers with the injured: PM PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 31, 2017 A 5-storey building collapsed on Thursday in Mumbai's Bhindi Bazaar area claiming 19 lives. Earlier on Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of those who died in building collapse. Taking stock of the situation the chief minister also assured that action would be taken in case of any negligence in the incident. The chief minister visited the incident spot and also ordered a detailed enquiry into the matter. "Action will be taken in case of any negligence. I am personally monitoring the situation," Fadnavis said. Deepak Amarapurkar, a renowned doctor, went missing last evening when heavy rains engulfed Mumbai. (Photo: Brihan Mumbai Police | Facebook) Mumbai: Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, who was suspected to have fallen into an open manhole during the Mumbai deluge on Tuesday, was found dead as his body washed ashore at Worli on Thursday, reported ANI. Indian Medical Association Mumbai chapter criticised Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and wrote to BMC Commissioner seeking inquiry into the death of the doctor. A gastroenterologist by profession, Dr Amarapurkar was missing since Tuesday, after he abandoned his car and decided to walk near his home in Elphinstone Road railway station. He was carrying an umbrella with him, which was later found near the manhole. The police had registered a missing persons complaint, and the fire brigade had launched a search operation to trace Dr Amrapurkar. Seven people died in separate incidents across Mumbai after rains lashed the city and the neighbouring areas. Rescue work in progress after a five storey building collapsed in Mumbai on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) Mumbai: As many as 22 people were killed and several others were injured on Thursday after a five-storey residential building collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai, police said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the building collapse site on Thursday. The chief minister announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of those who died in the building collapse. Fadnavis said action will be taken in case of any negligence. Meanwhile, BMC Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar held Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) responsible for the incident. The building was built by MHADA, he said. The building, located at Pakmodia street near JJ Hospital, with 12 rooms and six godowns on the ground floor, crumbled around 8:30 am. "There were around nine families staying in the building. Thirty people are feared trapped, PTI quoted its sources in fire brigade, who were present at the spot. "Our disaster management cell received a call at 8.40 am about the collapse. We immediately rushed fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue the trapped people. We fear that several people are trapped under the debris," a senior official of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) told PTI. A 45-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is carrying out the rescue operation with the help of fire brigade personnel. New Delhi: Defence minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday refused to interpret the significance of resolution of the China-India face-off at Doklam, saying it was a sensitive issue and that the government had already conveyed its position. The external affairs ministry has already articulated the governments stand on the issue, he told reporters at a briefing. Given the sensitivity of the issue, there is no need to make multiple statements, Jaitley said when asked whether the resolution of the Doklam standoff was a big achievement for India. Mr Jaitley, who also announced the governments decision to carry out major reforms in the Army to enhance its combat capability, said the exercise had nothing to do with any specific incident and had been going on since much before Doklam incident. He was responding to a question that whether the reform process was undertaken keeping in view the Doklam incident. Troops of the two countries had been locked in a standoff in Doklam since June 16 after Indian Army personnel stopped the Chinese Army from building a road. On August 28, the MEA had announced that both the countries agreed to an expeditious disengagement. The Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Theresa May advised China to arbitrate more vigorously in curbing the North Korea's crisis and missile ambitions. She also referred Beijing as the key to defuse the tensions. During her three-day visit in Japan which started on August 30, she held a meeting with Shinzo Abe to discuss the issues in the region. Speaking to local reporters in Kyoto, the British prime minister declined the possibility of ruling out military action against North Korea. But she stressed out the Britain's focus remained on the joint international efforts to limit the missile activity of Pyongyang, saying that China should be more proactive to assist this situation. "China has, I think, a very key role to play in terms of the pressure it can bring," May said. "I have said this to President Xi, other have as well. We think that China has a role to play and we'd encourage China to do everything it can to bring pressure on North Korea to stop this." When the British prime minister was asked if she could back or be involved in military action to counter attack North Korea, she reiterated that it must be a joint action with China at the center. "What is the UK doing? What we're doing is working with our international partners," she said. "We want to continue to bring pressure on North Korea to ensure that they desist this action. And we see that the best way of doing is for China to be bringing pressure to bear on North Korea." "It's about the sort of pressure and change that China can bring. I think they're a key player in this. In terms of what's we're doing, we're looking to work with our partners. But crucially, we see China as being the key in this," Theresa May added. Ramdev will take hold a significant Yoga Camp for the brave ITBP cadre at the Tigri 22 Battalion, New Delhi. (Photo: PTI | File) Haridwar: Yoga guru Ramdev took to Twitter on Thursday to express his pride for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Army, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for "showing China its place" over the disengagement of both countries' Army troops from Tibet's Doklam plateau. Known for being politically active, Ramdev also announced his upcoming visit to Delhi for teaching Yoga to the ITBP jawans. "Proud of Narendra Modi ji, Army, and ITBP for showing China its place. Going to Delhi to teach Yoga to ITBP jawaans on September 2," he wrote on Twitter. The Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) came to a mutual agreement on August 28 to disengage from Doklam, thus ending the months' long stand-off. India-China stand-off at Doklam, near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan trijunction, had been going on for more than two months and the situation arose after China started constructing a road in the area. Meanwhile, Ramdev will take hold a significant Yoga Camp for the brave ITBP cadre at the Tigri 22 Battalion, New Delhi beginning on September 2, at 5:00 am. Educational institutions, hostels and a few sheds were constructed earlier, bringing down the open space by six acres (Representational Image) Hyderabad: The state government is furious that the open space at the Exhibition Ground in Nampally is shrinking. The 26-acre ground, where the popular numaish is held every year, was given on 30-year lease to the Exhibition Society in 1956. The society recently constructed a club against the wishes of the state government. Educational institutions, hostels and a few sheds were constructed earlier, bringing down the open space by six acres. After inaugurating the numaish for the first time in January 2015, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had requested the society to protect the remaining open space. He even offered land at other locations to the society for educational and other purposes. He had promised to hand over ownership rights on the leased land a long pending demand to the society within a week. Despite his advice, the society went ahead and constructed the club. The Chief Minister reportedly took a serious view of this. Amid complaints against society members over misuse of land, he warned that the land lease would be cancelled but stepped back following a request made by society president and finance minister Etala Rajender. Mr Rao has now dropped the plan of handing over property to the society fearing further misuse. Mr Rajender said, The reports of CM cancelling the lease are false. CM wants the lease to be extended to 99 years from 50 years. No decision has been taken on giving land ownership to the society. The original lease expired in 1986. No extension was given but the land continued to be in possession of the society till 2006. That year, the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy issued orders extending the lease for 50 years with effect from 1986, which turned controversial. Following this, he issued revised orders giving lease extension for 50 years with effect from 2002 till 2052. The TS government now wants to revise these orders and give lease extension for 99 years, with a condition that the society should not take up any construction on the land during the period. Other conditions to be imposed by the government include asking the society not to charge the government for programmes conducted at the Exhibition Ground. Secretaries of finance, industries and R&B departments are to be accommodated in the governing council of the society. Apart from teaching students, schools can lower their monthly electricity bill and also generate funds by selling excess power to the state grids. Kochi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in a circular has advised schools affiliated to it to set up solar panels on their premises in order to produce solar energy. The CBSE said that this is an era of non-conventional energy and children should be taught about it and examples should be set before them in the schools itself. Solar energy is being harvested through solar panels and is now used in most of the government offices and commercial premises as a step towards use of clean energy for protecting the environment. The schools/educational institutions consume a lot of electricity for their daily functioning which is presently sourced from non-renewable sources which are the major sources of environmental pollution. The schools are also installing heavy duty generators which run on diesel towards power backup during load shedding which aggravates air pollution in cities, the circular pointed out. The Government, in order to promote the use of clean energy, has initiated National Solar Mission to control air pollution and to discourage the use of fossil fuels for energy needs. Therefore, CBSE affiliated schools consistent with the national policy initiative may also install solar panels in their premises at places like rooftop/vacant unused area of campus to meet their power needs and as power backup, the CBSE has said. The CBSE also pointed out to schools that the use of solar energy in schools will creat awareness among the students about the use of renewable sources of energy, lower their monthly electricity bill and the schools can also generate funds by selling excess power to the state grids as per the government policy. The use of solar energy in schools will not only contribute to environmental sustainability and promote the habit of energy conservation among school children, but the cost savings will also contribute to the financial stability of schools in the years ahead. The affiliated schools of the board are, therefore, advised to take measures for maximum utilization and promotion of solar energy in schools, the circular pointed out. St Philomenas Public School and Junior College, Elanji, Principal Fr John Erniakulath while welcoming the circular said that the absence of credible agencies in implementing solar projects is preventing schools from toeing such projects. There are a lot of dubious players who decamp with money after promising to implement solar power projects. I have heard that even the Cochin international airport which became the first airport in the world to be fully powered by solar had a bitter experience first in this regard. The CBSE should empanel credible agencies and they should have the responsibility to secure the subsidy from the Central Government for such projects. I am sad that even the service of state government agency ANERT is not very encouraging in this regard. Schools are in fact the ideal place to implement such projects as the roof tops are spacious enough to spread the solar panels, said Fr John Erniakulathil. Certainly it is a welcome step. However, small and medium schools will find it difficult to implement it as the cost for implementing solar scheme is expensive. The current subsidy is not enough to sustain such projects. More than 50 per cent subsidy is needed for solar projects, then only small and medium schools will be attracted to it. Otherwise, large schools alone will be able to implement them. So the government should come out with financial package for such schools to implement such projects, said E M Sreekumari, principal, Vyasa Vidyalaya, Palachuvad, Kakkanad, Kochi. She said that space wont be a constraint for schools. It certainly will be inspiring for students and teachers. The idea of less pollution and producing power can guide them to better ideas and a better world, said Ms Sreekumari. According to Dr B Raveendran Nair, principal, Mother India School, Kallara, near Kilimanoor, the initiative for solar power projects should come even without CBSE directive. In my opinion, considering the cost aspect, the state and central governments should fully fund such projects for the schools. A lot of money is now pumped from MLA and MP funds to government and now aided school infrastructure development while CBSE schools are discriminated against. In fact such funds should be given to CBSE schools at least for implementing these solar power projects, said Dr Raveendran Nair. He also said that care must be taken to use quality materials including battery while implementing such projects. Otherwise, unnecessary expenditure will come for maintenance. In Kerala CIAL has set an example for the entire world and schools in the state are only happy to follow suit, said Dr Raveendran Nair adding that fossil fuels are already doing a lot of damage to the environment and should be done away with in a phased manner. He also said that the organic way of living should be spread among students along with this and schools should take the lead for that along with other arms of the society. Proper decomposition of waste and organic cultivation of vegetables all should become the new way of life, said Dr Raveendran Nair. Uma Bharti and Rajiv Pratap Rudy were among four ministers who resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday. (Photos: PTI) New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi all set to go in for a major Cabinet reshuffle and expansion, three ministers are reported to have been asked to step down, while some more are likely to go. The ministers who have so far resigned include Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for skill development, Mahendra Lal Pandey, HRD minister of state, and Sanjiv Baliyan, MoS for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. Speculation was rife that several others, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Chowdhury Birendra Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Kalraj Mishra, would also go. Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh are also to be shifted. Shah meets ministers, PM amid rejig reports In a late-night development, water resources minister Uma Bharti also resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday. Kalraj Mishra and Sanjiv Balyan also met Shah, who later called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The election in Gujarat is due at the end of this year and the party will soon launch its poll slogan Garaje Gujarat. President Ram Nath Kovind, who will be on a two-day visit to Tirupati Tirumala from September 1, will be back by Saturday afternoon. Also, Modi is due to leave for the Brics summit in China early Sunday. Shah, it is learnt, is also due to participate in the Sangh Parivar affiliates meeting in Mathura on Saturday evening, where the RSS top brass, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, will be present. The three-day Sangh coordination meeting is beginning from September 1. The BJP also named HRD minister of state Mahendra Nath Pandey as Keshav Prasad Mauryas successor as the chief of its Uttar Pradesh unit. Maurya is a part of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanaths Cabinet and one of the states two deputy chief ministers. Maurya, along with the UP CM and three other ministers, will contest the polls for the Legislative Council. Pandey, 59, is an MP from Chandauli and a brahmin. During the strategy meeting on the Gujarat elections, besides Jaitley, the election co-incharges, including Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh, P.P. Chaudhury, state incharge Bhupendra Yadav and state unit chief Jitu Vaghani were also present. The party has set a target of Mission 150 for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. BJP general secretary (organisation) Ramlal also joined the meeting later. The party hopes to prosper while eyeing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We are preparing for it with enthusiasm and of course our leaders will work out a strategy soon. Chennai: It may not be the bigwigs in the ruling AIADMK that the saffron party is keen on targeting. The fence sitters and those not desirous of taking sides in the ongoing faction war seem to be closest to the BJPs heart. Close on the heels of former minister Nainar Nagendran and others from the AIADMK, the BJP welcomed AIADMK Medical Wings former state joint secretary Dr C.N. Rajadurai into the party. Rajadurai had joined the BJP in the presence of party president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday. We will accept those willing to strive for the BJPs growth, into our fold. Many loyalists of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa are likely to join our party in the coming days, a BJP senior pointed out. The party hopes to prosper while eyeing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We are preparing for it with enthusiasm and of course our leaders will work out a strategy soon. In all likelihood, the Assembly elections may be held simultaneously, the senior leader claimed. In fact, recently, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan had predicted an exodus from the AIADMK and DMK. BJP justifies Governors action, dares Oppn to move for trust vote Meanwhile, the BJP justified the Governors decision on not directing CM Palaniswami to prove his majority in the House, merely because pro-TTV Dhinakaran MLAs submitted a memorandum. Questioning the rationale behind putting forth such a demand, Dr Tamilisai said the AIADMK leadership should take a call on the rebellion in the party adding, The Governor has made a right decision taking into account the prevailing political situation in the state. He is an experienced and able administrator and knows how to face a crisis like this. Partys national secretary H. Raja asked Why should the Opposition meet the Governor over the bickering within a party. Why dont they move trust vote in the Assembly? Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami lashed out at TTV Dhinakaran and opposition DMK saying their dreams of toppling his government or come to power through the backdoor would never fructify. He emphasised that AIADMK members would not allow anybody to divide the party for selfish reasons. Ammas (late CM J. Jayalalithaa) government is a fort that protects the poor and there is none who can destroy it. Some are dreaming of somehow toppling this government while others want to come to power through backdoors. Their dreams will not fructify, he said in a veiled reference to T.T.V. Dhinakaran and DMK working president M.K. Stalin. The aspirations of MGR and late CM J. Jayalalithaa who nurtured the party will be fulfilled and in the process we are prepared to make sacrifices to make the party remain united, he said. Addressing a government function in commemoration of the centenary of late chief minister and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran at Vandalur on the city outskirts, Palaniswami also said nobody can destroy the great party and urged the party members to take a pledge that they would not allow anybody to divide the party for selfish reasons and indicated that family rule and corruption would be kept away. He heaped praise on MGR for the welfare measures taken up by him. Palaniswami said Those who believe us will not be let down and we will not allow such a situation to come about, recalling a yesteryear Tamil film song of the late stalwart. The function was attended by deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam and officials. The state government is holding district-wise functions to celebrate the centenary of MGR, a matinee idol turned politician, who ruled the state from 1977 to 1987. How many MLAs will attend meet? The meeting assumes significance since nearly 50 legislators, including those camping in Puducherry, skipped the Monday meeting chaired by Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam during which resolutions against TTV Dhinakaran were passed. The General Council will pass a resolution removing Sasikala from the post of General Secretary of the AIADMK. Though it is clear that legislators supporting Dhinakaran would not attend the meeting on Thursday, speculation was rife that several MLAs would give the event a miss as they dont want to be seen as taking sides with any one faction. Cassini has been probing Saturn and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004. (Photo: NASA) The US space agencys Cassini spacecraft will end its 13-year mission to Saturn in mid-September by transmitting data until the final moment before it plunges into the ringed planets atmosphere, officials said on Tuesday. Cassini, the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, will make the last of 22 farewell dives between the planets rings and surface on Sept. 15. The spacecraft will then burn up as it heads straight into the gas giants crushing atmosphere. Cassinis final dive will end a mission that provided groundbreaking discoveries that included seasonal changes on Saturn, the moon Titans resemblance to a primordial Earth, and a global ocean on the moon Enceladus with ice plumes spouting from its surface. The mission has been insanely, wildly, beautifully successful, and its coming to an end in about two weeks, Curt Niebur, Cassini program scientist, said on a telephone conference call with reporters from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Cassinis final photo as it heads into Saturns atmosphere will likely be of propellers, or gaps in the rings caused by moonlets, said project scientist Linda Spilker. The spacecraft will provide near real-time data on the atmosphere until it loses contact with Earth at 4:54 a.m. PDT (1154 GMT) on Sept. 15, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. Spilker said Cassinis latest data on the rings had shown they had a lighter mass than forecast. That suggests they are younger than expected, at about 120 million years, and thus were created after the birth of the solar system, she said. During its final orbits between the atmosphere and the rings, Cassini also studied Saturns atmosphere and took measurements to determine the size of the planets rocky core. Cassini has been probing Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004. It has provided enough data for almost 4,000 scientific papers. Since the craft is running low on fuel, NASA is crashing it into Saturn to avoid any chance Cassini could someday collide with Titan, Enceladus or any other moon that has the potential to support indigenous microbial life. By destroying the spacecraft, NASA will ensure that any hitchhiking Earth microbes still alive on Cassini will not contaminate the moons for future study. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Amazon.com and Microsoft have joined forces to let their voice-controlled virtual assistants talk to each other, offering users the ability to seamlessly tap into work, their homes and shop online. The partnership is the first time two technology companies open up their artificial intelligence-powered virtual aides to each other, and will be aimed at outsmarting rivals Google Assistant and Apples Siri. The move in itself is rare as most virtual assistants are known to use data from their own ecosystems and not talk to one another. Users of Amazons Alexa will be able to ask Microsofts Cortana to do a range of activities from booking a meeting to reading work email. And Cortana users will be able to call on Alexa to play music or turn on house lights. Not to be left behind, Alphabet said on Wednesday Google Assistant will soon be available on third-party speakers and other home appliances. Starting later this year, with manufacturers like LG, youll be able to control your appliances, including washers, dryers, vacuums and more from your Assistant on your smart speaker, Android phone or iPhone, Google said. Several technology companies are trying to grab a share in smart homes, which allow consumers to control various connected appliances such as refrigerators and lights from a central hub or a smartphone. In the long run it would seem that Amazon has more to gain from this deal, as Cortana remains trapped within the PC...while Amazon has won a powerful ally in its battle against Google, Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said. While Amazon introduced voice-controlled Alexa with its Echo speakers in 2014, Google launched Assistant on its Google Home speakers last year. Apple in June introduced HomePod, powered by Siri. Amazon Echo devices will claim a 70.6 percent share of the U.S. market this year compared with a 23.8 percent share for Google Home, research firm eMarketer said in May. Users will be able to turn to their Echo device later this year and say, Alexa, open Cortana, or turn to their Windows 10 device and say, Cortana, open Alexa, the companies said. It is surprising to me that these competitors have collaborated, that speaks to the quality of their respective CEOs, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. They understand that they will benefit more by working together than trying to destroy one another. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. This years event was primarily hogged by smart wearables and Extended Reality devices, apart from hardcore gaming rigs and latest PC processors. (Photo: The Verge) The IFA is an important event in the world of technology that marks the announcement of important devices kicking off new trends. This years event was primarily hogged by smart wearables and Extended Reality devices, apart from hardcore gaming rigs and latest PC processors. Here are some of them: Samsung range of smart wearables Samsung is a recognisable name in the world of wearables and the latest generation wearables aim to cement their position. The Gear Fit 2 Pro is the cheapest one at $199, packing in a GPS, heart rate and swim tracker with 4GB of in-built storage underneath a 1.5-inch AMOLED display. The Gear Sport is a fitness smartwatch with a 1.2-inch AMOLED display, Samsung Pay, heart rate monitor and GPS as well as the ability to play 500 offline tracks from your Spotify list. The 2018 Gear IconX is an improvement over the old model with 5 hours of battery life and a heart rate monitor. It also syncs with Bixby, provided you have a Bixby-enabled Samsung smartphone. Dells affordable XR Visor Extended Reality (XR) is still a new concept and devices that support it are priced extremely high, such as the HTC Vive. Dell wants to bring XR to the masses with a lot of convenience in the form of its Visor. Starting from $349 (Rs 22,339), the Visor uses cameras for inside-out tracking, unlike the HTC Vives wall-mounted sensor. With a $99 controller, it can do some serious VR gaming as well. The Visor has dual 1440 x 1440-resolution LCDs to deliver the 360-degree immersive picture and it fits over glasses. Mieles electromagnetic oven The word oven is generally associated with big metal and glass boxes that utilise microwave to cook food. Miele has changed the core concept with their Dialog Oven use electromagnetic waves to cook food at 915MHz. The company claims that the waves adjust according to the texture of the food, resulting in tastier food cooked within a short period of time, in a more power efficient manner. Apart from that, it can be connected to Wi-Fi for controlling it via smartphones. Acer Holo360 LTE camera Yes, you read it right a camera with LTE connection. The Holo360 comes with a 360-degree camera that can record 4K videos and 6.9K-resolution still photos. The camera is built on a Snapdragon 625 chipset adhering to Qualcomms Connected Camera Platform. With onboard LTE and a 3-inch touchscreen display, you wont need another device to control it, i.e. one can simply broadcast live 360-degree sessions with this camera without using a Wi-Fi connection. Dell XPS 13 with 8th-gen Intel processors Dells popular ultrabook marks the arrival of eighth generation Intel processors to the world of notebooks. The 11.6-inch laptop with a 13.3-inch display comes with new eighth generation Core i7 and Core i5 processors that promise to improve multitasking performance by a 40 percent while being power efficient at the same time. The rest of the XPS retains the metal chassis with carbon fibre palm rests and all other goodies that the XPS series is known for. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The 600 million euro figure from Microsoft is the second-largest amount France has sought in unpaid taxes from a high-tech multinational, after 1.1 billion euros recently sought from Google. (Photo: AFP) France's tax authority is seeking 600 million euros ($715 million) from Microsoft's local subsidiary for billing French customers from Ireland, the weekly L'Express reported on Wednesday. The magazine reported that the bills concerned internet advertising and keywords for internet searches. Despite a considerable presence in France, Microsoft paid only 32.2 million euros in corporate tax there last year, according to L'Express. The French tax authority declined to comment, citing its policy to not discuss individual cases. The US firm said only that it "acts in accordance with the laws and regulations in all the countries in which it operates, working in close cooperation with local tax authorities to ensure complete compliance with local laws." The 600 million euro figure is the second-largest amount France has sought in unpaid taxes from a high-tech multinational, after 1.1 billion euros recently sought from Google. That case was similar as it concerned the billing of French clients via Ireland, which meant France did not collect revenue on the transactions. However, in July a French court ruled in favour of Google in that case, considering that Google France didn't have a stable presence in the country and was only helping the Irish unit. France's tax authority is appealing the ruling, but the government doesn't exclude a settlement. US tech giants -- including also Amazon, Apple and Facebook -- have come under criticism for their tax optimisation policies, in particular using low-tax Ireland as their European headquarters and routing transactions through the country. French President Emmanuel Macron campaigned on requiring internet firms to pay taxes to France on the business they conduct in the country. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. the report says that Mahieu feels bold enough to claim that he expects a number of iPhone and Galaxy users to make the switch to BlackBerry come October. TCL, the Chinese manufacture which now produces phones under BlackBerry brand name, will be launching a full touch screen with IP67-rated water and dust-proof smartphone in October this year, reported technology news website Engadget. In a statement to the website, TCLs Francois Mahieu explained, TCL will respect BlackBerrys reputation for building hard-wearing device for clumsy international travellers who will be working in all weather condition. According to Mahieu, the durability and longevity will be two of the biggest selling points of the upcoming device. "Mahieu feels bold enough to claim that he expects a number of iPhone and Galaxy users to make the switch to BlackBerry come October, and that the company is marching towards millions" of device sales, the report added. Similar to BlackBerrys last flagship release, the upcoming model is also expected to be Android-powered, or to run on a more secure version of Android that the company is rumoured to announce soon. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. A company that hands out student funding accidentally transferred 14 million rand into the young womans account instead of the 1,400-rand ($107) monthly food allowance she was supposed to get. (Representational Image) Johannesburg: A South African university students spending spree on clothes, a party and a new smart phone slammed to a halt after it emerged the roughly $1 million fuelling her splurge had been given to her in error. A company that hands out student funding accidentally transferred 14 million rand into the young womans account instead of the 1,400-rand ($107) monthly food allowance she was supposed to get, officials said Wednesday. The Walter Sisulu University, in the Eastern Cape region, said the whopping error was made in June during monthly disbursement of state-issued student loans. The error was only discovered on Monday after the matter was reported to us by another student, the university spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said. Tukwayo said the student who cannot be named had already spent nearly 800,000 rand ($61,250) of the money. She is liable for the amount that she has already spent, as part of our agreement with students who take out loans, said Tukwayo. The rest of the excess cash has been taken back from the young womans account, while the university probes how the mistake occurred. Local media reported the student had splurged some of the cash on expensive clothing, a smart phone and partying. The resources of South Africas National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which funds students from impoverished backgrounds often battles to meet the demand for loan applications from students. South African students have in the past two years engaged in violent protests demanding free university education. Washington: The Pentagon is poised to have roughly 15,000 US troops in Afghanistan in the coming months, as defense officials on Wednesday finally acknowledged the actual number of American forces in the country after long camouflaging the total in misleading accounting measures and red tape. Senior Defense officials for the first time said there are about 11,000 US forces currently deployed to Afghanistan - thousands more than the 8,400 that were allowed under the previous administration's troop cap. Military officials have long quietly acknowledged there were far more forces in the country than the cap allowed, but commanders shuffled troops in and out, labeled many "temporary," and used other personnel accounting tactics to artificially keep the public count low. The officials, however, refused to provide similar details for Iraq and Syria, where there also are thousands more than the Pentagon publicly admits. Chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said that while the same "principles of transparency" will apply in Iraq and Syria, those countries have their own interests. There have long been political sensitivities within the Iraq government about the number of American troops on the ground, and those concerns raise questions about whether the Pentagon will be less candid about force numbers there to avoid conflicts. Based on troop caps instituted by the Obama administration, the number of US forces in Iraq has consistently been reported as 5,262, but officials say there are actually more than 7,000. And there are at least 1,500 US troops in Syria - three times the 503 that the Pentagon will acknowledge. White said details on troop numbers in Iraq and Syria would be announced in the future. The troop numbers announcement comes as the Pentagon is preparing to deploy several thousand more Americans to Afghanistan, in order to expand the training and advising of Afghan forces and beef up counterterror operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida-linked groups in the country. Officials have said the US will send as many as 3,900 more troops to the war - which would bring the number of publicly recognized troops there to about 15,000. The officials were not authorized to discuss the future deployments publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, said providing more truthful numbers "is an attempt to actually clarify a very confusing set of reporting rules that has the unintended consequence of forcing commanders to make readiness tradeoffs as they deploy their forces." As an example, Gen. John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, noted earlier this year that when Obama ordered the cut in troops to 8,400, commanders had to hire contractors to do jobs that American forces would normally do. So, an aviation brigade that deployed to Afghanistan was able to bring its helicopters, pilots and staff, but the mechanics had to be left behind at Fort Riley, Kansas. The contractors hired to replace the mechanics, Nicholson said, cost "tens of millions of dollars" and hurt the unit's overall military readiness. White and McKenzie said there have been no final decisions about future deployments to Afghanistan, but those should be coming soon. Others have said that some small numbers of troops have moved into the country from nearby within the region, but there have not been any new deployment orders for forces based further away, such as the US Officials said that once Mattis makes his decision, a few hundred troops could be ready to deploy quickly - within days, while others could take several weeks to get into Afghanistan. In the close to 16 years since the United States went to war in Afghanistan, the number of American troops initially grew in spurts, as US leaders wavered about how much focus to put on the war. President Barack Obama came into office saying he would give the war there the attention it required, and the number of American troops on the ground spiraled by mid-2010 to 100,000. Over time, as the public grew weary with the wars, Obama began to steadily withdraw troops. By March 2015, there were fewer than 10,000 there and Obama announced plans to drop the number to 5,500 by the end of 2016. He later agreed to a compromise that set the cap of 8,400 through the end of his presidency. Since taking office President Donald Trump has moved to give his military commanders more control over the day-to-day operations of the wars. Allowing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to determine troop deployments is one example of that. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) ast week delayed the Guam strike plan, but warned it could go ahead depending on Washington's next move. (Photo: AFP) Seoul: Nuclear-armed North Korea has warned Tokyo against "imminent self-destruction" for siding with Washington, as tensions soar after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan. The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over the Asian island nation, triggering condemnation from world leaders including the US and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced the launch as an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat" and agreed with US President Donald Trump to "further strengthen pressure against North Korea". The North's official KCNA news agency decried the former colonial power in a commentary, saying: "Japan has now come out with its sleeves rolled up in supporting its master's anti-DPRK war moves." The allies' "military nexus" had become a "serious threat" to the Korean peninsula and Japan was "unaware" it was "accelerating self-destruction", the statement late Wednesday said. It made a specific reference to US forces being based in Hokkaido -- the island that the North's missile flew over. "The DPRK's toughest countermeasures include a warning to Japan going wild, being unaware of its imminent destruction," and blindly following the US, it added. Pyongyang has warned of more similar tests to come. The authorities in North Korea are highly nationalistic and promote resentment of the US and Japan as part of their claim to legitimacy. KCNA said earlier that the missile launch was timed to mark the 107th anniversary of the "disgraceful" Japan-Korea treaty of 1910, under which Tokyo colonised the Korean peninsula. Beijing: China on Thursday backed its all weather ally Pakistan by sending a clear message to India for not discussing the Islamabads counter terrorism effort and cross-border terrorism emanating from it. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying in statement said, Counter terrorism efforts by Pakistan would not be an appropriate topic to be taken up by the grouping despite concerns expressed by India. When its about terrorism in India, its directly linked to Pakistan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made many such unveiled attacks on Pakistan to curb cross border terrorism. Prime Minister Modi will be visiting Xiamen's province of China from September 3 to 5, for annual BRICS summit between countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This is not the first time that China has defended Pakistan on terrorism issue. Last week when US President Donald Trump criticised Pakistan for harbouring terrorists and terror outfits, Beijing put all its weight behind Islamabad and said, Pakistan is most terror affected country in the Asia and world. Refuting Trumps warnings to Pakistan, Chinese foreign ministry had said Islamabad had made great sacrifices in fighting terror and was itself a victim of the scourge. Beijing opposes linking terror to any one country. Similarly, Hua Chunying expectedly came to Pakistans defence while responding to a question on concerns over terrorism in Pakistan. Hua said, We noticed that India when it comes to Pakistans counter-terrorism has some concerns. I dont think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at the BRICS Summit." She also said, The world is paying great attention to the BRICS Summit. I hope relevant parties can work with China to ensure the success of the summit and make due contributions. The spokesperson, making it clear that China stands side by side with Pakistan, also virtually repeated the remark 'mothership of terrorism' used by Modi to Pakistan during his address at the BRICS summit in 2016 in Goa, India. While counter-terrorism was mentioned in the BRICS declaration issued at the end of 2016 summit, it wasnt mentioned in the official statement released by China after Modi and Xi met in Goa. Islamabad: A Pakistan court Thursday branded former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial, but acquitted five men accused of being involved in the 2007 assassination. The verdicts are the first to be issued since Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, sparking street violence and plunging Pakistan into months of political turmoil. Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation. He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013, in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution. But he has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi ruled he had "absconded", a court official told reporters outside, saying it had also ordered the confiscation of his property. The court acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to kill Bhutto. They were set to walk free nearly 10 years after they were first arrested, though a defence lawyer said it was not yet clear when they would be released. However the judges found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the court official said. The police officers -- Saud Aziz, who was chief of Rawalpindi police at the time, and senior officer Khurram Shahzad -- are now the only two people to have been convicted over Bhutto's assassination. Shahzad was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after the assassination took place -- an act the United Nations described in a report into the assassination as "fundamentally inconsistent with Pakistani police practice". Aziz was accused of both giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene, and of refusing to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. They were each been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 rupees ($4,700), according to a court order. Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented. Chippewa Falls is sending aid to Hurricane Harvey victimsone scone at a time. Tracy Heidtke, manager and co-owner of Chippewa Falls beloved coffee shop at 608 N. Bridge Street, 4:30 AM Coffeehouse, said the Harvey aid effort began when one of her employees found she had breast cancer. We were trying to come up with a way we could help her, Heidtke said. So eight weeks ago, Heidtke created Wendo Wednesdays. Her employee picked a scone flavor each Wednesday, and half the proceeds from those scones were donated to that employee to help cover medical costs. Its unreal, Heidtke said of the weekly benefit. Our highest was 130 (scones of the particular flavor) in a day, which keeps us really busy. The employee eventually began recovering, but soon news of Hurricane Harvey battering the Texas coastline began to reach Chippewa Falls. Heidtke decided to continue the program and redirect the proceeds. We feel like this makes it easy for everybody who wants to help, Heidtke said. They get their scone, and a dollar of the proceeds goes to Harvey victims. 4:30 AM also has an employee who is native to Texas: Kathy Guilhas, nicknamed Yeehaw and Dallas by the 4:30 AM team. Guilhas has family and friends in Houston, Heidtke said. That made it even easier to make the decision to send help to victims affected by the storm. We thought we could help another one of ours, Heidtke said. We all have family, or know a friend whos in Texas. We have to help our own country and our people. The coffeehouse celebrated its 15th anniversary in July. Community members can contribute to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts by visiting the Houston Food Bank at www.houstonfoodbank.org, or visiting the nearest Red Cross location to donate blood at 3485 E. Hamilton Ave. in Eau Claire. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials concerned to set up 'gaushalas' (cow shelters) in seven districts of Bundelkhand region in the state and areas under 16 municipal corporations. The chief minister, who had convened a meeting yesterday for the purpose, also directed the officials to set up cow protection committees to ensure that animals in 'gaushalas' are taken proper care of, an official statement said today. He told the officials to set up cow shelters in seven Bundelkhand districts as well as in areas falling in 16 municipal corporations of the state for proper upkeep of these animals and also to deal with the problem of stray cattle. Adityanath said in the first phase, each 'gaushala' will be developed with a capacity of sheltering 1,000 animals. The chief minister stated that this task will be carried out under the supervision of UP Gausewa Ayog, the statement said adding that directives have been issued to set up committees under the district magistrates for proper running of gaushalas. Orders have also been issued to find a solution to the problem of stray cattle and to ensure proper fodder, water and protection of the animals, it said. Five Haryana policemen, who were part of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's security and were charged with sedition, were dismissed from service today, police officials said. Sedition and attempt to murder charges were slapped against seven persons, including the five police personnel, in charge of the Dera chief's security when he had arrived at Panchkula to appear in a CBI court on Friday. They had allegedly tried to free the Dera chief when he was brought outside the Panchkula Court complex after a special CBI court convicted him in a 15-year-old rape case, the police had said. They were produced before a court yesterday which sent them to seven days in police remand, the officials said. The arrested police personnel were in the ranks of sub- inspector, assistant sub-inspector, the head constable and constable, they said. The conviction of the Dera head in the 2002 rape case had triggered arson and violence in Haryana that claimed 36 lives and injured over 250 people. The Union government has sought an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court on a batch of over 40 petitions including one by Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar as the trial in those corruption cases has remained stayed. All those petitions raised a question of law, that is, if the High Courts can stay proceedings in cases initiated under the Prevention of Corruption Act despite a statutory bar. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, in a recent hearing, submitted before a bench presided over by Justice Madan B Lokur that the matter is required to be put before a three-judge bench. The bench, that also comprised Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Deepak Gupta, however, directed the registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice for constituting a three-judge bench. The bench headed by Justice Lokur noted that they were sitting in three-judge combination only for a day and it was difficult to conclude the hearing on the date itself. The court's order came as Kumar submitted, there is an urgency in these matters because a large number of trials have stayed. The petitions, pending since 2013, sought an interpretation of Section 19(3)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The provision stated that no court shall stay the proceedings under this Act on any ground. Neither should any court exercise the power of revision in relation to any interlocutory order passed in any inquiry, trial, appeal or other proceedings. The issue for consideration before the apex court is if the high court can entertain petitions under Article 226 (writ jurisdiction) of the Constitution and under Section 482 (inherent power) of the Criminal Procedure Code and stay the proceedings in the corruption cases. The question for adjudication also included if the framing of charges is an interlocutory order or not and if the same is open to revision by the HC. The case against Shivakumar pertained to land de-notification. China today said that concerns over Pakistan's counter-terrorism record is not an "appropriate topic" to be discussed at the next week's BRICS summit where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to meet. "We noticed that India when it comes to Pakistan's counter-terrorism has some concerns. I don't think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at BRICS summit," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here, indicating that Beijing was averse to the criticism of its close ally at the summit to be held in Xiamen. Asked whether Pakistan's counter-terrorism record which was sharply criticised by US President Donald Trump last week will figure at the talks between the leaders of the BRICS countries, Hua said the world should recognise Islamabad's contribution in fighting terrorism. "Pakistan is at forefront of counter-terror efforts and has made sacrifices for this. The international community should recognise their contributions and sacrifices," she said. "China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties," she said. Hua also did not provide a direct answer to a question whether Modi and Xi would hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit from September 3 to 5. "During multi-lateral meetings arranging bilateral meetings is a practice. If time allows China will make proper arrangements," she said. After Trump's stern warning to Pakistan against providing safe heavens to Taliban, China sought to impress the US that Islamabads support is important to resolve Afghanistan imbroglio. "We should attach importance to Pakistan's important role in Afghanistan and respect Pakistan's sovereignty and legitimate security concerns," Chinas State Councillor and top diplomat Yang Jiechi told US Secretary Rex Tillerson during a phone conversation yesterday. Trump, in his first prime-time televised address as commander-in-chief, 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. Hours after Trump's remarks, China backed its all weather ally and said the US should recognise Pakistan's "important role" in Afghanistan and respect its sovereignty and legitimate security concerns. China's military today said it will beef up the presence of troops and patrols to protect "every inch" of its territory in Dokalam but was evasive on the construction of the road which was stopped by Indian troops, leading to a 73-day standoff. India and China on Monday ended their standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit. "The Chinese military will continue to carry out its missions and responsibilities, beef up patrols and troops stationed there and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security," Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Chinese defence ministry, said in his first interaction with the media after the end of the standoff. He, however, was evasive about People's Liberation Army's move to build the road close to the strategic Chicken Neck area in Dokalam which prompted the Indian troops to intervene and stop its construction. Bhutan, which claims sovereignty over the area, protested to China for building the road on Bhutanese territory. "In the light of the changes in the landscape we have made an adjustment in our deployment," he said, without elaborating. "The Chinese side will continue to patrol the Dong Long (Dokalam) area for a long period of time to better guard our border and improve the living and working conditions of the military and civilians living in the area," Ren said. "We have long built infrastructure construction and including building of roads. In future, we will continue to make a plan for infrastructure construction taking into consideration various factors including weather conditions," he said, without elaborating about plans to build the road. China has tried to highlight the Indian troop's withdrawal while remaining silent about the fate of the road which was the primary objection for India. Ren also rubbished speculative reports in social media claiming that China promised India huge loans for the withdrawal of the troops. "On your question about China providing loans to India to withdraw troops, we have checked with the relevant authorities of the government and such reports are pure fabrication," he said. Claiming that "Dokalam is China's inherent territory" disregarding Bhutan's claims, Ren said, "every inch of the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland cannot be lost. Chinese armed forces will carry out the sacred mission safeguarding territorial integrity and national sovereignty and protect every inch of the land in Dokalam." He also put up a lengthy defence about how Chinese military handled the standoff - regarded as the worst between the two countries since the 1962 war. On the incident at the Pangong lake in Ladakh, where troops on both sides scuffled and pelted stones at each other, he said, "the Indian side should enforce strict discipline on the border defence troops and abide by the agreements and consensus reached by the two sides so as to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border." China said earlier that it lodged a protest to India on the incident. The "military-to-military relationship between India and China is an important component of the overall bilateral relationship between the two countries," he said. "The defence establishments and armed forces should strengthen strategic communication to avoid misjudgement and misunderstanding. But such kind of healthy development requires efforts from both sides," he added. 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! Switzerland is synonymous with some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes on earth. During our Europe tour, we spent three days in Switzerland. And there was hardly a place which we could ignore or pooh-pooh. We were first taken to Engelberg, which clusters at the foot of Brunni peak. Engelberg is one of central Switzerlands main mountain resorts and its name translates as Angel Mountain. This is the highest lift-equipped peak. Of the three rotating cable cars in the world, one is in Engelberg. The Rotair has the distinction of being the very first rotating cable car. The Mount Titlis cable car whisks visitors up to the Titlis peak in three stages: a gondola, a cable car, and finally, the Titlis Rotair. The entire trip takes about 45 minutes one way. The revolving gondola transported us from the middle station at Stand Up to the mountain station located at 3,020 meters above sea level. The gondola revolves 360 degree every five minutes treating us to idyllic panoramic views of steep rock faces, deep crevasses and distant snow-covered mountain peaks. It was a fascinating experience. On reaching the top, we wandered through an ice cave bored 150 m/490 feet through the glacier and from the viewing platform, we could see the Alps. On the dim horizon, half seen through a silvery haze, the mountains crowd one on another like a whole procession of pilgrims kneeling before the white marble shrine of snow. One the same day, we were taken to Lucerne. Lake Lucerne, where the Reuss river resumes its swift quest for the Rhine and the lakefront, rimmed by the mighty Alps, is an unforgettable sight. The Kapellbrucke is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss in the city of Lucerne. The Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge) over River Reuss is named after St Peters Chapel. It was destroyed by a fire in 1993; the bridge and the artwork were re-created. Besides, there is the famous monument hewn from natural rock -- the Lion of Lucerne -- in commemoration of the heroic, fatal defence by Swiss guards of Louis XVI at the Tuileries in Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1792. Next day, it was Jungfrau on our list. The glacier is saddled between the mountains Monch and Jungfrau in Swiss Alps. To board the train, we went to Wengen, a Swiss Alpine village in the Bernese Oberland region, where the Jungfraubahn railway junction is situated. The rail car pulled up the steep canyon wall on a cogged rail system designed to prevent back slippage and disaster. The train made a gradual ascent after leaving Wengen as it passed through Alpine meadows rich with wild flowers and grazing cattle scattered here and there. The train reached Scheidigg, a tiny hamlet much smaller than Wengen and shortly thereafter it drove directly into the massive rock face of a mountain. It appears, the Swiss workmen took 16 years to blast and bore the 4.4 mile tunnel through solid rock to reach the Jungfrau summit at 11,782 feet. During the journey, we passed by the foot of the notorious Eiger North Wall, through tunnels, finally arriving at the heart of the glaciers. The train slowed to a crawl and soon stopped at the station, remaining inside the mountain. We disembarked and stepped onto a huge concrete landing dock. As we entered the lobby, we were stunned by the sight before us. An entire wall of the lobby was glass and just beyond it was Jungfrau glacier. They had blasted the space for the hotel inside the mountain. A restaurant in Jungfraujoch is named Bollywood and many movies have been shot here. Visiting the Jungfraujochs eternal ice and snow is once-in-a-lifetime experience. The longest glacier in Europe, the Great Aletsch Glacier 14 miles begins at Jungfraujoch, and can be seen as far as France and Germany. Jungfraujoch is known as the Top of Europe. It is the highest mountain in Europe. There is a huge building called Top of Europe located on the mountain. An elevator takes you to the top of the building. The building is warm inside though the temperature outside is bitterly cold. There are many caves made of snow. The craftsmanship is in fact beyond imagination. With stunning and refreshing memories, we travelled on our way back to Interlaken. It was a brief visit. We were taken to the towns main thoroughfare, Hoheweg, which is lined with great hotels, shops and even a grand casino. For Interlaken, the Hoheweg plays the same part as does the Champs-Elysees for Paris or the Via Veneto for Rome it is the boulevard with a great ambience that the Swiss are famous. Just as in its larger counterparts, youll find people on foot or aboard horse-drawn carriages taking in the sights along with those relaxing over coffee and pastries at the sidewalk cafes. It is a resort town, situated between two lakes, the Brienzersee and the Thune see. Many Bollywood personalities visit the city frequently either for film shooting or for rest and recuperation. A statue of Yash Chopra has been erected right in front of the casino as a mark of respect. We were struck by the magnificent natural beauty of Interlaken. The town is on the hillside and in the backdrop, the magnificent Swiss Alps rose in cascading order up to the clear sky. We were able to see people paragliding like a bird. Interlaken unfolds a panorama of towering peaks along the shore of the Lake of Thun, where we had the opportunity for a cruise thus concluding a memorable day. Habeeb Ahamed (The author can be contacted at habeeb_ahamed@hotmail.com) Ahead of its target to turn profitable by Q4 FY18, Flipkart-owned online retailer Myntras in-house brands portfolio Myntra Fashion Brands (MFB) has turned profitable registering a positive EBITDA of 5% in June this year. The company expects to clock a run rate of $300 million by end of FY18, which is a growth of 100% over the previous fiscal. The portfolio, which currently consists of 13 brands contributes to 23% of the platforms business. Myntra and Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan said, We are well on track to achieve profitability this financial year. We believe that 3-5% EBIDTA is sustainable for Myntra Fashion Brands, and it will contribute to achieving profitability for the platform. With the festival season ready to set in, and Myntras efforts to reduce cost and improve speed across its supply chain and delivery, the company is well positioned to achieve profitability and a run rate of $2 billion, he asserted. The company plans to launch two more brands under MFB in the near future. Alongside, it is also working on launching offline stores for some of its brands. One can expect two or three more stores from Myntra soon, said Narayanan. Further, leveraging its cross-platform access, Myntra has introduced its brands on Jabong as well. Roadster, Myntras in-house brand, continues to lead the portfolio, bringing in up to 50% of MFBs business, followed by brands such as Mast & Harbour and HRX. The decision of the Trump Administration comes weeks after Russia forced a cut in US diplomatic staff in Moscow by hundreds. "The US has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D C and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2," Nauert said. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each, she added. Russia forced the cut in US diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for American sanctions. The US had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship," Nauert said. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said. The US is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted, Nauert warned. In an apparent retaliatory move, the US today asked Russia to close down its consulate in San Francisco and the two chancery annexes in Washington and New York in two days. Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha on Wednesday said that the Central Government is committed to steering the country towards progress in all the fields in another five years. Addressing a gathering during the seven-point programme organised by Krishi Vignan Kendra at Attur here, to double the income of farmers as part of 'Sankalp Se Siddhi Navbharat Nirman,' Simha said the motive behind the initiative is to make country self-dependent in all the fields. It is indeed significant that the farmers should be a part of the initiative, as the Centre has devised many programmes towards the welfare of the agrarian community. The poor should be able to avail of the benefits extended by the government to help them eke out a living. The current dispensation at the Centre is focused on creating basic infrastructural facilities with housing, electricity and toilet facilities. Delineating on agriculture forming the backbone of the nation, Simha said the seven-point programme aims to augment the income of farmers by 2022, with the intervention of technology in the field. It includes irrigation facilities, using improvised seeds, incorporating organic farming methods, maintenance of fertility of soil, increasing warehouse facility, value addition of agriculture products by food processing, checking shortcomings in market with national agriculture market, reducing losses and improving loan advancement system and strengthening of supplementary activities like cattle rearing, poultry farming, apiculture, fisheries and forestry. Head of Krishi Vignan Kendra Saju George, director of Horticulture Dr Venkat Kumar, general manager, NABARD, M C Nanaiah, advisory committee member Arun Appanna, scientist Veerendra Kumar and K Devaiah were present. The tuition fee of the central government's Navodaya Vidyalayas may be hiked with effect from the next academic session. The executive committee of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) on Thursday discussed a proposal for increasing the tuition fee of its schools, official sources told DH. Official sources told DH that though there was a consensus on the proposal at the meeting, a final decision on it will come only after the Ministry further examines it. Any increase in the current fee structure of the Navodaya Vidyalayas will be applicable to students belonging to general category. Children belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and schedule tribes (ST), girls, differently-abled category and those in below poverty line will continue to remain exempted from the payment of fees, sources added. The NVS executive committee meeting, chaired by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, also decided to make the application process for admissions to Navodaya Vidyalayas online from next academic session. At the meeting, Javadekar directed the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to take measures for adoption of solar energy at all of its schools across the country. He asked the Samiti to seek the guidance of the Ministry of Power to speed up the process for installation of solar panels at all the Navodaya Vidyalayas to meet their demand for electricity. The Minister also told the Samiti officials to ensure that water and solar energy harvesting remains part of the proposals for the new building plans. He asked them to explore the possibility of having water harvesting and bio-gas plants in existing campuses. At the meeting, Javadekar also desired that the teachers who are deputed for training abroad under certain scholarship schemes should be asked to share a report on their learning and its utility for the system, the HRD Ministry said. He directed the Samiti to conduct a study in the positive impact students and teachers living together at the Navodaya Vidyalaya campus. All Navodaya Vidyalayas are residential schools, set up to primarily cater to the educational need of rural students. The Centre notified the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) on the basis of a "faulty" report submitted by the state government, Mysore-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha said and asked the people of 53 villages coming under the ESZ not to be anxious. He was speaking at a meeting of the Kodagu district development coordination and monitoring committee in Madikeri on Wednesday. Simha, who belongs to the BJP, claimed that there was "no mistake" on the part of the Centre in notifying Pushpagiri, Brahmagiri and Nagarahole. The Centre submitted its report to the Supreme Court on the basis of the report on demarkation given by the state government. The villagers need not worry, he added. "Only quarrying is prohibited in the ESZ; there is no prohibition on farming or construction. I am committed to taking up the issue about the recommendations of Kasturirangan report. There will be a change in Karnataka politics within eight months. I will impress upon the Centre to set right the loopholes in the report," he said. Simha said miscreants were spreading rumours that a railway line would connect Kodagu with Kerala. There is no proposal before the Centre to provide railway connectivity to Madikeri. The railway line will be built only till Kushalnagar, added. The highway between Bengaluru and Mysuru will be converted into six lanes while it will be a four-lane road till Madikeri, he said and clarified that there was no proposal on extending the road from Madikeri to Bantwal and that no trees would not be felled. The parliamentarian said the government had not yet taken a decision on widening the Channarayapatna-Arkalgud-Shanivarasanthe-Somwarpet-Madikeri-Virajpet-Makutta road. Tenders have been invited only for carrying out a feasibility study, he added. Simha directed that the work on opening Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras in 104 Gram Panchayats in the district be completed. On Aadhaar, he said corrections could be done at post offices, but the facility would not apply to people from outside the state. This domain was recently registered at Namecheap.com. Please check back later! With India and China agreeing on an expeditious disengagement of troops at Doklam, the 70-day long military stand-off has ended, for now. Bilateral tensions were escalating dangerously since mid-July, with Indian and Chinese troops locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the India-Bhutan-China trijunction at Doklam. Adding fuel to the fire was Chinas bellicose rhetoric. An outbreak of hostilities seemed imminent. Fortunately, saner heads have prevailed. A quiet diplomatic process bore fruit, resulting in the two sides agreeing to pull back their troops. While China has suspended the road-building activity in Doklam, which set off the tensions in the first place, it has not come around to accepting Indias position on the border in the Sikkim area. Beijing has said it will continue to uphold sovereignty and would review its road plan, taking into account factors such as weather and terrain. It agreed to disengage now only because it is hosting the BRICS summit next week and is keen to have India participate in it and make it a success. Additionally, the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is coming up in October. In the face of Chinese provocations, India did well to stand its ground. Delhi has sent out a strong message to Beijing that it will not buckle under Chinese bullying. Additionally, India acted maturely by not getting into a mud-slanging match with the Chinese. The restraint was commendable. It has also done well to avoid gloating over the disengagement. But while the de-escalation will prompt Delhi to heave a sigh of relief, India cannot lower its guard. Also, the Narendra Modi government may be tempted to see the end of the Doklam crisis as a vindication that its muscular approach to its neighbours, including China, works. That would be a foolhardy reading of the crisis and its end. By agreeing to disengage troops, Beijing and Delhi have only agreed to disagree for now. The Doklam crisis should serve as a wake-up call to Delhi and Beijing. Hitherto, they patted themselves on the back for the peace and tranquillity they had maintained along their disputed border. The Doklam crisis indicates that this calm was ephemeral; at the first sign of trouble, a crisis erupted and escalated. What happened to the CBMs put in place and hotlines established to prevent such escalation? The Special Representatives framework for settling border disputes has fallen short, as China contends that it does not cover the Sikkim sector dispute. Yet, the lesson from Doklam for both is that war is not an option, dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward. It is time the two sides explored new institutional mechanisms to keep the peace. Three Union ministers submitted their resignations on Thursday ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle. Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra and Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Balyan submitted their resignations. A source said BJP president Amit Shah had called five more ministers, including Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, and told them that the prime minister wanted them to resign. The source said that the Cabinet reshuffle may take place either on Saturday or Sunday before Modi leaves for Beijing to attend the BRICS summit. The prime minister will visit Myanmar for two days beginning September 5. Also, President Ram Nath Kovind will not be in the national capital on Friday. If reshuffle does not happen in this window, then it may take place after Navaratri, which begins on September 21. The days between September 5 and September 21 is considered inauspicious. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had dropped hints that he wont be defence minister for long as a reshuffle was on the cards. When asked to comment about the reshuffle, Jaitley said, At least I hope not very long to continue as defence minister. Modi had held several rounds of consultations with Shah and other top leaders as the Cabinet rejig is also being seen as a performance audit. Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendranath Pandey has offered to resign following the partys decision to make him the Uttar Pradesh BJP president. Apart from Jaitley, other ministers who are holding additional charges may have to offload the burden as this is expected to be the large major exercise before Modi seeks a fresh mandate in 2019. The reshuffle is expected to bring in fresh faces to infuse new energy into the government. The reshuffle will also take into account the BJPs focus in the poll-bound states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Modi will also draft leaders from the JD(U) into his team after the party returned to the NDA fold. The BJPs Maharashtra ally, the Shiv Sena, is likely to get another berth. But as per Article 72 of the Constitution, it can go up to 82 since it says that the council of ministers shall not exceed 15% of the number of members in the Lok Sabha. Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary on Thursday scotched all the speculative reports of an imminent split in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state and termed media news as 'baseless'. Shortly after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi earlier in the day, where Choudhary was accompanied by CLP leader Sadananad Singh and Bihar in-charge C P Joshi, besides AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Bihar Congress chief said: "All is well. The reports of a split in Bihar Congress are purely figment of someones imagination." The denial comes barely hours after Sonia summoned top state leaders to enquire about the alleged poaching by the ruling party the JD(U). At least four Congress MLAs Vinay Verma, Anil Kumar, Poonam Yadav and Manohar Singh were in the JD(U) before they were asked by Nitish to contest on Congress ticket in the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections. The Congress, which has 27 MLAs in the Assembly, is in a dilemma whether it should play second fiddle to scam-tainted Lalu Prasad's RJD, or chart out its own independent strategy to get a foothold in the caste-ridden state. At least six upper caste Congress MLAs are reportedly in favour of joining Nitish camp, but with the sword of anti-defection law looming large, they have stayed put. To escape disqualification under anti-defection law, the rebel Congress leaders should have at least 18 out of 27 MLAs under its fold to effect a split and join JD(U). Though the JD(U) says it's not "an impossible number", the Congress feels it's an uphill task. A few days ago, Sonia Gandhi had dispatched her trusted emissary Jyotiraditya Scindia to Patna "to assess and quell the rebellion, if any". But Thursday call by the Congress chief in New Delhi was precisely because of an unexpected development two days ago here in the state capital. While most of the ministers in the grand alliance government, including Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, were asked to vacate their official ministerial bungalows, two former ministers from Congress, Ashok Choudhary and Awadhesh Singh, were allowed to continue in their bungalows. This added grist to the rumour mill that some sort of poaching was on at the behest of the ruling camp. By Charles P. Pierce 30 August 2017 (Esquire) It is the Christian thing to do in the middle of tragedies like the one currently unfolding along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf coast not to politicize human suffering and, certainly, the stories of people rescuing their fellow citizens from this calamity deserve to be told and they deserve to be spread as widely as possible. But there is nothing I can find in the Gospels that would forbid us from politicizing politics. So let us summon the ghost of Walter Winchell and review some of the events of the past few days.Item: In Crosby, Texas, there is a place called the Arkema chemical plant where they work with something called organic peroxides. This plant is located amid a residential and business district where, remarkably, human beings live and work. If the cooling systems in the plant fail, as they apparently have, these organic peroxides can explode. A 1.5 mile radius around the plant has been evacuated.Item: Houston is home to a great number of SuperFund sitesat least a dozen in Harris County alonebecause, what the hell, they have to be somewhere, right, and some place has to be the Petrochemical Capital Of America? From the WaPo: With its massive petroleum and chemical industry, Houston, part of the Chemical Coast, presents a huge challenge in a major flooding event, said Mathy Stanislaus, who oversaw the federal Superfund program throughout the Obama administration. Typically the EPA tries to identify Superfund sites in a major storms path to shore up the active operations and minimize seepage from sites, Stanislaus said. This is not the time to dictate; its the time to work together well with state and local officials to think about needs that need to be met. Item: In Baytown, there is a Chevron Phillips petrochemical facility in a place called Cedar Bayou. As you might have guessed from that name, the facility is, at present, fish food. ExxonMobil has similar problems, which it is involuntarily sharing with its fellow Texans and will be for some time. []Item: Repeatedly over the past 15 years, the Texas legislature refused to pass any plan to adapt the affected infrastructure as long as that legislation contained any reference to climate change. (The climate crisis, of course, is the thing that makes storms like Harvey the most predictable of all). As the International Business Times reports: Burnam proposed his climate adaptation plan bill in 2009, 2011 and 2013. (The Texas legislature meets only every other year.) All three bills died in committee, either never coming up for a vote or making it out of one committee but, in a procedural sleight of hand, never being placed on the legislative calendar by the Republican-controlled Calendars committee. The bill would have required most major agencies in Texas to create a plan that included a climate change vulnerability assessment and review their programs and plan for how to complete their missions in light of changing climate conditions. That list of agencies includes the states Department of Housing, Department of Public Safety and Health and Human Services, all of which were caught off-guard by the scale of Harveys destruction. In 2007, Burnam also proposed a global warming task force that would have created a report studying the global warming challenges and opportunities facing Texas including protecting public health from the effects of global warming. That bill never was never voted on in the Energy Resources committee. The governor of Texas at that time was Rick Perry, who now is the Secretary of Energy, not that hes apparently doing anything there.And, finally,Item: Houston has been a flooding calamity waiting to happen for decades. The local and state governments stubbornly have refused to prepare it for a perfectly predictable meteorological catastrophe. Between its wild west zoning practices, its lascivious and unregulated romance with the petrochemical industry, and the fundamental facts of its underlying geology, the fourth-largest city in America essentially has sprawled itself across a dry lake bed, the consequences of which, we are finding out now, include the discovery that political obstinance, like water, inevitably finds its own level. From the L.A. Times: Surgery may be the best way to treat an artery condition in people with type 1 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden say their research provides them with more clarity on the best way to treat atherosclerosis in people with type 1 diabetes. They compiled their findings after following up with people with type 1 diabetes who underwent a non-surgical operation called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between 1995 and 2013. PCI involves using a stent to open up the hearts blood vessels which have narrowed because of plaque build-up. They found those who had participated in the procedure were at a 45 per cent higher risk of suffering from fatal heart disease and had a 47 per cent higher chance of risk of having a heart attack compared to those who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Further treatment was also required for those who underwent PCI at a later date, the researchers said. Guidance has always been unclear regarding the use of CABG to widen heart arteries in people with type 1 diabetes, but these findings support the surgerys benefits. Martin Holzman, researcher at Karolinska Institutets Department of Medicine in Solna, said: Since type 1 diabetes is a different disease with different complications, its never been given that the treatment should be the same as with type 2 diabetes. The results suggest that CABG should also be the preferred procedure for patients with type 1 diabetes and two or more diseased coronary vessels, as currently stated in guidelines for diabetes patients. PCI is easier to perform and isnt so invasive for the patient, so there are arguments in favour of this method too. The study authors found that the relative number of CABG procedures declined during this study period, and hope their findings will impact future decision-making in this field. The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. IFA 2017: Lenovo Star Wars AR headset Lenovo and Disney have jointly unveiled Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, a new augmented reality Star Wars product. Jedi Challenges features a smartphone-powered Lenovo Mirage AR headset, Tracking Beacon, and Lightsaber controller. The product is compatible with both Android phones and iPhones, according to the vendor. Players will hone their Jedi talents across a variety of augmented reality-based experiences, each offering multiple levels of deep and immersive gameplay, according to Lenovo. To guide the player on this journey, Jedi Challenges will introduce an all-new Star Wars character, the Archivist. The Archivist instructs players in the ways of the Force and the knowledge of the Jedi. Throughout these challenges, users will train to perfect their lightsaber skills by taking on some of the most menacing villains the dark side has to offer, command armies in combat missions to defeat the Empire, and outwit their opponents in Holochess, all in augmented reality. Users start by downloading the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges app onto their compatible phone and sliding the phone into the tray of the Lenovo Mirage AR headset, which will provide full gaming immersion. The headset also comes with a Tracking Beacon, which is placed on the floor and acts as a stable base for the headset's sensors to detect the user' movement during gameplay. Equipped with two built-in fisheye sensors to provide inside-out positional tracking, the headset allows for free and natural motion for the player to move around. The headset pairs with a Lightsaber controller, modeled after the one wielded by Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, and Rey. Designed to be a key part of the experience, the Lightsaber acts as a controller and pointer, allowing players to navigate the user interface, with all controls, actions and commands activated with a simple two-button configuration. Subscriber content preview Some business owners say they fear an influx of stoner tourists will ruin the atmosphere in the quirky tourist town of Talkeetna. By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press TALKEETNA, Alaska The presence of a marijuana retail store has caused a deep divide in this quirky tourist town, where hundreds of visitors roam the streets daily browsing in art galleries and souvenir shops housed in historic cabins. Most of Talkeetna's stores line the two long blocks that make up its Main Street, where tourists many who arrive in Alaska on cruise ships and are bused about two hours north from Anchorage wander into storefronts like Nagley's General Store for ice cream or slip through its back door for a cold one at the West Rib Bar and Grill. . . . China has invited Egypt, Kenya, Tajikistan, Mexico, Thailand and Guinea as guest countries for the upcoming BRICS summit but clarified that the invitation is not an attempt to expand the group under its 'BRICS Plus' approach. China will host the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Xiamen city from 3 to 5 September in which leaders of the five countries will participate, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. China reportedly had to abort its attempt to create a permanent BRICS Plus after resistance from the other members of the bloc, including India, who apprehend a dilution of BRICS's goals if other counties, including Beijing's close allies, are brought in. Interestingly, Pakistan, regarded as China's closest ally, is not among the countries Beijing invited, which represent five different continents and play a key role in China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) programme that involves construction of transport networks across dozens of countries. "We need to have some further explanation about the BRICS Plus to help people better understand the rationale of this idea," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the media in Beijing. Wang has been floating the 'BRICS Plus' approach since March this year. Explaining this approach, Wang said the member countries have been inviting different countries during the annual summits of the group. He referred to India's decision to invite leaders of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic) initiative - in which Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal are members - for last year's Goa summit. Wang also referred to Russia, Brazil and South Africa inviting their neighbouring countries when they hosted the BRICS summits. "So actually this has been a practice that we have for number of years and this time, inspired by the experiences of previous BRICS leaders meeting, we have invited some countries for dialogue," he said. Referring to the Goa summit, Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping also attended the dialogue with BIMSTEC leaders and respected and supported the initiative of Prime Minister Modi. "That dialogue was very effective," he said, replying to a question seeking explanation about China's 'BRICS Plus' concept and whether it has support of all other members, as the bloc takes decisions on consensus. "Our practice is little bit different, we are not just inviting countries in our neighbourhood, but also countries from all around the world that are interested in BRICS mechanism, altogether five countries have been invited," he said. "I want to stress that this is the arrangement for this year, and doesn't mean that these five countries will always be invited to BRICS meetings in future," he said. China's invitation to the five countries has been supported by the leaders of the four other countries including India, Wang said. "We have given a name to this practice of inviting non-BRICS countries, that is BRICS Plus, but as to how many countries that are going to be invited as Plus countries, it is not a fixed number," he said. The guest countries will be decided by the host country, he said, adding that BRICS Plus acts with the aim and purpose of the dialogue which is consistent. "We want to broaden the discussion to non-BRICS countries as well. I am confident that the dialogue this year will also be a success and also help expand BRICS influence. This is not only consistent with the interests of BRICS members but also meets the common aspirations of emerging markets and developing countries," Wang said. On concerns that only India and China have been registering faster growth in the BRICS bloc while the economies of Russia, Brazil and South Africa remained sluggish, he said their recovery is not easy as the world economic recovery is sluggish and the impact of the international financial crisis is still lingering. "The five BRICS countries have maintained economic growth to different degrees. You mentioned that China and India are growing relatively faster than the rest three countries. They actually have recovered growth and enjoy a bright prospect," Wang said. RBI report does not give any indication of the high-value counterfeit currencies, officially estimated at Rs3,00,000 crore to Rs5,00,000 crore, that have not flown back to bank vaults Official estimates put the amount of counterfeit currency that was in circulation before the demonetisation move at anywhere between Rs3,00,000 crore and Rs5,00,000 crore, while the actual amount could be far greater. Expectedly, such notes have effectively been held back from depositing with banks or even destroyed during the remonetisation exercise or are still being held by criminals and anti-socials hoping to recirculate these through some channels some day. It is also possible that part of the fake notes deposited with banks have passed off as genuine currency and those still stashed away may also include genuine bank notes held by black money holders. Opponents of the demonitisation exercise say the RBI numbers put to rest the Narendra Modi government's claims that the move helped to cleanse the system of black money. ''Until June 30, 2017, SBNs [specified bank notes] were received by the Reserve Bank either directly or from bank branches / post offices through the currency chest mechanism. Some of these SBNs are still lying in the currency chests. The value of the SBNs received by the currency chests has been credited to the banks' account on ''said to contain basis''. Till such time these notes are processed by the Reserve Bank for their numerical accuracy and authenticity, only an estimation of SBNs received back is possible. Subject to future corrections based on verification process when completed, the estimated value of SBNs received as on June 30, 2017 is Rs.15.28 trillion,'' the RBI report states From the reports / data earlier published by RBI, currency in Rs1,000 and Rs500 denomination in circulation was at Rs15,44,000 crore. (685.78 crore of Rs1,000 notes and 1,716.51 crore of Rs500 notes, amounting separately to Rs685,782 crore and Rs858,253 crore, respectively). Taking into consideration, the value of SBNs now reported to have been counted, approximately 98.96 per cent of SBNs in value terms have come back to the RBI after demonetisation. This means that only an estimated Rs16,000 crore worth of SBNs have not come back to the RBI so far. The RBI annual report said that ''subject to future corrections based on verification process when completed,'' the estimated value of the banned notes it ''received'' was Rs15,28,000 crore. This compares with the Rs15,44,000 crore of the invalidated notes that were in circulation as of 8 November, according to data provided by minister of state for finance Arjun Meghwal to Parliament on 21 January (See: RBI says 99% of scrapped notes have returned into system.) Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise announcement of the invalidation of old high-value currency notes on 8 November, estimates suggested that around Rs3,00,000 would not return to the banking system because it was unaccounted or black money. While defending demonetisation in the Supreme Court in November, then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said around Rs4,00,000 crore to Rs5,00,000 crore would probably not find its way back into the system. By December, though, it was clear that tax evaders had managed to legalise their unaccounted money using mules and proxies to make deposits, made high-value purchases using back-dated bills and colluded with bank officials to exchange old currency. With RBI's data showing that most of the money has returned to the system, the opposition was quick to criticise the government. The Congress said RBI's report was proof that demonetisation had ''utterly failed''. Measuring the success of demonetisation on the basis of how much cash has come into the system shows ''an inadequate understanding'', finance minister Arun Jaitley said. ''The fact that the entire demonetised money has come back shows black money has been accounted for completely. In that sense, demonetisation has been a success,'' said R. Gandhi, former deputy governor of RBI. It is now up to the tax department to do its job, he added. In January, the government decided to use data analytics to identify people whose deposits didn't match their known sources of income. In his Independence Day speech this year, Prime Minister Modi said that more than Rs 1.75 trillion deposited in banks after demonetisation was under the scanner. ''The trail of deposits'' of bank notes ''into bank accounts may provide valuable information to the revenue authorities in tracing unaccounted money'', RBI said in its annual report. Interestingly, RBI's annual report shows a spike in the number of so-called suspicious transaction reports filed by banks, financial institutions and intermediaries. Banks filed 361,214 such reports in 2016-17, up from 61,361 the previous year. This is evidence that people have been forced to deposit money ''illegitimately lying with them'', Jaitley said in a press briefing after the release of the RBI annual report. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the major objectives of demonetisation was a ''less cash economy'', digitization, formalisation of the economy, widening the tax base, curbing terror financing, tracking black money, and clamping down on counterfeit currency, which had been met. ''The effect of demonetisation in all these areas have been extremely positive,'' he added. A retired RTE librarian was found dead in her home at least three days after she died from a fall an inquest has heard. Letterkenny coroners court heard Frances McLaughlin (72) was found dead at her home at I Harvey House in Letterkenny on January 11th last. The inquest found that her death was caused by a fractured femur which had been followed by cardiac failure. The coroner's court heard that she had been there for at least three days. Sean McLaughlin, a nephew of the deceased and a member of An Garda Siochana, told the inquest that he had been informed by a colleague that there had been an incident involving his aunt. He made his way to her home where he was met by his aunt and uncle, Paul and Veronica Trayers. When he arrived at the scene at around 4pm he found Ms McLaughlin lyingon her back in the sitting room dressed for bed. He said Ms McLaughlin had lived most of her adult life in Dublin where she worked for RTE and and had moved home about three years before her death to be close to family. He said she had been in good health and her death was a shock to everyone who knew her. A statement was read into the record at the inquest from Paul Trayers, a brother-in-law of the deceased, who passed away at the weekend. The statement said he and his wife Veronica had gone to check on Frances as they had not heard from her for a number of days. They met an employee of the letting agents at Frances's home. They walked into the house and found Frances lying on the sitting room floor. The statement said they had not seen Frances since December 26th when he had left her home after she had spent Christmas at their home. He said he was not aware she had been to the doctor since she had returned to Donegal. Veronica Trayers said her sister had been in good form when she had been speaking to her earlier in the week. Dr Katriona Dillon, consultant histopathologist at Letterkenny University Hospita,l said Ms McLaughlin had a soft tissue injury to her left hip. No alcohol or drugs were found in her system. Dr Dillon said death was due to a fracture to the left femur and cardiac failure was a significant factor. She said she didn't know for sure if the fall caused the cardiac failure or cardiac failure caused the fall. She said it was very hard to say how long the death had taken place before Ms McLaughlin had been discovered. Ms McLaughlin could have been there for at least three days or up to ten days before she was discovered, she said. Coroner Denis McCauley returned a verdict of accidental death caused by a fracture of the left femur and cardiac arrest. The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths: - Patricia O Brien, Sligo/Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh - Annie Travers, Laghey - Peggy Rodgers, Meenacrieve, Annagry - Ned Coyle, Downings/Glasgow - Paul Trayers, Sessiaghoneill, Ballybofey - Jim Price, Binnion Avenue,Letterkenny - Peter Boyle, Arduns, Gweedore - Nuala Molloy, Main Street, Killybegs - Patricia O'Brien, Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh - John Gavigan, Dundrum and Altnagapple, Ardara Patricia O Brien, Sligo/Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh The death has taken place in Cregg House, Sligo of Patricia O Brien, late of Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh and Sligo. Her remains arriving at her late residence Lower Dunmore today, Thursday August 31st at approximately 3.30pm. Funeral mass on Friday, September 1st, at 12 noon in St Finans Church, Falcarragh with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Rosary tonight night, Thursday at 9pm. House private from 11pm and on the morning of the funeral. Family flowers only please, donations in lieu if desired to Cregg House, Sligo c/o any family member or Carton Funeral Directors, Falcarragh. Annie Travers, Laghey The death has occurred of Annie Travers, nee Gallagher, late of Greagh Barr, Laghey. Her remains will be reposing at the home from 6pm on Wednesday evening with removal at 7pm to arrive at St. Bridgets Church, Ballintra at 7.30pm. Funeral Mass on Thursday at 11am with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu if desired to Aras Mhic Shuibhne Patients Comfort Fund, c/o any family member or Martin Gallagher funeral director, Laghey, 086 354 7875. Peggy Rodgers, Meenacrieve, Annagry The death has taken place in Dungloe District Hospital in her 100th year of Peggy Rodgers, Peggy Briney Sheain, late of Meenacrieve, Annagry. Removal from Mc Glynns Funeral Home at 6.30pm on Wednesday evening, August 30th going to the Star of the Sea Church, Annagry for 7pm, to repose overnight. Funeral mass on Thursday morning, at 11am with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Ned Coyle, Downings/Glasgow The death has occurred of Ned Coyle, formerly of Rapplagh, Downings. His remains reposing at his brother Michaels residence. Funeral on Thursday morning August 31st, going to the Church of St John the Baptist, Carrigart for Requiem Mass at 11am, followed by interment in Meevagh cemetery. Family time from 11pm to 11am. Paul Trayers, Sessiaghoneill, Ballybofey The death has taken place of retired Garda sergeant, Paul Trayers, Sessiaghoneill, Ballybofey and formerly Curragh, Cloonminda, Glenamaddy, County Galway. Remains reposing at his late residence. Funeral leaving his home at 10.40am on Thursday, August 31st, for requiem Mass at 11am in St. Mary's Church, Sessiaghoneill, with interment afterwards in the adjoining churchyard. Family time from 11pm to 10am and on the morning of the funeral. Jim Price, Binnion Avenue,Letterkenny The death has occurred of Jim Price, late of 10 Binnion Avenue, Circular Road, Letterkenny. Remains reposing at his late residence. Funeral from there on Thursday, August 31st, at 12.15pm, going to St Eunans Cathedral for 1pm funeral mass, followed by interment in New Leck cemetery. Family time from 11pm to 11am and on the morning of the Funeral. Family flowers only, donations in lieu if desired to the Donegal Hospice c/o any family member. Peter Boyle, Arduns, Gweedore The death has taken place of Peter Boyle, Arduns, Gweedore. Remains reposing at the family home. Funeral Mass in St. Marys Church, Derrybeg on Friday morning, September 1st, at 11am followed by burial in Magheragallen Cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu to the Gweedore Day Centre. Rosary both nights at 9pm. House private from 10pm to 10am. Nuala Molloy, Main Street, Killybegs The death has occurred of Nuala Molloy, Main Street, Killybegs. Remains reposing at the residence of her niece Patricia Flaherty. Removal tomorrow Thursday at 6 30pm to St.Mary's Church Killybegs for 7pm. Funeral Mass on Friday at 11am with burial afterwards in the local cemetery. Family time for 11pm to 11am please. Breedge Montgomery, Tirlaughan, Carrigart The death has taken place of Breedge Montgomery, Tirlaughan, Carrigart. Reposing at her late residence. Removal on Thursday, August 31st, to the Church of St John the Baptist for Requiem Mass at 1pm followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. House strictly private please, except to neighbours and friends. Patricia O'Brien, Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh The death has taken place in Cregg House, Sligo of Patricia O Brien, daughter of Frank O Brien, Lower Dunmore, Falcarragh. Her remains arriving at her late residence Lower Dunmore tomorrow, Thursday 31st August at approx 3.30pm. Funeral mass on Friday, September 1st at 12 noon in St Finans Church, Falcarragh with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Rosary tomorrow night, Thursday 31st August at 9pm. House private from 11pm and on the morning of the funeral. Family flowers only please, donations in lieu if desired to Cregg House, Sligo c/o any family member or Carton Funeral Directors, Falcarragh. John Gavigan, Dundrum and Altnagapple, Ardara The death has occurred of John Gavigan, Dundrum, Dublin and formerly Altnagapple, Ardara. A memorial Mass will be celebrated in The Church Of The Holy Family Ardara on Friday morning, 1st September at 10am. If you wish to have a death notice included here, email us at editorial@donegaldemocrat.com. Please include a telephone number for verification. A Donegal man facing rape charges has had his bail terms altered so that he can attend two music festivals in the UK. The man in his twenties previously appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with two counts of rape at an address in Letterkenny on July 29th, 2016. He appeared at Letterkenny District Court today where an application was made before Judge Deirdre Gearty to have the mans bail conditions varied so that he can attend the two events. Counsel for the accused, Ivan Toner (BL), told Judge Gearty the accused is due to be working at the two festivals. The application was made so that the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, can attend the two events and be excused from signing on at his local Garda station. The application also included the return of his passport which had been handed over to gardai. Garda Inspector Goretti Sheridan agreed to the bail variations. The judge ordered that his passport be returned to him and that it be relodged with gardai when he returns to the county. The man will be allowed to be out of the country for a total of eight days for the two festivals. At a previous hearing Judge Gearty remanded the accused on bail with a cash lodgement of 2,000. He was also ordered to surrender his passport, provide a mobile phone number, continue to reside at his home address, sign on three times a week at a Garda station, and have no contact with the alleged victim, her family and witnesses. An application for legal aid from barrister Ivan Toner was granted today. The case was adjourned to September 21st. Just over two years ago a young Donegal student was suffering from severe bouts of anxiety and depression. Tonight she steps on to the stage in the prestigious Mansion House in Dublin as one of the finalists in the Miss Universe. A truly inspirational story. The Democrat met up with Kayleigh Hone from Clar, outside Donegal Town after noticing a posting on Facebook. It read, My nerves are finally getting to me - to think I will be competing in the Mansion house in Dublin in the Miss Universe Ireland competition in a bikini in front of hundreds is incredible. If someone would have told me 3 years ago (or even 3 months ago) I would be doing this I would have laughed at them. Inspired by these heartfelt words we met up with Kayleigh in the stunning Harveys Point after she returned from Portugal earlier this week. From a shy, anxious girl with no confidence and suffering from depression that couldn't go into a shop on her own without tearing up or having an anxiety attack, from missing a lot of school because she didn't like facing people, to a Miss Universe Ireland finalist, she came a long way and now hopes to inspire and help people suffering from anxiety or any other mental health issues to battle through it and never give up. My confidence was improving and one of my friends asked me to take part in a little bit of modelling locally. I was terrified but I found that it was yet another tool in my recovery" - Kayleigh Hone. Photo Matt Britton. "Dark place to be" She recalled, I had a totally normal childhood, no major traumas and a great family but in my Leaving Cert year this whole anxiety thing just hit me. There was no real reason, it wasnt one of those reactive situations, it just came out of nowhere. I cannot really say it was exam stress - I was quite focused on my ambition to be a veterinary nurse. I suppose it was a very dark place to be - I didnt want to get out of bed, to meet or talk with anyone. I had totally lost my confidence and self esteem. In reality I just couldnt cope. People would say, 'Come on Kayleigh, perk yourself up' - they didnt understand. I just wasnt able to. You just feel so alone in these situations. Kayleigh battled on and tried to keep up the facade of the smiling face, but it was all just becoming too much. She dropped out of school and cut off contact with a lot of her friends. Her mobile often was her only contact with the outside world. Eventually she built up the courage to talk and naturally her mother was her first choice, it was then that the necessary medical intervention started to kick in. She was diagnosed with both anxiety and depression and put on medication coupled with counselling. Her school the Abbey Vocational School were informed of the situation and could not have been more helpful. Kayleigh continued, It was difficult at the start but at least I knew that I was no longer alone with my condition, I realised it was OK not to feel OK and that it was perfectly normal to talk to trusted people. Things started to improve - I put in an awful lot of walking - along the beaches, whatever and bringing out my five dogs. Yes, I said five - these animals really helped me through my condition in the early days. I could talk to them, they would listen without criticism, they were totally non judge-mental. These were some of the little things I did to battle this illness. My confidence was improving and one of my friends asked me to take part in a little bit of modelling locally. I was terrified but I found that it was yet another tool in my recovery. I was able to dress up in others clothes, get the hair and the make up done - in a way it was as if I was taking on anothers persona, it may have been an escape but it worked for me! Things started to improve - I put in an awful lot of walking - along the beaches, whatever and bringing out my five dogs. Yes, I said five - these animals really helped me through my condition in the early days." With her confidence renewed Kayleigh took herself off to Portugal where she is currently working in the hospitality business. I felt I just had to get away for awhile and find myself - the weather and sunshine was a big factor, it gives you a great lift. Being in the hospitality business affords you the opportunity of meeting and chatting with new people all the time. She added, Yes I still have bad days but I chose to not let my anxiety take me down and I hope to make a difference and by sharing my story with others and hopefully giving them the courage they need to overcome their own mental health issues. In my opinion mental health is something I feel should be talked about a lot more. The more we talk about it the greater the chance of people stepping out and being able to talk to someone about their issues. Talking helps and makes a great difference - we all know the a expression - 'A problem shared is a problem halved'. There is little point in bottling everything up - it just keeps getting worse unless you knock that cap of the bottle. Tonight in the Mansion House is not all about winning, I feel I may have done that already. It is all about my ability to walk up the steps of one of the most prestigious buildings in Dublin with a renewed sense of confidence and the demons left behind. Make no mistake about it - life is a challenge, nobody promised us it was ever going to be easy, but remember there is help out there, never be afraid to grab it. We all need it at some time of our lives. On a final note Kayleigh would like to thank all those who helped her through the difficult times - her parents, family, friends, teachers, just so many and her sponsors who made tonight possible - Get that Trend, The Reveller Bar and Rory MCs in Alvor in Portugal. * Another young Donegal woman, Roisin Gallagher from Falcarragh, also competes in the Miss Universe Ireland finals tonight, see separate story. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A young Donegal woman has climbed Africa's highest mountain to raise funds for an African childrens home. Dubai-based Letterkenny teacher, Nicola ODonnell, conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, at her first attempt. Nicola - a daughter of Patrick ODonnell, Crievesmith, Letterkenny, and Mary McGettigan, Meenreagh, Termon - undertook the dangerous climb in order to raise awareness and funds for a cause close to her heart. The Amani Childrens Home in Moshi, Tanzania, is a safe haven for the many street children of a large municipality of 150,000 people, many of whom live in poverty. It also provides education, counselling and much-needed medical care for these impoverished children and was where Nicola volunteered her time ahead of her ascent. Nicola said climbing Kilimanjaro was something she had always been interested in doing. Before leaving from Dubai she researched the local area and came across the Amani Childrens Home. She got in touch and applied to take part in the homes ambassador scheme and she offered to go and volunteer at the school before her ascent. The home had 55 children in its care when Nicola arrived. Most of them are orphans, their parents having died from Aids or other illnesses. Without the home, many of them would be on the streets. The home looks after the children until they can find homes for them, usually with relatives or family friends. Nicola said doing the climb for the school helped her get to the top of the mountain. It gave me great motivation at times on Kilimanjaro when I thought, What am I doing. This is crazy? It gave me an extra push. Nicola was taken aback by the huge difference in conditions the pupils face at their school compared to her own experience of education in Ireland and Dubai. Its incredible the difference to Dubai and Ireland. Its very, very basic, she said. Basic things like running water, we take for granted. The school had old wooden desks and chairs. The walls are bare and grey and it's not like the schools we attend or work in. Another big problem for Nicola was language. She had prepared some Swahili before she arrived as very few of children speak English. One child that did speak English well was called Mary. She told me her name was Mary, just the same as my mother. I did a project with them about what they wanted to be when they grew up. She said she wanted to be a sister, which was strange to me as very few children in Ireland want to be nuns. But now the home is sending her to a school to train to be a sister. Nicola is back in Letterkenny now for a well-deserved rest before returning to Dubai to continue her teaching and to tell her pupils all about her summers adventures on Kilimanjaro. Three employees of the Jaxon Life Senior Center were commended for their life-saving actions administered to a member of the senior center. Laurie Lewis, Irene Jones, and Vivnetta Isaac administered first aid and the Heimlich Maneuver to a senior center member who was found choking and struggling for air in the bathroom. Parks and Recreation Director Keef Pettis presented them with a humanitarian award and recognized them at a recent meeting of the Eufaula City Council. Pettis said the three women worked together to help save the senior members life who was choking on a piece of gum. Laurie Lewis noted that they had recently taken a CPR class the community center offers. Ill be honest, when (Senior Center Director) Jackie (Hunt) told us that we had to take this class, I didnt want to, said Lewis. But now, Im absolutely glad I did. Aquatics Director Carrie Smith, who organizes the CPR class, was also present at the meeting. Everyone needs to learn how to save a life if someone is choking or bleeding, she said. Everyone should take a CPR class. Other business: Mayor Jack Tibbs reported that the city is close to finalizing an agreement with Alliant Management Systems to manage the hospital once Southeast Alabama Medical Centers agreement runs out. The good thing about going with someone like Alliant, is that they dont have another regional hospital, said Tibbs, who explained that having another major hospital in the area with SAMC, many patients were often referred to the Dothan hospital, with little incentives to grow the local facility. Hopefully, the new people will increase our services in this area, he said. The council authorized the Mayor to execute documents dealing with a Community Development Block Grant for the Edgewood Community. The project could fix approximately 25 homes in that area. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Republicans in the Florida Senate are moving ahead again with an ambitious proposal to boost financial aid for college students. Sen. Bill Galvano filed a bill (SB 4) Wednesday that would require the state to permanently cover 100 or 75 percent of all tuition costs for top high school students who attend a Florida university or college. If it became law it would help about 94,000 students. Legislators scaled back the amount paid by Bright Futures scholarships during the height of the Great Recession. Senate President Joe Negron has promised to restore funding. The Florida Legislature passed a similar bill earlier this year but Gov. Rick Scott vetoed it. Some Bright Futures recipients are getting 100 percent of their tuition paid this school year but the increase is good for just one year. People can be forgiven if they consider that any money mixed up with government and insurance is long gone. Both entities are reputed to have voracious appetites for a dollar. Thats why it came as a pleasant surprise last week when Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver learned at the annual Association of County Commissioners of Alabama conference that the county government would receive more than $160,000 in reimbursements of insurance premiums. An unexpected windfall is always welcome. But this isnt simply the luck of the draw; instead, it represents the countys efforts to reduce claims on workers compensation, liability, and property insurance. County officials credit the changes to the creation of a safety director position in 2010. The director studied how and where accidents occur, and followed up with the creation of policies and acquisition of protective gear to reduce those accidents. Since that time, the countys workers compensation claims plummeted by 75 percent over seven years, and premiums dropped by almost $500,000. Those are stellar results. We applaud the county commission for its decision to institute a safety directors slot, and commend the director, Kelly Crowell, and the countys 401 workers for their efforts to make the county government a safer, more efficient workplace. Good stewardship is appreciated, particularly when the money involved belongs to taxpayers. Several local efforts are underway to help those affected by the flooding in Houston and other places in Texas. Here are a few notes of local interest: Capt. Chris Bryant, Dothan Corps Officer for the Salvation Army, said his office has received an influx of applications from those wanting to volunteer after the local office put out a call for help earlier this week. This area is amazing, Bryant said. Bryant believes the volunteer need will be met from those who have already applied. At least six Salvation Army shelters have been set up in Houston to provide emergency shelter, six feeding centers are operational in the Corpus Christi/Coastal Bend Area. As of mid-day Thursday, the Salvation Army had logged more than 9,000 hours of employee and volunteer service, provided more than 58,000 meals and distributed more than 1,000 comfort kits. Local residents interested in donating to the cause in Texas through the Salvation Army can do so online at helpsalvationarmy.org, by phone by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY, by text by texting STORM to 51555 or by mail by sending checks to The Salvation Army, PO Box 1959, Atlanta, GA, 30301. Please designate Hurricane Harvey on all checks. The law firm of Cherry and Irwin is loading a truck of supplies to send to Houston. The truck is located near the offices at 163 West Main Street. The following items are welcome and the truck will leave when it is full: blankets, tarps, cleaning supplies, plastic totes with lids, pet items/food, baby items, juice boxes, water, toiletry items, canned goods, contractor grade trash bags, towels. Dothan station JOY FM 94.3 is raising funds so the Feed The Hungry organization can send truckloads of supplies to Texas. More information can be found by visiting Alabama.thejoyfm.com. LifeSouth Community Blood Center is asking donors to donate blood this week to be sent to Texas. Type O blood is critically needed. The Dothan center is located at 3833 Ross Clark Circle. For more information, call LifeSouth at 888-795-2707 or visit lifesouth.org. The Columbia Baptist Association and Bethel Baptist Church of Dothan are accepting donations for the Texas flood victims. AMX will send a full truck of supplies to be used through Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Items can be dropped off at Bethel Baptist Church at 3257 East Cottonwood Road. Acceptable items include bottled water, cleaning supplies, disposable diapers and gift cards to Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot or similar stores. Please do not donate clothing items. Donations will be accepted beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, from 1 until 6 p.m. Troy University, as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, is promoting a GoFundMe account set up by the conference. Its proceeds will be distributed to aid organizations helping with hurricane recovery. The address is https://www.gofundme.com/sun-belt-saac-hurricane-relief or search Sun Belt hurricane relief at GoFundMe.com. Nissan has fired its Australian managing director as part of a regional shake-up for the brand. Richard Emery left the manufacturer in a shock departure on Wednesday. He will be replaced by Infiniti's Canadian boss, Stephen Lester, next week. While Infiniti has struggled to gain a foothold in Australia, Emery's departure is more likely linked to Nissan Australia's sales performance, which has dropped by 12.3 per cent for the year to date. Renault Nissan Alliance chief Carlos Ghosn visited Australia in June, telling reporters his group of companies would go on the offensive. Ghosn said Nissan and Mitsubishi could do much better in my opinion, before singling out Nissan for attention. I have a hard time understanding why Nissan cannot hold more than 6 per cent market share in Australia, he said. Nissan's local share of the car market dropped to 4.4 per cent in July, placing it behind Hyundai and Kia. Emery's departure places the brand's motorsport programs in a precarious position, as he was a firm advocate for Nissan's V8 Supercar program as well as its successful Bathurst 12 Hour campaigns. The executive also supported Australian Nissan GT Academy graduate Matthew Simmons in his journey from gamer to racer in Europe's Blancpain Endurance Series. Nissan has struggled for success in Australia's Supercars competition, where it campaigns a V8-powered version of the discontinued Altima sedan. Ford and Volvo have withdrawn manufacturer-backed programs, leaving Nissan and Holden as the only car companies with a stake in the sport. Speaking with Drive at the launch of the Nismo 370Z coupe on Tuesday, Emery told drive that Nissan was not committed to touring car racing beyond 2018. Certainly part of our decision-making will be talking about the future platform for the category, he said. Where is the sport going to be? We need to see four or five years ahead... to have enough confidence that it is worth investing in. There will be a conversation around the category's future, for sure. Emery has a long history in the car industry. The respected executive is a vice president of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, having previously served as the general manager of sales for Mercedes-Benz following stints at Mitsubishi, Audi and Land Rover. John Herrera definitely embraced technology as he again collaborated with Epson Philippines for his 30-piece apparel for women for his Spring/Summer 2018 collection (John Herrera x Epson). The collection, named Armada, will be showcased at the Fashion Scout in September 2017, the international showcase for fashion pioneers and UKs largest independent showcase for emerging and established design talent during the 2017 London Fashion Week. Fresh off his win as Britains Top Designer 2017 (BTD) at the 5th season of fashions finest event for emerging talent in British fashion for his Aguila collection, his first collaboration with Epson, Herrera delves back into history and Philippine pride in creating these new digitally-printed masterpieces. A send-off party for John Herrera was hosted by Epson Philippines at TWG Tea Salon & Boutique at EDSA Shangri-la PLaza Mall where I was able to have the first glimpse on some of the pieces that will be seen at the London Fashion Week runway! The inspiration for the Armada collection came from the very first map in history that included the Philippine islands. This map by Diogo Ribeiro shows the world circa 1529. With the help of Epsons digital textile printing technology, I was able to render parts of this medieval map and present designs on opaque and translucent fabrics. The combination of sheer and stiff materials with soft fabrics create new silhouettes will remind us of sailing to new worlds, explains John Herrera. In a nod to the Spanish colonial heritage, Herrera also enhanced the collection by integrating in the design elements of costume and fashion from the era of King Phillip of Spain, the monarch whom the country was named after. Hues of sepia and brown were combined in the digitally printed fabrics to infuse the feel and look of this historic time. This is the second time that John Herrera has tapped Epsons digital textile printing technologies to create a totally different concept in fashion and design, and we are very happy to collaborate with him once again. As the brand ambassador of Epson Philippines Professional Printers Group, he has truly given us the worlds attention with his ingenious marriage of art and technology. This latest collection called Armada is Johns avant-garde take on our history and roots; a creation that we are confident will put the Philippines on the map once again, said Ed Bonoan, Senior General Manager and Marketing Head, Epson Philippines. Epsons digital textile printing technology enables designers to achieve their artistic vision with advanced technology that understands the intricacies of fabric and design. With this innovation, world-class designers like John Herrera, have successfully translated their vision onto high quality digital textile prints driven by Epsons PrecisionCore printhead technology, one of the fastest inkjet delivery technologies in the world. Its print nozzles deliver ultra-precise control of ink droplets for superior image sharpness across a wide range of ink and media, producing outstandingly vivid and unique prints. The outpouring of support and help from around the country and around the globe to help the people living in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is as astonishing as it is heartwarming. There are a couple that are worth noting because they are the least likely to want to do ANYTHING to help Donald Trumps America. First, Mexico stands ready and willing to help its neighbor: The Mexican government takes this opportunity to express its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States as a result of the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and expresses that it has offered to provide help and cooperation to the US government in order to deal with the impact of this natural disaster as good neighbors should always do in trying times. Not that Resident Trump has actually accepted their help (he hasnt as of now.) But still, its a pretty impressive response given the disgusting, insulting, and embarrassing things Trump has said about Mexico and Mexicans over the past couple of years. The second example is a little less obvious. The Canadian company Resolute Forest Products out of Montreal is sending a train car full of wood products to Houston to help them rebuild: Rail car of lumber ready when Texas tells us where and when. Let's make it a full train and help our neighbors. (1/2)https://t.co/ZzWga1kMHV Resolute FP (@resolutefp) August 28, 2017 So moving to see the Dunkirk of our time. Neighbors helping neighbors. #Texas (2/2) https://t.co/ZzWga1kMHV Resolute FP (@resolutefp) August 28, 2017 Why is this so surprising? Because this summer the Trump administration decided it was time to start a trade war with the Canadian forest products industry. Because much of their stock is harvested from government-owned forests, the Trump administration has decided that they are being subsidized by the Canadian government (who say they are NOT subsidizing the industry) and is imposing tariffs on Canadian wood products: The U.S. will impose further punitive tariffs on imports of softwood lumber from Canada, escalating a longstanding trade dispute thats already led to higher timber prices. Preliminary anti-dumping duties of as much as 7.7 percent will be levied on Canadian producers, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Monday in a statement. The move follows the governments decision in April to slap countervailing tariffs of up to 24.1 percent on shipments from Canadian companies including West Fraser Timber Co. and Canfor Corp. This trade war is already raising costs here in the USA: More than one-third of the lumber in the U.S. is Canadian. In April and June, in the latest salvo in a long-running trade war, the Trump administration added tariffs totaling nearly 27 percent on Canadian lumber. The move will increase lumber prices, add $1,701 to the price of the average single-family home and may already be reducing supply, according to a series of NAHB reports. [] Then theres hardware, flooring, steel molded doors, windows and what builders call finishings, the lighting, wall covering, fireplaces, countertops, appliances and other bells and whistles that go into a U.S. home. Nearly $11 billion worth of electrical equipment and household appliance imports were used in residential construction in 2015, according to the NAHB, which said even a 10 percent duty on those imports would raise the price of a home another $1,000. Despite this, Resolute Forest Products is jumping up to help Americans deal with this catastrophe. Its refreshing to know that our North American neighbors arent as childish and nationalistic as Trump wants America to be. My guess is that they know Americans arent like Trump, not really. Oh, one more thing: Guess who is benefitting from Trumps trade war with Canada? You guessed it: Russia: Russia has emerged as one of the winners from the trade dispute between Canada and the U.S over lumber. The U.S. is importing more softwood lumber from overseas after it slapped tariffs on Canadian supplies, making them more expensive. Russian shipments are 42 per cent higher so far in 2017, according to U.S. government data. It always seems to come back to Russia, doesnt it? [CC image credit: iPhoneDigital | Flickr] Long-term readers of this site probably know about the State Policy Network (SPN). This is the Koch brothers-funded network of state-based think tanks used to spread anti-worker, pro-corporate propaganda with the goal of changing policy and laws in states to favor businesses and to harm the positions of workers. Working with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Americans for Prosperity, two other Koch efforts, they are having a devastating impact on the ability of workers to bargain collectively for better wages, working conditions, and benefits, all an anathema to corporations and their shareholders. SPNs main targets have always been unions but theyre into a LOT of other stuff, as well. Heres what I wrote about them in 2013: The SPN started in 1992 to fight tobacco regulation. Today, it focuses on union busting and the spread of right to work laws, stopping environmental regulation, encouraging the spread of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), privatization of education to for-profit corporations including expanded use of virtual schools (online classes), opposing net neutrality, and shifting the countrys tax burden from corporations to the middle class. But its unions that the SPN is most interested in because they represent both a threat to corporate profits and a major resource both financially and organizationally to Democrats and the progressive movement in general. SPN gets special and favorable tax treatment because they are a 501(c)(3) organization. This status precludes them from engaging in politics. However, that hasnt stopped them from pushing and often CROSSING the lines set forth in the law. This week, The Guardian released a 2016 fundraising document put out by the SPN in a piece titled Rightwing alliance plots assault to defund and defang Americas unions that pulls back the curtain on what the SPNs real goals are, goals that appear to be in clear violation of federal law: Rightwing activists across the US have launched a nationwide campaign to undermine progressive politicians by depriving them of a major source of support and funding public sector unions. A network of conservative thinktanks with outposts in all 50 states has embarked on a breakthrough campaign designed to strike a mortal blow against the American left. The aim is to defund and defang unions representing government employees as the first step towards ensuring the permanent collapse of progressive politics. [] The new assault is being spearheaded by the State Policy Network (SPN), an alliance of 66 state-based thinktanks, or ideas factories as it calls them, with a combined annual budget of $80m. As suggested by its slogan State solutions. National impact the group outlines an aim to construct a rightwing hegemony throughout the US, working from the bottom up. To do that, it first has to sweep aside the public sector unions and their historic ties to Democratic and progressive politicians. In a 10-page fundraising letter, part of a set of documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy and published by the Guardian today for the first time, SPN sets out its mission in frank language that does not disguise its partisan ambitions. The 10-page letter, which you can read HERE, makes it very clear that taking down government employee unions is their primary focus and that the intent is to harm Democrats the Left political position. Here are some of the more damning statements: Describes the $8 million breakthrough campaign as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reverse the failed policies of the American left We are primed, right now, to deliver the mortal blow to permanently break its stranglehold on our society. to permanently break its stranglehold on our society. I write today to share with you our bold plans to permanently break the power of government unions this year . Plans that I believe will deal a major blow to the Lefts ability to control government . Plans that I believe will deal a to the Lefts ability to control government We defund and defang one of our freedom movements most powerful opponents, the government unions The document uses the word freedom no less than 42 times in its ten pages. Thats no coincidence. When Right to Work was passed in Michigan, the effort was a beta testing of the rebranded phrase Freedom to Work. In other words, Michigan, through its SPN affiliate Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has been a major incubator for the SPNs work. Itll come as no surprise to you that the Mackinac Center is highly funded by both the Koch brothers and the notorious DeVos family. Heres how Mother Jones Andy Kroll described how Right to Work got passed in Michigan: A week before the lame duck began, on November 20, 2012, DeVos and Weiser met with members of the Republican leadership, business bigwigs, and the top legislative aide to Gov. Snyder to pitch their plan. Snyder and the GOP leadership were still queasy, fearing a Wisconsin-style revolt; where the protesters in Madison had ultimately failed, in Michigan, a labor stronghold, they just might prevail. There was all this hemming and hawing, says one attendee. What do you guys need to hear? DeVos asked. What can we do to help? A plan, came the reply. A plan showing that they wouldnt be committing political suicide. [Greg] McNeilly, DeVos political adviser, took the floor. He had recently formed a nonprofit group called the Michigan Freedom Fund. It planned to raise millions from the DeVos family and other donors. McNeillys pollster was testing DeVos freedom-to-work message statewide. And the group was plotting a statewide ad blitz to give air cover to Republican lawmakers. By the time McNeilly finished talking, the mood in the room had shifted from apprehensive to optimistic. Sitting around that table we felt like a rag-tag grouping of Davids, in the historic Biblical story, DeVos told me in an email. But we left the table committed to doing our best to change Michigans future for the better. [] In early December, the Michigan Freedom Fund unleashed its freedom-to-work ad campaign. The group also enlisted GOP pollster and communications guru Frank Luntz to help craft a message bible that was distributed to every Republican state lawmaker for use during the right-to-work push; it included prepackaged answers to potential questions from constituents and reporters. The Guardians piece spells out SPNs potential violation of federal tax law: SPNs disclosure of its political and partisan objectives in the new documents could arouse the interest of investigators from the Internal Revenue Service. The group is constituted as a 501(c)(3) organisation, which renders it exempt as a charity from taxation. Marc Owens, a partner with Loeb & Loeb who worked as an IRS lawyer specializing in charitable tax exemptions, said that the provision was designed for charitable purposes, not for lobbying against public sector unions or for activities to influence the outcome of elections. A charity that does those things is not engaging in charitable activities and that puts its tax exempt status in jeopardy, he said. If you want to see how the SPN is training people around the country to attack and destroy unions, have a look at their 24-page State Workplace Freedom Toolkit HERE. If you want to know more about the SPN, I encourage you to read Lee Fangs piece, The Right Leans In. For an even more in-depth look into this vast corporatist network, read Fangs book The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right. I reviewed this important book HERE and interviewed Fang about it HERE. Its important to understand what we are up against. Democrats and progressives in general are being massively outspent by corporate front groups funded by families like the Kochs and the DeVoses. More importantly, they have been at this for so long that they have created a massive network that pervades our media and our government. While I am not particularly hopeful that it will happen under the Trump administration, perhaps this audacious SPN fundraising letter that shamelessly admits their political goals and approaches will lead to them eventually losing their favorable tax status. Heres how Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, characterizes the situation, particularly as it pertains to Michigan and the SPN affiliate Mackinac Center: Hopefully this report will give some clarity to citizens and the press in Michigan about what the Mackinac Center is really about. They are part of a national, anti-union front group designed to build power for the right-wing in this country. They claim to stand for freedom, but theyre no better than the strikebreakers and union busters of generations past. They represent wealthy corporate interests like the DeVos family who dont want working people banding together and gaining power. Now we have proof of that in their own words. The Mackinac Center likes to pretend theyre about advancing liberty and choices for people in Michigan. But theyve been on the front lines of breaking unions, pushing disastrous emergency manager policies, and forcing ineffective charter school experiments on our kids for years. Theyve made life harder for working people so their wealthy bosses can live just a bit more comfortably. Weve known they are a corporate front group for years, but now there is no denying it with a document saying so in their own words. For now, you can expect the SPN to continue to pitch their anti-union messages in terms that make them sound like they are FOR workers when, as Lonnie Scott spells out so well, it is very clear they dont give a damn about workers. What they care about is corporate profits. But theyll use pro-worker rhetoric to convince union members that there is a distinction between themselves and the unions that represent them at the bargaining table when the truth is the unions ARE the workers and any attack on unions is an attack on workers themselves. At the end of the day, the SPNs goal is to diminish those who support workers Democrats and to make sure they dont have the political power to represent workers interests at any level of our government or our society. In a stunning twist, U.S. authorities this week arrested a British cyber-researcher credited with stopping the spread of the WannaCry ransomware virus on charges he helped develop and deploy the Kronos banking trojan that attacked financial institutions around the world in 2014. Following a two-year investigation, a federal grand jury in Wisconsin last month handed down a six-count indictment against Marcus Hutchins, a resident and citizen of the UK who operated under the name Malwaretech, according to U.S. Attorney Gregory Haansted, who oversees the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Hutchins was arrested Wednesday at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, where he had been attending the Def Con hacking conference. The charges include one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, three counts of distributing and advertising an electronic communication interception device, one count of endeavoring to intercept electronic communications, and one count of attempting to access a computer without authorization. Origin Story Hutchins created the Kronos malware, prosecutors have alleged. A video showing the functionality of the Kronos banking trojan was posted to a publicly available website in July 2014, according to a copy of a sealed indictment the U.S. District Court posted July 12. A defendant, whose name is blacked out, used the video to show how Kronos worked, the indictment says. A defendant, again with the name blacked out, offered to sell the Kronos banking trojan for US$3,000. Defendants whose names were blacked out updated the Kronos malware early 2015, according to the indictment. In April of that year, a defendant with a name blacked out allegedly advertised the malware on the AlphaBay market forum. In June 2015, a version of the Kronos malware was sold on the forum for $2,000 in digital currency. In July 2015, a defendant with the name blacked out offered cryptying services for Kronos that is, computer code used to shield the malware from antivirus software, the indictment states. Kronos was an ongoing threat; in late 2016, the Kelihos botnet was observed trying to load Kronos using an email phishing campaign. A Russian national, Peter Yuryevich Levashov, 36, was arrested in Barcelona this April on U.S. federal charges related to his alleged operation of Kelihos. The Justice Department last month announced that AlphaBay, which is considered the largest criminal marketplace on the dark Web, was shut down following an international investigation. Alpha Bay had been used to sell everything from fentanyl and heroin to weapons, chemicals, stolen identification documents and hacking tools. Authorities last month arrested Alexandre Cazes, a Canadian national living in Thailand, on charges he helped create and administer the site, but he reportedly took his own life while in Thai custody. Arrest Fallout Hutchins this spring was hailed as an international hero after he located the kill switch to end the WannaCry ransomware attack that had locked up thousands of computers across the globe. However, his arrest does not appear to be directly related to WannaCry, said Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud security at Trend Micro. The current case is particularly interesting because the charges indicate the arrest is based on the creation of Kronos, not its use, he said. Basically, its saying that the only possible use of the software was malicious, Nunnikhoven told the E-Commerce Times. Additional activity has been detected related to the WannaCry ransomware attack, specifically that the bitcoin wallet used in the attack had been emptied, noted James Pleger, managing director of global threat intelligence at Kudelski Security. This came as a bit of a surprise, considering that many criminals try to cash out as quickly as possible, he told the E-Commerce Times. The delay may have been related to the scrutiny investigators placed on the attack early on, Pleger said and on a more ominous note, added that it may indicate that the same hackers could be ready for a new attack using different methods. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney in Wisconsin was not immediately available for comment. The FBI referred all questions on the case to the DoJ. (Photo: Korean Red Cross)Kyung-seo Park, who became president of the (South) Korean Red Cross on Aug. 18, 2017. The 78-year-old sociology professor recently inaugurated as President of South Korea's Red Cross had his first contacts with the divided North while working at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Kyung-seo Park, a chair professor at Dongguk University, is now serving a three-year term after his position was approved by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and he was inaugurated on 18 August. He worked for the WCC for more than 17 years in the 180s and 1990s until 1999. Park spoke of his commitment in an interview with the WCC to reestablishing interactions with the Red Cross in North Korea and restarting contacts between families between North and South that have stopped for the past 10 years. When Park was born, on the cusp of the Second World War, the Korean Peninsula was united, but under Japanese occupation. He studied at Seoul National University and then completed an MA and a PhD at Germany's University of Gottingen in the early 1990s. SEPARATION OF KOREA Korea separated into North and South in the bitter civil war that killed millions, displacing even more, and separated many families in the early 1950s. A peace treaty has never been signed and the halt in hostilities only has an armistice agreement. "We will continue to restart the kind of contact between Korean Red Cross and DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) as well," said Park in his interview, noting, "I had been working during my time in the WCC with the people of North Korea when they were suffering. "So, I feel can utilize to the maximum my human network in North Korea, and will try to reopen a special channel through which we can contact and communicate on various issues and one of those will be so that can have family reunions with specific people." "During my time in the WCC, I had really good cooperation with the North Korean government as well as people in North Korea especially when international affairs in the WCC started with the first dialogue between the two churches [of North and South] in 1984 in Japan and again in Geneva in 1986 and in 1988." That contact resumed again during a period of flooding in North Korea in 1995 and 1996. "We had a good record in our dealing with North Korea and just at the time of my departure from the WCC (in September 1999) and as I was leaving ACT (Action by Churches Together) was established, helping to mobilize worldwide humanitarian support," for people suffering in North Korea, said Park. He said he hopes ACT Alliance will restart humanitarian work with Korea. ENCOUNTERS WITH RED CROSS WHILE AT WCC Park had his first encounter with the Red Cross February 1982 when he was working as director of the Asia region at the WCC, while he was in Geneva, which he regards as a second home. The WCC is located within a 5-minute walking distance from the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. "At that time, I read 'A Memory of Solferino' written by Jean Henry Dunant, the founder of Red Cross. This gave me the fundamental and profound questions about life itself such as what the meaning of life is and what I should live for," said Park in his inaugural speech. "Having the lessons from this book in my mind, during my tenure at the WCC for 20 years, I visited many different places affected by famines and conflicts and where human dignity was trampled." Park said he was able to coordinate humanitarian aid for those who suffered. "In particular, I witnessed the power of humanity by supporting those in need in Democratic People's Republic of Korea and people affected by conflicts and situations of violence in Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Myanmar in cooperation with the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies," he said. Park said, "Family reunions have been stopped over past 10 years. So I will try my best to convince my counterpart in North Korea to reconvene our channels, through which we will find a way to restart apart from the political tension on the Korean Peninsula that has been taking place in these recent days." An estimated 131,200 dispersed South Korean family members are on the waiting list for the now-suspended reunion events but the Red Cross president noted that in reality about 60,000, or more than 50 percent of them are aged more than 80 years. "So, time is running out and the issue of war-separated families should be resolved on humanitarian grounds as a top priority and I am studying how best to deal with it," Park said. MANY VISITS TO NORTH KOREA He has visited North Korea 28 times since the 1980s and he has personally met its former leaders, the late Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Most recently he was in North Korea for eight days in October 2015 and he was able to closely look into the lives of people there and have conversations with the various people. "The situation in North Korea has been much improved as regards the daily life, personal incomes and living standards from when I first went there. When I visited two-and-a-half years with [the WCC's] Peter Prove, we had two meetings with the UN at the time and the UN staff working in North Korea said the situation has improved." Park said that his experiences have "convinced me that two Koreas will be unified as one single family in the end although Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea are divided in two now because of different ideology and governance system. "I believe that dialogue between the two Koreas in a humanitarian spirit, are instrumental in getting over the situation of division and facilitating inter-Korean cooperation." When Betsy DeVos was confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Education, friends and acquaintances asked Anna Baldwin if she would resign as a teacher fellow in the department. Most of DeVos stances go against Baldwins principles and beliefsbut resigning was never something she considered. Why would I give up the opportunity to possibly influence her thinking? said Baldwin, a high school teacher in Arlee, Mont. Theres always the possibility that something I said or something another fellow said is going to change her mind. Baldwin was a classroom teacher ambassador fellow in 2016-17, one of 10 teacher and principal fellows who transitioned from Obamas Education Department to Trumps. The fellowship is a one-year program, although some educators stay on for a second year. Fellows are asked to represent the teacher perspective to department policymakers, including the education secretary. They have been tapped to take leadership roles in several department initiatives, including Teach to Lead, which promotes teacher leadership. The position can be inherently contradictory: Teachers often disagree with federal education policy, and fellows represent the profession while also being a part of the organization that develops those policies. Fellows who served under Secretary Arne Duncan, for example, said there were many times when they disagreed with him. But public school teachers particularly distrust DeVos, a fierce advocate for school choice, making the role of the fellows especially fraught. Educators want to know: Will the DeVos Education Department take their voices seriously? Experiences So Far DeVos has only been in office for six months, making it a challenge to draw clear comparisons between her department and that of the previous administration, in which educators say teacher voice was smoothly incorporated into operations. Fellows who have worked with DeVos say the secretary listens intently in her conversations with them: She takes notes, asks questions, and seems genuinely curious about the teacher perspective. But they have not yet seen concrete results from those conversations. The million-dollar question is, what is the result of hearing that feedback? said Patrick Kelly, a high school teacher from Columbia, S.C., who ended a two-year stint in the department this July. And I think thats a book still to be written, because it is a relatively young administration. In September, a new class of fellows is coming in: one principal, one school counselor, and four teachers. (This year is the first that all school-based educators, including counselors, have been able to apply.) These educators applied after the change in administration. Five fellows are part-time and work remotely, with one teacher working full-time at the department. There are plans to hire a second full-time fellow as well, department spokeswoman Liz Hill said. The fellowshipwhich was founded in 2008 by Margaret Spellings, who was the second education secretary under President George W. Bushis funded through discretionary dollars, so each secretary has to decide whether to keep the program. Soon after DeVos was confirmed, the 2016-17 fellows met with her to pitch the program, stressing the importance of including the teacher perspective in the department. Secretary DeVos was incredibly receptive to the fellowship from the word go, Kelly said. I think shes demonstrated from the beginning that she saw value to the program. DeVos willingness to listen has led to cautious optimism among the fellows who worked with her. But while its great to say nice things about teachers ... we want to hear what the policy is that will support teachers in school and how youre going to support teacher voice, said Sean McComb, a high school teacher in Baltimore County, Md., schools who served as a fellow in 2016-17, leaving in July. "[That] has yet to be spoken to or made. Getting Face Time Secretaries Duncan and John B. King Jr., both hosted a monthly tea with teachers session, where educators were invited to share their concerns and discuss innovative practices happening at their schools with the secretary. Right now, there is no similar program in place in the DeVos department. In July, the previous crop of fellows did organize a roundtable with former teachers and DeVos to discuss teacher retention challenges. They presented the issue to DeVos through the lens of school choice, in an effort to find common ground. We tried to draw that connectionthat even if you want to advocate for choice, you have to address the issue of developing and recruiting and supporting and retaining great teachers because any kind of school environment requires exceptional teachers in order to help students maximize their potential, he said. At the roundtable, the secretary was very receptive, asked great questions, and has discussed these things several times since then, so I feel like it was beneficial, said Melody Arabo, an elementary teacher from West Bloomfield, Mich., who is starting her second year as a fellow. She will be working full-time this year, and hopes to organize additional roundtables for DeVos to hear from teachers directly. Buffer Between Two Worlds One of the key responsibilities of the fellowship is looking over, with a teachers eye, the speeches the secretary will deliver and other messaging from the department. Fellows who worked under King and Duncan said their edits were frequently incorporated into the final versions of the texts. The DeVos communications team has tapped fellows for this task, McComb said. But so far, he added, the practice hasnt been used as consistently as the prior administration. There have been some times when suggestions have been made about language that would become problematic were not heeded, and again, maybe that is [the administration still] learning how to use teacher voice more effectively, or maybe what they want to say doesnt align with the feedback the fellows give to them, McComb said. For example, Baldwin looked over the advance copy of a speech DeVos would deliver to the 2017 state teachers of the year. She suggested DeVos include personal anecdotes of teachers who inspired her, which the secretary didbut Baldwin also suggested that speech writers cut the line, I see my job as getting Washington out of the way, so that you can do yours. I was like, no, first of all, thats too political for this event, Baldwin said. Second of all, we need some of the protections of Washington in our public schools to ensure equity and other rights that I think are important. I said she needs to take that out, and of course, she left it in. When DeVos did deliver that line to the teachers, the room that had cheered at her references to inspiring educators fell quiet. Still, fellows in both administrations said they have been encouraged to give honest feedback, even if its critical. Everybody has been open to our thoughts, even if its different from what they expected, because thats what were there for, Arabo said. I kind of like to think that were a buffer between those two worlds. If youre not willing to say the things that might be unpopular with the current administration, Kelly added, then you have to sit back and assess whether the fellowship has value in the first place. Several of the past fellows said they did not agree with the scope of DeVos plans to increase school choice. And the proposed elimination of Title II funding for teacher professional development and class-size reduction was a hard blow to many of the fellows, who had advocated to use the money more effectively. A Hard Role to Balance Maddie Fennell, the executive director of the Nebraska State Education Association served as a fellow from 2013-15 and as a Teacher Leader in Residence from 2015-16. She said teachers who work at the department must balance their role as a fellow with advocating for students and the teaching profession. I think thats a difficult role for [teacher ambassador fellows] to have to play, she said. I know that theres some discussion internal to the entire [fellowship] class right now about ... how do we handle things with the DeVos administration? Theres a lot of discussion around, how do you appropriately use the voice so you advocate for kids and for teachers, but you dont close off avenues for advocacy? Fellows have to learn how to speak hard truths in a way thats productive, Kelly said. Thats the hardest line: How do you speak truth in an environment where you may not agree with everything, but do so in a way that maintains lines of communication so that hopefully, ultimately, policies will shift? he said. But, Kelly said, fellows have to remember that they represent educators nationwide, and they shouldnt destroy the platform of the fellowship. Instead, fellows said they tried to meet DeVos and her team on common ground and keep the teacher perspective at the forefront. To me, the opportunity to be an influence from the inside for teachers, for students, for what I believe is best for all children and for equity, was an important opportunity to take, McComb said. I think this administration, from what we saw, the doors open. Its just been yet to be determined for me how much listening is going to influence what they do. Porphyrin nanostructures can present an energy transfer between adjacent molecules that is strongly affected by the structure of the ensemble. This makes them promising for the conversion of solar energy into chemical or electrical energy in, for example, photocatalytic applications, sensors, organic light emitting diodes and organic photovoltaics. Larissa Mayorova, main proposer of the experiment and professor at Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology in Russia, explains that their goal is to study how magnesium porphine the structural basis of chlorophyll (MgPor) - stacks up on a water surface and creates a particular type of molecular system supermolecular assemblies with strong noncovalent intermolecular interactions and with functional properties extrinsic to the constituent molecules. These assemblies function like one supermolecule. Previously, the team discovered, while studying formation of two-dimensional porphyrin nanostructures at the water surface, and partially by chance, that MgPor molecules stack themselves when they are slowly pushed together. The attraction between molecules in the ensemble is so strong that no solvent can separate them. On top of that, the solution of the supermolecules is transparent in visible light and absorbs the ultraviolet and near-infrared, in contrast with the pink tinge of the solution of MgPor. When we discovered this we thought it could potentially be very interesting from both fundamental and application points of view , explains Mayorova. The team, from left to right, top row: Oleg Konovalov, Larissa Mayorova, Svetlana Erokhina. Front row: Michela Pisani and Nadezhda Kharitonova. Missing from the picture: Viktor Erokhin, who had been working overnight. Mayorova was in contact with Viktor Erokhin, a former colleague from her PhD days in the Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow. Erokhin was himself still in touch with Oleg Konovalov, beamline responsible on ID10 and also colleague from the time in the Institute of Crystallography. Erokhin realised that the X-ray facility available on ID10 could be very beneficial for Mayorovas research and suggested that she apply for beamtime. Erokhin explains that thanks to the technical facilities and expertise of the beamline responsible and staff members, ID10 is the best synchrotron beamline in the world for studies to such systems. Fast forward several months, and after the proposal had been accepted, Mayorova, together with her masters student from the Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology in Russia and collaborators from Kazan Federal University (Russia), Marche Polytechnic University (Italy) and National Council of Researches (Parma, Italy), started the intensive experimental session. The set-up on ID10. The solution before and after the experiment. It is great to be here, and this is possible thanks to the fact that Russia is a member of the ESRF, she says. The experiment is going really well so far, she adds. I love France since my post doctoral time at University Paris-V, Laboratory of physics and biophysics (Paris). And it has been fun to be reunited in Grenoble with old friends after such a long time. The team with Victor Erokhin (left) and Nadezhda Kharitonova injecting the solution on the layer of water (right). Text by Montserrat Capellas Espuny. Photos by Maria Sanchez Duran. African and European leaders met in Paris early this week to discuss migration, which is, according to the latest Eurobarometer study, the second most pressing issue for Europeans after terrorism. The leaders supported moving the EUs external border into Africa so that asylum application can be handled well before reaching European shores. French President Emmanuel Macron invited a number of African and European heads of state as well as the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to address terrorism and migration and show political support for a European Commission proposal seeking to speed up processes linked to migration. President Macron said that the leaders had put together tangible measures to tackle migratory flows by putting together a joint declaration which complements the roadmap proposed by the Commission in the summer. The proposal talks about extending the EUs external border by setting up asylum and reception centers in Chad and Niger and aims to allow women and men to avoid dangerous areas. The identification of asylum seekers will be managed under the supervision of the UNHCR. EU leaders hope that the management of asylum applications right in Africa will encourage more migrants to return to their countries of origin, which is something many have so far been unwilling to do due to often poor conditions there. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also assured that the EU would provide African countries with resources to manage refugees on the African continent. We have to stop illegal migration or we are sending the wrong signals, she added and admitted that development aid was part of the problem. Niger and Chad are only transit countries, we need to work with countries of origin and use development aid, Chancellor Merkel explained. Chad and Nigers leaders both lamented the large numbers of lives already lost during the crisis. We are losing young Africans between 20 and 30 years old, in the desert and in the Mediterranean. It is a great loss for the continent, said Chads president, Idriss Deby, who also admitted that there is no quick fix. The European Commission is planning to brutally review EU funding for anti-discrimination programming under suspicions that some of the funds might be wasted. There have been cases when EU funding was used for requalification programs to train Roma people. The review aims to make sure that a new strategy for protecting Roma populations after 2020 is effective and efficient. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said that the Commission would begin, starting in January 2018, to look into how the funds are being set aside for anti-discrimination programs. The 2014-2020 anti-discrimination budget totaled more than 42 billion. We will assess brutally the efficiency of EU funding, Commissioner Jourova promised. It cannot work without helping them to get a job and helping them to keep a job. Its about wasted trust of people. This is not only about money, she added. Ms. Jourova was a Czech minister for regional policy before she became an EU Commissioner in 2014 and since then has been often criticized for misusing EU funds. In 2011, the EU executive launched a multifaceted strategy to counter discrimination against Roma people and improve their living standards. EU member states have since then set up their own national programs with the same goal. Despite these EU-wide efforts, more than 80% of Roma people in the EU are at risk of poverty and the conditions regarding housing, healthcare and education are still insufficient in many EU member states. Commissioner Jourova also said that she was considering potential further action against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia over their discrimination against Roma children in schools. The EU opened lawsuits against the trio in 2014. When, following the Maidan revolution, Putin set his ambition to illegally seize Crimea from Ukraine and occupy large portions of Ukraines Donbas region, it was the unified and firm transatlantic community that proved vital in containing Moscows advances. Coordinated economic sanctions delivered a united message to the Kremlin that breaking the post-war rules-based order would come at a cost. However, that essential unity both across the Atlantic and within the EU is in danger of cracking as the USA considers ways to change Putins calculus whilst some European countries consider whether narrow economic interests should come first. That would be a geopolitical mistake. Normalised relations with Russia should be our common goal, but they can only be achieved when Russia changes its behaviour and meets the conditions set when sanctions were imposed. The western response to Russias actions in 2014 was proportionate and necessary. Moscow had for the first time since World War Two sought to change European borders by force. Putin had to be shown that such aggression would come at a cost. Western indignation and action drove Russia to negotiate the Minsk agreements, setting out a path to de-escalate the conflict and restore Ukrainian sovereignty over the Donbas, and to agree to the Normandy Format, which would bring both sides Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table together with mediators Germany and France. The Minsk agreements provide an adequate framework for ending the violence and building a sustainable political solution. However, the unwillingness of Russia and its proxies to implement the security aspects of the agreements has stalled the entire Minsk process. Despite determined efforts by Germany and France to keep Minsk alive, the war in south-eastern Ukraine is worsening with civilian casualties rising by 48 percent from February to May 2017 compared to the previous quarter (and more than 70% higher compared to the same period in 2016). Far from turning into a frozen conflict, the situation continues to heat up. Against this backdrop, and with evidence the Russians interfered in the US Presidential election, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate were understandably asking why the costs to Russia had not risen commensurate to their worsening actions. Indeed, many Senators were concerned that the President could choose the opposite course of action and unilaterally ease Russian sanctions, either in an attempt to normalise relations with Putin, or as part of a grand bargain to help defeat ISIS in Syria for which Russia should require no inducement. Therefore, it is understandable that the Senate decided to take the initiative to codify sanctions into law and authorize additional sanctions in order to send the signal that they believed their own White House had failed to send. The original Senate bill could have been more delicately drafted. But Europeans have read into the bill an intent that was never in Senators minds, alleging that it was a Trojan horse to promote American liquefied gas exports, at the expense of the highly controversial (and, in my view, strategically misguided) NordStream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. The Bill was drafted solely with two targets in mind: The Kremlin and the White House. Its primary purpose was to create a parliamentary backstop to prevent a unilateral lifting of sanctions without the consent of Congress. The Senate listened to European concerns and important changes were made before the final legislation was passed by the House of Representatives and (grudgingly) signed by President Trump. The final version clarified that any new sanctions should continue to be coordinated with allies. In finally signing the Bill, the President went even further, stressing that it must not be used to hinder allies efforts to solve the Ukraine conflict or to generate any unintended consequences for Americas allies and friends. At the same time, the US signaled its readiness to reinforce Allies diplomatic efforts by appointing its own Special Envoy for Ukraine negotiations, former NATO Ambassador Kurt Volker. However, the disagreement over the sanctions bill exposed a fault line that has begun to form under the surface this summer. Just as the US is considering how to change Moscows calculus and force the pace towards a solution including the possible lifting of President Obamas ban on providing lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine parts of Europe are beginning to consider whether to normalize economic relations with Moscow without any diplomatic progress in Ukraine. This is particularly worrying for two reasons. First, it would send a signal to Putin and other autocrats and dictators that aggression comes with only a time-limited punishment. And second, it would dissipate the synergy that comes from the combined economic and political impact of US and European sanctions. The US and Europe share the common objective of seeking a more normal relationship with Russia. However, the road to those better relations must go through Ukraine. That means Russia implementing the Minsk agreements, rather than actively working against them. Yet, until we take action to change Moscows calculus, it remains in their interests to sustain a low-level conflict in Ukraine, and to continue efforts of destabilisation, starting with its immediate neighbourhood and spreading across the Atlantic alliance. Relations with Russia are at a low point. They reached a low point because of Moscows actions and only a change in Moscows behaviour can repair them. That is why many in the US Administration and Congress are seeking to raise the costs to Russia now, because firmness is the proven way to a better relationship in the future. American security cannot be guaranteed without European security; and European security cannot be guaranteed until the war in eastern Ukraine is brought to an end. That should be the common objective of the entire transatlantic alliance. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time. San Antonios Frost Bank and Houstons Prosperity Bank are expected to suffer the most losses from Hurricane Harvey among Texas regional lenders, securities analysts said Wednesday. However, the projected loss for each banks parent company appears to be manageable, based on data extrapolated from Hurricane Katrinas losses in 2005, Scott Valentin and Jesus Bueno of Compass Point Research & Trading wrote in a research note. Compass projected a pretax loss of $53.4 million for Frost parent Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. The loss is projected to be 10.3 percent of the 2017 consensus earnings per share of $5.25 the highest of the six Texas banks tracked by Compass. Compass estimates are based on banks deposit market share within the areas slammed by Harvey. The estimates assume the banks loan distribution is similar to their deposit market share. About $13.4 billion of Frosts $25.6 billion in deposits, or 52 percent, were in the designated disaster areas as of the end of last year, Compass said. Frost is estimated to have about $6.5 billion in mostly business and commercial real estate loans in those areas. Compass then applied the 0.82 percent loss incurred by Birmingham, Alabama-based Regional Financial following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in performing the calculations. Frosts projected credit losses as a percentage of its total book value is 1.4 percent, also the highest among the banks tracked by Compass. While banks would see some upfront costs in terms of lost overdraft income, potential waiving of fees and storm related expenses ($100,000 per branch is a rough estimate), the largest financial impact would be from loan losses, Valentin and Bueno said in the note. Frost Bank spokesman Bill Day said in an email that its too soon for it to say how its customers have been affected. Weve already been in contact with many of them, and are encouraging both commercial and consumer customers who have questions about their accounts to talk to their bankers, Day said. He added about a third of its Houston branches will be reopening Thursday. The bank has increased its reserve for commercial real estate by $2.8 million in the first half of the year, primarily because of decreased construction, higher rent concessions and higher vacancy rates in the Houston market, it said in a regulatory filing last month. Kroll Bond Rating Agency on Wednesday said that banks were quite resilient after other hurricanes. It said in a research report that banks had manageable losses and a relative quick recovery. With Harvey, Kroll said there likely will be near-term earnings pressure for banks with sizable exposure to Houston and other affected areas. Its unlikely there will be significant effects on capital adequacy and overall financial stability. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Brady Gailey said some of the more exposed banks could see higher provisions for credit losses. Bank regulators are encouraging banks to work with customers affected by Harvey, including restructuring borrowers debt obligations, when appropriate by altering or adjusting payment terms. 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. Gailey added in his note Monday, On a longer term basis, we believe the banks could experience higher levels of both loan and deposit growth: the deposit growth driven by insurance proceeds and the loan growth driven by the rebuilding efforts of Houston and the surrounding areas. Compass assessment was based on the impact to each banks 2017 earnings per share and to total book value, or the value of the business. Frost shares closed at $83.59 on Tuesday, their lowest level this year, before rising 5 cents Wednesday. Since Fridays close, the shares have fallen 2.8 percent, versus a decline of 1.1 percent for the S&P 500 Regional Banks Index over the same period. Frost is the largest regional bank based in San Antonio. It had $30.2 billion in assets at the end of June. Frost earned $83.5 million, or $1.29 a share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with earnings of $69.5 million, or $1.11 a share, in the same period a year ago. Compass forecasts Prosperity Bank will have $34.9 million in pretax losses from the storm. pdanner@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate More than a dozen people took shelter inside a closed H-E-B store in Houston Sunday as Harvey pounded Southeast Texas, the company said Tuesday. The storm, which reached landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane, has dumped almost 50 inches of rain on Houston through Monday afternoon and displaced thousands of residents throughout Texas as it continues to pummel the state. Seventeen people, including children and infants, sought refuge at one of the supermarket chains Houston stores at Braeswood Boulevard and Chimney Rock Road at around 10 a.m. Sunday, company spokeswoman Dya Campos said. They got in because the flood was so strong, it broke through some windows and our front doors, said Tina James, H-E-Bs chief people officer. H-E-Bs security team in San Antonio saw the group on the stores security cameras inside and immediately tried calling the stores main phone lines, James said. The team also tried to directly reach the evacuees cell phones using geofencing technology that targets people in a specific location, but without any luck, James said. The San Antonio security team managed to access the buildings intercom system to direct the group to the safest areas in the store, keeping them out of high water areas and instructing them how to get onto the stores roof should the water rise, Campos said. By noon, emergency responders had rescued all 17 people from the store, Campos said. The San Antonio supermarket chain, among other retailers, have fought to keep stores open in Houston. More than 60 H-E-B stores opened Tuesday in Houston. Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday but continues to pour rain on Southeast Texas. 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 company is also flying drivers from San Antonio to Houston via helicopter to deliver supplies to area stores. Scott McClelland, president of the companys Houston division, said three of the San Antonio supermarket chains 83 stores in the Houston area, including the Braeswood location, would take months to reopen after sustaining flood damage. H-E-B has deployed more than 15 disaster response vehicles including the companys two mobile kitchens, water and fuel tankers, trailers and direct response units which include mobile pharmacies and business services that allow users to cash checks and pay bills. The company was sending one of its mobile kitchens which have served thousands of free meals in Rockport, Aransas Pass and Victoria to Houston Tuesday, Campos said. Houston Chronicle staff writer Katherine Blunt contributed to this report. jfechter@express-news.net Twitter: @JFreports This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jacob and Natalie Rosales see the sign on West Avenue near Fresno every day on the way to work: START YOUR DAY OFF RIGHT DRIVE-THRU PRAYER Free Coffee. Three times, theyve pulled in and indulged in an order of prayer, with Wednesday marking the fourth. As they pulled into the parking lot of Northside Community Church, deacons Daniel Gomez and Frank Hernandez hopped off their folding chairs under a canopy tent, their well-worn bibles on a fold-out table. The two churchmen then prayed over Jacob and Natalie by the open driver-side window, Gomez and Hernandez each with a hand raised as if cupping the very morning sun. I want to pray for the day, pray that everything goes right, Natalie said afterward. But were actually starting a side business. So we want to make sure to pray over that side business, and God just order his steps (nodding to Jacob) during the day, since hes the one really running with it while I still (work). For the past six years, Gomez and Hernandez have served up this special kind of curbside food for the soul on weekday mornings from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., praying for any drivers, passengers and/or passersby who come by seeking divine guidance at 1407 West Avenue. Its not known how many other churches offer this kind of service, but the Northside duo seem to be making an impact; they estimate theyve prayed over more than 6,000 cars to date, not including the occasional walk-ups who are just as welcome. Some visitors suffer from depression or troubled marriages. Others could use some help from above on their way to a court date or job interview. And some, like the Rosaleses, saw the sign while driving by and just had to stop. Were like an oasis, a watering hole in the desert, said Gomez, a retired X-ray technician at Methodist Hospital. And we pray for everybody. Weve become counselors, psychologists, said Hernandez, a retired civil serviceman who spent most of that career at what used to be Kelly AFB. Everything that we advise them is spiritual, it comes from the Word. We dont tell them anything what we think. We tell them, You need to focus on the Lord. Hes the one thats going to take care of you in this situation. Now Playing: Daniel Gomez and Frank Hernandez offer drive-thru prayer service at Northside Community Church, where they deliver the parking lot ministry every weekday morning from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Video: JW Player Most drive-thru prayer seekers come and go as strangers. (Very few people do we ask names, Gomez said.) Then there are those familiar regulars. The teacher from nearby Franklin Elementary, who stops by every Monday morning to pray for her firefighter husband. And the young woman who comes by two to three times a week on the way to her job at a bank, seeking a little extra help with her crippling anxiety. Jose Carvajal stops by whenever he can, such as on a recent Thursday morning. The young construction worker lives in the neighborhood and figures he started coming by two or three years ago, when work got slow and the bills started piling up. I just started saying to myself, Maybe a little help spiritually instead of financially could help me get through these hard times, Carvajal said after his latest parking lot blessing. Theyve always been there for me since I would walk by or I would drive by. Gomez said prayer traffic varies from morning to morning, though it has increased lately with school back in session. Some days, only one or two people venture by. On others, Gomez and Hernandez can count on two hands how many theyve prayed over before closing shop for the day. Though a part of the San Antonio Baptist Association, Northside offers what Pastor David Thompson calls a nondenominational style of ministry. He noted the drive-thru prayer service is not a recruiting tool for new parishioners, though he has seen a few of those parking lot patrons make the switch from car seat to church pew. Its like the church extending themselves out into the community, Thompson said. And I think people receive that. Thompson said some people hesitate or have reservations about setting foot inside any kind of church. Northsides drive-thru service gives them a taste of such communal worship more on their own terms, as well as an impromptu confessional or a confidant with whom to share their troubles. And despite any comparisons to a Las Vegas drive-thru wedding or a late night food run, Thompson stressed the outdoor ministry Gomez and Hernandez provide is just as good as what churchgoers would get inside a Sunday service. I just dont want people to think that just because its drive-thru its not something of quality, Thompson said. Raymond Terrazas certainly looked satisfied. A lanky, bespectacled man in a khaki shirt and slacks with orange sneakers, Terrazas walked over to the drive-thru prayer service the same Wednesday morning the Rosaleses came by, another soul from the neighborhood seeking prayer for better financial and physical health for him and his family. The visit was Terrazas third in the past two months. Right now Im going to the Medical Center, Terrazas said, and I stopped by here for them to say a little prayer for me and guide me down the road. Gomez and Hernandez added a little something extra for the journey: a small bag with cookies, bottled water and other goods. Even if we dont see them ever again, we planted that seed, said fellow Northside parishioner Martin Arambula, and we were there for a reason and for a purpose. Arambula started the Northside parking lot prayer with Gomez and Hernandez when he heard on K-LOVE radio about a pastor performing drive-thru prayer in Arizona. Arambula left the local drive-thru prayer service about a year ago, when his work schedule as a pharmaceutical technician required he be in earlier in the day. But he still checks in whenever he can. Arambula recalled how the Northside trio began their drive-thru service with the enticement of free coffee, but noted about 80 percent of those who do stop by skip the java and go straight to the prayer. Were the jumper cables, Arambula said, connecting God to somebody else. And, yes, those connections have seen their share of prayers answered. One time, a man who lost his wallet while pumping gas asked for prayer, Arambula said, then returned the next day with the news someone found the wallet and turned it in with all the money. The testimony that especially stands out with Gomez and Hernandez: when they prayed for a couple whose doctor couldnt hear the heartbeat of the expectant mothers unborn child, only for them to return a month or so later with their healthy baby. Nevertheless, Gomez and Hernandez stress that providing such prayer service to go doesnt guarantee speedy results. A lot of times people want instantaneous recovery, Hernandez said. I prayed, I asked Him, why hasnt it happened? It doesnt work that way. Arambula would like to see Northside provide evening drive-thru prayer service too, perhaps from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. In the meantime, Gomez and Hernandez plan to just keep on serving their drive-thru prayer every workday morning. Well, aside from Christmas or other major holidays, when drive-thru traffic of any sort just isnt there. Im sure the Lord understands, Hernandez said. rguzman@express-news.net Twitter: @reneguz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At first glance, the pajamas and sheets in Sonya Dawsons warehouse, which is actually the front bedroom of her King William home, are decorated with the usual, everyday toile patterns of flora, fauna and geometric shapes. After a double take, that flora is clearly something leafy that is usually rolled and smoked, and those shapes are straight out of the Physicians Desk Reference: Valium, Vicodin, Ambien. As for the fauna, yep, those are human animals, pretzeling themselves into sexually adventurous positions straight out of the Kama Sutra, the ancient Hindu sex manual. Sweet dreams is the mantra of Dawson + Hellmann, a year-old San Antonio company that is taking a mischievous, slightly naughty approach to the bedtime story. According to co-founder Sonya Dawson, the pjs, nightgowns, sheets and duvets produced by the company are aimed at a generation that grew up with a modern sensibility toward bedroom etiquette, and that may include sleep aids, marijuana and sexual innuendo. Plus, its hilarious. Most of the stuff you see on the market is generic or cliched, Dawson said. We wanted to do something a little different, with an edge to it, that would also make you smile. We were inspired by a strong, beautiful woman who has a sense of humor. Everything we do is elegant and feminine. Its sexy, not slutty. Launched last October, the Dawson + Hellmann line features high-quality, high-end cotton bedding, from sheets to shams, as well as pajamas, nightgowns, chemises, babydolls and billowing kaftans all printed and embroidered in India and Vietnam. In addition to the colorful pill and pot patterns, there are more subtle, white-on-white embroidered designs called Get Lucky, with images of horseshoes, wishbones and four-leaf clovers; Red Dragon Dreaming, featuring a traditional Chinese dragon smoking opium; Sweet Dreams, an homage to Valley of the Dolls; and Cotton Candy Kush, depicting a favored strain of marijuana. A flowing kaftan in the Absinthe Fairy design pays tribute to the Parisian Belle Epoque at the end of the 19th century, while the Mosaic Floral is a hippie blast from the past inspired by the classic 70s Sultana maxi dress by the British boutique brand Adini. They are very Endora from Bewitched, Dawson said. They cry out for gold slippers. Kaftans cost $275, while pajama sets cost $160. Embroidered sham sets are priced at $120, and printed sheet sets sell for $240. The Red Dragon Dreaming embroidered duvet set, with two shams, goes for $460. Originally, the target audience was millennials, said Dawsons partner, Los Angeles designer Analise Hellmann. We started realizing that people who really got the joke and found it most humorous were women in their 40s and 50s who may have indulged in their college years, but then went on to marry and raise kids, she said over the telephone from LA. I think you have to get the joke; you cant be too serious about yourself. Obviously, if you have a problem or are recovering, thats a different story. But, I think most of us are sophisticated enough to find the humor in it. Dawson and Hellmann, both 50, met in the Houston club scene in the 1980s as underage teenagers and have remained friends ever since. Hellmann worked for many years in the fashion industry for Guess, May Department Stores and Bernardo Fashions, to name a few then ventured into the film industry as a set decorator for shows such as American Horror Story and most recently the Amazon program One Mississippi, created by comedian Tig Notaro. I always wanted to get back into fashion, she said. I had done sleepwear and lingerie in the past, but I was thinking, How could I do this a little differently? Dawson, divorced from actor Alex Winter, best known for his role in the 1989 film Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure, worked in Hollywood as well, making commercials and music videos (she has a very cool old Polaroid of herself with funk bassist Bootsy Collins), before coming home to run the family business. Blue Star Ointment was invented by her grandfather, who founded the company, which Dawson sold in May. I asked myself if I wanted to be known as the girl who sold ointment, she said. Thats not me. I wanted to do something where I could use my creativity. Dawson + Hellmann started slowly (My hair was falling out (from stress); there were tumbleweeds beside my bed, Dawson said), but business has taken off in the last six months. The partners just had a good showing at the NY NOW trade show, Dawson said, and the line is now carried in a variety of hip stores, including Aquarius in Alamo Heights and Tiny Finch in The Pearl, as well as Ron Robinson/Fred Segal in California, Opening Ceremony in New York, Kuhl-Linscomb in Houston, V.O.D. in Dallas and United Arrows in Japan. My initial reaction was, When can I get it? said Sara Jessop, owner of Aquarius, the first store to carry the Dawson + Hellman line. I absolutely love this line. I really like outside-the-box things, and these were different, yet they had a certain familiarity. The pajamas were button-down and had the cuffs, but the patterns really caught my eye. They are very subtle, and theres a witty sense of humor there. Jessop estimates shes sold nearly 75 pairs of pajamas in the past 10 months. Thats a phenomenal return in my experience, especially for a new product, she said. There are some women who actually feel cooler because they have the pjs on. They dont smoke pot, but I think they get a bit of a cool-girl feeling, something edgy and adventurous, like its a fun taboo to be a part of. First-year sales for the company with just four employees (including the partners) have been a respectable $200,000, Dawson estimated. Were building slowly, Dawson said. Were getting some trendsetting clients. Weve paid off our investors, and now were going to see if we can do this on our own. I think were poised to do something really great. When buying online at dawson-hellmann.myshopify.com, customers might receive with their shipment a complimentary packet of Zig Zag rolling papers, a plastic Do Not Disturb sign or a vial of Chill Pills (actually jelly beans), with instructions to take with favorite nightcap. Everyone expects us to be these wild girls, Dawson said. But were not, really. Ill have a cocktail, but thats about it. Pot is just not for me. sbennett@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A year after Ruby Polanco first noticed that the San Antonio Independent School Districts non-discrimination statement for students and employees didnt mention gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, the 17-year-old won her first policy victory. Polanco submitted a petition and spoke to SAISDs board of trustees, which voted unanimously last week to add those categories. Its a matter of protection and equal education and safety for all, especially the districts most vulnerable members, Polanco told the board. What makes discrimination based on other factors more significant than discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation? Not counting Twitter, it was Polancos first foray into advocacy but she isnt done. The Young Womens Leadership Academy senior is contacting other school districts around the state and urging them to make the same changes. I want to do more for those districts where students are still left out of those statements, Polanco said. The move quickly became part of an ongoing Texas legislative debate. The socially conservative advocacy organization Texas Values slammed SAISD three days after the board vote, saying the change could allow boys into bathrooms and other girls facilities. The group blamed Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican and Texas House speaker, and Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, for the Legislatures failure to pass bills that would have restricted which bathrooms transgender people can use. Texas leaders were warned that this is what would happen if the Texas House was not allowed to vote on this issue, said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values. Seth Rau, SAISDs legislative coordinator, dismissed the groups complaint that the non-discrimination statement was changed with very little public notice. The policy was on the agenda for the Aug. 21 board meeting, posted 72 hours in advance as required by state law. Its about making sure that our employees are protected, Rau said. This is not about bathrooms. SAISDs non-discrimination statements already prohibited gender-based discrimination against students or employees, and its non-discrimination policy for students included an explanation that gender-based harassment included conduct based on the students gender, the students expression of characteristics perceived as stereotypical for the students gender, or the students failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity. The policy gave examples of gender-based harassment regardless of the students or the harassers actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Even with that definition, Polanco said, districts need to be more specific as times change. Without that language, it can be interpreted different ways, she said. If a transgender girl had applied to our school before, it would be a question, but now its a reassurance: You will not be discriminated against. Anti-harassment statements in some of the states largest school districts, including Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs, include prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. SAISD never tolerated discrimination against students or employees based on gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, but the time had come to adopt a statement in line with other urban school districts, said Leslie Price, district spokeswoman. We feel that students and employees have always been protected and that these additions we made provided more clarity, Price said. Besides SAISD, no other Bexar County school districts reported adding those categories to their non-discrimination statements. Many include the same definition of gender-based harassment as SAISD and officials in those districts said it was specific enough to cover every student. While our general statement uses language that is more broad, we do feel it protects students and employees from discrimination, said Barry Perez, spokesman for Northside ISD. North East ISD does not tolerate discrimination against students or employees based on sexual orientation or gender or identity or expression, and any allegations of it would be investigated and action taken on a case-by-case basis, district spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor said. Polanco attended De Zavala Elementary, an SAISD school on the West Side, before coming to YWLA in the sixth grade. She said she grew up looking at the districts non-discrimination statement Its on everything, she said. After attending a law camp at St. Marys University last year, she studied the statement anew and thought it needed to be more inclusive. Polanco started an online petition in December, shared it on social media and convinced friends and teachers to sign it. It had 303 signatures by the time the board voted. She was surprised when they praised her and passed her proposal unanimously. We hope you continue to be such a leader within our district, Board President Patti Radle said. amalik@express-news.net Tropical Storm Harvey has been projected to produce up to 50 inches of rain over the Houston area in roughly a week, threatened to hamper the economy and push gas prices up by as much as 35 cents. The storm has been called unprecedented. Federal Emergency Management Administration Director William "Brock" Long has said Texas will take years to recover from it and it made landfall for a second time in Louisiana overnight. The United States has been hit by a handful of hurricanes and tropical storms in the last decade, but Harvey's path makes it stand out. Typically, hurricanes rapidly decrease in size and are swept north, where they ultimately dissipate. As predicted, though, once Harvey made landfall down near Corpus Christi, the system doubled back and lingered along the eastern coast, which is why the Houston area has taken such a beating. Source: National Hurricane Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Harvey was doubly devastating because it pushed with force into the southwest part of the Texas coast and has continued to hold steady over the eastern coast for so long. Some of the counties in its path have seen significant population increases. Population Fort Bend County, an area southwest of downtown Houston where Sugar Land is located, saw a population increase of 26.8 percent between April 2010 and July 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas' population has only increased 10.8 percent. As more people move to Texas' coast, natural disasters - specifically hurricanes - have a better chance of causing major devastation. Refineries The coast, and more specifically the eastern coast, is dense with crude oil refineries, which is why discussions of hurricanes go hand-in-hand with discussions of gas price increases. Three refineries near Galveston have the combined ability to process approximately 800,000 barrels of crude oil in a single day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. There are a few dozen similar refineries along the coast and in Harvey's path. Gas prices Gas price spikes in the wake of hurricanes are pretty well documented. Texas saw spikes after both Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008. Prices already have risen 6 cents across the state and 5 cents in San Antonio from a week ago. And while they're projected to climb between 15 and 35 cents in the next two weeks, a spokesman for AAA told the Express-News on Tuesday that it's too early to forecast the long-term impact to the state's refineries. Insurance Fewer than 600,000 flood insurance policies were active in Texas at the end of June, according to FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program. That's second only to Florida's 1.7 million. Florida, however, has a lot more coast than Texas. Those who live in flood zones are required to have flood insurance by their mortgage company. Keep watching ExpressNews.com for coverage as Harvey's story continues to unfold. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On the eve of the City Councils vote on removing the Confederate monument and cannons in Travis Park, scores of young people carried the day in their quest to recast the downtown green space. They arrived at council chambers en masse Wednesday night, thrusting their fists in the air multiple times as a symbol of solidarity in their opposition to the monument, which many said is an icon of bigotry and hate a monument to the Confederacy and slavery. Councilmen Roberto Trevino and Cruz Shaw this summer formally proposed removing the monument. On Monday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg used the prerogative of his office to fast-track the issue, placing it on todays council agenda. The only council members not on record supporting the removal are District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse and District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry. Those who addressed the council Wednesday night asking that the statue remain seemed resigned to the fact that their wishes would not be heeded. Sean Rivera with MOVE San Antonio, a nonprofit that seeks to give youth a voice in politics, told the council that the monument is a symbol of enslavement and subjugation. If we look at history and the facts, it is clear this monument is nothing more than a symbol of hate, Rivera said. He noted that the removal proposal calls for ultimately placing the statue with a nonprofit that works with history (though it first would be placed in storage). He chastised statue proponents for accusing him and others of wanting to erase history, saying theyre either misinformed or willfully ignorant. Rivera thanked the council members members for enduring hate mail and threats theyve received. He called on the members of the crowd to thrust their fists in the air to show solidarity, and they responded forcefully. Robert Gonzales, a longtime local businessman, applauded the young people who were in attendance Wednesday night. Im so proud of this community, these young people here and the wisdom they have. Theyre bringing to you what America stands for today, not a hundred years ago, he said. We want a better country, and we can start by changing this monument, by taking it down. Those who argued for the monument to remain were significantly outnumbered. One man, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag, was removed from chambers before the meeting began for a slew of obscenities he directed at two women who supported the monuments removal. Leslie Wilson, who favors the Confederate monument said, she and others have been slandered as members of the Ku Klux Klan and claimed that she and the council were being bullied by those who want to remove the statue. As she returned to her seat, Wilson told some people in the crowd that they were pathetic and that they should get a life. City officials were prepared for a raucous evening, though the crowd 140 people had signed up to speak but many left before they were called remained fairly subdued. Dozens of police officers surrounded Municipal Plaza before the meeting began, and there were bike barricades set out in Main Plaza to control crowds coming into chambers. At least two ambulances were staged at City Hall in case a medical response was necessary. The council is scheduled to vote on the removal of the statue and cannons at 9 a.m. today. Its unclear when, exactly, the Confederate memorials will be removed once the vote is taken. If removal is approved, the statue and cannons would go into storage and then go to the yet-to-be identified nonprofit. Before the Citizens To Be Heard session, more than 100 people gathered in Municipal Plaza to voice support for removing the statue from its platform and placing it in a historical context at a museum. SATX4 organizer Mike Lowe addressed the group on race in America and the history behind San Antonios Confederate statue. We did not want to see the militiamen being paraded around the way they did ... in a prior Citizens To Be Heard meeting, Lowe said. We created a solidarity action with individuals and groups to make sure that they knew that theyre not welcome here. A man confronted the group with a question What about the black soldiers in the Confederacy? Supporters surrounded the man and denounced him as a racist until he stepped away and turned to the dozen or so police officers nearby. Staff writer Kelsey Bradshaw contributed to this story. jbaugh@express-news.net Twitter: @jbaugh This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A federal judge denied a request Wednesday for a new trial in the civil wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of San Antonio by the family of Marquise Jones, who was shot and killed by an off-duty San Antonio Police Officer three years ago. Jones family filed the request in May, arguing that the April trial was unfair because the court did not properly formulate the questions presented to the eight-person jury. If the questions were properly created, the plaintiffs argued, the case against the city of San Antonio and San Antonio Police Officer Robert Encina would have a different outcome. However, the judge ruled that the questionnaire in the nine-day trial was fair and there was no evidence of prejudicial error. In the end, the jury weighed the evidence, assessed the credibility of the witnesses, and believed the defendants over the plaintiffs, Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in his opinion. Based on the evidence presented by the defendants, particularly the testimony surrounding the presence of a gun, the jury had ample support for a verdict in favor of the defendants. Specifically, the Jones family claimed two questions that were presented to the jury should have been combined. The first question, according to court documents, asked whether Encina used excessive and unnecessary deadly force in violation of Jones constitutional rights. The second question asked if any reasonable officer in that position could have believed the amount of force was reasonable and necessary. Because the jury found that Encina did not use excessive force, the jury was not required to answer any of the subsequent questions. The family argued that the separation of the two questions violated the legal standard for an excessive force claim. Encina, who was working off-duty as a security guard for the Chachos and Chaluccis restaurant on Perrin Beitel Road on Feb. 28, 2014, shot Jones in the back in the parking lot of the restaurant as Jones was fleeing the scene of a fender bender. Encina, a six-year veteran of the SAPD at the time of the shooting, said Jones brandished a gun as he ran, and that Encina feared for his life. SAPDs internal investigation of the shooting found Encina was justified in using force. A grand jury declined to indict him on any criminal charge. However, Jones family has maintained that Jones did not have a gun that evening and that the gun was planted at the scene in an alleged cover-up. They said Jones fled the scene of the fender bender because he was on probation and was nervous about getting in trouble. On Wednesday, Lamberth issued a separate opinion, saying he would allow separate fraud charges against Chachos to move forward. A hearing to discuss those charges is scheduled for Sept. 11. Chachos, which previously settled with the family, was again made a defendant in the lawsuit earlier this year for allegedly refusing to hand over indoor surveillance video from the night of the shooting. In 2014, according to court documents, the family made its original request asking the restaurant to provide any photographs, video or audio recordings from the night of the shooting. An attorney for the restaurant replied, saying there was none, according to court documents. But in 2016, according to the family, Chachos provided surveillance video from the inside of the restaurant to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. That video has been submitted as evidence in federal court. Daryl Washington, a lawyer for the family, said the restaurant committed fraud by not bringing the evidence forward sooner. He believes the video only came to light in 2016 because the city of San Antonio needed the video to debunk testimony from one of the witnesses who came forward at the time. At the time, he asked the judge to sanction the defendants, but the judge denied that request. Instead, the judge ordered a separate trial for the Chachos defendants and proceeded with the lawsuit against the city and Encina. In court documents, John Engvall Jr., a lawyer for the restaurant, denied any wrongdoing because the only footage that existed showed the workers inside the restaurant, not the events leading up to the incident. There was not a camera located in the area where the incident occurred at the time of the incident, nor was there ever any video footage showing the incident or any of the vehicles involved in the incident, Engvall wrote. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A federal judge on Thursday turned down an emergency request to halt the citys plans to remove a Confederate monument in Travis Park. Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra, in a nine-page order, ruled that Richard Brewer, Jean Carol Lane and the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans had not met the legal requirements for the judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would bar the city from removing the statue. Brewer and Lane sued Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City Council and asked for the TRO, claiming that their freedom of speech would be abridged by the removal of the monument. They also argued that the city lacks the right to remove the statue because, they claim, the city doesnt hold title to the land on which the statue sits. The council voted 10-1 just before the court hearing to remove the statue. If the defendants are not stopped from removing the monument, the plaintiffs will likely suffer irreparable injury, the groups lawyer, Kirk Lyons of North Carolina, told Ezra. Lyons said the plaintiffs are afraid the statue will be damaged if it is removed. Weve seen several incidents where theyve taken down monuments and botched it, Lyons told the judge via phone during the hearing. Its been badly done. Assistant City Attorney Deborah Klein told the judge that the plaintiffs did not have standing, and would likely lose their arguments not only on the TRO but once the full lawsuit is heard. And, she argued that the city is taking care in preserving the statue and hired a contractor that is an expert in removal. Its not being destroyed, Klein told the judge. Its being moved. The statue would be placed in storage intact until the city decides where it should go, she said. One more day of the statue in place is one more day of disservice to the public at large, Klein said. But supporters who attended the hearing argue that the statue should stay because it represents history. I just want my kids to have the history good, bad, everything, the truth, Ellie Lambers of San Antonio, who is not a plaintiff, said afterward. How can we eradicate the truth? ...What Im worried about is, whats next? Though he ruled against the plaintiffs, the judge ordered the city to be careful that the removal is carried out in such a manner as to preserve the integrity of the Monument; and further, that the Monument be stored in a secure location in order to protect it from damage or from being defaced pending resolution of this lawsuit or further order of this Court. gcontreras@express-news.net The young mother from Kerrville whose two infant daughters died in June after spending 15 hours in a vehicle, mostly alone, was indicted Wednesday on four felony charges by a Kerr County grand jury meeting in a special session. District Attorney Lucy Wilke said Amanda Hawkins, 19, is accused of acting recklessly in the two indictments accusing her of injury to a child and in two indictments charging her with endangering a child. She could be arraigned as soon as tomorrow, Wilke said Wednesday, declining further comment on the case that generated widespread media coverage and criticism of Hawkins on social media. Hawkins has been held in lieu of posting $70,000 bail since June 8 when she was arrested on two counts of endangering/abandoning a child. Shes in Burnet County Jail, where she was transferred because the Kerr jail is undergoing renovations. Authorities say Hawkins brought Brynn Hawkins, 1, and Addyson Overgard-Eddy, 2, to a Kerrville hospital in grave condition June 7, claiming theyd collapsed during an outing to a local park. The children died the next day at University Hospital in San Antonio. Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said an investigation revealed Hawkins initial account to be false, and that the girls actually were injured while left in Hawkins SUV as she visited local friends overnight, from the evening of June 6 to about noon on June 7. He said Hawkins rejected the suggestion she bring the children inside, telling friends, Theyll cry themselves to sleep. An unidentified person at the home did stay in the vehicle from about 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. June 7 before going back inside, Hierholzer said, but it wasnt until about noon that the children were discovered unconscious. Calls to Hawkins lawyer were not returned Wednesday. Neither of the girls fathers could be reached for comment Wednesday, but Isaac Hawkins, Brynns dad, poured out his grief on Facebook when the girls died. I got my entire world stolen from me today, wrote Isaac Hawkins, who wed Amanda Hawkins Aug. 6, 2015, but had since separated. You both meant the world to me. Ill be up there with you again one day. Im just going to stay looking up to my beautiful guardian angels. Court records identify Austin J. Overgard as the father of Addyson R. Overgard-Eddy. Amanda Hawkins mother, Alisha Eddy, said Wednesday that her daughter never would intentionally harm her kids. People are out there condemning, judging and lying when they dont know what they are talking about. Theres more to the story, said Eddy, declining to explain further. She loved those babies more than anything. The special grand jury session was necessary because the case wasnt ready to present when the jury held its regular session earlier this month, Wilke said, noting that state law requires Hawkins to be released on personal recognizance if incarcerated 90 days without being indicted. zeke@express-news.net ROCKPORT Joel Langton wondered how to help victims of Hurricane Harvey as images of devastation filled his Facebook feed as the week began. Then, it him - everyone needs water. Langton started a find-raising drive with folks he knew in Del Rio, where he works as a public affairs officer at Laughlin AFB's 47th Flying Training Wing. He called the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, which agreed to lead the campaign, and people all around town began donating cash to buy pallets of bottled water, including patrons of a bar in nearby Comstock who chipped in $360 enough for two of them. That was Monday. By midday Wednesday there was enough, $13,615, to nearly fill three tractor-trailer rigs. The water will be trucked to Rockport from H-E-B's San Antonio warehouse each trucks 60,000 bottles should be enough to supply the town for two days, Langton estimated. I just talked to the chamber, and they said, Let's do it, and frankly it's to a point right now where we can't stop people from giving, he said. Del Rio, just east of the Chihuahuan Desert on the U.S.-Mexico border, has 35,998 people, three times the population of Rockport, a coastal tourist and fishing town. Langton noted that both towns have retired two-star Air Force generals active in their communities. Maj. Gen. Gerald Prather, who earned his wings at Laughlin in 1956, lives in Del Rio and served as a justice of the peace for many years. Rockport Mayor Charles J. Wax, a one-time commander of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, knows a thing or two about logistics. More Information How to help The Tobin Cares initiative is hosting a Hurricane Relief Donation Drive for the San Antonio Food Bank's emergency response on Friday, Sept. 1 from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Tobin's Front Plaza (100 Auditorium Circle). Nonperishable food, water, baby food, diapers, flashlights and batteries, hygiene items and cleaning supplies can be dropped off at the curbside donation station. See More Collapse The Del Rio water drive is just one effort on behalf of Rockport, Wax said, explaining that the Salvation Army, Baptist Men and Church Unlimited have come to the city's aid, among others. There's just a plethora of people who are stepping up. That's just the names that came to mind. It's almost any number of people, almost every charitable organization you can think of, he said. One of the H-E-B trucks carrying water bought by people in Del Rio had arrived at the Harbor Oaks shopping center in Rockport, he said. An Ace Hardware store has partially reopened as well as H-E-B's pharmacy. The local Wal-Mart, like H-E-B's grocery store, was badly damaged, but he said it was important for people to be able to get prescriptions filled. Prather couldnt be reached, but Langton noted he led the recovery and rebuilding of the 1999 flood in Del Rio that killed 20 people. It was the biggest flood Del Rio has ever seen and was caused by a hurricane. Starting last weekend, people from hurricane-ravaged communities have taken refuge in 12 hotels around Del Rio or were staying in one of three shelters there. Everything we do, we like to work with the base and help out in any way possible, said Hannah Hinson, the chambers community outreach specialist. It was just the perfect way for us to help out other Texans." So far, 48 individual donors and businesses have contributed, with the largest check for $1,980 given by the Bank & Trust of Del Rio, Hinson said. Those who want to add to it can call the chamber at 830-775-3551. The bottom line is, were just one little town trying to help another town out, said Langton, 53, a native of New Iberia, Louisiana and a retired Air Force tech sergeant. If a tornado comes through Del Rio, Rockports going to be doing the same thing. sigc@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On Christmas Day 2015, at a Citgo gas station on the East Side, William Boyd Porter, 45, shot a man in the back of the head who he believed had kidnapped, beaten and raped his daughter. On Friday, after a week-long trial, a jury rejected Porters legal defense of necessity in protecting another person and unanimously found him guilty of murder. Porter showed no emotion as state District Judge Jefferson Moore read the verdict. His family and that of the victim, Trayvouns Tramone Edwards, 28, sat equally stoicly, then separately filed out of the courtroom to weep. The jury, which took almost nine hours over Thursday and Friday to reach its decision, will return on Tuesday to determine the punishment. The sentence can be up to life in prison, but if the jury finds the shooting was an act of sudden passion it can be as few as five years. Porters attorney, Edward Bravenec, said he was not surprised by the verdict, and said he will appeal. Judge Moore destroyed our case, Bravenec said, when he did not allow the jury to hear testimony from two San Antonio women who reportedly told police they also were kidnapped, beaten, then raped by Edwards in separate incidents allegedly occurring in 2008 and 2012. Bravenec said the women, both about 18 to 20 at the time, reported having had consensual sex at some point with Edwards, but over a period of days he then held them against their will, choked one girl almost to death, and raped them repeatedly. He said the police took a report in one case. Homicide case law allows a judge to permit such testimony, said Bravenec, if the victim in the case is found to be the aggressor. Moore ruled that Porter, by pursuing Edwards at the gas station, was the aggressor. Prosecutor Gretchen Flader told the jury in her closing argument that Porter made the choice of using a gun instead of calling the police. Its not about what the defendant thought that Tray had done to (Porters daughter), she told the jury. Its about what the defendant decided to do take the law into his own hands. Flader declined comment after the trial. Before the verdict, Bravenec said he was encouraged Friday morning when the jury sent Moore a note asking for the definition of immediate and urgent. To me that means at least one person on that jury is considering the necessity defense for my client, he said. That essentially means he thought the threat to his daughter was so immediate and urgent that his response was a necessity. Porters daughter, who is not being identified because she is the victim of sexual assault, testified Wednesday that she had met Edwards at a mall on Dec. 19, 2015. We made eye contact, and he asked if I wanted to get something to eat, she told the jury. I said no. Then, he asked if I wanted to smoke. I said yes. The young woman said Edwards convinced her to go to a friends apartment, but once at the complex, she said Edwards forced her into a vacant unit to snort cocaine, punched her in the face and stomach, then raped and beat her for four days. The daughter said she tried to escape, but feared for her life. Flader asked during cross examination why no one called the police to report her absence. Porter said he didnt know where his daughter was or with whom, and felt that he could not give authorities enough information for them to help find her. Relatives testified that it was not uncommon for the daughter to stay at different relatives homes for days at a time. Porter said his wife was able to use a cell phone application to locate their missing daughters phone, so he went to the Citgo gas station on Goliad Road to find her, bringing a gun and two other men. Surveillance video from several angles showed the crime to rapt jurors. In them, Edwards could be seen walking with Porters daughter, then Porter arriving in a pickup. The videos showed the daughter run toward the pickup as an altercation ensues between the men, and shows Porter shooting Edwards once in the back of the head at point-blank range. The prosecutor asked Porter, Why didnt you tackle him? It was not necessary for you to shoot that man. Porter responded, Hes between me and my child. bselcraig@express-news.net AUSTIN Starting Friday, Texans can carry swords in public and hunt hogs from hot air balloons, but they could face penalties for texting while driving. State lawmakers passed a slew of bills this year, many of which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law and are set to take effect, such as policies reducing handgun registration fees and making it a hate crime to assault a police officer. One of the most controversial laws, however, was stayed Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia halted most of the sanctuary cities bill that imposed penalties on local officials who stop their law enforcement officers from asking about immigration status, among other provisions. A couple of laws with tighter restrictions on abortions also are in court. Other high-profile changes include a crackdown on distracted driving, which gained momentum following a deadly crash in March that left 13 members of a New Braunfels church dead after their mini-bus was struck by a pickup. Some more obscure laws also are taking effect Friday. People can now open carry swords, machetes and other long knives in public places. There are some restrictions; blades are banned in bars, sporting events, schools and some other areas. No more texting and driving Drivers in Texas now face penalties for reading, writing or sending a text while operating a moving vehicle. First-time offenders can face fines up to $99, while repeat offenses could be punishable by fines between $100 to $200. There are exceptions for using a GPS device for directions and a hands-free device would not be affected by the ban. San Antonio and other cities can continue enforcing their own rules restricting mobile phone use while driving, even if their regulations are more strict than state rules. An effort to roll back local ordinances and bring them in line with the new state law never gained traction in the special session. Cyberbully penalties In an effort to crack down on cyberbullying, a new law makes it a misdemeanor to electronically harass or bully a minor with the intent of causing them to harm themselves or commit suicide. The provision is known as Davids Law for a 16-year-old student from Alamo Heights High School who killed himself last year following fierce cyberbullying. Schools must notify parents within one day if their child has been bullied or is accused of bullying others. Cheaper hand gun license People now pay lower fees for a license to carry a handgun. The first-time fee will decrease from $140 to $40 and the renewal cost will drop from $70 to $40. Peace officers and members of Texas military forces now have their fees waived. No-fly zones for drones There are now costly penalties for flying a drone above a large sporting event, a prison or a detention center. The crackdown comes as concern grows within the law enforcement community that drones can be used to drop drugs, weapons or other contraband into correctional facilities. Just last month in Georgia, a drone crashed into a prison yard carrying cell phones, tobacco and marijuana. Drone flights are banned over sporting venues that seat more than 30,000. Operators who break the new rules could face a misdemeanor and fines of up to $2,000 on a first-time offense. No hating on police Attacking a police officer is now a hate crime. Penalties for assaulting a peace officer rise to a second-degree felony. Backers of the change argued police officers are increasingly becoming targets. And the shift comes in wake of several high-profile ambushes on officers across Texas, including a 2016 attack that left six Dallas police officers dead. In June, a San Antonio Police Officer was shot while on patrol near San Antonio College. Openly carry a knife Advocates for the right to carry swords, spears and other knives in most public places had complained regulations surrounding knives were vague and varied across municipalities. The measure met some resistance after the fatal stabbing of a University of Texas student with a hunting knife but it passed. The law does include some limits: patrons cant carry a sword into a bar. And a school district could expel a student who showed up with a throwing knife, a dagger, a bowie knife, a sword or a spear. Hunting from balloons Seeking a a new way to crack down on growing populations of feral hogs and coyotes, considered a nuisance to farmers and ranchers, a new state law lets people hunt the animals from hot air balloons. Residents need a permit from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission before taking to the sky. No school lunch shaming An anti-lunch shaming bill takes effect in time for the new school year. It gives students a grace period after their meal accounts run out of funds. The board of trustees at school districts will set the grace period dictating how long a child can keep charging lunches before they are given free, alternative ones by the school. Lunch policies where students without funds are served cheap sandwiches or cereal, in place of hot meals, have sparked backlash from those who liken it to shaming. Districts have said they need to balance feeding children with keeping costs low. Help pay to test rape kits Texans will be able to help pay for the state to address the growing backlog of untested rape kits. While registering a car, drivers will be able to donate to a grant program that will help fund law enforcement efforts to test the kits. Each kit can cost between $500 to $2,000 to test. Due to lack of funding, thousands of such rape kits, which can be the key to identifying a suspect, remain on shelves. Lawmakers expect the effort to raise about $1 million a year. Changes to adoption Child welfare organizations that work with the state can now reject foster or adoptive parents based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Lawmakers behind the change say it allows faith-based providers to maintain their values, but opponents worry it will be used to discriminate against religious minorities or the LGBTQ community. The law, even before it took effect, has already been a source of controversy. Californias attorney general barred state-funded travel to Texas in response to the law he called discriminatory to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Abbotts office fired back, saying California cant stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas. No more marriage under 16 People younger than 16 can no longer get married after Sept 1. Right now, minors below that age can wed with a judges sign-off. Though unusual, minors do get married, state records show. Between 2010 and 2014, roughly 29 girls who were 15 years old, two 15-year-old boys and three 14-year-old girls were married. The change, backed by members of both parties, is meant to protect against forced marriage, lawmakers said. Texas has one of the highest rates of child marriage, behind only West Virginia, according to a 2016 report from the Pew Research Center. Under the new law, people between 16 and 18 years old could wed with judicial approval. Crackdown on oil equipment theft Theft of petroleum products or oil and gas equipment is now a felony. According to lawmakers, the change comes as booms in the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin has made the industry a target for theft and crime. The Permian Basin region averages between $200,000 to $300,000 a month in theft of tools, pipes and valves, according to the Oilfield Theft Task Force in Midland. Ending debtors prison Judges now have authority to expand community service and work options that defendants can complete in lieu of paying fines or other costs for low-level offenses or traffic tickets. Lawmakers behind the bill say its meant to cut down on so-called debtors prisons, when low-income offenders get trapped in a cycle of being unable to pay a fine, losing their license as a result, driving without one to get to work and ending up in jail. No need for a license People no longer need a barber or cosmetologist license for eyebrow threading and shampooing hair. Lawmakers behind the change said the procedures could be deregulated without harming the public good. amorris@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEWTON, Texas For the streets of Newton, a small town on the Texas side of the Louisiana state line, to become impassable, the flood would have to be biblical, Kristen Rogers was told when she peeked into the sheriffs office looking for guidance. Thats what they said about Houston, replied Rogers, who was looking for a dry way out of rural Texas on her way to Florida. But as Houston, the urban behemoth that has so far been the focal point in the unfolding drama of Hurricane Harvey, began gingerly to assess the devastation, the storm marched on to conquer a vast new swath speckled with small towns and home to millions of people who were shocked anew by Harveys tenaciously destructive power. Officials faced a population in dire need but far more difficult to reach. Flooding and rain, topping 47 inches in some areas, pounded 50 counties in southeast and lower central Texas with a combined population of roughly 11 million people. More than 300 towns and smaller cities felt the storms punishing force. On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency began to send out heavy-lift military helicopters carrying tons of food and drinking water, delivering it to people who could not evacuate. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said officials were immediately deploying far more members of the National Guard to southeast Texas, increasing the total Guard deployment to 24,000, including 10,000 troops from other states. John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana, toured the storms aftermath, including a flyover of a levee breach in Gueydan, Louisiana, where the Louisiana National Guard had responded. In contrast to Houston, where the weather began to clear and a few children even returned to playgrounds, many people in these remote areas are still in desperate need of rescue. There are a lot of places that are not accessible by car or truck or boat, and we need to get to the survivors to get them critical aid, said Deanna Fraser, a FEMA spokeswoman. Pleas for help poured out of the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, roughly 100 miles east of Houston. We are just as devastated as the Houston area, said Capt. Crystal Holmes of the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, which includes Port Arthur, a coastal city of about 55,000. When officials there were caught off guard by the scale of the floods, and one emergency shelter started flooding, a MaxBowl bowling alley was transformed into a haven for about 500 people, the owner said. For every rescue accomplished, Holmes said, there seemed to be more people who needed help: We have so many citizens that are trapped inside their homes. Eventually we will get to them, she said, but we just dont know if were going to be able to get to them in time. The police in Beaumont, near Port Arthur, said they had received more than 700 calls for rescue, and other departments were overwhelmed with calls for help. A mother died with her toddler, who survived, clinging to her body, and the number of deaths attributed to the storm climbed to at least 38. The geographic scope of this event is probably what is going to make it one of the most costly flood disasters in U.S. history, said Samuel Brody, the director of the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores at Texas A&M Universitys Galveston campus. Ive seen heavy rain, Ive seen 30, 40 inches, but not over such a large geographic area, impacting rich, poor, black, white, you name it. Pastureland and swampland, cane fields and forests alike began to look like a mud-clouded, Texas version of ark country. Crosby, 25 miles northeast of Houston, faced not only flooding but also the risk of an explosion when refrigeration that kept compounds at a chemical plant stable failed. And still, as of Wednesday afternoon, the rain poured down. Michael LeBouef, a retired surgical assistant who lives in Port Arthur, said air boats, fishing boats and helicopters, operating out of the Walmart parking lot, were running rescue missions. The town looks like a lake; it really does, he said. Its like the whole town got dropped into Lake Sabine. Even before it hit Houston, Harvey had already deluged a band of smaller cities. What about the rest of us? a man named Sam Stone posted on Facebook on behalf of the lower Texas coast towns of Aransas Pass, Port Aransas, Ingleside and Rockport, which took the storm head on. No jobs to go back to, no money, no transportation. All they do is sit and worry about what happens next. In Liberty County northeast of Houston, tiny Moss Hill a couple of restaurants, a couple of churches had become a refuge for people fleeing the water, which began to creep onto the highways about a mile from town. Moss Hill is the highest point in the area, and the Lighthouse Church attracted a steady stream of people seeking shelter, while a trail of pickup trucks towing fishing boats passed through on the way to points east. More than 20 people spent the night at the church. For the most part, they had fled homes nearby. But there was also a man from Florida who was rescued from his car and dropped off there. Newlyweds whose honeymoon road trip had veered horribly off course were given the nursery as a bridal suite. Residents said they were accustomed to hurricanes and floods, but not of this magnitude. Patty Lee, welcoming visitors with soup, cornbread and sweet tea, ticked off all the towns nearby that were struggling: Kountze, Silsbee, Sour Lake. Youve never had this before, she said, so how do you prepare for it? On Wednesday at the Simply Country Cafe, one of the few places open, B.J. Price said her home in nearby Batson had not flooded, but her property was engulfed. In the cafe, she got word that another friend had water up to the roofline. Price said 1994 was the only other time Ive seen it like this, and it wasnt on this magnitude. She added, This is the most catastrophic thing Ive seen in my life. Price said she knew how widespread the storms toll was, and she knew that in the past rural areas like this one did not always get the most immediate aid. Were not forgotten, she said. It just takes them a little longer to get to us. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Austin multifamily developer Oden Hughes has purchased 57 acres of land on the North Side from H-E-B where it plans to build about 1,000 luxury apartments over a long-term span. The land is at the northwest corner of the crossing of Loop 1604 and Bulverde Road, a short distance from the new supermarket that H-E-B opened a few weeks ago. Oden is breaking ground next week on the first phase of the apartments, with 338 units, said Tim Shaughnessy, the firms vice president of development. Oden Hughes plans to sell 16 acres of the land along 1604 to commercial developers, Shaughnessy said. A site plan prepared by Oden shows two hotels, two retail buildings and an assisted living facility, but the firm is open to a variety of uses, he said. We will entertain any uses that commercial developers come to us with, he said. What we show on the site plan are uses we think theres demand for and we think would be suitable for the overall development. The 57-acre site appealed to Oden because it is highly visible along Loop 1604 and is near the emerging retail hub at the crossing of the highway with Bulverde Road. Local firm Fulcrum Development is building a 104-acre mixed-use development named Bulverde Marketplace on the other side of the highway with 500,000 square feet of retail and office space anchored by the H-E-B. Rents at Odens first apartment complex are expected to run from $1,000 a month for the smallest one-bedroom unit to just over $1,900 a month for some three-bedrooms and townhomes, Shaughnessy said. The first units will be ready next fall or winter, he said. H-E-B sold the land to Oden Hughes in late August, property records show. The company decided to sell the land after opening another store nearby, spokeswoman Dya Campos said in an email. Both Shaughnessy and H-E-B declined to disclose the purchase price. The market value of the properties was $12.3 million this year, according to the Bexar Appraisal District. Oden Hughes took out a loan from Ciera Bank to help buy the land and another from Comerica Bank to build the first phase of apartments, Shaughnessy said. County property records show that Ciera loaned $4.4 million and Comerica $29.7 million. The firm has been busy in San Antonio lately, particularly on the North Side. It recently completed an apartment complex near the crossing of Loop 1604 and U.S. 281, and it is building another near The Rim, Shaughnessy said. The firm also constructed the Landmark Grandview complex at the booming intersection of Loop 1604 and Interstate 10, which it hopes to expand with another 650 units. Oden has never built anything downtown, but the firm is focused on finding potential sites there or in Southtown, Shaughnessy said. RWebner@express-news.net @rwebner Warrenton, VA (20186) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Viaduct work creates detour COLUMBUS -- Because of the Third Avenue viaduct construction, for about three months starting Friday the traffic pattern on Third Avenue from Eighth to 10th streets will be revised as follows: Southbound traffic will be one way south on Third Avenue, and northbound traffic will be one way north on Second Avenue, then west on 10th Street back to Third Avenue. Drivers and pedestrians are encouraged to use caution in the area. Senior center holding fundraiser SCHUYLER -- The Colfax County Senior Center, 12th and A streets in Schuyler, will be open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday. The center will be serving sloppy Joes and roast beef sandwiches along with a variety of rolls, bars and pies. All proceeds will be used to defray the cost of the new heating and air conditioning system at the center. Meeting focuses on local trails COLUMBUS -- Those interested in trails for biking and walking are invited to attend the Columbus Area Recreational Trails meeting (CART) at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at Dusters in the upstairs conference room. The topic will be fund allocations for a new trail. Forklift course offered at CCC COLUMBUS -- A forklift certification training course will be offered 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 12 in the West Education Center, Room 179, at Central Community College-Columbus. The class meets Occupational Safety and Health Administration for powered industrial trucks. It will cover prestart inspections, safety procedures, handling and transporting hazardous materials and federal regulations. Participants also will gain driving experience by using the colleges forklift before taking a driving test. Class size is limited, so preregistration is required by Tuesday to reserve a space. The cost is $70. Students must be at least 18 years old and have a valid drivers license. For more information or to preregister, contact Susan Baer at 402-562-1425; toll-free at 1-877-222-0780, ext. 1425; or email sbaer@cccneb.edu. Fundraiser at floral shop COLUMBUS -- Accent Floral and Galleria, 3413 21st St., will have an open house and fundraiser from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 9. Donations will be accepted to support Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and missionary Janine Nickol, who is currently serving in Australia. Accent Floral is located in Westgate Center west of Fort Western. Program on local business COLUMBUS -- The September meeting of the Platte County Historical Society will be held 2 p.m. Sept. 10 in the west building meeting room of the museum, 2916 16th St. Cyndi Jarecke will present a program on the Anderson family and Anderson Floral. The public is invited to attend. Admission is free for PCHS members, and $3 for nonmembers. Labor Day is quickly approaching, giving Americans one final opportunity for a summer getaway. But Jane Webster, a travel agent with Columbus Tour and Travel, said most people don't venture too far over the extended holiday weekend. Holidays are excuses to get away, Webster said. People tend to take little weekend trips for Labor Day because there is a lot less time for a true vacation. Webster said most of her clients scheduling Labor Day trips do so months in advance. They just want to include the weekend into their plans, Webster said. Sometimes people take short Nebraska trips to the Black Hills or even go as far as Branson. Others take this time to make end-of-the-year camping trips. Chad Hunzeker of Columbus plans to use the weekend to visit the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island. I havent been in a long time and this may be the perfect time to go," he said. "The weather wont be that balmy and Ill get to walk around and see everything. Many Columbus residents are staying in town for the weekend. John Miller said he already took his trip for the year. In May we took off for Arizona as soon as school let out, Miller said. We spent a few weeks at Lake Havasu and got to explore that part of the United States. It was quite a trip, but I think my family is going to stay home this Labor Day. For those leaving town, gasoline prices don't look too bad in Columbus, although they're rising in other areas. "Travelers will see lots of stations making 10- to 20-cent-per-gallon jumps. The good thing is that once the 30-cent jump happens, thats usually when the increase in prices stop," said Patrick DeHaan, an analyst with GasBuddy. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.40 across the U.S. and $2.35 in Nebraska, according to AAA. In Columbus, that price sits at $2.20, up 6 cents from a month ago but down a nickel from the same time last year. When Hurricane Harvey hit, gas prices in Omaha rose 11 cents overnight, said Rose White with AAA Nebraska. We continue to monitor the gas prices. The refinery assessment has ended so it will soon be back online. White said Labor Day travel is expected to reach its highest point since 2008 over the coming days. COLUMBUS The transformation of the old Columbus High School into a new middle school is substantially complete, which in construction lingo means the building is ready to be used by students and staff members with a few finishing touches remaining. That's how Dan Keiter, an architect with RVW Inc. in Columbus, summed up this summer's progress on the $3.35 million conversion that turned the former CHS into the new Columbus Middle School. From the beginning of the project in March, everybody involved knew time was of the essence during the six-month construction window allowed for the transformation, Keiter said. Columbus Public Schools officials now have all the state and local permits occupancy, fire marshal, electrical and plumbing in hand. Keiter said the most impressive part of the project came at the beginning of August when a few of the crews on site began to lag slightly behind schedule. Bryan Kearney, project manager for general contractor B-D Construction of Columbus, brought in more workers speed up the pace. B-Ds primary task was coordinating all of the labor for the projects contractors and subcontractors. B-D brought on more bodies that we needed to meet our deadlines, Keiter said. We had a lot of workmen in the building all at the same time and they were all kept busy. The month of August, Keiter said, was a race to the finish line. Middle school staff members were a few days off moving into their new digs as planned (Aug. 21), but they have been setting up classrooms for several days. Prior to last week, staff members spent two weeks going in at night to set up. Fridays deadline for finishing the final to-do list was met. We had construction meetings every week (throughout the spring and summer), CPS Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz said. There were good communications all the way on the work in progress. Mayor Jim Bulkley, CPS Board President Theresa Seipel, CMS Principal Amy Haynes, seventh-grader Alyvia Williams and eighth-grader Eugene Shaw spoke during Wednesday evenings ribbon-cutting ceremony held outside the south entrance of the 26th Street school. The middle schools new fifth- through eighth-grade configuration will have seventh- and eighth-graders on the first floor and fifth- and sixth-graders on the second floor. The new school features an additional two dozen classrooms and student learning spaces. There were 65 classrooms and learning spaces at the previous downtown middle school compared to 89 at the new site. We had to create space for 14 additional fifth-grade teachers and other new staffers, Loeffelholz said. The added learning space is needed because middle schoolers are there all day, but high schoolers were never all there at the same time because of such things as open lunches, activities and shortened class schedules, he said. Most of the construction work involved what school officials called repurposing, moving walls to reconfigure classrooms to fit middle school educational programming and adjusting HVAC systems. One of the biggest changes was converting the old high schools first-floor automotive lab into three special education classrooms. Also on the first floor in the same area, workers created new STEM (science, technology, electronics and math) classrooms, including drafting, projects and woodworking programs, and renovated the existing welding and metals labs and mechatronics area. A big change on the second floor is the conversion of the former high school weight room into wellness and fitness classrooms. Contractors turned the weight room into three wellness classrooms. Workers also built a new floor system along the west side of the competition gymnasiums concrete bleachers to create a new weight and fitness classroom. Cara Delevingne is set to star in 'Carnival Row'. Cara Delevingne The 25-year-old actress and model has signed up to the eight-episode Amazon Original Series, where she will play a faerish refugee that runs away from her war-torn homeland to come to the Burgue, where she faces prejudice against her kind and is carrying her own secrets. The eight-episode series will be produced by Legendary Television whilst showrunner Rene Echevarria will write and executive produce. Joining him will be Travis Beacham, who will serve as executive producer. Beachem also wrote the feature script on which the project is based called 'A Killing on Carnival Row'. Paul McGuigan will direct and executive produce, with the series scheduled to begin filming in the next few months ahead of a 2019 release. 'Carnival Row' is set in a neo-Victorian city and follows the story of mythical creatures, who are fleeing their homeland and heading to the city. However, tensions have started to rise between the citizens and the immigrant population. And with a string of unsolved murders in the forefront of everyone's minds, the tensions continue to rise. 'Carnival Row' is set to be available using the Amazon Prime Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV and mobile devices, or online at www.amazon.co.uk/primevideo. The series will be a global release for members to watch via the Prime Video app online at Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. Bosworth began to date Michael Polish not long after her relationship with Alexander Skarsgard ended in July 2011. Kate Bosworth and Michael Polish (Credit: Famous) The pair met on the set of Big Sur, when Polish directed Bosworth in her performance. Bosworth has since said that it was love at first sight. They announced their engagement in August 2012, wasted no time and were married on 31st August 2013 at The Ranch at Rock Creek in Philipsburg, Montana. Bosworth reportedly wore an Oscar de la Renta strapless ivory ball gown with an eight foot long, 16 foot wide train, with ivory Jimmy Choo sling backs with crystal embellishments. After the wedding, the guests met in Granite Lodge and were fed a locally produced dinner. The allegedly couple wrote their own wedding vows and famous guests such as Lake Bell and Mark Polish looked on at the happy couple during the ceremony. The wedding supposedly encompassed all things American Old West and English Victorian periods, which was themed by Martha Stewart and the manager at Rock Creek. Happy wedding anniversary Kate and Michael! Source: Wikipedia and IMDB. by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Wacker Chemie AG, the Munich-based technology leader in the chemical industry, has announced that the company is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Brazil-based South American headquarters in Sao Paulo, Wacker Quimica do Brasil Ltda. The office was set up in 1977, as part of an important milestone in South American expansion of the group.In Jandira near Sao Paulo, Wacker now manufactures silicone products used, for example, in the textile, construction, paper, agrochemical, personal care and cosmetics industries. The company is currently building a new multifunctional facility at the site for manufacturing antifoam agents and functional silicone fluids. Investments for the expansion will total around 7 million. Wackers Jandira technical centre further offers customers special support with the development of new products and applications for the South American market. With over 100 employees, Wacker Brazil generated sales of around 90 million in 2016.Wacker executive board member Tobias Ohler said, Our sales in this region have grown at an average rate of more than nine percent annually over the past ten years. At the same time, local production volumes have increased five-fold. In the years ahead, we expect demand in South America to grow for our high-quality specialty chemicals and see huge potential for our Jandira site. Wacker already ranks among the top silicone suppliers in South America and is the market leader for dispersible polymer powders for the construction industry. The regions main markets for Wacker products range from construction, paints and coatings, paper, electrical/electronics and textiles, through to the cosmetics, agrochemical, household and personal-care sectors. A wholly owned subsidiary, Wacker Quimica do Brasil Ltda., supports customers and partners in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Besides sales and marketing, the approximately 21,000 square metres site houses its own production plants, which produce, for example, silicone fluids and emulsions, as well as silicone resins and rubber compounds. Wacker is currently expanding its existing silicone operations by building a multifunctional facility for manufacturing antifoam agents and functional silicone fluids for the paper, cosmetics, and household industries. While the reactor for silicone fluids has already been completed, the plant for antifoam agents is expected to come on stream by the end of the year. (GK) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Bangladeshs Nitol-Niloy group, which has business interests in automobile and engineering, wants to invest in the Indian textile sector, especially in West Bengal, where it plans to start a spinning mill to convert India-sourced cotton to yarn for consumption in Bangladesh. It is eyeing a joint venture and the investment could be up to Rs 300 crore.Though the group has explored Gujarat, West Bengal is preferred due to its geographical proximity, a report in a leading east Indian daily quoted group chairman Abdul Matlub Ahmad as saying on the sidelines of a recent manufacturing summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kolkata. Bangladesh's Nitol-Niloy group, which has business interests in automobile and engineering, wants to invest in the Indian textile sector, especially in West Bengal, where it plans to start a spinning mill to convert India-sourced cotton to yarn for consumption in Bangladesh. It is eyeing a joint venture and the investment could be up to Rs 300 crore.# The projects blueprint is being prepared as the state government has already shown plots of land to the groups representatives. The group is eyeing projects in the specialised garments segment as well with retail chains across the country.Ahmad also expects investments from Indian companies in a special economic zone being developed by the group in Kishoreganj district, about 85 km from Dhaka where the focus is on automobile assembly, ancillary industries and engineering equipment. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Cotton was recently reintroduced as a key crop in Haiti after 30 years with joint efforts by global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland, the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), a Haitian non-profit foundation, and the Haitian Government. A ceremonial planting of the first seeds last week marked the beginning of the field trials near Gonaives.Varieties from Haiti, Brazil, India and the United States were planted and next summer, the SFA will introduce higher-quality strains that adapt best to local conditions and organic cultivation. Cotton was recently reintroduced as a key crop in Haiti after 30 years with joint efforts by global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland, the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), a Haitian non-profit foundation, and the Haitian Government. A ceremonial planting of the first seeds last week marked the beginning of the field trials near Gonaives.# Once the country's fourth largest agricultural export, cottons comeback is expected to help revitalize farming and boost the economy, according to a recent press release from British firm Timberland.This initiative will concurrently plant millions of trees. Smallholder farmers will plant trees in return for valuable cotton seeds, agricultural tools and training for their own farms.In addition to helping to fund the five-year initiative, Timberland has committed to purchase up to one-third of the Haitian farmers annual global cotton supply, subject to price, quality and volume. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India With the third round of Brexit negotiations under way in Brussels, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce (DIHK) have urged British and European Union (EU) negotiators to focus unambiguously on common economic interests, including customs arrangements, tax procedures and rights of workers from each side.The leading German and UK business organisations have called upon politicians involved in the talks to build an environment of mutual trust and constructive dialogue and to deliver clarity and certainty for businesses across Europe, according to a recent BCC press release. With the third round of Brexit negotiations under way in Brussels, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce (DIHK) have urged British and European Union (EU) negotiators to focus unambiguously on common economic interests, including customs arrangements, tax procedures and rights of workers from each side.# Uncertainty prevails across the European business community. A DIHK survey has revealed that the business outlook of companies engaged in trade with the United Kingdom (UK) is worsening because of the expectation of cost burdens from limits on free movement of workers, taxes, tariffs and increasing bureaucratic hurdles.In a recent BCC opinion poll, a substantial majority of respondents wanted a transition period of at least three years. Both German and British businesses also want clarity at the beginning on the overall shape of the final settlement, the press release said.The UK is the third-largest foreign market for German goods and Germany is the UKs second-largest goods and services exports destination. German companies maintain about 2,500 branch offices in the UK, which employ nearly 400,000 workers. British companies have 1,200 branch offices in Germany, which employ about 220,000 workers. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India MINISTER SERUIRATU REMARKS AT THE INAUGURAL SESSION OF THE BUSINESS AND CLIMATE SUMMIT Honourable Dr Shri Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of the Government of India,Your Excellency, Ms Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,Mr Brice LaLonde, President of the Business and Climate Summit,Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Chair of the Delhi Business and Climate Summit Steering Committee,Mr Pankaj R Patel, President, of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry,Distinguished guests,Ladies and gentlemenA very good morning and warm greetings to you allI am very honoured to be here at this very important event and to be given an opportunity to address you this morning.First, let me thank the organisers of this years business and climate summit the Federal Institute of India Chamber of Commerce for all its work in organising this gathering of eminent leaders in the business and climate spheres.And of course, I would also like to thank the Government of India for its support and for welcoming us into this incredible country.When I was appointed the high-level champion at the end of COP22 by my Prime Minister, I was honoured by the opportunity and eagerly accepted. Climate change is such an important issue to us in Fiji and to me personally. But to tell you the truth, at the time, I did not realise the enormity and the gravity of the task.What I very quickly came to understand is that for me to truly deserve the title of champion, I need to be actively reaching out, listening, and learning from ALL stakeholders, from ALL regions and corners of the globe - especially those actively engaged in climate action. I then need to take this information, process it, and feed it into various decision-making and policy-making processes.This is why I am so pleased to be here. I have so much to learn from you - to know more about your climate action efforts, your solutions, and your aspirations.The first objective of the Business and Climate Summit is to express business beliefs that accelerate reduction in emissions and that are compatible with the pursuit of human, social and economic development, and their commitment to engage in this direction.This objective resonates with small island countries like my country, Fiji. With our relatively small land mass, any small activity will have an impact across the entire island landscape affecting ecosystems, people, livelihoods and economies.Therefore, any technology and investment, whether it be on mitigation or on adaptation, should not compromise social, cultural, ecological and economic systems.I also note the summit is focused on the Paris Agreements target of limiting the rise in global temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius and on working toward net-zero economies.Ladies and Gentlemen, while this is admirable and ambitious, it is important to note Fiji is firmly focused on the target of limiting global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius above that of the pre-industrial age. To achieve this, we must reach net-zero emissions in the next handful of decades.For small islands states like ours, and for all vulnerable nations, this is an imperative and a minimum achievement.Friends, colleagues, we look to you as business and industry leaders to develop innovations, technologies, and solutions that deliberately include the principles of sustainable development. I know that a number of businesses are already working on climate action initiatives that ensure sustainable development, and I commend these efforts.Such objectives include a circular economy where clean and renewable energy is used to build long-lasting products that are reusable.Transformative technologies and approaches like this need to be shared, replicated, and scaled up especially to vulnerable developing countries.In coming up with sustainable solutions, I encourage you to reach out to other stakeholders, to other agencies, to government institutions, and to communities to plan and together come up with solutions to optimise the impacts of your investments.Ladies and gentlemen, I was pleased to see that the theme of this years summit is - Building partnerships towards a low carbon world. as the Fijian COP23 Presidency places very high importance on building partnerships.However, we also recognise that partnerships can be complex and difficult we are talking about people after all. It is easy to say that we need to work together, but the reality is that with the many varying agendas and personalities involved, this is easier said than done. Any one of you involved in negotiation processes would know this.I call on each and every one of you to put aside differences and work towards a common goal the urgent goal to pursue efforts to keep global temperature increase to within 1.5 degrees Celsius; and the equally urgent goal to strengthen the resiliency of vulnerable communities.We need to develop a relationship where everyone agrees on the urgency to unite for climate action Further! Faster! Together!The private sector needs the support of government to develop conducive policies and open up investment opportunities; government needs the private sector to invest in sustainable technologies and come up with innovative solutions and technologies that are feasible and sustainable for the country. In particular, local communities, especially women, need to be empowered and given the capacity to effectively plan, implement and benefit from climate actions, as well as have ownership over initiatives.Together, we can find the best path to take us to a net-zero carbon world. But to reach and maintain a net-zero carbon world requires effort from all sectors and creation of synergies between adaptation and mitigation technologies and initiatives. There needs to be partnership and cooperation between the two interventions.For example - food and water security initiatives should be talking to the renewable energy sector to come up with approaches that strengthen resiliency while reducing emissions. This needs a conscious effort from all actors.In October, Fiji will be hosting the Pre-COP. Aside from the formal meeting of Parties, there will be a Partnerships Day to showcase initiatives that have been brought together through the commitments of various stakeholders, where the private sector is key. This is an initiative of the Fijian COP23 Presidency to showcase and facilitate the sharing of experiences and lessons from the private sector. This also reflects the high importance the Fiji COP23 Presidency places on partnerships and the role of the private sector.I look forward to reading the recommendations that will emerge from this summit and to my discussions with the Business and Climate Summit executives on the way forward to accelerate climate action.I also look forward to seeing you at the climate action days during COP23 in November.I wish you all productive and enjoyable interactions over the course of the two days.Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you Members of a Lincoln-based search and rescue team deployed to Houston continued evacuating people and pets stranded by Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday, officials said. Urban Search and Rescue Nebraska Task Force 1 and the teams it's working with have rescued 2,000 people and more than 100 pets from flooded areas primarily in suburbs west of Houston, Brad Thavenet said. On Tuesday, they saved 84 pets and tended to seven people with serious injuries, the Lincoln Fire and Rescue battalion chief said. Flooding from the record rainfall Houston received since last week has kept the task force in rescue operations with an unclear timeline for when they will begin searching for the missing, Thavenet said. Task Force members, including 45 Lincoln firefighters, remain in good spirits and have reported no injuries, just sore muscles, he said. "They are dog-tired but its a happy-tired, Capt. Dan Ripley told Thavenet. The 80-person team is also comprised of firefighters from Omaha and Papillion. Some of the team based in the western Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, are supporting the logistics of the task force's boat rescue operations, Thavenet said. On Tuesday, a military helicopter delivered new boat fuel, prepackaged meals and other supplies to the school the Nebraska task force and eight others are calling home, he said. Specially trained search dog handlers have left their dogs at base so far and used their skills interacting with animals to aid pet rescues, Thavenet said. High floodwaters damaged one of their trucks, but task force members have kept their operations moving as they wait for a mechanic to fix the issue, he said. "Theyre not stopping for lunch, Thavenet said. TOKYO, Aug 31, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - July 2017 Summary:Domestic Production- Second consecutive monthly year-on-year increase since May, 2017 ( 110.5% year-on-year )Overseas Production- Second consecutive monthly year-on-year increase since May, 2017 ( 127.5% year-on-year )Total Production- Second consecutive monthly year-on-year increase since May, 2017( 119.0% year-on-year )Domestic Sales- Third consecutive monthly year-on-year increase since April, 2017 ( 111.2% year-on-year )Exports- Fifteenth consecutive monthly year-on-year decrease since April, 2016( 83.7% year-on-year )Supplemental InformationOverseas ProductionAsia- 51,308 units: 126.8% year-on-yearExportsAsia- 2,128 units: 87.4% year-on-yearNorth America- 8,176 units: 97.1% year-on-yearEurope- 8,916 units: 83.9% year-on-yearAbout Mitsubishi MotorsMitsubishi Motors Corporation is the fifth largest automaker in Japan and the fifteenth largest in the world by global unit sales. It is part of the Mitsubishi keiretsu, formerly the biggest industrial group in Japan, and was formed in 1970 from the automotive division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.Throughout its history it has courted alliances with foreign partners, a strategy pioneered by their first president Tomio Kubo to encourage expansion, and continued by his successors. A significant stake was sold to Chrysler Corporation in 1971 which it held for 22 years, while DaimlerChrysler was a controlling shareholder between 2000 and 2005. Long term joint manufacturing and technology licencing deals with the Hyundai Motor Company in South Korea and Proton in Malaysia were also forged, while in Europe the company co-owned the largest automobile manufacturing plant in the Netherlands with Volvo for ten years in the 1990s, before taking sole ownership in 2001.Source: Mitsubishi MotorsContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. 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. DALLAS, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Sekisui Specialty Chemicals would like to confirm that all of our employees are safe, and both of our Houston area facilities are undamaged as of August 30th. Our Pasadena plant was shut down on August 26th.Production will be temporarily halted as we evaluate the safety of our facilities after the storm and subsequent flooding. A hurricane-ready crew of employees is currently on site monitoring conditions at the plant. Sekisui will continue to supply customers from our Calvert City manufacturing facilities until the Pasadena plant has returned to full production scale. Customers should contact their local Sekisui sales representative for details on any supply impacts. We are fully cooperating with emergency response teams and local authorities to assist in the region's recovery process. We appreciate the efforts of Houston's first responders over the past few days, and our thoughts are with affected community members across South Texas. Sekisui Specialty Chemicals' primary product is Selvol, a line of high performance polyvinyl alcohol polymers and copolymers used in paper, adhesive, packaging, construction, personal care, and many other specialty formulations.Sekisui Specialty Chemicals is a subsidiary of the Sekisui Chemical Group, a multibillion dollar, global company that delivers a wide range of products and services to enrich people's lives.The company is comprised of core businesses and technologies in housing, social infrastructure, and chemical solutions. For more information, visit www.sekisui-sc.com/ CONTACT: Neha Verma, media@sekisui-sc.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/370717/Sekisui_Logo.jpg ORDOS, China, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TheSecond Ordos International Conference(OICC II) will be held in the city ofOrdos of Inner Mongolia ofChina from Sep. 22nd to Sep. 24th. Prominent professors and top notch creative teams from countries targeted by the Chinese government's One Road and One Belt initiative including the Netherlands, Italy, Pakistan and Thailand, will attend the event. At the conference they will bring their great cultural and creative worksin a bid to win Masters Awards and Future Stars Awards. Masters Awards areaccompanied by a 200,000 yuan cash prize, while Future Stars Awards are divided into five categories: design with the Most Aesthetic Value, Most Innovative Design, Design with the Most Investment Value, the Most Heart-Rendering Design, and Design with the Greatest Application Potential, each accompanied by a 100,000 yuan cash prize. Nomination awards were also established for cultural and creative designs under the One Road and One Belt theme, each accompanied by a cash prize of 20,000 yuan. Companies and professional individualsengaged intrade and commerce, applications, communication, math and science, or commodities as well as those who are interested in creative designs can register on OICC II's official site, http://oicc.cnlive.com, by 21 September, to participate in the event in the name of an organization or an individual. Lase but not least, the municipal government of Ordos has established an intellectual property (IP) incubation fund worth of 300 million RMB. Apart from gaining the support of the fund, the excellent designs displayed at OICC IIwill be selected into the Ordos International Culture & Creativity IP database and have the chance for further investment. Media Contact: Chloe Yao Tel: +86-158-1338-3624 Email: 617698989@qq.com Company to host Investor Analyst Event with live webcast, Monday, September 11, 6:15 p.m. CEST/12:15 p.m. EDT Regulatory News: ERYTECH Pharma (Paris:ERYP) (ADR:EYRYY) (Euronext Paris ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies by encapsulating therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, today announced that it will present the full data from its Phase 2b trial evaluating eryaspase for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer at the upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology Annual Meeting, being held September 8 12, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. Prof. Pascal Hammel, MD, PhD, gastroenterologist-oncologist at Beaujon Hospital and principal investigator of the trial, will present the full results of the Phase 2b study of eryaspase (GRASPA), L-asparaginase encapsulated in red blood cells, in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of second-line metastatic pancreatic cancer. In March 2017, the company announced positive topline results from the open label, randomized, multicentre Phase 2b trial of 140 enrolled patients. The trial met its prespecified co-primary endpoints, with significant improvement observed in both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients treated with eryaspase combined with chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone. Abstracts from the ESMO 2017 Annual Meeting will be available online on the conference website beginning at 12:05 a.m. CEST on Thursday, August 31, 2017. Poster Session and Presentation Details to Follow: Poster Display: A Phase 2b of eryaspase in combination with gemcitabine or FOLFOX as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (NCT02195180) Poster: #621PD Lead Author: Prof. Pascal Hammel, MD, PhD; Beaujon Hospital, France Poster Session/Section: Poster Display Session Date: Saturday, September 9 Time: 1:15 2:15 p.m. CEST Location: Hall 9, IFEMA Feria de Madrid Poster Discussion Session: Discussant: Prof. Stefano Cascinu, MD, PhD; Ancona, Italy Date: Monday, September 11 Time: 4:30 6:00 p.m. CEST Location: Cordoba Auditorium, IFEMA Feria de Madrid Copies of the poster presentations will be available online September 9th, 2017, on ERYTECH's website at www.erytech.com. ESMO Investor Analyst Event and Webcast: Erytech will host an investor and analyst event on Monday, September 11th at 6:15 p.m. CEST. Erytech management and principal investigator, Prof. Pascal Hammel will present and discuss the full dataset from the Phase 2b trial of eryaspase in metastatic pancreatic cancer. The Company will also highlight its ERYCAPS technology and provide an overview of its lead eryaspase program and pipeline programs. Event: Erytech Investor Analyst Reception Date: Monday, September 11 Time: 6:15 8:00 p.m. CEST Location: Nuevo Boston Hotel, Madrid Pre-registration for the event is required. To RSVP, please contact Janhavi Mohite at jmohite@theruthgroup.com. For those unable to attend, a live webcast will be accessible at the start of the event (06:30pm) and available for replay on the investor relations page of the Erytech corporate website at www.erytech.com. The call can be followed via the following teleconferencing numbers: USA: +1 6467224907 United-Kingdom: +44 2030432440 Switzerland: +41 225809022 Germany: +49 69222229031 France: +33 172001510 Belgium: +32 24029640 Sweden: +46 850334664 Finland: +358 942599700 Netherlands: +31 107138194 Confirmation Code: 83328551# The webcast can be followed live online via the link: http://www.anywhereconference.com?UserAudioMode=DATA&Name=&Conference=135310579&PIN=83328551 Following the live call, a replay will be available for 90 days. To listen to the replay, please dial: USA: +1 877 64 230 18 United-Kingdom: +44(0) 2033679460 France: +33(0)1 72 00 15 00 Confirmation Code: 310579# About ERYTECH: www.erytech.com Founded in Lyon, France in 2004, ERYTECH is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for rare forms of cancer and orphan diseases. Leveraging its proprietary ERYCAPS platform, which uses a novel technology to encapsulate therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, ERYTECH has developed a pipeline of product candidates targeting markets with high unmet medical needs. ERYTECH's initial focus is on the treatment of blood cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), by depriving tumors of nutrients necessary for their survival. ERYTECH plans to pursue regulatory approvals for its lead product candidate, eryaspase, also known under the trade name GRASPA, having achieved positive efficacy and safety results from its completed Phase 2/3 pivotal clinical trial in Europe in children and adults with relapsed or refractory ALL. ERYTECH also has an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of eryaspase in the United States in adults with newly diagnosed ALL, and a Phase 2b clinical trial in Europe in elderly patients with newly diagnosed AML, each in combination with chemotherapy. ERYTECH believes that eryaspase also has the potential as a treatment approach in solid tumors and has completed a Phase 1 study and a 140-patient Phase 2 clinical trial in France, evaluating eryaspase in patients with second line metastatic pancreatic cancer. Eryaspase consists of an enzyme, L-asparaginase, encapsulated inside donor-derived red blood cells. L-asparaginase depletes asparagine, a naturally occurring amino acid essential for the survival and proliferation of cancer cells, from circulating blood plasma. ERYTECH produces eryaspase at its own GMP-approved and operational manufacturing site in Lyon (France), and at a site for clinical production in Philadelphia (USA). ERYTECH has entered into licensing and distribution partnership agreements for eryaspase for ALL and AML in Europe with Orphan Europe (Recordati Group), and for ALL in Israel with TEVA, which will market the product under the GRASPA brand name. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have granted orphan drug designations for eryaspase for the treatment of ALL, AML and pancreatic cancer. In addition to eryaspase, ERYTECH is developing two other product candidates, that focus on using encapsulated enzymes to target cancer metabolism and induce tumor starvation. The company is also exploring the use of its ERYCAPS platform for developing cancer immunotherapies and enzyme replacement therapies. ERYTECH is listed on Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0011471135, ticker: ERYP) and is part of the CAC Healthcare, CAC Pharma Bio, CAC Mid Small, CAC All Tradable, EnterNext PEA-PME 150 and Next Biotech indexes. ERYTECH is also listed in the U.S. under an ADR level 1 program (OTC, ticker EYRYY). Forward-looking information This press release contains forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates with respect to the clinical development plans, business and regulatory strategy, and anticipated future performance of ERYTECH and of the market in which it operates. Certain of these statements, forecasts and estimates can be recognized by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "estimates", "may", "will" and "continue" and similar expressions. They include all matters that are not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable when made but may or may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend upon factors that are beyond ERYTECH's control. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline product candidates that the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. Therefore, actual results may turn out to be materially different from the anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. Documents filed by ERYTECH Pharma with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (www.amf-france.org), also available on ERYTECH's website (www.erytech.com) describe such risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, no representations are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates only speak as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. ERYTECH disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statement, forecast or estimates to reflect any change in ERYTECH's expectations with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement, forecast or estimate is based, except to the extent required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170830006198/en/ Contacts: ERYTECH Gil Beyen, +33 4 78 74 44 38 Chairman and CEO or Eric Soyer, +33 4 78 74 44 38 CFO and COO investors@erytech.com or The Ruth Group Lee Roth, +1 646 536 7012 Investor relations lroth@theruthgroup.com or Kirsten Thomas, +1 508 280 6592 Media relations kthomas@theruthgroup.com or NewCap Julien Perez, +33 1 44 71 98 52 Investor relations or Nicolas Merigeau, +33 1 44 71 98 52 Media relations erytech@newcap.eu CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The Australian dollar fell to a 6-day low of 0.7887 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.7900. Against the euro, the aussie edged down to 1.5013 from yesterday's closing value of 1.5027. The aussie dropped to 0.9973 against the Canadian dollar, from an early high of 1.0002. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.77 against the greenback, 1.52 against the euro and 0.98 against the loonie. 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. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Destatis is scheduled to publish Germany's retail sales for November in the pre-European session on Friday at 2:00 am ET. Economists expect retail sales to rise 2.3 percent year-on-year in November, reversing a 1.4 percent fall in October. Ahead of the data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the pound and the franc, it fell against the greenback and the yen. As of 1:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8897 against the pound, 1.1766 against the Swiss franc, 1.2062 against the U.S. dollar and 136.42 against the yen. 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. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The NZ dollar fell to nearly a 3-month low of 0.7164 against the U.S. dollar and nearly a 1-1/2-year low of 1.1034 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7199 and 1.0968, respectively. The kiwi dropped to 2-day lows of 1.6581 against the euro and 79.16 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.6500 and 79.35, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.69 against the greenback, 1.11 against the aussie, 1.67 against the euro and 77.00 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The Five Selected Companies Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Toyota Motor Corporation Tel: +81-3-3817-9926 Toyota City, Japan, Aug 31, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has concluded a selection process that started in December 2016 for the TOYOTA NEXT open innovation program. The following five companies have been selected to collaborate with Toyota in the program.The Five Selected Companieshttp://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_ToyotaSelectedCompanies.jpgTOYOTA NEXT is a program launched by Toyota to address the major challenges that Japan is expected to face in the future, including a low birth rate, an aging population, growing urban population density, and depopulation of rural areas. These challenges have led to an increase and diversification of customer needs, brought about by a rise in IT and technology, and the program aims to address the emergent variety of needs in a flexible and agile manner.The program is intended to promote joint development of new services by utilizing new ideas, technologies, and solutions initiated and driven by a wide range of organizations, including corporations, SMEs, startups, and research institutions. Toyota aims to work with TOYOTA NEXT partners to develop services that improve the user-friendliness of its customers' cars, make daily travel more convenient and comfortable, and help achieve a safer and more reliable mobility society. The program also aims to develop people-centered services to provide customers the experience of an exciting future to look forward to.During the selection process, Toyota received over 500 submissions on a broad range of ideas from innovative ones aimed at consumers to those leveraging Toyota's unique technological capabilities.The following five major factors were considered in the selection process:1) Ideas that solve issues faced by people and society2) Possession of sufficient technological, developmental, and service capabilities3) Enthusiasm to implement ideas4) Utilization of assets of both companies (Toyota and the selected company)5) Feasibility for both companies (Toyota and the selected company)Shuichi Murakami, a managing officer with Toyota, commented that, "We are grateful to be able to find new partners to help in developing new services. We will strive dutifully to realize these services and expect to learn much along the way."As the TOYOTA NEXT initiative moves forward, Toyota will have discussions with the selected companies on specific service content, a schedule for launch, in addition to details regarding capital arrangements and cooperation.Please refer to the following link for more details on TOYOTA NEXT:https://toyotanext.jp/en/About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Ultra Electronics Holdings plc. (ULE.L) and Sparton Corp. announced that each have received a request for additional information from the United States Department of Justice in connection with Ultra's pending acquisition of Sparton. The effect of the second requests is to extend the waiting period imposed by the HSR Act until 30 days after Ultra and Sparton have substantially complied with the requests, unless that period is extended voluntarily by both Ultra and Sparton or terminated sooner by the DOJ. The Transaction remains subject to approval by Sparton's shareholders and other approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions. Ultra and Sparton continue to target completing the Transaction by 1 January 2018. Separately,Ultra Electronics said that its PMES business, based in Rugeley Staffordshire, has been awarded a 37 million pounds contract by BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines in relation to a UK naval defence programme. This contract is for the final development and production of a hybrid Electric Propulsion System. This is the second of the three major contracts expected by the Group in the second half of the year. The first contract to supply the Indian Navy with new naval defence systems was announced in July. 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. LINCOLN The fate of beer sales in Whiteclay is now in the hands of the Nebraska Supreme Court. During a 40-minute hearing Tuesday at the Capitol, justices quizzed opposing lawyers in an appeal by state regulators to prevent four beer-only liquor stores from reopening in the tiny village, a short walk from South Dakota's dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Before the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission shuttered the stores in April, citing inadequate law enforcement in Whiteclay, the stores sold millions of cans of beer and malt liquor each year to the reservation's Oglala Lakota residents. The stores argue the commission overstepped its authority by refusing to renew their licenses. A decision from the state's high court should come in the next two months. As is common in high-level appeals, Tuesday's arguments focused on technical matters of law. An attorney for the beer stores, Andrew Snyder of Scottsbluff, argued the Liquor Commission had no right to deny renewal of their licenses based on law enforcement. "The commission had no authority to do what they did," Snyder told the justices. Alternatively, lawyers for the state and four Sheridan County residents who oppose the stores raised problems with the owners' appeal and with a decision in the stores' favor by a Lancaster County judge in April. Any of those arguments could form the basis for the Supreme Court's decision, which could end the case outright or send it back to the lower court. Snyder pointed to a 1996 case involving Grand Island Latin Club, in which the high court determined that the holder of a liquor license has a "constitutionally protected interest" in having that license renewed so long as the licensee is still qualified and the premises haven't changed. Allowing the Liquor Commission's Whiteclay decision to stand would require the Supreme Court to overrule itself, Snyder argued. At least two justices seemed to show discomfort with limiting the Liquor Commission's authority to that extent. "That doesn't get to the subject of how the business is being conducted or the consequences," said Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman, who was appointed in 1998. Justice John Wright, who wrote the 1996 decision, noted Snyder's interpretation would mean a liquor license could never be denied unless the premises changed or licensee became unqualified. On the other side, lawyers opposing Whiteclay beer sales focused their efforts on squelching the beer stores' appeal. James Smith, the state's solicitor general, and Dave Domina, an Omaha attorney representing Sheridan County residents, said Snyder improperly excluded Domina's clients from his initial appeal of the Liquor Commission's decision, and didn't properly notify them or the state about the case. In that regard, Domina said, "the beer stores are 0 for 5." Snyder maintained the Sheridan County residents aren't parties to the case under state law and that the state didn't raise its own notification concerns until it was too late for them to matter. After the hearing, Snyder said he couldn't make a prediction about the outcome. Moments later, Whiteclay opponents celebrated outside. Bryan Brewer, former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, pointed to a fellow activists' sign that read "Shut Down Whiteclay." "This has happened today," Brewer said. "I am very confident that Whiteclay will never open up again." Aqua Comms Appointed System Operator of New Undersea Cable Traversing the North Atlantic DUBLIN, Ireland, 2018-01-15 14:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua Comms DAC ("Aqua Comms"), the operator of Ireland's first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network interconnecting New York, Dublin and London, announces today its plans for continued investment in submarine cable infrastructure having joined the HAVFRUE consortium which will own and operate a new subsea cable system connecting New Jersey, U.S.A., to Ireland, and Denmark, with connectivity options to Norway. The HAVFRUE subsea cable is the first new undersea cable traversing the North Atlantic to connect mainland Northern Europe to the U.S. in nearly two decades. Aqua Comms is the appointed system operator and landing party in the U.S., Ireland, and Denmark. TE SubCom has been selected as supplier for the system on which route survey operations have begun. The projected Ready-for-Service (RFS) date for the HAVFRUE subsea cable is Q4 2019. Aqua Comms will market and sell capacity services and raw spectrum on its portion of the HAVFRUE cable system under the brand name America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2) as complementary to its existing transatlantic cable, America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), running between New York and Killala in County Mayo, Ireland. Aqua Comms is also concluding a new cable route to Denmark through the UK, developing CeltixConnect-2, which connects Dublin to Manchester, as well as the North Sea Connect cable that will link Stellium's data centre in Newcastle, England, to Esbjerg, Denmark. Combining these new subsea cable developments, the build of the HAVFRUE / AEC-2 cable system, together with existing systems owned and operated by Aqua Comms, will create a resilient, ring-based infrastructure between the East Coast of the U.S., Ireland, and Northern Europe, connecting the hubs of the pan-Atlantic hyperscale data centre industry in North America, Ireland, and Scandinavia. "Invest in Denmark is proud to welcome Aqua Comms and the other consortium companies into the country with this fantastic addition to our internet infrastructure," comments Steen Hommel, Director, Invest in Denmark. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn't be happier about this investment. Landing a brand new, top-of-the-line fibre cable on the west coast of Jutland will further cement Denmark's connectivity to North America." The HAVFRUE / AEC-2 infrastructure network services will be delivered to and from modern, high-reliability, carrier-neutral interconnection points at NJFX, in Wall, New Jersey, and 1025Connect in Long Island, New York, with a resilient network connection in between, offering a Manhattan bypass route increasing diversity and resiliency in the region. In Europe, the services will be offered from all landing stations and carrier-neutral, metro area Points of Presence (PoPs) in Dublin, London, Amsterdam, and Esbjerg, where the system will more than double fibre connectivity to Denmark, increasing the diversity and reliability of the Internet to the region. "Aqua Comms is delighted to be investing as a part of the consortium for the HAVFRUE cable system connecting the U.S., Ireland, and Denmark," states Nigel Bayliff, Chief Executive Officer, Aqua Comms. "The demand for hyperscale capacity and connectivity linking North America with Northern Europe cannot be overestimated, and the combination of AEC-1 / AEC-2 subsea cable systems, facilitated by the construction of HAVFRUE will deliver reliability and resilience at an auspicious time, especially in view of the meteoric rise of the digital economy taking place in Scandinavia." The Aqua Comms team is attending PTC'18, taking place January 21-24, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Metro Connect, January 29-31, in Miami, Florida, and Submarine Networks Europe, February 20-21, in London. Aqua Comms invites companies to meet with its representatives at these events so that it can assist organizations with their long-term connectivity needs across the Atlantic Ocean. To learn more about Aqua Comms, visit www.aquacomms.com. About Aqua Comms DAC Aqua Comms DAC is an Irish Carriers' Carrier specialising in building and operating submarine cable systems and supplying fibre pairs, spectrum and capacity networking solutions to the global media, content and carrier markets. It is the owner/operator of America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1) and CeltixConnect-1 and continues to build on its vision of efficient submarine infrastructure ownership with membership of the HAVFRUE consortium and development of CeltixConnect-2 and North Sea Connect, bridging the Northern Atlantic between North America and Northern Europe. To learn more about Aqua Comms and its portfolio of subsea cable systems visit www.aquacomms.com About TE SubCom TE SubCom (SubCom), a TE Connectivity Ltd. company, is an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services, and a leading global supplier for today's undersea communications requirements. As a vertically integrated supplier, SubCom designs, manufactures, deploys, and maintains the industry's most reliable fiber optic cable systems. Its solutions include long-haul and regional systems, repeaterless networks, capacity upgrades, offshore oil and gas, and scientific research applications. SubCom brings end-to-end network knowledge and global experience to support on-time delivery and the needs of customers worldwide. To date, the company has deployed enough subsea communication cable to circle the Earth 15 times at the equator. For more information, visit www.SubCom.com. Media Contacts: iMiller Public Relations for Aqua Comms DAC Tel: +1 866 307 2510 aquacommspr@imillerpr.com Courtney McDaniel TE SubCom +1 732 578 7356 info@subcom.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc09414a-36b4-459f-b84b-39943 418e358 Yidan Prize held its inaugural award ceremony on Dec 10, 2017 Welcome remarks by Dr Charles Chen Yidan Carol S. Dweck, Yidan Prize for Education Research Inaugural Laureate Vicky Colbert, Yidan Prize for Education Development Inaugural Laureate HONG KONG, Dec 11, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The world's largest education prize, the Yidan Prize laureates accepted the inaugural awards and received gold medals from The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, at the Yidan Prize Award Presentation Ceremony held Sunday (12/10) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Each of the laureates will receive HK$30 million (about US$3.87 million) to recognize their distinguished contributions to global education and to help fund their future work.Carol S. Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, received the Yidan Prize for Education Research. Her groundbreaking research on the power of the "growth mindset", based upon the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be developed over time, has become an influential concept in the field of education."It is a great honor to receive the Yidan Prize for Education Research and I accept it on behalf of my extraordinary students and colleagues. It is their work as much as mine. It is critical for educators to know that we cannot nourish the mind without the heart. We cannot expect good learning - joyful and effective learning - to happen in a mind that is disconnected from the heart. And we cannot expect our students to create the world of tomorrow, the world that we hope for, without a heart-mind that connects them to each other, to the larger society, and to the planet as a whole," Dweck said.Vicky Colbert, founder and director of Fundacion Escuela Nueva, Colombia, was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Her project Escuela Nueva ("New School" in Spanish) has improved the quality of education at rural public schools in Colombia since the mid-1970s. The pedagogical model has also been adopted by 14 countries, reaching over 5 million children."I am honored and deeply moved to receive this prestigious education Yidan Prize for Education Development. The recognition that we receive through this prestigious award is a further motivation to continue our commitment to the cause of basic education of high quality for all children. At Escuela Nueva Foundation in Colombia and many other countries of the world we work to establish affordable schools of excellent quality where children, teachers and parents are empowered to learn and contribute to a culture of peace and citizenship in their environment," Colbert said.Each laureate receives a gold medal and a total sum of HK$30 million (about US$3.87 million) including a cash prize of HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million) and a project fund of HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million).Presenting the awards, The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam said: "The Yidan Prize gives us much to look forward to in education excellence. And for this, I am grateful to Dr Chen, the Yidan Prize Foundation and the international judging committee for their commitment to global education and educators, and for their contribution to the sustainable development of the world we live in. My congratulations again to this year's laureates, Professor Dweck and Ms Colbert, for their distinguished achievements. Working together, I know we can create a better world through education."Dr Charles Chen Yidan, founder of the Yidan Prize, said: "Yidan Prize aims to empower educators to transcend religion, race and nationality, to exert far-reaching, positive influence over humanity, and ultimately, to help create a better world. I hope that their practical experience and research findings can be applied more extensively, expanding their impact, and benefiting more people."The event was attended by prominent figures including H.E. Dr Ahmed Al-Eissa, Minister of Education, Saudi Arabia, Ms. Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and Jaime Saavedra, Senior Director, Education, World Bank Group, among others.The laureates are selected by a judging committee chaired by Dr Koichiro Matsuura, former director-general of UNESCO, which comprises two independent judging panels. Professor Paul Chu Ching-wu, professor of physics, T.L.L., Temple Chair of Science, University of Houston, heads the Yidan Prize for Education Research panel, and Dorothy K. Gordon, former director-general of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT leads the Yidan Prize for Education Development panel.About Yidan PrizeThe Yidan Prize is founded by Dr Charles Chen Yidan, the core founder of Tencent Holdings Limited. The Prize aims to recognize and support change makers for their most forward looking innovation that can create sustainable impacts on education systems for a better future. The Prize comprises two categories - the Yidan Prize for Education Research and the Yidan Prize for Education Development.The Prize is financed and governed by a HK$2.5 billion (about US$320 million) independent trust. Each prize carries an award of HK$30 million (about US$3.87 million), with a cash award of HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million), a further HK$15 million (about US$1.9 million) project fund, and a gold medal. Through a series of initiatives, the prize serves to provide a platform that allows the global community to engage in conversation around education and to play a role in education philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.yidanprize.org.*Photo from left: Mr Clive Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Yidan Prize Foundation; Carol S. Dweck, Yidan Prize for Education Research Inaugural Laureate; The Honorable Mrs Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, GBM, GBS; Vicky Colbert, Yidan Prize for Education Development Inaugural Laureate; Dr Charles Chen Yidan, Founder of the Yidan Prize.Contact:Yidan Prize FoundationLawrence LuiT: +852 2155 1582E: lawrence@yidanprize.orgWeber ShandwickMokka Mok / Winky ChowT: +852 2533 9971 / 2533 9923E: mmok2@webershandwick.com /wchow@webershandwick.comSource: Yidan Prize FoundationCopyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. CHILI'S highly reliable and value-added video-on-demand services allow the company to win viewers and compete against international competitors SANTA CLARA, California, Nov. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Based on its recent analysis of the over-the-top (OTT) video industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes CHILI with its 2017 European Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award for its innovative video-on-demand (VOD) services. CHILI, a European VOD service provider, enables viewers to rent or purchase content from a vast catalog of content from around the world that can be viewed on multiple devices. Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/607991/CHILI_Award.jpg The media and entertainment industry in Europe has been undergoing momentous technological and structural transformation over the last 5 years, giving the end consumer many choices in terms of content, price, platforms, and service providers as content consumption shifts from linear to non-linear media. Burgeoning OTT services, with more than 400 service providers across Europe, have resulted in a highly competitive and crowded marketplace. With the addition of global providers such as Amazon and Netflix, native OTT service providers need to develop innovative and competitive strategies to differentiate themselves and win customers over the big name providers. "Some native OTT providers have chosen to target niche audiences, such as children or expats, in an attempt to avoid competing with global companies. However, this is not an easy route to take because of the difficulty in getting access to premium content, especially new movies," said Swetha R K, Senior Research Analyst, Digital Transformation team, Frost & Sullivan. "Piracy is an additional concern for smaller providers, as it eats into an already-thinning subscriber base and revenue." CHILI has gained success in this market by monetizing its content through a transactional VOD model, thus relieving consumers from the obligation of a subscription. Despite competing with popular names such as iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, and Google Play, CHILI boasts 1 million subscribers as of May 2017. Within 2 years of its establishment in 2012, CHILI has grown to become a leading player in VOD services in Italy in viewership, and has since expanded its services to 4 additional countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and Austria. In 2016, 4 Major Studios (Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Viacom and Paramount) entered the share capital of CHILI. CHILI's competitive ecosystem comprises both transactional VOD participants (such as Blinkbox, Rakuten TV, iTunes, and Google Play) and subscription VOD participants (such as Netflix, Amazon, and Now TV). CHILI differentiates itself through a combination of price, content, and promotional offers. Price: CHILI follows a value-for-money strategy. The price of content offered on its platform ranges from 0.9 to 11, depending on the picture resolution or whether the viewer wants to buy or rent the content. This is one of the lowest rates available in the market for legal streaming or download. CHILI follows a value-for-money strategy. The price of content offered on its platform ranges from 0.9 to 11, depending on the picture resolution or whether the viewer wants to buy or rent the content. This is one of the lowest rates available in the market for legal streaming or download. Content: CHILI is one of the few OTT services that provide viewers access to new movie releases. The company's content library includes more than 50,000 local and international titles that can be streamed or downloaded on all devices. In comparison, Netflix's content library has approximately 4,500 movies and 2,000 TV shows. CHILI's content is offered in Standard Definition, High Definition, and Full High Definition formats with subtitles. CHILI is one of the few OTT services that provide viewers access to new movie releases. The company's content library includes more than 50,000 local and international titles that can be streamed or downloaded on all devices. In comparison, Netflix's content library has approximately 4,500 movies and 2,000 TV shows. CHILI's content is offered in Standard Definition, High Definition, and Full High Definition formats with subtitles. Promotion: CHILI offers several value added services for a wholesome experience through integrated promotions, discount coupons, themed gadgets, and premium merchandise through partnerships from other industry stakeholders. Some viewers also get a chance to visit movie studios. CHILI also acquired Cinetrailer, a promotion platform for European movies with a base of five million subscribers. This allows the company to explore new markets. The company's aggressive marketing strategies and promotional offers have a dramatic effect on its subscriber base: as a result the company has been adding 20,000 to 25,000 subscribers every month. "Most companies, even the international ones, have a difficult time retaining customers. CHILI addresses this issue by maintaining a consistent engagement with its customers before, during, and after the interaction cycle," said Vidya S Nath, Senior Research Director, Frost & Sullivan. "The company has also continued to invest in strategic partnerships and investments to grow its business. For example, the company diversified its portfolio to include Business to Business (B2B) products such as video platforms, which now contribute almost 5% of its revenue." The dynamic nature of the video landscape in Europe and the intense competition in the OTT market necessitate a multipronged strategy to ensure market leadership, while consumer demands necessitate continuous refinement and expansion of service offerings. CHILI has recognized this need and strives to provide an end-to-end video experience, continuously seeking out new methods by which it can improve the customer experience. Frost & Sullivan has determined that CHILI shows enormous growth potential through its partnerships, acquisitions, and aggressive marketing strategies. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in devising a strong growth strategy and robustly implementing it. The recipient has shown strength in terms of innovation in products and technologies, leadership in customer value and speed in response to market needs. The award looks at the emerging market players in the industry and recognizes their best practices that position them for future growth excellence. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About CHILI CHILI is a European digital entertainment player. In August 2017 CHILI launched the in Italy onlyEntertainment Centred Marketplace and within 2018 will expand to UK, Polish, German and Austrian markets. Atransactional service (pure pay per view) which offers Cinema Previews, New Releases, a digital catalogue with over 50.000 films and TV Series, DVDs and Blu-Rays, Exclusive Gadgets and lots more. CHILI provides its service on Smart TVs, Blu-Ray players, PCs, Tablets and Smartphones. There are no monthly fees nor activation costs. The Company is based in Milan, Italy. Contact: Guido Zucchini Solimei External & Institutional Relations Director P: 0039 348 5276216 E: guido.zucchini@chili.com About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector, and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Claudia Toscano P: 210.477.8417 F: 210.348.1003 E: Claudia.Toscano@frost.com Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-08-31 08:57 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AB Grigeo, the manufacturer of the hygiene paper "Grite", invested in one of the most high-tech hygiene paper converting lines in the European market, which is in conformity with high safety at work standards. We are among the first European undertakings that purchased such a cutting-edge hygiene paper converting line. The prototype of this equipment was presented in Europe in summer 2015. Investment in the new paper converting line will reach EUR 8.3 million. It is estimated that the new equipment will significantly improve productivity by increasing the production volumes for hygiene paper products by more than 30%. As the leader in the Baltic hygiene paper business, we see ample opportunity to exploit the growing potential in increasing sales and expanding our markets. The automated production process will enable us to eliminate human error, ensure consistency in product quality and manufacture softer and lighter paper. The new equipment will also allow for extending the range of products with new hygiene paper articles, such as large-diameter paper towels and 4-ply toilet paper. The trademark "Grite" of AB Grigeo has maintained leadership in the Baltic hygiene paper business already for 20 years. Nearly 35% of "Grite" products are sold in Lithuania, and the remaining part is exported to Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and other countries. In spring 2017, the trademark "Grite" won the grand prize in the competition "Brand of the Year" organised by the daily Verslo zinios together with the market research company Nielsen. Gintautas Pangonis President of AB Grigeo (+370-5) 243 58 01 Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de VAUGHAN, Ontario, Feb. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teledyne Optech (http://www.teledyneoptech.com/)'s Titan (http://www.teledyneoptech.com/index.php/product/titan/) sensor was used by the University of Houston's National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) to reveal extensive Mayan ruins in Guatemala. Lidar technology was able to identify hundreds of previously unknown structures, including raised highways, and complex irrigation and terracing systems. After the collapse of the Mayan civilization, their cities and monuments were quickly covered by thick rainforest, hiding the ancient civilization from airborne observation and making it very difficult to survey on foot. Flying high above the rainforest, the Titan's lasers penetrated the canopy to collect almost a million data points per second from the forest floor, giving archaeologists a "bare earth" view of the structures underneath. Having covered 2,100 km2, the Titan's data revealed massive amounts of ruins hidden below the forest, showing that their urban centers were significantly larger than archaeologists had previously thought. "We are incredibly proud and excited that our award winning Titan multispectral lidar sensor has contributed to this spectacular discovery," said Michel Stanier, EVP and General Manager of Teledyne Optech. "The Titan's ability to strip away overlying vegetation and map wide areas very quickly and accurately makes it an important tool for archaeologists, and we expect to see many more discoveries coming from it and our other airborne laser terrain mappers." The Optech Titan is the first commercial multi-spectral lidar sensor to incorporate 3 independent laser wavelengths into a single sensor design, with beams at 532, 1064, and 1550 nm (0.5/1.0/1.5 microns) and a ground sampling rate of 300 kHz per beam. Because Titan uses both green and infrared channels, it is capable of simultaneous water depth mapping and high-precision 900-kHz topography. Titan can also be used for purposes such as vegetative and forestry applications, which require multiple wavelengths for improved classification accuracy and carbon credit counting initiatives. As featured in National Geographic's Lost Treasures of the Maya Snake Kings, more information about which can be found at www.natgeotv.com (http://www.natgeotv.com/). Find out more at www.teledyneoptech.com (http://www.teledyneoptech.com/) About Teledyne Optech Teledyne Optech is the world leader in high-accuracy lidar 3D survey systems, integrated cameras, and productivity-enhancing workflows. With operations and staff worldwide, Teledyne Optech offers both standalone and fully integrated lidar and camera solutions for airborne mapping, airborne lidar bathymetry, mobile mapping, terrestrial laser scanning, mine cavity monitoring, and industrial process control, as well as space-proven sensors. Teledyne Optech supports its clients with an around-the-clock team, on-site service, and regular efficiency enhancements to the workflow of its integrated systems. Accuracy and productivity matter! Photos accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e8d3ebaf-2629-4295-a5e1-4ca140eb1cac (http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e8d3ebaf-2629-4295-a5e1-4ca140eb1cac) and http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a4695edf-3ff1-4a4f-bb47-26bb74eaa2e1 (http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a4695edf-3ff1-4a4f-bb47-26bb74eaa2e1) For further information, please contact your Regional Sales Manager or: Wayne Szameitat International Sales Manager Teledyne Optech 300 Interchange Way Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4K 5Z8 +1 905 660 0808 inquiries@teledyneoptech.com (mailto:inquiries@teledyneoptech.com) www.teledyneoptech.com (http://www.teledyneoptech.com/) 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: Teledyne DALSA via Globenewswire Reports empower users to quickly uncover contact information in order to reunite people with their displaced family, friends, pets and belongings SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2017 / TruthFinder, an online public records aggregator, is providing complimentary reports to those impacted by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The online platform pulls detailed background and contact information from a massive public records database, which can be accessed by searching an individual's name, address, email or phone number. Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast early Saturday with winds over 100 mph and devastating floods in some areas. The American Red Cross prepared over 70 shelters to support over 30,000 potentially displaced people. Shortly after the flooding began, TruthFinder's San Diego-based call center began receiving phone calls from people who were seeking contact details for those impacted by the hurricane's path of destruction. One customer, Lois, stated that she used TruthFinder to pull a woman's contact information after finding her wallet in a Houston grocery store. The wallet contained cash, debit cards, and a driver's license. "She lives, according to me looking up her address, in a major flood zone," Lois said, "and I'm sure she was either trying to make a getaway out of Houston or go to stay with some relatives. I feel horrible that this woman is without what she needs most in a time of desperate need." When affected individuals continued to alert member care agents of the need for the product in the area, the company quickly organized a task force to put a free offering in place to help. One complimentary TruthFinder people finder report is available to anyone seeking information about those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. TruthFinder's President Steven Gray states, "At the core of our company culture, TruthFinder seeks to make a positive impact in communities by volunteering, supporting and getting involved in numerous important causes around San Diego. We are happy to extend those efforts to help individuals in need during this difficult time in the Texas and Louisiana area." Individuals who need to use the people finder service to aid in relief efforts can enable report access by visiting TruthFinder's Hurricane Harvey webpage. ABOUT TRUTHFINDER TruthFinder is an online service that provides public record, people finder and criminal record information to members on a subscription basis. TruthFinder utilizes data from state, federal and various local sources, which have been aggregated and made available electronically. TruthFinder's user-friendly reports compile public records describing people living in the U.S. Some of the databases that TruthFinder utilizes include state sex offender information, county arrest records, court dockets, census records and various other public records. TruthFinder does not provide consumer reports, nor is it a consumer-reporting agency, and it may not be used for consumer credit, insurance, employment, tenant screening or any other purpose subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). For the latest updates and information, please visit TruthFinder's member care website. Media contact: Kristle Khoury, Director of Marketing and Public Relations kristle.khoury@thecontrolgroup.com 3111 Camino Del Rio N Suite 400 San Diego, CA, 92108 TruthFinder TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, England, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SciBite - The award-winning semantic analytics company, today announced that GlaxoSmithKline K.K. (hereinafter referred to as GSK Japan), one of Japan's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, has selected SciBite's Semantic Platform to enhance pharmacovigilance capabilities and deliver on its commitment to improve the quality of human life. TERMite, SciBite's semantic named entity recognition (NER) and extraction engine, is currently being implemented to reduce the duration and enhance the certainty involved in constantly evaluating the vast body of English language research produced worldwide for potential safety information. Prior to selecting SciBite's Semantic Platform, GSK Japan initiated a Proof of Concept in order to assess whether the technology had the potential to complement a part of current manual pharmacovigilance processes used in Japan. To kick-start the project, the team created a custom-built thesaurus of GSK drug terms (or VOCab). Additionally, the pharmaceutical giant made use of SciBite's TERMite Expressions (TExpress) module to search for phrases within texts suggestive of pharmacovigilance events. TExpress patterns were grouped together into subject-specific sets enabling the software to annotate sentences with category labels based on the phrases and keywords used. Following the annotation process, a bespoke novel ranking algorithm was employed to determine the overall importance of each article to GSK pharmacovigilance activities in Japan. The power of the solution to provide huge advantages to GSK Japan in terms of process assurance and duration became apparent extremely quickly. The result of the Proof of Concept was an ultra-fast processing period, providing accurate identification of all articles requiring reporting. "SciBite is absolutely committed to our Japanese clients and is extremely pleased to welcome GSK Japan to our international group of customers," said Rob Greenwood, Chief Executive Officer, SciBite. "Our highly flexible technologies are proven by life science companies the world over to offer new, innovative opportunities to change the way they achieve their pharmacovigilance activities. We look forward to seeing how GSK Japan combine our market-leading technology and their internal human-centric expertise to evolve their pharmacovigilance capabilities." About SciBite SciBite is a leading provider of semantic solutions for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Headquartered in the UK, it supports its global customer base with offices in both Cambridge UK & US and in Tokyo, Japan. SciBite's semantic software suite includes TERMite, VOCabs, TExpress, DOCstore and SciNav. To learn more about SciBite and its solutions please contact us at info@scibite.com or visit our website at http://www.scibite.com Contact (English) Monica Kulkarni Marketing Manager SciBite Ltd. +44-7740268926 monica@scibite.com Contact (Japanese & English) John Bolger General Manager Japan Marunouchi Trust Tower 20F, 1-8-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo +81-3-5288-5537 john@scibite.com NOTE: SciBite, TERMite, VOCabs, TExpress, DOCstore and SciNav, and the SciBite logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SciBite Ltd. Copenhagen, 2017-08-31 12:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Per Aarsleff Holding A/S has entered into an agreement to acquire 51% of the Norwegian company Olimb Group's pipe renewal activities. The structure of the transaction is that Aarsleff acquires 51% of the shares in a newly established company to which the current pipe renewal activities of Olimb Group will be transferred prior to the completion of the transaction. Also, it has been agreed that Aarsleff will get an option to buy the remaining shares at book value at the latest in 2022. The total price for 100% of the company is fixed at DKK 103 million. Olimb has about 100 employees and generates revenue of approx. DKK 165 million. In 2016, the company had an operating profit (EBIT) of approx. DKK 13 million. Olimb has a leading position on the Norwegian market for trenchless pipe renewal, and the company is respected for being an innovative and serious specialist contractor working for public, industrial and private customers. The company will be included in the total activities of the Aarsleff Pipe Technologies segment, and the intention is to further develop Olimb's leading position in Norway achieved after more than 40 years within trenchless pipe renewal. In recent years, Aarsleff has carried out similar activities in Norway on a small scale. These activities have been organised from Denmark. The acquisition of Olimb Group's pipe renewal activities will allow us to increasingly make use of Aarsleff's internally developed methods and products internationally and generally exploit synergies and efficiency potential. The transaction will be completed in the first half of September 2017. The acquisition does not affect Aarsleff's earnings expectations for the financial year 2016/2017. Further information: General Manager Ebbe Malte Iversen, tel. +45 8744 2222. Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=643940 Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 --Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI), a global developer of custom engineered and application specific products and solutions, announced financial results for the first quarter of Fiscal 2018 ended July 29, 2017. First Quarter Fiscal 2018 Methode's first-quarter Fiscal 2018 net sales increased $9.3 million, or 4.8 percent, to $201.2 million from $191.9 million in the same quarter of Fiscal 2017. Year over year, currency rate fluctuations decreased net sales $0.3 million. Net income decreased $0.7 million to $20.5 million, or $0.55 per share, in the first quarter of Fiscal 2018 from $21.2 million, or $0.57 per share, in the same period of Fiscal 2017. During the first quarter of Fiscal 2018, the Company incurred $2.8 million of acquisition-related expense. Year over year, Fiscal 2018 first-quarter net income was negatively affected by: acquisition-related expense of $2.8 million; higher new product development costs in the Automotive segment of $1.7 million; higher bonus expense of $1.4 million; absence of the Fiscal 2017 commodity pricing adjustments in the Automotive segment of $1.0 million; absence of the Fiscal 2017 one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues in the Automotive segment of $1.0 million; increased investment in sales and marketing, clinical resources and professional services expenses for Dabir ("investment in Dabir") of $0.9 million; higher stock award amortization expense of $0.6 million; and unfavorable commodity pricing in the Automotive and Power Products segments of $0.5 million. Year over year, Fiscal 2018 first-quarter net income benefitted from: higher sales in the Automotive and Power Products segments; lower legal fees of $1.7 million; lower income tax expense of $1.2 million; and favorable currency impact on certain labor and factory expenses in the Automotive and Power Products segments. Consolidated gross margins as a percentage of sales decreased to 27.6 percent in the Fiscal 2018 first quarter from 28.2 percent in the Fiscal 2017 period primarily as a result of new product development costs in the Automotive segment, lower sales volumes and unfavorable sales mix in the Interface segment and unfavorable sales mix and unfavorable commodity pricing in the Power Products segment, partially offset by higher sales in the Automotive and Power Products segments and a favorable currency impact on certain labor and factory expenses in the Automotive and Power Products segments. Gross profit was favorably impacted in the Fiscal 2017 first quarter by the commodity pricing adjustments and reversal of customer commercial accruals. Selling and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales increased to 14.7 percent for the Fiscal 2018 first quarter compared to 14.0 percent in the same period last year. Selling and administrative expenses increased $2.8 million, or 10.4 percent, to $29.6 million in the Fiscal 2018 first quarter compared to $26.8 million in the prior-year first quarter due primarily to acquisition-related expense, higher bonus expense, increased investment in Dabir and higher stock award amortization expenses, partially offset by lower legal fees and the absence of expense related to operating units exited at the end of Fiscal 2017. In the Fiscal 2018 first quarter, income tax expense decreased $1.2 million to $4.3 million from $5.5 million in the Fiscal 2017 first quarter. The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 17.1 percent in the Fiscal 2018 period from 20.6 percent in the previous first quarter. The decrease is primarily due to some discrete favorable adjustments in the first quarter of Fiscal 2018. Segment Comparisons Comparing the Automotive segment's Fiscal 2018 first quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2017, Net sales increased 6.4 percent attributable to: a 15.3 percent sales improvement in Europe driven by increased integrated center panel and steering wheel switch product volumes, partially offset by decreased customer funded tooling sales; and a 5.7 percent sales increase in North America primarily due to higher General Motors' center console volumes, offset in part by pricing concessions; partially offset by a 4.1 percent sales decrease in Asia as the result of lower steering-angle sensor product volume, partially offset with improved linear position sensor and transmission lead-frame assembly product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales declined to 29.3 percent from 30.2 percent due to development costs for new products and unfavorable commodity pricing, partially offset by higher sales volumes and favorable currency impact on certain labor and factory expenses. Gross profit was favorably impacted in the Fiscal 2017 first quarter by the commodity pricing adjustments and one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues. Income from operations decreased 0.8 percent as the result of acquisition expense, higher travel expenses, unfavorable commodity pricing and the absence of the Fiscal 2017 commodity pricing adjustments and one-time reversal of accruals, partially offset by higher sales and favorable currency impact on certain labor and factory expenses. Comparing the Interface segment's Fiscal 2018 first quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2017, Net sales decreased 10.6 percent attributable to: a 14.4 percent sales decline in North America driven mainly by the exit of Connectivity at the end of Fiscal 2017, as well as lower appliance and data solutions product volumes, partially offset with higher radio remote control product volume; and a 41.7 percent sales decrease in Asia due to lower legacy product volume; partially offset by a 9.0 percent sales increase in Europe as the result of improved radio remote control product volume, partially offset by lower data solutions product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales decreased to 21.8 percent from 23.7 percent due to lower sales volumes and unfavorable sales mix of appliance products. Income from operations improved to $0.4 million from a loss of $0.7 million driven by lower legal, travel and advertising expenses, partially offset by an unfavorable appliance products' sales mix. Comparing the Power Products segment's Fiscal 2018 first quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2017, Net sales increased 26.7 percent attributable to: a 158.3 percent sales improvement in Europe driven by increased bypass switch product volume; an 18.4 percent sales increase in Asia due to higher busbar product volumes; and a 6.8 percent sales improvement in North America as the result of higher busbar product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales decreased to 27.6 percent from 28.3 percent due to unfavorable sales mix and unfavorable commodity pricing, partially offset by a favorable currency impact for labor and certain factory expenses. Income from operations improved 32.0 percent as the result of higher sales and a favorable currency impact for labor and certain factory expenses, partially offset with an unfavorable sales mix and unfavorable commodity pricing. Guidance Methode maintained Fiscal 2018 guidance of sales in the range of $807 million to $827 million, pre-tax income from operations in the range of $114 to $127 million and earnings per share in the range of $2.43 to $2.63. This guidance excludes results from Pacific Insight, as the transaction closing remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Pacific Insight shareholders. The Pacific Insight transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of Fiscal 2018. The guidance ranges for Fiscal 2018 are based upon management's expectations regarding a variety of factors and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the following: sales volumes and timing thereof for certain makes and models of pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles and passenger cars; anticipated increased 10 Gig copper transceiver sales in the latter half of Fiscal 2018; expected nine months of revenues from Procoplast of $22 million, compared to seven months previously assumed in original guidance; anticipated successful commercialization of the Dabir technology in the latter half of Fiscal 2018; price of commodities, particularly copper; potential effect of increased legal fees related to the Hetronic lawsuit; sales mix within the markets served; uncertainty of the European economy; currency exchange effect of the operations of foreign businesses; continued ability to realize manufacturing efficiencies; no significant supplier issues or manufacturing quality events; no unusual or one-time items; and effective tax rate in the low-to-mid twenty percent range and no significant changes in tax credit movement, valuation allowances or enacted tax laws. Management Comments President and Chief Executive Officer Donald W. Duda said, "We made significant progress in the first quarter on our objective to pursue strategic acquisitions where we can leverage our core competencies and provide an attractive value proposition for our shareholders. The completed acquisition of Procoplast will expand our customer base within European automotive as well as our opportunities in sensors. With an anticipated closing in our second quarter, we believe Pacific Insight's innovation and technology in LED based ambient and direct lighting will expand our presence within the automotive interior, as well as augment our efforts in overhead console and other areas of the vehicle. We also believe there is potential to bring their technology and expertise to our non-automotive customers. We look forward to welcoming Pacific Insight to Methode later this year." Conference Call The Company will conduct a conference call and Webcast to review financial and operational highlights led by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Donald W. Duda, and Chief Financial Officer, John Hrudicka, today at 10:00 a.m. Central time. To participate in the conference call, please dial (877) 407-9210 (domestic) or (201) 689-8049 (international) at least five minutes prior to the start of the event. A simultaneous Webcast can be accessed through the Company's Web site, www.methode.com, by selecting the Investor Relations page, and then clicking on the "Webcast" icon. A replay of the conference call will be available shortly after the call through October 1 by dialing (877) 481-4010 (domestic) and providing Conference ID number 20005. On the Internet, a replay will be available for 30 days through the Company's Web site, www.methode.com, by selecting the Investor Relations page and then clicking on the "Webcast" icon. About Methode Electronics, Inc. Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI) is a global developer of custom engineered and application specific products and solutions with manufacturing, design and testing facilities in China, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. We design, manufacture and market devices employing electrical, electronic, wireless, safety radio remote control, sensing and optical technologies to control and convey signals through sensors, interconnections and controls. Our business is managed on a segment basis, with those segments being Automotive, Interface, Power Products and Other. Our components are in the primary end markets of the automobile, computer, information processing and networking equipment, voice and data communication systems, consumer electronics, appliances, aerospace vehicles and industrial equipment industries. Further information can be found on Methode's Web site www.methode.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor protection provided under the securities laws. Methode undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in Methode's expectations on a quarterly basis or otherwise. The forward-looking statements in this press release involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are detailed in Methode's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as our annual and quarterly reports. Such factors may include, without limitation, the following: (1) dependence on a small number of large customers, including two large automotive customers; (2) dependence on the automotive, appliance, computer and communications industries; (3) investment in programs prior to the recognition of revenue; (4) timing, volume, quality and cost of new program launches; (5) ability to withstand price pressure; (6) the success of Procoplast and/or our ability to implement and profit from new applications of the acquired technology; (7) currency fluctuations; (8) customary risks related to conducting global operations; (9) ability to successfully market and sell Dabir surfaces; (10) continued economic challenges in Europe including the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union; (11) dependence on our supply chain; (12) income tax rate fluctuations; (13) ability to withstand business interruptions; (14) dependence on the availability and price of raw materials; (15) fluctuations in our gross margins; (16) location of a significant amount of cash outside of the U.S.; (17) ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes; (18) a breach of our information technology systems; (19) ability to avoid design or manufacturing defects; (20) ability to compete effectively; (21) ability to protect our intellectual property; (22) ability to successfully benefit from acquisitions and divestitures; (23) the recognition of goodwill impairment charges; (24) costs and expenses due to regulations regarding conflict minerals; and (25) the effect of any material modifications to NAFTA and other international trade agreements. METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) ($ in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended ------------------------ July 29, July 30, 2017 2016 ----------- ----------- Net Sales $ 201.2 $ 191.9 Cost of Products Sold 145.6 137.8 ----------- ----------- Gross Profit 55.6 54.1 Impairment of Goodwill and Intangible Assets -- -- Selling and Administrative Expenses 29.6 26.8 Amortization of Intangibles 0.6 0.6 ----------- ----------- Income from Operations 25.4 26.7 Gain from Sale of Business -- -- Interest Income, Net (0.2) -- Other Expense, Net 0.8 -- ----------- ----------- Income before Income Taxes 24.8 26.7 Income Tax Expense 4.3 5.5 ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- Net Income $ 20.5 $ 21.2 =========== =========== Basic and Diluted Income per Share: Basic $ 0.55 $ 0.57 Diluted $ 0.55 $ 0.57 Cash Dividends: Common Stock $ 0.09 $ 0.09 Weighted Average Number of Common Shares Outstanding: Basic 37,248,689 37,322,548 Diluted 37,561,240 37,469,292 METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in millions, except per share data) July 29, April 29, 2017 2017 ----------- ----------- (Unaudited) Assets: Current Assets: Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 297.9 $ 294.0 Accounts Receivable, Net 164.5 165.3 Inventories: Finished Products 15.7 10.9 Work in Process 8.5 8.7 Materials 40.6 38.3 ----------- ----------- Total Inventories 64.8 57.9 Prepaid and Refundable Income Taxes 0.6 0.6 Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets 19.1 12.5 ----------- ----------- Total Current Assets 546.9 530.3 Property Plan and Equipment: Land 0.6 0.6 Buildings and Building Improvements 62.0 48.2 Machinery and Equipment 313.9 287.9 ----------- ----------- Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross 376.5 336.7 Less Allowances for Depreciation 259.1 246.1 ----------- ----------- Property, Plant and Equipment, Net 117.4 90.6 Other Assets: Goodwill 18.0 1.6 Other Intangible Assets, Net 18.1 6.6 Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance 8.1 7.8 Deferred Income Taxes 44.7 40.4 Pre-production Costs 19.2 15.5 Other 11.0 11.2 ----------- ----------- Total Other Assets 119.1 83.1 ----------- ----------- Total Assets $ 783.4 $ 704.0 =========== =========== Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity: Current Liabilities: Accounts Payable $ 81.2 $ 75.3 Salaries, Wages and Payroll Taxes 17.5 18.7 Other Accrued Expenses 17.9 17.7 Short-term Debt 3.8 -- Income Tax Payable 6.1 12.7 ----------- ----------- Total Current Liabilities 126.5 124.4 ----------- ----------- Long-term Debt 47.6 27.0 Other Liabilities 6.4 2.6 Deferred Income Taxes 4.3 -- Deferred Compensation 9.2 8.9 ----------- ----------- Total Liabilities 194.0 162.9 ----------- ----------- Shareholders' Equity: Common Stock, $0.50 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 38,157,477 and 38,133,925 shares issued as of July 29, 2017 and April 29, 2017, respectively 19.1 19.1 Additional Paid-in Capital 136.3 132.2 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss (1.1) (25.7) Treasury Stock, 1,346,624 shares as of July 29, 2017 and April 29, 2017 (11.5) (11.5) Retained Earnings 446.6 427.0 ----------- ----------- Total Shareholders' Equity 589.4 541.1 ----------- ----------- Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity $ 783.4 $ 704.0 =========== =========== METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in millions) Three Months Ended ------------------------ July 29, July 30, 2017 2016 ----------- ----------- Operating Activities: Net Income $ 20.5 $ 21.2 Adjustments to Reconcile Net Income to Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities: Provision for Depreciation 5.0 5.2 Amortization of Intangible Assets 0.6 0.6 Stock-based Compensation 4.1 3.6 Changes in Operating Assets and Liabilities: Accounts Receivable 15.1 17.6 Inventories (1.5) (0.6) Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets (9.1) (5.3) Accounts Payable and Other Expenses (11.1) (7.9) ----------- ----------- Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities 23.6 34.4 ----------- ----------- Investing Activities: Purchases of Property, Plant and Equipment (8.0) (4.2) Acquisition of Business, Net of Cash Received (22.2) -- Sale of Business/Investment/Property 0.3 -- ----------- ----------- Net Cash Used in Investing Activities (29.9) (4.2) ----------- ----------- Financing Activities: Taxes Paid Related to Net Share Settlement of Equity Awards (0.3) (0.3) Proceeds from Exercise of Stock Options -- 0.9 Tax Benefit from Stock Option Exercises -- 0.3 Cash Dividends (3.4) (3.3) Repayment of Borrowings (2.0) (3.0) ----------- ----------- Net Cash Used in Financing Activities (5.7) (5.4) ----------- ----------- Effect of Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Changes on Cash 15.9 (3.3) ----------- ----------- Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents 3.9 21.5 Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year 294.0 227.8 ----------- ----------- Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period $ 297.9 $ 249.3 =========== =========== CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF YEAR $ 591.9 $ 477.1 =========== =========== For Methode Electronics, Inc. - Investor Contacts: Kristine Walczak Dresner Corporate Services 312-780-7205 kwalczak@dresnerco.com TENERIFE, Canary Islands, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With this new Travellers' Choice Award 2017, Loro Parque becomes the world's number one A prestigious travel portal TripAdvisor has recognized Loro Parque as the BEST ZOO IN THE WORLD , an award based on the independent evaluations of the users of this worldwide platform. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550698/Loro_Parque_TripAdvisor.jpg ) This award is yet another acknowledgement of Loro Parque's efforts in conservation of biodiversity and animal welfare, alongside with the HumaneCertified certificate from American Humane, which converted it into the first zoo in Europe to have obtained this standard, and a 100% compliance certificate with the Global Welfare Standards of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) issued by the auditors of Global Spirit . This recognition by the users of Trip Advisor cannot not be fully grasped without the knowledge about Loro Parque's research and conservation program carried out since 1994 through the Loro Parque Fundacion. Over the last 20+ years, more than 17 million U.S. dollars have been directly invested into conservation programs under the slogan '100% for Nature'. Loro Parque Fundacion's work has made possible the salvation of nine species of parrots from their imminent extinction, with such examples as Blue-throated macaw, original of Beni, Bolivia, whose population has increased from 50 to 350 individuals with the project, or Lear's Macaw, whose population has increased from 22 to over 1.200 individuals, or Yellow-eared parrot from Colombia, whose numbers have increased to over 4.000 individuals. In 1999, before Loro Parque Fundacion started this project, there were only 82 individuals left in the wild. The coordinated efforts between Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundacion, are demonstrated again in the project KAZA aimed to ensure the conservation of the African lion, a highly endangered species whose numbers have decreased in the last 50 years from 100.000 to less than 25.000 Most recent arrival of three Angola lions to Loro Parque's Lion's Kingdom allows them to perform an important role as the ambassadors of their species and help raising awareness about protecting the animals and their natural habitats. More than 47 million visitors have visited Loro Parque since the park opened its doors almost 45 years ago. That, and considering that more than 700 million people visit zoos every year, TripAdvisor's recognition proves that Loro Parque offers an unforgettable experience to its visitors, who come from all around the world. For more information, please visit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Attractions-cZoos JavaScript is disabled on your browser. CORDIS website requires JavaScript enabled in order to work properly. Please enable JavaScript. NEW YORK, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new report titled 'Global Market Study on Precision Farming: Sensing and Monitoring Devices Segment by Component Anticipated to Increase 3.2X Between 2017 and 2025,' Persistence Market Research presents vital insights into the globalprecision farming marketalong with forecasts for an eight year period 2017 - 2025. The report is a structured analysis of the global precision farming market on the basis of the market segmentation - by region, by application, and by components. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161114/438683LOGO ) Region - North America Precision Farming Market Greater than Europe and MEA Combined The North America Precision Farming Market is expected to be worth approx. US$ 7.8 Bn by end 2025 making it larger than Europe, Latin America and the MEA market combined. The market share of North America is likely to be almost 45% by that time in the global precision farming market. Global Market Research Report Overview on Precision Farming @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/precision-farming-market.asp Application - Highest CAGR in Variable Rate Application and Farm Labor Management Systems The variable rate application and farm labor management systems segments are poised to record a CAGR of 11.9% and 12.4% respectively in the precision farming market from 2017-2025. In terms of market attractiveness index though, they are some way behind field mapping and key stakeholders in the precision farming market would do well to take this into account. Application - Field Mapping and Yield Monitoring Dominate the Precision Farming Market In terms of value, the yield monitoring and field mapping segments should grow by 3x and 3.5x respectively between the years 2017 and 2025 and they are unlikely to cede their top spots anytime soon in the precision farming market. Field mapping alone should push past US$ 4.3 Bn by end 2025 and companies are highly advised to target this application segment in the precision farming market. Component - Hardware Segment Holds a Lion's Share of the Precision Farming Market The hardware segment is estimated to hold a market share of more than half the global precision farming market by component at the end of the forecast period. Sensing and monitoring devices are predicted to be particularly important and reach a value of just under US$ 5.4 Bn by end 2025. Within sensing and monitoring devices, there is a close contest between yield monitors and drones with multispectral cameras as both are projected to have a similar market value by the end of the eight-year study. However, the CAGR is higher in the drones with multispectral cameras segment. Component - On-Premise Precision Farming Software Larger than Cloud-Based Precision Farming Software The on-premise precision farming software is larger than the cloud-based precision farming software at present and is anticipated to retain a slim lead during the forecast period. Nonetheless, the rise of IoT and the importance of the cloud will grow by leaps and bounds in the 21stcentury and key stakeholders in the precision farming market will do well to focus on cloud-based precision farming. Component - Focus on Consulting and Maintenance Services in the Precision Farming Market Even though consulting and maintenance services are smaller than the installation and integrations services in the precision farming market, they should witness a higher CAGR during the forecast period. The maintenance service segment is on track to be valued at over US$ 1.7 Bn by the end of 2025 while consulting services is estimated to be valued at just under US$ 1.2 Bn in the same year. A sample of this report is available upon request@https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3884 Global Precision Farming Market: Competition Dashboard Persistence Market Research has profiled some of the most prominent companies active in the global precision farming market such as AgJunction, Raven Industries Inc., CNH Industrial N.V., Deere & Company, Trimble, Iteris, Topcon Corporation, PrecisionHawk, senseFly, DICKEY-john, SST Development Group, Agribotix LLC, and Ag Leader Technology. View Report Table of Contents, Figures, and Tables@https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/precision-farming-market/toc Important Insights on the Precision Farming Market Precision farming market solution providers can try to focus their attention on emerging economies in the fast-growing APAC region as government initiatives in countries such as China and India are facilitating ample investment opportunities. In addition, changing weather conditions due to climate change and global warming have begun to adversely impact agricultural production, compelling farmers to adopt precision farming agriculture solutions in the medium term. Global Precision Farming Market Report is available for US$ 4,900 Persistence Market Research Overview Persistence 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 Persistence Market Research U.S. Sales Office: 305 Broadway, 7th Floor New York City, NY 10007 +1-646-568-7751 United States USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com HOLLYWOOD, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 --nFusz, Inc. (OTCQB: FUSZ), the Hollywood-based digital technology company, announced today that it has been named one of the Top10 CRM Solution Providers of 2017 by respected industry publication Marketing Tech Outlook Magazine. "To help CTOs, CIOs, and CEOs find the right CRM solution provider, a distinguished selection panel comprising CEOs, CIOs, VCs, industry analysts, and Marketing Tech Outlook's editorial board has selected solution providers that deliver innovative CRM technologies combined with the latest marketing strategies. We evaluated vendors' ability in developing solutions and services that can effectively yet economically ensure productive customer relationship management." Top 10 CRM Solution Providers, (2017, Sept.) Marketing Tech Outlook "nFusz, Inc. has been on our radar for quite a long time and we felt this year offered a great opportunity for us to showcase the organization in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Technology Special Edition of our magazine. It is a great pleasure to have nFusz, Inc. on the cover of our magazine, as they truly are as outstanding, creative and real as the revolutionary changes they have bought to the Customer Relationship Management industry," states Debra Morgan, Managing Editor of Marketing Tech Outlook. "With a distributed SaaS architecture, and being entirely cloud-based, nFusz's notifiCRM allows clients to produce, distribute, and track interactive videos that can be experienced on any device, without the need for clients or their prospects to download a proprietary player or any other software, which is truly state-of-art in its own way," continues Ms. Morgan. notifiCRM places interactive video front and center in all customer and prospect communications. The nFusz technology allows customers and prospects to respond to calls-to-action right in the video, when their interest level is at its highest. Viewers can respond by simply by clicking on interactive cues such as product images in the video to purchase the product, or to be taken automatically to a website, or to be connected by an in-video phone to a sales team - all while the customer or prospect is still watching the video. "We are truly honored to be selected by Marketing Tech Outlook as One of The Top 10 CRM Providers of 2017," states Rory J. Cutaia, nFusz CEO. "We're proud to be at the forefront, redefining the next-generation of CRM products that not only report and track sales activity, but provide sales professionals with the tools that can actually cause that sales activity to occur," continues Mr. Cutaia. Other companies honored alongside nFusz and selected by Marketing Tech Outlook to be among the Top 10 CRM Providers of 2017 include, Salesforce, Pegasystems, Zendesk, and SugarCRM. About nFusz, Inc. nFusz, Inc. (OTCQB: FUSZ) is a Hollywood-based digital tech company. Our proprietary next generation interactive video technology is the core of our new broadcast and cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products. We offer subscription-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM), sales lead generation, and social engagement software on mobile and desktop platforms for sales-based organizations, consumer brands, and artists seeking greater levels of engagement and higher conversion rates. Our software platform can accommodate any size campaign or sales organization, and is enterprise-class scalable to meet the needs of today's global organizations. Our service is built around our proprietary 'Video-First' Notifi technology, which places interactive video front and center in all customer and prospect communications. We've re-invented what a CRM, lead-gen tool should be in today's video-centric business and social environment. Now watch for our live broadcast interactive video platform that will redefine what 'engagement' means in consumer video consumption. For more information on nFusz, Inc., visit www.nFusz.com. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking" information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of this Act, statements contained herein that look forward in time that include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's actual results. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by the Company, including, but not limited to, plans and objectives of management for future operations or products, the market acceptance or future success of our products, and our future financial performance. The Company cautions that these forward-looking statements are further qualified by other factors including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and other filings with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (available at http://www.sec.gov). The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. For more information, please visit: www.nFusz.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. ("Enbridge Gas Distribution") announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of St. Lawrence Gas Company, Inc. ("St. Lawrence Gas") and its subsidiaries to Liberty Utilities Co. ("Liberty Utilities"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., for a cash sale price of U.S. $70 million, minus total third-party debt of St. Lawrence Gas at closing, and subject to customary working capital adjustments. Closing of the transaction remains subject to certain required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to occur in 2018. "The sale of St. Lawrence Gas aligns with our strategic priorities and enhances our competitiveness, while helping maintain a sustainable foundation upon which we can deliver our long-term growth plans," said Jim Sanders, president, Enbridge Gas Distribution. Employees, customers and suppliers of St. Lawrence Gas can expect business as usual as Enbridge Gas Distribution works with Liberty Utilities to successfully complete the transition of ownership. St. Lawrence Gas operates and maintains 685 miles of natural gas distribution pipeline in St. Lawrence, Lewis and Franklin counties in New York State, to serve its 16,003 customers. About Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. has a more than 165-year history and is Canada's largest natural gas distribution company. It is owned by Enbridge Inc., a Canadian-based leader in energy transportation and distribution. Enbridge Gas Distribution distributes natural gas to over two million customers in Ontario. Contacts: Enbridge Gas Distribution Media Toll Free: 1-855-884-5112 enbridgegasmedia@enbridge.com Investor Relations Toll Free: 1-855-481-2804 investor.relations@enbridge.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Columbus Gold Corp. (TSX: CGT)(OTCQX: CBGDF) is pleased to announce that is has completed drilling at its 100% owned Bolo gold project located in Nevada. Highlights: -- 14 reverse circulation drill holes, totaling 2,806 metres completed -- 12 of the 14 holes encountered strong alteration, including decalcification, quartz veining and stockworks strong iron oxide staining, and intense silicification (jasperoid) replacement -- Drilling focused on the recently acquired Uncle Sam patented claim, immediately south of where Columbus previously intersected 133 metres of 1.28 g/t gold from surface (including 30.5 m of 3.24 g/t gold) -- Samples will be sent for assaying when the Allegiant Gold Ltd., spin-out is complete (see news release dated July 21, 2017) Bolo gold project Columbus has completed 14 reverse circulation drill holes, totaling 2,806 metres, at its 100% owned Bolo gold project, located 90 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada. Eleven of the holes tested the previously undrilled Uncle Sam patented claim, which was acquired by Columbus in 2016. Uncle Sam covers a 500 metre strike extension of a fault zone immediately south of an area that Columbus previously drilled, which included drill hole BL-38, which returned 133 metres of 1.28 g/t gold from the surface (including 30.5 m. of 3.24 g/t gold), drill hole BL-39, which returned 89.9 metres of 1.0 g/t gold from surface (including 40.9 m. of 2.05 g/t gold), and drill hole BL-41, which returned 51.8 metres of 1.27 g/t gold from surface. Holes BL-38, 39, and 41 were drilled approximately 100 metres north of Uncle Sam. In addition to drilling at Uncle Sam, three holes were drilled in the fault zone to test extensions to the west and north. Twelve of the fourteen drill holes encountered strong alteration, including decalcification, quartz veining and stockworks, strong iron oxide staining, and intense silicification (jasperoid) replacement. The thickness of the alteration encountered varied from 30 metres to 100 metres, with the alteration beginning at surface in some of the drill holes. Alteration occurred in several Paleozoic rock formations, including the Cambrian Windfall Formation in the hanging wall of the fault, and the Ordovician Hanson Creek Formation and Silurian Roberts Mountain Formation in the footwall. The last drill hole of the program, drill hole BL-67, was an exploration hole drilled along the fault, 200 metres north of where the majority of drilling has occurred and near an area where a surface sample in jasperoid returned 3.24 g/t gold. Drill hole BL-67, an angle hole, encountered 100 metres of strong alteration, including jasperoid and strong iron oxides, from surface to 100 metres. This hole will require offset drilling, especially to the north along the fault. All drill samples have been stored in sealed and wire strapped containers in Tonopah. The samples will be shipped to the lab when the spin-out of Allegiant Gold has been completed. Bolo is a Carlin-type gold and silver project, where surface sampling has defined widespread gold mineralization, associated with jasperoids and iron-stained structures, along two parallel north-south trending faults known as the Mine Fault and the East Fault. Alteration along the Mine Fault has been traced for 2,750 metres along strike, with surface gold in outcrop sampling from anomalous up to 8.6 g/t gold. The East Fault has been mapped for 2,200 metres of strike with values from anomalous up to 4.7 g/t gold. Gold mineralization in the South Zone of the Mine Fault, where the current drilling was carried out, is logged as oxide and is Carlin-type, associated with weak silicification and decalcification of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Preliminary metallurgical testing indicates the gold is amenable to cyanide recovery. Allegiant Gold Ltd. spin out Columbus intends to proceed with a restructuring transaction whereby it will spin-out its subsidiary Allegiant Gold Ltd., with the intent of listing Allegiant on the TSX-Venture Exchange. The transaction is being undertaken to focus the efforts of Columbus on the Montagne d'Or gold deposit in French Guiana, while seeking to maximize value for shareholders of the United States properties, in particular the Nevada gold projects, by highlighting them in a separate public company (see news release dated July 21, 2017). Qualified person Andy Wallace is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) with the American Institute of Professional Geologists and is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. Mr. Wallace is a VP of Columbus Gold (US) Corporation, and the principal of Cordilleran Exploration Company (Cordex) which is conducting exploration and project generation activities for Columbus Gold on an exclusive basis. About Columbus Gold Corp. Columbus is a leading gold exploration and development company operating in French Guiana, France, and in Nevada. Columbus holds a major interest in the world-class Montagne d'Or gold project in French Guiana. A Feasibility Study for Montagne d'Or was filed in May 2017 and Columbus is presently evaluating a number of mine construction financing options. In Nevada, Columbus is advancing its Eastside gold project. Eastside has outstanding infrastructure for mining and processing, and preliminary metallurgical testing indicates that gold and silver at Eastside are amenable to cyanide leaching. Columbus recently announced plans to spin-out its US property portfolio, which includes Eastside and 13 other properties, into a new company called Allegiant Gold Ltd. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Robert F. Giustra Chairman & CEO This release contains forward-looking information and statements, as defined by law including without limitation Canadian securities laws and the "safe harbor" provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("forward-looking statements"), respecting Columbus' plans to spin-out its American assets into a separate publicly traded company called Allegiant Gold Ltd. and to assay the samples from Bolo after the spin-out is complete. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: that the spin-out may not be completed as planned due to failure to obtain shareholder or regulatory approval, that the private placement may not be completed in full or at all due to market malaise, that drilling programs may not be completed as planned; factors include the ability to acquire any necessary permits and third party authorizations; environmental compliance; cost increases; availability of qualified workers and drill equipment; risks associated with exploration projects including, without limitation, the accuracy of interpretations; mineral reserve and resource estimates (including the risk of assumption and methodology errors and inability to complete the intended drilling program); dependence on third parties for services; non-performance by contractual counterparties; title risks; and general economic conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and a number of assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, including, without limitation, assumptions about: market prices, exploitation and exploration success; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; general business and economic conditions; the timing and receipt of required approvals; continued availability of capital and financing; power prices; the ability to procure equipment and supplies including, without limitation, drill rigs; and ongoing relations with employees, partners, optionees and joint venturers. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and Columbus undertakes no obligation to update any of the foregoing except as required by law. Contacts: Columbus Gold Corp. Investor Relations (604) 634-0970 or 1-888-818-1364 info@columbusgold.com CHATSWORTH, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Trimax Corporation, Inc. (OTC PINK: TMXN) (the "Company"), and its wholly owned subsidiary Saavy Naturals Inc., is pleased to announce that it has received approval from Costco to begin a series of on-site roadshows in order to establish brand awareness of Saavy Natural products in their warehouses. Costco is a multi-billion dollar global retailer with retail warehouse club operations in 8 countries. They are also the largest American membership-only warehouse club and the second largest retailer in the world, after Walmart. As of 2016, Costco was also the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken and wine. With hundreds of locations worldwide, Costco provides a wide selection of merchandise, plus the convenience of specialty departments and exclusive member services, all designed to make their members' shopping experience a pleasurable one. Costco road shows are designed to allow a company and its products to interact with Costco members, answer questions, establish brand awareness and allow for Costco to survey what products are most popular within that company's product lines. Saavy Naturals is set to start September 08, 2017 in Laguna, CA. Plans are to take their roadshow to various Costco warehouses throughout the upcoming holiday season and the remainder of this year. Hugo Saavedra, CEO of Trimax Coropration and Saavy Naturals Inc., stated, "We are honored to receive approval to start selling our products under the road show program in Costco Warehouses. Our ability to sell products, while also having direct communication to the end consumer, gives us invaluable feedback and incredible abilities for us to develop sales and brand awareness. This is also an effective way for us to build solid, consistent growth. We look forward to establishing a long beneficial relationship with Costco with a goal of national distribution." Hugo and Debra Saavedra, Saavy Naturals Inc.'s, CEO and President, gained instant popularity for their all-natural body care product line after being spotlighted and appearing on ABC's hit show Shark Tank. The Sharks took an instant liking to Hugo and Debra, their love story, their previous success in the body care industry, and the superior quality of their all-natural product. Hugo and Debra have since increased the company's product line exposure with several highlighted television features on The Home Shopping Network and are currently working on additional television marketing opportunities for Saavy Naturals. About Trimax Corporation: Trimax Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Saavy Naturals Inc., offers a complete line of Natural Skin Care products, which includes body creams, body scrubs, body wash, shampoos, conditioners, handcrafted soaps, bath bombs, bath salts and candles. Saavy Naturals products are 100% natural, vegan, gluten-free, soy free, cruelty-free, non-GMO, and food-grade. Currently, Saavy Naturals can be found in some of the largest natural retail stores and exclusive boutiques and spas across the nation. Some of the retailers include Whole Foods Market in the Northeast and Southern California regions, Gelson's Market, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Bristol Farms, Erewhon, and Lazy Acres. Additionally, Saavy Naturals products can be purchased through numerous online retailers, including http://www.Amazon.com, and http://www.Saavynaturals.com. For more information please visit our website: http://www.saavynaturals.com Social Media Links: http://www.facebook.com/saavynaturals http://www.instagram.com/Saavynaturals http://www.twitter.com/saavynaturals Safe Harbor This release contains statements that constitute 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. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Trimax Corporation Inc., its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words "may," "would," "should," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Trimax Corporation Inc.'s ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. More information about the potential factors that could affect the business and financial results is and will be included in Trimax Corporation Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Public Relations and Shareholder Information: Joseph M. Vazquez III Phone: (800) 985-5711 Email: infinityglobalconsulting@gmail.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 23, 2017) - Provenance Gold Corp. (CSE:PAU) ("Provenance", or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has initiated exploration on a potentially large newly recognized gold system located 130 km SSW of Dawson City, and west of the White Gold and Coffee discoveries. Provenance holds an option to acquire a 100% interest on 192 quartz claims comprising the "2K Property", covering 3,705 contiguous hectares (9,156 acres) within the Moosehorn Range in the western Yukon portion of the Tintina Gold Belt. The area is marked by a lineation comprised of NE-SW-trending faults and shear zones extending at least six kilometers across the Ridge. This gold system is interpreted by Provenance as the source of rich placer deposits in three adjacent drainages: Kenyon Creek, Great Bear Creek and Kate Creek, that have been continuously mined for more than thirty years, and continue to yield significant amounts of gold today. Lode gold was initially discovered in the Moosehorn Range in the early 1970s, followed by limited, localized exploration on three of the original discovery locations. Provenance recognized that much, if not most, of the placer gold originated from sources other than the early discoveries, and is developing a geological framework for the overall gold system. Provenance has been encouraged by the work to date, which suggests that an extensive gold system exists on the property, and that the earlier discoveries represent small exposures of a much larger system. 2016 Work Program After acquiring the option on the property in 2016, Provenance conducted a limited surface exploration program returning high gold assay values from rock sampling in previously unexplored portions of the property. Assays from these new locations ran as high as 803 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a grab sample, and 122.5 g/t gold across 1.8 meters of continuous chip sampling. The 2016 field work was focused on a large area of oxidation and decrepitation of host Dawson Range Batholith granodiorite underlying the headwaters of Kenyon Creek exposed by historic placer operations. The program identified areas of quartz vein and stringer zones that are distinct from the larger mesothermal quartz veins discovered in earlier programs. Initial geological reconnaissance of the Kenyon Creek area identified zones of structural preparation, marked by mafic dike swarms, extensive alteration, and areas of abundant quartz stringers, within an aerially extensive area of decrepitation of the host granodiorite. The 2016 work culminated in the completion of an independent National Instrument 43-101 technical report that classified the mineralizing system as an orogenic gold setting, and confirmed that the 2K property is a property of merit for further exploration. 2017 Work Program The 2017 program consisted of two phases: a preliminary soil and rock geochemical survey, including preliminary geological mapping, followed by a diamond drilling program that followed up on results from the 2016 and earlier 2017 surface work. It was designed to gain a better understanding of the gold system, focusing on the Kenyon Creek headwaters and a prospective area of Great Bear Creek. 2017 Soil Sampling: The 2017 soil geochemical program covered part of the Kenyon Creek headwaters and parts of the Kate Creek and Great Bear Creek watersheds. The program identified areas of anomalous gold and "pathfinder" elements scattered across the property. Among the highlights is an open-ended area of moderately to strongly anomalous arsenic values from tightly spaced sampling within a grid centered on several large tabular boulders of gold-bearing mesothermal quartz veins excavated during access road construction in the upper Kate Creek catchment area. This anomaly is located near the intersection of a large north-south trending structural zone identified from government airborne surveying, and an interpreted NE-SW trending lineament. 2017 Drilling:The second phase consisted of a diamond drilling program of 1,836 metres in 13 holes. The drilling focused on the Kenyon Creek headwaters area, and on a potential lode gold source area of the Great Bear Creek placer operations. Assay results are pending. The program improved Provenance's understanding of the property-wide gold system and its geological framework, which will influence planning of the company's 2018 exploration program. Looking Ahead Provenance believes the property has potential to host a bulk-tonnage gold deposit. The work to date has identified new areas of gold mineralization, and begun to outline the structural setting and potential size of the gold system. Provenance is looking forward to the 2018 program, which it anticipates will delineate known portions of the gold system and develop a more detailed geological model for the property. Private Placement Offering Provenance is also pleased to announce that the Company will complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 1,600,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.25 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $400,000.00. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company, and one-half-of-one common share purchase Warrant (each full warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional common share at a price of $0.40 per share for a period of twenty-four-months. The Company may pay finder's fees as permitted by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. The securities will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period from the date of issuance. Closing of the private placement remains subject to the receipt of all regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the private placement towards exploration and development expenditures as well as for general working capital requirements. Carl Schulze, PGeo with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) and Project Manager with Aurora Geosciences Ltd. of Whitehorse, Yukon, and a Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) for the 2K Project, has reviewed and approved the contents of this News Release. All 2017 work was supervised by Aurora Geosciences Ltd. For further information please visit the Company's website at http://www.provenancegold.com or contact Rob Clark @ rclark@provenancegold.com. On behalf of the Board, Provenance Gold Corp. Rauno Perttu, Chief Executive Officer Neither the CSE, nor its regulation services provider, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. MANCHESTER, England, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The aviation industry's most senior leaders will take part in the World Routes 2017 conference programme, including Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550839/Routes_Conference_2017.jpg ) The annual World Routes forum brings together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to plan and negotiate future air services. It moves to a new location every year to shine a spotlight on different destinations across the globe. The year's event in Barcelona (23-26 September) has drawn some of the biggest names in aviation. Willie Walsh famously reached the top of the industry, running British Airways and Aer Lingus before taking up his current role at IAG. Having recently launched IAG's new low-cost airline LEVEL from Barcelona El-Prat Airport, it will be an opportune time for Willie to talk about why the low cost, long-haul model will dominate the skies by 2020. Other speakers include Skuli Mogensen, CEO of Wow Air, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines and Giorgio Callegari, deputy CEO of Aeroflot. They will take part in a debate about route development in a world where disruptions such as fluctuating oil prices, rising nationalism and security issues are becoming the norm. World Routes' official charity partner isThe Travel Foundationwhich has delivered sustainable tourism projects in 26 countries. The charity will be at the event to explore the role that aviation has to play in the management of global tourism, taking part in panel discussions and talks. Other topics that will be explored during World Routes include air cargo development, working with the cruise industry to achieve growth, the ways that digital technology will reshape aviation by 2020 and the modernisation of aging airport infrastructure. Steven Small, brand director of Routes said: "World Routesbrings together the leaders who shape route development, direct the aviation industry, and help to shape and influence destinations. What better place to be involved in World Routes than Barcelona - one of the most fascinating cities in Europe." World Routes 2017 will be hosted by the Government of Catalonia with support from Barcelona City Council. The conference progamme is sponsored by OAG. More information is available at http://routesonline.com World Routes 2017, September 23-26, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Notes to Editors Routes events are unique forums dedicated to the development of new air services. They revolve around pre-scheduled meetings, an exhibition and a conference. Three 'regional' route development forums are held between February and April in the Americas, Asia and Europe , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September. and , with the flagship World Routes event taking place in September. Routes events are organised by UBM plc.UBM is the largest B2B event organiser 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 visithttp://www.ubm.comfor the latest news and information about UBM. Karen O'Neill Communications & Content Marketing Manager Routes, UBM EMEA T: +44(0)161-234-2721 M: +44(0)796-6405-105 E: karen.oneill@ubm.com NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company, today announces the publication of an editorial featuring Global Payout, Inc. (OTC: GOHE), a client of NNW that provides comprehensive payment solutions that can be fully customized for virtually any domestic and international organization distributing money worldwide. The publication, titled, "Standout Fintech Companies Disrupt the Financial Services Landscape," discusses several public companies carving out their niche in the expanding financial services scene. To view the full publication, visit: https://www.networknewswire.com/standout-fintech-companies-disrupt-financial-services-landscape/ "Global Payout (GOHE) is focused on next-generation B2B solutions for automating international funds transfer, payments, billing and invoicing processes. Founded in 2009 as a prepaid card company, Global Payout has now evolved to provide comprehensive payment solutions that can be fully customized to meet the needs of virtually any domestic and international organization distributing money throughout the world. "The company's proprietary Global Reserve Platform (GRP) is touted as the most powerful, customizable and extensible platform for managing any financial product, including core and traditional banking products; mobile, web and bot banking; prepaid card, debit card and credit card management; mobile wallets; and more. "Another recent agreement, dated August 14 (http://nnw.fm/q5L8I), reveals another revenue stream for Global Payout through a licensing agreement with Cagney Global Logistics. This agreement is for exclusive white labeling and implementation of the GRP into Cagney's existing delivery and payment component. The finalization of this marketing agreement is anticipated to provide Global Payout with a revenue stream as soon as the start of the third quarter while providing Cagney with improved payment and supply chain efficiency." About Global Payout, Inc. Since the company's inception in 2009, Global Payout, Inc. has been a leading provider of comprehensive and customized prepaid payment solutions for domestic and international organizations distributing money worldwide. In 2014, Global Payout introduced its first online payment platform, called the Consolidated Payment Gateway (CPG), which allowed its enterprise clients to transfer money to international bank accounts, mobile accounts, and prepaid card accounts. The development of the CPG became the foundation for the introduction of its new, state-of-the-art FINTECH payment system in 2017, designed for both online and mobile applications to allow account holders to maximize an expanded suite of financial services and minimize operational costs. Global Payout will continue to offer its FINTECH payment system to many vertical markets for support of foreign currency exchange and digital currency, including ongoing support of the banking industry and international governments. For more information, visit www.GlobalPayout.com. 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 NAPLES, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2017 / FTE Networks, Inc. (OTCQX: FTNW) (FTE, we, us or the Company), a leading provider of innovative technology-oriented solutions for smart platforms, network infrastructure and buildings, is pleased to announce that SeeThruEquity has updated its report on the Company. The full report is available here: FTNW Update Note. The text of SeeThruEquity's press release, announcing its update on August 30, 2017, is copied below: SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research, and corporate access firm focused on small-cap and micro-cap public companies, issued an update on FTE Networks, Inc. (FTNW). Based in Naples, Florida, FTE Networks, Inc. (OTCQX: FTNW, "FTE Networks") is a leading provider of innovative technology-oriented solutions for smart platforms, network infrastructure and buildings. FTE Networks has three operating subsidiaries, including: FTE Networks Services, which provides network infrastructure solutions; CrossLayer, which provides managed network services via an advanced network and cloud platform; and Benchmark Builders, which provides construction management for complex projects. Through these three complementary businesses, FTE Networks provides end-to-end design, build, and support solutions for state-of-the-art networks and commercial properties to create transformative smart platforms and buildings. FTE has made several advancements since our last update note on the company, with highlights including: FTE completed the acquisition of Benchmark Builders, Inc. ("Benchmark"), adding a robust sales pipeline and technology complex interior construction capability FTE reported record 2Q17 revenues of $50.2mn, which included contribution from Benchmark FTE generated healthy adjusted operating income of $2.3mn, or 4.5% of revenues FTE completes acquisition of Benchmark Builders FTE completed the acquisition of Benchmark on April 20, 2017. The transaction adds significant scale and expands FTE's service capabilities while adding marquee customers and more than doubling its sales backlog. Founded in 2008, Benchmark brings expertise in technologically complex interior construction, with experience in large projects in the telecommunications, commercial real estate, industrial, broadcast, technology, infrastructure, healthcare, and education industries. The combined company now has more than 200 employees and operations in 17 states and Europe. Importantly, the addition of Benchmark adds significant complementary services to FTE's offerings, enabling the company to offer a full suite of end-to-end solutions to design, build, and outfit customer locations with advanced, flexible network and connectivity solutions using its multi-edge computing strategy. FTE reports record revenue of $50.2mn, positive adjusted operating income for 2Q17 FTE reported record revenues of $50.2mn in 2Q17, as compared to $3.2mn in the year-ago period. The rise in revenues was primarily due to the company's acquisition of Benchmark, which was included in results beginning April 21, 2017. In the results announcement, FTE Chief Executive Officer and President Michael Palleschi stated that the company had built "positive momentum" since the closing of the Benchmark transaction, and we look forward to learning more about how the company's new multi-edge computing solution is being received in the market. Benchmark accounted for $44.5mn in revenues during this partial period. Core FTE revenues without the impact of Benchmark did increase by 96% to $5.3mn, versus $3.2mn in 2Q16. At the end of 2Q17, the company had a combined backlog of $346.7mn, according to its 10-Q filing. Increasing target to $3.20 target following Benchmark deal We are increasing our target for FTE Networks to $3.20 per share following the closing of the Benchmark deal. The target implies an Enterprise Value of 1.2x the company's backlog of $347mn, and 13.5x 2018E EV/EBITDA, assuming 134.9mn shares and net debt of approximately $70mn. Upcoming catalysts for FTE include a planned listing on a major exchange and 2H17 operating results, which are expected to show increasing revenues. About SeeThruEquity Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high-quality research on underfollowed small-cap and micro-cap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative business model for equity research that is not paid for and is unbiased. SeeThruEquity is the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion. SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research reports and estimates to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), the leading estimates platform on Wall Street, as well as Capital IQ and FactSet. SeeThruEquity maintains one of the industry's most extensive databases of opt-in institutional and high net worth investors. The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. For more information visit www.seethruequity.com. Contact: Ajay Tandon SeeThruEquity info@seethruequity.com About FTE Networks, Inc. FTE Networks, Inc. (FTNW) is a leading network infrastructure solutions provider to the technology and communications sectors. FTEs three complementary businesses are: FTE Networks Services (network infrastructure solutions); CrossLayer, Inc. (managed network services with first-of-its-kind advanced network and cloud platform); and Benchmark Builders, Inc. (construction management), which provides end-to-end design, build, and support solutions for state-of-the-art networks and commercial properties to create the most transformative smart platforms and buildings. FTEs businesses are predicated on smart design and consistent standards that reduce deployment costs and accelerate delivery of innovative projects and services. The company works with Fortune 100/500 companies, including some of the worlds leading communications services providers. FTE Networks and its subsidiaries operate eight lines of business including Data Center Infrastructure, Fiber Optics, Wireless Integration, Network Engineering, Internet Service Provider, Construction Management, General Contracting and Pre-Construction Services. With approximately 200+ employees, FTE and its entities have operations in 17 states. For more information, please visit www.ftenet.com. Forward-Looking Statements Any statements contained in this press release that does not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, financial projections, statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, the development and commercialization of the Company's products, or any of the Company's other proposed products or services. Such forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances and actual events may differ considerably. There is no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release, except as required under applicable securities laws. Furthermore, the opinions espoused in the SeeThruEquity report do not necessarily represent the opinions and beliefs of the Company. Media and Investor Relations: FTE Networks, Inc. 999 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Suite 601 Naples, FL 23108 (877) 850-4308 ir@ftenet.com SOURCE: FTE Networks, Inc. Westinghouse Electric Company is pleased to learn of today's decision by the Georgia Public Service Commission to proceed with construction on the two AP1000 nuclear power plants currently under construction at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. "The decision to proceed with construction signals the importance of the United States' domestic nuclear energy program and will stabilize the thousands of high-paying, long-term jobs required to successfully complete the project," said Westinghouse President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Emeterio Gutierrez. "This is an especially important decision for the U.S. energy sector and the global nuclear energy industry. Georgia's economy will continue to reap the benefits of the reliable, safe and clean energy the units will provide when complete." Vogtle Electric Generating Plant is owned by Georgia Power and partners Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities. Bechtel is completing construction of the project under the management of Southern Nuclear, the Southern Company subsidiary that operates the existing two units at Plant Vogtle. Westinghouse applauds the steadfast work completed to date by the project's team, including the November 2017 placement of the Unit 4 CA02 module, a critical component of the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST). The many benefits of the AP1000 plant design, including its passive safety features and strong licensing pedigree, continue to be recognized worldwide. In the meantime, final work is being completed on the world's first four AP1000 units at the Sanmen and Haiyang sites in China. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171221005821/en/ Contacts: Westinghouse Electric Company Sarah Cassella, +1 412-374-4744 Manager, External Communications Email: cassels@westinghouse.com Oslo, December 22, 2017 - Navamedic ASA (OSE: NAVA), the Norwegian medtech and pharmaceutical products company, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Chemviron Carbon Ltd. (Chemviron) for the launch and commercialisation of Zorflex wound care contact dressings in Sweden and Finland. Zorflex, a naturally antimicrobial, 100 percent activated carbon wound contact dressing, helps accelerate treatment of a wide range of chronic and non-chronic wounds. "We are very pleased to announce the partnership with Chemviron for launch of Zorflex wound contact dressings in Sweden and Finland. Zorflex helps accelerate wound healing in patients, and has a number of properties for better ease of use and patient comfort. We believe the partnership with Chemviron opens up additionalmarket opportunity and revenue potential for Navamedic, as Zorflex addresses a large patient population and we can leverage a well-established position the Nordic market within the field of wound healing, having earlier launched Woulgan from the Norwegian company Biotech Pharmacon. Zorflex complements Woulgan in our wound care portfolio, opening up additional opportunities to help patients with various types of wounds. The agreement is also in line with our strategic approach of further strengthening our products portfolio in selected areas and entering solid, long-term partnerships," says Tom Ronnlund, Chief Executive Officer of Navamedic. Zorflex is a highly adsorbent, naturally antimicrobial contact wound dressing, which helps accelerate the healing process by entrapping and killing microbes on the wound surface. The flexible, knitted textile is designated for use with all chronic and non-chronic wound types, ranging from venous leg ulcers, diabetic and pressure ulcers, to trauma wounds, surgical wounds, and fungal skin infections. In contrast with most conventional antimicrobial dressings, Zorflex dressings contain no added chemical agents, and uses a triple action to combat microbes and odour to accelerate wound healing: Antimicrobial action uses electrostatic forces to draw, trap and destroy microbes and adsorb endotoxins Conductivity restores the body's natural transepithelial potential, aiding healing Odour management by adsorbing odour molecules and combating odour-causing microbes. "Zorflex will be an important and prioritised product for Navamedic, significantly strengthening our position in the advanced wound care market. We look forward to launching the product and building our partnership with Chemviron, and to jointly secure a solid position in this market," says Ronnlund. For further information, please contact: Tom Ronnlund, CEO, Navamedic ASA Telephone: +46 727 320 321 ABOUT Zorflex Zorflex is indicated as an antimicrobial dressing for use over discharging, partial and full thickness wounds such as: trauma, surgical sites, fungating carcinomas, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers and diabetic ulcers. The application of Zorflex on an open wound creates conditions conducive to accelerated wound healing. With its natural triple action: Antimicrobial, Conductive and Odour Management it reduces odour, pain and exudate. It is easy to use, can be cut to shape and folded and has a wear time of up to 7 days. ABOUT NAVAMEDIC: Navamedic ASA is a Norwegian medtech and pharmaceutical products company, delivering products to patients, hospitals and pharmacies in the Nordic and select European markets. The Group's Medtech business has developed and is currently introducing the next generation of digital urine meter Sippi. Navamedic's Pharma and Healthcare business is a distributor of products supplied by a number of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. Navamedic is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: NAVA). ABOUT Chemviron Carbon Ltd Chemviron Carbon is the European Opertaions of Calgon Carbon Corporation, a global leader in innovative solutions, high quality products and reliable services designed to protect human health and the environment from harmful contaminants in water, and air. As a leading manufacturer of activated carbon, with broad capabilities in ultraviolet light disinfection, the Company provides purification solutions for drinking water, wastewater, pollution abatement, and a variety of industrial and commercial manufacturing processes. Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE:CCC) is the world's largest producer of granular activated carbon and supplies more than 100 types of activated carbon products - in granular, powdered, pelletized and cloth form - for more than 700 distinct applications. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Calgon Carbon employs approximately 1,100 people at more than 15 manufacturing, reactivation, and equipment fabrication facilities in the U.S., Asia, and in Europe. The company also has more than 27 sales and service centres throughout the world. 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: Navamedic ASA via Globenewswire BARCELONA, Spain, December 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AGORA images, a revolutionary social network and marketplace, without intermediaries or commissions, enabling anyone with a smartphone or digital camera to sell their photos, is launching the second edition of their photography competition, AGORA AWARDS 2017. Participation is open to all AGORA images App users, which includes both professional and amateur photographers. The winning photo will receive a prize of 2000 dollars. Both the App and competition entry are free of charge. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/614969/AGORA_awards.jpg ) The best photo of the year, will be chosen by an international jury of professional photographers, including Anand Sharan, artistic photographer and professor from Bangalore (India); Osmany Torres, photographer and designer from Florida (United States); and Gonzalo Hohr, documentary photographer and professor from Andalucia (Spain). The choice will be made from a total of 10 finalists, selected from 50 pre-finalists, who will have fulfilled the criteria of artistic and technical quality, composition, originality, message-history and visual impact. The competition, with an open theme, is open to all users of AGORA images. Simply download the free App, available for IOS and Android, and upload your best photos. The competition is open until at 23:59h on 31st December 2017. The names of the first 50 pre-finalists will be announced on 9th January via the platform's social media sites, and the 10 finalists on 17th January. The competition winner will be announced on 19th January. AGORA images: win money with your best photos For the very first time, AGORA images has made it possible for absolutely anyone to earn money selling their photographs, without having to relinquish rights of property or use to an intermediary, as was the case with traditional image stocks, who would also retain a commission of between 50-80% from the price of sales. At AGORA images, there are no commissions and no intermediaries, and the author receives 100% of the photo price. Likewise, for image purchasers, the new AGORA images platform, enables high-quality photos to be purchased at a much more accessible price than from traditional stocks, and with a license enabling any use of the image, including commercial purposes. Payment transactions are direct and secure between buyer and seller via the Stripe payment system. As the CEO and founding partner of AGORA images, Octavi Royo explains, "This revolutionary way of understanding the image market enables access to an authentic, local stock at an accessible price." SAN FRANCISCO (dpa-AFX) - Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), said that it reached agreements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, regarding allegations that some of its retail customers received products and services they did not request. The amount of the settlements, which Wells Fargo had fully accrued for at June 30, 2016, totaled $185 million, plus $5 million in customer remediation. The company said, '... we regret and take responsibility for any instances where customers may have received a product that they did not request.' The company's commitment to addressing the concerns covered by these agreements has included: An extensive review by a third party consulting firm going back into 2011, which the company completed prior to these settlements. The review included consumer and small business retail banking deposit accounts and unsecured credit cards opened during the period reviewed. As a result of this review, $2.6 million has been refunded to customers for any fees associated with products customers received that they may not have requested. Accounts refunded represented a fraction of one percent of the accounts reviewed, and refunds averaged $25. Disciplinary actions, including terminations of managers and team members who acted counter to values. Investments in enhanced team-member training and monitoring and controls. The company commits to send customers a confirming email within one hour of opening any deposit account, and send an application acknowledgement and decision status letter after submitting an application for a credit card. In addition, the company said 'Our entire culture is centered on doing what is right for our customers. However, at Wells Fargo, when we make mistakes, we are open about it, we take responsibility, and we take action. Today's agreements are consistent with these beliefs.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNLAND AND LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 09/05/17 -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX: FTS)(NYSE: FTS) today announced a US$100,000 contribution to the American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. "Our thoughts are with the thousands of families who have suffered tremendous devastation and loss as a result of Hurricane Harvey," said Mr. Barry Perry, President and CEO of Fortis. "We wanted to lend our support to the relief efforts underway and the residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey." The US$100,000 contribution is made in partnership by Fortis Inc. and its subsidiary utilities Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. (New York), ITC Holdings Corp. (Michigan) and Arizona based UNS Energy Corp. The American Red Cross continues to work around the clock to help thousands affected by Hurricane Harvey. The funds raised support relief efforts such as shelters, cots and blankets, and meals for people seeking refuge. To learn more visit www.redcross.org. About Fortis Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with total assets of approximately C$48 billion as of June 30, 2017. The Corporation's 8,000 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries. Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com, www.sedar.com, or www.sec.gov. Contacts: Fortis Inc. Ms. Karen McCarthy Director, Communications & Corporate Affairs 709.737.5323 media@fortisinc.com DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 09/08/17 -- Dewmar International BMC, Inc. (OTC PINK: DEWM), a diversified brand management and operating company, announces that its newly assigned Walmart beverage buyer approves Lean Slow Motion Potion for product placement extension in the Fall 2017 modular shelf space through April 2018. "On our semi-annual call with our Walmart category buyer, we gained renewal of our existing central distribution contract going into 2018 for our existing Lean Slow Motion Potion brands in 80 stores across the states of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma," said Dr. Marco Moran, CEO of Dewmar International. "We recently completed a very successful product sampling promotion in over 30 Walmart Supercenters during the Labor Day weekend which helped us exceed our sales goals two-fold in which the newly assigned buyer took particular notice of. This is will be the fifth (5th) year of Lean being in Walmart which continues to further our lead as the longest standing relaxation beverage on the shelves at Walmart," Dr. Moran continued. Results from the semi-annual call is that Dewmar will work closely with the Walmart replenishment manager to seek more efficient ways to get product to the Walmart distribution centers in order to increase the Company's profitability. Furthermore, Dewmar will enter the Fall season by hiring at least two brand managers to assure sufficient shelf replenishment, report inventory shortages to store management and to identify opportunities for significant sales increase. For a complete list of stores where you can find Lean Slow Motion Potion at Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Walmarts, please click on the link here or copy and paste this link: http://www.leanslowmotionpotion.com/store-locator.html About Dewmar International BMC, Inc. Dewmar International BMC, Inc. is a certified MBE and service disabled veteran owned new product development, manufacturing and brand management company. Established in 2003, Dewmar's primary business strategy has been in creating high profit margins with functional foods and beverages, as well as introducing new simple yet meaningful innovations to markets of great demand. The Company's flagship product, Lean Slow Motion Potion, whose flavors include Yella, Purp and Easta Pink, is rated as one of the top 3 national selling relaxation beverages in the U.S. market. Kush Cakes is the country's leading relaxation hemp-infused brownie. The company has offices in Clinton, MS; Houston, TX: Denver, CO and New Orleans, LA. Click here for the Safe Harbor Statement. Dewmar International BMC, Inc. Investment & Company Information InvestorRelations@DewmarInternational.com MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc. (CSE: EAC)(CSE: EAC.CN)(CNSX: EAC) ("Earth Alive" or the "Company"), announces that Mr. Michael Warren has been confirmed in his role as President and Chief Executive Officer, following his interim nomination, and, Ms. Liette Nadon has been appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer, to replace Earth Alive's former Chief Financial Officer. Robert Blain, Chairman, stated: "We are very pleased that Mr. Warren has accepted to continue in his role and we remain confident that under his leadership, Earth Alive's objectives will be achieved in the short term." Mr. Warren has been a member of Earth Alive's senior management team since 2014 where he has been singled out for consistently identifying innovative business concepts and bringing them to market, all with a focus on products that are earth and human-friendly. Mr. Warren is familiar with the day to day operations and the general development strategy of Earth Alive. He holds a Business Degree from Bishop's University and prior to joining Earth Alive, he had built LFP Solutions, an organic soil inputs distribution company where he developed operational & management expertise. Following the latest financial results and the extensive review of operations completed by an independent external consultant, the Board has undertaken to implement several key reccomandations to ensure that Earth Alive's activities are conducted in the most efficient manner while continuing on the path of sustainable growth and profitability. Management is currently in discussions with several parties to ensure that Earth Alive's short term financial needs are met and the Company can move forward with a focus on business developement. The Company will release any related information in a timely manner. For additional company information, please visit: www.earthalivect.com The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" occur. Although Earth Alive believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts: Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc. Mr. Michael Warren 514-941-7350 mwarren@earthalivect.com Peru is the tenth country where Teleperformance physically operates in Latin America Regulatory News: Teleperformance (Paris:RCF), the worldwide leader in omnichannel customer experience management, today announced its expansion into Peru. Teleperformance Peru, located in the main financial and business district of Lima, will operate 500 workstations and open this year. "Peru is one of the most attractive countries in Latin America for investment in customer experience management activities. It has not only a significant domestic market, but also a great location, people and conditions for the export of services," said Agustin Grisanti, CEO, Teleperformance Spanish Iberia South America. "We are excited and optimistic about our operations in Peru, and are working to identify the best passionate and talented individuals from around Lima to join our global team." The opening of the Lima site will expand Teleperformance's presence in Latin America to ten countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Jamaica and Peru. Teleperformance's worldwide offerings allow companies to integrate omnichannel services to more effectively connect with and optimize their customers brand experiences through all interaction channels. Entering the market with this key differentiator expands the customer experience management services currently available in Peru. Daniel Julien, Executive Chairman, and Paulo Cesar Salles Vasques, Chief Executive Officer, Teleperformance Group, said: "With 32 million citizens and ranked 45 by the International Monetary Fund for 2017 GDP (PPP), Peru is a significant and growing domestic market demanding a better customer experience. Additionally, its capital city of Lima presents additional opportunities, as it is rapidly becoming a regional services hub for all Spanish-speaking countries. Teleperformance's Peru opening reflects the dynamism of our company's operations in the Ibero-LATAM region, and we're eager to serve new and existing clients from our new Lima site." ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE Teleperformance (RCF ISIN: FR0000051807 Reuters: ROCH.PA Bloomberg: RCF FP), the worldwide leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management, serves companies and administrations around the world, with customer care, technical support, customer acquisition (Core Services), as well as with online interpreting solutions, visa application management services, data analysis and debt collection programs (Specialized Services). In 2016, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of 3,649 million (US$4,050 million, based on 1 $1.11). The Group operates 163,000 computerized workstations, with 217,000 employees across 340 contact centers in 74 countries and serving 160 markets. It manages programs in 265 languages and dialects on behalf of major international companies operating in a wide variety of industries. Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: STOXX 600, SBF 120, Next 150, CAC Mid 60 and CAC Support Services. They also have been included in the Euronext Vigeo Eurozone 120 index since December 2015, with regard to the Group's performance in corporate responsibility. For more information: www.teleperformance.com Follow us on Twitter: @teleperformance View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831006175/en/ Contacts: PRESS RELATIONS MARK PFEIFFER Tel: 1 801-257-5811 mark.pfeiffer@teleperformance.com or INVESTOR RELATIONS QUY NGUYEN-NGOC SVETLANA SAVIN Tel: 33 1 53 83 59 87/ 59 15 investor@teleperformance.com Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier "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. TARRYTOWN, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- NightFood Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: NGTF), a fully reporting "better-for-you" snack company, announced that on August 17, 2017 the Company launched an investor relations initiative, to proactively communicate news of recent company developments and milestones to a broader range of stock market investors. The Company believes that increased investor awareness could bring about increased liquidity in NightFood common stock, resulting in an increased number of financing options being available to the Company, especially in the case of significant positive developments and/or revenue growth. No Company insiders or Affiliates have sold, or otherwise disposed of or reallocated, any shares of NightFood stock since November, 2015, when Company CEO Sean Folkson used stock equal to less than one half of one percent of his holdings to pay for certain services. Folkson, along with NightFood CMO Peter Leighton, own approximately 67.7% of the 30,035,082 shares issued and outstanding as of August 23, 2017, at which time there were also 5,481,000 shares in the public float. From time to time during calendar year 2017, the Company has raised capital from institutional investors in the form of convertible notes, each of which was publicly disclosed via the filing of a form 8-K at the time of the capital raise. In addition, the Company filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC, which was declared effective July 28, 2017, in conjunction with a capital commitment of $5,000,000 from Black Forest Capital, LLC. The foregoing is a summary of our capital activity, and investors are encouraged to review company filings for more details. Since January 1, 2016, the Company has engaged various companies in the investor relations space to communicate the NightFood investment thesis to the investment community, including Uptick Capital, Mantle Media, and ABL Group. These initiatives are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, as the Company continues to communicate with investors regarding the prospect of solving America's nighttime snacking problem, wherein 70% of consumers combine to spend over $1B/week on nighttime snacks, with the most popular options being cookies, chips, ice cream, and candy. About NightFood: NightFood (OTCQB: NGTF), "The Nighttime Snack Company", is a snack food company dedicated to providing consumers delicious, better-for-you, sleep-friendly choices for evening snacking. 44% of snack consumption occurs at night, representing a consumer spend of over $1B weekly on nighttime snacks. NightFood creates, manufactures, and distributes snacks which help consumers satisfy nighttime cravings in a better, healthier, more sleep friendly way. For more information, visit http://ir.nightfood.com and www.nightfood.com Questions can be directed to investors@nightfood.com Forward Looking Statements: This current press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, any products sold or cash flow from operations. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with distribution and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our most recent annual report for our last fiscal year, our quarterly reports, and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Media Contact: Peter Leighton 888-888-6444, x5 Investor Contact: Andrew Austin A.S. Austin Company 888-888-6444, x3 QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Junex Inc. (the "Company" or "Junex") (TSX VENTURE: JNX) is pleased to announce that a meeting has taken place with the three chiefs of the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi, the assembly of elected representatives of the three Mi'gmaq communities of Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Listuguj. At the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi's request, it was agreed to begin a consultation process to allow the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi to consult the population of the three Mi'gmaq communities of Gaspesie. That consultation will last four months, during which Junex will not undertake any exploration activities. This consultation process follows a specific mandate from Junex's board of directors to launch a dialogue with the First Nations, which is in line with the Company's Sustainable Development Policy that favours development that is respectful of host communities through a transparent approach and constant dialogue. Junex emphasizes that Galt is a conventional project and that putting it into production does not require any massive hydraulic fracturing. About Junex Junex is a Quebec SME that seeks to be a catalyst in accessing Quebec's oil and gas resources, while ensuring that their development becomes a important means of creating collective wealth for Quebeckers. Junex's operations are conducted in a responsible manner, in strictest compliance with the rules, laws and regulations that govern oil and gas activities. To that end, every day it takes all measures to minimize the environmental impact of its activities. 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. Contacts: Junex Inc. M. Jean-Yves Lavoie President & Chief Executive Officer 418-654-9661 Junex Inc. Mr. Dave Pepin Vice President - Corporate Affairs and Chief Financial Officer 418-654-9661 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Geologix Explorations Inc. (TSX VENTURE: GIX)(FRANKFURT: GF6)(BERLIN: GF6)(MUN: GF6)(STUT: GF6) ("Geologix" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update to shareholders regarding the Company's exploration activities at its 100% owned Tepal Gold/Copper Project located in Michoacan state, Mexico. After a multi-year hiatus due to prevailing low metals prices, the Company recently reinitiated field work following the completion of a $1.2M oversubscribed financing (see press release dated June 22, 2017). Geologix's new management and technical team are currently focused on realizing the value and potential of Tepal through a staged exploration approach that is designed to expand the economic resource base and make additional discoveries, with the goal of enhancing the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") (see press release dated January 19, 2017) prior to advancing the project to the pre-feasibility and/or feasibility stage. Tepal work program highlights: -- Re-logging of selected drill hole intersections from the South Pit indicates mineralization remains open both inside and beneath the current economic pit shell, suggesting potential to improve the existing resource though additional drilling. -- High grade mineralization is structurally controlled with potential to extend beyond the current economic pit shells. -- 54 rock chip and grab assay samples collected from a cross section of alteration and mineralization settings from within the three existing pit boundaries as part of a sample audit have successfully confirmed the mineralization observed at surface. -- Initial assay results were as expected, ranging from weakly anomalous to high grade. The strongest assays include: 3.54g/t Au with 0.227% Cu (sample 10413); and 0.446g/t Au with 1.37% Cu (sample 425862) (see Table 3 for assay highlights). -- An additional 484 outcrop chip samples were collected and quantified for alteration and magnetic susceptibility. -- A US$300,000 budget has been assigned for this stage of exploration, sufficient to achieve current goals. Complete results from this program are expected early in Q4 2017 and will be used to assess additional exploration needs and for drill planning purposes. Kiran Patankar, Geologix's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "Restarting substantive field work at Tepal is a significant milestone for the Company. Few gold/copper development projects can boast an established economic resource with the kind of scalability and exploration upside we are seeing at Tepal. We have assembled a technical team led by Gillian Kearvell, whose extensive and successful track record of making world-class discoveries in Southern Mexico is bona fide, in order to take a fresh look at the project. The initial findings from this summer's field program are highly encouraging and suggest that we have just scratched the surface of Tepal's true potential." Gillian Kearvell, VP Exploration of Geologix, further commented: "Michoacan has a rich mining history, yet it remains largely unexplored by modern methods. Tepal is a notable exception where initial field results suggest that we may still be on the periphery or distal to the main deposit. Our technical team is implementing a staged and cost-effective exploration program that we believe, when combined with ongoing data interpretation, may lead to new discoveries and an enhanced resource base. Now that work is underway and results are coming in, I am even more excited about Tepal's potential and look forward to providing regular updates on our exploration activities." Tepal work program details: The early-stage exploration program for 2017 is focused on recently identified controls on mineralization. Complete results from this work are expected early in Q4 2017 and will provide recommendations for additional exploration and drilling vectors. Specific elements of the early-stage exploration program are summarized in Table 1. Table 1 - Early-stage exploration progress as of August 31, 2017: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Activity/Location South Pit North Pit Tizate Samples ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surface Mapping ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niton XRF Complete 484 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Susceptibility KT-10 Complete 484 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Structural In progress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assay/Petrology Complete 54 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drill Core ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re-logging In Progress Pending Pending ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niton XRF Complete Pending Pending 694 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Susceptibility KT-10 Complete Pending Pending 1008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Structural In Progress Pending Pending ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assay/petrology In progress Pending Pending 30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Geophysics In progress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reports In progress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Systematic structural, alteration and physical properties mapping is ongoing. Alteration mapping has been completed for all three pits and a selection of drill core from the south pit has been re-logged. Re-logging of selected core from all previous drilling will be an ongoing exercise as part of the reinterpretation of previous results. Table 2 provides selected drill hole intersections from the South Pit indicating mineralization may remain open inside the current pit boundaries (see TEP-11-043), suggesting a potential to increase the resource through additional drilling. Table 2 also highlights selected "in pit" intersections that remain open beneath the pit (examples include: TEP-11-043, TEP-11-012, TEP-11-128), or include deeper drill hole intersections that are excluded from the current resource (examples include: TEP-11-012, TEP-10-026, TEP-11-128 and TP-11-130). Mineralization in the South Pit includes a structurally controlled mineralization that remains largely untested and warrants follow up exploration and drilling. It is anticipated that current exploration activities will also identify similar potential as exploration progresses to other areas of the property. Table 2 - Selected South Pit drill hole assay results (highlighted intervals are partly or wholly excluded from the current mineral resource and merit follow-up exploration): ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Length Au Drill hole (m) (m) (m) g/t ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEP-11-012 140.50 425.95 285.45 0.527 includes 276.20 403.85 127.65 0.785 and 321.80 370.95 49.15 1.115 443.80 451.40 7.60 0.127 TEP-10-020 151.00 286.00 135.00 0.892 includes 177.00 191.00 14.00 0.104 includes 217.00 286.00 69.00 1.432 TEP-11-026 261.60 265.90 4.30 0.198 269.90 271.90 2.00 0.266 309.20 496.00 186.80 1.054 518.80 531.65 12.85 0.439 TEP-11-043 152.00 298.90 146.90 0.885 includes 162.00 276.00 114.00 1.029 and 225.20 231.00 5.80 0.041 TEP-11-128 316.00 437.40 121.40 0.725 includes 318.00 401.00 83.00 0.893 includes 338.00 401.00 63.00 0.947 TEP-11-130 149.75 253.70 103.95 0.224 includes 182.00 221.30 39.30 0.330 280.25 439.20 158.95 0.401 includes 313.00 335.00 22.00 0.552 includes 371.00 424.15 53.15 0.624 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Ag Cu Cu Mo Drill hole g/t ppm % ppm ---------------------------------------------------------------- TEP-11-012 1.4 2532 0.25 29 1.0 3696 0.37 25 1.2 4153 0.42 19 1.3 115 0.01 4 TEP-10-020 1.8 3041 0.30 20 1.4 134 0.01 11 1.4 4497 0.45 18 TEP-11-026 2.7 4970 0.50 7 132.0 11200 1.12 3 1.2 3810 0.38 28 1.9 1980 0.20 15 TEP-11-043 1.3 3456 0.35 17 1.1 3775 0.38 17 0.3 48 0.00 1 TEP-11-128 2.1 1824 0.18 19 2.3 1966 0.20 17 2.4 2083 0.21 20 TEP-11-130 2.5 1199 0.12 21 1.7 1428 0.14 14 1.2 2351 0.24 38 1.7 3347 0.33 36 1.4 3663 0.37 19 ---------------------------------------------------------------- To date, 484 outcrop chip samples have been collected and quantified for alteration and magnetic susceptibility using a Niton portable XRF and a Terraplus KT-10 susceptibility meter, with another 694 Niton XRF and 1008 susceptibility readings taken in drill core. Geophysical re-interpretation and modelling is ongoing at this time. An additional 54 rock chip and grab assay samples collected from a cross section of alteration and mineralization settings from within the three existing pit boundaries as part of a sample audit have successfully confirmed the mineralization observed at surface. Assay results received on August 11, 2017 were as expected, ranging from weakly anomalous to high grade. The strongest assay results received included 3.54g/t Au with 0.227% Cu from sample number 10413, and another with 0.446g/t Au and 1.37% Cu in sample number 425862. Assay highlights from this work are summarized in Table 3. Table 3 - Highlights from surface rock chip sample assay results, Tepal Project alteration study (selected rock chip samples assaying greater than 1 g/t Au or greater than 20g/t Ag or greater than 1% Cu or greater than 100ppm Mo): ------------------------------------------------------------ Sample Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu % Mo (ppm) ------------------------------------------------------------ 10401 2.310 1.0 0.26 10 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10402 1.380 1.3 0.31 6 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10403 1.210 1.0 0.63 3 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10405 0.026 0.3 1.10 1 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10406 2.490 0.6 0.31 5 ------------------------------------------------------------ less than 10407 0.023 0.2 1.39 less than 1 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10413 3.540 1.4 0.28 2 ------------------------------------------------------------ 10425 0.287 21.4 0.51 275 ------------------------------------------------------------ 425652 1.125 0.7 0.05 19 ------------------------------------------------------------ less than 425862 0.446 0.2 1.37 5 ------------------------------------------------------------ less than 425865 0.024 0.2 0.01 159 ------------------------------------------------------------ less than less than 425867 0.005 0.2 1.26 1 ------------------------------------------------------------ 425873 0.274 0.2 0.22 101 ------------------------------------------------------------ A map with the locations of rock chip samples, Niton XRF samples, and drill hole mineral intersections described in this press release is provided in Figure 1. Figure 1 - Tepal work program sample and re-logged drill hole locations: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/GeologixB.jpg Payments to Former CEO: The Company also announces that, in connection with Dunham Craig ceasing to be the Company's President and CEO in 2016, it has agreed to make four payments of $63,020.83 less any applicable withholding taxes, to Mr. Craig over the next four years. The payments are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. Geologix would like to thank Mr. Craig for his many years of service, dedication and commitment to the Company during his tenure as President and CEO and we look forward to a long continuing relationship in his current role as Chairman of the Board of Directors. About Geologix Explorations Inc. Geologix is a mineral exploration and development company focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing mineral resource opportunities with the potential to host profitable mining operations. The Company's primary focus is the Tepal Gold/Copper Project in Michoacan state, Mexico. Dunham L. Craig, B.Sc., P.Geo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Geologix, is the Qualified Person (as that term is used in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) who has approved and assumes responsibility for the technical disclosures in this press release. This Press Release may contain statements which constitute 'forward-looking, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Company's Annual Information Form and quarterly and annual Management's Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Kiran Patankar President and Chief Executive Officer 604-694-1742 kpatankar@geologix.ca www.geologix.ca SPRING HOPE, NC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) announced today that Hemp, Inc.'s solid infrastructure is in place to provide solutions to President Donald Trump's Executive Order on Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America. Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. said, "We invite President Trump's Task Force to come to North Carolina and visit Hemp, Inc.'s milling and decortication facility which Hemp, Inc. built from the ground up. The facility took 3 1/2 years and millions of dollars to complete. President Trump has ordered a Task Force to promote agriculture in a number of ways. For instance, section 4 of the order, as you will see below, states the Task Force 'shall identify legislative, regulatory, and policy changes to promote in rural America agriculture, economic development, job growth, infrastructure improvements, technological innovation, energy security, and quality of life, including changes that remove barriers to economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America and strengthen and expand educational opportunities for students in rural communities, particularly in agricultural education. This is what we have been doing through our Hemp University educational symposiums and our model small family farm." Perlowin continued, "President Trump's Task Force or any member thereof should really visit Hemp, Inc.'s 70,000 multipurpose industrial hemp decortication and milling facility in Spring Hope, North Carolina. The small family farm, which many of us are familiar with, has disappeared from the American landscape. Our model family farm is situated on 5 acres and consists of a cloning room, a greenhouse, and 5,000 hemp plants. By showing farmers how to grow high CBD hemp plants, operate a greenhouse and turn a barn into a cloning room to earn $500,000 a year, the small family farm can reappear in the American landscape. After all, the original small family farms in America were able to survive economically by growing hemp as their main cash crop and the first 5 presidents of the United States were all hemp farmers. Our infrastructure is 100% aligned with what the President today, is trying to accomplish with this Task Force." The Executive Order, issued in April of this year, states the following... To read the full version of this press release, click here. Hemp, Inc. (855) HEMP-OUT info@hempinc.com http://www.hempinc.com For Investor Relations, please send correspondence to: ir@hempinc.com BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - August 31, 2017) - ScrubaDub Auto Wash Centers, founded in 1966, has been recognized as the 2017 Massachusetts Family Business of the Year winner in the Large Firms category at the 11 th Annual Awards Program. Three generations of the Paisner family accepted the award. "ScrubaDub and the Paisner family are honored to receive this award and we're grateful for the growth we've experienced since my grandfather, Marshall Paisner, built the first ScrubaDub in Watertown, MA over 50 years ago. Today, we are a third generation family business with 18 properties across New England. We employ over 200 associates and we're on track to wash over 2 million cars this year. The Paisner family is grateful to be recognized for our business growth and giving back to the communities where we do business," said Mathew Paisner, Director of Business Development. The Northeastern University Center for Family Business created the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Awards to honor family businesses across the state. In addition to ScrubaDub, past winners of the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Award include New England Coffee, Bernie & Phyl's Furniture, Salmon Health & Retirement, Piantedosi Baking Company, Captain Marden's Seafoods and more. For the last eleven years, recipients of the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year Awards have been selected by a panel of independent judges based on the following criteria: business success, positive business and family linkages, multi-generational family involvement, contributions to the community and industry, and innovative business practices or strategies. The 2017 applicants represent a wide range of industries from all across the state, with a combined 1,000 years in business. About the Northeastern University Center for Family Business The Northeastern University Center for Family Business, housed within the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, is a membership organization that provides education, networking opportunities, and support to business families in a non-commercial and confidential group environment. For 25 years, the Center has helped its members identify and avoid potential pitfalls, solve complex interpersonal and family business issues, and plan for future family business success in an increasingly more competitive environment. For more information about the awards program, please visit http://www.mafba.com/. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/31/11G144881/Images/2017_Fam_Bus_award1_(1)-007c2f719d0486738f20b6b36a7847fb.jpg Contact: Grace Wyld Northeastern University Center for Family Business g.wyld@northeastern.edu 617.373.3718 ScrubaDub Auto Wash Centers Mathew Paisner Director of Business Development (MA, RI, NH, ME) Office: (508) 650-1155 Mat@ScrubaDub.com Washington, DC--(Newsfile Corp. - August 31, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that John Cook, Jeffrey Dinwoodie, Raquel Fox, Kristina Littman, Alan Cohen, Christopher Carofine, and Shelby Begany Telle have been named to the executive staff of Chairman Jay Clayton. These executive staff members will advise Chairman Clayton alongside Chief of Staff Lucas Moskowitz, Deputy Chief of Staff Sean Memon, Chief Counsel Jaime Klima, Managing Executive Peter Uhlmann, and Senior Advisor to the Chair for Cybersecurity Policy Christopher Hetner. Chairman Clayton's executive staff is responsible for advising the Chairman on all matters before the Commission, working closely with agency staff, and helping the Chairman perform all day-to-day operations needed to fulfill the SEC's mission. "I am pleased that we have assembled a dedicated, talented, and diverse group with such a wide range of experiences in the public and private sectors," said Chairman Jay Clayton. "With their help, and the work of the dedicated staff of the Commission, I look forward to continuing the SEC's strong tradition of interacting with all constituencies we serve effectively and efficiently as we strive to fulfill the SEC's mission." John Cook Senior Advisor to the Chairman John Cook is the lead advisor to the Chairman on matters involving the Division of Investment Management, Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), and Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA), and assists on enforcement matters. Mr. Cook joined the SEC in 2010, previously serving as a Senior Special Counsel in DERA and in OCA, and as a counsel to Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher. Before joining the SEC, Mr. Cook practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, representing clients in regulatory matters. Mr. Cook earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Jeffrey Dinwoodie Senior Advisor to the Chairman Jeffrey T. Dinwoodie is the lead advisor to the Chairman on matters involving the Division of Trading and Markets, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, Office of Municipal Securities, and Office of Credit Ratings, and assists on enforcement matters. Mr. Dinwoodie previously practiced law at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where he advised banks, broker-dealers, clearinghouses, markets, rating agencies, and other financial institutions on a wide range of regulatory, enforcement, and transactional matters. He has been a frequent writer and speaker on securities and derivatives law topics. Prior to joining Davis Polk, Mr. Dinwoodie served as an SEC attorney from 2008 to 2011 in the Division of Trading and Markets. Mr. Dinwoodie earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from American University and an undergraduate degree from George Mason University. Raquel Fox Senior Advisor to the Chairman Raquel Fox is the lead advisor to the Chairman on matters involving the Division of Corporation Finance and Office of International Affairs, and assists on enforcement matters. Ms. Fox joined the SEC in 2011, previously serving as a Senior Special Counsel to the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and an attorney fellow in the offices of Capital Markets Trends and Rulemaking. Before joining the SEC, Ms. Fox practiced law at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, specializing in capital markets transactions, corporate governance, and disclosure. She began her career as a certified public accountant, specializing in taxation. Ms. Fox earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and a master's degree in Taxation and an undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Baylor University. Kristina Littman Senior Advisor to the Chairman Kristina Littman is the lead advisor to the Chairman on matters involving the Division of Enforcement, and assists on other regulatory and policy matters. Ms. Littman joined the SEC in 2010, previously serving as a trial attorney and investigative attorney in the Division of Enforcement and as Counsel to the Director of Enforcement. Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. Littman practiced law at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, specializing in white collar and securities litigation. Ms. Littman earned her J.D. and M.B.A. from Rutgers University School of Law - Camden and an undergraduate degree from Florida State University. Alan Cohen Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman Alan Cohen will serve as advisor to the Chairman on emerging risks and regulatory developments, including the impact of Brexit, new European Union regulations (e.g. MiFID II), and issues related to domestic and international clearing and settlement of securities and derivatives transactions. Most recently, Mr. Cohen was an advisor to the executive office at Goldman Sachs after joining the firm in 2004 as the Global Head of Compliance and a member of the management committee, where he supervised a global team that was responsible for compliance across all business and financial products, and in every major international market. Additionally, he was the court-appointed receiver of an SEC- and CFTC-regulated firm that engaged in a global securities and commodities fraud scheme and served on FINRA's Compliance Advisory Committee and International Advisory Working Group. From 1991 to 2003, Mr. Cohen created and co-headed the white collar and regulatory defense practice at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Mr. Cohen earned his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law - Newark, a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rutgers University, and an undergraduate degree from Temple University. Christopher Carofine Director of Communications Christopher Carofine serves as Director of Communications to Chairman Clayton, advising on all matters related to communications and media relations. Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Carofine served as the Communications Director for Rep. Scott Garrett, former Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. He was previously a Senior Account Executive at a business communications and public relations firm in New York. Mr. Carofine earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University. Shelby Begany Telle Confidential Assistant Shelby Begany Telle serves as Confidential Assistant to Chairman Clayton. Prior to joining the SEC staff, Ms. Telle spent four years working on Capitol Hill-most recently for the Senate Rules Committee and previously for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the Senate Appropriations Committee-all for U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. Ms. Telle earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, where she was a Chancellor's Scholar, and is an evening student at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law. Other Members of the Executive Staff Lucas Moskowitz Chief of Staff Bio Sean Memon Deputy Chief of Staff Bio Jaime Klima Chief Counsel Bio Peter Uhlmann Managing Executive Bio Christopher Hetner Senior Advisor to the Chair for Cybersecurity Policy Bio TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/31/17 -- Rio Novo Gold Inc. (the "Company") (TSX: RN) announces that its 2017 annual meeting of shareholders will be on 29 September 2017. The Company also notes that it is in discussions for project financing for its Almas Gold Project in Tocantins State, Brazil. The Company understands that the results to date of the project review on behalf of a potential lead arranger have been encouraging. There can, however, be no assurance that a definitive financing commitment will be obtained. About Rio Novo Rio Novo is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Brazil and Colombia. The Company's goal is to become a producer of gold by bringing the Almas Gold Project, located in the State of Tocantins in Brazil, into production. Almas Project enjoys both established infrastructure, main grid hydropower in a proven and mining friendly jurisdiction and is permitted for construction. This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding the estimation of mineral resources, exploration results, potential mineralization, potential mineral resources and mineral reserves) are forward- looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identifiable by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", may", "could", " would", "might" or " will", "estimates", "expect", "intend", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts" and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, failure to establish estimated mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, the price of gold and other risks identified in the Company's most recent annual information form filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Contacts: Rio Novo Gold Inc. Patrick Panero President & CEO +55 (21) 2429-5100 patrick.panero@Rnovogold.com MEXICO CITY (dpa-AFX) - Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray held a meeting with Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State of the United States, to discuss issues on the bilateral agenda, including the Free Trade Agreement of North America (NAFTA) renegotiation and the Hurricane Harvey's effects in Texas. Both foreign ministers endorsed their commitment to advance the pending tasks regarding economic development and security. At the regional level, they discussed the situation in Venezuela and the 'deterioration of democratic conditions' in the South American country, according to a statement released by the Mexican Foreign Ministry. Regarding NAFTA, Videgaray said that Mexico's position 'will continue to be constructive, putting the national interest ahead and seeking a positive outcome for the three countries involved.' Following his meeting with Tillerson, the Mexican foreign minister answered questions from the press. Asked about the possibility of Mexico leaving NAFTA negotiating tables, Videgaray replied that this is not the case yet, but that if the result is not beneficial to the country 'of course that Mexico will not continue.' NAFTA re-negotiations with the United States and Canada are underway amid a confusing environment. Earlier this week, the U.S. President Donald Trump said there was little chance of success in the process, blaming Mexico for the failure in the search for a new deal. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de LONDON, September 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayor of London and London & Partners, which runs visitlondon.com, today launched a bold new vision to bolster the capital's status as a world-class tourist destination. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/551180/Mayor_of_London_Sadiq_Khan.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/551181/Mayor_of_London_Sadiq_Khan.jpg ) The Tourism Vision for London, which is backed by more than 100 industry partners and supported by the Mayor of London, suggests that tourism numbers in London are set to rise sharply by 2025. Projections show that visitor numbers could top 40 million a year, an increase of 30 per cent on current levels, with tourism spending projected to hit 22 billion a year - up by 50 per cent. China and India are likely to be the fastest growing markets for tourism in London, with visitor numbers from China growing by more than 100 per cent by 2025 and India rising by 90 per cent. The surge in visitors could be boosted in the short-term by currency fluctuations. Separate research from London & Partners shows that around two thirds of international visitors say they are more likely to visit London given more favourable currency rates. However, the Tourism Vision states that the growth in visitor numbers is not a given with increasing competition from other destinations fighting to attract new visitors and other challenges such as continued access to talent, the supply of new hotel rooms and aviation capacity that could constrain growth. It recommends greater investment in pre-visit promotion to attract more first time visitors, boosting visitor numbers in off-peak periods and harnessing technology to allow visitors to make more of their visit and see more of the city. London & Partners' findings coincide with data from Google that reveals the British capital is the most searched for global destination for city and short breaks. According to Google, London leads worldwide searches for city and short breaks ahead of Barcelona, Rome, Paris and Amsterdam, with the number of searches up by 17 per cent year-on-year. London also tops Google's search rankings for global cities to fly to. The Tourism Vision and this year's Autumn Season, which shines a spotlight on the best events taking place across the capital in the months ahead, were launched by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. The Mayor commented: "London is the world's greatest city, so it comes as no surprise that we lead the way when it comes to international tourism. Visitors to the capital bring huge benefits - the industry boosts London's economy, as well as supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and showing the world that London is an open, welcoming and diverse city." "It's important that all Londoners benefit from a growth in tourism. By inspiring visitors to come to our great city during quieter periods like autumn and to find hidden gems off the beaten track, we can ensure that the projected growth in visitor numbers is sustainable and that the tourism and cultural industries work for everyone." "London's Autumn Season will show visitors what it is like to explore the city like a Londoner, whether that's finding the capital's secret treasures or visiting its world-leading exhibitions and shows. More than ever it is vital to ensure that the capital extends a warm welcome to all guests of our incredible city." Culture, the arts, history and heritage are the number one reasons visitors come to London. As the capital launches The Autumn Season, additional data from Google shows that the city's West End theatres form a big slice of online searches for culture in London. According to Google the musical Hamilton, which is a jewel in the crown of this year's Autumn Season, is the most searched for UK musical globally this year. The Autumn Season will give people the chance to experience the city like a Londoner with the help of special guides including: vocalist and broadcaster Jumoke Fashola, author and fashion historian Amber Buchart, London events and culture vloggers Pete and Jens, and Blue Badge Tour Guide, David Mildon. Jumoke Fashola says:"London is an incredible place to visit - no matter the time of year, it breathes excitement. It's an open city that smiles and always has something to give. Culture is embedded in its very fibre - and I can't wait to perform at the London Jazz Festival, now in its 25th year. Whether it's art, drama, theatre or dance - London's Autumn Season has something for everyone." The Autumn Season was formally launched at London's Natural History Museum. Hosting the event, the museum's Director, Sir Michael Dixon, said: " London's Autumn Season is a brilliant way of showcasing the vast array of cultural attractions the city has on offer to an international audience and we are delighted to be part of the campaign. We're very pleased that one of London's biggest new stars, our blue whale skeleton Hope, has had the chance to preside over the launch event in our spectacular, newly reimagined Hintze Hall." visitlondon.com has created a series of films starring Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Londoners from across the capital as they explore the remarkable events that make London a must-see destination to visit this autumn. Watch now at visitlondon.com/autumn. BitPesa, a blockchain payments platform for Africa, raised a new funding as a follow-up to its Series A round. The round was led by Greycroft with participation from the majority of its existing shareholders and new investor Plug and Play. The company, which has raised $10m to date, will use the new funds to continue its expansion into Europe, the Middle East and Africa. BitPesa now has its group headquarters in Luxembourg to focus on French speaking Europe and an office in Senegal to focus on francophone Africa. with offices in Nairobi, Lagos, and London, Led by founder and CEO Elizabeth Rossiello*, BitPesa is an online payment platform that leverages Blockchain settlement to lower the cost and increase the speed of business payments to, from and within sub-Saharan Africa. Clients range from African businesses and multinational companies paying suppliers as far as China and Dubai to international remittance companies using our API services for white-label payments to dozens of bank networks and mobile money operators across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, and the DRC. The company, which received an authorized payments license in the UK in 2015 from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has offices in Nairobi, Kenya, Lagos, London, Luxembourg and Dakar. FinSMEs 31/08/2017 *Rossiello is a founding member of the World Economic Forums Future Council Blockchain Committee, which explores how blockchain could impact industry, governments and society in the future, and designs innovative governance models that ensure that their benefits are maximized and the associated risks kept under control. She also works with regulators and multinationals to develop compliance standards for payment companies using blockchain infrastructure. Qadium, a San Francisco, CA-based automated global Internet intelligence company, raised $40m in Series B funding. The round was led by IVP with participation from new investor TPG Growth and prior investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, and angels. The company intends to use the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts and to continue to grow its engineering and product teams. Led by CEO Tim Junio and CTO Matt Kraning, Qadium indexes every device on the public Internet every hour, similar to how search companies crawl web pages. It uses these data to continually monitor the global Internet for large organizations true network boundary, surfacing comprehensive information about all of an organizations Internet-facing risks. This includes risks not tracked by any other system or vendor, including shadow IT, misconfigurations in cloud hosting, unauthorized or unmonitored Internet of Things (IoT) equipment, regional offices and subsidiaries violating policy, lost devices due to M&A events, and more. In its first year on the market, the company sold its SaaS product, Expander, to a wide range of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Its customer base now includes CVS, PayPal, Capital One, Allergan, and Fluor, among others in banking and other financial services, IT manufacturing, commercial real estate, software, healthcare, and more. Qadium is also deployed at multiple government agencies, including US Cyber Command, the premier cyber operations arm of the US military. FinSMEs 31/08/2017 With the Unique Identification Authority of India - UIDAI clarifying that tax payers will have to link their PAN with Aadhaar by the stipulated deadline of 31 August, which is today. UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey had said last week that the Supreme Court's verdict on privacy has no bearing on the requirement quoting Aadhaar for availing government subsidies and welfare schemes. Asked about the implication of the Supreme Court's ruling (privacy being a fundamental right) on linking of Aadhaar and PAN, Pandey told PTI: "There also, linking of PAN to Aadhaar is mandated by an amendment in Income Tax Act...the linking will continue under that act and law. There is no change". However, a report by the PTI today said the finance ministry is likely to a decision on whether the deadline should be extended until the year-end. "The government will decide tomorrow [Thursday] if the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linking will be extended," the report quoted a source as saying. The government had made mandatory the linking of the two databases for filing income tax returns from 1 July this year. However, on 1 August the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the deadline after a deluge of complaints from taxpayers that they were unable to log on to the e-filing website of the Income Tax department. There were also complaints that the assessees were unable to link Aadhaar with PAN because their names were mentioned differently in the database relating to the two documents, the CBDT said. However, if you have already got your Aadhaar card and are planning to link them here are five simple steps to do it: Step 1: Keep your Aadhaar and PAN numbers handy. Step 2: Register on the Income tax e-Filing portal if you already havent yet. If you are already registered at the income tax departments e-Filing portal, log in using your ID, password and date of birth. Step 3: A pop up window will appear, prompting you to link your PAN card with Aadhaar card. If you have a pop up blocker active, you will have to go on the Profile Setting on the dashboards menu bar to click on Link Aadhar option. Step 4: You will have to add the necessary details like name your Date of Birth as per the PAN details as well as your gender. If you data is different that whats mentioned on your PAN, the Aadhaar will not be linked to your PAN. Next thing to do is, to enter your 12 digit Aadhaar card number, then verify captcha and then click on Link Aadhaar button. Once your validation is successful, your Aadhaar will be successfully linked to your PAN. Step 5: The last step is when a popup message is displayed stating that your Aadhaar card has been successfully linked to your PAN card. Keep in mind, that once the Aadhaar-PAN linking is done, you can e-Verify your IT returns using Aadhaar if your mobile is registered with Aadhaar. By linking the two cards you will no longer have to submit your Income Tax acknowledgement to the IT department. (With inputs from PTI) New Delhi: The government has decided to appoint transaction advisers for Air India disinvestment, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday after a ministerial group met to discuss various aspects of the stake sale. The group, headed by Jaitley, held deliberations for nearly an hour here. "Today we discussed several issues. We have decided to appoint transaction advisers," he told reporters. Apart from Jaitley, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Power Minister Piyush Goyal as well as senior officials were present at the meeting. Air India's interim CMD Rajiv Bansal and senior officials from the airline as well as the civil aviation ministry were present. "These decisions are to be taken expeditiously but in their normal course," Jaitley said earlier in the day in response to a query about the Air India stake sale process. On 28 June, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given its in-principle for strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its subsidiaries. Subsequently, an Air India-specific Alternative Mechanism was set up to guide the process. The ministerial group is looking into treatment of Air India's unsustainable debt, hiving off of certain assets to a shell company, demerger and strategic disinvestment of three profit-making subsidiaries, among other aspects. At least two parties -- IndiGo and Bird Group -- have formally evinced interest in Air India disinvestment and have written to the civil aviation ministry in this regard. Air India is staying afloat on taxpayers money and the airline has a debt of more than Rs 50,000 crore. Mumbai/New Delhi: Indians returned almost all of the estimated 15.4 trillion rupees ($242 billion) in high-currency bills removed from circulation in a shock move late last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report out on Wednesday. A total of 15.28 trillion rupees was returned to the central bank through lenders, a number that could renew scrutiny about the effectiveness of the measure announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November. By rendering 500 and 1,000 rupees illegal in one stroke and imposing restrictions on how the money could be returned to lenders, Modi had been intending to make it difficult for hoarders of undeclared wealth, or black money, to exchange their undeclared cash for legal tender. But it seems that nearly all of it was returned by individuals, implying that there was a very small amount of unaccounted money held in cash by those seeking to conceal it. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely however stressed that the exercise was not just aimed at unearthing unaccounted wealth but also about improving digitisation, getting more people under the tax net, and curbing terrorist financing. The real object of demonetisation was formalisation, attack on black money, less cash currency, bigger tax base, digitisation, a blow to terrorism, Jaitley said. And we do believe that in each of these areas, the effect of demonetisation has been extremely positive. According to official data, direct tax collection went up 19 percent during April-July from a year ago, while digital transactions have also seen a sharp rise - but still remain quite small compared to cash. In a separate statement, the government said the transactions of more than 300,000 firms were under suspicion post demonetisation, while 37,000 shell companies were identified as involved in hiding black money. Economists say the measure has had a positive impact, including bringing in cash into the banking system, and hence lowering the cost of loans, even as significant parts of the economy were disrupted. While this shows that demonetisation exercise has not yielded a large one time gain, it has led to financialisation of dormant savings and helped bring down lending rates, said A. Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd in Mumbai. Modis so-called demonetisation bill contributed to the growth easing to its slowest pace at 6.1 percent in January-March, its slowest pace since late 2014 as large parts of Indias economy was dependent on cash transactions. Jaitley said the impact was temporary, adding that a greater number of banking transactions will help the economy recover quickly. Although opposition parties tried to make a big issue out of disruption caused by demonetisation, it has failed to dent the appeal of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has since scored key electoral wins, including a victory in Uttar Pradesh. New Delhi: The finance ministry has notified the rules for e-way bill which requires online pre-registration of goods before transportation under the new GST regime. The date of implementation of the e-way bill mechanism would be notified separately, but sources said it is likely to come into force by 1 October. Under the e-way mechanism, all goods worth over Rs 50,000 will have to be pre-registered online before they are moved for sale beyond 10 km. GST-exempted goods have been kept out of the purview of e-way bill -- a minor relaxation from draft rules which required for all goods to be pre-registered under the e-way bill provision. The e-way bill provisions were approved by the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his state counterparts, in its last meeting on August 5. As per the e-way bill notification, the supplier or the transporter would not be required to furnish the e-way bill in case the goods are transported for a distance of less than 10 km within the state or Union territory from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter for further transportation. The permits issued would be valid for one day for movement of goods for 100 km and in same proportion for following days. As per the draft provision, GST Network (GSTN) would generate e-way bills that will be valid for 1-20 days, depending on distance to be travelled -- one day for 100 km, 3 days (100 to less than 300 km), 5 days (300-less than 500 km) and 10 days (500-less than 1,000 km). The e-way provisions would not be applicable where the goods are being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs. Also exempted are where specified goods like animals, vegetable, fruits, currency, used household items are being transported or where the goods are being transported by a non-motorised conveyance. The information technology platform for the e-way bill system is being developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out from 1 July, and so far states which have their own e-way bill provision are following that since a centralised platform is taking time to be developed. AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said the new e-way bill rules are applicable to a composition supplier. "This would put immense compliance burden on small composition supplier having a turnover less than 75 lakhs. This provision would further act as a deterrent to do business for such composition suppliers," he said. Have the raging fires in the public space over corporate governance at Infosys died down with the appointment of co-founder Nandan Nilekani as non-executive chairman? That is what NR Narayana Murthy, who along with others set up the company and kicked up the recent controversy, seems to be hoping. I wish Nandan the best of everything in his effort to bring back acche din to Infosys, said Murthy in a conference call with investors on Tuesday. With the return of Nilekani will the issues raised by Murthy be taken care of? Analysts who spoke with Firstpost said the whole problem that Murthy had with the former CEO Vishal Sikka and board headed by R Seshasayee boiled down to an anonymous whistleblowers letter. Among the issues the letter raised were the acquisitions that were alleged to be over priced, including that of Panaya and higher severance payment to former CFO Rajiv Bansal. The letter was sent to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The board had instituted a forensic audit of the issues raised, which found no wrongdoing on the part of any of the company's executives. However, the company did not make the entire audit report public. Murthy, however, asked why was the company not making the report public. In his call with the investors, Murthy went back to the letter. In the first briefing with the investors and the media after being appointed as the non-executive chairman, Nilekani had made it clear that all the investigations will be studied before taking any action. He did not answer pointed questions whether the forensic audit report will be made public. What does Murthy want from Infosys? Is it only a question of his vision? The issue is simple, said JN Gupta, former executive director of Sebi. Murthy is not ready to believe anyone than an anonymous whistleblower. The board said that the allegations were investigated and found to be wrong but he does not believe it. Will Nilekani put out the contents of the report as Murthy asked for it from the previous board members? If the report points out that Seshasayee and his team did something unethical, then one can say the allegations made against the board were right. Until then, no one can cast aspersions on Seshasayee and team, he said. The co-founders and their family hold 12.75 percent stake in Infosys. The majority stake is held by other shareholders. Viewed from this perspective, one wonders if the large majoritys happiness is not of any consequence except the co-founders, said an analyst. There are two aspects: corporate governance and transparency. If the issues flagged off by the founders in the case of Infosys are being done in an opaque manner, then it is their right to bring focus to it, said Manoj Kumar, founder Hammurabi & Solomon and visiting fellow at Observer Research Foundation, adding that constant needling of the board's decision in the public space was unnecessary though. The public spat does not bode well for the Indian corporate sector and is a bigger cause for worry, concurs Professor Amit Nandkeolyar, assistant professor of organisational behavior, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. What is not clear with regard to Infosys is the degree of separation between professional leadership and founders. What is the role of the manager and owner at Infosys? What is the responsibility and accountability of each of them is not laid out, he said. Analysts aver that Murthys contribution to Infosys deserves kudos. It was because of him and other co-founders that Infosys is now a globally recognised firm. But when the co-founders keep coming back instead of moving on, then it undermines the authority of the CEO. Who is in control then, asked an analyst. Is it Sikka who has to report to the board or the superboard in the form of the co-founders? Murthy had, in his investor conference, listed out the achievements when he was requested to helm Infosys in 2013. True, that doesn't make the cut. First, the situation and environment of the IT industry back then and now are different. The industry has also received passive support from the government, said the analyst. Now the sector is facing multiple challenges of automation, robotics, and protectionism in the developed economies. The companies are fire-figting at all levels. The past achievements cannot help in the present as the situation is different. For that matter, some companies like Kodak, Nokia, Blackberry were great companies of their times. But they are no longer on the scene as the future is different from these firms great past. You can celebrate the past but the query is: Is Infosys prepared for the future? another analyst asked. What happened at Infosys with Sikka and a few of the previous board members who have since resigned amounted to personality and legacy issues, industry observers said. A culture clash was inevitable when Infosys brought on a professional to lead the company from outside. One transition happened when Sikka was brought in and another when he resigned. All this could have been avoided if the co-founders had spoken with the board and Sikka in the boardroom instead of letting it spill in the media. Isnt that corporate governance about, said an industry veteran. Manoj Kumar said the CEO is answerable to the board and not to the promoter or co-founder. When co-founders and promoters go for the overkill, then that is not corporate governance, he says. Gupta says that corporate governance does not bring glory to a company on its own if it is not matched with a good performance which only can come from team work. Sikka and the board spent his time having to respond to Murthys accusations. Yet, it is to their credit that it did not affect the companys performance with SIkka at the helm, said Gupta. Analysts feel that it seems the co-founders feel safe when one of their ilk is leading Infosys like Nilekani is now doing. Then, they said, it would have been better for the co-founders to have not left at all and continued working at intermittent intervals each donning the role of the CEO. Perhaps with Murthy at peace and with Nilekani at the helm, there will be no more spats in the public space about the company and it can focus on its growth strategy. Kochi: Pulsar Suni, prime accused in the actress kidnapping case, on 30 August revealed that the so-called "madam" linked to the case is none other than Kavya Madhavan, actress and wife of arrested superstar Dileep. The abduction of the actress in February this year was carried out by Suni. A week after the incident he and all the accomplices in the crime were arrested. Dileep was arrested on 10 July after the police probe team was able to get evidence to link the actor with Suni. Suni, while being taken for further probe and also to various courts, has revealed that there was a 'madam' also involved in the case. On 30 August, while Suni was taken to a court in Kochi he was seen shouting to repeated questions from the media about who the 'madam' was. "My madam is Kavya," Suni told the media. The probe police team has earlier taken statements from Kavya and her mother related to the case. On 29 August, the Kerala High Court refused bail for the second time to Dileep after the police team informed the court that the probe is still in progress. With the revelation of Suni, actress Kavya is likely to be in a spot of bother. Los Angeles: Hasbro, owner of the Transformers brand, has filed a suit against Warner Bros and DC Comics over the Bumblebee trademark. The lawsuit was filed on Monday. It claims that the DC Bumblebee, a teenage girl with the ability to shrink, could easily be confused with the Autobot Bumblebee, reports variety.com. Hasbro has a lot riding on the Bumblebee character, set to star in the first Transformers spin-off, which is due in theatres on Christmas 2018. The company is now seeking to block the sales of Mattel's Bumblebee toy, which is part of the DC Super Hero Girls line of action figures. Hasbro is also concerned about a Bumblebee Lego set. Bumblebee is one of the central heroes of the Transformers universe. Hasbro says that it began selling Bumblebee toys in 1983 and has been selling building-block toy sets with the Bumblebee brand since 2011. DC Comics and Warner Bros announced the DC Super Hero Girls franchise in April 2015 as a partnership with Mattel. The TV series began airing in October 2015. The series features younger versions of DC superheroes, including Batgirl and Harley Quinn, as they attend high school. The Bumblebee character is a tech wizard with super strength and the ability to shrink. The original Bumblebee character was first introduced in the DC Teen Titans comic series in 1977. Hasbro filed for a trademark on the Bumblebee name on 15 July, 2015 and the trademark was registered on 22 December, 2015. Warner Bros did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jerusalem: India on Thursday issued 10-year multiple entry visas to the young Israeli survivor of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Moshe Holtzberg and his grandparents, to ease their travel to the country. Holtzberg, who is now 11 years old, had expressed his wish to visit Mumbai during an emotional meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on 5 July this year. "I am very excited at this nice present from prime minister Modi. This is going to help me when I grow up", Moshe said on receiving the 10-year visa from an official at the Indian embassy. The young boy in the past had said expressed his desire to live and work as Chabad emissary in Mumbai, a role his father was carrying out when he was killed in the Mumbai terror attack. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House," Moshe had told the prime minister who embraced the young boy on seeing him. "With God's help, this is my answer," the boy had said reading from a prepared script concluding, "I love you and your people in India." Modi had responded by saying, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere". Moshe's grandfather Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, confirmed that they have been issued long-term visas to "help them travel to India whenever they wish, as per the promise made by prime minister Modi". "It is such an honour. I have no words to describe the feeling. The Indian prime minister promised us long-term visas for the whole family and he has followed up on it. We are thrilled. We love India and would look forward to visiting soon", Rosenberg told PTI. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Moshe to join him when he travels to India. Rosenberg had earlier said that the family wishes to celebrate Moshe's 'bar mitzvah', a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13 which some Israeli scholars compare with upnayana, or the thread ceremony, in Mumbai for which he would invite Modi. Moshe's parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at the Nariman House, also referred to as Chabad House, which also came under attack in November 2008 by Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The boy, then a two-year-old toddler, was saved in a daring move by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuels, who ignored her own safety and rushed inside the Nariman House to rescue him after hearing him cry. Samuels now lives in Israel and has been felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the by the Government of Israel so that she could live in the country and be with Moshe. Jammu: A body of migrant Kashmiri Pandits on Thursday demanded immediate revocation of the Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution, claiming these provisions only helped in the growth of separatism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Panun Kashmir president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, during a press conference, said, "We...think the time has come for the removal of these provisions (Article 370 and 35A) which only helped the growth of secessionist, separatism, and terrorism in the state". Recently, he said, a team of Panun Kashmir members visited Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Delhi to create an awareness among the people and opinion makers on the issues relating to Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits. "People in these states favoured abrogation of the articles from the Constitution as they tend to create a state within a state. These are also responsible for creating a constitutional justification for secession and separatism," Chrungoo, who led the team, told reporters. Welcoming the US' ban on militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and its leader Syed Salahuddin, he said we appreciate the move and consider it as an "assertion by the US to see an end to terrorism in the valley". He also criticised former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah for his recent remarks on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989-90 terming it an attempt to "justify his failure as the head of the government". Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited all of Indias neighbours, barring Maldives in the past three years. His visit to Myanmar on 5-7 September will be his first bilateral State visit to the country. He had earlier visited Nay Pyi Daw in 2014 for the East Asia Summit. He will reach Myanmar after attending the BRICS summit from 3-5 September in Xiamen, China. Modis visit has special significance as Myanmar is considered a key pillar in Indias Act East policy for greater integration with South East Asia. Though there have been fewer visits from New Delhi to Myanmar, India has hosted Myanmars top leaders in the past year after the Myanmar elections. Iconic leader and State Counselor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited India for the BIMSTEC summit in October 2016. Her four-day visit was preceded by the state visit of Myanmars president U Htin Kyaw to India in August 2016. The other senior leader from Myanmar to visit was Myanmar Army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who paid an eight-day visit to India in July 2017. The armed forces continue to hold a dominating position in Myanmars polity despite the gradual move towards electoral democracy. The Myanmarese general called on Prime Minister Modi, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. During his discussions in India, the two sides agreed to scale up cooperation in counterinsurgency and trade. India has promised to support the modernisation of Myanmars armed forces. India is providing training to Myanmarese defence officials as well as some defence supplies. India has strongly backed the Myanmar government over the Rohingya issue, which has drawn criticism from western government and human rights groups. India expressed serious concern at reports of recent violence and attacks in the Rakhine state last week. Condemning the attacks in the strongest possible terms, an official statement said: We hope that the perpetrators of these crimes will be brought to justice and extend our strong support at this challenging moment to the Myanmar government. Myanmar is likely to reiterate its commitment not to allow its territory to be used by insurgents for anti-India activities. In June 2015, an Indian special forces operation cleared out an insurgent camp in the border region. Though Myanmar had cooperated with India on dealing with Indian insurgents the Myanmarese government had been severely embarrassed at Indian politicians public claims that Indian soldiers had crossed the border to target the insurgent camps. The subject had come up during Suu Kyis visit last year though both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to fight insurgent activity and the scourge of terrorism. Bilateral trade between India and Myanmar has been growing steadily reaching $1.5 billion in 2015-16. India is listed among Myanmars top five largest trading partners, with pulses and timber as the main exports to India. India is the seventh largest source of imports for Myanmar. However, India is far behind Myanmars two other neighbours, China and Thailand and does not match up to other countries like Australia, United Kingdom and Norway in making a visible presence in the Myanmarese market. The lack of basic infrastructure has hampered the border trade mechanism. Indian private sector has lagged behind in exploring the new opportunities in Myanmar as its economy has opened up to foreign investment. At the same time, official policy in India has also to be sensitive to neighbouring countries. The governments cap on imports of pulses this year due to the record domestic production has hit Myanmar producers. Earlier this month, the government issued directives to cap the import of pigeon pea (tuar dal) to 200,000 tonnes this year as well as a reduced quota for other pulses like mung and black gram. Last year, India had imported about 7 lakh tonnes of pigeon pea. Pulses are a major export item for Myanmar and India has traditionally been one of Myanmars main export markets for pulses. The Indian import restriction has been a big blow to the countrys pulse market. India has committed $2 billion for development assistance to Myanmar, but projects have been slow in getting implemented. The Kaladan multi-modal transport project was the first major project undertaken by the Indian government in Myanmar. The Sittwe deep water port as part of the Kaladan project is now nearing completion. Modi will travel to Nay Pyi Taw on 5 September and will hold discussions with Aung San Suu Kyi and also call on President U Htin Kyaw. He will then visit Yangon and Bagan. The bilateral visit should serve to give a boost to political and economic ties with a strategic eastern neighbour. New Delhi: Anganwadi workers across the country will now undergo training to be able to provide pre-school education to children aged between three and six years. The move is aimed at making the role of the anganwadi workers more meaningful. The government will reshape the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, under which food and primary healthcare are provided to children under six years of age and their mothers. "There will be a shift in the role and duties of the anganwadi workers from food distribution to imparting pre-school education. The idea is to make ICDS more meaningful and effective," Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said on Thursday. According to ministry officials, the government has figured out alternative ways of distributing food so that the anganwadi workers can focus more on imparting education which is crucial for the development of a child. Gandhi, who presented the National Level Awards 2016-17 to anganwadi workers, said that authorities "misused" them for over four decades by making them work for elections and attend political meetings or greet VIPs, which she said had been banned after she took over. There are around 27 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers in the country. There is a always a degree of risk involved in interpreting media commentaries as official narrative but the disclaimer comes with its own disclaimer, especially when it involves China's state-controlled media. Erring on the side of caution could be a mistake because Beijing uses the press as an essential part of coercive diplomacy. It was interesting to note two recent articles carried by The Global Times which had been at the forefront of China's psy-war against India. In Wednesday's editorial, the newspaper termed the Doklam resolution as a "victory for Asia" and showed a magnanimity that was singularly missing during the 10-week standoff. "This newspaper hit hard at India during the face-off, but now we don't want to engage in an argument with the Indian media as to which side won this standoff. We just want to say that the two countries can end this crisis without having to resort to war, which is a victory for Asia." In an op-ed piece carried in the same edition, the newspaper heaped praise on Hinduism the religion followed by a majority of Indians calling it the deciding factor behind radical Islamism not taking root in India. The article, written by Ding Gang of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, raises a rhetorical question: "Why does it seem that Muslims in India have remained largely apart from the radicalisation that has happened to Muslim groups in other parts of the world?" before adding that "the answer may lie in the facets of the country's other major religion: Hinduism." For good measure, it adds: "India is sure to continue to stand out in geopolitical significance when it comes to increasing religious and ethnic conflicts around the world." What's happening here? The timing seems decidedly odd for a 'Hindi Chini bhai-bhai' redux, that too, at a time when the crisis hasn't ended the way China would have hoped for. Stray murmurs of dissent are escaping even a uncomfortably closed society. Some analysts suggest Xi Jinping may cop considerable flak during the 19th Party Congress for botching up the operation. Conspiracy theorists may see a game of smoke and mirrors. Indeed, China's propensity to use deception as part of its assertive diplomacy cannot be ruled out. It is possible that China plans to reassert itself and is luring India into a false sense of security. Even so, China's real concern may be the trajectory of the bilateral relationship, which has taken a massive beating after the Doka La impasse. The face-off has ended in a way that is not only unsatisfactory for Beijing, it has simultaneously increased India's stature as the net security guarantor in Asia at a time when many smaller nations are feeling the heat of China's not-so-peaceful rise. Global Times's behavior post-Doklam, therefore, may appear to be counter-intuitive but is actually a pragmatic move. It's important to remember that China does not benefit from an adversarial relationship with India. Mending of fences with a neighbour who gives access to one of the largest markets for its finished goods is the smart thing to do. To a certain extent friction between the two nations is inevitable as they fight for respective spheres of influence. Yet frequent skirmishes arising out of mutual, simmering hostility serves no one's interest. Much less China's. It is not a question of trade imbalance alone. India's ability to stitch alliances in Asia without resorting to chequebook diplomacy puts China at a distinct geopolitical disadvantage. China wouldn't have failed to notice that for all the efficiency of its propaganda machinery, no one except Pakistan (little more than Beijing's vassal state) was willing to buy its version of the story. India, on the other hand, received unequivocal support from Japan, Australia and tacit backing from many nations including the US. That the US did not go beyond urging the both countries to sort out their differences through dialogue (India's stated position) could be because New Delhi wanted it that way. Doka La has dramatically increased India's stock as a pivot of Asian security. Through its mature handling of the crisis and successful employment of the strategy of denial to counter China's salami-slicing tactics, India may have created a template for other nations to follow. In their marvellous essay 'Countering Chinese Coercion: The Case Of Doklam', scholars Oriana Skylar Mastro and Arzan Tarapore write in War on The Rocks: "India thwarted Chinas coercion through denial blocking Chinas attempt to seize physical control of the disputed territory. By physically denying Chinas bid to change the status quo, India created a stalemate, which suited its strategic policy India was able to do this because of a local military advantage and its broader policy of standing up to China. Beyond the immediacy of the event, this could be New Delhi's biggest gain one that promises to change the perception about India and more importantly, may alter the way India sees itself vis-a-vis China. In many ways, 1962 remains a sore point in India's collective memory, one that has defined its relationship with China. The slight has been institutionalized despite a valiant attempt at suppression, and perhaps also because of it. India had, so far, found it impossible to break out of the redolent prison a condition that China fully tried to exploit during the standoff by frequently referring to it. While reviewing a collection of essays on the 1962 conflict, former NSA Shivshankar Menon, in The Wire, wrote "we have internalised a narrative or story of the war that is powerful and lasting It is a story of betrayal and defeat with an unsatisfactory end that needs to be re-written. It is a strong narrative, deeply felt by Indians." It is here that Doka La may initiate a tectonic change in India's collective psyche. That we stared down a nation much stronger than ourselves adds to confidence, that we did it against China even more so. India also conducted its role admirably as Bhutan's ally, and this subsequently increases its chance of extending regional influence. India must seize the chance and broker a greater coordination between ASEAN. China has been able to exploit the differences between south-east Asian nations to forge ahead with its militarization of South China Sea, ensuring greater naval capacity. Any successful counter-strategy must be collective in nature. A confident India can ensure stability in the region by leading such an alliance. A five-storeyed residential building in the congested Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 13 people and injuring 16, officials said. About 29 people were rescued and 10 to 15 are still feared trapped. The building, located at Pakmodia Street near JJ Hospital, with 12 rooms, and six godowns on the ground floor, crumbled at around 8.30 am. A MHADA document reveals that authorities were warned about the building's dilapidated status in 2011. The observations were made during a pre-monsoon survey six years ago. The warning notice states that some portions of the building were still dilapidated and in dangerous conditions and "may collapse at any moment resulting in loss of life and property." The notice recommended that the premises should be evacuated immediately under Chapter 8 of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976. The notice also mentions that if the clauses of the MHADA warning notice were not obeyed, the residents would be "forcibly evicted" with the help of the police and the fire brigade. The document explicitly mentions that MHADA "will not be responsible for any loss of life and property situated in the said premises... This (eviction) must be brought to the notice of all occupants," the notice added. According to Times Now, MHADA had in 2013 given a no-objection certificate to the building for redevelopment but received the letter of intent to begin work on the same only in 2016. Before this development, as mentioned in the 2011 document, the MHADA had sent a "vacation of premises" notice for the building. Another MHADA document from 27 May, 2016, says that the building in question was part of a cluster redevelopment project and it was given the prerequisite permission for demolition. But despite these developments, residents still lived in the building. It is reportedly the first large cluster redevelopment project in the city. The building is part of the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) cluster development project. The SBUT says that the authorities are "on-ground to provide complete support to families and authorities". The Bhendi Bazaar incident is unfortunate. The disaster management team is on-ground to provide complete support to families & authorities. SBUT (@SBUT_Mumbai) August 31, 2017 The Times Now report adds that MHADA officials have stated that the "entire onus is with the trust once cluster development starts and that they (MHADA) can only send notices". However, BMC mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said that since it was a MHADA building "they are responsible." It was a MHADA (Maharashtra Housing &Area Development Authority) building, they are responsible: BMC Mayor on Bhendi Bazar building collapse pic.twitter.com/sVGvdUyIX1 Amid this blame game, it is yet to be concluded who is culpable for the tragedy. However, advocate Dilip Shah mentions that "the overall liability is significantly higher for developers". As of now, the Maharashtra government will conduct an inquiry into the building collapse, state minister Subhash Desai said. A meeting will also be held with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (who also manages the urban development portfolio) to chalk out an action plan to rehabilitate those living in dilapidated buildings. The meeting will hopefully see clearer regulations under the cluster redevelopment policy. With inputs from agencies Click here for LIVE updates on the Mumbai building collapse. Lucknow: Charging the BJP and its leaders with showing "utter disregard" towards the judiciary, BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday said this "tendency" was "very dangerous" and a "matter of concern for all". "The language that has been used by senior BJP leaders against the judiciary, especially in the recent past, is a matter of concern for all," she said in a release. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister claimed that the comments made by BJP leaders against the court on the issue of violence, following self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction in a rape case, had not been liked by people. The remarks had also been condemned in the political circles as they pointed towards the "arrogance" of the ruling party as well as its "dangerous tendency" to lock horns with the judiciary, she alleged. Referring to the issue of appointment of judges in the high courts and the Supreme Court, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief alleged that the Centre was not cooperating in the matter. The BJP government appeared to be treating the judiciary as an adversary, the same way it treated the opposition parties, and this was a matter of grave concern, she said. Mayawati also referred to a recent incident, where the Maharashtra government tendered an unconditional apology to the Bombay High Court for alleging bias against a judge. With the online killer game Blue Whale spreading its tentacles fast, Assam Police on Wednesday issued an advisory to parents and elders of families to monitor and regulate the online surfing activity of their children. The advisory came a day after the police in Assam's capital town unearthed a case suspected to have been related with the fatal addiction of the online game Blue Whale, which has killed many across the globe. According to police, the Class X student was admitted to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday night after he was injured while allegedly trying to complete the final stage of the controversial online game. Teachers of the boy had alerted the parents after observing some changes in his behaviour and noticing a picture of a whale carved on his arm. "Recently, a few online games have become popular among youth who are glued to their mobiles, computers and are addicted to excessive video gaming. Some such harmful games, like 'Blue Whale', 'A Silent House', 'Sea of Whales', 'Wake Me Up at 4:20 AM' etc., involve emotional and psychological conditioning of the players. "The administrators of these games assign some challenges to the participants like watching horror movies, self harming, poking a needle to the arm or leg, standing on a bridge or roof, listening to music, carving fish sign on the forearm, etc.," said the police advisory, adding that the final task assigned was to commit suicide or homicide. "The victims are asked to share the photographs of completion of these tasks in social media, like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, SnapChat etc.," police said. Saying that most of these cases normally involve teenagers between 13 and 19 years of age, Assam Police have advised all parents, teachers, guardians and the members of civil society to be vigilant about such cases. "The parents and elders in the family are advised to monitor and regulate the online surfing activity of their minor children. Certain 'Parent Monitoring' apps or software available via internet may be used to keep a check on the surfing or download history by children. Teachers and civil society are appealed to encourage open discussion about cyber and social media awareness among children," it said. New Delhi: The Supreme Court is likely to hear the politically sensitive Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case on Friday, amid recent media reports suggesting a financial quid pro quo for the Rs 1,437 crore Howitzer gun deal in 1986. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is scheduled to take up the plea by BJP leader and advocate Ajay Kumar Agarwal, who had challenged the Delhi High Court 31 May, 2005 judgement quashing all charges against the Europe-based Hinduja brothers in the case. The apex court had on 18 October, 2005 admitted his petition which was filed after the CBI failed to approach the top court with the appeal within the 90-day deadline following the High Court verdict. The hearing assumes significance in the wake of a demand in Parliament by ruling BJP MPs for reopening of the probe into the Bofors kickback scandal after the media reports quoting Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom's suggested the alleged bribery at the top level. Agarwal, who had contested the Rai Bareli Lok Sabha elections in 2014 against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had said he will also draw the attention of the apex court that he had written a letter to the Enforcement Directorate seeking investigation into the trail of the kickback money under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. In the 28 July letter to the ED, he has claimed that the alleged crimes were committed continuously till the year 2006 when two London accounts held by Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi, who was accused as being one of the middlemen in the deal, were defreezed. The BJP leader had said he was writing a letter to the CBI asking it to file an affidavit about the facts and course of investigation in the case, as during the brief hearing on 1 December, 2016, the agency had told the apex court that the authorities had not permitted it to file an appeal against the 31 May, 2005 verdict. Agarwal said he will try to convince the apex court through his petition that the "High Court had quashed the charges against the accused persons on technical grounds and the order was totally perverse which is liable to be set aside." Justice RS Sodhi of the Delhi High Court, since retired, had on 31 May, 2005 quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand and the Bofors company and castigated the CBI for its handling of the case saying it had cost the exchequer about Rs 250 crore. Before the 2005 verdict, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice JD Kapoor (since retired) on 4 February, 2004, had exonerated late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case and directed framing of charge of forgery under Section 465 of IPC against the Bofors company. The matter was last listed on 28 February this year when it was adjourned. The apex court had on 18 October, 2005 allowed Agrawal to file an appeal against the high court verdict in the absence of any appeal by CBI. The 1 December, 2016 hearing had taken place after a gap of almost six years since 12 August, 2010. The Rs 1,437 crore deal between India and the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm Howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered on 24 March, 1986. The Swedish Radio on 16 April, 1987 had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel. The CBI on 22 January, 1990 had registered the FIR for the alleged offence of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery under the Indial Penal Code and other sections of Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then President of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and Hinduja brothers. The CBI had alleged that certain public servants and private persons in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed. The first charge sheet in the case was filed on 22 October, 1999 against Chadda, Quattrocchi, then Defence Secretary SK Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet against Hinduja brothers was filed on 9 October, 2000. A special CBI court in Delhi on 4 March, 2011, had discharged Quattrocchi from the case saying the country cannot afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which has already cost Rs 250 crore. Quattrocchi, who fled from India on 29-30 July, 1993, has never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on 13 July, 2013. The other accused persons who have died are Bhatnagar, Chadda and Ardbo. New Delhi: The CBI on Wednesday began its probe into 18 cases referred to it by the Rajasthan government for alleged irregularities in land deals in Bikaner by companies, including one linked to Robert Vadra. CBI sources said the agency has re-registered 18 FIRs in connection with these land deals, which were earlier probed by the Rajasthan Police. "The cases pertain to fraudulent and fictitious claims and allotments in lieu of land acquired for Mahajan Field Firing Range Bikaner, which is used by the army", a CBI spokesperson said here after the cases were registered this evening. Among the 18 FIRs registered by the agency, 16 were lodged at the Gajner police station while two at Kolayat police station in Bikaner between August and September, 2014, agency sources said. The cases were referred to the CBI by the Centre on the request of the Rajasthan Government. The Rajasthan government had written to the CBI for a probe into alleged land scams in Bikaner, including those involving a company linked to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. The Congress had accused the state government of misusing the CBI ahead of assembly elections. "As many as 18 FIRs are registered. Four of them are against Vadra's company which were allegedly involved in illegal purchase of nearly 275 bigha land. All the 18 FIRs are in connection with the purchase of close to 1,400 bigha land in fake names," Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria had said on 22 August after referring the matter to the CBI. He had alleged that Vadra's company was the third party to purchase 275 bigha of land in 2010 and it sold it to a fourth party in 2012. "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", Kataria had said. Reacting to this, state Congress president Sachin Pilot had said, "BJP misuses CBI, ED (Enforcement Directorate) 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." He had said, "Those who have been arrested in the land scam are connected with BJP. If BJP people are being arrested in the land scam, then we are ready for any probe." The state government had on 31 December, 2014 cancelled 18 mutations (transfer of ownership) in Bikaner after allegedly finding them to be illegal. It is alleged that the land was illegally allotted or possessed in 2006-07 by some villagers, who were "wrongfully" shown as farmers displaced by the acquisition of land for the Mahajan Field Firing Range for the army. It was alleged that Vadra's company also purchased chunks of land. However, the farmers who were actually displaced were allotted land between 1992 and 1996. Beijing: China on Thursday said India's concerns over terrorism emanating from Pakistan will not be discussed at the BRICS Summit next week. Like in earlier occasions, China defended its "iron friend" Pakistan, hailing its efforts in countering terrorism. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Islamabad was at the "forefront" of counter-terror efforts and had made "sacrifices" for the cause. "The international community should recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by Pakistan," Hua said at a press briefing. "We notice that India, when it comes to Pakistan's counter-terrorism, has some concerns. I don't think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at BRICS Summit," she said The three-day annual meet of the five-member grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will begin at the Chinese city Xiamen from Sunday. "China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties." Terrorism emanating from Pakistan is one the contentious issues between India and China. Beijing has repeatedly blocked New Delhi's resolution at the UN to declare Pakistan's terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist. In 2016, at the BRICS Summit in India, China did not back India's attempts to have names of terror groups like JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) included in the BRICS declaration. New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday hit out at the Modi government over the slump in the country's economic growth, and said the decline was because of the prime minister's "reckless" decision of demonetisation. The party said that in the last six quarters under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the GDP growth sank from 9.2 percent to 5.7 percent. "The GDP numbers released for the (April-June) quarter confirms that the reckless decision of the prime minister on demonetisation and the policy defaults have led to a major crash in the Indian economy," Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said. He said, "The country has suffered because of the ego of the prime minister, and the finance minister has failed to make amends but is happily busy being an apologist for the prime minister's wrong decisions." Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala said, "GDP growth slows from over 8 percent to 5.7 percent yet those living in glass houses of demonetisation disaster remain oblivious in their ivory towers. "In last 6 quarters, the economy under Modiji sank from 9.2 pc to 5.7 pc! This is by new method of calculation! Is this demonetisation success formula?" he asked on Twitter.' In last 6 Quarters-Economy under Modiji sank from 9.2% to 5.7%!This is by new method of calculation! Is this #DemonetisationSuccess formula? pic.twitter.com/IKFIRQS7hI Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 31, 2017 India's GDP growth dropped to a three-year low of 5.7 percent during April-June as manufacturing dipped ahead of the launch of GST and impact of the demonetisation lingered on in the third quarter. The expansion in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 6.1 percent in the immediate preceding quarter and 7.9 percent in the corresponding period last fiscal. The previous low of 4.6 percent was recorded in January-March 2014. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear an organisation which engages men for gender equality and is supporting the petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence on the ground that sexual violence violated human rights. A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar allowed the intervention application by Forum to Engage Men (FEM) and made it a party in the petitions seeking declaration of Section 375 (offence of rape) of the IPC as unconstitutional on the ground that it discriminated against married women being sexually assaulted by their husbands. Marital rape (or spousal rape) is an act in which one of the spouses indulges in sexual intercourse without the consent of the other. The application filed by Dr Abhijit Das, a member of FEM which claims to be a network of organisations and individuals, said wives should not be reduced to objects and supported women's right for effective decision-making on reproduction. It said that marital rape was an exception in the law that took away the rights of the wives to say "no", as also their right to say "yes" to consensual sexual intercourse. "Marriage is a partnership between equals. However, men have historically assumed privileges including the privilege of having sex at their instance. Most women have been conditioned to accept that. "The fact that some women have been driven to complain of coerced sex and sexual violence indicates that they are going through extreme levels of violence and coercion and have been literally pushed to the wall," the plea said. "We believe that in Indian society, a wife will only bring about such a complaint against her husband when there is actual non-consent and she is desperate," it said. It said that the members of the FEM believe that repeated sexual violence, even without physical violence, constitutes a grave human rights violation and should be treated as a crime. The court has agreed to examine the issue raised in PILs by NGOs RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women's Association and a man and a woman, who have sought striking down of the exception in the Indian penal law that did not consider sexual intercourse with a wife, not less than 15 years of age, as rape. Advocate Karuna Nandy, appearing for the two NGOs, referred to the Supreme Court's nine-judge judgement declaring right to privacy as a fundamental right and other verdicts, saying these have decided that a woman has a right to bodily integrity, sexual autonomy and reproductive choice. The counsel, in her written submissions given in the court, said that in England, US, Nepal, Australia, married women are entitled to the full range of individual civil liberties and human rights. Senior advocate advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for a petitioner woman who was a victim of marital rape, argued that marriage cannot be viewed as giving a husband the right to coerced intercourse on demand. He has said a marriage licence cannot be viewed as licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity as a married woman has the same right of full control over her body as an unmarried woman. The Centre, however, opposed the pleas and said marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbands. The Centre, in an affidavit filed through central government standing counsel Monika Arora and Kushal Kumar, has said the Supreme Court and various High Courts have already observed the growing misuse of section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of the IPC. Earlier, the Centre had defended its legislation, saying child marriages were taking place in India and the decision to retain a girl's minimum age as 15 years to marry was taken under the amended rape law to protect a couple against criminalisation of their sexual activity. The court had earlier agreed to hear a plea by NGO Men Welfare Trust, representing men victimised by alleged misuse of gender laws, opposing the petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence. The Narendra Modi government seems to have inherited Amitabh Bachchan's famous coin from Sholay. For, whichever way it falls, the government claims it has won. Its latest spin on demonetisation is yet another example of the government's 'heads we win, tails we win' arrogance. But, economy is not cinema. So, don't believe for a moment that the government was expecting almost all of the demonetised currency to return to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI says almost 99 percent of it has come back). It was, instead, optimistic that black money hoarders would throw a huge chunk of the banned Rs 500 and 1000 notes down some drain literally. The first indication of the government's optimism came from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. In Japan, on 12 November, four days after his government banned the use of Rs 500 and 1000 notes at the stroke of midnight, the prime minister was in a jovial mood. First, he told his audience how he had made Rs 500 and 100 notes vanish. "Ghar main shaadi hai par paise nahin hai (there a marriage in the household, but there is no money)," he laughed. Then, he made another important observation. "Pehle Gangaji me koi ek rupiya bhi nahi daalta tha, par ab usi Ganga nadi me 1000/500 ke note beh rahe hai (In River Ganga, where people didnt even donate one rupee, now there are notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes flowing)," he said to a raucous applause. What exactly was the prime minister telling us? Listening to him back then made us believe that the government was convinced there was so much black money lying around in Indian homes that people were desperate to get rid of it in any way possible, even if it meant dumping it in the Ganges. It also underlined the government's central belief the one it is now denying in a classical exhibition of goal-post shifting in the demonetisation move: That a huge amount of money would not return to the system, thus, giving it windfall gains. This optimism was expressed by the government and many cheerleaders of demonetisation. Arguing in favour of the note ban, the then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court that of the total estimated money in circulation of Rs 15-16 lakh crore, the government expected people to deposit Rs 10-11 lakh crore. "The rest, Rs four-five lakh crore, were being used in northeast and Jammu and Kashmir to fuel trouble in India. That will be neutralised," he had said. This view was partly endorsed by economist Jagdish Bhagwati, a known supporter of the Modi government, who believed around a third of the total currency in circulation on 8 November was black money and out of this Rs one trillion may not return. Turns out, reports of the death of black money were grossly exaggerated. Instead of dumping their cash hard-earned or ill-gotten Indians were finding innovative ways to stash it in the banks. This has now been affirmed by the RBI's report stating almost 99 percent of the junked notes were returned. Demonetisation, with the benefit of fresh figures, has turned out to be an exercise in shooting in the dark. To create a big bang, the Modi government picked up the gun and fired in all directions, naming a few targets: black money, counterfeit currency and terror financing. It missed all of them by a huge margin. Almost all the junked notes returned to banks, leaving the task of identifying black money to the IT department, whose job it always was from the very beginning. Counterfeit currency was almost zero percent of the returned notes. And, terror strikes have gone on unabated even months after the ban. Midway through the drive, concerned about the flow of money back to the banks, the government argued the aim of demonetisation was a less-cash economy. This too has turned out to be a pipedream with cashless transactions staying almost at pre-demonetisation levels. According to a report in The Indian Express, in value terms, November 2016 recorded Rs 94 lakh crore in electronic payments which grew to Rs 104 lakh crore in December, surged in March to Rs 149 lakh crore, then declined to Rs 107 lakh crore during July a five-month low. Now that even a lay man can see that the demonetisation coin fell on Modi government's head, leaving behind a large bump, it is busy claiming success by citing achievements that were not even part of the original plan. Only fans of Sholay will buy the government's post-truths and claims of success. Delhi University historian Dr VC Bhutani is a well-established expert on China, having extensively researched official records at the National Archives of India, the Assam government's records of which the North-East Frontier Agency was a part the Tibetan archives at Dharamsala and at the India Office Library in London. His extensive research shaped a book titled History and Politics of the Northern Frontiers of India. Following the disengagement of Indian and Chinese forces in Doka La, many are now asking why Indian troops were deployed there in the first place. Especially since experts believe that New Delhi had no legal justification to do so as the dispute was primarily between Bhutan and China. Firstpost spoke to Bhutani to find out how much of this perception is correct. Edited excerpts follow: Do you think India was justified in its actions at Doka La? Indian obligations under the India-Bhutan treaty are sufficient justification for military action. India did not have to wait for a requisition from Bhutan before moving its troops to Doka La. It is not clear what kind of withdrawal has taken place, whether it is by India only or by the Chinese or by both. If it is by India alone, then it can be seen as complete Indian capitulation. There seems to be little likelihood that China alone would have withdrawn. Withdrawal by both would be seen by the Chinese as capitulation because China has all along led its people to believe that Doka La was part of its territory. Since this is a tri-junction, can the dispute only be defined by a trilateral agreement? Yes, unquestionably, the coordinates of a tri-junction can only be determined by action jointly by the three countries. This applies equally to every other tri-junction on the northern frontiers. Some analysts feel that even a mutual withdrawal is a climb down for India, as it is still not clear whether China will continue with its road building activity... I disagree with the intent of this question. It is not clear that India has made a unilateral withdrawal. If it has, then it is capitulation. If it is a mutual withdrawal by both, then it is a capitulation by China. How has this agreement come about? It is difficult to answer this question in the absence of definite information. We will have to wait for clarification from the MEA. Is there a possibility that the India-China boundary dispute can be resolved in the wake of Doka La? No. I do not think that the India-China boundary question can or will be resolved in the foreseeable future. There needs to be a political decision by China for the boundary question to be resolved. Until that decision is made, nothing will happen in the direction of resolving the boundary dispute. India and China have had several rounds of bilateral discussions on resolving the border dispute for over a decade now but seem to have made little headway. What could be the possible reasons for such an impasse? Do you see any possibility of a consensus emerging on the eastern sectors, including Tawang? Bilateral discussions on the boundary question have been going on for a very long time. By now, both sides would have understood the questions involved and the constraints within which a solution will have to be found. There has been an enormous amount of writing on this subject by Indian, Chinese, and other scholars from around the world. Further discussions are unlikely to throw light on the question. India is keen for a boundary settlement for a long time and has said so repeatedly. On China's side, however, I do not see a similar readiness. What is needed is a political decision by the Chinese to arrive at a boundary settlement. It may be said that if officials on both sides, unhampered by nationalistic instructions by their governments, were left alone to formulate a boundary agreement, they would do so without taking too much time, especially since all the details on the subject of where the boundary should be are known to both sides. If there is no boundary agreement, it is likely that China wants to keep India jumping and to have a ready means of exerting pressure on India whenever China wants. China has gone a step further and is building Pakistan as a restraining factor for India. In effective terms, Pakistan does not count but if India had to fight 'a two-and-a-half-front war', then surely Indian forces will give a good account of themselves. In spite of Chinas economic and military power, it may not achieve a resounding victory over India. India is capable of causing unacceptable damage to China. Besides, an India-China war will make nonsense of Chinese aspirations to be acknowledged as a superpower on par with the United States. It behoves India to keep the powder dry and build alliances, if possible, with the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Australia on the question of an adequate riposte to Chinese assertiveness which has been greatly in evidence during President Xi Jinpings tenure. Indian policy formulations must take into account the fact that China is not a friend to India. Nonalignment by now is an obsolete idea. China still recommends nonalignment for India because China does not want that India should have friends who might make things difficult for China. For exactly the same reasons, India needs to have friends and allies. China is unlikely to see virtue in being anything other than a bully and a candidate for colonial exploitation. The issue in the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction seems to be unprecedented due to several reasons. India sent across troops to Bhutan to aid the Royal Bhutanese Army to resist Chinese moves to build a road that altered the nature of the territory under dispute because this was also in violation of the bilateral talks between Bhutan and China. Was India right in sending across such help? India was within its rights and obligations to send its troops to Doka La because of the India-Bhutan bilateral treaty. China building itself up in areas close to the Chicken's Neck is a matter of concern for India for its own security. India is vulnerable in this area. If China came anywhere near controlling Chickens Neck even for a short time, the Indian response will have to be a massive air attack on Chinese forces there. In this day and age, issues of war are more likely to be decided by air force action than by operations of land armies. There are China-Bhutan agreements and an India-China agreement that the status quo shall not be altered by military action by either side while discussions are in progress to settle the China-Bhutan boundary. Indian action in sending its forces was in support of Bhutan's position on the subject. The Chinese reaction to the move was very sharp and some media columns have claimed that this will pave the way for China to intervene in the bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. Is this a credible perception? China did not need to be in Doka La to try to intervene in the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir. China is very much a part of the Kashmir dispute because, under the China-Pakistan agreement of March 1963, Pakistan has handed them property which did not belong to them. Pakistan handed over Sarikol strip in northern Kashmir to China - even though this is a provisional arrangement pending decisions about who eventually will control all of Kashmir. Besides, China is not lacking in occasions or causes for intervening in India-Pakistan relations as it has shown in United Nations Space Command and Nuclear Suppliers Group, even if no other country has shown support for Pakistan. India, incidentally, has said it has no objection to Pakistan being a member of NSG. Secondly, by its occupation of parts of Aksai Chin, China is very much a participant in the Kashmir dispute. Why was the standoff on the Doka La plateau allowed to escalate given that from 2006 both countries helped to set up BRICS and have been coming closer economically? Things like Russia-India-China Trilateral, Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), and BRICS are mere affectations which do not add up to much. Policy coordination between China and India on international affairs shall not be achieved as long as they remain embroiled in bilateral disputes and additionally as long as China goes on building up Pakistan against India in every possible manner. We should not entertain great hopes from any of these groupings, although for diplomatic reasons India can go on making friendly noises. China has been keen about membership of SAARC, and Pakistan has been much keener in this respect for obvious reasons. On the contrary, SAARC has been losing its appeal in India. Russia today hardly has an international standing worth a mention and certainly, between the Russia-China duo, there is no doubt who leads and who follows. SCO is inherently a Chinese outfit which will never operate to India's advantage; BRICS has no importance for China while the others are members aspiring to permanent seats in the UNSC where China already has a seat. It is not accurate to say that China and India have been coming closer in economic matters. Greater trade between them is more to Chinas advantage because the balance of trade is largely in Chinas favour. Chinese investments in India are not much to write home about and Indian entrepreneurs operating in China are at best marginal operators, without much weight in economic terms. In fact, economic relations can be an albatross around Indias neck because China does not allow economics to dictate its politics. It is only in India that some people are enamoured of economic relations with China, doubtless because some of them earn profits from their China operations. Beyond a point, such economic relations can be a constraining factor on the Indian policy making and decision making. Economic ties with China without a basis in political relations remains an inhibiting factor. The idea of China and India building economic relations from 2006 onwards is chimerical. But bilateral trade between the two countries is on the rise. Presently, India has a trade deficit of over $47 billion with China. Will a continued standoff put an end to the dream of this being an Asian century? No one seriously thought about an Asian Century in which China and India shall pull in the same direction. They are essentially antagonistic and for India, there is no possibility of better relations with China as long as the boundary question remains unresolved and China keeps on bolstering Pakistan against India, regardless of actual Chinese protestations in this behalf that China-Pakistan relations are not directed against any third country. In fact, the entire raison detre of China-Pakistan relations is their shared anti-Indian attitude. It seemed as though after Narendra Modi came to power, both he and President Xi Jinping were keen to establish close relations... This is nonsense. While Xi was sitting with Modi on a swing in Surat, PLA troops were making inroads into Indian territory in the Western Sector. It is a favourite practice of the Chinese that they choose the moment of a Chinese leaders visit to India or an Indian leaders visit to China as an occasion for actions of this kind. No one in India should have formed great hopes that Xi and Modi would be able to achieve anything together. This is not for want of effort by Modi. Did Indias commander-in-chief General Bipin Rawats remark that India was ready to fight a 'two-and-a-half front war' add to the hysteria and overreaction from both sides? An Indian army chief will not speak without clearance with the government. Obviously, Rawat represented the governments thinking on the subject. Chinese action in building a road in Doka La was not a response but the cause of Indian response as offered by the Indian Army chief. If China pushed matters to an armed showdown between China and India, then China should not expect a walkover. India needs to work seriously to gather support from world powers and regional powers that may be willing to join in an armed coalition against China. There is no doubt that the rest of the world is not filled with admiration for the manner of bullying and flaunting of military power by China on its land frontiers and in the South China Sea and East China Sea. China should know that it cannot hope to eat up India or nibble at its limbs. There seems to be some thinking in China that the US had been withdrawing from its role of being a world power during Barrack Obama's last years and President Donald Trump has gone further in that direction. This seems to have been seen in China as an occasion for China to assert itself and come forward as its successor. However, China is acting like a bully and an upstart, a state that came late on the world stage and sought to make up for lost time by adumbrating new instruments of colonialism in the shape of new roads and routes to connect continents but there has been no effort by China to convince the rest of the world that these are really trade facilitating measures and not means of territorial aggrandisement and colonial exploitation. It was wholly right that India did not participate in Chinas last international effort Belt and Road Initiative to propagate its ideas. China has accused India of forging an anti-China coalition with US, Japan, Australia and Vietnam to counter Beijings military, economic and diplomatic assertiveness. Did Indias absence from the Belt and Road Initiative strain relations further between the two nations? China should act in a more responsible manner. There was no attempt by China to convince India that OBOR was indeed a measure or plan for furtherance of trade between continents. China has to thank itself for Indias absence at the OBOR consultation in China. It is axiomatic that Indias absence at the said occasion would have been taken note of in China. For two months, however, Chinese media have been speaking in a manner that was calculated to further aggravate tension between China and India. India must make sustained efforts to build an armed coalition with the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Australia to counter Chinese readiness to start expatiating on the economic and military power. The rest of the world is not waiting hat in hand for the pleasure of a new candidate for world leadership position. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) sees the Karakoram Highway cutting through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This has created a great deal of apprehension in India... The CPEC, the New Silk Route and Maritime Silk Route are without doubt intended as sinews of Chinese power. China will doubtlessly stand with Pakistan in everything, right or wrong, and ipso facto against India. India's policy makers should think afresh about how they are going to meet the Chinese challenge. There didn't appear to be an end to the long haul of aggressive and full-fledged psychological warfare waged by China as its propaganda machinery continued its publicity blitz threatening India of dire consequences, reminding New Delhi of the 1962 debacle. The State media was frenzied and its statements carried a belligerent tenor and the tone seemed to suggest that if the Indians didn't withdraw from Doka La, 'war' was imminent. Temperatures were soaring, no solution seemed to be on the horizon and the freeze appeared impossible to thaw. On India's part, however, there was no let-up in the diplomatic efforts to end the standoff, particularly before the BRICS Summit in China that begins on 3 September. It must be said without exaggeration that there was one man who worked tirelessly and almost singlehandedly to overcome the deadlock. On 28 August, came relief and the Indian and (later) Chinese armies started withdrawing. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement and things moved positively at a breakneck speed. How did this happen? When it seemed there was no light at the end of the tunnel, the light beamed and brightly. The withdrawal of troops wasn't easy at all, yet it happened. The man who led the team and brought about this rapprochement was none other than India's national security advisor Ajit Doval. Strangely, he is no diplomat by training or profession. He is a leader of men par excellence who not only led from the front, but took everyone along with him to get things done. Insiders say that Doval, with a gifted virtue of motivating his colleagues and instilling esprit de corps, took a mission that appeared possible and turned it into a "mission accomplished". Let's quickly recap the happenings that led to this resolution. In the absence of any forward movement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping decided to depute NSAs from both the countries. Doval met Yang Jiechi in Beijing and things began rolling at quick speed, culminating in the decision to start the disengagement of both the armies at the earliest. Subsequently, the Chinese ambassador was quickly met in New Delhi and the dynamics required on the Indian side were worked out. Doval, displaying his administrative nous, dexterous diplomatic moves and vision, brought all those concerned to the same table. Such tasks are not only onerous, but tricky too. But Doval with his tremendous wealth of experience and exposure in skilful negotiation in matters of statecraft came useful. As a police officer, he was known for his sharp instincts. As an intelligence officer, his masterstrokes in bringing Mizo leader Laldenga to the table to sign the Mizo accord and his singular vision and daring acts during the peak of the Khalistan crisis surely served as relevant experience. With acute clarity about the dos and don'ts when working out the delicate task of disengagement, Doval proceeded with abundant caution and care in implementing his blueprint involving the army chief, heads of external and internal intelligence agencies, and other need-based stakeholders bringing them to the same page for concerted action. The margin of error needed to be zero and with time being of the essence, as the clock was ticking ahead of the BRICS meet. China too was keen on India not skipping the summit as it had during the OBOR meet. Another significant feature that needed deft handling was Bhutan. Thimphu had to be managed with subtlety and finesse as the Himalayan kingdom was wary of Chinese diktats and didn't want to be an scapegoat in the event of a worst-case scenario. The entire nation, in reality, has heaved a sigh of relief following this disengagement, gripped as it was with uncertainty about whether the situation would deteriorate and turn into war. Indicators were alarming because of two principal factors. First, India had fought a war with China in the past and second, statements from both 'warring' sides were intimidating and threatening. The electronic media too was drumming up the war frenzy and Pakistan was watching from the wings, perhaps sadistically enjoying the escalated tension between China and India. India position now stands vindicated and there is much peace in the pacifist camps. Many skeptics who had professed war had been proven wrong. They rightly say, "Discretion is the better part of valour". In the case of easing tension on the Doka La issue, it was proved that diplomacy is the option for solving crises of any magnitude. And Doval proved this maxim in letter and spirit. It was also proven beyond doubt that one does not have to be a professional diplomat, a politician, a party activist or an international mediator to solve such a problem. The author is a retired IPS officer and a security analyst. Views are personal. Beijing: China's military on Thursday said it will beef up the presence of troops and patrols to protect "every inch" of its territory in Dokalam but was evasive on the construction of the road which was stopped by Indian troops, leading to a 73-day standoff. India and China on Monday ended their standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit. "The Chinese military will continue to carry out its missions and responsibilities, beef up patrols and troops stationed there and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security," Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Chinese defence ministry, said in his first interaction with the media after the end of the standoff. He, however, was evasive about People's Liberation Army's move to build the road close to the strategic Chicken's Neck area in Dokalam which prompted the Indian troops to intervene and stop its construction. Bhutan, which claims sovereignty over the area, protested to China for building the road on Bhutanese territory. "In the light of the changes in the landscape we have made an adjustment in our deployment," he said, without elaborating. "The Chinese side will continue to patrol the Dong Long (Dokalam) area for a long period of time to better guard our border and improve the living and working conditions of the military and civilians living in the area," Ren said. "We have long built infrastructure construction and including building of roads. In future, we will continue to make plan for infrastructure construction taking into consideration various factors including weather conditions," he said, without elaborating about plans to build the road. China has tried to highlight the Indian troops withdrawal while remaining silent about the fate of the road which was the primary objection for India. Ren also rubbished speculative reports in social media claiming that China promised India huge loans for the withdrawal of the troops. "On your question about China providing loans to India to withdraw troops, we have checked with the relevant authorities of the government and such reports are pure fabrication," he said. Claiming that "Dokalam is China's inherent territory" disregarding Bhutan's claims, Ren said, "every inch of the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland cannot be lost. Chinese armed forces will carry out the sacred mission safeguarding territorial integrity and national sovereignty and protect every inch of the land in Dokalam." He also put up a lengthy defence about how Chinese military handled the standoff - regarded as the worst between the two countries since the 1962 war. On the incident at the Pangong lake in Ladakh, where troops on both sides scuffled and pelted stones at each other, he said, "the Indian side should enforce strict discipline on the border defence troops and abide by the agreements and consensus reached by the two sides so as to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border." China said earlier that it lodged a protest to India on the incident. The "military-to-military relationship between India and China is an important component for the overall bilateral relationship between the two countries," he said. "The defence establishments and armed forces should strengthen strategic communication to avoid misjudgement and misunderstanding. But such kind of healthy development requires efforts from both sides," he added. Lucknow: A court in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur on Thursday sent suspended BRD Medical College principal and his wife to 14-day judicial custody in connection with 60 children's deaths within seven days. Rajeev and Poornima Mishra were arrested by the state police's Special Task Force from Kanpur two days back. They were brought to Gorakhpur on Wednesday and presented before the anti-corruption court on Thursday. The couple is facing various charges. Mishra was suspended by the Yogi Adityanath's government following the spike in the number of deaths, reportedly due to disruption of oxygen supply, at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in the chief minister's home constituency. The couple is accused, among other things, of sitting over payment files of the oxygen vendor. An FIR was lodged against Mishra and seven others for dereliction in duty among other charges. This came in the wake of the probe report by a high-powered committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajeev Kumar, which indicted Mishra and others in the tragedy. The FIR was lodged in Lucknow's Hazratganj police station and the case was later transferred to Gorakhpur. On 21 March this year, when Yogi Adityanath rose to speak in Parliament for the last time, he talked about the spread of Japanese Encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh and took a pot shot at the politics of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress. As a five-time Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha, Yogi had been consistent in raising concerns over the killer encephalitis disease, that led to the death of scores of children in Gorakhpur recently. In his last speech in Parliament (delivered after becoming Uttar Pradesh chief minister) he said that he had consistently raised the issue but unfortunately, those who keep talking of Dalit and Muslim communities did not bother to do anything to fight the disease. Yogi added that most of the children who fell victim to the disease belonged to Dalit and other minority communities. Better health care to fight encephalitis has been one of the main planks of Yogi's politics. He would often stage protests of various kinds in and around Gorakhpur, visit the BRD hospital (the only hospital in the city with an encephalitis ward) and meet the relatives of affected children. With the death of over 100 children, including 42 in a two-day period at BRD hospital in Gorakhpur, the issue of encephalitis, its prevention and cure, has now come to haunt Yogi. Now that he is chief minister, he cannot blame anyone else. Young children are dying in his hometown, either due to the negligence of doctors, lack of medical facilities, the severity of the disease, disruption in oxygen supply, or for any other reason including criminal apathy of those at the helm in the past. He will have to take responsibility for the loss of lives. The apathy shown by those associated with the state administration and hospitals is appalling. A kind of chalta hai approach has permeated into the system. Perhaps, Yogi should revisit some of the speeches he made in Parliament. He should then apply the same yardstick on him. If one goes by his speeches in Parliament, it would appear that he has become a non-medical expert on encephalitis. Like he is aware of all its nuances and possible remedial measures. Now, he has been ruling the state for the last six months. He has a brute majority in the Assembly. He does not have to spend time, energy and apply his mind to political management. His time should only be devoted to governance and should remain focused on state's issues. Yogi also has the fortune of having his party at the Centre. He was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah and thus has the full confidence of his party and the Centre. Hence, Yogi cannot have any excuses. Unfortunately, the number of death at BRD Hospital is a grim reminder that Yogi has not turned his words into deeds. Though he has visited this hospital five times including on 9 August, a day before an alleged oxygen gas supply crisis took many lives and is well aware that this disease strikes children in the age group of 0-15 from July-October each year, he has not taken any substantive action on the ground to inspire confidence. These deaths and the business as usual attitude of those at the helm stirs one's conscience. This can't be a New India, where children are left to die because doctors desert hospitals; the oxygen supply is irregular because a babu refused to make payments as his palms were not greased to his satisfaction; or because hospitals don't have the infrastructure to deal with an epidemic like encephalitis, despite the fact that this killer disease is a four-decade-old phenomenon. Consider the death toll figures, as quoted by Yogi himself in his various speeches in Parliament: In 1978, Japanese Encephalitis first struck eastern Uttar Pradesh and wreaked havoc after the rains, from mid-June to October-November. The number of deaths in BRD Medical College was 937 in 2005, 431 in 2006, 516 in 2007, 410 in 2008, 784 in 2009, 514 in 2010, 618 in 2011, 661 in 2014, 521 in 2015 and 694 in 2016. It's time Yogi proved himself as a karma-yogi. By now, he would have realised that rabble rousing and administration are two different things. He better focus on governance and delivery. Ahmedabad: Parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region of Gujarat have received heavy rains since last evening, with the India Meteorological Department warning fishermen not to venture into the sea. A fishing boat capsized off the state coast due to rough weather and four of its crew members were missing, the Indian Coast Guard said in a release this evening. The IMD on Thursday issued an advisory to fishermen, asking them "not to venture into the open seas". Monsoon "remained vigorous" over Saurashtra-Kutch since last evening, the IMD said, adding that Dwarka, Porbandar, Kandla, Junagadh and Gir Somnath were the areas which received a good rainfall. Other areas of the state too received showers. Heavy rains were "very likely" to occur at isolated places over Saurashtra, Kutch and Diu, the IMD said. The coast guard said that four fishermen went missing yesterday after their boat capsized. Three others were rescued, and search was underway for the missing ones. Elsewhere, over two dozen fishermen were stranded after their boats malfunctioned. Coast guard vessels brought them ashore. Ten of them had suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital, it said. New Delhi: India will collaborate with Switzerland for developing trains which will tilt on approaching a bend, just like a motorbike on a winding road. A memorandum of understanding was signed today between the two countries in this regard. Such trains are now operational in 11 countries Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, the UK, Switzerland, China, Germany, and Romania. Explaining how the tilting trains work, officials said that as a train rounds a curve at speed, it causes objects to slide about. "While it makes seated passengers feel squashed by the armrest, standing passengers tend to lose their balance. The design of the tilting trains counteract this," an official said. During a curve to the left, the train tilts to the left and vice versa, the official said. The railway ministry signed two MoUs with the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport and Communications of the Swiss Confederation for technical cooperation in rail sector in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first agreement is a follow up on bilateral cooperation in rail sector discussed in the meeting held between Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the Swiss Ambassador in July 2016. The MoU aims at cooperation in the areas of traction rolling stock, electric multiple unit and train sets, traction propulsion equipment, freight and passenger cars, tilting trains, railway electrification equipment, and tunnelling technology, among other things. The second MoU was signed between Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology which will help the former in establishing the George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology (GFITT) at Goa especially for assimilation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of tunnelling, the officials said. Chennai: The Madras High Court on Thursday directed Thenmozhi, niece of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case life convict Murugan, to submit a fresh application to prison authorities for meeting him after it was informed that he had ended his "fast-unto death". A division bench comprising Justices A Selvam and N Authinathan gave the direction when a habeas corpus petition by Thenmozhi came up for hearing. Public Prosecutor (PP) Rajarathinam informed the bench that Murugan, who was observing a "fast unto death" from 18 August, had ended it on Wednesday. The bench had earlier sought Murugan's medical reports which were submitted by prison authorities. As Murugan was only consuming water from the day of his fast, authorities recommended that he be shifted to Vellore Government General Hospital for treatment. The bench, which recorded the submission besides the those made by the public prosecutor, said that in view of Murugan ending his fast, the court would like to close the case. On Thenmozhi's plea for meeting Murugan, the bench asked the public prosecutor about allowing her to meet him. The public prosecutor then submitted that if a fresh representation was made by her, prison authorities would consider and pass orders on the application as per the prison manual. Recording the submission, the bench directed Thenmozhi to make a fresh application and directed the prison authorities to pass orders within three days. The court had on Wednesday asked the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) why permission has been refused to visitors to meet the convict, to which the APP submitted that as per the prison manual, if any inmate goes on a fast, no one is allowed to meet him and all facilities made available to him are cut. In her 24 August plea, Thenmozhi had claimed her uncle was determined to attain 'jeeva samadhi' (fast unto death) in the prison and sought the court's intervention to save him. She had also sought permission to meet him. Citing various news reports about Murugan's fast, she had said it was the duty of the prison authorities to save his life. She had said Murugan was in the prison for the last 26 years. The officials had rejected her 22 August representation to meet Murugan, she said and claimed that even his wife Nalini, a co-convict in the case, was also not allowed to meet him. Murugan, an LTTE cadre, was initially sentenced to death along with five others in the case related to assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber at nearby Sriperumbudur on 21 May, 1991. The Supreme Court had in 2014 commuted his sentence and of two others to life imprisonment citing the delay in deciding their mercy plea. Nalini is also serving a life term after her death sentence was commuted by the state government. Editor's note: This article is the third in a three-part series on the condition of farmers in Maharashtra after the state announced its Rs 34,000-crore loan waiver. Beed: Even as farmers' strike in Maharashtra succeeded in forcing the hand of the government into announcing an unprecedented debt relief, the rain gods have given them no respite. Heavy rainfall began lashing the Marathwada region only on 20 August. Till then, the lack of moisture in the soil had already singed seeds of those who had taken up sowing, in accordance with the forecast of normal monsoon. Bhimrao Mhaske, 70, from Palavan village in Beed district, said he has spent about Rs 1.5 lakh on sowing. He rued that with the current rain scenario, it seemed he was going to lose all that money. As he already owed Rs 3.5 lakh to IDBI Bank and Hyderabad Bank, he had to borrow money from a private lender this year to sow moong, urad, bajra and cotton on the 32 acres of land he owns. However, the rains came a bit too late and, effectively, rained on his parade. "It's raining now but it will not save our crops. You cannot make an 80-year-old healthy by feeding him ghee and dry fruits," said Babasaheb Daund, 55, another farmer from Palvan. He said the over-delayed rains are of no help to them, except that at least now, they have water for their cattle. Owing to inconsistent rainfall, many farmers have lost their kharif crop (crop cultivated during the monsoon season). While some are hoping the rains will let 30-40 percent of the crop survive, some have abandoned all hope and begun clearing their field for the next crop cycle. According to Sunil Kendrekar, commissioner of agriculture, Maharashtra, 47.78 lakh hectares of land was under cultivation in the Marathwada region on 19 June. He said deficit rainfall has resulted in stunted growth of pulses like tur, moong and urad. He said a report from Osmanabad district stated half of the kharif crop was lost and assessment in other districts was under way. Agriculturist Satish Karande said farmers in Marathwada depend mainly on the crop grown during the monsoon. With cotton, soybean and tur crops succumbing to the dry spell, he said even a good harvest in the next crop cycle will fail to cancel out their losses. Explaining the magnitude of money farmers have lost this monsoon season, executive president of Shetkari Sanghatana (farmers' organisation) Kalidas Apet said that this year, they had opted for double sowing. "If tropical calamities continue to hit farmers, the migration towards cities will increase," he said. On the bright side, Padmakar Solunke, secretary of Ambad Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Jalna district, said he was hopeful that any crop which grows would fetch more than the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Joint director of agriculture, Beed, Ramesh Bhatane, said that usually, long-duration crops such as tur, cotton and soybean are grown in Beed. He said that the delayed monsoon will help this crop sustain, although he expected the yield to be affected by 40-45 percent. These delayed rains offer no such saving grace to the farmers of Jalna district. Sudarshan Gotekar, 40, lamented losing the entire sum of Rs 1.5 lakh he spent on sowing. This year, he sowed soybean, moong, urad and cotton after he and his wife availed of Rs 75,000 each from the bank after restructuring their previous loan. He said the plants should have grown by a couple of feet by now, but they have barely sprouted. A few days ago, he cleared his land with a tractor, preparing it for the next crop cycle. He was one of those who had taken up double sowing. He said until it started raining about a week ago, he did not have enough water for his bulls to drink. "I feel as if the clouds are pouring gold and not water," he said gratefully. Sahebrao Uttekar, a farmer from Hivardi village in Jalna district, said their lot lives on hope and now they are looking forward to the next crop cycle for a good harvest. Rainfall in Maharashtra this year In June this year, Aurangabad division received 117.6 mm rainfall, which is 17 percent more than the average rainfall. In July, it received only 36.7 percent of the average rainfall. By 26 August, the division had received 80.5 percent of its average rainfall. In some parts of this division, water tankers were pressed into service during the dry spell. Rains that started in the third week of August have made water available in the region. The rainfall has improved the water availability in Marathwada and Vidarbha as well. Latur, which was in such dire straits last year that the government had to transport water in tankers via train, is in a better position than last year. Till August-end, it received 114.4% of the average rainfall. In case of Nagpur division, the rainfall in June was 63.3 percent of its average rainfall. It declined to 53.4 percent in July. By 26 August, Nagpur division had received 61.5 percent of average rainfall. In Amaravati division, monsoon began well with 89.6 percent of the average rainfall in June. However, it decreased to 56.4 percent of the average in July and further fell to 47.4 percent in August. The total rainfall till date in Amravati division is 62.4 percent of average rainfall. Konkan has reported the highest precipitation, 95.5 percent of the average rainfall, in the state. In June, it received 119.4 percent, in July 94.1 percent and 73.3 percent in August. In Pune, June witnessed 101.1 percent of the average rainfall whereas July recorded 80.7 percent. August saw only 44.6 percent of the average rainfall. The total rainfall in the division is 76 percent of the normal average. The patchy rains have caused crop loss in Ahmednagar district's Puntamba village, where the farmers' strike was conceived before it spread like wildfire too. Dr Dhananjay Dhanwate, one of the organisers of the protest, said he and some farmers are working to launch another protest as their main demands like unconditional waiver of all farm loans and an increase in the MSP were not fulfilled. He said farmers are not happy with the current loan waiver as it hasn't helped many of them. Daund, the farmer from Palvan in Beed district, expressed this disappointment through his words as well as his emotions when his eyes welled up and he blamed the government for showing them false hope. With anger, he asked: "You can give us money, but what about water?" (Bhakti Tambe is a Pune-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. The author tweets @TambeBhakti.) Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday welcomed GJM leader Binay Tamang's announcement to suspend the indefinite bandh in Darjeeling hills till the next round of talks with the state government. "It's good news. We want restoration of peace and want the well-being of the people there (in Darjeeling)," Banerjee told reporters at the secretariat on Thursday. She was speaking after GJM convenor Tamang said in Darjeeling that the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has put off its indefinite bandh from Friday till the next round of talks with the West Bengal government on 12 September. GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, however, said the bandh will continue. The indefinite shutdown in the hills to press for a separate Gorkhaland state, which entered its 78th day on Thursday, had paralysed normal life for over two and half months. Editor's Note: Parth MN is travelling across Maharashtra's Marathwada province on a People's Archive of Rural India (PARI) fellowship to chronicle agrarian issues in the region, over a period of six-eight months. Firstpost will reproduce his reports as and when he files them for Pari. Ambadas Kakade has taken a calculated risk: he has planted a second crop during this Kharif season. Its his last hope to recover a portion of his farming costs. Around mid-June, after decent initial monsoon showers, the 83-year-old farmer of Moregaon village in Sailu taluka of Parbhani district had planted cotton, soyabean, tur and moong. But then, until around mid-August, there was no rain at all in Marathwada. Crops dried up or remained stunted in vast areas of the region, including the Parbhani district. Kakades soya, tur and moong shrivelled up too. "I have 10 acres," Kakade says. "I plucked out an acre of cotton and replaced it with cabbage (at the end of July). It is a three-month crop and does not require much water. I will replace some other crops with tomato (which, too, needs less water) if it does not rain." By replacing an acre of his already-planted cotton crop with cabbage, Kakade has lost the Rs 15,000 he invested in June on that acre. If the dry streak persists, he also risks losing the additional Rs 15,000 he has spent on sowing cabbage. "I know I won't be making a profit this season," he says. Ambadas Kakade, 83, took a calculated risk when he replaced an acre of his cotton crop with cabbage this Kharif season Kakade has a bank loan of Rs 3 lakhs and a private loan of Rs 5 lakhs. "I am only hoping to recover my sowing costs of both crops (on that one acre). We are all at the mercy of natures whims. The weather has become more uncertain over the last 10 years. I hope I wont have to beg for money ahead of the Rabi season in October." Kadade will retain some of his cotton crop because he cannot sow other crops on all 10 acres that will need more money, which he does not have. And he is hoping for a full revival of the monsoon after it rained in Marathwada in the second half of August. If the showers continue, the cotton crop can be harvested by November and could bring decent returns. The dried up food crops of the first sowing though wont revive. By opting for a second round of sowing a dobar perni on a portion of his land, Kadade is hedging his bets. When Marathwadas farmers do the first round of Kharif sowing around mid-June, the crops require consistent rainfall to grow. If the rain is scarce or absent, the farmers know that the first round will not give them enough returns. Reluctantly, they again muster up the capital and courage to invest in a second sowing around the first week of August, hoping to at least recover their investments. If it rains after the dobar perni, the gamble will pay off. If it does not, it will be a crushing double blow. Kakade is in his 80s. At that age, he says, slowly walking through his farmland, the uncertainty affects him. "We are 16 family members. All my three sons are married. They also do agricultural labour (in nearby villages) for extra income. My grandchildren help on the farm and study, they are young." In Khupsa village, around three kilometres away, Sahebrao Dasalkar, 49, has followed in Kakades footsteps. Of his 12 acres of cotton, he has phased out 1.5 acres; he too is still hoping for some returns on the rest of the crop. I have incurred a loss of Rs 25,000 on the 1.5 acres," he says. "I have now planted cabbage on it. I did not replace larger portions of the crop because even if it rains later, the cotton can still throw up 2-3 quintals an acre (in a good monsoon, it can be 6-8 quintal), and I can at least make some money (around Rs 4,000 per quintal) from it." Farmers in Marathwada who are only cultivating food crops are in deeper trouble because of the inability of such crops to survive a prolonged dry spell. In Malihapparga village of Jalkot taluka in Latur district, Hari Kendre, 35, has been working as a labourer on someone elses farm because his own crops have dried up. That is the only way I can raise capital for the dobar perni, he says, while working the plough. "My soyabean, moong, tur and black gram are all down to nothing on the 10 acres I own. That is a loss of Rs 60,000. Along with the scarce rainfall, the water reservoirs in Jalkot have also gone dry. "Sunflower (a food crop) is not water intensive," Kendre says. "If I manage to raise enough money through my Rs 200 daily wage, I will plant sunflower..." This dobar perni is the only way he can now raise some money ahead of the Rabi season in October. I have a private loan of Rs 4 lakhs, he says. I will be in a hole if I borrow more. I have to raise money through my crops. In previous years too, farmers in Marathwada have found themselves in a similar fix. A promising start to the monsoon has given way to long weeks without a drop of rain. Many have then tried their luck with a dobar perni. But the region has seen four years of drought from 2012-2015, and the farmers ability to raise credit for sowing has steadily fallen with each such year. So, in 2017, fewer farmers have mustered up the courage; many have simply accepted that the Kharif season will be unproductive. Ganesh Bhalekar, 32, of Majalgaon village in Beed district, says many farmers are staying away from a second round of sowing this year because they had already borrowed money to raise capital ahead of the Kharif season. To borrow more and take the risk of another round of sowing would be suicidal, he says. We have enough debts on our head. It is practical to directly prepare for the Rabi season. Bhalekar has a debt of close to Rs 1 lakh from a private moneylender. As a tenant farmer with no land of his own, he is unable to get loans from any bank. He farms 18 acres of land sugarcane on 13 acres and soyabean on five. According to his arrangement with the landowner, Ganesh takes care of 25 per cent of the expenses, the owner pays for 75 per cent. Profits or losses are shared in the same manner. "The five acres of soyabean has totally dried up," he says, pointing to the desolate crop. "I have accepted that my entire investment of Rs 15,000 on soyabean has been washed away. And the lack of rains has impacted sugarcane as well. Look at these white spots on the cane. The harvest will be poor..." Unlike Bhalekar, in Kolnoor village of Jalkot taluka Suresh Chole has no cash crops like cotton or sugarcane to bank on if the rains revive. The soyabean, tur and jowar that he planted on his 4.5 acres are all in poor shape. "Look at them," he says. "By this time (the first week of August), the plants should reach waist high. They are barely scratching the ankle." Even if the monsoon picks up later in August, it wont matter to Chole. "The crops require consistent rains," he says. "I invested Rs 45,000 at the time of sowing to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and pay for labour. I wont even recover 10 percent of that...." Which is why, like rest of this agrarian region, Chole has to take a difficult decision: should he sow for a second time and risk losing more money? "I am not confident," he says. "The drought has (so far) been quite acute. I dont have the courage to take further risks." In mid-August, two weeks after that conversation, Marathwada received heavy showers, providing some respite to the farmers who had opted for dobar perni. Others, like Chole, may be wishing they too had chosen the second sowing this year, but that is a gamble all farmers here live with every year. This piece first appeared in People's Archive of Rural India and is reproduced here by arrangement with Pari New Delhi: A day after the spat between Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor over the construction of 1,000 Mohalla Clinics, the BJP has decided to complain the President of India about the issue taking the controversy to a whole new level. The row over establishing of Mohalla Clinics comes at a time when the National Capital is reeling under the fear of being struck by endemic of water borne diseases during the monsoons, which claimed more than 30 lives last year. Vijender Gupta, leader of BJPs legislative party said to Firstpost that he has sought time from the President of India to inform him on the issue and is likely to get an appointment within a day or two. "We will submit him a memorandum on the issue and explain how the AAP led government in Delhi is putting undue pressure to pass the Mohalla Clinic project, which is nothing but a political propaganda," he said. Gupta also said that the Mohalla Clinic project has a number of irregularities in it right from high rent paid in the name of the premises to transferring of staffs from the essential medical services to these newly opened dispensaries. "They are trying to oblige some people by shelling out money from the coffers in the name of rent just to meet political ends," Gupta said. "The staff working in the Mohalla Clinics are deputed from the hospitals under the Delhi government. It is increasingly becoming difficult to operate the hospitals." The BJP leader said that by transfer of staff to Mohalla Clinics from hospitals the Delhi government is sacrificing the quality of hospitals. "Mohalla Clinics are only meant for primary health care. How can a government deprive patients admitted in the hospitals from quality service?" he asked. The complaints raised by opposition parties in Delhi against the construction of more Mohalla Clinics is seen as one of the reasons why the project has not moved beyond more than 150 such establishments. The Aam Admi Party came out with a note with details of the controversy on its website. "The file for setting up of new clinics was sent to the L-G in May for his approval, after which leaders from Opposition parties filed frivolous complaints regarding the functioning of the clinics. The L-G sent the file to the vigilance department, which sat on the file for over a month and a half," said AAP. It further said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who has charge of the vigilance department called for the file to ensure speedy disposal of the same, but the L-G asked the department not to show the file to the minister. According to the party, the health minister received a letter from the vigilance department on 29 August containing a gist of "vague" allegations regarding the Mohalla Clinics. Within minutes, the minister responded asking for a list of specific complaints which he assured he will look into himself. Soon the impasse over establishing Mohalla Clinics reached an all time high when more than 40 MLAs went to the L-Gs office on Wednesday triggering a face off. Rather than talking about the issue both the parties ended up accusing each other of rude behaviour. The Times of India reported Wednesdays face off in L-Gs office, The MLAs, who reached the LG secretariat around 2.40pm, finally left around 9pm, after the L-G agreed to meet the CM and the cabinet on Thursday evening." Quoting MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, the report that the L-G became angry during the meeting even though "there was no provocation from the MLAs" and stormed out after spending "three minutes and 23 seconds" with them. Prabir Haldar, a resident of Greater Kailash said, Chikungunya does not discriminate between the political parties, cast, religion or income status. I visited the Mohalla polyclinic a few months back and is of the view that this kind of facility is important as the every Delhi resident has to be protected from such nasty virus. As per record released by the Delhi health department, the Mohalla Clinics treated eight lakh people in its first five months. The Mohalla Clinics, which provide free primary treatment at neighbourhoods, are seen as revolutionary measures for this step has blurred the difference between rich and poor in terms of availing healthcare. Mumbai: A more than a century-old five-storey residential building collapsed on Thursday in the congested Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai, killing at least 22 people and wounding 12 others, officials said. They were declared dead at the state-run JJ hospital, where they were taken after being pulled out of the debris, as rescue teams with heavy machinery continued to look for survivors of the crash, a senior police official said. About 30 others are still feared trapped under the mounds of concrete and twisted iron rods. The process of identifying the bodies is on. At least 12 people injured in the incident were carried out on stretchers and rushed to the JJ Hospital in ambulances that faced difficulty in navigating the narrow streets due to the crowed that has gathered around the place. The official also said five fire brigade personnel and an NDRF jawan also sustained injuries during the rescue operations. They have also been shifted to the JJ hospital. Fire brigade officials said some nine families lived in the dilapidated Husaini Building. The building also housed a play school but children had not arrived yet when the tragedy occurred. The building, mostly housing lower-middle class families, was located in the Muslim-dominated Pakmodia Street close to the JJ Hospital. The building, which also had six godowns on the ground floor, crumbled at around 8:30 a.m. It is not clear yet if the heavy rains that inundated Mumbai this week weakened the building. What now remained of the 117-year-old structure was a large mound of concrete rubble and steel rods encircled by other houses including what appeared to be a tall building. Rescue workers in hard hats clambered up the mound and banged large concrete slabs with hammers to reach underneath and pull out survivors and bodies. Cranes and bulldozers were also deployed to scoop up the debris. Residents helped with bare hands. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the spot and announced a solatium of Rs five lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. He also said that the entire medical expenses of those injured will be borne by the state government. "The exact number of trapped people cannot be known immediately," deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) Manoj Sharma said. "Our priority is to pull out at the earliest those trapped under the rubble of the dilapidated building," said state Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who is also the guardian minister for Mumbai. "Once the rescue work gets over, the government will conduct a probe to ascertain the factors behind the building collapse. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty," he told reporters. Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and a host of local politicians and corporators also visited the collapse site. The disaster management cell of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) received a call about the collapse at 8.40 am. The MCGM rushed its emergency rescue team followed by ambulances, dumpers and earth-movers to the spot. Soon, 90 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also rushed to the spot. "We immediately rushed fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue the trapped people," a senior MCGM official said. The rescue operation is being carried out by the NDRF team with the help of fire brigade personnel. The incident occurred two days after the city was pummelled by torrential rains, which may have caused damage to the building. Some residents claimed that about 40 people belonging to nine families lived in crammed rooms in the structure, which was declared "unsafe" by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), which was to have undertaken redevelopment of the 117-year-old structure, said the building housed a total of 13 tenants 12 residential and one commercial. "Of them, the trust had already shifted seven families in 2013-14," it said in a statement. "MHADA notices dated March 28 and May 20, 2011, declaring the building dilapidated, were issued along with an offer of transit accommodation to the remaining tenants and occupants," it said. This is the second major building collapse in the city in just over a month, after the crash of a residential complex in suburban Ghatkopar on July 25, which left 17 people dead. The body of Dr Deepak Amarapurkar a renowned gastroenterologist of Bombay Hospital who had gone missing after Tuesday's heavy downpour has been found near the seashore at Worli, ANI reported. Quoting eyewitness records, the police said that Amarapurkar fell into a manhole in a flooded street in Lower Parel on Tuesday. #MumbaiRains: Body of Dr Deepak Amrapurkar who had fallen in manhole on August 29 has been found at seashore at Worli. ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 Amarapurkar was on his way home to Ameya Cooperative Housing Society on Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, when he found himself stuck in traffic. The gastroenterologist told his driver he would walk the rest of the distance home as it was a short journey. Members of his family, worried that the doctor hadn't returned, showed his photograph to people along his route home. A few had said he had fallen into a manhole. His umbrella, that was found near a manhole which was searched, offered the only indication that he was at that location. BMC officials told Firstpost that divers will attempt to trace an underground route from the manhole to a large storm water drain in Worli. He spoke last with his wife on Tuesday night, and he told her he would be home in ten minutes but had not turned up. "According to some eyewitnesses Amrapurkar fell into a manhole and police recovered his umbrella from near it," Sunil Deshmukh, assistant commissioner of police, Dadar division told PTI. After torrential rain swamped large parts of the country's financial capital, paralysing road, rail and air services, life began returning to normal slowly with stranded people finally heading home. With inputs from PTI As heavy rains virtually clogged Mumbai on Tuesday, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) also known as BMC, faced citizen's ire for "shoddy" civic work, which was responsible for submergence of rail tracks and streets. As of Thursday, the death toll due to the deluge in and around Mumbai has risen to 14, according to India Today. According to The Quint report, Mumbais British-era drainage system, which is unfit to handle heavy rains, made the situation worse. "We had recommended that for planning the drainage system in urban areas, watershed (catchment) should be the unit of planning rather than administrative boundaries," The Quint quoted Kapil Gupta, an urban flooding expert as saying. The 331.4 mm rainfall on Tuesday, the heaviest since the 26 July, 2005 record of 944 mm, wreaked havoc in the city. Among other issues, desilting of nullahs is most talked about though the BMC claims it had cleaned them ahead of the monsoon and spent crores for the purpose. IITian Shirish Sukhtame, a former president of the Practicing Engineers Architects and Town Planers Association, on Monday said each nullah in the city has become an "underground dumping station". He alleged that corruption in desilting work was the root cause of the problems like water-logging and flooding of the rail tracks. "I fail to understand why desilting of drains has to be an annual affair? Why can't they be cleaned and desilted by the BMC regularly? Their cleaning happens only once a year, and that too before the monsoon. Nobody knows how much silt is removed and where is it dumped. Desilting has become only an eyewash, thanks to the deep rooted corruption prevailing in the system," he alleged. A research paper in International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications titled as "Mumbai Floods, Reasons and Solutions" lists 'faltering drainage system' as one of the eight reasons for floods in Mumbai. "Mumbais existing storm water drainage system has largely contributed in the inundation of the city. The citys storm water drainage system is basically a complicated system of simple drains and rivers, creeks, drains and ponds," says the research paper. According to The Times of India report, to deal to with Mumbai's frequent flooding, the long-term solution will be to reduce the catchment area of Mithi river, which is the most important component of the drainage network. The roadside drains and the nullah system, which flow several kilometres through congested localities before discharging into the sea, also make drainage impossible, says The Indian Express report. The Maharashtra government and the BMC spent around to Rs 2,200 crore since 2006 for the upgradation of gravity-based drainage network, however, according to The Indian Express report, the project is nowhere near complete. Experts, The Financial Express says, suggest that widening and deepening of drains, ban on plastic bags and removal of encroachments along the banks of Mithi river are some of the solution that could ease, if not solve altogether, Mumbai's Monsoon woes. With inputs from PTI Mumbai: Facing flak for delaying the results, the Mumbai University Thursday informed the Bombay High court that it is now "striving" to complete the assessment of answer-sheets and upload all results of undergraduate exams on its website by 6 September. This is the sixth time that the varsity has pushed the result announcement date after missing the initial 31 July deadline. Varsity's counsel Rui Rodrigues told the court that the "Ganpati festival and Tuesday's deluge" in the megapolis set its assessment process back by a further couple of days. A bench of Justices Anoop V Mohta and Bharati Dangre directed the state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell to extend the deadline for applying to the university's three years law courses to 6 September. Rodrigues said the university had completed the assessment and declared results for all the three and five year LLB courses. He said of the "153 exams conducted for various Arts courses, results for 151 had been declared, of the 47 exams for various courses offered for the BSc degree, results for 43 had been declared, and for the 50 exams conducted for BCom courses, results for 30 exams had been declared." However, the university is yet to upload these results on its website. "The heavy rains on Tuesday resulted in power outages and disrupted internet connectivity because of which our server crashed, and the results could not be uploaded. However, we have outsourced the work to another server and results should be declared by this (Thursday) evening," Rodrigues said. "We have also decided to send the complete gazette or broadsheet containing the marks for all students to respective colleges so that they can check their marks from the college bulletin boards," he said. There was further delay as many teachers took some days off from work to participate in the Ganpati festival. However, they are coming back now, and the authorities are trying to declare the pending results at the earliest, Rodrigues said while urging the court to refrain from passing any orders till 6 September. The CET cell had earlier extended its 31 August deadline to 5 September; on Thursday, its counsel told the court that any "further extension of the deadline will be difficult". The court, however, said that the cell must "keep in mind the interest of the students who had to suffer for no fault of theirs" and directed it to extend the deadline for applying to the University's three years law courses to 6 September. "Several students are unable to secure admissions to law colleges of their choice in the absence of their undergraduate marksheets. You must consider their helplessness. "Besides, your (CET) deadline always rests on the foundation that the university will declare its results by a given date. If that very date is not fixed, then how can you fix a deadline?" the bench said. The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging a special SIT court's order in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case of massacre of 97 people in which a former minister in the then Narendra Modi government was sentenced to 28 years in jail. A division bench of the court comprising Justices Harsha Devani and A S Supehiya reserved the order after hearing the rival parties. It also heard the petition filed by the Special Investigation Team which has challenged the acquittal of 29 accused in the case by the SIT court on 30 August, 2012. Maya Kodnani, a senior BJP leader and former minister, was awarded 28 years imprisonment, while former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi was ordered to spend his entire life behind bars. Kodnani's lawyer Hardik Dave said that the high court also reserved its order on her application seeking to summon BJP chief Amit Shah and seven others, including a former party MLA Amrish Patel, as additional witnesses. The bench had also visited the scene of the riots to understand the topography of the place where 97 people, mostly from the minority community, were slain in one of the worst massacres after the Godhra train burning incident of 27 February, 2002 in which 59 kar sevaks were killed, plunging Gujarat into a spiral of violence that left over 1,000 people dead. Kodnani, currently out on bail, was handed down 28 years imprisonment 18 years life imprisonment after serving 10 years under section 326 of IPC (voluntary causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) with the court calling her the "kingpin" of the crime. Seven other accused were given enhanced life imprisonment of 21 years after first serving 10 years under IPC section 326. The remaining 23 accused were given simple life imprisonment of 14 years. The court had also acquitted 29 accused for want of evidence, which the SIT has challenged. In the past, a number of High Court judges including Justices Akil Kureshi, M R Shah, K S Jhaveri, G B Shah, Sonia Gokani and R H Shukla had recused themselves from the case. In April 2015, the Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings after the SIT complained that high court judge R R Tripathi was expeditiously hearing only the appeal of Kodnani. Since taking charge, the Narendra Modi government has been attempting to promote its ideology and itself through textbooks. Having faced flak for trying to saffronise the syllabus initially, the Centre is now trying to include the positive aspects of its flagship programmes in textbooks. The Indian Express reported on Thursday that Narendra Modi-led Centre government's pet projects like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan, Digital India campaign and demonetisation are likely to be included in NCERT textbooks for the next academic session. NCERT, which advises the Centre on school education, is in the final lap of identifying changes to its textbooks. This instance is not the first time when the Modi government has tried to bring in changes in books to glorify its schemes. The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education's (RBSE) new Class X and XII textbooks have already conformed to the idea of spreading the importance of central government's schemes by teaching them to children, as The Wire reported. Some of the questions in the RBSE books are: Who gave the slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas? Name four development programmes of the Modi government What was the reason behind implementing demonetisation? During his Nepal visit, how did Modi assure Nepal? The new plan for NCERT includes updating the mathematics textbooks for primary classes with images of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. Demonetisation, in its entirety, will be included in the class 10th textbook, The Indian Express report states. The guidelines issued by NCERT for state-level exhibition for children and the national-level Jawaharlal Nehru exhibition said in bold letters that recent initiatives by Government of India like Skill India, Smart City, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Digital India, Swachh Bharat are some of the steps to achieve sustainable development. In Rajasthan, the social science textbooks already include chapters on demonetisation, Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 2014 General Elections and even the prime minister's foreign visits. The content of the textbooks were so framed that it left the students with no space to raise questions about the Modi government or its schemes. Professor Rajiv Gupta of Rajasthan University told The Wire that the Vasundhara Raje government started indulging itself in propagating Hindutva ideology through changes in textbooks after Modi won the 16th Lok Sabha election. He further said that the initiatives mentioned in the textbooks highlight only positive aspects, lacking any critical assessment. The general awareness section in the civil services examination in 2016 focused heavily on Central government schemes, The Hindu reported. The traditional areas of geography, history and polity were ignored to include almost 50 percent questions on government schemes. Furthering with the agenda of revamping textbooks, historians from Indian Council of Historical Research and elsewhere had perused textbooks in an attempt to "correct the errors" in NCERT textbooks introduced by UPA. They suggested that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's role in history be included in the syllabus. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the RSS sees rewriting of history as crucial because ideologies legitimise their present on the basis of the past. The RSS affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, headed by Dinanath Batra, also sent a list of recommendations to NCERT. "Several things (in these books) are baseless, biased. The history of valour, of great personalities like Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Vivekananda and Subhas Chandra Bose find no place," The Indian Express quoted Atul Kothari, secretary of Nyas, as saying. Batra had also announced that "NCERT textbooks will be rewritten according to the aim and objects of the nation so that it inculcates feeling of patriotism among children." This tinkering with textbooks is a major plan that the NDA has been formulating since coming to power. As Firstpost had reported, former HRD minister Smriti Irani opened her account by announcing plans to give a "Hindu perspective" to school curriculum. Irani's attempts were being viewed as an attempt by the government to push through the RSS educational revamp agenda. Modi government's attempts are not surprising or even new. They follow the moves by its predecessors, as The Indian Express reported that rewriting textbooks is an old priority of the Hindu nationalist movement. In the 1990s, the BJP succeeded in changing parts of textbooks in the state they formed a government. After Keshubhai Patel took over as chief minister of Gujarat, in class IX textbooks, Muslims, Christians and Parsis were presented as "foreigners". Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over alleged "ceasefire violations" by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) which resulted in the killing of a civilian. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Dr. Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, the foreign office said. It claimed that a 55-year-old man was killed in Kotera Sector on 29 August in alleged firing by Indian forces. "Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations," it said. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," the foreign office said. The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace along the LoC. He also called on the Indian side to allow the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. The foreign office also accused India of committing more than 700 ceasefire violations this year which resulted in the killing of 29 Pakistani civilians. India on Thursday called for a peaceful, stable and secure Indian Ocean with its waters free of any traditional and non-traditional threats. Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day Second Indian Ocean Conference in Colombo, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Ocean is one of the most critical maritime transportation links in the world. Here is the full text of her speech at the inaugural session of the two-day conference: Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister, Sri Lanka Mr Vincent Meriton, Vice President Seychelles Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to be here today for the second Indian Ocean Conference. I was unable to attend the first conference last year, and was therefore looking forward to be amidst you today. Let me begin by thanking India Foundation for organising the Conference. I also take this opportunity to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for hosting the Conference and extending all support. There can perhaps be no more idyllic a location for a discussion on the Indian Ocean than here in Sri Lanka, standing as it does at the confluence of the waters of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Over the millenia, the Indian Ocean and the monsoons have not only shaped the destiny of our countries but have enriched our cultures with shared epics, such as the Ramayana. Excellencies, India is, and has always been, a maritime nation. It is home to some of the oldest seaports in the world and historically has had extensive maritime links with Africa, Gulf, Mediterranean, South East Asia and the Far East. The waters of the Indian Ocean have not only carried commerce but have borne Indias culture, religion, and ideas far and wide. Indias location at the very centre of the Indian Ocean has linked us with other cultures, shaped our maritime trade routes, and influenced our strategic thought. Today, the Indian Ocean is the one of busiest and most critical maritime transportation links in the world. Almost a hundred thousand ships a year pass through these waters, carrying about half of the worlds container shipments, one-third of the worlds bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the oil shipments. The fact that three quarters of this traffic is headed for destinations beyond the region underlines the fact that the Indian Ocean is of vital importance well beyond the shores of the littoral states. The economies of many of the littoral countries depend heavily on the ports, the shipping, and most importantly, the vast natural resources that enrich these waters with an abundance of marine life. For India, of course, the Indian Ocean is of vital importance we have an extensive coastline of 7,500 km and several hundred islands between Lakshadweep in the west and the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the east. Our southernmost tip is just 90 nautical miles from Indonesia. Our Exclusive Economic Zone is 2.4 million square kilometres and 90 percent of our trade by volume and almost all of our oil imports come through the sea. Clearly, it is but natural that Indias role as the key pivot in the Indian Ocean region is a given, not only geographically but by virtue of a shared historical and cultural heritage that binds us all across these waters. Our vision for the Indian Ocean Region, therefore, is to preserve its organic unity while advancing cooperation. We will use our capabilities for the collective well being, and the mutual benefit of our maritime neighbours and island states in building their capabilities. As we envisage the Indian Ocean as an engine for growth and prosperity in our region and beyond, it is of utmost importance that these waters remain safe and secure. We consider it an imperative that those who live in this region bear the primary responsibility for the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indian Ocean. Excellencies, This vision was enunciated by Prime Minister Modi in March 2015 when he put forward the concept of SAGAR "Security and Growth for All in the Region. This is a clear, high-level articulation of Indias vision for the Indian Ocean. SAGAR has distinct but inter-related elements and underscore Indias engagement in the Indian Ocean. These are enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories & interests; deepening economic and security cooperation in the littoral; promoting collective action to deal with natural disasters and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism and emergent non-state actors; working towards sustainable regional development through enhanced collaboration; and, engaging with countries beyond our shores with the aim of building greater trust and promoting respect for maritime rules, norms and peaceful resolution of disputes. The principles enshrined in SAGAR provide us with a coherent framework to address some of the challenges relating to economic revival, connectivity, security, culture and identity, and Indias own evolving approach to these issues. The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment, and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas, including food, medicines and clean energy. A related aspect is the emergence of the Blue Economy as a promising new pillar of prosperity in the region, with immense economic and employment potential. We are already engaging our neighbours in Blue Economy initiatives, particularly in the areas of marine bio-technology, exploration and sustainable exploitation of ocean mineral resources, sustainable fishing practices, and harnessing of ocean energy. In India, we are implementing targeted programmes for re-energising economic activity in our islands and our coastal areas. There is also a renewed focus on strengthening marine research, developing eco-friendly marine industrial technologies, promoting sustainable fisheries and, ensuring the protection of the maritime environment. We remain committed to extending port connectivity among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean and beyond. This is the objective behind the Sagarmala initiative, which aims to establish new ports and modernise old ones. It is only natural, therefore, that connectivity is one of the major themes of Prime Minister Modis Neighbourhood First policy. We continue to work on a range of projects to improve maritime logistics in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. Our other initiatives include the Kaladan transport project leading to Sittwe port in Myanmar; the Trilateral Highway to Thailand; and, the Chabahar port project in Iran. But most of all, for the Indian Ocean economic revival to be sustainable, the waters must not only be better connected but they should remain free from non-traditional and traditional threats that could impede the seamless movement of goods, people and ideas. Security is fundamental to the SAGAR vision. If the revitalized maritime economy of the Indian Ocean region is to be a force for global economic growth in the coming years, it is essential that the waters remain peaceful, stable and secure. It is imperative too, that all stake holders abide by a rules-based global order. The Indian Ocean is prone to non-traditional security threats like piracy, smuggling, maritime terrorism, illegal fishing, and trafficking of humans and narcotics. We realize that to effectively combat transnational security challenges across the Indian Ocean, including those posed by non-state actors, it is important to develop a security architecture that strengthens the culture of cooperation and collective action. The success of maritime cooperative action against piracy in the Gulf of Aden is an example of the benefits of a cooperative approach which resulted in a dramatic decline in piracy incidents in the region. India is prepared to bear its share of responsibility in this regard. Our response to security challenges in the Indian Ocean will be based on our national capabilities, complemented by participation in relevant regional platforms. We are founding member of the Contact Group on Piracy and have actively participated in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa; and, undertaken joint EEZ patrols off the waters of Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius. Excellencies, An effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters is perhaps the most visible element of the evolving Indian Ocean security strategy. In recent years, India has promptly responded to humanitarian crisis, whether man-made or natural, in its neighbourhood. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) form an important part of our outreach efforts. Indian ships were involved in the safe evacuation of over 2,000 Indian expatriates and over 1,300 foreign nationals from Yemen in April 2015. We carried out rescue missions in Libya, Lebanon and Somalia. India has been the the "first responder to calls of assistance providing relief supplies and medical assistance to flood ravaged peoples of Sri Lanka in June 2017 or to rescuing Bangladeshis swept off the coast due to cyclone Mora or to alleviating the acute drinking water crisis in Maldives in 2014 when we airlifted 1,000 tonnes of fresh water to Male. India also despatched cyclone relief materials to Fiji in February 2016. Excellencies, Over the next couple of days, this forum will provide an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the economic and strategic importance of the Indian Ocean. I am sure my friends on the dais will agree that an understanding of the myriad synergies that bring this region together and connect it to the world beyond is not just an academic exercise, but an imperative if we are to succeed in evolving a meaningful cooperative strategy for ensuring peace, progress and prosperity in this region. This underlies Indias own approach to its maritime neighborhood we see the Indian Ocean as not just a water body, but a global stage for continued economic, social, and cultural dialogue. Thank you. The entire text has been taken exactly as posted by the official website of the Ministry of External Affairs and has not been edited by Firstpost. The Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi on Thursday acquitted five people involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, while it sentenced two people to prison. The court also declared former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf absconder in the case, ANI reported. 5 acquitted, 2 sentenced to prison & Pervez Musharraf declared absconder in Benazir Bhutto assassination case: Pakistan Media ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 The court also sentenced former Rawalpindi Central Police Office Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad to 17 years each in jail, the news.com.pk reported. Both the police officials were arrested from the courtroom, according to a report from IANS. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge Asghar Ali Khan reserved the verdict on Wednesday after conducting day-to-day proceedings in the case, reported Dawn. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned prosecution evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation of the former chief of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a cleric in which he had congratulated five terrorists on carrying out the successful attack on Bhutto. In November 2008, an ATC indicted Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul for killing, hatching a criminal conspiracy to kill, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terrorism. In the attack, 22 people, including the former prime minister, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving after attending an election rally. As the defence and prosecution completed their arguments on Wednesday, ATC Rawalpindi Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan reserved verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, which was announced on Thursday. In the case, Musharraf was accused of conspiring to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule. After the verdict, the court will then resume trial against Musharraf after his return to Pakistan. Bhutto, who was the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief and a two-time prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally on 27 December, 2007. With inputs from agencies A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court, in Justice KS Puttaswamy (RETD) vs Union of India and Ors (WP (C) 494/2012) unanimously upheld the right to privacy as a fundamental right, stating that privacy is essential to life and personal liberty, and is secured by the framework of rights under the Constitution. It states that the right to privacy, like other fundamental rights, can only be transgressed upon if there is pervasive and reasonable state interest. This unanimous decision on privacy overrules two famous cases MP Sharma vs Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh vs State of Punjab with regard to their observations on privacy and has accepted Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis definition of privacy from the 1890 Harvard Law Journal. They defined privacy as the right to be left alone. The bench also stated that it disagreed with the Supreme Courts decision in Naz Foundation, that upheld the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Justice Chandrachud stated with clarity: [...] 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. This view of the bench has been heralded as a progressive and significant part of the judgment, but this brings us to a distressing point: Is the right to privacy the same for everyone or is it a varied right, depending on the specific characteristic of the class, community or individual who is fighting for such right? The reason why we must force ourselves to consider this is because only earlier this month, a bench of the Supreme Court, comprising former Chief Justice Khehar and Justice Chandrachud, was also examining the Hadiya case, wherein the Kerala High Court nullified the marriage of an adult woman, who converted to Islam, with a Muslim man, on account of a habeas corpus petition filed by her father. Earlier this month, the same bench had ordered a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe to investigate if a larger conspiracy exists where terror groups proselytise Hindu women in order to radicalise them. The bench had not yet heard Hadiyas side of the story, and proceeds in the case with a deep sense of misguided protectionism. The Kerala High Court has stated that a girl aged 24 years is weak and vulnerable, capable of being exploited in many ways and has assumed a parens patriae jurisdiction over her. The Supreme Court bench has not offered a different view on the matter; in fact, throughout the order, it refers to Akhila (Hadiya) as the girl or the concerned girl. The fact that it still has not summoned her to the court, and has decided about her fate without consulting her shows that the judiciary is not particularly bothered about her side of the matter. This, therefore, begs the question of the right to privacy in a marriage of two consenting adults. Both Chief Justice Khehar as well as Justice Chandrachud are effectively for the right of the LGBTQI community to be left alone that there was a right to personal liberty, dignity and privacy that protected the communitys choices within the four walls of the house. However, in the case of Hadiya, why dont they decide on the basis of the same rationale? Hadiya is an adult woman, who converted to another religion on her own accord and took to an interfaith marriage with a man she subsequently fell in love with. There is no larger political narrative in the decisions she made, and therefore, must be accorded the same right to privacy that the Supreme Court believes is a fundamental right. By ignoring Hadiya and her husbands zone of privacy and handing over the investigation to the NIA probe, the Supreme Court devalues Hadiyas freedom of choices, her agency and her autonomy as a woman. By invalidating her marriage to Shafin Jahan, the judiciary opines that a woman deserves no privacy to make her own decisions. By handing her over to her fathers custody, the judiciary indicates that it has no duty to respect the constitutional values embodied in the dignity and autonomy of an adult woman. These are dangerous precedents. The curtailing of the right to privacy of Hadiya by the courts and nullifying her marriage on account of love jihad is problematic. It indicates that one of the highest institutions of the country, the judiciary, does not believe in the constitutional morality of the right to privacy when it comes to women. The judiciarys present position is that the LGBTQI community deserves the right to privacy and dignity, while Hadiya and Jahans marriage does not. It perhaps believes that community rights are more significant than individual rights which again sends out a wrong message to the rest of the country. At this point, the Supreme Court should consider the narrative of privacy and dignity is Hadiyas matter, before it further succumbs to patriarchal values. A local court in Bihar has declared Rocky Yadav guilty in the Aditya Sachdeva murder case. Rocky shot at and killed 19-year-old Class XII student Aditya on the night of 7 May last year after the latter overtook his Land Rover SUV near Gaya. He is due to be sentenced on 6 September. Additional district judge Sachhidanand Singh held him guilty under Section 302 of CRPC. He surrendered in a local court on 29 October last year, a day after the Supreme Court stayed the Patna High Court order granting him bail in the case. The Supreme Court had directed that the trial be completed by 11 September this year. He was granted bail by the high court on 19 October, 2016, but the state government moved in the apex court which turned down the high court's order. After receiving his Class XII examination results, Aditya and his friends went to Bodhgaya for a picnic. While returning from there, he overtook Rocky's SUV near police line. Rocky fired from behind hitting Aditya, who was sitting in the rear seat of the Swift Dzire, the car in which they were travelling. His friend Nasir was behind the wheel and drove him to Anugrah Narain Hospital where the doctors declared Aditya brought dead. Rocky and his associates fled the scene soon after the shooting. The police arrested Rocky, his cousin Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar, the bodyguard of MLC Manorama Devi. Rocky is the son of Janata Dal (United) MLC Manorama Devi and local strongman Bindi Yadav. Manorama was suspended from the party after the incident. However, she was absconding when the incident was reported. She was booked under the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 for allegedly storing liquor bottles in her house despite prohibition in the state. Her husband Bindeshwar Prasad Yadav alias Bindi Yadav was also sent to jail in connection with Aditya's murder, but was released on bail later. New Delhi: A day after the RBI revealed that 99 percent of the scrapped currency notes came back into the system post-demonetisation, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday called the note ban a "money laundering exercise" and demanded that the government bring a "black paper" on the issue. "All of the (demonetisation) exercise's stated objectives have failed. Normally, we ask for a white paper on such issues but since Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is fight against black money, I think the government should bring a black paper on this," Yechury said. He asked whether the real motive of demonetisation was to save the banks reeling under the burden of more than Rs 11 lakh crore of unpaid debts by big corporates from collapsing. Modi had on 8 November last year announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to fight black money. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India, in its annual report, said that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore scrapped currency has come back after demonetisation. "Reportedly, more than 100 percent of demonetised currency is coming back after Bhutanese, Nepalese and Co-op banks' currency is taken in. This shows it was a very, very successful money laundering scheme," Yechury said. He said there was no mention of digitisation on 8 November 2016, but as the economy crashed, the government went out of its way to help "certain selected private companies" under the mask of digitisation. "The prime minister himself featured in a full-page advertisement of a private company (Paytm). Why? Clearly to give a profit bonanza to international and domestic players," he alleged, adding that huge public money was wasted in full-page advertisements. He said that the informal sector has crashed and as per data the sector, which employs more than two-thirds of country's workforce, has collapsed due to demonetisation. "Lives, livelihoods and jobs have been decimated. This government is responsible for this.Why were people imposed with a burden of printing new notes costing Rs 8,000 crore and ATM recalibration cost of over Rs 35,000 crore in addition to the loss of economic activity estimated by the CMIE and others to the tune of Rs 1,50,000 crore?" he asked. Yechury said that the government "must fix accountability for this disaster and punish those responsible". Rameswaram: Seventy-six Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, were on Thursday ordered to be released by a Lankan court, police officials said in Rameswaram. The Oorkavalthurai court set free the fishermen, lodged in a Jaffna jail following their arrest in separate incidents over three months this year, they said. Among those ordered to be released were 12 fishermen from Rameswaram, six from Mandapam, 46 from Pudukottai and eight from Nagapattinam. Rameswaram Fishermen's Association President S Emirit said the fishermen are expected to reach Karaikal in a day or two. Their release came on a day when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from Thursday. Fishermen Association sources said four fishermen are still lodged in Jaffna jail. Meanwhile, eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents on Thursday for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. A 12-year-old schoolgirl in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district killed herself after allegedly being shouted at for staining her uniform and bench with menstrual blood. The class VII student of Joseph Matriculation School in Palayamkottai, jumped off a 25-foot building, leaving behind a note that claimed she had been tortured by her teacher, NDTV reported. According to the victim's mother, her daughter got her period during the teacher's lecture. Having attained puberty just two months ago, she was unprepared for the situation, reported The News Minute. After her classmates pointed out that her bench and uniform had menstrual blood on them, the victim asked her teacher for permission to go to the restroom. Instead, the teacher yelled at her before her classmates and told her to leave the room, reported India Today. The girls ordeal, however, was not over as she was taken to the Principal's cabin, where she was mocked and scolded for not knowing how to handle herself during menstrual cycles and given an alleged disciplinary lecture for staining her uniform, reported Times Now. In the suicide note accessed by The News Minute, she said: "Did I ever get reported when I was in Class VI? Then why is my Class VII teacher complaining about me? What mistake have I done that they're torturing me like this? I dont have any option. I must die." After her suicide, an enraged group of people including parents protested in front of the school, reported Outlook India. Police has registered a case of abetment to suicide (IPC section 306), though no arrests have been made yet, reported NDTV. However, The New Indian Express reported that as per the police, the girl committed suicide because of frequent scolding by the teacher for her poor academic performance. The report quoted Inspector Periyasamy of Palayamkottai police station who is the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case as saying, "We spoke to 11 girl students from Class VII to know more about the alleged menstruation incident. However, neither of them mentioned it. Since the victim had claimed that her teacher was torturing her, we have altered the case from suicide to abetment of suicide." Shocking as it may be, this is not an isolated incident. In March this year, a warden of a residential government school in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district was so angered over a few blood stains left on the toilet seat, that he stripped 70 girls naked to check if they were menstruating. The warden was suspended after a massive outrage. According to an Indiaspend article, in rural India, 23 percent of girls have listed menstruation as the chief reason for dropping out of school. Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners in the triple talaq case, claimed on Thursday that her children had been kidnapped. According to Times Now, she has reached Golabari Police Station in Howrah, West Bengal to register a complaint about the alleged kidnapping of her 13-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son. Ishrat told ANI that she last saw her children at 11.15 am on Thursday. She also accused her brother and his wife of the kidnapping. She had written to the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday, seeking security for herself and her children after allegedly facing threats from her in-laws and the neighbours, following the Supreme Court verdict against triple talaq. "Ishrat and her children are being subjected to abuses and threats by her neighbours and some of her in-laws who also stay at Pilkhana in Howrah, the same locality where she lives with her children," Ishrat's legal advisor Nazia Elahi Khan, had said. "I have written a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking protection for me and my children," Ishrat had told PTI adding that copies of the letter have also been forwarded to the Howrah City Police Commissionerate and the local Golabari police station. According to NDTV, Ishrat's in-laws and neighbours were calling her a "gandi aurat" (bad woman) for challenging Islamic laws. "I'm being subjected to abuse ever since the judgment was passed. I'm being accused of being a bad person...Does someone become a bad person if she speaks for her rights?" Ishrat had asked on Friday. Ishrat's husband had divorced her over the phone from Dubai in 2014 by uttering 'talaq' thrice, a practice that was struck down by the Supreme Court on 22 August. Following this incident, Ishrat challenged the Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala, which lead to the historic triple talaq verdict. According to ANI, police have traced the Ishrat's children. The Officer in-charge Golabari PS said that Ishrat's husband took both kids to a relative's place in Bardhaman this morning. Howrah city police commissioner DP Singh added, "The children said they were with their father on their own volition." With inputs from PTI Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's flood woes continued as the toll rose to 104 with one more death, while over 28 lakh people are affected as raging waters of the rivers emanating from Nepal caused havoc in vast swathes of land. Citing a report compiled till Wednesday, the relief commissioner's office in Lucknow said around three lakh people have taken shelter in relief camps in the affected districts of eastern parts of the state. "The death toll in the floods has reached 104 in the state, where 3,097 villages in 24 districts are inundated affecting a population of over 28 lakh", it said. Army choppers, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and PAC (flood) personnel continued relief and rescue operations round the clock in the severely affected areas of the flood-hit districts of the state. Release of water in the rivers emanating from Nepal and incessant rains impeded rescue work, they said. Twenty-eight companies of NDRF, 32 companies of PAC (flood) along with two choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and several army personnel were working round the clock to save lives and properties in the affected areas. A Central Water Commission report said that the Sharda river was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan and near the danger mark at Shardanagar while the Ghaghra river was flowing above the red mark at Turtipar in Ballia. The Rapti river was also flowing well above the red mark at Rigauli and Birdghat in Gorakhpur, while the Quano river was flowing above danger mark at Chandradeep Ghat in Gonda, it said. New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed some northern states to submit an action plan on rejuvenation and restoration of the stretch of river Yamuna falling beyond the national capital. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to file a complete report in this regard. "We direct that all the concerned state governments shall file action plan without default by 4 September in terms of our order in relation to the stretch of river Yamuna beyond NCT, Delhi upto Allahabad Sangam. The NCT, Delhi and Delhi Jal Board shall file complete action plan with regard to the Phase-II stretch, falling in NCT Delhi. "The States of Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh will file complete and comprehensive report in terms of the order...," the bench said. The tribunal also directed the AAP government and Delhi Jal Board to submit an affidavit on the progress of the Phase-I of the Yamuna cleaning project. While the Phase-I of Yamuna cleaning project aims to bring down pollution levels in the Najafgarh and Delhi Gate drains, Phase-II deals with Shahdara, Barapullah and other drains. The matter was fixed for hearing on 15 September. The green panel had earlier said that pollution in the Yamuna was of serious concern as it was highly contaminated by industrial effluents and sewage. It had also asked Haryana and Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board to jointly conduct a study of water quality and the flow of Yamuna at the point where it enters Haryana and submit the list of industries located on the catchment area of the river. The tribunal had earlier banned open defecation and dumping of waste on the floodplains of the Yamuna and announced an environment compensation of Rs 5,000 for those who violated the order. It had also constituted a committee headed by the Delhi Jal Board CEO to oversee the execution of work pertaining to the cleaning of the river and asked it to submit reports at regular intervals. The green panel had noted that almost 67 per cent of the pollution reaching the Yamuna would be treated by the two sewage treatment plants (STP) located at Delhi Gate and Najafgarh under the first phase of the 'Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project 2017'. The NGT was hearing a plea on the monitoring of implementation of the 'Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project 2017'. Few assembly by-elections in recent years have seen as much political cussedness, pathos, name-calling and strategising as the one in Nandyal, which the Telugu Desam wrested from YSR Congress. This jogs my memoriesnot very happy onesof the November 1991 by-election in Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh which sent PV Narasimha Rao to the Lok Sabha after he became the Prime Minister. I was there for a month to cover that election, in which crude bombs and AK-47s played as much role as the saris and dhotis that were distributed to the poor. I got a taste of the shenanigans that passed off as election campaign only minutes after I checked into a lodge in the town one afternoon. When I opened the window, I found myself looking at a bunch of lungi-clad men carrying AK-47s in the backyard of a guesthouse. I was told they were Congress workers. After speaking to the police, political busybodies and others, I wrote a report on Congressmen going around with AK-47s in Nandyal to ensure Raos victory. Then as advised by political and police friends for my own security, I changed my hotel. There was never a doubt that Rao would have a cakewalk in Nandyal. After Telugu Desam announced it was staying away from contest, it was a virtual one-horse race with only a BJP candidate and three Independents left in field. But the Congress didnt take risks. A party leader told me they wanted nothing less than the biggest winning margin in the countrys electoral history for the Prime Minister. In the end, Rao won with a whopping margin of 5.8 lakh votes by polling 89.5 per cent of the votes. To accomplish the goal, the party used a carrot-and-stick policy. But the problem was that for each carrot there were a hundred sticks. While freebies and cash flowed like water, Congress goons stormed into villages and thrashed people who they suspected might not vote for Rao. An accomplished polyglot, Rao maintained a sphinx-like silence about these atrocities in all the 17 languages he knew. And when there was tension in a place called Allagadda, I travelled through the region in the car of a police officer. We heard a loud explosion behind us when we entered a village road. I turned back to see smoke billowing from a hut. Dont you want to stop and investigate? I asked the officer. Oh, no, he said, dismissing my question with a wave of hand, as if I asked if it was raining. Somebody must be making a bomb, and it must have gone off accidentally. Its pretty common here. I learnt later that the villagers in the region made crude bombs with the same ease as they made jowar roti and brinjal chutney. I wrote a report on all this, and changed my hotel. The next day, I went over to the Collectors office in Kurnool to see what sort of a Returning Officer there was for this VIP election. As I approached the gate, I saw a mad scuffle going on there. A dozen stocky men with bodies that wrestlers would be proud of were beating a couple of emasculated, middle-aged men black and blue, as policemen stood, along with a crowd of passersby, as silent spectators. I watched in horror as the goons caught the hapless men by the scruffs of their necks, and tossed them into a truck as if they were sacks of potatoes. I learnt that the ruffians were Congress workers who were stopping Independent candidates from filing their nominations. Under Section 52 of the Representation of People Act1951, as it was in force then, the death of any candidate, even an Independent, would lead to the countermanding of an election. The Congress didnt want the deathnatural or otherwiseof candidates to jeopardise Raos election, so it was trying to remove or minimise such a possibility by stopping too many Independents from filing nominations. (As amended in 1992, Section 52 now necessitates the countermanding, only if a recognised partys candidate dies.) I went in to talk to the Returning Officer, who had apparently been watching the spectacle through the window. Action, did you say? he asked. I cant take any action, unless there is a complaint. He reminded me of the apocryphal joke about a newspaper reporter, who was soaking wet, refusing to write about the rain because the weather office was not confirming it. I wrote my report, and changed my hotel room. Flash-forward to Nandyal, 2017 In the days of cell phone cameras, viral videos and a watchful Election Commission, Nandyal is somewhat different. Guns and knives are tucked inside pockets, and are not brandished like clubs by aboriginal tribes of forests. Bombs dont go off, accidentally or otherwise, as often as they did in the past, though political murders are still common in the dog-eat-dog, feudal culture of the Rayalaseema region. The focus now is more on strategy. Months before the election day, Telugu Desam chief and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu began to pamper the Nandyal assembly constituency with developmental schemes. He divided the constituency into more than a dozen territories for easier election management. He appointed teams of legislators and ministers, allocating to them territories and responsibilities. They travelled to all nooks and corners, identifying peoples problems and solving them in double-quick time. The villages and communities that they suspected were inclined to support the YSR Congress Party were showered with favours of all kinds. And in true corporate style, a back office of sorts was at work to coordinate all efforts. If freebies and cash rained on voters in the past, they were now a torrent of flood. And worse, the outpouring of venom was nastier. The worst verbal onslaught came from YSRC leader Jaganmohan Reddy, who said there was nothing wrong if Chandrababu Naidu is shot dead in the middle of a road. Reddy paid the price for it, and his party suffered a defeat that it deserved. Yet, for Chandrababu Naidu, the huge victory in Nandyal is no guarantee for a cakewalk in the assembly elections two years from now. Despite his hard work and a methodical approach to governance, Naidu has a remarkable talent for making enemies and keeping vast sections of people unhappy. Naidu should know by now that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe to win an election in any region at any time. In politics, one plus one seldom equals two. Chennai: There is no room for family rule and graft under the AIADMK regime, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswamy on Wednesday said, apparently taking aim at jailed party chief VK Sasiakala and her deputy and nephew TTV Dhinakaran. Palaniswamy and the leaders of the unified AIADMK have been locked in a turf war with the sidelined Dhinakaran and are opposing the involvement of Sasikala's family members in the party and government affairs. "The government of Amma (Jayalalithaa) is a fort that protects the poor and there is no room for family rule," he said. His comments come amid the rebellion by 21 MLAs, loyal to Dhinakaran, who had met state Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on 22 August and expressed lack of confidence in the chief minister, a day after factions led by Palaniswamy and O Panneerselvam merged. Dhinakaran has sacked a number of ministers, including Palaniswamy, from various party posts. Addressing a government function in commemoration of the centenary of late chief minister and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran (MGR) at Vandalur on the city outskirts, Palaniswamy also said "there is no place for graft" and "anarchy" in the regime. Sasikala is serving a prison sentence after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case. The Palaniswamy-Panneerselvam regime is firm on the ouster of Sasikala and her family from AIADMK and have convened a meeting of the party's general council on 12 September where the issue is expected to be taken up. Heaping praise on MGR for the welfare measures taken up by him, Palaniswamy said "those who believe us will not be let down and we will not allow such a situation come about", recalling a yesteryears Tamil film song of the late stalwart. The function was attended by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and officials, among others. The state government is holding district-wise functions to celebrate the centenary of MGR, a matinee idol-turned-politician, who ruled the state from 1977 to 1987. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday held a "strategy session" with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, PP Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman were also present at the meet. While Jaitley is in charge of the election in Gujarat, the other ministers are the co-in charge of the polls. BJP's general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shah's residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. "The party held a strategy session to achieve the target," Yadav later told reporters. The Assembly polls are due in Gujarat later this year. Months of speculation on expansion-cum-reshuffle of the Union council of ministers could finally end on 2 September evening. At least that is what looks possible and is the only time window when Prime Minister Narendra Modi could hold this exercise if this has to be done now on priority. Suresh Prabhu's exit from the Ministry of Railways and entry of a new defence minister could be the big news of that day. Friday evening is the only time in next few days before the beginning of a fortnight-long 'Pitri or Pitru Paksha' (period for religious offering to departed elders), which is considered inauspicious by Hindus, when President Ramnath Kovind, Modi and BJP president Amit Shah would be in the national Capital. While there had been no two views in the ruling BJP circle and the political leadership in the government about the need for a last cabinet reshuffle of the Modi government, the big question was about timing and nobody, the howsoever senior, had a real idea as to when Modi (in consultation with Shah) would actually do it. The turn of events in the last few days have heightened speculations and Firstpost gathered from senior leaders in the party and the government that Cabinet reshuffle was now imminent in next few days. President Ram Nath Kovind is out of the capital on 1 September. He is going to Tirupati where besides worshipping Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, he would be attending some other programmes organised by Andhra Pradesh government including those meant for the welfare of Scheduled Caste communities. He will be returning to New Delhi on Friday afternoon. Shah will also be away from Delhi during this period to attend BJP ideological fountainhead RSSs conclave in Vrindavan. He would be accompanied by BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal. Home minister Rajnath Singh too could be there to attend the meet. They all could return to Delhi by the afternoon of 2 September. This date and time have become important because Modi will be leaving for BRICS Summit in China on 3 September. The BRICS Summit is scheduled for 3-5 September. From China, the prime minister will go to Myanmar and then return to Delhi on 7 August. Kovind too will leave Delhi on 3 September for a two-day trip to Gujarat. By the time Modi would return to Delhi "Pitru Paksha" would have begun. It is assumed that during this period an exercise like cabinet reshuffle wouldnt take place. This effectively means that the idea of cabinet reshuffle would be postponed for some time, possibly for a month till the conclusion of Dussehra and Muharram. A section of BJP leaders, thus, are optimistic about 2 September. And they have a reason for that. Modi had undertaken the last cabinet reshuffle-cum-expansion on 5 July 2016 and he had left for a five-day foreign tour to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya. Will Modi follow a similar schedule now, ie, complete a cabinet reshuffle and then leave for a foreign tour? One would know the answer in the next two days. An NDTV report said that while responding to queries from reporters on his tenure as defence minister, finance minister Arun Jaitley had quipped: "At least I hope not very long." There are some clear vacancies in the government: finance minsiter Arun Jaitley has additional charge of defence ministry, science and technology minister Harshvardhan has the additional charge of forest and environment, rural development and Panchayati raj minister Narendra Singh Tomar is also looking after urban affairs, and textile minister Smriti Irani has additional charge of the information and broadcasting ministry. The question in everyone's mind is who would Modi pick to head the defence ministry. The party has limited talent pool, something which was exemplified in the later part of 2014 when Modi had made Manohar Parrikar move to Delhi from Goa and inducted Suresh Prabhu from outside of BJPs bench strength for the railways. Prabhu's exit from the railway ministry is certain. The question is who would be given charge of the railway ministry to fulfil Modis dream. It is ironic that the replacements for both Parrikar and Prabhu would have to be taken together in the last cabinet expansion just as they were inducted together in first cabinet expansion in November 2014. Modi has another 18 months to deliver before the 2019 General Elections to Lok Sabha begins. He thus needs to weed out the dead wood from the government and infuse new blood in the cabinet. The PMO has undertaken a performance review of ministers. This cabinet reshuffle could be an occasion for Modi to give a message to the nation that he cares for performance and merit. Whispers in the power corridors suggest that the two top leaders have also accessed information collected by various wings on individual ministers' personal conduct, in office and outside. And that could spell trouble for some. Recently Modi had warned his ministers in clear words to stay away from the growing tendency to stay in a five-star hotel during their official tours and availing other perks of power extended to them by PSUs. Nitish Kumars return to NDA would mean that JD(U) will get a representation in the government. JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP RCP Sinha, a close confidant of Nitish, is almost sure to be inducted into the Cabinet. AIADMK too could become part of Modi government. Shah has finished his 100 days tour around the country. And now, he has a fair idea of whether there's pro or anti-incumbency against individual chief ministers and ministers from the state at the centre. In the last few days, he has met over half a dozen ministers at his Delhi residence and there have been a lot of speculations about what would it mean for ministers who were called for one-to-one meetings. He may go for an organisational overhaul by inducting some ministers in the organisation to work for his new 350-seat target for 2019. Then there are seven vacancies in Raj Bhawans and they need to be filled up, and several senior leaders are looking up to that. However, Thursday's appointment of Mahendra Nath Pandey, minister of state in the HRD ministry, as the state president of BJP Uttar Pradesh, indicates that the process for cabinet reshuffle-cum-expansion has already been set in motion. New Delhi: The Congress party on Thursday termed demonetisation as the "biggest scam" and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the people, saying that he had repeatedly made "false statements" on the decision to junk high-value currency. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the prime minister had made "false remarks" in his Independence Day speech about the quantum of black money that was unearthed after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped on 8 November last year. Sharma said demonetisation had led to a loss of GDP of Rs 2.25 lakh crore and the prime minister was "directly responsible". "People will accept the truth, they can also accept that a mistake has been made, but it is wrong to state repeatedly that everything done was right," he said. Sharma's remarks come after the RBI's annual report on Wednesday revealed low efficacy of the 8 November demonetisation. It said that of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore taken out of circulation, Rs 15.28 lakh crore had returned to the system by way of public deposits. He said the Attorney General had told the Supreme Court that due to demonetisation an amount of Rs 4-5 lakh crore related to terror funding will not come back to the system. "The government has not spoken the truth at every step. People have been misled, inconvenienced. This has been the biggest scam. Those who had illegal money, the government has helped them make it legal," Sharma said. New Delhi: Opposition parties on Wednesday slammed the government over note ban terming the move as 'disaster' and 'anti-national' with former finance minister P Chidambaram using Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data to lash out at the central bank saying 'Shame on RBI' as 99 percent junked currency has returned. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the move was a 'colossal disaster' that 'cost innocent lives' and 'ruined' the economy. "Will the PM own up," he asked in the tweet. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying demonetisation not only dented institutional sanctity of the RBI but also India's credibility abroad. Chidambaram questioned the Narendra Modi government on whether its demonetisation decision was designed to convert black money into white. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury launched a stinging attack on the Centre over demonetisation, saying India can 'never forgive' the Modi government for the 'anti-national act', which allegedly hit the country's economy. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said his party would move a privilege motion against RBI Governor Urjit Patel for misleading a parliamentary panel on the issue. The RBI annual report for 2016-17 on Thursday revealed that all but 1.4 percent of the scrapped Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system. "99 pc (percent) notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white?," Chidambaram said on Twitter. He also said the economists behind the demonetisation move 'deserve Nobel prize' as the RBI gained Rs 16,000 crore, but lost Rs 21,000 crore in printing new notes. "Rs 16000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 1544,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1%. Shame on RBI which recommended demonetisation. "RBI gained Rs 16000 crore, but lost Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize," he said in a series of tweets. Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said none of the objectives of demonetisation has been met. "It was an ill-thought decision which created financial anarchy in the country. Tens and millions of jobs were lost. Hardships were inflicted upon the poor people, farmers, workers and housewives of the country. Now the prime minister should explain where is that black money?," he asked. Yechury tweeted, "99.9 (percent) of the notes back in the banking system. 100s died in queues. The poor suffered the most. All this for what?. Lives and livelihoods lost, the Economy got a shock, workers lost their jobs. India can never forgive Modi govt for this anti-national act." Surjewala said demonetisation is nothing but a 'disaster' in which 104 innocent people were killed while corrupt made windfall gains. He also said that the demonetisation scam not only dented institutional sanctity of the RBI, but also credibility of India abroad and demanded an apology from the prime minister. "Demonetisation disaster stands exposed before the nation. Modi must own responsibility and apologise," he tweeted. "Utterly failed Demonetisation is nothing but a disaster in which 104 innocent people were killed while Corrupt made Windfall Gains. "Demonetisation Scam,not only dented institutional sanctity of RBI, but also credibility of India abroad. PM should apologise to the nation,"he said in a series of tweets. The government had on 8 November banned old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in an attempt to weed out black money in the country. The old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny. Surjewala also said, "Rewind: Modijis obfuscation exposed once again. On Independence Day, prime minister claimed to have unearthed Rs 3 lakh crore black money post demonetisation." The reality, he said, is that the RBI data released proves only Rs 16,000 crore out of the 15.44 lakh crore money in circulation came back and of this, Rs 9000 crore is still stuck. "Perspective: This Rs 16.000 crore is just 1 pc of the total notes demonetised," he said. In another tweet, he said, "Dr Manmohan Singh predicted that demonetisation will reduce GDP by 2 percent and it did. Only the Economy suffered due to this massive folly!" Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said, "Demonetised black money successfully laundered! Someone in government should be given Bharat Ratna for this conversion." It is amusing to see how demonetisation critics have turned the debate around it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Having set self-declared goals on behalf of the government, they are now holding the government responsible for "failing to achieve" those goals, and in turn calling the whole exercise a study in failure. The discourse around currency swap ever since RBI came out with its 2016-17 annual report on Wednesday reflects political bias more than economic logic. When it comes to political parties, this isn't surprising. It is expected of the Opposition that it would cherry pick RBI data and go ballistic on rhetoric. All political parties work on reductionist logic. On complex economic issues, even more so. Attempts are made to break down data into easily comprehensible figures and hold the rivals responsible on those. It is immaterial whether the data that forms the core of the debate makes economic sense, or not. It is a handy political narrative to flag the return of 99 percent of the devalued currency into the banking system as a "clear sign of Narendra Modi's failure". When the stated aim is political, politicians do tweak data according to their narrative and draw conclusions that are often at odds with economic logic. Political debates around demonetisation such as Trinamool Congress' accusation of it being a "huge scam", or Congress's contention that it was "done to benefit the industrialists" should be subjected to appropriate disclaimers. Even when these are made by someone like P Chidambaram. Rs 16000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 1544,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1%. Shame on RBI which 'recommended' demonetisation P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 30, 2017 RBI 'gained' Rs 16000 crore, but 'lost' Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 30, 2017 The former Union finance minister may have accidentally overlooked the page in the annual report where RBI clearly mentions that the cost of printing new currency post note ban was Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17, up from Rs 3,421 crore spent during the same period last year. Not Rs 21,000 crore! Where the demonetisation debate turns bizarre is when seemingly well-informed critics take a single data point, like return of 99 percent of devalued currency, and argue that this signifies "utter failure of the motive". This attempt to base a sweeping judgement on a sole metric is being led largely by that section of the elite upper class who suffer from a reflexive derision of Modi, and wouldn't budge from making a political point in the garb of economic prudence. Their problem with Modi is essentially a classist phenomenon. On the moral outrage against currency swap, author Manu Joseph had an interesting take in a Hindustan Times piece back in November last year. "One strand of the moral outrage against demonetisation has been led by the refined urban class that dislikes Modi. They are excited by any story that assures them that Modi has made a catastrophic mistake There is something clownish about the urban middle class. They keep whining about the state of the nation but when powerful solutions appear they reject them. They reject them because they are as corrupt and harmful as the aspects of the nation they despise." But let's return to their core argument and see how it is flawed. First, nowhere did the government make a definitive claim that a huge amount of devalued currency would never return, much less mention a ballpark figure. The closest that we come to such a figure was when the then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told Supreme Court last December that the amount of money already deposited had exceeded the government's "expectations". It is possible that the government's plan to catch the hoarders unawares which explains the absolute secrecy and suddenness of the move was foiled because it may have underestimated the extent of corruption in the network or didn't account for the jugaad of black money holders. Clearly, many of them devised newer and newer ways of pushing unaccounted wealth back into the system. At one point during the currency exchange window, it became a cat-and-mouse game between the government and the hoarders who subverted the system to deposit their cash. That there was a nexus between some bank employees and hoarders became clear when the government told the Lok Sabha in February 2017 that 208 bank employees were "under scrutiny" (197 from public sector banks and 11 from private sector) for violating norms and indulging in corruption. Many of these officials have since been suspended/ transferred/ sacked and cases have been lodged against them. Do remember, these were the ones to have been caught. There could be an argument, therefore, against the government's lack of preparedness or implementation but not its intent. Plus, the biggest flaw of the argument that cash returned equals lack of black money is that deposited money is not automatically turned into white. In fact, the bigger quantum of deposits in the bank is actually a good news because now the money will be scrutinised and the depositors who have been inducted into the system will have to answer for every penny of unaccounted money. Consider the gains. The government now has a much wider tax base. A CBDT statement clarified that 56 lakh new taxpayers have been added into the system this year, a point made by the prime minister during his 15 August address. Nearly two lakh shell companies have been identified and many have since been shut down. In a written response, Arjun Ram Meghwal told Rajya Sabha on 8 August that "after following the due process under Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013, 1,62,618 companies were removed from the register of the companies as of 12 July, 2017". Demonetisation has also squeezed the amount of currency into the system, and India's cash-to-GDP ratio now mirrors that of some of the developed economies. According to the RBI report, "at end-March 2017, currency in circulation (CIC) amounted to 8.8 per cent of GDP, down from 12.2 per cent in the previous year. At this level, Indias currency-to-GDP ratio compares well with a host of advanced and emerging market economies (such as Germany, France, Italy, Thailand and Malaysia)." Besides, as an Economic Times report points out, "Individual income tax returns jumped 25% so far in the current financial year as the authorities turned up the heat on evaders. The returns filed by individuals were 25.3% higher at 2.79 crore as of August 5, an addition of about 55 lakh from 2.23 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-2017. Growth in filing in the previous year was 9.9%." There is no doubt that demonetisation inflicted a deep shock on the economy from which India might take a few more quarters to recover. But in terms of formalisation of the economy, bringing a part of the black market into the system (which explains the 99 per cent cash return) and pushing towards a less-cash economy, demonetisation has delivered in a big way and has galloped past many stages of development. Much will also return on concomitant steps which the government is planning to take with better data analytics tools and identifying of benami transactions. In sum, it pays to read the fine print instead of indulging in echo-chamber economics. New Delhi: Former finance minister P Chidambaram today used Reserve Bank of India figures to lash out at it, saying one percent of the demonetised notes not coming back to the central bank was a "shame on RBI". He also questioned the Narendra Modi government whether its demonetisation decision was designed to convert black money into white. The Congress said government utterly failed and 104 innocent lives were lost during the exercise and demanded an apology from the prime minister. "99% notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white?," Chidambaram said on Twitter. He also said that the economists behind the demonetisation move "deserve Nobel prize" as the RBI gained Rs 16,000 crore, but lost Rs 21,000 crore in printing new notes. "Rs 16000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 15,44,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1%. Shame on RBI which recommended demonetisation. "RBI gained Rs 16000 crore, but lost Rs 21,000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize," he said in a series of tweets. All but 1.4 percent of the old Rs 1,000 notes have come back into the banking system post demonetisation, the RBI said in its annual report for 2016-17. Out of 632.6 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 currency notes in circulation, 8.9 crore have not been returned post the note ban last November, it said. The government had on 8 November, banned old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in an attempt to weed out black money in the country. The old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny. Congress in-charge of communication department Randeep Surjewala said demonetisation is nothing but a "disaster" in which 104 innocent people were killed while corrupt made windfall gains. He also said that the demonetisation scam not only dented institutional sanctity of the RBI, but also credibility of India abroad and demanded an apology from the prime minister. "Utterly failed #Demonetisation is nothing but a disaster in which 104 innocent people were killed while Corrupt made Windfall Gains. "Demonetisation Scam,not only dented institutional sanctity of RBI,but also credibility of India abroad.PM should apologise to the nation," he said in a series of tweets. He also said, "Rewind: Modijis obfuscation exposed once again. On Ind. Day, PM claimed to have unearthed Rs 3 Lakh crore black money post demonetisation." The reality, he said, is that the RBI data released today proves only Rs 16,000 crore out of the 15.44 lakh crore money in circulation came back and of this, Rs 9,000 crore is still stuck. "Perspective: This Rs 16000 crore is just 1 pc of the total notes demonetised," he said. In another tweet, Surjewala said, "Dr Manmohan Singh predicted that #Demonetisation will reduce GDP by 2% and it did. Only the Economy suffered due to this massive folly!" Chennai: Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Wednesday said a decision would soon be taken on the next course of action to ease out Chief Minister K Palaniswami from his post. Asserting that those who "betrayed" the party would not be spared, Dhinakaran, commanding the support of 21 of the 134 ruling party MLAs, said he would consult legislators in a day or two and decide the next course of action. Days after his 19 loyalist MLAs petitioned Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to oust Palaniswami, he said, "We will select a good person, somebody who does not harbour thoughts of betrayal." Stating that his faction was confident that Rao would take a good decision on the representation by MLAs seeking the chief minister's ouster, he quoted a proverb which meant that those with patience will eventually win. Speaking to reporters, he flayed Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for "betrayal," "hankering after posts" and being "self-centred". He categorically said that the feud in the party would end only if the duo are removed from their respective posts. Claiming that only 77 legislators had taken part in a recent party meet chaired by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, he said the government no more commanded majority. The meet had adopted resolutions against the Dhinakaran and the ruling faction had claimed that an overwhelming majority of MLAs had attended it. Harping on his "sleeper cell MLAs," refrain, Dhinakaran said it was not uttered for the sake of the media and reiterated that more MLAs would declare support to him 'one by one.' On the ruling faction convening the General Council and Executive Committee meetings on 12 September, he said only party general secretary VK Sasikala had the authority to do so and in her absence, himself. "If they convene the meet, it is not valid and you will realise it," he said. Earlier, several party functionaries appointed by him, including former Minister Parithi Ilam Vazhuthi who was named Organising Secretary called on Dhinakaran at his Adyar residence. Jammu: Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday hit back at National Conference working president Omar Abdullah for accusing the coalition government in the state of 'engineering communal divide'. The party said that the NC leader's "aggressive posture and acts of instigation" might lead to the division of the state. "Omar's aggressive posture and the act of instigating the people against the government through his presumption that Supreme Court would turn down Article 35A, biased policies of National Conference against Jammu and Ladakh regions may divide the people on communal and regional lines and lead to the division of the state. "If it so happens, he (Omar) and his party (NC) will be responsible for this development," BJP State spokesperson Virender Gupta said. Addressing a workers' rally at Kalakote in Rajouri district on Thursday, the former Chief Minister accused the PDP-BJP government of dividing the society on communal lines to hide their "governance deficit and administrative inertia". He had said his party would not allow the society to be divided for satiating the "nefarious agenda of communal forces". Reacting to the statement, Gupta alleged NC has a history of playing communal politics and has acquired expertise in it to grab the political power. "Right from the day of its first birth as Muslim Conference, it exploited Kashmiri Muslims against the Hindu Maharaja on communal lines and engineered 1931 riots targeting Kashmiri Pandits, resulting into their massacre and destruction of their property. "The demand of special status (Article 370) in a country, that has a secular constitution and ethos of respecting and embracing all the faiths with the belief that all leads to the same Almighty, had communal connotation," the BJP leader said. He said, "not allowing Hindu and Sikh refugees from Muzaffarabad (capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to settle in the Valley, exodus of Kashmiri Hindus and at present making their resettlement a difficult affair in the Valley, and not allowing establishment of Sainik Colony in the Valley, are the consequences of communal politics being pursued under the patronage of National Conference". "Role of Omar and his party during Shri Amarnath land row in 2008, was a clear example of divisive politics of National Conference and other Kashmiri leaders," he alleged. The BJP leader claimed that the discrimination with Jammu region, which has Hindu majority was a clear cut example of communal politics that is being played or was played by Kashmiri political leadership. The crucial talks in Kolkata on Tuesday between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of the regional parties, demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland to be carved out of the hills and parts of the plains in north Bengal, have thrown up more questions than answers. The stakeholders concerned are in for yet more bouts of political gamesmanship, even as the shutdown in the hills of Darjeeling and adjoining Kalimpong, lumbers on closing in on its twelfth week. While anxieties in the region over its political future mount with its residents left wondering whether the discussions the first between the West Bengal government and the leaders of the on-going agitation since the strike began in mid-June will facilitate any return to normalcy in the region, what is also dominating public discourse is how much credence should be given to indications of a possible re-alignment of forces behind the stir. Indications loom of fissures appearing within the leadership spearheading the statehood movement and the question being asked is how it might impact the course of the agitation. After bearing the brunt of the lockdown, something is indeed moving, but in which direction is the collective refrain. Leaders of the Hill parties find themselves in a quandary, something which has been becoming increasingly clear to both the Centre and the State government as the stir moves on from one day to the next. What was being perceived as an apparent indecisiveness among those steering the agitation and their dithering over chalking out a concrete programme regarding the future of the stir seems to viewed by Mamata as an opportune time to invite the Hill leaders to the negotiating table following overtures from the other side. Moreover, the optics were important for both the sides, perhaps more so for the Hill parties, having raised the expectations of the local people on the Gorkhaland issue. For the state government, the challenge was on how best to skirt the statehood demand in the course of the talks without betraying any signs of outright intransigence on the matter even though Mamata has not minced words rejecting it on previous occasions. And, in all fairness, she did it well. The significance of her remarks on the matter, made public shortly after the discussions, cannot be missed. In a clear attempt to placate those behind the Gorkhaland demand, she admitted the need to be "sensitive" on an issue that is "close to their hearts" and that the movement sees resurgence "every 10 to 15 years". Not only were her words an indication of her government's desperation to ensure that normalcy return to the Hills, having been guilty of gross political miscalculations that precipitated the stir in the Hills in the first place, they are also being construed as an admission that the demand cannot be "bulldozed" if her party has any hopes of renewing its efforts to position itself politically in the Hills. Mamata, in the past, has been accused of creating "divisions" within the local people by setting up development boards along ethnic lines in the region by a section of the political leadership in the Hill. They have alleged that it's part of a design to gain access in the local political firmament. Mamata's moves have been successful, having wrested one of the four Hill municipalities in the civic polls earlier this year. But subsequent developments in Darjeeling and adjoining districts which led to the agitation have come as a major setback, forcing her party to lick its wounds while an entire region has been thrown into a state of lockdown. That her party, the Trinamool Congress, is jockeying for greater prominence in a region that has long been dominated by local regional grouping has been clear for quite some time; now questions are being asked whether she is also stoking rifts within the regional political dispensation. Her being able to wrangle the required overtures and subsequently get a delegation from the principal political force in the Hills the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to attend the talks and discuss issues beyond the Gorkhaland demand, despite the diktat from its president Bimal Gurung that nothing but the statehood issue should be on the agenda, is being viewed with considerable interest in political quarters. Chief architect of the ongoing stir, Gurung, who has been slapped by the police with charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the blasts in Darjeeling and Kalimpong earlier this month, was of course, not present during the discussions. Mamata has called for yet another round of bi-partite talks at the secretariat in Siliguri in north Bengal on 12 September adding that the "process of dialogue" will continue even though she continues to be averse to discussions on the Gorkhaland demand. However, whether the GJM that has been maintaining that this time around as opposed to earlier occasions, there will be no climb-down on the statehood issue, will be affirmative in its response to future meetings awaits to be seen. Going by reports of Gurung's initial reaction to what transpired in Tuesday's talks, he is clearly not pleased. Those representing the party in the discussions might have some explaining to do. This begs the question: are the Hills in for yet another round of political uncertainty? The writer is a senior Kolkata-based journalist who hails from Darjeeling. A delegation of Opposition parties called on President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday and conveyed him to ensure that a floor test is conducted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The president was conveyed in writing that 21 MLAs had withdrawn support from the Tamil Nadu government, Congress leader Anand Sharma said, according to ANI. The delegation comprising MPs of DMK, Congress, CPI and CPM met Kovind in the wake of AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran faction withdrawing support to the chief minister. Talking to reporters after the meeting, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the issue is that of democracy in the country. Yechury said that the delegation urged the president to immediately conduct a floor test for the Edappadi Palaniswamy government. "If there is an uncertainty of numbers in any state Assembly or Parliament, the only way open is to test the majority on the floor of the House. Our demand is to immediately convene the state Assembly, let the confidence motion be put to vote and let the Assembly decide," he said. DMK MP Kanimozhi said they also told the president that it was time a full-time governor is appointed in the state that is going through a political crisis. Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao is holding additional charge of Tamil Nadu. On Wednesday, sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran had said his faction would soon take a decision on the next course of action to ease out Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy from his post. He said, "We will select a good person, somebody who does not harbour any thoughts of betrayal." Delegation of MPs from DMK along with TN opposition parties met President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/FtHSgRQil3 ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 Dhinakaran flayed Palaniswamy and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for "betrayal", "hankering after posts" and being "self-centred". He said that the feud in AIADMK would end only if the duo are removed from their respective posts. Rao had on Wednesday ruled out intervening in the crisis within AIADMK. The governor had conveyed to a delegation of Opposition parties that he could not intervene in the situation because the 19 AIADMK MLAs who had expressed lack of confidence in the chief minister were still in that party. "The issue was still within the domain of AIADMK," he had said. With inputs from IANS Shimla/New Delhi: With elections to the Himachal Pradesh assembly looming large and his battle of one-upmanship with the state party president unabating, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, a state minister said. "Virbhadra Singh met Sonia Gandhi this morning and apprised her of the current political and organisational developments in Himachal Pradesh," the minister told IANS. He said issues related to the ongoing tussle between the veteran chief minister and state Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and lack of coordination between the two also came up for discussion. Informed sources said Virbhadra Singh categorically told Sonia Gandhi that he would not take the party into the assembly elections under Sukhu's leadership. The six-time chief minister was camping along with his cabinet colleagues in New Delhi for the last three days to seek a "free hand" in the selection of candidates and the conduct of the party's election campaign ahead of assembly polls in December. The last elections to the 68-member assembly were held in November 2012. The term of the current assembly ends in January 2018. After meeting the Congress president, the chief minister returned to state capital Shimla. He had met senior party functionaries, including Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, in New Delhi on Wednesday. The sources said Virbhadra Singh told the high command that he would neither contest the coming assembly polls nor lead the party in the present organisational set-up. Virbhadra Singh, who has a letter of support from 27 legislators, even threatened to withdraw from the assembly elections if organisational changes were not made immediately, said a Congress leader. "I do not wish to be belittled any more within the party as everyone seems to be going his own way," the chief minister had said at a Congress legislative party meeting here on 25 August. "Whatever I am today is because of the party, which has given me everything. I wish to retire from politics gracefully." Interestingly, the same day he informally told his bete noire and two-time BJP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal that he would not be in the electoral arena this time. Ahead of the chief minister's visit to Delhi, senior Cabinet minister Vidya Stokes had urged the party high command to give a "free hand" to Virbhadra Singh in the coming assembly elections since "people have more faith in a strong regional leadership". "He is the only capable leader to win the elections for the Congress, and there is no substitute to Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh," she said in a statement. Citing the Congress win in 4 February Punjab assembly elections, Stokes said the victory was possible because of strong leadership of state leader Amarinder Singh. Reuters A consortium led by Bain Capital has made a revised last-ditch offer for Toshiba Corps chip unit worth about $18 billion, bringing in Apple Inc to help bolster its bid, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The new offer comes as separate sources say the embattled Japanese conglomerate and Western Digital Corp are struggling to strike a deal ahead of their self-imposed deadline of 31 August. Toshiba has been scrambling to sell its flash memory unit the worlds No. 2 producer of NAND chips to cover billions in losses at its bankrupt U.S. nuclear business Westinghouse. Toshibas relationship with Western Digital, its joint venture partner for its chip business, has been rocky throughout the auction process to the point that other bidders were favoured first while the U.S. firm has also initiated legal action that threatens to derail any deal that does not have its consent. The revised offer is worth some 2 trillion yen ($18.2 billion). Bain and South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc will be responsible for 1.1 trillion yen, while Apple will provide up to 400 billion yen and Japanese banks will give around 600 billion yen in support, one of the sources said. The proposal also calls for Toshiba to be part of the deal, investing 200 billion yen, the source said. By taking part in the bidding, Apple could help ensure a competitive supply chain and lessen its dependence on the chip division of Samsung, a key rival in the smart phone business. Apple buys memory chips from multiple vendors, including market leader Samsung. Combined, Toshiba and Western Digital could be almost as large as Samsungs memory unit, which could give a combined company more negotiating leverage against Apple. Apple is so big they need to multi-source, said Frank Gillett, an analyst with market research firm Forrester. He said Apple needed to keep as many chip suppliers as possible in the market to keep prices competitive. A Bain-led group had previously been chosen by Toshiba as its preferred bidder. But those talks lapsed as Japanese government investors who had been part of that consortium told Toshiba they were reluctant to close a deal in the face of the legal risks posed by Western Digitals demands. Bains new offer is designed to get around that problem as it will invite the state-backed investors - the Innovation Network of Japan (INCJ) and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) - to invest in the business only after any arbitration with Western Digital is settled, the source said. The bid trumps the 1.9 trillion yen offered by the Western Digital-led consortium, which also includes U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP (KKR.N). Banking sources have previously said, however, that Western Digital was working to get its proposal up to 2 trillion yen. Bains revised bid was first reported by Japanese broadcaster NHK which said it would be structured so that Bain and Toshiba would each hold 46 percent of the unit. The sources declined to be identified as talks concerning the auction were private. Toshiba, Bain, Western Digital, INCJ and Apple declined to comment. Representatives for DBJ and KKR were not immediately available for comment. People familiar with the matter have said Toshiba and Western Digital are bickering over the size of any potential stake to be held by the U.S. firm in the chip unit. For now, Western Digital plans to invest only through convertible bonds. Toshiba wants to reach a deal soon and it is not clear if it will give serious consideration to Bains new proposal. Failure to clinch a deal in the next few weeks could mean that it may not clear all necessary regulatory approvals by the end of the financial year in March. That would likely lead to Toshiba reporting negative net worth for two years in a row, increasing its chances of being delisted. IANS Google on Thursday pledged $1 million relief to flood-hit areas of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. "We are committing $1 million from Google.org and Google employees to Goonj and Save the Children for their relief efforts," Rajan Anandan, Vice-President, South East Asia and India, wrote in a blog post. Save the Children is working in the flood-affected areas of the three countries and aims to reach a total of 1,60,000 people. The organisation is providing food and livelihood support, temporary shelter materials, hygiene items and water source restoration to the affected people. Children are the most vulnerable in situations like these. Save the Children is focused on setting up child-friendly spaces where children can gain access to educational materials and playtime. Meanwhile, Goonj, an NGO, aims to reach 75,000 affected families across nine states of rural India. The efforts include providing families with basic needs kits such as food, mats, blankets, and hygiene items. They are also aiming to help rebuild and revive community structures like roads, bridges and schools in the flood-hit areas. Meanwhile, Google's Crisis Response team has activated "SOS Alerts" for the flooding in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Six states in India, including Assam and Bihar, are reeling under floods. Mumbai also received very heavy rains on Tuesday. The flood threat perception has been set high for parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, as the reservoirs and dams on rivers Mahi, Sabarmati, Banas and their tributaries are already holding 90 to 94 per cent of their capacity. IANS The Indian arm of global e-tailer Amazon on Wednesday tied up with Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) to allow local startups to sell their products on its online platform. "As part of the tie-up, Amazon India will work with KBITS to educate, train, and enable select startups to sell their products to Amazon customers across the country under its Launchpad programme," an official statement said here. The US-based e-commerce giant's flagship programme (Launchpad) makes it easy for Indian startups to launch, market, and distribute their products to millions of customers the world over through a dedicated store. The state government has set up a start-up cell as a one-stop shop to assist startups on regulatory environment, networking with industry bodies and academic institutions. The cell, operated by KBITS, provides the 'Startup Karnataka Booster Kit', with a collection of software tools and services to enable startups to avail of marketing support and showcase their products to intended customers. "The state is partnering with Amazon India to provide a platform for startups to enter the e-commerce space. With rich experience and understanding of consumers, its Launchpad can facilitate the local startups take advantage of the digital economy and e-commerce," said Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge at 'Elevate' tech event here. KBITS will also share a database of product startups with the cell and the Launchpad team on monthly and quarterly basis to help them leverage Amazon's expertise, infrastructure, and marketing tools and deliver their products to its customers worldwide. "Our Launchpad is an opportunity for Indian startups to access a nationwide customer base. Through its programme entrepreneurs, innovators and creators from across the state can leverage our marketplace to increase their business and get access to global markets," said Amazon India Vice-President Manish Tiwary. tech2 News Staff The Lenovo-owned company has released a teaser with the launch date on the company's Philippines Facebook page. Apart from the poster, a booth for the Moto X4 has also been spotted at IFA Berlin. IFA will be held between 1 September to 6 September and the device is expected to be launched for the global audience at the event. Roland Quandt tweeted the picture of the Moto X4 desk expected to be from Berlin. The teaser suggests that the launch will happen on 2 September, so a global launch at IFA isn't out of the question. According to recent reports, the Moto X4 is expected to feature a Snapdragon 630 SoC and will be priced between 300 to 400 Euros (around Rs 22,000 to Rs 30,000) In Europe. The Moto X4 will feature a 5.2-inch full HD AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It is expected to be available in 4 GB and 3 GB RAM variants and come with 64 GB internal storage. The memory of the phone can be expanded upto 256 GB by inserting a microSD card in the device. The smartphone will pack a 2.2 Ghz processor along with a Adreno 508 GPU. The Moto X4 is also expected to features a full metal body and come with IP68 water and dust resistant rating. It is expected to come with two 12 MP rear camera sensors and a 16 MP wide-angle sensor for the front camera. The rear camera will be supported by a dual tone LED flash and the device will be powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. The fingerprint sensor on the phone is expected to be placed below the front of the screen and also includes Turbo charging feature from Motorola. Moto X4 is expected to be available in two colour variants Super Black and Sterling Blue. Reuters Uber Technologies Incs new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told employees on Wednesday the ride-services company would change its culture and may go public in 18 to 36 months. Khosrowshahi, who led travel-booking site Expedia Inc for 12 years, made the remarks as he introduced himself to Ubers workforce on Wednesday during an all-staff meeting at its San Francisco headquarters. His plans include rebuilding Ubers culture and growing market share as well as possibly conducting an initial public offering in 18 to 36 months, according to people who attended the meeting. It is common for venture capital-backed companies to signal an IPO at a vague time in the future. This company has to change, Khosrowshahi told employees, according to the Twitter feed of Ubers communications team. What got us here is not whats going to get us to the next level. Khosrowshahi said Uber needed to stabilise itself but also take what he called big shots. .@dkhos: "This company has to change. What got us here is not whats going to get us to the next level." Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) August 30, 2017 The appointment of Khosrowshahi, who described himself as a fighter, comes as Uber is trying to recover from a series of crises that culminated in the ouster of former CEO Travis Kalanick in June. It is also a key step towards filling a gaping hole in its top management that at the moment has no chief financial officer, head of engineering or general counsel. In his first meeting with Uber employees, Khosrowshahi emphasised recruiting new talent, particularly a chief financial officer, as well as a chairman to help him run the board, according to tweets from Uber. Kalanick, who attended Wednesdays staff meeting, welcomed his replacement in a statement. Casting a vote for the next chief executive of Uber was a big moment for me and I couldnt be happier to pass the torch to such an inspiring leader, Kalanick said. Board dysfunction Khosrowshahi inherits a dysfunctional board that has been divided by a lawsuit filed by investor Benchmark Capital against Kalanick. The lawsuit, which seeks to force Kalanick off the board and rescind his ability to fill two board seats, has caused shareholder infighting and complicated the CEO search. Delaware Judge Sam Glasscock on Wednesday brought that dispute closer to a resolution when he stayed the lawsuit and moved it to arbitration, which moves the legal fight out of the public eye and hands a victory to Kalanick. I think what we have here is a political battle that belongs in the boardroom and not the courtroom, said Donald Wolfe, an attorney for Kalanick. Glasscock stopped short of dismissing the lawsuit, as Kalanick had requested, because of concerns about the impact the dispute might have on other Uber shareholders who may also want to take legal action. The board had already selected Khosrowshahi as Ubers next CEO in a vote on Sunday. But the firm and its board did not speak publicly on the decision until Tuesday evening, as contract negotiations were ongoing. The board and the executive leadership team are confident that Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future, Ubers eight-member board wrote in an email to employees sent late Tuesday that was also made public. Khosrowshahi has been replaced at Expedia by Mark Okerstrom, the companys chief financial officer for the last six years. On a call with reporters Wednesday, Okerstrom hinted at the surprise and confusion that followed Khosrowshahis appointment as Uber CEO. Khosrowshahi was not a publicly known candidate for the job, and he told Expedia staff he was accepting the new role two days after the first media reports on his selection. I think the way that this whole thing unfolded is not the way that most people would have planned it, Okerstrom said. Khosrowshahi will remain on the Expedia board. Reuters A US House committee said on Wednesday it has canceled a planned hearing on 7 September on the future of internet access rules after no companies publicly committed to appearing. Among those who had been invited in late July to share thoughts before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee were the chief executives of Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc. The hearing had the potential to be one of the most high-profile appearances of major tech CEOs on Capitol Hill. Zach Hunter, a spokesman for the committees chairman, US Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, said the hearing was postponed because of talks over the future rules. As negotiations progress on a permanent solution for net neutrality that ensures a free and open internet, the committee will postpone the original hearing in order to allow talks between stakeholders to continue, he said. Republican lawmakers had hoped to bring top executives from tech companies and internet providers to testify publicly in a bid to garner support for a deal to set permanent rules on the future of internet access after a more than decade-long fight. No company had publicly committed to testify and many firms were privately reluctant to testify. The US Federal Communications Commission under President Donald Trump has been moving to scrap rules implemented under the Obama administration that regulated broadband internet like a utility. The rules bar providers from blocking or slowing websites, or allowing websites to pay for fast lanes over competitors. Internet providers and major tech companies have been sharply divided over the issue. Many providers want Congress to step in and write permanent rules, while internet firms say the regulations are critical to preserving the open internet. Major internet firms and service providers have been meeting with committee aides in recent weeks, but Democrats have not agreed to work toward a compromise bill, arguing the Obama rules should be left in place. Republicans on the House panel plan to consider a bill to reauthorize the FCC next month that could address internet access rules. Other corporate chiefs invited to testify included the heads of Comcast Corp Netflix Inc and Charter Communications Inc. In May, the FCC voted 2-1 to advance Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pais plan to withdraw the 2015 order reclassifying internet service providers as if they were utilities. The FCC is considering whether it has the authority to limit internet providers ability to block, throttle or offer paid prioritization, and whether it should keep any protections in place. IANS As both large and small and medium enterprises (SMBs) in India aim to modernise their data centres to address customers needs better, top-level VMware executives feel that the company is ready to help them achieve this daunting task. The task is being facilitated by a robust research and development (R&D) infrastructure the Cloud infrastructure and business mobility leader has built over the years in India. In the area of network virtualisation and security, the researchers in Pune are contributing significantly to the Next-Gen portfolio in "VMware NSX". The R&D centres are developing products that VMware markets to its global customers. "India has a strong and unique value proposition for us. As countries in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region embrace digital technologies, I am positive that the Indian firms are now busy making plans to modernise their data centres to serve their customers efficiently," Duncan Hewett, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, VMware, told IANS. The R&D teams in India are also contributing towards key software components to realise the implementation of the Hybrid Cloud. According to Arun Kumar Parameswaran, Managing Director, VMware India, the country is fast removing "digital" roadblocks towards data modernisation, adopting secure virtualisation technologies and moving on to Cloud. "When I meet the top Indian executives, apart from the cost, they are concerned about how secure our platforms are. I tell them that with a zero-trust infrastructure in place and cost-effective solutions on offer, VMware is a natural choice for them to keep their data secure," Parameswaran told IANS on the sidelines of the "VMWorld 2017" conference here. The company has renewed its focus towards telecom, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and a burgeoning start-up community as the firms look forward to embracing software-defined data centres. Transforming networking and security is a main challenge for the company. "The enterprises are asking about agility, automation and security. All our offerings - be it the network virtualisation and security platform 'VMware NSX', VMware Cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Workspace ONE', remove barriers to Cloud migration and portability, increases IT efficiency and opens up new opportunities for customers," Parameswaran added. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), VMware is the market share leader in both the worldwide cloud systems management and the data centre automation software markets, based on the 2016 revenue. In India, the key innovations coming from VMware's R&D centres are in the fields of software-defined networking, virtualisation, virtual desktops, digital workspace, enterprise mobility management, cloud automation and operations monitoring. "Several customers in India want to modernise data centres and integrate Public Cloud into their infrastructure. But the penetration of virtualisation is still low in the country. Some of the large government and public companies have not yet virtualised their infrastructure," Rajiv Ramaswami, Chief Operating Officer, Products and Cloud Services, VMware, told IANS. The State Bank of India is one example where the company has modernised its entire banking experience - from building new apps, virtual desktop infrastructure, access and storage in data centre and secure it. "Over the time, public cloud services are going to increase in the country. Different companies are at the various stages of cloud adoption and would eventually fall in place," Ramaswami said. "Although we are not launching country-specific products but our key offerings have significant R&D components coming from India," he added. Lahore: Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed has challenged the order of Pakistan's Punjab government to extend his detention for 60 more days. The Punjab Home Department issued an order on 28 July under which the detention of Saeed and his four aides Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain was extended for another 60 days. Apparently frustrated with not getting a decision from the Lahore High Court that had on 7 June reserved his petition against his first detention order on 30 January, Saeed on Wednesday filed a fresh petition challenging the detention order. The petition says, "There is no evidence whatsoever that the petitioners are planning to spread chaos in the country or that they have planned violent demonstrations. It says the government in the impugned detention order has only shown apprehension against the petitioners". The petition says blatant violation of laws have been committed by the government in this case. It pleads that imprisonment without trial and conviction is prima facie unlawful and unconstitutional. "The government detained the petitioners to please India and America. Courts in past have declared detention of JuD leaders illegal as the government failed to prove its charges," it says and requests the court to set aside the detention order for being issued without lawful authority. In response to their previous petitions, the government had clarified that the JuD and its allied organisation (Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation) had been kept under observation on the basis of a report sent by the ministry of foreign affairs. "In the light of that report, the government has reasons to believe that JuD and FIF are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security and in violation of Pakistan's obligation to the UN Security Council resolution," the government said. Earlier on 7 June, a division bench headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan had reserved the decision on Saeed and his four aides' petitions against their detention after hearing the arguments from petitioners counsel and the government law officer. On 30 April, detention of Saeed and his four aides was extended by the Punjab government for another 90 days under Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The Punjab government on 30 January had put them under house arrest in Lahore under the Second Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The Pakistan government had reportedly taken action against Saeed after the US firmly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed it may face sanctions. JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar- e-Taiba (LeT). The organisation is accused of involvement in militant activities in India and has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2014. Madrid: US security agencies warned Spain in May that the Islamic State group was planning an attack in Barcelona, where the jihadists claimed a deadly van rampage earlier in August, local media said on Thursday. The daily El Periodico de Cataluna reported that the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) alerted Spanish intelligence officers to the threat weeks before a man ploughed his vehicle into crowds of tourists along Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard on 17 August, killing 14 people. "Unsubstantiated information of unknown veracity from late May 2017 indicted that the Islamic State of Irak and ash-Sham (IS) was planning to conduct unspecified terrorist attacks during the summer against crowded tourist sites in Barcelona, Spain, specifically (Las Ramblas) street," according to an NCTC briefing note published by the paper. A spokesman for Spain's CNI intelligence agency, contacted by AFP, refused to "confirm or deny anything on communication with other intelligence services". The interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment. But the Madrid-based Cadena SER radio station quoted "anti-terror sources" suggesting that the document published by El Periodico de Cataluna was authentic. Spain is still recovering from the twin August vehicle attacks that left a total of 16 people dead and more than 120 wounded in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils further south. IS claimed both attacks. Islamabad: Following the verdict in the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case, the former prime minister's children expressed their displeasure with the judgment on Twitter. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Twitter called the decision "disappointing and unacceptable", adding that the party would explore legal options. SMBB case decision is disappointing & unacceptable. Realse of terrorists not only unjust but also dangerous. PPP will explore legal options. BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) August 31, 2017 An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi declared former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the assassination of Bhutto while acquitting all five Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan suspects. Two police officials were sentenced to 17 years each in prison. Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the youngest of the siblings, said in a tweet that "they were still awaiting justice". There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes ! Aseefa B Zardari (@AseefaBZ) August 31, 2017 In another tweet, she said that there would be no justice until "Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes". Sharing her sister's sentiments, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari also expressed displeasure with the verdict, saying: "Police men arrested but actual terrorists acquitted #Shame". Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh on 27 December, 2007, when Musharraf was President of the country. Karachi: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial on Thursday, nearly 10 years after the iconic political figure was gunned down in the streets of Rawalpindi. The court dismissed charges against five alleged Taliban militants accused of being involved in the killing, while two police officers were found guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", becoming the only people to be convicted in the case. The most definitive accounts of Bhutto's death claim an assassin shot her in the neck and then blew himself up, killing 24 people. But observers said Thursday's verdicts, the first to be issued in the decade since the assassination, offered no clarity into who actually orchestrated the killing. And in a country where conspiracy theories continue to envelop the myriad assassinations of its political figures over decades, Bhutto's death is no exception. Here is a list of the leading theories behind who killed Bhutto: The Pakistani state's theory Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on then-Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. Bhutto had been a fierce opponent of Islamic extremists in the country, and had promised to take the fight to militants based in Pakistan's tribal belt. She was threatened by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, local jihadist groups and potentially from elements in the Pakistani establishment. But Pakistani investigators largely focused on lower-level operatives, paying little attention to the hierarchy in the planning, financing, and execution of the assassination. In 2013, a Pakistani court formally charged Musharraf with Bhutto's killing in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief. Musharraf later fled Pakistan in 2016, drawing criticism from opponents after the government lifted a travel ban against him. He has remained in self-imposed exile ever since. The UN's theory At the request of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government that came into power soon after Bhutto's murder, a three-member UN team of investigators was dispatched to investigate the killing. In its 70-page report released in 2010, the UN categorically held Musharraf's administration responsible for failing to provide Bhutto with the necessary security to ward off the attack. "Bhutto's assassination could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken," the report said. The team also cited numerous failures by police to properly investigate the murder and preserve the integrity of the crime scene. Less than two hours after the attack senior police officer Khurram Shahzad hosed down the the scene. He was one of the two officers convicted on Thursday. The second officer, then-Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz, also refused multiple times to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. Police told the UN commission that they collected just 23 pieces of evidence from the scene, "in a case where one would normally have expected thousands", according to the report. But the UN team hinted at something beyond police incompetence, saying the official investigation was likely stifled by the country's security establishment. "These officials in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken," it observed. However the UN team stopped short of naming suspects in the plot to kill Bhutto, saying the responsibility lay with the Pakistani courts. The conspiracy theories Following Bhutto's death, the PPP came to power and her widower Asif Ali Zardari was elected president - but failed to make headway unraveling the mysteries behind the murder, drawing fresh allegations of conspiracy. Speculation was further fuelled after Zardari's senior aide Bilal Sheikh was killed by a suicide bomber in Karachi in 2013. Sheikh had been in charge of Bhutto's security when she returned to Karachi from exile in October 2007 when bomb attacks targeted her convoy, killing around 140 people. However, Chilean diplomat Heraldo Munoz, who led the UN investigation, said it was ridiculous to imagine Bhutto's widower had been involved in her death. Al-Qaeda wanted her dead, he has argued, while the Pakistani Taliban executed the attack possibly with support of rogue intelligence agents and local police did a cover-up he was convinced "came from higher up". He has further argued that Bhutto's own security failed her and those who encouraged her to return to Pakistan did not provide her with protection. Other unconfirmed speculation pointed towards Bhutto's trusted bodyguard Khalid Shahensha, with video clips showing him making strange gestures at the podium where Bhutto addressed the rally moments before her death. Months after the assassination, Shahensha was also gunned down mysteriously in Karachi. Washington - President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared talking is not the answer to the tense standoff with North Korea over its nuclear missile development, but his defence chief swiftly asserted that diplomatic options remain, and Russia demanded US restraint. Trumps comment, a day after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan that drew UN and other international condemnation, renewed his tough rhetoric toward reclusive, nuclear-armed and increasingly isolated North Korea. The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years, Trump, who just last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was starting to respect the United States, wrote on Twitter. Talking is not the answer! The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017 When asked by reporters just hours later if the United States was out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea amid rising tensions after a series of missile tests by Pyongyang, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis replied: No. We are never out of diplomatic solutions, Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests. Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will hold classified briefings for members of the US Congress on 6 September , congressional aides said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone with Tillerson and urged the United States to refrain from any military action on the Korean peninsula that would be fraught with unpredictable consequences, Russias Foreign Ministry said. Trump, who has vowed not to let North Korea develop nuclear missiles that can hit the mainland United States, had said on Tuesday all options are on the table, a veiled reference to military force. Lavrov also said Russia, which wields veto power on the UN Security Council, believed any further sanctions on North Korea would be counter-productive, the ministry added. Paris: French president Emmanuel Macron's government is set to unveil on Thursday what is intended to be one of his signature economic reforms aimed at creating jobs and underlining his business-friendly credentials. Before his election in May, the 39-year-old centrist vowed repeatedly to take on the country's powerful trade unions by overhauling highly protective and rigid labour regulations. On Thursday, in an announcement that is keenly awaited by both business groups and his left-wing opponents, his government will publish planned changes that are set to be approved by parliament in September. The measures are expected to curb the power of unions, limit severance pay and allow bosses to negotiate many working terms and conditions directly with their employees. In an interview published on the eve of the announcement, Macron said the overhaul had to be "ambitious and efficient enough to continue to bring down mass unemployment". "We are the only major economy in the European Union that has not defeated mass unemployment for more than three decades," he told Le Point magazine. Thursday's unveiling is a crucial test for Macron's domestic agenda as he seeks to encourage entrepreneurship in France, where the unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is almost double that of its large European rivals. He warned last week that the French "hated reforms" and tried to avoid them as long as possible. First major protests The move is set to bring the first demonstrations against his government, with the CGT trade union, France's biggest, and the new political party France Unbowed set to mobilise their supporters on 12 and 23 September. Reaction from other trade unions will be crucial as Macron seeks to avoid a major confrontation following often-violent demonstrations in 2016 against labour changes made by his predecessor, Francois Hollande. During discussions with the unions which began in May, only the Communist-backed CGT has opposed the changes outright, with the more moderate CFDT and the hard-left FO so far signalling their willingness to negotiate. The reforms come at a time when Macron's approval ratings are falling sharply, signalling the end of the honeymoon he enjoyed with the French public following his election. Recent polls showed that only around 40 percent of French voters are satisfied with his performance in office, with the fall attributed by analysts to a mix of communication problems and political missteps. The influential head of the employers' confederation Medef, Pierre Gattaz, has urged Macron to be bold with the labour market changes, which have been drawn up in secrecy. "This labour law will be bellwether of Emmanuel Macron's presidency and his desire to really reform," Gattaz said Tuesday, echoing the views of many economists. The changes will be unveiled in five presidential decrees on Thursday which will then be voted at the end of September by parliament, where Macron's Republic on the Move party has a large majority. Leftwing opponents Radical leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who finished fourth in this year's presidential election and heads the France Unbowed party, has called for a mass march against what he describes as "social welfare coup detat". The labour overhauls are likely to provide fresh ammunition for opponents of Macron who accuse the former investment banker of pandering to business owners with his programme, which also includes cuts to taxes and public spending. "Macron, president for the rich?" asked a front-page headline in the left-leaning Liberation newspaper this week which focused on research showing that his proposed income tax cuts would mainly benefit the wealthy. Critics of the labour code changes argue that they risk giving too much power to company owners who could force employees into longer hours or shorter holidays, for example. At present, French labour law is enshrined in the national labour code, a red book which runs to around 3,000 pages covering everything from health and safety to contract law and pensions. Macron's aim is to vastly simplify the code, enshrining basic employment protections in law but leaving companies, trade unions and employees to negotiate much of the rest instead of requiring bosses to abide by terms negotiated by unions for the whole industry. Michael Zerbib, the general manager of an engineering company with a staff of 60, told AFP this week that his chief hope was that the law would be made simpler for small businesses like his. "For years we've been promised a simplification of the rules. But all we've seen is increasing complexity!" he said. Paris: The French government on Thursday will unveil an overhaul of the country's labour code a collection of laws setting out workers' rights spanning over 3,000 pages, some dating back over a century. The reforms are the biggest and riskiest of Emmanuel Macron's young presidency. The 39-year-old centrist believes that making the labour market more flexible will help drive down the unemployment rate of 9.5 percent, but leftists fear an erosion of workers' rights. What's going to change? The broad thrust of the reforms was discussed during several rounds of meetings with employers and trade unions, but much of the detail will be revealed for the first time on Thursday. Macron wants to cap the compensation awarded by labour courts in cases of unfair dismissal a demand of bosses who complain that lengthy and costly court cases discourage them from hiring. He also wants to give employers more freedom to negotiate terms and conditions with employees at the company level, rather than being bound by industry-wide collective agreements. Other measures include streamlining workers' committees, which are mandatory within large companies, and expanding the use of flexible "project contracts". In a further concession to companies, multinationals whose French operations are struggling will find it easier to lay off staff, while redundant workers will receive higher payouts. Several issues are still in contention, with the government set to act as final arbiter. What do the unions say ? The hardline CGT union the biggest in the country has accused the government of "social regression" and called a day of nationwide strikes and protests for 12 September, along with the smaller CFE-CGC union. But more moderate unions, including the CFDT the biggest private-sector union have adopted a wait-and-see approach. In parliament, the opposition to the changes is being led by the radical France Unbowed of leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, which is planning a mass march in Paris on 23 September. The right and centre-left have broadly backed the reforms. What's at stake for Macron? The reforms will test Macron's reformist zeal. He cleared the first hurdle this summer when parliament adopted a law allowing him to implement the reforms by decree, but has yet to win over the street. Macron is hoping to avoid a repeat of the months-long, sometimes violent protests unleashed by labour reforms pushed through last year by his predecessor Francois Hollande. Divisions in the trade union movement have strengthened his hand. It remains to be seen if his opponents are able to mobilise in the numbers seen last year against Hollande, but few see them capable of repeating the stoppages and protests against pension reform in 1995 and 2010. New Delhi: After holding talks with Swiss president Doris Leuthard, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said New Delhi will continue to work with Berne to combat black money. "Transparency in financial transactions is an issue of concern in today's world, whether it be black money, dirty money, hawala or arms and drugs financing," Modi said in a joint address to the media along with Leuthard. "To combat this global problem, we will continue to cooperate with Switzerland," he said. Modi said foreign direct investment was an important pillar of economic cooperation between India and Switzerland. "We specially welcome Swiss investors in India," he said. "We agreed to continue discussions on a bilateral agreement regarding this. Swiss companies have a lot of expertise to partner India in its road to development," he added. Modi said the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and India also came up for discussion. Leuthard said Switzerland had one of the strongest laws against money laundering and hoped other countries would follow suit. Bangkok: Several hundred Buddhist nationalists, including monks, rallied in Myanmar's largest city to urge stronger action against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority for attacks on police last week. The attacks in Rakhine state in western Myanmar have spiraled into chaotic violence, with more than 100 dead and villages torched. At least 18,000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in less than a week, with hundreds stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said. The army, responding to last Thursday's attacks, launched what it called clearance operations against the insurgents, but advocates for the Rohingya say they are attacking and burning Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. The government blames Rohingya insurgents and their sympathizers for the continuing violence. Government figures put the death toll since last week at a minimum of 103, including 12 members of security forces, 77 people described as insurgents and 14 civilians. There were reports of additional deaths on Wednesday. Rohingya advocates fear the death toll for civilians is much higher. Most of Myanmar's estimated 1 million Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. Wirathu, a Buddhist monk and leader of the anti-Muslim movement who is known for virulent sermons, told Wednesday's protesters in Yangon that only the military can control the situation in northern Rakhine. He criticised the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi for not responding quickly to the army's call on Tuesday for a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, which could declare a state of emergency in Rakhine and give the military absolute authority to enforce it. The military holds a majority on the council, which was created by the 2008 military-drafted constitution. "Only the military's commander in chief can protect the lives and the properties of the people," Wirathu said. "The military is the only one that can give a lesson to tame the Bengali terrorists." Myanmar nationalists use the term Bengali for Rohingya because of a belief they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though many families have been in Myanmar for generations. Wirathu also denounced international aid groups that the government has accused, without evidence, of giving assistance to the Rohingya insurgents. The allegations have circulated widely on social media. The Information Ministry on Wednesday said that 45 homemade bombs were detonated and seven villages, one security post and two neighborhoods in the township of Maungdaw were burned down on Sunday and Monday. Maungdaw, in the northern part of Rakhine state, is a center of the violence, though villages over a much wider area were also hit. Sanjukta Sahany, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on the border with Myanmar, said the Rohingya crisis was not just an issue between Myanmar and Bangladesh but of international concern. At the United Nations, the Security Council got an emergency, closed-door update Wednesday on Myanmar, at Britain's request. The council didn't issue any statement as a whole, but British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said members condemned the violence and called on all the parties involved to de-escalate tensions. The UN refugee organization on Tuesday urged Bangladesh to continue to allow Rohingya fleeing violence to seek safety. It said it was ready to help Bangladesh with assistance for the refugees. Ali Hossain, Cox's Bazar district's top government official, told Associated Press that its resources were under huge stress after some 87,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh since October 2016 and another 18,000 since last Friday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the United States on Wednesday to pressure Myanmar so its government would stop pushing Rohingya toward Bangladesh, her spokesman said. Hasina made the request during talks with Alice Wells, US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said Ihsanul Karim, Hasina's press secretary. The insurgent raids last Thursday were deadlier than an attack by the militants on three border posts last October that killed nine policemen and set off months of brutal counterinsurgency operations against Rohingya communities. Human rights groups accused the army of carrying out massive abuses, including killing, rape and burning down more than 1,000 homes and other building. Washington: A Sikh American man was stabbed to death in his taxi in the US by a 19-year-old who was upset over not getting admission into his choice of university. The incident happened this week in Bonner County in Idaho. The victim was identified as 22-year-old Gagandeep Singh, a final year student of software engineering. He hailed from Jalandhar in Punjab, community newspaper News India Times reported on Wednesday. Singh was attacked by Jacob Coleman, 19, whom he picked up from Spokane International Airport. Coleman flew from Seattle to Spokane to attend Gonzaga University but was denied entry. He later hired Singh's cab and asked him to be driven to a fictitious friend's house. However, Coleman became homicidal during the drive and fatally stabbed Singh with a knife he purchased on the way during the drive. Coleman later surrendered himself to the police and told officials he was upset as he didn't get admission to Spokane-based Gongaza University where he wanted to study, reports said. The police, however, found no record of his application at the university. Coleman was charged with first-degree murder. A former resident of Preet Nagar in Jalandhar, Singh settled in Spokane, some 100 km from Bonner County, in Washington state in 2003 with his family. Kamaljit Kaur, Singh's mother, told the police she called her son who told her he was carrying a "white man" in his taxi. Singh was also the nephew of Jalandhar-based Congress leader Manmohan Singh Raju, the report said. Reacting to the incident, Raju said, "My nephew became a victim of racial hatred. As the Trump government is now showing exit doors to Asians due to few job opportunities, Indians and Asians as a whole are becoming the victims of racial hatred." Mount Arafat: Their palms facing the sky, around two million Muslims gathered on Thursday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage, one of the world's largest annual gatherings. With temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius under the desert sun, the faithful climbed the hill east of Mecca where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon some 14 centuries ago. The second day of the hajj a five-day pilgrimage which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if physically and financially able is dedicated to prayer and reflection. "I came up here last night and prayed, took pictures and called my family and friends," said Maolana Yahia, 32, who made the trip from Indonesia. This year's hajj has seen the return of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran following a diplomatic row and a deadly stampede in 2015. But thousands who would normally make the journey from neighbouring Qatar are absent apart from a few dozen because of the diplomatic crisis shaking the Gulf. Helicopters flew around the area as the pilgrims converged from dawn on the Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy. Forming a sea of white, the pilgrims ascended the hill and took up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun. On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, hundreds of thousands of devout Muslims invoked God, as others rested in makeshift tents or on sheets along the side of the road amid empty bottles and waste. Tunisian mother-of-three Fatima Arfawi said she was moved beyond words. "This is the first time I see anything like this, ever," she said. "This day is dedicated to prayer for my three children and my family." In a hospital opposite the mountain, an area was set aside for people suffering dehydration or heat exhaustion. Saudi Arabia's Red Crescent said it had deployed 326 ambulances along the pilgrimage route to handle health emergencies. "Some pilgrims, for example, forget to protect their heads with an umbrella when they pray," said Bandar Al-Harthi, a nurse at a hospital facing Mount Arafat. In the evening, the pilgrims will travel to Muzdalifa where they will spend the night before taking part in a symbolic stoning of the devil. The Jamarat Bridge, where the ritual is held, was the scene of a stampede in 2015 that claimed the lives of nearly 2,300 pilgrims the worst disaster in the history of the hajj. Tehran reported the largest number of stampede victims, with 464 Iranians among the dead. The next year, amid heightened political tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Iranian pilgrims stayed away from the hajj after authorities from the two countries failed to agree on arrangements and logistics. Iranian authorities say more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are taking part this year, each equipped with an identity bracelet in case of any accident. Reza, a 63-year-old former oil company official from Iran, said he was torn between the joy of taking part and lingering grief over the stampede. "They've taken more security measures otherwise we would not have come," he said. Saudi Arabia says it has deployed more than 100,000 security personnel to keep pilgrims safe. At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers have been installed to control the movement of the crowds. "They will be moved to enlarge the passages when there are more pilgrims," said Ahmed al-Baraka of the Saudi security forces. Washington: The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given $255 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting $ 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The $ 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of $ 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than $ 33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. Washington: The Trump administration said Wednesday it was necessary that Islamabad take "decisive action" against militant groups based in Pakistan, after the National Assembly unanimously condemned US President Donald Trump's "hostile and threatening" statements against the country. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. But, the spokesperson added, Trump has been clear that "we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region." "It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. The comments came as the National Assembly passed a resolution opposing Trump's move to give more space to India in Afghanistan in his new strategy for the war-torn country. The National Assembly also condemned Trump's "hostile and threatening" statements against Pakistan. Since Trump called out Pakistan when he outlined the new strategy for South Asian on 21 August, Pakistan-US ties have headed south. Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it, has cancelled at least three senior level meetings with Trump administration officials. The State Department, however, said Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with their efforts in the region. "As Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson said, 'We are ready to work with [the Pakistanis] to help them protect themselves against these terrorist organisations'," the spokesperson said. Maungdaw (Myanmar): At least 18,500 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar's neighbouring Rakhine state six days ago, the International Organisation for Migration said Wednesday. Plumes of smoke billowed from several burning villages in the worst-hit section of the state, according to an AFP reporter on a government-led trip to the area, as the violence showed little sign of abating despite security sweeps by Myanmar's police and troops. The streets of Maungdaw northern Rakhine's largest town were virtually deserted as fires flickered among charred remains of houses and occasional burst of gunfire echoed in the distance. The clashes began on Friday when militants from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority community staged deadly attacks on police posts, prompting raids on the community and searches by troops and police. At least 110 people, including 11 state officials, have been confirmed dead since then and thousands of Rohingya have poured across the border to Bangladesh despite Dhaka's attempts to stop them. "As of last night, 18,500 people have come across," Chris Lom, the IOM's Asia-Pacific spokesman said, adding an unknown number were still stuck on the Myanmar side of the border. An estimated 6,000 Rohingya on Tuesday massed at the "zero line" border with Bangladesh, days after the area came under mortar and machine gun fire by Myanmar security forces. The Rohingya, the world's largest stateless minority and subject to severe restrictions on their movements, are barred from officially crossing. Bangladeshi authorities on Wednesday toughened patrols in a bid to prevent more arrivals in a country that already hosts an estimated 400,000 Rohingya, albeit in abject conditions. Rohingya have sneaked across the land border in large number or swum the Naf River which marks part of the frontier. But tragedy befell some of them. The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children washed up on Bangladeshi soil on Wednesday, an official said, drowned after their rickety boat capsized. Scores more were found alive on the remote Bangladeshi island of St Martin's, according to coastguards there, after taking a risky passage on barely seaworthy vessels. Khadija Begum, a Rohingya woman from Rathedaung, was detained on arrival by Bangladeshi officials. "We thought it would be easier to face the sea than the (Myanmar) army," she said in tears. Fight and flight Ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and other tribal groups are also among the dead and displaced after allegedly being targeted by Rohingya militants. Five ethnic Buddhist men were found stabbed to death early Wednesday in Maungdaw, which is under curfew, Ye Htut, the town's district chief, told AFP. With information trickling out, a picture has emerged of a cat-and-mouse game between militants and security forces played out in remote hamlets, fields and forest hideouts. The office of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said militants have repeatedly detonated homemade explosives and tried to firebomb police posts and ambush patrols. Myanmar classes the militants as "Bengali terrorists" and accuses them of setting fire both to Rohingya homes and those of other communities. Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh have told a different story, saying their homes had been set on fire by police, troops and Buddhist mobs. A Rohingya villager near the town of Maungdaw, speaking on condition of anonymity, said residents fled his hamlet as security forces approached and torched their homes. "Villagers are running away... where do we have to live now?" the villager said. It was not immediately possible to verify his account. Maximum restraint? Rakhine has been beset by religious violence since 2012 but analysts say the emergence of organised militancy is a game-changer. Displaced Rohingya reaching Bangladesh have told AFP some men are heeding a call to arms by the militants and staying behind to fight in their villages. The Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) claims its men launched Friday's surprise attacks on police posts, killing 11 state officials, with knives, homemade explosives and a few guns. After years in which the Rohingya largely avoided violence, the group emerged last October to carry out deadly attacks on police posts. That prompted a months-long security crackdown by Myanmar's army which left scores dead and forced 87,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. The Pope and the UN are among those urging Myanmar to protect Rohingya civilians from the latest violence. With pressure mounting, a Myanmar government official on Tuesday said security forces would use "maximum restraint" in coming days but insisted on the country's right to defend itself from "terrorists". Google is expanding Google Assistant support to new speakers and appliances. The AI-powered Assistant which works with Google Home will now be available on three speakers Zolo Mojo by Anker, TicHome Mini by Mobvoi and the GA10 by Panasonic. All the three speakers will be out by the end of this year. Google said it will add more speakers to the list soon. Similar to Google Home, users will be able to ask questions or give commands to these speakers by saying Ok Google. The Google Assistant features speech recognition, natural language processing and can even answer tough contextual questions. In addition to three speakers, Google has also announced an integration with LGs line of home appliances including washers, dryers, and vacuum. Google said that the Assistant already supports more than 70 home automation manufacturers, including Honeywell, Netatmo, TP-Link and Wemo. Just yesterday, Microsoft and Amazon partnered to integrate Alexa and Cortana digital assistants. Source LG just announced its flagship V30 smartphone at IFA 2017 in Berlin, as it had promised. It has a 6-inch (1440 2880 pixels) QHD+ OLED FullVision display with 18:9 aspect ratio and narrow bezels, is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform and has a 16-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.6 aperture, Crystal Clear lens, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and Hybrid Auto Focus that combines both Laser Detection Auto Focus and Phase Detection Auto Focus along with a 13-megapixel secondary camera with 120-degree wide-angle lens. It runs on Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with LG UX 6.0+ that brings several new features including new Voice Recognition supported by Qualcomm Aqstic voice UI technology for always-on, always-listening capabilities and face recognition unlocking. It has 32-bit Advanced Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by ESS Technologys SABRE ES9218P along with digital filters and sound presets and sound tuning by B&O PLAY. It has metal frame and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and back. It has IP68 water and dust resistance and has passed 14 categories of the MIL-STD 810G Transit Drop Test making it compliant for military operations. LG V30 specifications 6-inch (2880 x 1440 pixels) QHD+ OLED display with a 18:9 aspect ratio, 538 PPI, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with Adreno 540 GPU 4GB LPDDR4x RAM, 64GB (V30) / 128GB (V30+) (UFS 2.0) internal memory, expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with LG UX 6.0+ 16MP rear camera with f/1.6-aperture, 71-degree wide-angle lens, dual-tone LED flash, Laser auto focus, OIS, EIS, PDAF, 13MP secondary camera with f/1.9 aperture, 120-degree wide-angle lens 5MP front camera with 90-degree wide-angle lens, f/2.2 aperture Fingerprint sensor Water, dust resistant (IP68), MIL-STD 810G certified 32-bit Advanced Hi-Fi Quad DAC Dimensions: 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm; Weight: 158g 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0 LE, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible) 3,300mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, Wireless charging The LG V30 comes in Aurora Black, Cloud Silver, Moroccan Blue and Lavender Violet colors and will roll out starting from Korea starting from September 21 followed by North America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. LG today unveiled the most expected V30 smartphone at the IFA event in Berlin. We got to check out the phone at the event. Here is the hands-on and the hardware walk through in the form of photo gallery. The V30 has a slightly larger 6-inch display, compared to the 5.7-inch screen on the G6. Even though it has a QHD+ (1440 2880 pixels) FullVision display with 18:9 aspect ratio and narrow bezels, LG has switched from LCD to OLED, which looks pretty good. The phone is 8mm shorter and 3mm narrower than its predecessor, thanks to slim bezels. It has volume rockers on the left side and has a shiny metal frame. It is powered by an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform and has 4GB LPDDR4x RAM. On the front, it has a 5-megapixel camera with 90-degree wide-angle lens and f/2.2 aperture. Running on Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with LG UX 6.0+ on top, it also has voice recognition and face unlocking features. It also has support for Google Daydream VR. On the right side there is a SIM and microSD card slot. It comes in 64GB for standard and 128GB V30+ version. The phone has IP68 ratings for water and dust resistance and is MIL-STD 810G certified. On the top there is a secondary microphone along with a 3.5mm audio jack. On the bottom there is a speaker grill, USB Type-C port and the primary microphone. You can also see the antenna lines running on the top, bottom and the sides of the phone. The main highlight of the phone is its dual rear cameras. It has a 16-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.6-aperture, 71-degree wide-angle lens, dual-tone LED flash, hybrid focus with Laser auto focus and PDAF, OIS, EIS and a 13-megapixel secondary camera with f/1.9 aperture, 120-degree wide-angle lens. The phone has 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by ESS Technologys SABRE ES9218P and comes with sound tuning by B&O PLAY. Even though it has a metal frame, it has a glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection just like the front. You can see the B&O branding below the fingerprint sensor and there is a LG branding on the bottom part of the back. It has the usual set of connectivity features, including Bluetooth 5, thanks to Snapdragon 835. It has a 3,300mAh built-in battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and also has Wireless charging. The V30 comes in Aurora Black, Cloud Silver, Moroccan Blue and Lavender Violet colors and will be available in South Korea first starting from September 21 followed by other countries worldwide. LG has not revealed the price of the phone yet. Srivatsan contributed to this post On Friday and Saturday, October 13 and 14, Dark Sky New Mexico (DSNM) and The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) will host a star party in southwestern New Mexico. The second Americas Darkest Sky Star Party will occur in Animas, New Mexico, a lovely area dominated by antique silver mining that now boasts one of the best skies in the world for stargazing. Astronomy magazine Editor David Eicher and Senior Editor Michael Bakich, well known astronomy personalities, will be your hosts to all things celestial. If youre wondering whether you should join us, here are 12 things that might help you make up your mind. 1. An almost ironclad promise of a clear sky. It will be mid-October in the Desert Southwest. Days are warm and sunny, and nights are cool and starry. We cant guarantee a clear sky, of course, but based on solid, long-term climate statistics we can come awfully close to doing so. 2. Youre walking on air. At the star party sites elevation of 4,600 feet (1,400 meters), 15 percent of Earths atmosphere lies below you. Thats a great advantage over many other sites in the U.S. 3. Ultra-low light pollution. No large cities lie close to the DSNM location. Small communities do exist, but their light output is tiny, and it will not degrade our views of even faint celestial quarry. 4. More than just stars. On Saturday, members of the TAAS, along with Eicher and Bakich will present short illustrated talks on a variety of astronomical subjects. Maybe you want to catch up on recent news in astrophysics. Or perhaps youre wondering whats the best scope or mount for you. If so, dont miss it. 5. I thought stars were supposed to twinkle. As the night progresses, you may notice something strange. Most of the stars will stop twinkling. The atmosphere at the star party site has such great seeing (atmospheric steadiness) that theres almost no discernible twinkle except for stars near the horizon. 6. Access to telescopes. You can bring your own telescope. In fact, you may want to just to see how it performs under a pristine sky or to ask a specific question about it. But you dont have to. Thanks to members of TAAS, there will be plenty of telescopes for attendees to view through. 7. Experts at your side. The Astronomy magazine team can answer your questions. About galaxies. About telescopes. About the birth of the universe. About astrophotography. About observing. About astronomy period. 8. Youll make some cool new friends. Amateur astronomers are a friendly bunch. They love to talk about the sky, observing, equipment, travel, and lots more. If youre just starting out in this fascinating hobby, their experiences can make the road you travel a whole lot smoother. 9. Star cities in the fall sky. As darkness falls, our telescopes will locate and track what many observers consider the most beautiful and enigmatic targets in space galaxies. Well have great looks at the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the Pinwheel Galaxy (M33) in Triangulum, the Silver Coin Galaxy (NGC 253), and lots more. And perhaps well take some time to gaze in wonder at Stephans Quintet. Its tough to see, but our sky will be dark. By the way, have you ever seen NGC 1? No? Cmon down! 10. Other stellar wonders Besides galaxies, some terrific double stars, open clusters, and globular clusters are visible. Marvel at the Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae), Albireo (Beta Cygni), and many others. Human eyes have subtle differences, so well compare how the colors of the stars appear to each of us. Regarding open clusters, the Double Cluster in Perseus will be a popular target. Because its so large, the two star groups look better through binoculars than through a telescope. And although we might catch the Hercules Cluster (M13) before it sets, another great globular will be high in the sky M15 in Pegasus. 11. A feast of planetary nebulae Finally, autumn features some of the best planetary nebulae in the sky. First up will be the Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra. The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in Vulpecula might be next. Then perhaps well venture south to the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) in Aquarius. All will wow you. And for those who havent yet had enough of these former Sun-like stars, theres NGC 40 in Cepheus, M76 in Perseus, NGC 6781 in Aquila you get the picture. 12. Your dream site? If you like what you see, chat with the owners of Dark Sky New Mexico. For a monthly fee, theyll lease you a plot of land where you can put up your own observatory and telescope. Then you can visit regularly. Or image remotely. Its your choice. Imagine! FrieslandCampina Ingredients Were a team of passionate ingredient specialists who add goodness to the foods, beverages, and businesses that nourish the world. All around our planet, demand is growing for smart solutions to food and beverage challenges. People want their products to be pure, enriching, tasty, and above all, safe. Simply put, they want more goodness from what they consume. We believe that whats inside matters. And day after day, were driven to make it better. FrieslandCampina Ingredients operates worldwide with regional sales offices in the Netherlands, the United States, Singapore, China and Brazil. The Ingredients division reported combined sales of 1.7 billion in FY18. For additional information, please visit: www.frieslandcampinaingredients.com. FrieslandCampina Ingredients is part of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. The dairy company daily provides millions of consumers throughout the world with dairy products containing the valuable nutrients from milk. The annual turnover amounted to 11.6 billion euro in 2018. FrieslandCampina has locations in 34 countries and employs about 24,000 employees. The Central Office is based in the Netherlands. Were FrieslandCampina Ingredients, passionate about adding goodness to the foods, beverages, and businesses that nourish the world. Demand is growing for smart, sustainable solutions. Our people collaborate with a passion and focus that ensures every food and beverage solution for our customers is spot-on. We believe that whats inside matters. And day after day, were driven to make it better. (Reuters) - Major U.S. railroads have warned that it could be a long time before normal operations resume in the Houston area where Tropical Storm Harvey has caused catastrophic flooding. Closure of rail lines in the grain transport hub and nexus for cross-border traffic with Mexico presents a costly headache for customers ranging from automakers to farmers who use the lines to send ethanol, cereals and auto parts to and from Mexico or to be loaded onto ships. Union Pacific Corp and Berkshire Hathaway Inc's BNSF Railway, the two leading U.S. railroads, and regional railroad Kansas City Southern have suspended operations in the area affected by the storm. "We don't have a historical precedent with this one," said Thomas Williamson, owner of Florida-based rail broker Transportation Consultants Co. "I expect service to be disrupted anywhere from two to six weeks." Union Pacific, the No. 1 U.S. railroad, said that as of midday on Wednesday, sections of track were out of service in 18 of its 28 Houston-area subdivisions, and it was sending traffic along alternate routes through Longview and Dallas. The railroad said it was using helicopters and drones to inspect track and facilities in areas without road access. And it said workers were reorganizing major rail yards at Settegast, near downtown Houston, and Englewood, including assessing infrastructure, getting trains reassembled and cars back in the yard. A Midwest-based conductor at the railroad said parts of Union Pacific's Englewood Yard were flooded as of late Tuesday. The company, which has been rerouting rail traffic away from Houston, said traffic entering or leaving through the north and east sides of Houston was on hold, and its main line between Houston and San Antonio, to the west, was out of service. BNSF said in a Tuesday customer announcement that normal train flows in the area were unlikely to resume for "an extended period." A spokesman at CSX Corp, the No. 3 U.S. railroad, which has so far been unaffected by Harvey, said on Wednesday it was "closely watching the weather conditions in Louisiana and the southwestern portion of our operating network." COSTS UNKNOWN Loadings of wheat, corn and sorghum onto ships for export have been halted in Texas. And although coastal grain elevators have not been significantly damaged they have been unable to receive supplies. Archer Daniels Midland Co's grain elevators remained operational in Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas, but loadings there cannot resume until rail transportation begins again, a spokeswoman said. Louis Dreyfus Co, [AKIRAU.UL] which has grain terminals in Beaumont and Houston, did not return requests for comment on Wednesday. Kansas City Southern, with much of its business focused on U.S.-Mexico trade, may have greater exposure to disruption caused by the storm than the other two railroads, Cowen & Co analyst Jason Seidl said in a note to clients. Kansas City Southern said on Wednesday its lane between Houston and Laredo on the U.S.-Mexico border remained closed, but it said its infrastructure so far had not been significantly damaged. "We continue to monitor the situation, which has expanded and is now impacting new areas on our system, namely Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana," Kansas City Southern said in a written statement. Rail customers and their transportation providers will find ways to bypass Houston, said Rick Ehrensaft, chief operating officer at Grand Worldwide Logistics Corp, a warehouse and third-party logistics company with locations across the United States. "There will be some triaging using other modes of transportation to get around anything that's been routed through there," he said. "What that's going to do to costs is unknown." Once the rails are up and running, railroad operators will likely benefit as goods for recovery and rebuilding are sent to the region, said independent railroad analyst Anthony Hatch. "We can be sure that the rails will be quicker to recover than most as they have been through this before," he said. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 damaged about 200 miles (320 km) of CSX track on the Gulf Coast, causing about $250 million in damages, 90 percent of which was covered by insurance. (Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in New York and Michael Hirtzer and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney, Toni Reinhold) Southwest Airlines has become the first U.S. airline to receive Boeings (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the airline announced Wednesday. The Dallas-based low-cost carrier, which served as the launch customer for the 737 MAX 8 after announcing its order for the aircraft in December 2011, is expected to take delivery of eight more of the new jets in the coming weeks, which plans to use the aircraft for revenue service beginning Oct. 1. The 737 MAX opens a new chapter of efficiency, reliability, and comfort to the Southwest fleet, and its increased range allows us to take our low fares even farther," Southwest Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said in a statement. The airlines version of the aircraft will feature 175 seats in a single-class cabin configuration, each with a 32-inch pitch. Southwests 737 MAX will feature new LEAP-1B engines made by CFM Internationala joint venture between GE (NYSE:GE) and Frances Safran Aircraft Engines. According to CFM, the LEAP engine improves fuel consumption by 15%, compared to the CFM56 engine, which is used by more than 550 operators worldwide. Southwest is the largest operator of the Boeing 737, which includes the 737-300, -500, -700 and MAX, for a total of 735 jets in its fleet. Earlier this month the airline announced it had begun to retire the 300 series aircraft, the oldest flown by the company, with last flight taking place in late-September. Southwest currently has an order for 200 of the 737 MAX and by the end of 2017, expects to have a total of 14 MAX aircraft in its fleet. Modernizing our fleet means we have to say goodbye to many of our existing aircraft. Farewell to 18 of our 737-300s, retired last week! pic.twitter.com/UhRcvRfjpQ Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) August 22, 2017 So far, Boeing has more than 3,800 orders for its 737 MAX family of aircraft. While demand for the MAX 9 jet have been weak compared to its direct competitor, Airbus A321neo, the Chicago-based airplane makers latest 737 modelthe MAX 10helped it win the race for airline orders at the 2017 Paris Air Show in June. Boeing won 571 net new orders and commitments valued at $74.8 billion (list prices), while Airbus said it totaled 326. Included in Boeing's 571 total of new orders and commitments, 147 were for the MAX 10, while 214 were for conversions to the new jet from other models. Hundreds of Puerto Ricans took to the streets of the island's capital on Wednesday to protest austerity measures as anger builds over an unrelenting economic crisis that has hit the working class especially hard. Protesters clutched posters decrying austerity measures including new taxes, increases in utility bills and looming furloughs and cuts to a public pension system facing nearly $50 billion in liabilities. "They're taking advantage of us poor workers. We did not steal. We are not corrupt," read one poster held up by 70-year-old Eva Feliciano, a retired government worker who said she sometimes cannot afford to buy the groceries she and her husband need. Protesters shielded themselves from a blazing sun as meteorologists warned of a heat index that could reach 110 degrees. The crowd converged at the offices of a federal control board created by U.S. Congress last year to oversee Puerto Rico's finances. The board earlier this week sued Gov. Ricardo Rossello for refusing to implement measures including a 10 percent cut to a public pension system that officials say is running out of money and furloughs that are supposed to go into effect on Friday. Puerto Ricans have joined the governor in rejecting the board's demands. "The measures that are being approved affect everyone in Puerto Rico," said Luis Pedraza, leader of a union that represents some 20,000 workers in the public and private sector. He warned that if people don't protest, they will be hit with additional measures to generate more money for bondholders demanding payment amid multimillion-dollar defaults as Puerto Rico tries to restructure a portion of its $74 billion public debt. Joining the protest were dozens of workers from the island's public power company who launched a 24-hour strike that forced the agency to temporarily close its offices. Among them was 39-year-old Christian Garcia, who said his family has cut back on TV, internet and grocery shopping amid the crisis. Nearby, several retired police officers held up posters demanding the government pay their pensions in full. Currently, police officers and teachers in Puerto Rico do not receive Social Security and depend solely on the crumbling public pension system. Diego Figueroa, who retired in 2003 after working 35 years at the island's police department, defended the creation of the federal control board and said it is sorely needed. "It is lifting the veil on millions of acts of corruption committed against the people of Puerto Rico," he said, referring in part to previous administrations that borrowed millions of dollars to cover ballooning deficits. "We demand respect for a people that is suffering." The island of 3.4 million people is struggling with a 10 percent unemployment rate and a decade-long recession that has sparked an exodus of nearly 450,000 people to the U.S. mainland. Movado Group (NYSE: MOV) reported fiscal 2018 second-quarter earnings on Aug. 29. The watchmaker is enjoying renewed growth as it works to integrate a high-potential acquisition. Movado Group results: The raw numbers What happened with Movado Group this quarter? Net sales inched up 0.5% year over year to $128.8 million, and 1.2% on a constant dollar basis. "Despite a challenging U.S. retail environment, our global team's strong execution of our strategy and our increasing presence around the world led to growth in net sales, with particular strength in Latin America, Europe, and Asia," Chairman and CEO Efraim Grinberg said in a press release. Movado also continued to make progress with its cost-savings initiatives. Adjusted operating expenses -- which exclude charges related to Movado's recent purchase of U.K.-based Olivia Burton -- decreased 11% to $53.5 million. That helped adjusted operating income jump 28% to $12.9 million and adjusted net income surge 58% to $9.9 million, or $0.43 per share. Acquisition update Grinberg shared some insights into Movado's strategy for its new acquisition during a conference call with analysts: Olivia Burton will continue to operate independently in London but with the ability to leverage Movado's global distribution system to expand internationally. Movado also plans to help Olivia Burton build brand awareness and a "significant" direct-to-consumer business in new international markets. In return, Movado expects its new subsidiary to help it better resonate with millennials and broaden its product lineup. "Through the Olivia Burton brand, we'll expand our relationship with younger consumers and increase our presence in jewelry, which represents significant opportunity for the company," added Grinberg. Capital returns Movado also announced that its board of directors approved a new $50 million stock buyback program. "The company's strong balance sheet with $162 million in cash affords us the opportunity to both invest in support of our growth and return value to our shareholders," Grinberg said. Looking forward Movado updated its fiscal 2018 full-year financial outlook to reflect the expected impact of its Olivia Burton acquisition, including the following: Net sales of $530 million to $545 million, up from a prior forecast of $515 million to $530 million Adjusted operating income of $53 million to $58 million, up from $50 million to $55 million Adjusted net income of $35.5 million to $38.8 million, versus $33 million to $36.3 million Adjusted EPS of $1.50 to $1.65, up from $1.40 to $1.55 "Looking ahead, we are excited about the opportunities we have in front of us to grow our recently acquired Olivia Burton brand globally, expand new business initiatives including Rebecca Minkoff and Movado Connect watches, and increase our direct-to-consumer business," added Grinberg. "This, combined with our unique and compelling product offerings across the entire portfolio, supported by our traditional and digital advertising campaigns, positions us well for the upcoming holiday season." 10 stocks we like better than Movado GroupWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Movado Group wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Movado Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival opens today at Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Florida resort, kicking off a 75-day festival that will feature kiosks selling foodie-approved edibles and drinks, as well as stages offering culinary workshops and nightly concerts. It's a big deal for Epcot, Disney World's second-most-popular park. Folks don't typically associate Disney as a place for adults to get their drinks on. The resort's original Magic Kingdom park didn't even offer alcoholic beverages until the Be Our Guest restaurant opened in 2012. Epcot has never shied away from serving up potent beverages, but the annual festival tends to bring out the party animal lurking inside many of its visitors. Disney shareholders don't mind. Disney's theme-park attendance has been sluggish for the second year in a row, and anything that the media giant can do to generate more turnstile clicks and revenue than the year before can only help. Let's go over a few of the things that this year's festival is doing to improve Disney's financial performance. 1. The festival is longer this year Disney has been hosting the Food & Wine Festival every year since 1995, and the event gets longer with every passing year. The event will be a 75-day affair this year, up from 62 days last year and 53 days the year before that. The fall festival keeps bleeding earlier into the summer season, something that should juice up its fiscal fourth-quarter results. There's always the risk that Disney outstretches the festival's elasticity. If it's the same number of total visitors spread out over more days Disney won't gain anything with the extension. The novelty may also wear thin. However, lines on peak weekend periods seemed as long as ever last year. You can't blame Disney World for trying. 2. The festival is thinking outside of the park box The festival has blossomed over the years, going from a modest collection of international outposts across its World Showcase pavilion to setting up shop throughout Epcot. It's going beyond the turnstiles this year, hosting meals and seminars across its three monorail-accessible resort hotels. Disney stunned investors by reporting a decline in occupied room nights during its fiscal second quarter. Hosting more events at its own hotels won't necessarily cause a spike in bookings. One has to hope that someone doesn't drink so much at an event that they book a room for the night. However, getting Epcot visitors to check out its resort offerings -- particularly its three high-end hotels that happen to be on the monorail line -- should help inspire future bookings. 3. Discounts are there for the taking This is typically the time of year when Disney drums up seasonal promotions to get folks to visit its parks during the off-season, but it's being more aggressive than usual this time around with attendance flat or declining for the second calendar year in a row. Annual passholders can bring family members and friends that will can buy one-day park-hopper tickets for $79, a big discount for a ticket that can cost as much as $142.50 this time of year. The tickets must be purchased at the park the same day they are used, and the offer is good only through the end of September. Fall rates at Disney resorts have historically been discounted, and marked-down offers on tickets for Florida residents are standard this time of year. However, a new perk for those with annual passes is access to discounts as high as 30% -- through the end of September -- at select restaurants. Naturally guests coming for Food & Wine aren't going to be thinking about eating even more food, but the point here is that a hungry Disney is one that's good for deal seekers. Shareholders may disagree with the notion that discounts are a good thing, but if it brings in more visitors that will be paying full price for their festival food and wine tastings, it will work wonders for Disney's top and bottom lines. 10 stocks we like better than Walt DisneyWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Walt Disney wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Dickinson College professor was at odds with his students over the question of morality in politics. He had no faith in our institutions, Roger Brooke Taney said of his mentor Dr. Charles Nisbet. [He] did not believe in their capacity to protect the rights of person and property against the impulses of popular passion. Taney was recalling his formative years in Carlisle far removed from his later duties as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. It was in that role that this son of a Maryland tobacco farmer wrote the March 1857 majority opinion in the Dred Scott case. That ruling confirmed slaves as property and declared that the 1820 Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because Congress had no right, under the constitutional protection of private property, to bar slavery from the new territories, according to an online biography on Taney posted by the Dickinson College archives. The Baltimore Sun reported on Aug. 18 that a work crew removed the statue of Taney from its perch outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis. It was among the monuments linked to slavery and the Confederate cause removed from a public square since white nationalists rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. Rough journey Born March 17, 1777, Taney grew up with rural gentry privilege in southern Maryland, the biography reads. He was educated privately before being enrolled in Dickinson College in 1792. His father was close friends with the families of two students who gave favorable accounts of the institution, Taney wrote in his memoirs. He accompanied one of the students on the trip back to Pennsylvania. It was no small undertaking in that day to get from the lower part of Calvert County [Maryland] to Carlisle, Taney recalled. We embarked onboard one of the schooners employed in transporting produce and goods between the Patuxent River and Baltimore. Unfavorable winds delayed their arrival by a week and there was no transportation available for days while they waited for a wagon heading for Carlisle. They had to worry the whole journey about robbers stealing the money they stowed in their luggage. None of us boarded in the college, Taney wrote. Instead he was one of eight students who stayed with math professor James McCormick. He was unwearied in his attentions to us in our studies, full of patience and good nature, Taney said of McCormick. Guardian Nisbet Upon arrival in Carlisle, Taney delivered a letter from his father to Nisbet, the principal of Dickinson College. The letter asked Nisbet to assume the role of guardian over Taney who was about 15 at the time and 150 miles from home. He cheerfully took upon himself the duty and invited me to visit him often, the future lawyer, politician and judge wrote. And many pleasant evenings I have spent at his house. He did not worry or fatigue me by grave and solemn lectures and admonitions. Taney described his conversations with Nisbet as cheerful and animated, full of anecdote and classical allusions and seasoned with lively and playful wit. But Nisbet had a different side in the classroom. If he saw conduct that merited reproof, his sarcasm was sometimes bitter, and cut deep at the time, Taney wrote. But I never saw it used towards a pupil unless he deserved it. Nisbet taught courses in Ethics, Logic, Metaphysics and Criticism by way of lectures that were written out and read to the class slowly. Students were also required to copy down questions and answers from a compendium of each science. While it seemed like learning by rote, Nisbet was pleased whenever a student gave an answer different from what was in the text. He would review it in class and give feedback on what was correct and incorrect about the answer. His object was to teach the pupil to think, to reason, to form an opinion, and not to depend merely upon memory, Taney wrote. He undoubtedly succeeded in fastening our attention upon the subject on which he was lecturing. But when it came to how ethics played a role in government, Nisbet had ideas that Taney said were decidedly anti-Republican, at least, for 1790s frontier America. These opinions were monstrous heresies in our eyes, Taney recalled. But we heard them with good humor, and without offending him. We supposed they were the necessary consequence of his birth and education in Scotland. Some students were so vexed by the opinions they refused to jot down them. Taney was convinced the students would have openly rebelled had another professor expressed those same views. Rhyme time Robert Davidson was the vice-principal of Dickinson College when Taney was a student from 1792 to 1795. He was disliked by the students generally, and some of them took no pains to conceal it, Taney said. He was formal and solemn and precise. Davidson lectured on History, Natural Philosophy and Geography. He had written a rhyming book about the different countries and about the principal rivers, mountains and cities in each. Students were required to purchase the book, commit the verses to memory and then parrot the lessons back to Davidson in class. This proved to be annoying to Taney and his classmates. It filled our minds with names of places and general descriptions, without giving us any definite idea of their position on the globe or their relation to one another, Taney recalled. He [Davidson] was always vain of it, and always showed his displeasure if anyone could not repeat it readily, word for word, as he had written it. Perhaps the most annoying verse was the introduction to the book where Robert Davidson used the first letter of each line to spell out his name. Students had to repeat this verse over and over in class. Some 50 years later, Taney quoted all but the last four lines in his memoir. Part of it went: Round the globe now to rove, and its surface survey, Oh, youth of America, hasten away; Bid adieu for awhile to the toys you desire, Earths beauties to view, and its wonders admire After Dickinson As for Taney, he became a leading member of the Belles Lettres Society and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1795, the online biography reads. This honor he always valued since the students themselves were responsible for each selection. From Carlisle, Taney studied law in Maryland where he served as a state representative. As a lawyer in Frederick, he met and married Anne Key, the sister of Francis Scott Key, who wrote lyrics for what later became the Star-Spangled Banner. Taney served in the Maryland state Senate and as the state attorney general before becoming a supporter of Gen. Andrew Jackson. When Jackson became president, Taney served as attorney general, acting secretary of war and secretary of the treasury before being appointed chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Taney died on Oct. 12, 1864. Looking back over the past several decades, we can see the long-term growth power of well-run real estate investment trusts, or REITs. For example, leading healthcare REIT Welltower has produced a total return of nearly 79,000% over its 47-year history, and since its IPO in 1994, top net-lease retail REIT Realty Income has averaged a remarkable 16.4% annualized rate of return. Currently, both are huge companies, with market capitalizations of $26.5 billion and $15.8 billion, respectively. While I still love both of those REITs as long-term investments, it's only natural to think, "Wouldn't it have been nice to get in on the ground floor of those opportunities?" Fortunately, there are many smaller REITs with similar growth opportunities. And while there's no way to know for sure which of the small REITs will become tomorrow's major players, here are three that look quite promising. Consumers always want or need a bargain In a recent presentation, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (NYSE: SKT) CEO Steven B. Tanger said, "In good times people love a bargain, and in tough times, people need a bargain." In other words, the discount-oriented nature of Tanger's business model works in all economic environments. The proof is in the numbers. Tanger has consistently grown its same-center net operating income (NOI) over the past decade, even throughout the Great Recession. And since its 1993 IPO, the company has finished every single year with an occupancy rate of 95% or higher. The only pure-play outlet-center REIT, Tanger certainly has lots of potential for growth. Tanger is a market leader, with 43 outlet centers, but outlets are still a relatively small portion of the retail industry. In fact, Tanger estimates that there are less than 70 million square feet of quality outlet space in the entire United States -- less than the retail space in Chicago. In addition, Tanger's stock price has been beaten down, along with most others that make their money from brick-and-mortar retail. However, discount-oriented retail actually is doing quite well, plus the outlet-shopping business model revolves around in-person discounts -- meaning that the company is resistant to e-commerce headwinds. A massive opportunity in senior care LTC Properties (NYSE: LTC) is a healthcare REIT that focuses on skilled nursing and assisted-living properties, with the company's portfolio of 201 facilities almost evenly split between the two. Most of the properties are in major metropolitan areas and are operated by some of the best senior-living companies in the nation, such as Brookdale Senior Living and Genesis Healthcare, just to name two. Why invest in senior housing? In a nutshell, the U.S. population is projected to age rapidly, thanks to the ongoing retirement of the massive baby boomer generation. The typical age for a senior-housing resident is between 82 and 86 years old, based on a 2014 survey. This portion of the population is expected to grow by 29% by 2025 and will continue to grow after that. In other words, the portion of the population most likely to utilize senior housing is going to grow rapidly, creating a steady stream of new demand. LTC Properties is already growing aggressively, with more than half a billion dollars of investments over the past two years alone, a large amount for a REIT of its size. With nearly $800 million in available liquidity, there's no reason to believe the company has any intention of slowing down. A good time to invest in rental housing The U.S. homeownership rate is at a generational low, as the millennial generation has demonstrated more of a preference for renting than previous generations. One smaller, but rapidly growing, REIT that could be a smart way to invest in this trend is Preferred Apartment Communities (NYSE: APTS). In addition to its apartment communities, the company also has several subsidiary companies that invest in other property types -- Preferred Campus Communities (student housing), Preferred Office Properties (Class A office buildings), and New Market Properties (grocery-anchored shopping centers). Not only does this add diversification, but it also gives the company three more avenues for growth and the ability to concentrate its resources in whatever property type is the most attractive investment at a particular time. At the end of 2016, the company owned and managed 24 apartment communities, 31 grocery-anchored shopping centers, owned 23 real estate loan investments, three office buildings, and one student-housing community. Preferred Apartment Communities is relatively new, having issued its IPO in 2011, but has grown aggressively since then. In 2016 alone, the company increased its core funds from operations (FFO) by 12.9% per share, and nearly doubled its revenue and total assets. 2017 looks like it will be another impressive year of growth for the company. As of this writing (August 29, 2017), the company has announced the acquisition of six more apartment communities, four grocery-anchored shopping centers, and five real estate loan investments. 10 stocks we like better than Tanger Factory Outlet CentersWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 Matthew Frankel owns shares of Realty Income. The Motley Fool recommends Tanger Factory Outlet Centers and Welltower. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) shareholders have had plenty to cheer about in 2017. This year, the company's stock price has increased almost 15%, a good deal better than the S&P 500's return over the same time period. For a company known more for its impressive track record of dividend growth than for delivering capital gains appreciation, that's not too shabby! When the company reported its second-quarter earnings, revenue was basically flat year-over-year, coming in at $5.4 billion. Earnings growth, however, was strong: Year-over-year, net earnings increased 30% to $713 million and diluted EPS increased almost 36% to $1.79. While there are several factors that have gone into Aflac's market-beating returns this year, one aspect that might have slipped under most investors' radars is a key partnership Aflac forged with the Japan Post Holdings in 2013 that has paid increasing dividends to the company. In 2016, more than 20,000 post offices sold Aflac plans through this agreement. AFL data by YCharts Aflac's far out business in the Far East Due to Aflac's iconic Aflac Duck, most Americans are at least somewhat aware that the company provides supplemental insurance to workers when they get sick or injured and have to miss work. What many might not know, however, is that Aflac generates more revenue in Japan than within the U.S. In the second quarter, about two-thirds of Aflac's total revenue originated in that country. Aflac's presence in Japan is hard to overestimate as Aflac currently insures about 25% of Japanese households and is the country's largest provider of medical and cancer insurance. Aflac's distribution channels, or the way it sells plans to consumers, differ greatly in the American and Japanese markets. Domestically, Aflac relies exclusively on career agents and brokers to sell its plans, usually through employers and businesses. In Japan, it conducts business a bit differently. While Aflac Japan still heavily depends on a network of 108,000 licensed sales associates, it has also entered into a number of strategic partnerships, mostly with banks and life insurance companies, to juice sales growth of its insurance plans. Yet it was Aflac's partnership with the Japan Post that was singled out time and again by Aflac management in its second-quarter conference call for driving increasing amounts of sales growth. This partnership can be "a game changer" The Japan Post Holdings is a Japanese conglomerate that not only operates the country's postal system through a network of more than 20,000 post offices, but also offers financial services through its own banking and life insurance operations. In Aflac CEO Daniel Amos's prepared remarks on the second-quarter conference call, taken from the transcript provided by S&P Global, he credited the four-year-old partnership by saying Aflac's results were "fueled" by the alliance. Amos continued: Aflac gets quacking Aflac will never be the next Amazon.com, giving shareholders once-in-a-lifetime returns over a period of time. But that's not why investors look to Aflac in the first place. Instead, most shareholders want a safe and growing dividend and, hopefully, a steadily climbing share price over time. On these fronts, Aflac has delivered for decades, raising its dividend for 34 straight years and basically matching the S&P 500 in capital gains over the past five years. When Aflac finds ways to unlock additional avenues of growth, such as its strategic partnership with Japan Post, investors are rewarded with years like this one: dividend growth and market-thumping returns. For shareholders, that's never a bad combination. 10 stocks we like better than AflacWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Aflac wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 Matthew Cochrane owns shares of Aflac and Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Aflac. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. American businesses are pitching in to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, including Anheuser-Busch, which on Tuesday announced that it would donate cans of water to those affected by the hurricane. Since 1988, the St. Louis-based brewing company has donated more than 76 million cans of water to disaster relief efforts, including after Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and Matthew, Vice President for Community Affairs Bill Bradley told FOX Business Trish Regan on The Intelligence Report. This is one of the best things that we do, he said. Thousands of people in Texas have been in dire need of clean water since Hurricane Harvey landed on Saturday, flooding major cities with unprecedented amounts of rainfall. In order to respond so quickly to the disaster, the company maintains a certain level of water supply on hand in case of emergencies. So far, the brewing company has sent about eight truckloads into affected areas in Louisiana and Texas, he said. And on Monday, it will ramp up its water production again at a brewery in Georgia, with plans to send several more trucks into shelters, Bradley said. The Trump administration delayed an Obama-era rule that would have tightened safety requirements for companies that store large quantities of dangerous chemicals such as the chemical plant near Houston that exploded early Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency rule would have required chemical plants, including the now-destroyed Arkema Inc., plant outside Houston, to make public the types and quantities of chemicals stored on site. The rule was developed after a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, exploded in 2013, killing 15 people. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt prevented the safety rule from taking effect until 2019 to allow the agency time to reconsider industry objections. Chemical companies, including Arkema, said the rule could make it easier for terrorists and other criminals to target refineries, chemical plants and other facilities. Environmental groups and 11 states are fighting the delay in court. Arkema has not released a full list of chemicals stored at the plant, although officials said the substances that caught fire were organic peroxides, a family of volatile compounds used for making a variety of products, including pharmaceuticals and construction materials. Mathy Stanislaus, a former EPA assistant administrator who helped draft the rule for the Obama administration, said it probably would not have prevented the explosion but could have greatly reduced the risk to first responders. The Harris County sheriff says 15 deputies sought medical attention for eye irritation after the fire, although most were quickly treated and released. "There was a gap in specific knowledge. People need to know what chemicals (are being stored) and what kind of precautions are in place," Stanislaus said in an interview Thursday. Stanislaus, who led the EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management during the Obama administration, disputed critics who said the rule would have made it easier for terrorists to gain information about hazardous chemicals. The rule "struck a balance" between the public's right to know important safety information and national security concerns, he said. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency's Risk Management Program rule continues to be in effect and requires facilities that use extremely hazardous substances to develop plans that identify potential effects of a chemical accident, steps to prevent an accident and emergency response procedures. "The agency's recent action to delay the effectiveness of the 2017 amendments had no effect on the major safety requirements that applied to the Arkema Crosby plant at the time of the fire," spokeswoman Amy Graham said. EPA is providing assistance and resources to the first responders in Harris County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Pruitt said in a statement. Data received from an aircraft that surveyed the scene early Thursday "indicates that there are no concentrations of concern for toxic materials reported at this time," he said. The EPA issued a final rule in January, seven days before President Barack Obama left office. The EPA said at the time that the rule would help prevent accidents and improve emergency preparedness by allowing first responders better data on chemical storage. A coalition of business groups opposed the rule, saying it would impose significant new costs without specific safety benefits. The rule "may actually compromise the security of our facilities, emergency responders and our communities," groups including the American Chemistry Council, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and American Petroleum Institute said. Arkema also lobbied against the rule, telling the EPA in a May 2016 letter that the proposal "will likely add significant new costs and burdens" and "could create a risk to our sites and to the communities surrounding them." Stanislaus called the rule "a modest first step" to address safety for first responders and localities. The rule came after a three-year process that included eight public hearings and more than 44,000 public comments, he said. __ Follow Matthew Daly: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC The Hard Rock Cafe on the Atlantic City Boardwalk will shut down and be relocated into the former Trump Taj Mahal casino when Hard Rock reopens it under its own brand next summer. The global casino and hospitality company says the Atlantic City Hard Rock Cafe will cease operations on Sept. 30. Construction will then begin on a new cafe inside the former Taj Mahal. The new cafe will employ more than 100 people, up from the 55-member current staff. Hard Rock bought the shuttered casino, which now-President Donald Trump opened in 1990, from billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama Administration, on Thursday compared the housing market crash, which began in 2007, to the economic damages Hurricane Harvey is set to cause the state of Texas. Whats different here than in a lot of these cases is much of the multi-millions of people, a decent fraction of them do not have flood insurance, they are not in a flood zone. So that makes it in some ways like the housing bubble popping. So if you lost your home but the insurance isnt going to cover it, you could see spending go down pretty substantially on a regional basis, he told FOX Business Ashley Webster on Risk & Reward. According to AccuWeather, the total cost of damages from Hurricane Harvey is estimated to total $190 billion. I would right now be surprised if it werent the biggest natural disaster in our history, just because so many people live in Houston, said Goolsbee, who is also an economics professor at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago economics professor also discussed how Harvey could impact fuel prices for not only Texas, but the entire country. For sure you know theres going to be a massive regional impact on the GDP of Texas and of the Houston region. The thing we dont know is for the wider aggregated economy, how much impact and how lasting impact will this have on fuel prices, thats a key component, he said. The Trump administration illegally delayed an Obama-era rule intended to increase royalty payments to taxpayers from oil, gas and coal extraction on federal lands, a judge ruled. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte, however, stopped short Wednesday of reinstating the Obama rule. Laporte noted that the Trump administration revoked the rule, with the revocation taking effect on Sept. 6. The judge said reinstating the Obama rule for a few days would disrupt the mining industry by requiring it to switch gears to the old rule in a short time. But Laporte agreed with the plaintiffs the attorneys general of New Mexico and California that the Trump administration did not have the authority to delay the rule after it went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017,but could have revoked it altogether. The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment. Watchdog groups long complained that taxpayers were losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually because royalties on resources from public lands were being improperly calculated. They applauded the Obama administration's changes. Critics said the changes would drive up energy costs and reduce energy investment on federal and Indian lands. Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said earlier in August that repealing the rule "provides a clean slate to create workable valuation regulations." The agency remains committed to collecting every dollar due, Zinke said, noting that public lands are assets belonging to taxpayers and Native American tribes. The lawsuit challenging the delay of the Obama-era rule was brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Balderas' office said in a statement the Obama rule would bring more money to New Mexico that would be earmarked for public schools. "I'm pleased that a federal court agreed with us that Donald Trump broke the law," Balderas said in a statement. "This is a big win for New Mexico's students, families and teachers." The Latest on the Brexit discussions between Britain and the European Union (all times local): 1:20 p.m. Britain's chief Brexit negotiator David Davis has called on the EU to show "flexibility" to break the logjam in talks over Britain's exit from the bloc. Speaking at a press conference at the end of four days of discussions, Davis conceded that "significant differences" remain. He singled out the outstanding financial commitments Britain will need to make to the EU. Davis said the government has a "duty to our taxpayers" to understand the EU's demands. ___ 1:05 p.m. The European Union has said that a week of negotiations on Britain's exit from the bloc failed to produce a major breakthrough. He said "no decisive progress" has been made on any of the topics the EU wants sorted before discussions can move onto future trade arrangements. The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said at a press conference following the four days of talks that "we are far from seeing sufficient progress." He warned that with "every passing day we move closer to the date of departure." Britain triggered the two-year Brexit deadline in March. Barnier said the EU was ready to intensify the pace of the negotiations. ___ 12:05 p.m. Diplomats in Brussels involved in the latest negotiating session on Britain's exit from the European Union say discussions have become more acrimonious. Officials from both sides, who were on Thursday wrapping up four days of talks at EU headquarters, say the discussions have yielded little amid bickering over everything from arrangements for health protection after Brexit actually takes place in March 2019 to Britain's divorce bill. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have complained that Britain has still not produced sufficient information for the talks to move onto trade matters. Meanwhile, British diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, said some EU papers, including those on Britain's outstanding bill, were too flimsy for decisive debate. The Latest on a Houston-area chemical plant that lost power after Harvey (all times local): 6:05 p.m. An official says the fire is out at a chemical plant near Houston but they are monitoring the site for more blazes. Explosions and fires rocked the flood-crippled Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby early Thursday. The plant's owners warned more explosions could follow because a loss of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn. Rachel K. Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal, said the fire that began early Thursday in a trailer at the plant went out around noon. She said there are eight other trailers on the site that they are monitoring. Moreno said her agency was notified Tuesday morning about the facility's power outage, which they believe it was caused by flooding. Moreno said any decision to enter the facility is up to the company, not first responders. Fire and police are maintaining the 1.5 mile buffer indefinitely. She said they are also uncertain about the water levels at the facility because they aren't sending first responders beyond the buffer zone. She said 200 residents were evacuated over the past 48 hours. ___ 4:45 p.m. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating after explosions and fires rocked a flood-crippled chemical plant near Houston. Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland said in a Thursday conference call that the agency wants to learn more information about which specific chemicals were stored at the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby and their chemical composition. She says the agency has asked for that information but doesn't have it yet. The plant last power amid flooding from Harvey. The plant's owners warned more explosions could follow because a loss of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn. The Environmental Protection Agency and local officials said an analysis of the smoke for any health dangers showed no reason for alarm. The Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical incidents, including a 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, that killed 15 people. ___ 2:50 p.m. State and federal environmental regulators say they are assisting local officials responding to a chemical plant explosion outside Houston. That includes monitoring the smoke from the site for harmful contaminants. In a joint statement issued Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality described the incident at the Arkema Inc. facility in Crosby as a fire, not a chemical release. The plant lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods. Arkema executive Richard Rennard says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. The agencies said airborne sampling shows the smoke did not contain concerning levels of toxic chemicals. Still, authorities have evacuated an area near the plant and urged residents downwind to stay indoors with windows closed to avoid inhaling smoke. ___ 2:20 p.m. The Harris County sheriff's office says 15 deputies who complained of respiratory irritation after a fire started at a Houston-area chemical plant have been released from the hospital. The sheriff's office said Thursday that all 15 were healthy. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez had said they complained of respiratory irritation after encountering smoke. Explosions and fires rocked the flood-crippled Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby early Thursday, sending up a plume of acrid, eye-irritating smoke. The plant's owners warned more explosions could follow because a lack of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn. There were no immediate reports of any serious injuries. ___ 12:30 p.m. The Harris County sheriff says 15 deputies sought medical attention for eye irritation after a fire started at a Houston-area chemical plant but most were quickly treated and released. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says 13 had already been released and the other two were expected to be released soon. He says the 15 deputies were in the evacuation area but near the plant. Explosions and fires rocked the flood-crippled Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby early Thursday, sending up a plume of acrid, eye-irritating smoke. The plant's owners warned more explosions could follow because a lack of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn. There were no immediate reports of any serious injuries. ___ 12:05 p.m. Records show that a chemical plant burning near Houston amid Harvey flooding was earlier this year fined nearly $110,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over 10 safety violations found during an inspection. According to electronic records filed on OSHA's website, the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby was fined in February for the safety violations. Investigators classified the violations as "serious," meaning there were workplace hazards that could cause an accident or illness that would "most likely result in death or serious physical harm." The next-highest level of violation is willful, if a company knew but disregarded problems. The gravity of six of the violations were rated a 10. But the electronic records don't further explain the circumstances of the violations, what investigators uncovered and any improvements Arkema pledged to make. OSHA later reduced its fines to just over $90,000. ___ 11:55 a.m. It's unclear what preparations local officials made for a disaster like the fire at a chemical plant outside Houston. Lon Squyres is the director of the local emergency planning committee. He would not provide a list of chemicals stored at the Arkema Inc. plant, although federal law requires state and local officials to set up such committees and maintain records. Squyres suggested The Associated Press file a public records request with state environmental officials. The plant lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods. Arkema executive Richard Rennard says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. Squyres said he'd heard no reports of other major plants under water but could not speak for other districts. ___ 11:30 a.m. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is clarifying comments its director made regarding the public health threat from the smoke drifting from a burning chemical plant near Houston. Speaking Thursday at an early morning briefing in Washington, FEMA Administrator Brock Long called the plume of smoke wafting from the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, Texas, "incredibly dangerous." The Environmental Protection Agency and local emergency officials, however, later said airborne sampling showed the smoke did not contain concerning levels of hazardous materials. Asked about the discrepancy, a FEMA spokesman said Brock would defer to the officials closest to the incident to make warnings and safety determinations. The plant lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods. Arkema executive Richard Rennard says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. ___ 11:20 a.m. The Environmental Protection Agency says its analysis of the smoke from a burning chemical plant outside Houston shows it poses no immediate threat to public health. EPA deployed personnel and an aircraft early Thursday to help monitor the situation near the Arkema Inc. facility in Crosby. In a statement, the agency said samples collected by the aircraft flying over the plant showed "there are no concentrations of concern for toxic materials reported at this time." The plant lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods. Arkema executive Richard Rennard says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said his agency will use its authority to protect human health and the environment. State and local officials have ordered people within 1.5 miles (2.41 kilometers) of the plant to evacuate. ___ 11:05 a.m. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says that the immediate concern for residents around a Houston-area chemical plant where a container caught fire is smoke. The state agency said in a Thursday statement that the smoke is a complex mixture of pollutants that can irritate the eyes, nose and throat in addition to decreasing lung function. The odors can also cause headaches. The agency said the smoke is "especially acrid and irritating." Arkema Inc. executive Richard Rennard says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. The plant lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in floods. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is advising people to limit their exposure by staying inside. But the agency says that because the fire will be extinguished as soon as possible, there is minimal risk of long-term health problems. ___ 10:45 a.m. The French operator of a flooded Houston-area chemical plant says a container that caught fire is in a remote part of the plant, so it shouldn't affect other materials. Arkema Inc. executive Richard Rennard made the comments during a news conference Thursday. The container holds organic peroxides. Arkema says the fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration and that up to eight more containers could burn and explode. Rennard would not respond to a reporter's question about whether the burning materials were toxic, but he said the fumes were noxious. Rennard said, "If you breathe in the smoke it's going to irritate your lungs." ___ 10:05 a.m. The company that owns a flooded Houston-area chemical plant that's been rocked by fires had warned investors in securities filings that its facilities were at risk from "accidents, fires, explosions and pollution" due to the nature of the hazardous and flammable materials it uses. Arkema Inc. said accidents may lead to compensation claims, lawsuits and expensive delays in production. Its most recent annual securities filings are from last year. Arkema said in a statement on its website that the Harris County Emergency Operations Center reported two explosions and black smoke coming from the plant in Crosby on Thursday morning. In its securities filings, Arkema said it has numerous insurance policies, including two insurance programs that cover up to $50 million in claims for environmental damage suffered by third parties as a result of pollution or transporting its products. It's not immediately clear whether those programs would cover damage from explosions. ___ 9:55 a.m. A spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says the agency is monitoring a fire at a flooded Houston-area chemical plant but is not immediately testing the toxicity of the smoke from it. The Arkema Inc. plant was rocked by fires and two explosions early Thursday. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesman Andrew Keese says the top concern is "safety, and that's what the first responders are dealing with right now." Keese also provided an agency statement Thursday that said, "Because the fire will be extinguished as soon as possible, there is minimal risk of long-term health problems." The statement urged people in the area to stay "indoors with doors and windows closed and running the air conditioning (if possible) with the fresh intake closed. If it is absolutely necessary to be outdoors, try to move out of the plume of smoke and minimize heavy work, exercise, or children's playtime." ___ 9:35 a.m. The French operator of a flooded Houston-area chemical plant says a fire was caused by the degradation of chemicals lacking refrigeration in containers and that up to eight more could burn and explode. Rich Rennard, an executive with Arkema Inc., said at a news conference just hours after the initial explosion, one of nine refrigerated containers had failed. He says he expects the organic peroxide in up to eight more to degrade, burn and "produce more explosions." Rennard says he doesn't know how long it will take for them all to degrade. Assistant Harris County Fire Chief Bob Royall said the initial explosion took place just after midnight. He says any smoke can irritate the eyes, skin and lungs. ___ 7:50 a.m. Local officials say explosions at a flooded Houston-area chemical plant produced no toxins, although federal authorities are describing the resulting plumes as "incredibly dangerous." Assistant Harris County Fire Chief Bob Royall told a news conference Thursday that the explosions emitted 30- to 40-foot (9- to 12-meter) flames and black smoke. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said no toxins were released and that there's no danger to the community. He says sheriff's deputies who were hospitalized suffering from irritated eyes after the blasts have all been released. But at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Thursday, FEMA administrator Brock Long said he considers plumes from the explosion "incredibly dangerous." Gonzalez says he expects the fire to burn itself out. This item has been altered to correct the spelling of Bob Royall's name. It had been misspelled as Rayall. ___ 5:10 a.m. Two explosions have been reported at a Houston-area chemical plant that lost power amid flooding from Harvey. The Houston Chronicle says a statement from the company says the Harris County Emergency Operations Center reported two explosions and black smoke coming from the Arkema Inc. plant early Thursday. In a tweet, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said a deputy was taken to the hospital after inhaling fumes. Nine other deputies drove themselves to the hospital as a precaution, the paper reported. A spokeswoman for the plant in Crosby, Texas, said late Wednesday that the flooded facility had lost power and backup generators amid Harvey flooding, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. Macy's and Best Buy are expanding their same-day delivery offers as they try to be more competitive with online leader Amazon. The nation's largest consumer electronics chain, Best Buy, says it will expand to 27 metropolitan markets from 13 starting next week. That number should reach nearly 40 cities by the winter holidays. In a separate announcement, Macy's Inc. says it will offer same-day delivery in 15 additional markets for a total of 33 areas. Macy's is working with Menlo Park, California-based startup Deliv, backed by United Parcel Service, while Best Buy is now working with two companies including its original partner Deliv to handle the deliveries. Best Buy declined to name the new partner since it's still finalizing the deal. Macy's fee for the service is $8, while Best Buy has cut its fee to $5.99 per order from $14.99. "We have always wanted to help our customers get their purchases from Best Buy how and when they want them," said Allison Peterson, president of bestbuy.com, in a company blog post. Amazon offers members of its $99-a-year Prime program same-day and faster shipping options. It says members in more than 5,000 cities and towns can get their orders the same day or the next, depending on the item and location. Through Prime Now, members in more than 30 major cities can get tens of thousands of items in an hour or two. With Deliv, customers choose a delivery window directly from the retailer's website or mobile app. The stores charge their own fees; for same-day delivery those range from $5 to $8. "This now gives the speed and footprint of Amazon Prime Now to pretty much everyone else," said Daphne Carmeli, CEO and founder of Deliv. Same-day delivery, she said, "has become the new standard. Amazon has set the standard that you can get what you want very quickly." Carmeli noted that retailers were nervous at first about offering same-day service for fear it would hurt store traffic. But they've realized that they'll lose sales if they don't offer quick delivery. Starting Thursday, Deliv is offering same-day service in 1,400 cities and towns in 23 states, up from 700 cities and towns in 15 states. New markets include Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Pittsburgh. While the bulk of the expansion comes from its 25 existing retail partners, Deliv is also adding several national chains to its roster. It declined to name them yet but said they sell products from home goods to groceries. Walmart has also jumped into the same-day delivery game, having said it's expanding its grocery delivery service with ride-hailing service Uber to two more markets Dallas and Orlando, Florida. The world's largest retailer had launched a pilot grocery service with Uber last year in Phoenix and then Tampa, Florida, earlier this year. The delivery charge is $9.95. It's also testing same-day delivery service with Deliv at Sam's Club in Miami. In May, Deliv unveiled Deliv Fresh, a service for grocers, meal services and e-commerce companies that sell perishable items. The company said then that it would offer same-day, scheduled service for beer, wine, and spirits in June. ____ Follow Anne D'Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio The board of Capital Area Transit is expected to discuss recommendations for a long-awaited regionalization effort and merger during its board meeting on Thursday. CATs board, which consists of representatives from Cumberland and Dauphin counties and the city of Harrisburg, will meet at noon Thursday at the transit agencys headquarters on Cameron Street in Harrisburg. The meeting follows the release of a report by David Kilmer, who headed the Berks-Lancaster transit merger and runs the South Central Transit Authority. Kilmer was asked by CATs board for a report on how to reform the transit provider and, potentially, provide details on how to carry out a merger with other regional municipal transit services. One of the options Kilmer has placed on the table, according to materials supplied by the Cumberland County commissioners, would be to extend CATs current management contract for another month, and then begin a six-month trial period in which Rabbittransit, a York-based authority favored by Cumberland County, would step in and begin merging CAT with its services. While Cumberland County officials have strongly preferred a takeover by Rabbittransit citing CATs higher management costs Dauphin County officials have been more defensive of CAT and interested in consolidation with Lebanon or services further east. A regional merger of CAT would save its funding partners a projected $5.2 million over the next five years, due to PennDOT funding incentives. PennDOT, which subsidizes local transit agencies throughout the state, projects considerable savings of its own if it can induce local authorities to consolidate and reduce overhead costs. Following the resignation of its executive director this year, CAT is being managed by McDonald Transit, a Texas-based public transit consulting firm. McDonalds contract to continue providing management and administrative support ends Aug. 31, unless extended by CATs board. The states auditor general, Eugene DePasquale, issued a statement Wednesday supporting the trial merger with Rabbittransit, as proposed by Kilmer. DePasquales office had been asked by the Cumberland County commissioners to audit CAT after controversy over disparities within CATs executive pension system, which Cumberland officials had slammed as overly generous and mismanaged. Capital Area Transit is one of the most costly public transit agencies in the state and is clearly on some unstable ground, DePasquale said. As a resident of York County, I understand Rabbittransit is well-run and efficient. After a general review of the proposal at the request of the Cumberland County commissioners, I believe CAT and its riders could well benefit from the expertise offered by Rabbittransits management team. If you were to make a list of the most influential bankers in the United States, few would surpass Hugh McColl, the former CEO of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). It wasn't just that McColl was largely responsible for building Bank of America into the behemoth it is today. He was also the driving force behind legislation that opened up interstate banking across the country. Listen in to this segment of Industry Focus: Financials, where we discuss the best bankers of the modern era. A full transcript follows the video. 10 stocks we like better than Bank of AmericaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Bank of America wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 This video was recorded on Aug. 7, 2017. Gaby Lapera: I'm going to tell you a little bit of a meandering story, a little bit of a Maxfield story, if you will. [laughs] I'm going to start with this challenge that was posed hypothetically to myself, which is to pick the top three bankers in the United States. The first one is Alexander Hamilton, which kind of goes without saying. He was the one who was like, "You know what we should do? We should have central banking. Also, America's future is not agrarian." You know, I think he called the right shot on both counts with that one. Second banker that I think everyone can agree was huge for the American financial system is J.P. Morgan. He helped bail out the American financial system, he created these connections with Europe. Without him, I don't really know where we would be as a country. But then, if forced to pick a third one, and I know that Maxfield definitely agrees with me on this, I would pick Hugh McColl of Bank of America. I don't know if listeners know this, but you know how you can go to Bank of America and there's a Bank of America in basically every state -- except for Nebraska, much to my ire. There's a Wells Fargo in Nebraska. Anyway. Before, you couldn't do that. Before, it was really hard for banks to have branches, and it was illegal in a lot of states for banks to have more than one branch. And that was for a variety of reasons. But, back in the day, Hugh McColl, he was in North Carolina, one of the few states that allowed banks to have more than one branch, and he really pushed for legislation to be changed so that banks could branch outside of their state. Without that, we wouldn't have the financial system that we have today. John Maxfield: Yeah. I think that's a great overview. Alexander Hamilton wasn't actually a banker, and I think this is exactly the point you're trying to make -- if you look at the bank industry that we have today and you had to pick three people who had the most significant contribution to how it has evolved, the first one, yeah, Alexander Hamilton, because he set this thing up. The second one, J.P. Morgan, because he was the link between us and Europe during the American Industrial Revolution or the Gilded Age, which is really where the United States of America gained its power. And then, more recently, Hugh McColl. To your point, when he started banking, Hugh McColl joined a small bank in North Carolina in 1959. When he started banking, it was called unit banking at the time. Unit banking meant that you could basically just have one location in most states. You couldn't have branches in most states. And you couldn't operate across interstate lines. And think about how different that is relative to what we have today, where we have a bank like Bank of America and a bank like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, literally, the branch networks span the North American continent. And the person who is most responsible for that is Hugh McColl. What he did is, he really proactively pushed, he saw the importance of expanding branches across interstate lines and having larger branch networks. Let me add a little bit more context around this. There's a guy named Charles Calomiris who's probably the top bank historian in the United States. Really, in particular, he's at the top when it comes to understanding how the regulatory environment has evolved over the years in the United States. And one of the things he talks about in this incredible book called Fragile By Design that goes back through the history of banking and regulatory policies, one of the things he talks about in there is that, in Canada, they basically had no banking crises over the past couple hundred years, whereas in the United States, we've had 17 major banking crises. And you say, "Why would the United States have so many but Canada wouldn't?" And one of the reasons is, we didn't let our banks, for all these years, expand and diversify geographically. If you were an agricultural bank in Nebraska, to your point, which is also, I'm from Wyoming, right across the border to Nebraska, my family's business is principally in Nebraska. And what you would see is, you would have these agricultural depressions or you would have droughts that would hit those areas. Well, the banks in those areas, if you could only operate in that area and you had a drought and you were an agricultural bank, you had no hope. The farmers wouldn't be able to pay their debts and you would go under. What Hugh McColl realized, and other people realized this, too, is, look, if you could have branches in all of these different regions, you would reduce the fragility of each individual bank. And then, you wouldn't have as many financial crises, because financial crises are fueled by bank failures. And Hugh McColl is really the one who, at Bank of America, pushed through, came up with this idea and proactively pushed through the legislation that changed the United States banking structure from one based on unit banking to what we have today. Lapera: I think listeners are probably thinking to themselves, "This is a wonderful story!" Thank you, listeners. We really appreciate that. Secondly, they're probably also wondering, "What is this meant to illustrate?" And I think the thing that we're trying to get at here is that really great bankers and really great banks are really proactive at seizing opportunities and making opportunities for themselves. Maxfield: That's exactly right. The laws were against Hugh McColl's ideas, so what did Hugh McColl do? And I literally talked to Hugh McColl two weeks ago, and the way he explained it was great. He said, "Look, it was my banker." It was Bank of America's in-house banker who wrote the legislation for what was called the Southeast Regional Banking Compact, which then allowed banks in all the states in the Southeast to have branches within each of them, so you could expand and have these regional banks. And it was Bank of America that got that ball rolling. They wrote that legislation, got that ball rolling that eventually culminated in a piece of legislation that was passed in the U.S. Congress in 1994 that then opened up branch banking across the entire United States. Lapera: Yeah. I think, how that's applicable today is, what banks should be looking for, generally, the opportunities that they're going to need to seize to create opportunities for themselves, are probably going to be in the tech arena. So they stay relevant, and not just relevant but push beyond that, and find the next thing that will make them bigger, more stable, draw more customers in. Maxfield: Oh my God, that's such a good transition, Gaby. The reason that such a good transition is because one of the benefits of Bank of America today, one of its advantages is, because of Hugh McColl's work, building that banking to what it is today, the behemoth that it is, it has the economies of scale to invest in technology. And technology is where the battle of banking is being fought right now, and really will be fought in the future. And it's because of the scale that Hugh McColl built that they're going to be able to compete effectively in that arena. Gaby Lapera owns shares of JPMorgan Chase. John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. A U.S. judge said Yahoo must face nationwide litigation brought on behalf of well over 1 billion users who said their personal information was compromised in three massive data breaches. Wednesday night's decision from U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, was a setback for efforts by Verizon Communications Inc, which paid $4.76 billion for Yahoo's Internet business in June, to limit potential liability. The breaches occurred between 2013 and 2016, but Yahoo was slow to disclose them, waiting more than three years to reveal the first. Revelations about the scope of the cyber attacks prompted Verizon to lower its purchase price for the company. In a 93-page decision, Koh rejected Yahoo's contention that breach victims lacked standing to sue, and said they could pursue some breach of contract and unfair competition claims. "All plaintiffs have alleged a risk of future identity theft, in addition to loss of value of their personal identification information," the judge wrote. Koh said some plaintiffs also alleged they had spent money to thwart future identity theft or that fraudsters had misused their data. Others, meanwhile, could have changed passwords or canceled their accounts to stem losses had Yahoo not delayed disclosing the breaches, the judge said. While many claims were dismissed, Koh said the plaintiffs could amend their complaint to address her concerns. "We believe it to be a significant victory for consumers, and will address the deficiencies the court pointed out," John Yanchunis, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who chairs an executive committee overseeing the case, said in an interview. "It's the biggest data breach in the history of the world." Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni said the New York-based company declined to comment on pending litigation. Yahoo is now part of a Verizon unit called Oath. In court papers, Yahoo had argued that the breaches were "a triumph of criminal persistence" by a "veritable 'who's who' of cybercriminals," and that no security system is hack-proof. On March 15, the U.S. Department of Justice charged two officers of the Russian Federal Security Service and two hackers in connection with the second breach in late 2014. The August 2013 breach affected more than 1 billion accounts, while the 2014 breach affected more than 500 million. A third breach occurred in 2015 and 2016. The case is In re: Yahoo Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 16-md-02752. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum) President Donald Trump and Navy leaders say the nation needs about 350 ships, roughly 75 more ships than the fleet has today. While there isn't money in the defense budget to buy a lot of new ships at once and they take years to build, Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in May the increase in naval power cannot be some distant goal decades in the future. The Navy must get to work now to both build more ships, and to innovate as we go. One way Adm. Richardson says they could get to the target faster is by counting unmanned vessels with capabilities similar to a manned ship a new twist on the definition of a ship. Unmanned undersea vehicles currently used by the Navy aren't at the point now where they could replace manned platforms. Richardson brought senior officers to Newport, Rhode Island, this month to talk about accelerating their development. "I can guarantee that it's not going to be building more of the same thing we have right now," he said. "Because that will not be the Navy that the nation needs to secure itself and promote its prosperity." Richardson said he's trying to figure out how to increase naval power as quickly as he can because the Navy is being challenged at sea by very capable foreign naval forces. He said he's looking at vehicles that can do a range of things, including acting as sensors and carrying weapons, and can be networked in with the rest of the fleet. At the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, researchers are adapting commercial, off-the-shelf unmanned undersea vehicles for use by the military. Dozens of unmanned undersea vehicles are being used by the Navy to sense oceanographic conditions and look for mines, with supervision by Navy personnel, said Jenny Roberts, the deputy for undersea influence at the Navy's Undersea Warfare Division. Technological advancements in autonomy, endurance, command and control and other areas are needed before the Navy could assign anything more complex, like surveillance, she added. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the cost of building and operating 355 ships would average $102 billion annually through 2047, which is more than one-third higher than the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2016 for today's fleet. Richardson has said that he thinks it'll cost far less than that prediction. The Associated Press contributed to this report. American tourist Nicholas Burkhead said he'd be happy to return to his latest holiday destination, with its beautiful scenery, great food and friendly people. The problem is, the destination was North Korea and a U.S. State Department ban on travel to the isolated country takes effect on Friday. Burkhead, a 35-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was among the last American tourists to leave North Korea, landing on Thursday in Beijing. "I was surprised at how friendly everyone was," Burkhead said after stepping off the last scheduled flight to Beijing from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, before the U.S. travel ban kicks in. "It was very relaxing - beautiful scenery and they fed us very well in the restaurants there, but the exchange rate wasn't too good for the local won," he told a waiting scrum of reporters. Burkhead arrived in Beijing on North Korea's state-owned Air Koryo after visiting Pyongyang as well as the city of Kaesong near the heavily armed border with South Korea. His five-day tour cost 1,850 euros ($2,200). Other Americans on the flight included two aid workers as well as Jamie Banfill, 32, who had led tours to North Korea but was visiting this time as a tourist. Banfill, who had made the trip to say goodbyes after regularly traveling to the North for a decade, said the travel ban short-sighted. "It's an extremely complex situation on the Korean peninsula and they oversimplified it," he said. The United States last month announced a ban on U.S. passport holders from traveling to North Korea, effective Sept. 1. Journalists and humanitarian workers are allowed to apply for exemptions under the ban, which is similar to previous U.S. restrictions on travel to Iraq and Libya. Heidi Linton, director of Christian Friends of Korea, who has been working in North Korea for more than 20 years, told reporters she worried about the people her aid group helped, if her exemption was not granted soon. "We started a hepatitis B program and we have 705 patients that have been started on life-saving medicine, that if they go off that medicine then their lives are in danger," she said. It was not immediately clear how many Americans had sought, or been granted, exemptions or how many were still in North Korea. An official at the state department said it was not able to give an estimate on the number of U.S. citizens there. PRESSURE GROWS North Korea is under growing international pressure over its nuclear tests and repeated ballistic missile launches, including one this week that flew over northern Japan. The U.S. ban on travel to North Korea followed the death of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed during a tour last year. Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for trying to steal a propaganda sign, was returned to the United States in a coma in June and died six days later. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear, including why he fell into a coma. Warmbier had been detained leaving the airport in Pyongyang. "I was expecting a strict security check on exit but there was nothing like that," Burkhead said. The State Department declared U.S. passports invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea. The restriction applies for one year unless extended or revoked by the secretary of state. North Korean state media has described the ban as a "sordid" attempt to limit human exchanges. North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary, as well as three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. This month, North Korea released a Canadian pastor who had been imprisoned there for more than two years. Hundreds of Americans are among the 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who visit North Korea annually, according to U.S. lawmaker Joe Wilson. (Additional reporting by James Pearson in SEOUL and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel) As President Donald Trump rallies support for his effort to overhaul the United States tax code with a tour across Americas heartland, an administration official teased on Thursday that details of the plan will be released soon. During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the White House and GOP leaders will release tax reform details in the coming weeks. Mnuchin also said the Trump administration intends to stay heavily involved in the effort to reform the tax code before the end of the year and will not just hand the reins over to Congress. On Wednesday, President Trump laid out the broad principles he hopes to see included in the final bill during a speech in Missouri, including a 15% corporate tax rate. The president also advocated for simplifying the tax code, cutting the tax rate for middle Americans and incentivizing companies to bring profits back onshore. Trump will meet with the chief tax reform lawmakers and officials, known as the Big Six, on Tuesday, Congress first official day back from August recess. Aside from tax reform, lawmakers have a list of other must-pass items on the agenda for September, including raising the United States borrowing authority or the debt limit and passing a spending bill before the onset of the new fiscal year in October in order to avoid a government shutdown. When it comes to the debt ceiling, Mnuchin has long advocated for a clean bill, passed without reform rides attached to decrease the deficit over the long-term. When asked about the possibility of attaching debt ceiling legislation to a relief bill for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, Mnuchin told The Journal at the end of the day, I just want it raised. Mnuchin gave lawmakers a deadline of Sept. 29 to agree on legislation to raise the debt ceiling. Americaas smallest state is now the biggest for construction job growth. That may be an ominous sign for Houston and surrounding areas as the region attempts to rebuild from Hurricane Harvey, likely one of the costliest in U.S. history. Rhode Island saw a 13.4% jump in commercial and residential building jobs over the past year through June a the biggest annual percentage gain of any U.S. state a based on recent data from the Associated General Contractors of America. The Ocean Stateas first ever Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor tells FOX Business that the 20,300 construction jobs created show the state is on a roll. aRhode Works ais already underway and generating thousands of construction jobs. It is expected in 2017 the Rhode Island Department of Transportation will initiate projects totaling $1B in value,a said Pryor, noting the stateas roads and bridges have consistently ranked among the worst in the nation. Rhode Islandas progress is being led by Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo and competitive tax incentives. Already her programs have led to the investment of nearly $1B in private real estate dollars, the relocation or expansion of 17 companies, and 27 real estate transactions. The state is also benefiting from an uptick in residential and commercial construction helped as new businesses relocate to the state including Finlays,one of the worldas largest tea companies. Construction is already underway for its new R&D center. Also Johnson and Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has converted existing office space for a health-technology unit and GE Digital, a unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE), has established an office in Providence, an off-shoot of its planned new headquarters in Bostonas Seaport District. While Rhode Islandas progress is being led by Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo and competitive tax incentives, President Donald Trump doubled-down on his own national infrastructure push earlier this month, rolling out new guidelines to streamline what he described as a abrokena permitting process. aWe're going to get infrastructure built quickly; inexpensively, relatively speaking; and the permitting process will go very, very quickly. No longer will we tolerate one job-killing delay after another,a he said during a contentious press conference at Trump Tower in New York City. New England Leads Construction Job Creation Rhode Island: +13.4% to 20,300 New Hampshire: +11.1% to 28,100 Maine: +6.3% to 28,000 Connecticut: +2.5% to 60,400 Massachusetts: +1.2% to 146,600 Vermont: +0.7% to 15,300 Source: Associated General Contractors of America - June 2016-June 2017 As Trump moves to end job-killing bureaucracy, there may be another roadblock. aThe biggest worry is finding qualified workers, it is a wicked combination of aging workers retiring and high schoolers who are not being exposed to construction,a warned Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, during an interview with FOX Business. Turmail also pointed out these jobs on average pay 10% more than standard jobs with a $28.90 per hour rate. Despite higher salaries, Gilbane Building Company is experiencing a shortage first-hand, after many workers left the profession during the last recession. aWe are trying to replenish the ranks quickly and it is not easy to do,a John Sinnott, vice president and Rhode Island business unit leader at Gilbane Building Company, told FOX Business. The company is in need of workers on both the management side as well as building trade, which includes both union and non-union that work for its subcontractors industry-wide. aWe got a lot of work but we are also turning away work,a Sinnott added. Adding pressure to the hunt for skilled workers is competition from other New England states. New Hampshire saw construction job growth jump 11% through June and Maine 6.3%, bringing 12-month tallies to 28,100 and 28,000 workers, respectively, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. While Trump and Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta are ramping up vocational apprenticeship programs, Turmail worries the construction industry may be falling through the cracks. aWe have been pushing the administration since before the inauguration but it is unclear if the administrationas vocational push includes construction,a said Turmail. Inquiries to the Department of Labor were not immediately returned to FOX Business. New England is not the only place construction workers are in demand. Pre-Hurricane Harvey, Houston, one of the nation's largest markets for new homes, was dealing with a similar situation. Now, when Houston begins its rebuilding process, the nationwide need for construction workers will get even worse, Tim Rood, a former Fannie Mae executive, now chairman of The Collingwood Group, told FOX Business. aThere is no way to automate wiring and plumbing ... you wonat have AI (artificial intelligence) or bots laying pipes,a he warned. Still, there is a silver lining, a potential windfall for those willing to take these jobs. aYou are going to have pay people a lot of money to swing a hammer,a Rood added. Suzanne OaHalloran is Managing Editor of FOXBusiness.com and a graduate of Boston College. Follow her on @suzohalloran Boutique motorcycle outfit Confederate Motorcycles is changing its name and making the switch from building bikes powered by big V-twin engines to ones with electric motors, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The Alabama-based company was founded in 1991 and is known for high-end, handcrafted motorcycles with a signature naked industrial style that cost upwards of $155,000 and have been owned by celebrities like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Confederate president Matt Chambers told the newspaper that he thinks the company has started to lose business because of the name. Weve missed out on branding opportunities. So, its time to retire it, Chambers said. The company doesnt use any Stars and Bars or Confederate battle flag imagery, and Chambers recently told Jalopnik that hes glad the South lost the Civil War. He said the name was a salute to the good Southern principles, and that the companys motto, The Art of Rebellion, is a reference to a cerebral and spiritual one. Moving forward, the company will be known as Curtiss Motorcycle Co., after aviation pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss. Confederates bikes are all named after airplanes, and the company owns the rights to use the Curtiss name and is already selling merchandise featuring it on its website. Chambers also told the Times that the company has taken its current bikes as far as it can, so its next cruiser will be battery-powered and feature twin electric motors developed by Californias Zero Motorcycles. A Confederate representative would not confirm the details in the Los Angeles Times report to Fox News, but said an official announcement on the companys future would be coming in a few weeks. Deadpool actor Ed Skrein brought the conversation of Hollywood whitewashing to the forefront thanks to his decision to exit a role in the new Hellboy movie. Now, another Marvel star is showing her support for the bold decision. As previously reported, Skrein was cast in the upcoming Hellboy reboot as a character from the comic books that is Japanese. The actor released a statement after the backlash from the casting announcement saying that he was not aware of the characters comic origins when he took the role. Upon reflection, he announced on social media that he will leave the role. Now, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Chloe Bennet is doubling down on her support and sharing her own story. DAMN, thats a man, she wrote in a caption on Instagram in which she reposted Skreins statement. Thank you @edskrein for standing up against hollywoods continuous insensitivity and flippant behavior towards the Asian American community. There is no way this decision came lightly on your part, so thank you for your bravery and genuinely impactful step forward. I hope this inspires other actors/film makers to do the same. The actress has been vocal about her struggles with Hollywoods treatment of Asian-Americans in the past, previously telling The Daily Beast that she changed her name from Chloe Wang to Chloe Bennet because she was having difficulty getting roles. According to her, the first audition she went out on as Chloe Bennet, she booked. Soon after, she found herself the lead in ABCs Avengers spinoff. Changing my last name doesnt change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese, she wrote in a further statement, per Variety. It means I had to pay my rent, and Hollywood is racist and wouldnt cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable. In May 2001, Chandra Levy left her Washington, D.C. apartment and was never seen alive again. And while the 24-year-olds remains were found a year later in Rock Creek Park, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death still remain a mystery today. TLC is broadcasting a special titled Chandra Levy: An American Murder Mystery, which delves into the case that still baffles everyone involved. Joe McCann, a private investigator who was hired by Levys family attorney in 2001, recalled the challenges he faced to help find new answers as the TV special was recorded. McCann is hoping newfound interest in Levys story will compel someone with information to come forward. Over time, people have a conscious and want to talk about something they saw [or] heard that they didnt feel comfortable talking about several years ago, he told Fox News. Now its their opportunity to do so and regrettably, I would say its probably the last opportunity. I cant see this case getting publicity another 10 years from now. McCann even wondered if that person attempted to speak up 16 years ago. I hope we didnt miss a valuable lead because there was so many things coming in, he reflected. And so, if we did miss it, maybe somebody out there will say, You know, I called. I left them that information and they never spoke to me Its always bothered me that maybe we did miss something. The federal interns slaying dominated newspapers and television for months. McCann described feeling overwhelmed by all the information he was receiving, as well as people claiming to know what could have happened to Levy. It was so highly publicized that we were inundated with a large number of leads that had to be sorted out, explained McCann. The law firm that I worked for at the time initiated its own 800 number, which was national and international. So, just the volume of leads that you had to go through to make sure that each one was covered made the investigation difficult. McCann added there were sometimes up to 100 leads coming in every day. Throughout the investigation, we met a lot of colorful characters, he said. And some things that were said were surprising. The majority were just people who wanted to get their 15 minutes and there wasnt much we [could have done] with that information. Media scrutiny only intensified when Levys family told journalists she was having an affair with former California congressman Gary A. Condit, who once represented her hometown of Modesto. Police reportedly accused the now-69-year-old of not being forthcoming in their investigation. Levys death meant the end of the married Democrats political career. Condit declared his innocence to Dr. Phil in 2016 and insisted he never had a relationship with Levy. McCann wouldnt comment on Levys involvement with Condit, but he did say there was probably too much focus on her personal life. I think people were more interested in the players versus the actual crime itself, he admitted. McCann also wasnt surprised that it took as long as it did to find Levys remains in a public park. It is a very remote area, he said. The trail is traveled quite a bit. But... Theres a lot of areas that you cant see from the trail. And people do not normally walk through the wooded area of the park. Actually, its a miracle that her remains were found a year later because I cant imagine many people walking down there and seeing it. McCann also believed the area was one Levy wouldnt have felt comfortable jogging or even walking in. He added that based on the crime scene, she was most likely in the park to meet someone. Based on my knowledge, I would say its pretty clear that she was murdered there, he said. There is the remote chance that somebody could have killed her someplace else and put the body there because it is a good place to hide the body, but I think all the evidence points to the fact that she was probably killed in the general area." Levys remains only raised more questions. In 2002, People Magazine reported District of Columbia Medical Examiner Jonathan Arden announced she was murdered, but did not find conclusive evidence that could pinpoint what exactly killed her. A knotted leotard reportedly belonging to Levy was found near the crime scene, suggesting she could have been strangled, but there wasn't proof to back up that claim. There was so much decomposition and there was nothing, but bones left, said McCann. She was skeletonized basically But I think based on the crime scene, what it looked like and what items were recovered it was pretty consisted with her having been murdered at that site. At first, it seemed the murder would finally be solved. In 2010, Ingmar Guandique, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who previously attacked female joggers in Rock Creek Park around the time Levy went missing, was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison. But then in 2015, a new trial was ordered in based on what Guandiques defense team said was new evidence. A year later in 2016, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, D.C. moved to dismiss the case and retrial, citing unforeseen developments. Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported Guandique was deported. "I don't think he killed Chandra," said McCann. "Chandra Levy: An American Murder Mystery" airs September 4th on TLC. An Egyptian director says he hated Clint Eastwoods blockbuster American Sniper and its portrayal of the villain Mustafa so much, he is making his own movie to lobby against it. Amr Salama, the award-winning director of Sheikh Jackson, which will be featured at the Toronto Film Festival next month, says he already has a script called Iraqi Sniper to tell a compassionate story about Eastwoods mysterious Arabic villain. Bradley Cooper starred in the 2014 box-office hit as US marksman Chris Kyle, who was pitted against a mysterious sniper on the side of the Iraqi insurgents. In real life, there was a top sniper fighting for the Iraqis, given the nickname Juba, whose murderous exploits were celebrated in a number of videos released between 2005 and 2007. It was rumored he had once been an Olympic athlete. Salama tells the Hollywood Reporter he is making it partly because he was sickened by Eastwoods movie. That was my inspiration I hated it so much that I wanted to work on a different version of that story. In Iraqi Sniper, he says, Mustafa will be the hero. Whereas American Sniper was pro-war, says the director, Im trying to make an anti-war film. Salama says he is working with two of the regions biggest names: prolific producer Mohamed Hefzy, with whom Salama collaborated on both Sheikh Jackson and his 2014 hit Excuse My French, and Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian director who earned Oscar nominations for both Paradise Now and Omar. This story merits to be told even if American Sniper hadnt come out, Hefzy says. Hes a very interesting character, a complex character. Amr did a lot of research and were trying to get his evolution right. He says at least one of the actors who was in American Sniper, Sammy Sheik, is attached to the film. This article originally appeared in the New York Post. Allison Graham Hays has come in from the cold to take over the reins at the venerable Theatre Harrisburg, which is on the verge of launching its 92nd season. Before taking over as executive director this summer, Hays had been spending her summer months on the Alaskan peninsula, managing the Days of 98 Show in the one-time Gold Rush town of Skagway. But Hays is not unfamiliar to the local theatrical community, having performed as an actor in a number of productions on local stages over the years, including several at Theatre Harrisburg. Ive always been a friend to this organization since I moved here in 2010, Hays said. Now Im looking forward to seeing what our audience can teach me about what they want to see. Hays came on board at Theatre Harrisburg following the abrupt departure of former director Brett Bernardini, who resigned in April after less than two years on the job. The theater canceled a spring production while it reorganized. First up in the new season will be Rumors, a classic Neil Simon farce that may signal a return to more familiar fare by Theatre Harrisburg. The theater, which features a professional staff and volunteer actors, is best known for staging large-scale musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Sweeney Todd at downtown Harrisburgs Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, plus classic comedies and mysteries at the uptown Krevsky Center. Bernardini, seeking to find a younger audience for the theaters future, pushed for more cutting edge shows. Hays plans to chart something of a middle course. We have to appeal to a broad cross section of the community, she said. This year we have some familiar things and also some new works. We are sort of of coming back to what the community knows us for. In addition to Rumors, which opens at the Krevsky Center on Sept. 15, Theatre Harrisburgs 2017-18 season will feature: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a popular musical comedy from Stephen Sondheim, Nov. 3-19 at Whitaker. Yours Truly Jack Frost, holiday show featuring young performers, Dec. 14-17 at Krevsky. God of Carnage, comedy that won 2009 Tony Award for best play, Jan. 19-28 at Krevsky. I Love You Because, contemporary Off-Broadway musical, March 2-18 at Krevsky. Hairspray, Tony winner for Best Musical, April 26-May 6 at Whitaker. Grave Doubts, winner of Theatre Harrisburgs 2016 New Works Festival, June 8-17 at Krevsky. Allenberry Everyone has a backstory, even Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatcher, a grown-up play based on a charming childrens novel by an unlikely, if formidable, pair of writers, explores the previously uncharted origins of the Boy Who Never Grew Up. A production of this Tony Award-winning Broadway play will open a week from Friday at The Playhouse at Allenberry, running through Sept. 16. The show marks the second production, after Shrek the Musical, to be staged at the reopened theater on the grounds of the Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs. Based on characters created by Scottish writer J. M. Barrie in the early 20th century, Peter and the Starcatcher speculates that young Peter got his start in life as an abused British orphan who is sold to a pirate before going overboard and washing up on a magical island. The play is based on Peter and the Starcatchers, a 2004 novel by noted humorist Dave Barry and best-selling thriller writer Ridley Pearson. It was adapted for the stage by Rick Elise and has enjoyed runs both Off-Broadway and on, winning five Tonys in 2012. Allenberrys production, suitable for all ages, is directed by Dave Olmsted. Back to work Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg, also back from hiatus after a major reshuffling, will dust off another Neil Simon comedy to launch its 67th season this weekend. Last of the Red Hot Lovers is a laugh-filled, if somewhat dated, tale about a married, middle-aged man named Barney who is desperate to join Americas sexual revolution before its too late. But Barney is an inept seducer who fails to work his charms on a series of three women, including a chain-smoking sexpot, a nutty actress and his wifes best friend. Clever dialogue by Simon keeps the play human despite farcical elements. The show opens Sept. 8 and runs through Sept. 24 at the intimate community theater. Twenty years ago on August 31st, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris. On this day, as in the weeks and months after the accident, she was remembered at a make-shift memorial to the woman beside a replica of the Statue of Liberty torch at Place de lAlma. Its an honor to be here, one American tourist told us. The details of the incident are well known. Diana, divorced from Prince Charles, with boyfriend Dodi Fayed, in a speeding limo, chased by paparazzi, rammed into a tunnel column. Followed by the global outpouring of grief, the investigations, the media attention. Tom Sancton, Time magazine Paris bureau chief at the time, co-author of the book Death of a Princess, remembered: Anyone who is old enough to remember that night and day will forever be marked by it in some way. Twenty years later, the legacy of Diana, beyond her beauty, was her warmth and openness, which opened up a Queen and a British monarchy which had been on a downward spiral of public disapproval. Diana exploded the monarchy and turned it into the monarchy that is today London Times columnist Jenni Russell told us. She basically took this closed off, cold, rather remote family and showed them they no longer act like that. That new spirit carried on with her sons Prince Harry and the future King of England, Prince William. The legacy lives on, another visitor to the crash site told us. Years later Diana is still remembered. This new lingerie Angel has a secret: She was once busted for shoplifting chocolate bars at a Whole Foods in Tribeca. Stunning Dutch treat Roosmarijn de Kok, 21, was awarded her wings guaranteeing her a spot on the runway of Victorias Secrets annual event at the companys headquarters in Manhattan last week. Forever grateful!!! de Kok wrote on her Instagram. Im [sic] so excited!! But in 2014, she turned heads on a different catwalk the center aisle of an arraignment courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court. The Wilhelmina model was pinched by Whole Foods security for allegedly walking out with three chocolate bars and a pricey bottle of fish oil in her bag. Her lawyer, Sal Strazzullo, told The Post at the time that his client had placed the items in her handbag and then forgot they were there. The charges were dismissed and sealed after de Kok agreed to serve a day of community service. Shell debut at the Victorias Secret Fashion Show 2017 in Shanghai, China, in November. This article originally appeared in the New York Post. A $520,000 class action lawsuit over Subway's $5 footlong is not measuring up, according to a judge.. The controversy originally started back in 2013, after an Australian teen had posted a photo on Facebook of a Subway sandwich next to a tape measurer. The sandwich only came up to 11 inches. The post went viral, soliciting reactions and a class action lawsuit from those who felt gipped by the fast food chain. $127 ICE CREAM CONE LAUNCHES AT LONDON BOUTIQUE Subway vowed to take steps to ensure its rolls would be at least 12 inches, and in 2016 settled in a lower court with a promise for more uniformity in its bread. The suing attorneys were to make $520,000 in fees. However, the director of the center for Class Action Fairness at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Theodore Frank, was not pleased with the handsome amount of dough the attorneys were set to receive. Frank objected to the settlement stating that the class in the lawsuit received negligible to no relief, as mentioned in The Wall Street Journal. Judge Diane Sykes has agreed with Frank in the settlement benefitting no one but the attorneys involved in the suit, and on Friday threw out the class-action lawsuit settlement. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS During litigation, The Wall Street Journal reports, Judge Sykes noted that after the settlement despite the new measuring tools, protocols, and inspections theres still the same small chance that Subway will sell a class member a sandwich that is slightly shorter than advertised. Though the dough that is used for each roll will the uniform, there is still a risk that, when baked, the roll wont come out at exactly 12 inches. Judge Sykes concluded that Subway customers know this as a matter of common sense. Its never too early to dive into water safety. Three Canadian 11-year-old girls are being praised as local heroes for saving two swimmers from drowning in the ocean off of a British Columbia beach on the evening August 18. According to the Surrey-Now Leader, Georgia Springate, Kate Hunter and Lily Cox were pier-jumping at Crescent Beach in Surrey when they noticed a young woman and a teenager caught in a current. Having just graduated from a summer junior lifeguarding class for 10- to 14-year-olds, they immediately jumped into crisis mode. LIFEGUARD MAKES TWO SAVES JUST MINUTES APART We just reacted; it was kind of like an instinct, Springate said of rescuing the young woman, guessing she was about 20-years-old. It looked like she had been there for a while and the water was pretty cold, so I don't know if she would have made it on her own. Working as a team, Cox swam the woman to safety, while Springate and Hunter retrieved the teenager, thought to be about 13, and fully clothed. Witnessing the scene, Georgia's mother Cynthia Springate described how frightening the rescue was. This was a dangerous scenario. These girls were starting to bob under the water as our girls approached them, and, at any time, this could have turned into a rescuer-becomes-the-victim situation, she said. SHARK FEASTS ON SEAL IN VIDEO, CAUSES PANIC ON CAPE COD BEACH Lilys mother Julie Cox remarked that, even through the events, most of the other Crescent Beach goers didnt even notice the potentially fatal situation. If the girls hadnt been in the water, I dont know how [the swimmers] wouldve gotten that assistance, she said. After being rescued, Springate, Hunter and Cox said the swimmers appeared in shock and expressed their gratitude for their swift aid. According to CBC News, the City of Surrey is considering posting signs warning of pier jumping to prevent such potential tragedies in the future. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS There were plenty of adults on hand but it was these three girls that assessed the situation, jumped in and prevented what could have been a catastrophe, wrote Bob Armstrong, president of the Crescent Beach Swim Club, where the girls attended junior lifeguarding class, in a newsletter. We are extremely proud of you. With around 22,440 new cases of ovarian cancer predicted for 2017, it's possible that a woman you know may receive a diagnosis. Ovarian cancer is the tenth most common cancer and the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., but it can be treated if it's caught early, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 15 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at the local stage, meaning the disease was discovered just where it began, according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program with the National Cancer Institute. The 5-year survivial rate for localized ovarian cancer is 92.5 percent. National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month starts Sept. 1, and with early intervention playing a key role in treatment and prognosis, its important to know the symptoms that women can look out for. What are some ovarian cancer symptoms? There arent any specific signs of early stage ovarian cancer, Dr. Michael Worley, a surgical gynecological oncologist with Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, Mass., told Fox News. Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague, Worley said, with one being losing or gaining weight. Other symptoms may include abdominal bloating; bowel changes like diarrhea or constipation; bladder changes such as an increase in frequency or urgency; abdominal discomfort and pressure; and a sense of feeling full, Dr. Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, a gynecologic oncologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., told Fox News. An issue with ovarian cancer is that there is no screening test. Seventy-five percent of the women I care for come in at an advanced stage, Bakkum-Gamez said, adding that even at that stage, symptoms can be very vague. NEW DRUGS FOR OVARIAN CANCER What should I do if I think I have symptoms? If symptoms persist, a woman should see a medical provider for a pelvic ultrasound, Bakkum-Gamez said, adding that women diagnosed should see a gynecologic oncologist. Going to an OB-GYN is a good place to start, Worley said, explaining that an ultrasound or a CT scan may sometimes be ordered. What should I know about risk factors? Family history, not having children, and having endometriosis are among the risk factors for ovarian cancer, according to the CDC. Others include having the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene, which are linked to ovarian and breast cancer, and being middle-aged or older. Additional risk factors include being Caucasian and early onset of menses and late menopause, according to Worley. Women with a family history of ovarian, fallopian tube cancer and breast cancer should really be thinking about seeing a genetic counselor, Bakkum-Gamez said. It may lead to potential prevention. PERSONALIZED VACCINES MAY HOLD PROMISE FOR OVARIAN CANCER TREATMENT What about risk reduction? Both experts said that for women ages 35-40 with the BRCA-1 gene, its recommended they get their fallopian tubes tied and ovaries removed. Its also recommended for women with the BRCA-2 gene, with different age guidelines. Other aspects which may reduce a womans risk of ovarian cancer include giving birth, having a tubal ligation, having a hysterectomy, breast-feeding and using birth control pills, Bakum-Gamez said. Oral birth control is by far the easiest way to reduce risk, Worley said. The method, he explained, also works relatively well for people with BRCA mutations, noting theres conflicting data about it increasing the risk of breast cancer and that these women should speak to their doctors. Risk reduction from a hysterectomy is a little more controversial, he said, explaining that old data said the procedure didnt reduce risk, while new data says its helpful. Just removing the uterus reduces ovarian risk, he said. Ovarian cancer is one of the most treatable advanced stage cancers, Worley said, with the quality of surgery and chemotherapy playing a key role in a patients care. A Texas hospital was forced to evacuate patients on Thursday due to a lack of water at its facilities. Nearly 200 patients at Baptist Beaumont Hospital were being transferred by air to other acute care facilities in the area. Baptist Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Mary Poole said the hospitals main pumping station lost service, meaning the acute care center no longer has access to potable water. Poole said the hospital is working with HCA Healthcare to move patients to nearby facilities. Relatives will be notified exactly which center patients were transferred to once they arrive. HARVEY HEROISM: CITIZENS STEP UP TO HELP OTHERS DURING DEADLY STORM A statement posted on the hospitals website said emergency services will also be suspended. Due to the citywide lack of services we have no other alternatives but to discontinue all services which will unfortunately include emergency services, the statement said. This is being done immediately. City manager Kyle Hayes said that it's unclear when they will be able to provide residents with potable water, and that continually rising flood waters on the Neches River are covering the pumps that serve as a primary source for drinking water. HARVEY SCAMS ABOUND AS CROOKS PREY ON DISASTER VICTIMS AND ALTRUISTIC AMERICANS Hayces said city workers won't be able to assess the damage or check for repairs until the water recedes. The city's backup water source, which is locoated in Harden County, also failed. Officials are attempting to get bottled water to residents as quickly as possible. One in seven men will be diagnosed with a disease that rarely presents with symptoms: prostate cancer. There are more than 160,000 new cases of prostate cancer expected in the U.S. this year, and men have an 11.6-percent chance of developing the disease over the course of their lifetime, according to the NCIs Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. This common cancer is treatable when caught early, with a nearly 100-percent five-year survival rate for cancers that havent spread beyond the prostate or have only spread to nearby areas, per the American Cancer Society. But the survival rate plummets to 29 percent among stage IV cancer cases when the disease spreads to distant parts of the body. What are the symptoms and signs? The most common symptom is no symptom at all, Dr. Christopher Anderson, a urologist with New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Fox News. Some men may experience symptoms like pain in the bones and weight loss when the cancer has already spread, Anderson said. Dr. Philip Kantoff, a medical oncologist and chair of the department of medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, reiterated that the disease doesnt typically cause symptoms. Symptoms could instead be due to an enlarged or inflamed prostate, neither of which are cancerous. Dr. Ketan Badani, the vice chairman of urology at Mount Sinai Health System, said that some patients may have vague urinary complaints, like having to urinate more frequently, and that there arent symptoms until the disease is advanced. The majority of men who have urinary issues dont have prostate cancer, he noted. Advanced cases of prostate cancer may present with symptoms like urinary problems, blood in urine, blood in semen or erectile dysfunction, the ACS says. 9 PROSTATE CANCER MYTHS, DEBUNKED What are some prostate cancer risk factors? Men ages 50 to 75 are considered more at risk, and the older you get, the higher the risk, Badani indicated. Family history, especially a first-degree relative like a father or brother who has had the disease, is another concern. African, Afro-Caribbean, South Asian and Hispanic men are more at risk for more aggressive forms of prostate cancer, he explained. For men of African descent, theres an increased risk of both prostate cancer diagnosis and dying from prostate cancer, Anderson said. What should you do if you think you might have prostate cancer? A discussion with your physician is warranted before symptoms occur, Kantoff advised, adding that men should decide with their doctors if a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks at the level of PSA in blood, is right for them. Badani recommended that men get both annual digital rectal exams and PSA tests. Multiple PSA tests over time are a better indicator of potential concerns as opposed to a single test result, he explained. If youre concerned you might have prostate cancer, speak to an internal medicine doctor or a urologist, Anderson recommended. He stressed that all patients with blood in their urine should see a urologist. What should I know about PSA screening? PSA screening has been controversial. In 2012, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended against PSA screening when it said there is moderate certainty that the benefits of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer do not outweigh the harms. PSA screening involves a simple blood test for elevated levels of a protein that may signal cancer but also can be caused by an enlarged or inflamed prostate. It can find cancer that doesnt need to be treated, as its too small and slow-growing to become deadly. Radiation or surgery to remove the prostate may result in impotence and incontinence. This year, the task force said in an April draft recommendation that it recommends that clinicians inform men ages 55 to 69 years about the potential benefits and harms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)based screening for prostate cancer. It did not recommend PSA screening in men ages 70 and above. THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF THE PROSTATE CANCER DIET Proper use of PSA is what I recommend from an early detection standpoint, Kantoff said. Symptoms shouldnt be the motivating factor for screening, he said, saying it should instead be a decision in ones 40s about whether or not PSA testing should be done. He recommended that those with family history or people of African-American descent think about early detection. Badani said that its important to get screened and that its important to know that approximately 40 percent of prostate cancers are not aggressive. This is a big proportion of men who may not need treatment for that type of cancer, he said. An analysis of previous clinical trials published in September said screening lessened the risk of dying from prostate cancer by 25 to 32 percent compared to men that didnt get screened, a summary for patients explains online. The Associated Press contributed to this report. If you spend a lot of time checking out posts on your Instagram Discover feed, chances are you've come across some plastic surgery videos or before-and-after shots. It's become super trendy for plastic surgeons to market on Instagram, and for patients to share videos of their procedures (like Farrah Abraham's posts about her vaginal rejuvenation process). Providers like Michael Salzhauer, M.D., a.k.a. Dr. Miami, constantly share videos and pics of popular surgeries. But now, a new study shows that very few people posting surgery ads and using plastic surgery-related hashtags on Instagram are, in fact, reputable cosmetic-surgery providers. The takeaway? Don't look for a plastic surgeon on social media. The paper, published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal, looked at the Instagram results for 21 surgery-related hashtags including #boobjob, #facelift, #liposuction, and #brazilianbuttlift. They found 1.8 million tagged posts, and looked at the top nine posts from each hashtag. The majority of these posts were shared by foreign surgeons, and 26 percent were shared by doctors like ob-gyns and dermatologists who were not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In fact, only 17.8 percent of the top posts came from board-certified plastic surgeons. And other people sharing the images and videos included spas, dentists, and even a hair salon. "This is a very scary finding," researcher Robert Dorfman said in a press release. "Providers ranging from physicians who are not licensed in plastic surgery to dentists, hair salon employees, and barbers are doing procedures for which they do not have formal or extensive training. That's extremely dangerous for the patient." There are much safer ways to find a surgeon than following Instagram filters. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has an online tool allowing you to search for board-certified plastic surgeons by location. All the physicians listed are ASPS members, meaning they have more than six years of surgical training and experience with at least three of those years spent specifically in plastic surgery. RELATED: APPARENTLY THERE ARE 7 TYPES OF BOOBSWHICH DO YOU HAVE? "One of the first steps you can take towards a successful procedure is to become an educated consumer," the ASPS website advises. "Read about patient safety and how to make smart choices about your surgeon and the facilities where your procedure will be performed. Browse through before-and-after photos to see the kinds of improvements surgical and minimally-invasive procedures can make." Basically, do your research and always, always go with a board-certified plastic surgeon. This article originally appeared on Women's Health. Theres long been a suspicion that daily exposure to slender models and actresses in advertisements has distorted our cultures idea of beauty. However, since these types of images are pretty much everywhere at this point, its a tricky theory to test. But a new study has found that constant exposure to this type of media screws with our self-esteem. And all it takes is 15 minutes. Researchers at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland traveled to a string of rural villages in Nicaragua where people havent grown up seeing images of thin women in the media. These villages had zero electricity, apart from a solar panel to power some light bulbs. Jean-Luc Jucker, the head of the study, and his team then recruited 80 volunteers for the project which included men and women between the ages of 16 and 78. The volunteers were asked to create their ideal body type with a computer program that let them play around with different body shapes and sizes. Next, the researchers showed them images from a popular Western clothing store half were shown 72 photos of women who were a size 2 or 4 and the other half were shown 72 photos of women who were between a size 14 and 26. Following this 15-minute task, researchers asked the volunteers to again create their ideal body type. Volunteers who were shown images of thin women created a body type that was skinnier than the first one they created. On the other hand, volunteers who were shown the plus-sized models created a body type that was larger than their original. If just 15 minutes of looking at an image of a thin model can alter your opinion of what ideal is, imagine what a lifetime exposure has done to us. The research team is using their findings to give a heads up about the potential issues this type of media can cause to communities that are just beginning to integrate electricity and western media into their lives. Most of the volunteers in the study have since been hooked up to their villages new electricity grid. We are trying to raise awareness of this thin body ideal and of eating disorders like anorexia, Jucker told the New Scientist. We dont want to demonize television. We just say that it is associated with these risks. This article origianlly appeared on the New York Post This is how much the Left hates Donald Trump: they love to gang up on his wife and kids. In the midst of a national crisis, with the president doing his best to ensure a robust and compassionate response to Hurricane Harvey, liberals flooded the airwaves snickering about Melania boarding Air Force One wearing stilettos. That she changed into sneakers to attend the disaster site in Corpus Christie didnt get so much play. You would think that someone like LA Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff would be too busy to join the snarkfest, but youd be mistaken. In a county that recorded 651 homicides in the last 12 months, the New York Post reported that one of LAs top law enforcement officials took time out to tweet: Those high heels are really practical for today. Looks like the Chief has taken down that tweet, much as he had to erase what he wrote about people attending a Trump rally last year: Every man in the crowd looks like he has the same biological parents. Just another open-minded public servant. Chelsea Handler piled on, noting the heels and then declaring that the first lady had been cowed into changing her footwear on the plane, Um...she put the shoes on after all the comments on twitter en route to Houston. Prob spun them out of potus' wig. Yes, Chelsea, she probably just serendipitously packed sneakers in anticipation of people like you ridiculing her while in the air. Because, you know, she takes you so seriously. In other words, the petty pickiness about Melanias Manolos is all The Donalds fault. Because he is unpredictable, Melanias soles could reveal the presidents soul. So intense was the reaction to Mrs. Trumps shoes that the item trended briefly on Twitter, and also drew a response from Vanessa Friedman, the New York Times senior fashion critic. The Times has a neat trick of covering such controversies as news stories, which allows them to get in on the fun from 30,000 feet. Such was the case with Ms. Friedmans write-up, which viewed the skirmish from a lofty perch, offering up wise-bites like this one: But to dismiss all this as merely much ado about heels, or an example of the pettiness of our divided electorate, is to ignore the reality of the current conversation around the president and to deny the power of the telling detail to invite applause, condemnation or misinterpretation. In other words, the petty pickiness about Melanias Manolos is all The Donalds fault. Because he is unpredictable, Melanias soles could reveal the presidents soul. A fashion editor recently told me that it was time for Melania to take up a cause. Readers of her magazine were eager to know more about the First Lady, she said. That was nice to hear, because last we heard from designer celebs, they were refusing to dress her. Or at least that was the seeming hope of Ms. Friedman, who wrote an unintentionally comical piece post-election echoing the fashion industrys disappointment at the outcome. Fashionistas, you see, had thrown their lot in with Hillary, whom Friedman valiantly tried to depict as a fashion icon, even though she turned up in the exact same Ralph Lauren pants suit every day for a year, in varying colors. Stefano Tonchi, editor of W, was among the many bemoaning the outcome, saying in all seriousness, makes you realize how powerless we are. At the time, Friedman fumed that Mrs. Trumps attire seemed the result of a shopping spree, as opposed to a strategic plan. Friedman was further pained to observe that Melanias wardrobe was evidently bought off the rack, as opposed to one that she had worked with the designer to create. And she thinks Melania is the one out of touch? Over the past several months, the fashion industry has begun to come around. After all, even the most bitter Trump opponents must get that Mrs. Trump is one of the most beautiful and stylish First Ladies in our history. Just by showing up in some dazzling new gown, she could make a young designers career overnight. As important, Melania Trump has been an island of serenity over the past several months. Even as hateful people poked at her son Baron, she has remained calm and dignified. On overseas trips she has gathered accolades for her demeanor and even her wardrobe choices. Lets face it, she is elegant and smart, and could be a great asset to her husband. The White House may be recognizing that Melania could play a larger role. She will take her first solo trip since entering the White House next month, to attend the Invictus games in Canada. Thats only eight months into her new role as First Lady; Michele Obama didnt venture out solo until 15 months in, and it was a full 16 months before Laura Bush hit the trail by herself. The Invictus games were started by Britains Prince Harry in 2014, and allows thousands of injured servicemen and women from numerous countries to compete in a variety of sports. It is an inspiring event, and Mrs. Trump has duly said she is honored to represent the U.S. But dont expect that to quiet the hateful. Already some are complaining about the cost to Canadas taxpayers of having to provide security for the First Lady, while others suggest that the presidents ban on transgenders in the military could bring out protesters. Maybe someone will bankroll a visit by the Antifa goons for good measure. Whatever the bullies throw at her, my guess is Melania will handle it with poise and grace, and make her adopted country proud. Even in her trademark stilettos. A couple of years ago I was a pallbearer for a fellow in denial about his gambling addiction, so I viewed with interest the Wall Street Journal opinion piece Powerbull: The Lottery Loves Poverty, by Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. Brooks cited scholars who said the poorest one-third of Americans buy more than half of all lottery tickets (which is why states advertise heavily in poor neighborhoods). He also quoted a study that finds lottery players finance their tickets largely by cutting spending on NECESSITIES; after a state introduces the lottery, the bottom third of households shift about 3 percent of their food expenditures and 7 percent of their mortgage payments, rent and other bills. (The states know which side their bread is buttered on, even if the citizens cant AFFORD bread.) Brooks lamented the absurdity of the government spending billions on nutrition and housing programs for the poor while simultaneously encouraging cash-strapped people to sink their own money into state lotteries. Its like the states have turned into your bullying big brother. (Stop hitting yourself! Why do you keep hitting yourself???) Most of our state legislatures have taken bipartisan action to drive a stake through the heart of the Puritan work ethic. Nowadays we worship Urethra, the goddess of (urinating) away your familys savings. Granted, the 44-state Powerball does deserve credit for getting states to COOPERATE on something, unlike their usual Buy your home states products first campaigns, Dont leave the state for a college education warnings and backstabbing deals to keep factories from settling in other states. (Land of 10,000 Lakes? Sure, they need that many to drown all the cooties!) Many low-income individuals see the lottery as an investment. But a 2002 paper by Melissa Kearney (now an economist at the University of Maryland) says the average return from $1 spent on lottery tickets is 52 cents. Youd do better economically by burying your cash in the back yard while accidentally rupturing a natural gas pipeline and burning down the neighborhood. Some poor people will insist they play just for FUN; but when I think about all the types of amusements out there, lottery fever seems like a pathetic reenactment of Charlie Browns trick-or-treating escapades. (I got an Xbox. I got a canoe. I got a little card to scratch.) Many states legitimize the lottery by devoting part of the proceeds to education (my son will benefit from Tennessees lottery when he starts college in four years), but the practice sends a mixed message. When some inbred, knuckle-dragging, third-grade drop-out DOES manage to win an eight-figure prize, its hard to stay focused on fourth-period trigonometry. Far be it from me to begrudge anyone their fantasies about telling off their boss or seizing their chance at a life-changing opportunity. But I hope retailers dont expand the promotional gimmick beyond lottery tickets. (Blow dryers with frayed electrical cords: a potentially life-changing opportunity!) And can states lighten up a little on predatory marketing? A marketing plan for Ohios lottery some years back recommended scheduling campaigns to coincide with the distribution of government benefits, payroll and Social Security payments. With todays more sophisticated advertising, lottery appeals can be hyper-focused. (Hey, Mike that left kidney of yours is looking mighty superfluous right now. Its a sellers market. And right big toes talk about easy money!) Danny Tyrees weekly column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspaper syndicate. Email him at tyreetyrades@aol.com. Its an old UN game trotted out whenever Americans get fed up with throwing money down the UN drain or paying for a global platform used to trash the USAs best interests and spew anti-semitism. It goes by the name of UN reform. And President Trump appears to have taken the bait -- hook, line and sinker. One day ahead of the presidents first appearance at the General Assembly on September 19, he will host a UN Reform High Level Event for the purpose of adopting a UN Reform Political Declaration. The Declaration, with ten points, has just been released and its primary characteristic is vagueness the only kind of reform plan capable of garnering any support at the UN. While Americas Ambassador Nikki Haley is taking ownership of the initiative, there is no doubt that the reform mantra is a UN-contrived antidote to White House noises about slashing UN funding. UN expenditures have ballooned to about $48 billion a year, of which approximately $10 billion comes from U.S. pocketbooks. The only leverage that registers at the UN is money, and the willingness of its number one funder the United States to use it. Its more of an ocean than a swamp. With the Secretary-General headlining the reform event along with the president, and the Declaration proclaiming the Secretary-General will lead organizational reform, the UN just bought itself a chunk of time. The rationale for altering U.S. support for the UN is suggested by periodic measurements of our UN successes. In mid-August of this year, the State Department delivered its Congressionally-mandated report on voting patterns at the UN. It is a tally of how American interests and values line up with UN outcomes and the votes of countries that enjoy taking foreign aid with no strings attached. The new report makes the following computation: In 2016, counting all the final draft resolutions of the full plenary of the General Assembly that were adopted by a vote and on which the U.S. voted yes or no "coincidence of voting," or how often other countries voted the same way as the United States, was a mere 37 percent. The U.S. lost every one of 18 votes slamming Israel. The State Department responded to this data, however, by reassuring Congress that most resolutions at the General Assembly are adopted by consensus and not by a vote. They neglected to mention how consensus at the UN works. It looks like this. Step one: On December 24, 2016 the U.S. voted to defeat a resolution that funded a UN Human Rights Council Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign directed at Israel. The vote took place at the committee level and the loss was 151 against a proposal not to fund, 6 in favor (including the United States), and 6 abstentions. Step two: Later that same day, the entire UN 2016-2017 budget came to a vote in the General Assembly plenary. Now the budget incorporated funding for the BDS campaign a program that includes the production of a blacklist of American companies doing business with Israel. And at this stage, the U.S. proceeded to join consensus having given up the fight. In comes UN-reform to waylay disappointed donors. Perhaps no one performed the routine better than former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. On the verge of being fired because of the Oil-for-food kick-back scheme that enriched his UN cronies, and involved his own son, Annan contrived a UN reform plan. The UNs top human rights body, the Commission on Human Rights, was a standing joke, particularly after Libya was elected to chair it. Annan championeda change of name, and saved his job. A few more tweaks were thrown into the metamorphosis of the Commission into a Human Rights Council, but the only proposed change that really mattered was the (American) idea of introducing criteria for membership. This true reform proposal went nowhere, and today, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, China and company are firmly ensconced as members and UN human rights authorities. The pre-reform Commission had one agenda item dedicated to Israel-bashing at every session, and one item for considering all other states in the world. The reformed Council immediately replicated the double-standard. Ambassador Haley wants to reform the reform, and will pay the Councils bills in the meantime. Music to UN ears. In short, UN reform is a mugs game. The only leverage that registers at the UN is money, and the willingness of its number one funder the United States to use it. Alas, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is working on a State Authorizations Bill that, for reasons unknown, says absolutely nothing about the UN. A draft appropriations bill in the House touches the UN, but most anticipate it will go nowhere and by the end of September only a continuing resolution extending Aprils omnibus appropriations bill will go forward. UN fans with a perverse stranglehold on a GOP-led Congress will decide to spend and the president will be left saying yes, sir orations about seriously cutting US-UN contributions notwithstanding. Some existing funding provisos require the Secretary of State to certify UN action is in the national interest. They provide a little wiggle room if Secretary Tillerson is so inclined. And if the president quit the Human Rights Council today, we would no longer be paying for a boycott of our own businesses and attempting to destroy our ally Israel. Instead, were gearing up to bankroll a UN-led reform of the unreformable. Making America feeble again. Jerry Springer, the former Cincinnati mayor best known to a generation of Americans for his eponymous tabloid talk show, is weighing a run for the Democratic nomination to be Ohio's next governor, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday. Jene Galvin, who co-hosts a weekly podcast with Springer, told the Enquirier "There have been [those] who have asked him to run for governor, and he is considering it and will decide that pretty soon. "Hes about done figuring it out, but he had to give some serious thought to it first," Galvin added, telling the paper that Springer would make a final decision in the next two weeks. The Enquirer also reported that Springer spoke to prominent Ohio Democrats last week and asked them "Is it too late to enter the Ohio governor's race?" Before going into television, Springer had a checkered political career. In between a failed run for Congress in 1970 and an unsuccessful bid to be Ohio's governor in 1982, he served on Cincinnati's city council. He resigned in 1974 amid a prostitution scandal, but was re-elected to his seat the following year. In 1977, Springer was chosen to serve as Cincinnati's mayor for one year on a rotating basis. Springer has hosted the syndicated "Jerry Springer" show since 1991. The program is known for its frequently outrageous subject matter, brawling among guests and for closing with Springer's catchprase, "Take care of yourself, and each other." Ohioans will vote for a new governor in 2018. Current incumbent and 2016 GOP presidential candidate John Kasich is prevented by law from seeking a third consecutive term. A Missouri state representative stirred outrage on Wednesday after he apparently called for the vandals of a veterans memorial to be "hung from a tall tree." Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, confirmed to Fox News that he shared to Facebook an article from news outlet KY3 which reported that a Confederate statue at the Springfield National Cemetery in Springfield was vandalized with paint. This is totally against the law, his post read. I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope. National Veterans Cemetery in Springfield, Mo. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ENFORCEMENT OF TEXAS' 'SANCTUARY CITIES' LAW Love, who said the situation was blown out of proportion, said that anyone who vandalizes a remembrance statue is a low life. Anyone, regardless of age, gender or race that would desecrate or vandalize an object of remembrance in a cemetery is a low life that has no respect for memorials that have been placed by loved ones or people that want to honor an individual, Love said. The representative added that vandalizing or defacing a statue in Missouri is classified as a misdemeanor, but added, it is becoming evident by recent acts of vandalism it needs to be increased to some level at the felony level. Although the post was deleted, criticism circulated quickly online. Stephen Webber, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, called for Loves resignation on Twitter. House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she also believes Love should resign. In calling for the lynching of those who vandalized a Confederate statute in Springfield, state Rep. Warren Love invoked a form of political violence used throughout the South to keep African-Americans subjugated for generations following the fall of the Confederacy, and for that he must resign, Beatty said. It was a harsh statement, I shouldnt have said that, Love said of his Facebook post. Love referred to the content of his post as an exaggerated cowboyism. POLITICO CARTOON MOCKS HARVEY VICTIMS, CRITICS SAY Love said he didnt delete the Facebook post, but thinks one of his children did. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Love was first elected to the House in 2012 and represents a district in a rural western area of the state. Lawyers for a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple on religious grounds fired the first shot Thursday in the latest high-profile "religious liberty" case to come before the Supreme Court. Jack Phillips' legal team argued that his constitutionally protected beliefs were violated when he and his employees were ordered by Colorado's Civil Rights Commission to make cakes for same-sex couples and undergo sensitivity training in May 2014. "Those beliefs inspire him to love and serve people from all walks of life, but he can only create cakes that are consistent with the tenets of his faith," their brief says. "His decisions on whether to design a specific custom cake have never focused on who the customer is, but on what the custom cake will express or celebrate." Colorado's Court of Appeals upheld the commission's ruling against Phillips and the state Supreme Court declined to hear the case. However, the Supreme Court announced this June that it would consider the matter. The saga began in 2012, two years before Colorado legalized same-sex marriage. Charlie Craig and David Mullins were planning to fly to Massachusetts, where gay marriage was legal, and host a reception in Denver upon their return to Colorado. Craig and Mullins ordered a cake from Phillips' shop, Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Lakewood. But Phillips declined to do so, leading the couple to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission. The men later received a rainbow-themed cake for free from another cake artist. "Phillips regularly declines opportunities to create custom cakes for events that violate his convictions," according to a statement from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending the baker in the case, "including Halloween cakes, anti-American cakes, adult-themed cakes, cakes containing alcohol, and cakes that would disparage others." The baker's attorneys claim that Masterpiece Cakeshop has lost approximately 40 percent of its previous business since the ruling. Oral arguments in the case are expected sometime in the fall. The case is Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (16-111). Then-FBI Director James Comey began drafting a statement exonerating Hillary Clinton in the investigation into her private email use before interviewing key witnesses, including Clinton herself, two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday. Conclusion first, fact-gathering secondthats no way to run an investigation, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote in a letter this week to the FBI. The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy. Grassley and Graham said they learned about Comeys draft "exoneration statement" after reviewing transcripts of interviews with top Comey aides. According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton, the senators said. They added, That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts. Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, was investigated by the FBI for using a private email address and server to handle classified information while serving as secretary of state. In July 2016, Comey famously called Clintons email arrangement extremely careless though he decided against recommending criminal charges. In a news release Thursday, the senators said Comey began drafting a statement in April or May 2016, which was before the FBI interviewed 17 key witnesses, including Clinton herself and other top aides. The statement preceded the FBI entering into an immunity agreement with top Clinton aides with Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson. FBI SHUTS DOWN REQUEST FOR FILES ON HILLARY CLINTON BY CITING LACK OF PUBLIC INTEREST The transcripts are from interviews conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, which interviewed James Rybicki, Comeys chief of staff, and Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel of national security and cyberlaw, the senators said. It is unclear whether the FBI agents actually investigating the case were aware that Mr. Comey had already decided on the investigations outcome while their work was ongoing, the senators wrote. In the Wednesday letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, the two senators said they have requested all records relating to the drafting of the statement. Comey was fired as FBI director by President Trump in May amid tensions over the Russia investigation. Fox News' Jason Donner contributed to this report. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway ripped so-called feminists after the left mocked first lady Melania Trump for wearing high heels on her way to survey Hurricane Harvey damage in Texas, calling the response predictable. She can wear whatever she wants, Conway told Fox & Friends on Thursday, while noting the first lady changed into sneakers before hitting the ground in Texas. But Conway suggested the Twitter and media taunts on Tuesday revealed feminist hypocrisy. They get upset if somebody says youre wearing a pretty dress or calls you honey, but they have judgment end on end, she said. Numerous comedians and media outlets took shots at the first ladys shoes at Tuesday. Vogue covered the first ladys outfit, with the headline: Melania Trumps Hurricane Stilettos, and the White Houses Continual Failure to Understand Optics. Why, oh why, cant this administration get anything, even a pair of shoes, right? Vogues article read. The first lady's office hit back. Its sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes, the first ladys Communications Director Stephanie Grisham told Fox News via email. The mockery went so far that it even prompted a reality check from one of the administration's toughest critics.I dont know why anyone should care what anyone wears when theyre on their way to help people, The Daily Shows Trevor Noah said Tuesday night. Conway said people should show some respect for Melania Trump. They should also know she speaks five languages, shes brilliant, shes incredibly savvy, she said. As President Trump battles with Congress over funding, four companies have been selected by the federal government to build concrete prototypes of the presidents long-promised wall along the border with Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday that Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Ala.; Fisher Sand & Gravel of Tempe, Ariz.; Texas Sterling Construction Company of Houston, Texas; and WG Yates and Sons Construction of Philadelphia, Miss. have been awarded contracts. The agency issued requests for proposals in March for multiple prototypes. Through the construction of prototypes, we are partnering with the industry to identify the best way to build new and replacement infrastructure along our border before we make further investments, Customs and Border Protection Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello said during a Thursday press conference. Vitiello said the agency asked for conceptual wall designs using reinforced concrete and alternative material to construct multiple wall prototypes in the San Diego, Calif. area. The prototypes and resulting wall infrastructure will complement the various other tools that we employ to secure our borders, he said. The president issued an executive order in January that called for securing the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking and acts of terrorism. SANDERS STANDS BY TRUMPS BORDER WALL THREAT The Republican-controlled Congress has yet to pass a spending resolution to keep the government fully operational past Sept. 30. Trump has suggested hes willing to shut down the government in order to get funding to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall, the president said during a rally in Arizona last week. President Donald Trump says what he thinks -- a majority agrees on that. Maybe thats part of the reason most dont call him presidential. The latest Fox News Poll asks voters how well several words and phrases apply to the president. Trump is most defined by the says what he thinks trait. More than 8-in-10 voters think that describes him extremely or very well (81 percent). The only other term a majority agrees fits is bully (53 percent). In addition, many say outsider (44 percent) and unstable (44 percent) describe the president well. READ THE FULL RESULTS OF THE FOX NEWS POLL HERE. Fewer voters, about one-third, assign the clearly positive terms competent (35 percent), strong leader (35 percent), and problem solver (32 percent). Three-in-10 say knowledgeable (31 percent), honest (30 percent), and steady leader (30 percent) define the president well. Voters are least likely to call Trump presidential (25 percent), moral leader (25 percent), and compassionate (26 percent). For past presidents, the traits that correlate most powerfully with increased support are strong leader and compassionate, says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democratic counterpart Chris Anderson. Trump gets points for candor, but he needs to convince more people he is strong and empathetic. Four other positive traits dont fit Trump in the least, over half of voters say: presidential (56 percent), moral leader (55 percent), compassionate (53 percent), and steady leader (53 percent) -- apply to him not at all. The countrys faced two crises recently, with the racial violence in Charlottesville and Hurricane Harvey in Houston, says Anderson. So far, voters see Trump as sorely lacking the strong, compassionate, moral leadership necessary in these difficult times. Among Trump voters, he gets his highest marks for says what he thinks (93 percent describes well), strong leader (74 percent), and competent (73 percent). Hes most defined among those who backed Hillary Clinton as bully (83 percent describes well), unstable (78 percent), and says what he thinks (70 percent). The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,006 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from August 27-29, 2017. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters. American voters believe what happens in Afghanistan matters to their safety here at home, and more approve of sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan since President Donald Trump laid out his military plan. Even so, voters are split over how Trump is handling the situation, and disapproval outweighs approval on a troop increase. Thats according to the latest Fox News Poll. The president gave a speech at Fort Myer, Virginia on August 21 about his plans for Afghanistan, including sending an unspecified number of additional U.S. troops there. The idea of sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan has grown on voters. Forty percent approve of that action, an 11-point increase since June when 29 percent approved. READ THE FULL RESULTS OF THE FOX NEWS POLL. The shift comes from double-digit increases among Republicans (+16), men (+12), whites (+12), women (+11) and independents (+10). Still, more voters disapprove (48 percent) than approve (40 percent) of sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Voters split on Trumps job performance on Afghanistan: 43 percent approve vs. 43 percent disapprove. Thats still better than ratings of his performance on other foreign hot-spots like North Korea (43-50) and Russia (35-56). Most voters, 76 percent, believe that what happens in Afghanistan matters to their security here in the United States, up from 71 percent in 2013. That number went as high as 83 percent in December 2009, when President Barack Obama announced plans to send an additional 30,000 troops there. By a 2-to-1 margin, veterans voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Fox News Exit Poll. Majorities of veterans approve of sending additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan (54 percent approve vs. 38 percent disapprove) and Trumps handling of the issue (58-36). Sixty-eight percent of veterans think the Afghan conflict is linked to U.S. security. Twenty-seven percent dont feel that way. The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,006 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from August 27-29, 2017. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters. Hillary Clinton is ready to talk about what happened. But if you want to hear her speak about it in person, you may have to spend some serious dough. Starting next month, the former Democratic presidential nominee embarks on a tour across the United States and Canada to promote What Happened, her memoir about running against Donald Trump for president. And the price for access is a throwback to campaign fundraisers. For $2,375.95 (or $3,000 in Canadian dollars), Clinton fans in Toronto can obtain a VIP platinum ticket for her Sept. 28 talk. That ticket includes two front-row seats, a photo with Clinton backstage and a signed book. For the same price, VIP tickets are also available during Clintons upcoming appearances in Montreal and Vancouver. The steep ticket prices have not gone unnoticed in the publishing industry. It is standard for high profile authors to do book tours that sell tickets to events, but Clinton's tour takes it to a new level of greed, an industry source told Fox News. CLINTON BOOK REVEALS WHAT SHE WAS REALLY THINKING AT TRUMP DEBATE But Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Clintons book, defended the practice. A spokesman said Wednesday it is customary for a venue to charge for tickets at events featuring high profile writers. Tickets typically include a book, Cary Goldstein, the executive director of publicity at Simon & Schuster, told Fox News. Such was the case with tours for recent books by Megyn Kelly, Bob Gates, and any number of public personalities. Lecture venues have become a central component of book tours for public figures. General admission tickets to Clinton's events are offered, too, for a lower price than the VIP versions. In Toronto, all the $70.49 (or $89 in Canadian currency) tickets for Clintons lecture already have sold out. Ticket prices for Clintons events vary, depending on the location. In Broward, Fla., they range from $50 to $375 a ticket for an Oct. 3 appearance. For Clintons Nov. 1 event in New York, VIP tickets are going for $750. This pay-for-access has all the political wisdom of doing another round of private speeches for Goldman Sachs, but as her book tour makes clear, at this point in her career all she cares about is cashing in, the industry source said. HILLARY CLINTON'S BOOK RELEASE HAS DEMS WORRIED, IRRITATED Tickets -- especially the ones with VIP access -- to Clintons events appear pricier than lectures with other major figures in the past. Tickets to former Secretary of Defense Gatess first major book event in 2014 cost $30. Clintons book is set for release on Sept. 12. Earlier this week, Simon & Schuster announced the first 15 cities Clinton will visit on her tour. Her first appearance is Sept. 18 at the Warner Theater in Washington. The tour will take her through Canada as well as Florida, California, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington state and Oregon. Promoting the tour in a news release this week, the publishing house said Clinton will connect with audiences with a story thats personal, raw, detailed and surprisingly funny. Come join Hillary as she lets loose about her experience as a woman in politics, and other topics, in a way she never has before, it said. : , Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat considered a potential 2020 presidential hopeful, aligned herself with the liberal wing of her party this week by endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders' single-payer health care proposal multitrillion-dollar price tag and all. Harris told constituents at a town hall in Oakland that she planned to co-sponsor Sanders forthcoming Medicare for All bill, explaining that it was just the right thing to do. Its not just about what is morally and ethically right, it also makes sense from a fiscal standpoint, Harris said Wednesday. Last month, Harris said that she supported the single-payer system as a concept, but that lawmakers needed to work out the details. Her announcement to co-sponsor Sanders bill is the first time she has publicly supported a single-payer plan. SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE: WHAT IS IT? Under this European-style health care system, the government is solely responsible for covering health care costs. Sanders, I-Vt., rolled out an earlier version of his proposal during the Democratic presidential primaries in 2016. At the time, he initially estimated the plan would cost $13.8 trillion over the first 10 years. But according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Urban Institute, the single-payer system would cost the federal government more like $32 trillion over the first decade, requiring an average annual tax increase of $24,000 per household. (That increase would be offset in part by a big reduction in private health care spending, and state/local government spending.) But a spokeman for Sanders told Fox News on Thursday that the Urban Institute's figure was "not accurate" with respect to the 2017 proposal. "This bill is substantially different and more detailed than the brief plan released during the campaign," Sanders' spokesman told Fox News. Sanders' office told Fox News that the bill has yet to be released, but, once it is finalized, they would have a "better sense" of the cost. The bill is expected to be rolled out the second week of September. Youre seeing more and more movement toward Medicare for All, Sanders said this week. When the people are saying we need health care for everyone, as more and more Americans come on board, it will become politically possible. Sanders thanked Harris on Twitter late Wednesday for her support. Thank you @KamalaHarris for your support. Lets make health care a right, not a privilege, Sanders tweeted. Another bill, introduced in the House by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., would attempt to establish a Medicare for All program to provide Americans with a broad range of health care, including emergency care, primary care, prescription drugs and vision care. That bill currently has 117 cosponsors. Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report. A grand jury used by special counsel Robert Mueller has heard secret testimony from a Russian-American lobbyist who attended a June 2016 meeting with President Donald Trump's eldest son, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Wednesday. That former Soviet army officer, Rinat Akhmetshin, appeared before Mueller's grand jury in recent weeks, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Attendees at the 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York City included Donald Trump Jr.; the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Emails released by Trump Jr. show he took the meeting expecting to receive damaging information about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as part of what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid the Trump campaign. The revelation, which was first reported in the Financial Times, is the clearest indication yet that Mueller and his team of investigators view the meeting, which came weeks after Trump had secured the Republican presidential nomination, as a relevant inquiry point in their broader probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This is obviously very high-level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, music publicist Rob Goldstone, who helped set up the meeting, wrote in an email to Trump Jr., according to the Hill. He also assured the presidents son that Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who also attended the meeting, had information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful, to then candidate Trump. If its what you say I love it especially in the summer, Trump Jr. replied. Trump Jr. who is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee sometime over the next few weeks has denied any wrongdoing in taking the meeting. Akhmetshin, a former Soviet military officer who served in a counterintelligence unit, is also a well-known Washington lobbyist. He has been representing Russian interests trying to undermine the story of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison and is the namesake of a U.S. sanctions law. Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence but he has denied that, calling the allegations a "smear campaign." Mueller and his team first signaled their interest in the Trump Tower gathering last month by contacting an attorney for at least some of the Russians who attended. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, one of the highest-profile members of law enforcement to emerge as a vocal supporter of President Trump, resigned from his position on Thursday. County Clerk George Christenson said that he received a resignation letter from Clarke but that no reason for the move was provided. Clarke issued a "retirement statement" to local media hours after his resignation was announced. "After almost forty years serving the great people of Milwaukee County, I have chosen to retire to pursue other opportunities," Clarke wrote. "I will have news about my next steps in the very near future." In June, Clarke announced that he had rescinded his acceptance of a post in the Office of Public Engagement for the Department of Homeland Security. However, the office had never confirmed that it offered him the job, in which he would have served as a liaison between DHS and state and local law enforcement. Clarke, a tough-on-crime conservative Democrat, had built a following among conservatives with his provocative social media presence and for his support of President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. But he later was accused of plagiarism in his masters thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School. Clarke denied the report in which it was claimed that he failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times in his 2013 thesis, titled "Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible." In an email to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Clarke wrote, "only someone with a political agenda would say this is plagiarism." He also drew criticism for conditions in his jails. A mentally ill inmate allegedly died after being deprived of water as punishment, prosecutors said. Some Wisconsin conservatives had encouraged Clarke to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, but he repeatedly rejected their overtures. Clarke recently published a memoir, "Cop Under Fire." There was no immediate word on a replacement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly is working with a top Trump foe New York's Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a development that could signal an attempt to get around the president's pardon powers. As reported by Politico, Mueller and Schneiderman have been in communication in recent weeks and have shared evidence with one another. The joint effort is significant for two reasons: Trump and Schneiderman are political enemies, and the prospect of a state-level probe creates a scenario where Trump's pardon power would be blunted. New York's attorney general has long been fiercely critical of Trump. He has repeatedly sued or threatened to sue the current administration, and led the charge in the fraud case against Trump University. Just last year, Schneiderman won a $25 million settlement in the Trump University case. The president, for his part, repeatedly has called Schneiderman a lightweight, dating back to 2013. Aside from the bad blood between the two men, the implications of state-level involvement are important. Politico reported that Mueller and Schneiderman are specifically looking at former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's financial transactions. Manafort has denied wrongdoing, and Politico reported that no decision has been made on whether to pursue charges. But if they pursued a state-level count, Politico notes this could give the special counsel's team leverage over Manafort to seek cooperation -- since Trump cannot pardon for state crimes. Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution gives the president power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. And as the Justice Department explains, "An offense that violates a state law is not an offense against the United States." Trump last week announced the first pardon of his presidency, for former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It's not clear how seriously clemency is being weighed for the Russia investigation, considering nobody has been charged in connection with the case. The president repeatedly has described the investigation as a "witch hunt." Both the special counsels office and the New York attorney generals office declined requests for comment from Fox News. Mueller also has been criticized for hiring a team of attorneys with a history of political donations to Democratic candidates. Schneiderman's office reportedly is looking into Trump's business transactions as well, which could be shared with the special counsel's team. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the "violent" members of Antifa those members of the anti-fascist group who allegedly attacked conservative demonstrators over the weekend in Berkeley, Calif. should be arrested and prosecuted. "Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts," Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "The violent actions of people calling themselves Antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation." The article pointed out that the famous California liberal distanced the Democratic Party from the group. In addition, Pelosi told the Denver Posts editorial board: Youre not talking about the far left of the Democratic Party theyre not even Democrats. A lot of them are socialists or anarchists or whatever. Thirteen people were arrested and five others were injured Sunday after more than 100 black-clad, hooded protesters with masks and weapons attacked and overwhelmed peaceful demonstrators. "They came with black masks, they carried weapons, they were pounding people down with their fists and feet," University of California-Berkeley College Republican Ashton Whitty told Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Monday night. "I knew I had to get out of there. "Everything was great until Antifa showed up," Whitty added. Pelosi, who represents a district in neighboring San Francisco, had been criticized for not condemning the Antifa violence as forcefully as she had warned about the potential for unrest at a Patriot Prayer rally that had been planned for Saturday. Berkeley's mayor, Jesse Arreguin, had previously spoken out against Antifa, saying the group should be classified "as a gang." "They come dressed in uniforms," Arreguin said. "They have weapons, almost like a militia, and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach." President Trump has pledged $1 million of his personal money to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey in both Texas and Louisiana, the White House said Thursday. The president is pledging a million dollars of personal money to help, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters in the press briefing Thursday. Sanders said that the president asked that she check with reporters for suggestions on groups and organizations that would be best and most effective in providing aid. Sanders was asked whether Trump would pay the $1 million from his personal funds, or from the Trump Organization. I know the president said he was going to giveI dont know the legal part of exactly that, but he said his personal money, Sanders answered. So I assume that comes directly from him. The president and First Lady Melania Trump traveled to Texas on Tuesday to visit with first responders and officials, and will travel again to Texas and also to Louisiana on Saturday. Sanders told reporters that the specific cities they will visit are being finalized. As of right now, there are tentative plans to be in the Houston area and possibly Lake Charles, Sanders said, noting that could change due to varying conditions. The briefing began with remarks from White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, who said that an estimated 100,000 homes have been affected. The president and the team here has been working around the clock to support recovery, Bossert said. Were seeing deployed assets from a lot of states28 search and rescue teams, and task forces from 16 states sending support to Texas. Moments after the briefing finished, Trump tweeted, thanking "heroes" in Texas. "THANK YOU to all of the incredible HEROES in Texas. America is with you! #TexasStrong" The U.N. human rights chief whose country prosecutes journalists for insulting the Prophet Muhammad has jumped to the defense of media outlets targeted by President Trump. Zeid Raad Al Hussein, U.N. high commissioner for human rights and a Jordanian prince, stepped into the U.S. political arena Wednesday as he condemned the president for what he called his repeated attacks on three of the most respected news organizations in the world. He said he was referring to The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN and chastised the president for describing them as liars and crooks. To call these news organizations fake does tremendous damage and to refer to individual journalists in this way -- I have to ask the question: is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists? he asked at a press conference Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland. Its really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, not only a cornerstone of the Constitution but very much something the United States defended over the years, is now itself under attack from the president himself, its a sort of stunning turnaround, Al Hussein said. Ultimately the sequences are a dangerous one. You have incitement, fear, self-censorship, banning and then violence, Al Hussein said. But Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, criticized the diplomats blunt attack on the U.S. president. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights -- knowing full well the United States has no intention of granting his hoped-for second term in office -- has launched an all-out assault on President Trump and the nation he leads, Bayefsky told Fox News. The latest from this supposed democracy expert (and Jordanian prince) is to accuse President Trump of driving the U.S. democracy bus off a cliff. Apparently, Prince Zeid missed the civics lesson on the rule of law, she said. Al Hussein, educated at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. and Cambridge, has served two stretches as Jordans top envoy to the United Nations. During that time, Jordan notoriously arrested newspaper editors for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. According to a report in Foreign Policy, during his tenure at the U.N., Jordan also supported resolutions cracking down on the defamation of religion, seen as part of the effort to ban blasphemy around the world. Al Hussein, though, pointed to Trump as a threat to the press and said his criticism could have a chilling effect on the way other countries view journalists. The high commissioner also turned his sights to Trumps pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, asking whether the president supported racial profiling of Latinos or prisoner abuse. These actions have consequences, he said. I almost feel that the president is driving the bus of humanity and we are careening down a mountain path and in taking these measures, and at least from a human rights perspective, it seems to be reckless driving. The Trump administration is still thought to be considering pulling the U.S. out of the much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Council, which has been accused of spending too much time bashing Israel while leaving dictatorial regimes alone. The Trump administration on Thursday retaliated against Russia for expelling hundreds of U.S. diplomats, announcing Moscow will be required to close several posts in major American cities. The State Department, in a statement that warned of a downward spiral in relations, said Russia must close its consulate general in San Francisco as well as its chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in the statement. The decision was in retaliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin kicking out more than 700 U.S. diplomats after Trump, reluctantly, signed a sanctions law passed by Congress. While calling the Russian order unwarranted, Nauert said Thursday that the U.S. has fully implemented the reduction of the U.S. mission in Russia. She described the new demand on Moscow to reduce its presence in the United States as being in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each, she said. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. She said the U.S. hopes we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. She added, The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. Earlier this month, Trump signed a bill imposing sanctions on Russia after the legislation overwhelmingly passed the House and Senate. The sanctions stemmed from Russias invasion of Crimea in 2014 and its attempted interference in the United States presidential election in 2016. After Congress passed the sanctions in July, Putin said 755 U.S. diplomats would be expelled from Russia by Sept. 1. Attorneys for President Trump have repeatedly met with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and submitted memos arguing that Trump did not obstruct justice when he fired FBI Director James Comey earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. According to the Journal, the president's legal team has also warned Mueller that Comey is an unsuitable witness. In a memo submitted in June, Trump's lawyers described Comey as prone to exaggeration and the source of multiple leaks to the news media. The Jounal report, which cited "people familiar with the matter," said that Trump's attorneys gave their memos to Mueller in an effort to close the investigation of the president for allegations of obstruction of justice. One memo, also submitted to Mueller in June, claimed that Trump has the constitutional authority to hire and fire Executive Branch officials as he sees fit and Comey's dismissal on May 9 fell within that purview. The report stated that Mueller had expressed a willingness to receive legal submissions from Trump's lawyers, but did not respond once he had received them. The report also gave no indication that Mueller had dropped or otherwise altered his inquiries. John Dowd, the head of the president's outside legal team, told the Journal: "I just dont think its appropriate to discuss my communications with Special Counsel Mueller. Why should I rupture a relationship with the special counsel?" A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. Mueller, himself a former director of the FBI, has been overseeing the bureau's investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election. Comey was leading the probe before Trump fired him. Following Comey's dismissal, the Justice Department to investigate the possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Moscow, as well as "any matters" arising from the initial investigation. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. President Trump plans to visit flood-ravaged Houston this weekend as the city copes with the devastating flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Vice President Mike Pence, who spent the day in Texas meeting with officials, said in Corpus Christi on Thursday afternoon that both the president and the first lady are planning to go to Houston. The president will be returning to Texas this Saturday, with the first lady, and will be traveling to Houston and other destinations within the state, Pence said. The vice president said the visits are meant to reinforce our administrations commitment to helping the state recover from the storm. We are with you today, we will be with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every day until this great state and these great communities recover and rebuild to be even better and stronger than ever before, Pence said. TRUMP SURVEYS HARVEY DAMAGE, CALLS FOR RECOVERY BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE Trump traveled to Texas on Tuesday, meeting with local officials and emergency responders in Corpus Christi and Austin. At the time, the White House suggested the president was keeping his distance from Houston, where flooding has devastated communities, so he wouldnt interrupt local recovery efforts. "The president wants to be very cautious about making sure that any activity doesn't disrupt the recovery efforts that are still ongoing," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe The Trump administration announced last year its plan to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) which provides a level of amnesty to certain undocumented immigrants, many of whom came to the U.S. as children with a six-month delay for recipients. But a federal appeals court ruled against the proposal in early November, declaring the government couldn't immediately end the program. The Executive wields awesome power in the enforcement of our nations immigration laws, the ruling said. Our decision today does not curb that power, but rather enables its exercise in a manner that is free from legal misconceptions and is democratically accountable to the public. Trump had initially set a March 5 deadline for the program and called on Congress to pass legislation pertaining to the young immigrants. But the deadline came and went, with no congressional action but several lawsuits challenging the administration's decision to end the program. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON DACA Federal judges in New York and Washington also have ruled against President Trump on DACA. President Trump has repeatedly blamed Democrats for inaction. Heres a look at the DACA program and why the Trump administration wants to dismantle it. What is the DACA program? The DACA program was formed through executive action by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and allowed certain people who came to the U.S. illegally as minors to be protected from immediate deportation. Recipients, called Dreamers, were able to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, which was subject to renewal. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated. Deferred action does not provide lawful status. Individuals were able to request DACA status if they were under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012, came to the U.S. before turning 16 and continuously lived in the country since June 15, 2007. Individuals also had to have a high school diploma, GED certification, been honorably discharged from the military or still be in school. Recipients could not have a criminal record. It did not provide legal status. How many people are affected by DACA? Nearly 800,000 youth, called Dreamers, are under the program's umbrella. Daniel Garza, president of the conservative immigration nonprofit Libre Initiative, told Fox News that DACA offers a reprieve from a life of uncertainty for innocent kids who didnt break the law. Its rather disappointing to think they could return to a state of anxiety and fear, he said. What did the Trump administration do? The Trump administration announced in September 2017 that it planned to phase out DACA for current recipients, and no new requests would be granted. But a lower court order required the administration to continue accepting renewal applications for those under the DACA program, and the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to intervene. Since the announcement, Trump had offered to work with lawmakers on a solution for the hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. who fell under DACAs umbrella of protections. But at the same time, he has repeatedly blamed Democrats on social media for lack of a solution. Earlier this year, Trump released his four pillars of immigration reform, which included a provision for legal status for DACA recipients and others who would be eligible for DACA status. The White House estimated that total to be 1.8 million people. The Senate rejected the plan. Republicans and some Democrats opposed Obamas directive establishing DACA from the start as a perceived overreach of executive power. Obama spoke out on social media after the Trump administration announced a plan to dismantle the program, stating that it's "self-defeating ... and it is cruel" to end DACA and questioned the motive behind the decision. Do any DACA recipients serve in the military? Despite some rumors circulating online to the contrary, Dreamers were eligible to serve in the U.S. military since 2014 when the Pentagon adopted a policy to allow a certain amount of illegal immigrants to join. In fiscal year 2016, 359 DACA recipients had enlisted in the Army which is the only branch to accept immigrants of this category. Fox News' John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Brazzers want to help you relieve your back-to-school stress. A new promotion from the porn site offers 5,000 US university students of legal age a free, four-month membership to Brazzers.com. Check out the (safe for work) video about the campaign. Marketing director Gary Ticher says students should think of this as a "study accessory" that can help them "relax, sleep better and focus harder in class." "We know that university life is by no means easy and we're empathetic," Ticher says. "Being away from home and overloaded with studying and peer pressure can be tough, so we wanted to do our part to help university students relax their minds and ease their loads." One could argue that the internet is full of free porn, but to claim your free premium porn, head here and complete the application form by Sept. 5. You'll need to submit a photo of yourself holding a valid student ID that shows your birthdate on it. Brazzers said that photos "must be clear, with all info and dates clearly visible." If four months of free porn isn't enough, Brazzers is also launching an essay/video contest offering one winner a 25-year membership. Applicants must submit a short video (up to two minutes long), or a written essay (at least 100 words) explaining "how Brazzers will help me graduate." The deadline for submissions is Sept. 5 and Brazzers will pick a winner by Nov. 8. The new Brazzers promotion comes after PornHub earlier this month launched a $25,000 scholarship contest. To apply, submit an essay between 1,000 and 1,500 words answering the question: "How is your work contributing to a better future for the world?" The company will be accepting applications through midnight ET on Oct. 31, 2017. The winner will be selected and announced in November. This article originally appeared on PCMag.com. Weve got the ultimate back to school gear guide curating the very best with a tactical twist. Take advantage of tactical professional grade know how and equip the students in your life with tough stuff that will last throughout school and beyond. Youll find the standard essentials like notebooks and backpacks but next-level and military grade. Looking for a fun gift? From waterproof tunes through to indestructible coffeemakers, weve also got you covered. And for those parents worried about kids away from home, weve even found you ordinary school necessities specially designed to double as devices to defeat danger. Here are 10 of the best in class for 2017. IMPROMPTU TACTICAL PEN Best in Class choice for student safety is the Impromptu Tactical Pen made by Gerber Gear. An incredibly robust pen with a tough machined steel body, it will outperform all the other students pens with its Rite in the Rain ink cartridge that works reliably in all weather conditions. NEW RUSSIAN STEALTH FIGHTER JET REVEALED But it also doubles as a defensive device against danger. For parents with fears of kids walking home late at night by themselves, a pen is something students carry daily so the student will always have something with them for protection. Many parents also worry about car accidents. This pen even has an integrated glass-breaker tip so, in a worst-case scenario, a student would always be able to punch through a car windshield to get out. Available for $72. RITE IN THE RAIN NOTEBOOKS Rite in the Rain notebooks are wildly popular with tactical professionals. Theyve got truly weatherproof paper and a waterproof notebook cover. These notebooks can withstand just about anything a student could throw at it. If it gets hit with water, the All-Weather paper wont disintegrate like regular paper it is just fine. Accidentally left in pocket and put in washing machine? No problem. Thrown in the gym bag and hit with sweat and mud? No problem. They come in all sorts of shapes, colors and sizes. The pocket-sized ones have a great, tough impact resistant wire binding so whether it is in the back pocket or backpack it will never lose its shape. Pocket top spiral starts at $3.95. RITE IN RAIN TOUGH, TACTICAL PENCIL How could the humble yellow pencil be improved on? Rite in the Rain has given the pencil a tactical upgrade so that it can be reliably used in war zones. This pencil has a specially engineered tip that expands and ensures the pencil always works. MEET THE WOLVERINE - WWII STYLE WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART TECH The lead won't break. Wont be unsteady. Wont snap off. Wont fall out. It will be the only pencil, and last pencil, you will ever need to buy for your student. Rite in the Rain All-Weather Mechanical Pencil normally retails for $10.45 but you can now snap one up at a steal of $5 dollars. FIREPAK A big part of going off to school is making amazing memories. Capturing those moments is a big part of student life these days. The Firepak is THE ultimate gift for the student in your life who lives on social media. Surefire is an innovator in incredible lighting solutions for the military and law enforcement. Think powerful weapon-mounted lights and flashlights for special operations teams for stealthy, high stakes night missions like a raid on a terrorist compound. This expertise is now available to civilians for their smartphones. Surefire has created a revolutionary smartphone video illuminator and charger. This means that a student can pop this Firepak device on their smartphone and harness the power of 1500 lumens with a special blended beam for perfect night video. With this device, students will be able to capture every single fun and special thing that happens in any sort of lighting and even the darkest of nights. The charger will help ensure those special moments can still be captured. The Firepak is also great for student safety as well. One thing a student is never without is a phone. And this powerful light can be used on late-night solo walks home from the library. Powerful light is a great, simple way to deter criminals and predators. The Firepak is priced at $299. UE Wonderboom What student would not want to be able to stream music, anytime, anywhere, on any adventure? Theres no question that best-in-class for tunes this year comes in the form of an adorable, compact Bluetooth wireless speaker called Wonderboom. MEET THE COMBAT CROP DUSTER, ARMED AND ARMORED TO JOIN THE FIGHT Made by Ultimate Ears, it is ultra-compact, lightweight and effortlessly portable since it easily pops into a backpack or handbag. The devices may be small enough to fit in your hand, but it is big in ultra-high quality sound. One of the other standout features is that it is student fun-proof. Waterproof, it will keep on playing no matter how soaked it gets at spring break pools. Tailgating getting a bit muddy? It will keep on delivering tunes no matter how much mud gets splashed on it. Just rinse it off. Fraternity party get rowdy? No problem, beer spills cant defeat it. Little Wonderboom Phantom will keep on playing. The device is available in several colors and retails for $99.99. BANTAM PACK BY TACTICAL TAILOR Back to School always means the hunt for the perfect backpack. Look no further. If James Bond was shopping for a back-to-school backpack for his kid, he would head straight to the outfitter of top tactical professionals - Tactical Tailor and little James Bond Jr. would be heading to school with the Bantam. The company specializes in tailoring ordinary objects into ultimate covert devices that still look just like cool ordinary bags, but have secret hidden pockets to hide James Bond-type gear inside. The Bantam is designed for professionals as a lightweight, smaller alternative to its go-to tactical pack but this also means it can be a great size for kids. The weight of books kids carry these days is enormous, so this is a great choice because the masterful design and engineering reduces any unnecessary weight and makes it comfy to carry. Plenty of space for books, laptop and all the student essentials with smart internal compartments. It will be THE coolest backpack at any school and thanks to the remarkable craftsmanship it will truly go on to last a lifetime of grown-up adventures too. In fact, if your student ends up serving our country whether in the military or law enforcement and it gets injured at work no matter how many years it has been battered, Tactical Tailor will repair it to just like new for you for free. Available in Black, Coyote Brown, MultiCam and Wolf Grey starting at $165. ALL HAZARDS PRIME BACKPACK Need a bigger backpack? The All Hazards Prime made by 5.11 is designed to carry a full tactical load for the tactical professional - for a student, this translates into lots of well-designed space for stuff. 5.11 has rapidly become one of the most formidable forces in tactical gear and with good reason. The engineering on this backpack will give you a good idea why. Easy to carry, it has reinforced grab-and-go handles. Highly durable and able to withstand years of daily abuse from the rigors of student life, it has a special padded laptop sleeve, hydration compartment and adjustable, comfortable compression straps. AMAZING EXPERIMENTAL ATTACK PLANES ON SHOW Theres a handy shove-it pocket for expandable storage when the student needs to stash something quickly and dash to class. Inside theres also tear-out medical pouch. For parents thinking about kids away from home and safety, knowing your child always has medical emergency essentials to hand can be a great comfort too. The backpack is priced at $199.99. THE RECYCLED FIREFIGHTER SERGEANTS WALLET Recycled Firefighter is very hot in tactical circles. Head over to Instagram and check out @recycledfirefighter. Girls have lots of options in style and accessories to create their look for heading back to school. Boys have fewer options so the wallet becomes a key way to declare style. For boys and girls, the Sergeants Wallet is a top pick. Theyre personally made by a firefighter based in Kentucky so each one is unique. They dont just look cool. The fact that this wallet has meaning is cool too. Each wallet has its own history since it is made from a fire hose that firefighters in the U.S. used to bravely save lives. When a student is facing a test, it is nice to have in your pocket a reminder of American courage. Thanks to the fire hose material, the wallets are impossibly tough and durable but theyre also super flexible and bendy, which makes them incredibly comfortable to carry in a pocket. That robustness also means it is a fantastic choice for a small childs very first wallet. In fact, they are so popular Recycled Firefighter has already recycled more than 15,000 feet of decommissioned fire hose from around the U.S. to make them. They come in lots of different colors, shapes and sizes. My top pick is the lightweight, compact Sergeants Wallet, which retails for $29. BUILT TO SURVIVE STUDENT DORMS COFFEEBOXX SPECIAL OPS Back by popular demand is the OXX COFFEEBOXX. For downrange military environment conditions, this is the absolute best coffee maker period. Coffee is a key part of life and a daily ritual for many students. If your student is a coffee drinker, this coffee maker will be a massive hit with everyone in the dorm. Crush proof. Spill proof. Dust proof. Rust proof. Impact resistant. Water-resistant. It is built to defeat the elements. So whatever a student dishes out, the COFFEEBOXX can take it. Engineered to be ultra tough and robust this is a coffee maker your student will use throughout school and for many, many years after. POWERFUL AIRCRAFT FROM AROUND THE WORLD IMPRESS AT UK MILITARY AIRSHOW Lightweight and portable can travel with the COFFEEBOXX to study sessions. Compact, it will comfortably fit into the tiniest of dorm rooms. Takes any K cup, fits up to 8-inch mugs and brews a cup in 75 seconds so a student can fire up their favorite coffee in a to-go container in mere seconds. Theres a separate hot water dispenser so it can provide other student essentials like oatmeal, noodles and more. No coffee residue, so no cleaning, making it even more ideal for students. The Special Operations version in ultra-sleek black is a great choice for the ultimate caffeinator for back to school. Available for $229. Freedom Coffee Coffee is a basic food group for many students. Top choice for best coffee this year hails from Black Rifle Coffee, which is owned by Special Operations veterans. It truly does smell like freedom as their tagline suggests and the outstanding taste will make it an immediate favorite. To provide the best possible K cup ammo for the COFFEEBOXX, they have lots of great options like the CAF Coffee Rounds and AK-47 Espresso Rounds. If youre looking to send a fun gift that will also come in handy for studying, then gear them up with the Complete Mission Fuel Kit that includes: Snipers Hide Blend, Silencer Smooth Blend, AK-47 Blend and Beyond Black Blend. The K cups rounds start at $12.99 and the Complete Mission Fuel Kit is available for $45. Learn the Secrets to how these Special Operations Veterans are Building a Business Empire Barry Lynn, a scholar who wrote a critical assessment of Google that was posted on a think tanks website, reportedly said the piece cost him and his team their jobs due to pressure from the tech giant. The scholar's reported ouster has sparked controversy, raising questions about the extent of Google's influence. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren described the report as "troubling" in a tweet on Wednesday. Lynns article which was briefly removed from New America's site praised the decision by European antitrust regulators to fine Google $2.7 billion, the New York Times reported. But the article reportedly irked Googles executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, and he voiced his concern to New Americas president, Anne-Marie Slaughter. Slaughter called the writer to her office, days after the article was published, and informed him that the time has come for Open Markets and New America to part ways. Open Markets was the program that Lynn headed at New America. The Times said it reviewed an email from Slaughter, where she claimed the decision was not based on the content of your work. She reportedly accused the writer of imperiling the institution as a whole. The Times reported that Slaughter posted on Twitter that Lynns story was false, but did not cite any errors. Lynn said in an interview that Slaughter bowed to pressure from Google and Schmidt, whose family foundation helped financially support the think tank. Google, through a spokeswoman, denied Lynns charge, saying in a statement that the company backs a lot of think tanks and while the company sometimes respectfully disagrees, we respect each groups independence, personnel decisions and policy perspectives. The think tank also denied any influence by Schmidt or Google. Nonetheless, the report has attracted plenty of attention, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and a host of others voicing their concern. "Think tanks play a critical role in shaping policy, but their credibility is jeopardized when decisions are based on funder preferences," she added, in another tweet. "@Google killed a groundbreaking research program focused on monopoly in the US economy," tweeted Ben Wikler, Washington Director of progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org. Lynn, in the meantime, started his own nonprofit called Citizens Against Monopoly. The site said it is going to make sure Google doesnt get away with this. This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 30, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Welcome to "Hannity." This is a Fox News Alert. Millions of Americans in Texas and now Louisiana -- they're struggling to deal with the devastation that is caused by Hurricane Harvey. And of course, the media -- what are they doing? Rushing to politicize a national tragedy in yet another pathetic attempt to bludgeon President Trump politically. You won't believe the latest disgusting examples of what is extreme media bias. Plus, President Trump -- he goes directly to you, the American people. He's out pitching his tax reform plan to get jobs and people out of poverty and off food stamps. And also tonight, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. He met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He is now saying that Assange has information the president needs to hear. Is it possible there was never any Trump-Russia collusion at all? The congressman will explain. But first, the destroy Trump media will never let a crisis go to waste. They're now exploiting all the devastation and destruction caused by Harvey to launch yet another new attack against President Trump. That is tonight's very important "Opening Monologue." All right, so while the media politicizes yet another tragedy, President Trump is once again -- he's leading the way on this recovery effort, along with the governor and lieutenant governor of Texas and local officials, and offering his full support. Here's what the president said earlier today in Springfield, Missouri. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The citizens of Texas and the Gulf Coast need all the prayer, support and resources our communities have to offer. Recovery will be tough. But I have seen the resilience of the American spirit firsthand all over this country. To the people of Houston and across Texas and Louisiana, we are here with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover and rebuild. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Now, unfortunately, the destroy Trump media -- they won't focus on how hard the president and good politicians in Texas are working for all of these flood victims. Instead, the abusively biased press -- they're stealing a page from the Democrats' playbook. And just like Chicago Mayor Rahm "Rahmbo dead fish" Emanuel once infamously said, "Never let a crisis go to waste." He was talking about politics. Right now, millions of Americans are facing carnage and heartbreak caused by what may end up being the most expensive natural disaster in the history of this country. The media seemingly -- they don't care at all. They're using this as an opportunity to go after the president. Now, yesterday the president -- he traveled to Texas. He wanted to survey the damage and offer his full support. But of course, that's not good enough for the elite left-wing media because, by the way, it never is. If he cured cancer, it wouldn't be enough. Now, they still found a way to twist and distort what the president's trip was about. For example, the partisan press -- they tried to create a fake news controversy over the first lady's shoes when she went aboard Marine One? How small, how petulant, how petty, how insignificant is the left and the media in this country when that's all they care about? And they're failing miserably and exposing themselves. Then they took things a step further. They tried to say that President Trump has no empathy for the victims. Now, take a look at their new line of attack. We're highlighting all of the examples with our favorite ding sound again. All right, watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC: Today, President Trump visited Texas, but he forgot to bring any empathy with him. So the president used today's hurricane coverage to promote Trump merchandise. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, MSNBC: It was very striking that he didn't mention the number of people who have died or even, you know, sort of try to empathize with the fact that people are genuinely suffering. EDDIE GLAUDE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: It seems to me it's just concerned about optics, just concerned about optics. And I'm going to be -- I wish they would be concerned about people. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "THE DAILY SHOW"/COMEDY CENTRAL: I don't think that he understands the human scale of misery. I don't think that he can connect with the sort of compassion that you normally have when you see a disaster like this. UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN: He's almost calling attention to himself, he could have just shown far more empathy for the people. DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, CNN: I would hope he has some empathy.He has trouble talking about things besides himself. UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN: Very little in terms of empathy from this president, very little in terms of emotion of talking directly to the people of Texas. (END VIDEO CLIPS) HANNITY: This is way beyond petty, this is beyond disgusting, beyond shameful even for the destroy Trump. The president has no empathy for suffering Americans? Really? Now, they clearly were not paying attention to his campaign. Remember? That was based on helping Americans get out of poverty, off of food stamps -- in other words, the forgotten men and women in this country that need jobs. And as we've been showing you night in and night out, this is what the media does. They always find a way, even during a tragedy, to go after the president, try and discredit the president, delegitimize him, the first lady, his family, his advisers, anybody that likes him and is associated with him. It just never fails, and it's why the president took to Twitter this morning, to fight back and to put out his truth, which is what people need to see. And he wrote, "After witnessing firsthand the horror, the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more to the great people of Texas." Then he wrote, "After reading the false reporting and even ferocious anger in some dying magazines, it does make me wonder why. All I want to do is make America great again." And then later added, "Texas, Louisiana, we are with you today. We are with you tomorrow. And we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover and rebuild." So this week, the line of attack is, "Oh, the president is heartless. He doesn't care about the victims." And "Oh, let's pay attention to the shoes that his wife is wearing, the first lady." And last week, it was, "The president is unfit and unhinged." It never ends. You see, this media shameless agenda -- it just continues to be exposed. I say it's going to all boomerang back against them. They wanted from day one to damage, destroy the president with every chance they get, and if they can't find one, they'll make up a reason regardless of what he does. And guess what? It's you, the American people -- it's you, the American people, that will remain suffering. And guess what? It's not the out of touch, overpaid, lazy, left-wing ideologues that are my so-called colleagues. I'm embarrassed to be associated with them in the media. Now, remember, they were so wrong about the 2016 election. They also don't care about the president's agenda. We told you last week about all of the items of success. They've never reported on them. Well -- all the proposals that will help millions of Americans that are suffering after eight years of failed Obama policies that they never reported on. For example, will the media cover fairly the president's tax reform pitch that he put out today? Now, here's the president from earlier explaining why America desperately needs to have tax cuts and overhaul the tax system. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) TRUMP: I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. And I don't want to be disappointed by Congress! Do you understand me? TRUMP: First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair and easy to understand. TRUMP: Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. It's time to give American workers the pay raise that they've been looking for for many, many years. TRUMP: The third principle for tax reform is a crucial one, tax relief for middle class families. TRUMP: Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas. TRUMP: Millions of struggling citizens will be lifted from welfare to work. They will love getting up in the morning. They will love going to their job. They will love earning a big, fat, beautiful paycheck! They will be proud again! TRUMP: I am asking everyone in this room and across the nation to join me in demanding nothing but the best for our nation and for our people. TRUMP: And if we do these things and if we care for and support each other and love each other, then we will truly make America great again. (END VIDEO CLIPS) HANNITY: Now, the president, just like he's been doing for months -- he's leading. He's offering solutions. Do you ever hear any of these ideas from the media? Do they want to do the same thing? Have they ever offered up ways to solve the problems of those Americans that are in trouble and suffering or ways to make people's lives better? No, they're obsessed with tearing down the president -- Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia -- you know, examining the president's mental state. Well, what about their Trump derangement syndrome? You know what? It's time now for Congress to get on board, get behind this tax plan that'll create jobs, pass legislation. Look at this brand-new Fox poll out tonight on the issue of passing tax reform this year. Forty-nine percent of registered voters said, yes, it's important. Seventy-eight percent said it's unlikely to happen. Well, that means it's time for Congress to get to work. And wait until we show you the polls about Congress and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell tonight. They need to pay attention and compare their poll numbers to the president because the American people need things done. It's good for the country. It's good for those people that have been left behind. And if Congress can pass tax reform like Ronald Reagan did, it will unleash a new wave of American prosperity and millions of new jobs and get millions of Americans off food stamps and out of poverty and back in the labor force and a shot at the American dream! So it's time to put the country first. Congress, get busy. Time now -- joining us now is the counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway. Kellyanne, welcome aboard. KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Hi, Sean. HANNITY: By the way, can you please tell the audience what kind of shoes you're wearing tonight because they really want to know. (LAUGHTER) CONWAY: I wouldn't dare because I don't engage in such petty nonsense. HANNITY: Yes. And by the way -- so this came up on my radio show today because my staff would say, Well, what shoes do you wear? I didn't know I had a hole in my shoe until today. I didn't know. Does anybody -- this is how petty -- this isn't funny when people are dying. Everything they worked their whole lives for is being destroyed. CONWAY: That's right. HANNITY: And this is seriously what they want to talk about? This is not funny anymore. CONWAY: That's one backdrop. The other backdrop is North Korea brazenly launching a missile towards Japan, invading their sovereignty and obviously violating just general conventions of international standards. But look, your opening segment is very instructive. You basically asked the question, Sean, When will the Trump detractors, naysayers and critics, particularly those in the media -- when will it end? The question is when will it actually matter? There's very little indication that what the media are telling Americans is important to them is actually important to them. We saw that in the campaign and we see it now in his presidency. He does not let them stop him from pushing forward on his agenda. Today is exhibit A of that. He went to Missouri. He went to the heart of Route 66, mainstream America, and basically said to them, We want these manufacturing jobs to come back. You deserve a pay raise. You deserve a tax cut. The instruction page for this simple form is over 240 pages long. That's the instruction page. We're spending billions of hours, costing millions of jobs and trillions of dollars because of this draconian, outdated tax code. And by the way, the tax code currently favors the rich. It currently favors those who can afford lobbyists, lawyers, accountants to help them figure out how to pay little to no taxes. So he went to Missouri today anyways to tell the nation -- and to tell the Congress, by the way, when they get back next week -- that this president is set on reforming the tax code and giving relief to middle-class families, number one. Number two, he went to Texas yesterday. The vice president is going tomorrow. And the president will be back there and possibly Louisiana on Saturday. He's not going to allow the people in the peanut gallery... HANNITY: Well, let me -- let me... CONWAY: ... who should be spending their time connecting people with information, tell them how to get diapers, pet rescue, food, medical supplies, medical care. Look at what our cabinet members are doing. They're there with the president and the vice president instructing folks as to where they can get much-needed help. And you've got the media obsessed with trying to tear down the president. I just think it's not going to work. HANNITY: Let me put up another favorable opinion that came out at, what, 44 percent. Pence is 46 percent. Paul Ryan -- Paul Ryan got some things done in the House, good for him, more than they've done in the Senate. Then you look at Nancy Pelosi 31 percent, Schumer 27 percent, Mitch McConnell 20 percent, and 18 percent in his own state. I'm hoping they're paying attention that the president remains twice as popular because he's doing his job and keeping his promises. And I think Congress needs to, you know, get on board finally! CONWAY: Well, these are data of which we're very much aware in the White House, particularly -- why don't you throw up the mainstream media numbers, as well. Somebody can call me and let me know when the president's approval rating gets as low as the media's approval waiting and the Congress's and the party's. I mean, this is an incredibly important point because people see that he's trying to make good on his promises. He believes it's a the moral imperative to get health care reform done, to get tax relief to middle- class families. And he is urging Congress -- he said today he's urging Congress to revive (ph) themselves and rescue themselves by passing tax reform. And that's really the president reminding them that they stood in the way of him, pen in hand, signing into law health care reform. You got 29 million Americans without health insurance right now. You got 20 million who opted out of "Obama care," 6.5 million who paid a penalty, Sean, because they didn't want this great thing called "Obama care." Why is that important? It's important because you have a president who remains committed to getting it done. We're working with governors, we're looking at the Graham-Cassidy bill. We're looking... HANNITY: All right, I got to... CONWAY: ... at other alternatives. An do this is a president ready to work with the Congress, but they need to come to the table, too, and get serious. And again, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected... HANNITY: Absolutely. CONWAY: ... by Harvey. Recovery and rebuilding will take a very long time. We're acutely aware of that. HANNITY: All right, Kellyanne. Maybe next time I'll see you, you have a new pair of shoes considering the country's so obsessed on the left with shoes. Thank you for... CONWAY: Just come barefoot, and then we don't have to talk about it. HANNITY: Unbelievable. All right. Thank you so much. Earlier today, I spoke with Texas senator Ted Cruz. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: The stories of heroism and the people that I have interviewed and neighbor helping neighbor has been amazing. I've got to give your governor a lot of credit. I've got to give your lieutenant governor a lot of credit. SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: Yes. HANNITY: The federal response -- you got 30,000 National Guard troops going in. Are you confident -- and this was a question I asked the governor last night. In the short term, there are people that need food, water, medicine... CRUZ: Yes. HANNITY: ... baby formula... CRUZ: Yes. HANNITY: ... cots, blankets. My friend at My Pillow sent 60,000 pillows over. Are you confident all of these necessities in the short term will be there and a good enough plan for those people that will be years away from getting back in their homes? CRUZ: I am, Sean. Priority number one is the preservation of life. We've seen incredible heroes, from first responders, firefighters, police officers, EMS, National Guardsmen, Coast Guardsmen rescuing lives. The storm is still ongoing in east Texas and Louisiana, and those rescue operations are under way. The next stage is going to be rebuilding. I spent this morning at the shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center helping serve breakfast, helping care for people there. We had 11,000 people who had lost their homes who spent the night there last night. And we're seeing churches and charities and private citizens throughout the community stepping up. It has been incredible. The most incredible part, Sean, local officials put out a call just to citizens. If you can help, step up and help. And we have hundreds of just ordinary men and women who had a flat-bottom boat, who had a bass (ph) boat, who had a jetski and went out and rescued their fellow citizens. A couple of days ago, I was at the Harris County emergency command center. There's an entire wall of post-its of all the people who called in and said, I've got a boat, I can help, hundreds upon hundreds. This death toll, as horrifying as it is -- we lost one brave Houston police officer -- it could have been much, much higher. And the reason it isn't is so many people risked their lives. We're going to have the resources at the state level, at the local level, and the federal level. The president has committed unequivocally to supporting the people of Texas, and Congress in a bipartisan way. I've had senators from both parties reaching out to me, saying, We're going to stand with Texas. And Texas will come through this and we're going to be stronger, Sean. HANNITY: All right, Senator. And I know my friends at Samaritan's Purse are there. CRUZ: Yes. HANNITY: I know the Red Cross is there. CRUZ: Yes. HANNITY: I know churches are all hands on deck. Our thoughts and prayers, Senator. We love the people in your state. We're very sorry for all that's happened. And we wish you the best. And we'll continue to focus on this in the days, weeks and months ahead, sir. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: All right, now, earlier this month, Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher -- he went to London. He met with Julian Assange face to face. The California lawmaker now says he's working on arranging a meeting with the president. Is it possible that Russia-Trump collusion never happened? We'll find out next as we talk to that, a "Hannity" investigation straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (NEWSBREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Did Russia give you this information or anybody associated with Russia? JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS: Our source is not a state party. So the answer for our interactions is no. HANNITY: You did not get this information about the DNC, John Podesta's emails -- can you tell the American people a thousand percent you did not get it from Russia or anybody associated with Russia? ASSANGE: We can say and we have said repeatedly over the last few months that our source is not the Russian government. And it is not a state party. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on this program back in January denying Russia had anything to do with giving WikiLeaks the DNC emails during the 2016 election. Earlier this month, Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California traveled to London. He met Assange face to face, the first congressman to do that. Following the meeting, Rohrabacher predicted that if the American people know the information that Assange has -- and he would be the one guy that knows the truth of where it all came from -- they would be outraged over the time that was wasted blaming Russia for this particular hack. And now Congressman Rohrabacher says that a meeting is being arranged between him and the president to discuss what he was told by the Wikileaks founder. Now, former NSA whistleblower Bill Binney, 34-year veteran -- he's also questioning the Russia hacking story. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILLIAM BINNEY, FORMER NSA OFFICIAL: The NSA has, for example, all the fiber-optic taps across the United States and even around the world, plus trace-route programs embedded in hundreds of places all over the network. So I knew they would know if packets were being passed around the U.S. or outside the U.S. or anywhere in the world. They could trace them and see who got them. I mean, they did that several years ago with the Chinese hack. They came in and said it came from that building, I think, in Shanghai. Well, they could do the same thing with virtually any hack. So my -- right away, I began to question that assertion that they were hacking into the DNC. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Now, I had Bill Binney on my radio program, and he said 99 percent certainty -- 34-year veteran NSA -- that it was not Russia. Now, some news outlets have also been reporting that former U.S. spies doubt this Russia hacking narrative, including Bloomberg. They ran an article entitled, "Why some U.S. ex-spies don't buy the Russia story." Even the liberal Nation -- they wrote a new report raises big questions about last year's DNC hack. The Washington Times did the same thing. Joining us now, California congressman Dana Rohrabacher. One, I want to give you credit. It is true that if there's one person on earth that would know the source of this, wouldn't it be Julian Assange of WikiLeaks? And isn't it true WikiLeaks has never been wrong in 11 years? REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF.: Well, I don't know if they've never been wrong, but I know that he's the ultimate source. (CROSSTALK) HANNITY: ... never been proven wrong. And the material they've released... (CROSSTALK) ROHRABACHER: Oh, yes, the things that he released were honest and truthful. Now, some of the things he released, I'll have to admit to you, I would have preferred him not releasing. I thought it was wrong. But you take a balance of what's happened -- he's disclosed massive amounts of information of which the government's been keeping secret from us. And I think it's a good thing that American people have transparency in their government. HANNITY: One thing -- and I've interviewed him four times on radio and one time on TV, and I asked him numerous times, Would you ever release anything that would put people in the field, innocent people, in harm's way? And he swore he would not. Are you convinced that that's true? Because I can't think of an instance, can you? ROHRABACHER: Well, when you say -- whether or not someone is intentionally doing that, I certainly don't believe that he would intentionally put American intelligence or military people at risk. But some of the things have come out -- and I... HANNITY: It's embarrassing. ROHRABACHER: ... I would have preferred, I would think -- yes, and -- but not only embarrassing, but perhaps it's something that would have been best handled behind the scenes. But our government and all governments around the world have tried to hide massive amounts of information about what they're doing from their own people. And I think that what we have in Wikileaks is an exposure... HANNITY: Congressman -- I don't mean to interrupt... ROHRABACHER: ... are those things that they want to keep secret. HANNITY: You know, fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, three times, five times -- allegedly, Julian Assange at 16, Kim Dotcom at 16 hacked into the DOD, hacked into NASA. Now, he's 45. At what point is it America's fault that we have not built the cybersecurity to prevent that from happening? And at some point, do we blame our own government for its failure? ROHRABACHER: Well, I will just have to say that I don't think our government should have as many secrets as they have. And they've been keeping information from us. And Julian Assange... HANNITY: Well, they're not doing their job! ROHRABACHER: Well, Julian Assange... HANNITY: We should be unhackable after 35 years! ROHRABACHER: Well, we should be unhackable, but we also -- we should make sure that information that doesn't deserve to be secret should be available to the American people. HANNITY: OK. ROHRABACHER: And in that, Julian Assange is doing us a great service. HANNITY: Let's talk about... ROHRABACHER: A great service. HANNITY: So he would be the one person that knows where this information came from. ROHRABACHER: Right. HANNITY: Do you believe that this Trump-Russia collusion narrative will be proven false? And do you believe he holds the key? ROHRABACHER: The answer is absolutely yes, and I think that this Russia narrative that you're talking about, his idea, this unrelenting sinister, you know, story about how Trump colluded with the Russians in order to steal the election is a total con job. It's a fraud. And it's masking a power grab because what they're doing is they're trying to undermine the ability of the person the voters voted for to -- they're undermining his -- his ability to assume the power and authority and appointments that the president of the United States... HANNITY: So... ROHRABACHER: ... is given authority to do by the voters. HANNITY: Let me be clear. It is possible that the media's lied to the American people, and the Democrats have lied to the American people for nearly a year, and that they've disrupted the flow of information and manipulated the flow of information in this country for nearly a year. You're saying -- you -- what is the percentage certainty that this has all been a lie? ROHRABACHER: Oh, I -- in terms of what I believe and after looking into this, I think it's about 99 percent that it's a total lie. This is a -- and of course, you've had these people who politicized our intelligence agencies, the Obama appointees who jumped into here, into this, giving credence to a total fraudulent analysis of what happened. HANNITY: OK... ROHRABACHER: And this was not something where Russia... HANNITY: We're going to bring you back next week... ROHRABACHER: ... colluded with Trump in order to steal... HANNITY: Doesn't Robert Mueller then... ROHRABACHER: ... the elections. They are stealing the elections! HANNITY: Doesn't Robert Mueller then need to talk to Assange? Doesn't he need to at least look at the evidence or attempt to get the evidence? Does he care about the truth? And doesn't... ROHRABACHER: Well, these people -- these people haven't even looked at Hillary Clinton's collusion with the Russians, where they put tens of millions dollars... HANNITY: Uranium One. ROHRABACHER: ... into -- yes, into... HANNITY: 145. ROHRABACHER: ... the Clinton Foundation! Unbelievable! But then they want to find out did someone with President Trump actually talk in some ways? HANNITY: OK... ROHRABACHER: And then they complain about me. By the way -- HANNITY: I'm about to lose you. ROHRABACHER: I have had a lot of people who have attacked me. I am the chairman of the committee that oversees our relations with Russia. It is my job -- HANNITY: You have a specific message for the president of the United States, but it's only one you can tell him privately. In this environment, is it going to be hard to tell it privately? Because Dana Rohrabacher is now sending back messages from Julian Assange. Is that going to be possible? And if not, will you go public with what you know? And obviously Julian Assange probably just wants to be left alone and go to Ecuador is what I would imagine, right? ROHRABACHER: I think that's probably it. I think what we have here is really important for the truth to be known, and I think the president of the United States needs to hear what the detail is. And I understand that a meeting with myself and the president is being arranged. So at that point, the purpose is to alert the American people to the truth of what, of this whole situation. HANNITY: If he has the truth that will blow this lie out of the water that you're saying and 99 percent certainty, does he deserve immunity if he reveals the truth to the American people? ROHRABACHER: Well, if the truth is revealed to the American people, this is a game changer in this unrelenting hostile attack by the media and this power grab by the leftwing. And if he helps thwart that, yes, he deserves a reward. HANNITY: All right, Dana Rohrabacher we're going to have you back next week. We'll stay on this story. This is pretty blockbuster. When we come back, Dr. Sebastian Gorka straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. So last week the country learned that Dr. Sebastian Gorka was no longer working for the White House. However, Dr. Gorka still vows to work as hard as he can to push through the president's agenda and to drain the D.C. swamp. Joining is now, the man himself, author of the bestselling book "Defeating Jihad," former deputy assistant to the president Dr. Sebastian Gorka. I was surprised and, frankly, a little bit shocked at this happening. You told me that you believed you could help push the president's agenda better from the outside. Tell us what happened. DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, what everybody understands I think, especially your viewers and the Fox followers, is last year on November the 8th, it really was an insurgency. It wasn't the establishment that won, it wasn't the GOP. It was a New York mogul, a tycoon of real estate, with his merry band of scrappy insurgents that won the election against all odds, crushed 16 competitors, defeated a woman who spent $700 million, OK? So when the inauguration happens, this small band of merry men and a couple of women enter the White House, and it's a hostile takeover, Sean, a classic hostile takeover. HANNITY: Most people wouldn't understand this, Dr. Gorka. I actually looked at some of the remarks. You're talking about bureaucrats, policymakers, and we see Congress, Republicans that are weak and pathetic, spineless, visionless, and frankly I don't even think they have an identity anymore. But you're saying that he's actually battling people within the White House. What does that mean? Who are these bureaucrats? You mean Obama holdovers? GORKA: It's not just Obama holdovers. I'm not going to fuel the palace intrigue because I was the brunt of that as well as anybody else on the side of the MAGA train for eight months. But the fact is one of your FOX colleagues summed it up very well. They were talking about my boss, Steve Bannon, leaving, and they said whatever you think of Steve Bannon, he would not have been at home in the Clinton White House. Absolutely. We have people in the White House who not only would have been at home in a Clinton White House, they probably would have been cabinet members. That's the reality when a small band of people go against the swamp. I decided after the Afghan speech by the president the best thing I can do to support his agenda is to come out of government service and use all the tools available to a private citizen. And I assured the president on Saturday after I resigned that I am -- he asked me to support him, and I said I'm going to support you 100 percent from the outside because, Sean, it's about the long game. HANNITY: I know you mean that, and I will say this, that I've never seen a president have to deal with a leak a day from within his own government, or conversations with presidents and prime ministers leaked. And if they don't stop that leaking, the unmasking, the surveillance, and all the shenanigans, espionage act violations, it's going to be problematic for the entire country. GORKA: The unmasking is the big story, Steve. Stay tuned. HANNITY: Did you say Steve or Sean? GORKA: Sean. (LAUGHTER) GORKA: Stay tuned. Sean, stay tuned. HANNITY: Thank you, Dr. Gorka, and we will have you on often. Appreciate you being here. When we come back, the FBI dismisses the Freedom of Information Act Request for files about the department's investigation into the Clinton server scandal. Why? We've got the reason. It will shock you. Also, brand-new Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren, Geraldo Rivera weigh in straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is a Fox News alert. I'm Steve Harrigan in Kountze, Texas. The rain continues to fall here and the floodwaters continue to rise. Throughout the day, volunteers with flat bottom boats headed out down flooded highways in search of people in need of help. They went to subdivisions all across the state, pulling people out of flooded houses or else serving as water taxis, bringing food, medicine, and water to those who decided to stay inside their flooded homes. The rain in this part of Texas has hit 49 inches. The result, entire towns, some with populations of thousands isolated by water. We saw some flatboats going out a short time ago. They said they didn't know what they would find in those areas. The rescues here continue, this as the rains continue to fall. The real damage won't be clear until the water recedes. Now back to HANNITY. HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." The FBI's shoots down a Freedom of Information Act request to release files about their investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server, and the reason is beyond bizarre. And frankly, I don't believe it. The letter from the FBI to the lawyer who put out the FOIA request reads in part, quote, "You have not sufficiently demonstrated that the public's interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject." Here with reaction, and by the way, brand new Fox contributor Tomi Lahren is with us, and Fox News contributor at large Geraldo Rivera. All right, so Tomi is new to FOX, Geraldo. You're a 50-year TV veteran. So I'm going to go to her first all the time. GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I would hope so. So would I. HANNITY: Tomi, welcome aboard the Fox News Channel. And our audience is very familiar with you. You've been on a ton of times before. How would this not be in our best interest? It's in everybody's best interest to get the truth, right? TOMI LAHREN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Of course it is. And I think that the funny part of this whole thing is that her privacy somehow trumps our right to know. I'm sorry, when you use a private email on a private server, your privacy rights are out the window when you're the secretary of state of the United States of America. You don't have privacy anymore. She chose to do this. This is on her. And I personally would like to know. HANNITY: Geraldo, you're a lawyer. Subpoenaed emails. You're also my friend. Let's say I deleted 33,000 subpoenaed emails. Let's say I decided to acid wash the servers and the hard drives with BleachBit. Let's say I took a hammer to my BlackBerries and iPhones just to make sure they don't exist. And then I sent the FBI the other devices with no SIM cards. And I hire you to protect me. What's the first thing you're going to do? Probably give me a cake with a file in it because I'm going to need it, right? Not even you could get me off of that. RIVERA: I would do that and much more for you. But let me before I get into the substance of your question, welcome Tomi, who although I obviously disagree with many of her political positions, I think she has intelligence, she's reasonable, and she's got, most importantly to me and you, true grit. So Tomi, welcome aboard. In terms of the substance of her answer and your obvious concerns, Sean, I think this is a disaster for Republicans to get anywhere near this stuff. It's already destroyed the career of Jason Chaffetz who led the charge, Trey Gowdy who was a promising candidate heading for great things, maybe a senator from South Carolina. I think he's an afterthought. They were made fools of. Enough with Hillary's emails. It's a big yawner. And the FBI has already considered -- HANNITY: You don't believe in equal justice under the law. You want a two-tier justice system. I go to jail and she gets off the hook. And Tomi would go to jail, too. RIVERA: Sean, if she was going to go to jail, she would've gone to jail when James Comey in the summer of 2016 announced that there was nothing criminal there but extreme carelessness. Enough already. We have bigger fish to fry. HANNITY: You go after, Geraldo, take him on. LAHREN: Listen, I have some friends that spent a few hours in Benghazi who would really like to know what was in those emails, they'd really like to know why she deleted them. So saying that the public doesn't have a right to know or that we're not interested, that's a load of crap, number one. Number two, how about we make a deal? How about when the mainstream media stops covering Russia day in and day out, maybe we can wrap the Hillary email scandal. But until then, I think I'm going to stay on it. RIVERA: Two points. Number one, with all due modesty, I was almost was killed in Benghazi, Libya. I know the turf pretty well, and I don't take a backseat to anyone when it comes to that regard. Russia is another big yawner. I think this guy Imran Awan, this is the guy they should check out as the possible colluder on the leaks with WikiLeaks, you know, the guy who worked for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I think there is fertile grounds for investigation forward. Forget about history and political history. Go forward. What was the DNC hiding? Why did Debbie Wasserman Schultz hire this guy now accused of -- HANNITY: Who gets to delete emails that are subpoenaed? Tomi, welcome aboard. Geraldo you're good to have your hands full in the days and weeks ahead. Tomi is going after you. My job just got so easy. Good to see you both. Tomi, welcome aboard, good to have you. And when we come back, "The Daily Caller" exclusively reporting Debbie Wasserman Schultz I.T. aide who has been indicted by a grand jury still has an account that is active on the House computer system. The reporter breaking that story Luke Rosiak, here next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." Shocking new details tonight from the former DNC chair Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's former I.T. aide. Remember he was arrested for bank fraud while trying to flee the country, and was most recently indicted on four charges, including conspiracy, making false statements. Tonight The Daily Caller is it reporting exclusively, quote, Debbie Wasserman Schultz's I.T. staffer banned from House network months ago still has an active account. How is that possible? Joining us now, the one reporter in this country that actually sees this for the news that is, Daily Caller investigative reporter Luke Rosiak. This to me is, let me get this straight. This is a guy double billing, had family members that had worked and I think got fired at McDonald's. Another one worked at a car dealership. Double billing, they knew it for a year, and she kept him working. Broken government hard drives in his garage, and he still has an active account, really? LUKE ROSIAK, THE DAILY CALLER: Yes, absolutely. Imran Awan has been accused of fraud throughout his life. There's all kinds of red flags. He's been indicted, the cops are all over them. And the whole time he's got this second email address, this crazy address, 123@mail.House.gov, and this is a backdoor into the House system. Even with all the attention on him, even with the FBI all over the case, he's got a backdoor, which is something that hackers do. It's when they get in they put a backdoor. So authorities banned him from the network and said this guy is a danger to Congress, but they didn't know about this address, and it's been active the whole time up until yesterday and even today. HANNITY: How is it possible that you have more government hard drives busted up? How is it possible, why did she keep him on? Do you believe this story that this was about I didn't want to racial profile somebody? ROSIAK: Look, all you have to do is pull up the civil lawsuits that these guys have been in, and they've been accused of fraud by Muslim neighbors and relatives, even. Their own stepmom says that they extorted her. These guys, there's every indication that they would do anything for money. And when you talk to people that knew them in real life, that's what four or five of them have said pretty much that exact thing. And then you have Democrats who have been talking for the last year about how serious hacking is. They are told by the police that this guy is a criminal suspect in a cyber-security thing, Debbie Wasserman Schultz makes the really, if you think about how remarkable this is, she said the FBI framed him. That's quite an accusation to make against law enforcement in this country. HANNITY: All right, we're going to continue to follow this story. We have so much more to get to. We're not going to let this go. And the fact the media doesn't report on this, you and I both know if it was a Republican it'd be huge. Luke, congratulations, keep on it, and we'll have your back on as soon as we can. Thank you. When we come back, more "Hannity" right after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNITY: Unfortunately that's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. We hope you will set your DVR so you never miss and episode. We miss you when you are not here. This show will always be fair and balanced. We are not the establishment media. We'll see you back here tomorrow night. Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. This is a rush transcript from "Your World," August 30, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEN LANGONE, CO-FOUNDER, HOME DEPOT: Think of the devastation of the water. Think about rebuilding all these homes and the problems they are going to have. NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Right, expensive. LANGONE: And these gougers, they should have their eyes cut out of their heads. CAVUTO: Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP) CAVUTO: All right, that's one way to handle gouging. And it has been happening in Texas. It's rare, but it's happened enough that it's caught the attention of the Republican Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, who joins me right now. Sir, very good to have you. KEN PAXTON, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you. CAVUTO: How are you handling those problems? Ken Langone had a certain solution. I'm not sure that is necessarily legal. PAXTON: Yes. CAVUTO: But how are you handling it? PAXTON: Well, let me say first, we have had price gouging, but we have had way more volunteers than we have had price gouging. Volunteers have been willing to provide boats and vehicles and risk their lives to same people's lives. So, that's been the bigger story. We have definitely had price gouging. I would probably not say that his idea is the most visionary idea I have heard. (LAUGHTER) PAXTON: I think our -- I think our penalties are plenty stiff, which is up to $20,000 per occurrence. If you do to this to a senior citizen, up to $250,000 per occurrence. So, those are pretty stiff penalties. CAVUTO: But still people do it, right, Attorney General? It always amazes me. And I always think for business reasons alone, let alone the threat of a fine or someone from your office coming to see them, they do it. And I always it's stupid, because the same people they are gouging are the same people they are going to depend on down the road as future customers. And I'm sure customers have long memories. Oh, that's the guy who gouged me. PAXTON: Yes. It's obviously a bad business practice. But I think a lot of people were not aware of the law. We're trying to make people aware. And we have noticed that our incidences of gouging and complaints have gone down over the last few days. That may be probably due to the weather and a lot of businesses are closed. But we have been getting the word out as best we can. CAVUTO: Some of them will say that they're doing it because there's a short supply of goods and this is what happens, supply and demand. Prices go up. Where do you draw that line and difference? PAXTON: So, look, I don't draw the line. The legislature passed a law. We try to be reasonable in how we're dealing with this. The general rule is, if it goes up 10 percent or more, and it's above like a three-month average, we're going to look at it. But, listen, gas prices go up. There's some reason for gas prices to go up. But when you see $20 a gallon, that's a little bit much. So, I think we make these distinctions. They're usually pretty clear. CAVUTO: Attorney General, we have had some incidents of looting, and a lot of homes that are abandoned getting ransacked. I was talking to one homeowner on FOX Business earlier who was saying that he has cameras around his house, inside his house, others similarly so, But yet, not in his case, but in other cases, the cameras are there to view everything that happened. What do you do about that? PAXTON: Well, we have experienced that same thing with the gouging. We have gotten pictures. Technology has really changed our ability to get information. And those cameras work the same way. It's pretty clear evidence of somebody looting your house, if you got them on video. Same with the gouging. We have got pictures of for-sale items being sold for way too much. So, it's very helpful to have that availability of technology. CAVUTO: Is there a higher or more severe fine for doing that sort of thing during a crisis like this? PAXTON: Well, actually, that's when this goes into effect. It goes into effect when there is a crisis. Otherwise, you can charge whatever you want in Texas. And it's a willing buyer and a willing seller, and whatever the price is, it is. CAVUTO: Right. As for the looting, I know the Houston mayor has a curfew going on from midnight to 5:00 a.m. local time. How has that been affecting activity like that in the meantime? PAXTON: Well, there's no doubt there's been some looting. It actually isn't as bad as I would have expected, given the fact that even the looters are having trouble getting around. CAVUTO: Yes, that's true. PAXTON: And they're having to risk their lives to go steal from people. So, I think that's had an impact. I do think looting becomes a bigger problem as the water recedes. So, certainly, law enforcement officials are going to be looking out for that as time goes on. CAVUTO: All right, thank you, Attorney General. Very good seeing you, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, joining us out of Austin. PAXTON: Thank you. END Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. A man whose unruly behavior forced the pilot of a nonstop flight to New York to return to Honolulu owes Hawaiian Airlines $97,817, according to a new report. James August, of New Jersey, pleaded guilty to interfering with flight crew members and attendants in February and was ordered to pay the hefty sum by a federal judge Monday, the Honolulu Star Adviser reported. Officials said the man, who had been vacationing in Hawaii with his girlfriend and her children, acted out before the November 2016 flight even left the ground. August, who was drinking before the flight, tried to order more alcohol on the plane and drank some he personally brought aboard. ADVERTISING During the meal service, his girlfriends son told a flight attendant he had insulted the children and threatened their lives. When the attendant asked him to go to another part of the plane, he whacked her on the shoulder with the back of his hand and other passengers had to help restrain him. Authorities said August then yelled, swore and threatened to punch his girlfriend in the face. US District Senior Judge Oki Molloway ordered August to repay the airline the costs it incurred for turning the plane around, including fuel, maintenance, ground crew and costs associated with finding the passengers other flights. The sum does not include the $46,900 of meal vouchers Hawaiian Airlines handed out to delayed New York-bound passengers. Interfering with flight crew members and attendants is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. The judge sentenced August to three years of probation in June. Two women who caused a Cuba-bound flight to return to Toronto in 2016 were ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to the airline. A Florida man who caused a Delta Airlines flight to turn around in July when he tried to open the exit door was indicted on five counts, including interfering with a flight crew and assault. Click here for more from nypost.com The iconic cover photo of David Bowies Aladdin Sane album has allegedly been used without permission by the Hard Rock Hotel, so the estate of its late photographer is suing, TMZ reports. Brian Duffys estate, which claims to own the famous image, says that the Hard Rock in Palm Springs, California never licensed the photo from them or asked permission to use it, according to TMZ. Channeling an edgily styled rock n roll vibe, the hotel reportedly plastered the photo on the front entrance as well as guestrooms. THIS COMMON HOTEL BOOKING SCAM COSTS TRAVELERS AROUND $4 BILLION A YEAR The hotel has not yet responded to TMZs request for comment. In a 2015 interview with AnOther Magazine, Duffy's son Chris recalled what it was like for his father to work with the widely influential rock star. One Sunday morning [he] had this record blasting out in the living room, and I came down the stairs and said, Wow, thats pretty cool, who is that? and he said, Its this guy called David Bowie, whos playing as Ziggy Stardust. Im doing his album cover, do you want to meet him? FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Cris said Bowie and his father collaborated together on five shoots over the years, building a very friendly rapport. He was kind of a regular punter at my mums dinner table, he said. The next time you make a hotel reservation online, be alert. The American Hotel & Lodging Association is warning travelers about an online booking scam that makes around $4 billion per year from nearly 55 million bookings. Customers may not realize it, but when searching for a hotel online, scam websites are likely to pop up as the first result on Google. When customers use these convincing websites to book a room, they get charged an inflated rate and their reservation may not even be made. These websites can genuinely appear to be run by the hotel from the name in the link to copyrighted images on the page and even the hotels logo. If customers don't detect anything shady, they may book online or by calling a 1-800 number. When they arrive at the hotel, however, they might learn that they booked through a fraudulent third party website. In some of the worst cases, travelers find that the hotel never received their reservation. Customers may still be able to get a room but they are likely to encounter other problems. Those who need handicap access or two double beds may find that the hotel is unable to accommodate their request. Travelers may also be out of luck if they attempt to cancel or change their reservations, and they are unlikely to accrue any rewards points. This hotel scam profits by charging customers a booking fee usually around 25 percent that the hotels would not have applied. Travelers who are booking hotel rooms online should double check that they are on the official hotel website before entering any payment information. To tell the difference between a real site and a sham, make note of some of the subtle differences. Authentic websites, for example, generally have contact information, a privacy policy and site map located on the bottom of their web page. Customers can also call the hotel directly (not a 1-800 number) and speak to a customer service agent to ensure that their booking is going to the right place. This article originally appeared on Travel and Leisure A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured in a shooting at a Sacramento hotel authorities believed to be the headquarters of a car theft ring. Deputy Robert French, 52, died after he was shot at a Ramada Inn at around noon local time, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said. He added that the two wounded CHP officers were expected to survive. "It was an extremely dynamic, horrific series of events that occurred," said Jones, who described French as a "well-known, well-respected" 21-year veteran of the department who was assigned to patrol Sacramento County's northern areas. The sheriff added that French is survived by his children, grandchildren and girlfriend. "Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career," Jones said. The unidentified man suspected of killing French was shot by authorities and apprehended. Two women, who were not named, were also in custody. Authorities ordered guests to shelter in place as they searched the hotel for additional suspects. Investigators confirmed Wednesday evening that no other suspects were found. Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tony Turnbull said all three officers were part of a task force investigating a stolen vehicle case and had come across the missing car in the hotel's parking lot. Turnbull said two women in the stolen vehicle led the officers on a chase that ended about 20 miles away in suburban Elk Grove, where they were arrested. Police then learned that they had booked a room at the Ramada Inn. When the officers returned to search the hotel and announced themselves, they were hit with gunfire coming from inside the room. Authorities say a man inside then left through the back, where he shot French and fled in a vehicle.The suspect then led police on a brief chase before he was injured in another exchange of gunfire and taken into custody. Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and then tires squealing and saw a grey Dodge Charger speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street. Marshall estimated he heard 12 shots. "It was like the wild West," Marshall said. Click for more from Fox40.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, Remember, we only kill black people. Lt. Greg Abbott of the Cobb County Police Department reportedly asked the driver to grab her cell phone, but she replied shes afraid to move her hands because she has just seen way too many videos of cops Abbott responds, But, youre not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos youve seen, have you seen the black people get killed? The incident occurred in July 2016, and it was brought to light Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News' open-records request on Friday. Police Chief Mike Register said Abbott has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete. Lance LoRusso, Abbott's attorney, told the station in a statement that the 28-year veteran is cooperating with the investigation, and that his comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest, LoRusso said. Suri Chadha Jimenez, a representative of the driver, said she believes the officers response was sarcastic because the woman, gave him some lip, but nonetheless said, it makes you cringe when you hear it. Its unacceptable. Register, who was not police chief during the time of the occurence, told Channel 2 that Abbott was a good officer and never had any racial complaints. He added no matter what context it was said, it shouldnt have been said, and that it is being dealt with head-on. A Utah police dog is recovering after she was shot in the head by a man holed up in a stolen car, authorities said Wednesday. Tess, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, was flown to Las Vegas for treatment and officers stopped traffic so the helicopter could land in front of a clinic, police said. The suspect was hospitalized after being shot multiple times by police in southern Utahs Washington County. His name and condition were not immediately released. The sad truth of the matter is Tess took a bullet so one of our officers didnt have to, said sheriffs Lt. David Crouse. The incident started with a man who was reported to be causing a disturbance Tuesday night in St. George, about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. When police were on their way, he attacked a man and stole his truck with an assault rifle and ammunition inside, Crouse said. The suspect sped off, but soon ditched the truck. Police caught up with him after he stole a second truck and crashed into a house in nearby Santa Clara. When officers arrived, he was still in the cab of the truck. Officers sent in the dog, and Tess jumped into the cab after the man opened the door. The suspect opened fire almost immediately, hitting her in the head, police said. The bullet entered her mouth and exited near her neck. Officers then fired their own weapons, hitting the suspect several times. The dog was taken a local veterinarian who stopped the bleeding. She stayed there overnight, with police canine handlers from several agencies taking shifts to stay by her side. But veterinarians knew she needed more sophisticated equipment if she was going to recover and officers reached out to the Las Vegas Police canine unit. They shut down a busy intersection so a medical helicopter could land in front of the clinic. With the treatment she got there, the dog is expected to make a full recovery in six weeks. Crews in Texas have found the bodies of 31 victims of Harvey's wrath, and warned on Wednesday that the number of dead would almost certainly soar as water levels across much of the Houston area start to recede. The National Hurricane Center downgraded the storm to a Tropical Depression on Wednesday night. That move comes after new details emerged about Harvey's Texas victims. Authorities say a married couple who drove their pickup truck into Harvey's floodwaters drowned after the current from a nearby creek swept them away. Fort Bend County Sheriff's Maj. Chad Norvell says the couple was on the phone with 911 asking for help when the line went silent. When officers found the truck, it was completely submerged. They lived in a rural area of the county southwest of Houston and they were headed to a relative's house nearby. The announcement of the couple's death comes after Beaumont police said a woman's body turned up Wednesday morning -- but did not release her name or the possible circumstances that led to her death. She would be at least the second person to have died in Beaumont this week. Crews found a shivering 3-year-old clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal Tuesday after the woman tried to carry her child to safety. In addition, officials in Harris County made a grim announcement: They were investigating 17 more deaths as potentially Harvey-related, and would conduct autopsies to determine the causes. Montgomery County Sheriff's Capt. Bryan Carlisle said one body was found around a barricade and in standing water on Monday, while another victim tried to swim across a flooded road. The Daily Mail reported that two volunteer rescuers were killed when their motorboat was electrocuted by submerged power lines in Greens Bayou, and two other rescuers were missing. A fifth volunteer and two journalists survived but were forced to cling to trees and branches for about 18 hours, according to the website. "We were hanging on for dear life," photojournalist Ruaridh Connellan said. "The water smelled putrid, like stagnant sewage, mixed with everything else," reporter Alan Butterfield added. Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving into flooded waters, cautioning that the worst is not yet over. It is imperative that we do everything possible to protect the lives and safety of people across the state of Texas as we continue to face the aftermath of this storm, he said. He said the Texas National Guard has activated 14,000 in addition to 10,000 troops from other states to help in the ongoing recovery efforts throughout the state. In Houston, officers located a submerged van in which six members of a family were traveling when it was swept off a bridge and into a storm-ravaged bayou. In neighboring Louisiana, where forecasters feared Harvey's torrential rains would cause massive flooding, the governor said "things are not as bad as had been forecasted." "We've fared much better than we feared, but our neighbors are still taking it on the chin," Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a news conference. A levee has breached near Gueydan, La., and the National Guard is working in the area to address the issue, according to Edwards. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 330 people were being sheltered in the Lake Charles-area, including some from Texas. Earlier on Wednesday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said federal government agencies would help those affected for as long as needed. "We expect a many-year recovery in Texas and the federal government is in this for the long haul," Duke said. "We will help the people of Texas for as long as they need." She added: "This particular storm was unprecedented in terms of volume, of rain, and that's what we're focusing on now." NATION'S LARGEST OIL REFINERY IN PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS SHUT DOWN Duke said while officials were monitoring the situation in Louisiana, the focus remained on the greater Houston area, which saw more than 50 inches of rain after Harvey made landfall Saturday. Catastrophic flooding is likely to persist days after the rain stops, she added. With at least 13,000 rescued in the Houston area and surrounding cities and counties, more people were still trying to escape from their inundated homes. FEMA administrator Brock Long said more than 230 shelters are operating in Texas, housing more than 30,000 people. "We're also calling on other states through emergency management assistance compacts, he said. "We're still in lifesaving, life sustaining mode. He added: "Shelters are obviously not ideal and unfortunately people are going to be there for quite some time." "The water levels are going down. And that's for the first time in several days," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. However, some neighborhoods were still in danger as a levee along Cypress Creek in the northern part of the country could fail and swamp a subdivision where some residents ignored a mandatory evacuation order. The water in two reservoirs that protect downtown Houston from flooding was likely to crest Wednesday at levels slightly below those that were forecast, officials said. Meanwhile, the Texas community of Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated Wednesday as Harvey's rains flooded most major roads out of the city and swamped a shelter for victims fleeing the storm that ravaged the Houston area. The crisis deepened in the coastal city after Harvey rolled ashore overnight for the second time in six days, this time hitting southwestern Louisiana on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The citys mayor, Derrick Freeman, urged residents to get to higher ground and to avoid becoming trapped in attics. The city is underwater right now but we are coming! he wrote on Facebook. NEW ORLEANS BRACES FOR POSSIBLE HARVEY FLOODING AMID PUMP FAILURES On Wednesday, officials at the Pentagon said the U.S. Navy is moving the USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill to the area to assist, which are expected to arrive next week. The U.S. Coast Guard has 35 helicopters and 6 fixed-wing aircraft conducting missions, in addition to 92 shallow-water rescue boats conducting block-by-block search and rescue efforts. Over 3,600 people have been rescued by air and shallow-water boats, according to Coast Guard officials. In Louisiana, forecasters warned of potential tornadoes forming in northeast part of the state and across southern and central portions of Mississippi. Forecasters initially warned Harvey could creep as far east as Mississippi by Thursday, meaning New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina unleashed its full wrath in 2005, would be in its path. Harvey is now expected to exit Louisiana over the northeast corner of the state, affecting Shreveport. Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm late Friday night packing 130 mph winds. It made a second landfall about three hours later before it was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane. After the winds dropped below 73 mph, it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Officials issued a warning Wednesday after disturbing reports surfaced of people impersonating Homeland Security special agents and telling residents to evacuate in order to rob their homes in the wake of devastating flooding from Harvey. The city of Houston said people should ask anyone knocking on their doors for official badges and credentials with their name and organization. The city's statement also noted that, during Harvey relief efforts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not conducting immigration enforcement operations in the area. The National Weather Service downgraded the storm to a tropical depression late Wednesday. Officials for Homeland Security Investigations said there were disturbing reports that some people were pretending to be HSI special agents, knocking on doors and telling residents to evacuate -- and then robbing their homes once they are empty. Real HSI officials wear badges that are labeled special agent, which members of the public can ask to see and verify, read a statement provided to Fox News. "ICE officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations also wear badges labeled with ERO Officer. They also carry credentials with their name and organization. Members of the public who receive such visitors should ask to see these properly labeled badges, and their credentials. The storm has killed at least 23 people, according to officials in the area. Rescue crews found several more bodies Wednesday as floodwaters across much of the city started to recede. HSI officials also said in their statement their officers and special agents would be conducting hurricane relief operations with other local law enforcement agencies. ICE said Wednesday it is not undertaking immigration enforcement operations in storm-affected areas. The agency said it had assigned about 150 employees from around the country to help with disaster relief efforts in Houston, and it is prepared to send more employees if needed. There are 139 agents and officers from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Houston, Washington, New York, San Diego and Tampa on scene, according to ICE. The agents are on 25-member teams that answer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fox News' Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. John McCain is returning to the Senate next week after undergoing treatments for brain cancer in Arizona over the August recess. McCain is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and is expected to lead debate on a defense policy bill. The Arizona Republican will join the rest of his colleagues in returning to Washington after a four-week break. His office released a statement Wednesday saying McCain "will return to the U.S. Senate next week as Congress begins a new legislative session and looks forward to continuing his work for the people of Arizona and the nation." McCain has been undergoing targeted radiation and chemotherapy treatments at a Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. A Mississippi teen has been charged after he allegedly stabbed an elderly woman and cut her ear off. Corey Smith, 13, was charged in connection with an attack that left a 61-year-old Jackson resident in critical condition and without an ear, KMBC reported. The unidentified woman was reportedly attacked at her home late Tuesday night. A family member told KMBC that after she parked her car and walked toward her house, a man ran over to her, cut her ear off and stabbed her multiple times. STOLEN MILITARY EQUIPMENT WORTH MORE THAN $1M SOLD ON EBAY, TESTIMONY REVEALS The man then reportedly stole the elderly womans purse and car keys before driving off in her car. Police said the woman was found in a pool of blood, according to the station. She underwent two surgeries Wednesday and is expected to undergo a third. Smith was charged as an adult with aggravated assault, auto theft and armed robbery. A Princeton University professor who signed an open letter encouraging incoming college freshmen to "think for yourself" told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Wednesday that "you cannot seek the truth if you're a conformist." "Were telling our students not to fall into that groupthink," Professor Robert P. George told host Tucker Carlson. "You should be pursuing the truth. Thats what being in college is all about. Its learning to pursue the truth and its learning to become a life-long truth seeker." George, a professor of politics and jurisprudence, was one of 16 faculty members from Princeton, Harvard and Yale who signed the letter warning the Class of 2021 about the danger of "falling into the vice of conformism" on college campuses. "In todays climate, its all-too-easy to allow your views and outlook to be shaped by dominant opinion on your campus or in the broader academic culture," the letter says in part. "At many colleges and universities ... it leads [students] to suppose that dominant views are so obviously correct that only a bigot or a crank could question them." "Epithets like 'bigotry' far too often are used to shut down debate," George said. "Its the equivalent of saying 'This conversation is over because the Bible says.' ... Just as we would accuse someone who tried to shut down conversation [that way] of being a fundamentalist, all too often we have secular fundamentalists today; people who because of their beliefs about same-sex marriage or abortion ... want to shut down debate and discussion by calling the other guys names." "Were trying to tell our students, 'Dont fall for it. Dont put up with it,'" George added. "'Certainly dont practice it. But dont allow yourselves to be intimidated and bullied by those who do practice it. They are the real bigots.'" A Florida student who reportedly left class to rob a woman inside her home met his match when he was pinned to the ground by the woman's ax-wielding boyfriend, police said. Alex McMaster told Fox 13 he woke up in his Pinellas Park home Wednesday morning to the sounds of his girlfriend screaming at the front door. When he went downstairs he saw 17-year-old Matthew Cleveland punching and choking Christina Robles, authorities said. McMaster said he then punched the teen and slammed him to the ground. "I held him there a minute 'till he calmed down," McMaster told FOX13. "Then I grabbed an ax that I had and held it above him and told him to follow my commands -- or I could do something else to him." "Then I grabbed an ax that I had and held it above him and told him to follow my commands -- or I could do something else to him." Alex McMaster McMaster said Cleveland then confessed to a robbery attempt and revealed he forced his way into the home after asking McMasters 33-year-old girlfriend where a park was located. "I asked him what he was doing. He said he was trying to get money off her," McMaster said. "He said he would have hurt her." TENNESSEE WOMAN BEATS HOME INVASION SUSPECT WITH BASEBALL BAT Cleveland, a senior at a local school for teens with behavioral issues, had left morning classes apparently to attempt the home invasion, police told FOX13. Cleveland was charged with home invasion robbery, felony battery by strangulation and two counts of simple battery, WPTV reports. As for McMaster, he said he was fortunate the ax was nearby during the attack. "Someone comes into your house, you don't expect to see that," McMaster said. "Everyone says what they are gonna do but you don't think until the person is standing there." It's rare for police officers to arrive on the scene even before a crime occurs. But officials said that was the case Tuesday, as two armed robbers targeted a Maryland bar -- that was hosting a police retirement party. The masked men entered Monaghans Pub in Baltimore -- which is across the street from a police station -- around 5:30 p.m., pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money from the register, FOX29 reported. WATCH 'WORST' BURGLAR COMPLETELY BOTCH BAR ROBBERY But the robbers didnt know just one room over, a group of officers from the Baltimore County Police Department were celebrating a sergeant's retirement. Shortly after the robbery occurred, an employee alerted the cops -- who arrested the suspects after a short foot pursuit. Police charged Joseph McInnis III, 21, and Tyree McCoy, 22, with armed robbery and theft, among other offenses. More than 100 people gathered in the rotunda of Kentuckys cavernous state Capitol on Wednesday to call for the removal of a statue of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederacy. Charlene Holloway was one of those present near the 15-foot-tall marble statue that's stood in Kentuckys Capitol since 1936. Although most people focused on Davis racist past, Holloway thought of her great-great-grandmother, one of 15 slaves at a home in Christian County, who was forced to have children by her white owner. I'm very upset that a statue [is] here that depicts racism, bigotry, hatred for people of color, a statue that believes in dehumanizing people, she said. Kentucky never joined the Confederacy, but it was filled with Confederate sympathizers who set up a shadow government for a time in the western part of the state. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the state legislature also rejected ratifying the amendments to the U.S. Constitution that banned slavery and guaranteed black people the right to vote. WHICH CONFEDERATE STATUES WERE REMOVED? A RUNNING LIST The legislature finally ratified those amendments in 1976, more than 100 years after the Civil War ended and a decade after Kentucky became the first southern state to sign its own state-level civil rights act in 1966. "It's been a mixed bag," Raoul Cunningham, president of the Kentucky chapter of the NAACP, said of the state's history. The NAACP and other groups have tried twice before to remove the statue from the Capitol, including in 2015 in the aftermath of the racially-motivated murder of nine black people at a South Carolina church. That year, the Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted 7-2 to keep the statue, but to provide it with more historical context. In 2015, when he was the Republican nominee for governor, Matt Bevin said the statue should be removed and placed in a museum, not on government property. But his views have changed since then. Bevin has said removing Confederate symbols would be a very dangerous precedent because we basically have revisionist history and pretend it didn't happen. The governor's cause for concern is misplaced, Democratic state Rep. Reginald Meeks said. Revisionist history is in the very marble and stone of these monuments. Governor, in the presence of all that is good and sacred in this honorable hall, you have the responsibility, as a man of God and a parent, to raise above the politics of the past and to lift our commonwealth to a higher moral state. The Historic Properties Advisory Commission governs the statues in the Capitol, and its members are appointed by the governor. Earlier this month, Bevin cited the commission's 2015 vote when asked if the statue should stay. No one individual should be making these decisions, he said. We've got to remember where we came from, we've got to know who we are. We better have a sense of vision of purpose as to where we are going and we should be very thoughtful with respect to what we think of as the right symbols to show that. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Federal prosecutors say a California man has pleaded guilty to illegally importing $3 million of abalone from Mexico. The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego says Yon Pon Wong admitted in court Wednesday that he imported the hard-to-find mollusks using falsified commercial invoices. Wong agreed to forfeit $500,000 in proceeds as part of his plea. Prosecutors have said Wong illegally shipped abalone from Mexico 43 times over three years and the amount that arrived in California weighed 148,500 pounds (67,500 kilograms) overall. Abalone is expensive and is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. An Ohio police officer who killed an unarmed driver after a high-speed chase shot the man less than five seconds after getting out of his cruiser. Strongsville Officer Jason Miller shot 37-year-old Roy Evans Jr. about 4.7 seconds after exiting his cruiser, according to an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation summary released to the Associated Press through an open records request. A grand jury Tuesday declined to indict Miller over the shooting. The report provided more details about the March 7 shooting. The chase began just before 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 71, about 20 miles south of Cleveland, reaching speeds exceeding 100 mph. It ended about 14 minutes later when the van's tires were punctured by spike stripes laid across the highway. The video shows the van backing up as Miller jumps out of his cruiser. As Miller approaches Evans' van, the van lurches forward several feet but is blocked by a police cruiser. Miller told investigators he was afraid Evans was going to "back up and pin" him with his van, but the video shows Miller was standing to the side of the vehicle and not in its path. Miller then opens the van's door, yelling "put your hands up!" and shoots Evans in less than a second, the video and report show. Miller told investigators he shot Evans when he saw Evans' right hand drop out of view. "I thought for sure he was going for a gun," Miller said. "The thought process was so fast to try and get to the draw before he did." Officers later discovered Evans' hand was reaching toward rolls of carpet stuffed between the driver's and passenger's seat. Miller shot Evans again about 2.38 seconds after the first shot, the report said. Miller told investigators it was because Evans' hand continued to drop further out of sight. "It's not like the movies, they don't stop," Miller said. "He didn't stop suddenly doing what he was doing." Evans had been riding with his girlfriend, Amanda Pauley, and her three children. They were not harmed. Pauley told investigators she pleaded with Evans to pull over, but he wouldn't listen, the report said. She said Evans, who had a long criminal history with multiple felony convictions and most recently was sentenced to two years in prison in 2014 for felonious assault, feared going back to prison. Evans was out on parole and was driving without a license because he needed to get to and from work, Pauley said. He was coming back from a carpet job the night he was killed. Miller said this was the fourth on-duty shooting he was involved in. Strongsville Police declined to comment on the report, and Miller did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment. The criminal investigation into Miller is now closed, though he still could face discipline from Strongsville police. Evans had a history of mental health issues and was diagnosed with an unspecified mental illness redacted from the report. An autopsy showed Evans tested positive for marijuana. A death-row inmate scheduled to be executed in Texas next week has received a three-month reprieve because of Hurricane Harvey. A Bexar County judge issued an order Wednesday to delay the execution of 36-year-old Juan Castillo of San Antonio, which had been scheduled for next Thursday, because some members of Castillo's defense team work in Houston, the Texas Tribune reported. The Bexar County District Attorneys Office, not the defense team, requested the delay. "A portion of Mr. Castillo's defense team resides and works in Harris County and the surrounding areas, and has been affected by Hurricane Harvey," Assistant Criminal District Attorney Matthew Howard said, referring to the county that includes Houston. "Under the extraordinary circumstances, the State would move to withdraw the execution date and seek a new date." Castillo was convicted of the 2003 robbery and murder of Tommy Garcia Jr. Court records say Castillo and three others planned to rob the man after luring him with the promise of sex, the Texas Tribune reported. When Garcia tried to escape, Castillo shot him. After nearly 12 years in prison, Castillo will face execution Dec. 14. A Florida mom is accused of overdosing on prescription drugs while she was on her way to drop her child off at preschool. Boca Raton police said they arrested Colleen Nichols, 30, after finding her unconscious in the front seat of her van at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the Palm Beach Post reported. Her preschooler was found crying in the backseat. I just want to go to school, the child reportedly said to cops when they responded and revived Nichols. It was the childs fifth birthday. Someone saw Nichols and her child in the van with the windows rolled up and ignition turned off and called 911, according to police records. US TEEN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASE AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE When Boca Raton rescue crews arrived, they used Narcan -- a drug that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an opiate overdose -- to revive Nichols. Nichols allegedly told police she was disoriented and couldnt remember getting in her van or the ambulance, but she denied using heroin. She didnt know where her child was either. Nichols told authorities at the time, I must have blacked out, Im under a lot of stress. Cops said they found a bottle of Klonopin, used to treat seizures, panic disorders and anxiety, in the van. The prescription for 30 pills had been filled the day before -- but there were only two left when cops discovered it, officials said. Nichols was arrested on a child neglect charge, and was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday on $1,000 bond. She was previously arrested for child neglect in 2015 after leaving the same child, then 3 years old, home alone after being taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence. On its newest cover, controversial French magazine Charlie Hebdo appears to mock Texans, depicting them as neo-Nazis caught in the deluge of tropical storm Harvey. The magazines cover reads God Exists! He Drowned All the Neo-Nazis of Texas. The words accompany an illustration showing swastika flags and arms raised in a Nazi salute -- all submerged in water, the New York Post reports. The cover has sparked criticism on social media. Those taking offense include conservative commentator Debbie Schlussel. So the idiots at Charlie Hebdo are cheering the #Houston #Harvey disaster b/c they claim it drowned neo-Nazis. WTF?!, she tweeted. Wrote another user: That's a great way for France and Charlie Hebdo to show gratitude for the Texas boys that fought for her liberation from the Nazis. An evil, despicable cover. Also, the losers at Charlie Hebdo have a God-given right to publish it, & no one has the right to shoot them, wrote journalist Tiana Lowe. The weekly magazine is known to cause controversy with its cartoons, which often create a backlash against the magazine including a terrorist attack in 2015 in which two gunmen opened fire on the publications staff in their Paris offices for mocking an ISIS leader. More recently, the magazines cartoonists depicted British Prime Minister Theresa May as decapitated and linked the vehicular terror attack in Barcelona to Islam. The cover showed the words, Islam: religion of peace ... eternal, with a cartoon showing mowed down people on the street. A Politico cartoonist has also come under fire for, according to critics, mocking Harvey victims in Texas for their alleged hypocrisy. Matt Wuerker portrayed a Texan with a Confederate flag shirt being airlifted out of a flooded house with a sign reading secede. The cartoon man praised his rescuers as "Angels! Sent by God" only to be corrected that it was actually Coast Guard ... sent by the government." The Georgia police lieutenant who said cops "only kill black people" during a traffic stop, will be fired, the police chief said Thursday. "I have known Lt. (Greg) Abbott for years and perceived him as honorable, but he's made a mistake," Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I don't know what is in his heart, but I know what came out of his mouth. We recommend that he be terminated and we are moving forward on that." During a DUI stop last month, Abbott was recorded on dash-cam video telling the driver, "Remember, we only kill black people." The officer's statement was in response to the driver telling the lieutenant she was afraid to move her hands because she had "just seen way too many videos of cops" GEORGIA POLICE OFFICER AT DUI STOP: 'WE ONLY KILL BLACK PEOPLE' "But you're not black," Abbott said to the driver. "Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?" The dash-cam video was timestamped July 10, 2016, but it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News obtained the dash-cam video and submitted an open-records request and the police chief and his command staff looked into it. Register, who was not police chief during the time of the video, said Abbott's comments were "inappropriate" for a cop to say. "I wish Lt. Abbott well. But I think that was very inappropriate for any police officer to say that, but especially one of our leaders in the department," the chief reportedly said. Abbott was on the force for 28 years. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Flooding caused by Harvey has toppled two oil storage tanks in southern Texas, releasing about 30,000 gallons of crude oil, authorities said Wednesday. The spills in DeWitt County were reported by Burlington Resources Oil and Gas. They included a a 16,170-gallon (385 barrels) oil leak near the town of Westhoff and a 13,272-gallon (316 barrels) spill near Hochheim, around 150 miles west of Houston. It remained unclear if any of the leaked oil was recovered. There was also reportedly an 8,500-gallon (200 barrels) spill of wastewater. The company, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, has reportedly not yet addressed the situation. More damage was expected once the water level recedes, authorities said. Harvey, which struck Texas on Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has since declined to a tropical depression, has resulted in the shutdown of more than 20 percent of the countrys oil refining capacity, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The countrys largest refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, run by Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, was shut down Wednesday in response to increasing local flood conditions." It had already been running at less than half-speed due to Harvey. Multiple refineries were shut down in Corpus Christi and other parts of South Texas prior to Harveys landfall on Friday. Some of the facilities were running again Wednesday, but refineries along the Gulf Coast remained shut down due to flooding, the Express-News reported. The area between Corpus Christi and the Louisiana border generates about 3 percent of the U.S. economy as it is a vital export market for chemicals and oil. Gas prices are expected to increase, but the full impact of Harvey will be assessed after the storm and it will potentially take weeks before the energy sector returns to full capacity, market watchers say. Following the closures so far, gasoline futures increased for a third straight day, by 9 cents to $1.87 a gallon. Retail gas prices also have increased up 2 cents Wednesday and 7 cents over the last week. The national average stands at $2.42 a gallon, according to GasBuddy. In terms of product price increases, it might get worse before it gets better, said Rob Smith, an energy analyst with IHS Markit. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In the midst of deadly Tropical Storm Harvey's assault on Texas, people stepped up to help those trapped by rising floodwaters and shut out from basic necessities, with heroes forming human chains, delivering pizzas on kayaks and engaging in dramatic rescues. Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain in the Houston area, causing "unprecedented" flooding that left residents stranded in their homes and vehicles. Amid the chaos, stories of inspiring and selfless interactions have made waves. However, while many citizens heard the call for help, others tried to profit from the tragedy through scams, price gouging and fraud. The Texas Attorney Generals Office said it received about 600 complaints as of Tuesday, adding the "number is rising," according to the San Antonio Express. Officials warned about fake fundraisers being shared and urged people to only donate to established organizations. Several people also reported seeing skyrocketing prices for essential items, including gas and water. Best Buy apologized earlier this week after attempting to sell cases of water for $42.96 when other packages were priced at $29.98. But it's the stories of heroism and compassion that have mostly dominated the aftermath of Harvey. Forming a human chain On Sunday, several people at an apartment complex were captured in a video forming a human chain to rescue a woman who went into labor during the storm. An email was sent to residents in the apartment complex to help the expecting mother as they waited for emergency responders to arrive, KTRK reported. When the Houston Fire Department showed up, residents formed a human chain to safely escort the woman into a truck. "Moments like these are incredibly precious and remind me of all the good in the world," Molly Akers, who posted video of the incident, wrote on Facebook. Several other photos of people forming human chains to rescue people stuck in cars surfaced on Tuesday. Police officer rescues Photos of rescues by police officers and officials have also been posted on social media. Houston and Harris County police officers worked around-the-clock to respond to thousands of 911 calls for rescues. The Harris County Sheriff's Office posted a photo of a deputy carrying two children through waist-deep floodwaters as rain poured down. "HCSO deputies are out in the Blackhorse subdivision still working high water rescues. #Harvey" HCSO tweeted. SWAT team member Daryl Hudeck was also pictured carrying a Houston mom and her sleeping baby through floodwaters. Police have also posted several photos of citizens stepping in to help. An HCSO picture showed several men pushing a person's vehicle through the flood and onto higher ground. The department encouraged others to step in and do the same. Seniors rescued in flooded nursing home A viral photo of senior citizens sitting in waist-deep water on Sunday caught the nation's attention and demonstrated how serious the flooding was -- and how many people needed help. Officials arrived at the scene hours later, airlifting 15 residents from the assisted living home We were air-lifting grandmothers and grandfathers, Dickinson emergency management coordinator David Popoff told Galveston County Daily News. Pizza Hut sending foods to flood victims Pizza Hut has been one of numerous businesses to do its part in helping flood victims. Employees at a Pizza Hut in Oak Lake used kayaks to deliver hot pies to families trapped in their homes. "When I heard there were families in need, I knew we needed to act fast, Shayda Habib told KPRC. "I called my husband and asked him to gather up kayaks and meet me at the restaurant." The pizza chain posted a photo on its Twitter account with the caption: "THANK YOU to our Oak Lake Pizza Hut team for their out-of-the-car response to deliver hot pizzas all day to the community they serve." Firefighters in the nation's fourth-largest city began a block-by-block search Thursday of tens of thousands of flooded Houston homes to look for anyone who may have been left behind in floodwaters spawned by Tropical Storm Harvey. The city's assistant fire chief, Richard Mann, said his department would ensure "no people were left behind," as the official death toll from the storm climbed to at least 39 by Thursday evening. The block-by-block search will cover a wide area in the southwest part of the city, searching homes "believed to have taken in 3 feet of water or greater," according to Sheldra Brigham, Public Information Officer at Houston Fire Department. The search, which will use new GPS technology, is expected to take "one to two weeks to complete," according to Brigham. Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said the agency had handled at least 13,000 calls, and rescued more than 7,000 victims from Harvey's floodwaters, FOX26 Houston reported. As of Thursday, the latest surveys indicated the storm and floodwaters had caused major damage to more than 37,000 homes and destroyed nearly 7,000, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported. HARVEY HEROISM: CITIZENS STEP UP TO HELP OTHERS DURING DEADLY STORM In the western part of the city, homeowners near the Barker Reservoir returned to their homes Thursday in an effort to rescue their pets from waterlogged neighborhoods. In a moment captured live on FOX26, two residents were successfully reunited with their pets after they were forced to leave them alone on the second floors of their homes for several days due to evacuating quickly from the area. One of the residents, identified as Keenan, said the water in his home is above the dining room table. "We'll be OK, we'll get through this," he told FOX26. "We've been saying, we're just taking an hour at a time, get them pets out." As Harvey moved northwest from the Louisiana-Texas line into Tennessee and Kentucky, forecasters said the rain threat in Houston is pretty much over. "We have good news," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. "The water levels are going down." HARVEY SCAMS ABOUND AS CROOKS PREY ON DISASTER VICTIMS AND ALTRUISTIC AMERICANS Residents were warned about the dangers of heat exhaustion if they have lost power or must toil outdoors, with temperatures expected to climb into the low 90s through the weekend. Houston's two major airports were up and running again Wednesday. Officials said they were resuming limited bus and light rail service as well as trash pickup. At Hermann Park, south of downtown, children glided by in strollers and wagons, joggers took in midday runs and couples walked beside cascading fountains and beneath a sparkling sun. People pulled into drive-thru restaurants and emerged from a store with groceries. At the same time, many thousands of Houston-area homes are under water and could stay that way for days or weeks. And Lindner cautioned that homes near at least one swollen bayou could still get flooded. Houston-area 911 centers are getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help, officials said. Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, Gov. Greg Abbott said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. As Harveys unprecedented flooding disaster overwhelmed Houston and other cities in southern Texas, many charitable and resilient residents stepped up to help their fellow citizens in need. Whether it be daring flood rescues or simply opening their doors to shelter-stranded residents, there have been great displays of compassion in areas ravaged by Harvey. Houston-area furniture store owner Jim Mcingvale, known locally as "Mattress Mack," transformed two of his Gallery Furniture shops into shelters as the flooding situation worsened, promising plenty of food and water along with space for family pets. Photographs on Mcingvales Facebook page showed National Guard members and evacuees and sleeping on mattresses throughout the store. Gallery Furniture was honored to feed and provide mattresses to sleep on for our Texas National Guard troops at Gallery Furniture Grand Parkway along with the Great Texans already staying with us for shelter, he wrote on his Facebook page. By Monday afternoon, both of his stores were at capacity. We encourage all Houstonians in need of shelter to go the George R. Brown Convention Center, Mcingvale said, prior to the convention center becoming full as well. God Bless you, God Bless your family, and God Bless Texas, he wrote. We will help each other now get through this crisis of flooding and hurricane, Mcingvale said. Local and federal officials have called upon members of the public to aid with evacuations if they have a boat available. Many people answered the call, including Brandon McElveen, a school counselor who used his truck and borrowed a Kayak to help more than 20 people, according to NPR. "It's just really surreal," he told NPR. "You don't want to sit in your house and watch TV while so many people around you have things that they need." The Red Cross continues to stage a massive emergency sheltering operation with as many as 32,000 evacuees currently in 230 Red Cross and partner shelters. "More than 1,500 disaster workers are on the ground, and hundreds more are on the way," the Red Cross said. As the days have gone on since Harveys initial impact, many additional volunteers have made their way to South Texas from other states across the country. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is all too familiar with disaster recovery, with the five-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy approaching. On Tuesday, Christie approved New Jersey National Guard resources to be deployed to Texas. Christie also said he was urging congressional members to provide aid for Harvey quickly. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb authorized the deployment of state resources for Harvey relief efforts on Thursday. When another state is devastated by a natural disaster, Indiana is committed to providing resources to help response and recovery efforts, Holcomb said. We are ready when called to serve and respond. I pray for the safety of all the citizens, first responders and volunteers in the days and weeks to come. In Philadelphia a 5-year-old-boy named Jett, who is a former Houston resident, sent up a lemonade stand to raise money for his hometown. "Jett was a little concerned the past few days," his mom, Margaret Brown told WPVI in Philadelphia. "His grandparents we've been able to talk to them, luckily. We were just trying to think of things we could do to help and we feel so far away." Colorado police believe they cracked a cold case murder after finally arresting a suspect nearly two decades after a prosecutor was found dead in the bathtub of her apartment, officials said Wednesday. Robert Williams, 70, was arrested Tuesday and charged in the death of Rebecca Bartee, who died in June 1999, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said. A reporter from Denver TV station KCNC-TV contacted investigators after receiving a call from a man claiming he lived in the apartment complex when Bartee was murdered. "New leads may be the only way to solve these crimes," the department said. "We, along with the victim's family, are thankful someone came forward with new information, even after 18 years." The man told the station he remembered seeing Williams leaving Bartee's apartment around the time she was killed. Police did not disclose other details about the arrest and Williams' warrant affidavit was sealed. He is expected to appear in court Thursday. Bartee left work on a Friday in 1999 and never returned to the office. A coworker discovered Bartee's body after going to her apartment to get a case file, police said. CALIFORNIA DEPUTY KILLED AT SACRAMENTO HOTEL, TWO STATE TROOPERS WOUNDED Investigators initially thought Bartee killed herself because of an antidepressant medication found near her body. But clues -- including a full wine class on the table and pills in the bathroom -- led them to believe someone broke in and murdered her. Autopsy results revealed Bartee did not have alcohol or drugs in her system and hand marks were found on her neck. "I never thought the fact that there might be someone living here that could be tied to murder as far as that long ago," a neighbor told FOX31 Wednesday. Arapahoe County Sheriff spokesperson Julie Brooks also said making an arrest years after a case is extremely rare. "To make an arrest in a cold case, it is difficult because people's memories fade, people move, people who might have information don't realize they have information," Brooks said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A woman once under the spell of Charles Manson testified Thursday that the violent and manipulative cult leader threatened to have her die a painful death if she left the ranch where they lived. Catherine Share told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that Manson once severely beat her and got a male cult member to vow that if she ever fled the man would hunt her down and drag her back behind a car. The unusual testimony nearly 50 years after Manson's followers terrorized Los Angeles during two nights of bloody rampages that killed seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, was to support a parole bid by fellow "family" member Leslie Van Houten. Van Houten's lawyer wants to show a state parole board that his client was under the sway of the twisted leader and more likely to make bad choices at the age of 19. "Some people could not leave. I was one of them that could not leave," said Share, who said she later regretted enticing Van Houten to join the cult. "I don't think (Van Houten) felt like she was free to leave." Share acknowledged in her testimony that she didn't know for a fact that Van Houten had been prohibited from leaving the cult, or hadn't actually left at some point. She also acknowledged that others had left the Manson clan without being harmed. A recent change in California law enables those who committed crimes when they were younger than 23 to seek a hearing on the role their youth may have played. The issues can later be introduced at a parole hearing to evaluate whether a prisoner is fit for release. "Everyone is confused about how could someone who grew up like she did end up there," attorney Rich Pfeiffer said. Van Houten, 68, and serving up to a life sentence for the deaths, did not attend the hearing in part because she recently broke her knee cap, Pfeiffer said. Van Houten was 19 when she and fellow cult members stabbed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca to death in 1969. The killings took place a day after other so-called Manson family members murdered Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others in crimes that shocked the world. Share was not involved in the killings, but served prison time later for armed robberies. Police said she also was involved in a plot to break Manson and other family members out of prison, though Share denied that. She said the plan was to help a boyfriend's brother get out of jail. Last year, a parole panel recommended Van Houten be released after she had completed college degrees and been commended for her behavior as a model prisoner. But Gov. Jerry Brown denied her parole, saying she failed to explain how she transformed from an upstanding teen to a killer. Pfeiffer asked Judge William Ryan to compel prosecutors to turn over decades-old recordings of a conversation between former cult member Charles "Tex" Watson and his attorney in the hopes they may benefit Van Houten and help secure her release. Prosecutors, who have vigorously fought Van Houten's release, objected to giving up the tapes. The judge began reading some 300 pages of transcripts of the recordings to see if there was information relevant to Van Houten's case. Ryan said there were at least eight references to Van Houten in the 85 pages he had a chance to read before the hearing. Authorities had once asserted the tapes included evidence of other killings and their release could jeopardize those investigations, Pfeiffer said. But Ryan said a detective acknowledged during a meeting in his chambers that there are no active investigations related to them at this time. Van Houten was the youngest Manson follower to take part in the killings after joining the cult in the 1960s. During her parole hearing last year, she said the murders were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war that he dubbed "Helter Skelter," after a Beatles song, and that he had the group prepare to fight and learn to can food so they could go underground and live in a hole in the desert. Van Houten's parole hearing is scheduled Wednesday. She was convicted in 1978 of two counts of murder and conspiracy after an earlier conviction was overturned on appeal. Manson, 82, and other followers involved in the killings are still jailed. Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel have each been denied parole multiple times, while fellow defendant Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009. Family member Bruce Davis also was recommended for parole, but Brown blocked his release. Debra Tate, the only surviving member of her family, attended the hearing as she's done for decades at all Manson-related parole bids. Even though Van Houten's case did not involve her sister's killing, she said she was asked to also represent the LaBianca family. She does not think Van Houten or any of the Manson cult should ever go free. "It was particularly vicious," Tate said outside court. "This was an act of domestic terrorism, in my opinion. And there was group collusion with a much larger agenda and for that reason I don't think any of these people should be paroled." ___ Associated Press writer Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed to this story. The chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals has defended the way judges mete out sentences in criminal cases and says that they shouldnt be blamed for Baltimores high homicide rate. If the decision is to be fair and impartial, judges must make decisions that sometimes are unpopular, Mary Ellen Barbera wrote in an editorial for the Baltimore Sun published Thursday. Sentencing in criminal cases demands difficult decisions by judges. She concluded: There is no question that the violence in Baltimore City is tragic. The use of split sentences by judges, however, is not the cause. On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, announced a "truth in sentencing" measure as part of a package of bills in the legislative session that begins in January. He told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the Baltimore City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that too many judges are waiving prison sentences for probation for repeat violent criminals. "I believe that that's not acceptable, and we keep putting those same exact violent people on the streets," the governor said. Hogan also expressed displeasure that judges declined to attend the meeting. "We wanted input," Hogan said. "They refused to come." Earlier this month, Barbera wrote in a letter to the governor that ethical constraints prohibit judges "from making statements about how they might sentence." "The Code demands that judges evaluate and consider the specific circumstances in each case," Barbera added in the letter. In her piece for the Sun, Barbera noted that much of the controversy has been because there is a misunderstanding about sentencing terms, adding that when people talk about suspended sentences most of the time they are actually referring to split sentences. A split sentence occurs when a defendant is sentenced to a period of incarceration and part of that period of incarceration is suspended. A split sentence is a tool used to craft a sentence appropriate to the individual defendant based on a number of considerations, she wrote. The judge takes into account the charge for which the individual is being sentenced, the defendants prior record and the likelihood of rehabilitation. With 231 slayings so far this year, Baltimore is on pace to have more than 300 homicides in 2017, threatening to set a record for bloodshed for the third consecutive year. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who attended Tuesday's meeting with Hogan, announced a violence prevention plan earlier this month. She echoed the governor's concerns about repeat violent offenders and his frustration that representatives of the judiciary were not in attendance. "I guess we'll keep calling them," Pugh, a Democrat, said. Police Commissioner Kevin Clark said he also believes tougher sentencing needs to be part of the solution. "I think detractors say, 'Well, that's not the only way out of this place.' Well, no kidding," Clark said. "No one ever said it was the only way out of this place. We need better housing, we need better education. We need better jobs. We need better job training. We need all of those things, but right now, where we find ourselves, we need to hold people responsible and accountable who particularly choose to carry a gun and shoot other people in our city." Some criticized the governor for not opening the meeting to the public. "I know some people were concerned about why was the meeting closed, but people are much more frank and open and honest when you're having a serious discussion in executive session, as opposed to a media circus where people are just saying things to get attention or to score points," Hogan said. Ben Jealous, the former head of the NAACP who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018, questioned that reasoning. He criticized the governor outside the state building where the meeting was held. "He tells us this meeting is closed because he wants to have a candid conversation? He should be having candid conversations with the leaders of our city every day," Jealous said. Attorney General Brian Frosh, who attended the meeting, also said he would have preferred an open meeting. He said nothing was said in the closed setting that hasn't been brought up in public somewhere else. He added he believes there was a mistaken impression held by some in the room about judges being able to suspend mandatory-minimum sentences. He also noted that the governor did not mention his legislative proposals in the meeting. "The truth in sentencing package was not mentioned upstairs, but we have very tough laws," Frosh, a Democrat, said. "We need to do a better job enforcing them. Policing, prosecuting and putting people away who are a danger to others in society." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Where some see Defense Secretary Jim Mattis distancing himself from President Donald Trump on North Korea and other big issues, Mattis sees "someone's rather rich imagination" at work creating a conflict where he insists none exists. "I've seen this now for months," Mattis said, referring to reports that he is at odds with the commander in chief. In an impromptu exchange with reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday, Mattis was asked about interpretations of comments he made Wednesday after Trump tweeted that talking to North Korea "is not the answer." Shortly after the tweet, a reporter asked Mattis whether the U.S. was out of diplomatic solutions. He replied, "No, we're never out of diplomatic solutions." Some viewed this as contradicting, or even defying, Trump. "It was widely misinterpreted," Mattis said. He said he agreed with Trump that the U.S. should not be talking to North Korea now, after it fired a ballistic missile over Japanese territory, which Mattis called "a reckless, provocative act." There remain diplomatic avenues to pursue in the interest of avoiding war, including additional economic sanctions, Mattis said. "There is no contradiction at all there," he said. "No disagreement with the president." He was clearly annoyed by persistent reports of rifts, or at least differences in views, with Trump. "Right now, if I say six and the president says half a dozen, they're going to say I disagree with him," he said. In fact, Mattis himself has acknowledged differences with Trump, and he noted two of these Thursday. He recalled that when Trump interviewed him for the Pentagon job after the election, they disagreed on the value of NATO and the utility of torturing terrorist suspects. In both cases, Mattis seemed to persuade Trump to change his view. "This is not a man who is immune to being persuaded if he thinks you've got an argument," he said. Early in his tenure at the Pentagon, following assertions by Trump that journalists are "the enemy of the American people," Mattis said he does not view reporters as adversaries and sees value in the skeptical view they offer. More recently, Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have made remarks seen by some as rebuffing Trump. Mattis, for example, was seen as splitting with the president during remarks to American troops while visiting Jordan last week. He told the troops to "hold the line" until the rest of the country gets back to treating each other with civility. Some interpreted the remarks as a critique of Trump's leadership following recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mattis said he was simply striking a theme of unity that Trump himself had voiced just hours earlier in a speech on Afghanistan. Trump had urged Americans to follow the example of members of the military, in whom "we can find the inspiration our country needs to unify, to heal, and to remain one nation under God. The men and women of our military operate as one team, with one shared mission, and one shared sense of purpose." Mattis said this was the message he was trying to echo in his off-the-cuff remarks in Jordan, which were recorded by someone in his audience and uploaded to the internet. "I literally can take the president's themes and use them and I'm still seen as at odds with the president," he said. "I think this is more someone's rather rich imagination." BREAKING: Officials in Harris County reported two explosions and black smoke at a flooded chemical plant in a small town outside Houston. The Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby about 25 miles northeast of Houston -- lost power Sunday and its backup generators amid Harvey's days-long deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. "The fire will happen. It will resemble a gasoline fire. It will be explosive and intense in nature," a spokeswoman said. OVERNIGHT ITEMS: Harvey damages oil tanks, spilling 30,000 gallons of crude | Residents warned: Get out or die | Concerns over fake agents 'TUCKER TONIGHT' A Princeton University professor who signed an open letter encouraging incoming college freshmen to "think for yourself" told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Wednesday that "you cannot seek the truth if you're a conformist." "Were telling our students not to fall into that groupthink," Professor Robert P. George told host Tucker Carlson. "You should be pursuing the truth. Thats what being in college is all about. Its learning to pursue the truth and its learning to become a life-long truth seeker." PELOSI SLAMS ANTIFA House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the "violent" members of Antifa those members of the anti-fascist group who allegedly attacked conservative demonstrators over the weekend in Berkeley, Calif. should be arrested and prosecuted. "Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts," Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "The violent actions of people calling themselves Antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation." COMING UP ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL 7:30 AM ET: Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long will participate in a media availability to provide an update on federal support to state, local, and tribal response efforts in Texas and Louisiana. Warch live on FoxNews.com and Fox News Channel COMING UP ON FOX BUSINESS 6:50 AM ET: Bill Moore, Zello CEO, to be on Mornings with Maria 7 AM ET: Joe M. Allbaugh, Former FEMA Director will appear on Mornings with Maria 7:40 AM ET - Gail McGovern, Red Cross President will be a guest on Mornings with Maria 8 AM ET - Art Acevedo, Houston Police Chief will be on Mornings with Maria 8:20 AM ET; Ted Olson, Texas Congressman (R ) Represents Sugar Land, TX District will be on Mornings with Maria 9 AM ET: Andy Puzder- Fmr. CKE Restaurants CEO will be on Varney & Company 2 PM ET: Bill Bradley, Anheuser-Busch vice president for community affairs will be on The Intelligence Report 2 PM ET: Michael Brown, Former FEMA administrator, will appear on The Intelligence Report The nations oldest historians group called for a nuanced debate regarding the removal of Confederate monuments and for preserving the controversial symbols in some way. The debate over what to do about Confederate statues and monuments has taken on new urgency in communities across the U.S. since the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va., sparked by the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. The American Historical Association released a statement this week that said President Trump was correct on Aug. 16 when he tweeted: You cant change history, but you can learn from it. Debates over removal of monuments should consider chronology and other evidence that provide context for why an individual or event has been commemorated, the organization, which was founded in 1884, said in its statement. But the AHA didn't endorse everything Trump wrote. For instance, Trump also wrote: Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart by the removal of the Civil War statues. To remove a monument, or to change the name of a school or street, is not to erase history, but rather to alter or call attention to a previous interpretation of history, the historians said. A monument is not history itself; a monument commemorates an aspect of history, representing a moment in the past when a public or private decision defined who would be honored in a communitys public spaces. WHICH CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED? A RUNNING LIST About 1,500 symbols of the Confederacy exist in the U.S., according to a list compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and that includes schools and streets named after Confederate generals as well as actual statues, plaques and monuments. [The monuments] should be preserved, just like any other historical document, whether in a museum or some other appropriate venue, they write. Current debates underway in cities across the country tend to frame the issue as history versus racism -- but the AHA statement says more context will ultimately lead to a more informed debate. While noting the monuments were erected to commemorate the Confederacy, the AHA statement says this enterprise was part and parcel of the initiation of legally mandated segregation and widespread disenfranchisement across the South. Memorials to the Confederacy were intended, in part, to obscure the terrorism required to overthrow Reconstruction, and to intimidate African-Americans politically and isolate them. At a press conference and on Twitter in August, Trump suggested removing Confederate monuments would put the country on a slippery slope toward taking down statues of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The historians group said thats a flawed analogy. There is no logical equivalence between the builders and protectors of a nation -- however imperfect -- and the men who sought to sunder that nation in the name of slavery, the AHA said, noting that even though Washington owed slaves, the Washington Monument exists because of his contributions to creating America. The suspect accused of killing a California sheriffs deputy Wednesday has a criminal history, court documents show. Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, 32, was in critical condition Thursday with life-threatening injuries after a brief shootout with police. Littlecloud is suspected of fatally shooting 52-year-old Sacramento County Sheriffs Deputy Robert French at a hotel, according to the county sheriffs Sgt. Tony Turnbull. Littlecloud is also suspected of wounding two California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers who are expected to survive. Turnbull said Littlecloud used a high-powered rifle Wednesday to shoot through a closed door and wall and injure the two CHP officers who were demanding to enter his hotel room. CALIFORNIA DEPUTY KILLED AT SACRAMENTO HOTEL, TWO STATE TROOPERS WOUNDED The sergeant said Littlecloud then went to the rooms balcony, and fatally shot French before jumping down to the parking lot and speeding away in a stolen car. Police caught Littlecloud and arrested him after a brief shootout. Since 2004, Littlecloud had been sentenced four separate times to California prison for a variety of offenses: assault with a semi-automatic weapon, grand theft and evading a police officer. Court records also show that a judge ordered Littleclouds arrest after he didnt show up for court twice in July, after he agreed to a plea deal to resolve a drug, gun and identity theft case. Littlecloud served six years in prison for assault with a semi-automatic weapon, a jail term for possession of an illegal sawed-off shotgun, and served three years in 2013 for evading a police officer and possession of a gun. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on four felony charges in San Francisco federal court in June 2016. He was released from jail two months later pending trial after his stepmother used a home to secure his $100,000 bail. The U.S. Marshals Service was looking to arrest Littlecloud. In Sacramento on Wednesday, the two CHP officers were on an undercover assignment to investigate a car theft ring when they saw two women driving away in a stolen vehicle, which led to a high-speed pursuit. THREE CALIFORNIA OFFICERS SHOT AT SACRAMENTO HOTEL, SUSPECTS ARRESTED The officers went back to one of the womens hotel rooms, where they encountered Littlecloud. Littlecloud was found with a rifle and a high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to buy in California, Turnbull said. Six other sheriff's deputies involved in the shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation is conducted, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's office will conduct an independent review. Its unclear how the woman whose hotel room police searched, Priscilla Prendez, 23, is connected to Littlecloud. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Alabama police have arrested a woman who they say left her 5-year-old son behind after stealing a pair of shoes. Mobile Police Department spokesman Donald Wallace tells news outlets 24-year-old Debrina Scott shoplifted the shoes Saturday from a Mobile shoe store. Wallace says that when Scott was confronted by security at the store, she took off running across the parking lot. Her son followed her and was nearly struck by a vehicle. News outlets report that Scott was arrested Tuesday on charges of theft and endangering the welfare of a child. She was released Wednesday evening. It's unclear if Scott has an attorney. Officials with the flooded chemical plant outside of Houston that was rocked by a pair of Thursday explosions said they are anticipating more fires from eight other containers housing organic peroxide. The Harris County sheriff's office said 15 deputies who complained of breathing trouble after the fires broke out have been released from the hospital. Fire authorities said the plant suffered two small blasts and some deputies suffered irritated eyes from the smoke, but they emphasized the materials that caught fire shortly after midnight were not toxic. The fires were out by Thursday evening, according to firefighters. The plant, in Crosby, lost power Saturday amid Tropical Storm Harvey, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as temperatures rise. Arkema shut down the plant before Harvey made landfall. Rennard said the plant had four layers of security for refrigeration including backup generators, liquid nitrogen and cooling containers. He said chemical products in one of the cooling containers started to degrade, sparking the blast and fire overnight. Local officials said the blast sparked a 30- to 40-foot flame. Some 200 people living near the plant evacuated. "It's not over. This is a serious situation." Rich Rennard, an executive with Arkema Inc. What has happened is exactly what we expected was going to happen, said Bob Royall, Harris County Fire Marshall. The plant falls along a stretch near Houston that features one of the largest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country. Arkema's plant is required to develop and submit a risk management plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, because it has large amounts of sulfur dioxide, a toxic chemical, and methylpropene, a flammable gas. The plans are supposed to detail the effects of a potential release, evaluate worst-case scenarios and explain a company's response. Fox News' Ray Bogan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The United States will hold up $255 million in military assistance for Pakistan until it cracks down on extremist groups that threaten neighboring Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, in the first concrete step since President Donald Trump vowed to ramp up pressure on Pakistan. In his new strategy for the 16-year Afghan war, Trump singled out Pakistan for harboring Taliban leaders and other militants that are battling American troops in Afghanistan. Trump's tough words about Pakistan, a troubled U.S. security partner, infuriated Islamabad and triggered anti-U.S. protests that Pakistani police have had to use tear gas to disperse. Although the Trump administration had floated the possibility of curtailing aid, hitting Islamabad with sanctions or severing its status as a major non-NATO ally, it had been unclear until Thursday exactly what types of measures the administration would pursue, or how quickly. "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 in his Afghanistan speech. "But that will have to change." Trump's administration had faced a Sept. 30 deadline either to say that it planned to spend the $255 million, or lose it. Ahead of that deadline, the administration told Congress that it will indeed use the money, but is putting a "pause" on spending it or on assigning any funds to specific sales of military equipment to the Pakistanis. State Department officials said the funds won't be released until the U.S. sees that Pakistan is more successfully addressing U.S. concerns about safe havens in the country for groups including the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban and has been blamed for some of Afghanistan's worst attacks. The officials weren't authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity. But Pakistan has long maintained that its purported Taliban ties and tolerance of extremists groups are overblown, arguing it is already doing its best to help the U.S. stabilize Afghanistan. And American officials wouldn't describe any specific steps they were demanding that Pakistan take, nor would they say whether they'd even communicated such steps privately to the Pakistanis. The vague nature of the U.S. demands on Pakistan, coupled with the split-the-difference approach of putting the promised funds aside indefinitely, suggested the Trump administration was still struggling to settle on its Pakistan policy even after the president unveiled it with fanfare in a prime-time address. On Afghanistan, too, the plan is a work in progress, with Pentagon officials still determining a final number for how many more U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan. "This is symbolic more than significant, on both sides," said Ambassador Jim Jeffries, a former longtime diplomat now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The Pakistanis will push the usual buttons of protests and complaints and diplomatic anger, but they will also think, 'Boy, what else will Trump do?'" Islamabad has already reacted angrily to Trump's allegation that the country harbors extremists, with the country's lower house of parliament passing a resolution this week denouncing his claim. Security analyst have also warned that isolating Pakistan could lead it to seek closer ties with Russia, Iran and China rival powers whose influence in the region is a longstanding concern for the U.S. The U.S. has sought before to use aid to Pakistan as leverage to secure its cooperation on Afghanistan, previously withholding Coalition Support Funds. To Pakistan's dismay, Trump has also dangled the possibility of bringing India Pakistan's archenemy deeper into the Afghanistan process unless Pakistan is more cooperative. Pakistan has fought for years with the Pakistani Taliban and homegrown extremists, but at the same time has tolerated the Afghan Taliban and the related Haqqani network. It's widely accepted that Afghanistan's Taliban leaders are living in Pakistan and that Pakistani hospitals treat the group's wounded. ___ Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP A North Carolina man allegedly attempted to elude police on Wednesday by diving into the ocean and swimming away -- but unknowingly he was just feet away from a shark while trying the brazen escape. Zachary Kingsbury, 20, was pulled over for a traffic stop just before 5 p.m. in Surf City, according to WECT. He allegedly tried to escape when officers spotted illegal contraband inside the vehicle and asked him to exit the car. Kingsbury jumped into the ocean and began swimming away, leading to an hours-long standoff, officials said. Within an hour, Kingsbury was reportedly 4,000 feet from the shore, and the Surf City Police Department launched a drone to track the escapee. "At that point, the operation became a rescue operation," police said in a statement. But as police were trying to save Kingsbury, they noticed a shark swimming near the man, drone footage showed. Police were able to nab Kingsbury about 7:45 p.m., according to the Charlotte Observer. "I wouldve drowned after 10 minutes...dudes an animal," a witness wrote in a Facebook post. Kingsbury was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, methamphetamine, and possession of marijuana of up to a half an ounce. The school system in Austin, the capital city of Texas, faces a potential crisis as thousands of Harvey evacuees arriving from the Houston area look to enroll their children in Austin's schools. Austin school district Superintendent Paul Cruz and Austin Mayor Steve Adler have scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning to address how the district plans to accommodate students displaced from Houston, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Although the exact number of incoming students remains unclear, school leaders have said they are anticipating thousands. Monday was supposed to be the first day of class for many schools in Texas but because of the flooding and other damage caused by Harvey, more than 160 public school districts and 30 charter schools were closed, the New York Times reported. Houston is the states largest school district and the seventh largest in the nation, with about 215,000 students enrolled -- most of them from low-income families. Some schools hope to reopen by Tuesday, although damage to school buildings has yet to be assessed. Students whose families fled from Houston will be able to attend schools in the areas to which they relocated because of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law that took effect in 1987, the American-Statesman reported. Issues with which the Austin district expects to deal in the coming weeks include overcrowding and a lack of funding. Meanwhile, at least four school districts in south Texas -- Port Aransas, Ingleside, Skidmore-Tynan and Seashore Charter -- are closed indefinitely as the region deals with the impact of Harvey. A Tennessee police officer has shot an armed person getting out of a car after a chase connected to a prior shooting. WMC-TV quotes the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as saying that Ripley police officers tracked down and followed a vehicle Wednesday evening that was believed to be connected to an earlier shooting. The bureau said in a news release that a car stopped, three armed people got out, and the situation escalated, ending with an officer shooting one of the people. It didn't elaborate. The person who was shot was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was arrested in connection with the earlier shooting. The bureau will investigate the police shooting, as is customary. ___ Information from: WMC-TV, http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/ Authorities on Tuesday prevented a potentially deadly incident when they rescued a toddler who was left in a hot car outside a California Target store. Officers were called to the Target parking lot in Ontario after several people noticed a child in a car without the engine running just after 6 p.m., KTLA reported. The windows were "slightly" rolled down, but temperatures had reached 106 degrees during the day. Officers found the 2-year-old girl "sweating heavily and in distress" and they forced their way into the car. FLORIDA MOM ACCUSED OF OVERDOSING WHILE DRIVING TODDLER TO PRESCHOOL The girl's mother, identified as Samar Mansour Mari, 31, was arrested after she returned to the vehicle. She allegedly left her daughter in the car for 15 minutes as she went into the store to pick up items, KNBC reported. "She realized she made a poor decision when she saw officers on the scene," Ontario Police Department Det. Melissa Ramirez said. She faces a charge of suspicion of cruelty to a child. A Turkish businessman sought by the United States on allegations he sold equipment to Iran's military in violation of sanctions asked a Romanian court on Thursday to free him from arrest. The businessman, Tavan Resit, owns a Turkish-based company, Ramor Group, which the U.S. Treasury Department alleges provided marine power equipment to Iran's navy. He was arrested June 8 in Romania, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. officials. His lawyer, Catalin Predoiu, a former Romanian justice minister, said he went to Romania to deny any wrongdoing to the Americans. Predoiu asked a court to transfer him to house arrest due to ill health. He also said that Romanian officials did not have a copy of the U.S. arrest warrant, as is required in extradition cases. He claimed his client had not broken Romanian or Turkish laws. Resit has said the case concerns two yacht motors he sold to Iranians which can be used for military purposes. Another lawyer, Mihai Mares, said a U.S. compliance officer in February approved the equipment that Resit's company was intending to export. On July 18, the U.S. Treasury Department put Resit on a list of people and groups that allegedly aided Iran's military or its elite Revolutionary Guard. The Romanian court will rule later Thursday or Friday on whether to release him from arrest. A hearing on his possible extradition has been set for Sept. 21. Much of the western United States is in the midst of an extended period of poor air quality, increasing drought conditions and abundant wildfire activity all of which can be at least partially blamed on the recent record-breaking heat. As an area of high pressure builds in the West this weekend and into next week, heat will build as well, said AccuWeather meteorologist Ryan Adamson. This strong area of high pressure will promote mostly dry weather as well. In downtown Los Angeles, August high temperatures rarely stray out of the mid-80s. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, however, the mercury soared into the 90s. Widespread temperatures over 100 are likely to continue in the valleys of California and move up into southern Oregon, said Adamson. Since average high temperatures usually fall through September, these conditions will become especially unusual for this time of year. By early next week, as the ridge builds northward, temperatures may approach 100 degrees as far north as Portland, Adamson said. There, Labor Day forecasts usually fall closer to 80 F. This weather pattern will heighten several other heat-related threats as well. In the Northwest, wildfire smoke inundating the region from both local fires and those in western Canada have resulted in several periods of dangerously poor air quality. Unfortunately, there is little one can do to deter wildfires. Spotty storms in the Rockies and Sierra will bring little rain and lightning could spark new wildfires, Adamson said. Residents and tourists in the western U.S. can expect to continue dealing with extreme heat and its impacts through at least the middle of next week. Japans United Nations ambassador told reporters today that a new U.S.-backed resolution could be in the works to further isolate North Korea, following a resounding Security Council condemnation last night of North Koreas latest missile launch over Japan. Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, along with her Japanese counterpart, had called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to condemn North Korea for its firing of a missile over Japan earlier this week. The result was a unanimous condemnation of North Koreas missile launch and demands for it to obey Security Council resolutions in the form of a Presidential Statement that was passed last night. The world is united against North Korea. There is no doubt about that it is time to recognize the danger they are putting themselves in, Haley told the Security Council late last night. The U.S. will not allow their lawlessness to continue and the rest of the world is with us, she said. Haleys attempt to get a quick condemnation through the Security Council was praised by one Security Council diplomat who said it was a bold throw of the dice by Nikki Haley to try and get it agreed, and succeeded in getting it agreed. A spokesperson from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations told Fox News that the United States is not currently working on a new resolution on North Korea, but Japans U.N. ambassador Koro Bessho seemed to suggest new solutions were in the works. I think thats my understanding, but youd have to ask her about it, he told reporters when asked if the U.S. was going to go ahead and work on a new resolution. The U.S. is usually the penholder for North Korea resolutions and would be expected to negotiate with China and other members of the Security Council if there was a new resolution. Bessho said he would discuss any new ideas for sanctions with the U.S. As far as the drafting itself is concerned, of course the penholder is the United States, but we would obviously like to discuss it with the United States, wed like to give some ideas, if we have any new ideas, he said. The latest of seven sanction-specific resolutions on North Korea was passed earlier this month and targeted some of the most profitable sectors of Pyongyangs economy. The U.S.-sponsored resolution was supported by all 15 members of the Security Council and sanctioned the Hermit Kingdoms coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, seafood and capped the number of foreign laborers. Experts estimate the new sectors being sanctioned would cost the North Korean economy $1 billion out of the $3 billion it gets annually from its exports for the aforementioned sectors. We think that the time is right to consider further constraints on the DPRK regime, given that the constraints that we have put in place, so far, have clearly not yet got them to change course, Britains U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters. Rycroft said one area would be to build upon the cap on foreign laborers, saying: We could do more to prevent the flow of money coming into the DPRK from North Korean nationals who are working abroad. Experts are worried that North Korea could be getting ready for another nuclear weapons test in early September when it celebrates its founding on September 9. Barcelona officials emphatically denied a newspaper report claiming United States anti-terrorism officials warned them of a planned attack in the citys busy tourist center, which ultimately occurred earlier this month -- but Spanish authorities did acknowledge receiving other tips from sources they didn't deem credible. Catalan regional interior chief Joaquim Forn said Thursday regional police were not warned by the CIA or the National Counterterrorism Center that an attack was imminent on Las Ramblas, the Barcelona tourist district, adding that such warnings would be made through state channels. He said other warnings they received about possible attacks throughout the city were not related to the Aug. 17 van attack that left 14 dead and dozens injured. One other person was stabbed to death by the Barcelona attacker as he fled. Another attack in nearby Cambrils left 1 dead. Barcelona-based El Periodico newspaper reported Thursday morning that the U.S. sent a warning May 25 to regional police, specifically mentioning an attack on Las Ramblas. The alleged warning read: "<>" Forn slammed the report as irresponsible and claimed the newspaper was trying to discredit the work of regional security forces los Mossos dEsquadra. The document is a montage that the director of the newspaper acknowledges, made through information he says he has received, he said. For us, this is a very serious event. The Mossos receive dozens of terror warnings and all are contrasted to learn the credibility they might have. On Twitter, the alleged warning was also slammed by the likes of WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange, who said it appeared to be modified or fabricated. The use of Spanish language quote marks <<, >> in an English CIA report is very suspicious, he wrote. Wikileaks added the use of ISIS, which is used by the media, instead of ISIL, which has largely been used by intelligence forces, and the Spanish-language spelling of Irak, instead of Iraq, also made the group doubt the authenticity of the document. WikiLeaks then tweeted the newspaper's editor admitted to creating the document, saying it is "a transcription of what was told to them over the phone." The U.S. embassy in Madrid said it could not comment on intelligence issues. The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 British Prime Minister Theresa May has visited a Japanese warship ahead of a summit with her Japanese counterpart. May boarded the Izumo on Thursday at a Japanese naval base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. She is also going to attend a meeting of Japan's National Security Council before her talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (SHIN'-zoh AH'-bay). The British leader is on the second day of a three-day visit to Japan that is expected to focus on Brexit, trade and security. She and Abe also met Wednesday after her arrival in Kyoto. The Japan side said that the two agreed to urge China to step up pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear weapons development. Three-year-old Noah is a superfan of Disneys mega-hit Frozen. His mother, Haley McLean-Glass, says her son is the biggest Elsa fan in the world and just loves to dress up as the title character. This is why she wanted to give him an early Christmas present by booking a special Princess for a Day experience at Disneyland Paris. It didnt work out as planned. I knew that there would be NOTHING he'd love more than to get to wear a pretty dress, put make up on like Mummy does and have his photo taken being one of his beloved Disney Princesses, McLean-Glass, of Devon, England, wrote in an open letter on her blog, called Sparkles and Stretchmarks." The amusement park denied her request saying it was not possible to book Princess for a Day for a boy. So let me get this straight...my son, who fell in love with the concept of Disney Princesses at Disneyland, is not allowed to have the same experiences as the little girls who visit you simply because Hes a boy? she wrote. The Disneyland Paris websites description of the package is: Grant every little girls wish with a real Princess make-up and hair-styling session; a fairytale transformation theyll treasure forever. McLean-Glass said she was devastated to receive the email. I was so angry, I literally couldnt stop shaking for half an hour afterwards I was just so shocked, she told ITV. I mean, I'm his mother, and if Im okay with him doing it, who are Disney to tell me that he cant do that? She added: I just think that its unfair. I mean if there was an activity such as a pirate dress up or a Spider-Man event, little girls would be allowed to do it. If anyone told a little girl that she couldnt do that there would be absolute uproar. But I just dont understand why its different for a boy. Disneyland Paris has apologized to McClean-Glass, saying the Princess for the Day package is available to all children ages 3-to-12. An isolated incident, the cast members response is not reflective of any policy or belief held here at Disneyland Paris, a spokesperson told ITV in a statement. Diversity is near and dear to our hearts and we want to make sure that all our guests enjoy their experience at our resort. It continued: We are going to ensure this does not happen again. Of course, both boys and girls are welcome to enjoy the Princess for a Day experience in addition to all our other special activities. The European Jewish Congress has expressed "grave concerns" over what it says is a rise in anti-Semitism in Poland and a "deteriorating relationship between the Polish government and the Jewish community." The Brussels-based organization says no Polish government minister has met with leaders of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland, the officially recognized Jewish community, for around a year amid the rise in anti-Semitic incidents. The group's president, Moshe Kantor, said that "there has been a distinct normalization of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia in Poland recently and we hope that the Polish government will stem this hate and act forcefully against it." Jewish leaders wrote to ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski in early August with their concerns, but didn't receive an answer or a meeting with him. Turkey's state news agency says an explosion in western Turkey has injured seven people. The Anadolu Agency said the explosion took place Thursday morning and targeted a bus that was carrying prison personnel in western Izmir province. Izmir governor Erol Ayyildiz said one person was hospitalized but none of the injuries were life threatening, according to the agency. The private Dogan news agency reported that a bomb in a garbage container was remotely detonated on the prison bus route. Turkey has been hit by a string of attacks blamed on the Islamic State group and outlawed Kurdish militants in the past two years, as the country combats numerous security threats. A German border region is preparing to hand out potassium iodide tablets to residents who want them in case of an accident at a nuclear power plant in Belgium that has caused friction between the two countries. Local officials in the Aachen area received permission from the regional government to distribute the tablets as a precaution amid longstanding concerns in Germany over the safety of the Tihange plant, less than 70 kilometers (43 miles) away. They're meant to prevent thyroid cancer in case of radioactive contamination. From Friday through Nov. 15, people under 46 can apply online for a coupon for the iodine tablets, which they can pick up free at pharmacies. Germany plans to switch off all its nuclear reactors by 2022 and already has shut its oldest plants. The US and UK blanketed Germany with at least 1.3 million tons of bombs during World War II, and as much as 10% of that never exploded, with the Smithsonian reporting in 2016 that more than 2,000 tons of unexploded munitions are found in the country annually. That would make the discovery of an unexploded bomb in Frankfurt relatively unsurprisingif not for its sheer size. The 2-ton bomb is an HC 4000 and has the ability to impact buildings more than half a mile away, hence its nickname, per the Local: "Wohnblockknacker," or "blockbuster." Its discovery has spurred what Deutsche Welle reports is the biggest evacuation since the end of WWII: Some 70,000 people, or roughly 10% of the city's population, will need to leave their Frankfurt homes on Sunday. "Due to the large size of the bomb, extensive evacuation measures must be taken," the Local quotes police as saying. The bomb was uncovered Tuesday during construction work on Wismarer Strasse, which is near the city center, reports the AFP; the German Federal Bank and two hospitals fall within the evacuation area. The previous largest evacuation occurred last Christmas Day in Augsburg, when more than 54,000 had to evacuate. The Smithsonian describes German bomb-disposal squads as "among the busiest in the world," and notes it can be a deadly occupation: 11 bomb technicians lost their lives between 2000 and 2016. (This prison was evacuated this summer after a 500-pound bomb was found.) This article originally appeared on Newser: Germany Orders Biggest Evacuation Since WWII The man who London authorities said deliberately drove into police officers near Buckingham Palace last week while carrying a 4-foot sword and reportedly yelling Allahu Akbar was charged with terrorism offenses Thursday. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, of Luton was charged with engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism, London police announced. He is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later Thursday. Choudhury was detained Friday night after he allegedly drove at a police van near Queen Elizabeth IIs London residence, one of the citys top tourist attractions. After he was stopped, the man reached for a 4-foot sword, officials said. Police said the man repeatedly yelled Allahu Akbar, which means God is Great in Arabic. Three London police officers were slightly injured during Choudhury's arrest. A second man, 30, was arrested on Sunday in connection to the incident. No immediate information on his arrest has been released. British media reported no member of the royal family was at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A man faces trial in Norway after he was charged with fighting alongside the Islamic State group in Syria. Norwegian news agency NTB says the man, aged 33, was charged with violating anti-terror laws that carry up to ten years in prison. NTB said Thursday that the defendant, who was not named, has denied the charges. The agency said the man traveled to Syria in November 2014 and left April 30, 2016, for Turkey, where he was arrested and eventually extradited to Norway. His trial is set to start on Oct. 2 in Oslo. No one with the Norwegian prosecution authorities was immediately reachable for comment. Russia warned the United States against strengthening sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday, saying such a move could be "counterproductive and dangerous" -- even as Kim Jong Un's rogue regime vows to test launch more intercontinental ballistic missiles despite international condemnation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued the message during a Wednesday telephone conversation with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that focused on North Korea. Lavrov stressed Russia believed imposing more sanctions to pressure Pyongyang to end its missile program was "counterproductive and dangerous." Lavrov also said the U.S. taking military action against the rogue regime could cause "unpredictable consequences." KIM JONG UN CALLED MISSILE LAUNCH 'MEANINGFUL PRELUDE' TO CONTAINING GUAM, NORTH KOREA SAYS Trump declared in a tweet on Wednesday further talks with North Korea were "not the answer" and criticized alleged "extortion" payments made by the U.S. to the regime in the past. "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Trump wrote. Kim Jong Un's regime, allegedly enraged by U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises earlier this month, fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. Recent statements from U.S. and North Korean leaders have been relatively tame by the standards of the bombastic threats exchanged earlier in the summer. NORTH KOREAS LATEST PROPAGANDA PUTS TRUMP IN CEMETERY The president vowed to rain down "fire and fury" on the communist country three weeks ago if it did not stop threatening the U.S. In response, North Korea indicated it intended to attack Guam, a U.S. territory and the home to key U.S. military bases. Trump tweeted a plan for U.S. military action was "locked and loaded." WHERE IS GUAM AND WHY WOULD NORTH KOREA ATTACK IT? North Korea eventually pulled back its "plan" to launch the missiles toward Guam, though leader Kim Jong Un called Tuesday's launch a "meaningful prelude" to eventually containing the U.S. territory. Fox News' Rich Edson contributed to this report. The defense ministers of Sweden and Denmark say they would boost their military cooperation to counter the threat of Russian military buildup, cyberattacks and false news. Peter Hultqvist and Claus Hjort Frederiksen said in a joint statement titled "Russian fake news: A danger to our countries" that misinformation from Russia made their nations "increasingly unsafe." They said Thursday they would increase hybrid warfare cooperation, but stopped short of giving details. The two ministers from the neighboring Scandinavian countries cited an increased presence of Russian military vessels in the nearby Baltic Sea region, which has also seen several reports of airspace violations by Russian military aircraft. The U.S. military flew two B-1B supersonic bombers and two F-35 fighter jets over South Korea on Thursday in a show of force following North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, U.S. and South Korean defense officials said. The U.S. aircraft were participating in training with South Korean F-15 fighter jets, the officials said. The mission was in "direct response" to North Korea's latest test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile which flew over northern Japan, according to a statement from the U.S. Pacific Command. Such flyovers are common when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. A day after North Korea's missile test, The U.S. Defense Agency announced it had shot down a medium-range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii in a new test of its missile defense system at sea. The test came after North Korea fired the missile from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean, an aggressive test-flight over the territory of a close U.S. ally that sent a clear message of defiance as Washington and Seoul conduct war games nearby. Thursday's U.S. show of force followed a tweet from President Trump, suggesting he was growing impatient with North Korea after earlier expressions of hope for a dialogue with the communist country. On Tuesday, Washington and its allies called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, but seemed to fall short on new ideas for stopping North Korea's nuclear and missile advances, which are increasingly putting the U.S. mainland within range. "Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," Trump said after the North's missile soared almost 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) into the Pacific Ocean, triggering alert warnings in northern Japan and shudders throughout Northeast Asia. "All options are on the table." Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this story. A. Smith Bowmans master distiller is featured in a new series of Meet Virginia Makers distillers videos on YouTube to promote September as Virginia Spirits Month. Brian Prewitt gives a brief history of the company, which was the first distillery in the state following the repeal of Prohibition in the commonwealth in 1935. It moved from Northern Virginia to the Bowman Center in Spotsylvania County in 1988. The distillerys John J. Bowman Single Barrel Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey was named the Worlds Best Bourbon this year at the Worlds Whiskies Awards presented by Whiskey Magazine. Its Abraham Bowman Virginia Limited Edition Whiskey took that honor in 2016. Great spirits are made right here in Virginia, Prewitt says in the video. Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently declared September as Virginia Spirits Month. This year marks the second annual celebration, which will include promotions intended to educate consumers and travelers about Virginia distilled spirits. McAuliffe noted in a news release that Virginias distilling history dates to 1620 and includes a major whiskey-making operation by George Washington. The state has nearly 60 distilleries today, he said. Virginia is the birthplace of American spirits and with total sales of spirits topping more than $6 million last year in the commonwealth, there is no better time than September to celebrate the rich history and important economic impact of the spirits industry in Virginia, McAuliffe said in a news release. The Virginia Distillers Association has partnered with the Virginia Tourism Corporation and Virginia ABC to promote Virginia Spirits Month, and is offering a complimentary Virginia is for Lovers trucker hat with the purchase of any bottle of Virginia spirits at select Virginia ABC stores while supplies last. There will also be a series of free tastings around the state, including one at the ABC store at 4185 Plank Road in Spotsylvania County on Friday, Sept. 1, and another at the ABC at 507 William St. in Fredericksburg on Saturday, Sept. 2. The Spotsylvania location will offer samples of George Bowman Colonial Era Dark Caribbean Rum, Deep Run Small Batch Virginia Vodka and Sunset Hills Small Batch Virginia Gin. All three are made at A. Smith Bowman. The Fredericksburg store will provide samples of Beach Fuzz Vodka by one of the states newer distilleries, Beach Vodka in Virginia Beach. The spirits industry has an important impact on Virginias economy. By using local raw materials, such as corn, wheat, barley and rye, the states spirits industry also plays an important role in the agricultural industry. One of the products that we did used rye grown by a farmer not 30 minutes from the distillery, Prewitt says in the video about A. Smith Bowman. In another of the Meet Virginia Makers videos, Chrystal Durkee says that her parents Chuck and Jeanette Miller and her husband Jay Durkee look for local sources of grain for the whiskies and sugar for the rum that they produce at Belmont Farm Distillery in Culpeper County. Every single product, they want to incorporate a piece of Virginia into it, she says. Virginia distillers also often rely on other Virginia value-added producers through sourcing finishing components for their products, such as used wine, cider and beer barrels. They also donate the leftover mash to local farmers to feed livestock. By ROB HEDELT THE FREE LANCE-STAR ANNABELLE: CREATION (R) 2.25 STARS This origin story of the creepy Annabelle doll brings the scares, but its more than a little disappointing to have the whole story focused on an evil demon, and the doll it possesses, terrorizing a group of orphan girls. Rated R for horror violence and terror. 109 min. [MC, RF] BABY DRIVER (R) 3.25 STARS Director Edgar Wright takes an otherwise ordinary story about a getaway driver and blends music and action in a way that creates flashes of brilliance. Its a shame he reverts to violence and a shoot-em-up to end it. Rated R for violence and language throughout. 113 min. [MC] THE BIG SICK (R) 3.25 STARS This funny and sweet story of love and cultural differences is a nice change of pace in a summer movie season replete with explosions and superheroes, focusing on a comic from Pakistan trying to connect with an American girl and her family. Rated R for language including some sexual references. 120 minutes. [RF] BIRTH OF THE DRAGON (PG-13) NR Set in 1960s San Francisco, this epic fight film draws inspiration from the showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and master Wong Jack Man. With Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng. Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence, language and thematic elements. 103 min. [RF] CARS 3 (G) 2.75 STARS Restarting the franchise, this latest go-around with Lightning McQueen and friends works to add some horsepower to the Pixar series, but lacks the creativity and wild fun of the first two. Rated G. 109 min. [RF] THE DARK TOWER (PG-13) 2 STARS Barely adequate is not the term a movie studio wants describing a new film, but its right on the mark for this treatment of Stephen Kings tale of the epic battle between a dark wizard and a gunslinger who fights the good fight. Rated PG-13 for thematic material including sequences of gun violence and action. 95 min. [PV] DESPICABLE ME 3 (PG) 2.5 STARS This third film in the series isnt inspired, but has its share of humorous moments linked by the story of Grus battle with the evil Balthazar Bratt. The Minions save the day, with antics that are a hoot. Rated PG for action, rude humor. 90 min. [MC, PV, RF] DETROIT (R) 3.25 STARS Using interviews with people who were there and a raft of documentary footage, this film is director Kathryn Bigelows powerful take on what happened when three black men were killed by a trio of policemen. Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language. 143 min. [PV] DUNKIRK (PG-13) 3.25 STARS Director Christopher Nolan uses a compelling mix of big, sweeping vistas and small, personal moments to convey the courage and hopelessness felt by the soldiers trapped at Dunkirk during World War II. Its only drawback: a confusing tactic of bouncing back and forth in time. Rated PG-13 for intense war experience and some language. 106 min. [PV, RF]. THE EMOJI MOVIE (PG) 1 STAR A blatant attempt to wrangle money out of childrens fascination with cell phones, this weak animated film fails at every level. Rated PG for rude humor. 86 min. [MC, RF] GIRLS TRIP (R) 2.75 STARS This story of girlfriends taking off on a trip to be a little wild works so much better than the similar 2017 movie Rough Night thanks to a capable cast and a funny script. Finding that fine line between outrageous and tawdry is a tough thing to do, and this girls-going-wild story walks it well. Rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, pervasive language, brief graphic nudity, and drug material. 137 min. [PV, RF] THE GLASS CASTLE (PG-13) 3.5 STARS A talented cast and a focus on a universal themea childs devotion to a parentmakes for an emotional and heartfelt film in this tale of one womans strange upbringing with vagabond parents. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content involving family dysfunction, and for some language and smoking. 127 min. [RF] GOOD TIME (R) NR A bank robber finds himself unable to evade those who are looking for him. With Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Taliah Webster. Rated R for language throughout, violence, drug use and sexual content. 100 min. [RF] THE HITMANS BODYGUARD (R) 2 STARS Though stars Ryan Reynolds and Samuel T. Jackson have fun in this film about a hit man and his bodyguard, the over-the-top action makes it little more than a bromance diversion. Rated R for strong violence and language throughout. 118 min. [MC, PV, RF] KIDNAP (R) 2 STARS Not even the talented Halle Berry can save this film about a mother who is the last parent a pair of kidnappers should ever have stolen a child from. Whats essentially one long chase film is painful to watch. Rated R for violence and peril. 81 min. [MC, RF] 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 makes it feel more like farce than the comic heist film its trying to be. Rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments. 119 min. [MC, PV] THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE (PG) 2 STARS With frenetic animation that seems to be trying to fill the void, this animated film about animals losing their park home to a greedy mayor and an amusement park is weak stuff. Rated PG for action and some rude humor. 91 min. [MC, PV] SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (PG-13) 3 STARS Marvel Studios takes a gamble that pays off in a big way in this reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, making the focus more on Peter Parker and his life in high school than his occasional forays as a web-slinger. A solid villain (Michael Keaton as Vulture) and neat action sequences help make it work. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments. 133 min. [PV, RF] WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (PG-13) 3 STARS For fans of this series, this is as close to a home run as you can get, using powerful action and apes amazingly human. For those not drawn to this sort of science fiction, the brutal battles and pantomiming apes may be a stretch too far. Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images. 139 min. [MC, RF] WIND RIVER (R) 3.5 STARS 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 a young woman has been found dead, reminding a key character of a similar loss. Rated R for strong violence, a rape, disturbing images, and language. 107 min. [PV] WONDER WOMAN (PG-13) 3.5 STARS Mixing beauty, strength and grace, Gal Gadot is such an epitome of a superhero that this comic book creation wings its way to success. From the origin story to a battle with the god of war during World War I, this just works. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content. 141 minutes. [MC, PV]Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415 Nwolfe35 said: I'm saying THESE comparisons are bad because you are attempting to compare apples to oranges. Commutation of a sentence is not the same thing as a pardon. Releasing someone from prison because a bipartisan bill became law that retroactively reduced a sentence is not a pardon Granting Clemency is not the same thing as a Pardon The only example I've heard that compares is when Clinton pardoned Marc Rich and in that case the RW went ballistic! Now? They're praising Trump. Click to expand... ClemencyWhile clemency and pardon are not interchangeable, a pardon is a form of clemency. ... A clemency can come in the form of a pardon, which is forgiveness of a sentence, a commutation, which is reduction of a sentence, or a reprieve, which is a temporary putting off of punishment while the situation is analyzed further.Pardons and commutations signed on President Clinton's final day in officeClinton issued 140 pardons as well as several commutations on his last day of office, January 20, 2001.[17][18] When a sentence is commuted, the conviction remains intact; however, the sentence can be altered in a number of ways.Peter MacDonald had been sentenced to 14 years at a Federal Prison in Texas for fraud, extortion, inciting riots, bribery, and corruption stemming from the Navajo purchase of the Big Boquillas Ranch in Northwestern Arizona. On the day before President Clinton left office, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy lobbied the White House to commute the sentence of the former leader of the Navajo Nation. MacDonald's sentence was commuted after he served 10 years.Carlos Vignali had his sentence for cocaine trafficking commuted, after serving 6 of 15 years in federal prison.Almon Glenn Braswell was pardoned of his 1983 mail fraud and perjury convictions.[19] In 1998 he was under federal investigation for money laundering and tax evasion charges.[20] Braswell and Carlos Vignali each paid approximately $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective cases for clemency. Hugh Rodham returned the payments after they were disclosed to the public.[21][22] Braswell would later invoke the Fifth Amendment at a Senate Committee hearing in 2001, when questioned about allegations of his having systematically defrauded senior citizens of millions of dollars.[23]Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg, members of the radical Weather Underground organization, both had sentences for weapons and explosives charges commuted: Evans served 16 years of her 40-year sentence, and Rosenberg served 16 of her 58 years.[24][25]Marc Rich, a fugitive who had fled the U.S. during his prosecution, was residing in Switzerland. Rich owed $48 million in taxes and was charged with 51 counts of tax fraud, was pardoned of tax evasion. He was required to pay a $1 million fine and waive any use of the pardon as a defense against any future civil charges that were filed against him in the same case. Critics complained that Denise Eisenberg Rich, his former wife, had made substantial donations to both the Clinton library and to Mrs. Clinton's senate campaign. According to Paul Volcker's independent investigation of Iraqi Oil-for-Food kickback schemes, Marc Rich was a middleman for several suspect Iraqi oil deals involving over 4 million barrels (640,000 m3) of oil.[26] Longtime Clinton supporters and Democratic leaders such as former President Jimmy Carter, James Carville and Terry McAuliffe, were all critical of the Clinton pardon. Carter said the pardons were "disgraceful."[27]Susan McDougal, who had already completed her sentence, was pardoned for her role in the Whitewater scandal. McDougal had served the maximum possible 18 months, including eight in solitary confinement, on contempt charges for refusing to testify about Clinton's role.Dan Rostenkowski, a former Democratic Congressman from Illinois and Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee, was pardoned for his role in the Congressional Post Office scandal. Rostenkowski had served 13 months of a 17-month sentence before being released in 1997.[28] After his release from prison, Clinton granted him a pardon in December 2000.[29][30]Mel Reynolds, a Democratic Congressman from Illinois, was convicted of bank fraud, 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice, and solicitation of child ***********. His sentence was commuted on the bank fraud charge and he was allowed to serve the final months under the auspices of a halfway house. Reynolds had served his entire sentence on child sex abuse charges before the commutation of the later convictions.Patty Hearst, who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. After being isolated and threatened with death, she became supportive of their cause, making propaganda announcements for them and taking part in illegal activities. After her arrest in 1975, she was found guilty of bank robbery. Her conviction and long prison sentence were widely seen as unjust, but the procedural correctness of her trial was upheld by the courts. Hearst's sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.[31]Roger Clinton, the president's brother, was pardoned for drug charges after having served the entire sentence more than a decade earlier. Roger Clinton would be charged with drunk driving and disorderly conduct in an unrelated incident within a year of the pardon.[32] He was also briefly alleged to have been utilized in lobbying for the Braswell pardon, among others. However, no wrongdoing was uncovered.Harvey Weinig, a former Manhattan lawyer who was sentenced in 1996 to 11 years in prison for facilitating an extortion-kidnapping scheme and helping launder at least $19 million for the Cali cocaine cartel.[33][34]On February 18, 2001, Bill Clinton wrote a New York Times column defending the 140 pardons.[ A 22-year-old Stafford County man already charged with sexually harassing two girls and a woman at a pair of stores faces an additional charge of sexual battery involving a teenage girl at her home. The recent charges against Komeko Andreas Houston follow a string of convictions for similar offenses in Stafford, Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg. According to the Stafford Sheriffs Office, the newest charge stems from an incident on July 14. Maj. Don Lenhart said on that day Houston went to a county home of a woman he knew from grade school. A teenage girl, the sister of the woman Houston was looking for, answered the door. The girl walked onto the porch and told him her sister wasnt home, according to Lenhart. Houston told the girl his name and began talking with her. Then he pressed himself against the victim in a sexual manner, Lenhart said. The girl went back inside the home and locked the door, Lenhart said. Lenhart said the girl didnt tell her parents about the incident until Sunday. Police charged Houston with sexual battery that day. He remains incarcerated at Rappahannock Regional Jail. The July 14 incident happened before the reported run-ins two girls and a woman had with a man at the two Stafford stores. Houston was arrested on Aug. 14 and charged with three counts of assault and battery and one count of sexual battery in connection with incidents at the Target and Lowes stores on U.S. 17 in Stafford. The Target incident was reported on July 19 and the Lowes incident was reported on Aug. 2. The Target incident involved two underage girls, according to the Sheriffs Office. The girls reported that a man followed them around the store, made sexually suggestive comments and made inappropriate physical contact with them. The girls notified their parents after getting away from the man. On Aug. 2, a Lowes employee reported that a man approached her and made sexual overtures that made her uncomfortable. He later walked up behind her three different times and rubbed his crotch area against her rear end, she told authorities. The woman notified a co-worker after the man left the store. The Sheriffs Office is investigating similar incidents at the Walmart off U.S. 17 in southern Stafford in which a man got awkwardly close to girls and young women and made sexually suggestive comments. Houston has numerous convictions on similar offenses, according to court records. He was convicted of an August 2013 misdemeanor assault charge in Stafford for which he received a suspended sentence and three years probation. In March, Houston was convicted of sexual battery in Fredericksburg General District Court. He was given a one-year sentence with six months suspended for the November 2016 incident. In April, he was convicted of five counts of assault, which were originally sexual battery charges stemming from May 2016 incidents, according to Spotsylvania General District Court records. He was sentenced to five years on those charges with all but four months suspended. Anyone who has information about similar incidents is asked to call the Stafford Sheriffs Office at 540/658-4400 or Crime Solvers at 540/659-2020. Mark Bushman posted a picture of last years blizzard for his Facebook friends, telling them he looked forward to the warmer weather in Texas. Bushman, 46, was just a toddler when his family moved to the Fredericksburg region. He had lived here ever since, graduating from Courtland High School in Spotsylvania County before earning a bachelors degree at Mary Washington College. But in March, he would be relocating to Katy, Texas, just west of Houston, where the temperature rarely dips below freezing. Little did he know that last years blizzard would pale in comparison to what he and his wife, Kim, have experienced in recent days. Hurricane Harvey hit Texas Friday night and is still unfolding, already becoming one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. It also set a record for the most rainfall in the continental U.S. from a single storm, leaving much of Houston underwater. Mark Bushman said he grew especially worried Sunday, as the wind blew and rain poured, an inch every hour. His wooden backyard fence teetered and his lawn looked like a swamp. Water rushed down the road by his home. That evening, he heard a splash in the attic from a leaky roof. Nighttime was the worst. He could hear the pelting rain, but could not see the damage it was doing. We had our bags packed. I dont know where we were going to go, but , Bushman said, his sentence trailing off. Needless to say, he got quite the introduction to the Lone Star State. Im not trying to sound overly dramatic, [but] Ive never seen anything like this. Its indescribable, he said. As chance would have it, Spotsylvania resident Stephanie FunaiBushmans friend and fellow Courtland High School gradis also in Texas visiting her boyfriend, Scott Coleman. Her trip was scheduled for Aug. 229, but the hurricane left her stranded in Colemans home near Dickinson. The street behind her boyfriends backyard fence transformed into a canal, with airboats traveling down the newly formed waterway. At one point, the rising water came within less than 2 feet of Colemans front door. But it never reached the home, which sits on a cul-de-sac. The hurricane did not spare some homes nearby. Funai, 46, and her boyfriend ventured off his property for the first time Tuesday, wading past piles of soggy carpet and other damaged flooring. Cars had been abandoned in the middle of the street. Just outside Colemans home, minnows darted in the cul-de-sac, where the cold water reached Funais knees. It smelled and sounded like a beach, she recalled. Constant tornado warnings prevented them from evacuating early on, Funai said. And by the time they woke up Saturday, the neighborhood was flooded. The couple jokingly referred to Colemans home as the atoll. The only way to leave Tuesday was by boat or a truck with jacked-up wheels, said Funai, who is a therapeutic day specialist in Stafford County. Remarkably, the water had cleared enough Wednesday that the couple was able to take their first drive in days. And the sun appeared for the first time since Thursday, prompting them to dance in the yard. I never thought I would be so happy to see the sun, said Funai, who hopes to fly out Sunday. Bushman, who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said he also lucked out, apart from some leaks in the roof and a totaled fence. Meanwhile, two of the homes he unsuccessfully bid on before buying his home are now underwater. He thinks his house fared better because it was built on a higher elevation than nearby dwellings. Bushman was struck by all the boaters who volunteered to help, making Houston look like the Potomac River on the Fourth of July. He said he hates to sound cliche, but that a little bit of my faith in humanity has been restored. At the end of the day, when we need to get together, we can do it. The hurricane isnt the only thing on his mind. Bushman is scheduled to fly to Washington next week for business. He plans to extend the trip a few days to visit his family and friends back home in Fredericksburg. A Bowling Green councilwoman has been charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident at a Music on the Green concert earlier this month. Town Council member Jean Davis was charged in Caroline County General District Court on Aug. 15 and released. The complainant, Tammy Gaines, alleged that Davis assaulted her during a public concert on the Bowling Green courthouse lawn Aug. 11. Gaines is married to Town Councilman Mark Gaines and owns Magnolia Mornings, the bed-and-breakfast inn on Broaddus Avenue in Bowling Green. Davis lawyer, former Caroline County Commonwealths Attorney Harvey Latney Jr., said he did not want to comment on the case. Gaines said she was standing with her daughter and granddaughter when Davis grabbed her and pulled her aside. Gaines said she had her hands in her pockets and Davis proceeded to pull them out of her pockets several times, holding onto her wrists and yelling at her. She said Davis appeared irate as she was approaching her. She said a member of the towns Planning Commission, Armando Flores, was standing nearby, saw Davis coming toward her and told her, I have your back. Gaines said she believes Davis, who is serving her second term, was upset over a wedding business Gaines has been trying to get started at Magnolia Mornings. Gaines is a marriage commissioner, authorized by the court to perform marriages in Virginia. In November, she and her husband asked for an amendment to the town code allowing her to host small events by special use permit at the bed-and-breakfast, which is in a residential zoning district. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment and then-Councilman Daniel Webb said passing it would be beneficial for the towns economic growth. Davis called for a vote on the matter, at which point there could be no further discussion. Her motion to deny the amendment passed 42, with Vice Mayor Glenn McDearmon abstaining. Gaines said she believes Daviss opposition stems from the fact that Gaines performs same-sex marriages. Ive had numerous people in town tell me thats the reason. I have had people tell me shes told them it will never pass, Gaines said. Shes on council and on the Planning Commission, so she has a lot of pull. Gaines said she has continued to officiate small wedding ceremonies at Magnolia Mornings. She said that if she had been asked to cease through the proper channels, she would have. The town council discussed the issue of Magnolia Mornings being in violation of its zoning, as well as other zone violations in Bowling Green, at a special meeting on June 15. Mayor Jason Satterwhite told Mark Gaines at the meeting that he wanted to see Magnolia Mornings comply with its current zoning and did not want town residents to think the business is receiving special treatment because its owner is married to a member of council. At the town councils July 7 meeting, numerous citizens spoke in favor of approving a special use permit for Magnolia Mornings. Tammy Gaines said she has performed about a dozen same-sex marriages since they became legal, though not all were conducted at Magnolia Mornings. She said she has a son who is gay and the issue is dear to my heart. I got to marry my daughter at the altar and since [same-sex marriage was legalized] I could get to marry my son, she said. Love is love, it sees no color or gender. The case is scheduled to be heard Sept. 25. Fourteen hundred miles away in Culpeper, Kim Ellis was forced to sit by helplessly while her family struggled as Hurricane Harvey hammered Texas. My mother has been out of her medicine for three days, Ellis, who is the deputy clerk for the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, said Tuesday night. The worried daughter said she had called the Red Cross to try to get someone to check on her stranded mother, but had not heard back. By then the rain had pouring in Egypt, Texas, just southwest of Houston, for four days. To make matters worse, the last time she had talked to her 72-year-old mother, the water was rising in her mother's backyard Meanwhile, Ellis learned that her stepsister, caught in rising flood waters, had been rescued by boat and was OK. My sisters house is a total loss, Ellis said. Three of her daughters friends, all pregnant, were forced to wade through flooded streets with their families to get to safety. Luckily, Ellis daughter had flown to the state of Washington on Thursday for a weekend wedding and was not caught in the flood. A cousin who lives on Nassau Bay was safe in a high-rise apartment when Harvey and its torrential rains came ashore, but still he felt its impact. Both of his cars down in the parking lot were ruined, said Ellis, who grew up in the Houston area. By Wednesday night, things had improved somewhat. A lady from the Culpeper Red Cross chapter called and said that if my mother could get to a shelter they would provide her with as much of her medicine as they could, Ellis said. By then, too, her mothers electricity was back on, but the flood waters were still up in her backyard. Wednesdays task was for Ellis and her family to find a way to get her mother to a shelter. It is just crazy how much it has rained down there, Ellis said. Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin appeared before Robert Mueller's grand jury by Daniel Chaitin | Aug 30, 2017, 10:56 PM | Updated Aug 31, 2017, 12:36 AM Rinat Akhmetshin, the Russian-American lobbyist who was present at the 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Trump campaign officials, has provided evidence to a grand jury that is part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, according to multiple reports Wednesday. Sources told the Financial Times that Akhmetshin, a former Soviet army officer, testified for multiple hours on Aug. 11. "He went into the court for hours," said one person familiar with the matter. "It can't be fun in the bull's-eye." When asked to comment on the grand jury appearance, Akhmetshin told the Times, "I don't know what you're talking about ... I'm not commenting on anything." He also said he would provide "full cooperation" when necessary . May 31, 1947 August 25, 2017 Mac McConnell passed away, at the age of 70, on August 25 in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 20. He is survived by wife of 45 years, Cindy McConnell; son, Thomas and family (Karin, Katlyn, Jacob, and Carson); daughter Rachel and family (Charles, Michaela, Rebecca, and Spencer); son Shiloh and family (Monica, Melia, Ellie, Cameron, and Cahli); son, Shane and family (Jessica, Hamish and Tessa); and sisters Anna, Kim, and Georgia and their families. He was born in Ogden, Utah on May 31, 1947 to Charles and Roberta. He was raised in Sacramento, California and went to college in New York, Utah, and Oregon where he received several degrees in English, Literature, and Biology. From there he went on to teach at an international school in Iran. Upon returning stateside he continued teaching in Oregon. Mac was an owner and founder of businesses for almost 40 years culminating in the establishment of American Home and Stone in Philomath. His business reached from the Coast to the Cascades. Other entrepreneurial ventures included a feed store, chainsaw/lawn mower repair, furniture manufacture, lumber yard, builder and contractor, home center store, hot tub and spa sales, environmental investigator (toxic mold assessment and indoor air quality specialist), ranching, and property management. He was also the previous Commodore of the Newport Yacht Club and the President of the Western Belted Galloway Association. Mac always volunteered; willing to lend his heart and a helping hand all the time. He was an avid traveler, entrepreneur, rancher, aviator, diver, sailor, reader, writer, and the most dedicated father and grandfather. Mac was so well traveled to the point of his family not knowing everywhere he had been or even where he was. Some of his destinations included Ireland, Mexico, Belize, several European countries, the Middle East, and most of the states. Mac was enormous not only in stature but in his presence and his love for family and friends. His deep laugh, big strong hands, kind voice, and contagious smile were always the foundation for the strong family bond that we all share. He was a kind father and great role model, spending the last year of his life building houses for his grandkids. He was known as the grandpa taxi because between the swim meets, the taekwondo practice, recitals, and various other activities he was always their Number One Fan! He gave and gave without ever expecting anything in return. He was always available to give his time and invaluable knowledge and wisdom to anyone who was willing to receive it. A great storyteller would be an understatement. He could take you all over the world without even taking you out of town. His snuggles and his bear hugs warmed you to the core, and his eggs benedict never left you unfulfilled. He was a lover of great food and Celtic music and was a connoisseur of many ales! In lieu of flowers or donations give a hug to your family, send good thoughts to a friend, or help somebody in need. A celebration of life will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 2 at the McConnell residence at 1348 Nashville Road. Please bring your favorite dish to share and camping gear if you would like to stay for the night. Joshua David "Josh" Green, 30, of Fredericksburg passed away Friday, August 25, 2017. Josh enjoyed fishing and working on Volkswagen cars. His daughter was the light of his life. Survivors include his wife, Tiffany; daughter Averie Skye Green; parents Cindy and David Green; siblings Shannon Green (Richard), Jacob Green, Tyler Barr and Jonathan Barr; maternal grandparents Sid Barr and Susan Ayala; paternal grandmother Lois Green; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Po Green. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, September 1 at Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg. Interment will be private. Online guestbook at covenantfuneralservice.com. DONALD TRUMP staked his presidential candidacy on building a wall along the Mexican border and won. He promised repeatedly throughout the campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall, a promise he cannot enforce. So now he wants American taxpayers to foot the bill, and last week he threatened to shut down the entire government if Congress doesn't include wall funding in a debt ceiling bill that must be signed into law by Sept. 30, when the government's authorization to spend money runs out. The president issued his warning at a rally in Phoenix before a crowd that cheered wildly. I wonder how happy those same people would be if Trump were to follow through on his threat, seeing as large numbers of them, judging from the audience pictures on live TV, wouldn't receive their Social Security checks in the mail. Building the wall isn't about controlling illegal immigration; there are more effective and cheaper means to do so. And illegal immigration is at historically low rates now anyway. The peak in illegal crossings occurred between 1995 and 2000, when more than 1.6 million people were apprehended trying to enter the country illegally. Since then, the numbers have declined steadily, with a couple of upticks, and declined most dramatically after the Great Recession. In 2016, the number of people caught was about 409,000 (in the same range as the early 1970s). And the figures have dropped even more in the first six months of 2017 -- a fact Trump has repeatedly taken credit for, claiming, misleadingly, a 76 percent decline since he was elected. Trump uses immigrants as a convenient scapegoat whenever the need arises, as it did last week after widespread condemnation of his divisive and contradictory statements in the wake of the death of a woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, after a neo-Nazi drove his car into a group of people protesting a white supremacist march. It is no accident that Trump headed to Phoenix, ground zero in recent immigration battles, when the heat rose. He can always whip up a crowd by invoking Mexican "rapists" and drug dealers. No wonder some 62 percent of Americans say the president is doing more to divide the country, while 59 percent say Trump's actions and behavior have encouraged white supremacists, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Trump's threats and bullying -- especially of members of Congress in his own party -- are getting old. At some point, he must accomplish something concrete for the American people. And by "concrete," I don't mean an ugly, unnecessary barrier between the United States and our third-largest trading partner. The president has promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, reform our tax laws, get rid of counterproductive regulation and rebuild our infrastructure. So far, the only progress he's made is in the regulatory area. He cannot accomplish the rest of his agenda without Congress. That's the way our system works, a lesson he apparently missed when he went to "better schools" and was "a better student" than his critics. ("I live in a bigger, more beautiful apartment, and I live in the White House, too, which is really great," he also reminded the rallygoers.) Congress returns after the long August recess on September 5th. The debt ceiling and government funding bills are just the most pressing items on the legislative agenda. The president has spent much of last week insulting the very people he needs to move forward, blaming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan by name for failing to get anything done. But Trump has been the most feckless president in recent memory. Barack Obama assumed office with a thin resume and few accomplishments to his credit, but he managed to get important legislation passed to keep the country from slipping further into economic disaster amid a difficult and lengthy recession. Bill Clinton flailed in his first couple of years, which resulted in his party's losing the House of Representatives in the midterm election for the first time in 42 years. And Jimmy Carter surrounded himself with loyal but inexperienced White House staff members, who alienated many of their needed allies on the Hill, and was largely regarded as a failed president. But Donald Trump is even more hapless. Trump needs to stop talking about building walls and focus on building the relationships he needs within his own party. The country doesn't need a government shutdown. It needs a president interested in more than his own ego. . Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. WASHINGTON President Trump has united us, after all. He brought together the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Jews. This modern-day miracle was on display Monday, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall, 54 years to the day after the great man gave his greatest speech. There, clergy of all varieties, but mostly rabbis and black ministers, came together in common cause against the despicable anti-Semitism and racism Trump has unleashed, most conspicuously in Charlottesville. Sharpton has been a controversial figure in the Jewish community for decades, earning criticism during the Crown Heights riot in Brooklyn in 1991 and when he called a Jewish landlord in Harlem a "white interloper" before a deadly attack on the man's store in 1995. But that was long ago, and a rehabilitated Sharpton, who has privately expressed regrets to Jewish leaders for his past actions, made Jews the centerpiece of his Thousand Minister March for Justice on Monday. The civil rights leader, joined by Martin Luther King III, stopped in at a pre-march prayer session held by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and addressed the assembly of 300 rabbis, cantors and lay leaders. Sharpton told the Jews that "we could not commemorate this day and face the challenges today without standing together as Dr. King stood 54 years ago." Invoking those murdered in the Freedom Summer of 1964, he went on: "We should never forget that it was Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner that died together two Jews and a black to give us the right to vote." Sharpton spoke of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with King at Selma, and he addressed the more recent ill feelings. "We have had days good and bad, but from this day forward ... we're going to make sure we do our part to keep this family together," he said. "When we can see people in 2017 with torches in their hands, talking about 'Jews will not replace us,' it's time for us to stop praying to the cheap seats and come together." Some of the rabbis shouted "amen." Jewish leaders applauding Al Sharpton? Who knew? "Miracles out of a mess," proclaimed Reconstructionist Rabbi Malka Binah Klein of Philadelphia. It's tragic that it took Trump's bigotry and the spectacle of Charlottesville to remind Jews and African-Americans of their shared vulnerabilities. But it played out movingly at Monday's march, which was in planning long before the violence in Charlottesville. Rather than 1 million men, Sharpton asked for 1,000 ministers, and got somewhat more than that among the 3,000 who assembled. Rabbis swayed and clapped to hip-hop and gospel music. There were skullcaps of every color and size, mainline Protestant ministers in white collars and colorful shawls, black evangelicals in bright choir robes, black-robed monks, Buddhists in saffron, a Sikh in a yellow turban. There were Black Lives Matter signs and posters with verses of scripture. As if by way of greeting, a white-and-green chopper from the Marine One fleet buzzed low over the crowd during the opening prayer. Speaker after speaker, regardless of color or creed, denounced the person who rides in that helicopter, and more than one faulted Jerry Falwell Jr. and other white evangelicals for the "sin of silence" in the face of the hatred Trump has stirred. A cantor led the crowd in the Hebrew song "Hine Ma Tov" how good it is for brothers to live as one. A black Jewish woman in a tallit a Jewish prayer shawl spoke, and a rabbi blew a shofar. A black Catholic nun spoke. "God's majestic creation," observed Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, head of the Religious Action Center. From the Nazis in Charlottesville, Pesner said, "we learned that anti-Semitism and white supremacism are intertwined. They are dual threats that call us to act and confront them together and directly." African-Americans responded with cries of "Yes!" and "All right!" to the rabbi's preaching. Jonah Geffen, a conservative rabbi from New York, in white robe and tallit, liked what he heard from Sharpton. He pronounced him "a totally different man" from the Sharpton of old. Joining Sharpton's march was Jesse Jackson, of "Hymietown" fame. But there is no time to dwell on old slights when neo-Nazis are at the door. "We don't have a person to lose," King told the Jews at their prayer meeting Monday morning. "We are brothers and sisters." The Trump administration this week said it was making it easier for police departments across the nation to get access to military surplus gear. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the announcement Monday at the national convention of the Fraternal Order of Police. Members of the organization cheered the news and, in fact, the group endorsed President Donald Trump during his campaign after he promised to revive a Pentagon program that makes the surplus gear available to law enforcement agencies across the nation. Sessions and other administration officials argued that they were acting to make lifesaving gear available to police officers across the nation. And they criticized efforts by President Barack Obama to reform the Pentagon program: "We will not put superficial concerns above public safety," Sessions said. But it's worth taking a deeper look at what the Pentagon program actually made available to law-enforcement agencies and what the Obama reforms did. It's also worth pondering the differences between the military and police agencies and wondering if it's a good idea to blur the boundaries. Obama overhauled the Pentagon program in October 2015, about a year after the protests in Ferguson, Missouri focused national attention on the growing militarization of local law-enforcement agencies. In Ferguson and other cities across the nation, protesters faced off against military vehicles and officers dressed in riot gear. The implication this week from Sessions was that the Obama administration had made it impossible for police agencies to access any military surplus equipment. But that's not true: Instead, an executive order from Obama outlined two different categories of military equipment, "prohibited equipment" and "controlled equipment." The prohibited list was relatively short and included items such as bayonets, grenade launchers and armored vehicles stuff that would be nice to have if you were going to war against another nation, but perhaps not as useful for police departments charged with keeping the peace in their communities. The second category, "controlled equipment," was broader and contained items such as Humvees, riot helmets, battering rams, drones and helicopters, according to a story published on the news site Slate. These items still were available to local agencies, but the administration asked those agencies to draw up guidelines to ensure that they would be used safely, a requirement that frankly does not seem unreasonable. Before we proceed any further, let us make this point: We have no objection to police departments accessing military equipment if the goal is help ensure the safety of their officers. If, for example, a department wants an armored vehicle to help keep officers out of harm's way during a hostage situation and has clear and transparent guidelines in place for when and how to use that vehicle that might be appropriate. But we find it difficult to imagine a situation in which police officers would require the use of a bayonet or a grenade launcher to conduct their business. In other words, the Obama administration's guidelines did not strike us as being unreasonable. But rolling back those guidelines will play well among Trump's supporters. But here's the point that tends to get lost in all of this: It's a mistake to treat police departments as extensions of the military. Their missions are fundamentally different. In fact, the push to militarize law enforcement agencies runs the real risk of undercutting efforts to develop the culture of community policing that so many law enforcement agencies have worked so long to develop. We want to protect law officers to the fullest extent possible as they go about their essential and often dangerous duties. But anything that runs the risk of undercutting the essential trust between those agencies and the communities they serve does not help to keep officers safe. (mm) A Corvallis man previously convicted for sexual abuse is facing a new charge of attempted sodomy, according to court documents. Tyler Almon Winn is accused of attempting, by forcible compulsion, to engage in deviate sexual intercourse with the alleged adult victim, according to a charging document filed Aug. 21 in Benton County Circuit Court. The alleged crime happened on that date, the document states. According to court records, authorities in Benton County charged Winn in September 2012 with third-degree sexual abuse for subjecting a woman who did not give consent to sexual contact. A jury found Winn guilty in October 2013 of the charge, court records show. A judge sentenced Winn to 60 days in jail and 18 months on supervised probation, according to the records. Court records show Winn received fines in both 2014 and 2015 for failing to report as a sex offender. Sex offenders in Oregon must report, in person, to law enforcement annually, according to the Oregon State Police. Winn was charged again in March of this year for failing to report as a sex offender. That charge is pending. Corvallis residents offered a warm welcome Wednesday night to a new nonprofit in town, the Post Carbon Institute. A standing-room-only crowd of more than 150 people packed the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library for a talk on climate resilience from Post Carbon Institute senior fellow Richard Heinberg. Heinberg, the author of 13 books on the subject, spoke for more than 40 minutes, accompanied by a slide show. Heinbergs message was sobering he noted the mistakes that those battling climate change have made while also emphasizing how difficult the path forward likely will be. Heinberg issued a huge mea culpa on the issue of peak oil, which just did not peak when experts said it would. Heinberg cited research from French petroleum engineer Jean Laherrere, who predicted in 2002 that even unconventional oil the harder to extract deposits such as tar sands and those which requires fracking would be on the decline by 2015. There were a lot of things people got wrong on peak oil, Heinberg said. It was a feeding frenzy among forecasters. Heinberg said policymakers failed to understand the energy economy but noted that 99 percent of cars, nearly all trucks, all commercial shipping and aviation and most rail traffic in the U.S. still run on oil. Nobody is working on electric airliners, Heinberg said, which drew a laugh but remains true. Heinberg noted the challenge of advocating for climate-related policy changes given the opposition of the Trump administration and emphasized the importance of local efforts. The most effective actions come from the community level, he said. Its easier to get things done there. Heinberg also advocated promoting local food, public transportation and local worker ownership and control of businesses and said that values like sustainability and equity must be built into the economy. This is a long, hard process, he said. Doing 50 simple things is not going to solve this. Its everything we do for the rest of our lives and all of the decisions we make. People tend to come together in times of crisis, and just as there are aspects of human nature working against what needs to happen there also are aspects of human nature that might be our saving grace when push comes to shove. The Post Carbon Institute relocated to Corvallis in June from Santa Rosa, California. The group has nine employees, with four them based in the Corvallis office on Southwest Washington Avenue. Other employees work in California, Arizona, Mexico and Great Britain, said marketing and communications director Amy Buringrud. We also have 30 fellows spread around the globe, said Buringrud, who noted the nonprofits mission is to help individuals and communities transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world by providing resources needed to understand and respond to the inter-related ecological, economic, energy, and equity crisis of the 21st century. Buringrud said the institute moved to Corvallis because theres a strong network of like-minded organizations and local, sustainable solutions are an inherent community value. Regarding the Aug. 16 opinion column by Dana Milbank of The Washington Post: As most of us know, Bernie Sanders won the 2016 Oregon Democratic primary by roughly 10 percentage points (56.24 percent to 42.6 percent). Sanders' widest victory in Oregon was in Benton County roughly (61 to 39 percent) or, in votes, Bernie 11,922 and Clinton 7,465. This would suggest a large percentage of Benton County Dems voted for Bernie. The article I refer to titled "Dems Must Beware of Berning Out" was a divisive hit piece designed to sow division between Bernie supporters (Our Revolution) and other Democrats. So my question to whoever at the Gazette-Times gave the OK to publish this garbage is, why would you publish it here in Benton County where Benton County Dems and Our Revolution have a wonderful rapport? What's your motivation?? Why seek to sow discord where there is none? Politically motivated? What's up, Gazette-Times? What's your agenda? In 1776, a group of patriots signed a Declaration of Independence and committed to a set of self-evident truths that became the foundation of our nation. The final sentence of that feclaration included a promise to pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor. It took a lot of courage to sign that document. Had the new nation lost the gamble, those men and their families likely would have lost everything; their lives, their fortunes and their honor. President Trump considers himself a true patriot and astute military leader. He recently threatened North Korea, tweeting that were they to attack our allies primarily South Korea and Japan the North Koreans will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before." If that happened, the lives, fortunes and sacred honor of perhaps tens of millions of Koreans and Japanese would be at stake. But what about President Trump's? Given the stakes, perhaps it's time we ask the president, as well as legislators who support him, to make a similar pledge. How about asking them to go or to send family members to live in Japan or South Korea during the negotiations with North Korea? How about asking them to commit their fortunes to the military campaign? I'll bet their rhetoric would be dialed down very quickly and that cooler heads would prevail. How about it, President Trump and members of Congress? Are you willing to pledge your life, fortune and sacred honor for the rest of us? Stewart Holmes Corvallis (Aug. 19) Regarding Dana Milbank's opinion page column, published in the Gazette-Times on Aug. 16: Mr. Milbank wants all the enthusiasm, organizational skills and small dollar contributions of Bernie Sanders supporters to not threaten the Democratic Party's ability to reclaim Congress in 2018. I say it is just the reverse. It is exactly the issues, values and energy from the grass roots, which Bernie Sanders encourages for all Americans, which will be future of the Democratic Party. Without it, the old guard and their corporate donors will continue to lose elections at the local, state and national levels and hemorrhage membership to other parties and nonaffiliation. The days of two viable political parties and their corporate donors controlling everything are ending. It is time for opinion writers and party leaders to wake up where the better deal is rising. When our paper sees as a major story Trumps misuse of to and too in a tweet, its time to ponder what is really going on. Then add all the vile rhetoric and lawless actions against monuments to those honored from our past and school mascot names in honor of Native American bravery. Are we really this thin skinned? Or do we just need to face some reality? Every people on this earth has been conquered at one time in their past and all have been both slave holders and slaves. Native Americans and African-Americans are just more recent and here. My ancestors fled because they were serfs, a small step from slavery. We need to get over it and stop blaming our troubles on the distant past. This whining about mascot names and pulling down monuments of slave holders is an old play. Find a scapegoat; it can be the Jews in Germany, the slaveholders of the 19th century, the whites or Asians in America; anything but introspection. I have known many African-Americans and Native Americans who pulled themselves up with hard work and good choices and are living the American dream. I know of no one who got ahead by blaming someone else. Maybe 5th Century Saint Augustines words are worth rereading: I saw that in their search for the cause of evil they had become full of malice. Ben Lazorti Albany (Aug. 25) Federal ministry informs citizens : Climate conference facilities taking form BONN The Federal Ministry for Environment was at the Rheinaue, providing citizens with information about restrictions imposed by the COP 23 climate conference. The temporary village grows day by day. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The temporary container village in the Rheinaue for the COP 23 climate conference is growing day by day. Patrick Gehlen and Britt Schumann look down from the hill to the big Blumenwiese green area and listen to the hammering and other sounds from workers. We often take our lunch break here. Its amazing how quickly its going, they comment. The structures are going up to enhance the conference center around the WCCB and Langer Eugen for the UN Climate Change Conference running November 6 to 17. The Federal Ministry of the Environment had just announced the day before that it would set up an information stand near the temporary facilities to inform interested citizens about what to expect from COP 23. Ronja Luke and Sabrina Witter went to the park on behalf of the ministry to check it out. A lunch snack was offered to citizens and they could get information if they so desired. "Most of them are happy that the climate conference takes place here", explain the two.Answering a question, they explain that the Sudbrucke (South Bridge) will remain open for both rail traffic and cars. The car park at the main entrance will be closed off as it will be used for utility vehicles, but pedestrians and cyclists can continue to visit the Rheinaue, apart from the fenced off conference area. The conference is a great opportunity for Bonn We want the input and the viewpoints of the people who live here, said Anatol Itten, who is responsible for the public relations work of COP 23 in his role with the ministry. This explains the impetus for the information campaign. Spokesperson for the City of Bonn, Monika Horig stresses that there will be more information on topics such as traffic and security in the coming weeks, and that this information would be made public. But both Itten and Horig agree that exact procedures and logistics had to be established before a major information offensive took place. A background note on how the conference came to Bonn: The Fiji Islands currently holds the presidency at the UN but it was too small to host the event. It hasnt even been a year since Bonn was named to host the climate conference. Thats a short time to prepare for 25,000 guests. One citizen expresses concern about being able to get to work using the new UN Campus stop, or if there might be issues. I wanted to know how big the security zone would be, but I did not get an exact answer. Like Gehlen and Schumann, he is anxious to see how big the security operation will be after the summit in Hamburg was overshadowed by violence. In principle, they consider the climate conference a great opportunity for Bonn. Marc Muller, a federal employee in the area feels that one must also be able to accept a restriction here or there. On Saturday, September 16, the federal ministry will be at the Rheinaue flea market with information about the COP 23. Orig. text: Philipp Konigs In my role as CEO of the Elko Area Chamber, Im often asked, What does a Chamber of Commerce do? Not every Chamber is the same, nor are their mission statements, but I am speaking of what Chambers SHOULD be focused on. You might know chambers for their activities perhaps ribbon cuttings, or the Chambers annual Home and Business Expo or you know that they print the business directory, hold lots of meetings and have some fun events. But what does the Chamber really do beyond those tactics and why is your annual investment so important? Chambers should offer their members P.E.A.C.E. of mind. P is for Problem Solving The Chamber is a resource for solving challenges and needs our members may have, as well as being a hub for discussion on key issues affecting the business community. E is for Economic Development The Chamber is an engine for economic development through work in business retention and expansion, helping solve workforce issues and helping members grow. A is for Advocacy Simply put, Chambers fight for the interests of our members every at the local, state and even federal levels and provide forums for you to voice your concerns and ideas to leaders at all levels of government. Sign up, join in and engage when we host these events. Adding your voice makes every business in the community stronger. C is for Connection Whether it is networking receptions, thousands of referrals we provide, cost savings programs, tools we provide on our websites to connect our members with other members and the public, business expos, partnerships we can help build between businesses and community non-profits, or connecting our members to new customers through our social media platforms, the Chamber can connect companies to those they need to do business with every day. E is for Education Whether it is policy events, candidate forums, business education series, information-packed weekly newsletters, business councils or other events throughout the year, Chambers give you the information you need to succeed. Our goal is to provide educational opportunities that make our businesses more informed and more prepared to address the challenges of the day. PEACE of mind doesnt come easy; it takes a full team committed to core values to serving you. Its not just staff the board of directors steer the ship for each organization. Chamber boards are the principal governing and policy-making body of the organization and are integral to a Chambers success. The board represents a variety of sectors within the economy and the community. They are equally committed to adding value to the business community through the Chambers programs and advocacy efforts. So, to answer that earlier question of What does the Chamber do? Together, our staffs and boards help create PEACE of mind to the members of the business community. If you want your business to increase its activity in the Chamber or have a need, contact your chamber. They want to help you. For more information contact The Elko Area Chamber at 738-7135 or stop by at 1405 Idaho St. 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. ELKO When Hayley Bammesberger first opened a boutique in 1997, she didnt think shed be in business more than two years. Twenty years, a remodel and several name changes later, Indigo is celebrating a landmark anniversary with a month-long sale. We have some of our favorite things, Bammesberger says of the sale, raffle and more than 100 mystery bags to be given away starting Sept. 1. Its our customer appreciation. Bammesberger started out creating floral arrangements and selling antiques. She formed the business around her hobbies, wanting to have a career in Elko after she and husband Rick Bammesberger moved from Utah. My husband brought me here, and I wanted to have a business, she says. We had no idea what it would turn into. Two years turned into 20, and the couple has become vested in the community and raised three sons, twins Brady and Brandon, and Caden, in Elko. The store evolved over the years, starting out as Hayleys Gifts & Antiques, shifting to Hayleys Fine Gifts and shortening to Hayleys. Services and products changed with the name, moving away from floral design and antiques and getting into what the owner calls gifts with meaning. Now, the boutique is called Indigo after undergoing a remodel in 2015 to open up the space while staying small, supporting an environment Bammesberger describes as airy and peaceful. We keep trying to bring goodness to Elko our treasures, she says, explaining how when she goes to market in New York, she looks for merchandise with a story that shoppers cannot find at big-box or online stores. Ive always gone with stuff I love so its easy for me to sell it. The shop at 386 Fifth St., where it has been for two decades, features fair-trade items, mom-and-pop creations, product lines whose proceeds go back to their makers, natural cosmetics, including some for men, doTERRA essential oils and more. A mainstay always has been handcrafted Sorrelli jewelry, and a display case near the checkout stand showcases an array of glittering semi-precious stones and Austrian crystals. Even though weve changed it to Indigo, people still call it Hayleys and always will, Bammesberger says. And thats OK. Realtor Jill Wickens is one of the longtime customers who still calls the store Hayleys. She first met Bammesberger when she started working for an agency on Fifth Street near the shop. I loved the energy. It was kind of my sanctuary. If I was having a bad day, I would just go to Hayleys and feel better, says Wickens, whose favorite purchases include spicy apple candles and chandelier-style antique gold earrings by Sorrelli. Im absolutely obsessed with Sorrelli. The boutique has that effect on people, says Bammesberger. She credits the like-minded owners of businesses, such as Cowboy Joe, on the block for bolstering each other. You can get a cup of coffee and come in and look around. People leave happy, wouldnt you say, girls? she asks two of her five employees. Personal assistant Mary McGarry and store manager Dezie Konakis chime in without hesitation: Yes! That kind of support is one of the reasons Bammesberger says she loves living in a small town, because everyone is willing to help out. Her customers patronize her store and have become friends. In return, the shop owner supports the community. Bammesberger has served on the board of the Downtown Business Association, including a stint as vice president for 12 years, through which she helps plan the Snowflake Festival. She always contributes to the community, Wickens says. She never says no. Wickens described how she always can rely on Bammesberger to find just the right gift for real estate clients. The Realtor likes to give homeowners a housewarming gift, and a personalized Christmas ornament or welcome basket from Hayleys I still call it Hayleys, she says can be just the right touch to memorialize the occasion. She goes above and beyond, Wickens says, and I consider her my dear friend. Friendships like that are what Bammesberger says shes celebrating on her 20th anniversary. The celebration sale features weekly deals and a drawing for a grand prize of $500 in merchandise to be announced Sept. 30. Im super grateful for the opportunity to bring a business into Elko, Bammesberger says, and that my customers have turned into friendships. kacylee at 31-08-2017 08:26 AM (5 years ago) (f) It could be said that Prof. Philip Chidi Njemanze has encyclopedic knowledge of science and history. Celebral and controversial, he is a medical doctor, clinician and researcher in neurocardiology and neuroscience. It could be said that Prof. Philip Chidi Njemanze has encyclopedic knowledge of science and history. Celebral and controversial, he is a medical doctor, clinician and researcher in neurocardiology and neuroscience. In this interview, Njemanze, chairman of the International Institutes of Advanced Research and Training, Chidicon Medical and Diagnostic Center, Owerri, Imo State, made profound revelations about the Igbo, Nigeria and elsewhere. Your book, Igbo Mediators of Yahweh Culture of Life, posits that the architects of ancient civilisations were found in Nigeria, not in the Middle East. I would like to begin this conversation with the question, who are the Igbo? I will begin with an important note to the reader, that the letters of ancient Igbo language also called ancient Hebrew script gave rise to the present-day English consonants but not the vowels. So, we could refit the correct vowels in Igbo language to obtain the correct pronunciation of the words transliterated in English. The word Igbo comes from the words I gbo, meaning to mediate. In Owerri dialect, we say I bo. This is the reason you see both correct spellings Igbo and Ibo, meaning the mediators or priests that mediate between humanity and God for the remission of sins. This can be demonstrated in the words: Holy Bible, which has Igbo etymology (origin), the word Holy (Igbo language: Iho Eli Ya, meaning the Divine Light of the Most High God); and Bible (Igbo language: Ibo Ibe Eli, meaning mediators and witnesses of the Most High God). The Bible was authored by Igbo scribes, prophets and saints in the Old and New Testaments. You said in your book that Igbo people were the ancient Egyptians and ancient Israelites. How is that? The correct historical perspective supported by facts of genetics and ethnolinguistic origins is that the Igbo people were the people of ancient Egypt (Igbo language: Greek: AIgyptos; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at Ose, meaning prays to God and takes advice from the Almighty God; Egypt; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at, meaning pray to God and take advice), ruled by the dynastic Pharaohs (Igbo language: efere ha, meaning your worship of the people) who built the Great pyramids (Igbo language: pa Ya Orie ma ide, meaning the carvings of God at the temple of Almighty God like a heap of sand). These ancient pyramids are seen to this day in Igbo land at Nsude, Agbaja, Enugu State and at Eziama, Okigwe, many others are submerged underground. At short periods before 1200 BC and after the Exodus in the 19th Dynasty, the Igbo Egyptians were conquered, enslaved and later expelled by the white people of Turkic origin called the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, the ancestors of the present-day white Egyptians. They later faced invasions by the white Hellenic Greeks and white Romans. I say white Hellenic Greeks because there are the Black Arctic Greeks (Igbo language: Ogo r ike, meaning district of very strong people) with known historical characters like Socrates (Igbo language: isi a kaara at sa, meaning the head that narrates the instructions to the people) and Plato (Igbo language: a pa ilu at, meaning crafts proverbs and instructions). The place Rome (Igbo language: Orie ma, meaning Almighty Gods temple) was the capital city of ancient Italy (Igbo language: itili, meaning dark [people]) of the people called Etruscans (Igbo language: itiri isi oke ana, meaning How then did the name Nigeria come in? The name Nigeria comes from the alternative name of Canaan transliterated as consonants N-g-r (Igbo language: Nga Orie, meaning the place of God) or N-g-g-r (Igbo language: Nga g ra, meaning the place of the people of the Divine Mercy). This was vowelised by the British as the Niger. They named the biggest river in this area where the ancient Israelites settled as Niger. The Black people from this area were then called Negro or Nigger. However, the modern full name Nigeria comes from Niger area, which first appeared in an essay written by Miss Flora Shaw, who later became the wife of Lord F. Lugard, who put forward this argument in the Financial Times of London of January 8, 1897 thus: The name Nigeria applying to no other part of Africa may without offence to any neighbours be accepted as co-extensive with the territories over which the Royal Niger Company has extended British influence, and may serve to differentiate them equally from the colonies of Lagos and the Niger Protectorate on the coast and from the French territories of the Upper Niger. Recently, there was a publication with a headline, Igbo not Jews, says DNA report, conducted by the Jewish Voice Ministries at Nnewi. What is your reaction to this declaration? The caption could have been technically correct if it was entitled. Igbo not modern Israeli Jews, reveals DNA report. This is because the modern people of the state of Israel are not the biblical ancient Jews. We should not expect there would be a genetic match of the modern people of the state of Israel with Igbo people who are the authentic ancient Jews. The standard they used to compare the Igbo DNA was the wrong Jewish database. The comparison should have been the other way round, and the conclusion should read that the modern-day people of Israel have no relationship with ancient Jews who are the ancestors of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Let us get to the genetic information In the phylogenetic tree of mtDNA, we find the so-called super groups, which are really only three basic groups. They came from three main female lines, which corroborate the biblical account of only three females that bred supposedly as wives of Shem, Ham and Japheth. These haplogroups are descendants from a single female Supergroup, namely Haplogroup L. This one female line Hg L, which is a Super L, then split into L1, L2 and then L3. The line L3 diverged and from L3 came the other mtDNA mutations N and M. Thus, all females came from one Eve whose mtDNA line was L. The Igbo of Nigeria belong to haplogroup L1, believed to have first appeared approximately 150,c000 to 240, 000 years ago in East Africa. They are the Hebrews of the first of Gods creation from Adam (Igbo language: A daa m, meaning I fell) and Eve (Igbo language: E wo, meaning the body that transforms into another body; or woman; Igbo language: e wo mman, meaning transforms into a human being). The L groups, L1, L2, and L3, are all found in Africa and are the major groups almost exclusively in sub-Saharan West Africa, with L1 predominant in Igbo land, Southeastern Nigeria. The L1, L2 and L3 genes are also referred to as the Nilotic genes, which means genes of people of Igbo and Southern Sudanese extraction that founded the civilisation of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia, along the River Nile (Igbo language: mmiri Niile, meaning all the waters). The only exception is North Africa in Ethiopia where there are large diversities of the mtDNA haplogroups with traceable Igbo origins in diaspora. The Igbo Greek origins also show traces of L1 haplogroup especially in Greek Macedonia. The genetic analysis is the basis for the Out of Africa Theory of migration of modern humans. On the basis of modern genetics, only the Igbo of Nigeria can be the Hebrews of ancient Israel! It must be underscored that there are significant gene flows of a common heritage between Nigerian tribes especially the Igbo-Yoruba. In fact, the word Yoruba (Igbo language: oyiri ibo, meaning they look like the mediators) underscores the genetic similarity, which is up to 99%. The European genes haplogroups N, M are mutations of the L3 gene of the majority of the people living in present-day Israel, have no traceable origins in ancient Israel. In fact, the white skin evolved only 6000-7000 years, so the white Europeans did not play a significant role in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Israel, and Babylon until late towards the beginning of the first century AD. In this interview, Njemanze, chairman of the International Institutes of Advanced Research and Training, Chidicon Medical and Diagnostic Center, Owerri, Imo State, made profound revelations about the Igbo, Nigeria and elsewhere.I will begin with an important note to the reader, that the letters of ancient Igbo language also called ancient Hebrew script gave rise to the present-day English consonants but not the vowels. So, we could refit the correct vowels in Igbo language to obtain the correct pronunciation of the words transliterated in English. The word Igbo comes from the words I gbo, meaning to mediate. In Owerri dialect, we say I bo. This is the reason you see both correct spellings Igbo and Ibo, meaning the mediators or priests that mediate between humanity and God for the remission of sins. This can be demonstrated in the words: Holy Bible, which has Igbo etymology (origin), the word Holy (Igbo language: Iho Eli Ya, meaning the Divine Light of the Most High God); and Bible (Igbo language: Ibo Ibe Eli, meaning mediators and witnesses of the Most High God). The Bible was authored by Igbo scribes, prophets and saints in the Old and New Testaments.The correct historical perspective supported by facts of genetics and ethnolinguistic origins is that the Igbo people were the people of ancient Egypt (Igbo language: Greek: AIgyptos; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at Ose, meaning prays to God and takes advice from the Almighty God; Egypt; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at, meaning pray to God and take advice), ruled by the dynastic Pharaohs (Igbo language: efere ha, meaning your worship of the people) who built the Great pyramids (Igbo language: pa Ya Orie ma ide, meaning the carvings of God at the temple of Almighty God like a heap of sand). These ancient pyramids are seen to this day in Igbo land at Nsude, Agbaja, Enugu State and at Eziama, Okigwe, many others are submerged underground.At short periods before 1200 BC and after the Exodus in the 19th Dynasty, the Igbo Egyptians were conquered, enslaved and later expelled by the white people of Turkic origin called the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, the ancestors of the present-day white Egyptians. They later faced invasions by the white Hellenic Greeks and white Romans. I say white Hellenic Greeks because there are the Black Arctic Greeks (Igbo language: Ogo r ike, meaning district of very strong people) with known historical characters like Socrates (Igbo language: isi a kaara at sa, meaning the head that narrates the instructions to the people) and Plato (Igbo language: a pa ilu at, meaning crafts proverbs and instructions). The place Rome (Igbo language: Orie ma, meaning Almighty Gods temple) was the capital city of ancient Italy (Igbo language: itili, meaning dark [people]) of the people called Etruscans (Igbo language: itiri isi oke ana, meaning The name Nigeria comes from the alternative name of Canaan transliterated as consonants N-g-r (Igbo language: Nga Orie, meaning the place of God) or N-g-g-r (Igbo language: Nga g ra, meaning the place of the people of the Divine Mercy). This was vowelised by the British as the Niger. They named the biggest river in this area where the ancient Israelites settled as Niger. The Black people from this area were then called Negro or Nigger. However, the modern full name Nigeria comes from Niger area, which first appeared in an essay written by Miss Flora Shaw, who later became the wife of Lord F. Lugard, who put forward this argument in the Financial Times of London of January 8, 1897 thus: The name Nigeria applying to no other part of Africa may without offence to any neighbours be accepted as co-extensive with the territories over which the Royal Niger Company has extended British influence, and may serve to differentiate them equally from the colonies of Lagos and the Niger Protectorate on the coast and from the French territories of the Upper Niger.The caption could have been technically correct if it was entitled. Igbo not modern Israeli Jews, reveals DNA report. This is because the modern people of the state of Israel are not the biblical ancient Jews. We should not expect there would be a genetic match of the modern people of the state of Israel with Igbo people who are the authentic ancient Jews. The standard they used to compare the Igbo DNA was the wrong Jewish database. The comparison should have been the other way round, and the conclusion should read that the modern-day people of Israel have no relationship with ancient Jews who are the ancestors of the Igbo people of Nigeria.In the phylogenetic tree of mtDNA, we find the so-called super groups, which are really only three basic groups. They came from three main female lines, which corroborate the biblical account of only three females that bred supposedly as wives of Shem, Ham and Japheth. These haplogroups are descendants from a single female Supergroup, namely Haplogroup L. This one female line Hg L, which is a Super L, then split into L1, L2 and then L3. The line L3 diverged and from L3 came the other mtDNA mutations N and M. Thus, all females came from one Eve whose mtDNA line was L.The Igbo of Nigeria belong to haplogroup L1, believed to have first appeared approximately 150,c000 to 240, 000 years ago in East Africa. They are the Hebrews of the first of Gods creation from Adam (Igbo language: A daa m, meaning I fell) and Eve (Igbo language: E wo, meaning the body that transforms into another body; or woman; Igbo language: e wo mman, meaning transforms into a human being). The L groups, L1, L2, and L3, are all found in Africa and are the major groups almost exclusively in sub-Saharan West Africa, with L1 predominant in Igbo land, Southeastern Nigeria. The L1, L2 and L3 genes are also referred to as the Nilotic genes, which means genes of people of Igbo and Southern Sudanese extraction that founded the civilisation of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia, along the River Nile (Igbo language: mmiri Niile, meaning all the waters). The only exception is North Africa in Ethiopia where there are large diversities of the mtDNA haplogroups with traceable Igbo origins in diaspora. The Igbo Greek origins also show traces of L1 haplogroup especially in Greek Macedonia.The genetic analysis is the basis for the Out of Africa Theory of migration of modern humans. On the basis of modern genetics, only the Igbo of Nigeria can be the Hebrews of ancient Israel! It must be underscored that there are significant gene flows of a common heritage between Nigerian tribes especially the Igbo-Yoruba. In fact, the word Yoruba (Igbo language: oyiri ibo, meaning they look like the mediators) underscores the genetic similarity, which is up to 99%. The European genes haplogroups N, M are mutations of the L3 gene of the majority of the people living in present-day Israel, have no traceable origins in ancient Israel. In fact, the white skin evolved only 6000-7000 years, so the white Europeans did not play a significant role in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Israel, and Babylon until late towards the beginning of the first century AD. Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 31-08-2017 08:26 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero A Niger Delta group, South South Legacy Forum has distanced the Ijaw nation from the activities of the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, stressing that the group is demonic. The group said only a foolhardy will fraternized with IPOB which has the sole aim of provoking hate in Leader of the group, Frank Ogbotobo, who made the remark in a statement, also urged all Ijaw people to behave responsibly in the affairs of Nigeria.Ogbotobo said, Quote It is foolhardy for the Ijaw in the Niger Delta to fraternize with demonic forces, whose sole aim is to provoke hate in order to heighten the miseries precipitated by the forces of corruption in the land. Nigeria has never witnessed such density of hate in the history of agitations, as Kanu and his IPOB have wrought in the short span of their activities. And the IYC itself knows that the militancy in the Niger Delta did not evince such hate among Nigerians, even at the peak of the criminality it later assumed with the accompanying loss of focus. Ijaws no longer have reason to be violent or destructive. The Ijaws have no option but to behave responsibly in the affairs of Nigeria and, to think and act as major stakeholders in the Nigerian project. This, indeed, is the new thinking of President Muhammadu Buharis change agenda and we must strive to live up to it. Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy. RENO A Reno-based green-technology company is seeking partners to develop copper and more ore deposits in the Yerington Mining District after completing a promising geological study. Itronics Inc. reported Aug. 30 in a press release that its wholly-owned technical services subsidiary, Whitney & Whitney Inc., recently completed an updated Fulstone Project Geological report for its partially owned subsidiary, Auric Gold & Minerals Inc. It also reported that Auric has made the annual claim payments to the Bureau of Land Management for its Fulstone Project in Nevada. Copper and zinc prices are at multiyear highs and gold and silver prices are now increasing, said Dr. John Whitney, president of Itronics. Good exploration projects in major mining districts are in short supply. Because of that, our goal is to obtain exploration funding for the Fulstone project over the next several months. The Fulstone Project claims are on the west, north and east sides of the formerly operating Minnesota Mine. The Minnesota Mine is in the northwest part of the Yerington Mining District, historically called the Buckskin Range. The Fulstone Project is about 90 miles southeast of Reno with Yerington being in the south-central portion of the district. We believe that the Yerington Mining District is one of the few locations in the world that hosts a cluster of large undeveloped copper deposits, Whitney said. With diminishing available undeveloped mineral deposits globally, the Yerington Mining District is rapidly becoming more attractive for world class mine development, as is demonstrated by the major companies that now have active development projects in the district. The recently completed geological report indicates prospects for structurally covered blind iron oxide copper gold ore, porphyry copper, and porphyry molybdenum deposits, as well as strata-bound zinc and epithermal gold mineralization. The report is available on a confidential basis to parties that have an interest in becoming investors, funding partners or joint venture partners. The company is having nonexclusive discussions that could lead to a development agreement with certain interested parties. The assessment of project prospects is based on historic archival data, published geological mapping, soil and rock geochemical sampling, several long lines of induced polarization survey data, and low altitude aeromagnetic mapping. Itronics is a green-technology company that produces silver bullion, silver-bearing glass and GOLDn GRO specialty liquid fertilizers, which are used in agriculture and can be used for lawns and houseplants. The companys goal is to achieve profitable green-technology driven organic growth in specialty GOLDn GRO fertilizers, silver, zinc and minerals. Technologies maximize the recovery and uses of metals and minerals while maximizing sustainability. The company also is developing a portfolio of environmentally beneficial zero waste processing and mining technologies. Trump, Defense Secretary Publicly Diverge on How to Handle N. Korea August 30, 2017 3:39 PM Steve Herman - VOA PENTAGON / WHITE HOUSE The U.S. president and his defense secretary issued divergent comments Wednesday about how to respond to North Korea's advancing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphasized that the United States is "never out of diplomatic solutions" in dealing with North Korea. That comment was made after President Donald Trump said that "talking is not the answer." Mattis was responding to a question about Trump's tweet Wednesday morning on dealing with the threat of North Korea following its most recent ballistic missile test, in which a projectile flew high over Japan. "Talking is not the answer!" Trump tweeted, a day after he said that "all options are on the table" for dealing with Pyongyang. Some analysts are criticizing the divergence. "Aside from the fact that President Trump needs to get his facts straight talking has worked at times and not at others his administration needs to get its policies straight," Joel Wit, senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, told VOA. The Trump administration's "constant stream of contradictory statements is only confusing our allies and undermining our ability to effectively deal with this growing threat," said Wit, who coordinated a U.S. deal with North Korea in the mid-1990s to freeze its nuclear program. An arms control specialist who worked in the Clinton and Obama administrations, Gary Samore, said, "Trump is correct that our efforts to negotiate agreements with North Korea to resolve the problem, to end the North Korea nuclear program, haven't worked." Samore, of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, deemed it "unlikely in the future that a diplomatic agreement" would North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. But he agreed with Wit that "there is a danger of mixed messaging, because the U.S. government, I believe, is trying to find a way back to the bargaining table." The problem, Samore told VOA, is not so much with Trump's tweets but "that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un is not interested in having a negotiation right now." North Korea said it fired the intermediate-range ballistic missile Tuesday over Japan to counter current joint exercises by South Korea and the United States. The U.S. has military treaties with both Japan and South Korea to help protect them. For the second day in a row, Trump discussed the matter by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In their Wednesday conversation, which lasted for more than 30 minutes, the two leaders "confirmed their continuing, close cooperation on efforts to address" North Korea's recent missile test, according to a White House statement. Abe, in Tokyo, told reporters that Trump and other leaders he had spoken with "totally agree pressure [on North Korea] must be raised by the international community." In Geneva, U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, the nation's permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, called for "concerted action" in response to the "increasing threat" caused by North Korea's missile program, calling it the greatest current "challenge to the global security environment." North Korea's state news agency quoted leader Kim as saying the drill for Tuesday's launch of the Hwasong-12 missile was "like a real war" and "a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," a U.S. territory nearly 3,000 kilometers southeast of the Korean Peninsula and home to American air and naval bases. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy announced its sailors had successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii on Wednesday in a test of its defense systems. "We will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves," said Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. VOA's Carla Babb at the Pentagon and Bill Gallo in Washington contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address English Latvian Marupe, Latvia, 2017-08-30 14:38 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SIA AgroCredit Latvia publish financial report for 1st half of 2017. In 2017 the company remained steady growth trend increasing the total interest income by 15% and net profit by 25% in comparison of respective period in 2016. The total assets increased by 33% during the last year. The company grants loans to agriculture clients, mainly offering seasonal financing to grain growers. The credit policy aplied is conservative and it ensures good quality of the loan portfolio and low financial risk level. No significant changes are planed for the operations of the company in 2nd half of 2017. Latvian English 31st of August 2017 During the first six months of 2017, Citadele Group generated EUR 15.0 million of net profit, compared to EUR 25.4 million of net profit in June 2016, which included a EUR 11.3 million gain from the disposal of Citadeles shares in Visa Europe to Visa Inc. The adjusted net profit of Citadele Group showed 7% growth year-over-year, driven by solid growth in net interest income and net commission income lines. The net loan portfolio of Citadele group increased by 7% to EUR 1,323 million as compared to year end 2016. For private individuals, the amount of new loans granted by the Groups banking entities in the first half of 2017 was EUR 68 million, a 7% increase compared to the same period in 2016. For MSMEs and Corporates the amount of new loans granted in the first half of 2017 was EUR 185 million, a 37% increase compared to the same period in 2016. Client deposits in the Group reached EUR 2,874 million, showing an increase of 5% in comparison to June 2016. Our latest financial data, which we are disclosing today, demonstrate that we are on the right track to become the Baltic champion in banking. Providing financing for growth to aspiring Baltic businesses and individuals is central to Citadeles strategy, and we are doing this very well. Over the last 12 months, Citadele Groups net loan portfolio increased by an impressive 8%. This growth rate in a highly competitive market is a testimony to our ability to introduce a new approach to lending in the Baltics and deliver the offering to customers both in the MSME and private segments. By automating credit scoring, we are now able to make individuals and small businesses highly personalized offers with incredible speed, and customers seem to greatly appreciate this, says Guntis Belavskis, CEO of Citadele Group. Net interest income increased by 16% to EUR 36.2 million year-over-year as a result of the growth in the size and yield of the loan portfolio. In addition, the Groups net commission increased by 5%, reaching EUR 19.3 million in the first half of 2017 versus the prior year. The net profit ratios for the first half of 2017 demonstrated ROE of 11.5% and ROA of 0.90% as compared to 12.2% ROE and 0.92% ROA in the first half of 2016, as adjusted by the one-off gain relating to Visa shares. Asset quality continued to improve with the NPL ratio decreasing to 9.3%, as compared to 9.6% in June 2016. Groups capital position showed a 20 basis point growth, with CAR reaching 16.7% versus 16.5% in June 2016. Citadele in Latvia In Latvia, the net loan portfolio continued to grow, reaching EUR 960 million, which is a growth of 4% compared to June 2016. The amount of new loans granted by the Bank in the first half of 2017 was EUR 139.6 million, which was a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2016. For private individuals, the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 48.3 million, which was a 3% decrease compared to the same period in 2016. For MSMEs and Corporates the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 91.3 million, which was a 58% increase compared to the same period in 2016. Client deposits in Latvia have remained stable at EUR 1,870 million in comparison to June 2016. Citadele in Lithuania In Lithuania, the net loan portfolio continued to grow, reaching EUR 298 million, which was a growth of 12% compared to June 2016. The amount of new loans granted by the bank in the first half of 2017 was EUR 71.8 million, which was a 5% increase compared to the same period in 2016. For private individuals the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 5.6 million, which was a 60% increase compared to the same period in 2016. For MSMEs and Corporates the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 66.2 million which was a 2% increase compared to the same period in 2016. Client deposits in Lithuania reached EUR 406 million, which was an increase of 17% compared to June 2016. Citadele in Estonia In Estonia, the net loan portfolio continued to grow, reaching EUR 111 million, which was a growth of 24% compared to June 2016. The amount of new loans granted by the bank in the first half of 2017 was EUR 41.2 million, which was an 80% increase compared with the same period in 2016. For private individuals the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 14.1 million, which was a 33% increase compared with the same period in 2016. For MSMEs and Corporates the amount of newly granted loans in the first half of 2017 was EUR 27.1 million, which was a 122% increase compared with the same period in 2016. Client deposits in Estonia reached EUR 222 million, which was an increase of 17% compared to June 2016. Other events In the first half of 2017, Citadele Bank signed an agreement for a long-term partnership with global payment company Visa. The first joint product developed by Visa and Citadele is a new brand of credit card with three card types: X Card, X Platinum and X Infinite, for different client segments. From April 2017, Citadeles mobile payment services were available for beta testing by Citadele employees and selected customer groups. Citadele Bank was the first bank in the Baltics to introduce mobile payments using NFC. On April 2017, Moodys Investors Service (Moodys) increased Citadeles long-term credit rating by two notches (from B1 to Ba2), and maintained positive outlook. This upgrade reflected the Groups implemented strategy to develop and grow its business across the Baltic States, as well as the Groups improved capital levels and asset quality. Moodys also positively valued the Groups rapid development over the last year. In April of 2017, AS Citadele banka signed an agreement to sell its subsidiary CBL Cash Logistics to Lithuanian company Eurocash1. After receiving all the necessary approvals, the deal was closed in August 1. Citadele is the third largest bank in Latvia by number of clients. The Citadele Group is managed from Latvia, and its subsidiaries and branches operate in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland. Citadele ensures transactions and card payments, loans, deposits, investments, asset management and leasing services, as well as a range of exclusive and unique products. Citadeles vision is to become the best financial services provider in the Baltics for private customers and small and medium businesses. Further information: Baiba Abelniece Head of External Communications bank Citadele Tel. 67010326, 26624221 Email: baiba.abelniece@citadele.lv Mihails Golevs Head of Financial Institutions Telephone: +371 67778585 E-mail: Mihails.Golevs@citadele.lv Santa Daniela Kanaska Investor relations specialist Telephone: +67010991 E-mail: IR@citadele.lv ELKO The California Trail Interpretive Center is presenting a variety of family friendly programs throughout September. The following programs all begin at 2 p.m. and are free and open to everyone: Sept. 9 How to Make Lye Soap Lye soap has been used to wash clothes for hundreds of years. Learn both traditional and modern techniques for making lye soap. Sept. 10 Junior Ranger Program: Mountain Man Show and Tell Attention all kids: The bold explorers known as mountain men were away from civilization for months or years at a time. In the wild, they often had to make their own gear. See what a mountain man kept in his possibles bag, and other tools he used as he explored the rugged West. Sept. 16 Rigging a Prairie Schooner: The Anatomy of a Wagon The iconic covered wagon was an indispensable means of transport along the California Trail. Learn the parts and features of the common covered wagon, and appreciate why this humble wagon has become an enduring symbol of American history and the pioneer spirit. Sept. 17 Junior Ranger Program: How to Start a Fire with a Hand Drill Attention all kids: Learn how to start a fire like the traditional Shoshone, with two pieces of wood. Also, learn how to smoke trout over a campfire. Sept. 23 Basque Sheepherding: The End of an Era Join Kent McAdoo as he gives an illustrated program that describes the lifestyles and experiences of a Basque sheepherder in northern Nevada. He will discuss the influences of the Basque on Elkos culture and landscape, and explain the reasons behind their decline as workers in sheep ranching. Sept. 24 Junior Ranger Program: Nevada Skins and Skulls Attention all kids: Learn about Nevada animals. Touch and feel their skulls and skins, and learn about predators and prey. Sept. 30 All That Glitters is Not Gold: The California Gold Rush and Genocide Driven by the desire for gold, some California emigrants and settlers sacrificed their sense of moral dignity for something they perceived far more valuable. As a result, they came to commit one of the worst atrocities in American history: the California Indian Genocide. The citys planned Riverfront Park project to create a recreational downtown attraction needs to pick up the pace, Danville Mayor John Gilstrap said Wednesday afternoon. Id like to see it move forward more quickly, Gilstrap told the Danville Register & Bee, adding he understands engineering and design for projects just takes a while. Raleigh, North Carolina,-based Site Collaborative landscape architect and president Graham Smith estimated the engineering phase, to see if the downtown site is structurally fit to hold a park, would be complete by fall 2018, with the Riverfront Park completed by fall 2019. But that estimate was before the Register & Bee relayed to him Gilstraps desire for a quicker pace. Thats too long for me, the engineering process, Gilstrap said. I dont know why it has to take so long. I just think it could move a little quicker. He would like to see the project completed in about 12-18 months instead of the current two-year timetable. Smith responded that the firm will try to find ways to accelerate the schedule. Site Collaborative, formerly known as DHM Design Inc., is the city-hired design firm for the park. The engineering phase for the estimated $4 million project began about a month ago, with soil samples taken at the four-acre site between the White Mill property and King Memorial Bridge last week, Danville Parks and Recreation Director Bill Sgrinia said. Smith said about 15 spots were drilled by a subcontractor to check the soils structural capacity and for anything underground to be concerned about. He said it would be interesting to see if crushed up old mill debris or concrete is found in the soil. We want well-compacted soil, he said. The engineering involves schematic design refined concept work to work out the details and design development, which involves piecing all the details together for the overall project, Smith said. The last part of the engineering phase entails construction documentation and permitting. Officials also will get a better idea of what types of materials would be needed to build the park and how much the project will cost, Sgrinia said. River District Association Executive Director Diana Schwartz said additional green space in an area can only be positive. It brings more people to the River District, Schwartz said. More traffic to the River District will strengthen existing businesses and attract new ones, she said. That will grow the tax base, with revenues going back into services such as public safety and education that benefit all the citys residents, Schwartz said. Its more outdoor space, she added. Its another space for community gatherings, for real community connection. It has to do with health, wellness and social connectivity. Gilstrap said the citys options to pay for the project include seeking state and federal grants, using money from the citys capital improvement bond funds, or paying with money from unappropriated surplus reserve funds. The vision for the park includes a cascading water wall, steps and lawn terraces facing the Dan River, an oval lawn large enough to throw a Frisbee, hold a community concert, host a Flag Day event or stage food truck rodeos. The plans also call for highlighting the architecture of King Memorial Bridge. A proposed whitewater park to use the river is also in the works. It is separate from but in conjunction with the park project. The proposed park would include possible lighting of the bridge extending the parks effect across the Dan River to attract visitors to the space, according to the plan. A trail extension cutting across the parks northern boundary would connect at the parking area and trailhead at Main Street Plaza, according to the plan. The promenade on the side that would face the river would fall away into a series of concrete steps allowing users to sit close and touch the water, according to plans. A proposed multi-age play place, a kayak/canoe put-in and a small parking area would be at the western end of the park. The main entry to the plaza would be located at the intersection of Main Street and Memorial Drive, according to the plan. From the entry, the visitor would have three options to choose from: small seating nooks and landscaped area to the right, down the steps to the splash pad in the center, or the accessible ramp to a sprayground and playground beyond on the left, according to the plan. The conceptual plan also calls for space for an artistic shelter to be both aesthetically pleasing and to provide shade. Either side of the water wall would be the curved steps intended to invite visitors to relax, read a book or just enjoy the activity on the lawn. Playground and climbing boulders also would be included. As for the parking area and water access, a small parking area would provide 10 parking spaces, including two accessible spaces as well as a small drop-off area. When Westover Christian Academy students returned to their classrooms earlier this month, they may have noticed a familiar face in the hallways and the front office it turns out the Danville private schools new administrator is John Cline, a former pastor and teacher there. God just kind of dropped it in my lap and I realized this is where I needed to be, Cline said about returning to Westover. Beginning in 2002, Cline was both the youth pastor at Westover Baptist Church as well as a Bible teacher with the school. Cline said he also served as a board member for the school. Since then, Cline has been with Gods Pit Crew, where he oversaw the organizations day-to-day operations. As a pastor and teacher, Cline said he grew to love Westover and the energy of its students. The one thing I really like is theyre moldable, Cline said, explaining that young minds still have the curiosity to learn and are in the process of forming their values and ideals as human beings. I feel like a Christian education is a great way to establish their principles, he said. So, when the position opened up earlier this year, Cline said several parents recommended him to the school board. He wasnt planning on moving on from Gods Pit Crew just yet, but said he realized the school needed him. Cline also said the school has unveiled several new programs and building features this school year. Construction crews completed small renovations to the schools exterior, and the school also added a Bulldog Cafe a shop where high school students can hang out and get coffee in the mornings before classes start. Cline also said the school was growing. Since 2011, he said the enrollment grew about 11 percent to 415 students. Additionally, the school has a new Bible study program for grades 10-12. Cline said the program attempts to relate biblical teachings to the present day, like learning to love others in challenging times. The school is even allowing seniors design and paint their own parking spaces. Director of Elementary Education MaryAnn Thompson said she was impressed with Clines spiritual leadership, as well his high expectations for teachers and students. Hes also just a visionary, and a positive leader and encourager, Thompson said. Cline also has a multifaceted approach to problem-solving, said Director of Academic Services Amy Calvert. That helps because I may see things one way, but he sees it in different ways, which broadens my view, which helps me to help them, Calvert said. At Gods Pit Crew, Cline said he learned all about the power of volunteerism. He urged all parents and other loved ones to get involved with Westover and their students futures. This is their school, Cline said. Were inviting them to come in and be part of it and to embrace it. Its not just a school for students and its not just a school for our staff. The packed parking lot was the first clue that the Danvilles first, long-awaited Mexican Grill had at last opened the second clue was the line of people waiting to place their orders. Within minutes of the doors opening at 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, about 20 people were sitting at tables digging into the restaurants burritos, bowls and tacos. Others carried take-out bags out the door while about 40 people waited in line. Irebelle McMillan and her adultdaughter, Carolyn Montgomery, wasted no time heading to their favorite restaurant chain this new one located in the Danville Malls new building at 450 Mall Drive, Suite 130, near Piedmont Drive. The mother-daughter duo moved to Danville from Washington D.C. a year ago and have been traveling back to D.C. or Greensboro, North Carolina, when their admittedly-frequent urges for the food struck. Were in heaven today, McMillan said. Weve been waiting for this to open. Her daughter agreed. Well be life-long Danvillians now, Montgomery said. Brooke Murphy said she had only been to the Chipotle in Greensboro once, but was anxious to try the menu again. I really enjoyed it and Im excited for Danville to have one, Murphy said, as she waited about 25 customers back in line. For some people, this was their first chance to try Chipotles menu. Joann and John Paro are aficionados of Mexican food often and were impressed with the burritos they tried at Chipotle. They were two of the first 25 people in line who were given free T-shirts by the restaurant. Its good, Joann Paro saod. We eat [Mexican food] pretty often; I make it often. Vincent Stafford celebrated his 18th birthday with his brother, Rondel Wilcox. Both of them ordered the steak bowls and were pleased they no longer have to drive to Greensboro to enjoy the meal. Asked if he planned on being a frequent customer, Stafford smiled and said, Every day! General Manager Josh Creed said he moved to Danville after being hired by Chipotle to manage the restaurant. He grew up in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and then lived in New York for eight years, where he went to the Culinary Institute of America. This was a great opportunity for me, and I wanted to move closer to my family, Creed said. Creed said the restaurants drive to raise money for the Danville Family YMCA was going well. Any customer who mentioned the drive at check-out would have 50 percent of their tab donated to the Y. Creed said about every-other customer was making the request. The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 10:45 a.m. until 10 p.m. Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Berkwood Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: BKR, FSE: BK2, WKN: A110N3) (Berkwood or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has completed five further holes on its Lac Gueret South Graphite Project located in Quebec, Canada. To date each hole has intersected visual graphite in the Zone 1 area. The Company anticipates completing up to 9 further inclined drill holes (of between 60m and 120m in length) in this initial phase of work, for a total of 16 holes drilled on the companys Phase 1 drill program. Update of Phase 1 drilling and visualization of Graphite The current drill program has seen completion of seven (7) drill holes through BK1-01-17 to BK1-07-17 on four sites for a total of 851.7m. The visual graphite intercepts for the first two drill holes on Site #1, were press released on 22nd August, 2017. Holes BK1-03-17 and BK1-04-17 are located at Site # 2 which is about 110m north of Site #1 and drilled toward the north at -45 and -75 respectively. In hole BK1-03-17 (168.25m length) visible graphite is observed over the intervals of 20.8 49.0 (28.2m), 125.4 137.25 (11.85m), 89.11 87.65 (1.46m), 93.4 96.6 (3.2m), 97.8 99.4 ((1.6m), 104.65 107.4 (2.75m) and 158.0 159.7 (1.7m). In hole BK1-04-17 (79.24m), visible graphite is recorded continuously from 26.7m 79.24m, in variable amounts and styles. Site #3 is located about 65m north of Site #2 and is the focus of BK1-05-17 and BK1-06-17 drilled to the north at -45 and -75 respectively. In hole BK1-05-17 (160.63m) visible graphite is recorded over the intervals 29.74 43.86 (14.12m), 58.93 63.93 (5.0m), 70.99 80.63 (9.64m) and 93.49 96.69 (3.2m), whilst in hole BK1-06-17 (81.38 m) graphite is recognised over the intervals from 15.12 28.34 (13.22 m) and 53.2 54.34 (1.14m). Site #4 is located on cut-line 3,200E, some 87m east of the cut-line 3,100E that hosts Sites #1-3. It is the focus of BK1-07-17 drilled to the north at -45 to 142.34m (EOH). This hole has not been logged, though an interval of visible graphite is reported over 112.75 118.69 (5.94m). The reader is reminded that these drill intercepts to not represent true widths of the graphite bearing zones intercepted. Lac Gueret South is located in Cote Nord, Quebec, a three hour drive from Baie-Comeau in an area with very good infrastructure. The Project directly borders Mason Graphites (TSX-LLG) advanced Lac Gueret Project to the South. Berkwood is targeting airborne and ground conductive anomalies at the Lac Gueret Souths Zone 1 location as part of this initial program, where two distinct electromagnetic conductors appear to occur over a two kilometer strike length. The extent of the conductors and certain historic grab samples that returned visible graphite, corroborated by laboratory assays, motivated the present drilling program. The Company also has well developed targets at Lac Gueret Souths Zone 2, which is located immediately south of the Mason Graphite claim boundary and along strike from the graphite zones of Mason Graphite. Tom Yingling, President and CEO states, I am pleased to provide continuing confirmation that we have intersected graphite in all of the first seven holes in our first drill program and have commenced plans to expand our work program. The electromagnetic conductors have proven very effective in identifying mineralized targets for drilling. To view a detailed map of zone 1 anomaly showing our drill locations please click the following link: http://berkwoodresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-27-Berkwood-Drilling-Map-with-2015-samples.pdf The program is being undertaken subject to two current drilling permits issued by regulators in Quebec. Edward Lyons PGeo (BC, QC, NL) is a Qualified Person under the definition of Canadian National Instrument 43-101, and has approved the technical information in this news release. About the Company: Berkwood is engaged in exploration for the commodities that enable the modern revolution in essential technologies. These technologies are dependent upon materials that enhance the performance of energy storage systems and permit the development and miniaturization of new electronics and structural components in the new suite of innovative tools. The Company is led by a team with collectively over 100 years experience and have been involved with numerous discoveries of producing mines. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Berkwood Resources Ltd. Thomas Yingling President, CEO & Director FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Investor Relations: info@berkwoodresources.com or 1-778-945-2935 www.berkwoodresources.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this News Release. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information: Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect managements current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/berkwood08312017.pdfSource: Berkwood Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:BKR, OTC Bulletin Board:CZSVF) To follow Berkwood Resources Ltd. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below. Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 Filing Services Canada Inc. RENO As the new school year begins, so do a number of 4-H activities and opportunities. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension offers youth ages 5 to 19 in northern Nevada and throughout the state a variety of 4-H youth development clubs and programs to participate in as extracurricular activities. Extensions 4-H Program includes both urban and rural clubs spanning many interests, such as rocketry, robotics, shooting sports, cooking, raising and showing animals, and more. Clubs help youth develop skills in communications, leadership, citizenship and healthy living. Many clubs also enhance science, technology, engineering and math abilities. In northern Nevada, youth involved in 4-H participate in events such as the Nevada Junior Livestock show, the Nevada 4-H Youth Camp, donation drives for people and animals, and many other community events, collaborating with volunteers and other organizations. Students involved in 4-H are better-prepared and better-engaged citizens, said Washoe County 4-H Program Manager Sarah Chvilicek. Overall theyre more civically engaged. According to the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, a decade-long study completed by a team of researchers at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University in Massachusetts, 4-H youth excel beyond their peers. 4-H members are: Four times more likely to make contributions to their communities; Two times more likely to be civically active; Two times more likely to make healthier choices; Two times more likely to participate in Science, Engineering and Computer Technology programs during out-of-school time; and 4-H girls are two-to-three times more likely to take part in science programs compared to girls in other out-of-school time activities. This longitudinal study, the first of its kind, researched, defined and measured positive youth development. It began in 2002, surveying more than 7,000 adolescents with diverse backgrounds in 42 states. For measurement, the study broke down positive youth development into the Five Cs: competence, confidence, character, connection and caring. These categories were also found to lead to the Sixth C: youth contributions, said Carrie Stark, Cooperative Extensions statewide 4-H director. 4-H programs can be found nationwide, in urban neighborhoods, suburban schoolyards, and rural farming communities. Nationally, there are 611,800 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 25 million alumni involved in the 4-H movement, supporting young people from elementary school through high school with programs that are designed to shape future leaders and innovators. For more information or to learn more about local 4-H clubs and programs, too rich for its own good. Long blessed with a disproportionate number of high-income residents, the state has entertained lavish spending habits for decades. Lawmakers have acted as if they were on a shopping spree at Christmas, confident that the money to pay off the credit cards would somehow be found in the new year. Meanwhile, they have avoided many of their less glamorous responsibilities -- depositing money into pension accounts and other retirement benefits, and paying for adequate infrastructure maintenance. Now, all those bills are coming due, and the money isnt there to pay them.Budget problems have become chronic in Connecticut. This year, they got worse. Faced with a projected $5 billion shortfall over the states two-year budget period, the legislature blew well past the July 1 budget deadline. (There was still no agreement on a budget as of mid-August.) People have come to expect a very high level of services, while keeping taxes low, says state Rep. William Tong. That math doesnt work. People are facing two decades of bad decisions and were having to reckon with that new reality. In May, the three major credit rating agencies all downgraded the state, citing weak revenues. Continuing budget fights and tax increases have driven down business confidence.Connecticuts economic problems extend well beyond the budget. The state prospered in the 1970s and 1980s, when nearby New York City was dangerous and Connecticuts suburban landscape was welcoming. Corporations were eager to resettle there. But fashions have changed. Millennials and corporations have developed a hankering for urban life. That urge has robbed Connecticuts suburban landscape of its appeal. This was demonstrated starkly by the decisions of two of its marquee employers, General Electric and Aetna, to move their headquarters to Boston and Manhattan, respectively. That bad news has fed a broader negative narrative about the state, with damning coverage in outlets such asandConnecticut has five cities with populations above 100,000, but each is below 150,000. While some of the cities are doing better than others, they all have more than their share of concentrated poverty, bad schools and unemployment. In short, Connecticut lacks a city that can take advantage of the newfound cachet of urban life. Instead, the state has had to take over the financial reins of several of its troubled smaller cities over the past two decades. Hartford, the capital, has its own chronic budget problems and has hired attorneys to explore the possibility of bankruptcy. At a time when other states were reinvesting in cities, Connecticut was not, and certainly the state itself was not, says Gov. Dannel Malloy. Now, when millennials and people 50-plus want to live in urban environments, our urban environments are not up to snuff.The state still has the nations highest per capita income, but over the past 20 years, its job creation numbers have ranked in the bottom five among the 50 states. Essentially, it has created no new net employment for decades. It was only this past June that Connecticut finally managed to claim the same number of private-sector jobs that it had before the 2008 recession. Many of the jobs in finance that were lost with that years market crash have never returned. A disproportionate number of positions created since are low-wage jobs in the service sector. And people have begun to vote with their feet. The state has lost population for three years running. Last year, Greater Hartford ranked fourth and New Haven fifth in population loss among the nations 100 largest metro areas. Were a wealthy state, says Oz Griebel, president of the MetroHartford Alliance, the regions chamber of commerce, but were not growing with the national economy.Connecticut is now at a crossroads. A model that worked for years -- safe suburbs offering good schools for the children of hedge fund managers and insurance agents -- is no longer as compelling. Mansion-size houses in the toniest precincts of the richest suburbs arent emptying out yet, but they are getting hard to sell.Over the course of its long history, Connecticut has successfully reinvented itself several times, changing specialties from agriculture to manufacturing to financial services. Today, unlike other states and cities that have run into serious financial difficulties, Connecticut clearly has the means to change course. Not only is its median income still high, but the state boasts assets such as proximity to Boston and New York, amiable coastlines and river valleys, and notable institutions of higher education. In addition to the continuing presence of a thriving financial sector, Connecticut is home to aerospace and defense contractors and other advanced manufacturers who cant hire help fast enough, as well as a growing medical and life sciences sector.But the same sense of general prosperity that allowed the state easy access to credit in the past has left much of Connecticut feeling complacent, even as it faces clear challenges. In many parts of the state, life is still good. The loss of GE and Aetna has served as a wakeup call for public officials, but not everyone feels the same sense of urgency. Unsurprisingly, not many politicians are interested in amplifying the message in the national media that something has gone seriously wrong. The vast majority of people in Connecticut, unless they were literally trying to sell their home to a GE executive, are not feeling the pain yet, says Matthew Nemerson, New Havens economic development director.There are a couple of practical reasons why the state may have a hard time changing course, though. To start, its political culture is highly parochial, with strong home rule protecting the interests of 169 cities and towns and nearly as many school districts. Connecticut has the nations second-highest rate of income inequality, after New York, but there isnt a sense in the smaller communities that their future is tied to improving the health of those less fortunate. More than anything, we suffer from a lack of common identity and the sense of a common future, says Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.The other roadblock is partisanship. As fiscal problems have grown entrenched, its become more difficult to find political consensus. Democrats say the state cant solve its problems with massive spending cuts, and favor both a state sales tax hike and a change in law to allow cities to raise sales taxes on their own. But Republicans blame the states woes on decisions in 2011 and 2015 to address shortfalls by bumping up tax rates. They have no appetite for more. Companies arent going to stay here, says Themis Klarides, the GOP leader in the state House, if taxes keep going up. They certainly have no reason to come here.Complaining about tax hikes has been a winning message for Republicans. At the start of the Obama presidency, Democrats enjoyed a 114-37 majority in the state House and a 24-12 advantage in the state Senate. Now, the state Senate is tied, although the Democratic lieutenant governor can cast tie-breaking votes. Last fall, Republicans came within four seats of taking over the House. Malloy, who has the lowest approval rating of any Democratic governor in the country, admits he was lucky to win re-election in 2014. He isnt seeking another term next year. Its not hard to imagine that Connecticut, long dominated by Democrats and still one of the bluest states in presidential voting, could fall under complete Republican control in 2018. That would cause a huge shift in direction.For Connecticut as a whole to thrive, however, there has to be not only broad agreement about the need to shake things up, but something like consensus about what changes the state should make. Connecticut has not reached that stage yet. What was once our strength has now become, in my opinion, our weakness, says state House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz. We are the land of steady habits and the world has changed around us.it wasnt warned. Back in 1999, a report by a consultant named Michael Gallis identified the states aging transportation network, its fragmented political structure and the lack of a metropolitan center or strategy as glaring weaknesses. The report was widely discussed and still gets talked about in planning circles, but it didnt convince policymakers or the public that the state needed to change its ways. A sense of isolation -- that Connecticut benefited from not having the same problems as New York or Boston -- kept residents thinking of their state as its own little pocket of prosperity, rather than as part of a bigger region in which it must compete.At the start of the new century, Connecticut still prospered, its economic growth outpacing the countrys as a whole. That allowed it to issue income tax rebate checks to residents -- $50 to individuals and $100 to couples. These added up to $100 million that, in hindsight, many analysts wish had been devoted to paying down state pension debt, which the Malloy administration puts at $22 billion, although private estimates count it much higher. Instead of making regular pension fund contributions, Gov. John Rowland made a deal with labor unions a decade ago that allowed the state to defer paying them. My predecessors lived in good times and didnt spend any of that good-time revenue to attack the states long-term problems, Malloy complains. Im living in slow growth and Im putting every dollar into retiring long-term obligations.The state is also struggling to fund its teachers retirement system. While it has been able to renegotiate benefit levels with its own employees, benefits for teachers are negotiated with local districts. If the state isnt able to stretch out its payments to the teachers pension plan, as it did with the state workers fund, its mandated contributions are set to balloon from $1.2 billion this year to $6 billion in 2024. We are faced with legacy problems that have finally caught up with us, says Matt Ritter, the state House Democratic leader.Longstanding debt isnt Connecticuts only financial problem. Back in 1992, shortly after the state imposed a personal income tax, voters overwhelmingly approved a spending cap. The constitutional amendment they voted for, however, didnt define what the spending cap would be. The legislature has been able routinely to exceed the statutory cap by declaring spending emergencies or employing other gimmicks. In 2015, the state attorney general ruled that the spending cap as it stands is legally unenforceable.When the income tax was created, Connecticut lost one of its regional advantages. Established during a budget crisis triggered by the early 1990s recession, it was not originally intended to become the primary source of income, yet its now the states single largest revenue source. Its a progressive tax, so much of the money comes from a relatively small number of top earners. Half of a $400 million shortfall in income tax receipts projected this spring came from just 100 individuals. With uncertainty about whether the tax code will be changed at the federal level, a lot of hedge fund managers and other high fliers are holding off on selling their investments. But at least a few have moved their residency or their hedge funds down to Florida, which has no personal income tax. Conservatives can rattle off the names of individuals who took millions in tax revenue with them. Theyve decided six months and a day in Florida solves the problem, says Carol Platt Liebau, president of the Yankee Institute, a free market think tank in Hartford.Malloys proposed budget this year would have raised taxes and fees, but he looked to spending cuts to close most of the shortfall. In May, he reached an agreement with public employee unions to restructure the states pension plan and other retirement obligations. The deal increases pension and insurance costs for workers, while freezing wages for three years and offering less generous retirement plans to future hires. The package is expected to save the state $1.5 billion during its current two-year budget cycle and $24 billion over the next 20 years. State employees are basically saying one full year of the budget, $24 billion, thats on us, says Lori Pelletier, president of the AFL-CIOs Connecticut branch. Theres no sense in getting a raise if three months from now youre going to be laid off.The deal echoed concessions Malloy had won from unions earlier in his term. But Republicans, while acknowledging that the package offers real savings, complain that it doesnt go far enough. Connecticut is one of only four states that collectively bargain retirement benefits. The latest deal not only guarantees raises in the future and bars layoffs of state employees, but extends the life of underlying contractual benefits until 2027. These union contracts effectively tie the hands of one or two governors and the legislature for the next 10 years, Liebau says.an intergovernmental setup unlike that of any other state. For all practical purposes, it has no counties. Services that in most states are financed and shared by multiple jurisdictions, such as courthouses and roads, are handled at the state level in Connecticut. A few city and town functions have been consolidated here and there-- back-office accounting for libraries, the occasional animal shelter. But regional consolidation of schools and public safety are considered third-rail issues. Connecticut, which is home to 3.6 million people, has 111 police dispatch centers. By comparison, Houston, which has 2.3 million residents, has just one emergency dispatch center, which handles fire as well as police. One Connecticut high school had a graduating class of 45 students this year. Rather than sending the kids somewhere else, its district is expanding and renovating the campus.The only real source of revenue for local governments in Connecticut is the property tax. Since demand for services is often greatest in the bigger cities, their property tax rates end up being quite high -- often double the rate charged by neighboring towns. The problem is particularly acute in Hartford, where more than half the land is occupied by state facilities or other nontaxable entities. The citys population doubles during working hours, but commuter taxes are illegal, so Hartford has no real way to reach beyond its own borders to get resources from neighboring towns whose residents benefit from city services. The state of Connecticut owes the city of Hartford $50 million to $60 million a year in payments in lieu of taxes, says Cynthia Jennings, a member of Hartfords city council. For almost 20 years, they have not paid what they owe us. Not even close.The state does redistribute wealth to some extent, in the form of direct aid to cities or investments in redevelopment projects. But municipal aid has been on the chopping block, given the states own budget woes. Residents of the more prosperous towns, as in most places, question why their tax dollars are being sent to support cities they dont live in. That parochialism is reflected in the legislature, where lawmakers ask to be provided with number runs showing how budget decisions are going to affect their own districts. We have extreme wealth in some places and extreme poverty in some places, Ritter says. The legislature reflects that at times.As things stand, Connecticut is like a big city that has been zoned into 169 different districts, a few of which have to take on a huge burden of poverty. There is some rural poverty in the state, but most poor people live in the larger cities. Those living in suburbs enjoy good schools and public safety, and get a tax cut to boot, in the form of lower property tax rates. Most of the social bads are concentrated in about 12 of the 169 towns, says Nemerson, New Havens economic development director. Any change to make it better will hurt large numbers of people.Still, the problems associated with pronounced inequality are becoming more apparent. Connecticut is 80 percent white, but its population of white children under the age of 10 is falling faster than in any other state. Racial and ethnic minorities already make up more than 50 percent of infants and toddlers and are about to become a majority of 3- and 4-year-olds. Connecticuts kids score well on standardized tests overall, but theres a pronounced achievement gap among racial groups and by geography. As is true almost everywhere, students in city schools are faring poorly. We cant leave students in nine cities behind -- thats 30 to 40 percent of our future workforce, says Lyle Wray, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments in Hartford. Fifteen percent proficiency scores in math -- thats an economic death sentence.Malloy recognizes the need to invest in cities. He was once the mayor of Stamford, where new companies in fields such as biotech are moving in alongside the hedge funds, and thousands of new housing units have gone up. In July, the governor announced improvements in rail service and stations that will offer better connections between Hartford and New Haven to the south and Springfield, Mass., to the north. Through a quasi-public development authority, the state has helped build 1,600 new housing units in Hartford. The shift of a University of Connecticut campus from West Hartford to a former newspaper building across the street from the city hall will bring 2,000 undergraduates downtown. The seeds of revitalization are there, says Mayor Bronin. If theyre going to grow, we have to clear away the fiscal crisis that the city faces.The same could be said about the state as a whole. Policymakers are facing up to the fact that its no longer enough to be the kid brother to Boston and New York. Connecticut has to think of itself as a set of small to midsize regions that need to compete within the Northeast and nationally in order to jump-start any sort of growth. It has the tools. When it comes to productivity or education levels of its workers, Connecticut ranks near the top. And lawmakers from Malloy on down who seek to downplay the practical damage of GE and Aetna shifting headquarters -- but not the bulk of their workforces -- have a point. More than 20 years after Travelers Insurance moved its headquarters to Manhattan, it remains the largest private employer in Hartford.Connecticut is not in a death spiral, but it has failed to position itself to react to changing demographics and location preferences. Theres a lot of optimistic talk about how the pendulum may swing back, that when the millennials have kids theyll look more kindly on the Connecticut suburbs. Expecting people to want what theyre currently rejecting is a big risk, however. In a system designed for inertia, changing course will be difficult, especially since most people are still comfortable. And state leaders have lost credibility with many voters about even the need to chart a different economic course, after telling them too often that things will work out all right if they just swallow one more bitter pill in the form of tax increases to get through the latest crisis.Change is always difficult, especially in a place accustomed to success. But by this point its clear that whats worked so well for Connecticut in the past isnt working now. Maintaining the status quo doesnt portend well for the future. For a long time, Connecticut relied on a suburban strategy, says Rep. Tong, and the world has changed dramatically and very quickly. As the prospects in Congress have shifted from repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fixing President Obama's signature achievement, governors haven't stopped lobbying Congress.On Thursday, a bipartisan group of governors, led by Republican John Kasich of Ohio and Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado, wrote a letter to congressional leaders outlining their ideas for stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces.Most of the people who buy insurance through the ACA qualify for Medicaid or subsidies, but those who don't have faced rising premiums and dwindling options for coverage. As of this week, though, every county in the country will have at least one option for insurance in 2018.The letter itself comes with few surprises. In fact, much of what the governors are asking for has already been written about ad nauseam by health experts.Its not unusual for governors to try and sway national policy. But on this issue, they have so far appeared to have a significant amount of influence, as even some of the most conservative governors cautioned Congress about the impacts of repealing the law without an immediate replacement plan.Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval was rumored to be the key reason U.S. Sen. Dean Heller voted no on the first several repeal bills. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey was thought to be behind U.S. Sen. John McCains dramatic thumbs down moment in July, which killed the prospect of repeal -- at least for now.Next week, five governors will testify before Congress about the ACA. Two of them -- Hickenlooper and Steve Bullock of Montana -- signed the letter sent on Thursday.But the question remains: How influential will governors be once Congress comes back from August recess?Gail Wilensky, a health-care economist who was administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the H.W. Bush administration, is cautious.My concern isnt the substance of the letter. Its that the people who signed that letter are moderates. Moderates dont control Congress, she says.Of the six other governors who signed Kasich and Hickenlooper's letter, one -- Sandoval -- is a Republican, and one -- Bill Walker of Alaska -- is an independent. The others are Democrats (Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, John Bel Edwards of Louisiana and Steve Bullock of Montana).Like Wilensky, Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, is skeptical."Governors can have a very effective role in stopping bad policy from happening, but its much harder for them to have an equally effective impact on promoting specific change," he says. "To get something prospectively passed, you need to grapple all the logistics, all the politics and all the fiscal impacts that make health policy so very difficult in this country today."Most surprisingly, Kasich and Hickenlooper recommend keeping the individual mandate, something thats been unpopular even among some Democrats.For the time being it is perhaps the most important incentive for healthy people to enroll in coverage. Until Congress comes up with a better solution -- or states request waivers to implement a workable alternative -- the individual mandate is necessary to keep markets stable in the short term, the governors wrote.The letter also asks the federal government to exempt insurers from the federal health insurance tax on exchange plans in counties with only one insurance option. That move is meant to incentivize insurers to start offering coverage again in places they deemed unprofitable.Other policies in the letter are common bipartisan solutions that have been percolating for some time: funding cost-sharing reductions, streamlining the waiver process so states dont have to jump through so many hoops to implement changes, funding outreach efforts to get younger, healthier people to enroll, and funding reinsurance programs, which protect insurers from major financial losses.Several of the governor's recommendations are in stark contrast to recent decisions made by the Trump administration. Most recently, the president slashed millions in funding for outreach and enrollment on Thursday. The Indiana Supreme Court said it cannot force the Indiana Department of Child Services to comply with caseload limits even though those limits are required by law.The decision stems from a suit brought by a DCS family case manager, who argued she and other workers were handling heavy workloads that put children at risk.The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, sought to force DCS to reduce the caseloads handled by its workers, who investigate allegations of abuse and neglect and manage ongoing child welfare cases.In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court said the issue can't be resolved by a judicial mandate. The justices said that while Indiana law requires a specific outcome limits on the number of cases each family case manager must handle the law does not specify the particular action DCS must take to reach that outcome."Granting relief here risks entangling the judiciary in the Departments day-to-day affairs what would likely be a time-consuming intrusion beyond our institutional competence to discharge," the state Supreme Court said in its opinion. Homeowners no longer need to buy title insurance. The chronology of ownership and claims for every piece of property in a jurisdiction are on an unhackable, constantly updated, always current ledger.Or this: Governments, companies and individuals can transfer funds from their banks to another bank or party instantly -- without any administrative holding period or fee.If these sound like future projects, theyre not. Theyre both here-and-now developments using an underlying technology called blockchain. Cook County, Ill., is using it to build a land records ledger. Seven of Europes largest banks are buying into a blockchain that IBM is putting together for financial institutions. Beyond that, in the wake of questions about the security of voting systems during the 2016 presidential election, many believe blockchain technology will be the answer to securing future elections, allowing them to be audited in real time.Blockchain has been on a stealth course in government circles in recent months. At the 2016 conference of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, nobody had blockchain on their priority list. This year, a NASCIO survey found that a majority of CIOs had begun investigating blockchain through informal discussions. In May, the group released a report calling it the next big transformational technology in government. This is a very big deal. Its so much more dramatic than [when the internet was launched], says Eric Sweden, NASCIOs program director for enterprise architecture and governance. Its going to have a huge impact on how we do business, accounting, auditing -- anything that has a data lineage to it.Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (although many people now use the terms interchangeably). DLT has the ability to allow users to record data and transactions instantaneously in a way that is unhackable. A key to understanding blockchain is that each distributed ledger isnt maintained or stored by any one entity, but is accessed and cultivated by a number of users. Everyones changes appear instantly on each users copy of the ledger and are encrypted in a way so that they cant be changed or deleted. Thus, each new block is permanently linked onto an unbreakable chain.DLT is what was used to build the cryptocurrency bitcoin. The digital payment system quickly gained worldwide notoriety for its popularity among black market website users who were attracted to the anonymous nature of bitcoin transactions and the lack of central control. But in addition to opening up a new avenue of investigations for the FBIs cyber division, bitcoin gave us something else: It introduced blockchain as a way of conducting business. Now, the private sector and a number of governments have been experimenting with DLT in relation to smart contracts, which help two parties directly exchange money, property, shares, or anything of value in a transparent way.In looking at the possible advantages of the technology to governments, Jennifer ORourke, business liaison for the Illinois Blockchain Initiative, notes that many folks in both business and government spend a lot of time making sure that every copy of a document in users hands is identical. Its really important that both our pieces of paper say exactly the same thing, she says. So how do we try to make sure that audit effort is immediate and efficient? This technology provides that solution.Early enthusiasts see blockchain as a way to improve a variety of record-keeping ventures, from business transactions to health records to voting rolls. So far, exploration has been limited to a few areas. In the private sector, banking institutions are looking at the technology as a way to get rid of administrative hurdles, hence the IBM blockchain for such banks as Deutsche Bank and HSBC. In the public sector, governments in Asia and Europe have jumped at the notion of consolidating and linking their records. Among the former Soviet bloc countries, Estonia has long used blockchain-like technologies to secure health records, while Georgias National Agency of Public Registry recently moved its land registry onto the blockchain. Sweden is similarly testing a blockchain-based land registry, and Dubai plans to run its entire government on distributed ledger technology by 2020.Chinas approach to the technology has been to fertilize entrepreneurs with forward-looking ideas and then step out of the way. It has actively invested in consortiums and so-called blockchain parks that are designed to attract the best startups. Meanwhile, China has allowed Initial Coin Offerings, the capital-raising process favored by new cryptocurrency ventures, to operate in the country. In the cryptocurrency model, financial backers, instead of putting up seed money in exchange for shares in the company, are paid a percentage of the cryptocurrency thats created -- a currency that will, presumably, increase in value down the road. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has not provided a regulatory framework for Initial Coin Offerings. Some blockchain advocates say this creates a major roadblock here that is stalling the technologys development.At the state and local level, there has been some movement. A few places are eyeing targeted pilot programs. But Illinois most closely mirrors the approach seen abroad by aggressively cultivating and investigating the technologys use in government.are acutely aware that they are exploring unchartered territory. The upside, says Michael Wons, the states chief technology officer, is an opportunity to transact business seamlessly and for less money. A government license filing that costs $500 and takes months to process, for instance, could instead take a day and cost a fraction of that amount -- could being the operative word. There are gaps, Wons acknowledges. Thats why we want to attract entrepreneurs to help us work through the holes.Thats what the Illinois Blockchain Initiative is all about. Its a first-of-its-kind effort that kicked off late last year and counts six state and local agencies among its founding members: the Illinois Pollution Control Board; state departments of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Innovation and Technology, Financial and Professional Regulation, and Insurance; and the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. The main goals are threefold: ensure thoughtful and light-touch governance as it applies to the technology; support building out the blockchain ecosystem from an economic development perspective; and promote government integration of the technology itself.When it comes to implementing the initiatives first two goals, Wons sums up the approach succinctly: Incubate, dont overregulate. For example, the initiative considered how the state should approach cryptocurrency in relation to its Transmitters of Money Act, a law that affects any institution that moves money. It looked at how other states, such as Washington, have regulated online currency exchanges. New legislation there that requires currency exchanges operating in the state to maintain a surety bond has prompted several cryptocurrency startups to pack up and leave. Illinois sees that approach as working against its goal of attracting companies and supporting the development of blockchain technology. Its state regulators decided that the existing laws regarding transmitting money could be applied to cryptocurrencies and issued extensive regulatory guidance to make that case.In terms of attracting talent, the initiative recently launched the Blockchain Center in Chicago. The center is charged with not only fostering development and collaboration between startups but also recruiting and training some of the state university systems top computer science talent.When it comes to the third prong -- government adoption of blockchain technology -- the initiative has already gained some insights. Before joining the project last year, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office had already begun its own blockchain pilot program. It put roughly 2,000 vacant Chicago properties on the blockchain so that the system could prevent scammers from illegally selling houses they dont own. Scammers have been taking advantage of the fact that information about properties that had been seized by the city for nonpayment of back taxes are scattered among five government offices and therefore vulnerable to misuse. The scammers advertise the properties as fixer-uppers, obtain a copy of the property deed and use it in a sale to an unsuspecting homebuyer. Once the homebuyer hands over payment for the house -- five, ten or twenty thousand in cash or money order -- the scammers disappear. Unfortunately, a lot of unsuspecting homebuyers were forking over cash and putting additional money into repairs, reports John Mirkovic, the countys deputy recorder of deeds. Then, he says, they find out they cant record the deed because the person [from whom they bought the house] never owned it in the first place.The pilot program, though, ultimately raised more questions than answers. Building a blockchain for just 2,000 properties was complicated enough. To scale up to a statewide level would require counties to unify the way they enter property information. But doing so would ultimately save homebuyers and homeowners millions of dollars as there would no longer be a need for them to buy title insurance. On a blockchain, the chronology of ownership and claims on the land are all there for anyone to see. This is an opportunity, Mirkovic says, to make public records better and more educational for people.The Illinois initiative is kicking off four other government pilot programs. These focus on putting academic credentials, birth records, health provider registries and an energy credit marketplace on a blockchain.And while Illinois initiative stands out, its not the only state that recognizes the role government can play in fostering the technology. This year, Nevada took steps to encourage use of the technology by banning blockchain taxes. Arizona passed a law legally recognizing signatures recorded on a blockchain and smart contracts. Delaware, where two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated, passed a law allowing companies to use blockchain technology to store and transfer securities and communicate with shareholders. The move is expected to increase transparency in the shareholder voting process and automate the annual report and franchise tax filings in Delaware.Like Illinois, Delawares forward movement was born from a desire to be out in front of other states. I was talking to a lawyer in New York who said, I have a client who wants to issue shares on a blockchain, but theyre concerned about a lawsuit, says Andrea Tinianow, Delawares director of corporate and international development. Thats what got the ball rolling.The flurry of activity this year is likely just the start of it. NASCIOs Sweden predicts that in a decade blockchain in government will be routine. Still, he preaches a go-slow approach. For starters, blockchain technology doesnt make an organization bulletproof. Twice over the past year, for example, the Ethereum Project, where members trade a type of cryptocurrency, reported data breaches that affected tens of thousands of users and resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars. In both cases, hackers tricked users into sending money and passwords to the wrong address, showing that while blockchain technology itself may be unhackable, its not altogether impenetrable.Theres also a possible workforce concern: Making records seamless has the potential to eliminate jobs. Land title insurers, for instance, would have some objections to being made obsolete in Illinois by blockchain. And elsewhere, theres been much discussion in the financial services industry about the processing and verification jobs the technology would kill. Similar back-office jobs in government, such as data entry work, could be rendered obsolete. But Mirkovic says the technology creates a larger opportunity to offer high-level jobs -- and more of them. Theres a way to organize this to give taxpayers a higher level of service, he says. If we got rid of 10 data entry people, we could hire 20 paralegals and still save taxpayers money.Finally, there are costs. Governments dont have a lot of money to invest in experiments that might not work. A more practical role is to enable entrepreneurship and wait for private industry to develop best practices. In other words, its OK to be a little behind the first wave. If I were to look at it in the typical hype cycle of tech, says Illinois Wons, were in the throes of enlightenment right now. Its, hold onlets give it a whirl first. It was a busy week for many Kentuckians. With the state facing yet another public pension crisis, Gov. Matt Bevin spent five hours answering questions on Facebook Live, while retirees were lawyering up and legislators packing their bags for a special session.This is the third time in a decade that Kentucky has tried to address its woefully underfunded pension systems. Each time, the solutions have become more drastic as the financial health of its pensions have continued to decline. Now, a consulting group is recommending the state's lawmakers cut retirees pension checks by as much as 25 percent. Between its plans for workers, police officers, firefighters and teachers, the state owes roughly $33 billion in pension debt.Unsurprisingly, the proposal by PFM Consulting Group has been met with some backlash from retirees. They say this would be jumping the gun and not allowing the most recent reforms to take effect.In PFMs presentation to lawmakers on Monday, Managing Director Michael Nadol said the prior reforms hadnt gone far enough because the funding challenge persists at acute levels. Unfortunately, he said, nibbling around the edges wont get Kentucky to where it needs to be.Absent any changes, said State Budget Director John Chilton, lawmakers would need to find an additional $1 billion per year to keep the pension systems solvent. Without raising revenue, that would result in a 34 percent budget cut to most state agencies.All of PFMs recommendations are dramatic . No one is spared -- not retirees, current employees or future employees.Under the proposal, cost-of-living raises awarded between 1996 and 2012 to state employees would be clawed back. The state would refund itself those raises incrementally each month. Cost-of-living raises would also be suspended for retired teachers.In addition, all retirees would have to pay more for their health-care costs and the state would raise retirement ages for everyone. Police and firefighters, who are now eligible to receive full benefits after 25 years of service because of the dangerous nature of the professions, wouldnt reach eligibility until age 60. The retirement age for everyone else would be raised to 65.Finally, new employees would only be eligible for a 401(k)-style plan, which caps the states contributions to 5 percent of pay.Donald Boyd, the director of fiscal studies at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, says that past reforms have mainly focused on future employees. Thats part of the reason why the states already massive unfunded liability hasn't improved. All it does is stop the digging, he says. It doesnt do anything about the hole thats already there.PFMs recommendations, on the other hand, not only cut already accrued liabilities, but they also tackle structural issues, such as the way the pension plans account for investment growth and the amount of money the state should pay in order for the plans to achieve financial health.Jim Carroll, president of Kentucky Government Retirees, isn't buying the sudden nature of the crisis. This is not a surprising scenario, he says. This wasnt going to get better overnight.Thats true to some extent, says Boyd.Prior to 2013, the accounting for all of the states pension plans was done in such a way that the state wasnt paying off the interest accruing on those liabilities, which guaranteed the outstanding debt would increase.To address the issue, Kentucky created a 30-year payoff plan for its two largest pensions: the state employees plan and its teachers plan. It also suspended cost-of-living raises for retired state employees and set up a separate cash balance pension plan for new hires, which carries far less risk for the state. Most of the reforms didn't take effect until 2014 and three years, says Carroll, is hardly enough time for them to start working.The 2013 reform was heralded as a success, but Boyd and others say it left gaps. It didnt, for instance, address funding for the retired teachers plan or lower any of the plans' assumed rate of return to a more conservative and appropriate assumption.The employees' plan did finally lower its rate of return last year to 6.75 percent, but PFM recommends it lower the rate even more.The main reason for this recommendation is that the losses in the state employees plan have been alarming: Since 2008, it has lost more than half its value and now has just $2.5 billion in assets. The plan went from 54 percent funded in 2008 to 16 percent funded today. Meanwhile, it pays out $1 billion annually to retirees, leaving very little room for a poor return on investments.Boyd says anemic plans like Kentuckys should have far more conservative assumptions -- or else they run the risk of quickly becoming insolvent. "While I wouldnt call then it wildly, irredeemably fiscally reckless, he says, they are close. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday the state is accepting Mexico's offer to provide assistance in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, including vehicles, boats and food.Mexico, in a diplomatic note Tuesday, provided a long list of items to help Texas get back on its feet following devastating historic flooding.Carlos Sada, Mexico's undersecretary for North American relations, said this week his country is prepared to offer relief that includes troops, convoys of food and medicine, portable showers and water."Texas and Mexico share more than half the border," Sada said. "There are families, marriages, businesses that bind our two sides. This is about being good neighbors."In Washington, Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said Tuesday, "If a need for assistance does arise, we will work with our partners, including Mexico, to determine the best way forward."On Tuesday, President Donald Trump accepted an offer from Singapore to lend four of its CH-47 Chinook helicopters for rescue efforts. Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he flew to Texas, and accepted the offer, according to Lee's office. Singapore's Air Force has trained since 1995 with the Texas Army National Guard.To unauthorized immigrants seeking shelter from Harvey's devastation, Sada said: "Don't be afraid to come out. There is no deportation operation underway. We have the assurance of Gov. Abbott and the mayor of Houston."Mexico's offer of help comes at a crucial and tense time for the U.S.-Mexican relations, which in many ways is largely shaped by Texas.Beginning Friday, activists are set to launch statewide protests on two fronts. They plan to rally against the state's new ban on so-called sanctuary cities, a law taking effect Friday. They also plan demonstrations to register growing fears that President Donald Trump will soon end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created by the Obama administration to block deportation of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.Moreover, negotiations between the U.S., Mexico and Canada to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement _ from which Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull the U.S. _ will resume Friday. No other state has more at stake in those talks than Texas, where nearly half a million jobs depend on the deal."Mexico's desire to be humane at a time of such great need contrasts the character and the churlishness coming out of Washington, D.C., and NAFTA," said Tony Garza, a prominent Republican and former U.S. ambassador and now legal counsel with White & Case in Mexico City. "In Texas, given the Legislature's focus these past few months on sanctuary cities sends a clear signal to hundreds of thousands of Texans, particularly Latinos along the Gulf Coast and in Harris County, that we're not with you and in an increasingly purple state, that may mean something."Garza recalled Mexico taking "the high road" in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Mexican soldiers rolled across the border in a 45-vehicle convoy and set up camp at the former Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio. They served victims 170,000 meals, distributed 184,000 tons of supplies and conducted hundreds of medical consultations. Mexico also shipped humanitarian aid to New Orleans, and former President George W. Bush met with Mexican Marines to thank them.It's unclear how Trump, who arrived in Texas on Tuesday to survey Harvey's catastrophic damage, will react to Mexico's offer to help. The president and Mexico have had an acrimonious relationship dating back to Trump's first day as a presidential candidate, when he referred to Mexicans as rapists, murderers and criminals."We know that Trump is intensely disliked by Mexicans, but in the end Mexicans see us as a neighbor, a place where Americans are good, decent people," said James Taylor, a partner at Vianovo, an Austin-based consulting firm, and chairman of the Aquila Alliance, a Texas group dedicated to promoting closer relations between Texas and Mexico. "Mexicans are demonstrating they care about their neighbor _ especially their immediate neighbor, Texas."On Sunday, as waters rose across southeast Texas, Mexico reached out to Texas. Trump, meanwhile, bullied Mexico on Twitter to pay for his promised border wall. On Monday, he repeated his threat that the U.S. would at some point kill NAFTA."We're in a critical and delicate negotiation with NAFTA," said Ricardo Ainslie, director of the Mexico Center at the University of Texas at Austin. "Mexico has been the brunt of a lot of highly pressured, hostile rhetoric. So I think it's very interesting that Mexico is saying in so many words 'Hey, we're present, and we're critical to things that happen in Texas.' They're showing real political maturity."Texas has its own dicey issues with Mexico. The recently signed SB4 is scheduled to go into effect Friday, barring its possible overturning this week by a federal judge. SB4 effectively outlaws sanctuary cities _ places where local law enforcement limits or refuses cooperation with federal immigration agents _ and gives police the right to ask the immigration status of people they detain. Mexico's vast immigrant population would be affected.Texas's biggest cities _ Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin _ and other local entities have filed a lawsuit against SB4, and activists remain hopeful that U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia will rule the law unconstitutional this week in response.In 2015, Texas and 25 other states blocked the Obama administration, through a federal court ruling, from extending deferred action to an estimated 5 million undocumented parents of children who were citizens or legal residents, as well as to young immigrants who arrived between 2007 and 2010. The ruling was upheld on appeal, and last year, the Supreme Court split 4-4, leaving the lower court's decision in place.Texas leads a group of 10 states pressuring the Trump administration to end DACA, and in recent days Trump has signaled he may do so. A legal challenge could come as early as Sept. 5. Most affected immigrants live in either Texas or California."Yes, we know about Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, but our decision, our willingness to help Texas isn't based on politics," Sada said. "This is a spontaneous reaction to a neighbor in need, and we, based on our own experiences with natural disasters, know recovery periods can take months, years. So we're here with one message: Texas, Mexico is ready to help." Caprotti (TNS) -- Last years United Nations-brokered agreement on the future of cities, the New Urban Agenda , embraced many of todays trends in urban planning and management made possible by new technologies. From smart cities to data collection, the high-tech possibilities of urban data centres and street-level monitoring tools were all given the U. N.s stamp of approval.But for geographerof the University of Exeter, who studies smart cities, the rush deserves some pause. What if new technology further exacerbates urban inequality, especially among those on the wrong side of the digital divide? Caprotti sees the world heading toward a notion of a new urban citizen, one that continually provides data, which may leave out those who are unable or unwilling to contribute. For example, how to fit in the individual who does not own a smartphone, whether out of choice or for economic reasons?As the New Urban Agenda was being negotiated last year, Caprotti and several colleagues authored an academic paper to engage these questions. It was published this year in the journal Urban Research & Practice, following the agendas adoption. Citiscopes Gregory Scruggs spoke with Caprotti from his home in the United Kingdom to see how these speculations during the drafting phase of the document compared with its final version.For me, the key thing about the [New] Urban Agenda and about the way its been put together is the fact that it is actually an urban agenda: The city has become centre stage in some ways, and we see it reflected in policymaking. Whereas throughout the 1990s into the early 2000s, the city in policy was still seen as a stage on which various other processes that might not necessarily be considered urban play out. But now the city is increasingly becoming seen as an actor.At the same time, it does raise questions about who sets the agendas that have to do with the urban when large international organizations and others are also involved. Whose agendas does that reflect?Im not implying that a specific group is left out. What Im saying is that whenever you have policymaking made by large coalitions of international actors like the group that negotiated the New Urban Agenda the risk is always around whose discourse is going to be incorporated in that agenda. Whose discourse is going to be communicated by that agenda?For instance, I work on smart cities. A lot of smart cities have to do with metrics, evaluation systems. Its all fairly top-down, very much driven by corporate, techno-environmental agendas that have to do with improving the economic performance of cities and integrating digital technologies in the city. And theres no problem with that, of course all of that is very positive.But urban development doesnt stop there, number one. And number two, these sorts of agendas about bringing about the smart city in the world today do very little to address things like, well, what kind of inequalities does that keep hidden? For example, around access to digital technologies, equitable access. Groups like the elderly, the poor, who are already on the other side of the digital divide how does the smart-city agenda potentially end up reproducing those types of inequalities?So thats how I would approach that question.Right, or If you can measure it, you can manage it. I think there is a broader trend of which the New Urban Agenda is an expression, a new urban trend toward the measurable city. Big data, modelling cities, city metrics this is a development that we all know about and live in, at least in certain parts of the world. And its great. But if you just focus on what is measurable, you have to ask critical questions about measurement. If you can measure it, you can manage it thats great, but what if you cant measure something? At the moment its still really hard to measure, for example, things like the experiential side of cities stress levels, well-being, etcetera.Of course there are, but its difficult at the moment. You cant model that in the same sort of real-time environments that we have with large-scale traffic flows, for example. And most of the research that Im seeing coming out of the city is very clearly economically and technologically focused.I think theres a real risk of reducing citizens and human beings in general to providers of data.Basically, this part of the article takes its shape from this emergence of data-driven urban analytics modelling the idea of urban citizens as centres, urban citizens as providers of data, real-time control of the city. There is this idea that the citizen is being shaped by these new data flows and by these new ideas about governing the city through code and through data. But also it is precisely the idea of measuring the citizen that is producing the urban citizen. Thats one of the critiques of measurement and of metrics in the city: Youre not just measuring things; youre actually producing a subject for governance. Youre saying this is the urban citizen.Yes, and the more you matter because you produce data more than anything else. You matter as a citizen because you produce economic data. You matter as a citizen because you produce health data.I think theres a real risk of reducing citizens and human beings in general to providers of data, for two reasons. One, not all citizens provide data. So if you dont provide data, or if you dont plug into those data flows, what happens to you? Do you get marginalized from the world of the near future? Number two, governance through data and governance through metrics always carry with it authoritarian potential. Thats something that the history of the 20th century has amply shown.Now, Im not saying that the New Urban Agenda is some sort of conspiracy theory. Overall the use of data from the standard city, the use of data to shape and influence the city, is incredibly positive and carries great promise. But with any so-called potentially neutral technologies and ways of understanding the city come great political responsibilities. At the end of the day, any sort of technique, any technological regime, any agenda, has its own politics underneath it. And its important just to be aware of that.A lot of its small, grass-roots smart-city schemes, or the sort of sharing economy type of things going on in Sweden Malmo, for example. A really good person to talk to on this would be Anna Holst, who is at KTH in Stockholm. She has done work in Gothenburg and Malmo with this type of local projects I think she calls it the sharing and remaking economy, so the idea of regrowth, of citizens getting together and repairing things as opposed to buying new things.In Sweden, some of these groups are putting forth alternative discourses about urban sustainability. For instance, a lot of the Swedish government policy discourse about urban sustainability is about measuring emissions through a production perspective: Over the last x number of years, emissions have been going down at the same time as economic growth has been rising so hey, we produce a sustainable economy!What Anna Holst shows through with her work with these organizations is that if you start measuring and thinking about emissions in different ways using different metrics, especially by looking at the emissions of products that are brought in from abroad flights, all that sort of stuff you start seeing that emissions are actually rising even faster. So a lot of it, again, is about what metrics you chose to incorporate into your policy discourse.Last year with a collaborator on a current project, we did a survey of all of the U. K.s smart-city projects. And we looked at projects that were in the pipeline and projects that were actually being built and worked on in these cities. And one of the fairly striking findings that we had from this survey is that while the smart city is a real discourse in the U. K., there was an almost total lack of focus on urban social sustainability when thinking about the smart city in the U. K.. Overall, the focus was on the economy of the city and of the technology of the city. And partly thats due to data and metrics, which lend themselves quite well to that.But then you ask yourself, when youve got cities that have neighbourhoods that for decades have had massively high unemployment, historically fairly structural reasons for inequality, an interesting question would be to ask: How can metrics and data be leveraged so as to provide some sort of progressive input there? (TNS) - As the weakened remnants of former Tropical Storm Harvey plowed eastward Thursday, delivering drenching rainfall and fresh flooding, Houston and the vast area already hammered by the massive storm grappled with fresh perils while the waters began to recede, leaving behind a stew of toxic muck.The storms confirmed death toll reached 31 and the grim work of recovering the bodies of those who were trapped in homes or vehicles gathered pace in Houston, the nations fourth-largest city. Methodical block-by-block searches were underway in what had been some of the hardest-hit areas, said Houstons assistant fire chief, Richard Mann.In what could prove an ominous precursor in the Gulf Coasts sprawling petrochemical hub, flames and plumes of smoke soared skyward early Thursday at a chemical plant on the citys outskirts. Rising temperatures and a power cutoff had set off volatile reactions inside the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, 30 miles northeast of downtown Houston, authorities said.Ten Harris County sheriffs deputies were treated for possible chemical inhalation after the emission of fumes, local law enforcement officials said Thursday morning. They described the chemicals as nontoxic, but in Washington, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief William Brock Long called the incident dangerous.After a high-profile visit to Texas on Tuesday by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence was traveling to the state accompanied by several Cabinet secretaries, his office said.The storm sent more than 30,000 people into shelters since making landfall Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in five decades. Even downgraded to a tropical depression, Harvey was drenching parts of Louisiana, with the National Weather Service warning that torrential rains could hit areas of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. There were flash-flood warnings as far away as southern Ohio.High waters were expected to linger for a week in some areas, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The storm-affected zone was larger than that surrounding New Orleans when it was pummeled a dozen years ago by Hurricane Katrina.Even those who had managed to escape the floodwaters awakened to new woes Thursday. In Beaumont, 90 miles east of Houston, people turned on their water faucets, and nothing came out. The city of 118,299 people lost access to water after floods knocked out a pump station along the Neches River, along with its backup water supply from wells in Hardin County, municipal authorities said.At this time there is no water supply for the city water system, the city of Beaumont said in a statement. We will have to wait until the water levels from this historical flood recede before we can determine the extent of damage and make any needed repairs. There is no way to determine how long this will take at this time.Amid the devastation, there were nascent signs of recovery. Houstons two major airports were operating again, and services like trash pickup and limited bus and light rail were resuming. Just south of downtown, restaurants and grocery stores were doing brisk business.But in parts of the city, receding waters gave way to a landscape that was sometimes hard to recognize. Moldy, soaked debris piles lined the streets of the Meyerland neighborhood, bisected by Brays Bayou, which also flooded the previous year.While areas of downtown Houston buzzed with activity morning rush hour, businesses reopening work crews in the neighborhood set to the wearying task of removing soaked carpets and carting away debris, amid the hum of industrial fans and dehumidifiers. By Thursday, some residents had stripped their homes down to the studs and left, exhausted.Its devastating to anyone who loses most of their possessions to go to work and try to make a living with this aggravation, said Alan Ross, a photographer who lives in the neighborhood and was helping his son clean up.Scott Ross, 33, a video producer, had seen his ranch house flood for the second time, with waters reaching 23 inches deep. His wife is seven months pregnant, so they planned to stay with his parents until their flood insurance kicks in.After last years flood, some neighborhood residents elevated their houses by several feet, but that can be costly. Despite that, some of the raised homes still flooded this time.It will be interesting to see what happens with this area in the future. Will these older houses be knocked down? Will they do something about the flooding in this area? Will people stay? he said as he stood outside the house volunteers had helped him strip.Its unknown, his father said.(Los Angeles Times staff writers Hennessy-Fiske reported from Houston, Pearce from Beaumont, Texas, and King from Washington.)2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - Congress will likely need to address Hurricane Harvey relief aid as soon as next week, with FEMA quickly spending down its main disaster account, which had $2.3 billion on hand early Wednesday.Lawmakers already face a full September agenda when Congress resumes. But the fallout from Hurricane Harvey and need to swiftly provide assistance to disaster victims now tops the agenda.FEMA will likely run out of money before theres a comprehensive number to address the entirety of the disaster response so immediate action is needed, said a senior Democratic aide.A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to say how quickly funding would be depleted.But Tom Bossert, the White House Homeland Security adviser, said an initial request for funding from Congress was coming soon.Were going to go up and ask for a disaster supplemental shortly, Bossert said.Bossert expected a multi-phased process, with a first request for supplemental funds coming quickly. A second more substantial funding request would likely come later.I will make that request shortly, he said. What well do is come back later for a second supplemental request.As of late Tuesday, FEMAs Disaster Relief Fund had $2.3 billion, including $1.4 billion in the major disaster account, which was projected Wednesday to fall to $830 million with outlays for temporary housing and other pending obligations, according to internal reports.President Donald Trump will convene congressional leaders Wednesday at the White House, but already House and Senate leaders are talking among themselves about what will be expected.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reached out to Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Monday and spoke with White House chief of staff John F. Kelly on Tuesday, pressing for emergency funds.Congress has tangled over disaster funds in recent years, most markedly when Republicans voted in large numbers against relief for Hurricane Sandy, saying it should be paid for with funding cuts elsewhere. Even though Republicans held the majority in Congress, they relied on Democrats for passage.Both parties, though, appear poised to quickly approve disaster funds after Harvey swept through Texas and Louisiana, leaving more than 30 dead, with rains and floodwaters continuing to menace the region.The first tranche of funding may likely be proposed as a separate stand-alone bill, unclouded by other issues, to help ensure quick passage, despite the other must-pass measures requiring attention in fall.Congress will have a dozen working days in session as it races to meet a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, averting a federal shutdown, and raise the debt limit to prevent a financial crisis, among other issues.Conservatives, who have been reluctant to allow additional spending, warned against linking the relief to other measures.Both the House and Senate appropriations committees have vowed to quickly address the needs.The Senate Appropriations Committee continues to monitor the situation in Texas and Louisiana and remains in contact with FEMA and other relevant authorities, said Stephen Worley, a spokesman for the panel chaired by Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss. Chairman Cochran is prepared to respond quickly to any requests for supplemental appropriations for Hurricane Harvey response and recovery.2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - With the Neches River threatening to flood, officials in Tyler County agonized over just what to tell residents to get them to heed their advice to evacuate.They settled on this unmistakable message: GET OUT OR DIE.Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette told CNN on Thursday that he posted that blunt message on the countys emergency management Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon to get the attention of residents accustomed to flooding along the Neches River north of Beaumont.These are friends; these are neighbors; these are people who live along the the Neches River, Blanchette said. They are accustomed to flooding of the Neches.He feared that those long-time residents would cavalierly regard this flood as no worse than previous ones.But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages B.A. Steinhagen Lake along the Neches, had warned Tyler County officials that catastrophic flooding below the lakes dam was imminent.The information we had access to . was dire, Blanchette recalled. We agonized over just what we needed to say so that they got the message.As a result of the evacuation warning, Blanchette said, no lives were lost in the devastating flooding.Was it the right thing to say the right thing to do? Im responsible for those lives, Blanchette said.It was extremely effective.His words were reminiscent of the advice that officials in Rockport gave residents of that Texas coastal town as Hurricane Harvey blew in. All the advice we can give is get out. Get out now, Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios told South Texas TV station KIII-TV before Harvey made landfall. Those that are going to stay, its unfortunate but they should make some type of preparations. Mark their arm with a Sharpie pen. Put their Social Security number on it and their name.2017 Austin American-Statesman, TexasVisit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - The womans body was revealed as floodwaters receded, washed up against the green metal fence surrounding her apartment complex.Neighbors knew who she was: Kiesha Williams, a nurse and single mother of two whom they had watched drown as they frantically called 911.They wondered how many more victims remained entombed in flooded apartments.So far, Hurricane Harvey has claimed 31 lives in the Houston area, and more statewide as the storm spread to suburbs, then east to Beaumont and Port Arthur. But the death toll is expected to rise this week as flooding subsides and people return home and search for the missing, making grim discoveries as people did in neighboring Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Houston officials plan to start the house-to-house search Thursday in areas where floodwaters rose 3 feet or more.That includes Woodforest Chase apartment complex in the eastern neighborhood of Northshore.The boxy tan stucco complex faces Greens Bayou, an unruly, brush-choked river that overflowed during the worst of the storm last weekend, sweeping families from their homes. Farther north, the same bayou swept away a van containing a family of six. The vehicle was retrieved Wednesday.At Woodforest Chase, those who could fled to the complexs rooftops. From there, they shouted for help and watched helplessly in horror as neighbors drowned. Another resident at Woodforest Chase who also had taken refuge on a roof, Roshanda Harris, said she saw five bodies float away, including those of three children.Derrick Vance, 29, said he saw half a dozen people die. He descended from the roof at one point to help families next door. But he couldnt reach Williams and others stranded across the complex. The parking lot between them had become a roaring river.Most people that died was on that side. There might be some people still in their apartments, he said Wednesday, pointing to the area where Williams body was found.Officials have yet to search door to door at the complex, where eerie alarms still sounded late Wednesday. Neighbors said they couldnt be sure how many had fled before floodwaters rose nearly to the roofs.The storm peeled open apartment doors, windows and whole walls, washing the contents through the surrounding fence where they became mired like flotsam on the beach, with the same briny stench.Shaky cellphone video posted on Facebook showed figures clinging to a tree in the parking lot as brown water rushed around them, ripping one girls clothes off and threatening to tear her away as the other figure clung to her underwear.Pull her up! She underwater! shouted a woman filming from across the complex.Pull her head up! yelled a girl.A man can be heard on his phone nearby calling 911.Tell them she going underwater and she cant breathe, the woman said.We need someone out here now, weve got people drowning, the man told an operator.Suddenly, the woman filming screamed.Shes gone they let her go, she said. Noting others had already drowned, she added, Thats not the first person.Also caught in the turbulent waters was Williams. She could not swim, according to a cousin, Daquan Green, 21, who was at Williams apartment Wednesday with relatives.Williams had graduated from Furr High School and worked at a local hospital while studying to become a certified nurses assistant, virtually living in her scrubs, he said. The single mother rented her own apartment, bought a blue Chevy Malibu sedan and had just received her nursing license before Harvey hit, he said.When the storm started, Green said, Williams initially drove away from the complex with her two young daughters, then returned by herself. He wasnt sure why.She left them with my mother and said she was coming back, he said.A team from the local medical examiners office removed Williams body from the complex fence Wednesday, and relatives told her daughters that she had died.2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Earlier this week I provided some interesting statistics on the increasing frequency of Presidential Disaster Declarations While the trend is way up compared to just a decade or so ago, the average citizen thinks that any event, no matter the size, should become one that provides the maximum amount of support to take care of their losses.So, when a town in Illinois gets denied Washington, Illinois residents upset over FEMA aid denial there will be hell to pay. The damages for local government is listed at $6.1M (this is what is called Public Assistance--which is government assistance, Individual Assistance is for citizens which does not include the public). [Really: we could have better definitions/terms for these programs.]If the State of Illinois had a disaster fund like the State of Florida, they might not be so needy. A bit of planning and finding ways to provide funding would not require that every disaster turn into a disaster request to the Feds. Unfortunately, I think only the State of Florida has had the wisdom to establish such a fund--and, then not raid it when they need extra money. I find that even more surprising than the fact they have a fund. (TNS) -- When Pennsylvanias ridges rise along highways north and west of Philadelphia, cellphone bars often fall and the digital world fades.Tourists call that unplugging.For the people who live out there, though, dropped calls and spinning wheels of death on web pages can be part of a daily routine. Motorists there know the dead zones because they are legion. Sometimes, when it rains, they say, its better to close the laptop and take another crack at that summer read.Oh, I tell people when Im driving that Im coming up on a mountain and Im going to lose them, said Chrissy Salsman, who was writing Crab Cakes $18.99 on the specials board at the Wyalusing Hotel in Bradford County last week.Current and former elected officials in some of Pennsylvanias most rural counties say broadband issues are more than mere annoyances for residents. The internet, they say, is essential infrastructure, the same as roads and electricity, and the answer for residents upset with their providers isnt to move closer to more developed areas.People want better and they deserve better, said Donna Iannone, a Sullivan County commissioner. Just because we live in a rural area doesnt mean we wouldnt like to have the same services as urban areas.Broadband access affects areas across the whole country, in mountains that make Pennsylvanias look like hills, across deserts, and into places that are downright frontier, like northern Nevada. A 2016 Federal Communications Commission report estimated that 39 percent of rural Americans, about 23 million people, had no access to 25 megabits per second broadband, the agencys benchmark for high speed.In Pennsylvania, the number is 803,645, about 6 percent of the population. Geography and population density are the main barriers, a reason why 69 percent of Sullivan County, sparsely populated and crammed with mountains, lacks high-speed internet.You cant charge the customers enough to make it feasible to provide service, said Mark Wigfield, an FCC spokesman.The federal government, aware that moneys an issue, is giving telecom providers incentives to lay line where they normally wouldnt.The FCC dubbed August Rural Broadband Month and announced it would be funneling $2 billion, via its Connect America Fund , to providers who commit to offer voice and broadband services to fixed locations in unserved high-cost areas in our country. In February, the agency said it would allocate a separate $4.53 billion to 4G LTE service primarily in rural areas that would not be served in the absence of government support.One provider taking advantage of the FCCs funding is Connecticut-based Frontier Communications, which is available in 24 of Pennsylvanias 67 counties, including Montgomery and Lancaster. Frontier said it has invested more than $121 million in its Pennsylvania network since 2011.Andy Malinoski, a Frontier spokesman, said the Connect America Funds program will help the company bring access to an additional 11,031 homes and businesses through 2020. The company has used CAF funding, coupled with its own, to reach more than 5,200 in the state so far.This is an important public-private partnership that works to connect the unconnected and Frontier is proud to help close Americas digital divide where we can, Malinoski said in a statement.Pennsylvanians fare better than residents of many other rural states in terms of connection speeds, and the gap between rural and urban customers is often minimal when it comes to the slower download speeds. Netflix, for example, recommends a connection speed of 1.5 megabits per second. According to the FCC , 99.8 percent of rural Pennsylvanians have access to that speed.However, at 25 megabits per second, Netflixs recommended speed for watching ultra high definition, 73 percent of the rural population could watch, as opposed to 96.4 percent in urban areas.Former Sullivan County Commissioner Bob Getz has been trying to get faster internet and better cell service there for years, less for download speeds and more for public safety.Its not perfect, but its getting better, he said. This is how you live now. You pay your bills online. You need a good internet. Griping about a service provider is an American tradition, both rural and urban, and customers in Bradford, Sullivan, and Wayne Counties were groaning to a recent visitor.At Chriss Western Beef, a cowboy-theme roadside attraction in Wyoming County, owner Nancy McKennas, 58, said cell coverage isnt great and her internet service is in a holding pattern.The cell is spotty in different parts of my home. Its because of the mountain, she said at the restaurant window. My internet is not great and Ive just changed that. In downtown Wyalusing, about 14 miles to the north, McKennas brother, Richard Sherman, owns several storefronts, including a new sandwich shop. Hes happy with the service there, but at another business in Bradford County, he lost connection 20 times in one month.It happens when it rains, Sherman, 57, said.At Bendinskys Barber Shop in Wyalusing, the decor hasnt changed in 58 years. Haircuts are $8 and the reading material is mostly hunting magazines. Owner Lee Bendinsky has the shells of turtles, caught by his mother decades ago, hanging on the paneled walls and a collection of wood carvings he made before he got a tablet to play games and read the news between trims.His connection is great.I steal the WiFi from the hotel across the street, Bendinsky said. Before that, I used to used the eye doctors WiFi next door, with permission.One man in Wyalusing declined to give his name, saying the provider he hates is better than the one he had.In 2015, Doug McLinko, chairman of the Bradford County commissioners, received a cease and desist letter from Frontier Communications for describing its service as poor to a newspaper there. Hes still not happy with it today.I didnt cease, nor did I desist, McLinko said.McLinko, a self-described right winger, said hes wary of government funds being funneled to private business.Some programs aimed at improving rural broadband, like the U.S. Department of Agricultures Rural Utilities Service, have come under fire for mishandling funds and failing to meet goals.Still, McLinko said Bradford County is looking into installing its own cable line, with the help of impact-fee funds from developers, to get more residents a better connection.Were rural, McLinko said, but were not backward. RALEIGH, N.C. Where do advances in good government take place, and what constitutes smart anything in a time when buzzwords run rampant in the tech environment? A panel of experts from all levels of North Carolina government gathered to hash out the definition and discuss where they look for ideas when it comes to moving their respective organizations forward.In an hour-long panel Aug. 30, during the North Carolina Digital Government Summit, officials from state and local government discussed the issues of working with vendors, defining smart in the digital age and accurately measuring success.After some deliberation, panelists seemed to settle on the idea that smart government means different things to different organizations, but agreed that the term followed in the footsteps of market-driven buzzwords that preceded it.Ive been struggling for a while now to figure out what does that mean for our organization, our county government or for government in general, said moderator and Wake County CIO Bill Greeves.Its place along the technology continuum seems to fall in the same ranks as words like e-government and cloud Greeves said an almost condescending way to spur business.It seems to me there are one or two ways you can look at it," he added. "One, its just a hype term made up by the vendor community to sell stuff, frankly. And now everyone seems to be glomming on to it. Or the alternative definition is that it seems to be sort of an extremely generic term that can include a lot of things that we are probably already doing, like data analytics, sensors we mentioned, mobility, even social media.Nicole Raimundo, co-panelist and CIO for the town of Cary, said the phrase implies that what has been going on to this point is somehow not smart. She countered that while technology is certainly a component of good government, it does not solve everything.Im not a big fan of the word, because I wonder what we were doing before smart, she explained. I think at the end of the day, its what problems are we trying to solve, and so I think that every time someone talks about a new solution what problem are you trying to solve? I think we need to make sure we are asking that question before we just go and build in sensors because it seems like a really cool idea.Raimundo added that her town is focusing on putting technology in the right places for the right reasons, rather than simply jumping into projects with the hopes it will fix a poorly defined problem.For panelist Jim Alberque, who serves as GIS and engagement technologies manager for the city of Raleigh, the conversation around smart technologies and cities must include the organizations appetite for risk.Where Raleigh has been working to pilot technologies on a smaller scale, technologists need to consider whether a given technology will add something to the organization.Whether the term is the right term, smart cities is about doing things differently," Alberque said. "Its about exponential versus linear. Its about evolution versus revolution. Is it a change in how we are doing business, or is it just a natural progression to what we are doing? If its different, then I feel comfortable talking about it as a smart city initiative."At the state level, Innovation Center Director Deante Tyler said the word is not for the private sector to define. His team would like to see customers given the technologies that allow them to more easily serve themselves with access to state services, like Department of Motor Vehicles renewals or fishing license purchases.While the scale of state government makes those offerings more challenging, Tyler said it warrants consideration and careful deployment.We try to define smart for the state. We dont allow the vendors to define smart for us, especially in state-level government," he said. "The footprint for things like sensors or streetlights and traffic cameras, different things like that might be rather small compared to the larger enterprise, so for us, we define smart, it is not going to be defined for us.When it comes to where innovation and new ideas thrive, the panel seemed to agree that the local and regional levels offered the most agility and flexibility. Smaller towns, though often not as well-funded as larger government organizations, can more carefully deploy solutions and measure their success in a controlled environment.Tyler said that the state not only looks to smaller organizations as spot-tests for new ideas, but also as information sharing partners Whereas the private sector is constantly competing and playing its cards close to the chest, Raimundo said the public sector offers an advantage in the sense that there is idea sharing. Gunman shot by police after shooting K9 SANTA CLARA, Utah (AP) A Utah police dog is recovering after she was shot in the head by a man holed up in a stolen car, authorities said Wednesday. Tess, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, was flown to Las Vegas for treatment and officers stopped traffic so the helicopter could land in front of a clinic, police said. The suspect was hospitalized after being shot multiple times by police in southern Utah's Washington County. His name and condition were not immediately released. "The sad truth of the matter is Tess took a bullet so one of our officers didn't have to," said sheriff's Lt. David Crouse. The incident started with a man who was reported to be causing a disturbance Tuesday night in St. George, about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. When police were on their way, he attacked a man and stole his truck with an assault rifle and ammunition inside, Crouse said. The suspect sped off, but soon ditched the truck. Police caught up with him after he stole a second truck and crashed into a house in nearby Santa Clara. When officers arrived, he was still in the cab of the truck. Officers sent in the dog, and Tess jumped into the cab after the man opened the door. The suspect opened fire almost immediately, hitting her in the head, police said. The bullet entered her mouth and exited near her neck. Officers then fired their own weapons, hitting the suspect several times. The dog is expected to make a full recovery in six weeks. Heat deaths in Las Vegas spike by nearly 50% LAS VEGAS (AP) Heat-related deaths in the Las Vegas area this year have already surpassed last year's number by nearly 50 percent. KLAS-TV reports that the Clark County Coroner's office as of Monday noted 142 heat-related deaths so far in 2017. That number is likely to increase as the rest of summer progresses, and once other autopsy results are confirmed. In 2016, there were 98 deaths total. This year on June 20, the scorching heat pushed Las Vegas to tie its highest recorded temperature ever, at 117 degrees. The last time Las Vegas saw 117-degree temperatures was June 30, 2013. Groups sue to block grizzly hunts BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) Wildlife advocates and a Montana Indian tribe have asked a U.S. court to restore protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park so that trophy hunting of the fearsome animals would not be allowed. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Humane Society and several conservation groups filed three lawsuits Tuesday and Wednesday in federal court in Montana, challenging the government's recent move to lift protections. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are planning limited public hunting of the region's roughly 700 bears, although no hunts are expected this year. Critics say there is already too much pressure on the bear population as climate change affects what they eat and as conflicts with humans result in dozens being killed every year. A separate challenge of the government's decision was filed in July by Native Americans from seven states and Canada. They say hunting for the bruins goes against their religious and spiritual beliefs. A Department of Interior spokeswoman referred questions on the lawsuits to the Department of Justice, whose spokesman, Mark Abueg, declined to comment. (TNS) -- Law enforcement agencies now have a wide array of high-tech tools with which to gather information on people tools that some eagerly use without having thought-out policies on privacy and in many cases without adequate public disclosure.In 2015, two state laws were enacted in California that required police agencies to develop privacy and appropriate-use policies for cell-phone intercept and automatic license-plate reading devices. Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, thinks this should apply to other related technologies as well. His Senate Bill 21 is predicated on the idea that surveillance devices are only used for their intended purposes to catch criminals and fight crime and not to collect vast amounts of data on a wide array of non-criminal residents. Hills bill would require law enforcement agencies that use facial recognition technology, social media scrubbers, portable biometric scanners and other surveillance tools to develop privacy and usage guidelines and, no less importantly, would require agencies to give an overview of their surveillance activities at least every two years.The measure passed the Senate and two Assembly committees but may falter in the Assembly Appropriations Committee due to objections from law enforcement groups. This opposition is misguided. To build public trust, law enforcement should accept the need for surveillance transparency. (TNS) -- Because of Hurricane Harveys wide swath of devastation, many companies will deploy fleets of drones some for the first time in place of humans to help quickly assess the damage.Its the first wide-scale use of drones to measure such damage since the Federal Aviation Administration OKed the technology for commercial use in 2016.This will be the first time Farmers Insurance will use its drone fleet to help tally claims in a major catastrophe, Tim Murray, head of Inside & National Property Claims for Farmers Insurance, said in an email. Fleet and claims professionals are currently on standby and ready to deploy when conditions make it safe to do so, Murray said, adding that the company received more than 14,000 claims from Harvey by noon Wednesday.As weather conditions stabilize and we are able to enter those communities that sustained damage, we will have a clearer picture on how best to deploy our claims resources, including our drones, Murray said Wednesday.The drones arent intended to completely replace human adjusters. They supplement claims specialists and help improve response time and safety for our claim representatives during their evaluations, Murray said. From a technical standpoint, the drones industrial design camera captures higher resolution, 3-D images capable of detecting granule loss and physical damage, which provides an accurate rooftop inspection and can generate analytic reports in minutes.Dallas-based AT&T is sending out a fleet of 25 drones to inspect cellular towers to see where the storm hit its network. The drones give the company a birds eye view of the tower, through HD video and photos, AT&T said in a blog post Wednesday.Using drones lets us access areas that cant be reached by cars or trucks because of flooding, AT&T said. AT&T said via email that this is the first time it has used drones during a disaster.Allstate Insurance drones will likely fly hundreds of missions each day in what probably will be its widest-scale use of the technology to date, company spokesman Justin Herndon said in an email Wednesday.Earlier this year, Allstate announced a multistate plan to use drones as the primary method of property damage inspections in the appropriate situations in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma, Herndon said.USAA is deploying a team of drones, pilots and adjusters in the Coastal Bend, which includes area near Corpus Christi and Rockport, said spokesman Rich Johnson via email Wednesday. He said USAA is waiting for the situation to clear and become safe before our response teams deploy to the Houston area.Although San Antonio-based USAA used drones to help assess claims following last years hailstorms, its the first time the company is using them after a hurricane, Kristina Tomasetti, strategic innovation director at USAA, said Tuesday.The company used drones in New Braunfels on Monday to inspect a few homes that had significant wind damage from the outer bands of the storm, Tomasetti said.USAA has about a dozen drones in its in-house fleet, but it also leans on San Antonio-based DataWing Global to provide drones and pilots in some events.In this case, USAA is using DataWings drones and pilots so claims specialists on the ground can adjust and have conversations with the members, and they can start capturing the images that those adjusters will need in order to assess damage, especially on rooftops which might not be climbable, or might not be safely climbable because of high winds or other perilous conditions, she said.In times like these, our internal pilots, who are also adjusters, are focused on kind of internal work, and we tap into our external network to start flying for us externally, and use other adjusters who are already in the field to actually do the assessment, Tomasetti said.Drones are growing in popularity as companies recently were granted a more unrestricted ability to use them commercially. Rules allowing small commercial drone use without a waiver took effect last August.USAA in 2015 received a waiver to test small drones ahead of wider commercial approval. State Farm was the first insurer to receive approval from the FAA to use drones for inspections, according to a previous Express-News report And while drone rules in August 2016 opened up the skies to commercial drone use, some limitations remain. The Federal Aviation Administration rules ban drones from flying higher than 400 feet, at night or beyond the pilots line of sight. Doing any of those requires a waiver.USAA had almost 200 drone missions last year following hail in Texas and Colorado after those homes had already been inspected in the traditional way, Tomasetti said.We focused last year on testing how to get in, where we could get in, how much time and effort that takes to get in for events, specifically around hail, Tomasetti said. And last year was a great year for that; there was a lot of hail throughout 2016.In particular, USAA wanted to ensure the quality of the images would allow an adjuster to accurately determine damage without having to climb on the roof, she said.An adjusters ultimately making a decision about the damage so we want to ensure the quality of the images were getting from the drone give an adjuster the same perspective as if they were standing on the roof and assessing the damages manually, versus through an image, she said.She did note that the use of drone differs depending on the type of weather event.It is the first one with drones for a hurricane; we have done some other aerial imagery for other hurricanes but drone-specific this is our first, she said. The biggest thing is accessibility thats probably the biggest challenge, and its the same with flooding and with tornadoes. Those three perils tend to carry with them incident commanders controlling people in and out to ensure safety, and then the temporary flight restrictions going up and coming down.For example, when the Express-News spoke with Tomasetti via phone Tuesday, she said there was a temporary flight restriction over Corpus Christi about the time President Donald Trump landed there.Drones cant be flown if the FAA has restricted flight in an area, and USAA always checks with the homeowner first, she added.What well continue to use drones to do is to help our members get back on their feet as quickly as possible, so if we can send a drone to inspect a home with an adjuster, and it allows us to get the information the adjuster needs to assess the damage faster so the member is able to start getting repairs done, thats our ultimate goal, she said.The drones, too, help keep adjusters safe, as they remain on the ground instead of walking on a roof with holes or during high winds, Tomasetti said.Were using them to really try to start the recovery process for our insurers and help assess their damage and get them where they need to be, she said. Which, in times like these, is critical to do this as fast as we can for them.State Farm, for now, is planning to assess claims the old-fashioned way.At this time we are not using drones in Hurricane Harvey claims handling, State Farm spokesman Chris Pilcic said in an email Wednesday. With the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey, our claims adjusters will likely need to inspect both the interior and exterior of the home to assess coverage and damages. For this situation, we find that the best way to service our customers and evaluate coverage and damages is through on the ground claims handling. An interesting thing keeps happening to me. Every few days, someone an acquaintance, a colleague, even a stranger on the street approaches me. They ask some version of the same question: What can we do to pull ourselves out of this dark period? For the many Americans who respect representative democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, theres reason to be concerned. The President is off to a rocky start: hes unproductive and undignified at home and derided on the world stage. Congress struggles to get its bearings. In the country at large, forces of intolerance and division are at loose on the streets and on the nightly news. So are we in a downward spiral as a nation? Not by a long shot. Because heres the thing to keep in mind: our institutions are far more durable than any single president or any single historical period. History is certainly on our side. Weve survived a civil war, two world wars, Watergate, four presidential assassinations, the packing of the Supreme Court by Franklin Roosevelt, economic depressions and recessions, more nasty power struggles than you can count... and still the country has moved forward. You can look back and gain confidence from our history. Or you can look around you. Congress as an institution is being tested as it rarely has in its modern history, and its shown a few hopeful glimmers. It did so when it passed by a huge margin its sanctions bill against Russia, rebuking President Trump for his mysterious fascination with Vladimir Putin and his unwillingness to single out Russia for criticism. It did so even more forcefully when Republican leaders in the Senate took the extraordinary step of holding pro forma sessions during recesses so that a Republican president could not make recess appointments and circumvent the normal Senate confirmation process or, to be more precise, so that he could not fire the attorney general and then appoint someone who would fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The federal bureaucracy has drawn lines in the sand, too. When the President suggested that law enforcement officers should, in essence, rough up suspects, the acting chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration sent an email to his employees rebuking the idea. When the President announced plans to discriminate against transgender troops, the Pentagon declined to begin the process. When two billionaire friends of the President tried to force federal regulators to bend rules in their favor, they were rebuffed by the agencies in question. Theres been real pushback by Foreign Service officers against a move to hollow out the State Department. And, the courts have blocked various Trump immigration policies. At the state and local level, theres been similar resistance. Though some states appear ready to go along with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Voter Integritys maneuvering to shrink the vote, many are not. California Gov. Jerry Brown and other governors and mayors took a major step when they indicated that they will still be working to address climate change even after President Trump declared the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate accord. And its not just pushback: The failure by Congress and the President to make progress on funding the rebuilding or expansion of basic infrastructure has alarmed governors, mayors, and policy makers throughout state and local government, who are demanding action on infrastructure problems. Then, of course, there are the business and other leaders who resigned from various presidential advisory boards in the wake of the Presidents response to the Charlottesville clashes in early August. And the scientists, including some within the government, who are trying to draw attention to administration efforts to weaken the role of scientists in environmental regulation and climate policy. And an aroused, watchful national media that has worked hard to shine a light on the administrations actions and the Presidents activity. And the many Americans who besieged Congress as the Senate considered repealing the Affordable Care Act. In other words, our institutions Congress, the executive branch, the courts, civil society are being put to the test. And theyre beginning to step up. So must we all. >UK-based electric vehicle start-up Detroit Electric will outline its future product plans during its first appearance at Cenexs Low Carbon Vehicles (LCV) 2017 event on 6 and 7 September at Millbrook. The brand will share its plans to launch a range of pure electric passenger vehicles in the coming years, a strategy that has been enabled following a recent injection of US$1.8 billion in capital from a joint venture agreement. To help fulfil this strategy, Detroit Electric is in the midst of a major recruitment drive, with between 150 and 200 posts to fill by next spring. The company will invest significantly to expand its engineering and manufacturing center in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, to create a state-of-the art R&D facility, alongside its engineering hub in China. Detroit Electric was revived in 2008 by Albert Lam, former Group CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group and Executive Director of Lotus Cars of England, with a vision to produce an electric vehicle that seamlessly integrates refined aesthetics, innovative technology and superior handling and performance. The company is also beginning to establish vehicle development and manufacturing capabilities in China, with plans to produce and market a family of electric vehicles over the coming three years. The next major cyberattack could involve artificial intelligence systems. It could even happen soon: At a recent cybersecurity conference, 62 industry professionals, out of the 100 questioned, said they thought the first AI-enhanced cyberattack could come in the next 12 months. This doesnt mean robots will be marching down Main Street. Rather, artificial intelligence will make existing cyberattack efforts things like identity theft, denial-of-service attacks and password cracking more powerful and more efficient. This is dangerous enough this type of hacking can steal money, cause emotional harm and even injure or kill people. Larger attacks can cut power to hundreds of thousands of people, shut down hospitals and even affect national security. As a scholar who has studied AI decision-making, I can tell you that interpreting human actions is still difficult for AIs and that humans dont really trust AI systems to make major decisions. So, unlike in the movies, the capabilities AI could bring to cyberattacks and cyberdefense are not likely to immediately involve computers choosing targets and attacking them on their own. People will still have to create attack AI systems, and launch them at particular targets. But nevertheless, adding AI to todays cybercrime and cybersecurity world will escalate what is already a rapidly changing arms race between attackers and defenders. Faster attacks Beyond computers lack of need for food and sleep needs that limit human hackers efforts, even when they work in teams automation can make complex attacks much faster and more effective. To date, the effects of automation have been limited. Very rudimentary AI-like capabilities have for decades given virus programs the ability to self-replicate, spreading from computer to computer without specific human instructions. In addition, programmers have used their skills to automate different elements of hacking efforts. Distributed attacks, for example, involve triggering a remote program on several computers or devices to overwhelm servers. The attack that shut down large sections of the internet in October 2016 used this type of approach. In some cases, common attacks are made available as a script that allows an unsophisticated user to choose a target and launch an attack against it. AI, however, could help human cybercriminals customize attacks. Spearphishing attacks, for instance, require attackers to have personal information about prospective targets, details like where they bank or what medical insurance company they use. AI systems can help gather, organize and process large databases to connect identifying information, making this type of attack easier and faster to carry out. That reduced workload may drive thieves to launch lots of smaller attacks that go unnoticed for a long period of time if detected at all due to their more limited impact. AI systems could even be used to pull information together from multiple sources to identify people who would be particularly vulnerable to attack. Someone who is hospitalized or in a nursing home, for example, might not notice money missing out of their account until long after the thief has gotten away. Improved adaptation AI-enabled attackers will also be much faster to react when they encounter resistance, or when cybersecurity experts fix weaknesses that had previously allowed entry by unauthorized users. The AI may be able to exploit another vulnerability, or start scanning for new ways into the system without waiting for human instructions. This could mean that human responders and defenders find themselves unable to keep up with the speed of incoming attacks. It may result in a programming and technological arms race, with defenders developing AI assistants to identify and protect against attacks or perhaps even AIs with retaliatory attack capabilities. Avoiding the dangers Operating autonomously could lead AI systems to attack a system it shouldnt, or cause unexpected damage. For example, software started by an attacker intending only to steal money might decide to target a hospital computer in a way that causes human injury or death. The potential for unmanned aerial vehicles to operate autonomously has raised similar questions of the need for humans to make the decisions about targets. The consequences and implications are significant, but most people wont notice a big change when the first AI attack is unleashed. For most of those affected, the outcome will be the same as human-triggered attacks. But as we continue to fill our homes, factories, offices and roads with internet-connected robotic systems, the potential effects of an attack by artificial intelligence only grows. Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Google Ad Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General Google Ad I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments The Sundance sensation Patti Cake$ may flow with formulaic beats, but its got spirit for miles (eight of them, at least) and features one of the best mother-daughter relationships of the year. Patricia Dombrowski (the terrific newcomer Danielle Macdonald is an overweight, white New Jersey 23-year-old living a hardscrabble life in the shadow of New York City. Shes cruelly called Dumbo by many in town, but shes got a nickname of her own. Killa P, she calls herself, because, as she states matter-of-factly, I murder the beat. And she does. Our first glimpse of her is in a dirty-dish-strewn kitchen freestyling while munching a Pop Tart. Later, her best friend and optimistic music partner Hareesh (Siddharth Dhananjay) will, from behind his pharmacy counter, announce her arrival on the store PA system, as she strolls down the toothpaste aisle. The distance between dream and reality has long been measured and usually shrunk by the movies, though the gap has rarely been so extreme as in Patti Cake$. When Patti arrives at her bartending job the only employment keeping her and her hard-drinking mom (Bridget Everett) just out of their creditors reach her boss tells her, Toilets still clogged, and the karaoke isnt going to set itself up. Patti wants to be a rapper, a notion shes a little reticent to admit because of its apparent absurdity. But in Hareesh she has a faithful supporter. He nudges her into a battle at a local gas station where shes derided as white Precious but holds her own. Pattis hip-hop wont be confused for anything that would, in our reality, be characterized as especially good. But trained on limericks by her chain-smoking grandmother (Cathy Moriarty), shes verbally inventive and can unleash verses in torrents. She gathers together an unlikely group, with Hareesh on beat and back-up, and a painfully shy heavy-metal anarchist who goes by the name Basterd the Antichrist (Mamoudou Athie) on guitar. They begin recording, saving up money and believing. By piling on the eccentricity (the anarchist lives in a shack in the woods near a cemetery) and, later, the predictably manipulative moments (someone will die at just the right juncture), writer-director Geremy Jasper a music-video veteran making his directorial debut shows himself a good study of a well-trod genre: the Sundance-style indie underdog tale. The film was, after all, developed at the Sundance screenwriting lab where it surely was injected with the requisite quirks. Its easy to dismiss Patti Cake$ as an indie 8 Mile, and wonder why its seemingly so much easier to make movies about white rappers than black ones. Jasper at least acknowledges this in one painful scene where Pattis idol derides her as a culture vulture. But Patti Cake$ is hard to resist because of Macdonalds pluck. What really resonates is the dynamic between her and Everett. Everetts Barb is a wreck of dashed dreams, failed romance and alcohol. Pattis aspirations dredge up Barbs lost future. She was a once-promising frontwoman for a hair band in the 80s who blames her failed music career on pregnancy. When Everett and Macdonald are on screen together, something more soulful comes of Patti Cake$. In the end, the kind of music Patti makes hardly matters. Its that she has the gumption to go for it. GREENSBORO Half of the fire departments 36-member swift-water rescue team is deploying to Texas this morning. The local firefighters are part of a larger group of swift-water rescue experts from North Carolina heading to help the victims of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in Houston. In all, 92 rescuers from Greensboro, Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville and Henderson County are heading to Texas. The group will relieve rescuers already there, said Assistant Chief Dwayne Church with the Greensboro Fire Department. We put a bid in through the state to send a team down there, he said. The 18 firefighters from Greensboro will leave with a larger group from Charlotte about 10 a.m., according to a N.C. Department of Public Safety news release. Church said the Greensboro team is scheduled to be deployed until Sept. 9. The North Carolina team will receive its orders once the group arrives in Texas, said Keith Acree with the state Department of Public Safety. He said an emergency services coordinator will travel with the team as well. The group is taking boats and other specialized search and rescue equipment, he said. I dont know off the top of my head how much this will cost, Acree said. The state will be reimbursed by Texas, who will be reimbursed by the federal government. There are 30 swift-water teams statewide. North Carolina Emergency Management created the swift water rescue program in 1996 in the wake of Hurricane Fran. MoneyTips Are you familiar with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)? If so, you probably associate the BLS with either jobs and unemployment reports, or statistics quoted by politicians (sometimes incorrectly or out of context) who want to make a point. However, the BLS contains a treasure trove of other useful statistics and functions of which you are probably not aware. For example, if you are entering college and have not decided on a professional career path, or are in the middle of a midlife career switch, you may want to consult the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). The OOH is a searchable database that contains information on over 500 careers, from accountants to zoologists. Careers may be sorted and analyzed in five categories: median pay (2019 reference), number of projected new jobs from 2019 to 2029, entry-level educational requirements, growth rate of the field, and the type of on-the-job training that employees in the field receive. Estimates and projections are based on results from the bi-annual Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey and adjusted to include results from the previous three years. Special buttons are available to display the three categories that most people are interested in the highest-paying jobs, jobs with the fastest expected growth, and careers with the most projected new jobs. One broad field dominates with most of the top spots in all three categories medicine. As Obamacare meets our aging population, high-paying positions are available at all levels of the medical system from surgeons to physical therapists, personal care to home health aides. However, you don't have to be in medicine to find jobs with good pay and high demand. For example, software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers are expected to add 316,000 jobs with a median salary of $107,510 per year. What do they do and how do I become one? Glad you asked. Simply click on the link with the occupation name, and a secondary page will show up with tabs showing what people in that profession do, their work environment, how to become an employee in that field, pay distributions, job projections, and other useful career information. What careers should you avoid? Search by the lower end of one category if you want to rule out a profession by any criteria. If money is your concern, there are 92 occupations that pay a median of less than $30,000 annually. Several of those categories also have a declining number of jobs, including motion picture projectionists, fast food and short order cooks, and pressers of textiles and garments. That doesn't mean that if you love cooking you shouldn't go into the field just have reasonable expectations. Occupations can also be browsed and searched alphabetically. If you prefer to sort by groups, the home page also contains 25 occupational groups. Is math your specialty? Click on the math group and you can find more detailed information about the three occupations listed: Actuaries, Operations Research Analysts, and Mathematicians and Statisticians. What about math teachers? They would be included under the Education, Training, and Library group. The OOH page does not have geographical data, but the OES webpage does. It contains an occupational map that you can use to look for regional differences. Drop down menus allow you to filter by category. Want to be a landscape architect? Your average wage is $50,860 in Oklahoma versus $90,940 in California. Prefer to be a social worker? You could make $51,980 in Florida or $74,390 in Massachusetts. If you are a fan of statistics, the BLS is an interesting place to browse. There are many other labor-related statistics available. Get familiar with the site and not only can you potentially find your new career choice, you can find just the fact you need to refute politicians or obnoxious Facebook "friends." It's great to be armed with facts. Let MoneyTips protect your credit and your identity with a free trial. Photo iStockphoto.com/peopleimages Advertising Disclosure Originally Posted at: https://www.moneytips.com/bureau-of-labor-statistics Facts About The Labor Force Labor Day Statistics (Infographic) Do You Make More Than Your Classmates? Tanner Larsson got his entrepreneurial start the usual way: He got thrown out of business school, took 10 years to complete his four-year degree, and then landed a job as a window cleaner. Just kidding. Larssons entree into the world of entrepreneurship is hardly usual, and neither are his more recent successes. In addition to running several successful ecommerce companies, writing an industry-rocking book (Ecommerce Evolved: The Essential Playbook to Build, Grow & Scale a Successful Ecommerce Business) and starting up the ecommerce worlds exclusive Black Label mastermind group, Larsson is also helping others achieve similar success through his ecommerce education company, Build Grow Scale. To date, his students have earned well over $100 million in sales and counting. Heres how Larsson became an unlikely ecommerce guru and how hes helping his students do the same. Related: 3 Fundamental Areas of Ecommerce You Should Never Skimp on The making of an ecommerce guru. Larsson found his way to the ecommerce world well before it was enjoying its current boom. I started in ecommerce back in 2001 with eBay, Larsson said. It was the early days of ecommerce, when there was no tech software, no Shopify, no easy way to set up a store. Consequently, becoming an eBay power seller wasnt only a dream come true. It was also, Larsson said, a nightmare. He found himself spending hours at the post office every day, weighing out every individual package and printing each individual label. I lived at the post office, he said. And he hated it. Larsson decided to exit the early eBay world, in which he was responsible for physical fulfillment, and turn his sights toward information marketing and direct response instead. He spent the next several years learning the ins and outs of crafting compelling, persuasive sales copy. After nearly a decade working in direct response, Larsson once again found himself with an itch to work with physical products. It was good timing. By that point, he said, selling was so much easier. Tech caught up to make it more conducive to running an online business. So Larsson jumped back into ecommerce, but not without taking his marketing mentality with him. He found that applying the concepts of direct response to ecommerce businesses worked amazingly well. Within a mere 12 months, he and a small team had built three different multi-million dollar businesses. His approach was to the ecommerce world what Casper was to the mattress industry or Deep Sentinel to the home security industry -- virtually unprecedented. At the time, almost no ecommerce stores (save for a few supplement products) were utilizing the principles of direct response. It felt like we were cheating, Larsson said. We were converting at five to seven percent at the front end, while the average store was converting at one percent. Clearly, Larsson was onto something. He continued to refine his strategies over the next few years, and other would-be ecommerce entrepreneurs started paying attention. People kept asking Larsson how he was achieving his successes, so he created a course to provide them with similar tools. Related: 12 Awesome Tips From Ecommerce Experts The course proved wildly popular, and in the process of creating and disseminating it, Larsson uncovered one of his true passions. I found that my real skillset and passion area was in taking someone who has an ecommerce business thats doing okay or struggling a little bit, and making it great by implementing all the things Ive learned, he said. And thus the idea for his ecommerce accelerator and guided mentoring program, Build Grow Scale, came to be. Sharing the wealth. Build Grow Scales students come from all walks of life, from serial entrepreneurs to people who are reinventing themselves through a new career move or retirees who want to supplement their retirement and stay busy on their own terms. What do they all share in common? Theyre satisfied customers. There are several reasons why Build Grow Scale has proved so popular with its students. For starters, the entirety of the programs curriculum is informed by real-world experience. We give students a curriculum thats backed up by accountability and critiquing and tweaking by people who have been where theyre trying to go, Larsson said. When they hit a hiccup or encounter a problem -- which undoubtedly occurs -- we know how to address it. It takes the problem solving out of it. And, it works. A lot of people are coming with sub-six-figure businesses and turning them into seven- or eight-figure businesses, said Larsson. Conservatively, weve taken three dozen people from six to seven figures and 10 or 15 people from seven to eight figures. Meanwhile, the average member of the Black Label mastermind group is running a $7-million-a-year company. I dont see why we cant be at a billion soon in terms of overall sales." But Larsson isnt only concerned with the numbers his students produce. Hes invested in cultivating more successful entrepreneurs and small businesses in order to bolster the U.S. economy. Furthermore, he wants his students to build businesses that fuel their desired lifestyles instead of merely creating another job for themselves. Related: Here's How Small Businesses Beat the Ecommerce Big Guys Its not just about having a business, said Larsson. The opportunity with technology, the internet, and ecommerce is that you can build the life of your dreams. And its not corny to say that because it can actually happen. Thus, for Larsson, his greatest successes arise when he hears from students who have been able to build a business that allows them to live life fully on their own terms, regardless of what those terms are. My favorite thing is to hear from students that they havent taken a vacation in three years and just spent two weeks in the desert, [or that somebody] took their girlfriend to Barcelona and proposed to her, he said. We believe theres a whole lot more to success than just making money. Related: The Ecommerce Guru Guiding His Students to $100 Million in Sales How Augmented Reality Is Going to Transform Ecommerce 18 Ways to Nudge Your Google Ad Higher Without Paying a Cent Extra Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com The recent FundingPost event at New Yorks La Marina restaurant in northern Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River, presented a panel of six active female angel investors to a crowd of some 200 attendees, many of whom were new entrepreneurs seeking funding. I view this as a really great event," said Alicia Syrett, founder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital, angel investor and moderator for the women investors panel. "Its representative of both gender bases (a second panel would feature with male investors) ...and its very representative of New York. Meghan Cross, managing director at Red Bear Angels, the Cornell Alumni network comprised of some 700 people who advise and invest in early stage funding, also noted her enthusiasm for being part of such a panel. The purpose of panels like this is to spotlight prominent people and highlight role models," she said. "Its so important to have people to look up to, as I have had, in the venture capital community who are successful women." Related: 50 Ways Women Entrepreneurs Can Fund Their Businesses First, some numbers. In the past year, one in five U.S. startups that received funding, or 20 percent, were led by a woman, said Loretta McCarthy, founding member and managing director of Golden Seeds, an investing group that focuses on women-owned and/or run companies. The four chapters of Golden Seeds have been part of the escalation of women-owned or run companies by investing more than $100 million into 40 companies over the past 12 years. McCarthy, pleased to see a lot of women at the event, also pointed out that of the 320,000 angel investors in the United States, 26 percent (over 80,000) are women. Next, questions. Syrett addressed questions to various panelists first in long form, then in a more rapid fire approach. Q: How much funding should entrepreneurs expect from investor groups? All of the panelists were clear, with their answers ranging from $25k on the low end to $250k when it came to check sizes. They also added that they look for businesses valued in the $2 to $3 million range. Q: How can angel investors value early stage companies since it cannot be based on cash flow of comparables? MCarthy: You want to see what progress has already been made. Is there anything protectable, like a patent? Do you have some rare set of talents working there that would justify a higher valuation? Does the business have traction? Lockie Andrews of HBS Alumni Investors and founder of Catalyst Consulting, added: We want to know if there is some customer base. We want to see something that is working and has a definable market. Do they have a pipeline to go forward and get through to the next stage with us? Related: 5 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Feeling More Confident Q: How do entrepreneurs best prepare to apply to an angel group? Andrews: Do research on a group before you apply for funding. All of us are part of member groups. Do your homework, prepare in advance, build relationships, understand who is in the room and what kind of style is most effective. By having established relationships before you come in and present, youll obviously have warm and friendly faces in the room. Andrews and other panelists also recommended that entrepreneurs familiarize themselves with what a term sheet looks like. Q: Should funding cover paying salaries? While a couple panelists topped out at $100k, a concise no, was the answer from angel investor Kathleen Murray, who, six years ago started her own sub group of Executive Forum, called EF Angels. She also owns and operates McMorran Strategists LLC. They also shouldnt be seeking fundraising to pay back their aunt who lent them seed money," Murray added. Panelists all agreed that paying back debt should not be part of the equation. Q: What do investors want to hear? Cross: "Investors want to learn. They want to be educated, so you need to be ready to educate. They want to see that you are passionate about your field, that youre the expert. They also want to hear that you have a voice and can engage people in conversations. Andrews added that they do not want to hear you say something like we have no competition. Q: What resources are recommended? Suggestions from the panel included business books, business accelerators, meeting and talking with other founders, researching angel groups and attending other investor funding events. Sapna Shasna, angel investor and retail expert from Red Giraffe Advisors, recommended learning as much as possible about the process. Shasna is in the process of launching a boot camp for early stage retail-related founders who have not yet raised the seed round. They can learn how to build a financial model, how to build some traction before funding, what angels look for and so forth. Plus theres a VC track as well." McCarthy: We have open office hours once a month where people can come in and talk with us. They have to register in advance, and we encourage our members at Golden Seeds to come in and meet with these new entrepreneurs. Q: When are you ready, you pitch to angels? Murray: "Pitch when youre ready. Make it memorable. From my experience, some people can go on for 20 minutes, and you have no idea what the business is. I focus on people, product and what is the pain point? If you answer that and repeat that several times, its a memorable message. Pictures also help. But the bottom line is being well-prepared. Related: An Eye For Success: Muse Capital Co-Founder Assia Grazioli-Venier Finally, the takeaway. When all was said and done, Syrett said, I was thrilled with the success of the panel. We had five incredibly smart and experienced women representing some of the most active angel groups in New York City, covering myriad topics. They didn't miss a beat in my rapid fire question mode, and I know the audience received a lot of helpful information in a short amount of time." Organizer Joe Rubin, founder of FundingPost, added that panelists showed an incredible amount of incite. I think everyone, especially the women in the audience, walked away inspired. FundingPost has upcoming events in September in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco. Related: Women Angel Investors Take Center Stage 3 Ways to Make Decisions Like Wonder Woman How to Succeed as a Female Leader Anywhere In the World Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com Did Astghik MC do independent actions? Ministers answer (video) Two weeks ago according to the decision of the Government reallocation of state funding for health sector was done, as a result of which AMD 280 million was provided for the patients with dialysis. It is intended for 11 000 sessions, today after the Government session announced Minister of Health Levon Altunyan touching upon the recent case. To remind, a number of citizens held protest action outside of the building of the Ministry of Health; the leadership of Astghik medical center belonging to the family of the NA lawmaker Samvel Alexanyan warned the patients with dialysis that hereafter the dialysis service wouldnt be free and each dialysis will cost AMD 18,100. According to the leadership of the medical center, the funding allocated to the medical center finished. In reply to the question by A1+ whether it means that Astghik MC did independent actions by demanding money from the patients, the Minister answered, Such inner issues relate to the relevant bodies, I am not engaged in such issues. As a Minister of Health I am concerned about the health of the population, noted the Minister, adding that the rights of patients were recovered in a short period. The Minister thinks that both the society and the administration of the hospitals should be more interested in the legislative changes, Now we are in the period of health reforms, we have mentioned for many times that transition phases will be difficult. Watch details in the video! With her rescue pit bull, Isaboo. Photo: Courtesy of Rachael Ray Veteran dog chef Rachael Ray is making sure theres enough support for all of Harveys furry victims. Estimates right now vary, but by Monday, large cities like San Antonio say theyd already taken in hundreds of displaced pets, some of which are being sent to shelters as far off as Seattle and New Jersey. The chef, No. 2 on Forbess highest-paid list and herself a rescue-pet owner, wrote on her Facebook page that the Rachael Ray Foundation and her high-end pet-food brand Nutrish had donated $1 million to animal-welfare groups that are actively working in Texas and Louisiana to care for animals. She isnt the only chef finding a somewhat niche way to help out Jose Andres traveled to Houston, found a Target, and loaded a basket full of pasta and red sauce to cook for people. Even Budweiser quit bottling beer so it could ship nearly half a million cans of water to the region. Rays Nutrish line donates a percentage of its sales to pet charities, so fortuitously, the company was just able to earmark a portion of those for relief efforts. Among the organizations that got a chunk were the SPCA of Texas and Austin Pets Alive!, which are now each $100,000 richer. The baking quartet admiring their hard work. Photo: El Bolillo Bakery/Facebook Volunteers are now queuing in insane lines to help Harvey victims, but four employees at a Houston bakery jumped right into action this weekend they single-handedly cranked out multiple tons of bread to donate to people affected by the storm. The reason these Good Samaritans were able to bake at such a crazy clip is because they were also trapped inside their building by floodwaters. As the Independent reports: The workers from the El Bolillo Bakery in Houston, Texas, used up nearly 2,000kg of flour to bake bread and pan dulce, Mexican sweet bread, throughout the night and day after they were left stranded by the floods over the weekend. The group worked a late shift Friday night, and at some point realized the street had become impassable thanks to rising water. The bakery itself never lost power, though, and the group had effectively an infinite amount of free time, so they decided to keep themselves busy, El Bolillos manager told the paper. They worked around the clock baking pan dulce and other items for two entire days, waiting to be rescued. By the time the owner managed to get to them, they had made so much bread that we took the loaves to loads of emergency centers across the city. The bakery didnt calculate exactly how much, but it had at least 4,400 pounds of flour on hand when the group got trapped. Thats now all gone. Its definitely one of the storms most heartwarming tales, precisely the kind of thing that goes viral during natural disasters when the news is so damn depressing (the Independents story has almost a million shares). Thats probably how it came on the radar of former Mexican president Vicente Fox, who tweeted it this morning with a little side commentary of his own: Salted-caramel and fior di latte soft-serve with bran streusel, black cocoa sauce, and Amarena cherries. Photo: Melissa Hom All chefs must balance their creative impulses with the harsh reality of doing business in New York, which starts with finding a space and paying astronomical rent. A pop-up gallery meets cafe in Park Slope, named Wifey, aims to shine a light on that struggle for the citys creative class, while also making sure its patrons are well-fed. Owners Simone Shubuck and Janine Foeller met through the art world. Foeller owned Wallspace, a gallery in Chelsea, for over a decade, and Shubuck is a contemporary artist and floral designer; her art is on display at Wifey. Shubuck, though, has close ties to the food industry. She worked as a server and a florist at Gramercy Tavern and Babbo, and shes married to Adam Rapoport, the editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit. People were like, Why would you open a food place? Are you insane? Shubuck jokes. But as Foeller notes, This allows chefs to do things that extend beyond their structures. The space is only temporary, so its open and pretty raw. Photo: Melissa Hom Shubuck made a list of 40 chefs and bakers she wanted to bring on as collaborators, drawing from her longstanding relationships. Ignacio Mattos (Estela, Cafe Altro Paradiso, Flora Bar) and his pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz are making sandwiches, vanilla-tequila sponge cake, wild-huckleberry preserves, and soft-serve. Shubuck tracked down Pam Yung, the former Semilla owner whos staging around the world this year, to make whole-grain focaccia; since shes traveling, she taught Mattos (her former boss at Isa) and Pickowicz her recipe. Bon Appetits Brad Leone supplies the cultured butter and tepache. I ran into Marco Canora at yoga I worked with him at Gramercy Tavern in the early 90s and he was like, I want to get involved, Shubuck says. He and DeMasco, now the pastry chef at Hearth, will make cranberry-oatmeal muffins, rye-chocolate scones, apple-cider doughnuts, savory granola, grain salads, and bone broth for Wifey this fall. Claudia Flemings cookies will likely hit the menu, too, if Shubuck can figure out how to get them from the North Fork to Brooklyn. Whole-grain focaccia, heirloom tomatoes, stracciatella, tomato marmalade, arugula, basil, and capers. Sandwiches cost $10, but you can get just half for $5. Photo: Melissa Hom The whole point is that the food will change frequently during Wifeys run through the end of October. We want to disrupt the predictability of what an art experience is or what a food experience is, Shubuck says. They also want to draw attention to how challenging its become for New York artists chefs included to afford a physical space. Wifey only became possible after an art collector proposed that they move into his vacant space and temporarily activate it, rent-free, before a permanent tenant moves in. Who feels super secure in what theyre doing? Shubuck asks. Who can kind of afford their rent? Who doesnt feel anxious that theyre losing their jobs? Im talking about chefs who are like, fuck, yeah, flip the table. Shubuck realizes that for these contributors, though, theres not much profit happening. Chefs have been eager to sign on precisely because the commitment is temporary they can try out new recipes and also reach a different audience (Mattos and Canora had no prior presence in Brooklyn). Plus, Wifey is certainly less of a commitment for chefs than pioneering their own pop-up. Balancing Wifey with my work at Flora Bar and Altro is challenging but not impossible Im definitely devoting a lot of time personally to Wifey, Pickowicz says. I see this as a way of interacting with new techniques and ingredients. The focaccia was a huge learning curve because its 100 percent naturally fermented. I learned how to use a soft-serve machine! These are the fun kinds of opportunities Im happy to fold into my life. And because we both knew that the collaboration would only last for a season, it was possible to commit to a special menu that I had to test and adjust. Vanilla-tequila genoise sponge cake with passion-fruit curd, mascarpone mousse, and salted Swiss buttercream. Photo: Melissa Hom DeMasco echoes the sentiment: The idea of mixing art and flowers and food in this cool space was really appealing but the limited commitment of a pop up is really what made it possible for us, she says. At Hearth, were planning to open for breakfast and lunch at the beginning of next year, so this project gives us the chance to play around with some of the food we want to serve to get a feel for what people like and what we enjoy making. After the end of this run in October, Shubuck and Foeller arent sure what shape Wifey will take, but theyre open-minded. I see it as this moving, organic thing thats always changing, Foeller says. Were not necessarily stuck on sort of the concreteness of it. They want to afford themselves the same freedom theyre giving chefs. You just dont really have the opportunities to experiment in the capacity that were trying to do right now, Shubuck adds. Brooklyn-based Parlor provides the coffee beans. Photo: Melissa Hom Thats Leones butter and Pickowiczs jam. Photo: Melissa Hom One of Shubucks mugs. Photo: Melissa Hom Shubucks art is for sale, and she also created the ceramics and floral arrangements. Photo: Melissa Hom Imagine gazing at this while eating soft-serve. Photo: Melissa Hom If you want to pre-order a Samsung Galaxy Note8 in the US, but want to pay as little as possible for it (and you haven't owned one of those ill-fated Note7 units last year), then Sprint has a very good deal for you. If you use the carrier's Flex Lease scheme and switch to Sprint or add a line you will only pay $20 per month for the phone (after $20 bill credits that start within two invoices). This isn't an installment plan, keep in mind, it's a lease. You can keep paying $20 per month for 18 months, but after that you need to decide what to do: make the device yours - which requires paying off the remaining balance, or switch to leasing another model - in which case you need to turn the Note8 in. Because this is a Samsung, there's a third option too. With Sprint's Galaxy Forever program, you can switch to a Galaxy S9 or Note9 after 12 months of having the Note8 on that lease. You'll be required to turn in the phablet in good working order, but you won't pay anything else - you just start leasing the next-gen device of your choice. If none of that entices you, then perhaps it's best to wait until September 1, since that's when T-Mobile will apparently launch a Buy One, Get One free deal for the Galaxy Note8. This hasn't been officially announced yet, but it's been revealed through a leak. Here's how it will allegedly work. You buy a Note8 on the carrier's equipment installment plan (EIP) and then add a line with a second Note8 (or an S8 or an S8+) also on EIP. Then you go to T-Mobile's Promotions Center and enter the special code 17SAMN8BOGO. After this, within a few weeks you will receive a prepaid MasterCard that will cover the cost of your second handset. Interestingly, it's said that you will be able to take advantage of this deal even if you've already pre-ordered a Note8 from the magenta carrier, as long as you've used EIP for that. Source 1 | Source 2 | Via Hisense is not exactly a household name, by any stretch of the imagination. At least not to the Western consumer. To be fair, in certain markets and in specially in the TV realm, the Chinese government-owned brand is actually a rather formidable force. That being the case, we can't and really won't try to recommend the HLTE300T. However, it is still quite the attention-grabber. Passing by it at the IFA venue, we just couldn't resist snapping a few shots and getting some hands-on time with it. The Hisense HLTE300T, which we really hope is not its marketing name, definitely has one distinctive feature going for it - the 5.99 inch, 18:9 IPS, LCD display. With its rounded edges, the LG inspiration is rather obvious. That, however, shouldn't be misconstrued as criticism in itself. Quite the opposite, the industry has already made it clear the ultra-wide aspect ratios ate going to be a thing in the foreseeable future. And devices like the LG Q6, offer hints that there is space for such experiments outside the flagship realm as well. By all accounts, that is precisely where the HLTE300T resides. Although, Hisense didn't offer any information of pricing or availability, the Snapdragon 430 chipset, HD resolution and rather thick black bezels around the display spell that out loud and clear. To be perfectly honest, that really doesn't sound like a lot of compute power. Still, it is not that far off from what the LG Q6 has to work with. Hisense HLTE300T from all angles Also, while not blurry or pixelated at first glance, the 5.99 inch panel is definitely big enough to fall a bit short in a pixel-peeping investigation. On a more positive note, 4GB of RAM, with 32GB of expandable storage and a 3,530 mAh battery do sound pretty serviceable. The HLTE300T also has LTE support, a fairly snappy fingerprint reader on the back and a 12MP, PDAF snapper on the back, accompanied by a 16MP selfie one, both with LED flashes. Overall impressions start to pick up even more when examining and evaluating the phone's construction. Its back side is covered with glass, hopefully a scratch-resistant one, which feels really nice to the touch. Plus, the blue color has a certain pop. Hisense HLTE300T ROM To be frank, potential performance hurdles might be the only obvious drawback here. During our limited time with the unit, the UI seemed to work smoothly. Reasonably snappy app launches and behavior as well. Anyway, the heavy skin, which Hisense has dunned "VISION", running on top of Android Nougat 7.1.2 can't be doing performance many favors. Still, we were happy to find Google Play services and a full accompanying app package pre-loaded on the HLTE300T. Reasons for Decline of US-Armenia Trade The bilateral relations between the Republic of Armenia and the United States have always been distinguished by their multifaceted and unique nature. For instance, the US has been the major donor country for humanitarian aid to Armenia since 2004. The assistance provided by that country by years has even exceeded the 50 million USD threshold, making up 73% of the total humanitarian aid received from all the countries. Nevertheless, the economic relations between Armenia and the USA do not stand out by being close. Moreover, as statistical data show, the trade between the two countries has continuously declined during the recent years. The factors accounting for such a decline are mentioned below. Exports According to published statistical data, the exports from Armenia to the US dropped by 26.8% in 2016, reaching 38.7 million USD compared to the previous 52.9 million USD. As a result, the US has become Armenias 11th largest partner country in terms of exports, with just a 2.2% share in total exports from Armenia. As can be seen from the figure above, exports to the US continuously grew during 2008-2011, almost doubling over three years. However, the export volumes started to drop since 2014, reaching 38.7 million USD from the previous 87.5 million USD. The reason for such a sharp change of trends can be found in the study of the export commodity structure. Thus, in the export commodity structure from Armenia to the US, the largest share belongs to aluminum and items made from it commodity group, which made up about 90% of total exports for some years. Thus, the total volume of exports to the US largely depends on the changes in volumes and prices of this single commodity group. As a consequence, the approximately 109% increase in international prices for aluminum resulted in doubling of exports to the US. Nevertheless, in spite of the continuous growth in prices for aluminum since 2015, the exports from Armenia to the US have not returned to their previous level. It can be claimed that the reason for that may lie in the GSP+ preferential customs regime granted to Armenia by the EU since 2014. Unlike the already existing GSP regime, this new regime, among other products, gives customs privileges for export of aluminum to the EU. As a result, the Armenian businessmen who export aluminum have been reoriented towards European markets (Germany, Poland, Netherlands, and etc.), considering the logistics and customs advantages of those countries over the US. Imports As it is expressed in the attached figure, similar decline tendencies have been observed in the imports from the US to Armenia. In 2016, 73 million USD worth commodities were imported from the US to Armenia, which is less than the figure recorded in the previous year by 31.8%. As a consequence, the US has become Armenias 12th largest partner in terms of imports, having a 2.2% share in the total imports. On the other hand, unlike exports, the import commodity structure from the US is more diversified. Largest import commodity groups include meat and its sub-products (17%), ground transportation means (15%), nuclear reactors (13.5%), as well as optical devices (11%). In case of all these commodity groups, the EAEU customs tariffs are noticeably higher than the tariffs in Armenia before EAEU membership, which has made American products artificially uncompetitive, contributing to the sharp decline in imports from the US since 2015. Andranik Manukyan Union of Informed Citizens These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro on pre-order in the US for $200 with freebie headphones The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is now available for pre-order in the US. Available in Black and Red colors and Small and Large sizes, this fitness tracker will set you back $200 and will ship in mid-September. You can head to Samsung.com or Best Buy to pre-order. The price is the same, but Samsung.com has a perk for you. Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro in Red and; Black If you pre-order the Fit2 Pro, youll get a free pair of Samsung U Flex headphones. You can use the to listen to music over Bluetooth. These are $80 on their own and promise top-quality audio with 11mm woofer and 8mm tweeter. Samsung U Flex headphones The Gear Fit2 Pro also appeared on Samsungs German site, but theres no price or shipping date. According to a new report out of Samsung's home country, the company is aiming to sell a total of 700,000 Galaxy Note8 units in South Korea during the first month of the device's availability. The report notes that the tech giant will start supplying the said number of units by the end of this month. Of the total figure, 60% will be 64GB units, while the remaining 40% will be 256GB models. Talking about 64GB units, those are further divided based on colors - 40% Deep Cyan Blue, 30% Midnight Black, and 30% Orchid Gray. Similarly, the 256GB models are divided in the following way: 60% Deep Blue and 40% Midnight Black. The report says the 128GB model and the Maple Gold color variant have been excluded from the launch list. For what it's worth, the 700,000 figure that Samsung is aiming for the Note8 is almost same as what the company achieved with first month sales of the Galaxy S8 in South Korea. The phone will be up for pre-order in South Korea from September 7 to September 14, and will go on sale starting September 15. Recently, the company's mobile chief Koh Dong-jin said they are expecting to sell a total of over 11 million units of the Note8 worldwide. Source | Via Haiti - Security : End of operations of the Brazilian battalion in Haiti This Thursday, August 31, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. in Camp Jaborandy, located in Tabarre, next to the park of the Unibank, will take place the closing ceremony of the end of operations of the Brazilian battalion and the Brazilian engineering company in Haiti. The two units will cease operations on the following day, September 1, 2017. Over the past 13 years, Brazilian troops from the Minustah have conducted security operations, facilitated the peaceful conduct of national elections, and provided humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of numerous natural disasters including the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. Raul Jungmann, the Brazilian Minister of Defense, accompanied by a delegation of parliamentarians and senior officers of the Brazilian Army, will attend the event alongside the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Haiti and head of the Minustah Sandra Honore and the commander of the military component of the Minustah Lieutenant-General Ajax Porto Pinheiro. This ceremony marks one of the last important steps in the context of the withdrawal of the UN Mission on 15 October 2017. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-21947-icihaiti-brazil-high-level-delegation-arrives-soon.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Diplomacy : Haitian-Taiwanese Cooperation around Major Projects Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, met for the second time https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21563-haiti-politics-minister-fleurant-wants-to-redefine-cooperation-with-taiwan.html , with Guillaume Cheng-hao Hu, the Ambassador of Taiwan (Republic of China) accredited in Haiti. This new meeting focused on how to revitalize Haitian-Taiwanese cooperation around major development projects for the Moise-Lafontant Administration. Minister Fleurant reminded Ambassador Cheng-hao Hu of the government orientations on cooperation envisaged today in the framework of a new paradigm explaining that "According to the will expressed by the Head of State, the revitalization of Cooperation must be based on major development projects that can benefit partners. This should be reflected in bilateral relations between Haiti and Taiwan. Poverty affecting the country must necessarily pass through the establishment of a new partnership, without rejecting the offer or other similar facilities." For his part, Ambassador Cheng-hao Hu said he was ready to work with the Haitian Government in its quest for development and promised to pass the Taiwanese government's the new vision of cooperation made by the Haitian authorities. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Equivalence of Haitian Studies in Chile Following the signing last March of an agreement between President Jovenel Moise and the President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20490-haiti-chile-president-bachelet-addresses-the-issue-of-illegal-haitians-in-her-country.html a decree was promulgated in the Chilean Diario Oficial, which came into force on Wednesday, concerning the "Supplementary Agreement to the Basic Agreement for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Chile and the Government Of the Republic of Haiti for Equalization and Equivalence and Recognition of Primary, Medium and Secondary Education". The agreement, which came into effect Wednesday, will directly benefit citizens of both countries who have migrated in search of a better life for whom the recognition of their studies constitutes a decisive step in their integration into the society of the country which welcomes them. The signing of this document reaffirms Chile's commitment to Haiti and the growing Haitian community in Chile, which this year surpasses 60,000 people. Until now, Haitians who arrived in Chile could not certify their studies because of the absence of this agreement, which makes it difficult for the labor sector to generate employment contracts, compelling them to complete full secondary education or to enroll in adulthood. This measure also complements the implementation of the Provisional School Identifier (Identificador Provisorio Escolar - IPE) for migrant students, replacing the so-called "RUT 100", to facilitate the enrollment process and access to benefits for these students. Download the Chilean decree (in Spanish) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/1262530.pdf SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Installation of the Office of the demobilized soldiers On Wednesday, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant installed the Commissioners of the Demobilized Military Office (Coulange Justafort, Jonas Jean and Jackson Joanis) appointed by Jovenel Moise by decree of 22 August 2017 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21907-haiti-news-zapping.html This Commission is responsible for managing the demands of former members of the Armed Forces of Haiti in order to maintain good relations between these former soldiers and the Government. The Miracle Operation resumes its medical services The Cuban Medical Brigade "Miracle Operation" that offers health care at the Renaissancee Community Hospital in Port-au-Prince, resumed Wednesday its services of eye surgery (Pterygium), with the first cases. The service is extended to the entire Haitian population suffering from this eye disease, who can receive this service free of charge on Tuesdays and Fridays of each week. The former Minister Bellevue defends himself According to Roosevelt Bellevue, the former Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, recently dismissed https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21953-haiti-flash-revocation-of-the-minister-of-social-affairs.html himself "no funds have been disbursed, no kit distributed" rejecting allegations that he is involved in the over-billing of school kits, he claims to be a victim of "political maneuvers" and is challenging anyone to prove that he pocketed 950,000 US dollars in connection with this case. FAES : Delivery of the keys of 28 new schools On Wednesday, the Social and Economic Assistance Fund (FAES) handed over the keys of 28 brand new schools to the Ministry of Education. The FAES has 322 million gourdes to start work in schools according the informations gived by the Minister of Education Wednesday to the Education Commission of the Lower House. Pre-reception of the new MCI building On Tuesday, at the new building that must house the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MCI), a Pre-Reception Meeting was held in the presence of the Director General of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, of Director of the Cabinet of the Minister, the Director of the Public Buildings Division of the Housing and Public Building Construction Unit (UCLBP), the Director General of the Taiwanese construction firm Overseas Engineering & Construction Corp. LTDA. S.A (OECC) and the executives of these different institutions. Ratification of the Law on the Forensic Institute On Tuesday, the Deputies ratified the law creating, organizing and operating the Forensic Institute, without opposition to the amendments made by the Commission. This law was proposed by the deputy Jacques Dulaurier and is based on the presidential decree of the 25 May 2013, creating the Forensic Institute. HL/ HaitiLibre It's a triple treat for police comedy "Midnight Runners". According to statistics released by the Korean Film Council, "Midnight Runners" exceeded 5 million admissions as of August 30th. What's more? The movie regained the number two slot and for the very first time, outpaces Korea's biggest hit of the year, "A Taxi Driver", which fell to third. The difference between the day's admissions of the two Korean movies is almost 8,000. Meanwhile, Hollywood's "A Hitman's Bodyguard" which stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek took the first spot during its premiere in South Korea. It is worth noting that the highly entertaining "Midnight Runners" that showcases the undeniable chemistry between the leads, Kang Ha-neul and Park Seo-joon, has been consistently in the top three since its release on August 9th. With this new development, will "Midnight Runners" have a chance to get the top spot in the coming days? "Midnight Runners", which was helmed and written by director Kim Joo-hwan, revolves around two police cadets who investigate a complicated abduction that they witnessed one night. The movie is currently showing in Vietnam, Indonesia, the United States, and Canada. It will be released in Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand on August 31st. Meanwhile, hearththrob Kang Ha-neul and director Kim Joo-hwan just concluded the promotional tour in Hong Kong. They will meet fans in Singapore tomorrow, August 31st at 6pm in Bugis Junction. By riversky Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Berry Bros. & Rudd looks back on 50 years in Basingstoke By Jo Gilbert This week Berry Bros. & Rudd is celebrating the 50th anniversary of managing its stock in Basingstoke. Most well-known for its premises on Londons St Jamess Street, the companys Basingstoke warehouse was opened as a bottling and storage warehouse in 1967. The Hampshire site was opened by former chairman Christopher Berry Green for its easy commute to London as a way for the family-owned company to expand and modernise. Two years later, a sales office was added, and today, the site is still in full operation, with two bonded warehouses containing 9 million bottles, sales and marketing offices, tasting rooms and the Berry Bros. & Rudd Warehouse Shop. We are so pleased that we can celebrate our 50-year-anniversary in Basingstoke, chairman Simon Berry said. The warehouse has been a huge success and has enabled Berry Bros. & Rudd to evolve with the times. Even more importantly, we have been able to deliver exceptional service and storage to our customers, which has always been and continues to be the number one priority of our business. As well as generations of Berrys and Rudds, three generations of Nick Chapman's family have worked at the Basingstoke site since its opening. His parents-in-law Terry and Ann Fairbairn joined the business in 1967 and worked for the company for 33 years. Nick Chapman who works as a driver, joined Berry Bros. & Rudd in 1997 and in turn, his son Michael is employed in the Warehouse having joined the company in April 2017. Winemaker Sam Weaver who worked in the bottling hall in 1978 recalled an average day on the bottling line: The work day had a rhythm to it: start work at 8am, tea break at 10am, beer break at 12 noon, lunch at 12.30, tea break at 3pm, beer break at 4pm and home at 5pm. Berry Bros. & Rudd were generous and supplied a keg of beer for the cellar workers to enjoy [back then] the world was a very different place. GOVERNOR APPOINTS FIVE TO HCDA News Release from Office of the Governor, August 28, 2017 UPDATE: Ige Appoints Pro-Rail Thug to HCDA HONOLULU Gov. David Ige has selected five nominees to serve on the Hawaii Community Development Authority. They are Donna Ann Camvel, Phillip Hasha, Jo-Ann Leong, Jason Okuhama, Maeda Timson. Okuhama is being reappointed. These nominees represent a wide range of expertise that will serve the HCDA and our communities well as they work to establish community development plans that are in the best interest of Hawaiis people, said Gov. Ige. The appointees are as follows: Donna Ann Camvel (Heeia District) Camvel is a Hawaiian Studies lecturer at Windward Community College and is currently a graduate teaching assistant with the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has a masters degree in Hawaiian Studies from the Hawaiinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at UH Manoa. Term: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021. Philip Hasha Phillip Hasha: (Kakaako District) ** Hasha is currently the principal and CEO of The Redmont Group, LLC, a start-up commercial real estate company he co-founded in 2012. Hasha previously worked as finance director for Direct Support Resources, Inc. in Honolulu and Hasha Appraisal and Consulting Service, Inc. in Alabama. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, majoring in Finance and an executive masters in Real Estate Development. Hasha recently received the SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and was named one of the 2015 Forty under 40 Rising Business and Community Leaders by Pacific Business News. Term: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021. Jo-Ann C. Leong: (Heeia District) Leong is director emeritus of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and a professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Science & Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was a distinguished professor of microbiology and the former chairman of the Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University. Leong is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology. Term: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021 Jason Okuhama Jason Okuhama: (Kakaako District) Reappointment ** Okuhama is currently a managing partner at Hawaii Lending Specialists, LLC, dba Commercial and Business Lending, Honolulu Hawaii. Previously, he was vice president/business loan officer at Bank of America, a business loan officer with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and assistant branch manager at First Hawaiian Bank in Kamuela, Hawaii. Term: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021. Maeda Timson Maeda Timson: (Kalaeloa District) ** Timson is a long-time community advocate of Kapolei. She is currently a self-employed consultant specializing in community relations. Timson previously worked as a bank executive and public information officer for the City and County of Honolulu. In addition to previously serving on the HCDA, Timson is associated with various community organizations. Term: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2021. The five appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. SA: Real estate developer nominated for HCDA board * * * * * GOVERNOR APPOINTS HAWAII ISLAND EXECUTIVE TO UH BOARD OF REGENTS News Release from Office of the Governor, Aug 28, 2017 HONOLULU Gov. David Ige has nominated corporate executive and consultant Douglas Shinsato to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, representing Hawaii County (East). Shinsato is co-founder of Anthill Ventures, a cross-border incubator and advisor to technology start-ups in India, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. Anthill focuses on tele-education, tele-health, sustainable food production, and cyber-security. Shinsato and his global partners focus on innovative digital technologies that aim to improve peoples lives. Shinsato is also a member of the Board of Directors of Creative Intelligence Associates, one of Japans top branding strategy firms. The consulting firm advises clients on how to leverage or transform their branding and messaging strategies to increase customer satisfaction, revenues and profits. Previously, Shinsato served as president for leading technology companies such as PTC Japan and as vice president-Asia Pacific for Autodesk. He was also senior partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. I am honored to be appointed to the Board of Regents. I look forward to working with my fellow Regents on behalf of the UH and its extended community, said Shinsato. Shinsato has a B.A. and MBA from the University of Southern California and a Juris Doctor degree from the Stanford Law School. He is married to Jennifer Lindsay-Shinsato. They have two adult children and one grandchild. If confirmed by the state Senate, Shinsato will complete the term of the late Barry Mizuno. The term expires on June 30, 2018. * * * * * GOVERNOR NOMINATES REPRESENTATIVE MARCUS OSHIRO TO THE HAWAII LABOR RELATIONS BOARD News Release from Office of the Governor, Aug 29, 2017 HONOLULU Gov. David Ige today announced that he has nominated State Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D-House District 46) to the Hawaii Labor Relations Board as Chairperson and Representative of the Public. Oshiro will be completing the term left vacant by the resignation of Kerry Komatsubara, which ends June 30, 2018, and he is also being appointed for a six-year term which ends June 30, 2024. Marcus is a respected leader who knows and understands the issues, and he has the background and experience to step right in to fill this very important role, said Gov. Ige. This will be a new opportunity for him to use his talent and skills on behalf of the public, and I have every confidence in him. I am humbled by Gov. Iges nomination to serve as the chairperson of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board. With the Senates approval, I look forward to ensuring our labor laws are applied fairly and consistently with the principles of collective bargaining in promoting the harmonious and cooperative relations between the parties. Oshiro has served in the State House of Representatives since being elected in 1994. He is a former vice speaker, majority leader, and is past-chair of the committees on finance and labor. He is an active member of the community, Oshiro earned his Juris Doctorate at Willamette University College of Law after completing his undergraduate work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is a graduate of Leilehua High School. Both nominations to fill Komatsubaras term and to the additional six-year term are subject to Senate confirmation. ### Ige Buys Oshiro out of House, Gets to Make Appointment SA: The makeover at the state House of Representatives continues. The House has new leadership, including Speaker Scott Saiki, and other members of the body are moving around. Notably, Reps. Isaac Choy and James Tokioka, critics of the new rail deal, have been kicked off the powerful Finance Committee. And a past chairman of that committee, Rep. Marcus Oshiro, has been nominated by Gov. David Ige to lead the Hawaii Labor Relations Board. Should the Senate approve his nomination by Friday, Oshiro would leave the House in late September and thatll give Ige the plum opportunity to appoint his replacement from a short list provided by the Democratic Party. read Oshiro * * * * * GOVERNOR IGE APPOINTS TWO THIRD CIRCUIT COURT (ISLAND OF HAWAII) JUDGES News Release from Office of the Governor, Aug 30, 2017 HONOLULU Gov. David Ige today announced two appointments to the Third Circuit Court (Island of Hawaii) as follows: Henry Taro Nakamoto Henry Taro Nakamoto, 53, District Family Court Judge, Third Circuit, is appointed to the Third Circuit Court (Hilo) to fill the vacancy created by the December 2016 retirement of The Honorable Glenn S. Hara. Judge Nakamoto has served as a Family Court Judge and a District Court Judge beginning in June 2014. Prior to his service on the bench, he practiced law at Nakamoto, Okamoto & Yamamoto where he was a partner and director, and Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, where he was an associate. He was born and raised on Hawaii Island and practiced law there for 23 years, focusing on family and civil law. Nakamoto completed a B.A. in economics at Cornell University before earning his J.D. at Hastings College of Law. I would like to thank Gov. Ige for giving me the opportunity to serve as a circuit court judge. I appreciate all the support I have gotten from friends and family and will strive to continue to serve the community, said Nakamoto. Robert D.S. Kim Attorney Robert D.S. Kim, 63, is appointed to the Third Circuit Court (Kona) to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of The Honorable Judge Ronald Ibarra in June 2017. Kim, who is in private practice, is a litigator who concentrates in the areas of criminal defense, family law, civil litigation, personal injury litigation, and administrative proceedings. Kim has served as the West Hawaii Bar President for many years. He has extensive civil, family and criminal trial experience. Kim graduated from the University of Hawaii Hilo with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and earned his law degree at the William S. Richardson School of Law. I am honored and humbled to be nominated to fill the position of retired Judge Ronald Ibarra. I am committed to work diligently and respectfully if I am confirmed by the Senate, said Kim. Judge Nakamoto and Mr. Kim both understand the law and the role of a judge in ensuring fair and impartial decisions in our judicial system. They will serve the people of Hawaii well, said Gov. Ige. The process used to select these appointees is the same process used in prior selections and will be used whenever Gov. Ige makes judicial appointments. Gov. Ige personally interviewed each candidate, received input from retired Hawaii State Supreme Court Associate Justice James Duffy, who reviewed the qualifications of the nominees and solicited feedback on each from the law community, and reviewed testimony submitted by the public. The Senate confirmation also allows opportunities for the general public to weigh in. Both appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. * * * * * HTH: Kim appointed Circuit Court judge SA: The HLRB position pays $120,876 SA: House panel advances HCDA board pick SA: Senate committee gives OK to Iges PUC nominee The electricity distributor Ausgrid told staff it would be reducing numbers in the Geographic Information System section, before signing an agreement with an Indian company to do the work. Now unions have been forced to lift their ban on training overseas consultants hired by Ausgrid to replace 35 workers from Newcastle and Sydney. The announcement comes after the Fair Work Commission threatened to issue orders against the unions. The Electrical Trades Union and United Services Union placed a ban on their members from training the Indian-based IT contractors who will replace more than a third of the workforce in Ausgrids Geographic Information System section. The electricity distributor launched legal action against the unions in the Fair Work Commission, with the matter heard by FWC deputy president Peter Sams. Deputy President Sams issued a recommendation to the unions, saying he would issue binding orders against them unless the training ban was immediately lifted. In a statement, Ausgrid claimed that staff and the unions were consulted on the option to outsource parts of Ausgrid's Geographical Information Systems function in early 2016, before new ownership came into place in December. Moreover, the company said that staff impacted by changes in the business are supported through programs to develop skills to cope with ongoing change, opportunities to transition to new roles both within and outside of Ausgrid, as well as generous voluntary redundancy packages. We expect this change to the GIS team will impact about 35 full time roles, however a number of impacted employees have already left the business through our vountary redundancy program or found other jobs within Ausgrid, said the company in the statement. We know external suppliers can provide additional services safely, reliably and at a lower cost and this partnership represents a significant saving for Ausgrid. ETU secretary Dave McKinley said the outcome of the case was evidence that Australias industrial laws were stacked against the interests of working people. What was made clear was that under Australias current workplace laws it is unlawful for someone to take an ethical stand and refuse to train overseas contractors who have been hired to take the jobs of their colleagues, said McKinley. Not only does the Fair Work Act fail to protect quality local jobs, it actually prevents people from following their conscience effectively forcing them to be part of the process of replacing friends and colleagues. We have agreed to lift our bans under legal duress but we are still looking at all available avenues to save these 35 jobs from being sent to India under the deal between Ausgrid management and Tata Consultancy Services. USU general secretary Graeme Kelly added it was now up to the new private owners of Ausgrid AustralianSuper and IFM Investors to save the jobs. These funds claim to ethically invest the retirement savings of Australian workers, yet they are allowing managers at a company they majority-own to slash jobs by outsourcing them to India, said Kelly. These investors should demonstrate their commitment to Australian jobs by ensuring these specialist positions remain in this country. They should also commit to abiding by the spirit of the job protections that were put in place by the NSW Parliament to prevent power privatisation from being a tool to simply slash jobs and services. (Citywire) A top exec at Brevan Howard has quit as the iconic hedge fund weighs up closing offices and cutting jobs. Jev Mehmet has resigned as chief operating officer and is currently working out a notice period, City A.M. understands. He will be replaced by an existing employee at the firm, Bevan Kaminer. Meanwhile, Brevan Howard has placed its Israeli office under review and is considering headcount reductions in New York. To read this article: Both of the men were detained roughly a week ago on reasonable suspicion of being complicit in the suspected terror attack that left two dead and eight wounded. Neither of them is any longer suspected of any criminal activity, states KRP. The National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) has released from remand two men who were initially suspected of involvement in a deadly knife attack in Turku, South-west Finland, on 18 August, 2017. Police no longer have the possibility or grounds to keep them on remand, and they were taken off the suspect list, Olli Toyras, the detective inspector in charge of the pre-trial investigation at KRP, told Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday. Theyre free men as far as the police are concerned. Well take advantage of their statements, views and information in the pre-trial investigation going forward, he added to the newspaper. The District Court of Varsinais-Suomi on 22 August detained a total of four men on suspicion of involvement in the attack. Two of them remain on remand, one having been detained for probable cause of two murders and eight attempted murders committed with terrorist intent, and the other on suspicion of being complicit in the murders and attempted murders. The main suspect confessed in his remand hearing to having killed two and wounded eight, but rejected the claim that the act had been premeditated. The second suspect on remand has denied having any part in the attack throughout the pre-trial investigation. Kari Ek, the defence counsel of one of the men released on Tuesday, estimated in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat that his client was detained because he had shared a room with the main suspect at the Pansio Reception Centre in Turku. My clients origin and housing arrangement prompted the police to start looking into whether or not he had any role in the events, he stated. All four men who have been detained during the course of the pre-trial investigation are from Morocco. Ek added that he is concerned about the safety of the two men released from remand because several media outlets decided to disclose the names of all four men who were detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack on 22 August. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa Lehtikuva Nissinen is suspected of violating his official duties after he advocated for the purchase of education services for the Office of the Prosecutor General from a company the majority owner and board chairman of which is his brother, YLE and Helsingin Sanomat reported on Wednesday. Prosecutor General Matti Nissinen has been suspended indefinitely from office due to him being the subject of a recently completed pre-trial investigation. The Office of the Chancellor of Justice is expected decide whether or not to bring charges against Nissinen in early September. Nissinen had been on a self-initiated leave of absence since the launch of the pre-trial investigation in March, 2017. He was scheduled to resume his duties yesterday following his decision not to ask for an extension to his leave of absence. The Ministry of Justice decided to suspend him indefinitely from office after determining that his ability to perform his duties would be impaired as long the criminal process is ongoing. Nissinen told Helsingin Sanomat that he would have been willing to resume his duties on Wednesday but declined to comment on the issue in any other way. The Office of the Prosecutor General purchased 74,000 euros worth of education services from the company in question between 2007 and 2017, police officers discovered in the pre-trial investigation. Nissinen himself is not believed to have benefited from the procurements, even though he reportedly advocated actively for the purchases, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Nissinen has denied all criminal accusations but admitted in public that he acted erroneously, the newspaper writes. Deputy Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen has been appointed as an interim replacement for Nissinen, according to a press release from the Ministry of Justice. The Finnish government is to submit its nomination for a more permanent replacement to President Sauli Niinisto next week. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Fresh from pummelling Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final, the Boys in Blue turned out in Parnell Park to be mobbed by hundreds of adoring fans. In what has become a welcome tradition in the capital, the Dubs - including stars such as Philly McMahon, Brian Fenton and Paddy Andrews - posed for selfies and signed autographs for those who roared them on in Croke Park on Sunday. The Dublin team are aiming for three All-Ireland titles in a row - a feat not achieved by any county since the early-1980s. However, there was no sign of any supporter getting bored by the run of success. Patrick Minogue (35), from Finglas, was there with his daughter, Ruby (4). "We were long enough without getting to any, so it's great to see it happening so regularly," he said. "Hopefully it continues like this for many years to come. "Tonight is great. Ruby was looking forward to it all day." But would he mind if Mayo won the final? "If they weren't playing Dublin, you wouldn't begrudge them, but certainly not against our own," he said. Adventure Ben Cassidy (44), from Balbriggan, remembers the barren years all too well. "For me this is like a new adventure, because all the other years you'd go a goal up and walk out losing. Now you walk out winning," he said. As always when it comes to the All Ireland final countdown, the attention has now turned to the ticket hunt. Cindy Brady (43), from Kildalkey, Co Meath, but originally from Darndale, was there with her daughter Niamh (17) and said she follows the Dubs everywhere. "It's a shame that they don't put them (final tickets) on sale to the public," she said. Killer dad Alan Hawe was remembered at an anniversary Mass last night at the church where the wife and three sons he murdered are buried. The parish priest, Fr Felim Kelly, said Hawe will be in the "hands of God now for his mercy and for his care", after the "unspeakable horror" of the brutal killing. "We pray for Alan after a shocking incident just over a year ago today and we trust Alan to the Almighty God, who is the only rightful judge," he said. "We will try to think of two families who are struggling at this moment in time," he added. Fr Kelly offered a prayer for Clodagh and the three boys, who he said "are at peace now". The priest also offered prayers for the parents and family of Hawe. Expand Close Alan Hawe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alan Hawe A total of 34 people attended the service. Graveyard Four of Hawe's relatives were among them. Clodagh's family were left devastated when plans for the service were first revealed. Hawe's body was exhumed from the graveyard across the road in May following multiple requests from her relatives. Last night, eight of Clodagh's relatives quietly visited the grave where the family are buried while the service remembering Hawe took place. The two sets of families did not speak to each other when Hawe's family entered and left the church. The Hawe family stayed behind after the service for about 30 minutes to avoid the media before leaving by separate exits. On entering the church, the Hawes walked on the grass only yards from the grave of the family. Clodagh (39) and her children Liam (14), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) were murdered by Hawe in their home near Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, last year. The killer dad later took his own life. A separate anniversary Mass was held for Clodagh and the three boys on Sunday, but the parish newsletter made clear that last night's service was for Hawe. A close friend of Clodagh's family insisted that they had no idea who organised the service that was scheduled to take place just 9km from the scene of the murders and suicide in Ballyjamesduff. "We don't know who organised it - it's just down as 'Alan Hawe' for Wednesday evening Mass," said the friend. "We feel it's disrespectful to Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan considering their killer was moved away from them in May. "Whoever booked that Mass are seen by the family to condone what he did. "He took their lives - no amount of prayers will save him from the fires of hell." Clodagh's sister Jacqueline Connolly spoke out against the service in a Facebook post. Disrespectful "The Coll family did not organise a separate Mass for mass murderer Hawe," she said. "He was exhumed from that parish in May. "We do not know who would be so disrespectful as to organise same. "The question begs, do they condone what he did? Maybe it was a member of the Hawe family considering not one of them attended the anniversary Mass or the blessing of the graves for Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan, the family who loved them so much." Mary Coll and Jacqueline Connolly are fundraising for Cavan Lighthouse, in support of victims of domestic violence. Donations can be made online. See also the Samaritans' 24-hour freephone helpline: 116123 orsamaritans.org and jo@samaritans.org. The number of mobile phones seized in Irish prisons increased to 648 last year - despite enhanced security designed to stop contraband being smuggled in. Earlier this week, an inmate at Mountjoy Prison was sentenced to an additional two months in jail for having a phone hidden down the back of the toilet in his cell. It was the second time that Leroy Dumbrell (30), of Emmet Road, Inchicore, had been caught with a phone during his seven-year sentence for violent disorder and threatening to kill a garda. It is illegal to be in possession of a phone while in prison, and visitors are required to undergo rigorous screening before entering any of the State's 14 places of detention. However, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the number of phones seized by prison officers increased by 22 last year to 648 - an average of 12 every week. More than 28pc of these (183) were seized at Mountjoy Prison, while Limerick Prison accounted for 119 of the haul. A further 89 mobiles were seized at Midlands Prison in Portlaoise. Keys No contraband phones were seized at the Dochas Centre, where female offenders are jailed, or at Arbour Hill in Dublin, a medium-security prison. Enhanced security measures had led to a dramatic cut in the number of phones entering the prison system - falling from 2,174 in 2008 to 626 in 2015. However, the number of seized handsets increased last year for the first time since a unit was set to combat contraband in prisons in 2008. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) said advancements in technology presented new challenges. The availability of tiny phones that can be disguised as everyday objects has made it increasingly difficult for prison officers to prevent handsets being smuggled in. Mobiles that look like car keys can now be bought for as little as 40, and are being passed to inmates during visits. "Our security staff remain vigilant and are constantly aware of changes in this area, including the emergence of new technologies," said an IPS spokesperson. "Security equipment is constantly recalibrated to keep pace with these changes." A Smyth County mans plea hearing on Monday revealed a Saltville murder victim was likely beaten to death with a hammer and fireplace poker. Nathaniel Shane Prewitt, 38, entered an Alford plea in Smyth County Circuit Court in the murder of Robert William Vollmer, 61. An Alford plea means Prewitt doesnt admit guilt but agrees theres enough evidence to convict him. Vollmers body was found in February in a septic tank on his property along Sanders Lane. Vollmer had been renovating the historic property along the Holston River. The Saltville Police Department arrested Prewitt and Christopher Allen Wright, 35, who has a hearing scheduled on Sept. 20. Prewitts attorney, Barry Proctor, said his client believes the commonwealth has enough evidence to convict him in a jury trial. Circuit Court Judge Deanis Simmons asked Prewitt if that is his plea and he answered, Yes, your honor. After hearing the evidence presented by Commonwealths Attorney Roy Evans, Simmons said the court found the evidence of guilt overwhelming. She accepted the plea and scheduled Prewitts sentencing for November. Evans presented three exhibits, including the autopsy report on Vollmer and photos from the crime scene. Saltville Police Officer K.N. Cline, who went to the Vollmer residence in late February to check on him after he was reported missing, testified during the hearing. She explained that she contacted Vollmer on several occasions prior to his murder and confirmed photos of his property and his body. While authorities had not previously revealed how Vollmer was killed, at Mondays plea hearing, Cline confirmed the discovery of a bloody hammer and the broken end of a fireplace poker in a burned brush pile beside Vollmers house. This pile is where the investigating officers found most of the evidence in the case, she said. Cline also confirmed that the wounds on Vollmers body, specifically his head, were consistent with the type of weapons recovered at the scene. Evans said the autopsy revealed blunt force injuries to Vollmers head and face that led to his death. Vollmers body was likely in the septic tank for two days, Evans said. The photographic evidence also revealed ropes around Vollmers body that appear to have been how Prewitt and Wright dragged Vollmer, who weighed about 261 pounds, from the house and lowered him into the septic tank. Saltville police officers and Smyth County deputies were led to the septic system after Wright told Major Johnny Joannou of the Smyth County Sheriffs Office that Prewitt had confided in him that he had killed Vollmer and disposed of the body in the septic tank, according to a court document. During the investigation, Saltville Police Chief Chris Wilcox said Prewitt had been staying at Vollmers house for several weeks before the murder. The record states that Prewitt admitted that he and Vollmer had a physical altercation on Sunday, Feb. 26, and that he hadnt seen Vollmer since Monday, Feb. 27. Cline said in a criminal complaint that when she rapped on the door of Vollmers residence the morning of Feb. 28, through the window she could see a man kneeling down inside the house, trying to hide. The man was identified as Prewitt. Cline wrote that brownish red stain, consistent with blood spatter, was visible in the doorway and on the ground. Prewitt could face up to life in prison without parole and a $100,000 fine for the murder and up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine for the concealment of a dead body. 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. HICKORY Lenoir-Rhyne Universitys Board of Trustees recently approved an action to establish the William and Robert Shuford Center for International Education, after receiving a $5,279,551 gift from the estate plans of William H. Shuford and Robert R. Shuford. The gift is the second largest in university history, and will provide funding through an endowment in support of the new Shuford Centers operations, including a substantial expansion of funding support for students with financial need seeking to study abroad through LRs international programs. The fund may also be used to establish additional international institutional collaborations to provide students and faculty more options for travel. On behalf of the entire university I would like to thank the Shufords for this incredibly generous gift that will enable our students with opportunities to engage other cultures and expand their global knowledge, said LRU President Fred Whitt. The William and Robert Shuford Center for International Education, which will support expansion of international education initiatives and programs, will provide an incredibly valuable resource to the Lenoir-Rhyne campus. The Shufords gift will also enable students in good academic standing and faculty members in any of Lenoir-Rhynes five colleges to participate in a study abroad program. These efforts ultimately continue to drive our universitys mission which is centered around development of the whole person. William Shuford served on the LR faculty from 1969 to 1999 as a professor of Spanish and modern languages. He retired as professor emeritus but remained in his role as faculty marshall and mace bearer for approximately another decade. Shuford received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from LR, his Master of Arts Degree from the University of Florida, and his doctorate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. Additionally, he studied at the University of Madrid in Spain and the National University of Mexico. Willliam Shufords brother, Robert Shuford, also attended LR, receiving a bachelors degree in social studies and Spanish. He taught in public school systems in Hartsville, S.C., as well as Mecklenburg County and Catawba County. Shuford was a veteran of the United States Army, and was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. According to Laura Dobson, director of the Office of International Education, the Shufords gift will enable the university to continue expanding upon travel abroad opportunities which have seen growth in recent years. Over the past few years, Lenoir-Rhyne has seen significant expansion in participation in study abroad, Dobson said. We have added new exchange partners and sent over 200 students and faculty abroad to destinations on six continents. The William and Robert Shuford Endowment will enable us to vastly expand these already growing opportunities for LR students to pursue affordable education abroad. It also promotes intercultural engagement between international and U.S. students on campus and in the Hickory community. LRs Office of International Education (OIE) assists students in their study abroad endeavors through LRs exchange programs. The OIE offers information on summer study programs, internships, and international service opportunities. LR also offers a Study Away program, allowing LR students to study away from campus at another location in the United States. The William and Robert Shuford Center for International Education will be housed in the Lohr Learning Commons along with the Office of International Education, located on the second floor of the Carl A. Rudisill Library. HICKORY The City of Hickory is developing a master plan for the future Sandy Pines Park, which is located on a 13-acre tract of property in the northeast quadrant of Hickory. Alfred Benesch & Company has been hired to create the master plan. In an effort to gather public input regarding the park, a drop-in workshop is being held on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 5-7 p.m. at the Highland Recreation Center at 1451 Eighth Street Drive, NE. Citizens are encouraged to come by anytime during these hours to share their desires for recreation, health, fitness opportunities, and any items of concern. Public participation is such an important aspect of developing this type of plan for a city park, said Parks and Recreation Director Mack McLeod. We encourage all interested residents to come out and share their ideas and thoughts about the project. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ As matriarchy was beaten back and patriarchy came to hold sway, the all male groups of law makers unanimously based the offence of rape on the principle of theft. Under this concept (supported notably by both Manu and the English Common law), a woman is a property that belongs first to the father, then the husband. So if she is sexually violated before marriage it will be deemed an offence against the father and post marriage, against the lawful husband. In 1736 Sir Matthew Hale supported this when he adjudicated that a husband could not be guilty of rape on his lawful wife, for by her matrimonial consent she had agreed to this (rape by the husband) and this consent she could not retract. So in simpler words marriage extinguishes both the legal and sexual autonomy of a wife! By 1991 the world had changed sufficiently for this grossly unjust principle to be rejected in Australia by Justice Brannon who declared it, offensive to human dignity and incompatible with the legal status of a spouse. The same year in England, Lord Keith also declared (in the House of Lords) that marriage in modern times is a partnership between equals and the wife may no longer be deemed her husbands subservient chattel. In India things change somewhat slowly. It was only after (in the winter of 2012) the nation was rocked by a terrible incident of gang rape and murder of a young woman by a group of men that the UPA government bowed to public pressure and mandated a high-level committee led by Justice Verma, one of Indias finest judges, to restructure Indias rape laws and make them more woman-friendly. The Committee did a commendable job and its comprehensive report recommended that marital rape must also be brought within the purview of criminal rape. A marital relationship between the perpetrator and the victim should no longer construed as a valid defence for the man violating a womans human rights. Despite their strong recommendation the then UPA Government rejected this particular recommendation while accepting most others. In 2014, the rival NDA government came to power. But even though the present government is a vehement supporter of penetrating citizens privacy to gather vital data through Aadhaar, it has chosen to support its bitter rival the UPA in the matter of keeping the bedroom out of bounds for Indias rape laws. On 28th August it stated (in an affidavit to the Delhi High Court): what may appear to be marital rape to a wife may not appear so to others. And that criminalising marital rape may destabilise the institution of marriage apart from being an easy tool for harassing the husbands. The concept of marital rape as understood internationally cannot be applied in the Indian context due to various factors. notes the Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development. Today a new wave of conservatism-political, religious, deeply hostile to several gains made by the women after a long hard struggle, is sweeping across the country. The recent anti-homosexual and anti-abortions rulings are all part of this neo-conservative world view. Together they have slowly eroded the ground of choice expanded over the last seventy years, bit by bit by men and women who respected human rights of all men and women. The result of the increasingly regressive mindset is a ten-year-old victim of rape being forced to give birth at a huge risk to her life, millions of women being squeezed out of work force and an undeniable rise of sexual crimes against women all over India. The point to note is that whether in a bedroom or in some gufa in a Dera, in womens personal experience, a rape remains a rape. And what married men want from their wives, may not always automatically be what the wives also want from husbands. Why must the State instead of protecting any womans sexuality from forced violation and expropriation, continue to present or treat her merely as family property when a crime is committed against her? From the police thana to the courts the case is linked to a family, and adjudicated on grounds of restoring behenon, betiyon or mataon ki izzat (read family name) ki raksha. It is seldom if ever a violation of the individual human rights of the violated woman who remains so and sos wife, daughter or sister? If she fails to fit, she is mostly discarded as a whore. Interestingly male sexual desire is being romanticised, even sacralised like never before both in society and the media. The Governor of a state, a very learned jurist himself, defies criminalisation of marital rape on grounds it will destroy the family system. Even the minister for women and child development, who had earlier held sensible pro-women views on the matter, now quotes the Hindu view of marriage as a sacrament as one of the reasons why India cannot accept the internationally accepted criminalisation of marital rape. Once we accept the definition of marriage and rape as defined through the centuries by men, the adjudicated line will come focus on assessment of a wifes will. Was she really unwilling to have sex or only playing hard to get? Isnt force an accepted part of intercourse? Shouldnt all well-brought-up women be expecting the ideal Mard, the He Man, to assert his will and take the lead in lovemaking? Is the complainant protesting too much? Men who sexually harass wives can go on defending themselves in courts saying she had been harassing him and was crying rape out of malice. They know that the law as it stands will insist on measuring a womans consent from the socially reasonable (read objective mens) point of view, which holds marriage to be an indissoluble sacrament. And the framework of traditional marriage being what it is in its operative form, married women will be seen as less human, more object like, less worthy and less injured than they actually are. On 26th December, in room 222 of the Vigyan Bhawan annexe, writes the late Justice Leila Seth, Justice JS Verma read out a few guidelines to the Committee Members : When a woman is subjected to a crime like rape, it becomes a multiple crime. She is raped at home, then in public life, followed by an agonizing cross-examinationher status in the hierarchical structure of society also obstructs the way of securing justiceher social status compounds her gender injustice... ( Talking of Justice-Peoples Rights in Modern India by Justice Leila Seth) The case could not be better stated. Mrinal Pande is former chairperson, Prasar Bharti and a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal The frequent change in official goal posts bedevil an objective assessment of what the demonetisation exercise launched on November 8, 2016 really achieved. The range of objectives have varied from flushing out large volumes of black money held in cash, checking counterfeit notes, promoting a digital economy, greater formalisation and use of less cash. Many of these objectives can be assessed only in the long-term. However, the fact that of the Rs 15.44 trillion worth of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes that were taken out of circulation, Rs 15.28 trillion or 99% of them returned to the banks raises questions of whether the severe disruption to the lives of a billion people was really necessary. If black has been turned into white, the policy did not achieve at least its initial objective. However well-intentioned the scheme may have been, it could have been rolled out more smoothly and with better planning. After all, the RBI phased out pre-2005 notes effortlessly from May 2013 without causing any inconvenience to the public. The authorities could certainly have gone about scrapping big notes methodically without causing needless suffering to the people. For instance, a smoother roll-out could have entailed phasing out the Rs 1,000 notes to start with, followed by Rs 500 notes. This would have made the demonetisation process much less painful. Instead of all this, a shock and awe strategy was unleashed. As if this werent bad enough, the RBI was woefully unprepared to replace the old notes with the new. Demonetisation essentially is an exchange programme replacing old currency with the new. When 86% of the high denomination cash in circulation was suddenly taken out, the central bank didnt have enough stock of new currency to enable ordinary people to exchange old for the new. It had only Rs 94,660 crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes that accounted for only 6% of the total volume of high-denomination notes demonetised. It did not have a single Rs 500 note in its kitty! No wonder peoples lives was disrupted. Regardless of the goalposts being changed, the demonetisation entailed collateral damage to the Indian economy. When the cash economy suddenly shut down, consumer spending was subdued owing to fading footfalls in the shopping arcades and malls. The shock to the cash economy has been felt even in the current financial year as household consumption remains sluggish. Pay Commission arrears may make a bit of difference but brick-and-mortar retail trade is seriously stressed. Farmers experienced the full brunt of food deflation when their crops were sold in mandis for a pittance. Deflationary winds continue to blow in the current kharif or summer crop season as well. As cash accounts for 90% of transactions, the crunch since November adversely impacted daily wage earners as much in the urban areas as in villages. There was no money to pay wages to around 46% of the unorganised workers who were either casual or contractual. Around 65% of daily wage earners went without work in urban areas in the wake of demonetisation and returned to their villages. The segments that bore the brunt of adjustment were all part of informal economy retail trade, textiles and agriculture. A puzzling fact is that none of this was reflected in an uptrend in the monthly index of unemployment put out by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy and Bombay Stock Exchange although labour force participation rates have come down indicating people opting out of seeking work opportunities. Even if the cash economy may have returned to a semblance of normalcy, the uncertainty over growth still persists. There may be a transition to a digital economy. There may be more formalisation and a tax filing population. But the flip side is that demonetisation has resulted in the worlds fastest growing economy faltering in its stride. The collateral damage to the economy will take some more time to repair as it is far from transitory. The sectors that have been affected such as micro, small and medium enterprises, retail trade and the agricultural sector where half of the population still lives off the land -- would require sustained policy attention from the government for the remaining part of its five-year term. N Chandra Mohan is an economics and business commentator The views expressed are personal The Hyderabad police have arrested a self-styled godman for allegedly selling some miracle oil to a pregnant woman on the assurance that it would make her bear a male child if applied generously on the abdomen. The womans parents-in-law, who are accused of forcing her to buy the oil from the black magic practitioner for Rs 20,000, were also held. All the three were remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday, a day after their arrest, while a case was lodged against the womans husband for attempting to divorce her after the medication failed to work. Hyderabad (south zone) deputy police commissioner V Satyanarayana said the complainant, Habeeba Fathima from Nampally, married Mohammed Mansoor in August 2016. Mansoor returned to Abu Dhabi, where he was working with the Emirates Management and Debt Collection company, three weeks later. Fathima remained at his parents residence in Moghulpura and conceived after a few months. The victim said she was categorically told by her in-laws, Mohammed Sadiq and Samina Sultana, that Mansoor would divorce her unless she bore them a male child. Although Fathima was not subjected to a sex determination test, her in-laws did not want to take any chances with the infants gender. So, in October 2016, they took her to Shaik Abdul Raheem, a 68-year-old black magic practitioner in the locality and asked him to ensure that she delivers a male child. Raheem gave Fathima some oil to apply on her abdomen, besides a medication meant to be taken orally, and charged her Rs 20,000, the police officer said. Fathima went to Abu Dhabi to join her husband in the months that followed. Though Mansoor initially seemed to sympathise with her, he began siding with his parents later. After the complainant returned to India early this year, her in-laws took her to Raheem three to four times between February and April. They forced her to consume the medicine and apply the oil on her belly, as suggested by the godman, Satyanarayana said. The victim delivered a girl child on May 15, much to her in-laws dismay. Angered, they demanded an additional dowry of Rs 10 lakh to allow her inside their house. Even as Fathimas parents tried convincing her in-laws against taking such drastic action, she received a divorce notice declaring that Mansoor had nullified their marriage by pronouncing the talaq-e-bayeen in the presence of two witnesses as per the Muslim Personal Law. We booked the accused on charges of cheating, criminal intimidation and contravention of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, Satyanarayana said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With films like Singham, Gangaajal, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Shivaay to his credit, Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has proved to be an actor par excellence. In his 25-career spanning over 25 years, the Shivaay actor has tried his hands in all genres. Be it comedy, action or romance, Devgn excels in all. Devgn said he likes to rotate all genres and is not interested in taking up repetitive roles. The roles that I have taken up earlier and roles that I am doing excites me but as far as genres are concerned, I would to like to rotate genres. I do not like to be repetitive as it gets very boring. Doing similar kinds of roles do not excite me as it makes me feel boring and, then, one stop enjoying his work. As an actor, I like doing all genre films. Now, I have done Baadshaho, earlier I did Golmaal both are of different genre films. So, I keep exploring all genres and thats keep me going, he added. The 48-year-old actor, who will be seen playing a gangster Bhawani in the Milan Luthria directorial, also dismissed the reports of his badass character bearing similarity to his role in Kachche Dhaage. Every character is different and the way Milan Luthria has written up the character for me, it has got lot of layers. Its a grey shade character. And I enjoyed doing it. The whole character is completely different from my role in Kachche Dhaage. I like a lot of grey shades roles with of layers as it helps one to perform better, he explained. The actor was recently in the national capital on Baadshaho promotional spree along with films entire cast Emraan Hashmi, Ileana DCruz, and director Milan Luthria. On a related note, Baadshaho that marks fourth collaboration of Ajay and Milan, is set during the emergency period. Also starring Vidyut Jammwal and Esha Gupta, the film is set to hit theaters tomorrow. Actor Rajkummar Rao has confirmed that he will be romancing actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehras Fanney Khan, also starring Anil Kapoor. It was finalised yesterday. I cant tell you much about the role but I will start preparing for it when I am back in India in September, but yes, its a romantic angle says Rajkummar, who is currently shooting in Poland for his film Bose. Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will share screen space with actor Anil Kapoor after 17 years. (Kunal Patil/ HT) Is he nervous about romancing Aishwarya? No, laughs Rajkummar, I am just looking forward to working with her and the film has some other talented people like Anil sir (Kapoor) and some really good people are involved in this project. The 33-year-old actor is also glad that he is finally working with Prernaa Arora, who will co-produce the film with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions. I am also looking forward to working with Prernaa Arora, whom I am very close to. We were planning to work together for such a long time and now it is happening, he says. The film is said to be a musical, in which Anil will play the role of a musician. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias economy unexpectedly slowed to a three-year low in the April-June quarter, signalling that business was still hurting from last years shock cash squeeze as well as disruptions ahead of the rollout of a new tax regime. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5.7% in the last quarter, undershooting market expectations, compared to 6.1% in January-March period. The drop was even sharper when compared to the like-quarter a year ago when GDP expanded at 7.9%, official data released on Thursday showed. The slowdown suggested the underlying momentum in the economy was still weak, posing a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modis government that must produce masses of jobs to absorb a million people entering the workforce every month. Certainly a matter of concern that first quarter GDP has come down to 5.7% and its obvious therefore that it throws up challenge for the economy, Finance minister Arun Jaitley said. The economy lost steam primarily because of a sharp fall in mining, manufacturing and construction sectors, where demand remained muted even nine months after the government decided to scrap about 86% of cash in circulation to fight corruption and counterfeiting. A rush to clear large inventories ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout also affected manufacturing, Jaitley said, adding that the drawn-down in stocks is complete so the dip in the sector could be bottoming out. The April-June data, however, does not take into account the impact of the new tax regime launched on July 1. While manufacturing and construction grew at just 1.2% and 2% respectively, mining output saw a 0.7% contraction year-on-year. This offset relatively robust expansion in services and a moderate growth in farm output. The lingering impact of demonetisation is visible in the low growth of construction, Aditi Nayar, an economist with ICRA, told Reuters, referring to a segment of the economy where most people use cash. In November, Prime Minister Modi unexpectedly demonetised 500-and, 1000-rupee notes in what was billed as the countrys biggest-ever assault on black money. But the move hobbled the economy with a severe cash crunch, hurting demand, capital spending and lending by debt-laden banks. Thursdays economic data came a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said all but 1% of the demonetised banknotes had been returned to the banking system, putting a question on the efficacy of the November 8 shock decision. The government had hoped to flush out at least Rs3-lakh crore of so-called black money. The Gross Value Added, a more appropriate measure of economic expansion that leaves out indirect taxes and subsidies, remained flat at 5.6% over the past quarter but significantly lower than the 7.6% a year ago. The GDP data also came the same day the government said its fiscal deficit at July-end touched 92.4% of the budget mainly because of front-loading of state expenditure. This is also a sign that government spending was buoying up an economy where private investment was scarce. The deficit figure for the same period of 2016-17 was 73.7% of the target. Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), a measure of private investment in the economy, grew 1.16% during the quarter compared to 7.39% in the same period in 2016. Thursdays disappointing figures are prompting economists to review downward their full-year growth estimates. The numbers seem to suggest that the slowdown from last the quarter has intensified due to the combination of long-term slowdown and temporary shock factors like demonetisation and GST, said Abheek Barua, chief economist with HDFC in New Delhi. We have to revise our GDP outlook numbers for the full year. (With agency inputs) The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to give the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder, the original promoters of Ranbaxy and Fortis) permission to sell Fortis shares. It also refused permission to banks with whom the Singhs have pledged Fortis shares to do the same. Shares of Fortis were down 6.6% at 12.30pm, reacting to the courts order. On 11 August, the court had asked companies controlled by the Singhs to not sell shares in Fortis. The Singhs subsequently approached the apex court on 23 August asking for permission to sell shares in Fortis already pledged with the banks. In Thursdays order, the Supreme Court restrained the Singhs from disposing off any of their assets (both encumbered and unencumbered) till the final disposal of the case on 31 October. Encumbered assets are those pledged or offered as collateral to a lender. The courts 11 August order was in response to a plea by Daiichi Sankyo Ltd. That plea followed a 21 June order by the Delhi high court that cleared the way for the Singhs to potentially sell a stake in Fortis Healthcare Ltd, on the condition that the disclosed value of their unencumbered assets remained unaffected. Daiichi bought Ranbaxy Laboratories from the Singhs in 2008 for $4.6 billion. In 2014, it sold Ranbaxy to Sun Pharmaceuticals for $3.2 billion. By then it had already launched arbitration proceedings against the Singhs in Singapore, alleging that they withheld information on Ranbaxy (and its problems with the US Food and Drug Administration) at the time of the deal. In 2016, the Singapore arbitration court ordered the Singhs to pay up Rs2,562 crore in damages to Daiichi. The total value of their dues after interest addition and legal fees came to Rs3,500 crore. Since then, Daiichi and the Singhs have been locked in litigation over the enforcement of the Singapore courts award. Read the full story here. DEHRADUN: Dayanand Anglo Vedic Post Graduate (DAV PG) College reported 52.5% polling during the students union election on Thursday. Of the total 6,879 students, only 3,608 cast ballot to decide the fate of 31 candidates. Polling started 20 minutes after the scheduled time at 9.20 am and continued till 2 pm. Amid heavy deployment of police, students cast their vote. Entry into the college was allowed after showing identity card, which was scanned through QR code at the gate. DK Tyagi, election officer at the college, said the polling percentage was better than previous years. In 2016, 51% polling was reported and prior to this, it was less than 50%. The polling has certainly strengthened this year as compared to previous years, Tyagi told Hindustan Times. There were 20 booths in the college - 10 each for boys and girls. Police had divided the college campus and its adjoining areas in three zones each of which was secured by circle officer Dalanwala, Kotwali and Nehru Colony. Staff from 11 police stations and traffic was deployed to ensure peaceful polling. A total of 249 police staff was deployed which included 10 station in-charges, 10 police riders, two tear gas squads and two fire tenders. Jaya Baluni, CO traffic who monitored the elections, said, The polling went peacefully. No major incident was reported. Some minor squabble was reported inside and outside college campus, but no case was reported. The DAV College election is one of the prominent student union elections in the state. Many state leaders are alumni of the college that gives exposure in politics to students. The direct competition is between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Congress backed National Students Union of India (NSUI). NSUI has previously won presidential post at SGRR (PG) College and MKP (PG) College, but ABVP managed to secure the post at DBS (PG) College. ABVP has been winning the presidential post since last one decade and are hopeful to win this time as well. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex organisation of Hindu sants (saints) and sadhus (ascetics), issued an advisory to all its members in the wake of controversial cases involving self-styled god men and women. In its advisory to all 13 Akhadas on Thursday, the Parishad cautioned them from bestowing the Mahamandaleshwar tag to any seer unless an Akhada committee gives recommendation to the proposal after verifying background of the individual. In recent times, a large number of incidents of fake or self appointed god men, Mahamandaleshwar, Jagadguru and Shankaracharya have come into light for hurting the religious significance of these coveted posts as well as Sanatan Dharma, the Parishad said. Such people are in no way following the age old Sanatan Dharma tradition nor that of Akhadas, it noted.They are harming the credential of saints-seers-spiritual guru and Hinduism. Its high time, Akhada Parishad being the sole in-charge of all the Akhadas take steps to rein in such fake god men and restore confidence in religion, Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri Maharaj said. He added that a list of such fake and controversial individuals with no link with the Akhada tradition or Hindu religion was being compiled. Sadhus, in general, welcomed the Parishad initiative and advisory terming it as a major step in reining such fake self-styled god men. Several instances of fake god men have come into light in recent years, who have betrayed the faith of thousands of their devotees.During the Mahakumbh in 2010 ,a dozen odd fake Shankaracharyas had arrived to attend the mega fair. They had nothing to do with Vedic knowledge,sanyasi tradition and spirituality. Certainly, steps need to be taken by the Parishad so that image of saints and seers doesnt suffer, Mahamandaleshwar Harichetnanand Maharaj said. We are observing the 523 birth anniversary of Shri Chand Bhagwan, the founder of Udasin sect, who throughout his life worked for poor and downtrodden and against social malpractices. These are real saints whose ideals need to be followed instead of self-styled god men, said Mahant Bhagat Ram,spiritual head of Shri Naya Panchayati Udasin Akhada. Three men entered a housing colony in East Delhi and broke into 13 houses on Tuesday, police said. CCTV footage shows that the three remained inside the apartment complex for at least two-and-a-half hours. Footage showed the three accused getting down from an autorickshaw near Ashirwad Apartments in east Delhis Patparganj. While residents said that the colony has 16 cameras, the three men were captured only in three. Residents suspect they knew exactly where the cameras are placed. Residents are surprised how the thieves managed to have a free run in the colony between 2.20am to around 5 am and break into 13 flats. All the flats were empty when they were broke open. Residents said the thieves operated with such impunity that they were able to carry a 42-inch LED television from one of the flats. Naman Mehra, whose grandfathers house was also among those burgled, told HT: My grandparents had come to our house because they are unwell. I wonder how the thieves knew there was no one at home and broke into the flat. Naman said the thieves fled with around Rs 8.5 lakh worth of jewellery and Rs 1.75 lakh in cash. At another flat, the three thieves made away with a laptop, LED TV and bags full of clothes. Police said the thieves stole small amounts of cash and jewellery from other flats. The incident came to light at around 6 am when a resident saw his neighbours flats door broken. A police team that inspected the colony collected fingerprint samples. A senior police officer said they are checking CCTV footage from nearby housing colony gates to identify the registration number of the auto. Police are also questioning the two security guards who were in the colony at the time of the incident. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death with a broken glass in front of his mother in north Delhis Kabir Nagar on Thursday afternoon. Police said an argument over sharing of drugs resulted in the murder. The alleged killer is a 17-year-old local youth. He and his adult friend, who allegedly egged him on to kill the boy, have been held. The murdered boy lived with his parents in Kabir Nagar in north-west Delhi. Police said the victim was allegedly addicted to inhaling sulochen, an adhesive-based solution, used to fix tyre punctures. For company, he had two local unemployed youths, a 17-year-old boy and 20-year-old Dinesh Chegi. Though the three youths would consume drugs together, the two boys would often fight. The juvenile accused would accuse of neither contributing his share for the drug nor giving him his fair share, said an investigator. They consumed the drug along railway tracks near their neighbourhood. On Thursday afternoon, the two boys again picked up a quarrel, police said. A passerby ran to the boys home and informed his mother about the fight. She rushed to the railway tracks to find the juvenile raining fists and blows on her son. While the juvenile thrashed the victim, their adult friend instigated the assault and ensured no one could save the boy, said Milind Dumbere, DCP (north-west). The mother could only scream for help even as the juvenile picked up broken glass lying nearby and repeatedly stabbed him in his neck. Leaving the woman attending to her bleeding son, the two killers fled the spot. He was rushed to Hindu Rao Hospital but declared brought dead. Police registered a murder case based on her statement. A team then went on to nab both the suspects. A kidnapping bid was foiled in north Delhis Rohini and a businessman rescued, all thanks to his girlfriend. The woman, who had been on the phone with the victim, overheard the kidnappers threatening him and wasted no time in alerting his family and the police about it. As a result, 23-year-old businessman Yashish Arora was rescued safely within an hour after a shootout between the police and the two kidnappers, who were later arrested. Police said that on Tuesday, Arora , a resident of Pitampura, was returning home from his factory in Kundli Industrial Area. After he crossed Singhu Border at GT Karnal Road, the accused started following him in a white Swift Car and they hit his car from rear side. The trader thought it was an accident. When the accused stopped their vehicle in front of the victims car, an argument ensued. However, they soon forced their way into the car of the victim, bundled him in the vehicle and drove away, a senior police officer said. Arora told Hindustan Times that at the time of the incident, he had been talking to his girlfriend over the phone. She overheard the argument between him and the suspects. Though the accused later took away his phone, his girlfriend alerted his family members, who called the police. My girlfriend, who was on the speaker phone heard me shout at the kidnappers. She asked me what was wrong, but by then the kidnappers had taken my phone away and disconnected the call. She instantly realised that something was wrong and immediately alerted my parents, Arora said. Police tracked the location of the victims car through electronic surveillance. When the police team reached the spot, they found the accused changing a flat tyre. The victim had been gagged and put in the boot of his car. The victims relatives also reached the spot and identified his car from a distance. The accused, after finding themselves surrounded by the police, started firing at them. The police fired back at the accused, injuring one of the suspects. The kidnapped businessman was rescued and his car was recovered within an hour of the incident. One of the armed kidnappers tried to fire at the police party. The police retaliated and one of the suspects was injured, said Rishi Pal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rohini district. One loaded pistol along with two live cartridges were recovered from the criminal. The arrested criminals have previous involvements in heinous cases and are residents of Noida, said a senior police officer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A mystery road built with waste material connects the Yamunas eastern riverfront with an island 100 metres off the banks in the national capital, blocking a river gasping for survival. Partly visible from the elevated Metro rail between Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha stations, nobody knows who built the 3m-wide lane with soil, and concrete and plastic debris. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has no clue and people living on the banks said they were not aware when and how the road tucked strategically under the Metro bridge sprang up. A river erodes one bank and deposits the silt on the other. The so-called road could be a natural structure from erosion. We will have to inspect and remove it if built illegally, a DDA official said. The stretch is regularly used by cattle grazers who take the animals to the island lush with tall grass. A villager, who refused to disclose this identity, said large quantities of debris were dumped in the river two months ago to raise the roads height. That sparks fears that unscrupulous people could be using the road to mine sand from the banks and islands. Collecting sand, a vital material for constructions, is banned along the Yamuna. Environmentalists say the road is already blocking the flow of the river. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO) Environmentalists were shocked when Hindustan Times informed them about the road. Till now encroachment activities were restricted to the rivers banks. But this is actually an attempt to fill up the Yamuna. It is very dangerous as it blocks the rivers ecological flow, ecologist CR Babu said. He was a member of the National Green Tribunal-appointed committee that investigated the alleged damage caused to the floodplains by an Art of Living event in 2016. The Yamuna, one of the most polluted rivers in India, is protected by laws that prevent activities that could further damage its fragile eco-system and banks. Only a part of the road can be seen from the metro while travelling from Yamuna Bank to Indrapastha. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO) Authorities are struggling to revive the dying river, which was the sparkling crown of Mughal-era Dilli until ravages of modernity reduced it to a frothing stream of sewage and toxic industrial waste. Little water flows in the Yamuna, except during the brief monsoon, because of upstream dams.. Ecologists said the road will further constrict water flow and upset natural activities such as silt transportation, groundwater recharge and revival of subsoil bacteria. The villagers living in the flood banks said they had no clue who built the road, though they regularly use it now to take their animals across for grazing. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO) A research published in the Current Science journal in 2014 warned that about 60% water flow is necessary through the year to keep Yamuna healthy. If the flow is obstructed the river will start depositing silt further north and it will chock on unrestricted algal growth in the still water. Pollutants will sip into underground aquifers leading to groundwater contamination, said Shashank Shekhar, who teaches geology in Delhi University. The road surfaced even as the National Green Tribunal gave the thumbs up to work done so far in a Yamuna revitalisation project. It is a shame. DDA is clearly sleeping, if not in collusion. Shall the government and lieutenant governor intervene to save the Yamuna? river activist Manoj Mishra asked. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As soon as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission announced the revised power tariff order on Thursday, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi was quick to claim credit for no hike in tariffs for the third consecutive year. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: Congratulations to the people of Delhi. All this has been possible because you chose an honest government. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, For three consecutive years, ever since AAP has come to power, there has been no hike in tariffs. We havent allowed any hike in any sector including commercial and industrial. Only a marginal increase has been levied to disburse pensions of 22,000 ex-employees of erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board. The tariffs were not revised as such, but the new order levied a pension surcharge and revised fixed energy rates. (HT) Citys power minister Satyendar Jain added that anybody opening a small shop or outlet in residential area and consuming up to 5 kW will not be charged commercial rates. They will be charged domestic rates and this is going to benefit around five lakh people. For agriculture consumers the residential load has been increased from 10 kW to 20 KW, he said. For AAP, which has faced repeated electoral reverses in the Capital recently barring the Bawana bypoll win, the tariff order came nothing short of as a shot in the arm since they stormed to power in 2015 over the promise of Paani maaf, Bijli half (no water bills, half power bills). Power was the focal point of AAPs campaign against the Sheila Dikshit government in 2013 and 2015. Party convener Arvind Kejriwal had asked people not to pay their electricity bills and had himself climbed electricity polls to reconnect connections of those whose power supply had been snapped over non-payment of bills. He had also campaigned against then Sheila Dikshit government to get a CAG audit of discoms, charging corruption and collusion. However, besides the claim of no revision in power tariffs in Delhi, the AAPs chest thumping seemed hollow when it comes to no raise in the power bills. The DERC may not have revised the tariffs but has levied an additional pension surcharge at 3.7% and raised fixed charges for those with a load in excess of 2KW. So, apart from the 3.7% surchage, the power bills will go up by Rs 5, Rs 40, Rs 75 and Rs 1500 and so on, depending on the sanctioned load. The opposition leaders immediately shot back at AAP, saying the party was misleading the citizens of Delhi. Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and BJP MLA from Rohini, Vijender Gupta said the tariff order was eye wash. Its a sham. They have imposed a surcharge of 3.7% and increased fixed charges for more than 3 kw from 5% to 75%. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief and former Delhi power minister Ajay Maken tweeted, AAP an expert in fooling! DERC announced Rs 1,057.31 crores additional burden on consumers for just one year & AAP claiming no tariff hike!. However, the new tariff plan will come as music to the ears of lower power consumers -- almost 70% of the citys population, the middle to low income groups and those living in slums and unauthorized colonies, which form the core of the AAPs support base. According to the new tariff order, fixed charges of households having a sanctioned load of 1 kW has been halved from Rs 40 to Rs 20 and those having a sanctioned load of 2KW will pay the same fixed charges of Rs 40. The AAP government also gives a 50% subsidy on power bills to those who consume up to 400 units the beneficiaries of which also fall in the same category. Despite the fact that the tariffs were revised after two years at a time when distribution companies were demanding a hike over their spiraling regulatory assets, which are now pegged at Rs 9,400 crore, DERC member BP Singh told Hindustan Times that the power regulator still managed to keep the hike nominal this year. The last time when tariffs were revised DERC had increased energy charges by up to 8%. In 2015, too, there was an increase of 6% but that was owing to the mandatory power purchase adjustment costs (PPACs). DERC is a quasi-judicial body which fixes power tariffs in Delhi. For over a year, BP Singh is the lone member of the Commission as the post of the chairperson and another member have been lying vacant ever since the High Court struck down all decisions taken by the AAP government which included appointment of the then DERC chief Krishna Saini. The government has been reluctant to re-appoint members to the commission as it says the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a smuggling racket running out of foreign post office and arrested five persons, including a customs inspector. At least 28 kg gold worth Rs8.5 crore and steroids worth Rs5 crore have been recovered. The DRI has also recovered Rs24 lakh cash and other incriminating documents. We had the information that large scale smuggling is taking place from foreign post office. Raids were conducted for three days and goods worth Rs15 crore have been seized, said a DRI official. Evidence collected by the DRI indicates that parcels originated from Thailand, Dubai, Turkey, Indonesia and Hong Kong, suggesting an international syndicate. The syndicate includes large number of people, who were bringing prohibited goods like steroids, gold, electronic items, food supplements, saffron and cigarettes. They also had a nexus with government officials, the official said. The DRI found gold in different forms concealed in undergarments, transformer, fancy dresses and vanity boxes. The parcels were misdeclared as toys, t-shirts, bags and belts. Some parcels had the address of government flats in Lodhi Estate, where secretary-level officers live. Now, we will check whether someone from there was accepting this or smugglers were giving fictitious address, the official added. The investigation also revealed that from the foreign post office, the parcels were sent to the local post office and the post man used to deliver the packet to the smuggler. The DRI expects to make more arrests in the coming days. The recently-concluded Doklam standoff is a stern warning of the importance of a credible military capacity. One of the continuing problems in the Indian military is the excessive number of civilian personnel in its ranks. This means that despite the impressive statistic of having a million plus military, less than half are actually combat personnel. The Narendra Modi government has reportedly ordered the implementation of many of the recommendations of the Shekatkar committee which seeks to redress this problem. If properly implemented, it would result in India adding an additional three divisions without having to increase the number of overall personnel. The Indian militarys tooth-to-tail ratio stands today at about one soldier to 1.15 civilians, when the number should preferably be reversed. Even using more refined measures doesnt help the countrys ranking. A McKinsey study, using 2008 data from the Institute of International Strategic Studies, showed that in a country like Israel the combat plus combat support component of the military was 44%. Relatively, pacific Japan scored 40% while China had a figure of 34%. India, however, came in at a lowly 25%. The expectation is that technological and infrastructure improvements will mean a more streamlined communications and transport system. Similar recommendations have been made over the decades. The Krishna Rao committee was able to abolish stretcher-bearers and animal transport units in the 1980s. But the real reforms required are still being avoided by the government. The most important is the integration of the three services. For example, the army, air force and navy wastefully have their own separate logistics networks which results in considerable redundancy and even more waste. Tri-service integration and the creation of theatre commands remains a bridge too far it seems even though it would arguably do more to enhance Indias combat readiness than almost any other policy change. At least the military will have a powerful incentive to do its best to implement the changes. The number of personnel has been effectively capped and the services recognise that whatever is saved in terms of expenditure will be used to purchase capital equipment guns, airplanes and ships that remain the brass number one demand. Military reforms are among the most difficult to carry out because of the sensitivities concerned and the web of vested interests that will oppose change in any form. Given their importance to national security, however, the government would do well to put the Shekatkar recommendations on the fast lane. New Delhi Amending its April directive, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has now allowed schools to open shops on premises to sell NCERT books, stationery and other material required by students. CBSE had in April asked schools to not run as commercial establishments and stop selling books and uniforms on the premises. However, the board has now allowed schools to run the shops to facilitate the sale of NCERT books. Schools are allowed to place indent for purchase of NCERT books directly through its website for distribution among their students and for this purpose, a tuck shop may be opened inside the premises of the schools, says a fresh circular issued to schools . Stationery and other material required by students are also allowed to be sold from this tuck shop. The earlier circular stands amended, it added. Nineteen-year-old Deep Parekh, a third-year BCom student at K J Somaiya college, gave his last semester exams on Offee, the official mobile app of his college. The exam consisted of multiple choice questions. It was very quick; pen and paper can slow you down, he says. The exam option of the app was introduced in March and is compulsory for all students. A total of 3,000 students at the college for Arts and Commerce used it in the last term. We decided on an app because it is a more efficient way to administer exams and score papers, both from the teachers and students perspective, says Rajan Welukar, provost at Somaiya Vidyavihar. Students get their scores almost immediately after the exam. The app is also equipped with features that prevent plagiarism and cheating. The app also analyses the class score to identify what areas seem to have been most confusing or misunderstood, and this feedback is used by teachers back in the classroom. Colleges and classes are also using it to create a virtual library of e-books, hold video-based lectures after hours and share notes with and among students, says Amit Shah, a former student of Somaiya Vidyavihar, who is now an app developer and built Offee. Urmi Dhanak, 19, uses the app mainly to refer to lecture notes. In case I have missed a class or need to understand a topic better, I refer to the app. It can even be accessed offline, she adds. ITS TIME Phone it in Indian institutes that incorporate apps KJ Somaiya college: Their in-house app, Offee, lets you take exams on your smartphone, analyses the class score to identify what areas seem to have been most confusing or misunderstood, and allows teachers to learn from the feedback. IIT Bombay: SAFE (Smart Authenticated Fast Exams), developed in-house by faculty and students, is designed to conduct cheating-free, auto-graded exams via student smartphones. You can use it for 5-minute class test or a 90-minute exam. GLA University: The institution in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, has an official mobile app, Glads, so students can take exams, submit assignments, access attendance records and view academic performance in real time. OP Jindal Global University: The Haryana institutions app, CollPoll, will allow students and faculty to raise a request for IT or hostel support. Students will also be able to see their results and download transcripts. Manipal University: The official app allows students to write their answer paper complete with redo, undo, cut, copy and rough note features. Answersheets are saved in the cloud, reducing paperwork and making assessment and archiving easier. As class sizes grow, this is the only sustainable way forward, says Kameshwari Chebrolu of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of IIT-Bombay. Technology is going to play an increasingly important role to improve learning and teaching, she adds. Smartphones are widespread, powerful and can realise many new ideas in the education space. IIT-B uses an app called SAFE (Smart Authenticated Fast Exams), developed in-house by faculty and students. The app enables cheating-free, auto-graded exams via student smartphones in classroom settings, says Bhaskaran Raman, professor at the CSE department. Nihal Kumar Singh, 19, a third year undergraduate student from the Civil Engineering Department, has used the SAFE app twice, and appreciates the transparency. The app is pretty intuitive and has a clean design which makes the usage simple and easy, says Singh. My favourite part is that the invigilators interface shows a complete log of all activity on every connected device in real time, allowing the invigilator to catch hold of a student trying to make a call or switch apps. After the quiz, the statistics are instantly available, which makes it so easy to point out common mistakes or where most students went wrong. Here too, the app offers feedback on which mistakes were most common and which concepts were most misunderstood. The app is extremely flexible. It can be used for a 5-minute class test or a 90-minute exam, says Raman. In the current semester, SAFE is being used across five courses for a total of over 750 students. Were looking to scale up further, adds Bhaskaran. Use of SAFE is dependent on the instructor and the class dynamic, so theres no central push to get all IITB students on the app. MOBILITY MATTERS At GLA University in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, the official mobile app Glads allows students to take exams, submit assignments and access other educational content. They can also access their attendance records, see all notifications and university-related information and view academic performance in real time, says university treasurer Neeraj Agarwal. Students can also communicate with each other, faculty and management. OP Jindal Global University is deploying a mobile app, CollPoll, that will allow students and faculty can raise a request for IT or hostel support. Students will be able to see their results and download transcripts on the app shortly too, says chief innovation officer Anirudh C Phadke. CONNECTING THE DOTS When we look at how students interact and engage with their faculties and courses, its easy to see the shift away from textbooks and chalk and talk, says Nitin Putcha, CEO at the ITM Group of Institutions, which has been using shared online docs for assignments and quizzes for three years. I believe the paper/pencil final examination is an obsolete assessment tool. Certainly, mobile apps can be used for assessment as long as institutes move away from the old mindset, into continuous assessment practices. At Manipal University, a customised tab even allows students to write their answer paper complete with redo, undo, cut, copy and rough note features. The answersheets are then sent to the cloud, reducing paperwork and making assessment and even archiving much easier. We have about 20 institutions and over 33,000 students. Between regular assignments and sessional or end-semester exams, there was a lot of paper being used and it was an uphill task for faculty and administrators to deal with the voluminous answer scripts, says Manipal University registrar Narayana Sabhahit. Now, we have a dedicated platform to track all our students submissions. One drawback, of course, is that such systems are necessarily based on a BYOD (bring your own device) model and works only in wi-fi or intranet-enabled institutes which means it is not scalable across large parts of India. Coimbatore Twenty five Social Democratic Party of India activists were arrested on Wednesday when they tried to enter the district collectorate here to protest against imposing NEET on students. They blamed the Government for making NEET mandatory, without properly preparing the students, particularly from rural areas and also economically weaker sections, to face it, police said. The activists raised slogans against both the Centre and Tamil Nadu governments for not giving a chance to the students to become doctors and to protect the interests of the State. About 50 workers came in a procession to the spot and a section of them suddenly tried to barge in, police said. However, they were prevented from doing so and taken into custody, police said. 28-year-old Zoiey Smale was all prepared to represent the UK at Miss United Continents 2017 in Ecuador after winning the Miss UK title in June. This was before she was informed that the international directors of the contest wanted her to lose as much weight as she could to become a serious contender, the size 10 model claimed in an interview with The Independent. Smale was aghast. I was like, pardon? It was one of those things, in the 21st century you dont actually expect people to be that blunt, she told the DailyMail. Having been in the industry for over 10 years and competing in pageants since she was 18 years old, Smale said she hung up the phone and, after thinking about it for two weeks, decided that she didnt want to compete in the final in Ecuador. Some of you may think this is cowardly, Smale wrote in a Facebook post, however I dont think it is the right to have my face representing a pageant ethos I do not believe in. Smale hopes her experience will make budding beauty queens aware of the rogue competitions. She explains in the post, Those rogue competitions that claim to be pageants yet insist you eat less, parade around in a bikini for a few days and sit at the arm of a man over dinner whilst pushing an olive around a plate. If I can do one thing today, it's inspiring others that the number on a clothes tag does not define you! #inspire #power Zeezus (@Zo13y) August 30, 2017 She remembers the time when she too was one of the young aspiring girls who are bullied into believing the only way to be successful is to be thin. I was branded fat because I am size 10. I actually believed that I was so disgusting that no one would ever love me. It saddens her that despite the transformation that the pageant industry has seen in the past decade, there are still many who believe you must be skinny to be beautiful. Pageant girls are more than just a number on a clothing tag, she writes. Real queens empower others, are intelligent and help communities come together. All in all we never know when our time on this earth is up.. so love yourself, eat a bit of cake and laugh until your belly hurts. People commended Smale for blowing whistle on an industry that glorifies thinness. Some even shared their own experiences: https://t.co/LiNHroOg2K'r an example to thousands of women who feel complexes with their bodies in cons of the wrong new standards of beauty Alba Moreno (@albamsanta) August 30, 2017 Can you leave women alone and stop FAT SHAMING us?! This woman is a size 10 beauty queen, Zoiey Smale, who was told she's TOO FAT?! #MissUK pic.twitter.com/FSPVDlxNhz lindsay (@LindsayLuco) August 30, 2017 Thanks 4 being an inspiration to all the girls around the world #girlpower #imnotanumber gorgoritos (@gorgoritos242) August 30, 2017 https://t.co/LiNHroOg2K'r an example to thousands of women who feel complexes with their bodies in cons of the wrong new standards of beauty Alba Moreno (@albamsanta) August 30, 2017 Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the list of celebrities who have pledged donations to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Through his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, The Revenant actor has donated $1 million to the newly established United Way Harvey Recovery Fund, reported Variety. The newly established fund that was announced by United Way Worldwide on August 30 will distribute 100 percent of donations for recovery in the affected areas, community by community, in the months and years ahead. The USD 1 million from DiCaprios foundation represents the inaugural donation to the fund. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing to protect marine ecosystems in the Gulf of California as Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto (L) looks on, at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, in this undated handout photo released to Reuters by the Mexican Presidency on June 7, 2017. 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 usand thats what this gift represents. United Ways Harvey Recovery Fund will provide much-needed help for the communities along the Gulf Coast where lives have been changed forever. Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, added, We hope others will step up and support the United Way and other organizations. Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio, are leading the way in stars donations to relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, but numerous others have pledged sizable amounts to charities. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) In the past, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has donated to recovery efforts following the 2004 tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Sandy. Other celebrities, who have donated for hurricane relief efforts are Sean Diddy Combs, Ruby Rose, Rachael Ray, Ellen Degeneres, and Fall Out Boy. Sandra Bullock also recently donated USD 1 million to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts. Follow @htshowbiz for more Prime Minister Narendra Modi set in motion the reshuffle of his council of ministers with the resignation of at least half-a-dozen ministers, according to sources in the ruling BJP and the government. Small and medium enterprises minister Kalraj Mishra, water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti, skill development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for human resource development Mahendra Nath Pandey and minister of state for water resources Sanjiv Baliyan have quit the government. There were speculations about some other ministers resigning but HT couldnt independently confirm. While Bharti met BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday, Mishra called on him on Thursday. Party sources said these were routine meetings. Rudy was among three ministers the other two were steel minister Choudhury Birendra Singh and minister of state for human resource development Upendra Kushwaha who met the BJP president last week. One of the ministers who submitted his resignation to party general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal on Thursday told HT that he had been asked to step down. Even during the last reshuffle in July last year, sources said, ministers were asked to submit their resignations to the party leadership first. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be out of the country from September 3 to September 7 for the Brics summit in China and a state visit to Myanmar. President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to visit Tirupati on Friday and will return to Delhi on Saturday afternoon, making September 2 the most likely date for the reshuffle. The latest reshuffle will be the third after Modi came to power in 2014. Among the ministers who resigned, Pandey was named the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief earlier in the day, and insiders said that Rudy may also be allotted organisational responsibilities. The latest round of resignations will add to the vacancies already created after defence minister Manohar Parrikar became the Goa chief minister, urban development and information & broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu quit to become vice-president, and environment minister Anil Dave died after a prolonged illness this May. Finance and corporate affairs minister Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge of defence, while Smriti Irani got the additional portfolio of information and broadcasting. Science minister Harsh Vardhan was allotted the environment ministry. At an event on Thursday, when Jaitley was asked how long he would have dual charge of the finance and defence ministries, he had replied: At least, I hope, not very long. Sources added that in the upcoming reshuffle, the NDAs latest partner Nitish Kumars JD(U) may bag at least one berth. Kumar had left the NDA in 2013 but returned dramatically last month, dumping his poll partners Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress to renew an alliance with the BJP. Modis last reshuffle was in July 2016 when he brought in 19 new faces and promoted Prakash Javadekar to the Cabinet. Unconfirmed reports say transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari may get additional responsibility of railways. There is speculation whether some ministers will shed additional portfolios and if railway minister Suresh Prabhu will retain his position after two back-to-back derailments, killing at least 20 people, led him to take responsibility and offer to quit. Modi didnt accept the resignation, and asked him to wait. (With inputs from agencies) The Indian army will give away 25,000 cows to state governments and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research as it shuts down 39 military dairies across the country. The government decided to shut these farms down to free up resources mostly prime real estate and the revenue spent on them as part of a major military overhaul that was announced on Wednesday. Defence minister Arun Jaitley announced that a revamp process has begun and by 2019, more than 57,000 soldiers will be redeployed to combat roles from other positions. The farms were raised in 1889 and are spread over more than 20,000 acres of prime real estate in cities such as Ambala, Kolkata, Srinagar, Agra, Pathankot, Lucknow, Meerut, Allahabad and Guwahati. The farms supplied more than 21 crore litres of milk to the army, accounting for 14% of the total requirement. In all, these dairies employ more than 2,000 people most of them defence civilians. Their closure follows recommendations made by an 11-member expert panel, headed by Lieutenant General DB Shekatkar (retd), on enhancing the militarys combat potential and trimming its revenue expenditure. In line with those recommendations, Jaitley said on Wednesday that far-reaching restructuring had started to improve armys tooth-to-tail ratio - the number of personnel (tail) required to support a combat soldier (tooth). The exercise, he said, would be completed by December 2019. The army consists of around 40,525 officers and 1.15 million other ranks. The Shekatkar panel made a total of 188 recommendations of which 99 have been approved by the government and 65 are being implemented. Talking to HT from Pune, Shekatkar hailed the move saying it would beef up the armys combat potential, capability and endurance. This is perhaps the first time a committees recommendations on military restructuring have been implemented. We made 188 recommendations in March. We hope all the remaining recommendations will also be implemented as they too are very significant. Close on the heels of Supreme Court questioning the tardy pace of trial in a case involving self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, the district administration has bolstered the security of the rape victim here. Two more security personnel have been deployed at the residence of the rape victim and now half a dozen police personnel, including a lady constable, will remain on duty, Superintendent of Police KB Singh said. Bullet proof jackets have also been made available to two personnel so that they can move about to check security arrangements, he said. The SP said that security had been provided to the entire family and he himself was monitoring it. The father of the victim, however, alleged that he has been making requests for an arms licence for his son ever since the incident took place but to no avail. He stressed that it was important for their security. He also sought additional security for local scribe Narendra Yadav, who had actively covered the entire incident in a local daily, as he had been given only one security guard. He needs to be given proper security as per the SC directives, the victims father said. The 16-year-old Shahjahanpur girl had alleged rape against Asaram in his Jodhpur ashram and had lodged a case in this regard in Delhis Kamla Market police station which was later transferred to Jodhpur. On August 28, a Supreme Court bench comprising justices N V Ramanna and Amitava Roy had questioned the delay in the trial of the rape case involving the godman asking the state government as to why the victim had not been examined till now. The top court had earlier refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds including his poor health in two separate sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The apex court, while dismissing his bail plea on January 30, had observed that Asaram had placed a fictitious document to persuade the court to grant him bail and had ordered registration of an FIR against those responsible for preparing and filing the alleged fake papers. Two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges. In the case in Rajasthan, a teenage girl had accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram. The apex court had noted that trial in the matter was unnecessarily prolonged and the prosecution witnesses were being attacked. The apex court had on November 18 last year sought the response of the Centre and five states on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged murder of children and attacks on ten witnesses in the Asaram rape cases. Asaram was arrested by Jodhpur Police on August 31, 2013 and has been in jail since then BJP president Amit Shah held a strategy session on Thursday with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, PP Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman were also present at the meet. While Jaitley is in charge of the election in Gujarat, the other ministers are co-in charge of the polls. BJPs general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shahs residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. The party held a strategy session to achieve the target, Yadav later told reporters. The assembly polls are due in Gujarat later this year. A private school teacher in Lucknow allegedly slapped a class three student mercilessly and dragged him for not responding to roll call, following which she was booked by the police. The video clip of the teacher slapping and dragging the child has gone viral on social media. #WATCH Teacher of Lucknow's St. John Vianney High School repeatedly slaps a student for not standing up on attendance call pic.twitter.com/DWlPfLhS1I ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 31, 2017 The child said as he was engrossed in drawing, he could not respond to the roll call by the teacher. The incident came to light when the student reached home from school on Wednesday and his parents noticed that his face was swollen and he was behaving in an unusually dull manner, the police said. When his parents got in touch with his friends, they were told that he had been slapped around 40 times by the class teacher, they said. The parents then met the school principal, who checked the CCTV footage which purportedly showed the teacher, Retika V John, mercilessly slapping the child and dragging him. The principal then called the teacher, who tendered her apologies. The parents were assured that her service was being terminated. Following a complaint by the childs father, an FIR was registered on Thursday against the teacher for voluntarily causing hurt, station officer of PGI police station Brijesh Rai told PTI. The Congress compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with whimsical 14th-century Delhi monarch Muhammad bin Tughlaq for his decision to demonetise two-high-value notes last year and demanded his resignation on Thursday for misleading the nation. The criticism came a day after the RBI indicated that almost 99% of scrapped notes returned to the banking system, thereby indicating low efficacy of the November 8 recall of 500- and 1,000-rupee bills that wiped Rs 15.44 lakh crore out of circulation. PM Modi would go down in the history of the country alongside Muhammad bin Tughlaq. He made disaster of demonetisation and wrecked Indias economy, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said. The opposition Congress, which has been questioning the governments drive, said the central banks report vindicates the partys position that demonetisation was the biggest scam laced with false statements by the Prime Minister. PM Modi would go down in the history of the country alongside Muhammad bin Tughlaq. He made disaster of demonetisation and wrecked Indias economy, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said. Will PM Modi introspect today and apologise to the nation? If morality has any foundation, will he now step aside for lying to the nation and misleading the nation? According to the RBI report, Rs 15.28 lakh crore returned to the system by way of public deposits. Thus, only Rs 16,000 crore of old notes did not return to the banks. What has India gained? Surjewala asked and added that the cost of printing new notes came to Rs 26,000 crore. The opposition party stepped up its attack on the BJP-led NDA government over the demonetisation drive. After the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy last week, the central banks note ban report gave another handle to the Congress to corner the government. Surjewala said the Prime Minister had declared that demonetisation will end terrorism and Maoist extremism, but there have been 36 major terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir alone, in which 58 soldiers and 36 civilians were killed. There have been 13 major Maoist attacks in which 69 security personnel and 81 civilians died. Will the Prime Minister now answer who is responsible for 104 deaths due to demonetisation? he asked. Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma called demonetisation the biggest scam for converting black money into white. He said the attorney general representing the government had told the Supreme Court about Rs 5 lakh crore of terrorist funding will not return to the banking system. Where is that money? They have been repeatedly misleading the country. Sharma said the Prime Minister is responsible for the shock decision that triggered job loss and forced many enterprises to wind up their businesses. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said countries in the Indian Ocean bear the primary responsibility for its peace, stability and prosperity as she underlined the need to keep it safe and secure. Swaraj said that if the revitalised maritime economy of the Indian Ocean region is to be a force for global economic growth, it is essential that the waters remain peaceful, stable and secure. It is imperative too, that all stake holders abide by a rules-based global order, she said while addressing the 2nd Indian Ocean Conference here. Noting that the Indian Ocean is one of the most critical maritime transportation links in the world today, she said nearly one lakh ships a year pass through these waters, carrying about half of the worlds container shipments, one- third of the worlds bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the oil shipments. The fact that three quarters of this traffic is headed for destinations beyond the region underlines the fact that the Indian Ocean is of vital importance well beyond the shores of the littoral states, she added. For India, she said, the Indian Ocean is of vital importance - the country has an extensive coastline of 7,500- km and 90 per cent of Indias trade by volume and almost all of our oil imports come through the sea. As we envisage the Indian Ocean as an engine for growth and prosperity in our region and beyond, it is of utmost importance that these waters remain safe and secure. We consider it an imperative that those who live in this region bear the primary responsibility for the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indian Ocean, she said, amid increasing forays by the Chinese Navy in the region. Apart from establishing a naval base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, China is currently building ports in Sri Lankas Hambantota and Pakistans Gwadar. Chinese ships and submarines have appeared more frequently in the Indian Ocean in recent years. Pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modis concept of SAGAR Security and Growth for All in the Region, she said this is a clear, high-level articulation of Indias vision for the Indian Ocean. Swaraj said these are enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories and interests; deepening economic and security cooperation; promoting collective action to deal with natural disasters and threats like piracy, terrorism and emergent non-state actors among others. The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment, and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas, including food, medicines and clean energy, Swaraj said. We remain committed to extending port connectivity among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean and beyond. This is the objective behind the Sagarmala initiative, which aims to establish new ports and modernise old ones, she added. Noting that connectivity is one of the major themes of Prime Minister Modis Neighbourhood First policy, she said India would continue to work on a range of projects to improve maritime logistics in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. Our other initiatives include the Kaladan transport project leading to Sittwe port in Myanmar; the Trilateral Highway to Thailand; and, the Chabahar port project in Iran. Asserting that security is fundamental to the SAGAR vision, she said the Indian Ocean is prone to non-traditional security threats like piracy, smuggling, maritime terrorism, illegal fishing, and trafficking of humans and narcotics. We realize that to effectively combat transnational security challenges across the Indian Ocean, including those posed by non-state actors, it is important to develop a security architecture that strengthens the culture of cooperation and collective action, Swaraj said, adding that India is prepared to bear its share of responsibility. She mentioned Indias active participation in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa; and, joint EEZ patrols off the waters of Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius. She said India has been the the first responder to calls of assistance - providing relief supplies and medical aid to flood ravaged peoples of Sri Lanka in June 2017 or to rescuing Bangladeshis swept off the coast due to cyclone Mora or to alleviating the acute drinking water crisis in Maldives in 2014 when it airlifted 1,000 tonnes of fresh water to Male. The government on Thursday extended by four months, the deadline to link Aadhaar and PAN till December 31. This move comes at a time when a similar extension has been granted for furnishing Aadhaar to avail benefits of social welfare schemes. To facilitate ease of compliance by the taxpayers, CBDT has extended the date (for) ... linking Aadhaar with PAN till December 31, 2017, the finance ministry said in a statement. Also, the due-date for filing Income Tax returns and audit reports has been extended by a month to October 31 for all taxpayers who were liable to file their returns by September 30, 2017. The extension has to be read in the backdrop of the fact that Aadhaar is facing a slew of legal challenges on grounds that it breaches privacy, leaving officials to wonder if the government can still push ahead with its use in a wide range of services. Read more: Govt wants mandatory Aadhaar for I-T returns These concerns have heightened since the Supreme Courts privacy judgement on August 24. Government sources say that reading of the privacy judgement and other SC verdicts on the biometric-based identity scheme show that Aadhaar could lose its position of eminence against pre-existing identity proofs. Joint readings of the apex courts judgements since 2015 on Aadhaar reveal the SC has raised doubts about the legality of making the Aadhaar project the basis of availing citizensentitlements. In its landmark judgement on privacy, SC had referred the challenges to the Aadhaar scheme to another bench of judges that will begin hearing the matter from November. But before that, the apex court from September 4 will start hearings into Jairam Rameshs challenge against the validity of Aadhaar Act. Aadhaar is a proof of identity of an Indian citizen. It is a proof of Indian residentship for people who have lived in India for at least 182 days. Aadhaar is not for availing benefits as a citizen or activities such as opening bank accounts, filing tax returns, passport applications, said Gopal Krishna, member, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, one of the first petitioners against the Aadhaar programme. Top sources in the government said that the tax department has been studying the privacy judgement to see if it contradicts the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN for income tax returns (ITR). Read more: How to link you Aadhaar with PAN card We are reading the judgement to see if it makes mandatory linking of Aadhaar and PAN for ITR legally untenable. We are in touch with the law ministry, said a senior officer in the tax department. The government had made it must for people to link their Aadhaar with their PAN for income tax returns (ITR) from this year and warned that those not adhering to the rule could lose their permanent account numbers. Tax payers were also at the risk of facing legal proceedings if their PAN was cancelled, which could invalidate their ITR. The government said that this linking would stop duplication of PAN and dubious tax returns. But this mandate was challenged at the Supreme Court leading to a verdict in June that restrained the government from initiating criminal proceedings against tax payers who do not link Aadhaar and PAN. But the verdict did not strike the governments move to link the two for filing tax returns or for PAN application. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A senior government doctor who was filmed inside an operation theatre allegedly having a spat with a colleague in Jodhpur said on Thursday he lost his cool because of lax arrangements during an emergency. Obstetric surgeon Ashok Nanival told HT that anaesthetists did not begin management for a good 15-20 minutes even though a woman patient, identified as Anita, needed an immediate C-section. She was not my patient but as a surgeon I could not tolerate the delay in her management because I know in such critical cases, every second countsthis enraged me, he told Hindustan Times over the phone. A video of the spat between Nanival and professor of anaesthesia Mathura Lal Tak went viral on Tuesday and even prompted the Rajasthan high court to order a probe. Tak couldnt be immediately contacted for comment. The video purportedly shows Nanival and Tak locked in a bitter verbal duel over what appears to be an ego clash while a woman lies on the operating table. The woman was later identified as Naseem Bano, who delivered a healthy baby. However, Anita lost her newborn child. A probe committee is finding out if this death was connected to the doctors spat. The 36-year-old Nanival, who has been working in Umaid hospital for five years, alleged that two professors of aneasthesia present in the operation theatre provoked him and asked one of their third year postgraduate students to record the spat on their mobile phone. Both Nanival and Tak have been removed from their positions in the hospital. Nanival said he performed caesarean section on Naseem Bano who delivered a healthy baby. When he was finishing the earlier surgery, a resident doctor of gyaecology department brought the woman into the theatre. As a surgeon, I could sense the emergency. There was foetal distress and the woman needed to be operated upon immediately, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Twitter users raised questions on Thursday as #DemonetisationSuccess became the top trend on Thursday, a day after an RBI report said Indians returned almost all of the high-currency bills removed from circulation in a shock move last year. By recalling Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intended to make it difficult for black money hoarders to exchange their undeclared cash for legal tender. Opposition parties slammed the government over the note ban, terming the move as disaster and anti-national. Former finance minister P Chidambaram used the data to lash out at the central bank, saying Shame on RBI, as 99%junked currency has returned. On Thursday, several BJP ministers tweeted about the effects of the demonetisation drive, tweeting with #DemonetisationSuccess: With the return of Rs.15.28 lakh crore in the banking system, almost entire cash holdings now has an address. #DemonetisationSuccess Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) August 31, 2017 Demonetisation has led to widening of tax base and bringing back undisclosed income into the formal economy. #DemonetisationSuccess Birender Singh (@ChBirenderSingh) August 31, 2017 A phenomenal rise in new individual tax payers from 22 lakh last year to 56 lakh till August 5, 2017 shows a great #DemonetisationSuccess Ananthkumar (@AnanthKumar_BJP) August 31, 2017 #DemonetisationSuccess Cash holding back in bankingsystem Undisclosed income admitted Phenomenal rise in tax payers Shell companies detected Dr. Mahesh Sharma (@dr_maheshsharma) August 31, 2017 #DemonetisationSuccess: India's highest ever detection of black money & a massive rise in the no. of new taxpayers! (22 lakh to 56 lakh) pic.twitter.com/wcxb3KKipG Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 31, 2017 #DemonetisationSuccess India's highest ever detection of Black Money. pic.twitter.com/euc1jXKA36 Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 31, 2017 Soon after #DemonetisationSuccess began trending on Twitter, many users alleged it was the result of organised efforts by the BJP and its supports: Top paid trend right now is #DemonetisationSuccess despite this graph published by @RBI Incredible India! pic.twitter.com/RUm3VfUJr0 Pankaj Pachauri (@PankajPachauri) August 31, 2017 Hmmm. Multiple people having same opinion, same sentence formation and same punctuations on #DemonetisationSuccess . #DemonetisationDisaster pic.twitter.com/zW7Et2pTJJ Shahnawaz Khan (@shahnawazk) August 31, 2017 Homework given for ministers today. Tweet with #DemonetisationSuccess with the creatives and content given. Tinu Cherian Abraham (@tinucherian) August 31, 2017 A lot was promised to Kiranmayi Reddy when she was grieving her husbands death eight years ago. She is still waiting for the promises, among them a Group-I job and a residential plot, to be kept. On September 2, 2009, her husband, Captain MS Reddy, 45, was among the two pilots who died along with then Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and two others in a Bell 430 helicopter crash. The chopper crashed in Nallamala forests of Kurnool district in inclement weather. The government promised Kiranmayi a job of the rank of revenue divisional officer, a 500-sq yard plot in Hyderabad and aid for education of her two children, Vinay Kumar, who was then in Class 11, and Manusri, who was in Class 8. None of these promises has been fulfilled so far, Capt Reddys younger brother M Venkata Ramana Reddy, told HT. All that my sister-in-law got from the government was Rs 10 lakh, which was also paid to kin of all the others who died in the crash. Nothing more, he added. Kiranmayi, a postgraduate in commerce, started teaching in a private school as she battled the odds to raise her children. Her perseverance paid off as she managed to send Vinay to the US for studies and put Manusri in medical school. Kiranmayis brother-in-law Jagadeeshwar Reddy, once a government employee, has been chasing bureaucrats for years to get the government to keep its promises. Read more: Over 100 die after YSRs death, son appeals for calm Along the way, government officials told Kiranmayi that Capt Reddy was not a regular employee of the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation and was hired on contract after his voluntary retirement from the Indian Army in 2008. They said this rendered her ineligible for appointment on compassionate grounds, according to Jagadeeshwar. After relentless follow-up, the government issued orders for providing her the job. We got an order for relaxing the age for appointment and a no-objection certificate from Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission exempting Kiranmayi from appearing the Group-I services exam, said Jagadeeshwar. The final hurdle was to get an amendment made to AP Public Services Act by the state assembly, giving clearance to her appointment. Then the file got stuck with the Telangana statehood movement picking up momentum and paralysing the state administration for four years, according to Jagadeeshwar. When Telengana state was finally carved out of AP, the division of administration saw the file remaining untraceable for months. We managed to retrieve the file and got it transferred to Telangana government because we hail from Nalgonda. It is now stuck again in the Chief Ministers Office, said Jagadeeshwar. He found there were technical objections. Officials told Jagadeeshwar the orders were issued in undivided Andhra and the Telangana government would have to issue fresh orders for appointment, age relaxation and fresh clearance from Telangana State Public Service Commission. The job would also need clearance from CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former principal of BRD Medical College Dr Rajeev Mishra and his wife Dr Purnima Shukla were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court on Thursday in connection with the death of over 30 children at the hospital. The doctor couple were brought to the court amid tight security. After hearing the case, sessions judge Shivanand Singh sent the couple to judicial custody for 14 days. In view of the gravity of the case, the police sought their remand but the defence counsel insisted on judicial custody arguing that the couple would fully cooperate in the investigation. The couple were arrested by the special task force from Saket Nagar area of Kanpur on Tuesday and were brought to Gorakhpur on Wednesday evening. An FIR was lodged against nine people at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on August 23. The case was later transferred to Gorakhpur. Meanwhile, heavy force was deployed at the women police station and Gulharia police station where the doctor couple were kept. Dr Rajeev Mishra will be lodged at Nehru barrack while Dr Purnima Shukla will be kept at the womens barrack of Gorakhpur jail. The jail administration has made adequate security arrangements for them. Jail superintendent Kubernath Singh held a meeting with the officials on Wednesday to decide the barracks for the doctor couple and to prepare a security plan for them. They may face public anger. Special precautions are being taken to ensure their security, said a jail official. As a precautionary measure, the food will be tasted before being served to them. The doctor couple will be accompanied by 10 prisoners each who are known for good conduct. Muslim organisations in Uttar Pradesh have for the first time asked community members to follow a set of guidelines during next months Bakrid, aiming to avoid any controversy over the sensitive issue of animal sacrifice in the BJP-ruled state. Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice popularly called Bakrid will be celebrated on September 2 by the states Muslims, who form an estimated 19% of UPs 20-crore population. After winning an overwhelming mandate earlier this year, the BJP government led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath has clamped down on slaughter of cows, an animal considered sacred by a section of Hindus. Self-styled vigilante groups have also attacked people they accuse of cow slaughter for consuming beef. Over the past few days Muslim organisations have published advertisements in Urdu newspapers including the leading one such as Sahafat, Inquilab and Urdu Sahara -- asking community members to avoid confrontation over animal sacrifice, a ritual that is an integral part of the festival. The Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind -- that claims to be countrys largest Muslim organisation -- has urged Muslims not to offer sacrifice of white animal, widely understood to be cow. Kisi bhi halat main safed janwar ki qurbani na karein (under no circumstances should you sacrifice white animal), read the appeal. While Muslim groups have mostly ruled out cow or camel sacrifice, the RSS-backed Muslim Rashtriya Manch has even questioned the very practice of qurbani, saying that even sacrificing goat was as bad as triple talaq. Sources said as that many Muslims, confused on whether to offer sacrifice individually or in groups, have also been flocking to clerics for advice. A 40-page book by Iran-based top Shia cleric Sayyed Ali Hosseini Sistani, commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, answering the commonly asked questions on sacrifice is in great demand among the Shias. Those who say animal sacrifice is prohibited dont know their religion. But, its only mandatory during Haj. Other than that its linked to ones wealth, said noted Islamic scholar Masoodul Hasan. Other than the situations of Haj and wealth, sacrifice is described as mustahab, meaning an act that is appreciated by the sacred Islamic law (Shariah) but there is no harm if one doesnt. In other words, if done it is greatly appreciated and rewarding in religious sense but no problem if one omits it, Hasan said. He said for qurbani to be made mandatory for Shias, they own 40 ser, equivalent to nearly 37 kilogram of silver or equivalent wealth. Sunni cleric Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali said animal sacrifice was mandatory for Sunnis, if someone possesses 52 kilogram of silver or equivalent wealth. Mahali said a group of Muslims met director general of police Sulkhan Singh over the issue. Its true that because of stray incidents by cow vigilante groups, there is general apprehension among the community. That is why we met the DGP who assured us of security, saying there was no ban on traditional sacrifice. We told him that we will disengage with those offering sacrifice of animals banned by the government, said Farangi Mahali. Additional director general of police (law and order) Anand Kumar said instructions for strict vigil during the festival have been issued. The polices social media cell is also keeping a watch to prevent any mischief through social networking sites. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India today issued 10-year multiple entry visas to the young Israeli survivor of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Moshe Holtzberg and his grandparents, to ease their travel to the country. Holtzberg, who is now 11 years old, had expressed his wish to visit Mumbai during an emotional meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on July 5 this year. I am very excited at this nice present from Prime Minister Modi. This is going to help me when I grow up, Moshe said on receiving the 10-year visa from an official at the Indian embassy. The young boy in the past had said expressed his desire to live and work as Chabad emissary in Mumbai, a role his father was carrying out when he was killed in the Mumbai terror attack. I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House, Moshe had told the Prime Minister who embraced the young boy on seeing him. With Gods help, this is my answer, the boy had said reading from a prepared script concluding, I love you and your people in India. Modi had responded by saying, Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere. Moshes grandfather Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, confirmed that they have been issued long-term visas to help them travel to India whenever they wish, as per the promise made by Prime Minister Modi. It is such an honour. I have no words to describe the feeling. The Indian Prime Minister promised us long-term visas for the whole family and he has followed up on it. We are thrilled. We love India and would look forward to visiting soon, Rosenberg told PTI. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Moshe to join him when he travels to India. Rosenberg had earlier said that the family wishes to celebrate Moshes bar mitzvah, a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13 which some Israeli scholars compare with upnayana, or the thread ceremony, in Mumbai for which he would invite Modi. Moshes parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were killed along with six others at the Nariman House, also referred to as Chabad House, which also came under attack in November 2008 by Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The boy, then a two-year-old toddler, was saved in a daring move by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuels, who ignored her own safety and rushed inside the Nariman House to rescue him after hearing him cry. Samuels now lives in Israel and has been felicitated with an honorary citizenship by the by the Government of Israel so that she could live in the country and be with Moshe. PTI HM KJ AKJ KJ Maoists are planning bigger but fewer attacks in their stronghold of Bastar in Chhattisgarh to ensure better-planned strikes and stave off mounting government efforts to gain human intelligence in one of Indias most impregnable regions. Documents of a recent meeting of top Maoist commanders in the regions Darbha division between July 5 and 7, accessed by HT, show the rebels are concerned about the strengthened intelligence of security forces. The documents also say the extremist group is focussing on more training and plugging gaps in its internal intelligence gathering. The security forces are distributing mobile phones among school children in Maoist hotbeds for facilitating tip-offs. The use of phones should be discouraged, the document in Gondi dialect read. Darbha division comprises Jagdalpur, Sukma and Dantewada, where major attacks on security forces have taken place in 2017. The documents were accessed via sources in the state police and couldnt be independently verified. The meeting comes months after two back-to-back ambushes on security personnel in the regions Burkapal and Bheji the first in March and the next in April that left nearly 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead. The minutes confirmed that their new planning at least has prevented their casualties in last few months. I think Maoists are planning for fewer but bigger attacks, said a senior officer involved in the regions anti-Maoist operations. The meeting discussed how the twin attacks were successful because security forces lacked human intelligence in a thickly forested region where the inhospitable terrain makes policing difficult. It was after these two strikes that the security forces started focusing on human intelligence. Fifty Maoists have been killed by the security forces of region since. The meeting raised concerns about the growing presence of vigilante groups, comprising many surrendered Maoists, and the apparent lack of discipline among part-time Maoist cadre. The santries (cadre) sleep at night in houses instead of forests. They consume alcohol and indulge in immoral activities and travel to Andhra Pradesh for work without informing the leaders, the meeting discussed. The headless military intelligence wing of Maoists in Darbha division and poor intelligence collection on the part of Maoists also featured in the meeting, according to the minutes. Maoists have planned a 10 -day military training for LOS (Local Operation Squad) / LGS ( Local Guerrilla Squad on four subjects -- immediate action drill, basic position, basic military course and air defence. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) evacuated 46,500 marooned and saved 47 people from drowning in Bihar during the last 18 days of flood relief and rescue operation, which was scaled down on Thursday. The specialised force for disasters tapered its operation, de-inducting 10 teams, while still leaving 18 teams, as rivers showed a receding trend, easing flood situation in Bihar. The number of deluge-related fatalities remained unchanged at 514, with no fresh death reported from the 19 flood-hit districts. Though 116 relief camps continued functioning, the number of people staying there dwindled to 61,495 as compared to 1.38 lakh on Tuesday, said a state disaster management department (DMD) official. The 10 teams de-inducted would return to Mundali in Odisha. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast low pressure building in the Bay of Bengal on September 1 and 2 and sounded an alert, said officials. The NDRF had deployed altogether 28 teams, each comprising 40-45 personnel for Bihar floods. While 14 teams were from its home unit the 9, NDRF battalion at Bihta in Patna 10 teams of 3 battalion were airlifted from Odishas Mundali and four from its 7 battalion in Punjabs Bhatinda district. While seven teams from its home unit had pre-positioned themselves in flood-prone districts of Supaul, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Bettiah and Patna on June 27, most others moved in between August 12 and 16, immediately after the state government sought the Centres help. All these teams were engaged in relief and rescue operation in flood ravaged districts of Katihar, Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria, Khagaria, Supaul, Darbhanga, West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Samastipur, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur and Saran. Besides evacuating 46,500 people of the 1.71 crore affected by floods, the NDRF also facilitated three childbirths on its rescue boats while evacuating 102 pregnant women, said Vijay Sinha, NDRF commandant, 9 battalion. Gopalganj district magistrate Rahul Kumar told Hindustan Times, We did a block-wise assessment of all pregnant women and prepared a consolidated data on their expected date of delivery so as to ensure they were evacuated in time from flood-hit areas. Working in tandem with civil officials, the NDRF also helped in distribution of 134 tonne relief material and in providing medical assistance to 13,617 people. The 18 NDRF teams remaining are presently deployed in Khagaria, Motihari, Saran, Muzaffarpur, Bhojpur, Supaul, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Begusarai and Patna. Help continues to pour in PTI adds: Helping hands for the marooned people of Bihar continued pouring in. Bollywood star Aamir Khan had sent a cheque of Rs 25 lakh on behalf of his film production company, Aamir Khan Productions Ltd, an official statement said here. BJP Rajya Sabha member CP Thakur donated Rs 20 lakh from his MPLAD fund for relief work in Sahebganj and Paru blocks of Muzaffarpur. Art and Culture minister Krishna Kumar Rishi gave a cheque of Rs 1 lakh. Several other MLAs and former legislators also contributed to the flood relief work. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Opposition parties from Tamil Nadu met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday demanding an immediate floor test in the state assembly, claiming that chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had lost the confidence of the majority of legislators in the 234-member House. A delegation of Opposition parties, comprising the DMK, Congress, CPI and CPI(M), told the President the Palaniswami government is now a minority after 21 legislators of the AIADMK expressed no confidence. These 21 MLAs now owe allegiance to TTV Dinakarans rebel faction of the ruling party. We demand an immediate floor test. Let the assembly decide who has the majority, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said after the meeting. If there is uncertainty about numbers in an assembly or Parliament and the ruling party does not command the majority of the House, the only way the judiciary and the Presidency of India has always adhered to is to test the majority in the floor of the House. This is to be implemented, he said. Yechury said a government in any state or at the Centre will have to enjoy the majority of the elected legislature or members of Parliament and that could be demonstrated and established only on the floor of the House. For his part, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the opposition parties have conveyed their concern to the President and urged him to direct Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to convene the assembly and call for a trust vote as the Palaniswami government has lost the confidence of the House. Pakistan on Thursday summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over alleged ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) which resulted in the killing of a civilian. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Dr Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces, the Foreign Office said. It claimed that a 55-year-old man was killed in Kotera Sector on August 29 in alleged firing by Indian forces. Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations, it said. The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws, the Foreign Office said. The Director General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace along the LoC. He also called on the Indian side to allow the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. The Foreign Office also accused India of committing more than 700 ceasefire violations this year which resulted in the killing of 29 Pakistani civilians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard today held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and international issues and also discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. Modi thanked the visiting dignitary for her countrys support for Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India is grateful to Switzerland for supporting Indias membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), he added. We had productive talks on international, regional and bilateral issues, Modi said at a joint press event with Leuthard. Asserting that transparency in financial transactions was a matter of concern worldwide, the prime minister said bilateral cooperation with Switzerland in the area continued. The two leaders noted that India and Switzerland had very good cooperation on combating tax evasion and black money. Leuthard was hopeful of the law on automatic exchange of information being cleared by the Swiss parliament by the end of this year. The two sides also inked two pacts for cooperation in the railway sector. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the Swiss president and discussed various bilateral issues. First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. Swiss presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier -- in 1998, 2003 and 2007. Modi visited Switzerland in June last year. During the visit, the country announced its support to Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The two countries had also resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was on Thursday directed by the Supreme Court to respond to the bail plea of former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh, chargesheeted in an alleged money laundering case. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L N Rao issued notice to the ED and asked it to file a reply on the plea within two weeks. During the hearing, Singhs counsel contended that he should have been enlarged on statutory bail by the Allahabad Hight Court since the charge sheet was not filed against him within the stipulated 60-day period. The counsel referred to the apex courts recent judgement granting default bail to an accused in an alleged corruption case, which involved the issue of statutory bail due to the failure of the probe agency in filing charge sheet within the stipulated 60- or 90-day period. He contended that high court had denied bail to Yadav on the ground that the ED had filed a charge sheet against him, but the final report was submitted before the lower court after expiry of the 60 days period. Singh had approached the apex court challenging the order passed by Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court denying him bail in the case. Singh, in his bail plea before the high court, had said that since the charge sheet was not submitted by the agency within the statutory period, he was technically entitled to bail. But the high court had dismissed his plea considering the EDs submission that the chargesheet was filed on time. In 2015, the ED had slapped money-laundering charges against Singh, who was the engineer-in-chief of the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI. Earlier, an Income Tax raid in November 2014 had revealed that Singhs assets were hugely disproportionate to his income, following which he was suspended by the then Uttar Pradesh government. The Allahabad High Court had, in July 2015, directed the CBI to investigate the case stating that the allegations were most serious. The Haryana police managed to whisk away Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh from the special CBI court in Panchkula to the Rohtak jail only after thwarting an alleged bid by his securitymen to free him, according to a senior Haryana police official. However, an alert team led by deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sumit Kumar foiled the bid by the godmans commandos to escape with the Dera chief, he claimed. Speaking to reporters in Gurgaon, inspector general of police (IGP) KK Rao said that as soon as the self-styled godman was convicted, he demanded a red bag that he had brought along from Sirsa. The Dera chief demanded the bag, saying his clothes were in it. It was actually a signal for his men to spread the news of his conviction among supporters so that they could resort to causing disturbance, Rao said. He said that as the bag was taken out of the vehicle, sounds of tear gas shells being lobbed about 2-3 km from the site were heard. It was then that we understood that there was some meaning behind the signal, the Haryana police IG claimed. And what made senior police officials even more suspicious was that Ram Rahim Singh and his adopted daughter kept standing in the Panchkula court complex corridor for a long time even when they were not supposed to do so, he said. They were trying to gain time before sitting in the vehicle so that their men could spread the message that he was moving from the court. They were told that you cannot stand here. The mob was about 2-3 km and could have moved closer. Whenever wanted violence in Sector 1 as casualties could have been more, the senior police official said. The police decided to make him sit in the vehicle of DCP (Crime) Sumit Kumar instead of the vehicle he had arrived in, Rao said. When we were making him sit in the vehicle, commandos, deployed with him for several years, gheraoed the Dera chief, Rao alleged. Thereafter, DCP (Crime) Kumar and his team scuffled with them. His commandos were even thrashed, he said. We took good care that no firing takes place, Rao said adding that even the commandoes assigned to protect the godman were also armed. Another threat that the policemen sensed was from the around 70-80 vehicles, part of the Dera chiefs cavalcade, which were parked next to a nearby theatre, he claimed. We did not want to use the same route as 70 vehicles were standing. People in those vehicles might have been carrying weapons, he said. Our priority was to first take Baba to the chopper site , he said adding that it was a challenge to make him sit in the police vehicle, Rao said adding that a decision was taken to change the route. I asked an Army man to allow the police vehicles (including the one carrying Dera chief) to move through the cantonment area. Had their people come to know about our movement, they would have reached there and firing could have taken place, the IG said. As we were about to proceed towards the cantonment area, the Dera chiefs private commandos forcibly clung to the police vehicle, he said. They were again thrashed and taken into custody, Rao added. The Babas men were clueless for over half an hour as to where he had been taken, he said. We came to know about the escape plan when the red bag was demanded. Secondly, they were trying to gain time. Thirdly why men in 70 vehicles were standing, he claimed. The godman was then taken to Sunaria jail in Rohtak via a chopper, the police official said. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has defended last years demonetisation exercise, saying the decision to recall 500 and 1000-rupee notes was not only to curb black money but also to confiscate illicit cash and bring them into formal channels and tax them. Jaitleys comments on Wednesday evening, shortly after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that 98.96% of culled notes had been returned, sparking opposition criticism on the efficacy of the move that had sucked out 86 per cent of the currency in circulation and led to a massive cash currency for several months. The real object of demonetisation was formalisation, attack on black money, less cash currency, bigger tax base, digitisation, a blow to terrorism, Jaitley said. And we do believe that in each of these areas, the effect of demonetisation has been extremely positive. The finance ministry also said in a statement that a significant portion of SBNs (specified bank notes) deposited could possibly be representing unexplained/black money. The value of the banned notes which were deposited was Rs 15.28 lakh crore, the RBI said in its report. By rendering 500 and 1,000 rupees illegal in one stroke and imposing restrictions on how the money could be returned to banks, the government had intended to make it difficult for hoarders of undeclared wealth, or black money, to exchange their undeclared cash for legal tender. Jaitley said the tax department was scrutinising 18 lakh bank accounts with unusual deposits that do not match with their previous income profile. The Opposition was quick to pounce on the data to attack the government, with former finance minister P Chidambaram wondering if demonetisation was a scheme designed to convert black money into white. RBI gained Rs 16,000 crore, but lost Rs 21,000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize, he tweeted. Rs 16,000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 15,44,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1%. Shame on RBI which recommended demonetisation, he said in another tweet. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi described demonetisation as a colossal failure which cost innocent lives and ruined the economy. Will the PM own up?, he tweeted. Jaitley hit back at Chidambarams criticism, saying that people who had not taken a single step during their tenure against black money have not understood the intent behind demonetisation. He said the note ban compelled people to deposit money into bank accounts. So more tax payers, bigger tax base, both in direct and indirect tax, more digitisation, lesser cash in the system, integration of the formal with the informal economy. This was also one of the principal objects as far as demonetisation was concerned. And I think there is far greater evidence now that that has started moving in the right direction, he added. While defending demonetisation in the Supreme Court in November, then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said around Rs 4-5 trillion would probably not find its way back into the system. By December, though, it was clear that tax evaders had managed to legalise their unaccounted money using mules and proxies to make deposits, made high-value purchases using backdated bills and colluded with bank officials to exchange old currency. The fact that the entire demonetised money has come back shows black money has been accounted for completely. In that sense, demonetisation has been a success, said R Gandhi, former deputy governor of RBI. In his 15 August speech on the occasion of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narednra Modi said more than Rs 1.75 trillion deposited in banks after demonetisation was under the scanner. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said his party would move a privilege motion against RBI governor Urjit Patel for misleading a parliamentary panel by not revealing the number of notes returned. Although opposition parties tried to make a big issue out of disruption caused by demonetisation, it has failed to dent Modis appeal with voters. Since demonetisation, the BJP has scored key electoral wins, including a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. Pushing for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya by consensus, members of the Muslim Rastriya Manch (MRM), an affiliate of the RSS, will march from Lucknow to Ayodhya next month. During the march between the two Uttar Pradesh towns, programmes will be held at every stop to convince people about the construction of a grand Ram temple, said convenor of the programme, Mahiradhwaj Singh. We want construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya by consensus. For this, MRM will take out a foot march from Lucknow to Ayodhya. It will start on September 11 and reach Ayodhya on September 16, covering over 140 km, Singh told PTI here. In Ayodhya, the programme will be attended by RSS leader Indresh Kumar and sadhus. According to MRM national convenor Mohammad Afzal, the organisation had been holding regular meetings with the Muslim community to try and convince them to resolve the temple issue through consensus. MRM is expecting a favourable response from the community on the Ayodhya move. Our drive against cow slaughter was also successful, Afzal claimed. On March 21, the Supreme Court described the Ram Mandir as a sensitive and sentimental issue and suggested that it would be best if it was settled amicably. The Ayodhya march was discussed in Haridwar meet of MRM in May in which it was planned to march to Ayodhya with Muslims in the vanguard. Asked about the details of the plan, Mahiradhwaj said, It will be finalised in a day or two. The MRM has also appealed to Muslims to sacrifice bad habits and not goats during Bakr Eid on September 2. Animal sacrifice during Bakr Eid is a bad practice like triple talaq. People should boycott those advocating sacrifice on that day. Giving kurbani during Bakr Eid is haram (not approved) in Islam, MRM convenor (Awadh Prant-UP) Syed Hasan Kausar said. Those wanting to give sacrifice should shun bad habits and cut a symbolic goat cake, he said. Earlier this month, the Manch had announced that it would launch a countrywide campaign, with special focus on Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, to persuade Muslims not to sacrifice cows on Bakr Eid. MRM leaders recently met Islamic scholars associated with the organisation in New Delhi at an event presided over by senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar where a resolution was passed against cow slaughter. Swedens Saab will tie up with Indias Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircraft in India, an aerospace consultant aware of the proposed partnership told Reuters on Thursday. The partnership will compete with US defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with single-engine jets to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modis Make-in-India initiative. The Saab-Adani partnership would be aimed at producing planes under Indias new strategic partnership policy, said Ratan Shrivastava, an independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at Indias industry lobby group FICCI. The partnership will likely be announced on Friday, Shrivastava said. Saab declined to comment. Saab President and Chief Executive Hakan Buskhe will host a media event in New Delhi on Friday, Saab said in a press invitation issued on Wednesday. It did not give details. There was no immediate comment from Adani, which is a $12 billion group with businesses ranging from energy and logistics to real estate and defence. Shares in Adani Enterprises Ltd, a group company, rose on Thursday after the news of the planned Saab tie-up and were trading about 2.7% higher. Saab shares were up 1.8%. Under the new defence partnership policy, a foreign aircraft maker will collaborate with an Indian firm to develop a world-class indigenous aeronautical base that India has struggled to build for decades. Lockheed has already picked Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner to produce its F-16 fighter planes that will compete with Saabs Gripen aircraft. The government will issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official told Reuters earlier this week. The Indian Air Force needs hundreds of aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet, but Modi wants the planes built in India to help boost domestic industrial base and cut imports. The Jammu and Kashmir government ordered all schools along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri to remain closed for the next three days on Thursday, a day after Pakistan shelled Indian villages and schools in Nowshera sector of the district. Rajouri deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary apprised people about the decision on Twitter. The district administration kept the schools closed on Thursday as well. An official said over 65 schools are located close to the LoC in Nowshera sector, making them vulnerable to the firing and shelling by the Pakistani army. As a precautionary measure the administration decided to keep them shut until Sunday, he said. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing and shelling from across the border in Nowshera sector targeting forward posts and civilian areas on Wednesday. Amid the shelling, the police had to evacuate 49 school children from a high school in Ser in a minibus to a safer area in Nowshera. The latest incident of ceasefire violation came three days after five civilians, including a woman, were injured at Bandi Chechian and Qasba areas of Poonch in mortar shelling from across the border. Despite a flag meeting on August 23 between Indian and Pakistani armies to restore peace on the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts, the neighbouring country has refused to honour the sanctity of mutually brokered ceasefire agreement signed between them in November 2003. Nine people, including four soldiers, have been killed and 12 others injured in Rajouri and Poonch districts since May this year in unprovoked and indiscriminate mortar shelling and firing on the Indian side of the LoC by Pakistani troops. Last week, a junior commissioned officer and a woman were killed in Pakistani shelling in Krishna Ghati and Mendhar sectors respectively. The official said over 4000 villagers are still living in the six relief camps in Nowshera town since May 7 this year after Pakistan repeatedly targeted Indian villages in the sector killing several villagers and some soldiers. There have been 285 violations by the Pakistan army till August 1 and in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to the Indian Army. Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday used Reserve Bank of India figures to lash out at it, saying one per cent of the demonetised notes not coming back to the central bank was a shame on RBI. He also questioned the Narendra Modi government whether its demonetisation decision was designed to convert black money into white. The Congress said government utterly failed and 104 innocent lives were lost during the exercise and demanded an apology from the prime minister. 99% notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white?, Chidambaram said on Twitter. He also said that the economists behind the demonetisation move deserve Nobel prize as the RBI gained Rs 16,000 crore, but lost Rs 21,000 crore in printing new notes. Rs 16000 cr out of demonetised notes of Rs 1544,000 cr did not come back to RBI. That is 1%. Shame on RBI which recommended demonetisation. RBI gained Rs 16000 crore, but lost Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize, he said in a series of tweets. All but 1.4 per cent of the old Rs 1,000 notes have come back into the banking system post demonetisation, the RBI said in its annual report for 2016-17. Out of 632.6 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 currency notes in circulation, 8.9 crore have not been returned post the note ban last November, it said. The government had on November 8, banned old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in an attempt to weed out black money in the country. The old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny. Congress in-charge of communication department Randeep Surjewala said demonetisation is nothing but a disaster in which 104 innocent people were killed while corrupt made windfall gains. He also said that the demonetisation scam not only dented institutional sanctity of the RBI, but also credibility of India abroad and demanded an apology from the prime minister. Utterly failed #Demonetisation is nothing but a disaster in which 104 innocent people were killed while Corrupt made Windfall Gains. Demonetisation Scam,not only dented institutional sanctity of RBI,but also credibility of India abroad.PM should apologise to the nation, he said in a series of tweets. He also said, Rewind: Modijis obfuscation exposed once again. On Ind. Day, PM claimed to have unearthed Rs 3 Lakh crore black money post demonetisation. The reality, he said, is that the RBI data released today proves only Rs 16000 crore out of the 15.44 lakh crore money in circulation came back and of this, Rs 9000 crore is still stuck. Perspective: This Rs 16000 crore is just 1 pc of the total notes demonetised, he said. In another tweet, Surjewala said, Dr Manmohan Singh predicted that #Demonetisation will reduce GDP by 2% and it did. Only the Economy suffered due to this massive folly! Seventy-six Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nations territorial waters, were on Thursday ordered to be released by a Lankan court, police officials said here. The Oorkavalthurai court set free the fishermen, lodged in a Jaffna jail following their arrest in separate incidents over three months this year, they said. Among those ordered to be released were 12 fishermen from Rameswaram, six from Mandapam, 46 from Pudukottai and eight from Nagapattinam. Rameswaram fishermens association president S Emirit said the fishermen are expected to reach Karaikal in a day or two. Their release came on a day when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from Thursday. Fishermen Association sources said four fishermen are still lodged in Jaffna jail. Meanwhile, eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents today for allegedly fishing in the island nations territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. Three children have died at the state-run Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur city following a mysterious fever in the past 24 hours, doctors said on Thursday, weeks after over 30 children died within 48 hours at Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College. Head of the hospitals paediatrics department, Dr AK Arya, said most of the children were suffering from cough and cold and pneumonia-like symptoms and were treated accordingly. The hospital claimed to have taken all possible measures and said the parents brought the children to the hospital late after getting them treated by quacks, thereby losing crucial time. There are 56 other children admitted to the hospitals neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with similar symptoms. About 280 children were examined at the out patient department and 50% of them were admitted to the hospital on Thursday. The children who were suffering from high fever were under intensive monitoring, Dr Arya said. The states top health official has asked the director of education (madhyamik) to tell school authorities to allow children suffering from cough and cold a leave for a week to contain the spread of infection. They have been directed to check regularly for students with symptoms of running nose. They have also been asked to not hold collective prayers at schools. There were reports of two more swine flu patients dying during treatment, taking the toll from the disease to eight in the city. The state of the affairs at the hospital highlights the challenges faced by Indias underfunded and overburdened public health system, where successive governments have failed to address the acute shortage of doctors and infrastructure. The problems are compounded by cases of shoddy medical treatment. Tamil Nadu chief minister Eddappadi Palaniswami on Thursday dug into the archives to fish out and circulate former AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaas speeches lashing out at the Mannargudi family even as party deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran mulled moving the Madras high court against the proposed meeting of the general council. The ruling party is likely to remove Dinakarans aunt VK Sasikala as the general secretary of the party during the proposed meeting on September 12. Rivals derisively refer to Sasikalas family as Mannargudi mafia for the alleged corrupt dealings of her family, which enjoyed immense clout in early days of Jayalalithaas rule. The chief ministers move to invoke Jayalalithaa and remind the party cadres of how she had thrown out the Mannargudi family from the party is aimed at wooing the rebel MLAs back into his fold. Dinakaran has claimed he has the support of 40 MLAs. Jayalalithaa had expelled Sasikala and all her relatives from the party in 2011 after she suspected them of hatching a conspiracy against her. State revenue minister RB Udayakumar also released a CD with Ammas speeches praising Palaniswami and telling the workers that the chief minister stood with her in fighting the onslaught of the family that was ousted but still was trying to interfere in the party and government affairs. Udayakumar was among the ministers who participated in a meeting held at the residence of chief minister on Thursday. The AIADMK IT wing circulated the video on WhatsApp as well. A combined opposition in Tamil Nadu, including the Congress and the Left, called on President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi on Thursday to apprise him of the political situation in the state following the withdrawal of support by 19 AIADMK MLAs loyal to Sasikala and Dinakaran. The MLAs had written to governor C Vidyasagar Rao withdrawing support to the Palaniswami government after the merger of the two factions of the AIADMK that brought rebel leader O Panneerselvam back into government and party affairs in key roles. The opposition delegation held the government has lost the majority in the assembly and it should not continue in office and urged the President to direct governor Rao to order an immediate floor test so that it can prove its strength on the floor of the house. On Wednesday, Rao expressed his inability to interfere with an internal matter of AIADMK. In Chennai, Dinakarans supporters are contemplating moving the Madras high court to stop Palaniswami and Panneerselvam from holding the September 12 general council meeting. Thanga Tamilselvan, an MLA close to Dinakaran, threatened to teach the traitors a lesson and said the government and the party cannot be handed over to the people like EPS and OPS, who cheated Chinnamma and Dinakaran. As political parties played their hand, film star Kamal Haasan again hinted he was about to enter politics while speaking at a wedding ceremony in Chennai on Wednesday. He later told reporters his political journey had started and it did not matter if it was on Twitter or in Coimbatore. The Bharatiya Janata Partys Tamil Nadu unit president Tamilisai Soundarrajan criticised Haasan for playing politics on social media and Twitter. If you have the guts then enter politics formally and fight it out, she dared the actor who she said was slowly losing out work in the film industry and hence was veering towards politics. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The debate over the efficacy of demonetisation kicked off again after finance minister Arun Jaitley defended the governments decision to demonetise currency on Wednesday. Shortly before, the Reserve Bank of India had announced that 98.96% of culled notes had been returned to the bank. Jaitley said the decision to recall 500 and 1000-rupee notes was not only to curb black money but also to confiscate illicit cash, digitise economy and strike a blow to terrorism. But Twitter users were quick to pounce on Jaitleys statement, with some saying the government should concede it had bravely tried, but failed. Here are some hilarious reactions: So, I re-imagined Ghalib's 'Bazeecha-e-atfaal' in the #DeMonetisation context. (Not in the same meter). pic.twitter.com/W3kVFZRW1U Salik Khan (@baawraman) August 30, 2017 Nothing explains the failure of #DeMonetisation and Vikas Purush's Tamashas than these verses. pic.twitter.com/EoZSWBCNyN Salik Khan (@baawraman) August 30, 2017 CII, FICCI & Assocham to give 11 out of 10 marks to #Demonetisation :) Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) August 30, 2017 "The main Objective of #DeMonetisation was to teach Urjit Patel how to count notes" ~ Finance Minister. (2017) pic.twitter.com/HdZm8Rb9ob History of India (@RealHistoryPic) August 30, 2017 Somewhere in Chicago, with a cigar in mouth, jazz in the background, and a glass of cognac in hand, Raghuram Rajan must be laughing aloud. churumuri (@churumuri) August 30, 2017 Frankly, if Modi says, "Sorry yaar, I tried demonetisation in good faith. Unfortunately, it didn't work.", I'll live with that. 1/2 Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) August 30, 2017 #DeMonetisation should be renamed Pradhan Mantri Adani Ambani Kala Dhan Safed Banao Yojana Agnivo Niyogi (@Aagan86) August 31, 2017 "Oh what a tangled web we weave/when first we practice to deceive." Sir Walter Scott. Say you bravely tried, but failed. Don Toxique (@DonToxique) August 30, 2017 Demonetisation ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???, ???? ????, ?? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???????? ????? ???? ?????? Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) August 30, 2017 Demonetisation has brought such a refreshing change. Kashmir quiet, Pakistan stopped firing & students back to coffee houses in JNU. Roflindian (@Roflindian) November 12, 2016 Ghulam Husain, a 43-year-old living in far-flung Turtuk village in the desolate northern fringes of Ladakh, received a message on WhatsApp from his cousin, Nargis, on Saturday. They greeted each other, she told him her new-born daughter was fine and sent a picture of the baby, and he blessed her. But what made this otherwise ordinary interaction in Balti language extraordinary is that Hussain and Nargis, his uncles daughter, are separated by the Line of Control between India and Pakistan. Nargis lives in the Skardu region of Pakistans Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, on the other side of the de-facto border patrolled by tens of thousands of soldiers. Pulled asunder after the Indian army recaptured a cluster of four villages including Turtuk from Pakistan in the war of 1971, WhatsApp is the only thread holding the family together across the hostile frontier. We relatives across the border regularly share pictures and audio-video clips via WhatsApp. My father just starts crying whenever I show him pictures of his brother and his family, says Husain, a social worker in Ladakh, sitting at a cafe in Srinagar, browsing through pictures of his cousins, nephews and nieces residing in the Skardu region. Estimates show over 15,000 families were left divided by the LoC in Ladakh due to multiple wars. In a region where phone calls dont connect across borders and roads have remain closed for decades and getting a visa is virtually impossible, local residents have formed chat groups on WhatsApp that serve as a lifeline whenever the erratic internet signal stabilizes. People communicate individually, over family or even community chat groups. The most popular of these groups is called, quite fittingly, Hum sb kb milenge (When will we all meet), founded in 2014 by Skardu-based journalist Musa Chulunkha. Hum sb kb milenge has 110 members, who often share leads about the address of relatives on the other side, information if someone from Pakistan is visiting India, political developments on the opening of roads, and videos of Balti cultural events. Speaking to HT through WhatsApp audio messages from Skardu, Chulunkha said, The idea behind creating this group was to unite the divided families and we have been successful to a great extent. Through messages on this group from members of many such families in India, we have been able to trace their relatives in the Skardu and Khaplu regions. Husain is also on the group and one of the recent conversations on it is about one of his aunts who drowned in the Shyok river. She was separated from her family in 1971 and never got a visa to visit her native village in the GB region. Being connected on WhatsApp or Facebook to relatives on the other side is the result of a desperate attempt to stay close to those who have been taken away from us by borders. And Hum sb kb milenge group is very effective in that regard, said Mohammad Sadiq, a researcher and writer on divided families from Kargil, who is a member of the group. But despite social media, families yearn to physically meet each other. Earlier this month in Kargil, activists of the Peoples Forum of Divided Families and Peace across LoC (in Ladakh and GB) submitted a memorandum of appeal to Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to open the Kargil-Skardu and Turtuk-Khaplu routes. The appeal elaborated on the agony, pain and desperation of the divided families unable to meet their kith and kin on the other side. In a rally, Mehbooba promised the government would put in its best efforts to open the routes so that the trade and peace process will begin. Sajjad Kargili, a journalist from Kargil and key member of the forum, posted the memorandum on Hum sb kb milenge and elicited a great response on it. The roads through Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan are open but those through Ladakh are not. Our only prayer to the authorities is that please allow us to meet, at least. So, when borders have divided us, WhatsApp has united us it has given us a place we can inhabit together, said Kargili, who has several relatives across the LoC. Husain recalls when his father Shamsher Ali met his brother Abdul Qadir, the first time in twenty long years, on a Hajj pilgrimage in 1989, they broke down in each others arms. But until India and Pakistan decide to open their borders to unite these families, WhatsApp will have to do. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Health minister Kali Charan Saraf on Thursday directed health officials to ensure that swine flu reports are available within seven hours instead of 24. The government sprang into action after the death of Mandalgarh MLA Kiriti Kumari. The MLA was admitted to Sawai Man Singh Hospital on August 26 evening. The report detecting swine flu took 24 hours and was available on Sunday (August 27) at 5.30pm. After which she was shifted to the Fortis Hospital for want of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine and passed away on Monday at 7 am. Saraf directed all six government medical colleges in the state to take samples for swine flu test round-the-clock and provide the report within seven hours. He also asked all the doctors to start treatment immediately after detecting swine flu symptoms in a patient. Generally, it takes between 18 and 24 hours to get a swine flu report. The samples are taken between 8 am and 2 pm at the government hospitals and then to medical colleges for investigation. Now, samples for swine flu will be taken 24 hours at the emergency ward at the hospitals associated with medical colleges. We have put forth a proposal to buy four ECMO machines in the state and medical personnel will be trained to use the machines, said Saraf. He also mentioned that all hospitals associated with medical colleges will have a separate ICU and observation ward for swine flu patients. Saraf added that all district hospitals have the facility to collect samples for swine flu and all primary health and community health centres, district hospitals and hospitals associated with medical colleges have sufficient medicines to treat swine flu and regular supply of medicines will be ensured to these hospitals. He appealed to people not to get scared of swine flu and to immediately seek treatment if symptoms of swine flu appear. Swine flu can be cured with timely diagnosis and treatment, he added. Ishrat Jahan, Bengals crusader against instant triple talaq, brought kidnap charge against her former husband Murtaza Ansari after her daughter and son went out with their father for almost eight hours without informing her. Jahans daughter Shaista Khatoon (13) and son Zaid Alam (7) disappearedon Thursday morning from the Pilkhana area in Howrah town where she lives with her sister-in-law and the latters husband. Murtaza, who took the children to Burdwan to meet some relatives, returned to the Golabari police station in the evening after the police called him up. The children, who went missing after leaving home around 11 am, appeared happy after they returned, said T Pandey, inspector-in-charge, Golabari police station. We are not arresting anyone right now because the children said they went with their father willingly. We have recorded their statements under Section 161 of CrPC and will produce them before the district child welfare committee (CWC) on Friday morning, said a district police officer. Read: Triple talaq verdict: Crusader Ishrat Jahan faces threats, seeks help from Mamata Banerjee The children were returned to their mother by the police on Thursday night. Jahan identified them around 9 pm. Since they were taken away without her consent and without giving her any intimation we are not withdrawing the kidnap charge, said Nazia Elahi Khan, the lawyer who represented Jahan in the Triple Talaq case. Jahan (31) alleged in her police complaint that Murtaza Ansari - who now lives in Dubai with his second wife - was in Kolkata. She also alleged that her sister-in-law Zubina Khatoon and her husband Mustafa Ansari were involved in the kidnapping. Jahans two elder daughters live with Murtaza Ansari who delivered a telephonic triple talaq from Dubai in April 2014. We are yet to find any evidence that points at forceful kidnapping. The children appear to have left with a member of the family. We are investigating the matter, T Pandey, told HT in the afternoon when Jahan filed her complaint. After this the police called up Mustafa Ansari who said the children were with their father. The police asked Mustafa to call up Murtaza and get in touch with Golabari police station. Murtaza called up the police station and said he was in Burdwan with their children. Murtaza was asked to return immediately. Read: Triple talaq verdict: Meet the five women who fought to stop instant divorce Last night my daughter had gone to my sister-in-laws room to keep some clothes. She heard the couple saying something about sending away the children. How can they do this? said Jahan. Jahan claimed she has been facing threats from her neighbours ever since the Supreme Court set aside the controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce or, Talaq-e-Biddat. Jahan is one of the five women whose petitions were heard by the apex court. Six days ago she sought security cover from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Incidentally, neither Banerjee nor the ruling Trinamool Congress has so far made any comment on the judgement and opposition parties have reacted strongly to this silence. Till Thursday the state took no action on her prayer for security, said Khan. Read: Jharkhand woman alleges husband gave her triple talaq a day after SC outlawed practice Jahan said her sister-in-law disconnected the electricity connection to her room and people in the area were planning a social boycott. Though she has been living in the Muslim neighbourhood for years, local people reacted after the media splashed the news of her victory and aired her interview. Nazia Elahi Khan, said she too was being trolled on social media since August 22. With no job and nowhere to go, Jahan wrote a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee seeking security for herself and her children. My daughter and son are scared. They never faced a situation like this. People pass nasty comments whenever I step out. I am not asking for financial support. The state government can at least provide us with security, Jahan told HT last week. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 48-year-old woman died allegedly after she suffered head injuries when police lathi-charged pro-bandh faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling around 11:30pm on Thursday. Romala Rai was the 10th GJM supporter to have lost her life in the ongoing agitation for a separate Gorkhaland in the West Bengal hill station that began on June 8. The indefinite bandh in Darjeeling that started on June 15 was lifted for 12 days, a GJM faction led by chief coordinator Binay Tamang announced on Thursday in Kurseong. However, within minutes GJM president Bimal Gurung told the media that the bandh will continue and the section that announced the suspension of the bandh had no locus standi to do so. Read: Darjeeling talks: Separate Gorkhaland beyond our jurisdiction, says Mamata Rallies supporting the ongoing indefinite bandh were taken out in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong on Thursday evening. The situation turned tense in Darjeeling and Kurseong after Gurung said he will hold a central committee meeting on Friday to expel Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa, who he claimed had betrayed the cause of Gorkhaland. The GJM president also said he will send a team of his party soon to Delhi to discuss the hill situation with the central leaders. Tamang had earlier said the bandh was being suspended to honour the state governments response to having dialogues. Bimala Gurung, the president of GJM, has vowed to oppose the suspension of the bandh. He is leading the hardliners in the Morcha. (Samir Jana) The chief minister is scheduled to have another meeting with hills parties on September 12. Till then, the bandh will remained suspended, Tamang said after presiding over the central committee meeting. They had no business to call a central committee meeting. The decision has no legitimacy. The bandh will continue, Gurung told the media over phone from an undisclosed location. The bandh is not being withdrawn, Roshan Giri told HT minutes after Tamangs announcement. Read: Indefinite Darjeeling bandh bleeds Siliguris business of Rs 2 crore every day Tamang announced the decision of a central committee meeting of the Morcha that comprised about 30 members out of 93. The conflicting statements made it clear that there will be confusion on the streets of the north Bengal hills from Friday onwards. The suspension of the bandh would be a big relief for the residents of the hills who have been struggling with a complete shutdown for the past 78 days, it is likely that the hardliners of GJM, led by president Bimal Gurung, will oppose any attempt to resume normal life. Tamangs announcement follows a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee on August 29 at the state secretariat. Representatives of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and Jan Andolan Party (JAP) were also present in the meeting in which Mamata Banerjee requested the hill parties to lift the bandh quickly and restore normalcy in the hills. The prospect of a split in GJM sounded louder when Tamang targeted the GJM-backed BJP MP from Darjeeling, Surinder Singh Ahluwalia. What has Ahluwalia done? Why has he not done anything for Gorkhaland. And since you have not done anything yet, you dont need to anymore. Ill coordinate with New Delhi, Tamang said. The statement indicated he was accusing Gurung of sparing BJP, while targeting the Mamata Banerjee government. We want Gorkhaland but it will not come bypassing the state government, Tamang said. On Thursday, nearly 150 vehicles full of GJM supporters arrived at Bagdogra airport to receive Tamang, who soon after addressed a public gathering. Earlier Gurung alleged that he felt betrayed by those who went to meet the chief minister and insisted that they should not discuss anything other than a separate state of Gorkhaland. He has been charged with UPAP(P)A sections and is in hiding to evade arrest. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Richard D Winfield, professor in the department of philosophy, University of Georgia, Athens, US, is a philosopher who has penned 20 books, covering social justice, economic opportunities and political and civil rights, among others. He is also planning to run for the US Congress as a Democrat candidate from the GA 10 district (in Georgia) in 2018. A thought leader and public speaker, Prof Winfield was in Lucknow on Tuesday and Wednesday to address events organised by the Lucknow Management Association and the department of English and modern European languages, Lucknow University. He also visited HT office and spoke about his planned election campaign, issues close to his heart and his India connect. Excerpts: A philosopher running for a political officehow did you decide to make this switch? Yes, there are not too many philosopher-politicians. It will be a challenging experience. The good part is that my family is supportive. I was born in New York in 1950my grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. My family made the US its home. I firmly believe in equal opportunities for all people, including all political and civil rights in the American constitution. Unfortunately, not everyone in my country gets to avail of these rights in full. This is what has led to the civil rights struggles that you see. For me, a primary right is the right to work and earn fair wages. It needs to be a part of the American Constitution. The government needs to step in and ensure jobs for peopleprovide what profit seeking firms cannot. I have chosen to run for a political office to make a difference to give a voice to this issue among others. I look forward to presenting a new social bill of rights. How do you see Indias policies in this regard? India is one of the few countries that have taken steps towards providing guaranteed employment to its people. Of course, such schemes need to be worked on, but the root idea is the same people should have government-provided job security. How do you view the policy of providing reservation in jobs? Reservations can never bring in a complete solution. And there are problems that come with it. First, theres no guarantee of a fair wage. Just getting a job is not enough. Also, in most cases, they seem to benefit only very small groups from among all the disadvantaged people of the society. Theres also the problem of resentmentthose groups that are not benefiting from the reservation policy will start resenting those who are. Talking of resentment, how do you view the whole discussion around Indians taking away American jobs? Do you think that tightening visa norms will help Americans get their jobs back? The solution I have in mind doesnt have to do with profit seeking enterprises. My idea is that these jobs need to be created by the government for the people. Then the question of someone taking away American jobs does not arise. For instance, infrastructure has a lot of scope for job creation.Back in the 1930s, in the face of the Great Depression, a lot of work was done in the field of infrastructure development. And it helped people get employment.Once you work towards eliminating unemployment, the consumers purchasing power goes up and the economy gets a boost. What are some of the other issues close to your heart? Basically its about equal wealth distribution. Job security is a part of that. Today, the US is more unequal in wealth distribution than it ever was in the past 100 years. Just as there must be jobs for the young, there must also be social security for the elderly and the disabled and comparable to what constitutes a fair wage which for me is $20 an hour. We also need non-managerial representation in the board of directors of corporations everywhere in the world, including the US and India. Otherwise, the decisions taken by the board hardly reflect the concerns of the workers. We also need to empower employees, increase their rights, such as, access to adequate maternity / paternity leave. How are you preparing for the campaign? The Congress has 435 representatives. I will propose my name to run as a Democrat. While GA 10 is traditionally a conservative district, it also has a liberal pocket - Athens. The Republican incumbent traditionally runs here with no opposition at all, and the Democrat candidates, whenever they choose to run, find no outside support. So, it will be quite a challenge. The primaries will be in May 2018, and if I win, I move on to the electoral contest (against the Republican candidate) in November 2018. My daughter Kalindi is a political consultant and she is advising me. I plan to propose my name in January and thats when I will go on leave from my teaching job at the university. Do you often come to India and Lucknow? To India, yes. My wife Sujata Gupta is from Kolkata. I met her in the US when she was there for her brothers treatment. As far as Lucknow is concerned, this is my second trip in three decades. My son Rasik works here and I have come to meet him. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A phone call to UP-100 police control room about a bomb placed at a private school in Krishnanagar on Wednesday morning threw police officials into a tizzy. However, the threat that led to immediate evacuation of the school turned out to be a hoax call by a class 6 boy. Police said the child was tracked down with the help of electronic surveillance. We found that he made the call as he didnt want to go to school, said inspector of Krishnanagar police station Anjani Pandey. He said the hoax call came in at around 7.30 am. The UP-100 patrol vehicle immediately informed the police station and rushed to the spot. A team of anti-terror squad (ATS), a bomb disposal squad and a dog squad were also called there. The students were safely ushered out and the school premises were searched, he said. The school administration told parents to collect their children as the closure was announced suddenly. The search operation lasted for over two hours but nothing suspicious was found, said Pandey. He said that when the police tried contacting the caller again, the mobile number came switched off. However, through electronic surveillance, the users address was tracked down. A team of police officials reached the house only to find that the culprit was a 10-year-old. The user is a railway employee. The call was made by his youngest son, a student in the same school. He did not know the severity of his act, however, his parents were counselled and asked not to provide the child with a mobile phone. The school administration too was informed about it, said Pandey. Read more| Ghaziabad: Gangster arrested after encounter with police This is not the first such hoax call. On August 19, mason Rajitram had called up the police control room, threatening to blow up the Vidhan Bhawan. He had done this under the influence of alcohol, and was arrested from Chinhat for his crime. With only two days left for Bakrid (Eid-al-Adha), buying a suitable animal for sacrifice is high on priority among Muslims. While many are heading towards Mehndi Ghat on Gomti banks, the enthusiasm seems to be missing at the temporarily set up market. In fact, the Bakra Mandi wore a deserted look on Wednesday. When goat sellers are complaining of low turnout of buyers, the prospective buyers insist there arent many suitable animals up for sale. Lucknows Bakra Mandi used to be one of the best in the state. Here we used to get good price of our livestock. Things seem to be different this time, said Abdul Miyan, a goat seller, who came from Unnao. He admits that only a few sellers have turned up this year. Buyers look for variety, which is lacking this time, he admits while talking about difficulties they face in transporting livestock to the market. Presently, the market has varieties like Jamnapuri, available at around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 and Totapuri, available between Rs 35,000 and Rs 45,000. This is certainly not the same Bakra Mandi that it used to be. Initially, it used to be set up near Nibu Park and one used to get a good range of goats in the markets. But this time there are fewer varieties and that too are available at a very high price, said Izzat Hussain, a goat buyer. Hussain claimed many are heading to neighbouring districts where the prices of the goats are comparatively low and huge range is available. Districts like Barabanki, Unnao, Faizabad, Sitapur have big goat markets and hence becoming the preferable destinations for goat buyers, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Worried over rising electricity thefts, Uttar Pradesh government has decided to install smart meters in the theft-prone pockets from December this year. It will also replace all existing power-guzzling water pump sets used by farmers with the energy efficient ones free of cost to plug in electricity wastages. We have already floated a tender for the procurement of 40 lakh smart meters to install them in theft prone pockets and on all the consumer premises using an electricity connection above 5 kv, principal secretary, energy and UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) chairman, Alok Kumar told HT in an interview. Smart meters will help the authorities read consumers meter remotely to know his consumption pattern and taken action on suspicion of pilferage. Moreover, the power supply to an electricity connection with a smart meter can also be snapped remotely in case of non-payment of dues and pilferage remotely without no body having to visit the place physically, Kumar explained. The UPPCL, he indicated, might not charge any money from consumers for replacing their current meters with smart meters. Admitting to the aggregate and technical losses (which is largely power theft) not declining, he said the government was determined to deal with power thieves sternly with the work to set up special police stations for this purpose also being in progress. Kumar said the government had an ambitious plan to replace around 12 lakh water pumps in the state with the energy-efficient sets. The move, he claimed, will ensure a win-win situation for both UPPCL and the farmers. We have tied up with the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd for not only replacing farmers pump sets free of cost but also provide them free maintenance of energy efficient pumps for five years, Kumar said. He said providing 24X7 electricity to each and every households in the state by 2019 was a major challenge since around two crore households in the state did not have an electricity connection at present. We are going to launch a new campaign in a mission mode to issue new electricity connections in rural as well as urban areas with the help of dedicated teams, he said. He said all the villages would be connected to the grid by December 2018. On complaints about cities and villages not getting electricity supply as per the schedule at times with even the chief minister having sought a report from him on the issue, Kumar said all efforts were being made to provide smooth power supply as per the schedule. Sometimes there are unavoidable situations that cause problems, he said. For example, our current grid is not designed to bear the power load of more than 18,000 MW but the demand quite often reaches 20,000 MW and in such a situation we have no option but resort to rostoring, he explained, adding, We are chalking out a plan to enhance the capacity of the grid. Asked about the hefty tariff hike proposal for the rural domestic consumers, he said people should not react emotionally to this issue but think rationally. We suffer a loss of Rs 2 on each unit of electricity supply in villages because of the gap in average cost of production and average cost of revenue. We should either overburden urban and industrial consumers or ask rural consumers to pay the full cost for the services which are getting better now, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai has had enough of spirit of Mumbai, the term praised on social media and news headlines every time the city faces a natural disaster and gets back on its feet. At least 12 people died and dozens were feared trapped when a building collapsed in the densely populated Bhendi Bazaar on Thursday, after days of heavy rain swamped the city. Tuesdays downpour brought the city to its knees and was reminiscent of the heavy deluge on July 26, 2005 when a cloudburst had brought the megapolis to a complete standstill for two days. Newspapers pointed out that the authorities made several mistakes in dealing with the flood: from not heeding the weather departments warning to a safety advisory being issued late. Mumbai has experienced unusually high rainfall in a few hours in the month of August in three of the last seven years, writes Hindustan Times columnist Smruti Koppikar. Each time the city gets back to its feet and gets over its anger. We did not remain angry, we did not demand accountability from those in charge of the city, we did not penalise them in elections, she writes. What gets trending is #spiritofmumbai. Social media users say it goes like this -- heavy rains, waterlogging/floods, reports of Mumbaikars helping each other and finally, people hailing the unbreakable spirit of Mumbai. While many tweeted about the unflinching never die spirit of Mumbai, others more critical of the municipal bodys failings say: MumbaiSpirit is just becoming an excuse for the civic bodies and everyone else that well bounce back irrespective of anything. #MumbaiFloods have begun, tomorrow well see the #MumbaiSpirit, predicted a Twitter user Pramod Ananth 12 days before the August 29 rains. Social media users debate: Is Mumbai tired of its spirit? While its heartening to see ppl help each other in such times, one must not let the 'spirit of mumbai' cover for the repeated BMC failures.. The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) August 30, 2017 "Well hey, at least there are no potholes now." - Spirit of Mumbai. Jose Covaco (@HoeZaay) August 30, 2017 Can't stop ranting on Spirit Of Mumbai. Stop being so stupid... pic.twitter.com/1pEC6buK7K Chopdasaab (@Chopdasaab) August 31, 2017 It's called Spirit of Mumbai because Incompetence of Government is too long. Sapan Verma (@sapanv) August 29, 2017 Ah, the most helpless state of being in the sinking city: "Spirit of Mumbai" !!! #MumbaiRains Anju Chandel (@AnjuChandel) August 30, 2017 Mumbai's.citizens give their govt. taxes, trust, perks and votes. In return, they get opportunities to display the Spirit of Mumbai. Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) August 30, 2017 BMC has Budget of 37050 Crore Still the apathy of The City Discounting it saying nature's wrath and move on in the name of Mumbai Spirit Eh? Chandrabhushan Joshi (@MatruBhakt) August 31, 2017 Every year Mumbai spirit comes to the rescue sir. When will it be sir that infrastructure will be sufficient https://t.co/aVlCSOpJVz Varun Tandon (@Vartandon) August 31, 2017 A taste of bitter truth? "Spirit of Mumbai" The lollipop that the rulers of Mumbai give Mumbaikers to remove attention from their own gross mismanagement of Mumbai The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) August 29, 2017 Which is the best pub to taste the spirit of Mumbai? The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) August 30, 2017 Some fake accounts too had something to say: Heard that bmc didn't clean drainages just to show "spirit of mumbai" to rest of the world. Narendra Moodi (@tejaspawar1993) August 31, 2017 The Coast Guard on Thursday morning rescued 20 fishermen who went missing after one of the three boats from Nawabandar, in Gujrats Junagadh district capsized owing to bad weather near Satpati in Palghar on Wednesday. The three boats that had left from Junagadh, were called Ram Prasad, Prem Sai and Sai Narayan. All boats had one captain and 9 crew members on board each. All three boats were owned by Ramabhai Samat Solanki, 50. Owing to choppy waters, one of the boats, Ram Prasad, capsized, and the 10 crew members were rescued by Prem Sai. However, after the rescue, Prem Sai, which then had 20 crew members on board, went missing, which led the Coast Guard to launch the search and rescue operation. According to an official of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai, on Wednesday afternoon, a Dornier aircraft belonging to the Coast Guard first conducted an aerial search of the spot, located 40 nautical miles off Palghar. However, the boat was not traceable and the owner was also unable to contact his crew members,said the official. We took help from the Coast Guard ship, Samudra Prahari, which was on patrol, and diverted the vessel to look for the boat, said the official. The Dornier aircraft continued the aerial search for the two fishing vessels - Prem Sai and Sai Narayana - belonging to Solanki. On Thursday morning, around 9.25am, we sighted the two fishing vessels, 37 nautical miles off Palghar, near Tarapur coast, said the MRCC official. We informed the owner that the 20 crew members are safe, he said. The state governments response to the tragedy on Tuesday is a tale of missed opportunities and miscommunication. As heavy rain pounded Mumbai and the local train services, the citys lifeline, were shutting down, the state cabinet was actually meeting at Mantralaya. At the meeting that ended around noon, the ministers discussed sowing operations and the overall rain scenario in the state, besides other subjects. But not the crisis developing in Mumbai. Didnt they know what was happening or didnt they care? Why did no one bring up the weather bureaus warning that up to 200 mm rain could fall on Tuesday. Half an hour later, services on all three suburban lines were suspended with water logging on the tracks at Sion, Kurla and Bandra. Lakhs of commuters, up to 30 lakh, suddenly had no way to go home. So what did the state machinery do? It went into denial. At 2 pm on Tuesday, state disaster control officials told HT that the situation was not dire and that only the traffic and transport services have been badly hit. The fact that if the Railways could not restart their operations, 20 to 30 lakh commuters would be stranded was not considered. The first mistake, a BJP minister admitted on Wednesday, was to not take the weather forecast seriously. We know that the city has low lying areas and trains will stop if it rains more than 80 mm. So unless we set up better systems, we need to take the weather forecast more seriously. Thats the learning, said the minister. But there were several more mistakes. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis decided to visit the state disaster control room only at 3 pm and the states eight-point advisory - asking people to stay safe wherever they were, avoid walking on flooded roads, etc - came at 8 pm when lakhs of citizens were already trudging along flooded tracks and roads, desperate to get home. Why couldnt this list have been sent out hours earlier, soon after the trains stopped. Surely announcements could have been made at the train stations? But then the various wings of the government have to work together, not blame each other as the railways, the BMC and the state government were doing. The state government should have called in NGOs and community groups to ensure arrangements were made across the city for stranded people to take shelter. Instead, it was left to good samaritans across the city to step in on their own. There was a National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) team on alert since the afternoon, but the state didnt involve it and instead relied solely on the Fire Brigade. We held meetings through the day to co-ordinate the situation. The IMD forecasts were handed out to the district level and civic disaster control rooms. They are directly responsible for overseeing such situations. The Railway officials were also in touch with us. It was expected that trains would start slowly but that didnt happen, said Rajiv Nivatkar, director of the state disaster management cell. Another official questioned, How could we have given an advisory asking people to stay at home on the basis of a forecast of very heavy rainfall ? What does one say to such people? By Wednesday, as the city found its feet again, Tuesdays horrors were dismissed by the state and civic authorities as a once in ten years event, where nothing could have been done by state agencies. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Decomposed carcasses of marine mammals continue to wash up along the seashore around Mumbai. The carcass of an eight-foot Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin was found at Rajodi beach, Vasai, on Thursday, making it the 80th such case between 2015 and 2017. A recent response to a Right-to-Information (RTI) application from the Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit (MMCU), under the state mangrove cell, revealed that only four postmortems have been conducted to ascertain the cause of deaths. According to MMCU, there is no conclusive proof for the mammal deaths in Mumbai even as 29 deaths were reported in 2015, 33 in 2016 and 18 in 2017. The dolphin at Rajodi washed ashore at 7.30am and local fishermen informed researchers from the Konkan Cetacean Research Team (KCRT) within minutes. We informed the MMCU about the incident before 8am as the carcass was fresh and it could be rushed for a postmortem or studied for research purposes, said Mihir Sule, member, KCRT. Twelve hours later, the mammal was buried by municipal workers at the same beach and the forest department did not show up. There was no postmortem conducted, said Sunish Subramaniam, secretary of city based NGO Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS-Mumbai), who filed the RTI with MMCU. The group alleged that the dolphins carcass was not decomposed and the cause of death should have been studied before burying it. When animals like leopards or even monkeys are injured, they are generally rushed to the nearest veterinary hospital for further treatment or understanding the reason for their death. There is absolutely no coordination between authorities for marine mammals. They are left at the spot where they wash ashore and are even pulled back into the sea at times, said Subramaniam. Whales, dolphins and porpoises are endangered species and are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972. While it is not mandatory to conduct a postmortem for the carcasses of marine mammals under WPA, experts said there is a need for more awareness and development of national level marine protection groups. There has been an improvement from what it used to be five years ago, but only a team functioning at the national level including local residents, veterinarians, civic body and forest department can communicate faster and ensure treatment, better research or mobilise more man power during strandings, said Ketki Jog, member, KCRT. MMCU officials said that most carcasses that have washed ashore over the past two years are severely decomposed. Carrying out necroscopy (an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death) for these mammals is impossible because most of their internal organs are outside their body by the time we find them. There is also lack of expertise, said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forest, MMCU. However, a mammal rescue centre at Juhu by this year-end will improve the current situation. Whats causing marine animal deaths? While there is no conclusive proof for 80 marine animal deaths over the past two years, there have been several speculations. - Pollution, which leads to extremely poor water quality that threatens marine life - Plastic trash could choke marine animals - Animals could be Injured after being hit by large vessels at deep seas - Climate change and sea level rise - Lunar tides marine animal beaching taking place during full moon and new moon nights after the tides recede - Fishermen alleged that oil companies carrying out seismic surveys - seismic blasts from ships to the ocean floor to identify oil and natural gas that disorient the communication pattern for marine mammals leading to accidents - Marine animals can get caught in nets, discarded or set up by fishermen for commercial species - Oil spills at dockyards and at deep seas can kill the animals - Rise in sea surface temperatures pushing mammals closer to the surface of the ocean and then getting hit by large vessels SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Around 20 to 25 toddlers had a lucky escape on Thursday as Bhendi Bazar, which housed their preschool, collapsed just half an hour before their classes began. Tulip Play Group and Nursery was operating from the ground floor of the Hussaini building on Pakmodia Street when the structure crashed around 9 am. Educators reacted strongly to the incident, saying preschools and playschools many of which are run from residences, commercial complexes or even basements mushroom unchecked in Mumbai. They said the government needed to mandate structural audits for preschools to ensure the safety of students. Currently, only the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) requires schools to conduct structural audits, but this does not cover preschools as they are unregulated by the government. Structural audits should be mandatory for all schools, said Raj Aloni, principal, Ram Sheth Thakur Public School, Kharghar. The CBSE doesnt give affiliation to schools that do not have a structural safety certificate, he said.Child care experts, however, said the government can mandate audits only if they regulate the early childhood sector. Currently, the government does not even have a record of how many preschools are operating in the city, said Swati Popat Vats, president of the Podar Education Network, and, president, Early Childhood Association (ECA), a group of 2,000 preschools across India. In the absence of safety norms, Vats said parents must demand structural audit reports from their preschools. Parents choose preschools that are close to home and do not charge hefty fees. They do not look at how safe they are, said Vats. They must check that the school has fire exits and holds evacuation drills, she added.Though the government has not made it compulsory, the ECA has requested preschool owners to conduct audits on their own. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It was a narrow escape for Abdul Israil, who worked at a hotel in Hussaini buildings ground floor. He had stepped out for breakfast minutes before the building collapsed. I have been working here for the past 15 years and we usually slept at the ground floor of the building. After I woke up on Thursday morning, I went for tea and breakfast with four of my colleagues, Israil told HT. He went to an eatery opposite the building and then noticed that Hussaini building had started shaking and was about to fall when he fled the spot with his colleagues. When I was inside the hotel at the opposite building, somebody raised an alarm that Hussaini was about to fall. So when I went to see, I noticed that the building was shaking, I feared for my life and fled from the spot, said Israil After the building collapsed, the survivor realised that his four other colleagues were sleeping in the building. After I fled, I suddenly realised that my four other colleagues were trapped inside. I am trying to call them, but no one is answering, added Israil who hails from UP. Another man, who owned an AC repairing shop in the building, was saved after as he got held up at home owing to some household work. The shop owner Mohommad Saifuddin said, I usually open my shop between 8am and 9am but I had some household work so my family members asked me to wait back. Just because they made me wait, I am alive today. But 56-year-old Usman Alis story is more about fear of losing close ones than of survival. He rushed from his Mankhurd home as soon as he heard about the collapse. Both his nephews, Kayyum and Nasir, were in the building. I got to know about the incident around 9.30am. Kayyum stays with me in Mankhurd but he had come to Byculla last week to meet Nasir. They went out for dinner and then instead of coming back to Mankhurd, Kayyum decided to stay back, said Usman. Both the youngsters, being orphans, were raised by Usman who helped them set up fruit vendor business to earn a living. I came here and lost my mind seeing the state of the building. I ran back to JJ Hospital but the records showed that they arent among the injured. I have no strength to check the mortuary, said Usman. Didnt know it was our last time out Mumbai The only proof we have of the presence of our brother under the debris is a 12-year-old child who used to stay with them, said Aasif Khan, who cousin Imran Khan was one of the workers at a nearby and used to sleep on the ground floor of the building. It was a huge storage place for local vendors to keep their tables and other things. The place was used by restaurant workers to sleep and often they would invite other friends for a sleep over, said Aasif. I dropped him and went home to Nagpada. Didnt know that this would be our last time out, said Amjad. When Amjad came to the spot, the child told him that only he got out among those who slept there. 2 bouncers jumped out of window Mumbai Among the lucky survivors were two bouncers, Salim Hussain, 41, and Iqbal Khan, 23, who used to work at a nearby bar. As the building started shaking, both broke their window and jumped to an adjacent building. They sustained minor injuries but saved their lives. Both had come to Mumbai from UP around a month ago and successfully landed jobs at a bar. We took a room in the building as it was cheap, said Salim. Both had returned home after in the morning after working through the night. We knew immediately something is wrong. Next thing I asked Iqbal to do is jump out. Fortunately the adjacent building was in our reach, said Salim. If you are not already used to being stranded in the city during a heavy downpour, now would be a good time to start. At least thats the message the state, civic and railway authorities seem to be giving its citizens, indirectly. A day after the disaster, authorities indicated there is little that can be done in Mumbai, an island with low-lying areas. But it is not just the rain that is to blame. The problem also stems from lack of planning, coordination and foresight by authorities to tackle extreme weather. The state, the civic body and railway authorities failed the city miserably. It all starts at the top. The state government ignored the weather forecast and an IMD red alert and continued to be in denial until it was too late. Even as rain pounded the city from early morning the state cabinet met at Mantralaya around noon, but did not bring up the developing situation even once. It did not take charge of the situation and failed to take crucial decisions such as issuing advisories in time, making arrangements for stranded passengers by coordinating with state and outside agencies and pressing into service additional buses to ferry stranded commuters. Then come the civic authorities, who once again had utterly failed to clean or improve the carrying capacity of the citys storm water drains. The delayed BRIMSTOWAD project, which aims to overhaul the citys 19th century drains, was a solution suggested 12 years ago, after the 2005 deluge. The project has, instead, missed two deadlines, the cost has more than doubled and 20 upgradation works and two pumping stations are still pending. Experts told HT the impact of a project will not be visible unless it is complete. So despite the BMC commissioning six pumping stations, putting to use 229 dewatering pumps, 110 pumps of sewer stations and pumping out 7,000 litres of water, citizens had to wade in knee-deep and in some cases waist-high water across the city. Next to blame is the citys lifeline, the suburban railway system. As always, it was crippled much before the rain unleashed its full fury. More than 10,000 people had to spend a night at railway stations or were marooned on trains as railway authorities looked on helplessly. Even a day after, railway authorities could not normalise CR train services until 1.30pm. This points to mismanagement and apathy, said railway experts. Part of this failure is also down to poor coordination between state and civic agencies. The commuting nightmare for citizens and the unnecessary deaths should be a wake-up call for authorities. To make matters worse, leaders from the two ruling parties, the Shiv Sena and the BJP, were once again seen taking potshots at each other instead of sitting together and discussing what could be done to prevent such a situation in the future. While Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed those who criticised him, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar publicly advised him to be polite. (With inputs from Aroosa Ahmed) Technical snag forced a flight from Kochi that was headed to Delhi via Mumbai make an emergency landing at Goa on Wednesday night. GoAir G8 345, which takes off at around 7.40pm from Kochi, left after a delay of around 40 minutes and then made an emergency landing at Goa around 9.10pm. Go Air Spokesperson said, August 30th, GoAir flight G8345 (Kochi - Mumbai) flight was diverted to Goa due to technical snag. All passengers (166) deplaned safely and were subsequently flown to Mumbai early this morning (31st Aug) to Mumbai by an alternate GoAir aircraft. GoAir apologises for the inconvenience caused to its esteemed customers. The aircraft in use was A320neo that has been creating engine issues for not only GoAir but also for Indigo. GoAir has grounded two aircraft due to engine issues. Currently Indigo, GoAir and Air India possess A320neo. After these aircraft were grounded due to engine-related issues, aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a week before had spoken to the engine makers Pratt & Whitney about the problem. In a statement issued on Thursday, the company said: The GoAir A320neo that diverted to Goa, India on August 30 was powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. Pratt & Whitney is working with GoAir to assess the situation. Indigo had grounded 50% of its A320neo after engine problems. Last week, a Ahmedabad-Kolkata flight had to be diverted to Nagpur after an engine stopped working mid-air. The engines for A320neo are made by Pratt & Whitney. Last week, in a reply to HTs query on the engine malfunctions, the companys spokesperson had issued this statement: We are aware of recent reports regarding the -powered Airbus A320neo fleet. As we have communicated previously, the durability of the engines entry-into-service configuration is being improved. We understand that the issues experienced to date have disrupted our customers operations. We are working hand-in-hand with them on a daily basis to address their in-service fleet issues. In the current fiscal year, close to 40% of budgeted civic funds for Mumbai, or Rs 978 crore, went to the development and maintenance of the citys drainage system. Yet, on August 29, 2017, with 315.8 mm of rain in 12 hours, Mumbai drowned. Over three and a half years, from April 2014 to August 2017, six companies RPS Infraprojects, KR Construction, Relcon, RK Madhani, J Kumar & Co., and Prakash Engineers were involved in 55% or Rs 4,272 crore worth of road projects executed by the roads department. The BMC had blacklisted five of these contractors in March 2017. Between April 1, 2014, and August 30, 2017, more than 10% of the Rs 2,428 crore the BMC spent on garbage management was given to two contractors Antony Lara Enviro Solutions and M K Enterprises to collect, transport and dispose of the citys waste. Yet, on August 29, 2017, the citys drains choked with garbage, often piled next to roadside drains. On August 29, 2017, as torrential rains lashed Mumbai, citizens felt a sense of deja vu. The downpour may have been the heaviest recorded in 12 hours since the 2005 deluge, but the chaos is familiar every monsoon. Complaints of water-logging, short circuits, trees toppling, garbage-clogged drains, potholed roads and snarled traffic are common, and the same questions arise: How is Indias richest municipality spending tax money? Who are its contractors? Our new project, MumbaiSpend, provides these answers. For the first time, it makes public Mumbais civic-spending data in real time, allowing citizens and the media to directly monitor spending of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In Indias financial capital and its richest municipality, citizens remain unaware of or uninvolved in how their city spends their money. Open data are the surest ways of bringing transparency to government processes, and through the use of civic technology, as we call it, the distance between citizens and government can be reduced. Whats there in our database MumbaiSpend provides comprehensive data on vendors, purchase orders, vendor earnings over a specified period of time and spending patterns of the BMC across its various departments, including public health, roads, disaster management, education, storm water drains, solid waste management, transport, election, water supply, fire brigade, bridges, licenses, shops and establishments. At the Department Overview page, you can analyse how departments spent funds, issued work orders over a time period that you can decide. Through Vendor Stats, citizens can access lists of vendors/contractors, by department, and, in the case of registered companies, explore details of managements and boards of directors. Payouts to various vendors and spending by departments are available on mumbai.indiaspend.org. The data on the MumbaiSpend platform are updated weekly, in line with BMC spending updates. What our preliminary analysis reveals The roads, storm water drains and solid waste management departments of the BMC are the highest spenders, a preliminary analysis of the data available on the website shows. Vendors catering to these departments feature among the civic bodys highest earners. These departments perform key functions in preventing the city from flooding, according to this 2005 Fact Finding Committee on Mumbai Floods report. Their poor performance was on display on Tuesday as several parts of the metropolis suffered from inundation, potholed roads, and garbage-clogged drains. Over five months to August 2017, the stormwater drains (SWD) department accounted for nearly 44% or Rs 1,208 crore of all BMC work orders issued, data for the current fiscal year (2017-18) show. A significant portion of these funds was spent on the vendor API Civilcon , which earned Rs 65 crore since April 2017. The company is also one of the top three highest-earning vendors in all of the BMC in the current fiscal, securing contracts worth Rs 92 crore across departments, the MumbaiSpend database shows. Of the Rs 65 crore the SWD department paid API Civilcon, Rs 23.7 crore was allotted for desilting three major nallahs (canals) in Wadala in Mumbais F/North ward in preparation for the monsoons. At 12pm on August 29, 2017, this was the situation in the Wadala area of the F/North ward: Of 92cr paid to API Civilcon since Apr 2017,23.7cr to desilt 3 major nallahs in Wadala,F/North ward in pre-monsoon prep #MumbaiSpend (1/2) IndiaSpend (@IndiaSpend) August 30, 2017 Roads Between April 2014 and August 2017, the BMC spent Rs 7,793 crore on road works in the city, of which six companies alone RPS Infraprojects Pvt. Ltd., K R Construction Pvt. Ltd., Relcon Infraprojects Ltd., R K Madhani & Co., J Kumar & Co. Pvt. Ltd., and Prakash Engineers & Infraprojects were awarded contracts worth Rs 4,272 crore (55%). Of these, RPS Infraprojects was awarded the most contracts for such works and is now the second-highest earning vendor of the BMC. While the company has been awarded contracts worth Rs 51 crore from April 2014 to August 2017 on its own, it is also involved in joint ventures worth Rs 726 crore, our MumbaiSpend database shows. Over the same period, KR Constructions Pvt. Ltd. was involved in joint ventures valued at Rs 933 crore the highest amount paid for such road projects, the database shows. Prior to the start of this fiscal year, in March 2017, excluding Prakash Engineering, the corporation had blacklisted the other five companies (and Mahavir Roads and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.) for shoddy construction that cost the city Rs 350 crore, the Mumbai Mirror reported on March 29, 2017. In 2016, the civic body registered a first information report against the same contractors with the Azad Maidan police station in connection with a road construction scam, the Hindustan Times reported on April 28, 2016. Solid waste management Between April 1, 2014, and August 30, 2017, the BMC spent Rs 2,428 crore on garbage management for Mumbai, of which 10% (or Rs 261 crore) was given to two contractors alone Antony Lara Enviro Solutions and M K Enterprises. While Antony Lara Enviro Solutions earned Rs 148 crore to develop and operate the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, MK Enterprises was paid Rs 133 crore to collect and transport waste for disposal from parts of the western suburbs and slums, clean streets, provide garbage bins etc. Two directors of Antony Lara Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. also own other companies to which the BMC allots solid waste management-related contracts and other works, further analysis of the MumbaiSpend database showed. While Shiju Anthony Kallarakal owns Antony Motors engaged in activities related to collection and transportation of wasteJose Jose Kallarakal owns Antony Waste Handling Cell, which has also been hired for such work. Between April 2012 and August 2017, the BMCs solid waste management department employed these three related companies for collection, transport and disposal of Mumbais waste and other works, cumulatively earning them Rs 176 crore in civic contracts this is five times the actual expenditure of the entire SWM department in 2012-13 (Rs 34.26 crore), according to this December 2014 IndiaSpend civic budget analysis. Note: Ronak Sutaria is the architect of the MumbaiSpend project. Namita Mohandas and a team of interns from Asha for Education (Mumbai), a non-profit have worked on this project. (Alison Saldanha is an assistant editor and Brenda Marbaniang is an intern with IndiaSpend. With inputs from Swagata Yadavar and Aishwarya Mahajan.) Published in arrangement with IndiaSpend. In a bid to embarrass the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), former Nagpur corporator and social activist Janardan Moon submitted an application to register his voluntary organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the local charity commissioner. It seems that Moon wants to embarrass the Hindutva fountainhead RSS which is not a registered organisation. Moon said that as the RSS is not a registered organisation, anyone can register an organisation by the same name through the charity commissioner. He said that the organisation has applied online for registration of his organisation to the charity commissioner on Monday and later submitted all necessary documents for consideration. A senior RSS activist, Virag Pachpore admitted that the RSS was not a registered organisation. The Sangh is the insistence on self-sufficiency. Every need, including financial is fulfilled by the swayamsevaks themselves. Sangh does not accept donations or sponsorships from anybody. The swayamsevaks contribute as per their ability in the spirit of selfless sacrifice in the form of Guru Dakshina, another swayamsevak said. The RSS website does not provide any annual report, registration or information too. I have verified the fact that there is no any such registered organisation all over the country and after than I sought a registration in my organisation (RSS) before the competent authority, Moon said. Reacting on the issue, the senior RSS leader and Akhil Bharatiya Pracharak Pramukh Manmohan Vaidya said that such a gimmick isnt worthy of any importance. Let the charity commissioner decide on the issue, he said and refused to comment more on the issue. Earlier, the senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said that the RSS was an unregistered organisation and asked it to reveal details about the funds it collects annually. The RSS was set up on Vijayadashami day (September 27) in 1925 in Nagpur by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Five Maharashtrian Brahmins all doctors and Tilakites Dr BS Moonje, Dr LV Paranjpe, Dr BB Tholkar, Dr Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (younger brother of Veer Savarkar) and Dr Hedgewar himself set up the organisation. The RSS sources here claimed that now they have around 60 lakh members across the country with around 60,000 shakhas (units). Interestingly, the Communist Party of India (CPI) was also founded in the same year of 1925 in December at an all India conference at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Four teams of the Mumbai police, one team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), one team of fire brigade officials and one team of civic staffers rushed to Elphinstone Bridge as soon as the police received information that a man had fallen into an open manhole. After 36 hours of relentless searching, police were able to trace the body of renowned Bombay Hospital gastroenterologist Dr Deepak Amrapurkar. Sunil Deshmukh, assistant commissioner of police, Dadar division, said a search operation was launched as soon as Amrapurkars wife told police that the doctor went missing. Amrapurkar had asked his driver to take him home on Tuesday evening. However, he decided to alight near the Elphinstone Road station, owing to severer water logging.Though Amrapurkars driver reached his house after a while, the doctor himself did not. Eyewitnesses told us they saw a man fall into the manhole. They tried to tell him it was open using gestures, but he failed to spot the missing lid as it was dark, said Deshmukh. He added that 15 officers and the fire brigade team found an umbrella caught at the mouth of the open manhole. Amrapurkars family confirmed that the umbrella was his. The police alerted the BMC, fire brigade officials and the NDRF team to trace the doctor. We sent a team of three officers equipped with night-vision goggles and flood light cameras for 200 m into the nullah. We had also posted a team at the outlet of the manhole towards the sea, Deshmukh said. Around 6.30 am on Thursday, Amrapurkars swollen body turned up at the outlet and was spotted by the team. The body was sent to Sion hospital where the family identified him by his Rado watch and clothes. The designated TADA court on Thursday convicted approver-turned-accused Riyaz Siddiqui in connection with the murder of builder Pradeep Jain in 1995. The quantum of sentence will be decided by the first week of September. According to the prosecution, on March 7, 1995, Jain was shot dead by assailants outside his Juhu bungalow after he allegedly refused to part with his huge property to underworld gangster Abu Salem. Siddiqui is also convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. TADA judge Govind Sanap observed that Siddiqui was an intergral part of the conspiracy. The TADA court had earlier in February 2015 convicted three accused Salem, Mehendi Hassan Shaikh and Virendrakumar Jhamb for conspiracy and murder of Jain. Siddiqui was made an approver in the case but did not support the prosecution. Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam soon made a plea to turn him an accused. The plea was allowed and his trial was separated from the other accused. Along with the charges of conspiracy, conspiracy to murder and criminal trespass with extortion, Siddiqui was also convicted for giving false evidence in the court. The TADA court observed that the prosecution with concrete and cogent evidence proved that Siddiqui along with other accused had conspired to eliminate Jain. While holding Siddiqui guilty the court observed, The prosecution has further proved that Siddiqui has committed breach of the conditions of pardon. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Farmers leader and Swabhimani Paksha president Raju Shetti finally left the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He has slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the farmers were cheated by promising double input cost as minimum support price (MSP) for their produce. However, considering Shettis influence among farmers, his exit is unlikely to affect the saffron party in the state and at the Centre, says a BJP leader in the state. After a party meeting in Pune on Wednesday, Shetti declared his decision to leave the NDA, which he joined ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to HT, he said, The decision on Swaminathan Commission recommendations over giving double input cost as MSP to farmers against their produce was not taken in the last three years despite giving an assurance in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana headed by Shetti is a farmers organisation that supported the BJP through its political arm Swabhimani Paksha in 2014. His outfits have always fought against the sugar lobby dominated by the Congress and the NCP. Shetti was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Hathkanagale constituency of Kolhapur district from western Maharashtra, which is considered as sugar bowl of India. Political experts also believe that Shettis influence is limited to few districts of western Maharashtra and thus the BJP will not be impacted with this decision. Prakash Bal, political analyst said Shetti lost his credibility among farmers when he joined the BJP. Shetti has also lost his senior colleague Sada Khot, who was recently removed from the party, Bal added. Khot is minister of state for agriculture in the state BJP government and was considered the number 2 in the Swabhimani Paksha. A source said Khot was planning to launch his own farmers outfit which will support the BJP. Preparations are on in full swing and soon Khots new farmer outfit will be launched, the sources said. He refused to comment on Shettis decision saying this is their internal matter. Khots move will again result in splitting the Shettis influence among the farmer community, it is believed. Significantly, both Shetti and Khot were considered young peasants leaders in the farmers outfit led by late Sharad Joshi. Later, they had formed their own outfit. Veteran farmer leader Raghunath Dada Patil said it is wrong to say that Shetti left the NDA as BJP government has not accepted the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission when Modi government on February 6, 2015 had filed an affidavit in Supreme Court that they cannot accept the commissions recommendations. BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said they tried to hold back Shetti as their partner but he left for his own reasons. All their demands for giving share in the government were also accepted, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pictures of the railway tracks between Western Railways Elphinstone Road and Parel stations on Wednesday morning, after the flood waters receded, hold some answers to what caused the trains to stop on Tuesday afternoon and why 24 hours later services are not back to normal. The storm water channels, built to drain water from the tracks, were filled to the brim with styrofoam, plastic containers and wrappers. The choked drains were clearly overwhelmed by Tuesdays rain in no time. Mumbais railway tracks are among the filthiest in the country. Around nine months ago, Environment Life, an association of volunteers, clicked pictures of the incredibly filthy tracks near Sandhurst Road and Masjid station on the Central Railway and tweeted it to the railway minister. The officials managing the ministers tweets responded by asking for the location of the tracks, there was no follow up after that. One railway babu in Mumbai asked the volunteers to file a complaint about the garbage. Seriously? Do you need a complaint from citizens to clean up your filthy premises? Dharmesh Barai of Environment Life estimates that the garbage strewn along Central Railways two suburban lines in Mumbai could fill three trains. The railways do not allow the municipal corporation or other agencies to send cleaning teams to the tracks (this is mainly because of security reasons), said Barai. Citizens are also responsible for throwing garbage and allowing sewage lines to empty into railway (stormwater) drains, but the railways seem to be doing nothing to punish the culprits. The main reason why the railways have not been able to resolve the garbage problem has been the lack of cooperation between the agencies that manage the Mumbai metropolitan region, which apart from Mumbai, includes other cities and towns. There are different government agencies like the MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority), the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), the KDMC (Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation) and the railways. They do not co-ordinate with each other though we have been telling them to, said Subhash Gupta of Rail Yatri Parishad, an association of railway commuters. The railway lines pass through the city without any kind of collaboration with other agencies. The railways will clean up its premises and ten days later the BMC will clean up the sewers in its area and send the garbage back into the storm water drains managed by the railways. Why are the railways allowing sewage from municipal drains to flow into the urgent storm water drains? The two agencies have not met in years to resolve the issue. Nobody is taking up the responsibility of cleaning up the railway tracks; they are passing the blame, added Gupta. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Following controversy over the site for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra Bhawan, which will now come up in Indirapuram, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the facility. The facility was proposed to come up in Arthala but ran into rough weather as environmentalists filed complaints with the district administration that one of the land chunks was registered as jheel (a water body) and contended that the nature of the land cannot be changed as per norms and the directions of the Supreme Court. The municipal body had claimed that the land was banjar (barren) in its property records. Hindustan Times carried reports on complaints by environmentalists, following which officials took cognizance before acting swiftly to change the site from Arthala to Indirapuram. The facility was earlier proposed at Arthala near the Ala Hazrat Haj House a facility for Haj pilgrims inaugurated last year by former CM Akhilesh Yadav. I would like to congratulate everyone on the launch of the much-awaited project. I know how you felt when the facility was not made available. Many people tried to hinder setting up of the facility here but MPs and MLAs repeatedly approached me to set up the facility in Ghaziabad, near Delhi. We agreed and sanctioned funds for the same. It is our endeavour to make Kailash Mansarovar centre a prominent place in Ghaziabad and a major tourist centre in the state, CM Yogi said. The CM laid the foundation stone for the facility at a function on Kavi Nagar Ramlila Ground on Thursday. There was yet again an attempt to create controversy and an attempt to disrupt the facility from being set up, but we immediately purchased Rs50 crore land and finally were able to allot the facility to people in the same assembly segment, Ghaziabad. The facility signifies that UP has huge potential for tourism, which we will use to generate employment opportunities, he said. He said that the facility will be used by pilgrims heading to Kailash Mansarovar and also those undertaking Sindhu Yatra and Kanwar Yatra. He said that three other facilities Shukratal (Muzaffarnagar), Shakumbhari Devi (Saharanpur) and Garhmukteshwar (Hapur) will also be actively developed to attract tourists. We are working on the same lines to develop our cities on PM Narendra Modis vision to propose different circuits such as Ramayana circuit, Buddha circuit and Krishna circuit. The UP government is working on the same lines of governance like the Central government. Kailash Mansarovar facility will connect you to Rishi Parampara, which spans from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, CM Yogi said. As a result of the last minute change of site, the UP government will bear an additional cost of nearly Rs50.4 crore for Kailash Mansarovar centre as it has to purchase the land from Ghaziabad Development Authority. The facility will be constructed at Indirapuram and is expected to accommodate around 280 pilgrims. Officials said it will be completed within two years at a cost of Rs42.9 crore. The UP government has already sanctioned Rs20 crore for the project. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Parents of Arman Sehgal, who died after a fall in GD Goenka School, met chief minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath during his visit to the city and apprised him of the events following the boys death and alleged laxity on part of the police. Armans parents met the CM at Central Detective Training School, where he was to hold a review meeting with officials of the Ghaziabad administration and other agencies. Arman died after a fall on the second floor of GD Goenka School on August 1 and his parents lodged an FIR against the school authorities under the IPC sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence. We told the CM about the entire incident and the sequence of events that have taken place since the incident. We also told him about laxity on part of the police and that we are not satisfied with the working of the police in this case. The CM assured us that in case we are not satisfied, he will get another team to make inquiries into the incident, said Swati Sehgal, Armans mother, at the venue. We also told the CM that the police have failed to make any arrest in the case during the initial stages, which gave the school officials the time they required to seek legal remedy. We also told him that the police have not made any arrest even after one month and the lapse of the August 28 time frame set by the high court. We were in touch with UP officials for the last 20 days and they told us that a meeting will be arranged in Ghaziabad, as the CM will be arriving shortly, she said. Minutes after Arman fell on the second floor, he was rushed to Shanti Gopal Hospital but he was declared brought dead. His parents later called the police and alleged negligence and laxity on part of the school authorities. School officials maintained that it was only an incident. After the FIR was lodged, five of the school officials moved Allahabad high court in order to get the FIR quashed. During a hearing on August 11, the high court had directed that no coercive action should be taken against the school officials until August 28. Apart from the legal battle at the high court, a magisterial inquiry is also underway in Ghaziabad, taken up by additional district magistrate (finance & revenue). So far, the school officials, Armans parents and relatives have registered their statements with the official. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A three-member committee of Uttar Pradesh ministers has given a two-year deadline to Amrapali group to finish its 10 residential projects in Noida and Greater Noida. Also, homebuyers need not pay until the groups projects are ready for possession. There are nearly 40,000 homebuyers whose investments are struck in various Amrapali housing projects. We have decided to give them relief They will pay the remaining amount only when the builder readies the project for possession, said state urban housing minister Suresh Khanna, who heads the committee. The governments intervention held out hope to thousands of distressed homebuyers of Amrapali, Jaypee Infratech and Unitech groups, which havent been able to finish projects as the real estate sector is suffering a slump, especially after high-value banknotes were scrapped last November in a blitz against illegal cash and corruption. The National Company Law Tribunal had admitted an insolvency plea by IDBI Bank against Jaypee. Khanna, who met representatives of real estate companies, said Jaypee had assured them that it will deliver 6,000 flats annually. Also, help is on the way for buyers of Unitech projects in Noida and Greater Noida. Unitech is surrendering its land. Once its application is processed, the buyers will get relief, the minister said. Amrapali assured buyers it will complete the flats. Buyers need not worry, we will deliver the flats, said Shiv Priya, the groups director. The committee constituted by chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to visit Noida again on September 14 or 15 to assess the situation and find solutions. The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), an association of private builders, proposed to the government that small companies are willing to take over Amrapalis unfinished projects. It has suggested that smaller developers can become co-developers to finish the Amrapali projects. We need to have more discussions and need to identify the co-developers, Khanna said. Amrapali is open to the idea. In Noida, we have 10,000 square metres of undeveloped land in Princely Estate and 20,000 square metre in Silicon City. Co-developers can build 4,000 flats and earn profits, provided the Noida authority allows us floor area ration that is applicable to our project, said Shiv Priya. Homebuyers of Amrapali are unhappy with this solution. The idea of co-developer was tried and tested by the builder as well as the authority in the past. It failed. We will end our protest only after the minister gives it in writing that the government will deliver us flats, said Hitesh Nakashi, a homebuyer. Amrapali needs to deliver 40,000 flats in its 10 housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida. The company cited dip in sales amid slowdown in the sector for the unfinished projects. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Over hundred lawyers abstained from work in the district courts of Surajpur on Thursday in protest against the police for allegedly beating up a lawyer inside Dadri police station. The lawyers assembled on the premises of the office of senior superintendent of police (SSP) and demanded the suspension of the policemen and registration of case against them. According to them, Suresh Raj, a 30-year-old lawyer, was detained and beaten up Wednesday night at the Dadri police station. They said on Wednesday evening, there was some ruckus outside Rajs house in Dadri. He came out of his house and spotted some policemen allegedly extorting money from commuters and he objected to it. Raj said friend Anil, was allegedly asked by the police to pay them Rs 2, 000 to let him go but he refused. Raj told the policemen not to ask for a bribe. The policemen then allegedly took Rajs friend to the police station. There, he was booked and detained throughout night, said Aneet Bhajel, a lawyer. The lawyers continued their protest till late afternoon and were pacified by circle officers. Senior superintendent of police Love Kumar was not present as he had to attend the meeting of the group of ministers who were on a visit to Gautam Budh Nagar to resolve the issues of homebuyers. Bhajel alleged that Raj belongs to the schedule caste and the policemen used casteist slurs against him. They targeted him and thrashed him the whole night in police custody, he alleged. Lawyers said Raj was released only after the secretary of their bar association visited the police station. Lawyer Sanjay Bansal said, Policemen are acting like goons. Anil was Rajs friend and Raj went to the police station to get him released. They registered a case against them because they were not ready to pay a bribe. Police refuted all allegations. Circle officer, Dadri, Piyush Kumar Singh said, Suresh Raj and his friend were drinking around 12am outside a shop on the Railway Road in Dadri. The shop was closed and a police team that was on night patrol found them drunk. They were told to move away after which both men started abusing and arguing with our men. The duo was brought to the police station and booked under Section 290 of the IPC. The circle officer also said, We have medical reports that show both were under the influence of alcohol. They were not beaten by anyone. He said that the duo was released on a personal bond by the secretary of the bar association. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NITI Aayog, the governments think tank, has released a three-year action agenda report for India. NITI believes moving to a two-phase simultaneous election from 2024 is a much desired reform for the economic development of India. The argument is that India is on a permanent campaign mode, a phrase coined by Sidney Blumenthal in 1980. India has had either a state or a national election every year for the last 30 years. Incessant demands of elections are exorbitantly expensive, derails governance and causes policy paralysis is the underlying premise for the clamour for simultaneous elections. This reasoning stands on weak ground. Indias elections are neither as expensive as it is thought to be nor does it have to be as disruptive to national governance as it is made out to be. On the other hand, simultaneous elections can have tangible costs of reduced autonomy for states, potentially altering voter behaviour and locking in the voter for five years. NITI Aayogs recommendation for simultaneous elections is based on an earlier discussion paper by Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai. The paper attempted to demonstrate that the present mode of elections imposes huge financial costs and induces policy paralysis. It is first important to determine if these are indeed as problematic as the paper claims. The costs incurred by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for conducting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was Rs 3,870 crore. It costs another Rs 4,000 crore for elections to all the other 29 states of India. So, over a five-year cycle, the government incurs a total of Rs 8000 crore for all elections. This works out to roughly Rs 1,500 crore every year or a paltry Rs 20 per voter per year. To put this in context, Indias annual GDP is Rs 150 lakh crore. Every single year, Indias public sector companies alone lose 20 times more money than it costs to keep India a vibrant electoral democracy. This notion that the government can save enormous sums of money to help lift millions out of poverty by holding simultaneous elections is plain outlandish. In 1979, all major political parties agreed to grant ECI the powers to regulate the party in power during elections to provide for a level-playing field through a Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The MCC restricts certain capital expenditure projects of an incumbent government once elections are called. If India is indeed moving towards an era of greater devolution of finances and powers to states as NITI Aayog also claims, then why should an election code of conduct during elections in say, West Bengal lead to a policy paralysis in the rest of India when other states are free to launch projects and programmes? There is also sufficient research that shows there is little correlation between an incumbent governments projects and electoral outcomes. So, the four-decade old MCC may be in need of an overhaul, not Indias election schedules. This notion of a policy paralysis is a mere alibi for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior ministers to spend a lot of their time campaigning during state elections at the expense of governance. But that is the prerogative and problem of just the two national parties, not of the electoral system or other regional parties. Disparate election schedules are not the reason for policy paralysis. The dependence of the two national parties on their leaders to campaign for all state elections is. The case for simultaneous elections is feeble. The problems are neither as large as posited nor is the solution as elegant. However, there are some real significant costs to holding simultaneous elections. To hold simultaneous elections, states will have to give up their existing powers under Article 172(1) of the Constitution that allows an elected state government to recommend dissolution of the assembly and call for elections. How is it that the Union government will retain its right to call for elections whenever it wants but the state governments cannot? There can be legitimate reasons for states to dissolve their assembly and call for fresh elections, as should be the case in Tamil Nadu currently. Under a simultaneous elections regime, the state will be beholden to the Union government for elections to its state, which goes against the very grain of political autonomy to states under our federal structure. More importantly, our empirical research of 513 million voter choices in 16 elections between 1999 and 2014, covering 2600 assembly constituencies across six states shows that simultaneous elections impact voter behaviour in a significant manner. In 77% of the constituencies, voters chose the same political party for both the state and Centre, when elections were held simultaneously. While only 61% of these constituencies chose the same party when elections are held even six months apart and when they are held wider apart, the relationship breaks completely. There is clear empirical evidence that a majority of voters tend to choose the same party when elections are held simultaneously to both the Centre and the state. Further, why should a voter not be given the right to express her choice once more within a span of five years than restricting her to vote just once in a simultaneous election every five years? It is evident that the potential ramifications of simultaneous elections in terms of true federalism, impact on voter behaviour and denying a voter to cast her choice at least once more in a five-year period are not worth an annual estimated savings of Rs 1,000 crore every year or a disingenuous claim of policy paralysis. Praveen Chakravarty is senior fellow in political economy, IDFC Institute & Founding Trustee, IndiaSpend The views expressed are personal @pravchak The district administration of Banka in south-east Bihar has detected illegal transfer of Rs 18 crore from its land acquisition departments account, at a cooperative bank, to the Bhagalpur-based non-governmental organization (NGO), Srijan Mahila Sahyog Vikas Samiti. This brought the quantum of defalcation of government funds in Banka to Rs 101 crore. Last week, illegal transfer of more than Rs 83 crore to the account of the NGO from the land acquisition departments accounts with Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda had been detected. Srijan has been identified as the main beneficiary of fraudulent transfer of hundreds of crores of rupees from government accounts to this NGOs accounts. A CBI probe into the scam, which first surfaced in the neighbouring Bhagalpur district, is already underway. Kundan Kumar, district magistrate of Banka, about, 253 km south-east of state capital, Patna, told HT on Thursday that the defalcation of the government fund was detected during assessment of the status of funds in different government departments. The assessment was being carried out by a team headed by the deputy development commissioner of Banka, he said. Kumar said the funds were illegally diverted to the NGOs account between 2009 and 2013. Kumar said Rs 6 lakh of the defalcated amount was later reconciled with the land acquisition departments accounts. Banka superintendent of police (SP) Chandan Kumar Kushwaha, said an FIR had been registered against then nazir Mohammad Anish Ansari, then land acquisition officer Jayshree Thakur , then branch manager of Bhagalpur Central Cooperative Bank and members of the Srijan Mahila Vikas Samiti. The FIR was lodged by incumbent land acquisition officer Ajit Kumar Jha, the SP added. Meanwhile, all the cases registered in connection with the Srijan scam at Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa are likely to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Patna soon. The CBI took over the investigation of Srijan scam, in which government funds worth more than Rs1,300 crore were allegedly diverted to the accounts of the NGO. The Srijan scam came to light when a Bhagalpur district urban development authority (DUDA) cheque for Rs 10.32 crore, issued by district magistrate Adesh Titirmare under the Mukahyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana, bounced on account of lack of funds. Chief minister Nitish Kumar made a mention of the scam at an event in Patna on August 7 and the same day officials of the economic offence unit were flown to Bhagalpur to look into the matter. The size and scope of the scam has be increasing by the day and so far diversion of more than Rs 1,300-crore fund of from various departments in Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa districts to the NGO has been detected. In Bhagalpur, the funds of district urban development authority (DUDA), district nazarat, land acquisition department, health department, welfare department, district board and cooperative bank were illegally transferred to Srijan in connivance with employees of the departments and bank employees. In Banka and Saharsa, the fund was diverted to the NGO from the land acquisition department. Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar said the 12 FIRs registered in the district involved illegal transfer of Rs 992 crore. He said nine FIRs had been registered in connection with embezzlement of Rs 624 crore and the tenth FIR involved defalcation of Rs 67 crore. Two other cases had been registered for diversion of Rs 96 crore and Rs 115 crore, he said. In Banka and Saharsa, the amount involved in the fraud was Rs 101 crore and Rs 162 crore, respectively. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two days after the UT director general of police (DGP) wrote to vice-chancellor Professor Arun Kumar Grover, suggesting September 7 as the date of Panjab University Campus Students Council elections, the varsity received the UT administrators approval on Wednesday. Code of conduct No indulgence in activity that may aggravate differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension No criticism of other candidates, than of their past record and work No appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes Cleaning of polling area within 48 hours of conclusion Following this, PU dean, students welfare (DSW), Professor Emanual Nahar officially announced the elections on September 7, while releasing other details. However, considering lack of time for student parties to decide their presidential candidate and for the affiliated colleges to prepare for the polls, PU authorities postponed the filing of nominations, which were earlier scheduled on August 31, to September 1. Nahar said with the official declaration, the code of conduct has also come into force on the campus. No candidate will be allowed to use posters, printed pamphlets or any other printed material. Strict action will be taken against those indulging in defacement of property. Lyngdoh Committee recommendations will be implemented strictly to ensure violence-free elections, he said. After scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations, the final list of candidates will be released on September 2. Working hard to woo voters Among the 21 student organisations in the fray this year, the main contenders are National Students Union of India (NSUI), Students for Society (SFS), Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) and Students Organisation of India (SOI). Manoj Lubana, a senior NSUI leader, said: Only seven days are left. We have taken it up as a challenge and are working hard. Facts Sept 1: 9:30-10.30 am: Filing of nominations; 10:35am: Scrutiny begins; 12pm: Display of list of candidates on notice boards; 12:30-1.30pm: Filing of objections Sept 2: 10am: Display of list of approved candidates; 10:30am-12pm: Withdrawal of nominations; 2:30pm: Display of final list of candidates Sept 6: 5:00pm: Campaigning ends Sept 7: 9:30 am: Polling begins; 11am: Collection of ballot boxes; 2pm onwards: Counting of votes, declaration of elected office-bearers at Gymnasium Hall. The results of department representatives will be announced on September 11 and the executive team will be elected on September 14. Lubana said the party workers are going from class to class and hostel to hostel to get students feedback. We will come out with the manifesto in a day or two, he said.SFS spokesperson Harman said the party is trying to reach out to students through public meetings, plays and debates on several issues related to the varsity. We are inviting students to make them understand our ideology, he said.Election campaigning is at its peak at the moment, said Vikas Rana, president of Panjab University Helping Hands. All parties are busy forming teams to carry out various activities. Till the nominations, the campaigning is in the name of the party. Later, the focus will shift to the presidential candidates. This is not your ordinary party. Though a first impression of its members would say otherwise. Dressed casually like any other college-goer, they come across as regular students who go about their daily activities on campus. This is notwithstanding the place they have made for themselves in the student politics of Panjab University, mostly dominated by parties that have a political backing or defined by the fall of homegrown student organisations. The Students for Society (SFS) does not come under either category. Notwithstanding the fact that it enjoys no political support. Its members are steeped in leftist ideology and only hardcore student activism will define their character in the run up to Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) elections. Like other student bodies, they too hold rallies and protests, but their focus never shifts from core issues faced by students. One of the senior leaders of the SFS, Ramanpreet Singh, said, We encourage members of our organisation to read novels such as Lahu Ki Loh by Jaswant Singh Kanwal and works of other leading Punjabi writers such as Baldev Singh Sadaknamma. Rooting for freedom of speech Last year, the SFS was thrust into the limelight when it became the third largest force during Panjab University elections. In a first of its kind incident, the party left the authorities red-faced by bringing journalist Seema Azad into the campus, disguised as a traditional nihang. The administration and university authorities had collectively tried to prevent the entry of Azad, who is also an activist accused of Maoist links. SFS president Damanpreet Singh (HT Photo) Azad addressed the students on the right to freedom of speech, which came days after members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly attacked members of leftist student groups at Ramjas College in Delhi for inviting JNU student Umar Khalid to a seminar. The ABVP and SFS also clashed on campus in February over the violence at Ramjas College. Soon after, PU denied permission to the SFS to hold a seminar on Rising head of fascism, where Seema Azad was invited. President Damanpreet Singh said, Our organisation has an executive body of seven members. This body will decide the final candidate who will contest the election. There is arts faculty, sciences faculty and engineering faculty. Lastly, we have a separate committee for the evening department. The executive body includes president Damanpreet Singh, general secretary Satwinder Kaur and media secretary Harman Singh. Other members include Ipshit, Agyya Paul, Ravinder Singh and Buta Singh. Fee hike issue Then came the fee hike issue where the SFS once again took up the mantle by protesting against the university authorities. The student body was instrumental in forming the students joint action committee which brought all other student organisations under a single umbrella to force the varsity to roll back the hike. In the clashes between students and police in April, 60 members of the organisation were booked for sedition. We tell our members to study about the history of peoples movement, Mujhara Lehar, federalism and the Naxalite movement, among others. We urge them to study all kinds of movements and magazines on economics and newspapers to understand geopolitics, added Ramanpreet. They were also one of the first organisations to push for a vehicle-free campus that the university later implemented. Less than a decade old, the SFS contested only for the presidents post in its first election in 2014. They were the first party in the history of PU to pitch a female candidate, Amandeep Kaur, who secured 1,334 votes. They did not contest in 2015, but once again nominated a candidate for the presidents post in 2016. The party came third, with Amritpal Singh securing 2,494 votes. This year, they will contest for all four seats. There is no place for individualism in our organisation. It will be a joint team effort and everybody will be treated equally. Moreover, everybodys advice will be considered before taking the final call,said Harman, the media secretary. In a campus that thrives on money and muscle power during polls, the SFS spent Rs 2,000 on their campaign in 2014. In 2016, they spent over Rs 2,800. This year, I think we will spend around Rs 3,000 on the campaign as there are no expenses of stickers and other things, added Harman. When a marriage falls apart, children too are affected. The after-effects can shape the way they perceive the world. To minimise their stress levels, experts advise shared custody or a similar arrangement. Its best for the emotional stability and happiness for children of separated parents, a Stockholm university study said. Jani Turunen, a researcher in demography at the Stockholm University, said children might feel stresses about their parents rarely meeting. The study also said that who spend most of the time away from one parent can lose essential resources like relatives, friends and money. The study said that children who live full time with one parent are worse off psychologically than children in shared physical custody. Shared physical custody is not to be confused with shared legal custody. Shared physical custody means that a child actually lives for equal, or near equal, time with both parents, alternating between separate households. Shared legal custody gives both parents the legal right to decisions about the childs upbringing, school choices, religion and so on. Turunen said this study is relevant to todays situation in many European countries, since their situation today might be comparable to the one in Sweden 15 years ago. Turunen said living with both parents does not mean instability for children. Its just an adaptation to another housing situation, where regular relocation and a good contact with both parents equals to stability. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said Thursday. Bangladesh border guard commander Lt Col SM Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Coxs Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing. The top government official in Coxs Bazar, Mohammad Ali Hossain, said the bodies would be buried because no one had claimed them. Last week, a group of ethnic minority Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmars Rakhine state, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. Hundreds of people have been stranded in a no mans land at the countries border, the International Organization for Migration said. Satellite imagery analysed by US-based Human Rights Watch indicated that many homes in northern Rakhine state were set ablaze. Most of Myanmars estimated 1 million Rohingya Muslims live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. Some Buddhists and Hindus have also fled the violence. More than 400 Hindu residents of Rakhine state crossed into Bangladesh after being attacked by armed men, officials and survivors said. Main Uddin, a government official in Ukhiya in Coxs Bazar, said the survivors reported that about 86 Hindus had been killed by armed groups in three villages since last Friday. Survivors said Myanmar soldiers were everywhere and armed people were also burning houses and killing people. Nirajan Rudro, a Hindu who fled to Bangladesh, told The Associated Press that masked men armed with guns, sticks and knives had attacked them and set fire to their houses. Uddin said 412 Hindus are staying in a Hindu neighborhood near Rohingya camps in Ukhiya. They have been sheltered in an abandoned poultry farm there. Bangladeshi Hindus are helping them, he said. British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted she would lead the Conservative Party into the next general election, in interviews broadcast Thursday. Her announcement followed reports that she was preparing to stand down when Britain leaves the European Union in 2019. She told Sky News television there was absolutely no basis for those reports whatsoever. Im in this for the long term. May called a snap general election in June, hoping to extend the centre-right Conservatives slim majority and strengthen her hand going into the Brexit negotiations. But the gamble backfired, she lost her majority and is now propped up by the support of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionists. Asked by the BBC if it was her intention to lead the Conservatives into the next election -- scheduled for 2022 -- she replied: Yes. Im here for the long term. And its crucial. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit. We are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom, she said, during a visit to Japan. It is my intention not just to deliver a good Brexit deal for the UK but also to ensure that global Britain can take its place in the world, trading around the world and that we deal with those injustices domestically that we need to do to ensure that stronger, more global but also fairer Britain for the future. May could face a tricky time at the annual Conservative Party conference in September. Some MPs are bristling about her handling of the general election campaign, which saw the party blowing the massive opinion poll lead it held over the Labour main opposition. China on Thursday ruled out any discussions on its ally Pakistans counter-terrorism efforts at the BRICS Summit in Xiamen next week, saying it would not be a appropriate topic to be taken up by the grouping despite concerns expressed by India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be in Xiamen during September 3-5, is expected to raise the issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan in his speech at the summit and in bilateral meetings with leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. During a news briefing at the foreign ministry, spokesperson Hua Chunying expectedly came to Pakistans defence while responding to a question on concerns over terror emanating from Pakistan. We also noticed that India, when it comes to Pakistans counter-terrorism, has some concerns. I dont think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at the BRICS Summit, Hua said. The world is paying great attention to the BRICS Summit. I hope relevant parties can work with China to ensure the success of the summit and make due contributions. Hua virtually repeated what she had said last year while reacting to Modis comments about Pakistan being the mothership of terrorism. Modi had used the term to describe Pakistan at last years BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Goa. China had then jumped to Pakistans defence, saying the country had made great sacrifices in fighting terror and was itself a victim of the scourge. Beijing opposes linking terror to any one country, the foreign ministry had said at the time. During Thursdays briefing, Hua said Pakistan has been at the forefront of counter-terror efforts and made sacrifices. The international community should recognise its contributions and sacrifices, she added. China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties, she said. Beijing has been unequivocal about its support for Pakistan over allegations that the country is not doing enough to counter terrorism. The support will continue despite US President Donald Trumps withering criticism of Pakistans anti-terror campaign. Indias worries over Chinas support for Pakistan on the issue stems from Beijings repeated veto of New Delhis move to get Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar sanctioned by the UN Security Council On Wednesday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi acknowledged that security will be one of the key topics at the BRICS Summit. Wang said China expects outcomes in several areas, including strengthening economic and security cooperation, increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges, enhancing institutional building, and promoting stronger partnerships with other emerging markets and developing countries. While counter-terrorism was mentioned in the BRICS declaration issued at the end of last years summit, it wasnt mentioned in the official statement released by China after Modi and Xi met in Goa. One of US President Donald Trumps sons has suggested his father tunes out criticism as it would lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. During an interview on The Joe Pags Show, Eric Trump said politics is the nastiest business Ive ever seen. Its the media, the mainstream media, who does not want him to succeed. Its government who does not want him to succeed No matter what he does, hes going to get hit, and listen, I think you have to tune it out. You obviously have to be tuned into it, but at the same time you have to take it all with a grain of salt. If they werent talking about you, you wouldnt be doing something right and its important to keep it in context, otherwise quite frankly youd probably end up killing yourself out of depression, Eric Trump said. But hes doing a great job. Eric Trump is executive vice president of development and acquisition for the Trump Organization. If you are on the internet, theres a strong chance you have seen this image. Or any one of the hundred memes that it has spawned. The distracted boyfriend meme, as it has been dubbed now, started life as a stock photo on Shutterstock with the caption disloyal man walking with his girlfriend and looking amazed at another seductive girl. Little did the photographer know that it would turn into a meme. Professional photographer Antonio Guillem, who took the photo, did not even know what a meme was, until very recently. Talking to The Guardian, Guillem said the models in the photo told him that the image had gone viral. I didnt even know what a meme is until recently, said the 45-year-old photographer from Barcelona. The models discovered the meme on social media and they told me about it. None of us could imagine the media repercussion that it has reached right now. Guillem also had a word of warning for memesters: the photo is copyrighted and should not be edited, especially with offensive content. So, how did a generic stock image end up as a meme? According to Know Your Meme, a website that chronicles the origins and life-cycles of internet memes, on February 23, 2017, Instagram user @_dekhbai posted the image with the caption Tag That Friend / Who Falls in Love Every Month, which garnered over 28,500 likes. After that, the image was a minefield for memes. Its simple format -- person has something but wants something else -- made it quite a hilarious candidate for all sorts of memes. On August 19, a Twitter user @n1m161 posted the image, but this time the distracted boyfriend was checking out socialism while capitalism looked on. But really, what has the image not been used for? From the eclipse to ice cream sandwich to cats, even grammar. Just when I thought this format was dead pic.twitter.com/6ZxRrE9VNX ??Hungryghoast ?? (@Hungryghoast) August 28, 2017 Of course, once the internet discovers something, it decides to run with it. The wild popularity of the meme inspired Vice to imagine a fake trailer for Distracted Boyfriend Meme: The Movie (please dont actually make it, Hollywood). Guillem has shot a series of stock images with the same models in different situations. While he continues to work with two of them, known as Laura and Mario, it appears he has fallen out with the woman in red dress and stopped working with her a year ago. And for all those hoping that the meme would die a natural death, it could take a while. The internet has discovered that image was part of a series and is now having the time weaving stories out of it. STOP I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WERE MULTIPLE PICS FJDJDDJDJD GIRL WYD DROP HIS CRUSTY ASS pic.twitter.com/eGi1oQ4XYz ria (@BTSlNTRO) August 24, 2017 THE CONCLUSION WEVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR pic.twitter.com/48f6s5y9KG *gun* (@oranforest) August 25, 2017 Jiten Agarwal, a Houston IT entrepreneur of Indian descent, plunged himself headlong into relief and rescue work from the first opportunity he got. Starting just hours after Hurricane Harvey made landfall last Friday, he hasnt stopped, joining any group, and any cause, headed out into flooded areas. Hurricane Harvey tore through southeastern Texas, causing catastrophic flooding in the last week that has claimed the lives of at least 31 people. An Indian was among the casualties. The victim, Nikhil Bhatia, was among four Texas A&M university students rescued from rapidly rising waters of lake close to their campus where they had gone to swim. Two of Bhatias colleagues have joined relief work as soon as they recovered. Some of the 200 students of the University of Houston who had found themselves marooned by chest-high water around their residential blocks on the campus on Saturday have also since joined other volunteers to help whosoever they can. Indians and Americans of Indian decent forge a strong community in Texas; in Houston, for instance, and around university towns and cities where hundreds of teachers, their families and students live. Some of them, such as those marooned, arrived in the United States barely a month ago. They are extremely close to each other, they are very active as a community and they compete with each other to give and donate for a cause, said Anupam Ray, the indefatigable Indian consul general in Houston who waded through flooded neighbourhoods to reach stranded Indians and arrange for help for them. Ray got a call the other day from Texas A&M University. Some $9,000 was due from Shalini, the student who remained in critical condition on Wednesday, from last semesters fee which was creating insurance problems. No problem I told them, he said, recalling the conversation, it will be arranged in half a day. Was it? I didnt receive another call from the university, he said. Ray wrote a post on Facebook Wednesday recounting some of the work done by the community, individually and as a group. I am proud of the Indian community in Houston, he started. One of the incredible things I saw during #HurricaneHarvey is how Indians stepped up to join relief efforts. This was in the best traditions of America and of India. They were all about helping all Americans, he concluded. Agarwal, who was on that list, recalled his proudest moment was helping in the rescue of an American family with a five-year-old on ventilator. They needed help, the ventilator was on a dying power source, a backup cellphone battery. Designated rescue groups, specially the Coast Guard, were inundated by calls many of them might have been out of sheer panic perceived danger instead of a real one. Agarwal called them as well, but knowing how that may turn out, he also placed calls to his vast network of people I know. They were people Agarwal served with on non-profit boards and other groups, but more importantly, people who have boats (and) who can respond right away rather than go through the official line of coast guard, when your number is 70 or 80 (that might take) 24 hours which could be dangerous for the child. That family was rescued within 45 minutes. Agarwal did not dwell on it much longer, and moved to recounting other instances of helping Indians, Indian Americans or people of any origin. He went on to help the stranded university students and at least 45 other Indian, or Indian-origin families, all of which he recounted in great details. But the rescue he was proudest of, and found most touching? The child on ventilator when a five-year-old is on ventilator with water seeping in and with no power supply that, for me was the most, what do you say, heart touching. Agarwal has been in the United States only 12 years or so. A 47-year-old Indian-origin family doctor on Thursday appeared before the UK court charged with 118 sexual offences, including sexually assaulting a girl aged under 13. Manish Shah, from Romford area of London, had been charged with 65 counts of assault by penetration and 52 allegations of sexual assault by Scotland Yard earlier this month. Shah is also charged with one count of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13, the Metropolitan Police said. Barkingside Magistrates Court in east London was told that he denied all the charges against him. Judge Richard Hawgood granted him conditional bail and set September 27 as the date for his next court appearance at a plea and case management hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court in north-east London. These are matters that can only be dealt with in the crown court, or they are matters that are linked to matters that can only be heard at crown court, Judge Hawgood said. The court was told that Shah has been suspended from practising as a general practitioner (GP) by the UKs General Medical Council (GMC) and is barred from accessing medical records held by the countrys state-funded National Health Service (NHS). His bail condition states that he must not attend his former surgery in east London or contact any current or former patients of the surgery or any of its past or current employees. The offences are alleged to have taken place at a medical practice in Havering, Romford, between June 2004 and July 2013, when he was first arrested. Scotland Yard had launched an investigation after several people contacted the police in July and August 2013. Manish Shah has been charged with 65 assault by penetration, contrary to Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, 52 sexual assault, contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and 1 sexual assault on a child under 13 years, contrary to Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the Met Police said in a statement. Shah is a family planning specialist who trained at St Bartholomews Hospital in London and qualified in 1993. Until recently, he was listed as working in a limited capacity at a GP surgery in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The alleged offences do not relate to his time at that particular practice in the east of England. Indo-Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh has emerged as the favourite to become the next leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), with support from hardline elements within the community one of the possible factors behind the surge. Registered members of the NDP, one of the three largest parties in Canada, will commence voting on September 18 to elect their new leader and results will be declared on October 1. More than 124,000 members are eligible to vote in the leadership elections, the NDP said in a release. The odds in Singhs favour have improved in his attempt to become the first person from the Indian-origin community to lead a national political party. Singhs campaign boasted of having signed up more than 47,000 members in the 13 weeks since he entered the contest. While a rival campaign has alleged those numbers are inflated, it has still been an impressive haul for the 38-year-old contender. The NDP was the main opposition party in the previous House of Commons, and its provincial units have governments in British Columbia and Albert a provinces. The next NDP leader will captain the partys campaign for the 2019 federal elections. New Delhi will be watching these developments closely, since Singh is barred from travelling to India and sponsored a motion in the Ontario Assembly last year aimed at terming the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots as genocide. More recently, he accused Indian diplomats of trying to undermine his campaign. That profile holds appeal for hardline groups who may have played a role in boosting his membership ranks and donations. Prominent Khalistani activist Sukhminder Singh Hansra, president of the Shriromani Akali Dal-Canada East, said his group supports the candidacy of Jagmeet Singh and that he has asked every member to support his campaign whichever way they can. SADA Canada has a mandate to represent and protect the interest of Sikhs, including human rights within Canada and the right to self-determination on (the) international stage. Jagmeet Singh fits best for the job, Hansra said in an emailed response to queries from the Hindustan Times. That last part of his response alludes to the separatist campaign for a Sikh homeland. Some experts believe Singh could capture the leadership. Nelson Wiseman, professor of political science and director of the Canadian Studies Program at the University of Toronto, said, I think hes going to win. As the Sikh community is very active politically in Canada, it has demonstrated great capacity for mobilisation and that cuts across all parties, he said. Wiseman added that Indo-Canadians, it had been shown, were more likely to vote in political races than their counterparts in other demographic groups. Of those registered by Singhs campaign, nearly 30,000 or about two-thirds are from Ontario. This isnt surprising since this is Singhs backyard, as he is a member of the provincial assembly from a constituency in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This is also where hardline elements have been most active in supporting him, including online. Another 10,000 are from British Columbia, showing that more than 85% of members registered by Singhs campaign come from just these two provinces. A leading figure in the Khalistan movement told the Hindustan Times while the process was on, that he intended to facilitate the collection of Canadian $1 million and the signing up of more than 30,000 members for Singh. Many of these are traditionally supporters of the Liberal Party but are switching for the singular purpose of voting for Singh. However, there is no indication Singhs campaign has publicly solicited support from hardline elements within the community. Singh also has great mainstream appeal among the NDP faithful, with his progressive policy positions and personal charisma, including his appearance in the style sections of several magazines. That is the principal cause for his rise. Wiseman said Singh may even win on the first ballot. He also described him as a wild card for the NDP but one who has the most upside potential for the party. If his core base turns out in substantial numbers, Singh may well clinch the leadership early. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hundreds of additional troops were sent into al-Ayadiya on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces came under increasing pressure to clear Islamic State fighters from their final position in the groups former stronghold of Tal Afar, military officials said. Iraqi forces have been facing an unexpectedly tough battle in the small town, 11 km (7 miles) northwest of Tal Afar. We have to finish the battle before Eid, whatever it takes, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Adnan al-Saidi. We are coming under tremendous pressure from top commanders. The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha begins on Thursday evening. We will take back al-Ayadiya even if we have to level all houses and buildings used by Daesh, Saidi said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. The fighting in al-Ayadiya has been described by some Iraqi troops as multiple times worse than the battle for Mosul, the former de facto IS capital in northern Iraq. The city was flattened in nine months of grinding urban warfare before it was recaptured in July. Colonel Kareem al-Lami said breaching the militants first line of defence in al-Ayadiya was like opening the gates of hell. Iraqi army and Federal Police troops, backed by Shiite paramilitaries, began fighting house-by-house in the centre of the town earlier on Wednesday. Our soldiers now are engaging in a street fight with the militant group in al-Ayadiya, Lieutenant General Qasim Nazzal told state television, adding that fighters in groups of three were barricaded inside every single house and building. The terrain does not allow tanks to enter, so infantry soldiers have been using light weapons and grenades, Colonel Salah Kareem told Reuters. Tal Afar had a pre-war population of more than 200,000. Several thousand are believed to have fled in the weeks before the battle started. According to the United Nations, more than 30,000 had fled since April. Tal Afar became the next target of the U.S.-backed war on Islamic State following the recapture of Mosul the city where the group had declared its caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. At a castle, a werewolf growls in a cage while a wizard casts spells to try to calm the beast down. Not to worry -- its just a normal day at Brazils magic school. The werewolf is an actor in costume and the spells presumably wouldnt work in the face of a real mythical beast. But anyone entering the Magic and Witchcraft School near Sao Paulo must leave disbelief at the castle gate. Although inspired by the world of the Harry Potter books and films created by JK Rowling, where lucky children go to study at the magical school Hogwarts, the Brazilian version says its curriculum has a definite local flavor. From its founding in 2015, the idea was to adapt, not to copy exactly, the feel of Hogwarts, said Vanessa Godoy, 27, who is behind the idea in Campos do Jordao, located about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Sao Paulo. A student of the School of Magic and Witchcraft holds a potion in a castle. (AFP Photo) Clients at the school -- which operates for occasional four-day sessions -- are all fans of the Harry Potter series. But since copyright laws limit what Godoy and her fellow wizards can do, they wave the creative magic wand and use Brazilian folklore to fill the gaps. We have our own stories. We get into a lot of the mythology because Brazil is a very magical country, she said. Hogwarts-style classes are offered in Potions and Elixirs, Witchcraft and History of Magic, and of course there are dances, contests and a tournament based on quidditch, the high-paced game played on flying broomsticks in Rowlings novels. Students of the School of Magic and Witchcraft have tea in a castle. (AFP Photo) But there are also things youd only learn in Brazil, like the use of hairs from an indigenous mythical character known for protecting forests and scales from a siren if you want to activate a magic wand. Childhood dream Learning these supposed secrets is not cheap: the four-day session at the castle -- a real castle which normally is used as a hotel -- costs 2,650 reais, or more than $800. Clients range from five to 65 years old, with the majority being around 25. Theyre judges, models, teachers, nurses and students, but all sharing a passion for the Potter phenomenon. When we enter the castle, its as if the world outside no longer exists, says Zerzil Ferreira, a 29-year-old doctor. We abandon the Muggle world and immerse ourselves in the magical world and its all real, he said, referring to the people in the books who are not part of the wizarding world. Students of the School of Magic and Witchcraft gather outside the castle in Campos do Jordao, some 180 km from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AFP Photo) Going to the course fulfilled a childhood dream to become part of the magical universe, he said. About 100 people took part, all divided into Hogwarts-style houses named Tigers, Serpents, Squirrels and Eagles, with points kept during the various contests and a champion house crowned at the end. The Quidditch-type game is the most popular. The sport in theory requires real flying broomsticks, but the terrestrial version developed by fans in the United States instead has competitors running around chasing several balls while holding a broomstick between their legs. Students of the School of Magic and Witchcraft prepare for an exam in the castle's great hall. (AFP Photo) Resisting the sirens Staff at the school -- all of them actors -- really seem spellbound, since they must stay in their roles 24 hours a day, but students take it seriously too. To be here, you need to enter into the character. You are a student and you are learning to be a wizard. You need to respect the teachers and rules. This makes the experience more real, said Renie Santos, 22, who created the popular YouTube channel Expresso de Hogwarts. The students give a lot. A big part of the sense of immersion is thanks to them, Godoy agreed. Students of the School of Magic and Witchcraft walk past a 'mermaid' in charge of the magical creatures class. (AFP Photo) That dedication becomes clear during the module on dealing with sirens, which the professor for Care of Magical Creatures warns are apt to seduce -- and then devour -- the over-curious. Students then meet Nyx, who swims in the castle swimming pool, and are enchanted. Despite the warnings, one wants to invite her to a dance, the other wants to swim with her and one woman asks for a kiss. Luckily no one actually gets devoured. But the four days are over and its time for the temporary magicians to re-enter the real world. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday he had signed deployment orders to send additional troops to Afghanistan but did not specify the size of the force. Yes, I have signed orders but it is not complete. In other words I have signed some of the (orders for) troops that will go and we are identifying the specific ones, Mattis told reporters. Mattis declined to comment on how many additional troops were included in the orders, but US officials have told Reuters that President Donald Trump has given Mattis the authority to send about 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. It is more advisers, it is more enablers, fire support, for example, Mattis said. He added that no additional troops had moved in yet and could take a couple of days. After a months-long review of his Afghanistan policy, Trump committed the United States last week to an open-ended conflict in the country and promised a stepped-up campaign against Afghan Taliban insurgents. The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated for the United States and Afghan government over the past few years. The Afghan government was assessed by the US military to control or influence almost 60% of Afghanistans 407 districts as of Feb. 20, a nearly 11 percentage-point decrease from the same time in 2016, according to data released by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. About 11,000 US troops are serving in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, thousands more than it has previously stated. A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday sentenced two police officers to 17 years in jail and declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, almost a decade after her assassination. The court in the garrison city of Rawalpindi acquitted five accused all alleged members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for lack of evidence. The courts verdict, which came nine years, eight months and three days after Bhutto was killed, also directed authorities to seize the property and assets of Musharraf, now in self-imposed exile in Dubai, and to issue perpetual arrest warrants for the former dictator. As a proclaimed offender or fugitive, Musharraf, 74, must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan. He was allowed to leave the country in 2016 for medical treatment while awaiting trial in several cases. One of the two police officials was found guilty by Judge Asghar Khan of mishandling security for the rally at which Bhutto was killed, and the other of mishandling the crime scene. They were also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. The two officers are Saud Aziz, who was police chief of Rawalpindi in 2007, and Khurram Shahzad, a former superintendent of police in Rawal Town. They were free on bail and were arrested after the verdict. Bhutto, a graduate of Oxford and Harvard, was killed in a suicide attack at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, as she campaigned to return to power a little more than two months after returning from exile. The head of the Pakistan Peoples Party and two-time prime minister was 54 years old. Footage of the attack showed an assassin shot at her when she emerged through the sunroof of her armoured SUV and then blew himself up, killing 24 people. This is not the first time Musharraf was declared a fugitive in the murder trial. In May 2011, he was declared a proclaimed offender by the same anti-terrorism court. At the time, he was living in self-exile in Britain and Dubai and had refused to cooperate in the trial. A joint investigation team implicated Musharraf in the case, saying his government did not provide adequate security to Bhutto despite her repeated requests and in 2013, he was charged of being culpable in the murder. Besides Musharraf, five others Baitullah Mehsud, Ahmad Gul, Iqramullah, Abdullah, and Faizullah were declared fugitives. The case was registered soon after Bhuttos assassination but the trial, which started in January 2008, witnessed numerous ups and down, including the assassination of the chief prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, in Islamabad in May 2013. Eight different judges heard the case. Soon after the verdict was announced, Bhuttos daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted: 10 years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free. She said in another tweet, There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes. Initially, Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for the assassination and Musharrafs regime issued a recording of an intercepted conversation in which Mehsud was purportedly heard congratulating another man for the murder. Chief prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry, in his concluding arguments, disowned the recording and transcript of the conversation, and described it as a story cooked up by Musharraf to mislead investigators and save himself. The PPP benefited from a sympathy wave after Bhuttos assassination and won the general election in 2008. Bhuttos widower Asif Ali Zardari went on to form the government and become the first Pakistani president to complete a full term. (With inputs from agencies) Their palms facing the sky, around two million Muslims gathered today on Saudi Arabias Mount Arafat for the highlight of the hajj pilgrimage, one of the worlds largest annual gatherings. With temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius under the desert sun, the faithful climbed the hill east of Mecca where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon some 14 centuries ago. The second day of the hajj -- a five-day pilgrimage which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if physically and financially able -- is dedicated to prayer and reflection. I came up here last night and prayed, took pictures and called my family and friends, said Maolana Yahia, 32, who made the trip from Indonesia. This years hajj has seen the return of pilgrims from Saudi Arabias arch-rival Iran following a diplomatic row and a deadly stampede in 2015. But thousands who would normally make the journey from neighbouring Qatar are absent apart from a few dozen because of the diplomatic crisis shaking the Gulf. Helicopters flew around the area as the pilgrims converged from dawn on the Mount Arafat plain and the hill known as Jabal al-Rahma, or Mount of Mercy. Forming a sea of white, the pilgrims ascended the hill and took up positions to pray on rocks already heated by the morning sun. On the concrete pathways linking the plain to the hill, hundreds of thousands of devout Muslims invoked God, as others rested in makeshift tents or on sheets along the side of the road amid empty bottles and waste. Tunisian mother-of-three Fatima Arfawi said she was moved beyond words. This is the first time I see anything like this, ever, she said. This day is dedicated to prayer for my three children and my family. In a hospital opposite the mountain, an area was set aside for people suffering dehydration or heat exhaustion. Saudi Arabias Red Crescent said it had deployed 326 ambulances along the pilgrimage route to handle health emergencies. Some pilgrims, for example, forget to protect their heads with an umbrella when they pray, said Bandar Al-Harthi, a nurse at a hospital facing Mount Arafat. In the evening, the pilgrims will travel to Muzdalifa where they will spend the night before taking part in a symbolic stoning of the devil. The Jamarat Bridge, where the ritual is held, was the scene of a stampede in 2015 that claimed the lives of nearly 2,300 pilgrims -- the worst disaster in the history of the hajj. Muslim worshipers, some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the scorching sun, gather for the noon prayer at Namirah mosque near Mount Arafat. (AFP Photo) Tehran reported the largest number of stampede victims, with 464 Iranians among the dead. The next year, amid heightened political tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Iranian pilgrims stayed away from the hajj after authorities from the two countries failed to agree on arrangements and logistics. Iranian authorities say more than 86,000 Iranian pilgrims are taking part this year, each equipped with an identity bracelet in case of any accident. Reza, a 63-year-old former oil company official from Iran, said he was torn between the joy of taking part and lingering grief over the stampede. Theyve taken more security measures otherwise we would not have come, he said. Saudi Arabia says it has deployed more than 100,000 security personnel to keep pilgrims safe. At the foot of Mount Arafat, mobile barriers have been installed to control the movement of the crowds. They will be moved to enlarge the passages when there are more pilgrims, said Ahmed al-Baraka of the Saudi security forces. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has urged Washington not to use force against North Korea, as tensions surged after the latest missile test by Pyongyang. In a phone call late Wednesday with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lavrov underscored...the need to refrain from any military steps that could have unpredictable consequences, the foreign ministry in Moscow said. Russias lead diplomat said any attempts to toughen sanctions against North Korea would be counterproductive and dangerous while condemning Pyongyangs shooting of a missile over Japan as a gross violation of United Nations resolutions. Early on Tuesday, the reclusive state fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 over Japan, prompting US President Donald Trump to insist that all options were on the table in an implied threat of pre-emptive military action. The UN Security Council denounced North Koreas latest missile test, unanimously demanding that Pyongyang halt the programme. US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live fire drill in South Korea on Thursday, intended as a show of force against the North, Seoul said. And British Prime Minister Theresa May, who is visiting Japan, said Thursday that London and Tokyo would work together to step up the pace of sanctions against nuclear-armed North Korea after the latest launch. New proof of the devastation wrought by monster storm Harvey emerged Wednesday as the bodies of six family members were plucked from receding waters in Texas and flooding triggered fears of a chemical explosion near Houston. While clouds parted in Americas fourth-largest city, bringing a welcome respite after the storm turned roads into rivers, rural areas of Texas were drenched as Harvey headed eastwards with the city of Port Arthur especially hard hit. Authorities in neighboring Louisiana scrambled to safeguard their state from the impact of Harvey, whose onslaught evoked painful memories of Hurricane Katrinas deadly strike 12 years ago -- but New Orleans escaped with minimal rain. Taking advantage of a lull in the rainfall in Houston, rescuers recovered the bodies of six family members from a van which was swept away by the floods over the weekend. Manuel and Belia Saldivar and four of their great-grandchildren ranging from six to 16 years in age went missing on Sunday. Our worst fears have been realized, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told a press conference, confirming all six bodies had been found inside the van. So far, officials believe at least 33 people to have been killed in the storm, and there is little doubt the toll will rise further -- although many of those unaccounted for may simply have no access to phones or power. To those Americans who have lost loved ones, all of America is grieving with you, and our hearts are joined with yours forever, President Donald Trump said in a speech, a day after viewing some of the damage for himself on a trip to Texas. More than 30,000 people have found refuge in shelters across the Lone Star State, from the giant Houston convention center to small churches, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Brock Long. In Houston, where Mayor Sylvester Turner issued an nighttime curfew to aid search efforts and thwart potential looting, the two major airports reopened on a limited basis, signalling a slow return to normality. Turner told a news conference Wednesday night that trash pickup and metro service will resume in some areas where flood waters have receded. Its my hope that despite how massive this storm has been, that the city of Houston will quickly move to get back to where we were and then beyond that, Turner said. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression Wednesday night, but warned that life-threatening flood conditions remain in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. But at least a quarter of Harris County, which includes Houston, is still under water -- and the operators of an organic peroxides plant outside the city warned they were bracing for the risk of an explosion after flooding caused them to lose all power. Right now, we have an unprecedented six feet of water at the plant, Rich Rowe, president and chief executive of plant operator Arkema Inc, said in a statement. We have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire, he said. The high water and lack of power leave us with no way to prevent it. As a precaution, officials had already ordered the evacuation of an area within 1.5 miles (three km) of the plant in Crosby, northeast of Houston, and Rowe said the facility itself had been evacuated for employees safety. City underwater Even as Houston got a first glimpse of life-after-Harvey, the city of Port Arthur was pummeled by torrential rains -- making it almost impossible to reach despite the best efforts of volunteer rescuers. Our whole city is underwater right now, Port Arthurs mayor, Derrick Freeman, posted on Facebook early Wednesday -- assuring stranded residents that help was on the way. Justin Coleman was part of a crew of three jeeps and three boats that drove overnight from Fort Worth trying to reach Port Arthur, but were forced to turn around on their first attempt. Were on the radio with them right now and every 30 seconds theres another person rescued, the 33-year-old told AFP during a pit stop at a gas station in the nearby town of Winnie. Theres a lot of babies and elderly that are stuck in their homes right now. They said its getting up to their chests, said Coleman, who runs a construction company. So far, parts of Texas have seen more than 50 inches (1.27 meters) of rain, while in Louisiana, the top total 18 inches so far was increasing. Dodged a bullet Harvey first slammed onshore as a Category Four hurricane on Friday night before unloading on Texas. Although now downgraded to a tropical storm, Harvey made its second landfall just west of the Louisiana town of Cameron early Wednesday, packing maximum sustained winds nearing 45 miles per hour. Forecasters are predicting another five to 10 inches of rain in the region, with the downpour finally expected to stop on Thursday. For now, southwestern Louisiana is taking the hardest hit, with a levee being breached in the town of Gueydan. While New Orleans appeared to have dodged a bullet, the arrival of Harvey nevertheless served as a somber reminder, coming just one day after the 12-year anniversary of Katrina, which ravaged the vulnerable city famous for its jazz music and cuisine. I began to pray for the people in Texas after having gone through that same experience myself as a Katrina survivor, said Crystal Harris, who works for a bank which was taking donations for storm victims. Lessons learned In Texas, the damage wrought is staggering -- Enki Research put its best estimate at between $48 billion and $75 billion. At least one bridge had crumbled, one levee had breached and dams were at risk, while Harvey sparked the closure of several major refineries across what is a major hub of Americas oil industry. More than 4,500 people and 1,000 pets have been rescued from the storm zone by the Coast Guard, which expected to rescue an additional 1,000 people Wednesday in the Port Arthur area alone. The Coast Guard has deployed about 50 aircraft and two dozen boats, but the overall rescue effort, involving other military branches and state police, easily tops more than 100 aircraft. We are certainly bringing lessons learned from Katrina, Admiral Paul Thomas, who oversees Coast Guard operations in 26 states, told reporters in New Orleans -- noting that several members of his team are Louisiana natives who are veterans of the 2005 disaster. US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders. The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region, it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists funding and combat extremist ideology. The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in the catastrophic storm, the White House said. Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulfs worst political crisis in years. The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies. British police said on Thursday they had charged a 26-year-old man under terrorism laws after an incident outside Buckingham Palace that left three police officers injured last week. The Metropolitan police charged Mohiussunnath Choudhury under the Terrorism Act of 2006 for preparing to commit an act or acts of terrorism after he was held near the queens official residence in central London on August 25. Police have said they arrested a man who was carrying a four-foot sword and that three officers suffered minor injuries in the process. No members of the royal family were in the palace at the time. Choudhury will appear in court later on Thursday The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given $225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has much to lose by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trumps promised changes will bring explicit conditions on military aid. Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson, officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury, it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue, a State Department spokesperson told PTI. The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries, the spokesperson said. After Trumps policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. PTI LKJ UZM The Pentagon sharply raised its estimate of the number of US troops currently in Afghanistan Wednesday, ahead of a decision on adding thousands more under President Donald Trumps new strategy for the war-ridden country. Pentagon Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said a comprehensive review showed there were approximately 11,000 uniformed US servicemen and women in Afghanistan, compared to the 8,400 number used since last year. The new count, which includes temporary and covert units as well as regular forces, was made to establish the basis for an increase in troops -- possibly by around 4,000 -- under Trumps revised strategy to better support Afghan troops in the fight against the Taliban. But McKenzie declined to say how many more troops would be added. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis still hasnt made that decision, he said, adding: No troops have started to flow... no deployment orders have been issued. McKenzie said that after president Barack Obama set a ceiling of 8,400 troops for the country last July, military commanders had been hampered in their ability to deploy full units, leading to unintended consequences. Meanwhile, short-term and clandestine units were not included in the count. - New strategy - The new estimate came nearly two weeks after Trump and his top cabinet and military officials decided to increase US soldiers and airmen in Afghanistan to put more pressure on the Taliban and other extremist groups. Few details were provided on the new strategy, however, as Mattis said he wanted a clearer view of the actual number of US forces there. US generals have for months been calling the situation in Afghanistan a stalemate, despite years of support for Afghan partners and an overall cost to the United States of about $1 trillion. A US troop increase would allow the US- led coalition in the country to provide more advisors and tactical support to strengthen the Afghan armys efforts against the Taliban. McKenzie said the new count was an effort to be more transparent, but he said the Defense Department would not be providing much information on the breakdown of the US forces, so as to maintain operational security and avoid telegraphing US intentions to the Taliban. The new Afghan strategy will take a page from successful US efforts over the past two years to strength Iraqi security forces against the Islamic State group with better training, logistical support and the battlefield backup of US artillery and air strikes on enemy positions. But in Iraq most of the action against Islamic State fighters is in dense urban settings, while the Taliban are more spread out in the Afghan countryside, a battle situation Mattis has characterized as more like Vietnam. The United States on Thursday announced it was shutting down a Russian consulate in San Francisco and its chancery annexes in Washington DC and New York, in another tit-for-tat action for Russias reduction of American diplomatic staff by 755 personnel. Russia has until September 2 to carry out these closures, at the end of which they will be left with three consulates-general in the US. The one in San Francisco was their oldest and most established. The chancery annexes being closed in DC and New York housed trade missions. With this action, both countries will remain with three consulates each, the US state department said in a statement. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. These actions were ordered in retaliation for Moscow instructing the US diplomatic mission in Russia in July to cut staff by around 755 people, most of whom were supposed to be locally hired employees. The state department said the US had fully implemented that order, but refused to say if the cut was by 755 as required by Moscow. A senior administration official said US diplomatic staff number is down to 455 as required by Moscow. Moscow had ordered the reduction in retaliation to the Obama administration throwing out 36 Russian diplomatic personnel in December for alleged interference in the 2016 elections, and the closure of recreational facilities lent out to them. A year ago, the haunting image of 4-year-old Omran -- his face covered in blood and dust -- sitting in an ambulance after an airstrike hit Aleppo captured the brutality of Syrias six-year conflict. Last week, it was the image of a girl in Yemen that showed the tragedy of war. Buthaina Muhammad Mansour is the sole survivor in her family of eight after an airstrike tore through their apartment in Yemens capital Sanaa last week. Photos circulating on social media websites showed rescuers pulling Buthaina, believed to be four or five, out of the debris. Buthaina has become an anti-war symbol. Twitter users condemned the strike, with one saying with one saying what happened to Buthaina was an absolute disgrace and that everyone was turning their eyes away. Buthaina Muhammad Mansour, believed to be four or five, sits on a bed at a hospital after she survived a Saudi-led air strike that killed eight of her family members in Sanaa, Yemen August 26, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (REUTERS) Doctors said Buthaina suffered from concussion and skull fractures but she will pull through. But Buthaina doesnt know her family didnt survive. Disoriented, she was calling out for her uncle Mounir, who was killed in the attack, at the hospital on Saturday. Another uncle Saleh Muhammad Saad told Reuters Mounir had rushed to the familys house when Buthainas father called him at 2am to say war planes were bombing their neighbourhood in Sanaas Faj Attan district. He never returned. By the time Saleh got to the house, it was a ruin of broken concrete blocks and wooden planks. Hearing survivors groaning from beneath the rubble, he battled to free them. I could hear the shouts of one of their neighbours from under the rubble, and tried to remove the rubble from on top of (Buthainas father) and his wife, but I couldnt. They died, he said. We lifted the rubble and saw first her brother Ammar, who was three, and her four sisters, all of them dead. I paused a little and just screamed out from the pain. But I pulled myself together, got back there and then heard Buthaina calling. He said her survival had given him some solace as he mourned the rest of the family. Her sister Raghad always used to come up and hug me and kiss me when I visited. I used to say to her, Come on, thats enough. And she would say Oh no it isnt! and just keep hugging and kissing. The Saudi-led Arab military coalition last week admitted responsibility for the air strike in the Yemeni capital that killed 14 civilians, describing it as a technical mistake. Witnesses and medics said at least six children were killed in the strike that toppled residential buildings. A man carries Buthaina Muhammad Mansour, rescued from the site of a Saudi-led air strike that killed eight of her family members in Sanaa. (Reuters Photo) The coalition entered Yemens war in 2015 in support of the government against the Iran-backed rebels, who seized Sanaa the previous year after forming a fragile alliance with troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. T oday Sadiq Khan is being asked to consider freeing up public land and facilitate a boom in prefab construction by the authoritys planning committee and house builders. Houses built off site in factories could be slotted into small and constrained plots and completed in half the time of traditional builds, according to a report from the Greater London Authority. Labours Nicky Gavron AM, who wrote the report, said prefabs - now commonly referred to as offsite manufactured housing (OSM) - are a way to close the gap between supply and demand. She said: These buildings are high quality and outstanding in terms of performance. Their construction is more environmentally-friendly than traditional construction methods and they are a far cry from their prefabricated predecessors. Few will disagree that using vacant public land to build homes quickly and with less pollution and disruption could be great news for London, tailored to demands at every price point. Innovative solutions are needed to reach the target of 50,000 new homes a year, she said, adding that the designs are light-years away from the styles that dominated house-building in the 1970s. Winston Churchill initially gave the green light for prefab construction as a housing solution for families bombed during the Blitz. In its hey-day in 1968 around 450,000 prefab homes were built across the UK and they contributed significantly to the capitals post-war housing needs. Today that figure is around 2000, and over the decades they suffered from a reputation of being poor quality. Builders say OSM homes are cheaper to construct than traditional builds, they are better for the environment and can go up in 20 weeks. Light-weight designs with shallow foundations also mean they can be built over Tube and railway lines, according to the report. It also identified that Transport for London owns around 5,700 acres with huge potential for creating new homes. James Murray, the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development welcomed the report. He said: We need to take advantage of innovative ways to boost home building to tackle Londons housing crisis, and a greater use of off-site or precision manufacturing must play a big role. The Mayors draft London Housing Strategy, which will be published next month, will set out the Mayors further plans to support much greater precision manufacturing of homes. Twenty-four pre-fab homes were built in Ladywell in Lewisham, with construction starting in November 2015 and the majority of residents moved in August 2016. Pocket Living built 32 homes in Streatham Hill in 10 months, and are currently building 70 homes in north Lambeth and Europes largest modular residential tower at 26 stories (89 homes) in Wandsworth. Online shopping has become very popular in recent years and is becoming the traditional shopping experience. When it comes to designer collections, accessories and vintage findings: here are some of the best online shops for luxury fashion. Doctors and campaigners will be joining us for the Sex & Drugs & Harm Reduction: Sensible Drug Policy In Ireland panel. Medically supervised injecting rooms, fentanyl and Irelands other new opioid arrivals, chemsex drugs, decriminalisation, the role of the Gardai, NIMBYism and pill testing at public events will all be on the agenda on Sunday as the Hot Press Chat Room @Electric Picnic plays host to the Sex & Drugs & Harm Reduction: Sensible Drug Policy In Ireland panel discussion. Joining our man Stuart Clark in the MindField area from 4.30pm are Ana Liffey Drug Project CEO, Tony Duffin; outgoing USI President and drug campaigner Annie Hooey, and addiction specialists Dr. Garrett McGovern and Dr. Cathal O Suilleabhain. Well be taking questions from the floor and generally teasing out the key issues, with sparks guaranteed to fly. See you there! Now in its fourth year, the classical music festival 'Music In Monkstown' returns once again to the intimate setting in County Dublin from 8-10 September. The festival will feature the likes of Michael Mchale, the RTE Contempt Quartet, John Finucane and The Boys of the Palestrina Choir. Supported by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and The Arts Council, Music in Monkstown features five key concerts during the three-day schedule. It provides a diverse range of performances for those passionate about classical music. The 2017 programme consists of solo piano, string quartets and operatic favourites featuring music by Mussorgsky, Mozart, Prokofiev, Weber & Dvorak among many other composers. The festival was founded by the National Symphony Orchestra's principal clarinetist, entrepreneurial Monkstown resident John Finucane. He says, We are thrilled to announce the programme for Music in Monkstown 2017. As in previous years we are bringing music of the highest international standard to our village and we hope that we have something for everyone to enjoy. As part of MIM 2017, debuting as a trio are the Three Young Sopranos Clodagh Kinsella, Dana Tanase and Eimear McCarthy Luddy, accompanied by distinguished pianist David Adams. It promises to be an elegant affair. The impressive and acclaimed Palestrina Boys Choir from St. Marys Pro Cathedral will also perform in the festival for the first time on the Sunday afternoon. The weekend starts on the Friday night with a piano recital given by Michael McHale, who was such a success with our audiences last year. Completing this exceptional celebration of classical music are two wonderful concerts with John Finucane and the RTE Contempo Quartet. Saturday evening invites guests to experience Mozarts Kegelstatt Trio and Prokofievs Overture on Jewish Themes. T he second of these two concerts features the Weber clarinet quintet and a piano quintet by Dvorjak, with New Zealand native Lance Coburn. In line with last years festival, post concert jazz events are being held in the local pub, alongside the Classical Kids segment for children and babies that takes place at Knox Hall. For further information log onto www.musicinmonkstown.ie This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate How badly Harvey hurts Houston economically is up to us. Forecasts are coming in, with Moody's estimating a $30 billion to $40 billion impact. Some estimates are half that amount, others are double. These are only best guesses, of course, because the water was still rising on Tuesday. We can take some comfort in knowing that past early estimates for natural disasters were largely overwrought. Make no mistake, though, Houstonians have lost billions of dollars. What we do now will determine whether Houston's economy shrinks or grows. Natural disasters can be broken into four stages. In a place like Houston, where there is a clear risk, what we do beforehand is vitally important. And this is where we consistently fail. Our city prides itself on lack of zoning and laissez faire planning. We prioritize economic development and property rights over prudent regulation and environmental protection. We have paved a low-lying swamp and then marvel when rain fills it up like a kiddie pool. The second stage is the disaster itself, when the wind and water destroys our investments. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses have flooded, destroying structures, ruining possessions and destroying inventory. The toll will take weeks to tally. Floodwaters have caused most of that damage, and regular homeowner's and business insurance offer no reimbursement. Only the federally-managed National Flood Insurance Program will cover these losses. Unfortunately, only 15 percent of Houstonians who live in a floodplain have flood insurance, according to a 2016 survey by the Insurance Information Institute. The Federal Emergency Management Administration reports that about 300,000 policies were written in the Houston area, even though more than 1.5 million homes are located in medium- to high-risk flood zones, according to CoreLogic, a global property data firm. By some estimates, more than 80 percent of the homes flooded by Harvey are uninsured. Property owners will have to dig into savings, borrow from family, ask for grants or take low-interest loans to fund reconstruction. Others will sell their property at a loss, and many will declare bankruptcy. FEMA expects to provide financial aid to more than 450,000 Houstonians, according to administrator Brock Long. Getting Congress to approve the billions of dollars needed to offset uninsured losses will be critical, and this is why the vote by Texas's Republican congressional delegation to deny aid for Superstorm Sandy is so embarrassing. Texans who pride themselves on self-sufficiency will need to swallow their pride and ask for this critical help. The third stage of a natural disaster are the indirect, economic losses. Harvey shut down most of Houston's businesses, wiping out millions of hours in wages. People have spent days trying to save their belongings instead of earning paychecks, and they will now have far less to spend. Moody's estimates that lost productivity alone could cost Houston $10 billion. Employers can make a difference by continuing to pay salaries and keep people employed. Federal law forbids an employer from firing someone for heeding an emergency evacuation order, but community-minded companies will recognize that employees have already lost cars and homes, they can't afford to lose their jobs too. Showing loyalty in a time of need will be reciprocated. But some flooded businesses will have to close and lay off employees. These workers can apply for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance, if they are not eligible for state unemployment insurance. The program also helps people find new jobs or job training, but only if Congress continues funding it. A natural disaster's fourth stage is the rebuilding. Thanks to billions of dollars in private insurance payments, government aid and philanthropy, a million or so people will go to work replacing what was lost. This phase can actually boost an economy by creating jobs. Which brings us back to preparation. Houstonians have experienced three major floods in three years, events that experts told us should occur only once every 500 years. Developers told us that paving thousands of acres of land and building in floodplains would not increase urban flooding. Driven by overconfidence and profit, these advisors failed us. The reconstruction process must assiduously focus on mitigating future flooding. That means buying and tearing down some homes as well as increasing the capacity of our storm absorption system. Opponents will howl about the cost and regulation, just as they've done after past floods. Developers will demand in-depth studies that will take years to complete, hoping that memory fades. Some will even argue for doing nothing, claiming that the odds of another Harvey don't warrant the expense. We must reject and ridicule those who want to maintain the status quo because it financially benefits them. Every dollar in profit they collect by increasing the flood risk to Houston is an ill-gotten dollar, an inexcusable transfer of wealth. We will rebuild what was lost. Let's just make sure we do it in a way that mitigates against future disasters, and by so doing, ensure Houston's economic future. Marcio Jose Sanchez/STF WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy rebounded sharply in the spring, growing at the fastest pace in more than two years amid brisk consumer spending on autos and other goods. The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the best showing since a 3.2 percent gain in the first quarter of 2015. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With at least nine dead and thousands displaced by floodwaters, the full extent of the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey, the biggest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade, is just beginning to be tallied. Nothing quite like Harvey has hit the United States before. The National Weather Service said Harvey is "unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced." The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is probably the worst disaster in Texas history. But beyond the human toll - which, as it should be, is the immediate concern of both first responders and the reporters covering them - three questions hang over the hurricane fallout. How hard was Houston's oil and gas infrastructure hit? To what extent did climate change exacerbate this storm? And finally, born out of those first two, there's a final question: What will be the political fallout? "This is not like anything we have ever seen before:" Houston markets itself as the energy capital of the world. Many of the largest firms in the oil and gas sector, including Phillips 66, are based there. And many more, including ExxonMobil and Dutch Royal Shell, own huge refining complexes along the region's coastline. Houston's petrochemical industry turns crude oil and other raw materials drawn from around the Western Hemisphere into gasoline and other petroleum products to be shipped as far away as Asia. We have some idea of the short-term impacts. The storm has: as of Monday evening, shut down 12 percent, or 2.2 million barrels, of U.S. refining capacity. that, in turn, has driven up gasoline prices up as much as 6.8 percent since Friday. As of Sunday, Exxon shut down its Baytown refinery, the second largest in the United States Shell has shut down its Deer Park refinery. And at least four energy export terminals in Corpus Christi have halted shipments, Reuters reported. But the long-term impacts to the oil and gas sector - how badly, if at all, that infrastructure is damaged - have yet to be assessed. An extremely prescient piece by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune last year lays out the risk flooding poses to the Texas Gulf Coast petroleum industry: "Flooding is the most disruptive type of damage an industrial plant can experience from a hurricane. Salty ocean water swiftly corrodes critical metal and electrical components and contaminates nearby freshwater sources used for operations. Even plants that aren't flooded would likely have to shut down because they depend on storm-vulnerable infrastructure - electric grids, pipelines, roads and rail lines. [After a direct-hit storm] the Ship Channel itself - a crucial lifeline for crude imports and chemical exports - would probably be littered with debris and toxins, officials say. It would have to be cleaned up before ships and tankers could move safely again." We may already be seeing the first signs of some of that environmental fallout. As The New Republic's Emily Atkin reports, " '[u]nbearable' petrochemical smells are reportedly drifting into Houston." Because of its unprecedented nature, the storm has again reopened the debate over the link between climate change and hurricanes. But it would be wrong to conclude that climate change "caused" this storm. "Attributing a particular event to anything, whether it's climate change or anything else, is a badly posed question, really," MIT climate scientist Kerry Emanuel told The Washington Post's Chris Mooney, who literally wrote the book on the connection between hurricanes and climate change. The question Did climate change cause Harvey? isn't really the right one. The better way to frame thinking about the connection is through the question: Does climate change make storms like Harvey more likely? In several respects, the answer is yes. Here's why: A warmer climate makes storms wetter: Greenhouse gases trap more heat in the atmosphere, and that warmer air can hold more moisture. That causes, in turn, storms to on average dump more rain. A warmer climate makes storm surges worse: Global warming raises sea levels through a one-two combination: The higher temperatures melt glaciers, adding more water to the oceans, while the extra heat expands that water. Consequently, waters whipped up by a hurricane - that is, storm surge - reach further inland than they otherwise would. A warmer climate may make hurricanes more intense: Finally, there's some research that suggests that the average storm is expected to be more intense due to climate change. Perhaps the best way to think about the connection is like a general. In the U.S. military, climate change is regarded as a "threat multiplier" - a force that makes existing risks to world peace, like droughts and floods that can trigger wars, worse. Put another way: Hurricanes will form in the Gulf of Mexico during August with or without any greenhouse gas emissions. But climate change makes those storms more dangerous. "We can't say that Hurricane Harvey was caused by climate change," Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State, wrote in The Guardian. "But it was certainly worsened by it." In the coming weeks and months, environmentalists, scientists and their elected Democratic allies will politicize the storm. And why not? After all, politics is, according to one classic definition, "who gets what, when, and how." And right now, the Trump administration wants to give very little to government programs designed to mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change. But already, we're seeing signs that such demands will be reframed as insensitive point-scoring while Houston is still inundated. Even with the city still underwater, disaster-relief politics are underway. As Vox's David Roberts points out: "Recall that 20 members of the Texas congressional delegation, who are now desperately requesting help, voted against federal aid to New York City in the wake of Hurricane Sandy." Unlike so many GOP leaders, many of the oil and gas firms operating in Houston at the very least publicly acknowledge the legitimacy of today's climate science. Republicans who, to various degrees, are not persuaded by the large body of evidence telling us the burning of fossil fuels - like those refined and transported in and around Houston - are warming the planet may have to answer some hard questions. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jabira Amiril joined the growing line at the FEMA resource desk inside the George R. Brown Convention Center on Wednesday, smiling confidently but nervously gripping her purse. She and her husband, Edilberto Rivera, wound up there after their first-floor apartment in the Edgebrook neighborhood filled up with waist-high water during Tropical Storm Harvey. Already, she knew, "We can't stay here forever." Amiril, 57, believes the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency can provide some resources for a new apartment, though she is less confident in her chances of finding one in her price range. As retirees, she and her husband were paying $595 a month for their one-bedroom unit. Inching closer to the FEMA desk, she took deep breaths. "We can't go higher than that," she said. "I don't how easy it will be to find an apartment." Amiril is among the tens of thousands of people across the Houston area who are going to need short-term housing while their own homes are repaired or permanent accommodations if their old apartments are wrecked. Those not in shelters have ended up crashing with friends or relatives, cooped up in garage apartments or with ex-husbands situations that will last only a few days or weeks. After that, they'll need to find hotels, apartments or new properties to buy. With at least 30,000 people displaced from their homes, despite a still-slack apartment market from overbuilding during the oil boom, the available capacity is disappearing quickly, turning what had been a glut into a shortage overnight. More Information Apartment dwellings As many as 120,000 apartment units across the region may have been damaged in Hurricane Harvey-related flooding, Houston-based apartment investment and property management firm Better World Properties reports. That means tens of thousands of apartment renters could be figuring out their next steps. Some key points: For tenants Rent is still due and late fees may still apply. A lease may be void if the unit is uninhabitable and a comparable transfer is not available. Most renter's insurance policies do not cover flood damage. Residents who abandon their apartment may lose their security deposit and be held liable for future rent. For property managers and owners Fair housing rules still apply. Many residents will struggle with rent payments. Some owners will waive late fees, some may not. When flooded residents transfer to dry units, it is recommended that all the parties cancel the first lease and sign a new one. If a comparable unit is not available for transfer, management may offer a different unit at a different price. If the non-comparable unit is refused, the resident may cancel without penalty, depending on the amount of damage. Recovery work should begin almost immediately, subject to labor and materials availability and insurance company approval. Management will typically make a courtesy call to notify absent residents that their belongings must be removed, but the lease allows that anything not removed may be disposed of without further discussion. Management may put items in storage and charge the resident. How quickly can units be brought back on line is a major concern. Owners are not responsible for resident's vehicles or personal possessions. Owners of buildings taken out of service may cancel a lease with a five-day notice. See More Collapse In the short term, the hotel market appears to have been almost immediately saturated, both by flood victims and the thousands of people who've descended on the city to help with recovery efforts. Terry Atkins, vice president for marketing communications with Extended Stay America, said demand began to increase at their Houston hotels before Harvey arrived, and has since become overwhelming. SHELTERS FULL: For some, "nowhere you can go to escape this" "As the storm became real to people, many in-house guests immediately extended their existing reservations and our call center saw increased volume," Atkins said. "I would imagine that all of the Houston-area hotels are like us and are at 100 percent occupancy." Spot checks found the same problem elsewhere. A spokeswoman for the Westchase Marriott, for example, said it was completely booked after a month in which hotels in the Houston area showed between 44 and 66 percent occupancy on any given day, according to the data firm STR. Some rooms will be freed up as hotels that have also been incapacitated due to flooding get repaired, and as workers are able to reach their jobs. The Royal Sonesta in the Galleria stopped taking reservations through Friday, since many of its staffers were stuck in other parts of the city. Some hotels also reported they're prioritizing housing their own personnel who've been flooded. Right now, it's not just the people who've suddenly found themselves without shelter crowding hotels. It's also first responders, from FEMA officials to Red Cross volunteers. Several of those services have booked all available rooms at the Hilton Americas downtown, across from the mega-shelter at the downtown convention center. "As this thing has grown and continued, we started getting the Dallas Police Department, National Guard," said Janice O'Neill Cox, the Hilton's director of sales and marketing. "We have Red Cross in the hotel. And really, that is what is making up our occupancy at that point." But demand won't stop there. After the first responders are gone, thousands of construction workers, insurance adjusters and others needed for the rebuilding effort will also be looking for housing. One large rebuilding company, ServPro, says it expects to have at least 8,000 people in the city within a few weeks to clean out flooded homes and businesses. For those like Amiril and Rivera who can't afford hotel rates, a longer term lease is more appealing. And it would seem to be a good point in the market for a hurricane to hit, with vacancy rates at a relatively high 11.1 percent in the greater Houston area, according to Apartmentdata.com. Bruce McClenny, the Houston-based data firm's president, estimates that assuming about 20 percent of apartments were damaged, that would leave 70,000 available for people displaced by the floods. That may seem like a lot, but they're going quickly, according to local Realtor Ed Wolff, who chairs the government affairs committee of the Houston Association of Realtors. He was flooded out of his Meyerland home himself, and when he went to rent an apartment in the Greenway Plaza neighborhood, found them disappearing by the minute. His own agents have been working in overdrive to serve people whose homes are underwater. "Before the flood, we were talking about how bad the apartment market was," Wolff said. "And now, we have the opposite problem." Camden Property Trust is one of the largest landlords in the city, with 8,500 apartments. About 94 percent of them were occupied before the storm, and people have been streaming into its leasing offices looking to rent the 400 or so that remain. Camden disabled its online leasing portal for the time being, to make sure some apartments are available for the few tenants whose apartments were damaged in the storm, and Camden's own employees who've lost their homes. CEO Ric Campo said he and many other large apartment owners will resist the temptation to raise rates in face of such demand. RENTS ESCALATING: When downtown becomes a playground, where can its workers afford to live? "We are freezing prices that we were charging pre-Harvey," Campo said. "We are not going to take advantage of other peoples' misery in any way." That doesn't mean that some of the specials that were common before the storm, like giving two months free on a year lease, won't disappear. But such an effort could keep prices, which already average $983 in the greater Houston area, from escalating too quickly. One resource available to low-income renters displaced by floods is FEMA housing vouchers. But landlords don't have to take that housing assistance. Jeff Hall, executive vice president of the Houston Apartment Association, said he's planning to work with the city and local landlords to create a database of apartments that will be available to renters using FEMA assistance. Having worked on a similar effort after Hurricane Katrina 12 years ago, Hall said he hopes FEMA is able to better coordinate this time, by distributing evacuees evenly rather than concentrating them in a few buildings, making sure landlords are compensated by any damages to the property - and doing all of it more quickly. "It took them six months to get their act together," Hall said, of the post-Katrina effort. Although FEMA assists homeowners and renters for up to 18 months, the money doesn't always start flowing immediately, and the process can feel daunting for those also busy filing insurance claims for their homes and cars. In the meantime, many people who still have mortgages don't have any spare income to rent an apartment. "I can't afford to pay rent on top of the mortgage note that I can't live in," said Sheron Traweek, who was flooded out of her home in the Energy Corridor. "Now I may just find myself being a nomad, depending on the kindness of good friends." Efforts are underway to find free or low-cost accommodations for people in these types of situations. Airbnb is activating a feature that allows local homeowners to offer free rentals. Local Realtor Star Massing has started a Facebook group to source spare rooms for the displaced, either from Good Samaritans or landlords willing to take short-term leases with smaller deposits. She found a backyard cottage for Traweek to stay in for a few weeks. But others have more complicated needs, like kids or pets. "Some of these families are so big, they can't stay in someone's room," Massing said. "They have to find some kind of house." Actual houses are going to be hard to come by for the foreseeable future, however, as those that were destroyed are cleaned out or rebuilt. Katherine Feser contributed to this report. Jose Andres was driving south on Interstate 45, trying to reach a small shelter where about 1oo or more Houstonians had taken up temporary residence in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the biggest rainstorm in the history of the continental United States. The Washington celebrity chef and restaurateur heard about the facility earlier in the day and hoped he could set up a kitchen to cook the simple pasta and red sauce that he had purchased at a Target store. "If I can feed one person, I'm happy," Andres said while navigating the highway. (Yes, he was talking via a hands-free device.) The Washingtonian flew into Dallas on Tuesday afternoon and drove to Houston in a rented 44 vehicle. By himself, no less. He stopped at a Target store about an hour north of Houston to pick up the pasta ingredients. When pressed, Andres said he shelled out about $1,900 for the food, but he was more interested in praising the Target workers who, he said, were pulling 18-, 19- and 20-hour shifts to help keep the locals stocked with supplies, tweeting: "Ok! In Houston ready to cook! Thank you @Target your staff rocks! and the great people of @RedCross god bless you!" Andres is no stranger to disaster. He visited Haiti after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed tens of thousands of residents and left many more struggling in tent camps. His trip to Haiti, in fact, inspired Andres to create the World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that promotes culinary training and new kitchen equipment to improve a community's health, education and economy. In Houston, Andres activated World Central Kitchen's Chef Network to entice other professionals to help with the massive chore of feeding people living in makeshift shelters. Among those in transit to Texas, Andres said, is Victor Albisu, chef and owner of Washington's Del Campo restaurant. After spending less than a day in Houston, however, Andres was discovering that it's not easy to navigate the city right now. Flooded streets and police barricades prevented him from reaching the George R. Brown Convention Center, which Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has turned into a shelter. Andres couldn't even make it to his designated hotel Tuesday night. "There's a lot of water everywhere," he said. "This city is surrounded by water." Andres is coordinating his efforts with the American Red Cross, although conditions on the ground were frustrating their ability to work together. The chef said that Cuisine Solutions, the Sterling, Virginia-based company that specializes in prepared products cooked via sous-vide water baths, would be sending a truck to Houston, loaded with about 40,000 pounds of food. The truck, said Gerard Bertholon, chief strategy officer for Cuisine Solutions, had not left Virginia yet, but when it does, the trailer will be filled with precooked and pasteurized foods, including nearly 3,000 pounds of roasted sliced turkey, 10,600 pounds of seared and seasoned sliced beef and 14,000 pounds of chicken. The products can be reheated, Bertholon said, or eaten as is, either in a salad or in a sandwich. The food's ready-to-eat quality is vital, Bertholon noted, because shelters may not have working kitchens. "We know we can feed people," said Bertholon, whose company sent food to New York City after 9/11 and to the Northeast after Superstorm Sandy. But Andres knows that 40,000 pounds of food won't last long. It would probably feed all the displaced people in Houston for a single day, he figured. The city needs much more. Which is why he's in awe of the Southern Baptist Convention. The church's disaster relief efforts are fast and well-coordinated, the chef said. Among other things, the Baptists help feed people with their mobile kitchens. "They're the ones producing the food from Day One," he said. "I'm super-impressed with these guys." Aside from World Central Kitchen and its Chef Network, Andres has other resources he can tap to help those in Houston and Southeast Texas. Among them, he said, is a mobile kitchen owned by the MGM National Harbor in Maryland, where the chef has a restaurant, Fish by Jose Andres. He's looking to see whether the MGM can send the kitchen down to Texas. Andres said he plans to remain in Houston at least until next week. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Mark Mulligan/Staff Photographer Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Joe Raedle/Staff Show More Show Less While Spring Branch Independent School District administrators are in the early assessment of their campuses after four days of rain and destructive flooding from tropical storm Harvey, they are offering assurances to parents and children affected by the storm. "Please do not worry about whether your child will be able to return to his/her home campus if your family is displaced," said Linda Buchmans, community relations officer for the district in a statement released Wednesday evening. "Your children are our children -- we will make every effort to assure they are able to remain at their home school. Efforts are underway to assure our schools will open with social services teams prepared to help families in need." Danny Lawson/SUB LONDON - The only female giant panda in Britain is believed to be pregnant, Edinburgh Zoo said Thursday. The zoo said Tian Tian "is being closely monitored," but it's unclear when she will give birth. The zoo said "it's hard to predict precisely and the panda breeding season can last until late September." Vice President in-charge of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations Don Tuan Phong at the event (Source: CPV) Addressing at the event, Vice President in-charge of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations Don Tuan Phong said that the performance of the artistic troupe from Malaysia contributed to enhancing the friendship between the two countries, as well as the mutual understanding between the two peoples. Taking photo with Malaysian artists (Source: CPV) Malaysian Ambassador to Vietnam Mohd Zamruni Bin Khalid thanked the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations for its close cooperation with Malaysia Embassy in Vietnam to organize the program. He said that the two countries are always close friends in bilateral aspects, in ASEAN as well as in the international arena. The two sides agreed to establish a strategic partnership in 2015.The strategic plan of the two countries includes cooperation in the field of culture, with the promotion of cultural exchanges and artistic performances and the participation of cultural events in each country. The tour of the Malaysian artistic troupe is an activity to realize the above plan. The program featured 13 traditional songs and dances of Vietnam and Malaysia, introducing the unique cultural features of Malaysia to Vietnamese audiences and vice versa./. I have spent the last few days here in Houston in a state of suspended shock, watching my adopted city get hit by flooding described by the National Weather Service as "unprecedented" and "beyond anything experienced." Watching the rescue efforts underway has been a reminder of just how tough and scrappy and warm-hearted Houstonians are. We are a city where you can be anyone and accomplish just about anything. We are a city that welcomes refugees, where every language is spoken, and with a culture shaped by people from every corner of the globe. We are a city where, in the face of unprecedented flooding, people get their boats and rescue their neighbors. We are a pragmatic city. We do what needs to be done, no matter who needs to do it, or how it needs to happen. As a city, we will rebuild. Houston is also a city in crisis. We are a city under constant flooding. We are a city that grows and adapts and absorbs for the future, but in our exuberance, we're leaving ourselves vulnerable. Last year, I had the privilege of speaking with Shuhab Khan, a professor of geology at the University of Houston who studies subsidence, the sinking of land, here in Houston. When I spoke to Khan, we had just gone through the Tax Day floods. In the second major flood in two years, the rains came, the waters crawled up the bayous, and Houston flooded. First the Memorial Day floods, then the Tax Day floods, and now, Harvey has flooded our city on an unprecedented scale. Spring Branch has sunk 4 feet since 1975, Jersey Village 2 feet since 1996, and Greenspoint almost 2 feet in the last 10 years. This sinking was due to the increased development in those areas, with the continued reliance on using groundwater, the removal of which causes land to sink. These were all areas that suffered flooding during the Memorial Day and Tax Day floods. "When the ground starts sinking, it forms bowl-like depressions, which increase the amount of time that floodwaters linger in an area," Khan said. He theorized this sinking was exacerbating the floods. This theory was backed by data he'd gathered from around Houston. Perhaps Khan is right. Perhaps subsidence was a factor in the flooding in those areas. If subsidence worsened the flooding, it certainly wasn't the only factor. These past few decades, Houston has exploded. Along with the increased development came an increase in asphalt and a decrease in green lands. The rainwater runs off the asphalt and into the bayous, rather than getting absorbed by the greenery. Then there are the rains, and the storms themselves, which are on an unprecedented scale. Climate change is here, a fact that we have to accept, and for which we have to adapt. One of the effects of climate change will be more severe weather patterns, such as Harvey. For our rebuilding efforts, we need to channel every ounce of our brazen, can-do-anything culture. We need to rebuild in a way that will endure, in a way that will keep the character of our city, and will keep our city afloat. For that, we need to be smart. Moving forward, we have to keep searching for answers. We need to understand what is happening in our city and why. We need to dig more into the 'how' and 'why' of flooding and weather patterns. We need to have the difficult conversations of what needs to get fixed, what changes need to be made, what our priorities need to be, and how we are going to pay for this. We are Houston. We can do this, and we will. Fairbanks is a staff science writer at the University of Houston. Houston resident Corey Tharp was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections system as part of a plea bargain in an Aug. 18 court proceeding in Rolla stemming from an early June assault case. Tharp, 36, was charged June 6 with felonies of domestic assault, resisting arrest and escape or attempted escape from custody while under arrest for a felony. According to court documents, Circuit Judge John Beger dismissed the assault charge and sentenced Tharp to three years apiece for each of the other charges, to be served concurrently. The case began when a Houston police officer responded around 9 p.m. June 3 to a 911 call from a woman at Tharps residence who said he was angry she has been talking to her former boyfriend. The officer, who reportedly had previous run-ins with Tharp, searched for him and located him behind a dumpster in the Hardees parking lot. The officer reported that due to previous encounters with Tharp, he drew his duty weapon and advised Tharp to come out and get on the ground. The officer said Tharp didnt comply and instead came toward him in a threatening manner. The officer wrestled Tharp to the ground, but he resisted being handcuffed. Another officer arrived, and Tharp continued to resist the officers attempts to handcuff him. At that point, the first officer reportedly deployed a taser into Tharps back. Tharp briefly complied, the officer said, but took off running while being escorted to the police car in handcuffs. He was caught after about 20 yards, taken to the Texas County Jail and placed in a restraint chair after continuing to be combative, the officer said. The incident was Tharps second physical confrontation with Houston police. In July 2014, he was charged in a similar incident in which he allegedly assaulted a police officer and fled on foot while being arrested. The woman reportedly said she had been assaulted but told authorities she didnt want to pursue charges. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh city Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan visits the construction of German House. (Photo: VNA) So said Nguyen Thien Nhan, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Mnh city Party Committee, when he visited the construction of the German House on August 30 Congratulating the German House as it is going to welcome its first visitors, Mr. Nhan said that the German House would help promote the efficiency of links with the German communities and businesses with those from other countries in Vietnam. He appreciated the activities by the German Consulate General and German businesses in Ho Chi Minh city in promoting the relationship between Vietnam and Germany in general, and between Germany and the city in particular, including cooperation in vocational training as well as investment promotion programs among the two sides businesses. Mr. Andeas Siegel, German Consul General to Ho Chi Minh city, thanked the city for its support in building the German House, adding that the construction is a symbol of the strategic partnership and friendship between the two nations, contributing to promoting economic exchanges between German businesses and ASEAN countries. German House, one of key projects of Germany in Vietnam, reflects Germanys long-term cooperation with Vietnam and its support for Vietnam in the framework of the two countries strategic partnership. It targets to promote the cooperation between Germany and Vietnam, and to be a place for meetings between German and Vietnamese businesses, as well as European and ASEAN entrepreneurs. The 25-storey house which provides a usage area of some 40,000 square metres will be used for offices, exhibitions, events, meetings and restaurants. Using modern technology, it functions with maximum energy savings. It is expected to welcome its first visitors on September 5th./. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Day 0 We left Vancouver Airport for Prince George after the obligatory eggs Benedict and cup of tea and found that we had been pleasantly upgraded for the short flight. Upon arrival at Prince George we preceded to re-pack our bags as we had brought some hand luggage. This included me removing multiple tablets from their original packaging and placing them into small cellophane bags; looking super seedy and something I don't recommend doing in an airport lobby. However, after an hour we were in a taxi on our way to Tabor lake to catch our float plan bound for Kakwa. I hadn't really appreciated the poor visibility on our larger plane earlier that day but as we ascended over the mountains in our small Cessna, it became abundantly clear that the wildfire smoke was a lot worse than expected. At times visibility was only 300m and the pilot explained that we ran the real risk of not getting enough oxygen to the engine due to the soot percentage. However despite lacking any sort of view, we made it in one piece to Kakwa to be greeted by two wardens who do upkeep on the cabins during the summer months. Unfortunately the pilot who had kindly brought us bear spray as we couldn't carry it on the flight had also bought the wrong fuel for our stove which meant cold meals for the next two weeks. We went for a short walk to find the start of the trail and I found an eagle feather and trees which were covered in black strands like hair. I was pretty convinced this was bear fur after all the hype we had heard about bears in the wilderness until we saw that it hung off even the highest branches and we later confirmed it as a type of lichen. We settled into the cabin and in the evening the wardens asked us round for tea and to share knowledge about the trail. They warned us that this is the toughest segment of the trail so we went to bed early in preparation for the start of our journey. Advertisement Our float plane at lake Kakwa- there are meant to be mountains surrounding the lake! (photo author's own) Day 1: 9.3km Woke to heavy rain but smoke still lingering. Flat start and easy going underfoot but heavy packs slowed us down. Followed the path into a meadow where we got carried away with the abundance of wild flowers and lost the trail. Made a bad decision to try to bushwhack our way in the right direction. This was made worse by the onset of heavy rain. We made it to a river which we followed until it opened out into Broardview lake - an amazing camp surrounded by beautiful meadows. We had some dinner and had a lovely evening aware that we had started the most incredible adventure. Our first camp of the trip at beautiful Broardview lake (photo author's own) Day 2: 21.2km First section was nice walking and in retrospect we should have walked faster while the path was good. Climb started in a wooded area and then we descended to make our first river crossing- fast flowing but knee deep so a good first experience for me to learn the technique. After this we saw our first bear tracks so we were trying to keep making noise for the rest of the day (something I found surprisingly hard to do!) After this we hit head height brush on the river bed which we had to persevere though for a good few hours before a steep climb to surprise pass. The top of the pass was extremely hostile and we quickly made our descent after which the sun made an appearance for an hour or so. After we had descended we hit meadow but the path was clear and we picked up our pace enabling us to just make camp in the light. However it then took us an hour to hang our food from bears due to unsuitable trees. Tired but glad to have achieved the distance in difficult conditions. Advertisement Day 3: 7.5km Felt fresh and so made good pace uphill however missed a fork in the path meaning we walked an extra couple of kilometres. Made camp by 1330 and set up a washing line to dry things out. Off to sleep early for a 0500 get up for a big day 4. Homemade washing line! (Photo author's own) Day 4: 24km Immediate river crossing of mid-calf slow moving water and then pressing through thick wet undergrowth so within half an hour we were pretty wet. Path started to climb through the forest and eventually onto Mount Featherstonehough. After lunch the path became sporadic but with some weaving managed to keep locating it. Came down the scree side of Mt Featherstonehough for the very steep climb of Mt Morkill 2200m. This was the best view of the trip so far as we were above the tree line and there were pockets of snow beneath us with several mountains laid out ahead. After our descent a succession of bogs meant we continually lost the path and the GPS coordinates were also inaccurate. However we spotted a horse enclosure in the distance and headed for that to set up camp at Morkill Pass. I was feeling surprisingly good but Stan had a sore shoulder due to his rucksack having broken. Day 5: 30km with 1000m net ascent We knew this was going to be a big day of ascent so set off early. Feeling quite strong, we set off uphill into forest. However after an hour we lost the trail and ended up bushwhacking uphill. We did find the trail for a further 40 minutes of the morning, which allowed us to make some quick progress and were even in t-shirts by lunchtime. We refilled with water at a small ravine where we lost the path across a bog. We decided to press on with our own route up Big Shale 2405m- and made so with impressive timing. However I succumbed to false summit syndrome- twice, and some 400m off the top I had my first cry of the trip. I honestly felt like I had used all my energy to make it to the top the first time only to be told there was further and still even further to go. I found it difficult to motivate myself and it is moments like this that I don't know how people hike solo. Stan was solely responsible for improving my mood and making sure I got to the top even though I'm sure he was suffering too. If nothing else the view from the top was worth it with what seemed like the whole Rockies laid out for us to see. The view from the first of three 'false summits'- what I thought was the top (photo author's own) We also saw marmots at the top alerting their friends across the valley of our intrusion. We walked along the ridge half hoping to bump into the path but it never materialised. This led to us making our own route down the other side with some very sketchy scrambling and rock climbing and us having to circumnavigate an enormous sheer rock face. It's times like these that you are thankful for the OS map system we have back home because all we have to go on here is contours. The forest then became very dense and with no path this meant bashing our way through it one meter at a time. 1.4km took us around 4 hours to give you some idea of our slow progress and it inevitably got dark. Head torches on, we persevered until finally reaching camp at 2200. I had fallen over multiple times and with 100m before camp, Stan turned his ankle which highlighted just how dangerous walking at night can be. Honestly one of the hardest days of my life and it took all I had to keep going. Day 6- 10km Up late after our ordeal the day before to face another immediate river crossing for a wet start to the day. With Stan still having trouble with his ankle I led and we started the uphill climb for 3km. The path was overgrown and with heavy rain this made for very wet walking. Once we reached the ridge line the rain stopped and we had a pleasant walk along before staring our descent. I saw a rock which looked like a lump of Red Leicester cheese and then half an hour later one which looked ridiculously like a bread roll and I seriously questioned my sanity. We lost the path soon after and ended up following an animal path which led us to a burnt out section of forest in the wrong direction. It was a very cold day and I was wet through. We naively had decided to put lots of layers on to try to stay warm and these were now ALL wet. When we realised I had led us in the wrong direction I had another moment of upset. I honestly felt so miserable and couldn't get my head to a place where I could figure out why I would put myself in this position. We turned around and trekked though more burnt out forest with numerous trees down to climb over. I felt like all my energy had been sapped. Then came a thigh high river crossing, which to be honest, we took in our stride as we were so wet anyway. We decided to set a bearing and just walk straight as trying to find the path was taking to much time and precious energy. This meant uphill bushwhacking until we met a river, which we decided to try to make our way along through the undergrowth on the banks. After a couple of kilometres we found a path which weaved to and from the bank and we followed this for the most part as it was easier than forcing our own route. We arrived at our bearing location only to realise we had overshot by 600m but due to it getting dark we decided to look for camp along the river edge. Ourselves and all our soaking kit finally bundled into our tent. What a pleasure to lie down and be warm! Day six was meant to be a rest day of only 10km but turned into a bushwhacking horror story. Our riverside camp for the next two nights- a very welcome rest (photo author's own) Day 7- unplanned rest day We decided that instead of walk in dripping wet gear and get a chill, to have a well earned day off after some extremely tough days. Tough days not just physically but mentally that have really tested our resolve. Advertisement I managed to dry some gear in between rain storms so that we are better prepared for day 8. All in all quite a testing week for us both. We are half way though the toughest section of the entire walk which is definitely something to be very proud of. Here are three things we learnt this week: 1. Don't wear all your clothes in the rain in an attempt to get warm, it doesn't work 2. I could not manage this walk alone - aside from general wilderness know-how, having someone to share the difficult times with has proved invaluable Experian's research has revealed a growing generational divide in the way the UK population manages its online identities. Millennials are at high risk from online identity fraud as they favour convenience over security concerns. However, there is a divergence in the way different age groups conduct themselves online, causing inconvenience on one hand - and threatening online safety on the other. A generational divide where password are concerned Our research has shown that people across the generations have very different attitudes towards the way they navigate the internet and manage their online accounts, or online IDs. The younger generation appears to be more driven by convenience, and rarely have more than five unique passwords. They are also far more likely to log in to multiple accounts using a single social media online ID. But what they may not realize is that this thirst for convenience leaves them more vulnerable to the threat of identity fraud. In fact, there has also been a sharp increase in the number of cases affecting this age group. Fraud is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, with most offences committed online, according to the ONS. Advertisement Experian's latest Hunter statistics show an increase of five percent year-on-year in those under 30 becoming a target of identity theft, with people living in rental hubs particularly vulnerable: More than one in three cases of third party fraud are carried out against this group. Moreover, in the last three years, fraudulent credit applications for those aged 20-24 has increased by a massive 43 percent, while the rate for 25-29 year olds has increased by 23 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, the older generation were found to be much more likely to use multiple passwords to log in to their online accounts, placing more value on a cautious approach to security at the expense of convenience. One in four admitted to using a memory-taxing 11 or more password combinations. Perhaps it's no surprise that the fraud rate is seen to be falling for all age groups in the 40+ bracket. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that a high proportion of over 55s admit to having problems remembering their codes. This memory strain is a growing problem, with four in ten people stating that they need to use a password memory service to help them remembering all their passwords. While more than half (55%) of those surveyed admit to using the same password for multiple online IDs. Online identity confusion There is also significant confusion about what an online ID is (a login for an online service) - with one in three (31%) of those surveyed admitting they did not know and a further 61 percent choosing different definitions to explain an online identity. Advertisement Three in five (61%) people in the UK admit they don't always understand what they are agreeing to when they sign up for a new profile online, with one in nine (11%) conceding they never understand. The typical person in the UK has an estimated 26 online accounts, or online IDs, with between six and 10 passwords that they use regularly as convenience becomes increasingly important to consumers, the all too familiar and often frustrating process of answering several security questions to prove who you are, and recover your password, could become unsustainable. There are proactive steps customers can take against fraud, and it's important that all businesses remind customers to take them. These include: 1.Don't respond to unsolicited emails and phone calls 2.Use different passwords for different accounts - particularly for your email account and online banking 3.Use strong passwords made up of three random words, plus numbers and symbols, and use a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters Advertisement 4.When using public Wi-Fi, don't log in to any sites that need a password (e.g. your bank, social media or email) or enter personal information such as your card details 5.Always download the latest software on your phone, tablet and computer. This will help protect against malicious software Time to get smart? Given the rising amount of fraud, and the major impact that it can have on consumers, it may be that acceptance of, and demand for biometrics will increase. Fingerprints, voice analysis, iris patterns, vein matching, gait analysis and more, biometric data are unique individual traits - and generally - difficult to fake. With the right technology, biometrics is likely to offer speed and scale to unlock the value in digital customer journeys by creating much harder to break security for consumers that account holders don't even have to remember. And whilst there's a degree of unease around hyper-connectivity and personal privacy, with the right restrictions, well informed guidance and secure storage, safety shouldn't be hindered in the least. Advertisement Of course, it's fair to argue that even biometrics will, in time, become as vulnerable as other platforms. All technologies are in an arms-race as criminals try to crack them and business tries to improve them. To that argument, smart technology and biometrics will be best used as an additional layer to security. It may not be for everyone but it's another tier of protection against identity theft that adds a significant barrier. Stanislav Krasilnikov via Getty Images Russia's 2018 presidential elections are now less than six months away. The Kremlin is almost conspicuously silent about Vladimir Putin seeking to extend his presidential term for six more years. During a tidily choreographed television appearance in August 2017, Putin was asked by a 94-year-old resident of Buryatia to take part in 2018 elections. The incumbent president merely replied that he "would think about it". According to a political scientist Feodor Krasheninnikov, the Kremlin's strategy is to delay Putin's announcement for as long as possible. In the meantime, Russians can inspect the opposition and see for themselves that the choice is scant between the irrelevant, elderly opposition leaders of the 1990s and a popular but dubious new candidate, Alexei Navalny. By the time Putin finally announces his candidacy, he will appear invincible. Advertisement Indeed, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) announced back in October 2016 that its leader, once a maverick politician, now a veteran Duma incumbent, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 71, would once again run for presidency. Grigory Yavlinsky, 65, of Yabloko, who had also first stood as a presidential candidate back in 1996, announced that he was running in February 2017. The leader of the Communist Party, Gennadiy Zyuganov, 73, is yet to announce his decision, but it is widely expected that Zyuganov would participate in his fifth elections in 2018. Neither of these candidates is expected to be a real contender. They are merely being used by the Kremlin to create an illusion of democratic elections. Enter Alexei Navalny, a 41-year-old, charismatic lawyer, political activist and now presidential candidate. Navalny came to prominence as a blogger who created the Anti-Corruption Foundation and organised mass protests against elections fraud in 2011. In 2013, he ran in the Moscow mayoral election and came second with 27% of the votes (losing to the incumbent pro-Kremlin mayor). Navalny's popularity didn't go unnoticed. He has been arrested many times, most notably for fraud and embezzlement in a timber deal in 2012. He was convicted in 2013 with a suspended sentence. The European Court of Human Rights later overturned the conviction, but in February 2017 the Russian court repeated its verdict, charging Navalny with a five-year suspended sentence. Navalny and his supporters believe that his persecution are retaliatory and politically motivated. Navalny intensified his anti-corruption campaigning and announced that he would stand in presidential elections in December 2016. Since then Navalny 2018 campaign opened 76 local offices throughout Russia with Navalny personally visiting over 40 cities and towns. His campaign gathered over 598,000 signatures of support and recruited 151,000 volunteers. Navalny and his team were attacked on numerous occasions; his offices were searched, his fundraising was compromised and many ordinary people were shunned after they had attended anti-corruption marches organised by Navalny. A history teacher from Yeysk, Alexander Korovainy, was asked to resign after he attended a protest meeting on June, 12, 2017. Yet despite many obstacles and the uncertainty whether he would be allowed to run as a candidate with a criminal conviction, Navalny continues his crusade. Today he is the most prominent opposition politician in Russia. Advertisement And yet Navalny, whose YouTube videos generate up to 24 million views, divides opinion in Russia even amongst the liberals. Muscovite Natalia Gorshkova said that come 2018, she would definitely be voting for Navalny. "He is a doer, he is bright, open and charismatic. He is like David fighting Goliath." Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a Russian entrepreneur who moved to London after selling his mobile phone retail business Evroset for $400m in 2009, is routinely donating money to Navalny's campaign. In his recent Instagram post, Chichvarkin explained that he wanted "prosperity for Russia, which is only possible if we re-start the political process. I want elections and alternatives, and this is why I help Navalny." A Russian living in London, who asked to remain anonymous, told me that in his eyes Navalny was the only real opposition politician in Russia. "He may have his flaws, but he has the best chances to effect changes and turn Russia from regressive politics towards the West." Alexander Solovyev, who lives in Ekaterinburg, disagrees. He explains that he doesn't like Navalny because he doesn't trust him. "I don't like the way he talks, his presentation style. I don't see a leader in him", he added. "And most importantly, he has no real strategy as a presidential candidate. He mines anti-corruption and nothing else. It's populism, it's political PR without substance. And Navalny ignores all other important issues as if they don't exist." Advertisement Some go even further and suggest that Navalny is "a provocateur, who is lobbying his own interests by taking advantage of impressionable, immature teenagers". Many Russians think Navalny is the Kremlin's project paid for to create an illusion of opposition. In the years following assassination of Boris Nemtsov in the centre of Moscow in February 2015, it does indeed appear unlikely that Alexei Navalny is allowed to openly criticise the government. Moreover, according to political scientist Alexander Morozov, many Russians, brought up on authoritarian practices of the Soviet days, do not believe it is possible for anyone to be independent or to act without prior approval from the Kremlin. The same applies to the fans of conspiracy theories, who believe the entire world is ruled by the powerful financial elite, which calls the shots in a game where Putin, Navalny and Trump are mere puppets. New figures show the number of children walking to school is on the up. According to this year's National Travel Survey, 53% of 5-10 years olds in England walk to school compared to 48% in 2015. This comes after years of decline, so for a charity like Living Streets that exists to promote walking, it's great news. As the new school year approaches in England and Wales - and is already underway in Scotland - we need to ensure this is an upward trend that continues and not just a one-off. Walking to school makes children healthier, helps develop road safety skills, independence and opportunities to socialise. For a country with a child obesity crisis this is doubly important. Yet nearly a quarter of morning peak traffic comes from families on the school run; you can tell from the easing of traffic in the school holidays. Congested roads are an obvious side effect, as is poor air quality. And many parents and teachers tell us that cars converging all at once at the school gates causes road danger. Are any of these car journeys avoidable? Well yes. We know that 95% of households are no further than a 20 minute walk from the nearest primary school. Advertisement The government has already done one good thing - using the proceeds from the 'sugar tax' on fizzy drinks to fund schools through the PE and Sport premium to promote healthy activity, including walking to school. Air pollution has been dubbed 'the tobacco of the 21st century'. It's harmful to us all - but children are more at risk as they retain pollutants in the body for longer. Some parents may believe the myth that by being inside the car their children are more protected from air pollution; but this is simply not true. A range of research shows children sitting in the backseat of vehicles are likely to be exposed to even higher levels of air pollution than those on foot . The government recently announced its ban on new diesel and petrol vehicles from 2040. This is all very well but 40,000 people each year are dying prematurely due to air pollution and the government itself says: 'Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK'. So we can't wait that long. We need action now. Reducing our reliance on the car is the key and walking our everyday journeys is an important part of the solution. Living Streets' walk to school campaign each year reaches nearly a million children in 3,500 schools. WOW - our year-round walk to school programme - encourages children to walk to school, scoot or cycle regularly. Advertisement Schools which take part in WOW see walking rates increase by an average of 23% accompanied by a drop of 30% in cars arriving at the school gate. Programmes like WOW are having an incredibly positive effect - the numbers speak for themselves. It's vital that these interventions continue to be supported so we can enable and encourage even more families to walk to school. If time is too big an issue, then consider Park and Stride - park at least ten minutes away from the school and walk the rest of the way. It's better to spend the last 10 minutes walking than stuck in traffic. And even if it does end up quicker in the car, those 5 or 10 minutes extra a day will add up to a lifetime of memories made walking and talking with your child. Many parents and children tell us that the walk to school provides quality family time. So if you're thinking about how you're going to do the school run next week, I urge you to try walking. It's free, an easy way for children to get more active and it helps improve air quality around the school. That's benefiting your child not just for now but for the rest of their life. Having both a daughter and niece with dyslexia, I have seen the effect this condition has had on their self belief and confidence, but I firmly believe that dyslexia should not be a major obstacle that impedes lives and limits aspirations. If detected early enough, the impact will not be as seismic. Strategies can be taught in order that individuals with dyslexia can mange their own learning and reach their full potential. Dyslexia is, according to NHS UK, a 'specific learning difficulty' that affects the individual's ability to read and write." It has many different degrees and affects people in many different ways. It is unique to the person. Dyslexia can have a serious impact on short term and working memory, causing problems with organisation and difficulty in following numerous or complicated instructions. Some people find that their words 'swim' or move on the page or certain words come out of the page at them. Their intellect is not compromised, however, if the signs are not picked up early enough, the child will certainly sink educationally without a trace. If left undiagnosed, they feel cast adrift, mentally running just to stand still, always feeling that they are less bright and able than their peers. With this exhausting struggle, it is all too easy and very common for the child to become disengaged and to simply stop trying. Advertisement Education now dictates that all children must possess a pass in GCSE English and Maths. Many young people going to college now have to re-sit these examinations whilst studying their college course. If they fail to achieve a pass by the end of year 12, they stand the very real possibility of being ejected from a course that they can do, on the basis of what they are unable to do. The Albert Einstein quote sums this up beautifully: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." Why is dyslexia so often missed in school? The answer escapes me. It is true that individuals affected are very good at disguising their difficulties, but even so, I feel that when a child is becoming disengaged, falling behind or becoming behaviourally challenging, then at the very least dyslexia should be considered both at primary and secondary level. After all, it is believed that 1 in 10 to 20 people are affected by this condition, it is therefore by no means uncommon. Individuals with dyslexia are employable. They are often highly creative but are being sidelined. Perhaps it is time to change the requirement to one that proves basic literacy but does not require them to understand and apply alliteration, metaphors and similes to convoluted texts that have no meaning for them. They need an exam that highlights what they can do; let's be honest, how many of us would be able to unpick the texts that these young people are asked to nowadays? Just how relevant is this to the world of work? Is all really lost if metaphors are missed? Advertisement The most recent GCSE results seem to be focused on the top end students, differentiating degrees of brilliance into a numerical format. But lower down the scale, young people are still failing to gain this essential qualification. Life cannot start in the job market until it is achieved. The cost for some individuals with dyslexia, especially those who were not diagnosed until later in life, is one of feeling constantly set up to fail. How are they supposed to feel positive about themselves when the bar set is so high? More awareness in schools is essential. Early strategies and interventions are imperative for people with dyslexia, because once strategies are learnt then they can go on to achieve all that they are capable of. With computerisation, so comes help. They can use new tech to write down what they want to say and read text that previously they were unable to access. New technology can level the playing field, it is not about giving an unfair advantage. Denying the correct support is the equivalent of asking a child who requires visual aids to remove them throughout their school life, but expect them to keep up with their peers. It is unrealistic, unfair and a potential waste of untapped talent. Whilst the case of a Christian toddler forced to live with a Muslim family in England has reignited the Far Right and caused uproar worldwide, a much bigger and more important story is being missed. It's a story about a broken system, one which routinely fails children and which fights to stay alive through financial incentives. There can be no excuse for sending a vulnerable child into an environment where they feel scared and alone. Leaked social work reports confirmed that the toddler had sobbed and begged not to be returned to the family after being told to remove her cross and prevented from eating spaghetti Carbonara because it had pork in it. The child was recorded as being deeply distressed and unable to understand the family, who spoke Arabic. The family's actions have understandably sparked a debate about the practice of Islam, however their behaviour was motivated by ignorance, not religion. Being orthodox, whether as a Muslim, Jew, Christian or any other faith denomination does not prevent believers from accommodating others, even if they are under their roof. A lack of education and understanding does. Advertisement The fault lies squarely with Tower Hamlets local authority, whose inadequate rating by Ofsted saw that the council made the news for its "... widespread and serious failures in the services provided to children who need help and protection in Tower Hamlets". Someone should have asked whether the carers would be comfortable taking on a child whose daily rituals would be different to their own. Uprooting a vulnerable child in need is one thing, removing any vestige of normality, any sense of familiarity they hold, should never be allowed. At the tender age of five, the girl's cross was not a religious symbol to her, it was a source of comfort, something that she relied on to feel safe in a world full of uncertainty and fear. The spaghetti too, a sense of home, and warmth. That no one stopped to think about what these things meant to the toddler is a disgrace, but it is exactly the job of social services to be aware of contexts like this one. A lot has happened since The Times broke its story about the case, on Monday. The little girl has since been reunited with her grandmother. The Family Court held a hearing on Tuesday, in which Judge Sapnara ruled that it would be in the child's best interests to live with a member of her family who could meet her needs "in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion". This begs the question, if this was in the girl's best interests, why wasn't the placement made at the outset? Advertisement To understand that, we have to go beyond the debate about orthodox religion, prejudice and hate, and look closely at a child welfare system which puts profit before protection - and exploits families in poverty. Budget cuts spurred on by austerity measures have left councils cash strapped and social workers tearing their hair out trying to work inside teams bound by red tape and dwindling resources. There are good child protection professionals on the ground, but at management level things become more complicated. Directors and team leaders are under increasing pressure to ease the government's social burden by removing children from vulnerable parents whose ongoing difficulties cost the state serious money. One way of doing this is through fostering. To galvanise councils into action, the government has routinely offered financial incentives, both for fostering children and adopting them. Reports like this one from Oxford University suggest that those who come forward to foster have mostly altruistic motives for doing so, though there is little evidence to substantiate this claim. Whilst virtually no data exists on life circumstances of UK foster carers or the kinds of income they earn before taking on children, emerging research could offer clues about deeper motivations. A toolkit produced by the Fostering Network in 2012, called "The Motivations To Foster", received 1,400 responses to its survey asking about reasons for fostering. The respondents were members of the Fostering Network, which is made up of 42,000 foster carers - less than 4% of the network's membership. The survey reveals that of those who took part, the majority who fostered were between 35 and 45, with 84% of carers having children of their own and most moving into fostering after deciding to leave work. Advertisement The Oxford University study also highlights research that suggests a significant number of foster carers do in fact choose to foster after losing a job, or because they are looking to cover every day costs. This implies in part that the money being given to foster carers to look after children is seen as a convenient way to cover household bills and other every day expenses. These findings leave open the door for an important debate on fostering income as a way to fend off poverty for families who themselves may be in need. The Muslim family in this case may well have chosen to foster for income. In 2014, Tower Hamlets had the second highest unemployment rate across London and almost half (49%) of children in Tower Hamlets were in poverty. As of 2016, it is now the worst place in England for child poverty. Families in the borough are clearly struggling and could be looking for ways to make ends meet. Fostering offers a way to do that. Parents can stay at home, raise their own children and cover utility bills without having to juggle conventional employment at the same time. Making fostering an attractive option has become a brazen pass time for agencies, who look to target those thinking about caring for children. Private agencies like Simply Fostering offer around 450 a week for taking on a child, and outline breakdowns of yearly 'earnings' on their website as well as financial 'perks', quick to tell prospective carers that it's tax free income. Bragging about incentives is a common feature of the fostering sector, with agencies openly admitting that parents come forward for the cash. No mention is made of the often emotionally exhausting work in caring for traumatised children or the ongoing battles with biological parents looking to reverse care orders. All of that is conveniently swept under the carpet to ensure smooth transactions between agency and parent. It's mass exploitation of families in need on both sides of the deal, and though no research has been done in this area could be an important factor in a lack of stability within placements which break down at an alarming rate. Advertisement This disturbing case is not about Muslim customs or the rights and wrongs of faith. It is about the need for better social work training, properly allocated budgets and finding alternative ways to source foster carers who have the insight and stamina to take on children in need of deep love and affection. It is about child protection professionals understanding what judges have been saying for years, what the law and policy tell us about rehousing children - that family members and friends must be considered first before sending a delicate child into an unfamiliar environment. Channel 4 For the past week, Daesh's deathly destruction has once again dominated our airwaves. Some of this comes as a result of The State, Channel 4's controversial but important depiction of four young Brits travelling to Syria. Sadly, much of the debate has also been the result of the horrific, real-life atrocities in Barcelona less than a fortnight ago. One common thread across this coverage is particularly striking - the strong bond between the perpetrators and their families. In Barcelona, the attackers were all young men who had been radicalised, the youngest being just 17. One had travelled to Morocco to visit his family before the attack and another left a note to his parents begging forgiveness. Advertisement Family relationships were also at the heart of the stories featured in The State. The central character's motivation for travelling to Syria was a misplaced desire to follow in his brother's footsteps despite his father later pleading for him to return. Powerful scenes also depicted those radicalised desperate to call home and in the final episode, a mother abandoning the militants to save her son. Together this points to the unique relationship between parents and their children. It can also signify the guilt associated with the perpetrators' violent intent and the fact family relationships can so often be the spark that changes hearts and minds for the better. Some will argue that their families could, and should, have done more. This is an understandable and human perspective. After all, the parents of the Barcelona attackers have themselves expressed disbelief and shame that such "good boys" have committed an act of such evil. One women who lived in the same Spanish town has spoken of her remorse at not acting on her concerns. While we cannot and must not blame their relatives or friends, we can encourage people to have frank conversations before it's too late. That's why I started a campaign called Families Matter supporting parents, family and friends concerned that their loved ones might be vulnerable to radicalisation or extremists. Families are often best positioned to spot the signs of radicalisation. I have met many mothers and fathers who have seen their children groomed online, often before their eyes. The despair at not knowing what to do can be gut-wrenching, making it even more important they know who to speak to, so that where possible tragedies are avoided. Advertisement Much of the criticism of The State has been based on the idea it humanises those joining Daesh. But the point is that those who commit terrorist acts are human, and preventing future atrocities requires an understanding of how they entered down that dark path. Whether or not you watched it, liked it or hated it, the series raises the imperative question of what drives young people to turn away from the people that love them. There is no exact science to knowing whether someone is planning an act of terror. Yet while no two radicalisation journeys are alike, the presence of risk factors, vulnerabilities and potential moments of intervention are almost universal. This could include feeling isolated, excluded and unworthy. Young people attracted to Daesh are almost always vulnerable in some way, which is the very reason they can be targeted by those espousing venous hatred. Like a parasitic vulture preying on the weakest, extremists are experts in picking out their prey. No matter who you are or what you believe, we all have a role to play in tackling terrorism. As a British Muslim, but also as a human being and a mother, I feel a deep responsibility to do what I can. As individuals, families and communities it is incumbent on us all to have these conversations and work together. The signs might not always be obvious. That's why raising awareness about what they might be and what to do is so important. The second you sense that something is wrong is the second you should feel able to seek help. You can get in touch with us if any of these issues concern you as well as find information on spotting the signs. By reaching out, the love of a mother, brother, father, sister or friend can make all the difference. Important Info For Organizing/Performing At Hurricane Harvey Benefit Concert Organizing or considering playing a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Harvey? We here provide info on how you can submit your benefit event & event producer's contact info, as well as contact info for artists with serious interest in performing at an upcoming benefit concert. __________________________ Guest post from the Texas Music Office CONTACT Texas Music Office ORGANIZING OR CONSIDERING PLAYING A BENEFIT CONCERT? PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR BENEFIT EVENT & EVENT PRODUCER'S CONTACT INFOAS WELL AS CONTACT INFO FOR ARTISTS WITH SERIOUS INTEREST IN PERFORMING AT AN UPCOMING BENEFIT CONCERT The Texas Music Office is currently working with event producers around the state who are planning benefit concerts for all those affected by the massive devastation of Hurricane Harvey. If you have a benefit concert already planned , please submit that event info to with "HURRICANE HARVEY Benefit Concert" in the email's subject line. , please submit that event info to music@gov.texas.gov with "HURRICANE HARVEY Benefit Concert" in the email's subject line. If you are an artist or band that is interested in volunteering to perform at an upcoming benefit concert, please send serious inquiries to music@gov.texas.gov with "INTERESTED IN PERFORMING at Hurricane Harvey Benefit Concert" in the email's subject line. , please send serious inquiries towith "INTERESTED IN PERFORMING at Hurricane Harvey Benefit Concert" in the email's subject line. We will use our social media channels, and work with Texas media, to help publicize the upcoming music-related benefit concert info to the public. Although some benefit concerts are already scheduled to begin as early as this weekend, we anticipate many more will take place after the flood waters subside. Watch our social media feeds (and subscribe to our newsletter) for our most up-to-date info on Hurricane Harvey-related benefit concertsand for general info on how you can help. ### The Texas Music Office (TMO) is a state-funded business promotion office and information clearinghouse for the Texas music industry. The TMO assists more than 15,000 individual clients each year. Under mandate from the Texas Legislature, the office "promotes the development of the music industry in the state by informing members of that industry and the public about the resources available in the state for music production." Share on: Lanesborough's P.J. Pannesco and Williamstown's Caitlin Lopez and Joe Johnson participate in Tuesday's joint meeting. Latest Mount Greylock Regionalization Proposal Maximizes Local Control Williamstown School Committee Chairman Joe Bergeron explains the funding mechanism for elementary schools in the new proposal for an expanded Mount Greylock Regional School District. LANESBOROUGH, Mass. The latest proposal to expand the Mount Greylock Regional School District would allow each member town to control the budget of its elementary school. The elementary school committees from Williamstown and Lanesborough met Tuesday to review a draft regional agreement that would expand Mount Greylock Regional School District to include both its "feeder" schools. Both Mount Greylock's member towns have agreed to Nov. 14 as the potential date for twin special town meetings to approve the regional expansion, an idea that has been under discussion for years at the junior-senior high school, which did a yearlong study of the issue in 2013. Earlier this year, the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee decided to let the elementary school committees take the lead on finalizing a proposed amendment to the agreement that created the junior-senior high school district in 1958. Williamstown School Committee Chairman Joe Bergeron and Lanesborough School Committee Chairwoman Regina DiLego presented their colleagues with a proposal they believe accomplishes the goals of expanded regionalization while addressing some of the concerns raised during Mount Greylock's recent second incarnation of its Regional District Amendment Committee. The objective remains the same: preserving the fiscal and educational advantages achieved by the current shared services agreements under which Mount Greylock shares a central administration costs with the elementary schools, which operate as Superintendency Union 71. The chief objections that emerged this year when Mount Greylock was leading the conversation centered on the question of local control. Bergeron said the current draft of the agreement offers the best of both worlds: a unified district that still allows each town to control funding for its elementary school. "The traditional regional school district structure that is most common is to split the budget based on the pupil ratio," Bergeron said. "That works especially well when you have a set of schools that serve students from numerous member towns. Then it's all mixed together already, and the only fair way to do it is to say: However many students you have, you pay based on that. "In our structure, each town wants to keep its elementary school." And each town ultimately would pay for its elementary school, under an agreement that would apportion the Mount Greylock share of the budget as it currently is split and give each town a K-6 assessment based on the operating budget for its school. Bergeron said the locally controlled costs for elementary schools model has been used in other regional districts in the commonwealth, and officials at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have given their preliminary approval to implementing the funding mechanism at an expanded Mount Greylock. "It is something that addresses concerns people have had in that it snips that cord between the elementary schools," he said. "It makes it so you don't have the two towns reaching into each others' elementary school budgets because they don't need to." Despite perceptions that Williamstown and Lanesborough residents have different approaches to funding education, the reality is that the towns' elementary schools are not dissimilar, Bergeron said. "Our two elementary schools, by most metrics, are the top two elementary schools in the county," he said. "We're already using the same curriculum material. In theory, the schools could diverge but the [Mount Greylock] School Committee would ultimately have control over that." The three schools' teachers, paraprofessionals and other union personnel would negotiate contracts for personnel in all three buildings with the newly configured Mount Greylock Regional School Committee, so a big part of the cost of education will be the same at both elementary schools. The "local control" would come into play at the margins of the budget. The budgets for all three schools would be developed and reviewed by each school's School Council a volunteer committee that would achieve new prominence under the expanded regional structure. "The places we're likely to diverge are if Lanesborough has a program it really wants that's extracurricular and so does Williamstown, rather than [the School Committee] saying, Lanesborough's costs $9,000 and Williamstown's costs $11,000, it's not fair that we're giving $2,000 more to Williamstown," Bergeron said. Or, as Lanesborough School Committee member P.J. Pannesco put it, "If the Lanesborough School Council said, we want to put gold-plated desks in each room, that has no effect on Williamstown." Besides the local control of elementary school budgets, other concerns officials have heard from voters include a fear that Mount Greylock will "take over" the elementary schools and worries that the school district could decide to close one of the two elementaries. Bergeron said the former concern is addressed by the draft amendment's outline for a transition to the new governance structure. If expanded regionalization passes on Nov. 14, the current Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Nov. 15 will form a transitional committee composed of four members from the Mount Greylock (two residents from each town), two members from the Williamstown School Committee and one member from the Lanesborough committee. The two elementary school committees would be disbanded on July 1, 2018, and all seven seats on the Mount Greylock School Committee would be on the ballot in November 2018 (with staggered terms). The latter concern, school closure, was exacerbated after the neighboring Adams-Cheshire Regional School District closed Cheshire Elementary School in the spring. But Mount Greylock's draft amendment from 2013 anticipated that issue with language that prohibited closure of either elementary school without an affirmative vote from the residents of both towns. That language was carried over into the draft Bergeron and DiLego presented on Tuesday. "If Lanesborough Elementary School ever was to close, it would be because Lanesborough decided to close it," Pannesco said. Bergeron on Tuesday also addressed another concern not specific to the language in the regional agreement. Whenever school districts join into a region, there is an impact on teachers' contracts, which must be aligned without negatively impacting employees. Critics of regionalization have argued that aligning the contracts will cost more money than the schools save by joining under one district. But Bergeron said Tuesday that those costs would be offset by a state incentive for regional districts. "The [Framingham-based] Abrahams Group estimated that the overall budget impact [of contract alignment] would be $70,000 the school district would be spending in year one," he said. "That's more than offset by the state's regional transportation aid. Bringing WES and LES in in FY16 would have brought $192,000 more. "People would argue that you can't count on that because the rate of reimbursement varies but that $190,000 won't drop to $20,000. We can reasonably expect to come out a little better financially than in the prior year." Neither elementary school committee Tuesday voted on the draft amendment, but each may take up the issue in special meetings planned for next Wednesday. Bergeron said the likely path from there will be to take the proposal to the Mount Greylock School Committee, which will make a formal request to each town's Board of Selectmen to put a warrant article before the special town meeting. Between now and Nov. 14, Bergeron and DiLego said school committee members from all three schools will educate town officials and voters about the issue. 'The Only Living Boy in New York': What This World Needs Now Call me a hopeless romantic. It's my excuse for liking and recommending to kindred spirits director Marc Webb's decidedly imperfect, melodramatic and oft soap-operatic "The Only Living Boy in New York." My justification is in service to the rather dire straits in which our nation currently finds itself. Quite plainly, to coin a phrase, what this world needs now is love, sweet love. And while this coming-of-age tale doesn't completely fill said need, it does supply that second-best commodity: sappiness. It's sophisticated sappiness, but sappiness all the same. In cosmopolitan Manhattan, Thomas Webb, the twenty-something son of elite, Upper West Side brownstone dwellers, searches for his destiny whilst roughing it on the Lower East Side and trying to win the charms of otherwise spoken-for beauty, Mimi (Kiersey Clemons). His bigtime publisher dad, Ethan, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan, is a standoffish highbrow. So it only follows in good hackneyed form that his mom, Judith, played by Cynthia Nixon, is a fragile, hothouse flower of a beauty prone to depression on a moment's notice. Such is Thomas's cross to bear. There's enough snob appeal here to go around, and y'know what? Adding to my hopeless romanticism, I'm probably more of a fop than I care to admit. I kind of like these people. Seen through the correctly adjusting social filters, their demeanor and assumed station, whether East Side Silk Stocking sorts or our more demure West Siders, isn't a bad way to be rich. The better of the bunch are intelligent, educated, well-mannered and, whether through noblesse oblige, hobby, true empathy or a combination thereof, dedicated to charitable works. Thomas, a recent college grad, is intellectually more or less OK with all that, but nonetheless needs to splatter his given heritage with a raging of youthful cynicism and perfunctory objection. Dad just wishes the kid would get on with it already. But, it becomes increasingly apparent as the saga unravels that, in this update, intentional or not, of the social and personal forces that bewildered Dustin Hoffman's Ben Braddock in "The Graduate" (1967), Thomas has to experience his watershed of rebellion and grand indecisiveness before joining the herd. If you remember, you guys lucky enough to have experienced that time in the crucible of identity crisis, it's a pretty tough and rather dark period through which to navigate. You are sure everything going forward depends on it. Therefore, mentors, whether a gaggle of Seven Dwarf types in a neighborhood bar, a graduate school professor, or, for want of a better description, the fairy godfather who literally shows up on Thomas's doorstep, can be consoling and helpful. Here, add to my hopeless romanticism and foppishness that I'm as corny as Kansas in August. While it's supposed to be a mystery just who Jeff Bridges's W.F. Gerald is, I suspect that viewers more familiar with such soapy fare might know right off the bat the identity of the hard-drinking, kindly, philosophical guy who moves in just upstairs from Thomas. Which is probably why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will intentionally overlook this stellar performance. Packing an inestimable amount of scholarship, Zeitgeist, psychology and kindliness into his character, Bridges again proves he is a national treasure. We look forward to W.F.'s pontifications, tacitly hoping that in his tutorials to a self-disparaging Thomas we will gather some chestnuts of philosophy that perhaps eluded us on our own road to find out stuff. Oh, to have his counsel ... a wise old philosopher to help sort through the countless mysteries that can flummox a young man trepidatiously dipping his toe into adulthood. Plus, he's entertaining as heck, and quick with a yarn to shed light on whatever perplexity rears its ugly cloud. In this enamoring respect, Bridges nearly steals the show, and it's just as well. Fact is, while the plot does provide a bit of calculable intrigue and the main players adequately sketch their stereotypes, it's Bridges' catalytic charm that supplies the poetry necessary to put the film a cut above the commonplace theatric it might have been. Otherwise, Callum Turner is appropriately likeable as Thomas; Pierce Brosnan is credible as his patrician dad; Cynthia Nixon is solid as the vulnerable mom; and Kate Beckinsale as the beautiful Johanna is chillingly vampish as a pivotal character whose morality I won't divulge. I've been here before ... apologist for a movie I know full well is not snootily smart, enticingly cutting edge or apt to be discussed ad nauseam over lattes in the bohemian coffee house of your choice. But it does sweetly speak to the quandaries implicit in our humanity with little pretense. And while its self-effacing but nonetheless loving look at the Manhattan milieu in which it takes place is, in Woody Allen fashion, but a convenient fiction, I like that place. All of which is why I may be one of the only living critics who applauds "The Only Living Boy in New York." "The Only Living Boy in New York," rated R, is a Roadside Attractions release directed by Marc Webb and stars Callum Turner, Jeff Bridges and Kate Beckinsale. Running time: 88 minutes Ukraine's Finance Ministry is discussing a project to raise a $250 million loan to build the central spent nuclear fuel storage facility with the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has said. "The participation of the Finance Ministry in the project is key for attracting the financing at the more favorable conditions for Energoatom. We are working on the launch of the project in the future on the mutually beneficial conditions," he wrote on his Facebook page after a meeting with OPIC President Ray Washburne in Kyiv on Wednesday. "It is important for use to shape a model that could be typical for other OPIC projects," he said. The minister also said that the potential cooperation in the energy sector, in particular, the oil and gas sector, was discussed at the meeting. As reported, Energoatom seeks to raise $250 million from Bank of America Merrill Lynch by October 2017 to build the facility. Currently the company is financing the works using the funds included in its tariff for electricity transmission. On August 23, 2017, OPIC said that it intends to issue Breach of Contract for Capital Markets political risk insurance (BOC Coverage) for the $250 million loan raised by Energoatom via Central Storage Safety Project Trust (Delaware) to develop and build the central spent nuclear fuel storage facility. The project is pending approval of the Board of Directors on September 14, 2017. OPIC said that this is a form of expropriation coverage that insures against the risks of nonpayment of an arbitral award OPIC by Energoatom and the government of Ukraine and denial of justice by the government of Ukraine. U.S. procurement associated with this project is for storage, transfer and transportation canisters, engineering services, labor, and related equipment being supplied by Holtec International. The total project cost is around $410 million. Once fully operational, the project will store an estimated 169,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel per year on average. The project will result in almost $50 million in annual avoided costs for Energoatom. According to Interfax-Ukraine's information, the Finance Ministry of Ukraine also could secure the project to cheapen the cost of the loan. Iran Works to Expand Military Influence, Israel Puts World on Notice The Fellowship | August 31, 2017 As Iran Works to Expand Military Influence Stand for Israel continues to keep you abreast of Irans encroachment in Syria, especially as the Islamic Republic and its terror proxies fill the void left by the Islamic State (ISIS). And just as ISIS posed a very real threat to Israel and the rest of the region, JNS Yaakov Lappin writes that Israel will resort to military action of the international community does nothing to stop Irans push to turn Syria into its own weapons base: Iran is expanding into Syria, converting the country into a military and weapons base, filling it with heavily armed Shia proxy forces, and earmarking it as a launchpad for future attacks on Israel. Israel, in turn, has recently put the international community on notice, warning that a failure to stop the Iranian push into Syria will result in Israeli military action. In this context, Israeli officials have traveled to the U.S. and Russia in recent weeks, to share information on Irans military moves into Syria, and to sound out the alarm over what may come next. Yet it remains far from clear that either Moscow or Washington can or will pressure the Iranians to stop The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine would help to receive access to foreign markets by Ukrainian pipe manufacturers, in particular, the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), especially Kazakhstan and Belarus. The ministry said in a press release that the obstacles for supplies of Ukrainian pipes to foreign markets were discussed at a meeting of Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Ukraine's Trade Representative Natalia Mykolska with representatives of the pipe industry. According to the release, the sides discussed exports of Ukrainian products, including the problems of getting access to foreign market for pipe products, in particular, the EAEU market. Ukrainian manufacturers expressed alarm with the situation around the antidumping duties for steel pipes. The antidumping duty of 18.9-37.8% does not allow Ukrainian products to compete on the EAEU market. At present, the safeguard measures are being reviewed. This was initiated by Ukrainian manufacturers aiming to liberalize them. "It is important for us to oppose measures that restrict access of Ukrainian pipe products to foreign markets. We will consider the possibility of protecting Ukraine's rights and interests in the trade and economic sphere within the WTO [World Trade Organization] agreements," Mykolska said. The participants of the meeting said that the safeguard measures related to the access of Ukrainian pipes, in particular to the traditional markets of Kazakhstan and Belarus, are artificial and do not meet the requirements of the international trade law established by the WTO. The ministry will work out the issue of protecting the interests of the domestic production sector, taking into account the mechanisms permitted under the WTO rules. The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: Imperial Valley News Center President Trump's Tax Reform Plan Washington, DC - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson: "The tax reform plan President Trump announced today is a vital measure for strengthening U.S. prosperity as well as global prosperity through investment and job creation. "A strong economy is a fundamental element of U.S. foreign policy, and the State Department will continue to engage in economic diplomacy to bolster the prosperity of our nation through increased investment and trade." Imperial Valley News Center USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill to Support Hurricane Harvey Relief Norfolk, Virginia - Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Adm. Phil Davidson, has ordered the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) and dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) to get underway from their Norfolk, homeports to support federal, state and local authorities ongoing relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Kearsarge along with Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will depart Naval Station Norfolk on tomorrow. Oak Hill will depart from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. These ships are capable of providing medical support, maritime civil affairs, maritime security, expeditionary logistic support, medium and heavy lift air support, and bring a diverse capability including assessment and security. State and local agencies are in the lead for this response effort. We recognize recovery from this catastrophic disaster will be a long-term effort. We are leaning forward to fully support FEMA and Texas with DoD assistance as requested. Governor Brown Announces Appointments Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments: Brantley Choate, 54, of Rocklin, has been appointed director of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has served as superintendent of correctional education since 2014. Choate was director of inmate educational programs at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department from 2011 to 2014, director of adult education at the Sacramento City Unified School District from 2008 to 2011 and held several positions at the Hayward Adult School from 2007 to 2008, including principal and assistant principal. He founded the Golden Hills School in 1992, where he was principal from 1992 to 2003, and was owner at El Dorado Tutorial Center from 1990 to 1993. Choate was an English as a Second Language teacher for the Liberty Union High School District from 1988 to 1990 and for the Brentwood Union School District from 1987 to 1991. He earned Doctor of Education and Master of Arts degrees in educational leadership from Saint Marys College. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,320. Choate is a Republican. Ryan Souza, 33, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director for program support at the Division of Rehabilitative Programs at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has been associate director of administrative operations and program support since 2016. Souza served in several positions in the Budget Management Office of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2013 to 2016 and in 2011 and 2009, including chief of budget field operations, assistant chief of technical operations, staff services manager, associate budget analyst and budget analyst. He was a medical contract analyst at Valley State Prison from 2009 to 2011. Souza earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Humphreys University Drivon School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $132,204. Souza is a Democrat. Sarah J. Neville-Morgan, 48, of Davis, has been appointed to the California State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care, where she was deputy executive director from 2010 to 2011. Neville-Morgan has been director at the California Department of Education, Early Education and Support Division since 2017. She held several positions at First 5 California from 2013 to 2017 and from 2000 to 2010, including deputy director of the Program Management Division and child development consultant. Neville-Morgan was a child development consultant at the California Department of Education from 2011 to 2013. She was a trainer for the infant and toddler care program at WestEd in 2000 and adjunct faculty for the Foster Care Education Program at Woodland Community College from 1999 to 2000. Neville-Morgan was an academic child development specialist for the Center for Child and Family Studies at the University of California, Davis from 1996 to 2000, where she was a head teacher from 1994 to 1996. She was a program assistant and researcher for the California Child Care Initiative Project at the City of Davis Child Care Services from 1995 to 1996 and a head start intern at the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency in 1993. Neville-Morgan is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She earned a Master of Science degree in child development from the University of California, Davis. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Neville-Morgan is a Democrat. Keyondria D. Bunch, 39, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Bunch has been a clinical psychologist for the Emergency Outreach Bureau at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health since 2016, where she has served in several positions since 2008, including clinical psychologist for the Specialized Foster Care Van Nuys Co-Located Program, clinical psychologist for juvenile justice mental health quality assurance and a clinical psychologist for Valley Coordinated Childrens Services. She was an adjunct lecturer at Antioch University in 2015 and a guest lecturer at the HELP Group in 2007. Bunch was a staff psychologist at Childrens Institute Inc. from 2007 to 2008 and a behavioral therapist at the Beautiful Minds Center for Autism from 2005 to 2006. She held several positions at the University of Southern California from 2002 to 2006, including research assistant, guest lecturer, teaching assistant and disability counselor for disability services and programs. Bunch was a research assistant at Harvard University from 2001 to 2002. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California and a Master of Education degree in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bunch is a Democrat. Catherine J. Blakemore, 64, of El Dorado Hills, has been appointed to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, where she has served since 2007. Blakemore has been executive director at Disability Rights California since 1993, where she was legal director from 1980 to 1993 and managing attorney from 1980 to 1987. She was a part-time assistant professor at California State University, Los Angeles from 1980 to 1992, where she was a lecturer for the Paralegal Training Program from 1978 to 1992. Blakemore was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1978 to 1980 and at Disability Rights Legal Center from 1977 to 1978. She is vice chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice and member of the California Supreme Court, State Bar Board of Trustees Nominating Committee. Blakemore earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Blakemore is a Democrat. Robin L. Hansen, 66, of Davis, has been appointed to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, where she has served since 2009. Hansen has been director at University of California, Davis Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities since 2006. She has been a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine since 2005, where she has been chief of the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Section since 1998, and has been director for clinical programs at University of California, Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute since 2003. Hansen was vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine from 2003 to 2007, where she was an associate professor of clinical pediatrics from 1985 to 2005. She was director of the Child Development Program at University of California Medical Center from 1986 to 1998. Hansen was director of the Nursery Follow-Up Clinic at Kaiser Permanente Medical Group from 1982 to 1989, where she was a pediatrician from 1982 to 1985. She was an instructor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and acting chief of pediatrics at the John F. Kennedy Child Development Center from 1981 to 1982. Hansen is co-chair of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Mentor Match Committee, chair of the University of California, Davis Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders Conference Planning Committee and member of the University of California, Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute Executive Committee. She earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hansen is registered without party preference. Olivia U. Raynor, 63, of Westlake Village, has been appointed to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, where she has served since 2003. Raynor has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior since 2009. She has been director at the University of California, Los Angeles Tarjan Center since 2000, where she served in several positions from 1994 to 2009, including co-director, associate director of policy, advocacy and outreach and coordinator of occupational therapy and has been founding director for the University of California, Los Angeles National Arts and Disability Center since 1994. Raynor was administrator and director of the California Employment Consortium for Youth and Young Adults with Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities from 2011 to 2017. She is a member of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Board of Directors, where she was president from 2014 to 2015. Raynor earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in educational psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of Arts degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Raynor is a Democrat. Ardis S. Bazyn, 66, of Burbank, has been reappointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where she has served since 2013. Bazyn has been president and chief executive officer at Bazyn Communications since 1999. She was a community outreach representative at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in 2004 and a food service manager at Cedar Rapids Post Office Vending from 1984 to 1999. Bazyn is secretary for the California Council of the Blinds Board of Directors and Students Program. She is second vice president of the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America and a member of its Glendale-Burbank Chapter. She earned a Master of Education degree in arts in teaching from Coe College. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Bazyn is registered without party preference. Joseph Cody, 31, of Fresno, has been reappointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where he has served since 2014. Cody has been director of community resources at Resources for Independence, Central Valley since 2011. He was a case manager at the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno from 2010 to 2011, where he was a programs specialist from 2007 to 2008. Cody was an AmeriCorps VISTA member at HandsOn Central California from 2008 to 2009. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Cody is a Democrat. Fiona C. Hinze, 27, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where she has served since 2014. Hinze has been systems change coordinator and community organizer at the Independent Living Resources Center San Francisco since 2014, where she was a community activities coordinator in 2014. She was a teaching assistant at the Stanford University Department of Human Biology in 2013 and at the Stanford University Department of Psychology in 2012. Hinze was a research assistant at the Stanford Prevention Research Center at the Stanford School of Medicine from 2011 to 2012. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hinze is a Democrat. Jacqueline M. Jackson, 61, of San Diego, has been reappointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where she has served since 2013. Jackson has been a guest lecturer at San Diego State University since 2002 and an independent nonprofit management consultant since 1994. She was development director and a consultant at the San Diego Center for the Blind from 2002 to 2004 and director for charter school development at Norman and Norman Inc. from 1996 to 2005. Jackson was an education consultant at the School Futures Research Foundation from 1994 to 1996 and director of education, health and family support services at the Urban League San Diego from 1988 to 1994. She is a member of the San Diego County Committee for Persons with Disabilities, San Diego County Disability Issues Committee, American Council of the Blind, San Diego County Voter Accessibility Committee, Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Programs Equipment Program Advisory Committee, San Diego Braille Club, San Diego Delta Foundation Inc. and the California Council of the Blind. Jackson earned a Master of Arts degree in nonprofit leadership and management from the University of San Diego. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Jackson is a Democrat. Kimberly Rutledge, 42, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the California State Independent Living Council, where she has served since 2017. Rutledge has been chief of the Policy and Quality Assurance Branch in the Adult Programs Division at the California Department of Social Services since 2016. She was assistant legislative director at United Domestic Workers of America Local 3930 from 2013 to 2016, where she was a budget and policy analyst from 2012 to 2013. Rutledge was an independent policy consultant at the County Welfare Directors Association from 2011 to 2012 and a graduate intern for disability policy at the National Academy of Social Insurance in 2011. She was a graduate policy intern at the Westside Center for Independent Living from 2010 to 2011. Rutledge is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the American Association of University Women, Sacramento Branch. She earned a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Affairs. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Rutledge is a Democrat. Governor Brown Announces Appointments to Military Council Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Rocky J. Chavez as chair of the Governor's Military Council, replacing Ellen Tauscher, who has served in that role since 2013. Under Ellens leadership, the Military Council has been successful in its mission, helping to expand Californias economy by billions of dollars, improve the lives of our veterans and military families, and strengthen Californias role in our national security, said Governor Brown. Governor Brown also announced the reappointment of Edward Hanlon Jr. as vice chair of the Governor's Military Council, Hanlon's appointment as chair of the Council's Strategic Planning Committee, and the appointment of Jody Breckenridge as vice chair of the Governors Military Council. Chavez, 66, of Oceanside, has been appointed chair of the Governor's Military Council, where he has served as a member since 2013. Chavez has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2012. He served as undersecretary at the California Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2010 and as a member of the Oceanside City Council from 2002 to 2009. Chavez served as a marine officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1974 to 2002. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Chavez is a Republican. Hanlon, 72, of Carlsbad, has been reappointed vice chair of the Governor's Military Council, where he has served as vice chair since 2016 and as a member since 2013, and has been appointed chair of its Strategic Planning Committee. Hanlon has been president at Transatlantic Insights LLC since 2012. He was vice president at Raytheon and president at Raytheon International Europe from 2007 to 2012 and served as U.S. military representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military Committee from 2004 to 2006. He served as commanding general of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command from 2001 to 2004 and of the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton from 1998 to 2001. He was director of expeditionary warfare in the U.S. Navy from 1996 to 1998. Hanlon earned a Master of Arts degree in communication theory from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Arts degree in human resources management from Pepperdine University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hanlon is a Republican. Breckenridge, 64, of Pleasant Hill, has been appointed vice chair of the Governors Military Council, where she has served as a member since 2013. Breckenridge was commander of the Pacific Area in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2009 to 2010, where she served as director of strategic transformation from 2007 to 2009 and deputy commandant of human resources from 2008 to 2009. She was commander of the Eleventh District in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2006 to 2007, where she served as maintenance and logistics commander from 2003 to 2006. Breckenridge earned a Master of Science degree in natural resource strategy from National Defense University and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Breckenridge is Democrat. Governor Brown on Death of Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the death of Sacramento County Sheriffs Department Deputy Robert French: Anne and I join all of Sacramento in grieving the loss of Deputy French, who died today while protecting our community. On behalf of all Californians, we extend our condolences to his family, friends and law enforcement brothers and sisters. Deputy French, 52, was fatally shot today while assisting with an investigation at a hotel in Sacramento. Two California Highway Patrol officers were also injured during the incident and are expected to survive. Deputy French was a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriffs Department and served in a variety of assignments. He is survived by his girlfriend, adult children, grandchildren and sister. In honor of Deputy French, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff. Baxter International and Claris Lifesciences order Preserves U.S. Competition for the Injectable Drugs Intravenous Fluconazole and Intravenous Milrinone Washington, DC - Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order designed to remedy the anticompetitive effects resulting from Baxters proposed $625 million acquisition of Claris injectable drugs business. As announced in July 2017, the complaint alleges Baxters proposed acquisition would likely reduce current competition in the U.S. market for the antifungal agent fluconazole, in saline intravenous bags, as well as future competition in the U.S. market for intravenous milrinone, which dilates the blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and allows blood to flow more easily through the cardiovascular system. The consent order requires the parties to divest all of Clariss rights to fluconazole in saline intravenous bags and milrinone in dextrose intravenous bags to New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Renaissance Lakewood LLC. The Commission vote approving the final order was 2-0. (FTC File No. 171 0052; the staff contact is Kari Wallace, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-3085.) Secretary of State Tillerson's Meeting With Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Washington, DC - Today U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Foreign Secretary of Mexico Luis Videgaray to review issues of bilateral and regional importance. Secretary Tillerson thanked the Government of Mexico for its offer of assistance in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. They discussed joint efforts to weaken transnational criminal organizations and to strengthen Central Americas economy. They also discussed region-wide efforts to reverse the Maduro regimes current course, to address the needs of the Venezuelan people, and to seek fundamental respect for Venezuelas democratic institutions and the rule of law. Foreign Secretary Videgaray and Secretary Tillerson also previewed Round Two of NAFTA negotiations in Mexico City September 1-5. Energy ministry recommends increasing price of coal made by state-owned coalmines by 10% from Sept 1 Ukraine's Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has recommended increasing the price of coal made by state-owned coalmines for electricity generating companies and combined heat and power plants (CHPPs) by 10%, from UAH 2,000 to UAH 2,200 per tonne (VAT and transportation expenses not included) to bring the coalmines to break even and provide generating companies with coal. The decision was made at a meeting devoted to the setting the upper price of coal headed by Minister Ihor Nasalyk and held on August 30 in the ministry, one of the meeting participants told Interfax-Ukraine. The source said that the minister pointed out the large increase in the steam coal prices in April-August 2017. A representative of Ukrteploenergo notified meeting participants on more than 15% rise in the prices, referring to current offers of suppliers and indexes. The source said that this increase in the indicative price was also explained by the necessity of boosting gas coal production to replace anthracite coal which shortage the country is facing now. The source said that the price meets average calorific value of Ukrainian gas coal - 5,200 kilocalories per kilogram. President Donald J. Trump Proclaims September 2017 as National Preparedness Month Washington, DC - President Donald J. Trump Proclaims September 2017 as National Preparedness Month: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION During National Preparedness Month, we bring attention to the importance of readying ourselves for disasters, both natural and man-made. We also take this time to extend our sincerest gratitude to first responders, who selflessly run toward danger to keep our Nation and its people safe. We vow to support them and provide the tools they need to save lives. This year marks the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the Northeast; the 10-year anniversary of the Enhanced Fujita (EF) level-5 tornado that leveled 95 percent of the Greensburg, Kansas, community; and the 25-year anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, the most destructive hurricane in Florida's history. And, this week we are especially mindful of those affected by the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, which brought historic floods to Texas. While these tragedies underscore our vulnerabilities, they also remind us of our Nation's great resilience. In the responses to each of these unexpected disasters, we have seen the character of the American spirit -- courageousness, determination, and generosity. This month we recognize that by educating the Nation on how to prepare and respond to emergencies, we can save countless lives. Unfortunately, fewer than half of American families report having an emergency response plan. While we never know when the next disaster will strike, it is incumbent upon every American to be prepared. Americans can start today to improve our readiness for the next disaster. The first steps include making and practicing a family emergency response plan, creating an emergency supply kit, and signing up for emergency alerts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's Ready campaign outlines additional important and low-cost measures Americans can take right now to protect their family, pets, and property before a major disaster. Together, we will create a stronger and safer Nation. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2017 as National Preparedness Month. I encourage all Americans, including Federal, State, and local officials, to take action to be prepared for disaster or emergency by making and practicing their plans. Each step we take to become better prepared will make a real difference in how our families and communities will respond and persevere when faced with the unexpected. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second. DONALD J. TRUMP Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Star Wars fans are very on edge about Luke Skywalker's fate. The Force Awakens certainly signalled that something was wrong with our beloved hero, with the look he gave to Rey at the end of the film filled with an uneasy sense of foreboding. Has he fled to Ahch-To purely out of a sense of guilt over his failure to prevent Kylo Ren was turning to the Dark Side? Or is there something more? The theories have certainly been plentiful, but anyone fearing Luke may have succumbed to the Dark Side certainly won't be reassured by the brand new image shared by Mark Hamill. The cover for Hungarian film magazine Cinemania Mozimania showed Hamill's character looking more villainous than ever before, the fearsome look on his face and clenched fists light years away from the boy who just wanted to go to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters. Twitter, unsurprisingly, did not handle it well. However, what's interesting is that Hamill has suggested that we might not find out that much about how Luke has become the person he is in The Last Jedi. Speaking to the Associated Press he said, "Between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens, theres just decades of history thats unknown In this new one, I was saying to Rian Johnson:" "I need to know my backstory. It was kind of unclear. You read where he is now and what hes doing now and sort of have to fill in the blanks for yourself. So I did do a backstory myself. Its not about Luke anymore, so its not really important. But I had to make sense of it for myself. What Rian came up with, I was stunned." Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits UK cinemas 14 December. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Dir Guillermo del Toro, 120 mins, starring: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg You cant help but gargle in admiration at the extraordinary visual flamboyance of The Shape of Water. Writer-director Guillermo del Toro may have taken his inspiration from Creature from the Black Lagoon but this is no low budget sci-fi pastiche. Its a film with the grace and formal ambition of one of those Vincente Minnelli musicals in which the camera never stops moving. This is a monster movie but it plays like a Beauty and the Beast-style romance. Del Toro signals his intentions right from the outset with an astonishing underwater tracking shot in which we see the camera sweep through a 1960s apartment in which all the furniture is floating and everything is perfectly preserved, as if this is a scene from the wreck of the Titanic. The films Baltimore-based heroine Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a young, mute woman. She has scars on the side of her neck which hint at how she lost the ability to speak. She works as a cleaner at a mysterious government laboratory and has two close friends in an otherwise hostile world, her neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins), a commercial artist, and her fellow cleaner, Zelda (Octavia Spencer). Elisa lives above a cinema. Shes a dreamer who loves to watch old Alice Faye, Shirley Temple and Carmen Miranda movies on TV but she has a practical streak. Hawkins first made her name in Mike Leigh movies but its easy to understand why Hollywood casting agents are coming after her. It is not just her happy-go-lucky demeanour, which Leigh foregrounded, but her Chaplin-like flair for clowning and her jolie laide quality which make her such an appealing screen presence. She is utterly captivating here so captivating that even the strange, scaly, Amazonian creature that the US government is keeping in top secret at the labs falls for her. Del Toro pitches the film as if it is a cross between a Cold War thriller and a Disney-style fairy tale (albeit one with its share of sex and gore). The Russians are desperate to get hold of the creature and have a mole at the labs, informing them of what is happening to it. The poor beast is mercilessly tortured by the films very evil villain, Strickland (Michael Shannon), who likes to prod it and electrocute it with his Alabama Howdy-do, a lethal black truncheon. He thinks that vivisection is the best thing for it. Shannon gives a memorably nasty performance as Strickland, a sneering, bullying, sarcastic figure who, away from the work place, seems to live a typical American family life. Octavia Spencer excels as the stoical, wisecracking cleaner who spends her days clearing the piss and blood that seems to be spilled in such quantity at the lab. Jenkins brings a lugubrious charm to his role as the artist the world and his former bosses have passed by. This is the early Sixties, at the height of the civil rights protests, and racism is still prevalent everywhere. So is homophobia. In such an intolerant society, theres no chance that the underwater creature will be accepted. Elisa, though, feeds it boiled eggs, teaches it sign language and very quickly brings out the beasts Prince Charming side. At times, The Shape Of Water teeters on the brink of extreme kitsch. Its the kind of fantastical story that youd expect to be told in graphic novel or animated form, not in a live action film. Del Toro, though, is such a flamboyant and resourceful director that he makes the movie work. Watery metaphors abound. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Show all 15 1 /15 Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Director: Martin McDonagh Martin McDonagh Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones Plot: In this darkly comic drama, a mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder, when they fail to catch the culprit. Twentieth Century Fox Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Call Me By Your Name Director: Luca Guadagnino Luca Guadagnino Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg Plot: A young man named Elio, living in Italy during the 1980s, meets Oliver, an academic who has come to stay at his parents' villa, and a passionate relationship develops between them, as they bond over their sexuality, their Jewish heritage, and the landscape. Sony Pictures Classics Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Dunkirk Director: Christopher Nolan Christopher Nolan Cast: Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance Plot: In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Get Out Director: Jordan Peele Jordan Peele Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener Plot: This horror drama follows a young interracial couple who visit the girl's parents only for her boyfriend to uncover a conspiracy whereby young black adults are being captured. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Downsizing Director: Alexander Payne Alexander Payne Cast: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Waltz, Alec Baldwin Plot: A man and his wife join a community of miniaturized people after undergoing a process to shrink themselves. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 The Florida Project Director:Sean Baker Sean Baker Cast:Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince Plot: A precocious 6-year-old and her friends are homeless, living in extended-stay motels, but their summer is still filled with childhood wonder and adventure. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 The Post Director: Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg Cast: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Alison Brie, Sarah Paulson Plot: Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham of The Washington Post challenge the federal government for the right to publish classified information in 1971. Twentieth Century Fox Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 The Shape of Water Director: Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Cast: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones Plot: In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Molly's Game Director: Aaron Sorkin Aaron Sorkin Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner Plot: The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. Courtesy of STXfilms Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 The Big Sick Director: Michael Showalter Michael Showalter Cast: Kumail Najiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano Plot: Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Mudbound Director: Dee Rees Dee Rees Cast: Jason Clarke, Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige, Garrett Hedlund Plot: This Netflix film follows two who men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 The Disaster Artist Director: James Franco James Franco Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Zac Efron Plot: A big screen re-enactment of the making of Tommy Wiseau's cult film The Room deemed 'the worst movie of all time.' Getty Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Phantom Thread Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps Plot: Set in 1950's London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover. Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Lady Bird Director: Greta Gerwig Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Beanie Feldstein, Tracy Letts Plot: Gerwig's deirectorial debut is a coming-of-age story about a high-school senior (Ronan) and her turbulent relationship with her mother (Metcalf). Early Oscars Best Picture Contenders 2018 Darkest Hour Director: Joe Wright Joe Wright Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn Plot: The film follows Winston Churchill's early days as Prime Minister while Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II. He throws in philosophical aides about the nature of memory (time is but a river throwing from our past) and uses water throughout the film in an ingenious fashion. (The film includes surely one of the best scenes of a bathroom being flooded in movie history.) Were so sucked in by the storytelling that we dont even realise how outlandish the concept behind The Shape Of Water really is. It goes without saying that audiences will struggle to keep a dry eye when it gets to the films heart-tugging final reel. The Shape of Water first premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is out now in UK cinemas. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hit me, lets get these questions going! Benjamin Booker is raring to go. He just stepped off the stage at NOS Alive Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, where he performed tracks off his second album Witness. Weve been having a good time, he beams. Ive got a new band, playing with new people is exciting. Everything has been great. Booker, 28, sings with an understanding of mortality far greater than most people his age his music recalls the likes of Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Blind Willie Johnson. With a few near-death experiences under his belt, including being shot at while he was riding his bike to a party in New Orleans, hes learned to think about the important things. Thats definitely a part of the album, whats important to me, and what I am going to do about it, he says. I remember watching a Dylan documentary that Ive seen so many times, No Direction Home, and they were talking about how when you watch him it seems that he has this understanding of life that other people dont have. Of the moments that matter, and how theres no reason to be fearful of the stuff that people worry about, because none of it matters. Its something that Im learning, now. Witness was recorded with producer Sam Cohen one of those people who can do anything, Booker says who studied at Berklee, one of the most prestigious music schools in America, and brought in gorgeous, summery psychedelic tones on the record that balanced out its darker themes. He [Sam] understands how to connect with people, Booker says. There were a couple of moments when he said lets just feel it out on a song and that was crazy to me, it was scary, but I feel like Im now way better at singing, playing guitar, writing, all those things, just from working with him. It changed my life. After the shooting incident, Booker packed everything up and headed to Mexico for a month, spending days in silence, enjoying the temporary peace. It conjures up a rather wonderful outlaw image of Booker: travelling on his own with his guitar slung over his back, not really sure where he was going or why. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Musicians are very naturally curious people. When Im in an environment where I dont speak the language, thats very exciting to me, he says. That was the problem with New Orleans I think, Id spent about a year after we toured in the same place, not doing anything during the day, and I was miserable. And after Mexico, I wrote the new record in a month. New Orleans is a pretty dark city. People go there to party and have a good time, but I think if you spend time there you see whats happening. Its got a poor education system, its a bunch of people who are working in the service industry thats basically the only thing people do and they have nowhere to go. Right On You, the first track on Witness, is one of Bookers favourites to play live, and is drawn from the hedonistic experience of living in a city like New Orleans. It also includes one of the most powerful lines on the album: Death is hard to imagine. For a long time I think thats what I thought living life was, if someone called me at 4 in the morning and said, Meet me here, Id be like, Yes, he says. That was the life I was living for a long time. But I was in a daze, missing stuff, the things that were important. So thats why its enjoyable for me to play that song it sounds very morbid but I think its important for people to have death on their mind all the time, to realise that this is it theres nowhere else. Raised by a strict evangelical family in Virginia, Booker discovered a fascination with gospel music and its ability to evoke the strongest emotions in people, to heal peoples pain. When I was a kid, I wasnt super happy, but listening to records I could go wherever I wanted. Theres nothing more powerful than people who feel like theyre singing to their god, he adds. Its not something that I believe but its something I try to translate into my music, and its what I grew up with, so that is the palate that Im working with. To get the energy you feel from being in church for four hours where people are playing music and praying. This interest in music that draws a certain kind of energy out of the listener would later draw him to a podcast about Moroccan Gnawa music, where the beat continues for hours at a time. People pass out, they dance, they lose their minds, and it becomes this spiritual, transcendental experience. We dont have songs like that, but when were playing, Im trying to get to the place where I was when I wrote the song, and get the audience to go there with me, Booker explains. Mavis Staples sings on the chorus for the title track Witness, which is darker, more serious in tone than other tracks on the album, but not preachy, as Booker puts it. I dont think you can beat people over the head with that kind of stuff. I like people like Bruce Springsteen you listen to Born in the USA and its got this party vibe but when you listen to the lyrics its actually really dark. Its important to me for a song to be more than the vibe. Maybe youll listen to the album 20 times and just dance, but on the 21st listen theyll start to think what the song is actually about. I ask him about the new music hes listening to at the moment and he says serpentwithfeet an artist I love who makes visceral examinations of sexuality and masculinity in an exquisite, theatrical melding of R&B, funk and neo soul. He does a double take: Do you know him?! You dont know him. What?! If I could sing like anyone, that is what I would want to sound like. I would die to see him live. He went on tour with Perfume Genius, another artist I love theyre not ashamed to talk about these emotions, but theyre not exploiting it. Thats what I try to do in my music, put yourself into it, in a way the audience hasnt seen before. Some of the stuff serpentwithfeet says is pointing to what its like to be a black gay man, and all of the shame and the guilt that can come with it. But you have both sides the person hes with going through these things but hes not that person, he seems like someone whos very confident, and that complexity in his music is very special. Booker has some dates scheduled in the UK when he kicks off a tour in September, that begins in the US and finishes at the University of London Union (ULU). He hasnt heard of anyone performing at ULU apart from Patti Smith, and if its good enough for her I saw her do Horses in full at Electric Lady Studios Michael Stipe was in front of me losing his mind, he recalls with a grin. Just Kids is my favourite book of all time I think its good for musicians. Reading that was so helpful to me, because its tough when you start out youre playing shows with literally nobody there, living in bad conditions, cant pay your bills. And then you read about Patti Smith, and youre like, Its gonna be OK. For her it was about the music. Fans might be clamouring for visual accompaniments to his music but Booker is reluctant to put out music videos just for the sake of it. He only wants make them if they truly contribute something to the music. Playing music, its like expected of you to put out a music video. I just hate it, I dont wanna do it. The industrys just doing the things they think youre supposed to do put out an album, put out a music video. So Im always fighting that, every single day, this is like old man s***. Youre constantly struggling because theres the business side, and no matter what theyre saying, theyre there to make money. So theyll never want to try something new because they think they know what works. Taking risks is what art is, and the people who do take risks are the most exciting. Witness is out now. Booker plays Manchester and London on 13 and 14 November, respectively. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new species is being discovered in the Amazon every two days from fire-tailed titi monkeys and yellow-moustached lizards to pink river dolphins and honeycomb-patterned stingrays, according to a new report. Conservation group World Wildlife Fund, who wrote the report along with Brazils Mamiraua Institute, said the astonishing rate of new finds showed scientists had still only scratched the surface of all the incredible species that live there. But relentless deforestation of the Amazon means many of its undiscovered animals and plants will go extinct before they are found, WWF warned, urging governments in the region to take action. The report revealed a total of 381 new species had been discovered in 2014 and 2015, including 216 plants, 93 fish, 32 amphibians, 20 mammals although two of those were fossils 19 reptiles and one bird. Sarah Hutchison, WWFs head of programmes for Brazil and Amazon, said: We are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unveiling the incredible species that live in the Amazon, yet instead of this precious area being safeguarded, it is under greater threat than ever before. There is a real risk that at the rate at which the Amazon is changing many species may become extinct before we have had a chance to find them. The discovery of 381 new species is a wake-up call for the governments of Amazon countries that they must halt the ongoing and relentless deforestation and work to preserve its unparalleled biodiversity. If they dont, there will continue to be irreversible impacts on the Amazons much-loved wildlife, undiscovered species and the local and indigenous people that call it home. She said she hoped the report would inspire scientists to carry out more research. Sharing new discoveries is essential to supporting conservation efforts and, as one of the last great wildernesses, there are many more secrets left to uncover, Ms Hutchison said. Nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests on Earth are in the Amazon. Even though it covers about 1 per cent of the planets surface, it is estimated to be home to 10 per cent of known species. The new species of pink river dolphin is estimated to have a population of 1,000, but they are under threat from the construction of hydroelectric dams as well as industrial and agricultural activity. The fire-tailed titi monkey, which has a bright orange tail, is also at risk from deforestation. Animals in decline Show all 8 1 /8 Animals in decline Animals in decline Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) Where: Orkney Islands. What: Between 2001-2006, numbers in Orkney declined by 40 per cent. Why: epidemics of the phocine distemper virus are thought to have caused major declines, but the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect salmon farms may have an impact. Alamy Animals in decline African lion (Panthera leo) Where: Ghana. What: In Ghanas Mole National Park, lion numbers have declined by more than 90 per cent in 40 years. Why: local conflicts are thought to have contributed to the slaughter of lions and are a worrying example of the status of the animal in Western and Central Africa. Animals in decline Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica. What: Numbers are down in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It declined by 95 per cent between 1989-2002 in Costa Rica. Why: mainly due to them being caught as bycatch, but theyve also been affected by local developments. Alamy Animals in decline Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) Where: South Atlantic. What: A rapid decline. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50 per cent between 1972-2010, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Why: being caught in various commercial longline fisheries. Alamy Animals in decline Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) Where: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. What: fall in populations has been dramatic. In the early 1990s numbers were over a million, but are now estimated to be around 50,000. Why: the break up of the former USSR led to uncontrolled hunting. Increased rural poverty means the species is hunted for its meat Animals in decline Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) Where: found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. Why: at risk from overfishing and as a target in recreational fishing. A significant number of swordfish are also caught by illegal driftnet fisheries in the Mediterranean Animals in decline Argali Sheep (Ovis mammon) Where: Central and Southern Asian mountains,usually at 3,000-5,000 metres altitude. Why: domesticated herds of sheep competing for grazing grounds. Over-hunting and poaching. Animals in decline Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) Where: the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia. Why: Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and trading of the species The current rate of species extinction is estimated to be 1,000 to 10,000 times that of the natural rate because of human activity. It is just one reason why geologists are considering declaring a new epoch the Anthropocene as the fossils of the long dead animals will form a noticeable line in the rocks of the future. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two yachts have become the first vessels in history to sail into the Central Arctic Ocean without icebreaker support in a fresh sign of how much sea ice has been lost. Pen Hadow, a British polar explorer, Erik de Jong, a Dutch sailor, and their crews sailed to within 600 miles of the North Pole, reaching a latitude of more than 80 degrees north. Scientists have warned that the Arctic will be almost completely free of sea ice by the late 2030s with the region experiencing greater warming than the global average. The average winter temperature in the Arctic island of Svalbard is now about a staggering 10 degrees warmer than just a few decades ago. Mr Hadow is the only person to have walked solo from Canada to the North Pole without resupply by third parties and has also walked to the South Pole, again without resupply. The sea ice is so thin or has disappeared completely that it is no longer possible to walk from Canada or Russia to the North Pole. But it is on course to become a possible sea journey. Speaking from his yacht, the Bagheera, Mr Hadow told The Independent: I believe sooner rather than later a yacht will sail to 90 degrees north. Weve hit the buffers now, weve hit the main body of the sea ice, but we have been sailing in open waters quite happily. The Central Arctic Ocean is officially an unexplored ocean because its been inaccessible to vessels until very recently. If we can take two 50ft yachts, image what commercial shipping and commercial fishing can now do. Such exploitation could pose a danger to wildlife in the region, Mr Hadow said. The sea ice is going thats one stress for them and now theres a very high risk of additional human threats coming in, he said. The Central Arctic Ocean is an area about the same size as the Mediterranean Sea that lies outside the territorial waters of the surrounding countries, which extend 200 miles from their coasts. Mr Hadow described being able to sail into the area so easily as a "bitter-sweet moment". I hope this project helps to make people realise that theres a whole resource up here which is about to be plundered by the few, very much to the detriment of the global community, unless we do something about it," he said. Every nation owns it, we all own it, everybody. He added that they planned to gather scientific information to help policymakers protect the unique habitat. The news comes after a Russian tanker ironically carrying a cargo of fossil fuels that are driving global warming was able to sail from Norway to South Korea through the Arctic in just 19 days, a trip that would have taken far longer if it had travelled via the Suez Canal. Cruise ships are also now sailing through the once famously impassable Northwest Passage along the coast of Canada. According to the US National Snow & Ice Data Centre, the sea ice in the Arctic this year is tracking well below the average between 1981 and 2010. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan The sea ice reaches its minimum extent in September before starting to grow again as the temperatures cool with the approach of winter. In the Antarctic, the sea ice is also below average as it approaches its maximum extent towards the end of the southern winter. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britains most dedicated dater says shes just picky - not desperate. 29-year-old Londoner Anna Heaton is one of Britains many singletons looking for love, and shes been on an impressive 77 first dates in the past two years in the hope of finding the one. Unfortunately its been to no avail though. Woman who has been on 77 first dates explains what she's looking for in a partner Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire this morning, Heaton explained what shes looking for in a man: Someone with a good sense of humour is a must. I also find ambition very attractive in men, she said, explaining that that applies both to work and social life. A good dress sense and taking pride in ones appearance are important for Heaton too. And honestly, who cant relate? Being picky is no bad thing - why settle for average when amazing is out there somewhere? - and many of us struggle to find someone with whom we have a real spark. Heaton hasnt found anyone whos fit her criteria yet though. Dont get me wrong, Ive been on second and third dates but it hasnt really gone anywhere past that because I just havent felt that sort of excitement where I think it could go somewhere, she explained. Heaton says she thinks her problem may be that shes too picky: its always me that does not want a second date and a lot of them think there is something wrong with me. I know what Im looking for and I just havent found it. I often have a lot in common with people but the spark just isnt there, I just dont fancy them. As well as being a committed dater, Heaton is possibly Britains most organised singleton - she keeps a spreadsheet where she scores all her dates on looks, personality and spark. It started out as a joke with her work friends but she continues to update it after each new potential suitor comes on to the scene. Heaton also appeared on TV dating show Take Me Out in April this year, but unfortunately she wasnt lucky in love. If you think you could be a good match for Heaton, she advises you wear something nice (including smart shoes), take her on an activity date and be yourself. Advice many people would probably second. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Bill Gates is no longer the richest person in the world and it wasnt Jeff Bezos who knocked him off the top spot. According to Forbes, Spanish retailer Amancio Ortega leap-frogged Mr Gates this week, when shares in the billionaires clothing company Inditex rose. Headquartered in Galicia, the company is best known for having Zara in its stable, alongside lesser known brands like Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear and Stradivarius. Mr Ortega was a co-founder of Inditex over three decades ago, and its not the first time he has managed to climb to the top of Forbes list. As of this week, the 81-year-old is worth around $85bn according to the publication, very narrowly beating Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with his $84.9bn fortune. Forbes puts Amazon founder Jezz Bezoss net worth at $82.5bn, making him the third wealthiest ahead of finance veteran Warren Buffet and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Bloomberg, which also publishes a widely-referenced rich list, still awards Mr Gates the title of worlds wealthiest, estimating his fortune at $85.8bn, followed by Mr Ortega at $83.7bn and Mr Bezos at $83bn. Mr Buffett and Mr Zuckerberg also round out that top five. Mr Ortega, according to Forbes, no longer had a day-to-day role at Inditex but still holds a vast amount of stock, and has recently focused on pouring some of his cash into other investments, like international real estate. Forbes said that he usually collects over $400m in dividends from Inditex every year, and that much of that cash is spent on property in places like New York, Madrid and London. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} UBS is leaning toward Frankfurt for its trading headquarters inside the European Union after Brexit, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. The Swiss firms investment bank employs about 4,800 bankers globally and could move 250 or more jobs out of London to Frankfurt and other European locations, two of the people briefed on the deliberations said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. UBS has notified the German regulator that it may increase its business in Frankfurt, the people said. No decision has yet been made and the numbers could still change, they said. Frankfurt has emerged as the biggest winner in the fight for London-based investment-banking jobs that may have to be relocated to new hubs inside the EU in preparation for the UKs exit in 2019. Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley and Nomura are all expanding their presence in the city. The bank, which has yet to make a final decision, has also discussed moving positions to several hubs across the EU, two people said. The bank declined to comment, as did the German regulator, known as Bafin. Chief executive Sergio Ermotti said earlier this year that Frankfurt was a location of choice, and that he was also considering locations including Amsterdam and Madrid, adding that he will make a decision by the end of summer. Investment banking head Andrea Orcel has said that UBS has shortlisted a number of locations including the Spanish capital. Banks are still examining the potential costs of Brexit as negotiations for the departure of the UK continue. 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. While banks want to be close to clients and are also factoring in quality of life and education in cities where they may be moving to, regulators are urging banks to have as many of their assets as possible in one jurisdiction. UBS last year merged its European wealth-management operations into a European entity based in Frankfurt which operates branches throughout the continent. The entity has licensing to offer services including deposit taking, financial advisory, trading services and some investment banking advisory business, according to a regulatory filing. Bloomberg For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Uber driver charged with attacking police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace has appeared in court. Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 26, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, where he appeared in the dock wearing a grey prison tracksuit. He has been charged with one count of engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act of terrorism in the incident on 25 August. Mark Carroll, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court uniformed police officers were travelling in a marked vehicle next to the Queen Victoria Memorial, in Constitution Hill, when a blue Toyota Prius drove towards them at about 8.30pm. Officers approached the vehicle and the male driver reached for a large sword from inside and shouted Allahu Akhbar several times, he added. The officer struggled with the individual and sprayed him with CS spray. Three police officers suffered minor injuries before taking the suspect into custody. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA It is understood that no members of the royal family were in Buckingham Palace at the time, with the incident sparking a large evacuation around the palace, St Jamess Park and The Mall. Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road in Luton, was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 21 September. A second man arrested in relation to the case, aged 30 from west London, has been released from custody with no further action. An initial Metropolitan Police statement gave the defendants second name as Choudhury. This has been corrected following updated information Hearings on Tatarstan's lawsuit against Ukraine on Ukrtatnafta in Hague expected in March 2018 Hearings in the Hague (the Netherlands) on the lawsuit of the Republic of Tatarstan and its Ministry of Land and Property against Ukraine regarding PJSC Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchuk oil refinery) are expected in March 2018. This is stated in the tender documentation of the Justice Ministry of Ukraine, which on August 30 signed an agreement with Winston & Strawn LLP (France) worth $875,000 for the provision of legal advice and representation services. The Tatarstan side believes that Ukraine violated the intergovernmental agreement between the countries on encouragement and mutual protection of investments dated November 27, 1998 due to the alleged illegal reinstatement of Ukrtatnafta board chairman Pavlo Ovcharenko and the illegal decisions of Ukrainian courts on depriving the ministry of its stake in the company. As of the end of August 2017, the parties exchanged written explanations. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A group of men in Wales have been accused of racism after painting their faces black and dressing as members of the Jamaican bobsleigh team from the film Cool Runnings, prompting a police investigation. The men were on a float taking part in the annual bank holiday carnival in Aberaeron, a seaside town in Cerdigion, wearing black wigs and bodysuits coloured green, yellow and back the colours of the Jamaican flag. A sign on their float quoted the 1993 film, which was loosely based on the Jamaica national bobsleigh team during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. It read: Feel the Rhythm! Feel the Rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! Recommended Racist graffiti daubed on house days before Sri Lankan family moves in However, a complaint was made to police, who confirmed they were looking into it. A police spokesperson told The Independent: Dyfed-Powys police received a report of a perceived hate incident, which occurred at Aberaeron carnival on Monday, August 28. An entry to the carnival parade was considered racist. "Inquiries are being made by local officers." Dinah Mulholland, the Labour candidate for Ceredigion in the June 2017 elections, wrote on her Facebook page: Utterly horrified to see thishow could this have been considered acceptable, even legal, by the carnival organisers?" "I would like a statement from Elizabeth Evans, LibDem councillor for Aberaeron who was at the carnival today, denouncing this. The three men who were reported in 'perceived hate incident' (Dinah Mulholland/Facebook screengrab ) (Dinah Mulholland/Facebook screengrab) Jim James, a man visiting the town, told The Guardian: I must admit we were a bit shocked. It might have been ok if they hadnt blacked their faces. Another resident said: So are we now living in an era where we cant dress up as our favourite movie characters? You are creating more of a problem instead of living in harmony. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Dubbed the peoples princess by Tony Blair, Diana became a global icon, famous for her beauty, her fashion choices and, of course, her marriage to the prince. But quite aside from these, the most profound and lasting difference she made was down to her philanthropic force. Diana was at some point patron of over 100 charities across the globe. Honing her efforts onto helping others after her divorce from Charles, she developed a reputation for working tirelessly on behalf of charitable causes, using her fame to raise awareness of a number of highly important humanitarian issues of the day. Her overall effect on charity, according to Stephen Lee, director of the UK Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers, speaking a year after her death, is probably more significant than any other person's in the 20th century. It became commonplace to see photos of Diana holding sick young children, hugging vulnerable homeless people and shaking hands with AIDS and HIV sufferers. The sick and vulnerable warmed to her presence, drawn in by her natural compassion. Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society, Diana told the BBCs Martin Bashir in his 1995. It is a goal and an essential part of my life, a kind of destiny. From landmines, to leprosy, Diana was a figurehead in bringing a flood of causes into the spotlight. Landmines The image of Diana in white shirt, beige trousers and brown leather loafers and wearing a plastic vizor while standing in an only partially cleared minefield in Angola did more to highlight the issue of landmines than any previous campaign on the issue. Following that trip, the representatives of 122 governments met in Ottawa, and agreed a ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. When Foreign Secretary of the time Robin Cook brought the second reading of the landmines bill to the house in 1998, he made a point of paying tribute to Diana's contribution. Decades after she mounted her commitment to mine clearance work, pulling the publics attention onto the issue, the support for the cause continues. Her son Prince Harry, who is now patron of leading landmine charity, The HALO Trust, recently called for the world to become free of the weapons by 2025. Diana: a life in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Diana: a life in pictures Diana: a life in pictures Diana arriving on 4 October, 1990 for a charity gala at the Departmental Auditorium in Washington Kevin Larkin/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles at their wedding St Paul Cathedral 29 July 1981 AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Prince Charles and Diana at the memorial to the British Gloster Regiment outside Seoul. The Royal couple were on a four-day official visit to Korea AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana listens to a senior nun of the Missionaries of Charity at the house of Mother Teresa in Calcutta on 15 February, 1992 Diana: a life in pictures Diana, Princes William and Harry applaud during the Wales vs France Five Nations Cup match at Cardiff Arms Park on 1 February, 1992 Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana wearing a heavy duty protection vest and face shield, accompanied by a mine-clearing expert of the Halo Trust 15 January 1997 during her visit to the mine fields near Huambo, Angola AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana waves to the crowd as she arrives at the Cite de la Villette in Paris on 14 November, 1992 during a three-day visit in France Pierre Verdy/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana visiting Khufu, the great Pyramid in Giza on 12 May 1992 Manoocher Deghati/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana departs her London health club, 20 November 1995 AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana listens to a young boy with learning difficulties on 13 November, 1992 during her visit to a school in Paris Joel Robine/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Ronald and Nancy Reagan welcome Diana and Prince Charles to the White House Don Rypka/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles watch Indonesian tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 5 November 1989 Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana talks to amputees at the the Neves Bendinha Orthopedic Workshop on the outskirts of Luanda on 14 January, 1997 Joao Silva/AP Diana: a life in pictures Diana with the royal family outside the London Clarence House residence on 4 August 1989 Johnny Eggitt/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Prince Charles arrive at the church for the funeral of Earl Spencer, Diana's father, who died on 29 March, 1992 Martyn Hayhow/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana chats with 15-year old landmine victim, Bosnian muslim girl Mirzeta Gabelic, in front of Mirzeta's home in Sarajevo Hidajet Delic/AP Diana: a life in pictures Diana attending the France-Wales Five-Nations' tournament match on 21 January, 1995 in the grandstand at the Parc des Princes Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana flanked by tennis players America's Michael Chang and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman during the awards ceremony at the Hong Kong Open on 23 April, 1995 Emmanuel Dunand/AFP Diana: a life in pictures Diana, Prince Harry, and Prince William gather for the commemorations of VJ Day, 19 August 1995, in London AFP/Getty Images Diana: a life in pictures Diana and Jemima Khan, wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, attend a variety show 22 February 1996 in Lahore Saeed Khan/AFP Sick children As patron of Great Ormand Street Hospital for Children and The Royal Marsden Hospital, known for treating cancerous children, Diana was often pictured comforting sick youngsters. Speaking about her work with the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, she said: I make the trips at least three times a week, and spend up to four hours at a time with patients holding their hands and talking to them. Some of them will live and some will die, but they all need to be loved while they are here. I try to be there for them. Prince William continues the legacy today, as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital, the same renowned cancer institution his mother represented from 1989 until her death in 1997. AIDS and HIV Princess Diana was a crucial figurehead in lifting the stigma once associated with AIDS and HIV victims. In April 1987, she opened the UK's first purpose built HIV/Aids unit that exclusively cared for patients infected with the virus, at London Middlesex Hospital. A famous image from the event of her shaking the hand of a sufferer without gloves, despite widespread caution at that time about how the disease was transmitted, played a revolutionary role in convincing the public that touching sufferers was alright. HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them hug heaven knows they need it, she told cameras at the time. Her HIV/AIDS activism continued beyond that moment, but the historic photo taken at Casey House will go down in history as one of the key factors that helped change the worlds view of those living with the diseases. Leprosy Similar to her AIDS efforts, Diana travelled to countries with a high leprosy rate in a bid to remove the stigma surrounding the disease. As patron of The Leprosy Mission, she visited hospitals in India, Nepal and Zimbabwe, where she was pictured and filmed spending time with patients, holding their hands and dispelling the myth that the illness can be passed on by touch. It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy, trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed," she said of the disease. Homeless young people Diana was patron and a regular visitor to the charity Centrepoint up until her death in 1997. Despite her royal lifestyle, she was not afraid to meet those directly affected, and is even known to have gone onto the streets one night and spoken to rough sleepers. When William and Harry were children, she would take them to meet homeless people to give them a grounding in life beyond the palace walls. During a return visit to Centrepoint last year, William said the visits had left a "deep and lasting impression" on him about the importance of ensuring that everyone in society is "given the opportunities to fulfil their potential in life. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Laughing gas could still be legal after a judge dismissed a case, saying the drug is not covered by a law which bans "legal highs". Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as "laughing gas", was banned under the Psychoactive Substances Act which came into force last year. The Act banned the production and supply of all psychoactive substances, but includes a list of exemptions including food, medicinal products defined by the Human Medicines Regulations, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. Now, a judge in a criminal trial has ruled that nitrous oxide, which is also used in anaesthetics, is not actually covered by the Act. Ryan Egan and Kennan Buckley appeared in front of the judge in Taunton Crown Court after they were both charged with one count of possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply. They were arrested on their way into Glastonbury festival last year, Metro reported. Defence barrister, Ramya Nagesh, from Chambers in Birmingham, argued that according to the definitions in the Act, nitrous oxide does not meet the criteria to be banned as a psychoactive substance. For a substance to be banned under the Act, it needs to be identified as psychoactive, which means making a person feel "high" with symptoms including hallucinations, changes perception of time and space and drowsiness, and it must not figure in the list of exemptions. Ms Nagesh argued that nitrous oxide is commonly administered as medicine, which falls under one of the exempt categories. The Act does not make it clear the substance is exempt only when it is used for medicinal purposes, nor does it specify the form nitrous oxide should take to fall under the Act. The use of nitrous oxide for medical purposes requires a marketing authorisation under the 2012 Human Medicines Regulations. Judge Paul Garlick QC dismissed the case on the basis nitrous oxide was, in his view, an exempted substance under the Act. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA The ruling does not act as a legal precedent but could be used to inform judgments handed down by crown courts or magistrate courts across the country. A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: "Nitrous oxide is covered by the Psychoactive Substances Act and is illegal to supply for its psychoactive effect. "However, the Act provides an exemption for medical products. Whether a substance is covered by this exemption is ultimately one for a court to determine based on the circumstances of each individual case. These dangerous drugs have already cost far too many lives and the Psychoactive Substances Act is sending out a clear message this government will take whatever action is necessary to keep our families and communities safe." In 2016, there were 28 convictions in England and Wales under the Act and seven people were jailed. According to a crime survey in 2013/14, nitrous oxide was the second most popular recreational drug among young people. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The younger brother of the Manchester bomber is expected to go on trial in Libya over his alleged role in the terror attack that killed 22 victims. Hashem Abedi was arrested in Tripoli in the wake of his brother Salmans atrocity in May, and now stands accused of aiding the Isis-linked plot. The chief Libyan investigator, Asadiq al-Sour, told the BBC that Hashem is suspected of helping his brother, and collecting materials for the device. He also lived in Manchester, and left the UK for Libya on the same day as Salman in April. Libyan officials previously said Hashem told them he and his brother started supporting Isis (which claimed responsibility for the massacre) in 2015, through the internet and some friends in the UK. The 20-year-old is expected to be in court within the next two months, and is being held in custody by the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord one of two rival governments in the country. Their father, Ramadan Abedi, was also arrested in May, but denied knowledge of the plot and has since been freed. Manchester bomber Salman Abedi's cousins speak out Another relative, Mohamed Younis Abedi, is in custody in eastern Libya after his credit card was allegedly used to buy bomb components, and Libyan authorities say they have passed on a list of people living in UK who should be questioned. British police and intelligence officers have flown out to question the suspects, as investigations continue into the lead-up to the attack at Manchester Arena. A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said no one has so far been charged in connection with the bombing, and none of the suspects initially arrested remain in custody. Last month, Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said officers were engaged with authorities in Libya. We want to speak to Hashem Abedi, and I can now say we are currently engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Libyan authorities, he added. Salman had returned from Libya just four days before blowing himself up in the foyer of Manchester Arena, as thousands of people poured out of an Ariana Grande concert, killing fans as young as eight. Manchester explosion in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Manchester explosion in pictures Manchester explosion in pictures People running down stairs as they attempt to exit the Manchester Arena after a blast, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Twitter/@ZACH_BRUCE/ via REUTERS Manchester explosion in pictures Helpers attend to people inside the Manchester Arena after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Armed officers guard outside a hotel near the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers are seen outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, northern England Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police and fans close to the Manchester Arena, after reports of an explosion Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England, at a concert in Manchester Arena AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police stand by a cordoned off street close to the Manchester Arena Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of a reported explosion during a concert in Manchester, England, on May 23, 2017. British police said early May 23 there were "a number of confirmed fatalities" after reports of at least one explosion during a pop concert by US singer Ariana Grande. Ambulances were seen rushing to the Manchester Arena venue and police added in a statement that people should avoid the area AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An ambulance drives away from the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Police escort members of the public from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman sits in the street in a blanket near the Manchester Arena as police guard the area following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Two women wrapped in thermal blankets stand near the Manchester Arena, where US singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester. At least 19 people have been confirmed dead and others 50 were injured, authorities said. It is being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise EPA Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Members of the public receive treatment from emergency service staff at Victoria Railway Station close to the Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed this evening. Greater Manchester Police have have confirmed there are fatalities and warned people to stay away from the area Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police after a suspected terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 19 dead PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Emergency services arrive close to the Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An amoured police vehicle patrols near Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A man carries a young girl on his shoulders near Victoria station in Manchester AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers stand at the Miller Street and Corporation Street Crossroads, in front of the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police block a road near to the Manchester Arena in central Manchester, England AP Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police patrol near Victoria station in Manchester, northwest England. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police forensic officers leave the Manchester Arena as they investigate the scene of an explosion in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A forensic officer collects evidence on a walkway between Victoria station and Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman and a young girl wearing a t-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande talks to police near Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Manchester explosion in pictures EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese speak to the media outside Manchester Town Hall after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Dave Higgens/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures The media gather behind a police cordon in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Flowers left close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Danny Lawson/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures Ariana Grande concert attendees Karen Moore and her daughter Molly Steed, aged 14, from Derby, leave the Park Inn where they were given refuge after last night's explosion at Manchester Arena Getty Manchester explosion in pictures Signs saying 'We love Manchester' are displayed in a window in Manchester, England Getty Images Investigators were attempting to discover whether he had undergone terror training or had help to build the device, or whether he had trained himself using online propaganda. Sources told The Times that Salman had watched instruction videos on YouTube, and downloaded material from other websites on how to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The explosive, which was used in the Paris and Brussels attacks, and the 2005 London bombings, can be manufactured using uncontrolled shop-bought chemicals but is extremely volatile. The terrorist cell which carried out the attacks in Spain had been attempting to manufacture TATP at a house in Alcanar, but accidentally blew it up early, igniting a stockpile of gas canisters, destroying the hideout and killing those inside. An attempted bombing at Brussels Central Station also used TATP, which was made by an experienced bombmaker in Isis previous attacks in Paris and the Belgian capital. Experts told The Independent that Salman could have made a lethal quantity of the explosive in just 24 hours, but that direct training or experience would have sped up the process. He is believed to have packed TATP in powder form inside a bag, surrounded by nails and shrapnel intended to inflict maximum death and injury. Greater Manchester Police released CCTV images showing Salman moving around Manchester with a blue suitcase in the days before the attack, when he partially constructed the device in a tower block before completing it in an inner-city flat. A CCTV image showing Salman Abedi between 18 and 22 May, before he carried out the attack (Greater Manchester Police) Investigators said he made core purchases for the device alone, and in the four days between flying back from Libya and launching the attack. The 22-year-old, who was born in Manchester to Libyan parents, had left the UK for Libya in April after telling relatives he was making a pilgrimage to Mecca. He had made numerous trips to the country after his parents returned to live there during the countrys bloody civil war, possibly fighting against Muammar Gaddafis soldiers alongside his father. Islamist groups swiftly gained power in the conflict, where Isis has seized the opportunity to gain a foothold amid warnings the country could become a primary launch pad for terror attacks in Europe. Among the countless militias battling in Libya is Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, an Isis special operations unit whose operatives are said to have met Abedi during his visits to Tripoli and the coastal city of Sabratha. A retired European intelligence officer told The New York Times that Abedi kept in contact with the militants after returning to Manchester. Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, which was originally formed by Libyan jihadis fighting in Syria in 2012, had attracted foreign fighters including the Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was also linked to atrocities at the Brussels Jewish Museum, the Thalys train attack and several failed plots. Some Battar brigade members moved back to Libya and set up terror training camps, focusing on weapons training and bomb-making. The camps count among their graduates the Isis gunman who killed 30 British tourists on a beach in Tunisia in 2015, and the Bardo Museum attackers. Training camps used by plotters actively planning operations against Europe on the coast have been targeted by US air strikes, since it emerged that the Berlin Christmas market attacker was in contact with Libyan Isis militants. CCTV photo of Salman Abedi, issued by Greater Manchester Police on the night of the terror attacks (PA) Salmans movements in Libya are not fully known, but local authorities believe had been planning his attack since December and had put him, his brother and their father under surveillance in the month before the bombing. He had links with known extremists and gang members in Manchester, with friends remembering him as a fun teenager who drank and took drugs, before returning from a trip to Libya as a different guy and appearing increasingly religious. Salman had made extremist remarks and flown an Islamist flag from his Manchester home, but not raised sufficient alarm to spark intervention by British security services. He was an associate of Isis recruiter Raphael Hostey, also from Manchester, who was killed in a drone strike in Syria last year after allegedly radicalising and sponsoring militants. Other prolific militants from Manchester include Abdalraouf Abdallah, who was jailed last for attempting to help fellow jihadis reach Isis territories. More than a dozen Isis supporters from the city have so far been convicted or killed. Salman also had links with local gangs, and was reportedly devastated when his friend Abdulwahab Hafidah was murdered by a rival group last year. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Everyone remembers where they were. A startling wake up call on a warm Sunday morning telling us that, while the lights were out, the most famous woman in the world had passed away. Today we might receive a breaking news alert to our smartphones in the dead of night, wake to discover dozens of unread messages in a WhatsApp group, or check Twitter in case there was indeed something we had missed. But to reflect on the time when Princess Diana died is to go back to a simpler time, despite being in living memory for most. The avalanche of digital media had yet to come crashing into our lives, burying us under an anxious blanket of constant communication, fear of missing out and an inexplicable desire to reply first to a total strangers unsolicited opinion. It was a time when most regular people were contactable only by a landline telephone. On 31 August 1997, the BBC were still three months away from launching their round-the-clock rolling news service News 24, and BBC World was the only live channel the broadcaster had. BBC Television Centre in west London was almost completely empty when, at 12.55am, Maxine Mawhinney sat down for another quiet shift as overnight reporter on the channel, with a single producer and director. At 12.58am, just as she was about to deliver the headlines on the hour, a wire flashed up on the office machine: "Diana injured in a car crash in Paris". She remembers the moment well. Maxine Mawhinney delivers the first report on Princess Diana's car accident (YouTube) I turned around to my producer and said, Thats quite interesting. Shall we mention that? and he said, Yeah if you think youve got enough to say. So the music is running, I do the headlines, and then I said Just before we move on, were getting reports from Paris that Diana, Princess of Wales has been injured in a car crash. Thats all we had. Then in my ear the producer asked me to just keep going. With no mobile phones, no internet access and just one line of copy, Mawhinney then found herself filling time by using an unlikely source of information. I had been to the hairdressers and Id read the magazines so I knew all about what Diana had been doing, where shed been, her summer with Dodi. We kept going, and we didnt stop. BBC presenter Nik Gowing went to bed at 12.30am, only to be woken forty minutes later, and called in to anchor the coverage. He filled the hours by speaking to Maxine, and other correspondents who phoned up to offer their assessments of the situation. Gowing explains that even in 1997, the spectre of fake news stalked the media. I overheard in the newsroom, in the background, that a woman had called in and said shed seen Diana get up and walk away from the scene. As always with these things, you have to think, are we getting the facts here? Getting this right was based on information which was curated and checked as far as possible, but it was damn difficult. Nik Gowing on BBC World (YouTube) BBC1 paused their late night gangster film Borsalino at 1.45am to bring viewers a brief report on the accident. In a unsettling coincidence, the film was interrupted during a scene depicting a funeral in France. Still, there was not enough information to clear the schedule, and the film was resumed. How the news of Princess Diana's accident was broken on BBC One By chance, the Alma tunnel in Paris was near to the headquarters of broadcaster TF1, but mobilising a team in the middle of the night to get to the location and set up a playback facility was not a task that could be performed quickly. When footage of the crash finally emerged after about three hours, Mawhinney realised that reports Diana was suffering merely "a concussion, a broken arm and cuts to one of her thighs" were probably understated. When the first pictures came through I looked up and thought Oh my goodness. How has anyone survived this? We already knew that Dodi was dead, but when we saw the car we knew it was awful. As the hours went by, broadcasters from around the world were calling to ask if they could opt into the BBC stream, bringing the audience up to an estimated half a billion people, and putting the heat on the tiny London operation. The 2002 film The Queen depicts the senior members of the royal family watching Gowing and Mawhinneys coverage as they awaited news at Balmoral. While much of the assembled BBC team didnt yet have much experience in carrying hours of live, rolling news, Sky News had been doing just that since 1989. Kay Burley, one of their most reliable anchors, was woken at 3am. I got a call saying Dodi was dead, Diana was fine, but they thought shed probably broken her leg, she recalls. Using only the wires that were coming through mainly from French services, the Sky team tried to piece together a picture of what was going on. One wire had suggested that the plane of the Foreign Secretary Robin Cook was being held on the ground at Manila Airport, and there is a protocol that no member of the British Government can be in the air when theres an announcement of a royal death. So that was our first indication, but we were told to stay clear of saying it because of the magnitude of what it could mean. Kay Burley anchors Sky News coverage (YouTube) BBC correspondent Nicholas Witchell, who was travelling with Robin Cook, called London to reveal that Diana had in fact died, at around 4am. But without official confirmation from Buckingham Palace, it couldnt yet be reported. Mawhinney recalls the moment the historic news dropped. It was one of those moments you never, ever forget. I was still broadcasting when I heard it in my ear, Shes dead, and I could feel goose bumps on my arm. It was a newsroom of hardened hacks that went completely quiet. At that point we needed to change the tone of the broadcast, we needed to bring it down, so that the expectation of the audience was lowered slightly, but without saying that she was dead. For the best part of an hour, Gowing kept conversation going with Stephen Jessel, a correspondent on the phone from his Paris apartment. Both of them knew Diana was dead, and tried to prepare the audience for the worst, while they awaited the green light. Friends of Gowings who were watching in the Caribbean later told him, We knew she was gone when you knew. Finally, with the authorisation of a senior executive, at 4.41am, Gowing cited the Press Association who claimed that Diana was dead, and at 5.20am official confirmation came from Buckingham Palace. By the time most of Britain was waking up, Martyn Lewis was anchoring a special programme on BBC1, which informed most people of the tragedy for the first time. Wall-to-wall coverage continued, and the overwhelming public response reaffirmed just how big a news story this was. Martyn Lewis covering the news as most of Britain woke up (YouTube) Twenty years on, its curious to consider how differently things might have panned out had Diana's death happened in the present, in our social media-obsessed world; the unsavoury Snapchats and Facebook Lives from the scene, not to mention the inevitable tweets from the White House. Princess Dianas death was a story that came on the eve of a digital revolution that would transform the media, and the world as we know it. Then, less than 10 per cent of the UK population used the internet at home, compared with 90 per cent in 2017. Then, traditional media was king, whereas today any information that is available can be accessed almost instantly. But in 1997, what weve come to know as citizen journalism was still a long way off something Nik Gowing says hes grateful for. There were a lot of people hanging about there, he says of the Alma tunnel that night. If you can imagine what would have happened if people had started turning up with their iPhones and started filming this stuff. There would have been something uploaded within minutes which would have been dreadful, and we were saved that really. I think the non-ability of social media that evening means we didnt have to make some very difficult editorial decisions. Princess Diana's car is removed from the Alma tunnel AFP/Getty) It is a remarkable sign of the analogue times that none of the fabled photographs taken by the paparazzi in that devastating moment ever saw the light of day. It is inconceivable that any such content could be completely eliminated in todays world though getting that extra paparazzi shot of the Princess may not have been a matter of life and death in the era of constant Instagramming. The advancement of social media means that news of her death would have undoubtedly been in the public domain earlier, Kay Burley accepts. Even before social media, she says digital advancements made a huge difference to how Sky were able to cover 9/11 just four years later, when live footage began beaming around the world within minutes. But, she doesnt feel todays resources would have changed the Diana coverage all that much. There was no way there could have been any more blanket coverage, and the shock the nation suffered could not have been any more profound. Matthew Shaw is a senior BBC editor who was a junior producer in 1997, who came in to help out that morning, sending teams to Paris, Althorp, Sandringham and anywhere else with a link to Diana. Hes not convinced social media would have changed the coverage much either. If this happened today, I think wed probably need more reporters because we have more services to respond to UK news, world news, online, Facebook but I think ultimately the coverage would look pretty much exactly the same. People lay flowers outside Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived When other vaguely comparable tragedies happen today whether its the death of a celebrity, or a horrific terror attack people are used to taking to social media to react. Hashtags are employed and profile pictures are changed as marks of respect, and a tide of grief spreads quickly, which people feel they need to join. In a pre-social media world, this is the kind of behaviour which was essentially played out in real life with hordes of people descending upon various royal palaces and homes, leaving flowers, writing tributes, hugging strangers, and pouring their hearts out to TV cameras in a way that had never been seen before. Matthew believes the early TV coverage was something of a catalyst for this. With TV early that morning, you were seeing what was happening, and people felt compelled to go and do the same thing. Thats what we do as human beings, we see things and we want to take part in them. Today, our media has changed irreversibly. We learn news instantly, and get to see it raw, live and unedited for better or for worse. And yet for all the digital and technological resources at our fingertips, the thoughts we share on social media have only become more personal, more open and when the occasion calls for it more emotional. Performing grief publicly is something weve become accustomed to doing; and it traces right back to learning the news about Diana. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government has been criticised by the United Nations for failing to uphold the rights of disabled people through a string of austerity policies. An inquiry into the UKs progress in fulfilling its commitments to a major UN convention found ministers have failed people with disabilities through a catalogue of policies in recent years, affecting a range of areas from access to healthcare to equality in education and work. A rise in disabled pupils not in mainstream education and a "persistent" employment gap facing disabled adults were among a string of accusations outlined in the report, published this week by the UN committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, after it spent two days grilling Government officials in Geneva. The inquiry concluded that the UK has failed to ensure the UN Convention on Disabled Peoples' Rights, to which it has been a signatory since 2007, is reflected in current policies and laws. Charities and campaigners described the findings as a grim reality check for the Government, while opposition politicians have warned the UK is "going backwards" on disability rights. They said ministers should be shamed into action by the report. UK legislation has failed to recognise living independently and being included in the community as a human right, the report stated, citing cuts to social protection schemes related to housing and budgets for independent living. The UN panel said there was a lack of support for disabled people to live independently, accusing the Government of transferring the responsibility to local authorities without providing the necessary funds. In a scathing attack on the UK's education policy for disabled children, the committee also said the education system segregates pupils with disabilities, and raised concerns that the number of children in "special schools" was on the rise. The education system is not geared to respond to the requirements for high-quality inclusive education, in particular the practices of school authorities turning down enrolment of student with disability who is deemed as disruptive to other classmates, the report states. Education and training of teachers in inclusion competences is not reflecting the requirements of inclusive education. Access to healthcare for disabled people was raised as another major concern, with the committee stating there is a lack of access to sexual health services and family planning education. The inquiry also found a persistent employment gap and pay gap for disabled people, describing as insufficient measures to improve employment for disabled people on the open labour market, which it states is in breach of obligations outlined by EU law. In a sign that there is underlying racism in the treatment of disabled people in the UK, the committee expressed deep concern over evidence that people from ethnic minorities who are disabled are more likely to be subject to physical, mechanical and chemical restraint, including the use of Taser guns. Responding to the findings, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on disabilities, Baroness Celia Thomas, who is herself disabled, accused Britain of regressing on disability rights, and expressed hope that the report would shame the Government into action. Britain was the world trailblazer on disability rights. Now we are going backwards, with disabled people bearing the brunt of austerity and that is a disgrace, she said. This is a damning report and should shame the government into action. We demand a full assessment of all government activity on disabled rights. There is so much the Government could do that would actually be cost-neutral. "The taking away of motability cars for instance has forced thousands of disabled people to give up work, which is not only hugely devastating for them, it is economically illiterate. After this report maybe the Government will finally be forced to listen. The findings come nearly a year after the same UN committee issued a searing report on austerity policies introduced by the Tories, which the Government dismissed at the time as "patronising and offensive". Recommended UK accused of breaching UN convention in treatment of disabled people Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, one of the organisations that submitted evidence to the committee, said the report was "a grim reality check" for the UK government and its record on ensuring the human rights of disabled people. After nearly a week considering the UKs record, the committee paints a worrying picture of the battles disabled people face every day as they seek to lead independent lives. We were proud to give evidence to the committee alongside other deaf and disabled peoples organisations. The UK government should now cut the rhetoric and start delivering on these excellent recommendations. Equality and Human Rights Commission chair, David Isaac, meanwhile said: This is a damning assessment by UN experts of the failure to protect disabled peoples rights across many areas of life in the UK. We have long urged the Government to make changes and the UN recommendations are further proof that immediate action must be taken. "Drastic cuts to health and social care budgets have had an impact on disabled peoples ability to live independently; barriers to accessing justice persist and there are significant gaps in legal protection for disability rights. If Government is serious about delivering a fair and equal society it must involve disability groups to help design and implement new policies to ensure that disabled people are no longer treated like second class citizens." A Government spokesperson said: Were disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the evidence we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise all the progress weve made to empower disabled people in all aspects of their lives. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters We spend over 50bn a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions more than ever before, and the second highest in the G7. "Were committed to furthering rights and opportunities for all disabled people, which is why it is encouraging that almost 600,000 disabled people have moved into work in the UK over the last four years. Were also a recognised world leader in disability rights and equality, which is why we supported the development of the UN convention." Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Brexit talks have become deadlocked with the UK and EU negotiating teams failing to make progress in a string of critical areas, The Independent understands. As the third round of discussions closes on Thursday, the British team are increasingly certain that the hands of EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier are tied by the rigidly worded mandate handed to him by the EU27 member states. Intense discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday underlined how the biggest stumbling block is the UKs divorce bill, with Britain and the EU diametrically opposed over how to calculate the settlement. Brexit Secretary: UK wants temporary EU customs deal Other issues, including whether Britons will keep their European Health Insurance Cards and what happens to the movement of British goods immediately after Brexit, are also said to be causing difficulty. The limited progress of the latest round of talks come amid reports that Theresa May is planning to appeal directly to national leaders in a bid to break the impasse. British officials believe that the mandate given to Mr Barnier has prevented him having sufficient space to negotiate progress, in particular robbing him of the ability to move on to future trade relations, before separation issues like the divorce bill, citizens rights, and the Northern Ireland border are addressed. The UK team believes the distinction between future relations and withdrawal is artificial, and that a greater degree of parallel negotiations must be allowed. The settlement of Britains financial obligations is also a particular sticking point, with the UK wanting to go through specific areas where the country could owe money and calculate any figure from the bottom up, while the EU wants a more top-down approach based on an overarching calculation of what the nation should pay. The attempt to shift the blame for a lack of progress on to the EU comes after Commission chief negotiator Mr Barnier said he was worried about UK ambiguity on certain issues and Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Britains preparation for the talks was not satisfactory, while European Parliament president Antonio Tajani is the latest to add his name to the list of EU chiefs berating the UK, accusing it of causing uncertainty. Senior EU officials say Mr Barniers negotiating team is simply taking the approach the European Council and the 27 remaining member states have instructed them to take but both sides increasingly agree, behind closed doors, that this months round of talks are about clarifying and understanding one-anothers positions with limited concrete progress beyond that expected to be made. Mr Barnier said today that the guidelines given to him by the EU27 were designed for serious and constructive negotiations, but we need clear UK positions on all issues. Asked how the negotiations were going, a European Commission spokesperson told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday: They are continuing. The lack of significant progress further hardens the possibility that the two sides will not make what the EU calls sufficient progress by October to move onto trade talks about the future UK-EU relationship though UK officials still think they can meet the EUs threshold to begin the next phase. The two sides will together make an official statement on Thursday setting out what they have achieved. The next round of talks are due to start on 18 September, with a fifth round in early October after which the EU will decide if trade issues and Britains future relationship with the EU can start to be addressed. Brussels officials today also poured cold water on a reported plan from Downing Street to bypass Mr Barniers negotiating team and instead go straight to member states like France and Germany. An official pointed to the instructions drawn up by the member states, which say negotiations are to be conducted as as a single package where individual items cannot be settled separately. 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 A source familiar with the UKs negotiating position said: There is some concern about what the UK says is an inflexibility to the Commissions approach, that its difficult to negotiate with people who have perhaps not been given the flexibility to negotiate. The French government earlier this week stood by Mr Barniers team, saying that it fully supports, on the substance as well as on the method, Michel Barniers negotiating mandate and that suggestions in the British eurosceptic press that it would bypass him are founded on absolutely nothing and do not reflect reality. It comes as Theresa May insisted the UK was making the running in the talks. We have been publishing a series of papers over the summer, there will be more papers to come, where we are setting out the key issues that both sides need to address, the options that we have, the ideas we have, of how to deal with those, she told the BBC. Its the United Kingdom that has been coming forward with the ideas and with the clarity about the future. Mr Davis the Brexit Secretary had opened talks on Monday by calling for the EU to show more flexibility and imagination in this round. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has been warned that the Conservative Party will decide on her future, after she indicated she would lead it into the next election. The Prime Minister surprised Tory colleagues with her defiant statement during a trip to Japan, where she insisted she was not a quitter, despite reports she would stand down after overseeing the Brexit process. During the three-day trip to Japan, where she is seeking to boost future trade relations after Brexit, Ms May confirmed that she intends to fight the next election. She added: Theres been an awful lot of speculation about my future, which has no basis in it whatsoever. Im in this for the long term. Theres a real job to be done in the United Kingdom. Its about getting the Brexit deal right, its about building that deep and special partnership with the European Union, but its also about building global Britain, trading around the world. Pressed to rule out stepping down before the next election, due in 2022, she replied: Im not a quitter. However, former party chairman Grant Shapps said it was too early to talk about going on and on, and that her comments would raise eyebrows among party members after the disastrous election result in June which saw Ms May wipe out her Commons majority. He also gave faint praise to the Governments Brexit strategy, saying people were impressed by the Brexit papers: not necessarily even the contents, just that we were getting on with the job. Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think colleagues may well be surprised by this interview last night, and I think it is too early to be talking about going on and on, as Margaret Thatcher once said. Lets get some progress for the British people first. I think thats the priority. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA Mr Shapps, who was party chair during the successful 2015 election, said: You cant go pretending it wasnt anything other than a disastrous result, of course it was. And you cant jump straight from that to Ill go on forever; youve got to have an inbetween stage. And the inbetween stage is delivering on some of the stuff we need to deliver. He said the Prime Minister should be judged on her performance in the Brexit negotiations, but that it was probably the case nobody wanted Ms May to take on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at the ballot box again. It came as a number of senior Conservatives also cast doubt on Ms Mays future. Former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said it would be difficult for Ms May to lead the party into the next election, while party grandee Lord Heseltine said she did not have a long-term future. However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has been touted as a possible successor to the Prime Minister, said she had his undivided support. On an official visit to Nigeria, Mr Johnson said Ms May was ideally placed to deliver Brexit and that he was here to support her. Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 committee, told The Independent: I think the broad view is nobody wants to revisit the question of leadership and I think the Prime Ministers comments are broadly welcome as she has made it clear it is off the table. I think the fact is that we have got important work to do and the Brexit process is a part of that but there are a great many other things for us to focus on too. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Former Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale has said she was forced into coming out as gay after a magazine outed her. The Lothian MSP, who resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party on Tuesday, said she told the Fabian Review not to include quotes about her sexuality but they chose them to print them regardless. I have a female partner. I dont talk about it much because I dont feel I need to, she told the magazine at the time. Ms Dugdale said other journalists were aware of her sexuality but paid attention to her desire for it not to be publicly revealed. Mary Riddell, who wrote the piece for the Rabian Review, denied there had been wrongdoing on her part saying: "at no point during the interview or afterwards did [Ms Dugdale] ask me not to publish her comments, which were recorded with her agreement." Ms Riddell also said she had not received any complaint from Ms Dugdale about the use of her quotes. However, the politician has said she regrets the fact she did not have more control and autonomy over coming out. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA It was really difficult, I didnt have complete control and it was in the middle of an incredibly intense election campaign in 2016, she told the Victoria Derbyshire programme. She added: It wasnt the first time I had been asked about my sexuality or relationship and I would answer journalists honestly, and then say I would prefer they didnt use that information. Up until that day, everyone had respected that until that one journalist decided it was a story. I had to suck it, make the best of it. I regret that it was unfair. Recommended Kezia Dugdale quits as Scottish Labour leader The Fabian Society said it was very sorry she was upset by the old interview, saying in a statement: We are very sorry that Kezia Dugdale was upset by the interview that appeared in the Fabian Review in 2016. This wide-ranging and comprehensive on the record interview was conducted by an experienced, broadsheet journalist who followed usual journalistic practice." Ms Dugdale, who is in a relationship with SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, explained the night before the piece was published she made some phone calls to tell people about her sexuality before it was revealed in the press. The politician announced she was stepping down as leader of the Scottish Labour Party just days ago to let someone with "fresh energy, drive and a new mandate" take her place. She said she wanted to make sure her successor had the "space and time" to prepare for the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021. Despite previously criticising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and backing his rival Owen Smith in last year's leadership contest, she strongly denied suggestions she was leaving to avoid being pushed out by Mr Corbyn's supporters. Mr Corbyn thanked Ms Dugdale for "the important role she has played in rebuilding the party in Scotland". The leader said: "Kezia became Scottish leader at one of the most difficult times in the history of the Scottish Labour Party, and the party's revival is now fully under way, with six new MPs and many more to come. "I want to thank Kez for her tireless service to our party and movement, and look forward to campaigning with her in future for a country that works for the many, not the few." * This article has been updated to make clear that Mary Riddell, the journalist who wrote the piece about which Ms Dugdale has now spoken, denies any suggestion that she acted improperly in using comments that had been given to her on the record. 5/9/17 Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa Mays leadership has been compared to a second-rate horror film by former chancellor George Osbornes London Evening Standard. A damning editorial in the newspaper likened her premiership to the living dead and claimed that support for her was so weak that she could only count on half a dozen fans within the Conservative Party. It comes after the Prime Minister gave a series of interviews during a trip to Japan, where she said she was not a quitter and indicated she would fight the next general election. The newspaper said: Like the Living Dead in a second-rate horror film, the premiership of Theresa May staggers on oblivious. This was not supposed to be in the script. It warned that Ms May was a Prime Minister in office but not in power, which would place Britain in a weakened position during the Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister can only count on the support of Brexit headbangers who would rather lose the next election than give ground on leaving the European Union, and solid centre-of-Government ministers who do not care who leads the party, the newspaper said. It added: For the country it means we continue to have a rudderless Government when we face huge challenges beyond Brexit, as our economy falls behind and our place in the world is diminished. Britain deserves a better movie than this. Mr Osborne, who stood down at the general election after being sacked from the Cabinet by Ms May, has been highly critical of the Prime Minister since becoming editor of the London newspaper in May. He previously described her as a dead woman walking and predicted she would be forced to resign in the wake of the disastrous election result in June. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA Senior Conservatives have also cast doubt on Ms Mays future, including former party chairman Grant Shapps who said it was too early to talk about her leadership going on and on and her comments on remaining Prime Minister would raise eyebrows among party members. Former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said it would be difficult for Ms May to fight the next election, while Tory grandee Lord Heseltine questioned her long-term future. European Commission Vice President Maros Sevcovic is going to visit Kyiv in mid-September, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman wrote. Groysman said on his Facebook page that on Thursday he had a telephone conversation with Sevcovic. The prime minister said that during the conversation the creation of the Energy Efficiency Fund in Ukraine had been discussed, which is one of the priorities of the Ukrainian government. "We are all ready to launch this project - the necessary legislative acts have been adopted, the relevant constituent documents have been prepared and agreed," Groysman wrote. The premier said that the parties agreed to attract EUR 100 million from European partners in the form of targeted funds for filling the Fund and start financing specific energy efficiency projects. "Practical negotiations on the financial support of Brussels for this project will continue in the near future, in particular, during the visit of Maros Sefcovic to Kyiv in mid-September," Groysman wrote. As reported, on June 22, Sefcovic said that the European Union would allocate EUR 100 million to Ukraine for the Energy Efficiency Fund, as soon as the Ukrainian parliament completes the formation of the legislative field for the work of the Fund. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Korea's ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office so government ministers can condemn its latest missile launch over Japan. It comes amid mounting international pressure being placed on Pyongyang as it presses ahead with a series of missile tests. Speaking after the meeting, Mark Field, Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said: "I summoned the North Korean ambassador to the Foreign Office today and made clear how strongly the UK condemns the regimes launch of an intermediate range missile over Japan on 28 August. Recommended US conducts computer war simulation in response to North Korea missile "Once again, North Koreas reckless actions violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten international security. The UK will work with our partners and allies to tackle this threat. "I urge the regime to end its illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missiles and return to dialogue with the international community." Spain also summoned North Korea's ambassador on Thursday and demanded that a number of the country's diplomats in Madrid leave the country. US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach Show all 10 1 /10 US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marine soldiers patrol during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea. North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean soldiers take part in the Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean marine soldiers stand guard during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes part in Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes a position during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise at a beach in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities, in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine walks past a military vehicle during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marines gather at a beach during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul, South Korea Getty Images It comes as South Korean and Japanese jets joined exercises with two supersonic US B-1B bombers above and near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after North Korea fired a missile over Japan. The drills, involving four US stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, came at the end of annual joint US-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The United Nations human rights chief has said that President Donald Trumps repeated denunciations of some media outlets as fake news could amount to incitement to violence and had potentially dangerous consequences outside the United States. The rebuke by Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, at a news conference in Geneva was an unusually forceful criticism of a head of state by a UN official. Al-Hussein was reacting to Trumps recent comments at a rally in Phoenix during which he spoke of crooked media deceptions in reports of the violent clashes at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of a counter-protester. In Phoenix, the Presidents words also appeared to whip up audience hostility toward journalists. Its really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, not only a cornerstone of the Constitution but very much something the United States defended over the years, is now itself under attack from the president himself, al-Hussein said. Its a stunning turnaround. Asked for comment, the White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in an emailed statement, We believe in free press and think it is an important part of our democracy, but the press also has a big responsibility to the American people to be truthful. Their job is to report the news, not create it. Is it not dangerous for the media, she continued, to create false narratives and overzealous attacks against the president that the American people chose to be their leader? The president is focused on growing our economy, creating jobs, securing our border and protecting Americans. Since those are also the priorities of most Americans, hopefully the media will make covering them theirs. In an attempt to deflect criticism that he had stoked racial divisions by failing to unequivocally condemn the actions of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville as racist, Trump had accused the news media of giving a platform to hate groups. 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. Al-Hussein said that the violence in Charlottesville was an abomination. The Nazi salutes, the display of swastikas and the anti-Semitic chants had no place in the United States or anywhere else, he said. To call these news organisations fake does tremendous damage, al-Hussein added. The New York Times Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The family of a 22-year-old Sikh man who was stabbed to death in the US on Tuesday has said he was a victim of racial hatred exacerbated by the Trump administration. Gagandeep Singh, a third year software engineering student who was also working as a taxi driver, was allegedly attacked by a passenger he had picked up at Spokane International Airport in Washington State. The Bonner County Sheriff's Office identified 19-year-old Jacob Corban Coleman as Mr Singhs attacker. Coleman is said to have flown from Seattle to Spokane to start as a new student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, but upon arrival he was denied entry. The university said a person matching Coleman's description had approached housing officials at the campus but was not enrolled as a student and had never been assigned university housing. Police found no record of his application to the university. Coleman reportedly left, hailed a taxi and asked Mr Singh to drive him to a fictitious friends house in Bonner County, Idaho. Police said Coleman later admitted that during the journey he became homicidal and bought a knife during a stop at a shop. Mr Singh then stopped in Kootenai, in Bonner County, Idaho, when it became clear Coleman didn't have a real destination. The police say Coleman then stabbed Mr Singh, who died at the scene. Coleman surrendered to local police at the crime scene, and was charged with first-degree murder, the Idaho Statesman reports. Mr Singh, originally from Jalandhar in Punjab, had been living in Washington state since 2003. He was the nephew of Jalandhar-based congress leader Manmohan Singh Raju, who blamed the Trump administration for showing exit doors to Asians. According to the Hindustan Times, he said: My nephew became a victim of racial hatred. As the Trump government is now showing exit doors to the Asians due to few job opportunities, Indians and Asians as a whole are becoming the victims of racial hatred. Mr Singhs mother, Kamaljit Kaur, told police that on the night of her sons murder, she had called him and he told her he was carrying a white man in his taxi. Ms Kaur said during the conversation she had also enquired about the behaviour of the man to which Mr Singh replied that he was a gentleman. 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 She said her family feared something was wrong after her son didnt pick calls made around 6pm. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Mosques across the state of Texas are being turned into shelters for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH), which represents 21 Islamic centres in the area, has opened four of their properties as functioning 24-hour shelters. They will provide a dry place to stay, food and emotional support for displaced residents, its website says. The society is partnering with Muslim charity Baitulmaal, which is making hygiene products, food and water available to those in need. M J Khan, president of ISGH told the Mic news website: "This is an obligation, a religious obligation to help others. When you give you dont give only to your own family You give to anybody who needs help. In the beginning there was some difficulty, as many roads leading to the mosques were inaccessible. However Mr Khan made some phone calls, and volunteers soon arrived with bottled water, sleeping bags and supplies. The numbers of Muslim volunteers grew so large that many were instructed to offer their services at local city shelters. The ISGH have also been fundraising, and both money and additional supplies are making their way to Houston from the Muslim community across America. In addition, 50 doctors from the community have offered their services, should anybody need it. We have mosques all over the greater Houston area, Mr Khan said. If you have no place to go, go to your neighbourhood mosque. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 1 /19 The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA News of the ISGH's generosity comes after Pastor Joel Osteen, of the 16,000 seat Lakewood Church was criticised for not opening the building to members of the public. It did eventually help with the relief effort. Mr Osteen later insisted that the city "didnt need us as shelter then. If we needed to be a shelter, we certainly wouldve been a shelter right when they first asked. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a severe state immigration law that was supposed to take effect on Friday and would have outlawed sanctuary cities and penalised local officials who do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts. The decision on Wednesday by US District Judge Orlando Garcia delivers a temporary blow to the state's campaign - backed by the Trump administration - to compel localities to detain immigrants so federal agents can take them into custody. In a 94-page decision, Garcia wrote that parts of the Texas law are likely to be found unconstitutional. He enjoined the state from punishing local officials, infringing on their right to free speech and forcing them to detain immigrants for federal immigration officials, an act that is currently voluntary. And he wrote that cities and towns had provided overwhelming and ample evidence that cooperating with immigration officials will erode public trust and make many communities and neighbourhoods less safe as well as harm the state economically. Recommended Chicago sues Trump administration over immigration Indeed, at the end of the day, the Legislature is free to ignore the pleas of city and county officials, along with local police departments, who are in the trenches, Garcia wrote. The Court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature. However, the State may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution. Governor Greg Abbott (Republican) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Republican) vowed to appeal. Today's decision makes Texas' communities less safe, Abbott said in a statement. The law would fine local officials who refused to assist federal agencies in working to deport illegal immigrants up to $25,500 a day. Elected and appointed officials could lose their jobs, and police and sheriffs could go to jail for up to a year on misdemeanour charges. The Court was right to strike down the guts of a law that is not only patently unconstitutional but bad policy as well, said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued against the case in court on behalf of several Texas cities and towns. Hopefully other states will now not follow Texas' lead. Garcia's decision comes as Texas, home to an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, is grappling with historic flooding and dozens of deaths following Hurricane Harvey. It also lands amid growing fears that the Trump administration will end an Obama-era programme that has granted nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children reprieves from deportation. Texas is one of 10 states that have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it does not begin to phase out the deportation-relief program by next week. Abbott said the Texas statute would increase public safety by preventing local law enforcement from releasing foreign-born residents from jails or prisons before immigration agents can take them into custody. The small border city of El Cenizosued to stop the law, and was soon joined by Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other cities. They said the law could lead to racial profiling, make immigrants afraid to report crime and ignite a backlash that could devastate the state economically. The US Justice Department sided with Texas in defending the law in federal court. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. A federal judge later halted that order, saying it was overly broad. The administration has continued to try to steer funding away from cities and towns that refuse to help enforce immigration law. El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes said Wednesday's ruling left him in tears, thinking about the hate-filled messages he's received for filing the lawsuit, and the immigrants who will rest more easily come Friday - at least temporarily. This is great news for thousands of families here in Texas, he said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is touring flooded areas of the city, tweeted: Happy to learn a federal judge blocked the Texas law aimed at making local police immigration enforcers. Need them for fighting local crime. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 1 /19 The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA Few localities in Texas actually declare themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, though many, including Houston, say they are welcoming cities and limit how frequently they will cooperate with federal immigration officials. For instance, some are willing to hand over violent criminals, but unwilling to turn over someone arrested for a minor offence. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A company that suffered an explosion at a chemical plant close to Houston has said it fully expects more fires potentially as many as eight as a result of flooding overwhelming the electricity supply that powers its cooling equipment. Arkema, a French chemical company, confirmed there had been a series of explosions at one of its plants at Crosby, located about 30 miles northeast of Houston. Fifteen members of an emergency team required medical checks as they were suffering respiratory irritation after responding to the incident. Rich Rennard, an executive with Arkema, said at a news conference just hours after the initial explosion, that one of nine refrigerated containers had failed. He said he expected the organic peroxide in up to eight more to degrade, burn and produce more explosions and that the smoke created could irritate the eyes, skin and lungs. We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains, Arkema said in a statement. As we communicated in recent days, our site followed its hurricane preparation plan in advance of the recent hurricane and we had redundant contingency plans in place. However, unprecedented flooding overwhelmed our primary power and two sources of emergency backup power. As a result, we lost critical refrigeration of the products on site. Some of our organic peroxides products burn if not stored at low temperature. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 1 /19 The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA The company said it had been working with local officials close to the plant to manage the fallout of the situation. It said that the compounds at the plant were extremely flammable and that it had agreed with public officials that the best course of action is to let the fire burn itself out. The plant, had been shut down last Friday, some time before Harvey, then a category-four hurricane, made landfall on the Texas coast, about 30 miles from Corpus Christi. It has been without power since since Sunday and lost refrigeration when backup generators were deluged by the huge floods that have swamped Houston and the surrounding area. The plant was shut down some time before Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast (AP) Richard Rowe, chief executive of Arkemas North America unit, told Reuters that chemicals on the site would catch fire and explode if they were not properly cooled. While the company has been unable to say how long it believes the fires will last, Mr Rowe said beforehand that a fire would not pose any long-term harm or impact. But at a news conference in Washington, Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said he considered the plumes from the explosion incredibly dangerous. Local officials sought to claim that people had heard not genuine explosions but a series of pops. Bob Royall, assistant chief for emergency operations for the Harris County Fire Marshals Office, said: I dont want the public thinking these are massive explosions. When it was pointed out to him that the company itself had talked of explosions, he said: Were on the same page. Its a matter of terminology. I call it a chemical reaction and an overpressure of the container. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An American law professor has defended a controversial newspaper article in which she criticised black and Hispanic immigrant ways of life and argued that not all cultures are equal. Outraged students at the elite University of Pennsylvania signed an open letter condemning the op-ed by law faculty Professor Amy Wax and Professor Larry Alexander of the University of San Diego. In their article, the lecturers called for the reinstatement of 1950s bourgeois culture as best suited for preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy, arguing that citizens from certain ethnic groups had abandoned their role as advocates for respectability, civility, and adult values. In particular, Profs Wax and Alexander criticised the anti-acting white rap culture of inner-city blacks and anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants. Recommended The right to freedom of speech has gone too far More than 50 students and alumni signed open letters calling on Pennsylvania and San Diego to take action, saying the values espoused in the Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed were steeped in anti-blackness and white hetero-patriarchal respectability. But Prof Wax told The Independent it was the students themselves who were guilty of incoherence and that bourgeois values were not somehow racist. If indeed bourgeois values are so racist, the progressive critics should be out there in the street demonstrating against them, stripping them from their own lives, and forbidding their children to practice them, she said. They should be chanting No more work, more crime, more out of wedlock babies, forget thrift, lets get high! As an added bonus, that would help promote equality. After all, giving up their successful habits would soon cause the upper middle class to sink. Of course, theres little chance were going to see anything like that, which shows the incoherence, indeed the silliness, of the critiques. The dean of the Pennsylvania law faculty admitted that some students may find the professors arguments disagreeable or offensive, but said faculty members like students were entitled to express their views as part of academic freedom. Any assertion that one culture is superior to all others is contrary to our core values and current practices as an institution, and personally and as a scholar of constitutional law and history I reject such a view, he told The Independent. But encouraging broad and robust debate on controversial issues is another core value here, and the right to speak is empty if we only extend it to speech that we like. The universitys failure to criticise Professor Wax has only fuelled student anger further. One group describing itself as representative of a multitude of backgrounds at Pennsylvania wrote in an open letter published on Medium: Penn does not empower all students. Instead, by failing to take a public stand against rhetoric that harms, dehumanises, and compromises the education of its vulnerable students, Penn merely reinscribes existing social hierarchies and inequalities. We hold that Penn can do better. Speaking to the Times Higher Education website, a spokesperson for San Diego, where the articles co-author Prof Alexander teaches, said the college had not had any complaints from students, who are yet to return to campus for the new term. They said: While we recognise and protect the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, we are mindful that diverse points of view may be upsetting to some who do not agree with opposing perspectives. We continue our work to ensure that members of our campus community feel safe and supported as we discuss and debate the urgent challenges facing our world. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Bernie Sanders' upcoming scheduled events - including appearances in New Hampshire - have prompted rumours of a 2020 presidential bid. The Democratic Senator from Vermont is set to appear at events over the US Labour Day holiday weekend. New Hampshire is seen as an important player for both parties' candidates in any presidential election, much like Iowa and Ohio. Mr Sanders will speak at a breakfast event in Manchester for the labour union AFL-CIO and then travel to Concord for a public rally held by the group Rights and Democracy New Hampshire. The labour union event comes with a price tag of a $30 "donation" according to his aides. 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 During the 2016 election, Mr Sanders defeated opponent Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in New Hampshire by over 50,000 votes and six delegates. Surrogates for Mr Sanders have said he has left the possibility of a 2020 run open. He would be 78 years old. But, Mr Sanders' popularity was evident during the primaries as his army of "Bernie Bros" showed their support, so much so that many refused to vote for Ms Clinton as a sign of breaking from the rest of the Democratic Party. Mr Sanders is not the only Democrat to show an interest in New Hampshire nearly three years before ballots are cast. Congressman John Delaney of Maryland, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander have either made appearances or scheduled upcoming events in the Granite State. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One of the worlds leading scientific journals has accused the Trump administration of suppressing a major study into the public health risks of coal mining, saying it raises the prospect of researchers being prevented from making discoveries that the US government does not like. Donald Trump, who has dismissed climate change as a hoax, has made great play of his plans to reinvigorate the coal industry in the US. The US Department of Interior (DoI) recently ordered the prestigious US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (Nasem) to halt a $1m study into the effects of the form of coal mining known as mountain-top removal on the health of people living in West Virginia. The department said simply that it was reviewing spending of projects that cost more than $100,000. In an editorial, the journal Nature doubted this explanation and said the decision suggested the Trump administration might cancel other research that it does not like, endangering science and academic freedom. It pointed out that the Nasem scientists were already about halfway through the two-year study. The DoIs assertion that the decision is a budgetary one is suspect, especially given that the study has already spent a good amount of its budget, the article said. It seems, instead, that the government would rather quash the review than risk it producing results that cast aspersions on the coal industry. This is par for the course for the DoI, whose head, Ryan Zinke, plans to downsize national parks in favour of resource extraction, and which has also suspended meetings with its independent advisory councils on issues concerning public lands. The decision stood out even among near-daily news about the Trump administration weakening climate and environmental protections, the editorial added. The move to pre-empt the prestigious and independent Nasem is particularly concerning. It raises questions about what other studies could be cancelled if the government fears their results. It is another blow for science and for academic freedom. At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston in February, its chief executive, Dr Rush Holt, expressed fears of scientists that ideology would become more important than evidence under Mr Trump. When officials use the phrase 'alternative facts' without embarrassment, we know theres a problem, he said. Ive actually heard scientists recently talking about the need to defend the conditions in which science will thrive they brought up the subject of Soviet agriculture, where scientists were led to believe things that just werent so for political reasons. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Ive seen it in Burma as well, where wishful thinking about how plants should grow or how fertilisers should work has contaminated the study of how plants actually grow and fertiliser actually works. Looking at the philosophy of science is not idle ivory-tower thinking, its very important. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's controversial pardon of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio may not go through due to a US district court judge. Judge Susan Bolton of the US District Court handling Mr Arpaio's case has cancelled a sentencing hearing for the former Maricopa County sheriff but stopped short of throwing out his conviction. Instead, Judge Bolton said that because a presidential pardon carries an implication of guilt she wants both Mr Arpaio's lawyers and the US Department of Justice to submit briefs on why she should or should not vacate Mr Arpaio's conviction. She has scheduled oral arguments for 4 October on the matter and will make a decision at that point. A civil suit was originally brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for Mr Arpaio's alleged racial profiling for detaining Arizonans who looked to be of Mexican or Latin American descent under suspicion of being in the US illegally. "The judge trying that case not only found that Arpaio's policies constituted racial profiling, he also found Arpaio to be in civil contempt of court and referred him to [Judge Bolton] for the criminal contempt," USA Today reported. The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters JudgeBolton then asked the US Attorney in Arizona to try the case for Mr Arpaio allegedly disobeying the order to stop the racial profiling, but that office declined. That is when the US Department of Justice stepped in. Washington DC-based lawyer Kimberly Curtis told The Independent that a presidential pardon does not necessarily "imply" guilt in the way Judge Bolton's decision may suggest. However, Mr Arpaio's case is a little more complicated. Presidential pardons only cover federal crimes, so technically Mr Trump has not pardoned his racial profiling but the alleged contempt of court charge. Trump defends Arpaio pardon "The issue with [Mr] Arapio is he was actively appealing his conviction when he was pardoned. So there is an unknown question about which takes precedence- the pardon or the appeal," Ms Curtis said. Normally, with a presidential pardon the defendant waives the right to an appeal however, Mr Arpaio's lawyer Mark Goldman has not indicated as yet whether his client will drop the appeal. Ms Curtis said Mr Trump may have "jumped the gun" on pardoning Mr Arpaio before the appeal was dropped. Mr Trump said Mr Arpaio has been treated "unbelieveably unfairly." "He's done a great job for the people of Arizona, he's very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration, he is loved in Arizona," Mr Trump said. However, according to a recent poll the majority of Americans - around 60 per cent of respondents in a poll conducted by NBC News/SurveyMonkey - said it was "wrong" to pardon the former sheriff. Additionally, around 64 per cent of the over 10,000 respondents also support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, which allows people brought to the US illegally as children, so-called "Dreamers," a repreive from deportation. The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Ukraine in mid-September, a source in the government has told Interfax-Ukraine. "The preliminary date of arrival is September 12-13, it will be specified in the near future," the source said. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Political differences have been put aside as people pitch in to help with the Hurricane Harvey relief effort. Activists from the anti-fascist movement known as antifa have recently come under fire because some - but not all - employ militant tactics and use violence as a means of getting their message across. But now some of the group - a loose coalition of left-wing groups who oppose fascism, racism and sexism - are reportedly assisting with search and rescue and first aid. Others claim to have established shelters in poorer neighbourhoods and areas that may be overlooked by larger organisations. When real disaster strikes, people put aside what they think about the world and begin to help each other directly, a relief worker, identified as Scott Crow, told the Revere Press website. "Gonzo journalist" and self declared anti-fascist, Kit O'Connell also said members of the group were helping with the relief effort. "Even though were not wearing our masks, antifa in Texas are in the streets, saving lives, feeding folks and organising," he wrote in an article for the Medium website. At least 38 people have been killed as a result of the storm and more than 30,000 have been displaced in Texas alone. The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 1 /19 The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA Anti-fascists have been involved in a series of clashes with far-right groups across the US over the course of this year. A largely peaceful demonstration at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park in Berkeley, California saw violence erupt between the groups. Police made 10 arrests and used tear gas to disperse the counter-protesters. The incident lead Trump supporters and conservatives to condemn Antifa members and some have called for the group to be formally recognised as a terrorist organisation. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly teamed up with a powerful New York prosecutor to investigate Donald Trumps former campaign manager a disturbing development for the White House as the President does not have the power to pardon state crimes. Mr Muellers team is said to have already shared evidence and information with investigators working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The team of Mr Schneiderman, a Democrat who was appointed in May, has been looking at the financial transactions of Paul Manafort, Mr Trumps former campaign manager who resigned in 2016 as controversy grew about his links to Russia. [The cooperation] could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trumps campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes, said Politico, which first revealed the development. Commentators pointed out the move is of crucial importance because while Mr Trump has the power to issue a federal pardon as he controversially did to former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was found guilty of contempt of court after being accused of racial profiling he does not have the same ability in relation to state law. Jeanne Zaino, Professor of Politics at Iona College, told The Independent she believed the news marked a critical development because it suggested Mr Muellers team was making a concerted effort to pressure Mr Manafort, and potentially others close to the President. As any one who has been under this type of pressure from federal prosecutors can attest, the impact on themselves, their families, their livelihood is tremendous, she said. This is, of course a standard tactic in these investigations and is clear evidence that the special prosecutor is trying to trade up. Manafort is likely just one a few key players in this investigation who is under this type of pressure and scrutiny. Trump defends Arpaio pardon As a result, if Mr Manafort were to be found guilty in a New York State court or indeed, if Mr Trumps daughter or son-in-law or even himself were convicted by such a court the former reality television host could do nothing about it. Mr Manafort has always denied any wrongdoing and has maintained such a position, even after federal agents raided his Virginia apartment last month. The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues. 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 Mr Mueller, a former FBI director, who was appointed to head a federal probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russias alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, has been looking into Mr Manaforts lobbying work and financial transactions, including real estate deals in New York. CNN said this week that Mr Mueller had issued subpoenas to an attorney who formerly represented Mr Manafort and to a spokesman for the consultant. Mr Muellers office has declined to comment, as has that of Mr Schneiderman. The White House has not commented on the developments. Politico said no decision had been made on whether to file charges against Mr Manafort. One source said: Nothing is imminent. Mr Schneiderman said in May that Mr Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey, a move that triggered the appointment of Mr Mueller, threatened the integrity of the agency. Mr Trump has hit back, by calling Mr Schneiderman a lightweight. Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 US and Mr Trump has similarly denied working with Russia and has dismissed various ongoing investigations into him as part of a witch hunt. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US has ordered Russia to close diplomatic offices in New York, Washington and San Francisco - the latest in a series of tit-for-tat moves by the two nations. After Donald Trump reluctantly signed a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia for interfering with the 2016 presidential election, Russia swiftly reacted by order the closure of American diplomatic facilities. In a statement blasting that move as unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries, the State Department directed Russia to shutter the three facilities in the spirit of parity. Recommended Russia cuts US diplomatic staff in retaliation to fresh sanctions The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides, the statement said. The moves began in December, when former president Barack Obama kicked out dozens of Russian officials in the US, closed Russian recreational compounds in New York and Maryland, and sanctioned Russian individuals and entities over the election meddling. Mr Trump's warm words for Russian President Vladimir Putin and repeated calls for better relations countries had fueled hopes of rebuilding a relationship that had grown increasingly strained amid Russian aggression in Europe and support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But the consensus among American intelligence agencies that Mr Putin sought to disrupt the 2016 election, as well as the ongoing investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, have undercut hopes for a detente. 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 Despite those crosscurrents Mr Trump has continued to express hope about improved relations. Directly asked earlier this week if he considered Russia a security threat, Mr Trump deflected the question and reiterated his goal of stronger ties. I hope the United States will someday be able to have a good relationship with Russia, Mr Trump told reporters. Similarly, the statement ordering the closure of Russian facilities urged improve relations between our two countries as the stated goal of both our presidents. In addition to its consulate, the Russians must close an official residence in San Francisco by Saturday. Though Russia can keep its New York consulate and Washington embassy, Russian trade missions housed in satellite offices in those two cities must shut down, a senior Trump administration official told the Associated Press. The US is not expelling any Russian officials, so those who work at the closed offices can be reassigned elsewhere in the US, the official said. One of the buildings is believed to be leased, but Russia will maintain ownership over the others, the official said, adding that it would be up to Moscow to determine whether to sell them or otherwise dispose of them. Agencies contributed to this report Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Mental illnesses suffered by the children of undocumented immigrants to the US drops by half if those youngsters no longer face the threat of deportation, researchers have claimed. As Donald Trump weighs scrapping a scheme introduced by his predecessor that has allowed hundreds of thousands of children and young adults without documents to remain in the country and study, researchers said they found that removing the stress of possible deportation had a major impact on mental health. The Stanford Immigration Policy Lab, a research group that uses data to present policy options on immigration, sought to look at the impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) scheme, which was introduced in 2012 by Barack Obama. Currently up to 800,000 children and young people - the so-called dreamers - are permitted to remain under the scheme. Donald Trump's immigration crackdown encapsulated in poignant footage of father being deported They said an interdisciplinary team, including members from Stanford University, Oregon Health and Science University, the Stanford School of Medicine, and Northwestern University, looked at the intergenerational impact of the threat of deportation by examining the children of mothers who themselves were born either side of the cut off date to be eligible for DACA - June 15 1981. The report, published in Science, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said among the 8,610 children born to these mothers between 2003 and 2015, researchers looked for a range of mental illnesses known to be provoked by external stress, including adjustment disorder, acute stress disorder, and anxiety disorder. Many Americans feel sympathy for the so-called 'dreamers' (AP) The researchers wanted to see how the lives of children were impacted when their parents no longer feared being deported, the report said. They found that before DACA was introduced, the two groups of children were diagnosed with disorders at roughly the same rate. However, after DACA was introduced a gulf opened between the two groups on either side of the motherss eligibility birth date cutoff: among those whose mothers were eligible, the rate dropped by more than half, from 7.8 per cent to 3.3 per cent. 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 Our results imply that expanding deferred action, or providing more permanent protection, to the millions of unauthorised immigrant parents who do not meet the current DACA eligibility criteria could equally promote the well-being of their children, said Duncan Lawrence, executive director of the Stanford Immigration Policy Lab. This would have important implications for this next generation of American citizens. Mr Lawrence, who told The Independent his team wanted to focus on the downstream impacts on mental health, said they had been working on the report for months. Yet it comes as Mr Trump, under pressure from members of his administration and the Republican Party, is considering scrapping the DACA scheme. During the election campaign, Mr Trump repeatedly said he would scrap it immediately. Since entering the White House he has admitted to struggling with the issue, especially since many Americans feel sympathetically towards the dreamers. Its a decision that I make and it's a decision thats very, very hard to make. I really understand the situation now, he told reporters on Air Force One last month. I understand the situation very well. What Id like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet. CNN said this week that sources within the government believed Mr Trump would ultimately decide to scrap the scheme. Mr Lawrence said his team had been working on the report for months. Yet he said he was pleased that it was being published now. He said: Its fortunate that this evidence is available. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Former news anchor Dan Rather has said Donald Trump is seized with fear over what special counsel Robert Mueller may find in a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Donald Trump is afraid, Mr Rather told MSNBC. He's trying to exude power and strength. He's afraid of something that Mueller and the prosecutors are going to find out. A political hurricane is out there at sea for him, we'll call it Hurricane Vladimir if you will, the whole Russian thing, he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's still pretty far out at sea, but each day ... this hurricane, this political hurricane ... is building in intensity. Federal and congressional investigators are currently looking into whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence last years presidential race. The multiple investigations have plagued the Trump administration, and new developments continue to emerge. A report this week said Mr Mueller and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, have teamed up in an investigation into Paul Manafort, Mr Trumps former campaign chairman. 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 Mr Schneidermans statewide probe could help Mr Mueller in the larger inquiry into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The President has repeatedly called Mr Muellers investigation a witch hunt and has denied there was any collusion. Mr Mueller's team is also reportedly looking into whether Mr Trump knew about a meeting his son, Donald Trump Jr, had with a Kremlin-connected lawyer last year, according to NBC. Mr Trump Jr met with the lawyer after being told she would provide official documents and information that would incriminate his fathers campaign opponent Hillary Clinton. The Presidents son said the lawyer did not provide such information. Mr Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and Mr Manafort also attended the meeting. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps then campaign manager reportedly took notes about donations during a controversial meeting with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer. Paul Manafort, who is being investigated as part of the ongoing federal probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, is said to have typed the word donations near a reference to the Republican National Committee, or RNC. The meeting at Trump Tower in New York in June 2016 has become a major controversy for Mr Trump, as some have said it may represent the clearest sign of collusion between his campaign and the Russian authorities. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to US elections. In addition to Mr Manafort, also present at the meeting were Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner. The men met with Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has represented clients with links to the Kremlin, and a Russian lobbyist who has long worked in Washington on issues of importance to Russian president Vladimir Putin. NBC said the notes from Mr Manaforts phone had been passed to investigators from the House and Senate intelligence committees. They have also been handed to special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to head a federal probe after Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump implies he had dirt on Clinton same day as Trump Jr's Russia meeting Emails published by the New York Times revealed that Mr Trumps eldest son attended the meeting after being told that Ms Veselnitskaya wanted to provide him with incriminating material about his fathers rival, Hillary Clinton. Mr Trump Jr has said he was offered no such material and that Ms Veselnitskaya in truth wanted to discuss an effort to push back a specific US sanction against certain Russians. Ms Veselnitskaya has denied either working for the Kremlin or making an offer of incriminating information. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images The issue created a major storm for Mr Trump when details of the meeting emerged earlier this summer. His son issued a series of statements that changed as more information about the meeting emerged in the media. Ms Veselnitskaya previously told NBC News that Mr Kushner and Mr Manafort were not introduced to her by name and she only realised who the men were after seeing their photographs. I could recognise the young gentleman who was only present in the meeting for probably the first seven to ten minutes, and then he stood up and left the room, she said. It was Mr Jared Kushner. And he never came back, by the way. She said Mr Manafort appeared to be her to have little interest in the conversation, with his main preoccupation seeming to be his cell phone. All the time he was looking at his phone. He was reading something. He never took any active part in the conversation, she said. "That was Mr Manafort. Mr Manafort, who Virginia apartment was raided earlier this summer by FBI agents, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The news channel said a spokesman for Mr Trumps former campaign manager had yet to respond to questions about his cryptic notes of the meeting. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has called on Congress to put partisanship aside to create the 21st-century tax code that our people deserve while also criticising Democratic obstructionists. During a speech in Springfield, Missouri, Mr Trump specifically urged Missouri voters to tell their Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill to embrace tax reform. If she doesnt, you have to vote her out of office, he said, eliciting booming cheers from the crowd. She's got to make that commitment, he said, later adding: The Dems are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform, just like they obstructed so many other things, including administration appointments and healthcare. Recommended The US Government is giving white supremacist groups tax exemptions In a statement on Saturday, Ms McCaskill had said she was looking forward to working with Mr Trump on tax reform. This is an area on which Im optimistic President Trump and I will find common ground, she said. Ive talked in a lot of my town halls about my support for simplifying the tax code by cleaning out loopholes and goodies for special interests, and lowering the corporate tax rate. Ms McCaskill has signed a Democratic letter declaring opposition to any bill that cuts taxes on the top 1 per cent as well as any measure that adds to the budget deficit. More than seven months into his administration, Mr Trump has still not been able to secure a major legislative victory. His attempts to overhaul his predecessor Barack Obamas healthcare law were foiled in July when the Senates Republican leadership failed to get enough votes from members of their own party to pass a bill. Legislators are due to return to Washington next week after a month-long recess. In the coming months, they are expected to try to tackle several items on Mr Trumps legislative agenda, including tax reform, which the President teed up in Springfield. I think Congress is going to make a comeback, Mr Trump said on Wednesday. I hope so. The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters In his speech, Mr Trump laid out what he hopes to accomplish through his tax overhaul: dramatically simplify the tax code, lower the corporate tax rate to 15 per cent, provide tax relief for middle class families, and curb companies use of overseas tax havens. But Mr Trump provided only broad outlines of what the tax code would look like if his plan succeeds, as Republican leaders in Congress and the White House have have not yet reached an agreement on the details. However, a lack of specifics did not stop some Democrats from criticising Mr Trumps gamit, potentially already derailing the Presidents goal to put the partisan posturing behind us. Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said that Republican tax reform proposals would overwhelmingly benefit the super-rich and corporations over hardworking Americans. Under this plan, the richest Americans would become even richer at the expense of middle-class families, Perez said in a statement to CNN. Democrats believe that not one penny of tax cuts should go to the 1%. Instead of trying to benefit themselves, Trump and Republicans should work with Democrats to enact real, bipartisan tax reform for the middle class. The President said during his remarks that he is pushing for tax relief for middle-class families, so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. What could possibly be more bipartisan than helping people keep more of what they earn? he said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The United States military and Pacific allies have conducted air drills over the Korean peninsula in conjunction with computer simulations just days after North Korea added tension to already stressed relations by firing a missile over Japan. The air drills involved two supersonic US B-1B bombers and four US health F-35B jets alongside South Korean and Japanese fighter jets. The exercise which brought nuclear capable bombers over the Korean peninsula came at the tail end of annual joint US-South Korea military exercises. North Koreas actions are a threat to our allies, partners, and homeland. And, their destabilising actions will be met accordingly, US General Terrence J OShaughnessy, the commander of Pacific Air Forces, said during an unscheduled visit to Japan. Recommended James Mattis contradicts Trump over North Korea comments This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies, and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at moments notice if our nation calls. North Korea has been flagrantly displaying its progress on its quest to develop weapons systems capable of launching a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US, and has recently threatened Guam, a US territory. Before the missile test over Japan, intelligence had indicated hat the country was capable of producing miniaturised nuclear warheads that could be put in missiles, and North Korea had repeatedly tested long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles. The US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces do not hide their bellicose nature, claiming that the exercises are to counter the DPRKs ballistic rocket launches and nuclear weapons development, North Koreas KCNA news agency said, referring to the acronym for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the official name for the country. In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video But the wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback by the intermediate-to-long range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill conducted by the army of the DPRK as the first military operation in the Pacific, the news agency continued. North Koreas open development of warheads that could threaten the US have led to an increasingly strained relationship between Washington and Pyongyang two capitals that had anything but a good relationship before. As a result, President Donald Trump has threatened that North Korea would face fire and fury if it continued to threaten the US, and indicated that the US military was ready with military options if the aggression continues. Mr Trump has since then made clear that he is at least considering a military response to North Koreas missiles, however it is uncertain if there is strong support for action like that in his administration. Since the aggression began, the US has imposed sanctions on North Korea, impacting a significant portion of the countrys economy. The President said this week that talking is not the answer to the conflict with North Korea, but his Defence secretary, Jim Mattis, told reporters just hours later that the US had not run out of diplomatic options for dealing with the Korean adversary. We are neer out of diplomatic solutions, Mr Mattis said. We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide the protection of our nations, our populations, and our interests. An American travel ban on North Korea will come into effect Friday. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Bangladesh's border guards have recovered the bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children whose boat capsized, an official said, as they fled violence in Burma amid rising pressure on Bangladesh to shelter thousands of others marooned at its land borders. Around 18,500 Rohingya Muslims, many sick and some with bullet wounds, have managed to slip into Bangladesh since Friday when a series of coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in the north of Burma's Rakhine state led to a massive military crackdown. Burma has evacuated thousands of Rakhine Buddhists from the area, where ongoing clashes have so far killed at least 117 people, most of them Rohingya insurgents but also security officials. On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River that separates the two countries as their boat overturned, said Ariful Islam, a commander with Bangladesh's border guards. Rohingya mothers face persecution Show all 10 1 /10 Rohingya mothers face persecution Rohingya mothers face persecution Ramida Begum holds her 10-day-old daughter in their shelter in Kutupalang, an unregistered refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. 'The military caught my husband and burnt our house down a week before I left Myanmar. Since then I don't know whether my husband is dead or alive' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Minara Begum sits inside the shelter, cradling her one-month-old son Ayub. Minara fled to Bangladesh from Nasha Phuru village in Myanmar with her husband and mother-in-law. 'My child doesn't get enough breast milk as I don't eat enough nutritious food. I have to buy milk powder from local market though it's not very good for my son' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Amina, pictured with her 16-day-old daughter Sumaiyin, is in a refugee camp Balukhali that neighbours Ramida and Minara's. 'One and a half months ago the military came to our village and kept firing their guns. I ran away with my neighbours to save our lives. You see us alive here only because the God was so kind. They caught my uncle and my younger brother and we don't know whether they are dead or alive' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Fatema sits beside her one-day-old daughter Aasma in Kutupalang. Fatema fled to Bangladesh from Jambuinna village in Myanmar two months ago after her house was burnt down by the military. She crossed Naf River by boat during the night. 'Our situation is better than many other refugees as my husband Mohammad Alom works here as a day labourer. Many of the new refugees have no work here, so they have to rely on relief' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Jamalida cradles her two-month-old daughter Shahida. Jamalida came to Bangladesh with her husband from Nasha Phuru village in Myanmar Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Rehana Begum lays her one-day-old daughter in front of her inside their tarpaulin shelter. Rehana fled her village of Jambuinna in Myanmar three months ago. 'We were in our home and suddenly the military came to our village and started shooting. When we heard the sound of gun shots we immediately went to our relatives. We walked for four hours without any food and water to reach the border at 1 a.m. We paid 25,000 Myanmar kyat (14) to a broker to cross.' Intercepted by Bangladesh border guards, Rehana's family narrowly escaped being sent home. 'They wanted to send us back, but then we heard gunshots from the Myanmar side and the guards released us, saying, "Stay in Bangladesh and save your lives"' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Noor Begum sits next to her one-day-old daughter Sumaiya as she stares into the camera. Noor came to the camp one-and-a-half months ago from Nagpura village with her husband Jahangir Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Rajuma Begum observes her one-month-old son Raihan. 'I fled to Bangladesh because of fear, because I needed to save my children. I was pregnant and suffering from fever while crossing the border. I also have an 11-month-old boy, so it was very difficult to reach the border from our village Wabek in Myanmar. I had to rest frequently. After six hours of horrible walking we finally reached the border at 2am and crossed after paying a broker' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Eighteen-year-old Asmot Ara rests her newly born daughter on her lap. Asmot said she came to the camp one month ago with neighbours from Nagpura village. In Myanmar her father-in-law was killed and their home burnt down by the Myanmar military Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution As Marijaan holds her 25-day-old daughter Noor Habi, her son peers over her shoulder. Marijaan fled to Bangladesh from Khyeri Prang village in Myanmar one month ago after her house was burnt down by the Myanmar military. 'I reached the border at night and crossed by the boat. I paid the boatman to cross the Naf River' Reuters The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children had been recovered on Wednesday after their boat was fired on by Burma's Border Guard Police, Islam said. Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back a total of 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country mainly by small wooden boats, though thousands of others have set up temporary camps along the porous land border between the countries. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A five-story building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai, killing at least 19 people and injuring 16 others, after torrential rains lashed the country's west. Another 20 people are feared trapped in the debris. Rescue workers, police and residents helped pull 16 people out of the rubble and were looking for those buried beneath. The building is located in a congested lane of the Bhendi Bazaar area in southern Mumbai. Thousands of Mumbai buildings that are more than 100 years old are at risk of collapse, their foundations weakened partly by some of the heaviest rainfall that the city has witnessed in more than 15 years. Authorities were advising people living in an adjacent building to vacate after it developed cracks following Thursday's collapse. Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, which is June to September. High demand and lax regulations encourage some builders to use substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors. Meanwhile, the city was slowly limping back to normalcy after it was paralysed by heavy downpours for two days. Train services and public transport were halted and airports shut on Tuesday as roads turned into rivers and floodwaters seeped into many low-lying buildings. In many places, people had to abandon their vehicles and wade through waist-deep water to reach their homes. 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 Schools, colleges and offices that were shut on Wednesday opened Thursday, but attendance was sparse. Every year the city struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge, drawing criticism about its poor planning. AP Ukraine and the Netherlands will soon sign a memorandum on the exchange of information on the case of Boeing 777 flight MH17 shot down in 2014, which will help Kyiv in its lawsuit against Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal said. "The Dutch do not want the work done to be questioned. We are now working on signing a memorandum on the exchange of information, since the downed Boeing is part of our lawsuit against Russia regarding the financing of terrorism, namely the supply of weapons which destroyed this aircraft," Zerkal said on the air of Channel 5 on Wednesday. At the same time, the Deputy Foreign Minister added: "We are already at the final stage of signing this memorandum." As reported, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko and Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Stef Blok signed a bilateral agreement on international legal cooperation on criminal matters relating to the 2014 crash of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing. The Dutch government noted that a bilateral treaty with Ukraine allows for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of all 298 victims from 17 countries, not just Dutch citizens. "The agreement envisages that prosecution of suspects in the downed MH17 flight will be for all 298 people killed in the crash. This gives all relatives equal rights in the Dutch process," the report said. In addition, the agreement gives an opportunity to question Ukrainian suspects via a video linkup with the Netherlands. "The issue of the potential transfer of convicts has also been settled, which is important, because the Ukrainian Constitution does not allow extradition of its citizens," the report says. As reported, the Boeing 777 belonging to Malaysia Airlines flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was shot out of the sky killing all 298 passengers on board. The international joint investigatory group (Joint Investigation Team, JIT), which is comprised of prosecutors and law-enforcement officials from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Malaysia, as well as EU legal officials, on September 28, 2016 presented its findings in the criminal investigation of the tragedy. "The JIT concluded that MH17 was downed by a rocket, Series 9M38, launched from a self-propelled ground-to-missile launcher BUK-TELAR, in a farming area in the region of Pervomaiske village. The area is currently held by pro-Russian militant groups. Investigators said missile complex was delivered to Ukraine from the Russian Federation and returned there after the downing," the findings said. In early June 2017, the British investigative journalists group Bellingcat said it found a photo of the Buk 323 missile launcher of the Russian 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade taken before the launcher was used to down the MH17 passenger flight in Donetsk region in 2014. In mid-November 2016, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that investigators had established the names of a hundred individuals suspected of involvement in the crime and that they will be named in 2017. Representatives of the countries cooperating in the inquiry into this crash - the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Belgium agreed that the cases against suspects in the case on the downing of the MH17 flight are planned to be considered in the Netherlands under the Dutch law. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Korean soldiers are being encouraged to steal food in preparation for war, it has been reported. Military officers turn a blind eye to the looting, and in some cases it is said to be encouraged as a means of keeping up their strength because of low army rations. The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent," a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK, an online news outlet focusing on the secretive communist state. North Korea's estimated missile ranges They are even threatening their soldiers, saying If you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties. Another source from Ryanggang Province, claimed: Soldiers carrying big sacks of unripened corn can be frequently seen at the markets. They see the corn at cheap prices to merchants who have made deals in advance. In response, farmers have set up guard posts in an attempt to protect their crops. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have been escalating in recent months. But they ratcheted up further earlier this week when North Korea launched a missile over the Japanese island of Hokkaido. In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In response, US President Donald Trump said his country had been "talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years! Talking is not the answer! It followed several other missile tests recent weeks. The latest launch came as the United States and South Korea conducted their annual joint military exercises. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} For centuries the Taj Mahal has been recognised as the glittering triumph of Mughal architecture and a flamboyant monument to romantic love. Commissioned in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the white marble masterpiece in Agra was designed as an epic mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The main building took 11 years to build, employing 20,000 artisans, as well as an estimated 1,000 elephants. The history of the buildings construction has never really been in doubt, but despite this, for the second time in the last two decades, an Indian court has had to respond to claims the Unesco World Heritage site was originally a Hindu temple. This week the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which protects the country's monuments of national significance, was ordered to give its official assessment of the buildings heritage after a petition renewed calls to re-evaluate its origin. Six lawyers are refuting the accepted history of the Taj Mahals construction, and their petition also demands that Hindus be allowed to worship in it. Dr Bhuvan Vikrama, the ASIs superintending archaeologist in Agra, said he rejected the new claims: Our written statement called the claims concocted and we asked the court to dismiss the petition. Its up to the judge to decide what happens. The claims that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple first sprung from a 1989 book named Taj Mahal: The True Story, published by Indian writer PN Oak. In it he claimed the building had been constructed in 1155, before Muslim invaders came to India, and said it had originally been a temple called Tejo Mahalaya dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. In 2000 Indias supreme court dismissed a petition by the author claiming the Taj Mahal had been built by a Hindu king. At the time, the court described the petition as misconceived, with one judge dismissing the petition saying: Somebody has a bee in his bonnet. Some Hindu groups who are supporters of Oaks theory claim that when the Mughals invaded and destroyed many Hindu temples or converted others into mosques, it follows that the Taj Mahal must have originally been a Hindu structure. History shows conquerors all over the world converting existing monuments to suit their own ideas, Parsa Venkateshwar Rao, an author and columnist told The Guardian. But this claim about the Taj is absurd because features such as the dome and minaret cannot be found in earlier periods and it is silly for the judge to have even allowed the petition. New Unesco World Heritage Sites Show all 20 1 /20 New Unesco World Heritage Sites New Unesco World Heritage Sites Lake District The combined work of nature and human activity in the Lake District has produced a harmonious landscape in which the mountains are mirrored in the lakes. This landscape was greatly appreciated from the 18th century onwards by the Picturesque and later Romantic movements, which celebrated it in paintings, drawings and words. Nick Bodle New Unesco World Heritage Sites City of Yazd The City of Yazd is located in the middle of the Iranian plateau, close to the Spice and Silk Roads. The earthen architecture of Yazd has escaped the modernisation that destroyed many traditional earthen towns, retaining its traditional districts, the qanat system, traditional houses, bazars, hammams, mosques, synagogues, Zoroastrian temples and the historic garden of Dolat-abad. ICHHTO New Unesco World Heritage Sites Venetian Works of Defence The fortifications throughout the Stato da Terra protected the Republic of Venice from other European powers to the northwest and those of the Stato da Mar protected the sea routes and ports in the Adriatic Sea to the Levant. Alberto Ghilardi New Unesco World Heritage Sites Valongo Wharf Located in central Rio de Janeiro, this site encompasses the entirety of Jornal do Comercio Square. It is in the former harbour area of Rio de Janeiro in which the old stone wharf was built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards. It is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent. Milton Guran New Unesco World Heritage Sites Tarnowskie Gory Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine Located in southern Poland, one of the main mining areas of central Europe, the site includes the entire underground mine with adits, shafts, galleries and water management system. Tarnowskie Gory Land Lovers' Association New Unesco World Heritage Sites Taputapuatea Taputapuatea on Raiatea Island is at the centre of the Polynesian Triangle, a vast portion of the Pacific Ocean dotted with islands, and the last part of the globe to be settled by humans. SCP New Unesco World Heritage Sites Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk The archaeological site of Sambor Prei Kuk has been identified as Ishanapura, the capital of the Chenla Empire that flourished in the late 6th and early 7th centuries CE. The vestiges of the city cover an area of 25 square km and include a walled city centre as well as numerous temples, 10 of which are octagonal and unique specimens of their genre in southeast Asia. So Sokun Theary New Unesco World Heritage Sites Qinghai Hoh Xil Located in the north-eastern extremity of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China, this is the largest and highest plateau in the world. This extensive area of alpine mountains and steppe systems is situated more than 4,500m above sea level, where sub-zero average temperatures prevail all year-round. Peking University New Unesco World Heritage Sites Okinoshima Located 60km off the western coast of Kyushu island, Okinoshima is an exceptional example of the tradition of worship of a sacred island. The archaeological sites have been preserved virtually intact, and provide a chronological record of how the rituals performed there changed from the 4th to the 9th centuries CE. World Heritage Promotion Committee New Unesco World Heritage Sites Mbanza Kongo When the Portuguese arrived in Mbanza Kongo in the 15th century they added stone buildings constructed using European methods to the existing landscape. Mbanza Kongo illustrates, more than anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the profound changes caused by the introduction of Christianity and the arrival of the Portuguese into Central Africa. INPC New Unesco World Heritage Sites Los Alerces national park The Los Alerces national park is located in the Andes of northern Patagonia. Successive glaciations have moulded the landscape in the region creating spectacular features such as moraines, glacial cirques and clear-water lakes. Ricardo Villalba New Unesco World Heritage Sites Kulangsu Kulangsu is a tiny island located on the estuary of the Chiu-lung River facing the city of Xiamen. With the opening of a commercial port at Xiamen in 1843 and the establishment of the island as an international settlement in 1903, this island off the southern coast of the Chinese empire suddenly became an important window for Sino-foreign exchanges. Kulangsu is an exceptional example of the cultural fusion that emerged from these exchanges. Cultural Heritage Conservation Center of THAD New Unesco World Heritage Sites Kujataa Kujataa is a sub-arctic farming landscape located in the southern region of Greenland. It bears witness to the cultural histories of the Norse hunter-gatherers who started arriving from Iceland in the 10th century, and of the Norse farmers, Inuit hunters and Inuit farming communities that developed from the end of the 18th century. Christian K. Madsen New Unesco World Heritage Sites Assumption Cathedral The Assumption Monastery illustrates in its location and architectural composition the political and missionary programme developed by Tsar Ivan IV to extend the Moscow state. The cathedrals frescoes are among the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings. Dmitrii Karpov New Unesco World Heritage Sites Aphrodisias Located in southwestern Turkey, in the upper valley of the Morsynus River, the site consists of two components: the archaeological site of Aphrodisias and the marble quarries northeast of the city. The temple of Aphrodite dates from the 3rd century BC and the city was built one century later. Aphrodisias Museum New Unesco World Heritage Sites Swabian Jura Modern humans first arrived in Europe 43,000 years ago during the last ice age. One of the areas where they took up residence was the Swabian Jura in southern Germany. Excavated from the 1860s, six caves have revealed items dating from 43,000 to 33,000 years ago. Among them are carved figurines of animals, musical instruments and items of personal adornment. S. M. Heidenreich New Unesco World Heritage Sites Khomani Cultural Landscape The Khomani Cultural Landscape is located at the border with Botswana and Namibia. The large expanse of sand contains evidence of human occupation from the Stone Age to the present and is associated with the culture of the formally nomadic Khomani San people and the strategies that allowed them to adapt to harsh desert conditions. Francois Odendaal Productions New Unesco World Heritage Sites Dauria Shared between Mongolia and the Russian Federation, this site is an outstanding example of the Daurian Steppe eco-region, which extends from eastern Mongolia into Russian Siberia and north-eastern China. Cyclical climate changes with distinct dry and wet periods led to a wide diversity of species and ecosystems of global significance. V. Kirilyuk New Unesco World Heritage Sites Hebron/Al-Khalil The use of a local limestone shaped the construction of the old town of Hebron/Al-Khalil during the Mamluk period between 1250 and 1517. The place became a site of pilgrimage for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Hesham Sarsour New Unesco World Heritage Sites Asmara Located at more than 2,000m above sea level, the capital of Eritrea developed from the 1890s onwards as a military outpost for the Italian colonial power. It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context. Asmara Heritage Project Hari Shankar Jain, one of the six lawyers who has brought the case to the Agra court, said he was looking forward to winning the case and performing Hindu prayers at the Taj Mahal, The Guardian reports. Asked if he would disinter the body of Mumtaz Mahal, buried inside the mausoleum, he said: Of course not because there is no body inside. Its built on a Hindu temple so there is no question of anyone being buried in it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hundreds of Russians have reportedly been ordered to move away from their homes near country's border with North Korea following its latest missile test. Around 1,500 people were told by the country's emergencies ministry to leave the area around the 24-mile border that runs along the Tumen River. The order came after Pyongyang's provocative launch of a nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, earlier this week. It was the secretive communist state's 13th launch this year. Russian authorities gave a verbal order that the inhabitants should move away from the border, according to Mail Online, citing Kremlin-linked media sources. The missile launch prompted outrage from Japan and the UN Security Council, while South Korea and the US conducted test bombings in a show of force. US President Donald Trump, subsequently tweeted: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video His social media outburst came as China pushed for diplomatic talks. Russia said it wanted Pyongyang to show restraint and avoid any new provocative actions, while calling on the US and its allies to refrain from any military escalation. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Thousands of climate change activists were beaten and pepper sprayed by police in Germany. Several were hospitalised. Over 6,000 protestors from various countries, including the UK, tried to shut down one of the countrys largest coal mines near the western city of Cologne over the weekend. The activists belonged to Ende Gelande, a grass-roots alliance for climate justice, who were organising a six day climate gathering, culminating with civil disobedience. Matthew, 23, from Manchester, was part of a group of approximately 600 that were held by police in the Rhineland coal field on Saturday. He told The Independent: People were passively resisting and playing limp but police grabbed them by their chin and nostrils. Another guy was pulled by his dreadlocks. It was shocking. You cant do anything but shout at them or youll get hit. Even some of the other police looked uncomfortable. Frieda, 23,added: I wasnt sprayed [by pepper spray] but the person next to me was and we were all being pushed so it got onto me. You dont really feel it at first but then it gets painful. It burnt my arm for about 12 hours. She said another activist was left writhing in pain after being directly pepper sprayed in the face. She added: At one point my friend was weeping from what she saw happening. Over 3,500 protesters walked around six miles from their camp to the coal mine in lines of six wearing white overalls and face masks. As they approached lines of police attempted to blockade them but protestors broke through. Eventually, they were stopped. Al, 24, from Southampton told The Independent: Two women broke away from the big group and walked to the police line with their hands up. The police peppered sprayed both and [the women] dropped to the ground. He added: My friend saw an old man calmly approach the police with his hand ups I think maybe to ask them a question but the police pushed him back. He went back again with his armed back but they pushed him to the ground and pepper sprayed him. A spokesperson for Ende Gelande said: Many people of our blockade suffered from the police violence, for example pepper spray, pain grips and beating. Five people had to go to the hospital because of fractures. We are still working on an accurate counting of the injured people. The action was deemed a success by Ende Gelande, which translates as: Here and no further. At one point protesters managed to reduce the mines operations to 37 per cent after shutting the tracks of a coal shuttle for nine hours. The plant was also forced work on reduced capacity for 20 hours. Ende Gelandeas aim was to shut down the operations of the Germanys dirtiest coal mine belonging to the utility giant RWE for as long as possible. 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 Protestors organised themselves into difference action groups. Some were in small autonomous groups others were done by different larger groups of 300-400 activists. Personally its quite powerful and inspiring to be part of a large group and feel invigorated to fight a global climate change Al said. There will be another Ende Gelande action in November, just before The Bonn 2017 UN climate change conference. The Independent has contacted the police city of Aachen for comment, but none had arrived at the time of publication. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A female navigation officer is suing a Russian shipping company for refusing to employ her as a ships captain. Russian labour laws restrict women from more than 400 professions and 38 industries on the basis that they are too arduous, dangerous or harmful to womens health, specifically their reproductive health. Svetlana Medvedeva, a navigation officer from Russias southeastern Samara region, applied for a job as a ships captain at Samara River Passenger Enterprise in 2012. But the companys initial consent to hire her was withdrawn because of the law. For many years Svetlana Medvedeva has fought relentlessly to achieve her dream to stand at the helm of a river vessel, said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. However, the state, in the country that once pioneered womens rights, continues to deny her this opportunity because of discriminatory restrictions". The current list of jobs women are barred from, originally drawn up by the Soviet Union in 1974, stands at 456. Women are also prevented from driving trains, becoming carpenters, truck drivers or professional divers. In 2000, the Russian Government amended the rules to allow for exemptions only if safe working conditions were established by the employer. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty After she was barred from taking the captain job, Ms Medvedeva challenged the rejection of her job application in court. She sought a judicial order to force the company to establish safe working conditions so she could work, but her claim was rejected. In 2013, Ms Medvedeva registered a complaint before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, arguing her rights had been violated because of her gender. The committee found in favour of Ms Medvedeva and urged the Russian authorities to grant her compensation and allow her to take the job. In July 2017, Russias Supreme Court ruled that her case should be re-opened. Her trial begins in Samaras District Court on 31 August. Russia was the first major European country to grant women suffrage in 1917. The first female ambassador, in 1923, was from Russia, and so was the first woman in space, said Mr Krivosheev. Its time the Russian authorities drew inspiration from these remarkable women and put an end to the shameful regulations that hold women back and perpetuate stereotypes. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Approximately two million Muslims have gathered in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca for the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage - but the make up of foreign visitors this year has changed, reflecting the tumultuous political relationships in the region. Devotees from all over the world spend Thursday - Arafat Day - in prayer at holy sites in the city before the Eid al-Adha festival begins on Friday 1 September. Eid al-Adha is one of the holiest celebrations in Islam and marks the end of the Hajj, which must be undertaken at least once in a lifetime by all physically and financially capable Muslims. Eid celebrated in Trafalgar Square Qatari pilgrims hoping to make the holy journey this year were thwarted from their goal, however, after Saudi Arabia refused to issue Hajj visas for Qatari citizens and residents. The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Doha, which coordinates trips, said on Tuesday that it did not find any cooperation or positive response from the [Saudi] Ministry of Hajj, which has led to confusion and suspension of the regulatory process for Qatar's pilgrims. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt abruptly cut off all diplomatic and trade ties with tiny Qatar on 5 June, alleging that the state interfered in the affairs of its neighbours and funded terror organisations. Hajj 2017 Show all 16 1 /16 Hajj 2017 Hajj 2017 A Muslim pilgrim partakes in the symbolic stoning of the devil at the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, near Mecca, which marks the final major rite of the hajj Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim pilgrims take part in the symbolic stoning of the devil at the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, near Mecca, which marks the final major rite of the hajj Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 A Muslim pilgrim partakes in the symbolic stoning of the devil at the Jamarat Bridge in Mina Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 A Muslim pilgrim has his head shaven after throwing pebbles at pillars during the symbolic stoning of the devil Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 A Muslim pilgrim's head is shaved, after throwing pebbles at pillars during the symbolic stoning of the devil Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 A Saudi policeman spays Muslim pilgrims with water to cool them off near the Grand Mosque Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca Bandar Aldandani/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim pilgrims at the Grand Mosque Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Iranian Muslim pilgrims wait at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia prior to the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim worshippers perform prayers around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 An Iranian Muslim pilgrim reads the Koran as she waits at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia, prior to the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Saudi Red Crescent paramedics show the press their emergency equipment Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim worshippers perform prayers around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim worshippers perform prayers around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim worshippers walk around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Hajj 2017 Muslim pilgrims sit around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca Karim Sahib/AFP Qatar vehemently denies all the allegations against it and claims the crisis is politically motivated. The Hajj decision stands in stark contrast to how pilgrims from Iran - Riyadhs regional rival - have been treated this year. The two countries have no formal diplomatic ties, and tensions between them are currently running at an all time high. Last year, Iran ordered its citizens to boycott Mecca and Medina after the 2015 Hajj stampede which killed approximately 2,000 people - the majority of them Iranian. In pictures: Hajj stampede Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede Hajj pilgrims and Saudi emergency personnel carry a woman on a stretcher at the site where at least 700 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia Getty Images In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede In pictures: Hajj stampede This year, however, 90,000 Iranians are expected to descend upon the holy sites - and Riyadh has even organised welcome operations for flights incoming from Tehran. In a speech to Hajj organisers on Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the country would never forget the catastrophic events of 2015, calling on Saudi Arabia to ensure pilgrims safety. The serious and constant issue for the Islamic Republic is the preservation of the security, dignity, welfare and comfort of all pilgrims, particularly Iranian pilgrims, Khamenei said, according to his official site. The security of the Hajj is the responsibility of the country where the two noble shrines exists. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At least 15 people in Yemen have died after summer monsoons triggered flash flooding in areas where infrastructure has been decimated by Saudi-led coalition bombing, it has emerged. According to Houthi rebel controlled media, on Wednesday torrential rain flooded a highway between the city of Taiz and al-Maqatira killing at least 10 people as cars were swept away. Another eight people remain missing. Homes and cars were also destroyed in Jibla in central Yemen in flooding that killed at least five people, eyewitnesses told local media and Anadolu news agency. Several more people are missing and feared dead. Michael Fallon claims Saudi Arabia is only 'defending itself' when attacking Yemen We haven't seen rainfall like this in 20 years, Ali al-Kubati, a resident of al-Maqatira, told Anadolu. Trucks and cars have been swept away by the floodwaters and several people have lost their lives, he added. Lack of proper drainage and sewer systems - as well as damage to existing roads and buildings - are feared to have contributed to the situation. Rescue operations continued long into the night but no survivors or bodies were recovered. The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters The flooding will further complicate aid efforts in the conflict-riven country, where 70 per cent of the 22-million-strong population is reliant on some form of humanitarian aid after almost three years of full-scale conflict. Riyadh and its allies have extensively bombed Houthi rebels in charge of Yemens capital and north since March 2015 at the request of the exiled, internationally recognised president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, fearing Iranian influence. The campaign has been repeatedly criticised for causing an excessive loss of civilian life. Saudi blockades on Yemens ports and airspace have also been blamed for causing the current famine facing seven million people as well as the worst cholera outbreak in modern history, which has infected 500,000 people and killed more than 2,000. Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and 56 other international non-governmental organisations urged the United Nations to establish an international body to investigate abuses they say may amount to war crimes committed by all the warring parties in Yemen. Such a panel should begin chipping away at the impunity that has been a central facet of Yemen's war, HRWS Geneva director John Fisher said in an open letter to the UNs human rights council. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has visited the Gaza Strip in a desperate bid for funding and other measures to alleviate the Palestinian open air prisons burgeoning humanitarian crisis. In a speech on Wednesday during the UN chief's visit - his first since becoming head of the international body earlier this year - Mr Guterres said he was deeply moved to see the suffering of Gazas two million residents first hand. [It is unfortunate] to witness one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises that I've seen in many years working as a humanitarian in the United Nations," he said at a school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the northern Gaza Strip. Gaza marks 10 years of Israeli blockade 10 years on since militant organisation Hamas took over the coastal enclave, leading Israel to impose strict land and sea blockades, the situation for ordinary Gazans is dire. Three devastating rounds of fighting with Israel, sky high unemployment and a fuel tariff dispute with the rival West Bank Palestinian Authority (PA) - which has led to crippling power shortages - have come to a head in recent months. A July report from the UN found that the Gaza Strip is now unlivable, and de-developing quicker than expected. 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 On Wednesday Mr Guterres - whose visit was met by peaceful protests against perceived UN inaction - appealed for more aid for Gaza and announced the release of $4m (3.1m) from the UNs emergency relief fund. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians had a role to play in alleviating Gazas suffering, he added. I have a dream, the UN chief said. A dream to one day see the holy land with two states - Israel and Palestine - living in peace and security together. Egypt must reopen the Rafah crossing into Gaza and Israel must allow greater access for Palestinians through the three existing checkpoints into the country, he said. The PA must also work towards a political reconciliation with Hamas, Mr Guterres stressed. The division only undermines the cause of the Palestinian people, he said. Mr Guterres is on his first visit to the Middle East as head of the UN, meeting with both Israeli and PA leaders to encourage the resumption of peace talks, which last stalled in 2014. He did not, however, meet with Hamas officials in Gaza. The militant organisation issued a statement demanding that the UN persuade Israel and Egypt into lifting their blockades, and demand the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After a week-long campaign to oust Isis from its territory on the Lebanon-Syria border, Lebanese President Michel Aoun has declared the country has been victorious over the militant group - but angry Iraqi and US coalition officials have pointed out that in fact, the jihadists have just been bussed over the border to become someone elses problem. In their first ever publicly acknowledged evacuation deal, rather than fight to the death in the pockets in the border mountains still under Isis control, fighters agreed to a Hezbollah-brokered evacuation plan which saw 300 men and their families bussed over the border back into Syria on Monday. The decision was met with outrage in Iraq and by the US-led international coalition against Isis, which, along with the Syrian army, is fighting for control of the militants last areas of control in northeast Syria and on the border with Iraq. Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards Irreconcilable #ISIS terrorists should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border without #Iraq's consent, Brett McGurk, the US presidential envoy to the anti-Isis coalition, said on Twitter. Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi called the deal an insult to the Iraqi people. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers have died in the fight to destroy the caliphate since it began in earnest in October 2016. The US took the remarkable step of bombing a bridge on the route the evacuation buses were taking to Isis-held Deir Ezzor on Wednesday, effectively stranding the 300 fighters and around 300 women and children in hostile Syrian-regime controlled territory overnight. Coalition jets also struck a convoy making its way to meet the evacuees from Isis territory. A second attempt to reach Deir Ezzor was made on Thursday, but by the evening a US coalition spokesperson said that the convoy had instead moved deeper into an area controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces. 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 coalition made clear it might strike again if the fighters were separated from the women and children in order to stop them reinforcing Isis strengths in east Syria. We will continue to monitor the convoys in real time... and take advantage of known Isis (fighters) in open areas away from civilians and strike them, coalition spokesperson Colonel Ryan Dillon said in a statement. It is not clear where the convoy is headed now, although a Syrian government commander said on Thursday that the fighters could be allowed to progress again after an exchange of dead combatants and prisoners. The impasse shows just how complicated Syrias multi-sided six-year-long war has become. In Lebanon, Hezbollah-aligned al Akhbar reported that some Isis leaders in Syria did not want members of the group who had surrendered territory to be welcomed back into the so-called caliphate, and the militants should have fought to the death instead. In a speech on Thursday evening, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah defended the deal, saying he had met with President Assad in Damascus for his help in guaranteeing the ceasefire and the agreed return of the remains of nine Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) soldiers captured in 2014. The deal was implicitly endorsed by the Lebanese government, although there is no official coordination between the Shia militant group and the LAF. Two Hezbollah offensives against other Sunni militant groups in Lebanons north earlier this year proved successful. Hezbollah, an important Syrian government ally, has maintained a strong presence in the parts of Syria near the border with Lebanon for several years, helping Assad recapture several areas from Sunni rebels. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has claimed it plans to develop the next generation of trains, which can travel at speeds of up to 2,500mph. Liu Shiquan, a deputy general manager at CASC, said their scientists would be looking to develop the super-fast trains of the future that could fly on the ground. CASC aims to rival Hyperloop The corporation has built rich experience and accumulated technological know-how through major projects, and it has the capabilities in simulation, modelling and experimentation for large-scale projects, as well as the world-class design capability for supersonic aircraft, all of which lay the important ground for the super-fast train project, state-owned website The Paper wrote of CASCs plans. With connections to Chinas defence ministry, CASC has already been involved in developing satellites, rockets and missiles; now plans are afoot to turn its futuristic tech closer to home. China already has the largest network of high speed trains in the world, and is obviously keen to continue outstripping the competition. CASC officials have said they will work with more than 20 other research institutes, both domestic and international, in the quest to create the proposed 2,500mph trains. Although the flying train may be a way off becoming a reality, Chinese scientists also announced plans for an intercity train that can travel at more than 600mph clearly designed to compete with American Canadian inventor Elon Musks hyperloop concept, which uses air instead of wheels and could result in speeds of more than 700mph. No date has been announced for when the hyperloop will be fully up and running, but earlier this week Musk shared footage of a test pod accelerating to 200mph in a few seconds as part of a competition to design pods for the high-speed system. Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in early 2014 some 44 persons have been kidnapped on the peninsula, whereabouts of 18 of them are not known, the civil organization CrimeaSOS has said. "There are currently 18 unsolved disappearances in Crimea. Most of them involve Crimean Tatars. There have been 44 kidnappings since Russian annexation," CrimeaSOS coordinator Tamila Tasheva said during a press conference at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday. CrimeaSOS said 17, of the 44 persons kidnapped? have been released, six were found dead, two found in prison and later convicted on trumped up charges. There whereabouts of 18 persons remain unknown. Tasheva said most of the kidnappings took place in early 2014 and involved Crimean Tatars. Head of the department for monitoring legal compliance in criminal cases and crime prevention for the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine Maksym Prokopov said 150 criminal investigations have been opened. "Some 29 of the criminal investigations involve 38 persons, who we suspect were killed or went missing," he said, adding that the investigations are hampered by the fact that it is impossible to investigate the crimes on the peninsula. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Thousands of UK airline passengers booked to fly to or through Dubai have woken up to find they have been re-booked or re-routed. Qantas, the leading Australian airline, has announced it will switch the refuelling stop on its flagship route from Heathrow to Sydney and back. Dubai is to be ditched from March 2018 as the airline reverts to a Singapore refuelling stop. Five years ago, Qantas linked up with Emirates and switched its UK-Australia flights from Singapore to Dubai. The Australian airline has already announced that the London-Melbourne flights will avoid Dubai from next March by flying non-stop from Heathrow to Perth. The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, said: Our partnership has evolved to a point where Qantas no longer needs to fly its own aircraft through Dubai, and that means we can redirect some of our A380 flying into Singapore and meet the strong demand were seeing in Asia. He also held out the prospect of non-stop flights between Heathrow and Sydney. Improvements in aircraft technology mean the Qantas network will eventually feature a handful of direct routes between Europe and Australia, he said. A non-stop London-Sydney flight would take around 20 hours, saving around three hours compared with the present one-stop. With the Singapore stop, the London-Sydney trip will be slightly shorter due to flying a more direct track. Qantas currently flies around 2,000 passengers per day to, from or through Dubai International, which represents less than one per cent of the airports throughput. Heathrow lost its title as the world's busiest airport for international passengers to Dubai. The Qantas move increases capacity between London and Singapore, which will add to the challenge faced on the route by Norwegian. The low-cost airline will launch flights from Gatwick to Changi airport in Singapore from 28 September this year. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Europes biggest low-cost airline has revealed major expansion plans for UK services next summer. But Ryanair is warning that unless a post-Brexit aviation deal is concluded soon there will be no flights after March 2019. The Irish budget carrier will connect Stansted with Frankfurt, presenting a challenge to British Airways and Lufthansa. It will also fly to Weeze in western Germany, close to the Dutch border. Other routes will serve Aalborg in Denmark, Oradea in Romania and Pardubice in the Czech Republic. This will take us to 25 million passengers across the three London airports, said the chief executive, Michael OLeary. But he said that the new routes would all be operated by planes and crews based in continental Europe. Recommended Ryanair boss says airports should drop passport checks The new services take advantage of open skies, the agreement that allows any European airline to fly between any two EU airports. But Mr OLeary has reiterated his concern about the lack of progress on an aviation treaty to replace it. The worst case scenario is becoming more and more likely, he told Sky News. The onus is on the British government to deliver a deal. If theres no deal by March 19, Britain gets thrown out of the European Union, youre out of open skies and there will be no flights. We havent got plan B. We havent even got plan A-and-a-half yet. The Ryanair boss singled out Theresa May for scathing criticism. I fail to see what shes doing in Japan for three days at the moment, why shes not in Brussels or in Frankfurt or in Paris which is where negotiations need to take place. Theres a crisis coming down the road here. Brexit is going to be a disaster for the UK economy, and she needs to be over there negotiating or at least removing these road blocks, not swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake. There is going to be a cessation of flights from March 2019 if she doesnt get her finger out and get a deal done in the next 12 months. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Every week, Jack Sheldon from Jacks Flight Club selects a flight deal from the UK for Independent readers that you cant afford to miss. This week: the US from multiple UK hubs from 159. This morning Norwegian have officially announced their annual Autumn sale on non-stop long-haul flights to the US, and some of these are incredible bargains, especially considering that they are all non-stop fares. London has a plethora of options to 10 different cities, while the fares from Scotland and Northern Ireland are most attractive, starting from only 159 for a return ticket. Many of these routes also include options over the winter holidays and school half-term dates, so definitely worth a look. How to book Availability is scattered throughout October 2017 to April 2018, so the best way to find your ideal travel dates is to put your desired route into Google Flights. Then allow their calendar tool to load and identify the best travel dates - these should have the lowest fares and will be highlighted in green. Once you've selected your travel dates, you have two options: 1. Go directly to norwegian.com/uk and re-enter the same itinerary you selected and book. This option will offer the cheapest fare on these flights but will only include a single carry-on (up to 10kg). or 2. Book with an Online Travel Agent offering some extra perks (such as checked luggage) for only a slightly higher ticket price. Read my pro tip below for details. Heres a full list of options: Returns from London (LGW): Boston (BOS) - 210 Denver (DEN) - 300 New York City (JFK) - 240 San Fran/Oakland (OAK) - 250 Orlando (MCO) - 270 Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - 265 Los Angeles (LAX) - 285 Seattle (SEA) - 282 Las Vegas (LAS) - 305 Austin (AUS) - 370 Chicago (ORD) - 295 Returns from Edinburgh (EDI): Hartford (BDL) - 178 Newburgh (SWF) - 178 Providence (PVD) - 178 Returns from Dublin (DUB): Newburgh/NYC (SWF) - 160 Providence/Boston (PVD) - 160 Returns from Shannon (DUB): Newburgh/NYC (SWF) - 161 Providence/Boston (PVD) - 161 Returns from Cork (DUB): Providence/Boston (PVD) - 159 Returns from Belfast (BFS): Providence/Boston (PVD) - 164 When to fly Between October 2017 and April 2018. When to book Most of the best travel dates will be gone in a few days so try to book soon, but off-peak options will be around for a week or two. Pro tip While booking directly with Norwegian Air will give you more flexibility if you need to make changes to your booking, if you'd like to check a free bag, select your seat, and possibly even add a meal, some OTAs (Online Booking Agents) such as Expedia and Edreams will offer those perks included in their fare for less than it would cost you to add them with Norwegian. For example a non-stop from London-Gatwick to Seattle departing on October 23rd and returning on October 29th will cost you 282, but adding a checked bag and a meal each way will add-on 100 if booked with Norwegian. However, you can book the same flight with Expedia for 309, which already includes both - a saving of 73. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Once upon a time, summer holidays were a time to relax. You could shut yourself away in a remote villa somewhere in the South of France, eat cheese till the cows come home and roll in the sand like a feral animal to your hearts undocumented content. But in 2017, what happens on holiday doesnt stay on holiday. In fact, it happens again and again on your social media feeds, leaving no mid-morning Aperol spritz unturned. Social media harlots are bad enough in the big city, but in environments were sunsets and bikinis are the port of call, they thrive like a pig in filtered sh*t. From lashings of lunchtime rose to perspiring iced lattes, to flamingo floats and hot dog legs, it's no wonder that there are 83m posts under #holiday on Instagram The uninvited Insta-guest makes itself known as soon as you reach the terminal: a scrupulous Rita Skeeter spirit, eagerly waiting at passport control to possess the bodies of fertile holidaymakers with the urge to hashtag. Recommended Why you need to delete photos of your children from social media The worst part is that the obsessive drive to document isn't even constrained by data roaming charges, given that you can now freely use data abroad in Europe. It gets to the point when it feels like your friends are primarily there to get a fab beach shot, as though thats the point of the holiday, explains Billy Rainbird. When pool side discussions revolve around likes and captions, and photoshoots are going on left right and centre, holidays can become competitive vanity projects, the 23-year-old student told The Independent. As with most exorcisms, defying the Insta-guest is no easy feat. As someone who recently returned from a group holiday where followers and filters were discussed more than tanlines and Trump, here are the various ways through which a relaxing holiday can transform entire cattles of human beings into raging narcissists. The edits chatter One of the most grating things is the idle tattle that social media perpetuates. Instead of where are the Magnums? and why have we run out of prosecco when we bought six bottles? its which filter makes my cheekbones look better? and does this lighting show off my abs? It doesnt exactly make for riveting poolside chit chat, and that's before you've taken into account the great debates surrounding captions. As all the pros will know, the editing saga far extends beyond the bounds of crops and filters. Modern day manipulations involve a smorgasbord of apps that my friends (and probably yours) are using to fashion themselves as Victorias Secret models. You can make your legs look slimmer, your bum bigger and your breasts the size of melons, if you like. Who said The Sims was dead? The likes chatter A close runner-up to its manipulating counterpart, the mind boggles at how much time and attention people pay to the number of likes on a single photograph. If your average "like rate" is around 40, shortfall is like a stab in the hashtagging heart. I normally get more likes when Im the only one in the photo, one friend whispered after someone complained that the bikini shot featuring her and two pals (which took about 40 minutes to capture) only racked up 87 likes when her average is 121. One morning, in an attempt to steer the conversation sideways and gain a better understanding of this unchartered territory, I asked this friend if she considered herself to be a feminist. Nah, I dont think women are better than men, she replied. Recommended Fitness blogger reveals the truth behind bikini pictures The politics When multiple photos are taken against the dazzling mountainous backdrop, featuring a few chipper holidaymakers, the question of who uploads the all-approved shot becomes a matter of great political volatility. Bobby: Let me do it because I have more followers Lisa: But I have better engagement than you! Joanne: Well, I have an entirely different set of followers so Im going to upload it anyway Bobby & Lisa: FFS Joanne Is this why people take so many selfies? The innate snobbery Dont think this is an exclusively oh woe is me and all my social media-addicted friends kind of a rant. The high and mighty abstainers are no better. Yes, you might be less concerned with likes and Valencia filters than the rest of us, but your incessant Im too alternative/busy/cool jingle is no less commendable than it is believable. The whole privacy thing Now this is where things get a little complicated. When youre on holiday nowadays, it seems that you automatically waiver any right you had to social media solitude, as just about anyone and everyone can and will post images of you on their accounts without your permission. As the days pass and everyone wises up to the artifice of posed shots, attempts at atmospheric candid snaps might see you getting papped. For example, I was blissfully bopping on a unicorn float in the pool sans bikini top (#freethenipple) to the infectious sounds of Justin Bieber, when I suddenly spotted my friend filming me on her iPhone. Minutes later, I was the subject of her Snapchat story: dancing topless for her 100 followers to see. Dont worry about it, you dont know any of her followers said one friend, as if that was supposed to reassure me that my tits being aired to the worldwide web against my will was no biggie. But I do worry about it. I worry that Snapchat allows these kinds of videos to remain on their platform for 24 hours. I worry that anyone can upload anything of you on social media whether they like it or not and I worry that my nine year old sister started using Snapchat before her eighth birthday. Now that the summer is over, I will personally rejoice as the Skeeters migrate for winter. Thankfully, thermals and flannel PJs are far less Instagrammable than unicorn floats and infinity pools. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Today Malaysia celebrates its independence day. In 1957 the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and the Malayan flag the country was then Malaya was raised for the first time. I was born in the years afterwards, into a young country with a burgeoning sense of pride. We had freed ourselves of colonialism. The man who led that fight was Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysias first Prime Minister. A historic video shows him shouting out the word Merdeka Independent seven times at Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur. Whenever I watch that video, emotions well up inside me. The sense of hope is palpable. For good reason: the country that was born was a beacon. It would unite races, celebrate diversity and show how people of different faiths and cultures could thrive together. Because of its strategic location, Malaysia had long welcomed peoples from distant lands. It was a hospitable place where strangers could make a home. I remember this cultural melting pot from my childhood. It made the country distinctive and wonderful. 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 There is no question that Malaysia is better off materially now than in 1957 or when I was a child. But using other indicators, Malaysia doesnt fare so well. In the scandal known as 1MDB, it is alleged that $1.2bn of stolen funds found their way into the Prime Ministers personal bank account, a claim he denies. According to Global Financial Integrity, the developing countries with the largest illicit outflows between 2001 and 2010 were China, Mexico and Malaysia a staggering feat for a country of only 30 million. Hand-in-hand with corruption have come increasing Muslim fundamentalism and attacks on religious freedom, the latter carried out under the guise of protecting Muslims. The word Allah has been proscribed for use by non-Muslims when referring to God. In this poisonous atmosphere, extremists have attacked churches and cast aspersions on the adherents of other religions. They do this with the connivance of the United Malays National Organisation or UMNO the party which has ruled Malaysia since independence, and which exploits Islam whenever expedient as an electoral tool. How did Malaysia, once moderate and tolerant, get to this point? Malaysia enacts controversial security law I believe the crux lies in Malaysias racist policies the principle that not all Malaysians are created equal. There is a special breed of Malaysian, someone who deserves extra rights, not through merit or because of need, but because the ancestors of this type of Malaysian arrived in the country earlier. The logic is so spurious that a new term had to be invented: bumiputera, or the prince/princes of the earth. By this reasoning Malays are bumiputera and have a special position, while the Chinese and Indians who arrived later do not. Malays form the majority in Malaysia. This means that special rights are dished out to the majority of the Malaysian electorate. Their political acquiescence is thereby purchased, and the result is a fundamental distortion of the democratic process. Until this insidious policy is removed, I cannot see how Malaysia can have a properly functioning democracy, let alone put in place the checks and balances necessary to combat the ills plaguing the country, the top of which are corruption and rising extremism. Malaysia did not arrive at this point by accident: we Malaysians have allowed it to happen. We have allowed it through collusion and silence, and by our refusal to venture outside of our comfort zone. Im guilty, too. I took the easy option and left, along with the million other Malaysians who live abroad. I now do what I can, by supporting IDEAS and Bersih and the many people who are willing to stand up for a better Malaysia. I also write. The novels forming The Malayan Series are an epic family saga which tell the story of a family and their country. Fiction is a powerful tool. On this sixtieth anniversary, I cannot help but ask: Is this Malaysia the country our predecessors fought for in 1957? Is todays Malaysia really the country I want to see? Does this Malaysia make me proud? I invite my fellow-Malaysians to do the same. If even one of the above answers is No, then we must also ask: what are we going to do about it? Selina Siak Chin Yoke latest novel in the Malayan Series, When the Future Comes Too Soon, is out now, published by Amazon Crossing Gardai said foul play was not suspected Two homeless people, a mother who had been put up in a hotel and a man who was sleeping on the street, have died. The woman was housed by Dublin City Council in emergency accommodation in a hotel in Leixlip, Co Kildare, when she was discovered on Wednesday afternoon. She was 26 and a mother-of-two and had recently accepted a house to live in permanently. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive said the woman's death was a tragedy and expressed condolences to her family and friends. "It is particularly poignant in light of the fact that the woman had been offered and had accepted a social house from South Dublin County Council," the agency said. The dead man was Irish and aged in his 50s. He had been accessing homeless services for up to two years and had been in contact with outreach teams at midnight on Wednesday on Suffolk Street in Dublin. He was found unconscious four hours later. It is understood he had returned from Australia in 2015 and was unable to find permanent housing. He regularly used the homeless freephone number to find a bed at night . He had been sleeping on a ledge at the front of the Superdry store on Suffolk Street, a spot frequently used by rough sleepers. Gardai said he was discovered unconscious at 4am and was treated at the scene before being taken by ambulance to St James's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive said homeless services had been in contact with the man since October 2015. A post-mortem examination will be carried out and the coroner's office has been notified but foul play is not suspected. Campaigner Fr Peter McVerry, of the Peter McVerry Trust, said homeless people regularly died, and not just on the street. "Homeless people die every month and not necessarily on the streets," he said. "People are dying in hostels, dying from suicide, overdoses, and natural causes. "That's happening on a regular basis and the only ones we hear about are the ones found dead on the streets." The Peter McVerry Trust said its Housing First Street Intake team also had contact with the man and they last spoke to him over a week ago just off O'Connell Street. "It's not about beds. It's about houses," spokesman Francis Doherty said. "Programmes targeting people sleeping rough can't get access to houses. "It's deeply saddening that this man has passed away. "The problem with homelessness is that there's not enough access to social housing." A count of homeless people by Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) last week recorded 206 people sleeping rough in Dublin. The agency's outreach team talked to the man on Suffolk Street just a few hours before he died. Anthony Flynn, ICHH chief executive, questioned why 44 emergency beds in a Civil Defence unit on Wolfe Tone Quay remained closed since the end of the winter initiative last March. "We've got a situation where only last week we indicated that there would be deaths on the streets due to the lack of access to services and beds," Mr Flynn said. "We are talking about this a week later." It is more than two-and-a-half years since 43-year-old Jonathan Corrie, a father-of-two, was found dead in a doorway in Molesworth Street, near Leinster House. He had addiction problems and slept rough. Mr Corrie's death prompted the Government to hold a day of meetings with agencies working to alleviate homelessness and commitments that no-one would have to sleep on the streets that Christmas. The Department of Housing declined to comment on the deaths and referred queries to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. Undated family handout file photo of Ibrahim Halawa. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has sent a personal message of solidarity to the Irishman as he marks four years in jail. The family of an Irishman who has spent the last four years in jail in Egypt are preparing to sue over delayed verdicts in the trial. Ibrahim Halawa, 21, had been expecting a judgement on Monday on charges over Muslim Brotherhood protests which took place in Cairo in August 2013 . Following the latest delay, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reiterated his position to Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that he could not intervene until verdicts were delivered. Somaia Halawa, one of Ibrahim's sisters, questioned the judge's decision not to give verdicts. "You just feel that there is something that's in this trial that no-one knows," she said. Ibrahim Halawa, a student and son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin - Sheikh Hussein Halawa - was jailed after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo four years ago amid protests over the removal of president Mohamed Morsi. He was 17 at the time. Along with scores of others he is accused of murders, bombing, possession of firearms and explosives, arson, violence against police and desecration of Al Fatah Mosque. No specific evidence was introduced in the long-running trial relating to the Irishman. It is understood no formal explanation was given for the delay in the verdicts but there were unconfirmed reports of references to security concerns and a threatened prison escape by inmates involved in another case. Mr Halawa's solicitor Darragh Mackin, of Belfast-based human rights legal firm KRW Law, has spent a year preparing a legal case against Egypt over the delays in the mass trial. The ending of the trial would clear the way for president el-Sisi to use Decree 140 to deport Mr Halawa, a commitment he gave a delegation of Irish politicians when they visited Cairo in January. A lawsuit is expected to be launched if the judge does not deliver verdicts on September 18. Ms Halawa said: " Ibrahim's mental health is being played around with. We as a family can't accept it anymore. "There has to be a deadline to this joke. "The Egyptian government are playing with us because they know very well that there's not much pressure being put on them. They know very well we are waiting for a trial. There's no pressure to tell them you have a limit." Mr Halawa is said to have become more withdrawn since the latest delay. His older brother, Ahmed, visited him in Wadi Natrun prison. "He just feels hopeless," their sister Somaia said. "He doesn't want to talk. He just feels that he has lost trust in everything, even his own brothers and sisters.". Mr Halawa is facing the threat of a death sentence if found guilty. Hearings in the mass trial involving Mr Halawa and 493 others have been adjourned and delayed numerous times over the past four years. The prosecution case ended last month. The Ukrainian side in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) calls for doing everything possible to ensure that the ceasefire in Donbas to be fully observed from September 1, Darka Olifer, press secretary of Ukraine's second president and representative to the Trilateral Contact Group Leonid Kuchma said following the results of the TCG video conference with the invitation of the ORDLO representatives, held on Thursday. "The Ukrainian side has been consistently fulfilling its obligations under the agreement on the ceasefire regime since August 25, 2017. At the same time, the ceasefire is systematically violated by the ORDLO, which indicates that the Russian Federation and the ORDLO do not adhere to the reached agreements," Olifer wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday. According to her, the absence of appropriate orders is evidence of this: the information of the OSCE SMM, the illegal armed groups of ORDLO learned from the media about the call of the Trilateral Contact Group to the ceasefire regime on the occasion of the new school year." The spokeswoman of Kuchma also said that the TCG urged the ORDLO to ensure full and unhindered access of the OSCE SMM throughout the Donbas region - from the contact line to the Ukrainian-Russian border. "The Ukrainian side called for everything to be done to ensure that the cease-fire regime to be fully complied with tomorrow, on September 1. Violations of the ceasefire regime on the part of the ORDLO should be investigated by the OSCE SMM, and the perpetrators - identified and punished, with concrete examples and making such cases public," Olifer said. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has reiterated her position that no deal is better than a bad deal, as the latest round of Brexit talks continue amid recriminations from both sides. On a business trip to Japan, designed to reassure investors that the British economy will flourish after Brexit, Mrs May stood by her position. It has sparked concerns here that the UK could end up crashing out of the EU. Asked by the BBC if no Brexit deal was still better than a bad deal, Mrs May said: "Yes, I think that is right, but if you talk about the point at which we leave the European Union, we want to ensure that at that point we do have a deal and that we have a deal that is the right deal for the United Kingdom". Key EU figures continued to express frustration at the UK's approach to the talks, with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier tweeting Britain needed to provide clear positions on all issues. Irish issues were discussed at the talks yesterday, specifically related to the North, but no official update was given at the close. It is understood no major developments were expected. Mrs May said her government had been "coming forward with the ideas". A second runway for Dublin Airport should be prioritised as part of the response to Brexit, Fianna Fail has said. The main Opposition party believes the Government has done little to protect against the threat to the aviation sector. "It is no exaggeration to say that the future of Ireland's aviation sector hinges on the retention of existing rights to UK aerospace," a new policy paper stated. Transport spokesman Robert Troy said "a sudden economic shock" could hit the entire sector unless the status quo was retained. Fears have been expressed that thousands of flights could be grounded if the current 'open skies' arrangement is not maintained. Mr Troy wants this formalised at least a year before Brexit in March 2019. Ireland is a key player in the global aviation leasing sector, with assets worth 113bn listed here. It is estimated 50pc of the world's leased commercial aircraft are managed from Ireland. There could be medicine shortages in Ireland under a hard Brexit. (Stock picture) A senior executive in the Irish arm of generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals has warned of medicine shortages in Ireland under a hard Brexit. Sandra Gannon, Teva Ireland general manager, warned post-Brexit risks included the potential for lengthy Border delays, significant customs costs and divergent regulatory stances leading to increased medicine costs and growing drug shortages. "The issue of medicine shortages is another concern. "Already, 140 medicines are out of stock and we are at risk of further shortages due to Ireland's dependence on the much larger British market," said Ms Gannon. "Without the ability to batch-share, the small size of the Irish market may make it commercially unsustainable for manufacturers to supply to Ireland. "That would seriously damage Ireland's interests - both in terms of patient access to medicines and the inevitable rise in cost which would occur." Although Ireland has a thriving pharmaceutical industry, Ms Gannon said products manufactured here are for the high end of the market, and are exported elsewhere. "If you look at the products that are made here, it is products that are patent protected, and high end in price," Ms Gannon told the Irish Independent. "They are exported to mainly the US. It could well be the case that products that are made here never actually make the Irish market and they could well be made in some other facility elsewhere. So it's not what we make here is used here. "This [impact from a hard Brexit] really affects older medicines, and medicines that have a low value, or low volume. The numbers in Ireland just don't stack up to make products specifically for the Irish market in the scenario where it's very low volume or very low value." Ms Gannon, who is also joint chairperson of the Medicines for Ireland lobby group, will today highlight concerns at an event organised by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). Ms Gannon will warn that custom controls between Ireland and Britain and Northern Ireland also add to the administrative burden of importing into Ireland, saying this would increase the cost of medicines to the health service and patients. She believed with a small market size and new regulatory and customs burdens, Ireland may no longer be seen as an attractive export market for UK medicine manufacturers. "Where products have a short shelf-life and requirement for temperature controls, customs delays crossing the UK Border would make it difficult to guarantee supply, especially in the event of an urgent increase in need. "Every hour of customs delay adds to the cost of trade and it's hard to see how such delays could be avoided if a hard Border is reinstated," Ms Gannon said. Google is set to expand its Irish operations further with a planned move to offices in Sandyford in south Co Dublin. The Irish Independent understands that the US web giant has reached an agreement to lease space for several hundred additional employees at the Blackthorn Building at the heart of the newly-branded Sandyford Business District (SBD). Google's latest planned expansion will see it occupy all four floors of the Blackthorn Building. Google's agreement to rent the Irish Life-owned property follows discussions with the owners of several buildings in the Sandyford area. The company is understood to be in advanced talks with US real estate giant Kennedy Wilson about taking space at the Chase Building and with the owners of the Atrium, which was formerly occupied by Microsoft. Google's move into south Dublin represents something of a departure from the strategy it has pursued to date in relation to the location of its Dublin operations. Since acquiring its EMEA headquarter offices on Barrow Street and the nearby Montevetro Building (for 100m and 99m respectively in 2011), the company has concentrated its search for additional office space within that immediate area, earning it the moniker of 'Googletown'. Earlier this year, Google reached agreement to rent the newly-constructed Velasco Building on Grand Canal Street. The 51,000 sq ft property is within walking distance of its Barrow Street HQ. The Irish Independent understands, meanwhile, that Google remains in informal discussions with the owners of the Treasury Building in relation to its possible acquisition. Outside of its presence within Dublin's Central Business District (CBD), the US web giant entered into a 10-year lease on Block L at Freeman House in East Point Business Park in 2013. Confirmation of Google's arrival at the Sandyford Business District will be seen as a major boost to the area's efforts to draw fintech employers away from the Dublin's docklands and CBD, where rents for prime office space now exceed 60 per square foot. Rents in Sandyford, in contrast, are closer to 30 per square foot. Only recently, AIB agreed a rent with Green Reit of 27 per square foot for Block H at its Central Park development. The property has the capacity for up to 1,500 workers. Leading Irish entrepreneur and photographer Jerry Kennelly has received the prestigious TK Whitaker Award. The Irish Academy of Management awarded him their highest honour at a ceremony in Belfast today. The body honoured Mr Kennelly for his significant contributions to business and the wider community of current and future entrepreneurs in Ireland and beyond. Previous recipients of the TK Whitaker award include Denis Brosnan, Margaret Downes and Dr Martin Naughton. Creativity is in his blood as Mr Kennelly's parents ran an international wire photo agency in Kerry. Following in their footsteps he launched a news and wirephoto business called Newsfax in 1981, which transformed into an international digital press-centre. In 1996 he launched stock photo business Stockbyte, which he sold to Getty Images for $135 million (113m) in 2006. Expand Close Jerry Kennelly, founder and CEO of Stockbyte sold his business to getty for over 110m in 2006 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jerry Kennelly, founder and CEO of Stockbyte sold his business to getty for over 110m in 2006 IAM Chair Prof Margaret Linehan said: "Jerry Kennelly's contribution to Irish life is not confined to the realm of business. "He has collaborated the Press Photographers Association of Ireland in documenting the work of the charity GOALs work abroad and using those creative images to spread their messages through the media, exhibitions and calendars." In recent years he has been concentrating on his latest venture, Tweak - an agency standard design, photography business, in 2016 they also launched a new software-as-service application to help businesses edit and share its assets, called Tweak Cloud. Militants of illegal armed formations have committed 19 attacks on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Anti-Terrorist Operation area over the past day with no losses among Ukrainian servicemen, the press center of the ATO headquarters has said. "The enemy continued to fire shots at our positions near several populated localities on the contact line," the ATO staff said on its Facebook page. According to it, the enemy fired grenade launchers on the Avdiyivka industrial zone and the Butovka mine and small arms and heavy machineguns on the vicinity of Zaitseve and Kamyanka in the Donetsk sector. Ukrainian army positions came under heavy machinegun fire three times near Vodiane in the Mariupol sector, the staff said. THE Government may revisit caps on banker pay and bonuses at bailed-out lenders if the nation's economic revival continues, two people familiar with the situation said. The government has limited salaries to 500,000 ($598,000) and banned bonuses at banks rescued by taxpayers during the financial crisis. While there's no proposal on the table, the policy may be reconsidered should wages across the economy keep rising, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified because no decision has been made. One possibility is a tiered system that would allow some lower-paid bankers to receive bonuses, according to one of the people. Pay and bonuses have been a lightning rod for public anger toward bankers after billions of euro were spent saving failing lenders. Any change to the limits would represent another step towards normality here, with Ireland being one of the hardest hit nations during the global financial crisis. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Tuesday there are no plans "at present" to change current policy on banker pay. Some signs of flexibility are emerging, though. The government granted an exemption to Bank of Ireland so it could pay incoming CEO Francesca McDonagh more than the limit when she joins from HSBC Holdings in October. (Bloomberg) A new software tool has been created to measure just how millennial friendly our employers are. Ireland's first millenial specialist firm EngageSmith designed the 'Millennial Friendly Index' with an aim to assist companies to increase engagement with that employee demographic. An investment of 250,000 was applied to the research, development of testing of the software index - a large chunk of the recent 400,000 private equity investment in the firm. Founded in 2014 by Lisa Smith, EngageSmith helps companies bridge the generational divide in the workplace by attracting and retaining millennial talent. The firm recognised a gap in the market for a tool to bridge this divide "following constant queries by millennials and Gen Zs on what companies are the best to work for". "The millennial generation are quick to voice negative opinions on social media, for example, if theyve had a bad experience with a company, this inevitably is posted online, damaging the brand of the company. Read More "As 79pc of Irish millennials use online job sites and 65pc use social media to find jobs, potential employees are often dissuaded from applying for companies with poor online employer reputations." The new index - which will be announced on an annual basis from September - rates companies across a range of criteria identified by industry experts and millennials. The results, which awards those firms that reach the index standard with a 'millennial friendly' certification, are expected to create an understanding for employers on what is needed for increased engagement with that talent pool. "As the economy is reaching full employment, the talent pool available to companies is shrinking," said Ms Smith. "If companies want to reduce high attrition rates and associated costs of hiring and training new employees, then its important that they get the millennial friendly certification as soon as possible." The results will enable individual companies to understand what is required to engage with and motivate millennials. Organisations that pass the exacting test will achieve millennial friendly certification. Octagon films, which is embroiled in a court battle, produced RTE hit Love/Hate starring Ruth Negga and Robert Sheehan Octagon Films has repaid all of the 'start-up' money advanced to it by a German investor 15 years ago. The directors of the Co Wicklow firm, that has produced 'Love/Hate' and the 'Borgias', have been ensnared in a shareholders' row in the High Court with the investor, Berlin-based W2 Filmproduktion und Vertriebs over the past year. The 317,499 advanced by W2 gave it a 49pc share of the firm and a note attached to new accounts for Octagon Films states that the 317,499 amount was fully paid at September 30, 2016. In the High Court, W2 is suing the two directors of Octagon, James Flynn and Morgan O'Sullivan, claiming that it has lost estimated revenues of 25m in relation to activities of Octagon Films. Mr Flynn and Mr O'Sullivan - who own the remaining 51pc of the company - deny what they describe as 'unfounded allegations' and are fully contesting the action. A note states the future of the company is likely to be decided by the outcome of three legal cases involving the shareholders. Outside the substantive High Court action, a dispute between Octagon Films and W2 Filmproduktion und Vertriebs over money continues. W2 Filmproduktion und Vertriebs has also demanded payment of interest on the original 317,499 loan. The interest bill is 186,872 and Octagon "is disputing and has denied" the bill. A further note adds Mr O'Sullivan and Mr Flynn "are of the opinion that the interest penalty demanded is not payable". Accumulated profits at Octagon Films last year increased by 122,576 going from 175,918 to 298,494. Revenue at fresh food providers Total Produce increased 12.2pc to 2.15bn in the six months to 30 June, according to the companys half year results. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization a measure of a companys operating cash flow - was 52.8m, an increase of 9.5pc year-on-year, while adjusted profit before tax was 39m, an 11.8pc increase on the same period in 2016. The strong performance was driven by continued international expansion, with a number of "significant" North American transactions. However this was offset in part by a negative impact on the translation to Euro of the results of foreign currency denominated operations. In addition the company increased its share in the Oppenheimer group ('Oppy') to 65pc from 35pc during the six month period. Describing the performance as "strong", Total Produce chairman Carl McCann said that the group was "pleased" to announce a 10pc increase in the interim dividend to 0.8906 cent per share. "The group continues to target increased full-year adjusted earnings per share in the upper half of the previously-announced range of 12.0 to 13.0 cent per share," Mr McCann said. In Europe overall trading conditions for the Fyffes spin-off were favourable despite what the company described as "challenging" conditions in Holland. Revenue increased by 3.8pc to 903m while adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, and amortization (EBITA) increased 3.9pc to 13.8m. Meanwhile the groups internation business (which includes North America and India) saw its revenue increase by 80pc to 471m, while adjusted EBITA increased to 6.6m from 4.9m in the same period last year. The company said that the international results benefited from the incremental contribution of acquisitions. INVESTMENT firms have called for the exit tax on investments to be reduced in line with the lowering of tax on bank accounts. Insurance Ireland said Government policy should not give preferential treatment to certain investment types. It has called on the Government to reduce the exit tax in the Budget to be fair to middle-income investors. The tax on savings in banks and credit unions has started to come down. Deposit interest retention tax (Dirt) on interest earned on savings was reduced to 39pc in the last Budget. It had been 41pc. The Dirt rate will then fall by two percentage points each year over the next four, until it falls to 33pc by 2020. But the exit tax on life insurance investments or funds sold by life insurance and investment firms remains at 41pc. The Dirt tax rate and the exit tax rate used to rise and fall in tandem, but the link between the two was broken in the last Budget. If nothing changes, Dirt will be at 33pc and the exit tax will still be 41pc. Insurance Ireland chief executive Kevin Thompson said savings and investment policies sold by life companies were a key element of long-term financial planning for middle-income individuals and families. "The life assurance exit tax needs to be reduced in line with Dirt to incentivise long-term financial planning for middle income earners," he said. "Government policy should not give preferential treatment to certain investment types and Insurance Ireland is calling on the Government to use the budget to reduce exit tax and give a fair deal to middle-income investors." It is generally understood that Ireland's population is ageing. Longer life expectancy is, of course, a good thing and should be celebrated. However, it does lead to some challenges. As a result of increases in life expectancy and reductions in the birth rate, the ratio of younger people to older people is shifting. Probably the challenge of population ageing which is discussed most often relates to the so-called 'pensions time bomb'. With relatively larger numbers of retirees and relatively fewer people of working age, funding pressures will arise for pay-as-you-go pensions systems. This includes Ireland's contributory and non-contributory systems. In very simple terms, there will be fewer workers to support the larger number of pensioners. There are a number of possible ways to solve the funding difficulty. We could impose higher taxes or we could reduce pension rates. Clearly, neither is very appealing. Another route to solving the pension funding issue is to extend working lives. This potentially helps the situation in two ways. First, if people delay the point at which they receive pensions, there is a saving. Second, by remaining in the workforce, older people help to increase GDP and so pensions as a proportion of national income become more sustainable. In a recent paper, my Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) colleague Dr Karina Doorley showed that much of the projected increases in the costs of pensions could be offset if retirement ages were increased by five years. Dr Doorley and the ESRI were widely misquoted as "recommending" that the retirement age be increased. The paper did not include this recommendation but only sought to quantify the impact of such a policy change. There was a lot of negative reaction to the idea of increasing retirement ages, which is understandable. However, we cannot escape the fact that population ageing will put pressure on our public pensions system. On the assumption that increases in taxation or reductions in pensions rates would not be popular either, it is important to explore the various options, including extending working lives. In what follows, I will explore some issues but before doing so let me be clear on some points. I am not saying that people should be compelled to work longer. The point here is that people who might want to work longer should (a) be allowed to do so and (b) facilitated. Also, I am not saying that there should be a 'one size fits all' approach. Clearly, working longer will not be possible in some physically demanding jobs. Returning to my theme, let me pose a question: what is it about 65/66 that we now see this as being the standard age for retirement? Somewhere along the way, the mid-sixties seem to have become the default ages for retirement. A leading writer on this topic, Professor Axel Borsch-Supan, has argued that this standard retirement age is based on a number of myths. It is useful to outline some of these. According to Borsch-Supan, retirement in the mid-sixties may be based in part on the idea that declines in health status begin to impact on the capacity to work. However, in the modern age this is often untrue. We are living longer due partly to improved health and the health status of many sixty-somethings is, thankfully, excellent. In addition to health declines, Borsch-Supan also suggests that there is an assumption of productivity declines among older workers. With the obvious exception of physically demanding jobs, there is little evidence across many occupations of lower productivity rates among older workers. Another myth which Borsch-Supan refers to is the idea that we need people to retire in order to free up employment slots for younger people. A similar argument was made in Ireland for many years to justify the exclusion of married women from many jobs. We have come to understand that the most successful economies operate by facilitating increased employment generally and not by excluding groups. We also understand that diversity in the workplace - across ages, genders, nationalities, etc - tends to increase productivity and creativity. The fourth of Borsch-Supan's myths is a bit more controversial. He says that people often assume that retirement will be "bliss", but there is increasing evidence to say that this might not always be the case. Work undoubtedly involves pressures and headaches. However, work can also bring social connections and feelings of worth. Economists and others have become increasingly interested in the question of whether retirement poses challenges for people through the loss of these positive dimensions of work. We are fortunate in Ireland in having excellent data that allow us to study retirement-related issues. Through the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) led by Professor Rose-Anne Kenny at Trinity College Dublin, we are tracking over 8,000 people who were aged 50 and over in 2010. Using these data, Dr Irene Mosca and I have been comparing people who retire with those who remain in employment. Specifically, we look to see if the retirees see positive changes in their mental health compared to those who remain in work. We don't find this to be the case. If anything, the people who remain in work appear to maintain better mental health. These findings support Borsch-Supan's idea that retirement being bliss may be a myth, at least for some. Other research using the TILDA data sheds further light on the effect of working later in life. We found that an older person who remained in work was happier if other older people in their area were also at work. One implication of this research finding is that an increase in the prevalence of extended working lives could lead to a greater acceptance by others of delaying retirement. Population ageing will lead to funding pressures on pensions. None of the proposed solutions - increased contributions, reduced payments or delayed retirement - will appeal to a broad spectrum of opinion or be politically popular. However, we still need to find a solution. If the evidence grows on the possible benefits of extended working lives, it seems to me that we should, at a minimum, explore how best to facilitate those who share the view that retirement may not be all bliss. Prof Alan Barrett is Director of the Economic and Social Research Institute A man holds an Apple iPad as he travels on the subway in downtown Shanghai China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce is reviewing an antitrust complaint accusing Apple of abusing its dominant position in smartphone applications. The regulator is studying the information following a complaint filed on behalf of developers before deciding if a formal investigation is necessary, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because it isn't public. The review is preliminary and Chinese antitrust agencies usually review such information before deciding whether a official probe is needed. Beijing-based law firm Daxiao, or Dare & Sure, said earlier this month it has filed complaints on the developers' behalf to the SAIC and the National Development and Reform Commission. The lawyers accused Apple of removing apps without a proper explanation and taking an excessive 30pc cut of in-app transactions, it said. The law firm now represents close to 50 developers, producing games and a number of other apps, according to managing partner Lin Wei. Apple declined to comment, referring to an earlier statement saying it has guidelines for developers and an escalation process for apps it rejects.. The complaint comes just as Apple is expected to introduce its 10th-anniversary iPhone, which could help it regain market share from local rivals such as Oppo and Huawei. Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, is Apple's biggest overseas market, contributing about 18pc of sales in the most recent quarter. Apple's iTunes Movies and iBooks services were shut down last year by regulators after less than seven months of operations, and revenue there has fallen for six consecutive quarters. In 2013, it was forced to apologise after state broadcaster CCTV criticised the company's customer-service standards. (Bloomberg) The position of the British side regarding further assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is flexible, Minister of State for the Armed Forces of Great Britain Mark Lancaster said during a meeting with Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak. "We are ready to consider the proposals of the Ukrainian side regarding other areas of assistance," the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry quoted the Minister of the Armed Forces of Great Britain as saying on Thursday. According to him, the participation of the British military in the parade on the Independence Day of Ukraine was another signal for the support of the Ukrainian state, and also demonstrated to the world the commitment of the UK to efforts on consistent support of European security Public Enemys Flavor Flav is suing Chuck D, his co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop group, claiming he has been cheated out of royalties and merchandise sales. Flav, real name William Drayton, lodged the lawsuit against Chuck D, real name Carlton Ridenhour, as well as various others, in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Las Vegas resident Flav says his payments from merchandising and live shows from management firm Eastlink have diminished to almost nothing. Expand Close Chuck D with Flava Flav / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chuck D with Flava Flav And he claims he has not received regular royalty statements from publisher Reach Global Songs, manager Clifton Johnson and business Xecutive for several years. The lawsuit also alleges that his voice and image were used on latest album Nothing Is Quick In The Desert without his consent and then was not paid in full. Drayton was in need of money to support his family, and defendants were aware of that, lawyer Eric Bjorgum writes. Flav, 58, who has gone on to become a reality TV star, claims he has had a long-standing agreement with Chuck D, 57, that any profits from Public Enemy would be shared. Expand Close Flava Flav with Brigitte Nielsen / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flava Flav with Brigitte Nielsen He is suing for damages and legal costs as well as copyright registration over his contribution to the band. They formed the band in Long Island in 1986 and released hits such as Fight The Power, Rebel Without A Pause and Dont Believe The Hype. Flav, known for wearing a large clock around his neck, acted as a court jester, as the lawsuit reflects, to Chuck Ds serious persona. Video of the Day Public Enemy were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013. A woman high on alcohol and prescription medication, who started a fire in an apartment complex resulting in the death of two men, refused to leave the burning building without her bottle of cider. A Cork Coroner's inquest heard Rachel Crawshaw (30) was aggressive and abusive to two gardai desperately trying to save her life by dragging her from the burning apartment complex. Gardai Caitriona O'Sullivan and Liam Phillips were hailed as heroes for risking their own lives to evacuate the Granary Court complex, in Mallow, Co Cork. They entered in the early hours of March 13, 2014, and defied thick smoke and flames to drag Ms Crawshaw and another man to safety. Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy said that but for their incredible courage further lives would have been lost. Both gardai were hospitalised for smoke inhalation after the blaze. At one point, Gda O'Sullivan revealed Ms Crawshaw fought to try to get back into the smoke-filled building. The young garda had to use her baton to force Ms Crawshaw to get back out of the complex for her own safety and that of others. As she was being treated at the scene for the effects of smoke inhalation, gardai spotted that the intoxicated young woman also had a bottle of sleeping tablets tucked inside her bra. As gardai and paramedics battled to save an unconscious man, Christopher Palmer, Ms Crawshaw attempted to intervene. "Leave him alone, leave him alone," she shouted. Dr Kennedy was told Ms Crawshaw was jailed for 10 years last October by Cork Circuit Criminal Court for manslaughter and arson. She pleaded guilty to a single count of arson at the Granary Court complex and to two manslaughter charges brought over the deaths in the fire of John Palmer (37) and Greg Lonergan (36). Judge Sean O'Donnabhain was told the fire was started by Ms Crawshaw with a cigarette lighter in a third-floor flat where she had been drinking with three men. He described the woman's actions as "hugely reckless". The court heard she was a chronic alcohol and drug addict who had a chaotic upbringing. Ms Crawshaw had to be brought back to Ireland to face the charges from the UK on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Gda O'Sullivan and Gda Phillips found Ms Crawshaw and Christopher Palmer, the twin brother of John Palmer, unconscious in the complex at 12.10am and dragged them to safety. Mr Palmer, who is originally from Dublin, was covered in soot and had dark-coloured foam at his mouth. En route to Cork University Hospital (CUH) he stopped breathing and had to be revived by paramedics. Smash In a statement read out by gardai to Dr Kennedy, Mr Palmer said Ms Crawshaw had been drinking in the apartment with him, his brother John and Mr Lonergan over the previous 24 hours. "Rachel lost the rag which was usual for her after drink," Mr Palmer said. "She started to smash up the apartment. I tried to stop her but it only made it worse." The inquest returned a verdict which reflected the manslaughter convictions in Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The Special Criminal Court has refused Frederick "Freddie" Thompsons application to have a murder charge against him dismissed. The 36-year-old Dubliner is charged with the murder of David Douglas (55) in Dublin City on July 1, 2016. Mr Douglas was shot dead in a shop on Bridgefoot Street. Mr Thompson, of Loreto Road in Maryland in Dublin, had applied to the non-jury court to dismiss the murder charge. The court heard submissions from his barrister, Michael O'Higgins SC, last month, under Section 4E of the Criminal Justice Act 1999. Sean Gillane SC made submissions for the prosecution. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, presiding, said this morning that the three-judge court had considered all of the evidence and the submissions from both sides. She said that they were refusing the application as they were satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to put Mr Thompson on trial for the offence. A row has broken out between the owners and operators of The Square in Tallaght and Three Ireland over the mobile telecommunications provider's closure of one of its stores at the shopping centre. The Square Management Ltd and Laseda Limited claim Three Ireland has breached the terms of its lease agreement after it closed one of its two stores at the South Dublin shopping centre on August 11 last. The unit is one of more than 160 in the shopping Centre which was formally put up for sale earlier this week with an asking price of 233m plus. As a result of the closure the owners and operators have brought High Court proceedings against Three Ireland Services (Hutchinson Ltd) seeking orders including an injunction compelling the telecommunications firm to re-open the unit. The application was mentioned before Mr Justice Henry Abbott at Thursday's sitting of the High Court. Michael Howard SC for the landlords told the court that the unit had been closed by Three without notification to his clients. The closure "came out of the blue" and his clients were concerned about the implications of the move counsel said. Counsel said the closure was very damaging for his clients and said the action was in breach of terms of a lease it and its predecessors had entered into in the early 1990's in respect of unit 259, located on the shopping centre's second floor. Mr Howard said Three had proposed to sublet the unit and his client was not consenting to the change. Opposing the application Mark Sanfey SC for Three said the unit that had been closed was "a kiosk" and that his client's other store in the shopping centre was "only 30 yards away." Mr Sanfey said his client would also continue to pay rent and any service charges due on the unit. Mr Justice Abbott noting that the parties would continue to have an on-going commercial relationship suggested that they consider appointing a mediator in order to resolve the dispute. This would ensure a speedy and cheap resolution to the row, the judge said. Following a short adjournment to discuss matters, Mr Howard informed the Judge that an application would be made to admit the case to the fast track Commercial Court list in September. Nearly one woman a day in Ireland will continue to be diagnosed with cervical cancer if more girls fail to get the HPV vaccine which can prevent the disease, a leading infectious disease consultant has warned. Dr Karina Butler of Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, was speaking as the HSE launched a campaign to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine in secondary schools after rates plummeted to 50pc. Dr Butler said she was assured of the safety of the vaccine and her three daughters have had the full course of jabs. The fall in take-up has been linked to the circulation of unfounded reports about the vaccine's safety. "This is a vaccine that can save lives. It works," she said. "In Scotland where their vaccination programme has been in place since 2008, they have seen a 90pc decrease in HPV infections. "In Australia the vaccine has prevented one in every two new cervical cancers." Dr Butler said as a paediatrician she had treated teenage girls and boys for side-effects which are wrongly linked to the vaccine. Campaigners against the vaccine have linked it to side-effects such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and chronic regional pain syndrome. But Dr Butler said the evidence was these were not caused by the HPV vaccine. A patient who got a blood transfusion ended up with hepatitis B. How did it slip through tests? The donor who gave blood was newly infected with hepatitis B. There is a two-week window when even the toughest tests cannot detect it. In this case the donor, who regularly gives blood, had their donation tested three times but the virus did not show up. One of the most sensitive molecular screening tests was used, we are told. Was there some failure in this particular test? No. The makers of the test Grifols/Hologic checked it and found it performed to standard. It is a one in two million event. How high are the standards of testing used by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board? Officials say they are using the most modern and sophisticated tests available. As a further precaution, each individual's donation is tested. In other countries they test pooled donations. It is also backed up with a questionnaire which donors fill out to highlight risks. So how did they find out the donor had hepatitis B? The donor's archived sample was subjected to a DNA-type test. But this positive test only came after the patient was transfused with the blood. How did the infection come to light? The donor became ill after giving the donation and went to their GP. Their doctor carried out a blood test and by that stage the infection was in an acute phase. The hepatitis B showed up. What happened then? The doctor spoke to the patient and found out they were a donor. The blood service was informed. Were they able to find out that the blood was transfused in a patient? Yes. The blood service has a tracking system and could match the donation to the patient who received the blood transfusion. Was the patient who got the transfusion aware they got contaminated blood? No. They had no idea the donor was infected. The patient was then informed of the potential risk and they underwent a test for hepatitis B. It turned out they had been infected. Is hepatitis B serious? Yes, potentially. Most of those infected will clear the infection but if it remains in the system it can cause serious damage to the liver. There is treatment available, however, to prevent this. Will this lead to changes in the way the blood service operates? No, because officials say all the proper systems and protocols were followed. What is the advice to people undergoing a blood transfusion? The benefits far outweigh the low risk. Modern medical practice is to avoid transfusion if possible. But if a doctor recommends transfusion then it is usually necessary to save patient's life or as a form of treatment. KYIV. Aug 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in early 2014 some 44 persons have been kidnapped on the peninsula, whereabouts of 18 of them are not known, the civil organization CrimeaSOS has said. "There are currently 18 unsolved disappearances in Crimea. Most of them involve Crimean Tatars. There have been 44 kidnappings since Russian annexation," CrimeaSOS coordinator Tamila Tasheva said during a press conference at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday. CrimeaSOS said 17, of the 44 persons kidnapped? have been released, six were found dead, two found in prison and later convicted on trumped up charges. There whereabouts of 18 persons remain unknown. Tasheva said most of the kidnappings took place in early 2014 and involved Crimean Tatars. Head of the department for monitoring legal compliance in criminal cases and crime prevention for the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine Maksym Prokopov said 150 criminal investigations have been opened. "Some 29 of the criminal investigations involve 38 persons, who we suspect were killed or went missing," he said, adding that the investigations are hampered by the fact that it is impossible to investigate the crimes on the peninsula. Irish is the most expensive at a going rate of 42 per page. Stock photo: GETTY The high cost of translating content into Irish is being blamed for a European Parliament project overspend of millions of euro. The Parliament set up a website earlier this year that aims to become a virtual library of testimonials and stories from people across Europe. Participants were asked to upload text and images to the 'My House of European History' page, to explain what Europe means for them and how they see themselves as having contributed to its history. However, the project has now been hit with controversy after it emerged officials had asked for an extra 1.5m to fund its translation department. According to documents obtained by the 'Daily Telegraph', the upkeep of the website has cost 3.7m more than expected. It had a budget for the year of 8.2m. Documents cited a higher-than-expected need to translate stories into Irish as central to the overruns. Private translators in Brussels charge on average 21.91 per page, but for some languages the cost can be higher. Irish is the most expensive at a going rate of 42 per page. British politicians have linked the controversy to the ongoing dispute with the EU over how much the UK should pay for Brexit. Some have described the project as a "vanity" website and propaganda. Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP, said: "This is why we should resist the huge so-called EU divorce bill." However, Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly told the Irish Independent the issue "is a blatant diversion tactic from a British Conservative whose own party members can't seem to come up with a cohesive, workable Brexit plan in one language. Heritage "Languages are a vital part of our cultural heritage which should be encouraged and preserved. However, while essential documents should be translated, non-essential documents, which no one reads, should not," Mr Kelly said. The Parliament's in-house team routinely translates reports and papers into the 24 official languages of the EU, as part of its commitment to multilingualism. However, outsourcing in the first five months of this year has soared. The parliament has a 30pc cap on the use of private translators for its work, but this is now running at 35.45pc. A European Parliament spokeswoman said the funds would not be new money from the budget, but taken from other funding streams. She said the in-house team had over-performed by 123pc compared to its maximum capacity, but still needed outside help. "This is because more translations were needed into Irish and because of more contributions by citizens of stories to 'My House of European History'," she said. The Government turned down the offer to have Irish as a full working language when the country joined the EU in 1973, but in 2004 asked for, and was granted, a change in policy the following year. An investigation has been launched after a young homeless mother-of-two took her own life in a hotel overnight. Independent.ie has learned that gardai were called to the Leixlip House Hotel in Co Kildare after the womans body was discovered by her partner at 10pm. It is understood that the 26-year-old Dubliner, was staying in the hotel, which is currently being used as accommodation for homeless families, with her two young children. News of the tragedy comes on the same day that a man, aged in his 50s, was discovered dead on Suffolk Street, in Dublin City Centre. Expand Close 'Jack' Watson was was discovered dead on Suffolk Street this morning / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 'Jack' Watson was was discovered dead on Suffolk Street this morning The man, who has been named locally as 'Jack' Watson, had been sleeping rough and was discovered at 4am this morning by a passer-by. Mr Watson was Irish and had been accessing homeless services for up to two years and had been in contact with outreach teams at midnight on Wednesday on Suffolk Street in Dublin. He was found unconscious four hours later. It is understood he had returned from Australia in 2015 and was unable to find permanent housing. He regularly used the homeless freephone number to find a bed at night. He had been sleeping on a ledge at the front of the Superdry store on Suffolk Street, a spot frequently used by rough sleepers. Gardai said he was treated at the scene before being taken by ambulance to St James's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive said homeless services had been in contact with the man since October 2015. Expand Close Jack Watson (Photoe: CairdeasHomeless Action Group Facebook) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jack Watson (Photoe: CairdeasHomeless Action Group Facebook) A post-mortem examination will be carried out and the coroner's office has been notified but foul play is not suspected. The two deaths have sparked calls for increased action on the homelessness crisis. Campaigner Fr Peter McVerry, of the Peter McVerry Trust, said homeless people regularly died, and not just on the street. "Homeless people die every month and not necessarily on the streets," he said. "People are dying in hostels, dying from suicide, overdoses, and natural causes. "That's happening on a regular basis and the only ones we hear about are the ones found dead on the streets." The Peter McVerry Trust said its Housing First Street Intake team also had contact with the man and they last spoke to him over a week ago just off O'Connell Street. Homeless campaigner Anthony Flynn, of charity Inner City Helping Homeless, has also called for the housing crisis to be declared a national emergency in the wake of the two tragedies. Its a case of families being put under extreme and immense pressure. We have families being squashed into rooms that are not suitable for them. We are looking at people being put into accommodation for anything up to three years. Dublin City Council confirmed to Independent.ie that the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) is aware of the tragic death of the young woman in Leixlip. It is particularly poignant in light of the fact that the woman had been offered and had accepted a social house from South Dublin County Council, the spokesperson said. Leixlip House is not leased by the DRHE but there is a contract with the facility to provide emergency accommodation to homeless families. A count of homeless people by Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) last week recorded 206 people sleeping rough in Dublin. The agency's outreach team talked to the man on Suffolk Street just a few hours before he died. Local councillor Joe Neville (FG) said he was devastated to see an event like this happen in his Leixlip. We need to ask as a society and as a government are we doing all we can to help these people? Leixlip councillor Bernard Caldwell (Ind) passed on his condolences to the family and said the town was left reeling by the tragedy. Samaritans 24 hr Freephone Helpline: 116123 www.samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.org. The DRHE also expressed their sympathies to the family and friends of the man who was found on Suffolk Street. Additional reporting by Press Association AN IRISH wildlife park celebrated an historic first after one of its newly arrived Asian lionesses gave birth to three cubs. Fota Wildlife Park confirmed that its lioness Gira gave birth to three cubs on August 13 after a gestation of 112 days. The cubs, whose sex is not yet confirmed, all all doing well. Gira and the cub's father, Shanto, only arrived at the east Cork facility a little over a year ago. The birth has been hailed as a huge boost to conservation efforts aimed at stabilising the numbers of Asian lions worldwide. The cubs, once they are grown, will be used to help bolster breeding stocks in other wildlife parks worldwide. Asian lions are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as there are only 500 individuals remaining in the wild. Breeding of the endangered lions is one of the key aims of the ambitious new Asian Sanctuary at Fota. Shanto arrived at the Cork park from Zoo de Santillana in Spain. He is now breeding with two Asian lion sisters, Gira and Gita, both of whom are three years old and arrived at the Irish wildlife park from Helsinki Zoo in Finland. Read More Fota Wildlife Park director, Sean McKeown, said it has been a wonderful year for the facility with five other feline cubs being born, four cheetah cubs and a Sumatran tiger cub. We are absolutely thrilled that Gira successfully delivered her first litter of cubs here at Fota as the pride of lions are relatively new and have only been in situ for just over a year in their specialised habitat," Mr McKeown said. "Its our first participation in the international breeding programme for Asian lions and are delighted to see this success in the arrival of the cubs. There are only approximately 200 Asian lions in Wildlife Parks and Zoos and to be able to contribute to a successful captive breeding programme worldwide is an essential safeguard against a severe decline to the wild population, which may be vulnerable to disease or other factors such as natural disaster and the birth of the cubs is a great way of creating awareness for these conservation issues. Fota has established itself over the past 30 years as one of the world's most successful breeding centres for endangered cheetahs. Fota ranger, Kelly Lambe, said Gira appears to be settling into the role of motherhood very well. The cubs are still really new and Gira the mum seems to be very comfortable with them, they are a full-time job for her as they require feeding every three to four hours but she is doing great as a first-time mother." "Their eyes are only open a few days but they are starting to move about and explore and have already taken their first steps but as babies they do spend a lot of time sleeping." "As she is feeding three hungry mouths weve increased her feed by one-and-a-half kilos a day. Read More The Asian lion population has recovered from the brink of extinction to several hundred individuals. Today, they only live in the Gir Forest in India which remains the stronghold for this species apart from a few prides living outside this protected area. The lions live closely alongside humans in their last remaining natural habitat, including the Maldhari community, who also live within the Gir Forest. Compared to their African cousins, Asian lions have shaggier coats, with a longer tassel on the end of the tail and longer tufts of hair on the elbows. The most noticeable physical characteristic found in all Asian lions, but rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along their belly. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has criticised Theresa May's decision to visit Japan, claiming she should be in Europe working on Brexit negotiations. The airline's chief executive accused the Prime Minister of "drinking tea and sake" when there is a "crisis coming down the road". Mrs May met her counterpart Shinzo Abe for meetings focused on North Korea but also touched on a possible trade deal for when the UK quits the European Union. Mr O'Leary said he did not have full confidence in Mrs May. He told Sky News: "I fail to see what she's doing in Japan for three days at the moment, why she's not in Brussels or in Frankfurt or in Paris, which is where these negotiations need to take place. "She's just come back from three weeks' holidays in the Swiss Alps. Now, everybody is entitled to their holidays, but there's a crisis coming down the road here (for) the UK economy in the next 12 months. Brexit is going to be a disaster for the UK economy. "She needs to be over there negotiating or at least removing these roadblocks, not swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake." Later on Thursday Ryanair will announce details of an increase in UK flights next summer, including several new routes. Mr O'Leary said the Dublin-based carrier is "planning on the basis that somebody in the British Government will sort out Brexit", but added that he does not have "great faith in them at the moment". He added: "We're going continue to invest in the UK and grow jobs here." He warned that flights between the UK and the EU will be grounded in summer 2019 if no agreement on aviation is reached as part of the Brexit negotiations by September next year. "We need to know six months before March 2019," he said. "If there isn't the likelihood of an agreement there will be skin and hair flying. "People trying to book their holidays for summer 2019 here in the UK this time next year ... the options will be driving to Scotland or getting a ferry to Ireland." The single market for aviation, created in the 1990s, means there are no commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU. The UK aviation industry has called for the liberal market to continue after Brexit. At least 120 individual State bodies can potentially get access to the information on the controversial Public Services Cards (PSCs), more than double the number indicated by Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty. Fifteen Government ministers, Revenue, Irish Water, and the HSE are among a string of bodies that can request permission to access the data, according to the legislation. Last night, the Data Protection Commissioner demanded the Department of Social Protection publish clear information on what data is being collected, for what purpose, and with whom it may be shared. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea clashed with the Government over alleged bonus payments of 5 for every PSC issued by Social Protection officials. The Government has struggled to contain the storm that has arisen over PSCs since it emerged that a woman in her 70s was denied pension payments after refusing to register for the card. Civil liberties campaigners have raised concern over privacy and data security. Expand Close Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty. Photo: Tom Burke During an RTE Radio interview, Ms Doherty defended the PSCs, saying there's no plan to further expand the information they hold and insisting they are a simply way of verifying a person's identity "to the highest possible standard". "We will share that information with the 50 or so other bodies that are in the legislation since 2013 to give an improved, effective and enhanced public service," she added. However, a section of the legislation previously sent to the Irish Independent by the Department of Social Protection listed "specified bodies" that can potentially access information linked to the cards. The list includes categories of groups of State agencies that when analysed amount to more than 120 organisations. While "a local authority" is listed as one entry, within that category there are 31 county and city councils. Expand Close Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea. Photo: Tom Burke Similarly, "an education and training board" is another category. There are 16 of these around the country. The department was asked to provide a list of which of the more than 120 organisations have actually been granted permission to access the PSC information and the reasons why. It did not answer that question last night. However, a department statement argued that Ms Doherty's remarks on RTE relating to "up to 50 specified bodies" is "correct". They said there are 47 "categories of specified bodies" and that "some are multiple-body categories". They gave examples including ministers, local authorities, and education and training boards. The statement added: "The department always refers to categories of public bodies in any statements". The department also addressed Mr O'Dea's remarks over alleged bonus payments to incentivise the issuing of PSCs. Mr O'Dea said he has been told staff issuing the cards must first undergo a week-long training course. "As the department... keeps tabs on how many cards are issued in each centre, the funds to pay the bonus are sent on to each local branch manager to make the bonus payments to staff," Mr O'Dea said. The department denied "bonus payments" are made to its staff "in relation to the Public Services Card or any other service". The statement added: "The department has contracts with branch offices where branch offices are paid on a transactional fee basis for a range of social protection services including processing jobseekers, lone parents and PSC applications." Last night a statement on behalf of the Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, said there is a "pressing need" for updated, clearer and more detailed information in relation to the mandatory use of the PSCs for accessing public services. John Kerry receives the Tipperary Peace Prize at the Aherlow House Hotel, Co Tipperary. Photo: Clare Keogh Representatives of the 'White Helmets' will travel to Tipperary next Wednesday to accept the award at a gala ceremony. (Azaz Media Office via AP) The 'White Helmets' of the Syrian Civil Defence have been awarded the prestigious Tipperary Peace Prize. The 2016 award will be given to the Syrian volunteers who have become world-famous for their fearless courage in trying to rescue people from bomb-shattered buildings in Syria's brutal civil war, sometimes while under artillery and aircraft fire. In the prize citation, the organising committee said: "The award is a testament to the enormous bravery and courage shown by the 'White Helmets' who have saved more than 100,000 people, while upwards on 200 of the unarmed volunteers have lost their lives while saving others." Representatives of the 'White Helmets' will travel to Tipperary next Wednesday to accept the award at a gala ceremony. The Tipperary Peace prize ranks as Irelands outstanding award for humanitarian work. It was presented to former US Secretary of State John Kerry last year. Expand Close Malala receives the 2012 Tipperary International Peace Award / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Malala receives the 2012 Tipperary International Peace Award The award scheme was founded in 1984 and has been given to some of the worlds leading politicians, civil rights campaigners and charity workers. The decision to found a peace prize was sparked when a group of locals realised that the World War I song, Its a Long Way to Tipperary, written by Jack Judge, had left Tipperary internationally associated with conflict. Expand Close John Kerry receives the Tipperary Peace Prize at the Aherlow House Hotel, Co Tipperary. Photo: Clare Keogh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Kerry receives the Tipperary Peace Prize at the Aherlow House Hotel, Co Tipperary. Photo: Clare Keogh For the past 33 years, the Tipperary Peace Convention has worked to honour those who devote their lives to ending conflict and promoting human rights. Pakistani teen Malala Yousafzai was the 2013 recipient. The 2011 award winners were President Mary McAleese and her husband, Sen. Martin McAleese, for their outstanding work to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Other award winners over the years have included US President Bill Clinton, former South African President Nelson Mandela, Live Aid founder Bob Geldof, former Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the late Sen Edward Kennedy, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Afghan human rights campaigner, Dr Sima Samar. The inaugural recipient of the award was the late Sean McBride. The founder of a children's charity has asked HSE boss Tony O'Brien to stop "verbal bull-dozing" in relation to the HPV vaccine. Jack and Jill's founder Jonathan Irwin today issued a statement to say that he found Mr O'Brien's comments "hurtful" and "insulting". The HSE boss moved to speak about the vaccine because he said the uptake of the vaccine in Ireland had hit an all-time low. Mr O'Brien claimed that there has been a "well-orchestrated" campaign of "emotional terrorism" targeting parents, teenage girls and teachers with "disinformation" about the vaccine. But today, Mr Irwin addressed the HSE boss in a public statement. I am one of the emotional terrorists you refer to in your attack on parents who have dared to question the side effects of the Gardasil vaccine," Mr Irwin said. "And I find your comments hurtful, insulting and completely over the top. I refuse to be labelled like that." Mr Irwin has said his 17-year-old daughter Molly has been dogged by ill health since she got the vaccine when she was 13 years old. "My objective in telling Molly's story is to tell the truth of what happened to our daughter, plain and simple, without exaggeration or drama and to urge the HSE to give full details to parents about the possible side effects of this vaccine." "I am not anti-vaccine. I am just a very concerned parent telling the truth. The reality for us as a family." "The HSE should be embracing parents with issues like us, listening to us and learning from our experience. Not embarrassing us and making us out to be the enemy." "So please stop this verbal bull-dozing and wake up and to listen to these very real problems. We don't have to be doctors to ask questions. And a health system that doesn't allow questions or admit that there might be problems is so wrong," Mr Irwin said. "I expect more compassion from the leader of our health service. The HSE yesterday launched a campaign to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine in secondary schools after rates plummeted to 50pc. Dr Karina Butler of Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, said she was assured of the safety of the vaccine. Nearly one woman a day in Ireland will continue to be diagnosed with cervical cancer if more girls fail to get the HPV vaccine which can prevent the disease, the leading infectious disease consultant warned. Ireland is to get its first ever direct Asia-Pacific air route, with the announcement of new flights to Hong Kong from Dublin Airport. Cathay Pacific will operate a new, four-times weekly service from June 2, 2018. The Dublin flight will be serviced by an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in a three-class configuration, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The airline announced details of the historic service today, alongside two new non-stop routes from Hong Kong to Brussels and Copenhagen. Return fares are currently priced from 642 on cathaypacific.com. We are thrilled to welcome Cathay Pacific to Dublin Airport and to Ireland, said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison. Expand Close Cathay Pacific stock image / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cathay Pacific stock image Dublin Airport is competing for routes like this with other major European airports, so winning this new business is hugely positive news for Ireland, for foreign direct investment, for Irish exporters, and for inbound tourism, he added. Rupert Hogg, Cathay's Chief Executive Officer, said: Were excited to offer the only direct flights between Hong Kong and Dublin." Dublin is a fantastic destination and attracts business and leisure travellers from the world over. We listened to our customers demands for more options and greater flexibility and have responded by building direct air links with this great city. The route is a major milestone, with trade between Ireland and China now worth more than 8 billion per annum and some 100 Irish firms with operations there. Direct flights between the two countries have been discussed for years, with Hainan Airlines reportedly close to finalising scheduling on services to Beijing. Expand Close Hong Kong's skyline / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hong Kong's skyline Hong Kong is first out of the traps, however. The new flights follow a complex collaborative effort involving daa, Tourism Ireland, the Irish Embassy in China, the Consulate in Hong Kong and other stakeholders such as IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia. "This new service will help foster the growing trade, tourism, education and cultural links between Ireland, Hong Kong, 'Asias World City', and the rest of China," said Tourism Minister Shane Ross, welcoming the news. Meanwhile, Dublin Chamber of Commerce CEO Mary Rose Burke said the route "opens up a whole new world of opportunities for Irish businesses" and a gateway into "the increasingly lucrative Chinese market." An estimated 4,000 Irish people live in Hong Kong, according to the Irish Embassy in China. The route is also expected to boost inbound tourism from China - one of the world's fastest-growing markets. Todays announcement is good news for Irish tourism as we plan for 2018 and beyond, and continue the roll out of our market diversification strategy in light of the UKs decision to exit the EU," commented Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. In summer, the flight will depart Dublin at 11.55, arriving in Hong Kong at 07.05. The return flight will depart Hong Kong at 00.50, arriving in Dublin at 06.45. In winter, departures from Dublin will be at 11.00, arriving in Hong Kong at 07.30. The return flight will depart Hong Kong at 00.15 and arrive in Dublin at 05.30. The route will also connect travellers to Cathay Pacific's Asian networks, as well as those of its short-haul subsidiary, Cathay Dragon, including onward flights to mainland China, Japan, Korea, South-East Asia and Australia. More than 16.9 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport in the first seven months of the year, a 6pc increase on the same period in 2016. It also recently added direct flights to Doha, Qatar. NB: This story is being updated. The preoccupation with the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death has refocused our minds on where we were, what we were doing and how we reacted when we heard of her tragic passing in the early hours of August 31, 1997. Many had followed her life from shy nursery assistant to global superstar and felt her loss as keenly as if it had been a family member. That she died in such a violent manner made it all the more shocking to absorb. In the BBC's documentary, Diana, 7 Days documentary about the immediate period following her death, aired this week, her sons William and Harry repeatedly mentioned the uncontrollable wailing from crowds as they followed her coffin on its final journey to Westminster Abbey. They recalled their childish confusion at the response as none of them had known her and she was their mother, and they weren't crying but put on their "game faces" as duty demanded. The public, many of whom had camped out for days, were finally sharing their grief with the family of the woman they believed they knew. They'd had a piece of her for so long and wanted to vent, find a target for blame and express their deeply-felt loss. Expand Close The public weep at Princess Diana's funeral / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The public weep at Princess Diana's funeral All for someone they had never actually met in real life. Twenty years before that, they were doing exactly the same for Elvis, gathering at Graceland in disbelief and shock at his sudden young death. Then John Lennon (New York's 'Dakota' building where he had lived and was shot instantly turned into a shrine), Michael Jackson, latterly David Bowie and the countless others who we believe are iconic in some way. And there isn't a God-fearing Irish granny who can't tell you, probably followed by a sign of the cross, when they first heard the news about John F Kennedy's murder. Among the common reactions we feel when a sudden death occurs, according to bereavement experts, are anxiety, anger, numbness, depression, denial and a fear of dying ourselves. Many ordinary people saw a part of themselves in Diana: perhaps they had children the same age or their own marriage was a bit rocky. Maybe she just provided sparkle in an otherwise ordinary life. Andrea Koenigstorfer is a senior psychotherapist with Insight Matters Counselling. She says similar stages of grief are felt when a beloved celebrity dies as with a family member. "Celebrities represent something to us, they've achieved things we might never achieve, and we identify with them. They give us hope. Just think of the hype around Conor McGregor and all the young kids aspiring to become famous MMA competitors - it gets them believing in the future and their abilities. And then imagine such a person dies. "We grieve the loss of the person, the connection with them, but also a little bit of the life experience you had of watching them perform, the experience of being part of their lives in a way. They're giving you emotions, things to talk about and all of a sudden that's gone." Expand Close Confused: William and Harry didn't understand the public's reaction / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Confused: William and Harry didn't understand the public's reaction Video of the Day That goes some way towards explaining the visceral, almost ferocious reaction which caught even hardened journalists by surprise. That their needs and feelings were only voiced by that master of political ballet dancing, newly minted Prime Minister Tony Blair, made it worse and it wasn't long before demands for redress followed. There was also guilt. In the initial rush to pin her death on the paparazzi, did we equate our unending thirst for magazine covers with the provenance of pictures of our favourite idol? When the 'blame' moved to the Royal Family, Britain's Queen Elizabeth was considered unemotional, uncaring and 'not there'. But why should she be there for Joe and Mary Bloggs when she was needed for her grandsons? Do we believe our celebrities to be somewhat invincible, immortal? Their enduring fame bestows an artificial halo around them, so that we forgive the negative qualities we never get to live with, while extolling the public persona we yearn for. Up until a few years ago, a celebrity or presidential death was generally announced on the most immediate medium available - radio - in sombre tones as journalists and programme makers scrambled to cobble together meaningful obituaries in time for the next bulletin or newspaper. These days, of course, you're far more likely to see the shocking news first on Twitter or Facebook. Does that change our reaction? Stephen O Leary, Managing Director of social media analysis firm Olytico, says: "For many people, social media and Twitter, in particular, is one of the first places a death is announced, but there's a long history of rumours and mis-reporting of celebrity deaths online, so going to traditional media and breaking news services is still important for confirmation. Michael Jackson was probably the first time social media was used as a memorial site - it was a watershed moment for that kind of news to be shared in this way." In terms of reaction, social networks can offer a place for sharing feelings, says O'Leary. "People always did this, but the platform for it has changed. Sometimes it can be the person's name and RIP; for others it's memories, photos, video posted in the hours, days and weeks following the news, and which recurs on anniversaries such as we're seeing with Diana. "When another iconic princess (Leia), aka Carrie Fisher, died last December, she was mentioned in 5.6 million tweets during the first 72 hours. This year, the celebrity death which has created the biggest reaction so far was Chester Bennington, frontman for rock band Linkin Park who was mentioned in 4.9 million tweets immediately after his demise." That he was just 41 years old undoubtedly contributed to that. Koenigstorfer agrees. "People now have a public way of grieving a person's death, a tool in the grieving process, where they are less isolated in how they feel. It may be harmful as in there may be people that are too easily influenced by others, and then caught up in behaviours like suicide or self harm - the ripple effects can be massive. "There's no recipe for a proper way of grieving. There's no schedule or right or wrong. It's a very personal and individual thing. We don't just cop on or get over a loss, we learn to cope with it and adjust, and one way of doing that is sharing and venting, and seeing that other people feel similar or the same." US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso walk the red carpet ahead of the 'Downsizing' screening and Opening Ceremony during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 30, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso walk the red carpet ahead of the 'Downsizing' screening and Opening Ceremony during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 30, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso walk the red carpet ahead of the 'Downsizing' screening and Opening Ceremony during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 30, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images) US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so when Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso make a rare red carpet appearance, you take note. The Oscar-winning star (46) and wife of 12 years are often considered one of the most rock solid in Hollywood and look happier than ever two years after renewing their wedding vows. Damon and Barroso were among the guests of honour at the premiere of his latest film Downsizing at the Venice Film Festival, with the mother-of-four taking centre stage in a floor sweeping semi-sheer red gown with a plunging cut-out neckline and her other half went for a classic black tuxedo. Downsizing is a sci-fi satire focused on the perils of overpopulation and sees Damon and his onscreen wife Kristen Wiig debate whether or not to shrink themselves to one percent of their body to live in a luxurious government-funded complex. Wiig, was also on hand to promote the film, with a new slicked back hairstyle and a glittering Zuhair Murad gown. Expand Close Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso walk the red carpet ahead of the 'Downsizing' screening and Opening Ceremony during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 30, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso walk the red carpet ahead of the 'Downsizing' screening and Opening Ceremony during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 30, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) The couple famously at a bar in Miami where she was working in 2002 while he was filming Stuck On You in Miami and he's never shied away from gushing over his other half. "I literally saw her across a crowded room, literally," he previously recalled of their first meeting. "Eight years and four kids later, that's my life. I don't know how else our paths would've crossed if that didn't happen. If all those things didn't happen." He credits marrying a "civilian" with keeping him and his family grounded and doesn't feed the tabloids with a salacious personal life. I got lucky, I fell in love with a civilian," he previously told Esquire. "Not an actress and not a famous actress at that. Because then the attention doesnt double it grows exponentially. Because then suddenly everybody wants to be in your bedroom. Expand Close US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp US actor Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso arrive for the opening ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival and the premiere of the movie "Downsizing", on August 30, 2017 at Venice Lido. / AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTEFILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images But I dont really give them anything. If Im not jumping up and down on a bar, or lighting something on fire, or cheating on my wife, theres not really any story to tell. They can try to stake me out, but theyre always going to get the same story middle-aged married guy with four kids. So as long as that narrative doesnt change too much, theres no appetite for it." The Venice Film Festival will span over 10 days and actress Annette Bening is presiding over the jury, which will see a host of stars, including Jennifer Lawrence and her director boyfriend Darren Aronfksy, descend on the Italian city. Video of the Day She was the 'People's Princess', but two decades after her untimely death, Diana will forever remain the Queen of Fashion. Next Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the Princess of Wales' tragic death in a Paris car crash. And reluctant royal, devoted mother, global humanitarian and style icon are just some of the ways in which she's sure to be remembered. From 'shy Di' to the 'revenge dress', Diana's 36 years of tumult were reflected as much in her fashion as the front pages. Here, some of Ireland's biggest names in fashion hand-pick her most unforgettable looks. Paul Costelloe Fashion designer "Naturally, she was wearing Paul Costelloe. It was in Hyde Park at a Pavarotti concert where she was wearing a double-breasted tuxedo jacket with pearl buttons. It was from my collection, but it was made specially to fit her. She was very tanned and it had been raining, so her hair was all wet, but she looked amazing. I think it was the fact that she was very happy - she was smiling. You wouldn't have called her the most raunchy woman, but in that situation she looked pretty amazing. It was a golden period, I suppose, for the Costelloe brand. It's ridiculous how she's stood the test of time in so many ways." Louise O'Reilly Model and blogger Video of the Day "I've always been a huge Diana fan. My mum adored her style so it was always something I was familiar with, even as a child. One of my favourite looks is the hot pink frock coat and matching skirt she wore during an appearance in Manchester in 1993. "At the time, she was newly separated. But she looks like she's glowing with happiness here. I love how she just embraced everything with this look - legs, colour, everything. Timeless, effortless and stylish, it's an outfit you could easily wear today, although I doubt anyone could ever look as good as Diana does in it!" Don O'Neill Fashion designer "My favourite Princess Diana dress is a one-of-a-kind white chiffon gown created by royal couturier Gina Fratini for the House of Hartnell for a royal visit to Brazil in 1991. The one shoulder gown was draped tightly around the body using up to 40 yards of silk mousseline, requiring several visits by Gina to the Palace to perfect the fit. The neckline was hand-embroidered with tiny crystals, while the high-low hemline was made up of several tiers of flared skirts intended to tango the night away in Rio. Diana loved the gown, which made Gina - who told stories of her twirling in front of the mirror - so happy." Jennifer Wrynne Milliner "When I think of Diana, I obviously tend to think of her hats. My favourite is the black and white polka dot outfit and wide-brimmed hat she wore to the Epsom Derby in 1986. The whole look is just so complete, even with her hair, the way it sits under the hat. "She was probably one of the first stars to put Irish milliners like Philip Treacy on the map. "Day to day, we still get pictures of Diana from customers wanting a style like hers. We actually have that shape hat and it's one of our most popular styles. We call it the 'Maria' hat - we should actually call it the 'Diana' hat!" Emma Manley Fashion designer "Princess Diana's style evolved as she did, in confidence. Diana's early years were spent being drowned in ruffled gunas - that's not the Diana I remember. "To me, she was at her best when being non conformist, but embracing her own sense of style, and that happened in Versace. "There are so many Versace numbers to name but the look that stands out is the one featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar in 2017. Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, she looked at ease, radiant and confident. We rarely saw that Diana, but to me, that's the most beautiful Diana." Brendan Courtney Fashion designer and stylist "People forget Diana looked naff when we were kids. She had big flouncy clothes, wore silly pillbox hats and her hair wasn't very cool. She didn't have the impact on high street fashion that someone like Kate Middleton has because you couldn't buy what she was wearing. "For me, she wasn't an icon until she went to New York and famously slicked her hair back. The look I remember most is the navy Catherine Walker dress she wore to the Fashion Awards in New York in 1995. She looked gorgeous with her hair slicked back because that was so anti-establishment for a posh person to do that with their hair, in a way." Courtney Smith Stylist "The big one for me was the off-the-shoulder cocktail dress she wore to the Serpentine Gallery summer party in 1994 just after Prince Charles admitted he had an affair. It was designed by Christina Strambolian and was a little bit sexier than she'd ever been before. "It was like she had kind of shed her princess role. It was a little bit naughty. It was the ultimate revenge dress and she just looked phenomenal. After that, she got a little bit sexier in all of her choices, so for me, that was kind of like a turning point for her in terms of her style and her fashion." Martha Lynn Milliner "I went to the exhibition [of Diana's dresses] in Kensington Palace and it was amazing. A lot of the dresses in the exhibition were Catherine Walker, but probably my favourite one is the white pearl dress and jacket nicknamed the 'Elvis dress'. Although it's quite covered up, it was also quite tight fitting. Walking through the exhibition, you could really see her style evolving - that was when she came into her own. "From then on, everything changed, even her hair. All the meringuey style outfits that she had been wearing were gone. Her personality started to show." Hubert Zafke's lawyer said he did nothing criminal (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP) German authorities are seeking to end the prosecution of a former SS medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp, saying lengthy delays mean that the elderly suspect is now no longer fit for trial. Hubert Zafke, who is nearly 97, was examined by experts twice in recent months and found unfit, the prosecutors' office in Schwerin said. Zafke was charged with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder in 2015 for allegedly helping the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland to function. His lawyer said he did nothing criminal. In June, three state court judges in the north-eastern city of Neubrandenburg, who repeatedly delayed his trial over questions of his health, were removed after prosecutors and lawyers representing Auschwitz victims and their families complained of bias. AP President Emmanuel Macron's government has announced plans to reform France's nearly sacrosanct labour laws. The reforms trim union powers, add a voice for small businesses and create easier ways to hire and fire workers. The popularity of the measures meant to foster growth, reduce the nation's stubbornly high unemployment and revolutionise the way the French work, will be tested in September with two protests planned. Overhauling France's complex labour laws, which authorities say have proved a hindrance to investors and employers, is part of a larger programme by Mr Macron to stimulate France's sluggish economy. The high-stakes move comes just as the new 39-year-old president's popularity is sinking. But plans to make the labour market more flexible were at the heart of his election campaign. Opponents have feared changes will weaken France's hard-won worker protections that have become globally synonymous with the envied French lifestyle. Left-wing opponents fear the changes hand too much power to profit-focused bosses. "Nobody today can seriously say that our ... labour law favours recruitment," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in unveiling the five measures. "The labour law as it is in our country is often perceived as an obstacle to recruiting, an obstacle to investment." Still, Mr Philippe conceded the government was treading on risky territory politically. Even before the reforms were unveiled, the hardline CGT union called for a day of action September 12, and on Thursday it encouraged retirees and students to join in. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon has called for another protest on September 23. One key measure proposed by the government trims the role of unions, notably in small- and medium-size companies - which the prime minister said make up nine out of 10 companies in France and are "at the heart" of the reforms "for the first time". Under the reforms, companies with fewer than 50 employees can negotiate work rules with an elected colleague - not unionised - and companies with fewer than 20 employees can negotiate directly with their workers. Another new measure caps the financial penalty for companies sued by dismissed employees, easing concerns of bosses who fear that firing has become too costly. The measure creates a scale of remuneration based on the employee's seniority. Yet another change simplifies the departures of a group of employees if the company needs to adapt its staff, with direct negotiations with those leaving. French subsidiaries of multinationals need no longer justify firings based on the international economic climate. If the company is performing poorly, it can now use France alone as its reference to justify the layoffs. Labour minister Muriel Penicaud said the reforms aim to not just change France's work rules but "to change the behaviour of social dialogue in our country". But the way the reforms are being enacted is also divisive - via a special procedure that avoids a lengthy debate in parliament. The draft reforms are to be presented at a cabinet meeting September 20, after endorsement by the Council of State, the nation's highest administrative body. They are to be ratified by the end of the year. "All the fears we had are confirmed," said the head of the communist-backed CGT union, Philippe Martinez. "(It's) the end of the labour contract." The head of the more moderate CFDT, Laurent Berger, said his union "is disappointed" but would not join in the September protest. The union that represents small- and medium-size businesses praised the measure that allows for negotiations with employees' representatives - not unions - calling it a "major advance" for social dialogue. However, the main employer's union in France, MEDEF, called the changes "the beginning of an interesting reform" that will need vigilance as the measures are put into practice. France's conservative party, The Republicans, said some measures will help simplify life for companies, but questioned whether the package had the sweep to "relaunch investments and jobs in France". Foreign investors and France's European neighbours were watching Mr Macron's plan closely. France is the number two economy in the 19-nation eurozone, but its chronic 10% unemployment has long weighed on the region's growth. Partners have repeatedly called on France to reform its job market to boost Europe economically. Mr Macron said the labour law overhaul was essential. "We must see things as they are: We are the only major economy of the European Union which hasn't vanquished mass unemployment in more than three decades," Mr Macron told the newsmagazine Le Point. AP Research just published shows men are four times more likely to die from a heart attack during sex than any other activity (stock image) Heart-stopping sex really could be the end of the affair. Research just published shows men are four times more likely to die from a heart attack during sex than any other activity- mainly because their naked lovers are too embarrassed to call for help. The French study found that heart problems during lovemaking are the most deadly. Those who suffered cardiac arrests during intimate moments waited twice as long for resuscitation. The differences in survival rates were found to be caused by delays as shocked wives - or perhaps mistresses - sought to cover their modesty before finding help. The study by cardiac hospitals in Paris examined 246 cases in which men suffered a cardiac arrest during some form of physical activity. Patrick Tobias carries a bag of items from his flat after being flooded out by Harvey in Kingwood, Texas (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) The Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, is flooded (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP) Fires and two explosions have rocked a flooded chemical plant in Texas, sending up a plume that federal authorities described as "incredibly dangerous" and adding a potential new hazard to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The blasts at the Arkema plant, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-east of Houston, also ignited a 30ft to 40ft flame. The French operator of the plant said up to eight more chemical containers could burn and explode. Local officials insisted that the explosion produced no toxins. The blasts happened as floodwaters from days of relentless rain began to recede and the threat of major dangers from the storm shifted to a region near the Texas-Louisiana line. Fire authorities said the blasts were small and that some deputies suffered irritated eyes from the smoke, but they emphasised that the materials that caught fire shortly after midnight were not toxic. Even so, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality urged people in the area to stay indoors with their windows closed and air conditioners running, and to restrict physical activity. Particles from smoke and chemicals can affect people with heart and lung problems. At a news conference in Washington, DC, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, told reporters that the plume was hazardous. In the largely rural area surrounding the plant, officials said they went door to door to explain the situation and called on residents to evacuate, but leaving was not mandatory. The plant in Crosby had lost power after the storm, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as temperatures rise. Arkema had shut down the plant before Harvey made landfall. In Houston, rescues continued apace. The fire department planned to begin a street-by-street search of thousands of flooded homes to look for anyone left behind in the floodwaters, a process that was expected to take one to two weeks, assistant fire chief Richard Mann said. The latest surveys indicate that the storm and floodwaters have caused major damage to more than 37,000 homes and destroyed nearly 7,000, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported. Further east, Beaumont and Port Arthur struggled with rising water after being pounded with what remained of the weakening storm. The confirmed death toll climbed to at least 31, including six family members - four of them children - whose bodies were pulled on Wednesday from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou. Beaumont and Port Arthur worked to evacuate residents. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city. More than 500 people - along with dozens of dogs, cats, a lizard and a monkey - took shelter at the Max Bowl bowling alley, general manager Jeff Tolliver said. "The monkey was a little surprising, but we're trying to help," he said. Floodwaters also toppled two oil storage tanks in south Texas, spilling almost 30,000 gallons (114,000 litres) of crude. It was not immediately clear whether any of the spilled oil was recovered. More damage to the oil industry infrastructure is expected to emerge as floodwaters recede. Forecasters downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression late on Wednesday from a tropical storm, but it still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, with 4in to 8in forecast from the Louisiana-Texas line into Tennessee and Kentucky through until Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot, raising the risk of more flooding. For much of the Houston area, forecasters said the rain is pretty much over. "We have good news," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. "The water levels are going down." Residents were warned about the dangers of heat exhaustion if they have lost power or must work outdoors, with temperatures expected to climb into the low 90s through the weekend. Houston's two major airports were up and running again on Wednesday. Officials said they were resuming limited bus and light rail service as well as rubbish collections. At the same time, many thousands of homes in the Houston area are under water and could stay that way for days or weeks. Mr Lindner cautioned that homes near at least one swollen bayou could still get flooded. Officials said 911 centres in the Houston area are getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help. Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, governor Greg Abbott said. In Orange, Texas, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Beaumont, residents of a retirement home surrounded by thigh-deep water were rescued by National Guardsmen and wildlife officers, who carried them from the second floor and put them aboard an airboat. Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas on Friday, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. Harvey's five straight days of rain totalled close to 52in, the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental US. AP Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo has joined activists marching from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Washington to condemn white supremacy. The Avengers star tweeted photos of himself in "The March to Confront White Supremacy". In a statement, Ruffalo says he is marching in memory of Heather Heyer, who died when a car ploughed into a group of people protesting the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on August 12. Ruffalo also condemned US President Donald Trump's response that "both sides" were to blame for the violence. Ruffalo said there is "no place for racism, violence, and hatred" in the country. Organisers said they had to stop Wednesday's portion of the march early because they received threats of an armed person waiting for them further along the route. AP Islamic State jihadists in Raqqa are dressing up as US-backed forces and setting up fake checkpoints to catch civilians trying to escape the "capital" of the group's caliphate, residents say. The militants are posing as liberating Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, and capturing anyone that approaches. "They took several families today, we do not know if they have killed them yet," Tim Ramadan, an anti-Isil activist in the north Syrian city, said yesterday. "They set up checkpoints in the al-Murour neighbourhood in the south of Raqqa and were waving Kurdish flags," said Mr Ramadan, who uses a pseudonym to protect his identity. "The families thought they had reached safety but then realised they had been fooled." Isil is using as human shields the remaining civilians - estimated to number somewhere between 7,000 and 20,000 - and threatening anyone who tries to leave with execution. "The other day Isil dumped four corpses in one of the streets with a sign that said: 'They were killed because they tried to escape'. People are too scared to leave their homes," Mr Ramadan said. There are believed to be 700 to 1,000 militants left in Raqqa, holed up in the centre. The SDF has encircled them and captured around 60pc of the city. Mr Ramadan described the dire situation for those trapped. Effectively besieged, nothing is getting in to areas still under Isil control and residents have had to resort to boiling grass and weeds for food. Water has been cut off for two months and residents are relying on old wells. He said he has been unable to leave his street for several weeks as Isil has booby-trapped the routes out and the US-led coalition has been bombarding his neighbourhood with air strikes. As many as 700 civilians have been killed since the SDF-led offensive began in June, according to AirWars, a UK-based monitoring group. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Iraq, troops are battling the last hold out of Isil fighters outside the city of Tel Afar, northwest of Mosul. Fighters have entrenched themselves, said one Iraqi officer, who claimed the fighting there is "multiple times worse" than in Mosul's old city. Colonel Kareem al-Lami described breaching the militants' first line of defence in al-'Ayadiya as like opening "the gates of hell". Sniper shots, mortars, heavy machine guns, and anti-tank rockets were fired from every single house, he said. Raqqa has proven much more difficult for Isil to defend than Mosul. SDF officials are hopeful it will be liberated within the coming two months. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] She was labelled an embarrassment and 'weak' regarding her attitude towards illegal immigration by Donald Trump when he won the primary in her native state of South Carolina. Despite criticising the US president for his initial reluctance to renounce the Ku Klux Klan when she campaigned alongside Marco Rubio, the daughter of Indian immigrants from Punjab is now one of the best known Republicans in the Trump cabinet. At the age of 45, Nikki Haley, nee Nimrata Randhawa, was not only the youngest governor in the US when she was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, she was also the southern state's first governor who is not only a woman but also from a racial minority. Ironically, she was disqualified from the 'Miss Bamberg' beauty pageant in her hometown of Bamberg, South Carolina, at the age of five because she could not be crowned either a 'black queen' or a 'white queen.' After helping with bookkeeping in her mother's clothing shop as a child, the married mother-of-two was awarded a bachelor's degree in accounting from Clemson University. She went on to work as chief financial officer at her family's clothing firm before running for the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, beating the state legislature's longest-serving incumbent. With Republican heavyweight Mitt Romney backing her, she was endorsed for the Republican nomination as governor in 2012 and re-elected by a wide margin in 2014. Ms Haley made headlines a year later for pushing for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capital after a massacre at an African American church in Charleston. Despite making it clear she was 'not a fan' of Mr Trump after he tweeted "The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley" when he won the South Carolina primary in March 2016, his appointment of her to the post of UN ambassador raised eyebrows. Her lack of experience in foreign policy as well as diplomatic circles also left people bemused, given her predecessor was a veteran foreign policy adviser and human rights expert. US President Donald Trump's criticism of journalists amounts to an attack on the freedom of the press and could provoke violence against reporters, the United Nations' human rights chief said yesterday. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Mr Trump had also made worrying remarks about women, Mexicans and Muslims, and went on to question the president's approach to immigration and decision to pardon former Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio. There was no immediate response from the White House on the wide-ranging rebuke of Mr Trump's repeated references to the "fake media" and some other statements and decisions. "It's really quite amazing when you think that freedom of the press, not only sort of a cornerstone of the US Constitution but very much something that the United States defended over the years, is now itself under attack from the president," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said. "It's sort of a stunning turnaround. And ultimately the sequence is a dangerous one," he told a news conference in Geneva. Referring to the 'New York Times', 'Washington Post' and CNN, he added: "To call these news organisations 'fake' does tremendous damage and to refer to individual journalists in this way, I have to ask the question is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists?" He voiced concern that a journalist from the 'Guardian' had been "assaulted in the United States most recently", but gave no details. Mr Trump rounded on journalists last week, calling them "truly dishonest people" and criticising their coverage of a white supremacist-organised rally in Virginia and the political fallout from his comments that violence there was caused by "many sides". Mr Trump has also made worrying remarks about women, Mexicans and Muslims, "mocked a person with disabilities publicly" and issued a directive on a transgender ban in the military, said Mr Zeid. "The president prides himself as a taboo breaker. But at the time I expressed my feeling this was grossly irresponsible, because it has consequences, it emboldens those who may think similarly to sharpen their assaults on these communities." Comparing the role of a US president to a bus driver, he said: "I almost feel the president is driving the bus of humanity and we're careening down a mountain path." Greg Abbott was recorded saying "we only shoot black people" A police lieutenant in the US has been moved to administrative duty after being heard on video during a traffic stop in Georgia saying "we only shoot black people". News outlets said dash-cam video from July 2016 shows a white female driver telling Cobb County police lieutenant Greg Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her mobile phone. Mr Abbott interrupts her and says: "But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people." Police chief Mike Register said Mr Abbott will remain on administrative duty pending an investigation, and that "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said". Mr Abbott's lawyer Lance LoRusso said in a statement Mr Abbott is co-operating with the investigation, and that his comments were meant to "de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger". A Pakistani court has sentenced two former police officers to 17 years in prison for failing to protect former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but acquitted five suspected militants who had confessed to taking part in her 2007 assassination. Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman for Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, expressed "disappointment and shock" over the verdict, saying "justice has not been done". Ms Bhutto, then a prominent opposition leader, was killed by a suicide bomber who rushed her motorcade in Rawalpindi as she was campaigning to replace then-president Pervez Musharraf. Mr Musharraf, who has been accused of complicity in the assassination, pleaded not guilty at a 2013 court appearance and now lives in self-imposed exile. The judge on Thursday ordered his property seized after he failed to appear in court. Ms Bhutto became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim-majority country in 1988, when she first became prime minister. She was the daughter of another former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was executed in 1977 after being deposed in a coup. Ms Bhutto served as prime minister again from 1993-1996. At the time of her assassination in December 2007, she was a leading opposition figure running to replace Mr Musharraf, who had seized power in a bloodless coup eight years earlier. He was forced to resign in disgrace when her party returned to power in an election held shortly after her death, in 2008. Ms Bhutto had repeatedly spoken out against Islamic militant groups, and prior to her assassination had vowed to shut down militant sanctuaries near the border with Afghanistan. Mr Musharraf's government blamed Ms Bhutto's killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone attack in 2009. Mehsud denied killing Ms Bhutto. The judge acquitted the five suspects for lack of evidence although they had confessed during the investigation, prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz said. It was not immediately clear why the judge threw out the confessions, but Mr Imtiaz said the government may appeal. Mr Imtiaz said the two former police officers, Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad, also had the right to appeal. Aziz was Rawalpindi police chief at the time of Ms Bhutto's killing. Ms Bhutto's party, as well as the prosecution, charged that Aziz ordered the crime scene hosed down immediately after the killing before investigators could collect evidence. The prosecution also said the two police officers did not provide sufficient security to Ms Bhutto after she received death threats from militants. Mr Babar said the acquittal of the suspected militants "seems a triumph of al Qaida". He said that while the court convicted the two officers, it did not determine who had ordered them to destroy evidence. AP Popular Mobilisation Units fighters ride on the back of a truck on their way to fight against IS militants (Felipe Dana/AP) An Iraqi policeman checks the belongings of a group of displaced civilians at a collection point west of Mosul on the outskirts of Tal Afar (Balint Szlanko/AP) The northern town of Tal Afar has been "fully liberated" from Islamic State, Iraq's prime minister said, further shrinking the territory controlled by the extremists who overran nearly a third of the country three years ago. The militants have suffered a series of major defeats in recent months, including the loss of Mosul, the second-largest city, in July. Iraqi troops "eliminated and smashed" the militant group in al-Ayadia district, north-west of Tal Afar, where they had fled last week, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement. "To Daesh criminals we say: Wherever you are we will come to liberate and you have to choose only death or surrender," Mr Al-Abadi added, using an Arabic acronym for the group. With the fall of Tal Afar, all of Ninevah province is "in the hands of our brave troops", he said. The ethnically mixed province was the first to fall to IS when its militants swept across large parts of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. The group still controls a large area of eastern Syria, along the border with Iraq, as well as parts of Raqqa, the capital of the group's self-styled caliphate, where it is battling US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces. Iraqi officials often declare areas liberated before the fighting has completely ended, and the militants have been known to carry out surprise counterattacks. The Tal Afar operation began nearly two weeks ago. The announcement on Tal Afar came a day after Jordan and Iraq reopened their only border crossing after a two-year closure. They were able to reopen it after Iraqi forces drove IS from most of the vast Anbar province in western Iraq. Mr Al-Abadi vowed to retake all areas still under IS control. In Iraq, they are now largely confined to the northern town of Hawija and a handful of others - Qaim, Rawa and Ana - near the Syrian border. In a separate statement, the Iraqi military confirmed that their next target is Hawija, but did not elaborate. Iraqi state TV interrupted its regular programmes and played national songs, showing a live feed from Tal Afar, where soldiers danced and celebrated the victory. In his announcement, Mr Al-Abadi alluded to an agreement brokered by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group that allowed hundreds of IS fighters to evacuate the Lebanon-Syria border and head towards IS-held territory in eastern Syria, near Iraq. Iraq and the US-led coalition criticised the deal, saying the extremists should be killed on the battlefield and not be allowed to regroup elsewhere. Mr Al-Abadi said Iraqi forces "didn't allow them to flee" al-Ayadia. "That's our firm stance against those criminals," he added. The coalition praised what it called a "stunning victory", but it warned that "dangerous work remains to completely remove explosive devices, identify Isis fighters in hiding and eliminate any remaining Isis holdouts". Isis is another acronym for the militant group. IS defences in Tal Afar collapsed much more quickly than expected. After previous setbacks, however, the group has brutally underscored its resilience by launching surprise offensives to retake territory or by inspiring or orchestrating attacks in other parts of the world. "They have been suffering massive losses for months now and seem to be disintegrating in terms of strength and the ability to strike back," said Natasha Underhill, a terrorism expert at Nottingham Trent University. She warned that "tackling the power of its ideology is far more significant, as it is this which inspires other groups or those home-grown groups like we have seen emerge across Europe". AP The United States has forced Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and scale back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York. The Trump administration said the move constituted its response to the Kremlin's "unwarranted and detrimental" decision to force the US to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. The US gave Russia a mere 48 hours to close its San Francisco consulate, along with smaller Russian posts in Washington and New York. "The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. But she said the US hoped both countries could now move towards "improved relations" and "increased cooperation". Russia said it regretted the order and pointed the finger at the US for starting the "escalation of tensions" between the nuclear-armed powers. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow was studying the decision to determine its response. US ties to Russia have soured in recent years over deep disagreements about Ukraine, Syria and Russian hacking. To the surprise of those who anticipated that President Donald Trump's election would reverse that trend, the feud has only worsened this year, even as investigators continue probing whether Mr Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow's efforts to help him get elected. In addition to its consulate, the Russians must close an official residence in San Francisco by Saturday. Though Russia can keep its New York consulate and Washington embassy, Russian trade missions housed in satellite offices in those two cities must shut down, said a senior Trump administration official. The US is not expelling any Russian officials, so those who work at the closed offices can be reassigned elsewhere in the US, the official said. One of the buildings is believed to be leased, but Russia will maintain ownership over the others, the official said, adding that it would be up to Moscow to determine whether to sell them or otherwise dispose of them. The forced closures were the latest in an intensifying exchange of diplomatic broadsides with origins in Washington's opposition to Russia's actions in Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 US presidential election. In December, former president Barack Obama kicked out dozens of Russian officials in the US, closed Russian recreational compounds in New York and Maryland, and sanctioned Russian individuals and entities. Russian President Vladimir Putin held off on any retaliation, and the next month, Mr Trump took office, having campaigned on hopes of improving US-Russia ties. But earlier this month, Mr Trump begrudgingly signed into law stepped-up sanctions on Russia that Congress passed in an attempt to prevent Mr Trump from easing up on Moscow. The Kremlin quickly retaliated, announcing the US must cut its own embassy and consulate staff down to 455. Although Russia said 755 personnel would have to go to reach that number, Washington never confirmed how many diplomatic staff it had in Russia at the time. As of Thursday, the US has complied with the order to reduce to 455, officials said. That reduction also led the US to temporarily suspend processing non-immigrant visas for Russians seeking to visit the US. Visa processing will resume soon, but at a "much-reduced rate" owing to fewer staff to process the visas, the official said. Earlier, the US had said it would start processing visas only at the embassy in Moscow, meaning Russians could no longer apply for visas at the US consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Despite the exchange of penalties, there have been narrow signs of cooperation between the two countries that has transcended the worsening ties. In July, Mr Trump and Mr Putin signed off on a three-way deal with Jordan for a ceasefire in southwest Syria that the US says has largely held intact. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson conveyed the decision to close the Russian posts to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in a phone call in which he also told Mr Lavrov that the US had complied with Moscow's order to cut its diplomatic staff. Lower-level officials also spoke to their Russian counterparts in the US about the details of the new US order. Given the reciprocal nature of the escalating tensions over the past year, it was likely the Kremlin would feel compelled to respond by taking further action against Washington. Nevertheless, the United States argued that the score has been evened. US officials pointed out that Russia, when it ordered the cut in US diplomats, had argued it was merely bringing the size of the two countries' diplomatic presences into "parity". Both countries now maintain three consulates on each other's territory and ostensibly have similar numbers of diplomats posted, though such numbers are difficult to independently verify. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides," Ms Nauert said. AP Two health care giants began the merging process this week to combine forces and improve care across the state, especially in the rural communities. Carolinas HealthCare System announced a Letter of Intent to join with UNC Health Care Thursday, Aug. 31. The negotiation process should wrap up by the end of the calendar year, and officials from both organizations said on-the-ground changes would probably come next summer. We believe that the creation of this new organization will really bring a new level of both expertise and capability to the great state of North Carolina, Gene Woods, president and CEO of Carolinas HealthCare System, said. The idea is to really provide new solutions that bridge our medical education research resources as well as our entities experience in critical care. This is certainly not a decision or conversation we come into lightly. This was more about how we could come together and blend the best of both. The two organizations began seriously talking about a merger over the summer after more than a year of company higher-ups joining in casual conversations. Both Woods and UNC Health Care CEP Dr. William Roper said they recognized a shared mission to improve overall health care and access to services and thought that by blending their staff and resources they could create one of the leading nonprofit healthcare systems in the country. Our vision is to be the nations leading public academic health system, and todays news is a big step forward, we think, in achieving that reality in partnership with you all, Roper said. This new organization will deliver world-class care. We think well have the most comprehensive network of primary, specialty and on-demand care in the Southeast. It will allow us to come together to address North Carolinas most pressing health care challenges, including the need to increase access to care. To do that, the new organization will focus on four things: increasing access and affordability, advancing clinical care expertise, growing the academic enterprise and contributing to the regions economy. That means no increase in costs, Woods said, and an effort to actually improve affordability for patients. We believe that efficiency we will drive by coming together and not duplicating infrastructure and not duplicating technology, Woods said. And obviously the enhanced buying power. We think that will ultimately enhance our ability with respect to our affordability agenda. One of the major areas the organization hopes to focus on is improving health care access in the states rural areas. Woods said they wanted to find innovative ways, such as telehealth models, to reach communities where they were at and where they had the most need. We saw an opportunity in North Carolina to really be a national model to impact many of North Carolinas most pressing issues, he said. Where other institutions have left rural areas, were looking to face this challenge head on, identify exciting opportunities for health care and better outcomes. Together we serve almost 50 percent of all patients who visit rural hospitals in our state, so we believe were perfectly positioned to work with our state and work with other business partners to participate in what we believe could be a reinvention of rural health care. Typically with a merger discussion comes talk of layoffs, but Woods and Roper said they anticipate the opposite across the board. As the two organizations come together, Woods said they plan to expand their services rather than cut them back or consolidate. If you look at health care right now, what you hear is that theres shortages, he said. We very much anticipate that we will continue to need more talented folks. Health care needs to be more efficient and affordable. Fundamentally, we believe that this will be a great platform not to just retain talent in North Carolina but to attract talent throughout the country. The Letter of Intent both entities signed essentially announces their agreement to begin exclusive negotiations. Both CEOs said they hope to enter into a final agreement by the end of 2017. It seems like weve got work to do in the next few months to work out the details of this, Roper said. Todays announcement is we are engaged, and the wedding is still several months away. We have a lot of conversations to happen. A day heavy in green Indian equity markets saw a day, heavy in green, today. Nifty 50 ended, up by 321.5 points. Sensex ended, up by 1181.34 points. Top Gainers today were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys. Top Losers ... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 3:43 pm In early trade, Rupee rises 71 paise to 80.69 / $ Early on Friday, the rupee strengthened 71 paise to 80.69 against the dollar as investors' attitudes were bolstered by easing US CPI data and a decline in the dollar index. Forex traders claime... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 2:24 pm Sensex zooms over 1,100 pts; Nifty above 18,300; IT index top contributor Domestic benchmark indices in the fast lane today led by IT and Metal stocks outperforming. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks were nearly 2% higher amid positive global cues. On the se... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 2:00 pm NIBE receives order of Rs11.88 crore from Goa Shipyard; Stock slips 1% Nibe Limited stocks in focus as the company announced the receipt of purchase orders. As per the regulatory filing, it has received two purchase orders dated November 08, 2022 from G... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 12:53 pm Ashoka Buildcon receives provisional certificate for NHAI road project; Stock up 2% Ashoka Buildcon Limited has informed the declaration of October 26, 2021 as the Commercial Operation Date (CoD) for its Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) Project of National Highways Authority of ... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 12:26 pm A multi-hyphenate in the truest sense, Fox News Channel contributor Eboni K. Williams can now add author to her notable resume. Williams, co-host of The Specialists on the network, has penned Pretty Powerful: Appearance, Substance, and Success. Her broadcast career has spanned not only Fox News Channel, but also CBS News, HLN and radio. She followed her bachelors degrees in communications and African-American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a law degree from the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. In Pretty Powerful, she calls upon her present and past experiences as a network television news personality, a law firm lawyer, a public defender, a beauty queen, a radio host, actress, model and daughter of an enterprising mother who raised her in poverty to keep a trained eye on her aesthetic and academic goals. Recently, the Recorder spoke with Williams about her new literary endeavor. Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper: What unique perspectives informed your writing? Williams: I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, the only child of a single mother, who eventually launched a small business. Although I grew up in poverty, my mother instilled the values of excellence and academic achievement in me. She taught me that my future as a young Black woman growing up in America was limitless. She ensured that I made the most of the best public education possible by way of a magnet program for academic, visual and performing arts. This foundation from my mother, coupled with my being recruited into the world of pageants, allowed me to cultivate from a very young age when she dressed me for second and third grade in polo shirts and khakis the personal marketing, branding and stage presence that matters from youth through adulthood. Why this book, and why now? This book has been in the works for three years. Over that period of time, it evolved. In reflecting upon stages of my life pageants to law school to litigation to broadcast television I noticed that I had often found myself conflicted. My instinct was to care about my appearance, but I also wanted to be taken seriously as a professional. This book speaks to women of any age who are reconciling how to present themselves to the world. It also sparks conversations about figuring out our comfort level with each other, addressing other womens responses to us, the best ways to invite other women to embrace us as womens women and facilitating sisterhood. Discuss your decision to title the book Pretty Powerful. To an extent, I have lived in dual worlds only Black attorney in a predominantly-white law firm; public defender vs. law firm life; humble roots vs. pageant life that allow me to be uniquely positioned to make the case that I make in this book. I understand the experience of an attractive, younger woman who is fighting to be taken seriously. This book combats the stigma of pretty, which is not a dirty word. But by pretty, I dont mean beautiful in the narrow sense. I mean that pretty reflects the ability to choose how we will show up in this world. Its about women being able to confidently and comfortably lean into their womanhood and femininity. We dont have to run from appearance or to apologize because the way we look is being judged. Instead, we should be empowered. People will scrutinize and pick us apart. We must evolve and be empowered such that no patriarchal system, mainstream media or even other women can stop us. We can make investments in both appearance and professional ability, arriving at the formula that competence plus appearance equals ultimate power. What can readers look forward to in this read? Which are your favorite chapters? Some of my favorite chapters include my personal narrative regarding my mother and my upbringing; my analysis concerning issues of sexual harassment; and insights gained and shared from the experiences of O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark, Fox News Channel contributor Megan McCain and conservative commentators Dr. Monica Crawley and Judge Jeanine Pirro. Pretty Powerful: Appearance, Substance, and Success is available for purchase now on Amazon.com. Derris Ross grew up on the far-east side near 42nd Street. As a kid, hed play in various neighborhoods nearby. They werent the safest areas, but thats where his friends and family were; it was home. On Wednesday, Ross, president and founder of The Ross Foundation, made another trek through one of his old stomping grounds, Arborstone Apartments. These days, his visits are more labor than leisure. Ross, alongside partners like Eastern Star Church, held a community action day to help residents in need of food, resources and a way out of what he and others have described as deplorable living conditions. Left to right: Raymond Tucker, Mark McClure Ebony Marie Chappel In between greeting residents, he paused to point out the seemingly innumerable issues at the complex: apartments without door knobs, boarded-up and broken windows, sagging floors and inoperable laundry facilities. Home with missing back door windowEbony Marie Chappel Home without door knobEbony Marie Chappel I knew I had an obligation, Ross said. Two weeks ago, he helped organize a water drive after being alerted by residents that their water had been cut off due to nonpayment by property owners to Citizens Energy. Ross and his team realized there was much more that still needed to be done. He said that immediately following news coverage of the water issue, nearly every resident received a notice from Connie West, the areas property manager, that they were at risk of being evicted. Theyve been pocketing money and taking advantage of these tenants not being educated and having no other place to go, said Ross. Arborstone ApartmentsEbony Marie Chappel Someones gonna die here Joel Nagle, an attorney with Bose McKinney & Evans, first learned of the situation at Arborstone via social media. He happened to be working on a separate landlord-tenant case at the time and saw the distribution of eviction notices as a form of retaliation. Nagle decided to accompany Ross to the apartments so he could see things for himself. I was shocked. The living conditions there were terrible, Nagle said. Youve got a hundred-some-odd people there. Lots of kids and elderly. Ive never seen anything like it its bad and I kept thinking, someones gonna die here. Chase Haller, an attorney with Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic, agreed with Nagles assessment, calling the complex truly deplorable. A lot of these tenants are still paying rent because they dont have anywhere else to go. Its a real eye opener into the kind of low-income housing crisis thats going on sort of right under our noses, that most people dont bat an eye about, Haller said. Haller and his colleagues set up shop at Arborstone Wednesday to help residents figure out their legal options. He recently spoke with one of the tenants whod received a notice that listed a case number, date and time for an eviction hearing. It confused her because at that time, she didnt think she owed any rent. When she called the court they said they didnt have a case number under that name, he said. When I brought it to the (Lawrence Township Small Claims Court), they hadnt seen a copy of it yet, and they passed it on to a judge. Right now I think IMPD is investigating it as a possible forgery. Nagle stated that to his knowledge, none of the residents are currently at risk of being evicted. We talked to the owners and the management company and said, You know, you cant kick these people out because they called the news outlets because the water was shut off because you failed to pay the water bill, he said. In terms of renters rights, Nagle said that some things come down to a case-by-case basis. He said the best course of action is not to withhold payment, but to attain and retain as much documentation as possible. Number one, make sure everything is in writing. When you pay, get a receipt. When you make a complaint, get it in writing. If they dont do anything about it, if you feel like theres no other option, talk to a legal clinic around town to review your options if youre looking to abandon the property before your lease is up, he said. Technically, they could argue that if you dont pay anything more, youve broke your lease, and we dont want folks to get in more trouble. Im just stuck Shaquel Allen moved into a two bedroom apartment in Arborstone last year. Today, the expectant mother and her two children have camped out in the living room, the only inhabitable spot in her home, due to a flood that ruined many of her belongings and caused mold to grow. Im not doing good. Still stuck in this damn house, she said during a phone interview with the Recorder. Shaquel AllenEbony Marie Chappel Allen said her repeated requests to the property manager to have maintenance issues addressed have been ignored. If I mention about the ceiling or the bathroom, (West) doesnt respond, but if I send a message about rent, shell reply, said Allen. We havent had maintenance out here since June. They just started coming out when they made it on the news about the water, she said. Allen said though her lease has been up since June and shes been approved for Section 8, she is not able to financially shoulder the costs of moving to a new place. I feel like I shouldnt give her any money when Im seven months (into a) high-risk (pregnancy) and handling mold. My ceiling is dripping, the tub is messed up because ceiling pieces are in it, she said. I have no way. All I need is $900 to move, and I can get out of here. But until then Im stuck on this couch with my kids, and pregnant. On Wednesday, Allen had refocused her energy, as several maintenance workers moved about outside, from building to building. Shed been told by management that the property had been sold to a new owner and would be changing its name. Shed also been promised a new, renovated unit. For now, I gotta stay here, she said. Felice Smith, who has been an Arborstone resident for three years, is ready to leave. Definitely before it gets cold outside, because my furnace doesnt work, she said. In her apartment, a patch of carpet is deeply stained due to dripping water overhead. Every time it rains, it does that, said Smith. Felice SmithEbony Marie Chappel In the bathroom, she pulled up a large piece of vinyl flooring, revealing sharp pebbles of concrete and suspected mold underneath. Smith said she just tries to work around it the best she can and keeps her apartment up for her own health and well-being. As far as the recent appearance of maintenance workers, Smith seemed unimpressed. They said theyre focusing on the grounds first, but what about the inside? Under new management I think the conditions of (the apartment complex grounds) are a two-way street. People need to respect where they live and take care of it, said now-former property manager Connie West. I had maintenance every day out there, she said. Maintenance has been around since Ive been out there. If we dont have a work order or havent been advised of what needs to be repaired or fixed, we cant do that. West noted that for the past year and a half, she had split her time among Arborstone and two other facilities, and she has had four or five other people work on-site in her absence throughout that time, though she says she was overseeing them. West said Arborstone, which was owned by Indy Apartments LLC, was sold to a new owner on Tuesday, and she was no longer in charge after being employed there for the past three years. The identity of the new owner could not be confirmed by Recorder press time. Of the eviction notices that were sent after news about the water shutoff broke, West said several residents had not been paying rent. Allen and others said they paid their rent in cash sometimes and did not receive receipts, which West refuted. She also maintained her innocence in the case of the potentially forged notice. Ive done this since 1999, and Ive helped a lot of people in a lot of situations. Ive been their sole supporter when it comes to finding a place to live, because they have evictions or felonies on their background, she said. Ive helped people get furniture and clothes. So Im not understanding why it has all come to this. In an email to the Recorder, the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County said their housing department has 35 active cases at various addresses at Arborstone Apartments. Of those cases, 28 have been filed for court for non-compliance and are pending. Seven other cases are still open for non-compliance, but those have not been filed for court, pending re-inspections, which are scheduled for the coming weeks. In speaking to our attorney, it does not appear that the actual owner of the company has ever appeared in court, said Lara Morgan, a team leader with the Housing and Neighborhood Health Department, a division of Health and Hospital. Representatives, Morgan shared, have been there in the owners absences. If indeed Arborstone has been sold to a new owner, these cases would have to be refiled. If the property sells, wed have to give notification of the violations to the new owner and allow them minimally 10 days to comply with all the violations, said Morgan. If the issues havent been corrected, the cases would return to court. A judge, not the Marion County Public Health Department, has the power to declare an area uninhabitable. Ross said the goal of Wednesdays event and pending actions he plans to pursue is to shine a light on the situation and provide help to those who feel neglected. My goal is to help as many of them as want to, to get out of here, he said. Derris RossEbony Marie Chappel Floods leave behind horrible images of destruction. When the water recedes from cities and villages, dead bodies of humans and animals are left on the streets just to be picked up and added to a mere number in the records. Each year, thousands of people across India are affected by incessant rains, overflowing rivers and subsequent floods. Heavy rainfall causes deadly landslides and devastating flooding during the monsoon season which generally lasts between June and September. This year too, the case is the same. Floods in India are arguably the perfect storm with thousands losing their lives and millions getting displaced each year. This time, scores of people have lost their lives across the country and the number is expected to rise once the water clears and leaves behind piles of decaying dead bodies of humans and animals and filth. afp In 2017, the worst affected areas by the flood fall in Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat and the newest entrant Mumbai (though it is le, where unrelenting rains have brought the city to a standstill. While the eastern and north-eastern Indian states have been battling floods since June this year, the reports of the same were taken with a grain of salt. In stark contrast, just one day of rains in Mumbai have received non-stop coverage and have evoked a mountain of emotions, which the north-eastern states failed to do even with months of rain and floods. So, which is the most important flood in India and which flood stimulates most emotions? Heres a lowdown: 5) West Bengal afp At least 152 people have lost their lives so far and 1.5 crore have been hit by the floods in West Bengal. Parts of the state have seen massive flooding since July. According to local media, disaster authorities in West Bengal have set up over 300 relief camps where as many as 50,000 people have taken shelter. Nearly three lakh houses were fully damaged while close to 55000 were severely and over 52000 were partly ruined. The state has lost an estimated Rs 14,000 crore in the flood. Alarmingly, no relief package has been announced for West Bengal, which interestingly is the only non-BJP ruled state. 4) Assam pti The first wave of flood hit Assam in June when several rivers in the state reached the red level affecting 60,000 people from the 3 districts Lakhimpur, Karimganj and Darrang after long-term rainfall. Assam State Disaster Management Agency (ASDMA) reported on 05 June, 2017, that 113 people have been forced from their homes and are staying in a temporary camp in Lakhimpur. Assam is one of the most flood-prone states and invariably receives flooding during this time of the year. The death toll has climbed to 156 with as many as 606 villages submerged under water and 2 million people still affected by floods in nine districts. On August 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his one-day visit to the state, announced an assistance of Rs 2,350 crore for the North East out of which Rs 2,000 crore will be used towards flood relief and rehabilitation. Rs 250 crore from the amount were allocated towards relief and rehabilitation work. 3) Bihar reuters At least 514 people have died so far in Bihar due to severe flooding, however, the water levels in all major rivers are decreasing. A Bihar Disaster Management Department official said 171.64 lakh people in 2,371 panchayats under 187 blocks in 19 districts had been affected by the floods. Over the last two weeks, around 8,54,936 people were evacuated to safer places by the rescue teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force. On August 26, PM Modi visited Bihar for an aerial survey of floods and announced Rs 500 crore fund for relief work in the state. 2) Gujarat ap Following unremitting rain since July, Gujarat has been affected by severe flooding. As per reports, 224 people have died in Gujarat as of August 1. The state emergency operation centre officials said that 10,471 animal deaths have been reported from across the state since the beginning of monsoon. By July 31, at least 16 people lost their lives in neighbouring Rajasthan. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani announced a relief package of Rs 1,500 crore for flood-hit Banaskantha and Patan districts. On July 25, PM Modi visited the state to review the flood situation and conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of North Gujarat. He announced a relief package of Rs500 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). 1) Mumbai bccl On August 29, Mumbai was paralysed with just one day of an interminable downpour, recorded at 300mm. The record rainfall made it the wettest August day in 20 years. A total of five people died, including three children since last night in rain-related incidents. The rain, 30 times the average, had brought Mumbai to a halt, with water flooding low lying areas. Thousands waded through the waist-deep water, abandoning cars to walk. The situation has improved in the economic capital of the country with the Meteorological Department (MET) saying that the worst is over for the maximum city. While Mumbai witnessed extensive media coverage with reporters wading through water to report the downpour and the destruction, flooding in other parts of the country was scantily reported. Aid poured in from all the sides for Mumbai with people opening their homes and netizens rushing to their social media accounts to mark themselves safe in the rains. It is noteworthy that fatal floods in other parts of the nation fail to evoke such emotions and help. Evidently, the people of the north-east and the far east go through horror and are constantly at the receiving end of apathy from rest of the country. The Indian government hardly ever has a long-term plan to keep infrastructure in check and is dependent on ad-hoc arrangements. With water level rising each day, the anger against mainland apathy towards perpetual problems of certain other states is rising too. The floods that ransack the north east each year, receive little media attention. The discrimination against northeast regions and people have become a tradition of sorts in the country, with the situation seemingly improving with time. If only political parties and national media clamour on inclusiveness when it is needed the most, the indifference can be cut down to the minimum. The Nasarawa State Police Command have announced the deployment of about 4000 of its personnel to prevent crime ahead of Eid-el-Kabir celebration across the thirteen local government areas of the state. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Abubakar Sadiq-Bello, stated this in an interview with journalists in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital. Sadiq-Bello, who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenndy Idirisu, said, Rigorous police patrol will be sustained on our highways for the safety of intending travellers. The police boss also urged members of the public to shun persons peddling hate speeches and to always live in peace with one another irrespective of their ethnic or religious affiliation. While felicitating with the Muslim faithful, he admonished all to be vigilant during and after the festive period. He reiterated the commitment of the command to the protection of lives and properties of all Nigerian citizens as enshrined in the constitution. Also, the Nigeria Peace Corps, Nasarawa State command, says it has drafted about 2000 of its personnel to strategic areas in collaboration with other security agencies across the state to prevent crimes. The state commandant of the corps, Mr Bala Joshua, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital on Wednesday. He called on youths in the state to remain law-abiding citizens and respect constituted authorities. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) Six top Boko Haram commanders were killed in the Northeast during a bombardment of their hideouts by the Nigerian Army in conjunction with the Nigeria Airforce. A statement released by Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, Director Army Public Relations revealed that the Boko Haram commanders were killed in their hideouts. The key Boko Haram terrorists (Ameers) neutralized within the week during the joint artillery and Nigerian Air Force air bombardments include; Abu Dujana, Man Tahiru (Deputy to Boko Haram terrorists group Hisba leader), Man Chari, Malam Abdullahi (left) Abu Saad (Right) and Goni Bamanga. Read the army statement on the killing of the Boko Haam commanders below: NIGERIAN ARMY ARTILLERY BOMBARDMENTS AND NIGERIAN AIR FORCE AIR INTERDICTIONS NEUTRALIZE TOP BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS COMMANDERS Based on received information about the location of some suspected top Boko Haram terrorists leaders, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force have been carrying out heavy artillery bombardments and air interdictions on registered targets that have killed a large number of Boko Haram terrorists including some of the groups key leaders. The Nigerian Army artillery using Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers has lobbed many rockets over the suspected location the terrorists leaders are hiding. Video clips obtained on battle damage assessment shows clear success of the exercise. More details of successes achieved will be made available as the operation continues. The key Boko Haram terrorists Ameers neutralized within the week during the joint Artillery and Nigerian Air Force air bombardments include; Abu Dujana, Man Tahiru (Deputy to Boko Haram terrorists group Hisba leader), Man Chari, Malam Abdullahi (left) Abu Saad (Right) and Goni Bamanga. The Nigerian military would continue with the concerted onslaught on the reported Boko Haram terrorists location till they have been eliminated. Thank you for your kind cooperation. Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman Director Army Public Relations Chairman Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Isah Misau, has been invited by the to appear before its Special Panel investigating allegations of special promotions in the Nigeria Police Force. The Nigeria Police Force on August 27, declared Misau a deserter and accused him of carrying a forged retirement letter. Senator Misau had, in series of interviews with newsmen, accused the Inspector General of Police of taking bribe to post police officers as well as diverting money paid by private companies for police duties. The Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, announced n a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, that the invitation letter was signed by the Chairman of the Special Panel , retired Justice O. Adekeye. He said that the immediate issue for investigation was the genuineness or otherwise of the two letters of retirement supposed to have emanated from the commission. He said that the commission received correspondence from the Nigeria Police Force Special Investigation Panel (SIP)on Aug. 24 relating to Misaus retirement from the Nigeria Police Force. The Police Service Commission, the only organ saddled with the statutory responsibility of issuing letters of retirement to all Police Officers except the IGP, has a vital role to play in determining the authenticity of this letter, he said. He said Misau was to appear before the panel with the original copy of his letter of retirement for authentication. The senator is expected to appear before the panel on Sept 6. Source:( PM News ) Regional leaders in Somalia have been urged by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to work together to bring lasting peace and security in Somalia and the region. The prime minister made the call during his discussion with Gen. David Muhoozi, Special Envoy of the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in Ethiopias capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday. Desalegn and Muhoozi have also discussed on various issues that focused on regional cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the Office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister said in a statement. Desalegn warned that insufficient support from the international community is creating huge burden on the peacekeeping mission in Somalia. According to Desalegn, Ethiopia has the responsibility to voice its concern to the international community concerning the security situations in the region and the continent. NAN reports that the UN says over 3.2 million people are facing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity in Somalia. Source: ( NAN ) Billionaire kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, a.k.a Evans was arraigned along side Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwy, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Aduba on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.before an Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Wednesday. Evans, Amadi and Nwachukwu pleaded guilty to the charges while Uchechukwu, the only female defendant, Ifeanyi and Aduba pleaded innocence of the offences. According to the prosecution led by Mr Adeniji Kazeem, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Evans and his accomplices committed the offence of conspiracy at 7.45 p.m. on Feb. 14 on Obokun Street, Ilupeju, Lagos. The prosecution said the defendants between Feb. 14 and April 12 on Obokun Street, Ilupeju, while armed with guns and other dangerous weapons, captured and detained Mr Duru Donatius. According to Kazeem, the defendants collected a ransom of 223,000 euros for the release of Donatius. After the charges were read to them, Kazeem, requested for the remand of the defendants. Following this arraignment, we will like to apply for the defendants to be remanded in custody and obtain trial dates for the ones that have pleaded not guilty. While for those that have pleaded guilty, we will like to lay out our statement of facts following which Your Lordship will adjourn for sentencing, Kazeem said. Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, counsel to Evans, Amadi, Uchechukwu, Ifeanyi and Aduba told the court that he and his team had not got the opportunity to confer with his clients. With respect to the application from the learned Attorney-General, we shall not be opposing same. However, the defence team just had the opportunity of meeting our clients this morning in court for the first time, we were just served with documents in the open court this morning. All the defendants have since been in the custody of the Police and we have not had the opportunity of conferring with them regarding the offences which are capital in nature, Ogungbeje said. The vacation judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi asked the Attorney-General for his choice of prison for the defendants to be remanded. Maximum Kirikiri Prisons, My Lord, Kazeem replied. Remanding Evans and his alleged accomplices, Oshodi said: The first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth defendants shall be remanded in the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons. `While the third defendant shall be remanded in the female wing of the Kirikiri Prison, This case is adjourned to Oct. 19 for trial. The courtroom and the court premises was heavily guarded with scores of armed security personnel. The courtroom and court premises were also packed with reporters, photographers as well as curious onlookers, who wanted to catch a glimpse of Evans, who allegedly made billions of Naira from his victims. Source: ( PM News ) The Nigerian military on Wednesday has said it cleared Boko Haram insurgents from 630 settlements in the North East in the last two months. The military also stated that within the same period, 82 insurgents were killed while 468 persons were rescued and handed over to various IDP camps. Addressing a press conference on the successes and drawbacks of the counter-insurgency operations in the North East in the last two months, the head of the military operations against terrorism (Theatre Commander of Operations Lafiya Dole), Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, said the final defeat of Boko Haram was imminent, going by the successes recorded so far. He said, I must state here that the final defeat of the Boko Haram terrorists is imminent. Therefore, I call on all Boko Haram members to abandon their hypocritical leaders who live in affluence but deceive their followers by luring them to death through false ideologies. Boko Haram ideologies and its course are premised on falsehood and apparently a futile struggle. All insurgents who are willing to turn a new leaf are advised to surrender to any military location nearest to them. We guarantee your safety and rehabilitation as well as re-integration into the society if you surrender. He added, Troops have continued to conduct fighting patrols, clearance and ambush operations to rid the hinterlands of fleeing BHT elements and totally dominate the theatre. A total of 82 BHT were killed in combat, 630 settlements were cleared while 468 persons were rescued and handed over to various IDP camps within the period under review. He accused Boko Haram of committing international war crimes by using women and children as suicide bombers in the ongoing war in the North-East. He lamented that during the period under review, 41 persons were killed and 118 injured in an attack on the University of Maiduguri. The increased vigilance by the military and other security agents around UNIMAID and Dalori IDP Camps, he noted, had assisted greatly in stemming the PBIED incidents in the area, adding, the ongoing construction of a perimeter fence around UNIMAID would also go a long way in defeating the PBIED thrurats. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) The Mushin (Ilasamaja Ward C) Disciplinary Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, that heard a petition accusing a party chieftain, Muiz Banire, of anti-party activities, on Wednesday submitted its report, recommending his suspension. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the committee, on August 14, had conducted a hearing on the petition written against Mr. Banire by two party members of his ward, Olukayode Tolu and Ayodele Adebayo, on behalf of all members of the ward. Mr. Banire, who was invited to the hearing, did not show up, but the committee had gone ahead with the exercise. The petitioners had alleged at the hearing that the party chieftain engaged in acts that could undermine the integrity of the party. They alleged that Mr. Banire dragged the party to court shortly before the July 22 council elections over alleged imposition of the partys candidate in Odi-Olowo Local Council Development Area. According to them, the action was intended to discredit the party before the election and jeopardise its chances. They also alleged, among other things, that the party chieftain had not attended the partys ward meeting for the past two years and had not fulfilled his financial obligation to the party. The petitioners had prayed the committee to suspend him from the party for 10 years and not to allow him to take any position in the party again. A former member of the House of Representatives and counsel to the committee, Wunmi Bewaji, had said the committee would examine all the allegations and come up with its report shortly after then. Presenting the report to the partys ward executive on Wednesday, chairman of the committee, Bolaji Abbas, said the panel had found Mr. Banire culpable of allegations against him after careful and thorough examination. He said the committee had recommended in the report that Mr. Banire, who is the partys National Legal Adviser, be suspended from the party for between five to 10 years. We have done our work, having examined the allegations levelled against him by party members at the ward. In our report, we recommend that he should be suspended from the party between five to 10 years. We are forwarding the report to the appropriate quarters for the necessary actions, he said. Receiving the report, the Ward Chairman of the party, Bolaji Amusan, said the ward executive would forward the report to the partys local government executive for the necessary action. Yes, we have received the report today, but we will forward it to the partys executive at the local government who will act on it, he said. NAN reports that the ward had, before the hearing of the petition by the panel, earlier announced the suspension of Mr. Banire over the same allegations. The National Working Committee of the party had, however, nullified the suspension, saying the ward lacked the power to suspend a national officer. Mr. Banire had also described his suspension as laughable, saying it was an orchestrated attempt at stopping him from entrenching internal democracy in the states chapter of the party. Source: ( NAN ) The Federal Government has been advised by the former military governor of Kaduna State, Colonel Abubakar Umar (retd), against re-arresting the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Mr Nnamdi Kanu. In a statement he issued on Wednesday, the former military officer said such a move would be dangerous and politically unwise. The former governors comments are in reaction to the motion on notice filed by the Federal Government at a Federal High Court last. In the application, the government had asked the court to revoke Mr Kanus bail and order his re-arrest for violating the conditions of his bail. But Umar prefers a different approach to the matter. Reports in the media indicate that the Federal government has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and have him re-arrested. This is both dangerous and politically unwise, he said. He added, Nigerias unity can only be guaranteed when all its citizens feel they are given a fair deal; when all its component parts are treated justly and equitably. When none feels oppressed. The governor also spoke about calls for restructuring and the mood in the country. President Buharis insistence that the unity of Nigeria is a sealed issue is a nationalistic wish and is no surprise coming from a veteran of the civil war fought to keep the country one. However, this does not take into account the mood of the nation as indicated by the growing agitations for self-determination, restructuring and many other similar demands, he said. If indeed the President is able to ignore and silence those agitators, it will be a case of suspended animation. All indications are that Nigeria has become so polarized that it requires a strong personality like Buhari to sustain its fragile unity. Needless to say that this does not bode well for the survival of the nation. Source: ( Channels Television ) An undergraduate of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State,identified as Chioma Pius, who was allegedly tortured by some policemen attached to the Rivers State Police Command, has identified the patrol team behind the attack. The victim, who spoke to Punch Newspaper on Wednesday, said the matter had also been taken to the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, Abuja. She briefly recounted her experience with a four-man patrol team on the Elebrada Junction, in the Emohua area of Rivers State when she posted it on Facebook. She had said the police team accused her of putting on tattoos on her body and assaulted her before locking her up in a mobile cell. During a chat with PUNCH Metro, she explained that the cops had earlier checked the vehicle particulars and that of the driver of the cab she took and finding no fault, shifted attention to her. She said, The incident happened around 1.05pm on Monday. My friend was having her birthday and I left Bayelsa for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to buy groceries for her. I was in the cab when we were stopped at a checkpoint. One of them asked for the drivers vehicle documents, which he gave them. I was in the car, listening to music. When the officer saw that the papers were complete, he asked me to come down. I asked the cab man if he had any problem with them, and he said no. The policeman asked me to identity myself and I told him my name and that I was a professional fashion designer. I told him that I was also a student of a polytechnic. I was wearing a smile on my face. I never knew that people misunderstood smiling for arrogance. His boss came towards us and asked if I was resisting arrest. He said I was treating him as if he was too small to talk to me. The boss asked for my identity and I reintroduced myself. He said, Oh, you even have a tattoo, and you are resisting arrest. Ok, detain her. I was shocked. I said, Oga, you cant ask them to detain me for wearing a tattoo. He said I was proving stubborn. Before I could turn around, the other policeman had slapped me twice. He pushed me towards his boss, who punched me as if he was punching a man like himself. The next thing, they poured water on me and the man went to get a horsewhip and flogged me. The boss used his gun to hit me twice in the thigh. I jumped into the mobile cell. One of them bought a sachet of pure water and poured it on me, shouting Ashawo.He also spat on me. The Imo State indigene explained that the tattoos on her body had been imprinted for more than eight years, adding that while one was a tribute to a deceased sibling, the other represented important memories of her life. She said when she asked to speak with her fiance, an Italian, the policemen called her a prostitute, saying she would soon contract HIV. The policemen ransacked my handbag and wallet, looking for money. They later sneered that I didnt have any money but I had a sharp mouth to question them. Three of them beat me up, while the fourth officer was busy extorting money from other motorists, who watched me suffered, she added. She explained that the cab driver, who had been threatened with a gun for wanting to interfere, ran to another checkpoint to beg other policemen to mediate. The policemen were said to have pleaded with the cops to release her, saying she had suffered enough. I want justice because I was humiliated publicly and treated like a child. They have probably been doing this to a lot of people, but it must end. I was not indecently dressed to have warranted any harassment. I wore a black jeans and a T-shirt. I dont dress indecently outside. What if I had worn something transparent? Then I would have lost my life, she added. She gave the number plate of the patrol vehicle as NPF 4982C AKU PH, adding that she had already made statements to the PCRRU. The Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Omoni Nnamdi, did not pick his calls when our correspondent contacted him. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) An American woman identified as Sarah Curran, who lives in California, has hailed Nigerian outfits after getting some from Lagos for her little children. Sarah Curran revealed through her facebook page that her friend Natalie Kostich who visited Lagos, Nigeria recently bought the locally made attire and gave them to her for her kids. She also added that her little children appreciated the outfit so much that they played all morning in it Sarah wrote; A 27-year-old suspected killer, Prince Amadi, disclosed that he was arrested recently, by policemen because of his mode of dressing, in Port Harcourt. According to online sources, Amadi had been at large since December 19, 2016, when he allegedly stabbed someone to death at Aker Base waterfront, in Rumuolumeni. He was apprehended on Monday, August 21, 2017, along Nkpordiagha Road. Amadi admitted to have committed the heinous act, as a retaliation during a fight with some boys, who had stabbed him and his companion. Amadi said that he fled home after the incident, he said; They did not see anything with me, but because of the way I dressed. They arrested me because I was wearing an earring and head-warmer. One of the policemen said I looked suspicious and arrested me. I did not drag with them. The Lagos Police Command was thrown into confusion on Wednesday as two Commissioners of Police emerged in the command. Earlier in the day, it was gathered that Edgar Imohimi, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, had been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police to replace Fatai Owoseni, who had been in the position for two years. It was gathered that Owoseni would assume the post of Commissioner of Police in Charge of Administration at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. But Owoseni, later in the day, said he was not aware of the appointment of a new police commissioner for the state. Owoseni told the News Agency of Nigeria that he had yet to receive any directive on any posting or the fact that there was a new commissioner in the state. When we get the information, we will let you know, Owoseni said. NAN also reported that Owoseni, on Wednesday, spoke at a conference on security at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, in his capacity as Lagos State police commissioner. Neither the Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, nor the state command spokeman, Olarinde Famous-Cole, picked their calls. Source: ( NAN ) The farm of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, at Ilado village, in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State,was attacked by suspected Fulani herdsmen, destroying crops worth millions of naira. This was made known by the Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who said after a monthly meeting of the association held at the residence of the leader of the group, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, on Tuesday. Odumakin, who read the communique of the group to journalists, accused the Federal Government of showing no concern for the incessant attacks of the Fulani herdsmen on the people of the South-West and the Middle-Belt of the country. He said, We are worried about the renewed onslaught of Fulani herdsmen on Yoruba land. Recently, a Permanent Secretary of Osun origin, Mrs. Funke Kolawole, was killed on Okene-Lokoja Road on her way to Abuja. Also, another 72-year-old woman was recently gang-raped in the Odigbo area of Ondo State and the hoodlums have yet to be brought to book. Of course, Chief Olu Falaye, whose farm has become a source of attacks by the Fulani herdsmen, only yesterday (Monday) came under a renewed attack with policemen on his farm shot at by these Fulani herdsmen. We are aggrieved that the Federal Government has continued to turn the other eye while the herdsmen continue their unlawful activities in the country, especially the southern Nigeria and the Middle-Belt. The association called on the governors of the South-West to emulate the Ekiti State Government and ensure that they put in place appropriate laws to deal with the activities of herdsmen in the region. The Personal Assistant to Chief Falae, Captain Moshood Raji (retd.) confirmed the incident, saying many crops were destroyed. Raji said, They attacked Babas (Falae) farm and destroyed the crops there. We have reported to the police. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) Over 15,000 persons have been rendered homeless due to the heavy downpour in Saturday night and resultant flood that submerged over 2,000 houses in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, and its environs. Areas that were hit the most with the disaster, are Achuasa Media Village, Wadata Rice Mill, Behind Police Zone Four, Larozone Nyiman Quarters, Judges Quarters, Gboko Road, Logo, New Bank Road, Abu, Shuluwa Road and the neighbourhood of Radio Benue, where all the houses in the community, including the transmitter of the state-owned radio station, were submerged. Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom, has appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid to avoid a repeat of the 2012 when River Benue broke its banks, also swept away hundreds of millions of Naira worth of property and valuables in a downpour that lasted over four hours. Ortom made the appeal when he inspected flooded areas in Maiduguri yesterday, and described the problem as overwhelming. The governor called on those living in flood-prone areas across the state to relocate, just as he directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), to liaise with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to seek means of assisting those who have been displaced. He also said that structures constructed on drainage channels and flood plains would be demolished. Source: ( Linda Ikeji ) According to The News Agency of Nigeria, more than 110,000 persons in 24 communities, including Makurdi, have been displaced by flood in Benue state. The Executive Secretary of the the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr Boniface Ortese who disclosed the this on Wednesday said over 2, 769 households were also affected. He explained that places affected included Achusa, Idye, Wurukum Market, Genabe, Industrial Layout, Demekpe, Wadata Market, Katungu, behind the Civil Service Commission, Agboughul-Wadata among others in Makurdi. In Achusa, 200 houses were affected with 5,125 persons displaced, in Idye 217 houses while 5,200 persons were displaced. Also, behind the Civil Service Commission, 200 houses were submerged in flood and 5,777 persons were displaced. At Genabe, 200 houses were affected with 5,021 persons displaced, 218 houses around the Wurukum market were affected with 1,000 persons displaced, and at Wadata market150 houses were affected and 4,300 persons were displaced. Similarly at Industrial layout, 69 houses were flooded and 4,310 persons displaced; Demekpe 111 houses were affected while 7,820 persons displaced, the official said.. Ortese further said that 137 houses were flooded in Katungu, with 6,031 persons displaced while at Agboughul-Wadata 201 houses were affected and 5,728 persons displaced. He said government was doing everything within its little resources to assist flood victims in the state. The State Government has however announced the official opening of two camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state. Gov. Samuel Ortom made the announcement after inspecting flooded areas within Makurdi and its environs. Ortom said the empty International Market and the Presidential Building at Agan Toll Gate would become camps for IDPs, pending when water level would subside. He explained that his administration would do everything possible to provide minimum comfort to all displaced persons while in camps. He added that as you can see, the level of flood water is increasing, more houses are being submerged and more of our people are displaced. We hope Federal Government will come to our aid as soon as possible; the flood committee headed by my deputy will ensure that victims have minimum comfort while in the camps. NAN Recall Ada Slim, the Nigerian actress who called out Tonto Dikeh for mocking her when her father died, shes in the news again and this time not going off easily! The Media mogul was pictured kissing controversial red carpet host, Denrele Edun! From what could be depicted from the captions both used after they shared it on IG, seems it could possibly be from a movie scene, but fans are reacting differently. A young female South African constable was brutally murdered by her lover, who also is a police officer at KwaDabeka Police Station in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on Tuesday 29 August. Nontuthuko Mthembu, who started working as a police officer just last year, was allegedly shot and killed by her boyfriend before he turned the gun and took his own life. According to KwaDabeka police spokesperson Captain Mazwi Mbatha, the man who is based at the Inanda Cluster was in one of the offices with Mthembu at the KwaDabeka police station when they heard her screaming for help and asking for forgiveness. We then heard about four gunshots and rushed into the office, and unfortunately they were declared dead on scene, said Mbatha. Although the staff has been counselled, the situation is still very tense at the station. We have had lots of people coming in and out since the incident happened. Mthembu was described as a bubbly peoples person who respected her job. Photos below: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is searching for two women who dressed up as nuns and attempted to rob a bank in Pennsylvania on Monday. A surveillance image provided by WNEP shows two would-be bank robbers dressed as nuns as they attempted to rob Citizens Bank near Tannersville, WNEP reported. Police say the two women entered the bank and showed a gun to one of the tellers but another teller activated an alarm, which they believe could have scared off the would-be robbers. Both left the without taking anything, WNEP reported. It was unclear if the two fled the area on foot or in a vehicle, but the FBI is investigating the raid. Source: ( Linda Ikeji ) 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%) Earlier this month, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned of legal issues surrounding insurance contracts and the UKs departure from the European Union. Now the trade body has said insurers should act no later than November.With Britain and the EU still in the middle of negotiations, the industry needs to know in the coming weeks whether grandfathering honouring existing contracts despite Brexit will be allowed.In an interview with Reuters, ABI director of regulation Hugh Savill said: The preferred option would be something in the negotiations that gives the regulators the appropriate political approval to start working on a mechanism to allow these existing contracts to continue operating as they are.Otherwise, these contracts millions of them would have to be transferred so that policyholders and their providers are within the same jurisdiction. If the contracts are not grandfathered as proposed, insurers may not be legally able to compensate without a replacement agreement.You have to go to court to get approval for transfer, and you also need the approval of the regulator at both ends. That means the transfer has to start by November 2017; otherwise you run out of time, Savill told Reuters.According to the report, a number of providers have already started the transfer process to avoid bottlenecks. It also cited KPMG partner Paul Merrey, who said the process will likely be more difficult for UK insurers transferring their portfolios to the EU than the other way around.ABI director general Huw Evans said three weeks ago: As the deadline for Brexit looms, many insurers biggest fear is that they will be left with a stark choice between breaking their promise to customers or risk breaking the law if the issue of how to fulfil existing contracts cross-border is not resolved. Gross written premiums - $700 million, up 15% Net written premiums - $478.5 million, from $412.9 million Earned premiums - $450.3 million, up 9% Underwriting income - $50.1 million, from $51.4 million Combined ratio - 89%, from 88% International operations Gross written premiums - $585.7 million, up 24% Net written premiums - $311.9 million, from $278.3 million Earned premiums - $328.1 million, from $276.2 million Underwriting income - $4.6 million, from $18.1 million Combined ratio - 99%, from 93% Celebrate excellence in insurance. Nominate a worthy colleague for the Insurance Business Awards! In his letter to shareholders, Watson said: During the first six months of 2017, we achieved profitable growth in our US operations, Bermuda, and Latin America, managed a complex and difficult market at Lloyds, and generated strong investment returns. According to Watson, there is still more supply than demand in the London subscription market. This is one of the most complex and competitive markets we have seen for some time, with sustained pressure on pricing tempting some syndicates to make unwise decisions. Not us, he noted. Watson explained that while conditions are tough, Argo Groups strategy is solid. He continued: We exercise controlled management of expenses and refuse to chase top-line growth, preferring to wait and find risks we can underwrite more locally. The CEO added that the companys acquisition of Ariel Re in February was greeted enthusiastically by brokers. The Ariel Re companies underwrite a global portfolio of business through offices in London, the US, and Bermuda. Argo Group is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. Its primary segments are excess & surplus lines, commercial specialty, international specialty, and Syndicate 1200. Four attorneys have withdrawn their representation of a Tampa auto glass shop seeking to lead a class-action suit against Geico.A federal judge approved the attorneys request to withdraw as counsel, citing serious ethical considerations. Attorneys David M. Caldevilla, Dan Clark, Matthew A. Crist and Christina K. Ramirez all withdrew as counsel for VIP Auto Glass, which seeks to lead a class-action lawsuit that accuses Geico of systematic underpayments. Geico, however, alleges that VIP has based its claims on false statements.US District Court Judge Mary S. Scriven gave VIP 21 days to find new representation. She warned that failure to find new counsel would result in a default judgment against the company.Specifically, pursuant to the courts show-cause order, plaintiff VIP Auto Glass Inc. faces an impending adverse judgment on the merits, sanctions in the form of costs and attorneys fees being awarded to Geico, and/or a judgment for fraud upon the court, Scriven said.Geico had opposed the VIP attorneys request to withdraw, pointing to a law that prohibited courts to grant such a request without compelling ethical considerations if the withdraw would cause a delay. Scriven, however, found that such ethical considerations existed in the case.VIP sued Geico over the insurers approved reimbursement amounts for windshield replacements. Those amounts, VIP said, have absolutely nothing to do with the amounts most shops charge for windshield replacement. That leaves the policyholder holding the bag for the balance and Florida law states that windshield replacement is 100% covered.But when VIP requested class certification for the lawsuit, Geico alleged that the company lied to assert standing in the case. VIP had claimed that its standing to bring the suit was based on an assignment of benefits given by Geico customer Deryl Jones. But Geico said that Jones never assigned VIP his benefits.Mr. Jones himself recently confirmed that he never signed an assignment, and that the purported assignment that VIP has repeatedly put before this court is a forgery, Geico said in a court filing. Since VIP actually has no valid assignment, it has no standing to bring any claims, much less any class claims.Geico has alleged that VIP submitted similar forged documents in at least two other cases. State police say two contractors working on a pipe in an underground pit at a western Pennsylvania power plant were killed when the pipe ruptured, filling the pit with sludge. Police say four other workers above the pit were overcome by some kind of fumes released by the leak and taken to hospitals. FirstEnergy spokeswoman Stephanie Walton says the incident happened while workers were doing maintenance in an underground enclosure at the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Beaver County around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The plant in Shippingport, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, is FirstEnergys largest coal-fired plant. Walton says the plant remains operational and there is no threat to the safety of other workers or the public. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Pennsylvania Federal safety officials have cited a South Dakota company for failing to protect its workers from trench collapse hazards. Fort Pierre-based First Dakota Enterprises Inc. faces proposed penalties of $95,064 imposed by the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On May 23, 2017, a 34-year-old worker was completely buried when the walls of a 14-foot trench collapsed around him. Co-workers quickly freed the victims head, which allowed him to breathe while emergency personnel worked for more than 30 minutes to free him. OSHA investigators determined that First Dakota Enterprises Inc., failed to use a trench protective system or conduct regular site inspections to correct potentially hazardous conditions. OSHA cited the company, which was contracted by the City of Emery to replace the citys main sewer and water lines, for two repeat and one serious safety violations. Trench collapses are among the most dangerous hazards in the construction industry. As of June 1, 2017, 15 workers have died in trench collapses. In 2016, a total of 23 deaths occurred in trench and excavation operations. Source: OSHA Topics Workers' Compensation Hurricane Harvey has set a U.S record, according to the National Weather Service, dumping 51.88 inches of rain in parts of Texas. As the tropical storm moves over southern Louisiana, claims catastrophe teams are moving in to devastated cities in Texas. AIR Worldwide reported severe damage in Rockport, Texas, where masonry walls collapsed, wood frame homes were shattered, roofs and metal siding were peeled off, mobile homes were overturned, and trees were uprooted. According to NOAAs Storm Prediction Center, preliminary reports of 21 tornadoes were recorded in Texas from Friday night through Saturday, including one in Sienna Plantation early Saturday morning that ripped off roofs and caused severe tree damage. In Corpus Christi, downed trees, debris and power lines blocked roadways, signs were blown down, and some roofs were at least partially torn off. On Saturday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration as a result of Hurricane Harveys devastation across the state. In addition, President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Hurricane Harvey. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, when a disaster is declared, Insurance Code 4101.002(b) and 4101.101 allows carriers to immediately use nonresident and emergency adjusters to handle claims. By Monday, Allstate had tweeted one of its Mobile Claims Centers was staged in Austin, waiting for the all clear to deploy. Allstate Mobile Claims Center. Photo: Allstate Farmers Insurance reported an estimated 500,000 policyholders 400,000 homeowners and approximately 100,000 auto and business policies in Harveys path. As of Tuesday afternoon, the insurer received more than 10,000 claims across all lines, nearly half are homeowners claims. Farmers sent 200 claims adjusters to the area, but noted more could be sent if needed. A mobile claim center was planned for set up in Victoria, Texas, this morning. Its mobile claim centers are equipped with WI-FI, satellite phones and water, along with other supplies. In partnership with Kespry, Farmers will send in drones to assess hurricane damage. Just this month, Farmers announced a new microdrone fleet that will assist adjusters on residential roof damage claims in areas impacted by hailstorms and other severe weather events. USAA reported its adjusters and cat response unit, Eagle 1, had moved into the Corpus Christi area late Monday. Eagle 1 is a large recreational vehicle that allows claims to be handled inside. In some cases, payments can be issued on the spot. The carrier was working with local authorities in Port Aransas and Rockport to begin working claims there. As of Wednesday morning, State Farm had received an estimated 14,600 homeowners and 12,800 auto claims. According to Travelers, preparation is key in gearing up for onsite cat claims handling. With a national catastrophe center located in Windsor, Conn., the insurer uses geospatial technology and advanced analytics to monitor storms and provide resources when necessary. About six days before it [Harvey] started that approach we got out the cat playbook and we started to plan for its eventual arrival on to the coast of Texas, said Jim Wucherpfennig, vice president of Property at Travelers. Prior to the storm making landfall, the insurer sent out 12,000 notifications to agents that included hurricane-prep tips, home inventory checklists and weather alert signups. We contacted about 50,000 personal insurance customers via the same process and about 3000 business insurance customersbefore the event happened, he added. Wucherpfennig said pre-planning for Harvey included booking blocks of rooms in advance at hotels in Dallas and other cities close to the hurricanes path. Resources were pre-packaged and a fuel truck was staged in Louisiana to ensure adjusters didnt have to wait in long lines to gas up their vehicles. The company has three large claim offices located in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, with a combined 125 property adjusters and more than 300 auto adjusters. In addition, Travelers deployed 50 more adjusters to the Dallas office on Monday. Two of the insurers catastrophe vans are stationed in Houston and another off the coast of Texas. Travelers has 300 property adjusters dedicated to handling cat losses and ready to be deployed. Wucherpfennig said the insurer was hoping they could be deployed to damaged areas sometime on Wednesday. Many adjusters are drone-certified and have drones included in their equipment. BoatUS could not comment on the impact to boats in the state, however, D. Scott Croft, vice president of public affairs, said Rockport and Port Aransas were hit the hardest by the hurricane. Many locations were still in lockdown as of Monday morning, he said. The BoatUS catastrophe team is ready to assist policyholders once they gain access to the affected areas. Also on Monday, AIR Worldwide updated its estimate of insured wind and storm surge losses resulting from Harvey, indicating a range of $1.2 to 2.3 billion. AIR reported that Harvey could make a second landfall near Houston later this week. Jill Dalton, managing director of Aon Global Risk Consulting, said that Harveys impact to businesses is still unknown. Damage to business operations, employees, customers and suppliers is still being determined. We wont know all the impacts for a long time and thats got to be really stressful for business owners, said Dalton. Topics Carriers Catastrophe Auto Texas Claims Hurricane Officials in two Kentucky counties have voted to hire attorneys to file lawsuits against wholesale drug distributors to help pay for the costs of combating the opioid epidemic. The Kentucky Enquirer reports Boone and Kenton counties approved the measures last week, and Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendery says officials there will consider taking similar action at their meeting in September. The counties would join dozens of other communities around the country, including Louisville, that have filed similar lawsuits. Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore said any money recovered from the lawsuit will go toward helping people overcome addiction. The companies have sought to have similar suits dismissed saying the communities lack legal standing to bring such claims and that they ship drugs only to federally and state-licensed pharmacies. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Drugs Kentucky Just under a year since Florida workers compensation rates shot up by 14.5 percent, Florida businesses may get some relief in their workers comp premiums. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has recommended to Florida regulators an overall premium level decrease of 9.6 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018. This filing submitted this week to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) includes a statewide average premium decrease of 9.3 percent and a reduction of the fixed expense cost applicable to every workers compensation policy in Florida from $200 to $160. The filing includes a 1.9 percent decrease in expense provisions, including a proposed decrease to the Profit & Contingency provision from 2.75 percent to 2 percent. Rate level changes by industry group are as follows: Manufacturing: -10.3 percent Contracting: -6.9 percent Office and Clerical: -11.3 percent Goods and Services:-10.4 percent Miscellaneous: -8.1 percent According to a statement from the rating organization, which is authorized to make rate filings on behalf of workers compensation insurance companies in Florida, the proposed rate reduction represents a continued improvement in claim frequency of more than 8 percent over the last two years. NCCI said the 8 percent decrease in claims is the major driver of the proposed decrease, which comes just a year or so after two 2016 Florida Supreme Court decisions sent rates up 14.5 percent for 2017. NCCI said those cases, Castellanos v. Next Door Company, and Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg, brought about retroactive changes to claimant attorney fee and benefit levels. NCCI noted its filing for the 14.5 percent increase in October 2016 addressed the projected impact of the two court decisions including future upward pressure on claim costs as well as a growing unfunded liability on open claims. The OIR approved increase took effect on Dec. 1, 2016. The biggest cost driver behind that rate increase, according to NCCI at the time, was Castellanos. The decision found the states mandatory attorneys fee schedule for workers compensation cases eliminated the right of a claimant to get a reasonable attorneys fee a critical feature of the workers compensation law. The impact of the Castellanos decision equaled 10.1 percent of the 14.5 rate increase, while Westphal accounted for 2.2 percent. Florida state legislators attempted to enact reforms earlier this year that would stem any future changes to Floridas workers comp market as a result of the court cases. Those reforms failed, however, and stakeholders warned of additional rate increases in the future. But NCCI say that wont be the case, this year at least. The [current] filing assumes that the 14.5 percent increase is adequate to cover the increased claim costs due to the court cases. No further increase is necessary, said NCCI Marketing Communications Director Dean Dimke. Industry advocates say this filing for a rate decrease is not a reason to shirk enacting workers comp legislative reforms in 2018. The recent rate filing made by NCCI mostly reflects frequency and experience data that pre-dates the Castellanos and Westphal decisions. Experience data relating to the impact of Castellanos and Westphal continues to mature and will likely be reflected in future rate filings, said Logan McFaddin, Southeast director for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). The Florida Supreme Court decisions create systemic instabilities that warrant legislative attention. OIR said it will review the 2018 Florida workers compensation rate filing by NCCI to ensure the proposed changes are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. It will also evaluate its potential effects on the insurance marketplace and employers, who are required by law to carry this insurance on their employees. A public rate hearing will be conducted in October. Topics Trends Florida Workers' Compensation Pricing Trends Authorities in Montana ordered the evacuation of nearly 600 homes after a fire burning on a mountain ridge suddenly changed direction and threatened a popular destination for boaters, anglers and hikers. The fire near Seeley Lake is one of 19 large fires in Montana and 52 large fires burning across the U.S. West on Tuesday, including one that shut down a road into Yosemite National Park, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. In Montana, the wind shifted Monday night and blew a 48-square-mile (124-square-kilometer) fire within a half-mile of homes and buildings, which led the Missoula County Sheriffs Office to order evacuations. Martha McManus and Gary Ikerd were among a handful of residents who stayed the night at a shelter in Missoula. They told Montana Public Radio that they believe the fire will only strengthen the close-knit community. Things happen and sometimes its an accident and you dont really know where to go or what to do, said McManus, 69. It always works out for the best, doesnt it? Seeley Lake is nestled in a valley between the Mission Mountains and the Bob Marshall Wilderness along a highway that leads to Glacier National Park. Some 1,660 people live year-round in about 750 homes in and around the town, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. An additional 511 residences are seasonal or second homes or are for rent or sale. The evacuation zone includes the downtown area and homes east of the lake. The post office has closed, and the start of school has been delayed from Wednesday until next week. The lightning-caused fire has been burning since late July, and the towns namesake lake has been closed twice this summer to boaters and swimmers so that firefighting aircraft can safely and load water to fight the nearby fire. Each night, cooling temperatures allow smoke to roll down the hillside and create hazardous air quality, which led environmental officials to advise residents earlier this month to find somewhere else to sleep for the foreseeable future. Smoke from the fires has degraded the air quality across the Northwest, leading to alerts from the Oregon coast to central Montana. Hot and dry conditions led the National Weather Service to issue fire warnings in central California, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Idaho and Montana on Tuesday. In southern Oregon near the California border, authorities ordered the evacuation of six homes in the rural community of Joe Bar on Tuesday after lightning-ignited fires. Several thousand people also remained evacuated from their homes near the coastal town of Brookings, though some residents were being allowed back as firefighters gained a toehold on the 184-square-mile (477-square-kilometer) blaze burning nearby. In California, a small fire forced officials to close the southern roadway leading into Yosemite National Park on Tuesday and order the evacuation of Sugar Pine, a small community of homes and vacation rentals. Other entryways into Yosemite were open. Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire The widow of a Eugene, Oregon, man who died five days before his 29th birthday seeks $10 million in a lawsuit against a hospital, doctors and physicians groups. The suit says Aaron Martineau died in September 2014, a day after he was incorrectly diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain and released from McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield. The suit says his death resulted from aortic dissection, a condition in which there is a tear in the wall of the main artery carrying blood from the heart. A McKenzie-Willamette spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Officials with the physicians groups told The Register-Guard newspaper they are not authorized to comment. The suit says Martineau was suffering from chest pain, shortness of breath and a slow heart rate, and the tests performed were insufficient to rule out or confirm serious conditions consistent with his symptoms. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Oregon Jeremy D. Morley concentrates on International Family Law. The firm works with clients around the world from its New York office, with a global network of local counsel. Mr Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice", the leading treatise on international family law in the U.S., and "The Hague Abduction Convention", published by the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a former law professor. The reports author, from the Danish Ministry of Finance, tells ITR - in his personal capacity - that more robust policies are needed to tackle what is a serious global problem. International Tax Review received a record number of nominations this year for the 2017 Tax Controversy Leaders guide, reflecting the increasing amount of expertise in dealing with complex tax matters during a time of heightened controversy, with multinationals and tax authorities around the world busy challenging or defending tax strategies and viewpoints at various stages of a dispute. The global tax controversy landscape is only going to get more complex. As taxpayers and authorities adjust to new standards and mechanisms, enhanced enforcement actions, new reporting requirements, automatic exchange of information, and multilateral risk assessment processes are likely to lead to increased audits and disputes, creating new challenges and corresponding uncertainty for taxpayers. Aside from BEPS, state aid cases in the European Union, disputes arising from the controversial diverted profits tax in the UK and Australia, and maybe soon New Zealand too, are creating debate over the right approach to tax practices. Moreover, new indirect tax regimes in India and the Gulf Cooperation Council's member states will inevitably lead to disputes that will ultimately evolve how the rules are applied. In the US, meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service continues to pursue transfer pricing issues and is aggressively litigating such cases. However, its loss against Amazon showed it cannot always win, and its pending appeal against Medtronic's TP practices will once again raise debate and interest in TP matters. Reliable expert advice regarding such tax disputes and litigation has never before been more valuable for businesses and governments alike. With all of this in mind, it is clear that taxpayers need access to lawyers and advisers with experience in all stages of tax controversy. The remit of tax controversy advisers now extends far beyond the courtroom with many taxpayers seeking advice on tax dispute prevention techniques. In addition, many tax controversy advisers provide services on tax audit management practices, global strategic planning of tax audits and disputes, tax risk management, analysis and disclosure, mutual agreement procedures, advance pricing agreements and alternative tax dispute resolution. Therefore, International Tax Review presents this seventh edition of the Tax Controversy Leaders guide so you can obtain reliable and trustworthy advice in each of the areas highlighted above, in each of the 60 jurisdictions covered. Top News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) Facial and Body Recognition Patent Application Received a Notice of Allowance San Diego, CA - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) with GBT Tokenize Corp. ("GBT/Tokenize") received a notice of allowance for its facial and body recognition non-provisional patent application. Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Enters into Agreement with Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most Recognized Auto Groups, to Distribute the Mullen I-GOTM in Ireland and United Kingdom BREA, Calif. - November 9, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle manufacturer, announces today that it has entered into an agreement to appoint Newgate Motor Group, one of Ireland's most recognized dealership groups, as marketing, sales, distribution and servicing agent for the Mullen I-GO in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) AI Driven Financial Technology Patent Application Received a Notice of Publication San Diego, CA - November 3, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) received a notice of publication for its financial software patent application. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire The New Development Bank (NDB) announced on late Wednesday the approval of $1.4 billion loans to fund four projects in China, India, and Russia. China obtained around $470 million from the latest approval. The loan will be used on river control measures, such as flood prevention and water quality improvement for the Xiangjiang River, the main river flowing through central Chinas Hunan province, and a carbon-reduction program in the countrys eastern province of Jiangxi. China has a total of four NDB-funded programs to date. India also received a $470 million loan, which is expected to bring clean water to over 3 million in 3,000 villages, while about $460 million will be used to help update Russias justice system. The loans will be injected to bolster the sustainable development of the applicants, and are in line with growth path of members and bank policies, said the NDB President K.V. Kamath. The bank will continue to support the projects that benefit peoples livelihood in BRICS countries, Kamath added. Headquartered in Chinas financial hub Shanghai, NDB opened in 2014 to finance mainly green energy and infrastructure projects in BRICS countries. A big brawl is about to go down between Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge, and apparently it was all caught on camera.reports that during the upcoming cast trip to Iceland, which will be airing later this season on. Apparently, Gunvalson and Judge got into such a huge fight, that the two allegedly have refused to film with each other again.They got into a screaming match towards the end of filming, and punches were almost thrown. They had to be stopped by the other girls before it got out of hand! a source told. Tamra accused Vicki of leaking secrets and, of course, Vicki adamantly denied ever doing any such thing.Several of the girls came home in tears. They are more divided than ever, the insider added. Things could not possibly get any worse.If you recall, this is certainly not the first trip that turned into complete disaster for the cast of RHOC. Last season, during a trip to Ireland, Team Tamra consisting of Judge, Shannon Beador and former RHOC star Heather Dubrow battled Gunvalson and her partner-in-crime, Kelly Dodd, during the getaway.Photo Credit: Bravo Trade Minister Pat Breen has opened the Ireland-Estonia Tech Bridge event in Enterprise Ireland. The event takes place at the beginning of the Estonian delegations two-day visit led by Estonian Deputy Secretary General for Communications and State Information Systems Simm Sikkut and Estonian tech companies led by Enterprise Estonia. The focus of the visit is the creation of links between Irish and Estonian tech companies and the exploration of joint opportunities in fintech, e-government and cybersecurity. Fifteen Enterprise Ireland client companies will attend the event and will be joined by Estonian companies; Cybernetica, Guardtime, Estate Guru, Goswift, Icefire, Finora Technologies, Paytailor, TreasuryView and Key Capital. Minister Breen said: "Ireland and Estonia have great synergies in the digital technology sector which this event aims to develop further. Estonian institutions and companies are globally recognised for their expertise in cybersecurity and fintech technology. "Ireland is an important European hub for both sectors, thanks to the presence of multinational and Irish-owned cyber security enterprises and the Irish Financial Services Centre. "Trade initiatives, such as this Ireland-Estonia Tech Bridge, are central to the drive to open doors and create new business alliances within the EU as part of the Irish Governments strategy to reduce our overall reliance on the UK and give Irish companies the innovation and marketing muscle to pioneer and expand into existing and new markets in the EU and globally." Donald Trump has confirmed he wants to bring US corporate tax rates closer to Irish levels. The US President has named Ireland as one of America's international competitors, as he outlined plans for tax reforms. He has previously said he wants US business taxes reduced to 15%, in a bid to bring American multinationals back to US soil. A rate between 20% and 25% is thought to be more likely. Announcing his plans, President Trump claimed American businesses pay too much tax compared to other countries. "The United States is now behind France, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico South Korea and many other nations (in the payment of corporation tax)," he said. "Also with these countries, and almost every country, we have massive trade deficits - numbers that you would not believe." Of other countries' tax reforms, he said: They made their taxes lower and far lower, in many cases, than ours and jobs left our country. Large corporations changed their business models by exporting jobs to other countries and then shipping their goods back to the United States, where theyd make massive profits, and they wouldnt be paying tax to us either. "Today, we are still taxing our businesses at 35% . . . in some cases, way above 40% when you include state and local taxesBut this administration is going to change that." Mr Trump's former financial advisor Stephen Moore said the President would have a hard time getting the changes through Congress, however, as "Democrats are opposing anything Donald Trump wants to do". Leaders of BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are scheduled to meet in Xiamen, a resort city in Fujian province, from Sept 3 to 5. Earlier in August, BRICS commerce ministers also reached agreements at a meeting in Shanghai to boost trade, investment, e-commerce and cooperation in intellectual property rights. Here are 10 cases of Chinese companies exploring BRICS markets beyond their home market this year, which can offer a glimpse of business dynamics in this bloc. Let us take a look. No 1 Gezhouba discloses its plan to buy Brazilian water utility China Gezhouba Group [Photo/The Beijing News] Construction conglomerate China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd announced on March 30 that its subsidiaryChina Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment Co Ltdwill spend up to $200 million to acquire 100 percent stake of Sistema Produtor Sao Lourenco, a water supply company in Brazil, China Daily reported. Gezhouba added that it would also be able to acquire the operational rights of the water supply program in Sao Paulo state. The water system, once completed, will serve 1.5 million local residents, according to the Sao Paulo state government's official website. Coroner for North Cork, Dr Michael Kennedy, was told yesterday that an extensive Garda file in relation to the death of Slovakian national Ludovit Pastor near a filling station in Fermoy last February is now being considered by the DPP and a decision is awaited. Inspector Joe OConnor was granted an adjournment of the inquest pending a decision from the DPP, and the conclusion of any possible criminal proceedings which may be recommended. Mr Pastor, 40, who had been living with his wife and two daughters in Ireland since 2010, was fatally injured following a row at the truck stop near the Amber filling station on the Dublin Road, Fermoy, Co Cork, on February 22 last. It is understood Mr Pastor and a friend confronted two truck drivers who had pulled in for a rest around 10.30pm, and a verbal row ensued. Mr Pastor and his friend left the truck stop area and it is understood they went to the home of the Polish man nearby and returned about half an hour later with a metal bar. A fight broke out and they were disarmed of the bar before Mr Pastor suffered a single blow from the bar and collapsed. Garage staff raised the alarm and emergency services and gardai arrived. Mr Pastor was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor at 11.50pm. Assistant state pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, told Dr Kennedy yesterday that Mr Pastor died from traumatic brain injury with severe internal head injuries due to blunt force trauma to the head, with heart disease a contributory factor. Gardai immediately sealed off the truck stop and recovered an iron bar nearby. It has been subjected to a detailed forensic examination and CCTV footage from the area was also harvested and examined. A number of truck drivers who had been sleeping at the truck stop at the time, and who were disturbed by the incident, were interviewed by gardai. Their investigations led to the arrest around 4am of two Polish truck drivers, aged 43 and 29, who were taken to separate Garda stations for questioning about the incident. Both were subsequently released without charge. Dr Kennedy offered his condolences to Mr Pastors wife, who wept during the brief hearing yesterday. A Garda family liaison officer has been appointed and Dr Kennedy said the inquest will proceed to full hearing once any possible criminal proceedings are complete. He offered his condolences to Mr Pastors wife on the death of her husband at such a young age and in such tragic circumstances. A government minister from New Zealand has been in touch, said Anthony Flynn, CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless, the group behind the campaign. Im very, very disappointed with the political will. This campaign has touched a nation and its touched peoples hearts through stories like Davids. This week a video of nine-year-old David went viral when it showed him struggling to access and move around his emergency accommodation on account of his walker, which he needs because of his cerebral palsy. David is seen trying to walk up steps with his walker. It is understood a ramp is to be installed at the B&B as a result of the attention his case received. And the only response weve had is a ramp. A ramp? A ramp is not the answer, said Mr Flynn. He said the solutions to end economic homelessness exist but the political will needed to implement them are not. Eight thousand people are homeless (2,895 of whom are children), that is not a very big number in the larger context. The issue is political will. Theres no political will, said Mr Flynn. I understand politicians are on holidays but homelessness doesnt take a holiday. Weve had six ministers with changing portfolios in five years. Weve had 29 failed housing initiatives and were going to have a 30th with the rebranding of Rebuilding Ireland, he said. The housing activist, who set up Inner City Helping Homeless four years ago to address the rising number of rough sleepers in the capital, said he is disappointed with the low number of politicians who attended the campaigns events so far in August. At a public meeting we held two weeks ago we invited every TD in the country and councillors from Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council and there were one TD and some councillors. It was a very poor show. An event we held on Monday night, same again, one TD showed up and some Social Democrats, he said. The OCI board met last night to discuss the fallout of the Judge Carroll Moran report into the Rio ticketing scandal, which has cost the organisation 1.5m to date. The board also sought guidance if it can break a contract signed by Mr Hickey in 2016 with banned ticket agent THG, owned by businessman Marcus Evans. But in relation to Mr Hickey, it denied a report that it was seeking to remove Mr Hickey from his senior post with the IOC. The OCI made it clear last night that it has no role in the matter, as Mr Hickey is not a representative of their body on the IOC board. We have not and are not triggering a process. We have no powers in this area, a spokeswoman told the Irish Examiner. The OCI has not initiated any process to remove Mr Hickey from his international role nor will it. Mr Hickeys membership of the IOC is a matter for the IOC only. The OCI board will meet this evening to consider the Moran report and related matters, the OCI said. A report in yesterdays Irish Times had claimed the OCI would agree to forward a copy of the Moran report to the IOC ethics commission. A spokesman for the IOC said its ethics commission procedure is still ongoing as are the criminal proceedings in Brazil and Mr Hickeys self-imposed suspension still applies. A statement to the Irish Examiner said: Mr Hickey has suspended himself from all positions in the IOC and the Olympic movement. The self-suspension was confirmed by the IOC executive board. Mr Hickeys self-suspension is still valid and we will not speculate on the potential next steps as the proceedings in Brazil and the IOC ethics commission procedure are still ongoing. The OCI board met last night to discuss the publication of the Moran Report into the Rio ticketing scandal and the wider ticketing arrangements for future games. Led by new president Sarah Keane, the OCI board is expected to consider legal advice on the controversial deal done by Mr Hickey and THG for ticket sales at future Olympics until 2026. At a press conference earlier this month, Ms Keane and other board members said the deal was never passed by the OCIs executive committee. The board is seeking legal advice on whether the controversial deal can be declared void. Mr Hickey temporarily stepped down from his position with the IOC after he was charged with ticket touting, ambush marketing, theft, tax evasion and money laundering last year. The report, conducted by Judge Carroll Moran, concluded the OCIs ticket seller for Rio 2016, Pro10, was not genuine and was used to disguise the continuing role of the Marcus Evans-owned agency THG, which had been rejected by the Rio organising committee as ticket sellers. Should Mr Hickey return to the IOCs executive board, he would be an ex-officio member of the OCI, Ms Keane said. An Oireachtas committee has decided to ask Sports Minster Shane Ross to request Judge Moran to examine the deal agreed by Mr Hickey tying the OCI to THG. An Inconvenient Truth: warning of more extreme weather as climate change effect hits home read the front page headline over this newspapers report on the Donegal floods last Thursday. It was astonishing. Climate change almost never makes headlines in Ireland. A direct connection between a severe climate event and the changing climate is almost never made. This newspaper did just that while carefully pointing out that you cant fully explain one climate event by analysing increased greenhouse gas emissions. What you can say without fear of contradiction is, to quote Al Gores latest film on the climate crisis, Every storm is different now because it takes place in a warmer, wetter world. It was a surreal experience to sit in a nearly empty cinema in Dublin on Tuesday night watching An Inconvenient Sequel: truth to power while the images of Texas and Louisiana on the news channels got worse and worse. Eighteen dead in apocalyptic floods. US President Donald Trump, who pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement saying climate change was not a priority surveying the flood damage and announcing: Theres never been anything so expensive in our country before or anything so historic. Homes are surrounded by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. When the point rammed home by Al Gore against endless images of American first responders in wellies from Miami to New York is that never before, never again are, in this context, the words of a prize fool. In the past few years the US has had one once in 1,000 years climate event and two once in 100 years climate event which either points to an incredible streak of bad luck or climate change. I wonder how the government sloshes through this and says nothing is happening, comments Gore as he talks to officials in Miami whose expensive plans for new raised highways will be washed away under most conservative climate modelling. As I came home from the cinema the horror of the floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh was beginning to hit home. 1,200 people dead already. Mumbai at a standstill as roads turn into rivers and waterfalls and the paediatric unit of a major hospital is evacuated. Its the poorest suffer first and worst, of course. No matter how bad things get here, the Irish are not among them. Ive no doubt, however, that some of the inhabitants of Burnfoot, Co Donegal will identify easily with Gores descriptions of Noah-like floods and even rain bombs. So far 47 families in Donegal have registered as displaced and some will not get back into their homes for a long time. The cost of repairing the damage will run to many millions and of course, for these families, some damage can never be repaired. Carnage in Carndonagh where a number of cars and a bus were destroyed in the flash flooding in Donegal. The usual finger-pointing is going on the council wasnt prepared, the emergency services werent prepared when no one can possibly prepare for a months rain to fall in a couple of hours. The doubt must stop. Giving in to the petro-chemical industrys carefully sponsored ambiguity on the climate crisis must end. We are right now in the middle of a climate crisis, which is the biggest existential threat humanity has ever faced. Its going to get much worse. But we still have it in our power to make worse better than it would otherwise be. We must, or our childrens children will shout, with Al Gore, What were you thinking that you didnt hear what Mother Nature was screaming at you? Weve got to comply with our commitment under the Paris Agreement to be carbon neutral by 2050. All thats happened so far is that the Government has published a National Mitigation Plan which says we know where we have to get to but we dont know how. Which is, admittedly, better than saying we know where were going and its out of the Paris Agreement. What we need in the wake of last weeks floods here and this weeks floods in the US and India, Bangladesh and Nepal is for awareness of the climate challenge to be inherent in every Government decision and every Government statement. RTE must urgently adopt a new policy on man-made climate change which reflects the 97% certainty with which it is reported by the worlds best scientists. Instead its weather reports almost never betray an awareness of the shocking underlying trends. And its news and current affairs programming is frequently 30 years out of date. Take, for example, the episode of Claire Byrne Live on which I was a panellist in May, which opened with the headline: Do you dare to question climate change? The hook for the show was an article by Matt Dempsey in The Farmers Journal which reported an argument made by US scientist and climate denier, Richard Lindzen, that the emission of methane from livestock does not cause significant climate change. Lindzen had been brought into Ireland by a new climate denial organisation called the Irish Climate Science Forum. As it happens, Lindzen also likes to question the impact of smoking on the incidence of lung cancer. On this evidence, RTE put together a show with two classic panels, one for and one against as if there were still a 50:50 debate on man-made climate change. I was joined by broadcaster Duncan Stewart on the for side; Matt Dempsey was joined on the against side by TD and turf-cutter Michael Fitzmaurice, who said he questions an awful lot about man-made climate change. When Claire Byrne turned to me for my opening comments, I said I didnt so much have a problem with Matt Dempsey and his private newspaper as with RTE, funded by the taxpayer as a public service broadcaster. She countered that the shows poll had shown 34% of people didnt see climate change as a serious threat in their lifetime. Ive been shouting inside ever since: Dont you have a role to play in changing that? The stakes are very high. There are huge vested interests in the petrochemical industry but there is in the sun and wind a multiple of the energy the world needs. In Ireland, farming as we know it is going to have to change, and that isnt going to be easy. We have to remember, by way of perspective, that farmers would be wiped out by catastrophic climate change, with the smallest taking the biggest hit. Now is the time that we must speak truth to power or be inconvenient as Al Gores Twitter hashtag says. Last week, this newspaper did just that and I am proud to be published on its pages. Gore quotes Martin Luther Kings saying that No lie can live forever. The race is now on to kill the climate lie before it kills human life on this planet. What we need in the wake of last weeks floods is for awareness of the climate challenge to be inherent in every Government decision Earlier this week, I was at the Ryzen Pro launch in New York from AMD. I feel a tad vindicated because a few years back, I suggested that AMD resource a desktop processor to compete with Intel because Intel was focused on creating a smartphone part. I had severe doubts at that time that Intel would be successful because it lacked Microsoft support, but the effort was pulling so many resources from PCs that the PC market was stalling; it left an opening for a competitor like AMD to move in. Eventually, AMD came to that same conclusion and Ryzen consumer, Threadripper, and most recently Ryzen Pro resulted. At the event Dell, HP and Lenovo, the big three in terms of commercial desktops, were on stage in support of AMDs efforts because they know that selling more desktops is tied to users needing something their existing machine doesnt have, In this case, its all about cores. Desktop PCs and Users For those who dont push the envelope in performance laptops, computers that are several years old continue to meet their needs. Email, Word and filling out expense reports dont push the envelope in performance and the big reasons for those users to upgrade are battery life, carry weight and, increasingly, security. Desktop users are increasingly focused on performance. These are engineers, analysts, graphic artists, architects, and animators who use every ounce of performance and whose work is tied to the ability of the firm to meet timelines and objectives. For them, performance is often the difference between success and failure. Because of that, it has often troubled me that the industry made a massive pivot to laptop PCs and seemed to forget these critical employees. People who push the performance envelope tend to be critical to the success of the industry that supports them. They arent large in numbers, but they are massive in terms of impact, for their firms and the industry as a whole. Users in Support Every good launch has significant user advocacy to put the product in perspective and showcase that there is, in fact, a market for the related product. On stage in this case were Heineken, Kearney Clinic, Schneider Digital, Jellyfish, Qarnot Computing and 42. Each company spoke to the critical need for a system with more available cores because each firm either uses critical applications that are massively threaded or has the need to run large numbers of concurrent applications. Firms like Jellyfish, which works on the current group of Star Wars movies, were obvious in terms of their need for something that could handle lots of threads. They can take a day to render a frame and they use thousands of cores in their work. Kearney was interesting because this wasnt medical research that was driving the need, that clearly would be performance limited. It was administration. Apparently, just managing patients has become a massive core consumer as the related applications have become more performance oriented. 42 was particularly interesting. It is a multi-national school focused on a new way of transferring knowledge to students. There are apparently no professors or tests, but a project-based method. So, the students learn by creating new projects. One project is called J-Gravity, which is focused on creating a new rendering of the Janus model of the universe. This model is currently using 1,024 computers to render and the performance increase that Ryzen has provided has been extremely well received. (Im fascinated with the 42 teaching model.) OEMs in Support This is the first time Ive seen all three PC OEMs on stage in support of an AMD commercial launch. That alone makes this a fascinating event. Dell was up first and wanted to chat about the decline in desktop computers. Currently, it is 51 percent of the market and declining; by 2020, it is expected to be 49 percent and in China, the fastest growing market in the word, will decline from just over 75 percent of the market to just under 75 percent of the market in that same time frame. Im kind of wondering at this point whether fastest growing is somehow tied to the massive focus on performance over portability in China. Dell is apparently all in on AMD, as it has all-in-ones, gaming machines and servers using the technology. Dell was followed by HP, the most loyal of the PC vendors to AMD and this is likely somewhat related to its incredible turnaround. Dell spoke about going back to a startup mentality at the firm since it was spun out as a separate company focused on PCs and Printing. I find it fascinating that both of those industries are in decline, but HP outgrew Apple this last quarter. Someone should seriously reconsider that whole PC is dead thing. HP spoke to the need to have PCs that would appeal to users again and talked about a focus on millennials, who will define the industry going forward. HP is putting AMDs technology into the products targeting its best customers who, apparently, (based on the last session), are extremely focused on performance, security and reliability as they build their respective offices for the future. HP tightly focused on user needs, which may also explain why it is doing so well now. HP was followed by Lenovo. While both HP and Dell spokespeople were product guys, Lenovos spokesperson was out of marketing. Lenovo spoke to competition and how it was getting its butt kicked because its commitment to AMD lagged Dell and especially HP. This is a massive change for Lenovo, which is fully embracing the AMD line in the commercial space. What was also different is that Lenovo focused on laptops, and given that this is a desktop part launch, I was suddenly wondering if it has missed a meeting. Interesting stat: IBM sold 25M ThinkPads while it owned the brand. Lenovo has sold 100M and is launching its first AMD-powered ThinkPad. You have to love a marketing guy; he then brought a pre-production version on stage and after pointing out that it was extremely expensive and relatively fragile, tossed it across the stage to bounce off the floor saying, its still a ThinkPad. Nicely done. Wrapping Up: Ryzen Pro Is Different for AMD This is a very different part from AMD. Historically, the firm provided good enough technology at a value price. Ryzen has many competitive advantages and still an attractive price. But Im not yet sure the OEMs fully grasp this change, and some of the advantages, like hardware-based security and a near bullet proof way to assure the BIOS isnt compromised, were underplayed. It was also fascinating to see some of the most interesting products come from systems integrators. They built full-on workstations which, particularly for Threadripper, are likely the sweet spot for that technology. They did seem to get it. AMD is back. It may take a bit before AMDs partners fully grasp what that means. Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle, on Facebook and on Google+ As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. Close BRICS cooperation still has a promising future given its significant contribution to the world economy and an ever-improving cooperation mechanism, despite pessimistic voices from some Western media, Peoples Daily reported on Aug. 30. Although some BRICS countries underwent economic slowdown and development problems in recent years, some Western media are still short-sighted, saying BRICS cooperation has reached its limit. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) pointed out that the BRICS economies contributed to more than half to the world economy growth in the past decade, and their average economic growth reached 5.1 percent in 2016, well above the global average of 2.4 percent. The economic slowdown of the BRICS countries was to a great extent caused by change in international financial circumstances and economic structural adjustment in order to achieve sustainable growth, and not by cash flow problems, debt crises, and insufficient demand like in the developed countries. BRICS countries have three long-term advantages in future development, including a large population42.88 percent of the total world population, abundant natural resources, and a huge market. The BRICS cooperation mechanism continues to improve, and close cooperation among members on economic and trade, politics, culture, and network security, as well as on counter-terrorism, all of which have contributed greatly to world peace, stability, and prosperity, has been established in recent years. The establishment of the BRICS Business Council, New Development Bank (NDB), and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) all offered important impetus for development of BRICS cooperation in the future. In addition, it is biased for some media to say that China plays a dominant role in the BRICS bloc because it has the largest economic volume and the most rapid development among the five countries. NDB, for example, was established based on equal contribution of capital and democratic decision-making, a sharp contrast to some Western countries monopoly in the IMF and the World Bank. Although NDBs headquarters is in Shanghai, its first president and chairman of the council are elected from other member countries rather than China for the sake of fairness. BRICS members always seek reciprocity, mutual benefit, and win-win results through cooperation based on equality, democracy, mutual respect, and common progress instead of dominance. 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... By continuing to browse or by clicking "Accept," you agree to our site's privacy policy. RALEIGH Whether its a 30-year-old woman who has no time for doctors visits, or an embarrassed teen who doesnt want to tell her parents she wants to use birth control, Nurx brings the doctors visit to their palms and eliminates a trip to the pharmacy. Nurx is a startup focused on making birth control more accessible through an app, according to a company statement. After talking to one of Nurxs licensed doctors, either by its messaging feature or by phone, teens and women can get birth control shipped to their homes, according to Nurxs website. It automatically refills the prescription about every three months. Users must answer a few medical questions and upload identification before getting a prescription. User information remains confidential, according to its website, and Nurx encrypts users conversations and transactions. In North Carolina, girls at any age can get birth control from a medical provider and without a parents permission, yet many do not get a prescription for fear of their parents finding out, Nurx said in its statement. This birth control app makes it easy for teenagers to get birth control without their parents finding out. Nurx lets users choose from several types of birth control, offering it through a combination pill, a progestin-only pill, a ring, a patch or emergency contraception. The cost of birth control can be as low as $15 for users without health insurance, while those with health insurance can get the birth control for free or pay only the co-payment. The greater goal is to improve access to patients but also to improve the efficiency of our health care system, Jessica Knox, the Nurx medical director, told ABC 11. Nurx is now available in North Carolina, Texas, California, New York, Washington state, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. In the next few weeks, Nurx plans to expand to 20 more states, according to its statement. Users can download the app at the AppStore and or go directly to Nurx.com to set up an account. 2017 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Visit The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) at www.newsobserver.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): _____ Topics: t000171831,t000002827,t000003813,t000412858,t000002865,t000002870,g000065627,g000362661,g000066164 SURF CITY A 20-year-old from Washington state was arrested Wednesday after attempting to flee from Surf City police into the ocean, according to a release from the department. The release stated that around 4:15 p.m., officers initiated a traffic stop in the 500 block of North Shore Drive. Officers observed illegal contraband within the passenger area of the vehicle, the release stated, and they asked the driver, Zachary Kingsbury, of Lynnwood, Wash., to exit the vehicle. While interviewing Kingsbury, he reportedly fled the scene of foot onto the beach and then into the ocean. The department deployed a drone to the scene to maintain visual contact with him, according to the release, but after an hour, Kingsbury was reportedly 4,000 feet offshore and officers lost visual contact. Police Chief Ron Shanahan said in the release the incident then became a rescue operation. Pender EMS and a fire rescue boat, along with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter were dispatched. Surf City Fire Department and North Topsail Beach Police Department also assisted in the operation, the release stated. According to the release, after an extensive search by first responders, Kingsbury was taken into custody around 7:45 p.m. near Wicker Street beach access in North Topsail Beach about two and half miles from where he was first stopped by police. Shanahan said he was transported to Pender County jail. Charges were not yet available as of 9:30 p.m. According to a report by Q13 Fox in Seattle, Kingsbury surrendered to law enforcement in March and is facing charges in an armed home invasion in Seattle. Washington state court records show on Aug. 23, a bench warrant was issued for Kingsbury for failing to appear. 2017 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. An Oregon appeals court agreed Wednesday that a couple must surgically lacerate their dogs' vocal cords in a procedure known as "debarking" or "devocalization," following a lawsuit brought by neighbors annoyed by the pets' "incessant barking." The ruling upheld a lower court order. The case began in 2002, when Karen Szewc and John Updegraff began breeding Tibetan Mastiffs, large fluffy dogs often employed to protect sheep from predators, at their home in Rouge River, Oregon, about 150 miles south of Eugene. The married couple's neighbors, Debra and Dale Krein, quickly grew tired of the dogs' barking. According to the Kreins, the "dogs bark[ed] uncontrollably for long periods of time while defendants [were] away from the residence," court documents state. But they weren't the first ones to take action against the dog owners. In both 2004 and 2005, Jackson County cited Szewc for violating a county code provision on public nuisance "by allowing two of her dogs to bark frequently and at length," according to court documents. Szewc argued the provisions didn't apply to her because she ran a farm on the couple's 3.4-acre parcel of land, which includes sheep, goats and chickens. Farms fall under different ordinances. The Jackson County Circuit Court rejected this argument, saying the property was not a farm, ordered her to pay $400 and to debark the two offending dogs or to move them to a different area. It is unclear if she debarked these dogs, but in 2012, the Kriens filed a lawsuit against Szewc and Updegraff, claiming they had not taken the necessary actions to prevent the dogs from barking. At that point, there were at least six dogs on the property, all either Tibetan or Pyrenean Mastiffs, the Oregonian reported. Again, the dog owners argued that they were not subject to the dog barking ordinance because they were running a farm. The Kreins claimed the dogs often began barking at 5 a.m., sometimes waking the couple. Relatives refused to visit, and their children hated being around the house, according to the Oregonian. They recorded the barking to prove it. "The dogs are my employees," Szewc told the Oregonian. "We do not have the dogs to harass the neighbors. We have the dogs to protect our sheep." "The next line of defense is a gun. I don't need to use a gun, if I can protect my sheep with dogs," she added. "This is a passive way of protecting livestock." In April 2015, a jury sided with the Kreins and ordered Szewc and Updegraff to pay them $238,000 in damages. Also in response to the suit, Judge Timothy Gerking ordered the couple to debark the mastiffs, since they hadn't stopped them from barking using other means such as shock collars. Szewc and Updegraff again argued unsuccessfully that the dogs were necessary because they had a farm. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals consisting of Joel DeVore, Chris Garrett and Bronson James upheld that ruling, agreeing that the dog owners were not running a farm. The question of whether debarking is an appropriate remedy was not at issue in the case. Debarking is a surgical procedure in which parts of a dog's vocal folds or cords are cut out in an effort to lower the volume of its barks or, more severely, to eliminate the dog's ability to bark altogether, according to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation. The procedure is partially prohibited in six states, according to the AVMF. Many animal welfare organizations oppose it, as do some veterinarians. "Debarking is not a medically necessary procedure," Jeffrey S. Klausner, chief medical officer of the Banfield Pet Hospital, told the New York Times in 2010. "We think it's not humane to the dogs to put them through the surgery and the pain. We just do not think that it should be performed." Wednesday's ruling left some animal rights activists reeling. "We are just shocked," David Lytle, a spokesman for the Oregon Humane Society, told the Oregonian. The budget deficit for the year ending Sept. 30 is expected to be $693 billion, or 3.6 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. That's up from the 2016 deficit of $603 billion, which was 3.2 percent of GDP. The budget deficit's most recent peak was in 2009, when it hit $1.4 trillion, or 9.8 percent of GDP, which was driven by a drop in revenue and a spike in spending caused by the financial crisis. The U.S. government traditionally runs a deficit, as policymakers spend more money than they bring in through revenue. But continually running a deficit adds to the government's ballooning debt. Republicans clashed repeatedly with President Barack Obama over the budget, vowing to eliminate the budget deficit over 10 years. Obama and Republicans did reach a number of spending agreements that either capped or slowed the rate of spending, but President Donald Trump vowed to accelerate these changes when he campaigned for office. He promised, among other things, to eliminate the U.S. government's $20 trillion debt by the time he left office, something leaders in neither party believe is possible. (His advisers have since backed away from that pledge). Since taking office, the Trump administration has done little to cut the deficit, and expected moves in the next few months by the White House and the Republican Party would widen the deficit, at least in the near term. Trump and top advisers have said that their plan to push sweeping tax cuts would lead to a drop in revenue, at least in the first few years (budget analysts believe the drop would last much longer than a few years). They have said that major tax cuts would boost economic growth, which would eventually lead to a surge in new revenue once companies use freed-up cash to invest and spend more money. Trump has said that such a short-term deficit shortfall would be necessary to "prime the pump" for future growth. The White House and congressional leaders are also discussing a major rescue package to respond to the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. They are not discussing - at least yet - offsetting any of this new money with cuts in other parts of the budget, which means that the emergency spending meant to rebuild Southeast Texas would also widen the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office believes the U.S. government is about to enter a period of steadily worsening budget pressures, caused by an aging population and rising health-care costs. This will continue to widen the deficit and - unless Congress changes tax or spending policy - raise the national debt. The U.S. government has borrowed so much money to offset these annual deficits that it is projected to pay $270 billion in interest on the debt this year. And the CBO projects that the U.S. government will pay close to $540 billion in interest on its debt in 2022. Two of the biggest parts of the budget are Social Security ($939 billion in 2017) and Medicare ($701 billion in 2017), but Trump has promised not to cut those programs. He has also vowed to boost military spending, which is one of the federal government's other big budget items. That means the Trump administration is relying, at least for now, on a big surge in economic growth to shrink the budget deficit. A surge in revenue could make the deficit problem less acute, but it isn't always so simple. Despite the economic growth recorded this year, budget analysts have been perplexed by a lower-than-expected level of tax receipts. Corporate tax receipts are essentially flat compared with the same period in 2016, despite the large profits that major companies are reporting. If new tax revenue isn't coming in, and more money continues to go out, the deficit strains will not go away. harvey-deficit Washington Post News Service (DC) 8/31/2017 11:25:29 AM Central Daylight Time After two months of interning with the Summerville Orchestra, Olivia Johnston was recently hired to replace the outgoing Nancee Adams as the community music organization's new associate director of marketing and communications. Read moreS'ville Orchestra's Olivia Johnston settles into new role This year's Nov. 8 election didn't present any unforeseen outcomes, at least as it pertains to Dorchester County Council races. However, the competition between Republican Rita May Ranck and Democrat Carlisle Harrison was one of the more thrilling ones in the State, as the latter temporarily Read moreNewly elected Councilmember Rita May Ranck ready to 'work' and 'listen' JURIST Guest Columnist Sarah Silverhardt of St. Johns University discusses the implications of continued ignorance of serial rapists on college campuses Unlike your Sunday marathon of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, this heinous crime was real. Two Virginia students both abducted and murdered, and both body remains were found five miles apart on a rural farm. Coincidence? Definitely not. During the fall of 2009, Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech University student, disappeared after she left a concert. Fast-forward five years later, on September 13, 2014, Hannah Graham, a sophomore at the University of Virginia, went missing from the downtown area of Charlottesville, Virginia. Thirty-five days later, DNA evidence connected Morgan Harrington, Hannah Graham, and an anonymous 2005 rape victim to one perpetrator: Jesse L. Matthew. Officials soon discovered that Matthews crimes dated back even earlier. In 2002, Matthew played football for Liberty University in Virginia, where he was kicked off the team after an alleged sexual assault. No criminal charges were filed but he was suspended before leaving the university. After transferring to Christopher Newport University, Matthew was again accused of sexual assault. As allegations were pending there, Matthew left before any charges were filed and an investigation could commence. The Jesse Matthew story epitomizes the campus serial rapist who moves from campus to campus raping and sexually assaulting women without ever getting caught under the flawed Title IX system. As horrific as his record is, Matthews commission of numerous rapes on or about college campuses is not at all exceptional. Unfortunately, serial sexual perpetrators are all too common in our colleges and universities. In a 2002 study [PDF] conducted by David Lasiak and Paul M. Miller, two clinical psychologists known for their research on campus sexual violence, 1,882 male students from a mid-sized university participated in a questionnaire about childhood experiences and adult functioning. To be classified as a rapist, the participant had to respond in the affirmative to particular behavioral questions that described sexual acts, without using words such as rape or assault. A series of questions followed regarding the participants age, number of victims and number of times the conduct happened. The results revealed that 6.4% of participants admitted to campus rape or attempted rape. Of admitted rapists, 63.3% confessed that they had committed multiple offenses against multiple victims or the same victim, totaling to approximately six rapes each. Thus, out of the entire sample of men in the study, a mere 76 men were responsible for an estimated 439 rapes and attempted rapes. This continued ignorance of serial rape on educational campuses is dangerous and harmful. Under Title IX, two particular flaws significantly contribute to the continuous serial rape problem. The first is non-existent information sharing between post-secondary campuses. Currently, if a student transfers at the end or during their Title IX proceedings for sexual violence charges, there is no systematic mechanism by which a new prospective college can learn about those alleged charges, proceedings or outcomes. At best, the student may self-report the pending allegations to an open-ended question on an application, but that is highly unlikely due to the students self-interest. Thus, the victimization continues elsewhere as the student becomes a potential danger to an entirely new student body and campus. Another flaw is the lenient punishment implemented by the schools for Title IX violations. Title IX gives post-secondary institutions the discretion to impose their own disciplinary procedures on responsible students. The Campus Sexual Assault Study [PDF] surveyed 5,446 undergraduate women and found that of the reported rape and sexual assault claims on college and university campuses, less than 1% of responsible perpetrators received disciplinary punishment or sanctions from the university. Implemented lenient punishments such as sensitivity training, book report assignments or probation from extracurricular activities are merely slaps on the wrist and have no significant deterring measure. The most severe punishment is expulsion, which is uncommon and at some schools, nonexistent. For example, since its foundation in 1819, the University of Virginia has never expelled a single student for rape or sexual assault, even in the case where the accused admitted to the crime. This failure to impose severe punishment and disciplinary actions amounts to tacit approval and contributes to the serial sexual violence epidemic on campus. Recently in 2015, Virginia and New York passed legislation in efforts to strictly hold sexually violent perpetrators accountable on college and university campuses. Both state laws dictate that colleges and universities are required to mark a students transcript if a student has been suspended or dismissed for sexual violence, or withdrawn from the school with pending allegations of sexual violence. The problem is that even though all schools within the states of Virginia and New York are bound to follow these procedures, the educational institutions in the rest of the country are not. Title IX entitles students to an education absent of discrimination; campuses rife with sexual violence deprive students of this. Transcript notations can provide a strong and effective message to perpetrators as well as victims only if all states choose to adopt this policy. Transcript notations must therefore be implemented as a federal action, as an extended component of Title IX, binding all colleges and universities across America. Colleges and universities need an efficient way to track students who have been found responsible for rape or sexual assault under Title IX. Thus, compelling schools to mark transcripts will solve information sharing because prospective schools will be put on notice about students disciplinary history, accept more liability, and in response, take more preventative measures. Moreover, the transcript notation itself will serve as a form of punishment that will impact the students academic future and act as a powerful deterrent on serial perpetrators. Transcript notions alone will not completely resolve the issue of campus sexual violence, however, it will make large strides in eliminating serial rapists and slapping a red flag on student perpetrators who are found responsible on college and university campuses. Nothing can be done for Hannah Graham or Morgan Harrington, but there are thousands of other women in need of saving on educational campuses. Sarah Siverman is a student at St. Johns University. Suggested citation: Sarah Silverhardt, Giving Serial Rapists a Permanent Mark on Educational Campuses , JURIST Student Commentary, Aug. 26, 2017, http://jurist.org/dateline/2017/08/Sarah-Silverhardt-college-campuses-serial-rapists.php JURIST Guest Columnist Attorney Benson Varghese of Varghese Summersett, discusses Texas new cyberbullying law Back in the day, a schoolyard bully was a students worst nightmare. Now, its cyberbullies that teens fear the most. Not only can cyberbullies remain anonymous, but they can strike at all hours of the day and night. With just a few keystrokes, they can threaten, taunt, harass and humiliate their target, causing severe emotional distress that, in some instances, has even led to suicide. According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the second leading cause of death for American teenagers and young adults. In the past, there was little law enforcement and school districts in Texas could do to deter cyberbullying. Thats about to change. Come September 1, student cyberbullying will officially be illegal in Texas and school districts will have more power to intervene in cyberbullying cases. Heres what every parent, student, educator and lawyer needs to know about the new cyberbullying law in Texas. 1. The new law is referred to as Davids Law in honor of a teenager who committed suicide. The legislation is named in honor of David Molak, a San Antonio teenager who committed suicide in January 2016 in the backyard of his parents home after enduring extreme and prolonged cyberbullying. His death was the result of cyberbullying that began at one school and continued even after he transferred to another school. No charges were ever filed due to the fact that the bullying was not physical and there was insufficient evidence to meet the elements of the online harassment statute. The Molak family sought change through legislation, specifically Senate Bill 179, which now makes cyberbullying a punishable offense. 2. Cyberbullying is the high-tech version of bullying. Cyberbullying is basically the electronic version of bullying. It occurs when an individual engages in bullying through the use of any electronic communication device, including a phone, computer, camera, e-mail, instant message, text message, social media or website. Some examples of cyberbullying could include: Sending viscous text messages, emails or instant messages about a student Spreading rumors or gossip by posting it to social networking sites Taking and sending embarrassing pictures or videos without permission Creating a fake profile and pretending to be another student 3. The definition of bullying is found in the Texas Education Code. Under Section 37.0832 of the Education Code, bullying is defined as an act or pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct, that: will physically harm another student, damage a students property, or place a student in fear of harm; is severe, persistent, or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment for the student; disrupts the educational process or orderly operation of a class room or school; or infringes on the rights of the victim. 4. The new law applies to bullying that is school-related. Its important to point out that Davids law doesnt apply to workplace bullying. It pertains to student bullying that occurs: on school property; during school sponsored or school-related activities on or off school property; on a school bus or vehicle used to transport students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activities. Davids law also applies to cyberbullying that occurs off campus and outside a school related activity if: it interferes with a students educational opportunities; or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related activity. 5. School districts must beef up their bullying policies. The law requires school districts to include cyberbullying in their district policies and to adopt districtwide policies and procedures that: prohibit bullying of a student; prohibit retaliation against anyone who provides information about a bullying incident; establish a procedure for notifying parents and guardians about bullying incidents; establish actions students should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying; set out available counseling options for victims, perpetrators, and witnesses of bullying; establish a way for students to anonymously report bullying; establish procedures for investigating and verifying reported incidents of bullying; prohibit disciplinary measures on a student who is a victim of bullying and used reasonable self-defense in response to the bullying; ensures that discipline for bullying a student with disabilities complies with federal law, including the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. 6. Parents must be notified if their child is a victim or perpetrator of bullying. Davids law requires school officials to notify a victims parent or guardian within three business days after a bullying incident. School officials must also notify the parent or guardian of the alleged bully within a reasonable amount of time. 7. The new law allows individuals to get a restraining order to stop the cyberbullying. Cyberbullying victims may seek quick relief against the cyberbully from the courts, which could issue a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction or permanent injunction to prevent further cyberbullying. The order can also compel a parent or guardian to take action to stop the perpetrators from cyberbullying. 8. Cyberbullies can face fine, jail time and expulsion. The new legislation amends Texas Penal Code 42.07, making cyberbullying a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up 180 days in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine. The offense becomes a Class A misdemeanor if the offender has a previous conviction for cyberbullying or if the victim was under 18 years old and targeted with the intent to make the victim commit suicide or hurt themselves. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine. Cyberbullies can also face expulsion or be sent to alternative school. Prior to the passage of this law, cyberbullying did not carry any criminal penalties. In 2011, lawmakers added the term cyberbullying to the Texas Education Code under the bullying umbrella, but the provision did not make the act illegal. Instead, it required school districts to develop policies to prevent and intervene in bullying and cyberbullying. Now that this law has been passed, individuals face potential fines and jail time for cyberbullying. 9. The new law goes into effect on September 1, 2017. On June 9, 2016, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott signed Senate Bill 179 into law, criminalizing cyberbullying. This law, along with all of the other recently passed legislation, goes into effect on September 1, 2017. Attorney Benson Varghese is the Managing Partner of Varghese Summersett, a criminal defense firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. He is also a prolific writer and speaker on a variety of topics related to criminal law. He writes regularly at his own Versus Texas blog. Suggested citation: Benson Varghese, Nine Things You Need to Know about Texas New Cyberbullying Law, JURIST Academic Commentary, August 30, 2017, http://jurist.org/forum/2017/08/benson-varghese-cyberbully-texas.php. This article was prepared for publication by Kelly Cullen, a JURIST Section Editor. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis [official website] on Tuesday released a statement [press release] declaring that a panel will be established to determine how to implement President Donald Trumps Military and Service by Transgender Individuals Presidential Memorandum [text] and that all currently serving members of the military will remain serving under the current policy until the panel has provided a report of its recommendations. The panel will include experts from with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. The implementation plan will promote military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law. Once Mattis receives the report, he will consult with the secretary of Homeland Security, followed by providing recommendations to Trump. Mattis will also be providing interim guidance regarding the memorandum to ensure the continued combat readiness of the force. Last week Trump formally issued [JURIST report] a memorandum to ban transgender individuals serving in the US military. In addition to the ban, Trump also prohibited the use of military resources funding sex reassignment surgical procedures for military members except to the extent necessary to protect the health of an individual who has already begun a course of treatment to reassign his or her sex. On Monday lawsuits were filed [JURIST report] against the transgender military ban by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN [Official websites], declaring that the ban violated the US Constitutions Fifth Amendment. The previous ban on transgender military service was lifted [JURIST report] last July under then-president Barack Obama, reversing a long-standing policy that prevented transgender persons from serving in the military and made a transgender identity grounds for discharge. Former prison nurse Jesse Vroegh filed a lawsuit [complaint] in Polk County District Court on Monday under the Iowa Civil Rights Act [text, Ch. 216] and equal protection clause of Iowa Constitution [text, Art. I, Section 6] claiming the Iowas Department of Corrections (DOC) discriminated against him due to his transgender identity. Vroegh claims he was denied access to mens restrooms, mens lockers rooms, and health care coverage for a medically necessary surgery despite the fact that the DOC offers similar surgery for non-transgender employees. According to the American Civil Liberties of Iowa, which filed the lawsuit on Vroeghs behalf, this is the first transgender rights suit filed since the Iowa Civil Rights Act was amended in 2007 to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Vroegh had originally filed a complaint [text, PDF] with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission claiming discrimination in July 2016. In April, however, the Commission responded that it was too controversial to allow Vroegh into male restrooms inciting him to file the current lawsuit. Vroegh was required to use a unisex, private restroom, which isolated him from his coworkers and did not provide him with shower access, after he spent years transitioning from female to male. Vroegh argues that the DOC cannot require employees to use private restrooms based on their gender identity and is seeking damages for emotional distress and injunctive relief to prevent further discriminatory policies in the DOC. Transgender rights have been an controversial topic in the US. In August US President Donald Trump [official profile] directed [JURIST report] the Secretaries of the Department of Defense (DoD) [official website] and Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] to continue policies banning transgender individuals from military service. In February the Trump administration revoked [JURIST report] the Obama-era guidelines requiring federally funded schools to treat gender identity as a students sex for purposes of Title IX. In March the US Supreme Court [official website] vacated[JURIST report] a lower court ruling in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. [SCOTUSblog materials], which concerns transgender restroom policies in school, after the rescission of the guidelines requiring school districts to permit students to the restroom of their choice in February. In May the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] affirmed an order[JURIST report] allowing a transgender male student to use the boys restroom. In May a Mississippi man was sentenced [JURIST report] to 49 years in prison in the first-ever conviction for a transgender hate crime. Uber [corporate website] confirmed on Tuesday that they are currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] for bribing foreign officials. The DOJ is seeking to determine whether Uber operated in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [text, PDF] over the course of the companys rapid expansion into foreign countries. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits the bribing of foreign officials as well as having an intent to bribe said officials. It is not clear which countries were the subject of the alleged bribes or what type of bribes were offered by Uber. Uber has faced a number of legal battles over its technology and organization after its recent rise to prominence. Since their inception, ride-sharing services like Uber have been among the most controversial business models [JURIST backgrounder] in recent history. In May a federal court ordered [JURIST report] the removal of an Uber engineer from the self-driving division of the company. The engineer in controversy may have stolen information from the self-driving company Waymo [corporate website] prior to his employment by Uber. Earlier in May the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued [JURIST report] a non-binding opinion finding that Uber is a transportation company subject to additional regulations and fines. Also in May the (DOJ) announced it had launched [JURIST report] a criminal investigation into Uber for the use of a software tool that helped drivers evade local transport regulators. The US Federal Trade Commission announced [JURIST report] in January that Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle a claim that the ride-hailing company had engaged in misleading tactics to recruit new drivers. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein on Tuesday urged [press release] people to refrain from violence against Myanmar security forces, for authorities to adhere to human rights law, and for authorities to prohibit use of provocative media usage in the northern regions of Rakhine state. According to Zeid, the acts of violence committed in northern Rakhine against Myanmar security forces could have been predicted and could have been prevented due to decades of persistent and systematic human rights violations [which] have almost certainly contributed to the nurturing of violent extremism. Allegations by the State Counselors Office insinuate that international aid workers help or support the violence, which, according to Zeid, place [international aid organizations] staff in danger and may make it impossible for them to deliver essential aid. In order to ensure that security forces adhere to human right laws, Zeid implore state authorities to instruct them to refrain from using disproportionate force, minimize damage and injuries, and respect the right to life. According to Zeid, since the outbreak of violence in northern Rakhine in October 2016, thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, with as many as 5,200 fleeing just last week. Human rights has been on the forefront of Myanmars new democratic government since ending a decades-old military rule. In November the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees urged [JURIST report] the Myanmar government to take immediate action in addressing human rights and humanitarian concerns in the northern part of the Rakhine state. In February UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng said [JURIST report] that the violence in Myanmars Rakhine state could amount to crimes against humanity. In March the UN Human Rights Council [official website] passed a resolution to investigate [JURIST report] potential human rights violations in Myanmar. However, in August the Myanmar government found [JURIST report] no crimes against humanity were committed during the violence in Rakhine last year. Two human rights experts with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] issued a statement [press release] Wednesday detailing their concern over websites, including many news sites, that have been shutdown or blocked by the Egyptian government. According to the report, as many as 130 sites have been blocked, including well-known sources of information as MadaMasr, RASSD, Al Watan and Huffpost Arabi, as well as the websites of human rights organizations such as Reporters without Borders, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and the Alkarama Foundation [official websites]. Egyptian authorities have responded to the criticism, claiming the limitations are necessary to combat terrorism [Madamasr report]. David Kaye and Fionnuala Ni Aloain, the authors of the OHCHR report, say the widespread shutdown of sites is an overreaction by Egyptian authorities. Limiting information as the Egyptian Government has done, without any transparency or identification of the asserted lies or terrorism, looks more like repression than counter-terrorism. In the case of the widespread blockings in Egypt, the blockings appear based on overbroad counter-terrorism legislation, and they lack any form of transparency and have extremely limited, if any, judicial control. The Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder] sparked a string of legal proceedings, many of which are still playing out. Last month an Egyptian court sentenced 43 individuals to life [JURIST report] in prison for crimes of vandalism, rioting and attacking Egyptian authorities. In April a Cairo criminal court sentenced [JURIST report] Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder] leader Wagdy Ghoneim to death, in absentia. In March former President Hosni Mubarak was released from prison after six years in custody after he was acquitted [JURIST reports] in a retrial of charges that he killed protesters during the civil uprising in 2011 that ended his 30-year reign. In January Egyptian activist and youth leader Ahmed Maher, known for his role in the 2011 revolution against the former president, was released [JURIST report] from prison following his arrest in 2013. Venezuelas National Constituent Assembly on Tuesday approved [press release, in Spanish] a decree rejecting the US economic sanctions and called for treason investigations into political actors for supporting the sanctions. The decree was passed unanimously [BBC report by the ANC. During the debate of the decree, members of the ANC denounced those who were critical of the government, including opposition party members and former supporters of the socialist government. Julio Borges, head of the opposition-controlled parliament, was accused of asking Goldman Sachs to stop buying Venezuelan bonds. The decree came in response to new sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trumps executive order [text] on Friday. Venezuela has experienced a significant amount of political unrest since the opposition gained control of the National Assembly in December 2015. In July Venezuelans voted to reject [JURIST report] a plan to rewrite the countrys constitution in a non-binding referendum. Earlier this month the ANC created [JURIST report] a Commission for Truth, Justice and Public Legitimacy, which critics claimed would be used to silence opposition. Also in August the US Treasury Department imposed [JURIST report] sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In May the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions [JURIST report] against Venezuelan Supreme Court justices for usurping democracy. Thirteen people have been killed in a town in Central African Republic, a local doctor said Sunday, as the toll from sectarian violence that has sparked fears of genocide continued to rise. The clashes took place in Bria, in the centre of the country 450 kilometres (280 miles) from the capital Bangui, between a majority Muslim rebel group and a predominantly Christian militia called the anti-Balaka. "Thirteen bodies were found on Saturday after violent fighting between self-defence forces and parts of Abdoulaye Hissene's FPRC," Michel Ambapo told AFP, referring respectively to the anti-Balaka and a faction of the rebel coalition known as the Seleka. "At least 20 wounded were admitted to hospital, most of them combatants on both sides and several civilians," the doctor added. All told, the number of deaths in the city since fighting erupted several days earlier "is around 30," Ambapo said. The UN's peacekeeping force, known as MINUSCA, did not report a toll. On Saturday, sources reported fatal clashes had taken place in several areas of the country in previous days. They included more than a dozen fatalities in the southeastern town of Zemio, Jean-Alain Zembi, a priest, told AFP. Six aid groups wrote to the United Nations last Tuesday, describing the former French colony as "on the brink of catastrophe". We "request your office take immediate action to prevent the country collapsing into another full-blown conflict", the letter said, adding that "at least 821 civilians have been killed since the start of the year." One of the world's poorest nations, Central African Republic was pitched into a war between Muslim and Christian militias in 2013, unleashed when President Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown by the Seleka. The Seleka in turn were ousted by a military intervention led by France, which was followed bloody reprisals by the mainly Christian anti-Balaka. Groups on both sides are now fighting for control of natural resources, including gold and diamonds, as well as regional influence. Half a million people, in a country of 4.5 million, have fled. On August 7, UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien warned that the situation was was such that he saw "early warning signs of genocide." Serbia said Thursday it was preparing a letter to a UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague over the poor health of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic, calling for his release if needed. Mladic, dubbed the "Butcher of the Balkans" for his role in the 1990s conflict, is in detention awaiting a verdict from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he was transferred in May 2011. The 74-year-old has denied the 11 charges against him, including two of genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic will send a letter to the ICTY over the next few days to demand that Ratko Mladic receives adequate care since he is seriously ill," a ministry spokeswoman told AFP. She said the ministry also supported the request of Mladic's defence lawyers for "a temporary release", if required, "so that he can be treated in Serbia". Serbia "will offer all the necessary guarantees that are required in this kind of case", the spokeswoman added. In March Mladic's lawyers called for him to be released for treatment for "life-threatening conditions". The exact nature of the illness was redacted from the court filing, but it said that new symptoms suggested he "could have a stroke or a cardiac event that could lead to a fatality". More than 100,000 people were killed and more than two million fled their homes in Bosnia's 1992-1995 inter-ethnic conflict. Prosecutors accuse Mladic of a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing to create a Greater Serbia, and he also stands accused of genocide for his role in the killings in Srebrenica, Europe's worst bloodshed since World War II. Previous attempts by Mladic's lawyers to secure his release have been unsuccessful. His verdict is expected in November. (Xinhua) 21:02, August 31, 2017 BEIJING, Aug. 31 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon here on Thursday, agreeing to establish comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Rahmon is paying a state visit to China from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 at the invitation of Xi. During his stay in China, he will attend the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries held in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China's Fujian Province. One police officer killed, two injured in Sacramento motel shooting CGTN photo A Sacramento County Sheriffs deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured in a shooting at a motel in Sacramento, California on Wednesday, local TV station Fox40 reported. Three suspects - two women and a man - have been detained. The shooting took place at around noon local time. The three officers were investigating a stolen vehicle case and were led to a motel room by the two female suspects they found in the vehicle, which was in the motel's parking lot. Police officers exchanged fire with a male suspect in the room, who was reportedly armed with a high-powered rifle, according to Fox40 citing a Sheriffs Office spokesperson. The unidentified gunman fled the scene in another car and was later shot and arrested by police. The motel has since been evacuated in order to clear out any potential suspects. Further investigation is underway. KEARNEY When he was young, Bill Ballou envisioned entering the ministry. He also thought it would be fun to run a bookstore. The books won. In 1974, he and his wife, Ila, moved to Kearney and purchased a bookstore at 2010 Central Ave. that they renamed The Solid Rock. Now, after 43 years, theyll retire Saturday and move to Chicago to be closer to family. They will miss the store and especially its customers, who came from Kearney, northern Kansas and all over Nebraska. Bill likes to tell the story of a British man who came in seeking a book he couldnt find in New York. Two days later, I had it for him, Bill said. We had a slogan: Dont say you cant find it until youve tried The Solid Rock. The Ballous did a lot more than sell books. I liked promotions. I liked to stir up something. That helped create interest in the store, Bill said. They had appreciation breakfasts for lawyers and firefighters and luncheons for womens groups and pastors. During one Sidewalk Sales, they brought in Regeneration, a Disney-sponsored musical group, to sing on a flatbed trailer. When Bill saw books advertised as available only on TV, hed order every copy available and sell them in the store. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, he and Ila brought in influential writers to speak at annual banquets that drew 1,100 people. They brought in Todd Burpo, the Imperial, Neb.-based author of the nonfiction book Heaven is for Real, to talk about Burpos sons vivid near-death experience in heaven. They sold 500 books, but their motive was promotion, not profit. I was always happy if these events paid for themselves, Bill said. He and Ila Boilesen met in summer 1970 at Word of Life camp, a spiritual site in Schroon Lake, N.Y. Bill, then 29, was a manager at the camp. Ila, then 22 and a native of Ord, had just graduated from college in South Carolina and got a job at Word of Life. Three months later, they married. Bill had left his sales job at William B. Eerdman Publishing Co. to work at the camp and then attend Lutheran seminary. In that publishing job, he had visited seminaries and colleges from Maine to the Carolinas. He had also worked in the retail/wholesale book departments for the Billy Graham Association. Some of the bookstores Id call on didnt look very successful. I thought that with all the products out there, someone would be able to have a decent bookstore, he said. Ila casually mentioned that to her farmer father in Ord. Secretly, he began poking around. Two months later, he learned that Lydias Books and Crafts, an 11-year-old store in Kearney, was for sale, so Ila and Bill came out to investigate. I remember walking up and down Central Avenue, talking to people, Bill said. They thought Kearney and Central Avenue had a positive attitude. People told me it was a good business town. On April 1, 1974, they bought Lydias and moved to Kearney. Six months later, they renamed it The Solid Rock. One year later, they bought the building and have since expanded it twice. I wanted the new name to be contemporary. I didnt want it to sound fuddy-duddy, Bill said. The stores subtitle, changed over the years, is currently Your inspirational department store. When they bought the store, people liked to study the Bible, so they stocked technical Bible study helps with concordances and commentaries and other reference books. If we could help people grow in their faith, we knew it would be good for the community and good for business, Bill said. Because long-distance calls were costly, they let people make free long-distance calls on the stores second phone line. They stocked videos for rent. Every two weeks, they updated the inventory on microfiche. Now, of course, we keep inventory online and can get any book in within two days, he said. As the years passed and book sales sagged nationwide, the Ballous gave The Solid Rock an online presence to stay competitive. Weve tried to keep up with technology and trends, Bill said. They still do. Two years ago, they created a section of Nebraska books when The Solid Rock was a Nebraska Passport site. This year, the Omaha World-Herald-published a book, Nebraska: 150 Years Told Through 93 Counties, which has been a best-seller. As for holiday items, the Ballous didnt display them until Thanksgiving years ago, but now, In the summer, we have customers from Ainsworth and Valentine who are waiting for the harvest, so we put Christmas items out as soon as they come in. Some people come here from obscure places, and some do their Christmas shopping before Halloween. Items such as Christian music, wall hangings, greeting cards and note paper remain perennial favorites, but people still like to browse and pick up books. They say you remember things if you read them in a book versus seeing them online, Bill said. Outside the bookstore, Ballou joined the Noon Rotary Club and traveled the globe on Rotary mission trips. He was one of four founders of Kearneys Habitat for Humanity affiliate. In 1983, he served on the Downtown Improvement Board. Ila raised their three children while doing the stores bookkeeping and accounting. She taught Sunday School at eFree Church. For 12 years, she chaired the Bibleland Carnival at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds that drew between 3,000 and 5,000 people every year. That, she said with a laugh, was my claim to fame. When they depart Saturday, Dick Reiter will take over as operations manager. Carlie Nelson, a six-year employee, is the new floor manager, but the Ballous still own the store and will be back now and then. We will provide a continued ministry to the Kearney retail community, Bill said. According to a Nebraska State Patrol press release, of the 12 businesses that were checked, three sold alcohol to a minor. One of those business failed to check the minors identification. For those in education, a new school year signals new beginnings. This is a time to set our sights higher as we consider our opportunities to transform the lives of young people and the communities we serve. Ive been an educator my entire professional life as a teacher and administrator, in K-12 and higher education, with experience in the U.S. and abroad. I arrived in Nebraska 2 years ago with little knowledge about this state or its people beyond the fact that together they had built a great public university that had the potential to change the world. Heres what I know today: That potential is as great as it has ever been. In fact, I know of few institutions that have the kind of impact the University of Nebraska has on the people and places it serves. Thats a credit to elected leaders who are working hard to serve our state and strengthen Nebraskas economy. And its thanks to parents, community leaders, alumni and thousands of donors who have supported their university for almost 150 years because they recognize the vital link between education and Nebraskas continued success. Whats most exciting is that together with our partners, the university can grow its impact on Nebraskas economy and quality of life even further. The fiscal challenges were facing only add to the urgency of joining hands on a plan to grow this state. Thats what Im thinking about in this new academic year. Im focused on our 52,500 students, Nebraskas future workforce, who come to us from all 93 counties and places around the world. Theyre the next generation of farmers and ranchers, nurses and doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs and scientists. They recognize a college degree is the surest path to success in an economy driven by new knowledge and innovation. And theyre here because they know they can get an outstanding education without accumulating big debts. Im focused on our economy and what we need to do to stay competitive. The University of Nebraska already grows our state by $3.9 billion annually, a 6-to-1 return on Nebraskans investment. I hear from legislators and taxpayers alike how proud even taken aback they are that their university provides that kind of return. We can do even more to leverage public investments with an unprecedented level of private support to move our state forward. Im focused on the University of Nebraskas role in addressing the health needs of the day. Were working to produce more health care professionals who are in especially short supply in rural areas. And the newly opened Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is making Nebraska a destination for cancer care and research a source of hope for the one of every two Nebraskans who will be diagnosed and a point of pride for our entire state. Im focused on research that benefits Nebraskans. Our work in improving crop yields is transforming agriculture here and abroad, bringing new resources to bear in the fight against global hunger. Our partnership with USSTRATCOM is yielding new methods for keeping our men and women in uniform safe. Our leadership in battling infectious disease means Nebraska is well-positioned to manage one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time. Nebraskas university must be a part of the solution for growing our way out of this challenging state economy. Im excited to work alongside Nebraskans to make that happen because I believe our best days are ahead. Hank Bounds is president of the University of Nebraska. Mike Cossey, of Bureau Veritas, uses an air monitor to check the quality of air at a police roadblock marking the 1.5-mile perimeter of the evacuation area around the Arkema Inc. chemical plant Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Crosby, Texas. The Houston-area chemical plant that lost power after Harvey engulfed the area in extensive floods was rocked by multiple explosions early Thursday, the plant's operator said. The Arkema Inc. plant had been left without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Picture shows high rise residential buildings with irregular blue glass on their facades in Chongqing on August 29, 2017. People are describing them as "honeycomb buildings". [Photo: IC] Kane Andres, 5, stands at the shore of Okanagan Lake in Kelowna on Tuesday after swimming at Tugboat Bay. The temperature of the lake has averaged 18.4 C this July and August two degrees warmer than last year. Canadian border guards are silhouetted as they replace each other at an inspection booth at the Douglas border crossing on the Canada-USA border in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, August 20, 2009. Canada's border agency has quietly begun sharing information with U.S. Homeland Security about the thousands of American citizens who cross into Canada each day. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck China will step up reform to support innovation by removing barriers to entrepreneurship and innovation. The decision was made at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. The meeting decided that the government will roll out a host of reform measures that have been piloted in eight areas, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta, since June 2016. Eligible foreign students with academic background equal to above master's degree could apply for work permit or work-related residence permit. The one-stop application and issuance of work permits for foreign experts will also be made available nationwide. The meeting also decided to pilot a program in the aforementioned eight areas that allows the foreign experts to apply for permanent residence if their income, tax payment and duration of work in China meet a certain standard. Chinese leaders have stressed the importance of the innovation-driven development strategy on multiple occasions. President Xi Jinping said a systematic, comprehensive and coordinated reform should be piloted with innovation-driven development as the target, innovation in science and technology at the core and the removal of systematic and institutional barriers as the main focus of efforts. Premier Li Keqiang called for major progress in systematic and institutional innovation, with focus on breaking the fragmentation in innovation resources allocation. "We must give full play to the role of innovation in spurring entrepreneurship and employment, and speed up the transformation of innovation into real productivity," he said. The meeting on Wednesday decided to enhance the support to the innovation of SMEs and micro enterprises with more targeted measures. One-stop investment and financing information service for SMEs and the pledge for patent right associated with loans, insurance and risk compensation from the finance will be made available nationwide. The protection of intellectual property rights will be taken to further heights, with measures to better safeguard legitimate rights of innovators and safeguard their legitimate earnings set to be promoted nationwide. Such measures include the one-stop service for patent examination, rights protection and verification, the innovation-oriented evaluation and incentive scheme within state-owned enterprises, and flexible remuneration regimes in colleges and research institutes to attract high-calibre talents or talents in urgent need. "We need to create a good environment for the innovation, which can also provide lasting support to the buoyant momentum of the economy. Innovation-driven development relies on the adjustment in industry and product structure and the transformation in model of development," Li said. The meeting on Wednesday has also called for local offices of the State Administration of Taxation and local taxation bureaus to further integrate their resources and provide one-stop services. "We need to create a fair and unprejudiced environment for market competition and enable social creativity to blossom in full," he said. "Efforts in cutting red tape, streamlining government function and enhancing compliance oversight over the years have paid off. We need to keep pushing it forward without any complacency, and foster market development with the help of innovation," he said. The premier asked government departments to build on their own expertise and render more enabling service to innovation. President Donald Trump points as he walks from Marine One across the South Lawn to the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, as he returns from Springfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jets and South Korean F-15 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan earlier this week, South Korea's military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP) China's new media platforms are required to strictly manage their editorial teams and are forbidden from outsourcing, renting or transferring their editorial business, China's top media regulator said Tuesday. "New media platforms affiliated with publishers must abide by the same standards as traditional media, implement the correct orientation of public opinion in every post and procedure, especially on their websites, Sina Weibo and WeChat," the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) announced on its website. New media affiliated with news publishers cannot outsource, rent or transfer their websites' editorial business, the SAPPRFT said. Those media need to strictly manage their editorial teams, verify their news through multiple sources and only publish stories when the orientation of public opinion is correct. On-duty reporters, editors, department heads and chief editors would be held accountable for posting unauthorized news reports, it said. The announcement also said media accounts must not make misleading, boastful or twisted headlines by using vague words. News on obscenity, gambling, violence and other content that damages social morality and violates national laws are prohibited from being published. FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2007 file photo, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves to her supporters during her last public rally, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A prosecutor says a Pakistani court has sentenced two former police officers to 17 years in prison for failing to provide adequate security to assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File) People pay tribute to the late Princess Diana above the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. The Princess of Wales died in a car crash in the tunnel Aug. 31, 1997. Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of her death. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Southeastern Wisconsin is sending some Midwestern love to the tens of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Harvey. Locals are sending cash, toiletries and toys to southeast Texas, which is facing what could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. By Wednesday, at least two dozen people are believed to have died from the storm and historic inland flooding. The toll stood at 23 Wednesday night, with another 17 deaths being investigated as to whether they were storm-related. Shelters are overwhelmed with people seeking clean water, medical supplies, food and blankets. People are being so generous. It just warms my heart. Midwesterners are like that and the people of Wisconsin are not disappointing, said Patty Flowers, the regional CEO for the state Red Cross. Flowers said the Red Cross of Wisconsin has sent nearly 80 people to provide aid and five emergency vehicles to the affected areas. Seek cash donations Flowers is asking for cash donations, which can be made online at www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey, over the phone or by texting HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10. What is really needed is cash donations, Flowers said, adding that the nonprofit doesnt have the means or time to transport donations. Instead of sending stuff, were asking people to make a cash donation. Marie Lewis, administrator of the Salvation Army of Kenosha County, also encouraged people to donate financially. We at the Kenosha Corps would encourage those that want to get involved in helping to do so in a financial way. We unfortunately, are not able to take in food and supplies to be shipped to the disaster site, Lewis said. Donations to the Salvation Armys Hurricane Harvey fund can be made at www.helpsalvationarmy.org, by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY or texting STORM to 51555. Items being collected At Union Grove Baptist Church, 417 15th Ave., youth director Steve Gillmore is collecting non-perishables, toiletries, school supplies and toys for people in need. Gillmore is headed to Texas this weekend. When this storm hit, I just felt God was prompting me to take action, Gillmore said. Donations can be dropped off at the church until Friday afternoon. The donations will be handed off to a Baptist church outside of Houston providing aid to victims. School supplies will be given to the Houston Independent School District. This is our way of giving back to the community, Gillmore said. A lot of times were real good at saying what needs to be done and not acting. This is our way of helping. Other groups are also getting involved. For example, members of the Kenosha Rotary Club were collecting for a flood relief mission to Houston because a club member is from Texas. Bottled water, diapers, baby wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, shampoos and soaps are to be packed in a semi trailer today in Wilmot for the trip to Texas. A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday acquitted five people in the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and declared ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf an "absconder", state Pakistan Television reported. Bhutto died in a suicide and gun attack in 2007, weeks after she returned from exile to campaign in elections to bring back civilian rule after Musharraf's eight-year military regime. Musharraf was charged in 2013 of being culpable in Bhutto's murder. He is now in self-imposed exile, having been allowed to leave the country in March 2016 for health reasons while awaiting trial. As an absconder, Musharraf legally must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan. Search Keywords: Short link: South Korean and Japanese jets joined exercises with two U.S. nuclear-capable bombers above and near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after North Korea fired a missile over Japan, sharply raising tension. The drills, involving two supersonic U.S. B-1B bombers, four U.S. stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, came at the end of annual joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, said General Terrence J. OShaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander, who made an unscheduled visit to Japan to meet his counterparts. This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moments notice if our nation calls." North Korea has made no secret of its intention to develop the knowhow to launch a nuclear-tipped missile at the United States and has recently threatened the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. U.S. President Donald Trump has issued his own threats, warning North Korea it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States and that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" in case of any provocation. Trump on Wednesday declared "talking is not the answer" to resolving the long-standing impasse. "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," Trump, who last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "starting to respect" the United States, wrote on Twitter. "Talking is not the answer!" However, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, when asked by reporters just hours later if the United States had run out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea, replied: "No." "We are never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests." Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a "visible" form, Japan's defence ministry said. Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe said he and visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to urge China, North Korea's lone major ally, to do more to rein in the North. They also agreed to try to speed up the rate at which sanctions are imposed on North Korea. SANCTION OPTIONS The 15-member U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan as "outrageous" and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons programme, but the U.S.-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan was pushing the United States to propose new U.N. Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Korea's labourers working abroad, oil supply and textile exports. Diplomats expected resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given new measures were only recently imposed after North Korea staged two long-range missile launches in July. A U.S. ban on travel to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, curbing one of its few remaining supplies of foreign currency. China again urged restraint from all parties. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. "China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions," Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. "I also want to stress that the current tense situation on the peninsula isn't a screenplay or a video game," she told reporters. "It's real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region." 'KEY MILESTONE' The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency and the crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted a "complex missile defence flight test" off Hawaii on Wednesday, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target, the agency said. The agency's director, Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, called the test "a key milestone" in giving U.S. Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ships an enhanced capability, but did not mention North Korea. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea routinely says it will never give up its weapons programmes, calling them necessary to counter perceived American hostility. North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday as totally rejecting the U.N. Security Council condemnation, again, and saying its missile test was "the first step of our army's military operation in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam which is an advanced base of invasion." Search Keywords: Short link: A Rwandan opposition figure who was barred from challenging President Paul Kagame in last month's election has been "taken" by police, her brother said Thursday, a claim denied by the authorities. Police officers took Diane Rwigara. 35, and some of her family members to an unknown location on Tuesday night after raiding her house in the Rwandan capital Kigali, her brother Aristide said. An accountant and political newcomer, Rwigara announced her intention in May to run in the August election against Kagame, who has held held de facto power in Rwanda since 1994. Nude photographs purporting to be Rwigara appeared online soon after she declared her candidacy. She was later disqualified from running against Kagame, after the national electoral commission accused her of using forged documents to acquire the required number of signatures supporting her bid. Kagame went on to win his third seven-year term with nearly 99 percent of the vote. Rwigara's family say the former candidate, her mother and four siblings have been missing since the raid on Tuesday. "I know for a fact that they were taken to a place I don't know. I don't know how they are. Their phones and laptops plus the house was searched while they were held in handcuffs," Aristide Rwigara, who lives in the United States, said by phone. "This is about silencing my sister because she exposed some things and she speaks her mind against the wrong things that the government of Rwanda is doing." A week after her candidacy was turned down Rwigara launched the People Salvation Movement (Itabaza) -- a rights movement. "Diane was arrested and taken to an undisclosed location," said an Itabaza source who requested anonymity. They added that she and her mother had not been allowed access to legal assistance. Rwandan police denied arresting Rwigara. "The rumour that is currently circulating that Diane Rwigara has been arrested is not true," said police spokesman Theos Badege. "What is true is that police have conducted a search at her family residence as part of preliminary investigations on tax evasion and forgery." Rwigara's father was a onetime ally of Kagame and financial backer of the ruling party. He died in a car crash in 2015, with family members suspecting foul play. Kagame first became de facto leader when his Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels halted the 1994 genocide in which some 800,000 mostly Tutsis were killed at the hands of extremist Hutus. His long tenure has produced strong economic results but has been criticised for muzzling political opposition and stifling free speech. Kagame's critics have ended up jailed, forced into exile or assassinated. Search Keywords: Short link: Question: I'd like to help a charity that supports Hurricane Harvey victims. What's the best way to give? Answer: There are many opportunities to support disaster-recovery efforts and help people whose lives have been upended by the hurricane, but you should be careful. It's also prime time for scam artists to take advantage of your generosity and steal your money or even your identity. Take these steps to help you choose a charity and get the biggest tax break -- which can help you afford to give even more. Check out the charity. Many organizations that analyze charities are compiling lists of top-rated organizations that are helping hurricane victims. The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (opens in new tab) frequently updates its list of BBB-accredited charities (opens in new tab) that are raising funds to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey. The list includes some large charities that have established funds specifically for Harvey relief efforts, such as the Red Cross (opens in new tab), the Salvation Army (opens in new tab) and the United Way of Greater Houston (opens in new tab). Charity Navigator (opens in new tab) is also posting the names of reputable charities that are helping hurricane victims. Subscribe to Kiplingers Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Save up to 74% Sign up for Kiplingers Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sign up Learn about local organizations. Besides national charities, many lesser-known, local groups are raising funds. The Greater Houston Community Foundation, for example, is collecting donations to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund (opens in new tab), established by Mayor Sylvester Turner. The community foundation will work with officials from Houston and Harris County, business and community leaders, and area nonprofits to decide how to distribute the money to help with immediate relief needs and longer-term recovery. The community foundation administered a similar fund after previous disasters. A lot of the money went to local nonprofits to help move people out of shelters, provide housing and clothing, assist with federal disaster aid applications, and rebuild destroyed properties. Some of the grants even went to pay hotels to provide temporary housing. The needs will be much larger this time. "The magnitude of this is unprecedented," says Steve Maislin, president of the Greater Houston Community Foundation. "We think there will be tens of thousands of people whose homes will not be repairable. It will probably be another couple of weeks before we understand the full scope of what has happened. The distribution process will depend on where the needs are." He expects the first grants will be disbursed in two to four weeks. The Houston Food Bank (opens in new tab) and the Houston Humane Society (opens in new tab) have also been active in relief efforts. The Texas Department of Agriculture's STAR Fund (opens in new tab) helps Texas farmers and ranchers recover from disaster. A frequently updated list from Texas Monthly magazine (opens in new tab) provides more information about local charities that are leading disaster relief efforts and other ways you can help. You can also find local community foundations in other areas affected by the hurricane at the Community Foundation Locator (opens in new tab). Give appreciated stock or set up a donor-advised fund. People are usually quick to write a check to support a charity after a disaster, but you may get a bigger tax benefit by giving appreciated stock or mutual funds instead. That way, you'll get a tax deduction for your donation but avoid paying capital-gains taxes on the increased value of the stock over time. Some smaller charities don't accept stock or mutual funds. The Greater Houston Community Foundation will accept larger gifts of appreciated stock to support the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, but contact them first to ask about specifics. Another way that smaller charities can benefit from your appreciated investments is if you open a donor-advised fund with a bank, brokerage or community foundation. You can usually donate a wide variety of assets -- from real estate to privately held stock -- to the fund. You'll get a tax break for the value of the property you donate this year, but you will have an unlimited amount of time to decide which charities to support with the money in your fund account. Keep in mind that Harvey relief efforts will probably continue for quite a while. The minimum investment to open a donor-advised fund is $5,000 at Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable, $10,000 at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and $25,000 with Vanguard Charitable. See Smarter Ways to Give to Charity and Donor-Advised Funds: Contribute Now, Donate Later for more information. Give from an IRA. If you're 70 or older, you can give up to $100,000 per year tax-free from your IRA to charity (although you can't give this money to a donor-advised fund). The gift counts as your required minimum distribution but doesn't increase your adjusted gross income. See How to Ensure Your IRA Donation to Charity is Tax-Free for more information about the procedure and benefits. Providing a place to stay. So many people were displaced by the storm that many are having a hard time finding shelter. Airbnb is making it easy for people with available property nearby to offer temporary accommodations free. Many of these donated properties are in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio (see Airbnb's urgent accommodations page (opens in new tab)). The SPCA of Texas (opens in new tab) is also collecting donations and looking for foster homes for animals. Beware of scams. Don't respond to an e-mail or call asking for donations to help hurricane victims. Instead, take the time to look up the charity on your own before donating. Scam artists use disasters as a way to take advantage of people's generosity and sense of urgency to steal their money or their personal information. For more information, see the Federal Trade Commission's Signs of a Charity Scam page (opens in new tab). TAKE OUR QUIZ: Are You Covered? * Board meeting Thursday, final deal seen unlikely * Delay could hit aim to complete sale by March, avoid delisting * Analysts say delays could hurt competitiveness of chips business By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp looks set to miss its own deadline of Aug 31 to agree an $17.3 billion sale of its chips business, a deal that would plug a gaping balance sheet hole and help the group avoid an embarrassing and potentially costly delisting. Toshiba's board had been expected to review an offer by a consortium led by Western Digital on Thursday, though sources familiar with the matter said a deal was unlikely to be given final approval as the two have not agreed key details. Further complicating matters, rival suitor Bain Capital made a revised last-minute offer for the unit, bringing in Apple Inc to help bolster its bid, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said late on Wednesday. The Japanese conglomerate has been trying to sell its prized memory chip unit for months, in an attempt to pay down debt and cover the impact of more than $6 billion in liabilities linked to U.S. nuclear arm Westinghouse. A senior banking official familiar with the talks said Toshiba was still likely to sign a deal with the Western Digital group, as legal challenges from Western Digital, seeking to safeguard its partnership with Toshiba, made it difficult to accept other any other offer. But the delay means that even if a deal is eventually reached - the unit, in a highly competitive, cash-thirsty industry - will have endured months of uncertainty. Toshiba may also fail to clear regulatory approvals by the end of the fiscal year in March. Without that, it would have to report negative net worth for the second year running and face a potential delisting, a blow to shareholders and a likely hit for the group's funding costs. Toshiba executives have been trying to sign a deal by the end of August because antitrust reviews by governments such as China could last more than six months. Western Digital, along with U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co and Japanese government investors, is offering a total of around 1.9 trillion yen ($17.3 billion) for Toshiba's memory chip unit, sources have told Reuters. Bain's revised offer, including Apple, is worth some 2 trillion yen ($18.2 billion). Bain and South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc will be responsible for 1.1 trillion yen, the sources said. Whatever the outcome in the sale, the deal will also have strained Toshiba and Western Digital's partnership in NAND flash memory products. Ties between the two companies have been strained since 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. Analysts said the frayed trust and wasted time meant both Toshiba and Western Digital, the world's No. 2 and No. 3 NAND flash memory producers, would fall further behind industry leader Samsung Electronics , which is pouring billions of dollars into production upgrades to stay ahead. "Samsung has been buying up advanced production equipment for (next-generation) three-dimensional NAND chips to widen its lead," Satoru Oyama, senior principal analyst at research firm IHS. "Western Digital and Toshiba really need each other because they can't compete against Samsung without partners," he added. Toshiba and Western digital had a combined market share of 31.9 percent in the April-June quarter, behind Samsung's 38.3 percent, according to IHS. ($1=110 yen) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Q&A: Twists and turns in Toshiba's chip business sale ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Neil Fullick) MANILA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - BDO Unibank Inc said on Thursday it would issue $700 million in fixed-rate notes, the largest single transaction to date by a Philippine bank, to support its lending operations and meet other funding requirements. The notes with a 5.5 year maturity and 2.950 percent coupon were priced at 99.909 per 100, the nation's biggest lender said in a statement. The transaction was oversubscribed, with orders reaching $2.2 billion, and settlement will be on Sept. 6, it said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch , HSBC and Wells Fargo Securities were lead managers and bookrunners for the transaction, while Mizuho Securities and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group acted as co-managers. BDO said the issue was part of its liability management initiatives and followed the first $300 million tranche issued in October last year under its $2 billion medium-term note programme established in 2012. Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Baa2 rating to the unsecured notes, which will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) BEIJING, Aug 31 (Reuters) - China's central bank said on Thursday financial institutions are not allowed to issue inter-bank negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD) with a tenor exceeding one year from Sept. 1. NCDs with a tenor of one year or less can still be issued, the People's Bank of China said. Issuance of NCDs has risen quickly over the last year, with smaller lenders aggressively raising money via the instruments, and then using the proceeds to make higher-yield, risky investments. The PBOC said earlier this month it would start to include NCDs, tenors within one-year, issued by banks with assets of more than 500 billion yuan ($75.11 billion) from the first quarter of 2018. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) * Danish government proposes policy that would slow growth * Allied party is pushing for more spending * Economists say that could lead to overheating By Teis Jensen and Erik Matzen COPENHAGEN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Denmark's government proposed a fiscal policy on Thursday that it hopes will keep the economy from expanding too fast, but its parliamentary ally is pushing for increased welfare spending that could cause growth to accelerate. The draft budget the government offered for 2018 would slow economic growth by 0.05 percentage points. But the Danish People's Party (DF) - whose cooperation the government needs to pass laws - wants more spending, not less. "With the signals we hear from DF, it could definitely go in that direction," said Soren V. Kristensen, an economist at Sydbank. "It's very important that the government stands its ground on this." An overheating economy, which would drive up wages and make Denmark less competitive, is the "biggest domestic risk" to the Danish economy, Kristensen said. Denmark's gross domestic product grew 2.7 percent in the second quarter of 2017 from a year earlier, and the government has raised its forecast for all 2017 to 2.0 percent from a previous forecast of 1.7 percent . As the economy has grown, so has employment. It has risen by 150,000 people since 2013, and it is expected to total almost 3 million people by the end of 2018. That would put it close to its highest level ever, which was reached just before the global financial crisis erupted a decade ago. Rising employment in turn has pushed up wages. In a forecast on Thursday, the government said it now expected disposable incomes to rise 1.8 percent this year and 2.2 percent next year, up from a May forecast of 1.2 percent each of the two years. With employment booming, Danish companies are complaining that they are having trouble hiring enough people. In an effort to avoid labour shortages, the government has proposed tax cuts that it said would incline people to work more . But the DF also opposes those cuts, saying it sees no reason to cut taxes for wealthy Danes . Chief economist Jan Storup Nielsen at Nordea fears the proposed cuts will be changed in negotiations with DF, so that those intended to expand the work force the most will be left out of the final budget. "The biggest risk is if they give tax cuts that do not increase the labour supply significantly, and still do not tighten the fiscal policy. Then we could get into overheating and a lack of labour," Nielsen said. (Editing by Larry King) FRANKFURT, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The following are some of the factors that may move German stocks on Thursday: BAYER The group said it had submitted a Biologics License Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for BAY94-9027 for the treatment of Hemophilia A. VOLKSWAGEN German court ruling expected in legal test case brought against Volkswagen by consumer rights champion MyRight for selling cars with software banned under EU regulation. CECONOMY , METRO Retailer Metro and consumer electronics group Ceconomy, which split and listed separately last month, both reported sales recovered in their fiscal third quarter on Thursday, helped by fast-growing online and delivery services. FIELMANN The group said it expected a positive business development ahead as it reported broadly flat second-quarter pretax profit. SALZGITTER The steelmaker has filed a protest against duties imposed in the United States and is in touch with the German government and the European Commission to push for a complaint with the World Trade Organization, Chief Executive Heinz Joerg Fuhrmann told German daily Die Welt. STEINHOFF The group reported its nine-month sales jumped 48 percent to 14.9 billion euros, with 8 percent organic growth. CAPITAL STAGE Q2 report due. The group reported preliminary results and raised its guidance on Aug. 24. AIR BERLIN German airline Germania has complained to the European Commission that rival Air Berlin is receiving unwarranted state aid, Germania's Chief Executive Karsten Balke told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. BERTELSMANN H1 results due. EX-DIVIDEND STADA - dividend 0.72 eur/shr BIOTEST - dividend 0.05 eur/ordinary shr, 0.07 eur/preference share GERMAN ECONOMIC DATA German July retail sales due at 0600 GMT. Seen -0.4 pct m/m, +3.5 pct y/y. German August jobless figures due at 0800 GMT. Seen -6,000 seasonally adjusted, unemployment rate seen unchanged at 5.7 pct. EUROPEAN FACTORS TO WATCH DIARIES REUTERS TOP NEWS ($1 = 0.8365 euros) (Reporting by Edward Taylor and Maria Sheahan) 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) - Gold prices edged modestly higher after the headline index for the Chicago Business Barometer, widely known as the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, remained at a 58.9 reading in August. Consensus forecasts compiled by news organizations called for a reading of 58.5 to 58.6 after a July reading of 58.9. As of 8:49 a.m. EDT Thursday, Comex December gold was trading up $2.80 for the day to $1,316.90 an ounce. Four minutes ahead of the report, the metal was at $1,315.60. The Chicago report tends to be watched closely as a sign of strength in the Midwestern manufacturing sector and as a possible precursor to the Institute for Supply Managements PMI for the entire nation, which is scheduled for release on Friday. Readings above 50 in such diffusion indexes are seen as a sign of economic growth, and vice-versa. The farther an indicator is above or below 50, the greater or smaller the rate of change. ATHENS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Greece's second largest lender by assets National Bank (NBG) turned loss-making in April-to-June as trading losses offset a decline in bad debt provisions. NBG, 40 percent owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF, on Thursday reported a net loss from continued operations of 52 million euros versus net loss of 8.0 million euros in the first quarter. NBG said loan impairments fell 14 percent to 200 million euros while its stock of non-performing exposures (NPEs) shrank by 300 million euros quarter-on-quarter. Its NPE ratio settled at 45 percent. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos) 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. MILAN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Italian market watchdog Consob has imposed fines on Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari and former Saipem CEO Pietro Franco Tali for alleged insider trading in Saipem shares in 2012, a Consob document said. Consob said it had fined Asfari 300,000 euros ($355,000) and seized assets worth around 385,000 euros. Tali was fined 150,000 euros, it said. Earlier this month Asfari said he had been fined 300,000 euros by Consob in relation to a transaction made in 2012 involving the shares of a listed Italian company. "The premise of Consob's case was that I met with an Italian executive who provided insider information. I can show irrefutable evidence that such a meeting never took place," he said on Aug. 24. The CEO said he had not been notified by Consob of the charges and so had not had the chance to defend himself. Tali, caught up in a corruption probe regarding contracts won in Algeria, announced he was stepping down as CEO of Saipem in a statement issued on December 5, 2012. In January 2013 Saipem issued the first of a series of profit warnings that sent its shares crashing. Consob said Asfari and Tali can appeal the rulings to the Court of Appeal. ($1 = 0.8440 euros) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Francesca Landini) WARSAW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Poland will offer to sell treasury bonds maturing in April 2019, November 2022, January 2023, January 2026 and July 2017 at a switch tender on September 14, the finance ministry said on Thursday. In exchange for the papers the ministry said it would buy back papers due October 2017, January 2018, April 2018 and July 2018. Switch tenders are non-cash operations at which the ministry changes papers nearing their maturity for those with a longer one. The ministry also said it does not plan treasury bond or bill sale tenders in September. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Marcin Goclowski) By Chandini M Aug 31 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged up on Thursday, in line with Wall Street and broader Asia, as upbeat Chinese and U.S. economic news boosted investor sentiment, even as tensions over North Korea stewed in the background. For the month of August, the Chinese manufacturing sector clocked an unexpected growth, with the official Purchasing Managers' Index released on Thursday standing at 51.7, up from the previous month's 51.4. The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday that its second estimate of gross domestic product showed that the economy grew at an annual 3.0 percent in the second quarter, the quickest in more than two years, thanks to robust consumer spending and strong business investment. In addition, the ADP National Employment Report showed U.S. private-sector employers hired 237,000 workers in August for the biggest monthly increase in five months, driving expectations for a solid U.S. August non-farm payrolls figure. "We are just following what happened in the international markets, although threat from North Korea is waning, I think we are still waiting to see what actions U.S. might take," said Mikey Macainag, an analyst with Sunsecurities Inc. Meanwhile, tensions between the United States and North Korea escalated after President Donald Trump dismissed any diplomatic negotiations via a tweet, saying "talking is not the answer," a day after the reclusive state fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan. In Southeast Asia, Singapore shares led the gains with a rise of 0.4 percent, aided mostly by financials. The city-state's central bank said on Thursday bank lending in July rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier. Index heavyweights United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation were up about 1 percent each. "This market is going to continue its bull run, but for now we are going sideways, just consolidating," Macainag said. In August, Singapore shares have shed 1.6 percent so far, heading for their first monthly decline in eight. Vietnam shares climbed as much as 0.4 percent to their highest in over three weeks, with real estate company Vingroup JSC being the biggest boost. For the month, Vietnam shares have declined 0.4 percent so far and were on track to snap three straight monthly gains. Indonesian shares fell as much as 0.2 percent, hurt mostly by material and energy stocks. Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk fell 1.6 percent, while United Tractors Tbk was down 1.2 percent. The Malaysian market was closed for a national holiday. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS - Change at 0329 GMT STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current previous close Pct Move Singapore 3277.85 3265.26 0.39 Bangkok 1613.5 1613.34 0.01 Manila 7961.47 7956.73 0.06 Jakarta 5870.241 5872.506 -0.04 Ho Chi Minh 779.25 778.65 0.08 Change on year Market Current End 2016 Pct Move Singapore 3277.85 2880.76 13.78 Bangkok 1613.5 1542.94 4.57 Manila 7961.47 6840.64 16.40 Jakarta 5870.241 5296.711 10.83 Ho Chi Minh 779.25 664.87 17.20 (Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) HANOI, August 31 (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 0407 GMT. August 31 USD/VND mid-point 22,443 USD/VND interbank 22,731/22,732 USD/VND unofficial 22,735/22,750 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.33/36.55 Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.4-1.0 1 week 0.7-1.2 1 month 1.4-1.9 3 months 3.0-3.6 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) ZURICH, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The Swiss franc's recent weakening against the euro is a positive development but the trend was "fragile", Swiss National Bank governing board member Andrea Maechler said on Thursday. The franc has lost ground against the euro in recent weeks as the eurozone's economy has shown signs of improvement and political uncertainties have cleared. "Overall, the trends are pointing in the right direction for the Swiss franc, but it is too early to say whether these trends are sustainable," Maechler told an economic conference in Yverdon-Les-Bains. "The situation remains relatively fragile." (Reporting by John Revill and Silke Koltrowitz; Editing by Michael Shields) STOCKHOLM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank bought 1.125 billion crowns ($141 million) of government bonds in a reverse auction as part of its quantitative easing programme, it said on Thursday. It bought 625 million crowns of 2020 bonds at an average yield of -0.370 percent and 500 million crowns of 2039 bonds at 1.497 percent. Investors offered to sell the Riksbank 2.083 billion crowns and 2.150 billion crowns in the two bonds respectively. Source text for Eikon: ($1 = 7.9749 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom) Keywords: SWEDEN CENBANK/BONDS 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. BERLIN/DUESSELDORF, Aug 31 (Reuters) - German engineering orders rose 10 percent in real terms in July from the previous year, propelled by demand from both domestic and foreign customers, the VDMA industry association said on Thursday. Domestic demand was up 10 percent and orders from euro zone countries increased 8 percent, while those from outside the euro zone jumped 10 percent, the VDMA said. "Demand from euro zone partners countries could not quite keep up the high pace seen in the past months, but there was plenty of momentum coming from countries outside the euro zone," VDMA economist Ralph Wiechers said. He added that demand was particularly robust from China. VDMA President Carl Martin Welcker said: "For China, we are optimistic that after rather modest export growth, we will actually see significant double-digit growth this year." In the less volatile May-July comparison, orders rose by 9 percent on the year, VDMA said. Domestic demand was up by 4 percent and foreign orders shot up 12 percent. JULY CHANGE IN PERCENT overall +10 of which German +10 euro zone +8 non-euro zone +10 MAY-JULY CHANGE IN PERCENT overall +9 of which German +4 euro-zone +8 non euro-zone +13 (Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Caroline Copley) * Armored vehicles arrive from afar to meet cash demand surge * Houston Fed vault stayed dry; employees sheltered for days (Adds details on re-routing cash, vault, employees, history) By Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir Aug 31 (Reuters) - Cash has begun flowing again from the Federal Reserve's steel and cement vault in Houston, heading for banks in the hurricane-ravaged region after several days of flooding halted armored-truck deliveries and stranded employees overnight. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey this week, water from a nearby bayou rose onto the property of the U.S. central bank's office in downtown Houston but did not reach the building nor its vault, senior Fed officials said on Thursday. The floods, which drenched the Gulf of Mexico coast and killed at least 35 people, marooned the Fed branch for a few days and stopped cash shipments just as demand surged from nearby lenders. The first private truck re-started deliveries on Wednesday, joining a fleet of others making emergency trips from the Fed's San Antonio and Dallas offices to local banks that, in many cases, were not able to open this week. Those backup branches are delivering "a very high" amount of cash now, said Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed region that oversees Houston, without giving a value. "Our job is to make sure that despite flooding and roads being shut down we re-route our logistics," he told Reuters from Dallas. At a 400-seat call center at the Dallas Fed, normally used to help people deposit federal benefit checks, the first of about 100 agents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have arrived. FEMA had lacked space to field emergency calls from its facility in nearby Denton. Dallas is one of the central bank's 12 regional branches, supervising private lenders throughout Texas and parts of Louisiana and Oklahoma. Some 45 employees there are handling the surge in cash orders from lenders, especially near the coast, and Kaplan said he expects a "post-surge" as waters recede. Thousands of Texans are still be rescued from floodwater after the storm shut roads and forced more than a million people to leave homes. Fork lifts move more than $1 billion of dollar bills each week in and out of the Houston Fed's vault, one of the central bank's largest. Many of the 200 employees sheltered there for days this week, and one stranded worker from a neighboring TV station even stayed the night. "If the rain had gone on at the pace it was, that might have been a different situation," Kaplan said. When Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans in 2005, the Atlanta Fed branch hired private armed trucks to deliver cash from Houston. And in 2012, lower Manhattan in New York lost power and flood waters came within blocks of the New York Fed when Hurricane Sandy hit, which in part prompted an expansion of backup market operations in Chicago. "This crisis isn't over yet," said Kaplan, adding he will visit flood-ravaged Houston as soon as he is able. So far, though, his branch has not had to roll out one contingency plan it used in past emergencies: turning its vault into a kennel for the cats and dogs of displaced employees. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Map of Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston and region ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Chance) * Institutions not permitted to issue NCDs of longer than 1 year * PBOC says new rule will not have big impact on NCD market * Banks used floating-coupon NCDs as loophole for funding through interbank market (Adds details, background, comments) By Andrew Galbraith and Elias Glenn SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Aug 31 (Reuters) - China's central bank has barred financial institutions from issuing certain kinds of interbank loans as a funding loophole, as it continues to keep a tight grip on the potential for speculative financing. Institutions will not be allowed to issue negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD) - a popular short-term debt instrument for smaller banks in the interbank market - with a tenor exceeding one year from Sept. 1, the People's Bank of China said on Thursday. NCDs with a tenor of one year or less - which have fixed coupons - can still be issued, it said. While NCD issuance has recently attracted the attention of authorities attempting to crack down on risky financial practices, the move took some in the market by surprise. "Everyone is still trying to decipher the impact of this move. Just now, the price of one-year Shibor interest-rate swaps jumped around within a 1 basis-point range, but the direction wasn't very clear," said a trader at a regional bank in Shanghai. But analysts at CIB research said in a note the broader impact of the latest announcement may be limited as longer tenors comprise a small fraction of the overall market. NCDs with tenors exceeding one year make up just 1.67 percent of a total 8.4 trillion yuan ($1.27 trillion) of NCDs, CIB research said. Yun Xiong, partner at Lingwang Fund in Shanghai, said the move reflected central bank efforts to prevent banks from using these longer-tenor NCDs, which have floating coupons, to raise funds. Banks have "used investors' (lower) sensitivity to credit spread on floating coupon bonds to reduce...funding cost," he said. "This normally never happens in developed markets, so PBOC's announcement will cut off such deals." The PBOC said earlier this month it would start to include NCDs with tenors of up to one year, issued by banks with assets of more than 500 billion yuan ($75.1 billion), in its quarterly macroprudential assessment (MPA), from the first quarter of 2018. But longer-tenor NCDs were never to be included in that assessment. Issuance of NCDs has risen quickly over the last year, with smaller lenders aggressively raising money via the instruments, and then using the proceeds to make higher-yield, risky investments. ($1 = 6.5996 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk, and Winni Zhou in Shanghai; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) (Adds comments from banks, background) By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A group of institutional investors in OW Bunker said they plan to sue Morgan Stanley and Carnegie for about $80 million, accusing the two investment banks of misleading them ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier. Denmark's OW Bunker was valued at $1 billion when it floated in March 2014, but the company filed for bankruptcy in November that year after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million, sending shockwaves through the global shipping and oil trading industry. "We are planning a lawsuit against the two investment banks involved in the OW Bunker IPO," Erik Bomans, partner in Deminor Recovery Services representing 30 institutional investors, told Reuters on Thursday. Prior to the IPO, Morgan Stanley had been involved in an attempt to sell OW Bunker privately, according to a 400-page report published in December 2015 by a trustee in the OW Bunker bankruptcy proceedings. "They had access to a lot of information, which we believe made them aware of certain problems that were not sufficiently highlighted in the IPO prospectus," Bomans said. He declined to provide details about the planned lawsuit, but said it related to OW Bunker's fuel oil trading operations among other issues. "(The investors) thought they were buying a totally different company than they actually ended up buying," he said. A spokesman for Carnegie in Sweden said "no formal claims targeting Carnegie have been made and we have nothing further to add to this." A spokesman for Morgan Stanley in London declined to comment. News of the lawsuit was first published on Thursday by Danish business daily Borsen. Bomans said his company normally would not announce a lawsuit before it has been filed, but was "caught a bit by surprise" by the media report. The two banks have been notified about the plans, although the lawsuit will only be filed in Denmark within the next couple of weeks, Bomans said. A group of investors, including two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, is already waging a legal campaign against the former management of OW Bunker for allegedly misleading them in the 2014 IPO. Denmark's state prosecutor last month charged the former manager of OW Bunker's Singapore subsidiary with fraud but cleared the Danish management of any criminal wrongdoing. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Susan Fenton) * GDP growth in April-June slows to 5.7 pct * Growth slowest since January-March quarter 2014 * Cash squeeze, GST launch disrupt business activity * Economists plan to revisit full-year growth estimates (Adds more details, quotes) By Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - India's economy lost further steam in the quarter to June as growth slid to its lowest level in more than three years. The data will be unwelcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is facing criticism for disrupting activity by scapping high-value banknotes, creating a shock cash squeeze last year. Gross domestic product grew 5.7 percent in the latest quarter, its slowest pace since the January-March quarter 2014, government data showed. It was a marked slowdown from a 6.1 percent growth in the January-March period and was far worse than the median forecast for a 6.6 percent in a Reuters poll. It was in line with the poll's lowest estimate. Although growth was already slowing, Modi's decision last November to scrap high-value old banknotes -- a bid to flush out the money Indians hide from tax officials -- wiped out about 86 percent of currency in circulation virtually overnight. While his drive to unearth unaccounted wealth did not deliver the desired result, it hurt consumer demand in an economy where most people are paid in -- and buy what they need with -- cash. Since then, an improvement in high frequency indicators such as sales of two-wheel vehicles, oil consumption, cargo traffic and rail freight raised hopes that the impact of the cash clampdown had bottomed out. The GDP data belied those hopes. Confusion ahead of the launch of a new goods and services tax (GST) also seems to have dampened economic activity. "The numbers seem to suggest that the slowdown from last the quarter has intensified due to the combination of long-term slowdown and temporary shock factors like demonetisation and GST," said Abheek Barua, chief economist with HDFC in New Delhi. "We have to revise our GDP outlook numbers for the full year." SLIVER LININGS A draw-down in inventories in the lead up to the tax change dragged down the manufacturing sector, which slowed to 1.2 percent in the June quarter from a 10.7 percent growth last year. With companies still grappling with new tax rules, business surveys are pointing to more pain ahead. Services and manufacturing activity contracted at their fastest rate in years in July, the month that the GST was launched. After Thursday's disappointing figures, economists are looking to review their full-year growth estimates. "These trends will prompt a downward revision," said Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS Bank in Singapore. Annual growth in consumer spending, which powers more than half of the $2 trillion economy, slowed to 6.7 percent in the June quarter from 7.3 percent a quarter ago. Government spending too slowed. It grew 17.2 percent year-on-year compared with a near 32 percent year-on-year growth in the March quarter. However, in a silver lining for Asia's third-largest economy, the services sector gathered steam, posting a growth of 8.7 percent in the latest quarter, up from 7.2 percent in the previous three months. Capital investment also rebounded from a 2.1 percent contraction in the March quarter. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Asia Pacific economic snapshot India's growth ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Robert Birsel, Jeremy Gaunt) * Institutional investors to sue Morgan Stanley, Carnegie * Says banks mislead them ahead of OW Bunker IPO in 2014 * OW Bunker went bankrupt in November 2014 * Morgan Stanley declines comment, Carnegie says nothing to add (Adds offer price range for OW Bunker prior to IPO) By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A group of institutional investors in OW Bunker said they plan to sue Morgan Stanley and Carnegie for about $80 million, accusing the two investment banks of misleading them ahead of the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier. Denmark's OW Bunker was valued at $1 billion when it floated in March 2014, but the company filed for bankruptcy in November that year after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million, sending shockwaves through the global shipping and oil trading industry. "We are planning a lawsuit against the two investment banks involved in the OW Bunker IPO," Erik Bomans, partner in Deminor Recovery Services representing 30 institutional investors, told Reuters on Thursday. "They had access to a lot of information, which we believe made them aware of certain problems that were not sufficiently highlighted in the IPO prospectus," Bomans said. Prior to the IPO, Morgan Stanley had been involved in an attempt to sell OW Bunker privately, according to a 400-page report published in December 2015 by a trustee in the OW Bunker bankruptcy proceedings. During that sales process in 2013, offers to buy OW Bunker were made at $220 million-$400 million, significantly lower than the IPO price of around $1 billion, the report stated. Bomans declined to provide details about the planned lawsuit, but said it related to OW Bunker's fuel oil trading operations among other issues. "(The investors) thought they were buying a totally different company than they actually ended up buying," he said. A spokesman for Carnegie in Sweden said "no formal claims targeting Carnegie have been made and we have nothing further to add to this." A spokesman for Morgan Stanley in London declined to comment. News of the lawsuit was first published on Thursday by Danish business daily Borsen. Bomans said his company normally would not announce a lawsuit before it has been filed, but was "caught a bit by surprise" by the media report. The two banks have been notified about the plans, although the lawsuit will only be filed in Denmark within the next couple of weeks, Bomans said. A group of investors, including two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, is already waging a legal campaign against the former management of OW Bunker for allegedly misleading them in the 2014 IPO. Denmark's state prosecutor last month charged the former manager of OW Bunker's Singapore subsidiary with fraud but cleared the Danish management of any criminal wrongdoing. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Susan Fenton) BERLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - German retail sales fell more than expected on the month in July and posted a less pronounced increase on the year than forecast, data showed on Thursday, suggesting that household spending lost some momentum an the beginning of the third quarter. The volatile indicator, which is often subject to revision, showed retail sales fell by 1.2 percent on the month in real terms, the Federal Statistics Office said. That compared with the Reuters consensus forecast for a 0.4 percent fall and followed an upwardly revised increase of 1.3 percent in June. On the year, retail sales jumped by 2.7 percent in July. That undershot a Reuters consensus forecast for an increase of 3.5 percent. Private consumption has overtaken exports as the main driver of growth as Germans revel in record-high employment, increased job security, rising real wages and ultra-low borrowing costs. A survey last week showed already buoyant consumer sentiment continued to rise further heading into September, suggesting that the consumption-led upswing will continue and boding well for centre-right Chancellor Angela Merkel less than a month before a federal election in which she seeks a fourth term. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Caroline Copley) 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) - Between Germany getting its gold back and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchins visit to Fort Knox, lots of weirdness is going on in the gold space, this according to best-selling author Jim Rickards. Last week featured two unusual stories on gold one strange and the other truly weird, Rickards, the author of the New York Times bestseller Currency Wars, said on Wednesday. The first strange gold story involves Germany. Last week, Germany's central bank completed its plan to repatriate the country's gold reserves from New York and Paris, three years ahead of schedule. Initially expected to take until 2020, the plan involved returning 374 tons of gold from Paris, and 300 tons from New York. But the German central bank does not actually want the gold back because there is no well-developed gold-leasing market in Frankfurt and no experience leasing gold under German law, Rickards said in an interview with Kitco News. Rather, the author believes that the move was done purely for political reasons. The driving force both in 2013 [date of announcement] and 2017 [date of completion] is that both years are election years in Germany. Angela Merkels position as Chancellor of Germany is up for a vote on Sept. 24, 2017. She may need a coalition to stay in power, and theres a small nationalist party in Germany that agitates for gold repatriation, Rickards said. He added, Merkel stage-managed this gold repatriation with the Deutsche Bundesbank both in 2013 and [last] week to appease that small nationalist party and keep them in the coalition. Thats why the repatriation was completed three years early. She needs the votes now. Last week, the Bundesbank, one of the biggest holders of gold in the world, said that it completed the move of 674 tonnes from the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Banque de France. Frankfurt now holds just over half of Germany's total 3,378 tons of gold reserves, with 36.6 percent left in New York and 12.8 percent in London. The gold was initially stored outside of Germany during the Cold War. But the truly weird story for Rickards comes from the United States. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin recently tweeted that he paid a visit to Fort Knox to see the U.S. gold hoard. Mnuchin is only the third Treasury Secretary in history ever to visit Fort Knox. The U.S. government likes to ignore gold and not draw attention to it. Official visits to Fort Knox give gold some monetary credence that central banks would prefer it does not have, Rickards said. So why an impromptu visit by Mnuchin and why now? The answer may lie in the fact that the Treasury is running out of cash and could be broke by September 29 if Congress does not increase the debt ceiling by then. But the Treasury could get $355 billion in cash from thin air without increasing the debt simply by revaluing U.S. gold to a market price. U.S. gold is currently officially valued at $42.22 per ounce on the Treasurys books versus a market price of $1,285 per ounce. Once the Treasury revalues the gold, the Treasury can issue new gold certificates to the U.S. Fed and demand newly printed money in the Treasurys account under the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, the author explained. Since this money comes from gold revaluation, it does not increase the national debt and no debt ceiling legislation is required. This weird gold trick was actually done by the Eisenhower administration in 1953, Rickards said. President rolls out on tax policy in Missouri, draws praise from right and criticism from left 30,000 More Guardsmen Ready to Respond in Hurricane Relief Effort By Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy ARLINGTON, VA The National Guard response to Hurricane Harvey will be a long-term, sustained effort, a senior National Guard official said, adding that up 30,000 Guard members stand ready to assist with those efforts if needed. "We are leaning as far forward as we possibly can to ensure that military assets are postured to support the needs of Texas and, potentially, Louisiana," said Air Force Maj. Gen. James C. Witham, the director of domestic operations at the National Guard Bureau here. Members of the Texas National Guard's 386th Engineer Battalion and a local volunteer help children from a military vehicle in Cypress Creek, Texas, Aug. 29, 2017. Texas Army National Guard photo by Capt. Martha Nigrelle More than 4,300 Guard members were on duty in Texas as of Wednesday morning, primarily assisting local authorities with search and rescue operations. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called up the entire Texas National Guard, numbering around 12,000 soldiers and airmen, who may be brought on duty gradually over the next few days as needed, Witham said. As of Tuesday afternoon, Guard members had taken part in more than 3,500 rescues of those affected by the storm, mostly in the Houston area. "Most [rescues] have been by some type of boat, but these also include almost 300 hoist rescues [by helicopter], which are very technically difficult," Witham said, adding that weather conditions initially prevented helicopter crews from flying. Helicopters Support Efforts Some 30 helicopters are now in use by Guard aircrews, the general said, and additional helicopter assets have been requested through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which allows Guard elements from one state to assist in other states in emergencies. Aircrews are supporting not only airborne search and rescue efforts with hoist capacity, but also medical evacuation capacity as required, Witham said. Guard elements from 10 states are supporting Hurricane Harvey response operations, with some coming from as far away as Alaska. "As you talk response and recovery, our response is very sustained," Witham said, adding that the storm's unprecedented amount of rainfall has made for a different sort of hurricane response. "When the Guard responds to hurricane-type events, normally we talk about that first 72 to 96 hours for the lifesaving and life-sustainment that takes place. Then, we're into the recovery effort," he explained. "Due to the nature of this storm as it spun across southeast Texas for days and dumped historic levels of rainfall, our response has been very different than what we've looked at before." Second Landfall in Louisiana Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the storm made its second landfall early Wednesday as it continues to move eastward. Soldiers and airmen with the Louisiana National Guard pre-positioned equipment and supplies in advance of the storm, Witham said. About 400 soldiers and airmen are currently on duty, he added. But Louisiana Guard members were busy in other ways before the storm made landfall. On Aug. 28, soldiers with the Louisiana Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment rescued more than 100 people in the Lake Charles area, roughly 35 miles east of the Texas border. Unit members assisted local first responders with the rescues, and are anticipating additional rescue efforts in the coming days. Witham said the response in Louisiana was no different from response efforts in Texas, and that soldiers and airmen continue to respond as needed. "We are very proud of the Texas Guard [members] who have responded at this point," he said. "The soldiers and airmen have been working around the clock . . . to alleviate the pain and suffering that has been experienced by the citizens in Houston and southeast Texas." JB San Antonio joins Hurricane Harvey disaster relief efforts By Dan Hawkins, 502nd Air Base Wing Texas National Guard Soldiers arrive in Houston to rescue stranded residents in flooded areas from the storms of Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 27, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by/1st Lt. Zachary West) JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFNS) -- Several mission partners across the base have sprung together into action setting up installation support bases to support Hurricane Harvey disaster relief operations across the south Texas region. The hurricane, projected by weather forecasters to dump rain on the south Texas region for several more days, has necessitated the activation of both active-duty military personnel and the entire Texas National Guard. U.S. Army North (Fifth Army), headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is scheduled to deploy Task Force 51 to Kelly Field Annex, Texas, adjacent to JB San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, to provide command and control over Title 10 assets, which will provide coordinated support to civil authorities. Task Force 51s mission is to deploy a contingency command post to conduct support for Defense Support of Civil Authority, homeland defense and theater security cooperation in order to promote the defense and security of the U.S.. We (ARNORTH) are prepared to help the state of Texas and (Federal Emerency Management Agency) with saving lives. said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the ARNORTH commander. So far they have done a great job responding to the needs of the people, but the weather isnt breaking so we will stay vigilant and increase our posture to assist as needed." At JB San Antonio-Seguin, Texas, the Defense Logistics Agency and FEMA, with the support of the 502nd Air Base Wing, set up an Incident Support Base, or ISB, operation Aug. 24, 2017. The mission includes pre-positioning of supplies including water, meals, blankets and other resources closer to the affected areas. During normal operations, Seguin Auxiliary Airfield, Texas, is owned and operated by JB San Aantonio and serves as a flying training location for pilots from the 12th Flying Training Wing, located at JB San Antonio-Randolph. A second ISB is being coordinated for stand-up at JB San Antonio-Randolph to help manage overflow from the Seguin operation with the support of both the 502nd ABW and the 12th FTW. JB San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, has been tapped as a bed-down location for both the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard, which was activated for the relief efforts. The 502nd ABW Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, has been at the hub of emergency management actions since the storm began to threaten landfall on Aug. 24, 2017. We stood up (Aug. 24, 2017) and we have been manned 24 hours a day since, with a cadre of very experienced and dedicated emergency managers and emergency support function representatives from the 502nd ABW and 59th (Medical Wing), said Col. Jonathan Wright, the 502nd Installation Support Group commander and EOC director. The EOC has provided a critical link between the JB San Antonio Crisis Action Team for strategic command and control to the Unit Control Centers for tactical execution. We also have representatives from the Port of San Antonio and the Air Force liaison officer to FEMA, as well as maintaining communication with the city of San Antonio's EOC. Weve been ready for situations like this, Wright said. Our job requires us to coordinate actions across multiple command and jurisdictions in an efficient manner that maximizes resources across JB San Antonio. Were proud to perform this enabling role in support of Hurricane Harvey recovery operations. Since the stand-up, the EOC has been supporting a variety of Hurricane Harvey missions, both across JB San Antonio and to the areas of Corpus Christi, Texas, Houston, and Dallas/Ft Worth. In addition to previously mentioned missions, the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron has been working around the clock to respond to JB San Antonio-specific storm damage, while personnel from both the 502nd Logistics Readiness Squadron and the 502nd CES to provide refueling support and explosive ordnance support for the president's visit to Corpus Christi, Wright said. Published August 31, 2017 Oklahoma ANG wing sends aid for Hurricane Harvey By Staff Sgt. Kasey M. Phipps, 137th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs WILL ROGERS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Okla. (AFNS) -- Approximately 40 Airmen from the Oklahoma Air National Guards 137th Special Operations Wing departed Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2017, to support the Texas Military Department and Texas Emergency Management in relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey. Lt. Col. Carla Walker, (left), the 137th Special Operations Medical Group administration officer from Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, and Col. Keith Reed, (right), the 137th SOMDG commander, support and say goodbye to Airmen from the medical group as they board a C-130 Hercules from the 136th Airlift Wing, Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, Aug. 28, 2017, at Will Rogers ANGB. The Airmen are part of the 137th Special Operation Wings deployment of approximately 40 medical and aeromedical evacuation Airmen and equipment in support of the Texas Military Department and their relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Staff Sgt. Kasey Phipps/Released) Deploying in two waves, the Airmen and their equipment were picked up by a C-130 Hercules from the 136th Airlift Wing out of Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, and deployed to the same location. What were doing today is responding to an assistance agreement that we have with our brothers and sisters in Texas to bring aide to those in Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana in response to Hurricane Harvey, said Col. Devin R. Wooden, the 137th SOW commander. We will be there as long as they need us. The first unit, composed of 11 Airmen from the 137th Special Operations Medical Group, will offer their expertise and portable medical equipment to help evacuate patients from affected medical care facilities. The medical group has been requested by Texas Emergency Management to assist with hospital and nursing home patient evacuation from the Houston area, said Col. Keith Reed, the 137th SOMDG commander. Our En Route Patient Staging System (ERPSS) includes equipment and medical personnel specially trained to stage and prepare patients for military air transport to facilities outside the affected area. We will partner with Texas Air National Guard medical personnel and work until this particular need is met. The Airmen from 137th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, who deployed later the same day, comprised of five aeromedical evacuation aircrews and approximately 30 Airmen in total. They will assist in patient care and stabilization during air transport out of the heavily impacted areas. The last time Airmen from the 137th SOW deployed in support of domestic operations was in 2013 following the May 20 tornado that ripped through Oklahoma. As an ANG unit, the 137th SOWs Airmen volunteered to put full-time, mostly civilian jobs on hold to help friends and neighbors in the capacities they witnessed and trained so often for. Its been said that through the Oklahoma City bombing and tornadoes weve had over the last few decades, there is an Oklahoma Standard, said Wooden. To be ready and prepared to share some of that Oklahoma Standard with our brothers and sisters to the South and help them in this time of need is something were all looking forward to doing. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets In the 28th century, special operatives Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevigne) work together to maintain order throughout the human territories. Under assignment from the minister of defense, the duo embarks on a mission to Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis where diverse species gather to share knowledge and culture. Directed by Luc Besson. The Hitman's Bodyguard Bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is called upon to protect his mortal enemy, one of the world's most notorious hitmen Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson). During their journey from England to The Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades and a merciless Eastern European dictator who is out for blood. Directed by Patrick Hughes. Atomic Blonde Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is the most elite spy in MI6, an agent who's willing to use all of her lethal skills to stay alive during an impossible mission. With the Berlin Wall about to fall, she travels into the heart of the city to retrieve a priceless dossier and take down a ruthless espionage ring. Directed by David Leitch. 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. Samsung, Shinhan compete to become No. 1 By Nam Hyun-woo Samsung Card is moving fast to catch up with Korea's largest credit card issuer Shinhan Card, while the latter strives to widen the gap even more. According to the credit card firms' reports, Thursday, the amount of card used at Shinhan Card grew 1.9 percent to 69.55 trillion won in the first half of the year from 68.23 trillion won in the same period of the previous year. The amount included credit purchases, cash advances and long-term card loans. It was the largest amount among domestic card issuers. During the same period, the amount for No. 2 player Samsung Card jumped by 9.74 percent to reach 58.97 trillion won in June from 53.73 trillion won a year earlier. With the amount used on Samsung Card growing faster, the gap between the two issuers narrowed to 10.58 trillion won from 14.5 trillion won last year. The gap between the two firms has also narrowed in terms of card business profits. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Shinhan posted 457.65 billion won profit in its card business in the first quarter of this year, down 4.9 percent from a year earlier. During the same period, Samsung's card business profit increased by 1.7 percent to 435.2 billion won, narrowing the two firms' profit gap to 22.45 billion won from 53.38 billion won. Samsung Card attributes the recent surge to its reinforcement of its digital channel, which CEO Won Gee-chan suggested as a key strategy to stay competitive in the market. Since 2014, Samsung Card has been operating a team in charge of improving its digital channel. One of the outcomes of the team is LINK, a big-data consumer analysis service. LINK analyzes a client's consuming patterns to offer various benefits at his or her favorite stores and restaurants. From last year, the firm has been issuing credit cards for 24 hours online. It was the first of its kind among domestic card issuers. Along with the around-the-clock service, the company shortened the average period between card application and its use from a week to two days, by issuing mobile credit cards. In May, the company began customer services through online chatting, in order to provide counseling for 24 hours. Samsung Card said on average 10,000 clients have been making inquiries through the chatting channel since then. Buoyed by the digital drive, the number of Samsung Card members who used the company's cards in June stood at 7.98 million. The number of such "active clients" was 6.91 million in the first half of 2014. Chased by Samsung Card, Shinhan Card CEO Lim Young-jin stressed that employees should be "leaders in digital innovation." As a part of these efforts, the firm reorganized its corporate structure in July, which aimed at reinforcing digital and global business teams. Earlier this year, the firm introduced the FAN Paybot, an algorithm-based consumption management system. It analyzes users' consumption patterns to help them control their spending. For example, if you want to know how much you spent on dates this month, a simple search of "date" on FAN app shows how much you spent at movie theaters, restaurants and other places likely for dates. It also provides advice to control your spending. Harsher environment Though the credit card companies are trying to weather fierce competition with digitalization, they have to face a harsher environment. Since this month, more small- and medium-sized merchants have been enjoying reductions in the processing fees they pay to card firms, following President Moon Jae-in's campaign pledge to ease financial burdens on small merchants. The Financial Services Commission expects this will reduce the burden worth 350 billion won on 460,000 small shop owners. In other words, credit card firms will see a 350 billion won decline in their sales. "Card firms may not be able to avoid the negative impact coming from the fee cuts," Daishin Securities analyst Choi Jung-wook said. He anticipated the measure to reduce Samsung Card's operating revenue by between 60 billion won and 65 billion won annually. With industry surroundings deteriorating, both firms are focusing on direct auto loans as their new cash cow, releasing various products recently. "Credit card firms are developing their auto financing products in order to diversify their revenue sources," a card firm official said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches test-firing of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile at Sunan airport near Pyongyang, Tuesday, in this file photo released by the Korea Central News Agency, Wednesday. / Yonhap Latest test intended to intimidate Japan By Kim Rahn North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signaled more missile launches into the Pacific Ocean after a successful test of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that flew over Japan, Tuesday, according to Pyongyang's state media, Wednesday. The Hwasong-12 flew about 2,700 kilometers over Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean. This was the first time that North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan. "The missile firing, which closely resembled actual warfare, is the first step of our military operations in the Pacific and a significant prelude to check the U.S. territory of Guam," the North's Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted Kim as saying. "We need to carry out more ballistic missile tests toward the Pacific, so that we can develop strategic forces more practically." His comments showed the North could test-fire missiles toward not only areas around the Korean Peninsula but also those near Japan, Guam and other Pacific regions. The Embassy of Uzbekistan contributed the below article on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the country's Independence Day. ED. Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev After gaining independence, Uzbekistan took a worthy place in the world community. Over the years, great creative work has been carried out. Human honor and dignity are exalted, the wellbeing of the people is ensured, and the appearance of our cities and villages has radically changed. Due to independence, we gained freedom, and revived ancient traditions. All this is directly connected with the name of the founder of independent Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. The great political leader Islam Karimov left an independent and prosperous country to our people. This noble work, taking into account modern requirements, is consistently and systematically being continued by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Uzbekistan is implementing foreign policy based on the principles of peace and cooperation, mutual interest, respect and trust, without interference in the internal affairs of other states. Measures that are being taken in Uzbekistan on further strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries are worthy of special attention. A vivid embodiment of these efforts is the fact that the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev made the first state visits to neighboring countries. The ideas and initiatives forwarded by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Action Strategy defined for 2017-2021, are opening wide opportunities for deepening socioeconomic reforms, further strengthening trade, and economic and investment cooperation with other states. Today, Uzbekistan is demonstrating a steady pace of development in all spheres under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Effective multilateral foreign policy serves as an important factor in increasing the export potential and expanding economic opportunities of Uzbekistan. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was born on July 24, 1957, in Zaamin District of Jizzakh Region to a family of doctors. He is an Uzbek by nationality, with a higher education. In 1981, he graduated from the Tashkent Institute of Engineers of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture and earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, and is an associate professor. Shavkat Mirziyoyev started his career in 1981 at the Tashkent Institute of Engineers of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture, where he served as a junior research fellow, senior lecturer, associate professor and vice rector for academic affairs. In 1990, he was elected deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic. He served as chairman of the Credentials Committee. In 1992, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was appointed khokim (governor) of Mirzo Ulugbek District of the city of Tashkent. From 1996 to 2001, he served as khokim of the Jizzakh Region, and from 2001 to 2003 as khokim of Samarkand Region, and made a great contribution to the socioeconomic development of the aforementioned district and regions. While working in the executive branch and at the same time as deputy of the Oliy Majlis (Supreme Assembly) of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 1995 to 2003, he has actively and fruitfully participated in the elaboration and adoption of important legislative acts on political and socioeconomic development of the country, and the implementation of democratic reforms. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was approved as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2003, and three times (in 2005, 2010 and 2015) was approved again in his post by both Chambers of the Oliy Majlis. From the early years of our motherland's independence Shavkat Mirziyoyev earned the high trust of the first President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, by selflessly working as his colleague and close associate. As head of the Government, he has shown tremendous abilities and outstanding leadership in the implementation of wide-ranging socioeconomic reforms, the modernization and improvement of the country, the realization of major and unique projects, the development and protection of private property, and the radical increase in the share of small businesses and private enterprises in the economy and consolidation of their legal security. In his activities Shavkat Mirziyoyev attached a special significance to economic development on an industrial basis, the improvement of the country's exporting potential, a cardinal transformation of the agricultural sector, especially the extensive advancement of farming enterprise, processing of agricultural products, provision for food security of the nation and a guaranteed supply of goods for the population at reasonable prices. In order to drastically uplift the living and working conditions of the people, Shavkat Mirziyoyev took effective measures for large-scale construction and improvement works in all regions of the country, to improve the quality of public services, and integrated development of cities and districts, including remote rural areas. In his activities, along with the socioeconomic dimension, a significant emphasis is placed _ as a priority focus _ on the progress of education, science and healthcare in accordance with modern requirements, and the creation of conditions necessary for the formation of a healthy and comprehensively advanced younger generation, and the protection of motherhood and childhood. He has paid much attention to the further enhancement of the credibility of the unique institution of self-government _ makhalla _ and other social organizations, the consistent consolidation of their role in the community through broad involvement in the process of democratic reforms, as well as the preservation and enrichment of national spiritual values. Along with this, in addressing economic and social issues Shavkat Mirziyoyev directly supervised efforts to build up comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, international organizations and financial institutions, as well as important agreements that serve the national interests and economic development of the country. On Sept. 8, 2016, on the basis of a joint resolution of the Legislative Chamber (Lower House) and Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan adopted at a joint session, then-Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev was temporarily assigned the duties and powers of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. On Oct. 19, 2016 the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen _ Liberal- Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (UzLiDeP) _ during its eighth convention in Tashkent nominated the member of the Political Council of the Party Shavkat Mirziyoyev as its candidate for the presidential elections. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan with 88.61 percent of the vote based on the results of the presidential elections that took place on Dec. 4, 2016. Shavkat Mirziyoyev officially assumed the post of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Dec. 14, 2016. Shavkat Mirziyoyev is married, with two daughters, one son and five grandchildren. His spouse, Z.M. Mirziyoyeva, has the qualification of engineer-economist. At present, she is a housewife. In recognition of the many years of productive work in the Government and management, the enormous contribution to the development of the country, and the improvement of the people's welfare, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the Order "Mekhnat Shukhrati" (Glory of Labor) and "Fidokorona Khizmatlari Uchun" (For Selfless Service). Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Korea, Vitaliy Fen, contributed the below article on the occasion of his country's 26th Indenpendence Day. ED. Vitaliy Fen, Uzbek Ambassador The Republic of Korea is one of the most reliable and time-tested strategic partners of Uzbekistan. Cooperation between our states is consistently developing in all directions due to the regular nature of the dialogue at the highest level and common aspirations. I especially want to note that this year our countries are widely celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea, after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, have become strategic partners and continue to strengthen close cooperation in all spheres. Partnership between our countries covers such spheres as trade, investment, exports and imports, fuel and energy complexes, the chemical industry, transport and logistics, the automotive industry, mining, light and the food industry, agriculture, information technologies and telecommunications, medicine, tourism, science and culture. The most-favored-nation treatment operates in the sphere of trade between our countries. The Republic of Korea has traditionally been a leading investment and technological partner in implementation of priority programs on diversifying and modernizing industry and infrastructure in Uzbekistan. Dozens of major projects have been implemented in various sectors of the economy, attracting investments of leading South Korean companies and banks of more than 7 billion dollars. The number of enterprises with South Korean capital in Uzbekistan is 461, including 75 with 100 percent Korean capital. These enterprises are operating mainly in the sphere of trade, oil and gas, the petrochemical and chemical industries, mining, engineering, the electrical and textile industries, information and communication technologies, transport and logistics, and tourism among others. Further strengthening of cooperation between the two countries is facilitated by consistently developing cultural and humanitarian ties. Higher education institutions of Uzbekistan are cooperating with more than 30 universities of South Korea. Departments of the Uzbek language have been established in the South Korean universities of foreign languages Daegu and Busan; the Korean language is being taught in the Uzbekistan State University of World Languages, the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies and the Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages. The successful activity of Inha University in Tashkent is a vivid example of the prospects for partnership in the sphere of education. Close ties have been established at the municipal level, within the framework of which there are arrangements on cooperation between Tashkent and Seoul, Fergana and Yongin, Namangan and Seongnam, Samarkand and Gyeongju, and the Tashkent region and North Gyeongsang Province. The Republic of Korea is one of the leaders in the field of the introduction of e-government, as ranked every two years by the U.N. About 50 years ago, having begun to implement relevant projects, South Korea simultaneously carried out administrative reforms and the modernization of public administration, which was the guarantor of the effectiveness of the e-government system. This "smart government" strategy is currently being implemented in the Republic of Korea. We are interested in developing cooperation in this sphere. Taking this opportunity, I would like to sincerely congratulate the peoples of Uzbekistan and South Korea on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Our countries can be proud of the development dynamics of bilateral relations. I hope for their further strengthening and expansion in the future. Defense Minister Song Young-Moo shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis ahead of their meeting at the Pentagon, Wednesday. / Yonhap Defense Minister Song meets US defense secretary By Jun Ji-hye U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said his country will keep seeking a diplomatic solution to resolve the threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Washington was ready to take diplomacy off the table. Mattis made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at the Pentagon, Wednesday. "We're never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis told reporters. "We continue to work together, and the minister (Song) and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests." The meeting took place after the Kim Jong-un regime launched what was presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan, Tuesday, which traveled about 2,700 kilometers before landing in the North Pacific Ocean. The provocation was construed as the North showing off its ability to strike areas around Guam as it previously threatened to do with four Hwasong-12 IRBMs. Guam is located about 3,000 kilometers from Pyongyang. Following the provocation, President Trump suggested the United States should stop pursuing negotiations with the North. "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" Trump tweeted. His comments raised speculation that Washington may be moving toward a more hawkish policy rather than seeking dialogue with Pyongyang, but Mattis rejected the idea that Washington would halt its diplomatic efforts. "The recent United Nations Security Council sanctions and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) communique demonstrate the international community's resolve against North Korean actions," Mattis said. "Last evening's United Nations Security Council action shows the world is united in diplomatic efforts to stop North Korea and its reckless, intolerable behavior." Park Seong-jin, the nominee for the SMEs and startups minister, arrives for the press conference in Seoul, Thursday. By Kim Hyo-jin Park Seong-jin, President Moon Jae-in's nominee for minister of SMEs and startups, is in hot water over his controversial historical perspectives and ethical lapses. Park is accused of supporting the dictatorship of the controversial founding president, Syngman Rhee, in his academic reports and claiming the country was founded in 1948, a view advocated by ultra-right historians. The third-largest People's Party demanded that the nominee voluntarily withdraw or for Cheong Wa Dae to drop the nomination, dimming the prospect of Park's parliamentary endorsement in a confirmation hearing. The party said the personnel verification system of the presidential office should be thoroughly overhauled for nominating the scandal-ridden figure. "From the scandal of being part of the New Right to tax evasion and the dual citizenship of his children, it all goes against common sense," said chief spokesman Rep. Son Kum-ju. "The government should figure out who should be held accountable for the repeated mistakes in personnel appointments and take disciplinary action. Unless presidential aides unveil the verification process and take responsibility, this catastrophic conduct will be repeated and the people will have to suffer again." The minor opposition Justice Party echoed this view. Chairwoman Rep. Lee Jeong-mi called for a total overhaul of Cheong Wa Dae's personnel management system, calling Park a "nominee that would have been seen in the era of the ousted former leader Park Geun-hye." "Of the numerous controversies, we particularly cannot accept the view that the country was founded in 1948 as it denies the spirit of the Constitution and disqualifies him from being a high-level public official, not to mention it goes against President Moon Jae-in's speech on Aug. 15 National Liberation Day," she said. "Appointment of Park means damage of the public trust in Moon and a betrayal of his own philosophy of state management. His nomination should be withdrawn immediately." The 49-year-old professor of engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) was nominated last week as the first minister of the newly formed Ministry of SMEs and Startups under the Moon administration. His nomination was soon embroiled in controversy after it was unveiled he cited the nation was founded in 1948, a minor view strongly advocated by the ousted former leader Park Geun-hye and her supporters, in a 2015 research report. Moon has clarified his view that the national foundation dates back to 1919, when the Provisional Government of Korea was established in Shanghai. It was also controversial that he said dictatorship was inevitable under the Syngman Rhee administration to establish a liberal democracy system. The nominee has been grilled over allegations that two of his three children have dual Korean and American nationality and that his wife committed tax evasion by signing a "down contract," where she falsely reported the price of an apartment. His previous position as director of the well-known pseudoscience institute, Korea Association for Creation Research, also sparked controversy. The institute advocates creation science, which started in the U.S. in the 1960s and is regarded as a fundamentalist Christian movement, denying the theory of evolution and considering Biblical creationism to be scientifically proven fact. Park defended himself in a press conference later in the day, saying he is not politically biased. But he showed no intention of stepping down. "I apologize to the people for disturbances surrounding my past deeds," he said. "It's embarrassing to say but I had not seriously considered my political and ideological orientation before my nomination." Stressing he had no knowledge of the New Right movement, Park said, "My acts and thoughts are not much different to what the Moon administration does." Amid brewing controversies of the nominee, a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters Wednesday, "We take the issue seriously. We are checking if he truly made the remark and has such a belief by looking into other materials." In a Realmeter poll released earlier in the day, Moon's approval rating stood at 73.4 percent of respondents, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier. The controversy over the recent nomination of Park may have affected the people's sentiment toward the Moon administration, the pollster said. LS Mtron and UZ ATM hold a business consultation meeting at the LS Tower in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province in May./ Courtesy of LS Mtron Industrial machinery and high-tech components manufacturer LS Mtron has expanded co-operation with Uzbek agricultural machine company UZAgroTechMash (UZ ATM). Since 2013, when the Korean firm signed a contract with UZ ATM's affiliate ASI to transfer tractor cabin development technology, the two have become "win-win" business partners in modernizing Uzbekistan's farm machinery, according to LS Mtron said. "We feel responsible and also proud of being recognized for our technology by Uzbekistan, which has a strong agricultural industry," LS Mtron CEO Andy Kim said. "We will continue to solidify our position as a trusted brand in Uzbekistan." The Korean company said it had contributed to agricultural development in Uzbekistan. LS Mtron and ASI have developed a high-clearance tractor to harvest cotton, and have produced about 1,500 since the project began in 2013. Components production has been localized successfully. During a meeting between UZ ATM, ASI and LS Mtron in Korea in May, UZ ATM Chairman Saidabbos Saydamiov and the LS Mtron CEO discussed various business opportunities. Kim and executives are expected visit to Uzbekistan next month at the invitation of Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister Nodir Otajonov, and make concrete plans for what was discussed at the May meeting, LS Mtron said. By Young H.K. Pae North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun has frequently threatened to attack South Korea and the United States with missiles. U.S. President Donald Trump has counter-threatened with no less strength. The atmosphere is tense when looked at from outside but Koreans appear very relaxed. If North Korea chooses to launch chemical warfare, missile attacks, or extreme nuclear missile attacks against its neighbors, what can we do to survive? Columnist Andrew Salman wrote in a recent article "Keep Calm and Stay in Seoul" that if there was a war, people living in Seoul would not have much to do. So I asked my friends, What would you do if North Korea attacks and launches missiles at us?' "I imagine my husband and I both will try to enjoy the final moments of our lives, maybe drinking some wine," says Kim Bo-hee, an editor. Kim Sung-yong, a computer programmer said that he would get prepared to fight invading North Koreans after that attack. Cho Young-hoon, a young man who is doing an alternative service for military tour of duty, says he wouldn't know what to do because he does not even know how to shoot a gun properly. Kim and Cho apparently answered on the premise that they survived the missile attacks. For me, I have decided to go to the shelter upon hearing sirens of air raids. I have identified the closest shelter to my home. I have purchased emergency items. They include a transistor radio and extra batteries, and gas mask as well as food and water for a month and some blankets. The Ulji Freedom Guardian exercise, a ROK-U.S. joint military exercise, is coming to its end. Civil defense portions of it have been wrapped up in order to get the nation prepared for this emergency. The Civil Defense Training was conducted on Aug. 23 to prepare the people for such emergencies as air raids and missile and artillery attacks from the North. In hindsight, there were accounts that people didn't take the training seriously. The civil defense drills started in 1975 but now it is only conducted occasionally. Nearly three quarters of people don't know the nearest shelter they should go in emergency. Ahn Jong-min at the community center in Seodaemun was quoted by Korean version of the Huffington Post as saying, "If war breaks out, Korean military would take the controls and handle the situation and we don't have a field manual for potential war." All told, both the people and government don' take the current situation as seriously as we should. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Young H.K. Pae is an educator, freelance writer and researcher at the Asia Institute. By Donald Kirk One demand you don't hear South Korean leaders making whenever North Korea pops off another missile is, "Oh, let's sign a peace treaty, and everything will be okay." That's partly because, if there's one party with whom North Korean strategists don't want to include in any such treaty, it's South Korea. They see the south they spell it with a lowercase "s" as not just a junior partner but a "lackey" of the U.S. They want to assert their superiority if not sovereignty as the only true Korean government with which the U.S. should be dealing in any "permanent" peace in place of the armistice that's maintained the peace on the Korean Peninsula since July 1953. Advocates of a "peace treaty," however, don't want to acknowledge the existence of "peace." They prefer to see Korea as "technically at war," and they carry on as if they wish war would break out just to prove their point. Sorry South and North Korea are not at war, "technically" or otherwise, despite North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's habit of ordering missile shots that annoy everyone and do nothing to advance arguments for a treaty. The North Koreans, of course, would never accept any deal that would force them to abandon their beloved nuclear warheads, much less the missiles to carry them to distant targets. In fact, discussion of a treaty is all the more irrelevant since President Moon has responded to North Korean "provocations" with a toughness that is a severe disappointment to North Korean leaders, as well as pro-Northers in the U.S. who form the core of the peace treaty crowd. No doubt it's for that reason that Kim has not responded to Moon's request for dialogue or pleas for another round of family reunions. At the forefront of the pro-Northers is an outfit in California called the Korea Policy Institute. So disappointed are they by Moon's strong-willed defiance of North Korea and his support of sanctions, they seem to be giving up on him. Instead they are throwing their support behind a "New People's Party" they say is "determined to continue the candlelight revolution that brought Moon Jae-in to power and to hold his administration accountable to the democratic will of the people." Exactly what "people" are they talking about, and what about Moon's approval rating of more than 70 percent? Other questions one might ask: What is this "New People's Party," what are American pro-Northers doing getting involved in Korean domestic politics, and why do they turn against Moon when they were so overjoyed by his election? A look at the positions of some shows they also want the U.S. to pull out of bases in Guam and Hawaii. In other words, they see U.S. withdrawal from Korea, and betrayal of the U.S.-Korean alliance, as intrinsic to a U.S. retreat from East Asia. Like right-wing isolationists of another era, are they advocating "fortress America"? Not likely. What's clear is they don't want South Korea as the leading partner in a peace treaty. In fact, their blathering suggests they don't want South Korea involved at all. Nor do they ask whether China, North Korea's savior in the Korean War, might also want to be a signatory to a treaty. They prefer to forget that China did sign the Korean War armistice, which South Korea's president, Rhee Syngman, spurned as sanctifying the permanent division of the Korean Peninsula. Treaty talk, however, is not a serious topic in Seoul. Moon isn't mentioning it; nor do members of his Democratic Party of Korea. American pro-Northers would rather not acknowledge North Korea's abuses while applauding its nuclear "defense." None of which is to suggest that South and North Korea should not get into dialogue. Why not revive six-party talks that China was hosting from 2005 to 2008? Surely all the parties would have a lot to say. Moon would consider reopening the Gaeseong Industrial Complex if the North gave up its nukes, and wouldn't it be great if tours resumed to Mount Geumgang? North Korea, amid missile tests, is responding to none of these suggestions while pro-North idiots rave about a "peace treaty" in place of a truce that has actually kept the peace, real peace, not "technical" peace, for nearly three-fourths of a century. Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering war and peace in the region for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com. By Kwon Yule-jung After two atomic bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was forced to surrender to the Allied Forces on Aug. 15, 1945. At the same time, the Korean Peninsula embraced full independence and faced division between the South and the North according to different ideologies and interests, national and international alike, and other complex factors. This has remained unchanged for more than seven decades. Japan had no other choice but to feel humiliated in seeing Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and others sign the Instrument of Surrender to Douglas MacArthur on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Sept. 2. However, all the responsibilities were not sorted out in the document. More than six years passed in solving all outstanding issues with victim countries since the high-profile event on the USS battleship. San Francisco was where a treaty was signed to terminate Japan's burden of reparations to these countries once and for all in September, 1951. The treaty came into force in April the next year. Fifty one countries participated in the treaty but only 48 signed it. Those countries included many Central and South American ones and some in Africa such as like South Africa and Ethiopia. Such countries, however, had little to do with Japan's invasion or aggression. Which country was the most bullied and terrorized during Japan's greedy and inhumane dominance by imperialist forces? Korea had been under Japan's brutal governance for nearly half a century since the Empress Myeongseong was murdered in 1895. It was natural that almost all Koreans were treated like slaves or second class citizens inferior to the Japanese. Thousands of young Korean women were abducted and taken to the front lines even as far as to Burma and the other South Asian and Pacific areas for the sexual gratification of Japan's soldiers. Many Korean men were forced to work in mines or military factories. Despite being such an apparent victim, Korea was not invited to the San Francisco conference. At that time, Korea had been embroiled in the Korean War for 15 months. Fierce warfare had absolute precedence over the international conference. The absence of Korea left eternal and irretrievable damage to the Koreas. Ownership of the easternmost islet of Dokdo and full reparation to comfort women for their ordeals are still being debated with Japan. If Korea took part in the conference and played a proper role in addressing its appropriate requests for compensation and territorial rights of the island, such problems would not have arisen. The most tragic incident of Korean history, the Korean War, had a very negative impact on colonial issues because it barred Korea from the meaningful meeting that found legal solutions. History repeats itself! The writer is the chief director of the Daejeon National Cemetery. Write to england6227@hanmail.net. 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 inauguration ceremony of the Colombo Defence Seminar 2017, which is held under the theme Countering Violent Extremism: Global Trends, was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena on 28th September 2017 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo . The Sri Lanka Army launched the Defence Seminar in 2011 with the aim of initiating a dialogue regarding regional and global security issues. Colombo defence seminar 2017 held as a two day forum. Prasad Kariyawasam, Secretary of Foreign affairs made these remarks addressing the Colombo Defence Seminar 2017. Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, I take the floor at the very end of two days of deliberations on one of the most important subjects of our time Countering Violent Extremism. The opening ceremony, as you know, was graced by the President of Sri Lanka, manifesting the importance and leadership Sri Lanka provides at the highest levels of Government, in dealing with violent extremism, not just in Sri Lanka, but worldwide, as this is not a phenomenon confined to a country, to a community, or a society; and success requires working with others, in fact with everyone, everywhere, in partnership. Admiral William J. Fallons Keynote Address yesterday set the tone for our deliberations over these two days. The discussion on this important subject that commenced yesterday should not end when we bring down the curtain this evening on this Colombo Defence Seminar. The partnerships we formed, the networks we built, the dialogues that we started, the ideas that we exchanged during our time here should continue, and should be transformed into implementation in our societies, communities, and countries, in dealing with this complex phenomenon. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not a Military person, nor an Academic, but a Diplomat for long years. Hence, I intend to take a generic, down-to-earth view on this important issue as I see it, both from national and international perspectives. You are all familiar with Sri Lankas story. Our country was mired in conflict for almost three decades. We experienced two youth insurrections in the South, and separatist terrorism in the North. All this tore our societies and our communities apart. Thousands of young, productive lives were lost to our nation. Death, destruction, displacement, citizens leaving our shores, and considerable economic loss of a magnitude that is inconceivable these were the results of violent conflict that arose as a result of extremism. Today, as we chart our path on a journey towards stronger democratic institutions, good governance, reconciliation, and economic development, we recognize that this is a journey that requires strong commitment and perseverance for the long haul. We have to heal our own who still bear the scars of conflict both mental and physical. Of course, no more bombs go off here now thanks to the efforts of most of you present here today. No children are dragged away into battle. Parents can sleep peacefully, knowing that their children are safe. But, societies are fragile. They are not immune to influence from extraneous sources. Communities are no longer what they used to be when we were growing up, where everyone knew everyone else in their neighbourhoods, and stood up for, and cared for one another; where parents spent time with their children; and children played with each other, and had conversations with real human beings face-to-face, instead of being glued to the internet and online games. So, while we journey towards rebuilding our nation and healing our communities, and realizing our vision of a stable, peaceful, reconciled and prosperous Sri Lanka, we are aware that this requires hard work and commitment, not only by the Government, as this is not a task that Government alone can undertake and succeed in. It requires the dedicated effort, care, and commitment, of each and every individual citizen at every level of our society. Of course the horrors of war are behind us here in Sri Lanka. But, we are acutely conscious that there are other parts in the world where the horror of what we faced, is repeated, and is playing out, even as I speak. Parents are living in fear of the loss of their own lives and their childrens lives. There is no safety, and no security even in their places of worship. Somewhere, some young person is being lured over the internet by someone living oceans away perhaps, into taking up arms or blowing himself up, for some strange cause. Some innocent child, somewhere, is being taught to hate. Sri Lanka is an island, yes. But as long as there is suffering somewhere on this planet, no one is safe. As long as there is injustice somewhere on this planet, no one can rest assured of peace. As long as someones rights are violated, either here in this country or elsewhere, our peace, our stability, our prosperity, is short-lived. So just like dealing with climate change, we are all in this together, and for the long-haul. Security Forces are often called upon to counter, when societies fail to prevent conflict, casting a heavy burden on Security Forces. They have to be mindful in carrying out their duty, and extremely mindful and cautious in using the tools in their hands, while operating in very difficult circumstances of hostile conflict. They have the burden of making sure that their actions dont exacerbate conflict. Ladies and Gentlemen, This Conference bears the title Countering Violent Extremism. Countering, though, often refers to a response to something. It includes prevention which often refers to stopping something from happening. Therefore, when we speak of dealing with violent extremism, it is important to do so in terms of both preventing and countering. In fact Admiral Fallon, in his Keynote Address, mentioned this fact as well. Prevention includes many things: One: It includes finding ways and means of reaching the very roots of our societies and communities to imbibe in people this includes children in their formative years, parents, and teachers the importance of embracing empathy, tolerance, respect, and compassion. This involves getting in touch with human values that are in each and every one of us, and looking afresh, at the concept of education. This is important because although we call ourselves educated, one wonders whether young people today are really educated in being able to deal with lifes challenges by the time they leave school or by the time they leave university. How competent are our children in dealing with challenges in a meaningful and successful way? Most often, education and success are measured, or are equated with the ability of getting the highest marks in an exam and beating all the rest at sports, going out into society and being able to secure the highest pay-cheque, buying the most expensive car, the biggest house, and wearing branded clothes and wrist watches and vacationing in the most expensive spots in the country and overseas. Where in this system of education are human values? Do we not need to focus on giving each and every student the skill-sets required to be compassionate towards each other, towards all beings, towards his or her environment without which all the success achieved in terms of getting the highest pay-cheque and buying the biggest car will ultimately fail because one cant succeed alone in society. The ability for critical thinking, care, empathy, to be responsible for oneself and others, to respect oneself and others, the ability to not fall apart in the face of adversity and not get lured by those extremists who prey on the vulnerable these are very important skill-sets that must be passed on to our children, if we are to be realistic about preventing violent extremism. Civic consciousness, and the fact that we cannot succeed if we marginalise others, are important priorities to focus on, alongside the virtues of reading, writing, math, and science. It is important to give young people the skills to be able to use their powers of critical and analytical thinking to come up with alternative, peaceful ways to get what they want, instead of being lured into turning themselves into human bombs, destroying themselves and everyone and everything else around them when they cannot secure what they may seek. Respect for life is an important virtue that must be valued. This includes respect for ones own life. In our country, as I said before, we have been through the most extreme forms of violence. This is despite our nation being blessed by the four main religions in the world. The cycles of violence that we have witnessed and experienced can help us to perfect the art of making our people realise the importance of embracing peace and peaceful co-existence as a way of life, while abandoning violence as an option, forever. We still see, in our country, people resorting to violent speech and destructive action including in protests demanding what they seek, and refusing to negotiate and reach solutions through compromise and consensus. We see this type of behaviour in mature adults in society, including, unfortunately, by those who hold important positions as well. Realising the need for transformative change, and the need to begin at a young age, the Government, most recently, approved a programme called Think Equal which will be rolled-out in pre-schools throughout the country from January 2018. This programme attempts to change mind-sets and attitudes through value based education that focuses on social and emotional learning as a compulsory new subject on national curricula from the earliest years. As a country that is recovering from conflict, we are convinced that the only lasting way to address the wounds of division is by instilling empathy, a sense of oneness, inclusion, forgiveness and love in our children while they are still very young and open to attitude and behaviour change from the age of 3 onwards. Understanding differences and accepting differences, equality, tolerance, justice, mercy, compassion, humility these are human values that transcend religion and ethnicity, and we hope that through discussions such as what you have had, we will succeed in making a lasting, credible and real change in our future generations. Two: In our own country and throughout the world, breaking any cycle of violence requires treating those who give up violence, with sensitivity. They must be assisted to return to their communities, without the threat of continued violence, harassment, suspicion or discrimination, and ensuring that those displaced get the care and attention that they need. Three: Strengthening inclusive democratic governance that provides for nonviolent mechanisms for social and political change, and building the capacity of democratic civil society groups that enhances democratic norms, is another crucial preventive mechanism. This will help lower and minimise the urge to resist through violence. Citizens must be offered an alternative that is better which offers hope, and systems that deliver on promises. There are many who resort to joining extremist movements as they have trouble finding meaning or opportunity in their lives; or they are deeply frustrated and alienated and have no identity, purpose, or dignity. Disillusioned and misguided, they think that terrorist movements can offer them some dignity and power. It is important that we work hard to ensure that the grounds for recruitment such as humiliation, marginalisation, inequality, poverty, and corruption are removed from our societies. There must be ways to care for the vulnerable. Citizen engagement in decision-making can be enhanced so that they feel they have ownership of their future. Increased investments in schools and training programmes to prepare young people to be able to compete in the global marketplace; infrastructure and the means to connect producers to consumers; investment in demonstrating to the people that they are cared for through social services and counselling programmes including psycho-social support for those who need such facilities to deal with the pressures and stresses of modern-day life, and the wounds and scars of conflict, are essential. Although womens education does receive attention in our country, there has to be much more done to help Women-Headed Households and the empowerment of women at all levels, as women can play an important role in preventing violent extremism in our societies. Another important aspect is the need to strive to lift up the voices of tolerance and peace in our societies, including online, especially on social media. All forms of media have a very important role to play as well, in lifting up and highlighting the voices of peace, togetherness, harmony, respect and co-existence, and carrying these voices across society to all corners of the world. Four: It is important to build trust in government at all levels, including in law enforcement agencies and the security forces that are meant to protect people, and build confidence in the judiciary. Bribery, corruption, and fraud must not be tolerated, and must be countered, as these phenomena feed organized crime including human trafficking, and discourage honest and accountable governance, undermining entire communities. Corruption makes ordinary people feel that the system is rigged against them, and that the people in power are stealing what is rightfully theirs. Corruption, injustice, and humiliation, makes people easy prey for extremists, and make communities ripe for extremist recruitment. Eradicating corruption and creating confidence in the integrity of government institutions, are important ingredients for preventing violent extremism. It is vital that countries that is governments, organisations, the private sector, and civil society, and we, officials all combine efforts to commit to broad-based development that creates growth and jobs for all, and not just for some. Government being transparent, including development assistance and grants actually reaching the people, is also an important aspect in this context. Five: Political grievances must be addressed, as these are breeding grounds that extremists exploit. When people feel oppressed, and their human rights are denied, particularly along sectarian or ethnic lines, and when dissent is silenced it creates an environment that can be ripe for recruitment. Lasting stability and real security requires functioning and credible democracy, with strong and credible institutions. Independent judiciaries that uphold the rule of law, law enforcement authorities and security forces that respect human rights at all times, free speech and freedom for civil society groups, and freedom to practice religion all this is vital. Diversity in society must be accepted, preserved, and upheld, so that all feel that they truly belong in their countries, societies and communities, and they feel safe and secure. Ladies and Gentlemen, I spoke so far on prevention of violent extremism. Now, a few words on Countering Violent Extremism which also involves combating terrorism. We must always remain vigilant and unwavering and fully committed in our fight against terrorist organisations worldwide. This involves working together in cooperation and in collaboration with all key partners and entities that work on countering violent extremism. We must use our knowledge and expertise to contribute to the efforts of others by helping others build and enhance their capacities. We ourselves must modernise and transform our own tri-forces to meet the needs of the present and future. Vigilance is of course the better part of valour. Of course, the Sri Lankan tri-forces fought a terrorist group and defeated them militarily, eight years ago in 2009. Threats evolve, terrorists adapt, new challenges emerge. Our tri-forces must now look at ways of modernising, right-sizing, transforming, and enhancing their skills, build partnerships, and adapt to meet new challenges in close partnership with other armies, navies, and air-forces of the region and beyond to combat and counter terrorism and violent extremism, whenever and wherever necessary. We must seek cutting edge technology methods and think innovatively to not allow any room for extremists to turn violent. An important point made by Admiral William J. Fallon, in his Keynote Address yesterday is definitely worth repeating. We must, at all times, be mindful of the methods used to combat terrorism and extremism. Swarming a society with surveillance and overarching security apparatus may be effective, but it curtails civil liberties and individual rights. It is easy to drive fear into people by cracking down on each and every one of a certain community or age group who theoretically may pose some sort of a threat. But extremism cannot be defeated through repression or by creating fear. Fear instilled through repression invites contempt and can lead to the creation of terrorists and more extremists. It is trust that creates confidence, and it is trust that creates citizens and feelings of citizenship and loyalty. Of course, each State has the duty to take measures to protect all individuals within its territory and those subject to its jurisdiction, from violence. However, the methods used for doing so must at all times be consistent with individual rights. As the former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr. Ban Ki-moon once said, the objective of violent extremists is not necessarily to turn on us it is for us to turn on each other. Their biggest mission is not the action, it is the reaction. The aim is to divide communities. The goal is to let fear rule. and we must not fall prey. Finally, I want to share two important thoughts with you. First, Nelson Mandelas words: No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Second, the preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO which declares that, "since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed". To my mind, these are two very important ideas that we must be guided by, in crafting our strategies and plans for preventing and countering violent extremism. Dialogues across countries and cultures; dialogues within countries; and across faiths, as well as within faiths; building bridges of communication and trust; building confidence; allaying fears; and getting back in touch with human values that transcend religions and ethnicities. Ladies and Gentlemen, I congratulate the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake and his team for providing this excellent platform for an important dialogue, the content of which we will all take home for further reflection and action, as possible. Thank you. Full Statement Coutesy : www.mfa.gov.lk 30 Aug 2017 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Colombo. PRESS RELEASE Chinas Foreign Minister Previews Next Weeks BRICS Summit in China; Invited Nations Anxious To Participate Aug. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)At a briefing for the media this morning in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi put a focus on Chinas invitation to five non-BRICS nations to attend the Sept. 3-5 summit in Xiamen, China: "We need to have some further explanation about the BRICS Plus to help people better understand the rationale of this idea," Wang said. He explained that the host BRICS country has the option of inviting non-members, and previous hosts have done that, by inviting neighboring countries. Those discussions, he said, have been "very effective." Regarding China, he said: "Our practice is a little bit different; we are not just inviting countries in our neighborhood, but also countries from around the world that are interested in the BRICS mechanism." The purpose, he explained, is to turn the partnership into the most important platform for South-South cooperation, CGTN reports. This is evident from the geographic breadth of the invited nations: Mexico, Tajikistan, Egypt, Kenya, and Thailand. The invitations have been very well received, by the countries themselves, and internationally. Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank, told Xinhua that the initiative is "aimed not at expanding the very core of the association and including the largest developed countries, but at increasing its openness and accessibility to integration for the states of the developing world." Egypt is willing to further contribute to cooperation within the BRICS framework, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi told Chinese media before his trip to China for the BRICS summit. "Our participation in the meetings with the BRICS countries is of great importance, especially as Egypt enjoys promising economic capabilities and provides an outstanding strategic location that can help it effectively support the BRICS community and its priorities," Sisi told Xinhua in the recent interview. The Egyptian president said he expects the summit to contribute to the further understanding of major issues concerning developing countries, as well as the political, economic, and social challenges facing them. He also expressed his great appreciation of Chinese President Xi Jinping for inviting him to attend the BRICS summit, "which reflects the special bond between the two countries, as well as their strategic partnership." His participation in the BRICS summit is an opportunity for the two sides to continue consultation and coordination on various issues regarding mutual interests, the president said. "The visit will also provide a good opportunity to follow up on the joint projects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, taking into account the contribution of Chinese companies to several ongoing infrastructure projects in Egypt, including the new administrative capital project, electricity and energy development projects, and transportation," Sisi noted To Thailand, the upcoming ninth BRICS summit means much, reports Xinhua today. It is expected to witness the signing of draft contracts of a railway project vital to the Southeast Asian nation. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will attend the dialogues on political and security issues on the sideline of the summit. The Thailand-China railway project has been a focus of widespread attention in Thailand. "It will be the first standard gauge high-speed railway of Thailand and will greatly shorten the traveling time from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima," said Huang Bin, head of the Chinese department at the Kasikorn Research Center, a Thai think tank. The future railway will "contribute to economic and social development in the less-developed northeast of Thailand," Huang added. During the BRICS Xiamen summit, Thailand and China are expected to sign the design and supervision draft contracts for the first phase of the railway project, according to Thai officials. The first phase project, divided into four sections, is about building a 253-km railway with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour to link the capital, Bangkok, and the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. In the second phase, the railway will extend from Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai on the border with Laos, where it will be further connected to the China-Laos railway that is under construction. When the whole project is completed, Bangkok and Kunming, provincial capital for Yunnan in Chinas southwest, will be connected by the modern railway. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has left Dushanbe for China for a state visit ahead of a summit of the BRICS. Several cabinet members are accompanying him on his visit, which ends on September 5. Chinese media reported that Rahmon was expected to attend a summit-related Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries. On August 23, Tajik lawmakers ratified a memorandum on cooperation under which China is to help build new buildings for the Tajik parliament and government in Dushanbe. Tajikistans economy and trade minister, Nematullo Hikmatullozoda, said that China had agreed to allocate 1.5 billion yuan (some $230 million) for the construction project. There was a time when Ben Loory lived at night. Thats how he puts it, as if night isnt a stretch of empty hours to endure, but a place to enter, to discover whole worlds inside. After dark, the grocery stores are empty and the streets are quiet and still. The city at night is a city through the looking glass, perfect for writing, as Loory does, short stories so imaginative and yet so perplexingly familiar they could have formed in a dream. I used to wake up at 5 in the afternoon and stay up all night and write, he said. I still want to live at night; I just cant really do it anymore. Sipping a late morning instant coffee in the living room of his sunny Echo Park home, Loorys demeanor is gentle, his voice sometimes so quiet that a plane overhead, or a neighbors conversation carrying through the open window, threatened to drown it out. Piles of books covered the kitchen table and a rainbow-paned quilt, hand-made by a friend, splashed across the bed. At night, youre just a lot lonelier, he added, which makes it easier to write stories about people with problems. In the daytime, everything seems fine. People, when it comes to Loorys work, is a loose term. In Tales of Falling and Flying, his second collection of short stories, it may actually be a squid whos falling in love or a dodo reckoning with identity, but the concerns and conflicts that needle these unusual protagonists are deeply recognizable: longing, belonging, connection, loss. The things that happen in them always seem unexpected to me, but the premises dont seem particularly out there, he said of his stories, and yet if there was an animated version of The Twilight Zone, thats what Im doing. His imagination is clearly rife and whirring: At one point, he referred to selling this book to the penguins (he is published by Penguin Originals) as if a flock of Arctic birds sits marking up manuscripts behind Manhattan desks. Advertisement Ben Loory in his yard in Los Angeles. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Loory grew up without television, relishing Warner Bros. cartoons at friends houses on the weekends, but his early literary tastes remain as influential. His parents, English teachers who met in graduate school in a class on Paradise Lost (a hell of a creation myth for a writer), provided a house full of books. We lived in this house way out on the edge of town, he said. I grew up reading all the time because thats all that there was. His favorite book, perhaps unsurprisingly to those familiar with his work, was Aesops Fables. When I finished reading Aesops Fables, I was like, Where are the other ones? How can this just stop and why do we have to read other books? Taut, meticulously balanced and written in Loorys direct, witty prose, his own stories take a page from Aesop: high-flying tales nonetheless boiled down to the essentials. Everybody knows perfectly well what makes a good story when people are telling stories, like if youre at a party or a dinner, he said of his tendency toward the propulsive short form. Loorys first drafts take as little as 20 minutes, but his editing process can stretch as long as a decade. Death and the Lady, a meet-cute that swiftly becomes a meditation on mortality, runs about five pages and was 10 years coming; another story, still unfinished, has been through 80 drafts. When I finished reading Aesops Fables, I was like, Where are the other ones? How can this just stop and why do we have to read other books? Ben Loory His first collection, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day was released in 2011. One story, The TV, appeared in the New Yorker, and he subsequently made appearances on This American Life; an authors note that precedes Tales of Falling and Flying reads, More Stories! Sorry they took so long. And while Loory doesnt exactly rush the drafting process, which is visceral he knows that a story is complete when I burst into tears its always an emotional reaction that I didnt see coming and cant really explain. Loory came relatively late to prose writing, penning his first short story at 34 after enrolling in a creative writing class at the since-shuttered Mystery & Imagination Bookstore in Glendale. At the time, he was a working screenwriter with degrees from Harvard and AFI (hence the cue cards with working story titles pinned to his front door) looking for inspiration. I started writing these little stories, he explained. And I realized that I liked them the way they were. Ben Loory stands before story titles pinned to his door. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) He dived headlong into fiction with the ambitious goal of writing 101 stories a play on The Arabian Nights and began sleeping less and less. After not sleeping for seven days I got very confused, he said. I had a manic episode, his first and only. As the week progressed, Loorys grasp of reality was intermittently tenuous; he felt lucid, but someone close to him realized he was not. His distinct speaking voice soft, but gravelly is the result of an injury from that time. Its not really a very happy story, although Im here and I am fine and I am alive, he said. Today Loory writes for 25-minute stints. The timer was both to make me do it but also to make me stop doing it and not just dive in forever. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, Tales of Falling and Flying those titles alone allude to that diaphanous place where dusk falls or dawn rises, where falling and flying become difficult to tell apart. For all of us, the veil between reality and imagination can become thin; in his fiction, Loory captures its porousness. Themes and images reappear throughout the latest book: The Dragon and The Monster are both childrens friends, a knife in one climactic scene precedes The Sword in the next, and many stories end in joy, escape or laughter. Those echoes are everywhere, said Loory, having discovered a similar bit of dialogue (a variation of the disquieting and elemental dont worry we wont let them take you) that appears in two back-to-back stories on the very morning of our interview. He was visibly moved by them all over again. A teacher at UCLA Extension, Loory described his own epiphany as a new writer, a moment that clicked and which hes held onto. I was at the laundromat, and I had this realization that the ending of a story is the same as the beginning, he said. Its like a roomful of furniture where everything is covered in sheets, and at the end you pull the blankets off of everything, and you see what was always there the whole time. Somehow, the big reveal is that youve known all along, and what could be more surprising? I pointed out the narrative symmetry of daydreaming about sheets in a laundromat. Loory was delighted. He hadnt noticed; thats just the kind of story whimsical, unfolding like a magic trick that he tells. As for writing in Los Angeles, Loory may no longer live at night, but here, in a city that sometimes feels like a world unto itself, he can visit. Its just a world for dreamers out here, he said, which is good if you want to dream. agatha.french@latimes.com @agathafrenchy Retiree Leslie Robinson-Stone and her husband enjoyed a weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to a luxury resort all thanks to the county she worked for. The couple also received more than a thousand dollars in spending money and a personal concierge, who attended to their every need. For Santa Barbara County, it was money well spent: Sending Robinson-Stone 250 miles away for knee replacement surgery near San Diego saved the government $30,000. The only difference between our two hospitals is one is expensive and the other is exorbitant, said Andreas Pyper, assistant director of human resources for Santa Barbara County, referring to the local options. Advertisement After years of hospital industry consolidation, frustration with sky-high hospital bills and a lack of local competition is common to many employers and consumers across the country. Fed up with wildly different price tags for routine operations, some private employers are steering patients they insure to top-performing providers who offer bargain prices. Santa Barbara County, with about 4,000 employees, is among a handful of public entities to join them. The county has saved nearly 50% on four surgery cases since starting its out-of-town program last year, officials said. The program is voluntary for covered employees. At a Scripps Health hospital in the San Diego area, the county paid $61,600 for a spinal fusion surgery that would have cost more than twice as much locally. It avoided two other operations altogether after patients went outside the area for second opinions. Typically, employers are seeking deals through bundled payments in which one fixed price covers tests, physician fees and hospital charges. And if complications arise, providers are on the hook financially. Medicare began experimenting with this method during the Obama administration. Santa Barbara County is among about 400 employers on the West Coast working with Carrum Health, a South San Francisco, Calif., start-up that negotiates bundled prices and chooses surgeons based on data on complications and readmissions. Not all surgeons are equal. We dont want to give Scripps a blank check. That defeats the whole purpose, said Sachin Jain, Carrums chief executive. Santa Barbara officials try to persuade workers and their family members to participate in its program by waiving co-pays and deductibles. The county pays about $2,700 in travel costs and still comes out way ahead. If that doesnt speak to the inefficiencies in our healthcare system, I dont know what does, Pyper said. Its almost like buying a Toyota Corolla for $50,000 and then going to San Diego to buy the same Corolla for $16,000. How long would the more expensive Toyota dealership last? Even as more employers and insurers embrace bundled payments, the Trump administration is applying the brakes. In August, Medicare officials proposed canceling mandatory bundled payments for certain surgeries and scaling back the program for knee and hip replacements. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, when he was still a member of Congress, accused Medicare of overstepping federal authority and interfering in the doctor-patient relationship. Hospital trade groups have voiced similar objections. That leaves some health-policy experts dismayed. These bundled payments put pressure on medical providers and the savings are astonishing, said Bob Kocher, a former health official in the Obama administration and now a partner in the venture capital firm Venrock. Santa Barbara County officials said they had no choice after seeing their medical costs soar by 15% in each of the last two years. Like many local governments, it has an older workforce prone to chronic illness, blocked arteries and bum knees. But health costs run higher than the state average in this scenic coastal county of about 450,000 people, according to data from Oakland-based Integrated Healthcare Assn. By one measure, the average health insurance premium in the individual market runs $660 a month in Santa Barbara, 27% higher than in Los Angeles. Still, Maya Barraza, the countys manager for employee benefits and rewards, knew the program would be a hard sell to workers. You dont want to be away from your family and whats familiar, she said. Cottage Health, the countys largest health system, says it wants to keep patients in town for treatment and follow-up care. Established in 1891, its grown from a single hospital to more than 500 beds across three hospitals, and annual revenue hit $746 million last year. Valet attendants greet visitors at two entrances outside the groups white, Spanish-style hospital in the city of Santa Barbara. In the main lobby, the names of wealthy donors are splashed across one wall, including billionaire investor and Donald Trump confidant Thomas Barrack. We are continually looking at reducing costs and improving quality, said Cottage Health spokeswoman Maria Zate. Cottage Health has some of the top surgeons in California. Sixty miles north in Santa Maria, the states largest hospital chain, Dignity Health, offers another option: Marian Regional Medical Center. Both Cottage and Dignity hospitals in Santa Barbara County have quality scores of fair to excellent for joint replacements, spinal procedures and coronary bypass surgeries, according to three years of Medicare data analyzed by research firm Mpirica Health. Dignity Health didnt respond to requests for comment. Carrum tries to help employers like Santa Barbara County find more affordable options. It has struck bundled price deals for various procedures with Scripps hospitals in the San Diego area, Stanford Health Care in the Bay Area and Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, part of the Providence Health chain. Some companies have gone so far as to send patients overseas for cheaper care, but most employers favor a more regional approach, experts say. Workers still rely on local physicians for follow-up care. For some hospitals, there are advantages in offering deep discounts: They get patients they otherwise would never see and are paid in full right after the patient is discharged, avoiding the onerous billing and collections process. They also have the financial capacity to offer such sharply reduced prices. Michael Bark, assistant vice president of payer relations at Scripps Health, said most hospitals significantly mark up their commercial rates for orthopedic procedures and cardiac surgeries to compensate for lower government reimbursements. There are immense profit margins built into those cases, Bark said. Robinson-Stone, a former county sheriffs deputy and a computer support specialist, was initially wary of traveling for her surgery. But the 62-year-old had ongoing pain that kept her from biking, walking her dogs and tending to her fruit trees. Medication and cortisone shots didnt work, and she had no ties to local surgeons. So she signed up online and was given a choice of six orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla. In June 2016, she and her husband, Frank Stone, checked in at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa. Robinson-Stone met the surgeon on a Wednesday, had the operation the next day and returned to her hotel room by Saturday. She continued physical therapy at the hotel and returned to the hospital a few days later to have the staples removed. She was back on her bike within two months and eventually lost about 20 pounds. I just celebrated one year from surgery, she said, and Im a happy camper. Chad Terhune is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Heidi DeMarco contributed to this story. ALSO Hailing a breakthrough in fighting cancer, FDA approves gene therapy that functions as a living drug FDA cracks down on clinics selling unproven stem cell therapies Gilead is buying Kite Pharma, a cancer-fighting Santa Monica biotech firm, for $11.9 billion Knocking on doors, climbing through fences: How L.A. Countys health investigators are out trying to stop syphilis The Trump administration announced Thursday that it had picked a former official at for-profit DeVry University to head an Education Department unit that polices colleges for student aid fraud. Last year, DeVry paid $100 million to settle federal claims it misled students. Julian Schmoke Jr., who was an associate dean at DeVry from 2008 to 2012, will lead federal student aid enforcement activities, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. Advertisement In addition to a track record of successfully advocating for students for more than 20 years, he brings experience in higher education leadership, instruction and accreditation, including serving in an academic capacity at DeVry University, where he ensured the delivery of a quality education to students, the Education Department said in a news release. Dr. Schmoke will lead a team focused on identifying, investigating and adjudicating statutory and regulatory violations of the federal student aid programs and on resolving borrower defense claims, the release said. The move drew criticism given DeVrys troubles and the Trump administrations efforts to reverse an Obama administration crackdown on for-profit colleges. This is like the fox guarding the hen house, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Twitter. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who joined Durbin and two other senators on Aug. 7 in urging DeVos to pick an enforcement chief who had expertise in enforcement, blasted the hiring. Students deserve an experienced, qualified investigator looking out for their best interests not a for-profit college shill with no consumer protection experience, Brown said. A senior Education Department official, who requested anonymity to discuss the hiring, said Schmoke served in solely an academic capacity at DeVry and had no knowledge of or involvement in the schools federal settlement. President Trump ran a for-profit school, the now-defunct Trump University, and paid $25 million to settle a class-action suit that alleged fraud at the operation. And DeVos is an advocate of for-profit schools; her government ethics forms showed she has investments in companies connected to the industry, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. In June, DeVos suspended new rules set to go into effect on July 1 that had been designed to make it easier to forgive loans for students left stranded by the collapse of for-profit chains such as Corinthian Colleges Inc. and ITT Technical Institute and to try to prevent future abuses. DeVos is rewriting those rules, a move that drew complaints from student advocates and Democrats. DeVos said Thursday that she was focused on a stronger approach to enforcing compliance by colleges with federal student aid rules and to protecting students, parents and borrowers against bad actors. Protecting students has always been my top priority, she said in a written statement. Schmoke was among five new hires announced Thursday. They will work under A. Wayne Johnson, the new chief operating officer of the departments Federal Student Aid office. Schmoke will head a unit created by the Obama administration in part because of problems involving for-profit colleges. In December, DeVry and its parent company, DeVry Education Group Inc., agreed to pay $100 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that the school had misled potential students with ads about its post-graduation success rates. DeVry Education Group, which is one of the nations for-profit college chains, renamed itself Adtalem Global Education this spring. Since mid-2012, Schmoke has been executive director of campus operations for West Georgia Technical College, a public school that is part of the Technical College System of Georgia, according to his profile on LinkedIn. Schmoke, who has degrees from Dartmouth College, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Mercer University, began at DeVry in 2007 as a department chair teaching electronics and math courses, his profile said. In October 2008, he became associate dean for DeVrys College of Engineering and Information Sciences, leading a staff of more than 40 full-time and adjunct faculty. He left in April 2012. He also was a visiting professor for DeVrys online degree program during that time. On Aug. 9, Durbin, Brown and Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to DeVos and Johnson urging them to take immediate action to name a credible, well-qualified, independent and permanent enforcement chief. This individual must be well-qualified to serve in this critical role, and they must be politically independent and insulated from the rest of the departments leadership, the senators wrote. They must also have relevant experience in consumer protection or litigation, managing attorneys, and conducting investigations with the highest ethical standards, the senators said. The Obama administration had named FTC veteran Robert Kaye as the first head of the unit. He had been chief litigation counsel for the FTCs Consumer Protection Bureau and manager of the bureaus enforcement division. Kaye left the job in March. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera UPDATES: 12:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Sen. Sherrod Brown and a senior Education Department official. This article originally was published at 10:50 a.m. Treasury Secretary Steve T. Mnunchin would not commit Thursday to following through on a plan to place former slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Right now, weve got a lot more important issues to focus on, Mnunchin said in a CNBC interview, adding that ultimately, the department would be looking at the issue. The No.1. issue why we change the currency is to stop counterfeiting, he said. So the issues of why we change it will be primarily related to what we need to do for security purposes. Thats what Im focused on for the moment. Advertisement In April 2016, in a decision seen as a cultural victory for women and African Americans, former Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced plans to replace President Andrew Jackson, who was a slave owner, with Tubman on the front of the $20 bill. The new bill, which wasnt set to be released until at least 2020, would feature Tubman on the front and Jackson on the back. Lew also announced plans to update the backs of additional bills with historical figures adding a scene from a 1913 march for womens rights and portraits of five womens suffrage leaders to the back of the $10 bill and images of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and African American opera singer Marian Anderson on the back of the $5. President Trump has alluded to his liking for Jackson several times in the past, and although he has called Tubman fantastic, he said in an April NBC interview that replacing Jackson was pure political correctness. I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic, but I would love to leave Andrew Jackson or see if we can maybe come up with another denomination, Trump said at the time. lauren.rosenblatt@latimes.com ALSO L.A. City Council replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day on city calendar Trump called him my African American. But he condemns the presidents treatment of black America Michael Hiltzik: Did Steve Mnuchin and Louise Linton really give more to the economy than they took? The record says no UPDATES: 1:40 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting. This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m. The Trump administration is considering overhauling a program that allows foreign college students to work temporarily in the United States, sparking panic among operators of ski resorts and concessions at state and national parks who rely heavily on such seasonal help. In a conference call Wednesday, ski resort operators and other tourism industry officials urged representatives of Trumps domestic policy staff to keep intact the so-called J-1 visa program. Tourism executives who participated in the call said Trump officials were polite and inquisitive, but did not indicate how they planned to change the program, if at all. Advertisement The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the program but the State Department issued a statement saying: We continue to implement J-1 visa programs at the same level we have for the past few years. The J-1 visa program allows up to 300,000 foreign visitors, primarily college students, to visit the United States temporarily each year. The program includes 13 categories, such as summer workers, au pairs and research scholars. Eighty-five percent of the visitors are 30 or younger. Ski resorts and concessions operators at national and state parks hire the students to work in restaurants, housekeeping and ski schools during peak tourism seasons. Foreign college students often have school breaks when U.S. students are back in class. But the J-1 visa program, along with other immigration rules, are under review as part of Trumps executive order in April dubbed Buy American and Hire American, which is intended to ensure that the interests of American workers are protected. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump administration officials are considering several options, including eliminating the work categories of the program and imposing new requirements on participants. Another option is to require employers to show that they cant find Americans for these jobs, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources. Earlier this month, President Trump voiced support for overhauling the nations legal immigration programs to prioritize merit and skill over family ties. Critics of the president have pointed out the Trump Organization has asked for dozens of H-2B visas for temporary foreign workers at two of Trumps private clubs in Florida, including his Mar-a-Lago resort. Ski operators defend the J-1 visa program, saying they cant find enough American workers to fill the temporary jobs that are taken by the foreign students, many of whom visit the United States during a school break from December to mid-March the height of the ski season in the United States. About 7,000 J-1 visa workers are employed in the nations ski resorts. A representative for Vail Resorts, one of the nations largest ski resort operators, participated in the call with Trump officials. Weve always been interested in hiring local college students, but they dont want the jobs, said Dave Byrd, director of risk and regulatory affairs at the National Ski Areas Assn., a trade group for 460 ski resorts across the country. They want year-round opportunities. At Squaw Valley Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, J-1 visa workers represent 12% to 15% of the staff, working at the dining halls and restaurants and teaching children how to ski, said Andrew Wirth, chief executive of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, the parent company of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts. He said ending the program would be an economic blow to the resort. It would be worse than the drought, he said, referring to the multi-year dry spell that severely cut ski visits throughout California. Mammoth Mountain, the most popular ski resort in California, also relies on J-1 visa workers, but a representative for the resort did not provide details on its program. We find these employees to be valuable resources and add to the cultural diversity at our ski resorts, Mammoth Mountain spokeswoman Lauren Burke said. Another 5,000 J-1 visa workers are employed by national park concessions, according to tourism officials. Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which operates lodging, restaurants and other concessions at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion and other national parks, relies on the J-1 visa program for nearly 25% of its temporary workforce. A cut to the program could force the company to reduce its operating schedules for concessions at some parks, said Shannon Dierenbach, Xanterras human resources vice president. The local economy really depends on our employees and our guests, she said. There is a ripple effect on how this impacts the local economy. The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim has employed a handful of temporary workers through the J-1 visa program in the past, but does not currently have any on the payroll. Critics of the program, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), say for-profit companies are taking advantage of the program to get cheap labor instead of spending money to recruit U.S.-based workers. Ski resorts and concession operators dont pay Social Security and Medicare taxes or unemployment insurance for J-1 visa workers, but are required to pay the same salaries they would pay U.S. workers. Carl H. Winston, director of the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at San Diego State University, said some companies that hire J-1 visa workers must invest in housing and meal programs to employ the foreign students. Its a major hassle for these employers, he said. Of course they would hire local kids if they could. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. Comic and actor Patton Oswalt has made quick work of selling his home in historic Los Feliz. The 1926-built Mediterranean hit the market earlier for $2.499 million and in hand in three days, according to the Multiple Listing Service. It sold for $2.6 million, or $101,000 over the asking price. The two-story home, set up from the street and behind wrought iron gates, has brick steps that lead up to the front door. Advertisement Some 3,600 square feet of living space features a foyer with spiral staircase, a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Rolled and beamed ceilings, arched doorways and hardwood floors are among details of note. The kitchen has been updated with stainless steel appliances, new cabinetry and a tiled backsplash. French doors swing open to a patio with a retractable awning. Pavers, formal landscaping and mature trees fill the fenced and gated grounds. A guest apartment sits above the detached garage. Oswalt, 48, has scores of credits that include the sitcoms The King of Queens, Reno 911, Two and a Half Men and Veep. His latest stand-up special, Patton Oswalt: Annihilation, is set for release in October on Netflix. He bought the property in 2009 for $1.615 million, records show. Claudia Hipolito of Coldwell Banker was the listing agent. Isaac Fast, also with Coldwell Banker, represented the buyer. neal.leitereg@latimes.com Twitter: @LATHotProperty MORE FROM HOT PROPERTY: Lena Headey of Game of Thrones gets her price and more for Sherman Oaks home Actress Rhona Mitra sells Moroccan-vibe home in Venice for $2.55 million L.A. Kings forward Tyler Toffoli scores a new spot in the South Bay Zachary Levi of Chuck fame wraps up a quick sale in Studio City The relationship between the Museum of Modern Art and Frank Lloyd Wright has been very complicated for a very long time. Wright has appeared in more MoMA exhibitions (11 in all) than any other architect. Five years ago the museum and Columbia University jointly acquired his mammoth archive. This summer, to celebrate that acquisition and mark the 150th anniversary of Wrights birth, the museum has opened a wide-ranging and often surprising exhibition called Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive. Yet MoMA, as a leading champion of orthodox modernism, has also shared (and sometimes amplified) that movements doubts about Wright. Philip Johnson , the tastemaking founding director of the museums architecture and design department, once dismissed Wright as the greatest architect of the 19th century, giving the older architects work a sepia-colored stain he was never quite able to wash away. Wright, for his part, both craved attention from the museum and, when it came, wondered if it meant hed slipped onto the wrong track. MoMAs favored architecture was for years the unforgivingly spare brand of modernism known as the International Style. Wrights career-long interest was developing something closer to a National Style, a democratic architecture for America that drew freely and sometimes indiscriminately from premodern and foreign sources (Asian and Latin American as much as European) but might qualify in some fundamental sense as indigenous or homegrown. Wright died in 1959, at the age of 91, but Wright at 150 suggests that the museum cant shake the old ambivalence. Or maybe doesnt want to. The exhibition treats the arrival of the architects archive in New York as by turns a gold mine for a new generation of scholars, an inevitability in this milestone year and something of a burden. Mostly that contradictory attitude is faint enough to be imperceptible, or nearly so. In a couple of places, when the show pointedly makes room for a couple of bracingly modern drawings by the German architect Mies van der Rohe , it moves clearly into view. Those moments are enough to make you see the show in a new light and wonder how much Barry Bergdoll, its lead curator, shares Johnsons attitude about Wright and his place in the modern pantheon. Wright at 150, which fills a suite of third-floor galleries recently redesigned by the New York architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, follows an unusual format. Bergdoll, a Columbia architectural historian who directed MoMAs architecture and design department from 2006 until 2013, is not a Wright expert. (European architects, including Mies, have been the focus of his work.) Nor are most of the 11 co-curators Bergdoll and MoMAs Jennifer Gray tapped to help them put the show together. Among the best-known Wright scholars, only Princetons Neil Levine makes an appearance here. Bergdolls goal was to keep the exhibition from simply restaging the most familiar arguments about Wright. Instead he asked each contributor to choose a single object, drawing or project from the archive to explore. The approach pays some real dividends. The deep bench of co-curators recruited by Bergdoll has uncovered material charting Wrights relationship to a range of subjects under-explored until now, particularly landscape, labor and race. Yet for all the elegance of its presentation and the novelty of its curatorial approach, the exhibition has a dutiful feel. The combination of Wrights 150th birthday and the arrival of his papers in New York made a major MoMA exhibition essentially inevitable, especially when one considers the crowds its bound to attract before its 3 1/2-month run is up. An undated photograph of Wright at work (The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives/The Museum of Modern Art/Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University) There are places in the show where Bergdolls approach resembles crowdsourcing, a smart attempt to capture the wisdom of a diverse group of architectural historians. There are others when it looks more like outsourcing, an effort to shift the work of reassessing an endlessly analyzed architect from MoMA and Columbia to a group of lesser-known (or maybe more eager or pliable) scholars. We were not trying to put together a total Frank Lloyd Wright, Bergdoll told MoMA director Glenn Lowry during an onstage conversation at the museum. Instead the show is meant to announce that Frank Lloyd Wright is open to new interpretations and that the archive is here and its open. The picture of Wright the show presents is (essentially by design) fractured, incomplete and inconsistent: a Cubist portrait by committee. Around a central hall containing presentation drawings of some of Wrights pivotal projects a concession to the idea that the public will demand to see the Guggenheim, Fallingwater and the rest of the greatest hits are 12 smaller spaces, each the domain of an individual scholar or pair of curators. They include the University of Washingtons Ken Oshima on Tokyos Imperial Hotel, a commission that helped salvage Wrights career during a desperately lean period in the 1910s; MoMAs Juliet Kinchin on an experiment in agriculture, the Little Farms Unit, that Wright pursued during the Depression; Columbia Universitys Mabel Wilson on an unbuilt design by Wright for a model school for African American children; and Elizabeth S. Hawley on Wrights proposal, also unrealized, for the Nakoma Country Club in Madison, Wis. A section on housing by Matthew Skjonsberg (a Swiss architect who studied at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Arizona) and UCLAs Michael Osman is largely dedicated to the four concrete-block houses Wright built in Los Angeles and Pasadena in the early 1920s. Each of the four was an idiosyncratic attempt to blend a new system of modular production with flat-roofed Modernism, pre-Columbian ornament, Japanese details and a thoroughgoing exoticism, if not romanticism. Wright at 150 comes into sharpest focus when its layout matches its themes and vice versa. The architect had a career-long interest in designing small prototypes that, if produced in multiples, might serve a self-styled nation of individuals: not just the Little Farms (and a related project for a series of town halls) but most famously Wrights Usonian houses, which he saw (over-optimistically, as it turned out) as a democratic experiment capable of bringing high design to a broad public. At its best what Bergdoll has conjured is a series of Little Shows on Americas most famous architect. A model of Wrights Davidson Little Farms Unit, 193233. (Jonathan Muzikar) (Jonathan Muzikar /) Throughout his career Wright aimed alternately to keep pace with modern architecture and keep his distance from it. What looked to him and his followers like an inventive search for an authentically American architecture looked to acolytes of European modernism more like the trap of nostalgia. Bergdoll appears to endorse this second point of view in choosing to add a pair of designs by Mies to the one gallery he curated himself, on Wrights speculative 1956 design for a mile-high skyscraper, the Illinois. One is a 1954 collage by Mies of his design for the Chicago Convention Hall. The other shows the German architects well-known 1921 drawing for the Friedrichstrasse skyscraper in Berlin. If the goal in part is to snap viewers out of whatever Wrightian trance they might have fallen into, staring at one gauzy drawing or watercolor after another, the strategy works all too well. The two images by Mies are like a blast of cold water, a sharp slap of avant-gardism. Anybody who knows how exceptionally well Bergdoll knows Mies body of work will also recognize his attempt to signal to fellow modernists that he hasnt drunk the Wrightian Kool-Aid. If forced to choose between the two architects I would, like Bergdoll, come down on the side of Mies. But theres something of the dog whistle in how he deploys those two images. Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive Where: Museum of Modern Art, New York When: Through Oct. 1 Info: Moma.org christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com Twitter: @HawthorneLAT They are women who turned stories of sexual assault into installation art. They made drawings that gave sexuality a distinctly feminine point of view. They delivered art history lectures wearing aprons and crafted a quinceanera gown out of beef years before Lady Gaga was even a glint in her parents eyes. And they helped transform the face of art over the span of a continent. They are women some well known in Latin American art circles, others far less so who will collectively get their due at the Hammer Museums Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985, one of dozens of Southern California exhibitions to open this fall as part of Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles / Latin America. No other PST: LA/LA exhibition promises to rewrite history quite like Radical Women, which documents the transformative work of U.S. Latinas and Latin American women artists who have all too often been ignored by major art institutions. I never set out to be a radical artist, says Maris Bustamante, a pioneering conceptual artist from Mexico City, who among her various playful actions patented the taco and created a face mask with a phallus for a nose as a wry comment on Freuds concept of penis envy. It was the context that shaped us. That context was the Latin America of the 1960s, 70s and 80s a turbulent period beginning just seven years after women in Mexico were granted the right to vote in national elections in 1953. It was an era when painting ruled and men ruled painting. We are doing this show because 50 years have gone by and the percentages of the representation of women in galleries and museums ... is still 30%. Andrea Giunta, co-curator, 'Radical Women' Radical Women in Mexico City, from left: Lourdes Grobet, Ana Victoria Jimenez, Julia Antivilo Pena, Karen Cordero, Carla Rippey and Monica Mayer. (Susana Gonzalez / For The Times) (Susana Gonzalez / For The Times) RELATED: Firecrackers, a striptease scandal and more moments of change from the Hammer's 'Radical Women' Indeed, when the 1975 United Nations World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City to mark International Womens Year, the Museo de Arte Moderno [Modern Art Museum] organized an exhibition showcasing paintings of women created largely by men. Magali Lara, a Cuernavaca-based artist known for her intimate assemblages, was a student at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City around this time. We used to have these discussions which today would be considered absolutely ridiculous but back then were very serious, she recalls. Wed talk about whether women could or couldnt be painters because of our maternal qualities, and how women were good students but not good creators. This idea that we were very docile and easily influenced thats how they treated us. The Radical Women exhibition spans the Americas, from Los Angeles Chicana artists contending with issues of marginalization to women in Chile, Brazil and Argentina who were facing the extreme repression of their respective dictatorships. These were women dealing with power, says the shows co-curator, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill. They are women fighting power. We are doing this show because 50 years have gone by and the percentages of the representations of women in galleries and museums, in the best cases, is still hovering at 30%, says co-curator Andrea Giunta. And thats in the present. Think of the artists who have been completely erased and remain completely outside of the institutional gaze. What is now elegantly referred to as intersectionality, we were discussing it in Mexico back then. Monica Mayer, artist Monica Mayer walks along the installation of El Tendedero in Los Angeles in 1979. (Monica Mayer) Of particular note are the artists who worked in Mexico during the 25-year period examined in the exhibition. This includes Bustamante, as well as the influential Monica Mayer, whose installation work, El Tendedero [The Clothesline], first created in 1978, and re-created in Los Angeles in 1979, became an impromptu rumination on the prevalence of sexual assault. There are artists like Carla Rippey and Lara, with their frank takes on female sexuality. And there are photographers such as Ana Victoria Jimenez and Lourdes Grobet, each addressing the realities of Mexico in her own ways: Jimenez, by recording the mundane actions of domestic labor, Grobet through a now well-known series that documents Mexican wrestlers. Mexico, quite significantly, was the only Latin American country to have a feminist art movement that could compare with those of Europe or the United States. Mexico has had a feminist movement since the 19th century and a very visible one, says Karen Cordero, a feminist art historian who has contributed an essay on the subject for the exhibitions catalog. The first feminist congress in Mexico took place in 1916, in Yucatan, and since then there has been visibility for feminism in Mexico. Art out of repression The years in which the artists of the Radical Women generation came of age were marked by nationalistic isolation, brutal dictatorship and guerrilla insurgency. In 1968, the country was convulsed when the Mexican military massacred an unknown number of students in Tlatelolco who were protesting government expenditures on that years Olympic Games. What followed was a social and political clampdown. Out of that repression came artists creating wildly experimental works of photography, assemblage, installation and performance, all while tackling complex issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and domesticity. La Briosa, 1981, by Lourdes Grobet, from a series that chronicled the lives of female Mexican wrestlers. (Lourdes Grobet) The 1970s saw a rise of artists working in collectives known as los grupos [the groups], a phenomenon that emerged in the wake of the student organizing behind the Tlatelolco protests. Many of the Mexican artists in Radical Women participated in grupos with men and with other women. It was the 70s, the era of dictatorships, says Rippey. There was a whole political thing the issue of repression was very present. The grupos were a reaction to that. Progress came in a series of steps forward and back. At the 1975 U.N. World Conference on Women, when the Museo de Arte Moderno produced the clumsy tribute to women, the museum also put together a colloquium that brought together women from disparate fields artists, historians, anthropologists. We talked about class, we talked about race, we talked about craft, about the difference between art and craft, Mayer recalls. What is now elegantly referred to as intersectionality, we were discussing it in Mexico back then. In the early 1980s, Mayer teamed with Bustamante to launch Polvo de Gallina Negra, a feminist art collective. The pair gave humorous performance-lectures about women and art while wearing frilly aprons. People always said, Women in the kitchen, Bustamante says, laughing. So we would come from the proverbial kitchen to the stage. In one performance, they appeared on Nuestro Mundo, a national television program hosted by journalist Guillermo Ochoa decked out in aprons and prop pregnant bellies and persuaded Ochoa to don a similar outfit. Maris Bustamante puts an apron on television talk show host Guillermo Ochoa as part of the performance Madre por un dia (Collection of Monica Mayer and Victor Lerma) Super rudas In the mid-1980s, Mayer, with the womens collective Tlacuilas y Retrateras, organized a series of happenings at the Academy of San Carlos that examined the tradition of the quinceanera, the 15th birthday celebration that serves as a coming-of-age ritual for girls across Latin America. For that event, one artist showed up in a gown crafted from steak. Another wore a chastity belt. It was very critical of the whole tradition, says feminist art historian Julia Antivilo Pena. It got a lot of coverage in the press, including critical coverage. And it was one of the happenings that helped serve as a point of consolidation for the feminist art movement in Mexico. Another artist who challenged the ways in which gender was presented is Rippey, who now serves as director of the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving, known as La Esmeralda. I worked a lot with the female nude, she says. I would take images of Victorian soft-core porn but try to re-imagine them from the point of view of the woman of the pleasure they felt. Lara, likewise, played with eroticism, in more obtuse ways involving language and symbols. They called us las despeinadas, she recalls, using a term that describes women with messy hair. We were super rudas [very indecorous]. Operation Camp Follower, 1983, by Carla Rippey, from her series Santas y pecadoras (Saints and sinners). (Private collection) If the women of the era helped expand the issues addressed in Mexican art, they also helped challenge the materials from which it was made. There was drawing, installation, performance and fusions of all of the above. Jimenez and Grobet worked in photography at a time when the medium commanded little critical respect. For an early show in 1970, Grobet employed pictures as part of a room-size installation. I was trying to take photography out of its context, she recalls. It was a labyrinth made entirely out of photomurals and the whole idea is that you were opening up the figure of man. It was the 70s and the whole psychedelia thing was happening, so I was using projections and psychedelic effects and figurines that moved and you ended up in a room full of mirrors with this infinite view of yourself. But as figures who pushed boundaries, many women artists found themselves operating in a no mans land or more, accurately, a no womans land between feminism, art and politics. The mainstream Mexican art world didnt give their work much air time. But neither did the feminist movement. (The countrys theoretical feminists often looked askance at art actions involving nudity, for example.) Not to mention that not all artists were comfortable with the feminist label. Says Grobet: I always felt as if it was imported from Europe or the United States. Wed talk about whether women could or couldnt be painters because of our maternal qualities ... that's how they treated us. Magali Lara, artist Ventanas, [Windows], 1977-78, by Magali Lara. (Acervo Museo de Arte Moderno / INBA, Mexico City) (Acervo Museo de Arte Moderno. / INBA-Secretaria de Cultura, Mex) In the meantime, the left, with which many artists were politically aligned, questioned the idea of a need for a separate womens movement at all. The argument on the left was that when the revolution happens, woman will have the place she will have, Giunta explains, justice will be for all. But leftist views didnt always jibe with womens concerns. A favorite leftist hymn of the era began with the command, A parir madres Latinas, a parir mas guerrilleros [Latin American mothers, time to give birth / to birth more guerrilla fighters]. A parir madres, frankly, used to make my hair stand on end, Jimenez says. You are fighting for independence, for the liberation of women, for a dignified life and someone comes along to tell us that if were not good at making babies, then you dont count. Those concepts from the 70s, to me, were really problematic. What the Radical Women exhibition at the Hammer promises to do is take these artists out from that in-between space and consider their work on its own terms in a way that dovetails quite perfectly with our politically minded moment. You are fighting for ... a dignified life and someone comes along to tell us that if were not good at making babies, then you don't count. Ana Victoria Jimenez, artist Cuaderno de tareas [Assignment Book], 1981, by Ana Victoria Jimenez, from a photographic series that detailed domestic labor. (Ana Victoria Jimenez) Moreover, the exhibitions focus on the ways in which women employ the body is especially current given ongoing debates about violence against women, from the casual talk by a U.S. presidential candidate of sexual assault to the killing of women in Mexico, which has reached epic proportions. The show will be important in a lot of ways, Cordero says. But one will be to show the ways in which art can be a tool of resistance which was the case for a lot of the art that will be present in the show. If this show was important a few months ago, it becomes even more so now, Mayer says. It acquires a political framework that is much more defined because we are women and because we are Latin American. Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 Part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA Where: Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood When: Sept. 15 to Dec. 31. Closed Mondays. Info: (310) 443-7000, hammer.ucla.edu, pacificstandardtime.org Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter carolina.miranda@latimes.com @cmonstah ALSO Hammer Museum's 'Radical Women' to showcase Latina artists on the politics of the female body Mexico City's art scene is booming, but even with deep roots, political uncertainty keeps it fragile Argentine slums and a Unabomber cabin: How 'Home' at LACMA rethinks ideas about Latin American art True Detective season three, starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, is officially confirmed at HBO By Sarah Rodman Mahershala Ali accepting his Oscar for Moonlight. The actor will star in the third season of the HBO drama True Detective (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) During the HBO executive session at the summer edition of the Television Critics Assn. press tour, programming president Casey Bloys confirmed reports that Moonlight Oscar winner Mahershala Ali would star in a third season of True Detective. Although he was mum at the time on when it might happen, he did say that he had read five scripts and thought they were terrific. Thursday night, the premium pay cabler released a statement officially confirming that the series will indeed return for a third installment. While no episode count or premiere date was included in the release, an enclosed synopsis stated that the next iteration of the show tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ali will star as Wayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas. (Ali follows in the footsteps of season one stars, and continuing executive producers, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and season twos Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. No word yet on whether hell have a partner.) The show will once again be helmed by creator Nic Pizzolatto, who penned all the episodes of the upcoming series, save the fourth, which he co-wrote with David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue). He will share directing duties with fellow executive producer Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin.) Im tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy, said Pizzolatto in a statement. I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and were all very excited to tell this story. Bloys noted that Nic has written truly remarkable scripts. With his ambitious vision and Mahershala Ali and Jeremy Saulnier aboard, we are excited to embark on the next installment of True Detective. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newly reopened Angels Flight has long been a popular L.A. shooting location By Mark Olsen Its among the more unusual landmarks in Los Angeles, a short, steep railway that gets people up and down a single hill. So it makes sense that Angels Flight has been featured in many movies and television shows over the years. Angels Flight resumed regular service Thursday after being closed since 2013 (it did operate for one day of shooting on La La Land). It remains to be seen if it starts to appear again in movies and television shows. (Not that it ever really stopped.) Speaking to The Times at last years Toronto International Film Festival, La La Land star Ryan Gosling reflected on the use of historic locations in the movie. This was an opportunity to show an L.A. thats still there.... Youve got to squint your eyes a little, but there are still places in L.A. that are still part of the golden years of Los Angeles when Hollywood was in its heyday, Gosling said. I lived around the corner for a long time from Angels Flight and Grand Central Market, although I never got to ride Angels Flight because it had been shut down, Gosling added. Those places are still there... these gems that are there, and we were able to shoot them one by one. Angels Flight reopened on Thursday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The small piece of land next to the top of Angels Flight, known as Angels Knoll, was also prominently featured in (500) Days of Summer. The location has appeared in a wide variety of movies over the years, as early as 1916s Good Night, Nurse, 1918s Up She Goes and 1920s All Jazzed Up. It has also had high-profile cameos in Act of Violence (1949), M (1951), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), The Exiles (1961), The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1963) -- all the way up to to 2011s The Muppets and last years La La Land. And on television, Angels Flight has been seen on Perry Mason, Dragnet and the recent series Bosch. READ MORE: Angels Flight: How it works and what its been through in its 100-year history Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jamie Foxx announces telethon for Harvey relief By Libby Hill (Andrew Krech / News & Record via Associated Press) A new stream of celebrity support for victims of Hurricane Harvey opened Wednesday, as Jamie Foxx announced that a telethon fundraiser is in the works. In an Instagram post where the actor revealed his own donation of $25,000 to GlobalGiving, Foxx also shared preliminary plans for the upcoming benefit. From a fellow Texan, my heart goes out. My prayers go out, Foxx, from Terrell east of Dallas, said. September 12 we have a telethon that were doing. Well give you more details, so we can raise as much money as we can for everybody down there. View Instagram post Scooter Braun, talent manager and mastermind of One Love Manchester, is helming the event along with rapper and Houston native Bun B. TMZ reported that Foxx, Reese Witherspoon, Blake Shelton, Hilary Duff and Michael Strahan are all involved with the project, with commitments from the four major broadcast networks to air the special for an hour on Sept. 12. In an interview with TMZ, Bun B said that fellow Houston natives Beyonce and Jim Parsons are high on his wish list for the telethon. The outlet also reported that Bun B would only want President Trumps presence if it was via a show of unity with other former presidents. Solange also announced Wednesday that she will be holding a benefit show at Bostons Orpheum Theatre on Sept. 28. Featuring the Sun Ra Arkestra, the performance is titled Orions Rise and all proceeds will go to Hurricane Harvey relief. View Instagram post Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gwyneth Paltrows love life? Yeah, she admits shes screwed up plenty of relationships By Libby Hill Gwyneth Paltrow takes full responsibility for her romantic failings. She admitted as much in a recent interview with the podcast Girlboss Radio, during which Paltrow went deep on some of her lost loves. Oh, my god, Ive [screwed] up so many relationships, so many, Paltrow said. Im actually a pretty good friend and a good sister and a daughter and a mother, but I am at my potentially most vulnerable in the romantic slice of the pie. So its taken me a lot of work to get to the place where I have a good romantic relationship. Paltrow consciously uncoupled from ex-husband Chris Martin in 2014 after 10 years of marriage and has been romantically linked to American Horror Story creator Brad Falchuk for the past three years. On Girlboss Radio, Paltrow sent a shout-out to former beau Brad Pitt, whom she dated from 1994 through 1997, and was at one point engaged to. I [screwed] that up, Brad, Paltrow said. Paltrow also delved into her experiences as founder and CEO of her lifestyle brand Goop, sharing that once shes in the boardroom with investors, no one cares if shes a celebrity. I go into the room, and for the first 90 seconds, Im Gwyneth Paltrow, she said. And theyre like, Oh, my god, my wife loves you .... And then, about 90 seconds later, Im just getting grilled like anyone else. But she doesnt get offended; she relishes the challenge. It was such a beautiful chapter of my life when I started raising [venture capital financing], because it knocked me down so many pegs. I was like, Oh, Im, like, no one. Im nothing. This [stuff] is real. I have to know the most granular aspects of my business and be able to defend it. The celebrity just completely drains out of the room. Its irrelevant, she said. Paltrows full conversation with Sophia Amoruso can be streamed at Girlboss. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Longtime Simpsons composer Alf Clausen fired from the show after 27 years By Randall Roberts When the 29th season of The Simpsons premieres in the fall, it will, for the first time in decades, be doing so without its longtime musical contributor, Alf Clausen. Clausen, who composed the Fox animated shows incidental music, was told that the show was looking for a different kind of music moving forward, according to Variety. Clausen confirmed his firing via Twitter. Thank you for all of the support...unfortunately, the news is true... https://t.co/jBQH0b40cz Alf Clausen (@TheAlfClausen) August 31, 2017 The composers orchestral scores supported the familys foibles since the shows primitively drawn early days. And although The Simpsons theme song was penned by Danny Elfman, the sonic feel of the series has been defined by Clausens grandiose, often epic productions. Hes responsible for scoring Mr. Burns breakout See My Vest moment and crafted the tunes for the Springfield musical theater companys A Streetcar Named Desire adaptation. Ditto The Planet of the Apes musical. In short, nearly every classic music moment of The Simpsons has featured Clausens fingerprints. On Twitter, fans thanked Clausen for his work while expressing outrage at the circumstances surrounding his departure. Fired over the phone, yet, wrote one user. Clausen quickly corrected him with a one-word reply: Email ... On Thursday, producers for The Simpsons issued a statement to Variety. It stressed that Clausen will continue to contribute to the series: We tremendously value Alf Clausens contributions to The Simpsons and he will continue to have an ongoing role in the show. We remain committed to the finest in music for The Simpsons, absolutely including orchestral. The statement concluded: This is the part where we would make a joke but neither Alfs work nor the music of The Simpsons is treated as anything but seriously by us. Update, 1:16 p.m.: This story was updated with a statement from The Simpsons. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Instead of statues, Trevor Noah and Roy Wood Jr. have another idea for honoring Confederate history By Chris Barton With the country still reeling from the harrowing impact of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Wednesday nights Daily Show looked at one of the summers ongoing controversies: Confederate monuments. Occasionally setting aside the shows usual comedic tone, Trevor Noah enlisted correspondent Roy Wood Jr. to consider whether these statues honor Southern heritage, as their supporters claim, or the nations history and lingering problem with racism. After showing a montage of guests on network news shows who reminded viewers that these statues were erected during the Jim Crow era, decades after the Civil War, Wood equated slavery to another tragedy. Its like if a woman got out of an abusive relationship and then she had to keep pictures of her ex up in her house to remember the time, a straight-faced Wood explained. No, I dont need pictures to remember pain. People say, We want to remember the history of the Civil War, Noah added. Theres an easier way to remember what happened in the Civil War: Just walk around in the South. And if you see free black people, then you know what happened. Watch the segment above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gloria Gaynor sings to Texas Harvey victims: You will survive By Christie DZurilla (Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images) Gloria Gaynor wants people affected by Harvey to know they will survive, and shes communicating that message through a new version of the song that has defined her career. Gaynor, whose I Will Survive became an anthem over the years, rewrote the 1978 disco hit to reach out to victims in Texas and posted her rendition on social media Wednesday. Hi, my neighbors in Texas, she said in a video shot while she sat at a piano she was about to play. This is Gloria Gaynor with a song that hopefully will cheer you up just a little bit. @SylvesterTurner @rashivats @SallyMacFox26 @TheRitaGarcia @kaitlinmonte @ChrisdyannUribe @MsCoCoDominguez @JMartinFOX26 TX WILL SURVIVE pic.twitter.com/FCNOnDr85o Gloria Gaynor (@gloriagaynor) August 30, 2017 Here are the tweaked lyrics, for those who dont want to hit play with the sound on. First we were afraid We were petrified Thinking Texas couldnt live With floodwaters this high We know you spent plenty of time Preparing for this hurricane Who couldve known that it would come With so much devastating rain But we will strive And youll survive With all our love and help and prayers We will stay strongly by your side We are your neighbors tried and true Well do all we can for you And youll survive You will survive, you will survive Similarly on Monday night, Coldplay unleashed a new original song written after the band was forced to cancel its Friday show in Houston with Hurricane Harvey bearing down. This is a new song, and well never play it again, frontman Chris Martin told an audience in Miami. Its a once-off. Its called Houston. Were going to sing it in Miami for everybody here, and then were going to send it over there to everyone who missed the show. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation donates $1 million to Harvey recovery By Christie DZurilla (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Leonardo DiCaprio has stepped up with a $1-million donation to aid the victims of Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm, which has dumped historic levels of rain on the Gulf Coast over the last several days. United Way Worldwide announced Wednesday that it has started the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund with a seven-figure donation from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The money 100% of it, according to the charity will go to help victims of flooding with mid- and long-term recovery over the coming years. There are 23 United Ways that operate in the path of the storm, which made landfall Aug. 24. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation, United Way Worldwide President and CEO Brian Gallagher said in a statement. Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us and thats what this gift represents. DiCaprio has been urging support of the United Way and American Red Cross this week on his Twitter account and retweeting stories talking about Harvey and climate change. Di Caprios foundation has been committed to climate-related issues and environmental projects since 1998, Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of the foundation, said in a statement. We support efforts to build climate resilient communities and protect vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems across the planet, and have supported disaster relief and victim funds in the past. We hope others will step up and support the United Way and other organizations. Earlier this week, Sandra Bullock, who has a home in Texas, gave $1 million to the American Red Cross, repeating the lump-sum generosity she showed after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Ellen DeGeneres was also in the seven-figure donation tier. The comic and talk-show host dropped $1 million in the relief bucket on Wednesday via J.J. Watts foundation. The effort by the Houston Texans star player topped $10 million on Thursday, with Watt chronicling its progress all week via videos on social media. Update, 8:50 a.m.: This post was updated with information about DeGeneres donation to Watts fund. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Chris Tucker turns 45 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Iris Schneider / Los Angeles Times) I had a dream as a kid: I wanted to be big, big like Richard [Pryor] and Eddie [Murphy]. I imagined it. I studied it. I had a passion. Chris Tucker, 2001 FROM THE ARCHIVES: In a Big Rush Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Springsteen on Broadway was born to run, is extended through February By Libby Hill Bruce Springsteens solo shows on Broadway have been extended through February, just hours after the original run sold out. (Greg Allen / Invision/Associated Press) Good news for Bruce Springsteen fans who were locked out of purchasing tickets Wednesday morning for his upcoming run of shows on Broadway. Ticketmaster announced that Springsteen on Broadway, an intimate stage experience that launches in October and features the rock legend performing solo, will be extending for 10 additional weeks. Originally scheduled to close in November, the show was extended through February after the original block of tickets sold out in a matter of minutes Wednesday. "#SpringsteenBroadway has been EXTENDED! the ticket outlet tweeted, with a follow-up tweet explaining that fans who had previously registered to purchase tickets will not have to register again. #SpringsteenBroadway has been EXTENDED! More information coming today. There will NOT be any additional codes released for today's onsale. pic.twitter.com/xGY3rj3Yrl Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) August 30, 2017 #SpringsteenBroadway extended run information YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER AGAIN! NEW #VerifiedFan registration: https://t.co/2xNBBhcVES pic.twitter.com/FT3mLaTLPV Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) August 30, 2017 Springsteen will be performing at New York Citys Walter Kerr Theater, which houses fewer than 1,000 seats. To curtail ticket scalping, Ticketmaster relied on its Verified Fan program. The program forces fans to register to even have an opportunity to purchase tickets and are limited to two tickets per purchase. For all of Ticketmasters efforts, resale sites already are flooded with Springsteen on Broadway tickets, with some reaching $10,000 apiece. Fans interested in trying their luck for the second batch of performance dates will need to register with Ticketmaster Verified Fan by Sept. 3 (at 7 p.m. Pacific). Tickets will be available for purchase 10 a.m. Pacific on Sept. 7. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Sandra Bullock donates $1 million to Harvey relief efforts By Libby Hill Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for storm relief. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) With the Gulf Coast still battling the aftereffects of Tropical Storm Harvey, celebrities continue to come forward to help with relief efforts for the humanitarian crisis. Sandra Bullock, who has a home in Texas, donated $1 million to the American Red Cross emergency efforts, the organization confirmed to The Times on Wednesday. We are so thankful for the overwhelming and generous response from those who want to help those affected by this devastating storm, Elizabeth Penniman, vice president of communications for American Red Cross national headquarters, said in an email. Massive disasters like Hurricane Harvey create many critical and immediate needs, so we are heartened by donations like this which allow us to provide immediate shelter, food and comfort to thousands in need, Penniman continued. The entertainment community has been so supportive to the Red Cross in response to this devastating disaster, and we are so grateful. Bullock is just the latest star who has donated to recovery efforts in Texas. The Kardashian family pledged $500,000 to the Salvation Army and Red Cross on Tuesday. Kevin Hart also spearheaded a celebrity-driven fundraising campaign on Crowdrise that has brought in more than $1 million for the Red Cross. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Corinne Olympios wants DeMario Jackson to know she doesnt blame him for anything By Christie DZurilla Corinne Olympios doesnt have any hard feelings toward DeMario Jackson, the fellow Bachelor in Paradise cast member who was with her at the center of a scandal that shut down production on the reality TV series in June. I dont blame DeMario. I never pointed fingers at DeMario. I never said a bad word about DeMario, the 25-year-old told host Chris Harrison in an early-August taped interview that aired Tuesday night on ABC. She and Jackson havent spoken since production was halted after allegations of misconduct were made by a producer, leading to an investigation of what happened during a period when, Olympios now says, she was blacked out. I was almost a little bit nervous to talk to [DeMario], because he did run to the media and I didnt want to add fuel to the fire, she said. Before she had a chance to collect her thoughts, he was out there and so on the defensive, she said. He was doing his thing and I didnt want to get messed up in that. ... I cant help but feel like maybe he felt like I thought he did something to me. Jackson did not do anything bad, she insisted. Seeing him start crying in a clip from his own interview with Harrison, which had aired on the show last week, Olympios welled up a bit too. It was hard for me to go through something like that. I know exactly how he feels. The media wants to paint you a certain way that you know youre just not, she said. Olympios told Harrison the same things she had said in a Tuesday morning interview with Good Morning America about blacking out from drinking too much and mixing alcohol with medication. However, she didnt directly address her I am a victim statement that was released at the height of the scandal. On GMA, she said she meant she was a victim of the media. Regarding Bachelor in Paradise with Harrison, she simply talked about how awful it was to have so many people acting like they had been there or were suddenly experts on her life. To even get up and go get eggs at the grocery store ... my face was all over every magazine and I had to check out and everyones staring, Olympios said. Youre looking at them and its like, Im not what youre thinking right now. Then, near the end of the interview, she shared one big wish. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, she said, and I wish it could have been handled differently. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Tomi Lahren finds new home at Fox News By Libby Hill Conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren is again gainfully employed after being fired from Glenn Becks The Blaze in March. On Wednesday, Lahren announced via her Facebook page that she is joining the Fox News team as a contributor. This exciting new step will allow me to give voice to all the America-loving patriots who have had my back since day one, Lahren wrote. I will remain a solid and passionate advocate for you. Though 25-year-old Lahren has made television appearances before -- including a contentious appearance on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah -- much of her career has been in digital media. She hosted On Point With Tomi Lahren for One America News Network, and her Final Thought videos have garnered her over 4.4 million Facebook followers. In addition to her role as a contributor, Lahren will also have a signature role on a Fox News digital product in development, according to a press release issued by the network. Lahren makes her debut on Wednesdays edition of Hannity at 7 p.m. PDT. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trevor Noah is shocked shocked by the latest revelations about Trump and Moscow By Robert Lloyd Even as the Earth offers humanity another taste of its weather future and President Trump keeps Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of jail and North Korean missiles fly over Japan late-night TV hosts have disappeared from their chairs as if it were August in France. Trevor Noah is on the job, though, hosting The Daily Show. Tuesday night, he had some mirthful words about the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaigns Russian affairs. Specifically, he reflected on the revelation of a letter of intent, signed by POTUS himself, to build a Trump Tower skyscraper in Moscow and make it the tallest building in the world despite Trumps repeated claims to have no business, no interests, no nothing in Russia. How can one person lie so big? HOW? Noah asked, amazedly. Its like if your friend said he had never heard of Mumford and Sons and then one day you see the album cover and youre like, wait a minute, youre Mumford. Were those connections strictly business, or were they getting out on the votey-votey action? Thats not clear yet, he said. What was clear is that a typically dubious character was at the center of it namely Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer once convicted of stabbing a man in the neck and face with the stem of a broken margarita glass. Of all the glasses to stab someone with, a margarita glass is the worst, Noah said. Youre literally putting salt into the wounds. There was also a conviction for Saters involvement in a $40-million stock fraud, Noah added, which came as no surprise to the host. You never trust someone with a cat name. If a human goes by Felix or Whiskers or Mittens, you should probably just stay away. There were emails, of course; there are always emails. Buddy, our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, Sater wrote to Trumps personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen. This buddy boy email may not be the smoking gun for Trump, Noah concluded, but what it could end up being is the broken taillight the thing that gives law enforcement the excuse they need to look into Trumps trunk. And we all know, he said, as a picture of the golfing presidents derriere appeared over his shoulder, hes got a lot of junk in that trunk. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jury president Annette Bening addresses lack of female representation at Venice Film Festival By Nardine Saad (Claudio Onorati / Associated Press) Though there arent as many women represented at this years Venice Film Festival as she would like, jury president Annette Bening believes things are changing. The four-time Oscar nominee, whose film credits include American Beauty, The Kids Are All Right, 20th Century Women and Bugsy, addressed the lack of female directors Wednesday during the 74th annual Venice Film Festivals opening press conference. (Only one of the 21 films in competition is directed by a woman this year.) As women, we have to be sharp, shrewd and creative in what we choose to make. Sexism does exist and there is no question about it. But things are changing, the actress said at the opening press conference, according to Variety. The more we can make films that speak to everybody, the more we will be regarded as filmmakers, she added. Bening, the first woman to chair the jury in more than a decade, said she knew of both veteran and rookie filmmakers struggling to get their movies made whether they are men or women. She said the industry has a long way to go, in terms of parity but was confident that the direction were going is positive. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Lisa Ling turns 44 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) [People have said to me], When you were in the worlds largest slum [in India], you could almost smell what it was like by your expression.' Its not that Im trying to force myself on the viewer. Im just their eyes and ears. I think our work is quite pure. Lisa Ling, 1997 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Taking news personally Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement In wake of Charlottesville strife, Virginia Film Festival to host director Spike Lee as special guest By Josh Rottenberg Director Spike Lee photographed in 2015. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) As the city of Charlottesville, Va., and the nation as a whole continues to grapple with the violent racial strife that erupted earlier this month, the Virginia Film Festival announced on Tuesday that it will host filmmaker Spike Lee as a special guest at the upcoming festival as part of a program around the legacy of slavery. Lee, who has tackled thorny issues of race throughout his career, will present his Oscar-nominated documentary 4 Little Girls about the 1963 bombing of a Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala., that claimed the lives of four African American girls, an act of white supremacist terrorism that marked a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. We have for many years been interested in bringing Spike Lee to the Virginia Film Festival as he remains one of the most talented, innovative, and socially conscious filmmakers in our world today, said Jody Kielbasa, director of the film festival and vice provost for the arts at the University of Virginia. We first reached out to Mr. Lee in the spring to include him in our upcoming collaboration with Montpelier, and of course, the recent events in Charlottesville have made his participation more compelling, relevant and vital. The festival program will also include a short film titled I Cant Breathe that combines footage of the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner during his arrest by a New York City police officer with footage of the death of Radio Raheem under similar circumstances in Lees 1989 film Do the Right Thing. The program is part of a larger collaboration with Montpelier, the Virginia plantation of President James Madison, who owned more than 100 slaves, that will explore both how the legacy of slavery continues to affect the lives of African Americans and how they are depicted in film and other media. The 30th annual Virginia Film Festival will run from Nov. 9 to 12 in Charlottesville. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jerry Seinfeld recaps childhood in Netflixs first Jerry Before Seinfeld trailer By Nardine Saad The first trailer for Netflixs stand-up special Jerry Before Seinfeld has arrived, and its a madcap recap of Jerry Seinfelds humble beginnings, quirky family dynamics and bits of everyday observations. The teaser opens with Johnny Carson introducing the iconic comic in 1981 during his debut on The Tonight Show. Then it showcases the sitcom star back at the mike at the Comic Strip, the famous New York comedy club where he launched his career. Throwback photos, videos and interviews with Seinfeld are woven throughout. Hes back where he began, the title reads, doing what he loves. The original comedy special is the first of two stand-up specials Seinfeld will deliver in his massive deal with the streaming giant. (The deal also includes the entirety of his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee catalog and 24 new episodes of the Emmy-nominated talk show, which will launch later this year.) Seinfeld and Netflix teased to the special last week with several clips posted on Instagram and a close-up look at the numerous legal pads scrawled with handwritten jokes hes kept from the 1970s. Jerry Before Seinfeld begins streaming Sept. 19. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kermit the Frog finds his new voice in Matt Vogel By Nardine Saad The new Kermit the Frog has arrived and hes following his dreams -- literally. New Muppeteer Matt Vogel made his vocal debut as the iconic frog on Monday in a Muppet Thought of the Week video posted on YouTube. Dreams are how we figure out where we want to go. Life is how we get there, he says in the brief clip. Im headed this way. The veteran voice actor has worked on Sesame Street and also operates the Muppets Floyd, Constantine and Sweetums. He is only the third puppeteer to take on Kermit the Frog full time since the character was created in 1955. He replaced former puppeteer Steve Whitmire, who began work on The Muppet Show in 1978 and inherited the role of Kermit when creator Jim Henson died in 1990. Whitmire was dismissed over concerns about his repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback, the Muppets Studio said at the time. Whitmire claimed he was fired in October 2016 and kept quiet about it until Vogel was announced as his replacement in July. It was his opinionated communication style that earned him his walking papers, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trevor Noah says Trumps pardon of Sheriff Arpaio renders courts powerless By Nardine Saad The Daily Show host Trevor Noah broke down former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaios presidential pardon on Monday, explaining how President Trumps decision undermines the judicial branch of government. The controversial Maricopa County lawman, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for violating Latinos rights, earned himself a thuggish reputation as a sheriff, Noah said, citing his agencys use of tent cities, stun guns, jail overcrowding and numerous cases of inmate deaths and police brutality. But those were just his extracurriculars, Noah said. It turns out his full-time job is racism. The 85-year-old Arpaio was found guilty in July of defying a 2011 court order barring officers from stopping and detaining Latino motorists to check their immigration status. As much as Sheriff Arpaio presented himself as anti-illegal immigrants, it turned out really he was just anti being a decent human being, Noah said. When the president of the United States steps in and pardons someones contempt conviction, hes essentially rendering the courts powerless. Daily Show host Trevor Noah His abuses hurt inmates and taxpayers, costing the state $142 million in legal fees, settlements and compliance costs, Noah said. Other things they could have spent that money on? Schools, roads or they could have just paid Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather to just punch Arpaio in the face. But Noah made the point that Trumps decision completely undercut the judiciary. Remember how the three branches of government are supposed to be equal? Well, convicting someone of contempt is the one and only way the judicial branch can put muscle behind its decisions. So when the president of the United States steps in and pardons someones contempt conviction, hes essentially rendering the courts powerless, he said. Watch the full segment above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Coldplay dedicate new song to Harvey victims -- and vow never to play it again By Randall Roberts (Jens Meyer / Associated Press) On Monday night in Miami, Coldplays Chris Martin drew attention to the victims of Tropical Storm Harvey by unveiling a new song called Houston -- and then vowed never to play it again. The band, which was forced to cancel its Houston show days earlier due to the storm, wrote the song as the region was enduring historic flooding. After acknowledging that he and the band all grew up loving country music, and, of course, thats kind of what we think of when we go to Texas, Martin asked the crowd to bear with them. This is a new song, and well never play it again, Martin said. Its a once-off. Its called Houston. Were going to sing it in Miami for everybody here and then were going to send it over there to everyone who missed the show. Vowing to return to Houston, Martin and band huddled and tentatively started a twangy little number. Im dreaming of when I get back to Houston, sang Martin, replete with a touch of Johnny Cash-ian twang. Describing it as that city where they send you into space, Martin crooned of Corpus Christi, Harris County, Galveston, of a harmony that hums down there in Houston, and urged the region to keep on keeping on. Merle Haggard it wasnt (and everyones a critic), but the performance drew huge applause from fans and went viral on Tuesday morning. Coldplays quick-turnaround ditty is hardly the first to document such deluges. Johnny Cashs Three Feet High and Rising occurred in real time as a family struggled to keep dry. In Charley Pattons High Water Everywhere, the country blues singer recalled the lives lost in the Great Flood of 1927, which consumed the Mississippi Delta and spawned dozens of songs: Oh, Lordy, women is groaning down / Oh, Lordy, women and children sinking down, Patton sang. I couldnt see nobody home, and was no one to be found. Below is another song about the flood of 27: Bessie Smiths Backwater Blues. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Corinne Olympios on Bachelor in Paradise scandal: I was really a victim of the media By Christie DZurilla (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Corinne Olympios says medication, the booze and the media were key players in Junes production-stopping Bachelor in Paradise scandal and its aftermath. Calling the situation just really unfortunate, she said Tuesday on Good Morning America that she doesnt remember anything that happened. Seeing video of what transpired on the first day of production on the looking-for-love reality show was like watching not-me, she said. Im watching someone else. On that day, Olympios and fellow cast member DeMario Jackson allegedly wound up in the pool or hot tub together in a situation that a producer thought went too far. Allegations of misconduct were made, and production shut down the next day for an investigation that ultimately determined nothing untoward had happened. The show, sans Corinne and DeMario, premiered its fourth season Aug. 14, a week later than originally planned. I did drink, too much, I definitely understand that, Olympios said. But I was also on a medication that severely blacks you out and impairs your judgment and messes with your balance, that I didnt know you were not supposed to not drink on, and so it really just caused a horrible, horrible blackout. It was like I went under like anesthesia and then just like woke up. Shes now weaning off the medication, she said, and cutting down on her drinking. But in explaining her provocative official statement that she was a victim living out her worst nightmare, Olympios revealed her specific definition of victimhood, which had little or nothing to do with consent, which was a hot topic throughout the scandal. I was really a victim of the media, Olympios said. It was just, all of a sudden people became an expert on the situation and on what happened, and it was like, Im still trying to figure out exactly what happened. It was just horrible to deal with. It got really, really bad. ..., she added. The things people say are just insane. When the remaining Paradise cast met as a whole on the first episode of the season, their sympathies seemed to lie with Jackson as they worried about the long-term effects the scandal would have on him and any future career opportunities, especially given the lingering racial issues of alleged misconduct between a white woman and a black man. However, they were quick to say they were not slut-shaming Olympios either. Jackson spoke last week on Bachelor in Paradise, sitting down with host Chris Harrison to give his take on what happened. Heres a taste of that, courtesy of GMA: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Victorias Secret Fashion Show heads to Shanghai this year By Nardine Saad Angels will fly over the Great Wall of China in November as the Victorias Secret Fashion Show heads to Shanghai for the first time. Supermodels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, Lily Aldridge and more will strut their stuff for the annual lingerie extravaganza, Victorias Secret and CBS said in a statement on Tuesday. The iconic pre-holiday show replete with teensy underwear and massive angel wings is usually filmed in New York, but Miami, Los Angeles and London have also hosted the scantily clad runway walk. The broadcast will air on CBS on Nov. 28 and will be shown in more than 190 countries. Models Elsa Hosk, Jasmine Tookes, Josephine Skriver, Lais Ribeiro, Martha Hunt, Romee Strijd, Sara Sampaio, Stella Maxwell and Taylor Hill will also walk in this years show. Musical performers will be announced at a later date, the statement said. Ni hao, China! This year's #VSFashionShow is headed to Shanghai. Watch it Nov 28, 10/9C on @CBS. Learn more: https://t.co/AHWHWjKOCI pic.twitter.com/tgIVJs7Lsr Victoria's Secret (@VictoriasSecret) August 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: William Friedkin turns 82 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I love the experience of making films. I love the mud. I love the dirt. I love all the inconveniences. Thats why you do it. If you do it because youre looking to be the Great American film maker, youre liable to experience disappointment. William Friedkin, 1989 FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Exorcisms of William Friedkin Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swifts Look What You Made Me Do video bashes another YouTube record By Randy Lewis Taylor Swifts official video for her first new music in three years, Look What You Made Me Do, has blasted through the existing YouTube record for most views tallied during its first 24 hours of release. The clip logged 43.2 million views since the video was posted Sunday evening. That far surpasses the record set in 2013 by Korean pop star Psys Gentleman, which racked up 36 million views in its first day. It also hasnt slowed interest in Swifts previously released lyric video for the same song, which set a record for lyric video viewership by drawing 19 million views in the first 24 hours. That version has now surpassed 47 million views in less than four days. Both videos have generated flurries of debate and analysis among Swifts fans and her dissenters, the former seemingly outnumbering the latter by a margin of nearly 5 to 1. Likes have surpassed the 1 million mark, while dislikes stood at 232,000 at the 24-hour mark. The song is the first single from her forthcoming album Reputation, due Nov. 10. It will be Swifts sixth studio album. Each of her last three albums sold more than 1 million copies during the first week of release. Swift is the only artist with that achievement to her credit. Update Aug. 29, 10:30 a.m.: This post has been updated with the finalized 24-hour viewer total. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch the Game of Thrones cast and crew break down some of Season 7s best scenes By Tracy Brown Game of Thrones Season 7 may have concluded Sunday, but there is still plenty left for fans to unpack before Thrones"-withdrawal sets in. Along with all the burning questions left in the wake of the season finale, HBO has left us with some behind-the-scenes videos from this seasons most epic moments. The production magic of Game of Thrones is undeniable and it extends to beyond special effects dragons. From Arya donning Walder Freys face to dole out her brand of vengeance to Daenerys walking into Dragonstone for the first time, there is plenty to explore from just the first episode alone. The video above dives deep into what it took to craft the Season 7 premiere, including how Cerseis fancy new giant map came to be. Of course, plenty of fans are probably still contemplating the latest episode and what Jon and Danys new level of intimacy means going into the final season. Can this be how the actual prince that was promised is conceived? And if you were a bit squicked out by the pairs developing relationship, youre not alone. Unlike Jon and Daenerys, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington are definitely aware that they are both Targaryens. For us as actors its just weird, said Clarke in a video about the coupling. The reality of what they are to each other. In fact, the actors had more facial expressions and sound effects to convey their feelings about this union than words. Watch in the video below. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ed Skrein leaves Hellboy after whitewashing furor By Christie DZurilla (Jordan Strauss / Associated Press) Ed Skrein will not play Maj. Ben Daimio in a reboot of Hellboy, the English actor said Monday, noting that when he accepted the role he didnt know that in the comics the character was of mixed Asian descent. Just a week ago, Skrein had tweeted his excitement over taking on the role. Backlash in the form of whitewashing allegations ensued. It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the Arts, the 34-year-old Deadpool actor said in a statement announcing that he had changed his mind about portraying Daimio. Calling it a moral decision, he said he was sad to leave the movie but hoped his action would make a difference in making equal representation in the arts a reality. David Harbour, the Stranger Things actor slated to play Hellboy, tweeted, Hey internet. Thank you for your voices. An injustice was done and will be corrected. Many thanks to @edskrein for doing what is right. Mike Mignola, who created the Hellboy comics, also thanked Skrein on Monday and said the move was very nicely done. Hey internet. Thank you for your voices. An injustice was done and will be corrected. Many thanks to @edskrein for doing what is right. https://t.co/tUvP6YibgG David Harbour (@DavidKHarbour) August 28, 2017 In addition to Harbour, the 2018 version of the story so far stars Milla Jovovich as Nimue, Ian McShane as Professor Broom and Alice Monaghan as Sasha Lane, according to IMDb. Neil Marshall, who among other things has helmed episodes of Game of Thrones and Westworld, is set to direct. The Daimio character didnt appear in the 2004 or 2008 Guillermo del Toro films based on the Hellboy comics. Heres Skreins full explanation: pic.twitter.com/8WoSsHXDFO Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 28, 2017 Updated, 2:39 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Harbour and Mignola. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper are super-friends no more By Libby Hill Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (Rob Kim / Getty Images) What began as a tasteless joke at the expense of President Trump continues to have real-life consequences for comedian Kathy Griffin. In an extensive interview with The Cut, Griffin admitted that her 17-year friendship with Anderson Cooper, with whom she co-hosted CNNs New Years Eve gig for a decade, ended in the wake of the Trump controversy. In May, Griffin publicized a photo shoot that featured her holding a bloodied imitation severed head bearing a strong resemblance to the president. The backlash was immediate and largely bipartisan, as many saw the images as glorifying violence and furthering political division. Griffin quickly apologized for the misstep but the damage had been done, with condemnation from the White House, investigation by the Secret Service and the loss of several jobs, including her CNN gig. On May 30, Cooper tweeted his disapproval of Griffins artistic expression, calling it disgusting and completely inappropriate, and Griffin admitted at a June 2 news conference that Coopers comments hurt her. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 In July, Cooper appeared on Bravos Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and stated that he and Griffin were still friends. Yeah, were still friends, and look I said what I said about I didnt think what she said was appropriate, but I wish her the best and I hope she bounces back, he stated. But Griffin claimed that at that point, nearly two months after the fact, she had yet to hear from Cooper privately. In reality, it wasnt until Aug. 10 that Cooper finally reached out to Griffin in a series of text messages, CNN confirmed to The Cut at which point Griffin informed him that their friendship was over. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In One Mississippi Season 2 trailer, Tig Notaro prays for the gay to stay By Christie DZurilla Tig Notaros One Mississippi is coming back for a second season, one in which her character is getting used to life back in her small Mississippi hometown. Season 1 of the Amazon Prime Video series took viewers through a fictionalized series of events that echoed Notaros own life: a potentially deadly intestinal illness, breast cancer, a double mastectomy, the unexpected death of her beloved mother and a romantic breakup. Yup, its a dark comedy. In Season 2, L.A. transplant Tig is navigating her new environs, including strategizing about how to proceed with a crush on Straight Kate and dealing with some well-meaning, pray-the-gay-away critics of her radio show. Plus, theres her stepfathers whole dishwasher drill to contend with, not to mention the story line that has to do with sexual assault. The new season of One Mississippi starts streaming Sept. 8. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch Frank Oceans lyric video for new song Provider By Randall Roberts As is his wont these days, R&B superstar Frank Ocean unveiled a new song, Provider, his own way: during the newest installment of Blonded Radio, the Apple Music/Beats 1 radio show he hosts and curates. The ballads a meditation that name-checks Aphex Twin, shoegaze, Talking Heads, Jaws, Patagonia sportswear and Stanley Kubrick, and moves through verses without much regard for structure. Immediately following the Sunday premiere, Ocean dropped the lyric video on his website. Featuring a souped-up mini-boombox retrofitted with bigger speaker cones and a Velcro-attached machete, the clip suggests an owner getting ready to hunt prey while using Provider as the lure. Ocean hasnt uploaded the clip to YouTube, but you can listen and watch on his blonded.co website. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gone With the Wind, deemed insensitive, has been pulled from a Memphis theater By Christie DZurilla Gone With the Wind will not be shown in the future by a Tennessee theater that decided it was insensitive to many in the local community. The 1939 movie, which marked the first Oscar win by a black actor, depicts a romanticized view of slavery and life on a Southern plantation before, during and after the Civil War. Gone With the Wind, which won 10 Academy Awards in 1940, including for best picture, had been shown by the Orpheum Theatre Group for years as part of an annual Summer Movie Series, according to Memphis Commercial-Appeal. At times, it was screened more than once a year, the paper said. This year, however, a different climate prevailed. The recent screening of Gone With the Wind at the Orpheum on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017, generated numerous comments, Brett Batterson, president of the theater group, said Friday in a statement (via the New York Times). The Orpheum carefully reviewed all of them. As an organization whose stated mission is to entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves, the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population. The majority of Memphis residents are black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The screening happened, coincidentally, on the day before a rally of white nationalists that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va. a rally that has been followed by a national conversation about whether to purge monuments to Civil War generals and soldiers from public spaces. In an interview with the Commercial-Appeal, Batterson said the appropriateness of screening Gone With the Wind had been discussed every year, but the social media storm this year really brought it home. By Monday, comments on social media, including on the Facebook post announcing the screening, had shifted in large part to defense of Gone With the Wind as a product of its time that, despite its romanticized portrayal of the Old South and of slavery, was still part of movie history and worth showing on a big screen. The Orpheum did not respond Monday to The Times requests for comment. Hattie McDaniels Oscar win for supporting actress was a significant first but was also loaded with a lot of political and racial issues given that the film was the classic archetype of the Mammy, said Adilifu Nama, associate professor of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University, speaking to The Times in 2014. McDaniels role of Mammy is fundamentally a subservient role and is part of a film that is a Southern racial fantasy, Nama said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swift gets petty and Pink talks pretty in the must-see moments from MTVs Video Music Awards By Libby Hill Were you too busy watching [spoiler] revealed as [spoiler] on Sunday nights Game of Thrones finale to watch MTVs Video Music Awards? Fear not! Weve gathered up four must-see moments from the socially conscious affair (and one lackluster video debut from Taylor Swift) to keep you in the loop. Pinks PowerPoint presentation It was a banner night for singer Pink, who received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her body of work and used the occasion to share an anecdote about her daughter Willow. Recently, Pink stated, her daughter referred to herself as the ugliest person she knew and complained that she looked like a boy with long hair. At first, the Raise Your Glass singer was taken aback by her daughters words but soon swung into action, compiling an elaborate PowerPoint presentation about the history of androgynous rock stars, including Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Annie Lennox. Pink relayed a simple sentiment that most of us could learn a lot from: So, baby, girl, we dont change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. Logic talks emotions Plenty of artists used the VMAs stage to speak passionately about issues they care about, but few did so as extensively as rapper Logic. After his performance of 1-800-273-8255" with Khalid and Alessia Cara, the title of which is the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Logic talked about mental health and equality. Beginning at 3:50 in the above video, Logic first thanked the audience for giving him a platform to discuss the important issue of mental health. He then quickly pivoted to other pressing social issues including discrimination, sexism and domestic violence. I dont give a damn if youre black, white or any color in between, Logic said. I dont care if youre Christian, youre Muslim, youre gay, youre straight, I am gonna fight for your equality because I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equally and that is why we must fight. Jared Leto honors Chester Bennington Logics performance and subsequent speech were particularly moving given the past years loss of two rock musicians to suicide Linkin Parks Chester Bennington and Soundgardens Chris Cornell. Jared Leto, an Academy Award winner and frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars, spoke about both men at Sundays ceremony. MTV asked me to come here to say a few words about Chester and the late, great, Chris Cornell, two artists I had the absolute pleasure of touring with, Leto said of the two singers who were also close friends. Chester said of Chris, Your voice was joy and pain and anger and forgiveness, love and heartache, all wrapped up into one, Leto recalled. Leto also recounted his own memories of Bennington. I think about his heart, Leto said. And I remember his voice. At once ferocious and delicate, that voice will live forever. Fifth Harmony gets shady Despite the pleas for equality and the heartfelt speeches, there was still plenty of time for pettiness at the VMAs, as evidenced by Fifth Harmonys performance. As the group took the stage to perform its latest single, Angel, a mystery fifth member appeared in the lineup before being unceremoniously yanked offstage as the song began. What appeared as an inexplicable stunt to the uninitiated was likely a shady reference to former Fifth Harmony frontwoman Camila Cabello, who exited the group in December to pursue a solo career. It wasnt so much that Cabellos departure stung her former colleagues but that she reportedly failed to inform them of her decision before announcing it to the world. Oops. Also Taylor Swift Unless you were in a coma for the whole of last week, you probably heard that Taylor Swift announced the release date for her upcoming album, Reputation, as well as releasing the first single, Look What You Made Me Do. Its fine. Sunday night, Swift debuted the video for Look What You Made Me Do. It is also fine. This has been your daily Taylor Swift update. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kevin Hart, Beyonce and Drake lead charge for Hurricane Harvey flood relief By Nardine Saad (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times) As Harvey lashed southeastern Texas over the weekend, celebrities rallied for the relief effort. Comedian Kevin Hart led the charge Sunday night, donating $25,000 and challenging his celebrity friends to donate to the Red Cross amid catastrophic flooding in the Lone Star State. I think weve participated in a lot of challenges on the Internet, some meaningful, some meaningless, but weve all done them. Ive been a person thats partaken in several of them, Hart said in an Instagram video. At this point, this is a serious matter, he continued. I think the people are in bad shape and they need help. Im going to lead the charge and step up in this way. The Jumanji star called on his co-star Dwayne Johnson, comics Steve Harvey, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld, as well as musicians Jay-Z, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake to make donations and tag someone else to do the same. At that point, Houston native Beyonce and Kelly Rowland of Destinys Child had already posted notes about their hometown on Instagram, sending thoughts and prayers to the state that launched their careers. View Instagram post View Instagram post The deluge of support continued with country star Chris Young. The Man I Want to Be singer posted an emotional YouTube video about his certainty that his Texas home was destroyed and concern for his friends and family in the state. He donated $100,000 to relief efforts to a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the Red Cross. Harvey, one of the worst natural disasters in the states history, slammed onshore Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, then weakened to a tropical storm on Saturday, dropping up to 24 inches of rain on Houston in 24 hours. The National Weather Service reported that at least five people had died as of Sunday evening, but that number was expected to increase as the floodwaters recede. More than 30,000 people across the Gulf Coast are likely to seek temporary shelter as the tropical storm continues to drench southeastern Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains and surging floodwaters, The Times reported. Toronto native Drake, who has lived in Houston for the last eight years, said that he and DJ Future the Prince are working with local relief groups to aid and assist the people of Texas in anyway we can and in the most immediate way possible. I also want to thank all the men and women of service and volunteers for their courageous efforts to help people in need, the rapper said on Instagram. I encourage everyone to do what they can to assist the people of Texas knowing whatever effort you can make to help will go a long way. View Instagram post Also, during the MTV Video Music Awards Awards on Sunday, host Katy Perry touched upon the catastrophic event. She too urged viewers to donate to the Red Cross. All of us here at the VMAs are sending love to the people of southeastern Texas and everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey right now, Perry said onstage. Were praying for your safety in the days to come and we stand with you as you rebuild because were all in this together. According to the Houston Chronicle, more than 15 inches of rain could fall on several more southeastern Texas cities. Corpus Christi, where Harvey first made landfall, saw upward of 20 inches of rain in two days. By Monday morning, up to 40 inches of rain had fallen on northeast Houston. Another 20 inches were expected Monday before Tropical Storm Harvey travels farther east. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Susan Bro, mother of slain Charlottesville protester Heather Heyer, announces anti-hate foundation at the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) During an evening filled with defiant messages against racism, homophobia and body shaming, the mother of Heather Heyer announced some concrete actions to further the cause. Susan Bro, whose daughter was killed two weeks ago during protests in Charlottesville, Va., has worked through her grief by speaking out against racism, and took a further step by creating the Heather Heyer Foundation. Describing it as a nonprofit organization that will provide scholarships to help more people to join Heathers fight against hatred, Bro requested that viewers visit the new site to help me make Heathers death count. Added Bro: Heather never marched alone. She was always joined by people from every race and every background in this country. Bro was introduced by Robert Lee IV -- a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee -- who said his ancestor has became of idol of white supremacy and hate. Lee went on to describe racism as Americas original sin. He went on to ask all of those with privilege to confront white supremacy and racism head-on. Watch his speech below. I call on all of us with privilege and power to confront racism and white supremacy head-on" - Robert Lee IV #VMAs pic.twitter.com/ko4SM9VnaU MTV (@MTV) August 28, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Pinks inspiring MTV VMA speech to individuality By Randall Roberts In receiving her Video Vanguard award at the MTV VMAs on Sunday at the Forum -- the shows equivalent of a lifetime achievement trophy -- the pop star Pink told a story about a conversation shed recently had with her young daughter. They were driving to school and her daughter said, Mama, Im the ugliest girl I know. Pink replied, Huh? And she was like, Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair. Pink said that she immediately thought, My god, youre 6. Where is this coming from? The artist and mom didnt lecture her daughter. Instead, said Pink: I went home and made a PowerPoint presentation for her, and in that presentation were androgynous rock stars and artists that live their truth; are probably made fun of every day of their lives and carry on and wave their flag; and inspire the rest of us. These are artists like Michael Jackson and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury and Annie Lennox and Prince and Janis Joplin and George Michael, Elton John, so many artists. Pink said that her daughters eyes glazed over, but Pink pressed her about why she felt that way about herself. What do you think I look like? She said, Youre beautiful. The pop singer explained that she gets critiqued, too. They say I look like a boy or Im too masculine or Im too -- I have too many opinions. My body is too strong. I said to her, Do you see me growing my hair? She said No Mama. I said, Do you see me changing my body? She said, No Mama. Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world? No Mama. Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world. Yes Mama. OK baby girl. We dont change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty. Added Pink in closing: To all the artists here, Im so inspired by you. Thank you for being your true selves and for lighting the way for us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Jared Leto offer touching tribute to Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington at the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts In a moving tribute to two fallen musicians, the actor and musician Jared Leto honored the lives of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park at the MTV VMAs on Sunday. Cornell and Bennington committed suicide in 2017, and Leto was friends with both. In 1976 in Phoenix, Ariz., a child was born. He was precocious, full of life, and determined, and grew up to become the singer of one of the greatest rock bands in the history of music, Leto said. His name was Chester Bennington, and the band is Linkin Park. Leto added that MTV asked him to say a few words about Bennington and Cornell, who he described as two artists that I had the absolute pleasure of touring with. They were close friends with one another -- Chester even singing the cover of the classic Hallelujah at Chris funeral. Recalling Benningtons words at Cornells funeral service, Leto said: Chester said of Chris, Your voice was joy and pain and anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. Just weeks later, Chester himself was gone. Chester was my friend. As he was to so many. Witnessing his life taught me important things -- especially about working relentlessly, pursuing dreams and being kind and caring while doing it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert and more steal the MTV VMA spotlight By Gerrick Kennedy Kodak Black arriving at the MTV VMAs. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press) The line near a concession stand inside the Forum minutes before the MTV VMAs kicked off on Sunday was lengthy, but no one was waiting on food or drinks. Instead, a dozen or so folks waited patiently to get a selfie with Kodak Black, who high-fived and posed with as fans fumbled with smartphones. The VMAs are typically rife with heavyweights (Kendrick Lamar, Katy Perry, etc.) but this years ceremony looked to tap into the wide scene of rising acts that have been dominating streaming services and social media all summer. Before the telecast even began Lil Uzi Vert clinched a major win, taking the trophy for song of summer for XO Tour Llif3" and he later joined Ed Sheeran for the tune, no doubt the nights most surprising collaboration. Meanwhile, Khalids pre-show medley could have easily anchored the main show while reality star turned breakout rap sensation Cardi B was another highlight of the pre-show festivities. Her viral hit Bodak Yellow rattled throughout the Forum during nearly every commercial break. Fifth Harmony later made its debut at the VMAs with an explosive main stage performance of Down, a song that also won the award for pop video. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jack Antonoff is living his best life at the MTV VMAs By Mikael Wood Jack Antonoff performs onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show. (Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images) Has anyone at MTVs Video Music Awards had more screen time so far than Jack Antonoff? First the A-list producer and songwriter turned up on the nights pre-show ceremony for a performance with his band Bleachers. Then he introduced Lorde by noting that hed seen her eat gas-station sushi during the two years they spent together working on her album Melodrama. He also accepted the award for best collaboration for Taylor Swift and Zayns I Dont Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker), which he helped create because the singers couldnt be there. But Antonoffs best moment? Obviously the candid reaction shot in which he was shown casually eating a banana, as his girlfriend, Lena Dunham, described it on Twitter. My boyfriend just casually eating a banana at the VMAs is a good reminder of why we've been at it half a decade Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 28, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Taylor Swifts bold Look What You Made Me Do video, which premiered during the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts Taylor Swifts new video for Look What You Made Me Do, which premiered during the 2017 MTV VMAs on Sunday night, features her dressed as a zombie, a diamond-drenched queen, a red-dressed seductress, a car-crash victim, a bird in a cage, a kitty-masked thief with a baseball bat, a biker chick wearing studded leather and a whip-snapping dominatrix. As she poses and pretends, Swift makes a not-so-veiled reference to her ongoing feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, getting all combative behind the microphone as a feather-light melody jumps behind her. The video premiered during a ceremony hosted by pop star and avowed Swift nemesis Katy Perry. Perry didnt introduce the clip, a hint that the two probably still arent besties. Inside the Forum, the video premiered on multiple big screen TVs rose that from the stage, and Perry was nowhere in sight. As the clip seems to be winding down, the music fades. But Swift hasnt fully made her point. In its final moments arrive a dozen-odd versions of Swift standing in front of a black private jet with the name of her new album, Reputation, scrawled on it. The many Swifts start bickering and referencing the various criticisms that have been lobbied at her over the years. Stop making that face, its so annoying, the zombie Swift says, a nod to what some believe is the exaggerated excitement the artist shows when she wins awards. A young version of Swift interrupts with an innocent Yall! but is shot down by an embittered Swift: Oh stop acting like youre so nice. Youre so fake! Standing in the center of the line is Swift seemingly dressed as she was at the 2009 VMAs, when West interrupted her victory speech to decry Beyonce's loss. Holding her VMA trophy, she says, Id like very much to be excluded from this narrative, both a nod to to the musical Hamilton and a repeat of a phrase Swift posted on social media in wake of controversy resulting from Wests song Famous. In that 2016 tune, he he boasted that I made that [profanity] famous and, therefore, that he and Swift might still have sex. The other Swifts reply in unison: Oh shut up! Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kendrick Lamar opens 2017 VMAs with fiery performances of DNA and Humble By Randall Roberts Wearing a red scarf on his head and a poofy winter coat onstage, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar opened the 2017 MTV VMAs needing neither. Within a few minutes of launching with DNA a dancer center stage burst into flames. You could almost feel the heat simmering through the screen. I was born like this, since one like this, Lamar rapped. Immaculate conception/I transform like this, perform like this. Perform he did, moving into a second track, Humble, from his recent album Damn. Shedding the coat, he stood in front of a fiery backdrop grid that burned as dancers scaled it. As they did so, Lamar rapped, My left stroke just went viral/Right stroke put lil baby in a spiral. It was the opening shot of a VMAs in which politics and protest may end up taking center stage. Indeed, moments later presenter Paris Jackson drew a rousing applause when she denounced the racism and hatred propogated by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heidi Klum, Jack Antonoff and others stand in support of transgender military service members at VMAs By Randall Roberts View Instagram post As the 2017 Video Music Awards were approaching, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) was out in full force at the Forum. Its president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, walked the red carpet along with her invited guests: six transgender members of the military. The action came in the wake of President Donald Trumps direction to the Pentagon on Friday, as reported in The Times, to return to the long-standing policy and practice barring military service by transgender individuals. Praising MTV as a pioneering advocate for the LGBTQ community, Ellis said in a statement, Throughout all the tweets, memos, and speculation, brave transgender Americans are still serving their country and defending the freedoms of this nation while meeting the same rigorous standards of their peers. We are proud to stand with them. Posing in support: musicians and celebrities including Jack Antonoff (Bleachers), supermodel Heidi Klum, actor-comedian Billy Eichner and others, who stood alongside transgender service members including Jennifer Peace, Logan Ireland, Sterling James Crutcher and Akira Wyatt, as well as trans veterans Laila Ireland and Brynn Tannehil. Also joining them was LGBTQ philanthropist August Getty, who in his other life is a fashion designer responsible for Miley Cyruss red carpet dress. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print MTV VMAs return to Southern California with an overwhelmingly impressive setup By Gerrick Kennedy Cardi B performing at the pre-show for the MTV VMAs. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press) After heading to the East Coast last year, the MTV VMAs have returned to Southern California. And tonight at the Forum in Inglewood, it was clear that the network decided to go big huge really. Upon arrival to the venue it appeared that the scale of this years show was unlike anything MTV had done in recent history. A structure that looked like a space shuttle swallowed the lot in front of the venue, and stars such as Cardi B and Big Freedia could be seen pumping through the red carpet (its a deep shade of blue this year). Inside the Forum, the stage took up the entirety of the venues ground floor. The imprint of the stage was impressive, even overwhelming in size as a maze of catwalks and secondary stages traced the floor, all of which was outlined by hundreds of glowing triangles and projection screens. It made for a futuristic playground of geometric glowing shapes that show opener Kendrick Lamar put to use immediately as he emerged from the center of the venue for the explosive DNA, strutting through half of the venue before making it to the main stage. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Taylor Swift breaks YouTube record with Look What You Made Me Do video By Randy Lewis Taylor Swift set a YouTube record with the lyric video for her new single Look What You Made Me Do, tallying 19 million views in just the first 24 hours. Thats more than double the previous first-day record for a lyric video, which was set in February by the lyric video for the Chainsmokers Something Just Like This featuring Coldplay, which registered 9 million views upon its release. Its also the best 24-hour figure Swift has logged, besting the first-day result for her 2015 official video for Bad Blood, which attracted 17 million views, and has since totaled more than 1.1 billion views. As of Sunday morning, the tally for Look What You Made Me Do had surpassed 35 million. It sets the stage for the premiere tonight of Swifts official video for the new single, which will be introduced during the MTV Video Music Awards Ceremony, taking place at the Forum in Inglewood. The overall record for viewership in the first 24 hours for any music video belongs to Adele, who registered 27.7 million views in 2015 at the premiere of the official video for her song Hello. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Why William Friedkin called Tobe Hoopers Texas Chain Saw Massacre an Umami Burger of a movie By Mark Olsen Director Tobe Hooper, who died in Los Angeles on Saturday at age 74, created many movies and TV shows during his long career including stepping to helm the filming of Poltergeist when Steven Spielberg was contractually banned from directing other films during the production of ET: The Extra Terrestrial. Hoopers most admired film, of course, was 1974s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In 2014, on the occasion of the films 40th anniversary, The Exorcist director William Friedkin interviewed Hooper before an overflow audience at Los Angeles Vista theater. During the engaging conversation, Friedkin called Hooper one of the sweetest, nicest guys Ive ever known. And then added, So I often wonder where this stuff comes from. Hooper talked about purposely pitting his actors against each other to keep the on-screen tension high, how an unlikely pair of albums Elton Johns Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Lou Reeds Berlin inspired him during the writing of the screenplay, and about how damn strong women are, referring to the resilent character played by Marilyn Burns. Shes just not going to die. At one point, Friedkin provocatively asked, Do you think this is a work of art? Hooper first asked, Should I be modest? before responding with a salty confirmation, Its a ... work of art. The Times Mark Olsen was there for the interview. At the end of his article, theres this affirmation of the film from Friedkin: No 3-D, no CGI, welcome to this Umami Burger of a movie. Read on to find his reasoning. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Cinefamily suspends all activities in wake of sexual misconduct allegations By Sonaiya Kelley The Cinefamily on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Following the resignations Tuesday of two leadership figures at Cinefamily, the Los Angeles independent film venue has announced that it is temporarily suspending all activities to allow for the investigation and necessary restructure of management and the board. Recently, claims were made alleging improper behavior by one of more members of the organization, reads a release posted on the organizations website and social media pages. The Board of Directors of The Cinefamily has no tolerance for any form of behavior that does not conform to the high standards demanded by our members and staff and that of common human decency. The letter also says that Cinefamily is bringing on an independent third party, Giles Miller at Lynx Insights & Investigations, to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations. View Twitter post A spokesperson for the theater could not immediately be reached for comment. The announcement comes in the wake of two high profile exits: co-founder and executive creative director, Hadrian Belove, and vice president of its board of directors, Shadie Elnashai, resigned on Tuesday following allegations of sexual misconduct. The exits were announced in postings on Cinefamilys social media accounts. In light of recent events, Shadie Elnashai has resigned from Cinefamilys Board of Directors and Hadrian Belove has resigned as the Executive Creative Director of Cinefamily, read the statement. Addressing the anonymous allegations in a post to his personal Facebook account following his resignation, Belove described the emails contents as demonstrable lies and half-truths, and allegations without known victims. It is not clear whether screenings currently scheduled will still run, and there has been grumbling by monthly billed members as to whether or not automated charges will be suspended or cancelled. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper dies in Los Angeles at 74 By Associated Press Tobe Hooper, the horror-movie pioneer whose low-budget sensation The Texas Chain Saw Massacre took a buzz saw to audiences with its brutally frightful vision, has died. He was 74. The Los Angeles County coroners office says Hooper died Saturday in Sherman Oaks. It was reported as a natural death. Hooper and contemporaries like George Romero crafted some of the scariest nightmares that ever haunted moviegoers. He directed 1982s Poltergeist from a script by Steven Spielberg and was behind the 1979 miniseries Salems Lot, based on the Stephen King novel. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Is Taylor Swift trying to turn off her listeners? By Mikael Wood We can skip the rundown of Taylor Swifts feud with Kanye West, right? Less than 24 hours after the worlds biggest pop star unleashed her new single on a waiting commentariat, Im already exhausted by the idea of having to read (let alone write) yet another rehash of this deeply tiresome conflict. But you know whos not over it? Taylor Swift. In Look What You Made Me Do released online Thursday night as the lead single from a new album, Reputation, due in November the singer sounds positively fired up as she takes whack after brutal whack at the rapper who once interrupted her at an awards show. (Swift doesnt name West, to be clear, but with her reference to a tilted stage, she doesnt need to.) I dont like your perfect crime / How you laugh when you lie, she seethes over a throbbing electronic groove, You said the gun was mine / Isnt cool no, I dont like you. Later in the tune, which Swift created with Jack Antonoff, she pretends to answer a phone call from someone evidently looking for the old Taylor the sucker, you presume, who mightve let bygones be bygones. But she cant come to the phone, Swift tells the caller. Why? she adds. Oh, cause shes dead. Whats surprising about Look What You Made Me Do beyond the harsh industrial production that makes it feel like Swifts response to her enemys Yeezus is that it suggests the singer no longer cares (or is no longer able to tell) what pop fans want. Swift rose to superstardom by anticipating listeners desires; she knew just when to pivot from acoustic guitars to sleek synthesizers, from the fairy-tale romance of early hits like Love Story to the more grown-up depiction found on her last album, 2014s smash 1989. On tour behind that record, she spent a good portion of her show every night telling the members of her audience how closely shed been paying attention to them. But dredging up Taylor v. Kanye again? I mean, I cant be the only one whos sick of this topic something Swift wouldve known a few years ago without even having to think about it. OK, so she hardly lacks for company among A-listers eager to cook expired beef. Earlier this summer Katy Perry revived her ancient tussle with Swift I believe it had something to do with backup dancers? for Swish Swish. But Perrys song takes delight in its own pettiness, whereas Look What You Made Me Do just makes me think of President Trump whining endlessly about fake news. (Crediting Right Said Fred for the songs supposed debt to Im Too Sexy is funny in writing, but the inspiration adds little humor to the dour music.) Maybe Swift isnt aiming for me, though. Maybe this polarizing song is meant to galvanize her base which, sure enough, is rhapsodizing about the track on social media even at the expense of the wider world shes dominated for much of the last decade. If thats her play, its a wild one, especially coming after her powerful testimony during the recent trial regarding her alleged sexual assault at the hands of a Denver radio DJ. In court, Swift appeared driven to speak with a voice loud enough for others. Now, just days later, she seems uninterested in that job. Have we ever seen a pop star so happily give up a portion of her following? Thats an idea Im not tired of considering. Maybe Reputation will take it up. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Concerts by Coldplay, other acts canceled as Hurricane Harvey nears Texas By August Brown Coldplay performs at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in 2016. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) As the potentially devastating Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast, major acts including Coldplay, Lady Antebellum and Mary J. Blige have canceled or rescheduled their Houston-area concerts. Coldplay on Friday postponed a show scheduled for NRG Stadium in Houston. We really wanted to play tonight, but sitting here all together watching the news about the storm, we feel that we cant ask anyone to put their safety at risk. So, sadly, we will have to postpone, the band wrote. Live Nation Houston said ticket-holders would be updated when there was further information. We urge all fans in the area to stay safe, it said. A makeup date has not yet been scheduled. The country trio Lady Antebellum canceled its Sunday show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, citing the storm. Blige postponed her Friday show at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. The venue announced that the concert had been rescheduled to Sept. 19. The Category 3 storm, which would be the first major hurricane to hit the United States since 2005, is expected to make landfall in coastal Texas on Saturday morning, bringing 100-mph winds and up to 35 inches of rain in some areas. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bachelor couple Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi break off their engagement By Christie DZurilla (Leon Bennett / Getty Images) Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi, who got engaged on the most recent season of The Bachelor, have with a great amount of heartbreak called the whole thing off. We gave this relationship our all and we are saddened that we did not get the fairytale ending we hoped for, they said Friday in a statement to E! News. The relationship lasted five months after the proposal aired on the Season 21 finale of The Bachelor in March. The two said in their statement that theyre parting with love and admiration for one another. The silver lining to what they called a difficult decision? This means Nick is potentially available for yet another TV stint in the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. That as-yet-imaginary gig would be his fifth ride on the looking-for-love roller coaster. In Bachelor Nation, its always good to dream. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher settle lawsuit over websites photos of their kids By Nardine Saad (Michael Nelson / EPA) Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis legal battle with British website MailOnline has been settled. The Two and a Half Men actor, the Bad Moms actress and the outlet have reached a satisfactory resolution of their legal action regarding the publication of photos of their children, their legal representatives said in a joint statement to The Times on Friday. The couple, who starred in That 70s Show together years before they began dating, took the websites publisher, Associated Newspapers, to Londons High Court in July 2015 over two articles featuring their daughter, who was 1 at the time. The U.K.'s MailOnline.com published images of Wyatt taken during a private family outing to the beach. A paparazzo used a long-lens camera to obtain the images, and the couple said they were unaware the photos were being taken. They claimed that the photos breached the Data Protection Act and were used for the unauthorized promotion of clothing on the website. [T]hey have reached a satisfactory resolution of their legal action, which includes an agreement to pixelate photographs of their daughter, Wyatt, their son, Dimitri, and any future children they should have together. Joint statement from Kutcher, Kunis and the MailOnline announcing their lawsuit settlement Per the agreement announced Friday, the outlet will pixelate photographs of Kutchers and Kunis daughter, Wyatt, their son, Dimitri, and any future children they should have together. The settlement is the latest legal blow to MailOnline and its associated newspaper, the Daily Mail. (The U.S. version of the website, DailyMail.com, is run by a separate news team.) In April, the tabloids parent company settled a libel suit with First Lady Melania Trump over an article it ran in the paper and online that suggested she may have once worked as an escort. In July 2014, George Clooney lambasted the Daily Mail in a USA Today op-ed that accused it of making up stories in the wake of an article it published about his mother-in-law. He got an apology and an acknowledgement that the story was inaccurate. That same month, Angelina Jolie reportedly threatened to take legal action after it published a video that claimed to show her under the influence of heroin in the 1990s. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swifts Look What You Made Me Do lyrics: Let the analysis begin By Randy Lewis As if there were any doubt as to the level of interest in Taylor Swifts first new music in three years, her first single from her forthcoming album, Reputation, has been blowing up since it premiered Thursday night. The lyric video for Look What You Made Me Do had logged more than 7 million views as of 9:30 a.m. Friday. Additionally, Swift tweeted that the official video for the song will premiere Sunday during the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. For those who want to dig in and attempt to decode what and to whom the I dont like you references might refer, here are the full lyrics to the song: Look What You Made Me Do FIRST VERSE I dont like your little games Dont like your tilted stage The role you made me play Of the fool, no, I dont like you I dont like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine Isnt cool, no, I dont like you PRE-CHORUS But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time Ive got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh! CHORUS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look What you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do SECOND VERSE I dont like your kingdom keys They once belonged to me You ask for a place to sleep Locked me out and threw a feast (what?) The world goes on, another day, another drama, drama But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma And then the world moves on, but one things for sure Baby, I got mine, but youll all get yours PRE CHORUS REPEATS But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time Ive got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh! CHORUS REPEATS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do THIRD VERSE I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams (Look what you made me do) (Look what you made me do) ANSWERING MACHINE INTERLUDE Im sorry, the old Taylor cant come to the phone right now. Why? Oh cause shes dead! CHORUS REPEATS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Patty Jenkins isnt surprised James Cameron doesnt get Wonder Woman By Tracy Brown Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has some words about James Camerons comments on the Amazonian warrior goddess: Of course he doesnt get it. Following the Avatar directors claims that Wonder Woman is a step backwards for women, Jenkins responded in a tweet that Camerons thoughts are unsurprising because he is not a woman. In an interview with the Guardian, Cameron threw some shade on Wonder Womans success by trying to compare Diana Prince to Sarah Connor from his Terminator franchise. "[Sarah Connor] was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit, Cameron said. Nothing like the objectified beauty icon he considers Wonder Woman to be. Jenkins points out that Camerons narrow qualifications for what makes a good female hero are restrictive and not at all progressive. If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we arent free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we havent come very far have we, Jenkins wrote. Jenkins also insisted that there should be room for all types of female lead characters and that women themselves should be the judge of these icons of progress. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman, she wrote. Read Jenkins full statement below. pic.twitter.com/8zkJXHLCJW Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Cameron thinks Wonder Womans success is misguided: Shes an objectified icon By Nardine Saad (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) James Cameron isnt here for Wonder Womans blockbuster success. In fact, the moviemaker calls the much-loved superhero flick (Wonder Woman is currently at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes) a step back from the female heroes he created in the 80s and 90s. It appears that the Titanic and Terminator 2" director, whose films often put tough women at the center of the action, doesnt think that Gal Gadots character was complicated or groundbreaking enough to merit so much acclaim -- $800 million at the worldwide box office aside. All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywoods been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. Shes an objectified icon, and its just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! Cameron said in an interview with the Guardian. All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywoods been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. Shes an objectified icon, and its just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! Filmmaker James Cameron on Wonder Woman The director, who was cast in the article as softened and evolved from his bone-crushing early movie-making days, believes that Wonder Woman was a step backwards. (Dont get him wrong, he did like Patty Jenkins summer blockbuster -- the first-ever feature-film incarnation of the DC Comics heroine and the highest-grossing live-action film directed by a woman -- just not enough to let it pass without throwing a little shade Diana Princes way.) Backwards in comparison with Camerons complex Sarah Connor character from the Terminator franchise. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female! Cameron said. The three-time Oscar wi Music Aug. 31, 2017, 8:50 a.m. Gloria Gaynor sings to Texas Harvey victims: You will survive (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. 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. Like most divorcing couples, the duo at the center of Joachim Lafosses After Love are in a kind of limbo. But for Marie and Boris, played to riveting perfection by Berenice Bejo and Cedric Kahn, that state of emotional in-between is intensified by a particular set of financial circumstances: Until they agree on a monetary settlement for his share of their apartment, he cant afford to move out. And so the sunny home where theyve been raising their daughters, and where almost all of the story unfolds, is not just the setting for a protracted conflict but, in certain ways, its essence. It embodies their class differences, which have taken on a labor vs. capital dynamic: Marie, an academic, was born rich, as Boris, a contractor with a perpetual cash-flow problem, likes to point out. He insists, not unreasonably, that the renovations he did on the place that she bought (with help from her family) entitle him to half its value. Marie has reasonable expectations too for starters, shed like him to keep his day-to-day promises to their girls. But she can look spiteful when she tries to prevent her conciliation-minded mother (Marthe Keller) from hiring Boris to work on a house. She can barely remember what she ever adored about him. Advertisement And yet, even as these two cautiously navigate spaces they once shared hes relegated to a cramped corner room and has been assigned a separate shelf in the refrigerator this keenly observed domestic drama is ever alert to the love that once bound them, just as their 8-year-old twins, delightfully played by Jade and Margaux Soentjens, take stock of every gesture and silence between them. Its in the characters gestures and glances that the movies action lies. Belgian director Lafosse, who scripted the story with three other writers Mazarine Pingeo, Fanny Burdino and Thomas Van Zuylen and further developed it through improvisation with the actors, is more interested in the moment-to-moment temperature shifts between Marie and Boris than in conventional plot points. Little happens, and when a late-in-the-proceedings emergency arises, its an unconvincing concession to capital-D drama. By contrast, a simple dinner-party scene involving Marie, her invited friends and the unwanted Boris is a spectacular tour de force of passive aggressions and squirming discomfort, with a center-stage Kahn (a filmmaker and occasional actor) fearless in his truculence and vulnerability. Bejo, best known stateside for her performance as the aptly named Peppy in The Artist, works here in a minor key to eloquent effect. She wields Maries constant anger as a self-protective shield and, in the rare moments when the hardened surface shatters, she taps into a deep well of sorrowful regret. In the role of the more loose-limbed and gregarious Boris, Kahn is a fascinating, ever-shifting composite of hope, delusion and wounded pride. For American audiences, who generally dont like to acknowledge the fiscal aspect of marriage the prevalence of prenups and alimony notwithstanding After Love is probably a more palatable title than the original, LEconomie du Couple (The Couples Economy). But if theres something clinical about the French title, it also captures the idea of a marriage as a self-contained world. In features that include Private Property, Our Children and The White Knights, Lafosse has explored the idea of the enclosed environments we create, within professions as well as families. Cinematographer Jean-Francois Hensgens, a frequent collaborator, moves fluidly through the rooms of Boris and Maries apartment as they and their girls reconfigure its spaces and try to imagine what lies ahead for them, outside those walls. Though it doesnt have quite the same sustained intensity, After Love often recalls Shoot the Moon, the great divorce drama starring Diane Keaton and Albert Finney. Messy and ungovernable at its strongest, Lafosses film is a story of heartbreak and real estate and, not least, money, viewed from within the still-smoldering ruins. ------------- After Love In French with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Simon Barretts scripts for Adam Wingards Youre Next and The Guest created two of the best genre releases this decade, but theres no evidence of his fingerprints on Temple. Not only does this standard horror film from first-time director Michael Barrett (no relation) lack the writers distinct voice, it fails to provide any real scares and adheres to well-worn tropes without a fresh twist. Chris (Logan Huffman) is excited to fulfill a lifelong dream to travel to Japan, joining his childhood friend Kate (Natalia Warner) and her boyfriend, James (Brandon Tyler Sklenar). Kate is writing about temples, and they eagerly trek to a remote village for her research, despite warnings from the locals about the danger awaiting them. Characters in a horror movie should either have you rooting for their survival or cheering their demise, but those inhabiting this film are all so blandly unlikable that we cant summon any emotion. Vague dread quickly escalates to terror for the trio though not the audience as Kate, Chris and James discover evil spirits haunt the spot. Advertisement Director Barrett previously worked as a cinematographer, and The Temple has competent visuals with a few particularly nice shots that establish mood. However, its script is poorly structured and opaque, offering little insight into what is terrorizing the tourists and why. The answers we get offer nothing new and will be familiar to fans who have seen a J-horror film or an American imitator. ------------- Temple Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 18 minutes Playing: Ahrya Fine Arts, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Close Encounters of the Third Kind is being rereleased in a digitally remastered 4K edition of the directors cut. This review was originally published Nov. 18, 1977. Charles Champlin was a former Times arts editor, film critic and columnist. Steven Spielbergs Close Encounters of the Third Kind is assured the annual Godot Award as the most-awaited move of the year. The subject matter and the security blanket Spielberg wrapped around it have made millions eager for a peek and now, by damn, the full look is at hand. And Close Encounters proves to be a magic act with dramatic interludes. The interludes range downward from so-so (the movie is oddly like Jaws in that way), but the magic is so thrilling that nothing else matters much. Advertisement The special effects conceived by Spielberg and executed by Douglas Trumbull and a staff that seems to number in the hundreds are dazzling and wondrous. Thats not surprising: the surprise is that Close Encounters is so well leavened with humor. Despite its cost (said to have been $19 million ultimately, with additional millions for advertising and promotion) and despite its scope Close Encounters stays light on its legs, mystical and reverential but not solemn. It is a warm celebration, positive and pleasurable. The humor is folksy and slapstick rather than cerebral, as if to confirm that our encounter is with a populist vehicle. The effects resemble those in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. You cant, after all, make westerns without horses, or science fantasy without sky and stars and brilliant ships sketched in an approaching tomorrow. But Close Encounters is not Stanley Kubricks film, with its ecstatic and incomprehensible mysteries of infinite time and space, and not George Lucas, with its primal wars of good and evil fought in some futuristic past. Spielbergs movie says that once upon the present time the visitors from an unidentified elsewhere arrived upon earth and manifested themselves, raising hell with the electrical gadgetry and assorted souls in and about Muncie, Ind. The earth-shaking reverberations caused by the spacecrafts energy system (which makes model trains and vacuum cleaners roar alive unbidden but amusingly) are made to seem more startling than terrifying. It seems significant that the aliens are presumed to be friendly rather than hostile as if to say that intelligent life elsewhere is surely too intelligent to go in for the kind of bloodletting that has characterized Earth from the start. Spielberg symbolizes this trust in the slight and wide-eyed person of a child (Cary Guffey), who could not be more pleased, amidst the incandescence and the roaring, than if a circus parade had passed in front of his house. It is also as if the communication between Them (whoever they may be) and us is innocent and loving. Despite the best efforts of the Air Force (lampooned in the film) to shoot them down, the UFOs cannot be permanently disproved and the popular imagination stays tantalizingly alive. Spielbergs fantasy is a widely appealing game of What If, played without the menace of the bug-eyed monsters and galactic villains that gave Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers such trouble. The excitements begin amidst blowing dust in Mexico, where in a remote desert some fighter planes missing since World War II suddenly reappear, engines ready to go at the touch of a switch. Francois Truffaut as an excitable scientist seems to know what it may mean, but we still dont. Then things go bang in the Indiana night: a boys electric toys, all the appliances, and manifestations, and bright lights and a shaking, rattling and rolling as before the doom. Melinda Dillon is startled, partly by her sons delight at what should be so scary. Teri Garr is alarmed, and her husband (Richard Dreyfuss), a power company worker, has to leave her and try to discover what has blacked out half the state. His van shakes half to pieces and goes dead, and mail boxes do a shimmy and there are fireballs arcing across the sky. Dreyfuss and Dillon and a handful of others have been communicated with; they feel it but dont really know it. Except that there is this vision, a dream half-remembered, and a sawed off mountain. The Spielberg of Jaws continues to be a director (and now a writer) of effects rather than characters or relationships. When the script lets Trumbull and his associate Merlins and a platoon of the worlds best cinematographers (Vilmos Zsigmond, principally, and Billy Fraker, Douglas Slocombe, John Alonzo and Lazlo Kovacs), strut their stuff and the Superdome-sized saucers wheel and hover and turn, it is zowie time at the Bijou. Then again, a whole sequence in which Dreyfuss builds his dream peak in the living room from mud and shrubbery is so forced and silly it nearly deranges all the rest of the movie. Dillon as another true believer has to cry a lot and Teri Garr has to disbelieve but trust a lot, up to the uprooting of the shrubs. Although the script has fun with the pish-tushing bureaucracies, it does little to give any real credibility to the reactions, governmental, journalistic or even personal, to the goings-on. A couple of fishermen in Mississippi (a famous early UFO report) is one thing; half a state and unimpeachable witnesses is quite another. The mystical pull on Dreyfuss and the others never becomes quite the parable it was presumably intended to be. Still, the movie builds toward a time of grandeur that suggests either the opening of the Olympics or Midnight Mass in St. Peters Square, and even if Spielberg milks it entirely too long, it is still affecting and uplifting. John Williams music is crucial, and once again he seems to work as effectively when big things are required as anyone now writing. There is a good deal of sustained and tremulous tone the quivering hum we have come to accept as the sound wave of the future, here bridging into the majesty of Handels Messiah Revisited (not literally, of course). It is powerful and hugely contributory. In terms of bringing off its intentions, Close Encounters ranks somewhat lower on a scale of 10 than 2001 or Star Wars. But it is different from either and may be onto a more popularly intriguing theme: not Will we find them, but Will they find us? A longer synopsis would trim the surprises. The mysteries and miracles visited upon Muncie are bewitching and at its most effective, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is marvelously clever. Since reviews are now said to be affecting stock prices, my private Dow-Jones closing might be that I wouldnt know whether to buy, but I wouldnt sell. ------------- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Rating: PG Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes Playing: In general release See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Heat and Dust is being rereleased in a new 4K restoration. This review was originally published Nov. 9, 1983. Kevin Thomas reviewed films for The Times for nearly 50 years. Heat and Dust draws us into a treacherous, precarious world of vanished splendor, that of royal India under British rule during the 20s. It was a time when a bejeweled native prince, seated upon a throne and fanned by servants, received the British and their wives while the women in his own family remained in seclusion, peering curiously at the festivities with opera glasses through a bamboo screen. God Save the King would then be played on bagpipes by Indians dressed in kilts, to be followed by dinner in a vast hall ablaze with crystal chandeliers. Advertisement Understandably, any bride fresh from England might be dazzled by such exotic luxury, but the heroine (Greta Scacchi) of Heat and Dust is not the typical colonial wife. Shes pretty, witty and has a streak of recklessness. Her blandly handsome husband (Christopher Cazenove), a rising civil servant in the small state of Satipur, suspects he loves her because shes not one of us. What neither suspects is that she will end up, in the words of a friend, outraging two sets of conventions Indian as well as British. For 21 years, the team of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala have collaborated on a series of subtle and intimate films, most of which have dealt with individuals adrift in an alien country. Usually, that country is India, where Merchant was born and where his partners have spent much of their lives. Like such Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala predecessors as Shakespeare Wallah and Bombay Talkie, Heat and Dust, based on a novel by Jhabvala, is the work of people who know their territory thoroughly. Heat and Dust casts its spell upon the viewer just as India does upon Scacchi. The pacing is appropriately leisurely as Scacchi gets caught up in the boredom and torpor of her rigid colonial existence. Tiring of constantly being told what is expected of a British civil servants wife, she finds herself gradually drawn to Satipurs handsome prince (Shashi Kapoor), who is as corrupt as she is naive. Not content with telling just Scacchis story, the filmmakers have framed it with a present-day inquiry by Scacchis grandniece (Julie Christie), who has come to India to find out all she can about her scandalously romantic relative. Cutting back and forth between past and present often proves distracting, however. Christies inquiry extends the films feminist sentiments by contrasting the liberated Christie with her aunt, who may have been even more oppressed than her Indian counterparts, condemned by the tradition of purdah to a life of seclusion yet capable of wielding considerable power from behind the scenes. The trouble is that the framing device weighs down the film needlessly. Both the feminist and cross-cultural implications of Scacchis fate need no further spelling out, and theres not enough time for Christies story to seem anything but contrivance. Despite the sketchiness of Christies role, she is a radiant presence. Milan-born but raised and educated in England and Australia, newcomer Scacchi is captivating in her portrayal of a woman easily described as headstrong and foolish yet possessed in full measure of the courage of her convictions. Long a star in India, Kapoor is perfect as the prince, a man of boundless childlike charm disguising an equally infinite capacity for evil. Cazenove suggests a man as decent as he is limited. Nickolas Grace, playing a character much like that of James Mason in Ivorys The Autobiography of a Princess, provides the connecting link between the British and the Indians. Hes an intelligent man who has allowed himself to become the court jester to Kapoor. Madhur Jaffrey, the princess in The Autobiography of a Princess, plays Kapoors possessive mother, a woman of hauteur and cunning. Charles McCaughan, an acquaintance of Christies, is a strung-out American hippie trying to become a holy man. As he reluctantly departs for home, he describes with irony the all-American everything matches bathroom that awaits him in Iowa. While Heat and Dust attempts too much, it is rewarding for the patient in its unique Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala sensibility. They appreciate the grandeur that was imperial India while at the same time laying bare its evils, both colonial and native. As a result, Heat and Dust is charged with ambivalence. Cinematographer Walter Lassally captures in revealing, amusing observations the essence of the films title. ------------- Heat and Dust (1983) Rated: R Running time: 2 hours, 13 minutes Playing: Laemmle Royal, West L.A.; Laemmle Town Center, Encino; Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com Viceroys House, which largely succeeds in its attempt to present a comprehensive, yet efficient look at the 1947 partitioning of the British Indian Empire, proves a far more absorbing and thematically rich experience than its history-lesson trappings might imply. That said, there are so many vital facets to this story, which is set during Britains transfer of power back to the people of India after more than 300 years of rule, it feels as if a limited TV series might have been more in order. Oh, wait, there already was one: 1984s acclaimed The Jewel in the Crown. So why go back to this particular well, beyond that the films release coincides with the 70th anniversary of the watershed event that divided India, created the new Muslim homeland of Pakistan and led to the largest mass migration in human history? Advertisement The driving force was British-Punjabi director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), who carries a deep personal connection to this turbulent period: As a result of the Partition, Chadhas grandmother fled what became the new republic of Pakistan for India with her children, suffering tremendous hardship en route including the death of her baby daughter. But this elegant, lushly mounted film, which involves classism, communal fighting, political machinations, and religious and cultural discord, still proves timely given such world events as the Syrian refugee crisis, the Brexit controversy and Pakistans ongoing anti-terror campaign. The movie follows Englands last Viceroy of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey), as he arrives in Delhi, along with wife Edwina (Gillian Anderson) and daughter Pamela (Lily Travers), to oversee the start of Indias postwar independence. The Mountbattens move into the palatial Viceroys House (exteriors were filmed at the real-life location, now home to the president of India), where a bit of Upstairs, Downstairs intrigue bubbles among the mansions 500 employees. Kudos to production designer Laurence Dorman for his vivid re-creation of the massive buildings extravagant interiors, shot at the five-star Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel in Jodhpur. But Lord Mountbatten soon finds that peace may elude Britains handoff of power to India due to the eruptions of violence between the nations minority Muslim population and its Hindu and Sikh majority. The long-gestating, highly controversial two-country solution (or Partition) looms as the most viable way to restore peace to a free India. But will it? How the conflicted Mountbatten supervised the inevitable partitioning, working with Indian leaders Jawaharlal Nehru (Tanveer Ghani), Mahatma Gandhi (an amazingly transformed Neeraj Kabi) and Muslim League head Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Denzil Smith) as well as with such British officials as Sir Cyril Radcliffe (Simon Callow) and retired Gen. Hastings Ismay (Michael Gambon), takes up a good part of this edifying drama. Woven into the accessible script by Chadha, her husband Paul Mayeda Berges, and Moira Buffini, based on the books Freedom at Midnight and The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of Partition, is a soapy if affecting (fictional) romance. It involves the relationship between Mountbattens personal valet, an earnest Hindu named Jeet (the winning Manish Dayal of The Hundred-Foot Journey), and Lady Pamelas beautiful Muslim translator, Aalia (Huma Qureshi), whose ailing father (Om Puri) wants her to marry Asif (Arunoday Singh), Jinnahs personal driver. Jeet and Aalias risky, clandestine love brings some valuable intimacy to bear, particularly during a powerful, 11th-hour revelation. Yet despite an effort to keep this and other more personal strands front and center, the films graver, bigger-picture political face-offs and maneuvers cant help but overshadow the proceedings. Evenhandedly re-creating a situation as fraught, explosive and multipronged as the Partition is no easy task and Chadha takes pains to avoid laying blame on any one individual group or side for the brutality of the era. In addition, according to Chadha, based on her and her collaborators best interpretation of events, she chose to present Mountbatten not as the deceitful figure some detractors may have thought, but rather as a man caught up unwittingly in a bigger political game, one in which, the film contends, Winston Churchill was a key manipulator. Still, although hes the films nominal main character, Mountbatten tends to get a bit lost in the shuffle. Bonnevilles performance, if strong and warmer than his fine portrayal of Downtons Earl of Grantham, doesnt quite square with the Viceroys reputed ability to charm a vulture off a corpse. Anderson, in a smaller but perhaps better tailored role, proves more memorable as the committed, egalitarian Edwina. As seen here, she was definitely the woman behind the man. ------------- Viceroys House Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes Playing: Laemmle Royal Theatre, West LA. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Movie Trailers calendar@latimes.com As international attention has shifted to the fight against Islamic State militants in eastern Syria, a little-noticed but bitter struggle continues on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. There, government forces are determined to reclaim one of the last remaining urban areas controlled by rebel factions committed to overthrowing President Bashar Assad. With a population of about 450,000, the area east of Damascus known as eastern Ghouta has been under siege by the Syrian army since 2013. Its story is not unlike that of east Aleppo, where rebels stubbornly held ground for years in Syrias second-largest city. The Aleppo siege ended in a government victory after a bruising offensive late last year. Advertisement Ghouta was the site of a chemical weapons attack in August 2013 that killed hundreds of people. The United States and allies blamed Assads government for the attack, and the government blamed the rebels. Rights groups and rebels have accused the government of continuing to target the area with chemical weapons in smaller-scale attacks since. Recent cease-fire agreements brokered by Russia the Syrian governments ally and various rebel groups have abated but not halted the fighting in the Damascus suburbs, and experts said its a matter of time before the last rebel-held pocket near the capital falls to government control. Sam Heller, a Syria expert and fellow with the Century Foundation, said bringing the east Damascus suburbs under control has been a major long-standing priority for the Syrian government. I think that there are a handful of sections of the country out of which it may be possible to exclude the regime or in which the regimes local authority will only be incomplete, Heller said, adding that those areas would probably be far from the capital, such as Dara in the southwest or the Kurdish areas of the northeast. But when it comes to these opposition-held internal pockets its very difficult to imagine any outcome other than complete regime victory. At most, he said, the government might permit some factions and local structures to be integrated, mostly intact, into the regime-led state. Syrian rebel fighters hold a position inside a tunnel in Ain Tarma, in the eastern Ghouta area, a rebel stronghold east of the capital, Damascus, on Aug. 16. (Amer Almohibany / AFP/Getty Images) The town of Jobar has been the site of much of the most intense fighting in the Damascus outskirts. Before the war, it was an unremarkable middle-class suburb. In the more distant past, it had been a center of Syrias now-departed Jewish population, with a centuries-old synagogue remaining as a reminder. The synagogue was destroyed in an airstrike in 2014, and many of the former residential and business districts have also been reduced to rubble. The area is strategically important to the rebels and the Syrian government because it serves as a link between the capital and suburbs to the east. In March, rebels launched a surprise assault on Damascus from the enclave, using car bombs, suicide attacks and a network of tunnels running under the area. The tunnels are also used to smuggle food and supplies into the siege area, providing profits for government-linked businesses and for rebel groups. In the latest round of fighting over the summer, the area has been pounded by so-called elephant rockets, improvised munitions known for their increased destructive power and inaccuracy. Even the shelters are no longer safe, said Maher Abu Alkhair, 27, a former engineering student turned media activist in Jobar, speaking over a social media voice app this month before a new cease-fire deal was enacted. The missiles and the reconnaissance aircraft dont leave the skies. We try to rest at night, but before I spoke to you about an hour ago, the rockets were falling on us, causing fires. During the recent bombing, many of Abu Alkhairs remaining neighbors loaded sleeping pads and blankets onto decrepit pickup trucks and bicycle-drawn carts amid the rubble in the streets and fled to nearby suburbs. Many headed to other areas in eastern Ghouta covered by a cease-fire brokered last month between Russia and some of the rebel factions, including the dominant Army of Islam group. During the cease-fire, United Nations officials said, aid convoys were able to bring food and supplies into some areas that had been unreachable for as long as five years. Injured Syrian children cry as they wait to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital in Jobar, Syria, on Aug. 5, after a reported government airstrike. (Ammar Suleiman / AFP/Getty Images) Jobar was not initially part of the cease-fire, but this month the Russian Defense Ministry and the main rebel group controlling the area, the Free Syrian Army-affiliated Rahman Corps, announced that the group had joined the deal. Russian officials said that under the deal, the rebels had agreed to help expel extremists from Islamic State and the group formerly known as Al Nusra Front, which had been affiliated with Al Qaeda. Experts said that as the United States has turned its attention to fighting Islamic State rather than displacing the Assad government, Russia is likely to remain the major international player in east Damascus. The U.S. interest is mainly the Islamic State at this point, said Aron Lund, another Syria expert with the Century Foundation. And this has nothing to do with the Islamic State, so thats that. Lund said the Syrian government sees Jobar in particular as a threat because of its proximity to the capital, which has been relatively sheltered from the violence unfolding elsewhere in the country in recent years. But Lund said its unclear how quickly the government will move to retake the rebel-held areas of east Damascus. They have to use a lot of troops to keep the siege in place, but as long as they do, they can kind of work that area on their own timeline, he said. After the latest cease-fire was announced, the rebels promptly accused government forces of breaking it, saying in a statement that Assads forces have been committing dozens of violations since the first hours of the agreement. But they also acknowledged that fighting had eased since the deal was signed. Abu Alkhair, the Jobar activist, said that the number of rockets falling on the area had abated but not stopped since the deal was put in place. So far, the displaced residents are not returning, he said. Estimates vary of how many people remain, but Siege Watch, an initiative of two humanitarian watchdog groups, put the number at just 225 people. No one is coming back to Jobar; you can count the people here on your fingers, Abu Alkhair said. One rocket can bring down a building. Sewell is a special correspondent. ALSO Depleted and on the run, Islamic State loses Tall Afar without much of a fight Lebanese town looks for relief after three tough years tied to Syrian civil war A small town in Italy was losing population. Now Syrian refugees are key to its survival Getty Images photographer Peter Macdiarmid literally followed in the footsteps of World War II combat photographers to re-shoot scenes in 2014 from D-day captured in their historical photographs. He wanted to match them as closely as possible to show the changes in 70 years. On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed along a stretch of French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy. Drag the slider to compare the images. HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 30: Flooding continues to be shown near downtown Houston following Hurricane Harvey August 29, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The city of Houston is still experiencing severe flooding in some areas due to the accumulation of historic levels of rainfall, though the storm has moved to the north and east. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD ** (Win McNamee / Getty Images) Left: U.S. troops on the Esplanade at Weymouth, England, on their way to board ships bound for Omaha Beach for the D-day landings in Normandy, June 1944. (Galerie Bilderwelt) Right: The same scene on April 5, 2014. (Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images) Left: German prisoners are gathered and an American flag is deployed for signaling on Omaha Beach, Normandy, in June 1944. (Galerie Bilderwelt) Right: The same scene on May 6, 2014. (Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images) Left: A French armored column passing through the French town of St. Mere Eglise during the Allied invasion of Normandy gets a warm welcome in June 1944. (Popperfoto) Right: The same scene on May 7, 2014. (Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images) Left: A group of U.S. soldiers stands at the village fountain in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, on June 12, 1944. (Galerie Bilderwelt) Right: The same scene on May 7, 2014. (Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images) Angels Flight, the historic funicular climbing Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, resumed operations Thursday for the first time since 2013. Freshly painted orange and black, the railways twin cars, Olivet and Sinai, glided smoothly up and down the tracks, coming within inches of each other as they shuttled passengers who were no doubt relieved to avoid the adjacent 153-step stairway as the sun beat down. At a news conference to mark the occasion, Mayor Eric Garcetti and other officials celebrated the reopened railway as an innovative public-private partnership, one more option in the citys efforts to provide multi-modal public transportation and continued progress toward the revitalization of downtown. Advertisement You can ride it up to the Broad, Garcetti said, referring to the contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue. You can ride it down to the Grand Central Market, where you can eat any kind of food in the world and you can explore this historic core that has really come alive. The reopening of the railway, which spans just under 300 feet, marks the completion of a promise Garcetti made to voters in March, shortly after actors Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling shared a kiss while riding the railway in the movie La La Land. At the time, Garcetti vowed to get Angels Flight running by Labor Day. He announced a partnership with the Angels Flight Railway Foundation, the private nonprofit that owns the funicular, and a group of engineering and transportation firms that agreed to pay for needed safety upgrades and the cost of maintaining the railway for three decades in exchange for a share of its revenue. First opened on New Years Eve in 1901 half a block north of its current location, Angels Flight once transported well-to-do Bunker Hill residents to jobs in downtown L.A. for a penny a ride. By the 1950s, it had carried more than 100 million passengers. But it closed in 1969 as Bunker Hills old housing came down to make way for skyscrapers. The twin rail cars sat neglected in a warehouse for decades until redevelopment authorities included funding for renovations in the California Plaza project. Angels Flight reopened at its new location in 1996. In 2001, Sinai broke loose near the top of the incline and plummeted down the track, striking Olivet. An 83-year-old tourist from New Jersey on vacation with his wife was killed and seven other people were injured. Investigators later concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems, combined with weak oversight, led to the crash. The railway was closed for nine years. Operations were halted again in 2011 and Angels Flight was shut down altogether after a derailment in 2013. We have rebuilt this railway in a way that will be safe for passengers, safe for our city and that will help promote a great Los Angeles, Garcetti said Thursday. A crowd of about 50 gathered for the reopening. One person fainted during the event but was later seen sitting up talking, and was taken away in an ambulance. Mathew Krogen, 22, had brought his friends Bobby Crissy and Kristine Smith to ride the funicular, which costs $1 for a one-way fare, or 50 cents if riders use their Metro TAP card. Krogen, who lives downtown, said he had wanted to ride it since first moving to L.A. four years ago. Its pride, Krogen said of his emotions Thursday. A lot of people think Angelenos dont care about our history, but thats not true. Smith said her 4-year-old son had described the train earlier in the morning as the train that says, I think I can, I think I can. And it really is that train. Damien Blackshaw, a native Londoner who has lived in L.A. for 10 years, operates a tour company called the Real Los Angeles Tours, which provides visitors guided tours on foot, by bike and by Metro. He said he plans to incorporate rides on Angels Flight into future tours. This is perfect because its history and its an experience, Blackshaw said. He also said the renovation, along with other recent changes downtown, could change how foreigners think of L.A. and expand tourism. The brand of L.A. is beaches, Beverly Hills, celebrities, Blackshaw said. Its a real shame because theres so much more to L.A. nina.agrawal@latimes.com Twitter: @AgrawalNina Two Bakersfield police officers were shot and a suspect was killed late Wednesday when the officers responded to a report of a man with gun, authorities said. Authorities received the call about 9:18 p.m. from a home in the 600 block of Pacheco Road, according to Sgt. Ryan Kroeker, spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department. Sounds of a disturbance could be heard in the background, he said in a statement. About 14 minutes later, the officers arrived and reported that they had contacted the suspect, the sergeant said. Advertisement A short time later, officers reported that an officer-involved shooting had occurred, and the suspect and officers had been struck by gunfire, Kroeker said. The suspect, whose identity was not immediately known, was pronounced dead. The officers were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive, he said. During the investigation, Kroeker said, police recovered a firearm. After the officers are released from the hospital, he said, they will be placed on routine administrative leave. The shooting in Bakersfield comes hours after a sheriffs deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were shot during a gun battle at a hotel in Sacramento. In that incident, authorities were following up on a stolen vehicle investigation and went to a Ramada Inn in Sacramento, where they encountered a suspect. Sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Tony Turnbull said the man fired through the hotel room door and walls, striking the two CHP officers. The suspect, armed with a high-powered rifle, then went to the balcony, he said, and exchanged gunfire with deputies standing outside the hotel. During the gun battle, authorities said, the deputy was shot in his side and the bullet entered his chest cavity. The deputy, later identified as Robert Bob French, died on the way to the hospital. The suspect eventually climbed off the balcony, hopped into a vehicle and led police on a pursuit, Turnbull said. After driving through several neighborhoods, he crashed the vehicle near Watt Avenue and another exchange of gunfire with deputies ensued, the sergeant said. The man was shot, taken into custody and later hospitalized. The CHP officers, whose identities have not been released, were also hospitalized and were expected to recover. veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA ALSO Teenager dangles by her legs from freeway overpass sign in San Diego County Georgia officer investigated after hes caught on video saying we only kill black people Man suspected of evading Metro fare is killed by train while trying to flee police UC Berkeley isnt the only California academic institution bracing for a torrent of controversy when former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos comes to campus this fall. Cal State Fullertons chapter of the College Republicans is finalizing plans to host the conservative lightning rod at a Halloween speaking engagement. At this point, its pretty much a done deal. Were just formalizing it, said senior Christopher Boyle, the groups president emeritus. Advertisement Its really just the fine details things like how the room will be set up thats holding it back, he said. Boyle said the organization, which he restarted last year and now has 40 members, first reached out to Yiannopoulos manager in June. The Halloween appearance is being opposed by another group of students, who say Yiannopoulos is a purveyor of hate speech. They have started a change.org petition in opposition to the event. It has gained nearly 3,800 supporters. We call on admin to block any attempts to bring these hateful leaders to campus. Hate speech to incite violence and threaten the lives of students is not the same as free speech of diverse opinions, the petition from the Students for Quality Education reads. Yiannopoulos is currently arranging a number of cross-country speaking engagements that he calls his Troll Academy tour. He would not say for certain whether Fullerton was on the list. In a text to a Los Angeles Times reporter, he said Naturally, Ill be visiting a lot of colleges in California. Its the craziest state of all. We will be announcing our tour dates soon. The 32-year-old previously worked as the Tech Editor of Breitbart News and has sought out controversy at every turn of his career. An early supporter of Trump, he lambastes political correctness and last year was banned from Twitter for harassing Ghostbusters and Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones. Then in February, he resigned from Breitbart after video was released showing him making comments that were interpreted as being supportive of pedophilia. Around the same time, the town of Berkeley descended into violence as protesters took to the street to stop a planned Yiannopoulos event on campus. That speech was canceled, but he will be returning to the liberal enclave late in September. Already, his upcoming speech is drawing ire from local leaders who fear a repeat of what occurred in February and last weekend. Berkeley police estimated that more than 4,000 people attended what were mostly peaceful displays of opposition to Trumps agenda on Sunday. Still, by days end, 13 people had been arrested, one on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and three on battery charges. A spokesman for Cal State Fullerton said that Yiannopoulos speaking on campus hadnt been confirmed, but if it is, we will engage in appropriate planning in these weeks before the event. The value of free speech notwithstanding, the law is clear. Hate-speech codes that have been enacted by some colleges and universities have been declared unconstitutional when challenged in court. While many on campus and in the broader community may find Mr. Yiannopoulos remarks distasteful, if not wholly objectionable, even hateful speech is protected speech, said Fullerton spokesman Jeffrey Cook. Cook said the appearance would be a closed, ticketed event. Mr. Yiannopoulos is a controversial figure, but the University administration does not play a role in determining which speakers student groups may invite to campus, he said. Boyle, of the campus Republicans, suggested that the groups decision to invite Yiannopoulos was not a blanket endorsement of his views. Boyle said he and others were taken aback by Yiannopoulos comments about men having sex with teenage boys. Those comments did give us pause. I found them very offensive as a Catholic who has had to grapple with the failings of the church, Boyle said. People who are self admitted provocateurs are going to cross the line occasionally. Its good that he apologized and attempted to do penance. benjamin.oreskes@latimes.com @boreskes A high school classmate turned personal attorney of Robert Durst said Wednesday that the New York real estate mogul hadnt seemed concerned years earlier when hed called him to say his wife had disappeared. Stewart Altman testified during a Los Angeles court hearing that his friends demeanor on the phone seemed strange, but said he did not suspect that Durst had killed his wife. Altman testified that he recalled getting a phone call from Durst in 1982 saying that his wife had gone missing. The witness said he did not offer to call the police or call around to hospitals, because he didnt think it would help. Advertisement Because you knew she was dead? the prosecutor shot back. No, Altman said, drawing out his denial for emphasis. Did he sound concerned? the prosecutor asked of Dursts phone call. No, Altman responded. Did that seem strange to you? Yes. Durst has lived under suspicion since his wife, Kathleen, disappeared in 1982. Prosecutors contend that Durst killed her. But it is because of the 2000 slaying of his confidante Susan Berman that Durst now awaits trial in Los Angeles on a first-degree murder charge. Prosecutors argue that the killing was meant to silence Berman for what she knew about Kathleen Dursts disappearance. The 74-year-old millionaire has pleaded not guilty and told a judge he did not kill Berman. The sensational case is not scheduled to go to trial until at least 2018. In the meantime, a judge has allowed prosecutors and defense attorneys to question Altman and his wife, Emily, as well as other elderly witnesses to preserve their testimony. At one point, a prosecutor displayed a photocopy of an anonymous note sent to police around the time of Bermans death alerting them to a cadaver inside her home. It read: 1527 BENEDICT CANYON CADAVER. Asked if the handwriting looked like Dursts, the witness said, Its possible. When a prosecutor pressed the question, Stewart Altman said it looked similar to Dursts handwriting. His testimony mirrored that of Emily Altman, who testified at a hearing last month that the handwriting looked like that of Durst. During Wednesdays hearing, Stewart Altman testified that Durst is an intelligent, witty person, who struggles to relate to others and show emotion. Durst listened to the exchange through voice-amplifaction earphones and stared expressionless, occasionally cleaning his fingernails. Have you known Bob to lie when its to his advantage? the prosecutor asked. Yes, Stewart Altman said, noting that overall he considers Durst an honest person. The prosecutions decision to compel testimony from Stewart Altman who went to high school with Durst in Scarsdale, N.Y., and represented him in various legal battles over the years has led to contentious courtroom clashes. Dursts attorneys said it was a blatant violation of attorney-client privilege. But prosecutors argued that Stewart Altmans knowledge of many events was learned as Dursts friend, not as his attorney. The judge ruled that Stewart Altman must testify, but that his attorneys could object to specific questions. On the stand, Stewart Altman, 74, sometimes expressed reservations about answering the prosecutors questions, at one point looking to the judge and saying, Is he asking me about whats in my legal file? I think he is. He also acknowledged that he weighed his responses to questions, mindful of their influence in determining Dursts guilt or innocence. During testimony Tuesday, the judge referred to him as a hostile witness, clarifying that the term didnt imply any ill will, but rather that the witness is associated with the defendant. While tensions between veteran prosecutors and Dursts high-powered legal defense team have been on display at most hearings, the strain burst into an argument Wednesday. The attorneys could be heard yelling in the hallway during a break. Later during the hearing, the judge reminded everyone in the courtroom to be mindful of decorum. Stewart Altman is expected to be on the stand again Thursday. marisa.gerber@latimes.com For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber ALSO Sheriffs deputy is killed and two CHP officers are wounded in shooting in Sacramento L.A. City Council replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day on city calendar In one year, head of small school district in Lawndale made $663,000. Now hes facing a dozen public corruption charges Two undercover California Highway Patrol officers who were shot Wednesday during a deadly gun battle with an armed suspect are recovering from their wounds, officials said. The officers, whose names were not released, were assisting with a stolen vehicle investigation when they were struck by gunfire, according to the CHP. Deputy Robert Bob French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriffs Department, was also shot and died on the way to the hospital. One of the officers was shot in his shoulder and released Tuesday night from a hospital. The other officer was struck in his hand and wrist, the CHP said. He underwent surgery Thursday morning and is recovering. Advertisement Meanwhile, the investigation into the deadly shooting continued Thursday. The Sheriffs Department identified the suspect, who was also shot by officers, as Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, a 32-year-old Castro Valley resident. Littlecloud initially wasnt the focus of Wednesdays stolen vehicle investigation, which started just after 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard. Members of a Sacramento County auto theft task force were monitoring the hotel after they found a stolen vehicle in the parking lot, sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Tony Turnbull said. They saw two women enter the vehicle and drive off, Turnbull said. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the women led authorities on a pursuit that ended in Elk Grove, about 16 miles south of Sacramento. Officers arrested Priscilla Prendez, 23, of Oakland and released the other woman, Turnbull said. Prendez was booked on suspicion of vehicle theft and felony evasion, authorities said. Authorities discovered Prendez was on probation and had been staying at the hotel, Turnbull said, so officers returned to the hotel to search the room. When officers arrived, he said, they knocked on the door and announced themselves. Thats when multiple shots were fired through hotel room door and walls, striking the CHP officers. As sheriffs deputies surrounded the hotel, Turnbull said, Littlecloud, armed with a high-powered assault rifle, tried to escape from the balcony. He engaged the deputies in gunfire, striking Deputy French during his attempt to flee, Turnbull said in a statement. French, 52, was shot in his side, and the bullet entered his chest cavity, authorities said. Littlecloud then climbed off the balcony, jumped into a vehicle and led police on a pursuit that ended in a crash and an exchange of gunfire, authorities said. He was shot and taken into custody, Turnbull said. Littlecloud remained hospitalized Thursday with life-threatening injuries, the sergeant said. The Sheriffs Departments Homicide Bureau and Professional Standards Division, along with the Sacramento County district attorneys office and the countys Office of Inspector General, are investigating. Six deputies involved in the shooting will be placed on leave during the investigation. veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA A federal appeals court on Thursday denied former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanakas bid for a new trial, rejecting claims by the controversial leader that his conviction on obstruction of justice charges was unjust. A panel of three judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tanakas conviction. Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison after jurors found he had spearheaded a plan inside the Sheriffs Department to interfere with an FBI investigation into inmate abuse by deputies in county jails. In their appeal, attorneys for Tanaka argued that government prosecutors had unfairly tainted jurors minds when Tanaka took the stand in his own defense. In particular, they objected to how a prosecutor grilled Tanaka about his past involvement in the Vikings, a clique of deputies known for violence and overly aggressive policing. They contested as well the prosecutors closing argument, which began with a reference to Tanakas membership in a deputy gang. Advertisement The panel of judges rejected Tanakas argument that U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson should have forbidden any mention of the Vikings. Tanaka, they said, opened the door to the questions after claiming on the stand he was an ethical and law-abiding leader. And while they said the prosecutor was wrong to mention the Vikings in his closing argument, the error did not prevent Tanaka from receiving a fair trial. The appeals court denied other claims from Tanaka stemming from the instructions Anderson gave the jury before it began deliberating and testimony about past abuses in county jails. joel.rubin@latimes.com Follow @joelrubin on Twitter O.J. Barnes rose at 6:30 a.m. to reach the only Home Depot that had reopened in the Lakewood area of East Houston, where he grabbed as much wallboard, lumber, bleach and other supplies as he could. A landlord, Barnes owns two houses on Richland Drive and had not seen them since Hurricane Harvey struck last week. He wasnt counting on help from federal or state emergency managers, who werent in the neighborhood Wednesday. Other storms had taught him to act fast. Its a mad dash, he said. Now its about safety getting the mold out. Then its about cleanup and rebuilding. Advertisement He was hoping to help one of his tenants, a mother with three children, return home from the massive shelter at the downtown convention center, where more than 10,000 displaced people had sought refuge. If we all pull together, well lose a little together. But well save everyone from losing a lot, he said before driving down the street with his pickup truck full of supplies. Though vast portions of Houston remained inaccessible, water had receded in some areas, like this stretch of Richland Drive, and residents raced to remove valuables and debris before mold, pests and possibly looters spread. Neighbors returned from the downtown shelter for the first time after wading out of Richland Drive in chest-high floodwater to find the water had risen several more feet inside their homes. It had broken doors, buckled floors, soaked carpets. Walls and ceilings crumbled into musty heaps. Juan Figueroa, 30, an electrician, cleaned and removed some supplies from the home of his 71-year-old mother, who had evacuated. The power never went out, he said, and the food in her refrigerator had not spoiled, although the furniture was ruined by muddy water. A few doors down, Erica Barrahona, 24, a special education provider, was also trying to save what she could. She and boyfriend Javier Calvillo, 32, a pipeline worker, had lost three cars to the flood, plus their furniture and most of their valuables as water rose several feet in their rented house. Barrahona worried about her 5-year-old daughter, Allison, who suffers from seizures. An east Houston landlord strips a house of drenched carpet as many people return home to begin rebuilding from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Its very hard when you lose everything and you have children, she said in Spanish, and started to cry as she stood in the middle of her muddy kitchen. We need lots of help. Their landlord arrived in rain boots and started ripping out soggy flooring. Calvillos brother helped. Calvillo salvaged his work uniform, furniture, dishes and some electronics. But what he really needed was a car to get to his job. Friends offered help, he said, but they dont have cars. Theyre broke. Were all broke now, said his brother, Guillermo Calvillo, 23, a forklift operator who lost his prized possession in the flood: a 2008 Ford F-150 King Ranch pickup truck he had already paid off. No one on Richland Drive had seen any bodies. But a few streets away, police and sheriffs divers were recovering a van from Greens Bayou in which six members of a family, including several children, had been swept away and drowned. Juanita Posada said one of the familys relatives at the convention center shelter told her the family was trying to reach a relatives house. The water just took them, she said. Posada, 39, is a home-care provider, and her 82-year-old grandmother was still at the convention center, relying on shelter staffers to provide her dialysis treatments. Posada had watched her own home flood before fleeing through high water. Still, she was offering to assist the woman who had lost her relatives. Its probably not going to be a lot, but anything can help, she said. Outside on her patio, Posadas brother, whose home east of the city had not flooded, held court in a Houston Astros jersey, making dinner for her and some neighbors on a makeshift grill. For a while, the stench of decay was overwhelmed by the mouthwatering scent of tacos al pastor. molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com Twitter: @mollyhf ALSO Harvey has knocked out a significant portion of the nations oil-refining capacity A true testament to a mothers will saving her daughter, but not herself, from Harveys floods Were at Gods mercy: Texas coast doused with new assault from Tropical Storm Harvey The womans body, slight and petite, was revealed as floodwaters receded, washed up against the green metal fence surrounding her apartment complex. Neighbors knew exactly who she was: Keisha Williams, a 32-year-old licensed vocational nurse and single mother of two girls. They had watched her drown in angry floodwaters as they frantically called 911. For the record: This article misspells the subjects name. It is Keisha Williams, not Kiesha. She was a licensed vocational nurse, not a nursing assistant. One of her two daughters, Kinaya, is 10, not 11. Advertisement Now, they wondered how many more victims remained entombed in flooded apartments. So far, Hurricane Harvey has claimed at least 31 lives. But the death toll is expected to rise this week as flooding subsides and people return home and search for the missing, making the same sorts of grim discoveries as people did in neighboring Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, a dozen years ago. Houston officials embarked on the house-to-house search Thursday in areas where floodwaters rose 3 feet or more. That could eventually include the Woodforest Chase apartment complex in the eastern neighborhood of Northshore. As they searched, the storm was still causing havoc. On Houstons northern outskirts, a fire at a chemical plant rattled nerves when it spewed a plume that was deemed noxious, but not dangerously toxic. A major hospital in Beaumont, 90 miles east, had to shut down after the towns water supply failed. But the recovery of the dead was a quieter affair: sorrowful, slow, infused with dread of what still remained to be discovered. 1 / 87 Samir Novruzov wades through water to get to a vehicle after spending the day clearing out his flooded home in Katy, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 87 Melissa Teague, right, instructs her children Andrew and Emily as they clear out their flooded home in Katy, Texas, on Monday. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 87 People ride through floodwaters in Katy, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 87 People hop off Chris Ginters truck as he helps ferry residents around Katy, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 87 Two men collect a disposed mattress as residents in the Trinity/Houston Garden area of northeast Houston gut their flooded homes. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 87 Wayne Christopher, center, weeps as his wife, Helen, looks on during a Sunday service at First United Methodist Church in Dickinson, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 87 Hurricane Harvey severely damaged the First Baptist Church in Rockport, Texas. Worshipers on Sunday brought their own chairs to take part in an outdoor service. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 87 Ken Garrett, right, hugs Pastor Jordan Mims after they both delivered prayers on the grounds of the First Baptist Church in Rockport, Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 87 University of Houston law professor Johnny Buckles props up an American flag on the debris pile from his flood-damaged home in the Kingwood area of north Houston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 87 Jose Esquivel flags down motorists to visit a parking lot full of donated clothes, supples, water and brisket in Refugio, Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 87 Despite heavy damage and no electricity, a homeowner displays his patriotism while clean up and recovery efforts continue in his devastated neighborhood of Rockport. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 87 Volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, Yusuf Seager, from left, Rahib Ahmed, Rahman Nasir, and Khalil Nasir help tear out drywall damaged by floodwater in the Westbury neighborhood in Houston. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 87 Volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association help residents of the Westbury neighborhood in Houston clear debris from their homes. It is also the Islamic holiday of Eid-ul-Adha. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 87 Many roads and Interstates in Texas remain flooded, including this one in west Houston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 87 Jenna Fountain and her father Kevin carry a bucket down Regency Drive to try to recover items from their flooded home in Port Arthur, Texas on Thursday. (Emily Kask / AFP / Getty Images) 16 / 87 Lillie Roberts talks with family members as contractor Jerry Garza begins the process of repairing her Houston home on Friday. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 17 / 87 Volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association to perform holy prayer as they help local residents in the Kashmere Gardens area of Houston clean out their flooded homes. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 87 Volunteers assist Cornell Beasley with repairs to his damaged home in Houston on Friday. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 19 / 87 Katie Estridge organizes hundreds of soaked family photographs on the front lawn of her fathers home in northeast Houston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 87 Wes Higgins wipes sweat from his face after spending five days patrolling flooded Houston neighborhoods in his boat. Higgins, from Knott, Texas, organized a volunteer team of 10 boats to help Houston residents. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 87 Members of the California Air National Guard 129th Rescue Wing, Senior Airman George McKenzie, left, and Master Sgt. Adam Vanhaaster, right, help a man carry his infant, who has a serious medical condition, to a hospital in Orange, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 87 A search-and-rescue crew speeds along Maple Rock Drive in west Houston looking for flood victims. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 87 A woman and a child are among those rescued by California Air National Guardsmen in Lumberton, north of Beaumont. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 87 California Air National Guard 129th Rescue Wings Master Sgt. Adam Vanhaaster searches for people in need of help near Lumberton. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 87 A man prepares his dinner at home near Lumberton. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 87 Boys sit on a damaged railroad track near Lumberton. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 87 A woman waves to a California Air National Guard helicopter from her neighborhood near Lumberton. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 87 A drop-off point for boat rescues in Lumberton. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 87 Baseball fields in Lumberton are inundated. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 87 Coca-Cola delivery trucks are trapped by floodwater in Lumberton, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 87 A military search and rescue helicopter refuels mid-flight before resuming nighttime missions over areas flooded in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 87 Houston police search a flooded home after hearing that an elderly couple lived there. The house was empty. Police later learned the couple had safely evacuated. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 87 West Houston resident Pedro Albiso uses trash bags to protect his shoes and pants as he prepares to cross a flooded street. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 87 Patients are evacuated from Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas after the city of Beaumont lost its water supply. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 87 Fatima Flores, 12, gets her hair done by cousins Shelly Flores, 7, left, and Ashley Flores, 7, as their family takes shelter at Max Bowl, a bowling alley in Port Arthur, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 87 James Benoit, left, and George Clipton sought refuge at Max Bowl in Port Arthur, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 87 June Ayrow spent the night with his oxygen tanks underneath a table at Max Bowl in Port Arthur, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 87 Floodwaters surround homes Thursday in Port Arthur, Texas. (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press) 39 / 87 Volunteers rescue patients from the Cypress Glen nursing home where floodwaters trapped dozens of elderly patients in Port Arthur, Texas on Wednesday. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 87 Residents lie on sofas as they wait to be evacuated from the Cypress Glen senior care facility in Port Arthur, Texas, which was inundated with floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday. (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 87 Emergency crews help rescue elderly residents from the Golden Years Assisted Living home in Orange, Texas, on Wednesday. (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press) 42 / 87 Rescuer workers help a woman from her flooded home n Port Arthur, Texas. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 43 / 87 Evacuees ride on a truck after they were driven from their homes by the flooding in Port Arthur, Texas. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 44 / 87 People wait in line to buy groceries at a Food Town during the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 45 / 87 Juan Figueroa removes damaged furniture from his mothers northeast Houston home where residents begin rebuilding from the devastating effects of the storm. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 87 Rafael Minor, left, and Miguel Ramirez remove the contents from a flooded home in northeast Houston on Wednesday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 87 A construction crew cleans out a home that was flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer / Associated Press) 48 / 87 A flooded residential neighborhood near Interstate 10 in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 87 A flooded residential neighborhood near Interstate 10 in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 87 People come out to view the flooded areas near their homes in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 87 CaroLine Kirkpatrick of Salt Lake City, Utah, is evacuated from the Omni Hotel by rescue worker Adam Caballero in Addicks, a suburb of Houston, Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 87 People displaced by flooding fill the shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. (LM Otero / Associated Press) 53 / 87 Mark Ocosta and his baby, Aubrey, take shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 54 / 87 Frantzy Thenor receives an embrace from a fellow evacuee after he helped her leave from the flooded Omni Hotel, in the Addicks area of Houston, Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 87 Storm clouds over Houston skyline. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 87 Recreational vehicles sit on their sides in flood water in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 87 A woman carries a dog above the rising floodwaters near Addicks Reservoir. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 87 Eduardo Retiz, 21, drives his elevated pickup truck through a flooded street near Addicks Reservoir. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 87 Mike Hoskovec, left, walks to a boat after helping friend Ben Berg, behind, move some photo albums to the second floor of his Nottingham Woods home. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 60 / 87 Matthew Koser looks for important papers and heirlooms inside his grandfathers house after it was flooded by heavy rains. (Erich Schlegel / Getty Images) 61 / 87 Residents wade through floodwaters as they evacuate their homes near the Addicks Reservoir Tuesday. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press) 62 / 87 Larry Koser Jr., left and his son Matthew look for important papers and heirlooms inside Larry Koser Sr.'s house after it was flooded by heavy rains. (Erich Schlegel / Getty Images) 63 / 87 Portions of Interstate 10 remain flooded in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 64 / 87 Rising flood waters stranded hundreds of residents of Twin Oaks Village in Clodine. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 65 / 87 Comfort Morgan is helped to dry land after being rescued from her flooded home in Twin Oaks Village in Clodine. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 87 Rising flood waters stranded hundreds of residents of Twin Oaks Village in Clodine, where a collection of small boat owners, including some with pool toys, coordinated to bring most to dry ground. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 87 Rising flood waters stranded hundreds of residents of Twin Oaks Village in Clodine, where an collection of small boat owners coordinated to bring most to dry ground. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 87 Hundreds of residents of Twin Oaks Village are evacuated in Clodine Monday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 87 Residents are stranded at Twin Oaks Village in Clodine due to rising flood water. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 87 Stranded residents of Twin Oaks Village in Clodine are evacuated from the rising flood water. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 87 Jan Tullos, 32, searches a flooded home for an injured woman who was reportedly stranded inside in Clodine, Texas. The home was empty. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 87 People walk down a flooded Houston street as they evacuate their homes after the area was inundated with rains from Tropical Storm Harvey. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 73 / 87 Dean Mize holds children as he and Jason Legnon use an airboat to rescue people from flooded homes in Houston on Monday. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 74 / 87 Dean Mize, left and Jason Legnon carry a person to an airboat as they rescue people in Houston. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 75 / 87 Evacuees walk down a flooded street after leaaving their homes Monday in Houston. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 76 / 87 Dean Mize holds a child as he helps evacuate people in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to drench southeastern Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains and surging floodwaters. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 77 / 87 People evacuate their flooded homes on Monday in Houston. By Monday morning, 911 operators had received 56,000 calls, city officials said. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 78 / 87 Adults use a kiddie pool to transport children as they evacuate on Monday. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 79 / 87 People catch a ride on a construction vehicle down a flooded Houston street. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 80 / 87 Alexendre Jorge evacuates Ethan Colman, 4, from a Houston neighborhood inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey. (Charlie Riedel / AP) 81 / 87 People push a stalled pickup to through a flooded street in Houston on Sunday, as Tropical Storm Harvey dumped heavy rains. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press) 82 / 87 A Houston police officer helps Frank Andrews, 74, into his walking chair after rescuing him from his flooded home in the Braeswood Place neighborhood, southwest of Houston, on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 83 / 87 Wilford Martinez, right, is rescued from his flooded car by Harris County Sheriffs Department Richard Wagner along Interstate 610 in Houston, Texas. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press) 84 / 87 Daniel Gross, 15, is rescued by Houston police after he was stranded on top of his car in southwest Houston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 85 / 87 Andrew White, left, helps a neighbor down a street after rescuing her from her home in his boat in the upscale River Oaks neighborhood after it was inundated with flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 86 / 87 Volunteers and officers from the neighborhood security patrol help rescue residents in Houstons River Oaks neighborhood Sunday. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) 87 / 87 Jesus Nunez carries his daughter Genesis, 6, as he and numerous family members flee their flooded home, walking nearly four hours to the safety of a relatives house on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) The boxy tan stucco complex of Woodforest Chase faces Greens Bayou, an unruly, brush-choked river that overflowed during the worst of the storm last weekend, sweeping families from their homes. Farther north, the same bayou swept away a van containing a family of six. The vehicle was retrieved Wednesday. At Woodforest Chase, those who could fled to the complexs rooftops as the waters rose. From there, they shouted for help and watched helplessly in horror as neighbors drowned. One resident who had taken refuge on a roof, Roshanda Harris, said she saw five bodies float away, including those of three children. Derrick Vance, 29, said he saw half a dozen people die. He descended from the roof at one point to help families next door. But he couldnt reach Williams and others stranded across the complex. The parking lot between them had become a roaring river. Most people that died was on that side. There might be some people still in their apartments, he said Wednesday, pointing to the area where Williams body was found. A team from the local medical examiners office removed Williams body from the complex fence Wednesday, and relatives broke the news to her daughters that their mother had died. Neighbors said they couldnt be sure how many had fled before floodwaters rose nearly to the roofs. The storm peeled open apartment doors, windows and whole walls, washing the contents through the surrounding fence. There, they became mired like flotsam on the beach, with the same briny stench. Shaky cellphone video posted online (warning: the audio content is disturbing) showed figures clinging to a tree in the parking lot as brown water rushed around them, ripping one womans clothes off and threatening to tear her away as the other figure clung to her underwear. Pull her up! She under water! shouted a woman filming from across the complex. Pull her head up! yelled a girl. A man can be heard on his phone nearby calling 911. Tell them she going underwater and she cant breathe, the woman said. We need someone out here now, weve got people drowning, the man told an operator. Suddenly, the woman filming screamed. Shes gone they let her go, she said. Noting others had already drowned, she added, Thats not the first person. A cousin, Daquan Green, said he recognized Williams in the video. He also recognized a friend in a pink jacket, who had accompanied her back to the apartments, and was the one who tried to save her. The friend survived, he said. Williams could not swim, according to Green, 21, who was at her apartment Wednesday with relatives. Williams had graduated from Houstons Furr High School and worked at a local hospital while studying to become a licensed vocational nurse, virtually living in her scrubs, Green said. The single mother rented her own apartment, bought a blue Chevy Malibu sedan and had just received her license before Harvey hit, he said. When the storm started, Green said, Williams left daughters Kiaja Williams, 13, and Kinaya Williams, 10, with her aunt and returned to the complex to save her dogs, pit bulls Tiger and Doughboy. They lived. She never made it to them, Green said. Saturday would have been her 33rd birthday. Los Angeles Times staff photographer Robert Gauthier talks about the small moments of humanity in the midst of Harvey. The search Thursday morning began at the Meyerland Plaza mall, where Houston Fire Capt. Mike Robertson and his team of firefighters joined police and search-and-rescue staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They boarded buses into the heart of the Meyerland neighborhood, and set out with GPS trackers. Their quarry, those who didnt make it out, and also any evidence of broken gas lines that could start a fire. Homes would not be marked on the door with Xs, the notorious Katrina Cross search codes spray-painted by FEMA crews across the front of stricken houses after that deadly storm. It alerts the wrong people that no one is there, said Sheldra Brigham, a Fire Department spokeswoman, explaining that the Xs could attract looters or squatters. Instead, the search crews will use the GPS trackers to record and map what they find. Workers were already stripping soaked carpet and drywall from the 1960s-era brick ranch houses. Skip those houses, Robertson told the crew it was clear the owners were around and responding to the disaster. The houses they worried about were the quiet ones, especially those boarded up with the lights still on, or houses where dogs could be heard barking inside when they knocked on the door. Homeowners dusty from repairs popped out of front doors to aid the half a dozen firefighters, telling them which neighbors had evacuated to the downtown convention center, stayed with family or left on an errand. Firefighter Adam Hairston later paused at a house where he could hear cats inside, meowing. An SUV was parked in the driveway. Thats just suspicious. Who leaves their car behind? said Hairston, who postponed his birthday vacation to join the storm response. Somebodys in there, probably scared to come to the door. But searchers had to move on. They would only enter a home during the search if they knew a body was there, and then only with Houston police by their side, Fire District Chief Chris Chavez said. After walking about a mile and a half, their first grid search was complete. By days end, they had checked about 320 homes. No one trapped, no dead, no injured so far. molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com Twitter: @mollyhf ALSO Texas rescue workers, emergency officials and residents cope with floodwaters left by Harvey How a Texas bowling alley became a beacon of hope after Harveys deluge Braving mud, debris and dread, Houston residents venture home to see what Harvey left behind Harvey is likely to be the second-most costly natural disaster in U.S. history UPDATES: 8:45 p.m.: This article was updated with a final tally for the day of about 320 homes checked by a team of city and federal officials. 7:30 p.m.: This article was updated with details of Thursday mornings search. 4:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on victims and the search process. 12:25 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Sheldra Brigham of the Houston Fire Department. This article was originally published at 4 a.m. Since coming ashore last Friday, Hurricane Harvey has unleashed a wave of mayhem, death and destruction, setting and breaking records for rainfall, rescues and recovery. Heres some of what we know by the numbers. More than 20 The death toll, as of Wednesday. It includes Sgt. Steve Perez, 60, a 34-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, who drowned in his car on the way to work. Emergency officials said the number of dead was expected to rise. A Houston Police Department officer helps Frank Andrews, 74, into his walking chair after rescuing him from his flooded home in the Braeswood Place neighborhood southwest of Houston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8,500 The number of rescues the Texas National Guard has made so far in the Houston area, according to the Texas governors office. At least 4,200 people have been saved by the U.S. Coast Guard, and urban rescue teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have saved at least 2,500. Thousands more people have been saved by other entities, including the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriffs Department and private citizens. 51.12 The inch-count of water recorded Tuesday in the Mont Belvieu suburb east of Houston since Harveys arrival last Friday. The measurement breaks the highest previous record of 48 inches for a single storm on the U.S. mainland, from Tropical Storm Amelia in Medina, Texas, in 1978. Motor homes are left strewn about the Driftwood RV Park the day after Hurricane Harvey struck Rockport, Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 28,000 The area in square miles that Harvey had flooded by Monday in the Houston area, according to early estimates by Brad Kieserman, vice president of disaster services operations and logistics for the American Red Cross . That's the size of Lake Michigan, Kieserman said. 32,000 The estimated number of people displaced from their homes and taking refuge in temporary shelters as of early Wednesday, according to Texas state and emergency officials. Red Cross officials said they expected that number could swell. A woman sorts through clothing donated for those who have taken shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston because of Hurricane Harvey. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times) (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times) 56,000 The number of calls for help Houston 911 operators had received by Monday morning. Many more are likely to have come in since then. 450,000 The number of people likely to seek federal disaster assistance, according to FEMA. Tens of billions Some of the estimates, in dollars, of Harveys potential price-tag, including insurance payouts for destroyed property, economic losses and infrastructure repair. Some analysts predict the cost of the storm could surpass $100 billion. Special correspondent Jenny Jarvie and Los Angeles Times staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this report from Houston. Responding to a Russian government demand to drastically slash American diplomatic staff in Russia, the Trump administration on Thursday ordered Moscow to close three of its consular offices in the United States. Russia will be required to close its consulate general in San Francisco, the chancery annex in Washington and the consular annex in New York, the State Department announced. The deadline is Saturday. A senior administration official would not say how many Russian staffers were affected but noted they will not be required to leave the country. The official also did not say whether the Russian missions employ any Americans. Advertisement The move was the latest tit for tat in worsening relations between Washington and Moscow despite President Trumps expressions of friendliness toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. Angered over a package of congressionally mandated economic sanctions, Russia had ordered the U.S. to cut its staff in Russia by about two-thirds, to 455. The administration official would not give an exact figure of how many staffers left Russia, or say how many of those cut were Americans, who will be transferred, or Russians, who will most likely be fired. Trump did not comment immediately on the punitive actions. He had said he should thank Putin for helping to trim the federal payroll. He later insisted he was being sarcastic. As a result of the weeks actions, both nations will have a similar diplomatic footprint each with an embassy and three consulates what the Russians had called parity. The Russian government will have a few additional annexes that it will be allowed to continue to operate. The two annexes that were ordered closed housed trade missions. The consulate general in San Francisco, a grand, butterscotch-colored building in the elegant Pacific Heights neighborhood, was the oldest and most established of Russian diplomatic missions in the U.S., part of the reason it was chosen, the official said. The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with administration practice. Russia also operates consulates in Seattle, Houston and New York. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier Thursday to notify him that the U.S. staff had met Russias Friday deadline for downsizing and to inform him of the new U.S.-mandated closures. Despite the tension, the two agreed to meet again in September at the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The drastic cut in its staff in Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, forced the United States to suspend most visa issuing and related consular affairs. The State Department labeled the order unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern, the State Department said. That may not be likely any time soon. Putin will probably feel the need to retaliate again. Relations between Putin and then-President Obama were already at a low point when U.S. intelligence services determined that the Russian government had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. In the last weeks of his presidency, Obama expelled 35 Russians whom he accused of spying, and seized two Russian vacation compounds in Maryland and New York. Putin did not retaliate, apparently deciding to wait and see whether relations between Moscow and Washington improved under Trump, who has almost never had an unkind public word for the authoritarian Russian. But investigations into possible collusion between Russians and Trumps campaign have deepened and widened. In July, Congress voted for a new package of economic sanctions to punish Moscow for election meddling and its 2014 attack on Ukraine. The bill also made it difficult for Trump to lift the sanctions. He opposed the law but was forced to sign because it had been approved with a veto-proof majority. Instead of rapprochement with Russia, Putin struck back, ordering the diplomatic staff reductions. Tillerson has acknowledged that ties between the two countries may be more deteriorated than at any time since the end of the Cold War. He has also said he hopes to be able to work with Russia on shared interests, such as fighting terrorism. In a case of inconvenient timing, Russias new ambassador to the United States arrived in Washington on Thursday to take up his post. The world is calmer and safer when @Russia and #USA act together on the international arena, Anatoly Antonov said on his Twitter account. It is important that the US colleagues should understand that the confrontation with Russia is futile. There will be no winners in this conflict. Later, upon arriving, according to the state-run Russian news agency Tass, he told reporters: Now we need to sort this out calmly, very calmly and act in a professional manner. To cite Lenin, we dont need any hysterical outbursts. Lenin had famously said: We dont need hysterical outbursts. We need the measured tread of the iron battalions of the proletariat. Antonov is a former military officer dispatched to replace Sergey Kislyak, a well-known and affable ambassador who found himself increasingly drawn into the Russia investigations. In Russia, the reaction Wednesday night from the Kremlin reiterated a familiar line: The escalation in tension between the two countries has been initiated once again by the Americans. The American order to close the Russian Consulate in San Francisco was demagoguery against the backdrop of a new hostile campaign against Russia, tweeted Alexei Pushkov, a senator and the chairman of the upper house of parliaments information policy committee. Several Russian senators and other officials spoke of retaliation. Most likely, they need to save face and fulfill their promises, given the fact that they had to comply with our requirements to reduce the number of employees before Sept. 1, Sen. Vladimir Dzhabarov said. Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Moscow could not ignore unfriendly steps from the U.S. We regret the unconstructive stance taken by our counterparts in the United States and, of course, we cannot afford to leave unfriendly and sometimes hostile steps towards us without retaliation, Peskov said. Times staff reporter Wilkinson reported from Washington and special correspondent Ayres from Moscow. tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter ALSO Gov. Jerry Brown will attend economic conference in Russia next week As Houston floodwaters recede, returning residents make some grim discoveries Trump administration picks former official at for-profit DeVry University to head student aid enforcement unit Federal judge blocks implementation of controversial Texas law banning sanctuary cities People kept pulling up to the Rowdy Maui gift shop here, whipping out their cameras and doing something that felt so good in this town that was in Hurricane Harveys cross-hairs when it first slammed into Texas at its most powerful. They laughed. For there in front of the neon-pink-and-white shop on the Aransas Bay was a piece of plywood with this spray-painted message: Kiss Our Ass Harvey. Down the street, the Mermaid Ranch Coastal Decor shop had a board in the window with its own cheeky sentiment: Good Thing Mermaids Can Swim!!! Advertisement As attention has shifted to Houston and a string of coastal cities ravaged by deadly floods in recent days, Rockport, the coastal fishing town of about 10,000 people where Harvey made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane, is wiped out. The whole city looks as though its been tipped on its axis. Everything thats standing leans. A jewelry store was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. (Hailey Branson-Potts/Los Angeles Times) Houses are pancaked. Businesses are piles of splintered wood. Power lines dangle over roadways, if their poles arent broken. The smell of gas lingers in the air. Car tires crunch over broken glass, and bits of housing insulation are just about everywhere. Electricity? Forget about it. Cellphone service? Good luck. The good news here is that the sun has come out. But with the sun comes the heat, soaring over 90 degrees on Wednesday. And theres little air conditioning to speak of. Ice is a precious commodity. Its hard for people in the small towns here not to feel that their tragedy will be forgotten after the catastrophic flooding in Houston and elsewhere. Its a great thing everyone is doing for Houston and we understand But what about the rest of us? one man from the adjacent town of Aransas Pass wrote in a Facebook post that has been shared more than 2,000 times. Still, in Rockport this week, residents were doing their best to keep their heads up and their humor intact. At the corner of Austin and Concho streets, people just started to bring stuff clothing, toiletries, diapers, pallets of water and an impromptu volunteer space was born. Steve Lopez, a Corpus Christi attorney, helped organize donated items outside Sand & C Emporium Antiques. Lopez bought the desk for his home office there, he said, pointing to the store with a sigh. The windows and roof of the antique store were gone. The furniture inside was a big, twisted heap of chair legs and overturned dressers. As they volunteered and picked up needed items, people seemed to be in good spirits, Lopez said. Its the resiliency of Texans, he said. Its the need to move on. Larry Williams, a 58-year-old food truck owner, drove down from his home in Austin to Rockport, where he owns a second home. He only lost a square of shingles, but his neighbor lost everything. The storm, he said, seemingly picked its victims at random. Williams stood outside his truck, called Crazy Marys, which has been doling out free comfort food since Tuesday, to the tune of 1,600 meals. One older man, who lost several houses he owns and a laundry business, told him he didnt want any handouts. I told him I wasnt giving him a handout; I was giving him a hand up, Williams said. He broke down crying. People keep bringing food and water to keep the truck stocked, said Williams, who was helping move donated supplies despite having broken his back twice in recent years. Near him, a woman in a pair of rainbow-colored socks, sorting through donated bags of clothing, chirped, Woo! We got hair ties! and started dancing. Richard Gonzalez, C.J. Duckworth and Michael Gian near the broken windows of Duckworths sign shop in Rockport, Texas. (Hailey Branson-Potts/Los Angeles Times) A few streets over, C.J. Duckworth sat in the empty frame of the busted-out storefront window of his crane and sign shop with his friend Richard Gonzales. Were window shopping, Duckworth joked. The glass had exploded from the building and covered the now-glinting ground in front of it. Duckworth, 65, lives in a small but tidy bachelor pad in the back of the white concrete-block shop. On Friday, a friend with a big house nearby let him ride out the storm, which he said sounded like a freight train, with explosions of wind. The roof there sounded like it was going to come off, and rain steadily dripped in. As he drove home the next day, passing flattened houses, he felt sick, wondering if his home, which is uninsured, would be there. When he saw that it was standing, with the windows the only real damage to speak of, he fell to his knees and prayed, he said. Gonzales, a 59-year-old stonemason, built the place years ago, making it sturdy with rebar in the concrete blocks. When Gonzalez came to visit, Duckworth wrapped him in a hug. This wouldnt be here if he hadnt done it right, he said, his face softening. The two men have known each other for over two decades, longer than many marriages, they noted. Gonzales lives in a one-bedroom house in Aransas Pass. His roof was partially caved in, and hes got some broken windows. But the house is standing, so he considers himself lucky. Since the storm, a seagull with a broken wing has been hanging around his place. Hes been feeding it Cheetos. Theres a bird walking around here now with an orange beak, he said. Gonzales taught Duckworth a trick for living with no electricity or running water. Put bottles of water on a hot black surface in the sun the bed of a truck worked nicely and youve got warm water for a shower. When he first came to check on his friend this week, Gonzales danced goofily in front of the security camera out front, thinking it would show up on Duckworths monitor. It didnt. I call him my braniac theres no electricity for the cameras, Duckworth teased. Duckworth said he was trying to pass the time at night by barbecuing. And Gonzales brought him a battery-powered radio, so now hes got music to keep him company too. Its been weird being totally disconnected, with no cell service, he said. He hadnt realized President Trump visited nearby Corpus Christi on Tuesday. I miss Facebook, Duckworth said, laughing. Good Lord, Im on that every night. Gonzales said they would be busy over the next few years. The sign maker and the stonemason together; well rebuild Rockport, he said to his friend. But Duckworths eyes hinted that he was tired. Theyll rebuild, he said. But today he just didnt really have the heart to do much at all. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson ALSO Humanity shows its best self as Harvey devastates Texas coast Body count expected to rise in Texas as areas hit by Harvey grapple with fresh perils As Harvey moves east, a Cajun Navy of volunteers descends on Port Arthur to rescue people As Houston floodwaters recede, returning residents make some grim discoveries In no other place in America would there be a traffic jam like this. On U.S. 90 east of Houston on Wednesday morning, hundreds of trucks, many of them towing boats, were in bumper-to-bumper traffic fording 6 inches of floodwater the remnants of Tropical Storm Harveys second swing at south Texas. These drivers werent fleeing the still-swirling storm. They were headed straight for it. Advertisement The last five days of serial storm assaults have prompted Texas volunteers to mobilize what some are describing as their own Dunkirk the epic World War II rescue in which an ad hoc civilian armada helped ferry the British army out of France. For days, amateur navies of boaters have flocked toward the center of Harveys wrath from all over Texas and beyond, offering fishing boats, airboats, private catamarans and pleasure craft as boats of salvation. Todd Terrell, a team leader for one of the groups loosely organized as the Cajun Navy, said Wednesday that his group had mobilized 763 boats and more than 1,500 volunteers operating in different parts of Texas. There are people who havent had food or water for three and four days, he said. Right now, some of the water is so bad and so high, were bringing them supplies until we can pick them up tomorrow. Its so widespread, we are just trying to stabilize everybody and rescue tomorrow. Volunteer boaters transport residents from the Cypress Glen nursing home in Port Arthur, Texas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) As Harveys rains headed toward the Gulf Coast town of Port Arthur, so did the amateur flotilla that for the last several days has been working in and around Houstons flooded canals, rivers and fields. But the floodwaters that seemed to cover nearly everything made Port Arthur difficult to drive into; boaters clogged the roads looking for a fully flooded area that could serve as a place to berth a boat. Two airboat clubs from the Fort Worth area gathered in a Wal-Mart parking lot where emergency helicopters were making quick landings. The men got out of their trucks and gathered around Port Arthurs deputy police chief, Maj. Cory Cole. They didnt just come to listen. They came to take orders. Volunteers from Fort Worth gather around Port Arthur Deputy Police Chief Cory Cole before they head out for rescue operations. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Cole directed the boaters to where a large number of residents had been stranded. Its just so crazy down there, he said. We cant get the trucks to get em. But now, Port Arthur had its own navy. You see the area better than me, Cole told the boaters. Youre going to be my eyes and ears out there. Then he sent them off. Do what you can do, man, he said. The boaters fanned back out to their trucks. A bright yellow fan boat painted with the words SHO NUF took the lead, with the rest of the boaters forming a column in their trucks down the flooded highway. When they could go no farther, they began sliding their boats into the water. The big fan engines on the shallow-draft airboats made an enormous roar as they ignited, and the rain-soaked roads were transformed into canals. Boaters head out in search of stranded residents in Port Arthur, Texas, on Wednesday. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) It was an impromptu effort. Brad Cowling, 38, a car dealership owner from Abilene, Texas, was volunteering as a crew member on another mans boat. We just met today in Houston, he said. We just drove four hours down here to do rescues. As to why, Cowling didnt think it required much explanation. Were Texans, dude. Were crazy. We help each other. Not all of them were Texans. Mike Ivancic, 48, a former Army medic, traveled from Kansas City, Mo. Its like an adrenaline thing, Ivancic said. But it was not only that, he said. Were all of one mind, he said. We all want the same thing. By afternoon, the roads were filled with rescue boats. They gathered outside the flooded Cypress Glen nursing home, where dozens of elderly residents had been trapped. It was dark inside the facility, where rescuers had to slosh through flooded hallways. All over the building, residents lay in their beds in dark rooms dry, but alone, and awaiting rescue. Some sat in wheelchairs with their feet steeped in water. Residents lie on sofas waiting to be evacuated from the Cypress Glen nursing home in Port Arthur, Texas. (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times) Aides and rescuers lined up more than half a dozen residents in wheelchairs at the front door, pushing them through the water toward the rescue boats queued up outside. Next, they began hauling dry mattresses to the boats so the residents would have something to rest on later. At least half a dozen residents lay waiting on gurneys. You ready to go? one aide called to a resident who was sitting on the edge of her bed, her feet dangling in the water. The aide paused. Wheres your wheelchair? Another woman in a wheelchair shook with stress as she waited outside. She carried a small Tupperware container packed with her things, but her purse had been lost. A boater set off in search of it. How many people can you get? one rescuer called to a pair of boaters. They would need to load on an emergency medical technician, he said. We need someone to help stabilize them. Liftliftlift! a group of six men chanted as they lifted one woman on her motorized wheelchair into a boat. Once it was done, a cheer erupted. The woman grinned, and gave one of the men a high-five. Were not going to charge you for this ride! one man joked. A resident is evacuated from the Cypress Glen nursing home in Port Arthur. (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times) After a few hours, almost all the residents had been cleared. The volunteer navy outside the nursing home began to disperse and went looking for more survivors. I love them. Its great, said Alex Hall, 22, a local resident who volunteered to help with the rescue effort. I didnt expect there to be this many people. Maybe in Houston. But not in Port Arthur. Louis Husser, a pastor from Robert, La., who joined the nursing home rescue with his 14-foot aluminum boat, said it wasnt hard to decide to come. I lived through Hurricane Katrina, and in some ways this is worse, he said. Its going to take Texas a long time to come back from this. When we were in trouble 12 years ago, Texans came down to help, and so we are just loving our neighbor back. Times staff writer Melissa Etehad in Los Angeles contributed to this report. matt.pearce@latimes.com Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce. ALSO As Houston floodwaters recede, returning residents make some grim discoveries Explosions reported at Houston chemical plant that lost power in the storm Were at Gods mercy: Texas coast doused with new assault from Harveys rain and winds How to help the victims of Tropical Storm Harvey With the weakened remnants of former Hurricane Harvey delivering drenching inland rainfall and yet more flooding Thursday, Houston and the vast area already hammered by the massive storm grappled with fresh perils as the waters began to recede, leaving behind a stew of toxic muck. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a day of prayer across his stricken state, and rescuers continued to pluck victims from floods inundating small towns. A major hospital in Beaumont, east of Houston, was forced to evacuate after the municipal water supply failed. The death toll from the storm which roared ashore last Friday as a hurricane and was downgraded first to a tropical storm, then overnight to a tropical depression reached 31, but was expected to rise, perhaps sharply. The grim work of recovering the bodies of those who were trapped in homes or vehicles gathered speed in Houston, the nations fourth-largest city. Advertisement Methodical block-by-block searches were underway in some of the hardest-hit areas, said Houstons assistant fire chief, Richard Mann. The disasters full scope and scale was still emerging, with new reports of damage pouring in hourly. White House homeland security advisor Tom Bossert told reporters in Washington that 100,000 homes had been either damaged or destroyed. In what could prove an ominous precursor in the Gulf Coasts sprawling petrochemical hub, flames and plumes of smoke soared skyward early Thursday at a chemical plant on the citys outskirts. Rising temperatures and a power cutoff had set off volatile chemical reactions inside the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, 30 miles northeast of downtown Houston, authorities said. Ten Harris County sheriffs deputies were treated for possible chemical inhalation after the emission of fumes, local law enforcement officials said Thursday morning. In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency said preliminary information suggested there were no concentrations of concern for toxic materials reported at this time from the emissions. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concurred, describing the smoke and fumes as acrid and irritating, but apparently not toxic. The Trump administration was maintaining a visible presence in the hurricane-hit zone. After a high-profile visit Tuesday by President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence flew in, accompanied by several Cabinet secretaries. In the shattered town of Rockport, Pence told a crowd gathered in front of the badly damaged First Baptist Church: We are with you, and we will stay with you as the recovery progresses. Later, the vice president donned work gloves and helped clear downed tree branches. The White House said Trump had pledged a $1 million personal donation for storm relief, but gave no details. The president planned to return to the disaster zone Saturday, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Bossert, the homeland security advisor, pledged full support from Washington, but also praised the efforts of local and state officials. Its an all-hands-on-deck operation, not just a federal one, he said. The storm sent more than 30,000 people into shelters after making landfall Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in five decades. Even downgraded to a tropical depression as it marched east-northeast, Harvey was drenching parts of Louisiana, with the National Weather Service warning that torrential rains could hit areas of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. There were flash-flood warnings as far away as southern Ohio. Military assistance to the hurricane-hit zone was ramping up. The Navy ordered the Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship, and the Oak Hill, a dock landing ship, to sail from their home port in Norfolk, Va., to the hurricane-hit zone to provide medical and logistical support. About 690 U.S. Marines were aboard the Kearsarge, along with more than a dozen helicopters. The Marines were also bringing water purification systems and stood ready to help with aerial reconnaissance and aid distribution, the Pentagon said. Altogether, about 6,400 active-duty military personnel are deployed to the affected area, and military officials have deployed 73 helicopters, three C-130 transport planes and eight search and rescue teams. High waters were expected to linger for a week in some areas, said Gov. Abbott, a Republican. The storm-affected zone was larger than that surrounding New Orleans when it was pummeled a dozen years ago by Hurricane Katrina. Even those who had managed to escape the floodwaters awakened to new woes Thursday. In Beaumont, 90 miles east of Houston, residents turned on their water faucets and nothing came out. The city of about 118,000 people lost access to water after floods knocked out a pump station along the Neches River, along with its backup water supply from wells in neighboring Hardin County, municipal authorities said. That prompted what medical officials described as the painful decision to halt emergency services and start evacuating facilities. Due to the failure of the citys water pump, it is in the best interest of our current patients to transfer to other acute care facilities, Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas said in a statement. Another hospital in Beaumont, Christus St. Elizabeth, said it would stay open because it had well water and a big enough store of drinkable water for now. Beaumont officials said earlier that they did not know how long repairs to the water system would take. Amid the devastation, there were nascent signs of recovery. Houstons two major airports were operating again, and services including trash pickup and limited bus and light rail were resuming. The citys public school district, the states biggest, announced a date for the start of classes: Sept. 11, two weeks late. Just south of downtown, restaurants and grocery stores were doing brisk business. But in parts of the city, receding waters gave way to a landscape that was sometimes hard to recognize. Moldy, soaked debris piles lined the streets of the Meyerland neighborhood, bisected by Brays Bayou, which had also flooded the previous year. While areas of downtown Houston buzzed with activity morning rush hour, businesses reopening work crews in the neighborhood set to the wearying task of removing soaked carpets and carting away debris amid the hum of industrial fans and dehumidifiers. By Thursday, some residents had stripped their homes down to the studs and left, exhausted. Its devastating to anyone who loses most of their possessions to go to work and try to make a living with this aggravation, said Alan Ross, a photographer who lives in the neighborhood and was helping his son clean up. Times staff writers Hennessy-Fiske reported from Houston, Pearce from Beaumont, Texas, and King from Washington. Times staff writers W.J. Hennigan and David Lauter contributed from Washington. UPDATES: 4:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details including White House saying 100,000 homes affected, Trump pledging personal $1 million donation, Sept. 11 date set for Houston school reopening. 12:05 p.m.: This article was updated with the governor calling a day of prayer, a hospital in Beaumont evacuating after water supply failure and the vice president commenting. 10:25 a.m.: This article was updated with the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence, additional comment from EPA on the chemical plant fire and the deployment of Navy warships. This article was originally published at 8:10 a.m. Adults chatted next to the bowling balls as kids ran around the video game arcade. Loudspeakers barked out names to come to the front desk, where white shoes in varying sizes were lined up in neat rows. The bowling alley was full. Not of bowlers, but of survivors. Were all here, said Reyna Flores, 31, of the nearby town of Groves, one of 19 people of her extended family sheltering in the bowling alley, where they had slept on the hard wooden floors in front of the lanes, arranged around the ball-return machines. Advertisement Thursday morning brought an unusual visitor to the Gulf Coast town of Port Arthur: the sun. Unfortunately, daylight revealed the same sights of flooded neighborhoods that have become the hallmark of Tropical Storm Harveys rampage across huge swaths of Texas. All those homes had been filled with people who had to escape to somewhere. In Port Arthur, one of those somewheres was the Max Bowl bowling alley, one of the unlikeliest evacuation centers of the disaster. The whole setup happened by accident or, more accurately, by necessity. As floodwaters rampaged through the town Tuesday night, Max Bowls general manager, Jeff Tolliver, got a phone call: Someone had jimmied the lock on the alleys doors and people had come inside. By the time Tolliver arrived the next day, 600 to 800 flood survivors had filled the building, along with their pets: dogs, cats, iguanas and one monkey. Johnny Colunga feeds Prince, his pet monkey, as they take refuge at Max Bowl. (Kim Brent / Associated Press) The bowling alleys parking lot had been a staging area for boat rescuers to drop off flood survivors. But so much of the town was flooded, they had nowhere else to go. When it started pouring rain again, the survivors took shelter inside. Tolliver sized up the situation. Then he rose to the occasion. Max Bowl, still partially surrounded by floodwaters, would become an evacuation center. By Thursday, evacuees had organized themselves into an amateur version of the Red Cross, sorting donations and handing out supplies. You need some socks? asked one survivor-turned-volunteer, Brigitte Duplechain, 55, standing behind the shoe-rental counter as a survivor came up. He nodded, and she handed over a fresh pair. Thousands of donated water bottles were stacked like ziggurats by the front doors. Mounds of donated clothes were stacked just inside, where someone was trying organize them into neat piles. A pontoon boat came bearing a stack of mattresses. EMTs set up a medical office. Some survivors volunteered to keep the bowling alley clean, including its bathrooms. These guys havent stopped working, Tolliver said, marveling at their work. I asked if these guys are retired because he wanted to hire them. But with the disaster still so near, its otherwise been hard to think much beyond the present. Tropical Storm Harvey hasnt just been a taker of homes and a destroyer of cities. Its been a prison, trapping its victims and blocking their escapes. Many of the survivors lost their cars in the flood. And even if they had them, many of the roads out of town have been flooded. Shekeisha January and her daughter Genesis January, 2, cuddle at Max Bowl. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Were just waiting to see how we get out of here and maybe get a hotel, said Flores, whose dog had drowned as her house flooded. She grew emotional. The family had slept on the hard alley floors without any mattresses or blankets. It just feels like were surrounded by water with no way out. A small statue of Mother Mary sat near Flores, positioned as if watching over her family. We believe to have her with us, shell help shell save us somehow, Flores said. Something good has to come of this. Salvador Campos, 38, watched his son Montrel, 6, run around in the arcade, where Campos family had claimed a corner of the gaming room. He misses home, Campos said of Montrel. He wants his bed. Hes not used to sleeping on the floor. Campos paused. All my family is calling me, telling me to come back home to East Los Angeles, where Campos grew up. Just telling you is choking me up. But first, he needs to find a Greyhound bus somewhere that can carry him and his family far from the floods. Felicia Bolden, 47, lives on the second floor of her partially flooded building and wants to go back home, but boat rescuers refused to give her a ride back. I cant live off of snacks and chips and cookies and stuff. I wish that we would just get Army meals, Bolden said. But I just tried to walk and buy something, but everything is closed. Bolden added: This is a bowling alley. They wasnt expecting this. This was supposed to be the place they bring us to take us to other places, but other places filled up. Out front, Herbert Thomas, 53, sat on the curb outside the alley with several other men, who waited silently as if they were expecting something to happen. Thomas said the flood had caused him to miss his three-times-a-week dialysis treatment. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Thomas said. I gotta get somewhere tomorrow. He says he has called 911, but 911 always sends you to somebody else for dialysis. Herbert Thomas rests at Max Bowl. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Plenty of people had already moved on from the bowling alley, with only about 80 remaining by late Thursday. Other shelters were opening up in the city, including a church. Slowly but surely its coming together, Tolliver assured one survivor, while standing behind the shoe counter. I think youre going to spend one more night here. The woman nodded. OK. Thats fine. Port Arthur police Det. Paul Arvizo, chatting with survivors in the alleys lobby, gave thanks for good Samaritans. Everybody pitched in and helped with the situation. Thats how we made it work, Arvizo said. He asked if he could send a message to the volunteers and out-of-state emergency responders: From Port Arthur P.D. to them, thank you so much for your help. We couldnt have done it without you. God bless. matt.pearce@latimes.com Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce. ALSO As Houston floodwaters recede, returning residents make some grim discoveries Hurricane Harvey destroyed this town. But residents are laughing through the destruction For years, engineers have warned that Houston was a flood disaster in the making. Why didnt somebody do something? A federal judge in Texas has temporarily halted the implementation of a controversial new state law that seeks to outlaw so-called sanctuary cities. Senate Bill 4, which had been set to take effect on Friday, aims to force municipalities to help detain immigrants in the country illegally. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday in response to a lawsuit filed by five Texas cities, as well as several counties and sheriffs, that challenged its constitutionality. Advertisement The injunction prevents implementation of the statute which opponents call the show your papers law while the lawsuit challenging it makes its way through the courts. There is overwhelming evidence by local officials, including local law enforcement, that SB 4 will erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe, Garcia wrote in his order. The law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, would prevent municipalities from adopting their own policies to limit enforcement of immigration laws, and it would ensure that police officers are allowed to question people about their immigration status when they are detained or arrested including for minor traffic violations. It would also require local police to comply with federal immigration requests to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally. Police chiefs and county sheriffs who refuse could face harsh fines or spend up to a year in jail. Local police officers are going to enforce to the hilt, because why take a chance? Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing the small border city of El Cenizo, told the court during oral arguments on the legal challenge in June. The ruling Wednesday is a blow for Republican state lawmakers and another legal setback for the Department of Justice, which welcomed the new state law and filed a brief in the case supporting it. The governor said the state government would fight the ruling. U.S. Supreme Court precedent for laws similar to Texas law are firmly on our side, he said in a statement. This decision will be appealed immediately and I am confident Texas law will be found constitutional and ultimately be upheld. Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, applauded the judges order. Texans are still under the threat from a catastrophic hurricane, and the last thing they need is Trumps deportation force, Hinojosa said in a statement. Civil rights activists in Texas said that in recent months even the rhetoric used in the debate over the bill has badly damaged trust between immigrants and law enforcement. Some victims of Hurricane Harvey have been reluctant to seek shelter or other assistance because they are in the country illegally and feared being targeted for deportation once the new law took effect, said Amy Fischer, policy director for RAICES, an immigrant legal advocacy group based in San Antonio. The decision of, do I stay or do I potentially take a risk and go into a shelter? is not a decision that anybody should have to make, Fischer said. Juanita Posada, who flew a Mexican flag in front of her flooded house Wednesday in Houstons Lakewood neighborhood, says she has friends who were worried about seeking help after the storm because of their immigration status. They are scared, said Posada, whose husband is from Mexico. Rumors are scaring them more and more to get help because once they ask, more could happen. Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, said the bill amounted to legalized racial profiling. The judges decision feels like a ray of sunshine, and Texans, especially undocumented Texans, deserve a reprieve in what has been a steady assault of their families, she said in a statement. Austin City Councilman Greg Casar said in a statement that he and other opponents of the measure expect a lengthy legal battle. We know we have a long way to go to go to protect everyones rights from the constant attacks by the Trump and Abbott administrations, he said. In the 94-page decision issued Wednesday, Garcia wrote that enforcement of Senate Bill 4 could violate peoples constitutional rights and prevent people in the country illegally from reporting crimes or seeking medical care. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson Times staff writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this report from Houston. ALSO As Houston floodwaters recede, returning residents make some grim discoveries Trump could pay a price if he hands out pardons in the Russia probe as he did for Joe Arpaio St. Louis gave minimum-wage workers a raise. On Monday, it was taken away UPDATES: 9:25 p.m.: This article was updated with details about the law, the court order and reaction. This article was originally published at 6:30 p.m. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigans lawsuit to revamp Chicago policing, filed Tuesday, is timely and welcome and is the latest in a notable line of actions that other states and localities should take as models for pursuing justice in an era of federal retreat. Madigan sued the city of Chicago in federal court seven months after the U.S. Department of Justice released a report outlining a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing. It was one of the departments final acts under the Obama Administration, coming just days before Donald Trump took the oath of office and as the Senate was considering the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Trumps attorney general. Had the report been completed just a month or two earlier, the next steps would likely have been a Justice Department lawsuit, a consent decree, a court-appointed monitor and a comprehensive program of retraining and reform to overhaul police practices, much like Los Angeles Rampart decree in 2001 and the 20 or so police reform agreements initiated by Obamas Justice Department. Advertisement But when Sessions took over he quickly laid out a very different view of improper police conduct: It is not systemic or structural but limited to a few bad actors. Sessions criticized consent decrees as bad for police morale and as unwarranted federal intrusions into local matters. It became evident that the department, under Sessions, would not follow up its Chicago investigation with a lawsuit. That stance on police reform goes hand-in-hand with other Sessions policies and pronouncements, such as his move Monday to reinstate transfer of grenade launchers, tanks and other surplus military equipment to police agencies, and his instruction to federal prosecutors to seek the maximum possible sentences, as in the days of the discredited War on Drugs. The same day that Trump won the White House, voters elected prosecutors and sheriffs who vowed to crack down on police abuse and sentencing excesses. In an editorial earlier this year, The Times lamented that a full Justice Department retreat on police reform would leave no one else able to fill that very crucial role. Madigans action, however, shows that not to be the case. Following the roadmap laid out by her federal counterparts in the pre-Sessions era, she is seeking the same set of remedies that they pursued in federal court. It is not clear how many other state attorneys general can follow Madigans lead if they are not armed with federal investigations of the kind completed under Sessions predecessor, Loretta Lynch. But California law allows the state attorney general to do consent-decree-type police interventions based on state, rather than federal, laws. A.G.s here have exercised that power sparingly. Bill Lockyer brought an action against the Riverside Police Department in 2001, as did Jerry Brown against the Maywood Police Department in 2009 and Kamala Harris, shortly before taking her seat in the U.S. Senate, against the Bakersfield Police Department and the Kern County Sheriffs Department late last year. So far, other states have been hesitant to grant their attorneys general similar authority. Attorneys general and district attorneys are elected officials as well as lawyers and have seldom tested the sensitive politics of police reform. They are also prosecutors. Part of the argument in favor of U.S. Justice Department intervention against local police agencies was that A.G.s and D.A.s were too sensitive to voters, who were politically and demographically more apt to back tough policing and sentencing than to protect the rights of accused or suspected criminals. But in cities, counties and states around the nation, that template is being challenged. The same day that Trump won the White House, voters elected prosecutors and sheriffs who vowed to crack down on police abuse and sentencing excesses as well as crime. In Cook County the jurisdiction that includes Chicago voters ousted tough-on-crime states attorney Anita Alvarez in favor of Kim Foxx, who stopped charging low-level shoplifting cases as felonies. In Houston, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez joined a lawsuit against the county by plaintiffs challenging the cash bail system as a violation of the constitutional rights of poor defendants. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg also criticized the bail system and in effect decriminalized marijuana by ordering her deputies not to bother prosecuting simple possession cases this at a time when Sessions is calling for more vigorous marijuana enforcement and other moves that herald a return to the disastrous drug enforcement policies of the 1980s. As a candidate, Denvers new district attorney, Beth McCann, vowed to put her office in the vanguard of criminal justice reform and supported repeal of the death penalty. Aramis Ayala, the new states attorney for the Florida district that includes Orlando, vowed to no longer seek the death penalty and then sued Gov. Rick Scott when he removed her from death penalty cases. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer joined with other state and local prosecutors in a letter criticizing Sessions for his directive to seek the most severe penalties possible. These officials identify something essential that Sessions misses: Prosecutors and law enforcement officers are granted a significant measure of discretion that they must exercise to promote both public safety and justice. A no-tolerance approach to less-serious crimes quickly leads to overburdened and misused prisons and jails, as well as patterns of excessive police force. The uprising among local prosecutors is not a matter of blue state versus red state politicians, or conservatives versus liberals. In Wisconsin, Winnebago Countys Republican District Attorney Christian Gossett allowed people accused of low-level crimes to be immediately released without bail by waiving his prosecutors court appearances. Some of the most thoughtful criminal justice reforms come from within the conservative movement, which is involved in a philosophical civil war of sorts between its libertarian and law-and-order factions. A bill in the U.S. Senate to offer states some modest assistance in moving from cash bail toward a risk-based pretrial release system was co-authored by Harris, a Democrat, and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky. Pauls conservative home state is one of the nations leaders in bail reform, and Paul is an outspoken critic of excessive law enforcement intrusion onto the affairs of private citizens. As Sessions and Trump continue their get-tougher approach to criminal justice, it is important to recognize and support the state and local officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, who stick out their political necks in the service of a smarter, better, more just, more cost-effective and more public-safety-oriented approach to policing and criminal justice. In California, its important to let our attorney general, our sheriffs and our district attorneys know that we expect them to meet and exceed the standards for justice that are being set elsewhere around the country. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook California state law guarantees that new parents, biological or adoptive, can take 12 weeks off from work to care for their babies without worrying about losing their health care or having a job when they are ready to come back. But heres the catch: These benefits are available only to parents who happen to work for a company that employs 50 or more people within a 75-mile radius. Thats about 41% of the states workforce. If they work for a company with fewer than 50 workers, their bosses are under no obligation to continue to pay their health care benefits during their absence or give them their jobs back when they return. This is patently unfair. Why should some parents get short shrift based simply on the number of people on their companies rosters? Now, state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would extend the full benefits to about 2.7 million more California workers. The bill, SB 63, would require companies that employ 20 or more people within a 75-mile radius to offer protected parental leave. Thats only about 15% more of the workforce. Nevertheless, its movement in the right direction. Advertisement There are costs associated with keeping a job open for 12 weeks. But society gets a return on this investment. Businesses are not happy about the proposed expansion of protected parental leave, even though they dont have to pay the employees who use the benefit. (That money comes from a state insurance fund.) The California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are opposing the bill, and their main concern is not the cost of overtime or the hassle of juggling schedules to cover for the employee, but the fear of lawsuits claiming bogus or merely technical violations of the law. The concern is not based on past experience, however. The job protection in the California Family Rights Act has been in place for about 25 years without triggering an epidemic of shakedown lawsuits, and theres no reason to believe this expansion will change that. Not every employee in every workplace will have a child during the course of his or her employment. And not all who do become parents will choose to take every week of leave available. Still, there are costs associated with keeping a job open for 12 weeks. But society gets a return on this investment according to a coalition of pediatrics trade groups, research shows that parental leave produces healthier, better-adjusted babies. There may well be a benefit to companies as well. According to a study published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the vast majority of the 253 California employers surveyed reported that paid family leave improved employee productivity and morale, boosted profitability and lowered employee turnover rates. (Some companies even noted a cost savings associated with providing paid family leave, the study found.) And with job protections, workers are more likely to take full advantage of parental leave available. Working parents arent malingerers; they are taking on the tough job of raising the next generation while remaining gainfully employed. Regardless of how many people their company employs, they need the time and support to make sure they can do both well. And given that theyre paying into the states parental leave program, they deserve the benefits no less than the workers who are already receiving them. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Now that the city of Los Angeles has set aside more than a billion dollars to fund housing for the homeless, lets get it built faster. Under last years Proposition HHH, $1.2 billion will be raised to build 10,000 units of housing over the next decade mostly permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless people. But under current law, before developers can even apply for this assistance, their projects generally have to survive a series of complicated planning department reviews, potentially contentious community outreach meetings and the close scrutiny of two city government oversight committees. This process can take well over a year. Of course, it can take that long for developers of market-rate buildings as well. But homeless housing is different; it is both more controversial and more desperately needed. With more than 34,000 people living on the streets, the city faces an immediate crisis and needs to take whatever reasonable, responsible steps it can to speed the approval of permanent supportive housing. When Mayor Eric Garcetti was urging people last fall to vote for Proposition HHH, he also pledged to work toward streamlining the approval and permitting process. Advertisement Now, the city planning department is proposing a sensible way to do that: through a new law cutting out some steps in the review process for projects that qualify as permanent supportive housing. The planning department will soon put the proposed ordinance out for public comment for 60 days before sending it to the planning commission and then the City Council for approval. The most significant feature of the ordinance would free developers from maximum density requirements for their site. The chief purpose of the ordinance is to help move reasonable projects more quickly through the process. So the measure allows developers to do several things by right meaning without obtaining special approval from the city or planning department. For example, projects that are proposed on land that is currently zoned for public facilities would be allowed to build multi-family housing there by right if land nearby is zoned for that use. In fact, a number of the city-owned sites that have been offered up for homeless housing are zoned for public facilities. Conversion of residential hotels to supportive housing would be allowed by right everywhere, without triggering the time-consuming review process. Other than those exceptions, a project must conform to its underlying zoning. There wouldnt be any by-right building of housing in an industrial zone or a single-family residential zone. Perhaps the most significant feature of the ordinance would free developers from maximum density requirements for their site. Developers would still be restricted by height limitations, setbacks and rules on total buildable space. But most permanent supportive housing developments feature smaller units and more common space where residents may gather for meetings, workshops or events so building more densely makes sense. This would not lead to tiny, unlivable tenement-style apartments, city officials say, because there are other rules that would protect against it. For instance, developers of these projects receive financing from local and federal agencies that set standards for the kinds of units they will subsidize. The ordinance would also exempt permanent supportive housing from the usual rule that there needs to be one or more parking spaces created for each apartment built, leaving developers free to use the space in other ways. The proposal is reasonable because people moving into these units are the neediest of homeless people; its unlikely that many of them if any will have cars, advocates say. Even as their situation improves, most are unlikely to buy cars. That said, other people will be at these buildings on a daily basis social workers, counselors, resident managers, families and friends; there should be some parking spaces for them as well. These are smart steps for streamlining the planning approval process, not for cutting corners. And any homeless housing developer applying for HHH funds will still have to get final approval for the entire project from the citys HHH Citizen Oversight Committee and Advisory Oversight Committee which submit their recommendations to the City Council. The ordinance offers a thoughtful and measured path to ramping up the housing that every elected official in the city and the overwhelming majority of its voters have said they want now. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook President Trumps top lieutenants are going rogue again. Last weekend, his secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, refused to say whether Trumps statements about violence in Charlottesville, Va., reflected American values. Trumps chief economic aide, Gary Cohn, suggested that the president was wrong to equate white supremacists with citizens standing up for equality, and said the administration must do better. His secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, told troops that because of internal strife, the United States has lost its global power of inspiration. He didnt mention the president, but he didnt need to. Its hard to overstate how unusual this is. In most administrations, top advisors may complain about the president they serve but only in private, never in public. In the wake of Charlottesville, some of Trumps lieutenants felt a need to express their anguish in the open, if only to preserve their self-respect. Either that, or theyve learned that the best way to get a message to the Oval Office is to appear on Fox News or give an interview to the Financial Times. Advertisement This isnt a team of rivals; its a team of anguished dissidents. When Tillerson spent a week in the Middle East trying to defuse the conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Trump undid the effort with a tweet. Its natural to look at this picture and ask, if theyre so unhappy, why dont any of them resign? But thats not how Washington works. No Cabinet member has quit over a matter of principle since Cyrus Vance, Jimmy Carters secretary of State, almost 40 years ago. Most important, all those Cabinet members have accepted the traditional Washington argument about serving a president you disagree with: As long as you think you can do some good, you owe it to the country to keep your job. That logic still works for Mattis, who appears to have Trumps confidence, especially on questions of war and peace. It even works for Cohn, who is one of the architects of Trumps most important economic initiative, the tax cuts hes hoping to enact this fall. But it no longer works for Tillerson, an honorable man whose tenure at the State Department isnt turning out well. He should seriously consider resigning, unless he prefers to wait until hes fired. The former ExxonMobil CEO was never fully in sync with Trump on basic principles of foreign policy. Trumps version of America First considers every treaty an encumbrance; Tillerson wants to preserve traditional alliances. Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris agreement on climate change; Tillerson thought it would have been better to stay in. Trump wants to blow up the international agreement limiting Irans nuclear program; Tillerson disagrees. What more, Tillerson seems to have been marginalized. Hes been left out of meetings with visiting foreign leaders. Hes seen important diplomatic issues Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, China, Mexico put in the purview of the presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner. When Tillerson spent a week in the Middle East trying to defuse the conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Trump undid the effort with a tweet. Tillerson hasnt even been allowed a free hand to run the State Department, even though hes the former CEO of a multinational company. White House aides blocked a series of key appointments he wanted to make and then blamed him, anonymously, for the slow pace of nominations. As a result, the State Department is operating below normal strength, without full-fledged assistant secretaries in charge of policy toward North Korea, the Middle East or Afghanistan. In practice, his most important job has been to serve as a diplomatic clean-up crew to reassure allies in Asia that the president didnt really intend to start a war with North Korea, and allies in Europe that he wasnt going to abandon the U.S. commitment to defend NATO countries from Russia. And thats why Tillersons most recent dissent made his position worse. When Fox News host Chris Wallace asked him if other countries could rely on the United States defending its traditional values, Tillerson said: We express Americas values from the State Department. And the presidents values? Wallace asked. The president speaks for himself, Tillerson said. Are you separating yourself from that? Wallace asked, giving him a chance to clarify. Ive made my own comments as to our values, Tillerson said. The message to the foreign governments Tillerson deals with is that he and the president arent on the same wavelength; if anything, theyre drifting apart. By speaking his conscience, he has made himself even less effective than he was before. Its unfair, but its true. Richard N. Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former aide to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, recently suggested two questions Cabinet members should ask when they find themselves at odds with the president. First, are they making a meaningful difference by staying? Second, are they having to defend policies they disagree with? For Tillerson, the moment to confront those questions has arrived. If Trump wants him to stay, the president had better say so, loud and clear. If he doesnt, Tillerson needs to go not for his own peace of mind, but for the sake of American foreign policy. doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook MORE FROM OPINION: Im a black daughter of the Confederacy, and this is how we should deal with all those General Lees The ACLUs free speech stance should be about social justice, not timeless principles Diana 20 years later: Still rubbernecking I first met Diana, the Princess of Wales, at an evening reception at the British Embassy in Washington in 1985. She was four years into her marriage to Prince Charles and the two were on their first visit as a couple to D.C. The Washington Post Style section was covering their trip lavishly and, as a young reporter for the section, I was deliriously happy to be part of it all. Everything about her fascinated me the exquisite clothes, the jewels, the exoticism of her. She was a throwback to another era, in which girls went to Swiss finishing schools and set, as their goals, marrying well, and yet she seemed like a modern, approachable woman drafted into a fusty, dowdy royal family. So there she was, in a red skirt suit, dutifully chatting with a clump of us, telling a wisp of a funny story about some official appearance she had made that afternoon in which the person introducing her had walked away, leaving her alone to make remarks that she wasnt expecting to make. She mimed looking panicked. I cant stand when that happens, she said. Or something like that. What I mostly remember was that she had the most astonishing aqua colored eyes Ive ever seen. So multiply me by 750 million and you get the number of people who watched her wedding. You would have to more than triple that to get the number of people reportedly 2 billion who watched her funeral. Advertisement Twenty years ago today, Diana died in that horrific car crash in a Paris tunnel, yet her mystique endures enough to fuel a cottage industry of posthumous books on her and a spate of recent TV specials and magazine covers. We are, for better or worse, obsessed with celebrity, particularly the rarefied British royal kind who can wear tiaras and crowns without irony. Whether you are enthralled by the British monarchy or think its an anachronistic waste of money, best enjoyed by watching The Crown, it has survived hundreds of years of calls for its demise and it shows no signs of going away any time soon. We can thank Diana for some of that. The British royal family has always had its fans, but Diana was different. She was eminently watchable on a different level. She started out as Shy Di, who got engaged at the ridiculous age of 19 to a worldly man of 32. Who didnt cringe for her when she and Charles were asked in a TV interview if they were in love and she answered, Of course! and he said, Whatever in love means. But she evolved and grew more self-confident. So when I met Diana for a second time in the receiving line at a fashion industry reception in early 1989 in Manhattan, she seemed more sophisticated and more relaxed if not particularly expansive. She was on a solo tour (no Charles) and she was having fun. This was a crowd that adored her, so she didnt have to say too much to delight them. She schmoozed about clothes and confided, with a grin, that she chose her own high-end outfit, designed by Catherine Walker, because it doesnt crease. (This, I know she said, because I wrote it down in my notebook and put it in a story.) Eventually, she would, of course, say a lot about the breakdown of her marriage, her struggles with depression and bulimia, her feelings of being hounded by photographers. And it was that later Diana who transformed herself from royal cipher into a humanitarian who could command the worlds attention. Along the way, she helped pull the British monarchy away from its rigid sense of decorum and into the late 20th century. Even her divorce from Prince Charles and his second marriage to the divorced Camilla Parker Bowles would have been scandalous and unacceptable just a few decades earlier. All royal family members open hospitals and go to charity benefits, but Diana leveraged her public relations appeal to push into different territory. She visited with and embraced AIDS patients at a time when there was still lingering fear about contact with AIDS sufferers. She toured fields cleared of landmines in Angola wearing protective gear and met with children missing limbs to publicize the horror of landmines. She didnt do the heavy lifting but, being the most photographed woman in the world, she helped put some focus on those who did. Two months before her death, she, literally, shed the frothy 80s and early 90s era gowns that cloaked her younger self and auctioned them off at Christies in New York, with the proceeds going to charity. It may be hard now to imagine the extraordinary, widespread show of grief that overtook the world when Diana died in the crash along with her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, the son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Fayed. People lined up at the British Consulate here in Los Angeles to sign books of condolence for the royal family. (This being long before Facebook, people had to actually physically put themselves out to do this.) I was sent to Britain to help cover the aftermath of her death. Mourners laid acres of flowers at London landmarks. Outside Kensington Palace, her home, I walked up to the massive field of flowers and discovered the pile was waist-high. More than a week after her death, as 10,000 tons of flowers lay wilting across the city, officials began to delicately cart them away, lest they anger people by simply dumping them. In fact, flower tributes are back outside Kensington Palace to observe the 20th anniversary of her death. Perhaps Dianas most significant contribution to modernizing the royal family was to raise two sons, William and Harry, now in their 30s, who have taken up many of her causes. Along with Prince Williams wife, Catherine, they have aggressively launched a campaign to advocate for the importance of getting help for mental health issues especially among the homeless, youth and veterans and destigmatize seeking it. Prince Harry has spoken openly about his own years-long emotional struggle dealing with his mothers death, a problem for which he finally sought professional help. Publicly speaking on a topic like this is a huge change (for the better) in the public posture of the royal family. If Diana had lived, it would have been interesting to see if she would have morphed into less a celebrity with humanitarian interests and more a humanitarian with a celebrity pedigree. And would she have had an Instagram account with 750 million followers? Wondering what would have been only fuels the fascination with her more. carla.hall@latimes.com Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Pull out her eyes Apologize Pull out her eyes Advertisement Apologize. That paraphrase of a passage from James Joyces Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a fair summary of the reaction among many Democrats to some comments this week by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that in other times would be innocuous. In a speech Tuesday night in San Francisco, Feinstein said that she still harbored hopes that Donald Trump could be a good president. Some audience members at the Commonwealth Club event at the Herbst Theater booed. She dug herself in deeper when she suggested that people show some patience while Trump dealt with the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, his first big American emergency. The reaction outside the theater was even more intense. State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) released a statement saying that it was the responsibility of Congress especially Democrats to hold Trump accountable, not to be complicit in his reckless behavior. In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, Mike Aguilar of Costa Mesa told Feinstein: Please retire and allow someone with more sober views on this president to help put a check on his recklessness. (Feinstein hasnt announced whether she will seek another term next year.) On Wednesday, Feinstein released a statement that tempered her earlier expression of hope that Trump might change. The duty of the American president is to bring people together, not cater to one segment of a political base; to solve problems, not campaign constantly, she said. While Im under no illusion that its likely to happen and will continue to oppose his policies, I want President Trump to change for the good of the country. I doubt that this addition will make much difference to those who were offended by Feinsteins earlier statement. That strikes me as unfair, because Feinstein has been anything but a patsy for the Trump administration. She voted against his nominees for attorney general and the Supreme Court and she called for a special counsel to investigate possible links between Russia and Trumps campaign after the president fired FBI Director James Comey. More recently, she denounced as stupid Trumps pardon of Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz. But its true that, stylistically, Feinstein has not been as identified with the anti-Trump Resistance as some other Democrats. She seemed to acknowledge as much at a town hall in Los Angeles in April. Resistance to me means doing the best I can to serve people in the way we do, she said. Its resistance to the presidents budget, which is just terrible. Its resistance to executive orders which turn back history. Its resistance to his position on immigration, which is hard. That sort of painstaking, policy-oriented resistance to Trump seems perfectly compatible with a hope call it a hope against hope that the president might turn out to be less terrible in the future than he has been so far. But the backlash Feinstein received for even giving voice to such a wish shows that many Americans (not all of them Democrats) have given up on Trump. As they see it, a suggestion by someone in Feinsteins position that Trump might redeem himself isnt just unrealistic; its aiding and abetting an illegitimate administration. The point is not to urge Trump to mend his ways; its to undermine his authority and expedite his removal from office. That Trump is largely to blame for this state of affairs doesnt make it any less depressing. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook. To the editor: I wonder if the president believes that there will be no ramifications from the pardon of former sheriff and human rights violator Joe Arpaio, his suggestion that criminal suspects be roughed up, and his rescinding of the Obama administration ban on police departments securing military-style equipment. (Joe Arpaios pardon defended by a whataboutism that doesnt hold up, Opinion, Aug. 27) These actions are certain to strike fear into the hearts of immigrants and minorities who have some justification to fear the police, who are now newly emboldened to oppress and to set the Constitution aside, knowing that the president supports them unconditionally. It is easy to predict that the result will be further estrangement of communities from the police, suspicion of officers, killings of criminal suspects and civil unrest. The law and order president has sought to return us to the era in which police had unbridled power to engage in unjust displays of authority. His actions are certain to backfire. Advertisement Oren M. Spiegler, Upper Saint Clair, Pa. .. To the editor: Andrew Cohen, who contrasts President Obamas pardons with those of President Trump, would have had a much more difficult challenge defending Bill Clintons pardon of donor Marc Rich, but then condoning kickbacks for trading food for Iraqi oil and tax evasion is tough. Equally tough is defending the domestic terrorists from Puerto Rico who were convicted of bomb-making and sedition but were subsequently granted clemency by Clinton. But the whole goal of most media is to delegitimize Trump any way possible. Ergo, media credibility continues to suffer. Mike Bennett, Rowland Heights .. To the editor: I wonder how the citizens of Maricopa County, Ariz., felt about sheriffs deputies racially profiling and detaining Latinos for possible deportation when real crimes were being perpetrated. Im a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer with more than 20 years experience driving a marked police vehicle. Ive made many arrests involving felons and misdemeanor defendants. Ive also impounded thousands of vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers and individuals who happened not to have identification. As a police officer, I felt it was more important to search for those individuals committing real crime and not people who were here illegally and holding jobs granted by employers who hired them so they could pay less money. By the way, how many employers did Arpaios department arrest for hiring undocumented immigrants? Gary Weller, Valencia Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Memo to the Honorable Sen. Dianne Feinstein from California: After witnessing what is absolutely the most chaotic, scandal-filled first eight months of any administration in our nations history, you ask for patience? You say that Donald Trump can still be a good president? (California Senate leader Kevin de Leon fires back at Sen. Dianne Feinsteins call for patience with Trump, Aug. 30) Senator, I respectfully believe this should be your final term representing the great state of California in Congress. Please retire and allow someone with more sober views on this president to help put a check on his recklessness. The survival of our democracy may very well be at stake. Mike Aguilar, Costa Mesa Advertisement .. To the editor: Give Feinstein credit for understanding her job as a U.S. senator. Although she is not a supporter of Trump, she recognizes he is the president. A senator may be locally elected, but her job is to do whats best for the country. Combating the president just because he is a member of the other party or has a different ideology is not part of her job. Feinsteins primary mission is like the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm. At times that means going against those who elected her or even her own ideology. Senators and representatives in Washington and California need to follow her example. Good job, Sen. Feinstein. Alan Strzemieczny, Riverside .. To the editor: At a time when even Republican senators are starting to abandon Trump, Feinstein calls for patience. Our patience has given Trump the chance to damage our country. He has appointed Cabinet members who would effectively destroy the agencies they are supposed to manage. He has issued an order banning all transgender people from military service. He has ignored the Constitutions Emoluments Clause. We had patience as Trump publicly mocked a handicapped reporter, promoted violence at his campaign rallies and demeaned his election opponents with slurs, petty name calling and vicious personal attacks. Trumps record can only be viewed as portending more of the same. This is no longer about patience; its about the survival of our democracy and constitutional freedoms Woody McBreairty, West Hollywood .. To the editor: If anybody continues to wonder why the Democrats lost the political debate in this country to a minority party and a president so obviously out of sync with the truth, the Constitution and normalcy, he need to look no further than Feinstein calling for patience because she believes Trump can still be a good president. As a lifetime Democrat, all I can say to this absurdity is that we have seen the enemy, and it is us. Alan Segal, San Diego .. To the editor: I did not vote for Trump and my hopes that he would grow into the office have, so far, been dashed. However, I agree with Feinsteins hope that Trump and his administration do a good job handling the Harvey disaster. I also hope he becomes a good president. What do those critical of Feinstein want? A botching of the disaster aid with more people suffering? A continuing failure of leadership by Trump so the nation gets more divided and more violent? Answering anger with anger and hatred with hatred will not result in the country or the world we want for future generations. Steve Murray, Huntington Beach Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: My heart aches for the flood victims. Like all Americans, I strongly support doing everything we can. This is what America does: We stand together, regardless of geography, political party or personal need. Our country was founded on the truth that we are stronger when we stand together. (Trump visits Texas, hailing officials Harvey response and promising costly federal aid, Aug. 29 But it takes revenue (taxes) to keep our country great. We gladly tax ourselves for disaster relief, even those of us not among the victims. However, we refuse to acknowledge so many other ongoing disasters. For example, people with health insurance resist helping those who lack it; childless people oppose school bonds. It astounds me that we are considering tax relief at a time when we need so much human relief. With compassion and strong leadership, it could all be set right. Advertisement Nancy Garf Moses, Irvine .. To the editor: Speaking to the victims of Harvey, President Trump said, We are working with Congress on helping out the state of Texas; its going to be a costly proposition. Probably theres never been anything so expensive in our countrys history. 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. I strongly recommend that our commander in chief take roughly $50 billion he wants to add to our annual military budget and use it as seed money to aid Texans. He will be complimented in the future for the good start. Borrowing more money or increasing our taxes is not the way to do it. David N. Hartman, Santa Ana Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook May you die in pain: California GOP congressman gets an earful at town hall Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) kicks off his Monday morning town hall in Chico. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) May you die in pain. That was the nastiest moment of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfas early morning town hall in the Northern California town of Chico on Monday. The wish was uttered by an older man who criticized LaMalfa for voting for the House GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. He was also holding a pink sign that read Lackey for the Rich! ALSO: LaMalfa says the Russia investigation is a bunch of crap The open hostility and intransigence inside the Chico Elks Lodge came as the political divide in the country has grown more inflamed, with Trumps election unleashing a wave of both liberal activism and conservative empowerment. As a result, Washingtons deeply partisan fights over issues such as health care, immigration and environmental protections have followed members of Congress home, turning once sedate town halls into in-your-face venting sessions that in left-leaning California have Republican House members on the defensive. LaMalfa stood his ground on stage as person after person ripped into him for his votes and positions on healthcare and climate change, as well as for his unyielding support for President Trump. A few speakers asked LaMalfa to resign, including one dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West Coast. Heather Calun dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West Coast in protest. She wants LaMalfa to resign over his vote to repeal Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/rBZXAnjd2l Phil Willon (@philwillon) August 7, 2017 Most comments and questions during the hour-long town hall were fairly cordial, although they were laced with plenty of boos and catcalls. Norma Wilcox, a retired nurse who lives in Chico, also questioned LaMalfas healthcare vote. Wilcox told LaMalfa the House plan would take away healthcare for millions of Americans while providing tax breaks to the rich. I am open to new ideas, LaMalfa told her, describing the House GOP bill as a placeholder that everyone expected to be improved during negotiations with the Senate. (The Senates healthcare efforts now appear dead.) But the Richvale congressman, who represents Californias massive 1st Congressional District in the northeast corner of the state, said he will support only a new healthcare program that provides affordable coverage to middle-class Americans. LaMalfa said Obamacare is quickly become unaffordable and unsustainable, with premium costs rising and the number of insurance companies offering coverage declining. People across the board are being hurt by this, LaMalfa said. When shouts and boos rained down on him, he chastised the crowd saying, I have the mic folks. Yep, boo away. Ann Sisney of Chico told LaMalfa that her son, William, died of an opioid overdose two years ago. She held up a picture of the 19-year-old, asked the congressman to take it, and told him more people will die if GOP leadership in Congress gets its way on healthcare. These are life-and-death decisions that you are making, Sisney told him. LaMalfa assured her that Congress was working to find funds to address the nationwide opioid epidemic. The Republican congressman also raised the ire of the crowd when he was asked about climate change and the degraded air quality in this stretch of Northern California. I dont buy the idea that man-made activity is responsible, LaMalfa said bluntly. The crowd of several hundred did include some LaMalfa supporters, though most stayed silent. Ron Jones, 67, of Paradise said hes been to a few of LaMalfas town halls and all have been dominated by his critics. Most of the time people want to ... complain, said Jones, a self-described conservative, after the event ended. The people who support him are quietly in the background. LaMalfa does indeed have a lot of support in the district that also overwhelmingly voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in last years presidential election. LaMalfa won his last election by almost 15%, and though he has attracted a few Democratic challengers, the district is not considered a battleground for 2018. Unlike many California Republican members of Congress, LaMalfa hasnt shied away from holding town halls, though its rarely a pleasant experience for him. He held one in Nevada City in March and another in April in Oroville. No other California Republicans are scheduled to hold town halls during their August recess. Near the end of Mondays town hall, a woman criticized LaMalfa for inviting only Christian pastors to provide invocations at his town halls and other events, and urged him to include religious leaders of all faiths. If you want to have your own town hall, you can invite whoever you like, LaMalfa told her. President Trumps granting of a full pardon to former Sheriff Joe Arpaio was seen by many legal experts as a sign of what may come in the special counsels inquiry into Russias meddling in last years presidential race and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Trump has insisted the investigation led by former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is a witch hunt and should be shut down, the sooner the better. Some predict that the president will use his power to pardon anyone at any time for nearly any reason to make the investigation moot. Kim Jong Un was not the only leader testing his weapons last week, said Bill Yeomans, a veteran Justice Department lawyer now working with the liberal Alliance for Justice, referring to the North Korean leaders missile launch a day after Trump pardoned Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona. Advertisement Trump launched a warning pardon that announced the weaponization of the pardon power, Yeomans said. Trump insiders who might benefit include Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and anyone else targeted by Mueller. Former White House Counsel Bob Bauer agreed that the Arpaio pardon looked like a test run for shutting down the investigation. But a presidential pardon, sometimes described as a get-out-of-jail-free card, also comes with a lesser-known trade-off: Those receiving them are often no longer free to refuse to testify. So long as they face an indictment or fear of federal charges, defendants or targets of an investigation may invoke their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. The Constitution says no one shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. But when charges or potential charges are wiped away by a presidential decree, so too is the right to refuse to testify before a grand jury or before Congress about what they know. As the Supreme Court put it in 1895, If the witness has already received a pardon, he cannot longer set up his privilege, since he stands with respect to the offense as if it had never been committed, said University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck. Of course, that only works for federal offenses, Vladeck said. The president cant pardon offenses against state law, and so theoretically, someone like Flynn or Manafort could still argue that they have a 5th Amendment right based upon potential state law crimes. That would, no doubt, provoke some pretty major litigation. Still, the conflict between the presidents pardon power and a defendants right to remain silent could complicate any White House effort to thwart the investigation. Moreover, Trump could build a case of obstruction of justice against himself if he pardoned close associates who were under investigation. And the president could even unwittingly help Muellers team build a case against him. Freed from threat of prosecution and forced to testify, Trumps associates would face pressure to disclose everything they know, which could include damaging information about the president. This is difficult to game out, said Peter Zeidenberg, a Washington lawyer and former federal prosecutor. Yes, witnesses who have been pardoned would lose their 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and could therefore be forced to testify in the grand jury. If they lied, they would be subject to new charges of perjury or obstruction of justice. If they refused to testify, despite being granted immunity, they could be held in contempt. Of course, if that were to occur, Trump could just pardon them again. The bottom line is that if Trump is hell-bent on stymying this investigation by handing out pardons, he probably could do it, Zeidenberg said. Of course he would then potentially be exposing himself to impeachment for obstructing the investigation into his own conduct. Others said the presidents willingness to use the pardon power could be enough to prevent his associates from cooperating with prosecutors. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted that Trumps pardon of Arpaio sends [a] message to witnesses in Russia investigation to keep quiet, stay loyal & get pardon. The timing of pardons could be a critical factor. To be most effective, pardons should come late in the process, Yeomans said. For the defendant, each lie to a federal investigator, grand jury or congressional committee is a new crime. A presidential pardon for past offenses does not entitle anyone to break the law in the future. But Trump is not known for patience. He was not willing to wait months or years while Arpaio appealed his conviction for criminal contempt. He may be unable to control himself if it appears that indictments are imminent, particularly if they involve family, Yeomans said. It is possible that he might try to act earlier in the process in the hope of impeding the investigation. The scope of any pardon may also be important. If Trump granted a sweeping pardon that covered all possible federal crimes, the recipient would have a harder time trying to invoke his or her 5th Amendment rights than if Trump issued a narrower one, for a specific crime or indictment. A narrow or limited pardon may enable individuals to still refuse to testify by citing fear of other potential crimes that were not covered. Trumps ultimate pardon power may rest with a question the nation has not yet confronted: Can a president pardon himself or herself? Legal experts are divided, and the courts have not ruled. But the Constitution makes it clear that if a president is guilty of criminal conduct, the proper remedy is to seek his removal from office through impeachment. Decision time at the Supreme Court: A look at this terms rulings on religion, free speech and immigration david.savage@latimes.com Twitter: @DavidGSavage ALSO Disappointed and let down, disaffected Trump voters voice their dismay Trump launches push for tax overhaul with populist speech devoid of details Trump is ending restrictions that limit the military from giving surplus gear to police 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. The U.S. president and his defense secretary issued divergent comments Wednesday about how to respond to North Korea's advancing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis emphasized that the United States is "never out of diplomatic solutions" in dealing with North Korea. That comment was made after President Donald Trump said that "talking is not the answer." Mattis was responding to a question about Trump's tweet Wednesday morning on dealing with the threat of North Korea following its most recent ballistic missile test, in which a projectile flew high over Japan. "Talking is not the answer!" Trump tweeted, a day after he said that "all options are on the table" for dealing with Pyongyang. Some analysts are criticizing the divergence. "Aside from the fact that President Trump needs to get his facts straight -- talking has worked at times and not at others -- his administration needs to get its policies straight," Joel Wit, senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, told VOA. The Trump administration's "constant stream of contradictory statements is only confusing our allies and undermining our ability to effectively deal with this growing threat," said Wit, who coordinated a U.S. deal with North Korea in the mid-1990s to freeze its nuclear program. An arms control specialist who worked in the Clinton and Obama administrations, Gary Samore, said, "Trump is correct that our efforts to negotiate agreements with North Korea to resolve the problem, to end the North Korea nuclear program, haven't worked." Samore, of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, deemed it "unlikely in the future that a diplomatic agreement" would North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. But he agreed with Wit that "there is a danger of mixed messaging, because the U.S. government, I believe, is trying to find a way back to the bargaining table." A cavalcade of trucks and vans will depart Huntington Beach Monday night filled with donated goods for Houston hurricane victims. It will be led by Misty Blu and Candice Kay, two Huntington Beach residents who have been coordinating a donation effort throughout the city this week in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Blu said they thought up the idea of driving down donations during lunch a few days ago. The effort is personal for both women, who each have family in Texas. Since they began talking about the idea, several businesses have volunteered to become donation drop zones. Its ballooned into an incredible city-wide effort, Blu said. Donation sites keep popping up. As the amount of donations grew, Blu said a local man offered to store the items in his body shop. We are collecting anything and everything, because people have lost everything, Blu said. Aside from necessities like bottled water and toiletries, people are going to need phone chargers and products to keep them safe from the rampant mold left after flood water recedes, Blu said. The group is also raising money. Johnnys Saloon, a bar where Blu works, is donating funds from 50% of pizza sales and from the sale of hoodies and The Whisty, Blus signature drink. On Monday, about 20 cars will leave for Texas. Blu said some of the vehicles were donated. A Home Depot in Santa Ana donated a van and others are allowing the use of their trucks. Blu said theyll be stopping in Austin first, where many of the Houston evacuees are staying, then will proceed to other areas. Blu said theyre going to Texas so the donations get to the source, rather than being funneled through an agency like Red Cross. All donations must be received by 5 p.m. Sunday to make the trip, according to an online flier. For more information, visit unityimpact.org. Where to drop off items in H.B. Bee Hive: 6431 Edinger Ave. Crandalls Plumbing: 18291 Gothard St. Eat at Joes: 7120 Edinger Ave. Eds Stumble In: 8896 Warner Ave. HB Yoga Collective: 301 Main St. Johnnys Saloon: 17428 Beach Blvd. Kits Place: 19476 Beach Blvd. Mamas on 39: 21022 Beach Blvd. OConnells Sports Pub: 19047 Bushard St. Shanghaid Room: 16391 Beach Blvd. Surf City Accounting: 16162 Chipper Lane Surf Dog Grill: 5932 Warner Ave. Tattoo Gallery: 19921 Beach Blvd. Zachs: 405 Pacific Coast Hwy. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter:@benbrazilpilot Roux Creole Cuisine opened less than two weeks ago in Laguna Beach and it has already drawn repeat customers. On Wednesday, Laguna residents Jim and Dorothy Broersma made their second visit to Roux since it opened Aug. 22 at 860 Glenneyre St., the space Cafe Zoolu occupied for 24 years before Michael and Toni Leech, the husband-and-wife owners, decided to retire and close the restaurant in May 2016. The Broersmas said they were impressed with the catfish and salmon entrees they had on their first visit. We have been here [in Laguna Beach] for 20 years and tried every restaurant, Dorothy said. There is nothing like this in town. Michael Byrne, co-owner of The Saloon bar in Laguna, thought along similar lines as Dorothy in that Laguna could use a dose of hearty, Creole dishes like shrimp and grits and stuffed crab based on recipes steeped in a familys New Orleans roots. Chef Norm Theard was just the business partner Byrne sought as the two renovated the 1939 cottage to create an atmosphere akin to walking into a good friends house for dinner. Photos of Theards family and New Orleans landmarks adorn the walls, including one portrait of Theards mother, Yvonne, for whom the eponymous dish shrimp Yvonne is named. Theard spent many hours watching and helping his mother cook while growing up in Houston. His parents were born and raised in New Orleans, among a multi-generational line of family members who migrated to the city beginning in the 1800s. In an interview at Roux, Theard said his great-great grandmother, who grew up in Haiti, used Creole staples such as crawfish, oysters and okra and was later hired to cook for a New Orleans family. Our food has a little more finesse than Cajun, Theard said of Creole cuisine, which relies on myriad seasonings such as onion and garlic powders and cayenne pepper, and includes a lot of seafood. For shrimp Yvonne, shell-on shrimp are sauteed and served with a garlic- and thyme-infused sauce made with seafood stock and thickened with roux, an emulsion of butter and flour that forms the base of several classic French sauces. Theard serves bread on the side to sop up the sauce. It encapsulates a lot of the flavors my mom used to cook with, Theard said of the shrimp dish. Theard brings more than 20 years of experience in the food business. He began as an oyster shucker in college, progressed to line cook, and eventually earned a job as executive chef of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts in Culver City. He opened Creole Chef restaurant in Los Angeles in 2005, months before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The onslaught of post-Katrina news coverage helped put Creole Chef on the map and it stayed in business for five years, Theard said. Theard was running a catering company last year when his sister, Christine Theard, suggested he speak with Byrne, a Laguna Beach resident. Christine is Byrnes cardiologist. Byrne told her he wanted to open a Creole restaurant in Laguna and knew the Leeches were eyeing retirement, the Daily Pilot reported. She touted [Theard] to be an incredible Creole chef, Byrne said during an interview at Roux. I said, Cool. The two men spoke on the phone a couple of times and then met in person for dinner at Zoolu. I originally thought of doing consulting, Theard said. I was going to offer any advice I could. After we met, I saw the potential vibe in here. The restaurant can seat 39 customers and takes reservations. Theard does not have to go too far to get to work. He is currently living in an apartment above the restaurant. Diners can eat at the bar, watching sous chef Tyler Nix prepare dishes such as seafood gumbo, sauteed catfish topped with chunks of lump crab meat with a browned-butter sauce, or a garlic salad. For the salad, the cook lays sauteed eggplant slices on a bed of spinach, which is tossed with a garlic dressing. A melted slice of Brie cheese tops the salad, which is served with pickled corn and whole, roasted garlic cloves. Usually you dont see Brie on a salad, Dorothy Broersma said. It is kind of unique. Byrne said he hopes Roux becomes a reliable, neighborhood place that people walk to from nearby residential areas. This has been a 10-year dream for me, Byrne said. bryce.alderton@latimes.com Twitter: @AldertonBryce A lone, lit street lamp balanced in the middle of the ocean like a strange, surreal buoy. This solar-powered art installation, titled Seascape, to be created by Mexican artist Pablo Vargas Lugo, may be the highest profile piece in Laguna Art Museums upcoming program, Art & Nature. But the lamp which will operate day and night wont be the only thing worth checking out during the museums fifth annual celebration of art and the natural world. Running Nov. 2 to 5, Art & Nature will also feature concurrent Latin American and Latino-themed exhibitions inside the museum, as part of the Gettys extensive Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. The event will feature a keynote lecture by William Deverell, a respected historian of California and the American West; a free family festival on Nov. 5; and collaborations with local galleries to celebrate the intersections between nature and art. Malcolm Warner, the director of Laguna Art Museum, says his institution is uniquely situated to present such a program. Laguna Art Museum grew out of the Laguna Art Association, which was founded by landscape painters, Warner said. The artists came to Laguna Beach for obvious reasons, because of the beautiful scenery. Theres a long tradition of artists here being inspired by nature. Theres a thriving community of landscape painters around here. At the same time, the museum wants to bring 21st century sensibilities and issues surrounding art and nature into the galleries as well. I really believe that environmental concerns are now inspiring more artists than ever to engage with nature in more interesting and varied ways than ever, Warner said. The other thing for us its a very healthy and exciting thing for the museum to get outside of its own walls. Since its start in 2013, the Art & Nature program has inspired the museum to sponsor forward-thinking art from performance to installation and to extend outside its Cliff Drive confines and venture onto the beach, the bluffs and into the Pacific Ocean. Works by Phillip K. Smith, Lita Albuquerque and Laddie John Dill have attracted local and even some national attention. Weve had great response from the Laguna Beach community each time, and Id say its increasing interest from outside of Laguna Beach year by year, Warner said. The community of Laguna has taken notice. In 2014, Art & Nature won an Art Star Award for outstanding arts collaboration. The Laguna Beach Arts Alliance presented the award to recognize Laguna Art Museums outreach and partnership with various community organizations. Some highlights from this years Art & Nature program include: On Nov. 2, local galleries will feature nature-inspired exhibitions as part of the First Thursdays Art Walk in Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach High School also is reportedly working on an Art & Nature collaboration. On Nov. 3, Lugo will discuss his commissioned work, Seascape, at the museum. It will be on view through Dec. 2. On Nov. 4, curators Katherine Manthorne and Alberto Nulman Magidin will join Lugo and historian Steven Hackel to discuss California Mexicana: Land into Landscape. Warner will serve as moderator. On Nov. 4, Deverell will give the Art & Nature keynote lecture. On Nov. 5, the free family festival will include free admission and art, nature and science activities for visitors of all ages. For keynote speaker Deverell, tying the themes of art and nature together offers something of a challenge. Art and nature are gargantuan topics that allow us to speak very broadly to these topics, but also zero in on issues such as landscape, the political economy of grape and citrus industries, and stories that are familiar, said Deverell, a history professor at USC and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. He also authored well-received book Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past (2004). Certain themes in the art may look familiar, but once you start to try to connect these various works of art, you get into arenas that are more mysterious, or lesser known, Deverell said. The way that pieces of art can speak to one another across big swaths of time stitching those things together opens up new doors, or at least windows, Deverell said. For more information, visit lagunaartmuseum.org/artandnature/ RICHARD CHANG is a contributor to Times Community News. If you cant stand the heat, get out of the Southland for the Labor Day weekend. Because here are the three words you never want to hear if you live here: triple-digit heat. An excessive-heat warning will be in effect through Friday night, but the heat wave is likely to persist until the following Thursday, the L.A. Times Javier Panzar reported. Good news: You can run away from your problems. Here are our suggestions for cooling off during the coming days. San Francisco Keep your cool and get cool views of San Francisco on a ferry ride. (Andrew Doucette) (Andrew Doucette /) Youd expect us to say this, and we will, but its not quite the fog-shrouded chill-fest youre used to. Forecast highs: 86 on Friday, 82 on Saturday, 80 on Sunday, 77 on Monday, according to Weather.com. What to see and do: Do a carless road trip. San Francisco isnt a place youll want to be shackled to a car, and this article by L.A. Times reporter Christopher Reynolds offers a guide to forsaking the four wheels. Cool suggestion: Take a ferry ride anywhere. To see the possibilities, check out SFtodos website. Cheap way to get there: $82 round-trip on Greyhound. Trip length varies from about eight hours to more than 12, depending on departure times. Toronto, Canada Hop over to Toronto, Canada, and stop at Casa Loma, one of the citys greatest historical monuments. (Getty Images) Its sweater weather in Canadas metropolitan gem. Pack your passport and a light wrap. Forecast: Friday 64, Saturday 65, Sunday and Monday, 75. What to see and do: Hang out at one of the more than 700 patio restaurant/bars. Cool suggestion: Visiting Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. Its about a two-hour drive from Toronto or you can, yes, go Greyhound. Cheapest way to get there: Round trip on American for the last minute was running about $800. Dont forget your passport. Las Vegas Las Vegas has triple-digit heat but youll find chilly places to hang inside some Strip hotels. (Eric Lo / Getty Images) (Eric Lo / Getty Images) OK, not exactly chill city. But besides having a plethora of pools, one Vegas bar also has ice in its veins. Forecast: 104 on Friday, 105 on Saturday, 104 on Sunday and Monday. What to see and do: In Vegas, all the action is inside and air-conditioning is a given. Listen to some cool jazz at the Smith Performing Arts Center, where the Lon Bronson Band performs Saturday. Cool suggestion: Writer Jay Jones recommends these places to beat the heat, including the Arctic Ice Room at Caesars Qua Baths & Spa or Minus5 at the Mandalay Bay, the Venetian and the Monte Carlo, where everything is made of ice. Your time in the deep freeze comes with a parka and gloves (for a fee) and may include alcohol (for an additional fee). Cheapest way to get there: Probably driving, about 530 miles round trip. If your vehicle gets 30 mpg and you pay $3 a gallon ( AAA s current average for California), youll pay about $60. Carlsbad , Calif. You can camp and play at South Carlsbad State Beach. (Irene Lechowitzky) (Irene Lechowitzky /) This is a relatively inexpensive escape idea that is cooler than the forecast makes it appear. Forecast: 89 Friday, 86 Saturday, 86 Sunday, 85 Monday. What to see and do: You can camp at South Carlsbad State Beach for less than $60 a night. Why stay somewhere thats only marginally cooler than L.A.? Because the water temperature these days is in the 70s. And, says NASAs Earth Observatory: Where sea surface temperatures are cold, local air temperatures also tend to be cooler due to the surface winds dragging across the water. So there is something to the notion of an ocean breeze. Cool suggestion: Newly opened Park 101, according to writer Irene Lechowitzky, is an outdoor venue thats a cool place for drinks. Cheapest way to get there: Driving is cheap but taxing. Id take Amtrak, a two-hour ride that delivers you to Carlsbad village. Big Bear Lake, Calif. Sleep in the pines, swim in the lake at Big Bear Lake, Calif. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Of course were going to send you to the San Bernardino Mountains. Theyre at 6,750 feet, so natch, theyre not going to be hotter than the Southlands hell. Forecast: 78 on Friday, 80 on Saturday, 78 on Sunday, 79 on Monday. What to see and do: Heres the one-two punch of Big Bear: Its in the mountains and it also has water in the form of Big Bear Lake. Whew. Are you feeling cooler already? Cool to do: Remember that youre not the only one whos suffering the heat; so is your dog. Big Bear is dog friendly, according to dog owner and frequent Times Travel contributor Rosemary McClure. You can take the lake cruise on Saturdays and Sundays for $22 for adults ($20 for seniors and military, $12 for kids ages 3 to 12 and free for kids younger than 2) with your four-footed friend if he/she is well behaved. Info: Miss Liberty, (909) 866-8129 Cheapest way: If you have a motorcycle, the twisties are fun to drive and bikes get good mileage. For instance, a Yamaha V Star 1300, a cruiser, gets 78 mpg, according to Gas2. Your 200-mile round-trip (based on downtown L.A.), would cost you less than $8. Plus the added bonus of a bike youll feel at least 15 degrees cooler thanks to the wind that rushes toward you. The downside: probably not the best conveyance for your pooch. ALSO Warships and free concerts by Los Lobos, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue's Vince Neil coming to L.A. Fleet Week In San Francisco, you simply don't need a car on Market Street and the waterfront. In fact, you'll be happier without one Napa Valley tops this list of the 12 most romantic places to visit in America Want to see a tiger in the wild? Take this safari to India's national parks and reserves Age hardly matters when it comes to the fall lineup of Las Vegas concerts. Tickets go on sale Friday for Tony Bennetts next series of Sin City shows. Bennett, who turned 91 in early August, will perform six shows during November. The title of his newest production: Tony: The Best is Yet to Come. Hell be followed by a slew of performers in their 70s, including Diana Ross, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr. Advertisement Writing about Bennett teaming up with Lady Gaga, Gina Pell wrote on the Fast Company blog that labels such as millennials are becoming passe. She suggested perennials as a more inclusive phrase. We are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know whats happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages, Pell wrote. Its time to shake off the demographics and the stereotypes as you consider this partial lineup of fall shows in Vegas. The Beach Boys will perform Sept. 15 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. (Original member Mike Love leads the band with Grammy-winning songwriter Bruce Johnston and others. This tour doesnt feature Beach Boys Brian Wilson or Al Jardine.) Tickets start at $29. Tony Bennett will perform on selected dates between Nov. 1 and 11 at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Tickets from $65. Cher will play selected dates between Nov. 8 and 25 at the Park Theater at Monte Carlo. Tickets from $55. Bob Dylan and His Band play Oct. 14 at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan. Tickets from $39. Billy Idol will perform at the House of Blues in Las Vegas in October. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Billy Idol will play selected dates between Oct. 4 and 21 at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Tickets from $79.50. Lionel Richie will play selected dates between Nov, 29 and Dec. 16 at The Axis at Planet Hollywood. Tickets from $69. Diana Ross will be in concert on selected dates between Oct. 11 and 28 at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Tickets from $60.50. Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band will be at Planet Hollywood in October. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band will play selected dates between Oct. 13 and 28 at the PH Showroom at Planet Hollywood. Tickets from $69. Now, go dust off your old 45s if you know what those are -- and crank up the music. ALSO Fend off digital zombies and rogue robots in Las Vegas first free-roaming VR games Where to find real Hawaiian food in Vegas. Its so good, some call this the ninth island Vegas visitors can now use their electronic wallet to pay hotel bills or buy show tickets, but not for gambling travel@latimes.com @latimestravel The bodies of a deputy city marshal and his helper -- shot and killed by George Farley as they tried to serve an eviction notice on him -- lie in front of a barricaded home. They were Deputy Marshal T. Dwight Crittenden and Leon W. Romer, both 60. Farley, 55, was wounded five times and captured after police stormed the house. He was later convicted of two counts of manslaughter and ordered to serve 10 to 20 years in San Quentin State Prison. Advertisement These two photos ran in the Los Angeles Times on Feb. 18, 1938. No photographer was credited. When the top image took second place for news pictures in the 1939 Los Angeles Press Photographers Assn. contest, the photographer was identified as Times staffer J. H. McCrory. According to an April 21, 1939, L.A. Times article announcing the contest results, this photo, entitled Tragedy, was a remarkable shot taken at great personal risk during the siege of George Farley, who slew two deputy marshals as they tried to serve an eviction notice on him. The second image could also have been taken by McCrory, but there was at least one other photographer at the scene. Look at the man in the background on the left, holding what looks like a Speed Graphic. This post was originally published on March 14, 2011. See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here The United States flew some of its most advanced warplanes in bombing drills with ally South Korea on Thursday, a clear warning after North Korea launched a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear bombs over Japan this week, South Koreas military said. North Korea hates such displays of U.S. military might at close range and will likely respond with fury. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35 stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in live-fire exercises at a military field in eastern South Korea that simulated precision strikes against the Norths core facilities, an official from Seouls Defense Ministry said. The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35s came from a U.S. base in Iwakuni, Japan, the official said. He didnt want to be named, citing office rules. The North, which claims Washington has long threatened Pyongyang by flaunting the powerful U.S. nuclear arsenal, describes the long-range B-1Bs as nuclear strategic bombers although the United States no longer arms them with nuclear weapons. Advertisement The dueling military displays open up the risk that things will get worse as each side seeks to show it wont be intimidated. North Korea has made it clear that it sees its weapons program, which demands regular testing to perfect, as the only way to contest decades of U.S. hostility, by which it means the huge U.S. military presence in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific. Washington, in turn, seeks with its joint drills with Seoul and bomber flights to show that it will not be pushed from its traditional role of supremacy in the region. More missile tests, more bomber flyovers and three angry armies at the worlds most heavily armed border raise the possibility that a miscalculation could lead to real fighting. In Beijing, North Koreas ally China warned that war is not an option in finding a solution to Pyongyangs growing nuclear capabilities. Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Ren Guoqiang told reporters that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid words and actions that escalate tension. The bombing exercise came as the United States and South Korea wrapped up their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military drills that involved tens of thousands of soldiers. North Korea condemns the annual U.S.-South Korea war games as rehearsals for an invasion and described Tuesdays launch over Japan as a countermeasure against the drills. Washington and Seoul faced calls to postpone or downsize this years drills. The United States often sends its warplanes to South Korea, mostly for patrols, when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea on Tuesday flew a potentially nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over northern Japan and later called it a meaningful prelude to containing the U.S. territory of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch was a curtain-raiser of its resolute countermeasures against the U.S.-South Korea war games and called for his military to conduct more ballistic missile launches targeting the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has been maintaining a torrid pace in weapons tests this year as it openly pursues an arsenal of nuclear-armed, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into the U.S. mainland. Experts say Kim wants a real nuclear deterrent against the United States to ensure the survival of his government and likely believes that it will strengthen his negotiating position when North Korea returns to talks. Pyongyang had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam, which is home to key U.S. military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening. It also flight tested a pair of developmental ICBMs in July. South Korean analysts said the Norths threat against Guam and the launch over Japan on Tuesday are probably attempts to make launches over Japan an accepted norm and win itself greater military space in a region dominated by enemies. The U.S. and South Korean militaries say the Hwasong-12 that the North fired over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido flew about 1,677 miles. South Koreas Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk told lawmakers Thursday that the North might have fired the missile at about half its maximum range. ALSO U.S. officials condemn North Koreas missile launch over Japan In reversal of tradition, South Korean president unlikely to pardon Samsung scion Singapore has an idea to transform city life but there may be a privacy cost The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed that President Donald Trump's personal lawyer reached out to them during the 2016 presidential campaign, seeking help for a business project in Russia. In a statement to the House Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen said Monday the president's company pursued a project in Moscow during the Republican primary. He said the plan was abandoned for various reasons. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that they received Cohen's e-mail, which was sent to the press office's general e-mail address. Peskov said it was one of many e-mails the Kremlin press office gets -- since its e-mail address is available online -- and that the Kremlin did not reply to it. Cohen said he worked on the real estate proposal with Felix Sater, a Russia-born associate who he said claimed to have deep connections in Moscow. On the eve of the second round of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexican officials have publicly signaled a tougher negotiating stance in the face of renewed threats from President Trump to scrap the trade pact. In essence, Mexico appears to be calling Trumps bluff, calculating that a NAFTA withdrawal would likely trigger a backlash in the United States where agriculture and other key economic sectors benefit significantly from the accord. NAFTA has become highly politicized issue here as Trump has ramped up his attacks on the trade pact, which he has long assailed as a job-killing, factory-shuttering disaster for the U.S. Advertisement Were working right now on NAFTA, the horrible, terrible NAFTA deal that took so much business out of your state and out of your cities and towns, Trump told an audience Wednesday in Missouri. We gotta change this deal, Trump continued. And hopefully we can renegotiate it, and if we cant, well terminate it and well start all over again with a real deal. In response, Mexican leaders have upped the ante, indicating that the nation may have to contemplate what was once unthinkable life without NAFTA, which has been a cornerstone of Mexicos economic strategy since it took effect in 1994, strengthening the economic ties between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The government of Mexico is not going to litigate or negotiate any aspect of the bilateral relationship through the [press] or through social media, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray told reporters Wednesday during a trip to Washington. The position of the Mexican government is a serious position, its a professional stance based on the sovereignty of Mexico and the national interest. Asked if Mexico would remain in talks if Trump initiated the lengthy process to withdraw from NAFTA, the foreign secretary responded with an unequivocal no. The amping up of rhetoric on both sides suggests that the second five-day round of NAFTA renegotiations, scheduled to start Friday in Mexico City, could be far more contentious than the first round, which was held in Washington this month. Adding to an atmosphere of distrust is another controversy: Trumps continued insistence that Mexico will pay for his planned wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Both the wall and revamping or dumping NAFTA were among Trumps core campaign promises. When Trump attacked NAFTA and insisted that Mexico pay for the wall following his inauguration in January, the Mexican government of President Enrique Pena Nieto seemed stunned. Further attacks were met with measured discomfort. Its new, emboldened stance comes in part because fears of an economic collapse have ebbed as the Mexican peso has recovered from a steep slide widely linked to the Trump effect, the negative toll that new presidents perceived anti-Mexico agenda had on the Mexican currency. The perception here that Trumps domestic support is eroding may have also figured in Mexicos more robust response, analysts said . The governments position appears popular at home, where Pena Nieto is enduring feeble approval ratings and his ruling party is trailing in early surveys for next years presidential balloting. There are certain things that our government should not permit under any circumstances, among them that a foreign government tramples on our dignity and sovereignty, columnist Manuel J. Jauregui wrote Wednesday in Mexicos Reforma newspaper. Authorities here appear to view Trumps stepped-up NAFTA rhetoric more as a negotiating ploy and attempt to gain leverage than a serious move to abandon a trade scheme that has considerable support in farm states and other parts of Trumps political base. Washington is said to be seeking guarantees for a larger share of U.S.-made goods moved under NAFTA as part of a bid to reduce the more than $60-billion trade deficit with Mexico. If Trump were to withdraw from NAFTA, the process is long and opaque, starting with a requirement that he give six months notice in writing. He could also face challenges in the courts or from Congress. Close to 80% of Mexicos exports go to U.S., many with zero tariffs thanks to the favorable trade regime. Mexican Finance Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexicos chief negotiator, has said that the nation has to have a Plan B ready should NAFTA fall by the wayside. We also have to think about a scenario without NAFTA, the finance secretary told lawmakers this week. And this scenario without NAFTA, what does it mean? One cannot overstate it or underestimate it. A third round of NAFTA talks is slated for later in September in Canada. Negotiators have said they envision seven rounds of talks and hope to wrap up the matter by December. Mexico is keen to conclude before campaigning begins in earnest for presidential elections scheduled for July 2018. But many experts have expressed doubts that will happen. patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com twitter: @mcdneville --Cecilia Sanchez of the Times Mexico City Bureau contributed. ALSO Mexico says it wont renegotiate NAFTA with President Trump via Twitter If Trump pushes buy American in NAFTA talks, he may get more than he bargained for Any NAFTA revamp probably wont mess with the energy sector Chinese investors agree to pay $1.39bn for the Chaglla hydroelectric plant, capping a deal that took more than two years to complete, sources say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hailed his country's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile over Japan as a "good experience in... rocket operation for an actual war," according to the official [North] Korean Central News Agency Wednesday. North Korean state media published pictures of Kim watching the launch of the Hwasong-12 from Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on Tuesday. Kim is seen sitting and looking relaxed behind a desk on an airstrip with binoculars at his side. Calling the launch a "meaningful prelude to containing" the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, Kim added, "It is necessary to positively push forward the work... by conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future." He added the North will "continue to watch the U.S. demeanors as already declared and decide its future action according to them." Kim said the launch of the missile, which flew over northern Japan on the day that marks the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, was a bold mission to leave Japan "flabbergasted." But he did not mention South Korea in another indication that it is determined to sideline Seoul and only talk directly with the U.S. NBC Nightly News on Tuesday took viewers on a tour of an underground U.S. military command bunker in South Korea as tensions soared to new heights on the peninsula. It did not say where exactly the bunker is but said it is "under a mountain on the outskirts of Seoul." Based on that description, it appears to be TANGO, which is the joint South Korea-U.S. command facility. The network's foreign correspondent Richard Engel was taken on a guided tour of the bunker, which he describes as "a place of last resort." Inside the lair, South Korean and U.S. soldiers were busy at computer terminals and monitoring radar screens as part of ongoing computer-simulation drills. A Laois charity that helps Dublin's homeless faced unprecedented demand in August from people sleeping rough on the streets of the country's capital city. Volunteers from Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) travel regularly to Dublin with food for the people on the streets. While the capital was thronged with tourists from across the globe, the Laois charity was overwhelmed by the demand. "Never have we seen the streets so busy," said the charity on its Facebook page on August 19. "Even though tonight we had loads of extra buns,cakes and sweets , we got completely cleaned out in record time," said the post. Just over 10 days later on August 27 the situation had eased slightly. "Another night complete feeding our homeless friends living/sleeping on the streets of Dublin.Thankfully tonight was a little quieter than last week when it was extremely busier than our usual nights, but still coming home empty handed," said the post. The group reported that a lot of people sharing there stories with us as to how they ended up in this situation. "One lady told us how she tragically lost her daughter to suicide. Another man told us how he was trying to stay clean so he could see his daughter again. Our team of mostly ladies tonight commented on how many young girls and older men they encountered on there rounds tonight," said the post The volunteers came across someone who had overcome homelessness on their August 19 visit. "We heard a very encouraging story from a gentleman who has got himself back on the straight and narrow and turned his life around , got himself a job and a place to stay with the help of one of the national groups who help homeless people. "He looked remarkable and would easily blend in with all the shoppers and revellers on the streets. He reminded us of the times we helped him out, not about the food we gave him, but the likes of the toothpaste and toothbrush helped him keep a bit of his dignity.We wish him the best of luck in the future and he gives hope to others," he said. Electric Picnic campers can help. To find out how click here Arthritis Ireland is to run self-management courses in Clane. This course aims to help people living with arthritis, and will commence on 14 September at the Westgrove Hotel. Classes will run from 7pm to 9.30pm over six weeks and are led by two trained leaders. The course costs 32, with a discounted rate of 24 for medical card holders. To book a place visit the Arthritis Ireland website, www.arthritisireland.ie, or contact Svetlana on 01 647 0206 or email training@arthritisireland.ie. Meanwhile, there are a number of exercise activities taking place across the county. In Newbridge, there will be Beginners Seated Exercise classes for people with arthritis take place in the Daycare Centre every Monday at 11am sharp. Admission 5 In Kilcullen, Beginners Seated Exercise classes take place in Kilcullen Parish Centre every Tuesday at 10.30am sharp. Admission 5 Meanwhile, the same class are also being held in Suncroft Community Centre every Tuesday at 2.30pm sharp. Admission 5 Kildare Town is also hosting similar classes in Kildare Parish Centre every Wednesday at 9.30am sharp. Admission 5. Swim and Aqua exercise for people with arthritis is being held in the Westgrove Hotel on Wednesdays at 11am and 12noon on Fridays. Admission 5. The Gables Swimming Pool Aqua exercise class takes place in Newbridge for people with Arthritis on Wednesdays from 2pm to 3pm. Admission 5 In Celbridge, Warm Water pool, Swim & Aqua Classes for people with Arthritis takes place at St Raphaels Pool, Celbridge Every Wednesday:5pm-6pm. Cost 5 includes instruction and use of warm water pool. Newbridge Walking Group for People with Arthritis meet at Lumville House Car Park every Tuesday at 10.30am sharp for walk on the Curragh. Contact Johnny at 431399 or Claire at 433803 for further details. Wear comfortable clothing and footwear and bring rainproof gear! Maynooth Walking Group for People with Arthritis meet on Mondays at 12 noon at Maynooth Community Space (near Post Office) in Tesco Car Park Contact Michael at 0876622740 Athy Walking Group for People with Arthritis meet on Mondays at 2.30 at O Briens Emily Square. Phone Anne at0863091786 The anniversary of the death of Princess Diana will resonate in Rathangan - where an ancestor of hers was murdered more than two centuries back. The Princess of Wales died twenty years ago today along with Dodi Al Fayed and Henri Paul in a motor accident in Paris. The crash happened when the Mercedes car driven by Henri Paul hit a column within the Pont de lAlma tunnel in the French capital. Al Fayed and Paul were killed instantly while Diana died later in hospital. The tragedy provoked scenes of mass grief across the UK as well a raft of conspiracy theories. More than a million people lined the route for the funeral of Diana (36) from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997. A direct relative of Princess Diana lived in a large house on the outskirts of Rathangan (where the Spencer Court housing development, named after her family, is situated at Kildare Road). But which no longer exists. He was James Spencer, who was himself to meet a tragic end. James Spencer was a landlord, an agent for Duke of Leinster, who owned a good deal of land and property in Rathangan. He was murdered in his house by rebels during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which led to numerous bloody incidents across County Kildare, including Prosperous. Spencer was a reputedly a kindly landlord, though he was also a captain in the Yeomanry, a British Army reserve force who opposed and fought the rebellious United Irishmen. Spencer Bridge, which spans the Grand Canal near Mullantine on the Rathangan-Monasterevin Road, is named after the landlord. His links with Princess Di were confirmed in a letter written by her Lady-In-Waiting to a Rathangan resident some years ago. James Spencer was piked to death by rebels in his Rathangan home. Pikes were spear-type weapons fashioned by blacksmiths and, with muskets, were the weapons of choice in 1798. He was attacked as he came down the stairs and his final act was to leave a bloodstained print of his hand on the wall before he fell, mortally wounded. Legend has it that his bloodstained hand stayed there forever, until the house was eventually knocked down to make way for a new upmarket estate. And that a replica of his bloodied hand returned every time despite attempts to remove it by painting the wall, pasting up wallpaper or even replacing the bricks and plaster. Years later her butler Paul Butler, now 59, wrote A Royal Duty, a best selling book which dealt with his time working for Prince Charles and Lady Di. It was released in 2003. He spent much of his time writing the book in Naas, living in a rented house in Lakelands, an apartment at the Canal Harbour as well as at the Town House Hotel on Newbridge Road. He regularly visited local shops, including Super Valu at Fairgreen. He claimed she described him as "the only man she ever trusted." The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Wednesday dismissed tests carried out by a consumer group that showed Klean Nara's Lilian sanitary pads emitting large doses of volatile organic compounds. A ministry panel set up belatedly to test all sanitary pads available in Korea amid a growing contamination scare reviewed the result of a test carried out by Prof. Kang Man-goo at Kangwon National University for the Korean Women's Environmental Network. "There is lack of detailed records of the experimental method, and there was no peer review," the panel said in a statement. "Therefore we find it difficult to trust the result of the test from a scientific perspective. It is our view that the government or companies cannot take actions based on this alone." One member of the panel added that similar tests were carried out in other countries in 2014, but they proved impossible to verify and no action was taken. The panel consists of eight independent members including experts on toxins and epidemiology and consumer activists. I cant quite imagine Clifton Terrace without Linda What will we do without Linda? An utter legend Variants of the above have been said so many times in Scotland in recent weeks, ever since it was announced that our much-loved Party Manager Linda Wilson was leaving us. For the last 8 and a half years, Linda has been the heart and soul of our headquarters in Edinburgh, running the party with incredible efficiency, with a tremendous capacity to sort stuff out. Shes run our conferences so that they are enjoyable for media, members and exhibitors alike. Everyone who has anything to do with Conference or HQ has something nice to say about her. Apart from her ability to Get Stuff Done, she has a wicked sense of humour and has constantly made us laugh with her pithy observations about life and the universe. She has no reservations about telling people exactly what she thinks when they deserve to hear it. You have to wonder what George Clooney will do in the future if he ever has a random urge to go to Scottish Liberal Democrat conference. For the past 17 conferences, a badge has been printed for him on the off-chance that he might show up. Linda keeps a poster of him next to her desk. There was one federal leader who jokingly took great exception to the poster of Clooney next to Lindas desk being bigger than the one of him on the wall. In fact, when Clooney married, this leader made a point of seeking Linda out to tease her about it when he was on a visit to Scotland. Today, Christine Jardine MP presented Linda with cards signed by members from Caithness to the Borders and some vouchers which will keep her in haberdashery for a very long time. Linda leaves the Scottish Party with the affection and appreciation of its members and office bearers. We all wish her well for the future. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings BETWEEN 30 to 50 high end software jobs are to be created in the city after Limerick-based company Teckro raised further international funding. The life sciences technology company, which operates out of the Bank Building in the city centre, has secured financing of $10m about 8.4m it has announced. The investment follows an estimated $6m raised via a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund last year and the latest financing includes investors such as Bill Maris, founder of Section 32, a recently launched venture fund focused on frontier technology, who is founder and former CEO of Google Ventures. Teckro has developed a new software platform to streamline the process of clinical trials, and its digital platform is already driving increased speed and accuracy of clinical trials at thousands of research sites in over 30 countries. It already employs around 70 people at the Bank Building. Co-founded by brothers Gary and Nigel Hughes along with Jacek Skryzpiec, the Limerick tech company uses information retrieval and machine learning technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of trial conduct. Gary told the Limerick Leader: We have always been big believers in the potential of Limerick city centre which is why we set up here. I think this provides clear evidence that technology companies who choose to base themselves here can raise venture capital just as effectively as those located in Silicon Valley, he said. The financing was led by Sands Capital Ventures with participation from Maris Section 32 venture fund, Founders Fund and private investors. The company has raised $17.8 million to date. Teckros plans are ambitious and they come with a real passion for improving clinical research, said Gary. This investment reflects that ambition as we expand operations and customer footprint globally, continue to invest in our product and drive success for our customers. Teckro bought and refurbished the landmark Bank Bar building in the city to develop a world-class company, its founders previously told the Limerick Leader. The trio that founded Teckro previously co-founded Firecrest Clinical, which was acquired by global clinical research organisation ICON Plc in 2011. They have huge ambition for Teckro and passionately believe in the firm's city location, repeatedly stating an aim to create a world-class company based out of Limerick. JP McManus was once again a high profile presence as the third day of the An Bord Pleanala led hearing into Irish Cement's 10m plans for Mungret got underway this Thursday in Limerick. Sending out a clear message of concern over Irish Cement's plans to burn tyres and other waste for energy at their plant, billionaire JP McManus rallied a range of influential associates to attend the An Bord Pleanala hearing into the matter this week. The owner of Adare Manor - who also attended the first two days of the oral hearing - was joined in the South Court Hotel by former County State solicitor John Power from Kilmallock, Adare Manor chief executive Colm Hannon, director of business development at Adare Manor, Anita Higgins, former city council director of services Paul Foley (who now works for Mr McManus), All-Star Limerick hurler Pat Hartigan and Bryan Murphy of the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, on the opening day of the meeting on Tuesday. Mr McManus, who had jetted in from Geneva to hear submissions regarding the plans by Irish Cement, was seated beside the influential business people as well as his daughter Sue Ann for the opening day of the hearing. I'm concerned. Beginning and end, JP McManus said as he made his way into the hotel where in the region of 100 people gathered for the oral hearing. Politicians from all parties were also out in force and many of them took the opportunity to voice their concerns while the hearing was also attended by local business people and educationalists as well as objectors, including Limerick Against Pollution (LAP). Attending for a third day this Thursday, Mr McManus was joined at the South Court by Deputy Willie O'Dea, Senator Kieran O'donnell, metropolitan mayor Sean Lynch and a number of local councillors as interest in the oral hearing showed no sign of letting up. Former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain Paul O'Connell was another high-profile presence at the third day of the oral hearing. Dressed casually in a navy jumper and a grey collared shirt, he strode purposefully into conference room two of the South Court Hotel at around 11am, and sat down next to JP McManus. Also present in support of the group opposed to Irish Cements proposals to burn waste and tyres was high-profile businesswoman Helen ODonnell, while students from Laurel Hill secondary school were also present to witness the hearing. It comes as a scientific expert added his voice to criticisms of Irish Cements environmental impact statement (EIS). Dr Gordon Reid, who has 30 years experience in physiological research and teaching, appeared for Limerick Against Pollution (LAP), and followed in the footsteps of one of their previous witnesses, Dr Paul Connett, in criticising the data Irish Cement has provided in regard of dioxin levels. There was a lack of input data made available for showing what the daily intake rates of milk, meat, vegetables were set at and what these were based on ... the lack of model input and output files and the parameters used to populate the model means that a complete review of the modelling study submitted is not possible," he told the hearing. It is hard to see how a proper environmental impact assessment as defined by the Directive would be possible based on this report. Meanwhile, Clare Keating, who was speaking for the residents association based at Sli na Manach, the nearest estate to Mungret Cement, called for the company to look at a new model of producing the material. She said: If they are serious and genuinely concerned about making this change to their fuel source for the betterment of the environment, why not utilise the gas pipeline adjacent to their plant? This would be an obvious soolution which it seems they have not even considered. Their 'solution' [to burn tyres and waste] is a short term one, as tougher environmental regulations and enforcement will increase their costs in the long term. Irish Cement representatives are expected to answer comments from Dr Reidy, and another LAP-appointed environmental consultant Jack O'Sullivan later today. The oral hearing, before inspector Michael Dillon, continues. SUBMISSIONS continued this Thursday afternoon at a planning hearing in Limerick into proposals by Irish Cement to burn alternative fuels such as waste in Mungret. Members of Limerick Against Pollution have also been asking questions of council planners over their decision to give Irish Cement the go-ahead for its controversial plans to develop. The anti-pollution lobby referred to articles on Limerick as one of the fastest growing cities in Europe under its 2030 plans. Senior council planner Stephane Duclot was asked how the planning application for the factory impacts these multi-million euro proposals. Mr Duclot says after looking at zoning, physical planning and city and county development plans, he was satisfied with the zoning of the plant for the application and a number of conditions were attached to the decision. Speaking earlier in the afternoon session, testimony from 84-year-old Rosbrien resident Elsie McGee against Irish Cement's plans was read out. I worry about my children's health, but more realistically about my grandchildren's health if this licence were to be granted. I have learnt that life is precious and should be valued above all else. I have seen too many mistakes made with big consequences. Surely it is everyone's right to clean air, a safe unpolluted environment and to protect our generations to come, her testimony read. Independent City West councillor John Loftus warned Irish Cement bosses that its plans must be written in stone to avoid any confusion. Cllr Loftus, a former engineer, said: One concern I would have is if industrial waste is going to be used. I also have questions around the filtration systems. I have been told the fact the process is taking place at 1,400 degrees will destroy dioxins and furans. But the problem is if this is not maintained. He also expressed scepticism of the job the Environmental Protection Agency is doing. Members of Limerick Against Pollution continued to ask questions of council planners into this evening. The hearing, before Ann Bord Pleanala inspector Michael Dillon continues. May 2, 2021, 10 PM Tip of the Week By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller The last of the Ottoman Empires European possessions, Albania entered independence in 1912 poor, backward, tribal, and underdeveloped. After a brief period of progress under President Zogu (later King Zog), the Italians invaded in 1939 and things went downhill from there. After the Italian surrender in 1943, came the Nazis. And then the country was liberated by the Communists in 1944. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter From 1944 to 1991 Albania suffered under one of the most repressive totalitarian police states in history. And during that period, it issued a lot of stamps that were canceled to order and sold in bulk to packet makers. There arent a great many Albania collectors in the United States. However, since the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, Albania has issued some stamps with topical appeal in relatively low quantities. A good one to look for is the 2007 miniature sheet of 12 Albanian Flag stamps (Scott 2796). The study of flags is known as vexillology, and this sheet is popular and in demand with flag stamp topical collectors. The 2018 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue values the sheet in mint never-hinged condition and used condition at $100. That is a bit high, but if you find it offered in the $60-to-$80 price range, it is a good buy in mint never-hinged condition. Pressemitteilung: Silvia Kuhn startet YouTube-Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi Die Tochter der Honorarberater und Stiftung Warentest Autoren Stefanie und Markus Kuhn startete Mitte Mai mit ihrem neuen YouTube Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi. Ziel ist es, jungen Menschen alles Wissenswerte rund um Geld und Finanzen auf einfache Art und Weise nahe zu bringen. Die Idee zu einem YouTube Kanal ist aus einem Schulerpraktikum in 2019 entstanden. Silvia Kuhn hat [mehr] Die Tochter der Honorarberater und Stiftung Warentest Autoren Stefanie und Markus Kuhn startete Mitte Mai mit ihrem neuen YouTube Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi. Ziel ist es, jungen Menschen alles Wissenswerte rund um Geld und Finanzen auf einfache Art und Weise nahe zu bringen. Die Idee zu einem YouTube Kanal ist aus einem Schulerpraktikum in 2019 entstanden. Silvia Kuhn hat Pressemitteilung: Buntes Wachstum: Ceresana untersucht den Markt fur Farben Farben und Lacke verschonern nicht nur, sie konnen auch schutzen. Die Wande von Krankenhausern zum Beispiel werden zunehmend mit antibakteriellen Eigenschaften versehen. Hauchdunne, aber sehr haltbare Lackschichten bewahren Fahrzeuge vor Rost. Ceresana hat bereits zum vierten Mal den gesamten europaischen Markt fur Farben und Lacke untersucht: Im Jahr 2019 wurden 9,1 Millionen Tonnen dieser Beschichtungen verbraucht. Farbenfrohe Hauser und Autos Bautenfarben sind [mehr] Farben und Lacke verschonern nicht nur, sie konnen auch schutzen. Die Wande von Krankenhausern zum Beispiel werden zunehmend mit antibakteriellen Eigenschaften versehen. Hauchdunne, aber sehr haltbare Lackschichten bewahren Fahrzeuge vor Rost. Ceresana hat bereits zum vierten Mal den gesamten europaischen Markt fur Farben und Lacke untersucht: Im Jahr 2019 wurden 9,1 Millionen Tonnen dieser Beschichtungen verbraucht. Farbenfrohe Hauser und Autos Bautenfarben sind Pressemitteilung: Altlasten 2.067 Mrd. Euro - Krisensubvention 1.000 Mrd. Euro Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Lehrte 29.05.2020 In Deutschland wurden in den letzten 50 Jahren 25 Steuerarten [mehr] Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Lehrte 29.05.2020 In Deutschland wurden in den letzten 50 Jahren 25 Steuerarten Pressemitteilung: 16. Juni und 18. Juni um 15 Uhr CEST europaischer Zeit Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur den europaischen Markt. Hier geht es um die Themen Konnektivitat von Elektrofahrzeugen sowie Landfahrzeugplattformen in Kombination mit Software-Systemen und DDS. Sie finden zu europaischer Zeit um 15 Uhr CEST statt und sind im Anschluss on Demand verfugbar. Sunnyvale (USA)/Munchen, Mai 2020 - Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur [mehr] Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur den europaischen Markt. Hier geht es um die Themen Konnektivitat von Elektrofahrzeugen sowie Landfahrzeugplattformen in Kombination mit Software-Systemen und DDS. Sie finden zu europaischer Zeit um 15 Uhr CEST statt und sind im Anschluss on Demand verfugbar. Sunnyvale (USA)/Munchen, Mai 2020 - Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur Pressemitteilung: [mehr] MCM Investor: Wohnen in Deutschland bis 2060 teuer Laut einer aktuellen Untersuchung der Universitat Freiburg wird das Wohnen bis 2060 vorrausichtlich. Magdeburg, 28.05.2020. In dieser Woche analysiert die MCM Investor Management AG aus Magdeburg eine aktuelle Untersuchung der Uni Freiburg uber die zukunftige Entwicklung des deutschen Immobilienmarktes. Demnach gehe die Bevolkerungszahl hierzulande zwar tendenziell zuruck, die Nachfrage nach Wohnraum steige aber weiter an. In der Studie geht Pressemitteilung: Latest in Electronic Test & Measurement Equipment MICHIGAN - May, 2020 - An international provider of electronic test and measurement equipment, AAATesters has announced that it now offers the INNO View 500 SM Fiber Optic OTDR w/ V20 Fiberscope (https://www.aaatesters.com/Inno_View_500_OTDR_Model_View500_Inno_500_1.html). This new addition to AAATesters expanding inventory of electronic test and measurement equipment, will assist consumers save time and money with greater testing proficiency and success. AAA [mehr] MICHIGAN - May, 2020 - An international provider of electronic test and measurement equipment, AAATesters has announced that it now offers the INNO View 500 SM Fiber Optic OTDR w/ V20 Fiberscope (https://www.aaatesters.com/Inno_View_500_OTDR_Model_View500_Inno_500_1.html). This new addition to AAATesters expanding inventory of electronic test and measurement equipment, will assist consumers save time and money with greater testing proficiency and success. AAA Pressemitteilung: Thomas May ist neuer Chefredakteur fur Perfect Eagle Thomas May ubernimmt mit 1. Juni 2020 die redaktionelle Leitung der fuhrenden multimedialen Golf-Lifestyle-Plattform im deutschsprachigen Raum. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank: Mato Johannik https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/Es4aLP2m5bhHtlEPowWj1SEB5hhgDDEv96D9i9Z_Ok9ajA?e=Xi0L1x Wien (LCG) Perfect Eagle hat heuer allen Grund zum Feiern. Nachdem das Golf-Lifestyle-Magazin mit der Marz-Ausgabe seine erste Dekade feierte, begrut Herausgeber Thomas Wasserburger nun Thomas May als neuen Chefredakteur fur das multimediale Golf- [mehr] Thomas May ubernimmt mit 1. Juni 2020 die redaktionelle Leitung der fuhrenden multimedialen Golf-Lifestyle-Plattform im deutschsprachigen Raum. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank: Mato Johannik https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/Es4aLP2m5bhHtlEPowWj1SEB5hhgDDEv96D9i9Z_Ok9ajA?e=Xi0L1x Wien (LCG) Perfect Eagle hat heuer allen Grund zum Feiern. Nachdem das Golf-Lifestyle-Magazin mit der Marz-Ausgabe seine erste Dekade feierte, begrut Herausgeber Thomas Wasserburger nun Thomas May als neuen Chefredakteur fur das multimediale Golf- Pressemitteilung: Frische fur den Sommer mit UNIKA Kalksandstein Frische fur den Sommer mit UNIKA KalksandsteinFur die einen ist es eine Wohltat, fur die anderen eine Herausforderung: sommerliche Warme. Keine Frage, Menschen lieben die Sonne. Aber nicht jeder mag hohe Temperaturen, schon gar nicht in den eigenen vier Wanden. ... Fur die einen ist es eine Wohltat, fur die anderen eine Herausforderung: sommerliche Warme. Keine Frage, Menschen lieben die [mehr] Frische fur den Sommer mit UNIKA KalksandsteinFur die einen ist es eine Wohltat, fur die anderen eine Herausforderung: sommerliche Warme. Keine Frage, Menschen lieben die Sonne. Aber nicht jeder mag hohe Temperaturen, schon gar nicht in den eigenen vier Wanden. ... Fur die einen ist es eine Wohltat, fur die anderen eine Herausforderung: sommerliche Warme. Keine Frage, Menschen lieben die Pressemitteilung: [mehr] Humor und Lachen - ein ernstes Thema Humor und Corona Rechtzeitig zu einer Zeit, in der vielen das Lachen vergangen ist, mit oder ohne Corona, erscheint das 14. Buch von Jurgen W. Goldfu. Wahrend sich die bisherigen Werke des Autors mit Themen der Fuhrung (von sich und anderen) sowie Wirtschaftsthemen beschaftigten, geht es nun ums Lachen, die Welt und sich selbst mit lachenden Augen zu betrachten. Auf Pressemitteilung: ...einfach, schnell und effizient ...einfach, schnell und effizientUberall da verkaufen, wo die Kunden sind, ist das Ziel aller Handler. plentymarkets bietet als Softwarehersteller eine E-Commerce-Losung, die genau diese Philosophie im Markenkern tragt. ... Uberall da verkaufen, wo die Kunden sind, ist das Ziel aller Handler. plentymarkets bietet als Softwarehersteller eine E-Commerce-Losung, die genau diese Philosophie im Markenkern tragt. Eine, die alle relevanten Marktplatze unterstutzt [mehr] ...einfach, schnell und effizientUberall da verkaufen, wo die Kunden sind, ist das Ziel aller Handler. plentymarkets bietet als Softwarehersteller eine E-Commerce-Losung, die genau diese Philosophie im Markenkern tragt. ... Uberall da verkaufen, wo die Kunden sind, ist das Ziel aller Handler. plentymarkets bietet als Softwarehersteller eine E-Commerce-Losung, die genau diese Philosophie im Markenkern tragt. Eine, die alle relevanten Marktplatze unterstutzt Pressemitteilung: [mehr] Neuer Corona-Mitarbeiterschutz - digitaler Abstandshalter Auch nach den Lockerungen beeinflusst die Corona-Pandemie die Weltwirtschaft tiefgreifend. Die Betriebe sollen wieder sicher anlaufen. Die Schlusselrolle spielen dabei die Einhaltung der Hygieneregeln und des Mindestabstands fur Mitarbeitende. Auch nach den Lockerungen beeinflusst die Corona-Pandemie die Weltwirtschaft tiefgreifend. Die Betriebe sollen wieder sicher anlaufen. Die Schlusselrolle spielen dabei die Einhaltung der Hygieneregeln und des Mindestabstands fur Mitarbeitende. Dazu Pressemitteilung: HUP aktiviert neuen Geschaftsbereich ready2boxx my-buddy-app die HUP Reminder App. Schutzt vor Verlust des iPhones. Mit den ersehnten Lockerungsmanahmen rund um die Coronavirus-Pandemie steigt ein ganz anderes Risiko: der Verlust des iPhones auf Geschaftsreise, beim Einkauf oder etwa dem Besuch von Oma und Opa. Einfach, weil man das mittlerweile nahezu unverzichtbare Device schlicht und einfach liegen lasst. Das Braunschweiger Software-Entwicklungsunternehmen HUP hat fur Apple [mehr] my-buddy-app die HUP Reminder App. Schutzt vor Verlust des iPhones. Mit den ersehnten Lockerungsmanahmen rund um die Coronavirus-Pandemie steigt ein ganz anderes Risiko: der Verlust des iPhones auf Geschaftsreise, beim Einkauf oder etwa dem Besuch von Oma und Opa. Einfach, weil man das mittlerweile nahezu unverzichtbare Device schlicht und einfach liegen lasst. Das Braunschweiger Software-Entwicklungsunternehmen HUP hat fur Apple Pressemitteilung: Das Lernen, wie wir es kennen, andert sich immer mehr. Online ist die neue Ara der Weiterbildung, die Freude macht und die viel leichter in den eigenen Lebens-Zyklus integrierbar ist! Ayurveda-Seminare und Ayurveda-Ausbildungen fordern ein gesundes Leben und geben viel Sinn-Erfullung. Viele Menschen sind wissbegieriger geworden und wollen ihr volles Potenzial durch Bewusstseinsveranderungen ausschopfen. Durch die digitale Welt ist es einfacher und schneller denn je geworden an Informationen zu kommen. Ich stelle [mehr] Online ist die neue Ara der Weiterbildung, die Freude macht und die viel leichter in den eigenen Lebens-Zyklus integrierbar ist! Ayurveda-Seminare und Ayurveda-Ausbildungen fordern ein gesundes Leben und geben viel Sinn-Erfullung. Viele Menschen sind wissbegieriger geworden und wollen ihr volles Potenzial durch Bewusstseinsveranderungen ausschopfen. Durch die digitale Welt ist es einfacher und schneller denn je geworden an Informationen zu kommen. Ich stelle Pressemitteilung: [mehr] Gasnetz Hamburg pruft monatlich 1.200 Hausanschlusse Arbeiten unter umfassenden Schutzmanahmen Haushalte erhalten detaillierte Informationen zum Corona-Schutz Sichere Gasanschlusse stehen im Mittelpunkt Hamburg. Ab sofort klingelt an vielen Hamburger Hausturen wieder der Gasanlagen-Prufer. Die turnusgemae Inspektion der Anschlusse in Kellern oder Wirtschaftsraumen von Ein- und Mehrfamilienhausern ist alle zwolf Jahre vorgeschrieben. Seit Marz hatte Gasnetz Hamburg die Hausbesuche unterbrochen. Nun schickt das Unternehmen wieder seine Fachleute zu den Anschlusskunden Pressemitteilung: Wie COVID-19 unsere Kommunikation verandert Sprachexpertin Tatjana Lackner von Die Schule des Sprechens analysiert, wie sich das Kommunikationsverhalten in der COVID-19-Zeit verandert und welche Kommunikations-Trends daraus entstehen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EuP2VeRtjsdPpxlLUzBimIsB-GcG-m5aFr4de0hEQ_WCPw?e=s2GwN1 Wien (LCG) Die Manahmen zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung verandern durch Physical Distancing und zahlreiche neue Verhaltensregeln den personlichen Umgang miteinander. Korpersprache, Social Codes und Rituale bekommen eine wichtig Bedeutung in der neuen [mehr] Sprachexpertin Tatjana Lackner von Die Schule des Sprechens analysiert, wie sich das Kommunikationsverhalten in der COVID-19-Zeit verandert und welche Kommunikations-Trends daraus entstehen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EuP2VeRtjsdPpxlLUzBimIsB-GcG-m5aFr4de0hEQ_WCPw?e=s2GwN1 Wien (LCG) Die Manahmen zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung verandern durch Physical Distancing und zahlreiche neue Verhaltensregeln den personlichen Umgang miteinander. Korpersprache, Social Codes und Rituale bekommen eine wichtig Bedeutung in der neuen Pressemitteilung: Facebook diskutiert Strategie in der COVID-19-Pandemie Beim Moving Forward-Round-Table sprechen Facebook-Manager uber die Zusammenarbeit mit der WHO, die Intensivnutzung in Italien und andere Strategien gegen Falschmeldungen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank: JMC https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EsGAMdDUM2lNt4Jo2RfF_R4BhwzfZ8LXK305xeAAjGcAdw?e=EyC94A Video zur Meldung auf Facebook https://www.facebook.com/movingforwardconference/videos/973105823109354 Dublin/Wien (LCG) Die Verbreitungsgeschwindigkeit der sozialen Medien war in den letzten Wochen essenziell, um Informationen zu COVID-19 zu streuen. Auch Fake News fanden in diesem Umfeld einen fruchtbaren [mehr] Beim Moving Forward-Round-Table sprechen Facebook-Manager uber die Zusammenarbeit mit der WHO, die Intensivnutzung in Italien und andere Strategien gegen Falschmeldungen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank: JMC https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EsGAMdDUM2lNt4Jo2RfF_R4BhwzfZ8LXK305xeAAjGcAdw?e=EyC94A Video zur Meldung auf Facebook https://www.facebook.com/movingforwardconference/videos/973105823109354 Dublin/Wien (LCG) Die Verbreitungsgeschwindigkeit der sozialen Medien war in den letzten Wochen essenziell, um Informationen zu COVID-19 zu streuen. Auch Fake News fanden in diesem Umfeld einen fruchtbaren Pressemitteilung: Musikfestival Steyr: Kulturgenuss trotz Pandemie Als kultureller Impulsgeber fur die Region ermoglicht das Musikfestival Steyr auch heuer Kulturgenuss und wartet mit einem neuen Programm auf. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EnbiYHVH3KNOg_ZakCqco3wBz529TPFExmEgRThtSEHHQA?e=fAzk1G Steyr (LCG) In den vergangenen Wochen und Monaten haben die Manahmen der osterreichischen Bundesregierung zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung die Kulturnation Osterreich in einen regelrechten Stillstand versetzt. Seit Anfang Mai 2020 setzt die neue Normalitat [mehr] Als kultureller Impulsgeber fur die Region ermoglicht das Musikfestival Steyr auch heuer Kulturgenuss und wartet mit einem neuen Programm auf. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EnbiYHVH3KNOg_ZakCqco3wBz529TPFExmEgRThtSEHHQA?e=fAzk1G Steyr (LCG) In den vergangenen Wochen und Monaten haben die Manahmen der osterreichischen Bundesregierung zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung die Kulturnation Osterreich in einen regelrechten Stillstand versetzt. Seit Anfang Mai 2020 setzt die neue Normalitat Pressemitteilung: OstseeResort Olpenitz bei Kappeln/ Schlei Private Vermietung von ausgefallenen Ferienobjekten an der Ostsee - "Nie mitten drin, aber immer ganz nah dran!" ist hierbei die Devise. Auch wenn die Corona-Pandemie Urlaub und Ferienvermietung weltweit lahm gelegt hat das Leben im OstseeResort Olpenitz ist trotzdem weitergegangen, und Ferienobjekte in diesem neuen Ferienresort bei Kappeln/ Schlei verkaufen sich weiterhin gut. Oder aber jetzt erst Recht? Das [mehr] Private Vermietung von ausgefallenen Ferienobjekten an der Ostsee - "Nie mitten drin, aber immer ganz nah dran!" ist hierbei die Devise. Auch wenn die Corona-Pandemie Urlaub und Ferienvermietung weltweit lahm gelegt hat das Leben im OstseeResort Olpenitz ist trotzdem weitergegangen, und Ferienobjekte in diesem neuen Ferienresort bei Kappeln/ Schlei verkaufen sich weiterhin gut. Oder aber jetzt erst Recht? Das Pressemitteilung: Gut vernetzt: Ceresana-Report zum Markt fur Kunststoff-Rohre Die Nachfrage nach Kunststoffrohren steigt in vielen europaischen Landern. Besonders in Ballungsraumen werden derzeit neue Wohnungen gebaut. Allerdings boomt die Bauwirtschaft nicht uberall: Ausgelastete Kapazitaten, steigende Preise, Fachkraftemangel, fehlendes Bauland und zunehmende wirtschaftliche Unsicherheit bremsen die Dynamik. Dabei konnen sich Hochbau, Tiefbau und Infrastrukturbau sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln: Die verschiedenen Bausegmente sind in hohem Mae von den offentlichen Investitionen im jeweiligen [mehr] Die Nachfrage nach Kunststoffrohren steigt in vielen europaischen Landern. Besonders in Ballungsraumen werden derzeit neue Wohnungen gebaut. Allerdings boomt die Bauwirtschaft nicht uberall: Ausgelastete Kapazitaten, steigende Preise, Fachkraftemangel, fehlendes Bauland und zunehmende wirtschaftliche Unsicherheit bremsen die Dynamik. Dabei konnen sich Hochbau, Tiefbau und Infrastrukturbau sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln: Die verschiedenen Bausegmente sind in hohem Mae von den offentlichen Investitionen im jeweiligen We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more In defence of the laugh-track Modern television comedies have foregone the need to tell audiences when to laugh, but this may not necessarily be a good thing /news/talking-point/in-defence-of-the-laughtrack-111646983598390.html 111646983598390 story The best feature Ive ever encountered on any DVD has been the option to turn the laugh-track off on the M*A*S*H discs. Without question one of the greatest television shows of all time, Larry Gelbarts far removed adaptation of the raucous Richard Hooker novel about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is a touching, hilarious and existential look at the horrors of war. War, what is it good for? Despite the home-made gin conjured up by Captain Hawkeye Pierce in his army tent, not very much at all. Turning off the laugh-track shakes off the pretence that M*A*S*H is about the gagswhich shine by themselvesand the result packs more of an emotional wallop than ever. Watch that classic season 1 episode, Dear Dad, where Pierce writes to his father while trying to make sense of the tumult around him, and it plays out like a stirring and highly cinematic drama. I have, like most of us, grown rather wary of background laughter, andnow that it only remains on tired sitcoms like The Big Bang Theoryam glad weve moved on from shows with laughs after the jokes. The other day, Cheers changed all that. During Endless Slumper, a sensational season 1 episode about the bar where everybody knows your name, mailman Cliff Clavin asks Sam Malone, bartender and former alcoholic and the shows leading man, to show a sceptical drinker Malones famous bar slide". Sam, played by a ludicrously cool Ted Danson, clears up room on the bars counter and, with curveball precision, slides over the beer, which slides around the counter in an arc to reach Clavin. It is a fantastic, physics-defying sleight of beer, and is made unforgettable by the way the studio audience treats it, whooping with unexpected exuberance as if they just saw a chess player score a free kick. A few episodes later, Sams exasperating love interest, Diane Chambersplayed by the irrepressible Shelley Longfinds herself entered in a pageant to find Bostons best barmaid. It is against her very principles to see women being objectified and judged in Neanderthal competition, and after realizing the winner will get to give a speech, she decides not only to stay in the competition but to win so she can earn herself a pulpit. She does win, of course, and as she prepares to eviscerate the people applauding her, the host keeps interrupting to hand her prizes. She matter-of-factly bats them aside until he mentions two tickets to Bermuda. This is the first time, 18 episodes into the show, that we see Dianes polished coolness vanish without warning. Like a girl who has always dreamt of an island, she squeals in frenzied ecstasy, hugging everyone in sight and jumping up and down. It is a superb tonal shift, and, again, hearing the audience flip for it makes it immortal. (Speaking of the absolutely immortal, please get hold of the discs and watch Cheers from beginning to end, if you havent already. Im only properly knee-deep in it now after all these years, and cant kick myself hard enough. It may be from the early 1980s, but it remains an exquisite sitcom, one that has aged even more impressively than other greats like Seinfeld). The reason this workedand that Seinfeld episodes were forced to pause to allow the cheering and applause to die down every time the popular Kramer sprang out of a dooris because the laughter we hear on those shows is nothing like the canned laughter demonstrated so memorably in Annie Hall which showed how, with the flick of a switch, a chuckle becomes a guffaw. These, on the other hand, are shows filmed before a live studio audience, performed, for the most part, on sets. They are quite like theatre productions, but with the benefit of multiple takes. The fact that they pull off the seamless laughs they do is, frankly, awe-inspiring. Watching a great show filmed before an actual audience is akin to seeing the taping of a master stand-up comic. Some jokes earn warm chuckles, some bring the house down, and some only make their impact a few seconds later, when it becomes clear just how subversive or audacious they are. These are real laughs, and while they might not be entirely in sync with ours, they do indeed make viewing feel like a shared, communal experience where you and I are merely a couple of the people laughing. With that comes comfort, and comedy that feels warmer. Not that I wish Silicon Valley was filmed in front of a crowd, thank you very much. I have a sinking feeling that wethe jaded and the bittermay not be as generous and as unmasked with our laughs as the crowds of old. Its not just the shows. They dont make us like they used to. Stream of Stories is a column on what to watch online. The writer tweets at @rajasen This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN -- Texans are reporting hundreds of cases of fraud, price gouging and scams in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The Texas Attorney General has received over 680 complaints as of Wednesday morning from people who say businesses are inflating gas and water prices. On Monday afternoon, someone reported a Houston convenience store charged $20 per gallon of gas, according to Kayleigh Lovvorn, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Ken Paxton's office. After a state disaster has been declared, as Governor Greg Abbott did last Thursday, Texas law prohibits selling essentials such as fuel, food, medicine and other necessities at an "exorbitant or excessive price." It also applies to services like towing. ROLLING UPDATES: As Houston dries out, rescues and recovery continue On Wednesday, Abbott told businesses to think twice before thinking of gouging prices because they "could be put out of businesses" by the Attorney General if they engage in price gouging. "Its un-Texan, and we will not tolerate it," Abbott said. Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, price gouging can carry civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation and up to $250,000 per violation for victims over 65 years old. Other complaints include a Houston gas station charging $3.50 per gallon of fuel, $8.50 per water bottle and $99 for a case of water. Lovvorn said Paxton's office has told at least nine businesses to cease the price gouging, including the one charging $20 per gallon of gas. This story originally appeared in San Francisco magazine. In San Francisco there are two classes of renters: those with rent control and those without. But even renters who live in units without rent controlnamely, single-family homes and condosenjoy some protections from eviction under the San Francisco Rent Ordinance. At least, thats what Outer Sunset residents Danielle Phillips and Paul Kelly thought, until they came home one day and found a rent increase so high that it seemed to be an eviction in disguise. It was February 2016, and the couple had been paying $1,900 to live in a two-bedroom house not far from the beach. Their new landlord, attorney Matthew Dirkes, raised the rent to a whopping $6,700, more than triple their previous rent and far above the $4,600 median asking rent for single-family homes in San Francisco at the time, according to Zillow. Phillips, who works as a bank manager in Marin, and Kelly, an electrician, couldnt afford to pay, and they were forced to move out. But because their landlord didnt technically evict them, they were out the relocation payments required by lawin their case about $20,000. When the couple left, Dirkes moved in. Lets be honest, any person could see that he was doing this to get rid of us, Kelly says. He knew we couldnt pay $6,700 in rentnobody in their right mind would pay it. RELATED VIDEO: The Most Expensive Cities To Rent A 2 Bedroom Apartment Phillips and Kelly sued, arguing that the drastic rent increase was an attempt to get around San Franciscos eviction laws. In May the Superior Court of San Francisco sided with the landlord and blocked the tenants suit. When the case goes before Californias First District Court of Appeal this fall, a judge will rule for the first time on how strong the eviction protections for single-family homes and condos really are. Landlord attorneys and tenant attorneys dont agree on much, but they do agree on this: The question of whether a rent increase of any sizeeven to $1 million and beyondis allowable on single-family homes and condos has not yet been tested by the courts. The landlord side holds that Californias Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act places no limits on rent increases for these units, regardless of landlord motive. The tenant side argues that exorbitant rent increases are an attempt to weasel out of doing an above-board eviction and paying tenant relocation fees. If we lose this case on appeal, there will be no eviction protections at all for single-family homes and condos across the entire state, says tenant attorney Joe Tobener, who is representing Phillips and Kelly. In Bay Area citiesincluding San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, and East Palo Altoup to about 56,000 single-family homes and condos are hanging in the balance, according to a San Franciscoanalysis of data from the real estate research website PropertyRadar. (That number is likely lower: S.F. has an unknown number of single-family homes that actually are under rent control because they have an illegal in-law unit on the property. These tenants are safe from big rent increases like the one Phillips and Kelly got.) The tension between the eviction protections in local rent ordinances and the carte blanche Costa-Hawkins gives to landlords has been lurking in the law for years. So far, tenants have appeared to have the upper handif they decide to fight. Weve probably had 20 of these cases and theyve all settled, says Tobener, who earlier this year won a $400,000 settlement for Deb Follingstad, the Bernal Heights tenant whose 315 percent rent increase swept the internet in 2015. Even the San Francisco Apartment Association, a landlord advocacy group, has urged landlords to keep their rent increases in check. In a legal advice Q&A on the SFAA website, attorney David Semel advises one landlord not to raise the rent on a single-family home indiscriminately, lest the landlord risk running afoul of eviction protections. If you raise the rent with the intention of forcing the tenants out, you will be exposed to potential liability for wrongful eviction, he writes. You should be safe from liability if you serve your tenants with a valid written notice of a rent increase to the market rate. This is sound advice not because the law is clear, but because it isnt, says landlord attorney Andrew Zacks, who is representing Dirkes. Its not supported by any particular legal requirement, Zacks explains. But if we know there are tenant lawyers out there suing clients because they raise rent too high, its the job of lawyers to tell clients, You probably have the right to do this, but you could still be sued. Zacks doesnt actually accept that premisethat theres such a thing as rent thats too high under Costa-Hawkins. There simply is no qualification in the law that says the tenant gets to decide how much the rent is when theres no rent control, he says. Zacks doesnt bother to argue with the Phillips and Kellys accusation that Dirkes wanted them out. Asked why his client didnt do a standard owner-move-in eviction, Zacks answers automatically, Because he didnt have to. In his view, quibbles over why a landlord jacked up someones rent are beside the point, because Costa-Hawkins allows landlords of single-family homes and condos to set the rent, period. The landlord gets to decide, without any obligation of good faith, he says. Now, for better or worse, Phillips and Kellys appeal is going to force a ruling one way or another. Landlord groups are watching this case closely. Its on our radar, says attorney Dave Wasserman, who serves on the board of the San Francisco Apartment Association. Tenant groups are, too. A win for Phillips and Kelly would be a big deal for the cities that have just-cause eviction protections on single-family homes, says Daniel Saver, senior attorney at Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto. The threat to eviction protections gets more theoretical in Oakland, where the loopholes are larger than in San Francisco. Owner-move-in evictions already favor landlords, notes Leah Simon-Weisberg, managing attorney of the tenants rights program at Centro Legal de la Raza. The landlord serves notice saying Im moving in, and they dont have to pay relocation fees, she says. But Phillips and Kellys suit, if they win, would close the loophole for Oakland tenants who live in homes managed by corporationsa business model that proliferated in the wake of the foreclosure crisis as companies formed to buy up cheap renter-occupied housing. Because those companies cant use the owner-move-in process, they do have a motivation to force tenants out with a fat rent increase. If people are legitimately buying a house and moving in, thats great, Simon-Weisberg says. What we dont want is corporations that make a business model of buying up rental housing and displacing people. Thats not what Costa-Hawkins envisioned. If Phillips and Kelly prevail, a clear avenue would open up for tenants to fight astronomical rent increases. In todays fuzzy legal climate, most of the tenants Simon-Weisberg sees just give in. They move out, she says, 99 percent of the time. Mexican soldiers announced Wednesday results of different enforcement actions that yielded a cache of firearms, over 900 pounds of marijuana and two arrests in Nuevo Laredo, authorities said. Secretariat of the National Defense troops said they were patrolling Colonia Solidaridad in northwest Nuevo Laredo when they spotted gunmen dressed in tactical equipment. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate H-E-B is sending hundreds of San Antonio employees to help clean out and reopen stores in Houston as the supermarket chain scrambles to replenish supplies of water, fresh food and fuel in Harveys wake. A convoy of about 100 employees in SUVs and vans embarked from the San Antonio-based companys offices at 1222 N. Main Ave. on Thursday morning. Some 200 additional local workers will be dispatched to Houston through Labor Day weekend to help reopen stores, throw out spoiled products, restock produce and relieve employees in Houston who are grappling with the fallout from Tropical Storm Harvey. This is much more than a business decision, said Greg Souquette, H-E-B senior vice president and general manager for the San Antonio region. I call this a moral obligation for us to go support our family so they can, in turn, take care of our customers and our communities. In total, about 800 employees have volunteered to work in stores in storm-ravaged areas, including Rockport, Aransas Pass, Victoria and Houston, company spokeswoman Dya Campos said. H-E-B plans to send additional employees to Port Arthur and Beaumont, currently being slammed with flooding resulting from Harvey, as soon as its safe enough for employees to travel, executives said. Its not just about putting a box of cereal on the shelf, said Larry Gembler, one of H-E-Bs directors of retail operations. Its about going there and providing the hope that the community needs right now. Like other retailers, H-E-Bs distribution networks and store operations were and are continuing to be hit by the storm. The company announced Thursday that its closing its seven stores in the Golden Triangle region after heavy rain from Harvey caused flooding in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange. At least six of the companys 90-plus stores in the Houston area are pretty much wiped out by flooding, including a relatively new 100,000-square-foot store in Kingwood, said Craig Boyan, H-E-B president and chief operating officer. All of that refrigeration, all of those cases, all of those will have to be replaced, Boyan said. H-E-Bs supply warehouse and bread plant in Houston were knocked out by the storm, Boyan said, prompting the grocer to ship products into Houston from distribution centers outside the city. The company had been relying on its bread plant in Corpus Christi to supply bread, sandwich buns and tortillas, among other products, to the entire state, Boyan said Thursday morning. As of Thursday afternoon, the Houston bakery was back online, Campos said. H-E-B also is tapping into suppliers such as Flowers Bakery to provide flour for the companys stores and California-based Niagara Bottling, which has a plant in Seguin, and Nestle Waters North America Inc. to keep up with demand for bottled water, Boyan said. The company is shipping in fuel from outside of Texas to stave off intermittent fuel shortages, Boyan said. Other major U.S. regional grocery chains have kicked in supplies to help H-E-B keep its stores operational. Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc. and Michigan-based Meijer Inc. have shipped water, generators and cleaning supplies to H-E-B stores, Boyan said. H-E-B is administering financial and housing assistance to employees in Houston who have lost their homes, Boyan said. The company is renting rooms in Houston-area hotels for employees temporarily helping there, executives said. These teams are extra labor and, in some cases, supplemental labor to take the burden off of our Houston partners that want to take care of their families, Boyan said. The storm has hit home for some of H-E-Bs executives. Souquette said his daughter and son-in-law have not been able to leave their home in Houston for almost a week, but they are safe. Her neighborhood is pretty much incapacitated, Souquette said. H-E-B has initiated its own emergency crews, deploying more than 15 disaster response vehicles, including the companys two mobile kitchens, water and fuel tankers, trailers and direct response units which feature mobile pharmacies and business services that allow costumers to cash checks and pay bills. So far, the companys mobile kitchens which have been stationed in Rockport, Aransas Pass, Victoria and Houston have served about 20,000 meals, Campos said. H-E-B held a briefing and pep rally Thursday for the employees heading to Houston, the first of three groups departing San Antonio throughout the weekend. Boyan had some advice for them. If youre cleaning a freezer thats been there for three days, breathe through your mouth, Boyan told employees. That line got a big laugh. jfechter@express-news.net Twitter: @JFreports San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts has been disqualified, again, as state Sen. Carlos Urestis attorney in a criminal fraud case after a federal judge upheld a ruling removing him from the case due to a conflict of interest. Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra on Wednesday denied Watts appeal of a July 10 ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bemporad granting a request by federal prosecutors to disqualify Watts. Prosecutors said Watts had a conflict because he previously represented Denise Cantu, a Harlingen woman identified as a victim in the case against Uresti. Ezra agreed with Bemporad that the conflict outweighed the senators Sixth Amendment right to choose his own legal counsel. Watts said in an email Thursday that his disqualification will result in a colossal waste of judicial resources in the very unlikely event that Sen. Uresti is wrongfully convicted. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the wrongful disqualification of ones chosen counsel as has occurred here mandates a reversal of any conviction. Watts added, fortunately, that will not happen here, because a jury will find Uresti did nothing wrong. The trial is scheduled to start Oct. 23. Cantu was involved in a car accident that killed two of her kids in 2010 after a rear tire on her Ford Explorer blew out. She hired Uresti, a San Antonio Democrat, as her lawyer. Uresti referred the case to Watts law firm in return for a cut of the legal fees. Uresti received a $200,000 loan from Watts against fees Uresti expected to receive from Cantus settlement, prosecutors have said. Cantus lawyers, in fact, won her a substantial out-of-court settlement, the bulk of which she invested in a now-defunct frac sand company, FourWinds Logistics, which purported to buy and sell sand used in hydraulic fracking to produce oil. Uresti served as counsel for FourWinds, was a 1 percent owner of the company and received a commission on Cantus $900,000 investment. Cantu lost all but about $100,000 when the company went bankrupt in 2015. She and other investors have alleged they were defrauded. Uresti was charged May 16 in an 11-count indictment for his involvement in FourWinds. He has been charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and acting as an unregistered securities broker. He has denied the charges. In his 16-page ruling, Ezra said Judge Bemporad did not err in concluding that (Watts) prior representation and the current representation are substantially related. The current representation of Uresti by Watts involves defending Uresti against an investment scheme, conspiracy, and wire fraud charges stemming directly from Urestis purported defrauding of several individuals, including Ms. Cantu of the proceeds of the same settlement, Ezra said in his ruling. Ezra added that reasonable persons would understand the similarity of the issues particularly where Ms. Cantu has not waived any conflict. In his appeal, Watts argued that because of his complete immersion in unrelated BP oil spill litigation, his role in Cantus wrongful-death case was only tertiary at best, as he took only a single deposition in the case, and did not participate in the preparation for, nor appear at, Cantus deposition. Watts has said he has no recollection of ever having met Cantu. Ezra also addressed Urestis Sixth Amendment right to counsel, saying it is not without qualification. Ezra wrote that Bemporad carefully determined that the Sixth Amendment presumption to counsel of ones choice was overcome by the Courts independent duty to protect the integrity of the judicial system. Following Bemporads ruling, Uresti retained new counsel in what Watts called a backup plan in the event his appeal failed. Arkansas trial lawyer C. Tab Turner and and Houston trial lawyer Darrell Barger were hired since Watts removal. Uresti also was indicted in a separate case for allegedly using his consulting business to split $850,000 in bribes with Jimmy Galindo, a former county judge in Reeves County in West Texas. Galindo already has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and failure to file a 2013 tax return. Watts continues to represent Uresti in that case, scheduled for trial in May. pdanner@express-news.net Staff writer Guillermo Contreras contributed to this report. Because of Hurricane Harveys wide swath of devastation, many companies will deploy fleets of drones some for the first time in place of humans to help quickly assess the damage. Its the first wide-scale use of drones to measure such damage since the Federal Aviation Administration OKed the technology for commercial use in 2016. This will be the first time Farmers Insurance will use its drone fleet to help tally claims in a major catastrophe, Tim Murray, head of Inside & National Property Claims for Farmers Insurance, said in an email. Fleet and claims professionals are currently on standby and ready to deploy when conditions make it safe to do so, Murray said, adding that the company received more than 14,000 claims from Harvey by noon Wednesday. As weather conditions stabilize and we are able to enter those communities that sustained damage, we will have a clearer picture on how best to deploy our claims resources, including our drones, Murray said Wednesday. The drones arent intended to completely replace human adjusters. They supplement claims specialists and help improve response time and safety for our claim representatives during their evaluations, Murray said. From a technical standpoint, the drones industrial design camera captures higher resolution, 3-D images capable of detecting granule loss and physical damage, which provides an accurate rooftop inspection and can generate analytic reports in minutes. Dallas-based AT&T is sending out a fleet of 25 drones to inspect cellular towers to see where the storm hit its network. The drones give the company a birds eye view of the tower, through HD video and photos, AT&T said in a blog post Wednesday. Using drones lets us access areas that cant be reached by cars or trucks because of flooding, AT&T said. AT&T said via email that this is the first time it has used drones during a disaster. Allstate Insurance drones will likely fly hundreds of missions each day in what probably will be its widest-scale use of the technology to date, company spokesman Justin Herndon said in an email Wednesday. Earlier this year, Allstate announced a multistate plan to use drones as the primary method of property damage inspections in the appropriate situations in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma, Herndon said. USAA is deploying a team of drones, pilots and adjusters in the Coastal Bend, which includes area near Corpus Christi and Rockport, said spokesman Rich Johnson via email Wednesday. He said USAA is waiting for the situation to clear and become safe before our response teams deploy to the Houston area. Although San Antonio-based USAA used drones to help assess claims following last years hailstorms, its the first time the company is using them after a hurricane, Kristina Tomasetti, strategic innovation director at USAA, said Tuesday. The company used drones in New Braunfels on Monday to inspect a few homes that had significant wind damage from the outer bands of the storm, Tomasetti said. USAA has about a dozen drones in its in-house fleet, but it also leans on San Antonio-based DataWing Global to provide drones and pilots in some events. In this case, USAA is using DataWings drones and pilots so claims specialists on the ground can adjust and have conversations with the members, and they can start capturing the images that those adjusters will need in order to assess damage, especially on rooftops which might not be climbable, or might not be safely climbable because of high winds or other perilous conditions, she said. In times like these, our internal pilots, who are also adjusters, are focused on kind of internal work, and we tap into our external network to start flying for us externally, and use other adjusters who are already in the field to actually do the assessment, Tomasetti said. Drones are growing in popularity as companies recently were granted a more unrestricted ability to use them commercially. Rules allowing small commercial drone use without a waiver took effect last August. USAA in 2015 received a waiver to test small drones ahead of wider commercial approval. State Farm was the first insurer to receive approval from the FAA to use drones for inspections, according to a previous Express-News report. And while drone rules in August 2016 opened up the skies to commercial drone use, some limitations remain. The Federal Aviation Administration rules ban drones from flying higher than 400 feet, at night or beyond the pilots line of sight. Doing any of those requires a waiver. USAA had almost 200 drone missions last year following hail in Texas and Colorado after those homes had already been inspected in the traditional way, Tomasetti said. We focused last year on testing how to get in, where we could get in, how much time and effort that takes to get in for events, specifically around hail, Tomasetti said. And last year was a great year for that; there was a lot of hail throughout 2016. In particular, USAA wanted to ensure the quality of the images would allow an adjuster to accurately determine damage without having to climb on the roof, she said. An adjusters ultimately making a decision about the damage so we want to ensure the quality of the images were getting from the drone give an adjuster the same perspective as if they were standing on the roof and assessing the damages manually, versus through an image, she said. She did note that the use of drone differs depending on the type of weather event. It is the first one with drones for a hurricane; we have done some other aerial imagery for other hurricanes but drone-specific this is our first, she said. The biggest thing is accessibility thats probably the biggest challenge, and its the same with flooding and with tornadoes. Those three perils tend to carry with them incident commanders controlling people in and out to ensure safety, and then the temporary flight restrictions going up and coming down. For example, when the Express-News spoke with Tomasetti via phone Tuesday, she said there was a temporary flight restriction over Corpus Christi about the time President Donald Trump landed there. Drones cant be flown if the FAA has restricted flight in an area, and USAA always checks with the homeowner first, she added. What well continue to use drones to do is to help our members get back on their feet as quickly as possible, so if we can send a drone to inspect a home with an adjuster, and it allows us to get the information the adjuster needs to assess the damage faster so the member is able to start getting repairs done, thats our ultimate goal, she said. The drones, too, help keep adjusters safe, as they remain on the ground instead of walking on a roof with holes or during high winds, Tomasetti said. Were using them to really try to start the recovery process for our insurers and help assess their damage and get them where they need to be, she said. Which, in times like these, is critical to do this as fast as we can for them. State Farm, for now, is planning to assess claims the old-fashioned way. At this time we are not using drones in Hurricane Harvey claims handling, State Farm spokesman Chris Pilcic said in an email Wednesday. With the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey, our claims adjusters will likely need to inspect both the interior and exterior of the home to assess coverage and damages. For this situation, we find that the best way to service our customers and evaluate coverage and damages is through on the ground claims handling. sehlinger@express-news.net The Alameda County Sheriffs Office arrested three of its own deputies and a former deputy in connection with the mistreatment of inmates at the Santa Rita Jail, officials said Thursday. The arrests follow an investigation into allegations by jail staffers that deputies allowed an inmate to spray feces and urine at other inmates in the maximum-security unit of the jail. Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly said the inmate was participating in gassing, in which a person fills a bottle with bodily fluids and sprays them on someone else. There were multiple incidents of one inmate being allowed to do this to several victims, Kelly said. Sheriffs investigators interviewed more than 40 people, including employees and inmates at Alameda County and other California state prisons after receiving the complaint in January. Their findings showed that current deputies Sarah Krause, Justin Linn and Erik McDermott and former deputy Stephen Sarcos allowed the incidents in the summer and fall of 2016. Krause, Linn and McDermott were placed on administrative leave and Sarcos resigned following the investigation, authorities said. All four were arrested Thursday afternoon. Linn and McDermott were arrested on suspicion of intimidation of a witness and assault under the color of authority. Krause and Sarcos were arrested on suspicion of assault under the color of authority for a single incident in fall 2016, according to the statement. Kelly said the department believes no other employees were involved. Sheriff Gregory Ahern said in a statement he is deeply disturbed and saddened by the findings of the investigation, but he is proud of the employees who came forward with information. The sheriffs office is continuing a project to install more 24/7 cameras in the jail facility. Kelly said the departments officers hope the surveillance will cut out future misconduct. Moving forward, the department will be taking a proactive and aggressive approach to make sure this doesnt happen again, he said. Alison Graham is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: agraham@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alisonkgraham The Massacre of Mankind: A Sequel to 'The War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells By Stephen Baxter Crown. 453 pp. $27 --- At the close of H.G. Wells' 1898 novel "The War of the Worlds," the Martian invaders are all dead, having succumbed to the bacteria that infest our planet and against which they had never built up resistance. While something of a surprise ending, Wells had nonetheless prepared the reader for it with various clues, starting with his opening sentence: "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water." Despite the unexpected failure of what was probably just a scouting party, would Mars, a dying and depleted planet, simply abandon its plans for conquest? Wouldn't those "intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic" continue to regard our Earth with the same envious eyes and, slowly and surely, draw up new plans against us? Such is the premise of Stephen Baxter's "The Massacre of Mankind" - the phrase appears in Wells' original novel - and, though a bit too long and loose-limbed, it is a highly enjoyable work of homage and extrapolation. The action, which begins in 1920, moves right along. Baxter's chapters are short, sharp shocks, and he cleverly reuses many of Wells' original characters. For example, the unnamed narrator of Wells' book is revealed to be Walter Jenkins, now the best-selling author of the "Narrative of the Martian Wars" and a sufferer of post-traumatic stress syndrome. That shrewd Cockney survivalist - aka "The Man on Putney Hill" - now bears the name Bert Cook, and his adventures among the aliens have been sensationalized in "Memoirs of an Artilleryman." Miss Elphinstone - the revolver-wielding heroine of the flight from London - turns out to have married and then divorced the narrator's brother Frank, and she now works as a freelance journalist. Though Baxter's global perspective shows us the effects of the Second Martian War on dozens of combatants and civilians, Julie Elphinstone will be his main viewpoint character. The 1920 of "The Massacre of Mankind" isn't the one we know from history. General Marvin - who managed to knock out one of the Martians' fighting machines in the original novel - has built on his popularity to become the right-wing leader of England. Arthur Conan Doyle has even written a jingoist book praising him. Most significant, Germany roundly defeated France in the "Schlieffen War" and is now engaged in a prolonged conflict with Russia. In the seven years since the original 1913 invasion, Walter Jenkins has been obsessed with the possibility of a second Martian attack, much to the despair of his psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud. As befits a strong militarist, Prime Minister Marvin has duly organized a massive, well-trained army eager to blast to smithereens any of those bug-eyed monsters, long before they can set up their tripodlike fighting machines and deadly heat rays. This time, however, Mars launches not 10 but 100 cylinders, and the first 50 are essentially atomic bombs meant to clear the landing area of enemy forces. I won't say more about the course of the invasion itself, but the end result is, as Baxter titles his book's second section, "England Under the Martians." After relentless mass destruction, the conquering aliens consolidate their forces within a 20-mile-wide circular perimeter in Buckinghamshire. People trapped inside this cordon must survive by their wits, many living like characters in a "Road Warrior" movie. Bert Cook, once again, comes into his own. Meanwhile, Julie Elphinstone - intrepid reporter, unwilling emissary of Walter Jenkins, secret weapon of the military - travels from England to France to Germany, through the sewers of London, and, finally, into the very heart of the Martian redoubt. There, Julie learns that these vampiric, bloodsucking aliens are altering Earth's climate and ecosystem to resemble those of their own planet; they are even starting to manipulate human evolution, planning to turn humans into docile, Eloi-like cattle. Can things possibly get any worse for Earth? Of course they can: More Martian cylinders begin to rain down on all parts of the globe. Throughout "The Massacre of Mankind," Baxter regularly offers intertextual winks to readers who know their Wells. Referring to his unheeded warnings, Walter Jenkins grumbles: "I told you so. You (BEGIN ITAL)damned(END ITAL) fools" - these are the very words that Wells proposed as his own epitaph. Various episodes echo elements of "The Time Machine," "The Land Ironclads" - Wells' visionary short story about tank warfare - and "The Island of Dr. Moreau." The great writer himself is referred to, with mock disdain, as "The Year Million Man," an allusion to Wells' youthful article about future humans as eggheads with attenuated bodies and limbs. Baxter even obliquely nods to Garrett P. Serviss' "Edison's Conquest of Mars," an actual 1898 pulp serial written in response to "The War of the Worlds," and then goes on to mention Grovers Mill, N.J., made famous as the landing site in the 1938 radio dramatization - the panic broadcast - of Wells' novel. In 1995, Baxter published "The Time Ships," an award-winning sequel to "The Time Machine." As a science-fiction writer, he obviously likes to work on a grand scale. Still, his new Wellsian pastiche contains too many battle scenes and too many characters, most of whom make only a fleeting appearance, while the big reveals don't always surprise as much as they might. Despite these flaws, at least 90 percent of "The Massacre of Mankind" remains a lot of fun - and I haven't even said anything about the humanoids from Venus! The deaths on "Game of Thrones" tend to throw audiences for a loop. No casualty was as shocking as the first-season execution of Ned Stark, which put the series in a class by itself as a show unafraid to immediately kill off (what appeared to be) the main protagonist. But there have been a lot of jaw-dropping murders since then, too, from the Red Wedding to last season's wildfire bloodbath in King's Landing. This season, which has been different from past ones in so many ways, is also unique because of the characters who died. None of the deaths - except that of one fantastical beast - really made much of an impact. They were utilitarian deaths, designed either to clean house or move the plot forward. Historically, the fatalities on "Game of Thrones" fall roughly into one of three categories: the ones that pack an emotional wallop, the ones that move the story forward and the ones that are so undeniably satisfying that they turn viewers into bloodthirsty monsters. Admit it: You gave a little cheer when Joffrey turned purple, when Arya stabbed Meryn Trant in the eyes and when Ramsay's dogs turned him into puppy chow. But the deaths that made "Game of Thrones" so novel were the unthinkable ones: Shireen being burned at the stake and Ygritte dying in Jon Snow's arms; Hodor sacrificing himself and a pregnant Talisa Stark getting stabbed in the belly. Beloved characters were never safe to the point where sweet, heartfelt conversations became harbingers of doom. Just look at what happened to Barristan Selmy, Myrcella Baratheon and Oberyn Martell. Season six saw massive casualties, thanks to Cersei's wildfire attack, the Battle of the Bastards and Jon Snow's execution of the Night's Watch mutineers. So maybe it was best for the show to pace itself this season. (It was arguably the only way the show paced itself.) This year we lost Elia Sand and the Sand Snakes, but no one's mourning them. Olenna Tyrell's quick tongue was finally silenced, but considering (a) she was pretty elderly and (b) she hadn't been around much recently, that didn't shake us to our core. Randyll and Dickon Tarly were goners, but that served only to prove Daenerys can be pretty vengeful. Littlefinger smirked his last smirk and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. And Thoros of Myr is nothing but ashes, but he was notable only because he had the power to resurrect the dead (or maybe just one dead). Though there's some question about whether or not Tormund and Beric made it out of Eastwatch alive, we're going to assume that, since we didn't see a death, they are still with us. (Or maybe they perished, but we'll see them again in the Army of the Dead.) That leaves one major fatality: Viserion. On one hand, it was a stunning series of scenes, the way the Night King took out Daenerys' dragon with an ice spear, then resurrected him. On the other, most viewers didn't even know which dragon had died (other than not-Drogon), which means it may have been shocking but it wasn't that moving. And Viserion isn't even technically a goner since he's still causing mayhem. Season two was also relatively light on victims. Renly Baratheon was the only major player to die that year, but the secondary casualties made an impression. Matthos Seaworth's death during the Battle of the Blackwater left Ser Davos childless and Qhorin Halfhand cared so much about the Night's Watch, he sacrificed himself so Jon Snow could spy on the wildlings. Rickon and Bran also lost their surrogate father Maester Luwin. One thing you can still say for the show: It keeps us guessing. Season One primed us to say goodbye to the best characters. Now we're so prepared to lose more that we're surprised when we don't. Then again, there's still one season left. There may be no greater follow-through from Season One's promise than the Night King being victorious. Cooler weather this week in San Antonio made for a perfect evening atmosphere at the final installment of The Pearl's summer event series, Sound Cream Sunset Sessions. Summer vibes filled Pearl Park as tunes from DJ Cato aka Congri filled the air. His set was inspired by the beach clubs of Cartagena, Colombia, described on The Pearl's event page as "a salsa party under the sky." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate "Take off your hats and bow your heads," Capt. Alex Garcia told a group of Webb County Sheriff's Office officials before he said a prayer Wednesday morning at Camp Huisache. "I'm speaking from the heart," Garcia said as he held back tears and prayed. He reminded the Sheriff's Office Response and Rescue Team to be careful. Garcia and six other deputies departed to the Houston area after the Harris County Sheriff's Office requested assistance. Their specialty includes livestock and tactical training. "We're taking our medic. He will not only take care of the team but also for the citizens of Harris County," Garcia said. Deputy Polo Cadena, who is the certified EMT on the team, said this is his first time assisting in a large disaster but that he is thankful for the opportunity. "I've always wanted to do this, help out other people in need," Cadena said. RELATED: Man admits to laundering at least $1.5 million in drug money through use of postal services Equipped with kayaks, food, water, an all-terrain vehicle and a Humvee, the team is ready to work 12-hour shifts, according to Garcia. "We're heading out there for a week. We're preparing a second team to go over there. They're going to relieve us in about a week or so," Garcia said. Sheriff Martin Cuellar wished them well. "Best of luck to the seven members of the Webb County Sheriff's Office Response and Rescue Team, who earlier (Wednesday) departed to Houston ... to help with ongoing efforts in that city which was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. This is one small way that my staff and I can give of ourselves to help our fellow Texans in need. May God watch over them as they assist in this noble cause," Cuellar posted. Other local law enforcement community and first responders have also left Laredo to assist their counterparts. Laredo Fire Department When Jose A. Castillo and Christopher Jarrell, who are firefighters and paramedics, heard about an opportunity to help out hospital and nursing home patients who were in areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, they agreed to go in a heartbeat. The Laredo Fire Department received a phone call from the Texas Emergency Strike Team last week requesting assistance. "They wanted to know if we could send an ambulance and paramedics up there to aid in the evacuation of patients from hospitals and nursing homes," Jarrell recalled. Castillo and Jarrell went to Corpus Christi and Victoria to pick up patients. The community needed their help, they realized. "We were given this opportunity. We thought it was going to be a good learning experience," Castillo said. He added, "We just wanted to go out there and give our best and bring back what we learned to the department." Jarrell echoed the thought. "For me, it was important to show that everyone is here for each other," Jarrell said. Patients appreciated the help. "They were grateful. It's kind of hectic. A lot of stuff was going on, but the patients we picked up were grateful we were taking them to a safer place," Castillo said. READ MORE: Beloved Corpus Christi restaurant Snoopy's is damaged but still standing after Hurricane Harvey They said the Laredo Fire Department prepared them with the training and skills to do this type of work. Though accustomed to responding to emergency calls locally, transporting patients to a safe location meant something else for Castillo and Jarrell. "It was a little different. It wasn't your usual 911 call," Castillo said. Jarrell added, "Circumstances were very different." First responders and resources were called from across the state to stand ready at a deployment point in San Antonio. "This was a good experience. We were able to work with not only with the people that we know, but we met other first responders. We got to learn how they work as well," Castillo said. Laredo Police Department A group of Laredo police officers also departed to the Houston area this week. "They left on their own time with their own money and resources. This act of compassion and desire to serve came exclusively from each of them," according to LPD's Facebook page. "They went to stores and purchased, with their own money, supplies to help the community of Houston. All officers came from different shifts and groups and set off to place themselves in harm's way simply with the desire to help their fellow man." On Wednesday, police uploaded photos to Facebook to showcase the work of their officers. "The guys are in flood ravaged areas trying to spread a little old fashioned Laredo good will. Blessings guys! Be safe!" the post reads. U.S. Border Patrol On Monday, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Laredo Sector went to the Houston area to assist in life preservation and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. "Marine vessels deployed include airboats and riverine shallow draft vessels. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Laredo Sector Marine Unit and the Special Operations Detachment Unit, which specialize in search and rescue efforts, were also deployed. Border Patrol agents from the Laredo Sector have integrated efforts with Border Patrol assets across the country to assist in search and rescue operations in the Houston area," Border Patrol said. Authorities said the deployment of Border Patrol assets to Houston is a coordinated effort between numerous federal, state and local agencies to assist those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ermilo Richer Jr. and Ermilo Richer III were announced Wednesday as the Laredo 2017 Businesspersons of the Year. The Laredo Chamber of Commerce made the announcement at a news conference at a breakfast hosted by BBVA Compass. The coveted award will be presented at the 32nd Distinguished Business Awards Banquet Ceremony, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Laredo Country Club. "We feel very honored by this recognition by the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, and we remain committed to promote and support education and the organizations and causes that have a positive impact on the economic development and job creation in our community," said Ermilo Richer III, executive director of Richer, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary. The Chamber of Commerce said the company has become an "integral international trade entrepreneur with over 50,000 loads crossing the Laredo and Nuevo Laredo border annually, generating over 120 jobs locally, close to 200 throughout its facilities situated on both sides of every U.S. and Mexico border from Laredo to San Diego, California." READ MORE: 35 can't-miss fall concerts worth driving from Laredo to San Antonio for Raul Ugalde, chairman of the Small Business Committee of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the success of the Richer family. "For 100 years, Richer as been servicing the customs brokerage, transportation, logistics and warehousing needs of its national and international customers throughout the United States and Mexico," the Chamber of Commerce said in a news release. "Business has grown exponentially throughout the years under the leadership of four generations, from its founder Eugenio Richer in 1917, succeeded by Ermilo Richer Santos, to its former successor Ermilo Richer Jr. and current leader Ermilo Richer III. "Richer has grown from two offices in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo ... to 19 facilities with a total of 450,000 square feet in warehouse space, attributing its success to its innovative technology, personalized client-customer relations, excellent work environment and utmost commitment to provide optimal solutions every step of the way." The Chamber of Commerce said Richer has been recognized by Estrategia Aduanera Magazine on its list of "Most Important Mexican Customs Brokers," ranking 26th in 2016. In 2013, Richer received the prestigious Aggie 100 awarded to the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world. RELATED: 'Love is stronger than any hurricane': Laredo judge marries Corpus Christi evacuees "Various client partners such as Grupo Modelo, S.A. de C.V., have also recognized Richer as an outstanding service provider multiple times throughout the century," the chamber said. The selection of the honoree is based on an adaptation of the criteria used by the U.S. Small Business Administration for their annual awards, including: Honorees should demonstrate staying power, a substantiated history as an established business Growth in the number of employees, which judges the impact of business on the job market Response to adversity, which assesses problems faced in the nominee's business and methods used to solve them Contributions to community-oriented projects, using the nominee's personal time and resources For ticket and sponsorship information for the 32nd Distinguished Business Awards Banquet Ceremony, call 956-722-9895 or email Miriam Castillo at miriam@laredochamber.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CROSBY, Texas - When the hurricane blew in, workers at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, faced the problem of keeping the plant's volatile chemicals cold. The plant had 19.5 tons of organic peroxides of various strengths, all of them requiring refrigeration to prevent ignition. But the power went out, and then the floodwaters came and knocked out the plant's generators. A liquid nitrogen system faltered. In a last-ditch move, the workers transferred the chemicals to nine huge refrigerated trucks, each with its own generator, and moved the vehicles to a remote section of the plant. That was doomed to fail, too. Six feet of water swamped the trucks, and the final 11 workers gave up. At 2 a.m. Tuesday, they called for a water evacuation and left the plant to its fate. Early Thursday, two loud pops signaled an explosive combustion in one of the trucks, and a black plume of smoke spread from the plant, sending 15 police officers and paramedics to the hospital. All eight remaining vehicles are now likely to burn, said Robert Royall Jr., assistant chief of emergency operations for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office. We are "watching physics at work," Arkema spokesman Jeff Carr said Thursday. "Probably a couple more tonight." While the crisis has not yet equaled the severity of explosions suffered by other Texas chemical plants, the crisis at Crosby has exposed the vulnerability of hundreds of chemical plants in low-lying areas across the U.S. Gulf Coast. "The Crosby plant's dangerous situation is a symptom of a bigger problem involving the oil and chemical industry in the gulf region," said Bill Hoyle, a former senior investigator for the Chemical Safety Board and now an independent safety consultant. "The Crosby plant is a wake-up call for an industry and their safety regulators who have not adequately taken action on lessons from Hurricane Katrina as well as the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan." Texas has more than 1,300 chemical plants, a large number of them in low-lying areas near the coast that are vulnerable to flooding. Arkema's Crosby plant was built decades ago, but access to gulf ports and the surge in shale gas operations in Texas and Louisiana have lured scores of new chemical plants to the Gulf Coast region. Although the fire and blasts have so far not been as dire as many feared, the loss of control of dangerous materials and the igniting of volatile chemicals spread anxiety and triggered an investigation by the Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency. The plant produced organic peroxides, which are used in a variety of products including pipes, plastics, acrylic paints, countertops and pharmaceuticals. A company spokesman estimated that 19.5 tons of chemicals were at the site. Small amounts can irritate the skin or damage corneas, and in larger amounts could cause liver damage, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). But the company spokesman said "the issue is a combustion event, not a chemical release." The Arkema emergency raises anew a host of concerns for chemical manufacturers. After the 1984 tragedy in Bhopal, India, in which a chemical leak from a Union Carbide plant killed more than 2,000 people and injured many thousands more, then-Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., pressed for legislation requiring chemical companies to describe their own worst-case scenarios. Arkema, whose slogan is "Innovative Chemistry," filed one of those reports in June 2014 for its plant in Crosby, warning that in the most catastrophic scenario, 1.1 million people within a 23-mile radius would be affected. In Texas alone, 32 other plants also warned that more than a million people could be affected by a chemical catastrophe, according to a Congressional Research Service report. But Arkema stressed that "multiple layers of preventive and mitigation measures in use at the Crosby facility make it very unlikely" that a worst-case scenario would occur. And "in the unlikely event that such a release occurs, Arkema, Inc. has mitigation measures in place to reduce any potential impacts." This week, however, some layers of preventive measures failed. "Certainly, we didn't anticipate having six feet of water in our plant," Richard Rennard, president of Arkema's acrylic monomers division, told reporters Thursday. Hundreds of plants have been shut down since Hurricane Harvey approached Texas last week, posing environmental dangers as they restart their waterlogged facilities. About 5 percent of Texas facilities registered in the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory Program were plotted in or adjacent to flooded areas observed from satellite imagery through Wednesday, according to a Washington Post analysis. They included factories that produce petroleum, plastics and rubber, and deal with hazardous waste. Of those, 23 deal specifically with chemicals. Arkema, a spinoff of the French oil giant Total, has more than 30 sites in the United States, and like other operators in the industry, has lobbied federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety and disclosure at chemical plants. The company has also run afoul of OSHA regulations. In February, Arkema's Crosby plant was initially fined $107,918 for 10 OSHA violations, federal records show. The violations were marked as "serious," meaning they could cause serious physical injury or worker deaths if not remedied. One included a violation of inspection procedures that were supposed to "follow recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices." The government later reduced the fines to about $91,000. Arkema also agreed to a settlement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in January stemming from a leak of a toxic and flammable compound in June 2016, state records show. The plant released 4,800 pounds of isoamylene after workers left a valve partially open for 62 hours, allowing the chemical to drain from a storage tank, according to enforcement records. A state inspection of the facility months earlier also found seven violations. The TCEQ lists the company's overall compliance history as "satisfactory," however. For the June leak, commission imposed a modest fine after concluding that residents and the environment had been exposed to "insignificant amounts" of pollutants. Even in the current crisis at Crosby, Royall, the Harris County emergency operations official, said that the danger from the Arkema plant was "really relative." "If you're standing right next to something and you had a chemical release, it would probably be pretty dangerous, I think you'd agree," Royall said. "But we have a mile-and-a-half safety radius, and there's nobody in that plant." The events at the plant cause more worries for residents already dealing with inundated homes. But for some residents, the threat is not extraordinary. There have been so many plant explosions in the Houston area that resident Robin Boethin cannot keep them straight. She recalled the Texas City refinery explosion in March 2005 - not to be confused with the Texas City disaster of 1947, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in U.S. history. Then there was the Pasadena incident in October 1989, in which gases ignited a series of explosions, killing 23 workers and injuring 300. "It was a ka-boom type of thing," she said from the counter of the Rusty Bucket, her antiques shop in Crosby, a few miles from the chemical plant. "It shook the house so bad I called 911. I thought someone was breaking in." Boethin and others in Crosby discussed chemical plant explosions and environmental disasters as a way of life in the Houston area, describing the risk of sprawling chemical sites as Californians might discuss the inevitability of the next earthquake. "There's danger and everyone knows it," she said. In the emergency response plan filed with the EPA in 2014, Arkema sketched out the possible disaster that would follow from the failure of one of its tanks of 2-methylpropene. It wouldn't exactly be a fire or an explosion, but a fiery combination known in the chemical industry as a "bleve," short for "boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion." In that grave scenario, the sudden release of flammable, toxic vapor could ignite in a fireball with a lethal "thermal radiation dose" that could extend over 1,000 feet - "approaching the yard of the residence nearest to the site." At a news conference Thursday, Arkema's Rennard repeatedly and evenly walked reporters through the steps taken at the plant and the outlook for the coming days. "We anticipate that all this product is going to degrade," he said. "Whether it's today, tomorrow, we just don't know. It's impossible to predict that." One reporter shouted, "Do you understand people are worried?" "Of course we understand that," Rennard said, "and that's why we want to make sure people respect this one-and-a-half-mile radius. We don't want people returning back to their homes thinking it's over. It's not over." --- Jack Gillum, Aaron C. Davis, Julie Tate, Andrew Ba Tran and Alex Horton contributed to this report. Horton reported from Crosby, Texas. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The call from a friend rang in on Mark Crider's line at around 10 a.m. Tuesday: President Donald Trump was going to be in Corpus Christi at the firehouse across the way. "He said, 'The Secret Service knows there's about 100 loaded guns in your house and they know you'd let them use 'em if they need to," Crider said, relaying the gentle ribbing of his longtime friend. With Trump expected in about an hour, Crider rolled his wheelchair out front, planted himself next to a fence and waited. The cop cars came in droves, filing out to the road, eventually closing it off in anticipation that the president of the United States would soon roll through. It wasn't long before Crider was joined by hundreds of people, a typical Trumpian mixture of protesters, enthusiastic supporters and curious passersby who crowded the streets to catch a glimpse. Corpus Christi, population 300,000-something, is a relatively small community in Texas. And Annavile is an even smaller neighborhood where just about everyone knows one another and word spreads fast. "We've lived out here forever you might say," Crider said. "I guess they started calling one another. And a lot of our friends showed up - old classmates." News that Trump would arrive at a local firehouse spread like wildfire over the next few hours. Friends called friends. Cars of people passing through stopped, then parked further down the road as their occupants trekked back to the fire station to check out the commotion. Quickly, Crider was joined by friends, neighbors and hecklers curious eager to see the man who had dominated their televisions and newspapers for two years. "This is nuts - he's literally down the street from us," said one man who hustled through the growing crowd gathering around the fire station as his friend recorded their adventure on a live Facebook video. "We see this man everywhere on the news constantly, and he's here." Walking down the closed streets were hundreds of others, parents and their children, grandparents - all on a pilgrimage to see the spectacle. Back at the Annaville Fire Station 5, Crider's wife, Sandra, had brought out her "Make America Great Again" flag, which became an anchor for Trump supporters who were being penned in with police tape as local officers and Secret Service agents kept a watchful eye. Word had spread on social media though live video and pictures, by word of mouth as police officers redirecting drivers informed them that the president would be here soon. A small Texas town that rarely receives presidential visits suddenly had something very important going on. "The people just started getting wind of it and they showed up," said Samuel Dalton, a local Republican Party official, who had received a call the day before Trump's visit asking him to drive a van in the presidential motorcade. "It was just remarkable and everybody appreciated very much the president coming and trying to get a feel of what are the needs." Around 12:45 p.m., Trump emerged in his signature "USA" campaign hat and the crowd exploded in chats of "USA! USA!", "Texas Strong!", and "Trump! Trump!" It had the feel of a rally because in a sense it was one. "Thank you, everybody. What a crowd! What a turnout!" Trump remarked from his perch behind two black SUVs that the Secret Service had carefully positioned in front of a firetruck. Trump had chosen Corpus Christi, located in a county he had won over Hillary Clinton by a sliver in 2016, in an effort to avoid taxing local law enforcement who were busy rescuing stranded Texans in the path of the monster storm. Dalton, who only knew about the firehouse visit when the motorcade rolled onto the street, said he was "pleasantly surprised" to see the crowd turn out for Trump. He chalked it out to the strength of support among Trump's core supporters and a feeling of solidarity among Texans reeling from a disaster of historic proportions. Back in the thick of the gathering, he could be seen, but not heard. Snipers stood watch on the roof above, scanning the swollen crowd. "What is he saying? What is he saying?" a voice called out. Others began trying to call for quiet: "Shhhhhhhhhhh!" Trump was speaking through a microphone, but no one could hear a thing. Observers watching the footage on television would remark the the president failed to mention the victims of Hurricane Harvey's wrath, only his crowd size. For the mixture of supporters and onlookers, however, they could only see Trump, standing in front of a firetruck, waving a Texas flag. A few minutes later, Trump was back in his van and with a wave of his hand, and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. President Donald Trump may be eyeing a Nafta exit, but his agriculture secretary is trying to get him to see the merits of the trade deal. Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday he's been trying to convince the Trump administration the North American Free Trade Agreement is "good for U.S. agriculture." The trade deal just has some "rough edges" that need to be smoothed for improvement, he said during a presentation at an industry event in Decatur, Illinois. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HOUSTON - Harvey has driven nearly 35,000 people to emergency shelters across Texas, including 10,000 who were holed up in a downtown convention center on Wednesday waiting out the extensive flooding that has paralyzed this city. Six days after the storm made landfall south of here, people continued to stream into the George R. Brown Convention Center and spilled over into other shelters as residents were forced from their homes due to record-setting rain and the resulting floods. The displaced milled in large halls and corridors, a somber and impatient crowd that officials said could be out of homes for a month or more as the low-lying city empties trillions of gallons of rainfall. John Boyce, a 49-year-old cabdriver, fled his home over the weekend. He went from a rescue boat to a truck to a hospital, where he traded his soaked clothes for paper scrubs, and then by bus to the convention center Monday morning. There, he received fresh donated clothes, a blanket and a cot. His life now is a lot of waiting. "Wake up, stand in line to get breakfast, stand in line to brush your teeth, stand in line to use the bathroom, stand in line to do something with FEMA, stand in line for lunch," he said as he stood in line for a lunch plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and steamed carrots. He applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid and figured he'll leave town to live with family in Dallas or Alaska. As soon as he can. A huge population has been sheltered, clothed and fed in scores of shelters across the coastal region of Texas and Louisiana, and that population has been growing precipitously as reservoirs have overflowed, rivers have swelled to record crests and towns have been overwhelmed with water - some to the rooftops. "This is so big we can only compare it with Katrina, and it's heads and tails above Katrina," said Holly Brundage, 64, a disaster mental health worker with the Red Cross who also aided with Katrina evacuation in Mississippi, referring to the large number of displaced from Harvey and what she considers to be a far more organized response. Inside the convention center, throngs of volunteers register evacuees, administer light first aid, serve food, sort clothing, distribute supplies, and usher crowds amid a heavy presence of Houston police and state troopers. There is a children's playroom full of toys and sleeping areas for families, men and women. "This is a very solemn experience," said Debbie Jared, 67, who works in the Aldine, Texas, school system, as she waited in line to volunteer. "You see the depth of humanity." A mega-shelter sprang up overnight Tuesday into Wednesday at the NRG Center, south of downtown Houston, after local officials became frustrated with overcrowding and delivery delays at Houston's other shelters. By Wednesday afternoon, 900 people had arrived, and nearly twice as many were expected by day's end. At a glance, it seemed to have everything that someone with nothing might want: a pharmacy counter built out of plastic crates, a doctor, kennels for pets, a hot kitchen. And most of all, space - thousands of empty chairs at empty tables, and cavernous halls around the clusters of beds. At one end of the center, from a small corner piled with toys, Angel McGee had procured a stuffed unicorn and walked with it down a great hall, back to her family's collection of cots. "It's a little bit fun, but a little bit not," the 11-year-old said. The not-fun part, explained Angel's mother, Lonetta Woodley, had been getting kicked out of a house where she, her mother and four children had sheltered from the hurricane. They then walked in the rain until they found refuge in a crowded high school in northeast Houston. They were bused to NRG the next day. "I'm safe in here," Woodley said through tears. "But, you know, after we gotta leave, where am I gonna go?" Michelle McGowen, 35, walked around the shelter at a San Antonio middle school in her socks because none of the shoes that had been donated fit her. On Friday night, as the storm moved through her home town of Aransas Pass on the coast, an uncle who stayed behind provided regular updates about McGowen's mobile home, where she lives with her boyfriend and two young sons. "He said the doors were falling off, windows were shattering in, and it was rocking back and forth," McGowen said. "We've started from scratch before; we can do it again." On Saturday morning, she sat on a bench outside of the shelter with her sons before breakfast was served. As she watched them play, someone stole her phone from behind her on the bench. McGowen and her boyfriend kept both of their debit cards in her phone case, so they were gone as well. The couple hasn't heard from their family since Friday. McGowen said she borrowed someone's phone to leave a Facebook message for her aunt, telling her the family was safe. Her sons, ages 9 and 11, ran around in the grass outside carrying fans they made out of green and black construction paper. They hope to be able to go to the movies, museums and zoo later this week after a disability check arrives on Friday. Others had been through so many makeshift homes in the past week that they had no emotion left to show. Ramon Meza, 50, said he slept in his truck outside an abandoned gas station for three days after water took his home in northeast Houston. He made his way to a Walmart after he ran out of food, he said. But the store had no food, so by Tuesday he had found a school shelter. There, he had to sleep outside on the concrete with his dog, which was not allowed to come in. Now at the NRG shelter, with his dog safe in a kennel, Meza had a bed indoors and was sitting in a half-empty dining room about to have his first hot meal in days. He has no long-term plans other than finding his truck. How did he feel about all that? Meza just shrugged and bit into his burger. --- Brittney Martin in San Antonio and Leslie Fain in Lake Charles, Louisiana, contributed to this report. British Prime Minister Theresa May tried to convince people she's no lame duck by insisting she intends to lead her Conservative Party into the next election. Her own lawmakers chuckled at the idea. After a weekend that saw one newspaper claim to know the date in 2019 when May is planning to quit, the premier jumped at the chance to stop the rumor mill during a visit to Japan. Asked whether she'd still be in her job by 2022, when the next vote is due, her response was unequivocal. "Yes," she told ITV News in Kyoto on Wednesday. "There's been an awful lot of speculation about my future which has no basis in it whatsoever. I'm in this for the long term. I'm not a quitter." Problem is no one believes her: the main reaction from lawmakers, speaking privately, was to laugh at the idea. In the run-up to June's snap election, May took the Tory poll lead from 20 percentage points down to 2 points, losing seats -- and her majority -- in Parliament. That formed the impression she would be removed when her own party felt it was the right time. The consensus among backbenchers and ministers who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity was that May's answer was aimed at warding off challengers during a particularly delicate time: ahead of a party conference and a summit of European Union leaders that could settle the direction of Brexit. Both are taking place in October. Justin Fisher, professor of politics at Brunel University, agreed. "To say anything else would be political suicide for her, for the Conservative Party, and actually for Britain, in terms of the extremely lengthy negotiations over Brexit, which will shape the country for years to come," said Fisher. "It's important that the people we're negotiating with don't start wondering whether they're going to be talking to the same people in a few months." May's lawmakers said the more important statement to them was the private promise she made in the wake of the June 8 election that she would stay on only as long as they wanted her to. That commitment, as well as the absence of an obvious successor, helped to see off any immediate move to dump her. In the days around that pledge, former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, fired by May, had delighted in calling her a "dead woman walking,'' while former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan -- also removed from office by the premier -- said she might be gone by the end of the year. But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a potential successor who was backed by May earlier in the week after a media onslaught questioning his own competence, pledged his "undivided" support and endorsed the premier's Brexit strategy. "I think she gets it. She really wants to deliver it. I'm here to support her," the BBC quoted Johnson as saying during a visit to Nigeria. "She's ideally placed to deliver a great outcome for our country and then deliver what we all want to see, which is this exciting agenda of global Britain." On Wednesday, Tory lawmaker James Cleverly welcomed May's comments. "I'm pleased that she's made that clear," he said in an interview. "Neither she, nor anyone else in government, should be thinking or acting as if she is a caretaker. Hopefully everyone will now focus on delivering good government for the country and those, very few, people obsessing about their next job can concentrate on the one they've got." One minister said privately that the party would be concerned if May's bullishness led to a return to what it saw as an imperial governing style, when her office tried to enforce rigid discipline across the whole of government. Since her humiliation in the election, ministers have asserted their independence. May would be in danger if lawmakers took her at her word, and history points to notable examples. Margaret Thatcher's clear plan to, in her words, "go on and on" meant that once her party had decided that she was an electoral liability, Tory members of Parliament had no choice but to throw her out in 1990. Tony Blair, on the other hand, bought himself a year when his party moved against him in 2006 by promising to leave within 12 months. Still, not everyone thought May was bluffing. "The prime minister is determined to take our country forward and get a good Brexit outcome," said Tory lawmaker Nadhim Zahawi. "She is getting on with the job of increasing our global trade," he said. "At home she continues to drive the agenda for responsible enterprise. That gritty determination will, I think, make her the right leader to take our party forward into the next election." - - - With assistance from Thomas Penny The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo relishes controversy, often seeming to invite offense with its provocative cover art. One 2010 cover illustration showed a Muslim woman running naked, a burqa stuffed up her backside. "Wear the burqa," the caption read, "on the inside." Another showed the prophet Muhammad weeping because he was "overwhelmed by fundamentalists." A June cover depicted British Prime Minister Theresa May decapitated. The newspaper's latest issue takes aim at a new target: the victims of the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas on Friday, killing at least 35 people, displacing thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage. The art on the Charlie Hebdo cover shows swastika flags and hands raised in what looks like Nazi salutes poking out above floodwaters. The text reads: "God exists! He drowned all the neo-Nazis of Texas." The illustration is an apparent reference to Texans' support of Donald Trump, who won 52.6 percent of the state's vote in the presidential election. The cartoon drew swift outcry on social media. National Review writer Tiana Lowe called it "evil" and "despicable," but she added that "the losers at Charlie Hebdo have a God-given right to publish it, & no one has the right to shoot them." Charlie Hebdo often pokes fun at government and religion, and Islam is a frequent target. One recent cover depicted victims who had been mowed down on a street, a reference to the terrorist attack this month in Barcelona in which a man drove a vehicle into a crowd, killing at least 15 people. The cover line read "Islam: religion of peace . . . eternal." Another cover showed the prophet Muhammad - a taboo for adherents - in a direct response to the assassination of four cartoonists who had insulted Islam. In 2014, a cover depicted an Islamist militant decapitating Muhammad, who is saying, "I'm the prophet, idiot." The publication has suffered tragedy for its irreverence: In 2015, two gunmen opened fire on Charlie Hebdo staff members at their Paris offices, killing 12 people. But the satirical newspaper was not the only media outlet to take aim at Texas victims over political views. Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker came under fire for a cartoon that mocked Texans as hypocritical. The illustration showed a Texan in a shirt sporting the Confederate flag being lifted from the roof of a flooded house. On the roof is a sign reading "secede." The man celebrates the rescue as "Angels! Sent by God!" The punchline: "Er, actually Coast Guard . . . sent by the government." Our colleagues at The Washington Post's The Fix called the illustration tone-deaf, writing that "people are still being saved, and it's making fun of those same people." And on Tuesday, a University of Tampa professor was fired after he tweeted: "I don't believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas. Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesn't care about them." School officials condemned the comments as "irresponsible." WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump spent the final days of August dutifully performing his job. He tended to the massive recovery from Hurricane Harvey. He hit the road to sell his tax-cut plan. And he convened policy meetings on the federal budget and the North Korean nuclear threat. Behind the scenes during a summer of crisis, however, Trump appears to pine for the days when the Oval Office was a bustling hub of visitors and gossip, over which he presided as impresario. He fumes that he does not get the credit he thinks he deserves from the media, or the allegiance from fellow Republican leaders he says he is owed. He boasts about his presidency in superlatives, but confidants privately fret about his suddenly dark moods. And some of Trump's friends fear that the short-tempered president is on an inevitable collision course with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Trump chafes at some of the retired Marine Corps general's moves to restrict access to him since he took the job almost a month ago, said several people close to the president. They run counter to Trump's love of spontaneity and brashness, prompting some Trump loyalists to derisively dub Kelly "the church lady" because they consider him strict and morally superior. "He's having a very hard time," one friend who spoke with Trump this week said of the president. "He doesn't like the way the media's handling him. He doesn't like how Kelly's handling him. He's turning on people that are very close to him." Aides say Trump admires Kelly's credentials, respects his leadership and management skills, and praises him often, both in private meetings and at public events. In a tax policy speech Wednesday in Missouri, Trump singled out Kelly's work to decrease the number of illegal border crossings when he was secretary of homeland security. Meanwhile, people close to the president said he is simmering with displeasure over what he considers personal disloyalty from National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who criticized Trump's responses to a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12. He also has grown increasingly frustrated with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has clashed with the president on issues including Afghanistan troop levels, the blockade on Qatar and Cuba policy. This portrait of Trump as he enters what could be his most consequential month in office is based on interviews with 15 senior White House officials, outside advisers and friends of the president, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid assessments. In September, Trump will face deadlines to raise the federal debt ceiling and pass a spending bill possibly tied to his campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; make his first big push for tax cuts; and oversee a potentially historic disaster recovery in Texas and Louisiana. If Trump's 75-minute rally performance on Aug. 22 in Phoenix served as a public testimonial to his rage over the media and Congress, he is agitating privately about other concerns as well. Trump lashed out at George Gigicos, one of his original campaign staff members, for what the president considered unflattering television camera angles at the Phoenix rally, which Bloomberg News first reported. The president also was distressed by a New York Times report that was posted a few hours before the event documenting the turmoil between him and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Trump was especially angered by something he learned about at his stop earlier in the day, a border visit in Yuma, Arizona, several of his associates said. A group of border patrol agents who had endorsed him and become campaign-trail buddies initially were blocked by the Trump administration from attending. Although the agents eventually were allowed into the event, the president made his displeasure about their treatment known to Kelly, said multiple people who were briefed about the incident. Two of those people said Trump raised his voice with his chief of staff, whom he faulted for trying to restrict outside friends from having direct access to him. That evening in Phoenix, Trump attempted to call Kelly onto the stage. "Where's John?" he asked. "Where is he? Where's General Kelly? Get him out here. He's great. He's doing a great job." Kelly did not join his boss in front of the crowd. "It is not unusual for staffers to hear him bluster about things," said Barry Bennett, a former campaign adviser. "That doesn't mean it's real. There were people on the campaign staff that he said to fire a dozen times, but he never did it. It was just bark. And some people don't know the difference between the bark and the bite." Kelly took the job with the express goal of implementing strict order on a West Wing that had become rife with turmoil, infighting and damaging leaks to the media. Friends used to be able to call the White House and be patched directly through to Trump; now those calls are routed through Kelly, and do not always make it to the president. Friends used to drop by the West Wing when they had time to kill, wandering to the Oval Office to say hello; now they must have an official appointment - and a clear reason - to visit. The changes are largely welcomed by senior administration officials, who say the president's time is too valuable to be wasted on chitchat and hangers-on. But Trump sometimes defies - and even resents - the new structure. He has been especially sensitive to the way Kelly's rigid structure is portrayed in the media, and strives to disabuse people of the notion that he is being managed. The president continues to call business friends and outside advisers, including former chief strategist Stephen Bannon, from his personal phone when Kelly is not around, said people with knowledge of the calls. "Donald Trump resists being handled," said Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser and longtime confidant. "Nobody tells him who to see, who to listen to, what to read, what he can say." Stone added, "General Kelly is trying to treat the president like a mushroom. Keeping him in the dark and feeding him s--- is not going to work. Donald Trump is a free spirit." Kelly has told colleagues that he has no intention of controlling what Trump says or tweets. Although he has tried to manage the information the president receives, Kelly recognizes that there are limits to what he can do, according to White House officials. "The president can turn on the television, the president can call people and the president can read the newspaper," said one Republican close to the White House. This person said the onus is on Trump, not his staff, to control his impulses. Trump has jettisoned some of the more controversial figures in his administration this summer. For instance, the firing of communications director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days earned the flamboyant aide the moniker "suicide bomber" in the West Wing, for having taken down with him Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer. Trump also parted ways with Bannon, who often channeled the president's nationalist instincts. More changes may be afoot under Kelly, who is continuing his personnel review and is said to be targeting aides without clear portfolios of responsibility. On Tillerson, Trump has come to see his top diplomat's approach to world affairs as "totally establishment," in the words of one Trump associate. Several people close to Trump said they would be surprised if Tillerson stays in his post past his one-year mark in January. They hinted that his departure may come far sooner, with one describing it as "imminent." And some who have recently seen Tillerson say the former ExxonMobil chief executive - unaccustomed to taking orders from a superior, let alone one as capricious as Trump - also seems to be ready to end his State Department tenure. Tillerson has grumbled privately to Kelly about Trump's recent controversies, according to two people familiar with their relationship. Others, however, caution that Tillerson remains fully enmeshed in the administration. After lunching with the president on Monday, Tillerson sat in the front row of Trump's joint press conference with president of Finland and was a key member of Cabinet discussions focused on handling Hurricane Harvey. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that Trump "absolutely" has confidence in Tillerson. Tillerson made headlines over the weekend when he was asked on "Fox News Sunday," in the context of Charlottesville, whether Trump speaks for American values. "The president speaks for himself," Tillerson told anchor Chris Wallace. Many Trump insiders were aghast at the diplomat's apparent denunciation of the president, but several senior White House officials said Trump's frustration with Tillerson has been over specific policies. The Fox interview did not bother Trump, one official said, even though the president was upset about Cohn's scolding of him to The Financial Times. Trump was especially upset that Cohn went public with his complaints about the president's handling of Charlottesville, even after Trump listened to Cohn vent during a private meeting on Aug. 18 in Bedminster, New Jersey. The president has been quietly fuming about Cohn for the past week, but has resisted dismissing him in part because he has been the face, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, of the administration's tax cut strategy. Still, Trump has other ways to slight Cohn. The economic adviser traveled with Trump on Wednesday to Springfield, Missouri, for his taxes speech, yet when the president ticked through "the many distinguished guests" in attendance he did not mention Cohn. Afterwards, Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, tweeted a call for tax reform with a picture of Trump backstage flanked by her and Mnuchin. Notably absent was the plan's co-architect, Cohn. Asked about the perceived insults, Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on the flight home to Washington that it was "pretty standard tactics" for Trump not to call out staffers in his remarks. Pressed on the state of Trump and Cohn's relationship, Sanders said only that both men were committed to tax reform. "Well, look," she said, "Gary is here. The president is here." - - - The Washington Post's Robert Costa, Anne Gearan and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report. ALBANY (AP) An energy service company has agreed to pay $800,000 as part of a settlement over deceptive marketing practices. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the settlement with Energy Plus Holdings and Energy Plus Natural Gas is part of a wider investigation into energy service companies, or ESCOs. The settlement funds will be used for consumer restitution , penalties and fees. NAIROBI, Kenya - Just as the European Union appeared to stem the flood of Syrian refugees last year, it recognized that it had another, even more complicated problem on its hands: Migration from Africa was continuing to surge. That realization prompted frantic European efforts to deal with another front in the migrant crisis, culminating in a meeting this week between the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Niger and Chad, along with a senior Libyan official - and a round of proposals that many migration experts consider to be flawed or incomplete. Since the collapse of Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya, the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has soared, as people have taken advantage of a vacuum of authority to set sail from the country's northern coast. A network of human smugglers who facilitate the traffic has expanded from the tip of North Africa down to countries such as Niger and Sudan. Contacts for smugglers circulate on Facebook and WhatsApp in major cities across Africa. Since 2014, more than 400,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy. "In many ways, the height of the Syrian migration exodus is behind us, but when you look at the youth bulge and demographic vitality of Africa, you say, 'Oh damn,'" said Demetrios Papademetriou, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based research organization. Europe was able to reduce the flow of Syrian refugees by making a deal with Turkey, a major jumping-off point for many of those fleeing the war in the Middle East. The agreement allowed Greece to return migrants to Turkey, while the Europeans increased financial support for Turkey's refugee population and provide greater visa liberalization for Turks. No such solution has emerged to handle the African influx. That has launched European nations on a complicated mission to curb the flow of migrants and refugees. Much of that quest involves money. The E.U. is rolling out a $1.9 billion plan to "address the root causes of migration" - what many see a quid pro quo for African nations to improve border security and accept deportees. Mali, for example, was offered $150 million in a deal that would "enable the return from Europe of Malian migrants," according to an E.U. statement. But when the agreement became public in Bamako, the capital, there was a public uproar, prompting a motion of censure from parliament. The Malian government eventually pulled out of the deal in December. "The Malian leadership miscalculated the outcry," Papademetriou said. Like many African countries, Mali receives millions of dollars in remittances from workers abroad, a lifeline for many families. During previous surges in migration, European leaders have discussed the need for a "Marshall Plan for Africa" - a development package so big that it would lead to jobs at home for would-be migrants, preventing them from leaving. Such a project never happened. This time around, African leaders are skeptical of such ideas. "The needs of the continent are enormous, and unfortunately 1 or 2 billion euros will not change the situation," Hissein Brahim Taha, Chad's foreign minister, said in an interview with Jeune Afrique, a French-language magazine, published this week. Many cities along Africa's main migrant routes also have benefited financially from the flow of people to Europe. In countries such as Niger, the organizations theoretically responsible for policing migration have grown accustomed to accepting bribes from smugglers. In Libya, militias often hold migrants hostage until they receive ransom payments from their families. Europe has committed to training and empowering the key border security agencies in Africa, including those in Libya, but that has raised alarm about whether they will inadvertently support forces linked to human rights abuses. In Sudan, some watchdog organizations have expressed concern that border security funding could end up in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group associated with the Janjaweed, known for mass killings in the country's Darfur region. "Funding that should be used for development and security is instead used for migration control," said Catherine Woollard, secretary general of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a network of advocacy groups. In past months, French President Emmanuel Macron has discussed setting up "hot spots" in places such as Chad and Niger where vulnerable refugees could apply for asylum without risking a dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. Some of the countries that would host such hot spots have bristled a the idea, arguing that they could draw even more migrants to their countries. Chad, for example, already hosts about a half-million refugees, many of whom are from Darfur. "We were against the establishment of screening centers in our country," Taha told Jeune Afrique, referring to the hot spots. "This would have contributed to creating a migration vortex, which would soon become uncontrollable for Chad." Macron and other European leaders are now speaking about resettling a small number of refugees already in Chad and Niger. Many experts say that proposal is far from a comprehensive solution. "If France, Germany, Italy and Spain want to show genuine leadership, they should act to create and expand other safe and legal ways for people to reach Europe, like granting humanitarian visas and facilitating family reunification," said Judith Sunderland, associate director for the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. Unlike Syrians, most of whom have viable claims to refugee status because of the war in their country, a large portion of Africans moving to Europe are economic migrants, seeking better jobs. Even if an improved system for screening refugees was established, it would leave tens of thousands of people who probably wouldn't qualify for asylum and might continue the journey through the Sahara desert and then across the Mediterranean Sea. That leaves one other European proposal on the table - using the Libyan coast guard and militias to crack down on the flow of migrants. There are some signs that this approach - the most controversial one - appears to be working. Since mid-July, about 4,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, about an 80 percent decrease compared with the same period last year. Italy has taken a number of steps to discourage the migration, including deploying naval ships to help Libyan officials intercept migrant boats off the coast. The Associated Press, quoting Libyan militia and security officials, recently reported that the Italian government was also working with Libyan authorities to pay militias to prevent migrants from crossing the Mediterranean. (The Italian government denied reaching such an agreement). Some see a repeat of Italy's 2008 deal in which Silvio Berlusconi, then the prime minister, pledged to provide Libya with $200 million a year in investments over 25 years as reparations for his nation's colonial abuses in the country. In return, Gadhafi cracked down on migration. At the time, Human Rights Watch said the deal "resulted in joint naval patrols that run roughshod over refugee and migrant rights." --- Stanley-Becker reported from Berlin. A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a severe state immigration law that was supposed to take effect Friday and would have outlawed sanctuary cities and penalized local officials who do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts. The decision Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia delivers a temporary blow to the state's campaign - backed by the Trump administration - to compel localities to detain immigrants so federal agents can take them into custody. In a 94-page decision, Garcia wrote that parts of the Texas law are likely to be found unconstitutional. He enjoined the state from punishing local officials, infringing on their right to free speech and forcing them to detain immigrants for federal immigration officials, an act that is currently voluntary. And he wrote that cities and towns had provided "overwhelming" and "ample" evidence that cooperating with immigration officials will "erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe" as well as harm the state economically. "Indeed, at the end of the day, the Legislature is free to ignore the pleas of city and county officials, along with local police departments, who are in the trenches," Garcia wrote. "The Court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature. However, the State may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution." Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) vowed to appeal. "Today's decision makes Texas' communities less safe," Abbott said in a statement. The law would fine local officials who refused to assist federal agencies in working to deport illegal immigrants up to $25,500 a day. Elected and appointed officials could lose their jobs, and police and sheriffs could go to jail for up to a year on misdemeanor charges. "The Court was right to strike down the guts of a law that is not only patently unconstitutional but bad policy as well," said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued against the case in court on behalf of several Texas cities and towns. "Hopefully other states will now not follow Texas' lead." Garcia's decision comes as Texas, home to an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, is grappling with historic flooding and dozens of deaths following Hurricane Harvey. It also lands amid growing fears that the Trump administration will end an Obama-era program that has granted nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children reprieves from deportation. Texas is one of 10 states that have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it does not begin to phase out the deportation-relief program by next week. Abbott said the Texas statute would increase public safety by preventing local law enforcement from releasing foreign-born residents from jails or prisons before immigration agents can take them into custody. The small border city of El Cenizosued to stop the law, and was soon joined by Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other cities. They said the law could lead to racial profiling, make immigrants afraid to report crime and ignite a backlash that could devastate the state economically. The U.S. Justice Department sided with Texas in defending the law in federal court. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. A federal judge later halted that order, saying it was overly broad. The administration has continued to try to steer funding away from cities and towns that refuse to help enforce immigration law. El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes said Wednesday's ruling left him in tears, thinking about the hate-filled messages he's received for filing the lawsuit, and the immigrants who will rest more easily come Friday - at least temporarily. "This is great news for thousands of families here in Texas," he said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is touring flooded areas of the city, tweeted: "Happy to learn a federal judge blocked the Texas law aimed at making local police immigration enforcers. Need them for fighting local crime." Few localities in Texas actually declare themselves "sanctuaries" for undocumented immigrants, though many, including Houston, say they are "welcoming" cities and limit how frequently they will cooperate with federal immigration officials. For instance, some are willing to hand over violent criminals, but unwilling to turn over someone arrested for a minor offense. Smartphone-wielding cycle couriers were among the first to embrace French President Emmanuel Macron's vision of an economic future rooted in new technology and flexible labor rules. Now, they're not so sure. Riders staged protests in several cities across France this week, demanding help from the government to improve their working conditions after an influx of new couriers increased the competition for jobs. They may find they are fighting against the tide. As demonstrators set off smoke bombs in the streets, Macron's ministers were putting the finishing touches to his plans to reduce the restrictions on firing that have traditionally protected workers in France. Elected in May, the 39-year-old president has pledged to deliver lasting growth in the euro region's second-largest economy by restraining the power of unions as he seeks to arrest a slump in his poll numbers. "We're a living laboratory of what happens in a system where employers and workers are so-called partners," said 28-year-old Arthur Hay, who represents delivery cyclists working for Deliveroo, Foodora and UberEATS in the Bordeaux area of southwest France. "We need the government to look into our situation and make rules, not extend our plight to everyone else as it seems to want to do." Hay is a member of CGT, France's second-largest union, and says he'll join the protests planned for Sept. 12 against Macron's overhaul of labor laws. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will set out details of the plan, due to come into force next month, at a news conference Thursday. Couriers with box-shaped backpacks have become a familiar sight in France over the past year as bike services mushroomed. But London-based online food company Deliveroo triggered protests in late July when it scrapped hourly pay for its most senior riders. Instead, they'll get the same $6 (5-euro) delivery fee that new hires receive. Cyclists were given a month's notice to accept the change if they wanted to continue working with the company. Deliveroo increased the number of cyclists it's contracted with to 7,500 from 1,500 in the past year to keep up with delivery volumes. The firm, which is privately held and doesn't disclose revenue, operates in 12 countries around the world with 20,000 delivery people, mostly on bicycle. A Paris-based spokesman for the company said the new system works out better for the riders on average, given the increasing number of deliveries. But unions said that the company has also widened delivery zones, so each trip is longer, and there isn't enough work to go around. "The deal was that we'd be able to choose our working hours," says Hay, who started riding for Deliveroo in March 2016 after finishing a degree in humanitarian management. "But they hired so many people that we're competing with each other. The promise is broken." Companies like Deliveroo can bypass French labor regulation regarding wages, working hours, firings and collective bargaining because their couriers are self-employed. Self-employment is on the rise, particularly in the Internet-related businesses like ride-services provider Uber, which is fighting several court cases with drivers. Hay said the government needs to impose more restrictions on the company to increase workers' negotiating power and prevent constant confrontation. In the current situation, firms are ending contracts with those who speak up, especially those who move to organize workers. While similar initiatives are emerging in other European countries, including Germany and the U.K., the risk for Macron is that the Deliveroo dispute could set the tone for a season of protest as unions and opposition parties seek to rally resistance to his plans for the labor market. French media were quick to make the connection between so-called "Uberized" workers and Macron's overhaul of labor rules. The most-watched TV channel TF1 aired a piece on the "race to precariousness" this week and commentator Francois Lenglet said the fight is "emblematic of new labor relations" on RTL radio. The law presented on Thursday will make it cheaper and easier for companies to fire workers without following the rules by limiting the amount of compensation that can be claimed in court. Firms would also be able to skip rules mandating higher pay for night shifts or overtime, and use more temporary work. At demonstrations in Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon, cyclists made their feelings about the so-called gig economy clear. "1,000 bikers fired by email" read one placard. Another said: "Pedaling to eat, not to be eaten." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate State Rep. Will Metcalf, R- Conroe, told volunteers from Friends of Conroe and Conroe's VFW Post 4709 that their efforts brought tears to his eyes. Since Monday, volunteers with the Friends of Conroe, the nonprofit organization that puts on the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival, and with the VFW Post 4709 have been accepting, collecting and sorting donations, cooking and preparing meals and distributing them across the county. On Tuesday, approximately 1,000 meals were distributed; and that number was expected to rise to 2,000 meals on Wednesday. "It brings tears to my eyes to see the outpouring of love and support that y'all are doing out of the kindness of your heart," Metcalf said when he spoke briefly to volunteers around lunchtime Wednesday. More Information Friends of Conroe, VFW donation needs The FOC drop-off site is accepting donations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the next few days at the VFW Post 4709, 1303 W. Semands Street in Conroe. Donation needs include: towels, packaged socks and undergarments, cleaning supplies, bleach, baby clothes, flour tortillas, bread, foil, to-go containers, any meats, adult and baby diapers, formula, baby wipes and water. You can also sign up to volunteer at the Friends of Conroe Facebook site - www.facebook.com/TheFriendsOfConroe Friends of Conroe, VFW Needs The FOC drop-off site is accepting donations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the next few days at the VFW Post 4709, 1303 W. Semands Street in Conroe. Donation needs include: towels, packaged socks and undergarments, cleaning supplies, bleach, baby clothes, flour tortillas, bread, foil, to-go containers, any meats, adult and baby diapers, formula, baby wipes and water. See More Collapse The FOC and VFW volunteers have sent out meals and supplies to the various shelters in the county, to evacuees, delivered supplies to people who could not get out of their homes, to first responders and law enforcement and they've even helped feed other volunteers. FOC board member Keith Reagan said "we were tired of looking at the rain and needed something to keep our hands busy." "This is what we do all the time, giving back to the community, this is just another avenue for us to get it better," Reagan said. A text from fellow board member Kristi Leggett early Monday got the ball rolling. FOC board members first mobilized at Heritage Park Monday around noon. But they quickly realized the rain and wind would hamper their efforts. Soon after, VFW Post 4709 in Conroe offered its location as well as meat to donate. "We got to the VFW by 2 p.m. Monday; by 5 p.m., we had 500 burgers, 300 hot dogs and 100 pork meals going out the door," said FOC vice president Stephen Naleway as he manned the barbecue pit at the VFW. "We had 750 to 1,000 meals go out the door by 5 p.m." Their initial concern was feeding first responders, but that effort grew as the needs grew. They established contact with the shelters and found out needs. Leggett said they continue to be in touch with shelter coordinators three times a day or more as they prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for people at shelters, volunteers, first responders, Office of Emergency Management offices and more. Individual families have contacted the FOC and volunteers have been able to deliver supplies to those who can't get out. "We're trying to fill the needs everywhere that we can," Leggett said. That effort hasn't waned since Monday and now Leggett said the project has taken on a life of its own. Social media has had a role in that as the word spread fast. A shipment of supplies arrived from a church in Fort Worth Wednesday morning. Another shipment of supplies was making its way down from Buffalo, N.Y. - all through social media connections. The FOC drop-off site is accepting donations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the next few days at the VFW Post 4709, located at 1303 W. Semands St. in Conroe. Donation needs include: towels, packaged socks and undergarments, cleaning supplies, bleach, baby clothes, flour tortillas, bread, foil, to-go containers, any meats, adult and baby diapers, formula, baby wipes and water. Leggett said the FOC will be at the VFW at least through the weekend, and possibly as long as they can. When the effort leaves the VFW, it will move to the Friends of Conroe office and warehouse on 101 S. Main St. in downtown Conroe. "This is going to be an ongoing need," Leggett said. "This isn't something that's going to end next week. But we should celebrate our blessings too because God has been all over this." Volunteers are still needed. Volunteers can sign up for shifts on the Friends of Conroe Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheFriendsOfConroe. Also updates are constantly posted to the Friends of Conroe Facebook page and an FOC member is monitoring social media information. Friends of Conroe is a nonprofit and community-oriented organization committed to enhancing the quality of life in Conroe and Montgomery County. The group produces the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival, the Sounds of Texas Music Series and provides a variety of support to other local nonprofits. Also visit www.friendsofconroe.com for more on the group. A Georgia police officer has been accused of making racist statements to a woman during a traffic stop, telling her that the police officers "only shoot black people." Dash cam video shows the Cobb County officer, who has been identified as police Lt. Greg Abbott, standing outside a vehicle during a DUI traffic stop in July 2016. The woman, who was a passenger in the vehicle, can be heard telling the officer that she did not want to put her hands down to reach for her phone because "I've just seen way too many videos of cops -." "But you're not black," he interrupted. "Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah, we only kill black people, right? All of the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed? You have." Ron Chapple/Getty Image Cobb County police said that Chief Mike Register received information last week about the "inappropriate racial comments," and the officer was placed on administrative duties during an internal investigation into the incident. "No matter what the context, statements like these are unacceptable and are not indicative of the type of culture we are trying to facilitate here in the police department, as well as within the county," the police chief said in a statement Thursday to The Washington Post. ABC affiliate WSB, which obtained the video, reported that Register said the police department is "meeting this head-on and we're going to deal with it." Abbott's attorney, Lance LoRusso, said that Abbott, a 27-year veteran on the force, is cooperating with the investigation. "His comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context," LoRusso said in the statement. "He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest." Suri Chadha Jimenez, an attorney who represented the driver in the DUI case, said that he had seen the video while preparing for court last summer and was "shocked" by what he had heard. "I heard that, and I cringed. I had to replay it. I thought, 'there's no way,' " he said. Jimenez said that he believes the officer was being sarcastic with the passenger for giving him "lip" but that it was still no excuse. "The reality is, to us minorities, there is a real fear when you're pulled over," he said. "He thought it was a joke, but it's not a joke to many people." Jimenez, whose client's case was resolved last month, said he's glad the video has been exposed and hopes it will prompt the police department to provide training for its officers. --- Georgia police officer tells woman: "Remember, we only shoot black people" Video coding: Days after his hometown of Port Aransas, Texas, was slammed by Hurricane Harvey, microbiologist Brett Baker finally got a status report on his third-floor laboratory at the University of Texas, Austin's Marine Science Institute. His laboratory members had stored supplies in cabinets. They'd wrapped larger equipment in thick plastic secured by duct tape. Miraculously, it appeared to have worked, he found out Wednesday. A $25,000 computer server had been salvaged. Centrifuges, water baths, incubators and PCR machines looked largely intact. He wasn't sure about whether his research samples were safe, but Baker felt lucky. The ceiling had held - although the lab next door had not been as fortunate. "That said, we're kind of like, 'Okay, good. Everything is there,'" Baker said. But the lab has no power, and it could take weeks or months to be restored. "Now, where do we go? What do we do?" People moved by the wrenching scenes of devastation in Texas have been donating what they can to support communities that will have a long path to recovery. Add to the outpouring of support: lab space, supplies and offers to tend fruit flies or store cells. Baker is encouraging his three graduate students and one postdoctoral fellow to take up offers made by colleagues in the scientific community. Labs in California, Sweden and Massachusetts have offered to host the young scientists, so their research doesn't go off track. That's part of a broader outpouring of support from scientists. Tim Mosca, a fruit fly neurobiologist at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, began talking with colleagues about how he could help shortly after the storm hit. After Katrina and Sandy, he'd seen the setbacks suffered by colleagues - the ones that don't always come to mind at first - when lab equipment and experiments were destroyed. Mosca's idea grew from a tweet offering assistance into an active Google document facilitated by the team behind the March for Science in Houston. Already, more than 200 laboratories have volunteered to help, with specialties that span the gamut from virology to soft condensed matter physics. Mosca said the scientific aid could include providing lab space, storing samples, or replacing necessary materials that have been lost. "In some cases, there's a very real possibility that students are going to be displaced, and people that aren't going to be able to get back into labs for months, up to years, in the middle of working on a doctoral thesis or working on a project that has strong public health relevance," Mosca said. "We want to make sure they don't lose that progress." So far, he has yet to have anyone take him up on the offer, but he's not surprised, knowing that many people are still in the first stages of making sure everyone is safe or assessing the damage to their homes. Addgene, a nonprofit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that serves as a repository of plasmids - circles of DNA that are a basic tool in molecular biology - has also offered to replace materials lost in the storm. After Katrina, Addgene shipped out some plasmids, but they haven't gotten any requests yet from Harvey. "If a lab were to contact us and say, 'We're in desperate straits,' we'd certainly offer a discount - if not provide it free of charge," said Joanne Kamens, executive director of Addgene. For his part, Baker spoke from relatives' house in Wisconsin, where he was trying to enroll his 8-year-old son in a new school. Then, he planned to drive back home to deal with the destruction. Baker said he has been in contact with colleagues, but so far many of them haven't even had a chance to focus on the possible destruction of experiments, frozen samples or lab equipment because most are reeling from the severe damage to their houses. "I haven't heard on the other labs yet. It seems like every hour, there's some new news that I hear about it - and some of it's really bad and some of it's good," Baker said. Seven people were sentenced in animal cruelty cases in Virginia after an undercover animal rights activist filmed them abusing chickens at Tyson factory facilities, prosecutors said Tuesday. Last year, the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing, based in Washington state, released video taken at four Virginia facilities where employees could be seen throwing, punching and kicking chickens. Two of the facilities featured in the video are in Mecklenburg County, one is in Buckingham County and one is in Lunenburg County. Two Tyson employees were convicted in June of charges related to the abuse, and one pleaded guilty. On Tuesday, prosecutors said that seven more were sentenced. In Mecklenburg Circuit Court, four people pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges: Samuel Downs, 42, of Crewe, Virginia; Tyrone Delaney, 44, of Amelia, Virginia; Robin Bowen, 61, of Crewe; and Jacob Sorrell, 21, of Redford, New York. All received suspended sentences under the condition that they not work with animals for at least one year. In addition, William Atkins, 43, of Rice, Virginia, pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges in Mecklenburg Circuit Court and Buckingham Circuit Court; Judy Atkins, 62, of Rice pleaded "facts sufficient to convict" in Buckingham Circuit Court; and Trent Johnson, 56, of Drakes Branch, Virginia, pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges in Buckingham Circuit Court. All received suspended sentences. William Atkins and Judy Atkins cannot work with animals for one year, and Johnson cannot supervise any chicken production crew for two years. After the video was released last year, Tyson denounced the behavior and fired 10 employees involved. "I'm disgusted and outraged by what's shown in this video," Christine Daugherty, vice president of sustainable food production for Tyson Foods, said in a statement last year. "We do not tolerate animal abuse. . . . The people shown in the video by Compassion Over Killing were all trained in proper animal handling, yet chose to ignore it and failed to alert management about the despicable treatment on these farms." "These convictions send a clear, strong signal across the Commonwealth that my team and I take these crimes seriously, and that those who commit cruelty to animals will be held accountable for their actions," Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement. "Mistreatment of animals is both inhumane and illegal, and I'm glad to see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to justice." Erica Meier, Compassion Over Killing's executive director, said the activist who filmed the abuse became a witness for the prosecution and that the video reveals the "hidden horrors" of chicken farming. "In the end, the most effective way we can each make a difference for these animals is to choose to not eat them," she said. - - - Embed code for video: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate State fire officials have arrested a 29-year-old Oroville man who they say let an illegal campfire burn out of control in rural Butte County where it torched at least 10 homes and on Wednesday was threatening hundreds more. The Ponderosa Fire, which ignited Tuesday afternoon in the dry Sierra foothills about 15 miles east of Lake Oroville, continued to spread Wednesday evening, charring a total of 3,150 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A huge pyrocumulus cloud that had emerged above the blaze could be seen from miles away. The fire is the latest in a string of wildfires that have flared across California recently as temperatures across the state have soared to near-record levels. Several are burning in and around Yosemite National Park, including one that has closed the parks southern entrance. In Butte County, evacuation orders were in effect for hundreds of rural residents along sparsely populated Lumpkin Road. Among the evacuees were those in the small community of Feather Falls, named after the much-visited 410-foot waterfall nearby. The communities of Berry Creek, Brush Creek and Mountain House to the north also were evacuated. Nearly 1,200 firefighters were trying to slow the Ponderosa Fires northerly advance. But officials said hot weather and an exceptionally fast rate of spread was limiting progress. Temperatures were near 100 degrees in the area Wednesday and were expected to get hotter through the week, according to the National Weather Service. In addition to the 10 burned homes, the blaze damaged five others and destroyed 20 other structures, according to Cal Fire. As many as 500 homes and outbuildings remained in the path of the fire, officials said. John Ballenger, who was arrested Tuesday, is accused of recklessly starting a campfire outside of a designated campground. Officials did not provide details of his arrest or why he became a suspect. All campfires pose a risk of escaping, Darren Read, the Butte County Cal Fire chief, said in a statement. A campfire should never be left unattended and must be extinguished completely before everyone leaves. The fires origin at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday was near Lumpkin Roads junction with Ponderosa Way, an area thick with oak trees, chaparral and a smattering of pine. After a record wet winter, the vegetation is robust, and its getting drier as Californias peak fire season approaches in late summer and early fall. Butte Countys Wall Fire in July burned about 6,000 acres near the Ponderosa Fire around the community of Bangor, destroying 41 homes. The region was also threatened by the failure of Oroville Dams spillway in February, which prompted the evacuation of 180,000 people out of concern water would pour uncontrollably out of the lake. The flooding never materialized, and major repair work has since ensued at the dam. Yosemite National Parks southern entrance was shut Wednesday. A fast-moving blaze burned seven structures and authorities closed Highway 41 just outside the park. The Railroad Fire, which ignited Tuesday afternoon north of Oakhurst, had charred 1,200 acres of foothills as of Wednesday evening, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander In recent days, thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, also called Burma, have made their way to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing an aggressive Burmese military campaign that ravaged dozens of villages in the country's restive state of Rakhine. An official from the International Organization for Migration told reporters at least 18,500 Rohingya refugees have crossed the border in the past six days, joining the nearly 400,000 Rohingya already housed in squalid camps in Bangladesh. The Rohingya are quite simply one of the most helpless and forsaken peoples of the world. An ethnic minority disdained by the Burmese public and ignored by the Burmese government, the Rohingya do not have full citizenship rights. About 1.1 million Rohingya live in apartheidlike conditions in northern Rakhine. They need to seek official permission to marry or even travel outside their villages. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Rohingya families have called Rakhine home for generations, the government views them as "Bengali" interlopers from across the border. Bangladeshi authorities, meanwhile, have struggled to cope with the influx, frequently turn away Rohingya civilians seeking entry and do not view them as formal refugees. Though international attention falls on them from time to time, the Rohingya remain bureaucratically stateless, persecuted at home and unloved abroad. In 2009, a U.N. spokeswoman even described the Rohingya as "probably the most friendless people in the world." The most recent exodus to Bangladesh follows an upsurge in violence in Rakhine. Last week, militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an insurgent group allegedly formed by Rohingya living in Saudi Arabia, launched a brazen string of attacks on police posts and sought to break into a military base. Since then, government forces have embarked on a widespread crackdown that led to reports of extrajudicial executions of civilians. Media access is strictly curtailed in Rakhine, so it's hard to obtain clear accounts of what's taking place. Burmese authorities claimed at least 77 militants, 12 members of the security forces and 14 civilians have been killed since last week. But it's likely the death toll, particularly that of slain civilians, is higher. Aid workers have told horror stories of desperate refugees staggering to safety despite bullet wounds and burn injuries. Others report rapes and beatings carried out by the Burmese army, which has reportedly set fire to thousands of Rohingya homes as it seeks to flush out the militants. Analyzing satellite imagery, Human Rights Watch documented at least ten areas over a 100 km stretch of land in Rakhine where massive fires are blazing. It noted a similar phenomenon from October to November 2016, the last time major violence flared in the region, triggering an exodus of some 87,000 Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh. A U.N. official at the time described government reprisals as acts tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Burmese authorities attribute the fires to the work of "extremist terrorists." Others are less convinced. "Shuffling all the blame on insurgents doesn't spare the Burmese government from its international obligations to stop abuses and investigate alleged violations," said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's Asia director, in a statement. In Myanmar - a fractious, underdeveloped, multiethnic country that is home to numerous insurgencies - the Rohingya occupy a special status of neglect and abuse. Over the past decade, the world has seen waves of Rohingya attempting to flee Myanmar. They have often met grisly fates at the hands of human traffickers and even the coastguards of other nations. But their struggles generate little sympathy among the majority-Buddhist Burmese population. A round of communal violence in various parts of the country in 2012 cemented widespread anti-Muslim feeling, which was in part stoked by a coterie of ultranationalist monks. The most notorious among them is a saffron-robed cleric named Ashin Wirathu, whose anti-Muslim vitriol is so pronounced it earned him a spot on a Time magazine cover in 2013, with the caption "The Face of Buddhist Terror." On Wednesday, Wirathu appeared before hundreds of Burmese nationalists rallying in the country's largest city, Rangoon, and called for strong military action against the Rohingya for their alleged collusion with extremist groups. "Only the military's commander in chief can protect the lives and the properties of the people," Wirathu said. "The military is the only one that can give a lesson to tame the Bengali terrorists." Myanmar's civilian leaders, including the country's acclaimed Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, are barely more sympathetic. Suu Kyi, celebrated for her role in fighting for democratic rights in Myanmar, has remained conspicuously insensitive to Rohingya grievances. In repeated statements, her office has sought to downplay both the extent of the abuses facing the persecuted minority and accused aid groups and international organizations of exaggerating the scale of the crisis. Just last week, a commission led by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan filed a report urging the Burmese government to restore citizenship rights to the Rohingya, which were stripped by the military regime in 1982. It's hard to imagine that Suu Kyi, eager not to rock the boat with Myanmar's long-meddling military, would accede to that demand. "The current crisis was neither unpredicted nor unpreventable," noted a statement by the International Crisis Group. "The anti-Muslim violence of 2012, and the emergence of the new insurgent group last year were both clear signals that the volatile dynamics of Rakhine state urgently need a political, not just a security, response to address the concerns of all communities in the state." If that doesn't happen, both the plight of the Rohingya and that of the Burmese state may get worse. "There is no evidence that ARSA's goals or members support a transnational jihadist agenda, despite indications that the group may have received some training from members of such outfits. That will not stop those who resent all Muslim groups and grievances from characterizing it as such," wrote the Crisis Group, warning of further polarization. "On the other side, another harsh military response and the continued displacement of scores of thousands to camps in Bangladesh will create conditions ripe for exploitation by transnational jihadists." SACRAMENTO A Sacramento County Sheriffs deputy was shot dead Wednesday and two California Highway Patrol officers were hit by gunfire during an investigation at a hotel into a stolen vehicle. The CHP officers were approaching a room at the Ramada Sacramento on Auburn Boulevard around noon when a man inside reportedly opened fire with a high-powered rifle through the closed door and walls of his hotel room. The CHP officers were in stable condition and expected to survive, police said. Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the sheriffs department was shot after the suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, went to the balcony of his room and fired at several deputies below. French died on the way to the hospital. The suspect then jumped to the hotel parking lot, drove off in a car and was shot during a chase and taken into custody, authorities said. The incident began about 9:30 a.m. when officers with the Sacramento County Sheriffs auto theft task force pursued a stolen vehicle they saw come out of the hotel parking lot. Investigators were following up on information suggesting that those behind a string of car thefts were working out of the hotel. The occupants of the stolen car, two women whose names have not been released, refused to pull over and led their pursuers 20 miles to Elk Grove, where they were stopped and arrested. Officers later went to the womens room at the hotel, where the gunfight erupted. The area around Auburn Boulevard along Interstate 80, near the Alister Mackenzie Golf Course, was closed to traffic and those staying at the hotel were told to shelter in place for several hours while dozens of officers searched the area for additional people who may have been involved. No one was found, and the area was deemed safe by 6 p.m. French was 52 years old. He is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and grandchildren. This is the most difficult thing any department can go through, said Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, who directed tactics from a makeshift command station near the Ramada. Melody Guitierrez and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez, @kurtisalexander ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The United States will provide an additional $91 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia to cope with a third straight year of drought, the top U.S. official in charge of assistance said Thursday. The extra funding brings U.S. aid for food and medical care in Ethiopia to $454 million this year, said Mark Green, the new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. Another $210 million in U.S. aid has gone to development projects. Green announced the new tranche of aid after he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. In a statement he read to reporters, Green said he also had urged the Ethiopian leader to take "concrete steps to create political space for all voices to be heard and to uphold constitutional and guaranteed rights." Earlier this month, Ethiopia lifted a 10-month state of emergency following deadly clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters alleging right abuses and political cronyism. "What I said to him is, we look at what countries need around the world to strengthen their ability to deliver for their people," Green told reporters later in the day. "Responsive governance, and a place for people to come together from different points of view, and to share ideas openly and publicly, history shows is vitally important. "Our view is the government should continue to do foster that, and do more and more," he added. "We think it is good for Ethiopia. We think it is the right thing to do." According to USAID spokesman Clayton McCleskey, Green told Desalegn he was concerned conditions were deteriorating for people affected by the drought and encouraged the government to "show greater leadership and invest more resources to combat a worsening humanitarian crisis." Green, who is on his first trip abroad since starting the job three weeks ago, is in Ethiopia to highlight U.S. efforts to help impoverished countries emerge from crises like drought and famine better prepared to weather future setbacks. Drought in Ethiopia's lowlands bordering Somalia has sent herders farther afield in their search for land where their animals can graze, and stilted crops in areas where corn stalks grow tall but produce no ears of edible corn. On Wednesday, Green said Ethiopia would be one of 12 countries that will get focused attention from Feed the Future programs, even if Congress approves deep cuts in USAID's budget. The Trump administration has proposed halving Feed the Future's total budget for agricultural development programs from over $1 billion this year to $500 million next year. Ethiopia's $78 million share would also be cut in half. Anticipating having less money to spend, USAID dropped seven countries from the original 19 it had planned to focus its attention on. The United States has been the principal international donor to Ethiopia as it has struggled through a devastating series of droughts. In recent years, U.S. aid has tried to help herders become farmers, provided seed money to small business entrepreneurs, taught impoverished Ethiopians job skills and provided nutritional education. While Green assured Desalegn the United States remains committed to helping Ethiopia develop agriculturally and economically, he underscored that U.S. aid is not limitless and Washington expects the Ethiopian government to contribute more money to humanitarian efforts. During a drought in 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia spent some $700 million on food for food for people affected. This year, it has pledged only $110 million, and so far spent far less than that. "The United States will continue providing assistance for vulnerable people, but we all agree host-country partners must be willing to step up during crises, and the prime minister indicated that he was looking to do so," he said. On Wednesday, Clay Road was the epicenter of the drama of the rising water near Addicks Reservoir where one side of the street was still dry but the other - closer to the reservoir - was filling with water. "By the looks of it, it's coming this way," said Armando Robeldo, speaking of flood waters on Wednesday that seemed to be inch closer each hour to his home on one side of Clay Road. "If it does, we'll do what we can to save as much of our stuff as we can," said Robeldo, Cypress Ridge High School band director. Across the road, Iris Hogan was eyeing the floodwaters warily. She would not risk driving her car into her subdivision, where the water had already reached her front door. Her fear of snakes and other animals flushed out by the flood kept her from walking into the subdivision. "We left because we're from Louisiana and we don't take these things lightly. We came to check on the house every day," she said. "The officer just told us they expect the water to rise." Robeldo and Hogan mirrored a larger dynamic playing out northwest of the city of Houston, as federal engineers with the U.S. Corps of Engineers were increasing the releases of water from both Addicks and nearby Barker. On Wednesday, Harris County Flood Control District officials said that 1,000 homes had been flooded around Barker reservoir and 3,000 homes around Addicks. And while the releases in the Katy area were causing new flooding downstream in Buffalo Bayou, they were not sufficient to stem the flow of waters creeping into neighborhoods and businesses built on the edges on the federal reservoir. The unprecedented flows into the reservoir were coming from a number of creeks that feed into it, including Horsepen, Langham, Bear and South Mayde creeks. Business owners along Clay Road, about a 5-mile street that runs parallel to Interstate 10, also stood helpless as their livelihoods slipped below the waters. "We have to open those gates," said Edmond Russo, deputy district engineer for programs and project management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "The intent is we get the water out of there." He said that law required that the corps only consider flooding downstream in the city of Houston when taking into account whether or not to release water. While Russo said the corps empathizes with those living upstream in the inundated subdivisions, the release of water from the reservoirs was to build additional capacity in the reservoirs in case a future storm threatened Houston, and not to relieve the flooding. "We're actually not authorized to take that into consideration," Russo said. One business impacted on Clay Road was Quick Fix Headliners and Glass. "It's a small shop, but it's been my life's work for 26 years," said Robert Valladares, 48, who owns Quick Fix. He said he lost all his tools and supplies. Valladares fled to Houston in the late 1980s to escape the violence of the civil war in El Salvador, and started the business that employs him and another man. "I'll wait til the water goes down and clean it up, because we have no insurance," Valladares said, adding he heard that FEMA was only taking applications for residential losses. Across the road, the 168 homes in Pine Forest Green were dry, but residents were eyeing the flood waters and were worried. "Storm- wise we didn't have any problems, we got through like a champ," said Nasario Benavidez, who with his wife Deborah had walked up to the median on Clay Road to gauge whether the water was rising. Down the road, the water was neck deep in neighborhoods closer to the dam, having swallowed up homes, apartments and even a Harris County Sheriff's substation. Jared Richards, president of the Pine Forest neighborhood, said the neighborhood's detention pond helped prevent flooding when the storm made landfall as well as earlier discharges from Addicks. But on the other side of Clay Road, most residents of Deerfield Park had vacated the small, walled subdivision where the reservoir waters filled the streets, and had moved up to the garage entrances and front doors. A good Samaritan in a high-clearance truck drove through the neighborhood, asking residents of three homes if they wanted a ride out. All declined. A block down Clay Road from Deerfield Park, the look of concern on Sean Kamil's face was evident as he walked through the 3-acre complex that was Lone Star Auto Service. Kamil, a native of Lebanon, operates a fleet of wreckers, an auto storage yard and a mechanic's shop, and the back portion of his long garage nearest the Addicks reservoir had two feet of water in it.. "We have 40 families here, and everybody is like they don't want to ask it are we going to get paid?," said Kamil, referring to his workers. "The question is, who is going to compensate us for our losses. Is FEMA, or Gov. Abbott going to step up?" Meanwhile, highway department workers toiled to stem flooding near the reservoir outlets. Crews with the Texas Department of Transportation were installing a one-mile long temporary dam along westbound lanes of Interstate 10, in the hopes of having the lanes open by Wednesday evening. Without the barrier, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said officials feared they'd lose the entire roadway to surging waters as they release from Addicks and Barker reservoirs. "Once we set up the temporary dam, we can go pump out the water and clean up the lanes and open them up," Perez said. Officials are not certain if the flooding threatening the freeway is coming from Addicks, north of the freeway, or Barker to the south. The temporary dam is a tube, much like a sandbag, which crews fill with water. It applies enough pressure to hold back the water as it flows behind the barrier. Perez said officials will constantly monitor water levels to make sure the temporary dam is not topped. Crews will also protect the device with construction barrels so it is visible to drivers and safe from impact. It runs from around Eldridge Parkway toward Texas 6 for a distance of about one mile. Perez said officials are also planning temporary dams in other locations where the freeway is endangered or already affected by rising waters. The intersection of interstate 69 and FM 1960 is one spot, he said. Assessments of freeway conditions continue across the region as waters recede. Engineers and transportation officials must inspect roads for both debris, but erosion, permanent damage to safety rails and overpasses and underpasses for structural integrity. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mona Saldivar watched from Green River Drive on a muggy Wednesday morning as authorities tugged a white work van from the murky Greens Bayou. She'd held out hope that perhaps the van didn't contain the bodies of her loved ones, that maybe they were safe somewhere. Then authorities confirmed the unfathomable: The bodies of Saldivar's four children, ages 6 to 16, and their paternal great-grandparents were inside the van. A relative trying to transport the six away from rising floodwaters on Sunday afternoon instead drove into high water, which swept the vehicle off the road. The relative escaped the van but was unable to save the others. "This is like the hardest thing that anybody would ever go through," Mona Saldivar said by phone later. She declined to discuss the events that led to the tragedy. UNIQUE VIEW: Drones show Harvey's impact on Houston The bodies of Belia and Manuel Saldivar, who were months shy of their 60th wedding anniversary, were found huddled together in the car's front seat, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Four of their great-grandchildren were found in the back of the vehicle. Now Playing: Andrew Pasek killed by submerged live wire Video: Fox 26 Houston The confirmation of the six deaths Wednesday contributed to a rising number of dead or feared dead from flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey. The Harris County medical examiner's office has confirmed 18 deaths, including the six relatives. As of Wednesday night, authorities were reporting that more than 30 people had died - and they fully expected the number to go up. In Fort Bend County, a Katy preacher and his wife who went to check on a family member Wednesday afternoon died when they drove into floodwaters. The sheriff's office identified the victims as Donald Rogers, 65, and his wife, Rochelle. Donald Rogers died a few feet from the road named after his grandfather and just down the street from his uncle's home. That's who he and his wife were going to check on when they steered their Toyota Tundra into high water on Pool Hill Road, a hazard that family members believe should have been better marked or blocked off. The sheriff's office said the couple called around 12:40 p.m. But by the time deputies were able to send officers and a helicopter, it was too late. "This is just a remote area, and it takes time to get out here," Maj. Chad Norvell said. Man electrocuted Police, who spent much of Wednesday monitoring the rising crest of the nearby Brazos River and moving barricades around the county, said they simply can't block every flooded area. In northwest Harris County, 25-year-old Andrew Pasek died in the Bear Creek Village subdivision on Tuesday, his mother said Wednesday. She said her son was electrocuted on the way to his sister's house in the subdivision. Pasek's sister and her fiance didn't have a carrier for their cat, so they left the cat when the neighborhood was put under voluntary evacuation. When it became clear they could be out of their home for weeks, Pasek - an animal lover with a habit of rescuing stray dogs and cats - went back with a friend around 2 p.m. Tuesday to pick up their cat. He drove his Jeep and tried to walk the rest of the way to his sister's house due to the floodwaters but was electrocuted on the walk over. A GoFundMe page was set up Wednesday for the young man, and it has already raised more than $24,000. In northeast Houston, four men were reportedly missing after a swollen bayou swept away their small boat. The four were among seven men who went out Monday afternoon in an attempt to rescue neighbors in the Northshore area, according to a missing man's wife, as well as reports by ABC-13 and Univision. "My husband has been (in) the Wallisville and Normandy helping people get out of the houses," Perla Jaquez wrote on Facebook on Monday evening. "Now we can't locate him or his brothers. ... We are all very concerned." Family members told news stations that the men's boat ran into Greens Bayou's swift water near Wallisville Road and Normandy Street, then drifted toward a utility pole. All of the men reportedly jumped out. Three were found Tuesday morning, according to ABC-13, hanging on to trees and suffering from burns after being shocked. They were treated at a local hospital. The other four men reportedly remain missing. A hospital staff member confirmed early Wednesday that at least one of the injured men remains at the hospital but did not describe his condition. Authorities had no details on the incident late Wednesday. In southeastern Texas, Beaumont police on Wednesday recovered the body of a woman found floating in a residential area. A day earlier, police there found a 3-year-old clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal after the woman tried to carry her child to safety. Police identified the mother as Colette Sulcer, 41. 'Worst fears realized' On Wednesday, Orange County Judge Stephen Carlton said that two people had died Monday night in the city of Orange and that the deaths were storm-related, according to the Associated Press. He provided no other details. Sheriff Gonzalez said he fears the grim discoveries of additional bodies once the floodwaters retreat and the streams, rivers and bayous go back into their banks. "Our worst fears," Gonzalez said at the scene of the van recovery, "have been realized." Trying to flee the floods over the weekend, Sammy Saldivar drove his six family members up Green River Drive toward Greens Bayou as heavy rains battered the white vehicle. But the car began receding into high water. Sammy Saldivar managed to escape and clung to a nearby tree, Gonzalez said. Deputies would hear his screams and rescue him Sunday morning. Water had receded by Wednesday to expose the vehicle, which was partially sunk, askew in the Greens Bayou's edge amid tall grass. The children lived with their mother, Mona Saldivar, and attended Pasadena ISD schools. Daisy, 6, hoped to become a teacher one day and had a great first week in Ms. Jackson's first-grade class at Williams Elementary. She loved princess dresses and animals, with a particular affection for the neighborhood cats she fed, according to Mona Saldivar, a 34-year-old dental assistant. "She was bubbly, (a) social butterfly; she just talked to everybody and anybody. She would brighten up the room when she would come in the door," her mother said. Xavier, 8, had just started third grade at Williams Elementary. He loved swimming, turtles, family game nights and building Lego Ninjago sets. He liked the color green, and every Halloween he dressed up as a soldier, his mother said. He greatly admired his great-grandfather, who perished with him and was one of several military veterans in the family. Dominic, 14, played trombone and had already had a spot on the Pasadena High School marching band. Like his little brother, he aspired to join the military and loved Legos. The boys kept their Lego collections separate, but Dominic would help his brother build. Dominic was a rowdy, goofy jokester who was protective of his mother's time and attention, she said. 'Her laugh was contagious' Devorah, 16, was a straight-A student in the 11th grade at Pasadena High School, her mother said. She loved reading and sang alto in the choir. She had talked about becoming a veterinarian. To her mother, Devorah was like sunshine. "She would walk into the room - her laugh was contagious. She was always joking around, and her favorite color was yellow. She was always wearing something really bright," her mother said. As authorities pulled the vehicle from Greens Bayou, family members embraced and held hands. Two loved ones later thanked community members for their support as they drove away from the emergency vehicles assisting with the recovery. Another person put his hand on a woman's shoulder as they turned their backs from the swollen Greens Bayou to walk away. Andrew Kragie, Robert Downen and Margaret Kadifa contributed to this report. More than 40 people are dead in the wake of Harvey, but the longest lasting impact of the hurricane turned tropical storm is just beginning: the public health threat. From the bacteria, viruses, and fungi harbored in floodwaters to new breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes to a potentially staggering mental health toll inflicted on those hardest hit by Harvey, the risks are expected to be great. To get a better sense of the public health problems that may lie ahead, the Chronicle interviewed a number of public health experts. Here's what we learned: So exactly what's in those floodwaters? Truth to tell, "there's no way to know," said Houston health department spokesman Porfirio Lopez. "There could be anything. We just know it's contaminated." Ok, but what germs might be lurking there? Certainly, E. coli, which can cause gastro-intestinal distress. A Texas A&M team Thursday reported finding dangerous levels in samples collected from Cypress. Other pathogens found in floodwaters include Shigella, which, like E. coli, causes gastrointestinal illness; and Legionella, the cause of Legionnaires' disease and requires treatment with antibiotics. The most dangerous is vibrio vulnificus, the so-called flesh-eating bacteria. New Orleans reported more than 20 cases after Katrina it has five or six in a typical year and Dr. A. Scott Lea, infectious disease professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said he expects the Houston area will see some post-Harvey cases, though mostly along the Gulf Coast. Lea says to get to a physician or emergency room within 24 hours if you suspect you have the potentially life-threatening infection, which is characterized by terrible pain and large blisters. How about contaminants? Floodwaters are rife with sewage and chemicals. The former include fecal matter from animals and humans and all manner of debris. The latter can include benzene, dioxins, lead and arsenic from Superfund sites, but also pesticides and toxic cleaning fluids from the cabinets of flooded homes. Do you need a tetanus shot if you spent any time in floodwaters? You only need a tetanus shot ASAP if you exposed an open wound to floodwaters. Of course, unless you've had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years, you probably need a booster shot, but there's no rush, particularly given the stresses Harvey will put on the health-care system. What's the threat as floodwaters recede? Mold carries serious public health risks, especially for people with existing allergies and asthma. Two months after Katrina, CDC investigators found mold in the walls of half of 112 water-damaged homes. Is Houston's drinking water safe? Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston health department say the water is safe but Lea says people in smaller communities with different water supplies should be careful, that it's not known if they were breached. He suggests people in such communities drink boiled or bottled water to be safe. City officials strongly recommend against private wells - used by hundreds of thousands of people in the counties affected by Harvey - and say they don't take responsibility for it. When do the mosquitoes come? Baylor College of Medicine tropical medicine specialist Dr. Peter Hotez says the floodwaters likely swept away many breeding sites and should cause a decrease in mosquito activity in the short run. But he says there likely will be a sharp increase after floodwaters recede and new breeding sites pop up. He said it's possible the spike might be reflected next year too, given there's only another 1 1/2 months in Houston's mosquito season. There was such a year-after spike in New Orleans following Katrina. What are the health concerns in crowded public shelters? Fortunately, it's not close to flu season, so tuberculosis is the probably the biggest potential concern, said Hotez, The disease, which still occurs in Houston, is spread from person to person through the air, typically by coughing. What are public health threats you might not expect? Injuries. Conventional wisdom might suggest that most injuries are sustained during the event itself, but post-disaster studies show that most occur in the weeks after the event. In the month following Katrina, for instance, Louisiana's health department found that 27 percent of New Orleans' 75,000 health problems involved injuries. What are some examples? Back injuries from lifting heavy, wet items, such as mattresses or sofas. Carbon monoxide poisoning from running portable generators in the house. Electrocution from plugging into outlets before they've been evaluated by an electrician. Puncture wounds. Animal bites. Heat stress. "People want to get home and restore their lives," said Robert Emery, vice president for safety at UT Health Science Center at Houston. "That zeal is where they get injured. Pause and make sure you're within your capabilities, thinking things through." What are the signs you or your loved one might benefit from psychiatric help? Most people affected by Harvey flooding will experience some sort of distress, which is normal and expected, said Dr. Jeff Temple, a UTMB psychologist. But those who worry excessively, experience difficulty sleeping or loss of appetite, develop rapid heart rates or sweating are at risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and should seek help, said Temple. He said the risk is greatest among those who've experienced prior trauma, lack social support and were hardest hit they had to be evacuated, witnessed tragedy of feared for their life. Studies show PTSD occurs in about 20 percent of people affected by natural disasters, said Temple. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When most people get the their fortune cookie after having Chinese food they read it and dismiss it, but for Waller County Judge Trey Duhon one fortune was eerily true. Duhon shared a post to his Facebook page on Wednesday about a fortune he received just before Hurricane Harvey made landfall that read "boats and water are in your future." NEXT STEP: What to do with your debris as you clean out your home "I think I can talk about this now that Harvey has passed... If I would have posted this when it happened, it would have freaked some people out," Duhon wrote. According to the post, he and a few other city officials went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Thursday, Aug. 24. When the meal was over and they got their fortune cookies, Duhon could not believe the freaky accuracy of his. Now Playing: Drone video provided by Aaron Benzel shows widespread flooding near Tomball and Cypress Creek parkways in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Video: Houston Chronicle "After reading the fortune I looked at everyone else at the table and I asked, 'Is this a joke?' Everyone just stared at me," wrote Duhon. "I repeated 'Seriously, is this a joke??' Again everyone look at me bewildered. It freaked me out just a bit. My wife thought it was hilarious. I interpreted it to be an ominous warning. Especially with Harvey just off the coast of Texas." Boats and water (and lots of both) were in the future indeed. It looks like fortune cookies might actually be worth paying attention to. Take a look through the gallery above to see scenes from Hurricane Harvey. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A federal judge denied a request Wednesday for a new trial in the civil wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of San Antonio by the family of Marquise Jones, who was shot and killed by an off-duty San Antonio Police Officer three years ago. Jones family filed the request in May, arguing that the April trial was unfair because the court did not properly formulate the questions presented to the eight-person jury. If the questions were properly created, the plaintiffs argued, the case against the city of San Antonio and San Antonio Police Officer Robert Encina would have a different outcome. However, the judge ruled that the questionnaire in the nine-day trial was fair and there was no evidence of prejudicial error. In the end, the jury weighed the evidence, assessed the credibility of the witnesses, and believed the defendants over the plaintiffs, Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in his opinion. Based on the evidence presented by the defendants, particularly the testimony surrounding the presence of a gun, the jury had ample support for a verdict in favor of the defendants. Specifically, the Jones family claimed two questions that were presented to the jury should have been combined. The first question, according to court documents, asked whether Encina used excessive and unnecessary deadly force in violation of Jones constitutional rights. The second question asked if any reasonable officer in that position could have believed the amount of force was reasonable and necessary. Because the jury found that Encina did not use excessive force, the jury was not required to answer any of the subsequent questions. The family argued that the separation of the two questions violated the legal standard for an excessive force claim. Encina, who was working off-duty as a security guard for the Chachos and Chaluccis restaurant on Perrin Beitel Road on Feb. 28, 2014, shot Jones in the back in the parking lot of the restaurant as Jones was fleeing the scene of a fender bender. Encina, a six-year veteran of the SAPD at the time of the shooting, said Jones brandished a gun as he ran, and that Encina feared for his life. SAPDs internal investigation of the shooting found Encina was justified in using force. A grand jury declined to indict him on any criminal charge. However, Jones family has maintained that Jones did not have a gun that evening and that the gun was planted at the scene in an alleged cover-up. They said Jones fled the scene of the fender bender because he was on probation and was nervous about getting in trouble. On Wednesday, Lamberth issued a separate opinion, saying he would allow separate fraud charges against Chachos to move forward. A hearing to discuss those charges is scheduled for Sept. 11. Chachos, which previously settled with the family, was again made a defendant in the lawsuit earlier this year for allegedly refusing to hand over indoor surveillance video from the night of the shooting. In 2014, according to court documents, the family made its original request asking the restaurant to provide any photographs, video or audio recordings from the night of the shooting. An attorney for the restaurant replied, saying there was none, according to court documents. But in 2016, according to the family, Chachos provided surveillance video from the inside of the restaurant to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. That video has been submitted as evidence in federal court. Daryl Washington, a lawyer for the family, said the restaurant committed fraud by not bringing the evidence forward sooner. He believes the video only came to light in 2016 because the city of San Antonio needed the video to debunk testimony from one of the witnesses who came forward at the time. At the time, he asked the judge to sanction the defendants, but the judge denied that request. Instead, the judge ordered a separate trial for the Chachos defendants and proceeded with the lawsuit against the city and Encina. In court documents, John Engvall Jr., a lawyer for the restaurant, denied any wrongdoing because the only footage that existed showed the workers inside the restaurant, not the events leading up to the incident. There was not a camera located in the area where the incident occurred at the time of the incident, nor was there ever any video footage showing the incident or any of the vehicles involved in the incident, Engvall wrote. eeaton@express-news.net Twitter: @emilieeaton A federal judge halted most of Texas ban on sanctuary cities Wednesday two days before the law was to take effect. City of San Antonio officials who were challenging the law claimed victory while state leaders vowed to appeal the ruling, but it remained unclear Wednesday night what impact it would have on a San Antonio Police Department policy preventing officers from asking about immigration status. City staff and lawyers working on the case said they would have more information Thursday. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia halted penalties for officials who endorse policies in violation of Senate Bill 4, saying it likely violates the First Amendment. SB 4 allows the attorney general to fine or remove from office local officials who adopt, enforce, or endorse a policy under which the entity or department prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of immigration laws. The law also creates penalties for local officials who block police from asking about immigration status. In his ruling, Garcia wrote that although police can ask about immigration status of a person under a lawful detention or under an arrest, as described in the law, theres very little police can do after that. If for example, during a lawful stop an officer obtains information that the detained individual is undocumented, the officer may not arrest the individual or prolong the detention on this basis, Garcia wrote. However, under SB 4, officers are permitted again, not required to share this information with ICE, or other appropriate federal agencies, or law enforcement entities. Lawyers were still digesting the 94-page ruling Wednesday night and said they werent sure exactly how it would affect San Antonios policy. Renea Hicks, an Austin lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs, said cities like San Antonio may have to amend their policies. The (officials) can say, Im not limiting you from asking about immigration status if you stop someone. I think its a really terrible idea and I dont think you should do it, but I cant stop you from doing it, Hicks said. The questions can only be in the course of a lawful detention and regardless of (the) answer, you may not detain a person any longer after giving the answer, he added. The person is free to go; you have to let them go and you may not to hold them for ICE, but you may report the exchange to ICE. On the issue of local officials endorsing policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws, Garcia was clearer, saying the provision of the law could not go into effect. SB 4 permits speech on one side of the immigration policy debate, but not the other, he wrote. City officials praised the ruling. This law would have diminished the capacity of our local police officers to keep our communities safe and would have targeted members of our community, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement. Stopping this law allows our officers to focus on the job of preventing and combating crime, rather than doing the job of immigration officers, said Councilman Rey Saldana, who appeared as a plaintiff in the case. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott said they would appeal the ruling. Abbott said the decision makes Texas communities less safe. U.S. Supreme Court precedent for laws similar to Texas law are firmly on our side, Abbott said in a statement. This decision will be appealed immediately and I am confident Texas law will be found constitutional and ultimately be upheld. The judge, who had earlier this year ruled that the Bexar County Jail violated an immigrants rights by holding him on a detainer request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also blocked a provision of SB 4 that provides penalties for county jails that dont honor such detainers. Garcia found that jails enforcing criminal laws would violate the Fourth Amendment if they held on suspected immigration violations someone who had bonded out or had their charges dropped. Bexar County officials have said they would not have been affected by that aspect of SB 4 because they honor ICE detainer requests. Officials with ICE and Bexar County have said that immigration officials now attach warrants to detainer requests, which they say brings them into compliance with Garcias earlier ruling, although immigration lawyers have questioned whether thats the case. Unlike previous challenges to state immigration laws during the administration of former President Barack Obama, in which the federal government led lawsuits claiming the laws were unconstitutional, the Justice Department of President Donald Trump came down on the side of Texas in the SB 4 challenge. The lawsuit was led by the border community of El Cenizo, which along with Maverick County filed a lawsuit in San Antonio challenging SB 4 on May 8, the day after Abbott signed it into law. They were later joined by cities and counties across the state, including San Antonio. We won over 90 percent of it, said Luis Vera, a lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, which represented El Cenizo in the lawsuit. The state cannot mandate to the cities or police officers or sheriffs offices how they run their police departments. jbuch@express-news.net Twitter: @jlbuch When the order came Wednesday morning, the reservists of the 433rd Airlift Wing were ready. Within 11 hours, the men and women had loaded pallets with 40 tons of bottled water and medical supplies, muscled the towering stacks into place aboard a huge C-5M cargo plane and headed to Houston on a relief mission, one of many needed after Tropical Storm Harvey laid waste to the Bayou City. Hurricane Harvey by the numbers, as of noon Thursday after Vice President Mike Pence landed in Corpus Christi: From Acting Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Elaine Duke 232 shelters housing around 32,000 people in shelters 3 mega centers, two in Houston and one in Dallas. 21,000 federal workers are being mobilized, including those already in Texas. 14,000 National Guard mobilized. Of DHS employees: 3,500 FEMA workers are in Texas. 700 Coast Guard and 550 Customs Border Patrol officers are mobilized. The US Coast Guard is handling overflow of 911 calls in Houston. Estimates of calls coming in were as high as 900 per hour but now around 500 per hour. Seeing uptick in calls from Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange. Major disaster declaration in 30 Texas counties and five Louisiana parishes. Texans affected by mandatory evacuation: 779,000. Texans Affected by voluntary evacuations: 980,000. In Louisiana: 7,000 mandatory, 133,000 voluntary evacuees. Coast Guard reports they saved 3,000 lives. Estimates 200,000 customers in Texas and 11,000 customers in Louisiana without power. Customer means anything with a meter-- not a human. 120,000 residents without water in Beaumont Being described as ambitious in her senior yearbook wasnt necessarily a compliment in 1937, but Dorothy Ann Veach proved the description to be accurate. Joining the San Antonio Womens Motor Corps in 1941, Veach went on to become a private in the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps, later known as the WAC, in 1942, one of the first women in Texas to do so. She was quite independent, her daughter Christine Wilson said. She applied for officer candidate school went from a private in 1942 to an officer in 1945. After she married an Army officer, Veach continued her adventures as a military wife, living at various bases in the United States, and in Iran and Belgium before returning to San Antonio in the early 1970s. More Information Dorothy Ann Veach Born: Oct. 10, 1920, Austin Died: Aug. 27, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Husband Fletcher Read Veach Jr.; parents Lydia Kocurek and Alfred Pape; a sister; and a brother Survived by: Daughters Darcy Veach, Sharon Veach, Christine Wilson and son-in-law Peter, and Theresa Veach; two grandchildren;and two sisters Services: Visitation at 5:30 p.m., rosary at 7 p.m. Monday at Porter Loring Mortuary, 1101 McCullough Ave.; Mass at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony de Padua Catholic Church, 102 Lorenz. See More Collapse At the age of 92, she was making the trans-Atlantic flight to visit her grandchildren in the United Kingdom, daughter Darcy Veach said. Dorothy Veach died Sunday at 96. The oldest of five children raised in a Catholic household, Dorothy Veach attended Incarnate Word College after high school. Her father, a World War I veteran and railroad engineer, only attended school until the third grade. Her parents could only afford to send her to college for two years, Wilson said. After that she would have to finance it herself. Working as a secretary at a brokerage firm, Dorothy Veach found that she enjoyed making money liked having her own money, Darcy Veach said. She was sent to the Panama Canal Zone after the war in 1945, where she met her future husband, who had been wounded on the beach at Okinawa, in 1946. Marrying a few months later, Dorothy Veach was taking responsibility for a huge step by her own estimation, the most important decision of her life not letting her parents have their look-see and tell her their opinions first, Darcy Veach said. The social risk was enormous because of the shortness of the acquaintance and because his own kin were not known to her kin. Dorothy Veach and her husband were married for 60 years when he died in 2007. They were sent to Tehran, Iran, in 1959, and Dorothy Veach loved the experience. She was curious about everything, Darcy Veach said. It was a beautiful time, and my parents really enjoyed it. After a second tour in Iran and others in the U.S. and Belgium, Dorothy Veach and her husband returned to San Antonio. mheidbrink@express-news.net If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Messages of support and goodwill are flooding in this morning for Cllr Peggy Nolan after the Fine Gael local politician recovers from a suspected heart attack. The long standing councillor was rushed to Mullingar's Midland Regional Hospital on Tuesday before being transferred to St James' Hospital in Dublin. Cllr Nolan is expected to be transferred back to Mullingar later today after spending the last two days in intensive care. Her husband Paddy said Cllr Nolan was in "better form" this morning and responding to the care she was receiving from medics. The Leader spoke to a number of her fellow colleagues this morning who have wished the hugely popular local politician a speedy recovery. "I want to wish her the very best and see her back in the chamber as soon as she is fit to return," said fellow party member Cllr John Browne. Independent Cllr Gerry Warnock said he was shocked to hear of the news, saying the episode underlined the huge pressures attached to public representation. "It came as an awful fright when I heard," he said. "I was actually talking to Peggy myself yesterday and I am delighted she is, please God, going to be okay. "It's certainly a worrying time and Peggy is such a hardworking councillor. It just goes to show you though just how stressful being a public representative is." Fianna Fail group leader Cllr Seamus Butler followed suit, passing on his best wishes to Cllr Nolan as did Cathaoirleach Cllr Martin Mulleady. The Drumlish based politician said the events of the past 48 hours underlined the irrelevance of politics when someone's health, let alone a deeply respected local councillor, was called into question. "On behalf of the members of the council and staff of the council I wish Peggy a speedy recovery. "I hope she is back on her feet soon and back fighting in the chamber because that is where everyone wants to see her A man has been injured and hospitalised after a shooting in Co Offaly. Gardai in Tullamore are investigating the shooting incident which occurred on the outskirts of Tullamore town. Shortly before 10pm last night, August 30, a 21-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds to his legs during an incident in a field off Clara Road. The injured man was taken by ambulance to Tullamore Hospital for treatment. His injures are not thought to be life threatening. Its understood a shot was fired from some distance away. A second man (20s) present at the time escaped uninjured. An incident room has been established at Tullamore Garda Station and no arrests have been made to date. Searches in the field have been carried out at the scene and enquires are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Tullamore Garda Station 057-9327600 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111. From the author of the Seafarer, The Weir won the Olivier award for best new play when it was first staged on the west end and has gone on to be a global success. Heralded as a masterpiece by The Guardian Decadent Theatres production features a stellar cast including Frankie McCafferty and Garrett Keogh and has garnered rave reviews across the board; the Irish Examiner gave it a perfectly measured four stars and yet another four star rating from The Mail on Sunday who called it a first rate production. On a stormy night in Brendans pub, isolated above a Leitrim town, the men are gathering for their evening pint. The arrival of a stranger in their midst a beautiful woman spurs them to impress her with stories. They are stories of souls past, spirits present and spectres unforeseen. One story, however, is more haunting, more sinister and more real than any of them could have foreseen. Quietly compelling and strangely chilling, Decadents production marks the second major Irish revival of this undoubted modern classic. On its premiere in 1997, The Weir won the Evening Standard, Critics Circle and Olivier Awards for Best New Play, and established McPhersons eerie tale as a masterpiece of modern theatre. Following an eight month run on Broadway, the New York Times described the play as beautiful and devious and hailed the playwright, as a first-rate story-teller. Tickets for The Weir are available on 043 33 47888, from Farrell Coy in Longford Town or online on www.backstage.ie Download Image: Web During the past few days, many of us have watched the news coverage of the devastation that Hurricane Harvey has wreaked upon Houston and southeast Texas. Our thoughts have been with those impacted by the unprecedented rains and catastrophic flooding as well as the rescue workers who have saved so many lives. The Lycoming student body includes a significant number of students from Houston and the surrounding region whose families and friends have been impacted by the hurricane. Student Life, faculty and other college employees have reached out to them offering support. In addition, the Colleges advancement and alumni staff have been in touch with many alumni and other friends who live in the region. During the coming days, the focus in southeastern Texas will shift from rescue to the enormous effort that will be required over a long period of time to provide relief and rebuild the lives of those who have been impacted. As that happens, many of us will want to know what we can do to help. To that end, we have reached out to some of the school systems that our students attended. We have learned that the YES PREP system and KIPP school systems have established funds to provide direct assistance to families. A donation to the YES PREP fund can be made by visiting this link and typing Flood Relief in the comments section. Gifts to the KIPP fund can be made by visiting this link and selecting Family Emergency Fund from the drop down menu. For other effective ways of supporting the relief efforts, I encourage you to consult the advice offered by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. I encourage all of us to find our own way of supporting our community members impacted by this natural disaster whether that be by offering a word of support or making a donation. Kent C. Trachte, Ph.D., is the 15th president of Lycoming College. Stocks do this in October in Years Ending in 7 It has been proven repeatedly by various market experts that stock market cycles exist. Whether you believe in them or not that is up to you, but as a technical trader myself I see price action repeat on virtually all time frames from the intraday charts, to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and beyond. In fact, cycles tend to move in series of 3s, 7s and 10s, and multiples of these as well. So, 3 bars, 7 bars, 10 bars no matter the time frame, though I find the 10min, daily, weekly, and monthly charts work best. Knowing these cycles lengths, lets review briefly where the markets are situated in terms of a seasonality, volatility, and the 3, 7 and 10 cycle periods. What I am about to show you is very intriguing. I will let the charts do all the talking as they show the picture clearly. Example of Last 7 Year Stock Market Cycle Potential 10 Year Cycle Top Forming Seasonality of Monthly Price Action for Years Ending in 7 Concluding Thoughts: In short, this is just a quick snap shot of some angles in which I look at the stock market. There are a lot different things happening (cycles, technical analysis patterns, and fundamentals) which have been painting a bearish picture for the stock market. In fact, last year the US equities market were only a couple down days way from trigging a full-blown bear market. But Trump was elected and that triggered a massive rally which I see as being a final exhaustion move (euphoria) just before a major market top. I have been watching and waiting for what I feel will be the next major market top for just over a year now. Why? Because once a market top looks to be in place we must adjust all our long-term portfolio holdings into different asset classes with CASH being a huge portion of it. Stock prices typically fall 7 times faster than they rise so just imagine being properly positioned for a bear market with a portion of your position knowing you could make 7 years of slow painful growth in only 8-12 months when the bear market starts. I recently did a seminar talking about his and how one can use inverse ETFs and short selling to profit from the next financial down turn which will eventually happen. If you want to stay in the loop and be positioned for this massive move over the next two years Bear Market, then back into a Bull Market be sure to join my 2 Year Trading & Investing newsletter plan at http://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/etf-trading-newsletter/ Chris Vermeulen www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com Daily Market Forecast Video & ETFs www.ActiveTradingPartners.com Stock & 3x ETFs Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 7 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return. Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. 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Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com The Boston Celtics will send the Cleveland Cavaliers a second-round pick to complete the deal that brings Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics and sends Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the 2018 Brooklyn Nets pick to Cleveland. The Cavaliers were reportedly upset by the condition of Isaiah Thomas' hip and wanted extra compensation, but the Celtics believed they had been up front about Thomas' health throughout the negotiations and reportedly were unwilling to give up more than a second-round pick. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics will surrender a 2020 second round-selection, courtesy of the Miami Heat. Boston is sending Cleveland a 2020 second-round pick to complete the Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade, league source tells ESPN. Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 31, 2017 Boston will send its 2020 second-round pick via Miami to Cavaliers to complete the trade, league sources said. Boston would budge no more. Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 31, 2017 The Celtics had very little reason to surrender more. The deal was already more than anything Cleveland was likely to receive elsewhere, although the Milwaukee Bucks were reportedly lurking in the background with an intriguing offer of Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton. But the 2018 Nets pick was the big asset that likely got the deal done in the first place, and it was the asset that Cleveland ultimately couldn't pass up, even as they postured for leverage. What Cleveland was demanding remains uncertain. Early reports suggested they would ask for Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, but that always seemed somewhat nebulous, and it was clear that Boston would walk away from the table if the Cavaliers drew that line in the sand. It was more likely Cleveland coveted another first-round pick, whether one of Boston's, or one of their remaining picks. The protected 2018 Lakers selection was likely in the same category as Brown or Tatum, but the Cavs could have targeted the 2019 Memphis Grizzlies pick, which was 1-8 protected. But Boston had no intention of surrendering anything else significant. In addition to Thomas, the Cavaliers were already receiving a good role player on one of the best contracts in the league in Jae Crowder and an asset that could either be used or flipped for another star to try to convince LeBron James to stay. That kind of flexibility wasn't available elsewhere. The Celtics knew it, and rather than surrendering more of their own future flexibility, they finished the deal with a piece most Celtics fans will likely barely miss. A Lawrence police officer agreed to plead guilty in Boston Federal Court Wednesday to using his position to extort cocaine from a drug trafficker. John Desantis, 45, of Methuen will be sentenced to no less than 12 months and no greater than 18 months in prison if U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV accepts his plea. Authorities began investigating Desantis in May 2016 after an anonymous complainant reached out to the FBI, accused the officer of threatening to arrest him if he did not continue to provide him with cocaine. After an FBI agent met with the complainant, investigators learned that Desantis had been purchasing small amounts of cocaine once or twice a week from the drug trafficker for close to a year. He did not identify himself as a police officer during these transactions, according to the agent's report. On May 16, 2016, Desantis reportedly displayed his gun and badge to the trafficker during a drug transaction at this home. Desantis then seized the cocaine and threatened to arrest the dealer if he did not continue to supply him with drugs, according to the report. After the incident, Desantis texted the dealer, telling him, "You will not be arrested at all if do as I tell you to do." In other text messages, Desantis warned the dealer not to talk to anyone and to bring him $150 per week, while implying the deals were part of a police investigation. "We been on this for over a year. You say anything you go to jail," Desantis wrote, according to the report. "I worked out deal for you because I think you are a good guy. We have phones wiretapped so we will know." When the FBI contacted the Lawrence Police Department for more information, they learned that Desantis was not assigned to any drug investigations at the time and had last submitted evidence to the department in Sept. 2014. The FBI agent began sending texts from the complainant's phone in order to get more evidence. Pretending to the the dealer, he told Desantis that he was scared and had left the city. Desantis allegedly responded with a series of messages demanding that the dealer come to his home. "4:35 in my house. No excuses. No more fear," Desantis allegedly wrote. On May 27, 2016, Desantis was arrested and charged with extortion. Desantis plead guilty to one could of extortion and attempted extortion under color of official right and through the use of threatened force and fear. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17. AGAWAM -- A local man was arrested early Wednesday after allegedly trying to rob a city convenience store at knifepoint. Dean Wright, a resident of the Feeding Hills, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted robbery while masked, Agawam police Chief Eric P. Gillis said. Wright, whose age was unavailable, was expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Westfield District Court, but the outcome of that hearing was not immediately known. Police responded to a 1:12 a.m. report of an armed robbery at the Cumberland Farms at 786 Springfield St. A description of the suspect was broadcast to officers, who found the man a short time later near the scene of the robbery. The store is at the corner of Springfield and Witheridge streets. "Investigating officers and detectives ultimately developed probable cause that led them to believe that the person that they had located was in fact the perpetrator," said Gillis, adding that Wright was subsequently taken into custody. "Further investigation of this attempted armed robbery is ongoing at this time," the chief said. Longmeadow police and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section assisted Agawam police with "the initial stages of our investigation," Gillis said. EASTHAMPTON -- As students prepare to return to school, teachers here are undergoing anti-bias training courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League. It's an initial step to eradicate longstanding, pervasive, and documented problems with discrimination and bullying at Easthampton High School. Last Friday, the Massachusetts Attorney General issued a highly-critical report after months of investigation. The report found "serious bias-related problems" and "significant racial and ethnic disparities" in student discipline. The report also found that administrators ignored obvious problems with diversity and equity, and that protocols and training to aid teachers and staff were not in place. Trainers with the ADL have been holding workshops at the schools this week. It's part of a comprehensive strategy to create an inclusive climate for all students -- regardless of race, ethnicity, religious belief, or other categories protected by civil rights laws. Robert O. Trestan, New England regional director of the ADL, said the organization applauds the AG's investigation and its binding memorandum of agreement with the Easthampton Public School District. "The findings of the investigation are deeply concerning and serve as a reminder that creating inclusive schools requires educators, students, and the community to understand what happens when bias goes unchecked," said Trestan in a statement. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, fights anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry. "We hope that the district will continue to take the steps necessary to fully implement the agreement in order to ensure that all Easthampton students have access to equal educational opportunities from bias and harassment. We look forward to continuing to work with the District on next steps," Trestan said. September 5 is the first day of school. One person is confirmed dead following a crash late Wednesday in Hatfield. Local and Massachusetts State Police were called to the Connecticut River near Bridge Lane in Hatfield following a report of a car driven into the river shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday. A sedan and its driver were pulled from the river late Wednesday by the Massachusetts State Police Dive Team. The vehicle was reportedly traveling at high speeds prior to crashing into the water. His name is expected to be released later Thursday, after next-of-kin have been notified. The incident remains under investigation by Hatfield Police, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Northwestern District Attorney's Office and MSP Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section. Range anxiety makes an all-electric motorhome seem like a losing proposition from the get-go. Is there a greater oxymoron than a boundless, nomadic vehicle that needs to be hooked to the grid for hours at a time every 100 miles (161 km) or so? Still, there are electric motorhomes out there, of both the homebuilt and retail variety, and we can now add another to the list. The Dethleffs e.home concept explores the possibility of a Type C motorhome with a zero emissions powertrain, plenty of solar charging capability, and efficient and smart technologies throughout. C.C. Weiss Congratulations to Golden Seeds, one of ACAs most active angel groups, with chapters across the country. This group, among the founding members of ACA, has reached the impressive milestone of more than $100 million invested in women-led businesses 143 businesses to be exact. Notes Managing Partner Loretta McCarthy, "Women angel investors are now an integral part of our industry, using their capital, skills and networks to contribute to the success of start-up companies." https://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/data/Documents/Membership/GoldenSeedsPressRelease-100MillionMilestone.pdf?rev=744C Most fans of "Shark Tank" assume that entrepreneurs are clamoring to appear on the hit business pitch show. But Michelle Huie, 37, founder and CEO of VIM & VIGR https://vimvigr.com/ , turned down an invitation to apply. Her three-year-old business, based in Missoula, Montana, makes $33 compression socks in brightly colored stripes, argyle and flower patterns. Aside from a $100,000 loan from the Small Business Association, she bootstrapped the company. More than 1,000 stores carry the socks. She has 16 employees in Montana and expects $3 million in revenue this year. Susan Adams , Forbes Staff https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/2017/08/30/why-startup-vim-vigr-said-no-to-shark-tank/#235bba7e31f4 Below are workshops offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration Boise District Office and resource partners. For additional information call (208) 334-1698 or email [email protected]. Registration links for individual events are included below. All events can be found online at http://www.sba.gov/events. Boise District Office events can also be found at http://www.SBABoise.eventbrite.com. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USSBA/bulletins/1b40ced "Why do you want to hurt our business?" a company representative identifying himself only as Dan asked the Indy, questioning the papers motive in reporting this story. "We need privacy for our business. Were in a hypercompetitive marketplace. The last thing I need is for people to know where we are." Why do bitcoin mines require secrecy? Dan, the Project Spokane representative, hung up at that question. A state grant aimed at helping a Bonner bitcoin mine become the largest in North America and add 65 jobs to the local economy has been declined after the company was apparently blindsided that its award of $416,000 would be publicized. The opaquely named Project Spokane, located in the old Bonner sawmill, signaled its intent in August to decline a Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund grant. The grant is administered through the county, and on Aug. 23, the Missoula Economic Partnership asked county commissioners to sign a letter declining the states offer. By Derek Brouwer https://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/why-a-bonner-bitcoin-company-declined-a-state-grant/Content?oid=4863984 Civil society organisations (CSOs) have joined together in Dakar, Senegal, to create Africas first civil society network for Neglected Tropical Diseases the Civil Society Says No to NTDs Coalition. This coalition will provide a network for CSOs to consult and collaborate to maximise their efforts in fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases, particularly around their aim of increasing sustainable funding for NTD control programs. The new civil society coalition was formed to enable member CSOs to take NTD control and elimination into their own hands to save millions of lives against these diseases. Founding members of the Civil Society Say No to NTDs Coalition include: Speak Up Africa, Alliance Nationale des Jeunes pour la Sante de la Reproduction et de la Planification Familiale (ANJ-SR-pf), Environnement, Communautes, Sante et Securite (ECOSS), Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI), Contribution au Developpement Rural (CDR), Union pour le Developpement et la Cooperation (UDEC), and Jeunesse Secours and Alliance des Femmes pour lEgalite et le Genre en Guinee (AFEGGUI). The coalition is open to all civil society organisations. Several key objectives for the coalition have been established, including creating a connected, integrated, collaborative African CSO network; building CSO capacity to develop and implement locally relevant advocacy strategies; and engaging parliamentarians on policy and budget support for sustainable NTD control and elimination programmes. To support the newly formed coalition, policy and advocacy tank Speak Up Africa delivered a training for all group members. The training sessions were designed to provide the CSOs with the tools they need to implement effective advocacy programmes, and to convey the importance of public health advocacy to accelerate the elimination of NTDs such as trachoma and schistosomiasis, which are some of the most common NTDs in Africa. Yacine Djibo, Founder at Speak Up Africa said: The elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases will require the involvement and commitment of all levels of society, which is why the formation of the Civil Society Says No to NTD Coalition is such an important step towards reaching our end goal of raising NTDs high on the public health agenda of African countries. This network will enable CSOs to collaborate, exchange their expertise on NTD-related issues and amplify their voices to truly drive change. We look forward to seeing what can be achieved when we work together even more closely. Salomon Yedidya, Managing Director of Jeunesse Secours Guinee said: We strongly welcome the formation of the new CSO coalition against NTDs. Working together, we will be empowered to improve governance at both national and regional levels, build accountability and increase ownership of NTD-related issues. With NTDs affecting 600 million people across Africa, it is crucial that NTDs are top of the health agenda, and coalitions like this go a long way in ensuring that we act in the most effective manner. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases which affect more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, 39% of whom live in Africa. They thrive in areas where access to healthcare, adequate sanitation and clean water is limited, such as in remote and rural areas or informal settlements. As a result, they affect some of the continents poorest and remote communities. The formation of the Civil Society Says No to NTDs Coalition will play a key role in progressing the World Health Organisations (WHO) NTD 2030 roadmap, which aims for a 90% reduction in the number of people requiring interventions against NTDs by 2030. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Morgan County Veterans Day Parade slated Nov. 11 Audio Article The Morgan County Veterans Day Parade will be held on Friday, Nov. 11. The parade will form at the Commons, in McConnelsville, at 9:30 a.m. and set out at 10 a.m. The American Legion Post 24 will render honors at the monuments at the Commons, Riecker Building, the Square, at... A concert with two purposes Audio Article Wednesday, Nov. 30, a concert with dual purposes is being held at the Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, Ohio. Its a thank-you to healthcare workers, who can attend for free, and its a benefit for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. In September 2021, Rick Shriver contracted COVID-19. He collapsed... 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Governor DeWine awards $6.7 million for domestic violence survivor programs Audio Article Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $6.7 million to support the work of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) to offer mobile and health advocacy services and temporary residential services for domestic violence survivors across the state. The announcement comes during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.... CDC committee vote wont change Ohio school vaccine requirement Audio Article Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA has released the following statement: The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the formulary or schedule of vaccines for children does not mandate this vaccine for school children. Ohio law determines... Using stem cells, scientists have managed to restore nerve function in monkeys with Parkinsons disease. The findings may change therapeutic practices in humans. Share on Pinterest A new study shows promise for using stem cells to create neurons that can replace the ones damaged by Parkinsons disease. A new study recently published in the journal Nature Communications shows promise for treating Parkinsons disease with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are cells that have been taken from a child or an adults tissue and genetically modified to resemble embryonic stem cells that is, to be able to take the form of any other adult cell types. In the case of Parkinsons, scientists have been using iPSCs to form a certain type of brain cell that is damaged by the condition: the so-called dopaminergic neurons located in the midbrain. These brain cells are the primary source of dopamine the neurotransmitter that helps to regulate voluntary movement, mood, stress, and reward, among other things. Previously, researchers have been able to restore motor function in rats and primates with Parkinsons-like symptoms by implanting dopaminergic neurons derived from human iPSCs. But until now, no studies have investigated the long-term impact of such a practice in primates. In this context, a team of researchers led by Jun Takahashi, of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at the Kyoto University in Japan, set out to implant these neurons in the brains of long-tailed macaques and evaluate the safety and functionality of such a practice over time. Innovation Humans, animals and the environment our health is all connected Why the One Health approach is important now more than ever CASS CITY The last facility of higher education in Tuscola County is phasing out operations. Baker College's campus at 6667 Main Street in Cass City is in the process of closing down. The college, like schools throughout the area, have experienced declining student enrollment. Baker College officials confirmed they started making plans a year ago to phase out classes in Cass City. "We currently only have 40 students enrolled," said Baker College of Flint President Wen Hemingway. "We are open and operating, but there has not been a new student enrolled in the last year. It's a shame we were the only higher education institution in the area." There used to be a Davenport University in Caro, but that closed in 2012, along with campuses in Alma and Gaylord. The Tuscola County Medical Care Facility purchased Davenport's college, which was next door, to use for administrative offices, and they also built two senior-care homes on the additional acreage. Although enrollment in Cass City has waned, the college's other nine campuses are flourishing. "We are not leaving the (Cass City) students high and dry," said Hemingway. "They will be able to finish out the class program they are enrolled in and to graduate. That will take a couple of years. There is more interest in going away to college. It is disappointing." According to Hemingway, when the time comes, the plan is to market the facility so it doesn't deteriorate. Also, Baker College recently donated 150 computers to the Cass City Schools. "We use our computers for about three years and then replace them," she explained. "There is still a lot of good use left in them so we donate them to area high schools to use. This time the donation was to Cass City Schools. We've donated to other schools in the area as well." The 14,000-square foot facility was built and operated by Jordan College in 1995, and then sold to Baker College. Baker College is the largest independent college in the state of Michigan. It is fully accredited and offers more than 150 career programs. UPPER THUMB Local school districts will see an increase in funding for the current school year, according to a recent announcement by State Rep. Edward Canfield. School districts will see an increase in per-student funding by between $60 and $120 per student, announced Canfield, a Sebewaing Republican. In addition, high schools will get an extra $25 per student on top of the funding increase that was passed by the Michigan Legislature over the summer. Were always appreciative of any increase in funding we get, Huron Intermediate School District superintendent Joe Murphy told the Tribune. There are some cutbacks in the federal level, so there are some things that are being cut. So that (the funding increase) will even out Specific school funding increases were: Bad Axe Public Schools $214,321 Caseville Public Schools $54,965 Cass City Public Schools $233,532 Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker Schools $229,238 Harbor Beach Community Schools $123,685 North Huron School District $104,269 Owendale-Gagetown Area Schools $44,729 Ubly Community Schools $193,040 Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District $161,456 The additional funding for smaller, rural districts is to make up for a funding gap that has existed between the smaller districts and larger, urban school districts, said Canfield, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee. The Legislature has worked hard for the past six years to bridge that gap and make school funding more equitable. Canfield was involved in budget discussions this spring and voted for the funding increases. The number of troops engaged in rescue and relief Wednesday in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey totaled about 7,600 in Texas and Louisiana, and upwards of 30,000 troops have been put on standby, the Pentagon said Wednesday. A Pentagon spokesman said 4,300 National Guard troops were engaged mostly in search and rescue operations in Texas, and that number could rise to 14,000 in the next 48 hours. About 500 Guard troops were already mobilized in Louisiana and their number could go up to 1,000 by Friday, the spokesman said. In addition, about 2,800 active-duty troops have deployed or were about to deploy to Texas, the spokesman said. Thousands more active-duty troops were in the pipeline, awaiting a formal request for their deployment from Gov. Gregg Abbott, R-Texas, according to Pentagon officials. At the Pentagon Tuesday, Maj. Gen. James Witham, the National Guard Bureau's Director of Domestic Operations, said that 20,000-30,000 National Guard troops and thousands more active-duty troops were on standby to go to Texas and Louisiana if they get the call to assist overwhelmed Texas authorities. The skies cleared over Houston Wednesday but torrential remnants of Harvey made landfall again near Port Arthur, Texas, and the southwestern Louisiana Gulf Coast on a path expected to take the storms through Shreveport, Louisiana. Related content: There were varying accounts of the death toll, ranging from 16 to 22, from the storms and floods in the aftermath of Hurricane Havey, which hit the Texas Gulf Coast Friday as a Category 4 storm with winds up to 130 mph and has now been downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of about 45 mph. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said "We just pray that the body count won't rise significantly" as rescue teams search abandoned neighborhoods. On Wednesday, about 400 troops and 100 vehicles from the Army's 1st Cavalry Division began arriving in Houston to join rescue and recovery efforts in the flooded city. The troops left Tuesday from their post at Fort Hood, Texas, about 200 miles northwest of Houston, in a series of convoys, a base spokesman said. The units involved from 1st Cav's 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command included the 36th Engineer Brigade, 48th Chemical Brigade, 85th Civil Affairs Brigade, 89th Military Police Brigade, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, 11th Signal Brigade and 1st Medical Brigade. On Tuesday at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Witham said the military was planning on a lengthy involvement in storm relief and recovery, and was taking a "phased approach" to bringing in troops and equipment. "Just like our first responders get tired and burn out, guardsmen will also get tired and burn out as we do this. So this has to be a phased approach, and Texas is planning for that phased approach, not only with their organic National Guard forces, but National Guard forces that could be brought in from surrounding states through emergency assistance compacts," Witham said. "So this has to be a phased approach, and Texas is planning for that phased approach, not only with their organic National Guard forces, but National Guard forces that could be brought in from surrounding states through emergency assistance compacts," Witham said. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... The U.S. Army recently announced that two brigades from the 3rd Infantry Division will deploy to Afghanistan this fall. The service also announced upcoming deployments of Army units to Kuwait and Europe. The Army is sending the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade and the 3rd Sustainment Brigade from Fort Stewart, Georgia, to Afghanistan as part of a regular rotation of forces, according to an Aug. 30 press release. The Pentagon recently acknowledged that the number of U.S. boots on the ground in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria is higher than has been officially reported for years. The long-standing official number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, or Force Management Level, had been 8,448, but Marine Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie said for the first time that the actual number in Afghanistan is about 11,000. The Army did not release the number of 3rd ID soldiers involved in the upcoming fall deployment, and neither the Army nor the Defense Department could provide the number when contacted by Military.com. The 3rd ID units will replace the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, and the 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Armored Division, to support Operation Freedom's Sentinel, the release states. "Our soldiers in the 3rd Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade and the 3rd Sustainment Brigade have completed tough and realistic training to assume their missions in Afghanistan," said Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Quintas Jr. "I am confident in the abilities of our Dogface soldiers, and I am eager for them to join us in Afghanistan for Operation Resolute Support." The Army recently announced the upcoming deployments of 5,200 soldiers from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, and the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. About 3,500 soldiers from the 2nd ABCT, 1st AD, will deploy to Kuwait this fall to replace the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, in support of Operation Spartan Shield, according to an Aug. 30 press release. "The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, Iron Brigade, has undergone some of the most intensive and realistic training the 1st Armored Division has to offer, and its leaders have forged a ready team," said Maj. Gen. Pat White, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss commanding general. "This force is fully prepared and ready to take over their new mission in support of Operation Spartan Shield." About 1,700 troops from the 1st CAB, 1st Cav, will deploy to Europe this fall to replace the 10th Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, in support of U.S. European Command's Operation Atlantic Resolve, an Aug. 30 press release states. "The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade looks forward to being the second brigade-sized rotational aviation unit to deploy to EUCOM in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve," said Col. Phillip C. Baker, commander of the brigade. "Air Cav troopers are trained and ready to showcase our dynamic aviation capabilities through multinational exercises with our NATO allies and partner nations." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related Video: CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina -- Col. Daniel Hunter Wilson is a 36-year Marine Corps officer with a history of drinking too much and crossing clear boundaries of propriety when he does, according to testimony and attorney statements. But accusers say his misdeeds went much further, alleging that, during a brief period last year, he groped and sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl and subjected her sisters to inappropriate touching and behavior. Then, after Wilson was already facing charges based on those accusations, he is accused of pinning down and sexually assaulting a female friend twice on the same drunken night. Related content: Wilson's attorneys maintain he is not guilty on all counts, saying some seemingly inappropriate behavior represents jokes taken out of context, while other, more serious allegations leave key questions about the reliability or motives of the accuser. In opening statements and testimony on the first day of Wilson's general court-martial here Wednesday, it became clear that the charges the senior officer faces stem from three discrete periods in 2016. Sent Away For Wilson, the first major event of the year was being removed from his post as liaison officer for Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, Australia, only 10 days into what was to be a six-month tour. Wilson was sent away in late February after his Australian counterpart complained of multiple incidents of inappropriate behavior, including alleged sexual comments to an officer's wife, requests to another officer for racy photos and underwear belonging to his wife, and a "joke" email sent from a female co-worker's work account to a male colleague. Only months after moving to a new posting aboard Camp Lejeune as the operations officer for II MEF, Wilson and his wife Susan closely befriended the family of another officer -- a friendship that would end abruptly after the family's six-year-old daughter claimed Wilson had fondled and digitally penetrated her. Susan Wilson took the stand Wednesday to invoke spousal privilege, giving her the right not to testify concerning her husband. The family, whose members will not be identified by Military.com to protect the privacy of the alleged victim, had, like the Wilsons, recently moved to Lejeune from III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan. They had three small daughters: a 10-year-old and six-year-old twins. Wilson had previously worked with the officer, a major, who testified he saw Wilson as a mentor and someone he admired. Befriending the Family The family had endured a challenging military move, staying in multiple temporary housing arrangements before they were able to move into field-grade officer housing at Lejeune in late June 2016. Both sides agree the families then began to spend a significant amount of time together. The Wilsons, a couple in their 50s who have two grown children, invited the family to use their washer and dryer for laundry while they were without permanent housing and invited them over often as they were moving into the new home. On June 29, the day after the family settled into their new home, they were guests of the Wilsons for a cookout. While the families mingled, Wilson focused his attention on one of the six-year-olds, spending half his total time that night with her, according to her father's testimony Wednesday. They played a lawn game called Washers for up to 90 minutes and roughhoused, exchanging hugs. Wilson was also observed consuming whiskey, his drink of choice, at one point appearing to stumble drunkenly as he carried the six-year-old to her family's car at the end of the night. "In fact, on all these nights, you'll hear testimony that [Wilson] was drinking," Lt. Col. John Stephens, lead attorney for the prosecution, said in his opening statement. That night began a two-week period in which the two families saw each other often, spending multiple evenings together. Testimony shows Wilson even showed up unannounced at the family's house on two early morning occasions, including one slightly bizarre incident, that the major said struck him as "a little off." On four of the occasions, the prosecution alleged that Wilson found himself alone and unsupervised with the six-year-old. On at least one occasion, Stephens said testimony will show that Wilson was seen to walk into a bathroom and wash his hands. He was also seen to disappear into a small unfurnished study containing a bathroom for several minutes before returning to the living room where the young girl was waiting. Accusations of Abuse The story took a dramatic turn July 13, when the family was at the Wilsons' home for a dinner with Dr. Jeffrey Ashley, a USAID mission director who had been brought to Lejeune by Wilson and the major to hold a professional military education session for troops within II MEF. According to her father's testimony, the six-year-old girl had been sitting on Wilson's lap and attempting to show him her belly button when she was accidentally knocked to the floor and began to cry. She found her mother in the kitchen, who attempted to comfort her. Her mother also gently reproved her, telling her she shouldn't show people her belly button or other private areas. "[The girl] chimes in very quickly, 'He didn't touch my privacy,' " Stephens said in his opening statement. "[The mother] is taken aback." According to statements and testimony, the mother followed up, telling the six-year-old that if anyone had touched her, it was alright to admit it and she would not face punishment. At that point, the girl said Wilson had touched her, indicating where he had put his fingers and saying it had "burned, stung and hurt," according to Stephens. After this revelation, confrontation took place quickly. The mother told the major to gather the children, as they needed to leave immediately, testimony shows. Though the officer did not know what was wrong, he began to do so. Then, according to Stephens, the mother turned to confront Wilson. "You monster!" she allegedly shouted at him. "What did I do?" Wilson said. "You know exactly what you did," she responded. "And I don't give a f*** if you're a colonel, I'm going to get you." The family then left, taking Dr. Ashley with them. They decided later that night to call military police, beginning a Naval Criminal Investigative Service process that would involve DNA tests and interviews, and ultimately lead to Wilson being charged with sexual assault of a child. The six-year-old was taken to child advocacy centers in Jacksonville and Greenville, North Carolina, where she was interviewed about her experiences and recollections. Days later, her sisters were also interviewed, a process that turned up new allegations. The other six-year-old alleged that Wilson would lick her body and spank her while they were together. Wilson is also accused of offering all three girls whiskey, which he sometimes allegedly called "apple juice." A Child's Testimony Much hangs on the testimony of the first six-year-old. DNA analysis of her underwear revealed a male profile, but no conclusive identity. And no one witnessed Wilson inappropriately touching the girl. Other behavior seemed sinister only in retrospect. When Wilson showed up unannounced one morning, ostensibly to ask if the family needed groceries, he mentioned that the mother had left "panties" behind while doing laundry, a statement that embarrassed her, according to testimony. While she assumed Wilson was referring to a pair of her underwear, she would ultimately discover that the underwear belonged to the six-year-old Wilson is accused of molesting. The major testified Wilson behaved strangely during that early morning visit, which came after an evening the two families had spent together. Wilson also left the family two bizarre voicemails, played for the court. In the first, he assumed a high falsetto, pretending to be his wife, Susan, inviting the family to do laundry. In the second, he and the alleged six-year-old victim are both speaking garbled gibberish, an affect that the prosecution said was out of character for the young girl. As troubling as the allegations are, they are not conclusive, said Phil Stackhouse, Wilson's attorney. In the opening statement for the defense, Stackhouse described Wilson as a grandfather figure for the three girls, saying they called him "Uncle Dan." He notes that the six-year-old twice denied any inappropriate touching happened before saying it did upon further questioning. A forensic psychologist, he said, will testify for the defense that young children can easily be led in such accusations. "They can be tainted in statements that they make, they can be led in statements that they make," Stackhouse said. "And when it starts rolling, it keeps rolling." Other possibilities, Stackhouse suggested, include mistaken identity -- she was touched by someone else but accused Wilson. Or, he said, she may have misconstrued a benign touch from Wilson, such as him "scooting" her up on his lap by putting his hand between her legs. In an NCIS "controlled call" made by the major to Wilson the day after the allegations, the major attempts to get Wilson to confess to molesting the girl as agents listen and record the call. Played for the court, the call features Wilson vehemently and repeatedly denying any wrongdoing. "Nothing like that would ever happen with me," Wilson said in the call. Confronted with the allegations again, he calls the situation "tragic." "I would kill for your daughters," he said. "I would pull a Dexter on anyone who I thought had any inclination to do that to your daughters," he added, in an apparent reference to the television show, "Dexter," about a serial killer who targets guilty people. Wilson repeatedly asserts that he was never alone with any of the girls, though he does not make clear what he means by alone. Another Alleged Assault Ultimately, Wilson would be charged months later, in November 2016. While the process was unfolding, the Wilsons would become friends with another woman on base, the spouse of a Navy lieutenant commander whose marriage was fraying. The woman, whom Military.com will not identify, as she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, began spending time with the Wilsons in October 2016. Although she knew full details of the accusations Wilson was facing, she trusted him and Susan, according to opening statements. Wilson and the woman exchanged hundreds of text and Facebook messages over a period of several months, according to statements, while Susan Wilson and the woman exchanged thousands. The three were close enough that, when the woman found herself stranded at their home on Christmas after her husband took his children from a prior marriage to see a movie, she and the Wilsons ended up all sleeping in the same bed. She was allegedly awakened that night to Wilson hooking his fingers into her mouth. She bit down so that he would withdraw them, and then went to sleep on a futon in another room, but took no further action, said Stephens, the trial counsel. "She didn't think it was that big a deal," Stephens said. "She knew that Col. Wilson was interested in her, but thought she had squelched it." The woman nonetheless agreed to take a post-Christmas trip with the Wilsons to Beaufort, South Carolina, to look at potential houses to buy. The trip, which began Dec. 26 and ended Dec. 29, featured significant amounts of drinking, according to Stephens. On one evening, Wilson passed out or fell asleep on a sofa, and the two women used an eyeliner pencil to draw a phallus on his face as a joke, a scene captured in a photograph shown to the court. While original plans had the couple and the woman staying in separate rooms, they ended up reserving a VIP suite and staying together, with the two women sharing the bed, according to the prosecution's opening statement. But on the night of Dec. 28, Wilson allegedly returned to the room late and intoxicated and jumped on the woman, who lay asleep on the bed. "He lands on her like a Mack truck," Stephens said, noting Wilson outweighed the woman by more than 100 pounds. Pinning her down, Wilson allegedly penetrated her with his fingers until Susan Wilson, waking up, forced her husband out of the room. The same night, Stephens said, the assault happened a second time in an almost identical fashion. Again, he said, Susan Wilson drove her husband out, this time hitting him with a frying pan. The day following the alleged incident, Stephens said Wilson approached the woman with an emotional apology. "I'm sorry," Stephens said Wilson said. "You have to have my six." The statement, a military expression, means to have someone's back or cover for them. Upon returning to Camp Lejeune, the Wilsons and the woman remained in touch, with Susan Wilson promising to get her husband into rehab, Stephens said. Ultimately, the woman opted to report the alleged assault to NCIS in early January. Wilson did end up in a rehab facility that month, but would be removed and remanded to the base brig after the new allegations. He would remain in the brig for nearly eight months until his trial. While Wilson had been removed from his post the previous November amid his initial charges and had no formal job, the trip to Beaufort would also result in charges of going absent without leave. Wilson did not have liberties and had taken no leave in order to make the three-day trip. Stackhouse, in his opening statements, said the woman's accusations stood to benefit her, temporarily strengthening her disintegrating marriage as she alleged herself a victim. It's also possible, he said, that she made the accusations to spite Susan Wilson, whose relationship with her had become tense amid disputes involving the officers' wives club. "[Wilson] was an easy target," Stackhouse said. Regarding the charges of going absent without leave, Stackhouse said Wilson's decision to make the trip was reasonable considering he had no duties and only had to call to check in each day. Darwin Misbehavior As for the incidents that got Wilson sent back from Darwin, Australia, at the beginning of the year, Stackhouse said it was important to view each allegation in the context in which it was intended. An investigation into Wilson's alleged behavior is still under consideration by the Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Wilson allegedly told the wife of the outgoing Darwin liaison that he bet her "thighs were sore from having sex with her husband," during a dinner together during which she complained that they were sore from exercise. He also allegedly connected with a former colleague and, during a drunken phone chat, asked the captain to send him a racy photo of his wife. The captain complied, sending Wilson a boudoir shot of his wife in lingerie. Wilson also is accused of asking the captain for a pair of his wife's underwear. Wilson would later allegedly go on to show the photograph to Cmdr. Greg Mapson, his Australian counterpart, and make crude comments about it. At Wilson's office in Darwin, he also is accused of causing a small commotion when he decided to play a practical joke on a female civilian employee in the office who had left her computer unattended. He allegedly used her account to send an email to Mapson, asking him on a dinner date. Reports of Wilson's activities ultimately made it to Col. Javier Ball, the senior Marine in Australia. Shortly thereafter, Wilson was sent home. Stackhouse described Wilson's exchanges with the captain as "locker-room banter," saying the two often discussed women they'd seen on the internet and exchanged photographs. "Pay attention to the relationship they had," he said. Even when Wilson apparently engaged in inappropriate behavior, Stackhouse said it didn't rise to the level of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. Comments to the colonel's wife, he said, were part of a back-and-forth banter, and had to be taken in context. "It might not be the line that you would draw," he said. Awaiting a Verdict Wilson's court-martial is expected to run 10 days more, until Sept. 9. In all, 37 witnesses may be called, according to a source familiar with the witness list. That list includes all three girls who alleged Wilson touched or treated them inappropriately, and the woman who claimed he assaulted her. A seven-man jury hearing the case includes three colonels, three one-star generals, and a two-star general serving as the president of the panel. Wilson, a decorated colonel with a Bronze Star and seven deployments under his belt, stands to lose his career, his entitlements, and his freedom if found guilty on the most serious charges. But if the allegations are true, something more valuable has already been lost. The father of the now seven-year-old girl who accused Wilson of touching her said his daughter has changed since the alleged assaults. "[She] gets into these moods where, if she gets anxious ... or angry, she has to go and hide. We call these her moments," the major said. "We have to 'love her through it' -- go to her hiding spot, talk to her about why she's upset, why she's angry." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. The U.S. Defense Department has identified the soldier who went missing when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he was in crashed off the coast of Yemen last week. The soldier was identified as Staff Sgt. Emil Rivera-Lopez, according to a statement released late Wednesday by the Pentagon. He's still technically listed as duty status whereabouts unknown, or DUSTWUN. Rivera-Lopez, whose age and unit weren't immediately available, was flying with a crew during a training exercise at the time of the incident. The helicopter crashed while the crew was training about 20 miles off the southern coast of the country, according to a statement released Friday by U.S. Central Command. Five troops who were also aboard the chopper were rescued, the release said. A small team of U.S. Special Forces troops has been on the ground in the midst of Yemen's civil war in support of an operation against the Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group. The Pentagon is working to provide accurate numbers of troops deployed in combat zones, including Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the Pentagon's mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The Force Management Levels for Iraq have been given at about 5,200 while the number for Syria was about 500, though the actual numbers are higher due to troops moving into the country on temporary assignments. -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. More than 6,300 active-duty air, ground and naval personnel were engaged in storm rescue and relief in Texas and Louisiana on Thursday. They will soon be joined by two Navy warships leaving port in Virginia, military officials said Thursday. In a sign that the military will be involved long-term in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of Fleet Forces Command, ordered the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge and the dock landing ship Oak Hill to take up positions off the Gulf Coast. The Kearsarge, with Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard, was leaving Thursday from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, while the Oak Hill was departing from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, the Navy said in a statement. Related content: "These ships are capable of providing medical support, maritime civil affairs, maritime security, expeditionary logistic support, medium- and heavy-lift air support, and bring a diverse capability including assessment and security," the Navy said. While state and local agencies have the lead, "We recognize recovery from this catastrophic disaster will be a long-term effort," the service said. Air Force and Navy helicopters began flying rescue missions in Texas on Monday night, marking the first use of active-duty military assets in the hurricane rescue efforts, according to a Pentagon official. The helicopters used included six Navy MH-60s and three Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawks. U.S. Northern Command said more than 6,300 active-duty personnel have deployed to areas hit by the storms and floods, and they had rescued or assisted 1,200 people by early Thursday. The assets deployed include 73 helicopters, three C-130s, and eight pararescue teams for search and rescue and evacuation. In addition, NorthCom has set up three Incident Support Bases at Fort Hood, Joint Base San Antonio and Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort-Worth to support forward distribution of supplies and equipment to the affected area. Master Sgt. John Gordinier, a NorthCom spokesman, said the active-duty personnel and assets being deployed were requested either by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under authorities that went into effect when President Donald Trump declared emergencies in Texas and Louisiana. Most of the requests have come from FEMA, Gordinier said. The active-duty personnel join a total of about 14,000 National Guard troops, mostly from Texas, who have been mobilized to deal with the aftereffects of the hurricane and its spinoff storms, which have dropped the most rainfall ever recorded in the continental U.S., according to the National Weather Service. Although 14,000 Guard personnel have been mobilized, about 5,200 were actively engaged in disaster relief Thursday in Texas and about 525 in Louisiana, said Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant of the Coast Guard, said that service is shifting some assets eastward in trace of the storms that were headed to the Ohio River Valley. But NorthCom's Gordinier said, "All our focus right now is on Texas and Louisiana." Zukunft said of Texas, "We are still very much in emergency response phase" and "our main priority is recovering survivors. We will be there for as long as it takes." In addition to commitments in Texas and Louisiana, "We will be able to shift our resources to the east," he said. "We will be able to stay in front of this," he added. Aboard Air Force Two en route to Texas with Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke gave a rundown on the impact of the hurricane and the response: 232 shelters housing about 32,000 people have been opened. 21,000 federal workers are being mobilized, including those already in Texas. 14,000 National Guard personnel have been mobilized. 3,500 FEMA workers are in Texas. 700 Coast Guard and 550 Customs Border Patrol officers are mobilized. Estimates of emergency calls coming in were as high as 900 per hour but are now about 500 per hour. Major disaster declarations exist in 30 Texas counties and five Louisiana parishes. Texans affected by mandatory evacuation: 779,000. Texans affected by voluntary evacuation: 980,000. In Louisiana, there were 7,000 mandatory evacuations and 133,000 voluntary evacuations. The Coast Guard reports it has saved 3,000 lives. 120,000 residents of Beaumont, Texas, are without water. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: Youve heard it before; if you do what you love, youll never have to work a day in your life. And thats exactly what combat medic Doug Stephens and his wife Lt. Colonel Rachel Stephens did when they turned their love of horses into a thriving tourism business. The Stephens have operated Confederate Trails of Gettysburg, providing horseback rides and horse-drawn carriage tours of the Gettysburg Battlefield, since 2010. Rachel and Doug, who both had distinguished military careers (Army, Air Force, and Air National Guard), knew that others would benefit, as they did, from riding and learning how to care for horses. Their business is an example of how veterans can strike out on their own to form a successful entrepreneurial venture. Their secret? Harness your passion, connect with other veterans, get in the saddle and be persistent. A Horse Is a Horse, of Course, of Course Horses figure prominently in military history. Theyve carried soldiers through war zones and endured countless hardships with their riders. One of the most famous American war horses ever, Sgt. Reckless, was a Marine. During the five-day Battle for Outpost Vegas in the Korean War, she made 51 ammunition resupply trips 95 percent of the time by herself. She carried 386 rounds of ammunition (nearly 5 tons), walked over 35 miles through open rice paddies and up steep mountains with enemy fire coming in at the rate of 500 rounds per minute. And as she so often did, she carried wounded soldiers down the mountain to safety, unload them, get reloaded with ammo, and off she would go back up to the guns. She wasnt a horse, she was a Marine! Horses aren't worried about 15 different appointments during the day, says Doug. They just are what they are, when they are. Doug says that horses help him connect when he feels disconnected and that when hes out riding in the beautiful Gettysburg countryside, he lets go and like the horse, is in the moment. And, he says, he gets to share his love of horses and history with visitors and veterans. Doug does not trust easily. Patriot, his beautiful Percheron cross gelding, does not trust easily either, says Rachel, but Patriot will do anything that Doug asks of him because of the trust they developed with patience and time. Doug and Rachel knew they wanted to let veterans experience the healing power of horses and reached out to a local vet center, organizing rides for combat veterans. Its just peaceful, says Army combat veteran Robert McCready in an interview with a local CBS affiliate. Its easy to let go, forget about your problems and relax. McCready says that he had a tough time readjusting to civilian life after two tours in Afghanistan but that riding with other veterans helped him feel connected again. Its easy to see why horse therapy works. When you are up in the saddle, your problems dont seem as significant. Its an incentive to reconnect to your own sense of self-confidence in giving orders and leading. When you do, the horse will follow. 3 Ways Horses Help Heal A horse is your partneryou ride together, not alone. Anyone whos been in the military knows that a partner or battle buddy is essential to survival. Rachel says that when veterans return from deployments, it is often very difficult for them reconnect. To plug in emotionally even with those they are close, is challenging. Horses break down those emotional barriers. They don't have to try, they just do. The Stephens say that you can see and feel when you connect with the horse. Everyone wins. It gives you new memories. As veterans work to reintegrate into civilian life, they may struggle with intense and vivid memories from combat. Riding through creeks or on hillsides, says Doug, you pop out of the woods and all of a sudden you have majestic vistas in front of you. One might imagine its like seeing Yosemite Valley or the Grand Canyon for the first time. Moments like these give veterans time to pause and reflect, and can be an effective coping mechanism to overcome a triggered emotion. Its just fun. You feel exhilarated and smile when your horse breaks into a gallop or jumps over an obstacle. Escape from daily life on the back of a good horse can go a long way in helping heal a war-weary mind and body. Horsing Around Rachel and Doug believe that to do well in business, you need to do good. And they have some solid advice for veterans looking to turn their passions into a business. Doug: Don't sell yourself short. You've got the leadership and logistics, and you have already proven your drive and determination. In business there are many state, local and federal regulations that you have to navigate. Youve done that for years: you understand how military works, government is very similar. Military veterans have pride of ownership in their business in the same way that they have pride in their unit. Your attention to detail will differentiate your business from the next business down the road. People who served are better equipped to adapt, improvise, and overcome. Look at a problem, develop a solution and make things happen. You are hard-wired to take care of your people. Go with that. Rachel: Analyze your real strengths. Find appropriate people to task out the things you aren't strong in. For instance, a good accountant is worth their weight in gold. Find resources. Take time to do After Action Reviews -- whether it's annually or seasonally, you have to evaluate your practices and adjust as necessary. But never lose sight of what is important. No business is worth the sacrifice of your family. We happened to choose a business where our children can participate (usually they even like it too!). Remember that your company's success is not more important than your family's success. I would shut it all down tomorrow if that is what was best for my kids. Horses carried soldiers through battle and are still carrying them to safety today through patience, trust, and companionship. For more information on the Stephens organization, visit Confederate Trails of Gettysburg. Sean Mclain Brown can be reached at sean.brown@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @seanmclainbrown. ANN ARBOR, MI - Stacy Baird knew she had to do something to help after seeing the images of animals and their owners struggling through the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. As general manager of Grizzly Peak, 120 W. Washington St., Baird has established the popular Pup Menu full of dog-friendly food items and made the call to donate 100 percent of the menu's proceeds to those in need as a result of catastrophic flooding in Texas over the past week. "I'm not going to lie to you, I was a sap of epic proportions," Baird said after she watched a video on Facebook about the animals affected by Harvey. It prompted her to hug her dog and talk to Grizzly Peak ownership about a fundraiser over Labor Day weekend, from Friday to Monday, where residents can visit with their canine companions for a night out on the town to help those in need. Proceeds are going to Austin Pets Alive, an organization Baird learned about through research that is currently in need of funds to vet each animal in need of shelter. Its website states Austin Pets Alive is expecting several hundreds more animals through the weekend. "I couldn't possibly imagine what it must be like when your whole world is falling apart and there's this little animal that has no idea what's going on or why things are changing," Baird said. "All the work I saw they were doing, I thought it was something we needed to be a part of." Grizzly Peak typically donates 10 percent of proceeds from the pup menu to the Humane Society of Huron Valley, but stepped up the donation in light of the immense need Texans and their animals are experiencing. "They have to vet every animal that comes in to protect the other animals there that they are helping. It's more involved than just taking them in," Baird said. She understands it is a holiday weekend, but said people have already responded to Grizzly Peak's announcement of the fundraiser and has been encouraged by the amount of positive feedback the Ann Arbor brewery has received. "I know it's just a drop in the bucket but that's where it all starts," Baird said. "In the grander scheme of things, you're sending a message that you care." The Pups on the Patio menu includes the Top Dog, hanger steak slices over potatoes; the Pup Patty, a cheeseburger patty on a house bun and the Skinny Dog, a choice of salmon and chicken over rice. All items were approved by Shandy, Baird's 7-year-old Chihuahua and pug mix. Dogs can enjoy dessert, too, with Grizzly Peak's Poochy Cream, vanilla ice cream topped with peanut butter sauce and a dog treat and more tasty treats, and take home a Grizzly Peak dish to remember their night out on the town. Baird said those looking to donate can also visit the Austin Pets Alive website directly to contribute or see what products the organization is most in need of. It is the second year Grizzly Peak has hosted Pups on the Patio and while some restaurants allow dogs in outdoor eating areas, the practice is not yet legal. Grizzly Peak has seating out front of the business along the sidewalk area. There are about 20 tables outside ready to be filled for the weekend, Baird said, something she anticipates with the response Grizzly Peak has seen. "It's making me so excited for what the weekend is going to bring," Baird said. "We're ready." As southeast Michigan's industrial economy improves, the market for buildings to house new and expanding companies is growing alongside it. Deals with Amazon, Renaissance Global Logistics and Fiat Chrysler are powering demand for industrial space, pushing prices up and available space down - and prompting hopes that the activity will extend north along the I-75 corridor to Genesee County. "We hear across the Detroit metro area that it's a challenge to find available acreage at a freeway (interchange)," said Janice Karcher, vice president of economic development at the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce. "Here, you can find it." Lear Corporation recently formalized a deal to build a 150,000-square-foot assembly plant for its auto components in Flint. It is buying a portion of the property that once held General Motors' sprawling Buick City factory complex, which was demolished and listed for sale during GM's bankruptcy. That deal is expected to generate 435 jobs, and signals the potential for the Flint area's other high-profile vacancies, Karcher said. All have seen, over the past 18 months, "strong interest not only from businesses in the auto industry, but from other sectors that can benefit from our unique workforce and infrastructure." Those vacancies include: Nearly Additional acreage across the county, including Burton and Grand Blanc Township, that also is former GM property. A parcel along I-75 that formerly was a Meijer store. Land at Saginaw and Baldwin roads along I-75 and near north Oakland County. A former Delphi plant that offers 550,000 square feet of manufacturing space - including access to rail, clear height of 18-42 feet and 17 truck wells - on 77 acres for an asking price of $3.6 million. Those properties are available within 60 minutes of Detroit while the southeast Michigan market sees growth in construction of both build-to-suit project and speculative industrial buildings, too. Two years ago, the Metro Detroit area saw just over 1 million square feet of new industrial construction. Today, that's up to just over 4 million, while the leasing rate climbed 20 percent. The average vacancy rate, according to CBRE, was 2.4 percent - holding at below 3 percent for a full year, and setting an all-time low for the market. The region, according to a second-quarter study by CBRE Research, "continue(s) to indicate signs of a healthy market with the lack of available supply being outpace by occupier demand." That's prompting some larger construction projects, notably in the Romulus area near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, as auto supplier, logistics and tech companies seek larger-scale space. In Flint, the market velocity is decidedly slower, according to CBRE, but "market fundamentals are improving." Helping that along is the recent expansion of the General Motors Flint Assembly plant, which has received $2.8 billion in investment since 2009 - and which produces some of the company's top products, like the Chevrolet Silverado. "GM is a magnet for its entire supply base," said Lauren Scarpace, a commercial broker in areas north of Detroit for CBRE. "Same with Nexteer or Dow." CBRE data shows that active listings total 19 in the Flint area, down from 30 a year ago. And sales prices are up about 65 percent. Now, as occupancy picks up, it's time for the Flint area to consider its building inventory, said one business leader attending a Homecoming event in August. That event, sponsored by the chamber, brought together Flint natives and leaders to encourage new business activity. Some raise questions about whether it's time for some speculative industrial construction to pay off north of Metro Detroit. "We do not have enough turnkey industrial facilities," said Bob Schaffer, CEO of C3 Ventures, at the homecoming event. That contrasts to growing industrial markets, including China, that can quickly turn business interest into a deal, he said. "We've got a lot of land, old buildings; we've got a lot of cool things to work on," Schaffer told the crowd of a few hundred. "If I can bring one message back from China: They had turnkey facilities ready to go for entrepreneurs or business people. "Some people can't wait that six months or a year for facilities to be built." It's something that his company is weighing, he added, since he has an estimated half-dozen existing tenants who want to expand and recognizes likelihood that more will follow. Opportunities are coming to both areas, Scarpace said, as companies start to turn to the market. What they find in the Flint and Saginaw markets might surprise site selection experts who focus exclusive in Metro Detroit, he said. "Operating costs, labor costs and real estate costs are significantly lower up there," Scarpace said. "That can start telling the story about why companies should further consider going to those markets." GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A Chinese company that makes office furniture components is planning to build a new $4.9 million manufacturing plant that will employ 122 workers. J-Star Motion Corp., which recently opening an office and warehouse facility at 83 South Main Street in Kent City, plans to build the factory at 500 West Street, in a building owned by Display Pack Inc., according to an announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 30, by The Right Place inc. The new facility will support J-Star's American business growth, which centers on making linear motion and lifting systems for the office furniture industry. In 2014, J-Star opened warehouse and administrative offices in Southern California in 2014, which is still serves as its American headquarters. J-Star had considered expanded closer to its California base, but The Right Place recruiters were able to build a business case and convince J-Star leaders that the region's historically-significant furniture manufacturing roots was worth exploring, according to a Right Place news release. "Securing this new Chinese Foreign Direct Investment is significant for our region," said Right Place President and CEO Birgit Klohs. "The investment reaffirms that West Michigan is a global destination for international investment and business expansion." The Michigan Economic Development Corp. is supporting the expansion effort with the approval of a $738,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. J-Star's parent company, Jiecang Linear Motion Technology Co.,Ltd, makes linear actuators and lifting columns for use in medical and home care equipment. With an annual production capacity of 600,000 actuators - lifting columns and 200,000 control boxes, the 17-year-old company employs 300 at its headquarters in Xinching, China. "West Michigan was identified as an excellent location due to the proximity to many of the leading office furniture manufacturers and the skilled manufacturing talent available in this area," said Michael Fedrigo, General Manager of J-Star Motion Corp. "The support available through The Right Place and the MEDC was a significant factor in their final site selection." MSU AgBioResearch is a major research arm of Michigan State University. Administered by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, MSU AgBioResearch spans the entire University, supporting over 300 scientists in seven colleges. Research topics include food safety, environmental stewardship, childhood obesity, community development, alternative energy generation and sustainable agricultural production. Beyond a plethora of campus-based programs, MSU AgBioResearch supports scientists at 13 off-campus sites across Michigan. One of those is the Lake City Research and Extension Center (LCREC). Established in 1928, the Lake City facility includes over 800 acres of managed land and 180 beef cattle in an area suitable for forage-based livestock enterprises, potato production and bioenergy crop production. The Center recently hosted the 2nd annual MSU Agriculture Innovation Day, and we were on site to learn more about the important work at LCREC and why the research and education programs are so important to Michigan's agriculture and natural resources industries. Doug Carmichael We first talked to Dr. George Smith, Associate Dean for Research in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Associate Director of MSU AgBioResearch, who provided an overview of the mission, history and organizational structure of MSU AgBioResearch. Smith emphasized the importance of the long-standing partnership between MSU Extension and MSU AgBioResearch in developing and communicating research that directly benefits Michigan citizens and communities. LCREC Manager Douglas Carmichael discussed the history of the Center, areas of research emphasis and provided an overview of the nine educational sessions featured on the MSU Agriculture Innovation Day agenda. The general focus of the Ag Innovation Day was on forage crops, in general, and on such specific topics as precision dairy cattle monitoring, grass-fed beef production and double cropping. Jason Rowntree We also interviewed to two prominent researchers on the Ag Innovation Day agenda, both of whom are supported by MSU AgBioResearch. Dr. Jason Rowntree, an animal science associate professor, is interested in the development of regional food systems that build community sustainability. A key part of any food system is how livestock producers manage their operations to ensure pasture land health. He discussed his land regeneration studies and the Savory Institute's innovative "Land-to-Market" program. Lisa Tiemann Dr. Lisa Tiemann, an assistant professor of plant, soil and microbial sciences, takes an "agroecology" approach to her research which focuses on how microorganisms contribute to healthy, fertile soils. Her studies are conducted in a variety of agroecosystems in the U.S. and Africa and explore how factors like farm management practices and climate change alter microbial dynamics which, in turn, affect soil fertility and health. Click here to hear these conversations. Greening of the Great Lakes airs Sunday evenings at 7:00 on News/Talk 760 WJR and Sundays afternoons at 4:00 inside MSU Today on 94.5 FM and AM 870 WKAR. ANN ARBOR, MI - Jim Schulz says he worked at Gelman Sciences as the director of training in the late 1970s. "They had a system there where they were sprinkling their pollutant on the grass," he said, mentioning one of multiple ways the company discharged the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane into the environment between the 1960s and 1980s. "If the wind blew the wrong way, they would shut down production and have everybody go wash their car, because it would eat the paint off the car," Schulz said, speaking at a town hall meeting at the downtown Ann Arbor library Wednesday night, Aug. 30. Schulz said workers would leave the company's Wagner Road property and go to a car wash if they got dioxane-laced effluent on their cars. "And the people who worked there, they wouldn't drink the water. They would bring in their own water," he said. Schulz said he only stayed at the company for about six months because he wasn't comfortable with the place. He said his adult son now lives atop the expanding Gelman dioxane plume on Ann Arbor's west side and he's concerned about it. "He has two small boys. They play in the grass. They play in the basement," he said. "They grow vegetables in their yard. I want to know how they can be protected from the dioxane plume." Schulz was one of many residents who packed into the library's basement meeting room to hear an update from a mix of local and state officials, including representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. There were more people than there were seats, and the crowd spilled out into the hallway. The meeting was filled with tense moments as residents' frustrations boiled over. They at times shouted over the public officials who were on the panel, not allowing them to speak, demanding answers they felt they weren't getting. Residents wanted to hear a plan for cleaning up the miles-long stretch of pollution that's in the area's groundwater and threatening local drinking water supplies and homes. Officials told residents there are ongoing confidential legal negotiations between Gelman Sciences, the DEQ, Ann Arbor, Scio Township, Washtenaw County and the Huron River Watershed Council as part of a pending case in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. "Because we are in litigation discussions with Gelman over what that cleanup is, those discussions are confidential. As they go forward, I don't know where they're going to turn out, and we are in a precarious place and it's frustrating," said City Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward. "I wish I could be fully transparent about where those are going, but the nature of that kind of negotiation requires that they be confidential." Residents complained it seems as if there's now a "gag order" on keeping citizens in the loop. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who was involved in organizing the meeting, told residents the fact that parties in the lawsuit against the polluter can't say much about the case is frustrating to her, too. "I think I'm as pissed off as everybody else is in this room," she said at one point, sharing residents' frustrations about the continued spread of the plume. Following a previous Circuit Court consent judgment that's in the process of being amended, Gelman Sciences has been doing pump-and-treat remediation for years to gradually remove dioxane from the area's groundwater, and the company has spent millions doing so, but some local officials and residents argue it's not enough and say they want to see the pace of cleanup accelerated. Despite the ongoing remediation efforts, the plume is still spreading through the area's groundwater toward the Huron River, raising concerns that it could someday vent to the river in high concentrations, poison the city's water supply if it reaches Barton Pond and infiltrate people's homes in the form of toxic vapor in areas where there's shallow groundwater rising to the surface. The expanding plume already has poisoned many area wells. Mitch Adelman, acting section manager for the DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division, agreed with others Wednesday night that the problem is not going away any time soon and it would take tens of millions of dollars to do a full cleanup. "We, the DEQ, are transparent with the community to say this problem is going to be around for decades to come," Adelman said. "That's the same thing the EPA has said." Roger Rayle, one of the leading citizen activists pressing for a better cleanup and chairman of the local Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane, agreed it's going to be an issue that outlasts him. He cited modeling studies done by a hydrogeologist that concluded dioxane particles theoretically could travel from Wagner Road to the Huron River on average in anywhere from 74 to 351 years, with some of the fastest particles in anywhere from 4.7 to 17 years. "I'm not going to be around in 74 years, let alone 351 years, so we have to set up the regulatory agencies to be ready for this for the life of the cleanup," Rayle said, raising concerns that there are mistakes and gaps in data that leave some uncertainties. "Sometime in the life of the cleanup, uncertainties should be minimized," he said. "Dioxane might not vaporize into people's homes at dangerous levels, but to know that we need proactive ongoing sampling to assure this, not just whenever they feel like it. Dioxane may not spread to township wells north as it goes to Barton Pond, but to know that we need to fill in the monitoring gaps." Adelman said Gelman Sciences is pumping and treating about 500 gallons of contaminated groundwater per minute, while it used to do much more and is permitted to go up to 1,300 gallons per minute. "They have ratcheted that down. We understand the frustration," he said. Adelman pointed to the 2004 court decision by now-retired Judge Donald Shelton that allows the plume to spread to the river through a court-ordered zone where groundwater use is prohibited. He said that's the framework the DEQ is working under now, so the focus is on making sure people are not exposed to unsafe levels of dioxane. "We care very much about it. We've been working hard to make sure that's the case," he said of making sure people have clean water. Separate from the ongoing lawsuit that local officials hope will lead to a new consent judgment with a better cleanup strategy, Dingell noted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still reviewing the Gelman dioxane plume as a potential Superfund cleanup site. "And I don't want to give people false hope on Superfund," she said, arguing the program isn't being funded enough. "And even if it were to be designated as a Superfund site, the Department of Environmental Quality will tell you this, it's a very long process, which like everything else these days seems to be broken. Having said that, the preliminary investigation is going on." Adelman offered an update on the DEQ's efforts to finalize new exposure standards for dioxane in drinking water. The DEQ issued an emergency rule last year to lower the the state's acceptable level of dioxane in drinking water from 85 parts per billion to 7.2 ppb, and Adelman said there are ongoing efforts to more formally establish that as the standard through a non-emergency rule. Just a few parts per billion in drinking water, with long-term exposure, poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk, according to the EPA. Dioxane is classified by the EPA as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage, and respiratory problems. Short-term exposure to high levels of dioxane in the air can cause eye, nose and throat irritation. Adelman said the DEQ began hearing concerns that the state's 85-ppb standard was outdated after new EPA data about dioxane came out in 2010, suggesting a single-digit standard was more appropriate. The DEQ, under Gov. Rick Snyder's administration, was required by law to revise the state's chemical exposure standards by December 2013 to reflect the latest scientific findings. But after years of repeated delays and missed deadlines, that still hasn't happened and the state is still trying to finalize new standards for 300-plus hazardous substances, including dioxane, which only has a stricter standard in place right now because of a temporary emergency rule. "It took the state, I will admit, too long to get that changed," Adelman said of going from 85 ppb to 7.2 ppb. Adelman said the DEQ thought it would have a comprehensive rule package for all 300-plus hazardous substances ready by this April when the dioxane emergency rules were set to expire. "For numerous reasons beyond DEQ's control, we weren't able to make that happen, so a decision was made again by the department and the governor to extend the emergency rule for the drinking water criterion in April of this year, so we've still got the 7.2 ppb enforceable criterion," he said, adding Gelman has been voluntarily working with the DEQ to make sure nobody is drinking dioxane-contaminated water with concentrations above 7.2 ppb. After missing its earlier April goal, Adelman said the DEQ hoped to have a comprehensive rule package for dioxane and 300-plus other hazardous substances done by October of this year, but he doesn't think that's going to happen now, either. As a result of the continued delays, he said, the DEQ has decided to promulgate a new rule for dioxane with just the 7.2-ppb drinking water standard to make it official, and he thinks that can be done before the temporary emergency rule expires at the end of October. Immediately thereafter, he said, the DEQ wants to get moving on the comprehensive rule package for the 300-plus hazardous substances, which will include other exposure standards for dioxane. The DEQ is still planning to propose a new 1,900-ppb screening level for vapor intrusion. There isn't any vapor-intrusion screen level now, though there was one set at 29 ppb under the emergency rules issued by the DEQ last October. Adelman said there's new information to suggest 1,900 ppb is a more appropriate threshold. Ann Arbor resident Jeff Hayner urged city officials to start setting aside money to address the threats posed by the Gelman plume, saying clean water is more important than some of the other things on which the city spends money. State Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, said he's willing as a taxpayer to pay for addressing the Gelman plume, but he also thinks it's important to try to fight to make the polluter pay for an adequate cleanup, and he said that's what's being done now. "The stars are as best aligned as they ever have been to ensure that we have a polluter-pay plan, and that's something I think everybody wants," Zemke said. "Your local elected officials, your state elected officials, are on the same page with you," state Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, assured residents. "We want to make sure that this gets cleaned up." Rabhi, who is proposing a polluter-pay law in Michigan, said it was amazing to see the number of residents who came out Wednesday night. "I love the energy in this room," he said after some of the more passionate outbursts of frustration. Rabhi said Gelman's polluting of local groundwater aquifers never should have happened and local elected officials are not going to be happy until it gets cleaned up as best as possible. "One of those local strategies is legal, because we got pretty much screwed last time around by a judge who decided that he was going to side with the company and give the company most of what they wanted," he said. "And that was partially because the DEQ was the only one in the room, and the city and the county and others were excluded from that litigation." ANN ARBOR, MI - The fact that there's a plume of toxic pollution slowly spreading through the groundwater is hurting property values in township areas outside Ann Arbor where people rely on wells for drinking water, says real estate agent Rick Taylor. "The property values have declined greatly in Scio Township," he said, speaking at a town hall meeting on the Gelman dioxane plume Wednesday night, Aug. 30, at the downtown Ann Arbor library. "As a Realtor, we're kind of caught in this bitter pill that we have to swallow. We're trying everything we can to sell the property for as much money as we can, yet we have to disclose that dioxane is in the area. You might as well tell someone -- you know, a buyer -- that somebody killed themselves in the house. It has that kind of effect." State Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, said the issue Taylor raises in terms of people's reluctance to buy homes that might end up with poisoned well water is very real. "My business partner's brother lives at Wagner and Pratt, and he had an offer on his house within five days of putting it up for sale and he was so excited," she said. "It was a couple from California, a family from California. And so when it was disclosed to them about the dioxane, it kind of went over their head until the wife Googled it. "They withdrew the offer," she said. "They let the escrow dollars go. They said, 'We're not even going to fight about this. We don't want that house. Take our $10,000 that we put into escrow with the offer. We're not going to fight about it. We don't want to argue about it. We just don't want the house.' So it is a very real issue that's impacting our homeowners and is impacting the property values." Ann Arbor's dioxane problem will be around 'for decades to come' There was some discussion Wednesday night about the extent to which Gelman Sciences, the company that heavily polluted the area's groundwater with the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane between the 1960s and 1980s and is still doing limited remediation, should be held responsible for either ongoing well testing at the point of sale or for larger costs and investments in the municipal water system, which Lasinski said is going to be needed at some point. Local officials fear many more private wells in the path of the plume could be poisoned by dioxane in the coming years, and there's still some fear the plume might someday reach Barton Pond, the city's municipal water source, creating even bigger problems. Under the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's new exposure standard for dioxane in drinking water, dioxane concentrations up to 7.2 parts per billion are allowed. Dioxane is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage, and respiratory problems. Just a few parts per billion in drinking water, with long-term exposure, poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk, according to the EPA. "There are some vagaries and mysteries about how this moves, and how quickly it moves in certain directions," Lasinski said of the expanding plume, noting she lives within a stone's throw of it. "I think some of the northwesterly movement was not predicted 10 years ago that we're seeing now," she said. "That said, I don't want to build fright and fear. There is ongoing monitoring. It is a slow-moving disaster. We do have ideas about where it's going." She and state Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, both mentioned a family on Jackson Road whose well water was poisoned with unsafe levels of dioxane until last year when, after The Ann Arbor News reported about the situation, the state stepped in and had the home connected to municipal water. Readings going back to 2005 showed dioxane concentrations in the home's well water near 50 parts per billion. The readings gradually went down over the years, dropping to 33 ppb by 2010, and then to 17 ppb last year. That was below the state's allowable standard of 85 ppb at the time, so nothing was ever done about, even though EPA data from 2010 showed the state's standard to be outdated and not protective of public health, something the state has since acknowledged. "It's really important to hear that story again, because this is a personal thing," Zemke said. "When we talk a lot about dioxane, we talk a lot about the standard and that's a number, but that means something to people's lives, to all of us, right?" While the main concern in township areas is the potential poisoning of more wells, one of the concerns in Ann Arbor is the potential for toxic dioxane vapors to intrude into people's homes in parts of the city's west side where shallow groundwater rises to the surface. Zemke said the state has appropriated nearly $1.4 million in the current budget to address vapor intrusion concerns. "It's designed to mitigate people from breathing in toxic fumes," he said. "That's the easiest way to describe it." Zemke said local officials are committed to ensuring that people are safe and that people's drinking water remains safe. Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith lives on Eighth Street in Ann Arbor and has groundwater seeps in his backyard, across from Waterworks Park where trace amounts of dioxane have been discovered in the shallow groundwater. He said polluters should be held accountable and should pay for the damage they're causing to local communities. As part of a pending case in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, there are ongoing confidential legal negotiations between Gelman Sciences, the DEQ, Ann Arbor, Scio Township, Washtenaw County and the Huron River Watershed Council. The various parties are trying to reach agreement on a new consent judgment and a new plan of attack for addressing the plume. Local officials are pushing for a better cleanup, while the polluter has tried to get the local parties removed from the case so it only has to negotiate with the DEQ. Mitch Adelman, acting section manager for the DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division, said the DEQ and Gelman were close to reaching a new agreement before the local parties intervened this past year with the approval of Circuit Judge Tim Connors. With the local parties now at the table, he said, discussions are ongoing and they hope to come up with a mutually agreeable consent judgment modification. Since the last time the DEQ came to Ann Arbor for a town hall meeting to discuss the dioxane plume last October, Adelman said, the DEQ has tested 54 residential wells for dioxane, mostly in Scio Township. He said the DEQ is sensitive to concerns about wells being contaminated and works with Washtenaw County Public Health to have water samples collected and sent to a DEQ lab for testing. He said it's important for the public to know all 54 wells tested have concentrations of dioxane below 7.2 ppb. Other monitoring well data shows there still is dioxane in the area's groundwater at concentrations much higher than that, so ongoing monitoring is needed to track where the plume is moving. Adelman said Gelman Sciences has 200-plus monitoring wells from which it collects water samples for testing, and the DEQ occasionally does split sampling at some of those to compare results. He said the numbers are matching up pretty well. Adelman said the DEQ also has tested various surface waters and places where shallow groundwater seeps out of the ground, including at West Park, since last year and the DEQ hasn't found any evidence of unsafe levels of dioxane as part of those investigations. Tests last August showed concentrations of about 2-4 ppb by Waterworks Park along Eighth and Seventh streets. The threshold level for when the DEQ believes vapor intrusion should be a concern is 1,900 ppb. Vince Caruso, a member of the local Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane, spoke out at Wednesday night's meeting, saying when people in Scio Township have their wells contaminated and get connected to the city's municipal water, there still are separate sewer hookup fees that they have to pay themselves. "There's a lot of retirees in Scio Township who have moved out of their houses because they couldn't afford the sewer hookup," he said. Noting there are a lot of people on the west side of Ann Arbor with wet basements, Caruso said he's very concerned about dioxane getting into people's homes. He said it's possible for dioxane to seep in with water and then evaporate into the indoor air people breathe. "This compound seeping into basements in the west side could be very detrimental," he said. "I mean, I don't want to take anything away from Scio Township and their well water. That's tremendously important to me and to them and to the CARD group. And I think we need to keep on top of this, and we need the citizens to pressure our elected officials who can pressure our government officials, like the DEQ, to do more. It's hard to be a cool city when you have no drinking water." Adelman said the DEQ is going to continue to monitor for dioxane in shallow groundwater that could pose a vapor intrusion risk. "We think that sampling the surface expressions of groundwater in areas down-gradient from where we know the deep plume is, is a good strategy to get an assessment of whether there may be high enough concentrations in the shallow groundwater that may pose an unacceptable risk in these wet-basement scenarios," he said. "So we're going to continue to work on that." As far as making sure people's wells aren't poisoned in township areas, Adelman said the DEQ and Washtenaw County Public Health use their knowledge of the plume to determine where sampling is needed. He said Gelman has stepped up and replaced wells that needed to be replaced and the DEQ will continue to advocate for that. With the 7.2 ppb standard now in place, Adelman said, it's imperative to hold Gelman responsible for identifying the extent of the contamination based on the new standard, "so that we can all have more certainty about where the plume is, whether it poses an unacceptable risk, and if it does, how do we address those unacceptable risks in a mutually agreeable manner." Adelman said the DEQ considers the situation safe right now because there's no evidence that anyone is drinking water contaminated with unacceptable levels of dioxane. "So that becomes an exposure-control strategy, and again this is not the DEQ's pick," he said, referring to the fact that management of the plume is essentially governed by court orders in keeping with Michigan's environmental cleanup laws, which were weakened in 1995 and allow managing the risk of exposure in lieu of actual cleanup. "I tell people, like it or not, this site represents an excellent case study in the evolution of Michigan's environmental law over the course of the past 30 years," Adelman said. "The DEQ took the company to court, was successful in getting a consent judgment to order the company to restore the aquifer to unrestricted use ... using a cleanup criterion of 3 ppb in 1992. In 1995, overnight, that number became 77 ppb. A couple years later, it became 85 ppb. In 2004, we found additional contamination." Adelman pointed to the 2004 court decision by now-retired Judge Donald Shelton that allows the plume to spread to the river through a court-ordered zone where groundwater use is prohibited. He said that's the framework the DEQ is working under now. YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, MI - State officials suspended an Ypsilanti- and Flint-area doctor's medical license on Tuesday, Aug. 29, citing accusations that he overprescribed controlled substances. Dr. Claude W. Hall was issued a summary suspension, described as a temporary measure to protect the public, according to a release Thursday by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, or LARA. The suspension is not a final determination that a licensee has violated the Public Health Code, according to the release. The department also filed an administrative complaint against Hall and an order for seizure of controlled substances. Hall, who has an osteopathic medical practice, is accused of prescribing potentially dangerous combinations of benzodiazepines, opioids and muscle relaxants to patients. A combination of these is known by the street name "Holy Trinity," according to the complaint. Hall ranked among Michigan's highest-volume prescribers of commonly abused and diverted controlled substances in 2016, according to the complaint against him. Drugs used for "Holy Trinity" combinations made up almost 91 percent of the controlled substances he prescribed from January 2015 to Aug. 17, 2017. He prescribed a total of 8,747 prescription during that time. "The complaint also alleges that Dr. Hall's patient records fail to support his prescribing and show little evidence of monitoring patients for abuse and diversion of their medications," according to the release. The complaint also states that despite telling investigators that he no longer prescribes a combination of opioids and benzodiazepines, which can cause issues including respirartory depression, he prescribed those combinations to 29 patients since March 6. Hall has 30 days to respond to the complaint. He was previously fined in 2009 for prescribing controlled substances without a valid license to do so. At the time, the complaint against him also alleged that he failed to notify the Drug Enforcement Administration of fraudulent prescriptions being used by non-patients without his authorization. State records show Hall has a Farmington Hills address, but the complaint against him states he had principal offices in Flint and Ypsilanti, and makes home medical visits. Property records show Hall owns property for commercial use at 850 S. Hewitt Road in Ypsilanti Township. Hall could not be reached for comment Wednesday. A voicemail message at Hall's Flint location stated the office was closed indefinitely due to a health condition. BAY CITY, MI -- The Bay County Sheriff's Office has a new vehicle at its disposal that towers over the rest of the fleet. A 2008 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) truck that weighs in at about 39,000 pounds and stands about a dozen feet was picked up by the agency this week. Its tires alone are about 3 feet and its doors weigh 800 pounds. It can hold a maximum 25,000 pounds and eight seated people, driver included. "It's a great, big safe on wheels," said Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham. The Bay County Sheriff's Office's recently obtained MRAP military truck parked at the Bay County Law Enforcement Center, 503 Third Street. Yet despite its staggering mass and intimidating facade, Cunningham said it is to be solely used for rescue purposes, rather than for offensive applications. "This is here to rescue our officers," Cunningham said. "It's here to rescue the residents of Bay County." Cunningham said he has been working on acquiring such a vehicle since he took office earlier this year. He was inspired to do so in light of recent barricaded gunman incidents in Oakland County and Bay City -- the latter being that of Leroi D. Kocsis, who shot a police officer before holing up in his house at 600 N. Sherman St. and fatally shooting himself in February 2016. In those incidents, officers were pinned down by gunfire and civilians could have been injured, the sheriff said. "If you've got kids in a house or families, how do you evacuate them without something like this?" Cunningham said. "This thing can take a bomb explosion. It can take any weapon that's shouldered or handheld." The sheriff stressed the MRAP truck is not to be used for combative purposes, but to extract those in dire straits. "If we have to get to somebody and get them out safely, that's what this does," he said, adding that it can drive in several feet of water and can move even if its tires are punctured. "Flooding, snowstorms, anywhere we need to go to get somebody to help them, we now have the means to get in and keep the community safer." Though the vehicle initially cost the military $658,000, it's on loan to the sheriff's office free of charge courtesy of the 1033 Program. The program, which was created by Congress in 1990 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, allows for surplus military equipment to be transferred to law enforcement agencies. After the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, drew national scrutiny, President Barack Obama in May 2015 signed an executive order limiting the program and prohibiting police agencies from obtaining certain military equipment and weaponry. The Saginaw Police Department, for example, had to return a track-propelled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) to the military in December 2015. The Saginaw County Sheriff's Office also previously had an MRAP, but returned it to the military after a 2014 episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" mocked it. Cunningham said the MRAP was approved under Obama's order as he demonstrated a need for the truck. The sheriff's office picked up the vehicle on Tuesday, Aug. 29, from the U.S. Army Reserve Center at 1501 N. Henry St. The day before, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced President Donald J. Trump had signed an executive order rolling back his predecessor's implementations. This means military weapons and equipment "that would otherwise be scrapped can be re-purposed to help state, local and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime," according to a summary of the new plan. Cunningham said the timing of his office picking up the truck and Trump's new order is coincidental. "He's releasing more the assaultive stuff we don't have a real need for here," he said. "This had absolutely nothing to do with his release." Cunningham plans to have the vehicle repainted. Out of solidarity, it will also bear the insignias of other Bay County police agencies. Several local dealerships have offered to conduct the makeover for free. "It doesn't cost us anything, we don't insure it, and, hopefully, we'll never need to use it," the sheriff said. BAY CITY, MI -- After rejecting the low bid of a non-union company for a citywide sidewalk replacement program, the Bay City Commission is scheduled to meet with an attorney before voting again on the $900,000 contract. The commission votes on the issue at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Bay City Hall, 301 Washington Ave. A closed session is scheduled two hours earlier to discuss an opinion authored by the city's attorney. Earlier in August, the commission voted 4-3 to reject a three-year contract with Bay County-based Affordable Contracting, a non-union company that had been awarded and performed a previous sidewalk job for the city. Commissioner Ed Clements, 8th Ward, took issue with the company not being a registered company with the state, even though the city doesn't require a state registration, and argued its workers compensation insurance was too low. "It looks like we're pulling some trunk slammer off the street," Clements said. In addition to Clements, Commissioners Jim Irving, 5th Ward, John Davidson, 6th Ward, and Kerice Basmadjian, 7th Ward, voted against approving the contract. Clements recommended the commission instead hire AJ Rehmus & Sons, a union company with based in Bay County, which bid $317,000 for the first year of the contract. The city asked companies to bid out all three years of the contract, but Rehmus only bid for the first year. Affordable bid $316,000 for the first two years of the job and $336,000 for year three. The city isn't required to go with a low bidder on projects that only uses city funds, although it tends to. Bill Bohlen, the city's public works director, has spoken highly of Affordable, saying they have "exceeded expectations on multiple levels." The company was awarded a $90,000 contract last year for sidewalk work funded by federal dollars. Darrin Rabidoux, owner of Affordable, previously said the commission's vote earlier this month felt "very shady." "It's a witch hunt for companies that don't use union labor," he said. "It's not right. This is a right-to-work state." Bay City Manager Dana Muscott said the city's attorney has crafted an opinion on the issue, but she declined to provide that information to MLive, citing attorney-client privilege. Marcie Klida-Blossom, the city's attorney, also declined to offer the opinion, which touched on whether or not the commission could reject Affordable's bid and if Rehmus' bid was permissible. Muscott said if the commission chooses to rebid the work, it would be too late to begin sidewalk work this year. BAY CITY, MI -- A Farwell man has pleaded guilty to trying to make child pornography by exploiting an underage girl living half a world away. Nathan J. Bowling, 31, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Patricia T. Morris in the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City. Bowling pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child. The charge comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum 30-year stint. Bowling's sentencing range is 188 to 235 months, or 15.6 to 19.6 years. By pleading, Bowling admitted that on or about Oct. 7, he engaged in an online chat with someone he believed to be a 17-year-old girl living in the Philippines. He offered to buy her a cellphone if she would "lasciviously exhibit her genitals and pubic area over the Internet by creating a live visual depiction of herself using Skype," his plea agreement states. As part of his plea, Bowling admitted to similarly propositioning two more underage girls via the Internet. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges of distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. The case against Bowling began on a state level. In March, a Clare County sheriff's detective interviewed Bowling on a criminal sexual conduct complaint. At that time, Bowling told the detective he views "more porn than the normal male." When the detective asked him what would be on his computer, Bowling said "there may be an illegal video of a guy and his young daughter, but that he may have deleted it," an FBI agent's affidavit states. "Bowling also stated that, while pretending to be a female online, he had received photographs from females online who claimed to be 15 years old." Investigators obtained a search warrant for Bowling's laptop and had it forensically examined, discovering numerous files of apparent child porn. Detectives later contacted the FBI office in Bay City regarding the possibility that Bowling had produced child porn. Transcripts of Skype chats featured Bowling bragging about having taken photos or used hidden cameras to take lewd images of a 16-year-old, the affidavit states. The FBI later determined Bowling's laptop had been used to transfer child porn over the Internet. Bowling was initially charged in the 80th District Court on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct using force or coercion and single counts of using a computer to commit a crime and child sexually abusive material. Those charges were dismissed on June 22 so the case could go to a federal court. In an unrelated matter, another Clare County man appeared before Morris on Aug. 29 and pleaded guilty to the same charge. That man, 22-year-old Derek C. Chapman, said he used Kik Interactive, an online messenger app, to communicate with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl located in Washington state. When the girl showed him images of a self-inflicted wound to her thigh, Chapman threatened to contact CPS and have her taken from her parents if she didn't send him nude photos of herself. Chapman's sentencing guidelines are the same as Bowling's. "It is important that victims report to police when online predators exploit or attempt to exploit them," said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch. "Parents should tell their children they should never be too ashamed to tell them when they need help." U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington is to sentence Bowling at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21. Ludington is to sentence Chapman at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14. #Itaewon crowd crush Death toll from Halloween crowd crush rises to 158 The death toll from the crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood rose by one to 158, authorities said Monday. The additional victim is a South Korean woman in her 20s, the Ce... #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... FLINT, MI - The Flint Diaper Bank is doing what it can so parents of young children in Texas have access to diapers after Hurricane Harvey displaced thousands from their homes. There were 100,000 diapers on a truck on Thursday, Aug. 31, heading down to the Houston Diaper Bank, according to The Flint Diaper Bank founder Phil Shaltz. "The country rallied around us when we had our water crisis," Shaltz said. "It's a good thing to do. It's really needed. Hopefully, on Tuesday they're going to get a bunch of diapers and help some people out." He estimates the total cost of the diapers would be between $15,000 and $20,000. Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coastline as a Category 4 hurricane Saturday morning and was recently downgraded to a tropical depression. The diaper bank in Houston went through 20,000 diapers last week, Shaltz said, and they were all out. "At least it's something to give a family to get them through a week or two. It's a little bit of a gap fixing," Shaltz said. "We're just trying to help a little bit and ease the pain." The Flint Diaper Bank was formed in 2013 and gives out about 1.2 million diapers per year through the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. A logo is seen on a Renault Duster vehicle at a dealing centre Renault store in Minsk, Belarus June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko - D1BETLTAAIAA Moneycontrol News Bringing an end to buzzing speculations, French carmaker Renault has revealed few images about the revamped version of its market-success model Duster that is set be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show from September 14. The new Dacia Duster (Known as Renault Duster in India) has revealed significant new design updates that make it look bulkier and more rugged. The headlamps appear sleeker and still retain the three-section design, and also feature integrated LED DRLs. The radiator grille seems to have a new pattern with chrome inserts and has also been widened to give the front of the Duster a broader look. The bumper has also been slightly redesigned and is now dominated by a larger skid plate. The new Dacia Duster has also received significant design updates that make it look bulkier and more rugged. The headlamps appear sleeker and still retain the three section design, also featuring integrated LED DRLs. The bumper has been redesigned as well and now includes a larger skid plate. The bonnet has two very noticeable contoured character lines, giving an uplifted profile to the anterior part of the new Duster. The sides are characterised by a higher belt line while the wheel arches are larger and feature a black plastic trim behind the front arch. The new Duster also has 17-inch wheels that make it look a lot cooler than before. The windshield has been moved 100 mm forward and has a steeper rake. As per the companys statement to OverDrive, the cabin of the Duster has this time been made wider while giving it a sleeker side-profile. At the rear, there is a new tailgate. Bumpers and tail lamps are now square shaped and have been moved outwards. The new Renault Duster is expected to be quite lightweight considering its category and size. Ground clearance has gone up by 5mm and both front and rear overhangs have been shortened as well. The interior has a new steering wheel and an upgraded instrument cluster, and the center console has been revamped too. In the European markets, Duster is being offered in the 1.2 litre and the 2.0 litre petrol models and in 1.5 litre for the diesel version. The AWD system has been retained as well. The revamped Duster is expected to come out by this year-end in the European auto market. Renault is also going to launch the Captur which is based on the Dusters platform in India. With the face lifted Duster most likely to come out at a later stage, the new Duster will be making it to India but a timeline on the launch is uncertain. Renault India could showcase the all-new Duster at the 2018 Auto Expo next February while the launch is likely sometime in 2019. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More August 31, 2017General ManagerListing OperationBSE LimitedP.J. Towers, Dalal StreetMumbai-400 001Sub: Notice of Book ClosureDear Sirs,Notice is hereby given that the Register of Members and Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed on the following dates for the following purpose:Type of Security Book Closure PurposeEquity share of face value and paid up value of Rs. 10/- each Wednesday, 20th September 2017 to Tuesday, 26th September 2017 Book Closure for the purpose of 33rd Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 26th September 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at 100 Vaishali, Pitampura, Delhi-110 034This is for your kind information and record please. Thanking you,For Asia Capital LimitedDeepak Kumar JainManaging DirectorDIN: 00098116R/o 100 Vaishali, PitampuraDelhi-110 034Source : BSE Read More live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Dear Sir,Pursuant to Regulation 29(1) of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, it is hereby intimated that a next meeting of Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Friday, 8th September, 2017 at 4th Floor, Gopal Bhawan, 199, Princess Street, MUMBAI.Further, in accordance with the Company's Code of conduct for Prevention of Insider Trading, the 'Trading Window' for dealing in the shares of the Company will remain closed from 31st August, 2017 to 11th September, 2017 (both days inclusive) for the Directors, Promoters and Key Management Personnel of the Company.This is for your information, please.Source : BSE Read More live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Dear Sir,Pursuant to Regulation 30 read with Schedule III of the SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, please find enclosed herewith the notice of 25th Annual General Meeting of the Members of the company scheduled to be held on Wednesday 27th day of September 2017 at 11.00 am at its registered officer of the Company i.e. Village-Dagori, Tehsil-Belha, Distt. Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) 495224.Further pursuant to Section 91 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Regulation 42 of the SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, the Register of Members and Share Transfer Book of the Company will remain closed from 21st September 2017 to 27th September 2017 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of 25th Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Company.This is for your perusal and records. Kindly acknowledge the receipt.Source : BSE Read More live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Dr Reddys has entered into a settlement agreement with US-based Vivus to end patent litigation related to the latters anti-obesity pill Qsymia. The settlement agreement permits Dr Reddy's to begin selling a generic version of Qsymia on June 1, 2025, or earlier under certain circumstances. In the event of a launch earlier than June 1, 2025, VIVUS will receive a royalty on sales of the generic version of Qsymia. Qysmia is a combination of phentermine and topiramate extended-release sold in capsule form. The drug has gross sales of around USD 73.6 million in 2016. Dr Reddys paid USD 350 million to Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in August 2016 to buy a portfolio of eight abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) that included Qysmia ANDA as well. Qysima was among the portfolio of overlapping products Teva sold to various companies to get clearance from antitrust regulators to consummate its acquisition Actavis generic business. The litigation, which has been pending in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey since 2015, resulted from the submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to market generic versions of Qsymia. Both Teva and Actavis filed ANDAs with a paragraph IV certification challenging validity of patents held by VIVUS for Qysima in 2015. Dr Reddys substituted Teva as defendant in the lawsuit in September 2016. The first applicant to submit a substantially completed ANDA is given marketing exclusivity. This settlement with Dr Reddy's concludes all patent litigation brought by VIVUS against generic pharmaceutical companies that have filed ANDAs seeking approval to market generic versions of Qsymia, said VIVUS in a statement. As required by law, VIVUS and Dr Reddy's will submit the settlement agreement to the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice for review, the statement added. "We believe that these settlements underscore the strength of our intellectual property and demonstrate our commitment to defending our existing patents for all our products and technologies, Seth HZ Fischer, Vivis' Chief Executive Officer said. We expect to expand our intellectual property estate as we continue to innovate new treatments that improve and extend the lives of patients with serious unmet medical needs." Dr Reddys declined to comment citing terms of the agreement. Shares of Dr Reddys declined 0.51 percent and were trading at Rs 2029.95 at 3.04 pm on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex rose 0.27 percent and was trading at 31,732.83 points. Displaced Congolese civilians walk past a truck carrying food for distribution at Kibati, just outside the eastern Congolese city of Goma, July 25, 2012. India, the seventh biggest economy in the world, contributed about $1.27 billion to the United Nations for its operations, projects, and programmes around the world in 2015. With a $1.64 billion contribution, the United States tops the list of the most generous contributors to the UN. The data collated by Statista, has been sourced from the United Nations and puts major developed economies like France and United Kingdom at eighth and ninth spots in the list of top ten contributing countries to the global peace building organisation. Further, India contributes more than all its counterparts in the BRICS bloc. The UN's total value of procurement of goods and services in 2015 stood at $17.6 billion. Interestingly in 2015, UN's procurement of goods and services from countries with economies in transition, developing countries and least developed countries combined stood at $10.8 billion whereas from developed countries the UN procured $6.6 billion. In the latest report on statistics of UN procurement, though India's share in UN's procurement declined, the country maintained its position of being the second biggest contributor to the peace-building organisation. India has faced criticism in the past for receiving foreign aid from different organisations despite being termed 'an economic powerhouse'. However, in a written reply to the parliament earlier this year, Minister of State for External Affairs, General VK Singh informed, "India is currently a net donor of foreign aid. In the last three years, India has provided more aid to foreign countries, than it has received." Most of India's aid is directed towards its neighbours such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Ten months after demonetisation and just 2 months after the launch of the goods and services tax (GST), Indias growth rate has dropped to its lowest level in the Modi era. The new financial year has begun on a shaky note -- GDP is at 5.7 percent for the first quarter-- this is the slowest pace of growth in the last 40 months. We are now back to levels that we have seen in the last UPA government. But the more alarming number is Gross Fixed Capital Formation which is an indicator of investment, now stands at a mere 1.61 percent, while in the same quarter last year, this number was over 7 percent. To analyse the reasons for this sharp deceleration in the growth rate, CNBC-TV18s Latha Venkatesh in special show State of the Nation spoke with eminent panel Mahesh Vyas, MD & CEO, CMIE, Shankar Acharya, Former Chief Economic Advisor, Rakesh Mohan, Former Deputy Governor, RBI and Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Advisor, SBI. If your insurance agent has recently short-changed you and vanished from the system, dont fret. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is launching a new central database that will have details of all insurance intermediaries including agents. The regulatory body has said this is to ensure that all licensed insurance sales persons working for insurers and intermediaries including entities such as insurance agents, broker qualified persons, specified persons of corporate agents, authorised verifiers of web aggregators, point of sales persons (POS) do not work with multiple insurers in the same business category. A senior official said intermediaries have been found to be doing business for multiple companies without proper permissions. Agents lure customers to buy a product that gives them the best commissions and vanish after the sale. Once the database is functional, they can be easily tracked, he added. Almost 20-30 percent of the first year premium is paid to an insurance agent as commission. So, higher the ticket size, higher is his commission amount. All the information related to the intermediaries and their personal details are put up on the Central Database of all Insurance Sales Persons in India (ENVOY), to be constituted at Insurance Information Bureau of India (IIBI). ENVOY also provides a search facility for the use of insurers and insurance intermediaries whereby an applicant insurance sales person's details are queried for a match in the database. Only if an individuals name does not figure in the database for any other insurance company will he be considered for the role, the official added. To avoid conflict of interest, IRDAI norms prevent insurance agents from working with multiple companies. However, some of them continue to do so which is a clear violation of the rules. In the first stage, ENVOY covers Point of Sale Persons (POS), specified persons of corporate agents, qualified persons of insurance brokers and authorised verifiers of web aggregators. The next phase, to be taken up shortly, would cover all remaining categories such as individual agents and insurance marketing firms. business India needs more companies like Vedanta, says Anil Agarwal IPO The initial public offer of Matrimony.com, which runs online match making business under BharatMatrimony brand, is likely to open on September 11. The issue of Matrimony.com is expected to raise Rs 500 crore, sources said. The company's initial share sale offer is likely to open from September 11-13, they added. The IPO comprises fresh issue aggregating up to Rs 130 crore and an offer for sale of up to 3,767,254 equity shares. Proceeds from the issue will be utilised for advertising and business promotion activities, purchase of land for construction of office premises in Chennai, repayment of overdraft facilities and general corporate purposes. The equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on the BSE and the NSE. Around two dozen companies have filed preliminary papers for initial public offers (IPOs) with the regulator Sebi so far this year. So far in 2017, a total of 17 companies, including BSE, Avenue Supermarts, Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), Eris Lifesciences and Cochin Shipyard, mopped-up more than Rs 12,000 crore through initial share-sale offers. PTI SUM . After two days of hectic meetings with home buyers and developers, the committee of three ministers, appointed by the Uttar Pradesh cabinet, today presented its action plan. The panel said that the co-developers will be brought in to complete the delayed projects and assured home buyers stuck in Amrapali and Jaypee projects not to pay any outstanding amount until flats are completed. It said Unitechs proposal to surrender its lands is being considered. Urban housing minister Suresh Khanna, Industries minister Satish Mahana and state minister (independent charge) of cane development and sugar mills Suresh Rana are the members of the committee that have been holding meetings with hundreds of home buyers that have invested their hard-earned money with builders such as Amrapali, Jaypee, Unitech among others in Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and Ghaziabad. The three-member panel had been formed on the directions of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to address issues being faced by home buyers. Presenting the action plan in Greater Noida today, Khanna gave Amrapali Group one month time to begin construction and two years to complete the projects. As many as 99 percent home buyers have asked for delivery of their units and keeping that in mind, some solutions have been arrived at. Homebuyers will not have to pay any amount to the builder until projects are completed but they will have to pay up the amount before the registration process begins, said Khanna. He said that the committee has requested Amrapali home buyers, who are protesting in front of the Amrapali office for almost a fortnight, to end their dharna. The same condition of no money until completion applies to Jaypee home buyers as well. The builder will deliver 600 flats per month starting November 2017, he said. Builders can get in co-developers to complete the unfinished projects, Khanna said, adding Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), an apex body of private real estate developers, has offered its support to be part of the resolution process concerning unfinished apartments by Amrapali Group. Details will be given during the next committee meeting to be held on September 14 to September 15. Unitech has proposed that it will surrender its lands and we are looking at the legal aspects of this proposal, said Khanna Home buyers hopeful but want more confidence building measures Some home buyers said that they are happy with the action plan put forth by the UP government committee while others said that more confidence building measures need to be in place. With this action plan, we are hopeful that a solution will emerge. If a developer takes over the projects and completes it, it is a good move as we only want our flats at the end of the day, said Sumit Aggarwal, a home buyer who has invested in an Amrapali project. At least there is some movement in the right direction, said Indrish Gupta, co-founder, Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association, adding bringing on board a government agency such as NBCC to complete these projects would have been perfect but the fact private developers could be brought in to complete these tasks does offer us hope. We still want that a government official should be involved in the day-to-day supervision of these projects, he added. Some buyers said that there is a need for more confidence building measures on the part of the developers. They should open an escrow account for each of the projects that have to be completed. The amount required to complete the projects must be mentioned and put up on the companys website, said SK Nagrath, president Jaypee Aman buyers' welfare association, adding we are not convinced about the roadmap yet because of the track record of the developer. If the developer puts up all the details on the website, credibility can be restored. Developers offer support Credai has come forward to resolve the difficult situation of stalled deliveries of a few larger developers. The image of the entire industry is suffering because of this situation. We have given our suggestions to the Group of Ministers. Once a viable structure for appointing co-developers in stalled projects is found, we shall be circulating the list of available projects amongst our members. We hope the situation gets resolved. However, Credais role is that of a facilitator, not that of a developer or a guarantor to the completion, said Pankaj Bajaj, president Credai-NCR and MD of Eldeco. Also read: Credai offers to take over unfinished projects of Amrapali Group The Uttar Pradesh government is trying to arrive at a solution for thousands of homebuyers, who have failed to get their homes even after eight years. Some builders have stopped construction at several sites citing the paucity of funds. The meetings come at a time when the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted insolvency pleas from banks against Jaypee Infratech and Amrapali Groups firms which have projects in Noida. NCLT admitted IDBI Banks plea for initiating insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech for defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan earlier this month. NCLT appointed insolvency professional Anuj Jain as the CEO of Jaypee Infratech. He has been given six months to revive the company. This period is extendable by another three months. About 40,000 buyers are stuck in projects floated by Jaypee Infra. vandana.ramnani@nw18.com crowdfunding Planning to build a hardware prototype, create a documentary, raise donations for a social cause or simply help a friend achieve his dream goal of climbing a mountain. Crowdfunding could be one of the easiest ways to raise funds for your project, if done the right way. However, most people who take this route encounter failure in the first few projects and they are not able to achieve the goal of raising a particular amount of funding. Here are the five tips shared by Crowdera CEO Chet Jain on how to raise money for your campaign through crowdfunding. Crowdera is a free crowdfunding platform that helps people to raise funds for their projects. What is crowdfunding? It is defined as solicitation of funds from multiple contributors through a web-based platform or social networking site for a specific project, business venture or social cause. In short, people lend money to support a cause or an idea. 5 Tips to keep in mind while crowdfunding - Tip 1: Why you want to raise the money? Chet Jain says that before raising money from a crowdfunding platform one should know why you want to raise the money. Why you really need the money? You have to let your contributor know how much money you are raising and how you are going to utilize the raised money. There should be 100 percent transparency between you and your contributor. One should always have a pre-launch strategy before raising money through crowdfunding. Tip 2: The Pitch and the story A good way to pitch your story is to show a visual or create a video. He says that the story or the video should be emotional. Sell your emotions to the contributors or the donors on the platform. Tell them why it is interesting for them to contribute to you. Tip 3: Build relationships You are raising money for your campaign and project. The most important thing for you is to build relationships with people who are contributing you. Keep updating them on social media, tweeting about it on the social platform. For example, if you are making a film, you can call the contributors during the shoot, or give them premier tickets. Tip 4: Planned marketing and outreach Plan a marketing strategy for your campaign. Before launching your campaign, you can take help of your family and friends and spread the word about it. Your first few donors can be your friends and family members. You can use different social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram to increase your reach and do a soft launch. After your soft launch, you can take help of a PR agency to spread a word about your campaign through different media channels. Tip 5: Constant engagement Even if you have achieved your target but dont forget to constantly appreciate and thanks to your donors. Give them an individual shout out on a various social media platform. Show them your gratitude and engage as many audiences you can. Keep updating about your campaign on social media and making it transparent for everyone who has funded you. (In pic: Bollywood director Rajat Kapoor is using crowdfunding to produce his upcoming film called RK/RKay) Govt's stance on crowdfunding businesses in India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is close to finalizing the norms for crowdfunding in India. According to reports, contributors may have to seek government's permission before investing via crowdfunding platforms. They will also have to provide the relevant information to other contributors in the company. Thus while raising funds for social causes and creative works might be easier, raising money for a business in India via crowdfunding falls in a grey area right now due to SEBI's new norms. 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, Vishvesh Chauhan, Kunal Saraogi and Ruchit Jain battle it out for top honours. Below their top stock picks and analysis: Vishvesh Chauhan of Monarch Networth Capital Buy Graphite India with a stoploss at Rs 255 and target of Rs 285 Buy GSFC with a stoploss at Rs 140 and target of Rs 160 Buy Man Infraconstruction with a stoploss at Rs 63 and target of Rs 69 Buy Ujjivan Financial with a stoploss at Rs 345 and target of Rs 385 Kunal Saraogi of Equityrush Buy Ujjivan Financial with a stoploss at Rs 350 and target of Rs 375 Buy Container Corp of India (CONCOR) with a stoploss at Rs 1290 and target of Rs 1340 Buy Just Dial with a stoploss at Rs 370 and target of Rs 390 Buy GSFC with a stoploss at Rs 144 and target of Rs 152 Ruchit Jain of Angel Broking Buy Just Dial with a stoploss at Rs 362 and target of Rs 398 Buy Cholamandalam Investment with a stoploss at Rs 1145 and target of Rs 1230 Sell NCC with a stoploss at Rs 87 and target of Rs 81 Buy Bharat Financial with a stoploss at Rs 852 and target of Rs 920 Bars of 500 and 1000 gram silver are seen in this picture illustration at a precious metal refinery in Istanbul July 26, 2011. Gold eased on Tuesday as investors cashed in some gains after the previous session's record high, but the political impasse in the United States over raising the debt ceiling kept prices firmly supported above $1,600 an ounce. Spot silver added 0.1 percent to $40.34. It hit $41.05 in the previous session, its highest since May 4 when prices were tumbling from a record $49.51 set on April 28. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR2PAYO Sushil Finance's commodity report on Silver Silver rose 0.2 percent to D17.37 per ounce. We expect silver prices to trade positive on the back of European Central Bank statement. 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. Read More Allowed | Activities of marine and inland fisheries. (Image: Moneycontrol) Eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents on Thursday for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. Four fishermen each from Rameswaram and nearby Mandapam were arrested when they were allegedly fishing near Neduntheevu, the officials said. The fishermen were later taken to Karainagar port in northern Sri Lanka, Assistant Directors of Fisheries in Rameswaram and Mandapam said. The arrests came on a day when India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from Thursday. The Supreme Court today directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to the bail plea of former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh who has been charge-sheeted in connection with a money laundering case. A Bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao issued a notice to the ED and asked it to file its response within two weeks. Singh has approached the apex court challenging the order passed by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court denying him bail in the matter. In his plea before the Allahabad High Court, he had contended that he was technically entitled to bail since the charge-sheet was not submitted by the probe agency within the statutory period. However, the High Court dismissed his petition considering the ED's submission that the charge-sheet was filed on time. In 2015, the ED slapped money laundering charges against Singh, who was engineer-in-chief of the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority, and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI. Earlier, an Income Tax raid in November 2014 had revealed that Singh's assets were hugely disproportionate to his income, following which he was suspended by the then Uttar Pradesh government. In July 2015, the Allahabad High Court directed the CBI to investigate the case stating that the allegations were most serious. 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 Leaders of some opposition parties, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday and requested him to direct Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to convene a floor test in the Assembly after 19 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs withdrew their support to the Palaniswami dispensation. The DMK approached the president after the governor allegedly did not act on its request for a floor test in the Assembly. The delegation included Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D Raja and Congress leader Anand Sharma. Speaking to reporters, Raja said, "Tamil Nadu politics is in dire straits today and its foundation has been questioned. The governor should have acted in accordance with the Constitution by calling for a floor test." The DMK said it would continue to take up the issue with various authorities until the governor convenes a floor test. "The ruling AIADMK only has the support of 113 MLAs pushing it below the majority mark. Whereas around 120 MLAs in the assembly are against the ruling party. We have explained it to the president," DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva said. Responding to a question on AIADMK leaders claiming the rift was just "an internal issue", DMK MP K Kanimozhi said it could not be called an internal issue even after MLAs withdrew their support. "Every MLA has submitted the letter to the governor withdrawing their support. We cannot call it an internal issue of the party. When OPS demanded a floor test earlier, the governor called for it, but it is surprising why he has not taken action in this case," Kanimozhi said. The delegation included DMK MPs TKS Elangovan and R S Bharathi. Following the merger of the two rival AIADMK factions led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and rebel leader O Panneerselvam (OPS), a former chief minister, 19 MLAs owing allegiance to sidelined party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran withdrew support to the government. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs. There is no one representing the R K Nagar constituency following the death of J Jayalalithaa which triggered feud in the AIADMK. The DMK has 89 seats, Congress eight and IUML one. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that linking Aadhaar to online registration of FIRs will go a long way in ensuring better service by the police. "All police stations in the state are being linked online. As the e-complaint system tested in Pune proved successful, the same experiment will be replicated in all police stations in the state," the chief minister said on Wednesday night while inaugurating Kasarwadavali and Kalwa police stations in the city. He said after implementing the e-complaint system, citizens will not be required to visit police stations. The chief minister also launched a wifi facility and a mechanised community kitchen for providing meals to students of civic-run schools, set up by the Akshayapatra Foundation. The kitchen will supply free mid-day meals to around 8,000 students of 26 schools in Majiwda, Manpada and Vartaknagar blocks. Breakthrough Listen, a scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of civilisations beyond Earth, detected 15 brief but powerful radio pulses. The bursts came from a mysterious body named FRB 121102. Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are brief, bright pulses of radio emission from distant galaxies. FRB 121102 was discovered in 2012, on November 2nd (hence its name). FRBs have been detected many times but this is the only one known to repeat. More than 150 high-energy bursts have been observed coming from the object, which was identified last year as a dwarf galaxy about 3 billion light years from Earth. Attempts to understand the mechanism that generates FRBs have made this galaxy a target of ongoing monitoring campaigns by instruments across the globe, said a report by Breakthrough. Possible explanations for FRBs range from outbursts from rotating neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields, to more speculative ideas that they are directed energy sources used by extra-terrestrial civilizations to power spacecraft. The image above shows 14 of the 15 detected bursts in succession, illustrating their dispersed spectrum and extreme variability. Capturing this diverse set of bursts was made possible by the broad bandwidth that can be processed by the Breakthrough Listen backend at the Green Bank Telescope The signals were detected in the early hours of Saturday, August 26, by UC Berkeley Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Vishal Gajjar using the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The instrument obtained 400TB of data on the object over a five-hour-long observation. This large dataset was searched for signatures of short pulses from the source over a broad range of frequencies, with a characteristic dispersion, or delay as a function of frequency, caused by the presence of gas in space between us and the source. The distinctive shape that the dispersion imposes on the initial pulse is an indicator of the amount of material between us and the source, and hence an indicator of the distance to the host galaxy, Breakthrough said in its report. The analysis confirmed that the source is in a newly active state. the high resolution of the data obtained by the Listen instrument will allow measurement of the properties of these mysterious bursts at a higher precision than ever possible before, said Gajjar. Breakthrough Listen is a global astronomical initiative launched in 2015 by Internet investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner and cosmologist Stephen Hawking in search for evidence of technological life in the Universe. It aims to survey one million nearby stars, the entire galactic plane and 100 nearby galaxies at a wide range of radio and optical bands. Read the full report here Tinder, the location based online dating app, has launched a new paid serviceTinder Gold. The service allows the users to see the people who have swiped right on them among other benefits. The subscription based, members-only service offers services like Passportability to like people anywhere, Rewindability to go back to rejected profiles, unlimited likes, five Superlikes per day and one Boost per month. The app has also introduced a new 'Likes You' feature which will show who has liked you till now. Think of it as your personal Swipe Right concierge available 24/7 bringing all of your pending matches to you, said a statement by the company. Now you can sit back, enjoy a fine cocktail, and browse through profiles at your leisure. The feature was first tested in Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico. Now the feature has been launched worldwide. However, for now, it is available only on iOS platform in India. Though the company said that in the first month of testing, subscribers received more than 60 percent more matches after upgrading to Tinder Gold, the step may backfire in the future, as it has, for once, killed the speculative swipes swiping with the anticipation that the person has also swiped right. Now the paid service will tell you beforehand who else has liked you, taking away the fun out of the app. Market leader Samsung is open to other operators offering data on its mobiles presently given only by Jio, an official of the company said. "All Samsung smartphones are being bundled with Jio data. We are open to other operators to offer their data as well," Mohandeep Singh, Sr VP, mobile business of Samsung India told reporters here on Thursday. He said such bundling of data by other operators in Samsung mobiles were there before. But these were not available at the moment, he said. Asked about the impact on Samsung due to the onslaught of Chinese mobile manufacturers, Singh said, "This is a hyper-competitive market. At Samsung, we aim to meet the consumer satisfaction and maintain channel relation properly. Surely, these measures would help keep Samsung's market leadership afloat," he said. Regarding West Bengal, he said that the company's market share for July as per GFK data was 48 percent, higher than the national average. In the ensuing festive period, the market was expected to grow between 30 percent to 35 percent, he said, adding that Samsung would outgrow that. On GST, he said that there had been so disprutions and mobile prices had not changed. Mumbai: Rescue work in progress after a five storey building collapsed in Mumbai on Thursday. Seven persons were killed, 15 others injured, while around 25 people are feared trapped after a five-storey residential building collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai today. PTI Photo(PTI8_31_2017_000029B) Seven persons were killed, 15 others injured, while around 25 people are feared trapped after a five-story residential building collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai on Thursday. Seven persons, including an elderly couple, died and 13 others were injured in the incident. The injured were admitted to the J J Hospital, a senior police official said. "The exact number of trapped people cannot be known immediately," DCP, Zone 1, Manoj Sharma said. The building, located at Pakmodia street near JJ Hospital, with 12 rooms and six godowns on the ground floor, crumbled at around 8:30 am, fire department sources said. According to fire brigade sources present at the spot, "There were around nine families staying in the building. Thirty people are feared trapped." Mumbai: Rescue work in progress after a five-storey residential building collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar area on Thursday. PTI Photo "Our disaster management cell received a call at 8.40 am about the collapse. We immediately rushed fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue the trapped people. We fear that several people are trapped under the debris," a senior official of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) said. A senior police official said that 12 people were rushed to JJ Hospital so far. A 45-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is carrying out the rescue operation with the help of fire brigade personnel. It is not known whether the building was on the list of dangerous structures under the MCGM limits. The incident occurred two days after the city was pummelled by torrential rains, which is may have caused damage to the building. The Income Tax Department (I-T Dept) is probing the account books of e-commerce companies suspected of fudging numbers to evade taxes, sources told Moneycontrol. The move comes after the I-T department, following an initial investigation, found a few online retailers to have filed bogus bills and provided for fake losses on their balance sheets, add the sources. The I-T Department is coordinating with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) officials to jointly probe online retailers. A senior official of I-T Department told Moneycontrol: We have information that many e-commerce companies have been faking losses to avoid tax. The official added that GST officials too would be looking into the matter. The official added that GST officials too would be looking into the matter. The officials are working on the lead that some online companies are presenting bogus bills to show higher revenues which would help justify higher valuations when these companies raise capital from investors. Filing fake losses, on the other hand, could help these companies escape a higher tax burden. These e-commerce companies, which are under the scanner of investigation agencies, are believed to be from Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai. According to a Nasscom report, Indias e-commerce market is estimated to be USD 33 billion in FY17. Two months ago, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued notices to half a dozen angel firms. The capital and commodity regulator had asked them to spell out details of their fund-raising business and justify whether they operated within the securities market law. In 2015, the Commerce Ministry requested the Enforcement Directorate and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to examine whether e-commerce companies violated any FDI rules by engaging in illegal business. Moneycontrol News A South African university's student had mistakenly received a sum of 14 million South African Rand, which amounts to Rs 6.8crore, as loan in her bank account five months ago, and has now spent almost half of it. The error became known after an image of a receipt showing the students account was widely shared. A spokesperson from the students place of study, Walter Sisulu University, said that she had been spending the money on a lavish lifestyle. A spokesperson from the university has said that the student will be liable for every cent. The student has allegedly reported the mistake and has also been quoted as saying that she returned the money, as per a News24 report. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is an organisation that gives South African students loans to cover textbooks, food and accommodation costs. The amount is to be paid back after graduation. A university official has stated a TimesLIVE report that it was very callous of her to not report the matter immediately, for which she will be held responsible. The student can only spend the loan money at designated shops with the help of a special card. Apparently, not even the university neither the NFSAS could be blamed for the mistake as it happened due to a goof-up by the company that issues the student debit cards - Intellicard. The CEO of the company is reportedly going to meet with the university officials. WSU and IntelliMali will do a forensic investigation on the R14 million matter.#NSFAS NSFAS (@myNSFAS) August 30, 2017 Meanwhile, the NSFAS has cleared its stance stating that loan amounts are allocated by them directly to the institutions and it is their responsibility to allocate it to the students. When a mistake occurs in these processes, it is in the hands of the Univesity, NSFAS has said. (Currency figures based on rate of One Rand = Rs 4.92) For the second time in two days, US President Donald Trump spoke over phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula after the North launched a medium-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan. "The two leaders confirmed their continuing, close cooperation on efforts to address North Korea's launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile that overflew Japanese territory earlier this week," the White House said. Trump ruled out talks with North Korea during the second phone call with Abe in two days. The phone calls came after North Korea increased the crisis with the test launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japanese territory yesterday. However, Defence Secretary James Mattis told reporters the US was still looking for diplomatic options to resolve the Korean crisis as he welcomed his South Korean counterpart Song Young-Moo at the Pentagon. "We're never out of diplomatic solutions. We continue to work together and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today," Mattis said. "And look for all the areas we can collaborate - there is already very strong collaboration, we always look for more, we are never complacent," he said. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed has challenged the order of Pakistan's Punjab government to extend his detention for 60 more days. The Punjab Home Department issued an order on July 28 under which the detention of Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain -- was extended for another 60 days. Apparently frustrated with not getting a decision from the Lahore High Court that had on June 7 reserved his petition against his first detention order on January 30, Saeed yesterday filed a fresh petition challenging the detention order. The petition says: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the petitioners are planning to spread chaos in the country or that they have planned violent demonstrations. It says the government in the impugned detention order has only shown apprehension against the petitioners". The petition says blatant violation of laws have been committed by the government in this case. It pleads that imprisonment without trial and conviction is prima facie unlawful and unconstitutional. "The government detained the petitioners to please India and America. Courts in past have declared detention of JuD leaders illegal as the government failed to prove its charges," it says and requests the court to set aside the detention order for being issued without lawful authority. In response to their previous petitions, the government had clarified that the JuD and its allied organisation (Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation) had been kept under observation on the basis of a report sent by the ministry of foreign affairs. "In the light of that report, the government has reasons to believe that JuD and FIF are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security and in violation of Pakistan's obligation to the UN Security Council resolution," the government said. Earlier on June 7, a division bench headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan had reserved the decision on Saeed and his four aides' petitions against their detention after hearing the arguments from petitioners counsel and the government law officer. On April 30, detention of Saeed and his four aides was extended by the Punjab government for another 90 days under Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The Punjab government on January 30 had put them under house arrest in Lahore under the Second Schedule of Anti- Terrorism Act 1997. The Pakistan government had reportedly taken action against Saeed after the US firmly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed it may face sanctions. JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar- e-Taiba (LeT). The organisation is accused of involvement in militant activities in India and has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2014. The White House has said that it has put all options on table to tackle the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea, which fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday. "I think the President (Donald Trump) has been very clear about his position on North Korea, certainly in his statement by saying all options are on the table, and that continues to be the case," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters yesterday on board with Trump on the Air Force One. She was responding to questions on statements by the president and his Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on the repeated ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang. LIVE BLOG: North Korea missile launch: US successfully conducts missile defense test In a tweet, Trump had riled out talks with North Korea, while Mattis has said that US is not out of diplomatic options. "...as we've said before, we're going to use all methods and that will continue to be one of them, but only a part of the integrated policy and plan moving forward," Sander said. She said the Trump administration has been taking serious action by putting strong sanctions on North Korea, continuing to put pressure across the board, and weighing its options. "When the president makes a decision about next steps, we'll certainly keep you guys in the loop on that front," she said. The missile, fired on Tuesday, travelled around 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) and reached a maximum height of 550 kilometers (341 miles) as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Also Read:Dont let North Korea missile hit your portfolio; Here are top 20 wealth creating stocks The launch appeared to be the first of a North Korean missile to cross over Japan, though some rockets were used to put satellites into space have done so. It also appeared to be the North's longest-ever missile test. Meanwhile, Senators Joe Donnelly and Ben Sasse pushed for increased sanctions on both North Korea and China to crack down on Pyongyang's weapons program. Also Read: Donald Trump rules out talks with North Korea The two lawmakers sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, outlining recent findings on the North Korean sanctions and outlining key questions for future full committee hearings. "...there is a strong consensus that the level of pressure necessary to get the Kim Jong-un regime to the table, let alone reach an agreement, will be extraordinarily high and must be coupled with a full court diplomatic effort with our allies and with China directly to persuade China to engage more directly with the DPRK," the letter said. An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan may on Thursday deliver its verdict in a decade-old-case involving the gruesome assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Former two-time premier Bhutto was killed in a gun and bombing attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007 when she came out of park after addressing an election rally. The case was registered soon after the assassination and the trial went through many ups and down until concluded yesterday in Rawalpindi. The anti-terrorism court will give its judgment on five militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group and two senior police officers. ATC Judge Asghar Ali Khan who heard the case in city's Adiala Jail reserved the judgment after conducting day-to-day hearing going on since Monday. The trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf who was the president when Bhutto was killed and who has been accused will be held separately on his return to Pakistan. The five suspects Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid were arrested soon after the assassination and have been in jail. Then Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz and SSP Kurrum Shehzad are also among the accused and their fate will be decided in the case. Both were arrested initially but released on bail in 2011. All accused will be present at the time of the announcement of trial. The main trail five suspects started in January 2008, while Musharraf, Aziz and Shahezad were implicated in 2009 after fresh probe by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Eight different judges heard the case during this period who were changed due to different reasons. Initially TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for murder and Musharraf's government issued a taped conversation of Mehsud with a certain operator in which he was congratulating the operator for the murder. But FIA Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation. He termed it cooked up story Musharraf to mislead the investigators and to save himself. US President Donald Trump will launch a series of "globally competitive" tax reforms which he said would bring back trillions of dollars stacked abroad. While announcing his plans, Trump warned members of Congress not to "disappoint" him, predicting that lawmakers would make a "comeback" to pass a comprehensive measure to overhaul the tax code. "This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hardworking Americans, and I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. I don't want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me? Do you understand?" Trump said, amidst applause from his supporters in Springfield in Missouri. Noting that the last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago, Trump said the new tax reforms will eliminate dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduce the number of tax brackets from fifteen to two, and lower tax rates for both individuals and businesses. Trump said his "globally competitive" tax reforms are based on four principles. "First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests," he said. "Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. It's time to give American workers the pay raise that they've been looking for many, many years," he said. Trump said the third principle for reform is tax relief for middle-class families. "We will lower taxes for middle-income Americans so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. That really means buying product ideally made in this country, but that means theyll go out, and theyll spend their money," he said. "Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high US tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there," said the US President. The amount of money we're talking about is anywhere from USD 3 trillion to USD 5 trillion. "By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation," he said. Trump said his administration is embracing a new economic model. "It is called very simply: The American Model. Under this system, we will encourage companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild our American cities and communities," he said. "That is how we will all succeed and grow together, as one team, with one shared sense of purpose, and one glorious American destiny," said the US President. "The tax reform plan Trump announced today is a vital measure for strengthening US prosperity as well as global prosperity through investment and job creation," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "A strong economy is a fundamental element of US foreign policy, and the State Department will continue to engage in economic diplomacy to bolster the prosperity of our nation through increased investment and trade," he said. However, Trump's Democratic opponent described this as a billionaires-first tax plan. "Instead of offering the American people a plan for real, job-creating tax reform, President Trump is pushing a billionaires-first, trickle-down tax scheme that hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, at the expense of American families," said Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic leader. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said the tax plan is a "joke". "It provides no details and has no basis in reality. After nine months in power, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have failed to provide any solutions to lower the tax burden for working Americans or to make our tax code simpler for small business owners," he alleged. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence delivers a speech during a meeting with U.S. troops taking part in NATO led joint military exercises Noble Partner 2017 at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi, Georgia August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze The Pentagon sharply raised its estimate of the number of US troops currently in Afghanistan on Thursday, ahead of a decision on adding thousands more under President Donald Trump's new strategy for the war-ridden country. Pentagon Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said a comprehensive review showed there were approximately 11,000 uniformed US servicemen and women in Afghanistan, compared to the 8,400 number used since last year. The new count, which includes temporary and covert units as well as regular forces, was made to establish the basis for an increase in troops possibly by around 4,000 under Trump's revised strategy to better support Afghan troops in the fight against the Taliban. Letter to editor: Voting is necessary to protect democracy August 31, 2017 Nikki Haley Fails In Amateurish Attempt To Change UNIFIL Mandate For today's dose of fakenews we trustfully direct you to this New York Times item: U.N. Peacekeepers in Lebanon Get Stronger Inspection Powers for Hezbollah Arms The headline is 100% wrong. The U.N. troops in Lebanon (UNIFIL) did not get one iota of stronger inspection powers. Yesterday the UN Security Council had to decide about the yearly renewal of the mandate of UNIFIL. The current U.S. bitch at the UNSC, Nikki R. Haley, had order from her overlord Benjamin Netanyahoo to press for more control over Hizbullah's weapons in Lebanon. Last week Haley already clashed with the commanding general of the UNIFIL forces and with the UN Secretary General: "What I find totally baffling is the view of the UNIFIL commander General Beary," Haley told reporters, accusing him of ignoring Hezbollah's arms dumps. "He seems to be the only person in south Lebanon who is blind. That's an embarrassing lack of understanding on what's going on around him," she said. The UN and the Irish government gave full backing to General Beary. The Irish Independent noted: Ms Haley said there was no shortage of evidence about the large caches of Hezbollah weapons buried in south Lebanon. However, neither she nor the Israelis have produced any evidence to back up their claims. ... General Beary said his troops had not come across any major weapons cache in the UNIFIL-controlled area. He said if there was hard evidence of a cache of weapons, his force would assist the Lebanese armed forces (LAF) in removing them. UNIFIL's mandate is limited: It is tasked with ensuring that the area between the so-called 'Blue Line' separating Israel and Lebanon and the Litani River is free of unauthorized weapons, personnel and assets. It also cooperates with the Lebanese Armed Forces so they can fulfil their security responsibilities. UNIFIL does not have sovereign or executive rights. It is mostly restricted to reporting and depends on the government of Lebanon for further measures. Nikki Haley was tasked to change that - and failed: The United States had insisted that Unifil must be more muscular in policing Hezbollah weaponry, and had suggested that it would not agree to renewing the mandate without significant changes. France, along with other members, objected to any adjustments in Unifils role authorizing its soldiers to inspect private homes, for example that would be seen as infringing on Lebanons sovereignty. France is a regular contributor to UNIFIL troops and often represents, as here, the position of the Lebanese government. The founding task of the UNIFIL was to supervise the retreat of Israel's invasion troop from south Lebanon. Attempts to change it into Israel's police instrument on the ground, searching private homes of Lebanese citizens, are plainly ridiculous. The presence of UN troops is still to Israel's benefit as it limits the open military activities of Hizbullah in the area. Haley's bluff was called and the renewal of the mandate passed without any changes to it. According to the UN press release, Haley was given a meaningless consolation price: The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for one year. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body requested the Secretary-General to look at ways to enhance the efforts of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including through increasing the mission's visible presence, through patrols and inspections, within its existing mandate and capabilities. The unanimously adopted UNSC resolution 2373 to extend the UNIFIL mandate made no change to the UNIFIL's mission. Guterres was asked to 'look at ways' to do something and he will look and look and look again. This looking will take a long time. At some point the UNSC may consider to raise UNIFIL's 'visible presence' by mandating the wearing of red berets instead of the traditional UN blue. There will likely be no consensus about that measure. Haley lost her bid. Her bashing of the commanding general of UNIFIL only created bad blood. Her amateurish threat to block the renewal of the resolution went nowhere. UNIFIL did not get ANY additional authorities or powers. The New York Times headline is a cover up of Haley's failure. It is 100% false. --- Adding: According to a just publishes Reuters piece Haley showed the same unprofessional behavior towards the IAEA. She harassed the IAEA about inspections in Iran but had nothing to support her position: The United States is pushing U.N. nuclear inspectors to check military sites in Iran to verify it is not breaching its nuclear deal with world powers. But for this to happen, inspectors must believe such checks are necessary and so far they do not, officials say. ... After her talks with officials of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Haley said: There are... numerous undeclared sites that have not been inspected. That is a problem. ... Despite Haleys public comments, she neither asked the IAEA to visit specific sites nor offered new intelligence on any site, officials who attended her meetings said. ... If they want to bring down the deal, they will, the first IAEA official said, referring to the Trump administration. We just dont want to give them an excuse to. In a press release Haley again whined about Iran. She falsely claimed that Iran would have to give full access to military sites for inspections. However, she again named no site and no specific concern that might justify a call for inspection. Hours earlier the IAEA had again confirmed that Iran is fully compliant with its part of the nuclear deal. Posted by b on August 31, 2017 at 11:59 UTC | Permalink Comments Ever find it hard to find the right kind of movie to watch? This could fix that European exchange traded fund flows in July suggest that passive investors have not entirely banished global fears from their minds, despite global stock markets hovering near record highs amid low volatility in equity markets. Looking at Morningstar data for July, commodity funds enjoyed net inflows of 7.1 billion, a rise of nearly 17% in the year to date. Swiss-domiciled UBS ETF was the most popular fund, with 660 million invested in July alone. iShares Physical Gold ETC (EGLN) saw outflows of 206 million in July, although the fund flow is positive by 119 million in the year to date. Ali Masarwah, Morningstars Director of Editorial Research for EMEA, said: Commodity exchange-traded products rebounded in July thanks to high inflows for gold ETFs, which had seen tepid demand in June. Gold spot prices had a strong start to the year, rising from $1,100 an ounce to $1,280 an ounce in April, but have struggled to reach $1,300 since. Rising geopolitical tensions, particularly between the US and North Korea, have supported the valuations of safe havens such as gold, even as stock markets have remained at elevated levels. Oil has been sold off amid concerns over the growth prospects for the world economy WTI dropped below $50 a barrel in April and has failed to hold any gains above this level since that date. Many listed mining firms have high copper exposure as the metal is strongly correlated with Chinese industrial demand, which has so far defied predictions of a slowdown. COMEX copper is now trading close $3,000 a tonne after a strong run this year. For investors who are looking to purchase ETFs that back physical gold, Morningstar passive analyst Kenneth Lamont suggested two funds. They are Source Physical Gold P-ETC (SGLP) and ETF Securities Gold Bullion Securities ETC (GBSS). Lamont said Source Physical Gold P-ETC is an impressive product with very tight spreads. For those who want that extra layer of security, they may look at the ETF Securities Gold Bullion Securities ETC, which goes one stage further and allows investors to physically access that gold if necessary at some point in the future, said Lamont. Investors seeking equity-based exposure can consider the iShares Gold Producers iShares Gold Producers UCITS ETF (IAUP). Modern portfolio theory shows that adding a commodity such as gold to a stock and bond portfolio has historically produced lower volatility and increased risk-adjusted returns. While falling gold prices in booming markets may reduce returns, the potential gains in more turbulent market conditions can offset falling prices in other assets classes, he added. Had a chance to dine at the new restaurant Dewberry 1850 today, inside the Marriott at the University of Dayton Hotel. The re-design is beautiful, bright and airy with several different areas conducive to working meeting with power even wired into the tables, as well as window tables of two and three for more intimate dining. They feature New American Cuisine with locally sourced ingredients,, a large selection of regional craft beers as well as spirits. While theyve just barely opened, they already have scheduled their first beer dinner with Yellow Springs Brewery for Thurs, Sept 28th from 6-8pm. The name of the eatery is directly tied to the University history, as explained on their website; In the middle of a cholera epidemic, the Bishop of Cincinnati sent Father Leo Meyer, S.M., to minister to the sick at Emmanuel parish in Dayton. Here, he met John Stuart, whose little daughter died of cholera the year before. Mr. Stuart wanted to sell his Dayton property and return with his wife to Europe. Father Meyer gave him a medal of St. Joseph and a promise of $12,000 in return for Dewberry Farm 125 acres of vineyards, orchards, a mansion and farm buildings On July 1, 1850, St. Marys School for Boys, a frame building that not long before had housed farm hands, opened its doors to 14 primary students from Dayton. Known at various times as St. Marys School, St. Marys Institute and St. Marys College, the school assumed its present identity in 1920. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, they bill themselves as the perfect place to Eat, Drink & Gather. We started with the Divvy & Split section of the menu, which offered standards like pretzel, wings, tacos and as well as bruschetta BLTs, Flying Pigs, and what we ordered: Mac-N-Cheese Croquettes, -panko crumbs l cheddar l mascarpone l roasted garlic sour cream, $11 for 3. On to the Tossed & Assembled portion of the lunch menu, which offers five sandwiches and five salads. I had the M Burger Angus beef l bacon l cheddar l LTO l toasted brioche $14 My lunch companion ordered the Brown Street Club Legrand poblano aioli l carved turkey l smoked bacon l shaved romaine l tomato l raisin bread $12 Food was good, atmosphere very welcoming and looking forward to going back and trying both lunch and dinner. If youve been, let us know what you think in the comments below: Dewberry 1850 in the Marriott at the University of Dayton 1414 South Patterson Boulevard 937-223-1000 Dayton, OH 45409 HOURS Monday Friday: 6:30 am Midnight Saturday Sunday: 7:00 am Midnight You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Harveys lumbering path into Louisiana has expanded the number of shuttered oil refineries, with almost one-quarter of U.S. capacity offline. Harvey made a second Gulf Coast landfall Wednesday morning near the Texas-Louisiana border. Flooding and power failures associated with the latest hit have reduced U.S. fuel-making capacity by about 4.25 million barrels a day to the lowest since 2010. Motiva Enterprises LLCs Port Arthur facility in Texas, the biggest U.S. refinery, is shutting because of severe flooding. Total SAs refinery in Port Arthur is out with a power loss, a person familiar with the matter said. The two refineries join more than a dozen others with a combined 23 percent of U.S. capacity that are at least partially offline. Gasoline futures rose to more than $2 a gallon for the first time in more than two years, and the fuels premium to crude is at a two-year high. These closures are already impacting markets with crude prices lower on a perceived drop in demand and gasoline prices spiking in response to lower supply, Sandy Fielden, director of research for commodities and energy at Morningstar Commodities Research, said in an emailed note. RELATED: Gasoline prices rise as largest U.S. refinery shuts down Harveys move into southwestern Louisiana threatens five oil refineries, with total capacity of 787,200 barrels a day. That includes Phillips 66s Lake Charles at 239,400 and Citgo Lake Charles at 427,800. The capacity for the Port Arthur plant owned by Saudi Arabias national oil company is 605,000 barrels a day, while the plant run by Paris-based Total has a capacity of 225,500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, Exxon Mobil Corp. is in the process of a systematic shutdown of several of its units at Beaumont, Texas, just north of Port Arthur, while a majority of operations at its Baytown, Texas, complex have been shut, Charlotte B. Huffaker, a company spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday. Some of the first refineries to close were in Corpus Christi, near where Harvey initially made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday. The storm dumped more than 50 inches of rain over parts of Houston. Now that Harvey has moved east, Valero Energy Corp., Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Flint Hills Resources LLC are preparing to restart those Corpus Christi refineries, according to regulatory filings and people familiar who asked not to be identified because the plans arent public. Those plants, and another that Valero shut in nearby Three Rivers, account for more than 930,000 barrels a day or refining capacity. RELATED: Perry taps federal oil reserve U.S. plants processed about 17.5 million barrels of oil a day the week ending August 18. A return to that level wont be quick or easy. Even as plants recover, the restarts will be delayed by distribution issues and crude supply, compounded by port closures cutting off imports, Fielden said. The Port of Houston partially reopened Wednesday, while Corpus Christis port is expected to resume normal operations by Sept. 4. The affected refineries imported about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day last year, including 410,000 from Mexico, 380,000 from Saudi Arabia and 340,000 from Venezuela, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Colonial Pipeline, the largest conduit for gasoline and diesel from the Gulf Coast to the eastern U.S., suspended service on its main diesel line on Wednesday and expects to shut its main gasoline pipe on Thursday, according to a statement on its website. Just as technology has altered how Permian Basin oil and gas operators operate, it also has altered how University Lands offers its acreage for oil and gas development. Bidding is already underway on what is the largest lease sale in University Lands history, approximately 400,000 acres being offered on EnergyNet.com, the online marketplace. Bidding ends at 10 a.m. Sept. 20. Aside from being offered online, University Lands has incorporated other changes to accommodate the trend toward horizontal drilling and longer laterals. What were doing thats a bit different is were putting together lots, Mark Houser, chief executive officer, said in a phone interview. Weve put together about 95,000 acres in contiguous lots to promote horizontal drilling. Operators will have to bid on all the leases to get that lot. University Lands roots stretch back to the 1800s, when the Texas Legislature set aside about 2 million acres of West Texas land to benefit the Permanent University Fund, an endowment that benefits the University of Texas and the Texas A&M University systems. Much of that land has been leased by operators seeking oil and natural gas, leaving only about 500,000 acres not under lease. Some areas are completely leased, Houser said. Were getting what seems to be strong interest, including acreage in Culberson County, he said. University Lands also has revised its lease forms, issuing its 48th edition with this lease sale. Houser said the new forms are designed to be more friendly to horizontal drilling, while also ramping up environmental stewardship. It also allows developers plenty of time to develop their primary zones and additional time to develop shallower zones, he said. The goal is to keep the University Lands pipeline full in terms of drilling activity, he said. We want steady, continuous drilling instead of cyclical spurts, he said. Houser said results from the sale will provide an indication of how the market has recovered from the fall in crude prices. Ive been here 2 1/2 years, he said. As I got here, the market was tumbling because of oil price. I was asked to evaluate acreage before putting it on the market. A February 2016 lease sale suffered from minimal interest because it occurred as crude prices fell to $26 a barrel, he said. But he believes this sale will do well because the Permian Basin oil and gas industry has rebounded from those low prices. If you look at the correlation, our leases perform as the Permian Basin performs. It will be interesting to see what the market does, Houser said. This will be University Lands third sale in conjunction with EnergyNet.com. In our mind, its a simpler process. It allows us to abide by our statutory requirement to manage the acreage to benefit the fund, and being online offers more exposure, he said. A Midland County jury sentenced a Midland man to 99 years in prison after convicting him of murder in the death of a military veteran, according to the Midland County District Attorneys Office. Juan Carlos Lucatero, 27, had been accused of killing 66-year-old Paul Cytulik on June 28, 2016. Because Lucatero had a felony conviction in 2014, the range of punishment for this offense was 15 to 99 years or life in prison, according to the District Attorneys Office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A photo of a U.S. Coast Guard member from Georgia clutching a child he just saved during Hurricane Harvey demonstrates the sacrifice service people are making to help Texans. The photo, taken by Petty Officer 2nd Class Chase Redditt, 32, shows his colleague Troy Ramsdell, a rescue swimmer and emergency medical technician, holding a 1-month-old infant they picked up in their helicopter along with the baby's mother. The men are stationed out of Savannah, Georgia, and have been in Houston since the storm began. Redditt and his crew were called out Tuesday at noon to Kingwood Medical Center to transport the infant to Texas Children's Hospital in the Woodlands to get treatment; she had been coughing up blood, Redditt told Chron.com Wednesday afternoon. TRAGIC: Cajun Navy volunteers attacked in Houston while helping Harvey victims Now Playing: A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew rescues a mother and child from rising flood waters. The Coast Guard continues to urge Texas residents to not go into the attic because rescuers from the air cannot see you. (Coast Guard Heartland) Video: JW Player Because the baby was so small, she had to be held on the helicopter, Redditt said. Ramsdell held her while Redditt took out his phone. "I had to capture that memory. It was a little girl and she was going to get the help she needed. It was so urgent. I know she needed the help. I wanted to save that memory," Redditt said. Redditt and the crew have been working 12 hour shifts since Harvey hit. Tuesday alone they saved 13 people and assisted 20 others. HELPING OTHERS: Houston family takes in 16 strangers and pets displaced by Harvey "This is one of the craziest highlights of my career. I've never saved so many people and seen so many people in distress. I couldn't have done that without my crew," said Redditt, who joined the coast guard after Hurricane Katrina. The photo was posted on Facebook Wednesday morning and has been shared nearly 500 times. Harvey has inspired thousands of volunteers from around the U.S., including states as far as New Jersey and California, to head down and help. One of the quickest groups to respond was Louisiana's Cajun Navy. Swipe through the slideshow above to see photos from other Harvey rescue efforts. In West Texas, it is hard to envision the current reality for over 6 million people in Houston and the surrounding area who survived being pummeled by over 15 trillion gallons of water during a four-day period. Im not from Houston originally, but Ive called the Bayou City home for the last four years, and its recent devastation calls for a clearer understanding of Houston, and a fresh perspective on the ways it has been, and will be, impacted by Hurricane Harveys destruction in order to maximize our efforts to help. During my years at the University of Houston, I saw my fair share of torrential downpours and flooded bayous it comes with the territory when there is an annual average rainfall of 45.2 inches. Ive stood witness to the April 2016 floods that claimed seven lives, countless flooded homes and forced the Houston school district to close for three days all repercussions after 17 inches of rain flooded Houston. Hurricane Harvey unleashed a staggering 50 inches of rain over four days triple the amount of the 2016 flood and the greatest amount ever recorded in the lower 48 states from a single storm, according to the National Weather Service. To put these amounts in perspective, the average amount of rainfall in Midland during an entire year is 14.6 inches. The NWS recorded 14.4 and 16.8 inches on consecutive days. In other words, Hurricane Harvey basically equaled or exceeded Midlands average on Saturday and Sunday respectively. By Monday afternoon, most of Houstons bayous, rivers and flood channels were swollen and breaching their banks. By Wednesday, between 25 and 30 percent of Harris County was covered with water, according to an estimate from Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the county flood control district. A personal experience But this wasnt a cable news event for me. The pictures and social media reports hit home. Brays Bayou, a tributary near the University of Houston main campus off I-45 South, overflowed and flooded student housing at the Campus Vue and Bayou Oaks apartments. Residents of these complexes were evacuated to the University of Houston Main campus residential housing, where theyve since been given free meals and 24/7 access to the dining halls on campus. Buffalo Bayou is the largest bayou in Houston and runs about 53 miles from northwest Houston past downtown and out through the ship channel into the Gulf Mexico. During the hurricanes historic dump of rain, Buffalo Bayou gushed past its banks, engulfing first trees then entire street intersections. The 5-mile park that stretches through central Houston along Buffalo Bayou where Ive played Frisbee, had picnics with friends and where I took my senior pictures is completely submerged. The walkways along the bayou where high-rise apartment residents usually jog with their dogs or ride their bikes are now only passable by boat. Seeing Houston literally struggle to keep its head above water is something I never wanted to witness, but through it all, the resilience of the community persisted. Many of my friends were a part of the efforts on the UH Main campus to welcome the evacuees from UH Victoria campus and students who were living in the apartments flooded by Brays Bayou. Student volunteers set up donation bins for clothes, pillows, blankets and food for the evacuees, and on Monday, several UH students moved to the aid of trapped residents in the nearby senior assisted living community, Beall Village. For hours, they helped transport the elderly residents to safer ground before the National Guard later came to their assistance. A city comes together The city has also opened up safe spaces for the evacuees of the flood to receive shelter, clothing and food, and the response of the citys call for volunteers to aid at these locations has been nothing short of incredible. The George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston is currently housing 11,000 displaced residents, and there is a line of volunteers waiting to get in to the convention center and serve their fellow Houstonians in whatever way they can. There are also thousands of evacuees being housed in other locations, like NRG Stadium, BBVA Stadium and the Toyota Center. According to Jonathan McNamara with the American Red Cross, there are 32,000 people in 230 shelters across Texas run by the Red Cross and its affiliates. While it is encouraging to see the outpouring of support and care from not only fellow Houstonians but people from other states and cities, there will be an incredible need for continued help in rebuilding the city. This amount of historic damage to so much of Southeast Texas is unprecedented and painful to witness in a city that is so dear to my heart. The aftermath of the flood will be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but after living in both Houston and Midland, I am confident that we will unite to aid Houston and its surrounding communities. I may not be a native Houstonian, but I am a native Texan, and whether you have lived in Houston or not, it is imperative that you understand at least a portion of the damage and the extent of the need there, so we can continue to support one another. Looking to understand different perspectives on Hurricane Harvey is as simple as calling or texting someone you know who was affected by the storm and asking about their experience and how you can help. Houston is facing a catastrophic problem, but together we can work toward the solution. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. University of Florida's president says legal counsel has been retained by the group that wanted to bring a prominent white nationalist to campus, and the school stands by its decision to turn down the request. White nationalist group retains legal counsel against UF UF denied event request for Richard Spencer UF says event would be a security risk PREVIOUS: UF denies campus visit by white nationalist Richard Spencer W. Kent Fuchs sent a letter to UF students Tuesday that representatives of the National Policy Institute had retained counsel and planned to pursue bringing Richard Spencer to campus as planned. No formal complaint has been filed yet, however. NPI wanted to bring Spencer to UF on Sept. 12. However, UF officials said conversations on the internet led them to believe Spencer's visit would pose a security risk. "Considering the conversations online, and on social media about Florida being the next battle ground and about blood baths. The rhetoric was very strong and made violence seem imminent," University of Florida spokesperson Janine Sikes said earlier this month. Fuchs said UF never entered into a contract with NPI. However Cameron Padgett, the Georgia resident who coordinated the event, insisted he signed an agreement and sent it to an event coordinator. "We are prepared to vigorously defend our decision," Fuchs said. "The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our highest priority." UNC-Chapel Hill and Penn State also recently denied Spencer's request to visit those campuses. A fish fry fundraiser featuring all-you-can-eat crappie and some catfish, French fries, coleslaw and desert begins at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, in St. Paul Lutherans Fellowship Hall at 905 Oakland. A requested donation of $10 or more will go into St. Pauls Capital Growth/Building Fund. Take-out plates will be available. 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. Two members of the Plainview Fire/EMS Department along with an ambulance have been deployed to the Texas Gulf Coast as part of the Regional EMS Strike Team in response to Hurricane Harvey. Capt. Matt Blackburn and Equipment Operator Bryan Merrick left Plainview in one of the departments secondary ambulances early Thursday. Bryan is a certified paramedic while Matt is an intermediate EMT, explains Fire Chief Rusty Powers. They are part of our regional strike team that includes five ambulances from this area. The team was to assemble in Lubbock and then travel together to the staging area in San Antonio for deployment. They told us that most likely they will be heading to either Houston or Port Aransas, Powers said. They will be gone five and seven days. Plainview Fire/EMS is a member of the Texas Medical Task Force, Region 1 which consists of numerous EMS agencies across the Panhandle and South Plains of Texas. There are nine additional EMS Task Forces across Texas. This system is a state- and federally-funded program with the mission of creating state-deployable medical teams for rapid mobilization and readiness. This is the first time the Regional Strike Team has been activated and deployed, outside training, Powers said. We helped out when evacuates from Hurricane Katrina were brought to Lubbock, but that was through mutual aid. That was before the Strike Team was formed. Plainview Fire/EMS has four ambulances in its fleet. Two of the trucks are primary units, meaning they are fully staffed and available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The other two are secondary units. The truck being deployed to the Gulf Coast is one of those secondary units. Plainview doesnt have any backup or reserve units, Powers said. Everything is fully equipped and ready to go. Fellow Plainview firefighters should be able to fill in while Blackburn and Merrick are deployed, Powers said, since Blackburn has an administrative post and Merrick is part of a regular shift. Well do whatever it takes while they are away. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The diplomats at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco have been known to bring plates of delicacies and vodka shots to neighborhood block parties and, for the last few years, inflated a big snowman out front at Christmas. The gestures of goodwill, though, will be sidelined amid escalating tension between the U.S. and Russia. The Trump administration, in a move reminiscent of the Cold War, ordered the shutdown by Saturday of the stately brick building on Green Street in Cow Hollow. The closure, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat retaliations, carried clear symbolism but will also limit Moscows operations in the U.S. and deprive Russians in the Bay Area of the support of consular staff. At the same time, its likely to inconvenience Americans seeking to travel to Russia or do business with the country. Last year, the consulate issued 16,000 visas for Americans, officials said. Now Playing: The U.S. just took a big step that could effect thousands of Russian tourists. Jose Sepulveda (@josesepulvedatv) has more. Video: Buzz 60 In addition to the San Francisco closure announced Thursday, the U.S. is forcing the shut down of Russias chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and its consular annex in New York, in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged After Saturday, Russia will have three consulates in the U.S. in Seattle, Houston and Washington, D.C. the same number the U.S. has in Russia, she said. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, Nauert said, we have chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. The State Department is not expelling the diplomats who work in San Francisco from the country. It was not immediately clear whether Russia would have to sell the building that houses the consulate its oldest in the U.S. In a statement, Russian officials called the decision another unfriendly step of the U.S. authorities that will hurt both Russian and American citizens. The new Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, who arrived Thursday in Washington, D.C., commented before the announcement on the strained relationship between the two countries. Unfortunately, Russia-U.S. relations have seriously deteriorated over the past few years because of the actions taken by the previous U.S. administration, which was set to undermine the foundations of Russian-U.S. cooperation that took a very long time to create, he said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that was posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry. The San Francisco closure reflects the spiraling of the U.S. relationship with Russia and suggests a turnaround under Trump who has often spoken glowingly about Russian President Vladimir Putins authoritarian leadership is now a pipe dream, said Edward Walker, a UC Berkeley political scientist. Its as bad as its ever been since the end of the Cold War, he said. Its a negative-sum game that we never should be playing. He added, The nuclear option, like cutting off banking, would be a huge deal. That would be economic war, and were nowhere near there with Russia. Stuck in the middle of the conflict are Russian entrepreneurs like Daniel Kravtsov who rely on easy access to a consulate to keep their businesses running. Kravtsov, who is in the U.S. on a work visa, had to go to the consulate in San Francisco twice in the last year alone once to get some business documents verified and again when money in his Russian bank account got stolen. Its very inconvenient. ... Now we need to go to another city, Kravtsov said. Im upset that everything is going in this direction. Russians dont need to interact with the consulate frequently. But when they do, they typically have pressing reasons like renewing a passport, getting a birth certificate or completing a background check for the police. Securing an appointment at the consulate in San Francisco was already a time-consuming process, with people from as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix flying in. Now, the Russian Consulate in Seattle is the closest to the Bay Area, and some experts worry that the move will further strain U.S.-Russia business relations. If they were to renew a passport, they would have to wait three months just to get an appointment, said Andrei Romanenko, a Bay Area immigration attorney who frequently deals with Russian clients. But now its hard to predict what will happen. The closure of American consulates in Russia have also frustrated travelers. It is frustrating on both sides, he said. By Thursday afternoon, at least 30 people were in line on Green Street, trying to renew passports or get visas to travel to Russia during the consulates walk-in hours. Hours earlier, Max Kolysh, an American citizen born in Russia, tried to get inside to obtain a visa to travel to his native country for his fathers birthday. He was denied access because he didnt have an appointment, and he feared it was too late to obtain the documents he needed. Its really upsetting, he said. They need to expand (the consulate), not close it. Ekaterina Stanton was luckier. The dual citizen did not have an appointment but was able to get in Thursday morning because her renewed Russian passport had already been processed. She plans to visit her mother in Yekaterinburg in central Russia, which just had its U.S. Consulate closed. I guess there is a clear reciprocity that affected our family on both sides of the globe, Stanton, a San Francisco attorney, said. Im very upset that the relationship has deteriorated so much. It affects so many common people. Its sad. The State Departments action on Thursday followed months of escalation. In July, Putin ordered the reduction of personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in response to sanctions passed by Congress and approved by President Trump. The sanctions were, in turn, retaliation for Russias suspected interference in last years presidential election as well as other actions, including the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. In December, then-President Barack Obama ejected 35 Russian diplomats, including 11 from the San Francisco consulate, in response to what a State Department briefing paper described as harassment of U.S. diplomats in Russia that had gone far beyond international diplomatic norms of behavior. The State Department said it hoped the two sides could avoid further retaliatory actions, improve relations and gain increased cooperation on mutual areas of concern. The United States, Nauert said, is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. Antonov, the new ambassador, urged common sense as tensions rise. It shouldnt be forgotten that Russia and the United States possess the biggest nuclear potentials and have particular responsibility for global stability and security, he said. The world is calmer and safer when we act together on the international arena. With rail lines to Gulf Coast ports out of commission, ships grounded, and crews surveying ship channels for shifting sand and displaced navigation aids, cotton, sorghum and wheat growers fear a halt in deliveries will lower prices and force foreign grain importers to look for other markets. As of Thursday, port facilities remained closed at Houston and Corpus Christi, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection also reported suspended commercial trade operations at the ports of Port Arthur, Galveston and Freeport through Friday. Union Pacific Railroad had tracks shut down along the Gulf Coast from Kingsville all the way up to Lake Charles, Louisiana. CBP urged exporters to try to divert their cargo. We are inspecting and repairing track, bridges and signals to return to service as quickly and safely as possible. We are beginning to inspect most areas in Houston and west of Houston, Union Pacific said in a notice to customers. In areas where we have no road access, we are utilizing helicopters and drones to inspect areas by air. The majority of areas east of Houston are still inaccessible at this time. Hurricane Harveys impact to the nations agricultural exporters was still unknown. Louisiana ports withstood the storm, which is good news to corn and soybean growers sending product down the Mississippi River to be shipped out to customers in Asia, Europe and Africa. But a good deal of the states cotton and sorghum heads out from Houston and Corpus Christi, and Texas Gulf Coast ports handle about a quarter of the nations wheat. Youve got a lot of production in Kansas and Texas and Oklahoma and some of the western states where youre far removed from the inland water system and so you just rail it down to the Texas Gulf, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Soy Transportation Coalition. And so for those particular commodities, Harveys very seismic for them. Clearly, the Texas Gulf is one big choke point right now, Steenhoek, said. And so how pernicious the impact is depends on how elongated it remains. Hurricane Katrina remains a very vivid example of how crucial shipping routes are, he said. A key link in our logistics chain was shut down for a prolonged period of time, and all of a sudden farmers in the Midwest really saw a real kind of a real compelling example of how linked their profitability is to the logistics system, he said. All of a sudden you saw farmers getting paid less for their soybeans and for their corn, not because of anything that they did wrong or due to the poor quality of the crop, but just simply because grain elevators in the Midwest werent in a position to receive any more. And if youre a grain elevator, if you cant move things out the back door because the lower Mississippi River is a choke point, youre not going to be able to accept anything through the front door. Interstate Grain Corp., a grain elevator at the port of Corpus Christi, got its computers back up by the end of the day Wednesday, but there were no ships available to load the waiting sorghum. Everybody really didnt come back to work until today, because of no electricity, administrative assistant Sherry Bradley said. Jarl Pedersen, the ports chief commercial officer, said that the ripple effect stemming from refineries shut down due to the nonfunctioning shipping channel was enormous. If they dont run, you have impact on fuel supply, he said. That impacts transportation including rail, so thats why its so critical to get that channel open for business. He said the port was eager to be back in business, but couldnt risk ships getting stuck in the channel. There could be some places where the draft has been impacted and they might need to do some dredging, he said. Rail is key, so similar to our focus is to get the ship channel running, their focus is to get rail service, so theyre doing similar assessments of bridges and so forth. We have a lot of record flood levels on the major rivers in Texas and that could have damaged some of the bridges and other infrastructure. We all want to get back into business but we also want to make sure that when we do were doing it safely. lbrezosky@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston-based Texas Sterling Construction Co. was one of four companies awarded contracts to construct prototypes for concrete border walling, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello announced Thursday. Today we mark a significant milestone in CBP implementation of the presidents 25 January executive order on border security and immigration enforcement improvements, which among other things directs the secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate steps to plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border, Vitiello said at a Washington, D.C., press conference. This is the first tangible result of the action planning that has gone on, so this is the use of the resources that we had available for this year. Awards for the separate other border wall request for proposal were to be announced sometime next week. The contracts follow a March 17 request for proposals for 30-foot long and up to 30-foot-high prototypes to be built in San Diego. The prototypes will be competing for the model of the real wall, though Vitiello said different ones could be chosen to adapt different parts of the barrier to different terrains. Well be looking at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering and then scaling or anti-climb features, he said, adding that testing teams will look at some of the common things we are challenged with now, small tools, hand tools, no ballistic kind of things. Michael Duffy, Texas Sterlings vice president for contracts and development, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Caddell Construction Co., of Montgomery, Alabama; Fisher Industries of Tempe, Arizona, and W.G. Yates and Son Construction of Philadelphia, Mississippi, were the others awarded contracts. Costs for the prototypes varied according to the companies proposals, but Vitiello said they ranged from around $400,000 and $500,000. Once given official notice to proceed, the companies will have 30 days to build their models. Vitiello said construction would likely begin within the next month, after companies discuss logistics and agree on timing. Since the election, President Donald Trump has changed his vision for the big, beautiful wall, saying it would have to be see-through. Vitiello said bidders were asked to put transparent features in their proposals. The solid walling was meant to be part of a complex of border security that also included an enforcement zone and clear fencing, some of which was recently erected, he said, with the concrete features going up on the outside of the immediate enforcement zone. There are other plans under way for other segments and so well learn from this to plug into those segments, he said. And then theres some other work to replace fencing in other parts of the border, including putting gates up in the Rio Grande Valley. This is the first new initiative that adds to our bigger plans. The prototyping process will allow CBP to partner with industry to identify the best means and methods to construct a border wall, the agency said in a statement. Prototyping is an industry-tested approach to identify the best solution when considering a new product or methodology, CBP said in the statement. Through the construction of prototypes, CBP will partner with industry to identify additional means and methods to construct a border wall. Dozens of companies submitted proposals, and many of them are in Texas. A bid protest by Fort Worth-based Penna Group, whose owner Michael Evangelista-Ysasaga was quoted widely for receiving death threats for being an Hispanic willing to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, delayed plans until his complaint was dismissed last week. Further protests from builders that werent selected are possible. Funds for the prototypes were included in the 2017 federal budget. The House on July 27 passed a spending bill that complies with Trumps demands to start work on the wall. Republican leaders added $1.6 billion in border-wall funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The Senate hasnt taken up the measure. Trump this month threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress refuses to send him a spending bill that funds the wall, a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Bloomberg News contributed to this story Zoinks! For Scooby-Doo fans, Spanish writer Edgar Canteros novel Meddling Kids (Doubleday, $26.95) is Scooby-meets-H.P. Lovecraft either humor-laced horror or horror-laced humor. Cantero does justice to both sides of that equation. In Meddling Kids, former amateur child detectives return as troubled young adults to the spooky place where they once put a small-time crook away only to confront the real supernatural evil embedded there. In their mystery-solving heyday, the Blyton Summer Detective Club kids were 13 and 12, younger than the canonical Scooby gang. Thirteen years later, theyre a damaged crew. Something scarred them back at Sleepy Lake and the Deboen Mansion, and they will know no rest until they face it. With help from an old ally, they retrace their steps of 13 years ago, learning how deeply the tentacles of the past still gripped them. For anyone who finds the triangle formed by Scooby-Doo, Lovecraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer a cozy place to be, heres your end-of-summer beach book. Read the full review here. Heres a look at other recent books currently on the night table: Daryl Gregorys Spoonbenders (Knopf, $26.95) jumps between the mid-1990s and the early 1960s, tracing the rise and fall of the Amazing Telemachus Family: Teddy and his wife, Maureen (the Worlds Most Powerful Psychic), and their three kids Irene, the Human Lie Detector; Frankie, who can move things with his mind; and the youngest, Buddy, who can see the future. They perform across the country until a fateful television appearance and Maureens subsequent death destroy the act. Now, in the mid-90s, their lives are all messed up. Gregory writes with humor and charm, offering up a rollicking and quick-paced plot tailor-made for summer. What makes the novel magical is his exploration of what it means to harbor these gifts. Read the full review here. Reading picture books aloud is a tradition in many homes. The other tradition? Kids who pick out the same books over and over again. Sometimes, we need a recommendation or two to mix it up. Best-selling authors and illustrators tell us what they like or liked to read to their young children. For example, Anthony Doerr, author of the megaseller All the Light We Cannot See, and his family adore Marc Simonts The Stray Dog (HarperCollins, $6.99). He says hes paged through that book with his son probably a thousand times. Its a comic and tender story, Doerr said, aglow with Simonts watercolors, about a family on a picnic who encounters a stray dog, dreams about him for the whole week to come, and after a dramatic chase with a dog catcher takes the pooch home. Read the full feature story here. More than anything, film scholar David Thomsons Warner Bros (Yale University Press, $25) allows the reader to bask in the glory of the hard-nosed movie studio that, in the words of Andrew Sarris, walked mostly on the shady side of the street. It aims to remind us what made Warners great and, in its touching melancholia, why that greatness will never come back. Warner Bros is released as part of Yale University Press Jewish Lives series. Thomson is well aware of his strange assignment, given the strong argument that Jack, the de facto head of Warners for most of its 40-year reign, was, as Thomson bluntly puts it, maybe the biggest scumbag ever to get into a Jewish Lives series. But his book makes the convincing case for why, in Thomsons words, this subject is more important than respectability. Read the full review here. Former FBI profiler Hugo Marston tackles another Paris murder actually three murders in one case in The Sorbonne Affair (Seventh Street Book, $15.95), the seventh book in Mark Pryors Marston series of mystery novels. As a character, Marston is an Austin native. Author Pryor is an Englishman who now is a Travis County assistant district attorney in Austin. The book begins as popular American romance novelist Helen Hancock, staying at Paris Sorbonne Hotel, reports to Marston that she has spotted a hidden surveillance camera in her hotel room. Is someone trying to blackmail the author? The matter turns extremely serious when an American staff member of the hotel is found murdered and then connected to the purchase of the hidden camera. Read the full review here. SBennett@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany The state attorney general's office has obtained authorization for a grand jury to investigate Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove's controversial handling of the April 2016 fatal shooting of a DWI suspect by a Troy police officer. The office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which began investigating the shooting last year, obtained approval last week to convene the Rensselaer County grand jury on Sept. 20, according to a copy of a court order signed last week by a state Supreme Court justice in Albany. It marks the first grand jury investigation of a sitting district attorney by Schneiderman's office since Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order in 2015 giving the attorney general authority to intervene in cases in which unarmed civilians are killed during confrontations with police. The Times Union reported last year that Abelove did not require Troy police Sgt. Randall French, who fatally shot the DWI suspect, to sign an immunity from prosecution when he testified before the grand jury that cleared him five days after the shooting. The decision by Abelove to not have the officer sign an immunity waiver raised questions about the validity of the grand jury's determination to clear the police officer because the panel could not have voted to indict him without a waiver. In February, Cuomo issued an executive order giving Schneiderman's office explicit authority to investigate Abelove's handling of the case. Edson Thevenin, 37, was shot multiple times as he fled a DWI arrest in April 2016. Troy police officials said they believed that Thevenin was armed with a vehicle and that he drove forward and pinned French's legs against his police cruiser before the officer opened fire. Two civilian witnesses, who did not testify in the grand jury, told investigators they did not believe French was in imminent danger when he opened fire. "DA Abelove is confident that this grand jury will reach the same conclusion the prior grand jury reached which was that Sgt. French used appropriate force to protect his own life," said John W. Bailey, who is Abelove's private attorney. The tension between Abelove and Schneiderman's office boiled over five months ago when investigators with the attorney general's office confronted the district attorney as he arrived for work and used a search warrant to seize his mobile phone from his hand. Weeks later, the investigators used another search warrant to obtain digital files of Abelove's work-related emails from Rensselaer County. At the time when the records were seized, Bailey said "we are confident that there is nothing in his emails which would support allegations of inappropriate let alone criminal activity." The search warrant applications documenting the investigators' probable cause to believe the electronic records contain evidence of a crime remain sealed. The investigation has focused on whether Abelove interfered with the attorney general's jurisdiction last year when he quickly presented the fatal shooting case to a grand jury that cleared the officer of wrongdoing. blyons@timesunion.com 518-454-5547 @brendan_lyonstu This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate New Milford, Bridgeport, Oxford and two other Connecticut communities made a verbal commitment Thursday to join Waterburys lawsuit against Stamford-based Purdue Pharma and other drug makers over the opioid overdose crisis. New Milford is like every other community across the state and across the country that is suffering as a result of this epidemic - and when I say suffering I mean suffering, New Milford Mayor David Gronbach said. People are dying. This has infiltrated every single community. Bristol and Naugatuck also made verbal commitments to sign an retainer with a national law firm called Simmons Hanly Conroy that is filing the litigation. As many as 20 other cities and towns including Danbury and Ridgefield - are considering taking similar action. Waterbury is the first Connecticut city to join the growing list of municipalities around the country that have concluded that the defendant drug companies must be held responsible for their conspiratory and fraudulent actions and the injuries and costs that have resulted from the opioid epidemic, said Paul Hanly, a lead attorney who filed the lawsuit. The defendants have manufactured, promoted and marketed opioids by omitting critical information that has long been known about the drugs addictive qualities and other risks associated with their prolonged use. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Leaders from two dozen cities and towns including Ridgefield, Roxbury and Darien assembled in Waterbury on Thursday in a show of solidarity. The leaders said drug companies should be held responsible for a crisis that is expected to result in 1,000 overdose deaths in Connecticut this year. Communities throughout Connecticut have been suffering the devastating effects of this opioid epidemic for years and we in Waterbury believe it is time to take a stand, Waterbury Mayor Neil OLeary said in a prepared statement. The effects stretch throughout the state and have destroyed families, flooded emergency rooms and overwhelmed emergency services. We are pleased that so many of the leaders of our neighboring cities and towns came today to hear about our course of action and we expect many will be joining us in this litigation. A spokesman for Purdue, which manufactures the popular opioid painkiller OxyContin, said the company has been working to minimize the drugs addictive effects. While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share local officials concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions, said spokesman Robert Josephson on Thursday. Texas Army National Guardsmen with the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Airborne Division from Camp Swift and eight Army Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces passed through Liberty Wednesday en route to operations in Beaumont, an area currently heavily hit by Hurricane Harvey. Staged in the Liberty Walmart parking lot, Capt. Patrick Cochrane said the Guardsmen had just finished assisting in the rescue of storm victims in Houston and were headed to Beaumont to do the same. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It never rains in southern California is how the saying goes, but the San Diego Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 experienced heavy rains once Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dispatched them to Houston to assist in relief during Hurricane Harvey. The team had not been called out of state in 10 years. With their fleet parked in the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby and Supercenter Walmart located off of Texas 6 near FM 529, the San Deigo Task Force Team sat on the curb towards the back of the parking lot eating lunch. Task force members in their uniforms ready to assist anyone in need were a long way from their home in San Diego, California, but Harvey's unrelenting rain, which have claimed lives and destroyed homes, caused the team to converge on Texas. "This is a staging area. We had to pick a spot where we could be in close proximity to buy supplies and food," Lane Woolery said, chief of the task force. "The area also gives a way to get out of the way and engage in some light training activities." More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Chief Woolery received the call Sat., Aug. 28, and his 44-member team were assigned to assist the Cy-Fair volunteer fire department to aid in potentially life-saving missions and rescues. Surveying of the Cy-Fair area was done in collaboration with the San Diego team, Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office. At the time, the team did not have to perform any rescues in the area due to water levels depleting, but the group was well prepared for such a task. The San Diego task force is specially trained to assist local agencies throughout the nation in mitigating large-scale urban disasters, both natural and man made. Through the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the City of San Diego coordinates San Diego County's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8. FEMA has deployed elements to emergency situations such as the mudslides in Washington and flooding in Colorado. "We are designed to be self-sufficient in the field for 72 hours at the scene of a disaster," Woolery said. "We travel with our own water, tents, and shelter. We have a bus to transport people, and we have boats." Equipment for the task force includes trailers with four wide, flat bottom aluminum boats, two rubber boats, motors for the boats, concrete breaking and breaching equipment, power supplies to cut through various solid materials, rope for rescues, and tools to respond to chemical biological nuclear event. "A lot of our efforts are spent training on earth quakes, but we are FEMA's foot soldier's, so we are trained to handle situations like this too," Woolery said. "We really truly try to be the Swiss army knife for FEMA." Joining the team were also two trained search and rescue dogs, Becker and Haley. Search dogs are considered a life-saving resource. "Our search canines can detect humans in collapsed or isolated structures," Woolery said. "They help in a place that is unsafe for a human to operate or we can't reach. They can climb over or underneath things." The task force confirms that teams' expertise is "confined space search and rescue" where structures have collapsed. San Diego team members have been dispatched to the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001, the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing, and several hurricane disaster areas, including when Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in 2005. Woolery immediately noticed that members of the community wanted to show their appreciation for their team being of service to the Cy-Fair area. "The people here have been great. I tried to buy some coffee here, but my money was no good here," Woolery said. "They wanted to take care of it for me. The people are great." There are 28 task teams throughout the nation. The Urban Search and Rescue system was developed in 1990 by FEMA in response to several disasters, which occurred in the 1980s. As of Aug. 28, the destruction in Harris County from Hurricane Harvey has caused 770 homes to be destroyed, 44,460 homes to be damaged, and $38.2 million in damage to public property. At an emergency shelter at the Lighthouse Church of Moss Hill on Tuesday, down a series of long corridors lined with Sunday School classrooms and church pews, a 51-year-old Deerfield Beach, Fla., man sat alone and tried to make calls on his cell phone, one of the only things to survive when his car crashed into floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. "I'm trying to get in touch with my brother in Rosharon. He is not underwater but he's not sure he can find a way to me," Jimenez said. Jimenez was on the return trip after a visit with family in Harlingen, Texas, a journey he had made to Texas with his 91-year-old mother. When Corpus Christi was predicted as the path for Hurricane Harvey, Jimenez tried to get ahead of the storm and make the trip home, with his mother staying behind for an extended visit with relatives. "The storm seemed to follow me when I came through. I didn't even attempt to go through Houston," he said. "I picked four routes to go. Every one of them, I ran into roadblocks, where there was a police officer or someone there with barricades. I had to find another way around and this was my last route to get to Beaumont and over to I-10." More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Just as he was about to get ahead of the storm, he ran into water from Monday night's rains rushing across SH 105 a few miles west of Moss Hill and hydroplaned. "My car ended up in a ditch with chest-high water. I was able to avoid hitting a pole and another car in the ditch but I couldn't avoid this," he said. "Now I am trying to get a plan out of here. I just have to wait it out. My brother is going to try to get to me in a day or two." Unable to watch more news coverage of the storm and not feeling inclined to be social with other evacuees, Jimenez has had time to think about how tragic the outcome would have been if his mother had been with him. "I am so glad I didn't have her with me. I would be in hot water. I really don't know if I could have gotten her out of the car by myself," he said. "She probably would have drowned." By Tuesday, he hadn't told his mother of the accident, saying he did "not need to cause any more problems for a 91-year-old lady." "She is safe with family and I don't want her worrying about me," he said. As a Floridian, he has been through other hurricanes, but nothing like Hurricane Harvey. "A hurricane is something, but this, this water, was something else. It was unreal," he said. BEAUMONT - A 3-year-old girl found clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal in Beaumont is recovering from hypothermia after a dramatic rescue, authorities said Wednesday. The child's mother, Collette Sulcer, 41, was the first of four Beaumont-area storm-related deaths. Beaumont Fire and Rescue Capt. Brad Penisson said Sulcer's vehicle got stuck Tuesday afternoon in the Plaza 10 parking lot just off Interstate 10. Squalls from Harvey were pounding Beaumont with up to 2 inches of rain an hour at the time with 38-mph gusts, according to the National Weather Service. Penisson said a witness saw the woman take her daughter and try to walk to safety when the swift current of a flooded drainage canal next to the parking lot swept them both away. The child was holding onto Sulcer when a police and fire rescue team in a boat caught up to them a half-mile downstream, he said. Rescuers pulled them into the boat just before they would have gone under a railroad trestle, where the water was so high the boat could not have followed. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged First responders lifted the girl from her mother's body and tried to revive the woman, but she did not regain consciousness. The girl was taken to the Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, where Officer Carol Riley said the girl was doing "very well" and was chatty. "Everybody at the hospital and the officers just fell in love with her," Riley said. "She's doing well and she's with her family," officer Haley Morrow said. A family member mourned her cousin's death on Facebook. "I don't think my life will ever be the same," she wrote on Wednesday. "I will never be okay with this one. I just wanna sleep man and have my cousin back for my baby girl." Two people were killed in Jasper County about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday when a tree fell on their truck as they traveled FM 777. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the deceased Wednesday as Russell Barnes, 51, and Ginger Barnes, 43, both of Alvin. Russell Barnes was behind the wheel of the 2012 Ford pickup at the time of the accident, authorities said. Wind gusts already were high Tuesday night in Southeast Texas as Tropical Storm Harvey neared a daybreak landfall at Cameron, La. Harvey dumped more than 26 inches of rain in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area in a 24-hour period Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Beaumont police found a woman's body floating early Wednesday near Guess Road and Old Voth Road in the city's North End. Mayor Becky Ames issued a voluntary evacuation order earlier this week for low-lying areas in the North End. The woman's "name will not be released until tomorrow when we've made sure to notify the family," Morrow said. The woman's body was released to a local funeral home, she said. Brooke A. Lewis and the Associated Press contributed to this report. President Donald Trump on Wednesday delivered an address on his "principles" for a tax plan in Springfield, Missouri, though he provided few details. He also shifted from extolling how well the economy is doing to language that suggested the United States was suffering terribly. As usual, some of the president's facts and figures were a bit fishy, so here's a roundup of 10 of his claims. 1. "In the last 10 years, our economy has grown at only around 2 percent a year." This is misleading. By going back 10 years, Trump includes the worst recession since the Great Depression, which brings down the 10-year average. The quarterly average since the recession was well above 2 percent, even hitting 5 percent in the third quarter of 2014. The GDP growth rate for the United States averaged 3.22 percent from 1947 to 2017. 2. "We just announced that we hit 3 percent in GDP. Just came out. And on a yearly basis, as you know, the last administration, during an eight-year period, never hit 3 percent." More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Trump plays some sleight-of-hand with the numbers. He first cites an annualized quarterly figure - 3 percent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2017 - and then compares it to what appears to be calendar-year figures for former president Barack Obama. The economy grew better than 3 percent in eight quarters during Obama's presidency, most recently in the third quarter of 2016. (Technically, this is known as "annualized quarterly change" or SAAR - seasonally adjusted at annual rate.) Trump gets his terminology wrong, using the phrase "yearly basis," which could mean from the third quarter of 2015 to the third quarter of 2016, which case Obama easily exceeded 3 percent numerous times. On an annual basis, Obama's best year was 2015, when annual growth was 2.6 percent. 3. "If we achieve sustained 3 percent growth, that means 12 million new jobs and $10 trillion of new economic activity over the next decade. That's some numbers." With this statement, Trump downgrades promises he made during the 2016 campaign - he said he would achieve 4 percent GDP growth and 25 million jobs over 10 years. 4. "In 1935, the basic 1040 form that most people file had two simple pages of instruction. Today, that basic form has 100 pages of instructions, and it's pretty complex stuff." Trump is correct that in 1935, the basic 1040 individual income tax form had two pages of instructions, but this claim needs historical context. There are many reasons the instructions were so simple back then - including that just about 4 percent of the population paid the federal individual income tax. In 1935, the individual income tax largely was a tax on the wealthy. In fact, the top rate in 1935 was 63 percent - and President Franklin D. Roosevelt raised it to 75 percent later that year. This changed with World War II. "Driven by staggering revenue needs, lawmakers in both parties agreed to raise taxes on everyone: rich, poor, and - especially - the middle class," wrote John Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project. 5. "The tax code is so complicated that more than 90 percent of Americans need professional help to do their own taxes." This is misleading. The 90 percent figure he is referring to includes people using tax software, such as Turbo Tax, which helps people file their taxes on their own. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2016 report, 54 percent of individual taxpayers pay preparers and about 40 percent of individual taxpayers use software that costs about $50 or more. Yet later during the speech, he made it sound as if the "professional help" is only referring to hired accountants: "That is why tax reform must dramatically simplify the tax code . . . and allow the vast majority of our citizens to file their taxes on a single, simple page without having to hire an accountant." 6. "Our last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago. It eliminated dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduced the number of tax brackets from 15 to two, and lowered tax rates for both individuals and businesses. At the time it was really something special . . . In 1986, Ronald Reagan led the world by cutting our corporate tax rate to 34 percent. That was below the average rate for developed countries at the time. Everybody thought that was a monumental thing that happened. But then, under this pro-America system, our economy boomed. It just went beautifully right through the roof. The middle class thrived, and median family income increased." Trump heaped praise on Reagan's Tax Reform Act of 1986, which simplified tax brackets and eliminated tax shelters; it also lowered the top individual tax rate to 28 percent but raised the capital gains rate to the same level, giving them parity. But this is a rather strange flip-flop because Trump always has been a fierce critic of the bill, blaming it repeatedly for the savings and loan crisis, a decline in real estate investing and the 1990-1991 recession. "This tax act was just an absolute catastrophe for the country, for the real estate industry, and I really hope that something can be done," Trump told Congress in 1991. In a television interview with Joan Rivers, he said: "What caused the savings and loan crisis was the 1986 tax law change. It was a disaster. It took all of the incentives away from investors." Trump also frequently attacked one of the Democratic sponsors of the bill, Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., such as in a Wall Street Journal commentary in 1999. "Mr. Bradley's last big idea to be enacted into legislation was also one of the worst ideas in recent history," Trump wrote, saying Bradley was responsible for the elimination of a tax shelter for real estate investments. (He said the good parts of the bill could be attributed to Reagan.) 7. "We lost the jobs. We lost the taxes. They closed the buildings. They closed the plants and factories. We got nothing but unemployment. We got nothing." As Trump frequently notes, the unemployment rate in July was 4.3 percent - the lowest level in 16 years. So this overwrought language seems misplaced. 8. "We have gone from a tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors, to one that is more than 60 percent higher. . . . In other words, foreign companies have more than a 60 percent tax advantage over American companies." The United States certainly has one of the highest statutory corporate tax rates in the world, currently pegged as high as 39.1 percent when including state taxes. (The federal rate is 35 percent.) Trump says it is 60 percent higher than "our economic competitors," comparing 39.1 percent to the average rate for the other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is 25.5 percent when not weighted for GDP. (It is 29.6 percent when weighted for GDP.) But the official rate does not necessarily tell the whole story. What also matters is the actual tax a company pays, after deductions and tax benefits. That is known as the effective tax rate, which can be calculated differently depending on the survey. According to the Congressional Research Service, the effective rate for the United States is 27.1 percent, compared to an effective GDP-weighted average of 27.7 percent for the OECD. "Although the U.S. statutory tax rate is higher, the average effective rate is about the same, and the marginal rate on new investment is only slightly higher," the CRS says. The Congressional Budget Office, when it examined the issue, said the U.S. effective tax rate was 18.6 percent, which it said was among the highest of the biggest economic powers, the Group of 20. Trump, naturally, used the numbers that suggest the difference is really huge. 9. "Today, we are still taxing our businesses at 35 percent, and it's way more than that. And think of it, in some cases, way above 40 percent when you include state and local taxes in various states. The United States is now behind France, behind Germany, behind Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and many other nations." As we noted, the statutory federal corporate tax rate in the United States is 35 percent, making the United States the highest among G-20 countries, including the countries Trump listed. But the effective corporate tax rate in the United States in 2012 was 18.6 percent, making it the fourth highest among G-20 countries, behind Argentina, Japan and Britain, according to the CBO. 10. "Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high United States tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there. The amount of money we're talking about is anywhere from $3 trillion to $5 trillion." There are no official, current numbers on the profits held overseas by U.S. companies, just estimates. The White House would not respond to a query on where Trump is getting these numbers, but his high-end figure appears to be an exaggeration. The Internal Revenue Service in 2012 said the figure was $2.3 trillion, and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that it had risen to $2.6 trillion in 2015. There are other estimates as well, but none top $2.8 trillion, according to PolitiFact. - - - Video: The Fact Checker's round-up of ten fishy claims made by President Trump in his speech on Aug. 30. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) URL: http://wapo.st/2el9jrZ Embed code: A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a severe state immigration law that was supposed to take effect Friday and would have outlawed sanctuary cities and penalized local officials who do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts. The decision Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia delivers a temporary blow to the state's campaign - backed by the Trump administration - to compel localities to detain immigrants so federal agents can take them into custody. In a 94-page decision, Garcia wrote that parts of the Texas law are likely to be found unconstitutional. He enjoined the state from punishing local officials, infringing on their right to free speech and forcing them to detain immigrants for federal immigration officials, an act that is currently voluntary. And he wrote that cities and towns had provided "overwhelming" and "ample" evidence that cooperating with immigration officials will "erode public trust and make many communities and neighborhoods less safe" as well as harm the state economically. "Indeed, at the end of the day, the Legislature is free to ignore the pleas of city and county officials, along with local police departments, who are in the trenches," Garcia wrote. "The Court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature. However, the State may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution." More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) vowed to appeal. "Today's decision makes Texas' communities less safe," Abbott said in a statement. The law would fine local officials who refused to assist federal agencies in working to deport illegal immigrants up to $25,500 a day. Elected and appointed officials could lose their jobs, and police and sheriffs could go to jail for up to a year on misdemeanor charges. "The Court was right to strike down the guts of a law that is not only patently unconstitutional but bad policy as well," said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued against the case in court on behalf of several Texas cities and towns. "Hopefully other states will now not follow Texas' lead." Garcia's decision comes as Texas, home to an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, is grappling with historic flooding and dozens of deaths following Hurricane Harvey. It also lands amid growing fears that the Trump administration will end an Obama-era program that has granted nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children reprieves from deportation. Texas is one of 10 states that have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it does not begin to phase out the deportation-relief program by next week. Abbott said the Texas statute would increase public safety by preventing local law enforcement from releasing foreign-born residents from jails or prisons before immigration agents can take them into custody. The small border city of El Cenizosued to stop the law, and was soon joined by Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other cities. They said the law could lead to racial profiling, make immigrants afraid to report crime and ignite a backlash that could devastate the state economically. The U.S. Justice Department sided with Texas in defending the law in federal court. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. A federal judge later halted that order, saying it was overly broad. The administration has continued to try to steer funding away from cities and towns that refuse to help enforce immigration law. El Cenizo Mayor Raul Reyes said Wednesday's ruling left him in tears, thinking about the hate-filled messages he's received for filing the lawsuit, and the immigrants who will rest more easily come Friday - at least temporarily. "This is great news for thousands of families here in Texas," he said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is touring flooded areas of the city, tweeted: "Happy to learn a federal judge blocked the Texas law aimed at making local police immigration enforcers. Need them for fighting local crime." Few localities in Texas actually declare themselves "sanctuaries" for undocumented immigrants, though many, including Houston, say they are "welcoming" cities and limit how frequently they will cooperate with federal immigration officials. For instance, some are willing to hand over violent criminals, but unwilling to turn over someone arrested for a minor offense. One California law enforcement officer was killed and two were wounded during a shootout Wednesday in Sacramento, where SWAT officers swarmed a hotel and directed terrified guests to shelter in place for fear additional suspects had holed up inside. The dramatic scene unfolded at a Ramada Inn off the Capital City Freeway, Sgt. Tony Turnbull, a spokesman for the Sacramento Country Sheriff's Department, told The Washington Post on Wednesday night. It was there, hours earlier, that Deputy Robert French, 52, was shot by a suspect attempting to flee from officers intending to serve a search warrant in connection with an alleged car theft. French later succumbed to his wounds. Three people, including the alleged gunman, are in custody, officials told The Post. Authorities, fearing others may be armed and hiding inside, ordered the hotel and surrounding businesses locked down while they hunted for other signs of trouble. An all-clear was declared sometime before 7 p.m. local time, and investigators have moved in to begin assessing and collecting evidence, said Sgt. Shaun Hampton, another sheriff's department spokesman. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged "At this time," Hampton said, "we do not believe anyone else involved is outstanding. There's no further threat at the hotel or in the surrounding areas, to our knowledge, but there will be some road closures for the foreseeable future." The incident began Wednesday morning, when gunfire rang out as officers with the California Highway Patrol and Sacramento sheriff's deputies attempted to enter one of the hotel rooms, Turnball said. As they approached the room and identified themselves, a man inside fired on them through the door, striking two highway patrol officers with an unspecified number of rifle rounds. Those officers are in stable condition, Turnbull said. Their names have not been released. The suspect then moved to the room's balcony and fired on officers positioned below, hitting French, a father and grandfather who spent 21 years with the department. Turnbull described the suspect's weapon as a high-powered assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine. The suspect jumped to the ground and led police on a three-mile high-speed chase before crashing into a utility pole. He emerged from the vehicle, a dark Dodge Charger, and exchanged more gunfire with police. The man was shot by police moments later and taken into custody. Photos taken at the scene show him being led away in handcuffs. Before the shootout erupted, two women had been detained at the hotel after leading authorities there in a separate high-speed chase. They were seen stealing a car several miles away, Turnbull said, and were pursued there by members of a joint auto theft task force. Authorities have not released names or ages for any of three people in custody. "This is certainly the most difficult thing a department can go through," Sheriff Scott Jones said during a news conference Wednesday. "We'll survive this as a community. We've been through it before. But it is painful. It will take a period of grieving." At the Sacramento Bee noted, Jones called the fallen deputy "a very go-to guy for advice and counsel." Hampton, the spokesman, said he expects the crime scene to remain active possibly into Friday. In its devastatingly slow crawl up the industrial Gulf Coast, Hurricane Harvey is proving to be the biggest test yet of the safety and vulnerabilities of the U.S. chemicals industry. A Houston-area chemical plant was hit by explosions overnight after floods caused by Harvey knocked out power supplies needed to refrigerate volatile peroxides. Fifteen police officers were treated at the hospital for smoke irritation from the plant. Earlier evacuations of the site and surrounding community prevented more serious injuries. The plant is owned by French chemical company Arkema. The remaining chemicals will eventually burn up in the fire, Richard Rennard, a company president, told reporters Thursday. "It is not anything we think is a danger to the community at all," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a press conference early Thursday. U.S. Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency are monitoring the disaster. No concentrations of toxic materials have raised any concerns at this point, the EPA said in a statement. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The incident underscored the risks confronting the industry after dozens of chemical plants shut down in the path of the storm from South Texas to Louisiana, knocking out more than half of U.S. production of some of the most-used chemicals and plastics. With its crucial access to ports for shipping and receiving, the Gulf Coast is the epicenter of the nation's chemical industry, where many of the materials indispensable to modern society are produced. The plants provide the basic building blocks for making everything from cars and computers to household furnishings and appliances. The massive industrial centers also deal with complex chemical processes that pose hazards from lethal explosions to toxic spills when things go wrong. The danger is greatest when plants are shutting down and starting up. "That is when bad things happen," said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, chief energy officer at the University of Houston. Gulf Coast chemical plants are designed to withstand hurricane force winds and floods, but Harvey has put the industry into uncharted territory, Sam Mannan, director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University, which studies plant safety. The newest plants come with sensors and control towers that provide multiple barriers to prevent accidents, Krishnamoorti said. But some plants are 60 years old, and the average age is about 30 years, he said. While large operators such as ExxonMobil are constantly updating their facilities, much more work remains needs to be done -- especially if they're going to withstand the kinds of floods brought by Harvey. "We want to be good, not just lucky,'' Krishnamoorti said. Though plants have been dealing with a multitude of problems and there have been no serious injuries, the crisis is far from over. It will take weeks, if not months, for all the plants to assess damage, make repairs and restart operations in the wake of the floods. "This whole thing is testing how well we have thought through our safety systems and programs and how robust the plants are," said Mannan. "I don't know if anybody is ready for this level of flooding." Harvey made landfall on Aug. 26 and has brought torrential rain and historic flooding along the Gulf Coast, knocking out almost a quarter of U.S. refining capacity. While Harvey's shut down of U.S. crude processing capacity has grabbed headlines and led to spiking gasoline prices, less known is the storm's outsize impact on chemical production. "It seems like Harvey came with a plan to follow the chemical industry on the Gulf Coast," said Mannan. About 61 percent of U.S. ethylene production had been halted because of Harvey as of Wednesday afternoon, according to PetroChemwire. The storm has closed about 51 percent of U.S. capacity for making polyethylene, the world's most used plastic resin, according to Kevin McCarthy, an equity analyst at Vertical Research Partners. As much as 65 percent of polypropylene production and one-third of chlorine output may cease, or run at reduced rates, according to consultant IHS Markit. "The combination of Harvey's path, duration and rainfall total is wreaking havoc with the supply side of the U.S. chemicals industry on an unprecedented scale," McCarthy said. "We certainly haven't seen anything quite like it in our 18 years of following chemical stocks on Wall Street." While some chemical makers are expected to begin restarting plants in the next few days, it may take many more weeks for production to reach pre-Harvey levels, IHS Markit said in a report Thursday. Obtaining raw materials, transportation bottlenecks and the complexity of resuming some processes, such as ethylene production, are among the challenges. Houston is one of at least 11 ports in Texas and Louisiana that are closed due to Harvey, according to the Coast Guard. Producers of basic plastics such as polypropylene that are still producing could face an average delay of two weeks to ship their product via rail because of the storm, according to IHS. Some resin buyers are seeking supplies outside the U.S. in case of an extended U.S. disruption, the consultancy said. Prices have begun to rise for products including caustic soda and polyethylene. One complicating factor post-Harvey is the urban sprawl gradually engulfing chemical plants, according to Andrea Sella, a professor of inorganic chemistry at UCL university in London. "Because accidents are unusual, planners can come to underestimate the severity of what are likely to be quite rare events," he said by email. Arkema's site in Crosby, which is about 25 miles from downtown Houston, is situated in an area with no hospitals, schools, correctional facilities, recreational areas or industrial and commercial areas in the vicinity, according to the Colombes, France-based company. Two explosions and black smoke were reported at 2 a.m. local time, after the plant lost power and backup generators in the storm's flood, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Arkema stores organic peroxides at several locations on the site. Sheriff Gonzalez said 13 of the 15 deputies treated for smoke exposure had been released from the hospital. The best course of action is to let the fire burn itself out, the company said. The chemicals made at the plant are used to make plastics. "At Crosby, we prepared for what we recognized could be a worst-case scenario," Rich Rowe, who overseas Arkema's U.S. operation, said in a statement. "We had redundant contingency plans in place." The flood waters, which reached 6 feet inside the plant, have begun to recede, Rennard, the company president, said Thursday morning. --With assistance from Jessica Shankleman WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump called the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee to talk about one of his most important parochial issues - ethanol - shortly before the committee is slated to interview his son in its ongoing Russia probe. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley's panel will be hosting Trump's son next month for an interview behind closed doors in its ongoing Russia probe - something the committee has been trying to do since it was revealed that Donald Trump, Jr. accepted a meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer claiming Kremlin connections during the campaign. Headlines about that committee meeting, which Grassley, R-Iowa, has been trying to set up for weeks, gripped headlines and cable news chyrons on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Grassley announced via Twitter that the president had called him to discuss not Russia, but ethanol, proudly announcing that "he assured me he's pro ethanol" and that Grassley was free to tell the people of Iowa "he's standing by his campaign PROMISE." Russia, and the committee's ongoing investigation of alleged coordination between the president's campaign and Kremlin officials, did not come up during the call, according to Taylor Foy, Grassley's committee spokesman. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Foy said that it was Trump who called Grassley, and that Grassley told the president he would tweet about their conversations and the president's support for ethanol. The call was approximately two minutes long, Foy said, and the only other subjects that came up were Hurricane Harvey and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, the former governor of Iowa. The timing of the call, however, raised questions about why the president had chosen to engage with Grassley at this juncture. Though Grassley has long championed ethanol, matters such as subsidies and renewable fuel standards are not an integral feature of any major bill currently before the Senate. A White House official said Wednesday that in recent days, Trump has heard from a few outside advisers about rumors within the ethanol industry that the president was abandoning his campaign pledge on ethanol. Trump's tweet on Sunday threatening to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would have an impact on the ethanol industry, apparently helped feed the rumors. Trump decided to call Grassley on Wednesday to kill the rumors and reassure Iowa's senior senator that he supported ethanol and would not walk away from his campaign promise, the official said. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The United States will provide an additional $91 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia to cope with a third straight year of drought, the top U.S. official in charge of assistance said Thursday. The extra funding brings U.S. aid for food and medical care in Ethiopia to $454 million this year, said Mark Green, the new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. Another $210 million in U.S. aid has gone to development projects. Green announced the new tranche of aid after he met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. In a statement he read to reporters, Green said he also had urged the Ethiopian leader to take "concrete steps to create political space for all voices to be heard and to uphold constitutional and guaranteed rights." Earlier this month, Ethiopia lifted a 10-month state of emergency following deadly clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters alleging right abuses and political cronyism. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged "What I said to him is, we look at what countries need around the world to strengthen their ability to deliver for their people," Green told reporters later in the day. "Responsive governance, and a place for people to come together from different points of view, and to share ideas openly and publicly, history shows is vitally important. "Our view is the government should continue to do foster that, and do more and more," he added. "We think it is good for Ethiopia. We think it is the right thing to do." According to USAID spokesman Clayton McCleskey, Green told Desalegn he was concerned conditions were deteriorating for people affected by the drought and encouraged the government to "show greater leadership and invest more resources to combat a worsening humanitarian crisis." Green, who is on his first trip abroad since starting the job three weeks ago, is in Ethiopia to highlight U.S. efforts to help impoverished countries emerge from crises like drought and famine better prepared to weather future setbacks. Drought in Ethiopia's lowlands bordering Somalia has sent herders farther afield in their search for land where their animals can graze, and stilted crops in areas where corn stalks grow tall but produce no ears of edible corn. On Wednesday, Green said Ethiopia would be one of 12 countries that will get focused attention from Feed the Future programs, even if Congress approves deep cuts in USAID's budget. The Trump administration has proposed halving Feed the Future's total budget for agricultural development programs from over $1 billion this year to $500 million next year. Ethiopia's $78 million share would also be cut in half. Anticipating having less money to spend, USAID dropped seven countries from the original 19 it had planned to focus its attention on. The United States has been the principal international donor to Ethiopia as it has struggled through a devastating series of droughts. In recent years, U.S. aid has tried to help herders become farmers, provided seed money to small business entrepreneurs, taught impoverished Ethiopians job skills and provided nutritional education. While Green assured Desalegn the United States remains committed to helping Ethiopia develop agriculturally and economically, he underscored that U.S. aid is not limitless and Washington expects the Ethiopian government to contribute more money to humanitarian efforts. During a drought in 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia spent some $700 million on food for food for people affected. This year, it has pledged only $110 million, and so far spent far less than that. "The United States will continue providing assistance for vulnerable people, but we all agree host-country partners must be willing to step up during crises, and the prime minister indicated that he was looking to do so," he said. WASHINGTON - As the Gulf Coast come to grips with Harvey's human toll, state and local officials must also come to terms with the cost. On Wednesday, a day after meeting behind closed doors with President Donald Trump and top federal officials, Gov. Greg Abbott predicted publicly for the first time that the federal disaster-aid price tag for Harvey will set a multibillion-dollar record - significantly higher than Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "When you look at comparisons - the population, the size, the square-mile area impacted both by the hurricane swath and the flooding - it's far larger than Katrina, far larger than Sandy," Abbott said. Federal spending on Katrina has been estimated at $120 billion. Superstorm Sandy, which hit the New Jersey coast in 2012, is estimated to have cost nearly $50 billion. Estimates on Harvey are still emerging, but a preliminary estimate from the private weather firm AccuWeather puts the potential price tag at $160 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The emerging financial toll is making it increasingly clear that Congress will need to pony up substantial disaster relief money when lawmakers return from a monthlong recess after Labor Day. Abbott said Trump assured him that Texas' recovery assistance needs will be met. He also said he and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Texas Republican who is a member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, are working on firming up a federal aid request, even as swift-water rescues, disastrous flooding and a massive cleanup are ongoing on in Houston. Among those making the plea for a quick congressional appropriation is HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who told the Chronicle in an interview Wednesday that time is of the essence. "Everybody, of course, has to get their two cents in," he said, "but we hope they can get it in quickly because in the past there have been long delays because of politics." Cuts won't happen? The message was reinforced by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, who held a news conference with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, one of several Texas Republicans who has come under fire from lawmakers in the East for voting against a funding package for the 2012 Superstorm Sandy that he said was bloated. Before Harvey hit, the Trump administration had proposed an $876 million cut to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief account. Most observers believe that's not going to happen. Jackson Lee assured storm victims that the response in Congress would be a "bipartisan effort." While no one knows what the final storm tab will be, additional disaster relief funds are likely to be part of any stopgap government funding measure Congress must pass by the end of September, the end of the federal budget year. State and federal officials say that FEMA, which coordinates the government's response, currently holds a balance of about $3.8 billion available for the Harvey response. But that is unlikely to go deep into the recovery. As the rain tapers off and the water begins to recede, officials say their immediate goal is to return life back to normal for as many people as possible. "Emergency managers around the country realize that restoring routine is the No. 1 goal, and recovery as well," said FEMA director Brock Long. "If we can get the roadways open and get the private industry back on to restore some of that routine, as well as the schools that's on the front of our minds, actually, on the recovery side, getting the lights back on, getting the sewer system working, bringing up the private industry - bringing up the private industry is the most important thing." 200,000 register Alex Amparo, FEMA recovery director, said that nearly 200,000 people had registered for financial assistance through Wednesday morning through the government web site disasterassistance.gov FEMA already has provided over $35 million in financial assistance for relocation assistance, repairs, lost personal property and other needs. "This is an unprecedented event. We've seen our call volume increase and skyrocket larger than ever before," Amparo said. While the cleanup and rebuilding get under way, FEMA officials said that as of Tuesday night they had moved more than 1,800 families out of shelters and into some 2,000 hotel and motel rooms in five different states. "That number will continue to grow," Long said. While a third of Harris County remains under water, state and federal officials said Wednesday that they still do not know the number of flooded homes. So far, Harris County estimates more than $38.1 million in damages to public property, even before the floodwaters begin receding for substantive assessments to be completed in most areas. State emergency officials said they expect those damage costs will mushroom in coming weeks as final assessments are completed and as cleanup and recovery operations begin, including debris removal, repairs to infrastructure such as bridges, utilities and buildings. FEMA officials reported that as of Wednesday more than 12,400 employees from more than 17 federal departments and agencies are working together in support of the ongoing response to damages resulting from Harvey and subsequent flooding across Texas and Louisiana. That includes more than 1,100 Urban Search and Rescue personnel who have conducted rescues for more than 2,500 survivors. The Coast Guard also reported that by Wednesday more than 4,200 survivors and over 1,000 pets had been rescued in South Texas and Louisiana. Abbott announced that the National Guard commitment to the Texas recovery will grow to nearly 24,000 troops in coming days - 14,000 from Texas, 10,000 from other states - in what officials confirm is the largest such deployment in state history for a hurricane disaster. But while officials promised a robust government response in the recovery, they also said that the continued cooperation of citizen volunteers is critical to get back to a semblance or normality. "The storm was bigger than the state," said Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the former Texas governor. "It was bigger than the federal government. It was bigger than any single entity. But it was not bigger than all of us collectively." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Releases from the Addicks and Barker dams sent floodwaters into an already swollen Buffalo Bayou, which was flooding thousands of Harris County homes Wednesday as officials rushed to relieve pressure on the 70-year-old reservoirs intended to protect the sprawling city downstream. Meanwhile, crews with the Texas Department of Transportation were busy installing a mile-long temporary dam along the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Texas 6 in the hopes of having the lanes open by Wednesday evening. Without the barrier, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said officials feared they could lose the entire roadway to surging waters released from the aging reservoirs. By early Wednesday, more than 4,000 homes near the reservoirs had flooded, mostly from water that backed up upstream. But with water spilling out from Addicks dam, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased the release of waters from both reservoirs so they could capture additional rain in the coming days. "We have to get this water out as soon as possible," Edmond Russo with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "These dams have to be cleared before the next storm." How Addicks, Barker dams are supposed to work Water flows downward into creeks and streams in Addicks and Barker watersheds, kept behind large earthen dams. The dams control flow into Buffalo Bayou, which keeps downtown Houston from flooding. Too much water on both sides, and the flow is impacted. Thats complicated by the Houston Ship Channel, which is actually pushing water into Buffalo Bayou backwards. This week rising pool levels in Barker Reservoir and Addicks Reservoir spilled over into adjacent subdivisions that sit against the dams, shown below. Map created by data reporter John D. Harden Source: Harris County Flood Control District Several thousand homes below the dams already had taken on water since the storm began, from both the releases and other swollen waterways. Some of those homes were expected to flood a second time, while others that initially had escaped Hurricane Harvey's wrath were inundated from the releases. Now Playing: Rescue missions continue to be executed by boat. Tragedies revealed. Video: KTVU In spite of the new flooding, county flood control and Army Corps officials said the labyrinth of channels, detention ponds and dams constructed over decades to take water from the Houston region's perennial rainfall out of its sprawling neighborhoods and drain it into Galveston Bay largely performed as designed during Harvey's record-shattering deluge. But performing as designed was not enough to keep the region from devastation. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Nor was it any consolation for homeowners who flooded for the first time. "Apparently, they decided to release from the dams, and that's why the water is so high," said Anibal Dam, an engineer who owns a Houston home remodeling business. He and his three children had to be rescued from their three-story townhome at the Village on Memorial as the water rose Tuesday. "I mean, I don't think this level (of flooding) is only because of the rain because it started to increase significantly today," he said. Flood control officials said that it would be near impossible to develop a system that could protect everyone in the county from a storm like Harvey. "The volume of water that fell during this time period is not a volume of water that we can design for," said Matt Zeve, the Harris County Flood Control District's director of operations. "Fifty inches of rain, over the course of two to three days, is not something that our systems are designed to handle." The problem, experts say, is Houston's relentless growth, much of which occurred during a time when flood control standards were obsolete, increasingly has placed home and subdivisions around the area's ubiquitous waterways. Bayous that had been widened, deepened, straightened and lined with concrete to whisk floodwaters out quickly topped their banks. Water pooled behind the Addicks and Barker dams - constructed some seven decades ago on the prairie northwest of Houston to hold back storm water draining out east and south into the Gulf - into thousands of homes and flowed out of emergency spillways into surrounding neighborhoods. The Houston region's flood control infrastructure, for the third time in three years, buckled under a storm that should have only a .2 percent chance of happening every year, inundating almost a third of Harris County, flooding thousands of homes and killing more than 30 people. For some, the devastation in an already flood-weary region clearly showed a need for a different approach to infrastructure planning. "The systems were vastly overwhelmed," said Phil Bedient, a Rice University engineering professor who has studied flood planning and control. "These systems are legacy flooding problems across the county. I do believe it's time for a sea change and major policy change in the way we do things." Inadequate standards Flood control in Houston is as old as the city itself, with farmers in the 1800s building drainage channels to push water out of their crops. After 16 "major floods" from 1836 to 1936, local officials began in earnest to tackle larger flood control projects, like the Addicks and Barker dams. Over the decades, bayous were deepened, widened and straightened so they could channel floodwaters out of populated areas quickly. Some were lined with concrete to make water flow out even faster. The understanding of climate and flooding, however, was inadequate. In the late 1940s, infrastructure was designed to handle only a two-year storm. In the 1960s, that standard grew to a 25-year storm. It was not until the 1970s that the National Flood Insurance Program came into being and the first floodplains began to be mapped in Harris County - after nearly 2 million people already lived here. In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison, the county and city engaged in a massive study of the county's floodplains and rainfall. It found that in some cases, floodplain maps were off significantly. It also found that some estimates of what a 100-year event is - rainfall that has a 1-percent probability of occurring in any given year - were off by several inches. Nearly every flood control project, and every detention pond built by developers to offset for paving over permeable land, is built to the 100-year storm standard. If the standard is off, so is the infrastructure designed to compensate for such events. Some experts and climate scientists say that estimates today again could be off, as the increasing number of severe storms suggest that climate change is having is having an effect. The flood control district has contributed $200,000 to a federal study to address that question. The county routinely attempts projects to retrofit outdated infrastructure. For example, a 25-year, $400 million project to widen and deepen parts of Sims Bayou removed some 4,400 homes and businesses from the 100-year floodplain. Zeve said the county has estimated providing protection for a 100-year storm for everybody in Harris County would cost more than $25 billion. Harvey, however, was at least a 500-year storm.As were the last year's Tax Day and Memorial Day floods. "To handle a storm like what we had and not have flooding, we're talking, I would just throw out an astronomical number like $100 billion dollars," Zeve said. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday called for a reinvestment in flood control infrastructure in Harvey's aftermath. "We need to spend much, much more on infrastructure," Turner said. "We've been very stingy on infrastructure. We need more financial support on mitigating flooding." Bedient said the region needs to reinvest in green space to stem the spread of impervious pavement and needs to increase the number of buyouts of homes in flood-prone areas. He also suggested the county explore using pumps to put the water underground. "I think it's time to get outside the box," Bedient said. The flood control district has altered some of its approach in recent years. It explored more large-scale projects in the northwest parts of the county - building massive channels and detention basins near Cypress Creek and Upper Langham Creek. It also is exploring the idea of removing parts of White Oak Bayou's concrete lining and whether floodwaters can be stored in aquifers underground. 'The hardest test' The largest features of Harris County's flood control infrastructure are the Addicks and Barker dams, constructed some seven decades ago to hold back storm water from the booming city downstream. Today, they hold back tens of billions of gallons of water when it rains to protect downtown, the Texas Medical Center and more than a million residents below. In Harvey, the dams faced their fiercest challenge. "This is the hardest test they and we have ever faced," said Russo, deputy district engineer for programs and project management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoirs filled to their highest levels ever, and officials were forced to release water into an eroding, flooding Buffalo Bayou below. The staggering volume of water triggered the opening of floodways used only if the dams are in danger of spilling over. Upstream, thousands of homes built in recent years as the city sprawled outward took on several feet of water that continued Wednesday. Below the dams, Duncan and AlisonShanklin, who live two blocks from Buffalo Bayou in the Memorial area, stood on the bank and gauged the bayou's rise by the yellow "high water" sign sticking out of the swirling water. They do not question the need to relieve pressure on the Barker and Addicks reservoirs. "They still have to release water, even if we suffer the consequences, for the integrity of the dam," said Duncan Shanklin. "It's an old dam, and they've got to do that because if there's a breach in the dam, everybody is in trouble." The dams themselves are beat up. In 2007, the Corps found many aspects of the 70-year-old dams - including the embankments, conduits and water control structures - "probably inadequate" for an extreme storm. Two years later, the structures got the Corps' worst safety classification. Since then, the Corps has embarked on a $73 million retrofitting project to make sure the dams are safe. That project is expected to be completed by 2021, and Corps officials said Harvey's inundation has not affected the timeline. They also said Harvey had not damaged the dams any further and did not anticipate needing to conduct any repairs. For its part, Harris County Flood Control District this week began studying the damage inflicted by Harvey on its own infrastructure. Some rain gauges - used to measure rainfall - were washed away during the storm. After the Tax Day Flood, flood control officials estimated $65 million in damage, including eroded waterways, cracked concrete lining and damaged culverts. "I expect more damage than Tax Day, because there's more water," Zeve said. John Harden, James Pinkerton, Mike Morris, Margaret Kadifaand Shelby Webb contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The thought of cash and Newport cigarettes may have been too tempting. Burglars armed with a brick broke into a Walgreens near Brays Bayou, joining dozens of looters, thieves and scammers working across the Houston area in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. By midday Wednesday, more than 40 people had been arrested for looting in Houston and surrounding areas, with reports of looting stretching as far north as Kingwood and as far south as Texas City. A citywide curfew remains in effect from midnight to 5 a.m. is helping police agencies keep the criminals at bay, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday. "It was effective," he said. "It's going to remain in effect until we kind of get past the situations we're in." TARGETS: Looters target Houston police officers, firefighters, union official says Officials warned residents to beware of scammers, as well, offering services door-to-door with fake stories of being police officers or contractors hoping to help. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said no one was arrested for a curfew violation during the first night Tuesday. "It provides us a tool to keep people safe," he said. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said she is working with area law enforcement agencies to ensure that anyone caught looting in the wake of Hurricane Harvey would be prosecuted under a state law that allows enhanced punishments, including the possibility of life sentences for thieves arrested for breaking into homes. On Tuesday, she credited local, state and federal law enforcement officers who have been working round-the-clock to catch thieves and burglars breaking into homes and businesses in flooded areas and torrential downpours. Stores hit for cash, liquor, cellphones The Walgreens at 5300 N Braeswood Boulevard was still boarded up Wednesday after looters used bricks to break in late Monday night. A store employee said the looters could not get into the pharmacy, but were able to take money out of three cash registers and several packs of Newport cigarettes. They left behind over-the-counter drugs, wines and expensive perfumes. Although the curfew was in effect a day later, a Fiesta Mart grocery store in east Houston on Interstate 10 near Loop 610 had as many as 20 looters break in to steal money and cell phones. They also ransacked the adjacent liquor store and demolished a cash register. "Fiesta is disappointed that a small number of individuals chose to take advantage of the emergency situation to loot and steal from one of our stores," said Nelly Castillo, a spokeswoman for the chain. "This disturbing activity will delay the re-opening of this store, as we make repairs caused by the vandals. Nevertheless, Fiesta will re-open the store as quickly as possible." North of town, the Houston Police Department confirmed reports of looting in Kingwood, but no further information was immediately available. Scammers were also out in force. In the towns of Dickinson and Texas City south of Houston, San Leon volunteer firefighter Jody Garcia said people posing as firefighters were telling residents to evacuate their homes, then taking their possessions. In some areas, homeowners fought back. Garcia said he tried to rescue a Dickinson couple late Tuesday who were stranded on the second floor of a home. The man pulled a shotgun on him, instead, telling him to leave. The Dickinson Police Department was called. 'Do not exit home with firearm' Reports also surfaced of people impersonating Homeland Security Investigations special agents, knocking on doors and telling residents to evacuate, presumably to rob their homes, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The agency urged the people to ask to see credentials. Real agents wear badges labeled "special agent," and ICE officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations wear badges labeled "ERO." They carry credentials with their name and organization. The agency said it is not conducting any immigration enforcement operations in affected areas during Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In the southwest part of the county, a man in his mid 30s with a badge, a gun on his hip and a police windbreaker knocked on several doors in an elevated Missouri City subdivision to tell residents they needed to evacuate. Those people called police, who confirmed that there was no evacuation order in place. Missouri City police did not return calls about whether anyone was arrested. West of Houston, Memorial Villages police warned residents of a man they suspect was attempting to scam residents under the false pretense of offering help, said MVPD Chief Ray Schultz. "He had freshly made up flyers that said 'Flood Restoration,'" Schultz said. "He had an old broken carpet cleaner with him but no other supplies. While checking him out, he was found to have a criminal history and no valid ID in his possession. I am absolutely certain he was looking to victimize an unsuspecting resident." The man was last seen in a black Ford Expedition with a temporary license plate. The chief advised to use only reputable restoration contractors, saying legitimate companies have business licenses, addresses and license plate numbers. The chief cautioned that tense times in the aftermath of the flood can lead to tragic consequences. "Do not challenge the individual yourself," Schultz said. "Do not exit your home with a firearm under any circumstance. We do not want any tragedies or accidents." Chronicle reporters Jaimy Jones, Lomi Kriel, Mike Morris, David Olinger and Monica Rhor contributed to this account. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PORT ARANSAS Elisa Racanelli of New Braunfels rushed to her second home on Wednesday expecting the worst. Her family has owned the two-decker in Port Aransas for 15 years. Sea grass flowed into the city along with Hurricane Harveys storm surge and left a layer on her yard and others like some kind of grayish top soil. Racanelli and her husband James estimated the water rose almost three feet, ruining the ground-level floor of their home. Were the fortunate ones. Look at all the people who lost their primary homes, Elisa Racanelli said. The nearby Destination Beach and Surf, a shop known for its eye-catching, monstrous shark at the entrance, was busted through. Swimwear and shattered glass was strewn about the parking lot. Across the street, the walls and ceiling of a mom-and-pop liquor store had completely splintered, exposing shelves of booze to the open air. With palm trees waving in the background it seemed a beach bums dream come true. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Pieces of decking from Charlies Pasture nearby and fragments from other peoples homes had also flown into Racanellis yard. Elisa Racanelli put it in perspective Yeah, you have nice things. But everythings replaceable, she shrugged. We didnt expect it to be in such good condition. They took to shoveling the sea grass onto a tarp and carrying it toward the front in a pile. Baxter Perkins, a family friend who moved to Texas four months ago and had escaped to Austin before the storm, was also there helping. He had an interesting first impression of the state: I think that its hot and has a lot of hurricanes. Thats what Ive experienced so far. sfosterfrau@express-news.net After a flood of phone calls and emails asking how to give money to help the victims of Harvey, San Antonios mayor and a local nonprofit are setting up a new fund to accept donations. Mayor Ron Nirenberg announced the creation of the Mayors Hurricane Relief Fund at a news conference Wedesday at City Hall. The fund will be administered by the San Antonio Area Foundation, a charity thats accepting donations online at www.saafdn.org. The fund will support evacuees and service providers in Houston and the coastal areas of Texas who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey, the website states. At the news conference, Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff gave an update on how San Antonio is helping its neighbors, including Houston, in storm relief efforts. As of Wednesday, San Antonio had taken in 1,428 evacuees, with 874 of them still in three active shelters, Nirenberg said. Thirty San Antonio police officers and more than 50 Fire Department personnel have been sent to help. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The San Antonio Water System also sent crews over the weekend to the coast and Victoria to asssit with restoring water and sewer service. CPS Energy sent crews to Schulenberg, in Fayette County, to help restore power. The Bexar County Sheriffs Office also has sent deputies to assist in the Houston area, Wolff said. Local officials praised entities like the San Antonio Food Bank, USAA, Team Rubicon, H-E-B, NuStar Energy, Valero, the Greehey Family Foundation and others for donations of money, supplies and labor. While I highlight these efforts, there are dozens more, hundreds more that are taking place across our city, Nirenberg said. This is what makes San Antonio so special. bgibbons@express-news.net Twitter: @bgibbs This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On the eve of the City Councils vote on removing the Confederate monument and cannons in Travis Park, scores of young people carried the day in their quest to recast the downtown green space. They arrived at council chambers en masse Wednesday night, thrusting their fists in the air multiple times as a symbol of solidarity in their opposition to the monument, which many said is an icon of bigotry and hate a monument to the Confederacy and slavery. Councilmen Roberto Trevino and Cruz Shaw this summer formally proposed removing the monument. On Monday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg used the prerogative of his office to fast-track the issue, placing it on todays council agenda. The only council members not on record supporting the removal are District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse and District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry. Those who addressed the council Wednesday night asking that the statue remain seemed resigned to the fact that their wishes would not be heeded. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Sean Rivera with MOVE San Antonio, a nonprofit that seeks to give youth a voice in politics, told the council that the monument is a symbol of enslavement and subjugation. If we look at history and the facts, it is clear this monument is nothing more than a symbol of hate, Rivera said. He noted that the removal proposal calls for ultimately placing the statue with a nonprofit that works with history (though it first would be placed in storage). He chastised statue proponents for accusing him and others of wanting to erase history, saying theyre either misinformed or willfully ignorant. Rivera thanked the council members members for enduring hate mail and threats theyve received. He called on the members of the crowd to thrust their fists in the air to show solidarity, and they responded forcefully. Robert Gonzales, a longtime local businessman, applauded the young people who were in attendance Wednesday night. Im so proud of this community, these young people here and the wisdom they have. Theyre bringing to you what America stands for today, not a hundred years ago, he said. We want a better country, and we can start by changing this monument, by taking it down. Those who argued for the monument to remain were significantly outnumbered. One man, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag, was removed from chambers before the meeting began for a slew of obscenities he directed at two women who supported the monuments removal. Leslie Wilson, who favors the Confederate monument said, she and others have been slandered as members of the Ku Klux Klan and claimed that she and the council were being bullied by those who want to remove the statue. As she returned to her seat, Wilson told some people in the crowd that they were pathetic and that they should get a life. City officials were prepared for a raucous evening, though the crowd 140 people had signed up to speak but many left before they were called remained fairly subdued. Dozens of police officers surrounded Municipal Plaza before the meeting began, and there were bike barricades set out in Main Plaza to control crowds coming into chambers. At least two ambulances were staged at City Hall in case a medical response was necessary. The council is scheduled to vote on the removal of the statue and cannons at 9 a.m. today. Its unclear when, exactly, the Confederate memorials will be removed once the vote is taken. If removal is approved, the statue and cannons would go into storage and then go to the yet-to-be identified nonprofit. Before the Citizens To Be Heard session, more than 100 people gathered in Municipal Plaza to voice support for removing the statue from its platform and placing it in a historical context at a museum. SATX4 organizer Mike Lowe addressed the group on race in America and the history behind San Antonios Confederate statue. We did not want to see the militiamen being paraded around the way they did ... in a prior Citizens To Be Heard meeting, Lowe said. We created a solidarity action with individuals and groups to make sure that they knew that theyre not welcome here. A man confronted the group with a question What about the black soldiers in the Confederacy? Supporters surrounded the man and denounced him as a racist until he stepped away and turned to the dozen or so police officers nearby. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate VICTORIA First came wind from the east, then water from the west. And after Hurricane Harvey and the rising Guadalupe River inflicted their damage here, without causing any loss of life, Victoria leaders only could breathe a sigh of relief. Its a beautiful day. Were blessed. Were cleaning up and people who left are coming back. Were ready to get back to normal down here, Mayor Paul Polasek said Thursday. The largest city in a cluster of southern counties known as the Golden Crescent, Victoria lies about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, just north of where Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday night. The powerful storm, packing winds of at least 130 mph when it struck the coast, smashed houses, toppled trees, flooded the streets and cut off power and water to most of the city of about 68,000 people. RELATED: With Harvey floodwaters, a new danger: Flesh-eating bacteria Harveys torrential rains pushed the Guadalupe 10 feet over its flood stage here Wednesday, inundating streets, homes and businesses. The Guadalupe still was an enormous lake Thursday as it started to slowly recede. The flooding prompted an evacuation of animals from the small riverside Texas Zoo. Workers from the San Antonio Zoo and the Fort Worth Zoo were on hand Thursday to assist in the operation, which required a milelong boat ride to reach the facility. By early afternoon, the first load of small primates, tropical birds and reptiles placed in pet carriers was delivered by airboat to waiting workers. The zoo got a lot of water. They have generators and pumps going, but they cant keep up. The animals are secure, said Thomas Culberson, the zoos veterinarian, who said all the animals but a hawk survived. RELATED: Neches River surpasses record level, continues to rise In the 1998 flood, he said, the city was forced to evacuate the entire zoo, a somewhat simpler task back then. Of course we didnt have lions, tigers and jaguars then, so it was a bit less of an ordeal, he noted. On the human side, the storm has left widespread damage to dwellings and trees. Large swaths of the city remain without traffic signals or electricity. The damage was extensive and widespread. We have a lot of damage to homes. One of our hospitals professional buildings took a major hit. Weve got trees down everywhere and a lot of power poles snapped in the wind, said Bryan Simons, a spokesman for the emergency management team. We had one rescue Thursday morning. The individual was in their house, saw they were getting water in the hosue, so they left in a vehicle, and got caught in the swift water. They were able to call 911, he said. But by Thursday morning, he said, the focus of the effort was changing. At this point, were completely in recovery mode. Were out of disaster response, he said. RELATED: Before and after Harvey: Satellite photos of the Houston area show the extreme damage Vice President Michael Pence, who had flown into nearby Corpus Christi, and other state and federal officials made a surprise visit Thursday afternoon. They dropped in to congratulate rescue workers and local officials, and promise the federal governments support. His entourage included Gov. Greg Abbott and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. That was so cool. It was so exciting to get a picture with Gov. Abbott, said Heather Bolton, 41, am employee of the Faith Family Church, the base for one of the distribution centers. They were just thanking the people who were volunteering, and Victoria for all we are doing here. I was kind of starstruck, so I didnt get everything they said, she added. At the church, a huge distribution center set up by Convoy of Hope was handing out water, ice, food and toiletries to about 1,000 people a day, as well as shipping relief supplies to sites all over Texas. This is our temporary distribution center for Texas. Were serving multiple locations from here, said Stacy Lamb, a Convoy of Hope director working in Victoria. Were over a million pounds of product in Texas and its increasing every day, he added. Its definitely noteworthy because we havent seen a disaster of this size in years. RELATED: Harvey turns Beaumont into an island While he spoke, cars streamed through the drive-thru line, each receiving emergency supplies from volunteers in blue shirts. Nearby, people needing tetanus shots and attention to minor injuries waited under an awning at the Heart to Heart International van. We respond to disasters all over the world. Weve been to Haiti, Nepal, said Phil Meiers, 65, the truck driver. Were providing stopgap medical services. Vaccinations. People who hurt themselves in the cleanup. Weve had several punctures, a broken ankle and people with heart issues. Working with the patients were four local nurses who volunteered to assist the Heart to Heart medical team. Among those getting tetanus shots were most of the 30 teachers at OConnor Elementary. I decided to bring them all here for shots just as a safety precaution, said Vickie Dunseth, the school principal. They are cleaning up at their houses and on campus. We want to get the students back as quickly as possible so they can get two hot meals a day, she added. RELATED: Before and after photos show Hurricane Harvey's damage Waiting in line to be treated was Kathryn McDonough, with four children between the ages of three and 11 in tow. One has a cough. Two have sore throats. I tried calling our clinic but they are closed today. I think this is great, she said. We lost some roof tiles, our large water pump failed and a tree fell on our ATV. We were at my mothers when her porch blew off, and that was traumatic she added. At the other end of town, on Moody Street, where many houses and businesses still were underwater Thursday, a group of faithful employees of Moo Moo, a popular old time drive-in eatery, waited patiently for the food truck to arrive. Were famous for our fried chicken. Hopefully well reopen tomorrow, Moo Moo Manager Linda Garza said. Garza said her house had been spared, but that of a co-worker, Josie Garcia, had not. My house was a total loss. Its depressing, Garcia said. My son and I live together, and right now were living out of our car, she said, motioning to a small gray Hyundai. Ive already cried, so aint no use crying anymore. jmaccormack@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As lines get longer at gas stations across San Antonio, tempers seem to be getting shorter. At several gas stations, frustrated drivers have gotten out of their cars to yell at each other. At one, a woman physically planted herself in front of a car to prevent it from cutting the line while another woman screamed at a car that had managed to sneak in. GasBuddy, a gas price tracking firm, reports 270 stations in San Antonio were without fuel after 9:30 p.m., up from seven at 1 p.m. Mayor Ron Nirenberg sought to calm the panic Thursday afternoon, reminding residents there was no widespread gasoline shortage but rather a delay in fuel production. "San Antonio, there is no gas shortage," Nirenberg said. "As the result of delayed refinery operations caused by Hurricane Harvey, some stations have run low on gas." He urged San Antonians to not be "misled by social media, which is causing people to panic and purchase more gas than necessary," and asked drivers to purchase gas as they normally would. More than 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity is currently shuttered because of the storm, and gas prices are expected to spike, maybe up to 35 cents, in the coming weeks. Gas prices have already risen about 5 cents in San Antonio, according to GasBuddy. Several gas stations began reporting running out of fuel Thursday morning. By the afternoon more stations were displaying "sold out" signs and as word spread on social media drivers began flocking to the pumps. Now Playing: Lines extend to the streets on Wednesday, Aug. 31, as gas stations run low after Harvey. Video: San Antonio Express-News Lines have stretched through parking lots and even into streets, blocking traffic. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Leroy Belk tried six different gas stations before he ran out of fuel at the H-E-B at Wurzbach and Interstate 10. He waited in line for over an hour before making it to a pump, having to physically push his car a few feet every 5 minutes or so. "Everyone's looking at what's happening on Facebook," he told mySA. "That's the power of Facebook." Frank Barrera went to eight gas stations on the south side before making the trip up north and enduring the huge lines and occasional shouting match. "You think this is bad? Go to the South Side. Everyone is fighting," he said. The manager of a 7-Eleven near Loop 410 and Vance Jackson, who identified himself only as Sonu, frantically directed traffic at his station and said his reserves were nearly depleted. Next door at a Valero, numerous drivers lined up for fuel, and one of them expressed his concern to mySA that the beginning of the end of the world is upon us. RELATED: Gas prices in Texas may spike 35 cents in 2 weeks due to Harvey, Labor Day "Hurricane Harvey has impacted many gas refineries, and Texas is experiencing a gas supply shortage as a result," read a statement from 7-Eleven. "We are doing everything we can to provide gas to our customers as it becomes available." Braden Reddal, Senior External Affairs Advisor for Chevron, said the company's fuel supply across Texas is currently varied as a result of Harvey. "We are assessing all options to supply fuel to customers in areas where shortages exist and are working with customers to deliver fuel as product supplies become available," he said in an email. The average gas price in Texas is now $2.26 per gallon, which is 12 cents higher than one week ago before Harvey made landfall, according to The Associated Press. QuikTrip, one of the largest convenience store chains in the U.S., will stop selling gas at about half of its 135 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. All locations will remain open, but only half will be selling gas. Mike Thornbrugh, a spokesman for QuikTrip, told The Associated Press that the company plans to have locations with gas across the metro area. RELATED: Harvey halts 20 percent U.S. refining operations Many refineries closed on Friday in preparation for the storm and were attempting to resume operations on Wednesday morning, according to the American Petroleum Institute, but others were flooded and may take weeks to reopen. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 10 refineries along the Gulf Coast are currently shut down. Six have begun assessing damage and restarting, and two are operating at reduced rates. Though areas across Texas are reporting shortages, national fuel inventory may help offset any long term disruptions to gas supply caused by the storm. "Nationally, current inventories of crude oil and refined products are relatively high, and these supplies may help offset storm-related supply disruptions to both," wrote Mark Green, editor of the API's blog, on Wednesday. Refinery operations stretching along the Texas coastline from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana border account for about 3 percent of the U.S. economy and is a major export market for oil and chemicals. In San Antonio though, some are wondering why so many people are panicking. Karen McManuis, a local real estate agent, was walking into the H-E-B when she stopped to ponder the madness occurring before her eyes. "What do they think will happen?" she asked herself. "We'll never have gas again? I know it was a horrible storm but why panic like this?" Express-News staff writers Rye Druzin and Jennifer Hiller and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com cdowns@mysa.com Twitter: @calebjdowns This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Harvey's toll on the Houston region became increasingly clear Wednesday as stormwater receded and people returned to flooded-out homes and ventured out into the streets in search of missing loved ones. A police dive team finally reached a van in Green Bayou that held a family of six a couple just shy of their 60th wedding anniversary and four of their great grandchildren, ages 6 to 16. The childrens uncle, who was trying to drive everyone out of the flooding, reported them missing days ago, after he was rescued clinging to a tree. Were afraid well see a lot more of this as the waters recede, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Wednesday. With rains subsiding, officials said they do not anticipate more homes will flood in the Harris County area. But even as the clean-up and recovery process began in Houston, there were new threats in East Texas and Lousiana. Tropical Storm Harvey continued its path of destruction early Wednesday, making a second landfall in East Texas and Louisiana that brought raging floodwaters to Beaumont and engulfed the entire town of Port Arthur. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming! Derrick Freeman, Port Arthurs mayor posted on Facebook. He urged residents to seek higher ground and promised, If you called, we are coming. The catastrophic flooding will persist, and rescues will continue in the days to come, federal and state officials said. We are still in life-sustaining mode, said Brock Long, FEMA director, at a morning news conference. More than 30 people including a veteran Houston police officer have died or are feared dead in the Houston area and beyond in flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey, according to local officials. Local officials expect the grim discoveries of additional bodies once the floodwaters retreat and the streams, rivers and bayous go back into their banks. The scenes have been harrowing and heroic. A shivering 3-year-old girl clinging to her mothers lifeless body floating in the cold floodwaters. A dozen strangers forming a human chain to rescue a man trapped in a car. And still, there is more to come, officials said. Gov. Gregg Abbott said major flooding will continue for a few days in the Beaumont region and the lower Brazos River Region where there could be extensive flooding for about a week if not longer. In the lower Colorado region there should be flooding for the rest of the week. And in Victoria and Cuero there should be ongoing flooding for a few days, Abbott said. It is important for people in all of these regions as well as in every county thats affectedthat you continue to listen to and heed local warnings about evacuation, he said. The devastation is staggering. When you look at comparisons, the population, size and square mile size of the area impacted both by the hurricane swath and the flooding, its far larger than Katrina, far larger than Sandy, Abbott said. The number of national guard members deployed in Texas is poised to nearly double to roughly 24,000, as tropical storm Harvey continued to dump rain on the southeast part of the state, where flash flooding has already hit Beaumont and Port Arthur. I am unaware of there ever being another incident in the history of the state of Texas where there has been this much deployment, Abbott said at the state operations center here. The amount of national guard we have in Texas will only grow. With 14,000 Texas national guard members deployed, and roughly 10,000 coming in from other states, the group has made more than 8,500 rescues and more than 26,000 evacuations in wake of Harvey, Abbott said. National Weather Service recorded 11.86 inches of rain in six hours Tuesday night in Beaumont. By 5 a.m. Wednesday, 26.79 inches had fallen as of 1 a.m. Tuesday. Rain has continued to fall all day Wednesday. The worst is not yet over for southeast Texas as far as the rain is concerned, Abbott said. Evacuees are still pouring into shelters across Texas, with at least 5,000 seeking shelter in state parks across the state, Abbott said. As of Wednesday afternoon, at least 32,000 people were being housed in storm shelters statewide, with approximately 30,000 more beds available, Abbott said. Storm victims have already filed more than 210,000 requests for individual assistance with FEMA, which has already approved more than $37 million in aid. Abbott dismissed concerns that a new law set to take effect Sept. 1 will affect flood victims ability to file insurance claims, calling the claims absolutely bogus. The implementation of this bill does not affect the ability of any policy holder from being able to file a claim or have that claim paid, he said. The law, known as House Bill 1174, applies in cases when policyholders file a lawsuit and it reduces the penalty rate insurance companies face if they make a late payment. Amid reports of some price gouging, Abbott said the state will not tolerate the practice that can result in fines up to $25,000 per incident. If you are a business you could be put out of business by the Attorney General. If you dare try to price gouge, it is un-Texan, and we will not tolerate it, he said. Despite concerns raised by protestors at the state operations center Tuesday that some shelters may be checking identification, Abbott said the top priority is life, not immigration status. When people are going to evacuation centers, no one is being asked about their status, Abbott said. As the waist-deep waters have receded from Meyerland, a middle-class neighborhood fronting Brays Bayou that now has flooded three times in three years, residents face an agonizing choice: Give up on the neighborhood or try to rebuild? It's a dilemma that will confront thousands of homeowners in the Houston area as they return to their deluged homes. For now, everyone in Meyerland is just digging out. The sidewalks on Tuesday were piled high with dead appliances, sopping carpet and hunks of sheetrock, as residents tried to keep their homes from filling with mold before they decided what to do with them. A musty smell filled the streets. For many homeowners, this was not the first time. Marco Felix bought his house on South Rice Avenue in Meyerland four years ago, a classic of the midcentury modern homes that dot the neighborhood, with a high atrium in the living room and a fireplace in the middle. It had never flooded when he bought it, but it has been submerged every year since. Youre going to see mountains and mountains of debris, Felix said, standing in the middle of his storm-tossed kitchen, the paint sagging on the walls. Its like a war zone. This is just the beginning. Swaths of the city and suburbs remained under water as Mayor Sylvester Turner called for more aid from the federal government for the tens of thousands of people displaced by the storm. We still have a long way to go, he said. We're still in the midst of these challenges and they're immense. Rescue crews were still pulling people from flooded homes on the city's west side and Kingwood, which started flooding heavily on Tuesday because of overflow from the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. There were about 8,000 people at the George R. Brown Convention Center, down from 10,000. About 2,000 remained at the M.O. Campbell Education Center. The massive NRG Center was accepting evacuees. There were more than 100 other shelters across the state. We need a whole lot of FEMA representatives now, Turner said at a press conference. We need the red tape to be cleared. Houston police, who have helped rescue more than 3,000 people during the past few days, reported midday that they had found 27 of 47 missing people. Twenty remained unaccounted for. Good news often followed bad. Looting was reported from Kingwood in the northeast down to Dickinson, where officials had ordered mandatory evacuations. Houston Chronicle staff writers Susan Carroll, Margaret Kadifa, Lindsay Ellis, Mike Morris, Brooke Lewis, Dug Begley, Jacob Carpenter, James Pinkerton and Will Axford contributed to this report. Express-News Staff Writer Allie Morris contributed to this report from Austin. A portion of airstrip at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph has been transformed into a sprawling loading dock for semi-trucks delivering supplies to flood-ravaged areas of Southeast Texas, one part of a growing military mobilization to aid victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The supply station, jointly run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency, expands federal relief efforts to assist tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes in Houston and other areas pummeled by the storm. Dozens of trucks rumbled in and out of the military base on a recent day as drivers either dropped off or picked up food, water, clothing and other provisions. We want to push supplies to the state-run staging areas closer to the areas of need, said Scott Thomas, FEMAs federal coordinating officer for a five-state region that includes Texas. Well try to bring as much as conditions allow. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Flooded roads have slowed delivery of relief aid by ground. Thomas said trucks at a second supply station established at JBSA-Seguin earlier in the week started to roll out with greater frequency Thursday as water levels receded. Some 2 million meals and 2.2 million liters of water had moved by Thursday from the Seguin station to disaster relief areas. Col. Thomas Miner Jr., commander of the 502nd Security and Readiness Group at JBSA, helped coordinate plans for the supply station at Randolph. His experiences in Iraq, where he has deployed three times, proved useful in assembling teams to carry out the work. Time is crucial in a situation like this, he said. We wanted to have this up and running so that as roads clear, trucks can pull in, load up and head out. Efforts to help victims of Harvey involve an array of military units and assets, including active-duty and National Guard components. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated 12,000 members of the Texas National Guard earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and Wednesday called on another 2,000 troops who have recently returned from overseas deployments. Abbott has requested an additional 10,000 troops from Guard units in other states, and Pentagon officials have said as many as 30,000 Guard troops could deploy to Texas. More than two dozen National Guard helicopters are running rescue and supply missions. The New York Air National Guard has sent four C-130 cargo planes and five HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters to Fort Hood in support of rescue operations. Crews had flown some 30 missions and rescued nearly 500 people through Thursday morning, a Fort Hood spokesman said. Active-duty Army units stationed at Fort Hood sent 400 troops and 100 tactical vehicles to assist with relief operations. The base has set up a fuel staging area for FEMA vehicles to avoid further depleting the supply at gas stations in South Texas. Units with the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy based outside Texas have mobilized more than 6,000 personnel and supplied tactical and amphibious vehicles, aircraft and equipment. Federal search and rescue teams continue to look for potential survivors. To date, teams have rescued more than 16,800 people and 1,500 pets. The teams come from the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and Department of Defense. mkuz@express-news.net Twitter: @MartinKuz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Physicians in Texas will still be able to perform a common second-trimester abortion procedure at least for the next two weeks, after a federal judge in Austin temporarily blocked a new state law that restricts the method from taking effect Friday. U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel ruled in favor of abortion providers, who sued the state in July, claiming the law would curb womens access to the safest and most common procedure used after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ban is on hold until Sept. 14, when Yaekel scheduled a hearing to consider a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs in the suit, including Whole Womens Health, applauded the ruling, but said theres more work to be done. Now, we prepare our case against this restriction that forces doctors to provide lesser care to their patients, tweeted the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of womens health providers in Texas. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Attorney General Ken Paxtons office pledged to keep fighting in court. Dismemberment abortions are gruesome and inhumane, which makes it troubling that a district court would block Texas lawful authority to protect the life of unborn children from such a barbaric practice, said Marc Rylander, director of communications for the Office of the Attorney General. The law restricts the use of dilation and evacuation abortions when a physician uses medical equipment to remove fetal tissue on living fetuses. Under the law, physicians would have to initiate fetal demise before beginning the procedure. The Center for Reproductive Health argued, however, that the three methods used to cause fetal demise are invasive, increase medical risks for the mother and are in some cases untested. Two states have similar bans on dilation and evacuation abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Others, in Louisiana, Kansas and Oklahoma, havent taken effect because of court challenges brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, according to the organization. amorris@express-news.net It's looking likely that Travis Park's Confederate statue will be relocated following a city council vote slated for Thursday. Eight of San Antonio's 10 city council members have said they are for removing and relocating the statue, presenting a majority in voting. San Antonio leaders largely lauded a federal judge's ruling that blocked the majority of a Texas law banning sanctuary cities from going into effect on Friday. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4, the so-called sanctuary cities law, earlier this year. The law would give local law enforcement agencies the power to essentially act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ask people who have been "lawfully detained" what their immigration status is. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A federal judge halted most of Texas ban on sanctuary cities Wednesday two days before the law was to take effect. City of San Antonio officials who were challenging the law claimed victory while state leaders vowed to appeal the ruling, but it remained unclear Wednesday night what impact it would have on a San Antonio Police Department policy preventing officers from asking about immigration status. City staff and lawyers working on the case said they would have more information Thursday. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia halted penalties for officials who endorse policies in violation of Senate Bill 4, saying it likely violates the First Amendment. SB 4 allows the attorney general to fine or remove from office local officials who adopt, enforce, or endorse a policy under which the entity or department prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of immigration laws. The law also creates penalties for local officials who block police from asking about immigration status. In his ruling, Garcia wrote that although police can ask about immigration status of a person under a lawful detention or under an arrest, as described in the law, theres very little police can do after that. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged If for example, during a lawful stop an officer obtains information that the detained individual is undocumented, the officer may not arrest the individual or prolong the detention on this basis, Garcia wrote. However, under SB 4, officers are permitted again, not required to share this information with ICE, or other appropriate federal agencies, or law enforcement entities. Lawyers were still digesting the 94-page ruling Wednesday night and said they werent sure exactly how it would affect San Antonios policy. Renea Hicks, an Austin lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs, said cities like San Antonio may have to amend their policies. The (officials) can say, Im not limiting you from asking about immigration status if you stop someone. I think its a really terrible idea and I dont think you should do it, but I cant stop you from doing it, Hicks said. The questions can only be in the course of a lawful detention and regardless of (the) answer, you may not detain a person any longer after giving the answer, he added. The person is free to go; you have to let them go and you may not to hold them for ICE, but you may report the exchange to ICE. On the issue of local officials endorsing policies that limit enforcement of immigration laws, Garcia was clearer, saying the provision of the law could not go into effect. SB 4 permits speech on one side of the immigration policy debate, but not the other, he wrote. City officials praised the ruling. This law would have diminished the capacity of our local police officers to keep our communities safe and would have targeted members of our community, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement. Stopping this law allows our officers to focus on the job of preventing and combating crime, rather than doing the job of immigration officers, said Councilman Rey Saldana, who appeared as a plaintiff in the case. Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott said they would appeal the ruling. Abbott said the decision makes Texas communities less safe. U.S. Supreme Court precedent for laws similar to Texas law are firmly on our side, Abbott said in a statement. This decision will be appealed immediately and I am confident Texas law will be found constitutional and ultimately be upheld. The judge, who had earlier this year ruled that the Bexar County Jail violated an immigrants rights by holding him on a detainer request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also blocked a provision of SB 4 that provides penalties for county jails that dont honor such detainers. Garcia found that jails enforcing criminal laws would violate the Fourth Amendment if they held on suspected immigration violations someone who had bonded out or had their charges dropped. Bexar County officials have said they would not have been affected by that aspect of SB 4 because they honor ICE detainer requests. Officials with ICE and Bexar County have said that immigration officials now attach warrants to detainer requests, which they say brings them into compliance with Garcias earlier ruling, although immigration lawyers have questioned whether thats the case. Unlike previous challenges to state immigration laws during the administration of former President Barack Obama, in which the federal government led lawsuits claiming the laws were unconstitutional, the Justice Department of President Donald Trump came down on the side of Texas in the SB 4 challenge. The lawsuit was led by the border community of El Cenizo, which along with Maverick County filed a lawsuit in San Antonio challenging SB 4 on May 8, the day after Abbott signed it into law. They were later joined by cities and counties across the state, including San Antonio. We won over 90 percent of it, said Luis Vera, a lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, which represented El Cenizo in the lawsuit. The state cannot mandate to the cities or police officers or sheriffs offices how they run their police departments. jbuch@express-news.net Twitter: @jlbuch Cathay Pacific, the flagship carrier of Hong Kong, is adding three European direct flight destinations next year. The airline said it will start non-stop services between Hong Kong and Brussels, Dublin and Copenhagen, the first of which will begin from March next year, in a bid to attract new trade and tourism to Hong Kong. The move will bring the airline's network to a total of 15 destinations and make Cathay Pacific the first Chinese airline to fly to Dublin and Copenhagen. All three new European routes will be served by the airlines newest aircraft, the Airbus A350, and each flight will leave Hong Kong after midnight and arrive into Hong Kong around 7:00 am. European destinations welcome about 10 million Chinese visitors each year. In 2016, Chinese travelers made 122 million outbound trips to all destinations globally. Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg said the new services will meet customer demand and increase access to and from Hong Kong. "Growing our reach to new destinations that aren't served from Hong Kong boosts the citys status as Asia's largest international hub and enables us to capture new and important sources of revenue," he said. Next year has been designated the EUChina Tourism Year, a tourism initiative developed last summer between China's Premier Li Keqiang and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas favorite Whataburger is known for being available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it had to shutter stories as Harvey left its path of destruction across the state. The rare occasion of lights off at the always-open store reflected the calamity approaching and disastrous situation to follow. As the storm passed though, a prominent "W," illuminated again, became a small sign of normalcy for those on the Coast beginning to rebuild their lives. Whataburger spokeswoman Amanda Kennedy said the Portland location, about a 20-minute drive away from Rockport, which was in the direct path of the Category 4 storm and where one person died, was the closest available location to the town. RELATED: S.A.'s 'I love tacos so much' wall now says 'I love Houston so much,' for charity Now Playing: Buildings and cars are submerged in flooded water after Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson on Aug. 28, 2017. Video: San Antonio Express-News Kennedy said the restaurant is operating on a drive-thru only basis, offering a limited menu. The 24-hour menu includes burgers, fries and drinks. For breakfast, from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m., customers can order taquitos, Breakfast on a Bun and drinks. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged A locator on the Whataburger website is the best way to get updates on restaurant status, the company said. While the Portland location is welcoming hungry customers, many remained closed including those in Aransas Pass, three in Corpus Christi, Galveston, Refugio, Beaumont and all 56 in Houston, according to the locator. A Houston Whataburger, at 4545 Kingwood Dr., has been the subject of viral photos on social media that show the building submerged in water. The San Antonio-based company announced a $1 million donation to assist employees impacted by the storm to provide things like clothing, food and help with medical bills. They have also donated $150,00 to the Red Cross and $500,000 to Texas food banks, according to the Houston Chronicle. Whataburger has also set up support centers in Corpus Christi and Houston. "To all our Family Members and neighbors who were impacted by this storm's devastation, we stand with you. The path to recovering and rebuilding is long, but we're here for you and we'll get through this together," Whataburger Chairman Tom Dobson said in a news release. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye Chinese imports of British meat helped the UK record strong year-on-year export growth for the first six months of the year. UK markets in beef, lamb and pork outside the EU showed the greatest success, with sales of 500 million pounds ($640 million), which was a year-on-year rise of 18 percent. Beef exports to countries outside Europe were up 45 percent to almost 8,000 metric tons, while offal exports rose 21 percent, according to figures from HMRevenue and Customs. Asian markets have been attributed to the growth in opportunities for beef, lamb and pork to non-EU countries. Third country pork exports rose by nearly 4 percent in volume to 41,000 tons of which more than half was to China where there has been a 6 percent rise in exports in the first half of the year, worth 24 million pounds. "These latest figures paint a positive picture for the meat export industry," said Jean-Pierre Garnier, head of livestock export trade development at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. "It is very encouraging to see an increase in exports to non-EU countries and a strong progression in value as this is an important area for our meat exports with the challenge of Brexit," he said. Non-EU exports are expected to rise further following a recent government announcement of a 200 million pounds trade deal for pork access to China and a 34 million deal to export beef to the Philippines. Seven businesses in England and Northern Ireland will export pork products to China, including three producers that will trade trotters. "The AHDB recognizes the importance of developing balanced international trade that does not rely solely on the EU," Garnier said. "We understand the challenges that our meat industry faces and we must look at new exports deals and continue to work toward securing access to third countries." Last month the AHDB was at the Specialty Fine Food Show in Singapore, and attended the world-famous SIAL exhibition in China in May. In September, it will be present at Asias leading hospitality expo, the Restaurant and Bar trade show in Hong Kong. "We are targeting key markets outside the EU where we are confident meat exports can continue to add value," Garnier said. "Working with government and other organizations in the UK we have been able to help open up markets which have been closed to us for many years." Being described as ambitious in her senior yearbook wasnt necessarily a compliment in 1937, but Dorothy Ann Veach proved the description to be accurate. Joining the San Antonio Womens Motor Corps in 1941, Veach went on to become a private in the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps, later known as the WAC, in 1942, one of the first women in Texas to do so. She was quite independent, her daughter Christine Wilson said. She applied for officer candidate school went from a private in 1942 to an officer in 1945. After she married an Army officer, Veach continued her adventures as a military wife, living at various bases in the United States, and in Iran and Belgium before returning to San Antonio in the early 1970s. At the age of 92, she was making the trans-Atlantic flight to visit her grandchildren in the United Kingdom, daughter Darcy Veach said. Dorothy Veach died Sunday at 96. The oldest of five children raised in a Catholic household, Dorothy Veach attended Incarnate Word College after high school. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Her father, a World War I veteran and railroad engineer, only attended school until the third grade. Her parents could only afford to send her to college for two years, Wilson said. After that she would have to finance it herself. More Information Dorothy Ann Veach Born: Oct. 10, 1920, Austin Died: Aug. 27, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Husband Fletcher Read Veach Jr.; parents Lydia Kocurek and Alfred Pape; a sister; and a brother Survived by: Daughters Darcy Veach, Sharon Veach, Christine Wilson and son-in-law Peter, and Theresa Veach; two grandchildren;and two sisters Services: Visitation at 5:30 p.m., rosary at 7 p.m. Monday at Porter Loring Mortuary, 1101 McCullough Ave.; Mass at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony de Padua Catholic Church, 102 Lorenz. See More Collapse Working as a secretary at a brokerage firm, Dorothy Veach found that she enjoyed making money liked having her own money, Darcy Veach said. She was sent to the Panama Canal Zone after the war in 1945, where she met her future husband, who had been wounded on the beach at Okinawa, in 1946. Marrying a few months later, Dorothy Veach was taking responsibility for a huge step by her own estimation, the most important decision of her life not letting her parents have their look-see and tell her their opinions first, Darcy Veach said. The social risk was enormous because of the shortness of the acquaintance and because his own kin were not known to her kin. Dorothy Veach and her husband were married for 60 years when he died in 2007. They were sent to Tehran, Iran, in 1959, and Dorothy Veach loved the experience. She was curious about everything, Darcy Veach said. It was a beautiful time, and my parents really enjoyed it. After a second tour in Iran and others in the U.S. and Belgium, Dorothy Veach and her husband returned to San Antonio. mheidbrink@express-news.net Moments after the Texas Senate followed the House in adjourning a day before the special session expired, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he was most unhappy that the House quit on the taxpayers of Texas. The next day, Gov. Greg Abbott said of the House not taking votes on bills addressing all 20 of his priorities: The voters of the state of Texas deserved to know where their legislators stood on these issues. While these statements and the media coverage that followed leave the impression that Texans en masse were clamoring for legislative action, public opinion polling tells a different story: that the agenda of the special session was driven more by politics than by the wishes of all Texas voters or, for that matter, even by agitation among conservatives. Although Abbott, Patrick and the leadership of some of the states most vocal conservative interest groups suggested there was widespread public demand for more action, polling we conducted on behalf of the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Tribune at the end of the regular session suggested significant conservative contentment with the results of the 85th Legislature and thus little active demand for more legislation. Whether the level of success during the special session is a glass half full or half empty in the eyes of conservatives, the strong enforcement measures aimed at undocumented immigrants contained in Senate Bill 4 were by far the most important items to be delivered. Immigration and border security have been perennially cited by large majorities of Texas Republicans as the most important problem facing the state during the past several years of polling. It is not surprising that the most ideological and committed conservative primary voters expressed high levels of job approval for the Legislature, the governor and the lieutenant governor. The legislative agenda reflected their preferences (as well as fiscal constraints), and the Legislature gave them much of what they wanted. But herein lies the puzzle of the message that the Legislature has somehow let down conservatives, who are we are told disappointed that the special session did not produce more. If the special session and its conservative agenda wasnt the result of a groundswell of demand, what explains it? Both Abbott and Patrick will soon seek re-election to their offices, making them very attentive to the Republican primary electorate an engaged group of very conservative voters. This attention demonstrates their dedication to claiming credit for conservative legislative accomplishment and to assigning blame for failures. From the outset, the governor could count on his ability to claim credit for whatever successes emerged and blame the failures on the legislative branch. Even if his statements single out the House, to the casual listener some of the criticism inevitably also falls on the Senate and the lieutenant governor. Not one to shy away from promoting his own interpretation of events, the lieutenant governor can cast blame on the leadership of the House for disappointing him and the governor, as well as conservatives across Texas. Both officials may now invoke the voters role in passing final judgment in next years Republican primaries, just as Abbott punctuated his criticism of the House speaker in a talk radio interview the day after the session ended, saying, Thats why elections matter. Equally predictably amid the incoming criticism from the governor and lieutenant governor, House Speaker Joe Straus has affirmed his view that he followed the will of the body to focus on the important business of the state, and avoided dangerous and divisive measures. Expect him now to do what successful House speakers have done for time immemorial: Get out of the limelight as much as possible. No matter how the particulars are parsed, the origins of the special session, its tepid product and the rhetoric in its aftermath are rooted more in the politics of the elite players with an eye on primary season than in a surge of public demand from the majority of Texans. Jim Henson is the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Joshua Blank is manager of polling and research of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Lets begin this conversation on climate change with the obligatory disclaimer: Climate change did not cause Hurricane Harvey. Fierce hurricanes are expected in the Gulf of Mexico this time of year. Texans are well acquainted with hurricanes in August. Climate scientists have long been clear that we should separate weather events from the broader trend of climate change. Long before humans started pumping heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, there were droughts, hurricanes, flooding, heat waves and blizzards. That said, making the distinction between weather and climate change doesnt mean there isnt a connection between the two. Climate change amplified the danger of Harvey. On this point, many climate scientists have been clear. Texas officials notably, Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Lamar Smith, and Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn need to accept the science and follow it with appropriate policy. Ignoring the science, perpetuating false doubt, is to court future disasters. So how did climate change likely affect Harvey? Scientists point to three potential ways. The first is higher sea levels. Climate change has raised sea levels in the Gulf of Mexico by about 6 inches in recent decades, scientists have measured. If the sea level is higher, the storm surge is higher. The second is warm water. Warm air leads to warm water, and the Gulf of Mexico has been unusually warm this year. Warmer weather means more evaporation, which means more moisture in the atmosphere. Scientists have said Harvey fed off this warm water, which is why it evolved so rapidly from a tropical storm into a massive hurricane. This is the main fuel for the storm, Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, told The Atlantic. Although these storms occur naturally, the storm is apt to be more intense, maybe a bit bigger, longer-lasting, and with much heavier rainfalls (because of that ocean heat). The third way climate change likely influenced Harvey and this is more tenuous than the first two points is related to the storm stalling over the Houston region, dumping catastrophic amounts of rain. Acclaimed climate scientist Michael E. Mann of Pennsylvania State University has said the storm fell into a jet-stream pattern that fits climate change models. This can create stationary weather that stays in place for days at a time, he wrote on Facebook. Put another way if the models are accurate, expect more storms to stall over given areas. Thanks to other studies, we know that even if human-caused greenhouse gas emissions suddenly came to a screeching halt, global temperatures would continue to rise 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit. We also know Texas coasts are vulnerable to consistent flooding as sea levels continue to rise, according to a recent Union of Concerned Scientists report. The upshot is that future generations will be living with the consequences of climate change and our collective inaction. That events like Harvey will be more common or made more powerful. This future will require adaptation just as Houston will need to be rebuilt with better drainage and stronger storm barriers but there is yet time for mitigation. Thats where leadership matters. Abbott can be lauded for offering a calming and unifying voice during the still-unfolding Hurricane Harvey tragedy. But mitigating how climate change amplifies extreme weather requires another, more proactive kind of leadership. It requires leaders who accept the overwhelming science on climate change, realize the exposure for Texas, and craft state policies and support federal actions to lessen the dangers. For those who have doubted climate change or found it easier to ignore it, mitigation starts with accepting the science. But it also requires action. Way to go, North East Independent School District. Taking away the name of Robert E. Lee High School, a high school that has only been in existence for 58 years and for many of those years spoken of with pride. You have valiantly caved into political correctness. The petitions were almost 2-1 in favor of keeping the Lee name, yet the minority wins. Since it is apparent that you now want total inclusion of political correctness, you must remove the names of every school in the district and use only numbers. High School 1, home of the ? Sounds good, doesn't it? If you elect not to remove every name, out of respect to every student that attended Lee whom you have insulted, how about P.C. High, home of the Snowflakes? Sad to say, but I am glad that I no longer reside in San Antonio. Rocke Baker, Ocala, Florida Name, not baggage The pressure is on governmental leaders to remove all icons of the Confederacy. The latest push is to strike the Confederate names of 10 Army posts. The targets are from Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia down though the Southeast Conference to Fort Hood in Texas. Enforcing this political correctness would be expensive. But maybe there is a face-saving way out. We could do what Seattle did back in 1986. Its King County was originally named for William Rufus DeVane King, who was a vice president and had been our ambassador to France. (In that last role, he helped the United States get Texas.) But he also sponsored legislation that prolonged slavery. Seattle did not want to continue to honor King, but at the same time they did not want to change all the letterheads on their stationery. So they decided to name the county in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Brilliant. Keep the name; lose the baggage. We need to do the same. We need to find 10 upright citizens with names such as Bragg and Pickett, and then proclaim them as the real reason the forts are so named. It is all so simple. Now we just have to hope there is no dirt on Sam Houston. Star Carey, Canyon Lake Dont honor traitor According to my research, there is no right to secession in the United States. The Articles of Confederation declared the Union to be perpetual. The Constitution was adopted to form a more perfect Union. Neither document has any provisions for a state to secede. The Constitution (Article III, Section 3) says that treason happens when people levy war against this country. Without the constitutional ability for a state to secede, every voter, legislator, soldier or citizen supporting the Confederacy was committing treason by levying war against the Union. The most egregious offender was Gen. Robert E. Lee, who led the Army of the Confederacy. After the wars conclusion, President Andrew Johnson wanted him tried for treason and hanged, but acquiesced when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant convinced him that to do so would make Lee a martyr and prolong the agony of reconstructing the Union. We should not honor a general who was a traitor in any public space. Reagin McAllister GOP tarnishes Texas Judges have ruled against state gerrymandering, a powerful tool for Republicans to stay in power. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons decision to appeal is a slap to us minorities. Likewise, courts have found that the state voter ID law was discriminating against minorities, the elderly and the young. But our Republican leaders are also appealing it. Their mentality to win at any cost not only hurts our democracy but also hurts the many programs that assist people. Now, theyll push a self-serving tax reform. Texas image will continue to be tarnished like other Southern states if millennials, non-voters, the less informed and the poor dont vote. Adam Castillo N. Korea long a woe Re: Liberals fail, whine about North Korea, Another View, Tuesday: By my calculation there have been 12 post-Korean Armistice presidents, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower and ending with Donald Trump, spanning a total of 66 years. Seven of these presidents have been Republicans; five have been Democrats. Republican presidents have been in office 36 of those 66 years. Retired Col. Alan Walters says liberal Democrats have given us this problem of North Korea, but it seems to me the Republicans have had more time to solve the problem than Democrats. Why arent they to blame? Or, is it simply a difficult problem that many patriotic American presidents have tried to solve, without success. Unless, of course, you consider containment and avoiding war a success. Wendell Fuqua Playing the press Donald Trump is playing you, the press, like a fiddle. High K is Korea, and V is Venezuela and Virginia. The mid-chord N is North Carolina, where a statue was pulled down. Whats the easiest way to take the public and press out of the Russian research investigation? Make more noise about transitional issues, which takes the focus off whats really important. Shame on you, the press, for falling for his ploys and putting the real issues on Page 6 of your paper. Shame on us for being so stupid to believe he is really leading the country. It is time for the House and Senate to take positive action and remove this idiot as soon as possible. God help the U.S.A. if he remains in office past this year. Mike Horridge PRINCE CHARLES AND PRINCESS DIANA OF WALES ATTEND A CHARITY BALL AT WENTWORTH HOTEL AND TAKE TO THE DANCE FLOOR IN SYDNEY,AUSTRALIA,28 March,1983. [Photo/VCG] By Everyone remembers where they were when they heard about Diana. Her death was one of those ultra-rare news stories - the JFK, 9/11 category. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Paris car crash that ended her life; killed aged 36 in extraordinarily ordinary circumstances by a speeding drunk driver. The emotional incontinence that swept Britain following her death is now almost a little embarrassing. 7 Illinois airmen, 1 aircraft to help in Texas after Harvey PEORIA, Ill. (AP) The Illinois National Guard says it's sending seven airmen and a C-130 cargo plane to help with the response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas. The guard says the members of the 182nd Airlift Wing will leave Peoria on Thursday for Dallas and are expected to help with storm relief and recovery for the next three to four days. Guard officials say the C-130 aircraft is capable of transporting personnel and supplies in and out of Texas from across the country. Illinois National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Richard Hayes says he's proud that Illinois can "play a part in supporting the national and the people of Texas." Harvey has weakened and its floodwaters are dropping in much of the Houston area, but the death toll from the storm is rising. Police step up traffic enforcement over Labor Day weekend SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Police across the state say they'll be out in force this Labor Day weekend, and they're urging motorists not to drink and drive. Illinois State Police, the Illinois Department of Transportation and nearly 200 local law enforcement agencies are participating in a "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign. They're conducting roadside safety checks and impaired-driving patrols. Last year, 23 people died in motor vehicle crashes in Illinois over the holiday weekend. It was the deadliest Labor Day weekend in five years. Police say anyone who's out drinking should plan ahead and designate a sober driver. They're also asking people to buckle up, and say anyone who sees a driver who may be impaired should promptly report it by calling 911. Illinois governor names top legal adviser CHICAGO (AP) Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has appointed the attorney for the state's child welfare agency as his top legal adviser. Rauner named Lise Spacapan as general counsel for his office on Wednesday. She joined the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in 2015. Prior to that she worked in private practice. Spacapan replaces Dennis Murashko, who will leave the governor's office at the end of August for the private sector. Murashko's resignation was part of a staff shakeup announced last week, including the resignations of four members of Rauner's communications team. They left following the conflicting public response Rauner gave about a political cartoon that critics have called racist. Off-duty Chicago officer fatally shoots man during robbery HAZEL CREST, Ill. (AP) An off-duty Chicago police officer has shot and killed a man he says was trying to rob him in suburban Hazel Crest. A preliminary investigation shows the officer had made an arrangement online to buy a computer. Hazel Crest police say the officer was in street clothes and driving his personal vehicle when he met two men Tuesday night at a prearranged location. One of the men pulled a handgun and they began to take items from the officer's pockets. The officer was able to shoot one of them before they could get his gun. Hazel Crest police found a gun in the hand of the man shot by the officer. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The other man was able to flee. Illinois forest road closing for snake, amphibian migrations HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) A 2 mile-long road in southern Illinois' Shawnee National Forest is closing Friday for an annual migration of snakes and amphibians. The roadway closes every year so that the animals can make their gradual, two-month move from areas where they live during the summer to winter hibernation habitats. Some species are considered threatened or endangered in Illinois and the U.S. The road is called Snake Road, but it's also known as LaRue Road or Forest Service Road No. 345. The road southwest of Murphysboro is open to pedestrians, but closed to vehicles until Oct. 30. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that people from across the country come to witness the migration. About 66 percent of amphibians and 59 percent of reptiles that live in Illinois are in the area. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settings ACCEPT Mia and Clay Lamberts advocacy efforts to stop a menthol tobacco ban in Minneapolis were recognized at the annual Smoker Friendly Conference. By Michael Davis BROOMFIELD, Colo. Single-store operators Mia and Clay Lambert were recognized by NATO Executive Director Thomas Briant at the 21st Annual Smoker Friendly Tobacco Conference on Friday, August 25, for their advocacy efforts in attempting to defeat a menthol tobacco ban in Minneapolis earlier this month. As reported in NACS Daily throughout the citys consideration of the ordinance, the ban, which goes into effect August 1, 2018, eliminates the ability for convenience and fuel retailers to sell menthol cigarettes as well as other menthol, mint and wintergreen flavored tobacco products, and only allows retailers who restrict access to customers who are 18 or older the ability to sell these products. The ordinance ultimately reduces the number of stores selling menthol, mint and wintergreen flavored tobacco products from more than 400 to less than 30. The Lamberts did everything right, Briant said, referring to the Lamberts advocacy efforts to educate the Minneapolis City Council on the ban, as well as engaging their customers, participating in TV interviews, personal lobbying and testifying at council meetings. Ultimately, we lost, Briant said, adding that this is the model retailers still must follow to fight these and other bans at the state and local level. The Lamberts, who operate Metro Petro in Minneapolis, are one of many independent NACS members who understand the importance of grassroots advocacy and getting involved in the legislative and regulatory processes within their community. For more information on NACS advocacy efforts and how retailers and suppliers can become more engaged, visit convenience.org/advocacy. Michael Davis is the NACS vice president of member services. He can be reached at mdavis@convenience.org. German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech during an election rally in Ludwigshafen, Germany, August 30, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] BERLIN - It's only less than a month before the German federal elections day on September 24. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is leading in polls. But the overall situation in Germany is not so good as ordinary people believe. The long-term and sustainable solutions for refugee issues, and the rise of right-wing populism, among other difficult issues, need to be addressed by Merkel and the German government. To some extent, Germany is enjoying some best times after the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Its economy keeps gaining momentum for growth, its export is robust, and economic think-tanks keep raising their expectations of Germany's GDP growth rates. Employment is booming, as Merkel in her campaign outline vowed to achieve full employment by 2025. The sound economic situation made the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) enjoy its upper hand against the Social Democrats (SPD), a center-left party traditionally representing workers and employees and always paying attention to social justice. But in its coalition with SPD, Merkel's center-right Union has addressed a series of issues concerning social justice and showed center-left political stances, including supporting a welfare state and legal minimum salaries, and turning off Germany's nuclear power plants. SPD has also been accused of lacking difference between itself and the Union in both domestic and foreign issues. Magnetic fields in distant galaxy are new piece of cosmic puzzle (Nanowerk News) Astronomers have measured magnetic fields in a galaxy 4.6 billion light-years away -- a big clue to understanding how magnetic fields formed and evolved over cosmic time. In an article published Aug. 28 in Nature Astronomy ("Detection of microgauss coherent magnetic fields in a galaxy five billion years ago"), a collaboration led by Sui Ann Mao, the Minerva Research Group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and a former postdoctoral Jansky Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reports the discovery of large, well-ordered magnetic fields in a galaxy far, far away. Because of the time it takes light to travel such immense distances, astrophysicists observe cosmologically distant magnetic fields as they were 4.6 billion years ago. The new observations provide hints at how magnetic fields have grown into galactic-sized structures since the beginning of the universe. Light from the distant quasar 7.9 billion light-years away is bent and magnified in this schematic view by the foreground galaxy's mass 4.6 billion light-years away in a phenomenon called 'gravitational lensing.' Sight lines toward images A and B probe different magnetic fields and gas conditions through different parts of the lensing galaxy. (Image: Sui Ann Mao) Like the humble refrigerator magnet, astronomical objects such as galaxies, stars, and even our own Earth have magnetic fields that attract and repel other magnets and electrically charged matter. Understanding magnetic fields is essential to understanding fundamental questions about the universe. Among other things, magnetic fields play a crucial role in the processes that form stars out of interstellar gas, determine how stars affect their surroundings, and indicate whether planets may or may not be habitable. In the Big Bang theory for the origin of the universe, there were no magnetic fields in the cosmos. So when and how did magnetic fields arise? Scientists, including Mao's team, aim to answer the question by observing the strength and organization of magnetic fields in galaxies as far away -- and therefore as far back in time -- as possible, when the universe was much younger. "By catching magnetic fields when they're so young, we can rule out some of the theories of where they come from," explains Ellen Zweibel, a professor of astronomy and physics at UW-Madison and a co-author of the new study. Astronomers had measured large, well-ordered magnetic fields in our own Milky Way and in galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood before. But Mao's team is the first to successfully measure the magnetic field structure of a galaxy so distant in both space and time, pushing the boundaries of what's capable with current radio telescope technology and analysis techniques. With the National Radio Astronomy Obesrvatory's Very Large Array, a collection of 27 radio telescopes in New Mexico arranged to function together as a single enormous telescope, Mao observed a distant galaxy with a specific configuration optimal for measuring the galaxy's magnetic fields. Hubble Space Telescope image of the gravitational lensing system in the new research. The background quasar is lensed by the foreground galaxy into images A and B. (Image: Sui Ann Mao) The galaxy lies in front of a quasar, one of the brightest objects in the sky. The light from the quasar appears as two distinct images around the foreground galaxy, bent and magnified by the galaxy's mass in a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Mao and her team measured how properties of the two images of the quasar differed, affected by the magnetic fields of the galaxy, to determine the strength and organization of those magnetic fields. "It's a beautiful experiment," Zweibel says of Mao's experimental design. Zweibel explains that the setup eliminates the need to account for how looking through different parts of the Milky Way would affect the observations. Since the two views of the quasar are observed along two very close lines of sight through the Milky Way, they are affected in the same way and can be compared. Mao first proposed this experiment to Zweibel when she was a postdoctoral scientist at UW-Madison. She says Madison is a stimulating environment for studying and discussing magnetic fields in the universe because of a critical mass of scientists researching the phenomenon and the annual Midwest Magnetic Fields Workshop that takes place in Madison. Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. On Aug. 31, 2011, paramedics rushed an unresponsive 3-year-old girl to Childrens Hospital Oakland. She had a black eye and bruised ear, and abrasions on her face, chest, and neck. She would never regain consciousness. Three days later, Eden Lynch died from her injuries. On August 31, 2011, paramedics rushed an unresponsive three-year-old girl to Childrens Hospital Oakland, She would never regain consciousness and died three days later. In 2016, her father was charged by the U.S. Coast Guard with felony child endangerment in connection to her death. Now, criminal charges are also coming against Eden's last known caretaker following questions by the Investigative Unit. Senior Investigative Reporter Vicky Nguyen reports on a story that first aired Aug. 30, 2017. Edens death was ruled a homicide by the coroner, but nearly six years later, Edens mother and maternal grandparents reached out to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit, concerned and frustrated because the Alameda County district attorney never filed charges. Following a series of questions about Edens case, NBC Bay Area has learned the DA has charged Edens last known caregiver with felony child abuse, with a special allegation for willful harm resulting in death. She is the second person to face charges in connection to Edens death. Last year, Edens father, a member of the United States Coast Guard, was charged with four counts of felony child endangerment. I was amazed, Edens maternal grandmother Rhonda Lynch said. I had waited for something to happen for almost six years and all but given up hope that anyone would be held accountable for their actions in Eden's death. My Baby is Perfect Eden Lynch was born June 8, 2008. She was my world; she was a blessing. mother Erica Lynch said. But I did feel guilty for bringing her into a broken family. Rhonda Lynch At 20-years-old, Erica never imagined shed be a single mom. She left her boyfriend, Edens father, Jimmy Barlow, a month after learning she was pregnant. The two started dating at 17, and Erica said over the years, Jimmys use of alcohol and his temper left her feeling afraid and isolated. He just broke me, Erica said. He broke me emotionally to where I didn't know how to leave. But Erica said the pregnancy was the catalyst for her to move on, and to be strong. I couldnt do it for myself but I could do it for my child, she said. But Erica says she never went to police to document the abuse. And when questioned about it by CPS investigators after Edens death, Jimmy denied any domestic violence or issues with alcohol. Rhonda Lynch With the support of her parents, Eric and Rhonda Lynch, Erica brought Eden into a loving home in Southern California. She was a beautiful infant, Rhonda said. She came out with her eyes wide open as if shed already been here and looking around and perfect in every way. I remember my dad saying, dont think all babies are this easy, Erica said. And Im like, oh, my baby is perfect. And she was. But in October of 2010, when Eden was two and a half years old, Erica says she was the victim of a violent crime. Police records show an acquaintance was arrested for kidnap and rape. Erica told NBC Bay Area she was too scared to testify and prosecutors were forced to drop the charges. She said she turned to drugs to cope with the trauma, and eventually, she was arrested for burglary. Child Protective Services removed Eden from her care. With Erica incarcerated, Edens grandparents fought to keep the grandchild they helped raise since birth. In family court paperwork, Erica wrote Jimmy had visited Eden just five times since she was born and that he had never been left alone with her overnight or for longer than 8 hours. But a judge awarded custody to Barlow. Rhonda Lynch It was heartbreaking, Eric Lynch said. Sitting in a courthouse parking lot watching him drive off with her. Eden Moves to the Bay Area When Eden was born, Jimmy was in Florida, where he enlisted in the Coast Guard. He was not listed on her birth certificate and the Lynch family said he didnt meet Eden for months. He was just getting reacquainted with Eden in April 2011 when he moved her from Southern California to Alameda where he was now stationed. United States Coast Guard He and Eden would now share an apartment with Jimmys new girlfriend Holli De Alba and her daughter, coincidentally born the exact same day as Eden. Both girls were about to turn three in June. Just four months later, Eden was dead. Suspicious Death According to medical records and CPS reports obtained by NBC Bay Area, Eden was home with Holli on August 31, 2011. De Alba told CPS investigators Eden woke up later than usual that morning and had a breakfast of Cheerios. Holli said she noticed Eden was in a zoned out zombie like state where she continued to stack and stack blocksfor 2 hours. She said she brought Eden to a toddler princess table where she encouraged her to play with Play-Doh. While De Alba was in another room on the computer, she said heard a thud and found Eden in a seizure like state with her eyes rolled back and her hands and feet rigid. She told investigators she called 911 after trying to get Eden to wake up with cold water. Paramedics rushed Eden to the hospital, but it was too late. She was unresponsive and would never regain consciousness. She died three days later on September 3, 2011. CPS records show De Alba and Barlow told medical staff at Childrens Hospital Oakland that Eden had fallen down 7-8 concrete steps in front of their home nine days prior. But doctors were not convinced. They immediately alerted Alameda police and Child Protective Services (CPS) to investigate. Eden, according to medical records, suffered a traumatic brain injury. Doctors noted scrapes on her chest and neck, as well as bruising on her right eye and ear. The Lynch family was also suspicious. Erica said she was in disbelief when she heard the story about Edens fall. Rhonda Lynch Why didnt they take her to the hospital that day? Erica asked. Why didnt you go help an innocent child? Barlow and De Alba Explain CPS records state De Alba was home with Eden the day the couple said she fell down the concrete stairs while Jimmy was at work. De Alba told investigators Eden appeared fine and wanted to eat a banana after the fall. But in the days leading up to Edens collapse, things were seemingly rocky in their Alameda apartment. De Alba told CPS investigators she and Barlow argued over him helping female co-worker move a piece of furniture. The social worker noted Holli becomes jealous and upset because it is a female or because the father lied about it. Wednesday, the day after Eden reportedly fell, De Alba told CPS investigators she was fed up and feeling that she could not only be used to care for Eden and she took her own daughter to be in Vallejo for the rest of the week. By Saturday, Barlow heads over to patch things up with Holli and they leave Eden in the care of De Albas mother while they stay in a motel. De Alba told CPS investigators that she noticed on Monday, again when Barlow is at work, Eden is not acting normal. She is not energetic, not chatty and not very engaging as she normally is and she does not want to eat. The next day, De Alba recalled Eden pooped her pants and smeared it all over herself. She said they drove to see Jimmy and that he popped Eden on her butt a couple of times, before leaving Holli to clean her up. She later urinated on herself and Holli said her behavior was still odd and that she was not herself. She also noticed Eden was scratching her face and pounding her head on the wall that day. Jimmy told CPS investigators Edens black eye, bruises (sic) ear, and scraped nose were from when she fell down the stairs, and said Eden urinating and defecating on herself was because she had been in and out of potty training in the past and he did not find the behavior out of the ordinary for Eden. He told investigators in the report that he had seen Eden in a dazed state before and that it coincided with her scratching her face. On Wednesday, Eden collapsed. Click here to read the complete CPS report Homicide The suspicions of doctors were soon confirmed. The coroner ruled Edens death a homicide and listed the cause as blunt force trauma to the head. Click here to read the coroner report While CPS investigators noted Barlow and De Alba severely neglected and failed to obtain necessary medical attention for Eden Lynch that could have possibly saved her life, they said there was not enough evidence to determine Jimmy and Holli did anything directly to cause [Edens] head injury. CPS turned the investigation over to Alameda police detectives. US Coast Guard Takes Action About a month after Edens death, police were close to making an arrest, according to the CPS report. But weeks turned into months, then years, and the arrest never came. The case, which never made headlines, went cold. In the meantime, Barlow and De Alba moved to Alaska a few months after Edens death. He continued to serve at the Coast Guard station in Kodiak. They married and had two children. Five years passed, then a surprise. Last summer, prosecutors with the Coast Guard filed four counts of child endangerment against Barlow for failing to protect and care for Eden after her injuries. Although it wasnt a homicide charge, the Lynch family was relieved. Rhonda Lynch That made me feel like somebody cared about Eden besides us, Rhonda Lynch said. I thank God every day for the Coast guard, Eric Lynch said. Theyve done an awesome job. The Coast Guard declined to comment on the case because it is active. Click here to read the Barlow charging document Barlow pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Colby Vokey, told NBC Bay Area that Eden died as a result of an accident and theres no evidence of any kind of abuse. Neither Holli nor Jimmy did anything harmful to Eden to cause her death, Vokey said. Jimmy absolutely loved his daughter. This tore him up when it happened and it tore him up for five years and with his trial, he has to re-live it over and over again. Questioning the Alameda County District Attorneys Office The Lynch family now wondered how the Coast Guard was able to come up with enough evidence to file charges against Barlow, but Alameda County prosecutors could not do the same with De Alba? After years of being told that prosecutors were working on it and not to contact the media about the case, Rhonda Lynch said, she reached out to the Investigative Unit in late June 2017, nearly six years after Edens death. I dont have any faith in Alameda, Eric Lynch said. If they were going to do something, they would have done it by now. Alameda County prosecutors told NBC Bay Area they could not discuss the case because it was still considered an open investigation. Questions for De Alba While Barlow faced charges from the Coast Guard, De Alba returned to the Bay Area with her children. After multiple attempts to reach De Alba by phone, email and via her social media accounts, the Investigative Unit reached her in person outside of her mothers Vallejo home. De Alba declined to answer questions about what happened to Eden or whether she had anything to do with Edens death. Justice? On August 18th, following 6 weeks of questions from the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit, the Alameda County District Attorneys Office filed felony child abuse charges against De Alba, with a special allegation of willful harm or injury resulting in death. Prosecutors allege Eden was in the sole care of Holli and she failed to seek medical help as Edens condition got worse. Click here to read De Alba's charging document A video timeline showing the key events leading up to Edens death and through the criminal investigation that followed. We owe it as child abuse investigators and police officers and prosecutors to bring justice for this victim, said Dan Scott, a retired Los Angeles Sheriffs detective and one of Californias foremost experts on investigating crimes against children. Most recently he served on a blue ribbon commission investigating child abuse. After reviewing Edens case, Scott said there was likely enough evidence for Alameda County prosecutors to charge both Jimmy and Holli with child endangerment. You look at the injury, and then you look at the explanation, and its pretty easy to see when they dont fit, Scott said. The 30 year law enforcement veteran said child abuse cases can be difficult to prosecute. There are often no witnesses and it can be challenging to separate an intentional act with what caregivers say was an accident. Even though there are two people and we don't know who caused the injury that resulted in death, they both had a reasonable expectation to protect that child and seek medical care. Scott said. Meanwhile, Erica Lynch said shes been substance abuse free since 2013, and now works as a counselor to help those struggling with addiction. The Lynch family has new hope for justice as they await Barlows court-martial, scheduled to begin in December. The Coast Guard said Barlow is presumed innocent until proven guilty and remains on active duty. I feel a sense of relief. There will finally be justice, but it doesnt bring her back, Erica said. "I would like to see both Jimmy Barlow and Holli pay for what they did to my granddaughter," Eric Lynch said. NBC Bay Area will continue to follow both cases as they unfold. If you have a tip for the Investigative Unit email Vicky Nguyen at vicky@nbcbayarea.com or you can email theunit@nbcbayarea.com or call 888-996-TIPS. Follow Vicky Nguyen on Twitter @vickydnguyen and Facebook www.facebook.com/VickyNguyenTV Authorities on Thursday identified the suspect who shot and killed a sheriff's deputy and wounded two other officers in a Sacramento hotel shootout as a man from the San Francisco Bay Area and said he was hospitalized in critical condition. The suspect, Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, 32, of Castro Valley, was suffering from life threatening injuries but has not been booked with any charges, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tony Turnbull. Littlecloud fatally shot Deputy Robert French, 52, on Wednesday with an assault rifle as Littlecloud tried to flee a hotel after officers knocked on his hotel room door as part of a stolen vehicle investigation, Turnbull said. French died on the way to the hospital. Two California Highway Patrol officers who were shot and wounded were expected to survive. Littlecloud has a long criminal history. The Alameda County probation department said he was on the run, wanted on two felony warrants. Assistant Chief Esa Ehmen-Krause said Littlecloud has served time in the California prison system and was facing warrants on other charges ranging from federal drug violations and weapons charges. "Mr. Littlecloud failed to appear for a court date, and a bench warrant was sent thereafter," Ehmen-Krause said. Littlecloud was released from the Soledad state prison in 2014 as part of Californias re-alignment program to relieve prison overcrowding, Ehmen-Krause said. Six other sheriff's deputies involved in the shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation is conducted, which Turnbull described as routine when officer-involved shootings happen. The Sacramento County District Attorney's office will also conduct an independent review, he said. Priscilla Prendez, of Oakland, California, faces charges of vehicle theft and felony evasion in connection with Wednesday's events, which began as part of a routine stolen vehicle investigation. The police believed Prendez was connected to a stolen vehicle ring inside the hotel, Turnbull said. The hotel's guests were trapped Wednesday in their rooms for most of the day as police methodically cleared the area and confirmed no other gunmen stayed behind in the hotel room. In another shooting of California police Wednesday night, two officers in Bakersfield were hospitalized in stable condition they responded to a call about a disturbance at a home and ended up in a shootout in which the suspect was killed. The events leading to Sacramento shooting started with a routine investigation by a car-theft task force involving officers from multiple agencies. Investigators suspected a car-theft ring was being run out of a Ramada Inn in an unincorporated neighborhood of Sacramento. Two women who got into a stolen vehicle were chased for 20 miles before being apprehended in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. Arresting officers learned Prendez of Oakland, California, was on probation and had booked a room in the Ramada Inn. No details have been disclosed about her relationship to Littlecloud, and the police have not named the second woman in her car. When officers knocked on the hotel room door, a gunman opened fire through the door and walls, striking two California Highway Patrol officers before turning to the balcony and shooting French, who was outside monitoring the back door, and fleeing. Littlecloud was found with a rifle and high-capacity magazine, which are illegal to purchase in California, Turnbull said. The car he attempted to flee in was also stolen, Turnbull said. It was unclear why the suspects responded so aggressively when police arrived, Turnbull said. "Maybe that will come out in the investigation. Maybe we'll never know," Turnbull said. "Either way, it's irrational." Jeff Marshall, who lives near the hotel, said he heard gunshots and tires squealing and saw a gray Dodge speed by his home, going the wrong way down a busy street as vehicles and pedestrians scrambled to get out of the way. "It was like the wild West," Marshall said. French was a 21-year veteran of the sheriff's office. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones described French him as a well-known, well-respected deputy. He trained new officers and was a "go-to guy for advice and counsel, not just career advice but tactical advice and things like that," Jones said. French is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and grandchildren and a sister. "Words aren't going to make an appropriate appreciation of him as a man or his career," Jones said. The mayors of San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other big California cities urged lawmakers Wednesday to address the states housing shortage. Before meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol, a coalition of mayors representing Californias 11 largest cities told reporters the state isnt providing enough money to subsidize affordable housing for low-income people. They also said some state regulations are impeding housing development in their communities, where home prices are increasing rapidly. Their pleas come as lawmakers negotiate a package of bills to address the problem. Leaders in the Assembly and Senate have said the package will include a $4 billion housing bond, a real estate transaction fee and regulatory reform. But they have not provided details about all of the bills included in the deal. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the lack of affordable housing is the biggest problem facing Californias biggest cities. The Democratic mayor said he and his counterparts from other cities want the housing package to give city officials more power to address the crisis and to provide the cities with more state money for subsidized housing. When we have significant numbers of working families living in their cars, we have a crisis, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, a Democrat, told reporters on the steps of the state Capitol building. I urge legislators to be bold. ... People are willing to pay more to actually solve the problem. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, said he and the other mayors agree the housing deal should provide money for affordable housing and reduce burdensome regulations that slow housing production. Lawmakers this week changed the main funding bills being discussed to direct more affordable housing money to local governments and to home loans for veterans. A vote on the bills could come as early as Friday. Lawmakers and others involved in the negotiations admit they face an uphill battle convincing two-thirds of the Legislature to support one of the most controversial measures, a fee on real estate transaction documents that would generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year to fund affordable housing. BOX SCORE SAN DIEGO With Buster Posey still sidelined, a lineup full of struggling hitters, and a lefty on the mound for the Padres, Bruce Bochy seriously mixed it up Wednesday. Gorkys Hernandez, who doesnt have a homer, hit third for the first time in his big league career. Pablo Sandoval played first for the first time since injuring himself while doing the splits at the base in 2012. It was an odd-looking lineup. It also didnt work. Travis Wood, San Diego's starting pitcher, hit a solo shot in the third and that was all the Padres needed. They kept tacking on, winning 5-0 and taking the series. The Giants dropped five of six on the trip and scored just 10 runs. You've made it this far, so here are five more things to know ... --- Wood was tough on the Giants as a Cubs reliever, but they wore him down Wednesday. Wood was pulled with one out in the fifth, having thrown 97 pitches. Kelby Tomlinson did most of the damage. Hitting second, Tomlinson saw 24 pitches while drawing two walks and picking up a single off Wood. The Giants couldn't take advantage, leaving the bases loaded in the fifth. --- Craig Stammen replaced Wood and blooped a single off Joe Paniks glove in right field, giving the nights pitchers a fourth hit. Ty Blach had a pair. Giants pitchers have three multi-hit games this season. Blach, who singled and doubled in his first two at-bats, has done it twice. Madison Bumgarner did it on opening day, of course. --- Blach was charged with three earned in 5 2/3 innings. After a run of five consecutive starts of at least seven innings, he has thrown 22 total innings over his past four starts, allowing 19 earned runs. With Johnny Cueto set to return, perhaps hes the pitcher headed for the bullpen. --- Kyle Crick has been pitching well, but he had a rough one, with his occasional lack of command showing. Crick entered with a runner on second and two outs in the sixth. After a walk, two singles and a wild pitch, the Padres had tacked on two additional runs. --- They did not serve chicken wings in the press box. In an escalating tit-for-tat, the United States forced Russia on Thursday to shutter its consulate in San Francisco and scale back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York, as relations between the two former Cold War foes continued to unravel. The Trump administration said the move constituted its response to the Kremlins unwarranted and detrimental decision to force the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. Under the order, Russia must close its San Francisco consulate by Saturday, along with Russias chancery annex in Washington and a consular annex in New York. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Still, she said the U.S. hoped both countries could now move toward improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. Earlier this month, the Kremlin retaliated for stepped-up U.S. sanctions on Russia by announcing the U.S. would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by 755 people. During meetings in the Philippines shortly thereafter, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson left open the possibility the U.S., in turn, would retaliate for that move, and promised Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov a formal response by Sept. 1. The U.S. has said as a result, it will stop issuing visas at its consulates in Russia in cities other than Moscow. A senior U.S. official said Thursday that the U.S. reduction of diplomatic staff is complete. There was no immediate reaction from the Russian government. But given the back-and-forth nature of the escalating tensions over the past year, it was likely the Kremlin would feel compelled to respond by taking further action against the U.S. Nevertheless, the United States argued that the score has been evened, urging Russia not to retaliate for the retaliation. U.S. officials pointed out that Russia, when it ordered the cut in U.S. diplomats, had argued it was merely bringing the size of the two countries diplomatic presences into parity. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides, Nauert said. The newly arrived Russian ambassador to the United States has invoked Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in saying Moscow will carefully consider its response to the order to close its consulate in San Francisco and scale back operations in Washington and New York. Anatoly Antonov flew into Washington on Thursday, hours after the State Departments announcement of the closure. Russian news agencies quoted him as saying: We have to act calmly and professionally. Speaking like Lenin, we dont need hysterical impulses, citing a Lenin maxim. Not much activity was detected outside the consulate building at 2790 Green Street in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood Thursday afternoon. A white van bearing the consulate logo could be seen parked outside. Several people, including aged relatives of people living in Russia, had shown up to get their passports renewed, and were surprised to hear the news. Women with suitcases could also be seen coming out of the building, but nobody offered any comment. News crews with cameras were parked outside the building. Daniel, a dual Russian citizen who was visiting the consulate Thursday, told NBC Bay Area he was blindsighted. "A lot of people feel blindsighted," he said. Back in December, then President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S., including four employees and their families from the Russian consulate. The four Russian consulate employees in San Francisco including a chef accused of being a spy by the U.S. government were ordered to leave the United States within 72 hours. At that time, the Consul General called Obama's accusations against their staff "bizarre and ridiculous." Full statement from the U.S. State Department: "The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries. In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted." Riya Bhattacharjee and Sam Brock contributed to this report. A growing wildfire burning near Grass Valley in Nevada County closed roads and caused mandatory evacuations Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The blaze, dubbed the Pleasant Fire, was burning in South Yuba River State Park, just off Highway 49, and had scorched more than 200 acres, including multiple structures, fire officials said. All roads between Highway 49 and Oak Tree Road, north of Tyler Foote Road, were under mandatory evacuations, the agency said. An evacuation center was opened at First Baptist Church, 1866 Ridge Road in Grass Valley, Cal Fire said. No further details were available. Immigration agents have not arrested any non-criminal immigrants in the Houston area in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, an agency spokesman told NBC News. The suspension of arrests is a step beyond the promise made by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ahead of the storm. On Friday, the agency said "routine non-criminal immigration enforcement operations will not be conducted at evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks." "Our priority in the hurricane-stricken areas is saving lives," ICE said in a statement. "While were not conducting immigration enforcement in affected areas, we will not allow criminal enterprises to take advantage of the situation, and ICE personnel will remain vigilant toward such activities." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that people in need were not being asked to produce their papers. If you tried helping Harvey relief efforts by texting the American Red Cross to donate, you might have received an unexpected message back. But the Red Cross said that's no reason to worry. "Whats happening is that the American public is extraordinarily generous and were so thankful for this," said Catherine Rabenstine, the regional spokesperson for the American Red Cross of Northern Illinois. "There has been an inundation of text messages to our text-to-give line." Some who texted to donate reported receiving a message back that read: Hello! Because of the overwhelming response to Hurricane Harvey, donations are taking longer than usual to process. If you'd like to join the queue to donate via text, reply CONTINUE now. It may take up to 48 hours for you to receive a prompt to confirm your $10 donation. Alternatively, if you are eager to make a gift now, visit http://lil.ms/1td5/415uqz. Rabenstine said those who reply with "continue" will see their donations processed between 24 and 48 hours of their text. "Nothing has stopped being processed, its just a little bit delayed and were so thankful that so many people are being so generous," she said. So far, more than 35,000 people have sought refuge at Red Cross and partner shelters following "catastrophic" flooding in Texas. Harvey made landfall in southeast Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. It lingered over Houston as a tropical storm, causing unprecedented flooding and stranding residents who remained in their homes. Early Wednesday, Harvey made a second landfall, this time hitting southwestern Louisiana. The Red Cross is also calling for blood donations, being accepted throughout the country, on its website. NBC Universal and our parent company Comcast are working to assist the American Red Cross in supporting Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. "We are just so thankful that the American public has seen the need to give and help support these efforts," Rabenstine said. Several other organizations in the Chicago area and nationwide are accepting donations to help with the relief efforts. Click here for more ways to donate. Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed the state's highly-debated, "historic" education funding bill, calling it "a wonderful achievement." "Today we are making Illinois history," Rauner said. "Today we are putting our students and our teachers first. Today we are making sure that every day we make our students and our teachers in Illinois our top priority. Today we we ensure that in the future, every child in Illinois has an equal chance at excellent education, every student in Illinois has an equal opportunity to achieve the American dream." Surrounded by students at Ebinger Elementary School in Chicago, Rauner signed the measure the same week the Illinois Senate and House passed the agreement. Senators voted 38-13 in favor of House Amendment 5 to Senate Bill 1947, the deal that was hammered out through a series of closed-door meetings of the four top legislative leaders. "This is what compromise looks like. This is it. A bill that none of us like at 100 percent," Sen. Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat from Westchester, said during debate. "Our battle to get to this point is worth it," added Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican from Peru. "Don't let perfect get in the way of possible." Rauner has already vowed to sign the bill, which will move Illinois to an "evidence-based model" of education funding, taking into account each districts individual needs, as well as its local revenue sources, when appropriating state aid prioritizing districts that are furthest from being fully-funded. Without an evidence-based model in place, no state funding can be disbursed to K-12 schools across Illinois at all, due to a provision in the budget passed in July that makes aid contingent on an overhaul of the funding formula. As a result, the state missed its deadline to make general state aid payments to schools for the first time in history earlier this month, according to Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, leaving many districts facing uncertainty amid preparations for the beginning of the school year. "Educators and most importantly parents and children everywhere in Illinois can finally exhale and have confidence that their schools will open and stay open," Mendoza said in a statement following the Senate vote. "I have prepared my Office to release an estimated $540 million in General State Aid owed to schools for the month of August as soon as the Governor signs the bill and after the State Board of Education transmits these vouchers to my Office. It is anticipated these payments will be issued within the next few days." The deal, first announced last Thursday, initially failed in the House Monday after hourslong caucus meetings and criticism from several stakeholders, including representatives on both sides of the aisle. One of the more controversial components of the bill is a proposal to provide state aid to students who attend private schools through a tuition tax credit program. Cardinal Blase Cupich has long advocated for the proposal, a five-year trial program beginning with the 2018 school year, but the Chicago Teachers Union called it a "voucher scheme to help the wealthy." The CTU has been a major critic of the plan that will earmark up to $75 million for scholarship tax credits. Lawmakers said those credits will go to low- and middle-income parents, impacting roughly 6,000 private school students whose families make less than $73,000 per year. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel applauded the agreement, having said previously that the bill would give cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools what they wanted and more. "For far too long, Illinois has ranked dead last in the country for funding its highest poverty school districts. Now we are poised to reform that inequitable and insufficient funding formula," he said in a statement Tuesday, after thanking lawmakers the day before for their efforts to "put politics aside to address decades of inequity." CPS said the bill will provide the district with roughly $450 million more, with $76 million more in state aid under the new funding formula, $18.5 million for early childhood education and $13 million for bilingual education, minus a $4 million loss from various shifts in the state budget. The measure will allow Chicago to raise its property taxes by roughly five percent overall, resulting in an average 2.5 percent increase per homeowner expected to generate an additional $125 million. Finally, the deal will shift normal pension costs for CPS - the only district for which Illinois does not make employer contributions - to the state, allocating an additional $221 million to the beleagured district. In total, that financial package has led more conservative critics to call the original Senate Bill 1 a "Chicago bailout" throughout the monthslong negotiations. Rauner himself has also been critical of the deal, telling business leaders in southern Illinois Friday that lawmakers were "on the verge of what is largely good education funding reform," but again blamed Madigan for inserting "a bunch of bad things in it," like funding for CPS that the governor said "shouldn't go to Chicago." "Its not fair but its going to end up being a compromise," Rauner said. "Its not where wed like it to be and what Ill try to do is fix the problems with it in subsequent legislation." While Rauner did not specify what those future changes might be, he issued a statement following the bill's passage in the Senate on Tuesday that struck a different tone. "For far too long, too many low-income students in our state have been trapped in underfunded, failing schools. The system needed to change. We have changed it," he said, thanking the leaders for their work. "We have put aside our differences and put our kids first. It's a historic day for Illinois." The governor vowed Monday after the final House vote to sign the bill quickly "in order to ensure that our schools many of which have already opened for the 2017-2018 school year receive their much-needed resources." Sources said Rauner, who made rare appearances on the floor of both chambers to thank lawmakers after their respective votes, has invited the four legislative leaders, Emanuel, and Cupich to attend the signing in Chicago Thursday. One day after Supt. Eddie Johnson underwent a kidney transplant, he got a surprise visit -- from his first deputy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "We brought him matzo ball soup from Mannys," Emanuel said. "It's an old recipe we got in the family. He looks great, he sounds great, his spirits are up." Johnson's doctors at Rush University Medical Center agreed Chicago's top cop is "recovering very well from his successful kidney transplant operation," noting his vital signs are stable and his kidney is "working perfectly." His doctors even said Johnson, who received a living donor transplant from his son, Daniel, is already out of bed and listening to his emails. "The kidney re-profused very well," Dr. Edward Hollinger said. "So when the blood went into the kidney, it started making urine right away." That is a good sign for the 57-year-old Johnson who is expected to spend the next four to six weeks recovering from the surgery and is already talking about work. "I think we got like 10 seconds of how he was doing, and he immediately wanted to talk shop," Emanuel said. Doctors said they expect a speedy recovery for Johnson and noted they are seeing an uptick in organ donation in the wake of the superintendents openness about his surgery. "We have 4,000 people in Illinois waiting for a life-saving transplant," Gift of Hope CEO J. Kevin Cmunt said, "and we are one of the leading areas of the country when it comes to donations thanks to the generosity of Chicagoans." And the superintendent is grateful. "The superintendent has emphasized throughout this how important donation is," Hollinger said, "and how he is hopeful that others in Chicago can receive the gift that he has got." A man from Hobart, Indiana, has requested chemical castration as a condition of his release, the Post-Tribune reports. Michael Bessigano, 46, has been in the Lake County Jail since January for violating his probation by receiving obscene matters from an interactive computer service, the paper reports. He has asked a federal court, as a condition of his release, if it will consider his taking a drug that would reduce his testosterone levels. "To the extent that Mr. Bessigano has accidentally injured or killed animals during the course of his sexual exploits, that harm is no greater than that imposed by meat-eaters and leather-wearers nationwide," his attorney wrote in a court filing, according to the Post-Tribune. The paper reports Bessiagano as having animal abuse charges as far back from the early 1990s. An associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says the hormone treatment could work, the paper reports. Bessigano served more than four years in prison for the 2002 animal cruelty conviction for having sex with a chicken, then killing the animal. He was released from prison on Jan. 29, then arrested again on June 12 on allegations of a parole violation, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana. He was charged with sexually abusing and killing a chicken at a Valparaiso motel in 2001. A Joliet mother who is believed to have killed herself and her twin daughters in an apparent murder-suicide had complained her "body felt like it was on fire" before the horrific killings, the children's grandmother reportedly said. In an interview with the Joliet Herald-News, Norma Henning said 41-year-old Celisa Henning had been experiencing health problems since a previous car crash and had seen roughly two dozen doctors, even visiting Mayo Clinic, before her death. Norma Henning told the publication her daughter-in-law was "at her wits' end" but the family "never suspected something like this." The mother and her twin daughters Makayla and Addison, who were just shy of their sixth birthday, were found dead earlier this week in their south suburban home, according to authorities. Celisa died of a single gunshot wound to the head, and Makayla and Addison Henning each died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Will County Coroners office. Their final causes and manners of death will be determined at a later dates pending police, autopsy and toxicological reports, officials said. Police are currently investigating the triple shooting as apparent murder-suicide. Just after 3 p.m., officers responded to a death investigation at the home in the 400 block of North Reed Street in Joliet, according to a statement from Joliet police. When officers arrived they were met by a family member who directed them inside the home, where they witnessed the disturbing scene police described only as "tragic and horrible," authorities said. This is an on-going investigation into a very tragic incident, Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton said. Witnesses said the father of the children made the gruesome discovery and called police Monday afternoon, though authorities did not immediately confirm that information. "It's kind of crazy," said neighbor Jesus Franco. "I don't know why this happened. We never seen things like this happen in this area... never." The twin sisters were just getting ready to start kindergarten at a nearby Catholic school, neighbors said. Adele Bryant said the children would play with her dog in their yard and she would come over often to let them play. She had even recently brought the girls a back-to-school gift, a package of art pencils and paper, saying they were excited for their first year of kindergarten. "I just wrote them a little note and wished them a happy school and hopefully they would become great artists, they loved drawing," she said. Bryant said the family seemed "very normal" and she was "shocked" when she heard the news. "It's a very sad loss to have a family erased," she said. Mayor Bob ODekirk also offered his condolences "to the family and friends." Gas prices are going up in Connecticut because of the damage Harvey has caused in Texas since Friday. AAA says the average price of gas across the state has increased three cents in the past week to $2.50 a gallon and prices will keep climbing over Labor Day weekend and into September. When you see whats going on in Houston, you can hardly refer to an increase in our gas prices as pain at the pump, AAA spokesperson Amy Parmenter said in a statement. That said, the timing of the increase is unfortunate for all those planning one final road trip this summer. As the energy sector in the southeast Texas Gulf Coast deals with flooding in the aftermath of Harvey, it will be days or even weeks before is back to normal operations. The region from Corpus Christi, Texas, where Harvey made landfall, to the Louisiana state line accounts for about 3 percent of the U.S. economy and is a crucial export market for oil and chemicals. Exxon, Shell and other companies have reported to Texas regulators that some of their storage tanks and other facilities near Houston were damaged by the torrential rains and flooding. Most of the reports seem to indicate relatively minor damage, but still it could be days before crews can assess matters and make repairs. Parts of the Colonial Pipeline, the main fuel line that runs from Texas to New York, remains shut down partly because with refineries closed, there is nothing to ship, but also because of Harvey-related damage. Colonial Pipeline Co., the biggest fuel transporter in the U.S., said Wednesday night in a statement that a line carrying diesel and jet fuel is temporarily shut down and that a line carrying gasoline would close today. The company plans to resume normal operations as conditions improve. One analyst told NBC News that this could be a major blow to the countrys fuel system. Some refineries in the Northeast are also now shipping supplies to areas of the country where supplies are low. A Manchester farm will be able to offer goat yoga again. Aussakita Acres in Manchester, like other farms across the nation, started to offer yoga with goats, but the owner of the farm was in a battle with the town over a cease and desist order until the zoning board of appeals overturned it last night. A town zoning official had sent a cease and desist letter that said Aussakita Acres wasnt zoned for yoga, even if it did include goats. Its a brand new way to interact with the animals in a farm setting, Tracy Longoria, co-owner of Aussakita Acres, said. I think it's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. We are zoned a farm. This is a farm activity. It's part of agritourism. So, she appealed the order and many residents who attended the meeting spoke in favor of goat yoga, arguing it supports farmers during a time when their industry continues to decline. Supporters also said people from outside Manchester, as well as beyond the Connecticut border, visit the farm to try goat yoga, shop in local stores and eat in local restaurants. The motion to overturn the cease and desist order passed, four to one. Longoria said she will continue offering goat yoga and wants to begin offering alpaca hikes. NBC Connecticut is partnering with Big Y World Class Markets and the American Red Cross to help raise donations for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. From Friday, Sept. 1 through Saturday, Sept. 16, Big Y customers and employees can donate to the Red Cross at all Big Y locations in the state. You will have the option to add a donation on to your credit or debit card when checking out. There will also be donation containers for cash and checks available at the registers at all Big Y stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers and employees are currently in the region impacted by Harvey, including more than 40 from Connecticut. The Red Cross is grateful for the support of Big Y World Class Markets and our partners at NBC Connecticut, said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region. This campaign will enable the Red Cross to aid in the recovery of those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The outpouring of support we have seen over the years from Big Y employees and their customers has been tremendous. The partnership with NBC CT is invaluable, Bruno added. The American Red Cross is helping provide supplies for shelters and families stranded in their homes, including ready-to-eat meals, comfort kits, and kitchen and cleaning supplies. If you cannot make it to a Big Y to donate, you can donate online through the American Red Cross website by clicking here. You can also call 1-800-RED-CROSS or make a $10 donation by texting "HARVEY" to 90999. NBC CT, Big Y, and the American Red Cross previously partnered together on a relief drive in 2016 to help victims of Hurricane Matthew. NBC Connecticut is proud to be Connecting You to Caring. A New Haven rabbi is trying to fill a U-Haul truck with non-perishable foods, hygiene products and cleaning supplies to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. "Anybody who sees those pictures cant help but open their heart," Rabbi Mendy Hecht told NBC Connecticut. Susan Karp from New Havens Westville neighborhood is moved by the images of devastation coming out of the Houston area. "To see people whove worked all their lives, especially older people whove worked all their lives and everything is gone," Karp said. "Families with young kids that everything is gone." On Thursday, Karp went on a shopping run to support her rabbis Hurricane Harvey relief collection. "Baby shampoo, regular shampoo, toothbrushes, adult and childrens, toothpaste soap, hand sanitizers, some food things," she said listing her donations. Hecht recruited friends in four other cities Fairfield, Atlanta, Chattanooga and Detroit to join what he is calling a Convoy of Hope. "Thinking about it a little more, I thought that you know what if we could get a whole convoy of trucks to go down from different locations in the country," he said. Hecht has been in touch with the Jewish community in Houston to help direct where the donations will be distributed once he arrives next week. "We have some people, who are committed, some bigger commercial establishments that will be giving us some larger quantities of goods," Hecht said. "But we really want this to be an effort from the ground up." On Friday, you can help fill the Convoy of Hope truck from 8 a.m. until noon at the Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy. The truck will then move to Chapel Street in Wooster Square from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Hecht, along with another driver, plan to leave for Texas on Sunday morning. A handful of Americans left Pyongyang on Thursday on a flight to Beijing, a day before the start of a U.S. ban on American citizens going to North Korea. Among those on the flight from the North Korean capital were aid workers who hoped to be allowed to return to continue humanitarian work. The Trump administration announced in July that it was barring American citizens from traveling to North Korea from Sept. 1 over concerns about detentions of Americans who travel there. Earlier this year, U.S. citizen Otto Warmbier was sent home in a coma and later died after spending more than a year in North Korean detention. Overall, though nearly all Americans who have gone to North Korea have left without incident, at least 16 have been detained in the last decade, American officials say. The ban also goes into effect amid heightened U.S. concern about Pyongyang's recent advancements in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The ban includes potential exceptions for journalists and humanitarian workers, and expires after one year unless extended. Heidi Linton, director of the U.S.-based charity Christian Friends of Korea, said she wasn't sure how long it could take for travel approval to come through. The organization, which fights tuberculosis and hepatitis, has been working in North Korea for more than 20 years. "The devil is always in the detail," she said, after landing in Beijing. "These trips take a long time to plan and organize and so, if travel approval doesn't come in a timely way, it's a de facto denial." Linton said the organization appreciated the U.S. government's concern for its people, but said there was a "tremendous need" for humanitarian work in North Korea. "I think it's very important that there be opportunities for people to understand one another in person," Linton said. Another Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang is due to land in Shanghai on Thursday evening. A Wisconsin man filed a federal lawsuit against United Airlines alleging he was harassed by a reservation agent over his name. William J. Dicks filed the lawsuit Aug. 25 in federal court, claiming he received harassing telephone calls from a United Airlines employee while looking for information about a flight earlier this year. According to the lawsuit, the incident started when Dicks called United's reservation department on Feb. 15, a 48-minute call, that he said resulted in sexual harassment, disrespect and humiliation. The lawsuit claims the agent on the phone told Dicks his name was controversial but that he like[d] it. He also asked Dicks what he would do to the agent if the pair were alone and asked if Dicks used protection when being intimate with his then-girlfriend. The agent also allegedly inquired about Dicks Facebook account info so that he could see photos or personal information about him, the suit states. This sequence of events caused [Dicks] to be reminded of the trauma he suffered as a child when he was teased because of his last name, the suit reads. Minutes after the phone call ended, Dicks alleges he received two more phone calls from the reservation department, but declined to answer. Despite repeated attempts to report the phone call, Dicks said he had no luck in getting answers, though he feared the agent had accessed his personal information. The lawsuit, which seeks a trial by jury, alleges the agent invaded Dicks privacy and caused him great emotional stress. In a statement, United Airlines said it has zero tolerance for harassment of any kind and we are reviewing the suit. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wrongly claimed that a 2013 Hurricane Sandy relief bill was filled with pork and unrelated spending, estimating that two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was heavily affected by Sandy, called that claim an absolute falsehood and then accused Cruz of repeating reprehensible lies. We wouldnt use the L word, but we do find that at least two-thirds of the bill was related to Hurricane Sandy the opposite of what Cruz said. Cruz is now dealing with hurricane relief efforts in his home state of Texas, after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25 as a category 4 storm. In the days since, the storm has dumped more than 50 inches of rain in some parts of Houston. There are at least 30 confirmed or suspected deaths due to the storm, reports the New York Times. The Washington Post Fact Checker looked at Cruzs claim and found little in the Sandy relief bill that could be considered pork-barrel spending, or local members of Congress spending on their pet projects, as Cruz also said. Cruzs office later told the Post that the senator was referring to non-emergency spending in the bill, not pork, when he used the two-thirds figure. And a Cruz spokesperson also told us: When regions face serious disasters causing extensive damage, the federal government has an obligation to assist with assets to address the emergency. Sen. Cruz strongly supports this role of government, but emergency bills should not be used for non-emergency spending and that unfortunately is what made up nearly 70% of the $50.5 billion HR 152 bill. But thats not what the senator said in two TV interviews. Several readers have asked us to assess whether the Sandy relief bill largely had little or nothing to do with the storm, some citing Cruz as the reason for their question. The Texas senator was asked about his previous opposition to a disaster relief bill for Sandy, a storm that made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, in late October 2012. Cruz, NBC News, Aug. 28: I and a number of others enthusiastically and emphatically supported hurricane relief for Sandy. Hurricane relief and disaster relief has been a vital federal role for a long, long time and it should continue. The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy. Cruz, CNN, Aug. 28: Now, there were a number of us who were concerned that that particular bill became a $50 billion bill filled with pork and unrelated spending that wasnt hurricane relief. It was simply local members of Congress spending on their pet projects. And two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy. We consulted a detailed report on the funding in the legislation by the Congressional Research Service in February 2013. We found that at least $35 billion of the $50.5 billion provided by the bill was related to Sandy thats 69 percent of the bill. David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital raised the pressure on GM by launching a website that encourages shareholders to vote for the hedge fund's proposal. We identified nearly another $10 billion that was for mitigation efforts to limit damage from future storms. That left nearly $6 billion uncategorized, because it was either unclear whether all of the funds were specifically directed to Sandy-affected areas, or the money indeed went to other disaster efforts. We realize there are judgment calls to be made in this exercise, but we followed the CRS reports descriptions of the purposes of the funding. Several items we left uncategorized are described as being for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy in the legislation, such as salaries and expenses for government agencies. But our calculation ended up being similar to a big-picture estimate from Steve Ellis, vice president of the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. Ellis, whose group criticized the bill at the time for some of the funding items, estimated for FactCheck.org that about $30 billion of the $50 billion was Sandy-related, or about 60 percent of the bill. His estimate was based on some of the major elements of the bill, not the entire bill. While Cruz claimed the bulk of the legislation had little, or nothing, to do with Sandy, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, also of Texas, went too far in the other direction. He said this about a Hurricane Harvey relief bill on MSNBCs Morning Joe on Aug. 30: I hope that it will be a clean bill that only affects disaster-related things, as the Superstorm Sandy bill did back then. Thats misleading. One could make the argument that nearly all of the Sandy bill included disaster-related-things, but not Sandy-related. Just as one could make the argument that there were non-emergency items in the bill. Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group that publishes an annual pig book on pork-barrel spending, supported the general idea that there was non-emergency spending in the Sandy relief legislation. It is hard to state definitively how much of the Sandy relief appropriation was either non-emergency or unrelated to the storm, but every emergency supplemental spending bill has contained such expenditures, CAGW President Tom Schatz said in a statement to FactCheck.org. Beyond the political wrangling over the definition of storm-related needs, the funding bill for Sandy had weak and under-funded taxpayer safeguards. Even if a project had some relationship to the storm, there was no way of verifying whether those dollars were spent effectively or in a time-sensitive fashion. However, there is ample documentation of Sen. Cruzs general assertion: Emergency spending bills are filled with unrelated spending due to its must-pass nature. [[442024303 , C]] Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 Lets take a closer look at what was in the Sandy relief bill. Superstorm Sandy, as it was called, affected the East Coast in late October 2012. The storm caused flooding and wind damage in 24 states across the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States, with New Jersey and New York the most severely damaged, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a report a year later. In the Northeast and mid-Atlantic U.S., the storm was responsible for 72 deaths. The Senate passed, by voice vote, an increase of $9.7 billion for FEMAs borrowing authoring for the National Flood Insurance program, and that bill was signed into law in early January 2013. Separate legislation, called the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, included $50.5 billion in funding and was signed into law on Jan. 29, 2013. Thirty-six senators all Republican voted against the bill, including Cruz. A Feb. 19, 2013, Congressional Research Service report goes through the various funding items in the legislation, calling it a package of disaster assistance largely focused on responding to Hurricane Sandy. There were many categories of spending, including funds for government relief and assistance programs, health and social services, and repair to damaged facilities. The largest line items among the $50.5 billion included, according to the CRS report: $11.5 billion to FEMAs disaster relief fund; $16 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments community development fund; $10.9 billion to the Department of Transportations public transportation emergency relief program; $3.5 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers for construction, another $1 billion for flood control and coastal emergencies, and $821 million for operations and maintenance related to Sandy; and $779 million for the Small Business Administrations disaster loan program. All of that adds up to 88 percent of the bill, and we counted most of it as being Sandy-related. About half of that $10.9 billion to DOT ($5.383 billion) could have been transferred by the transportation secretary to projects to reduce the risk or damage from future disasters in the areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy, CRS said. So, we put that in our mitigation category, leaving the rest in the Sandy-related category. (DOT said the program was for the 12 states that were declared disaster areas for Sandy.) Readers can judge for themselves whether they think mitigation efforts for future storms in Sandy-affected areas should still count as Sandy-related. We left those items in the separate mitigation category. For example, the legislation provided funding for studies on ways to reduce storm damage and coastal flood risk in Sandy-affected areas ($50 million). It also required that $600 million in environmental grants be used entirely on projects designed to reduce flood damage risk and vulnerability or boost resiliency to natural disasters for wastewater and water treatment facilities affected by Sandy. We divided funding that went to the Army Corps of Engineers, based on CRS explanation of the various categories. For example, the Obama administration had requested $3.83 billion for Corps construction, $9 million to repair existing projects and the rest for mitigation funding to limit damage from future storms. The law as passed provided the $9 million, which we considered Sandy-related, and $3.46 billion total for construction, the rest of which we considered mitigation funding. The biggest single pot of money that Cruz, and others, have criticized is the $16 billion to HUD, which was for the agencys Community Development Block Grants for the most impacted and distressed areas affected by Hurricane Sandy and other eligible disaster events occurring during calendar years 2011, 2012, and 2013, CRS explains. So some of the money could be used for other disasters, even those that hadnt yet occurred in 2013. Watchdog groups Citizens Against Government Waste and Taxpayers for Common Sense both faulted the Sandy appropriations bill for including wasteful or non-emergency spending that could have been subject to the normal budgeting process instead and both pointed to the HUD Community Development Block Grant funding as problematic. TCS said that 47 states plus Puerto Rico would be eligible for funding. HUD provides a breakdown of where these funds have been allocated, and it shows $13 billion going to the Sandy-affected areas of New York, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland, with 98 percent of that going to the first three locations. Therefore, we counted $13 billion as Sandy-related, with the remaining $3 billion non-Sandy-related. Well note that this breakdown wasnt known when senators voted on the bill, and we havent assessed the nature of all of the grants for the Sandy-affected areas. The law stipulated that HUD must allocate a third of the Community Development Block Grant disaster funding within 60 days of the bills enactment. A total of $326 million was appropriated for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, much of the funding for mitigation or improvement efforts for weather and hurricane forecasting. We divided these amounts between Sandy-related ($71 million) and mitigation ($252 million), again based on CRS descriptions. We included all of a $44.5 million fund to repair and upgrade hurricane reconnaissance aircraft as mitigation funding, though some likely was for Sandy-related repairs. As we said, there are judgment calls to be made in attempting to classify the many spending items in the bill, and we invite readers to come to their own conclusions about how relevant or necessary they may find the spending to be. The budget watchdog groups certainly criticized the relief bill at the time. Taxpayers for Common Sense wrote in January 2013 that the legislation isnt riddled with pork per se, in fact in many ways its better than what the Senate passed last year. But far too much of it is not emergency and should be done in the context of the regular budget process. We cannot afford to fund our prevention, protection, and resiliency in slip-shod occasional emergency spending bills. TSC highlighted other lower-dollar amounts in the legislation, including: $118 million for Amtrak ($32 million, though, was for repairs due to the hurricane, with $86 million for recovery and resiliency projects in the affected area, CRS said); $10 million for FBI salaries and expenses; $5.37 million for the Army to repair Sandy-damaged facilities (TSC suggested the Army could come up with the money as easily as rummag[ing] through the couch cushions); and $2 million to the Smithsonian Institution (which turned out to be for roof leaks caused by Sandy, according to a Smithsonian spokeswoman). TSCs Ellis told us in an email that as far as emergency funding, [i]t really depends on how you think about emergency. Two years after Sandy only a fraction of the money had been spent. We would like to see a more deliberative approach to disaster rather than strike while the iron is hot and fork out all the cash at once. Even if the total funding level is approved all at once, but then subject to triggers or justification we will get a better result. Also, some of this funding shouldnt be dubbed emergency simply because it was Sandy-related, he added, citing improvements to Department of Defense facilities that he says could easily be absorbed in the regular budget. Cruz could have said he thought the Sandy relief legislation included too many non-emergency items. Thats fair enough, and his opinion. But he was wrong to specifically say two-thirds of the bill had nothing to do with Sandy, or little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Carol was one heck of a storm. The category 3 hurricane made landfall near Groton and brought devastating flooding and wind damage to parts of southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island (from South County to Providence). Carol is a bit forgotten the impact was less than 1938 and it was overshadowed in the state by the remnants of Connie and Diane in 1955 that paralyzed the state with a biblical flood. Ted Knowlton The reanalysis by Chris Landsea and the work by Jarvinen shows a landfall of Carol near Groton. This is about 20 miles east of the Best Track landfall location in Old Saybrook. The reanalyzed landfall location makes sense given the damage documented in Connecticut. Chris Landsea Carol made landfall on the morning of August 31, 1954. The storm brought category 2 force winds (sustained near/over 100 mph) in Groton and Stonington and a vicious storm surge. In New London the storm tide reached 9.6 ft MLLW, only exceeded by the 1938 storm which was 10.6 ft MLLW. The surge in New London at the tide gauge was 6.5 feet though a study by the Army Corps of high water marks after Carol revealed surges of 8-10 feet were common throughout southeastern Connecticut. In Stamford many miles from the landfall location the storm tide reached 10.3 ft NGVD which was only exceeded by Sandy and the 1938 hurricane. NOAA Hurricane Carol is widely viewed to be the most tropical of hurricanes to hit Connecticut. Whats meant by that is that while the storm was likely going extratropical transition Carol was the most purely tropical of the storms to strike Connecticut. Heres one example of that take a look at this picture taken from the old Griswold Hotel in Groton near the mouth of the Thames River. Town of Groton The storm had a classic eye and the precipitation distribution from the storm both east and west of the storm track was relatively symmetrical. Thats very unusual for a landfalling New England hurricane! In Bridgeport the monthly climate report indicates 1.62 of rain fell on the day with a peak sustained wind out of the NNE at 40 mph with a gust to 60 mph. The report read as follows Hurricane Carol did extensive damage to the shorelines of Connecticut. Storm center passed 50 miles east of station. Lowest pressure noted at 0920 EST, with NNE winds of 40 MPH and gusts to 60 MPH noted at 0928 EST. Airport was inundated with a maximum of 2 feet of water. The lowest pressure reading in Bridgeport was 28.87. In Hartford at Brainard 2.36 of rain fell. No wind data was recorded. In New Haven at Tweed 2.63 of rain fell with a sustained wind of 38 mph out of the northeast. The report read Heavy storm on the 31st. Gusts to 65 MPH 9-10 A.M. Caused heavy water manage along shore. Lowest pressure 28.77 9:10 A.M. At Windsor Locks 1.95 of rain fell with a suatained wind of 56 mph out of the northwest! A 64 mph wind gust was recorded in the monthly report. Cooperative observer reports for August 1954 include some interesting highlights. Baltic, CT recorded 4.10 of rain HURRICANE was listed in the important wx conditions space. Brooklyn, CT recorded 4.00 of rain The observer in Colchester wrote a great blurb about Carol though I can only decipher about half of it! [[442382793, C, 195, 632]] The Danbury coop observer reported wind gusts near 60 mph In Derby the coop observer reported the following High winds on Aug. 31. Hurricane Carol considerable damage to trees. An additional amount of rain 1.05 fell from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Aug 31 That 1.05 is in addition to the 1.56 reported at 8:30 a.m. in Derby. Even in Falls Village the observer mentioned the wind on the 31st wind on the 31st caused considerable damage to untilities. In Groton the observer wrote Aug 31. Winds of hurricane force from 9:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. did much damage to buildings, trees, and boats in this area. Power and telephone lines severely damaged causing loss of service for several hours. In Mansfield at the dam the coop observer from the Army Corps mentioned on the 31st Note: temperature readings may be inaccurate because the box blew over during height of storm Heres what the Middletown observer wrote: [[442382083, C, 200, 557]] Heres the observers remarks in New London at Fort Trumbull. [[442382343, C, 166, 589]] In Norfolk, observer Norman Smith summarized Carol this way, The feature of the month that was most notable was the passage on the 31st of an Atlantic hurricane. The storm here brought 2.59 of beneficial rain with shifting gale winds from the E NE and NW. There was some damage to power and telephone lines and roads were blocked by uprooted trees and branches. In Putnam 4.25 of rain fell and the observer noted the hurricane passed east of Putnam with considerable damage to crops and trees with some property damage. In Storrs 3.35 of rain fell. The observer wrote, On the 31st of August Hurricane Carol hit eastern Connecticut hard with 60 mile wind higher gusts and nearly 2 of rain between 8 and 11 a.m. 4.36 of rain fell in Westbrook heres the observation remarks. [[442382643, C, 174, 319]] The observations show a core of very heavy rain 4-6 of rain near the center of the storm with less rain on the western periphery. Again this symmetry is unusual and shows that the eyewall was likely quite in tact and the storm was still quite tropical at the time of landfall. Carol produced $50,000,000 in damage in 1954 dollars in Connecticut and killed 65 across New England. The storm is the only category 2 to strike Connecticut in modern times (1938 was a category 3 in Connecticut) and remains the strongest storm to strike the state in the last 59 years. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday requested the addition of 14 Texas counties to the Presidential Disaster Declaration previously granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This addition will bring the total to 33 counties which will receive Individual Assistance, Public Assistance (Categories A and B including Direct Federal Assistance) and Hazard Mitigation from FEMA in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. The previously granted 19 counties include Aransas, Bee, Bexar (for Public Assistance), Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Ft. Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Harris, Jackson, Kleberg, Liberty, Matagorda, Nueces, San Patricio, Refugio, Victoria, and Wharton. "Texas continues to work closely with both federal and local officials to provide critical resources to those in need as quickly as possible in the aftermath of this catastrophe," said Abbott. "I am thankful FEMA continues to stand with the people of Texas during this difficult time. One thing this storm has not broken is the character of Texans, and I will make sure the affected communities across the state have everything they need to rebuild. Counties added to the Presidential Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance (Categories A and B including Direct Federal Assistance) include: Colorado Fayette Hardin Jasper Jefferson Montgomery Newton Orange Sabine San Jacinto Waller The following counties have been declared for Public Assistance (Category B) including Direct Federal Assistance, as they are sheltering jurisdictions: Dallas Tarrant Travis Abbott has already issued a State Disaster Declaration for 58 Texas counties in response to the storm. The Dallas Zoo is welcoming Hurricane Harvey evacuees, free of charge. Officials at the zoo say it's just part of how they can help disaster victims who have come to North Texas. Guests who took advantage of the free admission offered by the Dallas Zoo Wednesday said it was an emotional relief. Zoo officials say more than 1,200 South Texas evacuees showed up on Wednesday. One family after another flocked to the zoo to evacuate the reality they're all facing back home. "We just packed everything up, even my dog. I grabbed him, too, wanted to make sure everybody was safe," said Cesar Robles, who evacuated from the Houston area. He and his three children have been in North Texas for nearly a week. "It is pretty stressful, we still have family back in Houston," he said. Robles and other families said it's stressful, but visiting with the animals was therapeutic. It was 9-month-old Sasha Quevas' first time feeding a giraffe, and although she may not remember, her parents say they'll never forget this day. "Everybody was so welcoming and thinking about family back at home. It was so nice to have that stress off of our shoulders to where we could come and just have fun," said Samantha Pierce, who evacuated from the Houston area. "It feels really good to be able to help any way we can," said Sean Greene, the vice president of guest experiences at Dallas Zoo. "I mean, what they've gone through, the families that we're seeing come through here, and people that have had to evacuate up to areas like Dallas, it's hard to comprehend." But it's the smiles and support that the Dallas Zoo hopes in some small way, can help the families heal. The free admission for Harvey evacuees continues through the weekend and into Labor Day. Officials say anybody affected by the devastation in the Houston area is welcome to enjoy the zoo for free during that time. More than 1,000 protesters hit the streets of New York on Wednesday, marching from Trump International Hotel to Trump Tower in defense of a program that helps immigrant children avoid deportation from the United States. The march which saw hundreds start gathering in Central Park around 5 p.m., and was still underway three hours later was held in response to news reports that President Donald Trump is considering ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said activist Javier Valdes, spokesman for Make the Road New York, an organization that helps Latino and working-class communities. "There's been a threat by President Trump that at any moment he might take this program away," Valdes said. "What we're trying to say today is this program is lifeblood to the immigrant community, and touching it is an act of war against Latinos and immigrants in the United States," he added. Moving from one Trump building to another, the protesters raised their voices for undocumented immigrants, especially those who came to the United States as children and are recipients of the DACA program. On Friday, NBC News reported that President Donald Trump appeared likely to pull the plug on DACA, the Obama-era program allowing young people who came to the U.S. illegally as children to remain here, according to several government officials. Administration officials said acting Homeland Security secretary Elaine Duke and Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the program with senior officials Thursday during a meeting at the White House. Sessions has been a consistent opponent of the program. Trump is said to be weighing whether to let DACA gradually expire or end it immediately. Speaking at the march in New York Wednesday was Eliana Fernandez, 29, who arrived in New York as a 14-year-old. She got DACA in her 20s and said the program changed her life "dramatically," allowing her to finally come out of the shadows. "I have been able to attend school, graduate from college...it's allowed me to get a better paying job that has allowed me to become a homeowner, and it's allowed me to have emotional stability." She said the prospect of taking the DACA program away and sending "800,000 people back to the shadows" was an immoral thing to do. "We're not here by any fault of our own," she said about child immigrants being brought to America. "But I'm also so blessed my parents took that chance and came to the United States looking for a better future for us." [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More New York City officials were also in attendance to stand up for the program. City comptroller Scott Stringer proudly attended the march, posting on Twitter: "DACA has helped nearly 27,000 NYC #DREAMers have brighter futures. This is about right and wrong, & we will always #DefendDACA." Begun in 2012 under the Obama administration, the DACA program allows young people who arrived by 2007 to remain in the country if they were illegally brought by their parents to the U.S. before they were 16, have lived here since then, and have not committed serious crimes. Some also came here legally with their parents but then overstayed their visas. Those eligible must renew their DACA status every two years. More than 800,000 are now covered by the policy and can legally apply for work permits. Immigrant rights groups said 200,000 young people have sought DACA status since Trump became president. The march was organized by immigrant and refugee advocacy umbrella organization the New York Immigration Coalition. NBC4 Southern California and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles are teaming up with the American Red Cross for "Hurricane Harvey: Helping Houston," an all-day donation drive on Friday, September 1 to support the thousands of victims in Texas. Beginning at 6 a.m., tune in to "Today in LA" to make your donation by calling (855) 622-5248. A full team of volunteers and station news reporters will take your calls and help process donations. The phone bank will end at 7 p.m. To donate online at the American Red Cross click here, or text "HARVEY" to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Hurricane Harvey has caused unprecedented flooding and damage throughout Houston and the surrounding region, leaving residents stranded and in critical need for resources. Stay connected to NBC4 and Telemundo 52 for the latest developments, and follow @NBCLA and @Telemundo52 on social media to share your support using #HelpingHouston or #EstamosConHouston. [NATL] Harvey Heroes: A Look at Rescue Efforts by Civilians, First Responders During Floods A Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured during a shootout Wednesday near a Sacramento motel, officials said. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the sheriff's department, died on his way to the hospital. The two CHP officers injured in the shootout were hospitalized in stable condition. The incident began when two women led CHP officers on a 20-mile vehicle chase in what was believed to be a stolen car. The pursuit ended in Elk Grove, and officers then returned to a Sacramento Ramada Inn in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard to continue their investigation, sheriff's officials said. After CHP officers announced their presence outside one of the rooms, a male suspect armed with a high-powered assault rifle opened fire through the front door and walls of a room, striking the two CHP officers, sheriff's officials said. The suspect, identified only as a 31-year-old Bay Area resident, then tried to exit the rear of the room and engaged sheriff's deputies in gunfire, striking French. The suspect then got into a vehicle and led officers on a pursuit south on Fulton Avenue and then east on El Camino Avenue, sheriff's officials said. The suspect crashed the vehicle just west of Watt Avenue and again engaged officers in gunfire, at which time he was shot and detained. He was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital, where he was in critical condition late Wednesday night. The two women also were arrested. Police said late Wednesday no other suspects were found in the hotel. The determination came after a SWAT team conducted an hours-long search of the hotel where police believe a stolen vehicle ring was operating. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Federal prosecutors said a California man has pleaded guilty to illegally importing $3 million worth of abalone from Mexico. The U.S. Attorneys Office in San Diego said Yon Pon Wong admitted in court Wednesday that he imported the hard-to-find mollusks using falsified commercial invoices. Wong agreed to forfeit $500,000 in proceeds as part of his plea. Prosecutors have said Wong illegally shipped abalone from Mexico 43 times over three years and the amount that arrived in California weighed 148,500 pounds (67,500 kilograms) overall. Abalone is expensive and is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. A Chula Vista family's search for their beloved daughter ended when her body was discovered in a vehicle submerged underwater. The body of their daughter, Milyn Chew Navarro, 23, was pulled out of the vehicle near Otay Lakes Tuesday night. Her family had reported her missing on Sunday. Navarros brother described her as a great sister and a loving person who was happy and respectful. Her coworker Aser Elsharkawy was also found dead inside the vehicle. His family had reported him missing as well. On Tuesday night, the Sheriffs Astrea Helicopter was searching for the two missing people around 6:45 p.m., when deputies spotted Elsharkawys car. The BMW was submerged in the water with two people inside. California Highway Patrol officers said the pair died in a car accident. The vehicle left the roadway at a high rate of speed, overturned, probably several times before it ended up in the water, so that would explain the heavy damage to the vehicle," said CHP officer Jake Sanchez. Navarros brother, Jonathan Salvador, expressed his grief over the tragic incident. I have no words to describe this. You have to actually be in my shoes so you can realize how painful this news is," said Salvador. CHP officials said the second person in the car matched the description of Elsharkawy. A California woman who has been visiting her mothers gravesite in San Diego for the past 17 years made a shocking discovery during her most recent trip: her mothers tombstone was missing. Cemetery officials told NBC 7 the grave marker was placed in storage temporarily while crews repaired damage from a broken pipe. Vanessa Nevarez, of Sacramento, California, was young when she lost her mom, Christina Nevarez. Her mother is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery on Hilltop Drive in San Diegos Chollas View community. Nevarez visits the cemetery at least four times a year to pay her respects. For her, the site has been a place of peace and comfort, where she can grieve the lasting pain of losing her mother. Nevarez went to the Holy Cross Cemetery on Monday with intentions of leaving flowers on her moms gravesite. But, when she arrived, she couldnt find her mothers grave marker. She searched and searched, and eventually asked groundskeepers for help. They tried to help Nevarez find the tombstone but turned up short. They were stumped. Vanessa Nevarez Nevarez returned to the cemetery on Tuesday. She said groundskeepers told her the grave marker was found in a storage area within the cemetery. It had been removed months ago when a pipe burst and saturated the grave site. Although relieved to learn the tombstone had been found, Nevarez said shes upset that the cemetery didnt notify her of its removal. I want to find out what needs to happen for this not to happen to anyone, Nevarez told NBC 7. When I spoke to the assistant of the cemetery, he said that he has worked here for 30 years and has never seen something like this. The marker has been reinstalled. A spokesperson for the diocese, which owns Holy Cross Cemetery, said the incident was a horrible mistake: We care deeply about the loved ones entrusted in our care. They are members of our Catholic family. We will look into this family member's concern and get back to her as quickly as possible. Nevarez and her family have hired an attorney to investigate the incident. The attorney, Sean Jones, told NBC 7 there have been similar cases like this in Southern California. Holy Cross cemetery is owned and operated by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego. The cemetery was dedicated in 1919 and expanded over the decades. According to the cemeterys website, more than 65,000 people have been interred at the site. The family of a mentally ill man who died after an encounter with Whittier police filed a $15 million legal claim against the department Wednesday, alleging officers "murdered" him after being called to the scene for assistance. Jonathan Salcido, 27, died at a Whittier hospital on May 4, shortly after the encounter with police that ended with officers wrestling him to the sidewalk. The attending emergency room physician noted "asphyxia" as the cause or contributing cause of death, along with head trauma and "traumatic" arrest, according to the claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit. Requests for comment left with a Whittier Police Department spokesman and the city attorney's office were not immediately returned. Jasmin Salcido said in the claim that she witnessed officers "piled on top" of her handcuffed son, with one officer "lying spread eagle on top of Jonathan's back." After she heard her son scream and turned to intervene, she was warned to "let the police do their job," according to the claim. "My son is dead, and no one will tell me why," Jonathan's father Gary Salcido said during a news conference outside Whittier police headquarters. "He was vulnerable, sick, defenseless, and my wife asked for help. And instead of help, he was killed by the police, by the very people who are supposed to protect us." The mother said Whittier police were aware of her son's condition. The day of his death, her son was scheduled to see his psychiatrist to treat the mental illness that he had lived with since age 18, she said. His behavior became erratic, and she called police for assistance, as she had many times before, his mother said. Instead of helping transport him to the doctor's office, numerous responding officers wrestled him to the ground, handcuffed him, piled on top of him and "smothered him to death before his mother's eyes," alleged Dan Stormer, a Los Angeles civil rights attorney who is representing the family. "This killing was created by police," Stormer said. "When a quarter of people killed by police struggle with mental illness, justice demands that the Whittier Police Department train its officers how to de-escalate encounters with people with mental illness, and justice demands that the officers who took Jonathan's life be prosecuted for their cruel excessive and unnecessary use of force." What to Know The heat wave is expected to continue into next week About 8,200 customers were without power in the San Fernando Valley The state's independent system operator issued a Flex Alert Tuesday Crews were working overnight to restore power to more than 8,500 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in the San Fernando Valley following weather-related outages that left residents in the dark and without air conditioning during one of the warmest weeks of the year. Scattered outages affected customers throughout the DWP's service area Tuesday, when temperatures were up to 18 degrees above normal in Los Angeles County. As of 2 a.m., 4,150 customers in Pacoima remained without power and nearly 2,000 customers in the Valley Glen area near North Hollywood. DWP officials said heat can create strain on the grid, which contributes to outages. To help reduce stress on the state's power grid, the California Independent System Operator issued a Flex Alert for Tuesday afternoon -- a request to voluntarily reduce energy consumption during peak hours. Crews will install temporary high voltage equipment in Northridge Wednesday morning to restore power as equipment at the station was overloaded and in high use due to the heat, officials said. Power was projected to be restored to customers by 6 a.m. Unrelenting Heat An excessive heat warning was in effect again Wednesday in the mountains and valleys of Los Angeles County amid more triple-digit forecasts, with a high of 111 again expected in Woodland Hills. The combination of strong high pressure and weak onshore flow will continue to produce dangerously hot temperatures across the region through at least the end of the week and possibly into the labor day weekend. The highest temperatures will be in the valleys and mountains at lower elevations. An excessive heat warning will be in effect until 10 p.m. Friday in the Antelope, San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys, and at lower elevations in the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains. Highs in those areas will range between 98 and 112 while overnight lows will be warm as well, ranging from the 70s to the mid 80s. A less severe heat advisory will be in force, also until 10 p.m. Friday, along the L.A. County coast, in beach cities, metropolitan Los Angeles -- including the Downtown area -- and the Hollywood Hills. Temperatures in those areas will range from the upper 80s to the mid 90s, with overnight lows falling only to a range between the upper 60s and mid 70s. Temperatures will be only around 5 degrees above normal at the beach but 12-15 degrees above normal in downtown LA and 15-20 degrees above normal in the valleys and mountains. These levels will persist through Friday and perhaps into Saturday. This week's heat wave has shattered a few records. Lancaster reached a high of 109 degrees Tuesday, breaking the record for an Aug. 28, which was 107 and set in 1998. Sandberg, a mountain community in the Antelope Valley, reached 103 degrees, breaking the record of 97 set in 2007. Woodland Hills reached 112 degrees, tying the record set in 1996. Forecasters again warned area residents to protect themselves and those close to them from the high heat. Their recommendations include avoiding strenuous work in high heat, wearing lightweight and light-colored clothing, staying well-hydrated, checking on friends and relatives, especially the elderly, and never leaving children, seniors or pets in parked cars since vehicle interiors can rapidly turn deadly hot. The NWS forecast sunny skies Wednesday and highs of 77 in Avalon; 82 at LAX; 91 in Long Beach; 94 on Mount Wilson; 95 in Downtown L.A.; 98 in San Gabriel; 100 in Burbank and Pasadena; 107 in Palmdale; 108 in Lancaster; 109 in Saugus; and 111 in Woodland Hills. L.A. County temperatures will begin to fall on Sunday, but very slightly. Sunny skies were also forecast in Orange County, along with highs of 76 in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach; 77 in San Clemente; 94 in Irvine; 95 in Anaheim; 97 in Fullerton and Mission Viejo; and 100 in Yorba Linda. Little change is expected in Orange County temperatures over the next several days, although a slight temperature increase is expected starting Friday, lasting three days in some communities. Four men were arrested after police found a large amount of drugs and guns during two separate raids in southwest Miami-Dade, officials said. The first two arrests happened when Miami-Dade Police's Crime Suppression Team executed a narcotics search warrant Tuesday at a home in the 26600 block of Southwest 137th Court, police officials said. As detectives approached the home, they noticed a brown Chevy four door vehicle parked on the county swale. The driver of the car, 35-year-old Gerry Fennel, stepped out and was taken into custody. Police said they recovered a black semi-automatic handgun and a marijuana cigarette. Another man, 55-year-old Anthony James Sneed, was found with crack cocaine as he exited the house, police said. Detectives were able to recover four firearms, 138 grams of MDMA, 334 grams of cocaine, 36 Xanax bars, 592 grams of marijuana, and $1,688.00 in U.S. currency from that location, officials said. The other two arrests happened when officers executed another search warrant at a home in the 26300 block of Southwest 141st Place. Detectives found 18 grams of cocaine, 16 grams of marijuana, and $210.00 in U.S. currency, officials said. Eric Watson, 51, and Vincent Render, 27, were in the home and were taken into custody. Police said drug sales were being conducted out of the home, which is about 443 feet away from Miami Douglas MacArthur South School. The four suspects are facing numerous drug possession charges, while Watson and Render are also facing charges of possession with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school. Thousands of residents in Texas have been displaced from their homes due to Hurricane Harvey. Now, they are left to rebuild their lives and need our help. Here's a list of ways South Floridians can help those in need: American Red Cross: The Red Cross is accepting blood donations. For a list of locations where you can donate blood, click here. The Red Cross is also accepting donations online, which can be paid with a credit card or PayPal. You can also call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or make a $10 donation by texting "HARVEY" to 90999. United Way of Miami: The United Way of Miami is accepting financial donations. Click here to donate. Archdiocese of Miami: Bring money to your local Catholic church this weekend to donate to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Additional ways to donate can be found here. Miami Dolphins Accepting Donations Hard Rock Stadium has expanded their donation schedule due to the outpouring of support from South Floridians. NBC 6 Reporter Darryl Forges has more. What to Know Dozens of New Jersey nurses are flying to Texas to assist Harveys victims and bring much-needed back up to emergency responders Alexia Nolette, a nurse at Atlantic Health System Overlook Medical Center, is one of 60 nurses making the flight to the Houston area Harvey dropped feet of rain on the Houston area and has claimed the lives of at least 28 people Help is on the way. Dozens of nurses from New Jersey will leave from Teterboro Airport Thursday to assist Harveys victims in Texas and bring much-needed back up to emergency responders already helping. When the call for volunteers went out on social media, one nurse, who watched the storms devastation from TV, quickly answered. I have to go, said Alexia Nolette, a 23-year-old nurse at Atlantic Health System Overlook Medical Center in Summit. I e-emailed, and I called. In less than a day, I was ready to go down. Nolette is just one of 60 nurses from the Garden State who will head to Texas. Shes only been a nurse for 10 months, but when disaster hit she didnt hesitate to lend a helping hand. Well be relieving the staff thats been on duty for a week straight and letting them sleep, she said. Tragedy struck. If you can do something, why wouldnt you? Nolettes fellow nurses at Overlook Medical Center are writing messages of support. Notes such as good luck in Texas and Overlook is so proud of you have been popping up around the hospital. The relief effort will last for at least a week. Meanwhile, there are still people in the tri-state affected by Harvey, a vicious storm that has claimed the lives at least 28 people. Brooke and Justin Bowen came to New York from Houston before the hurricane hit to help their daughter move into NYU. Now, they cant get back because their flight home has been cancelled five times. The couple might not be able to make it home until Tuesday an agonizing wait as their friends and family, including their 11-year-old daughter still in Texas, pick up the pieces from Harveys aftermath. I just want to get back, Justin said. It will be nice to be able to help. A blood-spattered man has been arrested after a pigeon was beheaded in Bryant Park. Police say Daniel Dentre, 34, was arrested for trespass Wednesday after an onlooker outside the New York Public Library called to tell them a pigeon was being assaulted. Cops arrived at about 1:45 p.m. to find Dentre at the park with blood spattered on his shirt. After they interviewed him, Dentre admitted to "hurting" the pigeon in the park. Cops said they also found evidence of the decapitated pigeon. Meanwhile horrified witnesses posted pictures on social media of the aftermath. The pigeon's head had been removed. It's body lay breast-up on the ground, it's head - cleanly severed - not far from the leg of one of Bryant Park's tables set out for the public. One Twitter user described tourists and locals alike fascinated by the incident. One was taking high quality photos of the pigeon torso and head with a DSLR camera, they said. Dentre was arrested for trespassing because he was in the park after hours, cops said. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, it is not illegal to kill a pigeon if is it "a nuisance", although there was no indication the pigeon in this case was being a nuisance. It is illegal to kill the bird if it has a leg band or is an Antwerp or homing pigeon. Dentre was taken to the hospital for psychological evaluation, and it was unknown whether he would be charged. He has no known residence and may be homeless, police said. An Illinois man was charged Thursday with material support for terror for allegedly providing financial help to a group of Brooklyn men accused of trying to join ISIS overseas. Dilshod Khusanov, 31, made an initial appearance Thursday in Chicago federal court after his early morning arrest at his Villa Park home. The Uzbekistan-born man stood in street clothes with his ankles shackled. He didn't enter a plea. Several relatives sat on nearby benches. The FBI said Kushanov provided funding to Abdurasul Juraboev along with three other Brooklyn men who allegedly wanted to help ISIS. Prosecutors said he helped raise money for their planned travel, aware of the alleged plan they had to try to join terrorists in Syria. "Those who seek to fight for foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Nusrah Front cannot accomplish their goal without financial support," said Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde. Juraboev allegedly made online posting calling for attacks on US soil, even targeting then President Obama for an attack. Investigators said Juraboev and Akhror Saidakhmetov had planned in 2015 to travel to Turkey to try to get to Syria. Abror Habivov, Dilkhayot Kasimov, Azizjon Rakhmatov and Akmal Zakirov were other alleged members of the conspiracy. Jurboev, Saidakhmetov and Habivov have all since pleaded guilty. FBI New York Director William Sweeney said Khusanov transferred money into Zakirovs account to assist with the groups planned overseas travel. Khusanov faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted. The U.S. Energy Department announced Tuesday it will release half a million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as Hurricane Harvey continued to wreak havoc on U.S. oil production and gas prices remained on the rise. The supply the first emergency release since 2012 won't give drivers much relief at the pump ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend, one of the top travel weekends of the year. Retail gas prices in the U.S. climbed another 4 cents Thursday, and 10 cents in the past week to a national average of $2.449 per gallon, according to AAA. The automobile organization said that is one of the summer's largest one-week price surges. Courtesy AAA In North Texas, drivers reported fuel prices as high as $8.02 per gallon, NBC DFW reported. Energy Secretary Rick Perry warned that states attorney generals would be on the watch against price gouging. "Anybody that is considering raising prices above what would be considered to be appropriate needs to watch out," Perry said, according to a White House press pool report. "My hope is that every AG across the country will go after those people and go after them in a very hard way and harsh way." Patrick DeHaan, an analyst for GasBuddy, predicts that U.S. gasoline prices will top out around $2.50 or $2.55 a gallon, an increase of up to 20 cents since Harvey hit, with bigger spikes closer to the Gulf. Courtesy AAA "In terms of product price increases, it might get worse before it gets better," Rob Smith, an energy analyst with IHS Markit, told The Associated Press. It could take two weeks or longer before big refineries in the Houston area can recover from a record-setting deluge and resume normal operations, assuming they didn't suffer serious damage, which is still unknown. Miller Tabak equity strategist Matt Maley breaks down three key market themes for Wednesday and the week ahead. With Americans using about 9.7 million barrels per day of gasoline, the threat of a fuel supply crunch has grown as the storm and flooding in Harvey's aftermath brought a huge chunk of U.S. oil production and refining capacity to a halt. As of Thursday, some 15 refineries representing about 25 percent of U.S. refining capacity were offline from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Port Arthur, Texas, the Energy Department reported. That includes Motiva Enterprises, the nation's biggest refinery, which announced Wednesday it would begin a "controlled shutdown." As a result of the outages, major pipelines began to close lines outright because of a lack of supply. On Thursday, Colonial Pipeline shut down a crucial artery in the nation's fuel supply network that provides more than 3 million barrels of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel daily to major cities from Houston to New York. [NATL] Harvey Heroes: A Look at Rescue Efforts by Civilians, First Responders During Floods Half of the 26 refineries that connect to Colonial's pipeline system are between storm-ravaged Houston and Lake Charles, which is just east of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metro area, the AP reported. Colonial did not indicated how long it expects the closure to last. "Once Colonial is able to ensure that its facilities are safe to operate and refiners in Lake Charles and points east have the ability to move product to Colonial, our system will resume operations," the company said in its statement. A homeowner in the Houston suburb of Meyerland, Texas, set up a camera in his garage on Aug. 27. The footage shows the water rise over four feet, finally receding away 30 hours later. The Department of Energy hopes the release of 500,000 barrels of reserve crude will offset the fuel shortage and stabilize prices. The SPR, established in the 1970s, currently contains 679 million barrels of oil. "The Department will continue to provide assistance as deemed necessary, and will continue to review incoming requests for SPR crude oil," the department said in a statement. The crude is headed to Phillips 66s refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, one of the few refineries in the Gulf Coast that has not been affected by the storm. Beware of "creepy clowns." Thats the message disseminated by Pennsylvania State Police ahead of the upcoming release of the feature film It. In a Community Awareness Bulletin released Wednesday, state police warn of a potential resurgence of "creepy clown" sightings like those reported in Pennsylvania and around the country last fall. The slew of 2016 sightings resulted in arrests of at least a dozen people nationwide, either for "taking part in the menacing stunt" or making false reports of clown sightings to law enforcement. A Berks County teen was arrested for posting a threatening clown message on social media in an attempt to get out of school, according to police. And the creepy clown trend was no joke for professional clowns, for police chasing hoaxes or for the people scared along the way. It, the Stephen King novel adapted into a 1990 television miniseries, features a sinister clown called Pennywise who terrorizes and kills children in a small New England town. The new film adaptation of the 1986 horror novel is set to hit U.S. theaters Sept. 8. Police say that reports of "creepy clown" sightings are nothing new: Children have been reporting similar encounters since the early 1980s. What to Know New Jersey voter dissatisfaction is at a 25-year high, the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll found Gov. Chris Christie now has the lowest rating of any governor in at least 40 years, the poll found About four in ten voters haven't heard of either gubernatorial candidate, Phil Murphy or Kim Guadagno Nearly three-quarters of New Jersey voters believe the state is going in the wrong direction, the highest level of voter dissatisfaction in a quarter-century, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday. Some 73 percent of voters said the state was on the wrong track, the poll said, the highest since 1992. At least two-thirds of voters in every politiical, gender, race, age and geographic group felt that way. Rutgers-Eagleton Poll The poll's authors attributed much of the voter discontent to Gov. Chris Christie, whose job favorability rating is now just 16 percent. That makes him the least-popular New Jersey governor in at least 40 years. "Views on the states direction have marched in lockstep with the governors spiraling ratings since the Bridgegate scandal broke in 2014," said Ashley Koning, assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University, in a statement. Christie will be succeeded by either his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, or by the Democratic businessman and diplomat Phil Murphy. The poll found Murphy's favorability rating is six points higher than Guadagno's, though roughly four in ten voters have not heard of either one. In a head-to-head matchup, most polls give Murphy a lead of 20 points or more in the November election. The telephone poll of 714 adults, including 660 registered voters, was conducted Aug. 24-28. The margin of error was 4 percentage points. This summer's great murder-mystery surrounding a man hanged in Philadelphia 121 years ago and known as "America's first serial killer" has been solved. We think. An eight-part television show called "American Ripper" on the History Channel that examined the life, death and legends surrounding mass murderer Herman Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes, concluded Tuesday night. NBC10 Investigators were first to unearth the growing mystery in April of the Holmes conspiracy that he escaped death. Then, in July, NBC10 exclusively reported that a search for the truth was underway with Holy Cross Cemetery in Delaware County as the epicenter. The question all along, spurred on by the show's co-host and Holmes' great-great-grandson, Jeff Mudgett, was whether Holmes actually hanged at Moyamensing Prison in South Philadelphia in 1896 and was then buried at the Yeadon cemetery. The NBC10 Investigators continue to look into the mystery of H.H. Holmes, Americas first serial killer. NBC10 investigative reporter George Spencer has a preview of his 11 p.m. story. Mudgett and a team of anthropologists from the University of Pennsylvania exhumed bones found at the grave site Holmes was believed to be buried. Then came skeletal analysis and facial reconstruction and look backs at newspaper accounts questioning whether Holmes escaped his hanging. Like this news story, the television show waited a while until the final seconds of the 42-minute season finale to reveal the DNA evidence that would prove conclusively whether Holmes did indeed hang. In the end, the evidence concluded ... the body in the grave was indeed Holmes. DNA analysis at Kings College in London, England, comparing the skull of the skeleton in the grave to Mudgett's DNA, proved a match. By Wednesday morning, the Philadelphia Archdiocese re-interred the skeletal remains in his grave at the Yeadon cemetery. "Dental records and DNA testing reveal a conclusive link to Jeff Mudgett," the show announced in its final moments. "Proving that the remains exhumed are those of H.H. Holmes. The result ends a century of speculation about Holmes' final days." Mudgett, however, remains skeptical. "This doesn't deter me from my investigation. There are too many coincidences for this to be another bogus theory," he said of connections between his ancestor and theories that Holmes killed as many as 200 people in several cities, as well as, possibly London. Holmes is best known for his Murder Castle in Chicago. He built the hotel equipped with secret rooms, chambers and a spot for dissections in the basement. With visitors from around the globe visiting the citys Worlds Fair in 1893, Holmes unwitting guests checked in but some never left. Its believed Holmes sold his victims bodies, organs and bones. According to Rider University Professor Joe Wojie the going rate was about $8 to $10 a body. Holmes' story was portrayed in the bestselling 2003 book "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. According to newspaper accounts, Holmes was marched to the gallows at Moyamensing Prison a year after he was convicted of murder in 1895. The prison was located on 1400 South 10th Street in Philadelphia before it closed in 1963 and was demolished in 1968. Holmes body was eventually interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon. Holmes requested his casket be encased in concrete so no one would steal his body. An 1898 newspaper article sparked the conspiracy theory that Holmes somehow escaped death at Moyamensing and ended up in South America. On Tuesday night, the History Channel show may have put a final nail in that theory's coffin. Watch NBC10 News at 6 p.m. to see investigative reporter George Spencer talk more about the grave excavation, the results of the DNA testing and the re-burial Wednesday of Holmes' body at Holy Cross Cemetery. Harvey's floodwaters started dropping across much of the Houston area and the storm weakened slightly Wednesday but major dangers remained for the U.S. Gulf Coast area, including the threat of an explosion at a stricken Texas chemical plant and major flooding further east near the Texas-Louisiana line. The scope of the devastation caused by the hurricane came into sharper focus, meanwhile, and the murky green floodwaters from the record-breaking, 4-foot deluge of rain began yielding up more bodies as predicted. The confirmed death toll climbed to at least 28, NBC News reported, including six family members four of them children whose bodies were pulled Wednesday from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou. "Unfortunately, it seems that our worst thoughts are being realized," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said after the van that disappeared over the weekend was found in 10 feet of muddy water. As the water receded, Houston's fire department said it would begin a block-by-block search Thursday of thousands of flooded homes. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said the searches were to ensure "no people were left behind." Just outside of Houston in Fort Bend, officials issued a curfew Wednesday night through Sept. 6. And a voluntary evacuation order was updated to a mandatory order in the surrounding county by the U.S. Armbeay Corps of Engineers as officials expect more flooding in the area. While conditions in the nation's fourth-largest city appeared to improve, another crisis related to Harvey emerged at a chemical plant about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston in Crosby. Two explosions and black smoke were reported at the flooded Arkema Inc. plant. There were no other immediate details, but Arkema officials said in a statement that the threat of additional explosions remained. The flooded facility had lost power and backup generators, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. The last of the plant's employees evacuated on Tuesday and residents within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) were told to leave. Officials warned people on Thursday after the explosions not to return to the evacuation area. Arkema submitted a plan to the federal government in 2014 outlining a worst-case scenario that said potentially 1.1 million residents could be affected by such an event over a distance of 23 miles, according to information compiled by a nonprofit group. But the company said Wednesday that a worst-case scenario was "very unlikely." Another threat was emerging east of Houston where weather conditions deteriorated close to the Louisiana line. Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, struggled with rising floodwaters and worked to evacuate residents after Harvey completed a U-turn in the Gulf of Mexico and rolled ashore early Wednesday for the second time in six days. It hit southwestern Louisiana as a tropical storm with heavy rain and winds of 45 mph. Beaumont officials announced early Thursday that the city had lost its water supply, as the main and secondary pump stations lost service from the flooding. Late Wednesday, forecasters downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression from a tropical storm but it still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, with 4 to 8 inches forecast from the Louisiana-Texas line into Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot, raising the risk of more flooding. For much of the Houston area, forecasters said the rain is pretty much over. "We have good news," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. "The water levels are going down." Houston's two major airports were up and running again Wednesday. Officials said they were resuming limited bus and light rail service as well as trash pickup. At Hermann Park, south of downtown, children glided by in strollers and wagons, joggers took in midday runs and couples walked beside cascading fountains and beneath a sparkling sun. People pulled into drive-thru restaurants and emerged from a store with groceries. At the same time, many thousands of Houston-area homes are under water and could stay that way for days or weeks. And Lindner cautioned that homes near at least one swollen bayou could still get flooded. Officials said 911 centers in the Houston area are getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help. In Houston's flooded Meyerland neighborhood, hundreds of families emptied their homes of sodden possessions under a baking sun as the temperature climbed into the 90s. They piled up couches, soggy drywall and carpets ripped out of foul-smelling homes where the floodwaters had lingered for more than 24 hours. The curbs were lined with the pickup trucks of cleanup contractors and friends. For Harry Duffey, a 48-year-old computer security specialist, this was flood No. 3 in as many years. Just before the flood, he got a notice that his flood insurance premium had nearly doubled to $5,300 a year. "Everywhere we look this water has cost me money after money after money. It just does not end," he said. But he said he has no intention of moving: "This is in my blood. This is where I'm from." Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Confirmed deaths from the storm include a married couple who drowned after their pickup truck was swept away while they were on the phone with a 911 dispatcher asking for help, officials said. Others among the dead include a woman whose body was discovered floating in Beaumont, a man who stepped on a live electrical wire in floodwaters, and a woman who died after she and her young daughter were swept into a drainage canal in Beaumont. The child was rescued clinging to her dead mother, authorities said. When Harvey paid its return visit to land overnight, it hit near Cameron, Louisiana, about 45 miles from Port Arthur. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city. More than 500 people along with dozens of dogs, cats, a lizard and a monkey took shelter at the Max Bowl bowling alley in Port Arthur after firefighters popped the lock in the middle of the night, said the establishment's general manager, Jeff Tolliver. "The monkey was a little surprising, but we're trying to help," he said. In Orange, Texas, about 30 miles east of Beaumont, residents of a retirement home surrounded by thigh-deep water were rescued by National Guardsmen and wildlife officers, who carried them from the second floor and put them aboard an airboat. Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas on Friday, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. Harvey's five straight days of rain totaled close to 52 inches, the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental U.S. The City Council voted Wednesday to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day as an official Los Angeles holiday, siding with critics who said the explorer's connection to brutality and slavery makes him unworthy of celebration. In approving the switch, the council also rejected a late push by Councilman Joe Buscaino through an amending motion to have Indigenous Peoples Day take place on Aug. 9 and a new holiday celebrating the diverse cultures of Los Angeles replace Columbus Day on the second Monday of October. The idea of getting rid of Columbus Day drew opposition from many Italian-Americans who view the day as a celebration of their national heritage because of Columbus' Italian lineage. Buscaino, who is an Italian-American, last year called the proposal to replace Columbus Day "troubling" and divisive, but failed to convince enough council members to replace it with a diversity day. "With or without Columbus, Italians will continue to celebrate their sacrifices and contributions to this great country and our great city," Buscaino said after the vote. Buscaino's motion would have sent the naming of Indigenous Peoples Day on Aug. 9 and a new diversity day in October back to a committee and city staff for further examination, but it was rejected by a vote of 11-4. A subsequent vote to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day passed 14-1, with Buscaino opposed. Branamir Kvartuc, Buscaino's spokesman, had previously said the councilman's proposed new holiday could be called Embrace L.A. Day, but that specific language was not in the amending motion. Buscaino argued for Aug. 9 because that is the day the United Nations recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day. The council ultimately sided with council members Mitch O'Farrell and Mike Bonin, who both argued that the strong symbolism of directly replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day was too important to overlook. "Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day is a very small step in apologizing and in making amends," Bonin said. In June, the Elections, Intergovernmental Relations and Neighborhoods Committee voted 3-0 to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. It also recommended that Oct. 12 be recognized as Italian American Heritage Day in the city, although it would not be a paid official holiday for city employees, which the council's vote approved. The vote also directs the city administrative officer to provide a report on the process of implementing an additional city holiday that recognizes the contributions of all of the diverse cultures in the city, but does not name a specific date. In 2009, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated the Columbus Day state holiday as part of a budget-cutting measure, but Los Angeles has continued to observe the holiday as one of 12 paid days off for city workers. Observing a holiday like Columbus Day costs the city about $2 million in overtime and more than $9 million in "soft" costs from reduced productivity, according to a Human Relations Commission report, so creating a 13th holiday would affect the city's budget. "Instituting an additional paid holiday would be a fiscal challenge, given all other budget priorities facing the city," the report said. Kvartuc noted that the city did not have a paid holiday in August. After the vote, Buscaino said the holiday could also have replaced a floating holiday for city employees had it gone back to committee. O'Farrell, who is a member of the Wyandotte Native American Tribe, introduced a motion in November 2015 instructing the Human Relations Commission, with the assistance of the Los Angeles City and County Native American Commission, to report back on the historical importance and cultural impact of establishing Indigenous Peoples Day. The councilman said he introduced the resolution because of what he called "Columbus' legacy of extreme violence, enslavement and brutality" and "the suffering, destruction of cultures, and subjugation of Los Angeles' original indigenous people, who were here thousands of years before anyone else." Columbus Day has long been a divisive holiday due to some historians' conclusion that he committed acts of brutality on the native people he encountered and was involved in slave trading. The National Christopher Columbus Association called for the city to keep Columbus Day, insisting he was not responsible for the genocide committed by the Europeans who followed him. "It is a huge error to blame Christopher Columbus the man for (genocide) at all," Patrick Korten, a board member of the National Christopher Columbus Association, told City News Service. "He bore no responsibility for it and as a matter of fact, if you do the slightest little bit of history on the man and read his diaries, and what was said about him following the years of the discovery, it is clear that Columbus personally had great affection for the indigenous people he encountered and went out of his way to order his men not to abuse them in any fashion." O'Farrell's original motion called for creating Indigenous Peoples Day but did not specifically direct it to replace Columbus Day. A subsequent report from the Human Relations Commission made the recommendation to replace Columbus Day. The vote has Los Angeles joining such cities as Seattle, Minneapolis, Berkeley and Santa Cruz, along with five states, in replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. Columbus Day still is a federal holiday. Mayor Kevin Faulconer went to California's capital Wednesday with a group of mayors to push for affordable housing in San Diego. In Sacramento, Faulconer spoke with the governor and state legislators about the strong need for more affordable living spaces. All the mayors from California's 11 largest cities discussed the housing crisis with the governor. "I think to see all the mayors coming today with one sole topic -- which is focused on affordable housing -- is hugely important, not only with the Governor but the other members of the legislature," said Faulconer. Currently, there aren't enough housing units to serve San Diego's growing population. According to a recent study by the Chamber of Commerce, the housing crisis will continue to worsen by 2020. Developers need to push through lots of red tape and bureaucratic processes to start building new houses, said Faulconer. The Atmosphere housing complex is one of the newest, affordable housing complexes in San Diego, according to a study by the Chamber of Commerce. Lots of these types of buildings are needed. Faulconer said he joined Mayors from across the state with a shared goal in mind. That is to get help from the state with regulations on surrounding construction for housing units. A report from the Chamber of Commerce has highlighted a desperate need to provide more housing across the economic spectrum in San Diego. Unless there are plans to build more houses, the report estimates that low-income, working-class and upper-middle-class family homes should be scarce. Someone has posted racist and threatening messages on the front doors of a Dumfries, Virginia, church. Flyers bearing swastikas, messages of white power and an image from a German satire magazine depicting President Donald Trump as a member of the Klu Klux Klan were posted at Greater Praise Temple Ministries on Sunday. They were just people that had hatred. I dont know why, said Apostle William Thompson Jr., the pastor for the family-owned church. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine met with members of the church on Thursday. "For some reason, people are bringing their hatred here," Kaine said. "There are some bitter people who want to come here and create trouble because they don't like seeing us moving on." CJ Thompson, Thompson's 16-year-old grandson, said he has studied the KKK in school, but never expected to deal with such racism first-hand. You know I thought I would just learn about it and live my life and never interact with it, he said. Apostle Thompson was in the hospital battling a life-threatening disease when the incident took place. He was recently released and is preaching a message of forgiveness. Let them know that we forgive them and we love them as well, and were praying for them, Thompson said about the perpetrators. This is not the first time Thompson and his family have been threatened. He told News4 that earlier this year, a mysterious truck pulled up to them. The people inside the vehicle called them names and made hand gestures. And before you know it, we heard some shooting, said Pastor Thompson. No one was injured. I have kids. I want to raise my children to love everyone. So I have to be an example of that, but at the same time they have to be aware that theres hatred around, said Thompson's son, Eric Thompson. Police are investigating the incident as possible hate crime. A police lieutenant in Georgia can be heard in newly unearthed dashcam footage saying that officers "only kill black people." The officer, a 27-year veteran of Cobb County's police department identified by his attorney as Lt. Greg Abbott, has been moved to administrative duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation, authorities said. In the July 2016 footage, first reported by a local Atlanta television station, a white woman who had been pulled over can be heard telling an officer that she was scared to put her hands down because she had "seen way too many videos of cops." The officer interrupts her and says, "But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people." Abbott's lawyer said his client was cooperating with the internal investigation and had been "attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger." The local police chief said that no matter the context the officer's statement was unacceptable. The Democratic leader of California's Senate is blasting Sen. Dianne Feinstein after the U.S. senator said President Donald Trump could improve as commander-in-chief. "This President has not shown any capacity to learn and proven he is not fit for office," state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon said Wednesday in a statement. "It is the responsibility of Congress to hold him accountable -- especially Democrats -- not be complicit in his reckless behavior." During a speech in San Francisco Tuesday night, Feinstein called for patience in dealing with Trump. When asked about the possibility he would be impeached, she said he would likely serve out the remainder of his term, drawing boos from the crowd. Feinstein issued a statement Wednesday that clarified her remarks. "I'm working to protect the progress we've made and find a way to get things done for Californians during a period of total Republican control of Washington," the California Democrat said. "While I'm under no illusion that it's likely to happen and will continue to oppose his policies, I want President Trump to change for the good of the country." Feinstein had some harsh words for Trump during her Tuesday speech. She called his decision to pardon controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio "stupid" and criticized his plan to build a Mexican border wall, saying she believes Americans would rather pay to help flood recovery efforts in Texas. De Leon has been a vocal opponent of Trump since the Republican president was elected. De Leon serves in a legislature with a Democratic supermajority in a state Trump lost by double digits. By Kate Blackman and Amber Widgery The attention to opioid misuse prevention in state legislatures parallels the continued rate of overdoses. In 2016, state lawmakers considered more than 500 pieces of legislation related to opioid misuse prevention, and 2017 is on pace to top that. As we near the end of summer, most legislatures have adjourned their sessions for the year and lawmakers may be reflecting on their recent progress. Across all 50 states, 604 bills were introduced by mid-August. Of those, 150 bills were enacted or adopted. The legislative trendsaccording to NCSLs tracking of six categories of opioid misuse prevention legislationare outlined below. Some states tackled multiple issues in one or more bills, so overlap exists between the categories. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP). Legislation related to prescription drug monitoring programs continues to be an active issue in 2017, with 161 bills introduced and 56 enacted to date. As almost all states operate PDMPsstate electronic databases that track prescriptions of controlled substancesthis legislation focuses on changes to these programs. These changes are similar to those seen in 2016, such as provisions related to provider registration and use (e.g., mandatory check and reporting requirements), and authorization for various entities to access information from the PDMP. Naloxone (Rescue Drugs). States have steadily been increasing access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone. In total this year at least 137 bills addressed naloxone access42 of which have been enacted. States with an existing law passed legislation to expand access even further, such as through standing orders or allowing certain categories of people to carry and administer it. The remaining three states that had yet to address the issueKansas, Montana and Wyomingalso passed legislation. States also continued to address Good Samaritan, or immunity, provisions for those who call 911 to seek medical assistance in the event of an overdose. Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota each enacted a new law bringing the total number of states with an immunity provision to 40. Prescribing Guidelines or Limits. Limits or guidelines for opioid prescriptions debuted in 2016 and have quickly caught on. Lawmakers considered 81 bills so far in 2017, and 23 states now have laws related to opioid prescription limits or guidelines. These provisions typically set the number of days supply for an initial opioid prescription, with various exceptions (e.g., chronic pain, cancer treatment, palliative care). A handful of these laws direct other entities, such as the department of health, to set limits. Training or Education. Thirty-eight bills covered training or education for providers, and 12 have been enacted. Legislators primarily passed provisions requiring continuing education or medical education for health care providers related to prescribing opioids. A few states also included recognizing substance use disorders in educational requirements. Pain Clinics. Laws related to pain clinicsfacilities that specialize in treating chronic painhave seen less attention recently. This year, 30 bills have been introduced, with four enacted. This legislation looks at topics like registration and licensure of pain clinics, and also broadly includes chronic pain management. Other. In addition to the categories above, NCSL captured nearly 250 bills in the other category. Around 50 have been enacted or adopted. This legislation spans a wide range of issues, such as: non-opioid directives for patients, taxes on opioids, abuse-deterrent formulations of opioids, and drug take-back programs or days to collect unused pills. Keep track of introduced and enacted legislation with NCSLs interactive Injury Prevention Legislation Database. The database has cataloged more than 1,300 bills related to six categories of opioid misuse prevention legislation since 2015. Kate Blackman covers opioid misuse prevention and other public health issues for NCSLs Health program. Amber Widgery specializes in justice involved mental health and drug crime policies for NCSLs Criminal Justice program. Email Kate. Email Amber. A sex offender in Vermont, who officials believe is likely to reoffend, is scheduled to be released from prison this Saturday. James Crawford was convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in 2007, and two separate charges in 1998. His victims were female acquaintances and between 10- and 15-years-old. Vermont Department of Corrections officials say that the risk of Crawford reoffending is labelled "High," and he has not completed his sex offender treatment. Officials say he will likely stay within Burlington when he is released and will be listed on the Vermont Sex Offender Registry. Numerous people injured in Calcot supermarket car park A MAN received hospital treatment and others were injured in an altercation in the car park of Sainsburys in Calcot. At around 3.30pm on Sunday, August 20, a man described as white, in his late twenties, of muscular build, around 6ft 2ins tall, and not wearing a top, instigated an altercation between a number of people. One of the victims, a man in his fifties, received a black eye and wounds to his face for which he received hospital treatment but has since been discharged. All the other victims suffered cuts and bruises. Investigating officer Detective Constable Robert Simpson Jones of Force CID said: We are appealing for anyone who witnessed this incident. The assaults happened in broad daylight in a busy supermarket car park and there may have been a number of witnesses. We would ask anyone with information to call 101 quoting reference 43170247840. Above: Reporter Julia Prodis Sulek caught up with Klaver at the livestock auction and pressed him about the night Josh died. (Photo by LiPo Ching) Officers told you everything was on the up and up And so began a 40-minute interview standing next to a corral of restless cattle trying to find out what happened the night Josh died when father and son were left home alone together. Klaver had a searing squint as he talked, catching my eye each time I looked up from my notebook. I know you talked to the officers and the officers told you everything was on the up-and-up, Klaver said. With deputies, they look at them twice as hard, just like the officers told you. The night Josh died, however, there was no extra scrutiny. Suspicions have swirled around the case for years in part because Klavers fellow deputies collected little evidence and quickly concluded suicide that night. Even the sheriff at the time considered him a personal friend. I asked Klaver if he wanted to find a spot to sit down and talk. He didnt. So we stood next to the cattle pen the clamor of mooing rising and falling with his answers. He insisted he had nothing to do with his sons death, that he was a good father, that he loved his son and that the boy was upset because he wanted to live with him, not his mother. Thats the end of the story, Klaver said. Thats all there is to it, and she will not accept that fact so she wants to blame others. Video: K.W. Klaver said he did the honorable thing and took custody of Josh when his mother was battling drugs. I lost a child Should I believe him, just like that, end of story? Almost 30 years had passed, and Klaver was blaming Joshs mother while Atkins was blaming him. Sadly, I thought, that shouldnt come as a surprise. But I had to ask myself, could the mystery over Joshs death ever be solved without knowing for sure with whom the boy wanted to live? He was scheduled to talk to a family court judge the morning after his death to possibly provide some answers. Joshs mother swears that Josh wanted to live with her. The reason she didnt return him to Klavers house the night before his death, as required by their custody agreement, she said, was because Josh told her that night that he didnt want to go back to his fathers house. Shortly after Josh died in 1989, Sgt. Gerald Egge was quoted in the Mercury News saying that Josh loved his father, but he wanted to live with his mother. However, a year before his death, when his mother had primary custody, court documents show that the boy told one therapist he wanted to be with his father. They also recount an incident when Josh bolted from his stepfathers car at a gas station to try to find his father at the sheriffs department. Joshs life with his mother and stepfather clearly wasnt always the happy, safe haven that Kathy Atkins promised the judge it would be. Klaver's first wife, Judi, encouraged him to spend more time with Josh. (Photo courtesy of Judi Werner) So what was Josh thinking that tragic night? Did he confide in his father his confusion, his fears, his desire to live with one parent over the other? Did he say something to trigger what Judge James Stewart after a 1986 custody trial had called Klavers difficulty in controlling anger and marked propensity to use physical force when frustrated? Klaver wouldnt tell me. No matter how many ways I asked, he said he didnt remember a single thing he might have said to Josh that night or what Josh might have said to him. I was a great dad. I worked hard for him, said Klaver, insisting he did the honorable thing by taking in Josh when the boy was a toddler and his mother was battling drug problems. I did everything I could for him. He loved Josh, he said, and I still love him. I lost a child. I lost a child due to circumstances that were beyond my control, he said. I fought two or three years to keep him right with us, and she challenged it and she had nothing but problems with him. But what happened in the barn that night? What triggered the tragedy? Klaver said he doesnt remember. Its too painful for me, Klaver says of the night he entered the barn a few steps ahead of his wife. His memories arent of that day, he said, but are of Josh being upset leading up to that day. About the only thing he said he remembers of that night is cutting Josh down and performing CPR. Before his wife at the time, Bobbi, returned home, he said, I was on the phone almost the whole time talking to a friend of mine. Bobbi Klaver, however, told me that her husband had explained to her that night what had happened: that he and Josh were in the barn, that Josh was upset, that Klaver gave him a big hug to calm him down then left him alone in the barn to feed the rabbits. When Bobbi came home with pizza for dinner, they both went to look for Josh in the barn. Klaver found him first, hanging in the slaughter room he used for butchering farm animals. Why didnt Klaver remember any of those details now? Was the trauma too great? Did the years dull his memory? Was he just unwilling to tell me? Is this holding tightly? I braced myself to ask the tough questions: Did he hug Josh tightly that night? Could you have taken the wind out of him? I asked. Absolutely not. Its just not like that. No. Its not like that. Its a very unfortunate incident, he said. It was investigated multiple times. Im very sorry I lost a child to suicide. Did you restrain him in such a way he might have died as an accident? I asked. After the interview, K.W. Klaver walked across the dusty parking lot to say: "If you are any judge of character, you can see I look you right in the eye when I say it's devastating, and I'm telling you it's very painful." (Photo by LiPo Ching) Absolutely not. Youre getting into something that just never happened, he said. I loved him and did everything I could for him. Perhaps that should have been the end of the interview. But the hug thing was still nagging at me. Its something his stepson from his first marriage said he never saw Klaver do. Klaver doesnt remember hugging Josh that night, but I always held him tightly when he was upset, he said. So, was he upset that night? I asked. He didnt answer. Instead, in a startling moment, the former deputy sheriff sidled up to me at the edge of the corral, wrapped his arm firmly around my shoulders and pulled me in. Then he tilted his head down so close to mine that the brim of his cowboy hat nearly touched my forehead. He looked me straight in the eye. Is this holding tightly? he asked. This is what I did to my kids. This is what I did to my kids when they were upset, when I talked to them. There we stood for a full 20 seconds: Klaver looking down at me; I looking up at him, neither of us blinking. The moment went on so long I had time to contemplate several possibilities. One of them was this: Was there truth in his eyes? If someone looks you straight in the eye long and hard when he says he did nothing to harm his child, should you believe him? If you look straight back, can you see into his soul? The cows mooed in chorus. Klaver let go. Youve asked me to believe you, I said, and not believe whats in the court papers. Who should I believe? I cant tell you who to believe, he said. I can only tell you my version and how it happened. Thats all I can do. Trying to dig up dirt The call from an anonymous woman came the next day. Photographer LiPo Ching and I were on our way to see the historical marker where, as local lore has it, Bonnie and Clyde or at least Clyde Barrow survived a shootout. I pulled over to answer. The caller was agitated, her voice elevated. She heard I was running around the sale barn asking questions. You most certainly havent done your homework very well, she said, because youre trying to dig up dirt on somebody where it doesnt exist. She refused to identify herself, insisting she was just a friend of Klavers. But she was intent on convincing me that any suspicions about Klaver were false and that they were the work of a scorned ex-girlfriend. Youre digging up all this dirt and hurting people tremendously by doing so, because she cant have him back. If Klaver has problems, she said, its because of women, thats his only problem. Women absolutely love this man, she said. Women are attracted to him. K.W. Klaver is a good guy, an honest guy and a hard-working man, she said. You were bamboozled, madame, coming out here. Video: A call comes in from an anonymous woman, who identifies herself only as a friend of K.W. Klavers. You most certainly havent done your homework very well, she says, because youre trying to dig up dirt on somebody where it doesnt exist. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Israel expects a record number of Indians to visit the country this year, surpassing last years figure when 44,672 persons made the trip. Over 34,000 Indians have already visited Israel in the first seven months of 2017, registering a growth of 36 per cent in tourist arrivals, said Hassan Madah, Director - Israel Ministry of Tourism (India office). Madah was in Chennai on Wednesday to mark the conclusion of six-city roadshow organised by the Israeli Tourism Ministry. Around 100 travel agents participated in the roadshow, which included representations from Israels tourism industry. Addressing reporters, Madah said Israel received 2.9 million tourists overall in 2016, majority from North America, Europe and Russia. An income of over 5 billion US dollars was generated by the tourism industry. From India, over 40% of visitors were pilgrims. A significant amount of them were from TN and Kerala, he said. Presently, there is one direct air connection between Mumbai and Tel Aviv, but Madah said he expected Air India to soon start a service from Delhi. Madah added that these roadshows were intended to showcase that there were other things, apart from pilgrimage, on offer. We want to encourage the leisure and MICE segment, he said. Among the popular destinations were the holy city of Jerusalem, port city Haifa and Eilat, which is known for water adventure attraction. CHENNAI: Israel expects a record number of Indians to visit the country this year, surpassing last years figure when 44,672 persons made the trip. Over 34,000 Indians have already visited Israel in the first seven months of 2017, registering a growth of 36 per cent in tourist arrivals, said Hassan Madah, Director - Israel Ministry of Tourism (India office). Madah was in Chennai on Wednesday to mark the conclusion of six-city roadshow organised by the Israeli Tourism Ministry. Around 100 travel agents participated in the roadshow, which included representations from Israels tourism industry. Addressing reporters, Madah said Israel received 2.9 million tourists overall in 2016, majority from North America, Europe and Russia. An income of over 5 billion US dollars was generated by the tourism industry. From India, over 40% of visitors were pilgrims. A significant amount of them were from TN and Kerala, he said. Presently, there is one direct air connection between Mumbai and Tel Aviv, but Madah said he expected Air India to soon start a service from Delhi. Madah added that these roadshows were intended to showcase that there were other things, apart from pilgrimage, on offer. We want to encourage the leisure and MICE segment, he said. Among the popular destinations were the holy city of Jerusalem, port city Haifa and Eilat, which is known for water adventure attraction. By IANS MUMBAI: Actress Kangana Ranaut, who got involved in a legal battle with Hrithik Roshan last year, says their fight is still not over as she deserves an apology from the actor and his father Rakesh Roshan. Kangana opened up on the controversy once again on CNN-News18's show "Now Showing", read a statement by the channel. The actress says the senior Roshan had tried to fix a meeting between her and Hrithik, but that is yet to happen. "I'm still waiting to meet him face-to-face and exchange two words on this and sort this out, but he's been running and hiding from me," Kangana said. "He (Hrithik) and his father have made fools of themselves, they should apologise to me in public. Even if they don't, I will clarify to the world what happened to the case. The case has not died down. They couldn't prove anything," she added. Issues between the two began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex-boyfriend" when she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". The actress lodged a legal complaint against Hrithik for "misusing" the confidential emails and photographs of the time when they were together. Hrithik later filed a complaint with the cybercrime cell, claiming an imposter had been emailing Kangana from a bogus email ID, pretending to be him. "For me it's important that he (Hrithik) claimed many things, but couldn't prove anything. You can't go about slapping notices on people. He had been preparing all this for two years. He used to send himself emails from my account because he had my password," Kangana said. "I stayed quiet till now because I needed time to understand what all they (Roshan family) were doing... Of course it was all lies, but I didn't know what they would do next. I was scared. Look at what happened to the Malayalam actress because she went and complained to the actor's wife. "They got her raped... Of course that was much after my case, but I was scared. So many things happen to women. The media would call me, or my sister and say, 'You are not safe... You guys should move to a safe place or go in hiding'." Without naming anyone, Kangana said she used to get calls from people from the industry who told her, "You should apologise, they are powerful people." "He (Hrithik) and his father claimed they would expose me and shock the world, but they couldn't prove anything. He (Hrithik) slapped a notice saying she caused great harm to my reputation because she called me a 'silly ex'... I am the silly ex. But, he couldn't prove it. So, he changed his stance and said... She's right, she had an affair, but that wasn't me, it was an imposter. But, he couldn't prove that also," Kangana said. The show featuring the "Queen" actress will be aired later on Thursday. MUMBAI: Actress Kangana Ranaut, who got involved in a legal battle with Hrithik Roshan last year, says their fight is still not over as she deserves an apology from the actor and his father Rakesh Roshan. Kangana opened up on the controversy once again on CNN-News18's show "Now Showing", read a statement by the channel. The actress says the senior Roshan had tried to fix a meeting between her and Hrithik, but that is yet to happen. "I'm still waiting to meet him face-to-face and exchange two words on this and sort this out, but he's been running and hiding from me," Kangana said. "He (Hrithik) and his father have made fools of themselves, they should apologise to me in public. Even if they don't, I will clarify to the world what happened to the case. The case has not died down. They couldn't prove anything," she added. Issues between the two began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex-boyfriend" when she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". The actress lodged a legal complaint against Hrithik for "misusing" the confidential emails and photographs of the time when they were together. Hrithik later filed a complaint with the cybercrime cell, claiming an imposter had been emailing Kangana from a bogus email ID, pretending to be him. "For me it's important that he (Hrithik) claimed many things, but couldn't prove anything. You can't go about slapping notices on people. He had been preparing all this for two years. He used to send himself emails from my account because he had my password," Kangana said. "I stayed quiet till now because I needed time to understand what all they (Roshan family) were doing... Of course it was all lies, but I didn't know what they would do next. I was scared. Look at what happened to the Malayalam actress because she went and complained to the actor's wife. "They got her raped... Of course that was much after my case, but I was scared. So many things happen to women. The media would call me, or my sister and say, 'You are not safe... You guys should move to a safe place or go in hiding'." Without naming anyone, Kangana said she used to get calls from people from the industry who told her, "You should apologise, they are powerful people." "He (Hrithik) and his father claimed they would expose me and shock the world, but they couldn't prove anything. He (Hrithik) slapped a notice saying she caused great harm to my reputation because she called me a 'silly ex'... I am the silly ex. But, he couldn't prove it. So, he changed his stance and said... She's right, she had an affair, but that wasn't me, it was an imposter. But, he couldn't prove that also," Kangana said. The show featuring the "Queen" actress will be aired later on Thursday. By IANS SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter has banned a Japanese man after he posted a photo of a mosquito he killed on the micro-blogging platform. It started on August 20 when the user @nemuismywife was bitten by a mosquito as he was watching TV, the BBC reported. "Where do you get off biting me all over while I'm just trying to relax and watch TV? Die! (Actually you're already dead)," he tweeted after killing the mosquito and added a picture of a dead insect to the tweet. He later received a message from Twitter saying that his account had been frozen and cannot be reactivated. He set up a new Twitter account, @DaydreamMatcha and tweeted: "My previous account was permanently frozen after I said I killed a mosquito. Is this a violation?" His angry tweet was retweeted more than 31,000 times and liked more than 27,000 Twitter users. Tweeting abuse can get a user banned from the platform but Twitter's decision to ban @nemuismywife has attracted ridicule on social media. Twitter has rolled out a number of new measures to curb online abuse and harassment on its platform. US business magazine Forbes reported that Twitter launched an algorithm to detect abusive behaviour by looking and picking up key offensive words. SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter has banned a Japanese man after he posted a photo of a mosquito he killed on the micro-blogging platform. It started on August 20 when the user @nemuismywife was bitten by a mosquito as he was watching TV, the BBC reported. "Where do you get off biting me all over while I'm just trying to relax and watch TV? Die! (Actually you're already dead)," he tweeted after killing the mosquito and added a picture of a dead insect to the tweet. He later received a message from Twitter saying that his account had been frozen and cannot be reactivated. He set up a new Twitter account, @DaydreamMatcha and tweeted: "My previous account was permanently frozen after I said I killed a mosquito. Is this a violation?" His angry tweet was retweeted more than 31,000 times and liked more than 27,000 Twitter users. Tweeting abuse can get a user banned from the platform but Twitter's decision to ban @nemuismywife has attracted ridicule on social media. Twitter has rolled out a number of new measures to curb online abuse and harassment on its platform. US business magazine Forbes reported that Twitter launched an algorithm to detect abusive behaviour by looking and picking up key offensive words. By ANI NEW DELHI: Jordanian cultural roots go back to pre-historic times when mankind itself was evolving. The earliest human habitation evidence dates back to 250,000 years, wherein, the land has been home to humanoids from the pre-Paleolithic era seeing the onset of evolutionary specimens of the Homo-Erectus to the Early Man (Neanderthals) to finally the onset of the Modern Man. The Kingdom of Jordan has some of the worlds best preserved archeological sites and monuments while maintaining vast historical significance to the world; such as the rock-carved city of Petra or the baptism of Jesus Christ on the banks of river Jordan. The awe-inspiring beauty of this Hashemite Kingdom is mirrored aptly in its deep rooted history and cultural traditions. Some of the Jordans most culturally entrenched destinations: Amman The capital city of The Hashemite kingdom is both modern and ancient. It is also frequently referred to as white city due to its low size canvas houses which neighbor and complement its renowned ancient structures. The city has canvassed its ancient dwellings along with its modern infrastructure, and many historical sites in Amman lay side by side their modern counterparts. Ancient monuments include; The Citadel is an archeological complex containing a temple dedicated to Hercules, a Byzantine era church, and an Umayyad Palace. The Citadel complex is considered to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited places. The city also has a 6,000-seat Roman amphitheater which is still being used for cultural performances and dates back to when the city was under Roman occupation under the name of Philadelphia. A newly restored theatre with the capacity of accommodating 500 people; the Odeon hosts concerts from time to time. Three museums; the Jordan Archaeological Museum, The Folklore Museum and the Museum of Popular Traditions set within the city limits offer insights into the history and culture of the indigenous people of Jordan. Petra The ancient city of Petra is one of Jordans most treasured national sites and by far its best tourist attraction. Petra is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab tribe who settled in Southern Jordan approx 2000 years ago. Admired for its refined culture, rock-cut architecture and ingenious complex of dams and water channels, Petra has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New7Wonders of the World. Much of Petra's charm comes from its spellbinding setting which lays within narrow desert gorge and the pinkish-red hue of the stone from which the buildings are carved. The site is accessed by a kilometer long chasm, the walls of which soar up to 200m upwards. The site has been featured in many movies of which the most famous cinematic appearance is in the film; Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Excavations led to the discovery of hundreds of buildings within this stone carved city; tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways and haunting rock drawings as well as a 3,000 seat amphitheater and a gigantic 1st Century Monastery all of which can be explored at ones leisure. Jerash Another ancient settlement, second only to Petra in the list of favorite destinations of Jordan is Jerash, an ancient city boasting of occupancy for more than 6,500 years. It is acknowledged to be one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. Jerash was hidden for centuries in the sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years. The Roman era city displays a fine example of the grandness of Roman urbanism found within the middle eastern frontiers of the once grand republic; comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls projecting towers and gates. Despite having external Greco-Roman veneer, Jerash showcases a subtle blend of the middle-eastern architecture of the Arab Orient as well; an amalgamation of two powerful cultures where the west meets the east. Aqaba Renowned for its coral reefs and unique sea life, Aqaba lays at the mouth of the Red Sea and in ancient times was the pivotal port for shipments from the Red Sea to the Far East. Apart from offering an array of marine diversity and water sports, this beautiful port city has a Mameluk Fort from the 16th Century. The fort is in a shape of a square and is flanked by semicircular towers, the walls have inscriptions describing the latter period of the Islamic dynasty. The ongoing excavations at the site of Avla (an ancient Islamic town) revealed a gate and a city wall along with towers, building, and a mosque, with its two main streets intersecting at the middle and dating back to the 7th Century. The museum within the city houses a collection of artifacts procured within the region, including pottery and coins. Ajlun Castle Built in 1184 by Izz ad-Din Usama bin Munqidh, a general of Saladin, who successfully defeated the European Crusaders in the fight for the Holy Lands in 1187, the Ajlun Castle (Qalat Ar-Rabad) was built to protect the commutation routes between south Jordan and Syria. The castle is a fine example of Islamic architecture and because of its strategic location on a hilltop, it dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan Valley and the passage through it. The castle was one of a chain of forts that lit beacons at night to pass signals from the Euphrates to as far as Cairo. At present time, Ajlun Castle provides a splendid sight with a fascinating warren of tower chambers, galleries and staircases to explore, while its vantage point at the top (being on a hilltop) offers stunning views of the Jordan Valley. NEW DELHI: Jordanian cultural roots go back to pre-historic times when mankind itself was evolving. The earliest human habitation evidence dates back to 250,000 years, wherein, the land has been home to humanoids from the pre-Paleolithic era seeing the onset of evolutionary specimens of the Homo-Erectus to the Early Man (Neanderthals) to finally the onset of the Modern Man. The Kingdom of Jordan has some of the worlds best preserved archeological sites and monuments while maintaining vast historical significance to the world; such as the rock-carved city of Petra or the baptism of Jesus Christ on the banks of river Jordan. The awe-inspiring beauty of this Hashemite Kingdom is mirrored aptly in its deep rooted history and cultural traditions. Some of the Jordans most culturally entrenched destinations: Amman The capital city of The Hashemite kingdom is both modern and ancient. It is also frequently referred to as white city due to its low size canvas houses which neighbor and complement its renowned ancient structures. The city has canvassed its ancient dwellings along with its modern infrastructure, and many historical sites in Amman lay side by side their modern counterparts. Ancient monuments include; The Citadel is an archeological complex containing a temple dedicated to Hercules, a Byzantine era church, and an Umayyad Palace. The Citadel complex is considered to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited places. The city also has a 6,000-seat Roman amphitheater which is still being used for cultural performances and dates back to when the city was under Roman occupation under the name of Philadelphia. A newly restored theatre with the capacity of accommodating 500 people; the Odeon hosts concerts from time to time. Three museums; the Jordan Archaeological Museum, The Folklore Museum and the Museum of Popular Traditions set within the city limits offer insights into the history and culture of the indigenous people of Jordan. Petra The ancient city of Petra is one of Jordans most treasured national sites and by far its best tourist attraction. Petra is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab tribe who settled in Southern Jordan approx 2000 years ago. Admired for its refined culture, rock-cut architecture and ingenious complex of dams and water channels, Petra has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New7Wonders of the World. Much of Petra's charm comes from its spellbinding setting which lays within narrow desert gorge and the pinkish-red hue of the stone from which the buildings are carved. The site is accessed by a kilometer long chasm, the walls of which soar up to 200m upwards. The site has been featured in many movies of which the most famous cinematic appearance is in the film; Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Excavations led to the discovery of hundreds of buildings within this stone carved city; tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways and haunting rock drawings as well as a 3,000 seat amphitheater and a gigantic 1st Century Monastery all of which can be explored at ones leisure. Jerash Another ancient settlement, second only to Petra in the list of favorite destinations of Jordan is Jerash, an ancient city boasting of occupancy for more than 6,500 years. It is acknowledged to be one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. Jerash was hidden for centuries in the sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years. The Roman era city displays a fine example of the grandness of Roman urbanism found within the middle eastern frontiers of the once grand republic; comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls projecting towers and gates. Despite having external Greco-Roman veneer, Jerash showcases a subtle blend of the middle-eastern architecture of the Arab Orient as well; an amalgamation of two powerful cultures where the west meets the east. Aqaba Renowned for its coral reefs and unique sea life, Aqaba lays at the mouth of the Red Sea and in ancient times was the pivotal port for shipments from the Red Sea to the Far East. Apart from offering an array of marine diversity and water sports, this beautiful port city has a Mameluk Fort from the 16th Century. The fort is in a shape of a square and is flanked by semicircular towers, the walls have inscriptions describing the latter period of the Islamic dynasty. The ongoing excavations at the site of Avla (an ancient Islamic town) revealed a gate and a city wall along with towers, building, and a mosque, with its two main streets intersecting at the middle and dating back to the 7th Century. The museum within the city houses a collection of artifacts procured within the region, including pottery and coins. Ajlun Castle Built in 1184 by Izz ad-Din Usama bin Munqidh, a general of Saladin, who successfully defeated the European Crusaders in the fight for the Holy Lands in 1187, the Ajlun Castle (Qalat Ar-Rabad) was built to protect the commutation routes between south Jordan and Syria. The castle is a fine example of Islamic architecture and because of its strategic location on a hilltop, it dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan Valley and the passage through it. The castle was one of a chain of forts that lit beacons at night to pass signals from the Euphrates to as far as Cairo. At present time, Ajlun Castle provides a splendid sight with a fascinating warren of tower chambers, galleries and staircases to explore, while its vantage point at the top (being on a hilltop) offers stunning views of the Jordan Valley. By ANI GAYA (BIHAR): The Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ), Sachchidanand Singh, is scheduled to deliver the judgement in the Gaya road rage case, in which suspended Janata Dal (United) leader Manorama Devi's son Rocky Yadav was involved, today. While talking to ANI, the parents of the class XII student, Aditya Sachdeva, who lost his life in the road rage, said, We hope that the law does justice with us and with our son. On March 6, the Supreme Court denied to vacate its order of cancelling the bail of Rocky Yadav in the case. The Apex Court, earlier in October last year, stayed the bail granted by the Patna High Court to Yadav, who is the main accused in the killing of Aditya Sachdeva in the road rage case in Gaya on May 7. Rakesh Ranjan Yadav, also known as Rocky, was granted bail by the Patna High Court earlier on October 19 last year. The police arrested Rocky from his father Bindi Yadav's mixer plant in Gaya on May 10 last year. Rocky's parents, accused of sheltering him while he was on the run after the murder, were recently granted bail. The police filed a chargesheet in a Gaya court against Rocky and another accused in connection with this case. They also filed charge sheets against Rocky's cousin Teni Yadav, his father Bindi Yadav and his MLC mother's bodyguard Rajesh Kumar in this connection. The state government had put the case on speedy trial. The investigation was completed within three weeks and the chargesheet was filed within a month of the incident. GAYA (BIHAR): The Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ), Sachchidanand Singh, is scheduled to deliver the judgement in the Gaya road rage case, in which suspended Janata Dal (United) leader Manorama Devi's son Rocky Yadav was involved, today. While talking to ANI, the parents of the class XII student, Aditya Sachdeva, who lost his life in the road rage, said, We hope that the law does justice with us and with our son. On March 6, the Supreme Court denied to vacate its order of cancelling the bail of Rocky Yadav in the case. The Apex Court, earlier in October last year, stayed the bail granted by the Patna High Court to Yadav, who is the main accused in the killing of Aditya Sachdeva in the road rage case in Gaya on May 7. Rakesh Ranjan Yadav, also known as Rocky, was granted bail by the Patna High Court earlier on October 19 last year. The police arrested Rocky from his father Bindi Yadav's mixer plant in Gaya on May 10 last year. Rocky's parents, accused of sheltering him while he was on the run after the murder, were recently granted bail. The police filed a chargesheet in a Gaya court against Rocky and another accused in connection with this case. They also filed charge sheets against Rocky's cousin Teni Yadav, his father Bindi Yadav and his MLC mother's bodyguard Rajesh Kumar in this connection. The state government had put the case on speedy trial. The investigation was completed within three weeks and the chargesheet was filed within a month of the incident. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The IAF air base in Hindon will soon start functioning as Delhis second airport as the Indian Air Force has allowed the civil aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations. The decision has been taken especially for upcoming flights under the governments regional connectivity scheme (RCS) as the Indira Gandhi international airport (IGIA) is already overcrowded. The Air Force is open to allowing airlines under RCS to operate their flights from its air base in Hindon on the outskirts of Delhi, said civil aviation secretary RN Choubey. The inexpensive air journeys on RCS flights are usually carried out on small aircraft, with 50-100 seat capacity. Under the round-2 of RCS, there is no bar on operations from an airport which is 150 km from an existing airport. The Hindon air base in Ghaziabad is less than 150 km from Delhi airport. Sources said that the ministry has already started consultations with the GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd which is managing the IGIA airport. NEW DELHI: The IAF air base in Hindon will soon start functioning as Delhis second airport as the Indian Air Force has allowed the civil aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations. The decision has been taken especially for upcoming flights under the governments regional connectivity scheme (RCS) as the Indira Gandhi international airport (IGIA) is already overcrowded. The Air Force is open to allowing airlines under RCS to operate their flights from its air base in Hindon on the outskirts of Delhi, said civil aviation secretary RN Choubey. The inexpensive air journeys on RCS flights are usually carried out on small aircraft, with 50-100 seat capacity. Under the round-2 of RCS, there is no bar on operations from an airport which is 150 km from an existing airport. The Hindon air base in Ghaziabad is less than 150 km from Delhi airport. Sources said that the ministry has already started consultations with the GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd which is managing the IGIA airport. By PTI NEW DELHI: Ways to effectively combat black money and tax evasion figured extensively during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard, who expressed strong commitment to help India to deal with the problem. Modi thanked Switzerland for helping India become a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control regime, and consistently supporting New Delhi's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Describing their talks productive, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. "Be it black money, dirty money, hawala transaction or money related to arms and drugs, our cooperation with Switzerland continues to deal with the global curse," the prime minister said in a statement to the media. The Swiss president exuded confidence that a law on ensuring automatic exchange of information relating to tax would be cleared by the Swiss parliament by end of the year and her country will be able to exchange first set of information with India by 2019. "We hope by end of this year, this (law on automatic exchange of information) will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," she said, adding India and Switzerland can go hand-in-hand to ensure financial transparency. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. In his comments, Modi also referred to the joint declaration on exchange of information relating to tax signed by the two sides last year. "Last year we signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. As per its provision, after completion of the internal process in Switzerland, information will be shared with us on automatic basis," he said. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". The two sides also deliberated on further boosting ties in key sectors like trade and investment, infrastructure and energy while agreeing on the need to continue dialogue on a bilateral investment pact. Two pacts providing for cooperation in railways were also inked. Giving broad contours of their discussions, Modi said the extensive and productive talks covered bilateral, regional and global issues and that Leuthard's visit further strengthened the bilateral ties. Modi said there was deliberations on challenges of climate change and both sides agreed to work for implementing the Paris climate accord focusing on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. On trade cooperation, he said FDI has been a major pillar of economic ties and India particularly welcomes Swiss investors. "We agreed on the need to continue dialogue on bilateral investment pact. Swiss companies have avenues to be part of India's growth and development," he said. The prime minister said there was deliberation on the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and European Free Trade Association and both the countries expressed resolve to conclude the pact. On Switzerland support to India's NSG bid, he said, "India will be benefited from membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to meet its growing demand of clean energy." Leuthard said she was very happy over the outcome of her talks and that there was scope for further expansion of trade ties. In this regard, she underlined the need for having an investment protection pact. She said Switzerland can offer India "infrastructure of tomorrow" in many areas including in railways. "Negotiations for it are on. We hope it is important for our investment," she said. India had joined the MTCR as a full member in June last year. The membership enables India to buy high-end missile technology. New Delhi has also been pressing for membership of the 48-nation NSG but China has been stonewalling its bid. NEW DELHI: Ways to effectively combat black money and tax evasion figured extensively during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard, who expressed strong commitment to help India to deal with the problem. Modi thanked Switzerland for helping India become a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control regime, and consistently supporting New Delhi's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Describing their talks productive, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. "Be it black money, dirty money, hawala transaction or money related to arms and drugs, our cooperation with Switzerland continues to deal with the global curse," the prime minister said in a statement to the media. The Swiss president exuded confidence that a law on ensuring automatic exchange of information relating to tax would be cleared by the Swiss parliament by end of the year and her country will be able to exchange first set of information with India by 2019. "We hope by end of this year, this (law on automatic exchange of information) will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," she said, adding India and Switzerland can go hand-in-hand to ensure financial transparency. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. In his comments, Modi also referred to the joint declaration on exchange of information relating to tax signed by the two sides last year. "Last year we signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. As per its provision, after completion of the internal process in Switzerland, information will be shared with us on automatic basis," he said. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". The two sides also deliberated on further boosting ties in key sectors like trade and investment, infrastructure and energy while agreeing on the need to continue dialogue on a bilateral investment pact. Two pacts providing for cooperation in railways were also inked. Giving broad contours of their discussions, Modi said the extensive and productive talks covered bilateral, regional and global issues and that Leuthard's visit further strengthened the bilateral ties. Modi said there was deliberations on challenges of climate change and both sides agreed to work for implementing the Paris climate accord focusing on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. On trade cooperation, he said FDI has been a major pillar of economic ties and India particularly welcomes Swiss investors. "We agreed on the need to continue dialogue on bilateral investment pact. Swiss companies have avenues to be part of India's growth and development," he said. The prime minister said there was deliberation on the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and European Free Trade Association and both the countries expressed resolve to conclude the pact. On Switzerland support to India's NSG bid, he said, "India will be benefited from membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to meet its growing demand of clean energy." Leuthard said she was very happy over the outcome of her talks and that there was scope for further expansion of trade ties. In this regard, she underlined the need for having an investment protection pact. She said Switzerland can offer India "infrastructure of tomorrow" in many areas including in railways. "Negotiations for it are on. We hope it is important for our investment," she said. India had joined the MTCR as a full member in June last year. The membership enables India to buy high-end missile technology. New Delhi has also been pressing for membership of the 48-nation NSG but China has been stonewalling its bid. By PTI IMPHAL: Security forces arrested five persons including four militants from various parts of the state, police said today. Two militants belonging to the proscribed outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and a former militant were apprehended yesterday from Imphal valley, Superintendent of Police of Imphal East, Kabib said, A double barrel gun, demand notes and stolen vehicles were seized from the two arrested UNLF militants, the SP said. A cadre of Kangleipak Communist Party was apprehended from Loushangkhong locality of Imphal East district by a combined team of police commandos and personnel of Assam Rifles, the police said. A militant of the banned Kanglei Yawol Kanba Lup (KYKL) was arrested by the state police commandos from the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh yesterday morning, said a senior police officer based at Moreh. IMPHAL: Security forces arrested five persons including four militants from various parts of the state, police said today. Two militants belonging to the proscribed outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and a former militant were apprehended yesterday from Imphal valley, Superintendent of Police of Imphal East, Kabib said, A double barrel gun, demand notes and stolen vehicles were seized from the two arrested UNLF militants, the SP said. A cadre of Kangleipak Communist Party was apprehended from Loushangkhong locality of Imphal East district by a combined team of police commandos and personnel of Assam Rifles, the police said. A militant of the banned Kanglei Yawol Kanba Lup (KYKL) was arrested by the state police commandos from the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh yesterday morning, said a senior police officer based at Moreh. Aishik Chanda By Express News Service SERATHANG (EAST SIKKIM): Nobody here is asking the question everyone else is asking: Who blinked first in the Doka La eyeball match? Here on the Sikkim front, trade through the Nathu La pass counts for more than bragging rights. Through the 72-day standoff at Doklam, Nathu La traders reckon they become the collateral damage in a contest they know would never flare into a war. With the pass shut since mid-June and the annual winter closure coming up at the end of September, they have copped more losses than most in all this. I knew the Chinese would never fight a war with India in Sikkim, Ongmo Bhutia, a trader, said. Tibet needs our sugar, kerosene and vegetables. While they can produce low-quality salt, they cant do without sugar, vegetables and rice, which they cant grow on the arid plateau. Reopened in 2006, 44 years after the 1962 war, Nathu La is a focal point of trade along the Silk Route from the Himalayas to the Tibetan plateau. While sugar, kerosene, fresh vegetables, tobacco, watches and spices are chief among the 29 listed exportable items from India to Tibet, clothes, yak hair, goat and sheep skin, butter and raw silk top the list of 15 items allowed to be imported from China through Nathu La. As fresh supplies have been blocked somewhere on the other side of the pass, the traders here have a deficit inventory of warm Chinese jackets. So Ongmo Bhutia lends out his old stock on hire at `100 per jacket per day to the few tourists still visiting eastern Sikkim. Many of Ongmos friends had taken their stocks to Siliguri to survive the winter. We buy a Chinese jacket for `1,500 and sell it at `4,500 to tourists in Gangtok. But due to closure of the Nathu La and a bad tourist season, we now have to travel to Siliguri to make the same profit. We need the money to sustain during the harsh winter when we will have no source of income at all, said trader Diki Sherpa. Peace between India and China is very important for trade to flourish, he added, speaking like an MEA diplomat. La for Lhasa Some of the older traders here still remember what it used to be like before the last time the two Asian giants actually fought rather than glared at each other. The Silk Route was only a mule track before the 1962 war, said Palsang Dorje, an 82-year-old Silk Route trader. In those days they used to remove the wheels of jeeps and the chassis would be hauled by 16 strong Tibetans all the way from Kalimpong to Lhasa. Back then, it took 25 days by foot from Kalimpong to Lhasa through Nathu La. But after the 1962 war, the Sikkimese people built a motorable road from Kalimpong to Nathu La through Dzuluk and Gnathang. The 1962 war in Arunachal Pradesh had sent warning signals to the kingdom of Sikkim, then not a part of India, that border road links were a dire necessity. Silk Route construction supervisor Sangmo Sherpa explained the La in the Himalayan passes leading to Tibet. The La in the names of passes such as Doka La, Nathu La and Bum La means Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The locals used to ask merchants where they were heading to and the answer used to be Lhasa. Duly, it was shortened to La and that stuck to the passes that led to the Tibetan capital, he said. Another old-timer Prashant Rai narrated how he once made a fortune by importing gold and watches from Tibet during the barter days. Sikkimese merchants used to import Rolex watches and pure gold from Tibet. We used to bring back thousands of silver coins and 135-140 biscuits of gold of four-inch thickness from Lhasa by trading rice, sugar, kerosene, cereals and jeeps. It was not treated as smuggling since we had to deposit the silver and gold at the Rongli check-post and the Kalimpong Sadar police station and could take them back to our villages only after providing details of the trade, he said. SERATHANG (EAST SIKKIM): Nobody here is asking the question everyone else is asking: Who blinked first in the Doka La eyeball match? Here on the Sikkim front, trade through the Nathu La pass counts for more than bragging rights. Through the 72-day standoff at Doklam, Nathu La traders reckon they become the collateral damage in a contest they know would never flare into a war. With the pass shut since mid-June and the annual winter closure coming up at the end of September, they have copped more losses than most in all this. I knew the Chinese would never fight a war with India in Sikkim, Ongmo Bhutia, a trader, said. Tibet needs our sugar, kerosene and vegetables. While they can produce low-quality salt, they cant do without sugar, vegetables and rice, which they cant grow on the arid plateau. Reopened in 2006, 44 years after the 1962 war, Nathu La is a focal point of trade along the Silk Route from the Himalayas to the Tibetan plateau. While sugar, kerosene, fresh vegetables, tobacco, watches and spices are chief among the 29 listed exportable items from India to Tibet, clothes, yak hair, goat and sheep skin, butter and raw silk top the list of 15 items allowed to be imported from China through Nathu La. As fresh supplies have been blocked somewhere on the other side of the pass, the traders here have a deficit inventory of warm Chinese jackets. So Ongmo Bhutia lends out his old stock on hire at `100 per jacket per day to the few tourists still visiting eastern Sikkim. Many of Ongmos friends had taken their stocks to Siliguri to survive the winter. We buy a Chinese jacket for `1,500 and sell it at `4,500 to tourists in Gangtok. But due to closure of the Nathu La and a bad tourist season, we now have to travel to Siliguri to make the same profit. We need the money to sustain during the harsh winter when we will have no source of income at all, said trader Diki Sherpa. Peace between India and China is very important for trade to flourish, he added, speaking like an MEA diplomat. La for Lhasa Some of the older traders here still remember what it used to be like before the last time the two Asian giants actually fought rather than glared at each other. The Silk Route was only a mule track before the 1962 war, said Palsang Dorje, an 82-year-old Silk Route trader. In those days they used to remove the wheels of jeeps and the chassis would be hauled by 16 strong Tibetans all the way from Kalimpong to Lhasa. Back then, it took 25 days by foot from Kalimpong to Lhasa through Nathu La. But after the 1962 war, the Sikkimese people built a motorable road from Kalimpong to Nathu La through Dzuluk and Gnathang. The 1962 war in Arunachal Pradesh had sent warning signals to the kingdom of Sikkim, then not a part of India, that border road links were a dire necessity. Silk Route construction supervisor Sangmo Sherpa explained the La in the Himalayan passes leading to Tibet. The La in the names of passes such as Doka La, Nathu La and Bum La means Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The locals used to ask merchants where they were heading to and the answer used to be Lhasa. Duly, it was shortened to La and that stuck to the passes that led to the Tibetan capital, he said. Another old-timer Prashant Rai narrated how he once made a fortune by importing gold and watches from Tibet during the barter days. Sikkimese merchants used to import Rolex watches and pure gold from Tibet. We used to bring back thousands of silver coins and 135-140 biscuits of gold of four-inch thickness from Lhasa by trading rice, sugar, kerosene, cereals and jeeps. It was not treated as smuggling since we had to deposit the silver and gold at the Rongli check-post and the Kalimpong Sadar police station and could take them back to our villages only after providing details of the trade, he said. By Express News Service LUCKNOW: In a brutal incident of corporal punishment a teacher was caught slapping a class III student for failing to respond when his name was called out during the roll call on Thursday. The video went viral and an FIR was lodged against her after the boys parents complained. The boy, identified as Ritesh, a student of St. John Vaidyanya School in Uttretia locality of Lucknow, was sitting on the first row when teacher Retika V John started calling out the names of the students to mark their attendance. When Riteshs name was called out, he didnt respond. It annoyed the teacher to such an extent that she started slapping him. It went on continously for about two minutes. She did not stop even after the student fell down. As Ritesh was trying to get up, the teacher mercilessly dragged him and banged his head against the black board. As a result, he fell unconscious on the floor and the teacher left the classroom. Following the incident, the video clip of the teacher slapping, hitting and dragging the boy went viral on the social media. The child went back home crying and the parents noticed his face swollen and bruises. When asked, Ritesh told them what had happened. He told his father that as he got engrossed in drawing, he failed to respond to the roll call. The parents, before approaching the school authorities with their representation, got in touch with Riteshs friends who confirmed that he was slapped around 40 times by the class teacher Retika. Soon afterwards, Riteshs parents met school principal Father Rodrigues with a complaint against the teacher. The principal checked the CCTV footage and found the teacher mercilessly slapping the boy and dragging him on the floor of the class room. When teacher Retika was summoned for explanation, she immediately tendered an apology. Later, Riteshs father lodged a complaint against the teacher in the local police station. The principal later assured Riteshs parents that Retikas services would be terminated with immediate effect. Later, Riteshs father lodged a complaint against the teacher in the local police station and an FIR was registered against her for voluntarily causing hurt to the child, said station officer Brijesh Rai. Corporal punishment is a criminal offence. LUCKNOW: In a brutal incident of corporal punishment a teacher was caught slapping a class III student for failing to respond when his name was called out during the roll call on Thursday. The video went viral and an FIR was lodged against her after the boys parents complained. The boy, identified as Ritesh, a student of St. John Vaidyanya School in Uttretia locality of Lucknow, was sitting on the first row when teacher Retika V John started calling out the names of the students to mark their attendance. When Riteshs name was called out, he didnt respond. It annoyed the teacher to such an extent that she started slapping him. It went on continously for about two minutes. She did not stop even after the student fell down. As Ritesh was trying to get up, the teacher mercilessly dragged him and banged his head against the black board. As a result, he fell unconscious on the floor and the teacher left the classroom. Following the incident, the video clip of the teacher slapping, hitting and dragging the boy went viral on the social media. The child went back home crying and the parents noticed his face swollen and bruises. When asked, Ritesh told them what had happened. He told his father that as he got engrossed in drawing, he failed to respond to the roll call. The parents, before approaching the school authorities with their representation, got in touch with Riteshs friends who confirmed that he was slapped around 40 times by the class teacher Retika. Soon afterwards, Riteshs parents met school principal Father Rodrigues with a complaint against the teacher. The principal checked the CCTV footage and found the teacher mercilessly slapping the boy and dragging him on the floor of the class room. When teacher Retika was summoned for explanation, she immediately tendered an apology. Later, Riteshs father lodged a complaint against the teacher in the local police station. The principal later assured Riteshs parents that Retikas services would be terminated with immediate effect. Later, Riteshs father lodged a complaint against the teacher in the local police station and an FIR was registered against her for voluntarily causing hurt to the child, said station officer Brijesh Rai. Corporal punishment is a criminal offence. Ravikant Mishra and Sajjan Kumar By To appreciate the intricate causality and cultural significance of the unprecedented violence witnessed after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, we need to look at two distinct but interrelated scenarios. First, a glance at the areas forming the epicentre of the violence would reveal their strategic importance from a security point of view: Panchkula is the headquarters of the Haryana police; Sirsa has a forward IAF base; Ambala, Bhatinda, Patiala and Hisar have cantonments; Madhuban, in the proximity of Delhi, has a Haryana Armed Police base with six battalions of reserve personnel to meet urgent situations like this weeks violence. Second, since the 2000s, the interplay of the Indian state taking on popular religious figures and the differential societal responses from their respective socio-religious support basesindicative of the nature of new religiosity in contemporary Indiaare revealed in three instances: The arrests of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi in 2004, Asaram Bapu in 2013 and Ram Rahim in 2017. While the thread running through these three instances happens to be that a popular religious figure was at the receiving end, the responses of their respective socio-religious bases in such volatile moments reveal their distinctiveness. In other words, it is imperative to see the correlation between violence and the sociology of sectarian support bases to understand the nature of cultural politics in contemporary India. Lets take them one by one. First, the 2004 arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi in the case of murder of Sankararaman, manager of the Varadharaja Perumal temple, sent shockwaves across India. Given the Shankaracharyas stature in the Hindu cultural milieu, this was expected from Hindus, whose highest religious personage was humiliated in the popular Hindu imagination. However, ironically, there wasnt any social rupture from the followers of Shankaracharya. Rather, it was the complete absence of a violent response by his devotees that marked the supremacy of the secular state over societal religiosity. The institutions of both Shankaracharya and religion faced harsh comments and yet there was not a single instance of public violence by his devotees. The complete lack of popular protest was interrupted only by a symbolic elitist protest when R Venkataraman, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar, one a former president and the other two former PMs, sat on a three-day dharna in Delhi. The lack of popular protest must be seen against the backdrop of the depiction of the institution of Shankaracharya as being not only Brahmanical but also anti-subaltern. Second, the 2013 arrest of cult leader Asaram Bapu on charges of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl led to his supporters and critics trading acidic comments. In spite of Asaram Bapu having lakhs of supporters across India, there was no public violence. In fact, the protests were exclusively confined to a rebuttal of Asaram Bapus critics who minced no words in demanding stringent action against him. It should be noted that Asaram Bapus support base is primarily constituted of the urban middle class and traders among whom the presence of subaltern Hindu castes is sparse. Third, the arrest and conviction this week of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on the charge of raping two female devotees led to unprecedented violence in Haryana, so much so that the prime minister had to issue a strong statement on the violence. Thirty-six people have died and about 300 were hurt. His supporters have attacked public properties in towns across Punjab and Haryana. Notably, these towns are also hosts to various security establishments. The Army had to stage a flag march in these areas to maintain law and order. In many places, the police were outnumbered by the Deras supporters. Even the security of the judge who convicted Ram Rahim has been threatened. This is despite the fact that Ram Rahim has been convicted of rape. It must be noted that the social support base of the Dera chief hails mainly from the Dalit and other subaltern castes. Against this backdrop, the crucial question to ask is why supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda are going berserk and why there was a complete absence of such violence in the cases of the Shankaracharya in 2004 and Asaram Bapu in 2013. The seemingly common paradigm of these three religious figures coming under the purview of the states law differs in terms of the social support base each of them have. While the highest religious figure of Hinduism, the Shankaracharya, is characterised as Brahmanical, gurus like Asaram are perceived to be religious icons of the urban middle class. In contrast, Dera Sacha Sauda as a religious institution is a subaltern bastion, mainly of Dalit and lower castes in Haryana and Punjab. Thus, seen in terms of these different social support basesthe Brahmanical, the middle class and the subalternthe discourse of violence in the context of the clash of secular law and religious authority has a clear logic. Its a case of the linear progression of violence from Brahmanical authority to that of middle classes to one culminating in subalternity. That is, the wider the subaltern base in the religious domain in modern times, the greater the propensity for violence. The larger paradigm here is of subalternity, which is about the assertion of entitlement in the public sphere against the elites. The presence or absence of a perceived anti-elite anger seems to account for the differential intensity of violence seen in the cases of the Shankaracharya, Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Ravikant Mishra Historian and deputy director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi Email: ravikmishrain@gmail.com Sajjan Kumar PhD from the Centre for Political Studies, JNU and is associated with Peoples Pulse Email:sajjanjnu@gmail.com To appreciate the intricate causality and cultural significance of the unprecedented violence witnessed after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, we need to look at two distinct but interrelated scenarios. First, a glance at the areas forming the epicentre of the violence would reveal their strategic importance from a security point of view: Panchkula is the headquarters of the Haryana police; Sirsa has a forward IAF base; Ambala, Bhatinda, Patiala and Hisar have cantonments; Madhuban, in the proximity of Delhi, has a Haryana Armed Police base with six battalions of reserve personnel to meet urgent situations like this weeks violence. Second, since the 2000s, the interplay of the Indian state taking on popular religious figures and the differential societal responses from their respective socio-religious support basesindicative of the nature of new religiosity in contemporary Indiaare revealed in three instances: The arrests of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi in 2004, Asaram Bapu in 2013 and Ram Rahim in 2017. While the thread running through these three instances happens to be that a popular religious figure was at the receiving end, the responses of their respective socio-religious bases in such volatile moments reveal their distinctiveness. In other words, it is imperative to see the correlation between violence and the sociology of sectarian support bases to understand the nature of cultural politics in contemporary India. Lets take them one by one. First, the 2004 arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi in the case of murder of Sankararaman, manager of the Varadharaja Perumal temple, sent shockwaves across India. Given the Shankaracharyas stature in the Hindu cultural milieu, this was expected from Hindus, whose highest religious personage was humiliated in the popular Hindu imagination. However, ironically, there wasnt any social rupture from the followers of Shankaracharya. Rather, it was the complete absence of a violent response by his devotees that marked the supremacy of the secular state over societal religiosity. The institutions of both Shankaracharya and religion faced harsh comments and yet there was not a single instance of public violence by his devotees. The complete lack of popular protest was interrupted only by a symbolic elitist protest when R Venkataraman, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandra Shekhar, one a former president and the other two former PMs, sat on a three-day dharna in Delhi. The lack of popular protest must be seen against the backdrop of the depiction of the institution of Shankaracharya as being not only Brahmanical but also anti-subaltern. Second, the 2013 arrest of cult leader Asaram Bapu on charges of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl led to his supporters and critics trading acidic comments. In spite of Asaram Bapu having lakhs of supporters across India, there was no public violence. In fact, the protests were exclusively confined to a rebuttal of Asaram Bapus critics who minced no words in demanding stringent action against him. It should be noted that Asaram Bapus support base is primarily constituted of the urban middle class and traders among whom the presence of subaltern Hindu castes is sparse. Third, the arrest and conviction this week of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on the charge of raping two female devotees led to unprecedented violence in Haryana, so much so that the prime minister had to issue a strong statement on the violence. Thirty-six people have died and about 300 were hurt. His supporters have attacked public properties in towns across Punjab and Haryana. Notably, these towns are also hosts to various security establishments. The Army had to stage a flag march in these areas to maintain law and order. In many places, the police were outnumbered by the Deras supporters. Even the security of the judge who convicted Ram Rahim has been threatened. This is despite the fact that Ram Rahim has been convicted of rape. It must be noted that the social support base of the Dera chief hails mainly from the Dalit and other subaltern castes. Against this backdrop, the crucial question to ask is why supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda are going berserk and why there was a complete absence of such violence in the cases of the Shankaracharya in 2004 and Asaram Bapu in 2013. The seemingly common paradigm of these three religious figures coming under the purview of the states law differs in terms of the social support base each of them have. While the highest religious figure of Hinduism, the Shankaracharya, is characterised as Brahmanical, gurus like Asaram are perceived to be religious icons of the urban middle class. In contrast, Dera Sacha Sauda as a religious institution is a subaltern bastion, mainly of Dalit and lower castes in Haryana and Punjab. Thus, seen in terms of these different social support basesthe Brahmanical, the middle class and the subalternthe discourse of violence in the context of the clash of secular law and religious authority has a clear logic. Its a case of the linear progression of violence from Brahmanical authority to that of middle classes to one culminating in subalternity. That is, the wider the subaltern base in the religious domain in modern times, the greater the propensity for violence. The larger paradigm here is of subalternity, which is about the assertion of entitlement in the public sphere against the elites. The presence or absence of a perceived anti-elite anger seems to account for the differential intensity of violence seen in the cases of the Shankaracharya, Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Ravikant Mishra Historian and deputy director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi Email: ravikmishrain@gmail.com Sajjan Kumar PhD from the Centre for Political Studies, JNU and is associated with Peoples Pulse Email:sajjanjnu@gmail.com By PTI RAMESWARAM: Seventy-six Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, were today ordered to be released by a Lankan court, police officials said here. The Oorkavalthurai court set free the fishermen, lodged in a Jaffna jail following their arrest in separate incidents over three months this year, they said. Among those ordered to be released were 12 fishermen from Rameswaram, six from Mandapam, 46 from Pudukottai and eight from Nagapattinam. Rameswaram fishermen's Association President S Emirit said the fishermen are expected to reach Karaikal in a day or two. Their release came on a day when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from today. Fishermen Association sources said four fishermen are still lodged in Jaffna jail. Meanwhile, eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents today for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. RAMESWARAM: Seventy-six Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, were today ordered to be released by a Lankan court, police officials said here. The Oorkavalthurai court set free the fishermen, lodged in a Jaffna jail following their arrest in separate incidents over three months this year, they said. Among those ordered to be released were 12 fishermen from Rameswaram, six from Mandapam, 46 from Pudukottai and eight from Nagapattinam. Rameswaram fishermen's Association President S Emirit said the fishermen are expected to reach Karaikal in a day or two. Their release came on a day when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from today. Fishermen Association sources said four fishermen are still lodged in Jaffna jail. Meanwhile, eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents today for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. By Associated Press HOUSTON: Authorities say they have confirmed six more deaths from Harvey, bringing the toll to at least 31. Harris County which is home to flood-ravaged Houston confirmed the additional deaths Wednesday night and said they still needed to do autopsies on another eight people to see if their deaths were storm-related. The deaths announced Wednesday included a man who stepped on live electrical wire in floodwaters and an evacuee who was found unresponsive on a charter bus. Most of the other deaths were drownings. ___ 9:10 p.m. State officials say floodwaters from Harvey toppled two oil storage tanks in south Texas, spilling almost 30,000 gallons of crude. Burlington Resources Oil and Gas reported the spills in DeWitt County to the Texas Railroad Commission on Wednesday. They include a 16,170-gallon (385 barrels) spill near the town of Westhoff and a 13,272 gallon (316 barrels) spill west of Hochheim. That's an area about 150 miles west of Houston. It was not immediately clear if any of the spilled oil was recovered. About 8,500 gallons (200 barrels) of wastewater also spilled. Burlington Resources is a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips. Company representatives did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment. More damage to oil industry infrastructure is expected to emerge as floodwaters recede. ___ 8:10 p.m. Houston officials say they are working to resume various city operations now that the flood waters from Tropical Depression Harvey have begun to recede. Bus service and the city's light rail system are set to resume on a limited basis starting on Thursday. The city's trash collection service resumed on Wednesday with heavy trash pickup. Regular trash pickup for the city was set to resume on Thursday. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says he wanted to ensure that trash removal services resumed as quickly as possible because "there will be a lot of debris." Most city employees are not set to return to work until Tuesday. ___ 8 p.m. Houston Fire Department officials say they will begin doing a block-by-block search of neighborhoods that were flooded by Tropical Depression Harvey and had previously been inaccessible to authorities. Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena says firefighters will begin searching neighborhoods in southwest Houston starting Thursday morning. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann says the searches are being done to ensure that "no people were left behind." Floodwaters in many parts of Houston have receded while other neighborhoods are still dealing with rising waters from bayous and other swollen waterways. Mann says the fire department will conduct these searches throughout the city. Officials expect the process to take one to two weeks to complete. Mann says since Harvey inundated the Houston area, the fire department has received more than 15,000 calls for service. He says the volume of calls has stabilized and the fire department is working to transition from rescues calls to a recovery mode. ___ 7:25 p.m. A top county official says Tropical Depression Harvey has taken two lives in Orange, Texas. Orange County Judge Stephen Carlton would only say the two died Monday night in the city of Orange and that the deaths were storm related. He provided no other details. The fatalities bring the number of confirmed deaths to 25. ___ 7:15 p.m. The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression, but warns of continuing flooding in parts of Southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. In its Wednesday evening update, the hurricane center said Harvey is located about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) southwest of Alexandria, Louisiana, and has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (56.32 kph). The center said the threat of heavy rains has ended for the Houston and Galveston areas, but "life-threatening" flooding will continue in and around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana. Harvey is expected to produce an additional 4 to 8 inches of rainfall along the Texas-Louisiana line. ___ 7 p.m. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has donated $1 million to the newly established United Way Harvey Recovery Fund which will go toward relief and recovery efforts for several years. United Way Worldwide said Wednesday that the national fund will distribute 100 percent of donations to recovery efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. United Way is the world's largest privately-funded non-profit. The $1 million from the actor's foundation represents the inaugural donation to the fund. It is the latest disaster relief support from the Oscar-winner's namesake foundation. Many celebrities have pulled out their pocketbooks to help Harvey victims over the past few days including Sandra Bullock, who on Tuesday donated $1 million to the American Red Cross. ___ 6:10 p.m. In Houston's flooded Meyerland district, hundreds of families have been emptying their homes of sodden possessions under a baking sun as temperatures crawled up into the 90s. On Wednesday, they piled couches, soggy drywall and carpets ripped out of foul-smelling homes where floodwater had lingered for more than 24 hours. The curbs were lined with the pickup trucks of cleanup contractors and friends. For Harry Duffey, a 48-year-old computer security specialist, this was flood No. 3 in as many years. He'd moved his family of six back into their one-story ranch a block and a half from Bray's Bayou eight months ago after a second remodeling. They figured that if it flooded they'd just drive to their old house about a mile away on higher ground. But they waited too long. In no time the water was up to their knees and would reach four feet. They quickly headed to their neighbor's home. The neighbor rebuilt following an earlier flood on a six-foot foundation, which is what Duffey wants to do now. He'll apply for a federal flood grant and hope it's approved because he can't afford what it would cost to elevate his home. Just before the flood, Duffey got a notice that his flood insurance premium had nearly doubled to $5,300 a year. But Duffey has no intention of moving out. First, he can't afford it. Second, he loves the community. He says: "I'm not leaving." ___ 5:55 p.m. The CEO of a chemical plant northeast of Houston says it could explode and cause an intense fire. Arkema president and chief executive Rich Rowe said Wednesday that the floodwaters from Harvey and the lack of power are keeping the company from preventing an explosion. The company says the chemical compounds must be stored at low temperatures. He said there is 6 feet of water at the plant and they have lost critical refrigeration of the materials. Rowe says: "We have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire." Arkema makes organic peroxides in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston. Officials have evacuated the plant and homes within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of the plant. Arkema said it shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall last week, but a crew of 11 had been kept onsite. That group was removed Tuesday. ___ 5:40 p.m. Wednesday afternoon brought the unusual sight of Louisiana's governor holding a news conference on Texas soil. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards visited a command post set up by Louisiana government agencies on the side of Interstate 10 in Orange. Edwards said Louisiana wanted to send help, including Fish and Wildlife agents and the Louisiana National Guard because "it's the right thing to do." School buses and transit buses were sent from Lake Charles to carry evacuees to two shelters the state is running there. Louisiana has also opened a shelter in Alexandria, the largest city in the central part of the state. Edwards said he'd spoken to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday about the effort. He said Louisiana would assist for "however long it takes," saying the state owes its western neighbor a debt for its aid in 2005. Edwards says, "Twelve years and a day ago, it was Hurricane Katrina." Edwards is asking for expansion of a federal emergency disaster declaration as Tropical Storm Harvey moves through the state. President Donald Trump already has issued such a declaration for five southwestern parishes: Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion. Edwards is seeking the addition of Allen, Acadia, Iberia, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine and Vernon. The declaration authorizes the federal government to cover 75 percent of costs of certain emergency protective measures. ___ 5:20 p.m. Xyrius Langston stood at the edge of a pond in the Houston suburb of Missouri City holding a fishing rod. Several family members were fishing nearby. It was the third pond they had visited Wednesday, looking for something to bite. Langston's family spent three days inside their home in Missouri City as the floods outside reached their driveway. He says it was getting "kind of chaotic" inside so he decided to go fishing. Standing at the pond, Langston said he hadn't caught anything in several hours and didn't expect to catch anything. His favorite spots along Matagorda Bay, on the other side of Houston, are still too difficult to reach as many highways and roads remain flooded. But Langston said he couldn't fully enjoy the weather, knowing how much of the region remains flooded in. He says he would be helping rescue people if he had a boat. ___ 5 p.m. Water is continuing to rise on Buffalo Bayou in Houston because of releases from one of two reservoirs in west Houston even though the rain from Tropical Storm Harvey has stopped. Harris County Flood Control District meteorologist Jeff Lindner says it is hard to forecast what happen because several gauges that have been knocked out by the surging waters. Buffalo Bayou heads west to east across Houston toward downtown. He said levels in the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which dump water into the bayou, have been constant Wednesday. Edmond Russo, regional engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, says water is being released into the bayou to create more storage capacity in case of future rain and keep the dams from overflowing.(backslash) Lindner says he would not be surprised if the number of homes flooded reaches 100,000 in Harris County. ___ 4:45 p.m. Forecasters predict a wobbling and weakening Harvey will be downgraded to a tropical depression late Wednesday or early Thursday and that the killer storm will completely dissipate within three to four days. But with 40 mph (64 kph) winds as of Wednesday afternoon, Harvey still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, this time further north. The National Hurricane Center says that Harvey should drop 4 to 8 inches more of rain from the Louisiana/Texas border northeastward into Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot of rain. Flooding is a possibility. The threat of heavy rains for Houston has ended, but catastrophic and potentially deadly flooding will continue around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week. ___ 4:15 p.m. Among the places to open their doors to victims of Harvey's flooding is a bowling alley in the coastal Texas city of Port Arthur. Max Bowl general manager Jeff Tolliver says firefighters called Tuesday night to ask him to turn off the venue's alarm system. When he left around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were 80 to 100 people sheltering there. By afternoon, there were more than 500, as well as 50 to 100 dogs and cats, a lizard and a monkey. He says the monkey "was a little surprising," but that everyone is trying to help. The bowling alley's cafe is feeding people and others have been dropping off clothes, toiletries, water and other things. Tolliver and his wife left their flooded home to stay with friends. He says he moved to Texas from Michigan a year ago to get away from the snow, but ended up with rain instead. ___ 4:05 p.m. Authorities say a married couple who drove their pickup truck into Harvey's floodwaters has drowned after the current from a nearby creek swept them away. Fort Bend County Sheriff's Maj. Chad Norvell says the couple was on the phone with 911 asking for help when the line went silent. When officers found the truck, it was completely submerged. Norvell identified the couple as 65-year-old Donald Rogers and 58-year-old Rochelle Rogers. They lived in a rural area of the county southwest of Houston and they were headed to a relative's house nearby. The deaths raise the toll from Harvey to at least 23. ___ 4 p.m. A Houston-based telemedicine practice has made its virtual network of 50 doctors available for free to patients affected by Harvey. Dr. Latisha Rowe said Wednesday that Rowe Docs' physicians are coordinating with doctors and nurses volunteering at shelters to treat and write prescriptions for Harvey evacuees who fled their homes without medicine or who sustained injuries on the way out. She said the greatest threat in shelters comes from the contaminated water many people treaded through to safety. She said infections need to be "contained and controlled" so they don't spread. Among the network's doctors is Angela Nunnery, who escaped her flooded home on Houston's north side by boat and dump truck with her husband, children, 78-year-old mother and two dogs. In addition to a daily shift attending patients online, Nunnery has been volunteering at her church a makeshift shelter for about 150 evacuees. She said local pharmacists have been providing patients with a week's supply of free medicine. ___ 3:50 p.m. Tropical Storm Harvey has spawned at least one tornado in Mississippi and created bands of strong winds that damaged homes and toppled some trees. The National Weather Service says the tornado touched down Wednesday in the southern Mississippi town of Petal, which is near Hattiesburg. Local news outlets showed photos of damaged fences and shingles pulled off a home. No injuries were immediately reported. The weather service was trying to determine whether damage further south was caused by tornadoes or other strong winds. Meteorologist Alek Krautmann says damage was reported in Pearl River County, in the city of Biloxi and in a subdivision between Ocean Springs and Gautier (GO-shay). He says Harvey also caused flash flooding before dawn Wednesday in parts of Pascagoula. ___ This version of the Latest corrects the last word of the 3:50 p.m. item to Pascagoula. ___ 3:30 p.m. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued emergency waivers allowing states from Maryland to Texas to ignore some clean-air requirements for gasoline to ensure an adequate fuel supply despite disruptions caused by Harvey. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says the waivers issued Wednesday will help ensure an adequate supply of fuel throughout the South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. In a letter to governors, Pruitt says the shutdown of nearly a dozen refineries and extreme weather conditions that have prevented fuel-barge movement in the Gulf Coast region justify the waiver. The designated states receive significant gasoline supplies from Gulf-area refineries. The waivers are effective immediately and continue through Sept. 15 at least. Affected states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. ___ 3:10 p.m. Residents of a retirement home in Orange, Texas are being evacuated by airboat from the flooded facility about 30 miles east of Beaumont. Agents from the Florida Wildlife Commission and two trucks from the Louisiana Army National Guard are participating in the evacuation of the Golden Years Retirement home. Water in the parking lot was thigh deep about 3 p.m. Wednesday as guardsmen entered the building and carried residents from the second floor where they had been sheltering in a dry area of the small facility. Wildlife agents then floated the residents, one-by-one in a Wildlife Commission airboat to the truck. About six residents had been rescued as of midafternoon and it was unclear how many more were sheltering on the second floor. Texas Health and Human Services records show Golden Years has a licensed capacity of 16. Department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said more than 2,800 residents of about 120 long-term care facilities in areas affected by Harvey had been evacuated by Tuesday. That number was expected to grow. ___ 3:05 p.m. The VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas says 20 of its nurses have headed to Houston to relieve the staff at Houston's beleaguered Veterans Affairs hospital. The team will join a 25-member team from the Austin-based Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, and 15 professionals from San Antonio-based South Texas Veterans Health Care System. According to a statement Wednesday, Houston's VA hospital has had about 700 staffers staying onsite, sleeping on floors, in the auditorium and in offices to keep the facility open throughout the disaster. A former U.S. Army ranger swam through flood waters to the hospital to be treated for a burst appendix. ___ 2:55 p.m. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says one man is being detained and another is hospitalized in critical condition after an apparent road rage shooting in storm-related traffic. The sheriff said high water across many streets and roads in the county west and southwest of Houston has forced traffic to the few roads opened, leading to congestion. Nehls told television station KPRC that the incident "should not have happened." Nehls says the man in custody after the shooting Wednesday afternoon is telling investigators he does have a license to carry a gun. ___ 2:45 p.m. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the bodies of six members of a Houston family have been recovered from a van that was swept off a Houston bridge and into a storm-ravaged bayou. Gonzales says relatives returned to the scene Wednesday to look for signs of the van and notified authorities after spotting part of it poking above the water and seeing two bodies in the front seat. The van was recovered from about 10 feet (3 meters) of muddy water in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston. Gonzalez says bodies of two adults were recovered from the front seat and the four children were found in the back. He said it appeared the van was a work truck and the back section was separated by a steel screen partition. Samuel Saldivar told deputies he was in his brother's van rescuing his parents and relatives from their flooded home Sunday when the van was tossed by a strong current into the bayou as it crossed a bridge. He escaped through a window but the others were trapped. The victims included his parents and their four great-grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 16. ___ 2:40 p.m. Authorities in the Houston-area say they are investigating 17 more deaths to see whether they qualify as storm-related. Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences spokeswoman Tricia Bentley says that the medical examiner is doing autopsies Wednesday and the agency will update its storm-related death toll in the evening. She says authorities expect to find more bodies in homes and cars as the waters from Harvey begin to recede. The 17 bodies at the morgue do not include the bodies of six relatives found in a van in Houston on Wednesday. The overall death toll from Harvey is at least 21. ___ 2:25 p.m. Some motorists have been stranded along Interstate 10 in southeast Texas for nearly 24 hours after they pulled off the freeway but couldn't re-enter. More than two dozen vehicles, including a TV news crew's, remained clustered Wednesday afternoon around a closed convenience store in Orange, Texas. I-10 is elevated and passable between Orange and Lake Charles, Louisiana, about 35 miles to the east. But many on- and off-ramps are too flooded from Harvey's rains to allow vehicles to pass. Erin Gaudet of Beaumont, Texas, is among those stranded at the store. She said she left her house Tuesday to pick up a kitten, then had to spend the night with it in her SUV. She says she's planning to name it Harvey. Harvey made landfall again Wednesday near the Texas-Louisiana border. ___ 2:20 p.m. About 10,000 additional National Guard troops from around the U.S. are being deployed to Texas as Harvey continues dumping rain on the region. Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that "the worst is not over" for southeastern Texas as widespread flooding continues. The Republican says the arrival of additional Guard members from around the country will bring the total number of deployments to about 24,000. Abbott earlier this week activated all available members of the Texas National Guard. Abbott says the Guard has conducted more than 8,500 rescues and more than 1,400 shelter-in-place and welfare checks. ___ 2 p.m. A woman whose body was found floating in floodwaters near a residential area in southeast Texas is believed to be at least the 21st person to have died in Harvey's path. Beaumont police say the woman's body was discovered Wednesday morning. Authorities have not released her name and are not certain of the circumstances that led to her death. The woman is the second person to have died in Beaumont this week. Authorities found a shivering 3-year-old clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal Tuesday after the woman tried to carry her child to safety. Beaumont police on Wednesday identified the mother as 41-year-old Colette Sulcer and said her daughter was being treated for hypothermia but doing well. ___ 1:45 p.m. Forecasters are looking at a weather system off the Mexican coast just south of Texas that they say has a one-in-five chance of developing into something tropical in the next five days. Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, says if it does develop, it would do so slowly and that it shouldn't be seen as an imminent threat. He says it wouldn't necessarily hit Harvey-flooded areas, but there's a chance. The system is so far out that forecasters can't say how much more rain it would bring. Hurricane Harvey has weakened to a minimal tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph), down from 45 mph (72 kph). Warnings and watches have been dropped for nearly all of Texas, except Sabine Pass. ___ 1:40 p.m. A 36-year-old inmate scheduled for execution in Texas next week has been granted a temporary reprieve because of Harvey. Bexar County prosecutors cited "extraordinary circumstances" in asking to move Juan Castillo's execution to Dec. 14 because some of his legal team is based in Harris County, which has been slammed by the tropical storm. On Wednesday, a state judge agreed. Gov. Greg Abbott has designated Harris County which includes Houston a disaster area along with dozens of other Texas counties after the tropical storm submerged Southeast Texas with torrential rain. Castillo had been scheduled for lethal injection Sept. 7 in Huntsville for the slaying of 19-year-old Tommy Garcia Jr. during a 2003 robbery in San Antonio. ___ 1:35 p.m. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says the threat of flooding in the state's southwest appears to be diminishing as Harvey pulls away from the region. He says Louisiana remains committed to assisting officials in Texas, where another overnight round of torrential rains stranded many residents in flooded homes. Edwards says 330 people were staying at a Lake Charles shelter as of Wednesday afternoon. He expects that number to grow as more people are rescued from floodwaters in eastern Texas, just across the state line. He says a shelter in Shreveport is ready to accommodate up to 3,400 flood victims from Texas if officials accept the state's offer to shelter them in northern Louisiana. Edwards planned to travel to southwest Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon to meet with local officials there. ___ 1:10 p.m. Residents along the Texas-Louisiana border are feeling Harvey's second punch as flash flooding inundates homes and overwhelms first responders trying to pluck people from the water. Police in Beaumont, Texas, have been recruiting anyone people with boats Wednesday to help check neighborhoods for potential rescues. Police said many were not calling 911, instead calling for help on social media, adding to the chaos. Twenty-five miles west in Orange, Texas, Anna McKay says she tried calling 911 for help, but nobody answered. Neighbors helped bring her and 12 other people who had sought refuge at her home to dry ground. They gathered at a Baptist church where people were planning to cook food to offer comfort. Harvey made its second landfall Wednesday as a tropical storm after roaring ashore last week as a hurricane. ___ 1:05 p.m. The Texas Department of Public Safety says more than 48,700 homes have been affected by flooding and other damage brought by Harvey since it first came ashore Friday. A report released Wednesday shows more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed while about another 17,000 have sustained major damage. Approximately 32,000 have damage described by state authorities as minor. In Harris County, one of the state's largest and home to Houston, about 43,700 homes have been damaged, with some 11,600 receiving major damage and another 770 destroyed. Harvey has also damaged nearly 700 businesses in the state. DPS says its report will be updated each day so the number of damaged structures is expected to rise, particularly with expanding floodwaters in Southeast Texas as Harvey moves into Louisiana. ___ 1 p.m. Downtown Houston business district officials say the city's center has survived Harvey in relatively good shape, though flooding has damaged several buildings, including City Hall and the city's main performing arts centers. Officials said Wednesday that flooding damaged the ground floor or basements of more than two dozen buildings or businesses downtown, primarily along Buffalo Bayou, a river-like waterway that meanders west to east through the city. Among the damaged buildings are the Alley Theatre, Wortham Theater Center, Hobby Center and Jones Hall, home of the Houston Symphony. Streets to and within downtown are open, although some freeway exit ramps leading into downtown remain impassable. There are some scattered power outages and some traffic signals are out. There is isolated flooding in the pedestrian tunnels what wind through downtown. ___ 12:50 p.m. The federal Department of Education is easing financial aid rules and procedures for those affected by Harvey. The department is encouraging students whose financial needs have been altered by the storm to contact their school's financial aid office. The agency says in a statement that colleges and career schools will be allowed to use "professional judgment" to adjust a student's financial information in the aftermath of Harvey. A school may even be able to waive certain paperwork requirements if documents were destroyed in the flooding. The department says borrowers struggling to pay off loans because of Harvey should inform their loan servicers and they've been directed to give borrowers flexibility in managing loan payments. ___ 12:45 p.m. All students in the largest district in Texas will be eligible to receive three free meals per day at school as the state recovers from Harvey. The Houston Independent School District on Wednesday announced the plan promising free meals on campus to 216,000 students during the 2017-2018 school year. An HISD statement says federal and state agriculture departments have waived the usual required application process, part of the National School Lunch/Breakfast Program, to help with Harvey recovery. Superintendent Richard Carranza says the waiver will give families one less concern as they begin the process of restoring their lives. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes in Houston since Harvey struck, submerging the city with torrential rain. ___ 12:40 p.m. There are more than 32,000 people in shelters across Texas as Harvey continues drenching the state's Gulf Coast. Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas also has an additional 30,000 beds "available as needed" for those who fled or are still fleeing floodwaters associated with the storm. At a news conference in Austin, Abbott said there are still about 107,000 power outages statewide, down from nearly 140,000 over the weekend. Harvey roared ashore as a hurricane Friday, then triggered deadly floods as a tropical storm. Abbott refused to speculate on the final costs of the storm in terms of property damage. But he suggested that the scope of destruction far exceeded that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or 2012's Superstorm Sandy, meaning the financial impact will likely be far greater than both. ___ 12:25 p.m. Officers have located a submerged van in which six members of a Houston family were traveling when it was swept off a Houston bridge and into a storm-ravaged bayou. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the van is in about 10 feet (3 meters) of muddy water in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston. He says the bodies of two adults can be seen in the front seat but that if the four children's bodies are inside they are obscured because of the water conditions and the angle of the vehicle. Authorities are trying to decide whether dive team members will retrieve the bodies or if it would be safer to pull the van from the treacherous water first. Samuel Saldivar told deputies he was in his brother's van rescuing his parents and relatives from their flooded home Sunday when the van was tossed by a strong current into the bayou as it crossed a bridge. He escaped through a window but the others were trapped. ___ 12:05 p.m. Authorities say a 3-year-old girl who was found clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal in Southeast Texas is doing well and should be released from the hospital soon. Beaumont police on Wednesday identified the girl's mother as 41-year-old Colette Sulcer. Officer Carol Riley says the toddler, who was suffering from hypothermia when she was rescued Tuesday afternoon, has now been reunited with her family. Riley says the girl is in stable condition and should be released from the hospital on Wednesday. Authorities have said the mother's vehicle got stuck in a flooded parking lot of an office park just off Interstate 10. A witness saw the woman take her daughter and try to walk to safety when the swift current of a flooded drainage canal next to the parking lot swept them both away. Officials say the child was holding onto the floating woman when police and fire-rescue team in a boat caught up to them a half-mile downstream. ___ 11:45 a.m. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it has assigned about 150 employees from around the country to help with disaster relief efforts in Houston. The agency said Wednesday that 139 agents and officers from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Houston, Washington, New York, San Diego and Tampa are on scene. They are on 25-member teams that answer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ICE also has another dozen employees on another team that assists FEMA. It says it is prepared to send more employees if needed. The agency says it is not doing immigration enforcement operations in storm-affected areas. HOUSTON: Authorities say they have confirmed six more deaths from Harvey, bringing the toll to at least 31. Harris County which is home to flood-ravaged Houston confirmed the additional deaths Wednesday night and said they still needed to do autopsies on another eight people to see if their deaths were storm-related. The deaths announced Wednesday included a man who stepped on live electrical wire in floodwaters and an evacuee who was found unresponsive on a charter bus. Most of the other deaths were drownings. ___ 9:10 p.m. State officials say floodwaters from Harvey toppled two oil storage tanks in south Texas, spilling almost 30,000 gallons of crude. Burlington Resources Oil and Gas reported the spills in DeWitt County to the Texas Railroad Commission on Wednesday. They include a 16,170-gallon (385 barrels) spill near the town of Westhoff and a 13,272 gallon (316 barrels) spill west of Hochheim. That's an area about 150 miles west of Houston. It was not immediately clear if any of the spilled oil was recovered. About 8,500 gallons (200 barrels) of wastewater also spilled. Burlington Resources is a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips. Company representatives did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment. More damage to oil industry infrastructure is expected to emerge as floodwaters recede. ___ 8:10 p.m. Houston officials say they are working to resume various city operations now that the flood waters from Tropical Depression Harvey have begun to recede. Bus service and the city's light rail system are set to resume on a limited basis starting on Thursday. The city's trash collection service resumed on Wednesday with heavy trash pickup. Regular trash pickup for the city was set to resume on Thursday. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says he wanted to ensure that trash removal services resumed as quickly as possible because "there will be a lot of debris." Most city employees are not set to return to work until Tuesday. ___ 8 p.m. Houston Fire Department officials say they will begin doing a block-by-block search of neighborhoods that were flooded by Tropical Depression Harvey and had previously been inaccessible to authorities. Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena says firefighters will begin searching neighborhoods in southwest Houston starting Thursday morning. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann says the searches are being done to ensure that "no people were left behind." Floodwaters in many parts of Houston have receded while other neighborhoods are still dealing with rising waters from bayous and other swollen waterways. Mann says the fire department will conduct these searches throughout the city. Officials expect the process to take one to two weeks to complete. Mann says since Harvey inundated the Houston area, the fire department has received more than 15,000 calls for service. He says the volume of calls has stabilized and the fire department is working to transition from rescues calls to a recovery mode. ___ 7:25 p.m. A top county official says Tropical Depression Harvey has taken two lives in Orange, Texas. Orange County Judge Stephen Carlton would only say the two died Monday night in the city of Orange and that the deaths were storm related. He provided no other details. The fatalities bring the number of confirmed deaths to 25. ___ 7:15 p.m. The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression, but warns of continuing flooding in parts of Southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. In its Wednesday evening update, the hurricane center said Harvey is located about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) southwest of Alexandria, Louisiana, and has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (56.32 kph). The center said the threat of heavy rains has ended for the Houston and Galveston areas, but "life-threatening" flooding will continue in and around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana. Harvey is expected to produce an additional 4 to 8 inches of rainfall along the Texas-Louisiana line. ___ 7 p.m. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has donated $1 million to the newly established United Way Harvey Recovery Fund which will go toward relief and recovery efforts for several years. United Way Worldwide said Wednesday that the national fund will distribute 100 percent of donations to recovery efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. United Way is the world's largest privately-funded non-profit. The $1 million from the actor's foundation represents the inaugural donation to the fund. It is the latest disaster relief support from the Oscar-winner's namesake foundation. Many celebrities have pulled out their pocketbooks to help Harvey victims over the past few days including Sandra Bullock, who on Tuesday donated $1 million to the American Red Cross. ___ 6:10 p.m. In Houston's flooded Meyerland district, hundreds of families have been emptying their homes of sodden possessions under a baking sun as temperatures crawled up into the 90s. On Wednesday, they piled couches, soggy drywall and carpets ripped out of foul-smelling homes where floodwater had lingered for more than 24 hours. The curbs were lined with the pickup trucks of cleanup contractors and friends. For Harry Duffey, a 48-year-old computer security specialist, this was flood No. 3 in as many years. He'd moved his family of six back into their one-story ranch a block and a half from Bray's Bayou eight months ago after a second remodeling. They figured that if it flooded they'd just drive to their old house about a mile away on higher ground. But they waited too long. In no time the water was up to their knees and would reach four feet. They quickly headed to their neighbor's home. The neighbor rebuilt following an earlier flood on a six-foot foundation, which is what Duffey wants to do now. He'll apply for a federal flood grant and hope it's approved because he can't afford what it would cost to elevate his home. Just before the flood, Duffey got a notice that his flood insurance premium had nearly doubled to $5,300 a year. But Duffey has no intention of moving out. First, he can't afford it. Second, he loves the community. He says: "I'm not leaving." ___ 5:55 p.m. The CEO of a chemical plant northeast of Houston says it could explode and cause an intense fire. Arkema president and chief executive Rich Rowe said Wednesday that the floodwaters from Harvey and the lack of power are keeping the company from preventing an explosion. The company says the chemical compounds must be stored at low temperatures. He said there is 6 feet of water at the plant and they have lost critical refrigeration of the materials. Rowe says: "We have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire." Arkema makes organic peroxides in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston. Officials have evacuated the plant and homes within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of the plant. Arkema said it shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall last week, but a crew of 11 had been kept onsite. That group was removed Tuesday. ___ 5:40 p.m. Wednesday afternoon brought the unusual sight of Louisiana's governor holding a news conference on Texas soil. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards visited a command post set up by Louisiana government agencies on the side of Interstate 10 in Orange. Edwards said Louisiana wanted to send help, including Fish and Wildlife agents and the Louisiana National Guard because "it's the right thing to do." School buses and transit buses were sent from Lake Charles to carry evacuees to two shelters the state is running there. Louisiana has also opened a shelter in Alexandria, the largest city in the central part of the state. Edwards said he'd spoken to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday about the effort. He said Louisiana would assist for "however long it takes," saying the state owes its western neighbor a debt for its aid in 2005. Edwards says, "Twelve years and a day ago, it was Hurricane Katrina." Edwards is asking for expansion of a federal emergency disaster declaration as Tropical Storm Harvey moves through the state. President Donald Trump already has issued such a declaration for five southwestern parishes: Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion. Edwards is seeking the addition of Allen, Acadia, Iberia, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine and Vernon. The declaration authorizes the federal government to cover 75 percent of costs of certain emergency protective measures. ___ 5:20 p.m. Xyrius Langston stood at the edge of a pond in the Houston suburb of Missouri City holding a fishing rod. Several family members were fishing nearby. It was the third pond they had visited Wednesday, looking for something to bite. Langston's family spent three days inside their home in Missouri City as the floods outside reached their driveway. He says it was getting "kind of chaotic" inside so he decided to go fishing. Standing at the pond, Langston said he hadn't caught anything in several hours and didn't expect to catch anything. His favorite spots along Matagorda Bay, on the other side of Houston, are still too difficult to reach as many highways and roads remain flooded. But Langston said he couldn't fully enjoy the weather, knowing how much of the region remains flooded in. He says he would be helping rescue people if he had a boat. ___ 5 p.m. Water is continuing to rise on Buffalo Bayou in Houston because of releases from one of two reservoirs in west Houston even though the rain from Tropical Storm Harvey has stopped. Harris County Flood Control District meteorologist Jeff Lindner says it is hard to forecast what happen because several gauges that have been knocked out by the surging waters. Buffalo Bayou heads west to east across Houston toward downtown. He said levels in the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which dump water into the bayou, have been constant Wednesday. Edmond Russo, regional engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, says water is being released into the bayou to create more storage capacity in case of future rain and keep the dams from overflowing.(backslash) Lindner says he would not be surprised if the number of homes flooded reaches 100,000 in Harris County. ___ 4:45 p.m. Forecasters predict a wobbling and weakening Harvey will be downgraded to a tropical depression late Wednesday or early Thursday and that the killer storm will completely dissipate within three to four days. But with 40 mph (64 kph) winds as of Wednesday afternoon, Harvey still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, this time further north. The National Hurricane Center says that Harvey should drop 4 to 8 inches more of rain from the Louisiana/Texas border northeastward into Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot of rain. Flooding is a possibility. The threat of heavy rains for Houston has ended, but catastrophic and potentially deadly flooding will continue around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week. ___ 4:15 p.m. Among the places to open their doors to victims of Harvey's flooding is a bowling alley in the coastal Texas city of Port Arthur. Max Bowl general manager Jeff Tolliver says firefighters called Tuesday night to ask him to turn off the venue's alarm system. When he left around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were 80 to 100 people sheltering there. By afternoon, there were more than 500, as well as 50 to 100 dogs and cats, a lizard and a monkey. He says the monkey "was a little surprising," but that everyone is trying to help. The bowling alley's cafe is feeding people and others have been dropping off clothes, toiletries, water and other things. Tolliver and his wife left their flooded home to stay with friends. He says he moved to Texas from Michigan a year ago to get away from the snow, but ended up with rain instead. ___ 4:05 p.m. Authorities say a married couple who drove their pickup truck into Harvey's floodwaters has drowned after the current from a nearby creek swept them away. Fort Bend County Sheriff's Maj. Chad Norvell says the couple was on the phone with 911 asking for help when the line went silent. When officers found the truck, it was completely submerged. Norvell identified the couple as 65-year-old Donald Rogers and 58-year-old Rochelle Rogers. They lived in a rural area of the county southwest of Houston and they were headed to a relative's house nearby. The deaths raise the toll from Harvey to at least 23. ___ 4 p.m. A Houston-based telemedicine practice has made its virtual network of 50 doctors available for free to patients affected by Harvey. Dr. Latisha Rowe said Wednesday that Rowe Docs' physicians are coordinating with doctors and nurses volunteering at shelters to treat and write prescriptions for Harvey evacuees who fled their homes without medicine or who sustained injuries on the way out. She said the greatest threat in shelters comes from the contaminated water many people treaded through to safety. She said infections need to be "contained and controlled" so they don't spread. Among the network's doctors is Angela Nunnery, who escaped her flooded home on Houston's north side by boat and dump truck with her husband, children, 78-year-old mother and two dogs. In addition to a daily shift attending patients online, Nunnery has been volunteering at her church a makeshift shelter for about 150 evacuees. She said local pharmacists have been providing patients with a week's supply of free medicine. ___ 3:50 p.m. Tropical Storm Harvey has spawned at least one tornado in Mississippi and created bands of strong winds that damaged homes and toppled some trees. The National Weather Service says the tornado touched down Wednesday in the southern Mississippi town of Petal, which is near Hattiesburg. Local news outlets showed photos of damaged fences and shingles pulled off a home. No injuries were immediately reported. The weather service was trying to determine whether damage further south was caused by tornadoes or other strong winds. Meteorologist Alek Krautmann says damage was reported in Pearl River County, in the city of Biloxi and in a subdivision between Ocean Springs and Gautier (GO-shay). He says Harvey also caused flash flooding before dawn Wednesday in parts of Pascagoula. ___ This version of the Latest corrects the last word of the 3:50 p.m. item to Pascagoula. ___ 3:30 p.m. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued emergency waivers allowing states from Maryland to Texas to ignore some clean-air requirements for gasoline to ensure an adequate fuel supply despite disruptions caused by Harvey. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says the waivers issued Wednesday will help ensure an adequate supply of fuel throughout the South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. In a letter to governors, Pruitt says the shutdown of nearly a dozen refineries and extreme weather conditions that have prevented fuel-barge movement in the Gulf Coast region justify the waiver. The designated states receive significant gasoline supplies from Gulf-area refineries. The waivers are effective immediately and continue through Sept. 15 at least. Affected states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. ___ 3:10 p.m. Residents of a retirement home in Orange, Texas are being evacuated by airboat from the flooded facility about 30 miles east of Beaumont. Agents from the Florida Wildlife Commission and two trucks from the Louisiana Army National Guard are participating in the evacuation of the Golden Years Retirement home. Water in the parking lot was thigh deep about 3 p.m. Wednesday as guardsmen entered the building and carried residents from the second floor where they had been sheltering in a dry area of the small facility. Wildlife agents then floated the residents, one-by-one in a Wildlife Commission airboat to the truck. About six residents had been rescued as of midafternoon and it was unclear how many more were sheltering on the second floor. Texas Health and Human Services records show Golden Years has a licensed capacity of 16. Department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said more than 2,800 residents of about 120 long-term care facilities in areas affected by Harvey had been evacuated by Tuesday. That number was expected to grow. ___ 3:05 p.m. The VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas says 20 of its nurses have headed to Houston to relieve the staff at Houston's beleaguered Veterans Affairs hospital. The team will join a 25-member team from the Austin-based Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, and 15 professionals from San Antonio-based South Texas Veterans Health Care System. According to a statement Wednesday, Houston's VA hospital has had about 700 staffers staying onsite, sleeping on floors, in the auditorium and in offices to keep the facility open throughout the disaster. A former U.S. Army ranger swam through flood waters to the hospital to be treated for a burst appendix. ___ 2:55 p.m. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says one man is being detained and another is hospitalized in critical condition after an apparent road rage shooting in storm-related traffic. The sheriff said high water across many streets and roads in the county west and southwest of Houston has forced traffic to the few roads opened, leading to congestion. Nehls told television station KPRC that the incident "should not have happened." Nehls says the man in custody after the shooting Wednesday afternoon is telling investigators he does have a license to carry a gun. ___ 2:45 p.m. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the bodies of six members of a Houston family have been recovered from a van that was swept off a Houston bridge and into a storm-ravaged bayou. Gonzales says relatives returned to the scene Wednesday to look for signs of the van and notified authorities after spotting part of it poking above the water and seeing two bodies in the front seat. The van was recovered from about 10 feet (3 meters) of muddy water in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston. Gonzalez says bodies of two adults were recovered from the front seat and the four children were found in the back. He said it appeared the van was a work truck and the back section was separated by a steel screen partition. Samuel Saldivar told deputies he was in his brother's van rescuing his parents and relatives from their flooded home Sunday when the van was tossed by a strong current into the bayou as it crossed a bridge. He escaped through a window but the others were trapped. The victims included his parents and their four great-grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 16. ___ 2:40 p.m. Authorities in the Houston-area say they are investigating 17 more deaths to see whether they qualify as storm-related. Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences spokeswoman Tricia Bentley says that the medical examiner is doing autopsies Wednesday and the agency will update its storm-related death toll in the evening. She says authorities expect to find more bodies in homes and cars as the waters from Harvey begin to recede. The 17 bodies at the morgue do not include the bodies of six relatives found in a van in Houston on Wednesday. The overall death toll from Harvey is at least 21. ___ 2:25 p.m. Some motorists have been stranded along Interstate 10 in southeast Texas for nearly 24 hours after they pulled off the freeway but couldn't re-enter. More than two dozen vehicles, including a TV news crew's, remained clustered Wednesday afternoon around a closed convenience store in Orange, Texas. I-10 is elevated and passable between Orange and Lake Charles, Louisiana, about 35 miles to the east. But many on- and off-ramps are too flooded from Harvey's rains to allow vehicles to pass. Erin Gaudet of Beaumont, Texas, is among those stranded at the store. She said she left her house Tuesday to pick up a kitten, then had to spend the night with it in her SUV. She says she's planning to name it Harvey. Harvey made landfall again Wednesday near the Texas-Louisiana border. ___ 2:20 p.m. About 10,000 additional National Guard troops from around the U.S. are being deployed to Texas as Harvey continues dumping rain on the region. Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that "the worst is not over" for southeastern Texas as widespread flooding continues. The Republican says the arrival of additional Guard members from around the country will bring the total number of deployments to about 24,000. Abbott earlier this week activated all available members of the Texas National Guard. Abbott says the Guard has conducted more than 8,500 rescues and more than 1,400 shelter-in-place and welfare checks. ___ 2 p.m. A woman whose body was found floating in floodwaters near a residential area in southeast Texas is believed to be at least the 21st person to have died in Harvey's path. Beaumont police say the woman's body was discovered Wednesday morning. Authorities have not released her name and are not certain of the circumstances that led to her death. The woman is the second person to have died in Beaumont this week. Authorities found a shivering 3-year-old clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal Tuesday after the woman tried to carry her child to safety. Beaumont police on Wednesday identified the mother as 41-year-old Colette Sulcer and said her daughter was being treated for hypothermia but doing well. ___ 1:45 p.m. Forecasters are looking at a weather system off the Mexican coast just south of Texas that they say has a one-in-five chance of developing into something tropical in the next five days. Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, says if it does develop, it would do so slowly and that it shouldn't be seen as an imminent threat. He says it wouldn't necessarily hit Harvey-flooded areas, but there's a chance. The system is so far out that forecasters can't say how much more rain it would bring. Hurricane Harvey has weakened to a minimal tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph), down from 45 mph (72 kph). Warnings and watches have been dropped for nearly all of Texas, except Sabine Pass. ___ 1:40 p.m. A 36-year-old inmate scheduled for execution in Texas next week has been granted a temporary reprieve because of Harvey. Bexar County prosecutors cited "extraordinary circumstances" in asking to move Juan Castillo's execution to Dec. 14 because some of his legal team is based in Harris County, which has been slammed by the tropical storm. On Wednesday, a state judge agreed. Gov. Greg Abbott has designated Harris County which includes Houston a disaster area along with dozens of other Texas counties after the tropical storm submerged Southeast Texas with torrential rain. Castillo had been scheduled for lethal injection Sept. 7 in Huntsville for the slaying of 19-year-old Tommy Garcia Jr. during a 2003 robbery in San Antonio. ___ 1:35 p.m. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says the threat of flooding in the state's southwest appears to be diminishing as Harvey pulls away from the region. He says Louisiana remains committed to assisting officials in Texas, where another overnight round of torrential rains stranded many residents in flooded homes. Edwards says 330 people were staying at a Lake Charles shelter as of Wednesday afternoon. He expects that number to grow as more people are rescued from floodwaters in eastern Texas, just across the state line. He says a shelter in Shreveport is ready to accommodate up to 3,400 flood victims from Texas if officials accept the state's offer to shelter them in northern Louisiana. Edwards planned to travel to southwest Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon to meet with local officials there. ___ 1:10 p.m. Residents along the Texas-Louisiana border are feeling Harvey's second punch as flash flooding inundates homes and overwhelms first responders trying to pluck people from the water. Police in Beaumont, Texas, have been recruiting anyone people with boats Wednesday to help check neighborhoods for potential rescues. Police said many were not calling 911, instead calling for help on social media, adding to the chaos. Twenty-five miles west in Orange, Texas, Anna McKay says she tried calling 911 for help, but nobody answered. Neighbors helped bring her and 12 other people who had sought refuge at her home to dry ground. They gathered at a Baptist church where people were planning to cook food to offer comfort. Harvey made its second landfall Wednesday as a tropical storm after roaring ashore last week as a hurricane. ___ 1:05 p.m. The Texas Department of Public Safety says more than 48,700 homes have been affected by flooding and other damage brought by Harvey since it first came ashore Friday. A report released Wednesday shows more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed while about another 17,000 have sustained major damage. Approximately 32,000 have damage described by state authorities as minor. In Harris County, one of the state's largest and home to Houston, about 43,700 homes have been damaged, with some 11,600 receiving major damage and another 770 destroyed. Harvey has also damaged nearly 700 businesses in the state. DPS says its report will be updated each day so the number of damaged structures is expected to rise, particularly with expanding floodwaters in Southeast Texas as Harvey moves into Louisiana. ___ 1 p.m. Downtown Houston business district officials say the city's center has survived Harvey in relatively good shape, though flooding has damaged several buildings, including City Hall and the city's main performing arts centers. Officials said Wednesday that flooding damaged the ground floor or basements of more than two dozen buildings or businesses downtown, primarily along Buffalo Bayou, a river-like waterway that meanders west to east through the city. Among the damaged buildings are the Alley Theatre, Wortham Theater Center, Hobby Center and Jones Hall, home of the Houston Symphony. Streets to and within downtown are open, although some freeway exit ramps leading into downtown remain impassable. There are some scattered power outages and some traffic signals are out. There is isolated flooding in the pedestrian tunnels what wind through downtown. ___ 12:50 p.m. The federal Department of Education is easing financial aid rules and procedures for those affected by Harvey. The department is encouraging students whose financial needs have been altered by the storm to contact their school's financial aid office. The agency says in a statement that colleges and career schools will be allowed to use "professional judgment" to adjust a student's financial information in the aftermath of Harvey. A school may even be able to waive certain paperwork requirements if documents were destroyed in the flooding. The department says borrowers struggling to pay off loans because of Harvey should inform their loan servicers and they've been directed to give borrowers flexibility in managing loan payments. ___ 12:45 p.m. All students in the largest district in Texas will be eligible to receive three free meals per day at school as the state recovers from Harvey. The Houston Independent School District on Wednesday announced the plan promising free meals on campus to 216,000 students during the 2017-2018 school year. An HISD statement says federal and state agriculture departments have waived the usual required application process, part of the National School Lunch/Breakfast Program, to help with Harvey recovery. Superintendent Richard Carranza says the waiver will give families one less concern as they begin the process of restoring their lives. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes in Houston since Harvey struck, submerging the city with torrential rain. ___ 12:40 p.m. There are more than 32,000 people in shelters across Texas as Harvey continues drenching the state's Gulf Coast. Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas also has an additional 30,000 beds "available as needed" for those who fled or are still fleeing floodwaters associated with the storm. At a news conference in Austin, Abbott said there are still about 107,000 power outages statewide, down from nearly 140,000 over the weekend. Harvey roared ashore as a hurricane Friday, then triggered deadly floods as a tropical storm. Abbott refused to speculate on the final costs of the storm in terms of property damage. But he suggested that the scope of destruction far exceeded that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or 2012's Superstorm Sandy, meaning the financial impact will likely be far greater than both. ___ 12:25 p.m. Officers have located a submerged van in which six members of a Houston family were traveling when it was swept off a Houston bridge and into a storm-ravaged bayou. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the van is in about 10 feet (3 meters) of muddy water in Green's Bayou in northeast Houston. He says the bodies of two adults can be seen in the front seat but that if the four children's bodies are inside they are obscured because of the water conditions and the angle of the vehicle. Authorities are trying to decide whether dive team members will retrieve the bodies or if it would be safer to pull the van from the treacherous water first. Samuel Saldivar told deputies he was in his brother's van rescuing his parents and relatives from their flooded home Sunday when the van was tossed by a strong current into the bayou as it crossed a bridge. He escaped through a window but the others were trapped. ___ 12:05 p.m. Authorities say a 3-year-old girl who was found clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal in Southeast Texas is doing well and should be released from the hospital soon. Beaumont police on Wednesday identified the girl's mother as 41-year-old Colette Sulcer. Officer Carol Riley says the toddler, who was suffering from hypothermia when she was rescued Tuesday afternoon, has now been reunited with her family. Riley says the girl is in stable condition and should be released from the hospital on Wednesday. Authorities have said the mother's vehicle got stuck in a flooded parking lot of an office park just off Interstate 10. A witness saw the woman take her daughter and try to walk to safety when the swift current of a flooded drainage canal next to the parking lot swept them both away. Officials say the child was holding onto the floating woman when police and fire-rescue team in a boat caught up to them a half-mile downstream. ___ 11:45 a.m. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it has assigned about 150 employees from around the country to help with disaster relief efforts in Houston. The agency said Wednesday that 139 agents and officers from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Houston, Washington, New York, San Diego and Tampa are on scene. They are on 25-member teams that answer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ICE also has another dozen employees on another team that assists FEMA. It says it is prepared to send more employees if needed. The agency says it is not doing immigration enforcement operations in storm-affected areas. By PTI BANGKOK: Several hundred Buddhist nationalists, including monks, rallied in Myanmar's largest city to urge stronger action against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority for attacks on police last week. The attacks in Rakhine state in western Myanmar have spiraled into chaotic violence, with more than 100 dead and villages torched. At least 18,000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in less than a week, with hundreds stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said. The army, responding to last Thursday's attacks, launched what it called clearance operations against the insurgents, but advocates for the Rohingya say they are attacking and burning Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. The government blames Rohingya insurgents and their sympathizers for the continuing violence. Government figures put the death toll since last week at a minimum of 103, including 12 members of security forces, 77 people described as insurgents and 14 civilians. There were reports of additional deaths yesterday. Rohingya advocates fear the death toll for civilians is much higher. Most of Myanmar's estimated 1 million Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. Wirathu, a Buddhist monk and leader of the anti-Muslim movement who is known for virulent sermons, told yesterday's protesters in Yangon that only the military can control the situation in northern Rakhine. He criticised the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi for not responding quickly to the army's call Tuesday for a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, which could declare a state of emergency in Rakhine and give the military absolute authority to enforce it. The military holds a majority on the council, which was created by the 2008 military-drafted constitution. "Only the military's commander in chief can protect the lives and the properties of the people," Wirathu said. "The military is the only one that can give a lesson to tame the Bengali terrorists." Myanmar nationalists use the term Bengali for Rohingya because of a belief they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though many families have been in Myanmar for generations. Wirathu also denounced international aid groups that the government has accused, without evidence, of giving assistance to the Rohingya insurgents. The allegations have circulated widely on social media. The Information Ministry yesterday said that 45 homemade bombs were detonated and seven villages, one security post and two neighborhoods in the township of Maungdaw were burned down on Sunday and Monday. Maungdaw, in the northern part of Rakhine state, is a center of the violence, though villages over a much wider area were also hit. Sanjukta Sahany, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on the border with Myanmar, said the Rohingya crisis was not just an issue between Myanmar and Bangladesh but of international concern. At the United Nations, the Security Council got an emergency, closed-door update Wednesday on Myanmar, at Britain's request. The council didn't issue any statement as a whole, but British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said members condemned the violence and called on all the parties involved to de-escalate tensions. The UN refugee organization on Tuesday urged Bangladesh to continue to allow Rohingya fleeing violence to seek safety. It said it was ready to help Bangladesh with assistance for the refugees. Ali Hossain, Cox's Bazar district's top government official, told The Associated Press that its resources were under huge stress after some 87,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh since October last year and another 18,000 since last Friday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the United States on Wednesday to pressure Myanmar so its government would stop pushing Rohingya toward Bangladesh, her spokesman said. Hasina made the request during talks with Alice Wells, US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said Ihsanul Karim, Hasina's press secretary. The insurgent raids last Thursday were deadlier than an attack by the militants on three border posts last October that killed nine policemen and set off months of brutal counterinsurgency operations against Rohingya communities. Human rights groups accused the army of carrying out massive abuses, including killing, rape and burning down more than 1,000 homes and other buildings. BANGKOK: Several hundred Buddhist nationalists, including monks, rallied in Myanmar's largest city to urge stronger action against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority for attacks on police last week. The attacks in Rakhine state in western Myanmar have spiraled into chaotic violence, with more than 100 dead and villages torched. At least 18,000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in less than a week, with hundreds stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said. The army, responding to last Thursday's attacks, launched what it called clearance operations against the insurgents, but advocates for the Rohingya say they are attacking and burning Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. The government blames Rohingya insurgents and their sympathizers for the continuing violence. Government figures put the death toll since last week at a minimum of 103, including 12 members of security forces, 77 people described as insurgents and 14 civilians. There were reports of additional deaths yesterday. Rohingya advocates fear the death toll for civilians is much higher. Most of Myanmar's estimated 1 million Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. Wirathu, a Buddhist monk and leader of the anti-Muslim movement who is known for virulent sermons, told yesterday's protesters in Yangon that only the military can control the situation in northern Rakhine. He criticised the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi for not responding quickly to the army's call Tuesday for a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, which could declare a state of emergency in Rakhine and give the military absolute authority to enforce it. The military holds a majority on the council, which was created by the 2008 military-drafted constitution. "Only the military's commander in chief can protect the lives and the properties of the people," Wirathu said. "The military is the only one that can give a lesson to tame the Bengali terrorists." Myanmar nationalists use the term Bengali for Rohingya because of a belief they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though many families have been in Myanmar for generations. Wirathu also denounced international aid groups that the government has accused, without evidence, of giving assistance to the Rohingya insurgents. The allegations have circulated widely on social media. The Information Ministry yesterday said that 45 homemade bombs were detonated and seven villages, one security post and two neighborhoods in the township of Maungdaw were burned down on Sunday and Monday. Maungdaw, in the northern part of Rakhine state, is a center of the violence, though villages over a much wider area were also hit. Sanjukta Sahany, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on the border with Myanmar, said the Rohingya crisis was not just an issue between Myanmar and Bangladesh but of international concern. At the United Nations, the Security Council got an emergency, closed-door update Wednesday on Myanmar, at Britain's request. The council didn't issue any statement as a whole, but British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said members condemned the violence and called on all the parties involved to de-escalate tensions. The UN refugee organization on Tuesday urged Bangladesh to continue to allow Rohingya fleeing violence to seek safety. It said it was ready to help Bangladesh with assistance for the refugees. Ali Hossain, Cox's Bazar district's top government official, told The Associated Press that its resources were under huge stress after some 87,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh since October last year and another 18,000 since last Friday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the United States on Wednesday to pressure Myanmar so its government would stop pushing Rohingya toward Bangladesh, her spokesman said. Hasina made the request during talks with Alice Wells, US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said Ihsanul Karim, Hasina's press secretary. The insurgent raids last Thursday were deadlier than an attack by the militants on three border posts last October that killed nine policemen and set off months of brutal counterinsurgency operations against Rohingya communities. Human rights groups accused the army of carrying out massive abuses, including killing, rape and burning down more than 1,000 homes and other buildings. Manasa R By Online Desk The violent rampage unleashed by Dera Sacha Sauda followers in Haryana, following the August 25 conviction of their chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan for raping two women, is not the first time the world has seen a cult leader with millions under his sway. History has witnessed several notorious cult leaders who brainwashed and abused vulnerable people and even got many of their followers to commit horrific crimes. Here are some of them. 1. The Manson Family - Charles Manson The infamous mass murderer and wannabe rockstar, Charles Milles Manson, is the first on this list, due to the vast number of heinous crimes he is believed to have committed, along with his followers. He was born in 1934 to a 16-year-old unwed mother, and spent most of his early life either in prison or correctional institutions, for committing petty thefts and running a prostitution racket. From an apartment he shared with one of his girlfriends, he started what he called the Manson Family in 1960s California, where he invited more members to join, largely females. They were mostly young impressionable women who had left their homes in a rebellious manner, symbolic of the counterculture movement then. He presented himself as Christ and his followers, the reincarnations of the original Christians. This was just one of his several crazy, radical ideas. His doomsday beliefs (titled Helter Skelter, from a Beatles song) allegedly led his followers to go on a murdering spree, which they believed would start an inevitable apocalyptic, racial war between whites and blacks. They committed a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969, all at Mansons bidding. The victims were found dead next to walls on which pig or helter skelter would be written in their own blood. In 1971, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, particularly Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, who was eight months pregnant at the time. He also received first-degree murder convictions for two other deaths. He is currently serving multiple life sentences at California State Prison in Corcoran, under the joint-responsibility rule as he orchestrated but never committed any of the murders himself. The family members all received death sentences initially, which was abolished in California in 1972, and are now serving their lifetimes in prison like their leader. His personality, crimes, songs (which attained commercial success after his conviction), the books, films and TV series he inspired, elevated him to cult status around the world. Trivia: You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy. Charles Mansons quote from Manson in His Own Words: The Shocking Confessions of 'The Most Dangerous Man Alive', Nuel Emmons biography of Manson. 2. Aum Shinrikyo - Shoko Osahara Aleph, formerly called Aum Shinrikyo, meaning "supreme truth", began in the 1980s as a spiritual group mixing Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, later adding apocalyptic Christian prophetic elements. The group's founder, Master Shoko Asahara (real name: Matsumoto Chizuo), declared himself to be both Christ and the first "enlightened one" since Buddha. Dissatisfied with Japanese Buddhism, Asahara took Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist teachings and attempted to create a neo-Buddhism. He taught yoga, meditation and more to assist the followers growth toward enlightenment. Asahara spoke at universities and wrote books. At its peak, he had tens of thousands of members worldwide. Many of his followers in Japan were students at elite universities, lured by the group's promise of a more meaningful life. But the group gradually turned into a paranoid doomsday cult, convinced that the world was about to end in World War Three and that only they would survive. Decades later, the group is still notorious for carrying out the Tokyo subway attack of 1995, in which 13 people died and thousands more were injured following the release of the deadly sarin nerve gas into the citys subway system. On March 20, 1995, during rush hour, top cult members punctured bags filled with a liquid form of the nerve agent sarin, using sharpened umbrellas, on train lines that went through Tokyo's political district.The attack killed 13 people and injured thousands. Aum Shinrikyo was also found to have been responsible for another smaller sarin attack the previous year, and many more small attacks in the months after the 1995 hit on the Tokyo Subway. The group never confessed. Those who carried out attacks did so secretly, without being known to ordinary believers. Aum Shinrikyo, which split into Aleph and Hikari no Wa in 2007, headed by Aum's former spokesman and Asahara's successor Fumihiro Joyu, after going underground for a few years after the Tokyo subway attack, has been formally designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including Russia, Canada and the United States. Scores of Aum members have faced trials over the attack - 13 were sentenced to death, including Asahara, who remains on death row. The group had operations in the former Soviet states during the upheaval following the collapse of the USSR. On September 20, 2016, the Russian government banned Aum Shinrikyo from the country, declaring it a terrorist organisation. Trivia: Asahara was born with infantile glaucoma, losing vision in his left eye and going partially blind in his right eye at a young age. He was thus enrolled in a school for the blind and studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, common careers for the blind in Japan. In 2015, two of his daughters apologised to victims of the sarin gas attacks. 3. The Peoples Temple - Jim Jones Jim Jones, who founded the Peoples Temple (first called as Wings of Deliverance) in the 1950s was a charismatic religious leader. Numerous people followed his sermons and several churches were built in the name of the cult. Recognised for his work with the homeless, he also served as director of Indianapoliss Human Rights Commission in the early 1960s. Jones moved his church to northern California in 1965, first settling near Ukiah and then to San Francisco in 197, over alleged fears of a nuclear war. His radical preaching became a matter of concern as well as increasing accusations of misusing funds for personal use. The Peoples Temple fled to Guyana where they established a utopic, agricultural community called Jonestown in 1977. Jones, who had begun calling himself the Prophet, confiscated passports and millions of dollars of his followers and manipulated them with blackmail, beatings, and death threats. He also staged bizarre rehearsals for a ritual mass suicide. Concerned family members of Jim Jones followers (who had all been excommunicated by their families) sought an investigation and Congressman Leo Ryan took up the task. But Ryan was murdered by Jones personal guard, following which Jones persuaded his followers to commit suicide. Hundreds of men, women and children drank fruit punch mixed with cyanide. More than 900 people lay strewn about the ruins of Jonestown, including 276 children. Guyanese troops reached Jonestown the next day, and the death toll of cultists was eventually placed at 913 (including 276 children). Trivia: Teri Buford O'Shea, one of Jones followers who managed to escape before the mass suicides, recollected in Drinking the Kool-Aid: A Survivor Remembers for the Atlantic, Jones was a very complex, confusing character. In some ways, he was a good guy. He was passionate about interracial integration. The People's Temple built schools, built housing, built a health clinic, built a kitchen, cleared fields, harvested crops. His goal was to set up this utopian community where everything would be fair and equal. At the same time, he was very paranoid. He could not accept the fact that one person would leave him, ever. He had us all sign papers -- Jim called them compromises. 4. Premananda Prem Kumar or Premananda Swamy to his devotees, was a godman who fled from Sri Lanka during the civil war in 1984 to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. He founded the Premananda ashram there (he later moved it to Fatimanagar in Pune) with the young women and orphans he brought with him from Sri Lanka. He would later open many branches around the world. The truth about his ashram came to light in 1994, when one of the girls living in the ashram, Arul Jyothi, escaped and reported that she had been raped and was pregnant. On 20 August 1997, Premananda was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 67.3 lakhs for 13 counts of rape, molestations of two girls and a murder. He was also convicted of cheating the residents of his ashram, which carried another one-year sentence. Six others from the Premananda ashram were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit rapes and destroying evidence. Five were given life sentences. In view of the severity of the crimes, the judge denied them any future remission of their sentences or amnesty by any state or central government. Some of the evidence presented included Arul Jyothi and her aborted foetus (alleged to have been aborted on Premanandas orders) and the murder victims remains found buried on the ashrams premises. Premananda, who died on 21 February 2011 of acute liver failure, while being held in Cuddalore Central Prison, maintained throughout that he was innocent. A quick Google search will reveal a number of Justice for Premananda Swamy websites, run by his followers. Trivia: Well-known criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani (who represented the guru) had claimed that the man could materialise vibhuti (holy ash) from thin air and regurgitate small Shiva lingams. An illusionist was invited into the courtroom who performed both miracles, thereby debunking them. It was also found during the trial that the victims, who were mostly underage women, were raped or abused deceitfully, under the pretext of service or as a cure for ailments like asthma. 5. The Collective - Aravindan Balakrishnan Self-professed Maoist leader Aravindan Balakrishnan or Comrade Bala" ran a women-only collective from Lamberth, South London. Balakrishnan sexually abused the women for years (not including his wife), often physically beating them and making others watch as he did so. He used to threaten the women with psychological terror, often warning them of an electronic satellite warfare machine he called Jackie, which he claimed would strike them dead if they ever disobeyed him. Balakrishnan was born in Kerala, India and migrated to Singapore, in the then Malaya, where his father was a soldier when he was 10.His Singaporean citizenship which he gained in 1960 was revoked due to his leadership of the Workers' Institute of MarxismLeninismMao Zedong Thought. The authorities claimed that Balakrishnan and others, many of them former Singaporean students he had associated with in London, were plotting to overthrow Singapore's leader, Lee Kuan Yew. He emigrated to the UK in 1963 on a British Council scholarship to study at the London School of Economics and married his Tanzanian wife Chandra Pattni in 1971. On 4 December 2015, Balakrishnan, who was then 73 years old, was convicted of child cruelty, false imprisonment, four counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault and two counts of assault. On 29 January 2016, Balakrishnan was jailed for 23 years in the United Kingdom. Trivia: Katy Morgan-Davies (originally named Prem Maopinduzi Davies), Balakrishnans daughter, managed to escape the cult in 2013 following 30 years of captivity, after memorising the number for an anti-slavery charity she saw on the news. She was told she was an orphan and later when she was a teenager, she learned that her mother was Sian Davies or Comrade Sian, a follower of Balakrishnan. Sian fell from the bathroom window at the cult's base in 1996 and died several months later in hospital. Morgan-Davies, who waived her right to anonymity, said that on a fatal night, she heard screaming and shouting and saw her mother lying in a pool of blood below the bathroom window pleading with Balakrishnan to "kill me". The violent rampage unleashed by Dera Sacha Sauda followers in Haryana, following the August 25 conviction of their chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan for raping two women, is not the first time the world has seen a cult leader with millions under his sway. History has witnessed several notorious cult leaders who brainwashed and abused vulnerable people and even got many of their followers to commit horrific crimes. Here are some of them. 1. The Manson Family - Charles Manson The infamous mass murderer and wannabe rockstar, Charles Milles Manson, is the first on this list, due to the vast number of heinous crimes he is believed to have committed, along with his followers. He was born in 1934 to a 16-year-old unwed mother, and spent most of his early life either in prison or correctional institutions, for committing petty thefts and running a prostitution racket. From an apartment he shared with one of his girlfriends, he started what he called the Manson Family in 1960s California, where he invited more members to join, largely females. They were mostly young impressionable women who had left their homes in a rebellious manner, symbolic of the counterculture movement then. He presented himself as Christ and his followers, the reincarnations of the original Christians. This was just one of his several crazy, radical ideas. His doomsday beliefs (titled Helter Skelter, from a Beatles song) allegedly led his followers to go on a murdering spree, which they believed would start an inevitable apocalyptic, racial war between whites and blacks. They committed a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969, all at Mansons bidding. The victims were found dead next to walls on which pig or helter skelter would be written in their own blood. In 1971, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, particularly Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, who was eight months pregnant at the time. He also received first-degree murder convictions for two other deaths. He is currently serving multiple life sentences at California State Prison in Corcoran, under the joint-responsibility rule as he orchestrated but never committed any of the murders himself. The family members all received death sentences initially, which was abolished in California in 1972, and are now serving their lifetimes in prison like their leader. His personality, crimes, songs (which attained commercial success after his conviction), the books, films and TV series he inspired, elevated him to cult status around the world. Trivia: You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy. Charles Mansons quote from Manson in His Own Words: The Shocking Confessions of 'The Most Dangerous Man Alive', Nuel Emmons biography of Manson. 2. Aum Shinrikyo - Shoko Osahara Aleph, formerly called Aum Shinrikyo, meaning "supreme truth", began in the 1980s as a spiritual group mixing Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, later adding apocalyptic Christian prophetic elements. The group's founder, Master Shoko Asahara (real name: Matsumoto Chizuo), declared himself to be both Christ and the first "enlightened one" since Buddha. Dissatisfied with Japanese Buddhism, Asahara took Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist teachings and attempted to create a neo-Buddhism. He taught yoga, meditation and more to assist the followers growth toward enlightenment. Asahara spoke at universities and wrote books. At its peak, he had tens of thousands of members worldwide. Many of his followers in Japan were students at elite universities, lured by the group's promise of a more meaningful life. But the group gradually turned into a paranoid doomsday cult, convinced that the world was about to end in World War Three and that only they would survive. Decades later, the group is still notorious for carrying out the Tokyo subway attack of 1995, in which 13 people died and thousands more were injured following the release of the deadly sarin nerve gas into the citys subway system. On March 20, 1995, during rush hour, top cult members punctured bags filled with a liquid form of the nerve agent sarin, using sharpened umbrellas, on train lines that went through Tokyo's political district.The attack killed 13 people and injured thousands. Aum Shinrikyo was also found to have been responsible for another smaller sarin attack the previous year, and many more small attacks in the months after the 1995 hit on the Tokyo Subway. The group never confessed. Those who carried out attacks did so secretly, without being known to ordinary believers. Aum Shinrikyo, which split into Aleph and Hikari no Wa in 2007, headed by Aum's former spokesman and Asahara's successor Fumihiro Joyu, after going underground for a few years after the Tokyo subway attack, has been formally designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including Russia, Canada and the United States. Scores of Aum members have faced trials over the attack - 13 were sentenced to death, including Asahara, who remains on death row. The group had operations in the former Soviet states during the upheaval following the collapse of the USSR. On September 20, 2016, the Russian government banned Aum Shinrikyo from the country, declaring it a terrorist organisation. Trivia: Asahara was born with infantile glaucoma, losing vision in his left eye and going partially blind in his right eye at a young age. He was thus enrolled in a school for the blind and studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, common careers for the blind in Japan. In 2015, two of his daughters apologised to victims of the sarin gas attacks. 3. The Peoples Temple - Jim Jones Jim Jones, who founded the Peoples Temple (first called as Wings of Deliverance) in the 1950s was a charismatic religious leader. Numerous people followed his sermons and several churches were built in the name of the cult. Recognised for his work with the homeless, he also served as director of Indianapoliss Human Rights Commission in the early 1960s. Jones moved his church to northern California in 1965, first settling near Ukiah and then to San Francisco in 197, over alleged fears of a nuclear war. His radical preaching became a matter of concern as well as increasing accusations of misusing funds for personal use. The Peoples Temple fled to Guyana where they established a utopic, agricultural community called Jonestown in 1977. Jones, who had begun calling himself the Prophet, confiscated passports and millions of dollars of his followers and manipulated them with blackmail, beatings, and death threats. He also staged bizarre rehearsals for a ritual mass suicide. Concerned family members of Jim Jones followers (who had all been excommunicated by their families) sought an investigation and Congressman Leo Ryan took up the task. But Ryan was murdered by Jones personal guard, following which Jones persuaded his followers to commit suicide. Hundreds of men, women and children drank fruit punch mixed with cyanide. More than 900 people lay strewn about the ruins of Jonestown, including 276 children. Guyanese troops reached Jonestown the next day, and the death toll of cultists was eventually placed at 913 (including 276 children). Trivia: Teri Buford O'Shea, one of Jones followers who managed to escape before the mass suicides, recollected in Drinking the Kool-Aid: A Survivor Remembers for the Atlantic, Jones was a very complex, confusing character. In some ways, he was a good guy. He was passionate about interracial integration. The People's Temple built schools, built housing, built a health clinic, built a kitchen, cleared fields, harvested crops. His goal was to set up this utopian community where everything would be fair and equal. At the same time, he was very paranoid. He could not accept the fact that one person would leave him, ever. He had us all sign papers -- Jim called them compromises. 4. Premananda Prem Kumar or Premananda Swamy to his devotees, was a godman who fled from Sri Lanka during the civil war in 1984 to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. He founded the Premananda ashram there (he later moved it to Fatimanagar in Pune) with the young women and orphans he brought with him from Sri Lanka. He would later open many branches around the world. The truth about his ashram came to light in 1994, when one of the girls living in the ashram, Arul Jyothi, escaped and reported that she had been raped and was pregnant. On 20 August 1997, Premananda was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 67.3 lakhs for 13 counts of rape, molestations of two girls and a murder. He was also convicted of cheating the residents of his ashram, which carried another one-year sentence. Six others from the Premananda ashram were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit rapes and destroying evidence. Five were given life sentences. In view of the severity of the crimes, the judge denied them any future remission of their sentences or amnesty by any state or central government. Some of the evidence presented included Arul Jyothi and her aborted foetus (alleged to have been aborted on Premanandas orders) and the murder victims remains found buried on the ashrams premises. Premananda, who died on 21 February 2011 of acute liver failure, while being held in Cuddalore Central Prison, maintained throughout that he was innocent. A quick Google search will reveal a number of Justice for Premananda Swamy websites, run by his followers. Trivia: Well-known criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani (who represented the guru) had claimed that the man could materialise vibhuti (holy ash) from thin air and regurgitate small Shiva lingams. An illusionist was invited into the courtroom who performed both miracles, thereby debunking them. It was also found during the trial that the victims, who were mostly underage women, were raped or abused deceitfully, under the pretext of service or as a cure for ailments like asthma. 5. The Collective - Aravindan Balakrishnan Self-professed Maoist leader Aravindan Balakrishnan or Comrade Bala" ran a women-only collective from Lamberth, South London. Balakrishnan sexually abused the women for years (not including his wife), often physically beating them and making others watch as he did so. He used to threaten the women with psychological terror, often warning them of an electronic satellite warfare machine he called Jackie, which he claimed would strike them dead if they ever disobeyed him. Balakrishnan was born in Kerala, India and migrated to Singapore, in the then Malaya, where his father was a soldier when he was 10.His Singaporean citizenship which he gained in 1960 was revoked due to his leadership of the Workers' Institute of MarxismLeninismMao Zedong Thought. The authorities claimed that Balakrishnan and others, many of them former Singaporean students he had associated with in London, were plotting to overthrow Singapore's leader, Lee Kuan Yew. He emigrated to the UK in 1963 on a British Council scholarship to study at the London School of Economics and married his Tanzanian wife Chandra Pattni in 1971. On 4 December 2015, Balakrishnan, who was then 73 years old, was convicted of child cruelty, false imprisonment, four counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault and two counts of assault. On 29 January 2016, Balakrishnan was jailed for 23 years in the United Kingdom. Trivia: Katy Morgan-Davies (originally named Prem Maopinduzi Davies), Balakrishnans daughter, managed to escape the cult in 2013 following 30 years of captivity, after memorising the number for an anti-slavery charity she saw on the news. She was told she was an orphan and later when she was a teenager, she learned that her mother was Sian Davies or Comrade Sian, a follower of Balakrishnan. Sian fell from the bathroom window at the cult's base in 1996 and died several months later in hospital. Morgan-Davies, who waived her right to anonymity, said that on a fatal night, she heard screaming and shouting and saw her mother lying in a pool of blood below the bathroom window pleading with Balakrishnan to "kill me". By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf was today declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court which ordered seizure of his property and sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassination. Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time prime minister, was killed along with more than 20 people in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54. The case was registered soon after her assassination and the trial went through many ups and down until it concluded yesterday in Rawalpindi. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict, declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordered seizure of his property. A joint investigation team had implicated Musharraf in the case, saying that his government did not provide adequate security to the former prime minister despite her repeated requests. Apart from Musharraf, five other men Baitullah Mehsud, Ahmad Gul, Iqramullah, Abdullah, and Faizullah have been declared absconders. Musharraf, 74, is now living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on pretext of medical treatment. The judge sentenced former Rawalpindi City Police Officer Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town Superintendent of Police Khurram Shahzad suspects out on bail to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. Both police officers - who were present in the court, have been arrested from Adiala Jail. Five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted over lack of evidence. The suspects - Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid - were arrested soon after the crime and have been in jail. They had denied the charges. All accused were present at the time of announcement of trial except Musharraf. The trial of five suspects started in January 2008. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the "decision is disappointing and unacceptable", adding that the party would explore legal options. "10 years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free," Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted soon after the verdict was announced. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes," she tweeted. Bhutto's another daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari tweeted, "Musharraf ordered crime scene washed & doors locked trapping SMBB vehicle inside #ArrestMusharraf." Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sheila Raza also expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict. "We had reservations over the probe and the FIR lodged by the government," she said. Eight different judges heard the case during this period who were changed due to different reasons. Initially TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for murder and Musharraf government issued a taped conversation of Mehsud with a certain operator in which he was congratulating the operator for the murder. But Federal Investigation Agency Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation. He termed it a cooked up story by Musharraf to mislead the investigators and to save himself. ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf was today declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court which ordered seizure of his property and sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassination. Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time prime minister, was killed along with more than 20 people in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54. The case was registered soon after her assassination and the trial went through many ups and down until it concluded yesterday in Rawalpindi. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict, declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordered seizure of his property. A joint investigation team had implicated Musharraf in the case, saying that his government did not provide adequate security to the former prime minister despite her repeated requests. Apart from Musharraf, five other men Baitullah Mehsud, Ahmad Gul, Iqramullah, Abdullah, and Faizullah have been declared absconders. Musharraf, 74, is now living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on pretext of medical treatment. The judge sentenced former Rawalpindi City Police Officer Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town Superintendent of Police Khurram Shahzad suspects out on bail to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. Both police officers - who were present in the court, have been arrested from Adiala Jail. Five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted over lack of evidence. The suspects - Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid - were arrested soon after the crime and have been in jail. They had denied the charges. All accused were present at the time of announcement of trial except Musharraf. The trial of five suspects started in January 2008. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the "decision is disappointing and unacceptable", adding that the party would explore legal options. "10 years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free," Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted soon after the verdict was announced. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes," she tweeted. Bhutto's another daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari tweeted, "Musharraf ordered crime scene washed & doors locked trapping SMBB vehicle inside #ArrestMusharraf." Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sheila Raza also expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict. "We had reservations over the probe and the FIR lodged by the government," she said. Eight different judges heard the case during this period who were changed due to different reasons. Initially TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for murder and Musharraf government issued a taped conversation of Mehsud with a certain operator in which he was congratulating the operator for the murder. But Federal Investigation Agency Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation. He termed it a cooked up story by Musharraf to mislead the investigators and to save himself. By AFP PULI ALAM, AFGHANISTAN: Thirteen civilians from the same family were killed and another 15 wounded in a US air strike on Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan authorities said Thursday. US Forces-Afghanistan said it has launched an investigation into the incident which an Afghan official said also killed more than a dozen insurgents hiding in a house in Dasht-e-Bari village in volatile Logar province near Kabul on Wednesday. It comes days after Afghan officials said the country's own air force killed up to 13 civilians in separate strikes targeting a Taliban base in the western province of Herat. "In the operation the US forces came under the attack by the Taliban and foreign forces returned fire and forced the Taliban insurgents to hide in the civilian houses nearby," Saleem Saleh, a spokesman for the Logar provincial governor, told AFP. "Then the foreign forces called in air support and bombed the civilian house which led to civilian casualties." Saleh said the victims were from the same family and most of the dead were women and children. "I heard two big bangs and when I went out of my home I saw the building which was bombarded was totally destroyed," Nazar Khan Kochi told AFP. "We pulled out the dead bodies from the rubble and debris and buried them. "It was a very painful day for us," he said, describing the incident as a "massacre" and adding no Taliban were among the dead. Photos showed dead women and children wrapped in shrouds as relatives prepared to bury them. Logar provincial police spokesman Shahpoor Ahmadzai confirmed the number of casualties. The US is the only foreign force currently carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan. The US military said it has launched an official probe into the incident which comes three weeks after a US air strike allegedly killed 11 civilians in neighbouring Nangarhar province -- charges the Americans have vehemently denied. "United States Forces-Afghanistan takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and is working with our Afghan partners to determine the facts surrounding this incident (in Logar)," it said in a statement. Ordinary Afghans have borne the brunt of the grinding conflict which began in October 2001, with record high civilian deaths this year. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, with deaths in Kabul accounting for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to a UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report published last month. PULI ALAM, AFGHANISTAN: Thirteen civilians from the same family were killed and another 15 wounded in a US air strike on Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan authorities said Thursday. US Forces-Afghanistan said it has launched an investigation into the incident which an Afghan official said also killed more than a dozen insurgents hiding in a house in Dasht-e-Bari village in volatile Logar province near Kabul on Wednesday. It comes days after Afghan officials said the country's own air force killed up to 13 civilians in separate strikes targeting a Taliban base in the western province of Herat. "In the operation the US forces came under the attack by the Taliban and foreign forces returned fire and forced the Taliban insurgents to hide in the civilian houses nearby," Saleem Saleh, a spokesman for the Logar provincial governor, told AFP. "Then the foreign forces called in air support and bombed the civilian house which led to civilian casualties." Saleh said the victims were from the same family and most of the dead were women and children. "I heard two big bangs and when I went out of my home I saw the building which was bombarded was totally destroyed," Nazar Khan Kochi told AFP. "We pulled out the dead bodies from the rubble and debris and buried them. "It was a very painful day for us," he said, describing the incident as a "massacre" and adding no Taliban were among the dead. Photos showed dead women and children wrapped in shrouds as relatives prepared to bury them. Logar provincial police spokesman Shahpoor Ahmadzai confirmed the number of casualties. The US is the only foreign force currently carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan. The US military said it has launched an official probe into the incident which comes three weeks after a US air strike allegedly killed 11 civilians in neighbouring Nangarhar province -- charges the Americans have vehemently denied. "United States Forces-Afghanistan takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and is working with our Afghan partners to determine the facts surrounding this incident (in Logar)," it said in a statement. Ordinary Afghans have borne the brunt of the grinding conflict which began in October 2001, with record high civilian deaths this year. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, with deaths in Kabul accounting for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to a UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report published last month. By PTI WASHINGTON: In an apparent retaliatory move, the US today asked Russia to close down its consulate in San Francisco and the two chancery annexes in Washington and New York in two days. The decision of the Trump Administration comes weeks after Russia forced a cut in US diplomatic staff in Moscow by hundreds. "The US has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D C and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2," Nauert said. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each, she added. Russia forced the cut in US diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for American sanctions. The US had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship," Nauert said. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said. The US is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted, Nauert warned. WASHINGTON: In an apparent retaliatory move, the US today asked Russia to close down its consulate in San Francisco and the two chancery annexes in Washington and New York in two days. The decision of the Trump Administration comes weeks after Russia forced a cut in US diplomatic staff in Moscow by hundreds. "The US has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D C and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2," Nauert said. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each, she added. Russia forced the cut in US diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for American sanctions. The US had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship," Nauert said. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said. The US is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted, Nauert warned. By PTI WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given USD 225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given USD 225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. By PTI CARACAS: Venezuela has offered USD 5 million worth of aid for people affected by hurricane Harvey in the United States, calling it a gesture of "solidarity" despite recent US sanctions against Caracas. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza yesterday said funds would be made available from Citgo, the US subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA. Washington has slapped sanctions on PDVSA, part of a series of measures against Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro over his handling of a deadly political crisis. Arreaza cited a previous program under which Venezuela provided heating fuel to victims of the deadly hurricane Katrina in 2005. "On the basis of that precedent, there will be direct support from Citgo, a contribution of up to $5 million to support families affected in Houston and Corpus Christi," Texas, he said on television. "This is an expression of solidarity by Venezuela, beyond any political differences we have, in the face of a devastating phenomenon." He also proposed that Citgo use some of its revenues to help rebuild homes damaged by the hurricane. Venezuela is suffering an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food and medicine. International powers accuse Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in order to resist opposition pressure for him to quit. CARACAS: Venezuela has offered USD 5 million worth of aid for people affected by hurricane Harvey in the United States, calling it a gesture of "solidarity" despite recent US sanctions against Caracas. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza yesterday said funds would be made available from Citgo, the US subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA. Washington has slapped sanctions on PDVSA, part of a series of measures against Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro over his handling of a deadly political crisis. Arreaza cited a previous program under which Venezuela provided heating fuel to victims of the deadly hurricane Katrina in 2005. "On the basis of that precedent, there will be direct support from Citgo, a contribution of up to $5 million to support families affected in Houston and Corpus Christi," Texas, he said on television. "This is an expression of solidarity by Venezuela, beyond any political differences we have, in the face of a devastating phenomenon." He also proposed that Citgo use some of its revenues to help rebuild homes damaged by the hurricane. Venezuela is suffering an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food and medicine. International powers accuse Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in order to resist opposition pressure for him to quit. Portsmouth, Middletown headed to Super Bowls. How they did it. While Portsmouth and Middletown will play for championships, Rogers will be left out following semifinal loss. Out With the Old Rogers The demolition of Rogers High Schools auditorium began Oct. 4 as part of the schools rebuilding plan. The exterior demolition began following extensive testing of potentially hazardous interior materials. AA... City Could Be First in RI to Use Automated Noise Enforcement The city of Newport is currently soliciting bids to install noise detection cameras at strategic locations in an effort to increase enforcement against loud car mufflers and stereos. The pilot... Music and Food Set Mood for Community Meal It was fitting that the volunteers of Touro Synagogue fed the hungry under a giant beech tree that served as a soothing canopy on the front lawn of the United... Training the Workforce for Historic Preservation Newports thriving tourism industry has been built largely on the physical evidence of its history. Gilded Age summer cottages, restored colonial homes, renovated grand Victorians, and accurate preservation requires a... Reporter/Columnist Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth). Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced implementation of the seventh Pay Commission recommendations for 8 lakh employees and pensioners. "My government has decided to implement the recommendations of the Committee constituted for examination of 7th Pay Commission and its adoption for the state government employees," Patnaik told reporters. Around 4.5 lakh serving state government employees and 3.5 lakh retired employees will be benefited, he said adding that annual additional expenditure on this count would be about Rs 4,500 crore. "The state government employees will get the pay hike from September's salary onwards," Patnaik said. Employees unions, however, expressed displeasure over the time of implementation of the 7th Pay Commission. They have been demanding implementation of the pay commission recommendations from January 1, 2016 as done by the central government. New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party and the office of lieutenant governor in Delhi have had a troublesome relationship from the word go. While one would expect basic public services like health and education to be treated above politics, but that has rarely happened. As a time when Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and L-G Anil Baijal are seen to be at loggerheads over the Mohalla Clinic model, News18 does a reality check. More than 100 mohalla clinics operate in Delhi and were originally modelled on the idea of taking healthcare inside bastis, slums or urban villages, instead of people having to trudge to government facilities. Dr Satbir Kaur, a young doctor three years out of her MBBS and previously with an MCD hospital, looks after a mohalla clinic in south Delhis Panchsheel Vihar, bordering the urban villages of Hauz Rani, Khirki gaon and swathes of Malviya Nagar. In a day, she is the general physician for over a 100 patients, some from as far as the Delhi-Faridabad Badarpur border. When News18 met her, it was past 1pm, closing time for mohalla clinics, yet the crowd was going strong with coughs, colds, joint pains, boils, stomach problems, etc. I just wish I had more space, Kaur said, as yet another patient turned up for tests referred by the nearby Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya hospital, a Delhi government hospital, as she functioned with lightning speed with a tablet, creating digital records, or looking up case histories of regular patients. Though wary of political press attention on the clinics work, she called it a good model to work in. Rameshwari, a diabetes patient, waited with a boil on her foot. Shes a good doctor, this clinic stays open till 2:30 or 3, she said. The Malviya Nagar hospital had sent me here when I was ill last year for tests, so I trust this clinic for my children now, said Geeta. Unlike the commonly seen anger and frustration with government hospitals, the patients here had developed trust in the mohalla clinic. This was noted by the premier medical journal The Lancet in December 2016, as it read, The initiative is aimed at expanding the reach and range of health services in unserved and underserved areas such as slums. In January 2017, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, commended Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as the clinics were consistent with the Universal Health Coverage goal of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Those with money go to private clinics, said Maheshwari, but a government hospital saved my life. The mohalla clinics, said Dr Amit Sengupta of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, were fulfilling the role of the general physician of yore, who would be known to and available to everyone in a residential area before the system was supplanted by specialists in hospitals. Dr Rajmohan Panda, a public health specialist at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), said this is close to what primary healthcare centres in rural India need a generalist who could treat fever, diarrhea, snakebites etc. Comparing the system to the UKs National Health Service (NHS), he said it was staffed more with trained nurses, while Sengupta drew similar comparisons with Thailands health workers. As examples of advanced urban primary healthcare, Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of PHFI, drew comparisons with models in Singapore and Hong Kong. However, as The Lancet noted, the project of expanding the clinics to 1,000 in a year has been caught up in a political dispute. Infighting among Delhis various authorities has stalled the opening of more clinics. Though most public health specialists ruled in favour of the mohalla clinic, even it came up short as a model to be replicate. We dont know what the outcomes of the mohalla clinics are as they have not been evaluated regularly, said Panda. Human resource is finite, and mohalla clinics are drawing people away from dispensaries and MCD clinics. India needs a cadre of trained public health professionals, not just doctors, for an ideal model, said Panda, adding that rural postings need to be incentivised for doctors. Panda said that instead of putting money in dialysis centres, spending on equipping PHCs for preventive treatment would reduce the number of patients with failing kidneys. All it takes is political will, he said. Patna: A local court in Bihar on Thursday found Rocky Yadav, son of a suspended JD (U) legislator, guilty of killing a 19-year-old boy in a road rage case. Additional district Judge Sachhidanand Singh held Yadav guilty under section 302 of IPC. Rocky's father Bindi Yadav was also held guilty but not under 302. The quantum of punishment will be announced on September 6. Yadav surrendered in a local court on October 29 last year, a day after the Supreme Court stayed the Patna High Court order granting him bail. The SC had directed that the trial must be completed before September 11, 2017. Three of the four accused of the case are family members of suspended JD (U) lawmaker Manorama Devi. The accused include Manorama's son Rocky and her husband Bindi Yadav. Rocky is alleged to have killed class XII Student Aditya Sachdeva for overtaking his vehicle on 7 May, 2016. Rocky and his associates fled the scene soon after the shooting. The police arrested Rocky, his cousin Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar, bodyguard of Manorama Devi. During the last 18 months, the case witnessed several twist and turns, the most important of the twists being the bail granted to Rocky by the then Chief Justice of the Patna High Court Justice Iqbal Ahmad Ansari. The bail was promptly suspended and subsequently cancelled by a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice SA Bode. The HC bail left many tongues wagging in the judicial circles of the state. Not only that, six key witnesses including four friends of the slain teenager who were eye witnesses in the all-important case turned hostile, thereby causing a major setback to the prosecution. Sachdeva's friends also retracted from their earlier statement that was recorded before a first class Judicial Magistrate. The Public Prosecutor was changed mid-way during the trial following the series of witnesses turning hostile. Sartaj Ali Khan replaced SDN Singh as the Public Prosecutor. Not only was Public Prosecutor, the trial court, contrary to normal practice, too changed mid-way. A few weeks before the conclusion of the trial, the trial was transferred from the court of ADJ IX SP Mishra to the court of ADJ Sachchidanand Singh. The cause of the change of court remains a matter of speculation. New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has written to all the states and Union Territories asking them to set up permanent medical boards for abortion cases The government has written to all states and Union Territories to set up such medical boards, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the Supreme Court. The medical boards will examine requests for termination of pregnancy and cut delays in abortion . This came as the apex court permitted a Pune-based woman to abort her 24-week foetus suffering from abnormalities. The SC relied on a report by a medical board which said that the foetus was without a skull and there was no treatment. Earlier, the SC had urged the Central government to devise a mechanism to examine requests for abortion when continuing with pregnancy post 20 weeks may endanger life of women. Currently, Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTPA), 1971, bars abortion after 20th week. A bench of Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud had noted there were scores of such petitions now being lined up before the apex court. Why dont you consider setting up permanent medical boards in all districts across the states to examine such requests? the bench asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar. Kumar replied that the government was contemplating amendments in the MTPA and that one of the issues was about increasing the time limit for legal abortion. At this, the court said that it would be appropriate for the law officer to seek instructions from authorities concerned it the government would consider having these medical boards till the time the law is amended. The SG said he would come back with instructions. The query from the bench came as it declined a permission for aborting 32-week foetus of a 10-year-old rape survivor. The court found itself constrained in view of a report by a medical board, which opined that termination of pregnancy at this stage would not be in the interest of the girls life. Biejing: China's defence ministry on Thursday said that it will beef up patrols in the Doklam region, but was also ready to "adjust" deployments, days after the two countries ended a standoff that lasted more than two months. Indian and Chinese troops remained at loggerheads at the Doklam plateau in the most serious and prolonged faceoff in decades, with both countries refusing to budge. The trouble started in June when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, known in China as Donglang, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and Bhutan. India has maintained that it sent its troops because Chinese military activity was a "threat to the security of its northeast region". "The Chinese military will continue to carry out its mission and responsibilities, strengthen its patrols and garrisons in the Donglang area and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security," Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqing was quoted as saying by Reuters. "In light of the changes in the situation on the ground, Chinese border forces will carry out adjustments to deployments," Ren told a monthly news briefing, without elaborating. Neither country has offered explicit details of the terms of disengagement from the area which had raised fears of a wider conflict between the Asian giants who fought a brief border war in 1962. The ending of the stand-off comes ahead of a weekend summit in China of the BRICS nations, that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend. (With inputs from Reuters) New Delhi: To shield himself from rape charges, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had claimed he was "impotent since 1990". The charges in two rape cases pertained to August and September 1999. In the CBI court, Singh took a defence during trial that he was incapable of performing sexual intercourse since 1990 and therefore, there was no question of raping the two Sadhvis in 1999. Recording his statement before CBI judge Jagdeep Kumar, Singh had said that "since 1990, the accused is not medically fit to do sex with anyone", and that he was not potent. Singh said that the rape charges were to be dropped alone on this ground since his claim regarding impotency has not been rebutted by the prosecution. The investigating officer, his lawyers said, never examined Singh for virility and hence, he must get the benefit of the presumption of innocence. But a statement made by one of his own witnesses punctured Singh's assertion. The judge said Singh's claim is devoid of any merit in view of a statement made by one of his own witnesses, who said the Dera Sacha Sauda chief had two daughters. One of the hostel wardens had said that Singh's two daughters were staying in the Dera hostel in 1999 and the CBI judge held that given this fact, the claim regarding impotency falls flat. "This very fact speaks volumes about virility of the accused... at least two daughters have born out of loin of the accused," said the judge, rejecting Singh's defence. Singh was handed down 20 years in jail -- 10 years each in two rape cases -- to be served consecutively. Describing Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a wild beast, the CBI court had on Monday said that rapists such as him do not deserve any sympathy. Special judge Jagdeep Singh said that Singh, disguising as a religious guru, has caused irreparable damage to the "heritage of the ancient land" and that he must get a deterrent punishment. "When the convict did not even spare his own pious disciples and acted like wild beast, he does not deserve any mercy," the judge said. Singh, the court said, does not have any concerns for the humanity, nor does he have any mercy in his nature, which was reflected through his ravishing acts. Such a convict, the judge said, should not expect any leniency from the court in the matter of punishment. Mumbai: At least 22 people died and several feared trapped in the debris after a five-floor building collapsed in Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai on Thursday morning. According to fire brigade officials, 37 people have been rescued so far. The building on Mumbai's Shaukat Ali Road is said to be 125-year-old. Rescue operations will continue throughout the night. Fire brigade officials said there were around nine families staying in the building. Our disaster management cell received a call at 8.40am about the collapse. We immediately rushed fire brigade personnel to the site to rescue the trapped people. We fear that several people are trapped under the debris, a senior Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) official said. It is also not known whether the building was on the list of dangerous structures under the MCGM limits. The Maharashtra government will conduct an inquiry into the incident, Industries Minister Subhash Desai said. Our priority is to pull out at the earliest those trapped under the rubble of the dilapidated building. Once the rescue work gets over, the government will conduct a probe to ascertain the factors behind the building collapse. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty, said Desai, who is also the guardian minister for Mumbai. A meeting would be held with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to chalk out an action plan to rehabilitate those living in dilapidated buildings. This particular building was already marked for redevelopment as it was dilapidated. A meeting will soon be held with the chief minister and an action plan will be prepared to rehabilitate those residing in such structures so that these incidents do not occur again, he said. Reacting over the incident, BJP leader Shaina NC said, "The municipal corporation had inspected the building a couple of weeks ago. The onus is on the BMC. We do know that many buildings which had been cleared by the BMC had also collapsed. The chief minister will definitely take stock of the situation." The incident occurred two days after the city received torrential rains, which is suspected to have damaged the building. The area near the building has been cordoned off. Officials said two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), consisting of around 90 members, have been rushed to the spot. Sniffer dogs have been sent to rescue the NDRF and fire brigade teams. On July 25, a four-storey building had collapsed in Mumbais Ghatkopar that led to the death of 17 people. New Delhi: Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, has attacked identity-based politics and said that it leads to crony capitalism and ultimately a breakdown of the system. Talking during a keynote address he gave at the University of Chicagos Stigler Center conference on the political economy of finance, Rajan said, Think of a town where you have a factory closing down, and now you have high school-educated workers who were earning (well) in those manufacturing jobs. What are their options? Staying: theres nothing to do, no sources of economic activity locally, apart from low-paying ones. You can move and retrain, go upstream." "If you could swallow the change, you can move and retrain but that is costly and typically means moving to more urban centers, where the cost of living is higher. You can move and downgradethere are tons of jobs as security guards, Uber drivers, and so on, but that doesnt pay the bills. Its very easy if youre in London to overlook whats happening at the northeast of England, and if youre in Washington, to overlook whats happening in the Midwest. Because around you things are actually quite goodtheres lots of activity, lots of economic hope, Stigler Centers blog, Promarket quoted the economist as saying. Rajan talked about how the financial crisis pushed the middle-class worker to the tipping point and led to the rise of populists like Donald Trump. The financial crisis was the straw that broke the camels back. Many of these people, especially white middle-class workers, are essentially very much pro-market, very much for the competitive economy. What changed this market-oriented view? I think the global financial crisis sent a message that markets are corrupt. That all these bankers took the system into a big crisis and nothing happened to the bankersthe elite looked after themselves; no banker went to jail. And to boot: they dont know how to get us out. For eight years we havent had growth in a serious way. We havent had the jobs that we want, he said. This discreditation contributed to the rise of populists, like Trump. Immediately, you get a sense of why this person would get a kick out of voting for somebody that the liberal elite hates, someone who thumbs the liberal elite in the eye and says, This is for you! Doesnt matter if that person does any good: That person gives me respect because he or she understands me, they talk my language and they dont talk the language that those guys want to talk. They behave in a way that these guys hateI like that. Rajan also talked about the anger against the liberal elite as the motivating factor for right-wing populists. The liberal elite that means you and me has been totally discredited, because we didnt know to prevent the financial crisis, and once it happened we didnt know how to pull the economy out. The 54-year-old further talked about the appeal of national populists to recreate nations based on patriotism. The populist nationalist is saying I am going to recreate community for you not the broken down community, beset by drugs and divorce, but a national community based on patriotism, based on people like you. People like you is often the majority group, the majority color, the majority origin. It is an imagined community, a la Benedict Anderson (scholar who called nations imagined communities). Exclusionary policies are the first step toward crony capitalism. If you can pick and choose who belongs amongst communities, you can also pick and choose who belongs within communities, and it leads to a breakdown of the market system. Weve seen this happen in South Africa and Malaysia. Identity-based politics eventually go towards crony capitalism, said Rajan to the Booth School of Business audience. He ended his speech by urging people to not attack those who support identity politics. The populist outcry comes from communities who have seen growth bypass them and their communities collapse. It is a cry both of anger and for help. Pointing fingers at these communities and telling them they dont understand is not the right answer. But I think if we dont provide the answers, there is extreme danger that rather than opting for leaders who just talk the talk, (voters) will actually opt for leaders who walk the walk. And that can be much more damaging, said the former RBI governor. , , /1 Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) September 1, 2017 At least six ministers in the Union Cabinet may have to make way for a fresh lot in what is being seen as the last major cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the next general elections.A major chunk of ministers who may join the cabinet is expected to be from the Hindi heartland. BJP President Amit Shah held a series of meetings on Thursday with ministers in the Union council, who could be shifted to the party organisation. A senior BJP leader called these ministers on Thursday evening, informing them that the organisation was recalling them.Skill development minister and MP from Chapra in Bihar Rajiv Pratap Rudy has put in his papers. He may be shifted to the organisation. Medium and small scale industries minister Kalraj Mishra may also have to make way for the younger lot. Mishra is well past the 75-year benchmark set by the party for holding active political position. He might be made governor, say sources in the BJP.In Western UP, Muzzafarnagar MP and minister Sanjiv Balyan may be sent to the organisation. He is likely to be replaced by another Jat leader from Western UP. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Baghpat MP Satyapal Malik is the front runner to fill in this slot.MOS Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey has already been appointed UP BJP President. He will have to resign from the council of ministers.Uma Bharti, who is in-charge of water resources ministry, may quit on health grounds. Other ministers who may be asked to take up organisational work include Faggan Singh Kulaste and Giriraj Singh.Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has already offered to quit after three train derailments earlier this month. Prabhu may be given the charge of the environment ministry.Amid the talk of change, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, at the India Summit of Economist magazine, said he does not expect to continue holding dual charge of finance and defence for very long."At least, I hope, not very long," he replied, chuckling when asked how long he would continue to hold dual charge.Jaitley is among the ministers holding dual charge and it is said that the reshuffle may involve lessening the burdens of such ministers.Speculation is rife that Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) will likely join the Modi Cabinet after the Bihar CM dumped Mahagathbandhan to return to the NDA fold.Sources in the Nationalist Congress Party told CNN-News18 that the party was not in any contact with the ruling dispensation at the Centre, further elaborating that they cannot be part of a government in which Shiv Sena is already present.Prime Minister leaves for China on September 3 for the BRICS meeting and the Cabinet rejig may take place before his departure on Sunday. New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India has revealed in its annual report that Rs 15.28 lakh crore, or 99 per cent of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore scrapped currency notes, came back into the system after demonetisation. Only Rs 16,000 crore of demonetised currency was not deposited with banks, according to data in the Reserve Bank of India's annual report. The report, which has come after a delay of nearly two months as the central bank was still collating the data on the scrapped currency, also says that only about 89 million units of the banned Rs 1,000 notes, worth Rs 8,900 crore, didnt come back into the system. The share of the newly introduced Rs 2,000 notes in the total value of banknotes in circulation till March-end was a little more than 50 per cent. The overall currency in circulation into the system had come down by 20.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The RBI's balance sheet also says that in 2016-17 the cost of printing currency was Rs 7,965 crore. This means that the RBI received only Rs 8,000 crore of benefit from the unprecedented decision of the government to scrap 86% of bank notes. The calculation of the government at the time of demonetisation was that at least Rs 1.5 lakh crore to 2 lakh crore worth of old notes would be extinguished and this would be the proportional gain, through transfer of resources from RBI to the government. This is the first time the central bank is revealing details on the remonetised notes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes on November 8 last year. The next few days had seen long queues at bank branches to deposit and exchange the demonetised bank notes. With people facing inconvenience, the governments decision to ban old currency notes and handling of the whole process came under scrutiny. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel appeared before a probing parliamentary panel several times, but the total number of demonetised currency notes deposited in banks remained elusive for long. Separately, a Parliamentary panel on Finance led by M. Verappa Moily is all set to table its report on Demonetization next week. The report has indicted the government and called demonetisation a failure, sources told News18. The panel is set to be reconstituted as its term is ending, though the facts examined by the panel and the report prepared by it do not change. The panel has examined witnesses including RBI Governor Urjit Patel. In his last testimony to the panel a couple of months ago Governor Patel told the panel that demonetised notes were still being counted. The data has given the Opposition ammunition to attack the Narendra Modi government, which has been bullish on the note ban exercise. Former finance minister P Chidambaram, in a series of tweets, chastised the government and said the RBI should be ashamed for recommending demonetisation." 99% notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white? he tweeted. RBI 'gained' Rs 16000 crore, but 'lost' Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize, he further said. Left leader Sitaram Yechury called the note ban anti-national and said boasts of black money, terror and counterfeit currency ending with it have all fallen flat. Lives & livelihoods lost, the economy got a shock and workers lost their jobs. India can never forgive Modi govt for this anti-national act, he tweeted. Chandigarh: The DNA samples collected from eight people in the Shimla gangrape and murder case have not matched with the forensic evidence collected from the scene of crime. This has added a new twist to the investigations and point to a possible cover-up. CBI sources said the DNA samples were initially collected from all six people taken into custody and later from two other suspects. They were compared with forensic evidence saliva, semen, blood, hair, perspiration and skin. Recently, the CBI had arrested eight Himachal Pradesh police officers, including an Inspector General of Police, for the custodial death of a suspect in the case. These officers were part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case. The eight policemen, including IG Zahoor Zaidi, were shifted on Tuesday to a CBI facility in Delhi. Locals in Kothkai have been protesting alleging the state police is attempting a cover up to save influential people from punishment. On July 4, Gudiya, a 16-year-old girl from Kotkhai, the apple belt of Himachal, 56 km from Shimla, went missing while on her way back home, from school. Her brother usually accompanied her, but on that day he had stayed back at school for some sport-related activity. After a massive search, her body was found on July 6 in the jungles near the path that she took to and from her school, 5km from her home. Medical examination confirmed rape and death by asphyxiation. Injuries on her face and body indicated resistance. The police registered a case under Sections 302, 376 and Section 4 of the POCSO Act. On July 12, six youths - Ashish Chauhan (29); Rajender Singh alias Raju (32), driver of a pick-up van, Kotkhai; Subhash Singh Bisht (42), from Pauri Garhwal; Lok Jan (19) of Nepal; Suraj Singh (29) of Nepal; and Deepak (38), from Pauri Garhwal, were detained for interrogation. The last four were farm labourers working in apple orchards. The very next day, Chauhan, an engineering student in Bengaluru and son of a prominent orchard owner, was arrested with other five accused. Police said it was an opportunity crime without planning and they have technical, circumstantial, physical, confessional and forensic evidence against all the six arrested. Trouble for the ruling Congress government in Himachal began on July 14 when a mob surrounded the police station at Theog, which is responsible in Kotkhai area. They also blocked NH 22. The locals claimed the police was shielding influential real culprits. The Virbhadra Singh government then ordered a CBI probe. The case then took a turn for the worse with one of the accused, Raju, killing co-accused Suraj inside the jail premises. Initial reports suggested there was a fight that broke out between the two inside the jail that led to Raju, a resident of Mandi but working as a manager at an apple orchard in Kotkhai, killing Suraj, a farm labourer from Nepal. State health minister Kaul Singh Thakur on Wednesday said he did not know why the CBI has taken eight police officials into custody. He said it could be related to the custodial death but it is for the CBI to find out. Former chief minister PK Dhumal of the BJP said there was an attempt to distort facts and evidence in the case. We have been expressing our doubts over the investigation right from the beginning. It is good that CBI is carrying out this probe. I hope Gudiya gets justice, he said. The July 4 incident is a blot on Himachals memory. The Government is trying to defend those who did this. The Chief Ministers wife has been granting money to the victims family and telling them why they need a CBI probe when the state police doing its job, said Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh. Lucknow: In a shocking incident, a teacher slapped a student 40 times in 2 minutes at a School in Lucknow for not responding to her attendance call. The teacher didn't stop there. She knocked the 7-year-old head against a wall multiple times. The horrific case came to light when the child, Ritesh, reached home with swollen cheeks and kept silent throughout the day. His father Praveen Gupta asked him if he was fine. The kid stayed mum. Ritesh's silence worried his father, compelling him to inquire further about the matter. Praveen came to know about the incident through Ritesh's friends and met Principal Ronald Rodriguez and asked for the CCTV footage. The father and the principal were shocked to see the footage and Praveen filed a complaint against the teacher. The class teacher who mercilessly beat up the student was suspended after the school administration watched the CCTV footage of the incident. The parents have moved the police station, filing a complaint against the teacher. No action has been taken as yet. The Heritage School, S Swaraj, told CNN-News18 that there was a need for drawing a "Lakshman Rekha". "Teachers deal with these young minds, and they cannot be insensitive towards them," she said, adding that in such a situation, "we usually counsel a student." This shouldn't have happened, she said, referring to the incident. The Central Board of Secondary Education had, in 2014, written a letter to all the schools, warning them against corporal punishment, and encouraging them to work towards the eradication of this practice. Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibits physical punishment and mental harassment under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2). The guidelines issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on eliminating corporal punishment in schools, elaborating the RTEs classification, defines corporal punishment not only as physical punishment but also mental harassment and discrimination. : Every day, at 8 am in the morning, this small town in Telangana comes to a standstill as National Anthem plays out. Not only do the residents of Jammikunta town stop and salute the tricolour but also sing the national anthem.The Jammikunta police had on August 15 taken the initiative, which was welcomed by the locals. Involvement of people in this exercise is improving considerably every passing day.Prashanth Reddy, the Circle Inspector, told CNN-News18 that he was disappointed to know that "our young generation didn't know our national anthem", impelling him to take this step."There are about 16 public address systems at major junctions in Jammikunta town, connected with the police command and control centre. At 7:45 am, first, the patriotic songs start playing, then, I address people on current issues, and then, in the end, 52-second National Anthem is played."A boy salutes the tricolour in the Jammikunta town. (Picture courtesy: Sakshi Khanna)From school-going kids to elderly men and women, irrespective of caste, creed, religion they belong to, everybody stops by to pay their tribute to the national anthem.People Don't find any problem in stopping by for a few seconds. "Everyday, I look forward to participating and singing the National Anthem with my fellow people. We are all busy in our lives. We should show gratitude to our motherland and this is a great way. I salute our police who have come up with such a brilliant idea," said a local resident.Police say the initiative is not merely to instil a sense of patriotism among people, but it can also work as a tool to prevent crime."As people come together, their relationship gets stronger. With positive vibes, the negative thoughts can be wiped out from the society," Prashanth Reddy said. New Delhi: Indias maximum city Mumbai was, on Tuesday, flooded after incessant rains lashed the city. This though wasnt the first time that Mumbai came to a standstill. In 2005, over 1000 people were killed after the city was struck by a severe storm and a subsequent deluge. This time around, six deaths have been reported so far in rain-related incidents. Numerous pictures and videos are doing the rounds showing trees falling on cars, people pushing their vehicles that broke down, and most of all, overflowing drains which threw public health into disarray. After every such urban deluge from Mumbai to Chennai to Gurugram it is invariably asked, was all the damage to property and loss of human life avoidable? Under the scanner are local urban bodies elected to provide civic amenities. For those few days, India talks about town planning and water management, that is, till water recedes and the nation moves on. Urban Lapses Cast Shadow on Mumbai Lives Every Year Flooding in Mumbai is a perennial problem. First attempts to study the reason behind it were made in 1975 when a state government appointed committee investigated the reasons behind the previous years massive floods. The Natu Committee recommended pumping stations and electrically operated sluice gates be set up across the city, especially on the Mahim causeway, Cleveland Bunder and Love Grove. The committee also recommended de-silting and upgradation of drains. Since then, many reports including one by IIT Bombay have suggested many remedial measures. But all efforts came to naught as increasing encroachments over subsequent years, added to the existing woes. Illegal structures more than 1000 at the last count have come up on the Mithi, the river which divides the city and its suburbs. Whatever remains of it is full of plastic and dump. Urban Flood: Its Happening Across India Every report after the devastating floods has not taken very kindly to the urban landscape of cities in question. A Parliamentary Standing Committee report after the Chennai floods noted: that the encroachment of lakes and river beds played a major role in causing the massive flood in Chennai. About illegal encroachment and faulty town planning, the Committee further observed that these are the major causes behind the havoc that was wreaked by floods in 2015. Similarly, after the Srinagar floods, a Parliamentary Panel on Environment and Forests recommended: dredging/ desilting of water bodies to be undertaken on war-footing so that carrying/ holding capacity of their water bodies could be enhanced. The Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, in their report on 2009 city floods, blamed encroachment and lack of drainage upgradation as the main cause for the deluge that Indias IT hub faces regularly. In the case of Guwahati, for example, a study by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority in 2014 said, Urban growth in the city of Guwahati has been rapid, with uncontrolled development activities. These activities have had a detrimental impact on the ecology and environment of the city. The city is surrounded by wet lands that are under threat due to the encroachment and unplanned urban development of the city. The city is prone to floods and landslides and is located on the earthquake prone (zone V) belt. Bhaskar Agarwal, architect and urban designer, says the bane of urban development in India is lack of planning and water management. Most developers think that encroaching upon wetlands is absolutely fine, as there will be no situation of waterlogging. What you see in a lot of Tier-I and Tier-II cities, year after year will continue to happen if infrastructure planning is not given its due credit, he said. New Delhi: Accusing a Hindu nationalist government in India of targeting minorities for political means, elusive Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik has requested the INTERPOL to turn down the Indian governments plea and not issue a red corner notice against him. Accessed exclusively by CNN-News18, a letter sent by Naiks lawyers to the INTERPOL Secretary General in France has sought for a refusal to issue and publish the red notice on the ground that it does not comply with the INTERPOLs Constitution and Rules. Stating that he is not a fugitive from justice, London-based attorney Corker Binnings letter denied allegations of money laundering and inciting terrorism while pressing for a greater vigilance in this case owing to the current political dispensation in India. When a Hindu nationalist government launches dubious criminal proceedings against a theologian with enormous support among Indias Muslim minority, and seeks to tarnish his reputation with vague allegations of inspiring terrorism, the need for particular vigilance is obvious, read the letter. It added that the Indian criminal proceedings are being misused for political means, to inhibit peaceful exercise of Dr Naiks freedom of expression. And to inhibit the peaceful exercise of Dr Naiks freedom of religion, and the peaceful exercise of the right to practise their religion of Dr Naiks followers in India and elsewhere, said the letter. By issuing a red notice request, Naik alleged, the Indian authorities are now seeking to misuse the processes of INTERPOL for similar purposes. The letter also made it apparent that Naik is not going to come back to India to face the charges. Given the apparent political and religious motivation to the charges and the obvious risk of protracted pre-trial imprisonment in harsh and violent conditions, Dr Naiks lawyers in India advised him not to return to India until the matters could be resolved with the authorities, it said. Citing 2016 India Human Rights Report, Naiks attorney also complained about what he called as serious flaws in the Indian penal process and dangerous prison conditions and very lengthy pre-trial delays. The letter contended that credible allegations of physical abuse during pre-trial investigations are not uncommon, particularly in terrorism-related cases and cases involving Muslims and members of other religious minorities. The attorney claimed that even though it was decided that Naik will not go back to India for facing prosecution, explicit offers for Dr Naik to co-operate with the criminal inquiry and to be interviewed by video conferencing were made. Unfortunately those offers have not been taken up, he said. Dr Naiks response to the money laundering allegations is that they are contrived and evidently unfounded, said the attorney, adding he was being framed on certain unsubstantiated reports that one of the assailants of the July 2016 Bangladesh terrorist attack, which had killed 29 people, was Naiks Facebook follower. The suggestion that this individual had been inspired by Dr Naik was picked up by the media in India, where a Hindu nationalist Government was (and continues to be) in power. Media reports advanced vague, unparticularised or simply false allegations that Dr Naik had condoned terrorist allegations, read the letter. It further pointed out Article 3 of the INTERPOL forbids the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character. We are writing with an urgent request for INTERPOL not to comply with Indias request on the basis that it was issued in breach of the strict prohibition of political or religious activities under Article 3 of INTERPOLs Constitution, stated the letter. Women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are four times at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes (Type-2 diabetes) and are also prone to be diagnosed at an earlier age with the blood-sugar condition, according to a new study. PCOS is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. The findings showed that in women with PCOS, diabetes is diagnosed four years earlier. The average age for women with PCOS who received a diagnosis of Type-2 diabetes was 31 years. The average age for women without PCOS and diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes was 35 years, the researchers said. "The increased risk of developing Type-2 diabetes in PCOS is an important finding," said one of the researchers Dorte Glintborg from Odense University Hospital in Denmark. "Diabetes may develop at a young age and screening for diabetes is important, especially in women who are obese and have PCOS," Glintborg added. Women who have PCOS produce slightly higher amounts of testosterone and other androgen hormones than average. Although these reproductive hormones are typically associated with men, women also have small amounts. The elevated levels of these hormones in women with PCOS can contribute to irregular or absent menstrual periods, infertility, weight gain, acne or excess hair on the face and body. For the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the team analysed two populations with PCOS: 18,477 pre-menopausal Danish women with a diagnosis of PCOS and a local sub-group of 1,162 women with PCOS who were examined at Odense University Hospital in Denmark. Further, body mass index, insulin and glucose levels, and triglycerides were positively associated with development of Type-2 diabetes, whereas a higher number of births were negatively associated with the development of Type-2 diabetes, the researchers said. Cops who flash a smile:One of the sights that I have always cherished at the Venice Film Festival is the amazing friendliness of policemen and policewomen. Even at the Cannes Film Festival last May with heightened security concerns France has been badly hit by terrorism cops seemed quite at ease, frisking the 5000-odd journalists who trooped into the various cinemas day in and day out in a city whose population swells manifold during the annual 12-day event.Admittedly, Italy has been lucky enough not to have faced the kind of attacks which France or some other European nations have in recent years. But, then, security is a worry even in Italy, and with thousands descending on the Lido, a beautifully quaint island, off mainland Venice, which hosts the Festival, the security forces cannot afford to take chances.Yet, the ease with which they handle people at the ongoing 74th edition of the Festival is just unbelievable. The men in uniform carrying all kinds of formidable looking weapons seen at the the many check-points leading to the Festival venues are, believe it or not, extraordinarily friendly. And so are the local Venetians, many of whom even the very elderly get off their bicycles as a mark of respect or perhaps as part of the security drill or whatever to greet the cops and exchange pleasantries. The atmosphere is just cool, even warm. And every time I pass through a barricade, guarded by policemen, they would flash a smile, if not a utter a word of greeting. On Wednesday night as I made my way to my hotel after the last movie, there was one cop who wished me good night and said sleep well Sir. Yes he said that and in English!I remember long ago an Indian intelligence officer telling me that unless policemen learnt to be relaxed, they would miss the most vital clues. We see this so often in India!***Star gazing:The craze for film stars stretches across continents. If we witness fan frenzy call it adulation in places like Tamil Nadu, where they literally worship actors by celebrating movie releases with a burst of crackers and by anointing huge wooden cutouts of the stars with milk, honey and garlands, things are not very different here at Venice. But of course, given the kind of civility which exists in Europe, fans seldom get unruly or abusive on social platform of the kind we have been seeing lately in India. (Remember editor Dhanya Rajendran's case?)I see mostly young girls and sometimes boys as well assemble every morning outside the main screening venues here at Venice hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite actors as they walk the red carpet every evening. On the opening night of the current Festival, one saw men like Matt Damon (part of the inaugural film, Downsizing) and Ethan Hawke (whom The Guardian termed whisky priestfor his part in First Reformed and incidentally both works deal with the most pressing issues today like over-population, global warming, waste management and terrorism) on the red carpet posing for pictures and being adulated by the young girls out there since the morning perched in places that would give them the best view of the stars!So, who says Indians are alone in this universe when it comes to star gazing!(Gautaman Bhaskaran is an author, commentator, and film critic who has covered the Venice Film Festival for 18 years) Opposition parties, led by DMK leader MK Stalin, on Thursday met President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi, demanding a floor test in Tamil Nadu Assembly. Meanwhile, AIADMK Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran has approached the High Court against the partys general council and executive council meeting scheduled for September 12. Stay tuned for live updates Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. New Delhi: The Delhi government and Lt Governor Anil Baijal are at loggerheads with each other over the delay in clearance of the government's Mohalla Clinic project. Forty five Aam Aadmi Party MLAs went to the L-G's residence on Wednesday to seek his clarification. The meeting ended on a sour note, with AAP claiming that the L-G left the meeting without good reason and got angry when questions were asked. The L-G, on the other hand, claimed that the AAP MLAs' behaviour was "unbecoming of MLAs". A Raj Niwas press release read, "A prior appointment had been taken by Sh. Saurabh Bhardwaj to discuss the issue of Mohalla Clinics with the Honble L-G for 2.30 pm today. Sh. Saurabh Bhardwaj was to be accompanied by four other MLAs in his delegation, as promised and confirmed by him. However, a delegation of nearly 45 MLAs headed by Sh. Saurabh Bhardwaj assembled in front of Raj Niwas and demanded to meet the Honble L-G. The Honble L-G, despite his scheduled Court hearings at 3 pm, agreed to meet the entire delegation in his Conference Hall even though it was already past 2.50 pm. " The release added, "At the outset, the Honble members of the Legislative Assembly expressed their concern at the Mohalla clinics not being established as envisaged in their assembly constituencies. The Honble L-G, after a patient hearing of the views of the MLAs, explained the current status of the proposal and clearly outlined the progress so far. However, unfortunately, the behaviour of the members increasingly became extremely rude and discourteous. Despite being given a chronological status of the entire proposal and repeatedly being told by the Honble L-G that the proposal has been returned to the Honble Chief Minister on 5th July 2017 with a request to address the complaints, the MLAs continued to behave in a belligerent manner without any interest in responding to facts and logic. Honble L-G also spoke to the the Honble CM with a view to resolve the matter and explained that in a democratic government, decisions are taken on the basis of facts as per law on file and there is no file currently pending with the L-G office on the subject." AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, however, presented a slightly different version of events. "When 43 MLAs went to meet Hon'ble L-G (they had taken prior appointment) he said he would meet only five. This is an insult to Hon'ble MLAs. How can Hon'ble L-G refuse to meet the elected representatives of his state. When they insisted, he agreed to meet all of them. In the meeting when they asked him about the status of mohalla clinics file, he got angry without any reason and left the meeting. The MLAs were extremely polite and there was no reason for Hon'ble L-G to get angry," Bharadwaj, in a statement, said. He added, "MLAs spoke to the CM on phone. He told us that he received a call from Hon'ble L-G. Hon'ble CM pleaded with Hon'ble L-G to resolve this issue. Hon'ble CM also offered that he could personally come over with his ministers to resolve the issue. However, Hon'ble L-G refused to meet him or any minister. MLAs are pained that Hon'ble L-G refuses to meet the CM, the ministers or the elected MLAs. As a result, the people are suffering." Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting with the L-G along with his health minister Satyendra Jain on Thursday evening. Bengaluru: Ahead of the assembly polls in Karnataka early next year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will expand his cabinet on Friday. "The state cabinet expansion is scheduled at 5 pm on September 1," an official release quoting Siddaramaiah said on Thursday. Ruling out any major revamp of his cabinet, the chief minister had earlier said that three positions that were vacant would be filled up soon. Three posts have been lying vacant following Home Minister G Parameshwara's resignation on his continuation as the Congress party's state unit chief, Excise Minister H Y Meti's exit after being stung by an alleged sex CD scandal, and the death of Cooperation Minister Mahadeva Prasad. According to Congress sources, MLCs H M Revanna and R B Thimmapur and MLA Geetha Mahadeva Prasad are likely to beinducted into the cabinet. Geetha recently got elected from the Gundlupet constituency following the death of her husband H S Mahadeva Prasad, who was the cooperation minister. The sources say the chief minister, who is holding additional charge of the home ministry, may allocate the portfolioto a senior minister in his cabinet. This would be the Siddaramaiah government's last cabinet expansion ahead of the assembly elections due early next year. Seeking to retain power, the Congress hasannounced that Siddaramaiah would be its face for the polls. New Delhi: The demonetisation drive is the biggest scam in independent India that broke the backbone of the country's economy, the AAP said on Thursday. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh also lashed out at the Reserve Bank of India for "lying" to the nation about the total amount of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation before the drive. He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that withdrawing the high denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would put an end to the menace of black money, curb terrorism and naxalism, it has instead "dealt a severe blow to the economy". The central bank had on Wednesday stated that as much as 99 percent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system. The Reserve Bank, which has so far shied away from disclosing the actual number of junked currency deposited after November 8 last year, said in its Annual Report for 2016-17 that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency had come back into the banking system, leaving only Rs 16,050 crore out. AAP leader Ashutosh said the economy grew between January to March 2016 at the rate of 8.5 percent, but it declined to 6 per cent for the same time during 2017 due to the severe impact of demonetisation. "The RBI initially said there were Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes amounting to Rs 14.18 lakh crore in circulation, but now it has raised the figure to Rs 15.44 lakh crore. The RBI is lying," he said. Attacking Modi, Singh questioned the rationale behind introducing the move as "none of the objectives behind the initiative were achieved". "We have been saying since day one that demonetisation is one of the biggest scams in independent India which has broken the backbone of the country's economy. The prime minister should apologise to the nation," he asserted. AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, an ardent critic of the move, had addressed rallies in several states opposing demonetisation. Frankfurt: Some 70,000 people in Frankfurt will have to leave their homes this weekend in one of the biggest such evacuations in post-war Germany, police said Wednesday, after an unexploded World War-II bomb nicknamed "blockbuster" was uncovered. The operation on Sunday will allow for the safe defusal of the 1,400-tonne British bomb, which German media said was nicknamed "Wohnblockknacker" (blockbuster) during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets or buildings. The unexploded bomb was discovered on Tuesday during building work a stone's throw from the Westend Campus of the Goethe University Frankfurt, police said in a statement. Officers are guarding the site and there "is currently no danger". Police said the bomb in question was a HC 4000, a so-called high capacity bomb used in air raids by British forces. "Due to the large size of the bomb, extensive evacuation measures must be taken," police said. The Wismarer street where the ordnance was found is close to the city centre and just some 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) north of the main Zeil shopping area. More than 70 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs are regularly found buried on German land, legacies of the intense bombing campaigns by the Allied forces against Nazi Germany. One of the biggest such evacuations to date took place last Christmas, when another unexploded British bombforced 54,000 people out of their homes in the southern city of Augsburg. Another 50,000 residents had to leave their homes in the northern city of Hanover in May for an operation to defuse several WWII-era bombs. Cox Bazar, Bangladesh: Bangladeshi border guards on Thursday recovered the bodies of 20 Rohingya women and children whose boat capsized as they fled violence in Myanmar, an official said, amid pressure on Dhaka to shelter thousands marooned in no man's land at the border. Around 27,400 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Friday, three UN sources said, after Rohingya insurgents wielding sticks, knives and crude bombs attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, leading to clashes that have killed at least 117 people. The violence comes amid reports of Buddhist vigilantes burning Rohingya villages. Reuters reporters on Thursday saw a huge fire across the Naf River on the Myanmar side of the border. The sources said around 20,000 Rohingya were still stranded in no man's land between the two countries, with one predicting the figure could jump to 30,000 later on Thursday as people flee the worst violence involving Myanmar's Muslim minority in at least five years. Myanmar has evacuated thousands of Buddhists from Rakhine following the fighting that has mainly killed Rohingya insurgents but also security officials, according to the Myanmar government. The treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya in Myanmar is the biggest challenge facing national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long complained of persecution. (See graphic, http://reut.rs/2wknZBs) On Thursday, the bodies of 11 Rohingya children and nine women washed up on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River as their boat overturned, said Ariful Islam, a commander with Bangladesh's border guards. The bodies of two Rohingya women and two children were recovered on Wednesday after their boat was fired on by Myanmar's Border Guard Police, Islam said. In the Bangladeshi border district of Cox's Bazar, makeshift camps for the displaced set up since similar violence last October were being expanded. One of those arrivals, Mohammed Rashid, 45, wore a surgical dressing under his eye, which he said was the result of bullet splinters hitting him after the Myanmar army opened fire on a group of Rohingya. He said about 100 people made their way to the border together, and that he saw explosions and people dying. "We hid in the forest for two days and then we were stopped at the border, but we got through. We heard that the houses in our village have burned down," Rashid told Reuters at the camp. "BURNING, BURNING" Chris Lewa, of the Rohingya monitoring group the Arakan Project, said it appeared Myanmar was trying to drive out the entire Rohingya population, given that, unlike in the past, Rakhine vigilantes were now "actively participating in the burning of villages". "What we're hearing is burning, burning, burning," she said. "And it seems to be spreading from south to north." The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a similar but much smaller series of Rohingya attacks on security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing persecution in Myanmar since the early 1990s. Bangladesh on Wednesday pushed back 366 Rohingya trying to enter the country mainly by small wooden boats, though thousands of others have set up temporary camps along the porous land border between the countries, borders guards said. The International Organization for Migration joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in appealing to Bangladesh to admit people caught on the border. Bangladesh has insisted they don't have the resources, though many have slipped in, mainly at night. "Limited resources mean that the IMO and its humanitarian partners in Cox's Bazar are now struggling to cope with the influx of new arrivals," the U.N. migration agency said. Various humanitarian agencies and countries including Muslim-majority Malaysia have urged Myanmar to protect civilians during military operations. Myanmar says it has the right to defend itself from attack, adding that security personnel were told to protect innocent civilians. Brussels: British and European Union negotiators exchanged recriminations on Wednesday over a lack of progress in the latest round of talks on Britain's withdrawal, with both sides demanding change to meet looming deadlines. Ahead of a planned Thursday morning news conference with his British counterpart David Davis, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier rejected complaints that his team was too rigidly tied by laboriously agreed guidelines from the member states to find compromises with Britain's demands for close new relations. For their part, British officials hotly denied accusations they were too short on ideas and preparation to make progress the EU wants to see on the divorce settlement before the other 27 leaders will agree to launch talks on a future trade pact. "It's quite difficult to negotiate with people who don't seem to have the flexibility that would allow them to negotiate," one said, echoing Davis's call for more "flexibility and imagination" from Brussels. In a pointed tweet, Barnier rejected the suggestion that the guidelines handed to him by the other governments -- themselves the product of months of negotiation -- were tying his hands. He renewed EU calls for Britain to give more detail on its wishes. "Guidelines are designed for serious and constructive negotiations but we need clear UK positions on all issues," the former French foreign minister said. If potential compromises can be identified by the technicians, EU officials say, they can go back to political leaders for approval to cut deals. With little more than a year left to agree the withdrawal terms and transitional arrangements to avoid disruption to lives and business across the continent when Britain leaves in March 2019, both sides hope an EU summit on Oct. 19-20 can agree that "sufficient progress" has been made to launch free trade talks. Officials said differences had narrowed on some issues in a divorce settlement that must determine the rights of expatriate citizens, border arrangements, especially on the island of Ireland, and disparate technicalities including legal relations and Britain's ties with the Euratom nuclear materials treaty. MONEY TROUBLES However, a gulf remains over EU demands that Britain pay possibly 60 billion euros ($70 billion) on departure. British negotiators presented on Tuesday their legal analysis of what London accepts will be some post-Brexit obligations to the EU. Though neither side is advancing hard figures yet, the British rejected what they called a sweeping "top down" approach from the EU and argued for a more detailed, "bottom up" review based on diverse legal arrangements across many budget areas. Britain would like to see the pace of direct talks stepped up, beyond the roughly monthly schedule agreed in July. Two more week-long rounds are scheduled before the October summit. Davis also wants Barnier's team to loosen their refusal yet to discuss future trade arrangements, arguing that this hampers progress on agreeing some divorce elements, such as the Irish land border. A source close to Barnier stressed that the EU was willing to discuss the future relationship once "sufficient progress" -- a deliberately vague concept -- is made. That could, the source said, help resolve complaints from Britain, such as about an EU refusal to agree now that British tourists could keep EU cards that give them easy access to medical care across the Union. Several officials offered downbeat assessments of progress -- "awful" was the verdict of one EU diplomat. However, others cautioned that results this week were never expected to be great and said both sides are still figuring out exactly what the other wants and where potential areas for trade-offs will lie. While many doubt a breakthrough by October -- some senior EU officials see Prime Minister Theresa May spoiling for a bust-up with her counterparts -- some EU diplomats close to the process cautioned against too deep a pessimism. The EU executive has a track record of creative deal-making and the 27, while demanding much from Britain, also do not want to see it depart in chaos. And while Barnier's boss, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, blasted as inadequate a series of British proposals over the summer, one senior official said they showed signs May was trying to prepare public opinion for compromises that may disappoint many Britons who voted for Brexit last year. "We need to be careful not to be too negative about these papers," he said. "You can say a lot of things about the Brits, but they ain't dumb ... Even if we are very disappointed with where we are ... maybe it's about creating a haze, under the cover of which you can turn the ship around." Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit point man, told fellow EU lawmakers on Wednesday that while he dismissed many British proposals -- a call for an "invisible" border in Ireland was "surrealist", he said -- he believed that May's threat of walking out without any deal had now firmly receded. Washington: US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders. "The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region," it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists' funding and combat extremist ideology. "The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones" in the catastrophic storm, the White House said. Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulf's worst political crisis in years. The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies. Lahore: Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed has challenged the order of Pakistan's Punjab government to extend his detention for 60 more days. The Punjab Home Department issued an order on July 28 under which the detention of Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain -- was extended for another 60 days. Apparently frustrated with not getting a decision from the Lahore High Court that had on June 7 reserved his petition against his first detention order on January 30, Saeed on Wednesday filed a fresh petition challenging the detention order. The petition says: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the petitioners are planning to spread chaos in the country or that they have planned violent demonstrations. It says the government in the impugned detention order has only shown apprehension against the petitioners". The petition says blatant violation of laws have been committed by the government in this case. It pleads that imprisonment without trial and conviction is prima facie unlawful and unconstitutional. "The government detained the petitioners to please India and America. Courts in past have declared detention of JuD leaders illegal as the government failed to prove its charges," it says and requests the court to set aside the detention order for being issued without lawful authority. In response to their previous petitions, the government had clarified that the JuD and its allied organisation (Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation) had been kept under observation on the basis of a report sent by the ministry of foreign affairs. "In the light of that report, the government has reasons to believe that JuD and FIF are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security and in violation of Pakistan's obligation to the UN Security Council resolution," the government said. Earlier on June 7, a division bench headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan had reserved the decision on Saeed and his four aides' petitions against their detention after hearing the arguments from petitioners counsel and the government law officer. On April 30, detention of Saeed and his four aides was extended by the Punjab government for another 90 days under Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The Punjab government on January 30 had put them under house arrest in Lahore under the Second Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The Pakistan government had reportedly taken action against Saeed after the US firmly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed it may face sanctions. JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar- e-Taiba (LeT). The organisation is accused of involvement in militant activities in India and has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2014. Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) As China continues its military buildup, it has demonstrated that it has the ability to seize air supremacy over areas west of the "first island chain" and is gradually gaining the ability to take control of the Taiwan Strait, according to report Thursday by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). Houston: Harvey's floodwaters started dropping across much of the Houston area and the storm weakened slightly Wednesday but major dangers remained for the U.S. Gulf Coast area, including the threat of an explosion at a stricken Texas chemical plant and major flooding further east near the Texas-Louisiana line. The scope of the devastation caused by the hurricane came into sharper focus, meanwhile, and the murky green floodwaters from the record-breaking, 4-foot deluge of rain began yielding up more bodies as predicted. The confirmed death toll climbed to at least 25, including six family members four of them children whose bodies were pulled Wednesday from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou. "Unfortunately, it seems that our worst thoughts are being realized," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said after the van that disappeared over the weekend was found in 10 feet of muddy water. As the water receded, Houston's fire department said it would begin a block-by-block search of thousands of flooded homes. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said the searches were to ensure "no people were left behind." While conditions in the nation's fourth-largest city appeared to improve, another crisis related to Harvey emerged at a chemical plant about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston. A spokeswoman for the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, Texas, said late Wednesday that the flooded facility had lost power and backup generators, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. "The fire will happen. It will resemble a gasoline fire. It will be explosive and intense in nature," said Janet Hill, spokeswoman for the French company. The last of the plant's employees evacuated on Tuesday and residents within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) were told to leave, Hill said. Another threat was east of Houston where conditions deteriorated close to the Louisiana line as Harvey again reached land. Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, struggled with rising floodwaters and worked to evacuate residents after Harvey completed a U-turn in the Gulf of Mexico and rolled ashore early Wednesday for the second time in six days. It hit southwestern Louisiana as a tropical storm with heavy rain and winds of 45 mph. Forecasters downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression late Wednesday from a tropical storm but it still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, with 4 to 8 inches forecast from the Louisiana-Texas line into Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot, raising the risk of more flooding. For much of the Houston area, forecasters said the rain is pretty much over. "We have good news," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. "The water levels are going down." Houston's two major airports were up and running again Wednesday. Officials said they were resuming limited bus and light rail service as well as trash pickup. At Hermann Park, south of downtown, children glided by in strollers and wagons, joggers took in midday runs and couples walked beside cascading fountains and beneath a sparkling sun. People pulled into drive-thru restaurants and emerged from a store with groceries. At the same time, many thousands of Houston-area homes are under water and could stay that way for days or weeks. And Lindner cautioned that homes near at least one swollen bayou could still get flooded. Officials said 911 centers in the Houston area are getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help. In Houston's flooded Meyerland neighborhood, hundreds of families emptied their homes of sodden possessions under a baking sun as the temperature climbed into the 90s. They piled up couches, soggy drywall and carpets ripped out of foul-smelling homes where the floodwaters had lingered for more than 24 hours. The curbs were lined with the pickup trucks of cleanup contractors and friends. For Harry Duffey, a 48-year-old computer security specialist, this was flood No. 3 in as many years. Just before the flood, he got a notice that his flood insurance premium had nearly doubled to $5,300 a year. "Everywhere we look this water has cost me money after money after money. It just does not end," he said. But he said he has no intention of moving: "This is in my blood. This is where I'm from." Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Confirmed deaths from the storm include a married couple who drowned after their pickup truck was swept away while they were on the phone with a 911 dispatcher asking for help, officials said. Others among the dead include a woman whose body was discovered floating in Beaumont, a man who tried to swim across a flooded road, and a woman who died after she and her young daughter were swept into a drainage canal in Beaumont. The child was rescued clinging to her dead mother, authorities said. When Harvey paid its return visit to land overnight, it hit near Cameron, Louisiana, about 45 miles from Port Arthur. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city. More than 500 people along with dozens of dogs, cats, a lizard and a monkey took shelter at the Max Bowl bowling alley in Port Arthur after firefighters popped the lock in the middle of the night, said the establishment's general manager, Jeff Tolliver. "The monkey was a little surprising, but we're trying to help," he said. In Orange, Texas, about 30 miles east of Beaumont, residents of a retirement home surrounded by thigh-deep water were rescued by National Guardsmen and wildlife officers, who carried them from the second floor and put them aboard an airboat. Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas on Friday, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. Harvey's five straight days of rain totaled close to 52 inches, the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental U.S. Rawalpindi: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday declared ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and acquitted five people in the killing. As an "absconder", Musharraf must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan after being allowed to leave the country last year. The court also ordered Musharraf's property in Pakistan seized. Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide and gun attack in Rawalpindi in 2007, weeks after she returned from exile to campaign in elections to bring back civilian rule. Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Zardari tweeted after the court's decision that "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes!" Five accused members of the Pakistani Taliban were found not guilty of any role in the attack due to a lack of evidence. Special Prosecutor for the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz said he found the acquittal surprising. "We believe there was a very strong case against them," he told reporters after the verdict, adding that three of the men had confessed to assisting in the attack. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, now the leader of the slain Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, termed the acquittal "unacceptable" in a tweet, calling the release of the five men dangerous. Musharraf was charged in 2013 with being culpable in Bhutto's murder. He seized power in a 1999 coup but stepped down nine years later after new elections. He is now in self-imposed exile, having been allowed to leave the country in 2016 for health reasons. The court found two police officials guilty in the case, one of mishandling security at the Bhutto rally and the other of mishandling the crime scene. Each was jailed for 17 years. Imtiaz said that one of the officials oversaw a "deliberate security lapse" while the other had the crime scene washed within two hours of the assassination to "erase evidence" and delayed Bhutto's postmortem. Bhutto was assassinated shortly after leaving an election rally, where she spoke of threats to her life. She stood up to wave to supporters from the sun-roof of her bullet-proof vehicle when the attacker fired shots at her before blowing himself up. Bhutto was pronounced dead in a hospital in Rawalpindi, headquarters of the Pakistan Army and the same city in which her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister, was hanged in 1979 after being deposed in a military coup. Washington: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis openly differed with his commander in chief over North Korea on Wednesday, the latest example of a once-rare public display of disagreement by top US aides that has become more frequent under President Donald Trump. "We are never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis told reporters, just hours after Trump said in a tweet that "talking is not the answer" to the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs. His public contradiction of Trump's position came a day after the Pentagon chief, a retired four-star Marine general, appeared to delay implementation of Trump's decision to ban transgender people from enlisting in the military. Mattis was also among the senior aides, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, who implicitly criticised the Republican president's response to violence at a rally organized by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. Presidents often disagree with senior advisers over policies or other matters but the differences are usually confined to internal deliberations and become public only through leaks or much later in memoirs, historians and former government officials said. "I haven't seen a modern president with a pattern of this many high officials saying things like that," said Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian. Asked in a television interview on Sunday whether Trump's initial comments blaming "many sides" for the violence in Charlottesville instead of focusing on neo-Nazis and white nationalists raised questions about his values, Tillerson said simply: "The president speaks for himself." White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders sought to play down the significance of Tillerson's comments. "I don't think anyone has tried to distance themselves. I think that at moments maybe you have people that disagree. I think that's a healthy thing for you to be able to have productive conversation," Sanders told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. But Beschloss said the differences being aired publicly were notable. "These are people protecting their reputations in real time, and that is something you usually do not see in high-level officials around a president," he said. BEST ADVICE Mattis has repeatedly made clear that diplomacy - backed by a credible military option - is the only way to prevent the North Korea crisis from escalating into a potentially devastating conflict. When asked about Mattis' comments on Wednesday, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said: "Secretary Mattis provides the President with his best advice. It is the President who makes the ultimate decisions." Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary and CIA director under former Democratic President Barack Obama, said the airing of differences inside the Trump administration had its roots in the president's habit of sharing his opinions in Twitter posts. "I think the problem is that they (advisers) are now dealing with a president who tweets his thoughts to the country," said Panetta, who has said he had his own policy differences with Obama. "He's not the kind of individual who sits down with his national security team and tries to work these issues out in a policy process that is confined to the White House." Earlier this month, a video posted on social media showed Mattis telling US troops that the United States has problems that its military does not have. "You just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it," he said. The impromptu speech, believed to have been made during an Aug. 21 visit to Jordan, came after the violence in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and many people were injured. Cohn clearly distanced himself from Trump's comments on the violence, and officials said he considered resigning. "Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK (Ku Klux Klan)," he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Aug. 25. Jennifer Lawless, a professor of government at American University, said it was significant that several of Trump's advisers distanced themselves from Trump's comments on Charlottesville. "That makes it very difficult for him" to retaliate against individual advisers, she said. "You can't go after every single member of your Cabinet. That makes it look like maybe you've made wrong choices." Seoul/Tokyo: South Korean and Japanese jets joined exercises with two supersonic US B-1B bombers above and near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after North Korea fired a missile over Japan, sharply raising tension. The drills, involving four US stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, came at the end of annual joint US-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, said General Terrence J. OShaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander, who made an unscheduled visit to Japan. This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. Our forward deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moments notice if our nation calls." North Korea has made no secret of its intention to develop the knowhow to launch a nuclear-tipped missile at the United States and has recently threatened the US Pacific territory of Guam. It denounced the US exercises in traditionally robust fashion. "The US imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces do not hide their bellicose nature, claiming that the exercises are to 'counter' the DPRK's ballistic rocket launches and nuclear weapons development," the North's KCNA news agency said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "But the wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of those taken aback by the intermediate-to-long range strategic ballistic rocket launching drill conducted by the army of the DPRK as the first military operation in the Pacific." US President Donald Trump has warned North Korea it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States and that the US military was "locked and loaded" in case of any provocation. Trump on Wednesday declared "talking is not the answer" to resolving the long-standing impasse. "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," Trump, who last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "starting to respect" the United States, wrote on Twitter. "Talking is not the answer!" However, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, when asked by reporters just hours later if the United States had run out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea, replied: "No." "We are never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests." Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a "visible" form, Japan's defence ministry said. Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe said he and visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to urge China, North Korea's lone major ally, to do more to rein in the North. They also discussed the possibility of adopting a new UN Security Council resolution over North Korea, a British government source said. SANCTION OPTIONS The 15-member Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan as "outrageous" and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons programme, but the US-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan was pushing the United States to propose new UN Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Korea's labourers working abroad, oil supply and textile exports. Diplomats expected resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given new measures were only recently imposed after North Korea staged two long-range missile launches in July. A US ban on travel to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, curbing one of its few remaining supplies of foreign currency. China again urged restraint from all parties. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. "China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions," Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. "I also want to stress that the current tense situation on the peninsula isn't a screenplay or a video game," she told reporters. "It's real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region." 'KEY MILESTONE' The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency and the crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted a "complex missile defence flight test" off Hawaii on Wednesday, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target, the agency said. The agency's director, Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, called the test "a key milestone" in giving US Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ships an enhanced capability, but did not mention North Korea. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea routinely says it will never give up its weapons programmes, calling them necessary to counter perceived American hostility. Washington: The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given USD 225 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting USD 255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The USD 255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of USD 1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than USD 33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. "The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. Washington: The Trump administration said on Wednesday it was necessary that Islamabad take "decisive action" against militant groups based in Pakistan, after the National Assembly unanimously condemned US President Donald Trump's "hostile and threatening" statements against the country. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told PTI. But, the spokesperson added, Trump has been clear that "we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region." "It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. The comments came as the National Assembly passed a resolution opposing Trump's move to give more space to India in Afghanistan in his new strategy for the war-torn country. The National Assembly also condemned Trump's "hostile and threatening" statements against Pakistan. Since Trump called out Pakistan when he outlined the new strategy for South Asian on August 21, Pakistan-US ties have headed south. Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it, has cancelled at least three senior level meetings with Trump administration officials. The State Department, however, said Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with their efforts in the region. "As Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson said, 'We are ready to work with [the Pakistanis] to help them protect themselves against these terrorist organisations'," the spokesperson said. Prince Charles looks towards Princess Diana as they await their carriage to depart the Order of the Garter ceremony at Windsor Castle June 15, 1992. Diana, who was divorced from Charles in 1996, and her millionaire companion Dodi Al Fayed were killed early Sunday when their car crashed while reportedly being chased through Paris by photographers on motorcycles. (Image: Reuters) Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. In 2015, Petersburg, a city of 32,500 people just south of Richmond, experienced a financial meltdown, the likes of which no Virginia locality had seen before. City leaders, in 2016, publicly owned up to the fact that the 269-year-old city was $19 million in debt with no foreseeable way to meet its obligations. The consequences of the Petersburg meltdown are still reverberating throughout the city and the commonwealth today. In the wake of the fiscal crisis, the General Assembly directed the auditor of public accounts to create a financial stress test that could be used to identify local governments in trouble before a crisis point was reached. (The test is modeled on the stress test the Federal Reserve created in the wake of the 2008 global financial meltdown to measure the strength of the countrys largest banks.) Earlier this month, the state released the results of the first locality stress test, based on 2016 fiscal year data voluntarily submitted by local governments. Four localities two cities and two counties were identified as being dangerously stressed. Disturbingly, one city identified only as City A scored even lower than Petersburg. The state didnt reveal the identies of the four localities, though we learned just this week that City A is the Southwest Virginia city of Bristol. City B and Counties A and B still have not been named while state officials follow up with the localities to review their data. (Two other counties, Counties C and D, barely made the minimum healthy score.) Under current Virginia law, the state government has no authority to intervene in the operations of local governments. Secretary of Finance Ric Brown, though, provided insight, advice and counsel to city leaders after interim Petersburg City Manager Dironna Belton uncovered the dire financial situation in 2015. At Browns direction, the state provided advice and counsel to the city, stopping its decline into the fiscal abyss. The fact that the state could do nothing officially to step into the Petersburg crisis was a wake-up call for Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican leaders of the General Assembly. The Petersburg crisis had been building for several years, all but unknown to the members of City Council. City administration had spent its way through the entire reserve fund, while council had given its OK to a new $12 million library and was on the verge of approving a new, $18 million courthouse. It was only because implementation of a new water metering system was botched, resulting in a cash flow crunch and the firing of the city manager, that council and the public stumbled onto the problem. State officials owe it to all Virginians, especially the residents of the three remaining unnamed localities, to release the stress test scores of all the states cities and counties. Only when residents know the full scope of the challenges facing their local governments can they hold officials accountable. For Gov. McAuliffe, we have two recommendations: Release the full stress test results for all Virginia localities and Prepare a package of legislative changes to allow direct state intervention into local fiscal crises for the 2018 Assembly session to consider. We know the next crisis is out there, and we must be prepared for it. Six workers at Tyson chicken-breeding farms have been convicted of animal cruelty after the state attorney generals office investigated a video taken by an animal rights group. None received active jail time during sentencing. According to Buckingham County Circuit Court records, Trent Johnson, 56, of Drakes Branch; Samuel Downs, 42, of Crewe; Tyrone Delaney, 44, of Amelia; Robin Bowen, 61, of Crewe; William Atkins, 43, of Rice; and Judy Atkins, 62, of Rice, were found guilty of animal cruelty. Johnson also was found guilty of animal cruelty in Lunenburg County Circuit Court. Downs, Delaney, Bowen and William Atkins also were found guilty of animal cruelty in Mecklenburg County Circuit Court, records show. Jacob Sorrell, 21, of Redford, New York, pleaded guilty in Mecklenburg Circuit Court to two counts of animal cruelty in connection with the video. The convictions were handed down in June and August, court records show. The charges were filed by the attorney generals office after a video surreptitiously taken by Compassion Over Killing surfaced in 2016, showing workers abusing chickens in the breeding farms. The videos show Tyson workers punching and kicking live birds, birds crushed to death by transport crates and being run over by forklifts, chickens swung by their wings and thrown across sheds and being shoved and slammed into transport cages. In one video, workers stood on the chickens heads to kill them to avoid getting bloody. Compassion Over Killing applauds the prosecutions work and the decisions from the court to uphold anti-cruelty laws and protect animals from such horrific cruelty to birds as documented by our undercover investigator working for Tyson, said Cheryl Leahy, general counsel for Compassion Over Killing. This is a landmark victory in achieving justice for farm animals. Johnson received a 30-day suspended sentence on the condition that he not supervise any crew working with animals for two years. He received the same sentence in Lunenburg County. Downs received 30-day suspended sentences in Mecklenburg and Buckingham counties as did William Atkins, providing they do not work with animals for one year. Delaney and Bowen received one-year suspended sentences in both counties, providing they do not work with animals for one year. Judy Atkins had her case taken under advisement for one year in Buckingham County Circuit Court on the condition that she not work with animals for the year. Sorrell received a one-year suspended sentence on the condition that he not work with animals for five years. These convictions send a clear, strong signal across the commonwealth that my team and I take these crimes seriously, and that those who commit cruelty to animals will be held accountable for their actions, said Attorney General Mark R. Herring, whose special animal law unit prosecuted the cases. Mistreatment of animals is both inhumane and illegal, and Im glad to see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to justice. Scotia Investments Jamaica to go private The scheme is now subject to the final order of the Supreme Court of Jamaica. Prior to the vote, Scotia Group held 77.01 per cent of the issued share capital of SIJL. The remaining SIJL shares were held by 2,750 SIJL stockholders, including insurance companies, pension funds and other investors as well as individuals. Addressing shareholders following the vote at the Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston which was simultaneously video-linked for Trinidad and Tobago shareholders at Hyatt Regency in Portof- SpainSIJL Chairman, Jeffrey Hall, said, I have a certificate provided to me by KPMG, so Im able to confirm the resolution has been passed by the requisite majorities. Hall continued, That is to say, by a majority number of the shareholders who voted in person or by proxy. That majority is 83 per cent of the persons present and 99 per cent of the shares voted. As such, the resolution has been passed. He added, If the court sanctions the scheme at the hearing, it is expected that the scheme will become effective on that date or by the following business day. SIJL minority shareholders in TT will, therefore, be paid the US equivalent of JA$38 per cancelled stock unit while their Jamaican counterparts have the option to receive payment in either Jamaican or US dollars. As of August 11, SIJL stock was trading at JA$35 in Jamaica and TT$2.20. Reminding minority shareholders why Scotia Group had chosen to make SIJL one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Hall said, Although Scotia Group and subsidiaries are making sure profits and expenses are properly allocated to relevant entities to which they are properly attributed, the fact that there are minority shareholders in SIJL has restricted SIJL from becoming fully integrated; from an operational standpoint, into Scotia Group. Hall gave the example of the movement of staff and other resources between SIJL and other Scotia Group entities having been constrained in ways that would not apply if SIJL were a wholly-owned by Scotia Group; thus placing a limitation on the ability of SIJL and Scotia Group to optimise their combined efforts. Jamaicas Supreme Court is likely to vote in favour of the scheme at the next hearing this September. Upon completion of the scheme, SIJL will cease to meet the listing requirements of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the TT Stock Exchange. It will accordingly, make an application to de-list the SIJL shares from both stock exchanges. Although the vote went as expected, two shareholders; one from Jamaica and one from TT, were critical of the JA$38 offer, saying that it should have been higher. An outspoken Jamaican man said, Nothing wrong with your offer, except determining the market price is not an exact science. I say throw a two dollar on it, round it off at $40 and well stay with you. (Otherwise) I say not submitting to $38. We vote no to $38, we want $40. This view was echoed by Trinidadian shareholder, Haroon Husain, who said, The price is somewhat low, particularly for shareholders who are from Trinidad. If you check the prices, SIJL has reached a high of TT$2.50, its currently trading at $2.20. If you convert the JA $38 to TT, it comes to about TT $2.00 so Im not too sure if you had considered the price rate in Trinidad in terms of your valuation. I believe you could have done much better for our 634 shareholders in TT, Husain argued. Dine out for less This, coupled with activity on social media about the 2017 edition of TT Restaurant Week (TTRW), leaves them feeling confident that this year will be as successful as previous editions. Always held in September, usually mid-month, this year foodies can try specially-priced menus at more than 80 restaurants across the country. As usual, diners can choose from four price points: TT $120; $200; $300; and $400. Some restaurants offer two price points but most have only one. The confidence that this model will continue to hold widespread appeal in the current economic climate comes from TTRW founder, Shira Mohammed. Responding to Business Days question about the economy during the August 17 launch of TTRW 2017 at Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, Mohammed said, Our Facebook page has grown by thousands over the past two weeks. People are liking our Facebook page, people are commenting. Once we post a menu, we are seeing that menu being shared more than liked. Why? Because they plan to partake or theyre trying to convince someone that, Hey, we need to go and take part in TRW and try this menu. Furthermore, Mohammed added, TTRW was designed initially, and it still is, as a means of being able to get people who dont normally go out to restaurants, to come out and try this while being reassured that the price point holds. Highlighting the fact that the price is an incredibly discounted price from restaurants, Mohammed also told Business Day that with more people choosing to staycation, TTRW presents an ideal alternative to expensive overseas trips. Instead of taking their trip to, say, Miami, people are staying home. You can now stay home and still have great advantages during Restaurant Week - fantastic food (at) incredible prices. So no, we have not seen any dropout. As a matter of fact, weve been growing still. Theres always a cause to celebrate, so I dont see it happening (drop off in TTRW reservations), even though were in this state of watching our pennies. People need to eat and why not pick Restaurant Week to eat at a reduced cost? Some people may prefer Restaurant Week to begin at month end, when they have more disposable income still in hand. Business Day sought clarification on the mid-month timing, which Mohammed explained was set at the request of participating restaurants; to help offset what was a traditionally slow period for them. TTRW would not exist without the restaurants. It took me two years of planning and meeting with different chefs across TT to be able to tweak the event, so that we could make it one that everyone would want to partake in. Generally, September is a slow period; its back to school time, therefore people watch their pennies. They dont go out as much but with TTRW offering you fantastic food at fantastic prices, why not (dine out)? Thats why, from inception, weve always held TTRW in September, Mohammed shared. In 2016, Scotiabank TT became a platinum sponsor of the event. This year, the bank has introduced something extra for its customers - three percent cash back once they pay with their Scotiabank credit card at participating restaurants. Scotiabank TTs District General Manager, Rory Bhikarrie, said, This added value is part of what we do to help our customers become better off. Our customers are our priority and we are continuously looking for ways to help serve them better. (This) is an incentive and its also a value-added for our card holders. Bhikarries point about always striving to enhance customers experience was echoed by Scotiabank TTs Head of Marketing and GM of the Scotiabank Foundation, Kameel Baksh-Edwards. One of the things that we try to do is really to involve customers and get their feedback. After (TTRW 2016), the feedback we got included questions about how could we do something more with this? So we decided; based on that, to actually provide this additional benefit of three percent cash back. Details on TTRW 2017 can be found on its Facebook page and on its application (app); TTRW, which was unveiled at this years launch. The app is free to download from all major app stores and comes with filter options to make finding your ideal restaurant, menu and or price point much easier. Casting Angostura as a major player on world stage The change is part of a wider strategy by Angostura to have bars around the world recognise, and thus stock, its range of premium rums the same way that they do its Angostura aromatic bitters. To find out more, Business Day recently sat down with Angosturas Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Genevieve Jodhan, at the companys head office, Eastern Main Road, Laventille, Portof- Spain. Angostura Bitters is available in 170 countries; weve been selling Bitters for 193 years. Our premium rums are now in about 60 countries; weve done that over the past ten years, but having your rum sold in a country doesnt mean youre going to find it behind every bar. Youll find our aromatic bitters and, increasingly, our orange bitters, behind every bar but developing an export market for rum is a three-tier process. This process involves getting importers to start ordering your rums, then selling it to local wholesalers in their market, who in turn promote it to establishments they do business with who serve alcoholic drinks. Dozens of bottles of alcohol, if not more, are stocked on the back bars of these establishments. If a particular rum is harder to see and/or hold because of its bottle design, that has an impact on how to help them understand our brand more and to come up with better marketing programmes. We werent in a position to do that because we were fragmented - we had an export marketing team, we had a local marketing team, we had PR by itself and communications in different places. Now, however, we have one team under one roof. This was a significant change for us, done to allow us to go forward. Were young in the world of branded rums but were not young when it comes to bulk rums or blending rums for other brands. What were working on is how to enhance our branding abroad. So our packaging might change again but we intend for our rums to be around for a long time, Jodhan declared. Even as it focuses on growing its rum category, Angostura has branched out into the liqueur market. In 2015, it introduced Amaro di Angostura; a 35 percent herbal liqueur. We analysed the trends and we looked at where the world going. People are drinking better quality products (and) while you might say few people in TT are drinking Amaro di Angostura, thats okay because with this product, were focusing on the international market. Now that we have a product for nearly every market, we need to fine tune our branding and invest a little more. We have a small marketing team but its focused on what could be our unique positioning, so that Angostura ends up with a product that would be as equally appreciated and loved as our bitters. Jodhan also spoke with Business Day about the upcoming Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge (AGCC); held every two years at the companys head office in the days leading up to Carnival. The AGCC is one of our signature events, held for the purpose of recruiting more bartenders into using our brands. The difference with the 2018 edition is that its first time Amaro di Angostura will be a required component. Whereas before competing bartenders were making a rum cocktail and a freestyle, this time theyre going to make a rum cocktail and an Amaro cocktail. While the number of entrants may be less this time, since Amaro is not (available) in some markets, the purpose of the GCC is for Angostura to get our product out there. This is expected to be balanced by entries from bartenders in new markets, where Angostura rums have been introduced or gained greater brand awareness since the 2016 AGCC. Weve opened up more than ten countries within the last year; emerging markets such as Armenia and Romania. So the emerging markets are having their own competition, the winner of which will then go on to compete in the European competition, because we have to have about 60 regional competitions to come down to five (semifinals). What you see in Trinidad for the AGCC finals is actually the culmination of nine months of work; we had 36 competitions before the 2016 finals in Trinidad, while for this one, I think were having 60. Our event is not only a truly global cocktail challenge, we have the best prize too - our winner gets to travel the globe for two years (as) the Angostura Global Brand Ambassador and gets a US $10,000 cash prize. The winner must have a good command of English and be able to travel during that two-year period to communicate the brand, its values, Jodhan stated. Reflections at 55 Today, Trinidad and Tobago celebrates 55 years as an Independent nation, having transitioned from being a Crown Colony of Great Britain on August 31, 1962. Unlike many other countries globally, Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed a smooth transference of power, while retaining some residual ties to its former British colonisers. Despite our accomplishments to date, we are now marking of our 55th anniversary with the country seemingly standing at a crossroads. Currently, in the grip of an economic downturn, our nation appears to be facing conditions that sadly, could have been mitigated. Crime is at unprecedented levels, while many of our institutions appear to be in a state of inertia or at best, are functioning below acceptable standards. There are those who would testify that what we are witnessing can be attributed to a shortfall in revenue from our main export products - oil and gas - amidst a global drop in prices. But is that really so? What, then, lies at the very core of our challenge, that we seem oblivious to the fact that we cannot continue to function in an environment where we get little to no value for money; or be satifised with infrastructure that makes our roads gridlocked and inaccessible after a brief rain shower; or sett le for less than first rate inter-island transportation; or display a sense of apathy with leaders who seem disconnected from current realities as they pertain to crime. These examples illustrate how far behind Trinidad and Tobago lags, from where we ought to be in terms of policy, infrastructure, modern facilities and mindset. To fulfil the promise of hope that sprang forth in 1962 when our national flag was first hoisted, the word that comes readily to mind is transformation. Transformation is not an overnight process and will require an attitudinal shift that must be driven primarily by our countrys leadership in all spheres. Rebuilding our institutions and reshaping them into effective mechanisms of support for much needed change, is an attainable goal for which we must reach. Perhaps the reason economic diversification has been so difficult to achieve lies chiefly in the failure to transform our society and institutions. Pivotal to our development and critical to preserving our democracy, a transformed society embraces among other things - a fair and viable Industrial Relations environment - one that endorses productivity; an efficient and effective Public Service that delivers with the right levels of bureaucracy to maintain checks and balances while defying sluggishness. It is obvious that now more than ever, the ti me is right to diversify our economy. Trinidad and Tobago may be two small islands, but we have given much to the world, and presumably, we have much more to offer yet. In this global village, our youth are ready and willing to enter career paths which lie off the beaten track; they embrace innovation, are quite nimble and adaptable to change. The challenge for us, as a maturing society, is to ensure that we preserve a world worth living and thriving in for our youth and future generations to come. The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce extends warm greetings to the people of Trinidad and Tobago on this our Independence anniversary. Access to finance By opening access to finance, Barbados will be able to enhance its competitiveness on the global stage. Competitiveness can be defined as the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and services in a given market, in relation to the ability and performance of other firms, sub-sectors or countries in the same market. Access to credit is an important link to productivity in Barbados. To continue to improve their performance, firms in Barbados can use the finance to preserve or increase their competitiveness, particularly in key economic sectors such as tourism. The guarantee mechanism of the Enhanced Access to Credit for Productivity program itself supports firms that are credit constrained as they do not meet conventional credit guarantees. But finance alone doesnt determine the success of business. Becoming an entrepreneur does have some obstacles. Research has already revealed that more than 50% of start-ups fail within the first five years. Financial literacy is a major skill most entrepreneurs fail to master, which contributes to these disappointments. And its not something they can afford to ignore either as research has shown that up to 36% of business failures are caused by inadequate financial management. Financial skills are at the heart of running a successful business but sadly many budding entrepreneurs are lacking the vital knowledge to make informed and effective financial decisions. Financial expertise helps to uncover a companys financial strength, financing cost, financial flexibility, business control, financial risk, personal finances and business strategy. These areas are essential for highlighting business performance and the areas and capabilities to be able to innovate. After all, financial management is at its most powerful when used to drive improvements. Crucially, financial knowledge is not an onus to be solely carried by entrepreneurs. There are plenty of good accountants that can give good financial advice, especially in the planning stages. They are indeed experts in areas such as raising business finance, tax planning, business planning, and setting up financial management systems. People across the Caribbean who are on the journey to a professional qualification with ACCA are learning a variety of technical and business-related components in their training. These bright and motivated individuals achieving the qualification will go on to provide finance and accounting services throughout the island. Through their commitment to this, and the rigorous grounding they have received in governance, good practice, ethics and transparency, the next generation of professional accountants will ensure that businesses in the Caribbean always strive to be better. Having the right financial management is vital throughout the life of a business. Whether you are just starting out, have an established business or are looking towards a final exit from a firm, you need to have the right financial capabilities to ensure your organisation achieves its full potential. Todays businesses are changing and innovating more rapidly than ever before and their financial management needs must continue to evolve alongside their developments. Recognising the right financial management capabilities is therefore imperative to their success. Entrepreneurs are creative and capable people and the Caribbean has a particular talent for churning ones in the tech industry. They are the brains behind a growing number of programs across the sectors of Internet of Things, eLearning, Online Media, Mobile Gaming, Mobile Surveys, eAgriculture, eHealth, Social Shopping and more. Barbados is amongst the top three performing Caribbean countries in this space alongside Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. With the expert support, guidance and financial investment available, entrepreneurs will continue to flourish across the islands In honour of us During my brief tenure within the halls of Government, I understood the importance of being present at said National events. However, what I did not understand was that the majority of office holders clearly did not recognise being present at these events to be of equal importance. During my stint, I attended at least two Independence Day parades. At each of these, less than 25 percent of the Government ministers were present, with an even less showing from those who sat in the Senate, without portfolios. The Heads of Government and State are both mandated to be present as they both accept salutations from the presenting troops on parade. This alone should be impetus to ensure a full gathering of officials, if not in support of your countrys milestone, surely in support of your Government or Head of State. Whilst this may seem a small item in the larger scheme of things, it is a vital part of the maintenance and respect of our National traditions. Even as I attended whilst outside the corridors of government, the representation of office holders has always been less than adequate or acceptable. This occasion is one of those where we are brought together by the summoning of a greater good, where we set politics and all other separatist agendas to the side for the celebration of country. As such, a few other areas to be noted in keeping with the tone of the event include the recognition and respect of military precision and timelines. If you are an invited guest to this event, it is imperative to ensure you arrive on time as the military does not recognise Trini time. The parade and marching orders will not wait on anyone, and those whom the salutes are afforded, are provided with enough support to ensure they are in position. It is rather irritating and quite rude, to be seen arriving after the primary salute receivers have arrived. The National Anthem of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most significant compositions to be played on this day. I have seen persons choose to continue walking or speaking or doing whatever they may have been doing whilst the National Anthem is being played. The excuse sometime given is that they are not in the immediate proximity of the actual event. Nevertheless, I urge, if not on any other day, do show respect for the National Anthem of the country of your birth. Even if you were with the many hundreds of citizens gathered on the periphery to catch a glimpse of the proceedings, set the example, and sing to the top of your voices, whilst observing the protocol attached to the Anthem. This day brings families to the capital and many other major areas to participate in the ceremony. Whilst it is understood that a high level of protocol and diplomacy is required in the undertakings of these parades, a certain measure of flexibility can be introduced, particularly when the parades enter the streets, and display their spectacle for the people. All too often, I have seen unwarranted and poorly managed clashes between spectators and parade officials. Both parties must remember the reason for the occasion, to honour our Nationhood. Being female in male-dominated professions Dear Concerned Mom, It is important for your daughter to appreciate that the working world will present a number of challenges, inequities and injustices in various forms, and at different stages throughout her career. For example, at more senior levels, she may be faced with the challenge of negotiating for equal pay or charting new paths and shattering glass ceilings. As parents, our natural inclination is to protect and guide our offspring, and to do this we must equip our young women with the necessary tools to use throughout their lives. These include such things as respect for self and others, integrity, personal responsibility, work ethics, critical thinking and self awareness. Children tend to mimic the adults in their lives, so it is imperative to set the right example from the start. Groups tend to form based on like mindedness or shared commonalities, such as religion, gender, age, socioeconomic status, race, and other factors. These shared commonalities allow group members to readily acclimatise and become more accepted among their own. The male-dominated workplace is but one manifestation of this type of association. In such environments, women may (though not always) be subjected to some sort of segregation. In such instances, it would be beneficial for your daughter to focus on what she has control over, and to work on developing those life skills that are necessary for dealing with uncomfortable situations and people in general. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is a good read and provides insight into examining ones individual behaviour and approach to personal and professional relationships. A simple online search will also yield many resources that discuss how women can advance their careers in traditionally male-dominated industries. They often include tips on leadership and confidence-building, among other topics. However, having worked within the traditional boys club for the last few years, I wish to share some personal insights and advice on areas that are not usually discussed. When you do not possess a shared commonality or fit the status quo, you have to set the standard for how you wish to be treated. For example, if you arrive to work and a male co-worker makes an uncomfortable comment about the fit of your skirt or your physique, responding with stern glance as opposed to a giggle will send a clear message to your co-worker about where your boundaries lie. Oftentimes, such remarks are designed to test your boundaries and your reaction will set the tone for future interactions. The workplace reality includes several stories of attempts to sully co-workers reputations by persons (both men and women) who may feel threatened by or who hold personal biases against the co-worker. This can happen in both female-dominated and male-dominated environments. The grapevine is a powerful and at times, destructive tool in a disparaging and gossip-based culture. Should your daughter ever find herself in such a situation, the supportive and encouraging parental role will need you to say, Chin up, reclaim your authority and do your job. As difficult as it may be, she must always remain professional. A mentor can be beneficial in times like those when emotions can cloud judgement and assistance is needed to strategize the way forward. At times, workplace antics can make even the most seasoned veteran cringe. Not taking things personally is a learnt skill that comes with experience. Unconstructive criticism can also feel like a personal attack. Filtering is useful sift out the unnecessary and use the substance for improvement. Having said that, researching the potential employer and industry should be one of the first steps, and this can be conducted before, during and after the initial interview. Advise your daughter to speak to a few current employees to get a feel for the underlying corporate culture. Solely considering the remuneration package is not enough to ensure peace of mind and a healthy work-life balance. She should ask questions to determine if the opportunity would fit her personality, ambitions and lifestyle. Some questions she may want answers for, include: 1. How are women really treated? How many female employees are there and what positions do they hold in the company? 2. How often are women promoted or given a voice? 3. Are there instances of reported sexual harassment or discrimination? What HR policies are in place minimize and deal with such issues? 4. Is it a multinational company? Are there any equal opportunity clauses? 5. What is the companys position on flexi time, especially if familycare responsibilities fall heavily on her? Specific to the offshore industry, rigzone.com published an article Pioneering Women: Oil & Gas Industrys Frontline Females which highlighted the changing composition of the workforce, as well as the individual experiences of women in the industry. This would be worthwhile to peruse. Finally, mom, it is important to encourage our children to live their dreams and fulfil their potential. Unfortunately, there isnt a written manual to treat with every situation that may arise. Sound judgement is critical. If the situation ever becomes untenable, unsafe and left unaddressed by senior management, she can immediately explore her options out. Good Luck, AFETT AFETT is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2002 with the goal of bringing together professional women and engaging in networking opportunities, professional training and business ideas. ASK AFETT is a column meant to address issues and concerns of professionals seeking advice to assist in progressing in their careers. Todays response was written by AFETT member, Ortinique Cumberbatch, Principal Consultant at OCMC Services. Learn more about AFETT at www.afett.com, search for AFETT Events on Facebook, follow us @ AFETTEXECS on Twitter or contact us at 354-7130. Email us your career-related questions at admin.afett@gmail.com. SOURCES: http://www.rigzone.com/news/ oil_gas/a/112303/pioneering_women_ og_industrys_frontline_females Hinds questions security arrangement at airport He was speaking to Newsday following a tour of Customs bonded areas and bonds controlled by private cargo handling companies at the south terminal. During a tour of the airport and Customs areas at the new and old terminals, general manager of the Airports Authority, Hayden Newton, said the authority did not have uninhibited access to the customs bonded areas. In fact, he said, Airports Authority security officers had occasionally been detained by customs officers because they were said to be preventing the Customs officers from doing their jobs. Airports Authority security officers also complained that they sometimes found some of the closed circuit television cameras in the northern terminal blocked or turned toward the ceiling or other areas where there was nothing to be seen. The accusations were immediately denied by the comptroller of the Customs and Excise Division, Glen Singh, who was also on the tour. Singh said he was not aware of the situation and would have to investigate. The managers of the bonded areas involved also denied the charges and said the authority could have access to the camera feeds once it requested such access. Hinds said, In this world you need cross referencing, you need checks and balances, you need different organisations to be a check and balance on the next. He said it was unthinkable that the security arm of the Airports Authority, which had the responsibility for security of the airport, ran into blind spots for whatever reason. He said it was a matter for concern and one the committee would pursue with rigour and vigour. Speaking to Newsday following his tour of the airport and the Port of Point Lisas, Hinds said the committee still had a lot of questions and would tally all the questions and responses and make recommendations to Parliament as the committee was mandated to do. He said he hoped the information the committee submitted would lead the Government ministers who were responsible for the various entities in this case the Minister of Works and Transport to use the information to fix the weaknesses and vulnerabilities which the committee might identify. And, in so doing, make the ports more secure in the interests and security of the people of TT. In response to a question, Hinds said he had seen lots of gaping loopholes in the security arrangements at the facilities the committee had visited but said he did not want to preempt the work of the committee before it had a chance to study the information collected during its visits. With these facts, we will put our minds and hearts together and come up with a picture of the situation, Hinds said. And on the basis of that picture, we will make our suggestions or recommendations. Law Association concerned about comments made by politicians In a statement, the association said the politicians described the detention as a ploy to distract attention away from the escalating murder rate, the Tobago ferry fiasco and the revocation of the appointment of the Minister of Public Utilities Robert Le Hunte . The association said such accusations called into question the independence of the police service and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and undermine public confidence in the administration of justice . If it is the experience of those who operate within the corridors of power that the DPP and the police are susceptible to political influence, then the proper and constructive approach is to propose reforms which would insulate law enforcement officers from such interference in the exercise of their powers, the association said . The association cautioned members of the public to reserve comment until after a court of law has pronounced . They also cautioned all concerned against using these events to inflame political passions . In that regard, seeking out the opinion of politicians, including the prime minister, on an ongoing criminal investigation can only serve, unhelpfully, to politicise the issue, the association said . ACTRESS Anne Nhira, popularly known as Vimbai Jari from Studio 263, has become Public Enemy Number One after seemingly getting Zodwa Wabantu banned from performing at the Harare International Carnival (HIC). A jubilant Nhira on Tuesday evening posted a letter signed by acting Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Patrick Zhuwao saying the ministry had received her complaint and may bar Zodwa Wabantu from partaking in the carnival festivities. Im ecstatic that the Zimbabwean government has responded quickly to my letter of objection about Zodwa Wabantu coming to Zimbabwe. Shell no longer be attending the Zimbabwe National Tourism Carnival event. The Zimbabwean Government has made the decision and Im happy with their decision as stated in the letter from the Acting Minister of Tourism Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, Honourable Patrick Zhuwao after receiving my letter of concern together with Ministry of Women Affairs and Ministry of Rural Development, posted Nhira. This was after the actress had written a letter questioning why Zodwa, a South African whom she referred to as a socialite who dances with no underwear, had been invited to perform at the carnival which kicks off tomorrow. Zodwa dances with no panties and posts naked pictures on social media. How does that qualify her to be a Zimbabwe national tourist attraction and to attend a function of the highest stature this year, she asked. If the country had to have a woman known for dancing, how about our very own Beverly whos actually done a great job representing us worldwide, but has been ridiculed for years for her dance moves? She also suggested that the money that would be paid to Zodwa for her appearance at the carnival be given to other talented locals. We have one of the highest unemployment rates and whatever Zodwa, a South African provocateur whos not even one of the top socialites in South Africa is getting paid, could have gone to another young Zimbabwean woman who has worked tirelessly and does so decently, or a dancer if the intention was that particular. We have dancers and socialites in Zimbabwe who would benefit from this National Tourist exposure. In his letter, Zhuwao wrote: I acknowledge your complaint on the appearance of Zodwa Wabantu at the Harare International Carnival. Government position is that the artiste concerned may not participate at the Harare International Carnival. In this regard, relevant authorities have been notified. After the letter was leaked to the public through the overjoyed Nhira who posted it on her Facebook page, brutal comments ensued with people criticising Nhira for her actions. Most described her as a washed up actress who was trying to seek relevance with others, including Skyz Metro FM presenter, Babongile Sikhonjwa, calling on the SA government to deport Nhira. However, Nhira might have jumped the gun too soon as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, organisers of the HIC, seemed to be in the dark with regards to the ban. Im hearing this ban from you and were equally surprised. Our programme still stands until we receive the ban order. This is because during the Samba Night at Private Lounge, we have the likes of Zodwa, Bev and Zoey set to perform, said Sugar Chagonda, the ZTA spokesperson. Responding to Nhira yesterday, Zodwa Wabantu, who spoke to TshisaLive, said the SA-based actress was jealous. To be honest, I dont even understand where shes coming from. If I was a nobody, I wouldnt have received the invite in the first place. So maybe it comes from a place of jealousy. Why would a person just randomly write such a letter? Zodwa told TshisaLive. Zodwa, who held a successful show in Bulawayo last month, said she was clueless who Nhira was until the complaint and believes it is dividing the African continent. I dont even know who that woman is, but I feel she is causing more damage. I went through her Facebook and because of the support that I have people were attacking her. They were saying her actions might even cause xenophobic attacks. The carnival is meant to unite the continent and attract people to Zimbabwe for tourism, but she is working against that, Zodwa said. It was however, unclear whether Zodwa would be travelling to Harare next weekend for her appearance at the Carnival Samba Night. Ill remain Zodwa whether I perform there or not. For her, people will now know who she is because of me, she said. President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace stayed away from a solidarity march with the embattled first lady organised by a grouping of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters yesterday. Hundreds of placard-wielding Zanu PF supporters marched through the streets of Harare to the ruling partys national headquarters. Mugabe and his wife were in no-show even after one of the main organisers of the event, Shadreck Mashayamombe, who is the political commissar for Harare province, had earlier indicated to the Daily News that the first couple was expected at the meeting. We are expecting them, we dont know what time they are arriving, but we are expecting them, he told the Daily News shortly before the meeting. The march came on the back of an international onslaught mounted against Grace after she assaulted a 20-year-old South African model, Gabriella Engels, whom she found in the company of her sons at a top Johannesburg hotel. Although party supporters thronged the Zanu PF offices wielding placards denouncing Engels and extolling Grace, official proceedings completely ignored the issue. It was not clear why the Mugabes snubbed the event. But Mugabe addressed an educational conference which took place at the Rainbow Towers Hotel, a stones throw from the party headquarters, driving past the vast crowd on his way home from the event. Organisers of the event, Mandi Chimene and George Mlala leaders of a splinter war veterans group had to call in Zanu PF secretary for administration, Ignatius Chombo, to stand in for the first family. Chombo, who walked in when proceedings were already in full swing, said: I saw the invitation from ... Mlala yesterday (Tuesday) evening and then ... Chimene called me later to advise me that she would give me a full briefing before the march started. That however, did not happen because I had to attend the education conference. She also called me a few minutes ago saying the meeting was about to start and they wanted me to take the message to the president. As the secretary of the party, I am just here to take the message as it is. I have heard all the issues raised here and I will pass them on to the president and the first lady, said Chombo. Chimene had earlier complained about war veterans who swear allegiance to the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association led by former Cabinet minister, Chris Mutsvangwa, who was expelled from the party along with his entire executive for criticising Mugabe and Grace. Chimene also taunted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa over claims by members of his camp that he was poisoned during a Zanu PF youth interface rally in Gwanda by his colleagues three weeks ago. You eat raw guavas and go on to claim you have been bewitched and that is why I am having a running tummy, be steady, Chimene said. daily News A nineteen-year-old house- maid who was allegedly raped by Zimbabwe National Army Lieutenant-Colonel Rangarirai Kembo was a virgin and was also allegedly sodomised by the army boss, the court heard yesterday. Giving testimony in the case at the Harare Magistrates Court yesterday, Sharon Mabaya, the nurse who examined the maid, said she told her that it was her first time to have sex and that she was also penetrated anally. Mabaya said she examined the maid three days after the alleged rape and she had healed hymenal tears. Prosecutor Mr Timothy Makoni inquired if the maid told Mabaya that she bled during the allegedly sexual assault. She just said it was her first time, said Mabaya. There was no injury to her anus. Although it differs from person to person, usually hymenal tears will be fresh within three days. Mr Makoni inquired if it was normal not to see bruising or redness and the nurse said it depended with the individuals immune system. Mabaya said the maid did not tell her that she was turned away by the police and said that she was in a stable state. Mr Makoni tendered a voice recording sent on a WhatsApp group by the complainant opening up about the alleged sexual abuse. The matter was adjourned to September 4, to allow the State to transcribe the recording. Mr Makoni alleged that on July 29 this year at around 9pm, the maid was asleep in her bedroom when Kembo called her. The woman went to the dining room and Kembo ordered her to warm his food, and after serving him she went back to sleep. It is alleged that Kembo called the woman again and asked her to remove the plates. Kembo called her again and asked her to watch television with him. The maid refused, indicating that she wanted to sleep. She went back to her room and was awakened by Kembo, who was now standing at her door. Kembo allegedly started praising the woman, telling her how well behaved she was and that she was raised well. Kembo allegedly walked towards the maid, kissed and fondled her, before raping her. The court heard that he ordered her not to tell anyone about the sexual abuse. The maid was medically examined and the report was tendered as an exhibit. Herald The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has criticised business mogul Mr Strive Masiyiwa for allegedly abusing workers at his companies Econet Wireless and Steward Bank. ZCTU secretary general Mr Japhet Moyo said Mr Masiyiwa was depriving workers of their rights. Masiyiwas businesses are characterised by alarming work deficits, depriving workers of their fundamental rights, said Mr Moyo in statement on Tuesday. The nature of contracts that these companies are dangling to employees smacks of cold-blooded capitalism. They have introduced precarious volunteer contracts, in clear disregard of the sanctity of work relations where they treat workers as helpers instead of stakeholders in the employment relationship. The labour union accused Steward Bank and Econet Wireless of leading the revolt against labour rights by refusing to pay compensation to workers who were dismissed on three months notice following the infamous Zuva judgment. Econet is also challenging the retrospective application of Labour Amendment Number 5 which seeks among other provisions, to compensate the affected workers. Workers freedoms are severely stifled at these establishments with unrelenting dismissals of employees who join trade unions. This is against the fundamental right to association and to freely organise as well as participate in trade union activities, said Mr Moyo. The ZCTU believes that Masiyiwa learnt nothing and forgot nothing from his 1990s ordeal at the hands of Government and has continued to be selfish in pursuit of his own rights while trashing those of his employees. Mr Moyo said freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining were not inferior to the rights Mr Masiyiwa was clamouring for and those which were affirmed to him by the Supreme Court, leading to the establishment of Econet. While the ZCTU feels for Masiyiwa on the injustices that he is being subjected to, we also ask him to take a deep introspection of his conduct of union busting, threats and dismissal of workers who attempt to organise and defend their rights and take corrective measures before seeking empathy and preaching the gospel which he does not practice, said Mr Moyo. Government last week withdrew the licence issued to Dr Dish, a private player, after it failed to pay basic charges that come with the licence for three consecutive years. It emerged that Dr Dish had gone into a clandestine partnership with Mr Masiyiwas Econet Media-owned Kwese TV, which had not applied for the licence and Government critics twisted the debate to read as if the cancelled licence belonged to Kwese TV. chronicle Intra-Zanu PF tension is scaling new heights ahead of President Robert Mugabes rally in Gweru tomorrow, as the ruling partys warring factions leave no stone unturned in their bid to score major political points at the high-profile gathering, the Daily News can reveal. This comes amid widespread acceptance in the strife-torn ruling party that the Midlands, together with Masvingo Province, is the bedrock of Team Lacoste, the faction that is backing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his mooted bid to succeed Mugabe. Gweru is hosting the 93-year-old for his sixth instalment of the meticulously planned and keenly-followed youth interface rallies. The Midlands gathering comes at a time relations are severely strained in Zanu PF following the alleged poisoning of Mnangagwa at the nonagenarians Gwanda rally earlier this month. It also comes after Mugabe lashed at senior party officials in Masvingo and the Midlands last week, accusing them of sullying his name and that of Zanu PF by allegedly claiming that Zimbabwes long-time ruler was practising witchcraft on his lieutenants. Sources in Zanu PFs Midlands provincial executive admitted to the Daily News yesterday that tomorrows meeting had raised temperatures in the region, with the hosts accusing the rival Generation 40 (G40) faction of mobilising support to cause chaos and confusion at the rally which is likely to be massive. They also claimed that the G40 had mobilised thousands of supporters from Harare and other parts of the country for this nefarious purpose. We also know that they (the G40) are going to have a road show in Kwekwe, which they perceive to be a Mnangagwa territory. They also believe the Al Shabaab group (a Zanu PF-linked vigilante outfit) will try to stop them, which will allow them to blame whatever outcome will emerge on Mnangagwa. The intelligence we have gathered is that apart from looking to causing clashes, the G40 wants to plant rowdy people near the main-stage in Gweru to embarrass the president and then also blame Midlands province for being disrespectful, a regional executive member told the Daily News. In the meantime, the G40 was said to be sending WhatsApp messages to Zanu PF supporters to descend on Gweru and witness the burial of the Team Lacoste faction. On Friday 01-09-2017 kune (there will be) burial yeLacoste ku Midlands paMkoba open space. Munhu wese anokokwa (everyone is invited) to witness the funeral service. Please come in your numbers, one of the messages which were allegedly being circulated by the G40 on social media ahead of tomorrows rally said. Munyaradzi Shoko, said to be a member of the Children of War Veterans Association (Cozwa) and who has been fingered as one of the alleged kingpins in some recent terror campaigns against Zanu PF officials also stood accused yesterday of rallying G40 supporters to attend the Gweru rally. Believe it or not team, Lacoste is dead and the group has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that its a group of political daydreamers . . . after failing to remove Robert Mugabe several times just like the MDC and Tsvangirai. They once formed Mavambo and failed, they formed NDP and failed, lastly their popular Blue Ocean document has failed dismally, Shoko wrote on his Facebook wall. In July, Zanu PF supporters turned on Cozwa after an angry Mugabe had finished his address in Lupane where he disowned rogue youths who were terrorising ordinary citizens using his wifes name. Mugabe was left seething with anger when he was briefed on how Cozwa had used the name of Grace to extort money from poor Zimbabweans. What appeared to have particularly upset Mugabe was that the terror groups were moving in vehicles emblazoned with pictures of his smiling wife and telling off police officers that they were carrying out their anarchy on behalf of the first family and Zanu PF. Senior Zanu PF official Jeppy Jaboon, an alleged G40 kingpin who was recently relieved of his duties as Masvingo provincial political commissar, told the Daily News yesterday that they were mobilising members to attend tomorrow's rally. Masvingo is not an extension of Midlands. However, as a province we are going to Midlands to support our iconic leader Mugabe and the youth league, Jaboon, who insists that he is still the provinces political commissar, said. Zanu PF Midlands provincial spokesperson, Cornelius Mupereri, also told the Daily News yesterday they were not leaving anything to chance ahead of Mugabes rally, and that they had beefed up security for the gathering. Preparations for the rally are going on very well and let anyone who would wants to cause problems be warned that the law will take its course. As Midlands province, we are ready to receive the president and hear what he has to say. I repeat, if anyone tries to do otherwise, the law will take its course. We will make sure that such persons are punished. As Midlands, we have also told our people that no one will walk out . . . we are not looking forward to anyone veering off-course, Mupereri said. Tomorrows rally comes at a time there are worsening divisions in Zanu PF following the alleged poisoning of Mnangagwa in Gwanda, which prompted him to be airlifted to neighbouring South Africa for medical treatment. The government has said that Mnangagwa seen as the most likely party official to take over from Mugabe in the event that he leaves office consumed stale food. However, Mnangagwas family and allies insist that the vice president was allegedly poisoned by his rivals in the G40 camp. And Mugabe last Saturday expressed his exasperation with increasing claims of witchcraft in Zanu PF, which he blamed on both Masvingo and Midlands provinces. There was unity, not what we are seeing today. This is not the Masvingo we knew. We hear they even identify witches and wizards. We now hear that even the president is one. This is coming from Masvingo and Midlands. Ah, why now when we came all the way? We dont have wizards in Zanu PF, we only have people who lose party ideology. We were worried and are still worried by lack of ideological knowledge. You hear people, someone has fallen sick and they say aroiwa (that person has been bewitched), Mugabe said during the burials of Moudy Muzenda and George Rutanhire at the National Heroes Acre last week. University of Zimbabwe politics expert Eldred Masunungure said Mugabe was likely to opt for a middle-line approach in Gweru to avoid inflaming the already poisoned environment in the ruling party. He will not try to antagonise Mnangagwas allies . . . he is likely to tone down anti-Mnangagwa utterances, Masunungure said. Another political analyst Shakespear Hamauswa said Mugabes Gweru rally was not likely to change the current political dynamics in Zanu PF. The visit will not change the current dynamics . . . Midlands will remain the rallying point for Ngwenas (Mnangagwas) presidential bid. That can only change if a successor is selected, he said. Zanu PF has for the past two decades been deeply divided over Mugabes succession. Many observers, as well as Zanu PF insiders, have consistently said Mugabes failure to groom and name a successor is fuelling the ugly fights in the ruling party. But Mugabe has so far refused to name his successor, arguing that the Zanu PF constitution does not allow him as it leaves that role to the party to decide who succeeds him, via a congress. His other longtime aide and current Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi, has recently emerged as one of the serious contenders to succeed him. daily news ZAMBIAN truck driver has appeared in court for allegedly attempting to smuggle a suspected prostitute into the neighbouring country. Bwalya Chisanga (35) allegedly hid Nomatter Nyoni (22) of 3036 Chinotimba, Victoria Falls, in his haulage truck. Immigration officers discovered Nyoni, who had no travellers documents at the Victoria Falls Border Post after a search. The duo appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje yesterday. Nyoni is charged with failing to report to an immigration officer upon exiting Zimbabwe and Chisanga is being charged with assisting another person to depart Zimbabwe illegally. Chisanga is due for continuation of trial tomorrow while Nyoni was remanded in custody to Wednesday next week. Chisanga denied the charges levelled against him saying he did not intend to take Nyoni to Zambia but wanted to cross the border to withdraw money and pay her for her services. I didnt intend to take this lady to Zambia, I didnt have enough cash on me so I only wanted to cross the border to withdraw some money so that I could pay her, said Chisanga. Nyoni told the court that she was only waiting for money she had been promised by Chisanga. Chisanga was going to leave me in his truck at the border post and go to Zambia to get the money, said Nyoni. Prosecuting Mr Takunda Ndovorwi said the incident happened on Monday. On Monday, an immigration officer got an anonymous tip informing her that there was a Zimbabwean woman hiding in a Zambian truck. The officer informed Chisanga that she was going to search his truck and he told her that the woman in his truck was his wife. More than a week after a major net failure at a salmon farm near Seattle, it's still unclear how many fish escaped and what the damage to the surrounding ecosystem could be. The Cook Aquaculture fish farm was damaged on Aug. 19, and the extensive grid of nets holding 305,0000 Atlantic salmon collapsed the following day, reports Scientific American. The company released a statement blaming "exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with [the Aug. 21] solar eclipse," but scientists are raising eyebrows. "The thing about tides is that theyre just marvelously predictable," one tidal energy expert says. Another tells Inverse that this tide was at the 45th percentile for 2017, suggesting much bigger ones to come. Whatever is at fault, commercial fishers like Ellie Kinley, a member of the coastal tribe Lummi Nation, worry that the 10-pound farmed fish threaten the smaller native Pacific salmon already losing habitat to hydropower. "The timing couldnt be worse because our baby chinooks are coming out of the river," she says. Farmed fish can also spread parasites and diseases. The true extent of the damage done by however many fish managed to escape won't likely be seen for several years, when today's young population matures. For now, Washington, which has the most net-pen salmon farms in the country, is rethinking fish farms, per the Spokesman-Review. (Data suggests that neither the tide nor the water current or wind speeds were unusually high when the nets malfunctioned.) In the final moments of Oceane's life, these were some of the messages she received from humanity: "Show us your tits." "Retard." "Will you marry me?" "Kill yourself." At 4:29pm on May 10, 2016, the French 18-year-old threw herself under a passing train, live-streaming her death on Periscope. In doing so, she became the first person to broadcast their suicide live on social media, the Guardian reports in a thought-provoking piece by novelist Rana Dasgupta. Dasgupta addresses Oceane's suicide in terms of modern celebrity ("For, as all true celebrities discover, the media image feeds parasitically on human energy, starving them and removing them, slowly, from the realm of the living") and terrorism ("Oceanes death was also intended as a kind of detonation, which would 'take out' others apart from herself"). But first Dasgupta addresses Oceane herself. She lived in a bleak Parisian suburb where unemployment and youthful malaise are rampant. "People are very very very very stupid around here," she said of her home. She didn't like her father and professed to hate social media (despite having multiple Twitter accounts). She dedicated herself professionally to helping others but admitted, after alleged abuse by an ex, "Ive got to the stage where nothing can make me happy anymore." Dasgupta found that "in so many respects, Oceane seemed entirely normal, and I sensed that her online exploit, too, would become more customary over time." Tragically, the years following her death have borne that out. Read the full story here. (Read more suicide stories.) A California sheriff's deputy has died after being shot at a hotel that was surrounded by police Wednesday in Sacramento, the AP reports. Authorities say three police officers and one suspect were shot during a vehicle theft investigation. Authorities say a male suspect had exited a hotel room and fired at a deputy on the hotel balcony. The male suspect was also hit with gunfire and is in custody. Two women have also been arrested. The incident began when the women led California Highway Patrol officers on a vehicle chase in what was believed to be a stolen car. The investigation then led officers to the hotel. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones says 52-year-old deputy Robert French died on his way to a hospital. French served in the Sheriff's Department for 21 years. Jones says two California Highway Patrol officers who also were shot during the vehicle theft investigation are expected to survive. The scene remains active, with police checking rooms for other possible suspects. (Read more police shooting stories.) Robert Mueller might already be considering the possibility that President Trump would pardon his former campaign chairman should Mueller's investigation uncover any wrongdoing. Citing several sources, Politico reports that the special counsel has teamed up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate Paul Manafort's financial transactions, including possible money laundering related to real estate deals in New Yorka move that could pressure Manafort to cooperate in the larger probe into Trump's election campaign "as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes." The Washington Post separately confirmed the report. Though sources say there's no decision yet on whether to file charges, prosecutors reportedly believe Manafort's cooperation could rely on his chance at a presidential pardon. Indeed, they may be building a case against him "in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump's inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure," the Post previously reported. In related news, a source tells the AP that Rinat Akhmetshin, the Russian-American lobbyist and former Soviet military officer who attended the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, recently testified in front of Mueller's grand jury, showing Mueller's interest in the meeting. (Read more Paul Manafort stories.) "We are just shocked." That's the reaction of the Oregon Humane Society to a Wednesday ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals that will require a Rogue River couple to have their six dogs' vocal cords cut. The court case was one between neighbors of nearly 20 years, reports the Oregonian: Debra and Dale Krein said the barking from Karen Szewc and John Updegraff's Tibetan and Pyrenean Mastiffs began in 2002at 5am each day, and didn't stop. The suit was filed 10 years later, with the Kreins alleging an auditory hell so bad their kids didn't want to come home from school. Szewc and Updegraff reportedly did attempt to rectify the situation with methods including shock collars, to no avail. A jury ruled in the Kreins' favor in 2015; Szewc and Updegraff were ordered to pay the couple $238,000 and have their dogs undergo devocalization. The Appeals Court upheld that ruling. Szewc and Updegraff had argued that the dogs were what kept their livestocksheep, goats, and chickens on 3.4 acressafe from predators. The Washington Post reports that as such, they argued the county's public nuisance code didn't apply as they were subject instead to farming ordinances. But the AP in 2015 reported on the original ruling, which found Tibetan mastiffs aren't a breed designed to guard livestock. It also cited the 2006 decision of a local hearings officer (related to a citation over the barking) who found the farm use defense was unavailable to the couple due to the small size and profits of their farming endeavors. They have not decided whether to appeal the latest decision. The Oregonian notes the surgery still allows dogs to make a very quiet bark or squeak; critics call it a "cruel and unnecessary" procedure. (Read about another case of discord between neighbors.) The US and UK blanketed Germany with at least 1.3 million tons of bombs during World War II, and as much as 10% of that never exploded, with the Smithsonian reporting in 2016 that more than 2,000 tons of unexploded munitions are found in the country annually. That would make the discovery of an unexploded bomb in Frankfurt relatively unsurprisingif not for its sheer size. The 2-ton bomb is an HC 4000 and has the ability to impact buildings more than half a mile away, hence its nickname, per the Local: "Wohnblockknacker," or "blockbuster." Its discovery has spurred what Deutsche Welle reports is the biggest evacuation since the end of WWII: Some 70,000 people, or roughly 10% of the city's population, will need to leave their Frankfurt homes on Sunday. "Due to the large size of the bomb, extensive evacuation measures must be taken," the Local quotes police as saying. The bomb was uncovered Tuesday during construction work on Wismarer Strasse, which is near the city center, reports the AFP; the German Federal Bank and two hospitals fall within the evacuation area. The previous largest evacuation occurred last Christmas Day in Augsburg, when more than 54,000 had to evacuate. The Smithsonian describes German bomb-disposal squads as "among the busiest in the world," and notes it can be a deadly occupation: 11 bomb technicians lost their lives between 2000 and 2016. (This prison was evacuated this summer after a 500-pound bomb was found.) A new open-carry law goes into effect in Texas on Fridaybut it has nothing to do with firearms. The San Angelo Standard-Times reports on the throwing knives, spears, daggers, swords, and other blades longer than 5.5 inches that will now be permitted in many places, thanks to a new law that changes their status from "illegal" to "location-restricted." Those restrictions are quite ample: They're barred in schools and universities, hospitals, places of worship, amusement parks, polling places, and establishments that earn more than 51% of their income from on-site alcohol consumption, among others. Minors also won't be allowed to sport their blades unless a guardian is supervising them. Law flouters can be hit with a felony charge that could bring up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 maximum fine. There was some opposition to the law introduced by GOP state Rep. John Frullo, especially after a University of Texas student was killed and several injured in a hunting knife attack in the spring. One group that won't be welcoming unsheathed blades to an event that normally allows them in some fashion: the organizers of the Texas Renaissance Festival, which starts next month, per Houston Public Media. "As a privately held business, according to state law, we can determine whether or not we allow weapons, whether concealed or openly carried," says a fest official, adding weapons used as costume accessories have historically been permitted only if they're "peace tied," that is, secured in a way that prevents them from being brandished. (Read more Texas stories.) The family of a former Eagle Scout is mourning his Tuesday death in Houston and warning others of an often-unseen danger in the floodwaters spurred by Harvey. Andrew Pasek, said to be in his mid-20s, was electrocuted in the Bear Creek subdivision after he and a friend braved water-filled streets to check on his sister's home and get to her cat, reports KPRC. His sister, Alyssa, says the two were pushing through knee-deep water when Pasek got too close to an electrical wire "that was still running hot." KTRK reports that wire was from a landscape lighting fixture, and that Pasek gripped the lamppost as he realized what was happening. "He told [his friend], 'I'm dying. Go away. Don't help me,'" Pasek's mother, Jodell, tells KPRC. "He didn't want him to get electrocuted, too." She notes, per WFAA, that nobody could safely get near her son to try to resuscitate him and that he was left in the water for about an hour, until officials could shut off the electricity to the subdivision. What makes Pasek's death doubly tragic for his family: His older brother died in a 1993 car crash. "I'm pulling my strength from the fact I've been through it once and I can get through it," his mom tells KPRC. She also says she wants to get the word out to others in the area to be extra-careful of the deadly mixture of electricity and water. "He cannot die in vain," she says. A GoFundMe campaign set up to help his family pay for his funeral expenses has raised nearly $40,000 in its first day. (Read more Hurricane Harvey stories.) A police lieutenant in Georgia has been moved to administrative duty after being heard on video during a traffic stop saying "we only shoot black people." News outlets report dash-cam video from July 2016 shows a white female driver telling Cobb County police Lt. Greg Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her cellphone, reports the AP. Abbott interrupts her and says, "But you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that he continued, "Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos youve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?" Channel 2 Action News reports that after it submitted an open-records request to obtain the video (see it here), Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register took a look at the footage, which was taken during a DUI stop. Abbott will remain on administrative duty pending an investigation, says Register, adding that "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said." Abbott's attorney, Lance LoRusso, said in a statement Abbott is cooperating with the investigation, and that his comments were meant to "de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger." LoRusso says Abbott has been on the force for 28 years. (Read more police officer stories.) Back in 2012, divers in Mexico discovered a human skeleton submerged in a cave on the Yucatan Peninsula and posted photos to social media, drawing the attention of scientists. "I immediately knew that we had something special," paleontologist Wolfgang Stinnesbeck tells Inverse. But by the time researchers arrived at the cave known as Chan Hol, thieves had already absconded with the skeleton, leaving behind only fragments and a pelvic bone partially embedded in a stalagmite, Nature reports. "What would you want with a skeleton? Would you take it home?" Stinnesbeck wonders. Now it appears the boosted bones comprise one of the oldest skeletons ever found in the Americas. A study published Wednesday in PLOS ONE states the remains are likely more than 13,000 years old. It turns out the stalagmite representedin the words of Stinnesbeck, who eventually dated the bonesa "perfect opportunity." Not only did it prevent the thieves from taking the pelvic bone, it allowed scientists to date the skeleton in a roundabout way. Earlier attempts to date the bones were all over the place because years of being underwater had stolen the collagen typically used to do so, Cosmos reports. Instead, researchers were able to accurately date the stalagmite growing around the bone. They say the results show the skeletonwhich likely belonged to a young man who died back when the cave was above wateris at least 11,300 years old but likely more than 13,000 years old. (A student discovered a 14,000-year-old village in Canada.) Some 218,000 Houston schoolkids won't have to worry about where breakfast, lunch, or dinner is coming from for the remainder of the school year. The Houston Independent School District on Wednesday announced that it got the green light from the USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture to essentially allow all students to participate in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs. "This decision means all HISD students will eat all school meals for free during the 2017-2018 school year," it explains. The federal waiver on the customary application process is in effect immediately, meaning students can get three free meals per day when school resumes. In other heartwarming Houston-related news: The Chronicle reports bedding is one of the most-needed shelter items, and MyPillow is stepping up, having sent 60,000 pillows to the city's shelters. Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt wasted no time in setting up the Houston Flood Relief Fund for Hurricane Harvey victims, with an initial $200,000 goal. It has now brought in more than $11 million, thanks to a recent $1 million donation from Walmart and $500,000 from Miley Cyrus, as revealed during a taping of Ellen on Wednesday, reports TMZ. Drake announced a $200,000 donation to the fund today, reports the Fader. Pitchfork reports Beyonce's BeyGOOD Foundation has teamed up with Bread of Life and the Greater Houston Community Foundation to help raise funds for short- and long-term needs. CNNMoney reported that as of Wednesday afternoon, $72 million had been pledged by companies, with 42 of them giving at least $1 million. You can view the list here. The New York Times lists ways to donate, and how to steer clear of scams. (Read more Hurricane Harvey stories.) "This is not actually science," anesthesiologist Joel Zivot tells the Marshall Project. "Its not actually medicine. It is a grotesque impersonation of those things." Nevada officials announced in August the state will be carrying out an executionits first in more than a decadewith a combination of drugs experts say has never been tried before, Vice reports. While Nevada hasn't released many details on its planned execution of convicted murderer Scott Dozier, it has said it will use fentanyl, diazepam, and cisatracurium. According to the AP, Nevada, like other states, is having a hard time getting tried-and-true execution drugs. But it already has supplies of the three drugs listed above. Medical experts and anti-death penalty activists are questioning Nevada's choice of drugs. Using both fentanylcurrently at the center of America's opioid crisisand diazepambetter known as Valiumwould appear to be redundant, a professor of emergency medicine says. And cisatracuriuma paralytic that has been known to cause a suffocating sensationcould "mask any signs of pain and suffering" should something go wrong, adds a attorney fighting the death penalty. In fact, the American College of Veterinarians forbids the use of paralytics like cisatracurium when animals are euthanized. Nevada is likely to face a legal challenge ahead of Dozier's scheduled Nov. 13 execution. For his part, Dozier says he would prefer a firing squad but isn't concerned about having "a real miserable experience." (Read more execution drugs stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Accused Brazilian bus ejaculator released; Judge deems act a misdemeanour'The victim was seated when she was surprised by the ejaculation'THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFirst posted: Friday, September 01, 2017 08:04 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 01, 2017 08:19 PM EDTSAO PAULO The decision by a Brazilian judge to free a man who was arrested after allegedly ejaculating on a woman on a public bus is causing anger in a country where gender violence is prevalent.The incident occurred Tuesday as the bus was going down Avenida Paulista, one of the busiest avenues in Sao Paulo. Passengers grabbed the perpetrator and turned him over to police.But less than 24 hours later, judge Jose Eugenio do Amaral Souza Neto ruled the man had committed a misdemeanour, not a rape, and ordered his release.The incident did not involve constraints, violence or threats, Souza Neto said in justifying his decision. The victim was seated when she was surprised by the ejaculation.According to the UOL news portal, police records show that Diego Ferreira de Novaes has been detained 16 times since 2009 for committing similar crimes, including five times just this year.Retired prosecutor Luiza Nagib Eluf told reporters the judges decision makes a mockery of justice.She said the ruling was unacceptable because it ignored the fact that Brazils penal code defines rape as a heinous crime.The Sao Paulo Association of Judges said in a statement Friday that the criticisms were cowardly attacks against the judge for accepting the recommendation of prosecutors to release de Novaes.The Sao Paulo-based Right to Defence Institute also came to the judges defence saying in a statement: The judiciary cannot be held hostage to a punitive wave that casts doubt on judges whenever they rule in the defendants favour. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Variable clouds with snow showers. High near 25F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%.. Tonight Cloudy with snow showers becoming a steady accumulating snow later on. Low around 20F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches. This Absolutely Ginormous Asteroid Is Passing Close by Earth on September 1st. On 1 September, a mammoth 4.4 kilometre (2.7 mile) chunk of rock will pass within an astronomical whisker of our planet the largest near-Earth object to come this close since NASA set up its Near Earth Observations program in 1998.Don't bother unlocking the old bomb shelter, though. At 18 times the distance between Earth and the Moon this asteroid poses no threat our own delicate space rock, but it will still be a great opportunity for astronomers to study this orbiting space mountain up close.We have Schelte "Bobby" Bus at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia to thank for noticing this space boulder back in 1981, and for naming it after the famous 19th century nurse, Florence Nightingale.In spite of her size, we have nothing to fear from the lovely Florence.The asteroid isn't expected to come any closer than 7 million kilometres (4.4 million miles). She hasn't been this close since 1890, and we shouldn't expect another brush until 2500. To get a sense of scale, check out the image below.Earlier this year a rock with the less glamorous name 2017 AG13 really did give us a close shave, coming within just half of the distance between Earth and the Moon.It was a measly 15 to 34 metres (50 and 111 feet) in size, though, putting it into the same ballpark as the 20-odd metre asteroid that caused a stir in 2013 by exploding over Chelyabinsk in Russia.A similar sized one named 2012 TC4 will come even closer in October, at nearly 50,000 kilometres (about 31,000 miles) overhead of about 13 percent of the distance between here and the Moon.Much larger than those two and the energy released starts to rival nuclear bombs.Of all the asteroids to come so far into our neighbourhood, however, Florence is the largest."While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1, all of those were estimated to be smaller," says Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies."Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began."If by some stroke of abysmally poor luck the asteroid did slam into our planet, it would almost certainly be a climate changing event capable of wiping out an area the size of a small state.While it's not viewed as a threat, it will be seen as an opportunity to use radar imaging technology such as the one at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to study the asteroid's surface, which could reveal details as small as just 10 metres (30 feet) in size.Knowing more about Florence's shape, size, and composition could reveal more information about her orbital path, or provide important information on its structure that can help us fine-tune future strategies in avoiding catastrophic strikes.There are currently 1,825 potentially hazardous near-Earth objects being tracked by NASA.These are chunks of space rock that have a minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.05 astronomical units, or about 7.5 million kilometres (4.6 million miles) and are bigger than 140 metres (about 500 feet) in size, making Florence one of a select crowd.While we can thank NASA for looking out for new additions to this list and keeping track of their movements, we still don't have the faintest idea what we'd do if an asteroid like this one was on a collision course.The White House does have a plan of sorts on how to prepare for such events, there is no technology right now that could feasibly prevent an object the size of Florence from making contact with our planet.Until somebody comes up with a genius idea, we'd best keep our eyes on the sky and learn as much as we can about the rocks that occupy our corner of the Solar System. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. New Delhi: Technology giants Google and Facebook are extending their helping hands to victims of India, Nepal and Bangladesh floods and Hurricane Harvey. As per reports, both Google and Facebook have pledged $ 1 million each to the victims of natural calamities. While Google has committed $ 1 million to NGOs Goonj and Save the Children who are actively working towards welfare of flood victims in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, Facebook has also offered $ 1 million to the victims affected by Hurricane Harvey. NGO Save the Children is actively working in India, Nepal and Bangladesh to help 1,60,000 affected people. Goonj aims to help 75,000 families in nine affected states in India. Both the NGOs are offering help to affected people by providing food and livelihood support, temporary shelter materials, hygiene products and water source restoration. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The body of a renowned Mumbai-based doctor, who went missing in the floods in the city on August 29 has been found in a drain near the seashore at Worli, reports said. Deepak Amarapurkar worked as a senior gastroenterologist at Bombay Hospital and was well known in the city. He was last seen exiting his car near his Elphinstone Road home on Tuesday evening. After getting off the car, Amarapurkar started walking in waist-high water. According to eyewitnesses, Amrapurkar fell into a manhole. The police have recovered his umbrella from near it, Sunil Deshmukh, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Dadar, told PTI. Dr Amarapurkar's colleagues have said that he left for home after lunch at the hospital cafeteria even though he was urged to stay back until it was safer to go out. While he was missing, many messages were circulated on WhatsApp on the doctor, who was prominent in medical conferences and research papers. The police urged people not to spread false messages about his death. The Mumbai chapter of the Indian Medical Association has criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation over Amrapurkars death, reported ANI. The association, in a letter to the corporations commissioner has also sought an inquiry into the incident. The manhole ends at Worli and opens into the sea, where Amarapurkars body was found on Thursday morning. The manhole had been searched by firemen and civic workers for hours with no success. Also read | Mumbai rains: 3 killed including 2 minors in house collapse, landslide incidents, next 48 hours crucial for mega-city New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked thespian superstar Dilip Kumar to deposit Rs 20 crore with its registry as part payment to a Mumbai-based real estate firm with whom the agreement to develop his prime Pali Hill property ran into rough weather a decade ago. The actor had entered into the agreement with Prajita Developers Pvt Ltd for developing his property, measuring 2412 square yards. The dispute arose later as no construction was raised and the veteran actor wanted back the plot whose possession was with the firm. A bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar asked the Bollywood actor to deposit the amount in the form of demand draft within four weeks and inform the firm. "Upon the receipt of such intimation, Prajita shall withdraw all the security personnel deployed by it and handover possession of the property in question within a period of seven days from the date of the receipt of the above-mentioned intimation to the appellant in the presence of Commissioner of Police, Mumbai or any other senior police officer subordinate to the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai to be nominated by the Commissioner of Police. Read more: SRK visits Legendary actor Dilip Kumar at his home (See pics) "The Commissioner of Police or his nominee shall draw a Panchnama of the fact of the handing over of the property by Prajita to the appellant and file the same in the Registry of this Court within a week from the date of the handing over of the possession. "Upon the filing of the Panchnama, Prajita shall be at liberty to withdraw the amount of Rs 20 crore deposited by the appellant pursuant to this order", the bench, also comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer, said. To deal with further claim of the firm that the actor owed it more, the top court appointed former SC judge Justice P Venkatarama Reddy as the arbitrator to decide whether Prajita was entitled for more as damages apart from Rs 20 crore. "The background of the facts and circumstances of the case whether Prajita would be entitled for any damages apart from receiving the above-mentioned amount of Rs 20 crore from the appellant is a matter which requires some examination. We therefore, deem it appropriate to refer the said question for resolution by arbitration between the appellant and Prajita", the bench said. In March 2016, the apex court had granted relief to Dilip Kumar by rejecting a plea to restrain him from creating third party rights over the Pali hill property till the arbitration of the dispute with a private developer. The apex court had, however, said that there was an impending arbitration and the arbitrators will proceed to decide the dispute as and when the arbitration proceedings take place, uninfluenced by any observation. According to the original agreement, the owner as well as the developers had to share 50 per cent each of the residential flats to be built on the land. The Prajita developers had thus obtained the leasehold rights in the property together with the bungalow standing there on by virtue of lease of September 25, 1953. But the developers had failed to raise any construction. The Bombay High Court had last year rejected the plea of the realty firm. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Five Haryana police personnel who were posted in Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs security and charged with sedition were dismissed from service on Thursday, said police officials. Charges of sedition and attempt to murder were slapped against them for trying to free Gurmeet Singh after the Panchkula CBI court on August 25 convicted him in two different rape cases. Apart from the policemen, two other people were also booked on similar charges. They were produced before a court on Wednesday which sent them to seven days police remand. As much as 36 people died in the violence by Dera supporters after a CBI court convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 15 year-old-rape case of rape. Also Read | Dera chief Gurmeet Singh gets 20 years in jail, Rs 30 lakh fine for raping two women The self-styled godman was sentenced to 10-10 years of imprisonment in rape cases of two women. Both the sentences will run consecutively. Apart from 20 years jail, the Dera chief was also slapped with a fine of Rs. 30 lakh. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pittsburgh focus group tanks Trump Outrageous, disastrous, abject disappointment, unique, off the scale, contemptible, crazy: Donald Trump seems to have lost Pittsburgh, at least based on a focus group held in the city Tuesday night.The group, a mix of people who voted for Trump or Hillary Clinton (plus one Jill Stein voter), came down hard on the president and Vice President Mike Pence during the session, sponsored by Emory University. Three people called Pence a puppet, and several used variations of waiting in the wings, though he was also called quiet and reasonable.To a lesser degree, the voters also complained about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Asked to grade Congress, participants gave a collection of Cs, Ds and Fs, with most complaining that nothing is getting done.Not many knew much about special counsel Robert Mueller, whos leading the Russia investigation, but several singled out Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, as a problem due to his inexperience.Trump won Pennsylvania last year by 44,000 votes, the first Republican to carry the state since 1988. He cited his support in Steel City earlier this year at the White House, explaining his decision to pull out of the international climate accord by saying, "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."Emory is sponsoring a series of focus groups focused on issues, including immigration. New Delhi: The infamous online game, 'Blue Whale Challenge' claims yet another life, as a 19-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging himself in Madurai on Wednesday. Vignesh was a second year BCom student at Mannar College and was found hanging by his father around 4:15 pm. According to the reports, a picture of blue whale was drawn on his arm and a suicide note has also been recovered. "Blue Whale is not a game but danger and once entered you can never exit", the note read. The destructive game has claimed a lot many young lives throughout the country. While a class 10 student from West Bengal's Midnapore district allegedly committed suicide by suffocating himself a couple of days back, a 14-year-old Mumbai boy jumped off the terrace of his home on August 1 in a bid to complete the task, as reported. Read more: Delhi HC sends notice to Google, Yahoo, Whatsapp over suicide game The Central government has banned the Blue Whale game. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered internet platforms, including Google India, Facebook, WhatsApp, Yahoo India, Instagram and Microsoft India, to identify and immediately remove links in connection with the Blue Whale Challenge. The online game, which originated in Russia, starts by asking participants via social media to take self-harming tasks. It includes a list of 50 tasks that ends with a claim to player's life. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Raipur: As many as 13 naxals, mostly lower rung cadres, were on Thursday arrested from two places in Chhattisgarhs insurgency-hit Sukma district, police said. While seven ultras were arrested from Bhejji police station area, six others from Kukanar police station limits, a senior police official told PTI. Separate joint teams of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and District Force were involved in these action, he added. One of the patrolling teams was out on an anti-Maoist operation in Bhejji area, when it rounded up seven cadres, belonging to Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisaan Mazdoor Sangthan (DAKMS)-- a frontal outfit of maoists, between Kottacheru and Bankupara villages, he said. They were allegedly involved in triggering improvised bomb blast coupled with firing in a bid to harm security forces near Regadgatta rivulet in Bhejji area on August 27, he said. Couple of detonators, electric wire, camera flash, battery, bows and arrows was also recovered from them, he added. The six other lower rung cadres who were arrested from Kukanar, were allegedly involved in firing on a police party near Jongeras village (Sukma) in June last year, he added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is in Pakistan and that country is creating hurdles in getting him back to India to face the law, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Wednesday. Mehrishi said the government is taking all required action so that Ibrahim could be brought back to India. Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law, he told PTI. Mehrishi will demit office on August 31. The home secretary said the attitude of Pakistan was not in conformity with international law and it is working against India in Ibrahims case. Whatever action is required, we are taking. We will get him. The process is on. But the attitude of the Pakistan government is not in conformity with the international law. Pakistan is working against India. The legal process is on. We will get him at an opportune time, he said. Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present. In April, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated there was no doubt that Ibrahim was still in Pakistan. During the last 10 years, India has sent several dossiers to Pakistan in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. In 2011, P Chidambaram, the then home minister in the UPA government, had also said that Ibrahim was based in Karachi. He had said that India would continue to push its case to bring to justice the people who had planned terror attacks in the country. India has for long been advocating an extradition treaty between SAARC countries in order to ensure quick action against those involved in terrorist activities. Both India and Pakistan are members of SAARC. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The suspended principal of Gorakhpurs BRD medical College RK Mishra and his wife Poornima Shukla on Thursday produced before Anti-Corruption court where it sent them to 14 days judicial custody. On Tuesday, the U.P. Special Task Force had arrested the former principal and his wife in connection with the deaths of 60 children at the hospital. These were the first arrests in the case that had shaken the country. "Dr. Rajiv Mishra and his wife, Dr. Purnima Shukla, who are named in an FIR lodged by the UP government, were arrested from Kanpur. They are being taken to Gorakphur," IG, Public Grievances, Vijay Singh Meena had said. Mishra was suspended as principal of BRD Medical College on August 12 after the deaths, which occurred over a span of five days, were reported. He had resigned the same day. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday convened a astrategy sessiona with senior ministers, including Arun Jaitley, for upcoming Gujarat assembly elections where the party is eyeing to clinch 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, P P Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Niramala Sitharaman attended the meet. Jaitley is in charge of the Gujarat polls while the other ministers are co-in charge of the polls. BJPas general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shahas residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP wants to achieve 150 seats and certain power. BJP election incharge for #Gujarat Arun Jaitley & co-incharges met party president Amit Shah at his Delhi residence. pic.twitter.com/QK1txTgrgr a ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 While talking to reporters after the meeting, Bhupinder Yadav said, aWe discussed issues and strategy for Gujarat elections. No other topic was discussed.a The assembly polls are due in Gujarat later this year. Discussed issues and strategy for #Gujarat elections. No other topics discussed: BJP Gujarat in-charge Bhupendra Yadav after the meeting. pic.twitter.com/t72nfxHtF5 a ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: As many as eight boats and around 40 fishermen have been rescued and brought to safety in a search and rescue operations by Indian Coast Guard after they were stuck in the turbulent sea off Gujarat coast on Wednesday.A Four ICG ships and ALH helicopters were on the job, locating and rescuing boats and fishermen, after receiving distress calls from the fishermen in the morning.A The inclement prevailing weather and turbulent sea state has lead to several fishing boats going aground and capsizing necessitating immediate rescue.A The search is still on for the rest of the fishermen, who are reported missing. 8 fishing boats and around 40 fishermen rescued by ICG off Gujarat coast, brought to safety with search and rescue mission still going on. pic.twitter.com/MlTpXBi4IA a ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hinted at cabinet reshuffle, saying that he is not going to hold dual charge of finance and defence for very long. It is said that a reshuffle would take place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modias China visit for BRICS Summit. When the anchor asked him about his dual responsibilities during India Summit of The Economist magazine, Jaitley said, "At least, I hope, not very long." Jaitley is among the ministers holding dual charge and it is said that the reshuffle may involve lessening the burdens of such ministers.A At least I hope not very long: Union Minister Arun Jaitley on how long will he continue as Defense Minister pic.twitter.com/weicLAmTwl a ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Thursday submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of cabinet reshuffle, sources said. As per reports, JD(U) is likely to be included in the cabinet. According to sources, Uma Bharti, Kalraj Mishra, Radha Mohan Singh and Sanjeev Balyan also submitted their resignations from cabinet posts after a meeting with Amit Shah at his residence earlier in the day. More details and confirmations awaited. Sources say that Rudy has expressed wishes to work for party organisation, while Uma Bharti cited health reasons for her resignation. Reasons for resignations by Mishra, Radha Mohan and Sanjeev Balyan are still unknown. LIVE Updates: #12:03 AM: JDU's RP Singh, Om Mathur, Satyapal Singh may get spots on Modi cabinet #11:21 PM: Cabinet reshuffle may take place on Friday instead of Saturday as planned: Sources #11:14 PM: AIADMK leader and deputy Lok Sabha Speaker Munisamy Thambidurai met with Amit Shah today, may get a cabinet birth #11:10 PM: Faggan Singh Kulaste also offered to resign, Rakesh Singh may get Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare #11:10 PM: Nirmala Sitharaman offers to reisgn as well. She is Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, as well as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Ministry of Finance #11:07 PM: Reshuffle will also make space for JDU, which has recently returned to NDA and most likley for AIADMK, whoch ois rumoured to make comeback in the rulinga alliance after the recent merger #11:00 PM: Rail Miniter Suresh Prabhu is also expected to be tranferred to another portfolio, Nitin Gadkari may get Rail Ministry #10:39 PM: Giriraj Singh and Kalraj Mishra have denied resigning #10:38 PM: Mahendar Nath Pandey may also resign, he was appointed as BJP UP president today PM Modi is due to reshuffle his cabinet on September 2 to fill the vacant posts of Minister of Information and Broadcast, Minister of Defence, Minister of Environment and Minister of Urban Development along with replacing ministers who could not fulfill goals set by PM for three years of BJP rule at the Centre. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Even if it is unclear as of now when exactly the cabinet reshuffle will take place, factors like shradh and pitru paksha might heavily influence the final date as both are considered to be inauspicious and this 15-lunar day period would last between September 6 to 19. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday also hinted at the same, saying that he is not going to hold dual charge of finance and defence for very long. It is said that a reshuffle would take place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis China visit for BRICS Summit. Modi will be in China between September 3 and 5 following which he will visit Myanmar before returning to India. Read more: AIADMK likely to join NDA, get berths in Modi cabinet soon For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A local district court will pronounce its verdict on Thursday in connection with Gaya road rage case in which former JD (U) leader Manorma Devias son Rocky Yadav was involved. The Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ), Sachchidanand Singh, is scheduled to deliver the judgement. The parents of Aditya Scahdeva, who was allegedly killed by Bihar former JD (U) leader's son Rocky Yadav during a road rage in Gaya, have hoped that they will get justice in the case. While talking to ANI before judgment on accused Rocky Yadav, K C Sachdeva, father of Aditya Sachdeva, said that they have hope with the honourable court. Adityaas mother also hopeful that she will get justice in the case. On March 6, the Supreme Court had denied to vacate its order of cancelling the bail of Rocky Yadav in the case.A Have our hopes with the honourable court: KC Sachdeva (father of Aditya Sachdeva) before judgment on accused Rocky Yadav #BiharRoadRage case pic.twitter.com/OomwNanXtl a ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 In last year October, the Supreme Court had stayed the bail granted to Rocky Yadav by Patna high court who allegedly shot dead Aditya for overtaking his SUV. Rocky, son of former Janata Dal (United) leader Manorama Devi and alleged history sheeter Bindi Yadav, is accused of shooting and killing Aditya Sachdeva, a Class XII student who was driving his Maruti car, for overtaking his SUV on May 7 near Gaya. We hope we will get justice: Mother of Aditya Sachdeva before judgment on Rocky Yadav (accused in Aditya Sachdeva road rage case) #Gaya pic.twitter.com/CmXseauZfX a ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 A day after Rocky came out of jail, Principal Additional Advocate General Lalit Kishore had said the state government would file an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the bail granted to the accused by the High Court. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The President Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday held extensive talks with the President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard in Delhi. The Prime Minister discussed the entire spectrum of their bilateral relationship, including ways to boost trade and investment ties with Leuthard, officials said. PM Modi also discussed various regional and global issues of mutual interest with Doris. Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the President of the Swiss Confederation and discussed various bilateral issues. aFirst engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest,a External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Deepening business ties between #IndiaSwitzerland. PM @narendramodi & President Leuthard at engagement w/ biz leaders of both countries pic.twitter.com/BqFJ45dtE7 a Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 31, 2017 First engagement for an honoured guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on President Leuthard and discussed wide-ranging issues of mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/A01BIIE1oV a Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 31, 2017 Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit to India, was also given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Swiss president is accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. It was only the fourth visit to India by a Swiss president. Earlier in 1998, 2003 and 2007 Swiss presidents visited India. Notably, PM Modi visited Switzerland in June last year. During the visit, the country announced its support to Indiaas membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The two countries had also resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and black money. A friendship based on shared values of democracy. President Doris Leuthard receives ceremonial honours at @rashtrapatibhvn pic.twitter.com/LKRZfiBbS9 a Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 31, 2017 (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A delegation of opposition parties on Thursday met President Ram Nath Kovind and demanded to convene Tamil Nadu state assembly immediately. While talking to media after meeting President Kovind, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said they have demanded that the Tamil Nadu Governor must convene state assembly for an immediate floor test. He said,"let the assembly to decide that which party is in majority." Congress leader Anand Sharma said that they have conveyed in writing that 21 MLAs gave letters of withdrawal of support from Tamil Nadu government. The step has been taken after the political crisis erupted in Tamil Nadu where 21 AIADMK legislators, who are loyal to VK Sasikala, withdrew their support from the government post-merger of Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam camps. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his two deputies, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, will contest Legislative Council by-elections, the BJP announced on Wednesday. A BJP statement said its central election committee had also picked Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza, both ministers in the state government, as party candidates for the elections. With UP MLAs voting in the by-elections, the win of all BJP nominees is virtually certain given the partys huge majority in the assembly. A number of MLCs from opposition parties in the state, who resigned recently, also spoke in favour of the Yogi government. Political watchers believe they did so to facilitate the entry of the chief minister and his colleagues to the Council. Aditynath and his colleagues have to be elected to one of the houses, Assembly or Council, to continue in their posts. Aditynath and Maurya are Lok Sabha members and are likely to resign once they win the Council by-polls. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A 32 feet-long humpback baby whale weighing about 4 tonnes was found washed ashore on a beach near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The locals later gathered to save the mammal who was stranded on the beach for almost 24 hours. The incident took place in Buzios which is around 200 km from Brasilia, the Brazilian capital. Over three hundred people joined hands to help the creature return to the sea safely. With tremendous efforts people digged a deep ditch around the animal so as to let the water flow in to help it refloat back into the sea. At first the chances of survival seemed dim but then suddenly it sprang to life, wiggled its tail and started to swim. Few images and videos of the mammoth creature surfaced on Facebook, and were widely shared across social media. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Chinas state run media published an article in Global Times which appreciated how Hinduism has been a major reason in preventing spread of radical Islam in India. "Why does it seem that Muslims in India have remained largely apart from the radicalization that has happened to Muslim groups in other parts of the world?" the article raises the question, citing the Islamist unrest in other parts of Asia: "Indian Muslims seldom have extreme organizations compared with groups in many other Asian countries. In the southern part of the Philippines, extremists backed by Islamic State have turned their occupied cities into horrible places. In southern Thailand, terror attacks staged by Muslim extremists take place almost every week." The article attributes the absence of radical Islam in India to Hinduism. It says India breaks the 'arc of Islam' in Asia: "In Asia as a whole, Islam forms an arc that includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand, southern Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Central Asian countries. There are tensions at various degrees at junctions in this arc where it encounters other religions and ethnicity, but a dent exists in the Indian portion of this arc." It is to be emphasised that PM Modi is scheduled to visit China for BRICS Summit in the first week of September and Chinas appreciation of Hinduism can be seen in the context of appeasing India after Doklam conflict. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The great German scientist Albert Einsteins personal letter to his close friend Michele Besso discussing God and ways to find him is up for the auction and expected to fetch over USD 60,000 in the US. The letter dated April 15, 1950, melds the philosophy and science. The letter gives insight into the disciplined scientific mind of the great physicist. In the letter, Einstein discusses the spirituality and ways to get closer to the god. He has discussed wide-ranging issues, from spirituality to his Unified Field Theory, with equations from the theory in his hand, that he believed neutralises his critics, according to Nate D Sanders auction house. Also Read | Albert Einstein's iconic photograph expected to fetch $100,000 at auction in US There is one thing that I have learned in the course of a long life: It is devilishly difficult to get closer to Him, if one does not want to remain on the surface, news agency PTI quoted Einstein as writing in the letter. There is no such thing as a particle in the strictest meaning of the word, Einstein writes taking aim at quantum physicists. He even tackles the tricky issue of knowledge itself writing no guarantee that it will ever be possible to know whether the theory is true, he wrote in the letter. The two paged letter is signed as Affectionate greetings. Your A.E. The online auction bidding will end on September 28. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The US military shot down a medium-range ballistic missile target off the coast of Hawaii on Wednesday, in a successful test of a missile interception system Japan is seeking to bolster its defence against North Korea. The test was performed by the US Missile Defence Agency (MDA) and the US Navy from the USS John Paul Jones, a guided-missile destroyer, just one day after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Using Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) guided missiles, the test intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii by using the USS John Paul Joness onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has promised more missile flights over Japan, insisting his nuclear-armed nations provocation was a mere curtain-raiser, in the face of United Nations condemnation and US warnings of severe repercussions. The MDA said the test gives the naval component of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence System enhanced capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. We will continue developing ballistic missile defence technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves, MDA Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves said in a statement. The test marks the second time that an SM-6 missile has successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target. The United States and Japan have been working together since 2006 to develop a variant of the Standard Missile-3, a ship-launched missile that operates as part of the Aegis system. Japan is seeking a land-based version as well. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: China on Thursday said that concerns over Pakistans counter-terrorism record is not an appropriate topic to be discussed at the next weeks BRICS summit where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to meet. We noticed that India when it comes to Pakistans counter-terrorism has some concerns. I dont think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at BRICS summit, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing, indicating that Beijing was averse to the criticism of its close ally at the summit to be held in Xiamen. Asked whether Pakistans counter-terrorism record which was sharply criticised by US President Donald Trump last week will figure at the talks between the leaders of the BRICS countries, Hua said the world should recognise Islamabads contribution in fighting terrorism. Pakistan is at forefront of counter-terror efforts and has made sacrifices for this. The international community should recognise their contributions and sacrifices, she said. China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties, she said. Hua also did not provide a direct answer to a question whether Modi and Xi would hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit from September 3 to 5. During multilateral meetings arranging bilateral meetings is a practice. If time allows China will make proper arrangements, she said. After Trumps stern warning to Pakistan against providing safe heavens to Taliban, China sought to impress the US that Islamabads support is important to resolve Afghanistan imbroglio. We should attach importance to Pakistans important role in Afghanistan and respect Pakistans sovereignty and legitimate security concerns, Chinas State Councillor and top diplomat Yang Jiechi told US Secretary Rex Tillerson during a phone conversation yesterday. Trump, in his first prime-time televised address as commander-in-chief, 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. Hours after Trumps remarks, China backed its all weather ally and said the US should recognise Pakistans important role in Afghanistan and respect its sovereignty and legitimate security concerns. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: Chinas military on Thursday said it will beef up the presence of troops and patrols to protect every inch of its territory in Dokalam but was evasive on the construction of the road which was stopped by Indian troops, leading to a 73-day standoff. India and China on Monday ended their standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to China to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit. The Chinese military will continue to carry out its missions and responsibilities, beef up patrols and troops stationed there and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security, Ren Guoqiang, a spokesperson for the Chinese defence ministry, said in his first interaction with the media after the end of the standoff. He, however, was evasive about Peoples Liberation Armys move to build the road close to the strategic Chicken Neck area in Dokalam which prompted the Indian troops to intervene and stop its construction. Read | Dokalam standoff ends, Chinese troops left with bulldozers: Official Bhutan, which claims sovereignty over the area, protested to China for building the road on Bhutanese territory. In the light of the changes in the landscape we have made adjustment in our deployment, he said, without elaborating. The Chinese side will continue to patrol the Dong Long (Dokalam) area for a long period of time to better guard our border and improve the living and working conditions of the military and civilians living in the area, Ren said. We have long built infrastructure construction and including building of roads. In future, we will continue to make plan for infrastructure construction taking into consideration various factors including weather conditions, he said, without elaborating about plans to build the road. China has tried to highlight the Indian troops withdrawal while remaining silent about the fate of the road which was the primary objection for India.Ren also rubbished speculative reports in social media claiming that China promised India huge loans for the withdrawal of the troops. On your question about China providing loans to India to withdraw troops, we have checked with the relevant authorities of the government and such reports are pure fabrication, he said. Read | China claims India pulled back troops from Doklam, silent on plans to build road Claiming that Dokalam is Chinas inherent territory disregarding Bhutans claims, Ren said, every inch of the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland cannot be lost. Chinese armed forces will carry out the sacred mission safeguarding territorial integrity and national sovereignty and protect every inch of the land in Dokalam. He also put up a lengthy defence about how Chinese military handled the standoff - regarded as the worst between the two countries since the 1962 war. On the incident at the Pangong lake in Ladakh, where troops on both sides scuffled and pelted stones at each other, he said, the Indian side should enforce strict discipline on the border defence troops and abide by the agreements and consensus reached by the two sides so as to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border. China said earlier that it lodged a protest to India on the incident.The military-to-military relationship between India and China is an important component for the overall bilateral relationship between the two countries, he said. The defence establishments and armed forces should strengthen strategic communication to avoid misjudgement and misunderstanding. But such kind of healthy development requires efforts from both sides, he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: The US must declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, a former top senator who was instrumental in imposing tough sanctions on Pakistan in 1990s has said as he welcomed President Donald Trumps decision to elevate ties with India. Trump criticised Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan while announcing his new Afghan and South Asia policy. He also warned Pakistan that it has much to lose by harbouring terrorists. With the new South Asia strategy, the US has moved closer to India and the Trump administration has elevated India to a new level, said former Republican Senator Larry Pressler, who is known in South Asia for his famous Pressler Amendment. Pressler advocated the amendment, enforced in 1990 when the then President George H W Bush could not certify that Pakistan was not developing a nuclear weapon. The amendment banned most US economic and military assistance to Pakistan unless the president certified annually that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear explosive device. We have always treated India and Pakistan equally. Theoretically for the first time president and the Secretary of State have said that we are going to treat India at a higher level, Pressler told PTI. Read | Pakistan National Assembly rejects Donald Trump's new South Asia policy I think, its good news for India. I think Pakistan should realise (this). I wish he (Trump) would declare them a terrorist state. (But) I dont think hes going quite that far, the 75-year-old former Republican Senator from South Dakota said. He also said China will not embrace Pakistan as much as they say because they recognise that Pakistan is a very unreliable ally and they have been dishonest so much that is caught up with them finally, Pressler said in response to a question whether Islamabad will seek more support from Beijing after Trumps outburst. Interestingly, Pressler in his bookNeighbours in Arms: An American Senators Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent - which was released last month had made similar recommendations. Theres a whole cadre of people in the Pentagon and the military industrial state who look on Pakistan as a compliant state. They (Pakistanis) are deceitful and they have not delivered. And they harbored Osama bin Laden and lots of other terrorists and they still are and they should be declared as quickly as we can. We should declare them a terrorist state and treat them as such, he said. He said the relationship between the US and Pakistan has always been flawed.The Pakistanis have been dishonest every step of the way and they used this tactic over and over. And our Pentagon has yielded to them over and over informally as I say in my book. A lot of this has been under the colour of our military industrial state, he said. I think at last, we have a have a president who doesnt agree with this and we have a Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence. I think were entering a whole new age. We should discard Pakistan in this false marriage false partner. We should end it, he said. However, Pressler said that it would be tough for the US because Pakistan spends millions and millions of dollars in lobbying in Washington. Im afraid we probably wont do that. But for the first time in my lifetime were no longer saying India and Pakistan are equal diplomatically, he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. You never forget your first car. For Bill Hartwig, it was blue Camaro with a black top. Actually, the car was a Hot Wheels toy, but it sure had some traction with the boy who became a real automobile enthusiast. Or in everyday terms a car buff. Now, the Fremont man hopes area residents will attend the Round Church Rumblefest from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., in Fremont. Spectators are invited for free. Registration planned from 8 a.m. to noon costs $15 for those wishing to enter a vehicle in the show, which offers awards in more than 20 categories. Proceeds will benefit the churchs youth group. The Pancake Man will be flipping flapjacks, which are free to the public both spectators and car show entrants from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Hartwig said the show will be in the west parking lot of the church, where handicap parking also will be available. Public parking will be available in the east lot. Car shows are kind of fun, Hartwig said. Yet this car show will differ slightly from some others. Typically, vehicles are divided into classes with similar cars parked next to each other and awards, like trophies, presented. Our awards are different, Hartwig said. Theyre going to feature a picture of the actual entry. Vehicles will be photographed as they come into the show. Photographs of the winners will be printed and placed in the center of a shadow box with the title of the award. All awards are based on a Bible verse or story. For instance, there will be an Outstanding Most High Award and a verse referencing the Lord Most High along with a photograph of the winning vehicle. An engine is the heart of a vehicle. So the vehicle with the best engine will get the Outstanding Clean Heart Award with the Psalm 51:10 verse: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. There will be 24 awards like this, along with a Pastors Pick and a Peoples Choice Award. The youth group will pick a favorite car. Hartwig hopes winners will display these personalized award. He also hopes the public will attend this first-ever event at the church. If we have 100 cars, thats $1,500 for the youth group, he said. Id love to have that many the first year, but well be happy with whomever shows up. The event also will include a decipher-the-license plate game. Whoever gets the most correct answers will receive a gift certificate to Bakers. And while he wont enter it in the competition, Hartwig plans to bring his shiny red and white, 1954 Chevy to the show. Its a copy of my dads car when he and mom got married in 1956, Hartwig said. Thus, he noted something else. You can come and look at the cars and theyre pretty but the other part is hanging out with the owners, he said. Every cars got a story and people love to talk about their cars. An event designed to raise awareness for the needs of homeless people and raise funds for local agencies assisting those in need will return to John C. Fremont Park. On Friday, a group middle and high school students plan to participate in Box City 2.0. The event will take place from 6:30 that night until 7 a.m. Saturday in John C. Fremont City Park, at Eighth and Broad streets. The First United Methodist Church youth group is hosting the fundraiser during which students will spend the night, sleeping in boxes. Youth from First Lutheran Church plan to participate as do other teens who dont have a youth group affiliation. This is a youth driven event, Jennifer Mitzelfelt, director of Christian education at the church, said. We had the opportunity to attend a box city event in Omaha a couple years ago and they were really inspired and wanted to bring it here. Students in grades 6-12 are invited to participate in the event, which raises funds for two local organizations that fight homelessness in the community, Care Corps Family Services and the Fremont Area United Way. Each participant needs to bring his or her own cardboard box and a sleeping bag to the park. Cost is $5 per person and all proceeds will go to the Fremont Area United Way and Care Corps Family Services. During the course of the evening we will have worship, games, and speakers to just help educate and come together as youth to help combat homelessness, Mitzelfelt said. Interested students will also need to have parents, or legal guardians, fill out a liability form to participate in the event. The liability form can be found on First United Methodist Churchs Facebook page, and the church will have a check in table at the park the night of the event. Or they can stop by our church office to pick it up if they dont have access to a printer, Mitzelfelt said. Along with speakers from Care Corps and United Way at the event to inform the young people about homelessness in the community, organizers ask that no participants bring food with them. Food is not always available to homeless people, so we dont want it to be some big party where we eat food and drink soda all night while we are hanging out, Mitzelfelt said. Along with fundraising for local charities, the event is designed to help young people understand what it is like to be homeless and that homelessness isnt a faraway issue. Last year their eyes were opened especially when Care Corps was speaking about everything that they offer and statistically the number of people they help each year, Mitzelfelt said. Homelessness is here, it is in Fremont and it helps to open up the eyes of the youth that it is not just a problem that is far away, there are problems here in our own town and they can help. For more information, contact Mitzelfelt at the church at 402-721-0817. Ammunition and a hand grenade were found in garbage brought into a waste-processing facility on the island of Amami Oshima last week, reports TV Asahi On August 23, a male employee at the Naze Clean Center, located in Amami City, found 100 bullets (measuring 7.5 centimeters in length) for a machine gun and one hand grenade (11 centimeters long) while sorting waste. "I got a little scared later after I picked up [the bullets] and realized how heavy they were," the employee said. Kagoshima Prefectural Police confirmed that the items are genuine. However, since gunpowder was not present inside there was no risk of explosion, according to police. For this reason, the articles are not illegal, police added. The Naze Clean Center receives waste from five cities, towns and villages on Amami Oshima. It is not known where the ammunition and hand grenade came from. The center requests that residents who are unsure about the proper disposal of hazardous items to consult with the facility in advance. Aug 31 (ANNnewsCH) - eaacaacZaaaaaaca aaS23aeSac100caSaaaeaaaSaaaYa Police divisions from Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture on Wednesday announced the arrest of five persons, including an organized crime member, and seizure of more than 30 billion yen in stimulant drugs in the bust of a suspected trafficking ring. The seizure is the largest confiscation nationwide this year, police said, reports Jiji Press On August 22, police accused Atsushi Imaizumi, a 48-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, and Masami Hosokawa, 60, of possessing 1 kilogram of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, for the purpose of trafficking in Hitachinaka City. At the same location, police found 480 kilograms of the same drug, with street value of 30.7 billion yen, inside a truck. According to investigative sources, it is believed that an international trafficking group was behind the smuggling. A Chinese and Dutch national are among the other suspects in the case. Police suspect the contraband was landed at Hitachinaka via boats operating off the coast. Largest seizure this year For stimulant drugs, the seizure represents the largest nationwide this year, and the fourth-biggest on record. The largest confiscation took place in May, 2016, when Okinawa Prefectural Police seized some 597 kilograms of stimulant drugs from a yacht berthed at Naha Port. Last year, law enforcement in Japan seized near 1,500 kilograms of stimulant drugs, the most since such data began being kept in 2002. Aug 31 (ANNnewsCH) - eaYZcaac480aaaca a307aacaaaeaeseaaSaZaaaaaYa Investigative sources with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police revealed on Wednesday that security camera footage shows a man suspected in the murder of his 26-year-old former girlfriend carrying a suitcase, possibly containing her body, out of the residence they shared, reports Nippon News Network On August 27, police found the body Nao Kato, a company employee who went missing on August 20, in the mountains of Izu City. The week before, police had begun questioning her former boyfriend, 44, over her disappearance. However, he was later found to have killed himself at the home of his parents in Hiroshima Prefecture. Kato lived with the her former boyfriend at an apartment in Tokyo's Ota Ward. Security camera footage taken at the residence shows her former boyfriend carrying a bag out of the residence and placing it in a vehicle, according to police sources. Police believe that her body was inside the luggage. Conceal her disappearance Kato captured in other security camera footage with her former boyfriend on August 19. Police had previously speculated that a response to an email message sent to her phone by a male acquaintance was on the following day was done by her former boyfriend in an effort to conceal her disappearance. On August 22, Kato's mother filed a missing persons report with the Denenchofu Police Station. An investigation was subsequently launched into her former boyfriend. Based on eyewitness testimony and the tracked movements of the vehicle driven by Kato's boyfriend, police found her body in a forested area of Yugashima in Izu. Her former boyfriend is expected to be prosecuted on suspicion of murder and abandoning a corpse. On Tuesday, all 83 Runza Restaurants in Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa and Kansas donated 10 percent of their sales to purchase books for libraries, schools and school foundations in communities with a Runza location. The fundraiser, titled Great Books for Great Kids, promotes the importance of reading and literacy. This years effort raised $30,727.83. In the 15-year history of the fundraiser, over $466,000 has been donated. A group of students from around the world are again set to gather at Camp Rivercrest this weekend where they will participate in an event focused on culture, leadership, and education throughout the world. The event, called the Global Leadership Retreat, will bring around 120 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students from countries around the world to participate in cultural workshops and team-building activities while enjoying the outdoors at Camp Rivercrest. The two-day event, which runs from Sept. 1-2, is called a leadership retreat but focuses more on cross-cultural connections and competence. Its called a leadership retreat, not because we focus on leadership theory or leadership activities per say, but we base it on the fact that research consistently shows that leaders more than ever before need to be able to function in environments and among people who are different from them, Teresa Lostroh, International Orientation Coordinator at UNL, said. The retreat brings students from the U.S. together with students from countries including China, Egypt, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Oman, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan together to learn to communicate and work together in an intercultural environment. By virtue of attending this retreat and spending time doing activities and exercises with a really diverse group of students the participants moving forward are better prepared to seek out those opportunities in the future but also function effectively in an intercultural environment, Lostroh said. At the event students are broken up into groups of 10 and go through different rotations that involve small group discussions, active team building and cultural perceptions of leadership. They start off by getting into groups and they create a team identity, make a poster, create a name, introduce themselves and get into that team mindset, Lostroh said. One rotation includes small group discussion about educational experiences around the world, where questions are posed about each individuals previous education experiences and then answers are shared within the group. So they have the opportunity to learn about their own experiences, and also learn from the people around them, Lostroh said. Another rotation, called cultural perceptions of leadership, deals with understanding different cultural expectations of leadership and how to be an effective leader in a multicultural environment. The one we focus a lot on is individualism versus collectivism, Lostroh said. The U.S. is the most individualistic country in the world so we focus a lot on individual achievement, assertiveness, and independence and we see those qualities as being very positive as a leader. Whereas many East Asian and African countries are collectivist cultures which value different leadership tactics and motivations. So in leadership positions, if you are an American leading a multicultural group and leading with that individualistic mindset of having people compete against each other, and valuing individual accomplish, and everyone is identified for their accomplishments that may not be successful, Lostroh said. Because with people from collectivist cultures, they want to be part of a group and accomplish things as a team and they dont necessarily want to be recognized as an individual, so their motivations are different. The final activity of the retreat tasks the teams with working together and creating a boat out of only cardboard and duct tape, and then racing their creation in the Camp Rivercrest pool. That is kind of the culmination of the retreat and where we really see people come together, Lostroh said. Though it is very much a fun and lighthearted activity, it is also their opportunity to put those lessons they have learned to leadership and approaches to cultural competence into practice. Along with learning about other cultures and experiences, the trip to Camp Rivercrest is a new experience all in itself for some of the attendees from around the world. Its really prefect for our purposes, Lostroh said. It is a great mix of indoor and outdoor facilities where we do our presentations but then being able to take, especially international students, outside of Lincoln to more of a rural area that is very camp-like is a totally new experience for a lot of these students. At its core the Global Leadership Retreat is meant to engage students and emphasize that we share many more similarities than differences. Fundamentally we know that we are not going to spend two days and they will emerge from this retreat as fully culturally competent individuals, but I think our hope is that they are more open to exploring differences and similarities with people they perceive as being different than them, Lostroh said. After selling his Norwalk mansion earlier this year, the CEO of Stamford-based Kayak Software disclosed he has established residency in Miami Beach, becoming the latest Connecticut millionaire to leave. As first reported in May by Hearst Connecticut Media, Kayak CEO Steve Hafner sold his Wilson Point home in Norwalk for $5.5 million, while purchasing a Bell Island waterside bungalow across the water for $1.7 million. In a Q&A published Wednesday by Lifehacker, Hafner told the website, Im fortunate to live in Miami Beach, and I also have a beach house in Rowayton. Hafner spent $9 million in 2015 to purchase a five-bedroom condominium on Miamis South Beach, with the real estate trade publication The Real Deal reporting Hafner still having ownership of the condo as of early August. According to the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, anyone living more than 183 days in Connecticut during a tax year is subject to the states income tax. At last report, Hafner owned as well a luxury condo in New York City within commuting distance of Stamford. A Kayak spokeswoman told Hearst Connecticut Media that Kayaks corporate headquarters remain in Stamford and that Hafner maintains a residence in Connecticut, without responding to a query on how much time he spends here. She added Hafner spends ample time traveling to Kayaks 11 offices globally; the company lists an office in Coral Gables, Fla., that serves as its main office for Latin America business, with Hafners Miami condo about 11 miles distant. Kayaks only other U.S. offices are in Massachusetts. Florida has no state income tax on legal residents. In its top bracket, Connecticut levies a tax of 6.99 percent on income of more than $500,000, with New Yorks top income tax bracket at 8.82 percent for those making at least $1.07 million. Priceline spent $1.8 billion in May 2013 to acquire Kayak, with Hafner holding between 5.8 percent and 6.9 percent of Kayaks shares in the prior year and Kayak reporting his estimated compensation at $6.8 million that year, most of it in the form of stock options. Priceline did not rank Hafner among its highest-paid executives last year, drawing the line at $6 million. Priceline has a history of giving its executives free rein to live far from its Connecticut headquarters former CEO Darren Huston split his time between Norwalk and The Netherlands, where he ran Pricelines Booking.com subsidiary prior to being promoted in 2014 as the replacement for longtime Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd. Huston was ousted last year after a company investigation into an improper relationship with a Priceline employee; in January, the company elevated Glenn Fogel to the top job from his former post leading Priceline strategy and mergers. In the past several years, Connecticut has lost three Greenwich billionaires to Florida in Interactive Brokers Group founder Thomas Peterffy and Dean Metropoulos, who engineered the buyout of Hostess Brands. And in 2012, Edward Lampert moved to Miami, taking his ESL Investments hedge fund with him. Lower Fairfield County remains the metropolitan area with the highest concentration of millionaires nationally, according to findings revealed this week by Phoenix Marketing International, with 8.7 percent of households having at least $1 million in disposable income. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; www.twitter.com/casoulman This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate New Milford, Bridgeport, Oxford and two other Connecticut communities made a verbal commitment Thursday to join Waterburys lawsuit against Stamford-based Purdue Pharma and other drug makers over the opioid overdose crisis. New Milford is like every other community across the state and across the country that is suffering as a result of this epidemic - and when I say suffering I mean suffering, New Milford Mayor David Gronbach said. People are dying. This has infiltrated every single community. Bristol and Naugatuck also made verbal commitments to sign an retainer with a national law firm called Simmons Hanly Conroy that is filing the litigation. As many as 20 other cities and towns including Danbury and Ridgefield - are considering taking similar action. Waterbury is the first Connecticut city to join the growing list of municipalities around the country that have concluded that the defendant drug companies must be held responsible for their conspiratory and fraudulent actions and the injuries and costs that have resulted from the opioid epidemic, said Paul Hanly, a lead attorney who filed the lawsuit. The defendants have manufactured, promoted and marketed opioids by omitting critical information that has long been known about the drugs addictive qualities and other risks associated with their prolonged use. Leaders from two dozen cities and towns including Ridgefield, Roxbury and Darien assembled in Waterbury on Thursday in a show of solidarity. The leaders said drug companies should be held responsible for a crisis that is expected to result in 1,000 overdose deaths in Connecticut this year. Communities throughout Connecticut have been suffering the devastating effects of this opioid epidemic for years and we in Waterbury believe it is time to take a stand, Waterbury Mayor Neil OLeary said in a prepared statement. The effects stretch throughout the state and have destroyed families, flooded emergency rooms and overwhelmed emergency services. We are pleased that so many of the leaders of our neighboring cities and towns came today to hear about our course of action and we expect many will be joining us in this litigation. A spokesman for Purdue, which manufactures the popular opioid painkiller OxyContin, said the company has been working to minimize the drugs addictive effects. While we vigorously deny the allegations, we share local officials concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions, said spokesman Robert Josephson on Thursday. Sixty-Five is the magic number for Medicare eligibility, but is it magic for you? Everyone has a different scenario in their lives. Some individuals plan to continue to work and have employer insurance, others have personal insurance and have different needs while some couples have combinations of the two. There isnt just one correct answer for all these examples. Knowing your options is helpful when trying to decide what you need to do. The Medicare Basics Class, often referred to as New to Medicare or Medicare ABCs and D too is being offered at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26. It will be held in the Nebraska Extension office in Dodge County located at 1206 W. 23rd St., in Fremont. Anyone from any county is welcome to attend this informational meeting. If you or a spouse or parent is turning 65 in the near future or youre over 65 and planning to retire soon, this workshop is for you. The program will be presented by Mary Loftis, Nebraska Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) counselor. Absolutely nothing will be sold just information presented. The SHIIP program which is part of the Nebraska Department of Insurance wants everyone informed about their insurance options so they can make the best decisions at the right time for their own situations. Pre-registration is encouraged for this workshop so adequate materials will be available for all participants. Call Nebraska Extension in Dodge County at 402-727-2775 or in Burt County at 402-374-2929 by noon the day of the program. After President Donald Trump's pardon of ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of criminal contempt for violating a court order designed to stop the violation of the constitutional rights of suspected illegal immigrants, conventional wisdom - and certainly the Trump administration - would have us believe that Trump's pardon powers are unlimited. However, never before has someone stretched the pardon power so beyond its original intent. Trump has now drawn scrutiny not simply from critics of his racist rhetoric but from the court itself. The Arizona Republic reports: "U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton canceled former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's upcoming sentencing hearing for his criminal contempt-of-court conviction, telling attorneys not to file replies to motions that were pending before his recent presidential pardon. "However, Bolton on Tuesday stopped short of throwing out the conviction based solely on Arpaio's request. Instead she ordered Arpaio and the U.S. Department of Justice, which is prosecuting the case, to file briefs on why she should or shouldn't grant Arpaio's request." In other words, this is no slam dunk. Meanwhile, Protect Democracy, an activist group seeking to thwart Trump's violations of legal norms, and a group of lawyers have sent a letter to Raymond N. Hulser and John Dixon Keller of the Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division of the Justice Department, arguing that the pardon goes beyond constitutional limits. In their letter obtained by this column, they argue: "While the Constitution's pardon power is broad, it is not unlimited. Like all provisions of the original Constitution of 1787, it is limited by later-enacted amendments, starting with the Bill of Rights. For example, were a president to announce that he planned to pardon all white defendants convicted of a certain crime but not all black defendants, that would conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. "Similarly, issuance of a pardon that violates the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause is also suspect. Under the Due Process Clause, no one in the United States (citizen or otherwise) may 'be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' But for due process and judicial review to function, courts must be able to restrain government officials. Due process requires that, when a government official is found by a court to be violating individuals' constitutional rights, the court can issue effective relief (such as an injunction) ordering the official to cease this unconstitutional conduct. And for an injunction to be effective, there must be a penalty for violation of the injunction - principally, contempt of court." Put simply, the argument is that the president cannot obviate the court's powers to enforce its orders when the constitutional rights of others are at stake. "The president can't use the pardon power to immunize lawless officials from consequences for violating people's constitutional rights," says one of the lawyers who authored the letter, Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People. Clearly, there is a larger concern here that goes beyond Arpaio. "After repeatedly belittling and undermining judges verbally and on Twitter, now President Trump is escalating his attack on the courts into concrete actions," says Ian Bassin, executive director of Protect Democracy. "His pardon and celebration of Joe Arpaio for ignoring a judicial order is a threat to our democracy and every citizen's rights, and should not be allowed to stand." Those challenging the pardon understand there is no precedent for this - but neither is there a precedent for a pardon of this type. "While many pardons are controversial politically, we are unaware of any past example of a pardon to a public official for criminal contempt of court for violating a court order to stop a systemic practice of violating individuals' constitutional rights," Fein says. He posits the example of criminal contempt in the context of desegregation. "In 1962, after the governor and lieutenant governor of Mississippi disobeyed a court order to allow James Meredith to attend the University of Mississippi, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered the Department of Justice to bring criminal contempt charges, which it then did," Fein recalls. "Eventually, while the criminal contempt case was pending, the Mississippi officials relented and allowed Meredith (and others) to attend the university. But if the president had pardoned the Mississippi officials from the criminal contempt, it would have sent a clear message to other segregationist officials that court orders could be ignored." In other words, if the president can pardon anyone who defies court orders to enforce constitutional protections, then those constitutional protections are rendered meaningless. It is a creative argument, but then, this president has created new and disturbing challenges to democratic norms. Lurking in the background is the potential for Trump to pardon associates involved in the probe of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and the possible obstruction of justice that followed. The Arpaio pardon may well have been an attempt to signal to those officials and ex-officials that they can resist inquiries with the assurance that Trump will pardon them. (Recall Trump's unprecedented remarks that Michael Flynn should hold out for a grant of immunity.) Using the pardon power to obstruct an investigation into his own possible wrongdoing would signal a constitutional crisis. "It is possible that such an act would be of such corrupt intent and so contrary to our constitutional system that Congress would use it as a grounds to impeach, and/or that the special counsel would see it as a grounds to indict for violations of federal criminal statutes related to obstruction of justice," Fein explains. Indeed, Congress can decide the president's conduct is impeachable even in the absence of a finding of criminal wrongdoing. Fein warns, "As for the validity of these pardons, because Trump pardoning associates to shield them and him from scrutiny by the special counsel would be such a corrupt and untested act, his associates would be wise not to rely on such a pardon providing them full protection as, in the end, it might not." Other legal experts agree with this line of reasoning. Philip Allen Lacovara, a former U.S. deputy solicitor general in the Justice Department, who served as counsel to Watergate special prosecutors, argues in The Post Wednesday: "As with any other presidential power, the power to pardon is constrained by the ordinary requirements of federal law applicable to all public officials. For example, if representatives of a pardon-seeker arrived in the Oval Office with a bundle of cash that the president accepted in return for a pardon, there is little doubt that the president would be guilty of the crime of bribery. . . . If Trump were to pardon any of the figures in the current Russia investigation, his action would certainly impede or obstruct the due administration of justice, as the courts have broadly construed that standard. "It would not be difficult to imagine Mueller making the case that the motive behind such interference was 'corrupt.' As the Founding Fathers made plain, the purpose behind the pardon power is to extend mercy to those who have offended and have demonstrated remorse. Using the pardon power to protect the president's own interests against embarrassment or exposure is not legitimate. Rather, a crassly self-interested exercise of presidential power to impede the due administration of justice is the very antithesis of the president's most solemn oath - 'to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'" And this brings us back to Judge Bolton. Bassin notes, "Judge Bolton may want to see how the honorable lawyers of DOJ's public integrity section respond personally in open court - themselves as officers of the bar who've taken an oath to uphold the Constitution - to the blatant abuse of power by their boss." He adds, "After all, these are people who've dedicated their lives and careers to ensuring our public officials act with integrity and Joe Arpaio and now the President of the United States have spit in the face of that." Bolton's hearing will venture into uncharted territory, a voyage necessitated by Trump's utter disregard for the rule of law and his constitutional obligations to enforce the Constitution and laws of the United States. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH In the world of Greenwich real estate, bigger is better is the usual mantra. But not in every neighborhood, and not on every block: Small is beautiful in one part of part of Greenwich, Division Street. The 19th century home where Dean Gamanos resides, along with the homes of his neighbors, encapsulates a distinct chapter of Greenwich history, one written in a less grandiose key than other parts of town. It was in the mid-1800s that the railroad came through, and Greenwich was opened for development as a railroad suburb. Division Street was built up by developer William Sherwood, whose name was given to a street in the neighborhood. Many of the homes in the area were built in the Queen Anne style of architecture. They all have subtle difference, like the shape of the cornices, said Gamanos, who has a long fascination with architecture. It gives it a nice look. The house that Gamanos moved into at 15 Division was built in 1888 by a stone mason, Patrick OConnor. The neighborhood was decidedly Irish at the time, and the name that the residential section eventually acquired was a heavily Irish section of New York City at the time, the Fourth Ward. But it was always an eclectic part of Greenwich, notes Gamanos, a marketing executive now working in the wine trade. Some 10 percent of the neighborhood was composed of African-Americans, mainly working as servants for the estates in town. Two black churches built in the area are testament to the early black community there. It was a mixed neighborhood, said Gamanos, predominantly Irish, but it was one of those areas where all the people mixed and mingled. The houses on the block all have columned front porches with peaked roofs, a Queen Anne touch. Very geometric, very symmetrical, notes the homeowner, who gave a tour of the neighborhood during the towns 375th anniversary in 2015. Though they are relatively compact in size, the homes along Division Street have fairly spacious and long back yards, despite the narrow frontage. Gamanos surmised that property taxes were calculated on the frontage of a residential property, so the skinnier the better. The sense of community runs strong on Division Street, which has overtones of an old-fashioned New England village. Were all friendly neighbors, said Gamanos. Were close to town, but it has a rural feeling to it. The neighborhood still attracts a fairly eclectic group of people, the kind of people who are interested in connecting to an authentic place that doesnt put on airs. I love these older homes, said Gamanos. Its part of our lives, its history. The house itself offers just the right combination of architectural interest, comfort and connection to community that he was looking for when he moved in 17 years ago. As an old Betsy Ross flag fluttered in the morning breeze, the homeowner said the old home and the neighborhood had attractions that only come with age, like a good bottle of wine. Its perfect for me, he said. OTTAWA, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ Back to school for today's teenagers looks a lot different than it used to. On top of new classes and friends, they might also be exploring new social media networks, online relationships or digital personas. "By the time they hit high school, the Internet and social media are a constant presence in students' lives," said Matthew Johnson, Director of Education for MediaSmarts, Canada's centre for digital and media literacy. "It's essential that they learn how to use these tools safely, wisely and effectively for both for school and in their personal lives." That's why MediaSmarts, with financial support from Shaw Communications, has produced two comprehensive guides for high school and post-secondary students to help them navigate their evolving online worlds. The Your Connected Life guide is designed to help students who are just entering high school balance the demands of their offline life with their digital one. It offers practical advice on various activities kids like to do online, such as social networking, gaming, shopping, studying and watching videos. The guide also helps teens spot potential problems like cyberbullying and plagiarism, and contains tips and solutions to deal with common challenges. University and college life comes with a whole new set of freedoms and challenges, with more and more of those taking place online. On the Loose: A Guide to Online Life for Post-Secondary Students covers a variety of digital issues including school work, money and security, online relationships, and physical and mental health. About MediaSmarts MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. Its vision is that children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. MediaSmarts offers hundreds of digital and media literacy resources for teachers, parents and educators on its website, mediasmarts.ca. @mediasmarts SOURCE MediaSmarts For further information: Liz Berman, Marketing and Communications Manager, MediaSmarts, 613-224-7721, ext. 231, [email protected] Related Links http://mediasmarts.ca THUNDER BAY, ON, Aug. 31. 2017 /CNW/ - Contact North | Contact Nord is pleased to be supporting Sandy Lake First Nation to access online learning opportunities as they prepare for the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project expected to develop a new 18,000 kilometer transmission line connecting remote northern communities to the provincial grid. In partnership with Sioux-Hudson Literacy Council - Good Learning Anywhere, Contact North | Contact Nord is able to provide access to online Job Readiness programs. Since September 1, 2016, Contact North | Contact Nord has supported 1,118 registrations in the remote Northwestern Indigenous community Education has been a priority in Sandy Lake First Nation with Chief and Council working to ensure the community has high speed internet service and access to distance education opportunities. Students like Joshane Fiddler, a husband and father of four children, are able to access the Job Readiness program offered by Good Learning Anywhere to prepare for the employment opportunities coming to his community. Contact North | Contact Nord partners with Ontario's 24 public colleges, 22 public universities, 9 Aboriginal Institutes, 76 district school boards and 250 literacy and basic skills and training providers to promote and recruit students for their online programs and courses in 600 small, remote, rural, Indigenous and Francophone communities across Ontario. Residents have access to over 1,000 online programs and over 18,000 online courses without leaving the community. Contact North | Contact Nord is funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development since 1986. Quick Facts Of the 94 communities in Northern Ontario , 27 are Indigenous communities, 73 have no other post-secondary education presence and 7 can only be reached by air. , 27 are Indigenous communities, 73 have no other post-secondary education presence and 7 can only be reached by air. Contact North | Contact Nord has online learning services in 27 Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario . . Contact North | Contact Nord serves 42 Indigenous communities across Ontario Contact North | Contact Nord has supported 14,557 registrations in 27 Indigenous communities across the province since 2012. Quotes: "Community members who are graduating can stay here, or they can go anywhere in the world and succeed." Chief Bart Meekis, Sandy Lake First Nation "Contact North | Contact Nord's partnership with Sandy Lake First Nation is extremely collaborative. We work closely with the community stakeholders and Ontario Works department to match clients with education and training options that meet their individual needs and as a result assists them with their employability goals." Tina Reed, Director, Recruitment and Partnerships, Contact North | Contact Nord "Broadband has been continually improved in our community and is a big part of offering the online programs. Most people can not just up and leave, they have families and responsibilities. The success of this partnership is in part due to the collaboration occurring and the hard work of Ontario Works staff on the ground in the community." David Fiddler, Ontario Works, Sandy Lake First Nation "The First Step program is an initial online course to introduce and engage community members in online learning. After completing the one week, fully online webconferencing program, participants are able to move into the three-week Job Readiness or Postsecondary Readiness programs to work toward achieving their individual goals. Linda Wright, Director of Distance Programs, Good Learning Anywhere "The collaborative partnership between Contact North | Contact Nord, Sandy Lake First Nation and Good Learning Anywhere is an example of meeting the educational needs of remote northern Ontario Indigenous communities, especially during times of economic opportunity," Kenora MP, Bob Nault About Contact North | Contact Nord SOURCE Contact North For further information: Heather Campbell, Communications Coordinator, 1-855-345-5035, [email protected] Related Links contactnorth.ca STELLARTON, NS, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, September 14, 2017, at Cineplex Cinemas, Aberdeen Mall, 612 East River Road, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). Media Please note that cameras will only be allowed in the main meeting room for the first five minutes. Michael Medline, President & Chief Executive Officer, and Michael Vels, Chief Financial Officer, will be available to the media at the venue immediately following the meeting (approximately 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). Audiocast of AGM The event will be available live on the internet via audiocast. To access the audiocast, please visit our website at www.empireco.ca. The audiocast will be archived and available on the Empire website following the event. Q1 Fiscal 2018 Results Conference Call Empire Company Limited will hold a conference call on Thursday, September 14, 2017, beginning at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) during which senior management will discuss the Company's financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018 ended August 5, 2017. The dial-in numbers for the conference call are: (647) 427-7450 (888) 231-8191 To secure a line, please call 10 minutes prior to the conference call. You will be placed on hold until the conference call begins. The media and investing public may access this conference call via a listen mode only. You may also listen to a live audiocast of the conference call by visiting the Company's website located at www.empireco.ca. Replay will be available until midnight, September 21, 2017, or on the Company's website for 90 days following the conference call. To access the archived conference call, please dial (855) 859-2056 and enter passcode 77932482. ABOUT EMPIRE Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire's key businesses are food retailing and related real estate. With approximately $23.8 billion in sales and $8.7 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 125,000 people. SOURCE Empire Company Limited For further information: Media Contact: Andrew Walker, Senior Vice President, Communications & Corporate Affairs, Sobeys Inc., (905) 238-7124 ext. 6711; Investor Contact, Katie Brine, Director, Investor Relations, Sobeys Inc., (905) 238-7124 ext. 2092 Related Links http://www.empireco.ca Projects will engage local women leaders in pan-Canadian network to support a thriving gender equality movement SAINT JOHN, NB, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - As Canada marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation, it is important to reflect on our legacy for the future. Despite the important milestones witnessed in these 150 years, women, girls, and gender non-conforming people still face hardships. There is more work remaining for gender equality to become a reality in Canada. By investing in a strong and thriving women's movement today, we are laying the foundation for gender equality tomorrow. Today, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, along with Wayne Long, Member of Parliament for Saint John Rothesay, announced Government of Canada funding for projects that will help advance gender equality in Atlantic Canada. Organizations in the Atlantic region are receiving funding of more than $2 million for projects that will challenge barriers to gender equality, including: Antigonish Women's Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association ($395,000) : to prevent sexual violence against women and girls in the rural County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia . : to prevent sexual violence against women and girls in the rural County of . Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre ($283,000) : to improve women's access to the justice system when reporting sexual violence to police in Fredericton, New Brunswick . : to improve women's access to the justice system when reporting sexual violence to police in . Saint John Women's Empowerment Network ($313,000) : to enhance access to childcare for low-income women in Saint John, New Brunswick . : to enhance access to childcare for low-income women in . Women's Network PEI ($352,000) : to improve women's access to childcare in Prince Edward Island . Other gender equality projects in the Atlantic region will be announced at a later date. These initiatives are part of an investment of over $18 million by the federal government to support grassroots organizations and engage 150 women leaders across the country. These leaders will work together as part of a pan-Canadian network to support feminist action for gender equality at the national level. The network is being convened by the Canadian Women's Foundation. As a digital partner with Status of Women Canada, Instagram offered participants at the event a learning session on social media best practices to create communities and maximize audiences. Quotes "Strong, dynamic leaders are the heart of the women's movement and their passion and engagement are the key to achieving gender equality. Today's panel discussion shows the power of these leaders and their organizations to catalyze change and inspire action that benefits all of us, in Atlantic Canada, as well as in the entire country. I am proud to support their efforts and of our government's ongoing commitment to gender equality." The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P. Minister of Status of Women "Sexual violence can happen anywhere, in communities both big and small. We look forward to working with our partners to ensure that Antigonish is equipped to address this problem. Together, we will take action to prevent sexual violence against women and prepare ourselves to support survivors effectively when it does occur." Lucille Harper, Executive Director Antigonish Women's Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association "Choosing to report a sexual assault to police is a difficult decision and, sometimes, the criminal justice system itself can seem like an obstacle. Through this project, we will work to identify and address the systemic barriers that prevent survivors' from seeking justice. Improving conditions for women reporting sexual assault is an important step toward preventing these crimes in the future." Lorraine Whalley, Director Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre "Access to quality childcare is essential for working parents and can be instrumental in helping women to get ahead financially. Finding affordable childcare can be difficult, especially for those who need it most. We are proud to work with the Government of Canada on this project, which will explore ways to improve access to childcare for women with low incomes, unconventional work schedules or special needs children." Brenda Murphy, Executive Director Saint John Women's Empowerment Network "We are very excited to work with the Government of Canada on this project to improve access to childcare in Prince Edward Island. Inadequate childcare services can make it difficult for women to balance career and family and this affects economic growth. Through this project, we look forward to removing some of the barriers that prevent women from achieving their full potential." Jillian Kilfoil, Executive Director Women's Network PEI Quick Facts In October 2016 , Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across Canada . As of June 2017 , some 50 projects have been approved for over $18 million in Funding to Advance Gender Equality with the goal of empowering great Canadian women and enabling their good work to set the stage for the next 150 years . This is the most funding to ever be approved through a Status of Women Canada call for proposals. Approved projects will take place over a period of three years. , Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across . As of , some 50 projects have been approved for over in with the goal of empowering great Canadian women and enabling their good work to set the stage for the next 150 years This is the most funding to ever be approved through a Status of Women Canada call for proposals. Approved projects will take place over a period of three years. The Women's Program at Status of Women Canada supports eligible organizations to carry out projects to advance equality by addressing systemic barriers that contribute to gender inequality in Canada . Related Product Backgrounder Associated Links Ce texte est egalement disponible en francais. For news releases and information on Status of Women Canada, go to women.gc.ca. Follow Status of Women Canada: Backgrounder Antigonish Women's Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association $395,000 The Antigonish Women's Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association provides services to individual women and adolescent girls in Antigonish and Guysborough counties, Nova Scotia. Services include crisis and ongoing problem-solving support, information, advocacy, accompaniment and referrals. This three-year project will work to prevent sexual violence against women and girls in the rural County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The organization will work with the Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation, St. Francis Xavier University, and the Strait Regional School Board to establish policies and practices to better recognize and address sexual violence. Community stakeholders will be engaged and will develop and implement action plans to sexual violence against women and girls. Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre $283,000 For more than 40 years, the Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre has provided information, support, and counselling to those affected by sexual violence in New Brunswick. This three-year project will improve women's access to the justice system when reporting sexual violence to police in Fredericton. The organization will work with stakeholders to identify barriers faced by sexual assault survivors in the criminal justice system and develop a strategy to address them. Saint John Women's Empowerment Network $313,000 Since 1994, the Saint John Women's Empowerment Network (originally "The Urban Core Support Network") has worked to empower women to live sustainable lives and contribute as full partners in society. Through this three-year project, the organization will enhance access to childcare for low-income women in Saint John, New Brunswick. They will work with partners to develop and implement strategies that address barriers to women's participation in the labour force. This will include examining issues like daycare subsidies, the accessibility of childcare for special needs children and the availability of child care for women who work outside of normal business hours. Women's Network PEI $352,000 The Women's Network PEI is a not-for-profit organization that works to strengthen and support the efforts of women in Prince Edward Island (PEI) to improve the status of women in society. This three-year project will improve women's access to childcare in PEI. The organization will work with partners in the community to understand the local context and identify barriers to childcare on the island. It will then develop and share an action plan for family-friendly work policies. Call for proposals: Funding to Advance Gender Equality in Canada Over $18 million In October 2016, Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that advance gender equality across Canada. As of June 2017, some 50 projects have been approved for over $18 million in Funding to Advance Gender Equality. Over the course of 36-months, the projects will address systemic barriers in Status of Women Canada's three areas of focus: increasing women's economic security and prosperity; encouraging women and girls to be better represented in leadership and decision-making roles; and ending violence against women and girls. The Canadian Women's Foundation will convene a strong, independent, pan-Canadian network of women leaders to support feminist action for gender equality at the national level. These leaders have been chosen for their remarkable efforts at the local level to advance gender equality with women, girls and gender non-conforming people. By creating a network of visionary women, we will broaden the reach of their efforts beyond their communities inspiring others from across the country to add their voices and contribute their ideas towards achieving real progress. It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence is the Government of Canada's response to gender-based violence (GBV). It builds on current federal initiatives, coordinates existing programs and lays the foundation for greater action on GBV. The Strategy is based on three pillars: Prevention; Support for survivors and their families; and Promotion of responsive legal and justice systems SOURCE Status of Women Canada For further information: Celia Canon, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Status of Women, 613-862-3270; Leonie Roux, Public Affairs Officer, Status of Women Canada, 819-420-6821 Related Links https://www.canada.ca OTTAWA, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Eid al-Adha: "Today, Muslims in Canada and around the world will celebrate Eid al-Adha. "Eid al-Adha marks the end of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. It is a time to reflect on lessons of sacrifice and charity, and to appreciate life's many blessings. "To mark this special occasion, Muslims will gather with family and friends to attend morning prayers, share celebratory meals, exchange gifts and greetings, and give to those in need. "This year, as we mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, Eid al-Adha is an opportunity for us all to reflect on the important contributions the Muslim community has made to build the diverse, strong and inclusive country that we all call home. "On behalf of our family, Sophie and I extend our best wishes to all those celebrating Eid al-Adha. "Eid Mubarak!" This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca SOURCE Prime Minister's Office For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555 Related Links http://pm.gc.ca/ People in Connecticut may be suffering from something worse than progressives who are striving mightily to destroy the state. They may be suffering from a sort of moral atrophy. G.K. Chesterton addressed the question of moral atrophy in the following few lines about Pimlico, a town in England that, in Chestertons day, was what we might call a hopeless case: Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing say Pimlico. If we think what is really best for Pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne of the mystic and the arbitrary. It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico; in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico; for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico; to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is theirs, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence. Some readers will say that this is mere fantasy. I answer that this is the actual history of mankind. This, as a fact, is how cities did grow great. Go back to the darkest roots of civilization and you will find them knotted round some sacred stone or encircling some sacred well. People first paid honor to a spot and afterwards gained glory for it. Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her. Like Pimlico, Connecticut has become a desperate thing. And some who might love it with a desperate love because it is Connecticut, the place where the bones of their fathers lay, already have moved away to other states where the grass is greener; there they will lay themselves down, and their children someday will strew flowers on their graves. The easiest thing to do is to move away from grief and tears and hard times. The most difficult thing is to remain on the spot and fight for the glory of Pimlico, to remain in the face of difficulties because Pimlico is sacred ground, and you love it with a love that transcends rationality itself. Storge, from the Greek , is the first of four loves examined by C.S. Lewis in his book The Four Loves. It is the love that springs from familiarity, typified by the natural love of a mother or father for a child. Familiarity breeds fondness, not contempt, and that fondness turns to fierceness when the object of love a child, a family, a neighborhood, a town or a state comes under attack, either directly or, more insidiously, through subversion. Storge is non-particularized, diffused, transcendent, given without respect to individual characteristics, a fierce and sacred outpouring of love from the hearts core. True patriotism finds its foothold in the first of Lewis Four Loves. If only love and loving intentions were enough. But they never are, which is why the road to Hell is paved with good intentions divorced from practical, healing remedies. People in state government who love Connecticut must stop pretending to themselves that they do not know how to save our state. They know what the problems are; they know what the solutions are; and it is a kind of moral atrophy yoked to personal ambition and factional favor that has decelerated their virtue, which is, always and everywhere, a power of acting. The General Assembly must absolutely must regain control of its budget powers, and then act in the service of the entire state. This means the General Assembly must wrest control of its getting and spending constitutional responsibilities from state unions and partisan, spineless politicians. Never in the whole history of the world has it been possible for any state whether it be a monarchy, a democracy or a republic to settle a recurrent spending problem by increasing taxes. And one need not consult history to draw from present experience the proper moral. Connecticuts government has, within the administration of its present lame-duck governor, imposed business crippling taxes, the largest and the second largest in state history, on the real working peoples party, the revenue producing sector of the state with what result we see before us, increased and unmanageable debt, now hardwired into future budgets by means of a backroom deal from which the duly elected representatives of the people on the Republican side have been excluded. At some point, such autocratic effrontery produces a cleansing spirit of rebellion among those who love their state with a transcendent love. Don Pesci is a writer who lives in Vernon. E-mail: donpesci@att.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW HAVEN >> Fair Havens Pan del Cielo Bakery on Thursday celebrated 10 years in business, a milestone co-owner and co-operator Edgar Merta said started with a dream first envisioned after arriving in Connecticut. Along with his wife, Martha, Edgar Merta first lived in New York for a few years after emmigrating from Ecuador. They arrived in Connecticut without knowing anyone, but after an opportunity arose to purchase an existing business, Edgar Merta said they took a chance and started working long days to establish their small business. Pan del Cielo Bakery specializes in baked good and pastries popular in Latin American countries. Martha is also co-owner and co-operator. Weve reached several milestones, Edgar Merta said in Spanish. We want to keep growing and offer good service to our communities in Connecticut. Were also trying to move forward with delivering bread to New York and all stores here in Connecticut. During a celebration at their storefront at 523 Ferry St. on Thursday, the Mertas thanked Mayor Toni Harp and the community for their growth. Along with Harp, Deputy Economic Development Director Steve Fontana, Alders Anna Festa, D-10, Kenneth Reveiz, D-14, and Ernie G. Santiago, D-15, were in attendance during Thursdays celebration. Martha Merta said her families work was accomplished through hard-work and willpower to be successful. Im very grateful for all the people who have come here today, especially the mayor, and all other city officials, Martha Merta said. Harp said she was delighted to celebrate the bakerys milestone. The Mertas had participated in training provided by the Spanish American Merchants Association, which operates an office in nearby Grand Avenue. Harp said the citys economic development department and SAMA are helping the small business expand beyond New Haven. A 2015 report commissioned by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven suggested foreign-born residents are more likely to open businesses than native-born residents. It reported immigrant-owned businesses in Greater New Haven help shape the local economy by providing unique products. The bakery caters to the citys residents by importing authentic ingredients, to ensure true taste and texture, Harp said. The company also sells bread at grocery stores in the city. Ten years ago, they put a plan in motion to realize the American dream, and now, ten years later, they have a success story to tell that should inspire small business owners throughout the city, Harp said. She added: After ten years, this company is a shinning example of how in New Haven, no matter who you are, no matter where youre from, if you have a dream, and initiative, you can make your dream a reality. General Consul of Ecuador Raul Erazo said the ten years represent dedication to their business. You represent the immigration, how it is very important for our culture, for our society, when you grow your business, Erazo said. Reach Esteban L. Hernandez at 203-680-9901 NEW HAVEN >> PETA this week sent a letter to a district attorneys office in Massachusetts requesting an investigation on past research by a current postdoctoral student at Yale University that the organization said involved inhumane experiments on wild birds. The letter sent to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans office alleges a current Yale University postdoctoral fellow killed about 250 songbirds for experiments and subjected them to painful experiments between 2011 and 2015, according to the complaint submitted by attorney Elisabeth Custalow. An employee at Ryans office confirmed this week her office had received the letter, though Ryans office declined to comment further. PETA claims the scientists experiments are not exempt under Massachusettss laws and an investigation could result in charges. The Register is not naming the postdoctoral fellow because the person has not been charged and the DAs office did not confirm whether it had opened an investigation; PETA confirmed as of Thursday, the DAs office had not responded to its letter. Yale University spokesman Thomas Conroy said in an email that the university did not have a comment. (The scientists) conduct appears to be in flagrant violation of Massachusetts established public policy promoting humane treatment of animals, as well as of Massachusetts statutory prohibitions on inflicting unnecessary cruelty on animals, Custalow wrote in the complaint. According to the complaint, the scientists research in Middlesex County in Massachusetts included capturing and housing birds in unnatural conditions, and subjecting them to, painful, stressful, and unnecessary experimental procedures before killing them. The complaint alleges the scientist captured wild house sparrows by using seed traps and mist nets at feeders in Medford, Arlington and Somerville. The birds were part of the researchers studies for a doctoral degree at Tufts University. One alleged incident is detailed in a research paper co-authored by the scientist involving wound healing in birds published in 2015. The research involved creating an open wound on the legs of nine house sparrows. PETAs letter alleges the birds were injected with a chemical to destroy their adrenal glands as part of the experiment. The research paper was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Several of the scientists research papers are cited in the letter. The research paper involving open wounds was co-written with two other scientists and explains the procedures performed on the birds were done in accordance with, Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) guidelines, and all protocols were approved by the Tufts University Animal Care and Use Committee. A veterinarian cited in PETAs complaint said she reviewed the research paper and said the birds likely suffered from an open wound and ongoing stress. The letter said there was no indication pain medication was given for the leg wounds. Alka Chandna, who works in PETAs Laboratory Investigations Department, said formal complaints have also been filed to agencies including the National Institute of Health and U.S. Department of Agriculture. This case is significant because it involves experiments conducted outside a laboratory setting, PETA states. The letter cites several state laws pertaining to animal cruelty they believe were violated. Most state anti-cruelty statutes, most of them exempt properly conducted scientific research on (animals), Chandna said. Massachusetts is not such a state. Massachusetts does not have a blanket exemption for treatment of animals in laboratories. The letter alleges other instances of inhumane treatment for research purposes, including having the usually social sparrows confined to small spaces with one other bird, plucking off feathers in wild-caught European starlings, and drawing 0.05 percent of body weight in blood from other birds. Custalow said in the complaint that the birds suffering in the experiments was unnecessary, before further suggesting sparrows specifically are poor models for experiments concerning adrenal sensitivity. Another experiment involved giving wild-caught sparrows crude oil to determine the effects of six weeks worth of exposure to study how it impacted hormones. The resulting research was published in another a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Chandna said animals experiments are by and large conducted in a system where, cruelty is entrenched. Reach Esteban L. Hernandez at 203-680-9901 NEW HAVEN >> Yale University Art Gallery, which has an exhibit this fall called Before the Event/After the Fact: Contemporary Perspectives on War, sparks a parallel discussion in its new exhibit on the art of exiles. While the former looks at images in areas of conflict and how theyre used, the latter looks at the art of those who left areas of conflict. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate House GOP Leader Themis Klarides says an unspecified number of Democrats have confided to her that they wont support an increase to the state sales tax when their slim majority finally votes on its budget proposal. The Derby Republicans expectations are tempered, though, after a controversial labor concessions package passed July 31 along party lines in both legislative chambers, with Democratic Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. I said, I will believe that when you hit the red button, Klarides said of no votes on the budget. The budget impasse between Republicans and Democrats, who are grappling with a $3.6 billion, two-year deficit, is entering its third month. Its forced Klarides, the first woman to lead the House Republican caucus, to delay making a decision on whether to run for governor in 2018. My job is House Republican leader and we need to have a budget, Klarides said. (But) its certainly in my mind. Democrats have proposed raising the state sales tax from 6.35 percent to 6.85 percent, as well as allowing cities and towns to levy an additional 1 percent food and beverage tax. I appreciate the fact that the minority leader is putting the time into talking with my caucus members, said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. I would hope that she is putting in the same amount of effort to come up with a balanced budget proposal. In the meantime, I am going to continue to work with my colleagues on a balanced budget plan that moves our state forward. Klarides characterized Democrats proposed budget as a nonstarter. There is a way to do it without tax increases, said Klarides, who is pushing a GOP alternative that relies on cuts. Its not just about cuts. I have a good friend who says, You cant save your way rich. Democrat House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz has summoned lawmakers back for session Sept. 14. http://twitter.com/gettinviggy; nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436 Health care is a right, destruction of humanity is not Letters to the editor illustrate that Planned Parenthood (PP) is one of the most controversial organizations in this country. Discussions involving PP should include research to obtain facts rather than dealing in generalities. Attitudes and philosophy are best expressed by officials who speak for the organization. Margaret Sanger, founder of the organization that became PP, was a vocal eugenics enthusiast. In her desire to create a cleaner race, she penned her desire to exterminate individuals she deemed unfit for the human family. After all, birth control is nothing more or less than weeding out ... the unfit the dead weight of human waste. (Pivot of Civilization, 1922) While wanting to rid the world of inferior human groups she stated that feeble-minded persons, habitual congenital criminals, those afflicted with inheritable diseases, and others found to be biologically unfit should be sterilized. (American Weekly Magazine, 1934) Also, the most merciful thing a large family does to one of its members is to kill it. (Woman and the New Race, 1920) Moving forward, PP asserts that 10-year olds have the right to contraception, sterilization and abortion without their parents knowledge. (International Planned Parenthood Foundation, Adolescent Fertility, London, 1983) When appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Cecile Richards, president of PP, defended her organization against allegations of selling fetal tissue for profit. Annual reports state PP is essential in providing health care. Instead, through its grotesque abortion policy, it is involved in the destruction of the unborn and society in general. Since Roe v. Wade, PP has taken the lives of more than seven million unborn children while collecting billions of taxpayer dollars. These funds would be better directed to health care centers that would provide a full range of health care for men, women and children. Health care is a fundamental human right that should never include the destruction of humanity. Carol Schneider Milford Glad to see Murray finally honored for work I was so happy to read that Yale University finally honored Dr. Pauli Murray by naming a college after her. Its about time Yale acknowledged what a great lady and scholar she was. Im one of very few people still living in New Haven who knew her when she was a doctorate student at Yale. I typed her thesis for her Doctorate of Law. Those were the years I worked from home, typing mostly for students. I charged 25 cents a page, a nickel a carbon. I corrected spelling, punctuation and grammar while typing. I had a card that I do typing on Yale bulletin boards. I dont remember how Pauli happened to come to me. Maybe someone told her about me or she saw the card. She must have called and made an appointment to come to my house to ask if I would type her thesis. She was tiny, a tiny little woman. Very thin, very slim. I remember she said she admired Martin Luther King for what he was doing and she marched with him. She was one of the original founders of the National Organization for Women. She made me a charter member. She wrote a book of poetry that I ordered. I still have it. My husband and I went to her graduation when she got her doctorate, and then went to a reception at the home of one of her advisers. His name was either professor English or professor Emerson. I think my husband and I were the only outsiders who were invited. Pauli said, Ruth, I have more degrees than my advisers. But because she was a woman, she never got the credit she should have. We spent many hours just talking. We had a great friendship. After she left Yale we stayed in touch. I saved all her letters. Years later, when I met her secretary, Beth Ward, I gave her the letters for Paulis archives. Ruth D. Friedland New Haven Thanks for help finding lost pets My neighbors helped me search for and recover my two runaway Siberian Huskies two nights ago. I am so grateful and so touched by their concern and support. That we had success was a miracle given the speed and stubbornness of my pets. Thank you to everyone who helped and I am so lucky to live in this neighborhood. Susan Sosna New Haven WEST HAVEN >> As the Democratic primary campaigns of Mayor Ed OBrien and challenger Nancy Rossi enter their final two weeks, both OBrien and Rossi called each other out this week on material in each others ads and mailings. Rossi, who will face OBrien in a primary Sept. 12, questioned discrepancies between two mailings sent out by the OBrien campaign. One, a drop-off flyer that OBrien said was created months ago, says the mayors administration created thousands of jobs while the second, a mailer sent out within the past week, says OBriens economic plan has created hundreds of good-paying local jobs. Speaking about the two mailings at Monday nights City Council meeting, Rossi asked, Which is it? Is it hundreds or is it thousands? Speaking again about it on Wednesday, she said the mayor should explain the discrepancy. I dont know where hes getting his numbers, but my point is this: If six weeks ago I told you I created thousands of jobs ... and now I tell you I created hundreds of jobs, which is it and where are you getting your numbers from? Rossi asked. She added, and why is there a discrepancy between the two? Rossi said she believes that when the mayors campaign began to get splashback on the thousands of jobs claim, officials made a decision to change it to hundreds, instead although she said she didnt know for sure. OBrien said Wednesday, Im giddy that she brought it up because it gives him a chance to talk about his economic development record. Its thousands of jobs, OBrien said. The Haven alone is 1,200 jobs, and we have the Atwood, which is an entire city block of retail. He also said that the West Haven High School reconstruction job will provide hundreds of construction jobs and Yale New Haven Health Services Corp.s recent purchase if the 117-acre former Sursum Corda property off Route 34 to build a regional distribution center will create lots of jobs. The arrival of OReillys Auto Parts and expansions under way at MacDermid Enthone and AAIS will bring additional jobs about 50 in the case of AAIS, an environmental remediation company. As for the discrepancy, OBrien said, I think one (the flyer) was done in-house by us months ago and then we decided to tone it down when a mailer was created through the mailing house that we use. But you cant dispute the amount of economic development or the jobs that theyre bringing in and theres lots of jobs, he said. OBriens campaign, meanwhile, aired the complaint of commercial real estate agent Mark Glassman in a press release in which Glassman criticized Rossi for using a picture of his recently sold property as misleading propaganda in a mailer. Rossis campaign sent out a mailing last week that aimed to portray West Haven as economically unsuccessful and used a picture of Glassmans property at 819 Orange Avenue without permission and added a foreclosed sign over it, the press release said. According to Glassman, the property recently sold for $425,000 and the new owners are investing approximately $500,000 to upgrade the building and open a new laundromat for local residents, the release said. I think its wrong for her to use pictures of private property without the owners permission, especially if she is going to lie about them and brand them as unsuccessful, Glassman said in the release. I was proud to sell that property to a company that is going to improve it and its insulting that she would use it as a negative piece for her campaign, he said. I think she owes me and the new owners who are investing in West Haven an apology. OBrien said of the ad, Its unfortunate that Nancy would resort to using a picture of someones property to try to paint a negative picture of West Haven. Mark and the new owners are trying to invest and find success in West Haven and this is not the way they should be treated. Looking at the bigger picture, we all know West Haven needs economic development and my administration has a great record in this area, he said. For our success to continue we need to paint a positive picture of our great city and spreading misinformation about new local businesses is the polar opposite of that. This is just another example of Nancy not knowing the details of what is going on in our city, OBrien said in the release. Rossi responded in writing with a press release of her own, saying, The truth is that West Haven has too many businesses closing and leaving the city. The picture in question depicted one of the too-many vacant buildings across our city. Many long-time businesses have closed or left the city over the last several years, including Bilco, Hallocks, Gold Star Bakery, Auqliera Trucking, and Shop Rite, and it is deeply concerning. West Haven must do a better job of attracting new business and helping existing business expand and succeed, Rossi said. West Haven is simply not flourishing under Mayor OBrien, she said. You cant wait until a month before an election to start pretending that you are attracting businesses and working in West Havens best interest. It insults the intelligence of our residents. The mayors attempts have not worked, and it is time for a change. Mayor OBriens claims about his administrations record on economic development does not match the facts, Rossi said. When he took office (fiscal year 2014) the grand list was $2,822,778,324 and this fiscal year (2018) the grand list is $2,650,190,218, a decrease of $172,588,106. When Mayor OBrien says that he has added $150 million to the grand list and created thousands of jobs, it is a gross misstatement of reality and not truthful, she said. We have hard working and talented commercial real estate agents in the West Haven market, and when elected, my team and I will provide the support and transparency they need to be successful in bringing business to our city, Rossi said. The first goal of my administration will be to balance our budgets and create a culture of fiscal responsibility, which will attract investors, she said. We will be ready to lead on Day One. Charly Boy and his group Charly Boy and co should not inadvertently make themselves political instruments in the hands of the real criminals and mischief-makers...Kennedy Emetelu, here, attempts an analysis on the recent call to bring back Diezani. In my book, Charly Boy and all those who participated in the Resume or Resign campaign, home and abroad, are heroes and patriots, but now Im at a loss over this Bring Back Diezani Alison-Madueke campaign at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters in Abuja. I just dont get it. The more I think about it, the more I suspect that Charly Boy and co are falling for the public objectivity scam where youre criticised for doing something by one interest group and you go out to do another thing to win the sympathy or support of the group that criticised you in order to appear objective. What am I talking about? Those who led the Resume or Resign campaign have been criticised as anti-Buhari, anti-APC, pro-PDP, and all whatnots. But rather than for them to publicly defend their position with information supporting the legality and appropriateness of their action and challenge opposers to public debates to show to Nigerians those truly playing the patriotic role, some of them, led by Charly Boy, are now asking for Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the supposed PDP darling, to be extradited from the United Kingdom in an obvious attempt to appear as objective or even-handed in their protests. They want to show that they are not agents of the PDP. I think theyre trying too hard. In the end, what they are doing is playing politics with activism. I mean, isnt it convenient to see one EFCC official, Emmanuel Aremo addressing the smattering of protesters and promising they would be working to extradite Diezani? More conveniently, there is no tear gassing of any protesters today. Its all Mickey-Mousey stuff, honestly. Of course, if the campaign is generally couched as a protest against the governments less-than-impressive anti-corruption prosecution efforts, that would be fine. But to single out Mrs. Alison-Madueke in the midst of scores of high-profile corruption cases against former and serving public officials, smacks of nothing but desperation. Now, here is the problem with the Bring Back Diezani Alison-Madueke campaign and the difference between it and the Resume or Resign campaign. The Resume or Resign campaign was appropriately directed at the President who was the authority and person in a position to do either of the two things demanded. I have written enough to show that the demand was lawful and legitimate, so I need not get into all that again here. But the Bring Back Diezani protest to EFCC is misdirected. They are protesting to the EFCC when the EFCC has no authority on its own whatsoever in the matter and has another appointee of the administration indicating that they would prefer Diezani to be in London, where the justice administration is likely to work better to convict her. Yes, this is actually the view of Professor Itse Sagay, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption when he criticised the protest at EFCC. According to Sagay: Their demand is not only unrealistic but it is not even being done in good faith. These people are hostile to the anti-corruption struggle and are hoping that if Diezani is brought here, there will be difficulty in getting her convicted. In Nigeria, the Diezani case is so far being fought with more heat than light. We read her statement recently making some claims against the EFCC and some of these claims fundamentally affect the justice of the situation. Basically, shes accused the EFCC of orchestrating a media campaign against her based on lies while circumventing or manipulating the judicial and court processes in Nigeria. I havent seen or read the EFCC response to her, except this continued media claims of the courts making her forfeit this or that property or money where proof has not been made available publicly that she actually owns what is being supposedly seized or forfeited. For me, its not about whether Diezani is guilty or not of all shes being accused of, she might as well be guilty of all and more. What this should be about is justice. Justice must be done and must be seen to have been done. EFCC and all those keen on prosecuting Diezani must come to equity with clean hands. The way I see it, having followed the UK angle to the Diezani affair, I think the UK authorities have realized now that the Nigerian authorities are not very keen on the Diezani matter. They can see this in the shoddy way the EFCC is going about it through its media trial and half-hearted court processes. The initial interest of the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) has since died down once they realized that its all noise from the Nigerian end. For instance, they arrested Diezani in October 2015, seized her passport and confiscated the sum of 27,000 found at her home. At the prompting of the NCA, a UK court in September last year ordered some 10 million assets supposedly belonging to her frozen under the UK Proceeds of Crime Act. Diezani has not said these assets, which include two properties in the UK, do not belong to her. Of course, no criminal charges have been brought against her yet because investigators are yet to make such a case preliminarily through their investigation. Obviously, the UK investigators have to link the proceeds investigated to a crime or crimes committed in Nigeria and/or in the UK. The UK authorities who barred Alison-Madueke from leaving the UK until April last year had hoped to conclude investigations into the case (with the help of the Nigerian authorities) and charge Alison-Madueke before then, but that has not happened because they simply did not get helpful information. Therefore, the question is if the EFCC is so sure of the crime or crimes of Diezani and the government is keen for her to be charged and convicted in the UK, how much help are they offering the UK investigators in this regard? If indeed they are offering that help, by now Diezani would have been charged, but we see nothing indicating that she is going to be charged in the UK. There are conspiracy theories around the fact that the Alison-Maduekes are family friends of the Buharis. It was Muhammadu Buhari that first brought Diezanis husband, then Navy Captain Alison-Madueke into government as the Military Governor of Anambra State in January 1984. He remained in the military and rose to the position of Chief of Naval Staff under General Sani Abacha and shortly after, Buhari served in the same government as head of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). In February last year, Mr. Alison Madueke was reportedly arrested by the EFCC on a charge of laundering more than $600,000 and was released on administrative bail. The case mysteriously died thereafter. Meanwhile, the only substantive case filed last year by the EFCC against Diezani and others, which was a nine-count charge against them at the Federal High Court Abuja concerning the laundering of about $1.6 billion, did not only stall at the court, Diezanis name has since been dropped from the case. So, there are those who strongly believe that this Diezani matter has more to it than meets the eye. Between the EFCC's shoddy prosecution, the reluctance of the administration to ask for her extradition back to Nigeria based apparently on the reasoning of Professor Sagay, and this whole noise about the fight against corruption, the truth is fast being lost. I would, therefore, advise Charly Boy and co to go do their homework first before joining this type of campaign. Extradition is a government to government action and if its going to happen, it is our Ministry of Justice that will be pursuing it, not the EFCC. From all we can see so far, Diezani is under investigation in the UK already and if there is a reason to charge her, they will. What the Charly Boy group should be doing is to first seek information from the Nigerian authorities, if possible through a Freedom of Information application, as to what role the Nigerian authorities are playing over the British investigation of Alison-Madueke. They can also make a Freedom of Information request in the UK through their Information Access Team at the Home Office, which is located at the Ground Floor, Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. Their email address is FOIRequests@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk. Theyd want to find out if there's a live case or investigation still ongoing in the UK on the Diezani matter and if so, what is the stage now and what is the possibility that Mrs. Alison-Madueke will be charged before a UK court? If the answer is that there is no case ongoing in the UK, then what are the Nigerian authorities doing with regard to the actual charges against Alison-Madueke at home? I mean, every day, we hear shes forfeited this or that through some EFCC court process, but we do not know whether in truth these things being ordered forfeited by the courts are actually linked to her. Yes, the EFCC says so but the EFCC has proved to be more a political vehicle than a proper law enforcement and prosecutorial agency. Where is their proof in the face of the documented denials by Mrs. Alison-Madueke? Where is that singular comprehensive criminal case against Mrs. Alison-Madueke in any court of law in Nigeria? They cannot just be running rings round Nigerians and getting people like Charly Boy to be out there with untrusted information. Charly Boy and co should not inadvertently make themselves political instruments in the hands of the real criminals and mischief-makers. If they do their homework and find that it is appropriate to extradite Mrs. Alison-Madueke, they can then take their case to the proper authority, which is the Ministry of Justice, not the EFCC. *********************** GermanysAllianz plans to pay $35 million for 98 per cent stake in Nigerian insurer, Ensure Insurance, in a push for growth in Africa, where many people are uninsured.Foreign insurers are banking on growing premiums as the continent develops its infrastructure and a consumer class demands protection from risk.Eyes Of Lagos report disclosed that Allianz said that it would acquire the stake from UK-based holding company Greenoaks Global Holdings.Ensure Insurance offers life and non-life cover to businesses and retail clients and generated 11 million euros ($13 million) in gross premiums last year.The Allianz group has operations in 16 African countries and views the Ensure acquisition as an opportunity to tap into Nigerias strong demographics and economy.The transaction gives Allianz access to the fifth-largest insurance market in Africa and is in line with our strategy to capture long-term growth opportunities on the continent, said Allianz Africa spokeswoman Bettina Sattler.It is also a market with significant entry barriers, which is another reason why this acquisition is a great opportunity for us. Entering Nigeria with a team that knows the market was essential for us.Allianz expects the acquisition to close this year and said it intends to retain Ensures management team.The German insurer plans to focus on property and casualty insurance, particularly underwriting industrial and speciality risk in the energy sector as well a large complex risks such as infrastructure.In the past two years, we have been quite visible in Nigeria, sharing our risk-management expertise in power, oil and gas, as well as cyber insurance, Sattler said.Now that we have a company locally the retail sector is another growth sector for us.Allianz follows British insurer Prudential which last month bought a majority stake in Nigerias Zenith Life to gain access to the African countrys fast-growing insurance market. Igbo traditional dancers A medical doctor, clinician and researcher in neurocardiology and neuroscience at the International Institutes of Advanced Research and Training has revealed that Igbos are genetically ancient biblical Jews. It could be said that Prof. Philip Chidi Njemanze has encyclopedic knowledge of science and history. Celebral and controversial, he is a medical doctor, clinician and researcher in neurocardiology and neuroscience. In this interview, Njemanze, chairman of the International Institutes of Advanced Research and Training, Chidicon Medical and Diagnostic Center, Owerri, Imo State, made profound revelations about the Igbo, Nigeria and elsewhere. Your book, Igbo Mediators of Yahweh Culture of Life, posits that the architects of ancient civilisations were found in Nigeria, not in the Middle East. I would like to begin this conversation with the question, who are the Igbo? I will begin with an important note to the reader, that the letters of ancient Igbo language also called ancient Hebrew script gave rise to the present-day English consonants but not the vowels. So, we could refit the correct vowels in Igbo language to obtain the correct pronunciation of the words transliterated in English. The word Igbo comes from the words I gbo, meaning to mediate. In Owerri dialect, we say I bo. This is the reason you see both correct spellings Igbo and Ibo, meaning the mediators or priests that mediate between humanity and God for the remission of sins. This can be demonstrated in the words: Holy Bible, which has Igbo etymology (origin), the word Holy (Igbo language: Iho Eli Ya, meaning the Divine Light of the Most High God); and Bible (Igbo language: Ibo Ibe Eli, meaning mediators and witnesses of the Most High God). The Bible was authored by Igbo scribes, prophets and saints in the Old and New Testaments. You said in your book that Igbo people were the ancient Egyptians and ancient Israelites. How is that? The correct historical perspective supported by facts of genetics and ethnolinguistic origins is that the Igbo people were the people of ancient Egypt (Igbo language: Greek: AIgyptos; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at Ose, meaning prays to God and takes advice from the Almighty God; Egypt; Igbo language: A g Ya, a pa at, meaning pray to God and take advice), ruled by the dynastic Pharaohs (Igbo language: efere ha, meaning your worship of the people) who built the Great pyramids (Igbo language: pa Ya Orie ma ide, meaning the carvings of God at the temple of Almighty God like a heap of sand). These ancient pyramids are seen to this day in Igbo land at Nsude, Agbaja, Enugu State and at Eziama, Okigwe, many others are submerged underground. At short periods before 1200 BC and after the Exodus in the 19th Dynasty, the Igbo Egyptians were conquered, enslaved and later expelled by the white people of Turkic origin called the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, the ancestors of the present-day white Egyptians. They later faced invasions by the white Hellenic Greeks and white Romans. I say white Hellenic Greeks because there are the Black Arctic Greeks (Igbo language: Ogo r ike, meaning district of very strong people) with known historical characters like Socrates (Igbo language: isi a kaara at sa, meaning the head that narrates the instructions to the people) and Plato (Igbo language: a pa ilu at, meaning crafts proverbs and instructions). The place Rome (Igbo language: Orie ma, meaning Almighty Gods temple) was the capital city of ancient Italy (Igbo language: itili, meaning dark [people]) of the people called Etruscans (Igbo language: itiri isi oke ana, meaning [people] of dark hair of a great land) with a language called Latin (Igbo language: olu otu ana, meaning language of a united people). The Igbo Egyptians were enslaved in their own land and hence called themselves Hebrew (Igbo language: ha e bu r wa, meaning the people who bear the wickedness of the world) and they called their God, Oseburwa (Igbo language Ose e bu r wa the God that bears the wickedness of the World). The Exodus pushed Igbo people out of Egypt southwards to the land of Canaan (Igbo language: oke Nna, meaning the allotment of the Father) in present-day Nigeria. All major archeologists in the world, including present-day Israeli agree that the Exodus from Egypt to present-day Israel never happened, because no trace has been found. On the contrary, we have documented every step of the Exodus from Egypt to Nigeria. On the journey to Nigeria, they were consecrated as priests and hence were called Igbo, the mediators. When they arrived in Nigeria, a land that was promised by God to their ancestors, they settled as the nation state of ancient Israel (Igbo language: zara Eli, meaning you answered the Most High), which was the other name of the people because of their ancestry from Jacob (Igbo language: Ya a kaa ebe, meaning God bears witness). The word Jew (Igbo language: ji wa, meaning they hold the world) reflected their dominance as the ruling class in the ancient world, particularly, of the people from the tribe of Judah (Igbo language: Ya ode ha, meaning God resounds among the people). The letter J was lately introduced in the past two centuries into English language to replace Y sound in Igbo language. The word YaHWeH (Igbo language: Ya Iho w ihe, meaning God the Divine Light that enlightens) is an Igbo expression about the attributes of God (Igbo language: g D, meaning the Eternal Divine Mercy). The title of the book tells the story of the mediators of God with a Culture of Life. How then did the name Nigeria come in? The name Nigeria comes from the alternative name of Canaan transliterated as consonants N-g-r (Igbo language: Nga Orie, meaning the place of God) or N-g-g-r (Igbo language: Nga g ra, meaning the place of the people of the Divine Mercy). This was vowelised by the British as the Niger. They named the biggest river in this area where the ancient Israelites settled as Niger. The Black people from this area were then called Negro or Nigger. However, the modern full name Nigeria comes from Niger area, which first appeared in an essay written by Miss Flora Shaw, who later became the wife of Lord F. Lugard, who put forward this argument in the Financial Times of London of January 8, 1897 thus: The name Nigeria applying to no other part of Africa may without offence to any neighbours be accepted as co-extensive with the territories over which the Royal Niger Company has extended British influence, and may serve to differentiate them equally from the colonies of Lagos and the Niger Protectorate on the coast and from the French territories of the Upper Niger. Recently, there was a publication with a headline, Igbo not Jews, says DNA report, conducted by the Jewish Voice Ministries at Nnewi. What is your reaction to this declaration? The caption could have been technically correct if it was entitled. Igbo not modern Israeli Jews, reveals DNA report. This is because the modern people of the state of Israel are not the biblical ancient Jews. We should not expect there would be a genetic match of the modern people of the state of Israel with Igbo people who are the authentic ancient Jews. The standard they used to compare the Igbo DNA was the wrong Jewish database. The comparison should have been the other way round, and the conclusion should read that the modern-day people of Israel have no relationship with ancient Jews who are the ancestors of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Let us get to the genetic information In the phylogenetic tree of mtDNA, we find the so-called super groups, which are really only three basic groups. They came from three main female lines, which corroborate the biblical account of only three females that bred supposedly as wives of Shem, Ham and Japheth. These haplogroups are descendants from a single female Supergroup, namely Haplogroup L. This one female line Hg L, which is a Super L, then split into L1, L2 and then L3. The line L3 diverged and from L3 came the other mtDNA mutations N and M. Thus, all females came from one Eve whose mtDNA line was L. The Igbo of Nigeria belong to haplogroup L1, believed to have first appeared approximately 150,c000 to 240, 000 years ago in East Africa. They are the Hebrews of the first of Gods creation from Adam (Igbo language: A daa m, meaning I fell) and Eve (Igbo language: E wo, meaning the body that transforms into another body; or woman; Igbo language: e wo mman, meaning transforms into a human being). The L groups, L1, L2, and L3, are all found in Africa and are the major groups almost exclusively in sub-Saharan West Africa, with L1 predominant in Igbo land, Southeastern Nigeria. The L1, L2 and L3 genes are also referred to as the Nilotic genes, which means genes of people of Igbo and Southern Sudanese extraction that founded the civilisation of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia, along the River Nile (Igbo language: mmiri Niile, meaning all the waters). The only exception is North Africa in Ethiopia where there are large diversities of the mtDNA haplogroups with traceable Igbo origins in diaspora. The Igbo Greek origins also show traces of L1 haplogroup especially in Greek Macedonia. The genetic analysis is the basis for the Out of Africa Theory of migration of modern humans. On the basis of modern genetics, only the Igbo of Nigeria can be the Hebrews of ancient Israel! It must be underscored that there are significant gene flows of a common heritage between Nigerian tribes especially the Igbo-Yoruba. In fact, the word Yoruba (Igbo language: oyiri ibo, meaning they look like the mediators) underscores the genetic similarity, which is up to 99%. The European genes haplogroups N, M are mutations of the L3 gene of the majority of the people living in present-day Israel, have no traceable origins in ancient Israel. In fact, the white skin evolved only 6000-7000 years, so the white Europeans did not play a significant role in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Israel, and Babylon until late towards the beginning of the first century AD. 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 ... IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised by a pan-igbo group to kill its plan to re-arrest Nnamdi Kanu as it would only result in more chaos. A pan-Igbo group, Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF), has said if President Muhhammadu Buhari goes ahead with moves to re-arrest leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, he will only end up having more headaches. The group thus warned Buhari to desist from the such thought. According to the group, instead of planning the re-arrest, Buhari should use the energy to concentrate on creating an enabling environment for the various nationalities to come together and decide the way forward for the country. In a statement signed by the groups President, Prof. Uzodinma Nwala, and Secretary, Prof. Nath Aniekwu, they reminded President Buhari that Kanu is a prisoner of conscience. Nigeria is now swarming with many people like him. For the avoidance of doubt, this type of attitude of creating two kinds of citizens; those above the law (Arewa youths) and others, those who will be blackmailed by punishment of the law, even when they commit no offense (IPOB), is one of the factors which fuel most of the agitations all over the country. Mr. President, Nigeria has never been as divided as this; except during the civil war (1967-70). You need, therefore, to rethink your strategy in order to avert unnecessary tension in this polity. Nigerias unity is negotiable, thats all that Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB are pointing at. The situation, therefore, needs redressing. Nobody is a slave in this country. If there is no law obliterating divorce in Nigeria, it is ironical to think that by mere wishful thinking Nigeria will remain as it were a model of abusive marriage. In their statement on June 27th, the Arewa youths had given the Igbo ultimatum to leave Northern Nigeria latest by October 1, 2017. Many people regarded their action as treasonable and a threat of genocide. Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai and Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris declared that they should be arrested. They were not arrested. Rather, what we heard were statements from some Arewa leaders supporting their action. One such leader is Prof. Ango Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; consequently, the Arewa youths continued in their belligerent threats and mocked the arrest orders. President Buhari, who returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after 104 days in Britain, where he received treatment for undisclosed ailment, in his very short and pointed speech, did not address the quit notice to Ndigbo by Arewa youths; nor did he condemn the virulent Hausa hate songs being circulated as a mass mobilization tool for the looming genocide against Ndigbo. Rather, president Buhari, in his maiden address declared war on IPOB and Boko Haram, thereby equating the two as terrorist organisations. It was as if the president was brought back to declare war on IPOB, Kanu and Ndi-Igbo Britain will give Nigeria aid worth 200 million over five years to help it cope with the brutal insurgency being waged by Boko Haram jihadists, the foreign ministry in London said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Boris Johnson visited Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State and epicentre of the Boko Haram organisation, to meet some of those involved in the fight.The Islamist militant group has increasingly used child suicide bombers and targeted civilians in its eight-year insurgency which have left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million.In Maiduguri, I met casualties of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and saw for myself the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created, Johnson said in a statement.The 200 million ($260 million, 220 million euros) will help supply food to 1.5 million people facing famine as a result of the bloody insurgency while providing treatment for 120,000 children at risk of malnutrition and assisting 100,000 children with educational needs.British military teams will also continue to help prepare Abujas security forces for counter-insurgency operations, having already helped to train 28,500 Nigerian personnel.The uprising by Boko Haram, which is seeking to impose hardline Islamic law in Nigerias mainly Muslim north, has included a campaign of civilian kidnappings.More than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram from their school in the remote town of Chibok in April 2014.A total of 106 of the kidnapped girls have been released, rescued or escaped after more than three years in captivity, while 113 are still being held. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has stated that the mandate given to him by Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari is to ensure that the entire country is connected by rail.Amaechi made this declaration when he delivered a keynote address at the 2017 15th National Council on Transportation, in Sokoto yesterday.The President called two of us, myself and my Colleagues in the Ministry of Works and Power Babatunde Fashola and told me specifically that I must ensure that the 36 States including Abuja are connected by rail, he said.The Honourable Minister said that the ongoing rail projects in the Country will create employment opportunity for the teaming youths stating that to grow the economy effectively and efficiently, the railway must be developed.He disclosed that the Federal Government is on the verge of signing a contract agreement with General Electric for the rehabilitation of the rail line across the country to ensure they are put to use in the very shortest time saying that Government has ordered more Locomotives for the Standard Gauge rail lines.He stated further that the President has given approval for the construction of Abuja-Itakpe rail line and at the same time preparing to commence commercial activity on the Ajaokuta-Warri line which will be completed in June 2018.Chibuike Amaechi in emphasising the importance of the National Council on Transportation said aside being the highest Policy Advisory body on all transport matters in the nation, the council sets the policy Agenda and provides the regulatory framework for the development of the Nigerian Transport sector.He added that the theme for this year National Council Efficiency of Intermodalism in Transportation: Panacea for Economic Recovery was apt as it is consistent with the determination of the Present Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to diversify and stabilise the economy.The Minister disclosed that the Ministry of Transportation has revived the erstwhileTransport Sector Reform Bills in the National Assembly which objective is to break the Federal Governments monopoly in the transportation sector and open it for Private Sector and other tiers of Government participation. In this way he said, Government will now be left to focus on technical and economic regulations of the sector.Earlier the Honourable Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika represented by the Permanent Secretary Sabiu Zakari in his Address emphasised the need for every sector of the economy to operate efficiently for the recovery of the nations economy given that the falling price of oil which is the main stay of the economy has led to the decline in Government revenue and is impacting negatively on the economy.He disclosed that in preparation for an efficient inter-modal transport system, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved a robust Roadmap for the Aviation sub-sector. According to him, the road map which include Airport Concession, establishment of National Carrier, establishment of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, Development of Agro-allied Cargo Infrastructure, establishment of Aerospace University and establishment of Aerotropolis cities through PPP is intended to address some of the infrastructural gaps and challenges with a view to providing long-term solutions.In their contributions, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto Alh. (Dr.) Muhammad Saad Abubakar reiterated the need for the Federal Government to connect the State with rail line in the shortest possible time.However, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto stated that the responsibility of road construction and maintenance in all designated Federal and States Roads ought o be under the Ministry of Transportation. In this way, according to him, all bottleneck and official diplomacy associated with road construction and maintenance between the Federal and State Governments in the country will be completely eliminated, and the benefits will be to the advantages of the citizenry. The Ilado farm of the Former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) Chief Olu Falae near Akure, the Ondo state capital was again Wedne... The Ilado farm of the Former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) Chief Olu Falae near Akure, the Ondo state capital was again Wednesday reportedly attacked by suspected hoodlums suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.Sources said crops worth millions of Naira were destroyed in the process of grazing their cattle.The Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin told reporters in Akure after the monthly meeting of the association, held at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.The Personal Assistant (PA) to Chief Falae, Captain Moshood Raji (rtd.) confirmed the incident, saying many crops were destroyed by the hoodlums.According to him, it was the police escorts of the elder statesman who shot sporadically into the air that sent the herdsmen out of the farm.He said they attacked Falaes farm and destroyed the crops,adding that they had immediately reported the incident to the police.Odumakin,in a communique he read after the meeting accused the Federal Government of showing no concern at the incessant attacks of the Fulani herdsmen on the people of the South-West and Middle-Belt.He expressed worry over the renewed onslaught of Fulani herdsmen in Yoruba land.His words Recently, a Permanent Secretary of Osun origin, Mrs. Funke Kolawole was killed on Okene-Lokoja road on her way to Abuja.Also, another 72-year-old woman was recently gang-raped in Odigbo area of Ondo State and the hoodlums are yet to be brought to book and of course Chief Olu Falaye whose farm has become a source of attacks by the Fulani herdsmen.It urged the governors in the South-West to emulate the Ekiti State Government, stressing that they should put in place appropriate laws to deal with the activities of the herdsmen in the region. The number of Nigerian pilgrims who have died at the current Hajj exercise has risen from five to seven, officials have stated. The number of Nigerian pilgrims who have died at the current Hajj exercise has risen from five to seven, officials have stated. The Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, Abdullahi Mohammed, disclosed this in an interview with journalists at Mount Arafat, Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Mr. Mohammed had earlier on Tuesday at the pre-Arafat meeting with Hajj stakeholders announced the death of five Nigerian pilgrims. Though, the identities of the dead pilgrims were not disclosed, the chairman said the pilgrims were from Kwara, Kogi, Katsina and Kaduna states and had died due to natural illness. We have lost seven pilgrims due to natural illness. Male and female, particularly from Kwara, Kogi, Katsina, Kaduna. No single accident recorded this year. All pilgrims were evacuated in good time. We will have to say that, so far so good. Even the mortality recorded this year is the lowest in the last 10 to 15 years. We pray that will be the end of any mortality that we are going to record, he stated. He expressed optimism that the movement to Mustalifah, back to the pilgrims tents and the observation of stoning of the Jamarat will also be well coordinated, peaceful and that the pilgrims will finish their Hajj rites safely. Importantly, the commission has introduced an emergency call centre. We have officers who man that call centre 24 hours. So, any pilgrims under any distress situation should call this number 90008251, 920008251, he said. He said the commission has a robust, effective and well-coordinated medical team with ambulances stationed in various medical camps to attend to emergency needs of pilgrims. He said the commission was also coordinating well with the state officials to attend to the needs of the pilgrims. He expressed satisfaction over the hitch-free movement of pilgrims from Makkah to Muna and to Arafat. Climbing the Mount Arafat is a fundamental aspect of the Hajj rites. Anybody who knows what Hajj used to be in the past, for you to move from Makkah to Muna, minimum you need is about eight hours, because of the traffic and the confusion. For you to move from Muna to Arafat, you need nothing less than four to five hours because of the congestion and the confusion. But now, it takes only 10-15 minutes, maximum of 20 minutes, you arrive at your destination, Mr. Mohammed said. So, actually, the Saudi system is working perfectly. But, just like any other human endeavour, there is always room for improvement. We hope, the authorities, despite the successes recorded they will try to meet up, especially the turnaround time of the vehicles, he added. He said the return of pilgrims to Nigeria will commence on September 7, stressing that the commission will maintain the first in first out policy, except for those under emergency. Oyo State government has said former Governor and Osi Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has not communicated his rejection of the... Oyo State government has said former Governor and Osi Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has not communicated his rejection of the obaship conferred on him. Ladoja yesterday declared that the state governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi has shown that he was the prime target of the review of Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration. Ladoja noted that by asking him to either join in the mockery of obaship or agree to be made a government-appointed oba or forfeit his right to the throne, Ajimobi has openly demonstrated that he was the target. Ladoja through his media aide, Alhaji Lanre Latinwo, said he remained the Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland and would neither agree to being a government-appointed oba with no domain, chiefs and subjects nor support attempt at desecrating the Olubadan throne. The former governor said thousands of Ajimobi cant stop Ladoja from becoming the Olubadan if it is the will of God, and that he should stop playing God. High Chief Ladoja believes that only God chooses the Olubadan as clearly demonstrated in the divine enthroned of the current Olubadan, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who was three steps to the throne. May God lengthen the years and reign of Oba Adetunji in sound health. We will like to make it clear that thousands of Ajimobi cant stop Ladoja from becoming the Olubadan if it is the will of God. Reacting, the Oyo government insisted it was unaware of Ladojas position. Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Bimbo Kolade, spoke at a media briefing at the Film Theatre of the Ministry of Information, Agodi secretariat in Ibadan, the state capital. Kolade said Ladoja only said he would not be available to receive the crown at the event. The commissioner explained that based on the reason, his beaded-crown would be kept until he is available to receive it. A 25-year-old man, Mustakeem Ahmad killed his colleague from Myanmar for allegedly introducing him to smoking that led to throat cancer... A 25-year-old man, Mustakeem Ahmad killed his colleague from Myanmar for allegedly introducing him to smoking that led to throat cancer later.Ahmad, a cook at a west Delhi restaurant shot his colleague on Thursday and was arrested on Friday.The unforgiving cancer patient told his interrogators that he was so consumed with hate towards the victim that he purchased a pistol and practiced firing to ensure that he did not miss his target.The victim, 25-year-old Inayat, had been working as a cook at a restaurant in Uttam Nagar, Delhi in India for the last 18 months. Ahmad too had been offered a chefs job at the restaurant that was owned by Ahmads brother-in-law, Hindustani Times reported.Though Ahmad and Inayat were friends at the workplace, Inayat was reportedly better at his job and well-behaved and soon became the favourite of the restaurant owner, said Shibesh Singh, DCP (southwest). This frustrated Ahmad and he developed an enmity against Inayat.In the meantime, Ahmad began smoking cigarettes and took to marijuana, allegedly under the influence of Inayat. In the course of time, Ahmad developed throat infection, forcing him to consult a doctor. Ahmad has claimed that the doctor told him he had developed throat cancer due to excessive smoking, said the DCP.Ahmad later blamed Inayat for getting him addicted to smoking that later led to his cancer. Amid all this, Ahmads work quality deteriorated and he was removed from his job.A frustrated Ahmad then went back to his native village in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh and procured a country-made pistol and some cartridges. He first practiced firing in his village, before returning to Delhi a few days ago, said the DCP.Ahmad first visited the restaurant on Thursday morning and asked his brother-in-law to sack Inayat. But his brother-in-law refused to do so.He was carrying his loaded pistol to the restaurant and had planned to kill Inayat if he failed to get him fired from the job. That is what eventually happened. Ahmad ended up picking a fight with Inayat. He later shot at him in the middle of the argument, said an investigator.Inayat was later rushed to a hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries. Ahmad fled the murder spot, said police.A police team soon launched a technical surveillance on Ahmad. Later, an informer told police on Friday that Ahmad was set to visit a relative in Uttam Nagar to take some money before fleeing the city. A police team laid a trap and nabbed him after a chase. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the claim by Amnesty International (AI) that hundreds of people are be... The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the claim by Amnesty International (AI) that hundreds of people are being held in secret detention facilities in Nigeria as untrue. Mohammed stated this yesterday in a swift reaction to the said AIs report. According to him, if there were such facilities, he would be aware of such. The Minister told journalists: I should know if such a thing exists. This government is not in the least repressive, this government is tolerant of all views. It is a big shame if an organisation like Amnesty International will cook up this kind of story. "I should know. Who are the dissidents that are being kept in an unknown place? I should know. I face a lot of criticism, I face a lot of attack. Who are the dissidents that are being detained there? It is certainly untrue, let them come out with facts and should stop relying on hear-say and some so-called NGOs. "When they have this kind of story, they should contact the government before they go out to smear the name of the country. They should know that at Amnesty International, people take them seriously. Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has called on Muslim faithful to use the occasion of Eid-el-Kabir to pray for peace, unity and the stability of the state and country as a whole.The governor made the call in a statement signed by Mr Sola Fasure, his media aide on Thursday in Osogbo.The governor also called on Nigerians to join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari in his determination to build a peaceful and harmonious country.He urged adherents of Islam to imbibe the lessons of commitment, dedication and obedience to higher authority as demonstrated by Prophet Ibraheems willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to the will of God, which the Eid-El-Kabir commemorates.We should use this occasion to offer prayers to God for peaceful co-existence among different ethno-religious groups in the country.The celebration of this years Eid-el-Kabir must draw us closer to God than ever before.We should all strive to avoid negative tendencies which could further compound our fragile socio-political and economic conditions to the limit.We should stop the prevalence of hate speeches in the country and divisive acts and utterances that are threat to the corporate existence of the country.As Muslims, we are not to judge our fellow man. We should leave judgment to God who created us all.Why must people kill in the name of God? Why must people act God? Why must they preempt what their creator will do?Muslims must be tolerant, trustworthy, dependable and peace-loving wherever he lives.People must put an end to violence, killing and mindless bloodletting all in the name of religions, Aregbesola said.He advised Muslims to embrace peace and coexist peaceably amongst themselves wherever they reside.The Governor, therefore, wished Muslim faithful Happy Eid-el-Kabir.He said all tiers of government should continue to foster peaceful coexistence, national cohesion and stability towards actualising the full potential of Nigeria. A Niger Delta Group under the aegies of the Foundation For Human Rights And Anti-Corruption Crusade, FHRACC, has warned that any moves by t... A Niger Delta Group under the aegies of the Foundation For Human Rights And Anti-Corruption Crusade, FHRACC, has warned that any moves by the Federal Government of Nigeria to re-arrest the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will not only be counter productive but will jeopardize the existing fragile peace in the country. Any moves to arrest him will not only be counter productive but it will also jeopardize the existing fragile unity of the country. The group called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to jettison the planned re-arrest of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the sake of peaceful co-existence of the country. The group lambasted the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN for saying that the Federal Government failed to arrest Shettima and his group of Arewa Youths because of security reasons. They said the statement made by the AGF was a flimsy excuse which exposed the fact that the southerners are no longer safe in the North as a result of the invidious quit notice handed down by the Arewa youths. The excuse given by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, that the Federal Government failed to arrest Shettimah and his group of northern delinquents because of security reasons is most disappointing. They argued that, the reason cannot hold water if the AGF failed to appreciate the fact that the Federal Government is stronger than any individual or group of persons in Nigeria. Niger Delta people viewed the excuse of the Government which hitherto threatened to deal with hate speech perpetrators as a deliberate move to protect the northern coalition. We can now believed that in this Country, some persons are above are the law. When Nigerian government become a toothless bulldog to its citizenry? Does it mean that these groups of delinquents can even wage war against the federation and Nigeria will fold its arms because they are powerful? Is it not this same Government that hurriedly filed action in court to re-arrest Nnamdi Kanu for allegedly breaching his bail conditions? Is it not the same Government that is witch hunting the peace-loving Government Ekpemupolo even without committing any crime? Is it not this Government that has been invading Gbaramatu Kingdom at will for no justifiable reason? Is it not this same Government that kidnapped Ijaw human rights activists and other prominent stakeholders in the Niger Delta struggle such as Com. Daniel Ezekiel, Bonny Gawei and many others without being tried for any known offense and their whereabouts not known to anybody? Is Malami telling Nigerians that there is no security risk when it comes to southern Nigerians? Now we know the reason for the selective prosecution of perceived enemies of the Government. The group also called on the Federal Government to immediately release all the Ijaw prisoners of conscience in its custody. The group stated that there is no justification for the Government to keep Niger Deltans incarcerated in its custody without being tried for any known offense, while some law breakers are given royal treatments. The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has urged the governors in the South-West to emulate the Ekiti State Government by putting ... The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has urged the governors in the South-West to emulate the Ekiti State Government by putting in place appropriate laws to deal with the activities of the herdsmen in the region Publicity Secretary of the group, Yinka Odumakin, stated this while addressing reporters in Akure after the monthly meeting of the association held at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti. Odumakin, in a communique he read after the meeting, accused the Federal Government of showing no concern at the incessant attacks of the Fulani herdsmen on the people of the South-West and Middle-Belt. He expressed worry over the renewed onslaught of Fulani herdsmen in Yoruba land. His words: Recently, a Permanent Secretary of Osun origin, Mrs. Funke Kolawole was killed on Okene-Lokoja road on her way to Abuja. Also, another 72-year-old woman was recently gang-raped in Odigbo area of Ondo State and the hoodlums are yet to be brought to book and of course Chief Olu Falaye, whose farm has become a source of attacks by the Fulani herdsmen. Its high time all the governors in the South-West emulated the Ekiti State Government by putting in place appropriate laws to deal with the activities of the herdsmen in the region. Thousands cheered as President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday arrived in Daura, Katsina State. It was his first home coming after returning from the United Kingdom (UK) on August 19.The Presidents plane landed at the Umaru Musa YarAdua Airport in Nigeria Air Force Plane 001 around 4:03 p.m.He was received on arrival by Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, Emir of Katsina and other top government officials.A chopper immediately took him to his home town, Daura.The President, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, was received at the helipad by the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk and abandoned the motorcade as a large number of people had already gathered around the helipad, snaking all the way to his house.An elated crowd cheered as the President walked home, screaming baba ya da wo, baba oyoyo, meaning baba is back, welcome home.Buhari looked much radiant and smiled as he waved to the mammoth crowd.The President will be spending time with his family during the Eid-el-Kabir. The Defence authorities have denied the claim that the military is monitoring hate campaigners with the aim of arresting them, saying it does not have the powers to arrest Nigerians for such infraction.The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, who said this while featuring on Sunrise Daily on Channels Television on Wednesday, added that the military had no information about where Boko Haram insurgents were keeping the remaining Chibok girls.He explained that the military would only monitor the social media to sheave out information that could be useful for the planning of its operations.When asked to respond to the accusation that the military was planning to arrest hate campaigners, he said, There was nothing like that. We do not have power to arrest people for hate speeches. It is just false assertion, against the military, and against my humble self that I said that we will be arresting people or checkmating people.The military is not going to be monitoring hate speeches. Did I tell you hate speech in your recordings? We have a strategic media centre, our strategic media centre monitors the media, simple. And it is like that all over the world. And we take that because it helps us to transform the nature of the intelligence to enable us to prepare for whatever call up we get to ensure security in this country.Let me tell you and tell the public without fear of anybody; we are trained to do threat analysis of anything that would threaten the security of this country. So, it is part of our threat analysis. Any person can interpret it to mean that it is a follow up to the speech of the Vice-President (Yemi Osinbajo), the then Acting President and then the minister of interior; then that person can be right. Where do we take instruction from, where do we get information from? But on the whole, it is part of what is called threat analysis.When asked whether the military had information on where the leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, may have been hiding and where the remaining Chibok girls could be, Enenche said, No (intelligence about the location of the remaining Chibok girls.) Well, if you are talking about a Shekau which we have always referred to because there have been so many Shekaus, and I believe that there will be more Shekaus. Shekau is a synonym as far as I am concerned, and Shekau has become a big name like we use to have Bruce Lee, James Bond in those days.So to talk about a definite intelligence or location of a Shekau, I dont think is necessary. But what we are bound to do and committed to do is that anywhere there is any Shekau, we will always knock him off.You will agree with me that within this period that was given, well, you may not have got that information, but there was something about somebody somewhere around a location in Sambisa somewhere and the Air Force went and neutralised the whole place. And after the battle impact assessment, the whole place was finished.So, if there was a Shekau according to that information we got that went into hiding in that place, then that one must have been neutralised. And I wont be surprised to hear that another Shekau is somewhere.I dont expect you to put words into my mouth that I will tell you categorically a Shekau or the Shekau that you know very well has been neutralised. All I have told you is that there have been several Shekaus, there have been several instances, over five times and we will continue to knock out any Shekau that comes on stream. That is what I still stand on that.Meanwhile, the military has identified a Boko Haram commander, who allegedly masterminded the abduction of the members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations exploration team in Borno State.The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafia Dole, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, who disclosed this at a press conference in Maiduguri on Wednesday, identified the suspect as Abor Mainok.At the press conference on Wednesday, Attahiru stated that on August 8, 2017, troops of the Operation Lafia Dole arrested a sect member, Bako Umar (a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim) at Tasha Kano Motor Park, Maiduguri.He said, Umar is now also cooperating with our investigation team and giving useful information on Abor Mainok, the suspected mastermind of the ambush of the NNPC exploration team. We are factoring all the information from the investigations into ongoing operations.Attahiru also said that parents in the area had not stopped donating their children to Boko Haram so that they could be used as suicide bombers.He stated, During the period, two cases of children donated by their parents to BHT for them to be used for suicide missions were recorded.One involved a female named Zainab Abubakar of about 11 years from Geidam who was arrested during a suicide mission in Konduga.The other involved 16-year-old Abba Bor Kura of Sabsawa Village in Bama Local Government Area, who was arrested by the Cameroon Defence Forces along our borders while on a suicide mission and subsequently handed over to our troops. Coming out of the farm crisis of the 1980s, ethanol production was seen as a way to grow rural economies and add value to the crop farmers were producing. National Farmers Union leaders are hoping ethanol can once again pull agriculture out of a slump as the farm organization heads to Capitol Hill to lobby for biofuel use and higher ethanol blends. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson announced the new initiative Wednesday, Aug. 23. The organization hired a full-time lobbyist, Anne Steckel, as biofuel advisor to push the agenda in Washington, D.C. Its not only about advocating, its about educating, Steckel said on a media conference call Wednesday. Johnson said they understand that it will take a significant effort and some time to change policies toward favoring ethanol, and he anticipates opposition from the oil industry. The auto industry, however, may be on their said as car builders work to build more fuel-efficient engines to meet new regulations, Johnson pointed out. Ethanol advocates have been pushing government to get behind higher ethanol blends. While 10 percent ethanol is fairly standard at pumps across America, Farmers Union and others are promoting E30 ethanol as an option for more than just flex-fuel vehicles. Using more ethanol in gasoline and using more corn to make ethanol can help farmers that grow the corn and rural communities that make the ethanol, Johnson said. Were producing more and more corn and we need to find more and more uses for it, he said. Fr. Fred Kammer, S.J., spoke at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church near Covington on "Catholic Social Teaching" and the dignity of work. The next speaker in the series is Martin Gutierrez, who will speak on the issue of immigration on Tuesday Sept. 5 at 7:15 p.m. A dinner is served at 6:45 p.m. 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. CHARLES CITY | Charges are pending in a two-vehicle crash near Charles City Monday evening, according to law enforcement. The Floyd County Sheriff's Office said in a news release the driver of one vehicle, Michelle Pleggenkuhle, 40, of Fredericksburg, was processed for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Charges are pending lab results, according to the sheriff's office. The crash was reported at Highway 218 North and 230th Street near Charles City. Pleggenkuhle was transported to Floyd County Medical Center for treatment of injuries. The driver in the second vehicle, Michael Cash, 69, of Ventura, reported minor injuries. He was not transported. The investigation is ongoing, according to law enforcement. Courtney Fiorini The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts. The study looks at two smaller-scale projects that are in some ways predecessors to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the $2 billion plan to slow land loss erasing Louisiana's coast. Construction on that project could begin as early as next year, while a similar one on the opposite side of the river known as the Mid-Breton Diversion could follow. Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first! We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you. Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers. As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup. We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily. Its been over four centuries since stargazing and space exploration began using some form of telescopic device, and a giant step is less than a year away with the scheduled launch in October 2018 of the James Webb Space Telescope. Named for James Webb, the NASA director from 1961 to 1968, this new introduction into telescopic space observation promises to produce images that are expected to be astounding. As an amateur astronomer, I have always found it interesting to read about some of the optical devices that have come about over the years, starting with an instrument called The Looker back in 1608. During that year, as legend has it, two Dutch kids were playing in the workshop of an eyeglass maker named Hans Lippershey. Putting two of Lippersheys lenses together, they found a weather vane on top of a building across the street looked considerably closer. It was from this discovery that caused Lippershey to place two of the lenses in a tube that he named The Looker. As primitive as it was, it did provide a three-power magnification. From the dawn of humankind to a mere 400 years ago, all that we knew about our universe came through observations with the naked eye. Shortly after hearing about Lippersheys experiment, Italian Galileo Galilei set to work building his own version and, in the fall of 1609, had constructed an Optik Tube providing 20-power magnification. The world was in for a real awakening. That wasnt really that much but, with the 20-power, Galileo was able to discover the four moons orbiting planet Jupiter the moons now referred to as the Galilean moons of Jupiter. In addition, Saturn, we learned, had rings. That nebulous patch across the center of the sky called the Milky Way was not a cloud but a collection of countless stars. Within but a few years, our notion of the natural world would be forever changed. A scientific and societal revolution quickly ensued. From those meager beginnings, telescopes have continued to open our avenues to the universe and the future promises to provide insight into the very beginning of the universe. In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was placed into operation 353 miles above Earth. From that date, more than 150,000 images have been received back and show some really spectacular stuff out there. As mentioned above, the next great step comes in 2018 when NASA, along with its European counterpart, European Space Agency (ESA), plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope (WST) into an orbit nearly 1,000,000 miles from Earth. The WST will have a gigantic mirror measuring more than 330 square feet that will permit the instrument to peer into regions of space never seen before by mankind. There are, however, serious problems to be dealt with when putting an electronic instrument that far away from Earth. According to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the sun, earth and moon all produce heat in the form of infrared radiation. If this IR is not blocked, it will completely disrupt the IR detectors, rendering them useless. One solution that is being contemplated is to protect WST with a huge sunscreen to block the IR radiation. If it is successful, the WST will be in an environment of minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit that is ideal to record the faint images that are waiting to be discovered. A West Highland white terrier lost in Gretna, Nebraska has found his way back home to his family in Colorado, and his owners say its due in large part to the kindness of the local community. Im still just in shock of the number of people who turned out to help us, Heather Henderson said. I just dont think that would have happened in Denver. Miles, a 6-year-old terrier, escaped from Heathers parents home in Gretna on Aug. 10 when Heathers mom opened the door to accept a package delivery. The terrier had been staying with her parents while Heather and her husband, Derek, participated in a bike race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This was not the first time Miles had run away, so while I was pretty upset, I just kept thinking, Hell come back, Heather said. When he had not returned the following day, a neighbor posted that Miles was missing on the Lost Pets of Omaha page on Facebook. Volunteers began hanging posters and reporting sightings. After their race, the Hendersons drove to Gretna on Aug. 15 to search for Miles themselves. The couple worked with a professional pet tracker and her trained dogs, making their way all over the area but without success. The Hendersons needed to return to Colorado on Aug. 19, but they wanted to search a little more first. With just an hour before they had planned to leave, they received a call that Miles had been spotted on the east side of Wehrspann Lake. Heather walked down a path toward the lake, where she saw a small white head in the water. Heather had Derek bike around the lake to intercept Miles on the other side while she hollered at kayakers on the lake to grab the dog. All I knew was that Miles was swimming away from me, Heather said. I couldnt even tell if the kayakers could hear me. As it turned out, the kayakers noticed the little white dog struggling out in the lake and were able to save him. Spike Jones and his wife, Annette, brought Miles to the shore where Heather could meet them. Now back home in Colorado, Miles seems completely unscathed by his adventure, Heather said. After nine days on his own, Miles was unharmed other than having a few ticks and needing to have his fur shaved by the dog groomer. Hes fine. Its like nothing happened for him, Heather said. But one thing will change: Miles just got a new collar with GPS tracking. WASHINGTON Houstons population is growing quickly, but when Harvey hit last weekend there were far fewer homes and other properties in the area with flood insurance than just five years ago, according to an Associated Press investigation. The sharp, 9 percent drop in coverage means many residents fleeing Harveys floodwaters have no financial backup to fix up their homes and will have to draw on savings or go into debt or perhaps be forced to sell. Houstons Harris County has 25,000 fewer flood-insured properties than it did in 2012, according to a review of Federal Emergency Management Agency data. In percentage terms, the drop was even more dramatic in certain sections of the county: In Pasadena, just southeast of Houston, policies were down nearly 20 percent. Baytown, east of Houston, saw a 22 percent drop. A former head of the federal flood insurance program called the drops unbelievable, and criticized FEMA, the agency overseeing the program. When you start to see policies drop like this, FEMA should have done something about this, said Robert Hunter, who ran the program in the late 70s. He estimates that fewer than two of 10 homeowners with flood damage have flood insurance. FEMAs director, Brock Long, said he was uncertain what was driving the drop in insurance coverage in Houston. He said storm victims who have lost their homes and are uninsured could seek assistance through the Small Business Administration, which offers loans. Experts point to a mix of reasons for Houston-area residents deciding to drop coverage but lack of fear was a big one. The last big flood, Tropical Storm Allison, was 16 years ago, and people stopped worrying and wanted money they would have spent for insurance premiums for other items. The average cost for premiums in Harris County increased from $514 per year in 2012 to $555 annually this year, an increase of 8 percent, according to FEMA data. Jesse Trubia, president of a metal fabrication company, decided to pass on flood insurance when he moved to his two-story home on the outskirts of Houston several years ago. That decision will now cost him up to $30,000, he estimated. Up to one foot of water seeped into his home in Cypress. In total, Harris County residents were paying premiums on nearly 250,000 flood insurance policies in June, down from almost 275,000 policies at the end of 2012. There were roughly 1.75 million housing units in Harris County, but that includes apartment and condominium buildings, making it an imperfect figure to try to calculate what overall percentage of families are covered by flood insurance. The number of policies in Houston itself fell from 133,000 to 119,000, an 11 percent drop roughly in line with the trend nationally. Over the same period, the number of flood policies across the U.S. dropped 10 percent, to 4.9 million. Jiles Daniels, a retired oil company manager, never wavered when he bought flood insurance on both his homes: one in Houston and another on an island near Cleveland, northeast of Houston. The cost is considerable about $1,800 a year in premiums for the two houses combined but he thinks its worth it. The lower level of his island house went about four feet under water, he estimates, though his city home had been spared so far. Under current rules, most homeowners with mortgages living in high risk areas for flooding, called Special Flood Hazard Zones, must buy flood insurance. Most of the Houston area falls outside those most vulnerable zones, and many homeowners who arent forced to have coverage have decided to do without. One problem with the flood risk maps highlighted by Tropical Storm Harvey: They dont take into account the risk of flooding from overcapacity drainage sewers and ditches or from water flowing toward a sewer or bayou. More than half of the flooding in Harris County over the years has been due to such problems. For Ronnie Walsh, 45, flood insurance was out of the question. He was laid off from a factory job in June and even before that money was tight. On Monday, Walsh was evacuated from his east Houston home by rescuers in helicopters after water started seeping into the house. He and his two sons, ages 4 and 6, had just a few bags of belongings with them when they arrived at a downtown convention center. They spent the night on flattened boxes, wondering how much damage their house sustained. He fears everything is gone. Condon and Sweet reported from New York, and Donn from Plymouth, Massachusetts. AP writer Matt Sedensky in Houston and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this reporting. The search is on for the next chief administrator of Green Hills Area Education Agency. Lane Plugge, the current administrator, has indicated that he does not plan to renew his contract when it expires next year. He will stay one month beyond the end of the fiscal year and retire on July 31, 2018. Its my 44th year (in education), he said Wednesday. I think its about time. Plugge, previously superintendent of Iowa City schools, started at Green Hills on July 1, 2010 just after the Iowa Department of Education reorganized the area education agencies and merged AEAs 13 and 14. He oversaw the dissolution of the Farragut and Clearfield districts and merging of a few others. The board has engaged Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids to lead the hunt for Plugges successor. The firm also recently found Council Bluffs new superintendent, and it is leading the renewed search to replace Omahas superintendent as well. The new Green Hills chief administrator will manage a 15-county region of 51 school districts with 44,000 students served by 3,900 teachers and administrators, according to state figures. In terms of geographic area, the region is as large as the state of New Jersey, Plugge said. Plugges successor will face a variety of challenges, said Dick Christie, lead consultant in the search for Ray and Associates and former superintendent of Council Bluffs Community Schools. Christie is also the executive director of the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium. The new chief administrator will need to be able to relate to school officials in both rural and urban districts and understand their needs, he said. Because of the distances involved, the person in that position wont always be able to meet with people face to face. The new person will likely face some financial challenges as well, Christie said. Certainly, Iowas in a financial pinch, he said. The administrator will need to be able to advocate for schools on at least the state level, he said. On the other hand, the chief administrator will have an opportunity to make a difference in the quality of education in a substantial portion of the state, Christie said. In Iowa, we have an area education agency system that provides support to all sizes of districts, he said. That gives small school districts access to some of the same expertise large districts have, Christie said. Ray and Associates conducted an email survey of Green Hills staff, board members and superintendents throughout the region on what qualities are most important in a chief administrator, Christie said. Beginning today, the desired characteristics will be disseminated along with other information about the opening. About 84 percent of those contacted completed the survey, according to the search firm. On Tuesday, board members held a special meeting to review the results and choose the qualities they felt were most critical, including strong leadership skills, strong interpersonal and communication skills, among others. And now there are eight. Peter Hutcheson filed nomination papers on Wednesday afternoon, bringing to eight the number of local residents hoping to fill seats on the Council Bluffs City Council. The seats are currently held by Melissa Head and Al Ringgenberg, whose terms expire at the end of the year. Both incumbents are seeking re-election. A native of Council Bluffs, Hutcheson, 27, graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 2008 and went on to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he earned bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and anthropology and a bachelor of science degree in political science. While a student at UI, he spent six months studying political science and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Hutcheson is currently employed by the Omaha National Group, a startup insurance company in Omaha. I want to bring a new perspective to the council, a group that is supposed to be representative of the people who live in Council Bluffs, he said. Younger voters are under-represented on the council. I would hopefully energize younger people to get more involved in the city as a whole and in city government. He said another of his focal points is strategic economic development making sure were smart in how we do development. Council Bluffs, even with all the projects currently underway the West Broadway reconstruction, Rivers Edge Park and the new Police Department headquarters is now a very low-debt city, Hutcheson said. We need to finish the current projects before we take on more. Hutcheson said another of his goals if elected would be to foster increased communication between citizens and government officials, along with better communications between various city departments. Along those lines, he noted that city government should increase its efforts to better inform people what property tax revenues and other city revenues are being used for. If people have a clearer understanding of what their tax dollars are paying for, I think they will be more receptive, Hutcheson said He said another focus would be growing the citys tax base by adding to the Council Bluffs population. Were revitalizing almost everything about Council Bluffs, Hutcheson said. My focus is to get people to come to Council Bluffs because they want to come to Council Bluffs. To that end, we need to better market Council Bluffs and the area to help people understand there are many things that make this a good place to live. Both council incumbents, Ringgenberg and Head, have filed nomination papers for re-election. So, too, have former council member Lynne Branigan and Al Ruby, who sought a council position in 2015. In addition to Hutcheson, first-time candidates Joe DiSalvo, Vergarie Sanford and Mike Wolf have filed nomination papers. Interested residents have until 5 p.m. today to file nomination papers for a City Council seat. A primary election that will reduce the number of City Council candidates to four for the Nov. 7 city election will be held on Oct. 10. After four years on the school board, Jill Ogg-Gress says shes learned the ropes and is ready to help lead the school district through its next chapter. Ogg-Gress, 40, is running for a second term on the Council Bluffs Community School Districts Board of Directors. A Council Bluffs native who attended Walnut Grove Elementary School, St. Albert Catholic School and graduated from Lewis Central High School she said she wants the district to continue to grow. We have a very strong district, and I personally feel like its a model for the entire state, Ogg-Gress said, adding that she looks forward to hearing recommendations from the new superintendent, Vickie Murillo, on how the Council Bluffs schools can get even better. Ogg-Gress said her motivation is to provide that ongoing foundation of support to Murillo and continue to maintain the school boards strong presence in the districts affairs. She said she was a fan of former Superintendent Martha Bruckner, and she believes the current board has come together to make important decisions even occasionally overriding district recommendations. Ogg-Gress who is a family nurse practitioner and teaches full time for Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., through online lecturing said she doesnt approach serving as a school board member with an agenda. She said she and other board members are servants looking out for students best interests. I never really had an agenda when I first ran four years ago, but it has taken me four years just to understand the legislative process and the district process, she said. My personal agenda is to continue to understand where the district needs to go going forward in regard to the challenges that it faces and to continue to participate in the events where were supporting staff and students. Making improvements for change for the better is important I dont want to be a yes, maam person, she noted especially as tough decisions lay ahead as far as the budget is concerned. There will be some difficult decisions that need to be made going forward, despite the districts efforts to cut back and the staffs effort to make changes, Ogg-Gress said. It is going to take a community effort. One area she wont want to cut, though, is the districts arts program. Im not a fan of cutting programs, she said. We have a very strong foundation in our arts program, and I think we need to continue that. OSAGE | An Osage man was placed on probation for five years after pleading guilty to enticing a minor under 16. Dakota James Kyle Schulz, 22, was also given a deferred judgment and a $750 fine, which was suspended. In April, Schulz was accused of sending a text message to an 11-year-old boy to solicit sex. According to court documents, Schulz told officers that he believed the victim to be 13-years-old, and asked him if "he was a cop." Courtney Fiorini A pair of studies released last week found safety systems to prevent cars from drifting into another lane or that warn drivers of vehicles in their blind spots are beginning to live up to their potential to significantly reduce crashes. On a less positive note, research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety raises concern that drivers may be less vigilant when relying on automated safety systems, shut the systems off altogether when the systems remind them of their lack of vigilance or become distracted by dashboard displays that monitor the safety systems. The two institute studies found that vehicles fitted with lane-keeping systems, some of which even nudge the vehicle back into its lane for the driver, and blind-spot monitoring systems had lower crash rates than the same vehicles without the systems. The lane-keeping study looked at police crash data from 25 states between 2009 and 2015 for vehicle models where the systems were sold as optional. The study found that lane-keeping systems lowered rates of single-vehicle, sideswipe and head-on crashes of all severities by 11 percent, and crashes of those types in which there were injuries by 21 percent, the study found. If all passenger vehicles had been equipped with warning systems in 2015, an estimated 85,000 police-reported crashes would have been prevented, the study found. A second institute study of blind-spot detection systems usually warning lights in side mirrors found the systems lower the rate of all lane-change crashes by 14 percent and the rate of such crashes with injuries by 23 percent. The study suggested if all passenger vehicles were equipped with the systems then about 50,000 police-reported crashes a year could be prevented. It should go without saying that the positive effects are attention-grabbing. There is, unfortunately, a downside to the new technology. Greg Brannon, the Automobile Association of Americas director of automotive engineering, told The Associated Press he considered the institutes studies encouraging. But he cautioned that it is critical that drivers understand the capabilities and, more importantly, the limitations of the safety technology in their vehicle before getting behind the wheel. Widespread seat belt usage required state laws mandating their use. Were hopeful convincing drivers to take advantage of newer safety technology wont be as much of an uphill battle. OSAGE | A trial date has been scheduled for a Waterloo man accused of sexually abusing a known child three years ago in Mitchell County. James John VanQuathem, 41, is accused of inappropriately touching a boy and telling him "don't tell anyone," according to court documents. He was arrested July 31 on felony second-degree sexual abuse against a child under 12. His trial has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 29 in Mitchell County District Court. Court documents say the boy was abused in summer 2014, but the incident was not reported until May 2017. Courtney Fiorini OSAGE | A Salt Lake City woman has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay back $19,510 she stole from a couple's First Citizens National Bank account in Osage. Ashley Milissa Smart, 40, was sentenced Aug. 8 in Mitchell County District Court to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine, both of which were suspended. Smart, who will be placed on probation for five years, was ordered to pay $19,510 in restitution. She was accused of obtaining the bank account information through previous employment and using it to pay her bills from July 2016 to January 2017, court documents say. The couple initially reported suspicious transactions and stolen funds in October 2016, according to the Mitchell County Sheriff's Office. In Feb. 2017, the couple reported $1,458 had been stolen from their bank account, with five withdrawals to Progressive Insurance from September 2016 to January 2017. Smart used the funds to pay $3,270 in Capital One credit card charges from July to October 2016, according to law enforcement, and $9,630 to a mobile home management company in West Valley, Utah, from March to October 2016. Smart submitted a guilty plea to an amended felony first-degree theft charge. She faced charges of ongoing criminal conduct and two counts of second degree theft, all of which were dismissed OpenSky reports incentive programs increased by $160 million last year Two leaders of the OpenSky Policy Institute presented an overview of the Nebraska budget and tax policy on Wednesday morning at the North Platte Area Chamber and Development offices. OpenSky is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fiscal research and analysis, according to its website. Executive director Renee Fry and policy director Tiffany Seibert Joekel agreed with the concerns of many Nebraskans that property taxes are the No. 1 issue facing the state. One aspect of the problem concerns tax incentive programs. Tax incentive programs increased $160 million over the prior year, Fry said. The cost to the state was $295 million this year. She said many tax credits continue to be claimed under the Employment and Investment Growth Act, known as LB 775. Nebraska Advantage is now ramping up and so we saw a lot of credits being claimed under it as well, Fry said. When were looking at our receipts, we did see the spike in tax incentives usage really have an effect in our receipts this year. Fry said there will be more talk about the tax incentive programs over the next few years, and there has been concern that Nebraska Advantage, another employment and investment growth law, and LB 775 were not focused on high-wage jobs. She also addressed the continuing population shift to urban areas, which also are receiving much of the benefit of the tax incentive programs. Nebraskas population and I think you are well familiar with this is becoming more concentrated in the most populous counties, Fry said. Mike Jacobson, president and CEO of Nebraskaland National Bank, asked why there is a trend to move to the more populous counties. I think some of it is access to services, Fry said. Jacobson pointed out that similar services are available here. I would argue we have quality health care services and we have quality education, Jacobson said. What were lacking is housing and great jobs. He said more of the best-paying jobs and services are being placed in Lincoln, Omaha, and maybe Grand Island. Why would we expect this to change, Jacobson said. Fry said it was a great question and a question I think really ties into the tax incentive discussion. If you look at where the tax incentives are going, most of them are going to companies in Lincoln and Omaha, Fry said. I would look at LB 775, Jacobson said. My view is that 775 only helped out really the metro areas. Theyre the only ones who saw a benefit and the others barely moved the needle. I dont know how were going to get people to invest out in the 3rd District if we arent going to have incentives that would work that way. On the other hand, Jacobson said, if larger cities are eliminated from incentive programs, all the jobs will go to other states. Joekel spoke about the states general fund budget. This is like the states checking account, Joekel said. It is what the Legislature has the most authority to control how we spend. She pointed out that the largest single spending item in the budget is K-12 education, which represents about 29 percent of the budget. Adding higher education the university system, state colleges and community colleges brings education funding to about 45 percent of the states budget. Joekel said the total general fund budget is $4.3 billion and includes funding for education, services for vulnerable Nebraskans and public safety and law enforcement. We show this to illustrate not only how our tax dollars are spent, but also to show the difficulty that legislators face when they come into a session, as they did last January, facing an $895 million budget shortfall, Joekel said. They have to look at these pieces of the pie and decide where they can make cuts. She indicated all the pieces of the pie are specifically important to specific constituencies. The shortfall was not the Christmas gift they were hoping for, Joekel said. The Legislature had to deal with the shortfall in a number of ways. Some of the biggest reductions were in the university system. Joekel said there was a small 2.1 percent increase for K-12 funding in the budget. We have a state funding formula that takes a look at the resources available to fund schools and the needs of schools, Joekel said. And in this magic box, it kicked out a number that tells us what level we need to fund schools. The formula was allowed to do its work, and the Legislature said it was not a number the state could afford this year. So they tweaked the formula to cut it back significantly, Joekel said. So, while there was still an increase in TEEOSA (Tax Equity and Educational Opportunity Support Act, the states school funding formula) and education, it could not be the increase the formula called for. Joekel went on to talk about what was contributing to the revenue shortfall. Part of what is driving this shortfall is that weve had significantly slow revenue growth over the past two years, Joekel said. So when we talk about the property tax challenges, how do you cut back on (something), because then you have to replace it with something else. Editor's note: Two details were incorrect in an earlier version of this story. A quote from OpenSky executive director Renee Fry should read, "When were looking at our receipts, we did see the spike in tax incentives usage really have an effect in our receipts this year." Also, the story inaccurately reflected a statement by state Sen. Matt Williams during a recent hearing of the Legislature's Planning Committee. In the hearing, he expressed concern that cutting medical provider rates could help accelerate depopulation in rural areas, not that access to services is affecting it right now. PORT ARTHUR, Texas One by one, plucked from the rising floodwaters and shuttled into the cabin of a Nebraska National Guard helicopter, they asked the same question. Where are we going? They were desperate for news, desperate for a safe place to shelter, desperate for some idea of what comes next now that their lives had been upturned by a torrent of floodwaters. At an evacuee center at the Port Arthur Early College High School Wednesday, they sought answers, relatives, a place to charge a phone or a ride to dry ground. A woman was trying to locate her mother. A couple worried about the three pit bulls they had left behind when they were airlifted out. They had thrown open the doors to their house and dumped dog food on the floor and prayed theyd survive. Regina Cornell was trying to make her way to her sister-in-laws house, about 10 minutes away. After that, she has no idea what the coming days and weeks will bring. Her daughters, Ava, 6, and Aveonna, 4, clutched their baby dolls. Cornell made it out with a bag of clothes and a few toys to entertain the girls. Before leaving her house, she placed some family photos high up, hoping theyd stay untouched by the water creeping in. I prayed the water wouldnt get high in my house, but at least I have my children, she said. They were among the dozens rescued Wednesday by a pair of Black Hawk helicopters manned by members of the Nebraska National Guard deployed to aid Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. As Staff Sgt. Ben Mattox lifted Ava onto a seat inside the helicopter, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Although Harvey had weakened by late Wednesday, catastrophic and potentially deadly flooding will continue around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week. Harveys official death toll stood at 23, although officials expect the number of fatalities will climb sharply in coming days as bodies of flood victims are found. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city and spilled into a storm shelter with about 100 people inside. The city is also home to the nations biggest oil refinery, which has been closed by the flooding. The scene in Port Arthur on Wednesday was the most dire the Nebraska contingent had encountered. Storm victims climbed aboard helicopters from apartment complexes and homes swamped with water and from railroad tracks that remained the sole dry stretch of land in a sea of murky brown water. Some were barefoot, clutching canes or backpacks filled with medicine or childrens sippy cups. One Guard helicopter picked up an estimated 150 people. The other rescued 87 people 63 adults and 24 children as well as 17 dogs and two cats. Many expressed gratitude to the Nebraska Guard. At least 37 members of the Nebraska National Guard are on the ground in Texas from units based in Lincoln and Grand Island. Its what I expected, just chaos, and well keep pulling people out until its under control, said 1st Sgt. Ron Schroeder, the senior enlisted soldier on the Guards Texas deployment. This is what I trained my whole life for. Bryce Ceaser, 19, left with his daughter, and just the clothes on his back, his phone and a charger. When the helicopters dropped, they said three more feet of rain was coming, he said. I was going to stay until I heard that. World-Herald staff writer Chris Machian contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Associated Press. Wests Tigers lock Matt Eisenhuth has signed a new two-year deal to remain at Wests Tigers through to the end of 2019. The tireless forward made his NRL debut in Round 15 of the 2017 Telstra Premiership season, eventually earning a starting spot and pushing fellow workhorse Elijah Taylor out of the No.13 jersey. Upon signing his new contract Eisenhuth said it was a simple decision to recommit to the club. "For me, it was a pretty easy decision to extend my time here," Eisenhuth said via a club statement. "This club stood by me and gave me a shot nobody else was and they rewarded me with a debut and constant first-grade, so in my mind, I wasnt looking to go anywhere else. "Its been a long road and Ive had some ups and downs, he said. I think Ive been improving week in and week out, so Im very happy to be here for the next couple of years." Eisenhuth is the second player in as many days to re-sign with the club, with the Tigers announcing vice-captain Taylor had also agreed to a new deal on Wednesday. Taylor signs multi-year deal with Tigers Wests Tigers v Warriors: Schick Preview Try-scoring machines Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr will continue to excite Storms fans for the future, with the pair today re-signing with Storm on long-term deals. Vunivalu will remain in Melbourne until at least the end of 2020 while Addo-Carr will play in purple until at least the end of the 2021 season. Player Comparison Widget [2017] Telstra Premiership: Josh Addo-Carr vs Suliasi Vunivalu Tries, Line Breaks, All Run Metres, Tackle Breaks. Addo-Carr and Vunivalu have scored 41 tries between them this season, including a hat-trick each in last weeks win against the Rabbioths, making them the most dynamic wing pairing in the NRL. Read more at melbournestorm.com.au MASON CITY | Dan Arjes spent his fifth first day of school at Mason City welcoming much smaller students back to class. Among those was a group of kindergartners, who listened intently with a few giggles as Arjes read B.J. Novaks The Book with No Pictures to them Wednesday afternoon. Arjes, previously an associate principal at the high school, took the lead as Roosevelt Elementarys principal July 1. A Delhi native, Arjes initially planned to be an elementary art teacher. I love the creativity and energy that elementary students have, said Arjes, who is in his 13th year as an educator. I also happen to love teaching high school students my first job was teaching high school. He made the switch to administration upon coming to Mason City. Arjes hired as Mason City elementary principal MASON CITY | An associate Mason City High School principal will lead Roosevelt Elementary ne Its all about different challenges I love being a teacher and love being an administrator, Arjes said. I see my role as an administrator in which teachers are my students. Im still serving them and being supportive of them, so they can be the best teachers they can be, he said. The more time he spent in high school administration, the more Arjes said he felt the need to challenge himself professionally by leading his own building. I want to be that decision-maker and that lead person to take the staff in the right direction, Arjes said. He described Roosevelts teaching staff as incredible. Theyre a staff of dedicated, passionate, caring, collaborative and fun professionals that I would put up against any staff anywhere, for level of commitment they have to students, Arjes said. Arjes says his new role is all about taking care of people. Ive always had an open-door policy any way I can help parents, staff and students, my door is open to that, he said. Its a priority of mine. Arjes succeeded Allison Stevenson, who accepted early retirement in 2016-17 after 33 years with the district. OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. The president of Chicagoland-based grocer Jewel-Osco called his company's failed bid to acquire 19 Strack & Van Til stores through a bankruptcy auction "unfortunate." Addressing the Grocery Merchandising Association of Chicagoland at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois on Thursday, Jewel-Osco President Doug Cygan said his company hoped its bid for the Strack & Van Til stores would have been successful. "We were excited and felt it was a good opportunity for us to expand in the market," Cygan said. "It is a big growth area and we felt it was the right time to make that move." Though he did not go into specifics, Cygan said the Federal Trade Commission expressed its concerns to Jewel-Osco regarding multiple Strack & Van Til locations not originally part of his company's purchase plan. At that point, Jewel-Osco believed the deal would not go through, but the company still sees opportunities in the Region. "We're going to go down a different path to see if we can grow a different way," Cygan said. "We are always looking at opportunities to grow," he said. Cygan, a 37-year company veteran who started with Jewel-Osco as a part-time clerk, was named president of company in late April. He replaced Mike Withers, who left the post to take over as executive vice president of retail operations for Jewel's Boise, Idaho-based parent Albertsons Cos. Itasca, Illinois-based Jewel-Osco has 187 Chicago-area stores, which includes four Northwest Indiana locations, including Chesterton, Crown Point, Dyer and Munster. Jewel-Osco fell short in a July bankruptcy auction to buy 19 Strack & Van Til grocery stores. Jewel had submitted a bid of $100 million for those Region locations, including inventory. The Indiana Grocery Group, led by Jeff Strack, whose family co-launched the regional grocer in 1959, was the winning bidder for the Strack & Van Til stores. The Strack-led group submitted a bid for $91.3 million, which included, 17 Strack & Van Til stores; two Town & Country Market stores, one in Portage and the other in Valparaiso; an Ultra Foods in Merrilville; the Strack & Van Til headquarters in Highland and a commissary in Valparaiso. The Indiana Grocery Group's bid also included spending up to $30 million to buy inventory from now former Strack & Van Til parent, Joliet-based Central Grocers, which filed for bankruptcy in May. Central Grocers has since sold its 930,000-square-foot Joliet warehouse to Minnesota-based food distributor Supervalu. Ultra Foods changed the Northwest Indiana grocery landscape when it arrived at the highly trafficked boulevard of Indianapolis Boulevard and Ridge Road in Highland in 1981. Strack & Van Til debuted its discount warehouse concept, which has since become popularized nationally by Costco, Aldi and Sam's Club. The layout was bare, the shelving was spartan, all the items were off-brand and many were sold in bulk. One could buy Wildwood Cola in a vending machine outside for a quarter. The focus was on making everything as cheap as possible: breakfast cereal for instance was sold in plastic bags without the customary cardboard box. The 36-year-old Highland Ultra Foods was the flagship supermarket in a discount chain that once had 15 locations across Northwest Indiana and the Chicago suburbs in Illinois. Today it closed. A total of 139 workers lost their jobs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The supermarket at 8401 Indianapolis Blvd. closed this morning after a liquidation sale cleaned it out. A video posted to Facebook Wednesday showed all the aisles were closed off, the remaining shelves were bare and only baked beans and a few other scant items were left. The Ultra had been selling groceries, wine and other items for as much as 80 percent off as it looked to scorch its remaining inventory. "It's the end of an era," Indiana Grocery Group Chief Executive Officer Jeff Strack said. "It's a sad day for that discount food store. That was the vision of Larry Raab, Andy Raab and Dave Wilkinson. They really built up the Ultra brand into the Illinois market." The only Ultra Foods left standing is located at 6001 Broadway in Merrillville, just south of Andrean High School. Bankrupt Central Grocers closed 14 Ultra stores this year, including the original Highland location of a chain that once ran television ads and had the slogans "Finest quality lowest prices!" and "The Freshest Way to save!" Though Jewel-Osco had initially expressed interest in buying the Highland Ultra, it ultimately chose not to bid for it and was outbid for the 20 remaining Strack & Van Til by the founding Strack and Van Til families anyway. Indiana Grocery Group acquired 20 Strack & Van Til stores, including the Ultra in Merrillville. No one stepped forward in an auction to buy the Ultras in Kankakee, Illinois or Highland. The Highland Ultra once drew many customers from North Lake County, but suffered when a Super Walmart opened 1.5 miles north on Indianapolis Boulevard, closer to the Borman Expressway. Highland-based Strack & Van Til just pumped millions of dollars into a renovation at the Highland Ultra in 2015, adding amenities like an expanded produce section, a salad bar, a sushi bar, and a full-service seafood counter. The store, a staple in Highland, employed more than 300 workers as recently as the 1990s, according to Times archives. A new zine is showcasing the creative writing and drawings of Northwest Indiana artists. Hobart resident Alec Villarreal, a college student, is publishing the monthly Mythos zine, which is being distributed at the Green Door bookstore in Hobart and Shop the Annex in Highland. Mythos also has an online presence at @mythosnwi on Instagram and has been available at Grindhouse Cafe in Griffith. The zine's aesthetic "is meant to be purposely simple, down to earth, grunge-y and altogether informal." "I named it Mythos because I love stories. When you pick up a dictionary and look up the word 'Mythos', heres what youll find: ideas or stories believed by many but arent true; patterns of belief expressing often symbolically the characteristic or prevalent attitudes in a group or culture; and theme or plot," Villarreal said. "Mythos believes that people often buy into false narratives; new narratives must be told to form new communities and culture; and your life is part of a greater narrative." Zines are small-circulation, self-published underground magazines typically made with photocopiers that typically feature comics, poetry and anecdotes. Local zines around the Region include The Bicycle Tragedy in Griffith and the Gary's Poetry Project's Gary Poems. "Anybody can make a zine if they want to," Villarreal said. "They arent necessarily created by professionals and I think thats why I like them. Zines can come in all shapes and sizes; they vary in content; theyre unique." He came up with the idea for Mythos after conducting an interview for his school newspaper of a science fiction junkie who was passionate about "Star Trek," "Star Wars," and "Battlestar Galactica." She told him she did zine-making in her spare time, and the exchange stuck with him. Villarreal brought it up to a friend, who avidly read zines when he lived in Texas and lamented that he couldn't find any in Northwest Indiana. He talked Villarreal, a prolific writer, into creating one of his own. Mythos was born. "So I did my homework. I learned more about the zine culture, and ventured up to Chicago and visited Quimbys," he said. "Eventually I mustered up the courage, sat down with pens, scissors and tape in hand and made whats now Mythos." While many zinesters only publish their own creative work, Villarreal solicits submissions and showcases pieces by other artists and writers. "Ive always seen myself as more of a team player. I love establishing new friendships and seeing others do the same," he said. "The zine was born out of a passion to connect people who would otherwise never know each other." Villarreal said there's a lot of creative work being done in Northwest Indiana that can sometimes be under the radar, and he hopes to give it an outlet. "Long-term, wed love to see a family/network of artists form out of a shared interest in zines," he said. "And if Mythos has a hand in bringing about a cultural/artistic renaissance in Northwest Indiana, wed enjoy that too. ... Everything you see on the pages of our zine is produced by local artists. Were a bunch of nobodies doing what we love." For more information, email mythosnwi@gmail.com. CROWN POINT Stevce Rajcinoski,* the 36-year-old Crown Point man accused in May of running a dangerous dog-breeding operation, agreed at a court hearing Thursday to relinquish his rights to all the animals seized during a police raid earlier this year at his property in Center Township. Judge Diane Boswell also ruled at the hearing that a trial for the defendant would be held in Lake County, despite the defense's claims the court would be unable to impanel an unbiased jury. Bob Persin, a deputy prosecuting attorney, told the judge the state has offered a plea agreement to Rajcinoski, but it had not been accepted. Rajcinoski was charged in June with 11 felony counts of torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal, as well as dozens more animal-related misdemeanor offenses, after a raid by the Lake County Sheriff's Department at the defendant's property in the 5900 block of West 125th Avenue. The sheriff's department seized 72 animals from his property, as well as a number of peacocks and chickens, on allegations Rajcinoski allowed the animals to live in filthy conditions. The department further claimed Rajcinoski performed unlicensed surgery on the animals. Rajcinoski previously reached an agreement with the state to relinquish his rights to 68 of the seized animals 64 dogs, three goats and a miniature horse and he would post bond for the remaining nine dogs. David Rooda, another deputy prosecuting attorney, said Thursday at the court hearing the defendant had not paid the $2,700 per month bond required to secure the nine animals. Rajcinoski spoke with his attorneys, J. Michael Woods and Paul Stracci, and afterward told the judge he would relinquish his rights to the dogs. The attorneys also argued on a motion by the defense to move the jury trial for Rajcinoski outside the county. Woods argued law enforcement made improper statements about the defendant before charges were filed, and those statements were embellished and shared on social media, causing the community to become unfairly biased against the defendant. He said that bias was evident in the flood of angry phone calls and social media messages received by the court's judges, three of whom recused themselves because of the uninvited communications. Boswell agreed there were residents who were boisterous and determined in their opinions about the case, but that doesn't mean we cannot find 14 impartial jurors. The judge said she had not received any communications about the case, and she guaranteed there would be no protesters in her courtroom. A new hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28. *An earlier version of this story had the defendant's first name spelled incorrectly. HAMMOND An East Chicago police officer was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison for willfully failing to file his federal tax returns three years in a row, U.S. District Court records show. Willie R. Askew Jr. pleaded guilty earlier this year to three misdemeanor counts of failing to pay $38,686 in taxes for income related to his police duties from 2008 to 2010, according to court records. The government alleges he was paid between $70,000 and in excess of $80,000 annually during that period. At Askews sentencing hearing on Wednesday before Judge S. Van Bokkelen, the court also required he pay restitution in the amount of $38,686 to the Internal Revenue Service, records show. As part of his three-month sentencing, Askew will be given credit for any time served on the charge. A grand jury indicted Askew in March 2015. A plea agreement stated Askew signed more than 50 State of Indiana certification documents in January 2012 falsely claiming he had physically inspected watercraft and motor vehicles that he never inspected, according to court records. East Chicago police pulled Askew from patrol duties in March 2015 after a federal grand jury indicted him. Askews attorney, Kevin Milner, said Wednesday night his client is still employed with the East Chicago Police Department as a crime scene investigator. Askew was directed to report to prison Oct. 4. An attempt to reach East Chicago police spokeswoman Marguerite Wilder was unsuccessful. CROWN POINT A Hobart man with a history of sexually abusing animals is asking a federal judge to release him under the condition he undergoes chemical castration, U.S. District court records show. Michael C. Bessigano, 47, was arrested in January at Westville Correctional Center in LaPorte County on allegations he violated conditions of his supervised release from prison for his 2009 obscenity conviction. At the time, the facility had been preparing to release Bessigano, who was finishing a state prison sentence for animal cruelty. In a sentencing memorandum filed this week, Bessigano's attorney Jennifer Soble requested the courts take into account time already served incarcerated, and in exchange for his release, have him undergo therapy and monthly injections of a testosterone-reducing drug, Depo-Lupron. His attorney argued her client's conduct is "motivated by sexual desire, not by sadism or any desire to hurt animals." Soble said Bessigano has been evaluated by Dr. Fred Berlin, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and attending physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who ultimately recommended the course of supervised injections over more prison time, according to court documents. Sobel argued additional prison time will do nothing to help her client. "For obvious reasons, it will hurt Mr. Bessigano: every day of incarceration is another day in which he is not receiving the hormone therapy that will end his sexual urges," Sobel argued in court filings. Bessigano has a history of bestiality dating back to 1993 when he was convicted of breaking into a rural St. John Township barn and killing a dog. He said during his trial he would rather live with animals than people. He pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for downloading bestiality pornography on his home computer. He was serving three years of federal supervised released when he was arrested March 8, 2013, for sexually abusing a guinea fowl in Lowell. That was a violation of his federal probation. Bessigano pleaded guilty in 2014 to theft of the bird and was sentenced to seven and a half years as a habitual offender. GARY Police have released photos of a person believed to be involved in recent car thefts and vehicle break-ins at the Gary/Chicago Airport station. Security camera recordings captured the suspect stealing a vehicle Aug. 23 and breaking into another vehicle Aug. 12 at the station at Clark Road and Second Avenue in Gary, according to Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District police. Anyone with information is asked to call the NICTD Transit Police at 219-398-6000. You can also text information to 219-898-0059. All caller information is kept confidential, according to a NICTD news release. MASON CITY | Mason City firefighters will once again show support for the fight against muscular dystrophy when they participate in the annual "Fill the Boot" campaign this weekend. Continuing a tradition of more than 60 years, firefighters from Local 41 will hit the streets with boots in hand at several Mason City intersections, asking motorists and pedestrians to donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Last year, they raised $12,003 for MDA and have a goal of surpassing that total thhis year. CALUMET CITY The Calumet Memorial Park District is commemorating Labor Day this year with its Liberty parade at 10:30 a.m. Monday. The parade, traditionally called the Labor Day parade, is named Liberty parade this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of America's entry into World War I. When Calumet City was known as West Hammond, the municipality sent more residents into the armed forces, per capita, than almost any other community in the United States, according to Gene Popa, of the Calumet Memorial Park District. When the war was over, the residents voted to memorialize their contribution by establishing the Calumet Memorial Park District, Popa said in an email. The parade will march north on Wentworth Avenue from Michigan City Road to 153rd Street. Participants this year will include White Sox mascot Southpaw, the Black Cowboys, various veterans groups, dance and drill teams, and five different pageant winners: Jenny Vale, Miss Globe Northern Illinois; Lauren Ransom, Miss Globe Illinois; Alexandra Mireya, Miss Globe Cuba; Delilah Melendez, Miss Teen Latina Illinois and Bri Pearson, Miss Bikini Chicago. CROWN POINT Customers were already lined up outside the doors of Second Life Resale Shoppe as the store celebrated the official grand opening of its new location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Second Life Resale Shoppe is now at 1800 N. Main St., which has been vacant since Carroll Chevrolet closed its doors in 2009. The upscale thrift store bought the building in December and spent eight months renovating the site. It opened in the new location on Tuesday. The store made the move from its previous location just south at 1510 N. Main St. where in 2010 it opened in what was another former car dealership. Former Carroll Chevrolet owner Georgette Fairchild said the property is a big part of her past. "When the dealership closed, it was of great importance to me to find a worthy organization that would take over this space," she said. "It's a big area and it's an entrance to town. I live here and I'm a member of the community so it's important to me to have a good outcome." Proceeds from the store help parents who send their children to Crown Point Christian School in St. John. Fairchild said that speaks to American ingenuity. "People who are volunteering their time to provide better education for their children are certaintly good people," she said. "And I'm happy to have been a part of this organization's transformation." The store is also part of the transformation of the north end of the Main Street corridor, something Mayor David Uran mentioned in his remarks at the ceremony. "You walk in here and you'll never know this was a car dealership," he said. "You did it up the street and even better here in the northern part of our community." Second Life board president Tim Groenewold said he may be biased, "but our contractors and volunteers did an awesome job." Officials also celebrated the city's Redevelopment Commission's recent approval of a $7,500 facade grant for Second Life Resale Shoppe to help with its renovation of the building. A second life is also in the works for the vacant land that was part of Carroll Chevrolet just east of the store. A new subdivision is being proposed there with 15 single-family homes, details of which have not yet been released. A Bronx pastor 's life was turned upside-down after buying a laptop on Amazon. The police claimed the computer contained sensitive surveillance software and threatened to arrest him if he didn't give it to them. NY1 Bronx Reporter Erin Clarke has the television exclusive. Pastor Tyrone Holmes was in church behind his organ when his life took a nightmare turn -- just because he purchased what he thought was a new computer for his ex-wife. "Three months later, I have the NYPD helicopters flying around my home while I'm here playing for a funeral, saying, 'Come outside. You have a computer that belongs to the Department of Defense,'" recalled Holmes, a pastor at Samuel's Temple Church of God in Christ. Holmes bought the Apple MacBook Pro through Amazon for more than $2,300. So when the police suddenly appeared at his home, Holmes said he thought someone was trying to blackmail him. But it quickly became clear this was no shakedown. His lawyer tried to reason with the detective on the case. "Saying to them, 'He's done nothing wrong, and can you show me where he's run afoul of the law?' that didn't seem to really satisfy the powers that be," Attorney Jeff Garfin said. "They wanted this computer. They would go to any extent to get it back." And the clock was ticking. As an email from the United States District Court Southern District of New York shows, the detective threatened to arrest the pastor unless he returned the laptop. The detective didn't seem to care that Holmes had a receipt showing he legally bought the computer, and neither did CheckPoint Fluidic Systems International, a Louisiana company with offices in Dubai which tracked the laptop to Holmes, claimed ownership, and demanded its return. "Perhaps they've got software in there for oil production, oil reserves," Attorney Robert Leino said. "This is very vital, confidential, top-secret information." Holmes hired a private investigator to get the computer back. It was turned it over to the police in return for a written pledge that he would not face charges. It's still not clear to Holmes what happened, only that the laptop contained "sensitive proprietary information." "I contacted Apple, I contacted Amazon, they're both blaming each other," Holmes said. "They wrecked my life. They wrecked it and they don't care." Holmes has filed a federal lawsuit against the three companies, seeking damages. An Amazon spokesperson told me that the company does not comment on litigation. Apple and CheckPoint did not respond as of air time. "What is frightening is that if you buy Apple computers, it could happen to you. If you buy from Amazon, this could happen to you," Leino said. "It portrays a larger problem." As for that $2,300 that he paid for the computer, Holmes has not gotten it back. Former Staten Island congressman Michael Grimm edges back onto the political stage, and for the first time is talking publicly about possibly running for his old seat, despite a felony fraud conviction. NY1's Natalie Duddridge filed the following report on his exclusive interview with NY1. A federal tax fraud conviction appeared to end Michael Grimm's political career nearly three years ago. But after resigning his seat and serving seven months in prison, Grimm now admits he is eying a run for Congress again. "I haven't personally made a decision yet, but, honestly, I'm looking at it," Grimm told NY1's Anthony Pascale. The remark, in an interview with NY1, represents the first time Grimm acknowledged interest in seeking his old job. He coupled it with a blistering critique of the fellow Republican who replaced him on the House of Representatives: former Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan. "I don't think he's doing well at all as a Republican; I think he's doing a great job as a liberal Democrat. Whether it's going against the president on the health-care vote; whether it's going against the president on the Sanctuary City vote; whether it's all his anti-Second Amendment bills," Grimm said. "These are all Democrat positions and he's been down the line on those positions, and that's a problem." It was the latest in a series of steps by Grimm toward the political arena. Two weeks ago, he created a new Twitter account, posting opinions and politician-style photos. He has also been offering himself up to the media to talk about how officials in Houston should respond to Hurricane Harvey. When told about Grimm's comments, Donovan, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn in Congress, appeared ready to rumble. "Anybody who does that will have to explain to the public about their transgressions, and that will be up to the public whether they want someone who is a convicted felon representing them, or someone who has been a prosecutor for 20 years and has an outstanding record as a sitting congressman for these years," Donovan said. Previewing the case he would make to voters, Grimm called himself the victim of a politically-motivated witch hunt by then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch. "People forget, they want to say, 'Oh, tax fraud.' It was three delivery boys and a kitchen worker off the books, which has always been a civil matter," Grimm said to NY1. "I should've received a civil fine. But I'm not bitter and angry. Politics corrupted the justice system." As for a timeline when Grimm will make a decision? He said that answer will come "fairly soon." MASON CITY | Mason City Police Capt. Mike McKelvey said Thursday he understands why legalization of marijuana for medical uses is an emotional one for many Iowans. But he said, like most issues, it has potential impact on many aspects of society, including law enforcement. McKelvey was recently appointed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to a state board that will oversee changes in the state's expanded medical cannabidoil law. He hopes to use his experience as a police officer to add perspective to the board which is made up mainly of physicians and others in the health field. McKelvey is the only law enforcement officer on the board. A Mason City police officer for 23 years, McKelvey is vice president of the Iowa Peace Officers Association. Governor appoints Mason City police captain to state medical cannabidiol board DES MOINES | Gov. Kim Reynolds named eight Iowans Wednesday to serve on a state board that "We know there is interest out there in further legalization of medical marijuana but as peace officers, we have some concerns," he said. "As similar programs have been implemented in other states, some problems have occurred. "There are ramifications from this for police departments, schools, public health and many other areas. We want to make sure we have input in moving this forward and not doing things too quickly," McKelvey said. He joined the police department in 1994, was promoted to lieutenant in 2002 and captain in 2006. Last year he was a finalist for police chief when Jeff Brinkley was hired. The new state law, known as the Medical Cannabidiol Act, requires a board made up of eight medical practitioners and one law enforcement officer to oversee application of the law. Previously, Iowans could obtain medical cannabidiol to treat epileptic seizures but did not allow for production and sale of it. The new law allows for the creation of no more than two businesses to grown marijuana and produce medical cannabidiol and no more than five businesses to sell it. Other board members are Dr. Ken Cheyne, a Clive pediatrician; Dr. Jill Liesveld, a Coralville psychiatrist; Dr. Wendy Zadeh, an Ankeny neurologist; Dr. Jacqueline Stoken, a Waukee pain manager; Dr. Robert Schreck, a Des Moines oncologist; Dr. Lonny Miller, a Creston family medicine specialist; and Dr. Stephen Richards, a Spirit Lake pharmacist. One position is yet to be filled. It is not every day that surgeons and clinicians perform a medical procedure on a pet duck at Auburn Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, but in the case of Chester, a 1-year-old white domestic neighborhood duck from Newnan, Georgia, their work successfully returned the web-footed wonder to a normal lake-living lifestyle. Known as Chester Schulz in his medical records, the injured duck was brought to the colleges avian veterinarian when concerned residents near a 300-acre lake where Chester lives noticed an apparent wound at the base of his neck. I looked at Chester, who is named for the old Gunsmoke western TV series character, and noticed the wound, said Bob Schulz, the neighborhood resident who brought Chester in for treatment. Schulz and his neighbors keep the ducks and treat them as pets, he said. When we found him to be injured, we all were concerned, Schulz said. No local veterinarian would take the case, but we called Auburn, and they told us to bring him in. Chester was examined by Dr. Seth Oster, an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and the colleges avian veterinarian in the Wilford and Kate Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital. I first saw Chester in June, Oster said. He had what appeared to be a puncture wound at the base of his neck and was losing food and water. Once we got the wound well cleaned, we found that the injury went completely into the esophagus. Oster said that the wound had begun to heal, but not in a normal manner. The wound had started to heal, fusing the torn skin to the esophagus and the esophagus to the feathered skin, but not closing the opening, Oster said. The only way to correct the injury required surgery. Oster consulted his colleague, Dr. Harry Boothe, a professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and a soft tissue surgeon. Booth agreed the surgical procedure was needed to restore Chester to normal healing. During a 45-minute procedure, Boothe successfully separated the skin tissue from the esophagus and closed the neck wound. Able to return to normal lake life Chester recovered and was returned to Schulz and his concerned neighbors. Following two weeks of isolation and care, the duck was given a clean bill of health and allowed to return to his waddling pals in the lake. He is doing great, Schulz said. To look at him now, you cannot tell that he was ever injured. Neither Schulz nor the veterinarians know exactly how Chester was injured. They speculate that it may have been caused by a protruding nail or other sharp object on the lakes seawall. We have inspected the seawall, but as of yet, we have not found anything that looks like it might have punctured Chesters neck, Schulz said. We see this type of injury among raptors in the wild, who are injured fighting, but it is pretty uncommon to see an injury like this in a duck, Oster said. Schulz said he is most pleased with the care and treatment Chester received at Auburn. We all are quite happy with the outcome, he said. I would recommend Auburns College of Veterinary Medicine to anyone. The Auburn Police Division obtained four additional warrants Wednesday for the arrest of an 18 year-old Auburn man in connection to robberies that occurred over the past weekend. Trevon O. Hutchinson is being charged with two counts of second-degree robbery and two counts of third-degree assault. The arrests stem from the investigation of four separate incidents of victims being assaulted and property being taken from them, which occurred in the downtown area. The warrants were executed at the Lee County Jail where he is being held on a $204,000 bond. Hutchinson and a 16 year-old male juvenile from Cusseta were arrested Sunday in connection with four robberies that occurred over the weekend near N. College Street, W. Magnolia Avenue and N. Donahue Drive. The juvenile was charged with four counts of second-degree robbery and four counts of third-degree assault. He was transported to the Lee County Youth Development Center, where he is being detained, awaiting a detention hearing. This case remains under investigation by Auburn Police and anyone with information on the cases is encouraged to call detectives at 334-501-3140 or the 24 hour non-emergency number 334-501-3100. Callers may also provide information anonymously on the tip line 334-246-1391. The effectiveness of development aid has been the subject of intense debate ever since Dambisa Moyo, in 2009, launched her explosive book 'Dead Aid' that described such a suffocating, paralyzing system of corruption and patronage that the conclusion, that Africa would be better off without it, seemed inescapable. Early this year, BENON HERBERT OLUKA and six journalists across Africa, who are members of the African Investigative Publishing Collective, embarked on an investigation of specific regions that have been major recipients of development aid in their respective countries. Below, he documents what he found out in the northern part of Uganda, where NGOs dedicated a lot of resources during and after the 20-year war between government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, to assess whether aid is helping the region address its existential problems. An old woman and children outside one of the dilapidated structures that the Gulu authorities plan to demolish to widen the municipality roads. Affected residents complain of failure by NGOs to support them Outside Peyero bar on Gulu municipalitys Lagara road in northern Uganda is a car which, by the last letter on its licence plate, belongs to State House, the official residence of the president. Upon inquiring, I learn that both the bar and the car belong to Harriet Aber, the social friend (as she was called during a recent parliamentary session) of General Caleb Akandwanaho, (better known by his alias Salim Saleh). Gen Saleh, a brother of President Museveni, is a veteran of the war against the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion led by Joseph Kony. It is this 20-year war that has left northern Uganda devastated, with many people landless and destitute, and the object of large-scale poverty alleviation and land resettlement programmes. It is ironic that, of all places in northern Uganda, I ended up in this bar. General Salehs friend is after all one of the problems here, if claims that she has been grabbing large chunks of land from the regional Acholi people are true. Land is the be-all and end-all of poverty alleviation in north Uganda. The people need land to live on and to work after years in refugee camps. No one here will develop without land, says an official with a development organisation that has worked in the area for long. This is why land grabbing by the powerful such as Aber and several senior army and government officials who are directly involved in the fraudulent activity goes directly against the objectives of any poverty alleviation in this region. Saleh, Aber and others like Major General Charles Otema Awany, currently the commander of the UPDF reserve force and a brother to Richard Todwong, the deputy secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and a former minister also have interests in big local and foreign businesses which want land. Well-connected sugar companies have used connections that sometimes run up all the way to President Museveni himself to secure hundreds of hectares of land for their ventures. The group is regularly called out by locals for land grabbing, but court cases against them usually dont go far. Their nickname is the untouchables, after all. CONFLICT ENTREPRENEURS All this is to say that one could have predicted that the ruling partys large-scale poverty alleviation programmes, supposed to return people to the land after the war, were not going to be very successful as long as the ruling partys big men were grabbing the same land. Then also, in June 2013, an investigation by the Public Accounts committee of Ugandas Parliament implicated several senior government officials in a scam that led to the loss of Shs 50 billion (about $14 million). More than half of all moneys that donors had contributed to Ugandas Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) 1, meant to house and assist the landless and homeless refugees of the Kony war, had been stolen outright by public servants and ruling party bureaucrats. There was an outcry among the donor community. UK, Norway and Ireland suspended aid and demanded money back; the World Bank said it would review its lending to Uganda. Theft of donor money was, however, not the only problem with the PRDP. The misappropriated $14m was only a small part of the total of $660m that was dedicated to the overall plan over three years and that included police and justice build-up, roads infrastructure, water and sanitation as well as resettlement on the land. But the remaining $646m, though it had helped build some roads and other infrastructure, had also fallen into the hands of powerful elite figures, called conflict entrepreneurs by University of Tennessee graduate Elliot Bertasi in his research thesis on the PRDP. Detailing how these entrepreneurs had appropriated projects and contracts, whilst establishing often oppressive state power in the region, Bertasi concluded that north Uganda may have been better off without it. Most of the culprits in the PRDP corruption scandal are still big men today. Though the government audit report pointed an accusing finger at secretary to the Treasury Keith Muhakanizi, the then Accountant General Gustavo Bwoch, the former commissioner for Treasury Services Isaac Mpoza, as well as the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Pius Bigirimana and the accountant in the same office, Geoffrey Kazinda, only Kazinda was prosecuted and jailed on corruption-related charges. No charges were brought against all the others. Muhakanizi is still secretary to the Treasury as well as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Bwoch retired honourably. Mpoza died in August 2016. Bigirimana was transferred to the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, where he now presides over an equally large budget, including the $71m Youth Livelihood Programme, a five-year initiative that is being managed in a similar fashion to the PRDP. There is a PRDP II underway, now, and also the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (already into its third sequel.) But, whilst observers are skeptical that these programmes will yield any more result than PRDP I and NUSAF 1 and 2, all donors have come back again in the meantime, often stating that they have noted a new commitment in Uganda to fight corruption. RIDING BODA BODA Meanwhile, the grassroots in the tormented region battle on. Most people have, one way or another, and mostly without help, successfully retired to small plots of land, where they have resumed farming and trade. Robert Kinyera, a former LRA abductee, works on a thatch-roof at his home on the outskirts of Gulu town Some small NGOs who were on the ground with programmes destined to help the over 66,000 returned child soldiers with training for things such as basket weaving and bricklaying are changing focus. Richard Kinyera, a former child soldier who was trained as a bricklayer and indeed did bricklaying for 11 years, now rides a boda boda motorcycle taxi, with the largest percentage of his earnings going to the taxi owner. Asked why he changed careers, he simply says he started to feel a loss of enthusiasm for bricklaying. NGOs did care for returned child soldiers when the state didnt, and land advocacy organisations ACORD and Gulu Womens Economic Development and Globalisation (GWED-G), successfully helped settle land disputes between local individuals and communities. Magdalene Abalo, for instance, from Atiak village in Gulu district, couldnt have returned to her plot after years in an internally displaced Persons (IDP) camp, without the mediation efforts of the NGOs. [My land] was taken by a rich neighbour she says. (That neighbour) was taking advantage. But ACORD helped to convince the lady in question. Yet, Elly Turuho of ACORD and Pamela Judith Angwech of GWED-G admit that their efforts are limited to disputes between local community members. When, early January, at least one thousand Gulu residents received letters from municipal authorities giving them a fortnight to vacate their houses to pave way for a new World Bank-funded roads expansion project, both ACORD and GWED-G decided not to get involved. Angwech mentions some of the political leaders (here) (who) are used as entry points (for land grabbing) because of their upper hand in decision-making processes, as people her organization cannot easily stand up to. These are sensitive issues, Turuho, too, says. To be honest we have not dealt with evictions. BREAD AND BUTTER Fear of the local political leaders among smaller NGOs is real: they can make things very difficult for you by simply accusing you of non-compliance with regulations. Most NGOs dont comply with one thing or other: of the roughly 10,000 NGOs in Uganda, only a third are in operation and of the 5,000 NGOs in Gulu district alone, only 85 fulfill all the requirements. But authorities often dont have a problem with the NGOs that are really fraudulent, such as the one that solicited funds from parents for scholarships, then took the children and abandoned them on the streets of the capital Kampala. The ones that are targeted for being irregular tend to be the ones that are too critical. The strong language of Minister of State Grace Kwiyucwiny, who told me in an interview that NGOs should work with government and reorient their plans to support (the PRDP and NUSAF programmes), was not talking about inefficient or fraudulent NGOs but about those who work for their own thing or say one thing whilst the government says another. Development studies lecturer Christopher Oyat, who has extensively researched development work in north Uganda, tells The Observer that there is a real fear among NGOs to challenge authority. They dont go full blast on human rights and bad governance, and that means problems will continue. They want to protect themselves because of their bread and butter issues and I find that a serious indictment on the NGOs, he said. NGOs do have a lot of bread and butter to lose. Their salaries are mostly around three times the amount of money a local employed in a similar job would earn; the vehicles are usually way better and more expensive than those purchased for similar purposes by the government and the same goes for their staffs houses. That is way more to lose than, for example, the women of Amuru district who threw off even their clothes when they marched, naked, in protest against a planned demarcation of land that would have granted large portions to be taken by big business. Nevertheless, their protest once in 2012 and once in 2015 was effective: the land demarcation is still on hold and their communities are still on their land. There is a strong belief in Acholi culture that a woman can bring a curse on her enemies by stripping in public and local political leaders were reportedly terrified of what these women were doing. But meanwhile, there have been other successful protests too. The communities that complained about eviction attempts by social friends Harriet Aber and General Saleh in 2016 made it fully clothed to NTV and even got the agriculture minister to put the evictions on hold. Perhaps inspired by these communities own protests, GWED-G recently announced that they will extend land rights training and loans to the women of Amuru. The loans in particular should be more than welcome. A UNDP poverty and human development index found, in 2015, that whereas there had been a little improvement in poverty percentages in the north generally since the ending of the Kony war, in the most damaged area of the north there had been a downward trend again with income constriction in the most damaged area. hobenon@observer.ug The article is part of a trans-national investigation undertaken by the African Investigative Publishing Collective (AIPC) in collaboration with The Watchdog, a centre for investigative journalism at The Observer newspaper. Saja Pahad, a small village in Chhattisgarh, India, has been dealing with severe water shortages for as long as anyone can remember. With only two wells available, locals were barely able to secure enough water to feed their cattle, let alone irrigate their crops. Villagers didnt know what to do and the government ignored their plight, but one crazy teenager took matters into his own hands. Shyam Lal was only 15-years-old when he took it upon himself to solve his villages water problem. He identified a spot in a nearby forest and decided to dig a pond to collect rainfall that could then be used by the entire village. Lal shared his idea with the rest of Saja Pahad, but instead of volunteering to help, they just laughed at his crazy plan and called him a lunatic. But the young man didnt let the peoples reaction get him down. Instead, he grabbed a spade and started digging the pond himself. He kept on digging for the next 27 years. Photo: Hindustan Times Now 42, Shyam Lal is considered a hero and a savior by his community. That small hole he started digging nearly three decades ago is now a a one-acre, 15-feet-deep pond filled with precious water that serves the entire village. No one helped me in my work, neither the administration nor the villagers, Lal proudly told the Hindustan Times, adding that it was his dream to secure enough water for the whole village and their cattle. The story of Shyam Lals determination recently went viral in the whole of India, and prompted authorities in Mahendragarh district to finally acknowledge his achievement. A member of the regional legislative assembly recently visited Saja Pahad and offered Lal a 10,000 ($156) prize for his contribution to the village. Photo: Hindustan Times The district collector also announced how impress he was by Shyam Lal and pledged to help him moving forward. I came to know about Shyam recently. His effort for his village is commendable and I will go to his village to provide him all possible help, Narendra Duggal said. Funny how everyone is so willing to help now, but couldnt be bothered to lend a hand when their help was really needed, isnt it? Shyam Lals monumental achievement has been compared to the legendary struggle of Dashrath Manjhi, who spent over 22 years carving a 110-meter path through a mountain, using only hammers and chisels, to reduce the distance between his village and the nearest town from 55 km to 15 km. Dashrath Manjhi The pond and the valuable water it holds are needed now more than ever. Chhattisgarh is facing some of its most sever droughts, with 10% less rainfall than the average of the last 10 years. Last year, we featured the equally impressive feat of Bapurao Tajne, who spend 40 days single-handedly digging a well, after his wife was denied access to drinking water by the locals for being of a lower caste. Remember, We Only Shoot Black People: Georgia Cop To Woman During Traffic Stop Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When UPDATE: Lt. Greg Abbott has been fired for the racially insensitive comments he made last year during a traffic stop. The announcement of the 27-year veterans removal from the police force came from Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register during a news conference Thursday afternoon. Read the original story below. The Georgia cop who made the remarks has been moved to administrative duty while an investigation takes place. In a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lt. Greg Abbott, a Cobb County police officer, made the comments when he pulled over a white female driver during a DUI traffic stop last year. The woman said she was scared to move her hands to get her cell phone because Ive just seen way too many videos of cops to which Abbott cuts her off and responds: But youre not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos youve seen, have you seen the black people get killed? Mike Register, who became chief of Cobb police after the incident occurred, said he just found out about the recording on Friday. READ: Georgia Lawmaker Tells Black Attorney She May Go Missing For Protesting Confederate Statues No matter what context it was said, it shouldnt have been said, Register told Atlantas Channel 2. Cobb County commission chairman Mike Boyce also voiced his displeasure with the remarks, saying I have seen the video and obviously have great concerns. I find the comments on the video repugnant and offensive beyond measure. Suri Chadha Jimenez, who is representing the driver in the case, said he thinks the officer was being sarcastic after the woman gave him some lip. It makes you cringe when you hear it. Its unacceptable, Jimenez said. Since the release of the footage Lance LoRusso, Abbotts attorney, gave the following statement to Channel 2. Lt. Greg Abbott is a highly respected 28-year veteran of the Cobb County Police Department. He is cooperating with the departments internal investigation and will continue to do so. His comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passengers own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest. Source: ajc.com Agricultural News More Than 450 OK Farm Bureau Members Tell EPA to Ditch WOTUS - Still Time to Submit Comments More than 450 Oklahoma Farm Bureau members recently urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repeal the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule. County Farm Bureaus collected more than 300 signatures over a two-week period, while other members submitted written comments at the organization's annual August Area Meetings. Finalized in June 2015, the WOTUS rule has been despised by farmers, ranchers and landowners across the country. The rule vastly expanded the definition of "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act, granting the EPA and the Corps regulatory authority over virtually all waters including any place rainwater collects such as farm ponds, ditches and puddles. "Waters of the U.S. has been a blatant power grab by the federal government that flies in the face of personal property rights," said Marc Harder, a landowner and Canadian County Farm Bureau member. Under direction of a presidential executive order, the EPA and the Corps now are conducting a two-step rulemaking process to repeal and revise the rule. Many Oklahoma Farm Bureau members expressed their opposition to the rule because of its potential to inhibit the production of safe and affordable food. "The only way agriculture can stay in existence and feed our country is for each producer to have the right to control their ground and ag practices," said Kathy Boyd, a farmer and Texas County Farm Bureau member. Farm Bureau members also believe farmers and ranchers are the greatest stewards of the environment and should be trusted by the government. "The environment is no more valuable to anyone than to agriculturalists," said Alfalfa County Farm Bureau member Terry Pederson, a farmer and rancher. "It is the basis of the progress, profitability and self-sufficiency of production agriculture." Comments on the WOTUS repeal may be submitted through Sept. 27 on the American Farm Bureau Federation website. Source - Oklahoma Farm Bureau WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News MASON CITY | A new sculpture in downtown Mason City pays tribute to the Globe Gazette. A newly-commissioned bronze sculpture, Paper Boy," by Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby, depicts a 1960s-era newspaper carrier. As an artist, I love the opportunity to create special commissions, but it isnt often that the subject matter means so much to me personally, Leuning said in a news release. When we were asked to do 'Hard Hat Kid' to commemorate Henkel Constructions 125th anniversary, I put my heart and soul into the project, because I watched my dad go to work in the construction industry every day. The boy in the sculpture could be me I loved putting on my dads boots and hard hat. When the pair was approached last year about creating a bronze sculpture to honor Globe Gazette employees, Leuning said he felt like lightning was striking twice. As a young boy, I delivered the newspaper in my hometown, he said. I especially remember getting up early on winter mornings, with the wind howling and the snow flying in sub-zero temperatures. Thats why I pitched the idea of an 'old school' paperboy, bundled up to make winter deliveries. The Globe Gazette has been a sponsor of River City Sculptures on Parade since the inception of the program in 2012. Employees and the parent company Lee Enterprises agreed the sculpture would be a lasting reminder of the newspapers impact on the community as well as a permanent salute to Globe employees. The sculpture was unveiled to Globe Gazette employees this morning. It is permanently installed at the Wells Fargo Bank building at State Street and Washington Avenue. If theres some sort of rule that says good barbecue comes only from restaurants in really random locations, well, Tired Texan fits that bill. Its tucked inside a Best Western motel off 108th and L Streets; my Google maps couldnt find it, and it took me a good five minutes of driving in circles to spot the sign. Thankfully, once I got inside, the restaurant was well worth the effort. My delight in finding a good new barbecue place in a town where good, new barbecue is a rarity will not surprise you. Theres plenty of mediocre barbecue in this town. Tired Texan is not that. I appreciate that the menu doesnt try to do it all. Instead, it does three things pulled pork, brisket and ribs really well. Owners Chip and Christine Holland arent new to the barbecue world. Chip learned to cook barbecue at age 16, when hed hang out at a restaurant in his hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, with its owner. The Hollands Omaha restaurant nods to it: That spot, long closed, was called Tired Texan, too. Chip had a barbecue spot in Alabama before he moved to his wifes hometown in 1998; Christine is from Ralston. Chip kept cooking, mostly on the weekends, and he decided to make an official go of it earlier this year. Since Tired Texan opened, sellouts have become fairly common. Thats because Chip cooks the meat fresh every day. We could tell. We ordered a platter with all three meats, along with sides of macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. The slaw is made to order and paired with the dressing of the diners choice. The pulled pork had plenty of seasoned bark on the outside, with a tender, juicy finish. And the ribs clung to the bone just right they didnt hold too tight or completely let loose. The brisket, which I found a touch dry on that first night, had a nice smoke ring and a good, smoky flavor. Sides were good. The coleslaw had the right amount of tangy dressing and a fresh taste, surely because its made to order. The macaroni and cheese had a nice flavor, but we wished for a crustier top. The cup seemed scooped from a pan instead of individually baked. Cornbread muffin tops were sweet and crumbly, and especially good paired with soft butter and honey. Our server, who was exceptionally friendly, delivered two free samples of the Texas tumbleweeds, on the appetizer list. Theyre essentially giant, crispy tater tots filled with cheese and bacon. Hard to argue with that. All the side dishes are made from scratch, Christine Holland said. Tired Texan is still working out its liquor license, and for now, theres no beer. Because its attached to the hotel, more paperwork is required. But as soon as thats finished, Chip said, the restaurant will serve Nebraska beers, along with other alcohol. The restaurant doesnt do a huge dinner trade, but at lunch, its much busier. I went back over the noon hour to give the brisket another shot earlier in the day, and this time, it was much tastier, more tender and juicy than it was the first time. On this visit, I tried the brisket on a sandwich, and it comes with plenty of spicy sauce on a toasted bun. Though I liked the sauce, the pieces I tried without it were still downright excellent, good enough to stand on their own. I also tried the special that day, the smoked burger, which was indeed smoky and also spicy, topped with cheddar cheese and some crunchy jalapenos. I ordered it medium rare, but it was a touch past pink; nonetheless, its flavor made up for it. Chip Holland said the restaurant uses a blend of steak, including ribeye and sirloin. The burgers get touched with a hint of smoke and are finished on the grill. That day, I also tried the potato salad, which was a great version of the summertime picnic classic, just sweet, creamy and with plenty of seasoning. Ive heard that the restaurant regularly does burnt ends as a special, and though Id have loved to try them, they werent available during my visits. Ill go back for them, though. Inside, the restaurant is clean and neat, with a bluesy soundtrack and a rustic, country-inspired look. I like Tired Texan. Its perhaps one of the most pleasant surprises Ive had this year. If you like barbecue, I predict itll be the same for you, too. Tired Texan BBQ Address: 4702 S. 108th St. Phone: 402-991-9994 Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (or until sold out). Closed Monday. Hits: The menu has three meats brisket, pulled pork and ribs and during two visits, all three were good. Sides, too, are thoughtful. Misses: Brisket was dry during the dinner hour, but the next visit, at lunch, it was tender and flavorful. Drinks: The restaurant is still working on a liquor license but is set up for a full bar. For now, there are soft drinks and tea. Prices: Brisket and pork come served by fourth-, half-, and whole-pound sizing. A half pound of brisket is $8; of pulled pork $6. Ribs come by the rack, half rack or individually. A half rack is $10, and ribs are $2 each. Other things to know: The restaurant was middle-of-the-road noise-wise. I could hear my dining partners fine despite a crowd and country music at lunch time. When the weather hits as hard as Hurricane Harvey did in Houston, business gets disrupted, and the aftershocks are being felt almost 1,000 miles away in Omaha. The flooding and closure of the Port of Houston have brought a stop to train operations in the area by Omaha-based Union Pacific and BNSF Railway, owned by Omahas Berkshire Hathaway. Exports of key Nebraska commodities such as ethanol and hard red winter wheat heavily dependent on the Port of Houston for shipment are on standby. Corn and soybeans would begin backing up if the port doesnt open in time to accommodate exports of the fall harvest. Hurricane Harvey has deluged Houston and surrounding areas, with some zones getting more than 50 inches of rain in five days, or more in that time frame than in an entire normal year. Houston is inundated, with more than a dozen dead, thousands of people rescued from flooded neighborhoods, and many more awaiting aid. On the commerce side, the city and its Gulf of Mexico port are synonymous with U.S. economic development; the port is one of the busiest in the nation and a major handler of petroleum products. But for now, the rail lines are out, the port terminals are flooded, and the Houston Ship Channel is closed to all maritime traffic. The areas business ties to Nebraska are substantial: Union Pacific, the nations second-largest freight railroad and employer of 8,000 people in Nebraska, operates a vast network of tracks and terminals in Texas. In the Houston area, it has three terminals capable of handling containers coming in or going out by ship that are also hauled on trucks for part of their journey. All operations were halted Saturday, and remain suspended, spokeswoman Calli Hite said, out of concern for employee, community and customer safety. BNSF Railway is also a major rail hauler in Texas, employer of 5,000 people in Nebraska with its own network of lines and terminals in the Lone Star State, including an intermodal yard handling vehicles and truck/train/ship containers in Houston. Spokeswoman Amy Casas said this week that some locations in the area have received nearly 40 inches of rain and several more inches were expected Wednesday. With multiple washouts and high water reported on BNSF main lines in the area, all traffic destined to and originating from Houston has been suspended, Casas said. Omahas Berkshire Hathaway also owns insurer Geico, and Chief Executive Warren Buffett said in a television interview Wednesday that he expected 50,000 of the roughly 500,000 vehicles Geico insures in the area to be total losses. Omaha-based trucker Werner Enterprises does a lot of business in Texas, with a terminal in Laredo, about 300 miles from Houston. Spokesman Fred Thayer said the company began routing drivers away from Houston on Saturday. At this time, the long-term effects of the storm are unknown, Thayer said. The Port of Houston handles about 40 million gallons of Nebraska ethanol a year destined for export the most from any one ethanol-producing state, according to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln analysis. With the port possibly out of commission for weeks, bottlenecks are likely, economists say. Ethanol exports are a growing part of the business for producers in Nebraska, the second-largest producer of the corn-based motor fuel. Major customers include Brazil. Exports of ethanol are critical to Nebraska, said Geoff Cooper, a vice president with the Renewable Fuels Association. About 8 percent of U.S. production is exported, and while it may not sound like a lot, it is an important amount that can mean all the difference when it comes to profitability. Omaha-based Green Plains Inc. is building an ethanol export terminal in nearby Beaumont, Texas, capable of storing and exporting the commodity for producers, including itself, which is the nations second-largest. Spokesman Jim Stark said the terminal is on high ground and has sustained no damage. He also said all shipments in and out of Houston and New Orleans will be backed up for some time, and switching ports isnt a snap. Products are not easily transferred between ports, Stark said. We know the Coast Guard is working to get the Houston ship channel cleared and functioning. Railroads are backed up going to both port areas, so this may take some time to work itself through. The Port of Houston and other Texas ports have been handling about 70 percent of hard red winter wheat headed for export, said Bill Lapp, of Omaha commodities consultant Advanced Economic Solutions. And hard red winter wheat accounts for most of Nebraskas wheat crop, according to the Nebraska Wheat Board. Expect some disruption for wheat exports, Lapp said. For the coming weeks and potentially months, business will be diverted to other ports, primarily New Orleans, or simply delayed. Longer-term it may not have much impact, but short-term disruptions will be dramatic. Omaha-based grain trader Gavilon has fertilizer terminals in Corpus Christi and Victoria, Texas. Spokesman Patrick Burke said they suffered very little damage, and we expect both will be back in operation in the next few days or early next week. Scoular, another Omaha grain trader, doesnt have any grain elevators in the affected areas, said Chief Executive Paul Maas. But he said business disruption as a result of this storm is certain. Maas said the biggest fallout will be shippers scrambling to find rail transportation for grain destined for the Gulf Coast, with harvests looming for both corn and soybeans. Wheat and milo shipments from ports in Houston and Corpus Christi are delayed, and future shipments to those ports will be rerouted until floodwaters recede and damage to grain elevators and transportation infrastructure can be repaired, Maas said. Well be keeping a close eye on the situation, particularly with feed grain harvest right around the corner. The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Today, John Gallaghers loved ones depart Nebraska for Minnesota, not quite a week after the former Nebraskan and father of five died in an ax attack on his front lawn in a Minneapolis suburb. Gallagher, 67, who grew up in ONeill, was attacked by a neighbor with whom hed had a difficult relationship, police said. Police in Hopkins, Minnesota, say Mitchell Hoogenakker, 24, used an ax to force his way into Gallaghers home Friday and drag him outside. Responding officers found Gallagher fatally injured on his front lawn. Our officers got there very, very quickly, and unfortunately when we got there (he) was already deceased, said Sgt. Michael Glassberg of the Hopkins Police Department. Police were able to quickly identify Hoogenakker as the suspect because Gallaghers wife had seen him force his way into the home before she hid, and a police dog traced the suspected killers scent to Hoogenakkers nearby home, Glassberg said. At Hoogenakkers home, police recovered a maul ax, believed to be the weapon. Hoogenakker was charged Monday with second-degree murder. He is being held at the Hennepin County Jail on $1 million bail. According to family and police, Hoogenakkers family had lived next door to the Gallaghers for years before moving to another nearby house a few years ago. Over those years, there had been a history of disputes between Gallagher and Hoogenakkers family, police said. More recently, officials say the suspect threatened Gallagher. There had also been reports of vandalism at Gallaghers house. This summer, according to a restraining order that Gallagher obtained, Hoogenakker had walked past Gallaghers home in zombielike fashion, yelling obscenities and threats, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. John Gallagher was well-known to local police because of the care he took for an elderly neighbor and because of the calls they took to sort out disputes between Gallagher and the Hoogenakker family. Roughly a dozen Hopkins police officers attended a vigil held in his memory. In watching over his elderly neighbor, who died earlier this year at age 102, Gallagher would be present at her home when police came for medical checks. He was well-known in the neighborhood and was considered a good guy, Glassberg said. Wed go up there for medical calls and whatnot and he was always there watching over her. Gallaghers family was among the first Irish settlers of ONeill, a city of about 3,700 in north-central Nebraska, said a younger brother, Dick Gallagher, 64, of Neligh. He graduated from Boys Town High School in 1968 and moved to the Minneapolis area in the mid- to late 70s, working as a handyman for 30 years, his brother said. John Gallagher was very outgoing, his brother said. He was quite a conversationalist. Other family members would joke that youd better not ask John what time it is or hell tell you how to build a watch. A private celebration of life service is scheduled for Saturday in the Minneapolis area. Tuesday morning, Renard LeBron returned to his home near 80th and Harney Streets to find a man on the second floor, wielding a baseball bat. LeBron, 60, suffered bruises near his eyes and a knot on his forehead, but was able to defend himself as the man fled. Wednesday morning, LeBron discovered a blue sedan in the driveway of his house. The car was driven away as LeBron waited for Omaha police to arrive. Officers later found pry marks on an open downstairs door, indicating forced entry. Thursday morning, LeBron found another man inside his home. He shot that man once in the stomach, he told police, who arrived about 8:15 a.m. John McDonald, 25, was taken in serious condition to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy. Police are investigating whether the three break-ins are related. A police report on the Tuesday assault lists a suspect, but its not McDonald. On Aug. 21, a judge issued an arrest warrant for McDonald when he didnt show up for a court hearing on a possession of meth charge. The house where the shooting occurred is shrouded by untrimmed trees and bushes. A yellow Danger Closed sign was posted at the front of the house. The sign noted that the structure had been deemed unsafe and closed by the City Planning Department on Tuesday. In front of the house was a large gray bell, six garbage cans and a tarp next to a trailer, plus at least three unfired bullets and two large knives. To the east was a metal fence with a Beware of Dog sign and an open gate. An old blue and gray GMC pickup truck with at least two flat tires was parked nearby. A different blue 1993 Chevy pickup truck was parked in the circle driveway in front of the house. Officers were taking photos of the outside of the truck and the truck bed. A white pickup truck was parked around the corner from the house as police investigated Thursday morning. It had in-transit papers that said it belonged to LeBron. Sitting on the steering wheel was a green parrot with blue, red and yellow feathers around its face. The truck was moved about 11:30 a.m. Thursday. From about 8:30 until 8:55 a.m. Thursday, three nearby schools in the Westside district were placed in lockout mode, meaning students were in place in the buildings but no one else was allowed in. Officers were not looking for additional wrongdoers. World-Herald staff writer Andrew J. Nelson and photographer Rebecca S. Gratz contributed to this report. DES MOINES Two of Iowas top elected officials are at odds over whether state government should use short-term borrowing to avoid delaying school aid payments or other obligations in 2018. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, a Democrat, wrote Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds this week seeking authorization to issue tax and revenue anticipation notes to borrow funds in case state tax collections dont meet expectations again in fiscal 2018. However, Reynolds dismissed the request, with her spokeswoman saying Thursday the states bills are being paid on time and it was "unwise" and partisan on the treasurers part to suggest otherwise. Michael Fitzgerald is again engaging in his tiresome, headline-grabbing scare tactics. Iowans should not be fooled by this dangerous, reckless rhetoric, said Reynolds spokeswoman Brenna Smith. We are effectively and responsibly managing taxpayer dollars at a time the nations federal deficit is approaching $20 trillion. Now is not the time to be borrowing money. In making his recommendation, Fitzgerald noted the state was in better financial shape last fiscal year to weather an economic period that saw state tax collections dip $274 million below projections. He said the states cash reserves are down from $729 million last year to $610 million now with no surplus, and with expectations of needing another $50 million to balance the fiscal 2017 shortfall. As we enter September, we do not know how much more we will need to take from our reserve accounts to balance the FY17 books, he wrote in his Aug. 30 letter to Reynolds. Facing greater uncertainties in FY18 and reduced balances, as a AAA state, we need to be prudent in how we manage our finances. I am recommending that we issue a cash-flow borrowing to ensure we have the money available to pay our bills, including school aid payments, on time this fiscal year. Fitzgerald noted that Iowa has used such borrowing 16 times since 1985 to manage its cash flow, and often reaps a financial benefit given the reinvestment rates allowed under government rules. He said the timing mismatch between tax collections and state expenditures could create a situation where the states cash-flow could dwindle to a $27 million balance next April and the short-term borrowing is a sensible way to manage the uncertainties that we face. According to Fitzgerald, the issuance does not increase the long-term liabilities of the state because it is a cash-flow tool rather than debt. Not paying our obligations on time can have serious impact on Iowans, for example, delaying payments to school districts could force them to borrow money and incur unnecessary costs they cannot afford, he wrote in his letter to Reynolds. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, issued a statement Thursday accusing the state treasurer of creating a fake issue to score political points, plain and simple. Upmeyer said officials in the state Department of Management have assured legislative leaders that there are adequate funds in the reserve accounts to cash flow the state this fiscal year." She said she preferred he speak with the governor or lawmakers rather than continue his attention-seeking ways of running to the press to sound false alarms and scare the public. Earlier this week, the governor told reporters she expects to decide in September whether it will be necessary to call lawmakers into special session. In that session, legislators would address a projected state budget shortfall or whether she can address any financial problems using executive transfers. The fiscal 2017 budget year ended June 30, but there is a period in the months following where state officials rectify various accruals, transfers, collections and other accounting before finalizing the balance sheets. Lawmakers and former Gov. Terry Branstad, who left state government in May to become U.S. ambassador to China, already had to make nearly $118 million in cuts and adjustments as well as borrow $131 million from the states reserves before state tax collections finished on a lackluster note in June. Reynolds, who succeeded Branstad as governor, said she has the authority without legislative approval to transfer up to $50 million more from reserves to cover another shortfall. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer has called for the firing of two more officers in the wake of the in-custody death of Zachary Bearheels. Bearheels, a mentally ill man, died in June following an altercation with officers at the Buckys gas station at 6003 Center St. Makyla Mead, 28, and Jennifer Strudl, 29, were the first officers dispatched to the gas station because of a report of a disturbance involving Bearheels. An hour and 40 minutes later, Bearheels would be dead. On Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Bernard in den Bosch said Schmaderer has recommended that the city fire the two officers. Mead and Strudls procedural failures in the handling of the June 5 encounter with Bearheels, 29, appeared not to be as extreme as those of two other officers who already have been fired and now face assault charges. Bearheels, whose relatives have said suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and was off his medications, was traveling from South Dakota to Oklahoma when he was kicked off a bus in Omaha a day earlier. Mead and Strudl are entitled to a hearing with the citys Human Resources Department. They are on paid administrative leave as they await it. The police labor contract also allows officers to appeal discipline to the City Personnel Board or an independent labor arbitrator. Strudl is a Crisis Intervention Team officer and had taken a 40-hour course on dealing with the mentally ill. Schmaderer previously fired Scotty Payne and Ryan McClarty, the officers who authorities have described as the primary aggressors in the struggle with Bearheels. Payne was charged with second-degree assault. He stunned Bearheels 12 times with a Taser, Douglas County prosecutors have said. McClarty was charged with third-degree assault. He punched Bearheels 13 times after Bearheels ripped his hand free from a handcuff, prosecutors have said. Payne and McClarty have appealed to an arbitrator, in den Bosch said Wednesday. Schmaderer has said broadly that the officers handling of the encounter was improper, but it has not been made clear what policies the police internal affairs investigators found that Mead and Strudl did not follow. The Omaha police union has said Bearheels was a suspect who was able to physically pull his hand out of a handcuff, thereby creating a deadly weapon. Swinging of a lose (sic) cuff is recognized to be fatal weapon to the suspect or responding officers, the union has written. Dr. Michelle Elieff, a Douglas County coroners physician, said Bearheels suffered a sudden death associated with excited delirium ... physical struggle, physical restraint and use of a (Taser). The encounter began as Bearheels refused to leave the Buckys convenience store at 60th and Center Streets. Strudl and Officer James Mosby, who had been nearby, were able to put handcuffs on Bearheels without incident and put him in the back of a cruiser. Strudl spoke on the phone with Bearheels mother for 23 minutes. Mead arrived and called a sergeant, who said there was insufficient justification to detain Bearheels or place him in emergency protective custody. Officers decided to take Bearheels to a bus station. When Strudl opened the door to buckle Bearheels seat belt, he leapt out of the car and walked away. Payne, who had just arrived at the scene, joined Mead and Strudl in trying to maintain control over the handcuffed Bearheels, who was 5-foot-9 and 250 pounds. They requested backup at 1:32 a.m., and McClarty arrived 3 minutes later. The four officers tried to move Bearheels back to the cruiser, and Payne warned him he would be shocked with a stun gun. According to a police account, the officers tried to carry Bearheels but he broke free and landed on his feet. In the encounter that ensued, Payne used the Taser on Bearheels, who broke free of his handcuffs and turned toward McClarty, swinging his arms and kicking his legs. McClarty hit Bearheels in the head multiple times with his fists, Schmaderer has said, and Payne continued to use the Taser. A University of Nebraska at Omaha student reported to authorities that she was sexually assaulted Tuesday in a dormitory, television station KMTV reported. The university's Department of Public Safety distributed an advisory on Wednesday that said the assault occurred about 10:30 p.m. at Maverick Village, on its Dodge Street campus. The police had not announced an arrest early Thursday of the assailant, whom the notice described as an 18-year-old man. SUGAR LAND, Texas The dramatic water rescues slowed somewhat for the Nebraska National Guard in Texas, and the daily grind of trying to navigate a post-Harvey landscape has set in. And that takes food. Water. Radios and Humvee tires, and generators and toolboxes. And an aerial delivery system. Residents and rescuers alike are in need of basics that are in short supply because of impassable roads and massive demand that have stripped the shelves of Walmarts and the Texas-based H-E-B grocery stores. But the two cavernous, twin-engine CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the Nebraska National Guard have spent the past few days hauling relief crews and thousands of pounds of supplies around Texas, bypassing the deluged roads for the now sunny skies. Theyve shuttled cases upon cases of water and MREs meals ready to eat between Austin and Sugar Land, just southwest of flood-ravaged Houston. They took a Black Hawk helicopter engine to San Antonio and picked up Texas National Guard soldiers who needed to move from Austin to the Houston area, a 159-mile trip that took only about an hour in the powerful Chinook. A few of the soldiers dozed inside the cabin, despite the 100-decibel roar of the engines. The Chinooks have a hoist that can be used for rescue missions if necessary, but our job is cargo, Chief Warrant Officer Dallas Bundy said. The Chinooks are from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, based in Grand Island. The two helicopters and their crews arrived in Texas on Monday and have been in high demand since. Chinooks are workhorses that can haul thousands of pounds of supplies while still flying faster than the smaller and more compact Black Hawk helicopters often used for aerial water rescues. While the Chinooks hauled supplies and people on Thursday, the two more nimble Black Hawks from the Nebraska National Guard continued to lift people from the flooded landscape. The people that they pluck out of the water, they need food and water and equipment, said Capt. Paul Proctor. Once the Chinooks have dropped off supplies, smaller aircraft, trucks or other forms of transportation can ferry the water or food to the places that need it most: hospitals, shelters or temporary military bases. Were just trying to bring all the supplies and equipment that these guys need to set up operations, Bundy said. The days have been long and busy, and theyre starting to blur together, Proctor said. Soldiers know to grab sleep, bathroom breaks and food and water whenever the opportunities arise during shifts that have stretched on. Inside the Chinook on Thursday, soldiers on opposite sides of the 30-foot-long cabin threw MREs and water bottles mixed with Crystal Light raspberry iced tea to each other. On missions, there is no shortage of false starts, bad tips and communication mix-ups. A FEMA crew that was supposed to be picked up outside Austin was a no-show. Another request earlier this week to haul a bunch of inflatable boats was canceled at the last minute. Theres just so many agencies, so many moving parts it just doesnt always get back to us through those communication channels, Bundy said. I tell these guys, youve got to have patience, otherwise it makes these things very painful. But military personnel and other relief organizations need infrastructure to bring Houston back to some semblance of normalcy. PORT ARTHUR, Texas One by one, plucked from the rising floodwaters and shuttled into the cabin of a Nebraska National Guard helicopter, they asked the same question. Where are we going? They were desperate for news, desperate for a safe place to shelter, desperate for some idea of what comes next now that their lives had been upturned by a torrent of floodwaters. At an evacuee center at the Port Arthur Early College High School on Wednesday, they sought answers, relatives, a place to charge a phone or a ride to dry ground. A woman was trying to find her mother. A couple worried about the three pit bulls they had left behind when they were airlifted out. They had thrown open the doors to their house and dumped dog food on the floor and prayed theyd survive. Regina Cornell was trying to make her way to her sister-in-laws house, about 10 minutes away. After that, she has no idea what the coming days and weeks will bring. Her daughters, Ava, 6, and Aveonna, 4, clutched their baby dolls. Cornell made it out with a bag of clothes and a few toys to entertain the girls. Before leaving her house, she placed some family photos high up, hoping theyd stay untouched by the water creeping in. I prayed the water wouldnt get high in my house, but at least I have my children, she said. They were among the approximately 200 people rescued Wednesday by a pair of Black Hawk helicopters manned by members of the Nebraska National Guard deployed to aid Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. As Staff Sgt. Ben Mattox lifted Ava onto a seat inside the helicopter, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Although Harvey had weakened into a tropical depression by late Wednesday, catastrophic and potentially deadly flooding will continue around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week. Harveys official death toll stood at 31, although officials expect the number of fatalities to climb sharply in coming days as bodies of flood victims are found. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city and spilled into a shelter with about 100 people inside. The city is also home to the nations biggest oil refinery, which has been closed by the flooding. The scene in Port Arthur on Wednesday was the most dire the Nebraska contingent had encountered. Storm victims climbed aboard helicopters from apartment complexes and homes swamped with water and from railroad tracks that remained the sole dry stretch of land in a sea of murky brown water. Some were barefoot, clutching canes or backpacks filled with medicine or childrens sippy cups. One Guard helicopter picked up about 110 people. The other rescued 87 people 63 adults and 24 children as well as 17 dogs and two cats. Many expressed gratitude to the Nebraska Guard. At least 37 members of the Nebraska National Guard are in Texas from units based in Lincoln and Grand Island. Its what I expected, just chaos, and well keep pulling people out until its under control, said 1st Sgt. Ron Schroeder, the senior enlisted soldier on the Guards Texas deployment. This is what I trained my whole life for. Dennis Trohan was rescued along with his four dogs. Inside the helicopter, he grasped their leashes and made the sign of the cross. Stranded residents waved towels and sheets out of windows or on porches to seek rescue from passing helicopters and boats. The Black Hawk piloted by Maj. Dan Smith and Chief Warrant Officer Josh Schaaf made a water landing in a flooded courtyard at an apartment complex to evacuate residents. Ive never landed in water like that, Schroeder said. And they watched as people made wrenching decisions: Should they leave their homes, or stay and risk their lives if the water continued to rise? On an earlier mission, one man began to board a Black Hawk before reconsidering. He didnt want to leave without his cat. Bryce Ceaser, 19, left with his daughter and just the clothes on his back, his phone and a charger. When the helicopters dropped, they said three more feet of rain was coming, he said. I was going to stay until I heard that. He was planning to take his 1-year-old daughter to his parents in Dallas. He was waiting for a ride but wasnt sure about highway conditions. Im really just hoping it goes away, but they say we have more coming, he said. After days of anxiously watching the forecast, Nizam Juman and Daisy Benavente fell asleep and awoke to a house filled with water. They crawled onto the roof of their flooded home with their 9-month-old daughter, Azalea-Zahara. Their first priority was getting the baby to family in Arizona. Amid the worry and the fear and so many unknowns, there were moments of kindness and grace. Neighbors pitched in to grab belongings or soothe scared children. Phattrawan Le rubbed the arm of the elderly woman next to her, who arrived at the rescue chopper with no shoes. Im just impressed to see people helping each other, without a doubt, and some of them stepping up to take charge, Schroeder said. The World-Heralds Chris Machian contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Associated Press. Correction: The evacuee center is located at the Port Arthur Early College High School. A previous version of this story stated an incorrect location. Two people died Wednesday afternoon in a collision in Lancaster County, authorities say. The names of the deceased had not been released Wednesday evening. According to the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office, a Chrysler Town & Country minivan traveling east on Highway 33 crossed lanes and struck a westbound semitrailer head-on. The driver and passenger of the van died, while the driver and a passenger in the semi were treated at the scene and released. The crash was reported at 3:32 p.m. and occurred just west of the intersection of Highway 33 and Southwest 100th Street. The Sheriffs Office, Crete Fire & Rescue and the Nebraska State Patrol assisted at the scene. Outraged by Tuesdays North Korean missile test, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Japan needs to have an equally urgent debate at home. The missile, which buzzed the island of Hokkaido before crashing into the sea, was especially provocative because North Korea had previously only sent satellite-launching rockets over Japan. Judging by past experience, success will embolden the North to conduct similar tests, raising the possibility that a missile could go awry or disintegrate over a Japanese city. Japan and the United States would have to decide whether to shoot them down, increasing the risk of wider hostilities. Worse, its unclear whether Japans current missile defenses are even up to that task. It currently deploys ship-borne interceptors, designed to shoot down intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and land-based Patriot batteries, which can take out more primitive missiles or falling debris. Its considering adding more powerful land-based interceptors, as well, but those systems would be costly and might not be able to stop a barrage of simultaneous launches. Abes task now is to build support for stronger measures. For years, politicians and policy wonks have debated whether Japans pacifist constitution allows offensive action under certain circumstances say, to take out a North Korean missile on the launch pad moments before liftoff. The consensus is that it does, under very limited circumstances. But it would require weaponry, such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, that would dramatically increase Japans war-making capacity. Abe needs to make the case for the fast development of such a capability. And he needs to be clear about the circumstances under which it would be used. The prime minister needs to be similarly honest about his long-running push to revise Japans constitution, including its clause renouncing war. He says the changes hes proposing would do no more than legitimize Japans existing Self-Defense Forces. But his past statements and links to hard-right groups have raised legitimate doubts about his intentions. Japanese are conflicted about such big changes to their constitution. Abe owes them an open debate in which all sides get a full hearing. China, of course, is unlikely to view any increase in Japans offensive military capabilities or its missile defenses, for that matter with equanimity. Instead of lashing out, however, leaders in Beijing might consider whether theyve done everything they can to mitigate the North Korean threat. A more heavily armed Japan is just one of the costs of their refusal to do so. 40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley Mubin did it in Coimbatore: Why do Islamist terrorists shave their body before a suicide mission 8 Jaish terrorists slip into Punjab, plot Pathankot styled attack: IB India oi-Vicky By Vicky A very high alert has been sounded by the Intelligence Bureau after inputs suggested the presence of 8 Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in Punjab. The 8 terrorists who infiltrated into India through the Line of Control at Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir managed to slip into Punjab and could be attempting an attack on the scale of Pathankot, the IB has also said. Ironically the 8 terrorists were part of a team of 11 which carried out the Pulwama attack last week week in which 8 security personnel were martyred. Fresh Intelligence Bureau inputs suggest that the 8 terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad may have moved towards Punjab and could be planning an attack on the scale of Pathankot. The Punjab police have been intimated about the alert and directed to up security and also ensure that high profile installations are sensitised and secured. The intelligence also suggested specifically that the terrorists were headed towards Gurdaspur. The Intelligence Bureau says that there has been a slight shift and Pakistan has been aiding infiltrations of the Jaish terrorists more. The Jaish is sent in ahead of major attacks and the group is known to hit security establishments. Incidents such as Pathankot and the Parliament attacks were attributed to the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The first time the input regarding the infiltration of the Jaish terrorists was reported on August 23. A second alert was sent a day later. It was stated that these terrorists had entered India through the Line of Control at Poonch. The alert also stated that the terrorists had split into two groups and infiltrated into the Valley. The second alert pointed out that one batch was headed to Punjab and inputs suggested that they were planning a major strike. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 6:17 [IST] Should we really try to do business with Vladimir Putin? This is misguided, wishful and even dangerous thinking. Since coming to power in 1999, the Russian president has done nothing to indicate that he would be a trustworthy partner to America. At almost every opportunity, he has pursued polices that undermine our national interests and those interests of our closest partners. Putins behavior resembles that of the czars more than that of his Soviet predecessors. Everything this imperial leader does aims to maximize and secure his personal power. This has not been good for Russia. His reign has sent democracy in retreat; eroded basic freedoms (of speech, assembly and a free press); oppressed and sometimes killed minority groups and political opposition figures; and left the countrys economy in tatters. In sum, Putin presides over a thugocracy. To distract his people from their many woes, he has pursued a dangerously aggressive and expansionist foreign policy. Along the way, he has undone the post-World War II world order and undermined Americas strategic interests in many parts of the world. Consider Syria. The United States and Russia share the same common interest in Syria in the same way a customer and a robber share the same common interests in a bank. Some argue that we need to work with Russia to fight trans-national terrorism, and that Syria is just the place to start. But that argument ignores the reality on the ground. The U.S. interest there, first and foremost, is to fight terrorism. But Russias main goal is to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime. Thats because Russias only overseas naval base is located in Assads ethnically Alawite stronghold. As long as Assad, or someone like him, guarantees Moscows use of that base, Putin couldnt care less if the rest of Syria burns. Or consider his nefarious activities in Europe. Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia in 2008 and continues to occupy, illegally, 20 percent of that countrys territory. When Moscow invaded, Georgian troops fighting alongside U.S. forces in Iraq had to return home to defend their homeland. At the time, Georgia had the second-largest troop presence in Iraq of all our allies. The invasion drained critical support from the allied war effort. Six years later, Putin invaded Ukraine and illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula the first time one European country used military force to annex part of another since the days of Hitler. Russia still fuels a separatist conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine, creating strife for yet another. Russia has worked to sow anxiety and instability throughout most of the rest of Europe, as well. It has weaponized its natural gas exports to Europe, turning off the tap when countries dare go against its wishes. It has conducted cyber-attacks against NATO member Estonia and NATO partners Georgia and Ukraine and has conducted military exercises to simulate a nuclear strike against NATO member Poland. Russia is undermining Americas security and interests in other regions of the globe, too. It is widely reported to be providing weapons and training to the Taliban in Afghanistan. It consistently provides diplomatic cover for Iran and its nuclear program and abets Tehrans destabilizing actions across the Middle East. And for years Moscow has been beavering away, building military facilities in the previously unmilitarized Arctic region. Clearly, Putins foreign policy is calculated to build himself up at home by consistently challenging and threatening U.S. interests around the globe. As long as he remains in power, nobody should expect Russia to play nice with the United States, much less become a credible partner. In dealing with Putin, the United States needs to show resolve, pushing back when pushed. Moreover, Washington must show that its capable of pushing back hard by rebuilding and modernizing our armed forces. Finally, and most important, America must stick with its friends especially those in NATO and those countries that aspire to someday join. Vladimir Putin respects three things: strength, clarity and consistency. President Obama displayed none of these traits. He weakened Americas foreign policy hand by downsizing the military and cutting back our military presence in Europe. Meanwhile, his rebuffed attempt to make nice with Moscow (the so-called Russian Reset) confused and alarmed many of our allies living in Russias shadow. Putin will never be a friend. The sooner we understand this, the safer America and its allies will be. Aarushi double murder case: Allahabad HC to hear afresh appeals of Talwars India oi-Madhuri The Allahabad High Court on Thursday took up re-hearing of the appeal filed by Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar challenging the life term awarded to them by CBI court, Ghaziabad in the sensational Aarushi-Hemraj murder case after reserving its judgment on January 9. The sensational and high-profile double murder case has been a subject of heated debate that who killed Aarushi and Hemraj, from last ten years. Rajesh and his wife Nupur were convicted in November 2013 in the double murder case of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and their house help Hemraj. Hence, they filed the present criminal appeal challenging the life term awarded to them by the CBI court. The trial took place at CBI Court, Ghaziabad and in November 2013, both the parents of Aarushi were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. They challenged the said decision in the Allahabad high court by filing the present appeal. Aarushi and Hemraj were murdered on the intervening night of May 15-16 in 2008. However, when Aarushi's body was discovered on May 16, the missing servant Hemraj was considered as the main suspect. But on the next day, Hemraj's partially decomposed body was discovered on the terrace. Later, police considered Aarushi's parents as the prime suspects. OneIndia News Actress molestation case: Kerala police mum on Suni's claims of 'madam' Kavya India oi-Anusha Prime accused in the actress molestation case, Pulsar Suni, has claimed that Kavya Madhavan, actor and wife on jailed Dileep is the 'madam' that he often referred to. 24 hours after the claim, the police are yet to confirm the same. No official word on Kavya Madhavan's role in the case or the lack of it has come from the police. Ever since Dileep's arrest, Pulsar Suni, the prime accused has time and again referred to one 'madam'. He dropped hints before the media every time he was brought to the court. On Wednesday, Suni for the first time revealed who he was referring to as 'Madam' and named Kavya Madhavan. "My madam is Kavya," he told journalists. He, however, added that while she financed him, she did not know of the ploy to abduct the young actress and assault her. Kavya was questioned by investigating officers in connection with the case earlier. Her shop was also raided in search of a memory card that Sui is said to have handed over to her. The police were convinced for a long time that 'madam' was a figment of Suni's imagination that he used to derail the investigations. Suni had earlier claimed that the money to carry out the attack on the actress in February came from Kavya. Kavya is said to have handed over Rs 25,000 to Suni on someone else's instructions. While Suni has now claimed that Kavya is the 'madam' the police are yet to verify his claims. Considering that Suni's claims were made out of court and do not feature in his official statements, the police are unwilling to add weight to his claims until evidence proves otherwise. Despite the police remaining mum on Suni's claims, Kavya's name being dragged into the case had added embarrassment to the Malayalam film fraternity. While Kavya was questioned in connection with the case, her name has not featured officially so far. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 15:06 [IST] AIADMK crisis: Dinakaran moves HC, opposition parties meet President India oi-Anusha The AIADMK crisis in Tamil Nadu has reached President Ram Nath Kovind's doorstep. Leaders of opposition parties led by DMK made a representation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan over the political crisis in the state. Meanwhile, back in Chennai, TTV Dinakaran has moved the Madras High Court against the scheduled AIADMK General Council meeting. Conveyed in writing that 21 MLAs gave letters of withdrawal of support from govt (Tamil Nadu): Anand Sharma after oppn delegations met Pres pic.twitter.com/wcoQN03xvJ ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 A Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Anand Sharma, Kanimozhi along with a host of leaders from opposition parties met the President to apprise him of the situation in Tamil Nadu and urged him to direct Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy to prove majority. "We have asked the President's directions to convene the Tamil Nadu assembly on an urgent basis and seek the government to prove majority. Let the assembly decide who has a majority," said CPM's Sitaram Yechury. Even as the AIADMK led by Edappadi Palanisamy and O Pannerselvam is making arrangements to host a General Council meeting on September, Dinakaran has moved court to stop it. Dinakaran camp now has the support of 23 AIADMK MLAs. Dinakaran has contended that only the General Secretary has the powers to call for a general council meeting and that the September 12 event should be stopped. The petition states that the party bylaws only allow the General secretary, who at present is Sasikala Natarajan, to call for a General Council meeting. The meeting is expected to adopt a resolution to oust Sasikala from the post of interim General Secretary as well as the party. In a meeting held at the AIADMK Headquarters last week, the party decided that all appointments made by her including Dinakaran's are 'null and void'. OneIndia News Only those from political families can eye a CMs post in Congress: Amit Shah Uniform Civil Code in Himachal if BJP comes to power: Amit Shah Amit Shah holds strategy meet with senior ministers ahead of Gujarat polls India pti-PTI New Delhi, Aug 31: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday held a "strategy session" with senior Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley, on the coming assembly elections in Gujarat where the party has set a target of winning 150 seats. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, P P Chaudhury, Jitendra Singh and Niramala Sitharaman were also present at the meet. While Jaitley is in charge of the election in Gujarat, the other ministers are co-in charge of the polls. BJP's general secretary in charge of organisation Ram Lal and general secretary Bhupinder Yadav were also present at the meeting at Shah's residence to fine tune the BJP strategy. In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP seeks to win 150 seats and retain power. "The party held a strategy session to achieve the target," Yadav later told reporters. The assembly polls are due in Gujarat later this year. PTI Dera followers have a 'suicide squad' to defend Gurmeet Ram Rahim India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar After the conviction of Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, hundrends of affidavits, owing allegiance to Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, are coming out in public domain. The affidavits prove that Dera followers allegedly created 'suicide sqaud' in case their chief was in trouble. Recommended Video Ram Rahim Verdict: Dera followers make 'suicide squad' to defend Baba | Oneindia News When CBI started the investigation into criminal activities, the agency got hold of many such documents purportedly prepared by dera followers. CBI has produced on such affidavit signed by one Indu, a resident of Sirsa, on October 20, 2005. It reads: "I have dedicated my life to the cause of humanity that has been promoted by the Dera Sacha Sauda. If I die in an accident or in any other way, I will be responsible for it. No one else can be held responsible for my death. Dera Sacha Sauda too will not be responsible for my death. None of my descendants or family members will have the right to hold Dera Sacha Sauda responsible for my death." The Times of India report said that the affidavit was prepared on a registered stamp paper. Police officials say that these documents show that the dera was preparing its own so-called 'suicide squad' of followers. "We had intelligence inputs about these squads being re-activated this time as well," IG, intelligence, A K Rao told TOI. Another Sirsa resident, Sheila Rani, had in 2005 prepared an affidavit that read: "For about three years, CBI has been investigating the dera and the investigating officers are trying to implicate the dera head, its managers and sewadars in false cases. I have decided without any pressure to sit on a hunger strike until CBI withdraws its cases. If I die like this, it will be my own doing and without any external pressure." OneIndia News Doval, Gokhale, the men who told China to back off from Doklam India oi-Vicky By Vicky India managed to find a solution and put an end to the tense Doklam standoff with China. Several officials worked tirelessly to ensure that the issue did not go out of hand. While the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi personally oversaw the deliberations, it was the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval and senior diplomat Vijay Gokhale who led the talks. Gokhale, the ambassador to China played a key role in resolving the crisis. A 1981 IFS batch officer, Gokhale along with Doval stayed in touch with the envoys from China to find a resolution. The NSA and the Chinese state councillor, Yang Jiechi are the special representatives of the two governments for boundary negotiations. Since the standoff began in June, China told India that the issue would not fall within the purview of the special representatives. When the talks began, China said that the Sikkim section of the boundary was a settled issue. Only negotiate on the disputed portion, China also said. Both Doval and Gokhale made it clear to China that the status of Sikkim as an integral part of India was a settled issue. Recommended Video Sikkim Standoff: Doval response to China over Doklam is bang on | Oneindia News While Doval set the tone for the talks, Gokhale kept in touch with the Chinese foreign ministry officials in Beijing. He stayed in touch with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Apart from negotiating in China, Gokhale and Jaishankar also reached out to US and Japan and explained India's stand on the issue. Both the US and Japan backed India's stand which built up the pressure on China. Doval during his meeting with Jiechi said that the issue had to be resolved. The troops had to be pulled back. Moreover Doval also had an assurance from the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat that they were ready. When China made it clear that Doklam did not belong to India, Doval refused to acknowledge that. He also shot back by saying, ' every disputed territory does not become China's by default." He finally managed to get the Chinese to pull out of Doklam. OneIndia News Get me the red bag: The code Ram Rahim used to try and escape India oi-Vicky By Vicky Get the red bag was a code word that Gurmeet Ram Rahim used as he tried to escape with the help of his followers after being convicted of rape charges. Recommended Video Ram Rahim verdict: Red bag was the code word for escaping | Oneindia News Inspector General of Police (IGP) K K Rao said that as soon as the self-styled godman was convicted, he demanded a 'red bag' that he had brought along from Sirsa. "The Dera chief demanded the bag, saying his clothes were in it. It was actually a signal for his men to spread the news of his conviction among supporters so that they could resort to causing disturbance," Rao said. He said that as the bag was taken out of the vehicle, sounds of tear gas shells being lobbed about 2-3 km from the site were heard. "It was then that we understood that there was some meaning behind the signal," the Haryana police IG claimed. And what made senior police officials even more suspicious was that Ram Rahim Singh and his adopted daughter kept standing in the Panchkula court complex corridor for a long time even when they were not supposed to do so, he said. "They were trying to gain time before sitting in the vehicle so that their men could spread the message that he was moving from the court. They were told that you cannot stand here. The mob was about 2-3 km and could have moved closer. We never wanted violence in Sector 1 as casualties could have been more," the senior police official said. The police decided to make him sit in the vehicle of DCP (Crime) Sumit Kumar instead of the vehicle he had arrived in, Rao said. When we were making him sit in the vehicle, commandos, deployed with him for several years, gheraoed the Dera chief, Rao alleged. "Thereafter, DCP (Crime) Kumar and his team scuffled with them. His commandos were even thrashed," he said. We took good care that no firing takes place, Rao said adding that even the commandoes assigned to protect the godman were also armed. Another threat that the policemen sensed was from the around 70-80 vehicles, part of the Dera chief's cavalcade, which were parked next to a nearby theatre, he claimed. "We did not want to use the same route as 70 vehicles were standing. People in those vehicles might have been carrying weapons," he said. Our priority was to first take Baba to the chopper site , he said adding that it was a challenge to make him sit in the police vehicle, Rao said adding that a decision was taken to change the route. "I asked an Army man to allow the police vehicles (including the one carrying Dera chief) to move through the cantonment area. Had their people come to know about our movement, they would have reached there and firing could have taken place," the IG said. As we were about to proceed towards the cantonment area, the Dera chief's private commandos forcibly clung to the police vehicle, he said. They were again thrashed and taken into custody, Rao added. "The Baba's men were clueless for over half an hour as to where he had been taken," he said. "We came to know about the escape plan when the red bag was demanded. Secondly, they were trying to gain time. Thirdly why men in 70 vehicles were standing," he claimed. OneIndia News UP polls 2022: Yogi Adityanath the 2nd CM to contest assembly elections from Gorakhpur Why the NIA needs to take up the Gorakhnath Temple attack case Frogs married off in UP to please rain God, end drought like situation Gorakhpur tragedy: BRD college principal sent to 14-day judicial custody India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Suspended principal of Bhagwan Ram Das (BRD) medical college RK Mishra and his wife Poornima Shukla were sent to 14 days judicial custody on Thursday by Gorakhpur Anti-Corruption court. Mishra and his medico wife Purnima Shukla, who are named in an FIR lodged by the UP government, were picked up from Kanpur, where they had reportedly gone to consult a lawyer. "The STF team then left for Gorakhpur to carry out further interrogation there," SSP, Gorakhpur, Anirudh Sidhartha Pankaj told PTI in Gorakhpur. A homeopathic medical officer, Ms. Shukla has been accused of interference in the hospital adminstration and of seeking commission in purchase of surgical equipment. Mishra had been suspended as principal of the college on 12 August after the deaths were reported and the same day he resigned owning moral responsibility for the incident, which acquired a political hue with the government drawing flak from the opposition. (With agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 14:52 [IST] LVM3 exemplifies Atmanirbharta, says PM Modi as he congratulates ISRO on successful launch of OneWeb ISRO to launch IRNSS-1H today: Know everything about India's own GPS India oi-Deepika By Deepika The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch navigation satellite 'IRNSS-1H' on Thursday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 7 PM. It is said to augment the existing seven satellites of the NavIC constellation. IRNSS, which stands for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, will be carried by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, XL variant. To be launched on board PSLV-C39, IRNSS-1H will be a back-up navigation satellite for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, as its three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning. ISRO had to go in for a spare satellite following the failure of atomic clocks in the earlier satellites. The new satellite boasts much-improved version of atomic clocks which ensure correctness of time and will improve synchronization of equipment on Earth. Here are the key features India's first satellite actively built by private firms On August 31, India will write a new history with the country's first satellite built actively by the private industry all set to enter space. The IRNSS-1H was built by a consortium led by Bengaluru-based Alpha Design Technologies under the supervision of a team consists of 70 scientists from ISRO. For the first time, private players have been actively involved in building a full satellite. Photo credit: ISRO Named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi IRNSS named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will provide basically two types of services namely Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) Space Segment consists of seven satellites, three satellites in GEO stationary orbit (GEO) and four satellites in Geo Synchronous Orbit (GSO) orbit with inclination of 29 degree to the equatorial plane. The program gives India a dedicated navigation system, serving military and civilian applications, reducing the country's reliance on systems controlled by foreign governments. Photo credit: ISRO Eighth desi navigation satellite The 1,425-kilogram (3142 lb) satellite is the eight desi satelite expected to provide ten years of service. It will be stationed in an inclined geosynchronous orbit at longitude of 55 degrees East, where it will replace IRNSS-1A. The satellite is of the same design as its predecessor, based around ISRO's I-1K bus, with the same ten-year design life. Photo credit: ISRO Improved version of clocks in IRNSS-1H In view of the problems that plagued the atomic clocks highly accurate clocks that measure time in terms of vibrations in certain atoms in one of the seven satellites of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The atomic clocks that run on the element rubidium were imported from Europe. Photo credit: ISRO Other satellites ISRO had launched seven satellites - IRNSS-1G on 28 April 2016, IRNSS-1F (10 March 2016), IRNSS-1E (20 January 2016), IRNSS-1D (28 March 2015), IRNSS-1C (16 October 2014), IRNSS-1B (4 April 2014) and IRNSS-1A on 1 July 2013. Photo credit: ISRO OneIndia News FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir J&K: Policeman shot at by terrorists in Shopian India oi-Vikas By Vikas Srinagar, Aug 31: Terrorists on Thursday shot at a Sub-Inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police in Barbugh area of Shopian district. The policeman was injured in the incident. Sub-Inspector Gowhar Ahmad was shot by militants in the leg at a field near his residence at Imam Sahib in Shopian, 52 kms from Srinagar, around 7 pm, PTI quoted a police official as saying. The officer was taken to a hospital, from where he was referred to the Bone and Joint hospital in Srinagar for treatment, said reports. The condition of the injured policeman, who is posted at Anantnag, is stated to be stable. Ahmad had gone home to celebrate Eid with his family. On August 20, a man was gunned down by the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district. On August 15, a police bunker at Tengpora bypass in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, was fired upon by the terrorists. On August 13, two police personnel were injured after terrorists attacked a police search party in Bandipora's Hajin area of Jammu and Kashmir. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, September 1, 2017, 0:12 [IST] VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carrus Capital Corporation (the Company or Carrus) is pleased to announce that it has received conditional approval for a private placement consisting of up to 26,666,666 special warrants (Special Warrants) of the Company at a price of $0.30 per Special Warrant. Each Special Warrant will entitle the holder to receive, without payment of any additional consideration or need for further action, one unit (Unit) of the Company. Each Unit comprising of one common share (Share) and one share purchase warrant (Warrant). Each Warrant entitling the holder to acquire one additional Share at $0.40 for a period of 24 months. As disclosed in news release dated August 16th 2017 the net proceeds of the offering, together with the Companys current investment capital, will be used by the Company to explore investment opportunities in a variety of technologies related to alternative emerging asset classes, specifically the blockchain and digital currencies. No transactions have been consummated to date. The Company intends to augment its personnel with the addition of experts in these areas including the formation of an advisory board to assist in its review of future transactions in this sector. On behalf of: CARRUS CAPITAL CORPORATION Theo van der Linde Chief Financial Officer FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir J&K: Schools along LoC shut for next 3 days amid cross-border shelling India oi-Madhuri The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday shut schools along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district after Pakistan violated the ceasefire on Wednesday. "As a precautionary measure, some education institutions located along LoC in Nowshera shall remain closed for next 3 days in view of fresh ceasefire violation yesterday," said Rajouri's Deputy Commissioner Shahid Choudhary adding that there is no loss of life report as of now. Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling at various places along the border in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district from 10.35 am. The Indian army was retaliating strongly and effectively. This was sixth ceasefire violation along the LoC in last five days. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 11:59 [IST] In marital rape case, here is what the two judges of the Delhi HC said Marital rape: Men's rights activists raise concerns over 'misuse', gender neutral laws India oi-Anusha While the nation debates about women rights and marital rape, men's rights activists are pleading to look at the flipside of the issue. Many male domestic abuse survivors and men's rights activists have expressed concern over misuse of criminalisation of marital rape. NGOs working with male victims of domestic violence and abuse have raised questions over misuse of criminalisation of marital rape. "Marriage is not a commercial contract. I am not denying that there are instances of sexual abuse or marital rape but it is very rare. There are enough provisions under the existing domestic violence act for the victims to seek justice but what is to stop the misuse of criminalisation of marital rape and if it is not gender neutral?," asked Kumar Jahgirdar, President, Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP). The Union government on Wednesday told a court in Delhi that marital rape should not be criminalised, on the ground that it may "destabilise the institution of marriage". Men's rights activists have also raised concerns over who the law is serving. "Law only for the cosmopolitan, independent woman?" Members of CRISP maintain that the current laws give women an advantage over men, including laws against domestic violence. "There are provisions that protect the women from physical, mental and sexual abuse. While men too can raise their voice, they are often ridiculed. Will gender neutral laws set this right? The notion that only women can be victims is misplaced and unfair. Yes, women victims may be more in number but less number of male victims does not mean they are non-existent," said Avinash (name changed on request), who is fighting a legal battle over domestic abuse. Fears also loom large on whether criminalisation of marital rape is only to please the cosmopolitan, independent women while leaving the rural, illiterate and dependent women in the lurch. "To criminalise what happens in the couple's private life will destroy all chances of reconciliation. Family courts in India are also set up to promote reconciliation. Laws should not be brought in to appeal only to cosmopolitan, independent women who can live their lives without husbands or families but spare a thought for women from different backgrounds who are heavily dependant on husbands or family. There is a need to create awareness before jumping into criminalising marital rape," Jahgirdar added. "When men are finding it difficult to nail the false cases of dowry against them, how do you expect them to protect themselves from false cases of marital rape? When section 498 A is being blatantly misused, what stops someone, determined to take you down, from deeming a consensual act as rape? Courts have observed that 82 per cent dowry cases end up with acquittal but with the husband and his family are shamed for no fault," said a 31-year-old IT professional. He is fighting a defamation case against his estranged wife for pressing false charges. Men rights activists have urged the Women's commission to consel, create awareness and acknowledge that men can be victims too, before backing the demand for criminalisation of marital rape. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 13:35 [IST] For me, my family & wife come first, worried husband Robert Vadra on Priyanka Gandhi's arrest More trouble for Vadra as CBI files 4 FIRs against his firm in Rajasthan India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed 18 cases of which 4 are against Robert Vadra's firm in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government had recommended a CBI probe into the land deals at Bikaner. Some of these lands are allegedly linked to Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. The 18 cases re-registered after taking over from Rajasthan government pertain to fraudulent and fictitious claims and allotments in lieu of land acquired for Mahajan field firing range Bikaner which is used by the Army," a CBI spokesperson said. Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said four FIRs are related to Sky Light Hospitality, allegedly linked to Vadra. "As many as 18 FIRs are registered and four of them are against Vadra's company which was allegedly involved in illegal purchase of nearly 275 bigha land. Kataria had said that all 18 FIRs were in connection with the purchase of around 1,400 bigha land in fake names. He alleged that Vadra was a third party to the purchase of 275 bigha land in the year 2010 and it sold the land to a fourth party in 2012. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 8:06 [IST] Mumbai mayhem: Death toll in floods reaches 10 India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Mumbai, August 31: At least 10 people have lost their lives in Mumbai and the neighbouring districts of Palghar and Thane due to heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding over the last few days, said official reports on Wednesday. Official reports added that nine people were washed away in separate incidents in Mumbai and the two adjoining districts and one more person lost his life in a wall-collapse incident in Ghatkopar in the megapolis. "In Mumbai, deaths were reported from Dahisar, Kandivli, Malad and Dadar areas," a senior police official said. As a precautionary measure, schools and colleges remained closed on Wednesday across Mumbai, after Tuesday's record rainfall of more than 468 mm in a couple of hours. The residents of Mumbai and its neighbouring areas tried to bring back some normalcy into their lives on Wednesday as floodwaters left almost every nook and corner of affected areas submerged. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis advised people to stay back in their homes unless there is an emergency. "However, the essential services and critical staff in the government will be on duty on Wednesday," Fadnavis said. Around 450 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been mobilised for deployment in Mumbai, where normal life has been disrupted due to heavy rains. Three NDRF teams, already prepositioned in Mumbai, were immediately supplemented by sending more teams, a home ministry statement said. Recommended Video Mumbai building collapse: 5 storey building in shambles in rain | Oneindia News The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena engaged in political fisticuffs over relief measures. While the Shiv Sena is in control over the municipal corporation of the city, the richest in Asia, both the parties are running an alliance government in the state. The Shiv Sena accused the BJP of taking "undue credit" for the relief work being carried out by the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. A Yuva Sena functionary tweeted a photo claiming that the BJP has "photoshopped" the Sena's name to take "undue credit" for the relief work being done by his party. Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh flood woes continued as the toll rose to 103 on Wednesday. However, the situation improved further in flood-affected Bihar, Assam and West Bengal with water receding from several areas and no report of any deaths on Wednesday. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 7:18 [IST] Atham The first day of Onam celebration starts with people visiting the temples in the morning. It is believed that King Mahabali starts his preparations to descend from Pathala to Kerala on this day. Pookalam (Floral Rangoli) The festival lasts for ten days and brings out the best of Kerala culture and tradition. The main attraction of the festival is the flower decorations (like a flower rangoli). Every day, they decorate their homes with flowers in their courtyards, and also prepare a grand meal called the Onasadya. Onasadya Another main attractions of Onam is the grand feast known as Onasadya, which is a nine-course meal consisting of 10-13 dishes, including rice, sambar, avial, rasam, payasam (sweet dish). It is served on Thiruonam - the day of the main festivities. Onakalikal Celebrations also include traditional dance, music and games that are collectively called Onakalikal. History of Onam Onam 2017, considered to be the harvest festival and the official state festival of Kerala, is celebrated by Keralites to welcome the King Mahabali. According to mythology, Vamana granted Mahabali a boon, by which he could visit again, once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the Onam 2017 festival. Modi Cabinet re-shuffle: 5 ministers resign, Gadkari likely to get Railways India oi-Vicky By Vicky Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy has resigned ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle. The resignation was submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The other ministers who resigned from their positions are Uma Bharti, Radhamohan Singh, Sanjeev Balyan and Giriraj Singh. This move comes ahead of a possible Cabinet re-shuffle likely to be announced on September 2. Sources say that in the major reshuffle, Nitin Gadkari is likely to get Railways while Suresh Prabhu may be moved to the Environment ministry. The new Cabinet is also likely to see the JD(U)'s Ram Chandra Prasad SIngh and Santosh Kushwaha being included. The other possibilities are Ananth Kumar getting Urban Development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving on September 3 for the BRICS summit and the government would like to finish the formalities before his trip. Given that Pitru Paksh, considered an inauspicious period, will run between September 6 and September 19, it is possible that the much-awaited exercise was carried out before Modi leaves for China. Modi last expanded his team in July 2016 when promoted Prakash Javadekar to the cabinet rank. OneIndia News Shrad, pitru paksha: What connection does it have with Modi Cabinet reshuffle India oi-Vicky By Vicky Shradh and pitru paksha are two factors that would weigh heavily on the government while fixing a date for the Cabinet reshuffle. Both are considered to be inauspicious and this period would last between September 6 to 19. While the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given absolutely no indication to his ministers about a reshuffle, sources tell OneIndia that it is likely to happen before he leaves for China on September 3. Modi will be in China between September 3 and 5 following which he will visit Myanmar before returning to India. The last time that the cabinet was expanded was in July 2016. Following that there have been only few additions. These additions became necessary after Manohar Parrikar stepped down as Defence Minister and headed to Goa. Other adjustments became necessary when Venkaiah Naidu contested the VP elections. The speculation about a reshuffle began when BJP's national president Amit Shah met with Union ministers Birender Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Upendra Kushwaha separately. However multiple sources in the BJP that we spoke with could not confirm an exact date. In fact no one has spoken with us about it said a BJP leader. However other sources said that the reshuffle is long overdue. It could happen this week itself or could be postponed to after September 19th, the source also said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 7:23 [IST] The joy of our lives: Sushma Swaraj's husband warm birthday wishes for late leader Remembering Sushma Swaraj on her death anniversary: Facts about Iron Lady of India Sushma Swaraj in Colombo to attend Indian Ocean Conference India oi-Deepika By Deepika External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday met Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Colombo. She is in Sri Lanka for the Indian Ocean Conference 2017. During the visit, Swaraj will be calling on the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a statement from the External Affairs Ministry said. "She will also have a separate meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister. Ahead of her visit,"We will be very pleased to have the presence of the Indian foreign minister," Sri Lankan foreign Minister Thilak Marapona said. The two-day conference is being jointly organised by the India Foundation, the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Colombo. Sri Lanka is expected to discuss strategies of combating drug smuggling in the two-day conference "The theme of this year's conference is 'Peace, Progress and Prosperity' and will involve participants from more than 35 countries. There will be ministerial representation from Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Vietnam and the conference will also be attended by senior officials from the USA, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Germany, Kenya, South Korea and Afghanistan among others, India Foundation had said in a statement. OneIndia News Is Switzerland in your travel plan? Check fresh guidelines on COVID test, quarantine rules Can death ever be euphoric? Switzerland approves suicide pods lets users die at the press of a button Death tourism: Why Noida man wants to go to Switzerland for euthanasia? Swiss President arrives in India, wants to improve Indo-Swiss trade relations India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard, who is on three-day visit to India beginning August 30, hoped to give impetus to pending negotiations on trade. Leuthard was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind with a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. Talking to media after the reception, Leuthard, said ' Hope can give pending negotiations on trade and partnership agreements new impetus. Will try to have new investment protection agreement.'' She said, ''We are very pleased with Prime Minister Modi's reforms.'' Hope cn gv pending negotiations on trade&partnership agreements new impetus.Will try to hv new investment protection agreement-Pres Leuthard pic.twitter.com/n4gSnyHmED ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 She further said that the visit would boost Indo-Swiss ties and both the countries have a friendship since 70-years. In the talks, the Indian side may raise the issue of black money stashed by Indians in Swiss banks. Ms Leuthard will be accompanied by senior government officials and a large business delegation of leading Swiss companies. Swiss Presidents have visited India on three occasions earlier in 1998, 2003 and 2007. The first diplomatic engagement between the countries was a Treaty of Friendship signed at New Delhi on August 14, 1948. Diplomatic missions between the two countries were opened in Bern and Delhi soon after its conclusion. Switzerland established its Consulates General in Mumbai and Bangalore. India has a Consulate General in Geneva. OneIndia News Is Switzerland in your travel plan? Check fresh guidelines on COVID test, quarantine rules Can death ever be euphoric? Switzerland approves suicide pods lets users die at the press of a button Death tourism: Why Noida man wants to go to Switzerland for euthanasia? Switzerland has strongest laws on money laundering, says visiting President India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Switzerland government on Thursday stated that the country would be transparent and cooperative in financial transactions as the country has the strongest laws on money laundering. Swiss Confederation President, Doris Leuthard, who is on a three-day visit to India, issued a joint statement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the outset , PM Modi thanked Switzerland for supporting India's membership in Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and country's bid for NSG membership.'' He said, ''Madam President you are visiting India when we are celebrating 70 yrs of Independence and 70 years of Indo-Swiss Treaty of Friendship and Establishment.'' President, Doris Leuthard said, ''We have one of the strongest laws on money laundering & we would be happy if other countries follow Switzerland.'' She assured that 'Switzerland is and will be an important financial place and have all interest to be transparent,cooperative and be a good reliable partner. We can be a relevant & a reliable partner in programs like Skill India, Digital India,Clean India, Startup India & Smart cities: Swiss Pres pic.twitter.com/ohef4Du3PC ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 Further she assured interest in programmes announced by BJP government such as Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Startup India and Smart cities. PM Modi was glad that Switzerland has shown interest for cooperation in indigenous medical science Ayurveda. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 16:35 [IST] CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 50 volunteers from the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Florida left Clearwater this week to join the growing number of people in Houston to help in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/684a9858-75fe-4e03-bb10-67bd393f5383 Hurricane Harvey has affected over 30,000 people so they need all the help they can get, said Ms. Glendy Goodsell, the Executive Director for the Volunteer Ministers of Florida. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers cannot shut their eyes to such devastation. There are currently hundreds of Texas residents helping the National Guard, FEMA and other organizations rescue victims of the hurricane. Many people are still trapped in their homes even though over 10,000 people have been rescued so far. In addition to giving their support in man-power, the Volunteer Ministers are gathering hygiene supplies, such as diapers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer and more for those who are without homes. Volunteer Ministers have trained and partnered with more than 800 different groups, organizations and agencies including the Red Cross, FEMA, the National Guard, and police and fire departments. Expect to see hundreds of our signature yellow shirts in Houston, said Ms. Goodsell. Our motto is Something Can Be Done About It and thats exactly what we intend to do. For more information on how to contribute, please visit the Volunteer Minister Center in Downtown Clearwater or contact them at (727) 467-6965 or email glendy@volunteerministers.org. About the Church of Scientology: The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 nations. Based on L. Ron Hubbard's words, "A community that pulls together can make a better society for all," the Church of Scientology regularly engages in many humanitarian programs and community events. To learn more, visit www.scientology-fso.org. "Was sleeping when it rained", Uddhav Thackeray's sarcasm on Mumbai deluge India oi-Anusha "I was sleeping when it rained. Can you stop the rain?" was Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's response when asked about what he did as Mumbai was battered. Thackeray's Shiv Sena runs the city's municipal corporation that has received massive flak for its apathy. Uddhav Thackeray chose to respond to a journalist's questions sarcastically when asked about what his party had done to help an inundated Mumbai. Initial estimates indicate that the deadly rains that Mumbai witnessed on Tuesday have flushed out civic works worth hundreds of crores, all thanks to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's apathy. "There is a limit to how much one can confront and fight nature. The mayor, Shiv Sena MLAs staff of BMC and BEST reached out to people during the crisis and helped those stranded, "said Uddhav Thackeray who lost his cool when a journalist asked what he was doing as Mumbai battled the rains. BMC that is led by the Shiv Sena currently was blamed for the lack of preparedness and pushing the maximum city to maximum desperation. many storm water drain projects that should have been completed by now are stuck in red-tapism despite hundreds of crores already spent on them. For over a decade now, the BMC has depended on pumping stations to flush out water from the city but the method is not enough. The suggestion of creating holding ponds in regions that are prone to receive heavy rainfall has been time and again ignored. The Shiv Sena chief who was accompanied by Maharashtra minister for Industries Subhash Desai, Mumbai's mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner Ajoy Mehta said that 6 to 8 million litres of water were pumped out from pumping stations in the city in a single day. Now, the BMC will begin setting up health camps to stop the spread of an epidemic. Make shift camps will be set up with complete medical care staff, equipment and supplies. Cleaning of the city will be taken up in full vigour as health experts have warned of the spread of diseases. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 10:43 [IST] In marital rape case, here is what the two judges of the Delhi HC said Why Modi govts stand on marital rape reeks of hypocrisy, pandering to male voters India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia New Delhi, August 31: When the Supreme Court recently struck down instant triple talaq-- the age-old practice that allows Muslim men to instantly divorce their wives--Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hailed the judgement as "historic" as it "grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women empowerment". "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," Modi tweeted after the apex court's verdict banning triple talaq. The Modi government at the Centre always supported the ban on triple talaq. The government made its position clear by arguing against triple talaq in the Supreme Court. Thus when the verdict was announced, experts said that it was another feather in the Modi government's cap which would surely going to help the BJP win votes of Muslim women in the upcoming elections across the country. While the case was still in the court, Modi made Muslim women's rights an issue during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election early this year by announcing that he, his government and his party are for the abolition of triple talaq as it causes great harm to a large section of women in the country. Thus, Modi in a way projected himself to be a champion of Muslim women's rights. Just days after taking a moral high ground on the ban on triple talaq, the BJP is back to what it does best--espousing the age-old ideology of protecting Indian culture--even if that means standing behind rapists. For the ruling BJP, rape of a woman by her husband is not a crime. In a way, the saffron party is not only supporting a heinous crime in the garb of protecting marriage but telling Indian women that they have no rights over their own bodies. The Centre, in an affidavit filed in response to pleas seeking criminalising marital rape in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, said that marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbands. Imagine if all ruling parties in the country in the future too start taking a similar stand on all crime-related laws even before they are formulated to avoid their "misuse". Then no laws would be there to protect us from criminals. If a law is likely to be misused, then the government should ensure that it should come up with a strong law to stop any wrongdoings. But in no way it can say that marital rape is not a crime as millions of women in India and across the world are regularly forced to submit to sexual violence perpetrated by their husbands just because they are married to their men. We all know, all laws have been misused by vested interests, but that did not stop us from having laws. Right? We have competent police force and judiciary to find out if a person has tried to wrongly use a law. Those women (if the law on criminalising marital law comes up) who would be caught misusing the law should be adequately punished. But that does not mean that genuine victims of marital rapes should not get justice because of an absence of a law. Is the Centre trying to say that marriage is a licence to rape? Then what about the consent of women before having sex with their partners? And, why is the government trying to project itself as a saviour of the "institution of marriage". If a marriage is strong enough then nobody can break it. But if a husband is raping his wife (which means he is perpetrating violence on her) then such a marriage should be declared null and void, because the very structure of a marriage is based on love, trust and respect and clearly a beastly act like rape has no place in it. While the BJP has taken a sympathetic approach towards men by citing possible harassment of husbands by their wives, in the same defence for men, the Centre is forgetting the burning topic of harassment (here a barbaric crime of rape) of wives. In such a statement, the BJP clearly pandered to the male voters by supporting patriarchy and regressive ideas of the past. To make its stand on not criminalising marital rape further strong, the Centre told the Delhi High Court that the Supreme Court and various High Courts have already observed the growing misuse of section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of IPC. In fact, the recent verdict by the Supreme Court on misuse of section 498A has been strongly opposed as women's rights activists have called it an anti-women step. Following the Supreme Court's verdict on the misuse of section 498A on July 27, several women's rights groups have written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) seeking a review of the ruling. The petition, signed by 16 women's rights groups states that the Supreme Court ruling "completely overlooks" the fact that women are subjected to regular harassment for dowry and domestic violence. In regard to marital rape, the Centre added that what may appear to be marital rape to an individual wife, it may not appear so to others. So, thus that means that not all women are against rapes and many are fine with the idea of being raped by their husbands? If this is not medieval, we don't know what. However, thankfully, the Delhi High Court does not agree with the Centre's stand on marital rape and on Wednesday observed that sexual intercourse with the use of force is criminal even in a marriage by citing a judgement of the Philippines Supreme Court. The judgement from the Philippines said that a married woman has the same right to control her own body, as does an unmarried woman. She can give or withhold her consent to a sexual intercourse with her husband, and he cannot unlawfully wrestle such consent from her in case she refuses. On Tuesday, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that marriage cannot be viewed as giving a husband the right to coerced intercourse on demand. He said a marriage licence cannot be viewed as licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity and a married woman has the same right of full control over her body as an unmarried woman. Unless and until, the government is not ready to admit that a rape is a rape, even if it is committed by a husband, then clearly we are denying justice to millions of victims of the immoral act. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 10:52 [IST] D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders Musharraf hints at Dawood's presence in Karachi, asks why should we help India International oi-Madhuri Pakistan former President General Pervez Musharraf has asserted that fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is in Karachi and has said that Islamabad would never assist India in its search. While talking to a Pakistani news channel, Musharraf said, "India has been accusing Pakistan for long. Why should we now become good and assist them? I don't know where Dawood, the key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts is. He must be here, somewhere. India has been killing Muslims and Dawood Ibrahim has been reacting". For years, Pakistan has consistently denied about Dawood residing there, despite India maintaining that he indeed lives in a palatial house in Karachi. Earlier on Wednesday, former Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said"Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law." Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present. OneIndia News Why are Buddhists up in arms against Muslims in Ladakh Why Buddhists in Myanmar are protesting against the return of Rohingyas Myanmar Buddhists seek tough action against Rohingya insurgents International oi-PTI Bangkok, August 31: Seeking stronger action against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority for attacks on police last week, several hundred Buddhist nationalists, including monks, rallied in Myanmar's largest city. The attacks in Rakhine state in western Myanmar have spiraled into chaotic violence, with more than 100 dead and villages torched. At least 18,000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in less than a week, with hundreds stranded in a no man's land at the countries' border, the International Organization for Migration said. The army, responding to last Thursday's attacks, launched what it called clearance operations against the insurgents, but advocates for the Rohingya say they are attacking and burning Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. The government blames Rohingya insurgents and their sympathizers for the continuing violence. Government figures put the death toll since last week at a minimum of 103, including 12 members of security forces, 77 people described as insurgents and 14 civilians. There were reports of additional deaths yesterday. Rohingya advocates fear the death toll for civilians is much higher. Most of Myanmar's estimated 1 million Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Longstanding tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. Wirathu, a Buddhist monk and leader of the anti-Muslim movement who is known for virulent sermons, told yesterday's protesters in Yangon that only the military can control the situation in northern Rakhine. He criticised the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi for not responding quickly to the army's call Tuesday for a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, which could declare a state of emergency in Rakhine and give the military absolute authority to enforce it. The military holds a majority on the council, which was created by the 2008 military-drafted constitution. "Only the military's commander in chief can protect the lives and the properties of the people," Wirathu said. "The military is the only one that can give a lesson to tame the Bengali terrorists." Myanmar nationalists use the term Bengali for Rohingya because of a belief they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though many families have been in Myanmar for generations. Wirathu also denounced international aid groups that the government has accused, without evidence, of giving assistance to the Rohingya insurgents. The allegations have circulated widely on social media. The Information Ministry yesterday said that 45 homemade bombs were detonated and seven villages, one security post and two neighborhoods in the township of Maungdaw were burned down on Sunday and Monday. Maungdaw, in the northern part of Rakhine state, is a center of the violence, though villages over a much wider area were also hit. Sanjukta Sahany, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on the border with Myanmar, said the Rohingya crisis was not just an issue between Myanmar and Bangladesh but of international concern. At the United Nations, the Security Council got an emergency, closed-door update Wednesday on Myanmar, at Britain's request. The council didn't issue any statement as a whole, but British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said members condemned the violence and called on all the parties involved to de-escalate tensions. The UN refugee organization on Tuesday urged Bangladesh to continue to allow Rohingya fleeing violence to seek safety. It said it was ready to help Bangladesh with assistance for the refugees. Ali Hossain, Cox's Bazar district's top government official, told The Associated Press that its resources were under huge stress after some 87,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh since October last year and another 18,000 since last Friday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the United States on Wednesday to pressure Myanmar so its government would stop pushing Rohingya toward Bangladesh, her spokesman said. Hasina made the request during talks with Alice Wells, US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said Ihsanul Karim, Hasina's press secretary. The insurgent raids last Thursday were deadlier than an attack by the militants on three border posts last October that killed nine policemen and set off months of brutal counterinsurgency operations against Rohingya communities. Human rights groups accused the army of carrying out massive abuses, including killing, rape and burning down more than 1,000 homes and other buildings. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 10:56 [IST] Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how Pakistan summons India's deputy high commissioner over LoC firing International pti-PTI Islamabad, Aug 31: Pakistan summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh over alleged ceasefire violations along the LoC, claiming that more civilians were killed in firing by the Indian troops. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Dr Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, the Foreign Office said. It claimed that a 55-year-old man was killed in Kotera Sector on August 29 in alleged firing by Indian forces. "Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations," it said. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," the Foreign Office said. The Director General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace along the LoC. He also called on the Indian side to allow the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. The Foreign Office also accused India of committing more than 700 ceasefire violations this year which resulted in the killing of 29 Pakistani civilians. PTI 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. HANGZHOU, China and CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starting today, Chinese tourists in South Africa will have more opportunities to pay via smartphone as Alipay, the worlds largest online and mobile payment platform, operated by Ant Financial Services Group (Ant Financial, Ant), partners with Zapper, the fast-growing mobile payment, customer insights and digital marketing platform developed in South Africa. This partnership will allow them to use their Alipay app to settle payment at 10,000 Zapper-affiliated merchant locations across the country. Chinese tourists will also be able to search for restaurants, bars, theatres, book shops, adventure parks and more through Alipays in-app Discovery platform, and pay for their orders in RMB via Alipay by scanning a Zapper QR code. South Africa is a must-experience country for Chinese tourists visiting Africa. We are excited to partner with Zapper, the largest mobile payment provider in South Africa, to offer Chinese tourists a safe and convenient payment solution and seamless travel experience, said Rita Liu, Head of Alipay EMEA. This cross-continental alliance is in line with a series of expansions into new verticals that Zapper has undertaken to diversify its services and further strengthen its position as South Africas mobile payment and loyalty rewards app of choice. These verticals include hospitality, retail, bill payment, e-commerce, donations, parking, fuel and convenience, said Will Heygate, General Manager of Zapper South Africa. This development arrives on the heels of the online payment service for hop-on-hop-off bus ticketing in Cape Town and Johannesburg that Alipay launched in June this year. According to statistics from the South African Department of Tourism, over 110,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in fiscal 2016, with a year-on-year growth rate of 38%. Tourism in South Africa has grown continuously for 7 years and comprises 9% of the countrys GDP. The South African government has recognized the tourism sector's potential to generate economic growth and employment. Through the Department of Tourism's strategic plan - National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS), the tourism sector is committed to creating a total of 225,000 additional jobs by the year 2020. With Alipays more than 520 million Chinese users and Zappers rapidly burgeoning presence within the global payment landscape, each brand is now better positioned to support this local strategy and to strengthen its respective appeal to both Asian and South African customers. About Alipay Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the worlds largest mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently has over 520 million active users and over 450 financial institution partners globally. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 10 million brick-and-mortar merchants now accept Alipay across China. Alipays in-store payment service is covering more than 30 countries across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 19 currencies. About Zapper Zapper is a South African mobile payment and loyalty rewards application that allows users to make fast, easy and secure payments in a matter of seconds with their smartphone. Through the power of QR code technology Zapper provides seamless all-in-one mobile payments, vouchering and loyalty services to a variety of businesses and brands from across the retail, hospitality, retail, bills, fuel and convenience and ecommerce sectors. The Zapper application has been downloaded more than one million times since entering the marketplace. With more than 300 employees supporting its expansion, Zappers reach extends beyond South African borders, including the UK, USA and Europe; allowing for successful transacting across all major currencies. By using Zapper, businesses have access to empirically-rich data to better understand customer habits and encourage brand loyalty through targeted digital strategies that increase revenue and market share. by Graham Pierrepoint Sir Terry Pratchett was an author unlike any other, having created fun, accessible and often dark fantasy for adults and young people alike to jump in and out of with ease. Pratchett wrote scores of novels in the Discworld universe during his prime, and with many of his works having seen adaptation to TV and even video games, his genius was arguably unmatchable making his passing a few years ago all the more hard to bear. The authors humorous takes on fantasy were hardly seen as jibes at the genre as Discworld became one of the most celebrated fantasy universes in literature offering a dryer look at worlds wrapped in magic and myth without ever getting gory or too long-winded. One of Pratchetts requests according to close friend and fellow author Neil Gaiman was that any work he left unfinished after his death be destroyed. While the final Discworld novel was released shortly after his passing, it had already been written and finalized whereas it appears the novelist had much more waiting in the wings for avid fans making his passing all the more tragic. Not to ignore the last requests of one of the most celebrated and well-loved fantasy authors of all time, however, it appears that such a plea has been answered as the manager of the Pratchett estate, Rob Wilkins, took to Twitter to demonstrate the crushing of the authors computer hard drive under a steamroller. Its a request that is considerably Pratchett-esque offering a definite finality to the authors legacy, which he had continued to add to right through to his final days. The photos captured from the scene of the crushing perhaps held a little of the humor Pratchett was known for throughout his life and it is thought that the remaining pieces of the hard drive, now completely inaccessible, will go on display as part of an exhibit dedicated to his life and work entitled HisWorld, which will debut later this fall at the Salisbury Museum in the UK. Pratchett passed away in 2015 after battling Alzheimers Disease which the author was extremely candid about in the last few years of his life. The writer had appeared in documentary footage and had continued to write up until his passing two years ago and The Shepherds Crown, the final Discworld novel, recently celebrated its second birthday. Rumble 07 Nov 2022 ndonesia is planning to undertake one of the biggest tax overhaul in the economy with the Indonesian parliament voting today on.. Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: As investors line up behind "rules-based" investment products like smart beta ETFs and systematic equities funds, many market participants have rushed to come out with products that lean heavily on machine learning and big data. Several quant shops have announced their plans to build proprietary data sets in order to mine them for trading ideas or a possible edge in the market. According to Matteo Andreetto, CEO of STOXX, a provider of index products, machine learning may also make indexes 'smarter'. "I think we're in a new era of indexing," Andreetto tells Opalesque in an interview. "There are better companies in indexes now and the products themselves are more rigorous. Investors have more options about how they can use index products in their portfolios." Andreetto joined STOXX in 2014 and spearheaded an expansion effort at the index provider. Under his leadership STOXX has added to its product suite of 100 indices that address ESG issues in portfolios. According to Andreetto, investors are increasingly looking for more options to screen for ESG factors and now that companies are responding with better disclosures, it is possible to use that data to create tailored indexes. STOXX also opened offices in Australia and Hong Kong. With the new offices, STOXX, which was primarily a European index provider, will now be looking at ways to build a more global portfolio of products. Andreetto also sees a possibility ...................... To view our full article Click here Opalesque Industry Update - Magnetar Capital, a leading alternative asset management firm, announced today that Erik Falk will join the firm on September 5 and will be working on strategic initiatives with Magnetar's executive committee, including founder & CEO Alec Litowitz, co-founder & President Ross Laser, and Global Head of Fixed Income David Snyderman. Mr. Falk, who will be based in Evanston, joins Magnetar from Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. (KKR), where he was most recently a Member of KKR and the Global Head of Private Credit. "We are constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of investors," said Mr. Litowitz. "Erik's decades of experience and strong track record of success make him a valuable addition to the team as we continue to pursue new and innovative market opportunities across a broad range of sectors. We are fortunate to have him on board and welcome him to the firm." At KKR, Mr. Falk oversaw the private funds within the firm's $35bn credit business and served on the Private Credit Investment Committee, the Leveraged Credit Investment Committee and the Portfolio Management Committee. Before joining the firm in 2008, Mr. Falk spent eight years at Deutsche Bank. He held several roles in the bank's Global Markets Division including founding the Special Situations Group and Co-Heading the Global Securitized Products Group. Mr. Falk has served on the boards of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), Corporate Capital Trust and Corporate Capital Trust II - business development companies sub-advised by KKR - and various companies on behalf of Deutsche Bank. He is currently a member of the advisory committee of a private middle market lender and of the Investment Committee for The Public Theater. "I am very excited to join a team with a history of excellence and continued innovation," said Mr. Falk. "I look forward to working to help continue to drive innovation, growth and client value." Mr. Falk earned a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. Founded in 2005, Magnetar is a $13.6bn multi-strategy alternative investment manager that seeks to achieve stable risk-adjusted returns by opportunistically employing a wide range of fixed income, energy, quantitative and fundamental investment strategies. Magnetar invests across public and private markets, geographies and company structures, leveraging deep fundamental and quantitative rigor. The firm is headquartered in Evanston, Illinois and operates satellite offices in New York, London, Minneapolis and Houston. EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017 EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017 https://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-697986.html http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the PA (Polyamide) industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The PA (Polyamide) 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 PA (Polyamide) 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.In this report, the EMEA PA (Polyamide) 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 PA (Polyamide) 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 PA (Polyamide) market competition by top manufacturers/players, with PA (Polyamide) sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingAdvanced Laser Materials LLCAkron Polymer Systems Inc.Angstron Materials Inc.Arkema IncArrowhead Plastic Engineering IncAsahi Kasei Plastics North AmericaBASF CorporationBond-Laminates GmbHBtech Corp.Burgmann Packings Braided CompositesCelanese CorporationDSMDuPont AutomotiveEsPro CompoundsEssentium Materials LLCEvonik CorporationEY TechnologiesFibrtec Inc.FRP Resource IncGoodfellow CorpGrip MetalHaufler Composites GmbH & Co. KGLANXESS CorporationLenderink TechnologiesLingol Corp.Nanocyl SANanoSperse LLCNational ChemicalsNexeo SolutionsNorth American Composites...On 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 intoPA6PA66Special Polyamides: 6T Based, PA6.10, PA6.12, PA11, PA12, PA46, etcOn 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 PA (Polyamide) for each application, includingAutomotive industryElectric and ElectronicsOthersTo get a free professional report sample, please email to tinaning@qyresearch.com or Browse our detailed product page:Table of contents:1 PA (Polyamide) Overview2 EMEA PA (Polyamide) Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe PA (Polyamide) (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East PA (Polyamide) (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa PA (Polyamide) (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA PA (Polyamide) Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 PA (Polyamide) Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA PA (Polyamide) Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of PA (Polyamide)Figure EMEA PA (Polyamide) Sales Volume (K MT) by Type (2012-2022)Figure EMEA PA (Polyamide) Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure PA6 Product PictureFigure PA66 Product PictureFigure Special Polyamides: 6T Based, PA6.10, PA6.12, PA11, PA12, PA46, etc Product PictureFigure EMEA PA (Polyamide) Sales Volume (K MT) by Application (2012-2022)Figure EMEA Sales Market Share of PA (Polyamide) by Application in 2016Figure Automotive industry ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Automotive industryFigure Electric and Electronics ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Electric and ElectronicsFigure Others ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in OthersFigure EMEA PA (Polyamide) Market Size (Million USD) by Region (2012-2022)......Related Reports:Global PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017China PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017USA PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017Korea PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017Japan PA (Polyamide) Market Report 2017India PA (Polyamide) 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 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 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Research Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/goods-1019049.html http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ http:///www.qyresearcheurope.com/ http://www.qyresearchjapan.com/ Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Trend and Forecast to 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the Food & Beverage Metal Cans market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Food & Beverage Metal Cans market by product type and applications/end industries.To Get Request Sample Report Please Email To:hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comSummaryIn this report, the global Food & Beverage Metal Cans 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 Food & Beverage Metal Cans in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Food & Beverage Metal Cans market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingArdagh GroupBall CorporationCROWN Holdings, Inc.CAN-PACK SAKian Joo GroupSilgan Holdings Inc.Tetra Laval International SAHUBER Packaging Group GmbHCPMC Holdings LimitedKingcan Holdings LimitedAnheuser-Busch Packaging GroupOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBy MaterialAluminumSteelOtherBy Capacity1000ml1000ml and 3000ml3000mlOn 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 Food & Beverage Metal Cans for each application, includingBeveragesMeat & SeafoodsFruits & VegetablesConvenience FoodsPet FoodsTea & CoffeeOthersTo Browse Complete report visit:Table of Contents1 Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Overview2 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 FarmTek7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Food & Beverage Metal Cans Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 FarmTek Food & Beverage Metal Cans Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Rough Brothers Inc.7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Food & Beverage Metal Cans Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Rough Brothers Inc. Food & Beverage Metal Cans Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Food & Beverage Metal Cans Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Food & Beverage Metal CansFigure Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Production (K Units) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2012-2022)Figure Global Food & Beverage Metal Cans Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2016Figure Product Picture of AluminumTable Major Manufacturers of AluminumFigure Product Picture of SteelTable Major Manufacturers of SteelFigure Product Picture of OtherRelated Reports:US Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017Europe Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017India Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017China Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017Korea Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017Japan Food & Beverage Metal Cans Market Report 2017If you need a report or have any question, please feel free to contact meHebe | Sr. Manager Global SalesProfessional Market Research Report PublisherQYResearch Co.LtdQYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchPhone: +86-20-22093278Email: hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comWeb:About QYResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and seminar services. the company owned a large basic database (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. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.Media ContactCompany Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDContact Person: HebeEmail: hebe@qyresearchglobal.comPhone: +86-20-22093278Address: Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe DistrictCity: GuangzhouCountry: ChinaWebsite:(US) |(EU) |(JP) EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017 EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017 https://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-698057.html http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) 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 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) 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.In this report, the EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) 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 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) 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 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) sales volume (K Units), price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingDupontCelanese CorporationSO.F.TER. GROUPRadici Partecipazioni SpAEntec...On 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 intoInjection Moulding GradesExtrusion GradesBlow Moulding GradesFood Contact and Medical GradesDolphin GradesOn 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 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) for each application, includingAutomotiveBuildingSport and LeisureTo get a free professional report sample, please email to tinaning@qyresearch.com or Browse our detailed product page:Table of contents:1 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Overview2 EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET)Figure EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Sales Volume (K MT) by Type (2012-2022)Figure EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Injection Moulding Grades Product PictureFigure Extrusion Grades Product PictureFigure Blow Moulding Grades Product PictureFigure Food Contact and Medical Grades Product PictureFigure Dolphin Grades Product PictureFigure EMEA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Sales Volume (K MT) by Application (2012-2022)Figure EMEA Sales Market Share of Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) by Application in 2016Figure Automotive ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in AutomotiveFigure Building ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in BuildingFigure Sport and Leisure ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Sport and Leisure......Related Reports:Global Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017China Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017USA Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017Korea Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017Japan Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) Market Report 2017India Thermoplastic Copolyester Elastomer (TPC-ET) 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 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.Guangzhou Conjugate Vaccine Global Market Research 2017-2022 Astellas Pharma, CSL Limited, Emergent BioSolutions, GlaxoSmithKline Conjugate Vaccine Market http://bit.ly/2x4Zitt http://bit.ly/2xMyKue Conjugate Vaccine Market Research ReportA market study Global Conjugate Vaccine Market examines the performance of the Conjugate Vaccine market Size 2017. 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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 English German Liestal, Switzerland, August 31, 2017 - Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces approval of Raxone (idebenone) for the treatment of visual impairment in adolescent and adult patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) from the Ministry of Health Israel - the first approval for Raxone in LHON outside Europe. Following the European Commission's marketing authorization for Raxone, the first approved treatment in LHON and the first approved treatment for a mitochondrial disease, the Ministry of Health Israel granted Raxone a marketing authorization for the treatment of visual impairment in adolescent and adult patients with LHON.1 "We are pleased that Raxone has received marketing authorization for the treatment of LHON in Israel, the first approval for the product outside of Europe," said Giovanni Stropoli, Chief Commercial Officer Europe & ROW at Santhera. "As part of our strategy to provide treatment to patients in Europe and beyond, we have signed a collaboration agreement with Megapharm Ltd., a leading Israeli private pharma marketing company, who is committed to making Raxone available to patients with LHON in Israel." About Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy and the Therapeutic Use of Raxone Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a heritable genetic disease causing blindness. The disease presents predominantly in young, otherwise healthy adult males as rapid, painless loss of central vision, usually leading to permanent bilateral blindness within a few months of the onset of symptoms. About 95% of patients harbor one of three pathogenic mutations of the mitochondrial DNA, which cause a defect in the complex I subunit of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. This defect leads to decreased cellular energy (ATP) production, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and retinal ganglion cell dysfunction, which cause progressive loss of visual acuity and blindness. Raxone (idebenone), a synthetic short-chain benzoquinone and a cofactor for the enzyme NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), circumvents the complex I defect, reduces and scavenges ROS, restores cellular energy levels in retinal ganglion cells and promotes recovery of visual acuity. Raxone is an oral medication, authorized at a daily dose of 900 mg (given as 2 tablets three times a day with food), for the treatment of visual impairment in adolescent and adult patients with LHON. About Megapharm Ltd. Megapharm Ltd. is a leading Israeli private pharma marketing company, exclusively representing a number of major American, European and Japanese pharmaceutical companies. Megapharm provides its partners with the full commercial capabilities, including registration, market access & reimbursement, and sales & marketing. Megapharm has demonstrated dynamic sales growth by developing a strong company presence and expertise in selected therapeutic areas and proven track record for obtaining reimbursement and inclusion of its products in all the Health Funds in Israel. About Santhera Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases. Santhera's lead product Raxone (idebenone) is authorized in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Israel for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). For Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Santhera has filed a Marketing Authorization Application in the European Union and Switzerland for DMD patients with respiratory function decline who are not taking glucocorticoids. In collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Santhera is developing Raxone in a third indication, primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), and omigapil for congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), all areas of high unmet medical need. For further information, please visit the Company's website www.santhera.com. Raxone is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals. For further information: Sue Schneidhorst, Head Group Communications Europe: +41 61 906 89 26 US: +1 646 586 2113 sue.schneidhorst@santhera.com Investors: Christoph Rentsch, Chief Financial Officer Hans Vitzthum, LifeSci Advisors Europe: +41 61 906 89 65 US: +1 212 915 2568 christoph.rentsch@santhera.com hans@lifesciadvisors.com Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. 1https://www.old.health.gov.il/units/pharmacy/trufot/PerutTrufa.asp?Reg_Number=159%2018%2034904%2001&safa=h # # # Biomaterials Global Market Research 2017-2022 Abbott, Actavis, Anika Therapeutics, Arthrex Biomaterials Market http://bit.ly/2wT051g http://bit.ly/2iHNcAS Biomaterials Market Research ReportA market study Global Biomaterials Market examines the performance of the Biomaterials market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Biomaterials market state and the competitive landscape globally. 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Zimmer Biomet Johnson & Johnson Invibio Medtronic Organogenesis Stryker Wright Medical Group N.V. 3M Healthcare Advansource Biomaterials Corporation Baxter Covestro Solvay Advanced PolymersBiomaterials Market : Application AnalysisApplication 1Application 2Biomaterials Market : Type AnalysisMetallic BiomaterialCeramic BiomaterialPolymeric BiomaterialNatural BiomaterialCompositesFirstly, the report covers the top Biomaterials manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Get Full Research Report of Biomaterials Market @Further, the Biomaterials report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Biomaterials industry, Biomaterials industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. 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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 Global Food Color Ingredients Market Research Report 2017 www.qyresearchglobal.com http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ http:///www.qyresearcheurope.com/ http://www.qyresearchjapan.com/ Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Food Color Ingredients Market Trend and Forecast to 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the Food Color Ingredients market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Food Color Ingredients market by product type and applications/end industries.Ask a sample or any question, please email to:hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comSummaryIn this report, the global Food Color Ingredients 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 Food Color Ingredients in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Food Color Ingredients market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingChr. HansenRoha DyechemGNT GroupDSMSensient Technologies CorporationSan-Ei Gen F.F.I. IncDD WilliamsonSethness ProductsFiorio ColoriLycoRedNaturexOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBy SourcePlantAnimalMineralsPetrochemicalsBy FormLiquidPowderGelsPastesOn 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 Food Color Ingredients for each application, includingConfectioneryBakery ProductsSauces & SeasoningsMeat & Fish ProductsPharmaceuticalsOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Contents1 Food Color Ingredients Market Overview2 Global Food Color Ingredients Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Food Color Ingredients Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Food Color Ingredients Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Food Color Ingredients Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Food Color Ingredients Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Food Color Ingredients Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Food Color Ingredients Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Food Color Ingredients Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Food Color Ingredients Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Food Color Ingredients Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Food Color Ingredients Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Food Color Ingredients Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Company 17.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Food Color Ingredients Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Chr. Hansen Food Color Ingredients Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Company 27.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Food Color Ingredients Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Roha Dyechem Food Color Ingredients Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Food Color Ingredients Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Food Color Ingredients Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixIf you need a report or have any question, please feel free to contact meHebe | Sr. Manager Global SalesProfessional Market Research Report PublisherQYResearch Co.LtdQYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchPhone: +86-20-22093278Email: hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comWeb:About QYResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and seminar services. the company owned a large basic database (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. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.Media ContactCompany Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDContact Person: HebeEmail: hebe@qyresearchglobal.comPhone: +86-20-22093278Address: Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe DistrictCity: GuangzhouCountry: ChinaWebsite:(US) |(EU) |(JP) Gluten Free Alcoholic Drinks Industry Analysis, Future Growth, Business Prospects and Global Forecast to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1661 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/gluten-free-alcoholic-drinks-market-1661 Market Research Future published a Half-Cooked Research Report on Gluten Free Alcoholic Drinks MarketMarket Overview:Globally, the market for gluten free alcoholic drinks has been increasing due to rise of number of people suffering from celiac disease. Many brewers are coming up focusing only on the gluten free alcoholic drinks. Key drivers for the market are increasing awareness of gluten free drinks. North America dominates the market for gluten free alcoholic drinks in terms of production with the largest market share followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific is the growing market for Gluten free alcoholic drinks marketKey Players and Competitive Analysis:The key players profiled in Gluten free alcoholic drinks market report include- Titos, Hendricks, Bombay Sapphire East, Capt. Morgans, Casamigos , Don Julio, Cabo Wabo, Cuervo GoldRequest a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Global Gluten Free Alcoholic Drinks Market:Detailed analysis for individual segments and sub-segments for gluten free alcoholic drinksTo estimate market size and forecasting by type, source, and by regionTo understand the supply and demand dynamics of the marketTo provide region level market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the WorldCompany profiling of major players in the marketValue chain analysis indicating each stage of its production process and identifying the crucial stages for improvementsSupply chain analysis of the product indicating the stake of the various suppliers, both basic producers and formulators/distributors, till the end-userEvaluation of historical market trends, patents and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements related to alcoholic drinksStakeholders:Alcoholic Beverage companiesBeer manufacturersBrewing companies.Traders, exporters, importersHospitality sectorReasons to Buy:This report includes in-depth study and analysis of gluten-free alcoholic drinks segments and sub-segments. It encompasses market segmentation of alcoholic drinks by type, sources, and by regions. It helps in identifying key suppliers and consumers globally. The report will help in investments for the gluten free alcoholic drinks and allied companies providing details on the fast growing segments and regions. In addition, it will provide the gluten free alcoholic drinks companies to improve profitability by using supply chain strategies, cost effectiveness of various products mentioned in the report.Access Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com 2017-2022 Global LiTaO3 Crystal Market Analysis : Shin-Etsu, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Koike, CETC, Crystalwise Global LiTaO3 Crystal Market http://bit.ly/2erMkz0 https://market.biz/report/global-litao3-crystal-market-2017/144714/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ Worldwide LiTaO3 Crystal Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of LiTaO3 Crystal industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global LiTaO3 Crystal Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like LiTaO3 Crystal market growth, consumption volume, market trends and LiTaO3 Crystal industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.LiTaO3 Crystal market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The LiTaO3 Crystal report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in LiTaO3 Crystal Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global LiTaO3 Crystal Market 2017:1 Shin-Etsu2 Sumitomo Metal Mining3 Koike4 CETC5 Crystalwise6 DE&JS7 CASTECH8 WUZE9 Sawyer10 SIOM11 Tera Xtal12 NIHON EXCEED CORPORATION13 OTIC14 Union Optic15 KAIJING OPTICSLiTaO3 Crystal Market: Type Segment AnalysisWhite TypeBlack TypeLiTaO3 Crystal Market: Applications Segment AnalysisSurface Acoustic WaveElectro-OpticalPiezoelectricPyroelectricThe LiTaO3 Crystal 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 LiTaO3 Crystal market share. Diverse factors of the LiTaO3 Crystal industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global LiTaO3 Crystal Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the LiTaO3 Crystal Market:A Clear understanding of the LiTaO3 Crystal market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise LiTaO3 Crystal Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing LiTaO3 Crystal market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of LiTaO3 Crystal market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of LiTaO3 Crystal market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of LiTaO3 Crystal market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global LiTaO3 Crystal 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 LiTaO3 Crystal industry competitors.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- 2017-2022 Global Location of Things Market Analysis : Google, HERE, Qualcomm Technologies, Intel Corporation, Trimble Global Location of Things Market http://bit.ly/2iKjYBA https://market.biz/report/global-location-of-things-market-2017/144715/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ Worldwide Location of Things Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of Location of Things industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global Location of Things Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like Location of Things market growth, consumption volume, market trends and Location of Things industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Location of Things market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Location of Things report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Location of Things Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Location of Things Market 2017:1 Google2 HERE3 Qualcomm Technologies4 Intel Corporation5 Trimble6 Pitney Bowes7 Bosch8 Wireless Logic9 Navizon10 Tibco Software11 TruePosition Inc.Location of Things Market: Type Segment AnalysisMapping and NavigationAsset ManagementLocation IntelligenceMedia and Marketing EngagementLocation of Things Market: Applications Segment AnalysisRetail and Consumer GoodsGovernment, Defense, and UtilitiesManufacturing and IndustrialTransportation and LogisticsHealthcareOthersThe Location of Things 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 Location of Things market share. Diverse factors of the Location of Things industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Location of Things Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Location of Things Market:A Clear understanding of the Location of Things market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise Location of Things Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Location of Things market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Location of Things market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Location of Things market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Location of Things market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Location of Things 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 Location of Things industry competitors.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- Lehi, Utah, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avalaunch Media, a leader in the digital and content marketing space, was selected as one of the Inc. 5000 companies for 2017. The Inc. 5000 list refers to the 5,000 fastest-growing, privately held companies in America and their overall revenue growth over a three-year period. Inc. Magazine announces the award each year, celebrating entrepreneurial success, leadership, and innovation. View the Inc. 5000 list here: https://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2017 We are constantly working to be the best in our field, said Andrew Melchior, Vice President, Avalaunch Media. Our success is defined by our passion for digital marketing. We love our clients and the work that we do. Avalaunch Media sits at the base of the great Wasatch Mountain Range as a leader in digital marketing. Founded in 2008, the company pioneered many of the earliest digital marketing strategies having worked with notable brands such as Coca Cola, Abbott Nutrition, Red Bull, GoPro and Home Depot as well as numerous organizations from the Inc 5000 list. The 2017 Inc. 5000 unveiled online at Inc.com and, with the top 500 companies, were featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands Aug. 16. This group of businesses is the most competitive crop in the list's history. 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. We are honored to be numbered among so many outstanding companies, said Jason Coulam, CMO, Avalaunch Media. The Avalaunch family strives to provide our clients with the most cutting-edge marketing solutions. We are proud of the success we have had and look forward to the opportunities ahead. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the esteemed recipients will be held Oct. 10-12, 2017 in Palm Desert, California. Speakers include some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this and past generations, such as Daymond John, one of the main "sharks" on ABC-TV's "Shark Tank;" Dr. Brene Brown, three-time bestselling author and researcher; and Alan Mulally, former President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company. Additional Resources: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/avalaunchmedia Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/avalaunchmedia Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/avalaunchmedia LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/avalaunchmedia Avalaunch Media Stevie Award: https://stevieawards.com/aba/2017-video-award-winners Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f19ba9af-4d63-4086-8950-807e8e81f31f Wi-Fi As A Service (waas) Market A Detailed Analyses of Industry Trends http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/wifi-as-a-service-waas-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16730 www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Wi-Fi as a Service (WaaS) Market: OverviewIn the recent past, mobile phones and other electronic devices have quickly became ubiquitous objects, which has led to an exponential increase in the demand for data connectivity. Nowadays, high-speed data connectivity is almost mandatory for any workplace to function efficiently and as a result, the demand for advanced Wi-Fi technology is surging. Wi-Fi technology allows electronic devices within range to connect with wireless LAN networks (WLAN), which may be password protected or open. Devices such as personal computers, smartphones, tablets, modern printers, and digital cameras are compatible to connect to the internet via wireless access point and WLAN network.Browse The Report:Wi-Fi as a service (WaaS) is a fully cloud-based management system, which allows organizations with limited IT resources to provide secure, reliable, and fast WLAN access across various locations. Since the deployment of WaaS is easy and time-efficient as no installation of cable is required, it can be managed via network operating center (NOC), and consequently allows smaller business organizations to attain fast and reliable data network. WaaS is ideal for temporary locations, heritage buildings, and office relocations. Moreover, advanced analytic tools are provided with WaaS, which help in analyzing customers and staff behavior. WaaS is also equipped with automatic system upgrades and allow safe guest access.Gaining from this increasing dependency on the internet and advancements in cloud-based services, the global Wi-Fi as a service (Waas) market is estimated for a robust growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.Global Wi-Fi as a Service (WaaS) Market: Trends and OpportunitiesNumerous factors are driving the global market for WaaS in the positive direction, including the increasing demand for centralized management, remote troubleshooting, reduced cost of ownership, and low capital expenditure. Also, factors such as strong emphasis on employee empowerment and the ensuing need to deliver digital mobility tools, globalization of businesses are further augmenting the demand. Increasing number of medium-sized organizations are adopting WaaS because of its end-to-end visibility, improved agility and efficiency, fast deployment, cost-effectiveness, and labor management. In addition to all of it, WaaS is also primed to revolutionize the transportation and logistics sector, particularly in mass transits.The global market for WaaS can be bifurcated on the basis of type of service, user location, enterprise size, end-use industry, and geography. By service, the global WaaS market can be segmented into network designing and planning, maintenance and support, cloud access point, and others. By user location, the market can be segmented into indoor or outdoor. By end-use industry, the market can be divided into banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), retail, education, public sector and government, healthcare, logistics and transportations, IT and telecommunications, manufacturing, and hospitality and travel.Global Wi-Fi as a Service (WaaS) Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the global WaaS market can be divided into North America, Europe, South America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Currently, North America contributes to the most prominent market for WaaS due to robust infrastructure and favorable governmental policies. However, Asia Pacific is projected for the most significant growth rate during the forecast period due to boom in enterprise networking, strong economic growth, development in enterprise IT infrastructure, mushrooming SMBs and increase in the number of cloud ready Asian countries, and large scale outsourcing of BPO/KPO operations to countries such as India, China, and Malaysia.Companies mentioned in the research reportSome of the prominent players in the global Wi-Fi as a service market include Cisco Systems Inc., Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Rogers Communications, Inc., BigAir Group Limited, Mojo Networks, Inc., Telstra Corporation Limited, ViaSat Inc., Aerohive Networks, Inc., ADTRAN, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Zebra Technologies Corporation, iPass, Inc., and Ruckus Wireless, Inc. The report observes that the outlook of the the global market is highly competitive and the providers of WaaS solutions and services are focusing on consolidating their grounds through new product developments and build feature-rich solutions and attain better market visibility. Companies in the WaaS market are also strategically partnering with domestic players to enhance individual offerings into a multi-faceted solution in order to suite for the expanding customer bases.Make an Enquiry @The report on Global WaaS Market is an in-depth analysis with 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.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendationsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Industrial Data Acquisition Systems Market to grow at a CAGR of 5.36% during 2016-2020 - AMETEK, Keysight Technologies, National Instruments, Spectris, Yokogawa Electric http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=741878 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-industrial-data-acquisition-systems-market-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Data acquisition systems collect data from field devices like sensors or transmitters on parameters such as temperature, voltage, current, sound, and pressure through a wired or wireless network. With powerful microprocessors, standalone data acquisition systems (which can perform data acquisition more efficiently) have emerged in the market. These systems are used in extreme environmental conditions, such as in temperature controlled chambers.The advances in wireless connectivity, such as LTE, WLAN 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and 4G, have led to a rise in adoption of wireless technologies and the development of inbuilt mobile data acquisition systems and wireless data acquisition systems. The need to measure the temperature or pressure of devices used in remote locations have paved the way for the development of data acquisition systems. The demand for these systems will drive market growth during the forecast period.The global industrial data acquisition systems market to grow at a CAGR of 5.36% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global industrial data acquisition systems market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, Technavio considers the revenue generated from the total consumption of industrial data acquisition systems globally. The report does not include revenue generated from the aftermarket service of the product.Click to get sample PDF with TOC:The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEATechnavio's report, Global Industrial Data Acquisition Systems Market 2016-2020, 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 at:Key vendors- AMETEK- Keysight Technologies- National Instruments- Spectris- Yokogawa ElectricOther prominent vendors- ABB- Acromag- ADLINK Technology- Advantech- Alstom- Bruel & Kjaer- Campbell Scientific- Data Translation- DEWETRON- DynamicSignals- Emerson Electric- Fluke- General Electric- HIOKI E. E- Honeywell International- MathWorks- Measurement Computing- Pentek- Rockwell Automation- Schneider Electric- SiemensKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 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?About UsResearchMoz 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.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API Market 2017 - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API Market https://goo.gl/kRPPyP https://goo.gl/NtQLsh http://www.apexresearch.biz Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API 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 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API industry, and estimates the future trend of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportPfizerNovartis InternationalSanofiBoehringer IngelheimBristol-Myers SquibbTeva Pharmaceutical IndustriesEli Lilly and CompanyGlaxoSmithKlineMerckAbbVieThe market research report explores the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API 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 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API 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 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API production volume, data pertaining to demand and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API 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 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients/API across the world.About UsApex Research offer latest market research reports 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 Chemica1l 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.bizPhone: +177390426831155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606 Fuel Card Market Analysis- Size, Share, Trends, Growth and Forecasts Report UP-To 2021 Fuel Card Market http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/364206 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-fuel-card-market-size-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2021 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/364206 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research https://twitter.com/orbisresearch https://www.facebook.com/pages/Orbis-Research/820969017982115 Latest Report Available at Orbis research Fuel Card Market provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics and a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining industry growth.Request sample copy of this report @The report entitled Global Fuel Card Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021) provides an in-depth analysis of the global fuel card market with detailed description of market size and growth. The analysis includes market size in terms of value, market share by region and, addressable market. Fuel card penetration rate by region, on the basis of types of vehicle has also been provided.The report also provides brief regional/country analysis of Europe. The analysis include market sizing in terms of value and fuel spending. Europe is expected to dominate the global fuel card market in the forecasted period also.Furthermore, the report also assesses the key opportunities available in the market and outlines the market dynamics that are and will be accountable for growth of the industry. Growth of the global fuel card market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration previous growth outlines, growth drivers and the existing and forthcoming trends.A brief company profiling of major players namely BP, WEX Inc., FLEETCOR and, Royal Dutch Shell has been provided in the report on the basis of aspects like business overview, financial overview and business strategies adopted by respective companies.Company CoverageBritish Petroleum (BP)WEX Inc.FLEETCORRoyal Dutch ShellRegion CoverageEuropeExecutive SummaryA card especially designed for the payment the fuel stations are known as fuel cards or fleet cards. The card is similar in appearance like a credit card, and works in a similar way.A wide variety of fuel cards are available in the market and each with different features and specifications. The most common types of fuel cards are: Branded Fuel Cards, Universal Fuel Cards and, Merchant Branded Cards. On the basis of type of vehicles, fuel cards are available for light fleets and heavy fleets.The global fuel card market has increased at a significant growth rate over the past few years and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years i.e. 2017 to 2021. The global fuel card market is expected to increase on the back of rising demand for cashless fuel transactions, consolidation of the fragmented market, availability of a large number of value added services associated with fuel cards, etc. Yet the market faces some challenges such as rising competition from new entrants, changing legal framework, volatile oil prices, rising consumer expectations, etc.Browse Complete Report @Some points from TOC:1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Overview of Fuel Card2.1.1 Types of Fuel CardOn the Basis of VehiclesOn the Basis of Enterprise2.1.2 Benefits of Fuel Card2.1.3 Major Fuel Card Providers3. Global Market Analysis3.1 Global Fuel Card Market Analysis3.1.1 Global Fuel Card Market by Value3.1.2 Global Fuel Card Addressable Market by Region3.1.3 Global Fuel Card Market Share by Region3.1.4 Global Light Fleet Fuel Card Penetration Rate by Region3.1.5 Global Heavy Fleet Fuel Card Penetration Rate by Region3.1.6 Global Fuel Card Addressable Market Segments by Region3.1.7 Global Revenue per Fleet CardPurchase a copy of Fuel Card Market visit @For more information contact sales@orbisresearch.com .4. Region/Country Analysis4.1 European Fuel Card Market Analysis4.1.1 European Fuel Card Market: An Outlook4.1.2 European Fuel Card Market by Value4.1.3 Northern Europe Fuel Card Market by Fuel Spending4.1.4 Western Europe Fuel Card Market by Fuel Spending4.1.5 Eastern Europe Fuel Card Market by Fuel Spending4.1.6 Southern Europe Fuel Card Market by Fuel Spending5. Market Dynamics5.1 Growth Drivers5.1.1 Availability of Host of Options5.1.2 Alleviation of Fuel Theft5.1.3 Cost Saving5.1.4 Rising Demand for Cashless Fuel Transactions5.1.6 Consolidation of Fragmented Market5.2 Challenges5.2.1 Rising Competition from New Entrants5.2.2 Changing Legal Frameworks5.2.3 Growing Consumer Expectations5.2.4 Fluctuating Oil Prices5.2.5 Limited Opportunities5.3 Market Trends5.3.1 Omnichannel Experience5.3.2 Loyalty Offering Programs5.3.3 Outsourcing of Fuel Card5.3.4 Technological Advancements5.3.5 Host Card EmulationFor any enquires before buying, connect with us @ enquiry@orbisresearch.comAbout Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Like us on Facebook: Arc Welding Equipment Market Forecast 2017-2022 Daihen, Telwin, Colfax, Doncasters, Fronius, Kobe Steel Arc Welding Equipment http://bit.ly/2xA5TtY http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-arc-welding-equipment-market-2017-share-size-forecast-2022 Arc Welding Equipment Market Research 2017A market study Global Arc Welding Equipment Market examines the performance of the Arc Welding Equipment market 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Arc Welding Equipment market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Arc Welding Equipment market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Arc Welding Equipment Market 2017 report includes Arc Welding Equipment market Revenue, market Share, Arc Welding Equipment industry volume, market Trends, Arc Welding Equipment Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Arc Welding Equipment Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Arc Welding Equipment Market 2017 :ColfaxFroniusITWLincoln ElectricAmada MiyachiAmerican Torch TipArc MachinesAutomation InternationalBeijing Time TechnologiesCEADaihenDoncastersKobe SteelNIMAKPanasonic Welding SystemsShandong Aotai ElectricShanghai Hugong ElectricShenzhen Riland IndustryTelwinArc Welding Equipment Market : By ApplicationAutomotiveConstructionAerospaceShipbuildingFirstly, the report covers the top Arc Welding Equipment manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Further, the Arc Welding Equipment report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Arc Welding Equipment industry, Arc Welding Equipment industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Arc Welding Equipment Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Arc Welding Equipment 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 Arc Welding Equipment market revenue worldwide.Finally, Arc Welding Equipment 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 Prosthetic Heart Valve Market Growth Challenges, Opportunities and Forthcoming Developments 2024 Prosthetic Heart Valve Market ? Trends and Forecast to 2024 http://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-prosthetic-heart-valve-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-prosthetic-heart-valve-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-prosthetic-heart-valve-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-prosthetic-heart-valve-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-hemostats-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/blog/ Global Prosthetic Heart Valve Market, By Type (Transcatheter Heart Valve, Tissue Heart Valve, and Mechanical Heart Valve), Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024The global prosthetic heart valve/ artificial heart valve market accounted to USD 4.53 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 12.70% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.Request for TOC@Prosthetic Heart Valve Market Market Segmentation:On the basis of type, global prosthetic heart valve/ artificial heart valve market is segmented into transcatheter heart valve, tissue heart valve, and mechanical heart valve. Transcatheter heart valves segment is expected to witness the highest market growth in the forecast period (2017-2024) due to use of less invasive techniques, more of technological advancement, increasing number of patients and rising prevalence of aortic stenosis.Browse Full Report with Details TOC @Based on geography, the market is segmented into five geographical regions: North America Europe Asia-Pacific South America Middle East and AfricaThe geographical regions are further segmented into 29 major countries such as U.S. Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, China, Singapore, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and others.Request For Sample:Some of the major players operating in this market areSome of the major players operating in global prosthetic heart valve/ artificial heart valve market are Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), Medtronic (Ireland), Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (U.S.), St. Jude Medical, LLC. (U.S.), Jenavalve Technology, Inc. (Germany), LivaNova PLC (U.K.), CryoLife, Inc. (U.S.), SYMETIS (Switzerland), BraileBiomedica (Brazil), TTK Healthcare (India), Lepu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (China), Colibri Heart Valve, LLC (U.S.) and Abbott (U.S.), among others.Inquiry before Buying @Related ReportGlobal Hemostats Market- Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Hemostats Market, By Product Type (Thrombin Based, Combination, Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose Based, Gelatin Based, Collagen Based Hemostat), By Indication (Wound Closure, Surgery), By End-User (Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Centers, Community Healthcare, Others), By Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Trends and Forecast to 2024About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Vishal DixitData Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: Sales@databridgemarketresearch.comInvestor: investors@databridgemarketresearch.comVisit BlogData Bridge is an organization lead by well versed forecasters, analysts and researchers who indulge in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. Data Bridge aims to make your organization well acquainted with profound knowledge of the global and local market statistics.Office Number 317,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune 411028Maharashtra, India Global and United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Market Solutions 2017-2022 : AiCure, Atomwise, Cyrcadia, Lifegraph http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1227870&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2017-2022-healthcare-artificial-intelligence-report-on-global-and-united-states-market-status-and-forecast-by-players-types-and-applications.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/press-releases.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com This research report provides an in-depth analysis of the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market. The report offers insights into instrumental figures, news, and facts pertaining to the market at both global and regional levels. It serves as a repository of analysis and data regarding various important parameters including application, technology, and product.The report answers some of the most important questions related to the Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market:What are the factors fuelling the growth of the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?What are the opportunities and challenges faced by the companies operating in the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?What are the primary outcomes of Porters five force analysis and market attractiveness analysis of the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?Who are the leading players in the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?What are the market shares of key players in the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?Which region is likely to emerge as most promising during the forecast period in the market?What are the strategies used by prominent players to stay ahead in the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market?Get PDF of Sample Report for more Technical Insights @The research report uses tools such as value chain analysis and investment feasibility and return analysis to offer an extensive understanding of the nature of the Healthcare Artificial Intelligence industry. The former includes an analysis of the cost structure of the manufacturing capacity, the product catalog, and industry policies that influence the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market.Reliable forecasts by industrial experts on critical aspects such as production, price, and profit are also included in the research report. The report sheds light on import and export data, and upstream raw materials and downstream demand in the global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence market. In addition, the report also provides recommendations that can help existing players as well as new entrants in formulating crucial business strategies.Browse Complete Report with TOC @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 Triangulation2 Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Market Overview2.1 Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Product Overview2.3 Global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sales (K Units) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.3 Global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.4 Global Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)2.4 United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Product Segment by Type2.4.1 United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sales (K Units) and Growth by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.4.2 United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.3 United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.4 United States Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)3 Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Application/End Users3.1 Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Segment by Application/End Users3.1.1 Medical Imaging & Diagnosis3.1.2 Drug Discovery3.1.3 OtherQYResearch offers Latest Press & Articles @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 Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Growth, Share, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2908 http://www.mrrse.com/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market http://www.mrrse.com/ The electric vehicle charging station market report provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing a key role in electric vehicle charging station market growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence markets growth during the said period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the electric vehicle charging station markets growth throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue and volume (in US$ Mn and Thousand units), across different geographies, including Asia Pacific, South America, North America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).Request For Sample Report:The report also highlights the competitive landscape of the electric vehicle charging station market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence and recent key developments. The comprehensive electric vehicle charging station market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the electric vehicle charging station markets growth.Global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market: Scope of the ReportThe market overview section of the report demonstrates the market dynamics and trends, such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. An attractiveness analysis has also been provided for every geographic region in the report, in order to give a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the w electric vehicle charging station market, globally. Moreover, the report provides an overview of the various strategies of key players present in the market. Product definition and introduction chapter helps in understanding different technologies of electric vehicle charging station along with their applications which are included in the report.Global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market: Key SegmentsThe report segments the global electric vehicle charging station market on the basis of technology into level 1, level 2, and level 3. By end-use application, the market has been classified into government, public space and municipalities (parks and street), commercial office space, healthcare, retail, hospitality, residential, logistics and transportation (fleet services), education, and others. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the electric vehicle market and classifies it into various levels, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.On the basis of country, North American market is divided into The U.S., Canada and Mexico. Similarly, Europe market is divided into The U.K., Germany, France, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific has been segmented into China, Japan, Australasia, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East and Africa covers the GCC, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Similarly, South American region includes Brazil, and Rest of South America.This report provides all the essential information required to understand the electric vehicle charging station and its components. Also, the report provides insights related to the policies and regulations according to the various geographical regions mentioned above. These policies and regulations are directly or indirectly influencing the electric vehicle charging station market. Furthermore, Porters Five Forces analysis explains the factors which are currently affecting the electric vehicle charging station market. This report also provides the value chain analysis for the electric vehicle charging station which explains the participants of the value chain.Browse Full Report With TOC:Companies Mentioned in the ReportAeroVironment, Inc., Bosch Automotive Service Solutions Inc., ChargePoint, Inc., ClipperCreek, Inc., Delta Group, Eaton Plc, Enel Group, E-Station Pty Ltd., General Electric Co., Hitachi, Ltd., KYOCERA Corp., Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc., Nichicon Corp., Panasonic Corp., Schneider Electric SE, SemaConnect, Inc., Siemens AG, Signet Systems Inc., Tesla Motors, Inc., Toyota Industries Corp. are some of the major players operating within the global electric vehicle charging station market profiled in this study. Details such as financials, SWOT analysis, business strategies, recent developments, and other such strategic information pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of company profiling.Electric Vehicle Charging Station MarketBy TechnologyLevel 1Level 2Level 3By End-use ApplicationGovernmentPublic Space and Municipalities (Parks and Street)Commercial Office SpaceHealthcareRetailHospitalityResidentialLogistics and Transportation (Fleet Services)EducationOthersBy GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaMexicoEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanAustralasiaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)GCCSouth AfricaRest of MEASouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaAbout 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.comWebsite: Global Music Synthezisers Market to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% during 2016-2020 - Casio, Korg, Novation Digital Music Systems, Roland, Yamaha http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=741862 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-music-synthezisers-market-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG The electric signals, in a synthesizer or synths, are converted to sound with the help of amplifiers and speakers. The instrument is mostly played in conjunction with a keyboard. It can also be controlled using musical instruments such as guitars, sequencers, drums, and fingerboards. Analog, digital, modular, and virtual synthesizers are some of the most popular synthesizer types.The global music synthesizers market to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global music synthesizers market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of hardware synthesizers in the global market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAClick to get sample PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Music Synthesizers Market 2016-2020, 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 at:Key vendors- Casio- Korg- Novation Digital Music Systems- Roland- YamahaOther prominent vendors- Allen & Heath- Arturia- Dave Smith Instruments- Elektron- Focusrite- Hercules- Kurzweil Music- Medeli Electronics- Moog Music- Stanton- Teenage EngineeringMarket driver- Increased demand of music synthesizers for concerts and live performances- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Increase in adoption of app-based musical instruments- For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 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?About UsResearchMoz 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.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Glucuronolactone Market Update, Analysis and Forecast Report, 2016 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1840 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1840 https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com Glucuronolactone Market size will witness a healthy growth with application in food & beverage and pharmaceutical industry as they are used in energy drinks to provide instant energy. Global energy drinks demand is growing at a significant rate that is boosting the product usage. These are even used by athletes as it provides ergogenic aid that assists in recovery from muscle strain. It helps to boost stamina, improves mental health and physical strength. This enhance sportsmens performance with improved focus and clarity. These factors are expected to propel glucuronolactone market.Growing pharmaceutical industry will provide positive outlook to glucuronolactone market. The product is widely used in joint treatment as it improves muscle function. It is a naturally occurring substance in connective tissues including, ligaments, tendons and cartilage. Initially, energy drinks were niche products and consumed by high end buyers, but with increasing buying power of consumers, people are utilizing the product consistently.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Changing consumers lifestyle and improved health conscious have fuelled glucuronolactone market. In addition, improvement in distribution channel of energy drinks that include Red Bull and Vitavit has resulted in its easy availability, that support product demand.Glucuronolactone are naturally occurring chemicals produced by liver from glucose and found in nearly all connecting tissues of human body. These are white odourless compounds having melting point range from 176-178 C and soluble in water. They exist in monocyclic aldehyde and bicyclic hemiacetal form. As glucuronides, they combine with toxic substances such as morphine and excrete them by converting into glucuronide conjugate. In addition, they can be derived from plant gums. The product is used in vitamin C synthesis and used for treatment of food poisoning, arthritis, hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis. Government organizations such as Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority govern its intake and usage in energy drinks.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Major restraint for glucuronolactone market is its health effects. These can cause problems such as anxiety, insomnia, and muscle twitching. Its intake increases heart rate and harmful for patients suffering from high blood pressure. However, food authorities have stated they do not cause adverse effect if consumed less than 1000 mg/kg/day.Glucuronolactone is used in different industries including pharmaceutical and food & beverage. Food & beverage is the fastest growing segment and has more than 50% share with its high usage in energy drinks and health supplements. Further, it is a vital ingredient in energy drinks and provides energy and strength thereby reducing exertion of athletes after heavy workout. These are excellent detoxifying agents that improve immunity & oxygen supply to brain, moistens skin and acts as anti-aging. In pharmaceutical industry, these are used in medicines for treatment of bone diseases, hepatitis and collagen diseases.The product exists in powder, tablet and liquid form. Liquid and powder has larger share as they are widely used in health drinks and supplements. This is mainly due to increasing health awareness among consumers.Asia Pacific has major share for glucuronolactone market owing to presence of various end use industries including, Red Bull, PepsiCo, Monster Beverage and Hector Beverage. China has maximum number of product manufacturer. There has been a growth in number of fitness centres and health clubs that has enhanced the product consumption in the region. North America, led by U.S. will foresee significant growth for glucuronolactone market due to presence of obese population in this region as it reduces fat storage.The glucuronolactone market is consolidated with the presence of large industry players. Major players are Shaoxing Marina Biotechnology, Hubei Yitai Pharmaceutical, Foodchem International, Merck Millipore, Creative Compounds, Shouguang Zhonghe Biochemical, Aceto Corporation and Anhui Fubore to name a few.Companies are adopting various strategies to increase their industry share in glucuronolactone market including, merger and acquisition strategy. For instance, Aceto Corporation has acquired Citron Pharma and Lucid Pharma to increase its market share. Some of the end users are Red Bull, Live, Monster Energy and Rockstar.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: German English Corning's gasoline particulate filters enable the next generation of clean-gasoline engines CORNING, N.Y., AUGUST 31, 2017 - Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) announced today that Groupe PSA is equipping all PureTech gasoline-direct-injection engine models with gasoline particulate filters (GPF) from Corning, beginning in October 2017. DuraTrap GC filters enable a significant reduction in particulate emissions for the most efficient generation of PureTech engines. Evolving the PureTech powertrain to include DuraTrap GC filters is a continuation of Groupe PSA's commitment to innovation and global emissions reduction. Groupe PSA was the first major automaker to introduce particulate filters on its diesel engines in 2000. In May of this year, Groupe PSA announced plans to leverage GPFs as a new strategic step in reducing emissions across its fleet as it addresses the challenges of energy transition. The launch of this new emissions control technology is the result of a close collaboration between Groupe PSA and Corning. Corning's expertise in ceramic science and systems integration helped Groupe PSA design in these new particulate filters, resulting in a robust solution to help reduce emissions and reach new levels of engine efficiency. "We are pleased to supply Groupe PSA with next-generation emissions control solutions as they advance automotive design," said Klaus Wellstein, general manager, Germany and South Africa, Corning Environmental Technologies. "We are well-equipped to provide a range of proven emissions solutions to our customers that advance clean-gasoline design for the next round of emissions regulations." The Groupe PSA's 1.2-liter, 3-cylinder Turbo PureTech gasoline engine was awarded the 2017 "Engine of the Year" in its category for the third year in a row at the 19th International Engine of the Year Awards in Stuttgart, Germany. Over 850,000 units have been produced in France and China since PureTech's launch in 2014 and deployed on more than 90 vehicle applications in 70 countries, confirming the industrial and commercial success of this engine. PureTech engines are powering Groupe PSA's latest models, such as the new Peugeot 3008 SUV, selected as the 2017 "European Car of the Year," and the new Citroen C3. This latest generation of PureTech powertrains is compliant with Euro 6d and China 6b regulations, which require real-driving emissions (RDE) compliance. All high-performance PureTech engines for the EU and Chinese markets will be equipped with Corning DuraTrap GC filters. Corning's Kaiserslautern, Germany, facility will supply the European market and its new Hefei, China, facility will supply the Chinese market. DuraTrap GC filters feature a cordierite-based material composition with an innovative engineered ceramic microstructure designed to efficiently trap fine particulates from gasoline engine exhaust while maintaining vehicle performance with low engine back pressure. Corning is a leading supplier of advanced cellular ceramic substrates and ceramic particulate filters for the world's major manufacturers of gasoline and diesel vehicles. The company invented an economical, high-performance, cellular ceramic substrate in the early 1970s that is now the standard for catalytic converters worldwide. In 1978, Corning developed the cellular ceramic particulate filter to remove soot from diesel emissions. Corning continues to leverage its expertise in ceramic science and extrusion manufacturing technology to develop market-leading emissions control solutions that help our customers meet new emission standards and enable cleaner air worldwide. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which are based on current expectations and assumptions about Corning's financial results and business operations, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include: the effect of global political, economic and business conditions; conditions in the financial and credit markets; currency fluctuations; tax rates; product demand and industry capacity; competition; reliance on a concentrated customer base; manufacturing efficiencies; cost reductions; availability of critical components and materials; new product commercialization; pricing fluctuations and changes in the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new plant start-up or restructuring costs; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict, political or financial instability, natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, or major health concerns; adequacy of insurance; equity company activities; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory; the rate of technology change; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; retention of key personnel; stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation or regulatory developments. These and other risk factors are detailed in Corning's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events. Digital Media Disclosure In accordance with guidance provided by the SEC regarding the use of company websites and social media channels to disclose material information, Corning Incorporated ("Corning") wishes to notify investors, media, and other interested parties that it intends to use its website (http://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events.html) to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. The list of websites and social media channels that the company uses may be updated on Corning's media and website from time to time. Corning encourages investors, media, and other interested parties to review the information Corning may publish through its website and social media channels as described above, in addition to the company's SEC filings, press releases, conference calls, and webcasts. About Corning Incorporated Corning (www.corning.com) is one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, with a 166-year track record of life-changing inventions. Corning applies its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramics science, and optical physics along with its deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop category-defining products that transform industries and enhance people's lives. Corning succeeds through sustained investment in RD&E, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries. Corning's capabilities are versatile and synergistic, which allows the company to evolve to meet changing market needs, while also helping our customers capture new opportunities in dynamic industries. Today, Corning's markets include optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display technology, automotive, and life sciences vessels. Corning's industry-leading products include damage-resistant cover glass for mobile devices; precision glass for advanced displays; optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions for state-of-the-art communications networks; trusted products to accelerate drug discovery and delivery; and clean-air technologies for cars and trucks. Media Relations Contacts: United States: M. Elizabeth Dann Agatha Lutoborski (607) 974-4989 (607) 248-4320 dannme@corning.com lutoborsak@corning.com Europe (Germany): Andrea Bienko-Osann 49-611-7366-142 bienkoa@corning.com China: Cara (Zhiling) Xie 86-21-2215-2888 XieZ3@corning.com Investor Relations Contact: Ann H.S. Nicholson (607) 974-6716 nicholsoas@corning.com Laser Diode Market by Application - Printing, Scanning, Data Storage, Data transmission & Medical Applications 2017 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011027106/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/global-laser-diode-market-research-report-2017-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011027106/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011027106/buy/2900 ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Laser Diode Market Research Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.Global Laser Diode market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingNichiaRohmAOCPanasonicElite AdvancedSharpSonyMitsubishi ElectricUOCCoherentOSIIPG PhotonicsJDSUNewportDILASAkelaArimaOndaxII-VI Laser EnterpriseJenoptikHamamatsuOsram OptoNlightRequest a Sample copy atGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD) , market share and growth rate of Laser Diode in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast) , coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanComplete 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 intoDouble heterostructure laser diodeQuantum well laser diodeQuantum cascade laser diodeSeparate confinement heterostructure laser diodeDistributed feedback laser diodeOthersOn 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 Laser Diode for each application, includingLaser PrintingLaser ScanningData StorageData transmissionMedical ApplicationsOthersTable of Contents:1 Laser Diode Market Overview2 Global Laser Diode Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Laser Diode Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Laser Diode Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Laser Diode Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type6 Global Laser Diode Market Analysis by ApplicationGet Discount at7 Global Laser Diode Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Laser Diode Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Laser Diode 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Self-Healing Polymer Market 2017: Key Players, Development and Opportunities by Forecast to 2023 Self-Healing Polymer Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4135 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/self-healing-polymer-market-4135 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/4135 Self-Healing Polymers are artificially developed polymers with the ability to automatically repair by themselves without any external treatment or any human intervention. This polymer provide base material for various products such as rubbers, films, plastics, fibers, and paints. It possess Self-Healing property which make it suitable for end-use industries such as paints & coatings, building & construction, electrical & electronics, aerospace, and healthcare among others.Increasing demand for Self-Healing Coating on automobile parts is expected to drive the market. Additionally, rapid industrialization and increasing disposable income is anticipated to fuel market growth. Rising number of space research programs coupled with the need of Self-Healing aerospace parts in developed and developing countries is expected to drive demand. Increasing investments in the buildings & construction sector as well as the expansion of automotive sector in developing regions are predicted to propel overall market growth. Moreover, increasing usage of self-healing polymer in the development of artificial organs is expected to positively influence market growth over the forecast period. However, lack of awareness regarding the benefits associated with Self-Healing Polymer across end-use industries may hinder the market growth in the next few years.Request a Sample Report @Regional Analysis:The Global Self-Healing Polymer Market consists of five regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East & Africa. The Asia Pacific region is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the rising demand from end use industries such as paints & coatings, and building & construction among others. The demand for self-healing polymer is expected to rise significantly in developing countries such as India, China, Japan, and Vietnam due to growing building & construction and automotive sector. Moreover, increasing demand for safety features along with the increasing production volume of automobiles has resulted in the growth of automotive market.Middle East & Africa is predicted to witness a significant growth in the next few years. Huge investment in infrastructure and buildings in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to boost market growth. Additionally, technological advancements and rising R&D activities specifically in Israel is anticipated to fuel the market growth.Europe emerged as the largest regional market for Self-Healing Polymer followed by North America and Asia Pacific. European countries such as Germany, France, and Italy have developed end-use industries and is expected to witness steady growth in the coming years. Increasing consumer spending along with the expansion of multinational companies in the European region is predicted to increase demand for Self-Healing Polymers. Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, and Colombia are also predicted to witness moderate growth with the introduction of new technologies and novel business models.Segmentation:The Global Self-Healing Polymer Market is segmented on the basis of form, end use industries, and regions. Based on the form, the market is segmented into capsule based, vascular, and intrinsic. Capsule based segment is the largest segment among the others in the form type segment. On the basis of end use industries, the market is categorized into paints & coatings, building & construction, electrical & electronics, aerospace, healthcare and others. On the basis of regions, this market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East & Africa.Browse Full Report @Key Players:Some of the prominent players operating in the Self-Healing Polymer Market are Covestro AG (Germany), Arkema Group (France), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Autonomic Materials Inc. (U.S.), Teijin Aramid (Netherlands), Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands) and others.Key Points from Table of Contents:11. Company Profiles11.1 Covestro AG11.1.1 Company Overview11.1.2 Product/Business Segment Overview11.1.3 Financial Updates11.1.4 Key Developments11.2 Arkema Group11.2.1 Company Overview11.2.2 Product/Business Segment Overview11.2.3 Financial Updates11.2.4 Key Developments11.3 Evonik Industries AG11.3.1 Company Overview11.3.2 Product/Business Segment Overview11.3.3 Financial Updates11.3.4 Key Developments11.4 Autonomic Materials Inc.11.4.1 Company Overview11.4.2 Product/Business Segment Overview11.4.3 Financial Updates11.4.4 Key DevelopmentsMake an Enquiry before buying @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 Components, Application, Logistics 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:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com Rise in Demand for Veterinary Imaging Market due to Increase in Diagnostic Instruments for the Proper Care of Small Pets http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/veterinary-imaging-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9344 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Veterinary imaging is used to obtain medical images of animal bodies to diagnose chronic diseases. It a non-invasive method which evolved with the help of diagnostic imaging instruments from human medicine. The market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the emerging health awareness for pet animals.Obtain Report Details @The veterinary imaging market is being driven due to the increasing demand for diagnostic instruments for the proper care of small pets such as cats and dogs. These imaging instruments help in the detection of nasal/sinus diseases by differentiating the neoplasia from rhinitis and hence guiding the biopsy test results. Furthermore, the instruments also have increased sensitivity for detecting skull fractures and brain hemorrhage. In addition, the medical imaging instruments allow the visualization for most types of brain tumors. The use of veterinary imaging instruments also eliminates the use of film, darkroom, film jackets and photo processing supplies which reduces the cost of diagnosis. Moreover, the growing concept of pet animal insurance services in the developed regions such as Europe and North America is driving the market for veterinary imaging instruments.However, the imaging instruments not as sensitive compared to MRI in the case of detecting tumors, inflammation and vascular condition. Furthermore, the uses of veterinary imaging instruments involve high initial cost which is restraining the market from growth. In addition, these instruments can only be operated by skilled computer users and also require a computer support personnel for software and hardware related problems.The ongoing technological innovation in the veterinary imaging is expected to spur growth in the market in future. The MRI technology is expected to be applied with veterinary imaging in order to provide more accurate diagnosis for the small pets. Furthermore, technologies such as laparoscopy and micro-fracture detection techniques are being tested in order to be applied to veterinary imaging market in future.The market has been segmented by products types and application. By products, the veterinary imaging market has been categorized in to digital radiography systems, ultrasound imaging systems, nuclear imaging scanners, CT scans, video endoscopy systems and MRI systems among others. The veterinary imaging can be applied in several application areas. By application, the market can be segregated into neurology, oncology, cardiology and orthopedics among others.By geography, the veterinary imaging market can be divided into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the world. North America and Europe are developed regions and expected to witness robust growth during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the rising disposable income in these regions which is creating awareness for better pet care. Furthermore, the rising concerns for cancer and tumors in small pets is also aiding to growth of the veterinary imaging market in this region. However, Asia Pacific is untapped market and is expected to become a major market during the future due to the presence of developing countries such as India and China where the concept of having small pets are becoming increasingly popular.Fill the Form to Gain Deeper Insights on this Market @Some of the major players in this market are Mindray Medical International Ltd., GE Healthcare, Idexx Laboratories, Inc. Diagnostic Imaging Systems, Inc., Esaote Spa, AGFA- Gavaert N.V., Toshiba Corporation, Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging Ltd., VCA Antech, Inc. and Minxray Inc among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.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: Overview on Global Cigarette Market: Assesses the key Opportunities, Size, Trends and Forecasts 2017-2021 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1068335 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-cigarette-market-size-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2021-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global Cigarette Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2017-2021) " to it's Large Report database.Scope of the ReportThe report titled Global Cigarette Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2017-2021), provides an in-depth analysis of the global cigarettes market by value, by volume, by products, by region, etc. The report provides a regional analysis of the cigarette market, including the following regions: the US, EU, EEMA, APAC, Latin America and Canada.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global cigarette market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.The competition in the global cigarette market is dominated by the four big players, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Brands Plc., and Philip Morris International Inc., which are profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Country CoverageThe USEUEEMAAsia-PacificLatin America and CanadaCompany CoverageBritish American TobaccoImperial Brands PlcJapan Tobacco InternationalPhilips Morris International Inc.Executive SummaryBrowse more details @Table of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Tobacco: An Overview2.1.1 Types of Tobacco Products2.2 Cigarettes: An Overview2.2.1 Inception of Cigarettes2.2.2 Economics Behind Cigarette Industry2.2.3 Reasons For Cigarettes Consumption2.2.4 Engineering Behind a Cigarette2.2.5 Financial Hazards of Cigarette Smoking2.2.6 Health Hazards of Cigarette Smoking2.2.7 Classification of Cigarettes2.2.8 Chemical Composition of Cigarettes3. Global Market Analysis3.1 Global Tobacco Market: An Analysis3.1.1 Global Tobacco Market by Segments3.2 Global Cigarette Market: An Analysis3.2.1 Global Cigarette Market by Value3.2.2 Global Cigarette Market by Volume3.2.3 Global Cigarette Market Volume by Region4. Regional Market Analysis4.1 The US Cigarette Market: An Analysis4.1.1 The US Cigarette Market by Volume4.1.2 The US Cigarette Market by Price4.1.3 The US Cigarette Market by Product 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: Worldwide CBRNE Market (Detection Devices) Worth $9.8 Billion by 2022: Market Shares, Strategies and Forecasts 2016 to 2022 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=818840 http://www.researchmoz.us/cbrne-chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear-and-explosive-detection-devices-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2016-to-2022-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosive) Detection Devices: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022 " to it's Large Report database.The 2016 study has 1,208 pages, 512 tables and figures. Worldwide CBRNE markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the use of detectors that are implemented as platforms, many of them handheld, used to help implement precision detection of intent to do harm to civilian populations or military personnel.Chemical warfare agents (CWAs), toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), toxic industrial materials (TIMs), hazmat agents are problems in civilized society when terrorists target civilian populations as has happened recently in Boston, Paris, Asia, Syria, London, and Belgium. The risks associated with terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) warfare are tremendous.Growing use of CBRNE detection devices to try to protect civilians is encouraging, because it gives a sense of being able to protect people, whereas previously everyone has felt terribly vulnerable. Watchfulness in the context of terrorist threats is encouraging because the terrorist behavior is concerning.Expanding threats require more first responder CBRNE detection devices and more vigilance from the first responders as they learn to use the devices. CBRNE detection teams and hazmat response are provided by first responders to help protect civilian populations.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Advanced handheld analytical technology permits first responders to be capable of proactive performance in a hot zone. Handheld devices allow for faster detection, response and continuous monitoring of both conventional and unconventional threats helping to ensure public safety and response team protection.An abundance of new research and development in sensors and technology permits detection of a hazardous substance that may have been planted by a terrorist. Detection and identification of CBRNE at a distance becomes a way to protect first responders responsible for finding the hazmat. The significance of detection is increasing as governments and military organizations recognize the need to more efficiently identify and categorize chemicals, explosives, biological agents, radiology and nuclear materials and other threats. The ability to manage separate detection devices creates the need for device integration.Worldwide, government agencies and military branches are tasked with the formidable job of identifying evolving threats to national security such as concealed explosives, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and airborne chemical and biological materials without putting equipment or people in harms way. Lasers and optical techniques are of critical importance as they are used to implement standoff detection technology for their ability to passively and actively probe threats near and far.Browse more details @Table of ContentsVOLUME 1Volume 1 2CBRNe Executive Summary 94CBRNE Advanced Handheld and Desktop Analytical Technology 94CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) Detection Devices 95CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) Detection Device Market Driving Forces 96CBRNE Market Shares 97CBRNE Market 2016-2022 - Market Forecasts 991. CBRNe Detection Market Description and Market Dynamics 1011.1 Threat Detection: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive 1011.2 CBRNe Detection Creates Market Dynamics 1051.2.1 Stand-Off Detection 1061.2.2 High Visibility Events (HVE) 1071.3 Helytex Radiogardase 1081.4 Building Vulnerability 1092. CBRNE Market Shares and Forecasts 1132.1 CBRNE Advanced Handheld and Desktop Analytical Technology 1132.1.1 CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) Detection Devices 1142.1.2 CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) Detection Device Market Driving Forces 1152.2 CBRNE Market Shares 1162.2.1 Smiths 1192.2.2 Bruker 1202.2.3 Bruker DE-tector 1212.2.4 Mirion 1222.2.5 Flir Biological 122About 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: Seed Market to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period seed industry market, indian seed industry market overview and outlook, indian seed industry market size, indian seed industry mar https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/1072651-global-seed-industry-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/1072651-global-seed-industry-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/check-discount/1072651-global-seed-industry-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Seed Industry - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2017 - 2022)"Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @Market InsightsThe seed industry has witnessed a substantial change in the past century, with farmers relying on purchasing seeds from a market with better traits rather than relying on seeds from previous seasonas harvest. Developments in seed technology have increased the momentum of the industryas growth, and the introduction of genetically modified crops has further boosted the seed market. The value of global seed market has tripled since 2000 and reached approximately USD 50 billion in 2014. Globally, North America occupies the largest market share and together with Europe it constitutes more than 50% of the global seed market. Currently, the market is highly competitive and to increase the share in the seed market, top companies are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions.The global seed market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period 2016-2021. The market, estimated at USD XX million as of 2016, is projected to reach a value of USD 73239.1 million by 2021.Market DynamicsThe expanding world population, rising adoption of biotech crops across the world, an increase in the usage of biofuels and animal feed, and growing land reclamation for agricultural purposes are the major growth factors driving the seed market. On the other hand, the lower adoption rate of GM crops in various countries coupled with their lengthy approval time, extensive research and time involved in stabilizing and introducing new seed varieties with novel traits, and consolidating the seed market are the major constraints for the industry.The seed industry is investing heavily in research and development, for a generation of a new variety of seeds with desirable traits. Some of the most important traits desired by the farmers are high yield, seed rate /hectare, biotic and abiotic resistances, high nutrient content, etc. The top global players are trying to include these traits and combinations of the same in their products to sustain high levels of competition and to maintain their market share. Technological innovation and a growing demand in the developing countries are the major areas of opportunities for the seed market.Market SegmentationThe seed market is segmented by crop type into - oilseeds, cereals/grains, fruits and vegetables, and other seeds; by type into - non-GM seeds (hybrid seeds), GM seeds, and varietal seeds; and by geography into - Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, South America, and Africa. Considering that the seed industry is concentrated in the more industrialized and developed countries, North America and Europe constitute nearly half of the global seed market. America dominates the GM market, followed by Asia.Non-GM seeds/Hybrids constitute the largest share of XX%, followed by GM seeds. At the same time, rising adoption of organically grown food products results in a steady growth of hybrids. Varietal seeds segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.8% during the forecast period.Regarding the crop type, vegetable seeds segment is projected to be the fastest growing during the forecast period, at a CAGR of 8.5%, followed by oilseed crops having a CAGR of XX%. Vegetable seeds are further segmented into Solanaceae, cucurbit, root and bulbs, brassica, and others. Tomato, from Solanaceae, is a major crop witnessing the fastest growth. Oilseeds constitute soybean, sunflower, cotton, and rapeseed as the major crops. Cereals and grains, such as rice, wheat, maize, and sorghum, constitute the largest share of 48% of the global seed market and play a crucial role in meeting the global food demand.Request For Sample Report @By geography, the global seed market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Africa. Asia-Pacific is seen as the fastest growing segment during the forecast period, with a CAGR of 7.9%, followed by South America. China is the second biggest seed market in the world, right behind the United States. With a market value of USD 10004.6 million in 2015, the China seed market is growing at an estimated CAGR of 6.5%, and is expected to reach USD 14439.0 million by 2021.Major companies in the sector include:MonsantoGroupe LimagrainSyngentaBayer Crop ScienceDuPont (Pioneer)Recent Industry InsightsDow Chemical and DuPont have come to an agreement of a merger and the merger transaction is expected to close by the end of 2016.China National Chemical Corp. purchased Swiss chemical and seeds company Syngenta for USD 43 billion.Bayer has recently purchased Monsanto for USD 66 billion. If the deal is successfully closed, the merger will result in worldas largest seed and agriculture company.Key Deliverables in the StudyMarket analysis for the global seed market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis.Market overview and identification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the global seed market and also instrumental in changing the market scenario, on both, global and regional scale.Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies and their market share, along with an analysis of their current strategic interests and financial information and strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied market.The report holds importance for the following stakeholders-Producers and manufacturersAgricultural input companiesEnterprises operating in the industryTraders and stakeholders operating in the sectorInvestors/research institutions interested in the marketCustomization Options:Supply chain analysisRegulatory frameworkTrade analysisTrend analysisCheck 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) Rising Trends in Mobile Device Accessories Market will lead Market to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2016-2020 - Beats (Apple), Incipio, Samsung Electronics, Sony http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=741861 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-mobile-device-accessories-market-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG An average mobile device user spends $85 to $90 on cellphone accessories every year, as consumers increasingly seek out latest trends in accessories. This scenario is typical in APAC, which drives the majority of the revenue from mobile device accessories in the region. The report segments the market by types of mobile device accessories as follows:- Protective cases- Headsets or earphones- Chargers- Batteries- Memory cards- Power banks- Portable speakersThe global mobile device accessories market to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global mobile device accessories market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from sales of mobile device accessories.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAClick to get sample PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Mobile Device Accessories Market 2016-2020, 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 at:Key vendors- Beats (Apple)- Incipio- Samsung Electronics- SonyOther prominent vendors- Bose- Griffin Technology- Panasonic- Plantronics- Otterbox- Sennheiser ElectronicsMarket driver- Widespread internet access through mobile devices- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Technological obsolescence in mobile devices- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- increasing use of accessories for health monitoring- For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 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?About UsResearchMoz 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.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Insurance Technology Market by Application - Auto, Health & Life Insurance 2017-2022 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011027601/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/global-insurance-technology-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011027601/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW00011027601/buy/3300 ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Insurance Technology Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 The report focuses on Global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.This report studies the global Insurance Technology market, analyzes and researches the Insurance Technology development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeXchanging plcInsurance Technology ServicesPatriot Technology SolutionsSky Insurance TechnologiesTIA TechnologySeibelsDXC TechnologyMarias Technology, Incmsg life agHubioVentivMajescoRequest a Sample copy atMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaComplete report is available atMarket segment by Application, Insurance Technology can be split intoAuto InsuranceHealth InsuranceLife InsuranceOthersFew points from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Insurance Technology2 Global Insurance Technology Competition Analysis by Players3 Company (Top Players) Profiles4 Global Insurance Technology Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Insurance Technology Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Insurance Technology Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Insurance Technology in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Insurance Technology5 United States Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Insurance Technology Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Insurance Technology Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)6 EU Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Insurance Technology Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU Insurance Technology Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)Get Discount at7 Japan Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook8 China Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook9 India Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook10 Southeast Asia Insurance Technology Development Status and Outlook11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)12 Insurance Technology Market Dynamics13 Market Effect Factors AnalysisPurchase 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. 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We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.533, 5th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Research Report 2017 http://globalqyresearch.com/download-sample/263415 http://globalqyresearch.com/checkout-form/0/263415 http://globalqyresearch.com/ In this report, the global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services 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 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanGlobal Yield Monitoring Devices and Services market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAg Leader TechnologyDeere & CompanyPrecision Planting Inc.Raven Industries Inc.AgJunction Inc.AGCO CorporationTrimble Navigation LimitedCase IHTeeJet TechnologiesTopcon Precision AgricultureDownload Sample Report Copy From Here:On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoGuidance SystemsRemote SensingOn 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 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services for each application, includingVariable Rate Application (VRA)Field MappingSoil MonitoringCrop ScoutingOthersTable of ContentsGlobal Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Research Report 20171 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Yield Monitoring Devices and Services1.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Guidance Systems1.2.4 Remote Sensing1.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Segment by Application1.3.1 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Variable Rate Application (VRA)1.3.3 Field Mapping1.3.4 Soil Monitoring1.3.5 Crop Scouting1.3.6 Others1.4 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU 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 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Yield Monitoring Devices and Services (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 United States Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 EU Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 South Korea Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 Taiwan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 United States Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 EU Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 South Korea Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 Taiwan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Ag Leader Technology7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Ag Leader Technology Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Deere & Company7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Deere & Company Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Precision Planting Inc.7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Precision Planting Inc. Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Raven Industries Inc.7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Raven Industries Inc. Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 AgJunction Inc.7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 AgJunction Inc. Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 AGCO Corporation7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 AGCO Corporation Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Trimble Navigation Limited7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Trimble Navigation Limited Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Case IH7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Case IH Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 TeeJet Technologies7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 TeeJet Technologies Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Topcon Precision Agriculture7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Topcon Precision Agriculture Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Manufacturing Cost Analysis8.1 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Key Raw Materials Analysis8.1.1 Key Raw Materials8.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials8.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials8.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials8.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure8.2.1 Raw Materials8.2.2 Labor Cost8.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses8.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Yield Monitoring Devices and Services9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9.1 Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Industrial Chain Analysis9.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing9.3 Raw Materials Sources of Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Major Manufacturers in 20159.4 Downstream Buyers10 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 List11 Market Effect Factors Analysis11.1 Technology Progress/Risk11.1.1 Substitutes Threat11.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry11.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change11.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change12 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production, Revenue Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.1 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Capacity, Production and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Price and Trend Forecast (2017-2022)12.2 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Consumption , Import and Export Forecast by Region (2017-2022)12.2.1 United States Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.2 EU Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.3 China Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.4 Japan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.5 South Korea Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.6 Taiwan Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.3 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Production, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type (2017-2022)12.4 Global Yield Monitoring Devices and Services Consumption Forecast by Application (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 Appendix14.1 Methodology/Research Approach14.1.1 Research Programs/Design14.1.2 Market Size Estimation14.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation14.2 Data Source14.2.1 Secondary Sources14.2.2 Primary Sources14.3 DisclaimerBuy Now This Report From Here :Global QYResearch() is the one spot destination for all your research needs. 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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 Weather Stripping Market Forecast 2017-2022 Barton Kramer, Frost King, PortaSeal, Thermwell Products Weather Stripping http://bit.ly/2xAjmBS http://www.spiremarketresearch.com/global-weather-stripping-market-2017-share-size-forecast-2022 Weather Stripping Market Research 2017A market study Global Weather Stripping Market examines the performance of the Weather Stripping market 2017. 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Weather Stripping Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Weather Stripping 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 Weather Stripping market revenue worldwide.Finally, Weather Stripping 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 English Latvian Type of operations The Company was established in 1900 as the Riga`s first state alcohol warehouse and operates under the current name since 1970. Due to SPI Group internal reorganization the major shareholder of Latvijas balzams AS from October 2014 is Amber Beverage Group SIA, which owns 89.99% of the Companys equity capital. Nowadays Latvijas balzams operates two alcohol production facilities in Riga production plant for strong alcohol beverages and a production plant for sparkling wines and light alcohol beverages. We use ingredients from around the world and have retained our traditional beverage production technologies. The recipes for some of our signature products date back hundreds of years, for example the recipe o Riga Black Balsam is rotated back in 1752, but our renown Moskovskaya Vodka dates back to the end of the 19th century. The company keeps the leading presence in all key spirits segments, as well as in sparkling wines, ciders, and RTDs, in the Baltic region. The newest generation of spirits, including Riga Black Vodka and Amber Gold Vodka, are produced using innovative filtration technologies that results in particular character profiles for beverage connoisseurs. We are proud for our ability to produce high quality liquids consistently, and develop new products driven by consumer insights. On the same time we are able to maintain high-quality international standards required by SPI Group, so that sales of Stolichnaya are possible around the world, including sales to Japan. Latvijas balzams AS is the largest producer of alcoholic beverages in the Baltic States with a range of more than 100 different brands. Our products are exported to more than 170 export markets as mediated by SPI Group, and to 42 markets via the Company`s direct export route. The Company`s Activity in the first half of 2017 The unaudited turnover of the Company in the first half of 2017 reached 36 million euro, which is 3.1% more than in the first half of Year 2016. Increase in turnover was mainly achieved by increase of orders from our biggest Private Label customer SPI Cyprus, although the overall profitability level is lower than selling Latvijas Balzams brands. Additional positive effect on turnover come from increased level of warehouse and logistics services provided to both 3rd part and Group companies. From beginning of 2016, the Company is providing a number of warehouse and logistics services, mostly to beverage companies like transit assurance services, bonded warehouse services, 3-rd party logistic services, value added services, picking, etc. Actions taken, has allowed to utilize the available resources and assets in more efficient way. Latvijas balzams AS has been performing as European hub for group distributed brands in Europe, including Scandinavia and Russia (KAH, Bayou, Arinzano, Achaval Ferrer). The unaudited profit for the reporting period reached 2.52 million euro that represents 13% decrease versus the first half of 2016, mainly due to the fact that 2016 numbers include income from oneoff transactions like compensation received from insurance company for fire case in 2014 in amount of 280 thousand EUR and profit from sale of real estate in amount of 594 thousand EUR. Latvijas balzams AS is the leading producer of alcoholic beverages in Latvia, as well as one of the largest local taxpayers. During the reporting period, the Company paid 26.9 million euro to the state budget, including excise tax, amounting to 21 million euro. Future prospects In 2017 the Company will keep focusing on investment opportunities in existing and new export markets with strong growth potential and accelerating sales. Well keep the strong focus on our core brands - Riga Black Balsam and Cosmopolitan Diva - investing into international recognition, brand equity and increasing market share. The Company will also continue to improve the efficiency of production with focus on purchasing, planning and infrastructure improvements to support our goal - to deliver quality products with a competitive cost advantage. Also Company has developed large-scale plant modernization and reconstruction project with aim to merge both production plants into one territory. Project will allow to improve company`s competitive positions among the region producers by decreasing labour, logistics and production costs. Total costs of project are estimated at amount of 23 million euro. Application for project CIT discount has been submitted to Ministry of Economics and technical project works are currently going on. After finalizing those two phases shareholders will be introduced to Project in details to obtain their final approval on investment. Latvijas balsams AS is an active member of Latvian Alcohol Industry Association and cooperates with core non-governmental organizations, representing the interests of industry in any dialogue with legislators and law enforcement institutions. The Company supports development of well - considered industry policy in Latvia and promotes responsible consumption and public education on these issues, as well as continues to combat the illegal production and distribution of non-commercial alcohol. LCD Glass Market 2017 - AGC, NSG, LG Chem, Corning, AvanStrate, Taiwan Glass LCD Glass Market https://goo.gl/M1ZmGn https://goo.gl/iaoe1u http://www.apexresearch.biz Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "LCD Glass Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "LCD Glass 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 LCD Glass industry, and estimates the future trend of LCD Glass market on the basis of this detailed study. 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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 LCD Glass 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 Organic Beverages Market Driven by Health Cautious Consumers http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/organic-beverages-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=363 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Organic Beverages are one kind of beverages which has no synthetic pesticides, growth hormones, genetic engineering and artificial flavors, colors and preservative, among other things. The organic beverages market is an upcoming sector as people are now beginning to focus their attention on organic beverages rather than carbonated functional drinks. Organic beverages offer a number of health benefits. Rising concerns of people over health issues is fuelling the growth of organic beverages. Rising interest in organic soda without artificial flavorings and preservatives is, no doubt, in demand today. People prefer organic beverages over drinks that are high in sugar, full of chemicals and lack nutritional value. All these factors together are fuelling the demand of organic beverages all over the world.Obtain Report Details @Organic Beverages Market: Segmentation:Organic Beverages can be segmented on the basis of Product type, End Use and Distribution Channel.On the basis of product type, the organic beverages can be segmented into alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages is further sub segmented as ciders, cocktails, gin, beer, wine, whiskey & rum. While non-alcoholic beverages is further sub segmented as coffee, tea, fruit juice, vegetable juice dairy based beverages, dairy alternative beverages and others.On the basis of End Use, the organic beverages can be sub segmented into households and HORECA. Both the segments have equal share in terms of volume and value sales.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @On the basis of distribution channel, the organic beverages can be segmented into direct and indirect channel. The indirect channel can be sub segmented into modern trade, convenience store and E- Retailers. Among all these segments E- Retailers segment is expected to represent favorable growth sduring the forecast period.. Rising consumer influence towards online purchasing as well as increasing internet penetration across the globe is expected to support in the global organic beverages market.Organic Beverages Market: Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of organic beverages product is divided into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific including Japan and Middle East & Africa. 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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: Global Biopolymers/Bioplastics Market 2017- DuPont, Arkema, BASF, NatureWorks, Novamont Global Biopolymers/Bioplastics Market https://goo.gl/7JdGMq https://goo.gl/E6ihbo https://goo.gl/pwBULS https://market.biz/ https://emarketresearch.us Global Biopolymers/Bioplastics Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Biopolymers/Bioplastics market globally, providing basic overview of Biopolymers/Bioplastics market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Biopolymers/Bioplastics market on a global and regional level. 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Biopolymers/Bioplastics market in South America includes Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc. Biopolymers/Bioplastics market in Middle East and Africa incorporates Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.The competitive framework of the market in terms of the Global Biopolymers/Bioplastics industry has been evaluated in the report. The Biopolymers/Bioplastics market top companies with their overall share and share with respect to the global market have been included in the Biopolymers/Bioplastics report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the global Biopolymers/Bioplastics market have been evaluated in the report. So the overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Biopolymers/Bioplastics 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 Rifle Scopes Market Professional Survey Report 2017 : Barska, Leupold, Millett, Vortex Optics http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1158868&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-rifle-scopes-market-professional-survey-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1158868&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Rifle Scopes Market Professional Survey Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.To stay competent in the global Rifle Scopes market, this report provides a complete guide to the Rifle Scopes market. This report consists of various trends that are affecting this market both in positive or negative manners. These trends are completely evaluated to predict their precise effects on the growth of the Rifle Scopes market. Along with the opportunities present in this market, the pitfalls that can hinder the growth of this market are also included. This report estimates the market value of the Rifle Scopes market by end of the forecast period along with the expected CAGR for the growth over the forecast period 2017-2022. The market is segmented based on various aspects such as product types, technologies, raw materials, end users, applications, and services. For all these segments the opportunities for the growth are evaluated. The market share of these segments are tabulated by vigorous research and with the help of both primary and secondary sources.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, the global Rifle Scopes market can be segmented into key regions such as the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America. Growth trajectories for these regions over the forecast period. The local trends and local competitive landscape is included, which provides the opportunities and hurdles affecting the regional market. Due to various technological advancements and changing processes, this market is going through a major transition. However, this report provides insights into various vertices of the Rifle Scopes market, which help the readers to find hidden opportunities. Company profiles of prominent players in this market are included.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringBarskaLeupoldMillettVortex OpticsBurrisWarneZeissBushnellAimpointSchmidt & BenderTable of ContentsGlobal Rifle Scopes Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Rifle Scopes1.1 Definition and Specifications of Rifle Scopes1.1.1 Definition of Rifle Scopes1.1.2 Specifications of Rifle Scopes1.2 Classification of Rifle Scopes1.2.1 Telescopic Sight1.2.2 Collimating Optical Sight1.2.3 Reflex SightObtain Report Details @2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Rifle Scopes2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Rifle Scopes2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Rifle Scopes2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Rifle Scopes3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Rifle Scopes3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Rifle Scopes Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Rifle Scopes Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Rifle Scopes Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales AnalysisEnquiry For Discount Visit @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Rifle ScopesTable Product Specifications of Rifle ScopesTable Classification of Rifle ScopesTable Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 2016Table R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 2016Table Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Rifle Scopes Major Manufacturers in 2016Table Global Capacity, Sales , Price, Cost, Sales Revenue (M USD) and Gross Margin of Rifle Scopes 2012-2017Figure Global 2012-2017E Rifle Scopes Market Size (Volume) and Growth RateFigure Global 2012-2017E Rifle Scopes Market Size (Value) and Growth RateAbout 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 Plastic Retort Cans Market Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3099 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3099 www.futuremarketinsights.com Plastic retort cans are a niche offering in retort packaging segment, wherein pre-cooked or raw food products are placed into the plastic retort cans for achieving commercial sterility. Plastic retort cans are characterized by robustness due to the strength derived from rigid plastics. Plastic retort cans are also gradually occupying the shelves in modern retail formats, as it can be stacked on pallets without the need for cartooning. Attributed to this property, plastic retort cans offer higher storage capacity while saving costs of cartooning, as well as gaining preference of product manufacturers and brand owners.The retort packaging market comprises of various multilayered packaging products that are used in packaging of food and beverages. Retort packaging improves the shelf life of food products which can be preserved in rigid or flexible packaging forms. Polyphenylene Ether (PPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are predominantly used in manufacturing of retort packaging products, including plastic retort cans. The retort packaging market is estimated to be over US$ 30 billion in 2016 and is poised to grow at 7 % CAGR to surpass US$ 58 billion in 2026.Request Report Sample@Plastic retort cans have evolved by making use of the retort packaging process. The retort process requires heat for a specific period of time to pre-cooked or raw food products which are packed in retort packages to achieve commercial sterility. Commercial sterility ensures that the food products are free from microbial / organic contaminants. Food products packaged using retort packaging cans have relatively longer shelf life and are largely used for packaging products such as seafood, soups and sauces, baby food, ready-to-eat meals, etc. Plastic retort cans are multilayered packaging products with three to four layers of lamination that comprises of material such as Ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), nylon, aluminum, and food-grade cast polypropylene or CPP.Plastic Retort Cans market - Market Dynamics:Plastic retort cans market is gaining momentum from increased demand for packed food in geographies that are characterized by increasing per capita spending, rising middle income population and emerging economies. Furthermore, the above benchmark performance of food and beverage industry across developed as well as developing markets is another catalytic factor for global retort cans market. Nevertheless, players engaged in plastic retort cans manufacturing are constantly challenged by the increasing penetration of retort pouches which offer flexible packaging form, over plastic retort cans. Retort pouches also offer printing capabilities for brands and logos and have applications in organic food packaging, frozen food packaging, pet food packaging, soup packaging and fresh food produce.Along with the need to improve shelf life of food products, advancement in technology can create opportunities in plastic retort cans market.Plastic Retort Cans Market - Market Segmentation:Retort packaging forms such as cartons, cans, trays, and pouches can be segmented industry wise into food, beverage, healthcare, and pharmaceutical, in which food and beverage have prominent relevance. Plastic retort cans have end usage application in Baby foods, Pet Foods, Seafood, Meat products, and ready to eat meals.Plastic Retort Cans Market Regional AnalysisGeographically plastic retort cans market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and Middle East and Africa. The market for retort packaging in Asia Pacific is a major regional market as demand from emerging counties are witnessing upward trend.Visit For TOC@Plastic Retort Cans Market - Key PlayersSonoco and Kortec (now part of Milacron Co-Injection Systems) have introduced clear plastic retort cans as an alternative to tin cans with capabilities to handle temperature and pressure conditions.South Carolina based McCall Farms have introduced see through plastic retort cans that be used for packaging of slow-cooked vegetables. These cans are sold in over 400 stores in the U.S. These see through plastic retort cans developed by packaging products manufacturer Sonoco also have application in the pet food segments.Klear Can, a plastic retort can manufactured by Kortec Inc. (now part of Milacron Co-Injection Systems), was an outcome of investment in market research by the company to understand customer preference and food safety with respect to PET usage. The company manufactures the Klear Can plastic retort can by 3 layer design that consist of Polypropylene (PP) and Ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH).Key players that manufacture and supply plastic retort cans are Sonoco, RPC, Milacron Co-Injection Systems, Winpack, Amcor, SOPAKCO, and Bemis.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Plastisol Ink Market Set for Rapid Growth and Trend by 2022 https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/551690//?utm_source=OPR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/551690//?utm_source=OPR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/north-america-plastisol-ink-market-by-manufacturers-countries-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022//?utm_source=RR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/category/news-releases/ Market Study Report adds New Global Plastisol Ink Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 new report to its research database. The report spread across 120 pages with table and figures in it. The report provides information on Industry Trends, Demand, Top Manufacturers, Countries, Material and Application.Plastisol ink is a PVC-based industrial coating for screen printing cotton, polyester, nylon etc. New generation of products appeared in the market in recent years: non-phthalate plastisol inks and non-pvc plastisol inks.Request a Sample Copy of Global Plastisol Ink Market Research Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Plastisol Ink 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 Plastisol Ink Market report covers such as PolyOne, Lancer Group, Rutland Plastic Technologies, ICC, Huber Group, Fujifilm, Sunlan Chemicals, KARAN, Zhongyi Ink & Paint, Sophah Screen Printing Technology and Dexin.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 Plastisol Ink Market Segment by Type, covers as General Plastisol Inks, Non-Phthalate Plastisol Inks and Non-PVC Plastisol InksGlobal Plastisol Ink Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Cotton Fabric, Polyester & Nylon Fabrics, Blend Fabric and OthersRequest Discount for Global Plastisol Ink Market Research Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Plastisol Ink market.Chapter 1, to describe Plastisol Ink Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Plastisol Ink, with sales, revenue, and price of Plastisol Ink, 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 Plastisol Ink market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Plastisol Ink, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to Plastisol Ink Industry analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the Plastisol Ink Market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Plastisol Ink market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Plastisol Ink Industry sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Related Reports: -North America Plastisol Ink Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022This report focuses on the Plastisol Ink 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: Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Report 2017 Ophthalmic, Surgery, Devices, Market ,Report , https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/united-states-ophthalmic-surgery-devices-market-report-2017-1547568 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/united-states-ophthalmic-surgery-devices-market-report-2017-1547568 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/check-discount/united-states-ophthalmic-surgery-devices-market-report-2017-1547568 Browse the full report with a table of contents:In this report, the United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices 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 splits the United States market into seven regions:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe Midwestwith sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Ophthalmic Surgery Devices in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).Order a Purchase Report Copy:The United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Ophthalmic Surgery Devices sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingNovartis AGAbbott LaboratoriesCarl Zeiss Meditec AGValeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.GlaukosAlconAllerganIvantisSanten PharmaceuticalsInnFocusOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBench-TopPortableOn the basis of 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 Ophthalmic Surgery Devices for each application, includingRefractive Error Surgery DevicesCataract Surgery DevicesVitreoretinal Surgery DevicesGlaucoma Surgery DevicesIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of ContentsUnited States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Report 20171 Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Ophthalmic Surgery Devices1.2 Classification of Ophthalmic Surgery Devices by Product Category1.2.1 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Bench-Top1.2.4 Portable1.3 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Refractive Error Surgery Devices1.3.3 Cataract Surgery Devices1.3.4 Vitreoretinal Surgery Devices1.3.5 Glaucoma Surgery Devices1.4 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market by Region1.4.1 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 New England Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 The South Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 The Midwest Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 United States Market Size (Value and Volume) of Ophthalmic Surgery Devices (2012-2022)1.5.1 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 United States Ophthalmic Surgery Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)...continued.About Reports And MarketsReports And Markets are 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) Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market 2017- EVERLAM, Kuraray, Sekisui, Eastman Chemical Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market https://goo.gl/6xRYzM https://goo.gl/UtTVQy https://goo.gl/3RvF2v https://market.biz/ https://emarketresearch.us Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market globally, providing basic overview of Polyvinyl Butyral Films market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. Historical data available in the report elaborates on the development of the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market on a global and regional level. The report compares this data with the current Polyvinyl Butyral Films state of the market and thus discuss upon the upcoming trends that have brought the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market transformation.Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market predictions along with the statistical implication presented in the report delivers an accurate scenario of the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market. The market forces determining the shaping of the global Polyvinyl Butyral Films market have been evaluated in detail. In addition to this, the supervisory outlook of the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market has been covered in the report from both the Global and local perspective. The demand and supply side of the global Polyvinyl Butyral Films market has been broadly covered in the report. Also the challenges faced by the players in the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in terms of demand and supply have been listed in the report.Enquire before purchasing the report here:In Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market report, development policies and plans as well as Polyvinyl Butyral Films market size, share, end users are analyzed. Growth prospects of the overall Polyvinyl Butyral Films industry have been presented in the report. This industry study segments Polyvinyl Butyral Films global market by types, applications and companies. However, to give an in-depth view to the readers, detailed geographical segmentation of Polyvinyl Butyral Films market within the globe has been covered in this study. The key geographical regions along with Polyvinyl Butyral Films revenue forecasts are included in the report.Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market Segmentation:The global Polyvinyl Butyral Films market is segmented on the basis of key players, types and applications. The leading players of global Polyvinyl Butyral Films market includes Wuhan Honghui New Materia, ChangChun Group, RongXin New Materials, Tanshan Jichang New Material, Kuraray, Zhejiang Decent Plastic, Kingboard Chemical Holdings, Eastman Chemical, Xinfu Pharm, Huakai Plastic, Sekisui, Rehone Plastic and EVERLAM.Based on type, the Polyvinyl Butyral Films market is categorized into Regeneration Type and Primeval Type. According to application, Polyvinyl Butyral Films market divided into Automotive Industry, Building Industry and Photovoltaic Glass.Request Sample Polyvinyl Butyral Films Research Report atGlobal Polyvinyl Butyral Films Market regional analysis covers:The industry research presents Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in North America mainly covers USA, Canada and Mexico. Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in Asia-Pacific region cover-up China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia. Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in Europe combines Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy. Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in South America includes Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc. Polyvinyl Butyral Films market in Middle East and Africa incorporates Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.The competitive framework of the market in terms of the Global Polyvinyl Butyral Films industry has been evaluated in the report. The Polyvinyl Butyral Films market top companies with their overall share and share with respect to the global market have been included in the Polyvinyl Butyral Films report. Furthermore, the factors on which the companies compete in the global Polyvinyl Butyral Films market have been evaluated in the report. So the overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Polyvinyl Butyral Films 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 Airport Lighting Market To Reach USD 689.15 million USD By 2022 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1240459 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1240459/research-report-on-global-airport-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1240459 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report 2017 Market Research Report on Global Airport Lighting Industry provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Airport Lighting MarketThe Global Airport Lighting Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Airport Lighting market. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2017 through 2022. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. The Airport Lighting industry was 454.21 million USD in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 689.15 million USD by 2022, at a CAGR of 7.20% between 2016 and 2022.The report provides a basic overview of the Airport Lighting industry including definition, classification, application and industry chain structure.Then, 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 Airport Lighting industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Get Sample copy of this Report @This report studies Airport Lighting focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringADB Airfield Solutions (Safegate)HoneywellHellaEatonOSRAMPhilips Lighting HoldingCreeOCEM Airfield TechnologyAstronicsYouyangAirsafe Airport EquipmentCarmanah TechnologiesVosla (NARVA)Abacus LightingATG AirportsMarket segment by regions, this report splits global into several key regions, with production, revenue, market share and growth rate of Airport Lighting in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEMEAChinaRest of AsiaROWSplit by product types, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoApproach LightsRunway LightsTaxiway and Apron LightsStop BarsOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on industry, market share and growth rate of Airport Lighting in each application, can be divided intoCivilian and Commercial AirportMilitary AirportView Sample PDF @In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the Airport Lighting industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Airport Lighting Market Overview11.1 Product Overview and Scope of Airport Lighting11.2 Airport Lighting Segment by Types21.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Airport Lighting by Types in 201621.2.2 Approach Lights31.2.3 Runway Lights41.2.4 Taxiway and Apron Lights51.2.5 Stop Bars61.3 Airport Lighting Segment by Applications71.3.1 Airport Lighting Consumption Market Share by Applications in 201671.3.2 Civilian and Commercial Airport81.3.3 Military Airport91.4 Global Airport Lighting Market by Regions (2012-2022F)101.4.1 North America Airport Lighting Status and Prospect (2012-2022F)101.4.2 EMEA Airport Lighting Status and Prospect (2012-2022F)111.4.3 China Airport Lighting Status and Prospect (2012-2022F)121.4.4 Rest of Asia Airport Lighting Status and Prospect (2012-2022F)131.5 Global Airport Lighting Market Size (2012-2022F)141.5.1 Global Airport Lighting Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022F)141.5.2 Global Airport Lighting Production (K Units) Status and Outlook (2012-2022F)152 Global Airport Lighting Market Competition by Manufacturers162.1 Global Airport Lighting Production and Share by Manufacturers (2016-2017E)162.2 Global Airport Lighting Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2016-2017E)182.3 Global Airport Lighting Average Price by Manufacturers (2016-2017E)212.4 Manufacturers Airport Lighting Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types232.5 Airport Lighting Market Competitive Situation and Trends252.5.1 Airport Lighting Market Concentration Rate252.5.2 Airport Lighting Market Share (%) of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers262.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion273 Global Airport Lighting Production by Regions (2012-2017E)293.1 Global Airport Lighting Production (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017E)293.2 Global Airport Lighting Revenue and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017E)313.3 Global Airport Lighting Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017E)333.4 North America Airport Lighting Production (2012-2017E)343.4.1 North America Airport Lighting Production (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017E)343.4.2 North America Airport Lighting Production (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017E)353.5 EMEA Airport Lighting Production (2012-2017E)353.5.1 EMEA Airport Lighting Production (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017E)353.5.2 EMEA Airport Lighting Production (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017E)363.6 China Airport Lighting Production (2012-2017E)363.6.1 China Airport Lighting Production (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017E)363.6.2 China Airport Lighting Production (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017E)373.7 Rest of Asia Airport Lighting Production (2012-2017E)383.7.1 Rest of Asia Airport Lighting Production (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017E)383.7.2 Rest of Asia Airport Lighting Production (K Units), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/Unit) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017E)38Send An Enquiry Request @4 Global Airport Lighting Consumption (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017E)404.1 Global Airport Lighting Consumption (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017E)404.2 North America Airport Lighting Consumption (2012-2017E)424.3 EMEA Airport Lighting Consumption (2012-2017E)434.4 China Airport Lighting Consumption (2012-2017E)444.5 Rest of Asia Airport Lighting Consumption (2012-2017E)45About 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 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Research Report 2017 www.qyresearchglobal.com http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ http:///www.qyresearcheurope.com/ http://www.qyresearchjapan.com/ Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Trend and Forecast to 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment market by product type and applications/end industries.With 130 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.Ask a sample or any question, please email to:hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comSummaryIn this report, the global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment 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 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingLinde Group AGAir LiquideFlowserve CorporationVRV S.p.A.Chart IndustriesWessington CryogenicsTaylor Wharton CryogenicsParker HannifinINOX India LimitedHerose GmbHGraham PartnersBeijing Tianhai IndustryCryofab, Inc.EmersonCryoquip LLC.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBy ProductTanksValvesVaporizersPumpsOther EquipmentBy CryogenNitrogenOxygenArgonLNGOn 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 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment for each application, includingEnergy & PowerChemicalMetallurgyElectronicsShippingOther IndustriesIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Contents1 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Overview2 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Company 17.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Chr. Hansen Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Company 27.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Roha Dyechem Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixRelated Reports:US Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017Europe Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017India Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017China Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017Korea Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017Japan Nitrogen Cryogenic Equipment Market Report 2017If you need a report or have any question, please feel free to contact meHebe | Sr. Manager Global SalesProfessional Market Research Report PublisherQYResearch Co.LtdQYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchPhone: +86-20-22093278Email: hebe@qyresearchglobal.com or hebe@qyresearch.comWeb:About QYResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, database and seminar services. the company owned a large basic database (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. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.Media ContactCompany Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITEDContact Person: HebeEmail: hebe@qyresearchglobal.comPhone: +86-20-22093278Address: Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe DistrictCity: GuangzhouCountry: ChinaWebsite:(US) |(EU) |(JP) 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: Majedie Asset Management Limited (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree AMEC FOSTER WHEELER 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 30 August 2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" No 2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security. (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any) Class of relevant security: ORD 50P Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 8,419,120 2.16 (2) Cash-settled derivatives: (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 8,419,120 2.16 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 ORD 50P Sale 1,225 413.5264 (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) ORD 50P In Specie 61,079 In n/a ORD 50P In Specie 81,514 Out n/a 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: 31 August 2017 Contact name: Matthew Hambly Telephone number: 0207 618 3900 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. Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market 2017: GE Healthcare, Philips, BioTelemetry, Suzuken, Fukuda Denshi, Welch Allyn https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1166602 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1166602/global-diagnostic-electrocardiograph-ecg-research-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1166602 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Research Report 2017 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) MarketIn this report, the global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) 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 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet Sample copy of this Report @Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingGE HealthcarePhilipsBioTelemetrySuzukenFukuda DenshiWelch AllynMortara InstrumentNIHON KOHDENSpacelabs HealthcareMindray MedicalSchiller AGInnomedEDANOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoResting ECGStress ECGHolter ECGOn 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 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) for each application, includingHospitalsClinicsView Sample PDF @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of ContentsGlobal Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Research Report 20171 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG)1.2 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Resting ECG1.2.4 Stress ECG1.2.5 Holter ECG1.3 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Segment by Application1.3.1 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospitals1.3.3 Clinics1.4 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) 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 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionSend An Enquiry Request @3 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Diagnostic Electrocardiograph (ECG) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)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 PVDC Food Packaging Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3241 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3241 www.futuremarketinsights.com Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC) is a vinyl polymer which is a preferred raw material for food packaging. The use of PVDC material in food packaging improves the appearance of the packaging through its gloss, transparency, print-adhesion, and scratch resistance. PVDC is applied as water-based coatings to plastic films such as BOPP and polyester. PVDC plays an important role in blister packaging as coating or lamination on PVC. The gas and moisture permeability of PVC blister packaging is reduced to certain extent with the use of PVDC. Moreover, it provides an excellent barrier to both water vapor and oxygen.PVDC Food Packaging Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global PVDC food packaging market is expected to register decent growth during the forecast period driven by the middle class of developing countries. Demand for packaged food is rising in emerging regions due to the rapid urbanization and growing disposable income. Growth in such regions in expected to impact the food packaging industry positively. Specialty material such as PVDC is gaining importance in the food packaging market. The increasing demand for packaged food and beverages together with growing use of packaging material in various food service outlets and expanding working population has given impetus to PVDC food packaging market. The feasible properties of PVDC make is one of the most favored raw material for food packaging. The PVDC material meets the requirements of the governing authorities of North America and European region as it has lower environmental impacts. This factor acts as a driver for the global PVDC food packaging market. The PVDC film is environment-friendly which makes it suitable for the use of food packaging. The PVDC increasing demand of PVDC films in the packaging of processed meat, cheese, bread, snacks and the instant food is anticipated to grow the market during the forecast period. The market for PVDC food packaging can be segmented on the basis of application as dairy products, fruits and vegetables, pet food, baby food, confectionary, Meat, Poultry & Seafood, and others. The meat, poultry and seafood segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period.Request Report Sample@PVDC Food Packaging Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Application,Dairy ProductsFruit & VegetablesPet FoodBaby FoodConfectioneryMeat, Poultry & SeafoodOthers (Snacks, Oils, etc.)PVDC Food Packaging Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global PVDC Food Packaging Market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). The North America region is the leading market in the global PVDC Food Packaging market. The APEJ region shows a huge potential to grow in PVDC food packaging market. The increasing disposable income of the middle-class population in countries like India and China is expected to drive the PVDC food packaging market over the forecast period. The Western Europe region is expected to emerge as another attractive market for PVDC Food Packaging.Visit For TOC@PVDC Food Packaging Market: Key PlayersInnovia FilmsBilcare SolutionsPerlen PackagingCryovacKrehalon Food PackagingFILCONCaprihans India Ltd.Marubeni Europe plcMSP CorporationSKC Inc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Utility Tractor Market Research Report : 2017-2022 utility tractor market, compact utility tractor market share, utility tractor market account, utility tractor market data, utility https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/1072696-global-utility-tractor-market-by-product-trends-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/1072696-global-utility-tractor-market-by-product-trends-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/check-discount/1072696-global-utility-tractor-market-by-product-trends-2017-2022 Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Utility Tractor Market - By Product Type, Application and Geography-Market Shares, Forecasts And Trends (2017 - 2022)"Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @The global utility tractor market was XX million US$ in 2014 and expected to reach XX million US$ by 2020 growing at a CAGR of XX% during the forecasted period 2015-2020. Utility tractor is a compact and smaller version of agriculture tractor which are used for various agriculture operations and other non-agriculture purpose also. It has high potential, multiple purpose usage, and low price, more user friendly and requires limited space.Utility tractors are perfect designed for wide applications such as landscaping, grounds keeping, and for agriculture operations. The innovative technological construction, type of drive has made it much efficient use for agriculture purpose, for pulling and powering implements such as hay mowers, balers, disc hallows. The main end user for the market are agriculture farmers, Dairy farmers, and landscape contractors.The major driver for the market are increase in demand of agriculture products as a result of growing population, government subsidies for agro machinery to farmers, growth in adoption in developing countries and enhancement in technology. The efficient and potential use with low space requirement making it attractive to the farmers is driving the market.However the high cost of tractors and low purchasing power of farmers creates unwillingness for farmers to invest in the purchasing equipmentas. The high power and energy requirement for tractors to complete the agriculture operations are also affecting the market. Growing urbanization has resulted in decrease of farmland which is also major factor affecting its market growth.Market segmentation of utility tractors are categorised by the application type, by drive type and by geography. In the application type market is further segmented into three types as dairy field operations, hay & agriculture products operations and landscaping. Utility tractors have major applications in hay and agriculture products.The market segment by drive type includes pedestrian type and wheeled type. Wheeled type market is sub segmented into two, three and four wheel type. Wheel type utility tractor has a major market than the track type. Two wheeled tractors are extremely common in the agriculture operations worldwide and has the highest market share among others.Request For Sample Report @The market segmentation according to geography is divided into the North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Global. The extensive use of farming in North America, South America and Europe requires high power tractors and the utility tractor has a major market in these regions.The new technological advancement which is continuously working on providing modified feature tractors is paving a good opportunity for the market. However high cost and power requirement is still a big challenge for the growing market. Major companies operating in the segment are Deere and Company, CNH Global NV, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., AGCO tractor, Farmtrac Tractor Europe, Massey Ferguson, and Escorts etc. The major player focuses on new product innovation with low power consumption and les space requirement for best usage of agrimachinery by users. Also majority of companies involved are multinational with strategy to invest in countries with low labour cost to attain competitive advantage.Key DeliverablesMarket analysis for the Global Utility tractor Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on Global and regional scales.Market 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 Utility tractor 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) Baking Ingredients Market Is Predicted To Reach $19.4 Billion By 2025: Grand View Research, Inc. http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/baking-ingredients-market?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=openpr_Aug&utm_content=content http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blog/baking-ingredients-market-size-share www.grandviewresearch.com The global baking ingredients market is expected to reach USD 19.4 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to witness a CAGR of 5.8% over the forecast period, owing to Increasing consumer preferences for wide variety of tastes is expected to be the key factor driving the growth of baking ingredients market. In addition, rise in food-away from home expenditures is also propelling market growth.Baking ingredients are widely used in various end-use segments such as bread, cookies, biscuits, cakes, pastries, rolls, pies, tarts and cupcakes. The baking ingredients market is mainly driven by the demand from the bread end-use segment, as it is the staple food in developed countries and affordable to many price sensitive consumers in emerging economies. In countries like China and India, bread is replacing many traditional breakfast and snack items.Increase in away from home food expenditures is leading to the increase in the number of retail outlets, in-store bakeries, convenience stores, artisan bakeries, and coffee shops providing various baked good with innovative flavors. In addition, increasing urbanization and improving economic conditions in transition economies is also having a cumulative effect on the overall market.In terms of revenue, enzymes and emulsifiers were estimated as the fastest growing ingredients. These segments are expected to register double digit growth rate in China. Enzymes and emulsifiers have several positive influences in the baking process such as improving the dough stability, extending shelf life, influencing fermentation activity and reduces production cost. Enzymes, emulsifiers, leavening agents, oils, fats and shortenings help in expanding the penetration of packaged food market.Browse full research report on Global Baking Ingredients Market: (Further key findings from the report suggest: Enzymes as baking ingredient is expected to witness the highest growth in terms of value at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2017 to 2025. Enzymes have a prominent role in increasing the shelf-life and providing anti-staling properties in the baked product. Furthermore, technological advancements in developing new enzymes is expected to augment the growth over the forecast period. Bread segment emerged as the largest end-use in terms of value in 2016 and is estimated to reach USD 8,541.6 million by 2025. Bread is a staple food in many of the countries in Europe, North America and Central & South America and has varied application in food processing industry. The industry in Asia Pacific is expected to witness significant growth over the next eight years owing to rising working population and customers inclination adapting western food life style. In terms of revenue, the Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2017 to 2025 Key players include Flowers Foods Inc, Hostess Brands LLC, Mckee Foods Corporation, George Weston Ltd., Grupo Bimbo. S.A.B. de C.V., Uniferm GmbH & Co., Koninklijke DSM N.V, General Mills Inc, Associated British Foods PlcRead our blogs by Grand View Research: (Grand View Research has segmented the global baking ingredients market on the basis of end-use, product type and region:Baking Ingredients End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Bread Cookies & Biscuits Cakes & Pastries Rolls & Pies OtherBaking Ingredients Product Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Emulsifiers Leavening Agents Enzymes Baking Powder & Mixes Oils, Fats, and Shortenings Colors & Flavors Starch OthersBaking Ingredients Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North Americao U.S. Europeo Germanyo UKo France Asia Pacifico Chinao Indiao Japan Central & South Americao Brazil Middle East & AfricaFor more information:About Grand View ResearchGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Press ContactSherry James - Corporate Relations Specialist201 Spear St #1100, Suite #3036San Francisco, CA 94105United StatesPhone: 1-415-349-0058Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Analysis of Healthcare API Market in Global Industry : Market Development and Overview 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=808485 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=808485 http://www.researchmoz.us/healthcare-api-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 31, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Healthcare API Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.The healthcare API market report provides an in-depth analysis of the global healthcare API market for the period 2014 2024, wherein 2015 is the base year and the years from 2016 to 2024 is the forecast period. Data for 2014 has been included as historical information. The report covers all the prevalent trends playing a major role in the growth of the healthcare API market over the forecast period.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @It also highlights various drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence the markets growth during the forecast period. The study provides a holistic perspective on market growth in terms of revenue estimates (in US$ Mn), across different geographies, which include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America (LATAM). The report provides cross-sectional analysis of the global healthcare API market in terms of market estimates and projections for all the segments across different geographic regions. The report also covers profiling of major players, their growth strategies, their market positioning, and their various recent developments, and includes market positioning analysis of key players operating in the healthcare API market.This research study on the global healthcare API market provides a detailed analysis of various type healthcare services available in the market integrated with API. Based on the services, the market is further divided into the electronic health record access, appointments, remote patient monitoring, payment, and medical device (wearable) segments. On the basis of deployment model, the market is segmented into on-premise and cloud-based models and based on end-users it is segmented into the healthcare provider, healthcare payer, patients, and vendors segments. The report includes a comprehensive coverage of the underlying economic and technological factors under the key trend analysis section.The report aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global Healthcare API market across geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America. The regions are further segmented to cover in-depth country level analysis. North America region is segmented into the U.S. and Canada. Similarly, Europe has been further segmented into the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific has been segmented into China, India, Australia, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific; MEA is divided into the UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Rest of MEA. Latin America has been further categorized into Brazil and Rest of Latin America. The revenue estimates for these countries is also included in the report.The report also highlights the competitive landscape of the healthcare API market, positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence, historical roadmap, key recent developments, and comparison of their revenues for 2014 and 2015.Under the company profiles section, the report provides an overview of the players operating in the market, the strategies deployed by them to gain competitive advantage, the annual revenue generated by them in the past two or three years, and their recent developments. The key players profiled in this report include Apple, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Greenway Health, LLC, MuleSoft, Inc., General Electric Company, Practice Fusion, Inc., Epic Systems Corporation, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., eClinicalWorks LLC, and Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd.Make an Enquiry about TOC @The global healthcare API market has been segmented as follows:Healthcare API Market, by ServicesElectronic Health Record AccessAppointmentsRemote Patient MonitoringPaymentMedical Device (Wearable)Healthcare API Market, by Deployment ModelOn-premiseCloud-basedHealthcare API Market, by End-UsersHealthcare PayersHealthcare ProvidersPatientsVendorsHealthcare API Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceSpainItalyRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaBrowse Report @Rest of APACMiddle East & Africa (MEA)United Arab Emirates (the UAE)Saudi ArabiaSouth AfricaRest of MEALatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaResearchMoz 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 : Demand of Hearing Aids Market in Global Industry : Market Development, Analysis and Overview 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=808480 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=808480 http://www.researchmoz.us/hearing-aids-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 31, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Hearing Aids Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.This research study analyzes the hearing aids market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The hearing aids market report comprises an elaborate executive summary, which includes a market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. The report also includes key market dynamics, such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities, affecting the demand for hearing aids products globally. Comparative analysis has also been included in the executive summary that resembles the percentage market share of each regions in 2015 and 2024, respectively.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @This report provides in-depth analysis of the hearing aids market. The stakeholders for this report include companies involved in the manufacturing of hearing aids. For providing a snapshot of this market to the stakeholders, executive summary section is included in this report, which summarizes the market size, trends, and competition in different regions.The market overview section of this report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influence the hearing aids market in the current and future scenario. Market share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify percentage share of the major players operating in the hearing aids 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 product type, the hearing aids market has been segmented into behind the ear, receiver in the ear, in the ear, and canal hearing aids. Based on end-user, the market has been categorized into pediatric and adult.Geographically, the hearing aids market has been differentiated into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World. Moreover, analysis for the major countries such as the U.S. Canada, Germany, the U.K., France, Japan, China, and Brazil have also been provided in the report. A detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining the hearing aids market in various regions has been provided in this section.The report provides market estimation of the hearing aids market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) for all the segments and sub-segments, with CAGR % for the period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year. Furthermore, the report incorporates market attractiveness analysis, by geography, that depicts the most attractive and significant region in the global market in 2015.Make an Enquiry about TOC @The report concludes with the company profile section, which includes company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments for market players. Major players profiled in the report include Cochlear Limited, GN ReSound Group, GN Otometrics A/S, Siemens Healthcare, Sonova Holding AG, and Starkey.The global hearing aids market has been segmented as follows:Global Hearing Aids Market, by ProductHearing AidsBehind the Ear (BTE)Receiver in the Ear (RITE)In the Ear (ITE)Canal Hearing Aids (ITC),(CIC), & (IIC)Bone Anchored Hearing Aids (BAHA)Global Hearing Aids Market, by End-userPediatricAdultGlobal Hearing Aids Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.GermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificBrowse Report @ChinaJapanRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaRest of the WorldSouth AfricaRussiaRest of Rest of the WorldResearchMoz 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 : Insulated Packaging Market Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 5% By 2022 Insulated Packaging Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2549 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/insulated-packaging-market-2549 Market Highlights:An insulated material is the combination of materials which reduces or prevent the transmission of heat and this materials have low thermal conductivity. Various end-user such as food & beverages, pharmaceutical, chemicals, cosmetics depend heavily on insulated packaging so as to protect the product from volatility in temperature, fire or explosion. Their products need proper packaging because they are subjected to extreme weather conditions, and pressure while transportation. The major drivers of growth of the insulated packaging market are rapid growth in e-commerce trend in emerging nations, rapid growth in urbanization, and increase in per capita income. Other factors responsible for the growth of this market are the rising customer spending, growing concern for the safety of products, growth in pharmaceutical industry, and high disposable income.Asia-pacific region is expected to dominate the insulated packaging market due to the growing end-user application. Due to increase in industrial network, Asia-Pacific region has emerged has the fastest growing region in this market. In Asia-Pacific, China is the largest region contributing to this market. Europe is the second largest region dominating the insulated packaging market due to rapid growth in packaged food industry and growing concern towards the safety of products.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Insulated Packaging Market: Deutsche Post DHL (Germany) E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co. (U.S.) Huhtamaki OYJ (Finland) Sonoco Products Company (U.S.) Exeltainer (Spain) American Aerogel Corporation (U.S.) Thermal Packaging Solution (Australia) TemperPack (U.S.) Insulated Products Corp (U.S) Davis Core & Pad Co. (U.S.)Market Research Analysis:The market is highly based on applications. Food and beverages segment is dominating the insulated packaging market due to growing middle-class population and the growing workforce. Also the use of insulated packaging is higher in food and beverage industry which boosts this market.The major drivers that have led to the growth of this market are the growing concern for the safety of products, growth in the packaging industry, high disposable income and increase in per capita income.There are various restraints that hinder the growth of insulated packaging market such as fluctuation in the raw material prices and high competitive environment due to the presence of small and big packaging firms.Scope of the Report:This study provides an overview of the global insulated packaging market, tracking three market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global insulated packaging market by material, by packaging type, by application and by region.By Material Plastic Wood Corrugated Cardboards OthersBy Packaging Type Box & containers Bags Wraps OthersBy Application Food & Beverages Industrial Pharmaceutical Cosmetic OthersBy Region North America Europe Asia-Pacific ROWBrief TOC:1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology2.1 Scope of the Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market size Estimation2.4 Forecast Model3 Market Dynamics3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Supply/Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis4 Global Insulated Packaging Market, By Material4.1 Plastic4.2 Wood4.3 Corrugated Cardboards4.3 Others5 Global Insulated Packaging Market, By Packaging Type5.1 Introduction5.2 Box & Containers5.3 Bags5.4 Wraps5.5 OthersContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Industry Report: Sales Volume Market Share by Type and Application Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Sales Market Report 2017 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/global-computerized-physician-order-entry-systems-sales-market-report-2017 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/buy-now/623673 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/ask-your-query/623673 Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market Research Report 2017 contains historic data that spans 2012 to 2016, and then continues to forecast to 2022. That makes this report so invaluable, resources, for the leaders as well as the new entrants in the Industry.Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market report is replete with detailed analysis from a thorough research, especially on questions that border on market size, development environment, futuristic developments, operation situation, pathways and trend of Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems. All these are offshoots of understanding the current situation that the industry is in, especially in 2017. The will chart the course for a more comprehensive organization and discernment of the competition situation in the Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems market. As this will help manufacturers and investors alike, to have a better understanding of the direction in which the Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market is headed. Access complete report at:With this Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market report, one is sure to keep up with information on the dogged competition for market share and control, between elite manufacturers. It also features, price, production, and revenue. It is where you will understand the politics and tussle of gaining control of a huge chunk of the market share. As long as you are in search of key Industry data and information that can readily be accessed, you can rest assured that this report got them covered. Key companies profiled in this report are Mckesson Corporation, Allscripts, Ge Healthcare, Cerner Corporation, Siemens Healthcare, Epic Systems Corporation, Athenahealth, Carestream Health, Nextgen Healthcare Information Systems, Meditech and others. Purchase a copy of this report at:When taking a good look at this report, based on the product, it is evident that the report shows the rate of production, price, revenue, and market share as well as of the growth of each product type. And emphasis is laid on the end users, as well as on the applications of the product. It is one report that hasn't shied away from taking a critical look at the current status and future outlook for the consumption/sales of these products, by the end users and applications. Not forgetting the market share control and growth rate of Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Industry, per application. All the queries about this report can be asked at:List of Chapters:1 Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market Overview2 Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3 United States Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Southeast Asia Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 India Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data10 Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Manufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixThe Market ReportsWe at, The Market Reports aiming to provide the best industry and market reports to a seeker. We are looking forward to a place where we are the one stop destination for all the report seekers irrespective of any country, category, domain, etc.The Market ReportsSF-29, North Block,Sacred World, Wanawadi,Pune, 411040 (India)Phone: +1-631-407-1315, +91-750-729-1479 United States Electromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017 - Industry Analysis, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast from 2012-2022 https://goo.gl/mzAXrj https://goo.gl/GUd24D http://qyresearch.us/ http://xbox360asylum.ca/ http://askthereporter24.com/ The United States Electromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017 research report mainly focuses on the current scenario of Electromagnetic Field Meter market along with the future plan of actions. It also examines the state of the Electromagnetic Field Meter market along with competing landscapes all over the United States. The Electromagnetic Field Meter report characterizes industry judgment from experts. 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The report includes following key players in the Electromagnetic Field Meter industry from different parts of the United States.To Get Sample Report Click Here:United States Electromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017: Competitive Regions and Key Vendors1 Extech Instruments(US)2 Reed Instruments(US)3 Alphalab Inc(US)4 PCE Instruments(Germany)5 Kusam Electrical Industries(India)6 Tenmars Electronics Co.,Ltd.(TW)7 All-Sun(China)8 Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co.,Ltd.(TW)9 Kiimeter(US)10 Technology Alternatives Corporation(US)11 ABB Measurement & Analytic(Switzerland)12 Reed-Direct(US)13 Omega Engineering, Inc.(US)14 RS Components(UK)Electromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017: Type Segment AnalysisSingle Axis Electromagnetic MeterTriple Axis Electromagnetic TesterRF EMF Strength Meter8GHz RF Electromagnetic Field Strength MeterMicrowave Leakage DetectorMulti-Field EMF MeterElectromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017: Application Segment AnalysisHouseholdIndustrialPowerlinesAppliancesLightingWiringAutomobilesPower ToolsMotorsOthersThe United States Electromagnetic Field Meter report is categorized on the basis of Electromagnetic Field Meter top manufacturers, region-wise classification, various end user applications and different product types included in Electromagnetic Field Meter industry. The Electromagnetic Field Meter research report gives the information about different market segments, cost, different categories of the product along with Electromagnetic Field Meter market revenue.It also gives vital contact information about the company along with company profile, rules and regulations of Electromagnetic Field Meter industry in the United States. It also examines the Electromagnetic Field Meter industry report by dividing it according to the basic overview of Electromagnetic Field Meter market.The middle part of the report focuses on various types of product classified according to the Electromagnetic Field Meter market share and market applications in Electromagnetic Field Meter industry. It also lights up the core part of the Electromagnetic Field Meter industry such as import/export details, usage figures and industry chain supply of Electromagnetic Field Meter market.Purchase Complete Report Here (To Get Instant Access):Later, the United States Electromagnetic Field Meter Market 2017 report displays the tactful decisions that the customers should take. It gives you various business approaches required for Electromagnetic Field Meter industry, the customer's experiences and benefits they got after using the Electromagnetic Field Meter research report.It includes the list of dealers, distributors, and traders involved in Electromagnetic Field Meter industry. Lastly, it gives the brief summary of the entire Electromagnetic Field Meter report including the results, conclusion, the attached appendix and the source of data.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc.We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.Read More-News Network:-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- Global Rice Syrup Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Rice Syrup Market http://bit.ly/2es6f0S http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-rice-syrup-market-2017-production-sales-supply.html Global Rice Syrup Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Rice Syrup Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Rice Syrup in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Rice Syrup. The research report provides a detailed study of the Rice Syrup market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Get Free Sample Copy Of Report @Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:Wuhu Deli Foods, Axiom Foods, Wuhu Haoyikuai Food, California Natural products (CNP), Cargill, ADM, ABF Ingredients, ...Reports Describes Product Type Devided by :Brown Rice, White Rice, Certified Organic RiceReport Focuses on the Status and Outlook for Major Applications/End Users Includes:Confectionery, Processed Foods, Dairy Products, Ice-creamsThe research report provides the Rice Syrup markets classification in detail. The Rice Syrup market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Rice Syrup market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Rice Syrup report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Rice Syrup 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Rice Syrup industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com English Swedish In accordance with Momentum Group AB's Articles of Association, owners of Class A shares are entitled to request that their shares be converted to Class B shares. As a result of such conversion to Class B shares, the total number of voting rights in the Company is reduced. In connection with a conversion, the Company is obligated, pursuant to the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act (1991:980), to disclose details of the change in this manner. At the request of shareholders, Momentum Group AB has converted 1,344 Class A shares to the corresponding number of Class B shares during August 2017. After the conversion, the number of Class B shares amounts to 1,062,436 and the number of Class B shares to 27,202,980. The number of shares and votes in Momentum Group AB is shown in the following table: Number of Class A shares Number of Class B shares Total number of shares Total number of votes Before conversion 1,063,780 27,201,636 28,265,416 37,839,436 After conversion 1,062,436 27,202,980 28,265,416 37,827,340 Stockholm, 31 August 2017 Momentum Group AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Mats Karlqvist, Head of Investor Relations - Tel: +46 70 660 31 32 This information is such that Momentum Group AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 15:00 p.m. CET on 31 August 2017. Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/541e88da-cead-439c-9d89-48381e37651e Telecommunication Services Market Strengths and Weaknesses And What Opportunities and Threats Does It Face? http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/398908 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/india-telecommunication-services-highly-competitive-market-with-huge-potential-for-growth-strategy-performance-and-risk-analysis http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/398908 Orbisreserach.Com adds India-Telecommunication Services: Highly competitive market with huge potential for growth (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) To Its Research DatabaseDescription:India is a large market with existing mobile user penetration (as % of population) increasing from 40% in 2012 to 49% in 2016. It is expected to grow to 69% by 2021. Mobile subscription increased at 5.3% CAGR during 2012-2016, from 864 million to 1,601 million, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.1% over 2016-2021 to 1,427 million in 2021.Request a sample of this report @MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.Key HighlightsStrong growth projected for Indian mobile subscriptionsIndia is expected to have 1,427.3 million mobile subscriptions by 2021. Mobile subscriptions are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% over 2016-21 with subscription penetration (as % of population) increasing from 80% in 2016 to an expected 102% by 2021. Simultaneously, mobile user density (users as a % of population), which is currently at 49% in 2016, is expected to increase to 69% of the total population by 2021.Government initiatives set to accelerate Indias telecommunication industryFunding for infrastructure is expected to grow with the establishment of the Telecom Finance Corporation by March 2017. The governments smart city and National Fiber Optic Network (NOFN) projects will also support the industry to attract investments. A digital payments ecosystem is fast developing in India. FinTech is emerging as the key sector for growth of digital transactions. Furthermore, Digital India, a program initiated by the Indian Government, is expected to expedite transforming India into a digital economy. Internet of Things (IoT) applications would also add to the momentum.Massive potential for Indias telecommunication marketThe Indian telecom market has a huge potential to drive volumes and growth, especially across mobile and fixed services. Mobile subscriptions increased at 5.3% CAGR from 864.7 million in 2012 to 1,061.0 million in 2016 and are expected to grow at 6.1% CAGR to 1,427.3 million by 2021. In a price sensitive market, intense competition has resulted in low-tariff offerings and data bundles with free voice minutes, which fuels subscription growth. In addition, mobile subscription density was around 86.3% in September 2016, out of which the urban area had a density of 156.2% compared with the rural area at 51.2%. This indicates the potential size of the telecom market in India, especially the rural area which constitutes nearly 69% of the total population.Browse the complete report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Indian Telecommunications market in comparison with other Asia-Pacific countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Indian Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Indian Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Indian telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Indian Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What are the Indian Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- What government initiatives are in place to boost the telecommunications market in India?- What segment is dominating the telecommunication market in India, and why?- What opportunities do new entrants have in Indias telecommunication market?Buy a report @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 Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com Overview of Coal Tar Pitch Market In Global Industry : Market Development, Analysis and Demand 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=776013 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=776013 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-coal-tar-pitch-market-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2021-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 31, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Global Coal Tar Pitch Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016-2021" globally.This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Coal Tar Pitch from 2011-2016, and provides extensive market forecasts (2016-2021) by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Coal Tar Pitch market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Coal Tar Pitch, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Coal tar pitch is a complex mixture of the residue from the distillation of high temperature coal tar with an approximate softening point of 90 to 180 degree C. Composed primarily of a complex mixture of three or more condensed ring aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal-tar pitch is a thick black liquid that remains after the distillation of coal tar. It is used as a base for coatings and paint, in roofing and paving, and as a binder in asphalt products. Both coal tar and coal-tar pitch contain many chemical compounds, including carcinogens such as benzene.GCC's report, Global Coal Tar Pitch Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016-2021, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Coal Tar Pitch market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. The major players in the global Coal Tar Pitch market areMitsubishi, Shanxi Coking Group, Shandong Jiaohua, Risun, Kailuan Energy, China Coal Energy, Shandong OCI, Yunnan Yunwei Group.The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Coal Tar Pitch industry has been provided.Make an Enquiry about TOC @Table Of ContentsPart 1. Scope of Report1.1 Research Methodology1.2 Geographic Scope1.3 Years ConsideredPart 2. Introduction2.1 Key Findings2.2 Value Chain Analysis2.2.2 Upstream2.2.3 DownstreamPart 3. Manufacture3.1 Manufacturing Process3.2 Issues and TrendsPart 4. Cost Structure4.1 Bill of Materials4.2 Labor Cost4.3 Depreciation Cost4.4 Manufacturing CostPart 5. Worldwide Key Vendors5.1 Profile5.2 Financial Performance5.3 Market Share TrendsPart 6. Market Status6.1 Market Size 20156.2 Market Volume 20156.3 Competitive LandscapeBrowse Report @Part 7. Market Overview7.1 Global Production Volume 2011-20167.2 Production Volume by Region7.2.1 China7.2.2 North America7.2.3 Europe7.2.4 Asia-Pacific7.2.5 Middle East & Africa7.3 Global Production Value 2011-20167.4 Production Value by Region7.4.1 China7.4.2 North America7.4.3 Europe7.4.4 Asia-Pacific7.4.5 Middle East & AfricaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Total Reflection X-Ray Market 2017-2022 Bruker, EAG Inc, Rigaku Corporation Total Reflection X-Ray http://bit.ly/2vMcPls http://bit.ly/2vuLetD Total Reflection X-Ray Market 2017-2022 Bruker, EAG Inc, Rigaku CorporationRecently published a detailed market study on the "Total Reflection X-Ray Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report on the global Total Reflection X-Ray market uses the top-down and bottom-up approaches to define, analyze, and describe the Total Reflection X-Ray market trends for the next five years. The Total Reflection X-Ray market report further provides production, capacity, Total Reflection X-Ray market price per region, gross margin, Total Reflection X-Ray production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in Total Reflection X-Ray report.Total Reflection X-Ray market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Total Reflection X-Ray report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Total Reflection X-Ray Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).Get Sample Copy Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Total Reflection X-Ray Market 2017:1. Bruker2. EAG Inc3. Rigaku Corporation4. SPECTRO Analytical Instruments GmbH5. Analytical X-Ray Systems6. APC GmbH7. Bourevestnik8. FAST ComTec9. Horiba10. Innov-X Systems11. CCS ServicesThe Total Reflection X-Ray 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 Total Reflection X-Ray market share. Diverse factors of the Total Reflection X-Ray industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Total Reflection X-Ray Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Total Reflection X-Ray Market:I. A Clear understanding of the Total Reflection X-Ray market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.II. Concise Total Reflection X-Ray Market study based on major geographical regions.III. Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Total Reflection X-Ray market segments.Find More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Total Reflection X-Ray market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Total Reflection X-Ray market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Total Reflection X-Ray market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Total Reflection X-Ray 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 Total Reflection X-Ray industry competitors.About UsMarketsResearch.Biz is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAAbout UsMarketsResearch.Biz is a leading market intelligence team which making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Global Aqua Feed Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Aqua Feed Market http://bit.ly/2eH8z14 http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-aqua-feed-market-2017-production-sales-supply.html Global Aqua Feed Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Aqua Feed Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Aqua Feed in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Aqua Feed. The research report provides a detailed study of the Aqua Feed market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Get Free Sample Copy Of Report @Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:CP Group, Deepak Nexgen Feeds, Grobest, Tongwei Group, Cargill, New Hope Group, Avanti Feeds, Uni-President Vietnam, Proconco, Japfa Comfeed, Guangdong Haid Group, Nutreco, Laemthong, GreenFeed, Growel Feeds, Malindo Feedmill, Thai Luxe, BetagroReports Describes Product Type Devided by :Fish Feed, Shrimp Feed, Crab Feed, OtherReport Focuses on the Status and Outlook for Major Applications/End Users Includes:Fish, Shrimp, Crab, OtherThe research report provides the Aqua Feed markets classification in detail. The Aqua Feed market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Aqua Feed market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Aqua Feed report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Aqua Feed 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Aqua Feed industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Smart Factory Market Deep Research Study with Forecast by 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2444 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2444 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2444 Global Smart Factory Market: OverviewThe global smart factory sector has been propelled by the need for efficient and precise ways of operating a manufacturing unit. The increasing adoption of industrial robots in the global manufacturing sector was the first step for the smart factory market. Modern factories incorporate sophisticated industrial robotic systems, Internet of Things technology, and machine communication technology to enable smooth automated manufacturing. The rising government support to the smart factory sector, due to their increased output and the benefit of the same on the nations economy, is likely to enable sustained growth of the smart factory market in the coming years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Smart Factory Market: Key TrendsThe rising demand for industrial robots and the steady technological progression of the industrial robotics sector is one of the key drivers for the global smart factory market. Industrial robots offer significantly higher precision and a lower error rate than human workers. Large-scale use of industrial robots also raises the productivity of the manufacturing unit, providing a significant cost advantage. As a result, human factory workers across the world could find themselves without a livelihood following steady growth of the global smart factory market.The booming automotive industry is one of the prime consumers in the global smart factory market and is likely to remain influential in the smart factory sector in the coming years. Due to the rising need for extremely precise engineering in automotive design, smart factory solutions such as industrial robotics are becoming popular in the automotive industry. The steady growth of the automotive industry due to the rising disposable income of consumers across the world is thus one of the key drivers for the global smart factory market in the coming years. The rising automotive industry in Southeastern and Eastern Asia could play a particularly important role in the global smart factory market in the coming years.Request TOC of the Report @Global Smart Factory Market: Market PotentialSouth Korea is likely to be a leading regional market for smart factory technology in Asia Pacific due to rising government as well as corporate interest. The South Korean government had earlier set the target of having 10,000 smart factories operational in the country by 2020. In April 2017, the government extended its support to the smart factory market in the country by upping the target to 30,000 smart factories by 2025. South Koreas determination to remain a leading light in the industrial sector has made it a pioneer in terms of the adoption of digital and automation technologies, which is likely to benefit the smart factory market immensely in the coming years.Global Smart Factory Market: Geographical DynamicsDeveloping countries in Asia Pacific are likely to be the dominant leaders in the global smart factory market in the coming years. Apart from South Korea, the smart factory market has also received steady government support in China, Japan, Taiwan, and India. The rapid pace of urbanization in these dynamic economies is a prime factor aiding the smart factory markets growth in the region.Get a discount @Global Smart Factory Market: Competitive DynamicsThe global smart factory market is dominated by companies that have established mutually beneficial partnerships with technology companies. Fanuc-Cisco and Kuka-Huawei are among the leading lights in the global smart factory market. ABB-IBM, a relatively recent collaboration, could also play a key role in the development of the global smart factory market in the coming years. Other key players in the global smart factory market include Emerson Electric Co., General Electric Co., Atos SE, Schneider Electric SE, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens AG, and Yaskawa Electric.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global PVDC Market Key Players 2017- Keguan Polymer, Nantong SKT, Kureha, Solvay and Asahi Kasei Global PVDC Market https://goo.gl/6Ru8er https://goo.gl/S7CnqE https://market.biz/ http://journalismday.com/ The report titled Global PVDC Market divides the PVDC industry according to leading players, geographical regions, top manufacturers, types, and applications forecast over a period of 2017 to 2022. It highlights major aspects of PVDC industry such as market profit, top leading players, product specifications along with latest technology trends and details of upcoming industries.The report mainly wraps PVDC market in Europe, PVDC market in Latin America, North America PVDC market, Asia-Pacific PVDC market and the Middle East along with Africa. Simultaneously, the PVDC report performs SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) as a means to increase the revenue of PVDC market.Later part of the report advises key players, about the current supervisory atmosphere of the global PVDC market that will possess future advancement contingency. The report exhibit appreciation to all the PVDC technical experts and marketing specialists for conducting the PVDC survey. Further, global PVDC market study proposes a list of criterion procedures and approaches to calculating future market of PVDC industry. This criterion may act as PVDC resource supply and storage house for data investigation taking into account each aspect of PVDC market.Click here for sample report:The main objective of the report:The report inspires different facets of the PVDC market. Moreover, it performs the tenacious and exhaustive study in order to extract important visible features of global PVDC market. It collects and analyzes the PVDC historical and current data and projects future PVDC market trends. It describes the PVDC market scenario with regards to volume.The PVDC report also focuses on market contribution feasibility and captivation. It gives a brief introduction of PVDC business overview, revenue division, and PVDC product beneficence. The research findings mentioned in the PVDC report helps various collaborators to measure their accomplishment in PVDC industry and boost them to take proper decisions in near future.Segmentation of Global PVDC Market:This Global PVDC Market report determines the PVDC Industry by the following segments:Analysis of Global PVDC Market based on Key Players:DowKurehaSolvayAsahi KaseiJuhua GroupNantong SKTKeguan PolymerAnalysis of Global PVDC Market based on Types:Food Packaging and WrapPharmaceuticals PackagingUnit Packaging for Hygiene and Cosmetic ProductsSterilized Medical PackagingAnalysis of Global PVDC Market based on Applications:Food Packaging and WrapPharmaceuticals PackagingUnit Packaging for Hygiene and Cosmetic ProductsSterilized Medical PackagingClick here for purchasing the entire report:The first chapter of the report displays the product scope, PVDC overview, driving force, risks and opportunities of PVDC market. Second and third chapter mainly focuses on PVDC key regions, with respect to sales, PVDC market share, and revenue of PVDC industry covering major geographical areas. It also analyzes the top leading players with PVDC industry sales and revenue of PVDC market along with the price structure.PVDC industry forecast by types, applications, and regions is explained in the fourth chapter along with revenue and sales. It also displays the competitive scenario of PVDC market. The fifth and sixth chapter analyzes PVDC market by application and types, along with PVDC market share, growth rate, sales channel and industry application of PVDC market. The seventh chapter of the report throws a light on the PVDC research findings, data source, and appendix. Various dealers, traders, and distributors of PVDC market are mentioned at the end of the report.To sum up, with, the PVDC report provides comprehensive study covering all substantial features such as PVDC market volume, current and future PVDC market tendencies, grow revenue, supply chain analysis and cost of the PVDC product depending on the different geographical regions.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 Emergency Lighting Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Emergency Lighting Market http://bit.ly/2gqXcO8 http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-emergency-lighting-market-2017-production-sales-supply.html Global Emergency Lighting Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Emergency Lighting Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Emergency Lighting in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Emergency Lighting. The research report provides a detailed study of the Emergency Lighting market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Get Free Sample Copy Of Report @Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:Philips, Schneider, MPN, Hubbell, Lowe's, Acuity Brands, NVC, Ventilux, Eaton, Zhongshan AKT, Mule, LINERGY, ZFE, Elp, STAHL, Shenzhen Yuanheng, WISKA, LEDtronics, EmersonReports Describes Product Type Devided by :Self-contained Power Supply, Centralized Power SupplyReport Focuses on the Status and Outlook for Major Applications/End Users Includes:Construction, Industry, Commercial, OtherThe research report provides the Emergency Lighting markets classification in detail. The Emergency Lighting market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Emergency Lighting market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Emergency Lighting report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Emergency Lighting 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Emergency Lighting industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com High Concentration Photovoltaics Market : In-Depth Market Research Report 2016 to 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2373 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2373 www.futuremarketinsights.com The CPV (Concentrated Photovoltaics) technology is used to generate electricity by using lenses or curved mirrors to gather huge amount of sunlight on a small area with highly proficient Multi-Junction (MJ) solar cells. HCPV (High Concentration Photovoltaics - a type of CPV technology) systems occupies concentrating optics which includes Fresnel lenses or dish reflectors that concentrate sunlight to intensify it, equals to that of 1,000 suns or more. HCPV solar technology is the process through which maximum sun energy is converted into electricity, HCPV can reduce the expenses of the solar cells. Globally, high-concentration photovoltaics market is growing due to high efficiency and upsurge in yearly installed capacity (i.e. from 300 up to 1000 suns).The installations of HCPV systems is expected to grow by double-digit percentage every year. The high-concentration photovoltaics are mostly used in industrial, telecom or mobile towers, rural electrification and government or military sectors. Due to its ecofriendly nature, uninterrupted power supply, high efficiencies for direct-normal irradiance, simple & user friendly integration, rapid deployment solutions, and increased and stable energy production, the high-concentration photovoltaics market is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR during the forecast period.Request Report Sample@Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe drivers of the high-concentration photovoltaics market are minimum land space requirement, consistent improvements in its technology, awareness of renewable energy resources, and government assistance program with essential financing schemes. Also reduction in Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and improved efficiency with low system cost is another significant factor contributing in the surging global high-concentration photovoltaics market.However, some of the restraints hindering the growth of the global high-concentration photovoltaics market are expensive solar trackers required to get sunlight focused on the small photovoltaic area, non-utilization of diffuse radiation, perception and bankability issues, lack of technology standardization, lack of adoption of technology and limited places with high direct normal irradiation.Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: SegmentationGlobal high-concentration photovoltaics market can be segmented as follows:Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market, by Type of Power GenerationElectric powerElectric power and thermal powerGlobal High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market, by ApplicationsIndustrial, Residential and Commercial rooftopTelecom or Mobile towersRural electrificationWater pumping solutionsStreet lightingGovernment or Military (mobile off grid)MunicipalitiesHospitals, Hotels and RestaurantsGlobal High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, high-concentration photovoltaics market can be divided into seven regions, namely NorthAmerica, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is the prominent contributor in high-concentration photovoltaics market because of the technological advancements in United States for solar power energy utilization. Latin America is the next vital region in the high-concentration photovoltaics market due to some large projects are planned in the Mexico. Asia Pacific is following North America and Latin America for the high-concentration photovoltaics market on account of growing HCPV production in China, Taiwan and Japan. Europe is also witnessing a growing market of high-concentration photovoltaics market because of increase in HCPV installations and Energy Payback Time. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) are at a nascent stage in the high-concentration photovoltaics market, however they are expected to expand at a significant CAGR in the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Key playersSome of the key players working in high-concentration photovoltaics market are: Abengoa Solar, S.A., Cool Earth Solar, ES-SYSTEM, Green & Gold Solar Pty Ltd., Fullsun Photovoltaics, Arzon Solar, LLC, and BSQ Solar, SL.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 Voice Recognition Market is expected to reach market size of $126.5 billion by 2023 Bharatbook https://www.bharatbook.com/request-sample/930032 https://www.bharatbook.com/technology-market-research-reports-930032/voice-recognition.html www.bharatbook.com The Global Voice Recognition Market is expected to reach market size of $126.5 billion by 2023, rising at a market growth of 11.6% CAGR during the forecast period. The Voice Recognition technology has been in use in wide range of applications, due to rapid growth in the adoption of mobile & cloud technology and unprecedented technological advancements in computing powers. The healthcare sector would significantly contribute to the growth of voice recognition technology, due to the adoption of the technology to produce health related data records. The voice recognition technology would be a replacement technology to traditional methods prevalent today. The growth in the AI based systems would add to the market attractiveness over the years. Deep learning algorithm which is used to improve search results would be a major technological edge that would contribute to the market growth of AI based voice recognition market.Request a sample copy of Voice Recognition Market Report @Based on Types, the market report segments the market into Enhanced Devices, Hardware, and Software. Software types are further divided into Automatic Speech Recognition, Speaker Verification, and Storage Devices & Processors. Based on Applications, the market is segmented into Non- Artificial Intelligence Based and Artificial Intelligence Based. Based on Verticals, the Global Voice Recognition Market is segmented into Consumer Electronics & Retail, Automotive, BFSI, Healthcare, Home Security & Automation, and Others. Based on Regions, the market report segments the market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.To Browse the Entire Report, Visit @The report covers the competition analysis of key stake holders of the Voice Recognition Market. Key companies profiled in the report include Nuance Communications, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Google Inc., Apple, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Hoya Corporation (Readspeaker Holding B.V.), International Business Machines Corporation, VoiceVault, Inc., Raytheon Company, and Advanced Voice Recognition Systems, Inc.Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology1.1 Market Definition1.2 Objectives1.3 Market Scope1.4 Segmentation1.4.1 Global Voice Recognition Market, by Types1.4.2 Global Voice Recognition Market, by Applications1.4.3 Global Voice Recognition Market, by Verticals1.4.4 Global Voice Recognition Market, by Geographies1.5 Methodology for the researchChapter 2. Executive SummaryAbout Bharat Book Bureau:Bharat Book Bureau is the leading market research information provider for market research reports, company profiles, industry study, country reports, business reports, newsletters and online databases Bharat Book Bureau provides over a million reports from more than 400 publishers around the globe. We cover sectors starting from Aeronautics to Zoology.Contact us at:Bharat Book BureauTel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773Email:poonam@bharatbook.comWebsite:Follow us on: Twitter |Face book| LinkedIn |Google Plus Cottonseed Oil Market Potential and Niche Segments, Geographical regions and Trends 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2363 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2363 www.futuremarketinsights.com Cottonseed oil is an oil extracted from the seeds of cotton. Its production process involves pressing and extraction of oil from the cotton seeds followed by purification and refinement. The refinement of the oil is the key step as it helps in removing gossypol, a naturally occurring toxin that protects the cotton plant from damage. Cottonseed oil is essentially a by-product of the cotton industry along with cottonseed meal, hulls and linters. Over 10-15% of a cotton farmers income is expected to come from these by-products, making them considerably valuable products in cotton processing operations.Market Dynamics of Cottonseed Oil Market:The edible oil market is a highly competitive space occupied by numerous types of oils. The presence of many substitute products is a considerable drawback for the cottonseed oil market. From a consumer point of view, this represents a highly trend-driven market. The introduction of a new and healthy oils is bound to eat into the market of traditionally used oils, at least for a certain time period. This is regarded as a reason for the severe fluctuations observed in cottonseed oil retail demand and market values.Request Report Sample@One key advantage in this scenario is in regard to the industrial use of cottonseed oils. The product is widely used in various food and beverage products. Such large scale operations rely on a consistent supply chain, which is going to get disturbed in the event of a change of base ingredient, and as such are not impacted by volatile market trends. Cottonseed oil is a good source of antioxidant- tocopherol. The other advantages enjoyed by cotton seed oil are a low relative price and easy availability in cotton producing regions.With the increasing public understanding of the composition of such oils, the fat and nutrient profiles of cooking oils become very important. Given the relatively high fraction of saturated fats in cottonseed oil, this becomes a significant constraining factor for the market.Market Segmentation of Cottonseed Oil Market:Cottonseed oil market is segmented by end-use application, raw material type and region. On the basis of end-use application, cottonseed oil market is segmented on the basis of retail, food processing, cosmetic applications and other industrial uses. The retail segment is centered on its use as a cooking oil. Given its high smoke point, cottonseed oil is mostly used for deep frying and baking. It is mostly used as a cooking medium and is also part of various fried and processed foods such as potato chips and French fries. Due to its ability to form a beta prime crystal, which enables a consistent texture and appearance, cottonseed oil is a major ingredient in whipped toppings, margarines, shortenings, spreads and icings. . Unlike other cooking oils cottonseed oil has a neutral taste, meaning it doesnt alter the natural taste of food being prepared over it. Due to this reason it is used as a salad oil, wherein enhancing the flavor of the salad ingredients is considered primal.Cotton seed oil is also used in several personal care or cosmetic products such as soaps, cosmetics and detergents. As mentioned above, untreated cottonseed consists of gossypol, a toxin present in cotton. Due to this reason, untreated cottonseed oil is used as an insecticide. Other minor applications of the product include its use in making rubber and explosives.On the basis of raw-material type, the market is segmented into genetically-modified (GM) cotton and non-GM cotton. The growing negative perception around GM crops makes this an important variable. Due to the promise of increased returns, many cotton farmers in the developing world switched to GM cotton over the last decade. It is estimated that GM cotton is cultivated in over 25 million hectares across the world, with over 75% of US cotton being genetically modified. This dominance of GM cotton is expected to decrease in response to growing consumer concerns and farmer protests across the world.Visit For TOC@Regional Outlook of Cottonseed Oil Market:Geographically, the global cottonseed oil market can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. Both on the production and consumption side, the market is heavily dominated by India and China. These countries produced and consumed over 55% of the total cottonseed oil made during the 2015-2016 period. Pakistan and Uzbekistan are the other major regions in the cottonseed oil market. This dominance by Asia countries is largely attributed to large amount of cotton cultivation in the region and the high domestic demand for low-priced cooking oil.United States (U.S.) is a major producer and consumer of cottonseed oil in the North American region. Unlike the Asian countries, U.S. also exports a considerable portion of its cottonseed oil to other regions. Brazil and Turkey are the other important regions in the market. Eastern European nations such as Azerbaijan are also important but are limited by weak domestic consumption.Key Market Players in Cottonseed Oil Market:Some of the key players of the market include, Cargill, Incorporated, Archer Daniels Midland Compan (ADM), PYCO Industries, Bunge Limited, Louis Dreyfus, Adani Wilmar (Fortune Foods), Maharashtra Solvent Extraction (P) Ltd, Oilseeds International, Ltd., maong the others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: New York, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank, and Americas fastest growing mobile-first bank, today announced it has selected the University of Utah senior Austin Scholes as the recipient of its third annual Financial Empowerment Scholarship out of 2,178 applicants. The BankMobile Foundation serves as a platform to financially empower individuals by promoting financial literacy through scholarships and grants, sweepstakes, funding social entrepreneurs and building strategic partnerships with organizations dedicated to promoting financial education. BankMobiles Annual Financial Empowerment Scholarship has grown in popularity since its inaugural year, and significantly within the last year with over a 300% increase in applications received from 2016 to 2017. I am so grateful to BankMobile for receiving this scholarship, which will help me as I continue my studies at the University of Utah, stated Scholes. I value the banks determination to help its customers create a solid financial footing and all the innovative ways it is disseminating useful information. I look forward to continuing to promote financial literacy in order to help my fellow students and others in the community. Austins submission showed that he is truly dedicated to promoting financial education and we are delighted to award him this scholarship, stated Luvleen Sidhu, Co-Founder, President and Chief Strategy Officer of BankMobile and Director of the BankMobile Foundation. BankMobile strives to be the most simple, fun bank in the country that serves millennials and the underbanked, with a mission to financially empower its customers. Through such additional opportunities like this scholarship, we are thrilled to further impact the lives of others. During his senior year of high school, Scholes participated in a competition hosted by Mountain America Credit Union. He delved into an extensive campaign focused on gamification and engaging his peers to promote financial literacy. He was chosen as the competitions first-place winner, which led to his school receiving $3,000. After graduating high school, Scholes began working at Cyprus Credit Union as a financial service representative and currently is in the marketing department at Desert First Credit Union. He uses his position as an opportunity to educate his community through financial literacy quizzes, blog posts, competitions and engaging students. To learn more about The Annual BankMobile Financial Empowerment Scholarship and how to apply for the 2018 scholarship offered by the BankMobile Foundation, visit: https://www.bankmobile.com/scholarship/. # # # About BankMobile Established in 2015, BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank, is Americas largest mobile-first bank, offering fee-free checking and savings accounts. It provides target customers millennials, the underbanked and middle income households with a digital, effortless, and financially empowering experience. BankMobile offers checking, savings, lines of credit, joint accounts and access to over 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide (BankMobile VIP customers have free access to every ATM in the country, which is more than 400,000 ATMs), a guaranteed higher savings rate than the top four banks in the nation, a personal banker for all customers, and a free financial advisor for VIP customers. BankMobile is operating as the digital banking division of Customers Bank, which is a Federal Reserve regulated and FDIC-insured commercial bank. For more information, please visit www.bankmobile.com. About the BankMobile Foundation The BankMobile Foundation serves as a platform to financially empower individuals by promoting financial literacy through scholarships and grants, sweepstakes, funding social entrepreneurs and building strategic partnerships with organizations dedicated to promoting financial education. The Foundation also has a financial education program that offers a value-add to employers by hosting financial education workshops for their employees to help them live financially healthier lives. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/36e725e7-811a-4413-a590-9efa890a2c49 Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3fa066bd-4c41-470f-94e5-19707ef82a1d Outsourced Customer Care Services Market Size, Growth and Forecast Report To 2022 : Radiant Insights,Inc https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-outsourced-customer-care-services-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022 https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-outsourced-customer-care-services-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022/request-sample https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-aluminum-air-battery-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-photovoltaic-solar-panel-market-professional-survey-report-2017 This report studies the global Outsourced Customer Care Services market, analyzes and researches the Outsourced Customer Care 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, like Sykes Enterprises Synnex Corporation TeleTech Holdings Inc. Teleperformance Transcom Worldwide West Corporation Infosys SPi Global StarTek Inc. Expert Global Solutions Accenture Amdocs Aegis Alorica Sitel Worldwide Corporation Convergys CorporationBrowse Full Research Report With TOC onMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States EU Japan China India Southeast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Outsourced Customer Care Services can be split into CRM Technology Hosting Fulfillment/Logistics Customer InteractionRequest A Sample Copy Of This Report at:Market segment by Application, Outsourced Customer Care Services can be split into Pharma & Healthcare Food & Beverages Chemical & Material Construction Logistics OtherExplore Other Reports By Radiant Insights,Inc at Aluminum-Air Battery Market Photovoltaic Solar Panel Market About Radiant InsightRadiant Insights is a market research and consulting company offering syndicated research studies, customized reports, and consulting services. Our market research studies are designed to facilitate strategic decision making, on the basis of extensive and in-depth quantitative information, supported by extensive analysis and industry insights. Using a patented and robust research methodology, we publish exhaustive research reports covering a host of industries such as Technology, Chemicals, Materials, and Energy. Radiant Insights has a strong base of analysts, consultants and domain experts, with global experience helping us deliver excellence in all research projects we undertake.201 Spear Street 1100,Suite 3036, San Francisco,CA 94105, United States Global Dental Braces Industry Major Players Product Capacity and Production Analysis (Units) (2012-2017) Global Dental Braces Market Research Report 2017 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/global-dental-braces-market-research-report-2017 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/buy-now/339616 https://www.themarketreports.com/report/ask-your-query/339616 Global Dental Braces Market Research Report 2017 contains historic data that spans 2012 to 2016, and then continues to forecast to 2022. That makes this report so invaluable, resources, for the leaders as well as the new entrants in the IndustryGlobal Dental Braces Market report is replete with detailed analysis from a thorough research, especially on questions that border on market size, development environment, futuristic developments, operation situation, pathways and trend of Dental Braces. All these are offshoots of understanding the current situation that the industry is in, especially in 2017. The will chart the course for a more comprehensive organization and discernment of the competition situation in the Dental Braces market. As this will help manufacturers and investors alike, to have a better understanding of the direction in which the Dental Braces Market is headed. Access complete report at:With this Dental Braces Market report, one is sure to keep up with information on the dogged competition for market share and control, between elite manufacturers. It also features, price, production, and revenue. It is where you will understand the politics and tussle of gaining control of a huge chunk of the market share. As long as you are in search of key Industry data and information that can readily be accessed, you can rest assured that this report got them covered. Key companies profiled in this report are Henry Schein, 3m Unitek, Gc Orthodontics, Forestadent, Patterson Dental, American Orthodontics, Dentsply, Ormco, Dentaurum, Dental Morelli, Shanghai Imd, Hangzhou Xingchen 3b Dental and others. Purchase a copy of this report at:When taking a good look at this report, based on the product, it is evident that the report shows the rate of production, price, revenue, and market share as well as of the growth of each product type. And emphasis is laid on the end users, as well as on the applications of the product. It is one report that hasn't shied away from taking a critical look at the current status and future outlook for the consumption/sales of these products, by the end users and applications. Not forgetting the market share control and growth rate of Dental Braces Industry, per application. All the queries about this report can be asked at:List of Chapters:1 Dental Braces Market Overview2 Global Dental Braces Market Competitions by Manufacturers3 Global Dental Braces Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Dental Braces Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Dental Braces Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Dental Braces Market Analysis by Application7 Global Dental Braces Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Dental Braces Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Dental Braces Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixThe Market ReportsWe at, The Market Reports aiming to provide the best industry and market reports to a seeker. We are looking forward to a place where we are the one stop destination for all the report seekers irrespective of any country, category, domain, etc.The Market ReportsSF-29, North Block,Sacred World, Wanawadi,Pune, 411040 (India)Phone: +1-631-407-1315, +91-750-729-1479 Automotive Tires Market size in terms of volume and value 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2686 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2686 www.futuremarketinsights.com The automotive tires play a very important role in vehicle performance along with the vehicle engine. A tire should be fine enough to carry vehicle weight and pressure on any road with superior breaking performances. The manufacturers focus on enhancing the production and performance capabilities of tires to meet with the growing demands of OEMs as well as secondary market.The automotive tires market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. The Asia-Pacific tire market is expected to contribute 1/4th of the total global market growth as the Asia-Pacific economies are growing rapidly and hence the transportation segment.The global automotive tire market is estimated to grow rapidly owing to increasing automotive vehicle production and vehicle parc.When it comes to increasing demands for the automotive tires globally, tire manufacturers need to focus on availability of the raw materials primarily.Rubber, tire fillers (for tire fortification) and chemical supplements are the three main raw materials required for tire manufacturing and the smooth supply of the raw materials is an important aspect of the tire manufacturing process, as each of the above raw materials is an influential factor in tire manufacturing. There are two kinds of rubber used in tire manufacturing, Natural Rubber and Synthetic Rubber. Natural rubber is mainly produced and supplied from Asian countries such as India and China mostly, as the countries are having favourable climatic conditions for the growth of rubber plants whereas Synthetic Rubber is the produce of petroleum. The fluctuations in crude oil prices affect the production of synthetic rubber and as a result, it will increment the input costs in tire manufacturing.The main focus of the automotive tire manufacturers is always upon OEMs as they are the primary consumers of tires in terms of volume. Each OEM has some sanctioned tire manufacturers from whom they source tires. OEMs conduct some prompt sanctioning processes to sanction the vendor, which the tire manufacturers need to follow. The OEMs evaluate the vendors on the basis of quality of material, packaging, manufacturing and supply capabilities of tire manufacturers.Request Report Sample@Global Automotive Tires Market: DynamicsDrivers:The hike in automotive demand and production in recent years are estimated to be the key drivers of global automotive tires market. The large fleet size is expected to be replaced with new automotive tires, which in turn will spur the global demand for automotive tires.Additional factors such as rapid global expansion, increasing demands for better durability & mileage, high quality production and growing demand for eco-friendly tires, are also estimated to fuel the demand for global automotive tires market.Restraints:Fluctuating prices of raw materials are expected to hamper the growth of global automotive tires market.Global Automotive Tires Market: SegmentationFollowing is the segmentation for the global automotive tires market:The global automotive tires market segmented on the basis of seasons is as follows: winter, summer and all-season tires.The global automotive tires market segmented on the basis of sales channel is as follows: OEMs and Aftermarket.The global automotive tires market segmented on the basis of vehicle type is as follows: Passenger Car, LCV, and HCV.The global automotive tires market segmented on the basis of type is as follows: Radial and Bias/Cross plyThe global automotive tires market segmented on the basis of sales channel is as follows: Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and AftermarketGlobal Automotive Tires Market: Regional OutlookAsia-Pacific Automotive Tires Market is estimated to grow rapidly over the forecast period owing to increasing automotive production and vehicle parc. In Asia Pacific region, India and China are the countries driving the growth owing to low production costs and growing demand for light and heavy vehicles. North America and Europe are matured markets in global automotive tires market.Visit For TOC@Global Automotive Tires: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global automotive tires market identified are:Bridgestone CorporationThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber CompanyContinental AGMichelinSumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.Pirelli & C. S.p.A.The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited.Hankook Tire Co., LtdCheng Shin Rubber Industry Co.Zhongce Rubber Group Co., LtdCooper Tire & Rubber CompanyKumho Tire Co., Inc.Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.MRF LimitedApollo Tyres Ltd.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: Pain Management Therapeutics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2016 - 2023 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=816197 http://www.researchmoz.us/pain-management-therapeutics-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2023-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Pain Management Therapeutics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2016 - 2023" to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the pain management therapeutics market studies the current as well as future prospects of the market globally. The pain management therapeutics market report comprises an elaborate executive summary along with a market snapshot providing overall information of various segments and sub-segments considered in the scope of the study. This section also provides the general information and data analysis of the global pain management therapeutics market with respect to the leading market segments based on major therapeutics, and geographies.The global pain management therapeutics market has been studied based on major segments by therapeutics, by indication and their regional as well as national markets. Based on therapeutics, the global market has been segmented into anticonvulsants, antidepressants, anesthetics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), opioids, other non-narcotic analgesic, and antimigraine agents. Further the market has been segmented according to its indication that includes neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, arthritic pain, chronic back pain, migraine, post-operative pain, and cancer pain. The market for these segments has been extensively analyzed based on their effectiveness, sales, and geographic presence. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period from 2014 to 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all segments, considering 2015 as the base year.The market overview section of the report explores the dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities that currently have a strong impact on the pain management therapeutics market and could influence the market in the near future. Market attractiveness analysis has been provided in the overview section in order to explain the intensity of competition across different geographies. The competitive scenario among different players is evaluated through market share analysis in the competitive landscape section of the report. All these factors would help market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their position and expand their shares in the global pain management therapeutics market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, the pain management therapeutics market has been segmented into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World(RoW). Each regional pain management therapeutics market has been further categorized into major national markets such as the U.S, Canada, Germany, the U.K., Japan, China, Brazil, and Mexico. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period from 2014 to 2024 along with CAGR % from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the regions and nations considering 2015 as the base year.The recommendations section included in the report would assist existing market players to expand their market shares, and new companies in establishing their presence in the global pain management therapeutics market. The report also profiles key players operating in this market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Major players profiled in this report include Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Depomed, Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer, Inc., Purdue Pharma L.P., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited.The global pain management therapeutics market is segmented as follows:Global Pain Management Therapeutics Market Revenue, by TherapeuticsAnticonvulsantsAntidepressantsAnestheticsNon-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS)OpioidsOxycodonesHydrocodonesTramadolOthers (Morphine, Codeine, Fentanyl, Meperidine, Methadone)Antimigraine AgentsOther Non-narcotic AnalgesicGlobal Pain Management Therapeutics Market Revenue, by IndicationNeuropathic PainFibromyalgiaChronic Back PainArthritic PainMigrainePost-operative PainCancer PainGlobal Pain Management Therapeutics Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.Asia Pacific (APAC)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 @ Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance Market Regional Analysis, Key Players, Segments, Development and Opportunities by Forecast to 2022 Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2700 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/internet-of-things-iot-insurance-market-2700 Market Highlights:Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance offers an opportunity for insurers to partner with policyholders with a full view of the policyholder, it minimizes risk in real time and lowers the claims payouts for the insurer and provides a deep level of satisfaction to the policyholders. The Internet of Things (IoT) market and the smart city market is showing rapid growth. Thus, demand IoT insurance is increasing rapidly. Using IoT insurance, the insurers can utilize the data derived from all types of devices as well as external sources, such as weather data and provide the best level of protection possible for their policyholders.The study indicates that internet of things insurance would help insurance companies to monetize risks and work with appliance, automobile, and other equipment manufacturers to reduce actual risk which would boost the internet of things insurance market. Adoption of internet of things insurance would create a movement towards usage-based insurance models and would likely decrease risk and reduce claim numbers.Internet of things (IoT) Insurance Market give large amounts of real-time data which has requires strong infrastructure offered by IoT vendors. This creates a risk of data loss and malfunctioning of the systems due to network failure which in result creates a need to follow fixed communications standards for data transmission. Apart from it, the risks associated with connected devices create privacy concerns. Thus, all these factors cease the adoption of IoT by the insurers. Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance is market is segmented on the basis of type of insurance and end-users. The type of insurance is classified into different types as Health insurance, Property and causality Insurance, Agricultural insurance, Life Insurance and others.The global Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market is expected to grow at USD ~9 Billion by 2022, at 33% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022.Request a Sample Report @Key Players: IBM Corporation (U.S.) Accenture (Ireland) Cognizant (U.S.) Oracle Corporation (U.S) Zonoff Inc. (U.S.) Capgemini (France) SAP SE (Germany) LexisNexis (U.S.) Lemonade Inc. (U.S.) Hippo Insurance (U.S.)Study Objectives of Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance 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 on the basis of type and end-user. 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 Internet of Things (IoT) InsuranceSegments: Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market is segmented on the basis of type and end-user. Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market by Type of Insurance: Health insurance Property and causality InsuranceMotor insurance Home insurance Commercial Insurance Agricultural insurance Life Insurance OthersInternet of Things (IoT) Insurance market by End-Users: Automotive &Transport Healthcare Home and Commercial Buildings Agriculture Consumer Electronics OthersRegional Analysis:The regional analysis of Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. It has been observed that North America is dominating the Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance market owing to many factors as, presence of developed economies such as United States, Canada, high investing power, early adoption of internet of things (IoT).Apart from it, development of new technologies such as IoT, Big data and others by many organization will have positive impact on market of Internet of Things (IoT) Insurance in this region. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to show a sudden hike in the IoT insurance market owing to factors such as rising internet of things penetration and increasing number of wearables, drones and others.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience Technology investors Key market innovators Hardware vendors Regulatory agencies IoT insurance providers IoT service providers Communication service providers Quality assurance providers IoT platform providers Third-party system integrators Application providers Research/Consultancy firmsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Solution2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinued.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. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Rising Consciousness Of Eyewear Market In Middle East - Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2015 - 2023 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=808489 http://www.researchmoz.us/eyewear-market-middle-east-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2015-2023-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Rising Consciousness Of Eyewear Market In Middle East - Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2015 - 2023" to its huge collection of research reports.Eyewear consists of products used to aid in vision correction, cosmetic enhancement and protection of the eyes.Corrective eyewear can be used to correct and alleviate refractive errors. Spectacles and contact lenses are the most common form of corrective eyewear, and are usually prescribed by an optometrist, ophthalmologist, or optician. They aim to improve the quality of life of patients, and can also be used for eye protection.Factors such as rapid modernization in urban areas and rising consciousness about eye health conditions are responsible for driving the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Consumers, especially the younger generation, are likely to try out newproducts as long as they provide real added value and contribute to their quality of life. Moreover, with a higher percentage of population being able to afford luxury goods, increasing disposable income is a major driving force for the expansion of the eyewear market. Colored contact lenses, high index eyeglasses, and high-end spectacle frames are now within the reach of a large section of the population. Customers frequently replace spectacle lenses by getting customized lenses to fit the same frame. Since lenses have a higher retail margin than frames, there is high renewal rate of lenses among consumers. Considering all these factors, the eyewear market in the Middle East is likely to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.However, increasing acceptance rate towards refractive surgeries and treatments are expected to inhibit market growth, as these methodologies provide a complete alternative to the usage of corrective eyewear products. These procedures require a one-time investment, and omit periodicexpenses of eyewear and eye care products.Eyewear productsare marketed through different distribution channels including optical shops, hypermarkets, department shops and online stores. Increasing availability of these products in stores and supermarkets are also promoting the growth of the eyewear market in the Middle East.Optical shops are having a substantial advantage over other channels. Leading chains such as YateemOpticals, Al Jaber, and MagrabiOpticals are increasing their number of outlets in the Middle East.Strong marketing efforts, social media advertising, special offers and the promotion of new designs and concentration on recent trends are some of the major strategies implemented by these optical shops. However, affordable eye check-ups and increased awareness amongst the public are necessaryfor the widespread use of eyeglasses and contact lenses.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @This market research study analyzes the eyewear market in the Middle Eastand provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD Million) from 2014 to 2023. It emphasizeson the drivers and restraints responsible for the growth of the industry and examines their impact during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. Moreover, it recognizes the important opportunities for the market expansion in the upcoming years.The report segments the eyewear market based on product type which includes spectacles, contact lenses and plano sunglasses. The spectacles segment is segmented into spectacle lenses and spectacle frames. The contact lenses segment is subdivided into rigid contact lenses and soft contact lenses. The plano sunglasses segment is further bifurcated into polarized and non-polarized plano sunglasses.By countries, the eyewear market in the Middle East is classified into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and rest of the Middle East.The report offers company market share analysis of key industry participants. Major players have been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies and key developments.Leading market players profiled in this report areLuxottica S.p.A. (Italy), Safilo Group (Italy), Essilor International (France), Johnson and Johnson Vision Care (U.S.) and Carl Zeiss A.G. (Germany).The Middle EastEyewear Market: by Product TypeSpectaclesSpectacle LensesSpectacle FramesContact lensesSoft Contact LensesRigid Contact LensesPlano SunglassesPolarized SunglassesNon-Polarized SunglassesThe Middle EastEyewear Market: by CountrySaudi ArabiaEgyptUAEQatarOmanKuwaitBahrainJordanLebanonTurkeyRest of the Middle EastBrowse 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 @ Global Steam Autoclave Market From 2016 - 2024: By Technology - Gravity Displacement, Pre-vacuum & Steam Flush Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=808487 http://www.researchmoz.us/steam-autoclave-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Steam Autoclave Market From 2016 - 2024: By Technology - Gravity Displacement, Pre-vacuum & Steam Flush" to its huge collection of research reports.Autoclaves play a vital role in sterilization of health care waste in hospitals, health care organizations, and academics. Medical devices require autoclaving after usage, as these get contaminated. Health care professionals have set the process of autoclaving on high priority due to increasing awareness about safety of patients. Rising number of surgical procedures and nosocomial infections (hospital-acquired infection) is driving demand for autoclaves. Growing geriatric population and rise in prevalence of cancer are the other factors that drive the steam autoclave market. This report studies the current scenario as well as future market potential for steam autoclaves globally. It comprises an elaborate executive summary, which includes a market snapshot that provides market dynamics of various segments and sub-segments that are included in the report.This report provides in-depth analysis of the steam autoclave market. The stakeholders of this report include companies involved in the manufacture of autoclaves. An executive summary section is included in this report for providing a snapshot of this market to the stakeholders. It summarizes the market size, trends, and competition in different regions. The market overview section of this report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the steam autoclave market in the current and future scenario. Market share analysis is included to signify percentage share of the major players operating in the steam autoclave market. All these factors will help the market players to decide the business strategies and plans to be implemented in future to strengthen their positions in the global market.The steam autoclave market has been segmented based on product, indicator, technology, end-user, and geography. Based on product, the global steam autoclave market has been segmented into traditional and tabletop. In terms of technology, the global steam autoclave market has been segmented into gravity displacement, pre-vacuum, and steam flush. Based on indicator, the steam autoclave market has been segmented into chemical, biological, and mechanical. The global steam autoclave market, by end-user, has been categorized into hospitals, health care organizations, and academics.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, the steam autoclave market has been categorized into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Moreover, analysis for the major countries such as the U.S. Canada, Germany, the U.K., Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia have been provided in the report. A detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining the steam autoclave market in various regions has been provided in this section. The report provides market estimation of the steam autoclave market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) for all the segments and sub-segments, with CAGR % for the period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year. Furthermore, the report incorporates market attractiveness analysis by geography that depicts the most attractive region in the global market during the forecast period.The report provides a detailed outline/blueprint of the global steam autoclave market that will assist new companies to establish their presence and existing players to expand their market shares. The company profile section concluding the report includes company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies and recent developments of key market players. Major players profiled in the report include 3M Health Care, STERIS plc, Getinge Group, and Johnson & Johnson.The global steam autoclave market has been segmented into the following categories:Global Steam Autoclave Market, by ProductTraditionalTabletopGlobal Steam Autoclave Market, by IndicatorChemicalBiologicalMechanicalGlobal Steam Autoclave Market, by TechnologyGravity DisplacementPre-vacuumSteam FlushGlobal Steam Autoclave Market, by End-userHospitalsHealth Care OrganizationsAcademicsGlobal Steam Autoclave Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeBrowse 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 @ Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market will rise to US$ 3.3 Billion by 2024 Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/prepacked-chromatography-columns-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6014 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Based on product type, the prepacked chromatography columns market is led by the >1L segment, which accounted for a share of just short of 50% in 2015. This segment is also anticipated to expand at a pace greater than the other segments, reporting a CAGR of 8.7% from 2016 to 2024. By technique, hydrophobic stationary phase chromatography held a major share in the prepacked chromatography columns market, with multimodal chromatography expanding at the fastest pace.On the basis of application, the sample preparation segment accounted for the leading share in the market while protein purification is forecast to report a high growth rate. Based on end use, the prepacked chromatography columns market was dominated by pharmaceutical biotechnology, and analytical laboratories are anticipated to emerge as the most lucrative end-use segment.This 281 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market. Browse through 28 data tables and 174 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Geographically, North America accounted for a major share of 33.9% in the global prepacked chromatography columns market in 2015. Retaining its lead throughout the forecast period, the demand for chromatographic techniques is anticipated to rise in the region. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is poised to grow at an impressive 10.2% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Prepacked chromatography columns are well suited for various industries for the separation as well as detection of organic molecules and components, the lead analyst notes. As a result, these columns play a significant role in the production of biopharmaceutical products. Prepacked chromatography columns are also used in industries such as biotechnology, food and beverages, agriculture, chemicals, research, and forensics. This wide range of application is a key factor boosting the global market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:The number of monoclonal antibodies used in clinical trials and those approved for various therapeutic applications has significantly increased in recent years, the TMR analyst states. This growing need for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies has also supported the prepacked chromatography columns market.In contrast, the economic slowdown in several countries over the past decade has had a considerable impact on government budgets and funding when it comes to research within the healthcare sector. This has adversely impacted the global market for prepacked chromatography columns market. Moreover, the high prices of columns and limitations resulting from clogging and fouling act as deterrents to the market.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 RFID Smart Cabinet Market Will Grow At A CAGR Of 14.03% During The Period 2016 - 2020 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=834778 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-rfid-smart-cabinet-market-2016-2020-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global RFID Smart Cabinet Market Will Grow At A CAGR Of 14.03% During The Period 2016 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.RFID technologies are gaining high attention from multiple sectors, especially healthcare, where hospitals have started adopting innovative technologies to address critical business needs. Smart cabinets based on RFID technology help reduce manual efforts to maintain, track, and manage inventory. They also help reduce loss and misplacement of supplies, minimize the risk of theft, and increase savings. Retailers, healthcare institutions, and discrete manufacturers are the prime users of RFID smart cabinets as the need for inventory management is critical to these businesses.Technavios analysts forecast the global radio-frequency identification (RFID) smart cabinet market to grow at a CAGR of 14.03% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global radio-frequency identification (RFID) smart cabinet market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of RFID smart cabinets.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Smart Cabinet Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsLogiTag SystemsMobile AspectsTAGSYS RFIDSkytronSkyeTekSATO VicinitySATO VicinityWaveMarkTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Other prominent vendorsSolstice MedicalTerso SolutionsMarket driverSupply chain inefficienciesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLow market penetrationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing government regulations and aidFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 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?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 @ Soft Tissue Sarcoma - Global API Manufacturers, Marketed and Phase III Drugs Landscape, 2017 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/232589 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/soft-tissue-sarcoma-global-api-manufacturers-marketed-and-phase-iii-drugs-landscape-2017 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/232589 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/232589 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research SummaryThis report helps to analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Soft Tissue Sarcoma-Global API Manufacturers, Marketed and Phase III Drugs Landscape, 2017DescriptionSoft Tissue Sarcoma - Global API Manufacturers, Marketed and Phase III Drugs Landscape, 2017 report provides comprehensive insights about marketed and Phase III products for the Soft Tissue Sarcoma. The report includes information of marketed products including their product description, patent details, forecasted sales till 2020 & API manufacturer details by country. It also provides a comprehensive understanding of the emerging Phase III therapies for Soft Tissue Sarcoma which can turn out to be future prospective competitors for the marketed products. It will also put light on the current market trends.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by team of industry experts.Secondary information and data has been collected from various printable and non-printable sources like search engines, news websites, government websites, trade journals, white papers, magazines, trade associations, books, industry portals, industry associations and available databases.Get a PDF Sample of Report at:ScopeA review of the marketed products for Soft Tissue Sarcoma including their description, route of synthesis, regulatory milestones, forecasted sales estimates till 2020 and API manufacturer details.Patent information coverage of the marketed products including the patent number, holder, grant and patent expiry detailsAPI manufacturers for the marketed products with location detailsEmerging Phase III product profiles for Soft Tissue Sarcoma including product description, developmental activities, licensors & collaborators and chemical informationReasons to BuyAPI intelligence for marketed drugs for the indication and gaining insights of API manufacturersEvaluate the marketing status and patent details of products to exploit opportunities for generic drug developmentDesign effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage by identifying the key patent expiry details and exclusivity with respect to the indicationEstablish a comprehensive understanding of the emerging Phase III products which can be future competitors in this spaceTo Browse the Entire Report, Visit :Some Points Of Table Of Content:Report IntroductionOverviewComparative Analysis of Marketed and Emerging ProductsMarketed TherapiesDrug Name: Company NameProduct DescriptionRegulatory MilestonesDrug Historical Annual Global SalesDrug Forecasted Annual Global SalesGlobal Active Pharmaceutical Manufacturers for drugPatent DetailsEmerging Therapies- Phase IIIDrug Name: Company NameProduct DescriptionResearch and DevelopmentOther Development ActivitiesAppendixMethodologyConsulting ServicesDisclaimerAbout UsGot any Query? Feel free to ask us at :No. of Report Pages: 60List Of Tables:Table 1: List of Marketed and Emerging ProductsTable 2: Drug Annual Global Sales from 2011-2016 (in million USD)Table 3: Drug Annual Global Sales from 2017-2020 (in million USD)Table 4: Active Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by CountryTable 5: Active Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by RegionFigure 1: Comparative Analysis of Marketed and Emerging ProductsFigure 2: Drug Annual Global Sales from 2011-2016 (in million USD)Figure 3: Drug Annual Global Sales from 2017-2020 (in million USD)Figure 4: Active Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by CountryFigure 5: Active Pharmaceutical Manufacturers by RegionPlace a Purchase Order for this Report 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: NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World Health Energy Holdings (OTC PINK:WHEN), a diversified software, energy and financial company (www.worldhealthenergy.com, www.whentrade.com), announced today that it signed a contract to acquire 70% of a US company with Israel developed Software and Native-360 Cyber Security system. The company's products have already achieved over a million in sales in initial trial market testing. Full disclosure and an 8K will be filed next week. The first software app product www.hurryap.com was announced and is online for an easy-to-use app builder. For a limited time it is available at 1 dollar a month. Israel developed software includes www.waze.com, www.whatsapp.com, www.wix.com. Israeli Cyber has achieved top world ranking with examples like Check Point (www.checkpoint.com) and Cyber Ark Software Ltd (www.cyberark.com). According to Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com) the cyber market will grow from 121 billion dollars to more than 200 billion USD by 2021. WHEN is a holding company. Its businesses include: 1) A General Software Development Company. First product to market is an Instant App builder, www.hurryap.com 2) A financial online service and software company. www.whentrade.com 3) A green energy co utilizing Algae Tech, see www.whengreenenergy.com WHEN CEO Mr Uri Tadelis said that this acquisition brings WHEN an existing revenue business with unlimited product potential in Software and Cyber Security technology. WHEN Trade (www.whentrade.com) is a WHEN company focused on software and security software for banks, online transactions and bank cards, and will also provide live customer accounts. Investor Database for Future Press Releases and Industry Updates Interested investors and shareholders are invited to be added to the corporate email database for corporate press releases and periodic industry updates by sending an email to info@worldhealthenergy.com. About World Health Energy Holdings (www.worldhealthenergy.com) World Health Energy Holdings, Inc. (WHEN) is a diversified energy, health and financial software company. Forward-Looking Statements This press 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. WHEN has great potential but is not yet generating revenues Although Forward-looking statements in this release reflect the good faith judgment of management, forward-looking Statements are inherently subjected to known, unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual Results to be materially different from those discussed in these forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our ability to maintain our website and associated computer systems, our ability to generate sufficient market acceptance for our products and services, our ability to generate sufficient operating cash flow, and general economic conditions. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time which attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows. If one of more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release. Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analyzers Market worth US$ 170.5 Million by 2024 Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analyzers Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/eme-blood-gas-electrolyte-analyzers-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=14906 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ With a surge in point-of-care diagnostic devices due to obvious advantage of faster disease diagnosis, the market is expected to witness growth. Blood gas and electrolyte analyzers are point-of-care diagnostic devices employed for blood testing. The blood gas analyzer measures partial pressure of oxygen in a patients body, while the electrolyte analyzer measures concentration of vital elements such as sodium, potassium, and calcium. Results of these tests help in accurate diagnosis of various conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney failure, heart failure, uncontrolled diabetes, severe infections, and drug overdose. Blood gas and electrolyte analyzers have been useful in assisting in accurate diagnosis of numerous diseases. Hence, usage of these devices has increased considerably in the recent past. Hence, these devices have become an integral part of intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency medical services.Increase in demand and innovation in the medical devices technology have led to evolution of devices into compact, multi-component analyzer devices. This advancement in technology has driven the market for devices measuring narrow parameters such as blood gas and electrolytes. The blood gas analyzers market is constantly evolving due to technological advancements in medical devices. Modern, miniaturized blood gas analyzers are capable of analyzing an array of parameters and provide results in shorter turnaround time. Faster diagnosis helps prescribe accurate therapy at an early stage of disorder, which helps avoid complications.This 209 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analyzers Market. Browse through 60 data tables and 44 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:The combination analyzers segment of the market is expected to expand at the maximum growth rate during the forecast period. Portability of blood gas analyzers has extended their application in emergency and ambulatory care. Point-of-care diagnosis has created a prominent position in the health care industry due to its advantage of bed-side care. Furthermore, synchronization of blood gas analyzers has made the patient record management more convenient.The market has been segmented based on modality, product, end-user, and geography. Based on modality, the market has been segmented into laboratory, benchtop, and portable. Portable analyzers are gaining wider acceptance in Europe and Middle East. This segment is expected to propel the market in the next few years. In terms of product type, the market has been categorized into blood gas analyzers, electrolyte analyzers, combination analyzers, and consumables. The demand for combination analyzers is increasing gradually and is expected to grow at maximum rate in coming years. Based on end-users, the market has been segmented into hospitals, diagnostic centers, clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers. Geographically, the market in Europe and Middle East has been segmented into three regions: EU5, Nordics, and Middle East. EU5 accounted for the maximum share of the EME blood gas and electrolyte analyzers market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analyzers Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Major players in the market are Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Medica Corporation (U.S.), Nova Biomedical (U.S.), Radiometer Medical ApS (Denmark), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Alere Inc. (U.S.), ERBA Diagnostics Mannheim GmbH (Germany), and Instrumentation Laboratories (Werfen) (U.S.). Top three players account for more than 60% of the market.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: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Drugs Market In China Will Reach At A CAGR Of 15.56% Between The Period 2016 - 2020 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=741902 http://www.researchmoz.us/copd-drugs-market-in-china-2016-2020-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Drugs Market In China Will Reach At A CAGR Of 15.56% Between The Period 2016 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a broad term that covers progressive lung diseases, including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, refractory (non-reversible) asthma, and some forms of bronchiectasis. It restricts airflow in the lungs and is characterized by diffculty breathing. The exact etiology of COPD is not understood, but most cases are caused due to genetic factors and by inhaling pollutants, including smoke, fumes, and chemicals. As the disease develops, the symptoms tend to get worse and damages the lungs. The disease cannot be cured, and can only be managed and treated.The COPD drugs market in China is under penetrated. It is dominated by fixed dose combinations of LABA/ICS. Air pollution is the major contributing factor for the growing prevalence of the disease. Nearly 10% of the population in the region who are over the age of 40 years has COPD. The disease is expected to become one of the leading causes of death in the country by 2020. Lack of awareness about the disease and its treatment options affects the growth of the market in this region.Technavios analysts forecast the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs market in China to grow at a CAGR of 15.56% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs market in China for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, Technavio considers the revenue generated from the total consumption of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs globally. The report does not include revenue generated from the aftermarket service of the product.The market is divided into the following segments based on drug class:BronchodilatorsPhosphodiesterase-4 (PDE-4) inhibitorsSteroidsCombination therapiesTechnavio's report, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Drugs Market in China 2016-2020, 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.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Key vendorsAstraZenecaBoehringer IngelheimGSKMerckNovartisOther prominent vendorsAche Laboratorios FarmaceuticosAlmirallAquinox PharmaceuticalsArio PharmaBioMarck PharmaceuticalsGilead SciencesMereo BioPharma GroupMylanOrionPearl TherapeuticsProsonixTeva Pharmaceutical IndustryTheravance BiopharmaTheron PharmaceuticalsVerona PharmaXentionZAI LabMarket driverIncrease in environmental pollutionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLow diagnosis rateFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreased focus on combination therapiesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 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?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 @ Red Wine Extract Market size in terms of volume and value 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2674 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2674 www.futuremarketinsights.com Red wineis a type of wine which is being extracted by crushing different varieties of black grapes and fermenting it. The color of red wine depends on the type of grape that are selected for crushing process, the color may range from intense violet color to brick red color.Due to antioxidant properties of Red wine, it has been known for its benefits regarding resveratrol. Resveratrol is phytoalexin which is found in various variety of plants. In case of grape resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes and stem and leaves of the plant. The natural antibiotic effects of resveratrol which is found in the red wine extract, acts as a defensive system for the body. Companies have been investing heavily on the research and development due to the discovery of health benefits associated with the red wine extract.Market Segmentation:Red wineextract is segment on the basis of application, form and region. On the basis of application market is segmented into food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic & personal care products. Among all these segment food and beverages is expected to grow enormously in the coming future, followed by cosmetics and personal care segment. The demand for red wine extract is more due to the benefit it offers as well as easy availability of product to the consumer. On the basis of form the market is segmented intopowder, capsule and liquid.Red wine extract come in different forms but the most popular form is the capsule form. Red wine extract has special properties which provide various health benefits such as anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant properties and has the ability to maintain platelet count.On the basis of region red vine extractmarket is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, MEA and Japan.Request Report Sample@Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Red wineextractis divided into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, MEA and Japan. Among these segment North America is expected to have the major market share globally, as it is the largest producer and consumer of Red wineextract. In Asia Pacific region the countries like China and Australia are generating the major revenue. In terms of revenue Latin America is the second prominent contributor in theRed wineextract market.Market Drivers:The rise in demand for anti-ageing cream is expected to drive the growth of global red wineextractmarket. Red wine extractis not only a rich source of resveratrol but it also exhibits some special properties such as Stimulates eNOS activity, Prevent clotting of blood, prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and reduces the risk of Alzheimers disease. It also helps in reducing obesity and slowing the rate of aging. These versatile properties of red wine extract is attracting attract pharmaceutical segment as well, which will defiantly drive the red wine extract market to a greater extent.Moreover, the market is also driven by the increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with red wine extract. Although red wine extract has anti- cancer benefits, but research has found that it can promote breast cancer. Another worrying fact about red wine extract is that it acts as an anti-coagulant, if a person takes prescribed blood thinner along with the red wine extract he may lead to excessive bleeding. These property can actually be a restrain to the growing market of red wine extract.Visit For TOC@Market Key Players:Some of the key players in red wine extract market areSEPPIC Inc., Hangzhou Greensky Biological Tech. Co., Ltd., Diana Naturals Inc., Xian Chinwon Biotech Inc., GRAP'SUD, Diana Naturals Inc, Ethical Naturals, Inc., and VDF/FutureCeuticals, Inc.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: Aerial Imaging Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, & Forecast, 2017 - 2021 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1139487 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-aerial-imaging-market-size-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2021-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Aerial Imaging Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, & Forecast, 2017 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Aerial Imaging Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021), provides an in-depth analysis of the global aerial imaging market by value, by region and by end-users. The report provides a regional analysis of the aerial imaging market, including the following regions: North America and Asia-Pacific.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry.Growth of the overall global aerial imaging market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.At present, the aerial imaging industry rivalry remains low. The market is fragmented with many small players offering a wide variety of services and coverage areas. Industry is likely to see a period of consolidation, with larger firms acquiring or pushing out unprofitable smaller businesses. Key players of the global aerial imaging market are Google, Inc., Fugro Worldwide, Nearmap Limited and NRC Group ASA, who are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Country CoverageNorth AmericaAsia-PacificCompany CoverageGoogle, Inc. (Alphabet, Inc.)Fugro WorldwideNRC Group ASANearmap LimitedTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Executive SummaryAerial imaging refers to capturing and producing photographs or images of the ground (terrain, plains, plateaus, hills, mountains, etc.) from an elevated position. The camera is not supported by the ground-based structure.There are numerous end-users of aerial imaging technology. These include, government, civil engineering, insurance, telecommunications, law enforcement, media, environment, among others. The aerial imaging technology has its own advantages and disadvantages.The global aerial imaging market has increased at a significant CAGR during the years 2012-2016 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years i.e. 2017-2021 tremendously. The global aerial imaging market is expected to increase due to growth in number of theme parks, increase in the solar photovoltaic industry, growing construction industry, etc. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as, adverse weather conditions, presence of alternatives such as drones and satellite imagery and numerous rumours surrounding the privacy issues, etc.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Aerial Imaging: An Overview2.1.1 History of Aerial Imaging2.1.2 Applications/End-User of Aerial Imaging2.1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Aerial Imaging2.1.4 Aerial Imaging and Other Alternatives: A Comparison3. Global Market Analysis3.1 Global Aerial Imaging Market: An Analysis3.1.1 Global Aerial Imaging Market by Value3.1.2 Global Aerial Imaging Market by Geography3.1.3 Global Aerial Imaging Market by End-UserBrowse 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 @ Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market Research Report by Key Players Analysis 2024 Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/single-use-bio-processing-systems-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3753 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Bioprocessing is a significant part of biopharmaceutical development and production processes and single-use bioprocessing systems, which are meant for one-time use, have recently found their unique position in the biopharmaceutical and biotherapeutics industry. Biomanufacturing facilities which once housed only stainless steel equipment are paving the way for a hybrid setup which also incorporates single-use technologies. New facilities manufacturing biologics, especially CROs/CMOs and small biotechnology startups are increasingly opting for fully single-use plants. These systems have made the production of clinical trial drugs as well as commercially manufactured drugs cost-effective and flexible. The market for single-use bioprocessing systems is expected to grow at a double-digit figure during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024 and shall be driven by factors such as lowered labor efforts, lowered capital cost, and riddance of time, money, and efforts spent on sterilization procedures.This report on the global single-use bioprocessing systems market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. Market related factors such as technological developments, product innovation, expansion of infrastructural facilities by major and small pharmaceuticals, and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. Growth rates for each segment within the global single-use bioprocessing systems market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, drug development life cycle, and regulatory requirements. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the global market.This 144 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market. Browse through 16 data tables and 50 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Based on product type, the global single-use bioprocessing systems market has been segmented into bioreactors and fermenters, mixers, bags, filtration devices, tubing, sampling systems, connectors & clamps, and sensors & probes. Bags and bioreactors are the most prominently selling products in the single-use bioprocessing systems market.Major end-users of single-use bioprocessing systems include pharmaceutical organizations, biotechnology organizations, CROs & CMOs, and academic and research institutes. In terms of applications, the market has been segmented into monoclonal antibody production, vaccine production, plant cell cultivation, patient specific cell therapies, and others. The others segment includes recombinant proteins, enzymes, growth factors etc. The flexibility of single-use systems coupled with the decreased concern related to chances of cross contamination, make single-use bioprocessing systems a prime purchase option for manufacturers involved in monoclonal antibody production.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Single-use Bioprocessing Systems Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Geographically, the global single-use bioprocessing systems market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The regions have been further segmented by major countries. A global overview has been provided, and the North America region has been analyzed in depth at country as well as product, application, and end-user segment level. The countries in North America section include the U.S. and Canada. The regions of Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa have been briefly profiled at country level. The countries include the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, and South Africa.The competition matrix section included in the report is likely to assist the existing players to increase their market shares and new companies to establish their presence in the single-use bioprocessing systems market. The report also profiles major players in the single-use bioprocessing systems market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Key companies profiled in the report include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Merck KGaA (Merck Millipore), Danaher Corporation (Pall Corporation), Sartorius AG, Eppendorf AG, GE Healthcare, PBS Biotech, Inc., Meissner Filtration Products, Finesse Solutions, Sentinel Process Solutions, and Saint-Gobain.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: Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery Market to Witness Steady Growth During the Forecast Period 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2477 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2477 www.futuremarketinsights.com Robotics is a science branch that includes electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science. It is concerned with the design, manufacturing, operation and use of the robots, along with the computer systems required to control them and process information. This technology is slowly but surely moving from fiction to fact thanks to current research in the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market. We will eventually reach a point when medical robots will be able to think, act independently or even take critical decisions without any assistance from doctors or medical professionals. Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery first came onto the scene in the first decade of the 21st century. These robots have already proved their mettle in assisting surgeons who perform hysterectomies or prostate cancer. Constant design improvements mean that the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market will become increasingly vital in the days to come.Request Report Sample@Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery Market DriversA preference for minimally invasive procedures is anticipated to drive the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market. Robots provide improved visualisation, greater dexterity and high precision & accuracy. Minimally invasive surgeries are very popular with surgeons, patients and also their insurance companies since incisions made are smaller, infection risk is less, hospital stays are much shorter and convalescence is greatly reduced. However, human limitations like hand-eye coordination and limited dexterity stifle treatments. The desire to overcome the challenges of current laparoscopic technologies and improve the scope of minimally invasive surgeries will benefit the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market. An ageing and growing population will boost the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market and growing acceptance of telesurgery is also going to help Robotics. A surgery can take several hours and be physically exhausting for surgeons and they could even experience hand tremors as a result. A surgical robot would be able to operate on several patients without any drop in precision or efficiency which would help medical professionals to serve a larger number of people in the long run.Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery Market RestraintsCost is a very critical challenge in the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market. A top of the line robotics-assisted surgery system can easily cost somewhere in the region of Euro 1.5 million. The initial investment itself can make it difficult for underfunded medical institutions in developing countries to adopt it. That is also not the only expense incurred as thousands more need to be spent on medicines required to complete the surgery. Hence, there is ongoing research to make the medical assistant robots of the future not only smart but affordable too. The second constraint in the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market is the lack of funding. In spite of dramatic innovations by scientists in robotics technology, investors are somewhat hesitant to invest in the industry until they are assured of a ready market for the devices. However, both patients & medical healthcare organisations are showing an increased readiness to pay for Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery equipment which will boost investor confidence and subsequently drive down development cost. The third restraint of the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market is human resistance to change. Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery is still a relatively new concept which has had almost no long-term follow-up studies. These systems also have very large footprints and massive robotic arms. It might be difficult for medical organisations to accommodate them when they are already space constrained, to begin with.Visit For TOC@Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery Market Key RegionsThe largest Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery markets are North America, the European Union, Asia Pacific and then the rest of the world. China, Japan and South Korea are expected to lead the world in future growth rate. This is on account of their rapidly ageing population, strong government focus on both healthcare and manufacturing expertise, and providing training to their surgeons to adopt and perform Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery. Companies would be well advised to cater to the specific needs of the Asian Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market for their long term benefit.Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery Market Key Market PlayersSome of the companies operating in the Robotics-Assisted Telesurgery market are Intuitive Surgical, Hansen Medical, Stryker Corp, IRobot Corporation and MAZOR Robotics.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: Intravenous Immunoglobulin Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/intravenous-immunoglobulin-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1930 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ This report on the global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts along with information collected from telephonic interviews and interactions via e-mails. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, stock analysis presentations, and various international and national 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 intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, and regulatory requirements.A detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also provide insights into the key trends of the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market such as shift from intravenous to subcutaneous infusion of immunoglobulin. The key market indicators influencing global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market taken into consideration include prevalence of immunological disorders, global blood and plasma yield and geriatric population. The report also includes market attractiveness analysis of the major segments that provides a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market. The report also highlights key events of the global intravenous immunoglobulin industry. A value chain analysis along with list of major players, hospitals and distributors is also included in the report.This 155 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Intravenous Immunoglobulin Market. Browse through 18 data tables and 56 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. The year on year growth of global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market for each segment is also reflected. Additionally, market related factors such as increasing preference for product innovation, and growing number of acute and chronic patients in various geographies and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size.Based on indication, the global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market has been segmented into chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), primary humoral immunodeficiency, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Guillain-Barre syndrome, myasthenia gravis, multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), Kawasaki disease, hypogammaglobulinemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and others. Based on end-user, the market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, and home care. Hospitals segment is expected to remain dominant during the forecast period. However, home care segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR than others.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Intravenous Immunoglobulin Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Geographically, the global intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In addition, the regions have been further segmented into major countries from each region. These include the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, Australia, India, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico.The report also profiles major players in the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. A thorough market share analysis of major companies operating in the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) market is provided in the report. The report also includes a competition matrix that provides insights into recent developments and activities done by the major market players. Key companies profiled in the report include Baxalta Incorporated, Biotest AG, China Biologic Products, Inc., CSL Behring LLC, Grifols S.A., Kedrion S.p.A., LFB Biomedicaments S.A., Octapharma AG, and Sanquin Plasma Products B.V.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: 802.15.4/ZigBee Market : Growth, Demand and Key Players to 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2488 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2488 www.futuremarketinsights.com ZigBee technology was invented in 1998, commercialized in 2003, and revised in 2006. ZigBee is one of the global standards of communication protocol formulated by the significant task force under the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.15 working group. 802.15.4/ZigBee has low power consumption limits and transmission distance ranges between 10100 meters line-of-sight, depending on power output and environmental characteristics. ZigBee network layer star, tree and generic mesh networking. ZigBee has media access control defined in IEEE standard 802.15.4 for low-rate WPANs. The major ZigBee specifications are network layer, application layer, ZigBee device objects (ZDOs) and manufacturer-defined application objects which allow for customization and favor total integration. 802.15.4/ZigBee transmits data over long distances by passing data through a mesh network of intermediate devices to reach more distant devices.Request Report Sample@802.15.4/ZigBee Market: Drivers & Restraints802.15.4/ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network standard used for the development of long battery life devices in wireless control and monitoring applications. 802.15.4/ZigBee chips are integrated with radios and with microcontrollers that have flash memory between the ranges of 60-256 KB. 802.15.4/ZigBee operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands: 2.4 GHz in most countries worldwide which is a driving factor for the global market. The current focus of the 802.15.4/ZigBee market players is on increasing high data throughput and a set of applications which require simple wireless connectivity, relaxed throughput, very low power, are short distance and inexpensive.802.15.4/ZigBee Market: SegmentationThe global 802.15.4/ZigBee market is classified on the basis of end user and region.Based on end user, the global 802.15.4/ZigBee market is segmented into the following:IndustrialAgriculturalAutomobile & AutomotiveResidentialHealthcare802.15.4/ZigBee Market: Overview802.15.4/ZigBee is typically used in low data rate applications which require long battery life and secure networking. 802.15.4/ZigBee networks are secured by 128 bit symmetric encryption keys. 802.15.4/ZigBee has a defined rate of 250 kbit/s, best suited for intermittent data transmissions from a sensor or input device. 802.15.4/ZigBee continues to work closely with the IEEE to ensure an integrated and complete solution for the global market.802.15.4/ZigBee Market: Region wise OverviewGeographically, global 802.15.4/ZigBee market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA).802.15.4/ZigBee takes full advantage of a powerful physical radio specified by IEEE 802.15.4. 802.15.4/ZigBee is a logical network, security and application software. The 868 MHz band is appropriate for European use, while 902-928 MHz band is only be used in the U.S., Canada and a few other countries and territories that accept the FCC regulations. These are the prominent markets for 802.15.4/ZigBee.Visit For TOC@802.15.4/ZigBee Market: Key PlayersThe key players in global 802.15.4/ZigBee market are Digi International Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Anaren, Atmel, California Eastern Laboratories, Dresden elektronik, Nivis, LLC., Radios, Inc., Telegesis Ltd., Sena Technologies 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: Europe, Middle East and Africa Rotavirus Vaccine Market is estimated to grow at a fast rate forecast period of 2017 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/emea-europe-middle-east-and-africa-rotavirus-vaccine-market-report-2017 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/397796 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/397796 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/397796 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research SummaryThis report helps to analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market Report 2017DescriptionAccording to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market report, the (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is estimated to grow at a fast rate through the forecast period of 2017 up to 2022. The growing importance of EMEA owing to its strategic location along the trade route and the flourishing economies are expected to keep pushing the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market report covers market from the inside out and contains key statistics and in-depth analysis allowing to customers to gain actionable insights and in-turn flourish. The detailed EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market segmentation covers each segment and its performance along with their latest trends and impact on the market for the current year, as well as for the forecast period of 2017 -2022.To Browse the Entire Report, Visit :Many important topics are covered in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market report about the market as follows:Product OverviewProduct classificationMarket size in terms of sales and market share, compared by typeSegmentation of the market into:ProductsApplicationRegionTop players in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is segmented in terms of region into Europe, Middle East, and Africa as follows:Europe: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Benelux;Middle East: Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE;Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.Get a PDF Sample of Report at:The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is segmented on the basis of products intoOralOthersOn the basis of application, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is segmented intoHospitalClinicsPublic ServicesOthersEach segment and sub-segment of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is covered on the basis of various parameters such as region, type, revenue, and production.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market report has a detailed coverage of the competition in the market under top companies where the customer has access to the top players in the market and their company profiles. This allows the customer gain insights into the competitors activities, thus enabling them to create a better plan of action for expanding and gaining the maximum (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market share.Top players in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market includeincludingMerckGSKSanofi...The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market report has the customary SWOT analysis along with tables and diagrams depicting the important statistics in the report making it easier for the customer to consume the information.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market is definitely the best curated report available, compiled by the top research experts and subject experts to ensure that the customer at all times receives the most accurate information about the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Rotavirus Vaccine Market.No. of Report Pages: 105Place a Purchase Order for this Report at:List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Rotavirus VaccineFigure EMEA Rotavirus Vaccine Sales Volume (K Pcs) by Type (2012-2022)Figure EMEA Rotavirus Vaccine Sales Volume Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Figure Oral Product PictureFigure Others Product PictureFigure EMEA Rotavirus Vaccine Sales Volume (K Pcs) by Application (2012-2022)Figure EMEA Sales Market Share of Rotavirus Vaccine by Application in 2016Figure Hospital ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in HospitalFigure Clinics ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in ClinicsFigure Public Services ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Public ServicesFigure Others ExamplesGot 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: Synthetic Biology Market 2016-2026 Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1226 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1226 www.futuremarketinsights.com 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.Visit For TOC@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.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 (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: CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Waterstone Defeasance recently closed a defeasance transaction for an $8.4 million CMBS loan, secured by an industrial business park located in Charlotte, NC. Waterstone guided the owners through the defeasance process coinciding with the owners sale of their property. As the defeasance consultant, Waterstone managed the activities of the numerous parties involved with the transaction in order to meet the borrowers closing schedule. Parties associated with a defeasance transaction typically include the servicer, servicers counsel, borrower, borrowers counsel, securities broker, custodian, accountant, rating agencies, and the successor borrower. "Our defeasance team works so well with all of our clients. Its always a pleasure to hear how satisfied the clients are with our services after the closings. We look forward to working with Mr. Elliott again in the near future. - Carol Tillman, COO at Waterstone. About Waterstone Defeasance Waterstone Defeasance, LLC is an independent consulting firm specializing in assisting commercial real estate borrowers through the defeasance process. Since 2005, Waterstone has assisted owners and their advisors achieve the lowest possible defeasance costs. Waterstone has developed an industry-leading online defeasance calculator so clients can get a quick defeasance estimate on their website (defeasanceservices.com). Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company also has offices in New York, Dallas, and Irvine. Easy Peel Film Packaging Market size in terms of volume and value 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2662 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2662 www.futuremarketinsights.com The revenue form the packaging industry sales globally is expected to continue to show strong growth as both increased consumption and demand for consumer goods and food has driven the needs for more sophisticated packaging, such as easy peel film packaging, supported by growing middle class and rising disposable income. Packaging film and even packaging product manufacturers are offering products with additional focus given to the convenience aspect for consumers, ultimately creating profitable market opportunities for companies providing easy peel film packaging. Easy peel film packaging has been one of the most innovative product offering from packaging companies, vastly benefitting the food and beverage industry in a very short span of time. Moreover, easy peel film packaging allows the customer to handle the product safely and with ease and also ensure consumers that the packaging can be separated from the product without leaving any residue and that it can be fully emptied, minimizing the wastage of the content. Easy peel film packaging is also moisture resistant, enhances product quality and also benefits both consumers with convenience and aids manufacturers in relation to its sustainable, and easy disposal nature. In addition, easy peel film packaging is also an economical solution for manufacturers, as it reduces the shipping and logistics cost during transportation, ultimately maximizing the profitability margin of suppliers.Request Report Sample@Easy Peel Film Packaging: Market DynamicsGrowth in demand for easy peel film packaging is anticipated to remain steady for various reasons. Firstly, the food & beverage industry is constantly striving to offer its products that not only make the packaging attractive but also offers convenience. Secondly, rising investment in product innovation, among packaging film and machinery manufacturers, expansion of production capacity to meet the demand is expected to drive the demand of easy peel film packaging throughout the forecast period. The trend of replacing conventional rigid plastic film with easy peel film packaging has been rather safe and economical option for packaging manufacturers, as they consume relatively less space during inventory and transportation. Moreover, offering customized easy peel films with dimensions and printing options as per the customer requirement is the new trend observed in the global easy peel film packaging market. Easy peel film packaging can be used for various types of plastic containers and cups and leaves no residue behind. The packaging form is non-sticky and perform well with all sorts of temperature. Despite growth opportunities, the manufacturing cost of such packaging is relatively high, resulting into low profitability margins for packaging film suppliers.Easy Peel Film Packaging: Market SegmentationThe global easy peel film packaging market is segmented on the basis of application, material, packaging and region. On the basis of application, the global easy peel film packaging market is segmented into food & beverage, medical application segment, industrial application segment and other consumer products segment. The food and beverage segment is further sub-segmented into seafood products, frozen food, dairy products, bakery & confectionary, microwaveable food products, and beverages. The medical application segment is further sub-segmented as syringes, catheter packaging film and infusion bags. Further the industrial application segment is sub-segmented into toner containers, ink cartridges and other industrial products. The consumer products is further segmented into air fresheners, deodorizers, washing detergents, wet wipes and other consumer products. Demand of easy peel film packaging from food application segment is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities to the global easy peel film packaging market in terms of growth prospects. Moreover, on the basis of material type, the global easy peel film packaging market is segmented into linear low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and others. On the basis of packaging type, the global easy peel film packaging is segmented into cups, trays, pouches and other containers.Easy Peel Film Market: Regional outlookEasy peel film packaging market has been segmented on the basis of region into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. Among these region, North America and Europe are expected to collectively dominate the market throughout the forecast period. However, many packaging film suppliers and converter companies are investing in Asia Pacific to tap the growing unmet demand and potential, easy peel film packaging offers to packaging film manufacturers in the region. Furthermore, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness maximum CAGR over the forecast period primarily driven by China, Japan and India. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to witness sluggish growth and over the forecast period. In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico are expected to create maximum incremental opportunities in terms of revenue for companies involved in easy peel film packaging.Visit For TOC@Easy Peel Film Packaging Market: Key playersSome of the key players in the global easy peel film packaging market are J-Film Corporation, Evonik Industries, Mitsui Chemicals, Bemis Company Inc., Shrinath Rotopack Pvt Ltd, Tilak Polypack Pvt Ltd. A majority of easy peel packaging companies are largely headquartered in Europe and North America. However, China and India based packaging film manufacturers are looking to grab most of the opportunity offered in terms of revenue from the global easy peel film packaging 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: Greek Yogurt Market 2016-2026 size in terms of volume and value http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1308 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1308 www.futuremarketinsights.com 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.Request Report Sample@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.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: Global Ground Coffee Market Research Report 2017 - Caffe Nero, Coffee Beanery, Coffee Republic, Costa Coffee http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1305691&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1305691&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-ground-coffee-market-research-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Ground Coffee Market Research Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The global Ground Coffee market offered here is done with the express purpose of giving its readers a firm grasp of the present as well as the upcoming trends and other factors of influence on the markret. This also includes the factors pertaining to business opportunities and likely strategies that could be implemented. Using a perfect combination of primary and secondary research, the authors of the report offer a deep study of Ground Coffee, so as to help interested parties secure a strong foothold in the market. Although there could be some factors restraining the growth of the market, the report authors identify potential prospects capable of bringing the demand back to the industry. Participants could count their future plans on these analytical findings to stay afloat in the competitive environment of the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @With regard to competition, the report sheds light on some of the leading companies of the Ground Coffee. The company profiling section could include an evaluation of their business products, specifications, revenue, and future business plans. The analysts also gauge the nature of the market and its competitive landscape with the help of statistics and deeper knowledge gained through extensive research. The market shares of different players studied in the report could provide a clear understanding of how the market will be contributed to in the near future.Each segment, be it related to product, application, or region, is highly evaluated for its potential to draw growth and add to the demand in the Ground Coffee. Forecast statistics with the latest years taken into consideration are provided to relate to the growth of the overall market and also its individual segments.Table of ContentsGlobal Ground Coffee Market Research Report 20171 Ground Coffee Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Ground Coffee1.2 Ground Coffee Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Ground Coffee Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Ground Coffee Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Request A Discount on This report @3 Global Ground Coffee Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Ground Coffee Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Ground Coffee Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Ground Coffee Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Ground Coffee Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Ground Coffee Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Ground Coffee Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Ground Coffee Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Ground Coffee Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Ground Coffee Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Ground Coffee Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Ground Coffee Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Ground Coffee Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Ground Coffee Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Ground Coffee Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Ground Coffee Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Ground Coffee Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Ground Coffee Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesBrowse Complete Report with TOC @List of Tables and FiguresFigure North America Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Ground Coffee Revenue (Million USD) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Ground Coffee Capacity, Production (K MT) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Ground Coffee Major Players Product Capacity (K MT) (2012-2017)Table Global Ground Coffee Capacity (K MT) of Key Manufacturers (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 Snack Food Packaging Market size in terms of volume and value 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2631 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2631 www.futuremarketinsights.com Snack food is becoming a mainstream trend that has gathered force over time and is considered as one of the most preferred form of commodities, hence snack food packaging should be attractive to buyers in order to gain their attention. Shifting preference of consumers for snack foods into meals are changing how restaurants and packaged food manufacturers market food. Packaged food manufacturers stay on top of their changing preferences and needs, mostly for health, value and quality as well. For instance, nearly 80% of consumers looks for best value products.Snack Food Packaging Market: DynamicsThe growing number of nuclear families coupled with increasing disposable incomes has unwrapped tremendous opportunities for the ready to eat snack foods which in turn driven the growth for the global snack food packaging market in the near future. The opportunity to indulge in exotic flavor options at reasonable prices, convenience and changing consumer lifestyle are the major factors that influence the growth of snack food packaging market. The consumers crave for healthier snack food products and they are unwilling to sacrifice flavor as these are now trends in the overall snack food market. Furthermore, the trend of eating snacks in between meals has led to the tremendous demand for the global snack food packaging market.Request Report Sample@Branding and product innovation act as a decisive factor which has provided impetus to the global snack food packaging market. Manufacturers emphasis on their product offering in order to suit the taste of the consumers and developing new alternatives to provide to geographic specific demand which has expanded their consumer base.Innovations in the global packaging industry, such as sophisticated packaging products which are made of materials such as biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP), biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET), and cast polypropylene (CPP) has led manufacturers of snack food packaging market to provide attractive and colorful packs to draw attention to consumers.Snack Food Packaging Market: SegmentationOn the basis of material type, the global snack food packaging market is segmented intoPlasticBOPPPolypropylenePolyethyleneLLDPEPolyesterOthersPaperMetalOthersOn the basis of packaging types, the global snack food packaging market is segmented intoFlexible PackagingRigid PackagingOthersOn the basis of application, the global snack food packaging is segmented into,Bakery SnacksCandy & confectionsSavory SnacksNuts & Dried FruitsOthersOn the basis of end-use, the global snack food packaging market is segmented into,RestaurantsFull service restaurantsQuick service restaurantscateringFood truckSnack Food Packaging Market: Region wise OutlookIn geography, the global snack food packaging market is divided into majorly five regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. In the global snack food packaging market, developed countries of North America like U.S, accounts for largest market share which is attributed to the high consumption of consumers as well as stringent government regulations on the safety and the quality of the snack food products. U.S is considered as a mature market for bakery and snack foods and is projected to grow with around 4% throughout 2016 to 2020 and Europe is considered to be the second largest market in the global snack food packaging market. However, outside of the U.S the opportunity to increase the sales of snack foods is also increasing as well. Asia Pacific is expected to be primarily driven mainly by china, Japan and India in the global snack food packaging market. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to witness sluggish growth over the forecast period. In Latin America, Brazil, Mexico and rest of Latin America are expected to create market opportunities for companies involved in the global snack food packaging market.Visit For TOC@Snack Food Packaging Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players who are engaged in manufacturing snack food packaging are Sonoco Products, Sealed Air Corporation, Graham Packaging Holdings, Bemis Company, American Packaging, Bryce Corporation and many others, Swiss pack private limited and many more.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: Global Population Health Management Software and Services Market 2017: AbilTo, Acupera, Athenahealth, Cerner http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1299557&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1299557&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-population-health-management-software-and-services-sales-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Market Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the Population Health Management Software and Services has been compiled after conducting extensive primary and secondary research through seasoned hands. Primary research has covered a bulk of the efforts taken to prepare the report, including key discussions with several important opinion leaders and industry experts and significant data collected with the help of thorough interviews conducted. Secondary research, on the other hand, has covered studies of the most vital national and global databases, analyst presentations, investor presentations, press releases, annual reports, and company websites. With such in-depth research performed using cutting-edge techniques, interested parties have been anticipated to gain a comprehensive and definite understanding of the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Researchers authoring the publication have provided near-accurate estimations of the Population Health Management Software and Services, along with those of key segmentations, for the forecast timeframe under discussion. The revenue generated by each segment, the potential of different markets within the global market, and various macro and micro environment factors have been presented in the publication. In terms of geography, the researchers have studied the adoption rate, awareness, and industry trends taking shape or about to show face in the key regions of the market. Market opportunities prevailing in different segments have also been identified and assessed by the researchers.Besides profiling leading players in the Population Health Management Software and Services, the report has evaluated their various chief attributes and provided information pertaining to recent developments, business strategies, product portfolio, financial overview, and company overview. Buyers of the report have also be informed about the percentage shares of different companies deduced using market share analysis.Table of ContentsGlobal Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Market Report 20171 Population Health Management Software and Services Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Population Health Management Software and Services1.2 Classification of Population Health Management Software and Services by Product Category1.2.1 Global Population Health Management Software and Services Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Population Health Management Software and Services Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2016Request A Discount on This report @3 United States Population Health Management Software and Services (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4 China Population Health Management Software and Services (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5 Europe Population Health Management Software and Services (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Population Health Management Software and Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)Browse Complete Report with TOC @List of Tables and FiguresFigure United States Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Volume (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Population Health Management Software and Services Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Market Major Players Population Health Management Software and Services Sales Volume (K Units) (2012-2017)Table Global Population Health Management Software and Services Sales (K Units) of Key Players/Suppliers (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 Tumour Ablation Devices Market 2016-2026 Analysis, Segments, Growth and Value Chain http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1325 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1325 www.futuremarketinsights.com Tumours are the groups of abnormal cells that accumulate together and form lumps and grow consistently. Tumour are categorized into noncancerous and cancerous tumours. Precancerous conditions have the potential of developing into cancer. Tumour ablation is a tool utilized to treat cancerous malignancy. Tumour ablation is the process of removing the cancerous cells from the body. Tumour ablation became more useful during 1970s and 1980s due to advances in laparoscopic surgical approach. The most common means for definitive treatment of primary and metastatic focal malignancy, is the evolution of imaging devices during the past two decades and image-guided tumour ablation.Tumour Ablation Devices Market: Drivers & RestraintsIncreasing prevalence and incidences of cancers, technological advances and increasing geriatric population, increasing numbers of hospitals and healthcare awareness are facilitating the growth of global tumour ablation devices market. Additionally, economic pricing, short recovery time, low risk of infection, and minimal hospital stays are increasing the importance of tumour ablation devices.Side effects associated with ablation treatment and limited performance of the devices are the factors restraining the growth of global tumour ablation device market.Request Report Sample@Tumour Ablation Devices Market: OverviewThe lung cancer application segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the next five years due to large patient population of lung cancer present across developing and developed regions. This has increased the investment of manufacturers to develop and commercialize innovative lung cancer ablation products. The radiofrequency ablation is widely used technique due to specificity of treating target tissue without causing damage to the surrounding cells. Microwave ablation product segment is expected to grow significantly due to increase in adoption rate of microwave ablation devices by healthcare professionals.Visit For TOC@Tumour Ablation Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookRegion wise, the global tumour ablation market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa.The global market is expected to be dominated by North America due to factors such as early introduction and adoption of rate of tumour ablation products in the region, trend of replacing older technologies and introducing the new technologies, and increase in private and public funding to develop and commercialize the novel tumour ablation products.The Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at a higher CAGR in the forecast period due to factors such as large population with the high prevalence of various cancers in the region, government initiatives for developing and modernizing the healthcare infrastructure.Tumour Ablation Devices Market: Key PlayersKey players of tumour ablation devices market are Boston Scientific Corporation, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Biotronic NeuroNetwork, LLC, Baylis Medical, biolitec AG, Spectranetics, Esaote SpA, ALPINION MEDICAL SYSTEMS Co., Ltd., Chongqing Haifu Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Koninklijke Philips N.V, Hironic Co., Ltd., Monteris Medical, Inc, EDAP TMS, EYE TECH CARE, NeuWave Medical, Inc, Vison medical, AtriCure, Inc, Galil Medical Inc, ENDOCARE INC, IceCure Medical, Sanarus HealthTronics, Inc, MEDTRONIC, MedWaves, AngioDynamics, Microsulis Medical, Perseon, SympleSurgical Inc. to name a few.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: Leather Suitcase Market: Global Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017-2022 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/378111 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/378111 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-market-research-report-on-global-leather-suitcase-industry http://orbisnewsrelease.com In our aim to provide our erudite clients with the best research material with absolute in-depth information of the market, our new report on Global Leather Suitcase Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Leather Suitcase Market is an in-depth study and analysis of the market by our industry experts with unparalleled domain knowledge. The report will shed light on many critical points and trends of the industry which are useful for our esteemed clients. The report covers a vast expanse of information including an overview, comprehensive analysis, definitions and classifications, applications, and expert opinions, among others. With the extent of information filled in the report, the presentation and style of the Global Leather Suitcase Market report is a noteworthy.Major Manufacturers: Samsonite International S.A. Tumi Holdings VIP Industries VF Corporation Briggs & Riley Travelware Rimowa GmbH MCM Worldwide Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. IT LuggageRequest a sample of this report @The Global Leather Suitcase Industry report provides key information about the industry, including invaluable facts and figures, expert opinions, and the latest developments across the globe. Not only does the report cover a holistic view of the industry from a global standpoint, but it also covers individual regions and their development. The Global Leather Suitcase Industry report showcases the latest trends in the global and regional markets on all critical parameters which include technology, supplies, capacity, production, profit, price, and competition.The key players covered in the report provide a detailed analysis of the competition and their developments in the Global Leather Suitcase Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Leather Suitcase Market report.Key Regions: North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaPlace a purchase order of this report @The report also focuses on the significance of industry chain analysis and all variables, both upstream and downstream. These include equipment and raw materials, client surveys, marketing channels, and industry trends and proposals. Other significant information covering consumption, key regions and distributors, and raw material suppliers are also a covered in this report.Finally, the Leather Suitcase Market report ends with a detailed SWOT analysis of the market, investment feasibility and returns, and development trends and forecasts. As with every report on Orbis Research, the Leather Suitcase Industry is the holy grail of information which serious knowledge seekers can benefit from. The report which is the result of ultimate dedication of pedigree professionals has a wealth of information which can benefit anyone, irrespective of their commercial or academic interest.Browse the complete report @Major Points from Table of Content:Chapter One: Leather Suitcase Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Leather Suitcase Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter Three: Global Leather Suitcase Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Leather Suitcase Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Five: Global Leather Suitcase Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter Six: Global Leather Suitcase Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter Seven: Global Leather Suitcase Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisChapter Eight: Leather Suitcase Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Nine: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Ten: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Eleven: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter Twelve: Global Leather Suitcase Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Thirteen: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Fourteen: AppendixContact sales@orbisresearch.com for more information.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 Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019For More PRs: Clinical Alarm Management Market 2016-2026 Set for Rapid Growth And Trends http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1713 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1713 www.futuremarketinsights.com Clinical alarm systems are devices that alert caregivers of immediate adverse patient conditions and help in enhancing potential patient-safety. Alarmsmust be accurate, unique and provide alerts, which could be readily identified and understood by caregivers and the products must belong to standardized & approved product categories. These systems are either built-in or attached to other medical equipment & monitoring systems. Alarm fatigue is the psychological effect produced by too many alarms occurring in a clinical environment, causing clinicians to miss true clinically significant alarms. When alarms work well, the environment of patient care is enhanced. When alarms do not work well, they pull caregivers away from their line of respective duties and other patients, or even ignore alarm sounds altogether. Cases of ignored alarms have resulted in patient deaths earlier in extreme cases. Most often, the major usability problem is an alarm flood- too many alarms ringing together, in case of any device failure. Other defects hampering clinical alarm uptake in sophisticated healthcare systems include poorly designed alarms, improperly set alarm points, ineffective alarm announcements, and unclear alarm messages among others.Clinical Alarm Management Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing awareness of care providers towards enhancing patient safety is a prominent factor pushing the revenue growth of the clinical alarm management market. Others revenue drivers include rising medtech investments by governments of all major countries and promoting access to basic healthcare across all sections of the society. Integrated alarm system designs are often not standardized across different medical equipment systems and devices. This could be considered as a restraint for clinical alarm management market. Improper alarm escalation leading to false negative cases - such as a patient needs immediate clinical attention but a clinician is not alerted - substantially compromises on patient-safety. Other factors negatively affecting market growth are lack of product standardization across regions and lack of proper skills to rationalize the alarm adjustment process.Request Report Sample@Clinical Alarm Management Market: SegmentationClinical alarm management market is segmented based on product type, end user and geography.Based on product type, clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:Physiological monitorsTelemetry monitorsVentilatorsInfusion PumpsAnesthesia MachinesCompression PumpsFeeding PumpsNurse Call SystemBed AlarmsBased on end user, the clinical alarm management market is segmented as follows:HospitalsClinicsAmbulatory surgical centersLong term and palliative care centersHome careOthersClinical Alarm Management Market: OverviewIn the present market scenario, clinical alarm manufacturers prioritize sensitivity over specificity. This often leads to a large number of false positive cases, which is often misleading. Particularly, when alarm frequency is high, caregivers could become desensitized, develop alarm fatigue, and create a false negative outcome, compromising patient safety. With rise in the number of urban healthcare centers across regions, there clinical alarm management market is witnessing a sustained growth in demand for standard and tested products. To avoid product level dysfunctionalities, the AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) Foundation had added clinical alarms to its portfolio of multidisciplinary initiatives to advance patient safety and created an Alarm Best Practices Workgroup in 2012. The committee reviews and recommends best practices on clinical alarm management at regular intervals. Developed pharmaceutical markets are expected to create sustainable traction in generating demand for standardized clinical alarm systems over the forecast period, while developing markets are expected to follow suit.Visit For TOC@Clinical Alarm Management Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global clinical alarm management marketis classified into seven regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to dominate the clinical alarm management market in terms of both revenue and demand generation owing to greater awareness on medtech advancement followed by Western Europe. However, over the foreseeable long term, markets in Latin America and Asia-Pacific could prove lucrative in terms of market opportunities owing to persistence of factors such as greater penetration of access to organized healthcare and rising disposable income level contribution to private healthcare spending.Clinical Alarm ManagementMarket: Key PlayersSome of the major companies contributing to global clinical alarm management market include Medtronic, Extension Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Koninklijke Phislips N.V., Baxter incorporated, Connexall, Mindray Medical International Limited 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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email:press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: High FTTH and LTE Penetration Levels to Drive Growing Demand for OTT and IoT Applications In Uruguay Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=948200 http://www.researchmoz.us/uruguay-high-ftth-and-lte-penetration-levels-to-drive-growing-demand-for-ott-and-iot-applications-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "High FTTH and LTE Penetration Levels to Drive Growing Demand for OTT and IoT Applications In Uruguay" to its huge collection of research reports.Uruguay is the fourth most developed economy in Latin America, measured in terms of PPP-adjusted GDP per capita, just below Panama, Chile and Argentina. With an estimated revenue of $1.5bn, or 2.9% of GDP, the telecom and pay-TV services market in Uruguay is also one of the most developed in the region. The country has one of the highest 4G/LTE penetration rates in Latin America, which combined with a high FTTH adoption rate creates a fertile ground for the development of a wide range of digital services and applications in areas such as OTT and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions related to smart cities, smart metering, smart home and smart building.Key Findings- Uruguays high levels of development in the telecom segment are mostly explained by the implementation of ambitious digital development policies aimed at providing Internet access to most of its population.- The distribution of telecom service revenue in the Uruguayan market has been quite stable over the past several years, and we expect it will remain relatively unchanged going forward. Antel, which holds a monopoly in several key market segments, is the largest player in the market in terms of revenue, distantly followed by mobile operators Movistar and Claro.- We project that the countrys mobile subscriber base will expand at a CAGR of 1.6% during the 2016-2021 period, driven by M2M connections and the increasing adoption of mobile data services, particularly in less populated parts of the country, where the future rollout of 4G/LTE in the 700MHz band will have a greater impact.SynopsisUruguay: High FTTH and LTE Penetration Levels to Drive Growing Demand for OTT and IoT Services' a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Uruguay today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Uruguay compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in Uruguay.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed/pay-TV and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Uruguays telecommunications and pay-TV markets.Reasons To Buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Uruguays telecommunications and pay-TV markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Uruguays mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP, broadband and pay-TV markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Uruguays telecommunications and pay-TV markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Uruguay.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 @ Global Vape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Market Expected To Reach Approx US$32.11 Billion By 2021 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=778317 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-vape-market-ecigarette-and-vaporizer-strategic-assessment-and-forecast-till-2021-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Vape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Market Expected To Reach Approx US$32.11 Billion By 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.A vape product or broadly known as e-cigarette, electronic cigarette, and vaporizer is a battery operated device and has been reckoned as an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes by many vendors. Without the inhalation of smoke, it gives the experience of tobacco smoking where the user inhales the vaporized nicotine emitted by the device. Vape products are smoke and tobacco-free consumer products. These are also designed and used as a tobacco harm reduction (THR) product and are sold as medical devices in many countries. The major turning point for the vape product market was the year 2014 as the market witnessed a record number of major acquisitions, the launch of technologically advanced product, patent warfare, and the introduction of government regulations.The effects of vaping on the human body are not yet fully known. However, they are considered less toxic than traditional tobacco cigarettes because they produce vapor instead of smoke. They are considered as an effective method that helps smokers quit smoking, though there is no scientifically grounded evidence for this.Vape market (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) research report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Worldwide Vape Products (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Market for the period 2015-2021. The report provides in-depth analysis of market size and growth of Worldwide Vape market. This market research report includes a detailed market segmentation of the Worldwide Vapor Products Market byVape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products SegmentationClosed System Vape ProductsCigalikes (also known as disposables/first-generation e-cigarette)Rechargeables (also known as second-generation e-cigarette)Refill CartridgesOpen System Vape ProductsVapor/tanks/mods or VTMs (also called personal vaporizer/modulars/electronic cigarette/third-generation e-cigarette)E-liquids/e-juicesVape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products Geographic SegmentationNorth AmericaEuropeAPACROWVape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products Distribution ChannelsOnlineRetailConvenience storesVape shopsTobacco shopsGroceryDrug storesOthersThe report also provides market share and profiles the key vendors operating in the Worldwide Vape Products Market and also provides the detailed competitive landscape of key players.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Vape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products Market Size and DynamicsA vaping device or vapor product is a battery-powered inhaler that simulates tobacco smoking. It is designed to provide inhaled doses of e-juice by vaporizing the flavored liquid, and then simulating the effects of smoking by vaporizing the liquid, which the user inhales and exhales. A vaping device, also known as an e-vaping device, a personal vaporizer, or an ENDS uses a heating element to vaporize the flavored liquid. The e-juices in the market are available in more than 3,000 flavors with many more being added every month.Vape products are broadly classified into two categories: closed systems (cigalikes, rechargeables, and refill cartridges) and open systems (VTMs and e-liquids). Market research analysts at Beige Market Intelligence, expect the Worldwide Vape Products Market to reach approx. US$32.11 billion by 2021.The Worldwide Vape Products market has been segmented on the basis of distribution channels and geographical region. North America accounted for the largest market share of more than 40% of the market in 2015; it is expected to grow at a high CAGR of around 27% between 2015 and 2021. However, APAC market is expected to account for a share of around 21% of the market in 2021.Vape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products Drivers and TrendsThis market research report provides market overview of the factors driving and restraining the growth of the market. The report also outlines the key trends emerging in the market that will contribute to the growth of Worldwide Vape Products (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Market during the forecast period. The factors driving the growth of the market include consumers' perception of vapor products as an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. There is increased desire among consumers worldwide to quit smoking tobacco and this has made vaping a rapidly growing concept worldwide. The global sales volume of traditional cigarettes has declined owing to an increase in sales of e-cigarette and vaping. The US witnessed about 19% decline altogether in traditional cigarette sales among adults, i.e., a drop from 20 of every 100 adults (19.8%) in 2008 to nearly 16 of every 100 adults (15.7%) in 2015. Due to this, the majority of the global players in the tobacco industry witnessed a massive decline in the shipment of traditional cigarettes in 2015, prompting bigger tobacco companies like Altria Group, Imperial Tobacco, and Reynolds American to rush into the vapor products market. Also, the increasing number of deaths caused by smoking-related cancer has propelled people to stop smoking traditional cigarettes. For instance, as per the US government, approximately 480,000 people, due to active smoking, and nearly 42,000 people, due to passive smoking, die in the country every year. The tobacco smoking is attributed to one in every five deaths in the US.Some of the major challenges confronting the Worldwide Vape Products (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Market include governments introducing stringent norms to regulate vapor products. Vape products are banned in many major economies such as Brazil, Japan, and Indonesia. Also, the governments of Poland and India are considering imposing a complete ban on the sale and use of these products. In March 2016, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) banned the use of e-cigarette, vape pens and vaporizer or vapes in flights. Moreover, growing health concerns related to the use of vapor products is acting as a challenge to the growth of the market. Regulatory bodies are still not clear on how much nicotine or other chemicals are actually being inhaled by the body while vaping. In addition, the effectiveness of these products in helping people quit smoking has not been fully studied. Researchers have indicated that e-liquids containing chemical flavoring have substances which cause lung diseases. About 90% of the flavored e-liquid or e-juice in the market contain an organic compound called Diacetyl. This flavoring chemical, i.e., Diacetyl has also been linked to severe lung diseases. Exposure to this chemical leads to Bronchiolitis obliterans, spirometry abnormalities and other harmful respiratory symptoms.The market research report also provides the Porters five forces analysis along with a description of each of the forces and its impact on the market.Vape (e-Cigarette and Vaporizer) Products Key Vendors and Market ShareThis market research report profiles the major companies in the market and also provides the competitive landscape and market share of key players. Within the report covers the entire market outlook regarding the value chain operating within the market. The major players in the market include Altria Group, British American Tobacco (BAT), Imperial Brands (earlier Imperial Tobacco), Japan Tobacco, NJOY, and Reynolds American.Other prominent vendors in the market include Ballantyne Brands, CB Distributors, Gamucci, Nicotek, RRR Chemicals, Vapor, ECIG, VMR Products, and White Cloud among others.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 @ Chicago, Illinois, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The John Marshall Law School in Chicago has welcomed its 2017 entering class with 263 JD students, up from 255 JD students last year. This is the first fall class to start under Dean Darby Dickerson, whose appointment as John Marshall Dean became effective January 1. Dickerson joined John Marshall from Texas Tech University School of Law where she had been Dean since 2011 and also holds the W. Frank Newton Endowed Professorship. From 2003 until 2011, Dickerson served as the Interim Dean and Dean of Stetson University College of Law. John Marshalls new students continue to reflect the law schools longstanding mission of access and opportunity. More than half of the new JD class 54 percent are women and 36 percent identify as minorities. John Marshalls community is made up of more than 50 student organizations that represent the diverse interests and pursuits of the student body. These organizations include the Womens Law Caucus, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Latino Law Students Association and Middle Eastern Law Students Association. Student leaders from many of these organizations comprise the Multicultural Leadership Council, which works to ensure that John Marshall remains at the forefront of diversity and inclusion. Additionally, the Academic Enhancement Program, developed by the Latino Law Students Association and run by the Office of Diversity Affairs, offers students a forum for course review through weekly assessments and practice exams. Founded in 1899, John Marshall was a pioneer in opening its doors and admitting minorities, women and immigrants. The law school graduated its first female student, Jessie Cook, in 1903; its first African-American student, James Randle, in 1904; and its first Hispanic student, William E. Rodriguez, in 1912. Today, with over 35 percent of the student body at John Marshall composed of minority students, the law schools student body is one of the most diversified in the nation, according to preLaw magazine. About The John Marshall Law School The John Marshall Law School, founded in 1899, is an independent law school located in the heart of Chicago's legal, financial and commercial districts. The 2018 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools ranks John Marshall's Lawyering Skills Program 5th, its Trial Advocacy Program 13th and its Intellectual Property Law Program 19th in the nation. Since its inception, John Marshall has been a pioneer in legal education and has been guided by a tradition of diversity, innovation, access and opportunity. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/09da3e02-100f-4399-a2d9-806b4671cd57 Global Outlook for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Market By Key Trends and Analysis 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1690 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ Climbing Numbers of Chronic Conditions Drive API MarketThe growing pool of geriatrics is driving the demand for various types of drugs, which in turn is leading to a soaring demand of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) market. Active pharmaceutical ingredients are primarily used for making drugs that are used for treating a range of chronic conditions such as cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, neurology disorders as well as for other therapeutic uses. Given this strong background, Transparency Market research states the opportunity in this market will be worth US$219.60 bn by 2023 from US$134.7 bn in 2015. Between the forecast period of 2015 and 2023, the overall market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.3%.The improving access to healthcare with the rapid penetration of technology and other developments in the healthcare sector has also increased the consumption of drugs, thereby directly creating a positive impact on this market. Furthermore, growing healthcare budgets of developed and developing countries are also making a significant contribution towards propelling the sale of API market. Furthermore, the compliance by Indian active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers with U.S. FDA norms is also anticipated to result in increasing applications of this substance.Obtain Report Details @Complicated Cardiovascular Diseases to Keep Fueling Demand for APIsAs of 2015, the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and other metabolic disorders led these therapeutic segments to account for a collective share of 50% in the global market. In the forecast period, the prevalence of complicated cardiovascular conditions is going to propel this therapeutic area at a 6.63% CAGR. Furthermore, as the majority of the blockbuster drugs lost patents between 2011 and 2015, it has opened a huge ground for other companies to introduce their drugs, thereby increasing the competition and probably reducing costs.Asia Pacific to Emerge as Key Manufacturer of APIsAs of 2014, North America held a dominant share in the overall market, accounting for about 35.1% share in the market. The presence of big pharmaceutical companies in North America that require large amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients is the major factor driving the API market in North America. Analysts predict that introduction of biosimilars as the regulatory process get relaxed will further accelerate the consumption of active pharmaceutical ingredients in North America. The API manufacturing will experience an upsurge in the emerging economies of Japan, China, South Korea, and India due to the presence of manufacturing facilities and cheap cost of labor.Some of the leading companies operating in the global active pharmaceutical ingredient market are Zhejiang Medicine Co., Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Zhejiang NHU Co., Ltd , North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp. (NCPC), Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Limited, Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Aurobindo Pharma Limited, Sandoz (Novartis AG), Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. amongst others. Currently, these players are focusing on partnering with other companies to acquire a new line of products to add value to their portfolio. Furthermore, companies are also anticipated to focus on expanding their capacities to cater to the vast unmet medical needs of the world.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: Car Air Filter Market Value to reach US$ 9,916 Mn by 2022 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=135 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=135 https://www.factmr.com/report/135/car-air-filter-market https://www.factmr.com/ Global car air filter market is witnessing steady demand from all across the globe. This is due to the reason that car air filters are an integral part of the automobiles as they protect the internal combustion engine from dust particles and grime coming from the air that mixes with the fuel in the engine. If the air filter of a car is not clean, it may result in damage to the engine of the car. Besides this, the car will not function in an optimal manner and will exhibit reduced mileage and black sooty smoke or flames coming out from the exhaust if the air filter is worn out or not replaced at a proper time. The increasing sales of automobiles, especially cars, is the main driver of the global car air filter market. However, as the future of the automobile industry is centered on the electric cars, in which no fuel is burnt in the engine, the market for car air filter may get restricted during the assessment period. This is especially true of the European market, where electric cars are becoming popular due to the strict air pollution emission norms prevalent in the region.The global car air filter market is slated to touch a value of nearly US$ 9,916 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 Car Air Filter MarketAs per the forecast of Fact.MR, the intake air filter segment is slated to touch a value of nearly US$ 5,366 Mn in the year 2022. This represents a sluggish CAGR growth during the assessment period of 2017-2022. The intake air filter segment is estimated to account for more than half 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 OES car air filter segment will reach a value of nearly US$ 2,564 Mn in the year 2017. This represents a sluggish CAGR growth during the forecast period. The OES car air filter segment is estimated to account for more than one-fourth of the revenue share of the sales channel segment in the year 2017 end and is expected to lose market share by the end of the year 2022.Request For Report Discount:As per the forecast of Fact.MR, the compact passenger cars segment is slated to reach a value of nearly US$ 2,479 Mn in 2022. The compact passenger cars 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 compact passenger cars segment.Fact.MR forecasts that the cellulose car air filter segment will exhibit a CAGR of 3% from 2017 to 2022. Cellulose car air filter segment is estimated to account for nearly one-third of the revenue share of the filter media segment by 2017 end and is expected to gain some market share by the end of the year 2022.The report has also profiled leading players in the global market for car air filter, which will remain active through 2022. These include companies such as General Motors, UFI Filters Spa, Freudenberg & Co. KG, Alco Filters Ltd., Hollingsworth & Vose Company, Denso Corporation, MAHLE GmbH, Donaldson Company, Inc. and Champion Laboratories, Inc.,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: Europe's Oil Storage Industry Till 2020 - Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Operating and Planned Terminals Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=713947 http://www.researchmoz.us/oil-storage-industry-outlook-in-europe-to-2020-capacity-and-capital-expenditure-forecasts-with-details-of-all-operating-and-planned-terminals-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Europe's Oil Storage Industry Till 2020 - Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Operating and Planned Terminals" to its huge collection of research reports."Oil Storage Industry Outlook in Europe to 2020 - Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Operating and Planned Terminals" is a comprehensive report providing information on storage terminals that store crude oil, petroleum products or, chemicals in Europe. Typical information on terminals includes terminal name, operator name, storage capacity and commodity stored for all active and planned terminals. The report also provides capital expenditure outlook at regional level by year and by key countries for oil storage terminals till 2020. The report also provides key country comparisons within the region based on contribution to regional oil storage capacity. Planned (new build) terminals capacity addition and existing capacity expansions, as announced by the companies have also been included. Further the report also offers recent developments as well as latest tenders and contracts at country level.Scope- Updated information relating to all active and planned oil storage terminals- Provides historical data from 2010 to 2015, forecast to 2020- Capacity information of all oil storage terminals- Provides operator information for all active and planned oil storage terminals- Latest developments and contracts related to oil storage terminalsTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons to buy- Obtain the most up to date information available on active and planned oil storage terminals in Europe- Identify growth segments and opportunities in the industry- Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast capacity data- Assess your competitors oil storage terminals1 Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 71.2 List of Figures 92 Introduction 102.1 What Is This Report About? 102.2 Market Definitions 103 Europe Oil Storage Industry 113.1 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Snapshot 113.1.1 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Overview of Active Storage Terminals Data 113.1.2 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Overview of Planned Storage Terminals Data 113.2 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Storage Operations 123.2.1 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Oil Storage Capacity by Top 5 Countries, 2010-2020 123.3 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Planned Oil Storage Terminals 143.3.1 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Planned Oil Storage Capacity, 2016-2020 143.3.2 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Annual Capital Expenditure Outlook for Planned Storage Terminals 153.3.3 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Annual Capital Expenditure Outlook for Planned Storage Terminals by Country 163.4 Europe Oil Storage Industry, Netherlands 18Browse 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 @ Global Industrial Rock Salt Market 2017 - Amra Salt Co., Donald Brown Group, Wacker Chemie AG, Swiss Saltworks AG Global Industrial Rock Salt Market https://goo.gl/AocH9N https://goo.gl/epjNWU www.apexresearch.biz Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Industrial Rock Salt Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Industrial Rock Salt 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 Industrial Rock Salt industry, and estimates the future trend of Industrial Rock Salt market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Industrial Rock Salt Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportChina National Salt Industry Corporation (CNSIC)Tata Chemicals Ltd.Mitsui & Co. Ltd.Rio Tinto PLC.Compass Minerals International Inc.K+S AGExportadora De Sal De C.V.Ineos Group Holdings S.A.CK Life Sciences International Holdings Inc.Akzonobel N.V.State Enterprise ArytomsolWilson Salt CompanyInfosaAmra Salt Co.Donald Brown GroupItalkali Societa Italiana Sali Alcalini S.P.AWacker Chemie AGSwiss Saltworks AGIrish Salt Mining & Exploration Co. Ltd. (I.S.M.E. Co. Ltd.)Atisale S.P.A.Dev Salt Pvt. Ltd.Salins GroupDominion Salt LtdNaikai Salt Industries Co. Ltd.The market research report explores the Industrial Rock Salt market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Industrial Rock Salt 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 Industrial Rock Salt market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Industrial Rock Salt. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Industrial Rock Salt 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 Industrial Rock Salt is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Industrial Rock Salt market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Industrial Rock Salt market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Industrial Rock Salt market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Industrial Rock Salt production volume, data pertaining to demand and Industrial Rock Salt supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Industrial Rock Salt 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 Industrial Rock Salt 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 Global Roof Waterproofing Coating Market 2017 - Wacker Chemie AG, Hempel A/S, Kansai Paint Co., Ltd., Tikkurila OYJ Global Roof Waterproofing Coating Market https://goo.gl/RtzcGm https://goo.gl/K1MzfA www.apexresearch.biz Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Roof Waterproofing Coating Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Roof Waterproofing Coating 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 Roof Waterproofing Coating industry, and estimates the future trend of Roof Waterproofing Coating market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Roof Waterproofing Coating Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportAkzo Nobel N.V.DOW Chemical CompanyPPG Industries, Inc.Sika AGBASF SENippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.RPM International Inc.Sherwin WilliamsWacker Chemie AGHempel A/SKansai Paint Co., Ltd.Tikkurila OYJNational Coatings CorporationGardner-Gibson, Inc.Anvil Paints & Coatings, Inc.Asian Paints LimitedGAFSK Kaken Co., Ltd.The Lubrizol CorporationSurface Chemists of Florida, Inc.Armor Coat Roof CoatingsDuro-Last, Inc.Johns ManvilleThe Karnak CorporationSR ProductsThe market research report explores the Roof Waterproofing Coating market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Roof Waterproofing Coating 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 Roof Waterproofing Coating market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Roof Waterproofing Coating. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Roof Waterproofing Coating 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 Roof Waterproofing Coating is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Roof Waterproofing Coating market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Roof Waterproofing Coating market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Roof Waterproofing Coating market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Roof Waterproofing Coating production volume, data pertaining to demand and Roof Waterproofing Coating supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Roof Waterproofing Coating 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 Roof Waterproofing Coating 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 Development of Chinese Coronary Stent In Global Industry, 2017 | Research Report Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1049273 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-and-chinese-coronary-stent-industry-2017-market-research-report-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Development of Chinese Coronary Stent In Global Industry, 2017 | Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports.The 'Global and Chinese Coronary stent Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Coronary stent industry with a focus on the Chinese market.The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Coronary stent manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2012-2017 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Coronary stent industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis.The report then estimates 2017-2022 market development trends of Coronary stent industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Coronary stent Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Coronary stent industry covering all important parameters.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table Of ContentChapter One Introduction of Coronary stent Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Coronary stent1.2 Development of Coronary stent Industry1.3 Status of Coronary stent IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Coronary stent2.1 Development of Coronary stent Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Coronary stent Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Coronary stent Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.13.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.23.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.33.2.1 Company ProfileBrowse 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 @ Alcoholic Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 8% during 2016 to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1787 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/alcohol-beverage-spice-fruit-ingredients-market-1787 Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Report (HCRR) on Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients MarketAlcohol Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Global Market Key PlayersThe market is highly fragmented mainly due to the constantly changing consumer demands and preferences. Also, the market is highly competitive due to the presence of numerous players having regional and global presence. This further encourages players operating in the Alcoholic Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients market to compete based on price, quality, innovation, reputation, and distribution. A number of brands have outlined plans to widen the penetration by including various types of spice and fruit flavors to their product portfolio.Some of the key players profiled in Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market are - Brisan Ingredients, Sevarome, Huijbregts SL, Kerry Group, Treatt, Martin Mundo OHG, Hainan Nicepal Industry Co., Ltd and Kunming.Market OverviewSpice & Fruit Ingredients Infused Alcoholic Beverage is all the rage these days. Liquor stores have shelves of it, and you may or not have seen more than one margarita lately with cucumber or jalapeno tequila. Liquor store shelves are lined with a seemingly endless array of fruit-flavored spirits, from vodka and rum to bourbon and tequila. So clearly, there is consumer demand, and for good reason. With real Spice & Fruit Ingredients, spirits infused with perfectly ripe, in-season produce can add lovely complexity to cocktails. However, some proclaimed Alcohol Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Beverages produced for mass consumption is laden with artificial ingredients. The end result is products that taste more like flavored or Scented than actual fruit. Subtle and orchard-fresh they are not.The main processes of production of Spice & Fruit Ingredients Infused Alcohol Beverage are infusion, maceration and or distillation of herbs, spices, fruits, berries, etc. or just simple alcohol flavoring with highly concentrated flavors and extracts. Formulations can be very simple, containing just a few ingredients or very complex, using hundreds of different aromatic ingredients for instance a blend of 130 ingredients are used to make Chartreuse liqueur. It can be consumed by themselves as an after-dinner drink or dessert, poured over ice, as a mixer in cocktails, etc.According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, Globally, the market for Alcoholic Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients has been increasing due to changing consumption patterns and growing demand for new flavors and ingredients. Companys strategies inclined to launch of new alcoholic beverage products is also encouraging the growth of alcoholic beverage spice and fruit ingredients. Hence, global Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients market is expected to grow at CAGR over 8% post the year 2022.Request a Sample Report @Alcohol Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Global Market SegmentsThe highly competitive market of Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients can be segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation by Spice Type: Comprises Bitter Orange Peel, Cacao Nibs, Cinnamon Sticks, Coriander Seed, Crystallized Ginger, Grapefruit, Juniper Berries and Others.Segmentation by Fruit Type: Comprises Apple, Cherry, Raspberry, Apricot and others.Segmentation by Form: Comprises Powder, Puree, Liquid and others.Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Alcohol Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Global Market SynopsisSecondary data reveals that among the rapid change in the consumption patterns has led to adoption of various flavors in the alcoholic beverages. By volume, the fruit flavors hold a major share in comparison to spices in the alcoholic beverage ingredients market. Rise in demand for traditional and herbal based flavor alcohol drinks has stimulated the alcoholic beverageAccess Report Details @Alcohol Beverage Spice & Fruit Ingredients Market Regional AnalysisEurope dominated the alcoholic beverage spice and fruit ingredients market share during the period 2011-2015 due to the presence of major market players in these regions. Asia-Pacific is emerging market with China being the major consumption center, accounting for astronomical amounts and is expected to grow over multi millions by 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com High-resolution Melting Analysis Market - Trends, Growth Propellers, Segmentation And Top Players https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2486 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2486 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2486 Global High-resolution Melting Analysis Market: OverviewHigh resolution melting analysis is a powerful and strong methodology in molecular biology for the purpose of detecting epigenetic differences, polymorphisms, and mutations in double-stranded DNA samples. It was first discovered and developed by the Idaho Technology and University of Utah. High resolution melting analysis has several advantages over genotyping technologies such as cost effectiveness, it is powerful and fast as compared to genotyping technologies, and it is comparatively simple. Based on products and services, the global high-resolution melting analysis market can be segmented into software and services, consumables and reagents, and instruments. In terms of application, it can be segmented into epigenetics, pathogen identification, species identification, mutation scanning, and SNP genotyping.The global market for high-resolution melting analysis is likely to have a fruitful future owing to ongoing research and developments in this field sponsored by several leading companies operating in this particular field. For instance, FDA in the U.S. approves many treatments which are made for addressing a specific genomic profile or genetic makeup of the tumor of the patient.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global High-resolution Melting Analysis Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe prime factors that are boosting the growth of the market comprise the growing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, COPD, chronic diseases such as cancer, and other different infectious diseases. The prime benefits associated with high-resolution melting analysis are optimization of therapies, patient compliance, drug safety, cost savings on several treatments, and disease diagnosis. In return, these are also expected to propel the demand for DNA testing services. Moreover, rising awareness pertaining to the applications of high resolution melting analysis technologies for HLA typing, mutation discovery, and DNA mapping are additional aspects that are anticipated to propel the growth of the high-resolution melting analysis market during the forecast period. High resolution melting analysis is a technology employed for assessing melting curve plots of amplified gene. This particular technology is basically used for gene mutation scanning, microbial species identification, methylation profiling, and other different diagnostics based on PCR. Thus, mutation scanning and other applications are likely to gain prominence over time owing to rising prevalence of advancements in technology of molecular biology, genetic disorders, and growing awareness pertaining to SNP typing.Global High-resolution Melting Analysis Market: Market PotentialGrowing government budget provision for research and development in the field of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and applied life sciences is a crucial factor heightening the demand for numerous diagnostic techniques and tools. For instance, in 2015, the Obama led administration announced the introduction of the Precision Medicine Initiative with a huge investment of US$216 mn in the Presidents budget of 2016. This initiative is further expected to have positive impact on the growth of the high resolution melting analysis market.Request TOC of the Report @Global High-resolution Melting Analysis Market: Regional OverviewRegion-wise, the market can be segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Rest of the World. North America is expected to perform extremely owing to factors such as robust adoption of advanced technology in healthcare, numerous genetic testing centers, strong biotech and pharmaceutical industry, prevalence many academic universities, and high prevalence of diseases. Asia Pacific has also been identified as one of the potential regions where the market can grow steadily owing to dynamics such as rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as HIV, COPD, and cancer, growing cases of genetic disorders, and rising private and public expenditure on genetic testing and molecular diagnostic.Global High-resolution Melting Analysis Market: Competitive LandscapeThe top drawer companies operating in the market are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kapa Biosystems, Idaho Technology Corporation, and Roche Molecular Systems.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 Global Industrial Metal Detectors Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Industrial Metal Detectors Market http://bit.ly/2vuT9qX http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-industrial-metal-detectors-market-2017-production-sales.html Global Industrial Metal Detectors Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Industrial Metal Detectors Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Industrial Metal Detectors in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Industrial Metal Detectors. The research report provides a detailed study of the Industrial Metal Detectors market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:Mettler-Toledo, Eriez, CEIA, Loma, Anritsu, Sesotec, Metal Detection, Lock Inspection, Nikka Densok, Cassel Messtechnik, VinSyst, Foremost, COSO, Ketan, Shanghai Shenyi, Minelab, Garrett, Fisher, Nokta, Tesoro, Makro, OCS, Bunting, MPIGet Free Sample Copy Of Report @The research report provides the Industrial Metal Detectors markets classification in detail. The Industrial Metal Detectors market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Industrial Metal Detectors market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Industrial Metal Detectors report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Industrial Metal Detectors 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Industrial Metal Detectors industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Offshore Decommissioning Market : Startup Strategy Resources, Grow Pricing Activity and Forecasts to 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2489 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2489 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2489 Global Offshore Decommissioning Market: OverviewOffshore decommissioning is the process of disassembling offshore oil platforms, which also includes burying the holes drilled into the ground for exploration and extraction purposes. Mature oil platforms can have an adverse impact on the surrounding environment, which necessitates their removal. The global offshore decommissioning market is likely to remain a key sector of the global oil and gas industry in the coming years, as the latter is likely to emphasize increasingly on offshore petroleum extraction. Well plugging and abandonment is likely to remain the key segment of the global offshore decommissioning market in the coming years, with the extensive scale of the operation key in ensuring a steady dominant share for the segment in the global market.Global Offshore Decommissioning Market: Key TrendsThe global offshore decommissioning market is likely to exhibit steady growth in the coming years due to the rising number of mature oilfields, which no longer remain commercially viable. The high number of aging platforms in shallow water is also likely to remain a key driver for the global offshore decommissioning market in the coming years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the other hand, the high cost of offshore decommissioning projects could hinder the growth of the global offshore decommissioning market. Due to the large scale of offshore oil and gas platforms, significant expenditure needs to be dedicated for effective offshore decommissioning projects. Since the expenses go toward removing a nonfunctional asset rather than expanding the existing capacity, many players in the global oil and gas industry have remained reluctant about offshore decommissioning. The technology required to carry out offshore decommissioning efficiently are also lacking in several regions, as is systemic support from the regulatory framework. This is also likely to restrain the global offshore decommissioning market in the coming years.The rising use of techniques to maximize and prolong the viability of oilfields is also likely to restrain the growth of the global offshore decommissioning market in the coming years. Refilling and other techniques can help extend the operational lifespan of oilfield by a few years, and result in further profits for the oil and gas operator. This remains a key challenge for the offshore decommissioning market in the coming years, as offshore decommissioning remains unprofitable both economically as well as logistically compared to these techniques.Request TOC of the Report @Global Offshore Decommissioning Market: Market PotentialOil and gas operations in the North Sea are likely to be vital to the global offshore decommissioning market in the coming years. The U.K. and Norway are among the leading oil producers operating in the North Sea and are likely to remain among the key consumers of offshore decommissioning technology in the coming years. As a result, Europe is likely to be the leading regional offshore decommissioning market over the coming years.Global Offshore Decommissioning Market: Geographical DynamicsFollowing Europe, North America is also likely to retain a significant share in the global offshore decommissioning market due primarily to the rising role of the U.S. in the global oil and gas sector. The U.S. has traditionally been a major player in the oil and gas industry and is a leading operator of offshore oilfields at present. The rising prominence of Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia in the global oil and gas sector is also likely to drive the Asia Pacific market for offshore decommissioning in the coming years.Request Discount of the Report @Global Offshore Decommissioning Market: Competitive DynamicsThe leading players in the global offshore decommissioning market include AF Gruppen ASA, Amec Foster Wheeler Plc, John Wood Group Plc, Ramboll Group, Aker Solutions ASA, and Tetra Technologies 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 Lithuanian English Management comment: AUGA group, AB (Group) revenues for the first 6 months of 2017 was EUR 22.84 million and increased 26% as compared to the same period of 2016, when it was EUR 18.07 million. Gross profit for the first 6 months of 2017 was EUR 5.23 million (same period in 2016 EUR 4.63 million). Revenues and gross profit increases were primarily due to rise of milk prices and crop sales. Operational expenditures for the first 6 months of 2017 was EUR 4.33 million (same period in 2016 EUR 3.12 million). The increase is mainly due to the Groups acquisition of the subsidiaries of KTG AGRAR SE operating in Lithuania on 31 January 2017. In 2017, the Group increased expenditures in the AUGA brand and end-user product development and promotion, as well as export development. The increase in operational expenditures resulted in a weaker profitability of the Group for the first 6 months of 2017 as compared to 2016. The Groups EBITDA for 6 months of 2017 was EUR 4.15 million (6 months of 2016 EUR 4.7 million), while net income was EUR 0.47 million (6 months of 2016 EUR 1 million). In the first half of 2017, decisions by the Annual General Shareholders Meetings of the Groups six agricultural companies were made to pay out dividends to the shareholders. AUGA group received EUR 12.91 million in dividends. The decision to pay out dividends was made to ensure positive retained earnings for AUGA group, AB (Company) in the future and the possibility to subsequently pay out dividends to its shareholders should such a decision be made. Regarding the implementation of the 5 June 2017 Decision No. 241-104 by the Supervision Service of the Bank of Lithuania The Supervision Service of the Bank of Lithuania on 5 June 2017 issued Decision No. 241-104 (Decision) by which AUGA group, AB is obligated to retroactively make corrective adjustments when preparing its Interim Financial Statements for the first 6 months of 2017 in the case that the value of investment property as of 30 September 2015 is defined as being different than specified in the interim Financial Statements for the first 9 months of 2015. In implementing the Decision, the Group commissioned retroactive valuation of land plots which established the basis for calculating values for the greater part of land plots owned by the Group on 30 September 2015. Based on the results of retroactive valuation, the value of land plots owned by the Group, including investment property, was calculated to be EUR 30.49 million (that is 0.7% higher than the values stated in the Interim Financial Statements for the first 9 months of 2015). The Management of the Company sees the change in value of the land plots as immaterial. Therefore, the land plot values, including investment property, owned by the Group, as stated in the Interim Financial Statements for the first 9 months of 2015 is justified and meets the requirements of IAS 40 Investment Property and IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement, and there is no need for retroactive correction. Attached: 1. Consolidated unaudited Interim Financial Statements for the period of 6 months ended 30 June 2017. 2. Confirmation of responsible persons. Smart Greenhouse Market Research Report 2017 Is Gradually Growing High & Analyzed By Top Research Firm https://www.alltakemarketresearch.com/enquiry/request_sample/7047 https://www.alltakemarketresearch.com/report-detail/Smart-Greenhouse-Market Smart Greenhouse Market research report helps to get access to industry data and upcoming trends which will give you avenues to know about the market. This report gives opportunities to go through with industry analysis, share and forecast, Providing brief description about the market size its competitors and product identification.In this report, the global Smart Greenhouse 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 For Free Sample Of The Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Smart Greenhouse in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Smart Greenhouse market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingVenloPalramRBIKuboNexus CorporationAgra TechLuitenAtlas ManufacturingAgrowTecTOP GreenhouseFatDragonFenglong TechnologyHua KunHuiZhong XingTongShangyang GreenhouseShanghai JinongXinyu GreenhouseNongBang GreenhouseGaoZongZhiNanjing TengyongJin Zhi YouQingzhou JinxinOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoHydroponicNon-HydroponicObtain Report Details @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 Smart Greenhouse for each application, includingFlower PlantingVegetable CultivationFruit CultivationOtherAbout UsAlltake Market Research is division of the Alltake LLC. that offers premium quality market intelligence, market research, industry analysis reports & forecast data for different domains across the business industry.Alltake Market Research understands the importance of market analysis for any strategy that is implemented in any organization or association. In order to provide the best solution, Alltake Market Research have associated with major organizations within market research and consultancy firm. This portfolio offers market analysis report at one place for different business verticals. Alltake Market Research ensures to offer you with the most reliable and quality market research available.Contact UsAlltake Market Research16192, Coastal Highway Lewes,DE 19958, United StatesUS - 188 8587 9717UK - 4480 0680 0195Email sales@alltakemarketresearch.com Machine Vision Systems Market: Key Trends, Demand, Growth, Size, Review, Share, Analysis to 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000156 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/machine-vision-systems-market The Machine Vision Systems is a technology that enables its users to govern the lighting of any space without being surrounded by unnecessary wires. Machine Vision Systems is a part of upcoming IoT technology, facilitating mobile and sensor based control on the luminosity of lights in a particular space. The intelligent connected lighting offers ecofriendly environment and effectively reduces the consumption of energy. The global Machine Vision Systems market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.1% during the forecast period 2016 2025 and accounts for US$ 51.05 Bn in the year 2025.The global Machine Vision Systems market is fragmented on the basis of lighting Type into. Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamp, Fluorescent Lamps, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL), High Intensity Discharge Lamps and Others (Neon Lamps and Photographic Flashes). Furthermore the segmentation is based upon application of Machine Vision Systems viz. Industrial lighting, Commercial lighting, Residential lighting, Outdoor lighting, Automotive lighting and Government. According to the geographic regions, the market is segmented into Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific (APAC), North America and South America (SAM). With many developing countries in the region of Middle East and Africa, it is expected to have the highest CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period.Request Sample Copy @The shortcoming of a wireless system are occasional disturbance in communications among the devices. When a wireless lighting system is installed in a place, one should always make sure that the keypads, processors and dimmers are within a specific range. For example, some old residential buildings may be constructed with metal wire integrated in the walls that might create disturbance or weaken the signals of a wireless system. Though it has certain drawbacks, it is expected to capture more than half of the lighting market in next few years. Thus, maximum companies are switching their product portfolio to wireless Machine Vision Systems solutions. Major players in this segment are Philips, GE, OSRAM and Daintree.Now a days wireless connectivity is taking a leap over the wire abled connecting networks as wireless is more convenient to use. First this technology was used in the telephones now called as the mobile phones and since then the wireless technology has revolutionized the way things were viewed. Wireless technology has given its consumers freedom from the limited range of the wired devices.The wireless technology has become an integral part of day to day lifestyle. Wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RF Ids are experiencing high adoption rate among users. The rising popularity of wireless technology in lighting solution is thus considered to be one of the major reasons driving the Machine Vision Systems market. The wireless lighting solutions are easy to control and help its customers to attain maximum energy saving.The lighting hardware is highly integrated and dependent on the software platform being used. As there is no common standard for wireless Machine Vision Systems products, the complete idea of various Machine Vision Systems devices networked together and the entire process of networking becomes complicated. For example, Philips employs ZigBee Light Link, GreenWave uses NXP JenNet-IP and Insteon uses its own wireless technology and all these are incompatible with each other. This incompatibility would result in inconvenience for the user as the choice of products and services will get limited by the platform being used, or else the entire operation of Machine Vision Systems would get complicated.Major players in the global Machine Vision Systems market comprises of Osram Licht AG (Germany), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.A), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherland), Eaton Corporation PLC. (Ireland), Digital Lumens Inc. (U.S.A), Lutron Electronics Company Inc. (U.S.A), General Electric Company (U.S.A), Legrand SA (France), Streetlight.Vision (France) and Acuity Brands Lighting Inc. (U.S.A).among others.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Machine Vision Systems Market to 2025 @Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comAbout The Insight Partners: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 Higher adoption of Telecommunication Services: A challenging market :Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313612/argentina-telecommunication-services-a-challenging-strategy-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313612 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Argentina-Telecommunication Services: A challenging market (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Argentina offers potential for subscription growth, however high churn rates and declining voice ARPS remain a challenge. The Mobile segment dominates the Argentinian telecommunication industry, with increasing data revenues offsetting the fall in voice revenues. However, high mobile sector specific taxation will lead operators to bear the cost or pass it on to the customer.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsA large telecom marketArgentinas mobile subscription increased at a CAGR of 2.4%, from 58.3 million in 2012 to 64.1 million in 2016, with 70.2% subscriber penetration. It is expected to increase to 72.1 million (subscriber penetration level of 70.6%) by 2021 due to higher adoption of mobile phones.Fast growing LTE marketIn terms of 4G adoption, Argentina is one of the fastest growing markets in Latin America. LTE services were immediately launched within days of the 4G spectrum auction in October 2014. In around six months it attained one million users, at a rate of almost one new 4G user every 10 seconds, which resulted in a rising CAGR of 931.7% during 2014-16. Also, according to the industry estimates, Argentinians have consumed 24.2 PB (Petabyte) of mobile data per month in 2015, with the 3G and 4G subscriber penetration expected to reach approximately 55% by 2021.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Increasing telecom investments in ArgentinaIncreasing investments by telecom operators, particularly in mobile internet network expansion, are expected to have a positive impact on market growth. Telefonica, Telecom Personal, and America Movil have announced intentions to invest US$2.6 billion, US$2.1 billion, and US$2.7 billion respectively by 2020. In February 2017, Telecom Argentina completed the construction of the basic ICT converged telecom service over cloud infrastructure. This allows it to put all-cloud core networks into commercial use by utilizing Huaweis DWDM as a means of offering voice and data services to 2G/3G/4G subscribers.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Argentina Telecommunications market in comparison with other Latin American countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Argentina Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Argentina Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Argentina Telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Argentina Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- Have technological advances drastically changed the face of the Telecommunications industry?- How is the market performing in terms of: Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, and Customer Churn?- How risky is it to invest in the Argentina Telecommunications industry compared to other Latin American countries?- What is driving the performance of key industry segments such as Voice, Data, Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband, and IPTV?- Who are the leading players in the Argentina Telecommunications industry and how does their performance compare?- What trends are being witnessed within the Argentina Telecommunications industry?- How will the breakdown for mobile connection technologies look by 2021?- What are the Argentina Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- How has the financial deals landscape changed in 2015 and 2016?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market - By Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2495 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2495 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2495 Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market: OverviewThe global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is estimated to witness a healthy growth in the coming years. Some of the key factors encouraging the growth of the market include cost containment in pharmaceuticals, rise in the funding for generics, and growing investments in biopharmaceutical research. The technological advancements in labeling and serialization solutions are anticipated to boost the growth of the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market. Rising emphasis on labeling and serialization to counter the problem of counterfeiting of medicines will fuel the demand for pharmaceutical packaging equipment. The market however faces one challenge. The threat from being substituted by refurbished packaging equipment is present in the market. Refurbished packaging equipment is a viable alternative to new packaging equipment, which costs high. This is likely to restrain the growth of the market.Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market: Key TrendsSome of thy key trends observed in the market are increasing investments in the manufacturing sector by players and consistent technological innovation taking place in the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market. The flourishing pharmaceutical industry is directly responsible for the growth of the pharmaceutical packaging equipment market. Rising incidences of diseases and infections are pushing the pharmaceutical industry to grow, which in turn is pushing the demand for pharmaceutical packaging equipment. The market for pharmaceutical packaging equipment is especially slated to witness a high growth in developing nations such as China and India as these countries do not have high import duties. The need for inexpensive manufacturing facilities is making developing nations in Asia Pacific, a potential market for pharmaceutical packaging equipment.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market: Market PotentialPackaging of pharmaceutical product is extremely vital for the pharmaceutical industry as packaging enables safety and quality of drugs. Thus, there will always be a demand for pharmaceutical packaging equipment in the pharma industry. In contrast with conventional packaging systems, pharmaceutical packaging equipment are automated, modern, and flexible, including primary packaging and secondary equipment, and labeling and serialization equipment. This helps in reducing the time for packaging, boosting production.Companies such as Robert Bosch Gmbh participate in innovation and develop new products, which is creating a positive outlook for the market. The company recently launched a new Sigpack VPF vertical flat pouch machine and also a HML horizontal flow wrapping machine. The former is developed to pack powders by producing sachets that can pack pain killers in powder form. The machines enables the production of sealed packages and can fill up to 1500 sachets per minute.Request TOC of the Report @Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market: Regional OutlookThe report segments the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market on the basis of geography into Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America led in the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market on account of advancements in the pharmaceutical industry and economic growth of the region. The patent expirations of a number of drugs will also help the market in the region to grow.Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market: Competitive LandscapeThe global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is highly fragmented. The market is characterized by the presence of several local, regional, and multinational players. Some of the players in the market are: IMA S.p.A. (Italy), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Korber AG (Germany), Multivac Group (Germany), Marchesini Group S.p.A. (Italy), Romaco Pharmatechnik GmbH (Germany), and OPTIMA Packaging Group GmbH (Germany). Key players in the market are striving for innovation so as to maintain their shares in the competitive market.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 Quantum Cryptography Market - Reporting And Evaluation Of Recent Industry Developments 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2498 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2498 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2498 Global Quantum Cryptography Market: OverviewWith growing popularity of the Internet, which has turned into a necessity in the past decade, and the ubiquity of smartphones, the need for secure communications, data safety, and protection against cyber-attacks has escalated exponentially. Quantum cryptography is a dependable solution for growing data security issues, but unlike typical cryptology methods, quantum cryptology depends on physics rather than mathematics, and the market for the same is expected to expand at a strong CAGR during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.Based on end-user, the global cryptography market can be segmented into governing and regulatory bodies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises. Geographically, the report studies the opportunities available in cryptography market in several important regions including Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. The report has been prepared to act as a credible business document for the stakeholders of this market, and estimates the future scenario until 2025.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Quantum Cryptography Market: Key TrendsThe growing demand of bring your own device (BYOD) across several organizations is the primary driver of the global quantum cryptography market. With BYOD policies, employees can access organizational data and applications on their personal electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, and desktops, which in turn provides flexibility to work from any location, at any time. BYOD goes a long way in improving productivity and reducing operational costs. Growing use of cyber security solutions in public utilities, escalating need for cyber security in the defense sector, incoming demand from business enterprises, and the need for secure internet transaction are some of the other factors augmenting the demand in the global quantum cryptography market.Currently, government bodies are the most profitable end user segment in the global quantum cryptography market, gaining from factors such as the availability of online utility bill payments, adoption of e-government initiatives, and growing number of corporate accounts that these agencies need to manage. This segment is expected to remain most prominent throughout the forecast period.Request TOC of the Report @Global Quantum Cryptography Market: Market PotentialIncrementing use of biometrics for network security is opening new revenue avenues for the vendors operating in the quantum cryptography market. Facial and fingerprint recognition are now frequently used for security purposes at various organizations such as financial services, banking, and insurance (BFSI) and healthcare. By integrating biometric technology with software types, data transmitted via emails can be secured. For instance, Ceelox, a key biometric services company, already provides software application that offer information encrypting and decrypting in emails.Global Quantum Cryptography Market: Regional OutlookIn the recent past, North America is the most lucrative region for the players in quantum cryptography market, which is a reflection of prevalence of insider frauds in several organizations, popularity of ecommerce and online payments, adoption of new technology, and rising number of cyber-attacks. North America is expected to remain the most prominent region throughout the forecast period, although Asia Pacific and Europe are also anticipated to present healthy opportunities in the near future.Request Discount of the Report @Global Quantum Cryptography Market: Competitive LandscapeThe fragmented nature of quantum cryptography market is a result of a large number of participants, both multinational and local. As the demand for quantum cryptography solutions diversifies across other sectors, technological innovation and solution extension is expected to determine the leader of the market in the near future.HP Development Company, ID Quantique, IBM, and Nokia are some of the key players in the global quantum cryptography market, while other notable players are Google, Intel, QuintessenceLabs, Alibaba Group, Infineon Technologies, BT, KPN, MagiQ Technologies, Lockheed Martin, McAfee, Microsoft, NEC Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric, NTT Communications, Raytheon, Toshiba, and SK Telecom.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 Global Calcined Anthracite Market 2017 Growth, Analysis & Scope Xinhuida, Zhixin, Dongsheng http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1298215&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-calcined-anthracite-market-research-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1298215&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Calcined Anthracite Market Research Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The report on the Calcined Anthracite market is prepared with the help of a wide array of primary and secondary research incorporating inputs from leading market experts, industry strategists, research organizations, and business executives. The report titled Calcined Anthracite market research report offers in-depth insights into the current market status, share and size of major segments, notable trends, emerging business risks, and competitive landscape. The Calcined Anthracite market dynamics is undergoing several interesting shifts invigorated by constant technological advances and favorable changes in government policies in some regions. The report takes a closer look at the emergent strategic and tactical risks driven by changes in regulatory framework in key regions. In addition, it covers major research and development activities in recent decades expected to unlock exciting opportunities for market players.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Gleaning through the report, market participants can get clear indications of various trends anticipated to gain traction and those that are likely to lose their sheen in the coming years. The report employs a host of industry-wide quantitative tools to assess the strategic landscape. Based on the volumes of data collected over the historic period and insights offered by the vast current statistics, the study presents a 360 degree view of the growth dynamics of the Calcined Anthracite market over the forecast period. Using Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis, the report offers a holistic overview of the vendor landscape. The study is unique in its approach as it offers crystal clear view of the factors likely to tilt in favor of new entrants, thereby altering the intensity of competition in the Calcined Anthracite in the not-so-distant future.Table of Contents1 Calcined Anthracite Market Overview11.1 Product Overview and Scope of Calcined Anthracite11.2 Calcined Anthracite Segment by Types (Product Category)11.2.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Production (K MT) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2016-2022)21.2.2 Global Calcined Anthracite Production Market Share (%) by Types in 201631.3 Global Calcined Anthracite Segment by Applications31.3.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) Comparison by Applications (2012-2023)31.3.2 Steel Industry51.3.3 Carbon Products51.3.4 Water Treatment61.4 Global Calcined Anthracite Market by Regions (2012-2023)7Access the Report and full TOC @2 Global Calcined Anthracite Market Competition by Manufacturers142.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)142.1.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Capacity (K MT) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)142.1.2 Global Calcined Anthracite Production (K MT) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)172.2 Global Calcined Anthracite Revenue (Million USD) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)202.3 Global Calcined Anthracite Average Price (USD/MT) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)232.4 Manufacturers Calcined Anthracite Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types262.5 Calcined Anthracite Market Competitive Situation and Trends272.5.1 Calcined Anthracite Market Concentration Rate272.5.2 Calcined Anthracite Market Share (%) of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers283 Global Calcined Anthracite Production by Regions (2012-2017)293.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Capacity (K MT) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)293.2 Global Calcined Anthracite Production (K MT) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)303.3 Global Calcined Anthracite Revenue and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)323.4 Global Calcined Anthracite Capacity, Production (K MT), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/MT) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)343.5 USA Calcined Anthracite Production (2012-2017)354 Global Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) by Regions (2012-2017)414.1 Global Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) by Regions (2012-2017)414.2 USA Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) (2012-2017)434.3 Europe Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) (2012-2017)444.4 China Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) (2012-2017)454.5 Asia Other Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) (2012-2017)46Enquiry For Discount Visit @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Calcined Anthracite1Table Calcined Anthracite Segment by Types1Table Global Calcined Anthracite Production (K MT) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2016-2022)2Figure Global Calcined Anthracite Production Market Share (%) by Types in 20163Table Global Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) Comparison by Applications (2012-2023)3Figure Global Calcined Anthracite Consumption (K MT) Market Share (%) by Applications in 20164Figure Steel Industry Examples5Figure Carbon Products Examples5Figure Water Treatment Examples6Figure Global Calcined Anthracite Market Size (Million USD) Comparison and Growth Rate (%) by Regions (2012-2023)7Table Calcined Anthracite Market Size (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2012-2023)7QYReseachReports.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 Cognitive Analytics Market Report: Google, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia Networks, Saffron Technology, ColdLight Solutions, CognitiveScale, Enterra Solutions, Numenta, Vicarious https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4086 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cognitive-analytics-market-4086 Market HighlightsIn this rapidly changing world of technology, cognitive analytics market is projected to show major growth prospects during the forecast period. Major factors driving the growth of cognitive analytics market is the increasing adoption of internet of things and growing data generation which needs real time analysis. Analyzing consumer behaviors with cognitive analytics helps in tracing the behavior patterns of customer and can enable target advertising. Cognitive analytics provides with a view of customer satisfaction and based on customer impact will help in prioritizing the improvements for the business.As compared to other regions, the Cognitive Analytics Market in North America is expected to witness significant growth and hold the largest market share during the forecast period. U.S and Canada are anticipated to drive the growth of cognitive analytics market. This is owing to the presence of large number of established service providers in that region. In addition to this, the region also has a well-established infrastructure which allows higher penetration of devices and ultimately provides high speed connectivity. This is expected to be a major factor for the growth of cognitive analytics market.Cognitive Analytics Market Players: Google, Inc. (U.S.) IBM Corporation (U.S.) Microsoft Corporation (U.S.) Palantir Technologies, Inc. (U.S.) Saffron Technology (U.S.) ColdLight Solutions (U.S.) CognitiveScale (U.S.) Enterra Solutions LLC (U.S.) Numenta (U.S.) Vicarious (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Within Asia Pacific, cognitive analytics market is projected to contribute faster to the market growth owing to its improved quality of enterprise knowledge and competitive positioning in countries such as Japan, China and India. Increasing adoption by small and medium enterprises could be a major factor driving the growth of cognitive analytics market in the region.Cognitive Analytics Market SegmentationThe cognitive analytics market has been segmented on the basis of technology, deployment, end user and vertical. The end user segment is further bifurcated into small and medium businesses and large enterprises. Cognitive analytics is increasingly being adopted by many small and large enterprises today owing to its efficiency in providing real time analysis of massive and diversified data.Market Research Analysis:The regional analysis of cognitive analytics 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 growth in North America region is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for data analysis which will in turn reduce the response timing and provide better prouctivity.Access Report Details @Intended Audience- Technology investors- Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs)- Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)- Research/Consultancy firms- Cloud solution provider- System Integrators- External Service Providers (ESPs)- ConsumersAbout 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.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Global Bioethanol Yeast Market Growing at a Steady CAGR to 2022 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/255880/?utm_source=OPR-AN https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/255880 https://www.whatech.com/market-research/companies/market-size-forecasters https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-gaseous-helium-market/?utm_source=RR-AN http://marketsizeforecasters.com/ https://marketsizeforecasters.com/news The growing Chemicals and Advanced Materials industry has provided a major boost to the Global Bioethanol Yeast Market as more people are shifting their preferences to compact and lightweight Bioethanol Yeast carrying options. The Report covers key manufacturer are Associated British Foods, Angel Yeast, Lesaffre Group, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S. The Global Bioethanol Yeast Market report covers every aspect of the Market including statistics and key insights for the customers.Request Sample Copy for Global Bioethanol Yeast Market Research Report @In this report, the global Bioethanol Yeast 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.Global Bioethanol Yeast Market Research Report 2017 estimates the drivers, restraints, and opportunities pertaining to the global Bioethanol Yeast market over the timeframe of 2017-2022. Delivering the key insights pertaining to this industry, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the latest trends, present and future business scenario, market size and share, and commercialization potential of the Bioethanol Yeast industry over the coming five years.The industry is analyzed in terms of products, applications, regions, and the key manufacturers holding a prominent share of the global revenue.In terms of end-user or applications, the report is segmented into Food, Feed & Pet Food, Pharmaceuticals. A detailed analysis of the contribution of these application Segments to the overall market revenue and volume has been included in the report.The product landscape of the Bioethanol Yeast Market Yeast Extract, Autolyzed Yeast. Each product has been analyzed in terms of its production, capacity, and consumption. The report further details the market share to be procured by each of these products over the coming years.Request Discount for Global Bioethanol Yeast Market Research Report @The regional segmentation of the report includes North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and India. Detailing the consumption and production rate of Bioethanol Yeast in these regions, the report outlines the growth curve of this industry in terms of market volume and share over 2017-2022.The competitive landscape of the Bioethanol Yeast market profiles the top players participating in the global business space. These are Associated British Foods, Angel Yeast, Lesaffre Group, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S. The report also details the market positioning, strategies, and revenue procured by each of these manufacturers.For More Info on Market Research @Related Reports: -Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Gaseous Helium Market 2017 Forecast to 2022Gaseous helium is inert, colorless, odorless, noncorrosive, and nonflammable. Helium is the lightest rare gas. Helium is a monatomic chemically inert gas. It will not react with other elements or compounds under ordinary conditions. Since helium is noncorrosive, special materials of construction are not normally required.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: Human Capital Management (HCM) Software Market Players: IBM, NetSuite, Oracle, SAP, Workday inc, Benefitfocus, ADP LLC https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample-request/1425 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/human-capital-management-software-market-1425 HCM Software Market Synopsis & ScenarioThe HCM is estimated to contribute the largest market share during the forecast period valuing to the multimillions USD, with registering a significant CAGR during the forecast period 2016 2022.Fast-emerging analytics technology is seen as giving companies an edge over competitors when it comes to managing human capital. Experts say talent analytics can enhance employees' development, in part by more closely linking them to the company's success and retaining them as long-term employees. Workforce analytics focuses more on strategy, such as determining what kinds of job skills and positions a company requires to meet its short- and long-term goals. Advocates claim HCM analytics enables organizations to make informed and effective human capital management decisions based on comprehensive data.HCM solutions easily integrate with mobile applications, enabling users to manage time and attendance, benefit plan information, and performance from virtually any device. The speedy growth of mobile applications is one of the growth driving factors of the human capital management (HCM) market as it offers a secure and convenient platform for anytime and anywhere access across devices.Key players Oracle Corporation (U.S.) SAP SE (Germany) IBM (U.S.) NetSuite Inc. (U.S.) Workday, Inc. (U.S.) Ultimate Software Group, Inc. (U.S.) ADP, LLC (U.S.) Cornerstone OnDemand (U.S.) Benefitfocus Inc. (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Industry News- In June 2016, Benefitfocus Inc. announced the new update of its summer 2016 software with the feature of crowdsourcing.- In September 2016, Cornerstone OnDemand announced the launch of people analytics suite which will helps the organizations to create accurate hiring plans in different course of time.HCM Software Market Regional AnalysisCurrently, North America is dominating the market of human capital management software with the largest market share. Higher employment ratio in the North American countries led to the higher adoption of this software. High efficiency rate of this software is also pushing the market to rise. Europe holds a considerable market share with the support of developed countries such as France, Germany, Italy among others and higher employment ratio. The Asia-Pacific human capital management software market is expected to grow due to economic growth in this region. Government initiative and liberal policies are inviting major big players in this region resulting high employment ratio. Asia-Pacific HCM Software Market has been valued at millions USD in the year 2015 which is expected to grow at grow further more by end of forecasted period.Market SegmentationSegmentation by Deployment: On Premise & On Cloud.Segmentation by Applications: Analytics, Training and Recruitment, Payroll, HR Planning among others.Segmentation by End Users: BFSI, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Telecom, Energy, Retail, Logistics and Transportation among others.Browse Report @Human Capital Management Software Market OverviewContrary, to the stereotyped belief of yesteryears, when corporations would pronounce Capital (assets), referring to their capital resources (assets), they owned in terms of value, now, the array of references has widened including their employees, their human capital. Organizations now realize that their human capital is actually their most valuable asset. And the skills, qualifications, training levels and productivity of a workforce can make or break a company. Focusing on the same, many companies dedicate more resources to recruiting, training and maintaining teams of talented professionals, shifting the view of these processes from that of a necessity to a vital investment in the future of the company.Human capital management (HCM) is the set of practices, which focuses on providing specific competencies in the organization such as workforce acquisition, management, and optimization. With the growing organization infrastructure, there is a rapid growth in the manpower which leads to the increase in documentation. Human Capital Management Software is the easy solution which allows the human resources department to manage the tasks more effectively. This software is a combination of HRM with information technology where software makes the task easy and more efficient. The HCM Software supports the HR person in monitoring employees and their performance throughout and takes the appropriate decisions. Global Human Capital Management Software Market valued to a million of USD in the year 2015 which is expected to reach even at better heights by the end of forecasted period with a significant rate of CAGR during 2016 2022, Predicts the MRFR Research Analyst while commenting upon this deep diving study report, presented through more than 100 market data tables and figures and widely spread over 110 pages.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com LiDAR for Cars and Light Trucks: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2017 to 2023 LiDAR for Cars and Light Trucks www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/392743 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/lidar-for-cars-and-light-trucks-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2017-to-2023 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/392743 Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as LiDAR sensors for cars and light trucks permit users to implement automated driving. Fleet vehicles from Uber, Google and similar users are likely to be the early adopter groups, creating vehicles that do package delivery and ride sharing. Tesla, Mercedes, and Audi are among the vendors with a leadership position in the personal luxury vehicle artificial intelligence LiDAR car markets. These cars provide performance and cater to individual preference in feature function packages and styling.LIDAR stands for light detection and ranging which is remote sensing. LIDAR does not require electromagnetic radiation but it requires laser pulses that strike the object and return back to the sensor. The laser pulse measures the distance from the sensor to the object by determining the time between the release to reception of the reflected pulse.Request sample copy of this report at:3D scanning market and imaging are expected to propel growth. Major technological developments include emergence of optically extended MEMS scanning mirror for low-altitude and light weight flying platforms. Long term reliability of number of key laser components drive the LiDAR market. Key components include optical coatings, optics, and diodes in vacuum and radiation environment of space.Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market leveraging LiDAR. The ability to do so depends on implementing next generation technology that is very expensive to get working. Vendors ae seeking to work together to set standards and develop shared modules that provide basic functionality. Cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence software, and LiDAR are among the modules being developed.Autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to institute major change in personal mobility. Autonomous cars are the next generation of manual cars, poised to provide thrust for a large replacement market. Autonomous vehicles are the base for building personal car services, particularly in large cities. Carmakers and Silicon Valley companies bring different skills to the task of building a Artificial Intelligence (AI) car. LiDAR is a significant sensor that supports autonomous operations. Autonomous vehicles transform the personal transport industry.Read more details of the report at:Every person who owns a vehicle has a preference on performance. The Tesla has gained recognition for offering a Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle, but it is first and foremost a performance vehicle. This characteristic will not change as Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles come on the market. People like the customization of features and functions in their car.This customization aspect of vehicles does not get talked about much, but it is a very important part of the industry. It will not go away just because cars are run by software. From auto racing to personal preference, ever car has its own personality and its own comfort. Performance is part of the package. Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market with a distinctive offering. The ability to have unique appear to customers depends on implementing next generation technology in a manner that works effectively and is relatively inexpensive to implement.As automated process leveraging LiDAR hits the auto industry as a disruptive force, it parallels the automated piloting of the airline industry that saw significant labor savings implementation. Automated vehicle driving can be done anywhere just by connecting the car to integrated adaptive cruise control, adaptive steering and braking, and lane assist systems all working off one central processor.Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks incrementally add automated process to driving leveraging the LiDAR sensor. As software is added to cars and light trucks it is done in concert with modification to the steering, breaking, and other automotive systems. Autonomous functions for vehicles are increasingly adopted.Change is incremental, we do not have fully functioning LiDAR navigated Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars immediately, rather, steering, collision avoidance, parking, test driving, series of camera and radar based monitoring systems, lane assist, and adaptive cruise control are being implemented, presaging rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks as the various functions mature and work in the real world.According to Susan Eustis, team leader for the preparation of the study, The market for LiDAR for cars and light truck vehicles is anticipated to expand in parallel with the deployment of appropriate roadway controls funded by government programs. The large public investments for Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles so far has been for development of technology that works for military purposes. The extension of this type of automated system to commercial fleet vehicles will be rapid after 2019.The Artificial Intelligence (AI) car designs amalgamate a group of features to represent an automated process solution. These include the hardware, the software middleware, the steering system, adaptive cruise control, numerous software applications, an integrated systems approach, and related services. Significant investments in research and development are necessary as the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks industry builds on incremental technology roll outs.LiDAR for autonomous autos and small trucks /SUVs market at $13 million in 2016 is expected to reach $9.9 billion by 2023. This is in the context of a $3 trillion market for the autonomous vehicles. LiDAR represents one sensor in the autonomous navigation system. It is used to give more reliability than is available from cameras and other sensors and it compliments those capabilities. Spectacular growth is a result of various moves toward autonomous vehicles that can go across the US by themselves, provide automated navigation,, integrated braking and steering. Most auto vendors have gone beyond the testing stage to offer vehicles that have strong navigation capability.Safety modules are complimented by mapping vehicles that provide navigation. The Tesla and other vehicles provide driver alerts but fall sort of complete Artificial Intelligence (AI).Market driving forces relate primarily to the need for increased safety and personalization for autos. Car manufacturers are positioning with LiDAR sensors for cars to meet demand at the high end, and in every category of car and light truck. Many Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle car vendors are making automation for personal vehicles and light trucks a reality.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersPioneerValeoContinentalVelodyne3DEOMIT Lincoln LabMarket Participants3d Laser Mapping Specialists, Airborne Lidar And ImageryAvent Lidar TechnologyAImotiveAlphabet, Waymo: GoogleGoogle / Intel Target Driverless Cars with LiDARWaymo Deal with Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesAlps ElectricArgo AIAutolivBeijing Beike Technology Co., Ltd (isurestar) (China)BMWBosch GroupContinentalDaimler AG/Mercedes-BenzDelphi AutomotiveDensoDigitalWorld MappingEatonECA LiDARFaro TechnologiesFirmatek LlcFiat ChryslerFordFord Argo AI Artificial Intelligence CompanyGeneral MotorsGM Investment in LyftGeniarp GroupGeniarp Group / Mosaic 3dGeophysical Survey Systems, Inc. (GSSI)GMR Group / Geokno India Pvt. Ltd. (India)HarrisHereHondaHyundaiInfineon Technologies AGIntel CorporationIntel Buys MobileyeIntermap TechnologiesKnorr-Bremse GroupMesa LiDARMIT Lincoln LabMIT Agreement with Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. (GSSI)MitsubishiNissanNVIDIANXPPix4DPioneerQualcommQuantum Spatial(Aerometric, Inc.) (U.S.)Renishaw PlcRiegl Laser Measurement Systems GmbH (Austria)Riegl USAScaneseSiemens and Infineon LiDARSoftbankSoftbank ArmSoftbank Personal Brain IBM WatsonTeslaToyota / LexusUberValeoValeo Acquisition of FTEVecna TechnologiesVelodyne LIDAR SensorVolkswagenPorsche SEVolkswagen / AudiVolvoVisteonYellowScan (France)ZFZTEKey TopicsAuto Artificial IntelligenceAutomotiveAutomated drivingAutomated vehiclesAutonomous vehiclesin-vehicle compute, Infiniti, Internet of thingsAI machine learningMobileyeRobot Cars and TrucksRobot steeringRobot brakingRobot automotive systemsAutonomous functions for vehiclesCollision avoidanceAutomated parkingRobot ParkingRobot test drivingCar camerasCar LiDARCar radarTruck follow me systemsRadar based monitoring systemsLane assistAdaptive cruise controlEnquire more details of the report at: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.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +916410101 STOUFFVILLE, Ontario, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Summer might be winding down, but the Ontario SPCA wants to remind pet owners that cooler weather doesnt mean its safe to leave pets unattended in vehicles as you hit the road to enjoy the final long weekend of the summer. Parked cars can quickly reach deadly temperatures, even on relatively mild days with the car parked in the shade and the windows slightly open . Dogs have a limited ability to sweat, so even a short time in a hot environment can be life-threatening. A dog's normal body temperature is about 39C and a temperature of 41C can be withstood only for a very short time before irreparable brain damage or even death can occur. To educate the public about the dangers of leaving pets unattended in vehicles during the summer months, the Ontario SPCA kicked off its 2017 No Hot Pets Campaign in May, in partnership with SPCAs and humane societies from across Canada. Pet owners are asked to go online to nohotpets.ca and pledge to never leave their pets in their vehicles. Those who pledge will receive a free No Hot Pets window decal for their vehicles, while supplies last. Through the No Hot Pets online forum, people are also encouraged to share the dangers of leaving pets in vehicles using the hashtag #nohotpets. Whether youre heading to the cottage, visiting friends and family, running errands, or getting the kids ready to go back to school, its never okay to leave an animal in a vehicle, says Jennifer Bluhm, Deputy Chief, Ontario SPCA. Leave your pet at home, and if you must take your pet make sure that someone is with it at all times. If you observe an animal suffering in the heat, call 310-SPCA (7722) or your local police. Ontario SPCA and Humane Society: Protecting animals since 1873, Ontario SPCA is Ontario's Animal Welfare organization. A registered charity comprised of close to 50 communities. Since 1919, when Ontario's first Animal Welfare legislation was proclaimed, the Ontario SPCA, with the help of its Communities, has been entrusted to maintain and enforce Animal Welfare legislation. The Act provides Ontario SPCA Agents and Inspectors with police powers to do so. Ontario SPCA provides leadership in animal welfare innovations including introducing high-volume spay/neuter services to Ontario and opening the Provincial Education and Animal Centre. OntarioSPCA.ca Adopt Learn Volunteer Donate Charitable Business Number 88969 1044 RR0002 LINE SCAN CAMERA-BlueVision Technologies (BVT) http://www.bluevision-technologies.com/line_scan_camera.html BlueVision Technologies (BVT) is supplier of high speed line scan camera as commercial products. The company designs, develops & manufacture wide range of Analog Line Scan Cameras standard & Digital Line Scan Cameras.With strong in-house R&D & design efforts, we are happy to introduce wide range of line scan cameras which produces high quality images. Our cameras are actively implemented in variety of applications like Fast moving and High speed inspections like Food/multigrain colour sorting machine, paper,web inspections, ceramic tiles, wood, print inspections & other machine vision based sorting applications etc.For More Information Plz Visit Our Corporate Web Page"-Email Us :- sales.germany@bluevision-technologies.comSkype ID(For Product Enquiry) :- bmt.overseasMachine Vision, line scan camera, Machine vision lens, color sorter,BMT, BMT Lens, BMT Lenses, colour sorter, f mount lens, f mount lenses, machine vision lenses, line scan cameras.BlueVision Technologies Europe GmbH (BVT) is a leading Germany based company, The company is sister concern of "BalaJi MicroTechnologies Pvt. Ltd. India". We are privately held & unit of "B.B. Group of Companies". The group is into business since 1949."We are supplier of high performance Machine Vision & Line Scan Cameras & precision Machine Vision lenses under our brand name "BMT" which is also known as "BMT Machine Vision lens ". Our company core interest lies in ITS/surveillance, Industrial/machine vision and medical imaging domain." The company also exports to several countries around the world.Einsteinstrae 28 | 85521 Ottobrunn | Germany Finding Your Spot in the United Kingdom Renewable Energy Market: What Niches to Target United Kingdom Renewable Energy Market http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/225721 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/united-kingdom-renewable-energy-market http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/225721 The renewable energy sector is growing at a fast pace globally thanks to falling prices and improving technology. The United Kingdom renewable energy market, which is estimated to be worth USD XX billion in 2016 will grow at a CAGR of XX percent and reach USD XX billion by 2022.Living standards of the growing population, supported by urbanization, is influencing the demand for power around the world. Conventional power generation methods like thermal power plants are finding it hard to meet this increase in demand, thus paving way for the growth of renewables. Another factor that is aiding the renewable industry is the efficient collaboration between the governments, and the private sector. There is a growth in industrial investments backed by supportive government policies in renewable technologies. This is resulting in affordable technologies for applications ranging from power plants to small rooftop installations. Growing concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants has led to consequences like environmental damage and global warming. This is prompting governments to look for cleaner power generation options, which is again proving to be beneficial to the renewables industry.Request sample copy of this report at:Renewable energy generation is hindered by various factors. Solar and wind, which are the most popular renewable sources today, are heavily dependent on factors such as the weather, making them unreliable. Power generation from these sources is also intermittent. In addition to these factors, some of the renewable energy plants have a large space requirement. For example, a thermal power plant would require only 10% of space than that of a solar power plant generating the same amount of electricity would require. These factors are however not hindering the growth of the renewables industry, as can be seen from the growing investments and technological advancements in the industry.There is a growth in small scale power generation such as from solar rooftop photovoltaic installations. Smart grids, which are gaining popularity around the world, help integrate renewable sources effectively to the power grid. Battery technologies are also improving. All these factors will help in the long term to overcome the hindrances that renewable energy sector faces today.The United Kingdom Renewable energy market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the market for wind, solar, hydro and other renewable energy sources. This report also includes key project information of both pipeline and upcoming projects. Key drivers and restraints that are effecting the growth of this market are discussed in detail. The study also elucidates on competitive landscape and key market players (both domestic and international) across various types of renewable energy sources.Read more details of the report at:Table of Contents:Executive SummaryResearch MethodologyMarket OverviewMarkets DynamicsPESTLE AnalysisThe United Kingdom Renewable Energy Market Analysis, by TypeCompany Profiles of key playersCompetitive LandscapeAppendixEnquire more details of the report at: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.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +916410101 Diabetes Injection Pens Market to expand at a healthy CAGR of 7.9% during forecast period 2016- 2024 - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, & Forecast https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/905690 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/905690/diabetes-injection-pens-global-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/38 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/905690 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Diabetes Injection Pens Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, & Forecast 2016 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market: OverviewThis report on diabetes injection pens market studies the current as well as future prospects of the market globally. The stakeholders of this report include companies and intermediaries engaged in the manufacture, commercialization, providing services of diabetes injection pens products such as insulin pen and pen needles as well as new entrants planning to enter this market.Get Sample copy of this Report @ This report comprises an elaborate executive summary along with a market snapshot providing overall information of various segments and sub-segments considered in the scope of the study. This section also provides the overall information and data analysis of the global diabetes injection pens market with respect to the leading market segments based on major products segment, end users, and geographies.Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market: SegmentationBased on the product type, the diabetes injection pens market has been segmented into: insulin pen and pen needles. In term of diabetes injection pen usage products divided into reusable pens and disposable pens. Each of the market segments have been extensively analyzed based on the market related factors such as increasing rate of diabetes incidences worldwide, technological advancement, and growing number of use of reusable pens in various geographies. Moreover, historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. The market size and forecast in terms of US$ million for each segment has been provided for the period from 2014 to 2024. The report also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) for each market segment for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year.Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market: Drivers and TrendsThe market overview section of the report explores the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities that currently have a strong impact on the diabetes injection pens market and could influence the market in the near future. Market attractiveness analysis has been provided in the market overview section in order to explain the intensity of competition in the market across different geographies. The competitive scenario among different market players is evaluated through market share analysis in the competitive landscape section of the report. All these factors would help market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their shares in the global diabetes injection pens market.Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market: Geographical OutlookGeographically, diabetes injection pens market has been segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Rest of World. The market size and forecast for each of these regions has been provided for the period from 2014 to 2024, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024, considering 2015 as the base year. The report also provides with market size and forecast for major countries in the respective regions. A detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining the market growth and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also provides with market attractiveness analysis, Porters five forces analysis, value chain analysis, pricing analysis and market share analysis by key players, thus presenting a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global diabetes injection pens market.View Report @ Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The key findings section included in the report would assist existing market players in expanding their market shares, and new companies in establishing their presence in the global diabetes injection pens market. The report also profiles key players operating in the diabetes injection pens market which are Novo Nordisk A/S, Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca plc, Biocon Ltd., Sanofi S.A., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Owen Mumford Ltd., Jiangsu Delfu Co. and Wockhardt Ltd. The global diabetes injection pens market is dominated by three global vendors that accounts for more than 74% share of the global market.The global diabetes injection pens market is segmented as follows:Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market, by Product TypeInsulin PensPen NeedlesGlobal Diabetes Injection Pens Market, by UsageReusable PensDisposable PensGlobal Diabetes Injection Pens Market, by Distribution ChannelHospital PharmacyRetail PharmacyOnline SalesDiabetes Clinics/ CentersGlobal Diabetes Injection Pens Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRussiaRest of the EuropeAsiaChinaJapanIndiaIndonesiaMalaysiaRest of AsiaLatin America (LATAM)BrazilMexicoRest of LATAMRest of WorldAustralia & New ZealandSouth AfricaRoWBrowse more Pharmaceutical Market Research Reports @Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Report Scope and Market Segmentation1.2. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology2.1. Assumptions2.2. Acronyms Used2.3. Research Methodology3. Executive Summary3.1. Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market SnapshotRequest for Enquiry @4. Market Overview4.1. Product Overview4.2. Key Industry Events4.3. Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market Size (US$ Mn) Forecast, 201420244.4. Porters Five Forces Analysis4.5. Value Chain Analysis4.6. Product Pricing Analysis4.7. Global Diabetes Injection Pens Market OutlookAbout 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 Thrombectomy Devices Market - Growth Catalysts, Market Trends And Key Players 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1190 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1190 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1190 Global Thrombectomy Devices Market: OverviewThrombectomy devices are used in surgeries to remove blood clots formed in situ within blood vessels. These devices are available in various types, including mechanical devices, basket/brush retrievers, stent retrievers, aspiration devices, ultrasonic devices, coil retrievers, and hydrodynamic devices. They are used to remove thrombus, which can happen anywhere within the vascular system of a human body and therefore, find their application in the cardiovascular system, peripheral vascular system, and neurovascular system. The end users of these devices, include ambulatory surgical centers, hospitals and surgical centers, academic institutes, and research laboratories.Global Thrombectomy Devices Market: Key TrendsThe rapidly growing geriatric population is fuelling the global demand for thrombectomy devices since aged people are highly susceptible to venous thromboembolism (VTE). Moreover, the rising occurrence of peripheral artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, and deep vein thrombosis, owing to the unhealthy and sedentary lifestyles is escalating the development of the global market for thrombectomy devices. The increasing government and consumer expenditure on the healthcare sector coupled with the presence of favorable medical reimbursement scenario is also stoking the growth of the market. Besides this, the spiraling demand for minimally invasive thrombectomy procedures is augmenting the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the flip side, stringent regulations pertaining to the approval and manufacturing of thrombectomy devices is hampering the growth of the global market. Moreover, patients, particularly in developing and less developed nations, are less aware about thrombectomy, which in turn negatively impacts the growth of the market. The lack of skilled and well-trained surgeons is also inhibiting the growth of the global thrombectomy devices market.Global Thrombectomy Devices Market: Market PotentialThe global medical devices industry and its affiliated markets are largely influenced by government actions. Thus, favorable government policies are playing an instrumental role in the development of the global thrombectomy devices market. To put this in perspective, the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) is taking efforts to make mechanical thrombectomy more widely available to patients. In April 2017, the NHS decided to invest hefty sums in the development of an advanced treatment for strokes. With this intervention, nearly 8,000 people per year are expected to benefit from this treatment. The development of such treatments is likely to translate into the greater uptake of thrombectomy devices.Request TOC of the Report @Global Thrombectomy Devices Market: Geographical SegmentationThe key regions analyzed in the report are Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America will command a substantial share in the global market throughout the forecast period. The growing popularity of technologically advanced thrombectomy products among surgeons and the availability of favorable reimbursement policies, especially in the U.S. are contributing to the growth of the region. Besides this, the presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure and the rising number of clinical trials are supplementing the market in North America.Asia Pacific will be an emerging market for thrombectomy devices. The widening base of target patient population, growing healthcare expenditure, and increasing awareness regarding novel devices among surgeons are stoking the growth of the region. In addition, the growth of the region can be attributed to the rising localized manufacturing and strengthening of distribution channels.Request Discount of the Report @Global Thrombectomy Devices Market: Competitive LandscapeThe majority of key players in the global thrombectomy devices market are looking upon mergers and acquisitions as viable strategies to expand their product portfolio. They are paying high attention to technological advancements and product upgradation to stay relevant in this highly competitive arena. Some of the key global participants in the global market are Stryker Corporation, Medtronic Plc, Boston Scientific Corporation, Penumbra Inc., Teleflex Incorporated, AngioDynamics Inc., The Spectranetics Corporation, Johnson and Johnson Inc., Terumo Corporation, and Vascular Solutions 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 Macroeconomic and Microeconomic ASEAN Cosmetic Chemicals Market Analysis by Future Market Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-as-31 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-as-31 www.futuremarketinsights.com The growing beauty products market has been increasing the demand for value-enriched cosmetics. The market is flooded with various cosmetic chemicals. Cosmetic chemicals are the basic ingredients found in cosmetic products including soap, shampoo, lipstick, mascara, deodorants and other beauty products (excluding the products listed under therapeutic goods). At present, various cosmetic business enterprises use more than 5000 different chemical compositions to offer selected cosmetic products. Based on its end use applications, cosmetic chemical have been further divided into surfactants, emollients, conditioning polymers, and UV absorbers. These chemical-based products contain preservatives which hinder microbial growth and thereby offer longer shell life to the cosmetics. In addition, these chemicals contain a variety of vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, herbs, hormones, and fragrances. This vast range of cosmetic chemicals allows business cosmetics to deliver different types of cosmetics in the market, thereby offering a vibrant market to cosmetic industries.Their use is widely found in personal care products. A wide range of applications ranging from anti-ageing cream to shampoo is driving the cosmetic chemical market to its zenith. Companies these days are focusing on organic grade cosmetic chemicals as they are considered to be a healthier option when compared to commodity surfactants and petroleum oils. The cosmetic chemicals market has been segmented into skin care products, make up products, hair care products and fragrance products. Among all its market segments, cleaning agents and foaming agents are the enduse applications that account for the largest percentage of the market. Skin care products accounted for 31% of global cosmetic market in year 2013. Though cosmetic chemicals offer many options to formulate cosmetics depending on different skin types, the market is shifting towards natural surfactants primarily because of the rising safety concerns of sulfate-based surfactants.Request For Report Sample@Globally, North America is the largest market for cosmetic product consumption. It accounted for 21.2% of global market share in 2012. USA with US$ 54.89 billion in 2012 is the biggest cosmetic market. However, with the rising dominance of non-western beauty culture in Eastern region, the market share is set to shift towards ASEAN region. Ethnic and cultural diversity in APAC, and particularly in ASEAN region,are driving the cosmetics market vertically upwards. Growing consumer class in ASEAN region from 67 million population to 125 million population by 2025 will offer a lucrative market for various business cosmetic business channels. A large consumer base, ample natural resources, availability of cheap labor and easing of policies such as FDI by government, are the main driving factors for the cosmetic chemicals market in ASEAN markets.In the ASEAN region, the cosmetic market has been witnessing a double digit growth every 5 years. GDP at the constant price shows a vertically upwards trend in these regions. The rise in the middle class population in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Philippines is the major driving factor for the growth of this sector, while in Malaysia and Singapore, wealthy segments contribute largely to it. Skin care products are set to witness exponential growth in the ASEAN market, thereby offering lucrative business opportunities in the cosmetic chemicals market.There is a flood of suppliers in cosmetic chemicals which results in a fragmented market. However, the demand for premium personal care products has led to consolidation of the market, thus leading to high competitiveness among the dominant players in this market. The prominent players of cosmetic chemicals market include Dow Chemical Company, BASF SE, Bayer AG, Givaudan SA, Merck KGaA, Shell Chemical and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.Visit For TOC@With the new emerging markets such as ASEAN, BRIC, and MEA, the future seems optimistic for cosmetic chemicals companies. Together, these regions offer a large market owing to the high population of youth in the age group of 15-39 years. Though the market seems promising in the long run, companies have to spend lump sum amounts on R&D to comply with the governments regulatory demands.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: Innovation in Telecommunication Services: A mature market supported by regulatory and operator initiatives which increases attractiveness (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313614/belgium-telecommunication-services-a-mature-supported-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313614 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Although fixed revenue dominated the Belgium market in 2016, revenue is expected to be skewed towards the mobile segment over the forecast period. During this time, mobile growth will be driven by growing mobile data revenue, following the uplift of data usage and data revenue which stems from LTE adoption. Mobile subscriptions increased at a CAGR of 3.9% during 2012-2016 and are expected to increase at a CAGR of 5.9% over 2016-2021. Mobile user penetration (as % of population) was at 81.6% in 2016, and is expected to increase to 87.8% by 2021.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsScope for broadband penetration despite saturated mobile marketBelgium, with existing and expected mobile subscriptions of 15.2 million and 20.2 million in 2016 and 2021 respectively, and penetration levels of 133.3% in 2016 (subscription as % of population), is quite saturated. Increasing adoption of Long Term Evolution (LTE) enabled devices has led to the increase in mobile data usage, evidenced by LTE subscriptions increasing at a CAGR of 181.6% during 2012-2016. Orange Belgium also plans to roll out voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and Wi-Fi Calling across Belgium in 2017.Increase in fixed internet accounts - VoIP and broadbandSince the mobile market is quite saturated, telecom operators have focused on the fixed line market. Innovation in technology has made VoIP more affordable, leading VoIP subscriptions to increase at 5.0% CAGR from 1.5 million in 2012 to 1.8 million in 2016 and is expected to increase at 4.1% CAGR over 2016-2021 to reach 2.3 million. Moreover, government initiatives to develop fixed technologies such as fiber, vectoring and DOCSIS 3.1 have led broadband subscriptions to increase at 3.3% CAGR from 3.7 million in 2012 to 4.2 million in 2016 and are expected to increase at 1.8% CAGR to reach 4.6 million by 2021.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Fixed business internet and IPTV to take chargeInternet services and IPTV are expected to drive fixed business revenue and, similar to fixed residential revenue, newer technology and internet based communication channels are expected to adversely affect business voice revenue.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Belgium Telecommunications market in comparison with other European countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Belgium Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Belgium Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Belgium Telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Belgium Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- Have technological advances drastically changed the face of the Telecommunications industry?- How is the market performing in terms of: Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, and Customer Churn?- How risky is it to invest in the Belgium Telecommunications industry compared to other European countries?- What is driving the performance of key industry segments such as Voice, Data, Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband, and IPTV?- Who are the leading players in the Belgium Telecommunications industry and how does their performance compare?- What trends are being witnessed within the Belgium Telecommunications industry?- How will the breakdown for mobile connection technologies look by 2021?- What are the Belgium Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- How has the financial deals landscape changed in 2015 and 2016?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Latin America Mining Equipments Market will be Massively Influenced by Macroeconomic Factors http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-la-68 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-la-68 www.futuremarketinsights.com The mining industry is expected to witness growth with a single digit CAGR over the next six years on account of the further expanding demand for metal and mineral commodities. Latin America accounted for about 8% of the global mining equipment demand in 2013 and its contribution towards global mining equipment sales was registered at 15% for the same year. The region serves as the prime destination for mining exploration and investment at a global level.Request For Report Sample@The key reason which has accelerated the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market is the enhanced demand for the consumption of natural resources. Presently, the region produces about 45% of the global copper, 21% of the global zinc, 50% of the global silver and 26% of the global molybdenumproduction. In addition, foreign investment, especially from China, US, Canada and Australia, plays a significant role in the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market. Further, other operations such as the Panama Stock Operation (PSO), CSR activities, and introduction of next generation mining equipment such as Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) also serve as driving factors for the growth of the mining equipment market in Latin America. Among these, CSR activities primarily focus on rehabilitation and support programmes, promotion of healthy lifestyle and awareness programmes for the adoption of green technology. However, in the past few years, the mining industry and hence the mining equipment industry has been facing an economic crisis on account of the requirement for budget allocation in the maintenance of the mining industry and equipment, etc. Illegal mining operations at some locations and the risk associated with the mining industry serve as further constraints for the Latin American mining equipment industry.Surging demand and abundant availability of natural resources(including the worlds top three metal and mineral reserves of copper, zinc and silver rapid technological advancement, modernization of mining plants, stable legislations with a motivating legal environment, and the efficient budget allocation with aftermarket revenue generation will serve as opportunities for the development of the Latin America mining equipment market.Market segmentation of Latin American mining equipment can be done on the basis of equipment, application and countries. On the basis of equipment, the Latin American mining equipment market includes mineral processing equipment, surface mining equipment, underground mining equipment, mining drills and breakers, crushing and screening equipment, etc. On the basis of applications, the Latin American mining equipment market segmentation includes metal ore mining, coal mining and mineral mining. Chile, being the largest producer of copper, serves as a lucrative market for copper-based mining equipment. Colombia is an active exporter,and is the first Latin American coal-producing country alongwith the production of metals such as gold, silver and platinum and hence is the opportunistic market for the associated mining equipment market. On the basis of countries, the Latin American mining equipment market includes Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Chile is known for the adoption and introduction of advanced technologies such as autonomous haulage system. Peru is the reserve of key minerals and has been witnessing a surging demand for copper and hence the expansion of the associated mining equipment market. Brazil has an integrated approach for the production and sale of mining equipment. Panama has an active stock operation (PSO) for the support of the mining industry. In line with the positive future of the Latin American mining equipment industry, Peru and Chile are expected to receive double digit foreign investment in $ Bn in the next six years.Visit For TOC@Some of the prominent players of the global mining equipment market include Sandvik AB, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu Limited, Atlas Copco Ab Joy Global Inc. Breaker Technology, Astec Industries, Bucyrus International, Caterpillar Incorporated, China Coal Energy Company Limited, Tecpalsa, Tecmap, Tiesa and Igaretta. Among these, Komatsu Limited in the whole of Latin America, Tecpalsa in Colombia, Tecmap and Tiesa in Panama and Igaretta in Argentina are active players in the Latin American mining equipment market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Bug Tracking Software Market - Technological Advancements to Play Important Role in Market Growth https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2510 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2510 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2510 Global Bug Tracking Software Market: OverviewA software application program to uncover bugs in software development projects is known as a bug tracking software. It can also be labelled as a type of issue tracking segment. While excel sheets can serve the same function of recording or tracking and emails to report, massive and dauntingly complicated scale of the projects involving numerous test cycles and a large number of people makes it imperative to leverage a much sophisticated and effective mechanism. This has led to the emergence of different bug tracking software or defect management tools over the years in the market.Global Bug Tracking Software Market: Key TrendsThe global market for bug tracking software will likely clock steady growth in the foreseeable future on account of the many benefits of such a software. For example, proper bug tracking allows companies to keep a tab of the bugs that arise frequently and thus makes it easier to sort recurring issues. Further, the records also enable software developers to focus only on the most pressing issues well in time so that they do not escalate into a substantial threat.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Another factor that will stoke the markets growth is the fact that bug tracking software are open source that can be installed and upgraded without much hassle and in a cost effective manner. Free or open source solutions, however, mostly have a limited feature set and/or support. A noticeable trend in the market has been the shift toward cloud-based bug tracking software for seamless and agile applications. Several platforms like Google Drive and Microsoft Azure are encouraging uptake of cloud-based solutions from the on-premises software models.Global Bug Tracking Software Market: Market PotentialThe global market for bug tracking software is dynamic in nature with both tech juggernauts and savvy startups focused on innovating better products. Some of this years bestselling bug trackers are Zoho Projects by Zoho, CaseCamp.com, QuickBase, MantisBT, Axosoft, BugZilla, etc. MantisBT and Bugzilla, among them, are free or open source solutions that cost-conscious business entities are increasingly leveraging to slash expenses.Request TOC of the Report @At present, there are not many differentiated products in the market. Astute players are already tapping into the opportunity by funneling money into development of differentiated and effective products. This will likely intensify competition in the near future in the market.The cloud-based deployment model accounts for a substantial chunk of bug tracking software market since it can be seamlessly accessed using a web browser. It does not require investments in hardware and results in less human effort factors that are contributing to its popularity.Request Discount of the Report @Global Bug Tracking Software Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the key segments of the global bug tracking software market are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. North America, is a key market due to the rise in investments in software testing activities in the U.S. and Canada. A large concentration of software testing companies is also spurring the market in the continent.Global Bug Tracking Software Market: Competitive AnalysisIn order to assess the competition prevailing in the global market for bug tracking software, the report profiles prominent players such as IBM, Atlassian, JetBrains, and Zoho Corporation. On account of the presence of both large-sized and smaller players in the market, the competitive landscape is fragmented and might heat up in the upcoming years.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 Telecommunication Services industry SWOT analysis And Forecast 2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313615 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313615/brazil-telecommunication-services-an-oligopolistic-and-market-research-reports http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ The Brazilian telecommunication market is oligopolistic by nature, dominated by a few major players, the leading of which is Vivo. Along with information on the leading players of the market, this report also offers readers the latest data on current market trends in Brazil, deals and innovations within the telecom sector and how government initiatives may affect the market in the long run, among much more. The detailed information and data is easily distinguished for the readers ease, as the reports are written in a clear and concise style.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Key HighlightsVivos main competitor Oi files for bankruptcyThe fixed-line segment is led by Vivo and Oi. Subscriptions for Oi recorded a review-period CAGR of -7.2%, while Vivos subscriber base registered a review-period CAGR of 6.8%. During the second quarter of 2016, Oi filed for bankruptcy protection as a result of debts in excess of US$65 billion. Other key competitors include Claro Brazil, Oi, TIM Brazil, Algar.Demand for data will help to upscaleThe share of HSPA - 3G, which dominated the market in 2014, is set to decline. Due to an increase in subscriptions and a demand for data-intensive apps, LTE, a version of 4G, is gaining wider acceptance. LTE will post a forecast-period CAGR of 25.0%. Companies are offering competitive internet combo packages, combining 4G and voice services for postpaid costumers to attract more subscribers.Volatile economy led mobile subscription to declineBrazils economy is in recession, a situation that has resulted in a reduction in income levels. A deceleration in the volume of middle-class households and associated spending power is forcing telecom providers to run their services at low-margins, despite an increase in the demand for faster internet speeds, smartphones and packaged services. The recession has damaged consumers confidence, making many more price sensitive.Mobile subscriptions declined from 283.31 million in 2014 to 259.27 million in 2015, settling at 246.13 million in 2016. However, it is expected to increase, recording a forecast-period CAGR of 0.3% to reach 250.3 million in 2021.View Report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Brazilian telecommunications market in comparison with other South American countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics, including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS, are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends that drive market performance in the Brazilian telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investments in the Brazilian telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Brazilian telecommunications market is performing compared to the regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Brazilian telecommunications market through the business segment on metrics such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- An analysis into the potential growth of the market, along with rivalry among players?- Exploring market performance in several sectors, including: revenues, subscribers, ARPU, and customer churn?- How innovative technology is changing the shape of the market, specifically in terms of mobile technologies?- The markets volatility and room for growth - an analysis of the risks attributed to investments into the Brazilian telecommunications industry in comparison with other South American countries?- What challenges and opportunities are available in the Brazilian telecom market - an analysis of the markets strengths and weaknesses?- A comprehensive breakdown of the leading players in the Brazilian telecom industry, along with a comparative analysis of said players?- Over 2015 to 2016, how has the financial deals landscape changed?- Detailing the key drivers of the market in the industrys main segments, namely voice, data, prepaid, postpaid, broadband, and IPTV, and how these might change over the forecast period?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Pen Needles Market Size, Share, Trends and Research Report Forecast to 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1872 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/pen-needles-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1872 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/drug-eluting-bioabsorbable-stents-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com The research report Pen Needles Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024, by Global Market Insights, Inc. says, Pen Needles Market size is projected to experience significant growth from 2017 to 2024.Increasing worldwide prevalence of diabetes and obesity will spur Pen Needles Market growth during the forecast period. As per International Diabetes Federation, the global prevalence of diabetes was 415 million in 2015 and expected to reach 642 million by 2040. Increasing obese population will accelerate the prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart diseases and stroke.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Rising awareness programs for administration of insulin using, technological advancements for developing novel devices to reduce pain and favorable reimbursement systems in developed countries should fuel the pen needles market size. Alternative drug delivery systems such as oral insulin, inhaled insulin and needle-free products coupled with inability to reuse may hamper the product demand during the forecast years.Based on product, the industry is bifurcated into standard and safety pen needles. Standard products hold the largest revenue share owing to routine usage by diabetic patient base. Safety pen needles market will witness lucrative growth over the coming years due to its benefits such as minimized patient anxiety and reduced needle stick injuries. 8mm needles market lead the overall revenue share owing to increased usage rates for insulin administration. 4mm needles will witness tremendous growth in the coming years due to its short length, comfort, and ease for administering insulin in the subcutaneous layer of the patients.Browse key industry insights from the report Pen Needles Market in detail along with the table of contents:Insulin market estimated to foresee lucrative growth due to rising awareness about product and self-administration of insulin coupled with favorable reimbursement policies. GLP-1 therapy will witness healthy growth in future due to its ability to minimize blood glucose level in patients with target disease. Homecare will be the major end user of the pen needles owing to self-administration of insulin on daily basis. Hospital segment is anticipated to witness healthy growth in the coming few years due to availability of highly-skilled professionals and the quality of patient care provided.Some of the prominent players in the pen needles market include Becton and Dickinson, Novo Nordisk, B.Braun Melsungen and Terumo. Key players are focusing on effective promotional and marketing techniques and rising R&D efforts to develop novel products and capture higher market share. Some of the other participants are Owen Mumford, HTL STREFA, Ultimed and Allison Medical. Collaborations, distribution agreements and product portfolio expansion are other growth strategies for the players to sustain the industry.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Some of the prominent industry players include Medtronic, B. Braun Melsungen, Becton Dickinson and Company, Abbott (St. Jude Medical), Stryker, Halyard Health and Boston Scientific. Key players are focusing on differentiated strategies such as acquisitions, agreements and R&D efforts to develop novel products to expand their product portfolio and capture higher market share. Some of the other participants are Baxter International, Neurotech, Smiths Medical, Hospira (Pfizer) and Codman & Shurtleff. Collaborations and geographic expansion are some other growth strategies adopted by key players to enhance their manufacturing capabilities and increase presence across the globe.Browse Related Reports:Drug-Eluting Bioabsorbable Stents Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Growth Potential, Competitive Market Growth & 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: OAK BROOK, Ill., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A.M. Castle & Co. (OTC Pink:CASLQ) (the Company or Castle), a global distributor of specialty metal and supply chain solutions, today announced that it has emerged from its voluntary chapter 11 proceedings before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware commenced on June 18, 2017. Having successfully restructured its balance sheet and substantially reduced its debt burden and interest costs under its Amended Prepackaged Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, the Company is now poised for growth. President and CEO Steve Scheinkman commented, Today, A.M. Castle celebrates a proud step forward that marks a new beginning for our Company. We have successfully and expeditiously completed our financial restructuring, positioning Castle for growth and enabling us to serve our customers and partner with our suppliers more efficiently than we have in the past few financially-challenged years. As anticipated, we have significantly reduced our debt burden and interest expense and now possess a balance sheet competitive to others in the metals service center industry, enabling us to focus on compelling growth opportunities across our business by creating even more value for our customers and supplier partners. Equally important, we will also plan to make investments back into Castle to ensure we remain a Company that attracts and builds a robust talent base and fulfilling careers for our employees. Scheinkman continued, This milestone is a testament to the hard work of our employees and our leadership team, as well as the confidence of other stakeholders, all of whom reaffirmed their overwhelming belief in Castles value proposition throughout the process. Many companies have crumbled under similar circumstances, but Castle has grown. Rumors of our demise were greatly exaggerated, and now, with one of the most competitive balance sheets in the industry, we look forward to regaining our leadership position. Moving forward, we will build on this success by focusing on developing our business, driving innovation for our customers, empowering our branches, and renewing our commitment to our employees and our culture. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Anderson commented, As previously announced, our financial restructuring has markedly reduced our debt and interest expense. Following the effective date of our Plan, our initial annual cash interest expense will be approximately $4 million. Further, even including interest on the new convertible debt held primarily by our shareholders, which will initially be paid in-kind, our total yearly interest expense has decreased by nearly 70%, from approximately $36 million per year prior to the restructuring. With this new, improved balance sheet, we will be able to invest further in both organic and strategically acquired revenue growth, capital investments, and innovation for our customers. Scheinkman concluded, This journey has been a long one for our employees, our leadership, and all of our stakeholders. We sincerely thank everyone involved for their belief and support through this process. We are excited about what the future holds for Castle and all of our stakeholders with this restructuring now complete. About A.M. Castle & Co. Founded in 1890, A.M. Castle & Co. is a global distributor of specialty metal and supply chain services, principally serving the producer durable equipment, commercial aircraft, heavy equipment, industrial goods, construction equipment, and retail sectors of the global economy. Its customer base includes many Fortune 500 companies as well as thousands of medium and smaller-sized firms spread across a variety of industries. It specializes in the distribution of alloy and stainless steels; nickel alloys; aluminum and carbon. Together, Castle and its affiliated companies operate out of 21 metals service centers located throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Its common stock is traded on the OTC Pink Current Information under the ticker symbol "CASLQ". Cautionary Statement on Risks Associated with Forward-looking Statements Information provided and statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and the Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this release. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy, use of funds, and the cost savings and other benefits that we expect to achieve from our restructuring. These statements often include words such as believe, expect, anticipate, intend, predict, plan, should, or similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are many factors that could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include or relate to: other competing uses for funds, including the payment of the administrative or other expenses of our chapter 11 cases; the effects of the filing of our chapter 11 cases on our business and the interests of various constituents; our ability to execute the Companys business and financial reorganization plan; and increased advisory costs to execute our reorganization. Other factors include our ability to effectively manage our operational initiatives and restructuring activities, the impact of volatility of metals prices, the cyclical and seasonal aspects of our business, our ability to effectively manage inventory levels, our ability to successfully complete the remaining steps in our strategic refinancing process, and the impact of our substantial level of indebtedness, as well as including those risk factors identified in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017. All future written and oral forward-looking statements by us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above. Except as required by the federal securities laws, we do not have any obligations or intention to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances in the future, to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or for any other reason. INTENT SOLUTIONS HIRES NEW CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, Paul Quiner Intent Solutions, creator of the breakthrough medical device technology TAD, is excited to announce the addition of its new Chief Strategy Officer, Paul Quiner. Paul has spent his career in healthcare both from product and service perspectives. Paul brings extensive experience in business including strategy, mergers and acquisitions experience, said Sam Zamarripa, CEO. In addition we believe that Pauls legal training will give him a unique perspective on our regulatory issues at both the state and federal level.To be a part of Intent Solutions at this stage in the development was especially intriguing to me, Paul explains. Intent Solutions laser focus is on a critical aspect of healthcare: the ability to ensure the right dose was dispensed to the right patient at the right time. This is powerful, and can have a positive impact on healthcare outcomes as well as clinical research.As Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel, Quiner will focus on Intent Solutions overall strategy, ensuring all activities are aligned with Intent Solutions vision, mission, core values and strategic priorities. In addition, Paul will play a central role along with CEO Sam Zamarripa in the day to day management of the companys goals and objectives.Paul holds a B.S. in Finance and a J.D. from the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.TAD, for Take As Directed is a smart, mobile, medication dispenser that helps patients obtain better health outcomes by helping the right patient take the right dose at the right time.Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Intent Solutions is a technology-enabled services company with hardware and software for monitoring and managing medication adherence in pharmaceutical research trials and in several market verticals of applied healthcare.It is estimated that up to one-half of all prescriptions are not taken which results in deaths of over 125,000 from adherence related causes and a staggering economic burden in health care of $300B, and a global revenue loss of $564B to pharmaceutical companies. The adherence problem may include taking more or less than prescribed, skipping doses, and also the abuse, misuse, and diversion of medications.Intent Solutions730 Peachtree Street NE Suite 550Atlanta, GA 30308intentsolutions.com(404) 229-3804 Smart Cards Market (Contact, Contactless, Dual-interface and Hybrid - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2023 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/582340/smart-cards-contact-contactless-dual-interface-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/582340 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/582340 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Smart Cards Market (Contact, Contactless, Dual-interface and Hybrid - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2023 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"View Sample PDF :Smart cards are IC-based cards that accumulate and retrieve information using various computer systems. Smart cards consist of central processing units and memory units. Smart cards primarily act as a cost-effective way to store, manage, and maintain credentials for their users. This makes these products highly convenient for different applications. In addition, the portability of smart cards enables their extensive adoption across different applications. Currently, smart cards are widely used across sectors such as telecommunications, BFSI, and government. Due to the numerous advantages they offer, smart cards are increasingly used in the healthcare, government IDs (e-passports), and retail sectors. Thus, strong ongoing adoption of smart cards across different sectors is estimated to substantially spur the markets growth in the coming years.The research study titled Smart Cards Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2023 provides in-depth analysis of the market and related sub-segments. The report strategically focuses on market segments including different types of smart cards and components. In addition, this report provides market insights and forecasts of the size and growth of each segment across each of the geographic regions. The report includes detailed analysis of prevalent market trends and profiles of key players. In order to provide better understanding of competition in the market, the report offers ecosystem analysis and competitive landscape. The study on the global smart cards market has been conducted with the objective of providing thorough coverage of the underlying technological and socio-economic factors driving the market.Download Sample copy of this Report at :The smart cards market is expected to see consistent growth in the coming years due to the increasing demand for secure and reliable payment transactions across the retail and BFSI sectors. Moreover, cost-saving schemes for merchants from payments brands such as Visa, MasterCard, and Europay is driving the smart card technology innovations. The decreasing prices of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards and tariff rates are increasing the number of mobile subscribers, and thus further contributing to the growth of the smart cards market. However, factors such as price pressures and technological challenges along with the cost of migrating to smartcard compatible readers affect the adoption of smartcards. Conversely, technological advancements, falling prices, and the introduction of high-end SIMs offer potential opportunities for the growth of the smart cards market.Send An Enquiry Request :This report studies the current scenario as well as the future market potential for smart cards globally. The market for smart cards has been segmented based on three major parameters: card type, components, and geography. The major types of smart cards used are contact smart cards, contactless smart cards, hybrid smart cards, and dual-interface smart cards. On the basis of components, the smart cards market is segmented into microcontroller-based smart cards and memory-based smart cards. The demand for microcontroller-based smart cards is significantly high owing to the wide adoption of such cards for contactless and dual-interface smart cards. The market size and forecast, in terms of revenue and volume (US$ Mn & Mn units), for each of these segments has been provided for the period from 2013 to 2023, considering 2013 and 2014 as the base years. For 2015, report provides actual data for the first half and estimate for the second half. Also, the report provides market size and forecast in terms of volume (Mn Units) for various segments for the above mentioned period. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for each segment of the market for the forecast period 2016 to 2023.Geographically, the market for global smart cards has been segmented into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report also provides a competitive landscape, wherein the market share analysis of leading players in the global smart cards market for the year 2014, in terms of value percentage, has been discussed. The report concludes with the company profiles section, which provides an overview of the major companies operating in the market including strategies deployed by them to gain competitive advantage, annual revenue generated by them in the past two years, and key developments in the market. The companies profiled in this report include the American Express Company, Atos SE, NXP Semiconductors NV, Infineon Technologies AG, Gemalto NV, INSIDE Secure, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) GmbH, and Texas Instruments, Inc.The global smart cards market is categorized into the following segments:Smart Cards Market, by TypeContact Smart CardsContactless Smart CardsHybrid Smart CardsDual-interface Smart CardsAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Rise in the Number of Surgeries will Drive Growth of Surgical Stapling Devices Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/surgical-stapling-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11384 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Surgical Stapling Devices Market: SnapshotThe demand in the global surgical stapling devices market is projected for a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024, as a result of several factors, such as rising number of surgical procedures, increasing preference of minimally invasive surgeries, and incrementing usage of surgical stapling devices in bariatric surgeries. Chronis illnesses such as orthopedic, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases have seen significant escalation in the recent times, whereas the adoptability of minimally invasive surgeries has increased as it offers benefits such as faster recovery, fewer post-surgery infections, reduced pain, bleeding control, and high accuracy. Obesity as grown into a widespread problem across the world in the recent times as a result of changed lifestyle, which is propelling the number of bariatric surgeries, and physicians are recommending MI techniques for the surgeries.On the basis of product type, the global surgical stapling devices market can be segmented into manual surgical stapling devices and powered surgical stapling devices, which currently has more demand than the former. The extended demand for powered surgical stapling devices can be attributed to improved features and rising need for wound management. Based on usage, the market for surgical stapling devices can be classified into disposable or reusable. The report provides current demand and future potential of all segments as well as gauges the lucrativeness of various regions, apart from profiling a number of leading companies in order to represent the competitive landscape.Obtain Report Details @Global Surgical Stapling Devices Market: OverviewSurgical stapling devices were developed in response to rising concerns regarding the healing of traditional sutures. Compared to modern surgical staplers, sutures are more prone to separation and leaks. Additionally, surgical stapling devices offer a number of advantages over sutures such as accuracy, speed, and evenness of wound closure.According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), surgical staplers have been on the market for years now and these complex mechanical medical devices have been maturing in their technology. Employed in gynecologic, gastrointestinal, thoracic, and several other surgeries, surgical stapling devices are used to cut through tissues and organs, to remove part of an organ, and to develop connections between structures.Two major types of surgical stapling devices are available in the market: manual and powered. These devices can be either reusable or disposable. Either way, both types are loaded with disposable cartridges. Geographically, the global surgical stapling devices market covers four main segments: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World.This report offers readers a comprehensive and objective assessment of the global surgical stapling devices market and serves as an ideal blueprint for those looking to expand or enter into a business in this avenue. Supported with accurate facts and figures pertaining to the historical, current, and future performance of the surgical stapling devices market, the report offers actionable insights into where the market is headed and the key factors driving and hampering its growth. The most prominent players competing in the space are also highlighted and reviewed based on recent developments, product portfolio, business strategies, and financial standing.Global Surgical Stapling Devices Market: Key Trends and OpportunitiesThe global surgical stapling devices market is single-handedly propelled by the rise in the number of surgeries performed around the world. The demographic trend of increasing geriatric population, growing prevalence of chronic diseases, presence of favorable reimbursement scenarios in developed and developing countries, and advancing medical tourism industry have contributed toward the increase in cardiovascular, neurological, and orthopedic surgeries, among others. This growth in surgical procedures has boosted the demand for surgical stapling devices significantly. Advent of new technologies, highly developed health care infrastructure in developed countries, rising demand for powered surgical instruments and accessories in emerging economies, and growing accessibility to health care facilities in developing countries are the other factors contributing to the expansion of this market.Global Surgical Stapling Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookEurope and North America are the dominant regional markets for surgical stapling devices and are likely to retain their lead during the forecast period. These regions are primarily driven by the early acceptance of advanced product innovations and technically advanced equipment. Asia Pacific is a much smaller market compared to the aforementioned developed markets; however, the potential for growth in the region is exceptional.The RoW segment of the global market also holds immense scope for growth. The patient pool in Asia Pacific and RoW is high, thus translating into an increased number of surgical procedures and soaring demand for surgical stapling devices. Rising awareness about the availability and use of advanced surgical equipment and increasing health care expenditure in several developing countries are also likely to boost the surgical stapling devices market in Asia Pacific and RoW.Fill the Form to Gain Deeper Insights on this Market @Conmed Corporation, Alcon Laboratories Inc., KLS Martin Group, Zimmer Holdings Inc., Stryker Corporation, Ethicon Inc., Smith & Nephew PLC, Medtronic Inc., and CareFusion Corporation are some of the leading players operating in the global surgical stapling devices market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking 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 us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Technological Advancements to Boost Respiratory Disease Testing Market by 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1871 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/respiratory-disease-testing-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1871 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/therapeutic-respiratory-devices-market-report https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com The research report Respiratory Disease Testing Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, China, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Application Growth Potential, Competitive Market Growth & Forecast, 2017 2024, by Global Market Insights, Inc. says, Respiratory Disease Testing Market size is projected to experience significant growth from 2017 to 2024.Respiratory Disease Testing Market should witness substantial growth due to increased prevalence of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma over the last few years. Increasing pollution and tobacco consumption coupled with rising geriatric population base and technological advancement in respiratory devices should drive respiratory disease testing market size over the forecast period.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @According to the International Respiratory Societies Forum, in 2014, over 200 million people across the world had COPD and nearly 235 million people were suffering from asthma. Furthermore, over 50 million individuals struggle with occupational lung disorder every year. These factors should drive respiratory disease testing market growth. Increasing healthcare expenses and reimbursement concern may restrain the industry growth during the forecast period. Low adoption rate of portable spirometers and digital radiography can also hinder the respiratory disease testing market size.Imaging tests includes x-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear scanning, ultrasonography, and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. Chest x-rays provide detailed framework of the heart and major blood vessels, it can also reveal serious disorder in the lungs and chest wall.Chest x-ray reveal chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonias, atelectasis, lung tumors and pneumothorax or pleural effusion in the pleural space. It helps doctors to determine other tests required for the diagnosis. Measurement devices include respirometers, spirometers, capnographs, pulse oximeters and peak flowmeters. Demand for pulse oximeters is rising in comparison with other devices due to precise and effective diagnosis in short time and increasing adoption for these testing devices by physicians.Browse key industry insights from the report Respiratory Disease Testing Market in detail along with the table of contents:Hospitals contributed for significant revenue share over the forecast timeframe. The growth is attributed to advanced disease diagnostic equipment installation such as X-ray machines and measurement devices. Furthermore, increased patient visit will drive the segment growth. Diagnostic laboratories and clinics are profitable segments due to their increased demand for appropriate testing procedure and fast results.Companies operating in respiratory disease testing market includes Becton Dickinson, Koninklijke Philips, ResMed Company, Fischer & Paykel, GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Nihon Kohden Corporation, MGC Diagnostics and CAREstream Medical. Companies are mainly focusing on new product launch and merger & acquisition strategy to gain revenue. For instance, in May 2017, Philips acquired RespirTech. The RespirTech clinical support program will strengthen Philips aim to offer cost-effective and clinically focused services.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @U.S. respiratory disease testing market contributed for significant growth over the forecast period. The growth is attributed due to growing prevalence of respiratory diseases coupled with increasing geriatric population base. Moreover, presence of advanced healthcare system and robust distribution channel for diagnostic devices should drive industry growth. Advanced healthcare infrastructure, increased healthcare expenditure, and favourable reimbursement policies will boost Canada respiratory disease testing market share.Germany will experience significant growth over the forecast period. The growth is attributed to growing demand for highly innovative technologies and devices. The German Center for Lung Research is an association of non-university and university institutes all over the Germany that are engaged in lung research. The purpose of the association is to develop innovative disease-specific diagnostic therapies.Browse Related Reports:Therapeutic Respiratory Devices Market Size By Product (Nebulizers, Humidifiers, Oxygen Concentrators, Ventilators, Gas Analyzers, Capnographs), By Technology (Electrostatic Filtration, HEPA, Hollow Fiber Filtration, Microsphere Separation), By Filters (Nebulizer, Humidifier, Positive Airway Pressure Device, Oxygen Concentrator, Ventilator Filters), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa), 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: Adoption of the latest Telecommunication Services: Large market with fast acceptance of growing technologies (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313616/canada-telecommunication-services-large-with-fast-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313616 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ There are exciting possibilities for telecommunication companies in Canada as 5G networks begin to launch. Huawei Canada is planning to invest US$500 million into establishing a 5G network in Ontario, with their focus mainly on advanced communications research initiatives, including faster Internet speeds and related technologies such as cloud computing, data analytics and mobile security. They have already started 5G trial runs for the next generation of cellular phone systems. This technology has a higher bandwidth and speeds of up to 29.3 gigabits per second (Gbps), much faster than the current fourth generation speed of 1Gbps. This technology will help Canada create a platform combining mobile apps, bandwidth and cloud technology.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsBroadband services to get a cash injectionBroadband penetration offers a lot of growth opportunities for the country. It has increased from 34.4% in 2012 to 36.2% in 2016 and is expected to increase further to 38.9% by 2021. The governments of Ontario and Canada plan to invest US$180 million to help bring ultra-high speed internet to homes and businesses in southwestern Ontario. Bell Canada enterprises (BCE) also spent US$854 million in 2016 on fiber for home broadband connections in Montreal, US$1.14 billion in Toronto and US$225 million in Quebec in 2015 for fiber installation.Canadas telecommunications market proves to be robustThe decline in churn rate indicates higher customer retention in the market. Companies can retain their customers with rapid issue resolution and quality customer service. Canada reported a very low churn rate of 19.7% in 2016 in comparison to the North American average churn rate of 26.4% during the same period. Its peer countries also showed comparatively high churn rate with Mexico at 65.9% and the US at 26.9%. The decline is attributed to value added services offered by operators, along with adoption of the latest technology.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Leading companies invest heavily in technological advancementThe focus of operators towards infrastructure development has driven the telecom market in Canada.In 2016, Bell invested US$1 billion in 2016 to extend the availability of its Gigabit Fiber Internet service to around 3 million homes and businesses in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, up from around 2.2 million at the end of 2015.Also, in 2016, Telus invested US$260million into fiber rollout to Quebec residences and businesses in both rural and urban communities.In 2017, CRTC declared broadband internet access a basic service which will boost internet service and speeds in rural and isolated areas.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Canadian Telecommunications market in comparison with other North-American countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Canadian Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Canadian Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Canadian telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Canadian Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- How is Canadas telecommunications industry performing compared to other North-American countries?- How committed are Canadas leading telecommunication companies to investing in new technology?- What will Australias broadband penetration look like in 2021?- What are the Canadian Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Hydroponics Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during 2015-2020 hydroponics market, hydroponics market research, hydroponics market in india, hydroponics market analysis, hydroponics market grow https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/1072751-global-hydroponics-market-by-type-crop-trends-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/1072751-global-hydroponics-market-by-type-crop-trends-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/check-discount/1072751-global-hydroponics-market-by-type-crop-trends-2017-2022 Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Hydroponics Market- By Type, Crop Type and Geography Market Shares, Forecasts And Trends (2017 - 2022)"Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @Global Hydroponics Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during 2015-2020 forecast period. The hydroponics market value is anticipated to grow from $19.95 billion in 2015 to $27.33 billion in 2020. A sub segment of hydro culture, hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.Hydroponics involve soil less culture where crops are grown in mineral nutrient solution. Plants that are not traditionally grown in a particular climate condition, are preferably grown in a controlled environment system like hydroponics. Hydroponics method uses two main mediums to grow crops- solution culture and solid medium culture. This method of farming is a niche segment gaining popularity in urban, customized agriculture setup.Hydroponics is termed as one of the fastest growing soil less farming practice at a global level, wherein a tailored nutrient solution is used for plant growth with a superior quality and sustainable manner. One of the major growth drivers for the hydroponic industry is the documented higher yield in comparison to traditional agricultural techniques.Along with profit farming, growing consumption of exotic, salad crops and increasing need for global food security will drive the market upwards. Lack of awareness regarding the soil less agriculture system and high initial cost would hinder the market growth to an extent. Increased cultivation of medicinal plants globally and customized farming approach may provide future growth opportunity for the industry.Global hydroponics market is segmented based on system type, crop type and by geography. By type, the hydroponics farming is classified as liquid and aggregate system; hydroponics growth techniques appoint aggregate system primarily in commercial cultivations. By crop type, the market includes products like tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and vegetables, strawberries, peppers, and other food crops. Tomato crop is the major segment driving the global hydroponics market for the forecast period.Europe is traditionally the largest market implementing advanced techniques in hydroponic smart greenhouse horticulture. The matured European market demand is led by countries such as The Netherlands, Spain, and France. Asia-Pacific forms the second largest market for hydroponics which is then expected to grow at a steady pace during the forecast period. North American region led by US and Canada, is expected to grow at a better pace during 2015-2020.The key players in Global Hydroponics Market include Greentech Agro LLC (U.S.), Argus Control Systems (Canada), Logiqs B.V. (The Netherlands), Koninklijke Philips NV (The Netherlands), General Hydroponics, Inc., Greentech Agro, Llc and Lumigrow, Inc. (U.S.). Companies are mainly focusing on launching new products and facilities by investing in R&D activities. Partnerships and agreements with regional players are being carried out to expand the global presence by companies.Request For Sample Report @In this report we offer,Market analysis for the Global Hydroponics Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scales.Market 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 Hydroponics 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) Research Study Offers Insights on Future of Food Sorting Machines Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-843 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-843 www.futuremarketinsights.com Automation is becoming more of a requirement than an option in the food processing industry. The rigorous quality and cost controls required in the food industry is making it more critical. Production of high grade food requires capable and efficient inspection and sorting systems, in the operations and production line. The food is sorted by color, size, shape, specific gravity prior to inspection and other criteria depending upon the raw material and application.Global interest is increasing towards the quality of food consumed along with the stringent legislations on product quality and operating procedures. In the food industry, the product specification is extremely important, and is one of those area where new developments are crossing the boundaries. The food industry is under immense pressure of meeting the demands of growing world population.Request For Report Sample@The global population is becoming urbanized and there is heavy industrialization seen in the emerging economies. This leads to an upward trend towards convenience foods that are healthy, nutritious and easy to prepare. Food security is an emerging challenge for policy makers and companies in the food supply chain. Over the period food production will be under threat from climate change, competing land uses, erosion and diminishing supplies of clean water. One of the solutions to this dilemma is increased efficiency and waste reduction in the food supply chain. Food sorting machines offer increase in efficiency by selectively filtering out the undesired materials from the main food. The main purpose is separation of foreign seeds and bodies, such as unhealthy or spotted grains. The insertion of optical sorter into strategic positions of the milling process facilitates and optimizes the whole cleaning process. Worldwide the optical sorters are being used in the food industry. Its highly adopted in the processing of harvested foods such as fruits, potatoes, vegetables and nuts where it achieves non-destructive,100% inspection on full production volume. Since manual sorting is subjective and inconsistent, its not preferred. Optical sorting helps to improve the product quality, increase yields, maximize throughput while reducing labor costs. Since few years the trend is of integration of the traditional mechanical cleaning process with optical sorting machines.Food Sorting Machines Market: Drivers & RestraintsGrowing population, rising urbanization, growing technological awareness, industrialization of emerging economies and increasing per capita income are some of the key factors driving the growth of the food sorting machines market.Environmental Protection Agency regulations on disposal of food waste, changing consumption patterns and smaller households are few of the probable factors restraining the growth of the food sorting machines market.Food Sorting Machines Market: SegmentationThe global food sorting machines market is broadly classified on the basis of product type, technology and geographies.Based on product type, the global food sorting machines market is segmented into:Channel SortersFreefall SortersBelt SortersADR SystemsBased on technology, the global food sorting machines market is segmented into:LaserCameraLEDX-rayFood Sorting Machines Market: OverviewThough food sorting machines is a new technology for emerging economies like India, but in the developed economies like North America and Europe the same technology is in use for years.With growing global population and increasing pressure on food industry to meet the customer demands, the acceptance of food sorting machines is gaining popularity. The global food sorting machines market is expected to expand at a promising CAGR during the forecast period (2015-2025).Food Sorting Machines Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global food sorting machines market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global food sorting machines market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2015, North America dominated the global food sorting machines market in terms of market revenue followed by Europe. Asia Pacific & Japan are projected to expand at a substantial growth and will contribute to the global food sorting machines market value exhibiting a robust CAGR during the forecast period, 2015?2025.Visit For TOC@Food Sorting Machines Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global food sorting machines market are Tomra Systems ASA, Sesotec GmbH, Buhler AG, Key Technology, BarcoVision, Satake USA Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (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 Swimming Goggles Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Swimming Goggles Market http://bit.ly/2qWFnr3 http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-swimming-goggles-market-2016-production-sales-supply.html Global Swimming Goggles Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Swimming Goggles Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Swimming Goggles in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Swimming Goggles. The research report provides a detailed study of the Swimming Goggles market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:Speedo, Kaiman, Nike, Swedish, Technoflex, TYR, Aqua Sphere Seal, Sprint, ZOGGS, Engine, Wet Products, Zone, Mares, Swimways, Stephen JosephGet Free Sample Copy Of Report @The research report provides the Swimming Goggles markets classification in detail. The Swimming Goggles market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Swimming Goggles market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Swimming Goggles report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Swimming Goggles 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Swimming Goggles industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market - New Business Opportunities & Investment Research Report 2017- 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2531 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2531 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2531 Global Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market: OverviewThe global market for alternative and complementary medicines is projected to experience substantial growth in the next few years. The rising expenditure of the healthcare facilities is considered as the major factor that is likely to encourage the growth of the overall market in the coming years. In addition, the increasing number of initiatives being taken by Governments across the globe to promote alternative and complementary medicines is projected to accelerate the markets growth. Thanks to these factors, the global alternative and complementary medicine market is likely to exhibit a promising growth rate in the near future.Global Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market: Key TrendsA significant rise in the number of initiatives by NGOs and government organizations to encourage the use of alternative and complementary medicines is estimated to bolster global market in the near future. In addition to this, technological advancements in this field and the rising inclination of consumers towards these medicines and practices are likely to offer lucrative growth opportunities for the leading players operating in the alternative and complementary medicine market across the globe. However, the lack of scientific results is expected to hamper the overall growth of the market in the next few years.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market: Market PotentialAlternative and complementary medicines make use of several tradition methods to help the patients, most of which are not completely supported scientifically. As a result, the use of these medicines in several developed economies is comparatively less. Nonetheless, with a rising focus on research and development activities in order to find clinical support and the emergence of new methods and medicines are anticipated to encourage the growth of the global alternative and complementary medicine market throughout the forecast period.Global Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market: Regional OutlookFrom a regional perspective, Europe is considered as one of the leading segment, thanks to the significant revenue contribution in the last few years. This region is expected to account for a large share of the global alternative and complementary medicine market with the rising use of botanicals. In addition to this, the increasing awareness among consumers regarding the availability of effective alternative and complementary medicines and the benefits they offers are expected to encourage the growth of the Europe market in the coming years.Request TOC of the Report @Furthermore, with the rising popularity of medical tourism, the alternative and complementary medicine market in Asia Pacific is projected to witness a steady growth in the next few years. Moreover, the presence of a large number of new players operating in this region is likely to offer promising growth opportunities over the forecast period. The Middle East and Africa segment is anticipated to experience a healthy growth in the alternative and complementary medicine market in the near future.Global Alternative and Complementary Medicine Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market for alternative and complementary medicines is presently at a highly competitive stage and is predicted to experience an intense level of competition among the leading players in the coming years. The prominent players in the market are focusing on the expansion of the product portfolio so as to attract a large number of consumers across the globe. This is likely to help them in creating a brand name and acquiring a leading position in the global market. Some of the leading players operating in the alternative and complementary medicine market across the globe are Herb Pharm, Yoga Tree, Quantum Touch Inc., Helio USA Inc., Pure encapsulations, Inc., Pacific Nutritional Inc., Deepure Plus, Herbal Hills, Iyengar Yoga Institute, The Healing Company, and Nordic Naturals.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 Telecommunication Services industry Competitive market with potential for growth https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313617 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313617/chile-telecommunication-services-competitive-with-potential-market-research-reports http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ In 2016 two companies dominated the mobile market in Chile, together they accounted for 71% of the total market. Entel edged first position, having 36% share, closely followed by Movistar with 35%. Interestingly, both companies have seen a decline in their subscriptions since 2012. Entel went from 10.1 million in 2012 to 9.5 million in 2016, and Movistar had 10.1 million in 2012, which dropped to 9.3 million in 2016. This trend is projected to continue for both companies until 2021, which opens up opportunities for the new market entrants such as WOM, who had a subscription base of 1.4 million in 2016.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Key HighlightsLTE subscriptions soarThe rise of long-term evolution (LTE) and its adaptation has been exponential. Over the review period, LTE subscriptions grew a considerable CAGR of 289.5%, from 82,000 in 2012 to 4.8 million in 2016, with an anticipated increase over the forecast period at a CAGR of 21.8%, to 13 million in 2021.Mobile subscriptions shows strong growthDuring the review period, post-paid subscriptions increased at a CAGR of 6.6%, from 7.2 million in 2012 to 9.3 million in 2016, and are expected to grow further at a CAGR of 1.1% during the forecast period, to reach 9.8 million in 2021. This is partly due to attractive bundled services offered by post-paid operators, as there has been more focus placed on the post-paid segment in order to maintain a competitive edge. Moreover, LTE subscription continue to grow, consisting of 18% of the total mobile subscriptions in 2016, with expectations to increase to 48.7% by 2021.Chile a hotbed for investment in Latin AmericaChile is one of Latin Americas most promising investment destinations. In terms of investment, infrastructure stands out as particularly attractive, with a significant emphasis by Chiles Government on large-scale investments into this sector. This is evident, as the Chilean Government announced investment of US$900 million on infrastructure projects. To cater to increasing demand for data connectivity, both the government and operators plan to invest in FTTx/and 4G/LTE infrastructure. The government allocated a budget for the execution of the Southern Optical Fiber Project to improve connectivity in the most remote locations in the country.View Report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Chilean Telecommunications market in comparison with other South-American countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Chilean Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Chilean Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Chilean telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Chilean Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What was the CAGR of broadband penetration from the period 2012-2016, and what is it projected to be up to 2021?- How risky is it to invest in the Chilean Telecommunications industry compared to other South-American countries?- What will Chiles mobile market look like in 2021?- What are the Chilean Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz NANTES, France, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (ISIN:FR0012127173) (Mnemo:OSE), today announced it will be featured as a presenting company at the 19th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, sponsored by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC. The conference is being held on September 10-12, 2017 at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York City. Dominique Costantini, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, will provide an overview of the Companys business during the live presentation and will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the conference. If you are an institutional investor, and would like to attend the Companys presentation, please click on the following link (www.rodmanevents.com) to register for the Rodman & Renshaw conference. Once your registration is confirmed, you will be prompted to log into the conference website to request a one-on-one meeting with the Company. Event: 19th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference Day: Monday, September 11, 2017 Time: 12:30 12:55 PM (Eastern Time) Place: Holmes II; Lotte New York Palace Hotel, New York City The presentation will be webcast live. To access the webcast, please visit: http://wsw.com/webcast/rrshq27/ose or the companys website: http://ose-immuno.com/. The webcast replay will remain available for 90 days following the live presentation. ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registration trials to R&D: In immuno-oncology: Tedopi , a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology Continuation of the registration Phase 3 trial in advanced NSCLC in already included HLA A2+ patients EU /US - Orphan Status in the US - A Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor is considered in a cancer indication of interest. , a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology Continuation of the registration Phase 3 trial in advanced NSCLC in already included HLA A2+ patients EU /US - Orphan Status in the US - A Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor is considered in a cancer indication of interest. OSE-172 (Effi-DEM), new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP- receptor - In preclinical development for several cancer models. (Effi-DEM), new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP- receptor - In preclinical development for several cancer models. OSE-703 (Effi-3), cytotoxic monoclonal antibody against the alpha chain of IL-7R - Under a multi-year strategic research collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. In auto-immune diseases and transplantation: FR104 , CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - Phase 1 trial completed For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. , CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - Phase 1 trial completed For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation - Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. OSE-127 (Effi-7), interleukin receptor-7 antagonist - In preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune diseases. License option agreement with Servier for the development and commercialization. The portfolios blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present * and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018 **. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as expect, anticipate, believe, target, plan, or estimate, their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 28 April 2017 under the number R.17-038, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2016, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. Global Walkie Talkie Market 2017: Industry Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors Walkie Talkie Market http://bit.ly/2wkDDws http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-walkie-talkie-market-2017-production-sales-supply.html Global Walkie Talkie Market 2017 Consumption Research Report explores Growth, Development Challenges and Opportunities till 2022A Research study on " Global Walkie Talkie Market 2017-2022 " represent the market share and size of Walkie Talkie in international Industry. MRS Research Group added latest market research report by QY Research. Research Report provides an essential information and statistically evaluated data about the Walkie Talkie. The research report provides a detailed study of the Walkie Talkie market, enlightening the major areas such as future market scenario, market growth factors, market growth restraints, and others. The advanced technological trends and various new opportunities are also provided in this research report.Research Report Analysis by Important Manufacturers in Global Market Include:Motorola, Jvckenwood, Icom, Hytera, Sepura, Tait, Cobra, Yaesu, Entel Group, Uniden, Midland, BFDX, Kirisun, Quansheng, HQT, Neolink, Lisheng, Abell, WeierweiGet Free Sample Copy Of Report @The research report provides the Walkie Talkie markets classification in detail. The Walkie Talkie market is bifurcated into a number of segments on the basis of materials,types,applications,and end-users. The geographical analysis of the global Walkie Talkie market is also coveredin the report. The vital information mentioned in the research report helps in significantly predicting the future scope of the global market.The various segmentation of the global market is based on the overall product profit, costing, global market growth, and manufacturing processes. The report covers a region-wise analysis which provides the customer with different market studies that give a detailed analysis of the product and its impact on the global market. The Walkie Talkie report also highlights the growth statistics depending on the supply and demand in the different regions.Read Complete Report with TOC @The Walkie Talkie 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 asinvestment return analysies, SWOT analysis and feasibility studyare used to analyze the keyglobal market players growth in the Walkie Talkie industry.Abou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Highly competitive Telecommunication Services market with huge potential for growth (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313623/india-telecommunication-services-highly-competitive-with-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313623 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ India is a large market with existing mobile user penetration (as % of population) increasing from 40% in 2012 to 49% in 2016. It is expected to grow to 69% by 2021. Mobile subscription increased at 5.3% CAGR during 2012-2016, from 864 million to 1,601 million, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.1% over 2016-2021 to 1,427 million in 2021.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsStrong growth projected for Indian mobile subscriptionsIndia is expected to have 1,427.3 million mobile subscriptions by 2021. Mobile subscriptions are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% over 2016-21 with subscription penetration (as % of population) increasing from 80% in 2016 to an expected 102% by 2021. Simultaneously, mobile user density (users as a % of population), which is currently at 49% in 2016, is expected to increase to 69% of the total population by 2021.Government initiatives set to accelerate Indias telecommunication industryFunding for infrastructure is expected to grow with the establishment of the Telecom Finance Corporation by March 2017. The governments smart city and National Fiber Optic Network (NOFN) projects will also support the industry to attract investments. A digital payments ecosystem is fast developing in India. FinTech is emerging as the key sector for growth of digital transactions. Furthermore, Digital India, a program initiated by the Indian Government, is expected to expedite transforming India into a digital economy. Internet of Things (IoT) applications would also add to the momentum.Massive potential for Indias telecommunication marketThe Indian telecom market has a huge potential to drive volumes and growth, especially across mobile and fixed services. Mobile subscriptions increased at 5.3% CAGR from 864.7 million in 2012 to 1,061.0 million in 2016 and are expected to grow at 6.1% CAGR to 1,427.3 million by 2021. In a price sensitive market, intense competition has resulted in low-tariff offerings and data bundles with free voice minutes, which fuels subscription growth. In addition, mobile subscription density was around 86.3% in September 2016, out of which the urban area had a density of 156.2% compared with the rural area at 51.2%. This indicates the potential size of the telecom market in India, especially the rural area which constitutes nearly 69% of the total population.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Indian Telecommunications market in comparison with other Asia-Pacific countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Indian Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Indian Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Indian telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Indian Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What are the Indian Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- What government initiatives are in place to boost the telecommunications market in India?- What segment is dominating the telecommunication market in India, and why?- What opportunities do new entrants have in Indias telecommunication market?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Regenerative Medicine Market Prospectus and Status : (2015-2019) http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1326 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1326 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market was valued at US$ 4,254.0 Mn in 2015, and is expected to grow at a year-over-year rate of 13.0% to reach US$ 4,808.9 Mn in 2016. In 2015, North America accounted for the largest revenue share of global regenerative medicine (bone & joints) market, representing a market value of US$ 2,039.8 Mn. Owing to increasing demand for bone and joint reconstructive surgeries and encouraging government initiatives, North America is expected to remain the largest market for regenerative medicine (bone and joint) in 2016. Europe is the second largest market for regenerative medicine, with the regions high geriatric population fuelling adoption at a robust pace.By technology, biomaterials segment accounts for the highest market share globally, owing to favourable reimbursement policies and strong demand for biomaterials. Apart from biomaterials, tissue engineering is the other segment which is quickly gaining traction among end-users, and is projected to witness the highest year-over-year growth among all the technology segments.Request For Report Sample@On the basis of application, bone graft substitute holds the highest share of the market in terms of value owing to a robust demand of bone graft substitute in orthopaedic treatments. However, complications associated with bone graft substitute can pose challenges to adoption in 2016 and beyond.While North America and Europe are key to the growth of the regenerative medicine market, rising awareness among healthcare professionals and patients in developing countries of Asia Pacific is expected to open up new opportunities for stakeholders. Favourable government initiatives in growing Asian economies such as China and India has paved the way for regenerative medicine market in the region. Moreover, adoption in developed countries of APAC, such as Japan and South Korea is also fuelling the growth of the market.Key participants in the global regenerative medicine market are: Medtronic, Inc. (INFUSE Bone Graft), DePuy Synthes, Inc. (HEALOS Bone Graft), Orthofix, Inc. (Trinity Evolution), NuVasive, Inc. (Osteocel Plus) and Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (CopiOs Bone Void Filler). The key strategy of these players is to expand globally through distribution agreements, mergers and acquisitions, public-private partnerships and new product development.Send an Enquiry @Long-term Outlook: The global regenerative medicine market (bone and joints) is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 11.1% during the forecast period from 2015 to 2019. North America will remain the largest market throughout the forecast period, whereas Bone Graft Substitutes will continue to hold the largest share in terms of application.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: Continuous Manufacturing Market to Rear Excessive Growth till 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2474 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2474 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2474 Global Continuous Manufacturing Market: OverviewContinuous manufacturing is a continuous flow process of materials, which are either fluids or dry bulk and are required to be processed in incessant motion for chemical reaction. Besides this, continuous manufacturing or process also includes subjecting the materials to mechanical or heat treatment. In this regard, continuous refers to 24 hours per day for seven days every weak, with maintenance shutdowns semi-annually or annually.Several of the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers are keen on adopting continuous manufacturing as the technology enables producing active ingredients in compact, closed units, with sophisticated automation and minimal human interference. Production stages that are conducted sequentially in conventional processes are thus integrated in continuous manufacturing as well. The technology has enabled pharmaceutical manufacturers to boost system utilization and achieve 10% to 20% reduction in cost incurred on production within a very short time.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Continuous Manufacturing Market: Key TrendsThe global continuous manufacturing market is forecast to report strong growth as more number of pharmaceutical companies invest in improving existing technologies. Continuous manufacturing enabled pharmaceutical companies gain from the likes of cost-effectiveness and improved efficiency. Considering the benefits it offers, continuous manufacturing has gained support from regulatory authorities, who are encouraging the implementation of the technology.In the last few years, continuous manufacturing has become one of the most trusted technologies deployed in R&D activities, besides its rising adoption in full-scale manufacturing companies. Considering the high rate of adoption among pharmaceutical and contract manufacturing organizations (CMO), the demand for continuous manufacturing is forecast to rise at a high pace in the coming years. In CMOs, the need to address challenges related to drug supply, operational costs, and product quality will boost the adoption of continuous manufacturing.Request TOC of the Report @Based on application, end product manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing have emerged as the key market segments. Of these, end product manufacturing emerged dominant as the technology is easily available as compared to API manufacturing.Global Continuous Manufacturing Market: Market PotentialWhile the pharmaceutical industry has been hesitant in embracing continuous manufacturing, it is no denying the technology will make headways as the companies realize the benefits it offers. On May 8, 2017, Bosch Packaging Technology announced introducing the Xelum platform to support the continuous manufacturing of oral solid-dosage (OSD) forms. The platform encompasses dosing, granulating, mixing, and tableting in a continuous process. The Xelum platform will use the granulation technology developed by Huttlin a Bosch subsidiary. Using the technology, it will produce a unimodal particle size distribution, tableting properties, and good flow of granules, besides the high product yields.Request Discount of the Report @Global Continuous Manufacturing Market: Regional OutlookNorth America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World constitute the key segments in the global continuous manufacturing market. Among these nations North America is likely to be an early adopter of continuous manufacturing. It is also expected to hold dominance in the global market. Support from regulatory bodies, openness of leading pharmaceutical companies toward the latest technologies, and the mounting pressure on pharmaceutical companies to reduce operational costs will fuel the demand for continuous manufacturing in North America.Global Continuous Manufacturing Market: Competitive LandscapeWith an aim of establishing a strong foothold, leading companies in the global continuous manufacturing market are likely to focus on product innovation. Key industry participants are also looking to cater to the unmet needs across emerging markets to gain a competitive edge. The report presents in-depth profiles of some of the leading market players, to help readers gauge the recent strategies they adopted and the impact of the same on the overall market. Some of the companies profiled in the global continuous manufacturing market are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), GEA Group AG (Germany), Bosch Packaging Technology (Germany), Munson Machinery Company, Inc. (U.S.), Coperion GmbH (Germany), and Scott Equipment Company (U.S.).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 Refractometers Market with Current Trends Analysis, 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1739 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1739 www.futuremarketinsights.com A refractometer is used to measure the extent of light bending, when it travels from air to any other medium. Refractive index is determined till five digit precision and for most of the compounds, reactive index is between 1.3000 and 1.7000. Refractive index is based on the wavelength of light and temperature of the sample. Refractive index identification is done for various applications including petroleum, agriculture and food and beverages. Most common industrial application is determination of dissolved solute in liquid samples.Refractometer is mainly used for measuring dissolved content or substances in solutions, particularly related to sugar content. Refractometers are thus, used to measure critical angle of refraction of a sample. Refractometer helps to analyse different properties of a particular sample such as salinity or sugar content, sweetness in beverages, hydrocarbon content of motor fuels, and blood protein in the given sample. Factors such as accuracy, location of measurement, compatibility with other instruments, sample throughput have an impact on the selection of proper refractometer.In measuring sugar content, BRIX measurement has gained significant traction in recent years. Increasing consumer inclination towards nutritional information among food products has led manufacturers to develop measures to analyse such information. For instance, to analyse sugar concentration, BRIX instruments are used by food manufacturers. Conventionally, BRIX measurement was done through pycnometer, BRIX hydrometer and Abbe refractometer. Nowadays, BRIX measurement is done through digital refractometers and digital density meters. Refractometers are a modern way of measuring BRIX ensuring reproducible and rapid results.Request Report Sample@Refractometers Market Segmentation:Refractometers market is segmented on the basis of refractometer type, product type and end-use industry. On the basis of refractometer type, the refractometer market segmentation includes portable and benchtop refractometers. Portable refractometers are anticipate to gain significant traction among end users, which is mainly attributed to factors such as ease of use, comprehensive result storage and easy handling of the refractometer when compared to benchtop refractometers. Different types of refractometers include traditional handheld refractometers, laboratory refractometers, inline refractometers and digital handheld refractometers. Of which, digital refractometers are anticipated to gain significant traction among end use industries. On the basis of end-use industry, refractometers market is segmented into gemology, food processing, oil industry, pharmaceuticals, paint, sugar refineries, research centers and schools.Geographically, refractometers market is segmented into seven regions including Japan, Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Western Europe, Latin America and North America. North America is one of the prominent market for refractometer, which is anticipate to remain dominant over the forecast period. However, adoption of refractometers for analysing food and beverage industry is expected to record significant growth during the forecast period.Refractometers Market Dynamics:Increasing technological advancements leading towards shift from manual to automatic measures for analysing refractometry is driving the demand for refractometers among end users. In addition, quality analysis of parameters in food and beverage products such as composition and concentration of a juice, information regarding sugar content in food and beverage products has led towards development of enhanced refractometers. This is intended to ensure reliable and quick analysis resulting in valuable information about composition in the finished product. However, proper calibration is a concern for manufacturers, as it leads to less adoption among end users. This indirectly restricts the refractometers market growth globally. In order to mitigate calibration issue, few refractometer manufacturers have developed products ensuring proper calibration through self-calibration property at an affordable price.Visit For TOC@Refractometers Market Key players:Some of the players in the refractometers market include Mettler-Toledo International Inc., Anton Paar GmbH, Hanna Equipments India Pvt.Ltd., Rudolph Research Analytical and Xylem Analytics, among others. Refractometer manufacturers are focused on developing products ensuring real-time measurement of advanced features such as color, conductivity, oxygen content, sugar inversion, alcohol content 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: The Italy Telecommunication Services Mature Market Focusing on Innovation (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313625/italy-telecommunication-services-mature-focusing-on-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313625 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Italy was the fourth-largest European economy in terms of GDP in 2016; however, difficulties in securing loans and capital have impacted the business environment. This is due to risks arising from political instability, high sovereign debt, non-performing assets and an inefficient labor market impacting business confidence. The Italian ultra-broadband strategy for next-generation connectivity will develop a high-speed access network that covers 85% of the population, with infrastructure capable of assuring speeds above 100Mbps for at least 50% of users and above 30Mbps for all by 2020.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsInternet subscriptions to record growthFixed internet is popular in Italy due to the high-speed network access offered by broadband services. Several initiatives, such as fiber optics to the home (FTTH), will cause the number of broadband subscriptions to rise from 15.6 million in 2016 to 19.2 million in 2021.Innovations driving subscription growth and revenueAn increase in innovation is driving subscription growth and revenues. Operators are focusing on launching innovative technologies and services to improve customer satisfaction. Developments in smartphone technology increased mobile service adoption rates and allowed operators to offer high-speed internet services; Telecom Italia completed a field trial of 5G in Turin. In 2016, mobile revenue accounted for twice that of fixed-line revenue, a larger portion being contributed by data services. Total mobile subscriptions, which stood at 91 million in 2016, will reach 96 million in 2021.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Growing data users will fuel innovation in mobile segmentAll mobile operators are planning to shift from the current UMTS to LTE technology to offer 4G and 5G services. In an attempt to expand and upgrade its network, Telecom Personal has initiated 5G for Italy trails in partnership with Telecom Italia and Ericsson, and fielded 5G LTE services in Turin.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Italy Telecommunications market in comparison with other European countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Italy Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Italy Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Italy Telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Italy Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- Have technological advances drastically changed the face of the Telecommunications industry?- How is the market performing in terms of: Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, and Customer Churn?- How risky is it to invest in the Italy Telecommunications industry compared to other European countries?- What is driving the performance of key industry segments such as Voice, Data, Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband, and IPTV?- Who are the leading players in the Italy Telecommunications industry and how does their performance compare?- What trends are being witnessed within the Italy Telecommunications industry?- How will the breakdown for mobile connection technologies look by 2021?- What are the Italy Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- How has the financial deals landscape changed in 2015 and 2016?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Hospital Lighting Market : Brand Analysis and Forecast upto 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2480 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2480 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2480 Global Hospital Lighting Market: OverviewLighting in healthcare plays a critical role not only in enhancing the patient experience but also in improving the healthcare staffs ability of catering to the various levels of care required by the patients. As a result, the global market for hospital lighting is likely to reach new heights.By application, the global hospital lighting market can be segmented into dentistry, operating room, doctors offices, kitchen, maternity ward, patient rooms, laboratory, library, bathrooms, first aid ward, corridors and staircases, and waiting areas. Based on technology, the LED, CFL, florescent, and renewable energy. By product, the global market for hospital lighting systems can be segmented into surgical lights, surface-mounted lights, and troffers.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Hospital Lighting Market: Key TrendsSince good illumination ensures the safety of patients, allows smoother operation of activities, creates an amiable environment, and promotes a sense of well-being among the patients, the global healthcare lighting market holds vast potential for growth. The LED lighting is expected to emerge as the leading segment by technology, thanks to the growing deployment of LED based fixtures across various parts of hospitals.The florescent lighting systems are also gaining traction. They are being increasingly installed across hospitals by virtue of their relatively lower costs and power saving capabilities. By product, troffers are likely to claim the largest share in the global market for hospital lighting. By application, the patients wards segment might represent the largest share in the global market for hospital lighting.Request TOC of the Report @Global Hospital Lighting Market: Market PotentialEnhancement of user experience is increasingly being acknowledged by some leading hospitals. For instance, the new Beacon Childrens Hospital in South Bend (US), features a two-story atrium that has pleasant, soft-green lights. These firefly lights give a splendid appearance to the entire ambience of the hospital. The nature and healing theme of the hospital is designed to aid patients recover faster. With a forest mural, interactive games, and tree sculptures along with these lights, the hospital aims at boosting interaction between fellow patients, staff, family, and the physical space itself. The hospital welcomed its first patients in May 2017.The global market for hospital lighting has been witnessing collaborations, partnerships, and mergers. For instance, an emerging non-profit, Market Driven Community Corporation (MDCC) made an announcement in April 2017 pertaining to its signing a contract for installing LED lighting systems at Rochester General Hospital (New York, US).Request Discount of the Report @Global Hospital Lighting Market: Regional OutlookThe global market for hospital lighting can be segmented into Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and North America. North America currently holds the dominant position in the global market for hospital lighting. Beneficial government initiatives and technological advancements in the area of lighting solutions have been the key factors driving the growth of the market.The countries such as India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan are witnessing an increase in the number of hospitals. This can create significant opportunities for the growth of the market. The expanding healthcare infrastructure in Asia Pacific and growing preference for efficient lighting solutions in the region have also been accelerating the expansion of the hospital lighting market in the region. The Middle East and Africa and Latin America are also bursting forth with opportunities.Global Hospital Lighting Market: Competitive AnalysisKoninklijke Philips N.V., Acuity Brands Lighting Inc., KLS Martin Group, Eaton Corporation PLC, Hubbell Incorporated, General Electric Company, Cree Inc., Zumtobel Group AG, and Trilux Lighting Ltd are some of the leading companies operating in the global market for hospital lighting.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 Mammography Market : Market Trends and Key Developments 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2483 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2483 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=2483 Global Mammography Market: OverviewThe global mammography market is growing at a significant pace, owing to the increasing cancer cases worldwide. The key players in the market, government organizations, and NGOs are making notable efforts to create an awareness and offer treatment to patients, which is expected to enhance the growth of the market in the near future. Thus, the market is likely to register a strong growth rate in the forecast period.Global Mammography Market: Key TrendsThe high prevalence of breast cancer worldwide and the rising number of innovations concerning screening and diagnostics are estimated to offer lucrative opportunities for key players operating in the market. The improving healthcare facilities in the developing economies are projected to supplement the markets growth in the coming years. Furthermore, governments across the globe are making efforts to provide treatments at low cost in order to reach a large number of audience in the near future.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Mammography Market: Market PotentialTechnological advancements in the healthcare sector and the emergence of innovative devices and effective therapeutics are the key factors projected to fuel the growth of the global mammography market throughout the forecast period. In addition to this, the rising number of cancer cases across the globe is expected to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the near future.On the other hand, the lack of awareness among patients in several developing economies and the high cost of treatment are estimated to curb the growth of the global mammography market in the next few years. Nonetheless, the use of digital mammography devices is predicted to generate promising growth opportunities for the key players in the market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Mammography Market: Regional OutlookIn the previous years, the North America market for mammography held a major share of the global market and is estimated to retain its position over the forecast period. The rising number of breast cancer cases and the increasing women population are the key factors anticipated to encourage the development of the North America market in the coming years. In addition, the availability of advanced therapeutics and healthcare infrastructure are predicted to accelerate the markets growth in the near future.On the other hand, the development of the economy and the rising popularity of medical tourism are projected to augment the growth of the Asia Pacific market in the next few years. The increasing contribution from China and India and the rising awareness among patients are predicted to supplement the markets growth in the forecast period. Moreover, the favorable government initiatives and the enhancement of the healthcare sector are likely to contribute towards the growth of the Asia Pacific market in the near future.Request Discount of the Report @Global Mammography Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market is projected to grow progressive throughout the forecast period. The rising emphasis of the leading players on introducing new therapeutics and devices to offer enhanced products to patients is likely to encourage the growth of the overall market in the coming years. As a result, several new players are predicted to participate in the market in order to create a brand name across the globe.Some of the leading players operating in the mammography market across the globe are I.M.S. Srl, GE Healthcare, Hologic, Planmed Oy, Phillips Healthcare, Fujifilm, Siemens Healthcare, Mindray Medical International Limited, Toshiba Medical Systems, and Metaltronica. The research study provides a detailed overview of the competitive landscape and throws light on the key strategies and policies that have been adopted by them in order to sustain in the global 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 Japan- A developed and attractive telecom market :Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ This report provides an in depth analysis of the Japanese telecommunication market, exploring the current and forecast trends of the key segments, including fixed and mobile, changes in the competitive landscape, and benchmarking between Japan and the regional and global trends, among much more. Japan is considered a developed and attractive telecom market, offering plenty of room for growth and investments. Within the report, readers will find much more detail on such topics, along with up-to-date data to support all analysis.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.Key HighlightsInnovative offerings to drive subscriptionsInnovation in the services of operators, such as packaging of services with voice, data and free handsets, subscriptions which involve a commitment for a fixed period of time, handsets locked to the operator, reduced handset price, and increased tariffs in service plans, have widened the scope for postpaid subscriptions.Despite this, prepaid subscriptions are leading the market, resulting in an increase of 3.4% CAGR, from 134 million subscriptions in 2012 to 153 million in 2016, and are expected to grow further at 1.5% CAGR during 2016-2021, in order to reach 164.5 million.Improving customer retention lowers churnA decrease in churn rates indicates higher customer retention in the market. Operators are retaining customers due to rapid problem solving and good customer service. Japan reported a very low churn rate of 10.2% in 2016, compared to the Asia-Pacific region with a rate of 51%. Japans peer countries also showed to have comparatively high individual churn rates, with 35.3% by China and 20.8% by the South Korea.Limited service differentiation due to restrictionsAdapted by the Japanese Government, there is a strategy that aims to provide a rate plan that considers the various needs of its users, reducing users' monthly payments for smartphone usage. This scheme, coupled with a higher degree of regulations, such guidelines concerning smartphone pricing and subscriber identification module (SIM) unlocking regulations, are a major concern for operators. This is due to the adverse effect both have on the financial position of the operators; as there is not much differentiation rate, the operators have difficulties attracting new customers, whilst competing at the same level with one another.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Japanese telecommunications market in comparison with other Asia-pacific countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics, including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS, are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends that drive market performance in the Japanese telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investments in the Japanese telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Japanese telecommunications market is performing compared to the regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Japanese telecommunications market through the business segment on metrics such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- An analysis of the markets performance over both the review and forecast period in terms of: revenues, subscribers, ARPU, and customer churn?- How have technological advancements supported operators in maintaining their subscriber base?- What are the key developments in the Japanese telecom market with regards to company/country collaborations and technological innovations?- What are the Japanese telecom markets strengths and weaknesses?- How will mobile data compare with other segments over the forecast period?- What are the primary drivers of the market, and how will they affect the markets sectors: data, prepaid, postpaid, broadband, and IPTV?- What were the key financial deals made between 2015 and 2016?- Who are the key players in the Japanese telecom market and how has this affected the competitive landscape?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Liquid Nitrogen Market to Record an Exponential CAGR of 6% by 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2133 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/liquid-nitrogen-market-2133 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2133 Market Research Future adds new report of Global Liquid Nitrogen Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentLinde Ag (Germany), Praxair Inc. (U.S.), Air Liquide S.A. (France), Nexair LLC (U.S.), Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Japan), Messer Group (Germany), Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (U.S.), Gulf Cryo (United Arab Emirates), Emirates Industrial Gases Co. LLC. (United Arab Emirates), and Southern Industrial Gas Berhad (Malaysia) are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the Global Liquid Nitrogen Market.Liquid Nitrogen Global Market OverviewThe Liquid Nitrogen Market is growing at the rapid pace; mainly due to the growing pharmaceutical industry. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, Globally, the market for Liquid Nitrogen has increased its market growth in recent years and is expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The market is forecasted to witness a thriving growth by 2022, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period. The global Liquid Nitrogen Market to cross USD 17 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of approximately 6% CAGR between 2016 and 2022.Get a Sample Report @The Liquid Nitrogen Market is predominantly driven by the augmented demand from healthcare sector. This is due to the growth in the pharmaceutical industry and the extensive use of liquid nitrogen as a cool reactors. Other factors that propels the growth of this segment are growing demand of electronic products, metal fabrication, automotive, and lighting. There is also a rapid increase in the demand due to rapid urbanization, growing industrialization, increase in infrastructure and medical activities. There lies immense opportunities for liquid nitrogen to grow rapidly; especially in developing and under-developed region attributed to the growing chemical industry.Liquid nitrogen is formed at very low temperature in a liquefied form. Liquid nitrogen allows to freeze in first instant and can be stored and transported in suitable environment. Liquid nitrogen is produced by simultaneously removing the heat and compressing the air and in cryogenic fluid, helps in freezing foods. Liquid nitrogen is a nontoxic and it rapidly cools things. It is best for preserving food, biological and medical products.Liquid Nitrogen Market - Competitive AnalysisThe market is highly application based. It is dependent on the usage in the end-use industries. Chemical & Pharmaceutical are the dominating segment. Characterized by the presence of several major well-established players, the global Market of Liquid Nitrogen appears to be highly competitive. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and technology launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period. The Key players operating in the market compete based on pricing, technology, reputation and services.Browse Report Details @Liquid Nitrogen Global Market SegmentsThe Global Liquid Nitrogen Market is segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; Segmentation By Function: Comprises Coolant and Refrigerant Segmentation By Production Technology: Comprises Cryogenic distillation, Pressure swing adsorption Segmentation By End Users: Comprises Chemicals, Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverages Segmentation By Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.On the basis of Function, Segment Coolant is expected to grow with highest market share in the forecast period because at low temperature liquid nitrogen serves as an ideal coolant for many industries.On the basis Production Technology, Cryogenic Distillation is expected to witness the largest market share because it is most widely used for high purity oxygen, nitrogen and argon for industries.On the basis of End-user, Chemicals & Pharmaceutical segment is expected to dominate the market due to the growth in the pharmaceutical industry globally. North America is expected to witness the highest market share in the forecast period.Liquid Nitrogen Global Market Regional AnalysisThe Liquid Nitrogen market can be geographically segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). North America region is expected to dominate Liquid Nitrogen Market during the forecast period. Asia pacific is expected to grow fastest during the forecast period because of the growing development activities and expansion of the economy. The demand for liquid nitrogen is increasing due to increase in per capita income in this region. Growth in the food & beverages and electronics industries in the countries of China and India has fuelled the demand for liquid nitrogen in the region of APAC.Enquire 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 HIGHLIGHTS Further drilling results confirm additional near-surface, high-grade lithium-boron mineralisation within and to the south of the current Mineral Resource Latest intersections include: 21m at 2147ppm Li and 1.25% B from 49m within a zone of: 62m at 2125ppm Li and 0.49% B in drill hole SBH-28 29m at 1695ppm Li and 1.85% B from 139m within a zone of: 38m at 1769ppm Li and 1.41% B in drill hole SBH-33 Further assay results are expected soon from additional infill and extensional Drilling and updated Mineral Resource estimate to be completed in September 2017 Drill results indicate likely tonnage increase in the high-grade component of the Resource NORTH SYDNEY, Australia, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Geoscience Limited (Global or the Company) (ASX:GSC) is pleased to announce further strong assay results from the current drilling program at its 100%- owned Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project (Rhyolite Ridge or the Project) in Nevada, USA. The current 5,000m drilling program is designed to upgrade and increase the current Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 393 million tonnes at 1640ppm lithium (Li) and 0.51% boron (B), with a focus on the high-grade component (65 million tonnes at 1910ppm Li and 1.59% B). An updated Mineral Resource estimate is expected to be completed in September 2017 and will form an integral part of the Rhyolite Ridge Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS). Recent drilling has intercepted further thick zones of consistent, flat-lying lithium-boron mineralisation at Rhyolite Ridge," commented Bernard Rowe, Managing Director of Global. Drilling has also extended near-surface lithium-boron mineralisation to the south of the current resource, confirming the potential for Rhyolite Ridge to become a major, long-life supplier of lithium and boron in America. Recent significant intersections from the current drilling program are tabulated below: Hole Number From (m) Intercept (m) Li (ppm) LCE (%) B (%) SBH-28 19.8 62.5 2125 1.1 0.49 Including 48.8 21.3 2147 1.1 1.25 SBH-30 137.2 51.8 1647 0.9 0.85 Including 161.5 24.4 1700 0.9 1.78 SBH-31 50.3 47.2 1947 1.0 0.64 Including 62.5 19.8 2078 1.1 1.36 SBH-32 25.9 67.1 1609 0.9 0.45 Including 53.3 21.3 2143 1.1 1.33 SBH-33 131.1 38.1 1769 0.9 1.41 Including 138.7 28.9 1695 0.8 1.85 Note: All holes are vertical (except SBH-30) and downhole intersections are estimated to be at least 80% of true widths. Intersections have been calculated using a 1,000ppm Li cut-off first, and then applying a 0.5% B cut-off. Lithium content expressed in ppm or % Li can be converted into Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) by multiplying by 5.32 (e.g. 2,000ppm Li is equivalent to 1.06% LCE). The plan below shows the high-grade lithium-boron mineralisation in the most southerly drill holes (SBH-20, 28 and 29) in this program are likely to extend the current resource to the south along section 4184000N. Plan of South Basin Mineral Resource area showing drill hole locations A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a21ab36-ac6a-46ea-a700-bf606526cd0b Cross-section 4184000N below is located south of the current resource and shows that drill holes SBH- 20, 28 and 29 have intersected a thick section of the upper searlesite (Li-B) zone that extends to surface. Cross-Section 4184000N Looking North A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c9a33602-2d32-4bf0-95de-7c298d9cf036 The host rock for the upper searlesite (Li-B) zone contains low amounts of clay with typically less than 20% carbonate minerals and more than 40% of the sodium borosilicate mineral searlesite. Drill holes SBH-33, 38 and 39 have intercepted further strong lithium-boron mineralisation within the current resource. This consistent, flat-lying lithium-boron mineralisation is located 1000m north of section 4184000N above and is shown in cross-section 4185000N below. Cross-Section 4185000N Looking North A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6f66e6b2-7925-4fd0-bd08-c297cb325660 WORK PROGRAM IN PROGRESS The September quarter work program will continue to focus on work required for the Rhyolite Ridge PFS including: Optimisation of flotation and acid-leach process steps; Production of a lithium-boron brine for crystallisation testwork; Production of boric acid, lithium sulphate and lithium carbonate; Updated resource estimate; Preliminary mining study including pit design; and Progress environmental, ground water and geotechnical studies. ABOUT RHYOLITE RIDGE LITHIUM-BORON PROJECT Global Geosciences (ASX:GSC) 100%-owned Rhyolite Ridge project is a large, shallow lithium-boron deposit located close to existing infrastructure in southern Nevada, USA. The project lies 25km west of Albermarles Silver Peak lithium mine and 340km from the Tesla Gigafactory near Reno. Rhyolite Ridge has the potential to become a strategic, long-life and low-cost source of lithium and boron. Lithium-boron mineralisation is hosted within two sedimentary basins located four kilometres apart: South Basin (9 km2) and North Basin (20 km2). At South Basin, high-grade lithium-boron mineralisation occurs in 20m to 50m thick, sub-horizontal sedimentary layers. The upper-most layer is 20 to 30m thick and outcrops along the western margin of South Basin over a strike length of approximately 3km. Drilling at South Basin has defined an Indicated and Inferred Resource of 3.4 million tonnes of lithium carbonate and 11.3 million tonnes of boric acid (393Mt at 0.9% Li2CO3 and 2.9% H3BO3) making it one of the largest lithium and boron deposits in North America. The resource is open in most directions and is likely to increase in size with additional drilling. The South Basin Resource has a high-grade lithium-boron zone of 65Mt at 1.0% Li2CO3 and 9.1% H3BO3 containing a total of 650,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and 5.9 million tonnes of boric acid. The deposit is amenable to low-cost open pit mining methods and simple acid leaching with low acid consumption. A simple and low-cost flow-sheet is proposed to produce lithium carbonate and boric acid on-site. Contacts Bernard Rowe Managing Director T: +61 419 447 280 E: browe@globalgeo.com.au James D. Calaway Chairman T: +1 713 818 1457 jcalaway@calawayinterests.com Roger Howe Investor Relations T: +61 405 41 9 139 E: rhowe@globalgeo.com.au COMPLIANCE STATEMENT The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Bernard Rowe, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Bernard Rowe is an employee and Managing Director of Global Geoscience Ltd. Bernard has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). Bernard Rowe consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. Information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources is extracted from the announcement titled Maiden Resource for South Basin at Nevada Lithium-Boron Project released to the ASX on 10 October 2016. The company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Persons findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement. APPENDIX Hole Number Northing Easting Elevation (m) Depth (m) Dip () Azimuth () SBH-28 4,184,083 424,402 1,906 82.3 -90 0 SBH-29 4,184,008 424,612 1,897 131.1 -90 0 SBH-30 4,184,620 424,800 1,868 359.7 -60 283 SBH-31 4,184,381 424,399 1,878 131.1 -90 0 SBH-32 4,184,404 424,237 1,862 152.4 -90 0 SBH-33 4,184,951 424,649 1,841 213.4 -90 0 Note: Coordinates are in UTM Zone 11 (NAD27). Appendix 1 Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron, Nevada, USA JORC Code, 2012 Edition Table 1 Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data (Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.) Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling. Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used. Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report. In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (eg reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1.5m samples. Samples of approximately 10kg were collected and processed to produce a 60g charge for fire assay and ICP analysis. Water was injected during the drilling process such that all samples were collected wet. In all cases the entire hole was sampled. Industry standard methods were used for the collection, preparation and analysis of the samples. The drilling, sampling and assaying was undertaken by geologists and technicians contracted to Global Geoscience Ltd. These contractors were supervised by Global Geoscience Ltd. employees. Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (eg core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). Drill holes mentioned in this report are RC percussion drilled using a cross-over sub. Drill sample recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed. Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples. Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. Holes were logged by an experienced geologist as they were drilled and hand written logs were completed with lithology and recovery recorded Overall recoveries were high ensuring samples were representative No sample bias has occurred as no preferential loss of fine or coarse material has occurred There is no observed relationship between sample recovery and grade. Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Logging Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies. Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc) photography. The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. All holes have been geologically logged over their entire length to a level of detail sufficient for a Mineral Resource estimation The logging is qualitative in nature Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken. If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry. For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique. Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples. Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling. Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Drill chip samples were wet split using a rotary splitter attached to a cyclone. Buckets were used in conjunction with permeable samples bags to minimize loss of fines. Approximately 10kg was collected for every 1.5m drill interval. Duplicate samples were collected every 20th sample. Based on previous exploration in the area for this style of mineralization, the sample size is appropriate. Samples are considered representative of the in-situ rock High recoveries indicate samples are representative Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total. For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc. Nature of quality control procedures adopted (eg standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (ie lack of bias) and precision have been established. Samples were analysed by ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada using aqua regia 2 acid digestion and ICP mass spectrometry Standards for Li, B, Sr and As and blanks were inserted into the sample batches at about one in every fifteen samples and blanks at the rate of one in fifty Acceptable levels of accuracy were established Verification of sampling and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel. The use of twinned holes. Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols. Discuss any adjustment to assay data. Significant intersections have been independently verified by at least two company personnel Data is stored in digital format in a database Twin holes have been completed by previous explorers at the South Basin with good correlation Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation. Specification of the grid system used. Quality and adequacy of topographic control. Drill hole locations were measured by DGPS and are accurate to within 1m The area of drilling and hole coordinates are shown in UTM Zone 11, NAD27 grid system Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Data spacing and distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results. Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied. Whether sample compositing has been applied. Drill holes were generally spaced at 200m The spacing is considered sufficient to establish geological and grade continuity appropriate for a Mineral Resource estimation No sample compositing has been applied Orientation of data in relation to geological structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type. If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. Drill holes were vertical with one exception (SBH-30, -60 degrees). The holes intersected the mineralisation at between 75 and 90 degrees. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. The drill rig was manned at all times. Samples were securely stored on-site and then collected from site by ALS and transported to the laboratory by truck Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. A review of the sampling techniques and data storage was completed by a consultant geologist No items of concern were identified Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results (Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.) Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Mineral tenement and land tenure status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings. The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a licence to operate in the area. The tenements (unpatented mining claims) are 100% owned by fully owned subsidiaries of Global Geoscience Ltd. The unpatented mining claims are located on US federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) There are no known private royalties over the claims There are no known impediments to exploration or mining in the area Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. Exploration by other parties has been summarised in Company report titled Global to Acquire Advanced Nevada Lithium-Boron Project dated 3 June 2016 Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. Sediment hosted lithium-boron deposit Located in the Basin and Range terrain of Nevada Lithium-boron mineralisation is hosted with Tertiary-age carbonate-rich sediments deposited in a shallow lake environment Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all --- Material drill holes: -easting and northing of the drill hole collar -elevation or RL (Reduced Level elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar -dip and azimuth of the hole -down hole length and interception depth -hole length. If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. All available information relating to the drill holes is shown in the report. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (eg cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated. Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail. The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Grades were calculated by simple weighted averaging A lower cut-off of 1,000ppm lithium and 5000ppm boron have been applied No upper cutting was applied as the style and grade of mineralisation does not require it (no high-grade spikes) No metal equivalent values are being reported Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results. If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported. If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg down hole length, true width not known). Drilling generally intersected mineralisation at approximately 75-90 degrees Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. A summary map is included in the report showing the general location of the drilling and other relevant information. The map includes a scale and location information. UK Police force get more respect from the young while the older generation want to see more bobbies on the beat www.yolocomms.com Following recent public incidents, there has been much debate about the role and effectiveness of the police force and new research released today by Yolo Communications, shows that UK public support is still strong although there are contrasting views across ages and ethnic groups. 18-24-year-olds have most respect for the police force (53%) while those in the North East have least (30%) One fifth of those aged 55+ (21%) may have lost a lot of respect for the police force from when they were younger but three-quarters still trust them One-third of people are now more supportive of the police force in light of the recent acts of terrorism Two-thirds of people think the police should be allowed to chase suspects on mopeds without fear of the officers being prosecutedIt may well be seen as disappointing that only 47% of people stated they have full respect for the police force, with the younger generation (aged 18-24) more supportive (53% agree) as opposed to only 44% of those aged 55+.Two-fifths of respondents think the police force are understaffed (42%) and (38%) would like to see more police on the beat. There was great regional disparity as those people living in Yorkshire (59%), Scotland (55%) and the North West (51%) were more keen on adding bobbies on the beat than those in the Midlands (23%), South East (28%) and London (29%). This visual presence would be most welcomed by people as they get older as it is only supported by 12% of those aged 18-24 against 55% of those aged 55+ but in direct contrast that younger age group are twice as likely as their more mature counterparts to think the methods of the police force are outdated (14% v 7%).The terrible recent acts of terrorism have led to an increase (37%) of people being more supportive towards the police force with only 5% less so.With an alleged increase in moped-related crimes hitting the headlines, it has been reported that the police cannot chase suspects because it may endanger those suspects. It seems the public are clearly backing the police on this issue as almost two-thirds of people think the police should be allowed to chase them without fear of the officers being prosecuted. While a quarter (26%) think those suspects should not be chased if it can cause harm to (innocent) members of the public, only 7% think the police should not chase suspects if it could cause those suspects to be injured.On the contentious issues of targeting by ethnicity and stop-and-search rule, there is a clear difference of opinion with people from different ethnic backgrounds. When asked if they believe the police target ethnic minorities, one fifth (20%) of those with white backgrounds thought this to be the case in comparison to almost two thirds (63%) of those from other ethnic groups. Three in five people (59%) from ethnic backgrounds think the police treat ethnic minorities unfairly, however, only 26% do not agree that the police should be allowed to stop and search any members of the public against 21% of people from white backgrounds who also disagree.While it may be easy to have opinions from the comfort and safety of your own home, 42% of people still said they admire what the police do and admit they couldnt do it themselves. The younger age group (18-24 years old) would be least likely to consider a role in the police force as they are most likely to admit they are not brave enough (21%) compared to 10% of those aged 45-54 years old.Nik Harta, Director at Yolo Communications says, Its easy to be critical but not many of us would be willing to consider a role in the police force and put ourselves on the line. There are clearly some public relations issues that the police force need to address but it is good to see the public appreciation increasing.Yolo Communications is an international market research and social media insight agency based in London. Adopting innovative research techniques and methodologies, Yolo Communications uses a creative and consultative approach to help generate media coverage, deliver insight and strategies that support PR, Communications and Marketing.Nik HartaYolo Communications9 Cuckoo Hill roadPinnerMiddlesexHA5 1ASUKT: +44(0)20 7030 3900E: nik@yolocomms.com The Mexican telecommunication market :Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313627/mexico-telecommunication-services-an-attractive-but-price-sensitive-destination-strategy-performance-and-risk-analysis-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313627 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Within the Mexican telecommunication market, micro-economic conditions have supported policies that favor growth and encourage investments. As such, the market is considered an attractive destination for potential investors. This report provides readers with an in depth analysis into the Mexican markets current and forecast trends and key developments, exploring the competitive landscape, technological innovations, and growth patterns of different segments, among much more.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsTelcel and Movistar captured 90% of the mobile marketTelcels mobile subscriptions recorded a review-period CAGR of 1.0%, growing from 70.4 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2016. Subscriptions will post a forecast-period CAGR of 2.6%, to reach 83.4 million in 2021. In an attempt to consolidate its market dominance, Telcel launched new services, including Telcel Pay in 2016. In the same year, Movistar Mexico reported a relatively low churn rate of 50.5%. The market entry of AT&T via the acquisition of Lusacell in 2014 and Nextel in 2015, has allowed the firm to gain an initial 10% share of the mobile market. AT&Ts entry further intensified price competition.Weak competitive position in mobile adoptionCompared to the global and regional average, mobile adoption in Mexico is relatively low, which results in relatively lower subscription base. Subscriptions registered a review-period CAGR of 2.7%, while North American mobile subscriptions posted a CAGR of 5.9% and global subscriptions rose at a CAGR of 4.2%. Mobile penetration grew from 63% in 2012 to 66% in 2016, while the regional average increased from 75% to 80%. Multi-sim ownership is less common in Mexico.Fixed residential internet revenue to exceed voice revenueAt US$2,893.3 million in 2016, fixed residential internet revenue accounted for 77.9% of the total fixed-line residential service revenue, and 71.2% of total fixed-line internet (residential and business combined) revenue in 2016. Fixed residential internet revenues rose from US$2,404.0 million in 2012 to US$2,893.3 million in 2016 at a CAGR of 4.7%, and will post a forecast-period CAGR of 5.2% to value US$3,730.8 million in 2021.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Mexican telecommunications market in comparison with other North America countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics, including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS, are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends that drive market performance in the Mexican telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investments in the Mexican telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Mexican telecommunications market is performing compared to the regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Mexican telecommunications market through the business segment on metrics such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- How the market performed over the review period, compared to its expected performance over the forecast period, in terms of: revenues, subscribers, ARPU, and customer churn?- How are growing investments on infrastructure by the Mexican Government affecting the market?- An overview of the key developments in the Mexican telecom market?- What are the main strengths and weaknesses in the Mexican telecom market, and what opportunities or challenges does it face?- How is increasing demand for fixed-internet services affecting the fixed-voice segment?- An analysis of the key drivers of the market, and the impact they have on the markets sectors: data, prepaid, postpaid, broadband, and IPTV?- What are the changes in the financial deals landscape, along with the notable deals made?- How has the competitive company landscape changed, and who are the key players?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Controlled Release Fertilizer market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period 2016-2021 controlled release fertilizer market, controlled release fertilizer market size, controlled release fertilizer market analysis, co https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/reports/1072791-global-controlled-release-fertilizer-market-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/1072791-global-controlled-release-fertilizer-market-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/check-discount/1072791-global-controlled-release-fertilizer-market-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 Reports And Markets Publish a New Market Research Report On "Controlled Release Fertilizer Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2017 - 2022)"Access Full Report With Table Of Contents @Global Controlled Release Fertilizer market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period 2016-2021 from an estimated market value of $2739.5 million in 2015. Controlled release fertilizer is a type of fertilizer that contains plant nutrient in a form that delays availability for plant uptake and use after application.Controlled release fertilizers are part of a broad segment-enhanced efficiency fertilizers. These kind of fertilizers are available to the plants for a significantly longer period of time. These granulated fertilizers release nutrients gradually into the soil. Most controlled release fertilizers are used in agriculture and horticulture applications.Increasing demand for high-efficiency fertilizers, shrinking farm land and land productivity, and environment friendly operation mode of the fertilizers are the key factors driving the market demand for controlled release fertilizers globally. Growing demand from developing regions and increased government and industry support would help in sustaining the market growth in the forecast period. However, regulatory and environmental constraints for some coated products and high manufacturing cost are creating obstacles for market growth.The global controlled release fertilizer market is classified by type, application and geography. In term of product type, the market is broadly classified into Chemical Condensation Products, Coated and Encapsulated Fertilizers, Nitrogen Stabilizers and others. By application, the usage of fertilizers is explained based on crops and non-crops. Crop based application in fruits and vegetables is reported to be more for the industry.North America is the largest market for controlled release fertilizer products which is then followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. Due to increased demand for food and shortage of arable land, Asia-Pacific region would grow at the highest CAGR. Country wise, United States and China are the largest markets for this fertilizer.The global market for controlled release fertilizers is characterized with intense competition with the large number of big and small players. Agrium, Yara International, Israel Chemicals Ltd. (Israel), The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and ICL Specialty Fertilizers are some of the big players in controlled release fertilizer industry. New product development, acquisitions and expansion are seen as the major strategies followed by major players for market growth.Request For Sample Report @In this report we offer,Market analysis for the Global Controlled Release Fertilizer Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scales.Market 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 Controlled Release Fertilizer 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 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) The largest telecom market in Saudi Arabia :A mature market with renewed growth opportunities (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313632/saudi-arabia-telecommunication-services-a-mature-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313632 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Saudi Arabia is the largest telecom market in the Middle East and has high mobile penetration rate of 72% but still presents an opportunity to grow. The broadband penetration rate, which is quite low is expected to increase from 11% in 2016 to 15% by 2021 as the government plans to invest in the development and maintenance of infrastructure to provide broadband connectivity to all the regions of Saudi Arabia under the national transformation plan.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsFixed Internet revenue shows growthFixed segment revenue increased from US$3,780.2 million in 2012 to US$4,098.0 million in 2016 at 2.0% CAGR during 2012-2016 and is further expected to grow at 2.3% CAGR for 2016-2021 is expected to increase to US$4,582.4 million by 2021. The increase in the fixed line revenue will primarily be because of the increase in the Internet revenue between 2016 and 2021. In terms of ARPS, Fixed voice ARPS is expected to decline from US$66.8 to US$54.3 between 2016 and 2021. Also, the fixed Internet ARPS is expected to decline from US$103.2 to US$99.4 between 2016 and 2021.The decline in the fixed voice ARPS is due to the decrease in the number of subscribers, change in the preference of consumers from voice to data.Saudi Arabian governement plans to boost broadband connectivityIt was estimated that 69.0% of Saudi Arabias population was using the Internet in 2016. This is expected to increase to 77.0% by the end of 2021 as digital literacy levels rise in the kingdom. Additionally, the broadband penetration rate in 2016 in Saudi Arabia stood at 11.0% but is expected to increase to 16.0% by 2021. This is attributed to the initiative of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to provide broadband connectivity to all the regions of Saudi Arabia under the national transformation plan by stimulating investment for the development of the required infrastructure.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The telecommunication industry to get big cash investmentsThe National Transformation plan undertaken by the government to create a strong non-oil economy has given a lot of impetus to the sectors such as telecom. This includes investment in the upgradation of the existing infrastructure by both the Government and telecom operators. The telecom regulator of Saudi Arabia, Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) is expected to invest US$1.45 billion towards communication equipment and upgradation.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications market in comparison with other Middle East and African countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Saudi Arabian telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What was the CAGR of broadband penetration from the period 2012-2016, and what is it projected to be up to 2021?- How risky is it to invest in the Saudi Arabian telecommunications industry?- What trends are being witnessed within the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications industry?- What are the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Whole Genome Amplification Market with Current Trends Analysis, 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1873 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1873 www.futuremarketinsights.com Whole genome amplification was being developed in 1992. This technique is used for amplifying the entire genome from very small amount of genomic DNA; this helps in increasing the quantity of limited DNA samples, and so any gene can be studied in the organism by preserving the limited sample. Whole genome amplification is a useful technique and has various applications such as forensics and genetic disease research, apart from this, there are new techniques such as array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and next-generation sequencing, where a few DNA quantities but analyses is required. There are also various whole genome amplification techniques that are developed wherein they differ both in the protocol as well as replication accuracy. Whole genome amplification techniques utilize the principals of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) so as to copy enzymatically the DNA contained within a sample. Moreover, the amplification of the whole genome is non-specific and theoretically provides an increased amount in the copy number of all genomic sequences. The application of whole genome amplification is mostly in research studies where small DNA samples are regularly encountered. These applications comprise creation of probes from microdissected or flow-sorted chromosomes, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and study of ancient DNA samples.Whole Genome Amplification Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global whole genome amplification market is driven by the rising incidence of genetic disorders owing to rising population. According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the study conducted by National Center for Health Statistics the estimated prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 22.4 per 1,000 children in the age group of 3 to 17 years in 2013. In addition to this the whole genome amplification kits are easier and faster, apart from this only small amount of DNA is required for multiple samples. Growing awareness of applications of whole genome amplification techniques is expected to provide high growth opportunities for the whole genome amplification products such as kits manufacturers over the forecast period. Moreover, technological developments and emphasis on specificity and sensitivity of the kits is expected to provide significant growth opportunities for whole genome amplification product manufacturers. However, the whole genome amplification makes it difficult to derive accurate genomic information from single-cell genomes is expected to hamper market growth over the forecast period.Request Report Sample@Whole Genome Amplification Market: SegmentationThe global whole genome amplification market are segmented into product type and end userSegmentation based on product typeKitsSingle Cell WGA KitWGA and ChIP DNAWGA Reamplification KitComplete WGA KitDNA Amplification KitOthersSegmentation based on applicationMedical ApplicationsGenetic disordersForensicsPaternityFood safetyVeterinaryAgriculture researchSegmentation based on end userResearch CentersAcademic InstitutesHospitalsClinicsPharmaceutical and Biotechnology CompaniesVisit For TOC@Whole Genome Amplification Market: OverviewGlobally the whole genome amplification market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period owing to forensics labs trying to genotype five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), and researchers collecting DNA from a buccal swab that only contains a few cells. The procedure is fast--six hours from start to finish are expected to gain traction over the forecast period, moreover increasing distribution network of manufacturers is expected to create high growth opportunities for the stakeholders of whole genome amplification market.Whole Genome Amplification Market: Region Wise OutlookRegionally, whole genome amplification market is segmented into seven key regions, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ (Asia-Pacific excluding Japan), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA)North America is expected to dominate the whole genome amplification market over the forecast period. Western Europe is expected to follow next after North America owing to increasing awareness of whole genome amplification in this region. Increasing application of whole genome amplification in forensic and genetic disorders in Japan is expected to boost demand for whole genome amplification in this country. APEJ is expected to follow next regarding revenue growth owing to technological developments and the introduction of new products from the local players. Latin America and MEA regions are also expected to witness significant growth in whole genome amplification market over the forecast period.Whole Genome Amplification Market: Key PlayersSome key players in peripheral embolization market are Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., QIAGEN, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., New England Biolabs., General Electric Company, LGC Limited, Genetica DNA Laboratories - a LabCorp brand, NuGEN Technologies, Inc., Illumina, Inc. and others. The companies are focused on understanding the fundamental epigenomic and genomic regulatory pathways underlying normal cell growth and tissue differentiation.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: Telecommunication Services Industry in South Africa : Opportunities for growth mellowed by risks and low rewards (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313633/south-africa-telecommunication-services-opportunities-for-growth-mellowed-by-risks-and-low-rewards-strategy-performance-and-risk-analysis-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313633 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ In South Africa mobile subscriptions rose from 68.9 million in 2012 to 92.9 million in 2016, at a review-period (2012-2016) CAGR of 7.8%. Subscriptions will reach 110.5 million in 2021, at a forecast-period (2016-2021) CAGR of 3.5%, as is evident from penetration increasing from 74.3% users as a percentage of the population in 2012 to 83.6% in 2016. As mobile phones get cheaper and new technologies are introduced, penetration will reach 89.6% in 2021.View Report @Key HighlightsNetwork expansion and modernization to create opportunities for operatorsIn 2016, UMTS accounted for 38% of all mobile subscriptions. Its share will increase to 57.3% by 2021. However, the combined share of subscriptions on the HSPA and Long Term Evolution (LTE) platforms will also rise, from 15.7% in 2016 to 32.9% by 2021. Operators have the opportunity to invest in developing their M2M/IoT service portfolios based on faster LTE technology which will allow many to broaden their service offerings and tap into new revenue streams. Neotel is collaborating with the Western Cape government to launch 384 Wi-Fi hotspots across the province by 2019.Fiber optic technology to growFixed technology such as FTTH will enhance network quality and help operators to meet the demand for faster internet speeds that will ultimately drive subscriptions.Telkom SA SOC Limited announced the launch of FreeMe Family, which brings the data-led convenience of FreeMe to families, who will then be able to share a data allocation across 10 SIM cards. It is also investing in the roll out FTTH and plans to pass one million FTTH connections by 2018, in addition to its plan to migrate its ADSL subscribers onto fibre optic networks.Government initiatives driving broadband connectionsThe governments National Broadband Plan (NBA) will create opportunities for investors to fund the development of a national broadband network. South Africa will require funding to build a viable and long-term broadband plan in order to achieve its goal of universal broadband access by 2030. With the right funding and investments, broadband penetration can be increased.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the South African Telecommunications market in comparison with other Middle East and African countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the South African Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the South African Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the South African telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the South African Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What are the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- How is the market performing in terms of: Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, and Customer Churn?- What will Saudi Arabias mobile market look like in 2021?- How has the financial deals landscape changed in 2015 and 2016?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Swedens telecom market is expected to reach 16.9 million in 2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313635/sweden-telecommunication-services-highly-protected-strategy-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313635 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Swedens telecom market is saturated. Mobile user penetration reached 80%, with growth potential due to increase with the adoption of new technologies through innovation. Mobile subscription base increased from 14.3 million in 2012 to 14.9 million in 2016, and had a subscription penetration level of 148.6% in 2016. It is expected to reach 16.9 million in 2021 with a corresponding penetration level of 158.1% in 2021 due to increased adoption of mobile phones and data usage.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsData revenue to increaseHigher demand and usage of mobile data, along with the simultaneous adoption of smartphones, are expected to drive the rise in total mobile service revenues at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period, to reach US$1,909 million by 2021. Given a penetration of 80% in 2016, the Sweden telecom market is still developing with mobile voice revenues at US$2,960.1 million in 2016, as opposed to mobile data revenues which registered US$1,331.4 million in the same year. Increased usage is expected to increase data revenues at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period, while voice revenue is expected to decline at a CAGR of -4.0% over the same period.Strong support from growth in postpaid subscriptionsSweden is expected to have 16.9 million mobile subscriptions by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 2.6% during over the forecast period. This translates to the subscription density (% of population) increasing from 148.6% in 2016 to 158.1% in 2021. Postpaid mobile subscriptions at 11.3 million outnumbered prepaid at 3.5 million in 2016. Also, postpaid subscriptions are expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.0% during 2016-21, while prepaid are expected to decline at a CAGR of -2.5% over the same period.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Increase in adoption of LTEUMTS is currently the leading technology platforms for mobile subscription. Many players have already adopted these platforms to offer better services. However, with increase in penetration and auction of the 1800MHz band, subscriptions based on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) platform are expected to pick up. In 2016, there were more than 3.5 million LTE users in the country and this is expected to increase to 10.0 million in 2021.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in the Swedish Telecommunications market in comparison with other European countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in the Swedish Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in the Swedish Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how the Swedish telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in the Swedish Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- What markets have shown the biggest CARG in the Swedish telecommunications industry since 2012?- What opportunities do new entrants have in Swedens telecommunication market?- What trends are being witnessed within the Swedish Telecommunications industry?- What are the Swedish Telecommunications industrys Strengths and Weaknesses and what Opportunities and Threats does it face?- How does the Swedish government plan to drive market growth?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Interior Design in the commercial and hospitality industries Nigeria is on the rise and on trend. www.homeandgiftnigeria.com/moreinfo www.clarionevents.com www.clarioneventswestafrica.com www.spintelligent.com http://www.homeandgiftnigeria.com The Nigerian real estate and hospitality industries have attracted investors for many years now and multiple new developments and refurbishments are taking place; meaning lots of exciting projects for local designers.One of the most exciting builds currently underway is the Eko Atlantic development; a new build city modelled on metropolises such as Dubai and Abu-Dhabi. This multi-million dollar development will contribute 10 million square meters of new residential, commercial, retail and recreational space and be home to a number of new hotels, including a 500-key 4-star hotel and resort.Omon Anenih Mordi, CEO of Blue Mahogany and advisory board member of home decor & giftware Nigeria is working on this project: We are working on commercial offices and a restaurant in the desirable Eko Atlantic development, as well as a Boutique hotel in Abujas central business district. Other current projects include over 1000 square metres of office space in the prestigious Wings building in Victoria Island, Lagos.Other notable developments in this sector include the upgrade of Starwoods Le Meridien Hotels, Marriot Internationals proposed multi-million dollar investments in the subsector, the entry of Sheratons Four Points into Akwa Ibom State, the expansion of Hilton into several cities in the country and the recently opened Grand Pela Hotel, part of the growing BON Hotel chain Nigerian portfolio which currently stretches across half the country and includes hotels in Abuja, Warri, Ikeja and Victoria Island, with three other properties currently under construction and due for completion in 2018 (Nigeria real estate industry outlook 2017 report).The market opportunities for suppliers to this industry have remained abundant and exports to Nigeria are staggering: Furniture imports and clothing and accessory imports have, despite a recent economic downturn, continued to stay high at $250 million and $763.3 million per annum retrospectively (worldstopexports.com) with $153.8 million worth of furniture imports from between 2014 and 2016 coming from China alone (International Trade Statistics - ITS).Despite these huge figures, local buyers still have difficultly sourcing the variety of products they need to produce cutting edge designs: Availability of good quality, good value, design-led products locally, has been a huge challenge. Omon Anenih Mordi, Blue Mahogany.In a bid to bring the latest in international design to this massive market, the African Association of Interior Designers (AAID) and Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN) have teamed up with exhibitions organiser Clarion Events West Africa to bring about home decor & giftware Nigeria, a b2b buyers fair.For the past 12 years Ive planned my annual holidays around design week in London and made sure to visit shows like Pulse, Top Drawer and Home & Gift as often as my schedule and air fares would allow. I was elated to hear that Clarion events would be coming to us this time. There is such a huge market out here and this says to me that finally, Nigeria truly is a part of that Global village we all talk about. Omon Anenih Mordi, CEO of Blue MahoganyMany key industry stakeholders and buyers form the home decor & giftware Nigeria Advisory board and look forward to attending the exhibition holding 14 16 November 2017 at the Landmark Exhibition Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria:It is a known fact that Nigeria is a leader in Africa as far as home, decor & giftware is concerned: There is a lot of market potential and there also exists a huge and unending demand for homeware, furnishing, interior decor, textile and gift products. We strongly believe that this exhibition is a long awaited opportunity for the industry. Obinuga Olubunmi Samuel, CEO, Vibrant Interiors Limited.To find out more about how to exhibit, check out the latest advisory board or read more on the market potential visit:or call +44 20 7384 7952Home decor & giftware Nigeria is organised by Clarion Events West Africa Ltd; the Lagos based office of Clarion Events Ltd who are responsible for 180 international trade fairs every year delivered from 13 global offices, including a Portfolio of Retail & Home exhibitions covering design-led and every-day giftware & homeware. These market leading events support over 3,000 exhibitors to meet with over 60,000 discerning retailers and professionals from around the world every year. Having delivered international trade fairs in Africa for the past 20 years, Clarion Events Ltd are recognised as the leading organiser in the region.Clarion Events CompanyBedford HouseFulham Green69-79 Fulham High StreetLondonSW6 3JWMedia Contact:Victoria SmartEmail: Victoria.Smart@clarionevents.comTelephone: +44 20 7384 8033Twitter: @home_giftsInstagram: Home_giftwareFacebook: HomeandGiftNigeriaWebsite: Oatmeal Market Revenue and Value Chain 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1950 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1950 www.futuremarketinsights.com Oatmeal is made up of one of the highly consumed breakfast cereal Oats. Oat grains are processed, crushed, rolled or steel-cut to make coarse oatmeal. Oatmeal is the general term originated from the U.S. and used is the U.S. and some parts of Canada. Oatmeal are mostly cooked by heating and adding water or milk to form porridge and consumed as breakfast in most of the countries. Oats are also used as an ingredient in different products such as oatcakes, oatmeal cookies and baked oatmeal dessert dishes. In recent years Oatmeal market has flourished despite of slow growth of breakfast cereal industry, due its health benefits such as high fiber and beta-glucan content and no cholesterol.Oatmeal Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe size of oatmeal market is increasing with respect to the growth of breakfast industry, increasing preference for healthy meals, and changing food habits in different countries. Oatmeal is one of the major staple food for Scotland and Nordic countries, whereas oatmeal are highly preferred by the consumers who are health conscious and always look for high protein and fiber meals. Increasing demand for ready to eat foods, and healthy breakfast products is expected to drive the growth of oatmeal market.Oatmeal are served hot, and the increasing demand hot cereal products is also expected to support the growth of oatmeal market. Changing in eating habits of the consumers have demolished specific type of food to be consumed for dinner, lunch and breakfast. Now a days manufacturers are positioning oatmeal as an option for lunch, dinner and snacks, resulting in higher consumption of oatmeal.Request Report Sample@Other factors which are driving the oatmeal markets are the benefits offered by the oatmeal, such as its high fiber and protein content, no sugar and being gluten-free, present oatmeal as a preferred choice healthy conscious consumers. It is also easy to cook and take less time than traditional meals, which makes it a preferred choice, over other cereal products.Oatmeal Market Segmentation:Oatmeal market can be classified on the basis of product types, distribution channel and regions that constitute the key markets.Oatmeal on the basis of product type can be segmented into Whole oat grains, Steel cut oats, Regular rolled oats and Instant rolled oats. Instant rolled oats are growing at a faster growth rate among all other types as they contains pre-cooked oats, and can be quickly prepared by adding hot milk or water. Attributes such as easiness to cook and on-the-go food supports the growth of instant rolled oats market during the forecast period.Oatmeal market can be further segmented on the basis of distribution channel used by manufacturers, to supply oatmeal products to end-users. On the basis of distribution channel, the oatmeal market can be segment into Super/Hypermarket, Convenience/Departmental Stores, Specialty Stores and Others (includes foodservice). Super/Hypermarket segment is expected to depict highest growth in terms of sales, due to its capability to offer wide variety of oatmeal products and also offers attractive offers and discounts.Visit For TOC@Oatmeal Market: Regional OutlookGeographically the Oatmeal market can be segmented by regions such as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), Middle East and Africa and Japan. Among all these regions, Western Europe market is expected to dominate the oatmeal market, in term of revenue, followed by North America. Asia-Pacific and Latin America oatmeal market is expected to show higher growth rate during the forecast period, due to changing eating habits, and growing urban population resulting in higher demand for healthy on-the-go food.Oatmeal Market Key Players:Oatmeal market is moderately fragmented with number of major players holding high share and domestic players offering oatmeal in the local market. Leading players in the oatmeal market are Quaker Oats Company, Kellogg's, Bagrry's India Ltd., General Mills, Nestle, Dr. McDougall's Right Foods., McCanns, Abbott Nutrition, Conagra Foods, ABF Grain Products Limited., and thinkThin.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: Thailand-Telecommunication Services: A technology driven market (Strategy, Performance and Risk Analysis) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313637/thailand-telecommunication-services-a-technology-driven-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313637 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Thailands mobile subscription base increased at a CAGR of 1.5% during 2012-16 from 83.9 million in 2012 to 89.1 million in 2016, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% to reach 104.7 million by 2021. Mobile penetration levels increased from 125.6% in 2012 to 132% in 2016, are expected to reach 154% by 2021 due to an increased adoption of mobile phones and enhanced investment by operators in advanced technologies such as VoWiFi and 4G VoLTE.MarketLines Premium industry reports provide a comprehensive market view including sections on: industry risk & reward, key industry trends and drivers, industry SWOT analysis, industry benchmarking to compare key performance indicators with regional and global markets, competitive landscape, and innovation.View Report @Key HighlightsStrong growth in mobile data revenueMobile data revenue increased at a CAGR of 24.5% during the review period from US$1,649.1 million in 2012 to US$3,957.3 million in 2016, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 14.6% during 2016-21 to reach US$7,814.7 million. The increase is attributed to the launch of attractive promotional mobile data plans and improvements in the 4G/LTE network infrastructure.Government initiatives set to boost market growthGovernment initiatives are expected to drive the market growth. For instance, the regulator, NBTC, commenced a five-year master plan aimed at promoting new technologies and infrastructure sharing among operators. Moreover, by 2025, there will be 865MHz bandwidth available for mobile phone services, compared with 420MHz in 2016.The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology aims to increase broadband penetration by 95% in the country by 2020. To boost its broadband the government is investing US$1.1 billion in order to increase data speeds by more than 400%. NBTC plans to enhance the broadband experience over the next five years by regulating new spectrum bands.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Significant investment in technologyTechnologies such as internet of things (IoT) and 4G are expected to gain momentum. AIS is planning to invest US$1.1 billion into the expansion of 4G its network and upgrade its base stations to 4G. CAT signed a contract with SK Telecom for the deployment of LoRa-based IoT networks.Scope- Risk/Reward Index - enables you to assess the risks and potential rewards of investing in Thailands Telecommunications market in comparison with other Asia-Pacific countries.- Industry Snapshot and Industry View - Key Telecommunications Industry Statistics including fixed/mobile revenue, subscriptions, churn, market share, and ARPS are analyzed to reveal the key issues and trends driving market performance in Thailands Telecommunications market.- Industry SWOT Analysis - Discover the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats impacting market performance and investment in Thailands Telecommunications market.- Industry Benchmarking - Benchmark how Thailands telecommunications market is performing compared to regional and global markets in terms of fixed or mobile revenue, subscriptions, ARPS, penetration, and usage to gauge potential for growth or market entry.- Competitive Landscape - Analyze and compare the performance of the leading players in Thailands Telecommunications market by business segment on metrics such as such as churn, ARPU, and subscriber and revenue growth.Reasons to buy- How has the mobile voice revenue market been performing in the 2012-2016 period?- What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses for the future of Thailands telecommunications market?- What is driving the performance of key industry segments such as Voice, Data, Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband, and IPTV?- What government initiatives are on the horizon, and how will they affect the telecommunications market in Thailand?MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz English French Nanobiotix half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2017 Paris, France and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, August 31, 2017 - NANOBIOTIX (Euronext: NANO - ISIN: FR0011341205), a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering new approaches to the treatment of cancer, today announces its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2017. Philippe Mauberna, CFO of Nanobiotix, commented: "We are pleased with the progress made during the first half of 2017. Following the recommendation from the IDMC to continue the phase II/III trial in Soft Tissue Sarcoma, the company has also announced successful clinical results from the Phase I/II Trial of NBTXR3 in Head & Neck Cancer. The private placement completed in April 2017 enabled new investors, mainly from the US and Europe, to invest in Nanobiotix in order to support our clinical programs expansion in head and neck cancer with NBTXR3 and in the Immuno-Oncology program into patients." Financial highlights Total revenue of circa 1.9m (H1 2016: 3.0m) includes re-invoicing of materials and services (59k), research tax credit (1.760k) and other subsidies (63k) Total expenses are stable compared to last year (13.7m for H1 2017 vs. 13.1m for H1 2016). R&D expenses amounts to 7.2m on line with clinical developments activities while SG&A, at 4.5m vs. 3.8m for H1 2016, reflect the investment made in the market access phase Headcount to support company projects has increased to 71 in June 30, 2017 compare to 63 as of June 30, 2016 After tax losses of 12m for H1 2017 (compared to 10m for H1 2016) in line with expectations Cash balance as June 30, 2017 amounts to 31m (H1 2016: 25m) Financial events Successful completion in April 2017 of a 25.1 million private placement, corresponding to 1,596,527 new shares, providing additional resources to support the Company development. This operation has provided the opportunity for Nanobiotix to welcome new shareholders from US and EU and allow existing shareholders to reinforce their current positions. Operational highlights Recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) to continue the ongoing phase II/III trial of NBTXR3 in Soft Tissue Sarcoma (Act.in.sarc study), based on the safety and efficacy data Results of the Phase I/II head and neck cancer trial with its lead product candidate, NBTXR3, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Chicago in June. The excellent safety profile demonstrated in this elderly and frail population indicates that NBTXR3 would represent a valuable option to preserve and improve patients' Quality of Life compared to other treatments Presentation of NBTXR3 preclinical data demonstrating 1) the antitumor efficacy of NBTXR3 in five different in vivo human cancer models and 2) the antitumor efficacy of NBTXR3 in combination with chemotherapy, in both in vitro and in vivo studies Presentation of a first set of clinical data from its immuno-oncology (IO) program, showing the potential ability of NBTXR3 to transform "cold" tumors into "hot" tumors. The new clinical data and previous pre-clinical data indicate that NBTXR3 could play a key role in oncology and could become a backbone in immuno-oncology. NBTXR3 with radiotherapy could transform tumors into an effective in situ vaccine, opening up very promising perspectives in the treatment of local cancer and metastases Appointment of Alain Dostie, a senior executive from the pharmaceutical industry, as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) to oversee operations and product commercialization Financial Review (IFRS) The detailed Profit & Loss financial statement is laid out below: 6 months period closed on : ( '000) June 30 2017 June 30 2016 Operating revenue 59 982 Other revenue 1,823 2,053 Subsidies 63 63 Research Tax Credit 1,760 1,991 Total revenue 1,882 3,036 Cost of sales - - R&D costs -7,238 -8,209 Selling, general and administrative costs (SG&A) -4,531 -3,773 Costs associated with payments in shares -1,919 -1,127 Core operating loss -11,806 -10,073 Income from cash 19 35 Gross cost of debt -57 -49 Net cost of debt -38 -14 Other financial income 18 15 Other financial expenses -364 -6 Core pre-tax loss -12,190 -10,079 Income tax 0 -89 Net loss -12,190 -10,169 Actuarial gains 8 21 Foreign exchange translation adjustments 237 4 Comprehensive loss -11,945 -10,143 Diluted earnings per share -0.76 -0.68 Total revenue for H1 2017 amounts to 1,882k (H1 2016: 3,036k): Re-invoicing of materials and services related to activities planned into partnership convention with PharmaEngine have been smaller than last year while no milestone payment was triggered during the period, and Other revenue amounts to 1,823k mainly composed of the Research Tax Credit (CIR). This amount is in slightly decreased compared to last year (-230k) as a reflection of the R&D expenses level. Total operating expenses as of 30 June 2017 reached 13.7m (H1 2016: 13.1m). In total, the stability of expenses is explained as follows: Operating costs, excluding share based payments, amounted in H1 2017 to 11,770k (H1 2016: 11,982k), as per company expectations, R&D expenses amounted to 7.2m (H1 2016: 8.2m), which correspond to the current level of activity of on-going clinical programs, Selling, general and administrative cost expenses reached 4.5m (H1 2016: 3.8m) mainly due to the continuation of market access preparation, with some new recruitments and market studies activities, and Shares based payment amounts to 1.9m (+0.8m) because of plans allocated on the period. The core operating loss amounts to 11.8m (H1 2016: 10.1m) in line with expectations. This operating loss increase is mainly due to the decrease of revenue level. The total net loss amounts to 12.2m. Cash balance as of 30 June 2017 reaches 31m as per expectations. The half year financial report has been the object of a limited review by the Statutory Auditors. The company published full financial statements that comply with IFRS that are available on its website at www.nanobiotix.com. *** Next financial press release: revenue for the third quarter of 2017 on November 15, 2017. *** About NANOBIOTIX: www.nanobiotix.com Nanobiotix (Euronext: NANO / ISIN: FR0011341205) is a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering novel approaches for the treatment of cancer. The Company's first-in-class, proprietary technology, NanoXray, enhances radiotherapy energy with a view to provide a new, more efficient treatment for cancer patients. NanoXray products are compatible with current radiotherapy treatments and are meant to treat potentially a wide variety of solid tumors including soft tissue sarcoma, head and neck cancers, liver cancers, prostate cancer, breast cancer, glioblastoma, etc., via multiple routes of administration. NBTXR3 is being evaluated in: soft tissue sarcoma (STS), head and neck cancers, prostate cancer, and liver cancers (primary and metastases). Additionally, head and neck cancer and rectal cancer trials led by Nanobiotix's Taiwanese partner, PharmaEngine, are underway in the Asia Pacific region. The Company has filed in August 2016 for market approval (CE Marking) in Europe for its lead product NBTXR3. The Company started in 2016 a new preclinical research program in Immuno-oncology with its lead product NBTXR3, which could have the potential to bring a new dimension to cancer immunotherapies. Nanobiotix is listed on the regulated market of Euronext in Paris (ISIN: FR0011341205, Euronext ticker: NANO, Bloomberg: NANO: FP). The Company Headquarter is based in Paris, France. Affiliate in Cambridge, United States. Contact Nanobiotix Sarah Gaubert Director, Communications & Public Affairs +33 (0)1 40 26 07 55 sarah.gaubert@nanobiotix.com / contact@nanobiotix.com Noel Kurdi Director, Investor Relations +1 (646) 241-4400 noel.kurdi@nanobiotix.com / investors@nanobiotix.com Media relations France - Springbok Consultants Marina Rosoff +33 (0)6 71 58 00 34 marina@springbok.fr United States - RooneyPartners Marion Janic +1 (212) 223-4017 mjanic@rooneyco.com Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Nanobiotix and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Nanobiotix considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the reference document of Nanobiotix filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des Marches Financiers) under number D.17-0470 on April 28, 2017 (a copy of which is available on www.nanobiotix.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Nanobiotix operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Nanobiotix or not currently considered material by Nanobiotix. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Nanobiotix to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information that it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for, Nanobiotix shares in any country. At the moment NBTXR3 does not bear a CE mark and is not permitted to be placed on the market or put into service until NBTXR3 has obtained a CE mark. 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 Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000234 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/optical-fiber-market 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 Ultrathin Film Market Analysis by 2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011025368/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/global-ultrathin-film-market-professional-survey-report-2017 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00011025368/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001102568/buy/3500 ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Ultrathin Film Market Professional Survey Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.This report studies Ultrathin Film 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.Key ManufacturersSilex LtdApplied Thin FilmsKurehaeAIMECHATECGraphicsAvery Dennison CorporationAsahi InteccWacker Chemie AGScope of the ReportBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaGet Sample of this Report @By types, the market can be split intoNanoscaleMicrometer ScaleMillimeter ScaleBy Application, the market can be split intoPackingConsumer GoodsOthersGet complete access of this report @1 Industry Overview of Ultrathin Film2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Ultrathin Film3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Ultrathin Film4 Global Ultrathin Film Overall Market Overview5 Ultrathin Film Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Ultrathin Film Segment Market Analysis (by Type)Get Discount @Table of Content7 Global 2012-2017E Ultrathin Film Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Ultrathin Film9 Development Trend of Analysis of Ultrathin Film Market10 Ultrathin Film Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Ultrathin Film12 Conclusion of the Global Ultrathin Film Market Professional Survey Report 2017Buy Report here @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.Pune:505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Earphones and Headphones Industry in U.S. to grow at 25% CAGR from 2017 to 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc, https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/482 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/earphone-and-headphone-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/482 https://www.gminsights.com The Report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Global earphones and headphones market size is set to exceed USD 25 billion by 2024; global shipments will grow at nearly 4% CAGR estimation, according to a new research report Advancements in wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Infrared (IR) are expected to drive the overall earphones and headphones market growth.Wireless technology development can be majorly credited to the exclusion of headphone jacks from smartphones; the technology has become more affordable and is replacing the need for physical cabling. Manufacturers are now providing wireless headsets with high audio quality, which is expected to drive the overall earphones and headphones market over the future.Request for a sample of this research report @The industry is anticipated to witness growth over the forecast timespan owing to the rising demand of several applications including industrial, aviation and public safety. Surge in the sales of smart mobile devices has fueled the demand for Bluetooth enabled earphones and headphones, which is anticipated to boost the industry demand across the globe. Developments in the design & engineering to offer compact and light products along with declining earphone and headphone market price trend is propelling the industry growth.A key challenge in the earphones and headphones market is the availability of counterfeit products. Since a few years, several product replicas have given rise to competition for core giants and creating a dent in their market share. The presence of low-cost knockoffs also poses a threat for the earphones and headphones market growth.Public safety applications in the earphones and headphones market have witnessed growing adoption across ambulances, aircraft rescues, fire boats and firefighting departments will, thereby driving the industry growth. The systems used in the public safety applications are completely weatherproofed and can be used on some of the most progressive rescues and fire boats.In ambulances, the system allows hands-free communications for drivers and medics. It permits the medics to efficiently communicate over the dispatch radio by using footswitches while supporting the patients. The wired and wireless systems enable the crew to ensure continuous communications with mobile dispatchers.Browse key industry insights spread across 300 pages with 296 market data tables & 31 figures & charts from the report, Earphones And Headphones Market Size By Technology (Wired, Wireless), By Application (Consumer, Call Center, Industrial, Aviation, Construction, Public Safety), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024 in detail along with the table of contents:Asia Pacific earphones and headphones market is anticipated to witness substantial growth owing to the growing usage of mobile devices and the expanding mobile device industry in densely populated countries such as China and India. The growing demand for the products in the region has been witnessed from the business outsourced processing industry mainly in Philippines and India, which are the largest offshoring centers globally. The growing consumer disposable incomes in the region are also anticipated to act as an impetus in generating demand.Some of the earphones and headphones market participants are Apple, Inc., Bose Corporation, David Clark Inc., Harman International, Inc., JVC, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Sennheiser Electronic, Skullcandy, Inc., Sony Corporation, Grado Labs, Audio Technica Corporation, etc.The earphones and headphones market is still growing steadily, and is characterized by fierce competition. The industry demands modernization, with players placing additional importance on unceasing developments in enhanced noise-cancelling functionalities, sound quality, wireless technologies, with major focus on feature oriented systems which are helping in rapid growth.Make an inquiry for buying this report @About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Anonymous Donors help North Florida Land Trust fund the purchase of Bogey Creek Preserve Bogey Creek Preserve www.northfloridalandtrust.org www.northfloridalandtrust.org Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 31, 2017 North Florida Land Trust is pleased to announce two anonymous donors have stepped forward to help fund the purchase of the Bogey Creek Preserve. After hearing about the $125,000 challenge grant from the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida, one of the donors offered $210,000 to the project. Another anonymous donor has given $405,000 in the name of Robert P. Milam, Jr. The recent donations put NFLT in a position to purchase the 63-acre property at the $1.2 million price tag. The contributions have also gotten them closer to fully funding the additional $105,000 needed to pay for ancillary costs, including the creation of a public park.We are very thankful to these donors who have reached out to support the acquisition of the property and to help fulfill the dream of Sue Spencer, whose wish was to see her family property preserved forever, said Jim McCarthy. Unfortunately, Sue passed away earlier this year, but we are happy we will be able to achieve her goal. We need just $30,000 more to pay for improvements to create the public space and for land management.The land is more than a mile of critical marsh front in the Timucuan Preserve and is a matrix of maritime hammock forest, seep-fed cypress swamps and mixed pine-oak forest. It is currently owned by the Spencer family, who donated nearly seven acres of nearby land to NFLT in 2006. The land trust has been working since then to raise money to acquire the remainder of the land. River Branch Foundation has pledged $500,000 towards Bogey Creek Preserve and two individuals donated a combined $35,000.The property is on Clapboard and Bogey Creeks and neighbors Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park and the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Plans for the public park include two miles of public walking trails with a footbridge and wildlife overlooks, a picnic area, two kayak launches and signage throughout explaining the ecosystem and unique portions of the property. NFLT also plans to create parking access on Cedar Point Rd.Those interested in donating to help fully fund the creation of a public park and stewardship at Bogey Creek Preserve should send their donation marked for Bogey Creek to NFLT, 2038 Gilmore St., Jacksonville, FL 32204 or donate online at. For further information, contact Jim McCarthy at jmccarthy@northfloridalandtrust.org or call (904) 479-1967.About North Florida Land TrustNorth Florida Land Trust is a non-profit organization who serves as a champion of land conservation primarily in Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns counties. NFLT was founded in 1999 and has protected thousands of acres of environmentally significant land including land at Big Talbot Island, the River Branch Preserve, Pumpkin Hill, Moccasin Slough, along the St. Marys River and other valued natural areas in Northeast Florida. NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with private landowners and other public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations. For more information, visitNorth Florida Land Trust2038 Gilmore StreetJacksonville, FL 32204 Aerosol Propellants Market high growth opportunities: Industry to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2015 and 2022. Europe aerosol propellants market size, by application, 2014 & 2022(USD Million) https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/102 https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/102 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/aerosol-propellants-market https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/personal-care-ingredients-market Aerosol propellants market share is forecast to hit 13.73 million tons at an annual growth rate of 4.7% from year 2015 to 2022, according to a new study based market report by Global Market Insights. The report features segment, region and application based analysis with insights on market trends, restraints, challenges, opportunities and drivers expected to impact the market size.The market growth is attributed to rising awareness for household hygiene like disinfectants, insect repellents and air fresheners and personal care products like deodorant, dry shampoo, hairspray, sheen spray, shine spray, body spray, mousse, temporary hair color spray and shaving cream, etc. among consumers. Innovations and the advent of technology is like to further the growth. The demand in the personal care product segment is forecast to reach 6,700 million units at a growing CAGR of 2.9% during the predicted time frame.Make an Inquiry before buying @Growth in infrastructure spending and automobile production in various countries has attributed to the growth in demand of paints in construction and automotive sectors and is likely to further industry growth. Health and environmental problems associated with propellants used in aerosol products are likely to restrain industry growth.Industrial and automotive applications are likely to continue the growth trend with anticipated growing CAGR of above 4.5% during the Forecast period. Rising demand for sealants, adhesives, lubricants is expected to propel the industry growth. Hydrocarbon propellants expected to exhibit stable growth by 2022.Request for a Sample Copy of this Report @The report covers in-depth analysis of the aerosol propellants industry on the regional scale. The market is witnessing substantial growth and is largely driven by regions, including North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Growing demand for cosmetic products in Europe is projected to spur aerosol propellants market growth. Asia Pacific, the market is expected to witness a substantial growth with anticipated gains of 5.6% in the next seven years.The report covers the analysis of the key market players, profiles, competitive scenario and business strategies. Strict Government regulations regarding aerosol propellants are discouraging the new market participants owing to considerable amount of investment during the start-up phase. Key market players include Honeywell, Covestro, Harp International, Lapolla Industries, Aeropres Corporation, AkzoNobel, Lapoll and Avalos.Browse key industry insights spread across 96 pages with 68 market data tables & 16 figures & charts from the report, Aerosol Propellants Market Size by Product (DME & Methyl Ethyl Ether, Hydrocarbons, Nitrous Oxide & Carbon Dioxide), By Application (Household, Personal Care, Foods, Automotive & Industrial, Medical, Paints), Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis, Application Development, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015 2022 in detail along with the table of contents:The key topics covered in the report are: Categorization of the global market on the basis of application, region and competitive scenario Volume and revenue estimations for the market over anticipated period Market Dynamics and Insights with market strengths and weakness, opportunities and threats Current and future Regional Trends Company profiles, Positioning, business strategies of Key PlayersRelated Report: Personal Care Ingredients Market Size By Product (Surfactants, Conditioning Polymers, Emollients, Rheology Control Agents, Emulsifiers, Antimicrobials), By Application (Skin Care, Hair Care, Oral Care, Cosmetics) Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, GCC), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024About Global Market Insights, Inc.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105Ocean View Delaware 19970 United StatesEmail: sales@gminsights.com Report on Global Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP) Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application 2012-2022 QYresearchreports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1307520&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2012-2022-report-on-global-fat-filled-milk-powders-ffmp-market-competition-status-and-forecast-market-size-by-players-regions-type-application.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1307520&type=D Qyresearchreports include new market research report "2012-2022 Report on Global Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP) Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application" to its huge collection of research reports.The report covers important dynamics of the global Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP) market based on trends and opportunities, growth drivers, and challenges to help readers stay informed during their business operations. It offers a study of key market indicators for gaining a decisive insight of the industry. Companies could apply the information provided in the report to steady their ships in the market and ensure a lasting progress in the industry. With statistical data at hand, companies could also foresee the level of investment to be made in the market and revenue to be expected in the near future.In terms of geographical analysis, the analysts provide a detail assessment of all key regions and countries that could make significant contributions toward the growth of the global Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP) market. With access to such vital data, readers could determine their growth prospects in specific locations of the world and also those regions that may exhibit a dwindling demand for Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP). In this regard, readers are anticipated to make a fast progress in the market while staying informed about the challenges in their operation.Sample of this report is available upon request @The major players in global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) market includeAlpen Food Group(Netherlands)NZMP(New Zealand)Dana Dairy(Switzerland)Vreugdenhil(Netherlands)Armor Proteines(France)BONILAIT PROTEINESFit(France)Interfood(Netherlands)Holland Dairy Foods(Netherlands)Hoogwegt InternationalGlenstal Foods(Ireland)Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (Ireland)Revala Ltd(Estonia)Fonterra(New Zealand)TATURA(Australia)The vendor landscape section of the report offers a critical analysis of top players in the global Fat Filled Milk Powders (FFMP) market, including their future plans, growth strategies, and factors based on which they compete with each other. Other factors such as focus on research and development, offerings, and market position are evaluated to study the capabilities of different players. The value chain of the market is comprehensively evaluated by the analysts to provide a deep insight of the current and future scenario of the industry.Table of Contents1 Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP)1.2 Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Segment by Types1.2.1 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production (MT) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production Market Share (%) by Types in 20161.3 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Segment by Applications1.4 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market by Regions (2012-2022)1.5 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market Size (2012-2022)Access the Report and full TOC @2 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity (MT) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production (MT) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Revenue (Million USD) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Average Price (USDMT) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types3 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production by Regions (2012-2017)3.1 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity (MT) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)3.2 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production (MT) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)3.3 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Revenue and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)3.4 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity, Production (MT), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USDMT) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)4 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Consumption (MT) by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Types6 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Manufacturers ProfilesAnalysis7.1 Alpen Food Group(Netherlands)7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.3 Alpen Food Group(Netherlands) Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity, Production (MT), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USDMT) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main BusinessBusiness Overview7.2 NZMP(New Zealand)7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.3 NZMP(New Zealand) Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity, Production (MT), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USDMT) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main BusinessBusiness Overview7.3 Dana Dairy(Switzerland)7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.3 Dana Dairy(Switzerland) Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Capacity, Production (MT), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USDMT) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main BusinessBusiness OverviewEnquiry For Discount Visit @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP)Table Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production (MT) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2012-2022)Figure Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Production Market Share (%) by Types in 2016Table Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Consumption (MT) Comparison by Applications (2012-2022)Figure Global Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Consumption (MT) Market Share (%) by Applications in 2016Table Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Market Size (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2012-2022)Figure North America Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Fat Filled Milk Powders(FFMP) 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 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Cars and Light Trucks Market - Analysis, Technology Advancement, Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2017 to 2023 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313849 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1313849 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313849/artificial-intelligence-ai-cars-and-market-research-reports The 2017 study has 826 pages, 290 tables and figures. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks permit users to implement automated driving. Fleet vehicles from Uber, Google and similar users are likely to be the early adopter groups, creating vehicles that do package delivery and ride sharing. Tesla, Mercedes, and Audi are among the vendors with a leadership position in the personal luxury vehicle artificial intelligence (AI) car markets. These cars provide performance and cater to individual preference in feature function packages and styling.Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market. The ability to do so depends on implementing next generation technology that is very expensive to get working. Vendors ae seeking to work together to set standards and develop shared modules that provide basic functionality. Cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence software, and LiDAR are among the modules being developed.Get Sample Copy Of This Report :Autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to institute major change in personal mobility. Autonomous cars are the next generation of manual cars, poised to provide thrust for a large replacement market. Autonomous vehicles are the base for building personal car services, particularly in large cities. Carmakers and Silicon Valley companies bring different skills to the task of building a Artificial Intelligence (AI) car. Together they are finding common ground to transform the personal vehicle industry. One thing they are unlikely to transform is performance.Every person who owns a vehicle has a preference on performance. The Tesla has gained recognition for offering a Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle, but it is first and foremost a performance vehicle. This characteristic will not change as Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles come on the market. People like the customization of features and functions in their car.Send An Enquiry :This customization aspect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles does not get talked about much, but it is a very important part of the industry. It will not go away just because cars are run by software. From auto racing to personal preference, ever car has its own personality and its own comfort. Performance is part of the package. Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market with a distinctive offering. The ability to have unique appear to customers depends on implementing next generation technology in a manner that works effectively and is relatively inexpensive to implement.Apple, IBM, and Google are sure to be among the significant software vendors for all the Artificial Intelligence (AI) car and light truck market participants. IBM has a huge head start with its excellent middleware branded integrated solutions that are hardened and reliable. Google has mindshare and early market success with its early market trials.As automated process hits the auto industry as a disruptive force, it parallels the automated piloting of the airline industry that saw significant labor savings implementation. Automated vehicle driving can be done anywhere just by connecting the car to integrated adaptive cruise control, adaptive steering and braking, and lane assist systems all working off one central processor.Browse Full Report :Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks incrementally add automated process to driving. As software is added to cars and light trucks it is done in concert with modification to the steering, breaking, and other automotive systems. Autonomous functions for vehicles are increasingly adopted.Change is incremental, we do not have fully functioning Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars immediately, rather, steering, collision avoidance, parking, test driving, series of camera and radar based monitoring systems, lane assist, and adaptive cruise control are being implemented, presaging rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks as the various functions mature and work in the real world.According to Susan Eustis, team leader for the preparation of the study, The market for Artificial Intelligence (AI) car and light truck vehicles is anticipated to expand in parallel with the deployment of appropriate roadway controls funded by government programs. The large public investments for Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles so far has been for development of technology that works for military purposes. The extension of this type of automated system to commercial fleet vehicles will be rapid after 2019The Artificial Intelligence (AI) car designs amalgamate a group of features to represent an automated process solution. These include the hardware, the software middleware, the steering system, adaptive cruise control, numerous software applications, an integrated systems approach, and related services. Significant investments in research and development are necessary as the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks industry builds on incremental technology roll outs.Artificial Intelligence (AI) car and light truck commercial market shipments forecasts indicate that markets beginning to develop in 2016 will rise to $3.6 trillion by 2023. Spectacular growth is a result of various moves toward autonomous vehicles that can go across the US by themselves, provide automated navigation,, integrated braking and steering. Most auto vendors have gone beyond the testing stage to offer vehicles that have strong navigation capability.Safety modules are complimented by mapping vehicles that provide navigation. The Tesla and other vehicles provide driver alerts but fall sort of complete Artificial Intelligence (AI).Market driving forces relate primarily to the need for increased safety and personalization for autos. Car manufacturers are positioning with Artificial Intelligence (AI) car models to meet demand at the high end, and in every category of car and light truck. Many Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle car vendors are making automation for personal vehicles and light trucks a reality.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersAMDAppleBMWBoschDaimler AG / Mercedes-BenzFordFujiGMGoogleHyundaiIBMIntel / MobileyeKairosNissanNVIDIANXPQualcommSamsungSoftbankTesla GroupTexas Instruments (TI)ToyotaUberVolkswagen / AudiMarket ParticipantsAudiBAE SystemsBoston DynamicsBosch GroupBMWBuick GroupChrysler / DodgeDaimler AG/Mercedes-BenzECA RoboticsElbit SystemsEvatran GroupFord / LincolnFuji Heavy Industries / SubaruGeneral DynamicsGoogle Artificial Intelligence (AI) CarGM / CadillacKongsbergJaguar Land RoverLockheed MartinMesa RoboticsMitsubishiNissanQualcommToyota / LexusVecna TechnologiesVolkswagen / PorscheVolvoVisteonWiTricityKey TopicsAuto Artificial IntelligenceAutomotiveAutomated drivingAutomated vehiclesAutonomous vehiclesin-vehicle compute, Infiniti, Internet of thingsAI machine learningMobileyeRobot Cars and TrucksRobot steeringRobot brakingRobot automotive systemsAutonomous functions for vehiclesCollision avoidanceAutomated parkingRobot ParkingRobot test drivingCar camerasCar LiDARCar radarTruck follow me systemsRadar based monitoring systemsLane assistAdaptive cruise controlMRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz LiDAR for Cars and Light Trucks Market - Analysis,Technolofical Advancement, Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2017 to 2023 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1313847 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1313847 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1313847/lidar-for-cars-and-light-market-research-reports Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as LiDAR sensors for cars and light trucks permit users to implement automated driving. Fleet vehicles from Uber, Google and similar users are likely to be the early adopter groups, creating vehicles that do package delivery and ride sharing. Tesla, Mercedes, and Audi are among the vendors with a leadership position in the personal luxury vehicle artificial intelligence LiDAR car markets. These cars provide performance and cater to individual preference in feature function packages and styling.LIDAR stands for light detection and ranging which is remote sensing. LIDAR does not require electromagnetic radiation but it requires laser pulses that strike the object and return back to the sensor. The laser pulse measures the distance from the sensor to the object by determining the time between the release to reception of the reflected pulse.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :3D scanning market and imaging are expected to propel growth. Major technological developments include emergence of optically extended MEMS scanning mirror for low-altitude and light weight flying platforms. Long term reliability of number of key laser components drive the LiDAR market. Key components include optical coatings, optics, and diodes in vacuum and radiation environment of space.Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market leveraging LiDAR. The ability to do so depends on implementing next generation technology that is very expensive to get working. Vendors ae seeking to work together to set standards and develop shared modules that provide basic functionality. Cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence software, and LiDAR are among the modules being developed.Send An Enquiry :Autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to institute major change in personal mobility. Autonomous cars are the next generation of manual cars, poised to provide thrust for a large replacement market. Autonomous vehicles are the base for building personal car services, particularly in large cities. Carmakers and Silicon Valley companies bring different skills to the task of building a Artificial Intelligence (AI) car. LiDAR is a significant sensor that supports autonomous operations. Autonomous vehicles transform the personal transport industry.Every person who owns a vehicle has a preference on performance. The Tesla has gained recognition for offering a Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle, but it is first and foremost a performance vehicle. This characteristic will not change as Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles come on the market. People like the customization of features and functions in their car.This customization aspect of vehicles does not get talked about much, but it is a very important part of the industry. It will not go away just because cars are run by software. From auto racing to personal preference, ever car has its own personality and its own comfort. Performance is part of the package. Every car maker seeks to participate in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal vehicle market with a distinctive offering. The ability to have unique appear to customers depends on implementing next generation technology in a manner that works effectively and is relatively inexpensive to implement.Browse Full Report :As automated process leveraging LiDAR hits the auto industry as a disruptive force, it parallels the automated piloting of the airline industry that saw significant labor savings implementation. Automated vehicle driving can be done anywhere just by connecting the car to integrated adaptive cruise control, adaptive steering and braking, and lane assist systems all working off one central processor.Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks incrementally add automated process to driving leveraging the LiDAR sensor. As software is added to cars and light trucks it is done in concert with modification to the steering, breaking, and other automotive systems. Autonomous functions for vehicles are increasingly adopted.Change is incremental, we do not have fully functioning LiDAR navigated Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars immediately, rather, steering, collision avoidance, parking, test driving, series of camera and radar based monitoring systems, lane assist, and adaptive cruise control are being implemented, presaging rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks as the various functions mature and work in the real world.According to Susan Eustis, team leader for the preparation of the study, The market for LiDAR for cars and light truck vehicles is anticipated to expand in parallel with the deployment of appropriate roadway controls funded by government programs. The large public investments for Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicles so far has been for development of technology that works for military purposes. The extension of this type of automated system to commercial fleet vehicles will be rapid after 2019.The Artificial Intelligence (AI) car designs amalgamate a group of features to represent an automated process solution. These include the hardware, the software middleware, the steering system, adaptive cruise control, numerous software applications, an integrated systems approach, and related services. Significant investments in research and development are necessary as the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) cars and light trucks industry builds on incremental technology roll outs.LiDAR for autonomous autos and small trucks /SUVs market at $13 million in 2016 is expected to reach $9.9 billion by 2023. This is in the context of a $3 trillion market for the autonomous vehicles. LiDAR represents one sensor in the autonomous navigation system. It is used to give more reliability than is available from cameras and other sensors and it compliments those capabilities. Spectacular growth is a result of various moves toward autonomous vehicles that can go across the US by themselves, provide automated navigation,, integrated braking and steering. Most auto vendors have gone beyond the testing stage to offer vehicles that have strong navigation capability.Safety modules are complimented by mapping vehicles that provide navigation. The Tesla and other vehicles provide driver alerts but fall sort of complete Artificial Intelligence (AI).Market driving forces relate primarily to the need for increased safety and personalization for autos. Car manufacturers are positioning with LiDAR sensors for cars to meet demand at the high end, and in every category of car and light truck. Many Artificial Intelligence (AI) vehicle car vendors are making automation for personal vehicles and light trucks a reality.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersPioneerValeoContinentalVelodyne3DEOMIT Lincoln LabMarket Participants3d Laser Mapping Specialists, Airborne Lidar And ImageryAvent Lidar TechnologyAImotiveAlphabet, Waymo: GoogleGoogle / Intel Target Driverless Cars with LiDARWaymo Deal with Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesAlps ElectricArgo AIAutolivBeijing Beike Technology Co., Ltd (isurestar) (China)BMWBosch GroupContinentalDaimler AG/Mercedes-BenzDelphi AutomotiveDensoDigitalWorld MappingEatonECA LiDARFaro TechnologiesFirmatek LlcFiat ChryslerFordFord Argo AI Artificial Intelligence CompanyGeneral MotorsGM Investment in LyftGeniarp GroupGeniarp Group / Mosaic 3dGeophysical Survey Systems, Inc. (GSSI)GMR Group / Geokno India Pvt. Ltd. (India)HarrisHereHondaHyundaiInfineon Technologies AGIntel CorporationIntel Buys MobileyeIntermap TechnologiesKnorr-Bremse GroupMesa LiDARMIT Lincoln LabMIT Agreement with Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. (GSSI)MitsubishiNissanNVIDIANXPPix4DPioneerQualcommQuantum Spatial(Aerometric, Inc.) (U.S.)Renishaw PlcRiegl Laser Measurement Systems GmbH (Austria)Riegl USAScaneseSiemens and Infineon LiDARSoftbankSoftbank ArmSoftbank Personal Brain IBM WatsonTeslaToyota / LexusUberValeoValeo Acquisition of FTEVecna TechnologiesVelodyne LIDAR SensorVolkswagenPorsche SEVolkswagen / AudiVolvoVisteonYellowScan (France)ZFZTEKey TopicsAuto Artificial IntelligenceAutomotiveAutomated drivingAutomated vehiclesAutonomous vehiclesin-vehicle compute, Infiniti, Internet of thingsAI machine learningMobileyeRobot Cars and TrucksRobot steeringRobot brakingRobot automotive systemsAutonomous functions for vehiclesCollision avoidanceAutomated parkingRobot ParkingRobot test drivingCar camerasCar LiDARCar radarTruck follow me systemsRadar based monitoring systemsLane assistAdaptive cruise controlMRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz U.K. Consulting Engineers Market Projected to Grow by 20% in Real Terms between 2016 and 2021 Market Research Hub http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1305363 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/consulting-engineers-uk-july-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1305363 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ In the present time, two factors have been operating to make the consulting engineers role in the development of transport and energy sector. According to the findings of a new study, road and rail remain most important areas for consulting engineers fees income. Also, their demand in power and energy sector are driven by renewables projects. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently publicized this latest study to its vast archive, which is titled as U.K. Consulting Engineers - July 2017. This report on consulting engineers studies the current as well as future prospects of the market in U.K. Through this study, the research analyzes that how the market for U.K. consulting engineers performed over the last five years and forecasts market growth until the end of 2021.Request Free Sample Report:At first, the market overview section of the report explores the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities that currently have a strong impact on the U.K. consulting engineers and could influence the market in the near future. Consulting engineering is a professional service that provides independent expertise in engineering, science and related areas to governments, industries, developers and construction firms. In terms of demand, ambitious government plans for U.K. transport infrastructure investment to offer strong opportunities for U.K. consulting engineers.This study presents the detailed introduction of the market covering definition, market positioning and factors. Then, the research shift focuses towards U.K. economy and forecast GDP development for the forecast period 2017 to 2021. As per the findings, the market for UK consulting engineers anticipated to grow by 20% in real terms between 2016 and 2021. The study also finds the sectors that will provide the strongest growth potential for consulting engineers over the next five years. The study deeply analyzes the market forecast for U.K. consulting engineers in the power & energy sector and transport sector. Of these, In the U.K., transport and energy infrastructure projects are set to drive demand for consulting engineers over the next five years. While transition to low carbon economy drives demand in power/energy sector.Browse Full Report With TOC:Despite ongoing economic and political uncertainty, consulting engineers fee income is expected to demonstrate continued growth over the next five years. Global challenges, such as population growth, climate change and urbanization, together with the potential offered by rapidly evolving technology, will offer growth opportunities. However, in light of ongoing Brexit negotiations, which could delay some infrastructure projects, the current outlook carries a considerable degree of uncertainty.The industry structure is then analyzed by competitive scenario among different market players operating in this market. Top companies profiled in the study include Arup Group, WS Atkins, Jacobs U.K., Amey UK, Amex Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure UK, Aecom, Mouchel, Mace, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Mott Macdonald Group, RPS Group, WSP UK and others.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 - Carbon Disulfide Industry Outlook, Growth Prospects and Key Opportunities 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/carbon-disulfide-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=9392 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Carbon Disulfide Market: OverviewCarbon disulfide is a volatile colorless compound with molecular formula CS2. It smells akin to ether and is generally used in the liquid state. Carbon disulfide occurs naturally in small amounts in volcanic eruptions. Earlier, carbon disulfide was manufactured by mixing coke and sulfur at a high temperature. Currently, the production process is carried out at a much lower temperature, using natural gas as carbon source and combining it with sulfur and either silica gel or aluminum acting as a catalyst. Carbon disulfide is used as a fumigant, insecticide, non-polar solvent, and optical dispersant in spectroscopes. It is also employed as building block in the production of various chemicals. Furthermore, carbon disulfide is used in the production of chemicals such as agricultural chemicals, rubber chemicals, cellophane, rayon, and carbon tetrachloride.Browse Market Research Report:Global Carbon Disulfide Market: Trends and OpportunitiesProduction of new chemicals such as cellophane, rayon, and carbon tetrachloride accounts for significant share of the carbon disulfide market. Carbon disulfide acts as building block in the production of these chemicals. High demand in end-use industries such as food packaging, textile, and refrigeration is expected to boost the demand for chemicals such as cellophane, rayon, and carbon tetrachloride. This, in turn, is anticipated drive the carbon disulfide market. Usage of carbon disulfide as non-polar solvent is another major application. Carbon disulfide is used as a solvent for phosphorus, sulfur, bromine, selenium, iodine, asphalt, rubber, resin, and fats. Therefore, it is used in cleaning carbon nanotubes. Rising demand for nanomaterials, especially carbon nanotubes, is anticipated to propel the demand for carbon disulfide as bipolar cleaning solvent. This, in turn, is estimated to augment the carbon disulfide market. Increasing demand for carbon disulfide in the agriculture end-use industry is projected to drive other niche applications such as insecticide and fumigant, thereby boosting the carbon disulfide market.Global Carbon Disulfide Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsAsia Pacific was the largest market for carbon disulfide in 2014. The region accounted for significant share of the carbon disulfide market in the year. This trend is likely to continue during the next few years owing to growth in end-use industries in emerging economies such as China and India. Application of carbon disulfide in the production of various chemicals is expected to be the major market driver in the region due to expansion in end-use industries such as textile, food packaging, refrigeration, and agriculture in countries such as China and India. China held the largest share of the global carbon disulfide market in 2014. This trend is anticipated to continue during the forecast period. Europe is estimated to witness a similar trend, led by presence of the well-established food packaging industry in the region. Premium clothing and rayon textile industries are projected to further augment the carbon disulfide market in Europe owing to high disposable income of consumers in the region. The food packaging industry is likely to drive the carbon disulfide market in North America due to stringent food packaging norms in the region. The carbon nanotubes industry is expected to be a highly attractive market for carbon disulfide owing to increase in research activities related to nanomaterials in the region. The carbon disulfide market in Latin America is anticipated to witness steady growth rate during the next few years owing to expansion in textile and agriculture industries in economies such as Brazil. Middle East & Africa is projected to be a highly lucrative market for carbon disulfide due to expansion of textile and packaging industries in GCC and growth in the agricultural industry in South Africa during the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Carbon Disulfide market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Major players in the carbon disulfide market include Shanghai Baijin Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Akzo Nobel N.V., Arkema Group, PPG Industries, Inc., Alfa Aesar, and Univar 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 global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: H1 2017 Financial Results Key recent events ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS The annual general meeting of the shareholders of ORCO PROPERTY GROUP (the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries as the "Group") was held on 24 May 2017 in Luxembourg (the "Annual Meeting"), with approximately 97.35% of the voting rights present or represented. The Annual Meeting approved the statutory annual accounts and consolidated annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016, as well as the allocation of financial results for the financial year ending 31 December 2016. The Annual Meeting further granted a discharge to the members of the Company's Board of Directors as well as to the auditors for the performance of their duties during the financial year ending 31 December 2016. The Annual Meeting also resolved to appoint the following persons as members of the Company's Board of Directors as of the date of the Annual Meeting and until the annual general meeting of 2018 concerning the approval of the annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2017: Jiri Dedera, Edward Hughes and Erik Morgenstern. Jiri Dedera was also elected Managing Director (administrateur delegue) of the Company. The Annual Meeting finally resolved to appoint KPMG Luxembourg as an auditor (reviseur d'entreprises agree) of the Company until the annual general meeting of 2018 concerning the approval of the annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2017. SUSPENSION OF TRADING IN WARSAW: On 17 February 2017, the Warsaw Stock Exchange informed the Company, that it had suspended trading of the Company shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. DISPOSAL OF CAPELLEN OFFICE BUILDING: The Company disposed the office building in Capellen, Luxembourg. The building with a leasable area of approximately 7,700 square meters, located in the Capellen business park just outside of the City of Luxembourg, was sold to a private investor. The transaction, structured as a share deal, was completed on 25 January 2017. INCREASE OF SHARE IN THE JOINT VENTURE: On 29 June 2017, the Company and Unibail-Rodamco entered into documentation modifying parameters of their joint venture. The agreed modifications include, inter alia, the increase of the Company's share in the joint venture from 20% to 35%, certain governance rights as well as modifications of timeframe and parameters of the joint venture. The joint venture, aimed at developing of a prime shopping centre, is comprised of a 3.6 hectare plot located in the Bubny area, in downtown Prague. The parties will continue to focus on implementing of the development of the Anchor shopping centre in the Bubny area. Financial highlights Over the first half of 2017, the Group recorded a net profit attributable to owners of the Company in the amount of EUR 62.6 million compared to EUR 8.5 million in H1 2016. Total revenues decreased year-on-year to EUR 1.4 million for the first half of 2017 compared to EUR 4.7 million over the same period in 2016 mainly due to disposal of properties in 2016 and 2017. Operating result as of June 2017 is represented by gain of EUR 78.2 million compared to EUR 15.0 million over the same period in 2016. The improvement of result is mainly due to the positive fair value adjustment on investment property. Financial result improved from a loss of EUR 4.8 million to a gain of EUR 94 thousand as at 30 June 2017 due to increase in interest income from loans provided to related parties. Dyebath Additives Evolving Technology, Trends and industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dyebath-additives-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15962 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Dyebath Additives Market: OverviewDyebath additives are chemical compounds which are added to dyebaths to enhance color fastness, fabric scouring, dye leveling & dispersing and brightness. Electrolytes, chelating agents, reducing agents, optical brighteners and dispersing agents are types of dyebath additives which are used in the textile industry. Sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid) and sodium dithionite are the commonly used dyebath additives used in textile dyeing processes. Mordants are used in several dyeing processes to increase the uptake of dye by the fiber, making mordants a category of dyebath additives.Browse Market Research Report:Hardness caused due to the presence of heavy metal ions in dyeing chemicals hinder the textile dyeing and cleaning process. These heavy metal ions can reduce the dye adhesion and cleaning effectiveness of the fabric. Improper dye adhesion causes fading of garments. Dyebath additives such as chelating agents increase the color fastness of dyes on textiles. Additionally, the presence of metal ions result in precipitation of dye pigments which causes variations in dye shades. Chelating agents and electrolytes help in restricting dye precipitation. Dyebath additives therefore help in proper dye leveling, dispersion of dye pigments and dye adhesion.Versene, a brand of chelating agents, produced by the Dow Chemical Company, deactivates the metal ions thereby preventing their undesirable reactions in textile processing stages. The use of Versene in silk increases soap effectiveness and in synthetic fibers, it enables fabric scouring. In case of direct dyes and vat dyes, chelating agents used in dyebath additives enhance the optical brightness of the fabrics.Dyebath Additives Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe growth of the fashion industry involving the extensive use of textured and dyed fabrics is a major consumer of dyebath additives. Furthermore, the increasing demand for dyed fabrics required in automotive and domestic upholstery & furnishing is responsible for the growth of dyebath additives market. The exponentially increasing world population is driving the growth of the textile industry. Fabric dyeing to cater to this increasing demand of clothes is a prominent end use of dyebath additives. Furthermore, use of dyebath additives in paper and leather industry is fuelling the growth of this market. However, the increasing environmental pollution due to release of certain dyes such as reactive dyes is expected to impede the growth of this market in the coming years. The growing population and GDP of countries, owing to the economic recovery are expected to open new areas of opportunity for the dyebath additives market. Additionally, the growing paper based dyes and specialty dyes are expected to exponentially increase the end uses for dyebath additives within the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Dyebath Additives market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Dyebath Additives Market: Regional OutlookChina and India dominate the textile dyeing market. These countries are large scale consumers of dyebath additives. Germany and Switzerland are major consumers of dyebath additives due to the flourishing textile dyeing industry in these countries. Additionally, countries such as Turkey, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and the U.S. are the major export markets for dyebath additives. Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest and the fastest growing market for textile dyes due to the high volume of textiles traded in the near future.Dyebath Additives Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe major companies manufacturing dyebath additives include Amitech Inc, Apollo Chemical Corp, Burlington Chemical Co, Chimista Specialty Chemicals, LLC, Dyetech, Inc and Dow Chemical Co, Huntsman International LLC, Intersac Group and Piedmont Chemical Industries Inc and Neochem Technologies among 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.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: UV Coatings Quantitative Market Analysis, Current and Future Trends 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/uv-coatings-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15980 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global UV Coatings Market: OverviewUV coatings are type of coatings that are cured with ultraviolet radiation. It can be deployed on various substrates such as inks, paper, glass, plastics and wood products. UV coatings market can be segmented based on composition as PU dispersions, monomers, photo initiators and oligomers. Based on type of coatings, the market can be segmented as paper coatings, over print varnish, display coatings, plastic coatings, conformal coatings and others. End-use industries of UV coatings are graphics, electronics, packaging and various other industries that use industrial coatings.Browse Market Research Report:Currently UV coatings market is dominated by wood coatings product type. This trend is expected to remain same in the next few years due to increasing demand for wood coatings from its applications such as furniture, door skins, parquet, decorative panel and others. Wood coatings offer excellent strength and durability, hence is demand is expected to remain high. Among the end-use industries type, industrial coatings occupies the largest share in the total UV coatings market. The growth rate of industrial coatings is expected to be the fastest as compared to other types.Global UV Coatings Market: Drivers and RestraintsGrowing electronics industry globally is expected to drive the UV coatings market. Display coatings are the major type coatings used in the electronics across the globe. Rising disposable income and changing lifestyle in the developing countries is driving electronics industry across the globe. Additionally, internet of things is the new trend in the market that includes various electronic devices. These electronic devices use display coatings that are cured with ultraviolet. Furthermore, rising environmental awareness among consumer groups is expected to boost the UV coatings market. Chemical curing method emits volatile organic compounds that are harmful to environment and human health. UV curing of the coatings is photomechanical method of curing, hence does not involve any organic compounds in the curing process.However, availability of substitutes in the curing process is expected to hamper the UV coatings market. Chemical curing is among the strong competitor of UV curing process. Development of new products and applications is anticipated to provide immense opportunities for the players in the market. Additionally, development of bio-based UV coatings would open up an opportunity in the next few years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the UV Coatings market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Global UV Coatings Market: Geographical DynamicsAsia Pacific dominated the UV coatings market in terms of production and consumption. Burgeoning electronics industry due to high demand for high performance electronics in the region is driving the UV coatings market. China is contributing highest to the demand of UV coatings in the region. Europe followed Asia Pacific in terms of consumption. Demand in the region is mainly for wood coatings, plastic coatings and paper coatings from industrial coatings industry. North America emerged as the third-largest market for UV coatings in terms of consumption. The demand in the region is primarily driven by rising use of UV coatings in printing varnishes. Rest of the World is expected to exhibit strong growth in the UV coatings marketing due to rising demand from electronics industry.Global UV Coatings Market: Competitive LandscapeGlobal UV coatings market is moderately fragmented with major players having presence across the value chain. Players in the market adopt backward integration and strategic alliances as key strategies to sustain their market position in the UV coatings market.Key players in UV coatings market include The Dow Chemical Company, BASF SE, Akzonobel N.V., DIC Corporation, PPG Industries Inc., Dymax Corporation, Royal DSM N.V., Centexbel, Actega Coatings & Sealants, Eternal Chemical Co. Ltd., Axalta Coatings Systems, The Valspar Corporation, Ashland Inc., Croda, Brilliant Coatings Solutions and Soltech Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Webbing An insight on the important factors and trends influencing the market 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/webbing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15965 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Webbing Market: OverviewWebbing is a strong woven fabric made from cotton, flax, polypropylene, nylon, and polyester tubes or strips of various sizes. It is used widely in furniture, sporting goods, automotive and racing safety equipment, apparel, military, transportation, hardware, pet collars, and leashes. Webbing is also employed in towing, climbing, parachuting, load securing, and slacklining. Of late, polymers with exceptionally high tensile strength such as ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), Kevlar, Dyneema, aramid synthetic fibers, and Vectran (high performance multifilament yarn) are being used in the manufacture of webbing. Polyester is primarily used in the manufacture of webbing owing to better results as compared to the currently available alternatives. Owing to U.V resistance, polyester made webbing can be applied for outdoor purposes as well. Properties of webbing can be controlled depending upon the type of substance used for manufacturing. Webbing can be classified into two types: flat webbing and tubular webbing. Flat webbing is a solid weave used in straps of backpacks, rucksacks, and seat belts. Tubular webbing is a flattened tube used in industrial and climbing applications. Webbing products are employed in industrial purposes for applications such as welding, cutting, etching, rivets, prototyping, lifting webbing, tie-down webbing, and printing.Browse Market Research Report:Webbing Market: Trends and OpportunitiesWebbing applications can be classified into sporting goods, automotive and transport, furniture, military, bags and canvas, footwear, and industrial. automotive, transport, and military applications are anticipated to dominate the webbing market till 2023. Bags and canvas is expected to experience decent growth during the forecast period due to expansion in shipping and storage industries. Rising usage of webbing for seatbelts is projected to drive the automotive market during the forecast period. The usage of seat belts is rising due to increasing safety concerns. This is likely to act as an opportunity for the webbing market in the next eight years. However, implementation of strict environmental regulations regarding the usage of non-biodegradable substances in the manufacture of webbing is a challenge. This is projected to act as restraint during the forecast period. Extensive research and development is being conducted to find out better raw materials with enhanced properties. This will help in increasing the number of applications. The webbing market is expected to experience decent growth due to increase in industrial activities.Webbing Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsAsia Pacific was the largest market for webbing, accounting for almost 65% share of the global revenue in 2014. Expansion in end-user industries such as automobile and sporting goods is driving the webbing market in Asia Pacific. Growth in industrial applications and rising safety concerns in the military sector are estimated to propel the webbing market in North America, Latin America, and Africa. The webbing market in Brazil, Mexico, China, and India is expected to register growth owing to increase in industrial activities. The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has resulted in the installation of seat belts and other safety straps in automobiles. This is driving the webbing market. Increase in manufacturing activities and growth in the automobile industry in Germany and Italy are other factors augmenting the webbing market in Europe.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Webbing market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Key manufacturers of webbing include E. Oppermann GmbH, Narrowtex Australia Pty Ltd, BioThane, Jiangsu Daxin Webbing Co., Ltd, Universal Webbing Products Co., Ltd, National Webbing Products Co, Tennessee Webbing Products, Ohio Plastics Belting Co., and Southern Weaving Company. The webbing market is characterized by intense competition among companies striving to gain maximum market share by launching innovative products with superior properties.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 global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Circuit Breaker Market Ready For A Record Breaking Growth At 6.5% of CAGR By 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/921 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/circuit-breaker-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/request-toc/921 www.marketresearchfuture.com Global Circuit Breaker Market Research Report by Type (SF6, Vacuum, and Others), by Voltage (High Voltage, Medium Voltage, and Low Voltage), by End Users (Industrial, Residential, and Commercial) and by Region -Forecast to 2027Circuit breaker is basically a switching device which can be operated manually and automatically for controlling and protection of electrical power system respectively. As the modern power system deals with huge currents, the special attention should be given during designing of circuit breaker for safe interruption of arc produced during the operation of circuit breaker. Circuit breakers are preferred over fuses because fuses have to be replaced after each operation while a circuit breaker has to be just reset after each operation.According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the global market of Circuit breaker is forecasted for a record breaking growth in terms of value and volume, with a striking 6.5% of CAGR during the forecasted period (2016 2027) thanks to the growing demand for the modular and packaged substation primarily across commercial and industrial end users which is providing the impetus to the growth of global circuit breakers market during the forecast timeframe.Get a sample report atWith the growing concern for safety in industries such as electric, telecommunication, electronic, and automotive, circuit breaker devices are growing in popularity. Additionally, rising implementation of numerous medium and large capacity renewable energy projects will stimulate Circuit Breakers Market growth favorably over the period of 2016 to 2027. Elevated replacement and development activities will enhance the electricity transmission capability worldwide and will also generate exponential revenue over coming timeframe. Shifting trend towards smart transmissions and distribution network as well as high investment in the development of digital substation will drive the circuit breakers Market greatly.Circuit Breaker Global Market - Key Players The key strategies traced from the MRFR analysis of recent developments of the key players operating in the Circuit Breaker Market include Product Launch, Agreement & Partnership, collaboration, Acquisition and expansion. Numerous contracts have changed the terrain of the circuit Breaker market landscape. Companies were active in acquisitions for a multiple motives especially the low financing cost in multiple regions of the world, which meant that borrowing rates in the United States and European Central bank were almost nil.Identified and profiled in MRFR analysis some of the key players operating in the Circuit Breaker Market are: ABB Group (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), Honeywell International Inc. (US), (China), STAHL (Netherlands), Schurter Electronics (Switzerland), Holley Metering Ltd. (China), General Electric (US), and Sensus (US).,Circuit Breaker Global Market - SegmentsCircuit Breaker Market can be segmented in to 4 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation by Type : SF6, Vacuum, and others.Segmentation by Voltage : High Voltage, Medium Voltage, and Low Voltage.Segmentation by End Users : Residential, Industrial and Commercial.Segmentation By Regions : Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Browse Complete Report atAPAC and Rest of the World.Circuit Breaker Global Market -SynopsisSF6 circuit breaker technology market valued immensely in 2015 and is anticipated to register a substantial rate of CAGR during 2016 to 2024. The growth can be attributed to the rising product demand, owing to significant features such as high dielectric strength and sufficient arc quenching capability. Vacuum based technology will register a considerable rate of CAGR in the recent future, due to its upsurge demand for the various high and medium voltage substation applications.Circuit Breaker Global Market - Regional AnalysisThe North American Region is one of the leading markets for the Circuit Breaker Market mainly due to the rapid expansion in the production base in the recent times. Europe closely follows North America in leading the circuit breaker market. In 2015, US circuit breakers market valued immensely and will grow at a considerable rate of CAGR in the recent future, primarily driven by the favorable government support to improve the reliability and safety of the distribution and transmission network.Developing economies like India, China and Indonesia are expected to grow at the fastest pace. Considering the geographical landscape, China circuit breakers market will witness a surpassing growth in terms of revenue by 2027, owing to the numerous on-going renovation and replacement activities of existing transmission and distribution activities. In addition, China Village Electrification Program and China Township Electrification Program will also contribute favorably toward the industry growth. India circuit breakers industry size is predicted to record a substantial rate of CAGR during 2016 to 2024. The futuristic electrification mission of the Government like One Nation, One Grid, and One Price will augment the regional share noticeably.Request for Table of Content atThe report for Circuit Breaker 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, Furthermore technological advancement, and macro-economic factors in the market have also been discussed in detail in the report. The report provides detailed information and strategies of the key players in the industry. The report also provides a broad study of the different market segments and regions.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Global Market Grooming In To Perfect 5% of CAGR by 2021 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1384 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/civil-aerospace-simulation-training-market-1384 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1384 www.marketresearchfuture.com CAE announces ab-initio pilot training and resourcing agreements with commercial airlines including IndiGo, CityJet and Chinas Schenzhen Airlines, The above news proves to be the predicator of the booming fortune the Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Global Market is going to witness in the recent future. Aerospace Simulation & Training Market has emerged as the best ever investment market. Aerospace Simulation & Training have always been recognized as a vital part for flight training, May it be civil/ commercial or individual general aviation pilots, jet fighter military pilots and airline flight crew. Its a fact that we never deny or need any industry specialist to validate it.Get a sample report atA similar vouch for the Factual Market study Reports published/ produced by the expert of Market Research Future, with their unique quality of simplifying the Market Reports, MRFR presents yet another deep diving study Report - Global Aerospace Simulation & Training Market. Global Aerospace Simulation & Training Market report takes you through the full Market Analysis, Opportunities, Price, Growth, Trends and Featuring the market Predictions right up to the years 2021 and helps you to find out: How the market revenue is progressing globally. What are the key driving or affecting factors for the market growth? How the market revenue is progressing in various segments & geographies. Who are the emerging Players, current players & the Key Players (Leaders) of the market? Get yourself acquainted with their trends. What are the current main market trends responsible for shaping up the Market AcquisitionsGlobal Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market Report Segments:Global Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market is segmented in to three dynamics for better understanding of the market. By Simulator Type: Flight Training Devices (FTD), Full Flight Simulators (FFS), Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTD) By Aircraft Type: Fixed Wing and Rotary Wing. By RegionBrowse complete report atGlobal Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market Utility Aspects of the Report: The report provides detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training Market Offers insights about factors affecting the market growth Enables to analyze the Global Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. Provides 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) Offers country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective Provides country-level analysis of the market for segment simulator type and aircraft type Offers strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market Enables 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 Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training Market.Global Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market Market Synopsis & ScenarioThe Global Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training market is expected to register the growth CAGR of around 5% during 2016-2021. Global Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training Market is expected to worth billions of USD during the forecast period - 2016-2021Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training has brought about drastic changes in flight training approaches, minimizing the training risk (Dicey Modules) and enhancing training quality. Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training has also implemented significant improvements in flight safety, alleviating airborne congestion and the impact of aviation on the environment, all This while reducing the cost of training.Aircraft demand is expected to cross over 40,000 units by 2018. The growth of this market emphasizes the need for trained pilots and improved aviation training methods, regulation and new licensing techniques and delivery of new aircrafts support growth of the industry globally.Major market constraints are lack of simulators for complex systems; growing adoption of gaming technology and presence of several private players in the market. Mergers and acquisition is seen to be the most prevailing trend in the market. The aerospace and military training & simulation market has recorded several mergers and acquisitions in the past year, despite continued uncertainty in the market caused by sequestration.Trends synopsis of The Global Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training market: Utilization of new technology such as computer graphics, mechanical actuation, and distributed computing has also become a key trend in the civil aerospace simulation market. Thanks to greater computing speeds, improved memory capacity, and improved image producing capabilities, high-performance simulators are entering the market. Narrow body aircrafts are growing significantly, and this study predicts an enormous surge in its fleet size in the years to come. In 2014, the narrow body segment led the market by contributing revenues in excess of $1,600 million.Request for Discount atCivil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market Regional and Country AnalysisAs per the MRFR analysis, the EMEA region will continue its dominance owning a large market shareAPAC will have significant growth at CAGR of around 6% during the forecast period. The APAC market is gaining momentum in terms of passenger growth, and this trend is expected to accelerate the purchase of new aircrafts in the region. China and India are two key countries in this region that are fueling the demand for advanced flight simulators. The reports also cover country level analysis.Global Civil Aerospace Simulation & Training Market Key Players CAE Flight Safety International Rockwell Collins L-3 Communications LockheedMartin ThalesTraining Frasca IndraSistemas DiamondVisionicsLLC VectorTraining SystemsThe market report for Civil Aerospace Simulation and Training 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 market segments and regions.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Global Industrial Tape Market Estimated To Worth USD 61.73 Billion By 2023 At ~ 6% of CAGR https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2805 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industrial-tape-market-2805 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/2805 www.marketresearchfuture.com Global Industrial Tape Market Information by Product Type (Duct Tapes, Filament Tapes, Aluminum Tapes, Adhesive Transfer Tapes & Other), by Tape Backing Material (Paper, Polypropylene, Polyvinyl Chloride & Others), by Application (Electrical And Electronic, Packaging, Masking, and Others), by End-User (Electrical, Construction, Logistic, Automotive and others) and by Region - Forecast to 2023According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, The global market of Industrial Tape is projected to gain prominence over the forecast period owing to its various industrial applications across the globe. The Market is forecasted to witness a phenomenal growth by 2023; with a striking CAGR during forecast period 2017-2023. The global Physical Security market is expected to grow at USD 61.73 Billion by 2023, at ~6 % of CAGR between 2017 and 2023.Technological advancement and increasing demand for effective and advance technology-based products is anticipated to boost the market size of Industrial Tape market.Get a sample report atIndustrial tapes are used in various industrial operations mainly for the purpose of binding. These tapes are also used for conducting, masking and packaging purposes. Growing demand from packaging and construction industry is the primary driving factor of the industrial tape market. Growth of the automobile industry is also fuelling the demand of industrial tapes. Industrial tapes are largely used in vehicle assembly operations such as trim panel attachment, airbag cover attachment. However, fluctuations in raw material prices may hamper the growth of industrial tape market.May it be about the ways to dissipate heat, reduce friction or improve traction or about the solutions for vibration damping, noise mitigation, and paper splicing or safety lane marking Industrial tapes are used everywhere. From metal foil tapes and vinyl tapes to polyester and glass cloth tapes, Specialty Products can help solve diverse industrial challenges quickly and efficiently.Tape Backing Materials in many applications, add a second surface that affects how the underlying surface relates to the environments. To optimize that relationship, a wide choice of performance and handling characteristics of Tape Backing Materials are available in the market.Industrial Tapes help maintain consistency from sketch to construction, eliminating distracting, visible fasteners, like screws and bolts. The high-strength, double-sided acrylic foam tapes quickly and easily create a long-lasting bond that actually builds strength over time. With the ability to join a variety of materials including aluminium, steel, glass, plastics and painted and powder-coated surfaces, they provide resilient bonding solutions in just about anything beyond imagination including the magic tape or Water Contact Indicator Tape, in which Film top layer is printable by thermal transfer, flexographic, and screen printing methods and offers improved ink receptivity, The film top layer also provides protection from soiling and moisture during handling, Paper backing is highly absorbent and transports water to show indications and Acrylic adhesive allows for a very high bond strength to most surfaces including low surface energy plastics such as polypropylene and powder coatings.Browse complete report atIndustrial Tape Global Market Competitive AnalysisCharacterized by the presence of several major well-established players, the global Market of Industrial Tapes appears to be highly fragmented and competitive. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and technology launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period. The Key players operating in the market compete based on pricing, product launch, technology launch, reputation and services. On the product and sales side, companies are investing in innovation/R&D, brand building, and fostering strong relationships with customers to support their competitive position. These Manufactures strive to develop products with the adept technologies, unrivalled design and features.Industrial Tape Global Market SegmentationThe Industrial Tape Market is segmented in to 5 key dynamics for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation By Product Type : Comprises Duct Tapes, Filament Tapes, Aluminium Tapes, Adhesive Transfer Tapes, Water Contact Indicator Tape and Other.Segmentation By Tape Backing Material : Comprises Paper, Polypropylene, Polyvinyl Chloride and Others.Segmentation By Application : Comprises Electrical And Electronic, Packaging, Masking, and Other.Segmentation By End User : Comprises Electrical, Construction, Logistic, Automotive and others.Segmentation by Regions : Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.Request for discount atIndustrial Tape Global Market Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific dominates the global industrial tape market followed by North America. The demand of the industrial tape market is driven by the rapid growth in manufacturing sector as well as it is driven by an increase in disposable income among individuals with changing life style. This region is expected to grow at the fastest pace during the forecast period.Over the past few years, Asian market growth has driven global growth and will continue to do so in the coming years but notably at a decelerating rate. Europe, which has seen moderate growth, is expected to see slightly higher growth in the future. North America is expected to grow in line with GDP, while South American and Africa & Middle East continue to be fairly steady, growing from very small bases.Global Industrial Tape Market is projected to reach USD 61.73 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2017 to 2023.The report for Global Industrial Tape 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 market segments and regions.Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology2.1 Scope of the Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market size Estimation2.4 Forecast Model3 Market Dynamics3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Supply/Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis4 Global Industrial Tapes Market, By Product Type4.1 Duct Tapes4.2 Filament Tapes4.3 Aluminum Tapes4.4 Adhesive Transfer Tapes4.5 Other5 Global Industrial Tapes Market, By Tape Backing Material5.1 Introduction5.2 Paper5.3 Polypropylene5.4 Polyvinyl Chloride5.5 Other6 Global Industrial Tapes Market, By Application6.1 Introduction6.2 Electrical and Electronic6.3 Packaging6.4 Masking6.5 Others7 Global Industrial Tapes Market, By End-User7.1 Introduction7.2 Electrical7.3 Construction7.4 Logistic7.5 Automotive7.6 others8 Regional Market Analysis8.1 Introduction8.2 North America8.2.1 U.S.8.2.2 Canada8.3 Europe8.3.1 U.K8.3.2 France8.3.3 Germany8.3.4 Spain8.3.5 Rest of Europe8.4 Asia-Pacific8.4.1 China8.4.2 Japan8.4.3 India8.4.4 Rest of Asia-Pacific8.5 Rest of the World9 Competitive Analysis9.1 Introduction9.2 Competitive Scenario9.2.1 Market Share Analysis9.2.2 Market Development Analysis9.2.3 Product/Service Benchmarking9.3 The Dow Chemical Company9.3.1 Overview9.3.2 Product/Service Offering9.3.3 Strategy9.4 Saint Gobain SA9.4.1 Overview9.4.2 Product/Service Offering9.4.3 Strategy9.5 3M Company9.5.1 Overview9.5.2 Product/Service Offering9.5.3 Strategy9.6 Henkel AG & Company, KGaA9.6.1 Overview9.6.2 Product/Service Offering9.6.3 Strategy9.7 Eastman Chemical Company9.7.1 Overview9.7.2 Product/Service Offering9.7.3 Strategy9.8 Avery Dennison Corporation9.8.1 Overview9.8.2 Product/Service Offering9.8.3 Strategy9.9 Ashland Inc.9.9.1 Overview9.9.2 Product/Service Offering9.9.3 Strategy9.10 Sika AG9.10.1 Overview9.10.2 Product/Service Offering9.10.3 Strategy9.11 Pro Tapes & Specialties, Inc.9.11.1 Overview9.11.2 Product/Service Offering9.11.3 Strategy9.12 Von Roll Holding AG9.12.1 Overview9.12.2 Product/Service Offering9.12.3 StrategyAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Global Motion Control Market Expected To Spread and Reach USD - $22 billion with CAGR of 6% by 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1929 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/motion-control-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1929 www.marketresearchfuture.com Motion Control Market, By Technology (Pneumatic, Hydraulic), By Components (Controller, Drives, Motors, Software), By Application (Inspection, Material handling, Packaging), By Industry (Manufacturing, Healthcare, Automotive) - Forecast 2016-2022Global Motion Control Market is expected to grow at CAGR of ~6% during the forecast year and expected to reach at market size of US ~$22 billion by the end of forecast period.A motion control system has an important role associated with automated equipment. High flexibility and productivity of the plant can be achieved through a combination of automation and motion control products such as drives and actuators.Global Motion Control Market is primarily driven by the increased automation that happening in industries such as food and beverage, electrical, electronics, and semiconductor. The research report indicates that there will be a continuous infusion of capital for automation during the forecast period in numerous industries worldwide.A similar vouch for the Factual Market study Reports published by the expert of Market Research Future, with their unique quality of simplifying the Market Reports, MRFR presents yet another deep diving study Report - Global Motion Control Market.Get a sample copy of this report atGlobal Motion Control Market report takes you through the full Market Analysis, Opportunities, Price, Growth, Trends and Featuring the market Predictions right up to the years 2021 and helps you to find out: How the market revenue is progressing globally. What are the key driving or affecting factors for the market growth? How the market revenue is progressing in various segments & geographies. Who are the emerging Players, current players & the Key Players (Leaders) of the market? Get yourself acquainted with their trends. What are the current main market trends responsible for shaping up the Market AcquisitionsGlobal Motion Control Market Segments of ReportGlobal Motion Control Market is segmented in to five dynamics for better understanding. Segmentation on the basis of technology: Includes components, application and industry. Segmentation by Technology: Comprises - Pneumatic, Hydraulic, and Electromechanical Actuation. Segmentation by Components: the market has been derived as- Controller, Drives, Motors, and Software among others. Segmentation by Application of motion control includes- Inspection, Material handling, Packaging among others whereas Segmentation by industry includes- Manufacturing, Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Oil & Gas, and Robotics among others.Global Motion Control Market Report - Reasons To Buy The report provides detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Motion Control Offers insights about factors affecting the market growth. Enables to analyze the Motion Control market based porters five force analysis etc. Provides 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) Offers country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective Provides country level analysis of the market for segment by technology, components, application, industry and sub-segments Offers strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market Enables 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 Motion Control MarketComplete Report Available atGlobal Motion Control Market - Intended AudienceReport is advantageous mainly to the following Entities: OEMs Automation Service Providers Motion Control Distributors Technology Provides Sensor Manufacturers Connectivity ProvidersGlobal Motion Control Market - Synopsis & ScenarioMotion control is an industrial process which is also defined as servo control or robotics, used in the movement of specific load from one place to another in the controlled fashion. This process is equipped with various hardware equipment, motors, sensors, drives, control units and software are to name a few. Growing industrialization and high adoption of automation in the industrial process is driving the market of motion control whereas the high deployment cost and lack of availability of professionals are some of the major restraints of Motion Control Market.Global Motion Control Market - Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific is dominating the market of Motion Control due to the strong presence of manufacturing companies in China, Japan and South Korea. Growing economy of Asian countries are also playing major role in the development of motion control market. Europe stands as second biggest followed by North America. North America motion control market is majorly driven by the factors such as high consumption of electronic equipment and rich presence of healthcare industry.Global Motion Control Market - Key PlayersThe key players in the market of motion control are- ABB Group (Switzerland), Rockwell Automation, Inc., (U.S.), Parker Hannifin Corporation (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), Other prominent players include Motion Control Corporation (U.S.), Schneider Electric (France), Trio Motion (U.S.), Emerson Electric (U.S.), AMETEK, Inc. (U.S.), Aerotech Inc. (U.S.) among others.Request for discount atTABLE OF CONTENTS1 MARKET INTRODUCTION1.1 INTRODUCTION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS1.2.3 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE:1.3.1 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET: BY TECHNOLOGY1.3.2 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET: BY COMPONENTS1.3.3 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET: BY APPLICATION1.3.4 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET: BY INDUSTRY2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH TYPE2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH2.4 FORECAST MODEL2.4.1 MARKET DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS & FORECAST2.4.2 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION2.4.3 MARKET CRACKDOWN & DATA TRIANGULATION3 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET: OVERVIEW3.1 INTRODUCTION3.1.1 DEFINITION3.1.2 MARKET SEGMENTATION OF MOTION CONTROL MARKET4 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE4.1 KEY STRATEGIES AND DEVELOPMENTS4.1.1 ACQUISITIONS4.1.2 PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS4.1.3 PRODUCT LAUNCH4.1.4 BUSINESS EXPANSION4.1.5 OTHERS4.2 PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS4.2.1 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS4.2.2 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS4.2.3 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS4.2.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES4.2.5 INTENSITY OF COMPETITIVE RIVALRY5 MARKET OVERVIEW5.1 INTRODUCTION5.2 MARKET DRIVERS5.3 MARKET CHALLENGES5.4 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES6 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, BY TECHNOLOGY6.1 INTRODUCTION6.1.1 MARKET STATISTICS6.2 PNEUMATIC6.3 HYDRAULIC6.4 ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATION7 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, BY COMPONENTS7.1 INTRODUCTION7.1.1 MARKET STATISTICS7.2 CONTROLLER7.3 DRIVES7.4 MOTORS7.5 SOFTWARE7.6 OTHERS8 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, BY APPLICATION8.1 INTRODUCTION8.1.1 MARKET STATISTICS8.2 INSPECTION8.3 MATERIAL HANDLING8.4 PACKAGING8.5 OTHERS9 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, BY INDUSTRY9.1 INTRODUCTION9.1.1 MARKET STATISTICS9.2 MANUFACTURING9.3 HEALTHCARE9.4 AUTOMOTIVE9.5 AEROSPACE & DEFENSE9.6 OIL & GAS9.7 ROBOTICS9.8 OTHERS10 GLOBAL MOTION CONTROL MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY10.1 INTRODUCTION10.1.1 MARKET STATISTICS10.2 NORTH AMERICA10.3 EUROPE10.4 APAC10.5 ROW11 COMPANY PROFILES11.1 ABB GROUP11.1.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.1.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.1.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.1.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.2 ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.11.2.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.2.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.2.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.2.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.3 PARKER HANNIFIN CORPORATION11.3.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.3.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.3.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.3.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.4 SIEMENS AG11.4.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.4.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.4.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.4.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.5 MOTION CONTROL CORPORATION11.5.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.5.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.5.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.5.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.6 SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC11.6.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.6.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.6.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.6.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.7 TRIO MOTION11.7.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.7.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.7.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.7.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.8 EMERSON ELECTRIC11.8.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.8.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.8.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.8.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.9 AMETEK, INC.11.9.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.9.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.9.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.9.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.10 AEROTECH INC.11.10.1 COMPANY OVERVIEW11.10.2 PRODUCT/BUSINESS SEGMENT OVERVIEW11.10.3 FINANCIAL UPDATES11.10.4 KEY DEVELOPMENTS11.11 SENSITECH INC.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash AnandP: +1 646 845 9312W: Glass Bonding Adhesives Market 2016 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/glass-bonding-adhesives-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22631 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Glass bonding adhesives is a bonding technique used to bond one glass to another and/or to various other substrates such as metals, plastics, and rubbers. These compounds are available as silicones, epoxies, polysulfides, polyurethanes, cyanoacrylates, and UV/LED curing systems. The selection of a suitable adhesive for proper bonding of glass depends upon various factors. These include load and stress at which the glass resists, and functional and technical requirement of a joint. The bonding strength depends on the chosen material such as glass/glass, glass/ metal, glass/stone, and glass/wood. Glass bonding adhesives are used in a wide range of applications in the automotive industry. For instance, they are employed to bond glass in vehicles, manufacture water tanks and optical glasses, bond window glass to frame or structure, etc.View Report @Based on product type, the glass bonding adhesives market can be segmented into UV-curable acrylate, silicone, UV-curable epoxy, polyurethanes, and others. Silicone accounted for significant share of the glass bonding adhesives market in 2015 due to the rising demand for these adhesives in end-use industries such as transportation. High demand for glass bonding adhesives in architecture and electronics is boosting the glass bonding adhesives market. The UV-curable acrylate segment is expected to experience high growth rate due to the increase in demand for glass bonding adhesives in the architecture industry. Growth in demand for these adhesives in end-use industries such as electronics, furniture, and transportation is anticipated to boost the glass bonding adhesives market across the globe. Expansion of the electrical & electronics sector has also augmented the demand for silicone in the glass bonding adhesives market. Demand for glass bonding adhesives has also increased significantly in glass water tanks and other glass storage applications.In terms of region, the glass bonding adhesives market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In terms of volume, Asia Pacific held the significant share of the glass bonding adhesives market in 2015. It was followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific is anticipated to dominate the glass bonding adhesives market during the forecast period owing to the high demand for these adhesives in emerging economies such as China, India, and Japan. Demand for glass bonding adhesives in Asia Pacific is anticipated to increase significantly in the near future, led by the increase in demand for these adhesives in end-use industries such as furniture, electronics, medical, transportation, and industrial assembly. In terms of end-use, the furniture segment is estimated to account for the prominent share of the glass bonding adhesives market during the forecast period.Increase in usage of glass bonding adhesives in electrical and electronics appliances is driving the glass bonding adhesives market. Significant industrial development is anticipated to open up new opportunities for the global glass bonding adhesives market. Economic development and rise in the number of applications are anticipated to augment the global glass bonding adhesives market in Asia Pacific. Increase in usage of glass bonding adhesives in electronics, medical, and construction end-use industries is likely to propel the global glass bonding adhesives market in the next few years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Glass Bonding Adhesives Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Global demand for glass adhesives is projected to rise significantly in the near future, thereby offering high growth opportunities for companies operating in the glass bonding adhesive market. Rapid increase in demand in end-use applications, competitive manufacturing costs, and high economic growth rate are propelling the glass bonding adhesives market in Asia Pacific. These factors are encouraging companies to adopt expansion and R&D strategies in the region. Market players are focusing on Asia Pacific to gain higher market share. Producers of glass bonding adhesives have been compelled to adopt expansion and acquisition strategies to meet the global demand. Large numbers of producers are shifting their plants to countries such as China and India due to factors such as high demand and low raw material and labor costs.Key players operating in the global glass bonding adhesives market are Three Bond Holdings Co., Ltd, Permabond Engineering Adhesives, Bohle Group, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Sika A.G., H.B. Fuller Company, Dymax Corporation, Ashland Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, 3M Company, and KIWO.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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Haptic and Touch Technology Market to Grow at a Remarkable Pace in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/haptic-and-touch-technology.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=883 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Haptic technology is a mechanical simulation that uses different motion, forces, and vibration to create the sense of touch in numerous electronic devices. The haptic and touch screen technology market has observed a noteworthy growth due to its application in controllers, joysticks, steering wheels, and future video games. It helps in improving the user experience by engaging light, sound, and touch.Based on feedback, the global market for haptic and touch technology can be segmented into tactile and force. In terms of components, the market can be classified into controllers, actuators, and others. On the basis of end user industry, the global haptic technology market can be categorized into consumer electronics, aerospace & defense, automotive, healthcare, and others.In the report, Transparency Market Report (TMR) offers a complete analysis of challenges and prospects in the global haptic and touch technology market. It also provides insight into the major segments and regions of the market.Browse Our Report @The primary drivers for the growth of the global haptic and touch technology market are rising requirements for product differentiation and growing application of touch screen technology in numerous consumer electronic goods such as in digital cameras, mobile devices, and other devices. In addition, increasing concern for driver and passenger safety in vehicles is supplementing the demand for haptic and touch technology. Fast changing technology and high cost are the crucial factors that might pose as a threat to the growth of the global haptic and touch technology market.On the basis of feedback, the tactile segment will hold a large share of the market, and is expected to drive the market in the forecast period. The demand for this segment is high due to its varied application in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets. Presently, tactile feedback is inbuilt in practically all smartphones and tablets, and even wearable devices such as wristbands and smartwatches are slowly adopting this technology. In addition, the growth can be attributed to rising demand in several applications such as healthcare, automotive, and gaming.In terms of end user industry, the education & research segment is pegged to grow over the said period. Due to increased incorporation of haptics into AR & VR devices, the education sector has boosted the demand for haptic and touch technology. With the aid of haptics, learning and teaching would relatively become easier as the students will get a hands-on experience of haptics, and will further help in understanding and improving their skills.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World are the geographical segments on which the market can be based upon. Due to remarkable increase in demand for smartphones and tablets, Asia Pacific is expected to lead the market. In the forecast period, this region is predicted to register a strong CAGR. Whereas, high application in end user industry such as defense, automobile and healthcare, North America and Europe will contribute largely to the market share during the said period.Immersion Corp, Precision Microdrives Ltd, AAC Technologies Holdings, Inc., Tactus Technology Inc., Haption SA, Johnson Electric Group, Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., Immersion Corp, Texas Instruments, Incorporated, Densitron Technologies Plc, and 3D systems are some of the prominent players in the global haptic and touch technology market.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: Explosive Growth Predicted for Laser Distance Meter Market in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/laser-distance-meter-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28913 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Laser distance meter use laser beam to track the dimension of an object. A laser distance meter are primarily used to simplify the task of measurement and thereby saves considerable time. In addition, laser distance meter also help to take measurement at various angles with greater accuracy of up to +/- 1 mm. Laser distance meter are increasingly used across various applications including, finding the length of electrical wiring and furniture, carpet flooring and interior designing. Moreover, laser distance meter are also used abundantly by various solar energy solution providers for the purpose of panel installation and maintenance.In the past few years, laser distance meter has witnessed a lot of innovation and advancements in terms of weight, accuracy and size. There is even some high end laser distance meter such as Bosch GLR 825, Leica S910 and Fluke 424 that are fitted with additional features such as Pythagoras function, angle measurement and 4x camera zoom facilities. The global laser distance meter market is anticipated to experience a steady growth rate in the coming years owing to the rising application of laser distance meter in the construction sector for accurate and fast measurement of floor dimensions.Rising number of floor plan applications is considered to be one of the most important factor that has contributed to the growth of the laser distance meter market. Various laser distance meter manufacturers are focusing continuously to integrate laser distance meters with office computer system on a real-time basis and has resulted in development of mobile applications which enable the users to connect laser distance meters with their tablet and smartphones.As compared to manual measurements techniques, these mobile apps help the users to record magnitude of various real world objects with better ease, speed and precision. Easy availability of such apps is expected to induce various end user segments to adopt laser distance meters, which in turn, is predicted to propel the demand such devices in the near future. In addition, increasing inclination of consumers towards digital measuring devices for gaining accurate results is another important factors anticipated to trigger the demand of laser distance meter during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.Browse Our Report @Rising demand for laser distance meter along with pricing pressure from various local manufacturers is expected to intensify competition, thereby leading different organizations to develop new competitive strategies. With the integration of laser distance meters with different software applications in tablets and smartphones, various vendors can analyze the specific requirement of consumers at the macro level. This in turn, generate huge data, analyzing which different laser distance meter manufacturers can statistically analyze consumers demand and can retain their customer base.In order to provide a detailed analysis of the global laser distance meter market, the market has been classified into application and end user. Different end user segments that majorly employs laser distance meter including professional contractors, architects and construction employees is provided in this report. In addition, various application in which laser distance meter are used extensively such as plumbing, construction and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system is also incorporated within our scope of research. Furthermore, data related to current market situation along with future predicted demand trend of laser distance meter across various regions including Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle-East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America is also furnished within this report.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @Among the different end user segments, professional contractors held the largest market share in 2016 and is expected to maintain its leading position in the market throughout the forecast period. Laser distance meter are used extensively by various professional contractors in order to reduce manpower and work hour required for measurement purpose and to ensure safety of workers from accident at the time of measuring complex architectures.Some of the major players operating the global laser distance meter market includes Bosch (Germany), Fluke (The U.S.A), Stanley Black & Decker (The U.S) and Danaher (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: CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Waterstone Defeasance recently closed a defeasance transaction for a $26.3 million CMBS loan, secured by a multifamily property in Morgantown, WV. Waterstone guided the owners through the defeasance process coinciding with the owners sale of their property. As the defeasance consultant, Waterstone managed the activities of the numerous parties involved with the transaction in order to meet the borrowers closing schedule. Parties associated with a defeasance transaction typically include the servicer, servicers counsel, borrower, borrowers counsel, securities broker, custodian, accountant, rating agencies, and the successor borrower. "My experience with Waterstone was excellent. They provided top notch customer service and were always available to answer any questions that I had. -Stephen Pritchard with Isaacson Isaacson Sheridan Fountain & Leftwich, LLP About Waterstone Defeasance Waterstone Defeasance, LLC is an independent consulting firm specializing in assisting commercial real estate borrowers through the defeasance process. Since 2005, Waterstone has assisted owners and their advisors achieve the lowest possible defeasance costs. Waterstone has developed an industry-leading online defeasance calculator so clients can get a quick defeasance estimate on their website (defeasanceservices.com). Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company also has offices in New York, Dallas, and Irvine. Explosive Growth Predicted for LTE Base Station Market in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/lte-base-station-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28907 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com With different telecom operators around the world are turning their attention towards LTE, the equipment suppliers emerging the fundamental technology and network product are basically busting a lung to make this thing happen. The main product in any type of LTE network is going to be the radio frequency base station, or Long term evolution radio equipment face that hinge on assumptions around the deployment scenarios and the upgrade strategies. The growth of LTE base station market is highly reliant on the growth of overall telecom market globally.For purpose of in depth analysis, the LTE base station market has been segmented on the basis of end user, antenna frequency and geography. Based on the end user , the market has been segmented mainly into four types they are like residential, urban, enterprise and rural & remote. Various types of antenna frequencies of LTE base station includes, 13901530MHz, 698960 MHz,17102170MHz, 33003800 MHz , 23002700 MHz and 49005900 MHz . Moreover, this report also provide cross functional analysis of all the above mentioned segment across different regions such as Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Browse Our Report @Continuously Increasing demand for better network capacity to access the connected services is one of the major growth drivers for the LTE base station market. Growth of the complementary technologies like software defined network and network functions virtualization is also acting as a key growth driver for the LTE base station market. Therefore, the growing market demand of 4G LTE in urban areas during the business hours with better data transfer speeds is the main factor anticipated to catalyze the growing demand of LTE base station during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. In addition, better spectral efficiency, technology life cycle and adoption and new infrastructure investment is also anticipated to increase the demand of LTE base station in the upcoming years. In turn this is also projected to affect the LTE base station market in a positive manner during the forecast period.In spite of many driving factors, the LTE base station market is expected to show a shrink and fluctuation in growth rate because of higher deployment costs of LTE base stations. Interference with the existing services, cleanup cost and interference mitigation are few of the restraining factors for the global LTE base station market. The growing demand for the higher order frequency bandwidth and higher throughput required for the MIMO is going to create significant opportunity for LTE base station market in coming years.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @By end user , the residential segment held the largest market share because of increased installation of very small cell devices in different APAC countries as it is one of the preferred option by SOHO and residential customers. However, the urban segment is projected to achieve exponential growth during the forecast period. Higher network traffic during work hours and requirement of faster data transmission is expected to drive the market of urban region.Geographically, the global LTE base station market is mainly driven by Asia Pacific region. Increased shipment of the low-cost internet enabled device like the smartphone and tablet is driving the market of Asia Pacific region. The continuously growing rate of urbanization in densely populated countries like the India and the China has introduced a need of the environmental and economic development, leading to the increased government investment in cities and numerous central government programs. Which in turn is expected to drive the LTE base station market in this region. APAC market expected to maintain a steady pace during the forecast period from 2017-2025.Some of the leading players operating in the LTE base station market includes Ericsson (Sweden), Huawei technologies (China), China Mobile (China), Alpha Networks(Taiwan) ,Airspan (The U.S.), AT&T (The U.S.) , Cisco (The U.S), CommScope (The U.S.) and Juni Global (South Korea) 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: Accelerated Growth for the Global Robot Teach Pendant Market Predicted in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/robot-teach-pendant-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28889 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global robot teach pendant market is prognosticated to consist a vast count of worldwide and established companies, which could denote an intensive nature of competition in the industry. There could be various factors involved based on which international players are expected to compete with each other, viz. services offered, customization according to industrial robot applications, and product features. With a view to launch new and novel products, companies could take to massive investments in research and development. This could also help them to mark a strong position in the market.The surging adoption of collaborative robots (co-bots) is foreseen to bode extremely well for the growth of the global robot teach pendant market. Co-bots could be extensively useful in augmenting the ease of programming and curbing safety costs. In order to examine the proximity to humans, such robots could be operated with the help of built-in safety, torque, and other specialized sensors and robot controllers. It is required to constantly improve the sensing technologies of robots for maintaining conformity with highly stringent safety regulations. Robots need to be equipped with the required characteristics to work efficiently around humans. These could be cell-hand guiding, power and force limiting, safety-rated monitoring stop, and speed and separation monitoring.The integration of teach pendants and other innovative components in existing robots could be made effortless with improvements in robotic control systems. Advanced systems such as gyroscopes and global positioning system (GPS) could also be integrated in robots to allow them to map their environment and determine their location.Browse Our Report @A robot teach pendant device is required to control the industrial robot distantly. This device allows its controller to work with the robots without the need for roping to the fixed terminal. Teach pendants offers a diversity of settings to control the robots and are also being utilized to design new features and capabilities. Inside the robotics repairing industry, technicians does not only renovate the units themselves but they also use the device for the purpose of testing robotic equipment. Teach pendant is truly an essential component for the industrial robots and can be utilized for application use, along with the repairing and refurbishment process. The growth of robot teach pendant market is highly reliant on the growth of industrial application market globally.For purpose of in depth analysis, the robot teach pendant market has been segmented on the basis of applications and geography. Various types of applications of robot teach pendant includes application in material handling operation, welding application, painting application and others. Moreover, this report also provide cross functional analysis of all the above mentioned segment across different regions such as Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and LatinIncreasing adoption of the co bots and emergence of the industrial IoT are the major growth drivers for the robot teach pendant market. Increasing adoption of the industrial robot in the developing countries is also one of the major factor that is driving the robot teach pendant market. Therefore, With the growing usage of wireless device like smartphone, tablet and laptop, the usage of cloud seems to be very logical in robot teach pendant market which is also the main factor anticipated to catalyze the growing demand of robot teach pendants during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. In addition, rapid technological advancement in enhanced reality is also anticipated to increase the demand of robot teach pendants in the upcoming years. In turn this is also projected to affect the market of robot teach pendant in a positive manner during the forecast period.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @In spite of many driving factors, the robot teach pendant market is expected to show a shrink and fluctuation in growth rate because of the lack of additional programming which is required to be learned so the robot can actually use the sensors as inputs and outputs as a binary signal to select robot programs and then perform specific action. Electing the decelerations and accelerations of each linkage needs to be very specified at each joint of the robot arm which in turn is acting as a restraining factor for the global robot teach pendant market. The growing demand for robot teach pendants for the development of the next generation robots is going to create significant opportunity for robot teach pendant in coming years. Apart from that increased demand from the non automotive application is also acting as an opportunity factor for the robot teach pendant market in the forecast period from 2017-2025.By application, material handling segment will account the largest market share because of the demand from different end-user industries like automotive, metals, packaging and food & beverage which are increasingly automating the processes that were conventionally handled by humans. Material handling segment is projected to achieve exponential growth during the forecast period. The need to improve the production capacity and the scarcity of skilled labor in countries like China and India will push the demand for the robots because they have the capability to work on numerous processes simultaneously.Geographically, the robot teach pendant market is mainly driven by Asia Pacific region. The introduction of the legislations from the state and federal governments of several countries and investments which promotes manufacturing through the expansion of infrastructure and its related industries, like the robots and the robot parts like teach pendants and controllers , is expected to contribute to the growth of the robot teach pendant market in this region.. This region is expected to maintain its dominance in the market during the forecast period owing to the presence of major developing countries like China, India among others.Some of the leading players operating in the robot teach pendant market includes ABB (Switzerland), FANUC (Japan), Yaskawa Motoman (Japan), DENSO Robotics (Japan), Kuka (Belgium), Omron Adept Technologies (The U.S.) , Comau (The U.S.) , Mattson Technology Inc (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: Wireless Charging Market to have Good Business Opportunities in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/wireless-charging-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11174 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Wireless charging is recharging batteries of electrical devices with no physically connected cables. Currently, charging of devices is an important aspect of business is response to power intensive applications. Mobile manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, LG Electronics and HTC are positioning phones with wireless charging to drive demand at the high end.The global wireless charging market is segmented by application into consumer electronics, industrial, medical, automotive and defense. Consumer electronics is expected to be the largest application segment in the wireless charging market.On the basis of geography the market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east and Africa and Latin America. High volumes of electronics devices such as smartphones and laptops in Asia Pacific make it the most promising region for wireless charging market. However, United States is the largest regional market for wireless charging. Increase in adoption of wireless charging for industrial applications and growing awareness of wireless power technology among consumers propels market growth in this region.Browse Our Report @On the basis of technology wireless charging market is segmented as Inductive, RF and Resonant. Inductive technology is mature and has high demand in wireless charging market owing to its use in all the applications. On the other hand, RF and resonant technologies are gaining traction in the wireless charging market. Companies such as Qualcomm and Samsung support resonant technology which allows charging multiple devices simultaneously.Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) are the three groups present in the wireless charging market. Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) uses Qi standard commonly found in smartphones whereas Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) uses resonance technology which is still in the early stages of development. Interoperability between these groups is of prime importance for the wireless charging market. Companies such as AT&T are seeking a commitment to one standard of wireless charging from their handset vendors.Brochure With Latest Advancements With Application @The penetration of wireless charging is expected to increase in wearable devices over the years. Wireless charging market is expected to experience a boom in electrical vehicles too. In-car charging and wireless charging of electrical vehicles are the key trends in the automotive industry. Rise in electrical vehicles manufacturing globally will help in the wireless charging market growth. Significant investments in R&D are being made by the market participants, wherein the leading players are focusing on improving the power transmission range. This would facilitate charging of devices wirelessly over long distances, subsequently expanding the application base. However, retaining the costs low is the key challenge for the wireless charging devices market.Wireless charging market is highly fragmented with start-ups and large market participants. Players are trying to distinguish themselves on the basis of quality and affordability. Few of the key players in the wireless charging market include Qualcomm Inc., Fulton Innovation LLC, Texas Instruments, Inc., WiTricity Corporation, Convenient Power HK Ltd., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Duracell Powermat (Procter & Gamble Co.), Energizer Holdings, Inc, Oregon Scientific, Inc. and Anker 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: Silicone Defoamer Market 2016 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/silicone-defoamer-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=24701 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com India Silicone Defoamer Market: SnapshotThe easy availability of silicone defoamer in a wide range of viscosities and its ability to work at higher temperatures and pH has been driving the market for silicone defoamers in India substantially. Its insolubility in foaming medium and superior surface active properties compared to organic defoamers are another significant factors that are fueling its demand in this country. In addition, the growing popularity of silicone defoamer, supported by its chemically inert nature and flexibility to work in dramatic climate changes, is likely to propel this market over the next few years.The India market for silicone defoamer was worth US$197.4 mn in 2015. Rising at a steady CAGR of 4.90% between 2016 and 2024, the markets opportunity is likely to reach US$299.4 mn by the end of 2024. In terms of volume, the market is expected to touch 64,605.2 tons over the same time period.View Report @Demand for Silicone Defoamer to Remain High in Water Treatment ProcessesThe water treatment, paints and coatings, pharmaceuticals, metalworking fluids, and the food and beverages industries are the main application areas of silicone defoamers. Apart from this, it is also widely utilized in the pulp and paper, textile, oil and gas, and the detergents industries. The demand for silicone defoamer is higher in the water treatment industry compared to other application segments and the scenario is anticipated to remain same over the next few years.With the growing scarcity of fresh drinking water and the rising concern over water, the demand for silicone defoamer for wastewater, boiler water, or effluent treatment is increasing substantially. However, silicone defoamer, if added in high dose and if not disposed of properly, may affect water table quality, leading to severe hindrance in the markets growth trajectory.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Silicone Defoamer Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Increasing Number of New Residential Projects to Boost Demand for Silicone Defoamer in Paints and CoatingsThe metalworking fluids, pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings, and the food and beverages industry are also anticipated to witness an increasing demand for silicone defoamer in the next few years. The demand for silicone defoamer in the paints and coatings industry is expected to be driven by the increasing population density across urban regions, surge in new residential projects, and the growth of the automotive sector in this country. In the metalworking fluids segment, the demand for this defoamer is projected to be driven by the increasing need to reduce foam accumulation in metal working operations.The pharmaceutical industry experiences a significant demand for silicone defoamer due to critical parameters, which manufacturer came across during production of varied drugs and fermentation process. On account of its superior properties, silicone defoamer, are widely used in antacid production, bottle filling operations, fermentation, and antibiotics production. However, the demand for it in the pharmaceutical industry expected to slow down in the near future due to stringent regulations on non-biodegradable products and the increasing focus on eco-friendly products.With a very few number of local participants, the India market for silicone defoamer is majorly led by international players. Wacker Chemie AG, Ashland Global Holdings Inc., BASF SE, Bluestar Silicones International, Clariant International AG, Dow Corning Corp., Momentive Performance Materials Inc., Evonik Industries AG, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd., Elkay Chemicals Private Ltd., Chempro India Pvt. Ltd., Om Tex Chem Private Ltd., Resil Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., and Supreme Silicones are some of the prominent vendors of silicone defoamer in India.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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Benzyl Alcohol Market 2016 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/benzyl-alcohol-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4572 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Benzyl Alcohol Market: SnapshotThe global market for benzyl alcohol has been expanding at a steady pace over the years owing to the consistent demand arising from various end-use industries. The growing applications of benzyl alcohol in the paints and coatings, food and beverages, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries are likely to continue driving the demand for the same over the course of the forecast period. The global benzyl alcohol market was valued at US$198 mn in 2015 and is projected to reach US$299.2 mn by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 4.7% therein.This highly consolidated market is marked by the presence of multinational manufacturing companies with a strong regional foothold. Retaining a high degree of competition throughout the forecast period, the benzyl alcohol market will present numerous growth opportunities for players in various avenues.View Report @Pharmaceutical Industry Presents Lucrative Options for Market PlayersBenzyl alcohol plays an important role in a wide range of end-use industries such as personal care, food and beverages, pharmaceutical, and paints and coatings. By application, paints and coatings was the leading end-use segment in the global benzyl alcohol market, constituting more than 60% in 2015. Benzyl alcohol is employed in several applications in the paints and coatings industry. It is used as a solvent for manufacturing paints, inks, and epoxy resins and as a paint stripper in industries such as automotive and aviation.The pharmaceutical sector is estimated to be the fastest growing end-use segment during the forecast period. A significant increase in the usage of benzyl alcohol in the pharmaceutical industries in developing regions is projected to propel this segment in the near future.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Benzyl Alcohol Market Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Asia Pacific to Gain Considerable Traction by 2024The global benzyl alcohol market is geographically segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.In terms of volume, North America accounted for a share of more than 35% in 2015. The region is estimated to maintain its lead during the forecast period, with the U.S. likely to be one of the prime manufacturers and consumers of benzyl alcohol in the next few years. The growth of the North America market can be attributed to the increased demand for benzyl alcohol from the paints and coatings, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries. However, the benzyl alcohol market is likely to expand at a sluggish rate in North America and Europe over the course of the forecast period.Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing regional market for benzyl alcohol. Increased demand for benzyl alcohol in the pharmaceutical and personal care industries is estimated to be the key factor driving the market in the region. This trend is projected to shift the momentum of demand between 2016 and 2024 from the developed markets to developing regions.Key players in the global benzyl alcohol market include Emerald Performance Materials, Lanxess, Pharmco-Aaper, Avantor Performance Materials, Merck KGaA, Alfa Aesar, Finar Limited, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Elan Chemical Company Inc., Wuhan Youji Industries Co., Ltd., Wuhan Biet Co., Ltd., Hubei Greenhome Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., and Ineos 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.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Lateral Flow Diagnostic Tests Market | Analysis & Trends 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/apac-lateral-flow-diagnostic-tests-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7739 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Rise of Diseases Increases Demand for Lateral Flow Diagnostic TestsLateral flow diagnostic tests have become the need of the hour due to a global rise in the number of diabetics, cancer cases, patients suffering from cardiovascular conditions, and those struggling with autoimmune diseases across Asia Pacific. The demand for these diagnostic tests has also seen a spike given their ease of use and minimal operating instructions. At the same time, the increasing demand for point-of-care diagnosis has given this market a gigantic platform for growth. The increasing awareness about diseases and rising expenditure on healthcare are also augmenting this market.With these market drivers, the APAC lateral flow diagnostic tests market is expected to register a revenue of US$3.22 bn by the end of 2023 as compared to US$2.30 bn in 2015, as the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 5.7%. Analysts predict that the untapped market for diagnosing cancer will present a lucrative opportunity to this market in the near future. The future also demand lateral flow diagnostic tests for the purpose of diagnosis a range of conditions such as drugs of abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy as consumers become aware of a myriad health conditions.This exhaustive report includes a 360 view of the Lateral Flow Diagnostic Tests Market. Browse through this 82-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2015-2023Japan to Retain Lead, Even as China and India Follow with Large Population BaseThe report states that Japan is the key region in the APAC lateral flow diagnostic tests market and is expected to rise at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2015 and 2023. This growth will be supplemented by the fact that Japan is the second largest healthcare market. Furthermore, the ongoing infrastructural developments, growing access to medical, and investments in medical research are all contributing towards the growth of this geographical segment. Efforts to develop cost-effective diagnostic kits for Ebola by researchers at Nagasaki University are expected to help this country retain its lead in the coming years as well.Considering the exploding population of China and India, both these countries will continue to show remarkable progress in the healthcare sector, thus, propelling the adoption of lateral flow diagnostic tests. Changing lifestyles, increasing cases of obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and rising per capita incomes of the residents of these countries will also contribute towards sizeable earnings of the overall market.Greater Awareness about Pregnancy Testing to Boost Demand for Lateral Flow Diagnostic TestsLateral flow diagnostic tests are widely used in diagnosing pregnancy, HIV, influenza, syphilis, malaria, and others. Pregnancy was the leading application segment in 2014 due to a greater awareness about pregnancy testing amongst the female population, affordable pricing of these tests, and the increasing number of pregnancies in the region. During the forecast period, this segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.5%. The hepatitis application segment will also be an emerging segment in the APAC lateral flow diagnostic tests market as cases of hepatitis continue to be on the rise in the region.Some of the leading players operating in the APAC lateral flow diagnostic tests market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Alere, Inc., Beckman Coulter, Inc., Dickinson and Company, Becton, bioMerieux SA, EMD Millipore, Siemens Healthcare, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and QIAGEN. The competitive landscape of the market is defined as consolidated with the presence of a few large regional players. Companies will have to dedicate their research and development activities towards delivering solutions that are technologically advanced to stay ahead of the competition.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Lateral Flow Diagnostic Tests Market during 2015- 2023About 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: Dental Laboratories Market | Analysis & Key Trends 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dental-laboratories-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2320 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Oral health is essential to ones quality of life and the focus on oral hygiene has increased of late owing to the growing prevalence of oral diseases and conditions, such as cavities, periodontal disease, oral cancer, oral bacterial, fungal, or viral infections, and oro-dental trauma. As indicated by the World Health Organization, public health solutions for oral diseases need to work in tandem with national public health programs to be most effective. As a result, countries around the world are focusing on setting up dental laboratories to offer quality treatment and solutions. Dental laboratories are focused on the manufacture of various dental prostheses to support the protection and/or straightening of teeth. The different dental prostheses include dentures, veneers, crowns, and other orthodontic appliances.The global market for dental laboratories offers a comprehensive overview of the many trends that define its performance worldwide. It presents an analytical assessment of the factors driving the growth of the dental laboratories market and those acting as impediments in its trajectory. The current and projected growth of the various regional segments has been presented in the report with the help of various qualitative as well a quantitative tools.Global Dental Laboratories Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe worldwide market for dental laboratories is set to expand at a moderate yet steady pace during the forecast period, amounting to an estimated US$20 bn by 2023. This can be attributed to a host of factors, such as growing awareness about oral health, the rise in dental procedures to restore or replace teeth, an upsurge in the incidence of dental deformations, and increasing demand for cosmetic dentistry. The advent of technologically advanced techniques such as computer aided manufacturing and computer aided design have supported the global market. There is major untapped potential in the dental laboratories market and the ongoing trend of automation and digitalization is sure to have a positive impact on its growth. On the down side, however, the market is likely to be hampered by the dearth of skilled technicians, limited affordability of patients in several developing countries, and subpar healthcare infrastructure in many regions.This exhaustive report includes a 360 view of the Dental Laboratories Market. Browse through this 185-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2016-2024Global Dental Laboratories Market: Regional OutlookBy way of geography, the global dental laboratories market can be fragmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Europe and North America both account for a major share in the dental laboratories market and are expected to hold on to their lead position in the years to come as well. The number of oral healthcare centers and initiatives have been on the rise in these regions owing to growing awareness among the people regarding oral hygiene, greater education regarding the various advanced dental procedures presently available, the availability of well-equipped dental laboratories, and increased focus on providing patients quality treatment.Asia Pacific is also expected to register strong growth through 2024, presenting a host of lucrative opportunities for players in the dental laboratories market. This can be attributed to the growth of dental tourism in a number of APAC countries and the resulting demand for dental equipment and consumables. In addition to this, the Asia Pacific dental laboratories market is fueled by improving awareness about oral health, rising disposable income of the consumers, and improving healthcare infrastructure.Companies mentioned in the reportPatterson Companies Inc., Modern Dental Laboratory Co. Ltd., Sirona Dental Systems, Shofu Inc., 3M Health Care, Danaher Corp., Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., National Dentex Corp., Yenadent Ltd. Sti., Institut Straumann AG, Dentcare Dental Lab, Henry Schein Inc., and Keating Dental Arts are few of the leading players in the dental laboratories market. These players are looking to gain a larger share in the global market by focusing on product innovation, greater precision, and better patient services. With dental procedures and laboratories evolving at a rapid pace in most developed countries, companies have to step up their game in order to counter the intense competition.Request a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Dental Laboratories 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: AC Adapter Market : Emergence of Advanced Technologies and Global Industry Analysis http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ac-adapter-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28928 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com AC adapters are mainly used to charge or power different electronic devices, like mobile phones, external hard drives or laptop computers. AC adapter used to change the AC power from the electrical outlet into the particular type of voltage or power that an electronic device needs to work.Usually, eACh device has got a designated adapter which is pre-set to the ACcurate voltage conversion. For this particular reason, adapters generally are not interchangeable. The growth of AC adapter market is highly reliant on the growth of overall smartphone and tablet market globally.For purpose of in depth analysis, the AC adapter market has been segmented on the basis of voltage range, applications and geography. Based on the voltage range, the market has been segmented into three types they are like 100V to 120V AC, 200V to 240V AC,110V to 240 V AC.Obtain Report Details @Increasing adoption of AC adapter in different applications like smartphones, tablets and LED lighting is ACting as a major growth driver for the AC adapter market. Further demand is being expected from the developing market where the 3G and 4G networks are rolling out. Therefore, the growing need of AC adapter in tablet PCs is also one of the main fACtor anticipated to catalyse the growing demand of different types of AC adapter during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.In spite of many driving factors, the AC adapter market is expected to show a shrink and fluctuation in growth rate because of the power overload fACtor in AC adapters. Decline in the sales of AC adapter in nonsmart phones are ACting as a restraining fACtor for the global AC adapter market. The growing demand for AC adapters in tablets and smart phones is going to create significant opportunity for AC adapter in coming years.Make an Enquiry @Geographically, the global AC adapter market is mainly driven by North America region. Digitalization of the education system ,online retail and continuously growing social networking increased the demand of tablets, smartphones and laptops which in turn is expected to drive the market of AC adapters in the North America region.. This region is expected to maintain its dominance in the market during the forecast period owing to the presence of huge number of AC adapter manufACturers in countries like the U.S. and Canada among others.Some of the leading players operating in the AC adapter market includes TDK-Lambda (Japan), Delta Electronics (Taiwan),ETA-USA (The U.S.), B&B Electronics (Canada), B&K Precision (The U.S.), Microchip (The U.S.), , Advantech (The U.S.),Atmel (The U.S.) among others.Transparency 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.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: ENDEAVOUR REPORTS THAT AVNEL SHAREHOLDERS APPROVED THE ACQUISITION View News Release in PDF Format George Town, August 31, 2017 - Endeavour Mining Corporation ("Endeavour") (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce that the shareholders of Avnel Gold Mining Limited (TSX: AVK) ("Avnel") today approved the previously announced proposed acquisition of Avnel by Endeavour. The transaction is being implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement pursuant to Part VIII of the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (the "Scheme"). A total of 99.37% of Scheme Shares were voted at the meeting and 88.89% of holders of record of Scheme Shares voted in favour of the Scheme. The number of Endeavour shares to be issued under the Scheme will be approximately 7 million. Following the completion of the transaction, Endeavour will have approximately 104 million ordinary shares issued, with former Avnel shareholders holding approximately 6.8% of Endeavour's pro forma share capital. Completion of the Scheme remains subject to certain conditions, including sanction by the Royal Court of Guernsey. The transaction is expected to close on September 18, 2017. CONTACT INFORMATION Martino De Ciccio VP - Strategy & Investor Relations + 44 203 011 2706 mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com DFH Public Affairs in Toronto John Vincic, Senior Advisor (416) 206-0118 x.224 jvincic@dfhpublicaffairs.com Brunswick Group LLP in London Carole Cable, Partner +44 7974 982 458 ccable@brunswickgroup.com ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION Endeavour Mining is a TSX-listed intermediate gold producer, focused on developing a portfolio of high quality mines in the prolific West-African region, where it has established a solid operational and construction track record. Endeavour is ideally positioned as the major pure West-African multi-operation gold mining company, operating 5 mines across Cote d'Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity), Burkina Faso (Karma), Mali (Tabakoto), and Ghana (Nzema). In 2017, it expects to produce between 600koz and 640koz at an AISC of US$860 to US$905/oz. Endeavour is currently building its Hounde project in Burkina Faso, which is expected to commence production in Q4-2017 and to become its flagship low-cost mine with an average annual production of 190koz at an AISC of US$709/oz over an initial 10-year mine life, based on reserves. The development of the Hounde and Ity CIL projects are expected to lift Endeavour's group production to +900kozpa and decrease its average AISC to circa $800/oz by 2019, while exploration aims to extend all mine lives to +10 years. Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to, statements with respect to Endeavour's plans and operating performance, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of future production, future capital expenditures, and the success of exploration activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates". Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to international operations; risks related to general economic conditions and credit availability, actual results of current exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining consumables, possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and economic developments in countries in which Endeavour operates. Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and its business. AISC, all-in sustaining costs at the mine level, cash costs, operating EBITDA, all-in sustaining margin, free cash flow, net free cash flow, free cash flow per share, net debt, and adjusted earnings are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standard meaning under IFRS, further discussed in the section Non-GAAP. 2017 Microfluidic Chips Market Research Report for Period 2017 till 2022 Agilent, Fluidigm, Micralyne, Becton Dickinson, Danaher, PerkinElmer, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Others Microfluidic Chips https://goo.gl/hZetAV http://www.marketreportscompany.com/category_reports.php?industry=Electronics&id=15 https://goo.gl/hZetAV https://goo.gl/hZetAV http://marketreportscompany.com Global Microfluidic Chips market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Agilent, Fluidigm, Micralyne, Becton Dickinson, Danaher, PerkinElmer, Bio-Rad Laboratories 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.Request For Free Sample Copy of Global Microfluidic Chips Market 2017 atTop Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: Agilent Fluidigm Micralyne Becton Dickinson Danaher PerkinElmer Bio-Rad Laboratories Dolomite MicroLIQUID MicruX Technologies Micronit Fluigent OthersMicrofluidic Chips Market: Key Product Polymers Ceramics Semi-conductorsMicrofluidic Chips Market: Key Application Pharmaceutical Diagnostic Drug DeliverMicrofluidic Chips market belongs to electronics industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Microfluidic Chips market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Microfluidic Chips market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Microfluidic Chips 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 Microfluidic Chips market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Microfluidic Chips market in coming future.The Microfluidic Chips market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Microfluidic Chips 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 Microfluidic Chips 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 @Microfluidic Chips 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, Business week, etc.Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Polymers1.2.1.2 Ceramics1.2.1.3 Semi-conductors1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Pharmaceutical1.2.2.2 Diagnostic1.2.2.3 Drug Deliver1.2.3 by Regions1.2.3.1 Europe1.2.3.2 North America1.2.3.3 China1.2.3.4 Japan & Korea Continue (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 2017 Plastisol Ink Market Research Report for Period 2017 till 2022 PolyOne, Lancer Group, Rutland Plastic Technologies, ICC, Huber Group, Fujifilm Sunlan Chemicals, and Others Plastisol Ink https://goo.gl/zg4VuK http://www.marketreportscompany.com/category_reports.php?industry=Chemicals-and-Materials&id=13 https://goo.gl/zg4VuK https://goo.gl/zg4VuK http://marketreportscompany.com Global Plastisol Ink market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely PolyOne, Lancer Group, Rutland Plastic Technologies, ICC Huber Group, Fujifilm Sunlan Chemicals, 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.The global Plastisol Ink market will reach Volume Million USD in 2017 with CAGR xx% 2018-2023. The objective of report is to define, segment, and project the market on the basis of product type, application, and region, and to describe the content about the factors influencing market dynamics, policy, economic, technology and market entry etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Plastisol Ink Market 2017 atTop Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: PolyOne Lancer Group Rutland Plastic Technologies ICC Huber Group Fujifilm Sunlan Chemicals KARAN Zhongyi Ink & Paint Sophah Screen Printing Technology Dexin OthersPlastisol Ink Market: Key Product Type General Plastisol Inks Non-Phthalate Plastisol Inks Non-PVC Plastisol InksPlastisol Ink Market: Key Application Cotton Fabric Polyester & Nylon Fabrics Blend Fabric OthersPlastisol Ink 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) OtherPlastisol Ink market belongs to chemical industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Plastisol Ink market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Plastisol Ink market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Plastisol Ink 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 Plastisol Ink market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Plastisol Ink market in coming future.The Plastisol Ink market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Plastisol Ink 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 Plastisol Ink 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:Plastisol Ink 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 General Plastisol Inks1.2.1.2 Non-Phthalate Plastisol Inks1.2.1.3 Non-PVC Plastisol Inks1.2.2 by Channel1.2.2.1 Cotton Fabric1.2.2.2 Polyester & Nylon Fabrics1.2.2.3 Blend Fabric1.2.2.4 Others1.2.3 by Regions1.2.3.1 Europe1.2.3.2 North America1.2.3.3 China1.2.3.4 IndiaContinue (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 2017 Tyre Curing Press Market Research Report for Period 2017 till 2022 HF TireTech, Kobe Steel, MHIMT, Hebert, Larsen & Toubro, McNeil & NRM, Alfred Herbert and Others Tyre Curing Press https://goo.gl/Cqzrzs http://www.marketreportscompany.com/category_reports.php?industry=Automotive&id=22 https://goo.gl/Cqzrzs https://goo.gl/Cqzrzs http://marketreportscompany.com Global Tyre Curing Press market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely HF TireTech, Kobe Steel, MHIMT, Hebert, Larsen & Toubro, McNeil & NRM, Alfred Herbert 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.As we know, 97% of the worlds water is undrinkable salt water and more than half of the 3% that is freshwater, is inaccessible due to polar ice caps. Even though 70% of the earth is covered by water, more than 50% of the world population has insufficient drinking water. According to the World Bank, $600 billion is invested in water delivery systems and the United Nations has announced a worldwide water shortage. Scientists have given warning of this and constructive steps are being taken, but current methods to achieve clean drinking water are expensive and wasteful.Request For Free Sample Copy Of Global Tyre Curing Press Market 2017 atTop Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report: HF TireTech Kobe Steel MHIMT Hebert Larsen & Toubro McNeil & NRM Alfred Herbert Specific Engineering Rogers CIMA Impianti ROTAS Santosh Engineering Guilin Rubber Machinery Greatoo MESNAC Sanming Double-Wheel Linglong SCUT Bestry Sinoarp Shenghualong Doublestar Deshengli BBD Himile Linsheng Gold Hawk OthersTyre Curing Press Market: Key Material: Mechanical Curing Press Hydraulic Curing Press Hybrid Curing PressTyre Curing Press Market: Key Application Ordinary Tyres Radial TyresTyre Curing Press market belongs to automotive industry and it comprise of detailed quantitative as well as qualitative information for Tyre Curing Press market. This research report provides consumption data and expected growth rate for major consuming regions worldwide. Tyre Curing Press market report provides detailed segmentation for market of Tyre Curing Press 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 Tyre Curing Press market. Additionally, the report provides the comprehensive study of expected opportunities in Tyre Curing Press market in coming future.The Tyre Curing Press market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Tyre Curing Press 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 Tyre Curing Press 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 @Tyre Curing Press 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, Business week, etc.Table of Contents1 able of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Mechanical Curing Press1.2.1.2 Hydraulic Curing Press1.2.1.3 Hybrid Curing Press1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Ordinary Tyres1.2.2.2 Radial Tyres1.2.3 by Regions1.2.3.1 North America1.2.3.2 China1.2.3.3 Europe1.2.3.4 Korea & Japan1.2.3.5 RoWContinue (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 https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/Children-s-sleep-quality-is-related-to-mothers--insomnia-symptoms.html Children more often sleep poorly if their mothers suffer from insomnia symptoms. This report researchers from the University of Basel and the University of Warwick in the journal Sleep Medicine based on a study with nearly 200 school-aged children and their parents.---Sleep plays an essential role for adults and childrens well-being. Short sleep and poor sleep quality may affect mental health, learning, memory, and school achievement in children. In Switzerland, around 28% of adult women and 20 % of men suffer from disturbed sleep.Researchers around Natalie Urfer-Maurer from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel and Prof. Dr. Sakari Lemola from the University of Warwick studied the relationship between parents insomnia symptoms and their childrens sleep. Sleep was assessed in healthy 7-12-years old children during one night by in-home electroencephalography (EEG); around half of the children were born preterm. In addition, parents reported their own insomnia symptoms and their childrens sleep problems.Difficulties getting into bedThe study shows that children of mothers with insomnia symptoms fall asleep later, get less sleep, and spend less time in deep sleep as measured by EEG. However, there was no association between the fathers sleep problems.It is possible that mothers sleep is more closely related to childrens sleep than fathers sleep because in Switzerland mothers on average still spend more time with their children than fathers. Therefore, the mothers sleeping behavior has a stronger influence on the child.When parents reported their childrens sleep, both mothers and fathers with sleep problems more often reported that their children had difficulties getting into bed and did not sleep enough.Sleep habitsSeveral mechanisms could account for the relationship between parents and childrens sleep, report the researchers. First, children may learn sleep habits from their parents.Second, poor family functioning could affect both parents and childrens sleep. For instance, family fights in the evening before bedtime may prevent the whole family from a good nights sleep.Third, it is possible that parents suffering from poor sleep show selective attention for their own as well as their childrens sleep problems leading to increased monitoring of sleep. It is possible that increased monitoring and attempts to control sleep may negatively affect sleep quality. Finally, children may also share genes with their parents that predispose for poor sleep.Original articleNatalie Urfer-Maurer, Rebekka Weidmann, Serge Brand, Edith Holsboer-Trachsler, Alexander Grob, Peter Weber, Sakari LemolaThe association of mothers' and fathers insomnia symptoms with school-aged childrens sleep assessed by parent report and in-home sleep- electroencephalographySleep Medicine (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2017.07.010Further informationNatalie Urfer-Maurer, University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Tel. +41 79 800 47 31, email:Weitere Informationen:Quelle: idw www.the-klu.org https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27723 Qualified logistics specialists are in short supply worldwide. This is the conclusion of an investigation by Professor Alan McKinnon, Professor Kai Hoberg and Dr Christoph Flothmann from Kuehne Logistics University (KLU) in Hamburg, commissioned by the World Bank. While there are too few well-trained executives in the logistics sector, there is also a lack of qualified staff at the operational level. In the opinion of the KLU researchers, this skills shortage is likely to worsen in the absence of new initiatives.---"Globally logistics has been enjoying growth rates of around 5% per annum but not attracting the number of skilled people that it requires to sustain this growth and meet ever more complex supply chain challenges" explains McKinnon. The three researchers consulted around 300 experts from companies, governments, educational institutions and professional associations around the world to assess the nature and scale of the logistics skill shortage. This confirmed that companies are having trouble finding enough new logistics employees with the right skills. The problem is not confined to recruitment. Many existing employees are not sufficiently qualified. This deficiency is having negative consequences. "The logistics sector plays a critical role in the functioning of an economy," explains Hoberg. "If it lacks people with the necessary skills, the wider economy will suffer."In their study they find that the demand for skilled labor in logistics differs from region to region. "In emerging regions, executives are particularly lacking, who are able to oversee complex processes and to manage them efficiently," says Flothmann. In many developed countries, there is also a lack of well-trained specialists in the operational sector. In Germany, the UK and the US, for example, there is an acute shortage of truck drivers.Poor reputation and lack of educationMcKinnon, Hoberg and Flothmann see several reasons for the global shortage of qualified specialists. "Logistics struggles to compete with other business activities for high calibre well trained staff says McKinnon. "This is partly because in many countries wages are low, working conditions difficult and the industry's reputation poor." Also, the skill-set of staff already in post has not been keeping pace with technical advances in logistics. In the operational area, regular vocational training is often lacking, especially in the emerging markets. The employees typically receive only short on-the-job briefings. "This is not enough, of course, to meet the ever-increasing demands," says Flothmann. At higher levels senior managers often lack a specialist education in logistics and supply chain management. According to Hoberg, "Many executives have risen due to their professional experience, but lack the ability to provide leadership in logistics at a strategic level".RecommendationsMcKinnon, Hoberg and Flothmann propose various measures to address the global shortage in logistics skills. There needs to be a substantial increase in the amount of time and resource devoted to logistics training at all levels. The nature of this training can also be modified to make it more appealing and effective. The researchers support the use of practical learning experiences. "Business games and simulations offer employees the possibility to make decisions themselves and observe their effects," explains Hoberg. "They can be used not only to train employees, but also to inspire school pupils to work in the logistics industry." Hoberg and Flothmann have developed such a strategy game that makes supply chain management come alive in the classroom.The Report also recommends the transfer of knowledge and best practice from developed to developing countries. Flothmann, for example, believes that In upskilling their logistics workforces other countries could benefit from adopting a dual training apprenticeship scheme similar to that operating in Germany. Professional associations, such as BVL in Germany and CILT in the UK, have a key role to play in improving the attractiveness of the logistics profession to potential recruits, increasing training capacity and certifying logistics skills.Governments can also exert significant influence, particularly in developing countries, by facilitating multi-stakeholder initiatives, providing advice and funding and using their education and procurement policies to promote logistics training. The package of initiatives needs to be tailored to both the level of economic development and the relative maturity of the countrys logistics market.A Tool Kit for GovernmentsIn a follow-up project, the KLU has developed a tool kit that governments can use to assess the availability of logistics skills in a country and the state of its logistics education and training. It also provides tailored advice to countries on what they can do to deal with logistics skills shortages. A common theme in this advice is that it will require multi-stakeholder initiatives to address logistics skill deficiencies. As McKinnon explains. "It will need co-ordinated efforts by companies, professional associations, educational institutions and governments to supply this vital sector with the people it needs to meet the economic, environmental and humanitarian challenges of the 21st century.-------------------------------About KLUKuhne Logistics University Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fur Logistik und Unternehmensfuhrung (KLU) is a private university located in Hamburg's HafenCity. The independent, state-certified university focuses on the areas of logistics and management. With one BSc and four MSc degree programs, a PhD program, and a part-time Executive MBA, KLU offers its 275 full-time students a high level of specialization and excellent learning conditions. In open, customized management seminar series, industry specialists and managers benefit from the application of academic findings to practical issues.KLU has an international team of 23 professors who teach in English. The programs are oriented toward students from Germany and abroad. Research at KLU is concentrated on the Key Competence Areas of Digital Transformation, Creating Value, and Sustainability for the benefit of transportation, global logistics, and supply chain management.The most recent Handelsblatt rankings identify KLU as one of the leading research universities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland based on research output per professor. In the newest CHE university rankings, KLU obtained the highest ranking in all major criteria.For more information, visit. Or follow us on Twitter: @THE_KLU.Press contact:Kristina BrummerPR ManagerPhone: +49 40 32 87 07-152Weitere Informationen:The report "Logistics competences, skills, and training: A Global Overview" can be downloaded from the World Bank website. The project was managed by Christina Busch of the World Bank and done with the support of the UK Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.Quelle: idw http://www.dagstuhl.de/17332 http://www.dagstuhl.de/no_cache/en/about-dagstuhl/news/detail/meldung/664/ Trends in big data are exposed when groups of data items or sets are visualized. In August, scientists from around the world met at Schloss Dagstuhl, the Leibniz Center for Informatics, to discuss and propose solutions for the most pressing challenges in visualizing large data sets.---"Humans think in categories. Therefore, set visualizations are cognitively appropriate representations to help better understand the world." Sara Irina Fabrikant, Professor of Geography, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandSchool children learn basic mathematical concepts using simple set visualizations like Venn diagrams. These work well for 2 or 3 sets. However, new and more powerful techniques are required to handle big data. For instance, depicting Facebook friends, likes and posts as intersecting shapes can help people to understand social networks, but the dataset is large and dynamic."Set visual analytics over time, space and other dynamic data is the future." Silvia Miksch, Professor of Visual Analytics, TU Vienna, AustriaThe assembled scientists from 12 countries and 4 continents tackled challenging research questions that will improve the state-of-the-art in set visualization. Talks from leading experts provided an overview of the field from different perspectives including: algorithms, user studies and artificial intelligence. The presenters were from universities, research institutes and tech companies like Yahoo and Facebook. These talks were drivers for fruitful discussions on how to meet the demands of large and complex real-world data.Silvia Miksch (TU Vienna, Austria) overviewed the large number of recent developments in set visualization methods. Martin Krzywinski (Genome Sciences Centre, Canada), who co-authors a monthly column for the Nature Methods magazine, discussed challenges in understanding biological data, and his personal approach to visualization. Sara Fabrikant (University of Zurich) examined how set visualization is used in Geographic Information Systems. Stephen Kobourov (University of Arizona, USA) investigated the use of virtual maps (see Figures by Yifan Hu), where sets are represented as countries, and showed that such a familiar metaphor creates more intuitive and memorable visualizations. John Howse (University of Brighton, UK) discussed the theoretical side of set visualization and how such diagrams can help humans understand mathematical reasoning.During the week, a number of interdisciplinary working groups explored specific set visualization challenges in detail. For example, one working group focused on the analysis of set systems that evolve over time and how to best show that progression in interactive visual displays. A second group started developing a new software tool to visualize sets automatically using an idea similar to the Venn diagrams known from primary school. This will be much more accurate than current methods and will be applicable to a bigger volume of data. A third group looked at representing sets of items (e.g. movies) as a metro map where each metro line is a category (e.g., a genre of movies). A fourth group devised novel methods to visualize the human genome to help geneticists identify alterations in the genome due to life-threatening illnesses. The fifth group explored methods to overlay set data on maps (for example the Figure by Wouter Meulemans) by easily distinguishable shapes.The Dagstuhl-Seminar was organized by: Yifan Hu (Yahoo! Research New York, US) Luana Micallef (Aalto University, FI) Martin Nollenburg (TU Wien, AT) Peter Rodgers (University of Kent Canterbury, GB)More information about the Dagstuhl Seminar 17332 "Scalable Set Visualizations" can be found at .Background:During the whole year, Schloss Dagstuhl invites scientists from all over the world to come to northern Saarland in the south west of Germany to debate the newest scientific findings in informatics. More than 3,500 computer scientists from universities, research institutions and industry take part in various scientific events at Dagstuhl each year. Since 2005, Schloss Dagstuhl is a member of the Leibniz Association, which connects 91 leading non-university research institutes and scientific infrastructure facilities all over Germany. Because of their national importance, the federal government and the state governments jointly fund the institutes of the Leibniz Association.For questions, please contact:Michael GerkePhone: +49 681 302 4392Email:We kindly request a specimen copy in the event of publication. Thank you!The included pictures may be used free of charge for the purpose of publishing articles based on this press release, if the author of the respective picture is named. All other rights are reserved by the respective authors of the pictures. A version of the pictures with higher resolution can be downloaded from the press release webpage atWeitere Informationen:Information about the Dagstuhl Seminar 17332 "Scalable Set Visualizations"Press release and links for downloading the picturesQuelle: idw HOUSTON, TEXAS, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE: NX) (Quanex or the Company) today announced that Bill Griffiths, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to participate in a fireside chat discussion at the RBC Capital Markets Global Industrials Conference in Las Vegas, NV on September 14, 2017 at 10:55 a.m. PT (1:55 p.m. ET). A link to the live audio webcast will be available on the Companys website at http://www.quanex.com in the Investors section under Presentations & Events. About Quanex Quanex Building Products Corporation is an industry-leading manufacturer of components sold to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the building products industry. Quanex designs and produces energy-efficient fenestration products in addition to kitchen and bath cabinet components. MORRISTOWN, N.J., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Majesco (NYSE:MJCO), a global provider of core insurance software and consulting services for insurance business transformation has been invited to present at the 2017 Gateway Conference, which is being held on September 6-7, 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco. Majescos management is scheduled to present on Wednesday, September 6 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, with one-on-one meetings held throughout the conference. The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay in the Investor Relations section of Majescos website at www.majesco.com or on the Gateway Conference website at www.gateway-conference.com/presenters. To receive additional information, request an invitation or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please email gateway@liolios.com. About the Gateway Conference The 6th Annual Gateway Conference is an invite-only conference presented by Liolios, which brings together the most compelling companies with the nations top institutional investors and analysts. This years event features more than 100 companies from a number of growth industries, including technology, business and financial services, consumer, digital media, clean technology and life sciences. The format has been designed to give attendees direct access to senior management via company presentations, Q&A sessions and one-on-one meetings. For more information, visit www.gateway-conference.com or www.liolios.com. About Majesco Majesco enables insurance business transformation for approximately 150 global customers by providing technology solutions which include software products, consulting and IT services. Our customers are carriers from the Property and Casualty, Life, Annuity and Group insurance segments worldwide. Majesco delivers proven software solutions and IT services in the core insurance areas such as policy administration, billing, claims, distribution and analytics. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.majesco.com, or call 1-973-461-5200. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Petrocapita Income Trust (CSE:PCE.UN) (Petrocapita or the Trust) announces that the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE) and substantially all of the holders of Warrants (the Warrants) have approved the consolidation (the Consolidation) of the common trust units (the Common Trust Units) of the Trust on the basis of one whole new Common Trust Unit for every existing one hundred Common Trust Units, effective as of August 31, 2017 and reset of the Warrant terms as set out in a press release dated July 27th, 2017. Additionally, the CSE has waived a name change required under its Policy 9. In connection with the Consolidation, the reset of the Warrant terms includes extension of the expiry date of certain warrants and the re-pricing of such Warrants (the Warrant Amendment), which were issued in connection with Petrocapitas previously announced private placement of 8% secured convertible debentures (the Convertible Debentures). Details related to the offering of Convertible Debentures to date and the Consolidation have been filed with the Canadian Securities Exchange (www.theCSE.com) and under Petrocapitas profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Consolidation Following the Consolidation, the Trust will have 11,097,481 Common Trust Units outstanding. No fractional Common Trust Units were issued pursuant to the Consolidation and any fractional units that would have otherwise been issued were rounded up to the nearest whole number. Petrocapita will retain the same name and ticker symbol subsequent to the Consolidation but will have new CUSIP and ISIN numbers. New certificates will be issued to all unitholders of record by the Trusts transfer agent. Warrant Amendment Pursuant to the Warrant Amendment, the expiry date of the Warrants issued in conjunction with the Convertible Debentures will be extended from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2020, the maturity date of the Convertible Debentures, provided that the expiry date of any Warrants that were issued prior to December 31, 2015 shall be extended to the date that is 5 years from the date such Warrants were issued. In addition, the Warrants will be re-priced so that the exercise price of the Warrants shall be 1.10 times the average closing price, or the midpoint between the closing bid and ask on days where no trading occurs, of the Common Trust Units on the Canadian Securities Exchange for the most recent 20 trading days at the time of the Warrant Amendment. The Warrant Amendment is expected to occur 20 trading days subsequent to August 31, 2017, the effective date of the Consolidation. However, if, following the Warrant Amendment, the closing price of the Common Trust Units exceeds the amended exercise price by the applicable private placement discount prescribed by the Canadian Securities Exchange for any 10 consecutive trading days, the expiry date of the Warrants shall be amended to 30 days. The amended expiry date shall be announced by press release and the 30 day period will commence 7 days from the end of the 10 day period. Following the Consolidation, the Trust will have approximately 4,458,300 Warrants outstanding. No fractional Warrants will be issued pursuant to the Consolidation and any fractional units that would have otherwise been issued will be rounded up to the nearest whole number. The re-pricing of the Warrants has been approved by substantially all of the warrant-holders and the Canadian Securities Exchange. About Petrocapita Petrocapita Income Trust is a Specified Investment Flow Through trust developing and acquiring heavy oil production and infrastructure assets in the Lloydminster area of east central Alberta and west central Saskatchewan through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Petrocapita Oil and Gas L.P. and Petrocapita Processing L.P. Petrocapita owns and/or operates 445 gross (426.3 net) oil wells, 91 gross (22 net) gas wells, 19 produced water disposal facilities, 3 custom oil processing facilities, 4 natural gas compressor stations, 72.75 km in pipelines, oil well service rigs, fluid haul tractors and trailers, and well site processing equipment. It is seeking accretive opportunities to acquire both oil production and complimentary midstream assets during a cyclical low in the oil and gas markets. This release is not an offer of securities of the Trust for sale in the United States. The Common Trust Units and Warrants of the Trust have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Common Trust Units and Warrants may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from such registration. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION: Certain statements and information contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information as defined under applicable securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements relate to future events or Petrocapita's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "contemplate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "propose", "might", "may", "will", "shall", "project", "should", "could", "would", "believe", "predict", "forecast", "pursue", "potential" and "capable" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to: the occurrence of the Consolidation and the Warrant Amendment; the intention of the Trust to retain the same name and ticker symbol; the extension of the expiry date of the Warrants; the re-pricing of the Warrants; and required approvals from the Canadian Securities Exchange and the warrant holders to complete the Consolidation and the Warrant Amendment. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations conveyed by any forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this news release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: Petrocapitas continued operations, the anticipated benefits of the Consolidation and the Warrant Amendment, the continued offering of the Convertible Debentures, and the receipt of required approvals from the Canadian Securities Exchange and the warrant holders. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risks related to: the Consolidation and the Warrant Amendment are not approved by the Canadian Securities Exchange and the warrant holders; the anticipated benefits of Consolidation and the Warrant Amendment are not realized; volatility in market prices and demand for crude oil; general economic, market and business conditions; difficulties encountered in the development and production of Petrocapita's reserves; difficulties encountered in the upgrading and/or operation of Petrocapita's facilities; the loss of key personnel; the failure to realize the benefits of upgrading Petrocapita's facilities; the inability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to meet current and future obligations; the inability to obtain required debt and/or equity capital on acceptable terms or at all; changes in tax law or other adverse regulatory, royalty or tax changes; diversion of management to manage unforeseen business or operating issues; current global financial conditions. Readers are cautioned that the risk factors set forth above should not be construed as exhaustive. Additional information on risks, uncertainties and factors that could affect the foregoing forward-looking information and/or Petrocapita's operations or results therefrom is included in its filings with the securities commissions which have been filed under Petrocapita's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what Petrocapita's management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Petrocapita cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to Petrocapita. Petrocapita cautions readers not to place undue reliance on Petrocapita's forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Petrocapita assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. French English Revenue of 1.4 billion, lower by (8%) at constant exchange rates and (7%) at historical exchange rates Government Programs and Machine-to-Machine acceleration in the second quarter after a slow start Acquisition of 3M's Identity Management Business well received by customers Profit from operations at 93 million, with 50 million of free cash flow 425 million goodwill impairment charge as a result of deteriorated prospects for the removable SIM market To better assess past and future performance, the income statement is presented on an adjusted basis and variations in revenue figures above and in this document are at constant exchange rates except where otherwise noted (see page 2 "Basis of preparation of financial information"). Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable IFRS measures and should be read only in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements. Reconciliation with the IFRS income statement is presented in Appendix 1. The statement of financial position is prepared in accordance with IFRS, and the cash position variation schedule is derived from the IFRS cash flow statement. All figures in this press release are unaudited. Amsterdam, September 1, 2017, at 12:00am - Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 - GTO), the world leader in digital security today announces its results for the first semester 2017. Key figures of the adjusted income statement Year-on-year variations ( in millions) First semester 2017 First semester 2016 at historical exchange rates at constant exchange rates Revenue 1,393 1,495 (7%) (8%) Gross profit 502 586 (14%) Operating expenses (409) (415) (1%) Profit from operations 93 172 (46%) Profit margin 6.7% 11.5% (4.8 ppt) Philippe Vallee, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In the second quarter, Gemalto's year-on-year base of comparison in the US Payment business was at its most challenging level, reflecting the on-going adjustments in US EMV demand. In addition the removable SIM business deteriorated faster than we expected. As a result, the Company's first semester results were disappointing. Looking ahead, Gemalto expects to generate year-on-year stable revenue in the second semester supported by an acceleration in its Enterprise, Government Programs and Machine-to-Machine businesses leading to the outlook announced in July. The priorities that I have set for the teams are to rapidly integrate the newly acquired Identity Management Business, successfully execute the first actions of the transition plan and focus our investments on offers that are key to our clients' digital transformation." Basis of preparation of financial information Segment information The Mobile segment reports on businesses associated with mobile cellular technologies including Machine-to-Machine, mobile secure elements (SIM, embedded secure element) and mobile Platforms & Services. The Payment & Identity segment reports on businesses associated with secure personal interactions including Payment, Government Programs and Enterprise. The acquisition of 3M's Identity Management business in May 2017 is part of the Government Programs business. In addition to this segment information the Company also reports revenues of Mobile and Payment & Identity by type of activity: Embedded software & Products (E&P) and Platforms & Services (P&S). Historical exchange rates and constant currency figures The Company sells its products and services in a very large number of countries and is commonly remunerated in other currencies than the Euro. Fluctuations in these other currencies exchange rates against the Euro have in particular a translation impact on the reported Euro value of the Company revenues. Comparisons at constant exchange rates aim at eliminating the effect of currencies translation movements on the analysis of the Group revenue by translating prior-year revenues at the same average exchange rate as applied in the current year. Revenue variations are at constant exchange rates and include the impact of currencies variation hedging program, except where otherwise noted. All other figures in this press release are at historical exchange rates, except where otherwise noted. Adjusted income statement and profit from operations (PFO) non-GAAP measure The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and with section 2:362(9) of the Netherlands Civil Code. To better assess its past and future performance, the Company also prepares an adjusted income statement where the key metric used to evaluate the business and make operating decisions over the period 2010 to 2017 is the profit from operations (PFO). PFO is a non-GAAP measure defined as IFRS operating profit adjusted for (i) the amortization and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions, (ii) restructuring and acquisition-related expenses, (iii) all equity-based compensation charges and associated costs; and (iv) fair value adjustments upon business acquisitions. These items are further explained as follows: Amortization, and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions are defined as the amortization, and impairment expenses related to intangibles assets and goodwill recognized as part of the allocation of the excess purchase consideration over the share of net assets acquired. Restructuring and acquisitions-related expenses are defined as (i) restructuring expenses which are the costs incurred in connection with a restructuring as defined in accordance with the provisions of IAS 37 (e.g. sale or termination of a business, closure of a plant,.), and consequent costs; (ii) reorganization expenses defined as the costs incurred in connection with headcount reductions, consolidation of manufacturing and offices sites, as well as the rationalization and harmonization of the product and service portfolio and the integration of IT systems, consequent to a business combination; and (iii) transaction costs (such as fees paid as part of an acquisition process). Equity-based compensation charges are defined as (i) the discount granted to employees acquiring Gemalto shares under Gemalto Employee Stock Purchase plans; (ii) the amortization of the fair value of stock options and restricted share units granted by the Board of Directors to employees; and the related costs. Fair value adjustments over net assets acquired are defined as the reversal, in the income statement, of the fair value adjustments recognized as a result of a business combination, as prescribed by IFRS3R. Those adjustments are mainly associated with (i) the amortization expense related to the step-up of the acquired work-in-progress and finished goods assumed at their realizable value and (ii) the amortization of the cancelled commercial margin related to deferred revenue balance acquired. These non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable IFRS measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. In the adjusted income statement, Operating Expenses are defined as the sum of Research and Engineering expenses, Sales and Marketing expenses, General and Administrative expenses, and Other income (expense) net. EBITDA is defined as PFO plus depreciation and amortization expenses, excluding the above amortization and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions. Net debt and net cash Net debt is a non IFRS measure defined as total borrowings net of cash and cash equivalents. Net cash is a non IFRS measure defined as cash and cash equivalents net of total borrowings. Adjusted financial information The interim condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union. To better assess its past and future performance, the Company also prepares an adjusted income statement. First semester 2017 First semester 2016 Extract of the adjusted income statement in millions As a % of revenue in millions As a % of revenue Year-on-year variations at historical exchange rates at constant exchange rates Revenue 1,392.8 1,495.2 (7%) (8%) Gross profit 501.9 36.0% 586.3 39.2% (3.2 ppt) Operating expenses (409.1) (29.4%) (414.6) (27.7%) (1.6 ppt) EBITDA 163.3 11.7% 239.3 16.0% (4.3 ppt) Profit from operations 92.8 6.7% 171.7 11.5% (4.8 ppt) Net profit (excl. non-controlling interests) 39.4 2.8% 106.4 7.1% (4.3 ppt) Basic Earnings per share () 0.44 1.20 (64%) Diluted Earnings per share () 0.44 1.19 (63%) Total revenue for the first semester 2017 came in at 1,393 million, lower by (7%) at historical exchange rates and (8%) at constant exchange rates. Gross profit was lower by 84 million, at 502 million. The reduction in gross profit for the Payment, SIM and related services was partially offset by the increase from the other businesses. Gross margin was 36%, lower by 3 percentage points year-on-year, as the operating leverage of Payment business and Mobile segment were not fully realized during the semester. Operating expenses were down, by (5) million, at (409) million through tight control of expenses in Payment and SIM businesses while the Company continued to invest in the growing businesses. As a result, profit from operations was 93 million. The acquired Identity Management Business contributed 1.5 million in profit from operations since May 1. Gemalto's financial income was (11) million compared to (23) million in the first semester of 2016. This 11 million improvement came mainly from a non-cash currency impact related to the change in classification of equity securities. Impairment of associates was a positive 10 million due to a change in the market capitalization of an associate. As a result, adjusted profit before income tax came in at 93 million. Adjusted income tax expense was (54) million in the first semester of 2017 compared with (29) million one year ago. This (26) million expense increase mainly reflects the estimated non-cash deferred tax asset reduction following Gemalto's 2017 profit from operations outlook revision. Excluding this non-recurring impact, the adjusted income tax expense would have been (12) million and the adjusted income tax rate would have been 13% for the first semester. This exceptional charge has no impact on the expected normative adjusted effective tax rate going forward. Overall, the adjusted net profit of the Company was 39 million. Consequently, adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at 0.44. Excluding the non-recurring tax asset reduction, the adjusted basic earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at 0.91 and 0.90 respectively. IFRS results Amortization and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions increased by (439) million to (468) million. Most of this increase came from the previously announced (425) million one-off non-cash impairment, resulting from the deteriorated prospects for the removable SIM market, mainly in relation to the goodwill generated upon the IPO of Axalto in 2004 and the Axalto-Gemplus merger in 2006. To a lesser extent the increase also came from the newly acquired Identity Management Business. Restructuring and acquisition-related expenses increased by (23) million to (37) million due to the first actions of the transition plan, the implementation of a new information system (ERP) and business combination costs. Gemalto equity-based compensation expense came in at (20) million. Fair value adjustment related to the non-cash amortization of the IFRS revaluation of SafeNet's pre-acquisition deferred revenue accounted for (1) million for the first semester 2017 compared to (2) million for the same period last year. As a result, excluding the non-cash impairment, Gemalto recorded 0.43 million for the first semester of 2017 in its IFRS operating profit compared to 108 million a year ago. The income tax expense for the first semester at (41) million is mainly composed of a non-cash deferred tax asset reduction following Gemalto's revised profit from operations outlook. Excluding these non-recurring item, the impairment expenses and the anticipated restructuring expenses, the effective tax rate of the Company is expected to be at the normative level for the full year 2017. The IFRS net result is at (473) million for the first semester of 2017 and the IFRS basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share for the first semester 2017 are (5.27) and (5.25) respectively. Excluding the impairments and deferred tax asset reduction, the basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share are 0.01. Statement of financial position and cash position variation schedule In the first semester of 2017, operating activities generated a cash flow of 121 million before changes in working capital, lower compared to 177 million in 2016. Changes in working capital reduced cash flow by (1) million, less than during the same period of 2016. Cash used in restructuring actions and acquisition related expenses increased by (7) million to (23) million compared with the first semester of 2016 due to the optimization of operation footprint and resources as well as implementation of a new information system. Capital expenditure and acquisition of intangibles represented a net cash outflow of (68) million, i.e. 4.9% of revenue compared to (75) million, i.e. 5% for the same period of last year. Purchase of Property, Plant, and Equipment reduced by 9 million down to (25) million and acquisition & capitalization of intangibles came in at (43) million. As a result, in the first semester of 2017, the Company generated free cash flow of 50 million compared to 64 million for the same period of 2016. Acquisitions used (761) million in cash as the Identity Management Business acquisition was closed during the first semester of 2017. Gemalto's share buy-back and liquidity programs generated a (0.5) million net cash outflow for the first semester of 2017. As at June 30, 2017, the Company held 496,796 shares, i.e. 0.5% of its own shares in treasury. The total number of Gemalto shares issued increased by 495,175 this semester, to 90,423,814 shares. Net of the 496,796 shares held in treasury, 89,927,018 shares were outstanding as at June 30, 2017. On May 18, 2017, Gemalto paid a cash dividend of 0.50 per share in respect of the fiscal year 2016, up +6% on the dividend paid in May 2016 which was of 0.47 per share. This May 2017 distribution used 45 million in cash. Net proceeds from financing instruments generated a 334 million cash inflow, mainly from drawdown of commercial paper, issuance of private placements and borrowings. Cash in hand, net of bank overdrafts amounted to 236 million as at June 30, 2017. Considering the 1,074 million total amount of borrowings as at June 30, 2017, Gemalto's net debt position increased to 838 million compared to a net debt position of 334 million as at June 30, 2016. The (505) million variation is related to the use of cash for the acquisition of 3M's Identity Management Business, partially offset by the Company cash flow generation during the last twelve months. Segment information Revenue variations are expressed at constant currency exchange rates unless otherwise noted. Year-on-year variations and currencies impact ( in millions) Payment & Identity Mobile Total two main segments Patents & Others Total Second quarter Revenue 471 269 740 2 742 At constant rates (7%) (12%) (9%) +49% (9%) At historical rates (7%) (10%) (8%) +49% (8%) During the second quarter, revenue decreased by (8%) at historical exchange rates and (9%) at constant exchange rates. Payment & Identity segment revenue was lower by (7%) at constant exchange rates. The decrease of the Payment business was partially offset by the increase in Government Programs and Data Encryption business line in the second quarter. The Mobile segment revenue was lower by (12%) at constant exchange rates in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 2016 due to the revenue decrease in the removable SIM business and Mobile Platforms & Services activity. Year-on-year variations and currencies impact ( in millions) Payment & Identity Mobile Total two main segments Patents & Others Total First semester Revenue 875 516 1,391 2 1,393 At constant rates (8%) (10%) (8%) +45% (8%) At historical rates (7%) (7%) (7%) +45% (7%) As a percentage of total revenue 63% 37% 100% 0% 100% Overall, for the first semester of 2017, the Payment & Identity segment contribution remained unchanged, compared with the same period of last year, at 63% of total Company revenue. Contribution by activity First semester 2017 Embedded software & Products Platforms & Services Total two main segments Patents & Others ( in millions, variations at constant exchange rates) Revenue 937 453 1,391 2 Year-on-year revenue growth (9%) (8%) (8%) +45% As a percentage of revenue 67% 33% 100% 0% In the first semester of 2017, Embedded software & Products were reduced by (9%) due to lower SIM sales to mobile network operators and payment cards in Americas. Platforms & Services activity decreased by (8%) at constant exchange rates, representing 33% of total Company revenue. This is mainly due to the on-going normalization of the US EMV market which reduced the level of issuance services as well as the decline in the Mobile Platforms & Services activity. Profit from operations ( in millions) Total (including Patents & Others) Payment & Identity Mobile First semester 93 81 16 As a percentage of the total profit from operations 100% 87% 18% First semester profit from operations came in at 93 million as the operating leverage for the Payment and SIM businesses has not been fully realized over the semester. The contribution of the Payment & Identity segment for this semester is 87% of the total profit from operations. Based on the first semester revenue trends in Payment and removable SIM, Gemalto has launched in April a transition plan which is expected to contribute over 50 million to profit from operations annually. Since then, the Company has started to align its capacity, footprint and resources to long-term US EMV market demand. The Company has also initiated the shut-down of a sub-business line activity as a first result of its portfolio review in order to align itself with its long-term priorities. The Company continues to work on business efficiency and portfolio streamlining. The expected in-year transition plan impact is around 15 million in 2017. Payment & Identity First semester 2017 First semester 2016 Year-on-year variations in millions As a % of revenue in millions As a % of revenue at historical exchange rates at constant exchange rates Revenue 875.0 936.8 (7%) (8%) Gross profit 332.8 38.0% 374.0 39.9% (1.9 ppt) Operating expenses (252.0) (28.8%) (255.8) (27.3%) (1.5 ppt) Profit from operations 80.8 9.2% 118.2 12.6% (3.4 ppt) Payment & Identity's first semester revenue came in at 875 million, lower by (8%) at constant exchange rates compared to the same period in 2016. The segment's Embedded software & Products sales were at 532 million and its Platforms & Services sales at 343 million, lower by (8%) and (6%) year-on-year respectively. The Payment business was lower by (19%) at 414 million. Sales in Americas decreased by (37%) year-on-year during the first semester versus +33% a year ago. This is due to the on-going return to normalized inventory levels of US EMV cards at Gemalto's customers coupled with a soft market environment in Latin America. Payment Embedded software & Products sales were lower by (18%) and Payment Platforms & Services revenue decreased by (19%) compared to the first semester of 2016. Furthermore, Gemalto is currently regrouping its Mobile Financial Services offers with its eBanking offers to better align the digital banking and payment offers in light of the European Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2) initiative. Revenue from the Enterprise business came in at 217 million for the first semester of 2017, stable at historical exchange rates and down (1%) at constant exchange rates. The Data Encryption business line grew by 6% during the semester. Authentication and Software Monetization revenues fell due to the shift to cloud and software services subscription models. To meet the market demand for cybersecurity solutions, the Enterprise business is increasing its investments to expand its services portfolio in this growing sector. The Government Programs business was up +11%, at 243 million. Government Programs' Embedded software & Products revenue sales expansion was +15% year-on-year, and its Platforms & Services sales were up +1% year-on-year. The acquired Identity Management Business contribution in the second quarter was 22 million, more than offset the decline in the organic portion of Government Platforms & Services activity which had grown by +30% in the first semester of 2016. Project backlog continued to expand during the first semester. Overall, the Payment & Identity segment's gross margin came in at 38%, lower by (1.9) percentage points compared to the first semester of 2016 as the operating leverage in the Payment business was not fully realized due to the revenue decrease. Operating expenses were 4 million lower at (252) million in the first semester of 2017, despite increased investment in the Enterprise business and the addition of the acquired Identity Management Business. This was largely due to a tightening of operating expenses in the Payment business. As a result, profit from operations in Payment & Identity for the first semester 2017 came in at 81 million and profit from operations margin at 9.2%. Mobile First semester 2017 First semester 2016 Year-on-year variations in millions As a % of revenue in millions As a % of revenue at historical exchange rates at constant exchange rates Revenue 515.6 556.8 (7%) (10%) Gross profit 167.9 32.6% 212.0 38.1% (5.5 ppt) Operating expenses (151.5) (29.4%) (153.1) (27.5%) (1.9 ppt) Profit from operations 16.4 3.2% 58.9 10.6% (7.4 ppt) The Mobile segment posted revenue of 516 million for the first semester of 2017. Revenue was lower by (7%) at historical exchange rates compared to the same period of 2016. Embedded software & Products sales for the segment came in at 405 million, lower by (9%) at constant exchange rates. SIM sales decreased by (17%) at 239 million for the first semester partly due to lower market share in a more competitive landscape as mobile network operators continue to shift their investments from removable SIMs to focus on next generation connectivity. This evolution was also coupled to soft demand in regions affected by stricter subscription registration processes. SIM sales now represent only 17% of total Company revenue in the first semester. The Machine-to-Machine business accelerated in the second quarter, up +15% year-on-year, leading to revenue growth of +7% at 166 million in the first semester of 2017. New design wins recorded during the period will support further business acceleration in the second semester. The Platforms & Services revenue for the Mobile segment was lower by (12%) in the first semester of 2017 at 111 million. The revenue decline is mainly due to lower activity in Mobile Financial Services. Excluding Mobile Financial Services, the Mobile Subscriber Services business line grew by +2%. Since the adoption of GSMA specifications related to embedded SIMs (eSIMs) remote activation and management, Gemalto's Mobile Subscriber Services business has made significant progress with recent project wins in both the machine-to-machine and consumer markets with clients such as Microsoft, Lenovo Connect, AT&T and Telefonica. Gross margin for the Mobile segment decreased to 32.6% this semester. This is due to operating leverage not being fully realized as a consequence of lower activities in removable SIM and Mobile Platforms & Services combined with an expansion in the historically lower gross margin Machine-to-Machine business. Operating expenses decreased to (151) million this semester from (153) million in the first semester of 2016. This reflects double-digit reduction of the removable SIM business operating expenses while investment continued in Machine-to-Machine and in next generation connectivity. As a result, the Mobile segment's profit from operations for the first semester of 2017 was 16 million. Patents & Others First semester 2017 First semester 2016 Year-on-year variations in millions As a % of revenue in millions As a % of revenue at historical exchange rates at constant exchange rates Revenue 2.2 1.5 +45% +45% Gross profit 1.2 56.7% 0.4 24.6% - Operating expenses (5.7) - (5.7) - - Profit from operations (4.5) - (5.4) - - The Patents & Others segment, generated 2 million in revenue in the first semester of 2017, versus 1.5 million in the first semester of 2016. Operating expenses were stable, and profit from operations came in at (4) million in the first semester of 2017. Additional information Below is a highlight of new contracts and achievements published by the Company in the first semester of 2017 Outlook Looking ahead, compared with the same period of last year, the second quarter double digit revenue decreases in Payment in Americas and the SIM business are anticipated to continue for the second semester. These reductions should be offset by the expected revenue acceleration in Enterprise, Machine-to-Machine and Government Programs including the acquired Identity Management Business, leading to stable Company revenue for the second semester year-on-year. Taking into account these revenue trends, the operating leverage of Payment and SIM businesses will not be realized as expected. The effect of the transition plan announced in April will start contributing materially towards the end of the year. Gemalto estimates its 2017 second semester profit from operations to be between 200 million and 230 million, leading to an expected full year profit from operations between 293 million and 323 million. Live Audio Webcast and Conference call Gemalto first semester 2017 results presentation will be webcast in English today at 3pm Amsterdam and Paris time (2pm London time and 9am New York time). This listen-only live audio webcast of the presentation and the Q&A session will be accessible from our Investor Relations web site: www.gemalto.com/investors Questions will be taken by way of conference call. Investors and financial analysts wishing to ask questions should join the presentation by dialing: (UK) +44 203 367 9462 or (US) +1 855 402 7762 or (FR) +33 1 7077 0935 The accompanying presentation slide set is also available for download on our Investor Relations web site. Replays of the presentation and Q&A session will be available in webcast format on our Investor Relations web site approximately 3 hours after the conclusion of the presentation. Replays will be available for one year. The semi-annual report, including the interim condensed consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2017, is available on our investor web site (www.gemalto.com/investors). Reporting calendar Third quarter 2017 revenue will be reported on Friday October 27, 2017, before the opening of Euronext Amsterdam. Gemalto will organize a Strategy Day for the financial community in the course of the first semester 2018. Stock Exchange Listing Gemalto N.V. is dual listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Paris, in the compartment A (Large Caps). Mnemonic: GTO Exchange Dual listing on Euronext Amsterdam and Paris Market of reference Euronext Amsterdam ISIN Code NL0000400653 Reuters GTO.AS Bloomberg GTO:NA Gemalto has also established a sponsored Level I American Depository Receipt (ADR) Program in the United States since November 2009. Each Gemalto ordinary share is represented by two ADRs. Gemalto's ADRs trade in U.S. dollar and give access to the voting rights and to the dividends attached to the underlying Gemalto shares. The dividends are paid to investors in U.S. dollar, after being converted into U.S. dollar by the depository bank at the prevailing rate. Structure Sponsored Level I ADR Exchange OTC Ratio (ORD:DR) 1:2 DR ISIN US36863N2080 DR CUSIP 36863N 208 Investor Relations Corporate Communication Media Relations Agency Winston Yeo M.: +33 6 2947 0814 winston.yeo@gemalto.com Isabelle Marand M.: +33 6 1489 1817 isabelle.marand@gemalto.com Suzanne Bakker M. : +31 6 1136 8659 suzanne.bakker@citigateff.nl Jean-Claude Deturche M.: +33 6 2399 2141 jean-claude.deturche@gemalto.com Sebastien Liagre M.: +33 6 1751 4467 sebastien.liagre@gemalto.com This press release contains inside information as referred to in article 7 paragraph 1 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation). About Gemalto Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2016 annual revenues of 3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world. From secure software to biometrics and encryption, our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between. Gemalto's solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software - enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things. Our 15,000+ employees operate out of 112 offices, 43 personalization and data centers, and 30 research and software development centers located in 48 countries. For more information visit www.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter. This communication does not constitute an offer to purchase or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to sell or exchange any securities of Gemalto. This communication contains certain statements that are neither reported financial results nor other historical information and other statements concerning Gemalto. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, events, products and services and future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates" and similar expressions. These and other information and statements contained in this communication constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of applicable securities laws. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and security holders are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of the Company, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by the forward-looking information and statements, and the Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this communication include, but are not limited to: trends in wireless communication and mobile commerce markets; the Company's ability to develop new technology and the effects of competing technologies developed; effects of the intense competition in the Company's main markets; challenges to or loss of intellectual property rights; ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in its major businesses; ability to develop and take advantage of new software, platforms and services; profitability of the expansion strategy; effects of acquisitions and investments; ability of the Company to integrate acquired businesses, activities and companies according to expectations; ability of the Company to achieve the expected synergies from acquisitions; and changes in global, political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory forces. Moreover, neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this communication speak only as of the date of this communication and the Company or its representatives are under no duty, and do not undertake, to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results, to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results or otherwise except as required by applicable law or regulations. Appendix 1 Reconciliation from Adjusted financial information to IFRS Six-month period ended June 30 2017 ( in thousands) Adjusted financial information Amortization and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions Restructuring and acquisition-related expenses Equity-based compensation charge and associated costs Fair value adjustment upon business acquisitions IFRS financial information Revenue 1,392,842 - - - - 1,392,842 Cost of sales (890,920) (43,580) (11,692) (5,172) (1,042) (952,406) Gross profit 501,922 (43,580) (11,692) (5,172) (1,042) 440,436 Operating expenses (409,147) (424,671) (24,940) (14,662) (873,420) Profit from operations 92,775 Operating profit (468,251) (36,632) (19,834) (1,042) (432,984) Financial income (11,420) (11,420) Share of profit / (loss) from associates 1,773 1,773 Non-recurring profit / (loss) relating to associates 10,105 10,105 Income Tax (54,262) (41,225) Net profit adjusted 38,972 (473,751) Non-controlling interests (459) (459) Net profit excluding non-controlling interests 39,431 (473,292) Number of shares Basic 89,837 89,837 Number of shares Diluted 90,195 90,195 EPS Basic () 0.44 (5.27) EPS Diluted () 0.44 (5.25) *Adjusted from deferred tax asset reduction **Adjusted from impairments and deferred tax asset reduction EPS Basic () *0.91 **0.01 EPS Diluted () *0.90 **0.01 The first semester 2017 adjusted basic earnings per share is determined on the basis of the weighted average number of Gemalto shares outstanding during the six-month period ended June 30, 2017, i.e. 89,836,968 shares. The first semester 2017 adjusted diluted earnings per share is determined by using 90,194,882 shares corresponding to the IFRS treasury stock method, i.e. on the basis of the same weighted average number of Gemalto shares outstanding and considering that all outstanding share based instruments were exercised (892,434 instruments) and the proceeds received from the instruments exercised (29,179,802) were used to buy-back shares at the average share price of the first semester 2017 (534,520 shares) at 54.59. Six-month period ended June 30 2016 ( in thousands) Adjusted financial information Amortization and impairment of intangibles resulting from acquisitions Restructuring and acquisition-related expenses Equity-based compensation charge and associated costs Fair value adjustment upon business acquisitions IFRS financial information Revenue 1,495,161 - - - - 1,495,161 Cost of sales (908,836) (29,223) (6,365) (2,123) (1,635) (948,182) Gross profit 586,325 (29,223) (6,365) (2,123) (1,635) 546,979 Operating expenses (414,614) (7,709) (16,963) (439,286) Profit from operations 171,711 Operating profit (29,223) (14,074) (19,086) (1,635) 107,693 Financial income (22,679) (22,679) Share of profit / (loss) from associates 3,576 3,576 Non-recurring profit / (loss) relating to associates (16,887) (16,887) Income Tax (28,512) (13,172) Net profit adjusted 107,209 58,531 Non-controlling interests 787 787 Net profit excluding non-controlling interests 106,422 57,744 Number of shares Basic 88,320 88,320 Number of shares Diluted 89,340 89,340 EPS Basic () 1.20 0.65 EPS Diluted () 1.19 0.65 Appendix 2 Interim consolidated statement of financial position ( in thousands) June 30, December 31, 2017 2016 ASSETS Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment, net 323,563 329,448 Goodwill, net 1,495,291 1,561,666 Intangible assets, net 815,024 564,588 Investments in associates 11,577 48,011 Other investments 40,609 - Deferred income tax assets 63,981 111,467 Other non-current assets 77,219 64,554 Derivative financial instruments 8,352 - Total non-current assets 2,835,616 2,679,734 Current assets Inventories, net 258,317 244,962 Trade and other receivables, net 961,443 1,027,215 Derivative financial instruments 36,972 11,404 Cash and cash equivalents 238,593 663,517 Total current assets 1,495,325 1,947,098 Total assets 4,330,941 4,626,832 Equity Share capital 90,424 89,929 Share premium 1,308,279 1,291,795 Treasury shares (23,202) (29,042) Fair value and other reserves 3,735 (59,872) Cumulative translation adjustments (20,027) 74,265 Retained earnings 784,971 1,303,176 Capital and reserves attributable to the owners of the Company 2,144,180 2,670,251 Non-controlling interests 2,477 5,196 Total equity 2,146,657 2,675,447 Liabilities Non-current liabilities Borrowings 724,883 557,518 Deferred income tax liabilities 136,853 120,109 Employee benefit obligations 132,356 133,136 Provisions and other liabilities 106,561 121,480 Derivative financial instruments 471 12,604 Total non-current liabilities 1,101,124 944,847 Current liabilities Borrowings 351,908 173,088 Trade and other payables 678,752 715,767 Current income tax liabilities 22,287 31,383 Provisions and other liabilities 26,556 17,332 Derivative financial instruments 3,657 68,968 Total current liabilities 1,083,160 1,006,538 Total liabilities 2,184,284 1,951,385 Total equity and liabilities 4,330,941 4,626,832 Appendix 3 Cash position variation schedule Six-month period ended June 30 in millions 2017 2016 Cash and bank overdrafts, beginning of period 663 405 Cash generated by operating activities, before changes in working capital 121 177 Net change in working capital (1) (43) Cash used in restructuring actions and acquisition related expenses (23) (16) Net cash generated by operating activities before Time de-correlated hedging effect / (Prepaid derivatives) 97 117 Time de-correlated hedging effect / (Prepaid derivatives) 21 22 Net cash generated by operating activities 118 139 Capital expenditure and acquisitions of intangibles (68) (75) Free cash flow 50 64 Interest received 1 1 Cash used by acquisitions (761) (3) Currency translation adjustments (7) 1 Cash generated (used) by operating and investing activities (717) 64 Cash generated (used) by the liquidity and share buy-back program (0) 0 Dividend paid to Gemalto shareholders (45) (42) Net proceed (repayment) from/of financing instruments 334 (22) Interest paid (2) (2) Other cash provided (used) by financing activities 3 (2) Cash and bank overdrafts, end of period 236 400 Current and non-current borrowings excluding bank overdrafts, end of period (1,074) (734) Net (debt), cash, end of period (838) (334) Appendix 4 Revenue, by region Year-on-year variations First semester in millions First semester 2017 First semester 2016 at constant exchange rates at historical exchange rates Europe, Middle East and Africa 636 635 1% 0% Americas 469 593 (24%) (21%) Asia 288 267 6% 8% Total revenue 1,393 1,495 (8%) (7%) Year-on-year variations Second quarter in millions Second quarter 2017 Second quarter 2016 at constant exchange rates at historical exchange rates Europe, Middle East and Africa 349 336 5% 4% Americas 247 319 (25%) (23%) Asia 146 149 (3%) (2%) Total revenue 742 804 (9%) (8%) Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ec9c9caf-47bc-4df9-9998-dc63087b02b1 NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guggenheim Investments, the investment management division of Guggenheim Partners, today announced that the following Guggenheim exchange traded funds (ETFs) have declared distributions. The table below summarizes the distribution for each ETF. Distributions Schedule Ticker Exchange Traded Fund Name Ex-Date Record Date Payable Date Total Rate Per Share GSY Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration ETF1 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0663 GTO Guggenheim Total Return Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0582 BSCH Guggenheim BulletShares 2017 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0229 BSCI Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0257 BSCJ Guggenheim BulletShares 2019 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0308 BSCK Guggenheim BulletShares 2020 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0348 BSCL Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0398 BSCM Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0422 BSCN Guggenheim BulletShares 2023 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0454 BSCO Guggenheim BulletShares 2024 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0509 1 Effective June 30, 2017, the funds name was changed to Guggenheim Ultra Short Duration ETF. Please see the funds prospectus for more details. Distributions Schedule Ticker Exchange Traded Fund Name Ex-Date Record Date Payable Date Total Rate Per Share BSCP Guggenheim BulletShares 2025 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0459 BSCQ Guggenheim BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0491 BSJH Guggenheim BulletShares 2017 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0408 BSJI Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0738 BSJJ Guggenheim BulletShares 2019 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0890 BSJK Guggenheim BulletShares 2020 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.0953 BSJL Guggenheim BulletShares 2021 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.1004 BSJM Guggenheim BulletShares 2022 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.1168 BSJN Guggenheim BulletShares 2023 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.1225 BSJO Guggenheim BulletShares 2024 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF 09/01/17 09/06/17 09/08/17 $ 0.1103 Past performance is not indicative of future performance. To the extent any portion of the distribution is estimated to be sourced from something other than income, such as return of capital, the source would be disclosed on a Section 19(a)-1 letter located on the Funds website under the Literature tab. Distributions may be comprised of sources other than income, which may not reflect actual fund performance. For more information, please visit http://www.guggenheiminvestments.com/products/etf. About Guggenheim Investments Guggenheim Investments is the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners, with $237 billion1 in total assets across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies. We focus on the return and risk needs of insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, consultants, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors. Our 275+ investment professionals perform rigorous research to understand market trends and identify undervalued opportunities in areas that are often complex and underfollowed. This approach to investment management has enabled us to deliver innovative strategies providing diversification and attractive long-term results. This material is not intended as a recommendation or as investment advice of any kind, including in connection with rollovers, transfers, and distributions. Such material is not provided in a fiduciary capacity, may not be relied upon for or in connection with the making of investment decisions, and does not constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities. All content has been provided for informational or educational purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be construed as legal or tax advice and/or a legal opinion. Always consult a financial, tax and/or legal professional regarding your specific situation. Read a funds prospectus and summary prospectus (if available) carefully before investing. It contains the funds investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information, which should be considered carefully before investing. Obtain a prospectus and summary prospectus (if available) at http://guggenheiminvestments.com or call 800.820.0888. The referenced funds are distributed by Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC. Guggenheim Investments represents the investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC (Guggenheim), which includes Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC ("GFIA") and Guggenheim Partners Investment Management (GPIM), the investment advisors to the referenced funds. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, is affiliated with Guggenheim, GFIA and GPIM. BulletShares, BulletShares USD Corporate Bond Index, and BulletShares USD High Yield Corporate Bond Index are trademarks of Guggenheim Index ServicesSM and have been licensed for use by Guggenheim Investments. Guggenheim Index Services is an affiliate of Guggenheim Investments. 1 Guggenheim Investments total asset figure is as of 06.30.2017. The assets include leverage of $11.3bn for assets under management and $0.4bn for assets for which we provide administrative services. Guggenheim Investments represents the following affiliated investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC: Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, Security Investors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, Guggenheim Real Estate, LLC, GS GAMMA Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited, and Guggenheim Partners India Management. BLOOMINGTON A Bloomington man's request for a new trial in a 2008 stabbing death was denied Thursday while the judge described the victim as "a general aggressive pain in the rear" the night he was killed. Kendall Gunn, now 26, is serving 35 years in prison for stabbing Shane Freidman-Howard, 20, during a party on the city's west side. Defense lawyer Kelly Harms laid out several reasons why Gunn was allegedly denied a fair trial, including advice he received from former Public Defender Amy Davis that he not testify at his trial after she told jurors at least twice that they could expect to hear from Gunn. Harms said Gunn relied on Davis, a seasoned lawyer, for advice but his silence before the jurors "hurt Mr. Gunn immensely." Failure by the defense to call Titus Brockman, a person who attended the party, to testify also hurt Gunn's case, said Harms. "He gives more to the story," Harms said of the potential testimony about the victim's aggressive actions with a knife he brought to the party. Special prosecutor Charles Zaler argued that Gunn acknowledged during his trial that he understood the decision to testify rested with him and not with his lawyer. Regrets about that decision are "20-20 vision all the way," said Zaler, noting the jury was instructed not to consider the defendant's choice against testifying. Brockman's story offers no substantial new evidence, added Zaler. He "didn't see the stabbing or who had the knife in his hand," said Zaler. The testimony from Brockman, an inmate in a Missouri prison, was an 11th hour pitch raised by the defense, said Zaler. In his ruling granting the state's motion to dismiss Gunn's petition for a new trial, Judge Charles Feeney III acknowledged the victim "was acting like a jerk that night. He brought the knife to the party." What happened during a scuffle between Gunn and Freidman-Howard when the victim was stabbed three times is what matters and would not be addressed by testimony from Brockman, said Feeney. "He wouldn't have told us what happened at the key moment between the defendant and Mr. Howard," said Feeney. Harms said Gunn plans to appeal the ruling. BLOOMINGTON Kirk Zimmerman withdrew his request Thursday for a refund of half his bond to pay for experts to aid his defense on murder charges in the death of his ex-wife. Zimmerman is charged with the November 2014 murder of Pam Zimmerman, 53, who was found shot to death in her east side Bloomington office. Defense lawyer John Rogers offered no reason for withdrawing the request for $100,000 of Zimmerman's bond, but Zimmerman's listing of his home on Park Ridge Road may provide a new source of money for legal expenses. The four-bedroom home is listed for $224,000. The defense request for a bond refund sparked questions from the state about the finances of the defendant, his former girlfriend Kate Arthur and Zimmerman's son, David. Zimmerman, 59, has been on home confinement since he was released in November 2015 after spending about four months in jail. A reduction of his $5 million bond to $2 million allowed him to post the $200,035 needed for his release. Judge Scott Drazewski denied two state motions Thursday that asked him to reconsider previous rulings that bar statements and a photo lineup of suspects from being introduced at Zimmerman's unscheduled trial. First Assistant State's Attorney Adam Ghrist argued that exclusion of statements related to the Zimmermans divorce harm the state's case. "The repercussions of the ruling is the state's inability to pursue true motive evidence," said Ghrist. Drazewski ruled in July that only two statements sought by prosecutors are admissible as evidence. But remarks from more than a dozen witnesses who allegedly heard Pam Zimmerman express fear of her former husband are not proper for the jury to hear, the judge ruled. In response to Ghrist's arguments on Thursday, Drazewski said, "I'm not trying to tell each side how to try your case. I'm telling you what evidence will be admissible." The attorneys and judge also had informal discussions on a potential trial date, but nothing was decided. That question is expected to be considered an Oct. 24 hearing that also will include several pending pre-trial motions. BLOOMINGTON Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Thursday sweeping changes to the way the state funds schools, calling it a historic day that will bring "more equality, more fairness and better opportunity for all the students of Illinois." "We are achieving an historic event to get more resources, more support, more excellence for your classrooms, for your education, and to support your teachers," Rauner told students at Bloomington High School, where he visited earlier in the day. He signed the bill at an Edison Park elementary school. Besides distributing state aid more equitably, the long-sought deal the Legislature approved this week gives districts more flexibility on state mandates, allows residents in well-funded districts to reduce their property taxes and creates a new tax credit for donations to private school scholarships. It also provides more than $430 million in new funding to Chicago Public Schools. That's roughly $150 million more than the amount Rauner stripped from an earlier plan and railed against as a "bailout." Asked Wednesday about the turnaround, the Republican said the measure is a compromise and includes "many of the goals I recommended." State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican and minority leader, said Rauner spearheaded the bill despite the governor's work against Senate Bill 1, which remains the backbone of the law. In Bloomington, Rauner explained the landmark bill to about 75 students, spoke about what didn't make it in and lauded Republican lawmakers on hand, including Brady, state Sen. Jason Barickman of Bloomington who helped shape the deal and state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington. BHS Principal Tim Moore said the new model will provide for adequacy and equity for all schools while immediately targeting those that need it most. Bloomington District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly and Mark Daniel, who holds the same job for Normal-based McLean County Unit 5, praised that part of the bill but said they have concerns about establishing private school scholarship tax credits when public schools still need more funding. When asked whether the tax credits mean vouchers state funds for parents to send their kids to private schools are next, Rauner did not answer. Instead, he discussed tax increment financing (TIF) districts, a government funding mechanism to be studied by a commission as part of the bill. Rauner said he hoped to address the districts directly in the proposal but couldn't. TIF districts divert property tax revenue from governmental bodies, including school districts, to spur economic development. That revenue then isn't counted in a district's property tax base, which Rauner has said is unfair because it allows communities to set aside TIF money and also get more state education funding to make up for it. The Normal Town Council on Monday will consider an ordinance for the 2022 property tax levy estimated to be $13,381,652, which is the same as last year's levy. HEYWORTH State officials are taking action to ensure the owners of a Heyworth mobile home park clean up bacterial contamination in its water supply. The owners say that work started months ago, but delays in approval from state officials has slowed the project. Country Lane Mobile Home Park is located about two miles north of Heyworth and has about 30 homes. In late spring, we had a water line get vandalized in one of our vacant lots, said owner John Theobald. Our plumber said that it appeared that the riser coming up out of the ground had been yanked out and water was spewing everywhere. The line was fixed, but a water sample tested positive for bacteria. Because of the positive coliform test, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recorded a violation and requested information on how it will be fixed. We responded that we would like permission to install a permanent chlorination system so this can never happen again, Theobald said. They received the information about the system at the end of July, but never responded to us. The water samples were coming back clean and we assumed it was a one-time event from the broken water line. We then waited on the approval. Last week, the EPA informed Theobald that there was a new positive E.coli test result and they were going to begin the process of forcing them to install a chlorinator. Theobald was told that because of the most recent positive test, the previously planned project was considered null and void, but steps would be taken to move the project forward quickly, he said. As part of the rush, they are required to bring in a court order and inform the public, but it is frustrating because we had everything in place to go forward with the chlorination project, but were waiting on the proper approval from the state, which never came, he said. A temporary chlorinator is now in place, he said. If there is bacteria in the system, it will be killed immediately. Meanwhile, the planned permanent chlorination system should be installed this week. But we are still waiting for the EPA to approve it, he said. A boil order has been in place since the initial problem was reported, and several local organizations, including the McLean County Health Department and McLean County Emergency Management Agency, have assisted residents of the mobile home park. The Illinois EPA through the Illinois Department of Public Health contacted us to see if we could bring some water to those residents for bathing, baking, brushing teeth and that kind of stuff, said Lisa Slater, a spokeswoman for the McLean County Health Department. We worked with county administration and Emergency Management, who worked with the Salvation Army to get water to the residents. Illinois EPA officials have asked the Attorney Generals office for the court order that would require the mobile home park to continue to distribute bottled water until bacteria-free samples are obtained, continue the boil order, and get a new chlorination system approved and installed as quickly as possible. PONTIAC A year after heavy rains forced the cancellation of the annual Central States Threshermens Reunion in Pontiac, organizers nervously watched as Hurricane Harvey hit land Friday. At that time, the storm was on track to creep northward, and there were concerns that, under the right conditions, its remnants could impact Central Illinois. The second oldest antique tractor show in the nation, which will run Thursday through Monday, attracts about 15,000 visitors each year to Threshermens Park, 2 miles north of Pontiac on Illinois 23. It includes a parade Sunday through downtown Pontiac. Yeah, I was keeping my eye on it and listening to the weather reports, said Dave Herz, the president of the event's board of directors. But it seems like the high pressure system kept it from moving much and it is mostly going to stay south. For the first time in the 68-year history of the event, officials had to cancel last year after heavy rains in the previous week left the grounds too muddy. Only the parade went on as planned. Last year was just one of those things, Herz said. We couldnt fool Mother Nature, but this year, it is back to normal and we are doing the same things that we have been doing in the past. The reunion began in 1949, the result of the work of Dan Zehr, an implement dealer in Pontiac who wanted to acquaint a younger generation with the romance of the old steam-powered threshing days and give old-timers a chance to reminisce. Since tradition is one of the hallmarks of the reunion, Herz said that, despite last years cancellation, not much is different. This year, its back to normal, Herz said. We are doing the same things we have always done in the past. This week, we are in the mode of preparation, but once the opening ceremonies on Thursday are behind us, we will be in full swing. "Im excited," he said. "Ive been doing this for a long time and you take the week before in stride and then just enjoy it once it starts. Each year, a specific tractor is featured. John Deere tractors were supposed to be featured last year but because of the cancellation, they will be featured this year. Massey-Ferguson tractors will also be featured, said Bill Carroll, a board member who oversees the gas tractors portion of the show. I think the real interesting thing we have this year is that Roof Mowers will also be added because at one time, there was a factory in Pontiac that manufactured them, he said. There arent too many still around, however there is a club here of people associated with Roof Mowers and so we hope we have a good turnout of those machines. There were only about 200 of the rare Roof Palominos made in the Roof factory in Pontiac in the 1960s. Made to look like miniature Jeeps, they cost about $1,000 new, about the same as a new car at the time, and could go about 25 mph. I think we are going to have a great event and hopefully, make up for some of what we lost last year, Carroll said. ORANGE, Texas (AP) A weaker Harvey replicated its devastating roll Wednesday, returning to shore with a deluge of rain that inundated homes and highways and left police and government officials struggling to pluck people from the water. The Texas-Louisiana border bore the brunt of Harvey's second coming, this time as a tropical storm. It caused a repeat of the flooding endured by Houston, its suburbs and nearby beach towns when it made first landfall last week as a Category 4 hurricane before meandering back to the Gulf of Mexico. It has dumped up to 50 inches of rain in spots, leaving more than 20 dead. But as Houston got its first glimpses of sunlight in days, areas to the east that had already seen rain were waking up to even more and to waterlogged homes. Orange, Texas, resident Mike Henry said he went to bed Tuesday with water only in his yard. He woke up to rain falling so hard it sounded like a "power washer." And then it quickly started seeping into his house. "I kept marking it on the wall, every 15 minutes," Henry said. It leveled off at 1 foot (30 cm). A neighbor delivered him, his longtime girlfriend, Rose Marie Carpenter, and her dog, Maggie May, to dry ground first in a truck, and then in a boat. They were trying to figure out what to do next as they waited along Interstate 10, where ambulances were taking the medically fragile to Louisiana. But many on the freeway didn't want to head there because they wouldn't take dogs. Carpenter uses a wheelchair, and Henry said he wasn't sure where they would go. Some motorists were stranded along elevated I-10 for nearly 24 hours after they pulled off the freeway, but couldn't re-enter when the ramps flooded. In Orange, more than two dozen vehicles including a news truck clustered around a closed convenience store when they could not return to the freeway. Erin Gaudet of nearby Beaumont, Texas, said she went home to pick up her kitten, then they spent the night in her SUV. She said she plans to name the kitten Harvey. Police in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, were recruiting anyone with boats to help check neighborhoods for potential rescues, with one meeting point for available vessels at a Walmart. Authorities said that instead of calling 911, many people were trying to seek help via social media, adding to the chaos. But Anna McKay, of Orange, said she tried calling 911 for help, but nobody answered. Neighbors helped bring her and 12 other people who had sought refuge in her home to a Baptist church on higher ground. There, people were planning to cook food they salvaged from their freezers after homeowners shut off their own power to avoid fires. Florida Wildlife Commission agents and soldiers with the Louisiana Army National Guard evacuated eight residents and three employees from the Golden Years retirement home in Orange. Most of the gray brick structure is one story, although staff took residents to a small second-story area as the water on the ground floor rose to thigh level. "I was just wondering if it was going to get any higher," said resident Madison Selph, 87. He said he could tell water had stopped rising this morning by looking at a shed across the parking lot. Rescuers carried the residents out one-by-one, floating them to high-clearance National Guard trucks on an airboat. Three who were too weak to stand were lifted onto a mattress in the back of a truck. The other five got their pajama bottoms wet as they were helped into a second truck, shivering in the still-gusty wind as they sat on metal benches. "It's cold and I don't know where I'm going," a female resident said at one point, as the truck growled and jolted along a flooded Texas highway. The storm came ashore again before dawn Wednesday just west of Cameron, Louisiana, bringing maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (72 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Harvey had dumped rain as it lingered over Texas for days. Low-lying southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana are far more rural than the 6-million-plus Houston area and are home to many of the nation's oil refineries, including the biggest in the U.S. in Port Arthur. Motiva Enterprises closed the refinery because of flooding. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city and spilled into a storm shelter with about 100 people inside. At least 13,000 people have been rescued in the Houston area and surrounding cities and counties, yet more people were still trying to escape from their inundated homes. Weakened levees were in danger of failing, even as a less-ferocious but still potent Harvey returned to shore. Authorities expected the human toll to continue to mount, both in deaths and in the tens of thousands of people made homeless by the catastrophic storm that is now the heaviest tropical downpour in U.S. history. In all, more than 17,000 people have sought refuge in Texas shelters, and that number seemed certain to increase, the American Red Cross said. -- Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Michael Graczyk in Houston, Diana Heidgerd and David Warren in Dallas, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed to this report. Oliver Printing & Packaging Acquires Pohlig Packaging Pohlig Packaging is a manufacturer of folding cartons, micro-fluted corrugated boxes and setup boxes, serving the food, grocery, consumer products, healthcare and health & beauty markets. August 31, 2017 - Oliver Printing & Packaging Company, a leading provider of print, display and packaging services, announced the recent acquisition of Pohlig Packaging, a packaging manufacturer based in Richmond, Virginia. Pohlig Packaging is a manufacturer of folding cartons, micro-fluted corrugated boxes and setup boxes, serving the food, grocery, consumer products, healthcare and health & beauty markets. Pohlig Packaging is on the cutting edge of the packaging business and has a strong regional and specialty focus that will allow us to expand our in-house packaging capabilities, customer base and end markets, said George Oliver, president of Oliver Printing & Packaging Company. Our companies are highly complementary with similar customer-centric cultures, which further enhances the quality and value of our combined services. Mike Gaffney, managing partner of Pohlig Packaging, We are thrilled to join forces with Oliver Printing & Packaging Company. Together, we will be able to better serve our combined customer base with additional resources, equipment and capabilities. Mike Gaffney, Jim Petit and the management team will continue to lead and operate the Richmond facility. For additional information about Pohlig Packaging, please visit pohlig.com Headquartered in Twinsburg, Ohio, Oliver Printing & Packaging Company is a leading provider of highly customized, quick turnaround printed marketing, packaging and point-of-sale solutions for a diverse customer base. To learn more, please visit: www.oliverprinting.com SOURCE: Oliver Printing & Packaging Company I grew up in a Republican family. It was the party of Lincoln, my parents told me. They didnt mention that it was also the party of Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms. When I took U.S. history courses in college, I was fascinated by trying to untangle exactly what happened. When did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, and why? Whenand whydid white voters in the South make the opposite journey? In looking up something completely different yesterday, I learned that there is still an operating segregationist academy supported by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist group. It is named Carroll Academy and is located in Carroll County, Mississippi. Curious, I googled Carroll County and stumbled upon a record of the countys presidential election results from 1912 to to 2016. Im not sure Ive ever seen changing political allegiances in the South illustrated better than they are here. Lets take this from the top, shall we? During the 1850s, the Whig Party fell apart over slavery. The Republican Party, founded in 1854, quickly took its place. The Republican Party was the party of free soil, and the South quickly became solidly Democrat. During Reconstruction, freed blacks voted overwhelmingly Republican. Southern whites resisted Reconstruction and began a sustained (and successful) campaign to end the black vote. After this, the South remained a Democratic bastion for nearly a century. Remember, during this period African Americans were largely disenfranchised in Mississippi, so Carrol Countys voting population would likely have been entirely whiteand voting in high margins for the Democratic Party. Something curious happened in 1948: Thats right, in 1948 the county went 92.8% for a third partythe Dixiecrats. In some sense, the white population of Carroll Countys first allegiance was to white supremacy, not the Democratic Party. When Harry Truman desegregated the military and began making other moves in support of civil rights, southern whites bolted. They formed their own political party, the Dixiecrats, and voted for Strom Thurmond (you remember himhe later became a Republican). What happened in the 1950s? Lets have a look. The elections of 1952 and 1956 pitted Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson. In 1952, nearly one-third of voters in Carroll County pulled the lever for Eisenhower, the highest percentage a Republican candidate received there since Reconstruction. This was likely due in part Eisenhowers status as a popular WWII general who transcended political party (interestingly, he was listed as an independent on the Mississippi ballot). In 1956, the Eisenhower vote was halved; the remainder went to an unpleged slate of electors put forward by the white supremacist Citizens Council. What happened next? Good question. If you just asked yourself What the blazes happened here? youre not alone. Lots of things happened, but, in sum, the majority of voters in Carroll County decided to vote for the Citizens Councils unpledged slate of electors. Democratic candidate John F. Kennedys Catholic faith may have played some role; most white Mississippians were Protestant, and often rabidly anti-Catholic. Whatever the reason, in the 1960 presidential election, the Carroll County vote went to the white supremacist electors. The next election, things got even weirder. Is your jaw on the floor? If it isnt, it should be. How did a Deep South state that hadnt gone Republican since Reconstruction suddenly, with no warning, vote over 95% Republican? What witchcraft is this?! Well. It wasnt witchcraft, and it wasnt a polling malfunction. It was Barry Goldwater. Andto be fairit was also Lyndon B. Johnsons Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1954 on July 2 of that year. Barry Goldwater, soon to be nominated the Republican Partys presidential candidate, voted against this bill, arguing that federal protections for civil rights undermined states sovereignty. Southern whites approved, and voted en masse for Goldwater. For the first time since Reconstruction, a Republican won the Southand, and a terrible irony that would have had Lincoln spinning in his grave, he did so by opposing federal protections for civil rights. Are you noticing a theme? If white southern voters stopped voting for Democratic presidential candidates because those candidates started supporting the civil rights movementand started voting for Republican presidential candidates because these candidates stopped supporting protections for civil rightsperhaps white southerners didnt change parties. Perhaps it was the parties that changed. Hold on, though, because were not done with third parties. In 1968, white supremacist George Wallace ran as an independent. Once again, the white voters of Carroll County hopped on board, throwing the county to a white supremacist candidate or electoral slate for the third time since WWII (first in 1948, then in 1960, and now in 1968). The switch from Democrat to Republican, in other words, came through a bumpy process dotted with independent white supremacist candidates. Why didnt Wallace get 95% of the vote, as Thrumond did in 1948 and Goldwater in 1964? That would be the result of a pesky little thing called the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The number of voters in Carroll County jumped from 2,141 in 1964 to 3,194 in 1968 without any substantive increase in population. The increase was in franchise, not in people. Did those new African American voters vote Republican? No. No they did not. It is quite possible that the entire Democratic vote in Carroll County in 1968 was comprised of newly enfranchised African Americans. The number of individuals who voted for Wallace2,131was essentially identical to the total number of votes (all white) cast in Carroll County in the previous presidential election; in theory, all of the white voters in the county may have cast their ballots for Wallace. And rememberin 1968, the Democratic Party ran Hubert Humphrey, the lead author of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Back in 1948, the year Carroll County voters bolted to the Dixiecrats, Humphrey managed to insert an anti-segregation pledge into the Democratic Party Platform and gave a speech at the National Democratic Convention calling on Democrats to to get out of the shadow of states rights and to walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights. He wasnt exactly the kind of guy who appealed to white southern voters. In 1972, for the second time in eight years, the Carroll County vote went Republican. While the percentage of Carroll County voters going Democrat decreased slightly from 29% to 24%, the total number of votes cast decreased as well, down to 2,424. This may indicate a lower amount of interest in the electionMississippi as a whole saw a decline in voter turnoutor it may indicate some form of voter suppression. Theres something more important to note, thoughfar right-wing John Birch Society member John Schmitz, who ran on the same ticket George Wallace had a year before, captured a small proportion of the vote. Unlike in 1968, nearly all of the countys white vote went instead to the Republican candidate, incumbent law and order president Richard Nixon, well known for his dog whistling and race baiting. Nixons actions between his election in 1968 and his reelection in 1972 appealed to white southerners. White southerners initially responded to Democratic support for civil rights by fielding white supremacist candidates or slates, but as time went on this became unnecessary: voting for Republican candidates would get them the same results. Before anyone objects, let me note that by this time Strom Thurmond, the Souths 1948 white supremacist Dixiecrat Party candidate, was himself a Republican. Still, for all this, Carroll County had one more Democratic vote left in it. Why? While Jimmy Carter was a strong supporter of civil rights, he was also a southern evangelical who got his start as a Georgia peanut farmer. While I dont have a racial breakdown for Carroll Countys results, national election results would suggest that only squeaked out his bare majority in the countybeating Ford by 0.2%by winning the overwhelming majority of the countrys black vote. Indeed, it was the black vote in the South that pushed Carter over the edge nationally. Since 1980, Carroll County has gone to the Republican in every presidential election. Reagan won the majority of the Carroll County vote in 1980 by only a hairsbreadththe same was true throughout the Southbut from 1984 to the present, the Republican presidential candidate has won over 60% of the vote in the county in every election save two. In 1992 and 1996, Carroll County went for the Republican candidate by a lower margin, likely reflecting the southern origins and mannerisms of Bill Clinton. While I had trouble finding historical statistics, the population of Carroll County, Mississippi, is roughly one-third African American today. You can see that reflected in the consistent one-third of the vote the Democratic presidential candidate receives in Carroll County each year. Oh, certainly, some 10% of African Americans vote Republican, and some number of white voters are pulling the lever for Democrats. Still, the racial divide in southern party politics remains tenacious: In 2012, Barack Obama won less than 20% of the white vote in nearly every Mississippi county. Weve covered how southern Democrats became Republicanswhat about how African American voters became Democrats? When the doors slammed shut on southern suffrage during the Jim Crow era, only African Americans living in the North could vote. Vote they did, and almost always for Republicans. But this was not to last. In every presidential election since 1936, the majority of African American voters have cast ballots for the Democratic candidate. Theres another way to examine this transition. During Reconstruction, every African American elected to the U.S. House and Senate was a Republican. No African Americans were elected to Congress between 1900 and 1928, when Oscar De Priest of Chicago, Illinois, was elected for the first of three consecutive terms. In 1934, Arthur Mitchell, also African American, ran against De Priest as the Democratic candidate for the same seat, and won. For the next 32 years, every black U.S. Representative and Senator ran as a Democrat. I have seen some conservatives suggest that African Americans only started voting for Democrats because of the New Dealin other words, they wanted handouts. The reality wasnt so simple. Michell defeated De Priest in part because the local mayor had begun to court black voters by appointing African Americans to positions in government. In Rising Tide, historian John Barry suggests that President Herbert Hoover, a Republican, went back on key promises to African American leaders, which played a significant role in losing Republicans the black vote. The change was multifaceted. Even if African Americans had initially begun voting for Democratic candidates only because they wanted the government to do more to alleviate their hardship during the Great Depression, what happened next was important: Democrats began to court the black vote by making gestures of support for civil rights. In response, southern Democrats began to jump ship for independent white supremacist candidates. At some point, Republican strategists saw an opportunity and began courting southern segregationists. This in turn made black voters feel less welcome in the Republican Party. While the Republican Party Platform of 1960 supported school desegregation, the Republican Party Platform of 1964 called for resisting efforts which endanger local control of schools and opposed the abandonment of neighborhood schools, for reasons of race, a reference to school busing and other efforts to combat the resegregation of public schools through white flight. Indeed, the platform referred to such efforts as inverse discrimination. The Democratic Party Platform of 1964, meanwhile, condemned the Ku Klux Klan. The parties were changing, and and that change was not mere window dressing. In the South, participation in the Democratic Party had long been limited to white voters. In 1964, civil rights activists organized to change this, taking their complaints to the national Democratic Party leadership. In response, President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, re-enfranchizing African Americans after nearly a century. Southern politicians like Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, longterm segregationists, found that they were more comfortable in a Republican Party that increasingly stood for states rights and local control, ideas that were often code for things like ending federal oversight of school desegregation. In some sense, what played out was a cycle that fed on itself and ended only when the two groupsAfrican Americans and southern whiteshad fully switched parties. But these groups would never have changed allegiances if the parties themselves had not changed, courting this group or that and shaped by one or the other in return. In this way the party of Lincoln became the party of Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms. I have a Patreon! Please support my writing! The sights, smells and flavors of Oaxaca debut in Gowanus Friday evening with the opening of Claro, a new restaurant from Chad Shaner and JT Stewart of nearby Freeks Mill and TJ Steele of El Buho Mezcal. The trio will be offering a menu highlighting the distinct flavors of the Mexican state, cooking things like goat that's steamed in avocado leaves on the grill in the backyard, which is decorated with tiles designed by Oaxacan artist Franciso Toledo. (You'll spot them in other parts of the restaurant as well.) The dishes are also served on hand-made pottery by artist Francisco Martinez Alarazon, who also operates out of Oaxaca. The aforementioned barbacoa is dry rubbed with salt and spices, then wrapped in avocado leaves to steam on the grill. Steele says he traveled the region to learn to make the dish, which is finished in duck fat and served with a consomme created from the steaming liquids. Memelasfried corn cakes crafted from heirloom corn, another hallmark of the restaurantcome topped with heritage pork rib and quesillo. There are also lighter seafood dishes including a king salmon ceveche and a lobster tostada served with a tamalley aioli and sweet corn. The bar program focuses on mezcal, obviously, from the brand Steele founded over a decade ago. Cocktails ($12) include the Casa Famosa with anejo mezcal, chamomile syrup, pimento dram and bitters and a selection of three different micheladas, like one made with Tecate, salsa verde, lime and a pink pepper rim. 284 Third Avenue, Gowanus, (347) 721-3126; clarobk.com Claro Opening Menu by Nell Casey on Scribd Patna: More meetings, more grand announcements before previously-announced schemes could even take off from the ground, the much-touted mono-rail case in point, the state government on Wednesday gave green signal to a Rs. 3000 crore bridge to be built parallel to the existing Gandhi Setu on the River Ganges. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at a meeting of the Road Construction Department, okayed plan to build a road bridge on the river as a replacement of the existing bridge that, according to some experts, is a disaster waiting to happen. The detailed project report (DPR) for the four-lane road/bridge to be named Nutan Mahatma Gandhi Setu between Zero Mile mark in Patna and Ramashish Chowk in Hajipur has been completed and ready to be sent to the Central government, officials said. In view of the annual damage to the roads in North Bihar caused by perennial flooding situation, Kumar said that future roads should be built by following the principles of 'cross drainage' so minimal damage is inflicted on roads prone to flooding each Monsoon season. Principal Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said that the Revenue and Land Reform Department will soon open special cells to facilitate speedy acquirement of land to build new roads. The Chief Minister also approved the construction of a new ring road around Patna that would start in Bihta and after going through Kaniyawan and Fatuha, cross over to Hajipur using the new bridge to be built. A new 8-kilometer road at the outer limit of the city on the north part of the state capital to be known as 'Ganga Path' would become fully functional by May 2018 that would make life convenient for commuters between Digha and Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Singh said. Other announcements at today's meeting included widening of all state highways into two lanes in next three years and building of new bridges at the Indo-Nepal border. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, Transportation Minister Santosh Kumar Nirala, Development Commissioner Shishir Sinha and a number of top bureaucrats of Road Construction and Transportation Departments were present at the meeting. Patna: Continuing to expose the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) family for being the biggest landlord in the state of Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday made documents available to public that contains information about former RJD legislator Mohammed Shamim and his wife Sofia Tabassum giving away two of their high-priced properties in Danapur to Lalu and Rabri's two sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav. Waving a will apparently prepared by Shamim and his wife, the RJD supporters name former Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and his elder brother and former Health Minister the owners of their two properties after their death. "The two brothers are like my own nephews and we are very pleased with their services. As a reward, I am naming them the owners of the two properties in Danapur following our death. In the event something happens to Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, the properties will go their sons," the will of Shamim read. The will was prepared on May 12, 2005, the same day Shamim and his wife gave power of attorney to former Chief Minister of Bihar Rabri Devi, the mother of Tej Pratap and Tejaswi Yadav Rabri Devi, to take care of the properties. "Until we are alive, these properties would be managed by Mrs. Rabri Devi. After our death, her two sons will be the legal owners of them," the will read. Taking a dig at the RJD family, Modi said that in 2005, the two sons of Lalu and Rabri would be around 15 or 16 years old and the two served Shamim and his wife so well that they just gifted away their properties worth several crore to them as rewards. "It is clear that the land was handed over to the RJD family as a price for getting a seat in the Bihar Legislative Council. What is even more implausible is the fact that Shamim and his wife have three sons of their own and yet, instead of bequeathing the properties to them, they chose Lalu's sons to inherit them," the BJP leader said. The RJD chief, who has been accused by the BJP of being the kingpin of the land mafia in Bihar, has denied all accusations saying the power of attorney was given to his wife in good faith and no other meanings should be attached to it. Meanwhile, reacting to Modi's allegations, Shamim denied any wrongdoing saying he became an MLC in 1998 and his term ended in 2004. "Lalu Prasad Yadav bought the land from me in 2005 so where is this accusation of quid pro quo coming from? I had purchased those two plots at the cost of Rs. 60,000 each which I sold to Rabri Devi for a price of Rs. 1 lakh each. I was paid by a check and I have evidence to prove it. At the time, Rabri Devi did not get the land registered in her name and instead I gave her the power of attorney for their upkeep. As for leaving the properties to the two sons of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi in the event of our death, it is a common practice for the purchaser to ask for such a will when power of attorney is involved. That is why we made Tej Pratap and Tejaswi Yadav the owners of the properties after our death," Shamim said. Iran seeking to develop start-up jobs: Information Minister 08/31/17 Source: Press TV Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology, has said that his most ambitious plan is to develop start-up businesses in Iran, which is highly sought by the young population. "Providing infrastructure for the development of employment is at the top of our agenda, which would be fulfilled by supporting start-up businesses," Azari Jahromi told Press TV on Tuesday (Watch the interview). Waiting for a good year According to the minister, Iran's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology plans to remove barriers to the start-up businesses through facilitating issues related to tax, insurance, investment and copyright. The Islamic Republic of Iran with the population of more than 80 million is experiencing an unemployment rate of nearly 13 percent in 2017. Iranian startup women Azari Jahromi said that "the administration has committed itself under the Sixth Development Plan to create 950,000 jobs annually from which 100,000 jobs should be created in the IT field." He went on to say that the development of the information technology in Iran opens up an opportunity for the youth, who are residing abroad, to bring their creativity and ideas into their own country. Kasapafmonline.com can authoritatively say that maverick politician and MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has submitted evidence to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to back his claim of corruption at the seat of Government, the Flagstaff House. This websites sources at the CID Headquarters say, the firebrand politician on Wednesday afternoon gave details of series of what hes convinced were underhand dealings by some appointees of the President. The CID extended an invitation to controversial musician Kwame A Plus and Hon. Ken Agyepong to substantiate claims of corruption at the Flagstaff House. A Plus has made several allegations suggesting that the deputy Chiefs of Staff at the Flagstaff House Abu Jinapor and Francis Asenso-Boakye extort over 10, 000 Ghana cedis from people hoping to meet the President before a meeting is arranged. Hon. Ken Agyapong backed A Plus allegation claiming that Mr. Jinapor and Asenso Boakye are not the only corrupt officials at the Presidency. Abu Jinapor and Asenso-Boakye are not the only two alleged to be involved in corrupt activities at the presidency, they are many others as well. When I started complaining about the president being surrounded by sycophants and corrupt people I had people calling me to stop making those allegations. I was there and these same people called me back to tell me that they wanted to have access to the president and they were asked to pay $20,000 there about before a meeting can be arranged between them and the president, why should it be so, he said. Communications Director at the Presidency Eugene Arhin in an interview with Morning Starr host Francis Abban Wednesday morning stated that the CID has extended an invitation to A Plus to provide evidence to his claims. He added that a similar invitation will be extended to Mr. Agyepong in the coming days. According to Mr. Arhin, the move by the CID is in line with president Akufo-Addos promise that every allegation of corruption is investigated. Source: kasapafmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Kintampo waterfalls in the Brong Ahafo Region, which is under renovation, will not be opened to tourists in September as was stated by the Ministry of Tourism. Twenty (20) people from the Wenchi Senior High School died in a ghastly accident at the Waterfall, on 19th March,2017, following a rainstorm which eventually led the Tourism Ministry to close the facility for safety audit and renovation. The sector minister, Madam Catherine Afeku, announced the closure of the waterfall on 21st March and said it would be re-opened in September. At the sidelines of a stakeholders meeting at Kintampo on Tuesday, the Acting CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman, said work was ongoing at the Tourist site but could not be opened to the public until the first phase of the project is completed and hoped it could be completed before end of October. "I am impressed on the kind of work the contractors have done so far and I am hopeful they will be able to complete phase 1 of the project before October ends," he told journalists. Mr Agyeman, emphasised that government wants the facility to be safe for tourists so work on the project ought to be done very well to meet the demands of tourists across the world. New Facilities Aside a new management that would steer the affairs of the waterfall, there is a new wall, staircase, changing rooms, ticketing office, infirmary and shops which are under construction. Mr Agyeman believes the aforementioned projects which form the first phase of the ongoing project will make the facility safer and attractive to all manner of persons when completed. Under the second phase of the project, a hotel and other ancillary buildings will be built to accommodate revelers. The leader of the engineers at the site, Captain Adonawura Simmons of the 48 regiment engineers, also disclosed that work was progressing and was optimistic the site will be one of the best and safer waterfalls in Africa after completion. Nana Effah Guakuro, the Chief of Kyeremankoma, the area where the waterfall is located, commended government for its commitment to giving the site a facelift and urged the residents to support government in that regard. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Henryson Okrah Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Audio Attachment: Listen to A.B.A. Fuseini The NDC Member of parliament for Sagnerigu, Hon. A.B.A Fuseini says Peace Council and the Christian Council are gradually losing their credibility. According to him, their long silence on issues in the country is making them spiritually impotent. The member of Parliament who seem excited about the resignation of the embattled Deputy Agric Minister,Hon.William Quaitoo explained that this is the way to go, it will at least serve as a deterrent to other Members of Parliament and Ministers of State who speak any how in public. Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that, these institutions must watch their credibility because they only prefer to issue statement when they are issues of convenience. "They should talk tough to our Ministers and government officials when they go wrong, they should not sit on the fence and only come in when it is convenient for them or the dust is settled," he said. The Minority in Parliament have been demanding the immediate dismissal of Deputy Agriculture Minister, William Quaitoo from the government over disparaging comments he made against northerners. We are demanding that he should, immediately, on his own volition resign as a minister and quit from Parliament, failing which the President must sack him to show his revulsion against such ethnocentric tribal bigotry, the Sagnarigu Member of Parliament, A. B. A Fuseini stated in an interview before Hon. Quiaitoo's resignation. Mr. Quaitoo has since apologized after suggesting farmers in the northern part of the country could not be trusted on claims about the destruction wreaked by the Fall Armyworm on their farms. He intimated that the complaints and calls for compensation were simply a ploy to fleece the government of some money. However, it is good the Deputy Minister has resigned, it will clam tension and nerves within my brothers in the North, but the president should have fired him, he added. Peace Council Wants Ghanaians To Forgive Minister The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, has asked Ghanaians offended by the unguarded tribal comments of the deputy Agric Minister, William Quaitoo to forgive him. In his comments on the matter Tuesday, Prof. Asante urged Ghanaians to let go. We should also know that when somebody says something and the person comes round to say . . . on second thought I think I didnt do the right thing . . . I did not exercise circumspection in what I said so I apologise profusely for whatever words that I used or the way I expressed my ideas, I think it is important for us as human beings to forgive. After all, we are all human, he told Starr News. We all wrong others. But if we hold onto it and claim that no; because this person said it, he has not been circumspective enough; hes insulted me and I am not going to forgive that person, I am going to really give it back to that person, two wrongs dont make one right. And I think it is important for us to also understand that the decent thing any respectable leader will do is that after the person had done something that is wrong and it is pointed out to him, he comes back to realize that I didnt do the right. And then if the person comes to apologise for the wrong thing he did, lets forget and move forward, he added. Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In a move that's alarming immigrant advocates, ICE has asked the federal government to let them speed up its timetable for destroying certain records the agency keeps, including records related to deaths and sexual assaults of people in their custody. Even as the Trump administration ramps up its enforcement against undocumented immigrants, ICE is attempting to cut down the number of years that they keep records related to the treatment of the people they arrest, according to a report from the ACLU. The advocacy group says the National Archives and Record Administration [NARA] has recently given a provisional approval to a request by ICE to destroy records related to deaths and sexual assaults in their custody after twenty years, and reports on the use of solitary confinement after just three years, among other records they keep. ACLU staff attorney Carl Takei told Gothamist that as far as the organization understood, there weren't rules laid out for ICE governing document destruction, because the agency was created relatively recently (ICE was created in 2003, as an arm of the Department of Homeland Security). Takei said that given how long FOIA requests can take, that it's "terrifying to think that there would be retention schedules" for as short as three years. There's also the issue of the reasoning behind the provisional approval, which Takei called troubling. The federal agency ruled that the records ICE is trying to get permission to destroy after a set time "do not document significant actions of Federal officials," according to the ACLU. Takei said that retaining records would ensure "legal and public accountability." As a point of comparison, NARA told Splinter that the Bureau of Federal Prisons disposes of records about in-custody deaths after five years, and that the US Marshals service does so after two years. A spokesperson for the National Archives also told the site that records related to a death investigation would only be permanent if the death was caused by employee misconduct. But in a system that Takei said is "rife with human rights abuses," there's a need for records to last. "For people who've suffered human rights abuses under ICE and sue for redress, they need access to documents about their arrest and detention. If those documents are destroyed in the early stages or before the lawsuit happens, they're gone forever." Takei also said he worried that the new rules would allow the destruction of records that future historians could use to shed light on a time when the Trump administration is promising mass deportations and encouraging prisoner abuse. Since October 1st last year, 10 people have died in ICE custody nationwide. In addition, the ACLU found almost 200 instances of sexual abuse at ICE facilities thanks to a 2011 FOIA request, including 14 at ICE facilities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Now with inexpensive trendy clothing and cool dollar bin items, shoppers at Target can pick up $5 wines. It's still more expensive than Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck. But at $5, it's a steal. The retailer announced that beginning Sept. 3 it will release a line of exclusive wines. Unfortunately the vino will only be available in the 1,100 Target stores nationwide where alcohol is sold. Sorry, that excludes Pennsylvania. So far, Target has not applied for a license to sell booze in the Keystone state. Nonetheless, you can pick up the California Roots wine in Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a red blend in out of state stores. Target has indicated it is pushing to increase alcohol sales in the growing competitive grocery market. Target Chief Merchandising Officer and EVP Mark J. Tritton told Time earlier this year the company plans to expand in more than 100 stores in the second quarter, with more expansions planned for "the third quarter and beyond." "We're out to give our guests even more reasons to love Target--including exclusive products they can't find anywhere else," says Jeff Burt, senior vice president of food and beverage in a press statement. "And we think they're going to love California Roots--these wines are just the right blend of incredible quality and amazing value that guests can expect at Target." Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced charges against 22 suspected heroin dealers in Beaver County on Wednesday. He also announced charges against a man accused of delivering the fentanyl that caused the fatal overdoses of Jonathan Levitt and Jeffrey Haslett in February. Robert "Juice" Goosby, Jr., 27, New Brighton, is charged with two counts of drug delivery resulting in death stemming from the overdoses. Goosby's charges mark the first time that drug delivery resulting in death charge has been used by the Office of Attorney General in Beaver County. "If you sell drugs and someone dies as a result, we're coming after you and you're going to jail," Shapiro said at a press conference at the Beaver County Courthouse. "Selling fentanyl or heroin is like playing Russian roulette. You never know when the bullet is coming." Beaver County has been one of the counties hardest hit by the heroin and opioid epidemic, with a 175% increase in overdose deaths in the last year, according to a news release. The county also ranks third in the state for its opioid fatality rate. Shapiro also announced charges against 22 other suspected drug dealers for selling heroin, cocaine, and heroin in the Beaver County area. The news release called the charges the result of the largest sweep of drug dealers in Beaver County since Shapiro took office in January. The following were charged with delivery of a controlled substance and other drug-related offenses: Pennsylvania's Consumer Protection Law could be gutted if the Commonwealth Court's dismissal of a state deceptive practices lawsuit against a nursing home chain is allowed to stand, Attorney General Josh Shapiro is contending. In a brief newly filed with the state Supreme Court, Shapiro argued that his office will be hamstrung in prosecuting businesses who lie in their advertising unless the high court reinstates the suit against Golden Gate National Senior Care LLC. That firm operates Golden Living nursing homes throughout Pennsylvania. Shapiro's office claims the company deliberately short-staffs its facilities and short-changes their residents. Golden Living's advertising promises services and basic levels of care its facilities simply can't provide, the AG contends. Yet in March, a Commonwealth Court panel dismissed the AG's civil suit alleging unfair trade practices and consumer protection violations and against the chain. That court concluded the statements made in Golden Living's marketing were mere "puffery" and not actionable in court. In its brief to the Supreme Court, Shapiro's office insists that Golden Living deliberately engages in false advertising that goes beyond mere puffery, which involves such hackneyed phrases such as "best in the world" or "strongest known to man." Rather, the AG argues that Golden Living makes specific promises about resident care that it cannot perform because it purposely short-staffs its homes to maximize profits. State investigators contend their probe found "systematic failure" by Golden Living to make good on promises to bathe residents as required, change the soiled bedding and clothes of those who are incontinent, and help those needing assistance to eat. Shapiro is appealing to the Supreme Court to overrule the Commonwealth Court and revive the lawsuit. If not reversed, the lower court's decision "may well have wide-ranging and unintended consequences that limit the ability of the attorney general to protect the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and particularly her most vulnerable citizens, from the deceptive practices of a wide swath of businesses that span the gamut - nursing homes, payday lenders, opioid manufacturers and beyond," the AG's memo stated. Capital Area Transit voted today to seek proposals for seeking new management, but stopped short of contracting directly with neighbor Rabbittransit on a trial basis. The action angered Cumberland County representatives, who want the agency to move toward a merger as soon as possible. By a 5-2 vote, the transit board decided to seek proposals for management services contracts, which Cumberland County officials called a delaying tactic. The action comes after a CAT-commissioned study by consultant Dave Kilmer recommended the transit agency pursue a trial six-month management contract with Rabbittransit. The study estimates that $5.2 million could be saved by CAT's funding partners - Cumberland and Dauphin counties and Harrisburg - in five years by consolidating administrative functions of CAT and Rabbittransit. The study concludes CAT is one of the costliest transit operations of its size, has weak financial reserves, is facing the possibility of service reductions and is unable to fund capital projects, said the Cumberland County commissioners. Board member Scott Wyland, Cumberland County representative to the CAT board, said contracting directly with Rabbittransit would eliminate a lot of procedural complexity in the process. Wyland said a six-month trial would be an opportunity to "test drive" Rabbittransit as a merger partner. Mike Clapsadl, another Cumberland County representative on the board, agreed. "I fail to see what the benefits are for the citizens to going outside this region to solicit Texas, Septa, Philly, whatever," he said. Two Cumberland County commissioners attending the meeting went further. Commissioner Gary Eichelberger said he wants to look at Cumberland County withdrawing from CAT, and consider litigation and suspending all funding to the agency. Today's vote, he said, was "a delay tactic. I don't think proposals will get a fair hearing by this board. We have reached the end of the line." Commissioner Jim Hertzler agreed, calling the vote "a self-preservation, self-interest detour away from where we should have gone today." Eric Bugaile, board chairman, said CAT shouldn't limit itself to one management option without exploring others. Chad Saylor, a Dauphin County representative on the board, said the study had looked at a number of possible options for CAT's management. "To handcuff us to one particular one is a disservice," he said. Saylor said moving toward regionalization is "a process. The problem is the Cumberland County commissioners have already made up their mind what they want to do, but they are not the only ones with a seat at the table." Board member Bruce Weber, who represents Harrisburg, said CAT would be entering this agreement with Rabbittransit "blindly," but Clapsadl said there would be a series of meetings first. It could take until November for CAT to have proposals on which to vote. The board also voted to renew its current management contract with McDonald for three months, with the option of three one-month extensions. Wyland said he believes there are benefits to retaining McDonald to ease the transition to possible other future management options. CAT also voted unanimously to appoint a committee to reach out to transit agencies in Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties to discuss a possible merger. The committee will be composed of Bugaile, Saylor and Wyland. In other business, CAT discussed also exploring a new route to serve workers at Chewy warehouse in Cumberland County, and a new free bus to the Lebanon VA Medical Center for veterans. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said Thursday that his office will expand the vetting process for its clerks after one of them turned out to be an alt-rightist. The political leanings of Evan McLaren of Lower Allen Township weren't known by his office while McLaren worked there last year and early this year, Freed said. West Shore resident Evan McLaren is executive director of alt-rightist Richard Spencer's National Policy Institute. McLaren, who identifies himself as an "identitarian," spoke out about his beliefs - including an insistence that white European culture is under attack in the U.S. - in a PennLive article published last week. Freed said he did not personally know McLaren, who was an unpaid volunteer clerk while McLaren attended The Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle. "At some point in 2017 he just stopped showing up," the DA said. McLaren, too, said he had little, if any interaction with Freed. In July, McLaren became executive director of the National Policy Institute founded by controversial alt-right leader Richard Spencer. He participated in the demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va., over the planned removal of statute to Confederate Robert E. Lee that erupted in much-publicized violence. "The volunteer clerks prior to McLaren were only vetted to determine whether they are in good standing with the law school that they attend. Now we will at least look at social media and online histories," Freed said. "McLaren presented a background of having clerked for a federal judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania as well as part-time work at Dickinson Law School and involvement in school activities," he said. "While interning, McLaren assisted with legal research and summary offenses in traffic court. All legal work by interns is supervised by attorneys in the office and all final decisions on case resolutions and strategy are made by the attorney." "Even so, we are reviewing the traffic court matters and research matters he worked on in order to determine whether his beliefs intruded at all on the results of the case," Freed said. "This experience has certainly taught us a lesson," he added. "While it goes without saying that everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs, the positions of McLaren and his current employer do not reflect the values and beliefs of me or my office," Freed said. "We seek to do justice in a fair, effective and efficient manner. We make decisions based on facts and evidence. Everyone is equal under the law." As her sentencing for lying to the FBI nears, former Pennsylvania Treasurer Barbara Hafer is begging a federal judge not to send her to prison. Her crime was nothing more than an "isolated, albeit serious, error in judgment," her attorney, Thomas J. Farrell is contending in a memorandum just filed with U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III. "The false statement at issue here was the result of a poor decision made in response to a high-stress situation," Farrell insisted. No date has been set for Hafer's sentencing, but a pre-sentence conference is scheduled for next month. Hafer, 74, of Indiana, is on the hook after pleading guilty in June to lying to FBI and IRS agents who were investigating corruption in state government. Investigators said that when questioned in May 2016 Hafer denied receiving any financial support from eastern Pennsylvania businessman Richard Ireland for Hafer & Associates, a consulting firm she founded after leaving public office in 2005. In fact, authorities found that a firm affiliated with Ireland, Valley Forge Investments, had a contract to pay Hafer & Associates $500,000 to help it search for a hotel site in Gettysburg. Valley Forge paid Hafer & Associates another $175,000 in 2006 and 2007. Ireland-linked companies had channeled $490,000 to Friends of Barbara Hafer to support her political efforts from 2000 to 2005, investigators noted. They said two Ireland-affiliated firms received nearly a third of the $57 million the state paid in asset management fees when Hafer was treasurer from 2000 to 2004. The Republican turned Democrat served as the state's treasurer from 1997 to 2005 and was state auditor general from 1989 to 1997. In pleading for his client to avoid jail time, Farrell claimed a reasonable alternative would be a "minimal term of probation." Farrell said Hafer's lie had little effect on the government corruption probe, which also netted one of Hafer's successors, former state Treasurer Rob McCord. McCord, a Democrat, is awaiting sentencing as well after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges for trying to strong-arm donations for his failed 2014 campaign for governor. Under Hafer's plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office is barred from making a recommendation regarding her punishment. Farrell noted that sentencing guidelines allow for a penalty ranging from probation to 6 months behind bars. "Consider the impact that this case has already had on her life," Farrell wrote. "She is a public figure, and her shame had been public, even though her crime did not involve the use of her office." Rear-Admiral John Newton talks with reporters in Halifax on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. Newton said that no criminal charges will be laid in relation to the behaviour of five Canadian Forces personnel who disrupted a Mi'kmaq ceremony in Halifax on July 1. The men said they belonged to the group the Proud Boys. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan In this Aug. 28, 2017 photo Virginia Baies, an operator for Angels Flight railroad sits in the operators booth during test runs prior to opening day in downtown Los Angeles. The 298-foot funicular, closed since a 2013 derailment, is scheduled to reopen Thursday, Aug. 31, just in time to ferry thousands of holiday weekend visitors up and down downtown's steep Bunker Hill, something it first did on New Year's Eve 1901. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is teaming up with Special Prosecutor Bob Mueller on his investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to a report in Politico. Manafort stepped down from President Trump's campaign last August following increased media focus on his connections to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russia Party of Regions. (Manafort was not registered as a foreign agent, as required by law, until this summer.) Federal agents carried out a dawn raid on his Alexandria, Virginia home in July, and though he has not been charged in any crime, he's believed a prime target of investigations into any potential Russia/Trump collusion plot. But the President and his legal team have reportedly been considering pardoning any former and current aides and Trump allies connected to the probe, which could preemptively kneecap Mueller's investigation, by sending a message to potential suspects that they have an easy out. After Trump pardoned Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio last week, speculation that he would indeed mass pardon those implicated in the Russia probe grew. But the President can't pardon people facing state-related charges, which is where Schneiderman comes in. The investigation is reportedly homing in on Manafort's financial transactions, with a particular focus on potential money laundering, and Mueller's teaming up with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman may be a sign the investigation is heating up. As Politico points out, Manafort might be more willing to work with Mueller should there be risk of prosecution without Trump's pardon as a parachute. Schneiderman has been a driving force against Trump since his election, repeatedly suing the Trump administration over contentious issues like environmental standards rollbacks and the immigration ban. Schneiderman's office did not immediately respond to request for comment. FILE- This Aug. 30, 2017 file photo shows Christopher Monzon at rally outside Hollywood, Fla., City Hall. Monzon gave reporters a false name during interviews Wednesday prior to his arrest, identifying himself as Chris Tedino. Monson was arrested outside a Florida city hall after he threatened an anti-Confederate group. He has been charged with aggravated assault and inciting a riot. (AP Photo/Terry Spencer, File) Drake makes an appearance during the Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor promotional tour stop in Toronto on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Superstar rapper Drake says he's pledged US$200,000 to Houston flood relief efforts and is encouraging fans to donate as well. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and United States President Donald Trump chat at the G20 summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. Trudeau has spoken to Trump to offer condolences over the deaths and destruction in Texas and Louisiana caused by hurricane Harvey.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz The elementary school teachers union in Ontario is calling on all schools named in memory of Sir John A. Macdonald to be renamed due to his role in developing residential schools. Should these schools be renamed? The nursing students are, from left, Audrey Morton, Carolyn Kvernvik, Adam Axmaker and Valaree Nilsen. Far right is local site coordinator Nichole Mattingly. Demand for nurses is growing in Alaska enough for Petersburg to open its first student-degree program with online lectures and on-island lab training. The program, sponsored by the University of Anchorage Alaska, started on Monday. The program is a two-year associate's degree with four students from Petersburg seeking to become a registered nurse with little travel off-island, said Nichole Mattingly, the local site coordinator. "In small communities like this we want to invest in nurses who are willing to stay," Mattingly said. "This is kind of a way for us to grow our own." The students... PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) The Alaska Mental Health Trust and federal government have a bunch of work that needs to be done before a land swap approved last year can happen_ work that has to be completed within the next two years. KFSK-FM reported Thursday that the legislation set a two-year deadline on completing surveys, appraisals and other studies of the land. The federal government is giving the mental health trust about 31.3 square miles (81 square kilometers) of the Tongass National Forest near Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island. While the trust is giving the government about 28 sq... 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. Another month, another report confirming that New York City is an insatiable money pit that will continue to suck you down until you actually find yourself wondering if life in Philadelphia or Denver or, I don't know, Buffalo might be a "better fit." The latest warning comes courtesy of StreetEasy, which found that median rents across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens reached an all-time high in Julyrising to $2,980, $2,453, and $1,996, respectively. The greatest increase happened in Queens, the report found, where median asking rent shot up to $1,996, a 1.3 percent increase from last July. While Manhattan's median asking rents rose only .2 percent in that time span, rents in Upper Manhattanthe borough's least expensive submarketrose by 2.2 percent. Likewise, median rents in South and East Brooklyn shot up 1.8 and 1.5 percent since last July. "A mix of rising rents and fewer discounts or concessions from landlords shows signs of stabilization after a weaker rental market last year, said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long, which sounds like it might be good news, but is actually just good news for landlords. The report also noted that rental discounts and other concessions are down across the board this year. The trend is most obvious in Queens, where 40 percent of available rentals got some sort of discount last year, down to about a quarter of rentals now. Rental discounts similarly dropped from 38 to 32 percent in Brooklyn, and Manhattan's share of discounts reached their lowest levels since August 2015, at 36 percent. There is some good news, however. The report found that median resale prices in Manhattan were essentially unchanged year-over-year, at $1.1 million. So, congrats to everyone with $1.1 million, and please consider us as potential house-sitters for your weekend staycation home in Tribeca. U.S. refiners down on 4.25 million barrels per day of capacity as Harvey continue pouring rain Largest U.S. refiner shuts down as Harvey makes second landfall. Corpus Christi plants beginning to restart as storm moves on By Barbara J Powell, Brian K Sullivan, and Dan Murtaugh HOUSTON/BOSTON/SINGAPORE Petroleumworld 08 31 2017 Harvey's lumbering path into Louisiana has expanded the number of shuttered oil refineries, with almost one-quarter of U.S. capacity offline. Harvey made a second Gulf Coast landfall Wednesday morning near the Texas-Louisiana border. Flooding and power failures associated with the latest hit have reduced U.S. fuel-making capacity by about 4.25 million barrels a day, the lowest since 2010. Motiva Enterprises LLC 's Port Arthur facility in Texas, the biggest U.S. refinery, is shutting because of severe flooding. Total SA 's refinery in Port Arthur is out with a power loss , a person familiar with the matter said. The two refineries join more than a dozen others with a combined 23 percent of U.S. capacity that are at least partially offline. Gasoline futures rose to more than $2 a gallon for the first time in more than two years, and the fuel's premium to crude is at a two-year high. These closures are already impacting markets with crude prices lower on a perceived drop in demand and gasoline prices spiking in response to lower supply, Sandy Fielden, director of research for commodities and energy at Morningstar Commodities Research, said in an emailed note. Harvey's move into southwestern Louisiana threatens five oil refineries, with total capacity of 787,200 barrels a day. That includes Phillips 66's Lake Charles at 239,400 and Citgo Lake Charles at 427,800. The capacity for the Port Arthur plant owned by Saudi Arabia 's national oil company is 605,000 barrels a day, while the plant run by Paris-based Total has a capacity of 225,500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, Exxon Mobil Corp. is in the process of a systematic shutdown of several of its units at Beaumont, Texas, just north of Port Arthur, while a majority of operations at its Baytown, Texas, complex have been shut, Charlotte B. Huffaker, a company spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday. Corpus Christi Some of the first refineries to close were in Corpus Christi, near where Harvey initially made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday. The storm dumped more than 50 inches of rain over parts of Houston. Now that Harvey has moved east, Valero Energy Corp . , Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Flint Hills Resources LLC are preparing to restart those Corpus Christi refineries, according to regulatory filings and people familiar who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't public. Those plants, and another that Valero shut in nearby Three Rivers, account for more than 930,000 barrels a day or refining capacity. U.S. plants processed about 17.5 million barrels of oil a day the week ending August 18. A return to that level won't be quick or easy. Even as plants recover, the restarts will be delayed by distribution issues and crude supply, compounded by port closures cutting off imports, Fielden said. The Port of Houston partially reopened Wednesday, while Corpus Christi's port is expected to resume normal operations by Sept. 4. The affected refineries imported about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day last year, including 410,000 from Mexico, 380,000 from Saudi Arabia and 340,000 from Venezuela, according to data from the Energy Information Administration . Colonial Pipeline , the largest conduit for gasoline and diesel from the Gulf Coast to the eastern U.S., suspended service on its main diesel line on Wednesday and expects to shut its main gasoline pipe on Thursday, according to a statement on its website . Story by Barbara J Powell, Brian K Sullivan, and Dan Murtaugh; With assistance by Jessica Summers from Bloomberg. bloomberg. com / 08 30 2017 / Updated on August 31, 2017, 12:32 AM GMT-4 The Arkema chemical plant is flooded from Tropical Storm Harvey in Crosby, Texas. Read more CROSBY, Texas The operators of a chemical plant left without power by floodwaters said Thursday that two explosions rocked the facility and warned that more blasts could occur as rising temperatures make the compounds inside volatile and dangerous. "A threat of additional explosion remains," said a statement from Arkema, the French chemicals group that runs the plant in Crosby, Texas., which was under about six feet of water from the relentless rains unleashed by Harvey. Arkema's U.S. headquarters is in King of Prussia. The company urged residents to stay clear of a temporary evacuation zone set up Wednesday. The risks also appear to extend beyond explosions, as noxious fumes left at least one police deputy in need of medical treatment. The Harris Country Sheriff's Office said 15 deputies complaining of respiratory irritation were taken to a hospital after the blasts and released after evaluation and treatment. The plant manufactures organic peroxides, a family of compounds used in everything from pharmaceuticals to construction materials such as counter tops and pipes. But the material must remain cold otherwise it can combust. The facility's coolant system and inundated backup power generators have failed, according to the company. The plant lost primary power and then two sources of emergency backup power, said Richard Rowe, chief executive of Arkema's North American unit. Local media reported a mandatory evacuation zone was established for a 1.5-mile radius as the last workers attempted to resolve the problem. Police cruisers and SUVs sealed off access to the Crosby plant on Highway 90, which connects Houston and Beaumont. Parts of the highway nearby were underwater. "We have lost critical refrigeration of the materials on site that could now explode and cause a subsequent intense fire," Rowe said. "The high water and lack of power leave us with no way to prevent it." A continuous flow of trucks, many hauling boats to participate in flood rescue efforts, approached the police barricade near the facility Wednesday afternoon only to be turned away as Crosby Volunteer Fire Department trucks crisscrossed the highway cut-through roads. James and Deborah Hyer sat frustrated in a white pickup truck with a plant water tower in view. They were waiting with their three young children for the police to clear out so they could return to their home in Dayton, about 10 miles north of the barricade. They were out of milk and water, with local stores either closed or cleaned out of supplies. Their newly purchased double-wide trailer on top of a hill escaped much of the floodwaters, Deborah Hyer said, but some of their friends living at the bottom experienced complete devastation. "They lost everything," she said. One friend of hers, a single mother of five children, lived in a house on 17-foot stilts, but the water rose so high she had to evacuate, she said. In tiny Kenefick to the northeast, neighborhoods built on the floodplains and banks of the Trinity River were destroyed, and relatives of friends who tried to evacuate were still missing. As in other areas like Houston and its western suburb of Katy, residents remarked on the quick response of volunteers with fishing boats fanning out as self-deputized rescue units. "Some authorities are helping, but civilians like the Cajun Navy are helping the most," James Hyer said. A Crosby Volunteer Fire Department truck with flashing lights stopped as another man flagged him down to get updates on alternate routes to Dayton. "We have nowhere to go," James Hyer pleaded to the firefighter. "I'd go away from here," the firefighter responded, though he conceded he did not know which nearby back roads were flooded or, like Highway 90, sealed by police. The Hyer family, resigned, turned around with their backs to Dayton. Cleveland Walters, Jr., who also lives in Dayton, waited more than an hour outside his black GMC pickup to get home, where his wife and elderly 92-year old father needed to be cared for, he said. "Dayton is where all my medicine is," he said, ticking off the medical issues stemming from Agent Orange he said he was exposed to while serving in the U.S. Air Force in Guam during the final years of the Vietnam War. The runways for B-52 Stratofortress bombers taking off were choked with jungles, and the defoliant sprayed around his tent sparked skin and gastrointestinal problems. He takes about 30 pills a day, he said, and had only a limited supply with him as he sat on Highway 90. But Walters wasn't overly concerned about the plant's reported impending explosion, after working in the oil industry for many years after his service. "I drive by it about every day. It is what it is," he said. He left soon after, and like the Hyer family, put more distance between himself and Dayton as rescue vehicles roared to Beaumont. Steven Mufson and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. The government of St. Kitts and Nevis has launched an investigation into the clinical trial for a herpes vaccine funded by billionaire and Trump adviser Peter Thiel because its officials were not notified about the experiments. The vaccine research has sparked controversy because lead investigator William Halford of Southern Illinois University and the U.S. company he co-founded, Rational Vaccines, did not rely on traditional U.S. safety oversight while testing the vaccine last year on mostly American participants on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. The trial received financial backing from Agustin Fernandez III, a former Hollywood filmmaker who has asserted the vaccine was highly successful in stopping herpes outbreaks. Since then, a group of investors, including Thiel, has backed the ongoing vaccine research with a $7 million investment that could include more trials in Mexico and Australia. U.S. researchers, citing rising domestic costs, are increasingly going offshore. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor an institutional review board monitored the testing on the 20 human subjects. St. Kitts and Nevis says that the researchers also did not officially seek permission to test the vaccine, which took place from April to August 2016. "This is a test case," said Bartley Madden, a retired Credit Suisse banker and policy adviser to the conservative Heartland Institute, who is another investor in the vaccine. "The FDA is standing in the way, and Americans are going to hear about this and demand action." "What they're doing is patently unethical," responded Jonathan Zenilman, chief of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's Infectious Diseases Division. "There's a reason why researchers rely on these protections. People can die." A Thiel representative said the billionaire was not available to answer questions by email or in an interview. Thiel, who rose to prominence as co-founder of PayPal, reportedly advised Trump on possible FDA nominees after donating $1.25 million to his presidential campaign. Thiel has been a vocal critic of the FDA, claiming in an interview that its approval process was so unwieldy "you would not be able to invent the polio vaccine today." Marisa Taylor, Kaiser Health News President Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, waves as they walk from the White House Tuesday on their way to Texas to view the federal government's response to Harvey's devastating flooding. Read more I've been over the poor taste slithering from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for months now. But Tuesday's shenanigans were the last straw. First lady Melania Trump wore sky-high stilettos as she boarded Marine One on Tuesday morning on her way to to Corpus Christi, Texas, to survey Hurricane Harvey damage. As usual, FLOTUS was runway ready. She sashayed to the aircraft in a fitted army jacket, her eyes obscured by must-have oversize sunglasses. Devastation? What devastation? While the Trumps were en route, the photo went viral. By the time the Trumps arrived in the Lone Star State, FLOTUS had switched up her look, pairing a starched white button-up and flats with her skinny black pants. Still pretty, just less glamorous. (The FLOTUS trucker hat took the look down more than a notch.) The damage, however, was done. Melania Trump appeared tone deaf. Like, again! It's an undisputed fact that Melania Trump's wardrobe is amazing. During the last eight months, our first lady has flawlessly wrapped herself in many a to-die-for red Valentino. But just because a piece is beautiful and expensive like the $51,500 floral Dolce & Gabbana coat she wore in Italy in May doesn't mean it's in good taste. (That one coat was more than many folks' salary.) The bottom line is, good taste takes thought. And wearing fancy stilettos on the way to comfort folks who have lost everything is the epitome of bad taste. Those shoes whether they are $1,000 Jimmy Choos or $25 Payless pumps telegraph a serious lack of caring. Maybe she cares deeply. But she doesn't look like she does. In their relentless quest for land to build townhouses and apartments, Philadelphia developers have razed no small number of fine old buildings made of brick and stone. Churches, schools, movie theaters, firehouses, and shops have all been sacrificed to the housing boom. To that list of worthy architecture, you can now add a building type of a lesser sort: the downtown parking garage. In early October, the 150-car garage at 21st and Lombard is slated to close so its new owner can erect a clutch of luxury townhouses. Another small garage at 16th and Waverly is being converted to apartments. These developments bring to five the number of parking structures in the Rittenhouse Square area that have been torn down, marked for demolition, or converted to apartments since 2015. It's not just garages that are disappearing, either. So are the small surface lots that once dotted the rowhouse blocks south of Walnut Street. Is there anything wrong with that? For decades, the conventional planning wisdom has been that free-standing garages and surface lots are the urban equivalent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, lifeless zones that squeeze the energy out of cities and make walking less pleasant and safe. Urbanist websites like Streetsblog have made a specialty of mapping the amount of land devoted to parking in America's downtowns, and the acreage is staggering. The point of the visualizations is to show how cities undervalue land by using it to store cars instead of putting it into productive use to house people and businesses. It has become an article of faith that the less above-ground parking a city has, the healthier its economy. Yet this conversation about parking and urban success has largely focused on downtowns, where people work, rather than on neighborhoods, where they live. Does the same urbanist thinking apply in residential areas of Philadelphia, where a sizable percentage of the workforce commutes to jobs outside the city? Talk to some of the people who are being displaced from the Lombard Street garage and the answer, naturally, is no. "It will diminish the value of living here," contends Andrew Terhune, who moved to the neighborhood 30 years ago. Because he needed his car to travel to his job in Horsham, he willingly shelled out $295 a month to rent a space in the garage. His wife, who worked in Delaware, did the same. Despite the cost and hassle, they chose to live in Center City because it allowed them to be equidistant from their jobs. The irony is that Terhune spent his career as an executive at Toll Bros., a national homebuilder that has done its share of replacing Philadelphia parking lots (and buildings) with housing. Philosophically, Terhune says, he has no objection to tearing down the Lombard Street garage for townhouses: "It's private property and housing is a higher and better use." Yet he believes "there is a demand for parking that the owners are missing." Based on the passions that flare anytime someone dares to build in Philadelphia without dedicated parking, you might assume Terhune has a point. But the situation is much more complicated, and it varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood depending on proximity to downtown, frequency of transit service, and perceptions of safety. The common assumption is that a growing population requires more parking. But that isn't borne out by the numbers in Center City, where the population has ballooned since 2000 by 16 percent. In roughly the same period, occupancy rates in Center City garages have fallen significantly. After peaking at nearly 78 percent in 2005, garage occupancy had dropped to 74 percent by 2015, a Planning Commission study found. The decline occurred even as the city's restaurant scene was exploding and tourism was booming. Center City has never been busier at night. City Councilman Allan Domb, a Realtor who calls himself the Condo King, says he saw the change coming years ago. "There used to be a year's wait to get a monthly space in the Dorchester. Now, there's a surplus of spaces," he told me. At the Penn Warwick garage on Chancellor Street, which Domb owns, revenue has dipped nearly 15 percent over last year. Domb was amazed that occupancy there remained flat even after the Little Pete's garage on 17th Street closed this summer to make way for a hotel. Across the Schuylkill, Brandywine Realty plans to install a food hall in its Cira garage because so few motorists use it. One obvious reason for the falling garage occupancy is that our relationship with the private automobile is undergoing a significant change. Thanks to the availability of car-sharing and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, and the rise of the delivery economy, it's easier and often cheaper for city dwellers to ditch their vehicles. Fewer than half of Center City residents now own cars. That doesn't mean parking is going to become a nonissue anytime soon. Garages may be emptying out, but city streets are not. It can take 20 minutes of circling blocks to find a parking spot in some neighborhoods. Though a monthly parking space requires a significant cash investment, the city virtually gives away its on-street parking. An annual permit from the Philadelphia Parking Authority still costs $35, less than a round of craft beers. The fee is so cheap it encourages people to warehouse their cars on the street, making it difficult to find parking. That, in turn, fuels resident demands for developers to increase the number of parking spaces in their projects. It leads to street-deadening, garage-fronted rowhouses. (The owner of the Lombard Street garage, U.S. Construction, is proposing to line the Addison Street side of the lot with 14 garage doors.) Installing that parking also adds enormously to the cost of housing, making the city less affordable. Raising the price of the permits to a more meaningful level $500? would immediately free up parking spaces. But that's too blunt a mechanism. Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking, the bible of parking policy, advocates replacing the Parking Authority's system with a more targeted rate system that uses airline-style pricing to nudge people to give up their cars. His approach would preserve spaces for those who can't exist without them, such as reverse commuters and the disabled. Raising the permit fees would be politically tricky. But it's a far better solution for Philadelphia than a bill being advocated by Council President Darrell L. Clarke that would double the parking requirements for housing projects in the densest sections of the city the places that have the least need for more off-street parking. Terhune, who is now semiretired, concedes he had no problem finding another garage. "Instead of walking one block, I'll have to walk four," he says. As a backup, he has bought a street-parking permit. The question of how much parking Philadelphia needs is not easily answered. But there is a good bet it's a lot less than you think. I'll take the housing over the garage anytime. President-elect Trump and N.J. Gov. Christie in November at Trumps golf club in Bedminster Township, N.J. Read more Disasters should not be politicized. So Gov. Christie keeps reminding us. "Disasters should not be politicized," he said by phone Tuesday on Fox News, and then again Wednesday on the set of Morning Joe. That MSNBC show was the second stop in a trio of early-AM talk appearances Wednesday by the governor, who also stopped by Fox and Friends and CNN's New Day. It was the sort of TV trifecta often seen during political campaigns, except that the discussions centered on the sort of disaster that ought not be politicized. "There's nothing Republican or Democrat about that water," Christie noted accurately on Fox and Friends, taking a break from extolling his own leadership during Hurricane Sandy. "There's not a liberal or conservative way to deal with people who are drowning and dying." On Morning Joe, Christie told the hosts and their gabby gang that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) had shown himself to be a "disgraceful" purveyor of "crap" by yet again mischaracterizing as mostly "pork" a congressional spending measure for Sandy relief in 2012. This marked an epithetical ramp-up. An hour or so earlier, Christie had told Fox and Friends that Cruz's assertion was "absolutely ridiculous." Cruz, like Christie, a failed 2016 GOP presidential primary candidate, made the spurious, self-serving allegation Monday at the end of a live, on-camera MSNBC interview from a disaster recovery center in Houston, which he made sure to describe as "my hometown." The usually acerbic senator spent most of the conversation earnestly nodding from under the brim of a ball cap while showcasing what sounded like his action-packed if not starring role in "trying to marshal additional assets" and other essential storm-related endeavors. Then, interviewer Katy Tur gotchaed Cruz by asking how he could be "asking for money now" for Texas storm victims after he had not been "willing to help" Sandy victims. Cruz famously voted against the purportedly pork-laden measure, earning him the enduring enmity of Christie (and pretty much everyone else in New Jersey, including me). Cruz told Tur that he had, and always has, "enthusiastically supported" federal assistance for victims of hurricanes, but had determined that "two-thirds" of the Sandy bill was stuffed with expenditures unrelated to the storm. He didn't mention that he had voted against the bill. But he did assail the lamentable practice of disaster politicization to which other (unnamed) politicians were prone. "It's not right for politicians to exploit a disaster [while] people are hurting," said the senator, who also noted that there would be plenty of time for "political sniping" after people were no longer hurting. On Morning Joe, Christie pounced, saying Cruz was uttering falsehoods while "standing in a recovery center where people are suffering. It's just not right." Cruz, the governor continued, is "dead wrong. He should just get up and say, 'I was wrong.' " The senator "just made up" the fake factoid about the pork in the bill, Christie said, adding, "Ted's particularly good at that." The governor also assailed Cruz while urging the avoidance of disaster politicization on his official website, which includes a live link for volunteers and donors. While rightly knocking Cruz's ham-handed, truth-challenged, post-Sandy spin and declaring that "disasters should not be politicized," Christie also used his time on TV Wednesday to defend President Trump's widely panned official visit/personal appearance Tuesday in Texas. Many of those who awaited some mention of lives lost some scrap of sympathy for the victims amid the meandering platitudes and self-promotion ("What a turnout!") offered by the touring president were disappointed. Even appalled. But not Christie. Trump, he insisted with a conviction that was positively Cruzesque, is doing a "great" job responding to Harvey. "He was himself," Christie told CNN host Chris Cuomo, adding that Tuesday's presidential visit was about expressing confidence and demonstrating competency. Oh. But when Trump returns to Texas later this week, Christie confidently predicted, the president "won't want to avoid hugging and making those people feel better." Trump, the governor said, will be all about compassion. Because, as we've all been told, disasters should not be politicized. This is big, big, big news from Uruguay's El Pais. The Minister of Education and Culture, Maria Julia Munoz, confirmed in Parliament the resignation of Julio Bocca as director of the Ballet Nacional del Sodre. El Pais also contacted the president of the Sodre Board of Directors, Doreen Ibarra, to inquire about the differing versions of the resignation that had been communicated throughout the day. The chief explained that Bocca will cease to be the artistic director from 2018, clarifying that he will continue to be linked to the institution as a "resident teacher or supervisor". El Pais quotes Telemundo as saying Munoz told them that she recommended Maria Riccetto as Julio's replacement. Oh Lord, we need Julio in New York. Come on, Julio ... If ABT's board has so much as an ounce of brains spread among its members, they will do whatever needs to be done to sign Julio before somebody else does (like San Francisco Ballet or some other company with a director who may be close to retirement). How much worse do things have to get before the board will pull the trigger and make a change? Look at this pitiful fall season. It is among the worst ever presented, and it will, perhaps appropriately, serve to "celebrate" McKenzie's 25th anniversary. What next? Will McKenzie lose two, three, or four weeks of future spring Met Seasons and then claim that it was all part of his genius plan? Enough is enough. Throw this bum out the door and bring in Julio. There is no reason whatsoever to show any mercy to McKenzie. He should have left more than a dozen years ago but has become entrenched like a tick under a dog's skin. Stephanie Batter of Essington (left) and Shannon McDevitt of Cape May Court House participate in a protest at Thomas Paine Plaza across from City Hall in Philadelphia. Read more If you spend a lot of your waking hours on a couch in front of Fox News, the face of modern political protest is covered with a black scarf: the "antifa," with scary dark garb and a scarier-sounding name, always on the fringes of liberal demonstrations, always ready to engage in violent clashes in the name of fighting American fascism. But venture out into the real world specifically the bucolic rolling hills near the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County and you might discover that the actual face of protest in strife-riven 2017 America looks more like Jon Telesco, a contractor married to a schoolteacher. He's a solid citizen of the rural community of Conestoga Township, where he was raised, a community about to be ripped apart for a large natural gas pipeline. The looming arrival of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline with permit approvals doled out Thursday, construction in Conestoga and elsewhere could begin in a matter of weeks has radicalized Telesco and hundreds of his neighbors who've formed Lancaster Against Pipelines. These are the salt of central Pennsylvania's rocky soil farmers, doctors, construction workers, teachers and they are doing things to protest the Williams Partners project that they couldn't have imagined doing a couple of years ago. Praying with the nuns who've erected a makeshift chapel in the direct path of the pipeline. Walking en masse out of a meeting with Pennsylvania state regulators to protest their handling of the project. And now, training for stepped-up protests, even nonviolent civil disobedience, when the construction starts. "People plan to put their bodies between the bulldozers and the land," Telesco told me but he worries that a recent crusade led largely by GOP lawmakers and elected officials to crack down on protesters will have a chilling effect. Lawmakers in Harrisburg are now debating a bill that would have Pennsylvania protesters not just facing possible arrest the Lancaster pipeline activists know and expect this but also massive financial penalties for police overtime and other government costs, which could bankrupt demonstrators and their families. "We have a group of people who've mostly never been active in their life it scares them just to show up at a rally chanting, 'Farms, not fracking.' That for them is bold," Telesco said. Even though the Pennsylvania bill is currently stalled, Telesco and his allies worry the increasing trend of governments and police to seek to criminalize protest threatens their fundamental First Amendment rights. The push in Harrisburg isn't that unusual. About 20 states most led by Republican legislatures and governors have in recent months been leading an unprecedented assault on citizens' right to protest the quaint constitutional right of "petitioning government to redress grievances" be damned. Lawmakers are debating or enacting measures that would make it illegal to wear masks in public, while sharply increasingly fines and possible jail terms for tactics such as blocking highways or the path of infrastructure projects, which is often a fancy way of describing oil and natural gas pipelines, or even looking to ban "unlawful mass picketing," which essentially is just a protest march. (That last bill actually passed the Arkansas legislature but the governor had enough sense to veto it.) The tactics have alarmed not just the expected critics, like the American Civil Liberties Union which has called the flood of antiprotest legislation an unconstitutional assault on the First Amendment but even the United Nations, which has said the effort is "incompatible with international human rights law and would unduly restrict the possibility for individuals to freely exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and peaceful assembly." Lawmakers are couching their campaign in predictable "law and order" terms even as they write legislation that would make a pipeline lobbyist orgasmic. But beyond the platitudes, many of the bills barely hide the sponsors' hostility toward protests in recent years by groups such as Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, and the growing resistance to President Trump. There's been proposed legislation in a half-dozen states that would protect, to some extent, drivers who run over protesters with their cars legislation that was debated in the days before Charlottesville, Va., peace marcher Heather Heyer was mowed down and killed by a vehicle driven by a right-wing activist. The callous indifference to human life is stunning, yet that tone to brand political dissent as something that needs to be met with draconian laws and an armed-to-the-teeth police force has now been adopted by the White House. Just this week, with Trump's public approval hitting rock bottom, his administration reversed an Obama-era decision in order to again grant local police departments access to surplus military equipment like grenade launchers, bayonets, and armored personal carriers just in time for the fall protest season. That's not all: Moves by Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaling a halt to federal probes of police brutality and even giving a pardon to former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for his racist policing practices all send the same signal, that there's practically no abuse of human rights by law enforcement that is beyond the pale. Here at home, State Sen. Scott Martin sponsor of the bill that would charge protesters for police and other costs, who represents the pipeline route through Lancaster County insisted he came up with the measure on his own after reading that North Dakota faced a $38 million bill after last year's Dakota Access pipeline protests, and with "zero" contact with pipeline lobbyists, disputing a recent report about PAC donations traced to lobbyists. He insisted to me that he respects the right of free speech but that violent and illegal acts by some protesters have "blurred lines" and that "sometimes the citizens lost in all the discussion are the taxpayers in the shadow who pick up the tab." Martin's viewpoint will certainly get some political sympathy, especially from those whipped up in the current media frenzy over "antifa." That discussion is a rabbit hole that conservative activists want progressives to waste a lot of time going down, but I must say: It's nuts to claim a moral equivalence between white supremacist hate groups and people who oppose Hitler-flavored fascism. There's all sorts of antifa, ranging from those who valiantly protected pastors and rabbis in Charlottesville to knuckleheads who get a thrill from throwing a rock at Starbucks. Violence for any reason other than self-defense is wrong, and some of what this not-particularly-large antifa movement does is badly hurting the efforts by the much broader and larger mass movement of people seeking real social change, groups like Lancaster Against Pipelines. How is it hurtful? For one thing, it offers ammunition (no pun intended) for bad legislation like Martin's, as well as for a looming Trump-Sessions police state. The reality is that it's hard not to notice that these lawmakers who thought mass protest was wonderful back in the heyday of the Tea Party in 2009 and 2010 started launching their efforts just as Trump was taking office and just as millions of Americans took part in the largest (and completely peaceful) protest action in U.S. history, the Women's March. The criminalization of protest will have the greatest impact on regular folks the people who marched Jan. 21 and the rural landowners of Lancaster County by persuading them to stay home and avoid "trouble." (Small bands of "professional protesters," meanwhile, will always show up no matter what the law says.) It's even more impossible not to notice that we live in an America where there is more stuff to protest than ever before. That includes a mad rush to enshrine fossil fuels with projects like the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline and Trump's coal-industry revival even as the death and devastation in East Texas remind us that climate change is threatening our lives and our livelihoods. We have a president who is so unfit for the job that he equivocates on neo-Nazis and goes to Texas to brag about his crowd size instead of meeting flood victims. We have a government that is violating the basic human rights of migrants, rolling back protections for LBGTQ citizens, and looking to widen the intolerable gap between rich and poor. It is a situation that screams out for people to take to the streets. If the politicians in Harrisburg and Washington and Little Rock are serious about curbing protest, how about giving us a government that actually responds to the people instead of drafting these unconstitutional laws designed to shut people up? Until that happens, the people will see you out on Broad Street. And you can leave the grenade launchers at home. BELLEFONTE, Pa. Lawyers for Pennsylvania State University fraternity members accused in the hazing death of a pledge on Thursday argued that prosecutors have failed to prove the most serious allegations, as a judge neared a decision on whether to order the defendants to stand trial. But as closing arguments from lawyers for 16 fraternity members accused in the death of Tim Piazza, 19, concluded Thursday, Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller remained confident in her case. "I'm happy that it's finished," she said, standing with Piazza's parents, Jim and Evelyn. "And I think they [the Piazzas] very much deserve an answer." Judge Allen Sinclair plans to rule at 11 a.m. Friday on whether the defendants, charged with varying offenses including aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and hazing, will be bound over for trial. His decision will culminate a seven-day preliminary hearing that began in June and was continued three times. Defense lawyers have sought to minimize their clients' roles in the death of Piazza, a sophomore engineering major from Lebanon, N.J. They've argued that there's no proof that their clients' actions led to Piazza's death following a booze-soaked pledge initiation party at the campus house for Beta Theta Pi. Theodore Simon, who represents Luke Visser, charged with aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter, also alleged there's no proof to distinguish how much alcohol Piazza consumed during a drinking "gauntlet" for fraternity members from the social event that followed, which he characterized as voluntary. He also questioned how injured Piazza was after his fall down the basement steps the night of the Feb. 2 party, arguing that Piazza can be seen on a video, not shown by the prosecution, walking in the house the morning after the event. Piazza was found by fraternity members later that morning unconscious near a bar in the basement, Simon said. He later died of a head injury, ruptured spleen, and collapsed lung, "We don't know if he drank down there," Simon said. "We don't know if he fell." Michael Engle, the attorney for Gary DiBileo, who also faces involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges, pointed out that evidence shows his client was one of three fraternity members overruled by the others after saying they wanted to call an ambulance for Piazza after he fell down the stairs. "That is not someone who is acting recklessly with disregard for human life," Engle said. The other two were not charged. If the charges stemmed from DiBileo's running a wine station during the drinking gauntlet, Engle argued, there's no proof Piazza ever drank from the wine bag. Parks Miller struck back, arguing that every member charged contributed to Piazza's death and that their roles are visible on an hours-long video the prosecution showed during the first day of the preliminary hearing. "I think they forget," she said of the lawyers, "we saw the crime on video." In response to Simon's questions about when the fatal injury occurred, she pointed to testimony from a medical official who said "it's entirely reasonable" to conclude that Piazza's injuries were sustained in his fall down the basement steps. She also became frustrated with the lengthy closing arguments made by some lawyers. Simon's took 90 minutes. "I feel like I'm in the middle of a trial," she said. "This is a preliminary hearing." Rocco Cipparone Jr., who represents Michael Bonatucci, said he thinks he was able to show weaknesses in Parks Miller's case and hopes the judge will dismiss key counts including aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and hazing. "From their perspective, although it's a different kind of suffering than the Piazza family is going through, it's still a lot of emotional and frankly financial suffering," he said. "These are charges that expose him to a felony conviction, significant misdemeanor convictions, and jail time, and that never should have been lodged against him in the first place." When you apply for a job in Philadelphia, employers can't ask about your criminal record on the application, or even during the interview. Under the city's "ban the box" law, they must wait until after they've made you a job offer. For colleges, though, it's a different story. In fact, many local colleges and universities require applicants to list even juvenile adjudications and some explicitly reject students because of their records. Research has found such policies don't make campuses any safer. And according to a new report from Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, they disproportionately impact students of color and may even violate federal civil rights law. "We've had many clients over the years who were either afraid of trying to pursue the path they wanted to, or were trying to get into school and were told, 'You can't, because of this record,' " said Jamie Gullen, a CLS lawyer. One is Al Flowers, 64, of Mount Airy, who went back to school in his 50s after decades in prison. He excelled at Community College of Philadelphia, earning an associate's degree but was rejected when he applied to Drexel University to complete his bachelor's. "I was denied simply because of my background. It wasn't academics, because I was a Phi Theta Kappa honors student from Community College." He said an admissions officer told him as much. "The way it is now, it's like you're never finished doing your time," he said. "You're denying people, and the people you're denying are basically people of color." In Philadelphia, black youths are 3.64 times as likely as their white peers to face prosecution in juvenile court, according to a CLS analysis of court data. Flowers is tenacious: He went on to complete his bachelor's at Philadelphia University, and is working on a master's degree at Drexel. But many others get discouraged. A study of complete and incomplete applications to the State University of New York system found that "each year 2,924 applicants to SUNY check the box disclosing a felony conviction. Of those, 1,828 do not complete the application." Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Bryn Mawr College, and Haverford College all use the Common Application, which requires students to self-report if they were found guilty as juveniles or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony unless the record has been expunged. Since juvenile adjudications have a five-year waiting period for expungement in Pennsylvania, such a question could capture even minor childhood offenses. According to CLS, St. Joseph's University and Widener University ask for the same information. St. Joseph's said in a statement that it undertakes a "holistic application review process" in order to create a "diverse and inclusive learning environment." Haverford dean of admission and financial aid Jess Lord said in an email that it's "a matter of due diligence." "In my view, more important than asking the question is what we do with the information," Lord said. "If a student were to answer yes to the question about criminal record, they would be prompted to provide an explanation. It is really the explanation we would be evaluating, rather than the simple yes or no question. We would be seeking to understand the situation, how the student dealt with it, and how they have learned and grown from it." Other colleges don't ask for juvenile adjudications, but require applicants to list all convictions, even summary offenses like disorderly conduct. Temple University, Arcadia University, Philadelphia University, Lincoln University, Eastern University, and Chestnut Hill College are in that group. Penn State asks for all of that plus diversion programs, though those are specifically designed to help people avoid criminal convictions. A Temple spokesman said that criminal history is just one factor considered, but added that it may be more relevant in certain disciplines related to professions, such as nursing or law, that require background clearances. Even some victim advocates criticize such policies, pointing to studies that have shown they don't make campuses any safer. "We see this policy as having a major impact on the ability of students of color to access education, because their communities tend to be over-policed," said Alyssa Peterson, who was a victim of on-campus sexual assault and now works with Know Your IX, an organization for survivors of sexual violence in schools. "My perpetrator does not have a criminal record," she said. "A number of people who perpetrate sexual assault on campus do not have criminal records, so it's not a predictive policy." Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a school that receives federal funding may not implement a policy that disproportionately impacts a protected class, such as people of color, without a legitimate justification. College administrators and state legislators are starting to take notice. Louisiana in June became the first state to bar public universities from asking about applicants' records, while SUNY announced it will remove criminal history questions from its applications starting next year. But for schools that use the Common Application, it's not so simple. The Common Application considered removing the question earlier this year, but opted to modify it and provide more detail on how that information is used. "The changes to the 2017-2018 Common Application followed careful consultation with our more than 750 member schools," Jenny Rickard, chief executive of the Common Application, said in a statement. "Our members have the option not to receive student responses to the criminal and disciplinary history questions. That said, a significant majority of member schools have indicated that the criminal history and school discipline questions should remain." Gullen is hoping colleges will begin applying pressure for a broader change and not only because of legal questions. "We're asking schools to consider whether they're reducing the diversity and vitality of their campuses by creating this barrier," she said. Pennsylvania adult obesity rates are 30.3 percent and in New Jersey they are 27.4 percent. Read more After years of astonishing increases, adult obesity rates in the U.S. are showing signs of leveling off for the second year in a row, according to a report released Thursday. But far too many Americans still are too fat, and officials worry that rates could again rise unless programs and policies to address the issue continue. The 14th annual State of Obesity report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that nationally, nearly 38 percent of adults are obese, with nearly eight percent considered extremely obese. Pennsylvania ranks 25th among states with an overall obesity rate at 30.3 percent, but the rate jumps to 36.4 percent for blacks and 39.5 percent for Latinos as compared to 29.5 for whites. In 2000, the state's overall obesity rate was 20.3, and in 1990 it was 13.7 percent. New Jersey ranks 36th with an overall adult obesity rate of 27.4 percent (37.2 percent for blacks, 31.4 percent for Latinos, 25.4 percent for whites). In 2000, the overall obesity rate was 17.0 percent, and in 1995 it was 12.3 percent. The state data, which comes from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, relies on people to report their own weights via telephone surveys, so it likely underestimates true rates, the study notes. The national figure, however, comes from another report, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which calculates obesity rates based on actual physical examinations, so it's considered a more solid number. The nation is "at risk of poor health" if programs to address obesity and support for nutritional programs and increased physical activity lose funding, said John Auerbach, president and CEO of the Trust for America's Health. He said the next few years will be crucial if improvements are to continue. "In 2000, no state had an obesity rate of 25 percent. Now 46 states do," he said. The cost in treating obesity and related illnesses exceeded $150 billion annually, he said. Nearly 30 percent of hypertension cases may be attributable to obesity; diabetes rates have nearly doubled in the past 20 years, the report indicated. Colorado had the lowest rate at 22.3 percent, and West Virginia had the highest at 37.7 percent, according to the report. Rates in rural areas of the country are higher. Nine of the states with the highest obesity rates are in the South. In addition to ethnicity, education and poverty also are factors. Obesity rates are about 30 percent higher among adults without a college education or who have incomes below $15,000, the report found. Twenty-five percent of young adults who try to join the military are ineligible due to concerns about their weight or fitness. At the same time, overall childhood rates are stabilizing, and in a few places even improving. "Philadelphia demonstrated that progress can be made on the issue of obesity now," said Don Schwarz, vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Programs to reach out to low-income kids, including gaining access to healthier foods and exercise, helped bring down the rate "disproportionately quickly" in the city, he said. Both groups recommend continued funding for anti-obesity programs at the federal, state, and local levels including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health Fund; early childhood programs such as Head Start; and school-based programs and policies that emphasize healthy foods and physical activity. Further, they said, nutritional fact labels should be updated and health-care coverage including Medicare and Medicaid should be expanded to include obesity prevention, treatment, and management. A former Lower Providence police officer has been charged with stealing an M-16 rifle and ammunition from his old patrol car, officials said Thursday. Charles Murray, 37, of Eagleville, was taken into custody Wednesday morning at a church after a priest coaxed him out of a closed Jeep Patriot that had a ventilation hose running into it in what officials said was an apparent attempt at suicide. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced the arrest at a news conference Thursday. Murray was a 10-year member of the Lower Providence Police Department and served as a Marine. "Thankfully, we're here to talk about this today" with no one hurt or killed, Steele said. "Thankfully, the gun was recovered." Shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday, Lower Providence police found that someone had broken into a patrol car while it was parked in the station parking lot. The rear windshield was smashed and the M-16 rifle and ammunition were missing from the car, which had been Murray's when he was employed by the department, according to court documents. Officials said Murray was fired in June for unspecified procedural violations and knew the code to unlock the weapon in his former car. A detective called Murray in to talk about "an important matter," according to the documents, but Murray refused to drive to the station, instead fleeing his apartment in his black 2016 Jeep. Authorities searched for Murray and police had a couple of "close calls" with him but never came close enough to make an arrest, Steele said. For 16 hours, no one could reach him, according to the documents. That changed about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, when West Norriton and Lower Providence police and Montgomery County detectives responded to St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in West Norriton after a priest saw Murray in his Jeep with the ventilation hose running into it from the exhaust, authorities said. He voluntarily went into the church to talk to the priest and was taken into custody without incident at 10 a.m. Some officers who responded to the church wore tactical gear, leading several local news stations to describe the incident as a police standoff. But Steele said Thursday that the tactical team response had been "out of an abundance of caution." In fact, Murray came out unarmed on his own, Steele said, and never barricaded himself inside, Steele said. In a statement, Murray told police he stole the gun and ammunition from the department and disposed of the items under the Collegeville bridge on Tuesday morning, according to the documents. Steele said there was no indication why Murray had stolen the gun. In a search of Murray's Jeep, police found another loaded gun, according to the documents. Steele said the gun had been legally purchased and was not stolen, but added that Murray no longer had a license to carry. Murray was fired June 2 after two suspensions for noncriminal violations, said Steele, who would not elaborate. "It appeared he had been going through a number of issues," Steele said. Between his termination and the theft, Murray had not had any encounters with law enforcement, Steele said. Murray, who was awaiting arraignment Thursday afternoon, was charged with theft, reckless endangerment, vandalism and illegal possession of a weapon. The former officer was at a secure place "someone is taken to deal with these matters," Steele said, but authorities would not say where that was. Staff writer Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article. Jeremy Brooks, 24, (left) of North Philadelphia, has been charged with abuse of corpse after he allegedly dumped a child-sized casket (right), with human organs inside, on a North Philadelphia sidewalk on July 3, 2017. Read more A North Philadelphia man who was employed at a Camden funeral home has been charged with a misdemeanor offense of abuse of corpse after he allegedly dumped a child-size casket with human organs inside on a North Philadelphia sidewalk in early July, authorities said Thursday. Jeremy Brooks, 24, of the 3100 block of North 29th Street, worked at Stanley's Memorial Chapel, 822 Kaighns Ave. He was arrested and charged Aug. 21, and posted bail that day. He could not be reached for comment Thursday. A supervisor for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which is representing him, did not return a call seeking comment. Capt. Malachi Jones of Northwest Detectives has said the organs belonged to a girl about 3 or 4 months old, who had died and was buried June 29. The death was not believed to be suspicious. The organs, taken out during an autopsy, had been put in a plastic bag and should have been buried with the baby, officials have said. Instead, they were inside the white casket dumped July 3 in the 3000 block of West Clearfield Street. A passerby called police that night. Court documents show that Brooks and another worker at the funeral home, Steve Sandlin, spoke to police July 5. Sandlin identified himself as the owner of the funeral home and said Brooks was a part-time employee. Sandlin told police that during the baby's June 29 funeral services at Wayland Memorial Baptist Church in West Philadelphia, the casket in which the child originally was viewed became damaged and the lid would not close. He said he called another funeral home to obtain a new casket and then transferred the body to the new casket. But in his haste, Sandlin said, he forgot to transfer the bag with the embalmed organs, the documents say. Sandlin said he then put the damaged casket in an unsealed trash bag and into the back of his work vehicle, which was then parked outside of the Camden funeral home until July 3. Brooks told police that he was asked by Sandlin on July 3 to drive the vehicle to Philadelphia to pick up another casket. He said he then realized that the damaged casket was in the back and to make room for the new casket, he sought to place the damaged casket at his North Philadelphia house, but his sister refused. "Brooks then admitted he looked around for a place to 'dump' the casket," the court document says. He then "decided to short dump the casket on the sidewalk at 3000 Clearfield Street, due to its secluded nature." The block is across from a cemetery. A call to Stanley's Memorial Chapel was answered Thursday by a man who identified himself as Theo Stanley, who said he is the owner. He said Sandlin and Brooks were both drivers for the funeral home but no longer are employed there. Sandlin is not charged with a crime. He could not be reached by phone. Unlike some states, Pennsylvania doesn't require children to be tested for lead exposure by age 2. As a result, thousands most at risk of effects from the toxic metal, including reduced IQ and behavioral problems, go undetected at a critical time in brain development. But on Wednesday, Gov. Wolf called on state health officials and lawmakers to work together to pass a law requiring physicians to test every child's blood for lead by age 2. "Only with universal testing will we know the true scope of lead poisoning in Pennsylvania and be able to refer affected children to care," Wolf said in a statement. The governor's call for mandatory testing comes at a time of heightened concern over lead exposure in the aftermath of a crisis in Flint, Mich., where the city's population was exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. Last year, the Inquirer and Daily News detailed how thousands of Philadelphia children, year after year, are newly poisoned by lead at a far higher rate than those in Flint. Here, the primary culprit is flaking and peeling lead paint in a city where more than 90 percent of homes were built before the 1978 lead-paint ban. In a more recent story in the series, "Toxic City," reporters tested soil in 114 locations in Fishtown, Kensington, and Port Richmond. Nearly three out of four had hazardous levels of lead contamination, a problem of previously unknown severity. If Pennsylvania requires universal testing for those under age 2, the state would follow Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and others that have some form of mandatory testing. Federal law already requires physicians to test all children covered by Medicaid insurance for lead exposure at ages 1 and 2. Rachel Levine, a physician who is the state's acting secretary of health and physician general, said that while pediatricians would be required by state law to administer at least one blood test either a finger prick or a draw from a vein before a child turns 2, there likely would be no fines or penalties for failure to comply. "I don't think we are going to start to fine physicians, but the legal standard of care would be to do this testing," she said. Levine said the governor's action came in response to a recent state report that showed only 27.8 percent of children under 2 were tested for lead in 2015. "The whole idea is to develop a long-term, comprehensive lead-poisoning prevention strategy, and to be able to do that, we need complete data, and right now, we only have partial data," Levine said Wednesday. The state report also tracks the numbers by county. Philadelphia had higher testing rates than other cities, with 76 percent of children screened by age 2. Donna Cooper, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, an advocacy group, praised the Wolf administration for advocating universal testing. "I think it's a great thing that the governor is shining a light on the problem of the risk of lead exposure among children in Pennsylvania," Cooper said. "There are long-term consequences when we don't know if a child has been exposed because they are not treated." Cooper said the next step must be to go after more resources to fund the remediation of houses with toxic paint so children aren't exposed to lead at all. Ray Jackson, the building engineer at Blankenburg Elementary School, prepares for the first day of school. Read more It's Ray Jackson's busy season. Days before 130,000 children are scheduled to return to Philadelphia public schools Tuesday, Jackson and other building engineers across the city are finishing plaster repair jobs, switching out lights, scrubbing and shining floors. The massive job of keeping the School District's stock of 300 aging buildings up and running falls largely to Jackson and his colleagues, who have spent all summer getting things in order for the first day of school. "Without him," Blankenburg Elementary teacher Kimberly Ardley said, "this building does not work." Jackson, a 20-year veteran engineer, keeps Blankenburg humming. Blankenburg is like many school buildings in the city: massive (64,000 square feet) and old (built in 1923, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The school, which takes up an entire city block at 46th Street and Girard Avenue, has good bones, with a caveat. "It's functional, but it needs updating," said Jackson, who began his career as a cleaner in the school system. A comprehensive school facilities audit completed earlier this year showed that the district has nearly $5 billion in unmet capital needs. At Blankenburg, some things are in decent shape the roof, for instance but others need work, according to district records: The exterior windows have outlived their usefulness, the air handler that helps circulate heat is a problem, and the current clock system is so old it's difficult to find parts to repair when something fails. The district report said it would take $9 million to fix every deficiency at Blankenburg, a K-8 school with 450 students. In the meantime, Jackson and his staff make do. On a recent day, Jackson was in constant motion, hauling tables, fixing doorknobs, and troubleshooting issues for teachers, who were back in the building readying their classrooms for kids. His main focus was the small outbuilding that houses Blankenburg's cafeteria. Jackson and his crew, a custodian's assistant and three cleaners, were painting, cleaning and waxing floors, hauling tables, and moving around kitchen equipment in a warm space with fans blowing, both for temperature control and to mitigate the smells of wax and cleaner. Later, he would replace or repair some electrical ballasts near the gym. A few old, out-of-tune pianos sat in hallways; Jackson would have to make sure they were removed, too. And he couldn't forget about the hundreds of chairs and reams of papers that lined hallways; they'd have to be moved into the right spots. There are routines in Jackson's job, but he never knows exactly what his workload might look like. He might be on the roof maintaining exhaust fans, or, when the weather is bad, he might be removing snow from the vast schoolyard. He might be checking playground equipment to make sure it is safe. Often, he is bleeding radiators or blowing down the school's old boiler forcing water out with steam pressure to make sure no sludge or sediment collects. "Every day, things change here," he said. Jackson, who is organized and methodical, worked quickly Wednesday but still figured he'd have to come in on the weekend to get everything done before the Labor Day holiday. His shift begins before sunrise and though he's supposed to leave at 2:30, he rarely leaves on time, especially these days. "There's so much to get done we're all over the place," said Jackson, 40, who is a city resident and graduate of the now-closed University City High School. "I'm not worried about it, though we always finish the job." Jackson's back-to-school efforts began the day the last student left Blankenburg on June 20, and continued through the heat, in a four-story building that is not air-conditioned and has no elevator. And since Blankenburg is a district turnaround school, it got a new principal, a host of new teachers and staff, and other improvements lighting, furniture, 1,000 boxes' worth of supplies, which Jackson kept track of, lining each up neatly in the library. Blankenburg housed a summer camp this year, meaning some of the repair and cleaning jobs that might have gotten done earlier had to be pushed off until children left the building. Nothing seems to faze Jackson not the fact that schools used to have more staff to maintain buildings, or the time the bat showed up at Blankenburg (he trapped it in a room, called district pest control, and kept kids away) or the time the water supply tank failed, flooding the whole boiler room and briefly shutting down the heating system. Principal LeAndrea Hagan is new to Blankenburg, but she learned something about the school pretty quickly. "He's terrific," she said, pointing to Jackson, who allowed himself a small smile before moving on to the next task. In addition to widespread suffering and devastation, Hurricane Harvey has brought a plague of floating fire ants to the Houston region. "Floodwaters will not drown fire ants," explains Paul Nester, an extension specialist at Texas A&M, in a pamphlet titled "Flooding and Fire Ants: Protecting Yourself and Your Family." Instead, entire colonies of the aggressive biting insects eggs, larvae and all will "emerge from the soil, form a loose ball, float, and flow with the water until they reach a dry area or object they can crawl up on." For the uninitiated, a fire ant resembles a regular ant in roughly the same way a wolf resembles a golden retriever. They're aggressive, territorial and venomous. Among vulnerable individuals, their stings can be fatal. "Most people hate fire ants without reservation," Florida State University entomologist Walter Tschinkel wrote in a book about the insects in 2006. Some areas around Houston are reportedly seeing dozens, if not hundreds, of these colonies come ashore in the wake of the flooding there. Researchers have extensively studied this behavior to find out how, exactly, the ants do it. A 2011 paper by David Hu and colleagues at Georgia Tech found that when you drop a clump of fire ants on a surface of water, they will cling to each other and distribute themselves into a pancake-shaped disc. The ants can do this because their bodies partially repel water, or, in scientific terms, they are "hydrophobic." When water comes in contact with a fire ant, it beads up into droplets, the same way it does on a car window treated with Rain-X. "An advantage of being hydrophobic is the ability of ants and semiaquatic insects to trap a plastron layer of air around their bodies, without which they would sink," Hu and his colleagues write. In other words if you try to sink an ant, its hydrophobic body will trap an air bubble with it as it submerges. These trapped bubbles allow ants at the bottom of their flotillas to survive being partially submerged. If one ant is mildly hydrophobic, an entire colony of them is even more so. This makes a floating ant flotilla particularly hard to sink, as this video demonstrates: If you push down on a fire ant raft, surface tension pushes the water away with it. (Meanwhile, angry ants will start crawling up the thing you're prodding them with.) If you somehow succeed in pushing the raft under, the ants will take a massive air bubble down with them. These properties allow a colony of fire ants to survive on the water for weeks. But that doesn't mean they're invincible. In fact, they have an Achilles' heel: dish soap. Spray a bit of soapy water on an ant raft and it will break apart and begin sinking almost instantaneously. "As soon as ants become even slightly soapy, they immediately release their grip with each other, which is shown by the disintegration of the raft and its submergence underwater," Hu and his colleagues found. The soapy water not only makes the ants unable to grab their neighbors, it also prevents the formation of air bubbles around a submerged ant. An experiment conducted in the 1990s found that the application of a mildly soapy solution kills off anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of a floating ant colony within 10 minutes. Dish soap isn't a large-scale solution for dealing with floating fire ants. "It only spreads so much and it also [has] an effect on helpful organisms like water striders, which eat pests on the water surface," Hu explained in an email. Spraying an individual floating colony with soapy water also requires getting close to both the water and the ants, which should be avoided at nearly all costs in an extreme flooding situation. The $26,000 that a federal judge ordered a member of the Ku Klux Klan to pay in 1982 to an African-American couple and two Jewish groups for a series of cross-burnings is no longer legally collectible because the statute of limitations has expired, legal experts say. The former Klansman, William Marx Aitcheson, is now a Catholic priest in Fairfax, Virginia, and never paid the $26,000. He pleaded guilty to the cross-burnings in Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1977, records show, and was sued in federal court in Maryland the following year by some of the victims, including Barbara and Phillip Butler of College Park, Maryland. In 1982, U.S. District Judge Frank Kaufman of Baltimore granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, awarding the Butlers $23,000, and $1,500 each to Beth Torah Congregation and B'nai Brith Hillel Foundation of College Park. All three parties said they never received any money from Aitcheson, and never heard from him again. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1988, and has been serving as a pastor in Virginia since 1993. There is no statute of limitations in federal law for civil judgments, so the state law where the case was heard determines the time limit, legal experts said. Under Maryland law, civil judgments expire after 12 years. In 1994, as the 12-year mark was approaching in Aitcheson's case, the lawyer for the Butlers had the judgment renewed in federal court for another 12 years. But that renewal expired in 2006. "The judgment has expired and therefore is not enforceable," said David J. Cook, the author of a book on debt collection and lawyer for the Fred Goldman family seeking payment from O.J. Simpson for their civil judgment against him. "However, the expired judgment is still a moral and ethical obligation. If this guy's a Catholic priest, he's under an ecclesiastical obligation to pay that." Cook said someone could still sue Aitcheson to enforce the judgment, and see if Aitcheson invokes the statute of limitations. "His lawyer will tell him, 'the press is going to crucify you,'" Cook said. "As a moral, ethical and act of fidelity to repentance, the defendant should waive the statute of limitation, stipulate to the revival of the judgment and pay something, even $50 a month. Putting money in the hands of another is penance by other means." Other lawyers familiar with Maryland, federal and collections law agreed that the statute of limitations on such a judgment is 12 years. The Butlers' lawyer, Ted Williams, said, "This case will proceed in two courts: the court of law and the court of public opinion. While the priest may or may not have a legal obligation, he certainly has a moral obligation. We will be seeking fulfillment of both obligations." He said he would demand interest on the $23,000 owed to the Butlers. Aitcheson has taken a leave of absence from his role at St. Leo the Great Church in Fairfax. The bishop of the archdiocese of Arlington, Michael F. Burbidge, sent a letter to St. Leo's parishioners which was read at all of their masses last weekend, which said that Aitcheson "has acknowledged his responsibility to resolve the civil judgments arising from his actions in the 1970s in a just manner." Aitcheson has not spoken publicly other than to publish an essay in the Arlington Catholic-Herald last week acknowledging his past involvement in the KKK. An inquiry to the diocese from a free-lance writer about Aitcheson and his past apparently sparked the priest's public admission. In the civil suit, records show that Aitcheson did not contest that he was liable for his actions, but that he had no assets to pay any damages. Aitcheson wrote a letter to Judge Kaufman in 1981 saying that "I own nothing," court records show. He also claimed that, "Before my arrest, I had severed my activities with the KKK." In a deposition in the case, he refused to answer any questions about his actions because he feared he could still be charged criminally. Cook also represents the families of Marines killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, for which he obtained a $2.6 billion judgment against Iran, and he said other civil judgments relating to acts of terrorism are approaching their statute of limitations. He said Congress "could avoid this disaster" by passing a law which says that civil or restitution judgments arising from any act of terrorism, if registered or originated in federal court, "shall be free of any expiration date." The Red Bank Charter School is one of several New Jersey charter schools that have been accused of having a segregative effect on their school districts. Read more The Red Bank Charter School, one of New Jersey's longest running, occupies an old home joined with a former elementary school building. Its brightly decorated classrooms are filled with a mix of faces: white, Hispanic, and black students, dressed in navy blue and khaki. "What makes the school special is, we are integrated. That's hard to do," said Meredith Pennotti, the charter school's principal. Critics see it differently. By competing for students in Red Bank, the charter school has been accused of contributing to segregation of the Monmouth County borough's traditional public schools, where 82 percent of elementary and middle-school students are Hispanic, compared with 44 percent in the charter. Advocates and public school officials in several New Jersey districts with charter schools have leveled similar accusations, spurring legal challenges and a federal investigation, and stoking debate about the distribution of resources and the persistence of school segregation, even in diverse communities. New Jersey's charter schools often don't mirror the demographics of other public schools in their districts, an Inquirer analysis found though whether they should, and how closely, is a subject of contention in both courts and communities. Nationally, studies comparing charter and traditional school enrollments and tracking student transfers have found greater segregation of students as a result of charters. In Pennsylvania, black and Latino students tend to enroll in charters with more students who look like them than in the schools they left, a study published this year revealed. It found that white students followed the same pattern in the Philadelphia area, where critics have questioned the mix of students in charters. Because of research showing the harm of segregation, "I think any school, district, or charter that is segregated is concerning," said Erica Frankenberg, an associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State University, who conducted the Pennsylvania study. "A charter should be representative of the district." New Jersey, where Gov. Christie has vigorously promoted expansion of charters, has a stricter legal standard than other states when it comes to race. The state constitution specifically bars segregation in public schools, and the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in 1971 that state education officials had the power to merge school districts to achieve racial balance. State law says charter schools must seek to enroll a cross section of school-age children in the community. "We've got this incredibly strong but aging body of law that says racial balance whenever feasible, and then we've got the day-to-day balance, which is to largely ignore those provisions," said Paul Tractenberg, a retired Rutgers Law School professor, who heads a nonprofit that researches and promotes diversity in education. Tractenberg observed that the state, as a whole, continued to have "among the most segregated public school systems in the country," in part because of where people live. Given residential segregation patterns, faulting charter schools is "a spectacular example of missing the point," said Christopher Cerf, superintendent of the state-run Newark schools, who previously served as state education commissioner and is a former president of the for-profit Edison Schools. Charter schools educate a small but growing share of New Jersey students, primarily in urban areas. Under Christie's watch, enrollment has increased from 21,000 in 2009-10 to 46,000 last year or 3.4 percent of the state's 1.37 million public school students. The Inquirer and Daily News analysis of the state's 88 charter schools found that almost all of the schools differ by at least 10 percentage points from their districts in at least one of three major demographic categories race, socioeconomic status, or English-language proficiency. The state, which requires officials to evaluate whether charters have a "segregative effect" on their districts, doesn't specify by how much those populations can diverge. Some parents are uncomfortable with the discrepancies among schools. "If the population wasn't so segregated," said Julie Ramirez of Princeton, "I might have a different view of the [charter] school as a whole." Ramirez, who is white, and her husband, who is Hispanic, have children in the Princeton public schools, where 15 percent of students in grades kindergarten through eight are Hispanic, compared with 3 percent at the Princeton Charter School. Debate over the charter, she said, "is causing a lot of friction in the town." The Latino Coalition of New Jersey, an advocacy group, has called on the state Department of Education to close five charter schools, including the Red Bank and Princeton charters. The group is also involved in a court appeal challenging the state's renewal of the Red Bank charter. The complaints aren't just about demographics but also about the money that districts send to charter schools. For every dollar districts receive per pupil from local taxes and the main type of state school aid, state law entitles charter schools to a comparable 90 cents. In recent years, the state has spared charters from aid cuts even as growing districts await the funding to which they are entitled. In January, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation at the Red Bank charter for issues related to recruitment and admissions. The office has investigations open at four other New Jersey charter schools, but the issues in those cases are disability discrimination and retaliation, according to a federal department spokesman. A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Education, which has renewed the charters or approved expansions at each of the schools contested by the Latino Coalition, said the department could not comment on issues involving pending litigation. "The main thing we want to achieve is a serious charter school law that actually considers segregation before approving the charters, or reapproving them," said Frank Argote-Freyre, the Latino Coalition's director. "This administration's totally failed to do that." Red Bank Borough Public Schools Superintendent Jared Rumage contends that public perception has driven some parents away from the district schools. "The very existence of the charter school implies to the community, and those people interested in purchasing homes in our community, that the public schools are inadequate," he said. Rumage, who has been superintendent for three years, said the charter school enrolled "predominantly advantaged" students compared with his schools. Nearly 89 percent of Red Bank Borough school students were eligible for free or reduced lunch in 2016-17, compared with 42 percent at the charter school. Just over 35 percent of the borough students were limited English proficient, compared with 4 percent at the charter school. Those gaps have widened over time, according to the Inquirer and Daily News analysis of Department of Education data. The charter school's leaders contend that the problem is the borough schools that they don't reflect the community because students have opted to attend private schools. Reflecting the borough schools "would be to replicate the segregation," said Pennotti, the charter principal. According to 2011 to 2015 U.S. Census estimates, 32 percent of children ages 5 through 17 in Red Bank were white. Just 7.5 percent of Red Bank Borough school students last year were white, compared with 42.5 percent of students at the charter school. The charter enrolls 200 students, while the borough schools enroll about 1,300. Taxpayers are paying "to run a second school district for a small, predominantly white group of children," Rumage said, noting that $1.6 million of the $3 million in state aid to Red Bank went to the charter school. For several years before last, half or more of the charter school's students were white. Pennotti said the issue was the state's underfunding of its school-aid formula. "The unfairness is largely that Red Bank is an underfunded district," she said. The contrasts among the schools have made an impression on district parents like Maria Flores, who has two sons in the Red Bank Borough schools. At the start of one school year, her older son came home and said his friends had disappeared. "Years later, I found out those kids moved to the charter school," she said. "How did they know how to put their kids in the charter school? I never knew anything." Last year, her younger son was in an entirely Latino class. "He said, 'Mom, why don't I have white friends?' " Flores, a native of Mexico who works as a housekeeper, said she felt that some better-off white parents shied away from the school because "they're afraid to send their kids with different kids." Kate Damm, who is white and has a daughter at the charter, said she didn't have reservations about the borough schools, but liked the charter's K-8 model. The "diversity in many different areas" that drew her and her husband to Red Bank "is reflected in the charter school," said Damm, who works in human resources. Rudy Ramirez, who has two children at the charter, said he and his wife decided to enter their son into the lottery after seeing advertisements in town. "I'm pretty sure there are people in the Hispanic community who feel that perhaps some white Americans don't want to get involved with our Latino kids," said Ramirez, a native of Costa Rica who moved to Red Bank 24 years ago and works in property management. But that's "an individual view." Of the controversy surrounding the charter, he said: "The Hispanic community, we need to do better better inform ourselves." The charter school's recruitment efforts have faced scrutiny for years. Following a lawsuit, the school entered into a state consent order with the Red Bank Borough schools in 2007, requiring it to provide the district with information about its enrollment and to advertise in Spanish-language newspapers, among other provisions. It also recently began weighting its annual lottery to favor economically disadvantaged students. Cerf, the Newark superintendent, said that as education commissioner, he "took accountability incredibly seriously," reviewing the composition of schools and their recruiting policies before renewing their charters. Of segregation complaints, Cerf contended that "propagandists who have a beef with charter schools for reasons that have nothing to do with this have found this to be a useful talking point." Argote-Freyre said the Latino Coalition has "never, as a position, opposed charter schools." Segregation, he noted, is a much broader problem. "Eventually, we want to tackle the whole segregated puzzle," he said. Issues with charter schools are "just one dimension of it." Sen. Ted Cruz wrongly claimed that a 2013 Hurricane Sandy relief bill was "filled with pork and unrelated spending," estimating that "two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was heavily affected by Sandy, called that claim "an absolute falsehood" and then accused Cruz of repeating "reprehensible lies." We wouldn't use the "L" word, but we do find that at least two-thirds of the bill was related to Hurricane Sandy the opposite of what Cruz said. Cruz is now dealing with hurricane relief efforts in his home state of Texas, after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25 as a category 4 storm. In the days since, the storm has dumped more than 50 inches of rain in some parts of Houston. There are at least 30 confirmed or suspected deaths due to the storm, reports the New York Times. The Washington Post Fact Checker looked at Cruz's claim and found little in the Sandy relief bill that could be considered pork-barrel spending, or "local members of Congress spending on their pet projects," as Cruz also said. Cruz's office later told the Post that the senator was referring to non-emergency spending in the bill, not pork, when he used the two-thirds figure. And a Cruz spokesperson also told us: "When regions face serious disasters causing extensive damage, the federal government has an obligation to assist with assets to address the emergency. Sen. Cruz strongly supports this role of government, but emergency bills should not be used for non-emergency spending and that unfortunately is what made up nearly 70% of the $50.5 billion HR 152 bill." But that's not what the senator said in two TV interviews. Several readers have asked us to assess whether the Sandy relief bill largely had little or nothing to do with the storm, some citing Cruz as the reason for their question. The Texas senator was asked about his previous opposition to a disaster relief bill for Sandy, a storm that made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., in late October 2012. Cruz, Cruz, NBC News, Aug. 28: We consulted a detailed report on the funding in the legislation by the Congressional Research Service in February 2013. We found that at least $35 billion of the $50.5 billion provided by the bill was related to Sandy that's 69 percent of the bill. We identified nearly another $10 billion that was for mitigation efforts to limit damage from future storms. That left nearly $6 billion uncategorized, because it was either unclear whether all of the funds were specifically directed to Sandy-affected areas, or the money indeed went to other disaster efforts. We realize there are judgment calls to be made in this exercise, but we followed the CRS report's descriptions of the purposes of the funding. Several items we left uncategorized are described as being "for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy" in the legislation, such as salaries and expenses for government agencies. But our calculation ended up being similar to a big-picture estimate from Steve Ellis, vice president of the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. Ellis, whose group criticized the bill at the time for some of the funding items, estimated for FactCheck.org that about $30 billion of the $50 billion was Sandy-related, or about 60 percent of the bill. His estimate was based on some of the major elements of the bill, not the entire bill. While Cruz claimed the bulk of the legislation had little, or nothing, to do with Sandy, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, also of Texas, went too far in the other direction. He said this about a Hurricane Harvey relief bill on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Aug. 30: "I hope that it will be a clean bill that only affects disaster-related things, as the Superstorm Sandy bill did back then." That's misleading. One could make the argument that nearly all of the Sandy bill included "disaster-related-things," but not Sandy-related. Just as one could make the argument that there were non-emergency items in the bill. Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group that publishes an annual "pig book" on pork-barrel spending, supported the general idea that there was non-emergency spending in the Sandy relief legislation. "It is hard to state definitively how much of the Sandy relief appropriation was either non-emergency or unrelated to the storm, but every emergency supplemental spending bill has contained such expenditures," CAGW President Tom Schatz said in a statement to FactCheck.org. "Beyond the political wrangling over the definition of 'storm-related' needs, the funding bill for Sandy had weak and under-funded taxpayer safeguards. Even if a project had some relationship to the storm, there was no way of verifying whether those dollars were spent effectively or in a time-sensitive fashion. However, there is ample documentation of Sen. Cruz's general assertion: Emergency spending bills are filled with unrelated spending due to its must-pass nature." Politico reported Wednesday that New York's attorney general Eric Schneiderman is now working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the probe of financial transactions involving Paul Manafort, a story independently confirmed by the Washington Post by a source familiar with the investigation. While the involvement of Schneiderman could produce nothing and is in an early stage, the news sends an important message to President Donald Trump: his pardon power does not extend to state crimes. In the event Manafort or anyone else is charged under New York law, or threatened with indictment, there will be nothing Trump can do about it. His "power to grant reprieves and pardons" only covers "offenses against the United States," according to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. Reports of Schneiderman's interest in Manafort are not new. But the news that the New York attorney general is teaming up with Mueller attracted a good deal of attention from Trump critics because of the pardon issue. Trump pointedly tweeted in July that he has "complete power to pardon" aides, family members and possibly even himself. His pardon Friday of former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio was seen by some as strong message that he is willing to use the pardon power liberally. "So much for strategic use of pardon power with Manafort," tweeted Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe. According to the Politico report: "The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller's and Schneiderman's teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering. "No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. "Nothing is imminent," said one of the people familiar with the case." A spokeswoman for Schneiderman declined to comment. Manafort has denied any wrongdoing. There are plenty of points of entry into the Manafort probe for a New York prosecutor. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., were examining Manafort real estate transactions across the U.S., including in New York, "for indications of money-laundering and fraud." NBC News reported that some of those New York loans were financed in part by a Ukrainian emigre to the U.S. Manafort told NBC through a spokesman that his transactions were "executed in a transparent fashion . . ." But NBC reported that Manafort's name and signature did not appear on loan documents. Manafort was chairman of Trump's campaign until he resigned amid growing scrutiny of his decade of work in Ukraine on behalf of a Russia-friendly political party, the Party of Regions. Manafort's personal finances may be totally unrelated to Mueller's probe into possible coordination of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. But Mueller could conceivably use any jeopardy faced by Manafort in New York to gain his cooperation into the broader investigation, without the hindrance of a Trump pardon of Manafort. Indeed, the Post reported earlier this month that Manafort's allies feared that Mueller wants to build a case against Manafort independent of the 2016 campaign "in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump's inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure." WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday announced it has chosen four companies to build concrete prototypes of the president's much-touted border wall. Construction of the prototypes, to take place in San Diego, is the first step in fulfilling Trump's campaign promise of building a "big, beautiful" wall stretching along the 2,000-mile Mexico border. "Today we mark a significant milestone," said Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But there appears to be a lack of political will to fund a continuous barrier. Congress has set aside $20 million in the current budget to build the prototypes but has not appropriated any other money for the wall. The four companies are: Caddell Construction in Montgomery, Alabama, Fisher Sand and Gravel/DBA Fisher Industries in Tempe, Arizona, Sterling Construction in Houston, and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The administration was originally expected to announce its decision on prototypes in June,but the contracting process was delayed after protests from two companies that had not made the list of finalists. The Government Accountability Office dismissed the protests on Friday, but unsuccessful bidders now have another opportunity to file new protests, which could further delay construction. During his visit last week to Phoenix, President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the government if Congress does not agree to fund his wall in September. "Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said during his Arizona rally. " The American people voted for immigration control. That's one of the reasons I'm here, and that is what the American people deserve, and they're going to get it." Seven hundred miles of fencing has already been built in the most critical areas, following the 2006 Secure Fence Act under President George W. Bush. And there's been a significant decrease in the number of illegal border crossers since Trump took office. The government in March asked for design submissions for two types of wall: a reinforced concrete barrier wall as well as one made of an alternative material with see-through capability. The government specified that the 30-foot-high wall must be insurmountable and "aesthetically pleasing in color," at least from the United States side. More than 200 companies responded with proposals. The contenders were winnowed down to a secret list of about 20 finalists. Thursday's announcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not include the winners of the non-concrete wall prototype. Trump earlier this summer had floated the possibility of a solar-paneled wall, between 40 and 50 feet high as a way to help pay for construction. But with less than 2 percent of the U.S. population living within 40 miles of the Mexico border, most of the electricity generated by the wall would be useless without the construction of costly transmission lines to channel the electricity to other parts of the country. It was unclear when contractors building the other wall option would be named. Customs and Border Protection said that it would "partner with industry to identify additional means and methods to construct a border wall." Trump's 2018 budget calls for $2.6 billion for "high-priority tactical infrastructure and border security technology." Of that amount, $1.6 billion is for "bricks and mortar construction" and $1 billion is for infrastructure and technology, such as roads needed to access construction sites and surveillance equipment. Since the campaign, Trump has scaled back his wall ambitions, admitting that a continuous barrier would not be possible nor necessary given natural barriers such as lakes, rivers, and mountains. A seamless wall is also unrealistic because of international treaty and flood zone requirements. The administration had hoped to add more than 100 new miles of wall over the next two years, according to a Department of Homeland Security planning document. Among the "high priority" locations would be the border sectors of the Rio Grande Valley in the southern tip of Texas as well as El Paso, Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California. Of the more than 400,000 illegal immigrants apprehended along the southern border in 2016, nearly half were stopped in the Rio Grande Valley, according to data compiled by the U.S. Border Patrol. Customs and Border Protection said in June that it would be installing 35 new gates in the Rio Grande Valley to cover existing gaps, as well as begin replacing fencing in San Diego and vehicle barriers in El Paso. Trump has pointed to these repairs as a sign that his wall promise was coming to life. The agency said the wall prototypes will be built on the eastern edge of the secondary fence in San Diego and will act as new barriers. Customs and Border Protection had initially planned to award contracts by June 12, with construction beginning by July 21, according to a June Homeland Security Inspector General's report . Human rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block President Donald Trump's proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military, producing statements by three former Obama administration U.S. service branch chiefs and a senior Pentagon official that a ban would harm readiness, staffing, recruitment and morale. The move to stop the Trump administration edict came two days after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis formally responded to Trump's official directive ordering the Pentagon chief to determine how to implement the policy. In a statement, Shannon Minter, legal director for one of two gay rights organizations representing eight transgender U.S. service members, said their opposition to the "reckless" ban was joined by military experts "who know that ripping trained, experienced service members out of our armed forces for no reason other than who they are will leave gaping holes in our defense, compromise national security, and inhibit recruitment during a critical time." The groups said they sought an injunction now because even though Mattis temporarily froze the ban as the Pentagon reviews its options, he committed to carrying out the Trump policy by March 23. As a result, service members face the imminent prospect of being denied reenlistment, promotions, deployments and even medical care, the groups said. Mattis also suspended prior plans to permit new transgender enlistees, threatening the careers of transgender students enrolled at the U.S. Naval Academy or in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Minter said. Transgender service members' "lives have been thrown into utter chaos, and they need an order protecting them from further discrimination and harms right now," Minter said. The filing in the lawsuit, by Minter's group, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), came in federal court in the nation's capital, and was the first of several similar moves expected in lawsuits filed across the country by civil rights groups and transgender people in the armed services. A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly could issue a ruling or set a hearing next week. Also Thursday, the groups added two named individuals to original plaintiffs identified by pseudonyms, as "Jane Does." They include Regan Kibby, a Navy academy midshipman, and Dylan Kohere, a ROTC student. Their participation at the academy and in ROTC is contingent on their eligibility to enlist in the military, now in doubt, they alleged. Each said their initial decision to declare their transgender status was based on the Obama administration's decision to allow their service in 2016. "A big part of the reason I was comfortable coming out as transgender in the ROTC was the announcement in the summer of 2016 that transgender people would be able to serve openly in the military," Kohere said in an affidavit. "I was so excited that I would be able to achieve my goal of serving while remaining true to who I am." Kibby, said he came out as transgender during his first year when the Obama announcement was made. Kibby competed successfully for a congressional nomination and admission to the academy inspired by his Navy veteran father and upbringing in San Diego, home to the Pacific fleet. Kibby's enrollment was threatened this past July, when Trump caught many by surprise with a series of tweets to countermand his predecessor's action. "After a lifetime of feeling a sense of duty and preparing to serve, reading Trump's tweets was painful, and I saw my future crumbling," Kibby said. Trump on July 26 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 U.S. Military." He elaborated, "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." The ban would reverse an Obama decision to allow transgender people to serve openly. The armed forces were set to begin enlisting transgender people July 1, but Mattis suspended that move, while announcing Tuesday that current enlistees will continue to be allowed to serve pending the results of a study and recommendations by a panel of experts. "Our focus must always be on what is best for the military's combat effectiveness leading to victory on the battlefield," Mattis said. "To that end, I will establish a panel of experts serving within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president's direction." Before the Obama policy change, the Pentagon had concluded that there was no basis for the military to exclude transgender people, as long as they could meet the same fitness requirements as other service members. The review examined medical care, military readiness and other factors. There is no official tally of transgender military members, and estimates vary widely. One recent study by the Rand Corp. put the number on active duty at about 2,500, while another from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimated that there were 15,500 on active duty, in the National Guard and in the reserves. In affidavits filed Thursday, Obama Pentagon appointees Ray Mabus Jr., Navy secretary from 2009 to 2017; Eric Fanning, who held a series of posts from 2013 to 2017 ending as Army secretary; and Deborah Lee James, Air Force secretary from 2013 to 2017; and Brad Carson, acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness criticized the Trump proposal. Aerial image of SCI Graterford on the left and the new SCI Phoenix on the right in Skippack Township, Montgomery County. Read more A decade after the project was proposed, and almost two years after it was scheduled to be ready, Pennsylvania this month plans to start moving staff into its biggest, most expensive prison, the $400 million State Correctional Institution Phoenix. Among state facilities, only the Convention Center in Philadelphia has cost taxpayers more, and still at issue is $23 million in fines related to construction delays. Eight guard towers and utility buildings at the concrete complex just east of the aging Graterford Prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, have been granted certificates of occupancy after a series of contractor squabbles, inspection struggles, and final construction fixes in advance of the latest target completion date, Sept. 28. State officials said some prison staff will move to Phoenix in a few weeks. Inspectors still are reviewing 3,000 electrical, mechanical, and architectural "deficiencies" in the 12 separate cell block buildings and at 12 other structures at Phoenix, said Troy Thompson, spokesman for the state Department of General Services. The state has no estimate for when all those buildings will be ready. The Department of Corrections expects to finish moving prisoners from Graterford to Phoenix by July, said Corrections Department spokeswoman Susan McNaughton. The new prison, surrounded by rows of building-high barbed wire instead of a massive wall, adds program space and will have air-conditioning, a big change from the sweltering summers at Graterford. Before I discuss Monday's announcement that NASA intends to pursue sample return from Mars, I hope you'll indulge me in sharing a (brief!) personal story that has been present in my mind this week. It's about how my life changed before the Atlas V carrying NASA's Curiosity rover even reached space. It was my first rocket launch. It was my first mission with a direct connection to the science team and their raw hopes and fears for the launch. And it was a mission to Mars, for chrissakes, and vivid memories of watching the landings of Pathfinder and the MER rovers, pouring over the engineering drawings and pictures of Viking as a kid, all joined into the powerful melange of emotions I felt as I watched that rocket disappear into the blue expanse, never to return. At the time, MSL Curiosity was the last Mars surface mission on NASA's books. A year before, the space agency had abruptly pulled out of the proposed joint ExoMars mission with ESA. All that remained was the MAVEN orbiter launching in 2013, and, apres MAVEN, rien. That thought haunted me that evening as we celebrated the successful launch. I found myself asking the question, "why am I not doing everything I can to help fix this?" and I found I had no good answer. Within a year I had changed careers and joined The Planetary Society to help run its advocacy program. That decision consciously happened the evening of the launch, but unconsciously it happened during the launch itself, perhaps when the Atlas V punched through a cloud and emerged out the other side. I was hooked. Thankfully, more Mars missions came relatively soon after the success of Curiosity's landing on August 6, 2012. Later that month, InSight was selected as a small-class mission through NASA's Discovery line. The Mars 2020 rover project (so named for the year it will launch) was announced in December 2012. The National Academies released its Decadal Survey for Planetary Science the year before, titled Visions and Voyages, and its top program recommendation for flagship missions was a mission to Mars to begin a campaign for sample return. It took determined effort from the scientific community and advocates within NASA to ensure Mars 2020 adhered to those recommendations. Even now, the official mission description for Mars 2020 hedges on any guarantee of sample return, stating only that "a future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth." So why would NASA invest hundreds of millions of dollarsa large portion of the project's price tagon an advanced sampling system for Mars 2020 but not follow through with sample return? There are many ways to interpret this, but fundamentally it comes down to cost, as it so often does. As classically envisioned, a sample return campaign would require three flagship-class missions. The first finds and collects the samples. That mission is Mars 2020 and it will cost around $2.4 billion. But Mars 2020 contains a full science suite, it's not just a sample acquisition device. So great science could be achieved even without returning the samples. The cost problems were exemplified at a presentation earlier this year to the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine; Mars Exploration Program Director Jim Watzin discussed early studies of two follow-on missions to first fetch the samples and launch them into Mars orbit, and then rendezvous with them and return them to Earth. Early estimates placed these missions at $4 billion and $2 billion, respectively. The cost of these missions would place an onerous financial burden on the entire Planetary Science Division in the 2020s as it also pursued a flagship mission to Europa (and potentially a lander as well), on top of PSD's commitment to smaller missions to other destinations in the solar system. Even with the division's improved funding outlook, there would not be enough resources to simultaneously pursue all of these endeavors. This has always been the problem with Mars sample return. In the meantime, no new missions to Mars had been announced since 2012. The report released by The Planetary Society earlier this year, Mars in Retrograde: A Pathway to Restoring NASA's Mars Exploration Program, highlighted the creeping problems associated with a lack of new mission starts, including an aging telecommunications infrastructure and an absence of program clarity entering the 2020s. The entire Mars program had been reduced to a single mission, Mars 2020, implying a future for sample return. But said future was just thatimplied and with no commitment. As of Monday, that future is beginning to come into focus. While there was no official mission start or timeline presented publicly, the fact that NASA's top science administrator spoke about the intent to pursue the return of samples from Mars was a big deal. It is the first time sample return has reached this level of official public discussion, and marks a critical step toward clarifying the future of the Mars Exploration Program. By focusing on the fetch rover and Mars Ascent Vehicle and potentially partnering with another entity on a rendezvous and return orbiter, NASA could save billions on the overall mission. A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department deputy died after he and two California Highway Patrol officers were shot Wednesday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department reports. Dep. Robert "Bob" French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County (CA) Sheriff's Department, died on his way to the hospital after being shot in the chest. (Photo: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department) Dep. Robert "Bob" French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County (CA) Sheriff's Department, died on his way to the hospital after being shot in the chest, according to Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, reports CBS Sacramento. French was a training officer. He is survived by his live-in girlfriend, adult children and his grandchildren. The two CHP officers who were wounded are expected to survive their injuries. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, which began Wednesday morning at the Ramada Inn in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard with a stolen vehicle investigation, said Sgt. Tony Turnbull, Sheriff's Department spokesman, reports the Sacramento Bee. A vehicle theft task force consisting of CHP officers, sheriff's deputies, and probation officers had gone to a hotel parking lot. Two suspects, both women, then led law enforcers on a chase about 10:30 a.m. that ended in the Laguna area, where the women were taken into custody, Turnbull said. Officers then checked on other possible suspects in a room at the Ramada Inn. When they knocked on a hotel room door, a man opened fire through the door and struck two CHP officers, Turnbull said. Additional deputies responded on the back side of the room. The male suspect, wielding a high-powered rifle, engaged in a shootout that injured a deputy. The suspect managed to get into a car and escape on Fulton Avenue. He turned onto El Camino Avenue and crashed near Watt Avenue. He then exchanged gunfire again with officers. He was struck and then arrested. The suspect and the officers were taken to area hospitals. Their condition was not known. Illinois' attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago in an effort to force changes to the Chicago Police Department. Joining state Attorney General Lisa Madigan in announcing the lawsuit, was Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, reversing his position on whether the city needs strict federal court oversight to make significant changes in the troubled police department. The U.S. Department of Justice released a report in January outlining policing patterns and practices that it says often violated the civil rights of residents, including cases of excessive force. "To combat violence and rebuild trust, we need true police reform and accountability," Madigan continued. "The only way to achieve real, lasting reform is through a consent decree that specifically addresses the problems identified in the Justice Department's report." Under President Obama, the Justice Department negotiated consent decrees with Cleveland, Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., and other cities mandating police reform. Since coming into office shortly after the Chicago report was released, the Trump administration has taken a more hands-off approach. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has expressed skepticism of such legally binding efforts to reform departments. Both Sessions and Trump himself have been sharply critical of Chicago's relatively high rate of shootings and homicides, as well as the city's lawsuit against the DOJ to protect its "sanctuary city" status, NPR.org reports. Embed from Getty Images Los Angeles-area police unions are calling out attempts to hijack the phrase and symbol thin blue line for hate and intolerance. The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) in a statement on Monday joined with the United Coalition of Public Safety (UCOPS) to denounce extremists, the Daily News reports. Ive seen photos, and Im seeing it on television through the news, said Robert Sass, vice president for ALADS and a deputy for the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Some of the hate groups are draping themselves in the flag. Some are carrying flags. Those flags refer to the thin blue line that police officers use to symbolize police work. Its something thats been around for quite awhile and is used by police officers. A thin blue line symbol was created to allow the community to show support for law enforcement, and those attempting to hijack the symbol for their own purposes (hate groups such as the neo-Nazis, White Supremacists or the KKK) are despicable and most certainly do not represent the values for which that symbol stands, the joint statement said. Photo: Facebook The widow of a Kissimmee, FL, police officer recently killed in the line of duty was sworn in as a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Monday, reports WFTV. Sadia Baxter's husband, Officer Matthew Baxter, was with Kissimmee Sgt. Sam Howard responding to a call when they were reportedly shot and killed by a suspect. Sadia Baxter was also an officer with the Kissimmee Police Department before being hired by the FDLE. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print During a radio interview, Eric Trump discussed the mental instability of his father by saying that the President Of The United States has to tune out criticism or else he would commit suicide. Audio: https://youtu.be/RQqV7aFJYzs Eric Trump said, Its the media, the mainstream media, who does not want him to succeed. Its government who does not want him to succeed. People who are very comfortable in their white marble offices in Washington, DC who he compromises and he threatens in some way, shape or form/ Theyve never had to deal with somebody whos an outsider who wont put up with nonsense, and this is the result no matter what he does, hes going to get hit, and listen, I think you have to tune it out. You obviously have to be tuned into it because you have to know whats being said, but at the same time you have to take it all with a grain of salt, and you know, if they werent talking about you, you wouldnt be doing something right and its important to keep it in context, otherwise quite frankly youd probably end up killing yourself out of depression. One of the most frequently mentioned terms when insiders describe Trumps mental state is depression. Trump was described as depressed by the Russia scandal in May. Earlier in August, it was reported that the White House gives Trump two folders of positive news clippings a day to keep his mood up. The White House even held a cabinet meeting where all participants complimented Trump to lift him out of his depression. The Presidents own son is admitting that his father is depressed, mentally unstable, and cant handle the criticism that comes with the presidency. It wasnt an accident that Eric Trump referred to depression and suicide. Trump has made it well known that he hates the White House and misses his old life. Trump is being pushed to the brink, as a man-child who needs universal love is being driven to the edge because he cant handle criticism. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Trumps pardon power will be worthless as special counsel Robert Meuller is working with the New York attorney general in the clearest signal yet that state criminal charges could be coming in the Russia scandal. Politico reported on the cooperation between Mueller and New York AG Eric Schneiderman: The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Muellers and Schneidermans teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering. No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. Nothing is imminent, said one of the people familiar with the case. The two are teaming up on the Manafort part of the Russia investigation, but the idea that the state of New York could render Trumps pardon plan worthless throws a wrench into what the White House seemed to be planning as their ultimate get out jail card when the Russia scandal hits the fan. The money laundering investigations and examinations of his financial dealings are what have Trump the most nervous. As Ari Melber pointed out on MSNBC on Tuesday, Trump cant pardon his way out of state charges, If Trump issues mass pardons, that legal door would be open in some states. A state may also obtain grand jury material if it shows a violation of state law, so if Muellers investigation ends, a state could pursue the transcripts of every Meuller interview before the grand jury and other evidence. In fact, I can report tonight that a source with knowledge of one state attorney generals preparations tells me that that office is already looking at its potential jurisdiction for Russia related crimes. Trump isnt going to escape the Russia scandal. If federal charges dont get him and his associates, the state of New York looks ready to act. 25 2021 - 200 ! . ( ) , Cookies . cookies. You are the owner of this article. Transportation investigators are trying to determine why two historic military planes were seemingly in the same place at the same time just before they collided at a Dallas air show, killing six people. The collision happened Saturday afternoon at the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show at the Dallas Executive Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration says a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed. Videos on social media show two aircraft colliding before they both rapidly descend, causing a large fire and plumes of black smoke to billow into the sky. Citing the Dallas County medical examiner, county Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted Sunday that six people were killed. Read moreInvestigation underway over midair crash at Dallas air show In this Monday, Aug. 6, 2017 photo, a girl walks to school in the Zaatari Refugee Camp for Syrian refugees, in northern Jordan. More than half a million Syrian refugee children in regional host countries - Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq - arent in school despite an ambitious no lost generation pledge made by donor countries at a Syria aid conference last year. The U.N. child welfare agency is trying to enroll more children in schools, but faces large funding gaps. (AP Photo/Reem Saad) LAS VEGAS Control of the U.S. Senate may come down to Nevada, where a slow ballot count entered its final act Saturday in the nail-biter contest between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt. Read moreSenate control may come down to Nevada as count nears end WINONA A California man has been charged with a felony after authorities say he became angry with an area woman then sent a nude photo of her to her job. Zachary Mikel Biddle, 37, of San Diego, made his first appearance Wednesday in Winona County District Court, where he's been charged with one count of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court Dec. 1. The investigation began March 12, when a Winona woman told police she was being blackmailed. She and Biddle had vacationed together recently; Biddle was interested in a relationship, but the woman was not. The two had known each other for more than a year, but were vacationing as friends. ADVERTISEMENT Biddle "became angry when things didn't go his way" on the vacation, the woman said, so she blocked him on social media when she returned to Winona. A few days later, Biddle sent the victim a couple of emails with a short video of herself in the bathroom of the vacation home, apparently taken by a hidden camera, the complaint says. One of the emails included a message that said, "think if everyone at your school saw these videos " A few weeks later, Biddle sent a nude photo of the victim to her place of employment, court documents say, where it was able to be viewed by her coworkers. Biddle denied filming the woman in a bathroom; he said he'd cut off contact with her, and denied knowing anything about any photos. He said he didn't have a good time on vacation and the victim "ruined the trip" because she was "mean, disrespectful and unappreciative," the complaint says. When asked if he put the camera in the bathroom, Biddle allegedly said he didn't want to admit to a crime. When the investigator asked Biddle if he'd brought the camera with him or if he'd bought it on vacation, Biddle became upset and wouldn't directly answer the question. ADVERTISEMENT He reportedly said he wouldn't do anything further to the woman or anything related to her. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. After the Stage 1 fire restrictions for Lewis and Clark County were amended to prohibit all campfires, the Helena Fire Department said the city will follow suit. Were going to follow those restrictions in the city limits too, Assistant Fire Chief of Operations Ken Wood said Thursday afternoon. The Stage 1 restrictions enacted in early August already prohibit most campfires in the county, including those on private land outside of city limits. The amendment adopted by the city will ban all campfires on public and private land within Helena beginning Saturday, unless an exemption is granted. As a city we have a lot of wildland-urban interface, Wood said. The amendment will also ban all campfires on federal, state, tribal and county lands across the Central Montana Zone, including those that were exempt from the original restrictions, beginning Saturday. Campfires will not be allowed in metal rings or at developed recreation sites, including campgrounds or cabins, says a press release from the Northern Rockies Coordinating Group. Stage 1 restrictions also prohibit smoking outside of buildings, vehicles and developed recreation sites, unless in a 3-foot-diameter area cleared of all flammable vegetation. For more information about fire restrictions statewide, visit https://firerestrictions.us/mt/. WINONA Minnesota State College Southeast announced that it's adding another liberal arts degree option to its tech-focused lineup. The college will help students get their start toward a psychology degree, thanks to a new transfer agreement announced by the college Monday. "While MSC Southeast will always be committed to our career and technical programs, we believe the expansion of our liberal arts and sciences offerings will be a tremendous advantage to students in our region," said Dorothy Duran, the college's president, in a news release. This follows the college's decision to offer its first associate of arts degree in liberal arts and sciences last year, a move that also coincided with a name change . The second associate of arts degree, a 60-credit "psychology transfer pathway," is the first of options to come. The "transfer pathway" option will allow students to complete the first two years of their degree at MSC Southeast, with the option to transfer to any of Minnesota State's seven universities. Eventually, the college hopes to add more options such as history and sociology. ADVERTISEMENT "These associate of arts degrees will be a great advantage to students who are seeking a lower-cost path to completing a four-year education," said Jo Poncelet, MSC Southeast Dean of Academics. The college will also offer a 16-credit creative writing certificate designed for aspiring authors. The program, which is taught completely online, is designed to be completed in four semesters, "giving the student the time needed to develop a unique point of view and voice," according to the college. "We felt there was a niche not being filled, among the two-year colleges, for a creative writing concentration. There are plenty of BAs and MFAs out there in the field, but almost nothing at this level," said Michael Larson, an instructor in the English department on the Winona campus. "So we wanted to encourage those with a love of language and a love of story to start with us and see where it might lead. The two-year technical and community college has campuses in Winona and Red Wing. A week after pressuring a popular membership director to resign, Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce President Rob Miller has resigned amid the backlash. Miller, who was hired in 2014, resigned Wednesday under a cloud of accusations. His resignation is effective immediately. Attempts to reach Miller for comment were unsuccessful. Lisa Clarke, the 2017 chairwoman of the chamber board of directors, issued a positive statement about Miller's leadership without any mention of former membership director Judy Braatz or the ongoing investigation into Braatz's allegations of age discrimination, defamation and gender bias at the chamber. "Rob is a visionary leader who brought great energy, business acumen and an entrepreneurial vantage point to our chamber," Clarke said. "He drove member engagement at our events and worked to ensure there were accessible touch points for all our members no matter how small or large. We know there are great things in store for Rob in the future." ADVERTISEMENT The chamber soon will start a search for Miller's replacement. The office will be managed by a yet-to-be-named interim director. Braatz, who accused Miller of "discriminatory bullying of female employees," said she could not comment on his resignation. She has retained an attorney, who is advising her to not speak publicly on the issue. Her departure was one in a string of employees exits. Paul Omodt, of Minneapolis-based Omodt & Associates Critical Communications, is fielding questions for the chamber. He declined to discuss the possibility of Braatz getting her job back with the chamber. "As you know, we can't publicly comment on personnel matters," Omodt said via email. Omodt, who previously has worked with Mayo Clinic, is known as a crisis communications expert. As part of this dispute, Braatz wrote a letter detailing examples of Miller's behavior that she described as age discrimination, bias against women and public defamation. That letter was mailed to the 26 chamber board members. "I am being forced out of my job of 23 years due to the discrimination and bullying behavior of Rob Miller," she wrote in the letter obtained by the Post Bulletin. The chamber announced earlier this week that an outside firm, whose name has not been released, is investigating the allegations. Chamber volunteers were notified that the investigation is expected to take about 30 days. ADVERTISEMENT When asked if the investigation had spurred Miller's resignation, Omodt wrote, "Rob advocated for and welcomed the investigation." Prior to Omodt's arrival, vice president of development Paul Richardson had been fielding questions about the situation. Richardson, who worked for Miller at his former business in Arizona, followed Miller to Rochester. Richardson didn't directly answer when asked what Miller's resignation would mean for his career at the chamber. "I'm excited about the future of the chamber. We have a great team doing amazing work. I'm proud to be a part of that team and continuing to work with our members to move Rochester forward," Richardson wrote on Wednesday. During Braatz's tenure as membership director, the Rochester chamber grew to more than 1,500 members and became the largest chamber in Minnesota. Her departure spurred some businesses to cancel their memberships. Many described her as a strong supporter of small businesses. "To thousands of people, she is the face of the chamber. She's its welcoming face. She's the great uniter," state Sen. Dave Senjem, of Rochester, said after learning of Miller's resignation. "The idea that the chamber could resurrect itself in her absence was probably, for many, a pretty difficult idea to sell." Senjem, who long has been an active chamber member, said the whole episode was "unfortunate," and Miller's resignation eventually became inevitable. ADVERTISEMENT "From the outside looking in, it seems to me it's (Miller resigning) probably the only outcome that could have occurred that could bring the chamber back to a state of normalcy and I expect Rob probably felt that way, too," Senjem said. "I guess at this point our chamber is in a re-building mode, and I wish them well." ST. PAUL A Ramsey County judge on Wednesday issued a stinging rebuke to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources over its management of White Bear Lake. The east metro lake dropped to a record low in 2013, prompting a lawsuit by citizens' groups. They argued the overpumping of groundwater from an aquifer connected to the lake was to blame. Judge Margaret Marrinan agreed. Among other things, she ordered the DNR to review all groundwater permits within five miles of White Bear Lake to determine whether pumping is sustainable. She also said the DNR must enforce a residential lawn watering ban when the lake drops below a certain level and require well owners to have contingency plans for switching to surface water. Marrinan noted heavy rain this year has raised lake levels, but that doesn't change the fact that groundwater pumping still has a negative long-term impact. ADVERTISEMENT The DNR released a statement saying it was surprised and disappointed in the judge's order. "It will take some time for us to complete our review of the 140-page opinion and to understand the basis for, and the implications of, the ruling, including any possible next steps," the statement read. "The DNR remains committed to the science-based use of its authorities and resources to achieve sustainable water management in the North and East Metro and throughout Minnesota." I set forth the chain of events that sparked my interest in the 2016 MSP International Airport tour for Somalis only in the post (DHS) Magical mystery tour (and why I need a lawyer). Last year I sought information from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Freedom of Information Act. OCR provided a few heavily redacted pages and rebuffed the administrative law judge when he requested an explanation of the redactions. Theresa Bevilacqua of Dorsey & Whitneys Minneapolis office answered my plea for help. Theresa has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on my behalf in federal court in Minneapolis. I thought at the time the lawsuit was filed that the Star Tribune might take an interest. If asked about it, I had planned to respond that we are only doing the work the Star Tribune wont do. However, the Star Tribune hasnt asked. Because the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official to whom I spoke last year directed me to OCR, I neglected to file a separate FOIA request with CBP. On Ms. Bevilacquas advice I did so. In response to my FOIA request CBP produced 29 redacted pages (posted via Scribd in part 3) with claimed FOIA exemptions stamped over the redactions. CBP also withheld 31 pages in their entirety. I disputed the applicability of the FOIA exemptions cited by CBP in an administrative appeal of the CBPs response to my FOIA request. Late Tuesday afternoon I received the results of my appeal. Although my disagreement with the claimed exemptions was rejected in its entirety, the appeal has resulted in a much fuller production of documents. Redactions have been undone in part and additional documents have been provided from those previously withheld. My interest in this matter has been reportorial. I believe it to be a matter of public interest reflected in the attention that many Power Line readers have given to it. I have now posted the letter apprising me of the disposition of my appeal together with the documents produced pursuant to it below via Scribd. I invite interested readers to sort through the documents and readers with more knowledge than I to help us understand them in comments below or by email to [email protected] As I mentioned in part 3 of this series, I attempted to follow up on CBPs response to my FOIA request by inquiry to CBP public relations. CBP spokesman Kris Grogan advised me: Every year CBP conducts numerous events and programs around the country in which civic, religious and community leaders, as well as interested residents, are afforded an inside look at how CBP secures the border at and between ports of entries. CBP is committed to fostering a positive relationship within the communities we live and serve. I asked these follow-up questions of Mr. Grogan: Can you tell me what other groups receive annual tours of the secure areas at MSP Airport such as this one? How can I get myself invited? Do you have any reason to think that invitees who dont pass vetting (such as the disinvited imam) dont get information from the vetted guests? Grogan failed to respond in any manner. Something tells me that they really dont want us to know much of anything about whats happening here. They certainly arent making it easy to find out. However, a faithful Power Line reader has alerted me to the MSP Airport tour offered this coming October 12 by CBP to members of the Minnesota State Bar Associations Immigration Law section. I signed up for it earlier this week. Assuming I pass the CBPs vetting, I will report on the tour from the inside once again, doing the work the Star Tribune wont do. 357627568-CBP-2017-AP-077218 copy by Scott Johnson on Scribd A case titled Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31 is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a petition for a writ of certiorari. The 7th Circuits opinion in the case is here. It is widely expected that the Court will grant certiorari. The case raises issues substantially identical to those in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. In Friedrichs, decided last year, the Court split 4-4 following the death of Justice Scalia, and therefore left standing a 9th Circuit decision adverse to the plaintiff, a California school teacher. In Janus, like Friedrichs, plaintiffs are asking the Court to overturn the ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education and bar public employees from being forced into unions, or from being required to support unions via the fiction of fair share contributions. It is widely believed that Rebecca Friedrichs would have won her case had Scalia lived, and that, with Neil Gorsuch now sitting in place of Scalia, Janus and his co-plaintiff will win, Abood will be overturned, and public sector unions will be dealt a very serious blow. Public sector unions are the main source of support for Democratic Party candidates and liberal policies. Campaign finance is much-debated, but in my opinion there is only one real campaign finance scandal: the fact that unions are able to use the force of law take money from people unwillingly, and spend it on politics, in ways of which many members disapprove. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Mark Janus, that corrupt practice will finally come to an end. It could be the most significant development in American politics in a very long time. The public sector unions are bracing for defeat. In Minnesota, where I live, the most powerful political force, by far, is Education Minnesota, the states teachers union. Education Minnesota is beginning a campaign to trick teachers into signing up for the indefinite future, so that they will not be liberated by the anticipated Janus decision. Tom Steward has the story at Center of the American Experiments web site: The states most powerful public employee unionEducation Minnesotahas quietly begun laying the groundwork to prevent the potential loss of thousands of members and millions of dollars, depending on the outcome of a landmark labor rights case widely expected to go before the U.S. Supreme Court next term. *** Education Minnesota recently asked its local union representatives to get all 86,000 teachers to sign a Membership Renewal form that automatically renews payment of union fees every year unless the teacher remembers to opt out in writing. The teachers union is betting that most teachers will just sign the card without reading it, or understanding what it meansand just keep paying, said Kim Crockett, Vice President of Center of the American Experiment. This is the language that the union wants its members to agree to. I find it almost incredible: I agree to submit dues to Education Minnesota and hereby request and voluntarily authorize my employer to deduct from my wages an amount equal to the regular monthly dues uniformly applicable to members of Education Minnesota or monthly service fee, and further that such amount so deducted be sent to such local union for and on my behalf. This authorization shall remain in effect and shall be automatically renewed from year to year, irrespective of my membership in the union, unless I revoke it by submitting written notice to both my employer and the local union during the seven-day period that begins on September 24 and ends on September 30. (Emphasis added.) Thus, the union seeks to deprive its members of the rights they likely will be accorded by the Supreme Court. (It is worth noting that virtually all teachers in Minnesota, and likely in some other states, are involuntary union members. It would be hard to find a Minnesota teacher who has ever voted to be represented by a union.) Can the unions stratagem possibly work? I am retired from the law business, but the word consideration occurs to me. Still, I am told that labor law is often so favorable to unions that devices like this one may effectively preserve union dominance even after the Supreme Court has set public employees free. Similar campaigns to frustrate the rights of public employees are being waged, or soon will be waged, in non-right to work states across the country. The stakes are very high. More at the link. Campus Reform reports on a horrific incident that occurred at the University of Nebraska on Friday. Katie Mullen, a Nebraska sophomore, heads the Turning Point USA chapter on campus. She was tabling various posters (Big Government Sucks is a favorite), stickers and the like on the universitys campus. As Ms. Mullen was manning her table, three or more professors began to harass her. They carried signs attacking Turning Point, screamed profanities, and shouted the usual drivel about fascism, white supremacy and so on. One of the teachers, Courtney Lawton, a PhD student and lecturer, gave Mullen the finger. The professors created enough of a scene that a university administrator told Ms. Mullen that she would have to leave the area. Subsequently a campus police officer determined that she had a right to be where she was and allowed her to stay. Later, however, she was escorted away from the area for her own safety. This video captures some of the action. The professors conduct is disgusting, particularly when directed against a student: Many have condemned the teachers outrageous actions, although as of this writing the university has not taken any action against them. There is one aspect of this incident that, as far as I know, has not been commented upon, and that renders it particularly disgusting. If you listen to the video embedded above, you will note that Courtney Lawton keeps referring to Katie Mullen as Becky. She says, neo-fascist Becky right here, Becky the neo-fascist right here. This is odd. Did Lawton somehow think that Katies name was Becky? I dont think so. This is the sort of thing that most people dont know, but the Urban Dictionary says Becky means a basic bitch. It also means hot white girl and denotes a woman who enjoys giving oral sex. It is this last meaning that was celebrated by a rapper named Plies in his rap titled Becky, which has been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube. I am quite certain that this was Courtney Lawtons reference. Not content to scream stupid political smears, she called a Nebraska sophomore a basic bitch and associated her with fellatio. This was sexual harassment at a minimum, likely with a racist element (hot white girl) as well. One more thing: the kind of vileness celebrated by Plies and indulged in by Lawton has been legitimized by Barack Obama and other liberals. Obama invited Plies to the White House along with other rappers, but Plies turned the president down. As repellent as these people are, the story has a happy ending. Katie Mullen was back in business with her Turning Point USA table yesterday. She said that she signed up 56 students on Friday and more than 60 yesterday. The leftists attempt to silence her has failed. UPDATE: The blonde-haired professor seen holding a watch list sign in the video is Amanda Gailey. She is an anti-gun activist best known for posting a rant that includes f*** [our] society, f*** the laws, f*** police officers and f*** the NRA. Like Plies, Gaileys work met with approval from Barack Obama. He invited her to meet with him personally when he traveled to Omaha. Many Nebraskans have reacted strongly against the harassment that left-wing teachers directed against Katie Mullen, and Gailey is now backpedaling furiously. Officials say the 6,141-acre Alice Creek fire near Lincoln is now burning about a mile from the Elk Meadows subdivision, which is under evacuation orders. The roughly 150 firefighters on the blaze have yet to contain any of the fire. The latest 400-acre expansion was in the southwestern part of the fire, in the upper reaches of West Falls Creek Drainage. Air resources are being utilized in this area, which is inaccessible to ground crews. Extreme fire conditions continued Wednesday and were expected to remain Thursday. A mix of dry and wet thunderstorms are forecast for the area near the fire. While the storms are not anticipated to be directly above the fire, they might produce winds of up to 45 mph at the scene. The fire is burning about 16 miles northeast of Lincoln near the Continental Divide. Mandatory evacuations of 13 homes and ranches instituted over the weekend remain in place. The fire is burning on and near private lands. Officials are asking the public to stay out of the area as to not impede with suppression efforts. Resources on the fire include 11 engines, four helicopters and two bulldozers. The mandatory evacuation order was issued Saturday night for residents of the Elk Meadows Subdivision. Fire officials said about five of the residences are permanent homes. Other area residents southeast of the fire are on pre-evacuation notices. The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has urged Muslims to embrace the lifestyle of Prophet Ibrahim by adopting the spirit of selfless life for the purpose of nation building. Tunde Akinsanya, the Chairman of the association in Ogun, made the call in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Tolulope Taiwo, in Abeokuta on Thursday to felicitate with Muslims on the celebration of the 2017 Eid el-Kabir. Mr. Akinsanya congratulated Muslims in the country at large and Ogun State in particular on the occasion. He thanked God for keeping Nigeria as one entity in spite of various challenges. He explained that it had been God alone that made it possible for Nigerians as a people to live above religious and other crises in the country. He also thanked God for giving President Muhammadu Buhari sound health and the ability to be with his people to celebrate. I want to specially congratulate the head of the Muslim faithful, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, while also felicitating with Governor Ibikunle Amosun for witnessing another season of joy and giving. The Christian family called on all Muslim faithful to embrace the lifestyle of Prophet Ibrahim who chose to offer his son to Allah. He called on Nigerians to join hands with government at all levels to offer good governance to the citizenry. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has reacted to the declaration of his now ex-wife, Olori Wuraola, that she was out of the marriage for good. Speaking through his aide, the monarch said he would speak on the matter at the appropriate time. The Oonis Director of Media, Moses Olafare, disclosed that the palace is aware of all that have been written and that there would be a response from the monarch soon. Speaking to Nigerian Tribune he said: the House of Oduduwa would maintain silence for now. In this era of social media, where people have free access to Internet, as constitutionally permitted by laws of the land, people can say anything. In spite of all being said on the issue, decorum still requires that we in the House of Oduduwa maintain silence, at least for now. This is because marriage is strictly a private matter that should not subjected to undue public uproar. When it is necessary for us to talk, we will surely talk on the issue. Meanwhile, despite the reactions that the news has generated and public empathy, Olori Wuraola has indeed moved on. According to her, all that matters to her for now is providing aid for women and children across the world. She said, My journey continues as a Humanitarian aiding women and victims of domestic violence and abuse with the United Nations. The two got married on March 16, 2016 with the monarch saying then when he took Wuraola for a wife that she was the choice of the gods. After denials from the palace and from an aide of the king on August 15, that the marriage was intact and the couple still happily married, Olori Wuraola took to her Instagram handle on Wednesday that there is indeed a collapse. Urging women to take a walk out of troubled marriages, the glamourous Olori also said in her statement: What I can confirm is that the Ooni and I are no more. I inhale love and exhale gratitude. My journey continues as a Humanitarian aiding women and victims of domestic violence & abuse with the United Nations. No matter how much time youve invested, no matter the use of media to silence & manipulate, no matter the circumstance, slander, embarrassment, threats and lies: Get out and seek immediate help! The Ooni got married to his now estranged Edo bride at an elaborate traditional marriage which held in Benin, the Edo State capital. The wedding rites were performed in the traditional Benin culture at the residence of the bride on Ewere Street, Etete, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state. Although the monarch was not physically present, his father, Oluropo Ogunwusi, represented him. Share this: Twitter Facebook Britains Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, and Secretary for International Development, Priti Patel, on Thursday met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in continuation of their official visit to Nigeria. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Mr. Johnson said United Kingdom was ready to assist Nigeria in humanitarian, development and military fronts. He described Nigeria as an incredible country and power house of the African economy. This is an incredible place. It is the power house of the African economy. We are here with Nigeria every step of the way, he stated. The envoy said the delegation had fruitful meeting with Osinbajo and looked forward to better relationship with Nigeria We had a very good meeting with the Vice President and I want to stress that the reason we had two cabinet ministers in Nigeria today is that we attach immense importance to this relationship. Today we discussed it with the Vice President and his ministers. We discussed some of the contributions the UK can make on the military front, on the humanitarian side and the development aid side. Also speaking, Ms. Priti Patel, the Secretary of State for International Development, said she was satisfied with the outcome of the meetings the delegation held with the Vice President and other Nigerian officials in the past two days. She said the United Kingdom always viewed Nigeria as a partner. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the government and the strength of the UK relationship with Nigeria on all aspects including the diversification and development going on in the country. Ms. Patel said the meeting with the ministers focused on the future and the strengthening of the relationship between the two countries. She added that the interaction was to put forward the incentives to help create the right environment for investments, especially British investment in Nigeria. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the meeting covered the three priority areas of the government: security, fight against corruption and the economy. They have been here, and Maiduguri. The UK is partnering us in facing our security challenges and global threats by terrorists. And of course, UK is engaged with us in the anti-corruption crusade that we embarked upon and very importantly also with regard to the economy, Mr. Onyeama said. He added that the UK Secretary of State for International Development has been looking into the areas that both countries could increase the partnership in the economic field. Also, Udoma Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, said the administration was happy to receive the UK top officials. We are very happy to receive the two ministers, we are very happy to know their commitment to continue to work with Nigeria. In particular we are very happy to note that some of their businesses and investors might be interested in investing in Nigeria. So, we would welcome investments, we have tried to make things easy for investors, so we are looking forward to that, Mr. Udoma added. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Helena's air quality was classified as unhealthy for all populations for nearly two straight days before improving Wednesday afternoon. Hourly reports from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality show particulate levels in Helena spiked around 7 p.m. Monday and continuously remained at levels considered unhealthy for all populations until around noon Wednesday. Helena's worst air quality so far this summer came around 4 a.m. Tuesday. It was even worse in Lincoln, where the air quality deteriorated from unhealthy to very unhealthy levels for a few hours around midday on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion when the air quality is classified as unhealthy or very unhealthy, according to the DEQ. We are obviously facing some very unhealthy conditions right now in many areas of Montana, Department of Public Health and Human Services State Medical Officer Dr. Greg Holzman said in a press release Wednesday. We strongly urge all Montanans to take this seriously, and follow the air quality recommendations for outdoor activities. This information is designed to provide people with the information they need to make informed decisions that will help Montanans stay healthy during this time. And DEQ officials do not expect conditions to improve heading into this weekend. DEQ Air Quality Bureau Chief Dave Klemp said fire activity is expected to remain high every day this week, causing significant impacts for west-central Montana. Smoke from the Pacific Northwest is also impacting Montana, worsening air quality in west-central Montana and causing widespread haze across the state. State officials are hopeful that increased winds and a chance of scattered thunderstorms will clear out some valleys Thursday and Friday, but that will likely increase fire behavior in Montana. There is no significant precipitation in the long-term forecast, with smoke impacts expected to continue through this weekend and into next week. Certain people are especially susceptible to the dangers of wildfire smoke, Holzman noted. This includes the elderly, infants and young children, pregnant women and people with chronic health conditions, especially those that involve the lungs or heart. For the latest air quality reports, call the local Air Quality Hotline at 406-447-1644 or visit http://svc.mt.gov/deq/todaysair/. The Lubin workers died for freedom, President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday in Lubin during ceremonies marking the 35th anniversary of the so-called Lubin Killings, and 37 years after the establishment of the Solidarity trade union. May be of interest to you President: Solidarity ideals still relevant Szczecin marks 37th August Agreement anniv. On August 31, 1982, the communist paramilitary police shot dead three members of a peaceful demonstration in honour of the August Agreements of 1980, under which the Solidarity trade union was set up. Several dozen protesters were injured. "One can truly celebrate the anniversary of Solidarity's establishment (...) in two places only. These are Gdansk and Lubin. Why? Because here, in that August, workers died for a freedom which was partially won at that time, whose anticipation could be felt for a year then", President Duda said before the Memorial to the Lubin'82 Victims on the city's Castle Hill. The Lubin workers, "died from bullets, died as people die in war, died as those who died defenceless in the Warsaw Uprising who wanted a free Poland despite the fact they had no arms", President Duda said. "They desired freedom for the people and for the state. That's why they came here, protesting together with other Lubin residents against martial law against taking away freedom, against a state that wasn't sovereign", the president stressed. "On that day 35 years ago Lubin sealed the August Agreements with its blood, and by this blood made a huge step towards the free Poland in which we all live today. Today, through my lips, the lips of the Polish president, this free Poland wants to voice its deep gratitude", the president said in Lubin. Historians investigating the Lubin Killings often say it compromised communist rule in Poland, President Andrzej Duda added. Recalling the circumstances of the Lubin Killings, Andrzej Duda noted that a frequently-asked question was why it happened precisely in that city. In the president's opinion, the reason may have been that Lubin, a major copper mining centre, was then promoted as a model communist city, and protesting workers marred that picture. "It has been often asked why these events occurred in Lubin. There is no single answer. Why did (the police) open fire on workers, on people? Of course, martial law was on with its laws and secret directives, but why here of all places? Similar protests were ongoing in other cities then, some bigger and more numerous than in Lubin. And still, it was here that the shots fell. Perhaps the reason was that the people's government built Lubin up as a model communist city, because since the discovery of copper here its population had risen several dozenfold", the president said, stressing that it was precisely the city's working class that staged the protests. "It was they who took to the streets, because they were fully aware of (the difference) between an enslaved state and a free one, the difference in the quality of life as free and non-free people, the difference between being citizens of a subjugated country and a free one", President Duda remarked. (PAP) ATLANTIC CITY Outgoing Miss America Savvy Shields said it feels like only yesterday she was putting the new crown on her head and getting her heels stuck between the cracks on the Boardwalk. While she still may not be totally used to walking on the Boardwalk in heels, Shields will have to give up the crown Sept. 10 at Boardwalk Hall after a year of service as Miss America. On Wednesday, Shields and the Miss America Organization welcomed the 51 contestants for this years competition to Atlantic City during a ceremony at Kennedy Plaza. The contestants, clad in their crowns, gowns and sashes from their home states, introduced themselves to the crowd on the Boardwalk for the first of many events in the next week leading up to the competition. Miss Vermont pilots plane to arrive in A.C. for Miss America With less than two weeks until the Miss America competition gets underway, contestants will This whole thing is going to fly right past us, Miss America Organization President Josh Randle said. Its going to be a wild ride, but we cant wait to see who the next Miss America is going to be. The contestants were greeted by Mayor Don Guardian, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Director Chris Howard, Miss America CEO Sam Haskell and former Miss New Jersey Lynn Weidner, who is the chairwoman of the board of directors for the Miss America Organization. Guardian, who is running for re-election in November, is thrilled to have the competition back in Atlantic City and is looking forward to seeing who will be the next most-recognizable ambassador for the city. Everyone loves Miss America, whether youre here for the parade, the pageant or anything in between, Guardian said. We adopt the winner of this pageant as one of our own, and were very proud to call her our ambassador. During her speech to the crowd, Shields said she has cherished Atlantic City as her Miss America home and wears a necklace with the latitude and longitude of Boardwalk Hall engraved on it. In the next week and a half, the contestants will travel around the area for events at the Linwood Country Club and service projects at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, among other locations. They will rehearse, be interviewed for potential scholarships, compete in three nights of preliminaries and ride in the Sept. 9 Show Us Your Shoes Parade on the Boardwalk. Extra scholarships up for grabs are the Jean Bartel Quality of Life Award, the STEM award and the Women in Business award. Outgoing Miss America leaning on advice in transition back to normal life Outgoing Miss America Savvy Shields is leaning on an important piece of advice as she prepar The Quality of Life award is named after 1943 Miss America Jean Bartel, who sold more than $2 million in war bonds during her time as Miss America. Finalists for this years award are Jessica Proctor (Alabama), Briana Kinsey (Washington, D.C.), Krystian Fish (Kansas), Brianna Drevlow (Minnesota), Anne Elizabeth Buys (Mississippi), Cara Mund (North Dakota), and Suzi Roberts (South Carolina). International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held every Aug. 31 to raise awareness about overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. The opioid and heroin epidemic has claimed thousands, with nearly 35,000 people across the country losing their battle with addiction to heroin, fentanyl, prescription medications and imported substances in 2015, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Record numbers of deaths have been recorded in many states, including New Jersey. Addiction took the lives of 1,587 state residents in 2015, and officials say those numbers are climbing higher every year. Drug-related overdoses in South Jersey counties included 85 in Atlantic, 32 in Cape May, 38 in Cumberland and 157 in Ocean in 2015. Statistics can help researchers and public health officials determine the scope of an epidemic, but they dont show the depth of loss families and friends experience when they lose someone to an overdose. The Press asked readers and communities to send us photographs and messages about loved ones lost to the heroin/opioid epidemic and the response was overwhelming. A 16-year-old daughter from Hammonton continues to grieve the loss of her best friend, her father. A Hammonton mother becomes the sole provider for her family after the loss of her fiance. Parents in Mays Landing started an organization in honor of the son they lost to addiction. An infant child in Egg Harbor Township will grow up without his mother. A man holds on to the memories of the brother from Atlantic City he lost. They may be gone, but their family and friends continue to keep their memories alive and work toward eliminating the stigma that creates barriers to treatment and support. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. Stigma is one of the largest barriers to people receiving treatment for addiction. Organizing as a community to remember those we have lost will help break down this barrier. IF YOU GO: MILLVILLE: Cumberland County is holding its first local International Overdose Awareness and Remembrance event from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds, 3001 Carmel Road, Millville. Families and friends are invited to remember their loved ones and raise awareness in the community. VENTNOR: Two free Narcan training sessions will be held at 2 and 4 p.m. at the Ventnor Community Library, followed by a remembrance event on the beach from 6 to 8 p.m. behind the Ventnor Community Library on Newport Avenue. Pre-registration is not required for the Narcan trainings, however, there is a maximum of 25 people per session. Organizers ask that you wear white to the remembrance event on the beach to signify hope for others. Attendees should bring a beach chair or blanket. The event will be held in the community center or library if it rains. For more information, call Tracy Smith at 609-445-5121. If you would like to have your loved one commemorated at this event email information to staff@speakersforchange.org. Members of the 177th Fighter Wing have been deployed to Houston to help with rescues and aid as the area grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The 177th announced on its Facebook page Thursday that eight Army National Guard soldiers and four Air National Guard airmen trained in medevac and hoist-rescue operations left Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Wednesday. A request came in from Texas through the National Guard Bureau looking for helicopter assets, specifically with voice capability, Master Sgt. Chris Donohue said in a video posted by the 177th. Were hoping to see if we can do some good down there. Members of the 177th are not the only people from South Jersey pitching in to help after Harvey. Linda Kolman, 74, of Ventnor, is an American Red Cross volunteer at the Southern Shore Chapter, which is located on North Franklin Boulevard in Pleasantville. She has been volunteering at the Red Cross for 12 years, and her deployment to Houston is the fifth time she has traveled to help people who have suffered from disasters. In Ocean County, local medical supply company AvaCare Medical said Thursday it has donated thousands of dollars worth of supplies to the cause. The supplies include gauze, bandages, walkers, adult diapers, wipes, reusable and disposable underpads, medical gloves, creams, mouthwash, shampoo and more. The supplies were loaded onto a truck bound for Houston on Wednesday. Catholic Charities of the Camen Diocese is also deploying people to help in Texas for two weeks at a time, officials said. The diocese also iplans a collection at all Masses this weekend to aid hurricane victims. The storm, a Category 4 hurricane when it first hit land last Friday, has left thousands of people in need of emergency shelters and has killed at least 30 people, according to the Associated Press. Houston public schools announced Thursday that classes will start two weeks late, on Sept. 11, because of Harvey. The nations seventh-largest school district had been scheduled to start classes on Monday until Hurricane Harvey stormed ashore in Southeast Texas, leading to devastating flooding in Houston. Houston also is the largest public school district in Texas, with about 216,000 students and 283 campuses. Donations to help people affected by Harvey can be made by visiting redcross.org, calling 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations can also be made to Catholic Charities USA by visiting catholiccharitiesusa.org. British Fashion Designer Julien Macdonald OBE, who is known for dressing some of the world's best-known style icons including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Kim Kardashian in his signature red carpet gowns, will showcase some of his most iconic pieces. Over the course of Transatlantic Fashion Week, the celebrated fashion designer will put on two runway shows and take part in a Q&A about his inspirational fashion career. Julien Macdonald OBE commented: "Cunard's Transatlantic Fashion Week is such an exciting concept that celebrates the world of fashion in an iconic and timeless venue, the Queen Mary 2. I'm looking forward to having a week on board and bringing some fun and glamour to Cunard's guests." Other fashion greats on board include the highly respected fashion historian and style commentator Colin McDowell MBE who will provide a series of fashion illustration workshops and an inspirational talk during the voyage. In addition Karl Dunkley, the founder and CEO of Royal Warrant holder Grosvenor Shirts, Jermyn Street, will reveal the craftsmanship behind a classic tailored shirt. Guests on board will attend exclusive first look runway shows featuring collections from the one of the world's most revered fashion colleges, Parsons School of Design graduates. New to the Transatlantic Fashion Week and Cunard in the form of a pop-up store will be A-List favourite, luxury swimwear designer Melissa Odabash. Melissa's designs, worn by Eva Longoria, Gwynth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham, will be available for guests to buy on board Queen Mary 2 during the week. Melissa Odabash remains one of the world's leading brands in luxury resort wear having won multiple awards including 'Designer of the Year' at the prestigious trade show Mode City in Paris. As a designer, Melissa takes her inspiration from places she visits, people she meets and the cultures she experiences. With her exquisite prints and fabrics, the collections epitomise the glamour and sophistication associated with exclusive world travel. Also new to Cunard and a first for cruise is the introduction of Mulberry. Mulberry is launching its autumn/ winter 2017 range. As a first at sea, and an exclusive to Queen Mary 2, the range will include iconic styles such as the Bayswater as well as both core and seasonal colours. In another first for Cunard, there will also be a pop-up store featuring a range of Lucy Choi's designer shoes. Niece of the legendary Jimmy Choo, Lucy Choi worked in the shoe industry for 10 years before launching her own brand. In just five years, Lucy has opened a flagship store, 'Lucy Choi London' and her shoes are now sold internationally. Cunard will also bring together fashion and art on the high seas. Ahead of the fashion illustration show opening in New York on September 5 for New York Fashion Week, UK dealership Gray MCA will provide guests on board with an exclusive preview of Drawing on Style: Three Masters of Elegance. The preview has been organised in association with Clarendon Fine Art and features historic and current fashion illustrators. Kenneth Paul Block (1924 - 2009) worked in the late 20th century with Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein and others. Bil Donovan, a contemporary American illustrator, has worked with Vogue, Dior and The New York Times. Jason Brooks is British and studied at Central St Martins. He counts Elle and Chanel among his clients and has published two books. Angus Struthers, Vice President, Cunard said: "Although Transatlantic Fashion Week is only in its second year, it is already building quite a reputation as a must attend event attracting some of the world's foremost fashion designers and commentators". He added: "Queen Mary 2, the most iconic and glamorous ocean liner in the world, provides the perfect backdrop for what promise to be some amazing shows, headlined by Julien Macdonald OBE. Combined with the opportunity for guests to meet and dine with all featured guests, this unique crossing is sure to delight all on board." About Julien Macdonald OBE Julien Macdonald OBE studied fashion knitwear at the University of Brighton and received his MA at the Royal College of Art in London. Soon after the success of his RCA graduation show in 1996, his talent caught the attention of Karl Lagerfield at Chanel and he was appointed head designer of knitwear at Chanel as well as for the iconic designers Eponymous label Lagerfield from 1996 to 1998. Macdonald launched his own label in 1998 with 'Mermaids' a static presentation of his designs styled by Isabella Blow and there began his reputation as a leading British fashion designer whose high octane and glamorous designs were soon to be coveted by international stars such as Kate Beckinsale, Beyonce, Kristen Stewart, Madonna, Liv Tyler, Heidi Klum and Kim Kardashian to name a few. About Cunard Cunard is a luxury British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, owned by Carnival Corporation since 1998. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic, celebrating 175 years of operation in 2015. There are three Cunard ocean liners - Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. For more information please see www.cunard.com Press office contact details: Ruth Harrington: ruth.harrington@cunard.co.uk +44(0)7814764266 Rachel Lloyd: rachel.lloyd@cunard.co.uk +44(0)7773039895 Cunard Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cunard/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/cunardline Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cunardline/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreCunard Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550569/Cunard_Julien_Macdonald_OBE.jpg Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550570/Cunard_Transatlantic_Fashion_Week.jpg Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550571/Cunard_Julien_Macdonald_OBE.jpg Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550572/Cunard_Julien_Macdonald_OBE.jpg Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550573/Cunard_Julien_Macdonald_OBE.jpg Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550574/Cunard_Julien_Macdonald_OBE.jpg Related Links http://www.cunard.com SOURCE Cunard Last year PHNIX performed magnificently and won several big orders in China's Coal-to-Electricity bidding event. However, due to the rising demand from the project, it had led to a certain amount of pressure in delivery to PHNIX. Hence, PHNIX specifically expand a highly-automated house heating and hot water units' production line last winter. Nevertheless, the commercial house heating and hot water units are still in short supply and even the 6 production lines are running at full capacity, because orders from overseas are increasing significantly currently. About PHNIX's Low-Temp. Heat Pump HeatPro Series Enhanced Vapor Injection (EVI) technology PHNIX HeatPro series heat pump water heaters feature a wide operating temperature range. The unit can reach a high water temperature of 55-65C and even in cold climates it ranges from -20C-45C, both in new buildings and boiler replacements. Government-Subsidized Coal-to-Electricity Project in China To control the haze and adjust the country's energy infrastructure, some local governments, such as Beijing Municipality, have introduced clean air policy measures to reduce coal consumption by replacing coal-fired house-heating with air source heat pump equipment in rural areas. Users will enjoy subsidies to purchase heat pump products worth a few thousand to as much as tens of thousands of RMB. Consumers get more benefits from the special energy subsidies by using heat pump, which reduces electricity prices to as low as 1 cent per kilowatt hour. About PHNIX PHNIX is an international enterprise specializing in R&D and production of heat pump products and energy-saving solutions. Nearly 50% of PHNIX products are exported to Europe, the United States and overseas markets. Headquartered in Guangzhou, China, PHNIX has been named a China High-quality Brand and Guangzhou High-tech Enterprise. For more information about PHNIX and its products, please visit www.phnix-e.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550301/PHNIX_heat_pump_applications.jpg SOURCE Guangdong PHNIX Eco-Energy Solution Ltd. OXFORD, England, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 2ndQuadrant, The Gold Standard in PostgreSQL Products & Services, has achieved a new Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 78.9 based on their most recent customer satisfaction survey. Over the past two years, 2ndQuadrant has maintained an NPS score of over 75, placing them above companies such as Amazon, Netflix, and Apple. 2ndQuadrant has always valued customer feedback, particularly as it pertains to areas of improvement, as a key factor in providing high-quality services. Over time, the analysis and application of recommendations from customers has allowed the company to build a strong reputation in the industry for superior customer service. "Everything from the initial contact with 2ndQuadrant sales to the onboarding process has been really good," said Naeem Bari of Agilis Systems. "The communication between 2ndQuadrant and ourselves is fantastic and the team provides a highly effective, first class service." It's not only the technical expertise and unmatched 24/7 service guarantee of the 2ndQuadrant team that distinguishes them from the rest but the personalized experience each customer receives when working with anyone on the team. As a global company with a local presence in over 22 countries, it is the mission of 2ndQuadrant to not only provide exceptional service but a peace of mind through relationships with their customers. Otavio Sampaio of Fidelize speaks to the quality of the service stating, "The support is always committed to the best answer. Not the first answer." About NPS Created by Satmetrix and Bain & Company, the Net Promoter Score is a widely recognized benchmark of customer satisfaction and quality. 2ndQuadrant's use of NPS follows the strict methodology for data collection as described by the originators of the NPS concept. Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. About 2ndQuadrant 2ndQuadrant was founded in 2001 by Simon Riggs, a major developer and committer of the PostgreSQL project. As the largest single collective organization of PostgreSQL experts of any company globally, it is 2ndQuadrant's mission to provide The Gold Standard of products and services to support PostgreSQL and its continuous growth. Comprised of some of the best-known developers from around the globe, all members actively contribute to the development of PostgreSQL. Media Contact Ilyssa Wexler [email protected] SOURCE 2ndQuadrant Related Links https://www.2ndquadrant.com ST. LOUIS, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced ICU Care, the nation's leading provider of high-acuity telemedicine services, announced the launch of tele-ICU clinical services at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. The hospital, located near Tampa in central Florida, adds to the large, seven-state tele-ICU relationship between the Adventist Health System and Advanced ICU Care. Advanced ICU Care's intensivist-led clinical teams, working from the company's eight integrated care centers, will partner with Zephyrhills' bedside intensivists and clinical teams to provide care to ICU patients at Zephyrhills. A secure data stream of patient information and two-way audio-video capabilities enables Advanced ICU Care's remote care teams of critical care physicians, advanced practice providers, and nurses to actively engage in patient care. The constant monitoring and collaborative coordination between providers ensures 24/7 intensivist oversight of the hospital's ICU patients. "Our partnership with Advanced ICU Care supports the excellent care provided by our bedside intensivists and ICU teams with around-the-clock tele-monitoring by intensivist physicians," said Gwen Alonso, BSN, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills. "Working collaboratively, we will elevate treatment and safety to deliver the highest level of care to our ICU patients." Florida Hospital Zephyrhills joins multiple other Adventist Health System facilities in an extensive tele-ICU relationship with Advanced ICU Care. "We continue to expand our relationship with Advanced ICU Care because of the very positive results we have achieved together and our ability to consistently deliver high-quality, evidence-based critical care across a spectrum of hospitals," said Jean Turcotte, System Director Patient Care Operations at Adventist Health System at Adventist Health System. "We are delighted to welcome the staff and patients of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills to our tele-ICU community," said Lou Silverman, CEO of Advanced ICU Care. "The forward-looking, results-oriented relationship we share with Adventist serves as a benchmark for current and future partners seeking to optimize delivery of exceptional critical care." About Advanced ICU Care Advanced ICU Care is the nation's leading provider of high acuity telehealth services, contracted to provide care to more than 65 hospitals in 24 states on a 24 x 7 x 365 basis. Advanced ICU Care is a technology-enabled clinical services provider that employs cutting edge tele-technology, U.S. board-certified intensivists, multiple dedicated tele-care delivery centers, and a proven implementation and client service approach to the benefit of patients, families, providers and hospitals. For more information, visit http://www.advancedicucare.com/. About Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Florida Hospital Zephyrhills is an award winning 149-bed regional medical center located in East Pasco County. It is a proud member of the Adventist Health System, providing a legacy of health and healing for more than 150 years. The hospital offers the only comprehensive cardiovascular program in East and Central Pasco County, including open heart surgery and valve repair. Equipped with eight technologically advanced surgical suites, the hospital provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient surgical services including, but not limited to general, orthopedic, endoscopic, gynecology, urology, cardiovascular and robotic procedures. The Women's Health Center at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills provides gynecology, urology, pelvic floor health, obstetrics and breast care through the Simpson Breast Health Center. And, the hospital's newly renovated ER delivers emergency medical care 24/7 with a fast track suite for minor emergencies. Other programs and services include a Wellness Center, Wellness Spa, Center for Wound Healing, Bone and Joint Center, Outpatient Rehabilitation and Diagnostic Imaging. To learn more visit FHZeph.org. SOURCE Advanced ICU Care Related Links http://www.advancedicucare.com Transaction Highlights: APUC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire St. Lawrence Gas Company, Inc. ("SLG") SLG is a rate-regulated natural gas distribution utility serving approximately 16,000 customers in northern New York State Total purchase price for the transaction is U.S. $70 Million , less total third-party debt of SLG outstanding at closing, and subject to customary working capital adjustments Closing of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and other necessary closing conditions, and is expected to occur in 2018 OAKVILLE, ON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TSX: AQN, NYSE: AQN) ("APUC") announced today that its subsidiary Liberty Utilities Co. ("Liberty Utilities"), APUC's regulated distribution utility business, has entered into a definitive agreement with Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. ("Enbridge Gas Distribution"), a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB), to acquire St. Lawrence Gas Company, Inc., a regulated natural gas distribution utility located in northern New York State, and its subsidiaries. SLG is headquartered in Massena, NY, and provides natural gas distribution to a service territory located in northern New York State paralleling the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The SLG operations consist of its existing local distribution company business serving approximately 16,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers, a natural gas appliance rental business focused on accelerating natural gas fuel adoption in the franchise area, and a recently completed 48 mile backbone gas distribution expansion into neighboring Franklin County. "We believe that St. Lawrence Gas represents an attractive opportunity to acquire an established utility franchise which complements the regulated natural gas operations in our Liberty Utilities East Region," commented Ian Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of APUC. "St. Lawrence Gas offers compelling growth potential on a foundation of high quality utility operations and superior customer service. We look forward to working with the teams at Enbridge Gas Distribution and St. Lawrence Gas to secure the required regulatory approvals and deliver a smooth ownership transition." The proposed transaction is structured as a stock purchase in exchange for a cash purchase price of U.S. $70 million, less the total amount of outstanding SLG indebtedness which will be assumed by Liberty Utilities at closing and is currently expected to be approximately U.S. $10 million. APUC will finance the transaction using cash on hand and existing credit facilities. Closing of the acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to occur in 2018. SLG has an experienced and dedicated team, and Liberty Utilities will provide for continuing employment of current employees of SLG and its subsidiaries after the closing. A summary fact sheet can be found under Investor Centre / Asset Summaries on APUC's web site at www.AlgonquinPowerandUtilities.com. About Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. APUC is a North American diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility with $10 billion of total assets. Through its two business groups, APUC provides rate regulated natural gas, water, and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution utility services to over 700,000 customers in the United States, and is committed to being a North American leader in the generation of clean energy through its portfolio of long term contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing more than 1,250 MW of installed capacity. APUC delivers continuing growth through an expanding pipeline of renewable energy development projects, organic growth within its rate regulated generation, distribution and transmission businesses, and the pursuit of accretive acquisitions. Common shares and preferred shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQN.PR.A, and AQN.PR.D. APUC's common shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AQN. Visit APUC at www.AlgonquinPowerandUtilities.com and follow us on Twitter @AQN_Utilities. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements included in this news release contain information that is forward-looking within the meaning of certain securities laws, including information and statements regarding prospective results of operations, financial position or cash flows. These statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. APUC cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. Material risk factors include those set out in the management's discussion and analysis section of APUC's most recent annual report, quarterly report, and APUC's Annual Information Form. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, APUC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise. SOURCE Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. Related Links http://www.algonquinpower.com PHOENIX, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpine 4 Technologies Ltd. (OTCQB: ALPP), a technology driven holding company, announced today that its subsidiary ALTIA has reached an agreement with the Future Automotive Group, and their Future Ford of Sacramento and Future Ford of Roseville dealerships. This agreement utilizes the 6th Sense Auto platform for inventory management, customer retention and resale as an aftermarket connected car product. 6th Sense Auto is designed for the modern "connected car" and is dedicated to helping large dealerships like the Future Group improve their inventory management, engine diagnostics, service maintenance and personalized customer support services through wireless, cloud-based software. About Future Auto Group The Future Automotive Group has eight dealerships throughout Sacramento, CA, Roseville, CA, Concord, CA and Fresno CA. About Alpine 4 Technologies Ltd. Alpine 4 is a publicly held enterprise with business related endeavors in Automotive Technologies, Electronics Manufacturing, Software and Energy Services. Four principles at the core of our business are: Synergy. Innovation. Drive. Excellence. At Alpine 4, we believe synergistic innovation drives excellence. By anchoring these words to our combined experience and capabilities, we are able to aggressively pursue opportunities within and across vertical markets. We deliver solutions that not only drive industry standards, but increase value for our shareholders. Contact: Charlie Winters or Ian Kantrowitz, Director of Investor Relations [email protected] [email protected] www.alpine4.com www.6sa-altia.com Forward-Looking Statements: The information disclosed in this press release is made as of the date hereof and reflects Alpine 4 most current assessment of its historical financial performance. Actual financial results filed with the SEC may differ from those contained herein due to timing delays between the date of this release and confirmation of final audit results. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties, including the uncertainties surrounding the current market volatility, and other factors the Company identifies from time to time in its filings with the SEC. Although Alpine 4 believes that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof, and Alpine 4 disclaims any intention or obligation to update the forward-looking statements for subsequent events. SOURCE Alpine 4 Technologies Ltd. Related Links http://www.alpine4.com Apttus' comprehensive suite of SaaS-based applications streamlines and improves sales quoting, E-Commerce, contracts, incentives, renewals, billing and order management processes, maximizing revenue and business outcomes for the world's largest and most sophisticated global enterprises, including 100 of the Fortune 500. Apttus' solutions run on the Apttus Intelligent Cloud , an enterprise-grade, purpose-built platform powered by the industry's most trusted cloud infrastructure from Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. "From the very beginning, we were passionate about building something great, an industry. The explosive growth of the Enterprise Contract Management and Quote-to-cash market clearly underscores the business need for Apttus," said Kirk Krappe, Apttus Co-founder, chairman and CEO. "This second recognition by Forbes further validates Apttus' unmatched ability to deliver successful business outcomes for our customers. As we continue to grow and innovate, we look forward to providing our customers new levels of speed, efficiency and visibility to every facet of their revenue operations." As part of the rigorous selection process for the Forbes 2017 Cloud 100, Forbes' data partner, Bessemer Venture Partners, received hundreds of submissions from the top cloud startups. With that data, the Forbes Cloud 100 judge panel, made up of a majority of public cloud company CEOs, was then responsible for selecting and ranking the top 100 companies from all over the world. The evaluation process involved four factors: estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), people & culture (15%) and market leadership (35%), which the judge panel then weighed to select, score and rank the winners. "The business opportunity for cloud computing is tremendous as the spend on cloud computing and the rate of adoption continues to grow and advance the ecosystem," said John Somorjai, EVP Salesforce Ventures and Corporate Development. "We're thrilled to highlight the potential of these top-tier private companies in the field and see where they take their businesses and the economies around the world." "Our inaugural Cloud 100 list showed the tech and venture capital community just how many standout private cloud companies there are to watch, and this year's list is no exception," said Forbes editor of the Cloud 100 list Alex Konrad. "Forbes has a keen eye for businesses, and combining that with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures' deep knowledge of the cloud industry, any company's inclusion on the Forbes 2017 Cloud 100 list is cause to celebrate." "These companies are leading the cloud technology revolution!" said Byron Deeter, a top cloud investor and partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "The founders and teams behind the Forbes 2017 Cloud 100 companies are of another caliber and we are beyond excited to celebrate the hard work and enormous value these companies are creating as they propel the trillion-dollar software industry forward." About Apttus Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash and Contract Lifecycle Management technology company, drives the vital business process between a buyer's interest and the realization of revenue. Utilizing a patented combination of SaaS-based applications, the Apttus Intelligent Cloud maximizes revenue and business outcomes for companies of all sizes, including 100 of the Fortune 500. Enhanced by Machine Learning and Max, an Intelligent Agent, Apttus applications include Configure Price Quote (CPQ), E-Commerce, Contract Management, Incentives Management, Renewals, Billing and Order Management. The Apttus Intelligent Cloud is powered by the world's most trusted cloud platforms, including Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. Apttus is based in San Mateo, California, with additional offices located across the globe. For more information visit: apttus.com. Press Contact: Alex Cohen [email protected] SOURCE Apttus Related Links http://www.apttus.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is pleased to announce and welcome three outstanding design industry manufacturers as ASID Strategic Partners. The Society is thrilled to have the support of Benjamin Moore, Hansgrohe, and Wilsonart as it showcases the impact of design on the human experience and celebrates the value interior designers provide. "ASID is an organization that thrives through the commitment and generous support of our partners," said ASID CEO Randy Fiser, Hon. FASID. "The Society is thrilled to welcome three leading industry manufacturers as Strategic Partners and looks forward to establishing a long and mutually beneficial relationship with each organization for many years to come." As ASID Strategic Partners, these industry leaders have the opportunity to engage and interact with the Society's membership across a variety of channels and range of events while presenting opportunities for ASID members to gain knowledge of and develop a relationship with each of the partner brands. ASID members engage with the ASID Strategic Partners at a collection of events chosen by each partner to meet their organizational goals, including The Leadership Experience: Presented by ASID; Celebration The ASID Awards Gala; student facing events at industry conferences across the nation; and national and regional board and committee meetings, among others. To learn more about ASID Industry Partnership opportunities, contact [email protected]. About ASID The American Society of Interior Designers believes that design transforms lives. ASID serves the full range of the interior design profession and practice through the Society's programs, networks, and advocacy. We thrive on the strength of cross-functional and interdisciplinary relationships among designers of all specialties, including workplace, healthcare, retail and hospitality, education, institutional, and residential. We lead interior designers in shared conversations around topics that matter: from evidence-based and humancentric design to social responsibility, well-being, and sustainability. We showcase the impact of design on the human experience and the value interior designers provide. ASID was founded over 40 years ago when two organizations became one, but its legacy dates back to the early 1930s. As we celebrate nearly 85 years of industry leadership, we are leading the future of interior design, continuing to integrate the advantages of local connections with national reach, of small firms with big, and of the places we live with the places we work, play, and heal. Learn more at asid.org. About Benjamin Moore Founded in 1883, Benjamin Moore is North America's favorite paint, color, and coatings brand. A leading manufacturer of premium quality residential and commercial coatings, Benjamin Moore maintains a relentless commitment to innovation and sustainable manufacturing practices. The portfolio spans the brand's flagship paint lines including Aura, Regal Select, Natura and ben. Benjamin Moore is renowned for its expansive color portfolio, offering consumers and designers more than 3,500 colors. Benjamin Moore paints are available exclusively from its more than 5,000 locally owned and operated paint and decorating retailers. Learn more at benjaminmoore.com. About Hansgrohe Hansgrohe is a leading manufacturer in the sanitation industry. With an expanding product portfolio including bathroom faucets, showers, vanities, bathtubs, bathroom furniture, kitchen faucets, and drain systems, as well as the knowledge of water and the environment, Hansgrohe has been able to produce innovative technologies that make consumers lives more attractive and comfortable. Hansgrohe partners with the most talented designers and architects around the globe to create and present both contemporary and traditional products at joint events, and provides professional showroom specialists with the experience to ensure complete customer service for clients. Learn more at hansgrohe-usa.com. About Wilsonart Wilsonart, a world leading engineered surfaces company, is driven by a mission to create surfaces people love, with service you can count on, delivered by people who care. The company manufactures and distributes High Pressure Laminate, Quartz, Solid Surface, Coordinated TFL, and Edgebanding and other engineered surface options for use in furniture, office and retail space, countertops, worktops, and other applications. Operating under the Wilsonart, Resopal, Polyrey, Arborite, Laminart, Bushboard, Ralph Wilson, and Durcon brands, the company continuously redefines decorative surfaces through improved performance and aesthetics. For more information, visit Wilsonart.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Contact: Laurie Enceneat, Senior Associate, Marketing & Communications Projects, ASID Email: [email protected] Phone: 202-675-2369 Website: http://www.asid.org SOURCE American Society of Interior Designers Related Links http://www.asid.org TUKWILA, Wash., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- To our Avanti Markets Community: As most of you are aware by now, Avanti Markets suffered a data breach through a third party software provider over the July 4th holiday that impacted some Avanti Market kiosks. We are providing this supplemental notice to update you on the incident and what we have learned since our original media notice on July 18, 2017. Our team acted swiftly to contain the intrusion, however, the malware may have resulted in the capture of some kiosk users' credit and debit card information. The malware that infiltrated our system was a new strain believed to have originated in Russia and designed to capture credit card information from the hard drives of the kiosks. It was intended to capture credit card numbers, expiration dates, and CVV codes. No biometric data was ever at risk in this incident. The malware was only effective on kiosks with mag-stripe card readers. It did not capture credit card information from kiosks equipped with end-to-end encryption devices as card information was protected. We have listed the malware on an international register used by cyber security experts and others. Contrary to some early reports, the malware used in this attack had not been previously identified. We apologize for any stress and anxiety this incident is causing some of our operators' and their customers. The security of your personal information is our top priority. Please know that we are doing everything in our power to address this problem and to make sure that it will not happen again. At the time of this incident, Avanti Markets had delivered updated payment devices that included encryption technology, operators were in the process of deploying to all kiosks. As of August 4, 2017, within 30 days of learning of the incident, that solution was installed on 100% of kiosks in the United States. In the meantime, we are committed to providing our operators and consumers with a secure system. Our company has hired an outside law firm and industry leader in cyber technology to continue to assist in our resolution of this incident. We are determined to learn from this experience and continue to be a leader in the micro market industry. We have provided the facts as we now know them and the steps we have taken to address this problem. We have also posted detailed information on our website (http://www.avantimarkets.com/notice-of-data-breach/) and contacts for people who have questions and concerns. I am painfully aware that this incident has caused problems for operators and their customers, and I sincerely apologize. We are doing all we can to rectify the situation and to minimize the chances of this ever happening again. Cybercrime remains a serious threat, one that no one industry can combat alone. Avanti Markets is committed to working with other businesses and government to enhance security for us all. We will continue to update the website as more information becomes available. Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Jim Brinton, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Avanti Markets Notice of Data Breach What Happened? On July 4, 2017, we were alerted to an intrusion of sophisticated malware attack which affected kiosks at some Avanti Markets. At this stage, we have determined the attack was not successful on all kiosks and many kiosks have not been adversely affected. What Information Was Involved? At this point, it appears the malware was intended to gather certain payment card information including credit/debit card number, expiration date, and CVV code. While our original notice included cardholder name as potentially being compromised, the investigation results have shown this not to be the case. Many kiosks encrypt credit card information and payment card data on those kiosks would not be subject to this incident. What We Are Doing? We have been working nonstop to address this incident, including: commencing an investigation to determine the scope of this incident and attempt to identify those affected; working to secure our information systems, including changing passwords and other related measures; retaining a nationally-recognized forensic investigation firm and outside legal counsel to assist; notifying the FBI; shutting down payment processing at some locations and are working with our operators to purge impacted systems of any malware from the attack to minimize the risk of a data compromise in the future; developed FAQs to assist affected persons; setting up a call center to answer questions about the incident; and continuing to assess and modify our privacy and data security policies and procedures. Through these efforts, the number of at risk kiosks quickly and steadily declined. Within 14 days of learning of the incident (July 18) we were able to work with operators and hosts to ensure that the malware that caused the incident was not active on more than 98% of affected kiosks. Shortly after that, by August 4, we completed implementation of the end-to-end encryption solution, eliminating the risk to payment card transactions on the few remaining kiosks. For a very small number of kiosks, representing less than 2% of affected kiosks, information could have been compromised if the kiosk was used between July 19 and August 4. However, on July 5, we provided instructions and took steps to (i) disable card readers and (ii) have notice posted on kiosks alerting customers not to use their payment cards. We are advising anyone who utilized a kiosk between July 4, 2017 and August 4, 2017 (the time period when the malware may have been active) to take steps to protect their information, including enrolling in the credit monitoring service we are providing at no cost to you. As noted, during this period the number of at-risk kiosks declined, meaning that not all kiosks were at risk during the entire window. Please note, after ensuring the malware was inactive, we attempted to ascertain the potential at-risk transactions. Based on that investigation it appears some kiosks may have accepted, but did not complete, a limited number of transactions in the period prior to the date the malware attack began (July 4). These transactions were not completed as the kiosks likely were unable to communicate with the applicable banks when the transactions were attempted. When these kiosks came back online, transactional records suggest that some of the transactions which were attempted, but not processed, may have also been at-risk. Our original notice referenced July 2, 2017, to account for these attempted but not processed transactions. The recent review of the transaction data indicates a small number of transactions which occurred prior to July 2, 2017, may also be at-risk. We learned most of these transactions occurred during the 14-day period prior to July 4, with a very small number of transactions occurring as early as April 7, 2016. We have made available credit monitoring services at no cost to those individuals whose personal information has been compromised. Specifically, we have partnered with Equifax to provide its Credit WatchTM Silver identity theft protection product for two years at no charge to you. If you choose to take advantage of this product, it will provide you with a notification of any changes to your credit information, up to $25,000 Identity Theft Insurance Coverage and access to your credit report. To enroll, you must first call 800-224-8040 to obtain an authorization code and then go to www.myservices.equifax.com/silver, enter your activation code, click submit, and follow the enrollment instructions. You must complete the enrollment process by July 8, 2018. We encourage you to enroll in that service. What You Can Do. Even if you utilized your payment card at a kiosk, it does not mean you will be affected by this incident. However, out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that you remain vigilant and consider taking one or more of the following steps to avoid identity theft, obtain additional information, and protect your personal information: 1. Contact the nationwide credit-reporting agencies as soon as possible to: Fraud Alert . Add a fraud alert statement to your credit file at all three national credit-reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You only need to contact one of the three agencies listed below; your request will be shared with the other two agencies. To place a 90 day fraud alert on your credit file, log into the Equifax Member Center and click on the fraud alert tab, visit www.fraudalerts.equifax.com or call the auto fraud line at 1-877-478-7625, and follow the simple prompts. This fraud alert will remain on your credit file for 90 days. . Add a fraud alert statement to your credit file at all three national credit-reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You only need to contact one of the three agencies listed below; your request will be shared with the other two agencies. To place a 90 day fraud alert on your credit file, log into the Equifax Member Center and click on the fraud alert tab, visit www.fraudalerts.equifax.com or call the auto fraud line at 1-877-478-7625, and follow the simple prompts. This fraud alert will remain on your credit file for 90 days. Security Freeze . Place a "security freeze" on your credit account. If you would like to request a security freeze be placed on your account, you must write by certified or overnight mail (see addresses below) to each of the three credit reporting agencies, or through the electronic or Internet method made available by the credit reporting agencies. Credit reporting agencies charge a $5 fee to place or remove a security freeze, unless you provide proof that you are a victim of identity theft, in which case there is no fee. In your request, you also must include (i) a copy of either the police report or case number documenting the identity theft, if you are a victim of identity theft; (ii) your full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.,) address, Social Security number, and date of birth; (iii) if you have moved in the past 5 years, the addresses where you have lived over the prior 5 years; (iv) proof of current address such as a current utility bill or phone bill; (v) a photocopy of a government issued identification card (state driver's license or ID card, military identification, etc.); and, if applicable (vi) payment by check, money order or credit card (Visa, Master Card, American Express or Discover cards only.) Equifax Experian TransUnion P.O. Box 740256 P.O. Box 9554 P.O. Box 2000 Atlanta, GA 30374 Allen, TX 75013 Chester, PA 19022 (800) 525-6285 (888) 397-3742 (800) 888-4213 (877) 478-7625 (report fraud) (800) 680-7289 (report fraud) www.equifax.com www.experian.com/consumer www.transunion.com www.fraudalerts.equifax.com Free Credit Report . Receive a free copy of your credit report by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. . Receive a free copy of your credit report by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. Watch Bills, Statements and Mailing Lists . If you aren't already doing so, please pay close attention to all bills; credit-card charges, and bank account statements. Remove your name from mailing lists of pre-approved offers of credit for approximately six months. 2. Contact the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") either by visiting www.ftc.gov, www.consumer.gov/idtheft, by calling (877) 438-4338, or by mail at Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580. 3. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft you should immediately report same to law enforcement and/or your state attorney general. 4. For Maryland Residents: Maryland Office of the Attorney General is: Maryland Office of the Attorney General, 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202; Telephone: (888) 743-0023; website: http://www.oag.state.md.us. 5. For North Carolina Residents: North Carolina Attorney General is: Address: North Carolina Office of the Attorney General, 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699; Telephone: (919) 716-6400; website: www.ncdoj.com/ 6. For Puerto Rico Residents: The total number of affected individuals is unknown. 7. For Rhode Island Residents: Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General is: Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; Telephone: (401) 274-4400; website: http://www.riag.ri.gov. The total number of affected individuals is unknown. 8. For New Mexico Residents: You have rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). These include, among others, the right to know what is in your file; to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information; and to have consumer reporting agencies correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. For more information about the FCRA, please visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf or www.ftc.gov. In addition, New Mexico consumers may obtain a security freeze on your credit report to protect your privacy and ensure that credit is not granted in your name without your knowledge. You may submit a declaration of removal to remove information placed in your credit report as a result of being a victim of identity theft. You have a right to place a security freeze on your credit report or submit a declaration of removal pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act. For more information about New Mexico consumers obtaining a security freeze, go to http://consumersunion.org/pdf/security/securityNM.pdf. For More Information. If you have questions or concerns you may contact us at 800-224-8040. SOURCE Avanti Markets NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben McConley, a Louisiana native and executive producer of many feature films over the past few years, has donated an undisclosed amount to the Red Cross. "After hearing Kevin Hart's plea for the Hollywood community to help with the "Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge" I immediately reached out to the Red Cross." McConley and his family have numerous properties and farm houses throughout the Louisiana area and homes have already sustained damage throughout the area. "If you cannot donate monies at this time, please send supplies. Baby formula and diapers are in dire need." https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey There are numerous places to donate which are rated A or A+ and can be reached here: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/CCUSADISASTER and https://www.directrelief.org/ McConley comments, "I'm being proactive in my reaching out to not only the Hollywood community and following Kevin Hart's lead @KevinHart4real, but to everyone who wants to make a political stance---now is your opportunity to unify and really make a difference that helps everyone; let's be part of a positive change." It's the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. And since Louisiana has learned how to deal with rain and floods, they know to take immediate action to protect life and property and a lot of organization and local groups have reached out to Houston and the various communities to offer support. A flood watch is underway in New Orleans throughout Thursday as expected heavy rainfall continues. Forrest Capital Partners continues to support the Hollywood community in its effort to reach out to the communities of Southeast Texas and his Louisiana home town. SOURCE Forrest Capital Partners Related Links http://www.forrestcapitalpartners.com/ WEST GULF BREEZE, Fla., Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Betsy Robins is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the Real Estate field. Robins currently works as a Real Estate Investor and Manager. Previously, she worked as both the Vice President and President of her family's business, Wildon Industries, Inc., from May, 1973 October, 1988. She has retired from the business, and at present, devotes all of her time to various real estate endeavors. Robin became involved in real estate once the family business was sold to Formica Corp. She also works as a volunteer to the Florida Office of the Attorney General a role she assumed in 2010. In this position, she serves as a case worker assisting senior citizens with various legal issues. Robins earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Law from Pennsylvania State University in 1973. She also completed graduate course work at both Louisiana State University as well as Pensacola State College. She dedicates this recognition to her parents, Dr. Robert Dean Williams and Helen S. Williams. It is them, she states, who made her what she is today. Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com Prior to joining BGL, Patrick served as a Vice President in the Commercial and Industrial Investment Banking Group at BB&T Capital Markets. His previous experience also includes positions as Vice President with HealthEdge Investment Partners and Associate with Harren Equity Partners. Patrick began his career as an investment banking analyst with KPMG Corporate Finance. "Patrick brings a wealth of investment banking expertise to our firm. His advanced execution capabilities and relationships cultivated over many years in the industry will enhance the strategic value our clients have come to expect from BGL," said Effram Kaplan, Managing Director and Head of the Environmental & Industrial Services Group. "We are excited to welcome Patrick to BGL's Industrials team. He brings the proven track record of success we need as we continue to strengthen and expand our investment banking services," added Andrew Petryk, Managing Director and Head of the Diversified Industrials Group. To learn more about Patrick, please visit: www.bglco.com/patrick_w_warren About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving the middle market. BGL specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory services, debt and equity placements, financial restructuring advice, and valuations and fairness opinions, with global industry teams in Business Services, Consumer & Retail, Environmental & Industrial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrials, and Real Estate. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, San Antonio, and San Diego, in addition to Global M&A partner offices in more than 50 countries across 5 continents. BGL is able to deliver to our clients unparalleled access to strategic relationships, investors, and opportunities globally. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com. SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Related Links http://www.bglco.com CINCINNATI, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to changing federal requirements for school districts to make their websites ADA compliant, Campus Suite Academy has launched the School Website Accessibility Education Center. This free website contains a collection of resources for school administrators to understand, implement and manage web accessibility and ADA compliance for their web and digital communications. Campus Suite has launched the Website Accessibility Education Center website to help school districts comply with changing federal standards on website accessibility and ADA compliance. Formal complaints are being filed with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights against education institutions whose websites are not accessible to people with disabilities. The Website Accessibility Education Center helps schools make their websites accessible and ADA-compliant. The Website Accessibility Education Center is designed for use by school communications, public relations and IT professionals responsible for publishing content on their school websites to insure all website content is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Schools are joining U.S. Government agencies being required to make their websites fully accessible and ADA compliant. Website accessibility is being enforced nationally by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) U.S. Department of Education, which has jurisdiction over schools receiving assistance from the federal government. "As digital communications continue to expand and we all become more dependent on websites for accessing and sharing information, many schools are unwittingly creating obstacles for people with disabilities," said Jay Cooper, director of the Campus Suite Academy. "This website helps answer the questions school administrators and school boards are asking about how to make their websites ADA compliant." Schools are being asked to comply with requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d) covering information technologies accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Settlements are being reached between the OCR and education institutions across the country. "As schools, school districts, states, and territories turn to the internet as a way to provide relevant and up-to-date information to their audiences, they must make sure they are not inadvertently excluding people with disabilities from their online programs, services, and activities," said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights, U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, in a recent press release from the OCR. The Website Accessibility Education Center contains articles, infographics and videos for school administrators to understand what it takes to make their school websites ADA compliant. In addition, it contains guides and templates for schools to develop their own step-by-step process to put a web accessibility process in place. School content managers and IT professionals can determine what part of their websites are non-compliant, how to fix issues, and how to keep their websites accessible. The Website Accessibility Education Center was created and is managed by the Campus Suite Academy, the educator professional development arm of the Campus Suite school communications cloud. Campus Suite provides website content management systems, text and voice notification systems, mobile apps and online spirit shops to schools and colleges, including K-12, public, private and charter schools, and community and small colleges. Visit the Website Accessibility Education Center CONTACT: Jay C. Cooper, 800-301-9285 ext. 3, [email protected] SOURCE Campus Suite Related Links http://www.campussuite.com MIAMI, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line will introduce its first-ever teppanyaki dining venue when the new 133,500-ton Carnival Horizon debuts in Europe in spring 2018. Teppanyaki is a traditional method of Japanese cooking whose name is derived from the combination of the words "teppan" or iron plate with "yaki" meaning grilled or pan-fried. Teppanyaki combines ancient Japanese cooking techniques with modern performance art to create a feast that is both culinary and visual. Located on Carnival Horizon's Promenade Deck, Bonsai Teppanyaki will offer a wide-ranging menu with authentic delicacies from the Far East prepared by highly skilled chefs who will create tantalizing dishes on custom-built stations that form the center of the venue's two eight-seat tables. In keeping with Carnival's atmosphere of spirited and participatory fun, dinner at Bonsai Teppanyaki will be an unforgettable culinary experience with chefs engaging with diners and dazzling them with their amazing knife skills and other performance elements. "Carnival is all about providing our guests with a wide array of choices and that, of course, includes a seemingly endless array of delicious culinary options," said Christine Duffy, Carnival's president. "The new Bonsai Teppanyaki promises to be a wonderful addition to the Carnival Horizon, offering delectable cuisine from the Far East enhanced by show-stopping performances by our talented and engaging chefs," she added. At the reservations-recommended restaurant, diners begin their meal with samplings of five tempting appetizers - Miso Soup; Kabuki Salad with Ginger Dressing; Teppanyaki Shrimp with Soy Butter and Salsa Vinaigrette; Pork Belly Yakitori with Sesame Asparagus Fries and Seaweed Salad; and Spicy Tuna on the Rocks with Onion Sesame Sauce and Den Miso. Guests can then choose from a variety of tantalizing entrees: Lobster Tail with Yuzu Cream and Citrus Kosho; Filet Mignon with Truffle Salt, Garlic Chips and Champagne Cognac Flambe; Teriyaki Salmon with Savory and Sweet Teriyaki Glaze; Black Cod with Soy Reduction; Shrimp with Young Lettuce and Gyukuro Tea; Shichimi Spiced Grilled Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce; and Grilled Tofu with Vegetables, Yaki Udon, and Teriyaki Anticucho Sauce. Four different combination dinners are available, including filet mignon/shrimp, shrimp/spiced grilled chicken, filet mignon/teriyaki salmon, and filet mignon/lobster tail. Meals end on a sweet note with a Chocolate Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream. All dishes include fried rice and stir-fried vegetables. Prices for Bonsai Teppanyaki are on a per-person basis and include all appetizer selections, entree and dessert. The restaurant will be open for lunch on sea days and for dinner every night of the cruise. The new teppanyaki venue will be located within Carnival Horizon's stand-alone Bonsai Sushi restaurant that will serve traditional sushi, sashimi, rolls and "bento ships" on an a la carte basis. It's one of dozens of different dining and beverage venues on board offering a wide range of international cuisines. These include Cucina del Capitano family-style Italian restaurant, the Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse, Guy's Burger Joint developed in tandem with Food Network star Guy Fieri, the Mexican-themed themed BlueIguana Cantina serving authentic tacos and burritos, the 24-hour Pizza Pirate, and the New England-inspired Seafood Shack. Carnival Horizon will also be the first ship to feature a Dr. Seuss-themed water park as well as a groundbreaking bike-ride-in-the-sky attraction called SkyRide, and an IMAX Theatre. A wide range of accommodations will also be offered, including spa cabins with exclusive privileges at the luxurious Cloud 9 Spa, extra-roomy staterooms in Family Harbor, and tropics-inspired Havana staterooms and suites with exclusive daytime access to a Cuban-themed bar and pool. Carnival Horizon is scheduled to make its maiden voyage April 2, 2018, with a 13-day Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona the first of four round-trip departures from that port. Carnival Horizon will reposition to the U.S. with a 14-day trans-Atlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York May 9-23, 2018. Following its summer schedule of four-day Bermuda and eight-day Caribbean departures from the Big Apple, Carnival Horizon will shift to Miami and kick off a year-round schedule of six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises beginning Sept. 22, 2018. Carnival Horizon will also offer a special two-day cruise to Nassau from Miami Sept. 20-22, 2018. To learn more about Carnival Cruise Line, visit Carnival.com. For reservations, contact any travel agent or call 1-800-CARNIVAL. Carnival can also be found on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Journalists also can visit Carnival's media site, carnival-news.com or follow the line's PR department on Twitter at twitter.com/CarnivalPR. About Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line, part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line" with 25 ships operating three- to 16-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Europe, Cuba, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Two 133,500-ton Vista class ships are currently scheduled for delivery - Carnival Horizon in 2018 and an as-yet-unnamed vessel in 2019. Additionally, two new 180,000-ton ships are scheduled to enter service in 2020 and 2022. SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line Related Links http://www.carnivalcorp.com CHICAGO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This Thursday August 31, 2017 at 7:30PM (CDT) preeminent Fathers' Rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving will be joined by matrimonial attorney and U.S. army veteran James Hagler for another captivating episode of Chicago Counterpoint TV on CAN-TV's Channel 21. Chicago Counterpoint TV provides compelling and critical legal education to empower fathers and educate its loyal listening audience. Attorney Hagler has made countless families whole by reuniting fathers with their children throughout our nation and has litigated life changing international child abductions cases from countries across the world. His clients can sleep soundly at night knowing atty. James Hagler will never stop fighting for their families. He proudly served in the Illinois National Guard as a Sergeant First Class and he is a tireless advocate for military dads and their children. Hagler is humbled to be a multiple recipient of the Award of Merit from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and has been named a Chicago Best Lawyer and Illinois Super Lawyer. He was awarded the 2017 Father of The Year Award and was personally thanked by President Obama for his tireless work in assisting poverty-stricken fathers to be involved with their children. James Hagler is well known by his peers in the legal community and by his clients as a relentless defender for fathers' rights and to children everywhere. Chicago Counterpoint TV is broadcast live on CAN-TV's Channel 21. It is an interactive television show with a potential viewing audience of over one million. Viewers participation is strongly encouraged in all discussions on the Fatherhood Educational Institute (FEI) website (www.fatherhood-edu.org) and Facebook. Chicago Counterpoint TV's host Jeffery M. Leving has been named one of "America's Best Lawyers" by Forbes Radio and is the country's leading authority on fathers' rights. Leving pioneered the Fathers' Rights Movement more than 30 years ago when he discovered a gap in the judicial system. He founded the Fatherhood Educational Institute , which provides parenting skills to fathers and seeks to eliminate father absence. Leving has worked his entire professional life promoting the importance of paternal involvement and fatherhood. He spearheaded the amicus brief in the Elian Gonzalez international custody case and helped reunite 6-year-old Gonzalez with his father in Cuba. CONTACT: Jennifer Whiteside Tel: 312.296.3666 [email protected] SOURCE Law Offices of Jeffery Leving, Ltd. STONINGTON, Conn., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the education and welfare of all Coast Guard members and their families, announced today the activation of its Disaster Relief and Response Fund to assist Coast Guard Members impacted by Hurricane Harvey. "As we see the hurricane rescue efforts unfold, we bear witness to the skill and expertise of the men and women of the United States Coast Guard," said Susan Ludwig, president, Coast Guard Foundation. "These brave men and women are working around the clock in high winds and torrential rains to help those in the Houston and surrounding areas to higher ground. While they are working tirelessly to rescue more than 4,000 people, so far, for many, their own homes and possessions have been destroyed by the most dangerous hurricane to hit the U.S. in over a decade." The Coast Guard Foundation's disaster relief program was established 12 years ago in the wake of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. Since then, the Foundation has responded to help Coast Guard families impacted by natural disasters, most recently last year when devastating floods impacted towns in Louisiana. "We know that 5,000 Coast Guard members are stationed in the affected area and their needs will go beyond the immediate term," continued Ludwig. "We welcome the public's support to bring short- and long-term relief to these heroic men and women and their families as the rescue effort turns to restoration and rebuilding." To donate to the Disaster Relief and Response Fund and help the Coast Guard Foundation meet the critical needs facing the men and women of the Coast Guard, please visit coastguardfoundation.org/Harvey. To learn more about the Coast Guard Foundation, or to help support its work, please visit www.coastguardfoundation.org or call (860) 535-0786. About The Coast Guard Foundation For 45 years, the Coast Guard Foundation has been committed to inspiring leadership, education and a proud legacy of service to our nation by supporting the men and women of the United States Coast Guard. The Foundation provides college scholarships to enlisted members, their spouses and their children, scholarships and support for families of Coast Guard members lost in the line of duty, and support for morale programs, including funding recreation, exercise and family-oriented facilities. The Coast Guard Foundation is headquartered in Stonington, Connecticut, where it maintains a staff of 13, with regional offices in the New York City area and St. Petersburg, Florida. To learn more about the Coast Guard Foundation or to help support its work, please visit www.coastguardfoundation.org. For imagery and other editorial requests, please contact: Rus Graham Rushton Gregory Communications 603-868-1359 [email protected] SOURCE Coast Guard Foundation Related Links http://www.cgdn.org WESTPORT, Conn., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE: CODI) ("CODI" or the "Company"), an owner of leading middle market businesses, announced today that its subsidiary, Sterno Products, LLC ("Sterno Products"), has acquired sevenOKs, Inc. ("sevenOKs"), a leading provider of insulated food carriers for the foodservice and retail markets. Based in La Porte, Indiana, sevenOKs is one of North America's top manufacturers and distributors of premium insulated hot and cold food carriers and accessories for restaurant delivery, stadium concessions, catering operations and school nutrition programs. All sevenOKs products are engineered and assembled in-house through a zero-defect manufacturing process, allowing for high customer flexibility with customization options and short lead times. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, sevenOKs reported net revenue of approximately $4 million. CODI funded the purchase price through a draw on its revolving credit facility. "This marks our second accretive add-on acquisition since acquiring Sterno Products in 2014," stated Alan Offenberg, CEO of Compass Diversified Holdings. "As with the 2016 acquisition of Northern International, adding sevenOKs furthers Sterno Products' expansion into complementary categories with its extensive foodservice product line. Looking ahead, CODI will continue seeking opportunities to acquire and grow leading middle market businesses that generate strong cash flows and support our ability to provide consistent distributions to our shareholders." Don Hinshaw, President and CEO of Sterno Products, commented, "The acquisition of sevenOKs is a natural extension of our company's 100-year mission to provide our customers with quality products that help keep food at ideal serving temperatures. Adding this premium brand strengthens Sterno Products' comprehensive portfolio of industry leading products, while also expanding our presence in the foodservice market." About Compass Diversified Holdings ("CODI") CODI owns and manages a diverse family of established North American middle market businesses. Each of its current subsidiaries is a leader in its niche market. CODI maintains controlling ownership interests in each of its subsidiaries in order to maximize its ability to impact long term cash flow generation and value. The Company provides both debt and equity capital for its subsidiaries, contributing to their financial and operating flexibility. CODI utilizes the cash flows generated by its subsidiaries to invest in the long-term growth of the Company and to make cash distributions to its shareholders. Our nine majority-owned subsidiaries are engaged in the following lines of business: The design and marketing of purpose-built tactical apparel and gear serving a wide range of global customers (5.11); The manufacture of quick-turn, small-run and production rigid printed circuit boards (Advanced Circuits); The manufacture of engineered magnetic solutions for a wide range of specialty applications and end-markets (Arnold Magnetic Technologies); Environmental services for a variety of contaminated materials including soils, dredged material, hazardous waste and drill cuttings (Clean Earth); The design, manufacture and marketing of airguns, archery products, optics and related accessories (Crosman); The design and marketing of wearable baby carriers, strollers and related products (Ergobaby); The design and manufacture of premium home and gun safes ( Liberty Safe ); The manufacture and marketing of branded, hemp-based food products (Manitoba Harvest); and The manufacture and marketing of portable food warming fuels and creative ambience solutions for the hospitality and consumer markets (Sterno Products). This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements, including statements with regard to the future performance of CODI. Words such as "believes," "expects," "projects," and "future" or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements, and some of these factors are enumerated in the risk factor discussion in the Form 10-K filed by CODI with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, CODI undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Compass Diversified Holdings Related Links http://www.compassdiversifiedholdings.com CALGARY, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Mr. Keith Creel, Canadian Pacific's (TSX: CP) (NYSE: CP) President and Chief Executive Officer, will address the Morgan Stanley 5th Annual Laguna Conference on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. pacific time in Dana Point, California. CP will provide access to a live audio webcast of Mr. Creel's remarks at investor.cpr.ca. A replay will also be available following the conclusion of the event. About Canadian Pacific Canadian Pacific is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to eight major ports, including Vancouver and Montreal, providing North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP. SOURCE Canadian Pacific Related Links http://www.cpr.ca BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and TOKYO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) today announced positive top-line results from REDUCER (an Asian, phase 3, multicenter, RandomizEd, Double-blind, placebo-controlled 14-week stUdy of mirogabalin in patients with diabetiC pEripheral neuRopathic pain, followed by a 52-week open-label extension). In the REDUCER clinical trial, mirogabalin demonstrated statistically significant reduction compared to placebo in the primary endpoint, change in weekly average daily pain score (ADPS) from baseline to Week 14. Preliminary and ongoing analyses indicated no significant safety concerns in the REDUCER trial. The REDUCER trial was followed by a 52-week open-label extension at approximately 200 centers in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia. "The top-line results from the REDUCER trial provide us with important data on the clinical profile of mirogabalin in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain," said Marielle Cohard-Radice, MD, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Development, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. "These results, along with the positive data from the NEUCOURSE trial in post-herpetic neuralgia, support mirogabalin's potential use in specific pain syndromes and our path forward for bringing this innovative medicine to patients who need relief from pain." The primary objective of the 14-week REDUCER trial was to evaluate the efficacy of mirogabalin by comparing the change in the ADPS from baseline to Week 14 in patients receiving 10 mg or 15 mg of mirogabalin twice-daily versus placebo. Weekly ADPS is based on daily pain scores reported by the patient that best describes his or her pain over the previous 24 hours. Secondary objectives in the REDUCER trial included a comparison of the change in ADPS from baseline to Week 14 in patients receiving mirogabalin 15 mg once-daily versus placebo, as well as a comparison of the proportion of patients by treatment group with greater than or equal to 30 and 50 reductions in ADPS from baseline to Week 14. The REDUCER trial is an integral component of Daiichi Sankyo's global clinical development program for mirogabalin in neuropathic pain, also inclusive of the NEUCOURSE trial. Top-line results from the NEUCOURSE trial were announced in June 2017. Further results from the REDUCER trial will be disclosed in upcoming scientific forums. About the REDUCER Phase 3 Clinical Study for Mirogabalin REDUCER is an Asian, phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 14-week clinical trial of mirogabalin involving 750 patients aged 20 years or older with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. The trial was followed by a 52-week open-label extension phase at approximately 200 centers in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia. Patients were randomized into one of four arms (mirogabalin 15 mg once-daily, mirogabalin 10 mg twice-daily, mirogabalin 15 mg twice-daily or placebo) at the ratio of 2:1:1:1, respectively. About Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common long-term complications of diabetes.1 Symptoms include sharp pains or increased sensitivity, numbness, loss of balance and coordination, tingling, burning or prickling sensations, which typically worsen at night.1 Up to 50 percent of people with diabetes have peripheral neuropathy2 and it is estimated that between 11 and 26 percent of people with diabetes experience diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.3,4,5,6 However, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain is often undertreated and underreported.2 About the Global Clinical Development Program for Mirogabalin The global phase 3 clinical development program for mirogabalin consists of several phase 3 clinical trials, including NEUCOURSE (post-herpetic neuralgia), REDUCER (diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain) and ALDAY (pain associated with fibromyalgia). Upon completion of these phase 3 trials, more than 6,000 patients will have participated in the mirogabalin clinical development program. The results from the global clinical development program will serve as the basis for potential regulatory submissions in various countries. About Mirogabalin Mirogabalin is an oral therapy that preferentially and selectively binds to the 2-1 (alpha-2 delta-1) subunit of calcium channels widely found in the nervous system in areas that mediate pain transmission and processing.7 Mirogabalin has a unique binding profile and long duration of action.8 About Daiichi Sankyo Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. With over 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for hypertension and thrombotic disorders, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo research and development is primarily focused on bringing forth novel therapies in oncology, including immuno-oncology, with additional focus on new horizon areas, such as pain management, neurodegenerative diseases, heart and kidney diseases, and other rare diseases. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com. Global and U.S. Contact Alyssa Dargento Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. [email protected] +1 908-992-6632 (office) Japan Contact Koji Ogiwara Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. +81-3-6225-1126 (office) Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. assume no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company. 1 National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes. NIH Publication No. 09-3185. February 2009. 2 Boulton, A. Management of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy. Clinical Diabetes. 2005; 25(1): 9-15. 3 Sadosky A et al. A review of the epidemiology of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, and less commonly studied neuropathic pain conditions. Pain Pract. 2008;8(1):45-56. 4 Van Acker K, et al. Prevalence and impact on quality of life of peripheral neuropathy with or without neuropathic pain in type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients attending hospital outpatients clinics. Diabetes Metab. 2009;35(3):206-213. 5 Abbott CA et al. Prevalence and characteristics of painful diabetic neuropathy in a large community-based diabetic population in the U.K. Diabetes Care. 2011;34(10):2220-2224. 6 Tsuji M et al. Painful diabetic neuropathy in Japanese diabetic patients is common but underrecognized. Pain Res Treat. 2013;2013:318352. 7 Yokoyama T et al. Pharmacological, pharmacokinetics and safety profiles of DS-5565 a novel 2 ligand. Poster presented at: World Congress of Neurology; September 2126, 2013; Vienna, Austria. 8 Yokoyama T et al. J Neurol Sci. 2013;333:e535. SOURCE Daiichi Sankyo Related Links http://www.daiichisankyo.com STUTTGART, Germany, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 1 million US-Dollar for direct relief efforts American Red Cross will receive the donation In a joint effort Daimler AG's US based subsidiaries Mercedes-Benz USA, Mercedes-Benz US International, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Daimler Trucks North America support the population in southern U.S. states affected by Hurricane Harvey. The companies donate 1 million US-Dollar in total to the distressed population coping with the storm's catastrophic impact. The donation will be spend to American Red Cross and will be used for immediate disaster relief, emergency assistance and other services needed by the victims of the hurricane. The American Red Cross is working around the clock in Houston, Texas and other affected cities and states to help the thousands of people whose lives have been devastated. The hurricane is one of the biggest rainstorms in the history of the United States and has left a path of destruction and flooded areas. An estimated 30,000 people will need temporary shelter and financial assistance. Those interested in supporting the American Red Cross' Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts can visit www.redcross.org to make a donation or to volunteer. Further information from Daimler is available at: www.media.daimler.com and www.daimler.com Daimler at a Glance Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world's biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, financial investments, credit cards, and innovative mobility services. The company's founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, it is a motivation and commitment of Daimler to shape safely and sustainably the future of mobility: The Group's focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal and fascinate. Daimler consequently invests in the development of efficient drive trains with the long-term goal of locally emission-free driving: from hightech combustion engines about hybrid vehicles to electric drive trains powered by battery or fuel cell. Furthermore, the company follows a consistent path towards intelligent connectivity of its vehicles, autonomous driving and new mobility concepts. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world's most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz (Source: Interbrand-Study The Anatomy of Growth", 10/5/2016), as well as Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, and Daimler Financial Services' brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Daimler Truck Financial, moovel, car2go and mytaxi. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2016, the Group sold around 3 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 282,000 people; revenue totalled 153.3 billion and EBIT amounted to 12.9 billion. SOURCE Daimler North America - Corporate Communications SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today that the company will participate in the following investor conferences during the month of September 2017: Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, September 7 , 2017. Chief Financial Officer Andrew P. Power will present at 1:30 p.m. EDT / 10: 30 a.m. PDT. on , 2017. Chief Financial Officer will present at / 10: 30 a.m. PDT. Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Global Real Estate Conference at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park in New York, NY on September 12-13 , 2017. Chief Financial Officer Andrew P. Power will participate in a roundtable discussion on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at 11:05 a.m. EDT / 8:05 a.m. PDT . Webcasts of the live presentations will be accessible from the Investors section of Digital Realty's website at www.digitalrealty.com. About Digital Realty Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of more than 2,300 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products. https://www.digitalrealty.com/ For Additional Information: Andrew P. Power Chief Financial Officer Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (415) 738-6500 Investor Relations John J. Stewart / Maria S. Lukens Digital Realty (415) 738-6500 [email protected] SOURCE Digital Realty Related Links http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com DUSSELDORF, Germany, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With effect from September 1, 2017, Dr. Christian Fischer (53) is to assume responsibility as Chief Executive Officer of Gerresheimer AG. He succeeds Uwe Rohrhoff (55), who is leaving the company as of August 31, 2017. Christian Fischer joined the Management Board as a regular member on August 1, 2017, having previously been President Performance Chemicals at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen, where he spent 24 years. "The Supervisory Board would like to thank Uwe Rohrhoff for the outstanding work he has done for Gerresheimer AG. In his 26 years at Gerresheimer, including seven as CEO, he played a key role in determining the company's strategic focus as well as in securing major acquisitions, reshaping the corporate portfolio, and delivering operational projects. In other words, he has been instrumental in the success that Gerresheimer currently enjoys. We would like to wish Uwe Rohrhoff all the best in his professional and personal endeavors. We have found an exceptional successor in Christian Fischer, who has demonstrated excellent leadership skills and brings many years of industry experience. Together with him we are looking forward to continue driving Gerresheimers future success," said Dr. Axel Herberg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gerresheimer AG Dr. Christian Fischer Dr. Christian Fischer has been a member of the Management Board of Gerresheimer AG since August 2017. He joined BASF in 1993. Having started his career as a laboratory team leader, he went on to be Deputy Division Manager, Global Marketing Director, and Sales Director in different plastic divisions. As Group Vice President, Fine Chemicals Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong from 2004 to 2008, he was responsible for the production and marketing of products for the pharma, cosmetics, aroma, animal, and human nutrition industries. Between 2008 and 2014, he was as President responsible for BASF SE's global materials and systems research. As President Performance Chemicals from 2015 to March 2017, he held overall responsibility for plastic additives, fuel and lubricant additives as well as chemicals for the mining, oilfield, water, paper, and leather industry. Christian Fischer holds a diploma degree in Chemistry (University of Regensburg) and a PhD in the same subject. He also has a degree in Business Administration (VWA Mannheim). He was appointed honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2014. For further information: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/9072/dokument?langid=2 SOURCE Gerresheimer AG MODESTO, Calif., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- E. & J. Gallo Winery announced today that it has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to aid with relief efforts, and assist those communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. "On behalf of our employees and their families, as well as our distributor partners in Texas, we are making this donation to help those affected by the flooding and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey," said Joseph E. Gallo, Chief Executive Officer and President of E. & J. Gallo Winery. "Our hearts go out to the millions of people who have suffered tremendous losses." In addition, E. & J. Gallo Winery announced it will also match personal donations dollar for dollar made by its employees through the company's Employee Match Program. The donation will assist the American Red Cross with providing shelter, food and immediate disaster relief and recovery support. About E. & J. Gallo Winery Founded by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo in 1933 in Modesto, California, E. & J. Gallo Winery is the world's largest family-owned winery and the acclaimed producer of award-winning wines and spirits featured in more than 90 countries around the globe. A pioneer in the art of grape growing, winemaking, sustainable practices, marketing and worldwide distribution, Gallo crafts and imports wines and spirits to suit a diverse range of tastes and occasions, from everyday offerings to boutique, luxury bottlings. The Gallo portfolio is comprised of more than 80 unique brands, including Barefoot Cellars, Dark Horse, and Gallo Family Vineyards, as well as premium box wines The Naked Grape and Vin Vault. Premium offerings include Apothic, Carnivor, Chateau Souverain, Columbia Winery, Ecco Domani, Edna Valley Vineyard, J Vineyards & Winery, Louis M. Martini, MacMurray Estate Vineyards, Mirassou, Orin Swift, Talbott Vineyards, and William Hill Estate, along with highly acclaimed imports, such as Alamos, Brancaia, La Marca, Las Rocas, Martin Codax, Whitehaven, and LUX Wines, importers of Allegrini, Argiano, Jermann, Pieropan and Renato Ratti. Gallo Spirits offers New Amsterdam Vodka and Gin and E&J Brandy, in addition to imported Scotch whiskies from Whyte & Mackay, including The Dalmore, Jura Single Malt and John Barr Blended. SOURCE E. & J. Gallo Winery Related Links http://www.gallo.com In 1958, I was nine years old and following a familiar path into Lucky's, Mrs. Rusek's soda fountain in East Helena. For literally every kid in town, the main attraction was the large glass penny candy display case. "I'll have five Tootsie Rolls, five Sugar Daddies, five Gummy Bears, five N****r Babies, and five Watermelon Slices." Mrs. Rusek followed my instructions, filling the small brown paper bag and exchanging it for my quarter. In seconds I was out the door and off on my bike. This seemingly innocent, nostalgic little anecdote points up the insidious nature of racism in our country. The often not so subtle messages of white superiority have been part of our culture since the first European set foot on these shores. If you were born white, you were born to be inculcated with a belief in the superiority of your race. It's like a cancerous original sin. It's not your fault. It's not my fault. But it's there. Like many cancers, for now it can't be cured, but it can be managed. Eventually, like cancer, it can be eradicated as we evolve to be the best we can be. This is my personal faith. Whether it's hard science or social science, I believe in the enormous power of the human spirit and intellect. We now appear to be at an historic juncture. Ironically fueled in part by acts of modern white supremacist terrorism, symbols honoring racist heroes of the past are being removed. Are we finally coming to terms with our white supremacist heritage? Germany has removed all public displays honoring Nazi white supremacist heroes, and, in some cases, replaced them with memorials of solemn remembrance and, in effect, national contrition. In Berlin, the Topography of Terror museum fills the space that once held the sprawling lair of Hitlers bureaucracy. Germany seems to have realistically come to terms with its racist heritage. We know that even today there is still a significant presence of neo-Nazis in Germany who dream of resurrecting the Third Reich. They hold sincere beliefs (abhorrent as they may be). Yet they are not allowed to hold on to public displays honoring the brutal torture and degradation of millions of human beings. The Holocaust lasted roughly five years. Slavery was legal in America for 245 years. Go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and view the huge piles of shoes once worn by millions made to work at hard labor for their Nazi masters, then murdered. Then travel to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage plantation in Nashville and enter the severely cramped slave quarters where black families lived out their grueling, meager, humiliating existence while serving as the economic backbone of the charmed white southern culture that the Confederacy fought so hard to preserve. Your emotions at witnessing how human beings who claim to be superior can inflict such horrors on their fellows are likely to be similar. They were for me. Shock, disgust, disbelief; but mostly, just a deep, deep sadness and angry disappointment in our species. Certainly there are major differences between the Third Reich and the Confederacy. But the similarities are undeniable. The paradox and hypocrisy of Hitler's faux Christianity and the Third Reichs tacit alliance with the Vatican, parallels the paradox and hypocrisy of America's heavily nuanced history of slave ownership among our founding fathers. A National Museum of the Confederacy, located in Richmond, Virginia, the seat of the Confederacy, roughly modeled on the Holocaust Museum, would be a good start at honestly coming to terms with racism in our country. Housing artifacts of slavery and historically significant memorials to the Confederacy and its leaders, including Helena's Confederate fountain, it could be an effective resource for greater understanding, and act as a cathartic symbol of national contrition. This is not to deny the progress made in civil rights legislation; or to ignore the programs our country has adopted to assuage our racial guilt, some of which have arguably backfired. But there can be no substitute for a genuine, massive change of heart. Only then will opportunity be truly equal and wounds be truly healed. Our ingrained prejudice has been long in the making. So it will take time, but the goal of ultimate social awakening is our most worthy aspiration. Science has been battling cancer for decades. There are over 100 types of cancer. Likewise, hatred takes many forms. It may be generations before cancer or hatred can be fully eradicated. But today, using various therapies, the symptoms of many cancers can be managed until cures are found. Likewise, all forms of hate can and must be marginalized (not romanticized, normalized, or emboldened), until they can finally be defeated. That violence will never truly defeat hatred should be self evident. At least for now, the rule of law still controls in this country. There is no good purpose or need to risk destructive, divisive escalations of violence. Peaceful protest while advocating for strong and fair enforcement by our peace officers, who deserve our support, is the only viable and principled approach to public displays of hatred. We are now engaged in a painful but necessary national dialogue. Individually, we are having internal dialogues addressing personal prejudice. That is, we are finally honestly attempting to come to terms with the insidious cancer that is racism. This difficult but healthy process, pursued with mutual respect and self-awareness, is our singular path toward raising our national consciousness and expelling hatred from our social DNA. WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Inc. will present data from its lenvatinib (marketed as Lenvima) clinical trial program in four difficult-to-treat cancers at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress taking place in Madrid, Spain, from Sept. 8-12. Additional data from the Company's oncology portfolio in key tumors, including advanced forms of breast and biliary tract cancer, among others, will also be presented during the conference. "Our robust clinical research in various tumor types aims to further understand how lenvatinib may be used in additional patients, either as a part of a combination regimen with immunotherapy or as a monotherapy," said Alton Kremer, MD, PhD, Chief Clinical Officer and Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Business Group at Eisai. "The presentations at the ESMO 2017 Congress underscore Eisai's commitment to patients with difficult-to-treat cancers." Presentations of interest include: An analysis from the Phase 3 REFLECT study in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma comparing health-related quality of life outcomes and disease symptoms for those treated with lenvatinib to those treated with sorafenib. An analysis evaluating serum biomarkers in the REFLECT study will also be presented. Results from the cohort of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the Phase 1b/2 Study 111 evaluating lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab in approximately 250 patients with selected solid tumors. Primary analysis results from a Phase 2 study of lenvatinib as a second-line treatment in unresectable biliary tract cancer. This release discusses investigational compounds that are not Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved and investigational uses for FDA-approved products. It is not intended to convey conclusions about efficacy and safety. There is no guarantee that any of these investigational compounds or investigational uses of FDA-approved products will successfully complete clinical development or gain FDA approval. The full list of Eisai presentations, including the time and location of each session, is included below. Abstract Name Session (All times are CEST) Lenvatinib Abstracts A phase 1b/2 trial of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab in patients With renal cell carcinoma Abstract #847O Proffered Paper Session Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 10:15-10:45 a.m. Location: Madrid Auditorium C.H. Lee Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disease symptoms in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with lenvatinib (LEN) or sorafenib (SOR) Abstract #618O Proffered Paper Session Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 12:00-12:30 p.m. Location: Barcelona Auditorium A. Vogel Analysis of serum biomarkers (BM) in patients (pts) from a phase 3 study of lenvatinib (LEN) vs sorafenib (SOR) as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) Abstract #LBA30 Proffered Paper Session Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Location: Barcelona Auditorium R.S. Finn Comparing ITC results from lenvatinib plus everolimus for second-line treatment of advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma: crossover versus no crossover Abstract #878P Poster Display Session Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 1:15-2:15 p.m. Location: Hall 8 A.S. Garib Impact of duration of dose interruption on the efficacy of lenvatinib (LEN) in a Phase 3 study in patients (pts) with radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC) Abstract #434PD Poster Discussion Session Monday, Sept. 11, 2017 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Location: Alicante Auditorium M. Tahara A Phase 2 study of lenvatinib (LEN) monotherapy as second-line treatment in unresectable biliary tract cancer: primary analysis results Abstract #722P Poster Display Session Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 1:15-2:15 p.m. Location: Hall 8 M. Ikeda Network meta-analysis (NMA) of treatments for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) Abstract #707P Poster Display Session Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 1:15-2:15 p.m. Location: Hall 8 G. Tremblay Eribulin Abstract Prospective observational study of peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer patients treated with eribulin Abstract #292P Poster Display Session Monday, Sept. 11, 2017 1:15-2:15 p.m. Location: Hall 8 Y. Sakata E7046 Abstract Phase 1 study of E7046, a PGE2 receptor EP-4 inhibitor that targets immunosuppressive myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment Abstract #373PD Poster Discussion Session Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 4:30-6 p.m. Location: Alicante Auditorium D.S. Hong About Lenvima (lenvatinib) Lenvima (lenvatinib) is a kinase inhibitor that is indicated for: Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC): single agent for patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory DTC. Renal Cell Cancer (RCC): in combination with everolimus for patients with advanced RCC following one prior anti-angiogenic therapy. Lenvatinib, discovered and developed by Eisai, is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor that inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors VEGFR1-3. Lenvatinib also inhibits other RTKs that have been implicated in pathogenic angiogenesis, tumor growth, and cancer progression in addition to their normal cellular functions, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors FGFR1-4; the platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR), KIT, and RET. The combination of lenvatinib and everolimus showed increased anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity as demonstrated by decreased human endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation, and VEGF signaling in vitro and tumor volume in mouse xenograft models of human renal cell cancer greater than each drug alone. Important Safety Information Warnings and Precautions In DTC, hypertension was reported in 73% of patients on Lenvima vs 16% with placebo (44% vs 4% grade 3). In RCC, hypertension was reported in 42% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 10% with everolimus alone (13% vs 2% grade 3). Systolic blood pressure 160 mmHg occurred in 29% of patients, and 21% of patients had a diastolic blood pressure 100 mmHg in the Lenvima + everolimustreated group. Blood pressure should be controlled prior to treatment and monitored throughout. Withhold dose for grade 3 hypertension despite optimal antihypertensive therapy; resume at reduced dose when controlled at grade 2. Discontinue for life-threatening hypertension In DTC, cardiac dysfunction was reported in 7% of patients on Lenvima vs 2% with placebo (2% vs 0% grade 3). In RCC, decreased ejection fraction and cardiac failure were reported in 10% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 6% with everolimus alone (3% vs 2% grade 3). Monitor for signs/symptoms of cardiac decompensation. Withhold Lenvima for development of grade 3 cardiac dysfunction until improvement to grade 0, 1, or baseline. Resume at reduced dose or discontinue based on severity and persistence of cardiac dysfunction. Discontinue for grade 4 cardiac dysfunction In DTC, arterial thromboembolic events were reported in 5% of patients on Lenvima vs 2% with placebo (3% vs 1% grade 3). In RCC, arterial thromboembolic events were reported in 2% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 6% with everolimus alone (2% vs 4% grade 3). Discontinue following an arterial thrombotic event. The safety of resuming Lenvima after an arterial thromboembolic event has not been established, and Lenvima has not been studied in patients who have had an arterial thromboembolic event within the previous 6 months Across clinical studies in which 1,160 patients received Lenvima monotherapy, hepatic failure (including fatal events) was reported in 3 patients and acute hepatitis in 1 patient. In DTC, ALT and AST increases (grade 3) occurred in 4% and 5% of patients on Lenvima, respectively, vs 0% with placebo. In RCC, ALT and AST increases (grade 3) occurred in 3% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 2% and 0% with everolimus alone, respectively. Monitor liver function before initiation, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Withhold dose for liver impairment grade 3 until resolved to grade 0, 1, or baseline. Resume at reduced dose or discontinue based on severity/persistence of hepatotoxicity. Discontinue for hepatic failure In DTC, proteinuria was reported in 34% of patients on Lenvima vs 3% with placebo (11% vs 0% grade 3). In RCC, proteinuria was reported in 31% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 14% with everolimus alone (8% vs 2% grade 3). Monitor for proteinuria before and during treatment. Withhold dose for proteinuria 2 g/24 h. Resume at reduced dose when proteinuria is <2 g/24 h. Discontinue for nephrotic syndrome In RCC, diarrhea was reported in 81% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 34% with everolimus alone (19% vs 2% grade 3). Initiate prompt medical management for the development of diarrhea. Monitor for dehydration. Withhold dose for diarrhea grade 3. Resume at a reduced dose when diarrhea resolves to grade 1 or baseline. Permanently discontinue Lenvima for grade 4 diarrhea despite medical management In DTC, events of renal impairment were reported in 14% of patients on Lenvima vs 2% with placebo (3% vs 1% grade 3). In RCC, events of renal impairment were reported in 18% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 12% with everolimus alone (10% vs 2% grade 3). Withhold Lenvima for grade 3 or 4 renal failure/impairment. Resume at reduced dose or discontinue, depending on severity/persistence of renal impairment. Active management of diarrhea and any other gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms should be initiated for grade 1 events In DTC, events of GI perforation or fistula were reported in 2% of patients on Lenvima vs 0.8% with placebo. In RCC, events of GI perforation, abscess, or fistula (grade 3) were reported in 2% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 0% with everolimus alone. Discontinue in patients who develop GI perforation or life-threatening fistula In DTC, QT/QTc interval prolongation was reported in 9% of patients on Lenvima vs 2% with placebo (2% vs 0% >500 ms). In RCC, QTc interval increases >60 ms were reported in 11% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus (6% >500 ms) vs 0% with everolimus alone. Monitor electrocardiograms in patients with congenital long QT syndrome, congestive heart failure, bradyarrhythmias, or patients taking drugs known to prolong the QT interval. Monitor and correct electrolyte abnormalities in all patients. Withhold dose for QTc interval prolongation >500 ms. Resume at reduced dose when QTc prolongation resolves to baseline In DTC, hypocalcemia (grade 3) was reported in 9% of patients on Lenvima vs 2% with placebo. In RCC, hypocalcemia (grade 3) was reported in 6% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 2% with everolimus alone. Monitor blood calcium levels at least monthly and replace calcium as necessary. Interrupt and adjust Lenvima as necessary Across clinical studies in which 1,160 patients received Lenvima monotherapy, reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) was reported in 4 patients. Withhold Lenvima for RPLS until fully resolved. Resume at reduced dose or discontinue based on the severity and persistence of neurologic symptoms Across clinical studies in which 1,160 patients received Lenvima monotherapy, hemorrhage (grade 3) was reported in 2% of patients. In DTC, hemorrhagic events occurred in 35% of patients on LENVIMA vs 18% with placebo (2% vs 3% grade 3). There was 1 fatal intracranial hemorrhage case among 16 patients who received Lenvima and had central nervous system metastases at baseline. The most frequently reported hemorrhagic event was epistaxis (11% grade 1, 1% grade 2). Discontinuation due to hemorrhagic events occurred in 1% of patients on Lenvima. In RCC, hemorrhagic events occurred in 34% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 26% with everolimus alone (8% vs 2% grade 3). The most frequently reported hemorrhagic event was epistaxis (23% for Lenvima + everolimus vs 24% with everolimus alone). There was 1 fatal cerebral hemorrhage case. Discontinuation due to hemorrhagic events occurred in 3% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus. Consider the risk of severe or fatal hemorrhage associated with tumor invasion/infiltration of major blood vessels (eg, carotid artery). Withhold Lenvima for the development of grade 3 hemorrhage until resolved to grade 0 or 1. Resume at reduced dose or discontinue based on severity/persistence of hemorrhage. Discontinue for grade 4 hemorrhage In DTC patients with normal baseline thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), elevation of TSH level above 0.5 mU/L was observed postbaseline in 57% of patients on Lenvima vs 14% with placebo. In RCC, grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism occurred in 24% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 2% with everolimus alone. In RCC patients with normal or low TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH was observed postbaseline in 60% of patients on Lenvima + everolimus vs 3% with everolimus alone. Monitor thyroid function before initiation of and at least monthly throughout treatment. Treat hypothyroidism according to standard medical practice to maintain a euthyroid state Lenvima can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with Lenvima and for at least 2 weeks following completion of therapy Adverse Reactions In DTC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in Lenvima-treated patients vs placebo-treated patients were hypertension (73% vs 16%), fatigue (67% vs 35%), diarrhea (67% vs 17%), arthralgia/myalgia (62% vs 28%), decreased appetite (54% vs 18%), weight decrease (51% vs 15%), nausea (47% vs 25%), stomatitis (41% vs 8%), headache (38% vs 11%), vomiting (36% vs 15%), proteinuria (34% vs 3%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (32% vs 1%), abdominal pain (31% vs 11%), and dysphonia (31% vs 5%) In DTC, adverse reactions led to dose reductions in 68% of patients receiving Lenvima and in 5% of patients receiving placebo; 18% of patients discontinued Lenvima and 5% discontinued placebo for adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions (10%) resulting in dose reductions of Lenvima were hypertension (13%), proteinuria (11%), decreased appetite (10%), and diarrhea (10%); the most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of Lenvima were hypertension (1%) and asthenia (1%) In RCC, the most common adverse reactions (>30%) observed in patients treated with Lenvima + everolimus vs everolimus alone were diarrhea (81% vs 34%), fatigue (73% vs 40%), arthralgia/myalgia (55% vs 32%), decreased appetite (53% vs 18%), vomiting (48% vs 12%), nausea (45% vs 16%), stomatitis/oral inflammation (44% vs 50%), hypertension/increased blood pressure (42% vs 10%), peripheral edema (42% vs 20%), cough (37% vs 30%), abdominal pain (37% vs 8%), dyspnea/exertional dyspnea (35% vs 28%), rash (35% vs 40%), weight decreased (34% vs 8%), hemorrhagic events (32% vs 26%), and proteinuria/urine protein present (31% vs 14%). The most common serious adverse reactions (5%) were renal failure (11%), dehydration (10%), anemia (6%), thrombocytopenia (5%), diarrhea (5%), vomiting (5%), and dyspnea (5%) In RCC, adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 89% of patients receiving Lenvima + everolimus and in 54% of patients receiving everolimus alone. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions in the Lenvima + everolimustreated group were diarrhea (21%), fatigue (8%), thrombocytopenia (6%), vomiting (6%), nausea (5%), and proteinuria (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 29% of patients in the Lenvima + everolimustreated group and in 12% of patients in the everolimus-treated group Use in Specific Populations Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment Lenvima may result in reduced fertility in females of reproductive potential and may result in damage to male reproductive tissues, leading to reduced fertility of unknown duration For more information about Lenvima, click here for the full Prescribing Information. About HALAVEN (eribulin mesylate) Injection HALAVEN (eribulin mesylate) is a microtubule dynamics inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with: Metastatic breast cancer who have previously received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens for the treatment of metastatic disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting. Unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma who have received a prior anthracycline- containing regimen. Discovered and developed by Eisai, eribulin is a synthetic analog of halichondrin B, a natural product that was isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. First in the halichondrin class, HALAVEN is a microtubule dynamics inhibitor. Eribulin is believed to work primarily via a tubulin-based mechanism that causes prolonged and irreversible mitotic blockage, ultimately leading to apoptotic cell death. Additionally, in preclinical studies of human breast cancer, eribulin demonstrated complex effects on the tumor biology of surviving cancer cells, including increases in vascular perfusion resulting in reduced tumor hypoxia, and changes in the expression of genes in tumor specimens associated with a change in phenotype, promoting the epithelial phenotype, opposing the mesenchymal phenotype. Eribulin has also been shown to decrease the migration and invasiveness of human breast cancer cells. Important Safety Information Warnings and Precautions Neutropenia: Severe neutropenia (ANC <500/mm3) lasting >1 week occurred in 12% of patients with mBC and liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 5% of patients with mBC and 2 patients (0.4%) died from complications. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 0.9% of patients with liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma, and fatal neutropenic sepsis occurred in 0.9% of patients. Patients with mBC with elevated liver enzymes >3 ULN and bilirubin >1.5 ULN experienced a higher incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia and febrile neutropenia than patients with normal levels. Monitor complete blood cell counts prior to each dose, and increase the frequency of monitoring in patients who develop Grade 3 or 4 cytopenias. Delay administration and reduce subsequent doses in patients who experience febrile neutropenia or Grade 4 neutropenia lasting >7 days. Peripheral Neuropathy: Grade 3 peripheral neuropathy occurred in 8% of patients with mBC (Grade 4=0.4%) and 22% developed a new or worsening neuropathy that had not recovered within a median follow-up duration of 269 days (range 25-662 days). Neuropathy lasting >1 year occurred in 5% of patients with mBC. Grade 3 peripheral neuropathy occurred in 3.1% of patients with liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma receiving HALAVEN and neuropathy lasting more than 60 days occurred in 58% (38/65) of patients who had neuropathy at the last treatment visit. Patients should be monitored for signs of peripheral motor and sensory neuropathy. Withhold HALAVEN in patients who experience Grade 3 or 4 peripheral neuropathy until resolution to Grade 2 or less. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: HALAVEN can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with HALAVEN and for at least 2 weeks following the final dose. Advise males with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with HALAVEN and for 3.5 months following the final dose. QT Prolongation: Monitor for prolonged QT intervals in patients with congestive heart failure, bradyarrhythmias, drugs known to prolong the QT interval, and electrolyte abnormalities. Correct hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia prior to initiating HALAVEN and monitor these electrolytes periodically during therapy. Avoid in patients with congenital long QT syndrome. Adverse Reactions In patients with mBC receiving HALAVEN, the most common adverse reactions (25%) were neutropenia (82%), anemia (58%), asthenia/fatigue (54%), alopecia (45%), peripheral neuropathy (35%), nausea (35%), and constipation (25%). Febrile neutropenia (4%) and neutropenia (2%) were the most common serious adverse reactions. The most common adverse reaction resulting in discontinuation was peripheral neuropathy (5%). In patients with liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma receiving HALAVEN, the most common adverse reactions (25%) reported in patients receiving HALAVEN were fatigue (62%), nausea (41%), alopecia (35%), constipation (32%), peripheral neuropathy (29%), abdominal pain (29%), and pyrexia (28%). The most common (5%) Grade 3-4 laboratory abnormalities reported in patients receiving HALAVEN were neutropenia (32%), hypokalemia (5.4%), and hypocalcemia (5%). Neutropenia (4.9%) and pyrexia (4.5%) were the most common serious adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions resulting in discontinuation were fatigue and thrombocytopenia (0.9% each). Use in Specific Populations Lactation: Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants from eribulin mesylate, advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with HALAVEN and for 2 weeks after the final dose. Hepatic and Renal Impairment: A reduction in starting dose is recommended for patients with mild or moderate hepatic impairment and/or moderate or severe renal impairment. For more information about HALAVEN, click here for the full Prescribing Information. About Eisai Inc. At Eisai Inc., human health care is our goal. We give our first thoughts to patients and their families, and helping to increase the benefits health care provides. As the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eisai Co., Ltd., we have a passionate commitment to patient care that is the driving force behind our efforts to discover and develop innovative therapies to help address unmet medical needs. Eisai is a fully integrated pharmaceutical business that operates in two global business groups: oncology and neurology (dementia-related diseases and neurodegenerative diseases). Each group functions as an end-to-end global business with discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing capabilities. Our U.S. headquarters, commercial and clinical development organizations are located in New Jersey; our discovery labs are in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; and our global demand chain organization resides in Maryland and North Carolina. To learn more about Eisai Inc., please visit us at www.eisai.com/US. Contacts: Media Inquiries Investor Inquiries Laurie Landau Ivor Macleod Eisai Inc. Eisai Inc. (201) 746-2510 (201) 746-2660 SOURCE Eisai Inc. Related Links http://www.eisai.com/US NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Faithful+Gould, a world-leading project and program management consultancy, is pleased to announce that the Terminal C North Program at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston (IAH) has been awarded with a Best Project Award by the Engineering News-Record (ENR) Texas & Louisiana region in the category of 'Airport/Transit projects'. Faithful+Gould successfully managed the 264,000-square-foot program in conjunction with VRX, Inc. and JLA Construction Solutions on behalf of United Airlines (United). "The United Terminal C project incorporated a wide range of moving parts prior to completion," said Faithful+Gould Project Executive Ashley Hough. "We are extremely proud to have delivered the project under budget, and to be recognized for our dedicated involvement." Built by Manhattan Construction Company, the program was split into two phases: the terminal building, valued at approximately $260 million; and the ramp, fueling and utilities portion, valued at about $85 million. The two-level terminal building includes 14 gates with new jet bridges, as well as a dynamic design with new restaurants, food court and retail outlets. The ramp portion of the project involved the removal and replacement of approximately 24 acres of concrete apron paving surrounding the new concourse. Faithful+Gould verified that all required site utilities were provided, including, but not limited to, chilled and hot water, electrical, domestic water, fire water, sanitary sewer and drainage to the new concourse. The award will be presented at a luncheon on October 18, 2017, at the JW Marriott Houston in Houston, TX. About Faithful+Gould Faithful+Gould (www.fgould.com) is a world-leading integrated project and program management consultancy. Operating at the forefront of its industry, the firm has been providing quality support services and constructive expertise to the public and private sectors for 70 years. Headquartered in New York, Faithful+Gould has more than 500 experts in offices across the Americas engaged with clients and delivering successful projects, regardless of the size, environment or industry. Faithful+Gould is a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group. SOURCE Faithful+Gould Related Links http://www.fgould.com/usa CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A Farmers Insurance Mobile Claims Center (MCC) has been deployed to Victoria, Texas to assist customers affected by Harvey. In addition to expedited claims processing, hot meals, sundries, high-speed internet and phone access, customers who visit the MCC relief site at 6106 North Navarro Street in Victoria will also have access to Pet Partners specially trained therapy dogs for emotional support between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time Friday. "Farmers Insurance understands that beyond the physical devastation, the emotional toll can often leave a lasting mark on victims," said Keith Daly, chief claims officer for Farmers Insurance. "We want our customers to know that when they see the Farmers team, they know help has arrived." According to Bellevue, Washington-based Pet Partners, an emerging body of research recognizes the impact the human-animal bond can have on individual and community health, including after traumatic events. Through its relationship with Pet Partners, Farmers is continuing its ongoing commitment to provide support to communities like Victoria that need it the most. Farmers customers who suffered damage from the storm can file their claims at the MCC in Victoria between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., online at www.farmers.com, via the Farmers Insurance mobile app, or by calling the 24-hour claims center: Farmers Claims Contact Center number: 1-800-435-7764. Foremost and 21st Century customers can also use the 1-800-435-7764 number for immediate assistance. Bristol West customers can call 1-800-274-7865 for immediate assistance. Spanish-language claims assistance is available to Farmers customers by calling: 877-RECLAMO (877-732-5266). Additional MCC sites will be established in the coming days as heavily impacted areas become accessible. Farmers will post the locations of the MCCs on www.farmers.com/catastrophe and on its social media channels. *Editor's Note: Farmers is able to facilitate media interviews and filming at MCC sites. Please contact [email protected] or call 818-965-0007 to speak with a Farmers representative. About Farmers Insurance "Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies nationally, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurance insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2017 Fortune 500 list. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance. About Pet Partners Pet Partners is the national leader in demonstrating and promoting animal-assisted therapy, activities and education. Nearly forty years since the organization's inception, the science that proves these benefits has become indisputable. Today, Pet Partners is the nation's largest and most prestigious nonprofit registering handlers of multiple species as volunteer teams providing animal-assisted interventions. For more information about Pet Partners, visit www.petpartners.org Media Contact: Farmers Insurance Media Relations [email protected] 818-965-0007 SOURCE Farmers Insurance Related Links http://www.farmersinsurance.com LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick's Foundation is proud to have contributed to the research and advocacy that led to the FDA approving the first gene therapy treatment in the U.S. for children with cancer today, called CAR T cell therapy. Cancer takes more children's lives than any other disease in the U.S., and this revolutionary therapy will save the lives of many children who have had no other effective treatment. CAR T cell therapy has been approved for treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and genetically modifies a patient's own cells in the lab to then infuse them back into the body to make his or her immune system attack leukemia cells. St. Baldrick's has supported immunotherapy research since 2012, including the work of scientists in Dr. Stephan Grupp's lab at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Grupp made history when he treated the first child with CAR T cell therapy, Emily Whitehead, who is now more than five years cancer-free, after once being given a one-in-one-thousand chance of surviving. "This is a landmark moment for cancer research and for pediatric oncology, as a whole new kind of cancer treatment, CAR T therapy, is approved," Dr. Grupp said. "It is amazing to me as a pediatric oncologist to see the first approval of a new treatment like this in pediatric leukemia." Dr. Grupp is also a member of the SU2C-St. Baldrick's Pediatric Cancer Dream Team (PCDT), which has been instrumental in the development of this new approach by committing millions of dollars to the research of CAR T cell therapy. The Dream Team has been key to helping understand why the treatment works, and helping to push the drug approval over the finish line as quickly as possible. "This is a remarkable achievement and a hallmark day for our community and our children most importantly," said Kathleen Ruddy, CEO of the St. Baldrick's Foundation. "We are so grateful for the many scientists who have labored to realize this day, and for every donor and volunteer who has helped to make this possible. We will continue to support the best childhood cancer research, wherever it takes place, to make progress like this available to patients with all types of childhood cancers." Clinical trial results have already shown this gene therapy's stunning success. Eighty-three percent of children and young adults whose leukemia could not be cured by any other means, went into remission within three months of being treated with CAR T cell therapy. It has already saved the lives of many children, including 2016 St. Baldrick's Ambassador Phineas Sandi. While most new cancer treatments that come to market are first approved by the FDA for adults, the CAR T cell therapy is unique, as it was first approved for the specific treatment of children making a huge stride in the childhood cancer research community. Worldwide a child is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes. By funding research, you are giving kids with cancer hope for a cure. In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September, help St. Baldrick's take childhood back from cancer by donating at StBaldricks.org/Give. About St. Baldrick's Foundation As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick's Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick's is leading the charge to take childhood back from cancer by funding some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids. SOURCE St. Baldrick's Foundation Related Links http://www.stbaldricks.org AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), has promoted Richard Bologna to vice president of the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. In this position, he is responsible for overall management, direction and coordination of operation of Beaver Valley. Bologna succeeds Marty Richey, who is pursing interests outside the company. In a related move, John Grabar has been named general plant manager at Beaver Valley, the position most recently held by Bologna. Grabnar is responsible for overseeing the Operations, Radiation Protection, Chemistry and Maintenance activities at the plant. A 29-year nuclear industry veteran, Bologna joined Beaver Valley as an engineer in 1988. He held numerous leadership positions in Maintenance, Engineering and Site Operations before becoming director of Site Operations in 2012. In 2014, he was named director of Fleet Engineering for FENOC, and then returned to Beaver Valley in September 2016 as general plant manager. "With his long history at Beaver Valley, Rich brings a wealth of experience and understanding in all aspects of plant operations. His strong leadership skills will ensure the site continues to deliver safe, reliable performance while achieving excellence in plant operations," said FENOC Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Harden. Bologna, of Rochester, Pa., holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State. He was a licensed Senior Reactor Operator for Beaver Valley Unit 1. Grabnar most recently served FENOC as director of Fleet Operations Support. He joined the company's Perry Nuclear Power Plant in 1984, where he held a variety of engineering and operations roles and earned a Senior Reactor Operator license. In 2002, he was named manager of Design Engineering at FENOC's Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station and was promoted to director of Site Engineering in 2006. Grabnar returned to Perry in 2008 as director of Site Engineering before serving as the site's director of Site Operations. He also has represented the company on a special assignment at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). Grabnar holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Akron. He currently resides in Concord Township, Ohio. FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its FENOC subsidiary operates the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa., the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio, and the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. Visit FENOC on the web at www.fenoc.com, and follow the nuclear plants on Twitter @Perry_Plant, @BVPowerStation, and @DavisBesse. Editor's Note: Photos of Bologna and Grabnar are available on Flickr. SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp. Related Links http://www.firstenergycorp.com TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 31 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-Family Office and Wealth Management firm Lucid Investments (http://www.lucid-inv.com/) is the newest player in Israel's robust finance industry. The firm's mission is to assist high-tech entrepreneurs, families and trustees in developing strategies for long-term investment success and asset management within a dynamic economy. Karen Schwok - Lucid Investments. Photographer Credit: Guy Kushi and Yariv Fein. Israel's continuous growth is mainly due to the rapid influx of wealth in the high-tech sector, which have led man to call it the "startup nation." In keeping with that name, Israel hosts the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival from September 4 through 7, an internationally known gathering of corporations, venture capitalists and intriguing startups. Located on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv's bustling finance district, Lucid Investments was founded by Karen Schwok, a highly regarded management professional in Israel who has won numerous awards for her accomplishments. Previously, she established and served for six years as CEO of Pictet Wealth Management Israel, a subsidiary of Pictet & Cie SA, the third largest bank in Switzerland. Karen helped lay the groundwork for the bank's expansion into Israel; Pictet gained 5% of the market share within only a few years. Prior to that, she established the first Institutional Desk in Israel at Bank Leumi, the second largest bank in Israel. As a testament to her widely recognized expertise with successful Israeli Tech entrepreneurs, Karen was recent published in TheMarker, Israel's leading economic journal. A unique financial ecosystem has evolved in Israel since the Bachar Committee in 2007, which prohibited local banks from providing wealth management services. For the 10,000-plus Israeli families with more than $1 million USD in equity (according to a 2016 Merrill Lynch survey), this left them in limbo. Consequently, many international banks saw an opportunity to fill this void and provide comprehensive wealth management services for high net worth individuals in Israel. Traditional international banking services are not ideal for leading high-tech entrepreneurs and startups; these young visionaries dedicate all their time and energy to pursuing their products and services, leaving little time for fund management. With 15 years' experience working with entrepreneurial clients, Lucid Investments understands what they need and expect from their family office team, and are entirely capable of meeting and exceeding those expectations. Another factor leading to increased demand for the kind of services offered by Lucid Investments is the Immigration of Jewish people back to Israel (called "Aliya" in the Jewish community). A flexible tax regime encouraged over 30,000 new immigrants to settle in 2016, a 12-year high. Nearly half of those immigrants originated from Western Europe or North America, and many of those have brought substantial wealth into the country. These immigrants have complex asset management needs, and they naturally expect knowledgeable, reliable and professional help in achieving their financial goals. Regardless of the client's circumstances, however, Lucid Investments sees itself as a partner in the process of choosing and implementing a comprehensive investment and asset management strategy. Contact: Karen Schwok, CEO Lucid Investments Ltd. +972 54 6695312 [email protected] SOURCE Lucid Investments Ltd. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550860/World_Class_Cafe_Cantata_cocktail.jpg ) This month, 55 of the bartending elite have been battling it out at WORLD CLASS BARTENDER OF THE YEAR FINALS- the world's biggest bartending competition - in Mexico City. Nearly 10,000 bartenders from 57 countries have taken part to win the crown of best bartender in the world. In between judging the Finalists, leading lights from the food and drinks industry got together to uncover the main trends they expect to see next year. Diageo Global Cocktailian Lauren Mote led a discussion including mixology legend Dre Masso; Australian MasterChef host & judge Matt Preston; Alex Kratena (formerly of Artesian - three time winner of World's Best Bar) and the WORLD CLASS BARTENDER OF THE YEAR 2014, Charles Joly. The trend panel predicted a rise in sustainability, signature serves, the link between mixed drinks and fine cuisine, and the increase in crafting cocktails at home. Some spectacular cocktail serves were produced as examples at the event. Sustainable Serves - In a recent consumer poll, nearly one in two customers expressed a willingness to pay a 10% premium for socially responsible and environmentally friendly goods. So as well as helping the environment, going down this route could also make sound business sense for bar owners. Dre Masso commented: "Sustainable and re-useable methods and ingredients are becoming increasingly important. The mixologists who embrace this new reality are the ones who will flourish." Signature Serves - One of the original cocktail innovators, Giuseppe Cipriani, created the Bellini in Venice in the 1930s, and today the home of the Bellini - Harry's Bar - is a must-visit. So with people now spending 5% more on luxury experiences than luxury goods[3], bar owners and mixologists who tap into this desire can thrive in 2018. Alex Kratena said: "I expect to see more switched-on bar operators and bartenders creating unique drink experiences that go beyond 'what's expected' and push signature serves to become the answer to what tasting menus are in the restaurant world.' Culinary Cocktails - This trend can be seen in some of the world's top bars with occasionally eyebrow-raising results, whether it's a foie gras and salted caramel infused Manhattan; or even a 'Margherita' pizza cocktail. Matt Preston said: "With the rise of celebrity chefs and the increased interest in cuisine, the most enlightened mixologists will explore and experiment with flavours, textures, ingredients and techniques borrowed from their peers in the world of fine dining. "From shock cuisine and hard core fermentation to extreme locality and the growth of restless "palate syndrome" there is so much the culinary and bartending worlds can learn from each other." Cocktails at Home - Research indicates that 73% of younger drinkers enjoy cocktails at home on special occasions[4]. They are switching-up the ingredients they keep in their kitchen cupboards for more adventurous cocktail-making. Charles Joly said: "Rather than just cracking open a bottle of wine when guests arrive, it's the logical next step for cocktail lovers to be able to craft beautiful cocktails at home when entertaining friends." Lauren Mote added: "The aim of WORLD CLASS is not just to find the best bartender in the world, we also want to inspire cocktail enthusiasts around the world to drink better, to give 'home bartenders' to the courage to explore what's possible, creating their own signature cocktails in their kitchen." Lauren brought the four trends to life at the session with the following recipes: Sustainable Serves: Cafe Cantata Ketel One Vodka, Banana, Vermouth, Cold Brew Mexican Espresso, Tea Leaves & Flowers, Bittered Sling Arabica Coffee Bitters Signature Serve cocktail: Juniper Cream Soda Tanqueray No. TEN Gin, Campari and Manzanilla Sherry, Clarified Watermelon Juice, Mexican Vanilla Bean, locally-made Kombucha, Bittered Sling Plum & Rootbeer Bitters (entire mix should be carbonated, bottled and capped) Culinary Cocktail: Kernel Horchata Ron Zacapa 23 YO Rum, Calvados and Oloroso Sherry, Starchy Rice and Almond Milks, Cacao, Mexican Spices, Bittered Sling Moondog Latin American Bitters Cocktails at Home Cocktail: Pantry Punch Johnnie Walker Black Label, Red Vermouth, Mango & Black Pepper Shrub, Cold Brewed Ceylon Black Tea, Bittered Sling Kensington Aromatic Bitters Visit makeitworldclass.com for the latest trends and recipes. [1] Research from Cellar Trends [2] World's 50 Best Bars Report 2017 [3] Bain & Company Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study 2016 [4] Research from Cellar Trends SOURCE WORLD CLASS BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterling-Rice Group (SRG), a Boulder-based brand consultancy and creative agency, has been hired as Agency of Record (AOR) for advertising by Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers (Freddy's), a rapidly growing fast-casual franchise headquartered in Wichita, Kan. Co-founded in 2002 by brothers Bill and Randy Simon, and friend and business partner, Scott Redler, Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is named after Bill and Randy's father and World War II veteran, Freddy Simon. A privately owned and family-oriented company, Freddy's restaurants from coast-to-coast serve a menu reminiscent of the all-American meals Freddy prepared for his family. The restaurant has more than 260 restaurants in the U.S. "At Freddy's, we extend genuine hospitality to every guest who chooses to dine with us," said Shelley Young, Vice President of Marketing for Freddy's. "We were impressed not only by SRG's creative thinking and comprehension of our business, but also by their understanding of our company's culture and spirit. We look forward to introducing Freddy's to millions of new guests, together with SRG." Freddy's chose SRG, an independent, 34-year-old integrated firm, after conducting a competitive nationwide search. The partnership will be led by SRG Executive Creative Director, Adam Wohl. "The marketing world is dominated by a handful of giant, public holding companies. As an independent agency, we are grateful that strong brands still understand the benefits of partnering with a firm that's able to flex around clients' needs, and not shareholder demands," added Wohl. After more than three decades in business, SRG's business continues to grow at double digits thanks to the firm's focus on client outcomes and employee satisfaction. The firm is currently expanding several departments. "Freddy's is built on a foundation of community, mutual respect, and shared values. Given the quality of their business and people, we felt an immediate connection and look forward to many years of successful partnership," said Cindy Judge, President and CEO of SRG. "Our business is seeing tremendous momentum this year thanks to investments in technology and talent. We intend to continue to win by delivering outstanding creative and service to clients with high-growth objectives." ABOUT STERLING-RICE GROUP Headquartered in Boulder, Colo., SRG is a nationally recognized brand-building firm that focuses on creating and activating brands. For more than 30 years, companies ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups to some of the biggest brands in the world, have come to Boulder to seek out SRG's expertise in consumer insights, brand strategy, brand positioning, new product innovation, advertising, and design. With deep experience in all things consumer and culinary, they are responsible for $10 billion in incremental value for clients over the past five years alone. SRG has been ranked on Outside Magazine's Best Places to Work list for the past six years, and was also recognized by Ad Age as a 2016 Best Place to Work. ABOUT FREDDY'S Co-founded in 2002 by Scott Redler and Bill, Randy and Freddy Simon, Freddy's opened its first location in Wichita, Kan., offering a unique combination of cooked-to-order steakburgers, Chicago dogs, and other savory items along with its signature desserts prepared with premium frozen custard churned fresh throughout the day. Today, 268 Freddy's restaurants serve a total of 30 states across the nation from California to Pennsylvania, Virginia and down the east coast states to Florida. In 2017, Freddy's has been named for a fifth time to Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list (ranked #41), and has, for the fourth year in a row, been included as one of the top 10 on Franchise Times magazine's Fast & Serious list. Other notable accomplishments include several consecutive years on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 list of "Fastest-Growing Private Companies," a feature on Consumer Reports' lists of best burgers, cleanest fast-food restaurants and those with the best service last published in 2014, and first-place winner of many local newspaper readers' choice categories throughout the U.S. including Best Burger, Best Fries, Best Hot Dog and Best Dessert. For more on Freddy's, visit the Newsroom, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news. SOURCE Sterling-Rice Group Related Links http://www.srg.com LONDON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the configure, price, quote (CPQ) solutions industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Tacton with the 2017 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Leadership. Acknowledging the manufacturing industry's gradual transformation towards Industry 4.0, Tacton has strategically developed a CPQ solution that provides the connectivity, speed, and insight needed for manufacturers to digitize their processes. Tacton's flagship product, the intuitive, browser-based Tacton CPQ, defines product configuration rules and updates them as products change, thereby synchronizing engineering and production with sales. Tacton's intelligent configuration engine, a model-based constraint solver, enables smart manufacturing. Click here to view the full multimedia release: http://bit.ly/2woE87p Tacton CPQ offers the following features and benefits: Fast configuration of complex products and systems suggesting best-fitting solutions Development of country- and role-specific proposals after taking product variations into account based on local laws and regulations, in multiple currencies and languages Automated solution optimization for selected result aspects, like price, durability, or weight Integration with computer-aided design systems for engineering with configured products Integration with customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and product lifecycle management systems to facilitate data transfer "Tacton CPQ minimizes the need for costly and time-consuming customization with its constraint-based configuration, as it imposes far fewer rules," said Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Brendan Read. "The solution considers all variables simultaneously, resulting in error-free, valid, and consistent configurations. Additionally, it facilitates tasks for sales personnel by enabling guided selling, collaborative quoting tools, built-in commercial and technical approval workflows, and automated branded proposal and supporting document generation." Tacton CPQ's stateless configuration engine handles complex models and high user loads. Its Professional and Enterprise market-tailored editions are available as hosted-on-the-cloud and on-premises solutions. Cloud/hosting on a multitenant platform lowers up-front investment and system maintenance costs for users. More than 250 customers have benefitted from Tacton's solutions in various ways. Importantly, Tacton keeps its product updated and relevant in a rapidly changing marketplace. For instance, it launched its new CPQ platform in late 2016 with the following features: Sales engineering process automation through fully integrated CAD functionality Native live 3-D product visualization as products are being configured Order entry to ERP systems, with feedback to the CPQ application on order status A new intuitive user interface with responsive design Tacton Salesforce has also released an extension for Salesforce CPQ, which is built and hosted on the App Cloud. Furthermore, it has added apps for iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. "The company is looking to expand in markets outside of Europe, particularly in North America," noted Read. "In line with this goal, it is laying emphasis on growth through a series of strategic partnership with companies such as Salesforce, Birlasoft, CirrusCPQ, and also through acquisitions like Lumo Graphics. Overall, Tacton has positioned itself very strongly with its Tacton CPQ, serving a wide array of applications and diverse needs for quality, functionality, and price/performance value." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a product with innovative features and functionality and that is gaining rapid acceptance in the market. The award recognizes the quality of the solution and the customer value enhancements it supports. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Tacton Tacton Systems is a world leader in advanced product configuration. Tacton's technology redefines how product configuration is managed, making it radically simpler to configure, design and sell complex products. Tacton's solutions integrate easily with surrounding systems and have standard integrations for many leading e-commerce, ERP, CRM, PDM, PLM, and CAD systems. Tacton is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with customers and resellers across the globe. Frederic Laziou, CEO, P: +46 709 564312 E: [email protected] Anders Ekman, CMO, P: +46 739 202412 E: [email protected] About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector, and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Samantha Park P: 210.247.2426 F: 210.348.1003 E: [email protected] SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links http://www.frost.com MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GetInsured, a market leader in individual health insurance e-commerce, announced today that it has acquired ACAExpress.com and its sister brand, Benefit Geek. ACAExpress.com is a pioneer in building a healthcare.gov-integrated platform that streamlined Affordable Care Act health plan enrollment for consumers and brokers. Through this acquisition, GetInsured will extend its award-winning health insurance ecommerce solutions for group, individual and Medicare enrollment to deliver comprehensive SaaS capabilities to independent agents and agencies, as well as support insurance carrier retail channels. Since launching in 2014, ACAExpress.com has amassed a customer base of 8,000 brokers and enrolled more than half a million consumers into affordable health insurance plans through its platform. Moving forward under the Benefit Geek brand, GetInsured will soon release an all-in-one quoting and enrollment platform that will expand the company's Medicare business, while rolling individual health, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, life and ancillary insurance plans onto the same platform a first-of-its-kind product for brokers. "ACAExpress has proven technology with astounding traction in the marketplace," Chini Krishnan, GetInsured's CEO and co-founder. "Its ability to scale to support seasonal annual enrollment periods is impressive and its reputation among brokers is second to none. Acquiring ACAExpress enables us to extend our technology to the broker community and bring greater efficiencies to Medicare shopping and enrollment, continuing our evolution in the health insurance market." ACAExpress.com founders Chris Linville, Don Archer and Kenny West will remain with GetInsured as senior vice president and general manager of Broker Business, engineering director, and vice president of Broker Engagement, respectively. "Much like ACAExpress, GetInsured has a solid track record of innovation," said Linville, ACAExpress.com's CMO and co-founder. "Together we are well poised to provide agents and brokers the tools they need to be successful, while pushing through current technological barriers." The ACAExpress and Benefit Geek teams will remain at their current headquarters in Dallas. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. About GetInsured GetInsured helps Americans enroll in health insurance that's right for them by delivering the best health insurance ecommerce experience for consumers, employers, brokers and insurers. Since its founding in 2005, GetInsured has helped millions of consumers enroll in health insurance through the GetInsured marketplace and through public and private exchanges powered by its ecommerce platform. The company also provides brokerage capabilities and flexible business process services to that improve marketing, sales and consumer engagement. To learn more visit company.getinsured.com. SOURCE GetInsured Related Links https://www.getinsured.com It is clear that the Trump administration is leading on one thing; making stuff up. Ryan Zinke, Sonny Perdue, Steve Daines and Greg Gianforte followed Trumps lead in using alternative facts in their recent press conference near the Lolo Peak Fire. The Trump administration apparently believes that it is because of lawsuits that we have forest fires during this exceptionally hot, dry, and windy summer. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies is a powerful group and we fight hard to preserve forests, but we certainly dont control the weather or the warming climate. Moreover, there is no lawsuit in the Lolo Peak area, and the Lolo Peak area has already undergone extensive logging. In the Trump administrations alternative reality, climate change has nothing to do with forest fires because, as Trump has pronounced, global warming is a Chinese hoax. The 2014 National Climate Assessment estimates wildfires in Montana will increase by 400 percent to 700 percent in the next 50 years if climate change is not addressed. Protecting old growth forests from logging is one way to do this. National Forests absorb an astounding 10 percent of the carbon that America creates and unlogged and old growth forests absorb the most. The politicians at the Lolo Peak fire press conference could do something about the main driver of wildfire -- they could commit to addressing climate change -- starting with participation in the Paris Climate Accord. But instead they promote more coal burning and taxpayer-subsidized logging on public lands, which will only exacerbate climate change. The Trump administration has even complained that our lawsuit temporarily pausing the Stonewall timber sale resulted in the wildfire burning in the northern part of the Stonewall project area. Not surprisingly, their argument is not supported by facts. That wildfire started with a lighting strike outside of the planned treatment units, so the fire would have started regardless of whether the project units were logged. Indeed, natural wildfires regularly burn in this area as evidenced by the fact that the Park Creek fire is now surrounded on three sides by formerly burned areas, which have mostly stopped the spread of this fire. Significantly, it also does not appear that any of the timber sales commercial logging units have burned. These fact-challenged politicians also claimed that we have shut down half the timber sales in Montana, a contention that even the Forest Service denied. Instead, our region of the Forest Service has met 89 percent of its timber logging targets over the last 15 years and the target has been increasing almost every year. 2017 is not over yet, but a February Great Falls Tribune article titled Logging in Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest best in decades reported that loggers had never seen this much timber available. These politicians also neglected to mention that the states largest wildfire -- 270,000 acres that destroyed 16 homes in Eastern Montana -- burned mostly through grasslands not forests, which is probably why they held their pro-logging press conference in front of Lolo Peak rather than in Eastern Montana. The Trump administration calls it frivolous when citizens prevail in lawsuits forcing the government to comply with its own laws. To the contrary, it is the basis of our democracy and civil justice system that citizens have the power to force the government to follow its own laws. So despite the barrage of lies, insults, fear-mongering, and scapegoating directed at us we will not back down. We will continue to fight to protect and conserve our priceless public lands and the fish and wildlife that depend upon them for survival. Join us. Krug brings over 10 years of client relations and business development experience to GIACT. He has established himself in the industry as a dedicated client partner who is able to understand the complex business challenges facing clients and design solutions that meet their diverse needs. His experience spans a wide variety of highly-regulated industries, including all types of financial institutions, retail and commercial organizations, financial technology providers, and government entities. Most recently, Krug was focused on client development at FIS, specifically as it related to the provision of risk, information security, compliance products and services, and long-term client retention. At GIACT, he leads a team of professionals focused upon the creation of new business opportunities and long-term client satisfaction. Krug attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Government, and he holds a Master of Public Administration degree with an emphasis in Organizational Management from Texas Tech University. "I'm excited to join GIACT during this period of rapid growth," said Krug. "It's an honor to work with GIACT's team of innovative thought leaders who continue enhancing our enrollment, payments, identity, and compliance capabilities to ensure that GIACT remains the leader in payment fraud reduction." "Ryan is deeply respected in the industry for his dedication to building long-lasting, client-centric relationships," said Melissa Townsley, co-founder and CEO of GIACT. "He is an important addition to the GIACT team and I look forward to working with him as GIACT continues to expand our client base across all our industry sectors." About GIACT GIACT has been helping companies verify valued customers since 2004. From financial to insurance, to retail, to solutions for your industry, GIACT offers customer intelligence for complete payment confidence. As the leader in providing real-time data to help companies mitigate payment risk and fraud, our OFAC screening, ID verification, account verification and authentication, and mobile verification solutions enable you to focus on providing unmatched customer experiences. Since our founding, we've processed billions of transactions for our more than 1,000 customers. For more information, visit www.giact.com or call 1-866-918-2409. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE GIACT Related Links http://www.giact.com CHICAGO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Globus, the leading research data management service, today announced general availability of Globus for Google Drive, a new capability that lets users seamlessly connect Google Drive with their existing storage ecosystem, enabling a single interface for data transfer, sharing and publication across all storage systems. For those who work with large and numerous data files, especially researchers and IT staff at universities, government agencies, supercomputing centers and national facilities, the announcement means easier access to more storage and data, expanding scope and productivity of data-intensive computing. "Our researchers wanted to use Google Drive for data storage, but found that they had to babysit the data transfers," said Krishna Muriki, Computer Systems Engineer, HPC Services, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "They were already familiar with using Globus so we thought it would make a good interface for Google Drive; that's why we partnered with Globus to develop this connector. Now our researchers have a familiar, web-based interface across all their storage resources, including Google Drive, so it is painless to move data where they need it and share results with collaborators. Globus manages all the data movement and authorization, improving security and reliability as well." "Google Drive provides many institutions with unlimited storage, but taking advantage of this resource can be challenging for users," said Steve Tuecke, Globus co-inventor and project lead. "With Globus for Google Drive, you can put all that storage to work by plugging Google Drive into the storage ecosystem your researchers already use -- including campus clusters, XSEDE supercomputers, lab servers, scientific instruments, archival storage like Spectra BlackPearl or HPSS, cloud storage like Amazon S3 -- and now Google Drive." Tuecke added, "I just used my smartphone to share data from our HPC cluster with a colleague, and I didn't have to worry about looking up his Google email or asking our IT admin to get him an account. Those problems just go away." The Globus platform is used by many thousands of people worldwide for efficient, secure, and reliable research data management. All that's required is a standard Internet connection to initiate data sharing or transfers from anywhere to anywhere using any web browser. Users can easily share their data with any existing identity or email address, or with groups of users, without adding new accounts on the system where the shared data is stored. Authentication is handled automatically, and for data movement Globus manages the process with unsurpassed reliability, even for massive transfers. Globus provides instant access to over 50,000 registered storage endpoints, including all XSEDE systems and systems at over 80% of the largest research universities in the U.S. New storage endpoints of all types can easily be added, including personal laptops, lab servers, and supercomputers. Globus for Google Drive can be installed and configured in minutes, and subscribers can easily integrate Google Drive into their own workflows and applications using the REST APIs provided by the Globus platform. Globus for Google Drive also supports Google Team Drives, so users can easily extend their shared Google team spaces to the Globus storage ecosystem, and simplify transfer and sharing of files among team members and external collaborators. Globus customers can easily add Globus for Google Drive to their subscription, enabling access to powerful capabilities like file sharing and monitoring of data movement activity across all research storage systems. And, as a non-profit organization, Globus has priced their subscriptions affordably to encourage use by all researchers. To register for the live Q&A webinar on Globus for Google Drive, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-webinar-introducing-globus-for-google-drive-tickets-36753370320 For more information on Globus for Google Drive, visit: https://www.globus.org/connectors/google-drive About Globus Globus is software-as-a-service for research data management, used by hundreds of research institutions and high-performance computing (HPC) facilities worldwide. The service enables secure, reliable file transfer, sharing, and data publication for managing data throughout the research lifecycle. Globus is an initiative of the University of Chicago, and is supported in part by funding from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Sloan Foundation. Visit www.globus.org. SOURCE Globus Related Links http://www.globus.org NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With the goal of advancing science through computational methods, and further developing such methods, the Flatiron Institute is being dedicated in a ceremony on September 6, 2017. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo will keynote the dedication, which begins at 10 AM, at 162 5th Avenue in Manhattan, across the street from the Simons Foundation, the institute's parent organization. By attracting some of the world's leading figures in such fields as astrophysics, biology, and quantum physics, and bringing them together with younger scientists, visitors and outstanding dedicated software engineers, the institute aims to create a collaborative environment crossing disciplinary boundaries. In many cases, the most senior of the researchers have joint appointments with neighboring universities such as New York University, Columbia University, Princeton University and Stony Brook University. Tying all this together is a common computing core, with extensive hardware and a team dedicated to supporting the research of all the institute's scientific units. Employment by the Flatiron Institute relieves scientists of the necessity of applying for grants, which often require short term results. Instead, the researchers will be free to focus on deeper problems, where progress may take longer, but outcomes may be more profound. The institute's output should be important new scientific discoveries and new computational methods and algorithms, with the latter freely available to the entire community, providing important infrastructure for scientists around the world. "Having made quite a decent living analyzing financial data, I understand the power of data in general and am delighted to support its analysis as it arises from all areas of natural science," said Jim Simons, co-founder, with his wife Marilyn, of the Simons Foundation. "New scientific instrumentation has created data sets of unprecedented size and scope, and this is the perfect time to establish an institute dedicated to its exploitation." The Flatiron Institute is an extension of the Simons Foundation's mission to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. However, unlike the Simons Foundation's grants to programs that support researchers elsewhere, Flatiron is an intramural research program and its working scientists are foundation employees. The institute will eventually be home to more than 200 professionals and have an $80 million annual budget. "Adding internal researchers to our organization has been inspiring to all of us working at the foundation," said Marilyn Simons, the foundation's President. "Their creativity, dynamism and intellectual depth has transformed our environment and given us all the opportunity to share in the experience of scientific research." The Institute's Structure Presently the institute has two working units, biology and astrophysics, plus the common computing core. A third unit, quantum physics, will open this month, and a fourth unit is planned, with a mission yet to be determined. Center for Computational Astrophysics The next set of advances in astronomy will require understanding complex multi-scale physics and large astronomical datasets. CCA's mission is to develop the computational tools needed for these calculations, simulations and analyses. CCA will also hold conferences and meetings and is already on its way to serving as a focal point for computational astronomy around the world. Progress by members of this group will help other sciences that grapple with calculations of dynamic range, like climate science and physical oceanography. David Spergel, Ph.D., director of the CCA, is a world-famous theoretical physicist and MacArthur Fellow and, in addition to his role at the Flatiron Institute, is playing a leading role in the multi-billion-dollar space mission to develop a Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope. Center for Computational Biology CCB's mission is to develop modeling tools and theory for understanding biological processes and to create computational frameworks that will enable the analysis of the large, complex data sets being generated by new experimental technologies. While its primary focus is on basic science, progress by members of this group might lead, for example, to new drug therapies through the discovery of new pathways, biophysical control mechanisms, genetic interactions, or protein structures. Leslie Greengard, M.D., Ph.D., director of CCB, is a mathematician and computer scientist who co-invented one of the Top-10 algorithms of the 20th century. Center for Computational Quantum Physics The CCQ launched just days ago, on September 1. Its mission is to develop the concepts, theories, algorithms and codes needed to solve the quantum many-body problem. These new methods will be used to predict the behavior of materials and molecules of scientific and technological interest, and may lead to the discovery of materials with novel functionalities. Antoine Georges, Ph.D., director of the CCQ, is one of the co-inventors and developers of dynamical mean-field theory, and co-director Andrew Millis, Ph.D., has focused his work on the development and use of new numerical methods for the many-electron problems and the application of these methods. Scientific Computing Core The SCC's mission is to develop and deploy the computing infrastructure including new computational and statistical methods and storage and data handling system support necessary for carrying out the research missions of CCA, CCB and CCQ. The SCC handles the significant computing infrastructure needs for the institute, as well as some of the computation and data-intensive activities of the foundation. Nick Carriero, Ph.D., and Ian Fisk, Ph.D., formerly of Yale University and of CERN, respectively, co-direct the SCC. "We are already becoming a place where people come to learn new algorithms and approaches. Because of the way we span fields, we have the potential to be a unique place in transferring information, approaches and techniques between areas," said David Spergel. "The biological sciences have reached a stage where there is much to gain from computation," said Leslie Greengard. "One of the critical opportunities afforded by the Flatiron Institute is to provide a permanent home for professional scientists who are driven by the problem of developing, deploying and supporting state-of-the-art mathematical and statistical methods. Few existing academic institutions have developed a track for such people, especially at the scale of the Flatiron Institute. None have done so with such a broad scope in a single location." "This is a unique place where top people sharing a common interest in the growing impact of computation on science will exchange ideas across scientific fields," said Antoine Georges. "This could lead to big leaps forward in both fundamental understanding and new algorithmic methods." SOURCE The Flatiron Institute NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global market for graphite reached $12.5 billion in 2016 and should reach $18.2 billion in 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% from 2016 through 2021. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05089372 The refractory and metallurgical segment reached $17.2 billion in 2016 and should reach $9.4 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2016 through 2021. The electrical application segment reached $661 billion in 2016 and should reach nearly $2.0 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 24.7% from 2016 through 2021. Chapter 1: Introduction Study Goals and Objectives Graphite is a material with unique properties and performance characteristics. The application markets of graphite have been undergoing fundamental changes in the current decade. This report attempts to provide an overview of the material properties of graphite, its application markets and the fundamental changes happening in this market. The global graphite market is estimated to have been $11.9 billion in 2015, growing to $12.5 billion in 2016, and is projected to be $18.2 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2016 through 2021. Graphite occurs naturally in numerous locations and in three major forms: flakes, amorphous form, and crystalline form, more commonly known as vein graphite. Graphite can also be made synthetically, and the synthetic graphite is widely used in numerous industries such as steel making, refractories and electronics. In this report, both the natural and synthetic graphite markets are reviewed, as are the global resources available and the processes involved in mining and purifying, or concentrating, the natural graphite. Each of the three types of natural graphite has its own unique properties and hence applications; and these are discussed in detail with statistics wherever available. The natural and synthetic markets overlap as several applications can use either type of material. The Acheson process of manufacturing synthetic graphite is reviewed. The benefit of this approach is that large parts can be made synthetically and then machined to dimensions appropriate for the application. The purities achieved for the final graphite in the synthetic approach are higher than what is possible from the concentration process followed for the natural materials, and this makes the synthetic graphite more attractive to applications such as electronics where purity is critical for the application. The properties of graphite that make it widely useful in numerous applications are listed. Another goal of this report is to understand these properties and how newer applications are being developed. The electrical conductivity properties are ushering in a large new market for graphite, in the field of energy storage applications. The storage battery markets are seeing a significant boom, thanks to the development of electric vehicles in the past decade. This single application has fundamentally shaken up the graphite market, and one of the key objectives of this report is to understand these shifts. The shift is largely affecting the natural graphite market, and the report attempts to summarize these changes and how various market participants are stepping up to benefit, and, at the same time, pushing the changes in other application markets. The number of new graphite mines that are being developed is significant. The battery market alone has the potential to double or triple the number of graphite mines operating in various geographic segments of the market. These changes are happening already and the report analyzes these new mining projects in detail, to understand the market trends. Australian and Canadian companies are back in the scene and are expected to control significant market share by 2021. While the market is exploding in the battery segment, the general graphite markets have been hit hard because of the slowdown in the steel industry. Electric Arc Furnaces, which use synthetic graphite electrodes, have seen their volumes drop in recent years and this has caused, not only a drop in the volume of synthetic graphite electrodes, but also in graphite prices. The market is cyclical and 2016 was expected to be the bottom of the cycle, indicating strong market growth coming back to support the synthetic graphite market over this forecast period. Understanding these market trends and their impact on the graphite market is another objective of this report. A third application market for graphite that has seen a lot of interest and growth in the past few years is graphene. While there are multiple methods to prepare graphene, several of these start with graphite as the raw material, and hence the changes that are happening to the graphene market are also of importance to the graphite market players. The report also covers this market segment. The goal of this report is to understand all the changes that are happening in the graphite market, to analyze the impact of these combinations and to forecast the size and nature of the graphite market for the forecast period through 2021. Reasons for Doing This Study BCC Research has not covered the graphite markets in the past. The material is considered a commodity by most. However, a deeper look into the graphite market suggests that it is anything but a commodity market. There is not a single seller or buyer for graphite who treats the material as a commodity and shops around for the cheapest price alone. Each application market has its own special requirements for the graphite they buy and use, may it be in terms of purity, contaminant levels, particle size distribution, nature of the particles, or the electrical and thermal properties of the material. No individual buyer of graphite would interchange sources without detailed material testing; and in most cases, even final product testing. Further, the vast shift in the electric vehicle market, as well as the energy storage market, is causing a paradigm shift in the graphite industry. Green energies such as wind and solar markets are bringing in large requirements for energy storage in terms of batteries. Cell phones and other electronic equipment all require power and energy storage devices. Of all the battery technologies available to date, lithium ion battery technology has stood out as unique in its ability to store large quantities of power, and in delivering the power to devices and equipment quickly, all in very limited storage space. These batteries use a large quantity of graphite, often between 30 grams and 40 grams of graphite for each gram of lithium used. This is a perfect example of an application for graphite that is far from a commodity market. Regulatory pushes are driving these changes. Europe has mandated reduction of carbon dioxide emissions per vehicle to less than 75 grams per kilometer by 2025. This can only be achieved by significantly reducing internal combustion engines and adding more electric vehicles to the market. Germany is discussing a ban on the sale of internal combustion enginedriven vehicles by 2030. If enacted, Germany will be the first country in the world to make this happen. These regulatory changes are directly affecting the graphite market because of its impact in the battery markets. The noncommodity nature of graphite, along with the numerous fast growing applications that are being developed for it, further impacted by regulatory changes, creates for a very interesting market situation. This is the main reason for BCC Research to provide a market analysis for this material. Intended Audience This report is aimed at five major audience groups. The mining industry: Natural graphite is a mined material. The deposits available across the world vary in its graphite content from a few percentages to as high as 31%. Numerous mapping technologies have made the mineral resource analysis more competitive and less costly. This has supported the graphite mining industry to a large extent. The graphite mining industry is one of the target audience groups for this report. The battery markets are mainly making use of natural graphite that can be purified to the requirements of the battery markets, now in a commercially viable fashion, in comparison to synthetic graphite. Traditional graphite markets: Graphite has been used in numerous industries for centuries, and these markets are well established. The major markets include electrodes, pencils, lubricants, friction, and refractories. These market segments are analyzed in detail, the changes happening are tabulated and the trends are discussed. The growth in the natural graphite markets is affecting some of these segments and the report covers these in detail. Financial markets: Mining, by its nature, is a capital-intensive business. It takes large amounts of money and several years to get a new mine to be operational, and various financial markets are thus directly involved in supporting the financial investment needs of this market. Forecasting of resources, production volumes, market prices and returns of investment are critical for these financial markets to function smoothly. This report covers the economic assessments of all upcoming mines in detail, and provides a comparison and summary of these operations. The financial market players involved in these transactions will benefit from the contents of this report. Technocrats and scientists: The recent growing applications of graphite, mainly related to the lithiumion battery market and the graphene markets, are highly technical in nature. These developments happen in spurts with new technologies being developed for mineral resource analysis, purification of ores, particle screening and segregation, converting the graphite into spherical particles (called spheroidization), coating of these spherical powders, further usage of these powders in batteries, and so on. On the graphene side, new approaches to make graphene are being developed, that are cost competitive to earlier approaches. Some of the market players are taking a vertical integration approach to add value to their mineral products by developing their own process technologies to convert the graphite mineral into value added products for specific applications. The technical details involved in such changes are detailed in this report. The report also has a separate chapter looking into patents and intellectual property being developed in this market space. The recent growth in the number of patents being granted for various graphite applications suggests that the next few decades will see large commercialization of these technologies. This report covers the technical aspects as well as details of the intellectual property developments in the application markets for graphite. Clevel executives: The report is also intended to support the needs of Clevel leaders in the industry. As graphite has been a stable and established market for several of the participants, the scale and pace of change that is happening makes reaction and comprehension sometimes difficult. The report attempts to catch and discuss this dichotomy of the market, so that the larger established companies and their management can understand the changes happening in detail, and hopefully can successfully incorporate changes in their own company's approaches. BCC Research has also provided information on investors that are already participating in the market, as several mining companies are at the stage of raising capital. Scope of Report The report covers the global graphite markets, providing the market information for 2015 and 2016 and forecasts for 2021. The scope of the report is coverage of the four graphite market segments refractory and metallurgy, electrical, technical, and the rest analyzed by application and geography. Estimated values used are based on manufacturers' total revenues. Refractory and metallurgy markets cover those applications that make use of the high temperature stability of graphite. Electrical applications are those that tap into the high electrical conductivity of purer grades of graphite. Technical markets make use of the strength properties, lubrication and radiation absorption. For these segments, we report the status and changes happening in the markets. The graphite market can also be segmented into natural and synthetic graphite markets. One of the focus areas is the development of natural graphite mining and application, driven largely by the lithiumion battery markets that are fundamentally changing the structure of the graphite industry. For the synthetic graphite market, BCC Research covers the nature of individual application markets, focusing on graphite electrodes. Another application covered in detail is cathodes for aluminum smelting. In terms of geographic segmentation of the market, the report provides detailed statistics of mining data as well as trade data. Trade statistics for graphite exports and imports for various countries are analyzed in detail, and the past growth rates are provided. Geographical segmentation for numerous application markets is provided. The large change in natural graphite mining is going to shift the balances of trade for a large number of countries and these changes are also discussed in this report. China has been the market leader in the segment. Australian and Canadian companies will make strong inroads into the market in the coming years, and could command a quarter of the market in 2021. One specific chapter covers the graphite material industry characteristics. In this chapter, the material properties of graphite that make it unique are detailed, and the market structure is discussed. Both natural and synthetic graphite markets are detailed. A chapter specific to U.S. and European markets is provided. This should be of interest to companies active in these markets and also for graphite companies wanting to sell into these regions. A later chapter reviews the details of the applications for graphite including well established markets such as electrodes, cathodes, carbon brushes, alkaline batteries, pencils, and friction; as well as the upcoming and faster growing applications such as lithiumion batteries and nuclear. Each application segment is reviewed in detail to show the market statistics, expected growth rates, technological changes, mergers, acquisitions and sales of companies if any, as well as any unique characteristic of each industry. Patents and intellectual property aspects of the graphite market are detailed in a separate chapter. Here, a review of the number of patents granted by the U.S. Patent Office is analyzed chronologically. In another section of this chapter, all individual players actively developing technologies are discussed. The companies that are in the forefront of such technology and application development, such as Tesla are specifically analyzed in detail. The last chapter of the report covers individual companies that are active in the graphite market. This chapter covers not only the nature and size of each of the operating companies, but also provides the financial data for each company wherever available, and the economic analysis for the graphite mines that are newly being developed. Address and contact details for the market participants are provided. Information Sources Information presented in this report is collected and categorized from both primary and secondary information sources. Primary information sources are thoughtleaders in the industry who were contacted by e-mail, phone or via personal visits and interviews. The author acknowledges the strong and open communications provided by several company representatives in this regard whom the author knows personally and were gracious enough to provide specific information about the market changes happening to the graphite industry. The support provided by those who were contacted by e-mail and phone is also acknowledged with appreciation. Secondary information sources include internet, market publications, the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO), the U.S. Geological Survey, trade statistics, other specific data sources as well as books, technical journal articles, company literature and regulatory filings. Considering that several companies in the industry are publicly traded enterprises, a large amount of regulatory data was available for review. Methodology The report is compiled from data collected from multiple sources. Company revenues are considered as the basic information. The graphite market has several larger players, but the rest of the market is highly fragmented and regional in nature. Revenue data for the larger players were collected and compiled. Manyapplications for graphite require highly specific grades with particular properties and characteristics. Import and Export data are crucial for these segments as availability is restricted by mineral resources, in case of natural graphite. The export and import data for these segments were analyzed to understand the size and nature of these segments. For the benefit of market participants in these segments, we have included numerous tables with export and import data of graphite grades and products. Various application markets were reviewed in detail. Statistics available for these markets were also studied, and this data was used to confirm the effective market size that was estimated for graphite for that application segment. The data collected was analyzed and extrapolated where required and assumptions made at several instances based on specifics that are available. The best possible attempts have been made to accurately portray the market sizes and trends based on the data that is available from the various sources. Geographic Breakdown In this report, the geographic regions considered for market analysis include: North America United States. Canada. Europe France. Germany. United Kingdom. Switzerland. Netherlands. Asia China. Japan. India. Rest of the World Australia. Brazil. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05089372 About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. https://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LiCo Energy Metals Inc. (the "Company "or "LiCo") TSX-V: LIC; OTCQB: WCTXF is pleased to announce that effective today, Mr. Greg Reimer has joined the LiCo Energy Metals Board of Directors. Greg Reimer is the former Executive Vice-President (EVP) of BC Hydro's Transmission & Distribution (T&D) business group, and held the EVP position from June 2010 until recently leaving BC Hydro to pursue work in the green energy field. In his senior executive capacity, Greg brings a wealth of operational experience and strong leadership from over 26 years in the public sector. At BC Hydro, Greg was responsible for approximately 2,300 employees who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the systems and assets needed to deliver electricity safely and reliably to BC Hydro's four million customers. In total, Greg was accountable for $580M in annual capital investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, and $325M in annual operating and maintenance expenditures. Greg also recently led a major strategic, multi-year transformation of BC Hydro's T&D organization that is increasing operational efficiency, improving safety performance, building a more reliable, modern electricity grid to meet growing customer expectations. BC Hydro is Canada's third largest electric utility with over $5.7 billion in annual revenues. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by profession, Greg held a number of senior leadership positions in in the public sector prior to joining BC Hydro, including Deputy Minister of Provincial Revenue, Chair of the BC Oil and Gas Commission and, Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. "I am very excited to join the LiCo Board and have a much greater role in making LiCo successful. Since joining LiCo's Advisory Board in June, I quickly realized what a great company we have here. I am very grateful to the members of the current LiCo Board for their vote of confidence." Tim Fernback, President & CEO of LiCo Energy Metals, states "We are thrilled to have such a high calibre Director join our Board at LiCo. Greg brings a substantial wealth of experience, as well as practical mining industry experience in his former role as British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. Greg is clearly passionate about the evolution of the global electric vehicle market and we are looking forward to his contribution to our company." Concurrent with this board appointment, Mr. James Hellwarth will be resigning from the LiCo Board but will continue with the Company as a member of the advisory board. LiCo is grateful for Mr. Hellwarth's valuable input and looks forward to his continued contribution in his advisory role. About LiCo Energy Metals: https://licoenergymetals.com/ LiCo Energy Metals Inc. is a Canadian based exploration company whose primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's focus is directed towards exploration for high value metals integral to the manufacture of lithium ion batteries. Chile Purickuta Lithium Project: The Purickuta Project is located within Salar de Atacama, a salt flat encompassing 3,000 km2, being about 100 km long, 80 km wide and home to approximately 37% of the world's lithium production. The salar possesses a very high grade of both lithium (1,840mg/l) and potassium (22,630mg/l and is close to power, labour, communications, transportation and other infrastructure. The property of 160 hectares is enveloped by a concession owned by Sociedad Quimica y Minera ("SQM") and lies, significantly, within a few kilometers of the property of CORFO (the Chilean Economic Development Agency) where it leases to both SQM and Albermarle's Rockwood Lithium Corp. Together these two companies have combined production of over 62,000 tonnes of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) annually making up 100% of Chile's current lithium output. The unique characteristics of Salar de Atacama make finished lithium carbonate easier and cheaper to produce than any of its peer group globally. Purickuta is a smaller exploitation concession rather than a large exploration concession thereby accelerating the task of taking the project to production once a measured reserve can be established. Currently, the Chilean government retains ownership of lithium separate from other minerals and thus production can only proceed upon receipt of a special lithium operation contract know as a "CEOL". In the future, it will be necessary for LiCo and partners to negotiate a production contract with CORFO concurrent with completing any positive feasibility study. "Chile, which has one of the world's most plentiful supplies of lithium, is pushing ahead with new policies to develop those reserves". (Reuters Jan 2, 2017). Ontario Teledyne Cobalt Project: The Company has an option to earn 100% ownership, subject to a royalty, in the Teledyne Project located near Cobalt. Ontario. The Property adjoins the south and west boundaries of claims that hosted the Agaunico Mine. From 1905 through to 1961, the Agaunico Mine produced a total of 4,350,000 lbs. of cobalt and 980,000 oz. of silver. A significant portion of the cobalt was produced at the Agaunico Mine located along structures that extended southward onto property currently under option to LiCo Energy Metals. Nevada Dixie Valley Lithium Project: The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest, subject to a 3% NSR, on a large lithium exploration project at the Humboldt Salt Marsh in Dixie Valley, Nevada. The geologic setting and presence of lithium in active geothermal fluids and surface salts in Dixie Valley match characteristics of lithium brine deposits at Clayton Valley, Nevada and in South America. Nevada Black Rock Desert Lithium Project: The Company has entered into an option agreement whereby the Company may earn an undivided 70% interest, subject to a 3% Net Smelter Return Royalty, in the Black Rock Desert Lithium Project that consists of 128 placer claims (2,560 acres/ 1,036 hectares) in southwest Black Rock Desert, Washoe County, Nevada. The Company is planning an exploration program for all its properties over the next several months. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Tim Fernback, President & CEO 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. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information: This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions such as the Company's ability to exercise the Options, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. Contact: 1220-789 West Pender St Vancouver BC V6C 1H2 Phone : +1-236-521-0207 LiCoEnergyMetals.com SOURCE LiCo Energy Metals Inc. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (NYSE:HTA), the largest dedicated owner and operator of medical office buildings in the United States, announced today that its Houston, Texas properties had sustained only minimal damage from Hurricane Harvey based on preliminary inspections. These buildings are comprised of 18 medical assets totaling approximately 1.6 million square feet and represent 6.2% of annualized base rent. The Company's on-site property management and building engineering teams have worked diligently through their hurricane protocols to ensure the majority of its buildings are open and operational for its healthcare provider tenants. "Our thoughts go out to those in the affected areas," said Chairman and CEO, Scott D. Peters. "We are focused on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our employees and tenants and are doing everything in our power to assist them in rebuilding while they regain normalcy." HTA is currently assessing the full impact from the devastation, and is working with its property management, building engineering and leasing team and tenants to mitigate any further risk. Currently, the buildings are out of immediate danger with limited damage based on preliminary inspections. HTA will communicate any future material developments if they occur. About HTA Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (NYSE: HTA) is the largest dedicated owner and operator of medical office buildings in the United States, based on gross leasable area. We provide the real estate infrastructure for the integrated delivery of healthcare services in highly desirable locations. Over the last decade, we have invested approximately $6.8 billion primarily in medical office buildings and other healthcare assets comprising over 24 million square feet of GLA. Our investments are targeted in key markets that we believe have superior healthcare demographics that support strong, long-term demand for medical office space. We have achieved, and continue to achieve, critical mass within these key markets by expanding our presence through accretive acquisitions, and utilizing our in-house operating expertise through our regionally located property management and leasing platform. Founded in 2006 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, HTA has produced attractive returns for its stockholders that we believe have significantly outperformed the S&P 500 and US REIT indices. More information about HTA can be found on the Company's website at www.htareit.com. Forward-Looking Language This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs, including expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs about HTA, stockholder value and earnings growth. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond HTA's control. Although HTA believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, HTA's actual results and performance could differ materially and in adverse ways from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on HTA's operations and future prospects include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions affecting the healthcare property sector, the commercial real estate market and the credit market; competition for acquisition of medical office buildings and other facilities that serve the healthcare industry; economic fluctuations in certain states in which HTA's property investments are geographically concentrated; retention of HTA's senior management team; financial stability and solvency of HTA's tenants; supply and demand for operating properties in the market areas in which HTA operates; HTA's ability to acquire real properties, and to successfully operate those properties once acquired; changes in property taxes; legislative and regulatory changes, including changes to laws governing the taxation of REITs and changes to laws governing the healthcare industry; fluctuations in reimbursements from third party payors such as Medicare and Medicaid; changes in interest rates; the availability of capital and financing; restrictive covenants in HTA's credit facilities; changes in HTA's credit ratings; HTA's ability to remain qualified as a REIT; changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America , policies and guidelines applicable to REITs; , policies and guidelines applicable to REITs; delays in liquidating defaulted mortgage loan investments; and the risk factors set forth in HTA's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in HTA's most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, HTA undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances arising after the date as of which they are made. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements included in this press release or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, HTA. Financial Contact: Robert Milligan Chief Financial Officer Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. 480.998.3478 [email protected] SOURCE Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. Related Links http://www.htareit.com VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An exhaustive research study by Future Market Insights titled 'Salesforce Services Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027)' is focused on exploring the different cloud services across regions of North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA) along with factors influencing the market and global forecasts for a period of 10 years. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO ) North America region to show higher market attractiveness The global Salesforce sales cloud market is witnessing higher growth in the North America region in terms of market value. North America region dominates the Salesforce sales cloud market with an estimated value of more than US$ 19 Bn by 2027 end with a CAGR of 14.9% during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to show higher growth rate in the coming years. The global Salesforce service cloud market finds North America to be a more lucrative region. The service cloud market is anticipated to show a higher CAGR of 13.1% in the North America region, followed by a CAGR of 12.4% in Japan. North America dominates the global Salesforce service cloud market in terms of market value and is expected to reach a value of US$ 11.6 Bn by 2027 end. Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents and Figures: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4751 Global Salesforce Services Market: Dynamics Cloud computing can be referred to as the engine for growth in the Salesforce services market. The various benefits of cloud based offerings to Salesforce include an increase in operational productivity, increased revenue and lower costs. Adoption of cloud computing brings in advantages such as faster implementation, no upfront costs, scalability, accessibility and better security. Factors such as extensive product portfolio, for example, sales cloud, service cloud, marketing cloud, app cloud and others are boosting the market. New products such as analytics cloud and IoT cloud are gaining momentum and setting to achieve sufficient scale in the near future. Moreover, these cloud based solutions have shifted focus from IT to the business IT is intended to support. These solutions are used by customers to increase their sales pipeline, improve sales productivity, monitor leads and enhance customer relationship. Moreover, growing role of digitisation and online businesses across the globe along with the rise of artificial intelligence contributes to the growth of the Salesforce services market. There are certain pulling factors that pose challenges to the growth of the global Salesforce services market. Lack of a skilled workforce coupled with a rigid and inflexible pricing model are main restraints for the growth of the market. The global Salesforce services market has witnessed new trends such as shifting focus towards customer engagement and customer experience (customer centric), delivering industry specific solutions, sales cloud hitting sky rocketing numbers with respect to adoption and market share, rise of big data and increased market traction and geographic spread beyond North America. Global Salesforce Services Market: Segmental Analysis The global Salesforce sales cloud market is expected to show higher growth rate and a higher market value of US$ 31.12 Bn and a CAGR of 14.1% during the forecast period 2017 to 2027 and a CAGR of 14.1% during the forecast period 2017 to 2027 The global Salesforce service cloud market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% throughout the period of forecast and is poised to reflect a value of 18.87 Bn by the end of 2027 The implementation segment by product type in the global Salesforce sales cloud market is expected to dominate the market by reflecting a higher value of US$ 22.1 Bn by 2027 end a higher growth rate to witness a CAGR of 14.4% during the forecast period. With respect to global Salesforce service cloud market, the implementation segment is anticipated to reflect a CAGR of 13.0% during the forecast period and a higher market value of US$ 12.66 Bn by 2027 end, thereby dominating the market Preview Analysis on Global Salesforce Services Market Segmentation By Service - Planning (Advisory Services, Change Management), Implementation (Integrated Services, Custom Application Development, Application Modernization and Data Migration, Testing Services), Manage (Monitoring, Upgrade, Governance, Helpdesk, Training, BPO); By Industry - BFSI, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Media and Telecom, Retail and CPG, Government, Manufacturing, High Technology, Energy and Utilities: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/salesforce-services-market Global Salesforce Services Market: Competitive Landscape The research report on the global Salesforce services market has profiled tier players involved in the Salesforce services market such as Accenture PLC, International Business Machines Corporation, Capgemini SE, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Cognizant, NTT DATA Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Infosys Limited, Tech Mahindra Limited, Wipro Ltd, Persistent Systems Private Limited, PwC, DXC Technology Company, HCL Technologies Limited, Birlasoft Inc, SLALOM, LLC, Strategic Growth, Inc, VirtusaPolaris Corporation and Simplus. More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence: Quality and Compliance Management Solution Market Segmentation by Module - Document and Product Data Management, Quality Management, Change Management, Audit Management and Governance and Compliance Management; by Industry - Aerospace and Defence, Consumer Goods and Retail and Healthcare and Life Sciences; by Implementation Model - On-Premise and Cloud Based: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/quality-and-compliance-management-solution-market Segmentation by Module - Document and Product Data Management, Quality Management, Change Management, Audit Management and Governance and Compliance Management; by Industry - Aerospace and Defence, Consumer Goods and Retail and Healthcare and Life Sciences; by Implementation Model - On-Premise and Cloud Based: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/quality-and-compliance-management-solution-market Mass Notification Systems Market Segmentation By Application - Interoperable Emergency Communication, Integrated Public Alert and Warning, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery and Business Operation; By Solution - In-building Solution, Wide-area Solution and Distributed Recipient Solution; By Product Type - Hardware, Software and Services; By End-user Vertical - Commercial, Education, Energy and Power, Healthcare, Defence, Automotive, Transportation and Logistics and Government Institutions: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/mass-notifications-systems-market Segmentation By Application - Interoperable Emergency Communication, Integrated Public Alert and Warning, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery and Business Operation; By Solution - In-building Solution, Wide-area Solution and Distributed Recipient Solution; By Product Type - Hardware, Software and Services; By End-user Vertical - Commercial, Education, Energy and Power, Healthcare, Defence, Automotive, Transportation and Logistics and Government Institutions: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/mass-notifications-systems-market Enterprise A2P SMS Market Segmentation By Traffic - National, Multi-Country; By Tool - Cloud API Messaging, Traditional And Managed Messaging; By Applications - Pushed Content Services, Interactive Services, Promotional Campaigns, Customer Relationship Management (CRM); By Verticals - Financial Institutions And Banking, Gaming, Travel And Transport, Health And Hospitality, Retail: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/enterprise-application-to-person-sms-market About Us Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends. Browse More Electronics, Semiconductors, and ICT Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 T (UK): +44(0)20-7692-8790 Sales: [email protected] Press Office: [email protected] FMI Blog: http://www.fmiblog.com/ Website: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com SOURCE Future Market Insights LONDON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive Summary The report titled "India Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market Outlook to 2022 Surging Online Adoption and Launch of Private Label Brands will Drive Growth" provides a comprehensive analysis of the kids' apparel and footwear market in India. The report focuses on the major products and brands preferred for kids across the country. The report covers aspects such as overall kids' apparel and footwear market by its key segments including age group, gender, type of products used, material, upper and bottom wear, organized and unorganized, distribution channel and sales in major cities. The publication also includes competitive landscape in each section, which discusses the major market players in every segment along with the detailed discussion about the organizations. The future analysis of overall India Kids' Apparel and Footwear has also been discussed along with recommendations from analyst view. The report also includes important information about scenario of Online Kids' Apparel and Footwear including information about competitive landscape and detailed analysis of major players in the country. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5073122/ The apparel and footwear industry for kids in India has witnessed a healthy growth rate during FY'2012-FY'2017. The recent demonetization hasn't affected it much because for kids you never stop spending. Since children outgrow shoes and clothes very fast, the demand for kids' clothing is barely affected by financial fluctuation, thus decreasing the risk factor for brand and retailers. With most households becoming double income set ups these days, the purchasing power of the consumers have increased manifold. Kids' Apparel Market: India domestically produces cotton, silk and other raw materials at abundance. India has highest number of looms: ~ million handlooms (at around ~% of the global capacity) and ~ million shuttle looms (at ~% of the global capacity). Tirupur, Ludhiana, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Jaipur and Indore are major garment manufacturing clusters. Kids' apparel market in India has been driven by the demand of non-recognized brands which manufacture garment products in local settings. Despite growing at a very healthy rate of over ~% per annum during FY'2012-FY'2017, the organized players accounted for very less market share of the overall kids' apparel market in FY'2017. FS Miniklub, 612 League, Cucumber, UCB, Mothercare, Beebay, Me & Mom, Little Kangaroos, Vitamins, Disney, Allen Solly, Next, Biba are some of the major organized brands operating in this space. Kids' apparel was procured majorly from mom and pop stores (over ~ lakh stores existed in the country) which provided consumers with the option to buy from an assortment of products at a reasonable price. Kids' Footwear Market: Footwear production in India has been majorly propagated through manual and semi-mechanized processes. India domestically produces leather and other raw materials at abundance. The footwear industry in India is comprised of numerous small and medium scale enterprises which have utilized leather as the prime raw material for footwear in over ~ leather based manufacturing units spread across the country. India kids' footwear market comprises of footwear products made up of leather, rubber, fabric, canvas, EVA, synthetic and other materials. Leather products were the most popular shoe type, in terms of revenues. Owing to the style quotient and comfort of these products, synthetic footwear's were very popular amongst kids followed by canvas, rubber, EVA, fabric and others footwear items. Kids' footwear industry has been largely an unorganized one, with organized brands comprising ~% of the overall market as of FY'2017. Bata Liberty, Lancer, Relaxo, Nike, Reebok and others have been the prominent players in the organized branded wear market amongst others. With inclining number of double-income households and formation of nuclear families, there have been an enough monetary surpluses that can be spent on kids', demand for kids' wear is hence expected to rise. The kids' footwear industry is estimated to grow at a faster face as compared to apparel during FY'2017-FY'2022. Online Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market: India has witnessed a steep rise in internet users since 2012 with a rapid adoption amongst young population. Stiff competition in a niche market has resulted in perishing of some online portals while some has been acquired by rival companies. The online market for kids' apparel and footwear has grown steeply between FY'2012-FY'2017. The market is quite a consolidated one, owing to top two pure-play players comprising for majority of the market share in this space. As of FY'2017, FirstCry emerged as the market leader. The company had opted for a hybrid online and offline business model right since its inception and has been able to gain significant market traction in the online space. Several other prominent players in this space included Flipkart, Hopscotch, Amazon, Snapdeal, Shopclues, Mybabycart and others. Key Topics Covered in the Report: India Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market Size, FY'2012-FY'2017 India Kids' Apparel Market Segmentation By Age Group, By Gender, By Product Usage, By Material, By Upper and Bottom Wear, By Winter and Summer Wear, By Organized and Unorganized Sector, By Distribution Channel, By Major Cities, FY'2017 Trade Scenario in India Kid's Apparel Market Major Failure Case Studies Competitive Landscape of Major Players India Kids' Apparel Market Future Outlook and Projections, FY'2018-FY'2022 India Kids' Footwear Market Segmentation by Age Group, By Material, By Shoe Type, By Organized and Unorganized Sector, By Major Cities, FY'2017 Trade Scenario in India Kid's Footwear Market Competitive Landscape of Major Players India Kids' Footwear Market Future Outlook and Projections, FY'2018-FY'2022 Snapshot of India Online Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market, FY'2012-FY'2017 Competitive Landscape of Major Players Market Share of Major Players Business Models Existing in the Sector Future Outlook and Projections, FY'2018-FY'2022 Issues and Challenges in India Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market Major Manufacturing Clusters Government Regulations in India Kids' Apparel and Footwear Market Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5073122/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com FORT MYERS, Fla., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Interop Technologies, a specialist in advanced communication networks and cloud-based managed services, today announced that it will enable four additional U.S. mobile operators to deploy Enhanced Wireless Emergency Alerts (eWEA) from the Interop Cloud. These operators include GCI in Alaska, MobileNation in Illinois, Nemont in North Dakota, and PTCI in Oklahoma. As a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) certified gateway host, Interop's eWEA solution supports operators on CDMA, GSM, UMTS and LTE networks. "We are truly alleviating the time and cost it would take to deploy and maintain an on-network WEA solution," said John Bickford, Senior Vice President-Americas at Interop Technologies. "The resources and flexibility we provide operators allow them to advance their systems and keep current with the latest public safety improvements." On Sept. 29, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a notice of proposed rule making to significantly improve the existing Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. WEA compliance has been widely adopted among mobile operators to increase the safety of their subscribers. "We've worked hard to continually advance our emergency alert solution so we can help operators meet the new FCC requirement deadlines and provide these important WEA enhancements to their subscribers," said Nir Marciano, Product Manager at Interop Technologies. "These upgrades to our CMAS solution will comply with the deadlines outlined by the FCC ahead of schedule." The WEA enhancements outlined by the FCC include: Increase the maximum length of WEA messages (from 90 to 360 characters) for 4G LTE and future networks Require participating wireless providers to support inclusion of embedded phone numbers and URLs in all WEA alerts Require participating wireless providers to deliver the alerts to more specifically targeted geographic areas to avoid "over-alerting" Create a new class of alerts ("Public Safety Messages") to convey essential, recommended actions that can save lives or property (e.g. emergency shelter locations or a boil water order) Require participating wireless providers to support transmission of Spanish-language alerts Make it easier for state and local authorities to test WEA, train personnel, and raise public awareness about the service. The addition of a new class of alerts called "Public Safety Messages" is also defined in the FCC update. The new category will allow public safety officials to use the WEA system to send messages that convey essential, recommended actions that can save lives or property. Earlier this month, Interop Technologies announced the deployment of their eWEA solution for Bluegrass Cellular in Kentucky. To schedule a meeting with Interop Technologies at Mobile World Congress America's September 12-14 in San Francisco, visit www.interoptechnologies.com/mwca2017. About Interop Technologies Interop Technologies is a leading provider of advanced communication networks and cloud-based managed services. The company provides the mobile industry with better ways to integrate, launch and manage next-generation communication technologies quickly. Interop's voice, messaging and network solutions feature scalable architecture and flexible deployment options to reduce cost and complexity for communication service providers worldwide. Founded in 2002, the company has world headquarters in Fort Myers, FL, and an EMEA regional headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Learn more at www.interoptechnologies.com. SOURCE Interop Technologies Related Links http://www.interoptechnologies.com PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainability has become a global concern with conspicuously negative consequences. Data for 2017 revealed that on August 2nd, the global population used more resources from nature than our planet can renew in the whole year. This troubling trend, exacerbated by a growing population, looks set to pose a significant challenge for the future of the planet and its natural resources. A lack of transparency has also filled consumers with increasing apprehension. One need not look too far in the past to see the importance of supply chain transparency. Recent global product recalls such as Brazilian beef, or more recently eggs from Denmark, underscore the potential economic and health consequences posed by opaque manufacturer supply chains. One investment firm, OurInterest Caribbean Inc, has conceptualized innovative steps to tackle both of these problems: The world has no shortage of eco-friendly and transformative ideas but they all need your support. We will create an ecosystem, powered by our cryptocurrency called OurCoin Classic. This ecosystem will enable the general public to engage, fund and support environmentally friendly companies. We then leverage our investment expertise to fully scrutinize companies before the funding process begins. Each Coinholder, via a transparent voting model, may participate in deciding which companies are funded and how the subsequent rewards are distributed. This ensures that ground-breaking projects receive funding, an enthusiastic audience and potential consumer pool. Secondly, many existing transparency standards have been the result of haggling by well funded lobbying groups. We propose to develop a set of ethical and environmentally progressive standards, presented to consumers as an easy to understand rating. This will empower consumers to vote with their feet and support the companies that truly walk the walk they talk. Importantly, it also provides an important differentiator for pioneering organizations. As adoption grows, consumer behavior will pressure corporations to more actively reduce the opacity of their manufacturing processes, leading to more sustainable economic decisions. The company seeks to achieve the first step of its vision via a crowdfunding campaign for OurCoin Classic on the international Waves platform in August. Media Contact Ryan Harewood Head of Communications OurInterest Caribbean Inc https://www.ourinterest.org [email protected] Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMdlNS1FrJo SOURCE OurInterest Caribbean Inc DECATUR Gabe Brown has practiced 100 percent no-till on his land since 1994. This means that he doesnt go through the field after harvest and turn over the top soil. Instead, he leaves the plant stocks and cover crops on the field as an armor against soil erosion. Brown, who is from North Dakota, explained his progressive farm practices to a group at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service tent Tuesday at the Farm Progress Show. He said these procedures help protect his fields and increase his profits and protect the natural biology of the fields. Why are we as producers so focused on the input side of it? Brown said. Why do we want to write checks for something that is basically free? While these practices and others, such as not spraying his crops with fertilizer, lower his yields compared to producers around him, his production costs are lower as well. We can't just look at yields, he said. I will take profit over yield any day. Brown said his farm is on the path to requiring less input and producing better soil and better crops. These practices also ensure better health for people, too, he said. He uses cash crops, the yield of which is sold after harvest, and cover crops, plants used to protect the land from erosion and loosen up the soil, in a diverse way to ensure the soil stays healthy and has good water infiltration. By allowing cover crops to grow longer, the soil can become less compacted and create a better environment for cash crops and water to move around, Brown said. The fields hold water better, he said, which is good for drought and for heavy rain events. With better water infiltration, more water can soak into the ground instead of running off the field or flooding the field. These principles will work anywhere despite size or location, he said. Another procedure he encouraged farmers to follow included using the least amount of mechanical disturbance possible. This includes not tilling the field, or driving less heavy machinery on the field, he said. By compacting the ground during tillage, the water cannot soak through the soil because there is no room for it to move. Brown includes chemical disturbance of fertilizers and chemical nutrients as well. If a farmer hopes to stop using fertilizer or reduce its use, he advises them to slowly decrease the amount they use. Soil is like a drug addict: You have to wean it slowly, Brown said. You cant stop fertilizing all at once. Brown said hes seen tremendous results since he stopped tilling his fields. He said his soil has made a miraculous recovery in the past 23 years. Now, his soil can infiltrate 2 inches of rain in 25 seconds, which is an extreme rain event. This is especially helpful in North Dakota where it doesnt rain often; so when it does rain, every drop is important and helpful to the plant and soil, Brown said. People have come to expect poor water infiltration in fields, Brown said, but it doesnt have to be the norm. Producers focus on yield and forgot about the roots, Brown said. We still arent where we need to be, He encouraged farmers to look into no-till and cover crops to address the issue, which often starts in the roots. But the roots are where the biology happens, he said, which we all know, to get a healthy growing plant, its all about the biology. Also at the Farm Progress Show at the Monsanto tent, Joel Fiestan said that cover crops are becoming a more popular option for farmers who want to break-up their soil and make sure roots of plants have enough room to grow. When the ground is compacted by heavy machinery and time, it can be hard for a crop to grow. The cover crop helps other crops grow deeper. A display showed a tube of soil with cover crops and soil without them, and the soil with cover crops had much deeper root and the topsoil was more stable, Fiestan said. Its more resistant to erosion and compaction because it is more stable over time compaction and erosion, Fiestan said. What this really shows is it helps. BOSTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC and subadvised by both John Hancock Asset Management a division of Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC, and Analytic Investors, LLC, announced today sources of its monthly distribution of $0.1380 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of August 11, 2017, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Notification of Sources of Distribution This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) with important information concerning the distribution declared on August 01, 2017, and payable on August 31, 2017. No action is required on your part. Distribution Period: August 2017 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.1380 The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable August 31, 2017, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount. Source Current Distribution ($) % Breakdown of the Current Distribution Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date ($)1 % Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date1 Net Investment Income 0.1380 100% 1.3800 100% Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Total per common share 0.1380 100% 1.3800 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on July 31, 2017 12.81% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of July 31, 2017 6.22% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through July 31, 2017 9.76% Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of July 31, 2017 5.19% 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2016, and will end on October 31, 2017. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan. The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has declared the August 2017 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of $0.1380 per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investments Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. About John Hancock Investments John Hancock Investments provides asset management services to individuals and institutions through a unique manager-of-managers approach. A wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, we managed more than $144 billion in assets as of June 30, 2017 across mutual funds, college savings plans, and retirement plans. About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$1 trillion (US$780 billion) as of June 30, 2017. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com. The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers and administers a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. SOURCE John Hancock Investments Carhartt aims to serve and protect hardworking people, and encourages anyone interested in lending a hand to donate gently used clothing items over the next several months. For a complete list of Carhartt company stores, please visit the following link: https://stores.carhartt.com/ "I speak for everyone at Carhartt when I say our sincere thoughts are with the hardworking people of Texas and Louisiana as they continue to battle severe weather and historic flooding," said Mark Valade, chairman and CEO at Carhartt. "It's critical that those affected by this storm have dry clothes on their backs and access to basic essentials while communities and organizations work to get men, women, and children back on their feet as quickly as possible. It's difficult to comprehend the scope of this disaster, which is why Carhartt is offering support in the ongoing response, relief, and recovery efforts." In addition to the clothing drive, Carhartt is making product donations to Convoy of Hope a disaster relief organization providing assistance and supplies to the affected areas as well as SkillsUSA chapters in Texas and Louisiana. The carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and other building trade skills that SkillsUSA members have learned are essential in assisting with the rebuilding efforts. Carhartt has partnered with SkillsUSA since 2000 as the organization works to ensure America has the skilled workforce it needs to compete globally. To further support disaster relief, Carhartt is making a monetary donation to Team Rubicon, a disaster response organization that will deploy military veterans and first responders to assist Houston and other affected communities as they recover from the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. The donation will feed thousands of volunteers, purchase volunteer deployment kits, deploy strike teams, and build forward operating bases. If you are interested in lending a hand to the relief efforts, please visit the following links to learn how you can help: One Warm Coat: https://www.onewarmcoat.org/ Convoy of Hope: https://www.convoyofhope.org/ SkillsUSA: http://www.skillsusa.org/ Team Rubicon: https://teamrubiconusa.org/ About Carhartt, Inc. Established in 1889, Carhartt is a global premium workwear brand with a rich heritage of developing rugged products for workers on and off the job. Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, with more than 5,000 associates worldwide, Carhartt is family-owned and managed by the descendants of the company's founder, Hamilton Carhartt. For more information, visit www.carhartt.com and follow @CarharttNews on Twitter. SOURCE Carhartt, Inc. RESTON, Va., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology company, was awarded a prime contract by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) for tactical signature guidance support services. This cost-plus fixed-fee contract has a one-year base with four one-year options, and a total contract value of approximately $31.4 million if all options are exercised. Work will primarily be performed in Bethesda, Md. Under this contract, Leidos will provide scientific, engineering, technical, and program management services in support of signature guidance and tactical decision aids for naval ships, submarines, air, and shore-based undersea systems. This includes associated software and system development, updates, integration and testing. With more than 20 years of direct tactical signature guidance support, the company's experienced team will rely on their technical excellence and cooperative management to achieve the Navy's goals. "This win emphasizes our commitment to supporting NSWC Carderock in the performance of its vital missions," said Leidos Group President Mike Chagnon. "Through our efforts on key Navy contracts, such as the Signature Trainer Support contract, Leidos is well-versed in the software and technical requirements of this program." About Leidos Leidos is a Fortune 500 science and technology solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 32,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $7.04 billion for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2016. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 30, 2016, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SOURCE Leidos Related Links http://www.leidos.com PHOENIX, Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leslie's Poolmart, Inc. (Leslie's), the nation's leading retailer of swimming pool supplies, has made a donation to the American Red Cross to support the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts going on in Texas. In addition to the initial contribution, Leslie's will donate $1 for every 35-lb pail of Leslie's 3-inch chlorine tablets sold from August 31 through Labor Day, September 4th at any of its 884 retail locations across the country. "We are proud to support the heroic efforts of first responders, residents, and city, county, state and federal assistance groups. They are doing a terrific job under difficult circumstances. We are especially proud to be able to donate to the American Red Cross and put the funds right where they are needed, most notably in Houston and the surrounding areas," stated Steven Ortega, President and COO of Leslie's. "We have 177 stores in the state of Texas. Our store teams have relationships with their customers, many of whom in the affected areas have unfortunately sustained damage to their home. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to those affected by this devastating storm." In addition to specific donations based on unfortunate circumstances such as hurricane relief, Leslie's is proud to sponsor several organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs, Ronald McDonald House, Big Brothers Big Sisters and other local charities in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. About Leslie's Poolmart, Inc.: Founded in 1963, Leslie's Poolmart, Inc. is the world's largest specialty retailer of swimming pool supplies and related products for both residential and commercial customers. Leslie's currently markets its products through over 900 store locations in 35 states, a nationwide mail-order catalog, and an Internet e-commerce site: www.lesliespool.com. The company employs approximately 4,500 associates across the country during the swimming pool season. Leslie's corporate headquarters is located in Phoenix, Ariz. SOURCE Leslie's Poolmart, Inc. Related Links http://www.lesliespool.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeStraw, a global leader in developing innovative filtration and purification products for safe drinking water, is providing an immediate, easy call- to- action to provide victims of Hurricane Harvey with access to safe drinking water through its Safe Water Fund. This fund supports the distribution of LifeStraw Go water filter bottles and LifeStraw Community high volume water purifiers to people most impacted by the storm. LifeStraw water filters and purifiers remove waterborne pathogens such as E. coli, Giardia, Cholera and other bacteria and parasites. They are designed for hard to-reach settings and are often used in disasters globally. Members of LifeStraw's U.S. team are currently working directly with responders in the areas identified as having the greatest need for drinking water. First shipments are going out today. The LifeStraw Safe Water Fund (http://bit.ly/SafeWaterFund) is an interactive online platform managed by the New Venture Fund, a 501-c3 public charity. Individuals and groups can support programs through tax-deductible contributions that go toward specific safe water programs they select. To donate directly to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, please visit: www.crowdrise.com/hurricaneharvey Water contamination is one of the main threats facing responders in Hurricane Harvey's aftermath. Government agencies are likely to soon have to deal with contaminated drinking water and flooded wastewater plants. Vestergaard, the parent company of LifeStraw, has been active in responding to emergencies over the past 25 years with teams in 64 countries globally. LifeStraw products have been used to prevent waterborne disease for victims of disaster all over the world. Most recently, LifeStraw supported victims of the disasters in Haiti, Ecuador, Peru, South Sudan, Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines. LifeStraw is committed to ensuring people have access to safe water, preventing waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and bacterial contamination such as E.coli that can become prevalent following disasters when water quality is compromised. SOURCE LifeStraw SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Customer experience solutions company McorpCX, Inc. (TSXV: MCX, OTCQB: MCCX) ("McorpCX" or the "Company") announced the appointment of Mr. Nii A. Quaye and Mr. Matthew Kruchko as independent directors to its board of directors, effective immediately. Mr. Quaye is an executive-level customer experience professional, with almost two decades of experience in customer experience delivery, relationship management, process improvement and quality, and strategic planning. He is the former SVP, Global Head of Service Quality for the third largest bank in the UAE, FGB, and was a VP and Group Head for ECOBANK, the largest Pan-African bank. Mr. Quaye also was General Manager of the Saudi Investment Bank, and was a SVP at CitiGroup where he was responsible for administering that company's Global Contact Center. A GE-trained Six Sigma Black Belt, Mr. Quay holds a B.A. from Ottawa University, a J.D. from the University of Maryland Law School, and an MBA in Finance & Investments from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Mr. Kruchko is a strategy, brand and marketing executive with decades of experience advising executives on how to drive business growth for global brands such as Qualcomm, Warner Bros., Hewlett Packard and others. He also has significant experience in SaaS software marketing and demand creation, as well as corporate and marketing strategy and executive leadership. Currently an advisory board member for the Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) and Chief Strategy Officer of Connect Brands, Mr. Kruchko was most recently EVP Strategy and Global Marketing for UK-based SaaS software company Kalibrate (LSE: KLBT). Prior to this, he was Managing Director of the brand strategy firm Applied Storytelling. Mr. Kruchko studied business and marketing at the University of Southern Maine. "We believe Mr. Quaye and Mr. Kruchko are an excellent complement to our existing executive and management skill set, bringing demonstrated and relevant industry experience and strategic acumen to our board of directors. We believe their combined experience will further support our strategy to deliver value to our stakeholders through good governance and continued growth," commented McorpCX CEO Michael Hinshaw. About McorpCX McorpCX (http://mcorp.cx) is a customer experience services company targeting the Global Customer Experience Management (CEM) market estimated by marketsandmarkets to grow from USD 5.06 Billion in 2016 to USD 13.18 Billion by 2021. Customers range from Fortune 100 brands to fast-moving mid-market leaders and other customer-centric companies. McorpCX is focused on pursuing value-enhancing growth opportunities for its shareholders. 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 management'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. 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 TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE McorpCX, Inc. Related Links www.mcorp.cx CENTENNIAL, Colo., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MDValuate, a leading patient feedback and marketing platform, today announced it is publishing a guide to help healthcare organizations use the Google My Business online presence tool. The e-book, Healthcare's Guide to Google My Business, is available for free download at http://www.mdvaluate.com/download-the-healthcares-guide-to-google-my-business. Google My Business is arguably the most important and effective digital touchpoint to elevate a patient's first impression of your physicians and facilities; improve the search rankings of these digital marketing "assets"; and also garner more star ratings and reviews for them. The content that users find through Google My Business is relevant to local searches on many levels, allowing people to access a wealth of information about your physicians and facilities or those of competing organizations. Healthcare providers can quickly take advantage of the powerful platform to help drive the bottom line, but only if it's correctly understood and set up. MDValuate's new guide helps organizations make the most of Google My Business. Among the e-book's features: Common Google My Business terminology Guidance for configuring physician and practice location profiles Strategies for increasing physician reviews Advice for responding to negative reviews "When properly configured, Google My Business can prove incredibly effective in increasing awareness of your organization's brand and physicians' brands across multiple top-of-the-funnel touchpoints," says Tod Baker, MDValuate's CEO and co-founder. "Integrating the platform into a digital marketing strategy can truly benefit potential patients by delivering relevant, helpful information, which ultimately helps organizations increase patient acquisition and revenue over the long term. Our new guide gives readers a blueprint for realizing the benefits Google My Business can offer." For additional information about this guide or MDValuate's innovative solutions, visit the company's website at http://www.mdvaluate.com. About MDValuate MDValuate is led by a team of healthcare experts and pioneers that helped create the online physician ratings industry nearly 20 years ago. MDValuate delivers customized technology solutions that help providers improve patient experience and online reputation in the new retail environment of healthcare. With MDValuate's nimble SaaS-based technology, hospitals, health systems, and physician groups capture immediate patient feedback to drive service recovery and strong online ratings creating a unique competitive advantage and new sources of revenue. To help organizations create the strongest physician networks in a value-based market, MDValuate's platform identifies physician performance gaps by unifying physician reputation, quality, financial and operational metrics into a comprehensive view: The Physician Value Index. SOURCE MDValuate Related Links http://www.mdvaluate.com PITTSBURGH, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Baker International, a global leader in engineering, planning and consulting services, was recently ranked by the Pittsburgh Business Times as the number-one engineering firm in the greater Pittsburgh area, based on 2016 billings. The company has traditionally occupied the top spot on the list, which is announced annually in the publication's Book of Lists. "Michael Baker continues to see significant growth and achievement in engineering both in Pittsburgh and across the country," said H. Daniel Cessna, Senior Vice President and Pennsylvania Headquarters Regional Director at Michael Baker International. "Our talented team of engineers, architects and specialized professionals in the Pittsburgh market collaborate with team members nationwide to provide our clients with the best and most innovative solutions for their planning, design and construction challenges. This recognition is a testament to how 'We Make a Difference' through continued development in the Pittsburgh area and all the communities we serve." The company, which employs more than 3,000 nationwide and 709 in Pittsburgh, saw a year-over-year increase in revenue, rising 8.53 percent to $1.4 billion. Recent Pittsburgh-based projects that contributed to this increase include: Lower Hill Redevelopment Project : Michael Baker provided preliminary engineering, along with final design and construction-phase services for a multi-phase project to revitalize the 28-acre site of Pittsburgh's former Civic (Mellon) Arena. The project includes improved vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian transit, as well as an opportunity for economic growth in the community. The infrastructure also provides a historic first step to reconnect the Hill District to downtown Pittsburgh , which have been separated since the 1950s. : Michael Baker provided preliminary engineering, along with final design and construction-phase services for a multi-phase project to revitalize the 28-acre site of former Civic (Mellon) Arena. The project includes improved vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian transit, as well as an opportunity for economic growth in the community. The infrastructure also provides a historic first step to reconnect the Hill District to downtown , which have been separated since the 1950s. Greenfield Bridge : The Greenfield Bridge gained national attention as one of the 70,000 structurally deficient bridges in the United States and was demolished and removed in 2015. Michael Baker currently serves as the primary construction management and inspection services firm for the $17.5-million project to replace the former bridge. The new span, expected to be completed in 2017, will include three lanes of travel for motorists, a bike lane and a sidewalk for pedestrians. : The Greenfield Bridge gained national attention as one of the 70,000 structurally deficient bridges in and was demolished and removed in 2015. Michael Baker currently serves as the primary construction management and inspection services firm for the project to replace the former bridge. The new span, expected to be completed in 2017, will include three lanes of travel for motorists, a bike lane and a sidewalk for pedestrians. Pittsburgh Public Housing Redevelopment: Michael Baker is currently providing land development services for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) and local entities to redevelop multiple public housing sites throughout the city. The sites have been converted from outdated institutional housing into thriving mixed income communities. For the past 10 years, Michael Baker has assisted with master planning, site development design, utility infrastructure, low impact development techniques and permanent stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) at all of the new development sites. Michael Baker is currently providing land development services for the Housing Authority of the (HACP) and local entities to redevelop multiple public housing sites throughout the city. The sites have been converted from outdated institutional housing into thriving mixed income communities. For the past 10 years, Michael Baker has assisted with master planning, site development design, utility infrastructure, low impact development techniques and permanent stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) at all of the new development sites. 7th Street Bridge: Michael Baker was selected to provide preliminary engineering, final design and construction-phase services for the rehabilitation of Pittsburgh's Three Sisters Bridges, which are owned and maintained by Allegheny County . The first of the bridges to be repaired is the 7th Street Bridge, also known as the Andy Warhol Bridge. As part of the structural analysis of this bridge, the Michael Baker team developed a series of three-dimensional, finite-element models to establish the existing forces on the bridge, determine the new dead loads based on the proposed rehabilitation, calculate the modern-design live loads, and evaluate proposed construction sequencing. Michael Baker also was ranked by the Pittsburgh Business Times as the region's number-two environmental firm and is ranked seventh on the architectural companies list. The company holds the sixth spot on the Private Companies list and was ranked sixth in the Environmental/Engineering/Energy category of the Fastest Growing Companies in the area. About Michael Baker International Michael Baker International is a leading global provider of engineering and consulting services, which include planning, architectural, environmental, construction, program management, and full life-cycle support services as well as information technology and communications services and solutions. The company provides its comprehensive range of services and solutions in support of U.S. federal, state, and municipal governments, foreign allied governments, and a wide range of commercial clients. Michael Baker International has more than 6,000 employees in more than 90 locations across the U.S. and internationally. To learn more visit www.mbakerintl.com. Contact: Justin Falce [email protected] (866) 293-4609 SOURCE Michael Baker International Related Links http://www.mbakercorp.com WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Renaissance, the leader in pre-K-12 learning analytics, announces the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has approved its Renaissance Star Early Literacy and Renaissance Star Reading assessments to support K-3 early literacy initiatives in the state. Star Early Literacy and Star Reading are now approved for both initial and extensive assessments lists in Michigan. As initial assessments, Star Early Literacy and Star Reading will be used as screeners to identify potential challenges for students in demonstrating literacy skills at grade level based on Michigan's K-3 English Language Arts (ELA) standards. As extensive assessments, Star assessments will be administered to students who may need additional support as identified on the initial assessment or through formative and classroom assessments. "Michigan's Early Literacy Initiative brings an increased focus to a very important area for many school districts," says Laurie Borkon, vice president of educational partnerships at Renaissance. "Early intervention is the single best predictor for future success of students, particularly in reading. We're pleased our Star assessments can contribute to this initiative through the approved lists in Michigan." Dr. Shawn K. Wightman, superintendent of Marysville Public Schools in Marysville, Michigan, is an advocate for Star assessments as a solution to help teachers throughout the district quickly and accurately access data to monitor student improvementfor K-3 as well as upper grade levels. "Our district has seen great improvement in our assessment results since we started using Star for grades K-8," says Dr. Wightman. "Star assessments are reliable, valid, predictive, and have become our preferred solution to monitor students' growth between interim assessments. I commend the state for making early literacy a high priority, and I'm confident that by putting a concerted effort into screening K-3 students statewide, we will see large early literacy gains in Michigan in the years to come." The computer-adaptive Star Early Literacy and Star Reading assessments give educators the insight to determine if students are on track to meeting third-grade reading standardsproviding the opportunity to pivot instruction or establish appropriate interventions as soon as possible. The assessments help educators answer essential questions related to screening, progress monitoring, proficiency, standards mastery, and instructional planning. To continue to provide educators with resources to support early literacy initiatives, Renaissance is hosting a free live webinar, Kick-Start School Success with Early Literacy, on Wednesday, Oct. 4. During this webinar, presenter Pati Montgomery, award-winning education leader, literacy expert, and school innovator, will share insights on how today's elementary educators can use early literacy best practices to boost reading achievement and give young learners the best start in school. For additional information on Star Early Literacy, visit: https://www.renaissance.com/products/assessment/star-360/star-early-literacy-skills/, and for more information on Star Reading, visit: https://www.renaissance.com/products/assessment/star-360/star-reading-skills/. About Renaissance Renaissance is the leader in pre-K-12 learning analytics, enabling teachers, curriculum creators, and educators to drive phenomenal student growth. Renaissance's solutions help educators analyze, customize, and plan personalized learning paths for students, allowing time for what matters: creating energizing learning experiences in the classroom. Founded by parents, upheld by educators, and enriched by data scientists, Renaissance knows learning is a continual journey, from year to year and throughout a lifetime. Our data-driven, personalized solutions are currently used in over one-third of U.S. schools and more than 60 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.renaissance.com. Media Contact: Katie Waite www.renaissance.com [email protected] SOURCE Renaissance Related Links http://www.renaissance.com LONDON, Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil & gas exporter in the world, hence, potential of further expanding oil & gas pipeline infrastructure in the country is high. As compared to Africa, Middle East has a better and more extensive pipeline infrastructure, owing to high hydrocarbon reserves present and a well-established pipeline network with their neighbouring countries. Moreover, construction of 500 km long pipeline, developed jointly by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., (ADNOC) and Masdar, is underway. Additionally, a 230-km long pipeline between Central Oman and Maritime Hub in Duqm, is under construction and is expected to commence operations by 2017. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4925465/ According to "Middle East & Africa Oil & Gas Pipeline Market, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 20122022", Middle East & Africa oil & gas pipeline market is projected to reach $ 10.08 billion by 2022. Few of the leading players in Middle East & Africa oil & gas pipeline market includes China National Petroleum Corporation, CHELPIPE, National Oilwell Varco, Welspun Corporation Limited, Maharashtra Seamless Limited, General Electric, TechnipFMC, and Subsea. "Middle East & Africa Oil & Gas Pipeline Market, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 20122022" discusses the following aspects in the Middle East & Africa oil & gas pipeline market: - Market Size & Share Forecast - Regional and Country Market Analysis - Segmental Analysis By Application (Midstream, Upstream & Downstream), By Type (SAW, ERW, Seamless, Polyethylene % Composite) and By Region Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities - Competitive Landscape Why You Should Buy This Report? - To gain an in-depth understanding of Middle East & Africa oil & gas pipeline market. - To identify the on-going trends and anticipated growth in the next five years - To help industry consultants, oil & gas pipeline companies and other stakeholders align their market-centric strategies - To obtain research based business decisions and add weight to presentations and marketing material - To gain competitive knowledge of leading market players and suppliers - To avail 10% customization in the report without any extra charges and get the research data or trends added in the report as per the buyer's specific needs Report Methodology The information contained in this report is based upon both primary and secondary research. Primary research included interaction with pipeline owners and manufacturers, EPC contractors and industry experts. Secondary research included an exhaustive search of relevant publications like company annual reports, financial reports and proprietary databases. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4925465/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com DECATUR While President Donald Trump recently called the North American Free Trade Agreement the "worst trade deal ever made," his agriculture secretary said Wednesday that it has been good for farmers and the agriculture industry that is the bedrock of the Central Illinois economy. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made several mentions of the 23-year-old trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada during his trip to the Decatur area to visit the Farm Progress Show and meet with agriculture industry leaders. The three countries began formal negotiations earlier this month to rework the trade pact that Trump blames for hundreds of thousands of lost U.S. factory jobs. Perdue said he had spoken to Trump as recently as Wednesday morning about how U.S. farmers benefit from the deal that allows them to export their goods to neighboring nations. The president understands very clearly that NAFTA has been very beneficial to agriculture, Perdue said. The challenge is, hes looking at the trade deficit thats occurred after NAFTA was done, primarily in auto and auto parts. ... We hope we can find a solution that reconciles both of those, and resolves those issues, said Perdue, a former Georgia governor who was confirmed in April as the administration's agriculture secretary. A second round of negotiations on the accord set to begin Friday in Mexico City. Trump said at a rally last week in Phoenix that he would "end up probably terminating" NAFTA "at some point." NAFTA erased most trade barriers separating the U.S., Canada and Mexico and fostered a rapid rise in commerce and closer diplomatic ties among the three countries. The agreement has long fueled heated criticism in the United States because it is blamed for some American-based manufacturers moving operations south of the border to capitalize on lower-wage Mexican labor. But agriculture industry leaders say they have generally benefited from the deal. In Congress, farm-state lawmakers have urged U.S. negotiators to do nothing that would imperil U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada. Randall Gordon, president of the National Grain & Feed Association, told a Decatur audience in April that agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico had soared under NAFTA, and were worth $38 billion in 2016. One in every 10 acres planted in the United States (produces crops) which are now exported to either Mexico or Canada, he said at the time. Speaking Wednesday to reporters, Perdue acknowledged that the agriculture industry is often threatened in trade talks because other countries rely heavily on the United States for food products. "You know that were so blessed in the production of agriculture, were always at the tip of the spear when it comes to retaliatory, collateral damage when were dealing with trade discussions. That is a risk. Thats a threat," he said. "Weve communicated that to (Trump). "He understands that, and Im hoping that his conversations now publicly are negotiations strategies to make sure that Mexico and Canada understand the U.S. is serious about fair trade deals across the economy for all three countries." Farmers tell Perdue they want good trade programs and to sell what they can, not just in North America but internationally, he said. "They want to relieve these trade barriers that were working on: beef in China, rice in China, poultry back in South Korea, pork in Argentina," he said. "If they can grow it, my goal is to sell it around the world." Perdue also defended Sam Clovis, Trumps pick to be the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, as someone who can provide management skills to the position. Clovis, a former economics professor, conservative talk radio host and 2016 Iowa Senate candidate, has drawn criticism since his July nomination for his lack of scientific background and public skepticism about the existence of climate change. Sam Clovis is a qualified candidate who understands managing academia, Perdue said. He understands, you do not have to be a researcher, per se, in order to do this job. This is a management job. Hes familiar enough with academia, with academic admissions and research to do a great job. Perdues trip provided a chance for the local community to stress to the head of the USDA just how important agriculture is to the Central Illinois economy. An event hosted by Archer Daniels Midland Co., Tate & Lyle and the Illinois Farm Bureau was held Wednesday morning at ADM's Randall Research Center, as political and agriculture leaders joined together to meet Perdue and hear him discuss what he hopes will be the most accessible federal agency. Perdue said he couldn't imagine many places he'd rather be than the center of the Farm Progress Show, which features hundreds of agriculture exhibitors showcasing the latest technology and equipment. "This is the Super Bowl of farm shows, and obviously being right in the Mecca, in Decatur, Illinois, and to be able to see all that I love big toys and the technology in agriculture, that's amazing today," he said. Having Perdue in Decatur for the show reinforced the area's importance to the agriculture industry, said Greg Webb, ADMs vice president of state government relations. We always think, biasedly, that we are the center of the universe when it comes to agriculture, Webb said. This helps epitomize it. Perdues presence also allowed local and state officials to highlight the strength of agriculture in the region. State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican who attended the event at the ADM research center, said it was important to introduce and connect the head of the USDA to area farmers and to the research done at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences as ways to emphasize Illinois agriculture strengths. This was nothing but a win, Brady said. Illinois has 72,200 farms that covers nearly 75 percent of the states total land area, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which noted agricultural commodities generate more than $19 billion annually. Corn accounts for 54 percent of that total, and soybeans are 27 percent. Livestock, dairy and poultry generate 13 percent. The balance comes from sales of wheat and other crops, including fruits and vegetables. The result is nearly 1 million people employed in agriculture- and food-related jobs. Wednesday was actually Perdues second trip to the state this month, as he visited Chenoa on Aug. 7 as part of a five-state tour of the Midwest. For U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, Perdues second trip to the region shows the secretary understands how valuable agriculture is to the area. I think it shows he understands the importance of what agriculture means, not only to our own economy but to the nation, and that centers right here in Illinois, Davis said. The Associated Press contributed to this story. NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MongoDB, the database for giant ideas, and Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services, have strengthened their partnership by launching a new mainframe offloading solution to complement their existing application modernization offering. As next-generation technology solutions mature, an increasing number of enterprises are seeking to migrate business critical functions away from legacy technology to increase productivity, reduce cost and streamline operations. "For decades, mainframes have been used to store business-critical data. However, they are increasingly unable to optimally handle the scale and complexity of modern applications, especially in a cost effective way," said Dev Ittycheria, President and CEO, MongoDB. "Infosys has been helping the largest enterprises in the world strategically transform their business through application modernization with MongoDB. Our joint mainframe offload solution will further enable enterprises to migrate the data for new, flexible applications off legacy systems while keeping the mainframe utilized for what it was originally designed for." MongoDB offers the best of traditional databases as well as the flexibility, scale and performance required to support today's modern applications. This allows innovators to develop and deploy highly complex applications on MongoDB that meets the needs of the most sophisticated customers. Beyond performance benefits, a key advantage MongoDB has over traditional mainframes is that migration enables enterprises to greatly lower their total cost of ownership. Mainframes are notorious for eating up IT budgets, and the savings that come with offloading to MongoDB open up those resources for enterprises to invest in more innovative initiatives. By helping enterprises migrate data off of the mainframe and onto MongoDB, Infosys is enabling its customers to bring their data into the modern era and futureproof against a constantly-evolving technology landscape. "Infosys is focused on helping our clients improve their performance while reducing costs through 'Mainframe offloading' which is one of the key modernization initiatives," said Ravi Kumar S, President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Infosys. "Our endeavor is to recreate the success we have seen in accelerating digital transformation for our clients through our earlier partnership with MongoDB, mainframe offloading will bring forth the significant benefits of flexibility, scale and performance." This offering builds on a previous partnership the companies announced last December, designed to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation and application modernization strategies with next-generation database solutions. As part of that announcement, the two companies established a joint innovation lab in Bangalore, India. The lab hosts a dedicated Infosys team of MongoDB experts committed to developing tools and processes to assist Infosys customers in their application modernization. As digital transformation continues to be a paramount initiative for enterprises in every industry, MongoDB and Infosys joint efforts are an invaluable resource for any modern enterprise or organization. About MongoDB By offering the best of traditional databases as well as the flexibility, scale and performance today's applications require, we let innovators deploy apps as big as they can possibly dream. From startups to enterprises, for the modern and the mission-critical, MongoDB is the database for giant ideas. For more information, visit www.mongodb.com. About Infosys Ltd Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 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 199,000+ 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. Media Contact: Mark Wheeler, 615-516-6147, [email protected] SOURCE MongoDB Related Links http://mongodb.com BASEL, Switzerland, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Myovant Sciences (NYSE: MYOV), a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on women's health and endocrine diseases, today announced that Lynn Seely, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at Baird's 2017 Global Healthcare Conference in New York City on September 7th at 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time. The presentation and fireside chat will be webcast live and may be accessed via the Events page under the Investors and Media section of Myovant's website at myovant.com. Please connect to the company's website at least 15 minutes prior to the presentation to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to listen to the webcast. A replay will also be available at the same location for 30 days following the conference. About Myovant Sciences Myovant Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for women's health and endocrine diseases. Myovant's lead product candidate is relugolix, an oral, once-daily, small molecule that acts as a GnRH receptor antagonist. Myovant has initiated three clinical programs for relugolix consisting of five international Phase 3 clinical trials, two in women with heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids, two in women with endometriosis-associated pain, and one in men with advanced prostate cancer. Myovant is simultaneously developing MVT- 602, a kisspeptin agonist, for the treatment of female infertility as part of assisted reproduction. Over time, the company intends to expand its development pipeline to include other potential treatments for women's health and endocrine diseases. For more information, please visit the company's website at myovant.com. Investor Contact: Frank Karbe Chief Financial Officer Myovant Sciences, Inc. [email protected] Media Contact: Julie Normart Pure Communications [email protected] 415.946.1087 SOURCE Myovant Sciences, Ltd. Related Links http://www.myovant.com STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestle Waters North America has collaborated with relief organizations to donate more than 1.3 million bottles of water to those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Thirty-seven truckloads and counting have delivered clean, safe bottled water to communities in Texas and Louisiana distributed by relief partners on the ground, including Americares, the American Red Cross, Gleaning For The World, Convoy of Hope and Feeding America. "We are committed to delivering critical supplies of clean water to impacted individuals, families and communities in the wake of this disaster," said Fernando Merce, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nestle Waters North America. "I am humbled by the efforts of our dedicated associates and relief partners in providing on-the-ground assistance during this time of tragedy and immense need." Texas is home to more than 1,300 Nestle Waters associates and Ozarka Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, which is sourced from three natural springs in the state, and distributed regionally in Texas and several nearby states. Since 2007, Nestle Waters North America has donated more than 5 million bottles of water to disaster relief and other important causes in Texas. Nestle Waters will continue to monitor the evolving needs in Texas and Louisiana and work closely with its partners to provide additional assistance. Deliveries are currently under way to disaster relief sites in Houston, San Antonio, Arlington, Corpus Christi, and El Paso. How to Help Those interested in aiding relief efforts can support the work of the American Red Cross or Americares. To get in contact with or to seek assistance at a disaster relief site, please call, e-mail or visit the following websites: Americares [email protected] P: 1-800-486-HELP The American Red Cross P: 1-800-RED-CROSS About Nestle Waters North America Nestle Waters North America provides people with an unrivaled portfolio of bottled waters for healthy hydration. Brands such as Ozarka, Poland Spring, Nestle Pure Life, Perrier, and S. Pellegrino have driven Nestle Waters North America to be the third largest non-alcoholic beverage company by volume in the U.S. Nestle Waters North America also owns and operates ReadyRefresh SM by Nestle, the largest home and office water delivery service by volume in the U.S. Based in Stamford, Connecticut with some 8,500 associates, Nestle Waters is committed to reducing its environmental footprint across its operations. As a natural resource company, Nestle Waters sustainably manages our 47 spring sources and maintains nearly 14,000 acres of natural watershed area. The company is also committed to creating shared value and being a good neighbor in the 140 communities where it operates in the U.S. SOURCE Nestle Waters North America Related Links https://www.nestle-watersna.com LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- La Ventana Treatment Programs is thrilled to welcome Andrea Kulberg, Ph.D., as Clinical Director of our JCAHO-accredited adolescent mental health and eating disorder programs in Santa Barbara, California. Dr. Kulberg brings extraordinary insight and leadership to the La Ventana team, with over 20 years of experience specializing in severe anxiety disorders and eating disorders in children and teens. Andrea Kulberg, Ph.D., Clinical Director of La Ventana Santa Barbara Dr. Kulberg is an expert in Family-Based Treatment (FBT), an eating disorder treatment method practiced at our Santa Barbara location that trains parents in effectively managing their child's meal plan and behaviors at home, concurrent with ongoing outpatient care. FBT, also known as the Maudsley approach, was founded in the 1980s and has since proven to be the most effective treatment for severe eating disorders in children and teens. "La Ventana was built on a vision of helping others and building community. As a parent of two teenagers myself, I value the support of others along the parenting journey," explains Dr. Kulberg. "We want to educate and partner alongside parents, giving them the tools they need to understand these disorders so that they are fully equipped to guide their child through the recovery process." Our adolescent mental health and eating disorder programs at La Ventana Santa Barbara arm children and teens with the necessary coping skills for long-term recovery through weekly ACT, CBT, DBT, and exposure therapy groups. In addition to weekly individual and family therapy sessions, parent groups include family sculpting, genograms, and other experiential work. Dr. Kulberg hosts a free Parent Community Group every Tuesday evening from 4:15pm to 5:30pm at La Ventana Santa Barbara, providing parents with education, tools, and support. This group is also open to anyone in the community who would like to know more about our adolescent programs, including school counselors, professionals, family members, or individuals in recovery. "We couldn't be more excited to welcome Dr. Kulberg, who has the depth of both experience and passion to heal those who are suffering from these devastating and debilitating disorders," shares Diahann Klein, MA, LMFT, CEO of La Ventana Treatment Programs. "Her ability to truly partner with teens and families in recovery is invaluable. It is exciting to see our adolescent programs thrive under Dr. Kulberg's leadership." Join Dr. Kulberg for her upcoming CEU presentation "When OCD Gets Stuck on Food and Body Image and How to Fix It!" on September 20th (in Santa Monica, California) and October 11th (in Santa Barbara, California). These events are open to professionals and community members alike. Please RSVP or direct any questions to the media contact below. About La Ventana: La Ventana Treatment Programs provides state-of-the-art, individually tailored, holistic treatment for those struggling with the full spectrum of substance use disorders, eating disorders, and primary mental health diagnoses. Instead of focusing on the symptoms, our comprehensive and innovative treatment philosophy centers on treating the whole person and the underlying issues that have led to harmful behaviors. With locations in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica, and Santa Barbara, we proudly treat all ages and genders. Media Contact: Courtney Howard [email protected] 805-852-1277 SOURCE La Ventana Treatment Programs LUBBOCK, Texas, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NTS Communications, Inc., ("NTS") a leading provider of fiber-based communications solutions, recently partnered with the Lubbock Area United Way's 2017 Jump Start Campaign. Cyrus Driver, President & CEO of NTS, stated, "NTS and its employees have always been very supportive of the communities in which they live and work. By partnering with the Lubbock Area United Way, we have the wonderful opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others in the communities which we serve." NTS employees pledged over $12,000 to the Lubbock Area United Way through payroll deductions and was presented with a 2017 Jumpstart Campaign Award from the Lubbock Area United Way at their Kick-Off Luncheon in Lubbock today. ABOUT NTS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. NTS Communications provides managed telecommunications cloud services and is the leading provider of fiber-based communications solutions for both residential and business customers across Texas and Louisiana. NTS delivers one of the fastest Internet connections available over a true fiber to the premise network. For the Company's website, please visit: www.ntscom.com. CONTACTS Kelley Harber NTS Communications, Inc. 806-776-4195 [email protected] SOURCE NTS Communications SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Orion Health today announced the appointment of Terry Macaleer as president of Orion Health in the U.S. A health IT veteran, Macaleer helped build two successful health IT enterprise software companies from the ground up and achieved multimillion dollar sales. He was a co-founder of Eclipsys, a publicly traded electronic health records company that later merged with Allscripts. After retiring from Eclipsys Macaleer went on to found Carefx, a software company that streamlines and simplifies clinical and business workflow and connects care providers to the information they need. From 2008 to 2014, Macaleer had a stellar career at Allscripts where, as SVP of sales, he spearheaded a new strategic initiative to sell the Ambulatory EHR system to hospitals, generating over $35 million in sales. He then spearheaded a new effort to revitalize the Acute Care EHR business and generated over $70 million is sales in just 24 months. Seeking a new challenge, he left Allscripts to join Anthelio Healthcare Solutions. As SVP of client engagement and sales, he helped turn the organization around and positioned it for a successful acquisition. Macaleer will join Orion Health's executive leadership team mid-September and will report to CEO Ian McCrae. To download Macaleer's headshot, click here. "Terry's diverse technical and IT background makes him uniquely qualified at seeing the big picture and proactively resolving challenges," said McCrae. "His outstanding leadership skills, management abilities and keen understanding of the complexity of the U.S. marketas evidenced by successfully building two health IT companiesmake him a great choice to lead Orion Health's U.S. team and serve our U.S. customers." "It is no secret the U.S. healthcare system is going through monumental changes, particularly the shift from fee-for-service care to value-based care," said Macaleer. "Value-based care leads directly to population health management and to precision medicine with a huge requirement for data analytics. That is precisely the strategic direction of Orion Health, with many of the pieces already in place. Being a global company that can bring health systems insights from across the globewhere value-based care already existspositions Orion Health extremely well in the U.S. market." Macaleer takes over the reins from Wayne Oxenham, the current president of Orion Health U.S., who held the role for 18 months on a fixed-term basis. Oxenham will be relocating back to Orion Health's corporate headquarters in Auckland. About Orion Health Orion Health is a technology company that provides solutions which enable healthcare to over 110 million patients in more than 25 countries. Our end-to-end solutionfeaturing integration tools, our massively scalable Amadeus data platform with real-time analytics, and applications for care management and patient engagementenables population and personalized healthcare around the world. Orion Health facilitates interoperability within and among payer, provider and pharma organizations, governments and health information exchanges, and helps physicians, patients and researchers improve healthcare outcomes. The company employs over 1,200 people globally and is committed to continual innovation. For more information, visit orionhealth.com. Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes; [email protected]; 480-664-8412 x 15 SOURCE Orion Health Related Links http://www.orionhealth.com/us "The NSX is a special car, for a special breed, and the [CCCM] is so incredibly aligned with the NSX," remarked General Manager and Vice President of Paragon Acura Brian Benstock. "It was natural for us to have them participate." In addition to promoting the vehicle, Acura's Christensen hosted a Q&A session with Prichinello and CCCM members, providing a unique and in-depth perspective into the design of the new NSX. Acura also provided the 2017 Acura TLX GT race car to showcase alongside the supercar and the club's original 1991 NSX. "I think Acura is really smart," expressed Prichinello. "It's one thing to build one of the greatest cars ever made, but it's another thing to come down to the ground level and meet the people who love them, the people who buy them, and the people who drive them." CCCM purchased and arranged delivery of the 2017 NSX through Paragon Direct, a new online platform that allows consumers to purchase vehicles and schedule test drives or service appointments from their desktop or smartphone. This "store without walls" creates a frictionless consumer experience, bringing the dealership directly to customers in the Metro New York area. To learn about Paragon Direct, visit www.ParagonAcura.com/ParagonDirect. About Paragon Honda / Acura and White Plains Honda Paragon Honda / Acura are New York's premiere Honda / Acura dealerships. A family owned and operated business, Paragon and White Plains Honda have a friendly and helpful sales staff, highly skilled mechanics, and multiple automotive industry awards. Our mission is to make every customer a customer for life, by consistently providing world class service at our new and used dealerships. The New York dealerships serve customers in Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Westchester. For more information, please visit www.ParagonHonda.com, www.ParagonAcura.com,or www.WhitePlainsHonda.com. SOURCE Paragon Acura HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has launched a redesigned website, www.dcnr.pa.gov, as part of Governor Tom Wolf's efforts to make government more accessible for citizens. "Just in time for visitors looking for information on where to get outdoors for the upcoming holiday weekend, the newly-refreshed website is designed to help our customers find the information they are looking for quickly, and in a format that works well on phones and other mobile devices," DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. "We are providing a survey for visitors that will stay up for about a year to get some insights and feedback on the new format." Some new features on the site include: New pages for outdoor recreation activities that combine information for state parks and forests all in one place, and offer connections to events for that activity and other tips, such as how to stay safe A blog called Good Natured that will highlight the feature article from the resource newsletter and allow the homepage to continuously feature new content that will highlight the feature article from the newsletter and allow the homepage to continuously feature new content Photo galleries on the landing page for each state forest and park that give a taste of the places to visit and beautiful views on DCNR lands In addition to recreation, the four additional tabs that organize information are: Conservation providing information on the steps DCNR is taking to conserve natural resources, and simple steps we can take collectively Communities information to assist communities and partners with maintaining and improving natural, recreational and cultural amenities Business partner information on topics including infrastructure, concessions, timber for forest products, and licenses for water well drillers Education conservation and education programs and opportunities for people of all ages to improve understanding about the environment, conservation, and recreation in Pennsylvania Icons on the homepage help customers quickly get to information about: Pennsylvania's 121 state parks and 20 state forest districts 121 state parks and 20 state forest districts State park reservations Trails DCNR grants and events Local parks Geologic resources In addition to the website, customers can interact with DCNR on Facebook @padcnr, on Twitter @DCNRnews, and on Instagram at padcnr. MEDIA CONTACT: Christina Novak, 717.772.9101 or [email protected] SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Related Links http://www.dcnr.pa.gov NEWPORT, Pa., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today welcomed local officials and the public to the grand opening of a new Fine Wine & Good Spirits store at CrestView Plaza, 201 Fickes Lane, Newport, Perry County. With almost 4,800 square feet of space, this store features more than 2,000 wines and spirits, including the popular Chairman's Advantage wines, which are hand-selected and highly rated wines available for less than $10 a bottle. This Fine Wine & Good Spirits store offers a warm, welcoming atmosphere for consumers to browse the extensive selection. The focal point of the store is a new table, where customers can find staff to answer questions or provide recommendations, highlighted promotional items and educational materials for customers such as: Answers to frequently asked questions about wine and spirits A vintage chart A food pairing outline A party planning guide A calorie chart Tips for responsible hosting and consumption The store includes a "Made in Pennsylvania" section that highlights products produced in the commonwealth and a Pennsylvania Lottery machine. Throughout design and construction, the PLCB was committed to developing a store that is attractive and environmentally responsible. Most store lighting is state-of-the-art LED or energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting, which uses a fraction of the energy of traditional lighting. The Newport Fine Wine & Good Spirits store will be open from 11:30 AM through 6:00 PM Monday through Thursday and from 11:30 A.M. through 8:00 P.M. Friday and Saturday. The store phone number is 717-567-2068. To find additional store locations and hours, visit www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com. The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits totaling $15.1 billion since the agency's inception are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit www.lcb.pa.gov. MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.303.8522 SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Related Links http://www.lcb.state.pa.us DECATUR The message ringing in the ears of the U.S. House Agricultural Committee came from a Piatt County family farmer. "Crop insurance is working, don't screw it up," the man said to laughter in Richland Community College's Shilling Auditorium on Wednesday. The topic was the Farm Bill, which is up for renewal next year. "I think he's right on the money," said U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., following the the committee's third "listening session," on the legislation, which is the cornerstone of federal agricultural policy. The event came on the second day of the three-day Farm Progress Show, where hundreds of exhibitors showcased their equipment, seeds, chemicals and technology for tens of thousands of attendees. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said hearing directly from farmers and agricultural groups before debate on the bill begins in Washington, D.C., is an indicator the agricultural committee is in much better shape than 2014. Other listening sessions have been held in Minnesota and Texas. "I think we're much more prepared, we're doing a much better job of doing listening sessions like this now versus last time when I got thrown in as a new legislator," said Davis, whose district encompasses Macon County. In 2014 when the last Farm Bill was being debated in Congress, the agricultural industry suffered through multiple delays and false starts from partisan fights over the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Food Program, formerly known as food stamps, and crop insurance subsidies. Nutrition made up about 80 percent of the $489 billion four-year 2014 Farm Bill, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. Crop insurance was the next largest at 8 percent. Conservation programs were 6 percent and commodities support was 5 percent. Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, said the House plans to bring a bill to the floor in the fall when Congress returns to the Capitol. While Conaway and the other committee members kept to close to the vest any details what the final bill might look like, farmers in Illinois and across rural America will be keeping a close eye on federal subsidies for crop insurance. In recent years, record crop yields have given way sinking prices for major crops like corn and soy the lifeblood of the Central Illinois economy. Crop insurance refers to an insurance that protects farmers and crop producers against the loss of crops due to natural disasters, such as hail, drought and floods. There are two types of crop insurance: crop-yield insurance and crop-revenue insurance. "As low as the prices are, we're just breaking even," said Scott Burnbridge, a part-time farmer of 150 acres in Pike County. On possibilities for the next Farm Bill: "Maybe something to help little guys like me out, like low-interest loans to help me grow," Burnbridge said. It's a common complaint: While crop yields are growing thanks to improved technology in recent years, independent producers say the overhead costs of keeping up a farm are high, and commodity prices are in decline. Since 2011, a bushel of corn has fallen from an average year price $6.01 to $3.48 last year, according to the University of Illinois Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. Soybeans have dropped from $14.07 in 2013 to $9.40 in 2016. Other central issues the members of Congress heard were an updated vaccine plan for hoof-and-mouth disease in livestock, increased investment in scientific agricultural research, and training opportunities for young farmers. "We need policy that encourages students to return to the farm and to pursue agriculture careers that support them in doing so," said Ryan Reeverts, an officer of the Illinois chapter of the National FFA. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who visited the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday, said the last Farm Bill "made a lot of progress," but dairy and cotton farmers didn't fare as well. "I think those are two areas we need to look at," he said, as well as provisions to help farmers who grow specialty and organic crops. Herald & Review staff writer Ryan Voyles contributed to this story. LONDON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive Summary The report titled "Peru Construction Equipment Market Outlook to 2021 -Technological Advancements and Well Equipped Machineries to Drive Market Growth" provides a comprehensive analysis of construction equipment in Peru. . The report also covers company profile of major players, market share, export and import scenario; decision making process, trends and developments and issues and challenges. The report concludes with porter five forces analysis, market projection for future and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5073121/ Rental Market for Construction Equipment in Peru Peru rental construction equipment market gained importance because of high rental services demand and increasing availability of financial schemes especially in tier II and tier III cities for small building ventures. In 2011, market was estimated at USD ~ million and declined to USD ~ million in 2016 registering a five year negative CAGR of ~%. The major factors responsible for negative growth were decline registered in the mining sector and reduction in public expenditure. Peru rental construction market was able to capture a market share worth ~% of the total construction equipment market in 2016. The market is majorly dominated by construction equipment companies such as Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo. Additional demand for equipment rental was created due to development of commercial and industrial real estate sector and expanding services sector. Sales Market for Construction Equipment in Peru The revenue generated from sales market for construction equipment in Peru was estimated at USD ~ million in 2016, thus increasing from USD ~ million in 2011 registering a five year CAGR of ~%. Sales market for construction equipment in Peru registered maximum sales for heavy construction equipment, underground mining tools and general construction equipment. Sales market for construction equipment in Peru captured revenue share worth ~% of the total construction equipment market size on the basis of revenue. The major factor responsible for such high share is the sheer scale of work to be done due to growing demand for construction of many new buildings, leading to a good supply of construction equipment in the upcoming years in Peru. Market Segmentation By Type: The market was segmented in accordance with shovels and excavators; lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery and others, which collectively accounted for more than ~% of revenue share in 2016. Some of the leading players in this segment were Caterpillar Inc and Komatsu Mitsui. By Bulldozers and Angle Dozers: The market was segmented in accordance with the equipment belonging to either wheel type or crawler type category. The crawler type construction equipment dominated the market by capturing revenue share worth ~% in 2016. By Revenue Contribution from Final Machine and Spare Parts: The market was segmented in accordance with final construction machinery and construction machinery parts others. The final construction machinery segment dominated the market by capturing revenue share worth ~% in 2016. By Rental and Sale Market: The market was segmented in accordance with rental and sales market. The sales market of construction equipment dominated the market by capturing revenue share worth ~% in 2016. Future Outlook Over the forecast period (2017-2021), the Peruvian construction industry will be supported by the government's focus on the development of key areas such as transport infrastructure, energy/utilities facilities, and residential buildings. There are many projects in pipeline across transport, energy, water, residential and social infrastructure. Peru construction equipment market is expected to generate revenue of USD ~ million in the year 2021 collectively from rental and sales market. Key Topics Covered in the Report: Peru Construction Equipment Market Overview and Genesis Value Chain Analysis of Peru Construction Equipment Market Peru Construction Equipment Market Size Peru Construction Equipment Market Segmentation Snapshot on Peru Rental Construction Equipment Market Export And Import Scenario of Peru Construction Equipment market, 2011-2015 Key Customer Segments And Decision Making Process To Buy Or Rent Construction Equipment In Peru Procedure For Doing Construction Equipment Business in Peru With Detailed Analysis On How To Become Dealer For Construction Equipment In Peru After Sales Service Scenario for Peru Construction Equipment Market Trends And Development And Peru Construction Equipment Market Government Regulations in Peru Construction Equipment Market Issues and challenges in the Peru construction equipment market Porter's Five Forces Analysis For Peru Construction Equipment Market Market Share of Major Players in Peru Construction Equipment Market, 2016 Company Profile of Major Players In Peru Construction Equipment Market Peru Construction Equipment Market Future Outlook and Projections Analyst Recommendation Macro Economic Factors Affecting Peru Construction Equipment Market Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5073121/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com Winners will be announced by industry leaders at a gala banquet on 31 January during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, California. With high-level presenters and an audience including the "who's who" of the photonics industry, the awards boost visibility, recognition, and brand equity for companies bringing innovative products to the market. Among presenters of the 2018 awards will be Akira Hiruma, President and CEO of Hamamatsu Photonics KK; Ray O. Johnson, former Senior Vice President and CTO of Lockheed Martin Corp.; and Peter Leibinger, Vice Chairman of the Managing Board of Trumpf GmbH and Co. "In providing visibility to some of the most creative applications of optics and photonics technology each year, the Prism Awards help raise awareness about the importance of technology in general for economic growth, and the key role of photonics as an enabling technology in so many areas of life," said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. "For 10 years, the Prism Awards have brought well-deserved attention to the most exciting and beneficial new products in the photonics field products that have gone on to make their marks in an increasing number of industries," said Thomas Laurin, president and CEO of Laurin Publishing. Prism Awards applications are judged by a panel of leading industry experts, venture capitalists, luminaries, and visionaries who select finalists and winners in several categories for new products. Application deadline is 6 October. Finalists will be announced in mid-November, and winners will be announced during the awards banquet on 31 January in San Francisco. SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. www.spie.org Photonics Media, a brand of Pittsfield, Mass.-based Laurin Publishing Co. Inc., publishes Photonics Spectra, BioPhotonics, EuroPhotonics, Photonics Buyers' Guide and Photonics.com. www.photonics.com CONTACT: Amy Nelson Public Relations Manager, SPIE +1-360-201-1116 SOURCE SPIE Related Links http://www.spie.org VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest power grid, is donating $20,000 to the American Red Cross toward the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. PJM also will match its employees' donations to relief efforts. "We're moved by the images of stranded families, heroic rescues and people in great need of help," said Nora Swimm, senior vice president Corporate Client Services. "Giving back to our communities and helping those most in need is a hallmark of the PJM culture of caring." "Our thoughts are with the people of Texas who are impacted by this catastrophic hurricane and flooding," Swimm said. PJM employees contribute time and donations to many programs in the community. During 2016, PJM employees donated more than $147,000 to area nonprofits. In addition, employees devoted nearly 2,000 hours to community, civic, educational and health-related projects in their communities, including environmental stewardship and sustainability projects which are visible throughout the PJM campus. PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region's transmission grid, which includes over 82,000 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM's regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. For the latest news about PJM, visit PJM Inside Lines at insidelines.pjm.com. SOURCE PJM Interconnection Related Links http://www.pjm.com CRANBERRY TWP., Pa., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PLS Logistics Services, a leading 3rd party logistics provider, has committed to donate 100% of profits from its Texas freight moves for the week of September 4th to the American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. PLS is teaming up with the American Red Cross and GoFundMe to raise money for the affected communities. PLS will donate 100% of the profits from all Texas freight moves next week to the American Red Cross. "PLS has a large number of employees, shippers and trucking partners in Texas and Houston and we want to do our part to assist in the recovery efforts of this catastrophic storm," says President and CEO Greg Burns, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the millions of people impacted by Hurricane Harvey." PLS employees and customers can donate to the American Red Cross through the company's GoFundMe page titled "PLS Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund". Alternatively, any shipper using PLS trucking services the week of Sept. 4th for Texas related freight will have 100% of profits from those shipments donated to the American Red Cross. Shippers can contact their local PLS Account Executive or their local PLS office with any Texas freight needs. With over 500 employees, the company's goal is to raise funds from its employees, customers and vendors in addition to the Company's donation. While Hurricane Harvey has forced the closure of the PLS Houston office, all employees have been verified as safe. In the next several weeks, the PLS team will work tirelessly to help our customers maintain their delivery schedules, stay informed and assist them in any way possible. To visit our GoFundMe page, follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/PLS-Harvey-Relief-Fund About PLS Logistics Services PLS Logistics Services is a leading provider of logistics management, brokerage and technology services for shippers across all industries. PLS handles millions of loads annually across all major freight modes: flatbed, van, LTL, rail and barge, air and ocean. The PLS carrier network consists of over 40,000 pre-qualified trucking companies along with Class-1 railroads and major barge companies. PLS has been recognized as a top 25 freight brokerage firm. To learn more visit www.plslogistics.com. Media Contact: Kelsey Magilton, Marketing Manager (724)8145074 [email protected] Freight Inquiries: SOURCE PLS Logistics Services Related Links http://www.plslogistics.com MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Software engineering firm, EXB Solutions, Inc. welcomes Tony Morse as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Morse brings more than 20 years of start-up, technology, and professional service experience to the EXB Solutions team. Before joining EXB Solutions, he held executive and leadership positions at Demand Chain Systems, Digineer and Padilla. Morse is a graduate of St. Olaf College and Minnehaha Academy. Tony J. Morse Joins EXB Solutions as Vice President of Sales & Marketing EXB Chief Executive Officer Chris Schwartzbauer shared, "Tony is a great addition to the EXB executive team. His experience with both high-performing and fast-growth firms and in high-tech industries round out our team and position EXB for continued growth. I expect to see us move up the Fast 50 and Inc. 5000 lists in the coming years with Tony's leadership." "I'm thrilled to join the talented and experienced leadership team at a time of pivotal growth for EXB," added Morse. "It's exciting to be a part of an organization that offers such deep knowledge of embedded software engineering in the rare, but crucial industries that are so highly regulated. The value that our team brings to medical device, aerospace and other industries creates such a differentiated service for us and makes this a great place for me to apply my experience in fast-growth professional services firms." Headquartered in Minneapolis, EXB Solutions operates nationally and delivers software engineering and testing for mission-critical and safety-critical software and systems. Clients include the leaders in medical device, aerospace and defense: Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, General Dynamics, Medtronic, Smiths Medical, and NASA. EXB Solutions is recognized for growth on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing businesses and the Minneapolis Fast 50. Learn more at www.exbsolutions.com. Contact: Erica Larsen EXB Solutions O: 952.475.4006 [email protected] SOURCE EXB Solutions Related Links http://www.exbsolutions.com Equipped with a 7 th gen Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, the latest Razer Blade Pro is a performance-focused system with stunning 17.3-inch Full HD, 120Hz screen. The 1920 x 1080 matte panel offers users a beautiful display that is ideal for pushing out high framerates, and providing amazing color with wide viewing angles. The Razer Blade Pro with GeForce GTX 1060 is also VR-ready. Experience games with next-generation VR performance, the lowest latency, and plug-and-play compatibility with leading headsetsdriven by NVIDIA VRWorks technologies. Gamers can enjoy breakthrough features such as NVIDIA Shadowplay and Ansel to capture and share gameplay and in-game shots that can be viewed in 360 degrees. The machine's slotted 16GB of dual-channel memory can be expanded up to 32GB capacity for powerful video editing and gaming. The hybrid storage configuration of 256GB PCIe SSD plus 2TB HDD delivers both speed and capacity, and can support up to 2TB SSD and up to 4TB HDD upgrades. Other highlights include Thunderbolt 3 for advanced connectivity, a built-in SD card reader, and Killer DoubleShot Pro network technology. Featuring the full spectrum of 16.8 million colors with vibrant lighting effects, the anti-ghosting individually backlit keys and trackpad on the new Razer Blade Pro offers endless possibilities for customization, powered by Razer Chroma. Game developers have the opportunity to integrate lighting effects directly into their game, creating more intuitive tutorials, pervasive in-game alerts, or even displaying cooldowns and health bars directly on the Blade Pro keyboard. Built with durable CNC military-grade aluminum, weighing only 6.78 pounds, and measuring just 0.88 inches thin, the Razer Blade Pro with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 packs in the power, resulting in a machine that is both refined and relentless. "The Razer Blade Pro is the ultimate gaming laptop that packs desktop-level performance with unmatched portability," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. "This latest iteration offers an optimized configuration for gamers and professionals that want a 17-inch display and top-notch build quality. The thin design houses the latest in performance components and features expandable memory and storage capability." Razer also announced another new product that complements the Razer Blade Pro. For mobile warriors, Razer announced a new Rogue backpack that is designed for 17-inch laptops, offering a streamlined and stylish way to take the Razer Blade Pro on-the-go. The acclaimed Razer Blade family includes the 13.3-inch Blade Stealth - one of the most awarded laptops from any manufacturer lauded for its combination of performance, value, expandability and portability; the 14-inch Razer Blade, recognized for its perfect combination of portability and performance; and the existing 17.3-inch Razer Blade Pro with a GeForce GTX 1080, for the ultimate 4K desktop replacement laptop for work or play. Price: U.S. $2299.99 / Canada $2899.99 / EU 2399.99 / UK 2099.99 Availability: Razerzone.com (U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany) Q3 2017 Amazon, Best Buy, and Select Retail Partners Available Soon Worldwide Q4 2017 Product features: 17.3 Full HD (1920 x 1080) 120 Hz IPS Non-Touch Matte Display Quad-Core Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor (2.8 GHz / 3.8 GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5) 16GB (8GB x 2) Dual-Channel System Memory (slotted, DDR4, 2400MHz) Expandable to 32GB (16GB x 2) 256GB SSD (PCIe m.2) + 2TB HDD storage Expandable up to 2TB SSD (PCIe m.2) and 4TB HDD Windows 10 64-Bit Killer DoubleShot Pro technology: Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1) Killer E2500 (gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000) USB 3.0 port x3 (SuperSpeed) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) HDMI 2.0 video and audio output SDXC card reader Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater Edition Built-in stereo speakers Built-in array microphone 3.5 mm microphone/headphone combo jack 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI) Built-in webcam (2.0 MP) Anti-ghosting individually backlit keyboard powered by Razer Chroma Multimedia keys with scroll wheel Multi-touch Precision Touchpad Razer Synapse enabled with programmable keyboard, backlighting, and fan control Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) security chip embedded Kensington Lock interface Compact 165W Power Adapter Built-in 70Wh rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery 0.88 in. (22.5 mm) Height x 16.7 in. (424 mm) Width x 11 in. (281 mm) Depth 6.78 lbs. / 3.07 kg For more information about the Razer Blade Pro, please visit www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro Learn more about Razer Chroma devices and integrations at www.razerzone.com/chroma Images: For digital screens (websites, mobile, social media) ABOUT RAZER: Razer is the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers. The triple-headed snake logo trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized icons in the global gaming community, and the company has a fan base that spans every continent. Razer has designed and built the world's largest independent gamer ecosystem of hardware, software and services with over 35 million users. Razer's award-winning products include hardware such as high-performance gaming peripherals (for the PC and console platforms), the Razer Blade line of gaming laptops; software such as Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher); and services such as Razer zGold (a virtual credit service and payment engine for gamers). The company additionally provides audio-visual certification through its subsidiary THX Ltd. The company has a global footprint with 9 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading gaming brand in the US, Europe and China. Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, Razer is backed by institutional investors such as IDG-Accel, Intel Capital, Digital Grid and Horizons Ventures. Press Contacts: Americas Kevin Scarpati [email protected] Europe/Africa Jan Horak [email protected] Asia Pacific Nicholas Ferguson [email protected] China Evita Zhang [email protected] Razer - For Gamers. By Gamers. SOURCE Razer Related Links http://www.razerzone.com Regera was recognized with the Campaign Cup award for its superb work during the second quarter of 2017. The Campaign Cup is awarded to the company identified as the top performer nationwide with regard to sales and quality each quarter as well as for the year overall. This win marks the first time that Regera has been honored with the coveted trophy, and the firm is already hard at work to keep the Cup for future quarters. "It's gratifying to see our team's vision and focus rewarded with this honor," said Mark Caouette, President and CEO of Regera. "We are committed to achieving great results every day on behalf of the client, and I am enthusiastic about where we're headed in the coming months and years." Via an aggressive marketing strategy and exceptional customer relations, Regera seeks to enable personal and collective growth. The firm's dynamic team of sales professionals represents the client with integrity and confidence, fostering strong relationships with clients and customers. Building on an established reputation of excellence, Regera is growing quickly and plans to leverage its existing growth to expand across Canada as well as internationally. In addition to its focus on successful sales and marketing outreach, Regera provides its team with personalized training, support, and mentorship in a high-energy, fun environment that inspires greatness. Check Regera out on LinkedIn. About Regera An outsourced sales and consulting company based in Alberta, Regera helps large, multinational corporations and recognizable brands with their customer outreach and acquisition efforts. Regera specializes in sales solutions that enhance customer loyalty and increase market share for the company's clients. For more information, call 780-297-8917 or go to http://www.regera.ca/. Contact: Mark Caouette 780-297-8917 SOURCE Regera Related Links http://www.regera.ca SHANGHAI, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ReneSola Ltd ("ReneSola" or the "Company") (www.renesola.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading fully-integrated solar project developer and provider of energy-efficient products, today announced that it agreed to sell two ground-mount projects in United Kingdom to Greencoat Solar II LP, an investment vehicle managed by Greencoat Capital LLP, one of the UK's largest dedicated renewable investment management firms. These two projects are located in North Yorkshire and Shropshire and have a combined capacity of approximately 10 MW and are qualified under the 1.2 Renewable Obligations Certificate (ROC) program. Xianshou Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ReneSola, commented: "The agreement demonstrates the strength of our ability to develop and monetize projects in the downstream segment of the solar industry. We are proud of our continued execution in the region and look forward to driving incremental project development globally." About ReneSola Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) is an international leading brand of solar project developer and technology provider of energy efficient products. Leveraging its global presence, expansive distribution and sales network, ReneSola is well positioned to develop green energy projects with attractive return and provide its highest quality green energy products around the world. For more information, please visit www.renesola.com. About Greencoat Capital Greencoat Solar II LP is managed by an experienced investment team at Greencoat Capital LLP, a leading European renewable investment manager with over 2 billion under management across a number of funds in private equity, solar and wind infrastructure. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains statements that constitute ''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, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Whenever you read a statement that is not simply a statement of historical fact (such as when the Company describes what it "believes," "plans," "expects" or "anticipates" will occur, what "will" or "could" happen, and other similar statements), you must remember that the Company's expectations may not be correct, even though it believes that they are reasonable. The Company does not guarantee that the forward-looking statements will happen as described or that they will happen at all. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation, beyond that required by law, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made, even though the Company's situation may change in the future. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: ReneSola Ltd Ms. Rebecca Shen +86 (21) 6280-9180 x106 [email protected] The Blueshirt Group Asia Mr. Gary Dvorchak, CFA +86 (138) 1079-1480 [email protected] In the United States: The Blueshirt Group Mr. Ralph Fong +1 (415) 489-2195 [email protected] SOURCE ReneSola Ltd. Related Links http://www.renesola.com BOSTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Repsly, Inc, a SaaS company changing the way sales and marketing teams do work in the field, today announced the addition of Ivana Smoljan Dobranovic to the firm's leadership team. Ivana joins Repsly to head the company's engineering team based in Zagreb, Croatia. She will oversee the end-to-end execution of Repsly's product development vision, and help to put in place scalable tools and methods to support the company's growth and expansion into new market segments. She will also be mentoring and managing the company's development and QA teams to ensure the delivery of high quality software to all global customers and partners. Previously Ivana was a Software Solutions Manager at S&T Croatia, a top European provider of IT solutions and a partner with Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and other technology providers. At S&T, Ivana was responsible for a software solutions business unit serving customers across multiple industries and focused on e-commerce, CRM, and custom business solutions development. She started her career in software development, worked as a consultant and project manager, and ran her own company which was later acquired by S&T. Outside of the office, Ivana enjoys traveling with her family and friends. This strategic hire comes after the company recently added Allen Bonde and Matthew DePaolis to head its marketing and customer success teams, and closed a new $1.6M round of financing. Repsly now has more than 10,000 users in 70 countries, and is acclaimed for its intuitive approach to empowering brands and service providers to thrive in the new retail environment. "Ivana is a successful entrepreneur and manager, and a great strategic thinker, but more importantly she is a hands-on, get-it-done kind of person," said Marko Kovac, Repsly's CEO and co-founder. "While technical by training, she understands the human element, and will help us to create an energetic engineering culture that retains talent and breeds innovation." Repsly, Inc. is a software as a service company that helps brands grow from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow, in a human, enjoyable way. With a super-easy-to-use mobile CRM, Repsly is helping brands like Altra Running, Heretic Brewing, Philips, UNREAL Candy and Victoria's Secret get closer to their customers by simplifying how their field teams collect data, work together, and drive sales. Headquartered in Boston, with an R&D team in Zagreb, Croatia, Repsly works with 1,000 brands and partners around the globe. For more information, please visit the company's website, www.repsly.com. Media Contact: Allen Bonde Phone: 781.801.0279 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Repsly Related Links http://www.repsly.com ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan has granted national reimbursement for the FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system effective September 1, 2017. The revolutionary system will be widely available to the more than 1 million Japanese people ages six and above with diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2, on insulin therapy. Japan has one of the highest rates of diabetes with an overall population of 9.5 million people living with the condition.1 "This is a significant development for the Japanese diabetes community both for the people living with the condition and for their healthcare professionals," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "FreeStyle Libre has had a demonstrable impact around the world in helping people with diabetes, and we are pleased with the MHLW decision to make the product available through government reimbursement to those who need it." Abbott's FreeStyle Libre system helps address the challenges of routine finger sticking2 for people with diabetes with a quick one second scan over a small sensor that is worn on the back of the upper arm. In addition, no finger stick calibration is needed a key differentiator from current continuous glucose monitoring systems. With the data from the device, users can have a better understanding of their glucose levels through the Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP), a chart that provides a visual snapshot of glucose levels, trends and patterns over time. The AGP also provides doctors with deeper insights to make more informed treatment decisions. "For people living with diabetes frequent glucose measurement is key to effective diabetes management. It is often challenging for my patients to comply with glucose testing because of the pain, inconvenience and stigma of using finger sticks," said Yoshihito Atsumi, M.D., director of the Diabetes Center at Eiju General Hospital. "FreeStyle Libre not only enables my patients to check their glucose more frequently due to the convenience of the technology, but it also provides valuable glucose trends and patterns to help me make more informed treatment decisions." Two published clinical trials3 and real-world evidence from more than 50,0004 users show that people who use FreeStyle Libre system test their glucose levels an average of at least 15 times per day. The studies also show that people who scan more frequently spend less time in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) while having improved average glucose levels, demonstrating improved glucose control overall. Abbott's FreeStyle Libre system was introduced across Europe in 2014, and is now available in 39 countries. Japan now joins a group of 16 countries that have partially or fully covered Libre, including large markets such as France and Germany. In the U.S., the FreeStyle Libre system is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.5 About the FreeStyle Libre System Abbott's FreeStyle Libre system is designed to change how people with diabetes measure their glucose levels and ultimately help them achieve better health outcomes. The system reads glucose levels through a sensor that can be worn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days, and does not require finger stick calibration. About Abbott At Abbott, we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world -- in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals -- that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 94,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve. Connect with us at www.abbott.com, www.abbott.co.jp, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal. 1 National Health and Nutrition Survey, MHLW 2 A fingerprick test using a glucometer is required during times of rapidly changing glucose levels when interstitial fluid glucose levels may not accurately reflect blood glucose levels; or if hypoglycemia or impending hypoglycemia is reported by the system; or when symptoms do not match the system readings 3 Bolinder J, Antuna R, Geelhoed-Duijvestijn P, Kroger J, Weitgasser R. Novel glucose-sensing technology and hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes: a multicentre, non-masked, randomised controlled trial [published online September 12, 2016]. Lancet. 2016; Haak, T., Hanaire, H., Ajjan, R., Hermanns, N., Riveline, J., & Rayman, G. (2016, February). Use of novel Flash Glucose-Sensing technology by individuals with Type 2 diabetes on intensive insulin therapy to support self-management. Presented ATTD: Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes - 9th International Conference, Milan, Italy. 4 Data on file. Dunn T, Xu Y, Hayter G; Evidence of a Strong Association Between Frequency of Flash Glucose Monitoring and Glucose Control Measures During Real-World Usage 5 Pending FDA approval. Not available for sale in the United States SOURCE Abbott Related Links http://www.abbott.com WASHINGTON The Navy announced Thursday that it had posthumously promoted to their next rank the 10 sailors who died aboard the USS John S. McCain. Logan S. Palmer, 23, a Harristown native, was advanced to interior communications electrician second class. He had previously been third class. Palmer was a 2012 graduate of Sangamon Valley High School. Palmer and nine other sailors were killed when their Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer collided with the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Alnic MC on Aug. 21. The incident remains under investigation. The 550-mile-long Strait of Malacca, where the accident occurred, runs between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It connects the Pacific and Indian oceans and is one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes. The collision ripped a gash in the McCain hull, flooding crew berths and machinery and communications rooms. The destroyer is now in port in Singapore. The commander of the 7th Fleet was fired after four accidents this year raised questions about its operations. The Navy also 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. BALTIMORE, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RLTV announced the premiere of its new syndicated special EmPower Lunch. The RLTV-commissioned show brings together successful women at a 'power lunch' to discuss business insight, entrepreneurship, and the value of relationships, fashion, food and fun. In the premiere episode, Creator and Host Nicole Valentine interviews Actress, Rapper and CEO MC Lyte (the first female solo rapper ever nominated for a Grammy) and Dr. Bernice King, Minister and CEO of The King Center, which welcomes nearly one million visitors annually. "Our premiere episode gives viewers a new perspective of social entrepreneurship and business success," said Roy Ennis, General Manager at RLTV. "Nicole takes us to a very insightful and entertaining lunch." "I'm honored that I am able to give a voice to powerful women playmakers," said Valentine. "Their stories of professional successes and personal growth are tremendously inspiring." The special is premiering at 5:00PM ET on Saturday on Dish Network's Sky Angel Channel, on Sunday at 3:00PM ET on ABC 7 in New York, and throughout the month in select markets nationwide. Check your local listings for stations, dates, and times. EmPower Lunch is an RLTV syndicated production and is Executive Produced by Roy L. Ennis, Lemuel Plummer, Jason L. Tolbert, and Le'John Plummer of L. Plummer Media, Nicole Valentine, Todd F. Brown, and Harry Hall. Allied Media Partners managed the national syndication efforts. About RLTV The only cable network and online destination created specifically for adults 50+, RLTV (www.rl.tv) offers unique, inspiring programming that focuses on topics that matter to Generation 50+, from relationships, reinvention, rediscovering passions, to finances, health, and current events. About Nicole Valentine Host Nicole Valentine is a fourth generation entrepreneur. Valentine, an attorney and business strategist, advises CEOs and Innovation Leads at Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and non-profits through game-changing deals and growth opportunities. She is a "Woman in Tech to Watch" with her Winly business strategy and growth platform for entrepreneurs. Learn more about Nicole at www.synergybd.co and www.nicolevalentine.tv. About Allied Media Partners Allied Media Partners is a Washington, D.C. based TV, Motion Picture, Programming, and Syndication Company headed up by veteran TV syndicator Ed Baruch. Contact: Maria Mager RLTV Marketing Email: [email protected] Office: 410-402-9602 SOURCE RLTV Related Links http://www.rl.tv/ LAS VEGAS, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced the continued growth of cloud application extensions to SAP SuccessFactors solutions built on SAP Cloud Platform. With simple access and easy connectivity to now more than 100 applications that complement the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite, HR leaders can meet specific and immediate business needs more easily than ever before. This announcement was made at SuccessConnect in Las Vegas taking place August 2931 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. "SAP has a vibrant partner ecosystem building innovative app extensions to SAP SuccessFactors solutions on SAP Cloud Platform," said SAP SuccessFactors* President Greg Tomb. "These extensions help customers solve business problems, differentiate and innovate, and accelerate their digital HR transformation. With the power of our strong ecosystem, we enable our customers with cutting-edge technology that helps them execute against strategy and put their people at the center of business." SAP and its partners continue to drive rapid innovation and increase the strategic value of human resources across the enterprise. Among the extensions that will be on display at SuccessConnect in Las Vegas are: EnterpriseAlumni by EnterpriseJungle Integration of corporate alumni into HR landscapes immediately transforms and expands talent supply, including boomerang hires. Alumni management helps drive recruitment, business development and corporate evangelism. Integration of corporate alumni into HR landscapes immediately transforms and expands talent supply, including boomerang hires. Alumni management helps drive recruitment, business development and corporate evangelism. org.manager by Ingentis Workforce planning, org modeling and charting based on SAP SuccessFactors data support mergers and acquisitions by enabling visualization of multiple org structures and allowing drag and drop from one org chart to another. Workforce planning, org modeling and charting based on SAP SuccessFactors data support mergers and acquisitions by enabling visualization of multiple org structures and allowing drag and drop from one org chart to another. Employee Engagement Suite by Semos A new approach to employee engagement supports the growing HR needs in the areas of recognition and rewards, continuous feedback, organizational surveys, health and wellness, and employee work productivity. A new approach to employee engagement supports the growing HR needs in the areas of recognition and rewards, continuous feedback, organizational surveys, health and wellness, and employee work productivity. Labor Management by Sodales This employee relationship management solution offers features covering grievances, progressive disciplines, performance reviews and seniority rules management, including those involving unionized work environments. Management can perform investigations of each grievance with online collective bargaining agreements, manage grievance costs, conduct disciplinary actions and record all steps in a single place. As the technology foundation for digital innovation with the SAP Leonardo system, SAP Cloud Platform allows organizations to connect people with processes and things beyond the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite and leverage transformative technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, Big Data and analytics, blockchain and data intelligence. The value of SAP Cloud Platform to customers includes: Application extensions Accelerate time to value for building and deploying apps and extensions that engage employees in new ways, allowing HR to be flexible and innovative without compromising their core HR process. Accelerate time to value for building and deploying apps and extensions that engage employees in new ways, allowing HR to be flexible and innovative without compromising their core HR process. User experience Achieve an intuitive, consistent and harmonized user experience across SAP SuccessFactors solutions and platform extensions. This empowers organizations to personalize their end-to-end HR landscape with a seamless, secure and beautiful user experience. Achieve an intuitive, consistent and harmonized user experience across SAP SuccessFactors solutions and platform extensions. This empowers organizations to personalize their end-to-end HR landscape with a seamless, secure and beautiful user experience. Data-driven insights Leverage data from SAP SuccessFactors solutions and any other source to help make insightful business decisions that drive intelligent people strategies. "Enterprise Information Resources Inc. (EIR) is an SAP Cloud Application partner, expert in optimizing and transforming compensation systems to provide business value immediately," said France Lampron, president and CEO of Enterprise Information Resources Inc. "Capitalizing on the extensibility of SAP SuccessFactors solutions by leveraging SAP Cloud Platform provides us with an ideal development platform for EIR's extension application EIR Compensation Analytics." Solution extensions from SAP partners can be found in SAP App Center. HR professionals around the globe can virtually join key sessions at this year's SuccessConnect in Las Vegas by registering at https://vshow.on24.com/vshow/Success/registration/14536. For more information, visit the SAP SuccessFactors website or the SAP News Center. Follow SAP SuccessFactors solutions on Twitter at @SuccessFactors and SAP at @sapnews. *SAP SuccessFactors is a brand name launched in January 2016 and is used here to mean the offerings, employees, and business of acquired company SuccessFactors, which continues to be our legal entity until integration with SAP is complete. About SAP As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 355,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. 2017 SAP SE. All rights reserved. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices. For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24 United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727) For more information, press only: Geraldine Lim, SAP, +1 (415) 418-0945, [email protected], PDT SAP News Center press room; [email protected] Tim Scarfe, LEWIS Communications, +1 (510) 399-9032, [email protected], PD SOURCE SAP SE Related Links http://www.sap.com TORONTO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - SCM Insurance Services ("SCM" or the "Company"), Canada's largest independent, privately owned insurance services provider, today announced that it has received a majority investment from funds affiliated with Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing. This major investment, along with the continued investment in SCM by TorQuest Partners, will provide SCM with access to important capital and strategic resources to continue to invest in and significantly grow its business in Canada and its recent entry into the United States. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. SCM's portfolio of companies delivers world-class service and innovative business solutions to its clients and is a market leader. Previous growth and acquisitions have significantly increased the range of products and services SCM delivers to its clients, representing a breadth of insurance solutions unparalleled in Canada. SCM's ambitious growth plans will see it become an even larger, more diverse company, with a significantly expanded presence to better serve its clients and their customers, supporting their ever-changing needs and challenges. "Along with our teams of experienced professionals, our market-leading technology, and our extensive data intelligence, this important investment from Warburg Pincus will help SCM implement the next phase of our successful growth strategy and allow us to serve our clients in even more ways and in more places," said Bob Fitzgerald, CEO of SCM Insurance Services. "Warburg Pincus is not only the right partner at the right time for SCM, it is also the right fit culturally and strategically." "SCM has established itself as the leading provider of outsourced claims management and tech-enabled insurance services in Canada, and has positioned itself well for further expansion in the U.S.," said Jeffrey Stein, Principal, Warburg Pincus. "Through its wide range of market-leading services, the Company has already become an attractive one-stop shop for the P&C industry and we see meaningful opportunity to continue investing in and expanding its service lines." Chandler Reedy, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, added, "We look forward to partnering with Bob and his team and TorQuest to support SCM's ongoing growth in Canada and further expansion in the U.S. market." "Under TorQuest's ownership, in partnership with founder Larry Shumka and SCM's management, the Company's revenue has grown by three times through a commitment to market leadership and excellence in the Canadian insurance market," said TorQuest Partner Alan Lever. "We are excited about the future prospects for SCM as it moves to its next phase of growth in partnership with Warburg Pincus," Eric Berke, Managing Partner at TorQuest, added. "SCM is another great example of TorQuest partnering with an exceptional founder and management team to support the growth of an industry-leading business." In May 2017, SCM made its initial entry into the United States by acquiring Nixon & Company, Inc., providing it with a platform from which to continue building out its service offerings both domestically and into the Lloyd's of London marketplace. This U.S. expansion is consistent with SCM's commitment to expand geographically in line with the needs of its clients who are seeking market-leading offerings in third-party administration and innovative adjusting solutions. "We are also excited for the opportunities that this investment will bring for our staff across North America," said Bob Fitzgerald. "It will allow us to continue to invest in the right technologies, training and development that makes SCM a great place to work and grow your career." Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to SCM in connection with this transaction. About SCM Insurance Services SCM Insurance Services has been servicing the insurance and risk management community for the past 31 years with over 200 locations and 2,900 employees. As a privately owned provider of claims adjusting, third-party adjusting (TPA), risk management, investigative, surveillance, risk mitigation, medical services, forensic engineering services, and risk intelligence, SCM has distinguished itself through innovative technology, expert staff and solid customer service. The SCM Insurance Services Group of Companies includes ClaimsPro, International Programs Group (IPG), Xpera Risk Mitigation & Investigation, Cira Health Solutions, Pario Engineering & Environmental Sciences, SCM Risk Management Services (RMS), Opta Information Intelligence, and Nixon & Company, Inc. For more information, please visit www.scm.ca. About Warburg Pincus LLC Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than US$44 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 140 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 16 private equity funds which have invested more than US$60 billion in over 780 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. About TorQuest Partners Founded in 2002, TorQuest Partners is a Canadian-based manager of private equity funds. With more than C$2 billion of equity capital under management, TorQuest is currently investing from TorQuest Partners Fund IV, a C$925 million fund that closed in June 2016. TorQuest invests in middle market companies, and works in close partnership with management to build value. To learn more about TorQuest Partners, please visit www.torquest.com. SOURCE SCM Insurance Services Related Links www.scm.ca SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ShowStoppers is set to debut its newest press event, ShowStoppers @ Mobile World Congress Americas, scheduled for 11 September, 4-6 pm at the W Hotel in San Francisco. ShowStoppers will feature a variety of mobile and consumer electronics companies that will demonstrate new mobile and wireless products, services and apps to hundreds of journalists. ShowStoppers takes place one day before the inaugural launch of Mobile World Congress Americas at Moscone Center, 12-14 September. "ShowStoppers provides a venue for exhibitors to demonstrate their latest products and services to the media and the opportunity to build relationships with journalists. We are delighted to bring ShowStoppers to San Francisco and to support the new Mobile World Congress America tradeshow," said Dave Leon, director of sales, ShowStoppers. To learn more about exhibiting at ShowStoppers, contact Dave Leon, [email protected], +1-845-638-3527. To register as media, contact Steve Leon, [email protected], +1-310-936-8530. About ShowStoppers Now in its 24th year, ShowStoppers is the global leader in producing press and business events spanning the US, Europe and Asia. Each event organizes product introductions, sneak previews and demonstrations for selected journalists, bloggers, industry and financial analysts, venture capitalists and business executives. Industry leaders, innovators and startups exhibit to generate news coverage and product reviews, make new connections, promote brand, and open new markets. ShowStoppers produces events at CES, Mobile World Congress and Mobile World Congress Americas, among others; the official press events at CE Week, IFA, and NAB; and partners with CTA. . Contacts: Dave Leon, Director of Sales [email protected] +1-845-638-3527. Lauren Merel, Sales Associate +1 908-692-6068 [email protected] Steve Leon, Media Contact +310-936-8530 [email protected] SOURCE ShowStoppers Related Links http://www.showstoppers.com SEATTLE, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Migo, the search engine for on-demand rides, has launched its free new service in Seattle and Portland today after a three month beta test period with over 200 Seattle and Portland-based users. Migo is the first app available in the U.S. that allows users to search, compare and hail multiple types of personal transportation, such as Lyft, Car2Go, Seattle Yellow Cab and more, without having to jump from one app to another. The Migo app displays real-time data for price estimates and wait/walk time - and makes it possible to search, hail and book a ride, all from within the Migo app. In-app payment is available for many partners today and will expand in the future. The new service is launching first in Seattle and Portland on the iPhone, and is expanding quickly to additional markets and to Android. Seattle and Portland are key launch cities for Migo in part because of their role in the White House Smart Cities Initiative, which was launched in 2015 to help deliver smart city solutions, including eco-friendly transportation options that best leverage the cities' resources and infrastructure. "Seattle and Portland are hotbeds for testing new transportation services and models, like car share, ride share, carpooling, bikes and taxi services. Migo was designed to help residents first discover and then easily choose their best ride option whether that means closest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly or simply the coolest option to get from place to place," said Jeff Warren, founder and CEO of Migo, "and with the rapidly expanding populations of both Seattle and Portland, we see Migo as a key partner to help keep the cities moving." Getting started with Migo is as simple as downloading the app from the Apple App Store and hailing your ride. Services requiring an account will either ask you to link to an existing account or Migo can help you create one 'on the fly.' Visit www.getmigo.com or the Apple App Store to download the app and to sign up for alerts when Migo launches new partners and services in additional cities. About Migo Migo is your search engine for on demand rides, where you can search, compare and hail, without having to jump from app to app. Whether you want to get driven by a pro, just find the closest or cheapest way to go, or drive yourself and your friends, Migo can help you find, book and enjoy getting from A to B. Migo shows all the rideshare, carshare, taxi and specialty options out there, with more cities and services being added every day. We're not a new transportation company we're the search engine that helps you find, book and enjoy your ride. SOURCE Migo Related Links http://www.getmigo.com RIVERSIDE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith Law Offices, LLP a trial and litigation law firm specializing in public sector, labor and employment, regulatory, healthcare and business litigation is excited to announce that attorneys Lindsay Frazier-Krane and Betty Huynh have recently joined the Riverside, Calif. group. Approaching a decade of experience in the legal field, Lindsay Frazier-Krane returns to Smith Law Offices, LLP to continue focusing on public entity defense, while specializing in civil rights litigation. She graduated from Loyola Law School with first honors in ethical lawyering and fact investigation. Previously a law clerk for a justice at the California Court of Appeals, and following her graduation summa cum laude from Western State University, Betty Huynh joins Smith Law Offices, LLP. Her practice is focused on public entity and civil defense litigation. Huynh's professional associations include the Riverside County Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association and the California Young Lawyer's Association. "Lindsay and Betty are skilled lawyers who will strengthen our already outstanding litigation team," said Doug Smith, managing partner of Smith Law Offices, LLP. For more information about Smith Law Offices, LLP, please visit www.Smitlaw.com. About Smith Law Offices, LLP: With considerable experience and resources, Smith Law Offices, LLP, is a boutique litigation and trial law firm specializing in defending public entities and employees throughout California in the areas of labor and employment, civil rights, regulatory matters and healthcare litigation. For more information follow Smith Law Offices, LLP on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, or visit www.Smitlaw.com. Media Contact: Devin Manon, Smith Law Offices, LLP 951.509.1355, [email protected] SOURCE Smith Law Offices, LLP Related Links http://www.Smitlaw.com A firm commitment to employees with disabilities is a key part of Sodexo's Diversity and Inclusion strategy. The company engages in improving the quality of life of employees with disabilities by providing an inclusive, adapted work environment where they can thrive, contribute, and reach their full potential. Through SOAR (Sodexo Organization for Disabilities Resources), an employee resource group that supports and encourages people with disabilities, and larger-scale efforts such as the company's Disability Voice initiative, where 56 ambassadors in 24 countries help to drive progress, Sodexo continues to sustain their commitment. "Sodexo prides itself in creating opportunities and resources for all employees," said Dr. Rohini Anand, SVP of Sustainability and Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo. "We are thrilled to be recognized for our contributions by the US Business Leadership Network and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) once again." Recognizing the need for companies to further their disability and inclusion initiatives, the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) and American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) released the 2017 Disability Equality Index. The 2017 DEI showed a significant increase in companies' recruitment efforts of people with disabilities. "We applaud those companies that are advancing their disability and inclusion efforts across the business," said Jill Houghton, President and CEO of USBLN. "Taking the DEI is a step within the journey, backed with concrete data and insight. The release of this report, and the 68 leading companies, challenges other companies to fill in those critical gaps, and realize the possible results by being inclusive to people with disabilities, throughout the workforce, marketplace and supply chain." Sodexo continues to be a leader in both the diversity and disability inclusion space. The company ranked sixth on DiversityInc's 2016 list of Top Company for People with Disabilities (NOD), awarded as a top-scorer on the Disability Equality Index three consecutive years in row and received the National Organization on Disability's Leading Disability Employer Seal. Visit our 2016 Global Diversity and Inclusion report for a complete list of awards. About the DEI The DEI is a joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN). Developed by the DEI Advisory Committee, a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates, the DEI is a national, transparent benchmarking tool that offers businesses an opportunity to receive a score on a scale of zero (0) to 100, on their disability inclusion policies and practices. Sodexo in North America Sodexo USA is an American business that is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Delivering more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life, Sodexo is a leading provider of sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations. It employs 123,000 Americans at 12,500 sites across the country and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional U.S. jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small to large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed more than $29 million since 1999 to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. SOURCE Sodexo Related Links http://www.sodexoUSA.com "Diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of Sodexo's growth strategy and brand promise," said Lorna Donatone, CEO, Geographic Regions and Region Chair, North America, Sodexo . "By joining the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion Pledge, we're able to reinforce our commitment to provide all employees the best possible work life experience regardless of age, gender, nationality, culture or personal characteristics." Some of the company's initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace include: Commitment to Affirmative Action: Sodexo's policy of affirmative action facilitates the placement of qualified women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans at all levels of the organization. Sodexo's policy of affirmative action facilitates the placement of qualified women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans at all levels of the organization. Training & Development: Sodexo offers more than 25 learning labs on a variety of dimensions of diversity. Sodexo also provides a one-day Spirit of Inclusion session that is mandatory for all managers and focuses on building awareness and skills around diversity and inclusion. Sodexo offers more than 25 learning labs on a variety of dimensions of diversity. Sodexo also provides a one-day Spirit of Inclusion session that is mandatory for all managers and focuses on building awareness and skills around diversity and inclusion. Mentoring: Sodexo offers mentoring programs that connect employees across cultures and business lines. Sodexo's mentoring programs hone leadership skills while fostering a more inclusive culture. Sodexo offers mentoring programs that connect employees across cultures and business lines. Sodexo's mentoring programs hone leadership skills while fostering a more inclusive culture. Employee Business Resource Groups (EBRGs): Sodexo's EBRGs are organized by employees around a sense of shared interests and experiences, or a common dimension of diversity. The EBRGs provide networking, professional development and learning opportunities; visibility and access to senior leadership; opportunities to impact business results, community involvement; resources and support systems. "We are proud of our company's progress in the area of workplace diversity," said Dr. Rohini Anand, Sodexo's Senior Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer. "We are always looking for ways to improve as an organization and ensure diversity and inclusion remain a top priority. We are excited to join in this effort with other major organizations that share our vision." Sodexo continues to be a leader in the diversity and inclusion space, having ranked as a top 10 company on DiversityInc's 2017 'Top 50 Companies for Diversity' list for the 9th consecutive year, being named one of the 2017 Best Companies for Multicultural Women by Working Mother Magazine, and more. Visit our 2016 Global Diversity and Inclusion report for a complete list of awards. "We are so proud that we are continuing to build momentum and support for the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion across companies, industries, and regions. This collaboration expands our reach and brings in unique values, actions and perspectives to continue to raise the bar for the entire business community," said Tim Ryan, U.S. Chairman and Senior Partner of PwC and chair of the steering committee for the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion. "The overwhelming support for the coalition has been amazing to see and with each and every new organization signing on, we have the opportunity to put our commitments into action by working together to improve diversity and inclusion in our workplaces and communities." Sodexo USA is an American business that is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Delivering more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life, Sodexo is a leading provider of sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations. It employs 123,000 Americans at 12,500 sites across the country and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional U.S. jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small to large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed close to $30 million over the past 20 years to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. SOURCE Sodexo Related Links http://www.sodexoUSA.com "Breakfast needs to be not only tasty it needs to be filling and convenient," said Jim Flaniken, Sr. Vice President of Marketing for Steak 'n Shake. "We've invented a truly unique breakfast offering by pairing fan-favorite cereals with our hand-scooped Steak 'n Shake milkshakes. These five new milkshakes are fun and a delicious start to the morning that will keep you satisfied to lunch. Although they're great for breakfast, these new shakes will also be available to our customers, day or night." The all-new breakfast milkshakes are available at Steak 'n Shake locations nationwide, and include the following flavors, topped with whipped cream and a cherry, priced at $3.79 each: Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Milkshake Kellogg's Coca Krispies Milkshake Kellogg's Honey Smacks Milkshake Cinnamon Crunch Milkshake Caramel Frappe Milkshake Breakfast Milkshakes will be available throughout the day including Price Happy Hour, weekdays 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. To find a location near you or for additional information on Steak 'n Shake's new Breakfast Milkshakes, visit: www.steaknshake.com. About Steak 'n Shake Inc. Steak 'n Shake, a classic American brand, serves premium burgers and shakes in more than 600 restaurants across the country and the world. Founded in 1934 in Normal, Illinois, Steak 'n Shake is the leader in the "better burger" segment of the restaurant industry, serving hand-crafted, premium Steakburgers and hand-scooped milkshakes. Steak 'n Shake is the recipient of the Nation's Restaurant News Golden Chain Award. Zagat has recognized Steak n Shake as having the No. 1 Milkshake. Steak 'n Shake Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings Inc. SOURCE Steak 'n Shake Related Links http://www.steaknshake.com LONDON, Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- "The rapidly aging infrastructure in North America and Europe is expected to drive the structural health monitoring market." The structural health monitoring market is expected to grow from USD 701.4 million in 2015 to USD 3407.7 million by 2022, at a CAGR of 24.99% between 2016 and 2022. Structural health monitoring solutions improve the performance of the structures such as commercial and residential buildings, dams, power plants by providing real-time data about the parameters such as strain, structural damage in various structures. Effective monitoring of civil structure helps in prolonging the life of a structure as the data received helps in taking remedial action and providing maintenance whenever a significant structural damage is noticed. The civil infrastructure in the U.S. has been rapidly aging and there is a growing need to monitor the structural damage for maintenance and reconstruction which is a major driver for the growth of the structural health monitoring market. The growing usage of composites in construction of structures is major driver for the growth of structural health monitoring market in the aerospace industry. The high cost of the installation of sensors and other hardware in large structures such as bridges and dams could prove to be a major restraining factor for the growth of structural health monitoring market. However, the advancement in sensor technologies, growing usage of smart structures and smart materials with embedded sensors are some of the key future opportunities for growth of structural health monitoring market. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4603859/ "The structural health monitoring market for aerospace industry is expected to grow at a high rate owing to high maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) costs." The structural health monitoring market for the aerospace industry is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2022. The aerospace industry, particularly commercial aviation is highly cost sensitive, and MRO activities constitute significant overhead costs. This necessitates the use of enhanced solutions such as structural health monitoring to effectively reduce the down time because of MRO activities. The growing usage of structural health monitoring also results in improving the overall safety and security through real-time analysis on the condition of airframe structurtes. "The structural health monitoring market in Asia-Pacific (APAC) is likely to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2022." The structural health monitoring market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2022. The rapid urbanization, and frequent occurences of natural calamities such as earthquakes are the major growth drivers for structural health monitoring market in this region. North America is expected to hold the largest share of the structural health monitroing market between 2016 and 2022. The rapidly aging infrastructure in the U.S., commercialization of structural health monitoring systems in the aerospace industry are some of the major factors driving the growth of the structural health monitoring market in North America. In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with key people. The break-up of profile of primary participants has been given below: By Company Type: Tier 1 25%, Tier 2 45%, and Tier 3 30% By Designation: C-Level Executives 45% , Directors 35%, and Others 20% By Region: North America 35%, Europe 30%, APAC 25%, and RoW 10% Several companies have adopted the strategy of marketing of new products to increase their market share. Research and development (R&D) is increasingly conducted to provide comprehensive monitoring solutions, ranging from sensors to software support, to customers. A number of companies have attempted to strengthen their market position by collaborating with various other participants in the value chain. Apart from these dominant strategies, some players have adopted the approach of mergers and acquisitions to expand their business in the structural health monitoring market. The key players in the structural health monitoring market profiled in this report are: 1. Advitam Group 2. COWI A/S 3. Geocomp Corp. 4. Geokon, Inc. 5. Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik GmbH (HBM) 6. Nova Metrix LLC 7. Sodis Lab 8. Strainstall UK Ltd. 9. Digitexx Data Systems, Inc. 10. Geosig Ltd. 11. National Instruments 12. Kinemetrics, Inc. 13. Acellent Technologies, Inc. Research Coverage The structural health monitoring market on the basis of geography has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW). Based on solutions, the structural health monitoring market has been classified into hardware and software and services. The structural health monitoring market on the basis of end users covers civil infrastructure, aerospace, defense, energy, mining, and others. The structural health monitroing market has been segmented on the basis of technology into wired and wireless structural health monitoring technology. Key Benefits of Buying the Report The report would help the market leaders/new entrants in the structural health monitoring market in the following ways: 1. This report segments the structural health monitoring market comprehensively and provides the closest approximations of the overall market size and that of the subsegments across different applications and regions. 2. This report would help stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provide them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. 3. This report would help stakeholders to understand their competitors and gain more insights to enhance their position in the business. The competitive landscape section includes competitor ecosystem, new product developments, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions in the structural health monitoring market. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4603859/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com Furthermore, Subaru of America Foundation has enhanced its existing matching gifts program to establish a way for SOA employees to help support relief and recovery efforts in Texas and Louisiana. Through the program, employee donations to eligible organizations actively responding to Hurricane Harvey will be matched on a $2/$1 basis for this relief effort. To assist Subaru customers directly affected by Hurricane Harvey, Subaru Motors Finance1 is waiving or refunding late fees for auto accounts through September 10. Subaru Motors Finance is also providing payment options if customers are having trouble making monthly payments. Customers should call the special-care line at 1-888-356-0023 (select option 4 for auto) to make those arrangements. Additionally, Subaru of America is offering $500 toward the purchase or lease of a new Subaru vehicle for customers whose vehicle was damaged as a result of the hurricane and flooding. About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 620 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $120 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 40,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do. For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 1 The tradename "Subaru Motors Finance" is owned by Subaru of America, Inc. and licensed to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. ("Chase"). Retail/Loan and lease accounts are owned by Chase. Michael McHale Subaru of America, Inc. 856-488-3326 [email protected] Diane Anton Subaru of America, Inc. 856-488-5093 [email protected] SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc. Related Links http://www.subaru.com INTERSECTIONS INCLUDE 67.7 G AU/T OVER 0.90 METRES, 52.9 G AU/T OVER 1.00 METRES, AND 13.1 G AU/T OVER 5.95 METRES TORONTO, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Superior Gold Inc. ("Superior Gold" or the "Company") (TSX.V:SGI) is pleased to announce additional results from the ongoing underground diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Plutonic Gold Mine in Western Australia. The drilling was conducted from early May to mid-June 2017. Results are provided for 104 drill holes for a total of more than 7,000 metres. The drill holes were completed for resource definition and grade control purposes. Resource definition was designed to increase the confidence level of the resource in areas where drilling was limited. Grade control drilling was completed to provide additional information for stope design ahead of mining. The drilling focussed on 5 zones Baltic; Caribbean; Caspian; Indian; and Timor. A number of significant intersections were encountered. KEY FINDINGS 87 intersections encountered more than 5g Au/t 30 intersections encountered more than 10g Au/t 11 intersections encountered more than 20g Au/t The location of the most significant intersections are shown in Figure 1 and the details of all holes are summarized by zone in Table 2 . Chris Bradbrook, President and CEO of Superior Gold stated: "As with our previously released results (May 11, 2017 and August 2, 2017), these results continue to demonstrate the strength of the mineralized system at the Plutonic Gold Mine. We are extremely encouraged by these drill results and continue to work towards increasing the confidence level in the resources. One of our principal goals is to grow the level of underground reserves and to extend the mine life." HIGHLIGHTS The most significant intersections are summarized in Table 1 below: Table 1 Key Intersections Drill Hole # Easting Northing RL Dip (deg) Azimuth (deg) Depth (m) From (m) To (m) Thickness (m) Au (gpt) uncut Est True Thickness (m) CARIBBEAN UDD19087 4760 11460 1279 -23 203 47 28.20 31.00 2.80 8.8 1.8 UDD19089 4758 11461 1281 28 176 67 42.25 46.60 4.15 8.9 2.7 including 42.45 44.60 2.15 14.2 1.5 UDD19255 4753 11775 1203 -52 277 73 51.75 54.40 2.65 15.1 1.9 UDD19256 4753 11775 1203 -54 287 68 48.45 57.45 9.00 10.3 5.9 including 48.45 54.40 5.95 13.1 3.9 and 48.45 51.20 2.75 10.0 1.9 and 51.85 54.40 2.55 19.1 1.8 UDD19259 4754 11776 1203 -70 291 51 42.00 43.10 1.10 16.3 0.8 UDD19277 4800 11854 1180 28 299 46 41.85 50.30 8.45 6.2 5.5 UDD19284 4802 11855 1179 7 267 103 31.60 34.40 2.80 8.1 1.8 including 32.60 33.60 1.00 16.3 0.7 UDD19288 4757 11772 1204 -24 177 55 34.30 34.60 0.30 36.2 0.2 UDD19291 4757 11772 1203 -43 160 60 23.95 24.35 0.40 54.4 0.3 CASPIAN UDD19150 4285 10970 1392 -30 215 59 29.20 30.50 1.30 32.4 0.9 UDD19215 4307 11054 1277 80 25 13 5.25 7.65 2.40 13.1 1.6 including 5.25 5.60 0.35 68.2 0.2 UDD19216 4313 11055 1272 46 352 26 12.65 13.15 0.50 43.1 0.4 UDD19299 4785 11055 1270 -48 56 72 33.85 34.25 0.40 19.0 0.3 UDD19301 4785 11055 1270 -11 56 63 10.05 11.05 1.00 14.6 0.7 UDD19306 4797 11051 1270 -18 71 84 9.00 9.30 0.30 15.7 0.2 UDD19310 4796 11050 1270 -10 107 158 71.65 72.80 1.15 11.6 0.8 UDD19311 4796 11050 1270 6 107 81 11.40 13.40 2.00 8.0 1.4 INDIAN UDD18978 3874 11529 1065 -11 198 198 169.85 170.75 0.90 67.7 0.6 UDD18979 3874 11529 1065 -8 194 207 181.00 182.00 1.00 14.0 0.7 UDD18982 3876 11529 1065 -5 171 232 193.50 193.80 0.30 36.6 0.2 UDD18982 3876 11529 1065 -5 171 232 197.70 198.90 1.20 27.8 0.8 UDD19269 4308 11490 1122 -56 24 22 12.15 13.30 1.15 22.6 0.8 UDD19410 4343 11463 1099 14 126 22 13.00 14.00 1.00 52.9 0.7 UDD19411 4344 11463 1101 35 126 17 2.00 3.00 1.00 11.1 0.7 UDD19413 4346 11467 1101 34 119 35 16.80 17.20 0.40 26.6 0.3 TIMOR UDD19047 4546 12795 1220 -72 79 186 165.80 167.20 1.40 14.5 1.0 UDD19048 4546 12795 1220 -63 79 193 156.00 157.00 1.00 6.5 0.7 UDD19052 4541 12814 1220 -75 53 174 148.20 149.20 1.00 6.0 0.7 UDD19054 4547 12796 1220 -51 65 186 134.25 137.20 2.95 9.0 2.1 Qualified Person Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Simon Lawson who is a member of the AusIMM and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Quality Control Protocols Core is drilled BTW core diameter (42 mm). Core intervals are whole core sampled. All gold results were determined by ALS Minerals (Perth) using fire assay fusion (40g charge, lead collection method) with an ICP finish. Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with NI 43-101 and industy best practices. Standards, blanks and duplicates are included in approximately every 20 samples for Quality Assurance/Quality Control purposes by the Company as well as the laboratory. Approximately 5% of sample pulps are sent to secondary laboratories for check assays. About Superior Gold Superior Gold is a Canadian based gold producer that owns 100% of the Plutonic Gold Operations located in Western Australia. The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic Gold Mine, which is a producing underground operation with a central mill, the Hermes open pit development project and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture. Superior Gold is focused on expanding production at the Plutonic Gold Operations and building an intermediate gold producer with superior returns for shareholders. Forward Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws that is intended to be covered by the safe harbours created by those laws. "Forward-looking information" includes statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made. Furthermore, such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. See "Risk Factors" in the Company's prospectus dated February 15, 2017 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for a discussion of these risks. The Company cautions that there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Superior Gold HOUSTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The devastating impact that Hurricane Harvey has recently had on Houston, Texas and surrounding cities has resulted in unprecedented losses for many. Unfortunately, those suffering losses also include thousands of small businesses whose operations have been shut down by the storm and who have endured the unexpected losses of real estate, equipment, inventory and revenue. HurricaneHarveyReliefFund In response to this tragedy, the Texas Black Expo, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, in partnership with Emmy Award-winning producer, entrepreneur, and Houston native Rushion McDonald ("Steve Harvey," "Family Feud," "The Jamie Foxx Show," the Neighborhood Awards, etc.), have joined forces to raise emergency micro-funding for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the affected regions that have experienced storm-related losses. Eligible applicants will receive a one-time grant of $1,000 within 48 business hours of application approval. These grants can be used for the replacement of office supplies, office furniture, or office equipment, as well as for office clean-up and minor remodeling projects. According to Texas Black Expo President & Founder Jerome Love, the impetus for the idea came as a result of the realization that among the many relief efforts that are taking place to help the city recover, small businesses would also require a substantial amount of assistance to rebound from the losses they have incurred as a result of the storm. "One of the key focuses of the Texas Black Expo is strengthening businesses. We realize that strong businesses are the cornerstone of strong communities, so it is imperative that we do all we can to help small businesses recover so that our communities can come back stronger than ever," Love explained. This mission resounded with Rushion McDonald, who has been nationally recognized as a pioneer in supporting small business development for decades. He explains, "For the past 20 years, I have celebrated the uplifting and growth of small businesses in this country. It is the reason I launched Money Making Conversations, a show that empowers entrepreneurs and small businesses. This show can be heard via iHeartRadio Podcast and KYND Radio. Partnering with Texas Black Expo to raise funds for hurricane-damaged small businesses is an opportunity to continue my small business support." The organizers are seeking to establish a fund of $100,000 to assist these small businesses, which are so vital to our communities and economy, in their recovery after the devastating losses they have suffered as a result of this historical event. Please donate today towards this relief fund by visiting www.texasblackexpo.com and clicking on the Hurricane Harvey banner. Thank you in advance for your support. The Texas Black Expo, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is dedicated to improving the quality of life within minority communities by strengthening businesses, inspiring youth, and building better lives. For more information about the Texas Black Expo, visit www.texasblackexpo.com. How to Apply for Emergency Micro-funding Relief for Small Businesses Affected by Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey Small Business Relief Application Process: 1. Visit www.texasblackexpo.com 2. Click on the Hurricane Harvey Relief banner to download the application. 3. Complete application. 4. Send completed application to one of the following: FAX 832-615-3065 OR EMAIL [email protected] 5. Applicants will receive notification that the application has been received. 6. 50 applications will be reviewed per day (on a first-come, first-served basis). All approved applicants will be notified via e-mail. 7. Funds will be available for pick-up within 48 business hours of application approval. Note: Awarding of relief grants will be contingent upon the availability of resources remaining in the funding pool at the time the application is received. All relief grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact: (For Texas Black Expo) Misty Starks Misty Blue Media [email protected] (832) 283-7575 (For Rushion McDonald) Jacinda Chen / Aliya Crawford W&W Public Relations [email protected] (908) 253-6360 SOURCE Texas Black Expo and Rushion McDonald Related Links http://www.texasblackexpo.com SAN FRANCISCO, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 3rd edition of Startup Europe comes to Silicon Valley (SEC2SV), the premier program for future European startup unicorns ready to welcome 15 companies from 9 countries. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/483248/eit_Digital_Logo.jpg ) For the third consecutive year, SEC2SV is ready to welcome a selection of the best European Tech Scaleups for a week of local presentations and meetings, including European Innovation Day at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on September 20th. Organized by Mind the Bridge and EIT Digital with the support of the European Commission and European Parliament, SEC2SV embodies today the premier program for future European unicorns to engage with main US industry players for business, funding and collaboration opportunities in order to rapidly scale up on the other side of the Atlantic. With total revenue of over $60M and 800 employees these 15 promising selected tech companies come from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, and cover verticals such as Mobile Advertising, Digital Marketing, Marketing Technology, Fintech, Education, Wearables/IoT, Big Data Analytics, Energy, Health, Security, Wireless, TV-Multimedia, System Management. To be considered for the SEC2SV delegation, companies needed to demonstrate significant growth in revenue and/or number of employees during the last 3 years and to be ready for expansion into the US market. The average annual revenue for the selected companies is $4M+ and the average number of employees is 50+. The selected scaleups will spend an entire week (18-22 September) in Silicon Valley alongside a delegation of visiting officials from the European Commission, European Parliament, European Committee of the Regions, EU member state representatives including 3 Secretaries of State, investors and senior executives of established corporations. Each company will present their business at the SEC2SV European Innovation Day Conference (#SEC2SV) to an international audience of over 500 attendees at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Eric Thelen, Director of EIT Digital's Silicon Valley hub states that: "Once again, SEC2SV 2017 will demonstrate the huge potential of European technologies in the American market and provide top European entrepreneurs with excellent opportunities for succeeding in Silicon Valley. EIT Digital is proud to connect outstanding European talent with the innovative heart of the USA: San Francisco and the Bay Area." "We're very excited to once again welcome a great selection of European scaleups to Silicon Valley. Since 2014 we have been working hard to strengthen the conversation between EU and US, help policymakers better understand the real needs of the markets and let them have a tighter grip on the upcoming trends as they emerge by giving them first hand experience. As demonstrated in the past editions, we hold high expectations for the futures of these companies and hope to pave the way for them to become the next European unicorns," said Marco Marinucci, CEO Mind the Bridge comments. Selected European Scaleups: App-Ray (CEO Zsolt Nemeth) - Austria App-Ray is a provider of automated Android application security scanning. App-Ray provides fully automated security analysis of mobile applications to find security issues, privacy breaches and data leaking potentials. It augments existing mobile security solutions to classify and provide deep insights on application behavior. http://app-ray.co Beintoo (CEO Andrea Campana) - Italy Beintoo is a mobile data company offering behavioural analysis and data driven campaign based on geo-location information. Their technology allows clients to measure engagement and drive-to-store conversion of their mobile campaigns. http://www.beintoo.com/it BitBar (CEO Marko Kaasila) - Finland Bitbar automates mobile building, testing, monitoring and deployment processes for enterprises They help customers deliver more with less people by providing lightning fast mobile DevOps environments in a preconfigured private, public or on-premise cloud service. https://bitbar.com Buzzoole (CEO Fabrizio Perrone) - Italy Buzzoole is an end-to-end Influencer Marketing platform that allows brands to integrate key influencers into their digital communications in a fully automated way. Buzzoole automates the search, reward and evaluation system that brands use to find Influencers, making it an effective marketing option with measurable ROI driven results. https://buzzoole.com Five Degrees (CEO Martijn Hohmann) - Netherlands Five Degrees provides core banking technology with their online digital banking platform. They automate banking processes such as client onboarding of a retail banking customer and support banking products such as savings accounts and consumer loans.. https://www.fivedegrees.nl Ignilife (CEO Fabrice Pakin) - France Ignilife creates a unique digital platform to empower people to be active in managing their own health and wellness. It utilizes a customizable platform that leverages gamification and social interaction to encourage positive behavior. http://ignilife.com One Pulse (CEO Atul Choudrie) - UK OnePulse is self-service platform that allows businesses to ask targeted groups of people questions in the form of micro-surveys (pulses) and get answers within seconds. OnePulse provides critical insights on relevant segments of the population to enterprises. http://www.onepulse.com Primo (CEO Filippo Yacob) - UK Primo Toys is the maker of Cubetto, a friendly wooden robot that teaches children the basics of computer programming through adventure and hands-on play without the need for a screen. Cubetto is the most crowdfunded educational technology invention in Kickstarter's history, raising $1.6m from backers in 96 countries. https://www.primotoys.com/ ProGlove (CEO Thomas Kirchner) - Germany ProGlove is a smart glove that enhances the most important tool of professionals: their hands. Enabling manufacturing and logistics staff to work faster, safer and easier, ProGlove provides a suite of connected capabilities to every user with their wearable smart glove. http://www.proglove.de Redborder: ENEO Tecnologia S.L. (CEO Jesus de la Maza) - Spain Redborder cybersecurity is an all in one platform for businesses and enterprises. It is capable of performing in a multitude of environments beyond just cybersecurity, with real time venue monitoring, network traffic analysis, and big data analytics all included in the package. https://redborder.com Semarchy (CEO Salah Kamel) - France Semarchy provides a platform for multi-vector Master Data Management (MDM) that leverages smart algorithms and material design to simplify data stewardship, governance and integration. It is implemented via an agile and iterative approach that scales to meet enterprise complexity. https://www.semarchy.com Sunamp (CEO Andrew Bissell) - UK Sunamp designs, produces and sells innovative, patented, highly efficient and super compact Heat Batteries that can be used to store heat for a number of applications including many renewable and low carbon technologies. https://www.sunamp.com Swap (CEO Juha Koponen) - Finland Swap.com is an online consignment and thrift store for women, men and kids. Challenging the common perception of shopping secondhand, Swap.com offers a wide variety of styles and brands promoting high quality and fast shipping for sellers and buyers. https://www.swap.com. Wirepas Oy (CEO Teppo Hemia) - Finland Wirepas Connectivity is a de-centralized radio communications protocol for large-scale IoT applications. Their software allows for IoT data to be transmitted from any connected devices using radio chips on any radio band. http://www.wirepas.com Sentiance (President Dimitri Maex) - Belgium Sentiance is a data science company turning IOT sensor data into insights about people's behavior with real-time context. These insights enable companies to understand how customers go through their everyday lives, to discover and anticipate key moments, and adapt customer engagement to real life behavior. Sentiance context intelligence enables solutions for a multitude of industries including insurance and automotive. http://www.sentiance.com About Startup Europe Comes To Silicon Valley (SEC2SV) Launched in 2015, Startup Europe Comes to Silicon Valley (SEC2SV) brings together annually the most relevant founders, corporates, investors, and policy-makers from the EU entrepreneurial ecosystem and Silicon Valley in engaging meetings and workshops, forging meaningful long-term relationships. SEC2SV is the flagship pan-European program in Silicon Valley supported by the European Commission and European Parliament. A week-long program of high-level activities organized around the European Innovation Day conference. Past participants have included: the best 15 year EU scaleups expanding to the US; Elzbieta Bienkowska, EU commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME's, Gunther H. Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources; Julie Hanna, US Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship; Betsy Masiello, Head of Public Policy, Uber; and Henry Chesbrough, the Father of Open Innovation SEC2SV is a format created and organized by Mind the Bridge as part of the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) initiative and co-organized with EIT Digital. http://sec2sv.com About EIT Digital EIT Digital is a leading European open innovation organisation that brings together a partnership of over 130 top European corporations, SMEs, start-ups, universities and research institutes. EIT Digital invests in strategic areas to accelerate market uptake of research-based digital technologies and to bring entrepreneurial talent and leadership to Europe. EIT Digital is a Knowledge and Innovation Community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). EIT Digital headquarters are in Brussels with co-location centres in Berlin, Budapest, Eindhoven, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Trento and a hub in Silicon Valley. About Mind the Bridge Mind the Bridge is a global organization that provides innovation advisory services for corporates and startups. With HQs in San Francisco (CA) and offices in London, Italy and Spain, Mind the Bridge has been working as an international bridge at the intersection between startups and corporates since 2007. Mind the Bridge scouts, filters and works with 1,500+ startups a year supporting global corporations in their innovation quest by driving open innovation initiatives that translate into curated deals with startups (namely POCs, licensing, investments, and/or acquisitions). Mind the Bridge publishes curated reports on the status of the scaleup ecosystems in different geographies, as well as M&A and innovation market trends in various verticals. Mind the Bridge has strong partnerships with entities such as the London Stock Exchange and the European Commission, for whom it runs the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) open innovation platform. About Startup Europe, European Commission The Startup Europe Team works with entrepreneurs connecting them with the European ecosystem where talent, investment and learning can be easily captured. We believe Europe's growth is going to be determined by savvy startups, and we want to support the growth of these startups. Startup Europe is based on four pillars: 1. Connecting people through our array of networks, such as investors, accelerators, female entrepreneurs, corporate networks, universities and #EUTechWriters (Startup Europe Partnership, SEP Investors Forum, ). 2. Connecting ecosystems with 5 Projects (Digistart, ePlus Ecosystem, Startup-Scaleup, Twist Digital and WELCOME) and by supporting regional initiatives such as Startup Europe Week or Startup Europe Regions Network. 3. Helping startups to soft-land in other markets such as Silicon Valley (SEC2SV) and India. 4. Celebrating entrepreneurs' success (Techallstars and Europioneers). About Startup Europe Partnership (SEP) Established by the European Commission in January 2014 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, SEP is the first pan-European open innovation platform dedicated to transforming European startups into scaleups by linking them with global corporations. By participating in the SEP program, global companies can ease the scale up process of startups via business partnerships and strategic and venture corporate investments, providing them with access to the best technologies and talents through procurement of services or products, corporate acquisition or "acqui-hiring". SEP is led by Mind the Bridge, a global organization with offices in Europe and United States, with the support of Nesta (the UK's innovation foundation), London Stock Exchange Group, European Startup Network (ESN) and the Scaleup Institute. SEP is a Startup Europe initiative Media Contact: Alvaro de la Cruz EIT Digital Silicon Valley Hub Communications Lead +34-682-784-105 [email protected] SOURCE EIT Digital The Go Anywhere underwear line includes two styles of Tommy John's best selling silhouettes, the Trunk and Boxer Brief in a brand new smart-fabric. The fabric is moisture wicking, anti-microbial, and contains 4-way stretch. Go Anywhere Underwear moves with the body through all the stretching, crouching, lifting and reaching that even the most hectic days hold. These features are paired with the same iconic functionality that Tommy John underwear is known for; the horizontal Quick Draw fly, Stay-Put waistband and No-Wedgie Guarantee. In addition to the line of Go Anywhere Underwear, Tommy John introduces the Go Anywhere Jogger, the Go Anywhere Dress Pant, as well as the Go Anywhere Button Henley. All items are designed to be equally as comfortable as they are stylish, with quick drying, moisture wicking, and anti-odor properties, for optimum comfort and assurance. The Go Anywhere collection is designed to be as versatile as the man who wears it. "Go Anywhere is the Tommy John solution for the guy that needs all day performance from morning to night," says Tom Patterson, founder and CEO of Tommy John. "He wants to be equally as comfortable biking to the coffee shop as he is sitting through a three-hour meeting. Whether he is attending a tailgate, lounging on the couch, or doing anything in between, The Go Anywhere customer wants all aspects of his clothing to be as hard working as he is. He refuses to settle for anything less." Tommy John launches this collection following the announcement that they're opening their first brick and mortar retail store at King of Prussia Mall in suburban Philadelphia this fall. Also this fall, the company is set to debut a capsule collection with investor, and celebrity Tommy John fan, Kevin Hart. About Tommy John: Tommy John is a premium men's underwear and apparel company committed to addressing the real problems men have with their clothing. Each product contains proprietary fabrics, innovative fit and functionality that eliminate unnecessary adjustments, discomfort, untucking and bunching. Tommy John launched in 2008 with the world's first patented undershirt with a stay-tucked guarantee, and has since expanded into underwear, socks, casual and activewear. Tommy John products can currently be found at nearly 1,000 retail locations including Nordstrom, Men's Wearhouse, Dillard's, Bloomingdale's, and online at www.tommyjohn.com. SOURCE Tommy John Related Links http://tommyjohn.com RESTON, Va., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology company, was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity to provide scientific and administrative services to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). The single-award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, cost-plus fixed-fee contract has a one-year base ordering period, four one-year optional ordering periods, and a total contract ceiling value of approximately $98 million (inclusive of options). Work will be performed in Frederick, Md. The CDMRP originated via a Congressional appropriation to foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of its stakeholders-the American public, the military, and Congress. The CDMRP manage appropriations annually totaling over $1 billion for intramural and extramural programs directed toward targeted medical research initiatives. For more than 25 years, Leidos has supported the process with innovative solutions to programmatic review of all research applications. Under the contract Leidos will leverage its expertise and knowledge of the program to provide scientific and administrative support to Leadership and Government Program Managers, including establishing and managing the Programmatic Panels to advise the government on potential applications for research funding. "We look forward to continuing to support the CDMRP with an established and respected process for reviewing research applications to further medical research initiatives that contribute to protecting the health of our soldiers," said Leidos Group President Jon Scholl. About Leidos Leidos is a Fortune 500 science and technology solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 32,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $7.04 billion for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2016. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 30, 2016, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SOURCE Leidos Related Links http://www.leidos.com CLEVELAND, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- US demand for industrial gases is forecast to reach $6.8 billion in 2021, according to Industrial Gases: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports. Suppliers will benefit from expanding manufacturing activity, which will drive demand for industrial gases in the production of a variety of durable and nondurable goods. In particular, increasing activity in oil and gas production will stimulate gains. Growth in demand for hydrogen and argon, considered together, is expected to account for the largest share of gains among the segments. A rising volume of refined petroleum production attributed to diesel fuels will stimulate demand. Increasing natural gas prices which suppliers seek to pass on to customers in the form of price increases will support value growth. Suppliers will also experience greater demand for argon, as expanding metal production will stoke gains. These and other key insights are featured in Industrial Gases: United States. This report forecasts US industrial gas demand and shipments in US dollars at the manufacturers' level to 2021. Total demand is segmented by product in terms of: hydrogen and argon nitrogen fluorocarbons carbon dioxide oxygen other gases such as helium and acetylene To illustrate historical trends, total demand, total shipments, the various segments, and trade are provided in annual series from 2006 to 2016. More information about the report is available at https://www.freedoniafocusreports.com/Industrial-Gases-United-States-FF35029/ About Freedonia Focus Reports Each month, The Freedonia Group a division of MarketResearch.com publishes over 20 new or updated Freedonia Focus Reports, providing fresh, unbiased analysis on a wide variety of markets and industries. Published in 20-30 pages, Focus Report coverage ranges from raw materials to finished manufactured goods and related services such as freight and construction. Additional Materials & Chemicals reports can be purchased at Freedonia Focus Reports or MarketResearch.com. Analysis is intended to guide the busy reader through pertinent topics in rapid succession, including: total historical market size and industry output segmentation by products and markets identification of market drivers, constraints, and key indicators segment-by-segment outlook in five-year forecasts a survey of the supply base suggested resources for further study Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.684.9600 [email protected] SOURCE The Freedonia Group (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550840/Chemo_Group_Logo.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550841/Exeltis_Logo.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550842/Mundo_Sano_Logo.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/550843/DNDi_Logo.jpg ) Benznidazole is an essential medicine for Chagas disease, a dangerous parasitic disease that affects an estimated 6 to 8 million people worldwide. In the United States, an estimated 300,000 people are living with Chagas disease. Previously, it was available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but was not FDA approved. "The approval of benznidazole represents a major milestone in the US and global response to address Chagas disease," said Nick Haggar, CEO of Chemo Group. "We are excited to have the opportunity to fulfill this medical need and make a meaningful difference in the lives of Chagas patients. The FDA's decision approves benznidazole for children ages 2-12 years old. We look forward to continuing our strong collaboration with the FDA to expand indication." Chemo Group played a central role in registering benznidazole with the FDA, in close collaboration with its US-based pharmaceutical division Exeltis, corporate social responsibility partner Mundo Sano, with the support of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit drug development organization. DNDi supported U.S. registration through provision of technical expertise and sharing of data from DNDi-led clinical trials. The approval of benznidazole will facilitate the delivery of life-saving medical treatment to people with Chagas disease. "I am thrilled that we are taking a giant step forward in our journey to overcome the many barriers to Chagas treatment," said Dr. Silvia Gold, President of Mundo Sano. "I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the caring and dedicated doctors who fight for Chagas patients each day. I also send a warm thank you to all the researchers and experts diligently working to expand knowledge and understanding of this complex disease. It is a privilege to celebrate this milestone together with a passionate, dedicated community. Our work does not stop here, and we will work hand in hand to transform the lives of people suffering from Chagas disease." With the approval of benznidazole, the FDA granted Chemo Research a neglected tropical disease priority review voucher (PRV). According to the terms of the collaboration between Chemo, Mundo Sano and DNDi, a substantial part of any revenue derived from the future sale of the PRV will be directed towards enhancing access to treatment for Chagas patients and improving patient health in other disease areas. "We are proud to work together with the talented pool of doctors, experts and healthcare providers to ensure widespread use and equitable access for all patients," said Fernando Mateus, President of Exeltis USA, Inc. "Very few people with Chagas disease have access to treatment globally, and in the U.S. only a handful," said Dr. Bernard Pecoul, DNDi Executive Director. "It is our hope that FDA registration will also catalyze endemic countries in Latin America that have not yet registered the drug to do so. Ultimately, we believe this will help transform the dynamic of access to treatment throughout the Americas." Looking ahead, Chemo Group will continue working in collaboration with Exeltis, Mundo Sano and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to overcome barriers to treatment of Chagas disease. Exeltis will be responsible for the product distribution in the US market. In parallel, Mundo Sano and DNDi will pursue efforts to boost access and increase patient awareness. Related Links: http://www.chagaspartnership.com Chemo Group Chemo Group is a global pharmaceutical company with over 40 years of experience and commitment in safeguarding and improving people's health and well-being. The Chemo Group has offices in more than 40 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and employs more than 6,000 professionals. The Group's 15 factories, 10 R&D centers, and 33 affiliated pharmaceutical companies provide high quality, accessible medicines and services to patients around the world while collaborating with more than 1150 pharmaceutical business partners in 96 countries. Chemo Research based in Spain and Madrid has played a central role in bringing benznidazole to the FDA for assessment and approval. http://www.chemogroup.com Exeltis Exeltis is a branded pharmaceutical division of the Chemo Group that specializes in Women's Healthcare, Dermatology, Respiratory Disease and diseases of the Central Nervous System. Exeltis USA is located in New Jersey and is the market leader in PreNatal Vitamins and has a consolidated position in Women's Healthcare and Dermatology. Exeltis USA will use its operational and technical platform to support the availability of benznidazole in the United States in support of Mundo Sano - to help minimize costs and ensure compliance with FDA regulations. http://exeltisusa.com/ Mundo Sano Mundo Sano is a nonprofit foundation whose vision is the transformation of the realities of the populations affected by neglected tropical diseases since 1993. In pursuit of achieving greater equity, the institution works alongside the public and private sectors, academia, and other international organizations. In order to provide solutions to the affected communities and generate scientific knowledge, Mundo Sano led a public-private consortium in 2012 to produce benznidazole in Argentina, one of the two drugs that treat Chagas disease. http://www.mundosano.org DNDi A not-for-profit R&D organization, DNDi works to deliver new treatments for neglected tropical diseases. DNDi is actively engaged in developing new treatments and screening new compounds for Chagas disease. DNDi and partners delivered the first pediatric dosage form of benznidazole and are running clinical trials evaluating new regimens or combinations of the drug. DNDi is also involved in early stage research for entirely new drugs for Chagas disease. http://www.dndi.org SOURCE Chemo Group WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc. (MDT) announced that it has filed a complaint against Fotona, LLC and Fotona d.o.o. (Fotona) with the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging unfair competition by advertising periodontal tissue regeneration, a claim requiring clearances from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Fotona does not have FDA clearance for periodontal tissue regeneration. False advertising and false claims of the clinical outcome of periodontal tissue regeneration by Fotona constitute an important patient and public safety issue. This is the third time in three years that MDT has found it necessary to file a lawsuit against Fotona for business interference; now within an international platform. Mark Monaghan, CEO of Millennium Dental Technologies states, "As a result of millions of dollars of exhaustive research, the FDA granted the PerioLase MVP-7 clearance for True Periodontal Regeneration - when used specifically in the LANAP protocol. Both the LANAP protocol and the PerioLase MVP-7 dental laser are exclusive properties of Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc." Co-founder and President of Millennium Dental Technologies, Robert H. Gregg II, DDS adds, "Millennium was founded on the core principle 'It's All About the Patient.' When other entities deliberately mislead the public about clinical efficacy, the ultimate losers are the patients who do not receive treatment to the standard of care. MDT must continue to do what is right for patients and call out Fotona's bad acts; this is why we have asked the ITC to investigate." "When rival laser companies and their sales representatives provide false and misleading statements of efficacy or comparisons to the LANAP protocol that are not based in research or science and clinicians believe these statements the results include confusion in the marketplace leading to deceived doctors and patient injuries," commented Dawn M. Gregg, DDS, Vice President of Operations of Millennium Dental Technologies and Training Director for the Institute of Advanced Laser Dentistry (IALD). ABOUT MILLENNIUM DENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.: Headquartered in Cerritos, Calif., Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc., is the developer of the LANAP protocol for the treatment of gum disease and the manufacturer of the PerioLase MVP-7 digital dental laser. By providing a simple and comfortable experience with unique bone-building clinical results, MDT's FDA-cleared LANAP protocol removes the fear from gum disease treatment, offering a vastly less painful and less invasive regenerative treatment alternative to conventional surgery. Its PerioLase MVP-7 is a 6-watt free-running variable-pulsed Nd:YAG dental laser featuring 7 pulse durations giving it the power and versatility to perform a wide range of soft- and hard-tissue laser procedures. The PerioLase MVP-7 is also developed for the LAPIP protocol, for the treatment of ailing dental implants. The company's founding clinician, Robert H. Gregg, II, continues to operate the company with the vision: To create better clinical outcomes in periodontal disease patientsand to remain true to the guiding principle"It's all about the patient." SOURCE Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc. Related Links http://www.lanap.com Positioned at the intersection of Cedar and State Streets, this urban resort rises a magnificent 18-stories and is home to the neighborhood's first rooftop pool. This desirable rooftop space, in addition to floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the hotel, affords guests sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the cityscape, offering a unique vantage point of Chicago to inspire curiosity and exploration. An enviable location, Viceroy Chicago is steps away from top Chicago attractions including Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile, and some of the city's favorite high-end storefronts and boutiques on Oak Street. "A hub for culture, cuisine, and style, Chicago is the ideal location to start Viceroy Hotel Group's journey into the Midwest," said Bill Walshe, CEO of Viceroy Hotel Group. "We're proud to make our Chicago debut in partnership with hotel owner Convexity Properties, with whom we share a passion for creating distinct, memorable experiences, and who are a team with a unique knowledge of this incredible city." Adds David Nelson, Head of Real Estate at Convexity Properties: "The unveiling of Viceroy Chicago, with its unique programming, design and culinary experiences, is an exciting moment for Convexity Properties, Viceroy Hotel Group, Boka Restaurant Group and this amazing city we call home. We are grateful for the collaborative effort of the City of Chicago officials, local aldermen, and neighborhood groups that helped bring this project to life." Purposeful Programming with a Local Touch With community partnerships being a cornerstone of the hotel experience, the hotel offers its guests wellness and fashion programming provided by locally based businesses including Chill Chicago, a modern meditation studio; CorePower Yoga, a nationally-recognized yoga provider; and FELT, an upscale women's clothing boutique located in Chicago's Logan Square. In partnership with Chill Chicago, Viceroy Chicago presents a number of ways for guests to remain mindful while traveling including "Moving Meditation," an airport pick-up service that features a pre-recorded meditation session to enjoy while en route to the hotel, and "Chill Hour," a weekly, on-site meditation class. Guests are also provided with meditation tips in-room. Beginning in September, the hotel will host weekly yoga classes from CorePower, which will be open to guests and locals alike. Always ahead of the trend, Viceroy Chicago has partnered with local women's clothing boutique FELT to provide guests with individualized styling sessions and private shopping experiences. The fashion-forward package includes an advance consultation with a FELT stylist, an in-room styling and shopping session, as well as a custom-tailor session as needed. Energetic, Engaging Design Thoughtfully curated design, art, style and culture are infused into the hotel to create an authentic and inspired experience and maintain a distinct sense of place for guests eager to explore the vivacious Chicago landscape. To bring this vision to life, Viceroy Hotel Group worked in collaboration with Chicago-based Convexity Properties, Todd-Avery Lenahan of award-winning hospitality design firm TAL Studio, The Gettys Group procurement team, and leading architect Goettsch Partners. In homage to its history, Viceroy Chicago proudly embraces the Cedar Hotel's original brick and terracotta facade, first designed by architects Rissman and Hirschfield. Viceroy Chicago's design is inspired by the Flaneur, a French literary figure known for its free spirit and eye for exploration. International luxury hotel and resort designer Todd-Avery Lenahan used this spirited character as a guide to create surprise-and-delight moments throughout the hotel, piquing guest curiosity and offering the opportunity for discovery. The hotel's public spaces feature bold art fixtures, including a 30-foot teal Poem Wall towering over the lobby living room and inscribed with quotes from French poet Marcel Proust. Guestrooms feature a distinct headboard-wall, a digital reproduction of an original work produced by London artist Tim Modus. The display is inspired by the architectural elements and sculptural forms of the mid-century, and serves as a nod to Chicago's storied architectural history. Guestrooms also host enlarged, luxurious bathrooms and closets, and a selection of suites offer expansive terraces with incredible views of the cityscape and Lake Michigan. Celebrated Culinary Talent Coupled with Skyline Views Viceroy Chicago is also home to the highly anticipated restaurant Somerset, helmed by James Beard Award finalist Lee Wolen of Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the hotel and hosts a large landscaped and tree-lined patio. Wolen's curated menu features flavor-forward and approachable dishes and highlights the best in seasonal, local ingredients. In addition to making all of the pastries and breads in-house daily, James Beard nominated pastry chef Meg Galus serves seasonal desserts, specialty sundaes, parfaits and homemade Somerset chocolate bars. Chef Wolen also oversees the culinary offerings for the hotel's year-round rooftop lounge Devereaux, as well in-room dining, catering and events. In addition, the hotel has 3,600 square feet of meeting and event space, including the 2,200-square-foot Cedar Ballroom and adjoining outdoor Lakeview Terrace. Viceroy Chicago guest amenities include Natura Bisse and ROIL bath and salon products in luxurious bathroom settings, private bars with local and artisanal offerings, complimentary Wi-Fi access, and an expansive fitness center featuring Technogym equipment with panoramic views of Lake Michigan and the Gold Coast neighborhood. To celebrate the hotel's opening, Viceroy Chicago is offering a limited time introductory Stay Curious package of 25% savings on two-night stays between September 1, 2017 and December 9, 2017. To inquire or make a reservation, please visit the website and follow the hotel on Facebook and Instagram for updates. ABOUT VICEROY HOTEL GROUP Viceroy Hotel Group inspires travelers with one-of-a-kind authentic lifestyle experiences that bring together provocative design and intuitive service in sought-after locations. A leader in modern luxury, Viceroy's vibe-led hospitality is guided by the brand promise "Remember to Live," an affirmation to create lifelong memories for each and every guest. Viceroy destinations are segmented into three distinct portfolio tiers to help travelers find exactly the kind of experience they're looking for. The Viceroy Icon Collection properties include epic hotels and resorts in Chicago, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beverly Hills, Riviera Maya, Snowmass, and St. Lucia, with forthcoming openings in Algarve, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Panama, Cartagena, and Vietnam. The Viceroy Lifestyle Series hotels and resorts are found in attitude-led destinations including New York and Santa Monica, with a forthcoming opening in Serbia. The Urban Retreat Collection properties in San Francisco and New York have an independent spirit and bold, eccentric personalities. Viceroy Hotel Group is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) DISCOVERY, a unique loyalty program offering exclusive benefits and experiences to its members at over 550 hotels around the world. For more information, visit www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com. Follow Viceroy Hotel Group at facebook.com/viceroyhotelgroup and on Instagram and Twitter @viceroyhotels. Media Inquiries: The Door | [email protected] Amy Stahulak Wexler | [email protected] Elizabeth Janis | [email protected] SOURCE Viceroy Chicago Related Links http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com Starting on September 6, Japanese citizens will no longer need an entry visa to visit Armenia. Citizens of Japan will be allowed to stay a maximum of 180 days during a one-year period. The move is designed to facilitate greater tourism and economic ties with Japan. The move is not reciprocal, and citizens of Armenia will still need a visa to enter Japan. BAAR, Switzerland, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford International plc (NYSE: WFT) today pledged $25,000 to Feeding Texas, the Texas Food Bank Network, and $25,000 to J.J. Watt's Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund to support and assist in relief efforts across impacted areas. These funds will help provide immediate resources across the state of Texas including food, water, and cleaning supplies, and will aid in long-term rebuilding efforts. In addition to Weatherford's charitable contributions, the Company is also raising money for employees impacted by the storm. Many Weatherford employees have been displaced from their homes, lost vehicles, and personal belongings. Across the organization, fellow employees are making generous supply and monetary donations which the Company will match dollar-for-dollar. Mark A. McCollum, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "Weatherford is committed to supporting its communities in their time of need. Our hearts go out to all of those who have been impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Our donations will help provide the community and our employees with immediate resources and aid in the longer-term rebuilding effort." About Weatherford Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services to the oil and gas industry. The Company operates in over 90 countries and has a network of approximately 860 locations, including manufacturing, service, research and development, and training facilities and employs approximately 29,500 people. For more information, visit www.weatherford.com and connect with Weatherford on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Weatherford Contacts Christoph Bausch Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer +1.713.836.4615 Karen David-Green Vice President Investor Relations, Marketing and Communications +1.713.836.7430 SOURCE Weatherford International plc Related Links http://www.weatherford.com PUNE, India, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Market Research Future published a half-cooked research report on "Global Web Hosting Services Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022" Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022. Amazon Web Services (U.S.), AT&T Inc. (U.S.), Dreamhost Inc. (U.S.), Earthlink Inc. (U.S.), Equinix Inc. (U.S.), Google Inc. (U.S.), Endurance Technologies Ltd. (U.S.), GoDaddy Inc. (U.S.), Justhost (U.S.), WebHostingHub.com and Web.Com Group Inc. (U.S.), are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the Global Web Hosting Services Market. Web Hosting Services Market Overview The Global Web Hosting Services Market is growing with the rapid pace; mainly due to the burgeoning scalability and data security challenges. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the global Web Hosting Services Market is booming and expected to gain prominence over the forecast period growing rapidly. The global Web Hosting Services market is forecasted to demonstrate a huge growth by 2022, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking double digit CAGR during the anticipated period (2016 2022). The global web hosting services market is expected to grow approximately at USD 154 Billion by 2022, at approx. 16% of CAGR between 2016 and 2022. Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page on to the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed in the Internet. Websites are hosted, or stored on special computers called servers. The web hosting services has made a revolutionary change in the ecommerce business. Major feature that comes with these services is the website also allows you to create the databases which is simply indispensable for the online business owners. The other exciting feature is that you can add to your website with the help of a website hosting include shopping carts for e-commerce sites, forums, communities and chat panels. These features help in communicating with the customers and know their views on the site. Shared hosting is very similar to living in an apartment complex. All accounts must share the available resources with the other accounts on the server. These include CPU time, memory, and disk space. Request a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2750 Web Hosting Services Market - Competitive Analysis Characterized by the presence of several well-established and small players, the global Market of Web Hosting Services appears to be highly competitive. Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and technology launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position. These key players compete based upon pricing, Technology and services. Vendors operating in the market strive to provide quality web hosting services with 24/7 technical support, with reliable, scalable and affordable shared hosting plans to meet every hosting need of consumer such as blogs, e-commerce storefronts and custom websites. They also ensure that they provide easy-to-setup and affordable web hosting plans, supported with domain names, free web applications, custom hosting solutions and web design services for the businesses. The vendors in the market try to serve their clients with the utmost care and support also offering them with the Money back guarantee option in case of unsatisfactory services. Along with their clients, they also ensure to take care of the environment. Usually these vendors host a lot of websites which means a lot of servers, and a lot of carbon emissions. However to eliminate the carbon footprints and to minimize the environmental impact at the data centres; they install more efficient servers at the locations. Web Hosting Services Market Segments Global Web Hosting Services Market is segmented in to 3 Key dynamics for an easy grasp and enhanced understanding. Segmentation By Type: Comprises - Collocated Hosting, Web-Site Builders, Shared Hosting, and Dedicated Hosting. Segmentation By Application: Comprises - Public Website, Intranet Services, Mobile Application, and Online Application. Segmentation By Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World. Browse Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/web-hosting-services-market-2750 Web Hosting Services Market - Regional Analysis The regional analysis of web hosting services market in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and Rest of the World is as follows. Rapid advancement in the type of web hosting services led to the expansion of these services. The North America market of web hosting services is leading because of the technology advancements and major web hosting players in this region. Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at a fast pace due to combination of enterprise demand for managed hosted private cloud environments and domestic sourcing requirements in several regions in order to deliver a healthy popularity to the segment. The European region hosted Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) market continues to have a strong growth that is creating value for businesses and growth opportunities for service providers. Browse Related Reports Web Scale IT Market is expected to grow from USD ~200 Million in 2016 to USD~ 640 Million by 2022 with a growing estimated CAGR of ~17%. The high risk associated with mitigation of data is one of the major factor hindering the growth of web-scale IT market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/web-scale-it-market-1990 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. Contact Akash Anand, Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Market Research Future Related Links https://www.marketresearchfuture.com "With its 3DColorJet technology, the da Vinci Color is a breakthrough in 3D printing technology as it provides full color spectrum accuracy at an affordable, small business-friendly price, that is unmatched by any other color 3D printer in the market," explained Simon Shen, CEO of XYZprinting. "Just as we did with the da Vinci 1.0 in 2014, the da Vinci Color is poised to change the 3D printing industry again and allow you to turn your creativity into color 3D." The industry's ultimate full-color 3D printer, XYZprinting's 3DColorJet solution enables the da Vinci Color to mix and fire CMYK color droplets onto PLA filament for accuracy and precision. The printer's technology achieves the full-color spectrum of 16 million color possibilities across printed layers in finished 3D products. The proprietary technology combines color detail, which has been perfected in inkjet printing, with advanced, professional 3D printing technology. A CES 2017 Innovation Award Honoree, the da Vinci Color has been designed to work seamlessly, including features such as XYZprinting's hands-free auto calibration, EZ removable print bed and a 5-inch color LCD screen. XYZprinting's CMYK ink cartridges integrate with the da Vinci Color and guarantee compatibility and color quality for each print. While the print bed permits a generous 7.9 in. x 7.9 in. x 5.9 in. build volume, the design remains a desk friendly solution. With safety in mind, the printer also includes an effective non-toxic filtration system. This is a major step forward for both professionals and makers, inclusive of: Animation and Movie Models: Produce prototypes in true color that are ready to be used immediately after printing. Create accurate detailed props and sets. Architects and Designers: Assist clients envision the final product by printing out scaled down models, miniature landscaping, people, prototypes and more. Small Business Owners: A cost-effective solution, small business owners can set their business apart or even start their own full color 3D printing business. Further, benefits include increased speed of production through full color prints, which are immediately ready/ With PLA filament, there will be no wasted time or money on post printing treatments. Education: Incorporate full color 3D printing into classrooms, spurring everyone from young creators to higher education curriculums. Fans and Collectors: Print out your favorite Warhammer, comic book, pop-culture or fantasy universe characters in their authentic full colors, or create custom, one-of a-kind designs! Technical Specifications: Build Size 7.9 in x 7.9 in x 5.9 in (19.8 cm x 19.8 cm x 14.9 cm) Layer Resolution (Z) 100~400 microns (0.1 mm ~ 0.4 mm) Complete Full Color 16 million shades Print Speed Average: 30~60 mm/sec Max: 120mm/sec Host software XYZmaker Operating System Mac OS x 10.10 & above, Windows 7/8/10, (64bit) Linux 14.04/16.04 Hands Free Auto Calibration Yes EZRemovable Print bed Yes Auto Loading Filament Yes Extruder diameter 0.4mm Control interface 5 inch color touch LCD Connectivity USB 2.0 USB stick Yes Wi-Fi Yes Standalone Printer Yes Electrical 100-240 V, 50-60 HZ Operation Temperature 60 F ~ 90F (15 ~32 C) Storage Temperature 60 F ~ 95F (15 ~35 C) for Ink Cartridge 32 F ~ 100F (0 ~38 C) for Filament Unit Dimension 21.1 in x 22.8 in x 25.7 in (53.6 cm x 57.9 cm x 65.3 cm) Weight (unit only) 71 lbs (32.3 kg) Ink and Material Specifications Printing Material 3D Color-inkjet PLA, PLA, Tough PLA (Q4 2017), PETG Color PLA Price $35 USD per 600g Spool Ink Type CMYK 4-Color Ink Cartridge (40ml each color cartridge) Ink Cartridge Price $65 USD / color cartridge High-resolution images and other details can be found here. For more information on XYZprinting please visit their Facebook, Twitter or website PR Contact: Email: [email protected] About XYZprinting XYZprinting, a New Kinpo Group company, is the world's leading 3D printing manufacturer. Dedicated to bringing cost-effective 3D printing to educators and classrooms, consumers and artists, small-to-midsized businesses, and households around the world, XYZprinting has broken down the barriers of 3D printer ownership by providing an easy-to-use device that delivers an outstanding user experience, whether connected to a computer or via mobile. Its printers have won several accolades within the 3D printing industry at major technology industry events and by top publications. XYZprinting currently has offices in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the United States and Europe. To learn more about XYZprinting products, view useful tutorials, receive online or phone customer service, and access galleries for free, downloadable 3D designs, please visit http://us.xyzprinting.com. About New Kinpo Group (NKG) New Kinpo Group, a corporation of several subsidiaries including Cal-Comp, XYZprinting, Kinpo Electronics and AcBel, is a global electronic manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM) company that offers its customers lower costs, faster delivery times and world-class product quality. The company's EMS business spans multiple product lines, including storage, printers, network-attached storage (NAS), wireless and broadband, digital home, consumer electronics, wearables, 3D printing, robotics, power management and smart grid, industrial, automotive, security, medical/healthcare and emerging technologies. New Kinpo Group's network of strategically located manufacturing sites have the added benefit of allowing customers to manufacture products closer to their end customers, resulting in dramatically reduced shipping costs, lower tariffs and more cost-effective inventory management. For more information, visit http://en.newkinpogroup.com/ . SOURCE XYZprinting Related Links http://us.xyzprinting.com NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ABO Capital announced today that its CEO Zandre Campos was featured in How We Made It In Africa discussing education and his decision to invest in Complexo Escolar Privado Internacional (CEPI), formerly Colegio Esperanca Internacional, a school situated in the Samba district of Angola, just south of the capital Luanda. The article entitled "Investment Firm on Why It Acquired a School in Angola" was originally published in How We Made It in Africa on August 14, 2017. Education is a key investment for ABO Capital because education is the foundation of success. A quality education system leads to skilled workers and creates economic opportunities. ABO Capital invested in CEPI because of its history of education excellence for students from pre-school through high school and also has plans to open up three additional schools in the near future. "I want to provide my children and all the other students with the strongest educational opportunities possible," said Mr. Campos. "We must provide our youth with a better future by investing in teachers, prioritizing universities and focusing on student needs. An increase in quality teaching, coupled with a growth in universities and attention to student needs, gives Africa the potential to become an education powerhouse." 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 How We Made It In Africa article: https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/investment-firm-acquired-school-angola/ 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 If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Today, Gagik Petrosyan, a soldier wounded in the aftermath of the Four Day War of April 2016, celebrated housewarming in Stepanakert, the capital city of Artsakh. The house was renovated by the Tufenkian Foundation, in the framework of the Housing for Wounded Soldiers initiative. Tufenkian Foundation Executive Director Mr. Raffi Doudaklian and Board Members Antranig Kasbarian and Andre Gumuchdjian, Italian-Armenian writer Antonia Arslan, together with a group of Diaspora Armenians, as well as representatives of local media attended the housewarming. Gagik Petrosyan is the eghth soldier to receive a fully renovated house from the Tufenkian Foundation. Before being wounded, Mr. Petrosyan served in one of the frontline military bases in Artsakh and was heavily wounded during one of the battles following the Four Day War. Now, Mr. Petrosyan, 38 years old, is married and has two daughters. Despite his severe disability, Mr. Petrosyan, a captain by rank, continues serving the Self Defence Forces of Artsakh as an intelligence officer. Before the house was renovated, for more than 10 years, the family lived in very poor housing conditions that were disadvantageous for the health and well-being of their children. While Mr. Petrosyan tried to carry out some renovation works, his disability prevented him from completing the improvements. In his remarks during the housewarming ceremony, Tufenkian Foundation Executive Director Raffi Doudaklian said "These soldiers leave everything behind to serve our country and protect our borderlands. The least we can do is make sure that they have decent housing". As a result of the reconstruction works carried out by the Tufenkian Foundation during the past couple of months, the house is now fully renovated: in addition to general improvements, the roof has been repaired, windows and doors installed and new flooring has been constructed. Although the 2016 emergency has ended, the housing need for Artsakh's soldiers is ongoing. With many wounded/disabled soldiers requiring similar assistance, the Foundation will continue this work indefinitely. Brussels, Aug 28 : The third round of Brexit talks will begin in Brussels on Monday, with UK negotiators urging the European Union (EU) to show "flexibility and imagination", the media reported. Brexit Secretary David Davis said that he wants to broaden discussions to include trade, reports the BBC. Davis is expected to secure a "mutually beneficial" agreement that works for people and businesses across Europe, according to informed sources. However, the European Commission's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said last week that the focus of the third round of negotiations would be "orderly withdrawal". The EU position had been "clear and transparent" since day one, he said. It was "essential" to make progress on citizens' rights, settling accounts and the Irish border, Barnier added. The EU has also said the talks need to focus on the issues of citizens' rights, the Irish border and the "divorce bill" before negotiations can widen, the BBC reported. Once the talks begin, officials will meet in working groups to discuss the details behind each side's proposals, before the round is closed by Davis and Barnier on Thursday. The UK is set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019, following last year's referendum vote. In the first phase of negotiations, British and EU officials are meeting each month for four days in Brussels. New Delhi, Aug 28 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday questioned Naeem and Naseem Geelani, the sons of hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, for nine hours in connection with the ongoing probe into terror funding by Pakistan-based terrorist groups to stoke unrest in the Kashmir valley. A NIA official, requesting anonymity, told IANS that the brothers appeared at the agency headquarters in central Delhi past 10 a.m. Beside Geelani's sons, Ghulam Mohammad Bhatt, the cashier of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali's company, Devinder Singh Behl, a close aide of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Noor Muhammad Kalwal were also questioned by the counter-terror agency. Kalwal, a close aide of JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, was summoned by the agency's officials on Saturday to appear before it on Monday. Kalwal was one of the five militants released after the abduction of then Home Minister Mufti Sayeed's daughter in 1989. The agency has asked them to appear before it on Tuesday again. On Thursday and Friday last week, the NIA had questioned Geelani's sons for over seven hours. This is the second time in a fortnight that the counter terror probe agency is grilling Geelani's sons. The agency had asked them to bring certain documents related to financial transactions that have come under its scanner. Naeem, a doctor by profession, is seen as Geelani's natural heir, while Naseem, the younger son, works at an agricultural university in Srinagar. On Saturday, the NIA had carried out searches at the office of the company owned by Zahoor Watali, who was arrested on August 17 in Srinagar. During the searches, the NIA recovered several incriminating documents pertaining to Watali's financial transactions. Watali was arrested from Srinagar, a day after the NIA searched multiple locations in the Kashmir Valley, including the businessman's office and houses of his close relatives. Watali, a prominent businessman close to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was arrested on charges of acting as a conduit for passing money received from Pakistan to militants, separatists and stone-pelters in the Kashmir Valley. On July 24, the agency arrested seven separatist leaders in connection with its probe into terror funding from Pakistan and militant groups based there. The arrested separatists include Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah and Shabir Shah, Nayeem Khan, Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Peer Saifullah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate. They have been booked on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India. The NIA alleges that separatist leaders were receiving money from militant leaders in Pakistan including Hafiz Saeed, who heads the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. New Delhi, Aug 28 : A court here on Monday extended the NIA custody of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, arrested on charge of receiving funds from Pakistan to sponsor terror activities and stone-pelting in Kashmir, for five more days. During the in-camera proceedings, District Judge Poonam Bamba remanded Watali in National Investigation Agency's custody till September 2. Arrested on August 17, Watali is accused of acting as a conduit for channelling funds for separatists and terror activities in the Kashmir Valley and was presented before court on expiry of an earlier 10-day custody. He was allegedly collecting funds from Pakistan and banned terrorist organisations and transferring the same to various Hurriyat leaders. Watali is known to be friends with Pakistani leaders as well as separatists, besides mainstream politicians in Kashmir, the NIA said. Informed sources said NIA has sought extension of Watali's custody so as to unearth his connection with foreign countries. The NIA also told the court that it is analysing and scrutinising certain suspicious documents related to properties, bank accounts, financial transactions and names of people who received large cash payments which were seized during the investigation. The defence opposed the NIA plea, saying that he had joined investigation and was cooperating in the probe. Meanwhile, the court on Monday has also extended judicial custody of other four Kashmiri separatists -- Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah -- till September 27. They were presented before the court after their 14-day judicial custody expired. Altaf Ahmad Shah is the son-in-law of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who advocates Jammu and Kashmir's merger with Pakistan. In July, the agency arrested seven separatist leaders for their alleged involvement in Pakistan-funded unrest in the Kashmir Valley. Brussels, Aug 29 : The European Unions (EU) chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has urged the UK to start "negotiating seriously", as the third round of talks involving Britain's exit from the 27-member bloc began in Brussels, the media reported. On Monday, Barnier said he welcomed the British government's position papers, which he said had been read "very carefully" in Brussels, but added that he wanted the UK to come clean on how much it was prepared to pay in terms of an exit bill, reports the Guardian. "We need UK positions on all separation issues. This is necessary to make sufficient progress... must start negotiating seriously. We need UK papers that are clear in order to have constructive negotiations. "The sooner we remove the ambiguity the sooner we will be in a position to discuss the future relationship and to a transitional period," Barnier added. UK's Brexit secretary David Davis has repeatedly said this timetable is "inflexible". "For the United Kingdom, the week ahead is about driving forward the technical discussion across all the issues. "We want to lock in the points where we agree, unpick the areas where we disagree and make further progress on the whole range of issues. In order to do that we require flexibility and imagination from both sides," the Guardian quoted Davis as saying. More than 100 British officials are expected to take part in this third round of talks, dedicated to the three divorce issues and technical problems such as the status of goods crossing borders after Brexit day. The UK is set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019, following last year's referendum vote. British and EU officials are meeting each month for four days in Brussels to discuss Brexit. New Delhi, Aug 30 : Outgoing Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Wednesday said that a draft policy on operating drones and other low-flying objects similar to it would come up by September to ensure aerial security across the country. "The government is working on a draft Drone Act that is taking shape. The act will focus on flying of drones and other low-flying gadgets similar to it instead of putting a total ban on such objects considering aerial security. We have put standard procedure and the act will come out in public domain by September," Mehrishi told IANS a day before demitting his office. The Home Secretary also said that the government's move to make Drone Act came in the wake of possible terror attacks by using such low0flying objects that were seen on many occasions in the past at sensitive locations. Mehrishi, 1978-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, will on Thursday hand over the charge of Home Secretary to senior IAS officer Rajiv Gauba, who is currently working as Officer on Special Duty in the ministry. Rawalpindi, Aug 31 : An Anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on Thursday declared former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf absconder in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto while acquitting all the five accused arrested in the case. The court also sentenced former Rawalpindi Central Police Office Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad to 17 years each in jail, the news.com.pk reported. Both the police officials were arrested from the courtroom. In November 2008, an ATC indicted Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul for killing, hatching criminal conspiracy to kill, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terrorism on December 27, 2007 when 22 people, including the former Prime Minister, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving after attending an election rally. As the defence and prosecution completed their arguments here on Wednesday, the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC), Rawalpindi, Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan reserved its verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, which was announced on Thursday. Benazir Bhutto, who was the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief and a two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. New Delhi, Aug 30 : Discussions on a free trade agreement between India and Australia, which had featured during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in April this year, are on and a deal would be a win-win for both sides, Australia's Trade Minister said on Wednesday. Speaking at a media round table here, Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo, referring to the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), said: "Negotiations continue." Ciobo, who met Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier in the day, said "Part of today's conversation was in trying to deliver upon the aspiration that our two leaders had with respect to an FTA between Australia and India." Describing his meeting with Sitharaman as "constructive", he expressed confidence that a "good quality deal" will come out of the parleys. Ciobo is leading a delegation of 170 Australian businesses for the Australian Business Week India (ABWI) being held from August 28-September 1 across New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Negotiations for the India-Australia CECA began in May 2011 but got stalled after the ninth round in September 2015. However, during Prime Minister Turnbull's visit to India earlier this year, it was announced that discussions for the agreement would resume. India is Australia's 10th largest trading partner, with two-way trade valued at A$21 ($16.6) billion and two-way investment valued at A$24 ($19) billion in 2015-16. India is Australia's sixth largest export market, comprising nearly A$15 ($11.9) billion in goods and services. Stating that the international trade space was "very full", Ciobo said that both Australia and India were working together on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) "and, of course, we are very committed to stronger trade and investment ties between Australia and India". RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement covering 16 countries in the Asia-Pacific region - China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Asked if India and Australia were waiting for the RCEP to be concluded before signing the CECA, the visiting Australian Minister replied in the negative. Stating that trade negotiations are always challenging, Ciobo said that both he and Sitharaman were sharing their respective national interests. "We recognise that there is mutual benefit for both India and Australia from constructive engagement around a high quality deal," he said. "And we will continue to pursue that outcome." He said that trade deals are not zero sum games and that "good trade deals genuinely produce win-win outcomes". "So a good quality deal is a deal that helps facilitate trade and helps to support mutual investments in each other's economies," Ciobo said. "A good quality deal is a deal that builds on the strengths of our economic relationship that incorporates the complementarities that exist between Australia and India." Talking about the ongoing business week, Ciobo said that his delegation members would work with Indian businesses and make sure that there is an alignment between the various streams that they were participating in and the domestic priorities of the Indian government. In this connection, he mentioned smart cities, agribusiness, higher education, innovation and health. "These streams represent areas where we know Australia has expertise and we really believe that there are strong complementarities between what Australia can do and what India is doing," Ciobo said. Panaji, Aug 30 : Slamming an article published in a Goa Church magazine on the Panaji by-poll eve, comparing contemporary Goa and India to Nazi Germany, the BJP on Wednesday hit back, terming the criticism unfair and that Nazism was popular in Germany since the population then was almost 100 per cent Catholic. Addressing a press conference here to specifically respond to the criticism by Goa's influential Roman Catholic Church, BJP MLA and official party spokesperson Nilesh Cabral also said, that the Church needed to tone down the language used in its official magazine "Renovacao", in which an article also made unflattering remarks about ruling political leaders likening them to dogs. "Similar Nazism was at that time popular in Germany, where 100 per cent almost Catholics (were) supported by the Church. So what are they trying to say. What are they giving in this magazine?" "What is Nazism? Who were Nazis? Hitler was part of that. At that particular (time) Germany was almost 100 per cent... 90 per cent Roman Catholic, which is there in Goa," Cabral said. However, his claims about Germans' religious orientation in the Nazi era seemed to be factually inaccurate. According to the official census in Germany in 1933, over 62 per cent of the population in the year that Hitler took over as the Chancellor, was Protestant, while 32.5 per cent were Catholic, while 0.7 per cent followed the Jewish faith. The article published in "Renovacao" -- a pastoral bulletin of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman -- on poll eve had urged Goa voters to vote against communal forces in order to halt the march of "nationwide fascism". "In 2012, everyone thought in terms of having a corruption-free Goa; this thinking continued till 2014, but from then and increasingly everyday what we are witnessing in India is nothing but a constitutional holocaust. Corruption is very bad, communalism is worse, but Nazism is worse than both. "Anybody who read William Shirer's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' or Alan Bullock's 'A study of tyranny' or Hitler's own 'Mein Kampf' will find an extraordinary identity between the growth and rampage, of Nazism in Germany in 1933 onwards and India in 2014," it said. Cabral however said, that Goa Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, whom he described as a "good man", should ensure that the magazine which operates from the Bishop's House here, should not contain polarising content. "They should tone down these articles. If you go through the article it makes (me) boil," said Cabral, who is a Roman Catholic himself. He said that he would write to the Archbishop to complain about the contents of the magazine and urge him to ensure that the articles are properly vetted. New Delhi, Aug 30 : Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal's office on Wednesday clarified that no proposal or file regarding Mohalla Clinics was pending for clearance and termed the conduct of over 40 AAP MLAs who "laid siege" to his office as "rude" and "discourteous". A statement from the LG office said that as per the appointment, AAP MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj was to be accompanied by four other MLAs to meet him. However, a delegation of nearly 45 party MLAs assembled in front of Raj Niwas and demanded to meet the LG. "The LG, after a patient hearing of the views of the MLAs, explained the current status of the proposal (for Mohalla Clinics) and clearly outlined the progress so far. However, the behaviour of the members increasingly became extremely rude and discourteous," the statement said. The AAP MLAs allege that Baijal was sitting over the files regarding Mohalla Clinics, which was hindering the process of opening more such clinics in their constituencies. There are over 160 Mohalla Clinics in Delhi. "Despite being given a chronological status of the entire proposal and repeatedly being told by the LG that the proposal has been returned to the Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) on July 5, 2017 with a request to address the complaints, the MLAs continued to behave in a belligerent manner without any interest in responding to facts and logic," the LG office statement said. LG also spoke to Kejriwal with a view to resolve the matter and explained that in a democratic government decisions are taken on the basis of facts as per law. "Presently, there is no proposal or file pending in the office of the Lt. Governor relating to Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics. Further, no request for allotment of land for the Mohalla Clinics from the elected government is pending with the LG," the statement added. The LG office stressed that "laying siege" to the office of a constitutional functionary is no way to resolve issues in a democratic system based on rule of law. Kejriwal also skipped a weekly meeting with the LG scheduled at 5 p.m. The Lt. Governor on January 9, 2017 had approved a cabinet decision dated July 26, 2016 for opening of Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics porta-cabins at school sites. Complaints against Mohalla Clinics were received in the LG office between September and December, 2016. The allegations levelled in the complaints say there was no transparent method to select premises for Mohalla Clinics, rent of premises was higher than market rent, premises of party workers was rented for the purpose and no proper accounting was done of the patients examined which decides payment to doctors. "The matter is under further investigation by the Vigilance Department," the LG office said. The files pertaining to the cabinet decisions on Mohalla Clinics were sent to the Chief Minister, with the copy of the complaints for his consideration and re-submission of the proposal taking into account the nature of complaints, Baijal's office said. "These files have not been submitted back as on date," the statement clarified. Over 40 MLAs were still at Raj Niwas (LG's official residence) occupying the conference hall till late in the evening. New Delhi, Aug 30 : The government is "open for dialogue with everybody" in Jammu and Kashmir but without preconditions, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Wednesday The government's strategy was to arrest and neutralise terrorists operating in the state, he said, referring to the spree of top commanders of outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba killed in gunfights over the past few months. Mehrishi, who is retiring on Thursday, spoke candidly on Pakistan's involvement in sponsoring terror in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was a "haven for terrorists and criminal elements". Mehrishi told IANS in an interview that the government is making efforts to bring back fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan. He said over 140 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir this year. "The strategy is to arrest and neutralise the terrorists. The result is that we have killed more than 140 terrorists this year so far," he said. Asked about the possibility of talks with the separatists, Mehrishi said that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had made it clear several times that the central government was open for dialogue on Kashmir. "We are open for dialogue with everybody. Home Minister visited Jammu and Kashmir twice and he talked with whosoever wanted to talk. I don't think that any talks can take place with preconditions," he said. The Home Secretary said India faces problems in Kashmir due to Pakistan, whose agencies use terror outfits to execute their plans. "Pakistan is a haven for all criminals and terrorists. We have been facing problems in Kashmir due to Pakistan. Pakistani agencies, through terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed create trouble in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. They encourage one terror outfit at one time and another at a different time. We are trying to overcome the situation," Mehrishi said. He said there was "no doubt" that Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. "Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism, ensuring infiltration into Kashmir and funding terrorists there." "There is an element of radicalisation (in the state) which is getting funds from Pakistan," Mehrishi said. Asked about the alienation of Kashmiri youth, Mehrishi said alienation is a "concept of the Delhi media" and the real issue is of terrorism and radicalisation. "As one Chief Minister had said, 95 per cent people in Jammu and Kashmir want peace and progress and they have the same aspirations as youth in other parts of the country. "This is only the view of media in Delhi that people in Kashmir feel they are alienated. Radicalisation and terrorism are main issues which we are dealing with," said Mehrishi, who is a 1978-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. He said children of separatists were studying in good schools and they buy properties in posh places. "But they fund others for stone-pelting." The Home Secretary said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into terror funding to Kashmiri separatists has had the "desired impact" and it is also reflected in their curbed activities as also of stone throwers. "NIA is an independent agency. Government doesn't interfere in its work. Action will be taken against the guilty as per law. Terror funding in Kashmir is a matter of investigation," he said. Answering a query on action about certain NGOs, Mehrishi said they are expected to comply with various legal provisions such as filing annual returns. "We are not looking beyond that. It is just asking people to comply with the law." Asked if the government was contemplating any change in the control of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for operational reasons, he said: "As of now there is no provision to change the status." Replying to a question about the need of a border force like ITBP on the Myanmar border, he said the issue is being examined. "We have free movement regime with Myanmar. But a free movement regime means it is for entitled people, not for all. We need to see whether the person coming into India is an entitled person. So, we need to have border force and we are examining our best how to restructure our system in such a manner that we able to implement that." To a query on Dawood Ibrahim, the key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Mehrishi said he is in Pakistan which is creating hurdles in India getting him back. "The government is taking all necessary action so that Dawood could be brought back to India," he said, adding that Pakistan's attitude was not in conformity with international law. Answering a query on the use of term "Hindu terror", he said terror can't be connected to any religion. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) Rawalpindi, Aug 31 : An anti-terrorism court here on Thursday declared former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Five others accused in the case were acquitted while two police officers were jailed for 17 years each. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict at Rawalpindi's Adiyala Jail, a decade after a gun-and-bomb attack killed the charismatic Bhutto soon after her arrival in Pakistan to take part in elections. The judge ordered confiscation of Musharraf properties. Perpetual arrest warrants were issued for the former military dictator, Dawn online reported. Musharraf, who ousted then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999, now lives in exile in Dubai. His administration was blamed for failing to provide security to Bhutto, who was the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time Prime Minister. The five accused -- Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid -- were cleared of all charges due to lack of evidence against them, said the court. Two police officials -- former Rawalpindi Central Police Office Saud Aziz and former Rawalpindi Town Superintendent Khurram Shahzad -- were jailed for 17 years each for negligence vis-a-vis Bhutto's security. They were arrested from the courtroom and were fined Rs 500,000 each. The trial of the five began in February 2008. They were suspected of having links with Taliban militants. In November 2008, a court indicted them for killing, hatching criminal conspiracy, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terror on December 27, 2007 when Bhutto and 21 people were killed outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh when she was leaving after an election rally. Two other suspects, Ibadur Rahman and Al Qaeda's No. 3 and financial and operational chief Mustafa Abu Yazid alias Sheikh Saeed Al-Masri, were believed to have been killed in US drone strikes in Pakistan, a media report said. During the legal proceedings, seven challans were presented and eight judges and three courts were changed. At least 68 witnesses appeared on behalf of the prosecution. The Pakistan government had blamed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for Bhutto's killing. The authorities had played an alleged video of then TTP leader Baitullah Mehsood congratulating other militants on Bhutto's murder. A UN mission had conducted the probe into Bhutto's murder. Heraldo Munoz of Chile, the head of the UN commission, concluded: "Probably no government will be able or willing to fully disentangle the truth from the complex web of implication in Benazir Bhutto's assassination." Baghdad, Aug 31 : Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday declared full liberation of the city of Tal Afar and surrounding areas from the Islamic State (IS) terror organisation. "Tal Afar has been liberated and the Iraqi flag has risen again by the hands of the heroic Iraqi fighters of the Army, the Federal Police, the Counter-Terrorism Service, the Hashd Shaabi, the Rapid Response and the people of Tal Afar," Abadi was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. "During the past days, the Iraqi forces have eliminated and crushed IS militants in Ayadhiyah and other areas and did not allow them to escape," Abadi said. "The joy of victory has been completed and the entire province of Nineveh has come in the hands of our heroic forces," he said. The PM also vowed to defeat IS group all over Iraq, saying "wherever you (IS militants) are, we are coming for liberation, and you have no choice but to die or surrender". On August 20, Abadi, also the Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi forces, declared the start of an operation to dislodge IS militants from Tal Afar area, including Ayadhiyah, which is the last IS redoubt in the province of Nineveh. Panaji, Aug 31 : In a clash of words between the BJP and Goa's influential Roman Catholic Church, the latter on Thursday dismissed a charge made by a ruling spokesperson, that it tried to polarise the pre-poll atmosphere, while also asking the government not to make empty allegations against the religious institution. Speaking to reporters here, Maverick Fernandes, Director of Caritas - Goa, a charity arm of the Church, also said that the ruling party should come out with a point-to-point rebuttal of the fact-finding report it had endorsed, which claims that the state police's probe into a desecration series was a sham. "Our report has been based on analysis, based on interviews of people at the grassroots level and it is based on a very studied, professional way of functioning. Empty statements of polarisation cannot belittle the well-studied report," Fernandes said. On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nilesh Cabral had accused the Goa Church's official magazine and a fact-finding report by a Church-backed NGO of trying to polarise the atmosphere ahead of the August 23 bypoll. "Attempts were being made to polarise society before the elections... Who is the fact-finding committee and who gave authority to the fact finding mission? It was wrong to try to polarise the votes," Cabral had said, while asking the Church to "tone-down" the language of the content in its official magazine 'Renovacao' which linked contemporary India to Nazi Germany. Fernandes however said that those who make allegations against the Church, should logically provide a rebuttal for the points made out in the fact-finding report. "You have to come out with very straightforward rebuttal of every point that has been made. Empty statements cannot be considered as a rebuttal," Fernandes said. New Delhi/ Male, Aug 31 : Health Ministers from South-East Asian countries will attend WHO's 70th Regional Committee Session to discuss climate change and improving access to essential medicines for all, an official said on Thursday. The discussions will take place during the Annual Governing Body Meeting of the World Health organisation (WHO)'s South-East Asian chapter, being hosted by Maldives this year from September 6 to 10, WHO said in a statement. WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia region, Amitabh Bachchan, will join the meeting to advocate urgent action against viral hepatitis, a preventable disease that kills approximately 410,000 people in the region every year. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom and Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh will address the meeting, which will also be attended by health officials from member-countries and representatives of partner organisations. The subjects to be discussed during the entire session also includes intensifying efforts to end tuberculosis. "Strengthening primary health care and the health workforce and progress towards universal health coverage are among other priority issues being addressed at the meeting, reflecting the region's drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal for health," the global health body said. According to it, the focus of the meeting will be also be on climate change as a well prepared and responsive health system is crucial for preventing and minimising the increasing health risks posed by climate change. "The ministers will also deliberate on accelerating efforts to end tuberculosis as the region bears a disproportionate 45 per cent of the global TB burden," it said. The meeting will also deliberate on the action needed to cut down road traffic injuries, which cause 316,000 deaths in the region every year. "Vector control will also figure prominently at the governing body meeting, as countries across the region bear a high burden of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and lymphatic filariasis," the statement added. Brussels, Aug 31 : The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator on Thursday said no decisive progress had been made in the discussions regarding the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the bloc. Following a third round of Brexit negotiations, Michel Barnier told journalists gathered at the European Commission in Brussels that at the current state of progress, he was far from being able to advise the European Council on the future relationship between London and Brussels, Efe news reported. "We did not get any decisive progress on any of the principal subjects," Barnier said, adding, however, that talks on the future border situation between the Republic of Ireland -- an EU member state -- and Northern Ireland -- a region of the UK -- had been fruitful. Maintaining a soft Irish border is one of the key EU principals in the bloc's approach to the preliminary stages of the talks, as well as the fate of citizens' rights and financial obligations on the part of the UK, the report said. Barnier said he felt that the UK negotiation team, headed by Brexit Secretary David Davis, did not feel obligated to honour its legal commitments to several EU plans and initiatives, some of which are due to last until 2020. "With such uncertainty, how can we build trust and start discussing a future relationship?" Barnier said. Davis, whose job was created in Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Cabinet following the Brexit referendum in June 2016, said the UK would examine its legal obligations to the EU "line by line". Contradicting Barnier's criticism of slow progress in the talks, Davis said the UK's approach so far had been more pragmatic than that of the EU and insisted that concrete progress had been made. The British government has previously advocated for future UK-EU trade discussions to be held at the same time as the preliminary Brexit talks. However, the EU has insisted that its three key points -- which include tallying up a UK divorce bill -- must be agreed upon before a future relationship can be hammered out. "Our discussions this week have exposed yet again that the UK's approach is substantially more flexible and pragmatic than that of the EU as it avoids unnecessary disruption for businesses and consumers," he said. Barnier said time was flying and, for that reason, his negotiation team was willing to pick up the intensity of the talks. The UK is due to be fully withdrawn from the EU by March 29, 2019, exactly two years after May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty -- the official mechanism to secede from the supranational organisation. New Delhi, Aug 31 : The Opposition on Thursday stepped up its attack on the government over the RBI's annual report that revealed low efficacy of demonetisation, with the Congress terming the move to junk high currency notes as the "biggest scam" and the CPI-M demanding a "black paper" on the issue. The Aam Aadmi Party also hit out at the Modi government and claimed that extra notes worth Rs 1.1 lakh crore were deposited in banks following demonetisation. The Congress, AAP and CPI-M held separate press conferences to slam the government following the RBI annual report figures on Wednesday which said that of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore taken out of circulation in the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, Rs 15.28 lakh crore had returned to the system by way of public deposits. Congress leader Anand Sharma accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the people on demonetisation, saying that he had repeatedly made "false statements." Sharma said the Prime Minister had made "false remarks" in his Independence Day speech about the quantum of black money that was unearthed after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped. He said demonetisation had led to a loss of GDP of Rs 2.25 lakh crore and the Prime Minister was "directly responsible". "People will accept the truth, they can also accept that a mistake has been made, but it is wrong to state repeatedly that everything done was right," he said. He said the Attorney General had told the Supreme Court that due to demonetisation an amount of Rs 4-5 lakh crore related to terror funding will not come back to the system. "The government has not spoken the truth at every step. People have been misled, inconvenienced. This has been the biggest scam. Those who had illegal money, the government has helped them make it legal," Sharma said. CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury termed demonetisation a "money laundering exercise". "All of the (demonetisation) exercise's stated objectives have failed. Normally we ask for a white paper on such issues but since Prime Minister Modi said it is fight against black money, I think the government should bring a 'black paper' on this," Yechury said. "Reportedly, more than 100 per cent of demonetised currency is coming back after Bhutanese, Nepalese and Co-op Banks Currency is taken in. This shows it was a very, very successful money laundering scheme," he added. Yechury said there was no mention of digitisation on November 8, 2016 but as the economy crashed, the government went out of its way "to help certain selected private companies" under the "mask of digitisation". "Lives, livelihoods and jobs have been decimated. This government is responsible for this...Why were people imposed with a burden of printing new notes costing Rs 8,000 crore and ATM recalibration cost of over Rs 35,000 crore in addition to the loss of economic activity estimated by the CMIE and others to the tune of Rs 1,50,000 crores?" he asked. Yechury said that the government "must fix accountability for this disaster and punish those responsible". AAP leader Sanjay Singh raised questions over a figure in the RBI annual report and referred to a media report from November 2016 which cited the central bank as saying that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 14.18 lakh crore were in circulation. Singh said since notes worth Rs 14.18 lakh crore were in circulation and notes worth Rs 15.28 lakh crore have come back, there is a surplus of Rs 1.1 lakh crore. "RBI is lying to the nation. Why are they lying? Why are they giving wrong facts? They didn't know how many Rs 500 and 1,000 notes they had in circulation?" he asked. The AAP leader questioned whether the extra money was black money or fake notes deposited by people close to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh said that Rs 21,000 crore was spent in printing new notes and now a total of Rs 1.31 lakh crore will be levied from people. "The Prime Minister and Finance Minister should answer this, else this would be the biggest corruption in Indian history," he added. Jerusalem, Aug 31 : Moshe Holtzberg, the son of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg who were killed by terrorists during the attack on Chabad House in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, has received an entry visa to India. India's Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor granted Holtzberg the visa on Wednesday, Arutz Sheva newspaper reported. Holtzberg's maternal grandparents, who are raising him, also received entry visa. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the visa during his visit to Israel on July 5. During his visit to Israel, Modi met Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Moshe, his Indian nanny Sandra Samuels who saved him from the terrorists, and Moshe's grandparents. Gavriel and Rivka were killed in the November 2008 attack when terrorists entered their Chabad House in Mumbai and slaughtered them. Moshe's life was saved by his nanny, Sandra, who managed to escape the area holding the then two-year-old Moshe in her arms. According Moshe's grandfather Shimon Rosenberg, Moshe, now 11 years old, plans to take his parents' place as the Chabad emissary to India when he gets older. "He was born there, and for him, that's his home," Rosenberg explained. "He wants to hold his bar mitzva in India, and go on a tour of the area to find his roots. Obviously, he will also visit the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe at the same time." "Moshe told me yesterday that the Indian Prime Minister said that when he's eighteen, he can go back to India and be a Chabad emissary and the country's Chief Rabbi," the Israeli newspaper reported. During his meeting with Modi on July 5, Moshe had read out a short speech: "Namaste, aapka swagat hai hamare desh mein (welcome to our country)," Moshe had said. "Dear Mr Modi, I love you and your people in India." "I love to play, I try to be a good student... Please continue to love me, always remember my parents," Moshe said. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai. When I live there I will be the director of Chabad house." Modi had assured, "Anytime you can come to India. Anytime you can go...." Moshe lives with his grandparents in Afula, around 90 km from Jerusalem. New Delhi, Aug 31 : The appointment of Union Minister of State Mahendra Nath Pandey as the next BJP chief of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday has lent greater impetus to speculation of an imminent cabinet reshuffle. There have been clear indications of an upcoming cabinet reshuffle from sources in the government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, but the timing remains uncertain. President Ram Nath Kovind embarks on a two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh on Friday and will be returning on Saturday while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving for China on Sunday. Sources in the BJP said that a reshuffle may take place either on Saturday or sometime after the Prime Minister's return from China and Myanmar. BJP President Amit Shah, who is likely to be in Vrindavan for the next three days to attend an RSS coordination meet, on Thursday held meetings with some ministers and senior party leaders. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are also likely to attend the meet in Vridavan on Saturday. A cabinet reshuffle has been on the cards since Manohar Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister to become Chief Minister of Goa. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been holding additional charge of the Defence Ministry since then. Talk of a reshuffle gained ground after Jaitley on Thursday hinted that he would not continue to hold the Defence portfolio for long. "At least not for very long," Jaitley said in response to questions on how long he would continue as Defence Minister. Besides Jaitley, three other union ministers are holding additional charges of different ministries. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is holding additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry portfolio, while Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar has additional charge of the Urban Development Ministry after Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu resigned from his ministerial responsibilities to take up the high office. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan is holding additional charge of the Environment portfolio following the death of Anil Madhav Dave in May. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had offered to resign owning moral responsibility for the recent train accidents, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put it on hold. A reshuffle has also been on the cards after the Janata Dal-United faction of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and is all set to join the Union Cabinet. After merger of two factions of the AIADMK -- one led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and the other by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam - there has been talk of the party joining the NDA but the recent political developments in the state have delayed the move. Some election-bound states, including Congress-ruled Karnataka, could get greater representation in the council of ministers. Karnataka will go for assembly polls next year. The last cabinet reshuffle took place in July last year in which Modi inducted 19 new faces and elevated Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar to cabinet rank. Five junior ministers were also dropped. Darjeeling, Aug 31 : The situation in the north Bengal hills turned volatile on Thursday following infighting within the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) -- spearheading the agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state -- over the issue of temporary withdrawal of the ongoing indefinite shutdown. Informed sources said while a faction of the GJM announced that the ongoing indefinite shutdown would be withdrawn for 12 days, the top brass of the party vehemently rejected the decision, saying the "bandh (shutdown) will continue". GJM Joint Secretary Binay Tamang, who convened a party's central committee meeting in Darjeeling district's Kurseong, announced the shutdown in the hills would be withdrawn from September 1 to September 12. Expressing happiness at the "good news", state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: "We all want return of peace in the hills." Tamang's move came two days after holding talks with Banerjee during an all-party meet called by her in Kolkata over the deadlock in the hills. "The second phase of all-party meeting will be held on September 12. So, we have decided to withdraw the strike (shutdown) from September 1 to 12 in the hills. The strike will be lifted from 6.00 a.m. tomorrow (Friday)," Tamang told reporters after the central committee meeting. However, denying any such move, Morcha General Secretary Roshan Giri claimed the shutdown would continue and said party chief Bimal Gurung had not taken any decision to withdraw it. "Bimal Gurung said the shutdown has not been withdrawn," Giri said in a message. "The shutdown is going to continue. We will decide later whether the party would participate in the state government-sponsored all-party meeting on September 12. The news about withdrawing the shutdown is incorrect," Giri claimed. An angry Giri said Tamang had been sacked from the GJM Chief Coordinator's post. "The party will take a decision to oust Tamang (and his close associate) Anit Thapa tomorrow (Friday) at party's central committee meeting." After the differences within the main hill party came to the fore, a section of the GJM activists, unhappy with the decision to call off the shutdown, began a protest and laid siege to Tamang's house. Slogans like "We want Gorkhaland" and "Binay Tamang murdabad" were raised by the protestors. Terming the current situation in the hills as volatile, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) spokesperson Neeraj Zimba said the crack within the GJM was now out in the open. "Situation in the hills is tense, it has become volatile now as a section of people started protesting and gheraoed Binay Tamang's house as he announced withdrawal of the indefinite shutdown from September 1 to 12. Later, Roshan Giri and Bimal Gurung issued a statement saying the shutdown would continue. GJM is now a divided house," Zimba said. He said the GNLF would soon call a central committee meeting to assess the situation. Kolkata, Aug 31 : Two children of Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners who challenged the Triple Talaq practice in the Supreme Court, went "missing" on Thursday morning but were found by police and returned to their mother by evening. Jahan, a resident of West Bengal's Howrah district, on Thursday lodged a police complaint that her two children were kidnapped from her residence, police said. "My two minor children have been kidnapped from my lawful guardianship around 11.30 a.m. on August 31 from near my residence in Howrah," her complaint at Golabari police station read. In her complaint, Jahan, who is mother to four children, alleged that her seven-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl went missing while playing outside their house. Her two other children stay with Jahan's husband's second wife in Bihar. Confirming that an FIR was lodged on the basis of Jahan's complaint, police said the children went out with their father and have been traced. "This is not a case of kidnapping. The two kids went out for shopping with their father. They have been traced already," a senior officer from Golabari police station told IANS. "The two children have since been restored to the complainant," he added. Jahan's lawyer Nazia Elahi Khan alleged "conspiracy" in the matter. "Without taking her permission he took them away... Ishrat is their guardian... the children should have been taken to the mother, but instead they were taken to the police... this indicates a conspiracy and that anything can be done to Jahan," Khan told IANS, adding that their father has returned from Dubai recently. Jahan had recently written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, appealing for police protection in the wake of "threats" to her life. Aizawl, Sep 1 : More than a month after Supreme Court declared void the Assam government act that allowed appointment of parliamentary secretaries, equivalent to the status of a Minister of State, all the seven parliamentary secretaries of Mizoram on Thursday resigned from their posts. Talking to the media, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said the seven parliamentary secretaries had quit their posts of their own will to dedicate themselves to work for the party. He has accepted the resignations. "The Supreme Court passed an order and we had to abide by it. Besides, as Mizoram is going to the polls next year-end, we all concentrate more for the party organisational work," the Chief Minister said. The parliamentary secretaries, who have resigned, are K.S. Thanga, Lt. Col. Z.S. Zuala (retired), H. Zothangliana, Joseph Lalhimpuia, T. T. Zothansanga, K. Lalrinthanga and Hmingdailova Khiangte. Lal Thanhawla, who is also the President of Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee, however, on Thursday evening appointed all the former parliamentary secretaries as party's general secretaries. A Congress party statement said that the former parliamentary secretaries were appointed party general secretaries to reinforce the party organisation in view of the state assembly polls due next year end. Political analyst felt that the mass resignation came in the wake of the apex court's July 26 ruling on the Assam Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004. Mizoram became the first state in the northeast to execute the Supreme Court ruling. The apex court ruling, however, does not have any bearing on the present Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam as it has not appointed any Parliamentary Secretary so far but affects the other northeastern states that have Parliamentary Secretaries. Parliamentary secretaries are appointed as a matter of political pressure. Other northeastern states -- Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya too have parliamentary secretaries - with the Nagaland has the highest number of parliamentary secretaries of 26 and Manipur had 12 Parliamentary Secretaries, six of whom quit their posts recently after being made members of various committees. California Closets Canada It was really a great experience getting to work with some of the best minds in branding, content, and marketing strategy. Meticulosity and project partner McCann Canada have launched an all-new Canadian website for California Closets after months of meticulous planning, development, and brand strategy. California Closets, a subsidiary of FirstService Brands, faced an issue many global brands face - how to be relevant to Canadians and feel like a "Canadian company" while still representing their global brand. To solve their problem, California Closets engaged branding and advertising leaders McCann Canada along with enterprise web development agency Meticulosity to create an all-new website that was inspired by their corporate brand while still speaking directly to Canadian buyers. It was really a great experience getting to work with some of the best minds in branding, content, and marketing strategy. This was a truly interdisciplinary collaboration between California Closets, McCann, and Meticulosity. The outcome was a site that not only looked great, but has tailored content that speaks to each visitor while being built on an efficient and reliable software platform. David Ward, President of Meticulosity The new Canadian website is an incremental evolution of design, content, and functionality from their existing US website. The Canadian site offers a unique localized experience that customizes content for visitors from their respective California Closets franchise market. In addition to the new user experience and design, the site is also powered by an all-new content management backend that is faster, more efficient, and easier to use for California Closets web team. It was important that we built a website for Canada that spoke to local markets and Canadian buyers yet was on-brand with our corporate vision. Our new website accomplished a balance of local content and media along with brand voice to make this marketing strategy a success. Samara Toole, Chief Marketing Officer, California Closets User experience and best-practice mobile design drove many of the decisions behind the redesign. Meticulosity and McCann Canada worked directly with California Closets corporate design team to took the best components of their existing US site and improved upon them. The new website is powered by a highly-customized WordPress backend developed by Meticulosity. About California Closets: For nearly four decades, California Closets has built a reputation as a leader in premium and luxury space management. Committed to Designing Better Lives, California Closets delivers custom organizational solutions and unparalleled customer service with nearly 130 showrooms and over 700 design consultants across North America. Visit CaliforniaClosets.com to learn more. About McCann Canada: Since 1912, McCann has lived the promise of Truth Well Told a guiding philosophy that has stood the test of time. And today, as peoples attention becomes increasingly divided, its more important and powerful than ever. McCann Canada is a full-service branding and marketing agency that has some of the biggest brands in Canada as clients. About Meticulosity: Meticulosity is a boutique web design, development, and marketing agency that specializes in creating websites that are the perfect marriage of form and function. Our web meticulous developers work directly with our strategic project managers and marketing team to build websites that drive traffic, generate leads and sales, and provide a premium experience for website visitors. Students at Ballington Academy for the Arts & Sciences MediExcel is committed to supporting the communities we serve Today, MediExcel Health Plan, a California HMO specializing in Binational Healthcare, presented Ballington Academy for the Arts & Sciences, with a new electronic bulletin board, a two-year technology subscription and more than 100 new backpacks. This generous donation will help contribute to the academic success of our student body for this upcoming school year and add to their future academic success, stated Ballington Academy for the Arts & Sciences Principal William Anderson. Many students come from low-income homes in El Centro and parents may have difficulty buying supplies or investing in school property. Donations such as this is why we are able to continue offering innovative and quality education focusing on real-world skills to our students. The $5,000 in-kind donation builds on a longstanding partnership between MediExcel Health Plan and Volunteers of America Southwest, the nonprofit, faith-based organization whose Community and Education Corporation makes Ballington Academy for the Arts & Sciences possible. MediExcel is committed to supporting the communities we serve. By partnering with Volunteers of America and assisting their efforts of providing the necessary tools to improve and transform lives, we are not only impacting the lives of the students but everyone in their communities, said Anthony Llompart, Director of Sales & Marketing for MediExcel Health Plan. We are pleased to continue our strong partnership. Ballington Academy is a public charter school educating students from transitional kindergarten through sixth grade. The school offers an innovative science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) curriculum, using a hands-on, projects-based learning approach. The goal of this curriculum is to give students real-world, 21st century skills in an innovative and engaging environment resulting in high academic results. For more information, visit http://www.ballingtonacademy.org. MediExcel Health Plan is an ACA compliant, Binational HMO, licensed by the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC). We offer covered health benefit options to employer groups in San Diego and Imperial County. Care is delivered at our all-inclusive healthcare campus in Tijuana, MX and through our Medical Network in Mexicali, MX. For more information about MediExcel plans and services, please visit http://www.mediexcel.com. Official Website https://alismedia.jp/ Whitepaper https://alisproject.github.io/whitepaper/whitepaper_v1.01.pdf The token sale is scheduled to start at 2:00AMP(UTC) on September 1st, 2017. Projects Background and Goals There are two main reasons that inspired this project. First, we find it difficult for existing media to fulfill its responsibility to deliver trustworthy information to its users when the media is focused on PVs (paid views). This causes fake news and fraudulent information. Secondly, blockchain technology and ICO is not well-known in Japan. ALIS is aiming to overturn the existing rules of media and the way advertisements are valued by PVs. People can quickly access trustworthy articles with the platform that ALIS is offering. We also believe that it is possible to change the way people view blockchain technology and ICO in Japan by becoming a test case and clarifying legal interpretation and concerns surrounding ICOs. Mechanism behind the Blockchain Social Media ALIS ALISs mechanism as a social media platform is explained in simple terms below. 1. The writer posts articles on ALIS. 2. Other users evaluate the article. 3. Evaluated writer will earn tokens. 4. Users that evaluated articles earlier will earn tokens as well. Creators and evaluators of articles appreciated by others will receive more tokens. ALIS will be a social media platform where people can search and find trustworthy articles and people through rewards. Details are explained in the whitepaper.https://alisproject.github.io/whitepaper/whitepaper_v1.01.pdf ALIS tokens are similar to point programs, which can be exchanged with other crypto currencies such as Ethereum. *ALIS tokens CANNOT be exchanged for other crypto currencies during and after the ICO. It will be possible to exchange tokens after ALIS is listed. As more users join ALISs social media platform, the distribution of ALIS tokens will increase, thus increasing the value of ALIS tokens. Releasing and selling tokens that are raised on the market will generate the profit of this business. After the release, minor topics related to crypto currencies and tokens are assumed to be the core of this service initially, however the topics will expand to other domains like online review sites. ALIS is also considering releasing new services based on the accumulated data provided by users. A social media business without advertisement, like STEEM, is garnering worldwide attention because it is totally different from existing social media that focuses on PVs. Summary of the ICO Financing of the ICO will start by issuing 500 million tokens. 50% of the issued tokens will be the target of exchange with Ethereum. The maximum distribution will be 250 million tokens and the stakeholders of ALIS will hold the remaining 250 million. It will be used as an incentive for the sustainable development of the ALIS platform. Important policies will be determined by the user community of ALIS, thus protecting ALIS from stakeholders monopolizing the platforms operation rights. The token sale will start on the official website from 2:00AM (UTC) on September 1st, 2017. You can quickly catch the latest information about ALIS from the official slack community. Official Slack Community: https://alis-slack.herokuapp.com/ Team Members Masahiro YasuFounder Yasu is a graduate from Kyoto University, the university with the highest number of Nobel Prize Winner recipients in Japan. He majored in nuclear fusion and analyzed alfven eigenmode raised in helical plasma by Fortran. After graduation he joined Recruit Co., Ltd. (The 2nd largest HR company in the world, also the parent company of Indeed). Yasu is experienced in business development, including business strategy and the system development of several products, such as business SNS and referral tool. He also actively worked on machine learning and natural language analysis, and received the GROWTH FORUM Award, which is the highest prize in Recruit. Takashi MizusawaCo-Founder / Marketing Takashi started a venture company as a university student. After graduation he started his career at the worldwide famous Benesse Corporation. After winning the company's annual MVP in his first year, he worked mainly in business development such as student SNS and education services on tablets. After working at Benesse for 6 years, he joined Recruit Career Co., Ltd., known for connecting "learning" and "working". There he gained experience in business development of MOOC and referral tool. He is interested in using social networks in HR. He envisions a world where individuals can earn success through their own unique abilities. Sota IshiiCo-Founder / Engineering Sota has over 13 years of experience as a system engineer. He took on the role as a development leader of a famous Japanese HR company. During his time there, he created an award-winning HR system that contributed to the company's service growth. He is interested in new technologies and business, taking on roles in varies positions. He strongly believes that blockchain technology will be a widespread standard within in a few years. Due to the recent rise of crypto currency, he has committed himself to the ALIS project. Bato ErichinCommunication / Engineering Bato graduated from Tsinghua University with a degree in Thermal Engineering. He also received a master's degree from the Chinese Academy of Science, with a focus on supercomputing base large-scale parallel CFD. After graduating in 2014, he joined Recruit Co., Ltd. and now is a full stack engineer. He is experienced in iOS, Android, frontend, backend and UI/UX design. He also plays the role as the bridge of communication for our Chinese users on Weibo, Wechat, and other famous SNS in China. Tatsuhiko KameiRegal department Kamei graduated from Japans most prestigious university, the University of Tokyo. In addition to the ALIS project, he currently works for Recruit Co., Ltd. as a member of the legal staff. He handles different fields such as IT, web services, marketing, human resource and etc. He specializes in the legal affairs of new business developments. Kenta NakamuraMedia and Mass communication Nakamura is the president of the Japan Direction Association. He has had huge success as a media director in various fields, involved in projects such as the production of BITA DIGIMA Lab and development of natural-language engines. He is also known as a growth consult for Kaizen Platform. His major publications include "Web Director's Textbook" and "Latest Practice for Web Direction". We have the scale and sophistication to engineer unique solutions that address challenges across specialized industries. NFI, a leading 3PL provider, has been listed as one of the top 100 leading 3PLs for the second consecutive year with Global Trade Magazine. The annual list, placed in the magazines Leading 3PLs issue, provides a list of the top 3PL providers and highlights specific categories where each excels. This year, NFI was featured as a leader in the temperature-controlled category. NFI offers a full-range of supply chain services including dedicated fleets, warehousing, brokerage, intermodal, and global logistics. Within its 2,400-tractor dedicated fleet, NFI provides temperature-controlled solutions to customers from industries including grocery, food, and beverage. In addition, NFI delivers refrigerated intermodal services with state-of-the-art refrigerated containers that can maintain temperatures as low as -20oF. Delivering flexible, custom logistics options to a diverse customer base, NFI continues to grow across North America and expand its supply chain offerings. We have the scale and sophistication to engineer unique solutions that address challenges across specialized industries, says CEO, Sid Brown. Our ability to increase market share and enhance our capabilities allows NFI to deliver even greater service and solutions that help customers grow and achieve their supply chain goals. As one of the oldest and largest privately held 3PLs in North America, NFIs consistent and rapid growth continues to be its greatest achievement, growing to more than 8,400 employees and 33.5 million square feet of warehousing space this year. A family-owned and operated business, NFI promotes an entrepreneurial spirit, is flexible to customer needs, and builds an environment that is successful for continued growth. Read more about NFIs capabilities in Global Trade Magazines Americas 100 Leading 3PLs list. # # # About NFI -- NFI is a fully integrated supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI generates more than $1.3 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 8,400 associates. NFI owns facilities globally and operates more than 33.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Its company-owned fleet consists of over 2,400 tractors and 8,300 trailers, operated by more than 2,600 company drivers and 325 owner operators. Its business lines include dedicated transportation, warehousing, intermodal, brokerage, transportation management, global, and real estate services. For more information about NFI, visit http://www.nfiindustries.com or call 1-877-NFI-3777. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity during their time of need, said American entrepreneur and philanthropist Bob Parsons. Circle the City offers patients respect and compassion two things that go a long way in changing someones life. Circle the City has received a $500,000 grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to help sustain and expand its mission of providing compassionate, high-quality healthcare to men, women and children facing homelessness. The gift kicks off Circle the Citys Year of Transformation campaign which is aimed at driving growth amidst a rapidly changing healthcare environment. The campaign will provide funding for both the existing array of services offered at Circle the City, as well as several new initiatives slated for the coming year. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity during their time of need, said American entrepreneur and philanthropist Bob Parsons. Circle the City offers patients respect and compassion two things that go a long way in changing someones life. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has a history of backing Circle the Citys efforts to fill critical gaps in healthcare for individuals experiencing homelessness, and this recent grant brings The Foundations total support to $3 million. A 2015 gift helped fund construction and launch of The Parsons Family Health Center, an innovative family health clinic that provides primary care, integrative behavioral health services, case management and substance abuse intervention to homeless individuals. This community health program also hosts a two exam-room mobile medical clinic that carries Circle the Citys outreach efforts throughout Maricopa County. It is so appropriate that we are kicking off our Year of Transformation campaign with this generous gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, said Circle the Citys Chief Executive Officer Brandon Clark. Bob and Renees support of Circle the City over the years has been instrumental in expanding our services, and we are grateful of their continued confidence in us and the work we are doing to care for individuals in need. Circle the Citys continuum of care includes a 50-bed medical respite center that opened in 2012 to provide a time and place for adults facing homelessness to heal from illnesses and injuries. The medical respite center has been recognized as one of the leading programs of its kind in the United States, and has served as a model for dozens of other emerging programs across the nation. More than just excellent healthcare, the organization helps provide patients with a path out of homelessness. In addition to providing financial support for the organizations existing array of innovative programs, Circle the Citys Year of Transformation campaign aims to raise $5 million to launch a second freestanding medical respite facility, a new site of primary healthcare for the homeless, an innovative embedded healthcare pilot project in the greater Mesa area and to enhance administrative capacity to support these initiatives. Once implemented, this growth will enable Circle the City to serve more than 10,000 men, women and children experiencing homelessness each year. Circle the City is offering critical care to people in our community who are often overlooked, said businesswoman and philanthropist Renee Parsons. Everyone deserves a safe place to recover after a time of illness and a chance for a fresh start in life. Circle the Citys services not only make a meaningful impact on the individual lives of those patients served, but are also incredibly beneficial to the public healthcare system as a whole. Patients who are cared for in Circle the City facilities have been shown to incur fewer costs related to future hospitalizations and emergency services. In fact, a recent analysis of 47 patients who received care at Circle the City concluded that the annual cost of care for these individuals was decreased by a total of $1.1 million in the year following engagement with Circle the City. To learn more about how you can get involved visit: circlethecity.org. About Circle the City Circle the City is a rapidly growing 501(c)(3) nonprofit community health organization dedicated to providing high quality, holistic healthcare to men, women, and children facing homelessness in Maricopa County. The organizations homeless continuum of care is one-of-a-kind in the state of Arizona and one of the only models of its kind in the nation. Patients can benefit from several different levels of care offered within Circle the City, including primary care services, integrative outpatient behavioral health and substance abuse services, mobile health outreach services, or medical respite services in Circle the Citys flagship 50-bed care center. For more information, please visit http://www.circlethecity.org or call (602) 776-7676. About The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations successfully working to empower, educate, nurture, and nourish people during what is often the darkest times of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and Renee Parsons to provide hope and life-changing assistance to the countrys most vulnerable populations, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at critical times to those in need. Driven by the core belief that all people regardless of race, roots or economic status deserve access to quality healthcare, education, and a safe place to call home, The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has exceeded $120 million in giving over the past five years. Follow @WeDealInHope on social media, or visit TBRPF.org to learn more about partner organizations and the important work being done in the community. ### With our patented technology, weve combined our own electro-acoustic theory and electro-acoustic materials to produce sound the way it was created. 360 in-ear headphones, created with a patented technology to deliver the truest sound for movies, sports, music and gaming, are available now on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. This is how headphones will be built in the future, said Emmy Award winning film sound designer, Chris Julian. With the 360, we've created an acoustic chamber that imitates a room, where high frequencies are not assaulting your eardrums and a natural balance is established. 360 Founder Calvin Wang says his team has redesigned the mechanical structure of earbuds, using a new, patented technology that is leaps and bounds ahead of the basic structure being used in earbuds on the market today. With our patented technology, weve combined our own electro-acoustic theory and electro-acoustic materials to produce sound the way it was created, Wang said. Julian adds that, because of this design, 360 in-ear headphones are capable of reproducing sounds in three dimensions much more accurately than stereo. Wang says part of the teams patented technology focused on the mechanical structure of the 360 earbuds, which they treated as any other musical instrument to be designed, shaped and built to produce a particular output. We took the same concept and applied it to the earbud, making 360 an instrument for listening, Wang said. 360 earbud technology has been 10 years in the making with research and development, and crowdfunders will be the first to hear the true sound they deliver. 360 earbuds were designed with a 5-Frequency Divider, meaning the frequencies are clearly separated to provide clarity and a 3D Virtual 5.1 Surround Sound allowing music lovers to hear every aspect of the output produced as all the sounds are distributed in distinct channels, providing amazing fidelity. 360 earbuds also offer the best frequency range, from 8Hz-20 KHz. While the limit of human hearing is 20Hz, anything below can be felt as energy as a deep rumble or vibration. These low frequencies are usually realized in subwoofer systems, which the 360 team has packed into a portable, earbud format. These Infrasonic frequencies develop in the back cavity, allowing you to hear the clearest bass you will ever hear in an earbud, Wang said. By using a viscoelastic material and mechanical structure, frequencies are refined to produce clear output. This material is unique to 360 earbuds and represents part of our redesign and thinking outside the box while re-engineering the traditional earbud. Other features include a built-in microphone and button, providing crystal clarity on every phone call and the ability to control the audio level. The team that created the 360 in-ear headphones have more than 40 years of combined experience in the audio industry. Whether youre watching a movie or a game, immersed in VR or gaming, or listening to music, you want the bass response to give you the kick, and our 360 will provide the bass response youve ever heard before with earbuds, Wang said. We believe youll be astonished when you get your first pair of 360 and the way you listen will be changed forever. For more information on the revolutionary 360 earbuds, or to purchase a pair at an early-bird discount price during crowdfunding, visit the 360 Earbud Campaign Page on Kickstarter. Each of our 10 Drucker Prize finalists has demonstrated an impressive blend of results-driven rigor and human-centric focus. The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University has named the 10 finalists for the 2017 Drucker Prize. The winning nonprofit organization, to be announced on September 29, will receive $100,000. The Drucker Institute also has released to the entire social sector all of the content from The Drucker Prize learning platform, including readings featuring the timeless wisdom of Peter Drucker and video insights from some of todays top minds in nonprofit management and leadership. All of this material is now available for free to any interested organization. The finalists for the 2017 Drucker Prize are: DataKind, for The Six Components of Data Science for Good data-science tools and techniques for boosting social-sector impact. Feeding America, for the MealConnect program that uses technology to quickly match food donations to nearby agencies for expedited distribution to those in need. Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, which mobilizes volunteers to create and edit online maps that help responders reach people in need during disasters and other humanitarian crises. MASS Design Group, for The Catalyst Fund that provides early-stage architectural design grants for the social and public sectors. mothers2mothers International, for empowering HIV-positive African mothers to mentor newly diagnosed mothers in how to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus. OneJustice, for the Rural Justice Initiative that brings legal services to rural and underserved populations. SARSEF, for teaching students in Arizona how to make decisions based on data and evidence in order to solve real-world problems. St. Bernard Project, for its use of the Toyota Production System to manage the volunteer-driven rebuilding of homes damaged or destroyed by disaster. Sustainable Innovations, for its rainwater-harvesting social enterprise that allow homeowners in India to secure safe water for themselves and their communities. We Care Solar, for its solar-powered suitcase that provides lighting and electricity for nighttime obstetrical care in the developing world. The Drucker Institute selected these 10 finalists from among the 50 semifinalists announced on June 16. Leaders from these 50 organizations each completed a series of mini-courses on The Drucker Prize learning platform, where they explored different aspects of innovation and organizational effectiveness. They then reported both how their organization currently utilizes any of the principles presented, as well as how they could put into practice any new ideas they learned. As Peter Drucker wrote, Successful innovators...look at figures, and they look at people, said Zach First, the Drucker Institutes executive director. Each of our 10 Drucker Prize finalists has demonstrated an impressive blend of results-driven rigor and human-centric focus. Whats more, the leaders of these organizations arent resting on their laurels; they are hungry for new knowledge they can put to work in service of their missions. In addition to First, the final judges for the 2017 Drucker Prize are: Cecily Drucker, member of the Drucker Institutes Board of Advisors; Sumita Dutta, managing director at Golden Seeds; Jenny Darroch, Henry Y. Hwang Dean of the Drucker-Ito School of Management; Geneva Johnson, former president and CEO of Family Service America and Families International; Kevin McCoy, president of National Office Furniture; C. William Pollard, chairman emeritus of ServiceMaster Co. and an emeritus member of the Drucker Institutes Board of Advisors; Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way and a member of the Drucker Institutes Board of Advisors; David Styers, manager of program and business development at the Presidio Institute; and Jocelyn Wyatt, co-lead and executive director at IDEO.org Administered annually since 1991, The Drucker Prize, formerly known as the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, is given to a social-sector organization that demonstrates Druckers definition of innovationchange that creates a new dimension of performance. The judges look for programs that are highly effective and have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve, as well as for those organizations that demonstrate a capacity to further leverage the discipline of innovation. Hailed by Businessweek magazine as the man who invented management, Peter Drucker not only consulted for major corporations; he also advised the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and countless other social-sector organizations. He called the nonprofit Americas most distinctive institution. If you have questions about the application or Drucker Prize process, please contact druckerprize(at)drucker.(dot)nstitute. About the Drucker Institute The Drucker Institute is a social enterprise based at Claremont Graduate University. Our mission is strengthening organizations to strengthen society. Our programmingfor the corporate, nonprofit and public sectorsis built on a foundation of YESTERDAY/TODAY/MONDAY*. Yesterday refers to the fact that our work is grounded in Peter Druckers timeless wisdom. Today speaks to the urgency that we know organizational leaders feel to successfully meet their greatest challenges and opportunities. And Monday points to our proven ability to help executives move quickly from ideas to action to results, just as Drucker urged his own consulting clients: Dont tell me you had a wonderful meeting with me. Tell me what youre going to do on Monday thats different. For more, visit http://www.drucker.institute. About Claremont Graduate University Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is one of a select few American universities devoted solely to graduate-level education with more than 2,000 students pursuing graduate degrees in more than 20 distinct areas of study. The university belongs to a consortium of schools in Southern California that includes Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, and Keck Graduate Institute. Students are encouraged to look beyond the traditional disciplinary divisions and define their own unique program of studyCGUs transdisciplinary trademark. CGUs other distinctions include serving as the home of the Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management and the annual Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards. LAI International, Inc, a world-class provider of manufacturing solutions to the aerospace, military, energy and medical industries, presented to the Manufacturing Leadership Council earlier this month. As part of the presentation, LAI outlined its roadmap and progress-to-date in the quest to implement Manufacturing 4.0 into its four factories throughout the United States. The LAI Northeast team is the first site to roll out the first elements of the Manufacturing 4.0 initiative, which LAI has dubbed Factory of the Future. LAIs Factory of the Future harnesses technology to improve the quality of products delivered to its customers. A key element of the initiative enhances the way associates receive and collect data. Work instructions are digitalized and associates can input Statistical Process Analysis data with computing tools. The eventual goal is to create control limits and have inspection machines feed the data to the computer for analysis, then feed the shifts or trends back to the machine where the operation that caused the shift occurred. This eliminates the opportunity for a human to make an error and gives the customer a better-quality product at the end of the manufacturing cycle. In addition to enhancing product quality, LAIs Factory of the Future also improves operations and productivity. Associates are trained to the latest needs, as defined by the customer, and always have the most current instructions to make the product. Real time changes can be made and data is collected digitally, reducing paperwork and potential disconnect from the product. From procuring the raw material through the final inspection, record keeping of all the elements are retained in one location and attached to the customers purchase order, further ensuring all the records are provided an important aspect of the process within the aerospace community. After the Factory of the Future pilot program is underway with floor associates in LAI Northeast (Scarborough, Maine), LAI plans to roll out the system to the LAI New York site (Green Island, New York). The Manufacturing Leadership Councils mission is to enable manufacturing executives to achieve transformational growth while achieving maximum speed and efficiency for themselves, their companies and the industry at large through the power of enlightened senior leadership collaboration. In support of this, the Council looks at the intersection of advanced technologies and the business, serving as a large executive advisory board; identifying the most innovative growth and improvement opportunities in the operation; organizing and leading manufacturing enterprises; sharing best practices; and developing strategies from the best manufacturing companies in the world. The Council has built an executive collaboration platform that delivers a very robust, facilitated program of thought leadership, networking and services around a member-defined set of critical Issues, along with hand-picked senior leadership members who are shaping the future of manufacturing. In June, LAI International was recognized by the Manufacturing Leadership Council at their Annual Meeting and Awards Gala held in Huntington Beach, California. LAI received awards for Customer Value Leadership, Engineering & Production Technology Leadership, Operational Excellence Leadership, and Visionary Leadership. ABOUT LAI INTERNATIONAL: LAI International is a leading contract manufacturer of precision-engineered finished parts, components and sub-assemblies for advanced industries, including Aerospace, Defense, Energy, Industrial and Medical. LAI is also a growth company with longstanding and entrenched relationships with a diversified customer base of leading OEMs. Innovative ideas, best-in-class people, optimized processes and leading-edge technology differentiate LAI from the traditional manufacturing and supply-chain model. As a true strategic partner, LAI is focused on solving tomorrows complex component manufacturing problems today. For more information, please visit http://www.laico.com/. Social Media is Driving Increased Transparency in the Workplace, According to New Data from NCHRAs HR TechXpo and Waggl Within the HR community, transparency is usually regarded as a positive attribute within the organization, because it can be used to cultivate trust, said Greg Morton, CEO, NCHRA. The Northern California Human Resource Association (NCHRA), and Waggl, the most human way for organizations to crowdsource feedback, today released new data from their joint Voice of the Workplace pulse on the subject of social media and transparency in the workplace. The Voice the Workplace pulse was sent by NCHRA to over 20,000 HR professionals using Waggls crowdsourced listening platform from August 10-August 25, 2017, including the attendees of the HR TechXpo at Hilton Union Square in San Francisco, CA on August 25, 2017. In this pulse, 59% of the participants responded that they agree with the following statement: The rise of social media has made my organization more transparent. The responses illustrated some interesting splits across various demographics including gender, industry, and size of organization. For example, among male participants, 68% felt that their organizations had become more transparent due to social media, whereas only 54% of female participants felt it was the case. Among respondents from non-profits, only 55% felt their organizations had become more transparent, in comparison with 62% from the technology industry. Perhaps most notably, 69% of participants from large enterprise organizations with 10,000 employees or more felt that their organizations had become more transparent, in contrast with 50% from organizations with 201-1,000 employees. Participants in the Voice of the Workplace Pulse were also asked whether, in light of recent events at Uber and Google, their organizations have changed their views/philosophy on how employees should utilize social media. In answer to this question, only 24% of the participants said that they felt that their organizations had changed. Within the HR community, transparency is usually regarded as a positive attribute within the organization, because it can be used to cultivate trust, said Greg Morton, CEO, NCHRA. Unfortunately, weve seen several instances in the news recently that illustrate how that transparency can backfire if the organization has underlying cultural issues that havent been addressed. The results of this pulse indicate that social media is one of the driving factors in encouraging transparency, but its certainly not the only one. Organizations dont appear to be making changes in direct response to specific events in which employees of well-known companies have spoken out openly on social media. Nevertheless, HR professionals do believe that fostering transparency is valuable, and essential to building trust within an organization. In this pulse, HR West and Waggl also posed the question, What is the most significant potential outcome of increased transparency within an organization? and distilled crowdsourced responses into a ranked list. The top 3 answers provided by the HR professionals who participated were: Increased trust between company leadership and its employees. Increased trust will drive credibility, accountability, performance and productivity and fiscal outcomes. Increased transparency within the organization has the potential to build stronger unity among all levels of employees helping to improve communications and understanding. Employees will feel more invested in the organization, and leadership will have to practice what they preach about company values. If that happens a more engaged and productive workforce will emerge. Waggl is designed to help organizations create a culture of innovation by creating real-time, meaningful dialogue that can be used to surface ideas, collect authentic feedback, and build consensus. Unlike traditional survey and polling platforms, Waggl engages participants by asking open-ended questions and favorite responses can be voted up. The platform enables fast, frequent, focused conversation on virtually any topic. As weve seen from the responses on this pulse, social media has served as a catalyst for many companies to cultivate greater transparency, but the benefits go far beyond avoiding a negative post from an employee, said Michael Papay, Co-founder and CEO, Waggl. Cultivating transparency can create stronger of cohesion around the goals and vision of an organization. Wider dispersion of knowledge builds a shared sense of purpose and investment that leads to increased inclusion, trust, engagement and accountability. Transparency ultimately leads to better connections between people, and can help to facilitate a more agile organization. For additional information, please contact Waggl and NCHRA. About NCHRA The Northern California HR Association, one of the nations largest HR associations, has been advancing organizations through human resources since 1960. Delivering nearly 200 programs annually, the association is dedicated to connecting human resources professionals with practice resources, leading California-specific training, legal and legislative developments, quality service providers, and each otherforming career-long networks and partnerships. About Waggl Waggl is the most human way for organizations to crowdsource feedback. Named after the dance that bees do in a hive to transmit important information very quickly, Waggl lives at the intersection of two organizational realities: Companies want an engaged workforce and employees want to know that their opinions count. Waggl goes beyond the traditional survey by offering an extremely easy way to listen to many voices at once within an organization for the purpose of making it better. Waggls real-time listening platform creates a transparent, authentic two-way dialogue that gives people a voice, distills insights, and unites organizations through purpose. With a highly seasoned management team and a Board including esteemed executives from Glassdoor, SuccessFactors, and Coupa, Waggl is an innovative industry leader helping companies of all sizes to succeed by building a listening culture. For more information, please visit: http://www.waggl.com/. Oak and Stone - St. Petersburg iPourIt gets people trying a lot, talking a lot, and interacting with each other. From the minds of TableSeide Restaurant Group comes the latest craft beer and pizza destination on the gulf coast: Oak and Stone, a neighborhood-style beer and pizza joint with a modern twistself-serve draft beer and wine. The bar and restaurant, celebrating two successful years at its original location in University Park, Florida, will make its St. Petersburg debut this December. The new Oak and Stone will use the same high-tech self-serve beverage dispense technology,iPourIt, as seen at its original location. The bar wall of tech-savvy taps will house 62 different varieties of craft beer and wine, with a focus on local beers from nearby brewers like JDubs, Calusa, and Big Top. TableSeide owner, Joe Seidensticker, says, Its an upgrade. It will have everything the original Oak and Stone has, with new bells and whistles, like more taps, a bigger bar, and more TVs. Joining St. Petersburgs downtown dining and nightlife district, the new Oak and Stone is located right outside the Jannus Live music venue. Its close proximity to area colleges, art galleries, museums and other cultural centers make it a top destination for locals and visitors alike. Were literally in the heart of the downtown district, right on Central Avenue. Its a great throughway for people coming from the waterfront and downtown. The location is amazing, said Seidensticker. Opening a second location was a natural progression for Oak and Stone, whose mission is to introduce more people to craft beer in a fun and friendly way. Theres this intimidation in craft beer. We wanted to figure out a way to make it a little more social and approachable for people that dont really drink craft beer on a daily basis, said Seidensticker. iPourIt gets people trying a lot, talking a lot, and interacting with each other. Oak and Stone will join the downtown district in St. Petersburg in December 2017 at: 24 2nd St. N., St. Petersburg, FL. About TableSeide Restaurant Group TableSeide is a family-owned and operated restaurant group influenced by over 30 years of restaurant experience and a passion for the world of culinary arts. Inspired by passion for the hospitality industry, worldwide travels, engaging mentors and a mutually shared mission of providing great service, food and drink in a welcoming atmosphere. Visit their locations: Louies Modern, Libbys Cafe and Bar, Muse at the Ringling, Lbar, and Oak and Stone. About Oak & Stone Forget what you thought you knew about pizza places. This specialty joint specializes in artisanal, wood-fired pizzas and toppings with a twist like roasted pineapple, Cedar Key clams, kale pesto, caramelized garlic and more. We also offer a variety of gourmet grub, unexpected entrees, and the largest selection of craft brews on tap in town. Oak & Stone boasts the largest RIFD technology self-serve brew wall in the region with 56 taps of golden goodness. Visit us online at: oakandstone.com | facebook.com/oakandstonesarasota | Instagram @oakandstone_srq. About iPourIt, Inc. iPourIt, Inc. is a revolutionary self-serve beverage dispense technology that allows taproom and fast casual patrons to pour their own beer, cider, wine, cocktails and coffee, and it tracks and monitors every pour. iPourIts data analytics gives bar and restaurant operators valuable information about who poured what, when, and where, so businesses may effectively target patrons and create a positive experience, while increasing revenues. iPourIts self-serve solution is now in operation on 2,500 taps nationwide and counting, with more than 3.4 million ounces poured each month, and more than 5.5 million users, a number that grows every day. iPourIt is born and supported in the U.S.A. Learn more about iPourIt at ipouritinc.com, and follow us for updates on Facebook (facebook.com/iPourIt), Twitter (@iPourIt_inc) and Instagram (@ipourit). Effective immediately, StorageMart pledges to match donations to the American Red Cross in support of disaster relief efforts pertaining to Hurricane Harvey. Citizens interested in donating should visit: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/storagemart-pub More than 90 percent of every dollar donated to the American Red Cross is invested in humanitarian services and programs. Donations of any amount make a difference, and StorageMart looks forward to matching gifts until hitting a combined total of $50,000. Here are a few of the ways the American Red Cross helps those affected by Hurricane Harvey: Providing first-aid supplies Establishing shelters for evacuation or victims whove lost their homes Providing food for shelter guests until they can return home Distributing water, food and relief supplies across impacted neighborhoods Handing out cleaning supplies Creating recovery plans to help families get back on their feet Giving hope by offering emotional support to help people cope after the disaster Restoring health by monitoring the well-being of shelter guests and helping them replace prescription medications or eyeglasses About StorageMart & the American Red Cross The new fundraising initiative is an extension of Store It Forward, a charitable giving program created by StorageMart to give back to the many communities it calls home. Store It Forward is a constant, year-round program designed to generate donations during blue skies when there is no immediate disaster. StorageMart customers can participate in the Store It Forward program by leaving online reviews. In turn, the company makes donations on their behalf to the American Red Cross and other charities throughout North America and the United Kingdom. For more information about Store It Forward, visit: https://www.storage-mart.com/about-storagemart/store-it-forward Media Contact Sarah Little Marketing Director sarah.little(at)storage-mart(dot)com 573.449.0091 AIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that Flopy Feng, Technical Support Engineer, received the award for Best Presentation in his technical session at the SMTA China South Technology Conference in Shenzhen, China. Flopys presentation, titled The Impact of Reduced Solder Alloy Powder Size on Solder Paste Print Performance, generated great interest among attendees. It highlighted the benefits and implications of finer mesh solder powder on critical aspects of solder paste performance. In this study, the key input variables included powder size, effect of room temperature storage, pause time and PCB feature types. Output included print transfer efficiency, volume repeatability and performance stability over time. Flopy Feng is a Technical Support Engineer for AIM Solder. Having worked as a process supervisor for seven years, he is experienced in process evaluation and optimization. With over fourteen years experience in the SMT industry, Flopy supports AIM customers in south China. About AIM Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, AIM Solder is a leading global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution and support facilities located throughout the world. AIM produces advanced solder products such as solder paste, liquid flux, cored wire, bar solder, epoxies, lead-free and halogen-free solder products, preforms, and specialty alloys such as indium and gold for a broad range of industries. A recipient of many prestigious SMT industry awards, AIM is strongly committed to innovative research and development of product and process improvement as well as providing customers with superior technical support, service and training. For more information about AIM, visit http://www.aimsolder.com. Upcoming Events: September 17-21, 2017 SMTA International Rosemont, IL October 18-19, 2017 SMTA Guadalajara Guadalajara, Mexico October 18, 2017 SMTA Long Island Islandia, NY ASSISTments was developed by husband-and-wife team Neil and Cristina Heffernan at WPI and is provided for free to school districts across the country. Two separate multimillion dollar grants have been awarded to education researchers studying the impact of ASSISTments, a free web-based learning platform developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) that was previously shown to boost student scores on standardized math tests by approximately 75 percent. The grants, from the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), part of the U.S. Department of Education, total over $7 million. They will build upon the prior trial to provide a deeper dive on ASSISTments. Large and rigorous randomized controlled trials of online education tools for K-12 education are difficult to conduct and analyze, leaving school administrators with limited information to consult when making important decisions regarding education technology for their districts. The ASSISTments trial, conducted from 2012 to 2014 by SRI Education, a division of SRI International, was important in that it provided hard, comparative evidence of the impact of education technology. Funded by IES, the study included nearly 3,000 students at 43 public schools in Maine, which, since 2002, has provided every seventh-grade student a laptop. Results published last fall in the journal Aera Open by the American Educational Research Association showed that in the schools using ASSISTments, students learned 75 percent more on a standardized mathematics test, compared to what they would be expected to have learned in a typical school year. In addition, SRI reported that students of lower socio-economic means made the greatest gains among their peers, thus showing ASSISTments helped close persistent achievement gaps. Researchers are now building upon that successful study and expanding it into school districts across the country through the two new IES grants. The first, a four-year, $3.3 million replication project awarded to SRI International, WPI, and North Carolina State University, is intended to analyze mathematics test scores among a more diverse sample of students. It will include nearly 200 teachers and 10,400 seventh-grade students in 66 public middle or junior high schools across North Carolina, which researchers find provides a demographic sampling that is more representative of the entire nation and thus more likely to reliably reflect the impact of the program. The second grant, a five-year, $3.8 million project, will be conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), one of the worlds largest behavioral and social science research and evaluation organizations. It will evaluate the efficacy of ASSISTments on learning among roughly 15,000 seventh-grade students in seven geographically, culturally, and economically diverse sites across the United States. The results of the study in Maine were dramatic and verified what we had been seeing anecdotally, said ASSISTments lead creator, Neil Heffernan, PhD, professor of computer science and director of Learning Sciences and Technologies at WPI. As the developer of the program, I was, of course, excited. As a researcher and educator, however, I want more data. These two new IES grants will further examine and, I believe, validate the efficacy of ASSISTments in improving students math skills, while also providing significant clinical grade data to demonstrate the programs ability to close the achievement gap across socio-economic groups. ASSISTments was developed by Heffernan and colleagues to provide better homework help for students. It gives immediate feedback to students as they work on assignments from their teachers, and gives teachers insight into areas where students struggle, both individually and as a class. Such homework assistance helps students gain skills, and the data produced allows teachers to conduct more targeted homework reviews and better use their class time. The system fits within common school policies for homework and doesnt require instructional changes, such as new textbooks or altered pacing through topics. Teachers can assign problems, and students will get immediate feedback, while teachers will get reports. For details, watch a brief animated video summarizing ASSISTments. ASSISTments is free to districts and is one of a small number of homework platforms available via Google Classroom. Both new IES studies are actively recruiting school districts to participate. Schools must already provide technology such as a tablet, Chromebook, or laptop to students to take home for homework. Learn more about efforts to recruit schools to the studies: recruitment.assistments.org. Resources: --ASSISTments description video --Study shows WPI-developed math homework tool closes the learning gap --Recruitment details About Worcester Polytechnic Institute Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nations first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on multidisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 40 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Visit http://www.wpi.edu. Contact: Alison Duffy, WPI Director of Public Relations, amduffy(at)wpi.edu; 508-831-6656. # # # Mobile Vehicle Security Inspections from Anywhere SV3 Mobile Includes Vehicle Security Inspection Module Providing Actionable Intelligence Building Intelligence, a recognized leader in the security industry, released the newest version of its award winning SV3 Mobile with a Vehicle Inspection Module. For facilities that control vehicle access and inspect vehicles upon entry, SV3Mobile allows the security officer to go through a task list, check progress, and permit/deny vehicle for entry. The security officer is able to add notes to the results of the inspection report and tie it to the record for that access record. From the feed of a License Plate Reader, the SV3 Mobile application can populate a list of vehicles. From the list or manually, security officers can kick off an inspection looking for firearms, weapons, stolen goods, damages and check a driver's license against a watchlist. The purpose of SV3 Vehicle is to provide the facility operator a comprehensive secure access control system for vehicles, vendors and visitors. SV3 integrates into license plate readers, underground vehicle inspection systems and, of course, traditional access control (PACS). If a security officer marks a positive finding in the inspection report, SV3 can integrate to an alert system sending a message in real time to a command center. Safety Act Designated by Homeland Security, SV3 Mobile is used at campus entrances, loading docks, vehicle inspection stations and at vehicle roadways. SV3 generates a complete concept of operations that supports business operations, loading dock logistics and maintains records of security protocols generating a safe community. With the vehicle inspection feature embedded into our mobile applications, owners and operators are able to discovery and share actionable intelligence from anywhere. The decisions at the gate or at the loading dock have operational consequence, and good decisions are evidenced in a complete vehicle log. With SV3, facility operators as well as security officers, enhance their situational awareness with a deeper understanding of what decisions are made and who made them. The accountability and visibility of an inspection process can be a key component in securing any facility. With new technology, SV3 Inspection is available through Integrators around the World. Pilots are available for qualified participants. About Building Intelligence Inc. Building Intelligence is a software company providing innovative technology solutions for security practitioners and building owners to manage visitors, vehicles and vendors. Building Intelligence Inc. is a privately owned business. The firms cloud-based solutions are uniquely positioned to provide the tools for managing visitors and vendors as they enter on foot through the front door or in a vehicle at the loading dock or parking area. The modular solution set is being widely adopted in many major metropolitan markets and being sold, deployed and supported by an authorized security systems integrator channel with expertise in the identity and access management domain. "This initiative will raise awareness of the importance of clinical trial participation, said Peter Lalli, Head of Sanofi North America Corporate Social Responsibility. CISCRP is delighted to announce the upcoming AWARE for All clinical research education and health fair event that will take place in Newark, NJ. The event will be held on Thursday, September 28, 2017 from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Paul Robeson Campus Center at Rutgers University - Newark. AWARE for All is a free community education program, established by CISCRP, that provides information and resources about the clinical research process and clinical trial participation to help the public make informed decisions about their health. The event serves as a platform for dialogue between local patients, members of the public, and advocacy and research professionals. This particular event will have a theme of Advancing Medicines, Everyones Invited highlighting the importance of diversity in clinical research with a specific focus on diabetes research. Sanofi US, the Host Sponsor of this event, has been working closely with CISCRP as part of a larger awareness-building campaign about the importance of diversity in clinical trials. Sanofi is proud to sponsor the Newark AWARE for All event. This initiative will raise awareness of the importance of clinical trial participation, said Peter Lalli, Head of Sanofi North America Corporate Social Responsibility. This will not only aid in gaining access to new therapies, but also help ensure medicines are safe and effective across all patient populations. Other organizations collaborating on this program include the American Diabetes Association, Angel Flight East, Antidote, CenterWatch, Health Unlocked, Langland, CISCRPs National Event Sponsor The Lupus Research Alliance, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society New Jersey Metro Chapter, Rutgers Health Sciences Campus at Newark, the Scott Research Center, and Sisters Network Essex County. This community health event is also being recognized by Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. of New Jerseys 10th District. Congressman Payne, Jr. comments, We welcome the AWARE for All program to New Jersey as a chance for local residents to learn more about clinical research, diversity in clinical trial participation, and the importance of making informed decisions about ones health care options. It is imperative to the advancement of medicine and science to include underrepresented groups in clinical research. I appreciate CISCRP and Sanofi US for bringing this information to the 10th District of New Jersey. Registration for AWARE for All is free and open to all. Attendees will have access to a variety of health screenings, dinner, prizes, and giveaways. There will also be informational exhibits, as well as a patient and professional panel discussion about participation in clinical research. The event will end with a Medical Heroes Appreciation Ceremony, honoring those who participate in clinical trials within the greater Newark community. Ellyn Getz, Senior Manager of Development and Community Engagement at CISCRP remarks, We are proud to bring this program to Newark for our premier New Jersey-based event. With Sanofi US generous host sponsorship, and support from other local organizations, we are working to increase health and clinical research literacy amongst the public, as well as to shed light on the many health-related resources available within the local community. AWARE for All Newark will be held on Thursday, September 28, 2017 from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Paul Robeson Campus Center at Rutgers University. Register today through http://www.everyonesinvited.org or by calling 1-877-MED-HERO (1-877-633-4376). ABOUT CISCRP: The Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the public and patients as partners in the clinical research process. CISCRP provides free education and outreach to the general public and patient communities. Visit http://www.CISCRP.org for more information or to support CISCRPs educational initiatives. Editors Note: Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are still available; email cbudd(at)ciscrp.org to learn more. People who grew up on dairy farms often mention their love for dairy cows, their passion for the dairy community, and their calling to work in dairy as reasons that they either became dairy farmers themselves or pursued careers connected to dairy farming. That love and passion fills the thousands of jobs needed to keep the dairy industry running: dairy farmers, herdsmen, calf specialists, veterinarians, nutritionists, reproduction specialists, and more. Everything from keeping fresh milk and yogurt in the dairy case at the grocery store to putting cheese on a pizza at the pizzeria starts with the committed people who work in dairy. But what do we, as a community, do to keep these positions filled as the number of people raised on dairy farms continues to dwindle? We find ways for youth not growing up on dairy farms to get involved in dairy. Two shining examples Here in Minnesota, and in other states as well, the 4-H dairy project has a lease program that allows 4-Hers to lease dairy cattle for exhibition. Many of the youth who participate in the lease program dont live on dairy farms but have an interest in working with and showing dairy cattle. Our nieces and nephew have leased our dairy cattle for several years now. They show at our local youth show, the county fair, and, if a trip is awarded, the Minnesota State Fair. This year, both of our nieces earned state fair trips with two of our cows. We have seen firsthand how the lease program allows youth to develop connections to dairy cattle and learn more about dairy farming. Matt Addington/Midwest Dairy Association Another Minnesota youth program that encourages nonfarm youth to participate in dairy is the states dairy princess program. In the past, daughters of dairy farmers were the only young women eligible to serve as dairy ambassadors. That changed when dairy farm employees and employees daughters became eligible to serve as dairy princesses and ambassadors. Serving as a goodwill ambassador for the dairy industry requires a thorough understanding of dairy farming and a desire to communicate that understanding to others. Both the 4-H dairy lease program and dairy princess program foster interest in dairy and help youth network with other young dairy enthusiasts. If we are lucky, some of these talented youth will become dairy farmers or seek work in dairy-related jobs. At the very least, they will have a better understanding of dairy farming and likely become lifelong supporters of the dairy community. The author is a dairy farmer and writer from central Minnesota. She farms with her husband, Glen, and their three children. Sadie grew up on a dairy farm in northern Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in agricultural communications and marketing. She also blogs at Dairy Good Life. Midsomer Murders PBS SoCal KOCE, the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern California, is now a destination for drama on both Saturday and Sunday nights. The stations new 'Double the Drama' Weekends adds two hours of drama on Saturday nights, in addition to the two hours viewers expect on Sundays. Beginning Saturday, September 2, PBS SoCal will air "Midsomer Murders," a suspenseful British drama set in the deceptively idyllic fictional English county of Midsomer. The program, full of eccentric characters, red herrings and quaint countryside scenery, will share a drama programming block with Australian favorite "Doctor Blake Mysteries." After 30 years away practicing medicine, Doctor Blake has returned to home to take over his deceased father's medical practice. He also becomes the police surgeon in his country town, where he uses forensic science to help solve murder mysteries. The fall Sunday night drama line-up includes "Secrets of Six Wives" and "Endeavor" on Masterpiece. "Secrets of Six Wives" travels back in time with historian Lucy Worsley to the Tudor court to witness some of the most dramatic moments in the lives of Henry VIIIs six wives, each of whom found a method of exerting her influence. This program combines drama with historical comment. "Endeavor" on Masterpiece, set in mid to late 1960's Oxford, England, centers on the early career of Endeavour Morse, who after leaving Lonsdale College of Oxford University, without getting his degree, then joins the police department as a detective. In October, fall drama programming will include the third season of "Poldark" on Masterpiece. Based on the novels by Winston Graham, this season Poldark finds himself in revolutionary France while attempting to repair his relationship. Meanwhile, his nemesis is busy building his empire to crush the Poldarks. On October 15, "The Durrells in Corfu," season two, continues the story Louisa Durrell, a widow who took her children from 1930's England to a Greek island, where they live their unconventional life -- loving, shooting, and animal collecting, all while her children are in search of her suitable mate. Also in October, Paul Sabine is restoring Paris as the fashion capital of the world post-World War ll in "The Collection." His dresses are a sensation, and only his shady past and an inconvenient corpse block his way to success. PBS SoCals fall drama line-up leads into the second season of "Victoria," starting in January. In the new season, Victoria is adapting to motherhood following the birth of her first child, the Anglo-Afghan War is unfolding abroad, and the catastrophic Irish potato famine begins to wreak havoc. ABOUT PBS SoCal KOCE: PBS SoCal KOCE is the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. We deliver the full schedule of PBS programs plus content that is for, about and by the people of Southern California. Our content is available free through four broadcast channels, at pbssocal.org, on our mobile apps, and via connected TV services. And we provide the community with early education resources and cultural and educational experiences through partnerships, events and grassroots outreach. PBS SoCal has offices in Century City, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles. Connect with us at http://www.pbssocal.org, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Gumbiner Savett Inc. The new firm videos provide a more comprehensive look into services and culture, allowing our clients to learn about who we are. Gumbiner Savett Inc., an accounting firm based in Santa Monica, has released new video content that provides an overview of the firms philosophy and experience in audit and tax, real estate, venture backed companies and Silicon Beach startup and growth-oriented companies. The videos can be found on the firms website http://gscpa.com/gs-happenings/accounting-video/ . The new firm videos provide a more comprehensive look into services and culture, allowing our clients, community partners, and potential employees to learn about who we are, our commitment to the profession and how we can assist with their business and personal accounting and tax needs. says Irene Valverde, Director of HR and Practice Development. The video content features members of the senior leadership team, including: Rick Parent, CPA managing director of the firm; shareholder Shreedar Kothari, CPA, head of the Audit and Accounting Department; shareholder David Thaw, CPA, head of the GS Tax Department; principal Pradeep Budhiraja, CPA, head of the GS SEC Public Company Practice; and recently promoted tax principal, Karla Chavez Luna among other company staff. We are proud of the videos and are enthusiastic to engage new visitors to our website in a more dynamic way. After watching the firm videos, we encourage visitors to engage with us on Social Media our LinkedIn and Facebook pages, stated Valverde. All videos are posted to Gumbiner Savetts website, which was completely reimagined earlier this year, as well as the firms YouTube and Vimeo pages. About Gumbiner Savett Inc. - http://www.gscpa.com Gumbiner Savett Inc., is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Santa Monica. Celebrating 65 years in 2015, the purpose of our work is to enrich our clients lives by facilitating the achievement of their financial objectives and providing career fulfillment for our employees. We are dedicated to being the preeminent assurance, tax and business advisory firm for growth oriented businesses, middle market enterprises and high-net worth individuals in Southern California. In addition to traditional private and public company accounting and tax services, we specialize in general business consulting, estate and trust planning, fraud examination studies, business services and bookkeeping and litigation support. Gumbiner Savett Inc. is an independent member firm of BKR International. Kevin Gillis Kevin brings with him sharp insight into the New England housing market, so we are particularly glad to bring him into the First Choice Family. New Jersey-based residential mortgage lender First Choice Loan Services Inc., a Berkshire Bank Company announces the addition of Kevin Gillis as Regional Vice President and Branch Manager based in Middleton, Massachusetts. Before joining First Choice Loan Services, Gillis served for ten years as a regional sales manager and senior loan officer with loanDepot. Prior to that, he was the vice president of sales for VIP Mortgage and a senior loan officer for Peoples Mortgage. Gillis chose his transition to First Choice Loan Services for several reasons. My decision for this professional move to First Choice was made with my clients remaining my top priority. Any change I may make professionally is only done to ensure they receive the outstanding home loan experience they deserve, said Gillis. First Choice offers boutique mortgage banking backed by the strength of Berkshire Hills Bancorp. Berkshire Bank is the third-largest bank headquartered in Massachusetts with $9.3 billion in assets. In addition, the Berkshire Bank employees volunteer program provided 40,000 hours of service with a value of more than $1 million in 2016. This strong commitment to their communities is a reflection of the focused and dedicated service they also bring to their clients. Im excited to extend and enhance that when continuing my relationships with my home buyers, homeowners and business partners. Berkshire Bank has a number of strong ties in the Boston region, including being the community presenting sponsor of Boston Seasons at City Hall Plaza and serving as the Official Bank of NESNs Boston Bruins coverage. In addition, Boston Business Journal named Berkshire Bank one of Massachusetts Most Charitable Companies in 2016. Executive Vice President of National Production James Iley is happy to bring Gillis and his remarkable professional background to build the name of First Choice Loan Services in the New England region. Kevin brings with him sharp insight into the New England housing market, so we are particularly glad to bring him into the First Choice Family. We look forward to supporting all his efforts to share the strong reputation of First Choice Loan Services in Massachusetts, said Iley. First Choice was recently featured as a 2017 Top Mortgage Employer by National Mortgage Professional Magazine, and we have been honored as a Top Mortgage Lender by the Scotsman Guide and one of the Best Mortgage Companies to Work For by Mortgage Executive Magazine. With Kevin serving in a leadership role in the New England region, Im confident more accolades are to follow. Gillis graduated from the Isenberg School of Management at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He ranked for Top Dollar Volume in the Scotsman Guide for 2009 to 2012 and again in 2016 and also in the Top 1% of Mortgage Originators by Mortgage Executive Magazine for 2012 2017. About First Choice Loan Services Inc. First Choice Loan Services Inc., a Berkshire Bank Company is headquartered in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Founded in 2009, the company is licensed to originate and close residential mortgage loans nationwide, excluding Arkansas and New York. With 17 locations across 7 states and close to 500 employees, First Choice Loan Services Inc. offers FHA and VA programs, Jumbo loans, fixed and adjustable rate loans, and refinancing and renovation programs. First Choice Loan Services Inc. is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #210764. Licensed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. AZ BK# 0918586. To learn more about First Choice, visit https://fcloans.com/. # # # Prof. Chen Sheng, Professor of PolyUs Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, discovered a newly emerged superbug, hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae Prof. Chen Sheng, Professor of ABCT, collaborating with Prof. Rong Zhang from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, conducted an investigation into a fatal outbreak of pneumonia in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in China in February 2016. The study involved five patients who underwent surgical operation for multiple-trauma. All of them were later infected in the intensive care unit (ICU) and developed severe pneumonia, and eventually died of septicaemia and multiple organ failure. The causative agent of these five patients was found to be a carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) strain, a type of previously-defined superbug. Furthermore, these CRKP strains are also hypervirulent and belong to ST11 type of CRKP, the most prevalent and transmissible CRKP strains in Asia. As these strains simultaneously exhibit the features of hyper-resistance, hypervirulence and high transmissibility, they can be considered a real superbug known as ST11 CR-HvKP (ST11 carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae). ST11 K. pneumoniae strains proliferate in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) of human and animals and may cause opportunistic infections such as pneumonia in clinical settings. These strains, after acquiring plasmid encoding a carbapenemase gene, become resistant to the carbapenem antibiotics and caused untreatable or hard-to-be treated infections, therefore defined as superbug. These superbug strains could further evolve to become ST11 CR-HvKP through acquisition of the hypervirulence plasmids. The ST11 CR-HvKP strains do not only infect lungs and cause pneumonia, but also invade the bloodstream and other internal organs. Due to its hypervirulence and phenotypic resistance to commonly used antibiotics, ST11 CR-HvKP strains may cause untreatable and fatal infections in relatively healthy individuals with normal immunity. ST11 CR-HvKP strains possess a mucoid outer layer, which enables them to stick to various materials, such as the surface of medical devices and tubing as well as other surfaces in the ICU. The transmission route is not clear yet, but our data suggest that medical equipment such as ventilator and different catheters might be transmitting these new superbug strains. Human-to-human transmission may also be possible, mainly in hospital settings. Improved infection prevention and control policy in hospital seems to be effective to control further transmission of this superbug in the ICU. Novel strategies must be devised to prevent ST11 CR-HvKP from proliferating extensively in the human intestinal tract where they were detected. ST11 CR-HvKP can easily be detectable by the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, targeting specific resistance and virulence genes. The study showed that the use of colistin (the last resort drug for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae infections) alone or in combination with other drugs were not very effective in treating infections caused by ST11 CR-HvKP. Ceftazidime/avibactam may be the effective antibiotic, but ST11 CR-HvKP may develop resistance to this antibiotic very quickly based on the clinical data from the USA. Prevalence of ST11 CR-HvKP strains in Hong Kong is currently unknown. Two studies conducted in Hong Kong have shown that mortality rate due to K. pneumoniae-mediated bloodstream infections was high, reaching 20% and 32% respectively. We plan to collaborate with clinicians in local hospitals to investigate the proportion of clinical K. pneumoniae isolates that belong to HvKP or CR-HvKP, and characterize their genetic features. This study is recently published in the prestigious academic journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The full article can be accessed via the link: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30489-9/fulltext. Press Contact: Professor CHEN Sheng Professor, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology sheng.chen(at)polyu.edu.hk Stephen Weber, MD is excited to announce he has been recognized as one of Americas Top Surgeons by the Consumers Research Council of America. Specializing in procedures for the face and neck, Dr. Weber is one of the most sought-after plastic surgeons in the Denver area. This is the fourth consecutive year for Dr. Weber to be named as a Top Surgeon in Facial Plastic Surgery. The ranking of Americas Top Plastic Surgeons is compiled annually by the Consumers Research Council of America. Created as a tool to assist consumers in choosing skilled providers, the list has been trusted by thousands. To qualify for recognition, plastic surgeons must admirably utilize their knowledge and skill to help their patients receive the best treatment possible. To ensure the most unbiased approach, the Consumer Research Council does not accept fees, donations or sponsorships for nominees. As the founder of Weber Facial Plastic Surgery, Dr. Weber has a long history of bringing patients some of the nations most cutting-edge aesthetic techniques and tools. Widely known for his innovative treatment options, such as Platelet Rich Plasma for hair restoration, Helios Skin Resurfacing for facial rejuvenation and the TouchMD consultation software, Dr. Weber remains at the forefront of proven trends in cosmetic surgery. Weber Facial Plastic Surgery is committed to providing top-notch patient care, no matter how big or small the correction. He explains, My goal, when somebody walks into my office, is to have a warm and inviting atmosphere, where people feel comfortable, and where they dont feel rushed. Dr. Weber then continues, (Our patients should) feel like all of their questions are answered before they leave the office, and feel like we are going to do the best job we can, to give them the results they are looking for. More About Dr. Stephen Weber Dr. Weber is a double board certified Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, specializing in Rhinoplasty, Facelift and non-surgical facial rejuvenation techniques. He received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine, before completing a competitive, five year Head & Neck Surgery residency at Oregon Health & Science University and a prestigious Facial Plastic Surgery fellowship, under the mentorship of Shan Baker, MD, at the University of Michigan. Today, Dr. Weber is one of the countrys most sought after plastic surgeons. Over his distinguished career, Dr. Weber has been honored with a plethora of awards, many an accomplishment achieved by only a handful of surgeons. These include the Patients Choice Award, the Compassionate Doctor Awards, Top 10 Doctor by Vitals from, Best of Lone Tree Surgeons: Plastic Surgeons, Doctors Choice, Plastic Surgery, and currently, a coveted spot as a RealSelf Top Doctor. An avid writer and speaker, Dr. Weber frequently presents on the innovative techniques, developed throughout his career, at plastic surgery conferences around the world. More About the Consumers' Research Council of America The Consumers Research Council of America is a consumer guide representing a variety of professional services across the country. Based out of Washington, D.C. the organization was created as a trusted resource to educate consumers, steering potential patients in the direction of the best professional and medical services available. Easy to understand, the Consumers Research Council of America offers extensive guides and a wealth of tips for the novice and experienced consumer. To learn more about Weber Facial Plastic Surgery, contact the office at 303.792.2224 or visit Weber Facial Plastic Surgery. Consultations with Dr. Weber can be arranged in-person, or online. Visit the Consumers Research Council to learn more about Americas Top Surgeons. Kevin Condorato ...this training helps me understand where my individual team members are in the development cycle and that allows me to adjust my approach and leadership style to suit. TR Electronic is proud to announce a renewed focus on on-site application analysis and troubleshooting services for our customers. TR is custom-tailoring training programs for maintenance staff that will give them in-depth product knowledge and troubleshooting techniques for motion feedback systems. The company believes this will bring increased value for customers, complementing our innovative products and reliable services. With that renewed focus in mind, TR is happy to announce the promotion of Kevin Condorato to the position of Manager of Engineering and Technical Services. Condorato has been with the TR Electronic family for nearly 13 years and has held several different positions during that time including Technician, Inside Sales and Technical Support Supervisor. Because we see the value in not only providing training for our customers, but also for our staff, earlier this year, Condorato completed his Professional Certificate in Leadership through Western Continuing Studies in London, Ontario. He says he has learned a great deal from this training opportunity. "As I continue to manage my team of technicians, this training helps me understand where my individual team members are in the development cycle and that allows me to adjust my approach and leadership style to suit. I conduct regular informal One-on-One meetings with our techs and I actually provide them with the opportunity to rate my performance with a 360 degree review. Because Ive developed a good relationship with the team, they knew that they could be honest and rate me accurately." Condorato has also been a strong mentor and role model for the student robotics team from H.B. Beal Secondary School in London, the Raiders. TR Electronic provides mentorship, monetary sponsorship and products for the team. He is very passionate about his involvement. "The company's involvement in the Raider Robotics program has been the most rewarding endeavour in my professional career. It is a truly amazing experience that I would have never discovered if it had not been for the generosity of Tod Warner, President and CEO. I have had the opportunity to help students develop technical skills and problem solving as well as general life skills. He says his goal professionally now is to continue developing the technical team and work with senior leadership to market and develop new services. Personally, he says, he just wants to survive parenthood. To learn more call 1-800-265-9483. About TR Electronic Since 1989, TR Electronic North America has been an industry leader in manufacturing and supporting position feedback, drive technology and sensor solutions world-wide. Through its complete line of absolute encoders, linear positioning systems and industrial sensors, TR Electronic is able to deliver exceptional results every time. Park Cities Pet Sitter Will be at Pawtoberfest in Richardson on Saturday, Sept 16th. "It is so important for us to..... meet members of the Richardson community that love animals as much as we do. Joette White, President of Park Cities Pet Sitter Dallas and Plano pet sitting company, Park Cities Pet Sitter, has signed on to participate in Richardsons pet-friendly fall celebration, called Pawtoberfest. The second annual Pawtoberfest event will be held on Saturday, September 16th from 3pm to 7pm at Huffhines Park in Richardson. Huffhines Park is on Syracuse Drive, and is managed by Pawtoberfests hosts, the City of Richardsons Parks and Recreation Department. Anyone is welcome to attend the event, and bring their dog. In addition to having many pet friendly vendors, attendees can also sample delicious goodies from a variety of food trucks, sample craft beers, and listen to live music. Admission to Pawtoberfest is free, but special packages are also available. For $15 in advance or $20 at the gate, a special Pawtoberfest Pawkage can be purchased that includes a 2017 Pawtoberfest bandana, a 20 oz. beer mug, a voucher for one free beer, tasty treats for a pup, and $1 off all beer refills. Joette White, President of Park Cities Pet Sitter, recently expanded the service area where her team of pet sitters works to include Richardson, and thus knew participating in Pawtoberfest was a great way to meet members of the Richardson community. We have been providing great pet sitting and dog training services to Dallas and Plano for almost 25 years, and are thrilled to finally be able to include Richardson in our coverage area," said White. "It is so important for us to support events like Pawtoberfest, and to have the opportunity to meet members of the Richardson community that love animals as much as we do. Park Cities Pet Sitter will have a booth at Pawtoberfest, as well as provide giveaways for people that are interested in learning more about the pet services they offer. Several members of Park Cities Pet Sitters staff will be on hand to provide information about how in-home pet sitting works, and why choosing Park Cities Pet Sitter might be a great option for them. About Park Cities Pet Sitter: PCPSI has served the Dallas/Plano areas 7 days a week, 365 days a year since 1992, and was recently named the 2017 Business of the Year by the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. Pet sitting, daily dog walks, pet taxis, overnight sitting, pet supply shopping, litter box cleaning and dog training are all part of the services PCPSI offers. Park Cities Pet Sitter is bonded and insured, and all sitters are employees--not independent contractors. A manager is on-call 24 hours a day to handle any emergencies. Go to http://www.pcpsi.com to learn more. "It is our mission as Cradling Christianity to help preserve and foster the lives of Christians in the Holy Land..." Cradling Christianity, the Columbus, Ohio region of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, will host its annual benefit dinner to support the Franciscans of the Holy Land in their efforts to preserve the Christian remnant there on September 7th. The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land (FFHL) was founded in 1994 to help preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land, a presence that has been dwindling for decades. Severe political and economic hardships force an estimated 350 Christian families to leave the Holy Land each year, and only about 150,000 Christians remain there today. In 2006, a group of pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land from the Columbus, OH area. Witnessing the plight of their Christian brothers and sisters, the pilgrims returned home and founded Cradling Christianity as the Columbus region of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. Cradling Christianity directly assists various humanitarian programs of the FFHL in an effort to help Christians remain in the Holy Land. Chuck Mers, a member of Cradling Christianity, said, I am honored to be a part of a community of people that shares in my love for the Holy Land and the lives of Christians living there. It is our mission as Cradling Christianity to help preserve and foster the lives of Christians in the Holy Land by supporting the work of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. This year, Cradling Christianity will hold its annual fundraising dinner on Thursday, September, 7th at St. Agatha Parish in Upper Arlington, Ohio, in Msgr. Kennedy Hall. A Catholic Mass will be celebrated by FFHL president, Fr. Peter Vasko, ofm, at 5:30 p.m. Registration and a cocktail hour will begin at 6:30, followed by dinner at 7:30. The evening will also include an update from FFHL President Fr. Vasko, OFM, regarding the work of the FFHL, and a presentation by keynote speaker Fr. David Meconi, SJ, Associate Professor of Theological Studies and Director of the Catholic Studies Center at St. Louis University. Reservations can be made by contacting Chuck Bramlage, chair of this years dinner, at chuckbramlage(at)gmail(dot)com. More information about the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and the work being done by Franciscans in the Holy Land can be found at http://www.ffhl.org/. Pentec Chairman, CEO and President Joseph Cosgrove was notified that Pentec Health earned a position on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America. A three year growth rate of 93% and a ranking of 3412 placed the firm on the coveted list for the eighth year. Upon receiving the notice Mr. Cosgrove stated, I agree with Inc.s belief that determination, risk taking, and vision are the keys to success; they are certainly characteristic of the Pentec culture. The challenge to sustaining that success, manifest in an eighth recognition, is also a function of, and testimony to, the ability of our organization to recognize and rapidly adapt to an ever changing healthcare segment. Inc. Media President and Editor in Chief, Eric Schurenberg, congratulated Mr. Cosgrove and the entire Pentec team on its extraordinary achievement noting, Of the tens of thousands of companies that have applied to the Inc. 5000 over the years, only a fraction have made the list more than once. A mere one percent have made the list eight times. 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. "The Inc. 5000 is the most persuasive evidence I know that the American Dream is still alive, says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. The founders and CEOs of the Inc. 5000 tell us they think determination, risk taking, and vision were the keys to their success, and I believe them. ABOUT PENTEC HEALTH, INC. For over 30 years, Pentec Health has been an industry leader in providing patient-specific compounded sterile medications for administration in dialysis centers, as well as providing in-home Specialty Infusion services and complex pharmaceutical products to patients. Pentecs registration as an outsourcing facility, providing sterile compounds to meet the needs of the nations institutional healthcare segments, reinforces its innovation, market leadership and commitment to patients and providers. For more information, please visit http://www.pentechealth.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 todays 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, please visit http://www.inc.com. CONTACT: Pentec Health, Inc. Shetal Vyas 484-480-2279 Helmut Horn Print on Display at The Annex at Hotel Chicago-IMD Hotel Chicago-Illinois Medical District (IMD) has launched a unique new art initiative called The Annex in celebration of its recent one-year anniversary. Adorned with original photography work that encompasses the lobby and all hallways, The Annex aims to inspire both the everyday guest and the art enthusiast with rotating and permanent exhibitions. A grand opening reception will be held at The Annex on September 13, 2017 during EXPO Chicago week. When we opened a year ago, we looked at our clean new walls as blank slates, said Hotel Chicago-IMDs Jean-Luc Laramie. Our management company, Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, encourages its properties to promote artistic expression, so we decided to bring visual art into our space. The result is transformative. Though alternative by traditional exhibition standards, the property feels more authentic, personal, and inviting with the inclusion of art. Use of guest halls as exhibition space, for example, mimics how a collector may display works in a private setting. We all feel more at home with the art. Credit should be given when due: one of Portfolios founders, Helmut Horn is a cultural enthusiast who sets the tone for the companys culture. Horn not only encouraged the art initiative, he generously offered to help kickstart the arts program by lending work from his personal collection and archive to the Hotel for their first series of exhibitions. The Annex now boasts an impressive permanent collection, all of which are currently on public display, and shall host future programming with local cultural partners such as galleries, university art programs, and artists to bring new, cutting-edge exhibits on a rotating basis. To further promote the proliferation of culture and cultivate a culturally rich vibe, the hotel offers discounted overnight rates for traveling artists. When it comes down to it, Im an aging, shy country boy with a knack for experimentation and adventure, said the humble Horn. Art can only come to life when on view. Currently On-View at The Annex: Four mini-exhibitions are currently on view at The Annex and arranged by floor or space. This string of exhibitions focus on the eye of an arts patron and experimental artist Helmut Horn, and mark the West Loop hotels foray into its dual-role as hotel and cultural center. The Polaroid Impressionism series, which can be found on the first floor, are fun and playful, nostalgic and painterly. Created with a process that has now gone extinct, the artist Helmut Horn took images that were manipulated in the moments before the emulsion dried. Like a memory, they are both idyllic and imperfect. Selections from the Permanent Collection may be found on the second floor; Horn collected these works from around the world, and include samples from a range of genres: portraiture, landscape, and still-life among them. The aesthetic is elegant and moody, seductive, yet gritty. The Beauty and the Heart series on the third floor, also by Horn, are experimental. The large prints feature the figure, in whole or in part, and are saturated by color. At first the viewer needs to adjust their eyes and sense of scale to know what they are looking at; deep midnight blue and impassioned red are the palate of the frames the artist calls The Beauty and the Heart. The deep blue tones were achieved by long exposures of 35mm film to the last rays of light after sunset; and the bold red by exposing the same film to small incandescent lights. The lobby holds an array of seductive Underwater Nudes. These works (also by Horn) were created with a Hasselblad camera in an underwater housing in a pool painted black. Natural sunlight is reflected by the figure, as it has no other escape, while the light super-aluminates the body. The Annex at Hotel Chicago-Illinois Medical District: 1622 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60612 Phone: (312) 243-2900 http://www.hotelchicago1622.com Managed by: Portfolio Hotels & Resorts 601 Oakmont Lane, Suite 420 Westmont, IL 60559 http://www.portfoliohotels.com Media Contact: Jody Grimaldi 630-470-0044 grimaldipr(at)gmail(dot)com This development is attributed to the failure of heads of departments to validate public workers in their respective institutions. The Controller and Accountant Generals Department say the suspension of salaries will affect those public sector workers whose salaries have not been validated through the Electronic Payment Voucher System in August 2017 as well employees whose salaries were not validated. Those whose salaries were suspended due to non-validation of salaries would be paid at the end of September 2017 on the condition that their heads of department validate them on the ESPV platform for September 2017, the Department said.A notice signed by the Controller and Accountant General, Eugene Ofosuhene noted, Employees with zero or irregular bank account details and others with wrong or without Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) numbers and employees sharing the same account numbers should submit the required information to the payroll processing directorate of the Controller and Accountant Generals Department for processing. Employees yet to go through the biometric registration exercise should contact the biometric registration center at the Ministry of Finance with the necessary documents for registration, the notice stated. The dossier, compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, paints Cohen as a central figure in the Trump-Russia controversy, alleging that he was a key player in "the ongoing secret liaison relationship between the New York tycoon's campaign and the Russian leadership." It also alleges that he secretly met with Kremlin officials in Prague last August, at the height of the presidential campaign. " Cohen's name has repeatedly cropped up in the news as special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional intelligence committees investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow during last year's election. Cohen again made headlines on Tuesday when it emerged that he emailed Dmitry Peskov, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, last January during the campaign requesting his "assistance" in securing a real-estate deal to secure a Trump Tower location in Moscow. The email represents the clearest interaction reported thus far between a senior Trump adviser and a member of the Russian government. "Over the past few months I have been working with a company based in Russia regarding the development of a Trump Tower - Moscow project in Moscow City," Cohen wrote to Peskov, according to The Washington Post. "Without getting into lengthy specifics the communication between our two sides has stalled." Cohen continued: "As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance. I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals. I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon." Cohen was also in touch with Felix Sater, a Russian-born businessman and a real-estate adviser to Trump who first pushed for the Trump Organization to pursue a Trump Tower deal in Moscow in late 2015, when Trump was a presidential candidate. The investigation is reportedly homing in on Manafort's financial transactions, with a particular focus on potential money laundering, and Mueller's teaming up with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman may be a sign the investigation is heating up. Schneiderman's and Mueller's teams have been sharing evidence and have also spoken frequently about a potential case, sources familiar with the process told Politico. One person added that Mueller and Schneiderman had obtained evidence of possible financial crimes, including money laundering. Manafort has drawn increased scrutiny from the FBI in recent months. The Washington Post reported that the bureau conducted a predawn raid on his home in July, and agents working with Mueller left Manafort's home "with various records." Manafort has said he's cooperating with investigators, but the search warrant obtained by the FBI in July suggests that Mueller managed to convince a federal judge that Manafort would try to conceal or destroy documents subpoenaed by a grand jury. The investigation into Manafort focuses primarily on his work for Party of Regions, a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. Manafort is linked to the party through his time serving as a top adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian strongman whom Manafort is widely credited with helping win the presidency in 2010. The New York Times discovered last August that the Party of Regions in Ukraine had also designated Manafort $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments. Yanukovych was ousted in 2014 after widespread demonstrations against his decision to back out of a deal with the European Union that would have distanced Ukraine from Russia and strengthened ties with the West. Yanukovych fled to Russia amid the protests, during which Ukrainian police officers opened fire on thousands of demonstrators. He is now living under the protection of the Kremlin. Ukrainian prosecutors have said Yanukovych ordered the security forces' attack on protesters, and at least one human-rights lawyer representing the victims is investigating what role, if any, Manafort played in encouraging Yanukovych's crackdown. Manafort has additionally been associated with at least 15 bank accounts and 10 companies in Cyprus, dating back to 2007, NBC reported in March, and he was reportedly $17 million in debt to pro-Russian interests by the time he joined the Trump campaign. As part of his investigation, Mueller also reportedly issued subpoenas to several Washington lobbying firms that have been associated with Manafort's consulting group. One of those subpoenas was issued to Mercury Public Affairs, and the firm was asked about public-relations work it had conducted for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine at Manafort's request. The organization's stated goal is to foster closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union as well as the US. It was founded, however, by Leonid Kozhara, a senior member of parliament for the Party of Regions. Legal experts have said Mueller may be zeroing in on Manafort with the hope that he will become a cooperating witness and perhaps turn on Trump. His collaboration with New York's attorney general could also be part of a broader effort to prompt Manafort's cooperation, because Trump does not have the power to pardon those convicted of state crimes. Politico reported that a decision had not yet been made on where or whether to file charges. "Nothing is imminent," a source familiar with the case told Politico. In addition to slamming homes and hospitals, the storm struck the heart of Texas' refining industry, where roughly a third of America's oil is processed. In its wake, more than two million pounds of hazardous chemicals have been released into the air, according to filingsreportedwith the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and first reported by Politico. Those chemicals include cancer-causing and potentially lethal gases like carbon monoxide and benzene, among others. Yet those efforts failed, in many cases, to prevent the release of hazardous pollutants into the environment. In some cases, companies were forced to intentionally burn chemicals as a means of disposing them in anticipation of the storm. Chevron Phillips, the company that reported the largest release, burned close to 800,000 pounds of chemicals nearly 300,000 of which were the colorless, odorless, and potentially deadly gas carbon monoxide as it shuttered its plant to prepare for Harvey. At other plants, Harvey's rising waters easily overwhelmed existing safety precautions. At Exxon's Baytown plant, the floating roof covering one tank "partially sank during the excess rain event" from the storm, it noted in a TCEQ filing showing that close to 13,000 pounds of chemicals including cancer-causing benzene and toxic lung-irritant xylene had been released. Similarly, officials at Kinder Morgan's Pasadena terminal, which released close to 300,000 pounds of chemicals, noted in a filing that several floating roof tanks were "impacted by torrential downpour" from Harvey. Wei-Chun Chin, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Merced who has contributed research on the after-effects of oil spills like Deepwater Horizon, told Business Insider that although the immediate effects of these pollutants on the air sound concerning, he is more worried about the potential for some of those chemicals to stick around. "Im more concerned about things that could have a lingering effect and stay in the soil," said Chin. "Benzene is a known carcinogen. So if that's coming back into the ground that would be very bad." Still, Chin said that researchers' ability to get accurate numbers on these pollutants is very limited right now. "In many of these areas, the air monitoring stations are suspended. With no measurement we just dont know the concentrations," he said. TCEQ is delaying any response to the leaks until flood waters have receded, according to a statement. "In an ongoing emergency response, the TCEQ and other state agencies give priority to protecting and preventing imminent threats to public health," the statement reads. "Once flood waters have receded, and it is safe to enter flooded areas, debris removal activities will commence. The TCEQ is aware that spills occur during flooding events, and the appropriate primary agency will monitor and work with the responsible party, if known, to take appropriate actions as conditions allow." Local news agencies suggest that the natural disaster has killed over 1000 people with hundreds still missing. In Ghana, some media outlets urged their listeners to donate in cash and kind for onward distribution to some of the victims. Ghanas Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia led a government delegation to Sierra Leone to commensurate with them. He also presented relief items valued at $1million to the African country as they recover from the disaster. Other Ghanaians on social media used hash tags to show their support for the country during such hard times. Moving across continents to August 27, 2017, Houston metro area and other towns in southeast Texas were devastated by floods. Subsequently, actor Kevin Hart started the 25k challenge. He called on celebrities in the USA to donate $25,000 to the American Red Cross. I think we participate in a lot of challenges on the internet, some meaningful, some meaningless, but weve all done it. Ive been a person whos partaken in every one of them. At this point, Im going to start a real challenge. I am challenging a lot of my celebrity friends to follow my lead and donate $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey, to The Red Cross, okay." At this point, its a serious matter. I think people are in bad shape and they need help. Im going to lead the charge by stepping up in this way. The challenge was started by a concerned celebrity. His other colleagues joined and have since been donating to the Red Cross. On August 31, 2017, Ghanaian gospel musician Sonnie Badu posted a message I describe as appalling on his social media pages. @cnn @cnnafrica @bbcafrica @bbcafrica can we get the updates on the Sierra Leone? So we can get the A list celebrities to donate too? I guess all lives matter.. #justNeededAnUpdate Really? Did you post that? Are you not a celebrity too? Are you not African? Cant you start a challenge where your fellow African and Ghanaian celebrities also join you instead of putting up such a post? But wait, do you know that a lot of media houses aside those you mentioned have reported on Sierra Leones mudslide? Oh! Are you waiting for BBC and CNN to report before you act? Africans have been talking about independence for so long. It means we must also stand up for ourselves; we must support each other and no longer wait for the colonial masters to direct us on what to do. It also means we do not have to wait for BBC and CNN to report on the Sierra Leone mudslide before celebrities jump to help. It means you can read every update on Sierra Leones mudslide on African news portals. After Nana Addos swearing in as President of Ghana, he said; we want to build a Ghana beyond aid; a Ghana which looks to the use of its own resources. We want to build an economy that is not dependent on charity and handouts, but an economy that will look at the proper management of its resources as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country. Maybe put Africa wherever you find Ghana and it will show you the bigger picture. Finally, let me remind you of what Ghanas first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah said. This suggestion comes at the back of reports of students contracting the service of third parties in assisting them in writing their essays. Ideally, final year students are required to invest their efforts into researching a selected topic and correlating consistent ideas to make a convincing argument through their long essays. READ ALSO: Here are all the Ghanaian hostels owned by SSNIT Professor Yenney told Radio Univers on its campus exclusive program that if the initiative is actualized, it will motivate students to commit to their research. He also urged that universities emphasize the plagiarism test software to prevent students from copying the works of others. If there are some references you didnt develop, and they are in there, at the defense you will be found wanting, he said. Domestic steel markets have been strong lately, which is a nice respite after a long downturn. All of the major players in the industry should benefit, but United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) is facing some self-inflicted headwinds that mean it's not likely to participate in the upturn to the same degree as some peers. Here's what you need to know. The story of a downturn At the end of the 2007 to 2009 recession, the steel industry started to hit the skids. It was a painful downturn driven at first by reduced domestic demand. It got worse when foreign imports of low-priced steel products started to flood into the market, at what some claim are unfair prices. To give you an idea of how bad it's been, U.S. Steel has lost money in seven of the last eight years. During this downturn, U.S. Steel has been focused on adjusting its business to the changing market. That's meant things like cutting costs. A key part of that was a decision to, on the whole, reduce the investment it was making in its business. In 2016 capital spending was less than half of what it was in 2009, with a clear trend of lower and lower spending over the intervening years. That decision helped U.S. Steel get through the downturn, but it has material implications now that the steel industry is recovering. Missing out The first big sign of what's to come showed up in the first quarter. U.S. Steel reported earnings that were much worse than expected and then CEO Mario Longhi made a somewhat startling statement. After acknowledging improving conditions he said, "This remains a cyclical industry and we will not let favorable near-term business conditions distract us from taking the outages we need to revitalize our assets in order to achieve more reliable and consistent operations, improve quality and cost performance, and generate more consistent financial results." Investors sent U.S. Steel's shares down roughly 30% in the days following that news. The takeaway being that the steel company had underinvested in its business and was now forced to play catch up... limiting how much it would benefit from the upturn. The problem is two fold. First, shutting mills down means they aren't producing steel for sale which obviously hits revenues. But, second, there's a cost to upgrading mills which hits the bottom line. That includes the costs to shut mills down, the cost of the upgrades being made, and then the cost of starting the mills back up. New CEO, same troubled outlook Mario Longhi announced his retirement shortly after investors were surprised by that first quarter earnings release. But you can't fix a problem like this by changing the CEO. The only thing the company can do is spend the money it needs to spend even though it's going to be a headwind during an industry upturn. And that's exactly what new CEO David Burritt said when he announced second quarter earnings: "Our investment in our facilities and our people continues to increase." That's a good thing for the company over the long term, of course. But it means that U.S. Steel is going to be dealing with a self-inflicted headwind right when other companies that didn't pull back on spending, like industry giant Nucor Corporation, are flourishing. If you are looking for a steel investment, you're better off avoiding U.S. Steel -- sure it's going to benefit from an improving steel market, but not as much as better positioned peers. 10 stocks we like better than United States Steel When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and United States Steel wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 Reuben Gregg Brewer owns shares of Nucor. The Motley Fool recommends Nucor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Underneath the symbol are also three words; access, equity and quality. The logo also features an open book, which the Minister of State in-Charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, explained: represents learning that generates hope and optimism for a prosperous Ghana. The central symbol portrays two children emerging from a pleasurable learning experience as they spontaneously explode in joy. They are beneficiaries of the policy that lifts the total burden of fees from parents. The government has announced that the free SHS programme will start in September 2017 with first year students. It has also announced as part of the policy that 30 percent admission into elite schools will be reserved for students in public schools. And on the funding, president Nana Akufo-Addo has said Ghanas oil revenue will be used to fund the Free Senior High School programme. READ ALSO: Young actor unveiled as Free SHS ambassador By free SHS, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer laboratory fees, no examination fees, no utility fees. There will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals and day students will get a meal at school for free. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The accused who was arraigned on Wednesday, August 30, 2017, is now facing a three-count charge of criminal force, assault and causing hurt to a minor, the Daily Post News reports. Her neighbour, Gift, reported the matter to the Karmo Police Station which led to an investigation and subsequent arrest, police prosecutor Florence Auhioboh told the court. The listed offences which Segun pleaded not guilty to, contravenes against Sections 246, 265 and 238 and of the Penal Code. She was able to secure bail granted by court judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, in the sum of N30,000 and a surety expected to pay like-sum. For people of my ilk, though, we knew exactly where to find that excitement. It was at the Accra International Conference Centre! Globe Productions were at it again, this time with the theatre Saints and Sinners. For those who were privileged to watch masterpieces like I Cant Think Far and Judas and Delilah, Globe Productions need no introduction, as their previous shows speak for themselves. The latest Saints and Sinners is a stage play that conveys an anti-galamsey message, while using satire to communicate the dangers of illegal mining on communities. Written and produced by Latif Abubakar, the theatre highlights the need to stop illegal mining practices in the country, with a focus on proper ways of tackling the menace. The play is themed on a rich businessman who trades in gold. But in a world where very few really care about how they make their monies, this businessman sadly engages in illegal mining activities. Unaware of the dangers that galamsey can cause to the community, the queen mother of the town shamelessly backs him by offering him leverages due to greed. And to ensure the law does not catch up with him, the gold dealer makes sure he buys the police and gets them on his side. Featuring Ekow Smith Asante who played the role of the businessman who deals in gold and a host of other talented performers, the cast did justice to the no.1 canker currently bedeviling Ghana. Saints and Sinners explores the corrupt practices that some public officials engage in, with the police in this instance trading the lives of the people they are supposed to protect for money. It also takes a look at the disadvantages of illegal mining, first to the youth and then to the community at large. The youth, most especially students, have now decided to drop out of school just to engage in illegal mining because it really pays. But what they have failed to realise is that, in making the money, they are also putting their futures at risk. The play looks at the irreparable damage that galamsey activities inflict on lands, river bodies and human life, while also encouraging the audience to help fight the menace. The subplot also features the troublesome and inquisitive houseboy of the rich gold dealer, who knows almost everything in this world. There is also the scene of a poor man whose nagging and materialistic wife would force him to lease his fertile 600-acre coacoa farm for 10years, completely oblivious of the fact that the land will lose its entire value after just a year of it being used as a galamsey site. The other subplot also captures cameos of two old men whose tongues can cut through a bread you can call them old men with sharp teeth. There was comedy, satire and fun filled adventure as the cast made the audience laugh off their seats with some trilling actions. But despite the play being focused on the fight against galamsey, there were still a whole lot of morals to be taken home by audience. And unlike some productions that normally start their shows behind time, Globe Productions did well to start Saints and Sinners as scheduled. That was a big plus. The costumes of the entire cast were also very much on point. However, as the positives come, so must the negatives on the night also be highlighted. At a point the show began to get boring because the adverts were just too many. This is a stage play for Gods sake, so keep the adverts as short as possible. Yes, the sponsors were many, but occasionally keeping your audiences seated for close to 10 minutes watching adverts, instead of the play, was undoubtedly a low point. Then there was the bit with sound, which was also not the best, coupled with the fact that the lightening could have been better too. That notwithstanding, Saints and Sinners was a massive success and witnessed a large turnout at the Accra International Conference Centre. Perhaps the eagerness of the audience was best explained by the fact that the auditorium was almost full by 4pm despite the troubles of the rains in the early hours. The Galamsey menace is a huge hindrance to sustainable development. The United Nations defines sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. What galamsey is doing to our farm lands, forest and water bodies cannot guarantee sustainable development of our posterity. Globe Productions plays have over years brought together patrons numbering over 20,000 from all walks of life to laugh out loud and get educated on basic things we most of the time overlook in our daily lives. In the lead up to the 2016 general elections, the I CANT THINK FAR play was staged in five cities across Ghana to educate people on anger management as we approached the elections and laugh off their stress and our most recent play, JUDAS & DELILAH; which was on basic first aid tips. The feedback and media reviews weve had from our patrons and critics has given us the motivation to produce another social change drama titled Saints & Sinners, a tragic comedy that seeks to educate people on the negative effects of galamsey on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and agriculture. The play tells a story of Mr. Agyeman, a cocoa farmer who out of pressure leased for ten years the only treasure of his generation to Mr. Blinks, a galamsey businessman for a huge amount of money. Unknown to Mr. Agyeman the land even after a year cant be used for its purpose. What happens to Mr. Agyeman and his entire generation? Did Mr. Blinks actually benefit from the land? The play which is set to be staged in three other regions to impact almost 30,000 lives, is to mobilize the public's support for the fight against galamsey and highlight the role and responsibilities of citizens and duty bearers in protecting the environment. Join this theatre special live at the Accra International Conference Centre, 26th, and 27th of August; 2 Shows each night. 4pm and 8 pm. Grab your tickets now at GHS 60. Saints and Sinners will also be staged in Tamale on 23rd September, Takoradi on 30th September and Kumasi on the7th of October, 2017. The countrys wood industry is near collapse and the move is expected to salvage the situation, the Domestic Lumber Traders Association, the mother union of woodworkers has said. A five-member delegation from the union is currently in Liberia negotiating with players in the timber industry there for the release of thousands of cubic meters of the raw material to be sent to Ghana soon. READ ALSO: Local herbal medicine industry in danger Ghana has over the years been a major producer and exporter of timber. However, the continuous depletion of the forests has reversed the situation. Data from the Forestry Commission indicates that about 65,000 hectares of forests are degraded every year and this has been getting worse over the years. The truth of the matter is our forest is gone. There is no more timber in Ghana. By the next ten 15 years, getting timber in Accra will be very difficult. So there is the need to import timber to keep our business going, Joe Mann who is Greater Accra chairman of the association told Accra-based Joy FM. We have too many people who are involved in the timber business and so we cannot allow it to die. So, there is the need for us to import timber to keep our work going. We have our team members on the ground. They are negotiating with Liberian timber producers to bring in timber from there, Joe Mann added. He believed that the importation will help reduce the pressure on the forests. We have over stretched the forests. When the timber comes in from Liberia, the over stretching will go down. There is the need for government to look at re-planting but the government is failing. There is the need for the infant plants we have in the bush to grow. Nobody will be chasing the young trees if we are importing enough timber from outside the country, he added. This was confirmed by the Board of the fund after a meeting between the two stakeholders. READ ALSO: Ghana to start importing timber from Liberia next month This brings the total disbursement under the program to 565.2 million dollars with the remainder being tied to the remaining reviews. The IMF Board also approved Ghanas request for waivers for the nonobservance of performance criteria and modification of one performance criterion. This development contradicts what the NPP government has been saying before the meeting. READ ALSO: Here are all the Ghanaian hostels owned by SSNIT The NPP had earlier indicated that it would not extend the program which was expected to be terminated by the end of 2018. The programme is now set to end in 2019. The Mahama-led government in 2015 led Ghana to the IMF for economic assistance. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. He was said to have been alright and was not showing any sign of sickness. He was even reported to have had wonderful discussions with his friends and roommates before retiring to bed on that fateful night. READ ALSO: 100 Ghanaians deported from USA A family friend in the States, Dinah Quist, told Accra-based Joy FM that the following day, the roommate left the hostel with Amarfio still in bed but the roommate felt that was not unusual as the deceased had no lectures. But he only realized that something was not right when he returned from school in the evening and found Amarfio lying in bed in the same posture as he saw him in the morning. The unfortunate was that the mother of the deceased, who had spoken to her son the day before his death, did not even have the benefit of officially being told about the death. Reports say she missed a call from a hospital in the US and rather got to know about the death of her son on social media as RIP pictures of him were all over Facebook and other social media sites. Meanwhile, authorities at the hospital have ruled out foul play in the death of the student. Hajia Marian Cissey, Deputy Communications Director for Hajj Board told Accra-based Neat FM that the relatives of the deceased in Ghana have been informed about the incident and they have given the go-ahead for them to be buried in Saudi Arabia. READ ALSO: Hajj pilgrims airlifted to Saudi Arabia after being stranded for hours A total of 6350 pilgrims moved from Ghana to partake in the pilgrimage this year. Every year, an average of 6,000 Muslims leaves Ghana to Saudi Arabia for Hajj, but this has not been without some challenges and unfortunate experiences. In a post on Facebook, Mrs Gyekye said:This drunk man assaulted me this morning on my KLM flight from Kigali to Amsterdam. He was drunk, pushed into my physical space, tried to kiss me, called me an asshole and said "I should get back to the bush!" Lol. Really? My friend...that's where we just came from and believe me, I go back gladly. The crew stood back and did nothing. Meanwhile the Royal Dutch Airline has commented on the incident after it attention was drawn to it by a Ghanaian blogger Jamila Abdulai. We take this matter seriously and we already advised everyone who contacted us, to tell the passenger to contact us directly, the parent company of KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines said. Meanwhile KLM has been criticised by it handling of the assault situation on twitter. One user tweeted: "No no, not acceptable at all. KLM please operate more professionally. Your staff needs reprimanding and Ms. Gyekeye should be compensated." And another said: "KLM, the thing is - not only did she have to suffer this, it could have been any one of us. It was your flight & your staff. We need more. READ MORE: Salaries paid IT boss to be retrieved We have no records Caleb Afaglo was ever enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the university said in an email to Ghanabusinessnews.com. Afaglo also claims he obtained his PhD from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. But according to him, the University was shut down in 2011. Joe Forson, who claimed to have witness the incident, said Mr Nketia was not attacked. He said the NDC scribe was only briefed about the development and that he was shocked by the twist Mr Nketia added to the story in multiple media interviews. Am shocked at Asiedu Nketias claimsit is never true. Nobody was tortured. It is not good for an old man like him to be lying through his teeth at this age when the country has moved on, a businessman, Joe Forson, who claimed to have witnessed the incident narrated on Asempa FMs Ekosii Sen programme Tuesday. He [Asiedu Nketia] called me this morning to listen to the true version so he can change his old untrue account on radio, Joe Forson claimed. I want to meet Asiedu Nketia and his driver so I can challenge him on these claims. Am shocked an old man like him can make these unsubstantiated claims, he said. READ MORE: Gunmen attack NDC general secretary On Tuesday, Mr Nketia told Asempa FM that he was attacked by masked men holding AK47. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Janos Lazar said border protection was an issue of "European solidarity" that must be "demonstrated in practice". "Brussels should pay its share," as it has done with Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, he said. Orban requested the "exceptional costs" in a letter to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker. In response to a wave of refugees and migrants crossing its border with Serbia in 2015, Budapest erected a razor-wire fence patrolled by soldiers and dogs. It then reinforced that barrier with a second fence line, recruited some 3,000 special "border hunter" police and built another fence on its other southern border with Croatia. The measures protect Europe as well as Hungary, but so far their cost since the start of the migration crisis has been financed by Budapest alone, Lazar said. Over 400,000 people crossed through Hungary in 2015 but the numbers fell to a trickle after the fences were built. Subsequently the "Balkan Route" northwards from Greece was also closed. The construction drew fierce criticism from Brussels, though other EU member states later built their own versions. This year, Budapest's systematic detention of all asylum seekers entering Hungary in "transit zone" closed camps built into the fences and composed of shipping containers has also sparked outcry. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said sanctions alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue", amid reports the three countries were pushing for new restrictions on North Korean oil imports and foreign workers. "It is a pity that some countries selectively ignore the requirements for dialogue in the resolutions -- they only emphasise sanctions," she told a regular press briefing, adding "these words and deeds play a destructive role instead of a constructive role in solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue". "The current situation on the Korean peninsula is not a screenplay, it's not a computer game. It is a real situation that directly bears on the security of the people on the peninsula and the whole regional peace and tranquility," she said. Her comments came as Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters Thursday that Japan and the United States would seek fresh sanctions to stop the North's missile and nuclear tests. Tokyo planned to enhance efforts with Washington to persuade China and Russia to change their positions against an envisaged oil embargo with a new UN Security Council resolution, Japan's Jiji news agency reported Thursday, citing informed sources. Britain, whose Prime Minister Theresa May is visiting Japan, has called for new UN sanctions against North Korea that would target guest workers sent mostly to Russia and China, and whose wages are a source of revenue for Pyongyang. The UN Security Council has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang, the most recent of which were passed earlier this month, but the measures have done little to quell Kim Jong-Un's nuclear missile ambitions. Their effectiveness hinges largely on China, which accounts for 90 percent of trade with North Korea but is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures. On Tuesday, UN diplomats secured a unanimous condemnation of Pyongyang's latest missile tests, but it was not expected to immediately lead to new or tightened sanctions, with divisions among the 15-member council on how to proceed. The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan, triggering condemnation from the UN Security Council and world leaders including the US and Britain. China has long called for the issue to be resolved through dialogue, but prospects for a diplomatic solution look increasingly dim as North Korea's provocations have been met with escalating rhetoric, particularly from the US. The fifteen, including PAN Secretary General, Dr. Kossi Sama, were given sentences ranging between five and nine months by the court, Africanews.com reports. Paul Dodi Apevon, one of their lawyers who described the case as a politically motivated one, said: All theyve said today is that people damaged public property, but no-one has testified to this. There is nothing in the prosecution case that names a witness who could prove that they were seen somewhere doing a specific crime, he added. A protest in the country recently 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. Much is assumed about the pay gap, but high-quality data is hard to come by. That was set to change in 2018, when an Obama-era rule requiring businesses to collect salary data sorted by employees' gender, race, and ethnicity was supposed to go into effect. On Tuesday, however, White House officials said they would block the rule, calling it "enormously burdensome" to companies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Equal-pay advocates argue, however, that pay discrepancies among employees create an undue burden for those paid less for equal work. Private companies with 100 or more employees, as well as federal contractors with 50 or more, already report demographic data, including employees' gender, race, and ethnicity, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The newly blocked initiative would have required employers to add aggregated salary data as well. Companies took issue with the rule when it was introduced, claiming that the data would not shed light on the reasons behind pay discrepancies. Employers feared that reporting the information would be a costly undertaking as well, because demographic data and payroll data are usually housed in different software systems. Ivanka Trump, a self-described "advocate for the education & empowerment of women & girls," supported the White House's decision, telling The Journal in a statement: "'Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results,' Ms. Trump said. 'We look forward to continuing to work with EEOC, OMB, Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap.'" Some local governments have taken matters into their own hands. In New York City, for example, a new law bars public and private employers from asking job candidates about their current or previous salary. The city's public advocate, Letitia James, introduced the legislation, and she says that discussing previous salary information increases wage discrimination. "Being underpaid once should not condemn one to a lifetime of inequity," James said in a press release when the bill was passed in April. "We will never close the wage gap unless we continue to enact proactive policies that promote economic justice and equity." In the US, a woman earns on average $0.79 for every dollar a man makes, and the gap is larger for women of color. But the pay gap is not consistent across industries, companies, and positions, making the discrepancy difficult to root out and resolve. More data presumably would help achieve the goal of wage equality. It's well documented that low-wage earners suffer unduly from this gap, but even among the highest earners in the US, women earn on average $0.39 for every dollar made by men, according to an analysis of the 2015 American Community Survey by the labor-economics research firm Job Search Intelligence. Taking steps to close the wage gap especially among mothers is something Trump, the author of the book "Women Who Work," has long spoken about. Last year, while her father was campaigning for president, she told Business Insider: "Women are the primary breadwinners in 40% of American households. So I think we're at this point where we're doing a lot and a lot is falling upon us, and we need support, and we need relief. And one of the things I'm very excited for is a policy plan that my father's campaign is going to be rolling out shortly to articulate exactly what he would do to address issues, predominantly wage inequality in America and proposals specific to childcare as well." The Wall Street Journal's Ted Mann reported earlier this week that the White House will stop an intiative proposed by the Obama administration in 2016 intended to narrow gender, race, and ethnic group wage gaps. In its announcement, the White House issued a statement from Ivanka. Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results, she said. We look forward to continuing to work with EEOC, OMB, Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap. The Obama-era intiative directed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to collect wage and pay data from private companies with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more. The idea, in short, was to collect more data in order to better analyze wage gaps based on gender, race, and ethnic groups. Neomi Rao, the administrator of the Office and Information and Regulatory Affairs, said the policy is "enormously burdensome," adding: "We don't believe it would actually help us gather information about wage and employment discrimination." Ivanka, who has made challenges faced by working women one of her central missions before and during her association with the White House, did not propose an alternative initiative in her statement. The gender gap has narrowed but still remains The gender wage gap has narrowed since the 1980s in particular, among younger workers but still remains, according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center. Women earned 83% of what men earned in 2015, according to the think tank's analysis of median hourly earnings of both full-and part-time US workers. When looking at adults aged 25 to 34, the 2015 wage gap was smaller, with women earning about 90% of what men earn. The Census Bureau, meanwhile, looked only at full-time, year-round workers and found that women earned 80% of what men earned in 2015. As for why the gender pay gap continues to exist, Pew cites several ideas: a 2013 survey a 2014 survey 77% of women and 63% of men said this country needs to continue making changes to give men and women equality in the workplace." Even at the top, women dont always get compensated like their male counterparts But even when women make it to the top, they do not always get compensated the same as their male counterparts. In a May 2016 research note to clients, a Morgan Stanley team led by Adam S. Parker shared a chart showing the average executive pay gap by global sector during the five years leading up to the chart's publication, which they estimated using regression models. The average executive pay gap was the largest in utilities and materials, at 14.5% and 12.2% respectively, and the smallest in staples and industrials, at 0.2% and 3.6% respectively, according to the team. In their analysis, Morgan Stanley used the MSCI World Index, meaning that this data is for large to mid-cap companies in developed markets. The analysis excluded Japan, which has an incredibly low representation of female executives. Joining us here to answer your questions and shed some light on the subject is Yomi Onifade, who is a Divisional Director at AXA Mansard. Yomi and his team at AXA Mansard are running a campaign tagged Bonus Life on their Life Insurance Savings Plan. AXA Mansard wants every eligible Nigerian to gift themselves with Bonus Life which is an amazingly simple Savings plan with great investment returns and Bonus life-long insurance cover. So Yomi, lets start with the basics: what is life insurance? Life insurance is a protection against financial loss that would result from the premature demise of an insured person. The named beneficiary receives the proceeds and is thereby safeguarded from the financial impact of the demise of the insured. The amount paid by a life insurer depends on the the level of cover in the agreement. How many Nigerians have life insurance? Based on the statistics our team has compiled, less than 1.5% of Nigerias adult population has life insurance cover which is extremely low. This was even lower before the Regulator National Insurance Commission - NAICOM commenced a series of initiatives over the past few years to improve penetration. So we are getting there and working towards improving Insurance coverage in Nigeria to get to the levels of other countries like in Finland where 59% of the people are covered. Other countries we could compare Nigeria with include Norway with 55.1% coverage. In Africa, South Africa has 27% of its adult population with life Insurance and Kenya also with 15% adult life insurance. In summary, there is a need for all stakeholders to continue working to improve life insurance coverage in Nigeria and this is one of the key reasons why AXA Mansards Bonus Life is good for Nigerians Why is life insurance important? If you are retired or you have no financial dependents, the reality is that you do not need life insurance. In Nigeria, however, most people have a number of dependents. Even if your children are old enough, most of us have other people we care for: spouses, parents, extended family members etc. In the case of an accident or demise, life insurance helps to compensate those left behind for what are often considerable financial consequences: final expenses, outstanding debts, school fees and lost income. Why dont more Nigerians have it? The main reason people are not covered is that they perceive insurance as being extortionately expensive. A typical premium will cost in the range of N20,000/ month. This might seem like good value when said in the same breath as the financial consequences discussed above. But, when taken as a standalone expense without contextualisation, many see it as being too expensive. For this reason, many Nigerians prefer to put their money in a savings account to provide some psychological reassurance in case of an accident. Today, there are significant number of Nigerians who leave their money in traditional savings accounts that are often yielding less than 2% interest. How does the Bonus Life savings solve a problem for the Nigerian consumer? Being sufficiently covered would provide real peace of mind for a huge number of Nigerians. As mentioned above, we know that there are a number of barriers preventing many from taking out policies. Thats why we have Bonus Life. Bonus Life allows Nigerians to benefit from life insurance without having to pay a N20,000 premium. It is essentially a savings plan like the one you have with your regular bank. You enjoy all the returns of a regular savings plan but the key differences are two-fold: a) you earn superior interest (more than 5%) and b) simply for saving regularly, you get Bonus life insurance cover in case of an accident. Getting started is easy - simply click here to share a few details and a member of our team will be in touch to explain how you can start enjoying your Bonus. Whats the catch? No catch. AXA Mansard is offering Nigerians Bonus Life because we want to build strong relationships with our customers and address the problem that we were well placed to solve. Fill out a few details here and one of our teams will be in touch to help you get started. The Boston Globe earlier reported that "word around the island" is that the former president and his family have been house-hunting in the rural communities of Aquinnah, Chilmark, and West Tisbury, off the coast of Massachusetts. The paper specifically noted the Obamas' interest in a set of two parcels owned by Caroline Kennedy and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg. The two parcels were once one 377-acre estate, called Red Gate Farm, that was owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Kennedy and Schlossberg divided the expansive plot into two several years ago, and they're both currently on the market one for $15 million, and the other for $12 million. However, Obama spokesperson Kevin Lewis has denied that the family is looking for a home in Martha's Vineyard. Sotheby's International Realty, whose agent George Ballantyne is listing the Kennedy properties with Hancock Real Estate's Deborah Hancock, did not immediately return a request for comment. Here's the property that Sotheby's has listed: The two parcels are idyllic, with plenty of untouched land. There isn't currently a home on the property, which leaves it open to the new buyers to build a structure of their own design. There are roughly 1,000 feet of direct oceanfront land. It's in a relatively isolated part of Aquinnah, Massachusetts, on the part of Martha's Vineyard that locals call "up island." There's a 600-acre pond on the land, which, as the listing points out, would be ideal for "kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and fishing." The Obamas have often vacationed in this part of Martha's Vineyard in the past. 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. Mr Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation said this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the increase accrued to 730 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in June 2017 as against 327mmscf/d in the corresponding period in 2016. Quoting June 2017 Monthly Financial and Operations Report released on Tuesday, Ughamadu said gas supply to power plants increased slightly by 0.13 per cent from 729mmscf/d in May 2017 to 730mmscf/d in June 2017. The report indicated that nationwide petroleum products supply continued to record remarkable stability. This the report said followed the performance of Nigerias three refineries which produced between five and six million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, per day in June. The refineries also produced between five and six million litres of , also known as diesel, per day in the period under review." The corporation has maintained seamless nationwide supply and distribution of petroleum products which guarantee stable products and queue-free filling stations across the nation, Ughamadu quoted the report. He said the performance of the Port Harcourt Refinery continued to improve with a boost to the midstream value chain as it inched toward sustained commercial operations. It would be recalled that the pump price of diesel crashed by 42 per cent nationwide, following interventions by the corporation in May. On pipeline vandalism, Ughamadu said that the corporation recorded about 86 cases of pipeline breaks across the country in the period under review. He said of the 86 cases, 77 were due to pipeline vandalism, representing almost 40 per cent increase relative to cases recorded in the previous month (May 2017). He also said while the Port Harcourt-Aba line recorded the highest pipeline breaches of 55 points (66 per cent), there was also an unusual upsurge in the activities of vandals along Kaduna-Zaria. The line, he said, witnessed 13 vandalised points during the period. There was also a slight decrease in national gas production, compared to previous month which stood at 227.15BCF or an average of 7,571.50 mmscfd, the report said." This was despite sustaining the success recorded by its enhanced crude oil evacuation and oil lifting in June, 2017 following re-opening of on March 31. Speaking to BBCs Veronique Edwards, the 31-year-old said, This year. Ill be getting married this year. The If Tomorrow Never Comes actress however did not give out many details about her wedding plans or her fiance. READ ALSO: Yvonne Nelson Miss Nelson also talked about her career, dumsor, charity and revealed the touch on the relationship between herself and her mother. Yvonne Nelson lost her dad last month, January, 2017. Yvonne revealed that she has snapped only two photos with her father and the last one was taken on January 6, 2017. READ ALSO:2016 in review The honorary doctorate degree was presented to the writer by the universitys Principal and Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sir Timothy OShea, at a special ceremony at the schools St Cecilias Hall, Scotlands oldest concert hall. Earlier in the year, Adichie was elected as a Foreign Honorary Member into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and bagged another honorary degree from Haverford College, Pennsylvania in the United States of America in May 2017. It is lovely to be in this place, which is hallowed. I feel very fortunate to be included among the people who have been honoured with a degree from this University, Adichie said. According to the director of the Centre of African Studies, Dr Barbara Bompani, Adichie, through her writing, advocacy and public engagement, inspires all of us to better understand our own, and other peoples stories. The movie star via Instagram today August 31, 2017, reveals her son momentarily stopped breathing during birth and had to be in the ICU for days. She wrote, "My joy and pride I remember a moment when I was about to have you. We couldn't hear your heartbeat for quite a number of seconds. One of the nurses tried her best to look calm but I could tell she was afraid. That must have been the longest I ever held my breath...and then suddenly, we heard your little heart beating loud and clear! I was only allowed a few seconds to hold you after I met you, and then you were put in the ICU for days afterwards. I serve The living God and because I am sure he will never fail me, I speak long life, prosperity, good health and happiness into your life. You will enjoy ALL the blessings of the Lord in the land of the living and you will find immense favour amongst all men and our God. Happy 3rd birthday son. Mummy loves you too much. #first fruits." Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The pair were apprehended during a stop and search exercise along the Minna-Paikoro road where they were found with human head belonging to an 8-year-old boy, the Daily Post news reports. DSP Babalola Olanrewaju Adewole, the Police Public Relations Officer disclosed that the arrest was made possible through great monitoring of the group by the force. He disclosed that the suspects admitted to killing the deceased identified as Hassan Abubakar of Bakajeba village during questioning at the Homicide section of the State Criminals Investigations and Intelligence Department {SCIID], Minna. The suspects said they cut off the head of the deceased little boy with the use of two sharp knife. The third member of the syndicate, one Ibrahim, escaped arrest by the police. The two arrested suspected ritualists are from Lupa and Makera respectively while Ibrahim who is currently at large hails from Paiko Local Government of the state, Adewole said. ALSO READ: Nigerian dies in South Africa after he swallowed drugs to avoid police arrest They were made to disclose the location where they buried the body of the youngster who was kidnapped from his home. He was paraded at the state command along with six other suspects who helped him in an assault he launched at the residence of the infant's parents. Obo-Ekpenyog, who presided over the Royal Gods Commandment Ministry in Calabar was arrested after the police found some incriminating items in the church. This happened during a search made possible due to the alarm raised by the victim's mother who was able to identify the pastor despite covering his face with a mask after forcefully entering her home. The geographical region that is now modern day Nigeria was once known as the slave coast but by 1870 that had changed. Britain had lost its appetite for slaves and preferred palm oil. In the 19th century, Britain was the first industrialized nation in the world and it needed palm oil as a lubricant for its machines. The region that is Nigeria today had a lot of palm oil, the majority of it tucked in the lush vegetation of the Niger Delta which ironically has been polluted by another type of oil. The demand for Nigeria's palm oil was huge. A man known as George Goldie would be an important figure in Nigeria's palm oil business. In 1879, he formed the United African Company (later renamed the National African Company). There was a lack of structure in the palm oil business. Niger-Deltans sold to the highest bidder and Goldie was able to control the region of the Lower Niger River. In 1884 his business had boomed that he had 30 trading points along the Lower Niger essentially creating a monopoly for the British to capitalize on. The Berlin Conference should be highlighted here. The conference gave the British access to the Lower Niger and left very little for the Germans and French. In 1886, George Goldie started moving inwards into River Niger and Benue, a clear violation of the gentleman's agreement he had made with the chiefs. It was initially agreed that the United African Company would not pass the coastal areas. Also within the same year, the United African Company was turned to Royal Niger Company. George Goldie's business operation was far from fair. His company tricked the native chiefs (including Jaja of Opobo) into signing agreements that gave them the exclusive rights to export palm oil after initially agreeing that free trade would not be obstructed. The Chiefs fell for the promise and signed the dubious contracts that were written in English. When Jaja of Opobo wanted to export his own palm oil, he was accused of obstructing commerce and sent into exile. On his way back home in 1891, he was poisoned with a cup of tea. The story of Jaja of Opobo made chiefs and rulers to be wary of their deals with the Royal Niger Company. Frederick William Koko Mingi VIII of Nembe popularly known as King Koko was one of such rulers. The born-again monarch who was formerly a school teacher detested the restriction on trading and did business with the Germans directly. In 1894, after the Royal Niger Company introduced more restrictions, Koko Mingi VIII denounced Christianity and formed an alliance with the Bonny and Okpoma to take down the company. Unfortunately, the Bonny refused the alliance. This did not stop the rebellion. History has it that Koko Mingi VIII led an attack on the Royal Niger Company headquarters on January 29, 1895. The headquarters was at Akassa in Bayelsa. The attack saw the king capture, 60 white men, while losing forty of his soldiers. Using the 60 men as hostages, King Koko Mingi wanted the RNC to allow him to choose his trade partners. If the company granted his wish, he would release the men. The Royal Niger Company did not yield. King Koko killed forty of the men he captured. As retaliation, the Britains Royal Navy attacked Brass and levelled it completely on February 20, 1895. An uneasy calm was restored and the British had their way. King Koko was on the run. As punishment, the people of Brass were fined 500. Their weapons were taken from them also. King Koko moved into exile after rejecting the terms of the British after the British Parliamentary Commission. He committed suicide as an outlaw in 1898. The war was, however, a bad PR look for the Royal Niger Company. Great Britain revoked its charter in 1899. The Royal Niger Company sold its territory (Nigeria) to the British government for 865,000. In 1914, the Southern protectorate and Northern protectorate were amalgamated by Lord Lugard. The state Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Abdulhamid Kwara, gave the warning on Thursday during a sensitisation campaign on the effects of flooding organised by the ministry for residents of Karu Local Government Area of the state. He said that the campaign was to educate and enlighten residents on the dangers of flooding as well as to advise them to avoid dumping of refuse along water ways. The commissioner called for change of attitude among the people involved in indiscriminate dumping of refuse to avoid flooding. The Nasarawa State Government unders administration is doing its best in keeping the environment clean, hence the need for the sensitisation campaign so as to educate the people on the dangers of flooding to the society." It is also the responsibility of everybody to complement government efforts by keeping his or her environment clean because it is often said that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation." It is on this note that the government and stakeholders are always advising the people on the need to maintain personal and environmental hygiene in the interest of their lives and for the overall development of the society." I want to use this medium to appeal to the people of the state in general to avoid indiscriminate dumping of refuse on drainages, building of structures along water ways considering its health implication on human lives and to avoid flooding, he said. According to him, dumping of refuse in gutters, markets and other public places indiscriminately could also lead to the spread of communicable disease and be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Kwara also urged the residents to keep their dustbins tightly and to cover it at all times as debris from uncovered dustbins goes straight into gutters. The commissioner restated the commitment of the ministry to continue to initiate good policies and programmes that have direct impact on the lives of the people. The Esu Karu, Mr Luka Baba, promised to mobilise other traditional rulers in his domain to ensure the success of the exercise. Read the statement below: "President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja directed the Federal Ministry of Defence to produce a plan for the establishment of a modest Military Industrial Complex for the local production of weapons to meet some of the requirements of the country's armed forces. Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the National Defence College, President Buhari described as unacceptable, Nigeria's current over-dependence on other countries for critical military equipment and logistics. "We must evolve viable mechanisms for near-self-sufficiency in military equipment and logistics production complemented only by very advanced foreign technologies. " The Ministry of Defence is being tasked to draw up clear and measurable outlines for development of a modest Military Industrial Complex for Nigeria. "In this regard, it is to liaise with other strategic MDAs and industries to re-engineer the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) to meet national military hardware and logistics requirements," the President said. President Buhari told the gathering that his administration had, since its assumption of office, reviewed the nature and character of Nigeria's security threats and challenges. "We recognized first and foremost, the external dimensions of these threats and the need for international cooperation and common security mechanisms to tackle them," the President said. President Buhari added that in the light of this realization, his Administration was "convinced that the best approach was to work within the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) to mobilize a collective regional effort in the fight against terrorism and insurgency. The President urged the graduates and officers and men of the Armed Forces to work harder to win the war against Boko Haram, terrorism and insurgency. "We must apply a comprehensive strategy and coordinate all elements of national power against terrorism and insurgency; we must show result oriented leadership at all levels of military Command; we must set up an optimal organization to manage and sustain operational performance; and we must show confidence and winning mentality," President Buhari told them. The President assured that the Federal Government under his leadership will strive to meet the operational, logistic, training and welfare requirements of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. He also reaffirmed his commitment to ameliorating the hardships of people living in areas most affected by insurgency and terrorism. "We have the will, resolve and conviction to apply a comprehensive strategy and coordinate all elements of national power against terrorism and insurgency," the President reassured Nigerians and the international community. President Buhari said that the National Defence College had fulfilled the vision of its founding fathers, by becoming a strategic human capacity-building institution, making credible contributions to Nigeria and other friendly countries. The President urged graduates of the College's Course 23 to resolve to make "a marked difference in your future deployments and contribute your quota to the evolution and implementation of national security, defence and military strategies.""You should be the source that lights up the environment wherever you find yourselves," he told them". Crucially, the army had organised a press briefing on Boko Haram operations for Wednesday, and in a room full of reporters, Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, updated the nation on their encounters with the dangerous terrorist group. More crucially, there was no sight of a Shekau in chains or any cheerful claims of his death during the briefing. When asked by a reporter in the room about the army's failure to stick to its own timetable, the Commander replied, "The 40-day ultimatum given to the theatre is concomitant task to the overall objectives for which the theatre stands to achieve. The theatre is here to deal a decisive blow to Boko Haram. "That being the case, capturing Shekau is an enhancer to that objective. 40 days was a guideline. "It does not mean that because 40 days is about to elapse and Shekau has not been captured, we'll renew other 40 days, and we'll go after him and get him." There's not a lot of people that are surprised by the army's failure to capture Shekau or their defiance in the face of that failure. When the 40-day directive was issued by Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, on July 21, a lot of people saw it for the diversionary tactic that it was; the same one that the army has employed several times in its long bloody war against the terrorist sect and its deranged leader. In the hunt for Shekau, the army has had a lot of missteps that they've had to double down on to save face in public or suffer the humiliation in silence. The army's history of killing Shekau with word of mouth and press releases is a well-documented travesty. ALSO READ: Abubakar Shekau is the proverbial cat with 9 lives At the height of that embarrassment, the army claimed in 2016 that it had destroyed every Shekau that has existed as leader of the sect. Former Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Lucky Irabor said, "I can confirm to you that the original Shekau was killed, the second Shekau was killed, and the man presenting himself as Shekau, I can also confirm to you that a few days ago, he was wounded. We are yet to confirm whether he is dead or not. "They released videos to prove that they are still active, but thats just a facade" Despite that statement being 12 months ago, Boko Haram appears to still be active, with over 50 successful attacks under their murderous belts this year alone. No well-meaning Nigerian should take delight in the army's failure to gain complete control of the Boko Haram problem in the north east. To their credit, the group is less dominant in the country now than it was a year ago, and the highest point of that was the sacking of their largest base in Sambisa Forest in December 2016. Despite the government's apparent exaggeration of what that victory represents in the war against the terrorist group, the army has come a long, hard way in curbing their menace. However, it does not help itself with grandstanding and public chest-thumping that almost always results in the embarrassment of its genuine efforts to move the country completely past these perilous times. As disconcerting as Maj-Gen Attahiru's words of renewal of the order to capture Shekau is, there is something many people should agree with him on, and that is that capturing Shekau is not the biggest objective of the war. No one should be under the illusion that capturing Shekau or killing him is going to be an automatic death blow to Boko Haram. As recent events have shown, the terrorist group has at least three known factions now, with Abu Musab al-Barnawi and Mamman Nur leading the other factions. It is important to note that Al-Barnawi's faction, not Shekau's, is responsible for this year's deadliest attack; an ambush of an oil exploration team in the Magumeri area of Borno that led to the death of 69 people and the capture of three civilians who are still being held for ransom a month later. Mamman Nur's faction is largely unknown yet, but who knows what he might become with the power vacuum Shekau's potential capture or death would cause? While his capture or death would be an important morale-boosting public victory in the country's fight against terrorism, it probably won't amount to much in dealing that decisive blow Maj-Gen Attahiru is intent on delivering on Boko Haram. This is why the army should do away with the public obsession with capturing or killing Shekau as he's only a prominent head of a deadly hydra that'll just grow another. During the 40-day ultimatum that just elapsed, Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche, resorted to the army's long-held belief about Shekau. He said, "There are many Shekaus, there are various Shekaus, which is my strong belief. "A Shekau is still alive, people keep posing as Shekaus, but who knows the real Shekau? Only the indigenes and the people that are there, and people like carrying big names, that is why we keep knocking out any Shekau that comes up." Will the real Shekau please stand up? Governor Samuel Ortom made the announcement after inspecting flooded areas within Makurdi and its environs. Ortom said the empty International Market and the Presidential Building at Agan Toll Gate would become camps for IDPs, pending when water level would subside. He explained that his administration would do everything possible to provide minimum comfort to all displaced persons while in camps. He added that as you can see, the level of flood water is increasing, more houses are being submerged and more of our people are displaced. We hope Federal Government will come to our aid as soon as possible; the flood committee headed by my deputy will ensure that victims have minimum comfort while in the camps. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on Wednesday said more than 110,000 persons in 24 communities, including Makurdi, were displaced by flood in the state. The Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Boniface Ortese, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Wednesday that over 2, 769 households were also affected. He explained that places affected included Achusa, Idye, Wurukum Market, Genabe, Industrial Layout, Demekpe, Wadata Market, Katungu, behind the Civil Service Commission, Agboughul-Wadata among others. In Achusa, 200 houses were affected with 5,125 persons displaced, in Idye 217 houses while 5,200 persons were displaced. Also, behind the Civil Service Commission, 200 houses were submerged in flood and 5,777 persons were displaced. At Genabe, 200 houses were affected with 5,021 persons displaced, 218 houses around the Wurukum market were affected with 1,000 persons displaced, and at Wadata market150 houses were affected and 4,300 persons were displaced. ALSO READ:Gov Ortom seeks FG assistance to tackle effects of flood Similarly at Industrial layout, 69 houses were flooded and 4,310 persons displaced; Demekpe 111 houses were affected while 7,820 persons displaced, the official said.. Ortese further said that 137 houses were flooded in Katungu, with 6,031 persons displaced while at Agboughul-Wadata 201 houses were affected and 5,728 persons displaced. Use of cellphones and other wireless devices is now so pervasive that it's impossible to avoid exposure to RF radiation. But researchers are continuing to find that such exposure has detrimental effects on health. The former Governor also said that Kanus militant approach is a result of the way the government had treated him, adding that it will be unwise and dangerous to re-arrest him. According to Vanguard, he said the statement by President Buhari saying that Nigerias unity is not negotiable, does not reflect the current mood of the nation. Umar said Reports in the media indicate that the Federal government has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and have him rearrested. This is both dangerous and politically unwise. Mazi Kanu is not a common criminal as the government appears to think. On the contrary, he is a bitter young man fighting for a fairer deal for his Igbo kinsmen. His seeming militant approach is the result of the strong arm tactics with which the Federal Government deals with him. His long incarceration before a court granted him bail testifies to this. Like Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, many Igbos genuinely feel marginalized since they belong to the category of those who gave Mr President only 5% of their votes and appeared to have fallen out of his favour. President Buharis insistence that the unity of Nigeria is a settled issue is a nationalistic wish and is no surprise coming from a veteran of civil war fought to keep the country one. However, this does not take into account the mood of the nation as indicated by the growing agitations for self determination, restructuring and many other similar demands. " He also said that judging by the current state of the polity, Nigeria requires someone with a strong personality such as Gen. Babangida. If indeed the President is able to ignore and silence those agitators, it will be a case of suspended animation. All indications are that Nigeria has become so polarized that it requires a strong personality like General Buhari to sustain its fragile unity. Most Nigerians are convinced of the need to maintain Nigerias unity, cognisant of the enormous benefits all sections drive from a large, diverse and resource rich country. The Federation also provides a security umbrella to all the federating units which enhance their survivability and prosperity, he aaded. The former Governor said It is difficult to see how any of them can fare better out of the federation. But the fact that there are growing agitations for self determination, restructuring and other similar demands speak gravely of the way the federation is being governed. Nigerias unity can only be guaranteed when all its citizens feel they are getting a fair deal; when all its component parts are treated justly and equitably. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Adeyanju and other similar agitators might seem like felons or even anarchists. But as often happens over humanitys turbulent history, appearances can be deceitful. One mans terrorist could well be another mans freedom fighter. In any event, despite what the security agencies might feel, there is nothing to fear from Mazi Kanu. Umar added that it will not be right for the Federal Government to treat people agitating for a better deal for their people to be treated as common criminals. He and his compatriots are people who love their country dearly and are willing to take a risk with their lives while blowing a whistle on some of our bad habits. It will be a tragic mistake to treat them as common criminals. It is evident that they are fighting a cause millions consider entirely legitimate. Until our democracy learns to accommodate dissent, vigorous, robust, even if inconvenient, it will be incapable of serving our common good." Rawlings said he instead received $2 million from the late president of Nigeria. Ex-president Rawlings made these revelations when he spoke to The Guardian Newspaper in Nigeria. In 1998 after the death of the then Nigerian president Gen. Sani Abacha the media revealed that Rawlings had received $5 million from the deceased. But Rawlings said he received $2 million, which was used for the preparation of an upcoming election. Even though the then opposition failed to find enough evidence to impeach him, Rawlings in the interview stated that he was not a corrupt president during his governance. Find below excepts of the interview On things that destroy the moral fabric of societies In the first place, I think that things have gone astray since the collapse of the bipolar world. I keep talking about Pope John Paul II castigating the dominant Western economic philosophy when he called it the savagery of capitalism. The conduct of affairs internationally has pretty much gone out of hands. But some of us appear to be immune to it or appear to be getting used to it. All the things you dont expect to happen in a healthy government, in a democratic context, are happening: the greed, the impunity, the selfishness being displayed. And it is even worse with us in the so-called developing world in terms of the monetisation of values. The very moral fabric of integrity is broken. I am saying that there was a dramatic moment when this turning point could actually be felt. That was when George Bush Jnr moved into Iraq. That cynical moment turned a very important human value upside down in the sense that, from that moment, as they stepped in and decided to just move into the capital and literarily destroyed so much human life and natural habitat, I told the world in one sentence that, the right of might now supersedes the might of right. So, others began to take a cue. I do recall that when Bush and Blair made their presence felt, like this is going to be a new world order under our leadership, I think they attempted to crack a whip on Africa because things are not going well on this black continent either. President Mugabe was to be their first victim, if you remember. His name was the one poisoned the most. Two people were sent down there to go and ask him to get out of office: Obasanjo and Kufuor, who were then in office. The Southern Region leadership told them to get out. Fantastic, beautiful!They needed a culprit. If they couldnt have Mugabe, then someone else. That was how Charles Taylor was picked up. I am not saying that Charles Taylor to an extent didnt deserve what he got or completely ignorant of the Liberian brutalities. But Obasanjo had gone to the US at that time for whatever reason, but not even the State Department would receive him unless he produced Charles Taylor. Remember at that time, Charles Taylor was living in Nigeria and he set off, attempting to go to another country, when he was arrested at the border and handed over. Now, generally speaking, and you know, a whole lot of nasty things were going on following the Bin Ladins insurgency on September 11 with his allied Taliban forces. That moment brought another face in the history of humanity across the globe and has reshaped the Americas home security and international policy. All of a sudden, America decided to start chasing people up. They erred in some ways. Instead of chasing, arresting and bringing to justice, they used the words: We would hound and kill. The word justice was lost and it appeared every statesman or woman had to use the same language, otherwise they would lose their political influence. If a world like that is going to talk about pursuing people, so-called terrorists, and kill them, without justice, we also take the cue. I am saying so much went wrong, so much impunity. The world is still in search of true Justice. It is no surprise President Carter, many years down the line, should castigate the US and say America had lost its moral standing. That is why the world at that time, even the USA, was so excited that the world simply wanted, was craving for some international political morality with such a passion. If you remember, the world held on to people like Mandela. But that was earlier. When somebody like Obama emerged, didnt you see how the world was excited about him? He clearly represented the new spirit, the refreshing spirit that the world was looking for, and especially to be a leader in the US. He has been doing his bit. But the point is that the wrongdoings, the manner in which things have gone astray since the collapse of the bipolar world, much of that has taken a life of its own in various ways. On Ghana and corruption Not too long after I left office, I was giving a talk in Tanzanian and I said the world was going to see an exponential growth of terrorism. I had left office and the western media and western governments were desperately whitewashing the image of Ghana in spite of the atrocities and the corruption that was going on in my country after we had left office. Ghana had become a captive state, being whitewashed. You see how they orchestrate things? This is what I want you to wake up to. Now, it might interest you to know that, while they were whitewashing, making these claims and things were also falling apart, as late as just a few months ago, BBC now claims that terrorism had risen by 84%, creating a false impression at that time. This is the power of the Western media. They kept whitewashing the image of my country in order for it to serve as the role model for the rest of Africa. It is shocking and mindboggling to know that, some perceived celebrated companies in Ghana and Africa with so much media hype and political patronization, were just nothing but a package of mirage. It is no wonder Ghana is so corrupt today. Remember when I said the world would see a multiplier effect of terrorism, I knew what was going on in Ghana; I knew what was going on in Africa: the way the global situation was affecting us; our country was suffocating but leadership seemed immune to the realities. Meanwhile, I am repeating what the Pope says about the savagery of capitalism. Where is it going to lead to and what was going on for him to describe this kind of scenario? Corruption could get worse. Even as a party, we used to win elections with the force of conviction. The one who came after I left office just capitulated and decided to use the money factor. On Nigerias decision to change things Out of this growing darkness, Nigerians of all people seem to have decided that enough is enough and they voted for a man with the qualities to deal with the problems of Nigeria. For me, this is one of the greatest gifts that your country has offered us. Hold on to it and support it to restore the foundation of integrity in your national affairs. You can do things the corrupt way. But I believe it is better to do things the non-corrupt way. The non-corrupt way is healthier, more stable and takes away anxieties. It can achieve a lot more; even take you to the moon. So, a lot of these things just destroyed the moral fabric of our societies. For me, it is just a sweet sensation to think that Nigeria came out of that construct, showing us that that kind of corrupt environment that seemed to have solidified can be turned around, can be reversed. I am just hoping that it can inspire the rest of West Africa. Im not saying is a single effort of an individual but rather a sense of responsibility of every individual to take ownership of integrity and accountability but somebody must take the lead. We had a taste of that. On his relationship with Abacha It is unfortunate that Abacha should also be caught up in such practices like a few of his predecessors. But he was one hell of a nationalist and very patriotic. Abacha saved the country. Some of you may not know this. But I also had my fingers on things. Some may not want to hear it. But the departure of that gentleman called Abiola, the one who passed away, saved Nigeria from a probable explosion. Shonekan couldnt handle the situation and Abacha stepped in. There is also something else we shouldnt lose sight of. When I am talking about the possibility of an explosion, its about the circumstances and the personalities involved. Abiola plus Shonekan (who was a man of integrity) could not even be seen to hold it. Does it surprise you that Nigerians, I think either through some national instinct or wherever the perception came from, some think that they needed retired generals who cannot be intimidated by the military? That was how come characters like Obasanjo could come back or for that matter, this gentleman, President Buhari, who cannot be intimidated by the military.It has its value, but I think it is a transition that we are all going through or you are going through. On his anti-corruption and alleged $5million gift from AbachaThe point I want to make here is around that period, we were preparing for constitutional rule. We needed funds for some activities and we got contributions from few places. The interesting thing is that I never went to, or asked Abacha for any contribution. And this is something that impressed me about the man. I didnt ask him for a penny. But he obviously understood certain situations, our situation, and graciously sent me a small suitcase of money. I think there were two cars or three that came to the Air Force station to look for me. I was going for fly at that afternoon. So, I was at the Air Force Station when a gentleman came over there and when he said he had a message from Abacha, I cancelled my flight and they set out to wait for me. I drove after them to the caste. As we got out of the car and we were about to move up, this elderly gentleman, Gwarzo he is called, had one of his assistants try to bring out a suitcase from the boot of a car. I had an idea of what it could be. So I said: Leave it, shut your boot and lets go upstairs first and talk. He said he had brought something from Abacha. I said two things: I hear you people dont provide assistance without the world hearing it with a twist. He just kept quiet looking at me. I said two: Dont think that when you bring this, whatever it is, that would shut me up from criticizing if I think you are wrong, or if I disagree. He then opened his mouth and said Sir, we need you more than you need us.I am quoting him. He didnt speak much. He was a very noble, quiet looking and elderly man. He was respectable looking. In fact, what he said simply disarmed me. So I said it was okay. He could send for the parcel. His assistant then went and brought in the parcel: 2million dollars: new notes packed in plastic bags, fairly heavy. We left it in the sitting room. We finished with some niceties and he left. I informed some of my close comrades of the parcel from Abacha. I gave away about 350,000 dollars to two people for urgent disbursements. One of our senior colleagues who was in charge of an exercise drew down certain amounts.We went on like this until the suitcase was exhausted. Later when Abacha died and your country instituted an investigation into his assets, I read in one of your newspapers that Mr. Gwarzo, this fine gentleman, allegedly said that he brought me 5million dollars. I am glad I still have that suitcase. It shocked me a bit that such a fine respectable man could make such a claim. The amount he mentioned shocked me. That he could tell such a lie. My colleagues knew about it. I didnt know why I should be keeping these things secret. Moreover, I didnt have any personal account to be putting these things into anyway. Besides we needed to use them for some national needs. But lo and behold! Many years down the line when I fell out with some of my colleagues and they decided to get poisonous, two of them wrote a book on district assembly elections and the decentralization programme, and inserted in somewhere, when it was absolutely not necessary, something about Gwarzos supposed $5million just to poison my name. I just feel sad that Gwarzo should do this. I am prepared to be subjected to polygraph test. May be thats what he needs also. When General Abubakar took over, I told him to watch out. That that report in the papers about $5million was $2million and not $5million. He didnt make any comment. He didnt say anything. Obasanjo took over I thought I should straighten it out with him. The comment he made was: Yes, that is how they behave. When they are given something to take somewhere, they will take the majority, the bigger share. That was the comment Obasanjo made. I wasnt used to those things. Otherwise, I could have called Abacha. I dont even think I even called him over that. Maybe I should have called him to say thank you for the $2million and then he would have called his people to order. You see what I mean? I wasnt used to money being thrown up and down. Money was not my thing. Yes, we were poor enough as a country, but we were working day and night to making sure we put the country on a solid foundation for economic explosion. We had our pride and our dignity was not out for sale. I recall that in the early days I didnt have any money in the account and somebody gave me a million dollar cheque. I just threw it on the workshop table. Eight years later, one of our comrades reminded me about the cheque and said we would need the money for something and I asked him to go look for it.The mischief that our people get involved in hurt me. When I was a kid my grandmother used to say: A liar is more dangerous than a thief, and we could never understand it. It didnt make sense to us, because as kids we were always denying something or telling fibs about something, and nobody gets hurt or anything. But you get whipped for stealing and more. When you grow up to my situation today then you wake up to what my Granny was saying, how liars are the most vicious and cowardly creatures. They can destroy a whole image and reputation. That was why Chinua Achebes counterpart, Ayi Kwei Armah, wrote The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born. When I grew up, I realized he was wrong. The beautiful ones are born. They are there, but the platform is so dirty they dare not step on it to campaign to be leaders, because they would be slammed down with some of the nastiest fabrications. Nobody wants to have their name spoilt, so politics becomes a monopoly. No wonder he said the beautiful ones were not yet born. But no, when I got in, I said no way. I brought the beautiful ones all on board when I came back the second time. That was how come we succeeded so beautifully. We provided a leadership of credibility and integrity. These are the hallmarks I stand for. How to strengthen institutions to keep beautiful ones alive A lot depends on the leader, his sensitivity, his will, his strength and determination, because the vast majority of the people are suffering from the decay. They want to see a change for the better. I think that the number one should be bold enough and identify the right people to take over and move to those institutions in an effective and efficient way. Put your foot down, because those institutions are manned by human beings; and if those human beings lack the character, the strength and the spirit to be able to defy that which is wrong, then we cannot defend freedom and justice. The leader has to give a clear signal, sense of direction and the passion to drive the change. When I was in office, I spent 30-40 per cent of my time watching out for corrupt or corruptible indications or behaviour or lifestyles. I wouldnt tolerate it. It is so easy. It brings the best out of your people. They would do 70 per cent of the work for you. I can understand Buharis style. It is okay. Let it be. My style was to provoke the needed consciousness and invite the involvement of our people so that you had moral outrage from the general populace. So, even in your villages and workplaces, you cant misbehave and get away with it. I dont have to have a policeman there. We dont have enough policemen. But the moral outrage of the society is dynamite. It is a weapon waiting to be used and utilized. The people were policing themselves for the just course. Do you get me? Do you get me, my brother? Thats what I meant by positive defiance. Some may end up being intimidated by it, sadly. But no, it is there to help you. After all, that is what you have in those countries, those developed countries. They have not destroyed their moral outrage. Halting Ghanas slide on the corruption table All I can do is speak up. I find myself in a situation where I have moral responsibility and no executive authority. I would have wished that my moral authority could have the same influence. But that is not the case, corruption has infiltrated our institutions and their leaders so badly today that they use some kind of lens to demonstrate that you can keep your moral authority, but this is executive power at work. So all I can do is to critique and advocate for my people. I cant hide it. And I believe that was how I won the respect from the larger populace, from both sides of the political divide. I have remained principled. My wife is still standing where she is, cut off from our party that she was very responsible in building up because it became corrupted from Mills time. We now fight on the terms of the opposition or the main opposition party. Fortunately for them, they have a leader who is not known for messing around with material things. The situation is so bad. So unfortunate! This is why Buhari has to alter things. You have got to make it. He doesnt have much time and cant afford for inertia to set in or for the momentum to go down. On remarks by Kofi Annan that some African leaders were tempting the militaryThe point is that in waging a campaign in the international community, bringing pressure to bear to keep the military in the barracks, our hope was that the quality of democracy would also have improved. I like to think that you can use good governance to prevent military intervention. Quite frankly, our parliaments do not appear to be strong enough to impeach Presidents who are getting out of hand. That is one way of preventing a coup. That is a legitimate way of doing it, an institutional way of doing it. But too many of us appear to have been compromised and our principles also compromised. So we seem unable to make a move against an erring government and a government that is becoming very corrupt and endangering situations. So I am not surprised he said what he said. I am not surprised at all. We left behind an exemplary institution or institutions the Armed Forces. But they made sure they corrupted it in order to survive because they could not measure up to the standards that we left behind. That is as far as that is concerned.I could have said this, but if I had done so it would seem that I was calling for it. People would misinterpret it. Now that Kofi Annan himself has said it, I hope people will see through the situation. The suspect, Okeke Ambrose Ifedilichukwu, a 55-year-old Nigerian, arrived at the KIA aboard an Emirates aircraft en route to Dubai when he was arrested. According to the Deputy Executive Secretary of NACOB, Nii Lante Blankson, the suspect left Abidjan for Accra where he was on transit. He said while Okeke was on the flight, the airline officials realised that he was behaving abnormally and so as soon as the plane landed in Accra, he was referred to the Aviation Clinic at the airport for observation. He said at that stage, officials of NACOB were informed about the situation and so they quickly went to the Aviation Clinic to interrogate the suspect, who admitted that he had swallowed pellets of cocaine. After his confession, NACOB officials then took him to the Akai House Clinic in Accra for further observation. An X-ray taken at the Akai House Clinic confirmed that the suspect had a number of pellets of cocaine in his stomach. The clinic advised that he be medically observed while he expelled the pellets from his stomach.The suspect was taken back to the Aviation Clinic for further observation and for him to expel the pellets. Mr Blankson said, however, that while Okeke went back to the Aviation Clinic, his condition became critical and so he was quickly transferred to the 37 Military Hospital for further treatment. As of the time of going to press, the suspect was being operated on to remove the pellets from his stomach to save his life. The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr Patrick Ukpan, disclosed this in a statement signed by the commands Spokesperson, David Akinbinu, on Wednesday in Abuja. Ukpan stated that 4,000 personnel were deployed to strategic places in the FCT to ensure security during the festive period. He stressed the need to enhance security, especially during festive periods when crime was usually on the increase. The commandant said that the corps had also increased its patrols and surveillance to provide heightened protection across the state capital. ALSO READ: NSCDC to deploy 2500 officials in Ogun He said special emphasis would be on places of worship, parks, recreation centres Kaduna road, Kogi road, Nasarawa and Niger road, among several other places. He said this in his Eid-el-Kabir message made available to Pulse Nigeria on Thursday, August 31, 2017. He also preached against violence and intolerance as the Muslim community celebrates Sallah across the country. He said, "I join all the Muslim ummah in this very significant Islamic celebration. Islam is a religion of peace and as we make merry, we should continue to let this knowledge guide our every behaviour and speech. "The Eid-el-Kabir period gives us another opportunity to be moderate in words and deeds and to reflect on the salient virtues and values of Islam. "We must collectively eschew violence, intolerance, selfishness and uttering of unguarded comments, which are capable of causing disaffection with our neighbours irrespective of tribe, language and creed or heating up the polity. "Rather let us show love to one another through our words and deeds. As it is only in an atmosphere of peace that National Development can take place." The groups National Leader, Mr Seun Bobade, made the call in a statement on Thursday in Ilorin, stressing that sometime the abusive language by the former minister bothered on hate speech. Bobade slammed the former minister for his ranting and increasingly unsubstantiated allegations which he said were becoming an embarrassment, particularly to youths who had seen him as role model. He urged the media to always ask Fani-Kayode to substantiate his allegations. He said the media should have asked the former minister to substantiate the allegation he made in his latest tweet. Bobade added that Fani-Kayode in his latest tweet made some allegations against the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. ALSO READ: Fani-Kayode says Buhari is never coming back He recalled that Fani-Kayode had alleged that Mohammed, Adesina and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had threatened to shut down a TV station if it aired his interview. The media must hold Fani-Kayode to a higher standard. They should not just regurgitate his allegations without asking him to substantiate such. After all, its trite-law that he who alleges must prove. The former minister should have been asked to provide incontrovertible evidence of the allegation he made, including to identify the television station by name. He should have been asked also to name the particular fellow at the TV station who was threatened over his interview. Bobade said it was inconceivable that the Minister, Adesina and the NBC would be threatening any station over an interview with an opposition politician. He said it would run counter to President Muhammadu Buharis administrations commitment to freedom of expression. He advised the Minister and Adesina not to lend any credence to Fani-Kayode by responding to his claim which amounts to someones imagination running wild. He said previous allegations by Fani-Kayode had proved to be a mere hoax, recallingthat on July 13, the former minister told Punch newspaper that the President was on life support, that he could not even recognise anyone and that he would never come back to the country as President. One will expect that as the President eventually returned healthy, Fani-Kayode will be challenged, instead, the media indulged him by publishing another unsubstantiated allegation from him, which he must have designed to cover his earlier statement. According to a report by The Punch, the victims were attacked along the waterways of Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state, while they were returning from Letugbene community. The militants had caught them by surprise and disarmed them before moving them to a location in the creeks where they were murdered in cold blood. The civilian, a boat driver, was shot to death after jumping into the river to escape the ambush attack. Chairman of the Central Zone of Ijaw Youths Council, Tare Porri, confirmed the killings to Agence France-Presse (AFP). He said, "Four military officers were killed in cold blood alongside a civilian. Military officers went to Letugbene community and on their way back, some persons accosted them and killed all of them." The 55-year-old Nigerian, Ambrose Okeke Infedilichukwe, arrested on Thursday at the Kotoka International Airport for swallowing pellets of powdered substances suspected to be cocaine has died.He died on Saturday evening after going through surgery at the 37 Military Hospital where he expelled 46 of the pellets.He had earlier confessed to officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) during interrogation that he swallowed the substance to be delivered to somebody for a fee of $6,000.Nii Lante Blankson, Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of Enforcement at NACOB, who disclosed this to The Ghanaian Times in an interview yesterday, said he suspected that some of the pellets might have burst in the stomach.He said Ifedililchukwe, who is physically-challenged, was on an Emirate flight from Cote dIvoire en-route to Hong-Kong via Dubai, but while on the flight, the flight attendants noticed he was fidgeting.On reaching KIA, Mr ifedilichukwe, was handed over to airport officials who took him to the Aviation Clinic where it was observed that he had swallowed illicit substances.Mr. Blankson said NACOB personnel on duty at the airport, were consequently informed of the situation and they went to the clinic to interrogate the suspect, who admitted swallowing pellets of substances to be delivered for somebody for a fee of $6,000.Ifedilichukwe was subsequently taken to the Akai House Clinic at Cantonments, where an X-ray examination confirmed some substances in his stomach.The medical officer on duty advised that the suspect expel the substances before he could be treated, hence he was taken back to the Aviation Clinic, but his condition worsened, and he was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital where he was operated upon.He died later while receiving treatment. The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, made this known while briefing newsmen after its investigative meeting with some of the companies on Wednesday in Abuja. He said the interest of the Senate in the investigation was to assist the executive in recovering monies trapped in the import and export chain. He said there are allegations that the investigation is borne out of personal interest. Once a senate committee passes a resolution such as this, it cannot be termed as decision of a single senator. You may not like my face as a person but it is important to look at the credibility of the work we are doing. We need to sanitise the import and export circle to ensure that trade is facilitated and non-oil revenue is recovered and strengthened. In that manner, government will not rely so much on oil. The lawmaker further said that while some had alleged that the investigation was a sham, some of the indicted companies had started refunding monies running into billions of Naira to Federal Government. As a result of this investigation, banks which are the authorised dealers in the export and import chain have been making effort to remit everything collected by them to the Central Bank. We are doing this on a friendly note because we do not want to send a wrong signal to the market. Although more funds other than the N120 billion I announced sometime ago have been recovered, we do not want to send wrong signal. We are limited to speak further on how much has been recovered so far. However, we will definitely come up with figures recovered at the end of the investigation. Uzodinma explained that the committee was saving the figures till the end of the investigation because some of the companies were quoted on the Capital Market. According to him, revealing the figures will send panic to the market. He also explained that the committee resorted to interfacing with individual companies rather than meeting with them in group to enable them to open up to the committee. Uzodinma said the strategy had yielded positive result, particularly in recovering trapped funds. The companies are now free to admit and some of them have promised to make payments. Today alone, three companies came with receipts of payment. If we did not embark on this investigation, we would not make these recoveries. Through this investigation, we have helped the Federal Government to recover some money and we are sure that government will recover more money because we have detailed information that will aid more recovery. The companies are no longer contesting most of the documents of infractions we confronted them with. The chairman called for the support of relevant stakeholders including the media in the ongoing investigation. He explained that the country would not be able to make the necessary progress if Nigerians were not committed in ensuring that national interest was continually protected. Adamu, was quoted as saying this in a statement at the Africa Focus session for the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and signed by the Director, Press with the ministry, Mrs Margaret Umoh. We can achieve an African approach to solving issues of waste water if we think globally and act locally, he said. He said that AMCOWs mandate in the water sector is to provide political leadership, policy direction and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable socio-economic development and maintenance of African ecosystem. He called on other member countries of AMCOW to strengthen their roles for stakeholders engagement and participation in order to address the issues of waste water. The statement also quotes the Minister of Water Resources of Egypt, Mohammed Abdel Atty as saying that AMCOW should facilitate and advocate adequate and sustainable financing of programs that will lead to achieving the African vision 2025. He added that the agenda 2063 of; The Africa we want, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and other high level commitments should also be of utmost importance. The statement added that the inclusion and sustenance of smallholder irrigation in Africa is key to meeting the global challenges of food security. It noted that smallholder irrigation has performed low in Africa with a record of low yields, deprivation and poverty as a result of lack of maintenance of large scale portions of irrigation lands. The Africa Focus session had presentations by AMCOW and other critical partners on innovative ways of improving water quality through waste water management in Africa. At a session on irrigation farming in Africa, African leaders were told to encourage their smallholder irrigation to double their yields with half the water presently used. Participants considered new ways of working with irrigation communities in Africa to increase agricultural production by using water more efficiently. "You are important. In these days and ages, people need people like you as an inspiration, and that's what you're doing,"Simon Cowell said to her. Howie Mandell described the performance as "serendipitous" because Okwuchi lives in Houston, a city currently battling flood as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Kechi also shared some words of encouragement for everyone affected by the flood. "I pray that my performance gave them something positive to see," she said. "I'm not even sure If people in Houston can see this, but I pray that they can and that they feel something positive and they feel strength." Okwuchi had received a "yes" from each of the four judges after her first performance on the show on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, with her performance of Ed Sheerans Thinking Out Loud. Kechi made it to the lives with her rendition of Donny Hathaway "Song for You." On December 10, 2005, Okwuchi became one of the two survivors of the Sosoliso Airline Flight 1145 crash that took the lives of 107 passengers. He told News One that smart filmmakers ought to change their strategies to adapt to the new changes in the system. I can say it in capital letters that industry people complaining that the industry is dead are not smart. In every endeavour, you expect harsh conditions because everything will not go rosy. So sometimes you should predict. I saw this coming a long time ago that it will get to a point when producers will not be able to pay me and certain actors because the economy is bad, production budget is low, patronage from fans have gone down. So as an actor or a movie person, you should be able to adapt to the system. You should be smart. The smart ones are still prevailing. Those ones who are waiting for producers to call them and bring them scripts are the ones suffering. Those that are smart are the ones making it, he told New One. David was commenting on the current state of Ghanas movie industry. Previously when we do a movie, we could sell the rights, but now piracy is killing us and aside piracy the enthusiasm of the fans have gone down. We are going through a new phase but I wont say the movie industry is collapsing. Thats why you have to be smart as an actor. For the past two or three years, I have not really been in Ghana. I have been out there doing my stuff. So you have to be innovative. When the harsh weather is going against you, you have to move. As I talk to you, my one cast movie, Im still premiering in central London on the October 21 and other cities in the UK. Some way somehow, I am busy. Other people like Yvonne Nelson are doing other things. That is the level it has gotten to. Individually, people are doing stuff because I have been around. I have been all over the place in Canada, UK, US, Germany and Holland promoting my one cast movie and doing other stuffs. Currently, I have a movie deal to shoot in Los Angeles. So individually, people are doing brilliant stuff. Yvonne Nelson is shooting her series, Juliet Ibrahim doing hers, other people are shooting theirs. Even though people say it is collapsing, presently I am on set shooting Table of Men being produced by Ekow Smith. I also just shot a movie with Jackie Appiah titled Happily Never After. So mainly individuals are doing stuff, he disclosed. Starring Elijah Wood, it was announced at its world premiere in the Utah mountains last week as the only festival entrant with a grammatical sentence as its title. "Green Room" actor Macon Blair's directorial debut is a bloody crime comedy with an escalating body count in the best traditions of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, the Coen brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson. The Netflix financed movie co-stars Melanie Lynskey ("Heavenly Creatures") as a nursing assistant worn down by people's unkindness who eventually snaps when her house is burglarized. It won the grand jury prize in Sundance's "US dramatic competition" section. The film follows an eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter as they navigate their evolving relationship in an unconventional love story. Many critics have pointed out that this year's festival was more overtly political than in previous years. Fittingly, Sundance's awards show opened with a sideways dig at President Donald Trump's order suspending the arrival of refugees and tough new controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Sundance Institute head Keri Putnam told the audience she wanted to "acknowledge the artists from Muslim majority countries who joined us at the festival this year." The US dramatic audience award -- the second prize to the grand jury award -- went to Matt Ruskin's "Crown Heights," the story of a man fighting to clear his name after being wrongly convicted of a crime. The US documentary directing prize went to Peter Nicks for "The Force" -- a portrait of the Oakland police department -- while the US documentary audience award went to "Chasing Coral," which sounds the alarm on the decline of coral reefs. Tarik Saleh's Swedish thriller "The Nile Hilton Incident" came away with the grand jury prize for world drama while Feras Fayyad's "Last Men in Aleppo," about the Syrian conflict, won the world cinema documentary competition. The Sundance Film Festival founded by actor Robert Redford is considered a showcase for independent and documentary films and festival winners often go on to receive critical acclaim and Hollywood awards season glory. Last year, the crop of movies shown at the festival yielded "Manchester by the Sea," which is up for six Oscars next month, including best picture and best actor for its star Casey Affleck. "This has been one of the wildest, wackiest and most rewarding festivals in recent memory," said Sundance director John Cooper. "From a new government to the independently organized Women's March on Main, to power outages, a cyberattack and snow at record levels, the work of our artists rose above it all and challenged and changed us these last 10 days." Here is a full list of prizewinners from Saturday's awards: - US DRAMA - Grand Jury Prize: "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore." Audience Award: "Crown Heights" Directing: Eliza Hittman, "Beach Rats" Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith, "Ingrid Goes West" Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance: Chante Adams, "Roxanne Roxanne" Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Director: Maggie Betts, "Novitiate" Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Daniel Landin, "Yellow Birds" - US DOCUMENTARY- Grand Jury Prize: "Dina" Directing: Peter Nicks, "The Force" Orwell Award: "Icarus" Audience Award: "Chasing Coral" Special Jury Award for Editing: Kim Roberts and Emiliano Battista, "Unrest" Special Jury Award for Editing: Kim Roberts and Emiliano Battista, "Unrest" Special Jury Award for Storytelling: Yance Ford, "Strong Island" Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking: Amanda Lipitz, "Step" - WORLD CINEMA DRAMA - Grand Jury Prize: "The Nile Hilton Incident" Audience Award: "I Dream in Another Language" Directing Award: Francis Lee, "Gods Own Country" Screenwriting: Kirsten Tan, "Pop Aye" Special Jury Award for Cinematic Visions: Jun Geng, "Free and Easy" Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Manu Dacosse, "Axolotl Overkill" - WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY - Grand Jury Prize: "Last Men in Aleppo" Audience Award: "Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower" Directing Award: Pascale Lamche, "Winnie" Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana, "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World" Special Jury Award for Editing: Ramona S. Diaz, "Motherland" "We have outlined our terms and conditions to the Nigerian government and we are waiting to see if they agree," Esayas WoldeMariam, Ethiopians managing director of international services, told CNN. "We are capable and desirous of handling the airline." WoldeMariam did not specify details of the offer, but added that he expects to face competition for Arik from international airlines. There are no indications yet that foreign airlines have submitted bids to take over the airline which is now under the management of AMCON following the debt of over N400billion, owed local and foreign creditors. Arik's Managing Director Captain Roy Ilegbodu reported in August that the company had stabilised under AMCON's leadership, with services running smoothly and salaries paid. It now carries an average of 4,000 passengers daily. It has the largest fleet of 14 aircraft, although according to Ilegbodu, only 10 of them are operational at any time. The Arik boss also disclosed a forensic audit of the airliner carried out by the KPMG. "They have come up with a draft report and within the next few weeks, the final report will be out and will be available to the public." Arik Air suitor, Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's fastest-growing and most profitable carrier. The airline reported a 10 percent increase in revenue to $2.4 billion for 2015/16, with a 70 percent rise in profits, and passenger numbers climbed 18 percent to 7.6 million. He stated this on Thursday, August 31, in his Sallah message to Nigerians. In the message, Buhari also expressed gratitude to Nigerians who sincerely prayed for his recovery and safe return to the country, irrespective of their religion, ethnicity and political affiliations. "On the joyous occasion of this years Eid-El-Kabir celebration, I appeal to all Nigerians to rise against the odds, keep our prejudices aside and strengthen the bonds of friendship and unity to keep our country together," the President said. Read the full message below: Fellow Compatriots, I felicitate with you all, particularly the Muslim faithful, on the celebration of this years Eid-El-Kabir. I congratulate our Muslim brothers and sisters who are currently in Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj. From the outset, I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians who prayed for my recovery and have continued to extend their goodwill and support after my return to the country. Indeed your fervent and sincere prayers, which cut across religion, political and ethnic divides, has energised me to re-dedicate myself and this administration to the task of building a great Nigeria. On the joyous occasion of this years Eid-El-Kabir celebration, I appeal to all Nigerians to rise against the odds, keep our prejudices aside and strengthen the bonds of friendship and unity to keep our country together. For Muslims all over the world, this celebration is to commemorate the trials and triumph of Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim. As we celebrate, I sincerely believe that our nation can make rapid progress on all fronts if we re-enact the exemplary virtues, typified by Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim, through his sacrifice, patience, steadfastness, generosity and obedience to Allahs command and constituted authority. ALSO READ: PDP asks Buhari to declare state of emergency in Imo We must learn to see ourselves as brothers and sisters from the same heritage, who must come to terms with the African proverb that a family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. Once again, I assure you that this administration, which has made the security, economic well-being and prosperity of all Nigerians its priority, will not rest on its oars until we see the Nigeria of our dream. Tambuwal made call on Thursday in his Eid-el-Kabir message signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, made available in Sokoto. He congratulated Muslims on the celebration of the 2017 Eid el-Kabir and described the celebration as a period that honours the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son to show submission to Allahs command. As weve read from the Glorious Quran, just when Ibrahim was about to kill his son Ishmael, Almighty Allah (SWT) put a sheep in his place. Muslims use Eid el-Kabir to celebrate Prophet Ibrahims complete obedience to the will of Allah and as a reminder of our own willingness to make sacrifices in obedience to Allah. ALSO READ: Sokoto State Govt seeks voluntary premarital sickle cell screening Tambuwal assured the citizens of Sokoto of his determination to make the state a model for good governance, security of lives and property and economic prosperity. The suspect admitted to two-count charges of conspiracy and kidnapping after he was arraigned, alongside five other accomplices, at the Ikeja High Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, August 30, 2017. His accomplices are Uche Amadi, Ogechi Izechuwku, Okechukwu Nwachukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Chukwumonso. While Amadi and Nwachukwu also pleaded guilty to the charges alongside Evans, Uchechukwu, Ifeanyi and Aduba pleaded their innocence. The prosecution team, led by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, accused the defendants of capturing and detaining and collecting a ransom of 223,000 on Mr. Duru Donatius between Feb. 14 and April 12, 2017, on Obokun Street, Ilupeju. Justice Hakeem Oshodi ordered that the male defendants be remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, while Izechuwku, the only female in the group, is to be remanded in the prison's female wing. He adjourned the trial until October 19. Only the defendants that have pleaded not guilty will face trial when the court resumes, as the prosecution asked to lay statement of facts before sentencing can be carried out on the defendants that have pleaded guilty. Evans was arrested by a combined team of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Anti-Kidnap Unit of the Lagos State Police Command at one of his Magodo Phase II GRA, Lagos, home on Saturday, June 10, 2017. In a message to commemorate this year's Eid-el-Adha Sallah celebration, the governor issued a statement through his spokesman, Malam Imam Imam, on Thursday, August 31, 2017. He urged Nigerians to always promote acts that enhance national integration and brotherhood. He described the Sallah period as one that honours the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son to show submission to Allahs command. He said, "As we've read from the Glorious Qur'an, just when Ibrahim was about to kill his son Ishmael, the Almighty Allah (SWT) put a sheep in his place. As such, we Muslims use Eid ul-Adha to celebrate Prophet Ibrahim's complete obedience to the will of Allah and as a reminder of our own willingness to make sacrifices in obedience to God." Governor Tambuwal assured the citizens of Sokoto of his determination to make the state a model for good governance, security of lives, property and economic prosperity. "Our determination to make impact in critical sectors like education, health, agriculture, water supply, rural development among others remains unshaken. I assure you that this administration will continue to prioritise the welfare of the citizens. "We will continue to find lasting solutions to the challenges confronting us. We will continue with practical steps to impact on the lives of our citizens. The commendations we have received from far and near will only spur us to do more." The country -- where one in three adults is infected with the AIDS-causing virus -- has vastly expanded public programmes to test people for HIV infection and put them on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment (ART). "The rate of new HIV infections has been reduced by half,"Velephi Okello of the Swazi health ministry told journalists at an HIV science conference in Paris. "Remarkable progress has been made... in controlling the HIV epidemic." In 2011, 31 percent of adults (aged 18-49) out of a total country population of just over 1.2 million were infected with HIV, according to government data. This made Swaziland the country with the highest national rate of new infections, said the authors of the new study, as well as the highest proportion of people living with HIV. The latest data, based on blood samples from almost 11,000 people aged 15 and over, showed that about 27 percent of the population was HIV-positive in 2016. This translated to an infection rate of 1.39 percent among 18- to 49-year-olds, down from 2.58 percent in 2011 -- a 46-percent reduction. Ninety-five percent of HIV-positive pregnant women last year received drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their offspring. "As a result, fewer than 1,000 children became infected with HIV in Swaziland in 2016," said the UN agency. 'Great news' The infection rate was higher among women than men, according to a survey report to the International AIDS Society conference. The decline was also steeper for men, with 52 percent, than for women (40 percent). The survey showed that 73 percent of HIV-positive people had achieved suppression of the virus -- meaning it does not replicate to make them ill -- compared to 35 percent in 2011. The gains were the fruit of a much improved HIV treatment programme, said the researchers. The share of infected people on ART rose from 37 percent in 2011 to 74 percent last year. ART not only stops HIV from replicating and attacking a patient's immune system, but also curbs its spread to sexual partners. "Our recipe for success is that we... have been able to scale up a lot of the prevention and treatment services in the country," said Okello. "We have more than doubled the number of people who have started on anti-retroviral treatment, and we have also almost doubled the number of men who have been circumcised in the country." According to the World Health Organization, there is "compelling evidence" that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexual sexual transmission of HIV by as much as 60 percent in men. The number of HIV tests conducted in Swaziland more than doubled from 176,000 in 2011 to 367,000 in 2016. "Basically, we think that that's one of the recipes (for success), and also the government commitment to buying and procuring the ARVs for people in the country so that there is a sustainable response going forward," said Okello. Despite the "great news", she cautioned much more needs to be done to maintain the downward trend. "While we do celebrate these findings, we still know that Swaziland is facing a severe HIV epidemic," she said. The pilgrims are expected to pray Zuhr and Asr in shortened Qasr congregation and continue to supplicate, recite the Holy Quran, remember Almighty Allah and seek for His forgiveness and mercy. Arafat is one of the four pillars of Hajj according to the traditions of the Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him) without which, Hajj is considered invalid. The Prophet said: The Hajj is Arafat, the entire plain of Arafat is a standing place. There is no day on which Allah frees and forgives as many of His servants from the fire as on the day of Arafat.. Pilgrims will continue to remain in Arafat until sunset when they will move to a place called Muzdalifah where they will pray Maghrib and Ishai. The pilgrims will spend the night there and pray Fajr (Morning Prayer) on Dhul-hajj 10, 1438 AH. Consequently, they will proceed to Mina to throw seven pebbles at the large pillar (Jamratul-aqabah), one after the other, saying Allahu Akbar while throwing each pebble. The pilgrims will then go and slaughter the sacrificial animal (Hadaya), the men will shave or cut their hair while the women will cut their hair equivalent to the length of a finger. The pilgrims are expected to later move to Makkah and move around the Kaaba (Tawaf) and walk between the mount Safa and Marwa (Saay). They will remove their white clothes (Ihram) signifying minor completion of Hajj. The pilgrims will then return to Mina before sunset. On the 11th, 12th and optionally 13 of Dhul-Hijja, they will go back to the Mina Jamarat and throw seven pebbles at each of the three jamrats, thereby completing full Hajj rites. The company has submitted a prospectus to Ghanas securities regulator and plans to sell 35 percent of the business, Adu Anane Antwi, director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said by phone on Wednesday. The Johannesburg-based mobile provider plans to raise $500 million from the sale and is approaching wealthy individuals in the West African country, according to people familiar with the matter. The company was granted a 15-year license for fourth-generation spectrum on the condition that 35 percent of the business would be owned by Ghanaian investors. A representative of MTN declined to comment. MTN said earlier this month it raised more than $1.3 billion from loan agreements as it works to improve its debt structure and support its credit rating. MTNs move to attract funding comes after the company reported its first-ever half-year loss in August, partly caused by an agreement to settle a record 330 billion naira ($1.1 billion) fine in Nigeria for missing a deadline to disconnect customers. MTN said is strongly refutes an accusation by Nigerian lawmakers that the wireless carrier illegally moved almost $14 billion out of the country over 10 years as the company tries to quell the latest controversy in its largest market. In a viral, poetically written Facebook post from the Questura di Roma (Police in Rome), the event is touchingly described. Eighty-four-year-old Jole and 94-year-old Michele told police that no one had visited them in months and they were desperately saddened by the state of the world. The four policemen, Andrea, Alessandro, Ernesto and Mirko, tasked themselves with comforting the couple, and did so by cooking them pasta with cheese. The Facebook post, complete with photos has been shared around the world, more than 24, 000 times with more than 66,000 reactions (likes, loves or crying, with the Facebook emojis). The photos show the police cleaning up, and watching the couple enjoy the meal. The police write the couple are lonely, the TV a form of company, but the news is distressing: Jole wonders why such wickedness. The couple, together for almost 70 years, tell the police no one comes to visit them. It is not always easy life. Especially when the city is empty and the neighbors are away on vacation. Sometimes the loneliness melts into tears. Sometimes it's like a summer storm. It comes suddenly and overtakes one, police wrote on the post. Jole and Michele they love each other. But when the loneliness is a burden on the heart, it may happen that they lose hope. Sometimes, the loneliness is so much they scream so loud in their despair" that someone will call the state police. There isn't a crime. Jole and Michele are not victims of scams as often happens to the elderly and no burglar came in the house. There's no one to save. This time, for the boys of flying there is a more difficult task to perform. There are two lonely souls to reassure. The police understand just a little bit of warmth will bring peace to the couple, so while waiting for an ambulance to arrive to check them, the ask for permission to access the pantry. Then the police improvise a dinner for Jole and Michele pasta with butter and cheese. Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said her attendance at the meeting underscored the two countries' close ties, after May this week said she was "outraged" by Pyongyang's provocative missile launch. "It is significant that Prime Minister May was invited to (Japan's) top decision-making meeting for security and diplomacy," Suga told reporters in Tokyo. The Council, which was created at the end of 2013, consists of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and key ministers. Britain wants new UN sanctions against North Korea that would target guest workers sent mostly to Russia and China, and whose wages are a source of revenue for Pyongyang. The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously condemned North Korea over the launch of the missile, which flew over Japanese territory before crashing into the Pacific. Early Thursday, May visited a US naval base on the outskirts of Tokyo with Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera before attending a business forum. "We have a long history of cooperation in these areas," May said. "And by the visit today it gives a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership that we have on defence." Japan's defence ministry on Thursday said it would request its largest-ever annual budget to beef up its missile defence systems. May arrived in Japan Wednesday with an eye to soothing Brexit fears and pushing ahead on early free-trade talks with the world's number three economy. She will hold a joint press conference with Abe later Thursday and meet Emperor Akihito on Friday before leaving. At an informal dinner meeting in Kyoto on Wednesday, Abe and May reconfirmed their cooperation in pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions while asking for China to play a greater role on the issue, according to a foreign ministry statement. The fresh hit comes five days after the monster storm slammed onshore as a Category Four hurricane, pummeling the US Gulf Coast with torrential rains that turned neighborhoods into lakes in America's fourth largest city, Houston. While Harvey is technically packing less of a wallop as a tropical storm, heavy rains are still drenching parts of southeastern Texas and neighboring southwestern Louisiana, complicating rescue missions and compounding the misery for millions of Americans. So far, only a handful of deaths have been formally confirmed, but when combined with suspected deaths, US media reported that the toll could be 30 so far -- and still rising -- as floodwaters recede in some areas and bodies are found. More than 30,000 people found refuge in shelters across the Lone Star State, from the giant Houston convention center to small churches, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Brock Long. "We are in this for the long haul," acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke told reporters in a Wednesday briefing on emergency operations. "We'll continue to support the people of Texas as long as necessary." In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner issued an nighttime curfew aimed at aiding search efforts and thwarting potential looting in the flood-ravaged city. At least a quarter of Harris County, which includes Houston and the immediate surrounding area, is now under water, affecting tens of thousands of homes, local officials have said. "After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!" President Donald Trump said after visiting the storm zone. Trump was planning a second trip to Texas on Saturday, and may go to Louisiana as well, the White House said. Drenching rain So far, parts of Texas have seen more than 50 inches (1.27 meters) of rain, while in Louisiana, the top total 18 inches so far -- was increasing. Harvey made its second landfall just west of the Louisiana town of Cameron, not far from the Texas border, packing maximum sustained winds nearing 45 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters are predicting another five to 10 inches of rain in the region, with the downpour finally expected to stop on Thursday. For now, southwestern Louisiana was taking the hardest hit, but New Orleans proper appeared to have dodged a bullet, with minimal rain. The arrival of the storm was nevertheless bittersweet for many in New Orleans, coming just one day after the 12-year anniversary of Katrina, which ravaged the vulnerable city famous for its jazz music and cuisine. "I began to pray for the people in Texas after having gone through that same experience myself as a Katrina survivor," said Crystal Harris, who works for the Second Harvest Food Bank, which was taking donations for storm victims. "It brings back memories," she said. "When you see images like... Houston, it reminds you of where you were 12 years ago." Rescue teams scrambling In Texas, emergency crews were still struggling to reach hundreds of stranded people in a massive round-the-clock rescue operation, as the National Weather Service predicted weather conditions there were to improve at last. But the damage wrought was staggering -- Enki Research put its "best estimate" at between $48 billion and $75 billion. Sheryl Kunai, a 57-year-old accountant from Rosenberg, southwest of Houston, left her home and was staying at a hotel in Winnie. She said her home was fine, but she was wary about heading back. "I still don't want to chance it. I'll just go ahead and give it one more day," she told AFP. "I'm more scared about driving in the water than anything else." At least one bridge had crumbled, one levee had breached and dams were at risk in Texas. A Houston police officer was one of the latest confirmed victims of the storm -- the body of Steve Perez, who went missing after reporting for duty in the early hours of Sunday, was recovered by divers on Tuesday. 'Overwhelming' The US Gulf Coast is a major hub of America's oil industry, accounting for 20 percent of the country's crude production. Harvey sparked the closure of several major refineries. Many rigs were also knocked out. On Wednesday, crude prices were down at the opening in New York. Residents living around a chemical plant in the county that includes Houston were evacuated as a precaution over fears that some of the chemicals at the facility -- which produces organic peroxides -- might react or cause an explosion. Highways were swamped and homes were rendered uninhabitable across Houston, a city of 2.3 million people, and its wider metropolitan area of six million. Federal officials estimate up to half a million people in Texas will ultimately require some form of assistance. "Recovery is a slow process," Long, the FEMA chief, said Tuesday as he welcomed Trump to Corpus Christi. The decision was issued by the Cairo Criminal Court. The 296 were charged with involvement in hostile acts against state institutions, the state television station website said, without specifying when the court issued the ruling. The decision could be appealed. Other Egyptian media said the designated figures included several senior leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood, who are living outside the country. Under Egyptian law, those put on terrorism lists are barred from leaving the country and their assets are liable to be frozen. Those living abroad are put on a watch list and could expect to be arrested on their return. Egypt has rounded up hundreds of the Muslim Brotherhoods leaders and followers since the armys 2013 overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi, a senior official in the Islamist group. In late 2013, the government listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, accusing it of involvement in a series of deadly attacks in the country. Here are some questions and answers on the volatile situation: What has happened? In the last two months, Pyongyang has carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) apparently bringing much of the US mainland into range. It has also threatened to send a salvo of missiles to "envelop" the US Pacific territory of Guam, which is home to significant US military facilities and which it sees as a beachhead for invasion. US President Donald Trump has issued apocalyptic warnings of raining "fire and fury" on the North, saying Washington's weapons were "locked and loaded", while his administration has repeatedly said military action was an "option on the table". Tuesday's firing of a missile over Japan -- which Pyongyang called a "curtain-raiser" for further launches -- was seen as an escalation by the regime because of its trajectory. The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion by the United States, and its possession of an ICBM enhances its deterrent, by enabling it to threaten US cities as well as South Korea and Japan, both of them US allies. What will the North do next? Leader Kim Jong-Un has called for Pyongyang to carry out more missile tests into the Pacific Ocean, and there is no reason not to take him at his word. Pyongyang has a long history of steadily pushing back boundaries. Last year it fired a missile that came down in Tokyo's exclusive economic zone -- waters extending 200 nautical miles from Japan's coast. At the time it provoked consternation and condemnation, but there were several repetitions in the following months. Analysts say the North's next escalation could be to fire multiple missiles over Japan simultaneously. It could also look to demonstrate its capabilities by sending one further than the 2,700 kilometre distance Tuesday's missile travelled -- Guam is around 3,400 kilometres from the North. But the flight path of Tuesday's missile appears to have been carefully chosen not to go anywhere near Guam and risk provoking a physical response -- KCNA went as far as declaring: "The drill had no impact on the security of the neighbouring countries." Is US military intervention possible? Experts caution that military intervention in North Korea remains unlikely -- at least for now. Still, the Pentagon has 28,500 troops in South Korea and detailed plans for a potential conflict with the North. It has spent decades rehearsing with South Korean counterparts, including in the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint exercises which were ending Thursday. Options range from limited surgical strikes on nuclear targets to a pre-emptive "decapitation" attack to take out Kim and other senior leaders. But North Korea also has decades of experience in tunnelling -- it dug passages under the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) after the Korean War -- and both its atomic arsenal and conventional artillery are believed to be well underground, protected from attack. A first strike would be highly unlikely to destroy all its nuclear weapons, and it has massed artillery within range of Seoul, home to 10 million people just 55 kilometres (30 miles) from the DMZ -- giving it the ability to inflict mass casualties even with just a conventional response. Despite Trump's rhetoric, many agree with his former chief adviser Steve Bannon, who told The American Prospect:"There's no military solution, forget it." What about China and more sanctions? In August the UN Security Council passed a seventh set of sanctions against the North over its weapons programmes, including bans on the export of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore as well as fish and seafood. The measures were approved unanimously -- including by Moscow and Beijing, the North's sole major ally, but their effectiveness hinges largely on China, which accounts for 90 percent of trade with North Korea but is suspected of failing to enforce past UN measures. The US has repeatedly tried to press China into taking a harder line on North Korea, but Beijing fears a collapse of Kim's regime. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed this week to increase pressure on the North. That could also include unilateral moves by Japan and the US -- Washington last week sanctioned 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of supporting the North's nuclear programme. Beijing and Moscow both back a mutual freeze in which the North stops missile tests and the US and South Korea halt joint military exercises. But that would leave the North with capabilities seen as unacceptable by Washington, which says the proposal would reward bad behaviour. How about talks? The message out of Washington is a little muddied. After the latest launch, Trump tweeted: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" But soon afterwards Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters: "We're never out of diplomatic solutions," and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has repeatedly said he hopes to persuade Pyongyang to come to the negotiating table. Pyongyang insists its weapons are not up for negotiation, and analysts say it is enhancing its military capabilities to strengthen its position in any future talks with the US -- it has shown no interest in discussions with Seoul. Through the 2000s, six-party talks among China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and the US appeared to draw Pyongyang, then under the rule of Kim's father Kim Jong-Il, towards a possible slowdown in its programme, but that process collapsed in 2009. The North has carried out five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and says it has mastered both miniaturisation and re-entry technology to fit a working warhead onto a missile. jpegMpeg4-1280x720Questions remain about those and other issues, but Professor Koh Yu-Hwan at Dongguk University in Seoul told AFP that this week's launch was "a clear message" the North would not talk until it had nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the US. But the quick condemnation did not arrive with any promise of a new UN sanctions resolution, amid reluctance from China and Russia to turn the screw too hard or too fast. US President Donald Trump's administration was frustrated by the outcome. Trump vented some of this anger at the slow pace of diplomacy on Wednesday in one of his daily Twitter blasts, declaring: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" Some will see in Trump's intemperate intervention a warning that he may again be considering a pre-emptive military strike to rain "fire and fury" -- in his own phrase -- on North Korea's missile bases and nuclear facilities. But US officials play down the idea, arguing that it is too late to hope to quash Kim Jong-Un's banned programs in one fell swoop, and that the risks of retaliation against US forces and their allies in the Pacific -- including South Korean civilians -- are too great. Even the more hawkish voices in Washington favor instead stepping up US sanctions against those foreign banks and companies -- particularly in China -- that help North Korea maintain links to the world economy despite six previous rounds of UN sanctions. Unruly neighbor Previous US administrations and some diplomats within Trump's current government have been cautious about such measures, concerned that they could provoke China into withdrawing what support it has been giving to efforts to pressure its unruly neighbor. But in recent weeks, Washington has begun to take some steps, albeit ones that so far have yet to touch the most powerful Chinese banks. Current and former officials now expect to see much tougher measures in the months ahead. These could come through new enforcement actions by US Treasury agents against foreign banks with ties to the huge US financial sector, from legal cases brought by district federal prosecutors or through new legislation from Congress. "There was some criticism that the Trump administration policy is the Obama administration policy -- it's clearly not," said Anthony Ruggiero a veteran sanctions and non-proliferation expert who has served in the State and Treasury departments. "The Trump administration has taken at least six separate actions, whether it's towards Chinese companies, individuals or banks," argued Ruggiero, who is now a senior fellow at the conservative think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Senior US diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, also defend the administration's record on secondary sanctions, insisting that US officials will take action where foreign firms with operations under US jurisdiction are found to be in breach of sanctions law. But they are more cautious than some campaigners, and insist that China is already losing patience with Kim and may yet help bring him to the table to discuss nuclear disarmament if Washington avoids provoking a negative response -- an idea Ruggiero dismisses. Banks are next "There's a lot of rhetoric back and forth, but the Chinese are not going to react in the harsh way that everyone's predicting," he said. "If you're a senior official in a Chinese bank, you have to be asking yourself serious questions this week, because they're next. It's very clear that they're going to be next, whether it's significant fines or some kind of legal action." At a public event last week, former assistant secretary of state for human rights Tom Malinowski said he agreed that Chinese banks could be sanctioned, but warned against forcing Beijing to cut all ties with its impoverished and unpredictable ally. He urged the US administration "not to try to kill all trade and commerce and communication between North Korea and China, because that is what permits ultimately, in the long run, the North Korean people to bring change to their country." Above all, however, diplomats are concerned that secondary sanctions on Chinese banks would break the one most concrete success of their work at the United Nations -- the unanimous front presented so far by the Security Council. Whether the sanctions themselves bite economically or damage the missile program is only one factor. Perhaps more important is the message sent Kim by the sight of his only real ally, Beijing, signing on to condemn his tests alongside the US ambassador. This was not inevitable, a UN diplomat told AFP. Given the North's extremely provocative choice to fire a missile over Japanese territory, even China felt obliged to protest. Investigators have not yet had the chance to interrogate Benlatreche as he was shot and seriously wounded during his arrest several hours after ploughing a black BMW into troops in Levallois-Perret on the morning of August 9. He was eventually arrested several hours later after a dramatic motorway chase near the port of Calais in northern France. He remains in hospital in the Paris area. Last week, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the suspect had scoped out the Levallois-Perret area three days before the attack and that the contents of his phone suggested an interest in the Islamic State (IS) group and a desire to go to Syria. Since early 2015, France has been hit by a series of deadly attacks by Islamic extremists which have killed more than 230 people and injured hundreds more. Of late, many of the attacks have been relatively low-tech, involving lone wolf suspects using vehicles as weapons or blades, and often targeting the security forces. They are among roughly 30 activists being prosecuted on charges that include terrorism as well as rebellion, and which are punishable by death. Biya's decision, which was announced on state radio, was seen as an effort to calm tensions in the crisis over Anglophone rights in the central African nation of 22 million. The men were arrested in January after the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium led by Nkongho and Aforteka'a called a strike to promote the rights of the English-speaking minority, which accounts for about 20 percent of the population. The crisis was triggered by a strike by lawyers demanding that the anglophone regions use Anglo-Saxon common law as their judicial benchmark. Teachers then went on strike. Biya's decree did not mention by name one of the movement's jailed leaders, the broadcaster Mancho Bibixy, leaving his fate uncertain for the moment. 'Not fundamentally resolve conflict' Protests in the two main English-speaking regions, in northwest and southwest Cameroon, have pressed for a federal state while some secessionists have even called for independence. However, the government took a hard line, including the cutting off of internet access for over three months in the two English-speaking regions. The president's decree also applies to "certain other people detained over the violence in recent months". "The process of freeing them is under way, but I strongly doubt that it will be tonight,"Claude Assira, a member of the leaders' legal team, said on Wednesday. Biya's decision came without much warning and as the situation appeared at a stalemate between unyielding authorities and strikes in the anglo areas that have wrought havoc. "This is a decision that was made to calm the situation, but from my point of view will not fundamentally resolve the conflict," said Mathias Eric Owona Nguini, a politics professor at Yaounde-II University. "Once the English-speaking leaders are released, will they start agreeing with the regime?" he asked. The English-speaking minority can be traced back to Cameroon's unique history. At the end of World War II the one-time German colony was handed to France and Britain to run. The dual communities are a legacy of the unification in 1961 of two colonial-era entities previously run by France and Britain. An exporter of oil that is rich in timber and agriculture, Cameroon is among the most prosperous economies on the continent. The officers had intervened when the attacker tried to enter the police headquarters in the region of Tiaret, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers, the official APS news agency reported. "The policemen on duty responded quickly, and one of them, in an act of bravery, threw himself on the assailant at the entrance of the headquarters and lost his life," the general directorate of national security said, quoted by the agency. The other police officer died of his wounds later, it added. The attack was the second time this year that a suicide bomber has targeted police in the North African country. In February a policeman foiled an attempted suicide attack on a police station in the eastern city of Constantine by opening fire on the approaching assailant and triggering the explosives belt he was wearing. A total of 19 people including Turkish security officials were identified from video footage of the May 16 clashes with Kurdish protesters outside the residence of Turkey's ambassador, following a meeting between Erdogan and President Donald Trump. Three more names were added to the case on Tuesday after US officials said videos showed Turkish guards beating and kicking protesters on the ground in the "Embassy Row" section of downtown Washington. The Turkish foreign ministry reacted angrily to the move in a statement late Wednesday. "We protest in the strongest terms that such an unjust and biased indictment, with names of people that have never been to the US, has been accepted," the ministry said, adding that it had conveyed its reaction to the US ambassador to Ankara. Turkey "reserved the right to take action via legal means" against the charges, which the ministry said were "unfounded". A total of 21 counts of assault and hate crimes based on the victims' ethnicity were levelled against the group by Washington DC district attorney Channing Phillips. All but two of the 19 "security personnel and supporters of Erdogan" remain at large. Two Turkish-American businessmen were arrested in June for their roles in the clash with protesters. Of the 17 others, two are Canadians, and the remaining are Turkish citizens. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been strained over the US arming Syrian Kurdish militia fighting against the Islamic State group in northern Syria. The clashes during Erdogan's visit exacerbated tensions between the NATO allies, with the Turkish leader accusing US police of having allowed "terrorists" to protest "50 metres from me". The Turkish foreign ministry repeated Ankara's criticisms of "serious negligence" by US security authorities who did not "secure our delegation's safety". It comes days after Afghan officials said the country's own air force killed up to 13 civilians in separate strikes targeting a Taliban base in the western province of Herat. "In the operation the US forces came under the attack by the Taliban and foreign forces returned fire and forced the Taliban insurgents to hide in the civilian houses nearby," Saleem Saleh, a spokesman for the Logar provincial governor, told AFP. "Then the foreign forces called in air support and bombed the civilian house which led to civilian casualties." Saleh said the victims were from the same family and most of the dead were women and children. "I heard two big bangs and when I went out of my home I saw the building which was bombarded was totally destroyed,"Nazar Khan Kochi told AFP. "We pulled out the dead bodies from the rubble and debris and buried them. "It was a very painful day for us," he said, describing the incident as a "massacre" and adding no Taliban were among the dead. Photos showed dead women and children wrapped in shrouds as relatives prepared to bury them. Logar provincial police spokesman Shahpoor Ahmadzai confirmed the number of casualties. The US is the only foreign force currently carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan. The US military said it has launched an official probe into the incident which comes three weeks after a US air strike allegedly killed 11 civilians in neighbouring Nangarhar province -- charges the Americans have vehemently denied. "United States Forces-Afghanistan takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and is working with our Afghan partners to determine the facts surrounding this incident (in Logar)," it said in a statement. Ordinary Afghans have borne the brunt of the grinding conflict which began in October 2001, with record high civilian deaths this year. CHICAGO (AP) A Chicago Public Schools special education teacher was charged Wednesday with attempting to provide ammunition, guns and gun accessories to known felons. Brent Turpin is charged with conspiracy to dispose of a firearm and ammunition to a felon, and with disposing of ammunition to a felon. Turpin, 53, taught at Kershaw Magnet School in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, an area that has one of the city's highest rates of gun violence. Turpin's effort to supply weapons to juveniles was foiled by a cooperating informant who helped investigators gather evidence, authorities said. The federal complaint alleges one juvenile, referred to as "Juvenile A," aided Turpin in the illegal trade. It said Turpin was Juvenile A's guardian. Turpin's attorney denied the charges. "We're going to answer the government's charges, and hopefully after a thorough process he'll be exonerated," said Lawrence Wolf Levin. In a statement, Chicago Public Schools said it found the charges against Turpin disturbing, especially because it said most of the district's employees embrace the opportunity to make a positive difference in the community. "The employee in question has been removed from his position while the investigation proceeds, and our staff is focused on supporting the school community during this difficult time," the school district said. Prosecutors said the informant is a friend of the juvenile that accompanied Turpin to an Indiana gun show in June. Authorities say Turpin worked to secure a firearm for the informant at the show. "If they ask you if you're from Indiana, say yes," Turpin instructed the informant, according to the complaint. "If they say where (are) you from, say like, say South Bend or something, or Indianapolis," Turpin said, according to the complaint. Turpin couldn't obtain a weapon because Turpin refused to present his driver's license, prosecutors said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava said during a detention hearing that Turpin is believed to have dealt firearms and ammunition "to felons, youths and gang members" on several occasions. He also said a 15-year-old boy had been shot and wounded in the basement of Turpin's home last Thanksgiving weekend. "We as a society trusted him to take care of our most vulnerable children," Srivastava said. "This is someone who is responsible for children, who has a child shot in his basement and what does he do? Not only does he not call the police, he drops the victim off at the hospital." Levin said he was unaware of any previous arrests or disciplinary action taken against Turpin, who has worked in Chicago's public school system for 10 years. He also said he didn't know if Turpin was married or had children. HAZEL CREST, Ill. (AP) An off-duty Chicago police officer has shot and killed a man he says was trying to rob him in suburban Hazel Crest. A preliminary investigation shows the officer had made an arrangement online to buy a computer. Hazel Crest police say the officer was in street clothes and driving his personal vehicle when he met two men Tuesday night at a prearranged location. One of the men pulled a handgun and they began to take items from the officer's pockets. The officer was able to shoot one of them before they could get his gun. Hazel Crest police found a gun in the hand of the man shot by the officer. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The other man was able to flee. In addition to supervising maintenance, FGC will periodically provide Ospitran, the infrastructure manager, with a report covering the most important aspects of the supervision, including possible improvements. Line 1 is 34.4 km long with 26 stations. The standard-gauge line is electrified at 1.5kV dc overhead, and is operated by a fleet of five six-car trains supplied by AnsaldoBreda in the 1990s and 19 five-car Alstom Metropolis trains delivered in 2011. A 200m contract was awarded to Alstom in July 2016 for an additional 20 six-car Metropolis trains together with 19 extra cars to extend the five-car sets to six-car trains. Delivery is scheduled for completion by 2019. FGC has worked for Lima Metro before, when it carried out customer service and conflict management consultancy and training for Lima Metro in 2012. The extension to the citys 39km tram network will become fully operational on September 1 although minor works such as landscaping still need to be completed. Trams will operate at 6-minute intervals during peak periods. Construction of the 1.5 track-km extension, which includes a 150m tunnel under the railway and a four-lane road, started in August 2016. The project has cost 11.5m, of which 85% was funded through the European Unions Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) as part of the Rail Baltica project. The City of Tallinn funded the remaining 15%. The new tram line, which now connects the airport, Rail Balticas future main passenger terminal in Ulemiste and the centre of Tallinn, is the first tangible result of Rail Baltica, the centurys infrastructure project, in Estonia, says Mr Kristjan Kaunissaare, coordinator of the Rail Baltica project in Estonias Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. RB Rail, which is responsible for the Rail Baltica project to build an 870km standard-gauge 240km/h mixed-traffic railway linking the Baltic state capitals with Poland and the broader European railway network, has invited bids to conduct a feasibility and technical framework study for a light rail connection from the Old City Harbour/Vanasadam in Tallinn to Ulemiste. The joint venture comprises Fluor, Meridiam Infrastructure Purple Line, and Star America Purple Line. Fluor is honoured to break ground today on the second transit public-private partnership project in the US, said Mr Hans Dekker, president of Fluors infrastructure business line. We bring robust megaproject experience and industry-leading abilities to successfully design, build, finance and manage complex projects. Fluor and our partners are currently operating the Denver Eagle PPP commuter rail project, the only other transit PPP in the country and we look forward to building on its success to deliver the Purple Line. The ground-breaking was capped off with the signing of a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) full funding grant of $US 900m for the $US 5.6bn 36-year PPP project. The Purple Line is being built for Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). Fluor is the managing partner of the design-build team, Purple Line Transit Constructors, comprising Fluor Enterprises, The Lane Construction Corporation and Traylor Bros. Following construction, Purple Line Transit Operators, a Fluor-led team comprising Fluor Enterprises, Alternate Concepts, and CAF USA, will operate and maintain the line for 30 years. CAF USA holds a 20% stake in the operations and maintenance consortium and will supply a fleet of 26 LRVs worth around $US 200m. The east-west line will have 21 stations and will have a mixture of dedicated rights-of-way and street running. It will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton serving suburbs inside the Capital Beltway north of Washington DC and will connect with four branches of the Washington Metro, three commuter rail lines, plus Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Passenger service is scheduled to begin in early 2022. For more detailed information on light rail projects around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro. Madison-based American Family Insurance had received about 1,000 claims from its customers in hurricane-hit Texas by Thursday, with many more expected. American Family does not offer its flagship insurance products in Texas, but last year the company began selling policies there through its sub-brand, American Family Insurance Connect. It also has Texas customers through its subsidiaries Homesite Group, which offers homeowners and renters insurance, and The General, which offers auto insurance. It added those companies in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Claims teams from our various companies are monitoring the situation very closely and are ready to respond once authorities grant access to the damaged areas and its safe, American Family spokesman Ken Muth said. The company declined to say how many customers it has in Texas or break down the claims so far between home and auto claims. American Family is fundraising with its brand ambassador, Houston Texans and former University of Wisconsin football star J.J. Watt, who has already raised at least $10 million for Hurricane Harvey relief. The company has pledged $99,000 to the J.J. Watt Foundation and will match up to $51,000 in donations from American Family employees and agents. Our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Houston and other communities stricken by the hurricane, Muth said. Watching Washington, August 2017 Railway Age: Free-market philosopher Ayn Rand, an emigre from the economic horrors of the command-and-control Soviet Union, was celebrated as the Reagan Administrations novelist laureate. Alan Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman to four U.S. Presidents (1987-2006), is a Rand disciple. House Speaker Paul Ryan requires his staff to read her books. President Trump named Rand his favorite author. Rands epic novel, Atlas Shruggedpublished in 1957 and which motivated support for partial railroad economic deregulation in 1980still sells some 200,000 copies annually and reflects the thinking of many in the Trump Administration. Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson speaks glowingly of it. Enter into this environment the Trump-chosen Republican nominees soon to control rail regulatory agencies. If not already fellow travelers with Rand, they can expect coercion to favor her free-market philosophy by which forces of supply and demand are largely immune from government intervention. Hark the plot of Atlas Shrugged, a railroad yarn in which the innovative makers of wealth go on strike against welfare-state takers in quest of an unfettered free-market economy protecting private-property rights. A similar result appears an ambition of former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, who advocates destruction of the administrative state. Federal agencies already are under White House directive to examine aggressively for repeal of existing regulations. Thus anticipate, from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), National Mediation Board (NMB), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and Surface Transportation Board (STB), measures disquieting to those inflexibly assuming government to be a first, last and always problem solver. For example, expect from the FRA, in concert with the PHMSA, a rejection of command-and-control safety regulation in favor of innovation-tapping performance-based safety standards (see p. 10). Likely headed for the regulatory dustbin are Emergency Orders and rulemakings either unsupported by data-driven sound science, lacking transparent peer review and/or failing benefit-cost analysis. All such norms were wickedly absent in recent discredited attempts to mandate minimum train-crew size and electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes. The NMB may soon reform a unique binding-arbitration system encouraging union leaders to file thousands of public-purse-siphoning grievances for which labor and management bear no cost responsibility. While the Railway Labor Act (RLA) prohibits work stoppages over such so-called minor disputes of contract interpretation and contested discipline, airlines and their unionized employees, similarly covered by the RLA, share the costs of binding arbitrationa monetary constraint on indiscriminate actions of both parties. Awaiting arrival of a Republican majority at the STB are two cases with significant free-market implications. One is whether to grant a shipper request for so-called competitive switchingrequiring that, at certain points and under certain conditions, a sole-serving railroad carry traffic to an interchange for transfer to a competing railroad. Also upcoming is whether to limit rail rate increases when railroads meet an STB established profitability test, also under review. Atlas Shrugged fans will recall a drumbeat question, Who is John Galt? that peppers its 1,168 pages. Galt is the books gifted antagonist who persuades societys creative leaders to withhold their inventiveness, vision and capital in protest against a government increasingly practicing a transfer of wealth from those with the greatest ability to those with the greatest need. Who is John Galt? will not soon decorate banners attached to entryways of railroad regulatory agencies. The book, after all, is a novel. Nor is there indication that Trump nominees are dystopians predisposed to burning down the village. Indeed, laws remain in place defining the limits of regulators. Still, this Administration is devoted to regulatory relief. The reality is that parties petitioning for government-imposed solutions recognize the question, Who is John Galt? as an expression of frustration with the government leviathan and its swelling limits on economic liberty. Petitioners wishing to prevail in this new order had best craft a convincing theory supported by credible data. The Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, celebrated the completion of the two-year "Phase 2 North" expansion of DP World's Fairview Container Terminal with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The expansion expands the terminals annual throughput capacity from 850,000 to 1.35 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), and, the port said in a release, enables it to accommodate the largest container vessels in the world. The container terminal was converted from a breakbulk facility and opened in 2007 at the western terminus of Canadian Nationals three-coast transcontinental network and provided weekly service from China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. (Cosco) CN said the partnership between the port, Fairview terminal and the governments of Canada and British Columbia created a congestion-free gateway to expand markets across Canada and the United States. Today, a number of major steamship companies call on the port and more than 15 trains a week depart from Rupert, which accounts for about 20% of CNs intermodal business. The city of Prince Rupert was built for Canadian trade and the container terminal unlocked so much of the ports untapped potential, said Luc Jobin, president and chief executive of CN. As one of the fastest growing ports in North America, the Port of Prince Rupert holds a premier place on the global trade map. The last decade of supply chain collaboration between the port, terminal operators, CN and other partners has become the model for how to establish and grow a trade corridor. Dubai-based DP Worlds expansion of the Fairview terminal has added 500,000 TEUs to the facility. CN, working with its supply chain partners, is committed to selling 80% of the new capacity within three years. The Surface Transportation Board on Aug. 30 rejected an application filed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. (GLBT) for authority to construct and operate a rail line in the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. STB cited that it found GLBTs application incomplete and has discontinued environmental review. A few highlights: GLBT has failed to provide the Board with accurate financial information upon which the Board can rely to make a determination on the transportation merits of the project The Board must authorize the construction and operation of a new line unless the Board finds that such activities are inconsistent with the public convenience and necessity. In making this determination, the Board considers the financial condition of the applicant and the financial feasibility of the project The Boards purpose in doing so is not to protect the applicant or possible investors, but rather, to protect (1) existing shippers from financial decisions that could jeopardize the carriers ability to carry out its common carrier obligation to serve them, and (2) other affected communities from needless disruptions and environmental impacts if the applicant were to start construction but not be able to complete the project and provide the proposed service. The financial information provided in GLBTs application, as supplemented, is fundamentally flawed, making it impossible for the Board to determine whether GLBT can meet the statutory criteria. Specifically, [GLBTs] balance sheet contains an unexplained line item for net income (amounting to negative $1.2 million) that appears to account for a substantial difference between its assets and its landstockholders equity Because GLBT provides no underlying information to explain the basis for this line item or its calculations, it is not possible for the Board to determine the cause of this discrepancy or evaluate the information provided. The financial information submitted by GLBT therefore cannot reasonably be relied upon by the Board to determine the financial condition of the applicant under the statutory criteria. The Board does not require that construction projects be fully funded at the outset of a construction application proceeding . [However], the financial fitness of the applicant is part of the application process GLBTs current assets are so clearly deficient for purposes of constructing a 261-mile rail line that the Board will not proceed with this application given the impacts on stakeholders and the demands upon Board resources. Download STBs full decision from the link below. Moscow court dismisses Aeroflot claim to recover $10 mln from SSJ100 producer MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed an Aeroflot claim seeking to recover 576 million rubles (about $10 million) from Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, the manufacturer of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100), RIA news agency reports from the courtroom on Thursday. The largest Russias airline has filed the lawsuit demanding to recover the amount of its losses suffered as a result of the manufacturers failure to comply with its obligations with regard to the delivery of 10 SSJ100 aircrafts under a contract made in June of 2011, where Sukhoi committed to assist Aeroflot to obtain governmental subsidies to compensate for lease payments for the planes. According to Aeroflot, under the contract Sukhoi obliged to compensate any loss to arise in case the subsidies were not obtained. In turn, a Sukhoi representative insisted that no subsidies were allocated for Aeroflot in the 2011 estimates; moreover, the airline was not eligible for compensation, since it did not make lease agreements in 2002 through 2010, what was a governmental requirement for provision of subsidies. Moreover, the representative noted, at that time Sukhoi lacked clients and therefore offered its planes under their cost price. Earlier, the Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed another Aeroflot claim to Sukhoi amounting to about 2.1 billion rubles ($36 million). The airline sought to recover the money under a 2005 contract for the delivery of 30 aircrafts. According to Sukhoi, that decision had not been appealed and became final. Russian Defense Ministry seeks to recover $90.5 mln from aircraft manufacturer MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has registered a claim filed by the Russian Defense Ministry, which seeks to recover 5.3 billion rubles (about $90.5 million) from Sukhoi Company (JSC), the court documents read on Thursday. Earlier today, the court dismissed an Aeroflot claim seeking to recover 576 million rubles (about $10 million) from Sukhoi, the manufacturer of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100). In 2015, the Moscow District Commercial Court cancelled proceeding over an appeal filed by Sukhoi against the recovery of 92.7 million rubles (about $1.5 million) in favor of Defense Ministry for failing to provide 10 planes on schedule. In 2014, the Moscow Commercial Court ruled the aircraft producer to compensate the ministry with 583.3 million rubles (nearly $10 million) but the court of appeals has later changed the ruling. Moscow court to examine lawfulness of Seventh Studio managers detention on September 6 MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI, Yelizaveta Ponomareva) The Moscow Basmanny District Court is to examine an appeal against the detention of former managers of the Seventh Studio stage company suspected of embezzling 200 million rubles (about $3.5 million at the current exchange rate) on September 6, Yunona Tsareva, the courts press secretary told RAPSI on Thursday. Former head of the company Yury Itin, ex- general producer Alexey Malobrodsky, and former chief accountant Nina Maslyayeva have been charged with large-scale fraud. Malobrodsky is charged with embezzling 2.3 million rubles (about $38,700) allocated for organization of the Platforma festival. The defendant denies his guilt, although he has agreed to cooperate with investigators in the case. The court detained the ex-producer on June 21, even though Malobrodskys lawyer asked to dismiss this motion, claiming that some of the facts mentioned in the indictment were not true. In particular, according to the indictment, A Midsummer Night's Dream play funded by state money was not performed; nevertheless, some specialized theater journals contain articles and reviews evidencing that the play was performed at Platforma 2015 festival. The evidence presented by the defense also included a letter from ex-minister of culture Ivan Demidov thanking one of the defendants in the case, artistic director Kirill Serebrennikov, for organizing the festival. On June 8, ex-chief accountant of the Seventh Studio company Nina Maslyayeva, who, investigators claim caused damage estimated to make about 1.3 million rubles (about $23,000), pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with investigation. Allegedly she testified against Malobrodsky as well. On May 23, police raided the Gogol Center, a popular contemporary theater in Moscow, as part of investigation into the case. Searches have also been conducted in premises of the theaters artistic director Serebrennikov. Later, he was questioned as a witness in the case. According to investigators, unidentified persons from management of the Seventh Studio, a stage company created by Serebrennikov on the basis of his acting and directing course in the Moscow Art Theatre School, embezzled 200 million rubles (about $3.5 million) allocated by the government for development and popularization of art in Russia from 2011 to 2014. Tatar Patriotic Front leader charged with extremism sentenced to 3 years in prison Context Prosecutor seeks 5 years in prison for patriotic front leader charged with extremism MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI, Nikolay Merkulov) The Vakhitovsky District Court in Kazan, Tatarstan, has sentenced the leader of the Tatarian Patriotic Front Golden Horde Danis Safargali to 3 years in prison for extremism, his attorney Irina Khrunova told RAPSI on Thursday. The court found Safargali guilty of inciting hatred and enmity on ethnic grounds and hooliganism. Earlier, the prosecutor in the case has asked the court to jail the defendant for 5 years. Safargali pleaded not guilty. His lawyers Khrunova and Irina Gontsova asked the court to acquit the defendant. According to investigators, from March 2015 to March 2016, the man published on his social network VKontakte page 15 posts containing his opinion about Russian people, Russian Orthodox Church, President, particularly, in the context of the situation in Crimea. Safargali was charged with inciting hatred and enmity on ethnic grounds. Russian FSB arrests 2 men suspected of planning terrorist attacks on first school day MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI, Yelizaveta Ponomareva) The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested two men from Central Asia suspected of plotting attacks in places to be crowded on September 1, the first school day in Russia, the FSB press service informs on Thursday. According to FSB, one of the suspects was planning an attack using an ax. He has published a video statement on the Internet pledging loyalty to the ISIS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia and internationally. FSB says contacts of ISIS recruiters and instructions related to the planned crimes were found when studying his telephone. Another suspect admitted to preparing to carry out a suicide bombing after a homemade explosive device was found at his place of residence. FSB now is to decide on opening a criminal case against the men on charges of planning terrorist attacks, participation in a terrorist organization, illegal trafficking in firearms, explosives, and explosive devices, the statement reads. Citing a lack of evidence, a Dane County judge dismissed homicide and reckless injuries charges Wednesday against a woman accused of being the getaway driver in a North Side revenge killing in July. But prosecutors said they will refile the charges this week against Nicole M. Marco, 35, of Sun Prairie. Prosecutors allege that on July 28, Marco drove the shooter and two other people to an apartment building on Karstens Drive where Ciara Philumalee, 24, was shot and killed outside, knowing that they intended to harm Philumalee. A man also was shot but survived. Marco then allegedly drove the three to Downtown Madison after the shooting. Marcos attorney, Dennis Burke, filed a motion to dismiss the charges. At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Reserve Judge Amy Smith said evidence included in the criminal complaint didnt support the allegations that Marco had knowledge of an impending shooting only that she drove the three to and from the scene of the shooting. Smith dismissed charges of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless injury. A felony charge of eluding a police officer was not dismissed. Assistant District Attorney Matt Moeser said he plans to refile the charges against Marco this week and include more evidence against her in a criminal complaint. Its just a procedural bump, he said after the hearing. Its not a concern to us at this point. Smith ordered Marco to remain in the Dane County Jail for 72 hours to give prosecutors the opportunity to refile charges. Marco was arrested Aug. 8 after a police pursuit. Donald Davis Jr., 29, Korey V. Johnson, 33, and Jennifer L. Lovick, 34, all of Madison, also are charged in connection with the shooting. A criminal complaint alleges Davis shot Philumalee because he believed she had helped arrange a robbery targeting him. The complaint says Lovick directed Davis to an apartment building where she had seen Philumalee. Davis had a hit out on Philumalee and offered $200 to anyone who could locate her, according to the complaint. The spectacle of South Korean president Moon Jae-in proclaiming that the United States cannot attack North Korea without his permission is an embarrassment for a country that believes it has taken its place among the nations. He undoubtedly realizes that no American president, especially the present one, would give another nation a veto over U.S. security. At most the Seoul government could forbid the Pentagon from using bases in the Republic of Korea, but Washington has multiple options for launching military operations. And Sen. Lindsey Graham spoke for many Americans when he declared that a war would be awful for the South Korean people, but at least it will be over there. The ROK, not the United States, would provide the battleground if full-scale war erupted as a result of American strikes. So why should the Trump administration worry? No wonder President Moon is almost frantic over the possibility of a unilateral U.S. attack. The late President Kim Young-sam claimed to have dissuaded President Bill Clinton from assaulting the Norths nuclear facilities. An attack plan was drafted with the assistance of former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, when he was serving as an assistant secretary under Defense Secretary William Perry, though Clinton aides denied it was put in motion. The flip side of Seouls dilemma is that it lacks the capability to launch its own preemptive strike. Whether that would be wise and under what circumstances is a matter for debate. But long ago the ROK turned its security over to Washington and now is stuck with the consequences. The same with Tokyo. At least there are historical factors at work in Japan. Still, an aversion to war is a good reason to prepare to deter attack and defeat aggression, rather than do nothing. Or hope that Washington will always be ready to come to ones defense. The United States has been complicit in limiting its allies armament. Indeed, the Peace Constitution imposed on Tokyo formally bans a military. Thus, Japan deploys self-defense forces, a quaint interpretative subterfuge that Americas Supreme Court justices would appreciate. Only after much torturous debate did the Japanese government decide to contribute to peace-keeping operations and offer aid to American ships under attack. Still, Tokyo has studiously avoided acquiring weapons that theoretically have offensive uses. The ROKs constitution does not bar the government from arming itself, but Seoul agreed to treaty limitations on the range of its missiles and granted Washington formal control over its military through the Combined Forces Command. Moreover, threats from the Nixon administration caused South Korean president Park Chung-hee to shut down the countrys nuclear-weapons program a half century ago. However, an increasing number of people in both Japan and South Korea have grown uncomfortable with the presumption that they should remain militarily vulnerable, if not quite helpless, and rely upon the United States. In recent years North Koreas weapons development and Chinas greater assertiveness have increased Japanese and South Korean support for doing more militarily. Voices have been raised in both nations even favoring development of a countervailing nuclear deterrent. Polls suggest that a majority of South Koreans support doing so. The Trump presidency has inadvertently spurred interest in greater military self-sufficiency. Donald Trumps long history of criticizing Americas alliances unnerved leaders and peoples in both the ROK and Japan. His shift to the opposite extreme, threatening fire and fury against the North, added additional uncertainty. My friends in Seoul were used to blustering threats to turn their city into a lake of fire emanating from Pyongyang. They were scared to hear similar language from a man in charge of a nuclear arsenal that actually could light up the peninsula. He was not someone in whom they desired to rely upon when it came to their nations survival. Now, both the ROK and Japan appear determined to abandon past military constraints imposed by the United States. With Washingtons support, Tokyo has revised its guidelines to expand allowable Syrian Democratic Forces operations. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe backs revising Article Nine of the constitution, which formally bans possession of a military, though the political complications of doing so are many. And newly installed Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera expressed his interest in studying if our current missile defense is sufficient. Before his appointment, Minister Onodera led a parliamentary committee from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which recommended developing the capability to launch preemptive attacks, most importantly against North Korea, if necessary. Prime Minister Abe said that Japan was not planning any specific deliberations about possessing such weapons, but that Tokyo needed to improve its defenses given that the security situation surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe. Although South Koreas president, who served as chief of staff to the last left-wing president, Roh Moo-hyun, originally supported the Sunshine Policy and criticized the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, he moved rightward during the campaign. Now THAAD appears likely to stay and proposals for restarting economic cooperation with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea look stillborn. Moreover, President Moon has requested U.S. permission to develop longer-range missiles. There also are increasing South Korean calls for Washington to return tactical nuclear weapons to the South and, more fundamentally, for Seoul to develop its own nukes. Although Moon has not climbed on the latter bandwagon, popular support appears to be growing for the idea of a South Korean deterrent. Although the Japanese public is not so ready to consider an option that some of its leaders, including Prime Minister Abe during his first incarnation in the job, have spoken of, an ROK program might change that. Observed Hideshi Takesada of Tokyos Takushoku University: If South Korea went nuclear, that debate would happen in Japan, too. This growing popular ferment for an improved defense among Americas allies is all to the good. One of the most pernicious impacts of the U.S.-dominated alliance system, buttressed by Washingtons constant efforts to reassure other nations that America can be counted on to defend them to the last American, has been to discourage allies from increasing their own capabilities. The result is a bizarre spectacle of populous and prosperous Asian and European states doing less than the United States to confront threats that mostly concern Asia and Europe. While limits on allied armament have been justified as discouraging a regional arms race, both China and North Korea already are racing. The alternatives are for America to do most of the heavy lifting on behalf of its allies or turn someif not mostof the hard work over to friendly democratic states with far more at stake in their own security. The latter makes the most sense and is what President Trump appears to have been advocating for over the years in his usual imperfect and poorly articulated way. Americas allies are anxious, which is a good thing. No longer are they satisfied relying on Washington. Rather, they are increasingly determined to do more to protect themselves from growing threats. The Trump administration should encourage such efforts. Indeed, Washingtons long-term objective should be to kick both Tokyo and Seoul off the U.S. defense dole. Americans no longer can afford to allow foreign nations to treat the Pentagon like a welfare agency. This is the final installment of a small RealClearWorld series featuring different points of view on the crisis in Venezuela. The views expressed here are the author's own. Click here to read Julian Adorney's indictment of Chavismo; here to read MEP Dita Charanzova exhort Europe to play a role; here for Jose Cardenas' 5 key factors to watch; and here to read Jason Marczak's piece on the importance of diplomacy. Its been a quite a turnaround for Venezuela. The one-time magnet for world vacationers is now to the top source of U.S. asylum requests. Left unaddressed, the crisis in Caracas will only worsen, leaving ordinary Venezuelans even worse off and increasingly affecting the United States. The regime of President Nicolas Maduro is the worlds youngest dictatorship, yet already one of the most corrupt. Criminals masquerading as politicians rule with an iron fist and have transformed Venezuela into an international drug trafficking hub. Dozens of current and former senior Venezuelan government officials have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for drug trafficking, rampant violence against anti-government demonstrators, corruption, and undermining of democracy. Those sanctioned include the president, the vice president, the former attorney general, the former secretary of homeland security, and the director of national intelligence. The same group that turned the oil-rich nation into a narco-dictatorship also set the economy on a crash course. Hugo Chavez used the surplus petrodollars from last decades commodities boom to amass a personal fortune, pay off party loyalists, and expand the welfare state. His socialist economic policies and multibillion-dollar corruption sank Venezuelas economic freedom rankings. In 1995, Venezuelas score was 59.8 on a scale of 100. Today it is a paltry 27, ranking worse than Cuba and better than only one other nation: North Korea. Venezuelas on-hand cash reserves have now dipped below $10 billion and are drying out. For perspective, consider that Bill Gates is worth eight times more than the amount of money the worlds most oil-rich nation was able to save. Oil production, the economic backbone of the country, has declined to unprecedented lows. Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, the state-owned petroleum and natural gas company, theoretically has the ability to produce over 3 million barrels of oil per day. Yet it is producing barely 1.9 million bpd and is receiving payment on less than 1 million of that. The rest of production goes mostly to pay off outstanding debts to China, Russia, and other investors, although some is also given to the regimes leftist allies in the region. The regimes mismanagement has produced one thing in vast quantities: human misery. Venezuelans are fleeing the country in droves into neighboring Colombia and Brazil. For the first time in history, Venezuelans have topped the list of U.S. asylum seekers, thanks to a 160 percent increase from 2015. Another doubling of applicants is expected this year. The government-created economic crisis has manifested itself in widespread food shortages. It is now commonplace to see Venezuelans faint as they wait in bread lines. Also heartrendingly familiar are images of children scrounging in garbage bags for their next meal. Venezuelas healthcare system, once the pride of Hugo Chavez, has now collapsed. Basic medical care is unattainable, and crucial medicines such as antibiotics are unavailable. Venezuelas national drugstore trade group placed medicine shortages at 85 percent in 2016, and matters are not improving. Not all Venezuelans are living in misery. Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump designated Vice President Tareck el Aissami as a drug trafficking kingpin and ordered U.S. authorities to seize his ill-gotten property in the United States. They uncovered illicit property and assets valued at $500 million dollars. Hugo Chavezs daughter, a darling of her fathers socialist movement, is believed to be the richest person in Venezuela, with a fortune valued at over $4 billion. Hundreds more in the Venezuelan government continue to bleed their country dry. Following U.S. Vice President Mike Pences recent visit to Latin America, the Trump administration announced a robust series of sanctions aimed at the profiteers of misery. The U.S. is banning trade in new bonds issued by the Venezuelan government and by PDVSA. There will also be limitations on dividend payments for the Venezuelan government. Rather than a full economic or oil embargo, this strategy brilliantly protects the Venezuelan people from further economic hardship while penalizing the corrupt government officials who are holders of the bonds. It should also serve the dual purpose of peeling away Maduros loyalists and enablers. The socialist paradise of Chavez and Maduro, in reality a criminal-kleptocrat syndicate, is circling the drain. Unfortunately, innocent Venezuelans are paying the heaviest price for their leaders failures. The impacts of this debacle are being and will be felt beyond the countrys borders. The Trump administrations sanctions are a well-calculated exercise in damage control. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Rather than renovate the 60-year-old state office building that sits on the site Madison Area Technical College has identified as the future home of an expanded South Side campus, officials plan to demolish the facility and build one in its place. Materials submitted to the colleges district board, which were made public on Wednesday, lay out MATCs plans for the building at Park Street and Badger Road that now houses the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds. The department is vacating the building next spring and moving into the new Hill Farms state government offices. The college wants to construct a 45,000-square-foot facility with classrooms, offices for student services and specialized lab spaces to teach students in nursing, early childhood instruction and a range of science programs, among others. It would open in fall 2019 at a cost of no more than $13 million, officials said. MATC hopes to expand the building early in the next decade to 75,000 square feet. One lingering question after MATC leaders announced the South Campus Initiative to cheers from local business and community leaders at a press conference Monday afternoon was whether the college would look to renovate the building or tear it down. College officials wrote to the district board that, Given the age and condition of the facility and the need for extensive rehabilitation or demolition, the $2.8 million that MATC will pay a developer for the site is essentially the value of the land. Building a facility will be more cost-effective and better meet MATCs needs, according to the college. The project has been a years-long effort for MATC President Jack E. Daniels, who says opening an expanded campus to serve South Side residents will help reduce racial disparities by making the colleges services more accessible in a diverse but historically underserved part of Madison. Donations from the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation, which contributed $10 million, and the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, which gave $1.3 million, will cover most of the cost of buying and building the facility. The college is also looking to raise $3 million in additional funding for the project, and borrow $1.5 million for new construction, according to the board materials. The district board will vote both on the chosen site for the South Side campus and the plan to demolish the building during a meeting at 5:30 p.m Sept. 6 at MATCs Truax campus. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. A new fee for owners of hybrid and electric vehicles under consideration by lawmakers would affect drivers in the Madison and Milwaukee areas most, according to federal data. Legislators are more than two months late in passing a new two-year spending plan as Republicans in both houses continue to disagree on how to fund road projects and to shore up a $1 billion shortfall in the states transportation budget. But the idea of imposing a new fee on owners of vehicles that use little or no gasoline has popped up recently as one possible revenue source for Republican lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker who are divided over whether to borrow more money for road projects. Their task got harder Thursday, when state Department of Transportation officials said the state received $66.4 million in federal funding the highest amount the state has ever received but less than the more than $300 million state officials sought. The revenue generated from a new $95 annual fee on alternative-fuel vehicles could be enough to make the estimated $8 million annual payments on $100 million in bonding for road projects, according to an Aug. 21 memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau to Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, who sits on the Legislatures budget-writing committee. Budget-writing committee co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said Thursday lawmakers are discussing a top fee ranging from $75 to $100 for electric vehicles and a smaller fee for hybrid vehicles. Darling said lawmakers havent made a final decision yet on either, however. Most of the money generated from the fees, if enacted, would come from drivers in Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha and Winnebago counties, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. The fee would be in addition to the $75 annual registration fee Wisconsin owners of light vehicles typically pay under the idea lawmakers are considering. Drivers of gas-fueled cars pay 32.9 cents of tax for every gallon of gas purchased. That money goes to maintain roads. 18 states imposed fee Most of the alternative fuel vehicles in Wisconsin are hybrid-electric, and most of those exist in Milwaukee County, where there are between 150 and 200 such vehicles per five square miles, according to the federal data. There are between 50 and 60 hybrid-electric vehicles in Dane County per five square miles. In Waukesha County, there are about 40-50 vehicle owners in the same size area and 10-20 vehicle owners in Winnebago County. Those four counties also have the highest number of electric vehicles, according to the data. If lawmakers pass a new state budget with the new fee, Wisconsin would become the 19th state to impose a hybrid-electric vehicle fee, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures as of July. The fees in other states range from $50 to $200. Some states require higher fees for electric vehicles than hybrid vehicles. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, who sits on the budget-writing committee, said the only reason the hybrid fee is being discussed is because the state needs to borrow another $100 million for road projects. Erpenbach said he wouldnt support the proposed fee because it doesnt fix the problem, and suggested the committee look at larger vehicles that really tear up the roads. Some lawmakers floated the idea of imposing a tax on heavy trucks in June, but it quickly died because too many Senate Republicans opposed it. Hintz, who represents a portion of Winnebago County, characterized the idea as Republicans answer to the best way to punt for the next two years on the states transportation shortfall and questioned whether other kinds of road-users who dont pay gas taxes will be assessed a fee, too, like the Amish, who typically travel via horse and buggy. Im interested in getting behind a comprehensive transportation solution and if we are just trying to nickel and dime selective people as a way to pass another irresponsible budget, Im not interested, Hintz said. Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, who also sits on the budget-writing committee and represents Waukesha County, said all vehicle owners who use our roads should be responsible for road maintenance costs. Hybrid and electric vehicles should not be exempt. But she added that she would need to see finalized budget language and continue to talk to constituents before knowing what she would ultimately support. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, who is the ranking Democrat on the budget-writing committee, said through a spokesman she would not support the fee if proposed. Senator Taylor is concerned that this fee is punitive and would be a disincentive toward clean energy vehicles, spokesman Jordan Krieger said. The familiar sight of wristbands on the hands of brewery-goers will soon be a thing of the past beginning on Sept. 1 thanks to a new piece of legislation that will change the way breweries operate. The Citizens Police Academy is a 12-week program open to all members of the Athens-Clarke County community to apply to, gathering every Tuesday night. It is mind-boggling to find our prime minister putting exports on the back-burner, says Jayanta Roy. Image: The 'Make In India' week was held with great fanfare in Mumbai in February 2016. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters There is euphoria in India about a growth rate of over 7 per cent. There are a lot of suggestions for creating jobs. But there is total silence on revival of the lost export momentum. Export growth is necessary for sustaining high growth and to create jobs in labour-intensive activities of the SMEs. This has been true for India and all high-growth economies of Southeast Asia and China. No country can grow fast without integrating with the global economy, and achieving external competitiveness. It is mind-boggling to find our prime minister putting exports on the back-burner after success in trade and investment in Gujarat. It is pathetic that there is no trade expert in ministry of commerce and industry, making the ministry totally a misfit in this fast evolving global trade landscape. India is now seen as a marginal trade player with rising protectionism. India should not take comfort from the perceived anti-globalisation drive in a few advanced countries. China and Southeast Asian countries are still continuing to benefit from globalisation. India needs to urgently focus on regaining the lost export momentum by focusing on trade and logistics facilitation reforms to reduce the massive trade transaction costs; improving the business environment to create a level playing field for SMEs; diversification of services to other professional services, especially in Big Data; innovative regional and bilateral trade agreements to increase market access, and to introduce institutional reforms in trade policy areas. I will focus only on SMEs and aspects of institutional reforms in this column. SMEs are likely to play a big role in promoting exports and creating jobs. But Indian SMEs suffer from not having a level playing field in the business environment. Indias dismal rankings in the World Banks Ease of Doing Business index affect SMEs more than the large enterprises. For SMEs we need to move away from giving incentives to creating an enabling business environment. SMEs create jobs -- 43 per cent of jobs created in emerging economies are from SMEs. These are at the heart of linking to global value chains (GVCs), as they have been for Southeast Asian countries and China. SMEs could attract all efficiency-seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) from multi-national corporations (MNCs), making India a hub for GVCs. But Indian SMEs lack the capacity as well as support services to adjust strategically to changing global landscape. From limited access to information and technology, to an enlarged current skills mismatch, Indian SMEs lag behind their worldwide compadres. Workforce of Indian SMEs lacks the necessary skills to operate in a high-tech GVC environment. Additionally, they have difficulty in penetrating global markets or be part of the GVC due to their inability to meet international product quality standards, demanded by an increasingly sophisticated international buyer. Enterprises need to periodically train their workers in new design and packaging that satisfy fast-changing consumer trends. Unlike the large enterprises, several SMEs operate outside the main cities and suffer from lack of business environment and access to trade services. SMEs are also poorly represented in apex chambers of commerce and industry in India, which are dominated by large enterprises, who receive preferential access to trade services. Moreover, public institutions provide most of the trade services available to SMEs, while private sector providers are generally absent. This lack of private sector participation in the supply of trade services means that the power of competition cannot be leveraged to induce market innovations to drive down cost of trade services to benefit exporting SMEs. Institutional reforms in trade policy are urgently required to make SMEs effective in promoting exports directly, or being a part of the GVCs. We need to scrap the ministry of MSME since micro enterprises dependent on doles have no role in export promotion, and SMEs require no incentives. Similarly, there is no role for ministry of heavy industries, which reflects the antiquated commanding heights of the economy" thinking of our socialist past. We should also do away with ministry of commerce, which champions protectionism and giving out doles to exporters through its annual EXIM policy. There is no case for giving sops to industry to encourage exports. Adherence to 21st century trade reforms is sufficient for this purpose. An enlarged Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion could replace the ministries of commerce and industry, heavy industry, and MSME, and promote development of industry, especially SMEs. It can also serve as a secretariat of Make in India, and help create an enabling business environment with much improved rankings in World Banks Ease of Doing Business and World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Index. India also urgently needs to create a trade policy institution that is able to operate efficiently in the new global environment. In order to separate the strategic decision-making process related to trade and industrial policy from day-to-day operational issues, a new, independent trade policy council, like the US Trade Representative, needs to be developed, which reports directly to the PM. Its role could include strategic decisions on multilateral, bilateral, and regional trade policy; policy related to FDI; policies related to trade facilitation; strategic policy-making on improving Indias competitiveness; policies to improve Indias logistical capacity and connectivity; and policies to make India ready for the structural changes in global production focusing on skilling and technological acquisition. This most damaging neglect of exports by the government must end soon. Jayanta Roy is a well-known trade economist who was economic advisor in the ministry of commerce during 1989-93. 'The possibility of another incursion, a probing manoeuvre in areas where Indian defences are vulnerable cannot be ruled out,' says BharatShakti.in Co-Founder Nitin A Gokhale, the distinguished commentator on national security issues. Going beyond the headlines on the resolution of the Dolam crisis, it is important to look at China and its current dispensation under President Xi Jingping from a long term perspective rather than gloat over what is undoubtedly a tactical win for India. Multiple miscalculations on China's part led to Beijing painting itself in a corner over one of the longest standoffs in a series of such crises since the 1980s. While Sumdorung Chu episode in the mid-1980s took nearly eight years to be finally resolved, recent face-offs -- 2013, 2014 and this one in 2017 -- have ended relatively faster for two reasons: One, India's comprehensive national power has improved (relatively speaking), making it difficult for China to bully it over a prolonged period even though unarguably even China's economic and military capabilities have increased manifold. Two, domestic constituencies and the rise of multi-polarity has made it tougher for bigger powers to bully smaller neighbours. But first the Chinese miscalculations. One, Beijing did not expect India to cross the line and come to Bhutan's aid when it became apparent that the PLA was trying to alter the status quo. Two, China took Bhutan for granted and thought Thimphu would succumb to its pressure tactics, but it did not. Three, Beijing unleashed a three-pronged psychological warfare by deploying its shrill media, analysts and official spokespersons in trying to unsettle India. But the Indian government adopted a mature, calm and assured approach refusing to take the Chinese bait, further infuriating Beijing. Despite Chinese provocations India kept the diplomatic engagement going stressing time and again that it was not spoiling for a fight but if push came to shove, it would not hesitate to meet force with force. It took a sustained and often bruising spells of negotiations between diplomats from both sides paving the way for a win-win solution. Both sides refused to issue a joint statement, keeping the terms of disengagement vague so that both could claim 'victory' back home. It also helped that China is to host the BRICS summit in Xiamen. Having invested vigourously in the BRICS platform, China could not afford India's absence at the summit even if the chances of that happening seemed remote. To be fair, New Delhi never ever indicated that it was even thinking on those lines. In the end, China could claim to its citizens that it forced Indian troops out of its territory. In return, it agreed to stop road construction, without saying it in so many words, a face saver India has been magnanimous in granting to China, having proved a point to China that New Delhi can longer be bullied. So what are the long term implications of the Dolam episode? To begin with, other smaller nations in China's neighbourhood would study the sequence of events and learn lessons from it in their future dealings with Beijing. Secondly, India will have to keep its guard up all along the contested border with China for the Chinese don't forget or forgive easily. The possibility of another incursion, a probing manoeuvre in areas where Indian defences are vulnerable cannot be ruled out in the medium term. Three, India may have had the military advantage in Dolam, but the prime minister and his national security adviser must make sure critical deficiencies are overcome expeditiously to allow the military to take on the future challenge from China. The potential threat from a resurgent China will only increase in coming years. Last week, while touring two of its biggest cities for eight days, talking to a wide range of Chinese citizens -- academics, officials, ordinary workers in malls, restaurants -- and generally observing people in public places, makes me think that the Chinese have become much assertive in their behaviour. Earlier, ordinary Chinese would be content to put their heads down and go about daily chores quietly. Not any longer. The new swagger is palpably evident. It is as if even ordinary Chinese think -- and not surprisingly -- that their time is now. Under President Xi, the Chinese nation-State is not shy of showing its eyes to the world. That policy has invariably rubbed off on the citizenry too is what I felt. A couple of other generic observations: Unprecedented economic progress has put more money into the middle class pocket than before; the relaxation in the one-child policy has meant more couples with two tiny tots are visible in the streets. However, I could also see more elderly people than before in public places. That Chinese society is aging fast is no secret, but the evidence of the fact was much starker this time, for me at least. Finally, my interactions this time convinced me that Chinese society is not as monolithic as occasional visitors to China like me are prone to conclude. There were varied and often contradictory voices on important issues like the One Belt One Road initiative and China's policy to conquer the world economically. Even as the country's financial capital witnessed a chaos due to incessant rains on Tuesday, the harried commuters, stranded due to non-functional railway lines and traffic snarls, blamed the administration for not taking adequate measures to ease the situation on time. Moiz Udaipurwala, 30, a media professional working in suburban Andheri, said trains came to a halt in the afternoon, as a result of which, there was no scope for him to reach his house at Reay Road. "Though our office allowed us to go home early, there was no scope for us to leave as the trains were not operating. To add to our woes, there was a massive traffic jam on the Western Express Highway. We did not want to risk staying outdoors while it was raining. Thus, we had no option but stay back at the office," he said. Sonali Thakker, a banking professional, alleged that the taxi drivers cashed in on the administration's failure and charged exorbitant fares. "Firstly, it was nearly impossible to find a taxi. Those available asked for almost double the regular fare to take me from Churchgate to suburban Ghatkopar," she said. Shekhar Sarkar, a lawyer, said he would have not had to spend the night in his office had the government taken adequate measures. "The government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation are well aware that the city faces a flood-like situation every year. Yet, no measures are taken to address the problem permanently. Had the government ensured that the railway tracks did not get submerged, thousands would have had nothing to worry about," he said. Asfiya Contractor, a lecturer of a city college, said she left home at 8 am like any other day and had not expected that it would rain cats and dogs. "I decided to leave my workplace as it began to pour. With no cabs and autorickshaws available and those out on the streets fleecing the commuters, I was stranded at Matunga for nearly two hours. "After a lot of hassle, I got an autorickshaw and then got stuck in a traffic jam for another three hours while travelling a small distance from Matunga to Bandra. Each year, the rains create havoc in Mumbai and yet the BMC and state government seem to be indifferent towards the civic issues," she said. The metropolis witnessed torrential rains throughout the day. The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy showers tomorrow as well. IMAGE: People walk through flooded street during heavy rain showers in Mumbai on Tuesday. Photograph: Shashank Parade/ PTI Photo A reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers appeared imminent with minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Umar Bharti resigning on Thursday night amid speculation that some more ministers may quit ahead of the exercise expected before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for China on Sunday. Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, who held a meeting with some senior ministers at his residence in the morning, met Modi later in the day. Sources said more ministers may resign as Modi prepares to induct new faces, including those from the Janata Dal-United and the All Indian Anna Dravidra Munnetra Kazagham, into his council of ministers. Rudy, who was holding the portfolio of skill development and entrepreneurship and represents Bihar's Saran Lok Sabha constituency, is expected to be given an organisational assignment in the BJP, sources close to him said. Sources said Kalraj Mishra, who had met Shah on Thursday, may also resign. He is well above 75 years, the age bar the party has informally set for ministers. Earlier in the day, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, creating one more vacancy in the Council of Ministers. The reshuffle may take place before Modi departs for China to attend the BRICS summit. There are several vacancies in the government while some senior ministers, including Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan, are holding additional portfolios. Sources say Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who holds additional charge of defence, is likely to shed one of the two ministries before he leaves next month for Japan, where he is to attend the annual defence ministers conference. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has already offered to quit after three train derailments earlier this month. Prabhu may be given the charge of the environment ministry. The president is scheduled to leave for Tirupati on Friday. As of now nothing has been communicated to Rashtrapati Bhavan, as per sources. -- With inputs from Agencies The Trump administration has notified the Congress that it has given $255 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified the Congress on Wednesday that it was putting $255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries have strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid. "Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released -- a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying. The $255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of $1.1 billion in aid authorised by the Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid since 2002. "If the State Department had failed to notify the Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. "We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson said. "The president has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said. After Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. Health insurance premiums for state workers wont go up next year, but roughly a fifth of the 250,000 workers and dependents will need to change health plans and 1 percent will have to switch doctors. The changes, approved Wednesday by the Group Insurance Board, come after the Legislatures budget committee in June rejected Gov. Scott Walkers plan to self-insure state workers. Under that plan, the state would have paid medical claims directly instead of paying premiums to HMOs. The budget committee told the state Department of Employee Trust Funds, or ETF, to find about $60 million in savings over two years the amount Walker said self-insurance would save through benefit changes, negotiations with HMOs and program reserves. The insurance board said Wednesday it would tap about $29 million in reserves next year, which will prevent an increase in premiums in 2018. The Department of Employee Trust Funds said it saved $48 million in negotiations with HMOs and $19 million in pharmacy costs. The general fund portion of those savings is about $36 million. Similar moves in 2019 are expected to yield about $25 million in general fund savings, for a total of $61 million in the 2017-2019 budget, said ETF spokesman Mark Lamkins. Premiums for medical and dental coverage, which for most people are now $88 a month for individuals and $219 for families, wont go up for state workers. Some local government workers covered by the state plan might see increases, however. Six of the 18 health plans that currently insure the government workers have dropped out next year, largely because of aggressive negotiation, said Lisa Ellinger, an ETF administrator. The plans are: Anthem Blue Preferred Northeast, Arise Health Plan, Health Tradition Health Plan, Humana, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin and WPS. About 53,000 people insured by those plans will have to switch to another plan during open enrollment Oct. 2-27, but only about 2,500 people will need to find new doctors, Ellinger said. Ten health plans will be in the program next year. One of them, Quartz, is a merger of three plans participating this year: Unity Health Insurance, affiliated with UW Health; Physicians Plus, affiliated with UnityPoint Health-Meriter; and Gundersen Health Plan of La Crosse. WEA Trust is taking over a statewide plan that had been run by WPS. Though the changes approved Wednesday achieve the $60 million in savings in a slightly different way than outlined by the Legislatures budget committee, they follow the general idea, Ellinger said. I feel confident that what we are proposing here today aligns with (the budget committees) provision, she said. The Legislature still hasnt approved the 2017-2019 budget, meaning Walker could veto parts of it, said Michael Farrell, chairman of the insurance board. But while the savings dont stem from moving to self-insurance as Walker wanted, vetoing the changes would be unwise, Farrell said. It wouldnt be in the governors best interest even to veto because we achieved the target, he said. Michael Heifetz, an insurance board member and the states Medicaid director, said tapping into reserves to keep costs down next year, instead of shifting to self-insurance, might cause problems in later years as health care costs continue to rise. We may have moved on from a difficult situation for the moment, Heifetz said. But, we have likely caused ourselves more difficult situations in the future. 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. Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used. President Donald Trumps pardon of Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, has drawn predictable responses. The left, which long ago exceeded its sell-by date when it comes to ideas that work, denounced the decision as racist (thats all they have) and a perversion of justice. Some moderates, like Sen. John McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake, both Arizona Republicans, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, joined the critics. Arpaio, who is 85, was convicted of disobeying a 2011 federal court order to halt traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. He faced up to six months in prison. The White House issued a list of reasons for the presidents decision, which included Arpaios age, his service to the country, including enlistment in the military at the start of the Korean War, and his work as a police officer and special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Arpaios defenders say he was trying to help the federal government identify people in the country illegally. His opponents say he profiled Hispanics only, and thus engaged in racism. Given that Mexicans, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, make up the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, it made sense to focus on this group. That the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico has been decreasing matters little, as the number of immigrants from Central America and Asia has increased. Even critics must acknowledge that any president has sole discretionary authority under the Constitution to pardon anyone for almost anything, except offenses against the United States and curtailing the impeachment process. It is instructive to review some of the hundreds of pardons delivered by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama when they were president. Many were granted to people whose resumes do not come close to the services rendered to the nation by Sheriff Arpaio. President Obama issued 70 pardons during his two terms as president. He pardoned minor drug offenders, bank embezzlers, military deserters, and, according to the Chicago Tribune, a young sailor court-martialed and demoted for taking four pounds of butter from his Navy base in 1947. Bill Clintons pardon list contained names of people who committed crimes a little more consequential, some even a little suspect. His most notorious pardon was granted to Marc Rich, a major donor to the Clinton campaign. The Rich pardon came during Clintons last hours in office and was condemned by leading Democrats, including former President Jimmy Carter. For those with short memories, Rich was indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion and making controversial oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. Rich, who fled to Switzerland when he was indicted, never returned to the U.S., and died there in 2013. Clinton later said he regretted the Rich pardon. Without a hint of irony, he said, It wasnt worth the damage to my reputation. Most of Clintons other pardons were far less controversial. They included convictions for bank fraud and odometer rollback. The presidents pardon of Arpaio is a far cry from those granted by Clinton and Obama. He was correct in citing Arpaios age and service to the country among his reasons for granting it. His conviction had political overtones and it is perfectly fitting that the pardon addressed his conviction partially on a political level. Arpaio reached the same conclusion when he tweeted: Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama Justice Department. Southeast Asian members of parliament expressed grave concerns Thursday over what they called a worsening human rights situation in Cambodia, where the government has launched a crackdown on NGOs and independent media outlets ahead of general elections next year. Since Aug. 22, Prime Minister Hun Sens government has expelled U.S.-funded NGO the National Democratic Institute (NDI), suspended some 20 radio stations that aired content by U.S. broadcasters Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, and threatened to shutter the English language Cambodia Daily newspaper. The NDI was accused by government-aligned Fresh News of helping the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) unseat the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) ahead of June commune elections and a general vote scheduled for July 2018, but was kicked out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for operating while its registration was pending, with the Ministry citing a need to strengthen national sovereignty. The independent Cambodian radio stations, which had broadcast content critical of the government, were suspended on various technicalities for violating their agreements with the Ministry of Information, while the Cambodia Dailywhich has also published reports attacking ruling party policieswas recently handed a U.S. $6.3 million tax bill and given until Sept. 4 to pay it or face closure. In a statement issued Thursday, Association of Southeast Asian Nations Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) chair and Malaysian legislator Charles Santiago called the crackdown a dramatic escalation of the governments moves against critical, independent voices, adding that it had raised questions over the fate of democracy in the country. For years now, Cambodia has been defined by a climate of fear, instilled by the ruling party as a tactic for remaining in power, he said. But what has occurred in recent weeks is a legal assault on civic space unlike anything weve seen since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1991, he added, referring to the agreement that ended the Cambodian-Vietnamese War and set Cambodia on the path to democratic rule. APHR restated concerns it had expressed over the governments Aug. 23 order to close the NDIs Cambodia office, saying the move highlighted the dangers posed by the countrys Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO). The LANGO was passed in 2015 with unanimous approval by CPP lawmakers, amid a boycott of parliament by the CNRP, and requires the 5,000 domestic and international NGOs that work in Cambodia to register with the government and report their activities and finances or risk fines, criminal prosecution and shutdowns. Ever since initial drafts were circulated, NGOs and others have raised serious concerns about the possibility that the LANGO would be used to arbitrarily shut down organizations the government deemed to be too critical, Santiago said. The fact that NDI was expelled because it allegedly violated LANGOs vague provisions regarding registration is proof that our concerns were legitimate, and the implications are stark for all foreign and local organizations operating in the country. Media attacks Meanwhile, APHR said, recent attacks on independent media outlets [indicate] a clear intent by the ruling party to curb freedom of expression ahead of national elections. APHR member and Philippine Congressman Tom Villarin warned that Cambodians are losing a lifeline to independent information that he said is integral to the successful functioning of a democratic society. He acknowledged that no organization is exempt from paying taxes, but argued that debts worth millions of U.S. dollars cannot be handed down arbitrarily to companies such as the Cambodia Daily without allowing a process to dispute them. Closing down The Cambodia Daily in this manner is nothing more than a transparent attempt at limiting the amount of information Cambodian people can access on controversial issues, Villarin added. APHR also expressed concern over reports, including in government-aligned news outlets, implicating opposition members and NGOs in supposed plots to overthrow the government, which it noted Cambodian authorities have failed to condemn. The group warned that the threat of political persecution against a number of individualsincluding parliamentarians, opposition members, and NGO staffersremains high ahead of next years vote. APHR called on ASEAN member states and the international community to work to uphold previous commitments to support the development of democracy and human rights in Cambodia, including those contained in the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. In 1991, countries from around the world, including the ASEAN region, showed commitment to Cambodias democratic development when they came together to sign the Paris Peace Accords, Villarin said. More than 25 years later, these same countries have a responsibility to step up and, at the very least, condemn what is happening in Cambodia and encourage respect for fundamental freedoms. Failing to act decisively to combat this serious crackdown will jeopardize all of the effort that went into securing that agreement. The statement marks the second time APHR has questioned the Cambodian governments commitment to democracy, after expressing concerns over its decision to boot the NDI last week. Earlier this week, the Permanent Mission of Cambodia to the United Nations in Geneva issued a statement defending the governments measures, which it said could not be read as a menace against any media outlet and Non-Governmental Organization, but solely for the strengthening of the rules of law. The actions have nothing to do with the upcoming National Assembly election, the statement added, expressing frustration over a briefing note last week from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that warned of an overall deterioration of the environment for human rights defenders and civil society in Cambodia in light of the crackdown. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Authorities in China have stepped up nationwide "stability maintenance" measures targeting anyone with a critical opinion of the ruling Chinese Communist Party as official media announced the date of the five-yearly party congress. President Xi Jinping looks set to reshuffle his leadership team and consolidate his personal grip on power at the 19th Party Congress beginning at the earlier-than-usual date of Oct. 18, suggesting the president may be keen to strike before his political plans can come unstuck. Xi, who has already succeeded in taking over key roles formerly reserved for his second-in-command and having himself designated a "core" party leader in the manner of late supreme leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, will lay out his ideas for further economic reform, military modernization and the fight against corruption in official ranks. But Xi has already shown himself to be far less willing to tolerate dissent and criticism than his recent predecessors, rolling out a massive ideological crackdown at the start of the year that includes detailed policing of foreign online content, social media activity and the country's news organizations. Hong Kong political affairs commentator Liu Ruishao said there is no other faction in the party at the moment with enough power to challenge President Xi. "There isn't another figure or faction among the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party leadership who can gather up enough support to oppose Xi Jinping," Liu said. "During the past five years, Xi Jinping has managed to turn himself into a 'core' leader of the Chinese Communist Party, and of the Central Military Commission," he said. "At the same time, he is head of a group of 11 leaders at the highest ranks of the party, and wields enormous economic power." Xi Jinping Thought Among the issues at stake at the 19th Party Congress is whether or not the term 'Xi Jinping Thought' will enter the party constitution, enshrining Xi's status as a party strongman. Chinese constitutional scholar Zhang Lifan said there are still plenty of variables, however. He said the clearest indication of how successful Xi's bid for power has been will be the lineup of the party leadership for the next five years, as well as any moves on the part of Wang Qishan, head of the party's graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. "Ultimately, we still need to see who is on the list of names," Zhang said. "It doesn't seem as if Xi Jinping Thought will be formally enshrined, but it will still be a matter for discussion." "A lot depends on whether Xi has managed to achieve deals with the other factions in the party," he said. Veteran Hong Kong-based political journalist Ching Cheong said there has been no announcement suggesting the president's contribution to Communist Party ideology will be honored in this way, however. "There has been no mention of [his] thought, which suggests that Xi is facing a great deal of resistance within party ranks," Ching said. But he said Xi may score a victory over the age of serving leaders, by striking down a rule that requires them to retire at 67. Close Xi ally and Politburo standing committee member Wang Qishan, who heads the party's disciplinary arm that is implementing Xi's anticorruption campaign, is 69 this year. "It is very likely that Wang Qishan will stay on in the Politburo standing committee," Ching said, citing leaked accounts of comments made by Xi at a July 26 meeting. "That's my prediction." Christopher K. Johnson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the 19th Party Congress could yield unexpected results, however. "I think the biggest unexpected development will be to expect the unexpected," Johnson said. "I think that Xi Jinping may do things that are even more radical than we've even considered, in terms of structure and in terms of design." "Old norms don't really apply to analyzing the current situation," he said. The party congress comes amid growing speculation that Xi will break with recent decades of party tradition, and seek a third term beyond the second that he is about to enter. "I think Xi thinks he is born to the throne," Scott Harold of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy told journalists in Washington on Thursday. "After you have purged your predecessors ... it is a risky situation to try to then hand off power and think you will be safe. "[And Xi] is much more comfortable with political power than either of his predecessors," Harold said. Cybersecurity law, petitioners Meanwhile, a new cybersecurity law has sparked concerns that the country's more than 730 million internet users will no longer be able to scale the "Great Firewall" of internet censorship with the same ease as before, while new ideological programs are targeting religious followers, rights activists and lawyers around the country. And China's army of "petitioners," ordinary people with complaints against the government, will also be subjected to tighter-than-ever restrictions on their movements ahead of the Party Congress. An Aug. 25 directive issued by a "stability maintenance" steering group under the party's Central Committee orders complaints departments at all levels of government and party to ensure that no petitioners are allowed to crowd around the outside of the government buildings in the run-up to the party congress. Now, petitioners seeking to file complaints at the State Council complaints department in Beijing are being forced to line up on the other side of the road, petitioners told RFA on Thursday. "At a time when the highest authorities in the country are facing considerable embarrassment [over the sheer number of complaints], they decide to fake an improvement," Hubei petitioner Wu Lijuan said. "They have sent out huge numbers of petition-takers to try to fool people." "If they really had any intention of giving some redress to ordinary people, then they wouldn't be forcing us to re-register our complaints that we already registered years ago," she said. Meanwhile, other petitioners are simply being held under house arrest or close surveillance by local authorities to prevent them traveling to complain to higher levels of government ahead of the party congress. "There are more than 20 law enforcement people outside my door with no official documents," octogenarian petitioner Chen Shufeng, who said she is contemplating harming herself with kitchen knives, told RFA. "They have been there [since] Aug. 25." "I'm not allowed to go out to buy milk or vegetables, or to go to the hospital to see the doctor," she said. "They won't let me out of the main gate." "I haven't eaten anything for the past couple of days," said Chen. Fellow petitioner Li Lirong said the police had confiscated her ID card and those of two friends who came to help Chen out. "We came here to help this old lady, who is in her eighties," Li said. "Three of us came here, and they have confiscated our ID cards, and now they are calling our local police to come and fetch us." Reported by Gao Feng and Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Si-yu for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A Uyghur student sits at a restaurant table in Cairo while police detain others behind him. Authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang are believed to be holding a number of ethnic minority Kazakhs for wearing "Islamic" clothing and praying, a practice forbidden by the ruling Chinese Communist Party on university campuses across the country. While sources estimated that "more than 20" ethnic Kazakhs have gone missing, believed detained, details were only available for some of them. Two of the detainees were named as Saltanati Murat, 21, a freshman student at the Traditional Chinese Medicine University in the northeastern province of Jilin, and Aliteng, 20, a first-year student at the Changchun Normal University, ethnic Kazakh sources said. "They are female university students from Jeminay [in Chinese, Jimunai county in Altay prefecture, near the Kazakhstan border]," one source told RFA on Thursday. "They were doing Muslim prayers while at university, and they were reported by their classmates to a teacher." "The teacher reported them to the police in Xinjiang, and the Xinjiang police went over there and detained them," the source said. "They didn't wear ordinary clothing, but rather loose clothing that is in keeping with Islam, like long skirts and headscarves," he said. "But they didn't wear anything that covered their faces." "They were detained more than three months ago, and there has been no news of them since," he said. Another May detainee was a man named as Alvay, 35, an ethnic Kazakh also from Jeminay county. When police took him away, they said it was for "frequent attendance at mosque and prayers," sources said. Repeated calls to the Jeminay county police department rang unanswered during office hours on Thursday. Crackdown in Egypt Ethnic minority Kazakh Muslims were among some 200 ethnic minority holders of Chinese passports targeted last month by Egypt's secret police in an operation activists said was requested by Beijing. The 200 students, many of them religious students at Cairos Al-Azhar Islamic University, were detained in a crackdown that began on July 4, rounded up in restaurants or at their homes, with others seized at airports as they tried to flee to safer countries, sources told RFAs Uyghur Service at the time. Seven ethnic minority Kazakhs who hold Chinese passports fled to Turkey after their political asylum applications were rejected by Kazakhstan, with two others now incommunicado after being repatriated to China from Egypt. An ethnic Kazakh Al-Azhar student named as Bahdadi was recently forced to return home in the crackdown, a Kazakh source outside China told RFA. "Bahdadi's parents were being threatened [by Chinese authorities]," the source said. "The authorities lied to him, saying that they would release his parents if he just went home so they could talk to him and get a clearer picture of the situation." "But when he went home he was detained, and his wife was detained too," the source said. Bahdadi's aunt was also detained because she traveled to Egypt to visit him and returned at the same time as him. No news has been heard from the detained family members since May, the source said. Fears are also growing for seven ethnic Kazakhs who fled to Turkey to evade arrest in Cairo after their applications for political asylum were turned down by Kazakhstan. "They illegally entered Turkey from Cairo," a Turkey-based Kazakh source said in a recent interview. "It seems as if the Turkish foreign minister is keen to improve relations with China, and it will be big trouble for them if they are repatriated to China." Ethnic Kazakhs detained Earlier this month, Xinjiang sentenced an ethnic Kazakh man to 12 years' imprisonment after detaining him amid an ongoing crackdown on ethnic minority groups who study or seek to emigrate overseas, sources told RFA. Former student Taghirsyz Dawutkhan was also detained in mid-May after repeatedly visiting friends and relatives in Kazakhstan, and has now been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment with no access to a lawyer. Chinese authorities have lately issued orders for ethnic Kazakh Chinese nationals to hand in their passports and Kazakh green cards in some parts of Xinjiang, although sources said some local governments have since returned the documents to their owners following recent news coverage. Police in Arshang (in Chinese, Wenquan) county of Xinjiang's Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture recently detained an unknown number of local people including farmers, herders, students and government officials, who had relatives living across the border in Kazakhstan, and were detained for the alleged offense of "discussion of how to emigrate to Kazakhstan on group chat." Among them was an official from Arshang's county town, Nurdalit Ebrey, who was detained on May 14 to an unknown location by police, with no documentation. Official figures show that there are around 1.5 million Kazakhs in China, mostly concentrated in and around the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. China has previously welcomed Kazakhs who wished to relocate from Kazakhstan, but now many Kazakhs with Chinese nationality are heading back in the other direction, with their numbers peaking at nearly 38,000 in 2006. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Two high-profile Vietnamese dissidents have been quietly transferred from a prison in northern Vietnams Ha Nam province to a prison in Thanh Hoa province farther from their homes, a report on a Hanoi-based dissident web site says. Le Thanh Tung and Tran Anh Kim were sentenced in December 2016 to 13 years and 12 years in prison respectively for activities aimed at overthrowing the peoples administration under Article 79 of Vietnams Penal Code. In May, Vietnams Court of Appeals upheld the sentences against the men. Authorities withheld news of the mens transfer from their families, who learned they had been moved only after attempting to visit them in prison, the Hanoi-based rights group Defend the Defenders said in an Aug. 30 posting. One month ago, Mrs. Thom, the wife of Kim, went to the prison to visit him and she was informed that the duo was transferred to Prison No. 5 in the central province of Thanh Hoa, the rights group said in its report. Two weeks later, Thom received a letter from her husband confirming his transfer, the group said, adding that Kims wife has still received no word from authorities or her husband on his transfer or current condition. She plans to go to the [Ministry of Public Securitys] agency responsible for prison management to ask about her husbands situation, the rights group said. Both were jailed before Kim, a former army colonel who served in the Vietnam War, has become one of Vietnams most persistent dissidents. He had earlier served a five-and-a-half-year term following his conviction on a similar charge from which he was released last year. He was awarded a Hellman/Hammett grant by the New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch in 2009 for his pro-democracy and human rights activities, including circulating petitions protesting injustice and corruption in the Vietnamese Communist Party. Tung, an ex-soldier and freelance journalist, had previously served a five-year term, from which he was released last year, for conducting propaganda against the state for his association with Bloc 8406a banned coalition of political groups advocating democratic reform in the one-party communist state. Following their release from prison, the two were again arrested and charged with working to establish an organization aimed at overthrowing the government. The group was only an online association of democracy advocates, most of whose members had never met, Kim and Tung said at their trial. The transfer of political prisoners without word to their families is a common practice in Vietnam, Defend the Defenders said in their Aug. 30 report. In addition, prisoners of conscience are often held in facilities which are far from their native localities so their families find difficulties in visiting them, the rights group said. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Richard Finney. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Depending on which Founding Father or long-ago Supreme Court justice you cite, the president of the United States has pardon power to provide mercy in case of an overly harsh criminal code; to provide justice to the wrongfully convicted; and to help the country heal after particularly brutal periods of unrest. Nowhere will you find it is supposed to be used to undermine the law and codify the mistreatment of a group of people based on their ethnicity. Because it is nearly unquestioned, maybe no other presidential power reveals and relies upon the character of the person in the White House as much. Thats why Donald Trumps pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio is so disturbing and damaging. Trump is far from the first president to issue a questionable pardon. Andrew Johnson pardoned every Confederate soldier. Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, who had been convicted on drug-related charges, and billionaire Mark Rich, who had been accused of tax evasion and fraud and had fled the country. George H.W. Bush pardoned a Pakistani drug dealer, as well as Caspar Weinberger, a central figure in the Iran-Contra affair. Jimmy Carter commuted Patty Hearsts prison sentence for a bank robbery conviction and Clinton fully pardoned her. (Clinton also pardoned NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick.) Barack Obama pardoned the still-unrepentant Oscar Lopez Rivera, who helped lead bombings in the 1970s that killed six in a fight for Puerto Rican independence. Trumps pardon of Arpaio stands out among them all because it is a direct rebuke to a federal judge who was preparing to sentence the ousted sheriff for ignoring federal orders to stop racially profiling Latinos in Arizona. He routinely had people arrested, without evidence, because he and his deputies suspected they might be undocumented, and housed them in detention centers that activists and even Arpaio compared to concentration camps. His pardon means he wont serve a single day in prison, unlike Chelsea Manning, who served seven years behind bars for leaking documents, and comes during an already racially sensitive period in our countrys history. Trump did not wait the usual five years to pardon Arpaio, nor did he tell his Justice Department to conduct the kind of background investigation that is routine before most pardons are issued. The Phoenix New Times detailed Arpaios disturbing history in a series of stories and tweets, including his unlawful arrests of reporters, his hiring of a private investigator to track a federal judge, his failure to investigate hundreds of child sexual abuse cases, and his stewardship of facilities that had an unusually high number of deaths. Most tellingly, the pardon comes after Trump reportedly asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions if the Arpaio case could be scuttled. Its the second high-profile criminal case in which Trump might have tried to obstruct. The pardon, along with the Trump administrations decision to scale back law enforcement oversight and Congress refusal to rein the president in, sends a clear message: that lawlessness, in service of well-connected men and to the detriment of already-vulnerable people, is quickly becoming the rule, not the exception. Virginia Beach-based J&J International Market is moving forward with plans to redevelop a former Super Kmart store on Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond into a 70,000-square-foot supermarket, the companys president said Wednesday. The project also calls for a 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot indoor childrens play park with a food court and other shops, he said. My plans are to open an international market. We are going to have all types of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, said company President Chris Lee. We are finalizing our (architectural) drawings right now and will be submitting for permits within the month, Lee said Wednesday. J&J International operates two supermarkets a 65,000-square-foot store in Woodbridge in Northern Virginia and a 40,000-square-foot store in Virginia Beach, Lee said. The stores carry Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Ghanaian and Hispanic foods. J&J Midlothian LLC purchased the former Kmart building and property more than 13 acres total at 6807 Midlothian Turnpike east of the former Cloverleaf Mall property in 2013 for $4.25 million, Richmond property records show. The Kmart there closed in 2012. J&J International is not affiliated with a company operating a New Grand Mart international grocery store at 7415 Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County that plans to open a second store in a former Food Lion building at 9035 W. Broad St. in Henrico County. Lee said the former 117,000-square-foot Kmart building, built in 1971, will be renovated. The supermarket will take up most of the space. We are going to split it. The 25,000 to 35,000 square feet on the right side is going to be part of the store, but we are going to have a kids indoor play park, he said. Its going to be pretty large. We are going to have food court also with four or five different kinds of foods. We will have a nice salon, a nail shop, a really nice bakery. If you have been to any Korean bakery up in Northern Virginia, they are really, really nice. Lee said the new supermarket will have a name different from their existing two stores and he hopes to have the new store open by the end of May 2018. Two brothers descended from a Confederate general are calling for Mayor Levar Stoney and Richmond City Council to remove from Monroe Park the statue depicting their great-great-great-grandfather. The statue honors Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham. It has stood in the park, located in the heart of Virginia Commonwealth University, since 1891. Clayton and Will Wickham, ages 25 and 21, respectively, are related to the general on their fathers side. They emailed the letter to the mayors office and all nine members of the council on Tuesday, Clayton said in an interview. First, we want to be sure you know that, as a plantation owner, Confederate general and industrialist, General Wickham unapologetically accrued power and wealth through the exploitation of enslaved people, the letter states. Second, we hope that our voices, though far less important than those of black Richmonders on this issue, will underscore a common feeling: The removal of these statues is long overdue. The brothers grew up on Monument Avenue, but left the city to attend college. They decided to write the letter after unrest at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville earlier this month. That a growing contingent of relatives of Confederate figures have spoken out on the matter in recent weeks factored into their decision, Clayton said. Because it seems rhetorically important to have descendants of Robert E. Lee speaking out, in a sense that it communicated such a broad support for removal, we felt like it might be relevant to express our support for removing the statue, Clayton said. Wickhams is one of two statues honoring Confederate officers in Monroe Park. The other is a stone cross dedicated to Gen. Fitzhugh Lee for his service in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. Lee, the nephew of Civil War General Robert E. Lee, was an officer for the Confederacy during the Civil War and later a Virginia governor. In 2014, the city leased Monroe Park to a nonprofit, the Monroe Park Conservancy. After a fundraising campaign, the conservancy last November closed the park to complete a $6 million renovation. It is scheduled to be completed in spring 2018. Both statues are included in plans for the renovated park, said Alice Massie, the nonprofits president. At the beginning of the year, Massie said the Wickham family had approached her and asked for the statue to be reinterpreted in some way when the park reopens. Before New Orleans and Baltimore and Charlottesville, they came forward and said, Lets think about the context of this statue, she said. The conservancy isnt opposed to removing either statue, Massie said, but is awaiting direction from Stoneys office and his Monument Avenue Commission, she added. Stoneys chief of staff, Lincoln Saunders, has served on the Conservancys board of directors since April. Were open-minded, Massie said. Were very willing to make changes. Stoney formed the 10-person commission in June to study how the city could add context to the Confederate monuments lining Monument Avenue. In the wake of Charlottesville, the mayor initially defended the approach. Days later, Stoney expanded the commissions charge to include a consideration of relocation and removal, joining politicians and institutions across the state and country who announced they would accelerate plans to remove Confederate statues. Citing safety concerns, Stoneys office announced last Friday that the commissions next public hearing, originally scheduled for Sept. 13, was postponed. To date, Stoney has not directed the commission to examine other vestiges of the Confederacy in the city. Jim Nolan, a spokesman for Stoney, stated in an email that the mayors office had not yet seen the Wickham letter. We look forward to reviewing it and soliciting input from the Monroe Park Conservancy, council and other interested parties, Nolan wrote in the email. In an interview Wednesday, Clayton Wickham said the intention of the letter was not to ascribe importance to the brothers opinions as the generals descendants, but to join the chorus of voices calling for removal of all Confederate statues in a constructive way. Our ancestry is something we have to grapple with and cant ignore as people, and it shapes who we are and theres the history of privilege and shame that accompanies our family history, Wickham said. But as far as the public discourse about these monuments, it really doesnt matter very much what the descendants of so-and-so say. Petersburg police arrested two men and recovered three guns and an assortment of drugs after observing shots being fired into the air among a group of people in the 600 block of Cottonwood Drive. Officers responded about 5:40 a.m. Thursday to a report of shots being fired on Cottonwood Drive, where witnesses said three males were in the road discharging firearms, Petersburg police Lt. Emanuel Chambliss said in a release. When officers arrived, they saw a crowd in the road and observed shots being fired into the air. Three males fled on foot as the officers approached, Chambliss said. Arrested were Deontae Balthrop, 27, of Chester; and Dominique Hill, 27, of Petersburg. Chambliss said police recovered three handguns one of which belonged to a third suspect who dropped the weapon as he fled. Officers also recovered cocaine, marijuana, a drug scale, Oxycontin and Xanax pills. A Bowling Green councilwoman has been charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident at a Music on the Green concert earlier this month. Town Council member Jean Davis was charged in Caroline County General District Court on Aug. 15 and released. The complainant, Tammy Gaines, alleged that Davis assaulted her during a public concert on the Bowling Green courthouse lawn Aug. 11. Gaines is married to Town Councilman Mark Gaines and owns Magnolia Mornings, the bed-and-breakfast inn on Broaddus Avenue in Bowling Green. Davis lawyer, former Caroline County Commonwealths Attorney Harvey Latney Jr., said he did not want to comment on the case. Gaines said she was standing with her daughter and granddaughter when Davis grabbed her and pulled her aside. Gaines said she had her hands in her pockets and Davis proceeded to pull them out of her pockets several times, holding onto her wrists and yelling at her. She said Davis appeared irate as she was approaching her. She said a member of the towns Planning Commission, Armando Flores, was standing nearby, saw Davis coming toward her and told her, I have your back. Gaines said she believes Davis, who is serving her second term, was upset over a wedding business Gaines has been trying to get started at Magnolia Mornings. Gaines is a marriage commissioner, authorized by the court to perform marriages in Virginia. In November, she and her husband asked for an amendment to the town code allowing her to host small events by special use permit at the bed-and-breakfast, which is in a residential zoning district. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment and then-Councilman Daniel Webb said passing it would be beneficial for the towns economic growth. Davis called for a vote on the matter, at which point there could be no further discussion. Her motion to deny the amendment passed 42, with Vice Mayor Glenn McDearmon abstaining. Gaines said she believes Daviss opposition stems from the fact that Gaines performs same-sex marriages. Ive had numerous people in town tell me thats the reason. I have had people tell me shes told them it will never pass, Gaines said. Shes on council and on the Planning Commission, so she has a lot of pull. Gaines said she has continued to officiate small wedding ceremonies at Magnolia Mornings. She said that if she had been asked to cease through the proper channels, she would have. The town council discussed the issue of Magnolia Mornings being in violation of its zoning, as well as other zone violations in Bowling Green, at a special meeting on June 15. Mayor Jason Satterwhite told Mark Gaines at the meeting that he wanted to see Magnolia Mornings comply with its current zoning and did not want town residents to think the business is receiving special treatment because its owner is married to a member of council. At the town councils July 7 meeting, numerous citizens spoke in favor of approving a special use permit for Magnolia Mornings. Tammy Gaines said she has performed about a dozen same-sex marriages since they became legal, though not all were conducted at Magnolia Mornings. She said she has a son who is gay and the issue is dear to my heart. I got to marry my daughter at the altar and since [same-sex marriage was legalized] I could get to marry my son, she said. Love is love, it sees no color or gender. A Charlottesville man accused of trying to rob a food truck in Crozet in May pleaded guilty in Albemarle County Circuit Court on Wednesday. Anthony Euell Stargell Jr., 31, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and use of the firearm in the commission of a felony. The charges stem from the attempted armed robbery of a food truck behind Pro Re Nata Brewery in Crozet on May 6. Police said a gun was used during the robbery, but no money was taken and no one was injured. Stargell along with 25-year-old Loren Tyler Reed Foster were arrested at a home in the 800 block of Elliott Avenue following a SWAT raid by the Charlottesville Police Department. Stargell is scheduled for a sentencing hearing Nov. 8. Foster is scheduled to be in court Nov. 1. The General Assembly would occupy a new 15-story building that would face Capitol Square with a 105-year-old facade in a proposed design unveiled by the state on Thursday. The Virginia General Assembly is proposing a building design that would place most public functions on the four lower floors, from committee meeting rooms to the cafeteria, while moving legislative and staff offices to the upper levels of the 426,000-square-foot General Assembly Building. Virginias Art and Architectural Review Board will review the proposed design on Friday morning, but legislative leaders expressed confidence that the states plan will serve the public while preserving the architectural integrity of Capitol Square. The classical design of the new (General Assembly Building), incorporating the 1912 facade, will blend the new facility into the historic fabric of the Capitol and Capitol Square, Sen. Ryan T. McDougle, R-Hanover, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, in a statement on Thursday. House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, who will leave the legislature in January after a 30-year in the House of Delegates and 15 years as speaker, said, Our goal is to have a new GAB that not only works well for the public and those who will work in it but also honors the architectural legacy of Capitol Square. The General Assembly already has moved its offices and operations into the Pocahontas Building between Bank and East Main streets on the south side of the Capitol. The legislature will remain there until after the 2021 General Assembly session. Legislative leaders, as well as the clerks of the House and Senate, used sledgehammers on the old General Assembly Building for the ceremonial ground-breaking of the legislatures new home on Aug. 21 at the height of the solar eclipse. The old building, riddled with asbestos and other hazards, will be demolished with the exception of the facade from the Life Insurance Company of Virginia building, the oldest of four structures that were stitched together in 1976 to house the General Assemblys offices and operations. The state design team of Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP and Glave & Holmes Architecture will present the schematic design of the new building to the review board on Friday morning at The Branch House in Richmond. If the board approves the proposal, the assembly and its design team then will begin the preliminary design phase. In late April, the architectural review board approved the states plan for demolishing the building while preserving the six-story facade, which extends 154 feet along the south side facing Capitol Square and 62 feet along North 10th Street on the east side next to Old City Hall. At the time, legislators estimated the cost of saving the facade, a top priority of historic preservation groups, at about $2 million, or less than 1 percent of the projects cost. The replacement of the General Assembly Building is part of a $300 million capital project that also includes extensive renovation of Old City Hall and construction of a parking deck on the corner of North Ninth and East Broad streets. The state has not attached a price tag to any piece of the package for competitive bidding reasons. The Capitol Square Preservation Council and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources have endorsed the states demolition plan, as has a coalition of preservation groups. However, the coalition, led by Historic Richmond, continues to seek changes to plans for the parking garage, which they would prefer to remain below street level and with offices and retail above. Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar, who is shepherding the project with House Clerk G. Paul Nardo, said the parking facility is planned to be above ground, with state offices at street level and a tunnel beneath Ninth Street to the new assembly building. After declaring his support for taking down Virginias Confederate statues, Gov. Terry McAuliffe seemed to soften his position Thursday by saying fixing Richmond schools should take precedence over removing statues on Monument Avenue. If Im the mayor of Richmond or Im on the City Council, Im facing a tough decision, McAuliffe said Thursday morning during a radio appearance on Richmonds WRVA. Do I spend, I dont know, five, 10 million dollars taking something down. When I got schools. I tell you, my first prioritys got to be schools. As the states top Democrat, McAuliffe had previously said the states Confederate monuments should be left alone. After the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, McAuliffe changed his stance, saying he now feels the statues have become too divisive and should be moved to museums or battlefields. In an interview with WRVAs Jimmy Barrett on Thursday, McAuliffe said Richmond has bigger concerns than statues. Richmond has to deal with the issue that a lot of folks, young millennials, are here. But when they have children they sort of move out to the neighboring jurisdictions for education, McAuliffe said. Weve got to keep people right here in this beautiful city. And thats their biggest challenge. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, a McAuliffe protege, created a commission this year to study possible changes to Monument Avenue, the stately boulevard built around towering statues of Confederate figures such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. Stoneys administration originally said the commission would not consider removing statues as an option. In the aftermath of the Charlottesville rally, the mayor said removal is now on the table. During McAuliffes radio appearance, a caller who identified herself as Valerie suggested building more statues, adding context to the Confederate memorials and renaming the street Progress Avenue. I would agree with Valerie, McAuliffe said. Lets go ahead and put some context to these things and move forward. This is going to be a debate thats going on for a long time. About 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, six Virginia State Troopers took a break at Sheetz just outside of Madison. Across U.S. 29, two more troopers were breaking for lunch at the Madison Tastee Freez. Somewhere in the vicinity, three VDOT vehiclestwo crash cushion trucks and a supervisor in a separate vehiclewere also getting a few minutes off. All 11 state employees were providing security for less than two dozen members of the March to Confront White Supremacy, who were making their way into Madison from Greene County. Marchers are expected to pass through Culpeper today. The march started Monday in Charlottesville and is scheduled to conclude on Sept. 6 in Washington. State protection is expected to continue the entire nine days that the protestors travel Virginia highways. Who is paying for this protection? State taxpayers. How much is this protection costing? Neither the state police nor VDOT will say. Those [troopers] assigned to this event are working within their normal shifts, so as to minimize any costs associated with overtime, State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller wrote in an email Wednesday in response to questions about the cost. Geller would also not release the number of troopers assigned to the march or what daily duties they would have been performing otherwise. For tactical and operational purposes, we do not release the number of personnel assigned to this event, Geller wrote. Each day two state police vehicles have preceded the marchers with two more behind the group. The VDOT trucks are also ahead and behind the marchers, with a supervisor somewhere close by in a separate vehicle. CHARLOTTESVILLE A Ku Klux Klan member charged with firing a gun during an Aug. 12 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville made a first appearance Thursday morning in Charlottesville General District Court. Since his arrest Saturday in Maryland, Richard Wilson Preston, 52, has awaited extradition to Charlottesville. On Thursday, he appeared in court by video and told a judge his family plans to hire an attorney for him. The judge did not set a bond for Preston but said his attorney could request a bond hearing for him in the future. Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina-Alice Antony told the judge she opposed bond. Preston is scheduled to be back in court on Oct. 12. CULPEPER A report of an armed person put an early halt to Wednesdays March to Confront White Supremacy before it reached its end location, according to event organizers. The decision to stop the march early was in the interest of protecting the marchers, all of whom are marching to demand the removal of white supremacists from the administration, and policies that uplift white supremacy, according to an event Facebook post Thursday morning. The post said the threat indicated the person with the gun was going to be waiting for them at a McDonalds along U.S. 29 in Madison County. March organizers and participants released the following statement: The decision to end the march early yesterday was one we made with the safety and well-being of all those marching with us in mind. We have a responsibility to those standing with us, but we also have a responsibility to continue on in the face of opposition. We will continue marching tomorrow and the next day, until we reach Washington, D.C., to deliver our demands at the Capitol. This threat is a clear example of why we need more people to stand with us in this fight against white supremacy and hatred. Were always more powerful united than divided. The march ending Sept. 6 at the White House headed to Culpeper on Thursday, and had passed the Brightwood area by about 10:30 a.m. Around the same time, actor Mark Ruffalo who plays Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Avengers movies joined the march, posting on Twitter, Marching into Trump Country to confront white supremacy. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Gary Hunt isnt sure when the guitar went missing from his girlfriends home in southwest Roanoke County. He said he believes it was sometime in August. They were in Belize for the first week of the month. And in between working and some house-sitting after they returned, they werent at home much. The instrument was stored there, in a case, stacked on top of three other cased guitars. Sometime around Aug. 19, Hunt noticed the stack looked short. The top guitar was gone. It was a matter of suddenly being aware it was gone, and then thinking about it, Hunt told me. Unlike the others in the stack, the missing guitar was unique and Im not using that term lightly. Its made mostly of ziricote, a dark and gorgeously grained hardwood from Central America. Hunt himself brought the unfinished boards back to the United States after successive summer trips to Belize with the small education charity he heads, Bookbag Santa. He got the wood from a guy who owns a bar at the end of a pier in Placencia, a Belizean fishing village. Second, the instrument was custom made. It was a project by 14 members of the Blue Ridge Luthiers, a group one of them described as a ragtag band of misfits and instrument-makers. The luthiers worked on it for more than 100 hours, part time. That consumed more than a year. They completed it in February 2016. The sound was gorgeous, said Larry Sakayama of Wirtz, one of the guys who worked on the instrument. The finished product was also stunning. The wood is hard to get, and its incredibly beautiful. Its like a landscape, Sakayama told me. If you were to buy one commercially it would be very expensive. It was a much fuller-sounding guitar than you would expect from that body size, said Chet Dickerson, who also worked on it. Its not something youd typically see in a production guitar. Hunt had planned to auction the guitar to raise money for Bookbag Santa, which annually moves tons of discarded, gently used school supplies from the Roanoke Valley to impoverished students in Belize. (I was part of that group trip in 2015). But Hunt hadnt yet figured out how to market the auction. Thats why the instrument was stacked in his girlfriends home. When he realized it was missing, Hunt didnt call Roanoke County police. Why? One reason: He didnt know exactly when the theft happened. Another: There were no signs of a break-in at his girlfriends house. He reasoned there was little evidence, or anything the cops could do. Yet another: Hunts a bit eccentric, and he marches to the beat of his own drummer. (Some time ago, I told you the story of his first pet, which was Hitlers dog.) Anyway, instead of calling the cops, Hunt made up a flyer for the pilfered guitar. Via both email and in person, he delivered it to four Roanoke music stores. He also took the flyer to 12 pawn shops he identified using the Yellow Pages. And he spread the word on social media. Hunt was hoping to get the pilfered instrument back that way and it worked. Tuesday morning shortly after 11, a young woman entered Kelleys Music. The store on Brambleton Avenue has been in business for 36 years. Guitar Player magazine has dubbed it one of Americas top independent guitar shops. The woman was trying to sell Hunts missing guitar. Manager Corey Hunley, whos also a local musician-songwriter, was behind the counter. The instrument is so distinctive, Hunley said, that he recognized it within 10 seconds of speaking to her. I see the guitar thats been posted all over Facebook as a stolen guitar, with [Hunts] name and number attached to it, Hunley told me. So I call the guy and say, Hey, your guitars in our store right now. Then Hunley stalled her. She hovered around the shop for a while, with the idea I might be interested in purchasing it, Hunley added. Around 11:50 a.m., she left with the instrument. The rest is history, as viewed through a glass-paned window of Kelleys Music, Hunley said. As the young woman walked to her car with the guitar, Hunt pulled his van into the parking lot and spied her. He dialed 911 for the Roanoke County police and asked them to come to the store. Then he approached the woman and began chatting. Police received Hunts call at 11:50 a.m., said Amy Whittaker, a Roanoke County spokeswoman. An officer arrived at the scene at 11:59. By then jig was up. The officer told Hunt he could take the guitar with him. Bonus: Hunt also recognized three rings on the young womans hands as belonging to his girlfriend. They hadnt realized those had also been stolen. Hunt told me he believes the young woman is associated with an acquaintance of Hunts girlfriends son. Hunt suspects the acquaintance stole the guitar. He might have had a key to the house, Hunt added. Whittaker said no one had yet been charged, but police are still investigating. Hunt drove out of the music store parking lot feeling greatly relieved. But, he said, the young woman who had had his guitar was experiencing different emotions. She was standing there, talking to the cops, with tears in her eyes, he said. CHRISTIANSBURG German grocery chain Lidl plans to stop construction on a store along North Franklin Street after running into unexpected underground rock at the site, according to town officials. A Lidl representative did not respond to questions Thursday about whether the company plans to finish the project. Andrew Warren, the towns planning director, and Todd Walters, the assistant director of engineering, said the company has indicated the stoppage is only temporary. They said developers have told the town it plans to stabilize the site so it can sit idle while the company reworks plans, possibly moving forward sometime in the future with a smaller building. Warren added that builders expected to find some rock beneath the soil, but there was more than anticipated under one corner of the proposed building. As for when construction may resume, Warren and Walters both said theyre not certain about Lidls timeline. They added that they arent aware of any other issues the rock has caused for adjacent projects, including Aldi, another German grocery store building along North Franklin, or Hobby Lobby, a craft store going into the old Kmart property. The sites issues could jeopardize the project almost exactly one year after the companys plans for the region came to light. The Christiansburg store was announced as Lidl bought land for three additional locations across the Roanoke Valley. It was all part of a broader push into the U.S. for a chain that has more than 10,000 locations in 27 countries, mostly in Europe. The company purchased the Christiansburg land at 2175 North Franklin Street in December for $1.8 million. The land previously belonged to RWW36 LLC, a business entity held by prominent developer Roger Woody. Woody, who still owns several surrounding sites, did not respond to request for comment Thursday. Lidls stores specialize in discount products, reminiscent of Aldi, another German grocer that opened a Roanoke location in 2015. After Lidls plans for Christiansburg came to light last year, Aldi filed plans for a store of its own directly next door. Crews have been excavating for months, carving a flat stretch of land out of a hill along Christiansburgs dense retail corridor. Heavy equipment at the site sat unused on Thursday, as clouds hung over the project. A handful of workers were on site, but it was unclear if they were part of the Lidl construction team or Aldi next door. Warren and Walters said Lidl developers are planning to finish roadway and utility work during the stoppage, something they see as another indication the pause will only be temporary. The Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement officials three days before the Unite the Right rally that it could be one of the most violent events so far between white supremacists and anarchists. The report, obtained by POLITICO but not posted online, was a law-enforcement sensitive assessment and completed by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis coordination with local, state and federal authorities at the Virginia Fusion Center on Aug. 9. Anarchist extremists and white supremacist extremists online are calling on supporters to be prepared for or to instigate violence at the 12 August rally, according to the report. One probable white supremacist, POLITICO said, had posted an online call to arms, saying antifa must be destroyed, referring to anti-fascist groups. On Aug. 7, Charlottesville officials announced that they would grant the Unite the Right rally permit only if the event was relocated from Emancipation Park to McIntire Park due to the projected size of the rally. Organizer Jason Kessler, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and The Rutherford Institute, successfully petitioned a federal court to keep the event at Emancipation Park. A motion for an injunction was granted on Aug. 11; a judge said he did so because testimony indicated that Kessler could successfully prove that the city revoked his original permit based on his ideas. City officials did not respond when asked if the city attorneys office used the report in the case. Any documents created by the Fusion Center are confidential and, legally, we can neither confirm the existence of such a record or if one was ever received, city spokeswoman Miriam Dickler said in an email. However, as we have repeatedly stated, the city of Charlottesville and our partners in the Virginia State Police were well aware of the potential for violence on August 12, 2017, and prepared accordingly. DHS spokesman David Lapan said in an email that the report is for official use only, so the department is not releasing it. According to POLITICO, the report claims that white supremacists and anti-fascists had clashed twice before in Charlottesville at the gatherings on May 13 and the Ku Klux Klan rally on July 8 and at each event, anarchist extremists attacked protesters who had been issued permits, leading to fights, injuries, arrests and at least two felony charges of assault and battery. However, clashes on May 13 involving white nationalists such as Richard Spencer were limited to an event earlier in the day in what is now Justice Park that did not result in arrests or injuries. The rally itself at the foot of the Robert E. Lee statue was not permitted and was not widely announced. On July 8, 22 people were arrested for obstructing free passage, obstructing justice or wearing a mask in public, while one person was arrested for assaulting a law-enforcement officer. Most of the conflict came after the KKK was escorted from Justice Park and protesters followed them and law enforcement before an unlawful assembly was declared. The crowd was dispersed with tear gas. Both white supremacists and anti-fascists had spent weeks planning attacks at the two earlier rallies, POLITICO reported, and at least four other events organized by white supremacist groups dating back more than a year. Those planned attacks, the report said, are the principal drivers of violence at recent white supremacist rallies. POLITICO said the report referenced that, before a rally in June 2016 in Sacramento, California, anarchist extremists began planning a counter-event, stating, No Free Speech for Fascists! Their rally must be stopped by any means necessary. White supremacists who had become aware of those efforts then vowed to defend ourselves viciously. Anarchist extremists followed through on these threats by attacking the white supremacists, the report said. The report warned of numerous factors increasing the potential for violence, including evidence that a wide array of groups on both sides were calling on all followers to come to Charlottesville, and to be prepared for or to instigate attacks on each other. Our judgment is based on the planned attendance of numerous prominent white supremacists and on the growing importance of the location for white supremacist extremists and anarchist extremists since two white supremacist rallies were held there this year, the assessment concluded. In a Wednesday interview with the radio station WTOP, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said that Virginia officials took every action they could at the state level, but he said the event was under local control because of state laws. He said that they sent hundreds of state police to Charlottesville for the rally. When we had a majority of the folks there, I think we ought to have a majority in the say, but state law but I do think that we need to look at that, he said. McAuliffe said he offered to be in Charlottesville, but the city declined. I mean, the last thing you want is a politician romping around the command center, he said. McAuliffe said he had called Mayor Mike Signer two weeks before the rally, saying the proposed noon to 5 p.m. rally was too long, that the rally should be relocated because its in a volatile situation, and that no sticks or flagpoles should be allowed because they could be used as weapons. I made a whole bunch of recommendations down there because I knew, from the FBI, DHS to my state police to [Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security] Brian Moran to me in our meetings, that this was a volatile situation, so we took every action we could at the state level, McAuliffe said. . To do so, first type the original number into the text box. Then click on the "Scientific Notation" option located at the top of the floating window. Finally, click on the "Standard" button found beneath the text box to display your result. This program is useful for scientists and engineers working with decimal-based numbers. It provides easy access to those who need to convert those numbers into more compact forms without having to do heavy math calculations first. Scientific notation is a way to express very large or very small numbers. It is used in physics, chemistry and other fields where large numbers are common. Those numbers are written as a power of 10 followed by a number with an exponent. For example, 1,000,000 (one million) is written as 1 103. The exponent shows how many zeros are after the first digit. For example, 1,000,001 is written as 1 102. Scientific notation is a useful tool for making calculations easier. You can use it to write down very big or very small numbers in one step instead of writing out both the large and small numbers separately. You can also use it to express large or small numbers in terms of other units like centimeters or millimeters. Scientific notation solver is an online tool that can be used to convert any number into scientific notation. Simply enter any number to the left of the decimal point and it will automatically convert it into a scientific notation equivalent. This web tool can be very helpful when you need to convert a large number into scientific notation. However, please note that this online tool can only convert numbers that are in scientific format. For example, it cannot convert a non-scientific number like "1,085" into a scientific notation equivalent. It is also important to keep in mind that this web tool only works when converting numbers from one particular format to another. For example, if you want to change a non-scientific number like "1,085" into standard format, then you will have to use another online tool like NumberFormatting.com. Waste, fraud, mismanagement, and corruption is the theme of the time in Chicago. This week former Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Byrd Bennett heads off to prison for an elaborate kick back scheme involving over $20 million dollars. She was handpicked to lead the struggling school system by Mayor Rahm Emanuel back in 2012. It was an elaborate scheme to hire outside contractors to educate high school principals to become superintendents with a company called SUPES, located in Wilmette, Illinois. The no-bid contract had Bennett receiving a big kickback of a couple million dollars. She had worked at SUPES at one point. Having been found guilty, Bennett, now 68 years old, will serve four years at a federal prison in West Virginia. I have followed and covered this story over the past couple years. While this scam was stopped, the mainstream media and elected officials treated this as a random occurrence rather then business as usual in Chicago. The $20 million Bennett scammed seems to have disappeared. Will there be an additional civil action to put liens on her assets and recover for taxpayers? Many insiders and teachers union activists are using this crime as an excuse to promote their agenda to elect Chicago's Public School Board. Illinois already has 43,000 elected officials, so adding a dozen more politicians will probably just shift or compound any hope of improving the schools. Many feel the teachers would be able to elect union-friendly board members. The Chicago Tribune has reported a huge drop of enrollment of 14,000 less students over the past couple years. This confirms a trend that people are leaving Chicago and leaving Illinois. Many feel people are leaving because of poor schools, high crime, lack of jobs, and massive property and sales taxes. You would think the Chicago City Council would be working night and day on improving the schools. You would also think property taxes would be going down with so many less students. You are wrong. This week, the city council is debating regulations on "self driving cars." I'm not kidding. That's their focus, mixed up priorities. Mark Weyermuller is a small business owner, real estate professional, and conservative activist in Chicago. He is a citizen journalist and regular contributor to Illinois Review. Mark can be heard weekly on the radio in a "man on the street segment" at 2:31pm as a regular guest on the Stephanie Trussell Show heard Saturday afternoons 1-3pm on the 50,000 watt WLS-890-AM. ROTHERHAM United have completed a season long loan deal for Brighton midfielder Richie Towell. The Millers beat the transfer deadline to land the 26-year-old Irish attacking midfielder on a loan deal until the end of the current campaign. Towell, who played in a 2-0 Brighton win against Rotherham in March 2017, lists Hibernian and Celtic among his former clubs and joins Manny Onariase in signing for the Millers on transfer deadline day. He is manager Paul Warne's 11th summer signing. Defender Dominic Ball departed on a season long loan to scottish cub Aberdeen on deadline day, while fellow defender Aimen Belaid had his contract terminated by mutual consent. A WOMAN had her cheekbone cracked in one of a number of violent robberies over the weekend. The 43-year-old was walking along Cliffefield Road, Swinton, at around 12.10am on Sunday, when she was attacked from behind and robbed of cash and cigarettes by a gang. She was taken to hospital following the attack, which the Advertiser understands is one of up to four similar incidents in Swinton being investigated by detectives. Others are understood to have happened around the Cliffefield Road, Manor Road and Lime Grove area. Anyone with any information about any of the incidents should call police on 101, quoting incident number 935 of August 28. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111. De Beers said it is planning to invest more than $140 million in diamond marketing this year, making it the largest spend since 2008. The group said in that the increased investment would be focused on generating further consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the leading markets globally, with the greatest spend targeted in the US, China and India. Total consumer expenditure on diamond jewellery for the last five years collectively has been the highest on record and the outlook is positive, said De Beers executive vice president of marketing and CEO of Forevermark, Stephen Lussier. However, we cannot take future growth for granted. Increasing our spend from a strong position will help support continued demand in both mature and developing markets, particularly among millennials, who are already the largest group of diamond consumers despite this generation not having yet reached its maximum earning potential. De Beers said it would up its spend on partnership marketing, including with the Diamond Producers Association and Indias Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, although the majority of the investment would support its proprietary brands, Forevermark and De Beers Diamond Jewellers. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished ALROSA posts H1 2017 IFRS financial results 31 august 2017 News The Companys revenue in H1 2017 amounted to RUB 155.6 bn, EBITDA to RUB 72.8 bn, net profit to RUB 48.9 bn, and net cash flow to RUB 50.3 bn. Weaker financial performance in H1 2017 vs H1 2016 was caused by the market and macroeconomic factors such as 18% ruble appreciation against the US dollar and a 15% drop in the average price of the diamonds sold as a result of changes in the diamond mix. By the end of 2016, the Company had accumulated inventories of small-size rough diamonds that had not been purchased because of the monetary reform in India. These inventories were cleared in H1 2017 thanks to improved demand. In Q2 2017, the volumes and sales mix stabilized with the average price of diamonds sold growing by 20% q-o-q. As a result of the cost management program, the Company's production costs in H1 2017 increased by less than 1%, with diamond production rising by 14%. The 12% increase in the cost of goods sold was driven by the 12% growth in volumes of diamond sales. "ALROSA's H1 2017 results were influenced by macroeconomic factors beyond the Company's control. It stands to note here the effectiveness of the cost optimization program adopted by the Company. In H1 2017, we succeeded in keeping our production costs flat and reducing other expenses, including switching to cheaper energy sources, capping the utilization of materials and equipment and boosting procurement efficiency," said Sergey Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of PJSC ALROSA. ALROSA's initial target of 39.2 mln carats to be produced in 2017 remains unchanged. "Production volumes missing due to the accident at the Mir underground mine in 2017 will be set off by higher diamond output at other mines, primarily the Jubilee pipe," said Sergey Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of PJSC ALROSA. ALROSA invites independent auditor to analyze causes of accident at Mir mine 31 august 2017 News To arrange an independent analysis of the causes of the accident, ALROSA is planning to invite an auditor experienced in work at underground diamond mining facilities with similar hydrogeological conditions. A relevant resolution was passed at the initiative of the independent members of ALROSA Supervisory Board. SRK Consulting and DMT Group are among the possible candidates for the audit. An independent audit will be conducted to make an overall assessment of all decisions and actions at the design, construction and operation stages of Mir underground mine. This will make it possible to find out the causes of the accident on August 4 and to assess the adequacy of the measures taken for its prevention and elimination. International experts are to assess the pre-project option of the underground mining technology for the Mir pipe, correctness of the underground mine construction and operation project, and existing procedures for technical decision-making in terms of industrial safety. Among other things, there will be a comprehensive assessment of the correctness of the initial data used to calculate and model the reliability of the safety pillar, as well as technological parameters for drainage and dewatering systems, systems for integrated monitoring of safe operation and cut-and-fill system for diamond mining at Mir underground mine. Independent experts will also assess how the design decisions were observed during the construction and operation of the underground mine and whether it was possible to prevent the emergency taking into account the existing design decisions. Sergey Ivanov, President of ALROSA said: "We are interested in the most objective and highly professional independent assessment of what happened. At the same time, we know that there are no analogous mines with similar hydrogeological conditions in our country. There are a few competent specialists in Russia with the relevant experience, and the company engaged most of them at the stage of the mine design and operation. We are counting on assessment by independent international experts who have experience in mine planning and production for deposits with similar adverse hydrological conditions." Earlier, Sergey Ivanov signed an order to carry out an overall safety assessment of mining operations at all the Companys underground mines by September 1, 2017. A special purpose expert group is to assess the potential impact of water bodies on mine workings and measures taken to prevent water breakthrough from depleted open pit mines. SRK Consulting is part of an independent international consulting practice with 1,400 professionals in 20 countries specializing in the mining industry. It is an international expert in calculation and modeling of hydrogeological situation, strength of open and underground mine workings. SRK experts designed the majority of operating kimberlite mines in Canada, South Africa, Grib deposit in Russia, they developed a combined mining project for the Diavik diamond deposit under a water body (lake). DMT Group is an international company providing services in geological exploration, design, consulting and geotechnics. Specialists of the company are recognized experts in industrial safety. DMT Group has experience in technical audit and engineering of objects in Russia with the combined development and surface water sources, as well as extensive audit experience in industrial safety and incidents at mining facilities. Its experts participated in the investigation of accidents at Ulyanovskaya and Raspadskaya mines. The success of TAGS over the past 5 years has encouraged many large tender houses to establish regular and sizeable tender operations in Dubai Mike Aggett is an experienced Private Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the mining and metals industry. Skilled in Luxury Goods, Business Planning, Sales, Gemology, and Jewelry, Mike is a professional who graduated from Dover College... It all starts with stones - it is they that give impetus, determine the image and embodiment Maxim Selikhov is the founder of the SelikhoV Diamonds brand launched in 2006, and the company manufactures unique handmade jewellery with rare high-quality gemstones. He is also known as a collector of unique and large-size jewellery stones who considers... Our technologies CVD machines and growing technology are game changers, asserts Arnaud Flambeau, Executive Chairman, 2DOT4 Diamonds LLC Arnaud Flambeau is the Executive Chairman of 2DOT4 Diamonds LLC, Dubai, a fully integrated lab-grown diamonds company. The Company provides rough 'as grown' diamonds, in-house polished IGI certified loose polished diamonds and high-quality... Stargems brings the DaVinci system to Botswana Stargems, which was founded by Shailesh Javeri in 1981, has diversified into manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and tendering or auctioning of diamonds and diamond jewellery. It is also one of the leading players in the manufacturing, wholesaling... Rio Tinto has unveiled the largest Fancy Red diamond in the history of its Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender during its Australian preview on Aug 29, as per a press note from the company. Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques showcased The Argyle Everglow at the first Australian viewing of the 2017 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender at a special preview in Perth. J-S Jacques said, This years Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is an exceptional offering of the worlds most coveted diamonds. At more than a billion years old, each Argyle pink diamond is a fluke of nature, commanding the attention of investors, collectors and diamond connoisseurs across the world. The Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is the annual showcase of the rarest diamonds from Rio Tintos Argyle mine. The 2017 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is named Custodians of Rare Beauty in honour of its rich provenance and honourable pedigree. The 58 diamonds in the Tender weigh a total of 49.39 carats including four Fancy Red diamonds, four Purplish Red diamonds, two Violet diamonds, and one Blue diamond. The Argyle Everglow, a 2.11 carat polished radiant cut diamond, is the centrepiece of the 2017 Tender. The collection comprises five hero diamonds, including The Argyle Everglow, selected for their unique beauty and named to ensure there is a permanent record of their contribution to the history of the worlds most important diamonds. The 2017 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is being showcased in Perth, Hong Kong and New York with bids closing on 11 October 2017. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished Guest blog by Catriona Grant, RSPB NI fundraising assistant. Im a fundraising assistant for RSPB NI and for the past few months my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night has been work and it doesnt stop at weekends either, or bank holidays, every day, morning and night my thoughts turn to work. Now, you may think that sounds like a nightmare! But not in this case, you see RSPB are currently working on a Swift Cities project with Belfast being the UK's first swift city and I just so happen to live right opposite the largest swift colony in Northern Ireland so theyre the first thing I hear in the mornings and the last thing I hear at night. All I have to do is wake up and listen, open my bedroom window, look out and there they are. I dont live in the middle of the countryside, or even in a town surrounded by forests and greenery as you might expect, I live right in the city centre of Belfast. At human eye-level Belfasts Crescent Arts Centre is host to a world of creative and fascinating arts, theatre pieces, short films, documentary showings, with activities for all ages to enjoy throughout the year. What you may not know is that they also run a little hotel for sky dwellers, particularly swifts. If you look towards the top of the building youll notice the swift bricks installed to encourage these beautiful birds to nest and breed right in the city centre. It gives a brand new meaning to the whole air b'n'b idea, doesnt it? View across Belfast from Crescent Arts Centre rooftop. Yellow swift brick visible on the right. This spring and summer Ive had the privilege of experiencing each stage of these wonderful birds flying visit to Northern Ireland. Each morning the sun rises and the screeches begin. Theyve been my natural alarm clock each morning as if they are calling me to get up and get to work. I cant express how wonderful it feels to have proof of RSPBs amazing work right outside my front door. A constant reminder that the work I'm doing every day is making a difference - you cant ask for better Monday motivation than that! The Crescent Arts Centre hosts a range of dance classes and I think the swifts must have picked up a few tips and tricks on how to put on a stunning performance. Now that the young have fledged, each morning I look to the skies and Im greeted with the most amazing visual treat. So rhythmic in their movements, every flutter choreographed to perfectly synchronize with their brothers and sisters in flight. One, two, three, squawk, swoop, swirl, twisting and turning in huge teams (must be hundreds by now). These month old little babies take to the skies to show of their new wings in a beautiful speckled blanket of black against the blue morning sky. Down below, on street level, theres the everyday hustle and bustle of people going about their daily lives, in a hurry to get to work, that important meeting, that interview that theyve worked so hard for, those with a coffee in hand, eyes not open wide enough to pay attention to anything except taking those same routine steps they take every day to make it to work on time. Ive noticed the odd looks, while I saunter past, head to the sky, stopping, turning with the swifts, following their pattern. The feeling you get when you realise theres so much more to the world than just what is visible at eye level is incomparable to any other. No matter how many times Ive heard their screaming call (or how early theyve woken me up) I never tire of them. Each time I look to the skies to catch a glimpse of them I know I only have a limited time with my feathered neighbours. Soon theyll be moving swiftly onwards, beginning their life on the wing and leaving these shores to embark on winter adventures in Africa. As only a fledgling myself, in the world of birding, Im still finding my wings but one thing Ive learnt is to always keep your head up and ears open - you never know what wonderful surprises might be waiting right outside your front door! Words: The girl with her head in the clouds! Hays Plc. (HAS.L), a British recruitment company, reported Thursday that its fiscal 2017 profit before tax climbed 18 percent to 204.6 million pounds from last year's 173 million pounds. Basic earnings per share grew 14 percent to 9.66 pence from 8.48 pence a year ago. Operating profit climbed 17% from last year to 211.5 million pounds, driven by International profit growth and exchange rate gains. Turnover improved 20 percent to 5.08 billion pounds from 4.23 billion pounds last year. Net fees, which comprise turnover less remuneration of temporary workers and other recruitment agencies, grew 18 percent to 954.6 million pounds. Alistair Cox, Chief Executive, said, "This has been a milestone year for the Group. Our International businesses delivered record levels of fees and profit which, together with exchange rate gains, drove overall Group operating profit to over 200m for the first time since 2008." Citing the strong results and confidence in outlook, the Board proposed to increase the final core dividend by 14% to 2.26p per share, resulting in an increase to the full year core dividend to 3.22p per share, up 11% on prior year. The board also proposed the payment of the Group's first special dividend of 4.25p per share. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News (Agencia CMA Latam) - The Colombian government's peacemaking team condemned the bombing of an Ecopetrol pipeline in the eastern region of the South American country and accused the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla of the attack. Juan Camilo Restrepo, Colombia's chief negotiator, said that "to contaminate water sources, aqueducts, is the most degraded way of practicing terrorism against the civilian population." Around 700 families had their access to water services cut after the last attack against the Cano Limon Covenas pipeline, occurred on Monday. "This unfortunate event illustrates the need, in the case of a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN, that is essential that hostilities against the civilian population cease," Restrepo added. The Colombian government and the ELN are negotiating a ceasefire before Pope Francis visit to the country, scheduled for the next week. The ELN, however, did not claim or denied the attack so far. Year-to-date, there have been 43 attacks against the Cano Limon Covenas pipeline in the Colombian departments (states) of Arauca, Norte de Santander, Boyaca, and Cesar. 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) - Former Argentinean President and current candidate to the national Senate Cristina Kirchner said that the Unidad Ciudadana coalition, which she represents, could win the October legislative elections. Kirchner made the comments during a speech after the release of the final results of the primary elections held earlier this month. According to the official results, Kirchner's Unidad Ciudadana defeated the ruling coalition Cambiemos by 0.21%, a little more than 20,000 votes. In a speech at Atenas de La Plata club, Kirchner criticized President Mauricio Macri. According to her, the Argentineans are "facing a government with an immense, unprecedented power concentration: the National State, the province of Buenos Aires, the city of Buenos Aires, besides all concentrated private, media, economic, financial and international power." "We want to make a call to all the Argentinean people because we do not want the same things to happen again," she said. "We do not want a class government, which despises the people, the Peronists, the blacks, the workers, the union leaders." 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) - Chilean Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes said that he offered his resignation to President Michelle Bachelet and she accepted it. "Some considerations prevent me from continuing to fulfill my role as finance minister. The specific reasons were addressed in the talks I had with the President," said Valdes, according to a statement by that Ministry of Finance. "I firmly believe in a progressive project, which seeks more freedom, more equality, and shared development," said the former official, adding that "some institutions should work better" in Chile. At the end of the conference, Valdes asked the press to respect his decision not to answer questions "and return to my life as a citizen, away from the media, from where I hope to continue contributing to the country." Valdes' resignation comes amid sharp differences between the environment and Economy ministers, Marcelo Mena and Luis Felipe Cespedes, respectively, due to the vote in the Council of Ministers in which the Dominga mining project was rejected. Valdes supported the project arguing that the Chilean needs to grow. This situation led Bachelet to intervene through her Twitter account, contradicting Valdes by stating that "Chile needs development to go hand in hand with the care for the environment." 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 SA Commercial Prop News Neil Gopal, CEO of SAPOA calls on South Africas commercial property owners to partner and work with Eskom in light of the current electricity supply constraints in the country. The power crisis sparked concern among South African Property Owners over Eskom's capacity to provide electricity needs for the country. South African state utility Eskom sees the threat of rolling blackouts for up to the next three years as the power grid remains constrained. Eskom Chief Executive Officer Tshediso Matona on Thursday has highlighted a lack of maintenance as a major contributor to the countrys electricity woes. Meanwhle the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) is calling on South Africas commercial property owners to partner and work with Eskom in light of the current electricity supply constraints in the country. While load shedding negatively impacted overall business production for several months in 2014, further load shedding is expected to continue in 2015, with the property sector, particularly retail, set to be affected. At the end of last year, SAPOA urged Eskom to reassess its load shedding schedules in light of the harmful impact the power outages had on retailers during the valuable peak festive season trading times. SAPOA's members control about 90% of all commercial property, with assets estimated at more than R400-billion in value. This includes the owners and managers of almost of all South Africas malls and shopping centres. Retail, and its related property sector, play powerful roles in South Africas consumer-driven economy, says Neil Gopal, Chief Executive Officer of SAPOA. Load shedding has already substantially inhibited the ability of retailers to trade optimally during the 2014 festive season the most crucial few weeks of the year for their businesses. This stands to have far-reaching negative impacts for South Africans. Gopal adds that 2014 was a tough year for retail in South Africa, with consumers being hard-hit by the countrys weakened economy. Business giants like ABIL have failed, with adverse impacts for other sectors, like property. South African consumers and retailers face a gruelling road ahead, with a grim economic outlook thats not likely to improve any time soon. This places many retail businesses in a fragile position; one that simply cant stand up to the knock of losing all-important trade. He elaborates that lower turnovers and more retailer failures stand to undermine economy, damage the property sector, escalate job losses and place South Africans in an even weaker position. Businesses in the retail chain are failing because they cant manufacture, pack, trade and serve without electricity, adds Gopal. At a recent high level meeting, Eskom CEO informed stakeholders that one unexpected event at any of its power stations could propel the country to the total failure of the national electricity system, resulting in a national blackout that may take weeks to resolve. This alarming announcement could have dire consequences for the commercial property sector, thus SAPOA has engaged with Eskom and property players on the matter. SAPOA met with shopping centre owners as well as several Eskom representatives on 10 December 2014 to discuss the way forward. Positively, Eskom has proposed a partnership programme that will help to increase the reserve margin and maintain a supply/demand balance on the national grid. The Standby Generator Compensation Programme offers customers an opportunity to partner with Eskom in managing the current power supply constraints 100MW worth of backup/standby generators is now being contracted to run at Eskoms request during periods of high electricity demand. Eskom will ask qualifying participants to run their generators and supply some, or all, of their own electricity requirements to assist in lowering the total electricity demand on the national grid. Participants will receive financial compensation for successful generation. Gopal adds: While we urge government and Eskom to deliver swift and effective solutions to the energy crisis, SAPOA hopes that property owners will participate in a collaborative effort to keep the lights on in 2015. Opposition parties on Wednesday slammed the government over the note ban NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Wednesday slammed the government over the note ban, terming it a disaster and anti-national. Former finance minister P Chidambaram used Reserve Bank data to lash out saying, Shame on RBI, as 99% junked currency has returned. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying demonetisation not only dented institutional sanctity of the RBI but also India's credibility abroad. .. Chidambaram questioned the Narendra Modi government whether its demonetisation decision was designed to convert black money into white. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury launched a stinging attack on the Centre over demonetisation, saying India cannever forgive the Modi government for the anti- national act, which allegedly hit the economy. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said his party would move a privilege motion against RBI Governor Urjit Patel for misleading a parliamentary panel on the issue. Source: Bhasha Well there you have it, Samoa. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi was finally prompted by a secret whisper yesterday so that the new Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is now no longer a secret. Thank goodness for that. The suspense was intense. If members of the public were edgy and anxious, imagine how members of the H.R.P.P. were feeling prior to the announcement. It would have been nice to be a fly on the wall during those conversations, especially by party members who perhaps, quietly, thought they had a chance. The idea that the Prime Minister did not tell a soul, including the man who has been handed the portfolio, Lopaoo Natanielu Mua, is certainly a first. Its fascinating stuff, isnt it? Folks, a political guessing game is one thing. But being appointed a Cabinet Minister is another. Its a massive moment, not just for the person, but for his wife, children, family, village and all his supporters. It would have been the decent thing to do for the Prime Minister to at least give a secret whisper in Lopaoos ear -- even two hours before -- so he could have his family there for the special moment. In any case, maybe the secret whisper Tuilaepa was waiting for really did not come until he stood up on the podium? Who knows? Still one cant help but feel that these once sacred things have become so childish in the way they have been done. But then thats the level of our politics today. We have people who feel they can do whatever they like. And this was just another classic example. That said, we want to congratulate Minister Lopaoo for his appointment. As weve alluded to before, being appointed a Cabinet Minister is not a small decision. Its a massive vote of confidence from Tuilaepa, the H.R.P.P. party and the people of Samoa in Lopaoos ability to perform the role. How weve arrived to the situation weve found ourselves in today, with regards to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries portfolio, is well known. And you could certainly feel the sting in some of Prime Minister Tuilaepas comments yesterday. You will start your work as a minister and you must conduct your duties with honesty, Tuilaepa said in addressing the new minister. What does this mean? Your entire time will be dedicated to your ministerial portfolios and this includes catering for the needs of our people. But he didnt stop there. You will no longer be involved in a business, he said. If you have a business, leave it to your family. You should not become involved with it anymore. But his most telling comment was when he made reference to the point that nothing is hidden under the sun. Dishonest work conducted in the darkness will not be hidden from God, he said. Now, what is he talking about here? And to whom, exactly, is he referring? Has he been prompted by a secret whisper about some things we dont know? What does he know that he is not telling us? Lets wait and see because only time will tell. In any case, today is about celebrating with new Minister Lopaoo. Serving in his first term as a Member of Parliament, this is a big step. But by the sound of it, he is more than ready for the role. Im delighted with the appointment and I will try my best to fulfill my roles, he said. I am thankful for the appointment and I will give it my all to serve my people as I know what its like because I am a farmer. Now that I am in this position, I will do my best to help our people. Well thats a fantastic promise. Easier said than done, of course, and given the challenges facing our agriculture and fisheries today, Lopaoo has his work cut out for him. But lets not think too much about that, today. Lets rejoice with Lopaoo and his family. We wish him well and Gods blessings. In the meantime, have fabulous Friday, Samoa! A spokesperson for Miss Samoa Victoria, Rita Seumanutafa, has refuted claims made by Pulotu Canada McCarthy and Miss Samoa Victoria Beauty Pageant (M.S.V.B.P.) about the legitmacy of Adele Faaosofias entry in the 2017 Miss Samoa Pageant. At the beginning of the week, Pulotu and M.S.V.B.P. claimed Ms. Faaosofia, one of nine confirmed contestants for next weeks pageant, should not be allowed to contest the title. Pulotu has gone as far as to take legal action against the contestant for allegedly breaching her contract with Cantoa. Technically, Adele shouldn't be allowed to travel to the pageant to compete as the pending matter is now with the court, Pulotu said. But Ms. Seumanutafa, of Miss Samoa Victoria Incorporated (M.S.V.I.) vehemently rejected the claim, saying Ms. Faaosofia had chosen not to be represented and sponsored by Camtoa In a statement issued by Ms. Seumanutafa, on behalf of the contestant, she claimed Ms. Faaosofia had decided against being represented by M.S.V.B.P. because of a number of grievances which relate to events leading up to, during, and after the pageant. One of the grievances involved money allegedly owed to her family members -- and others -- for tickets they had purchased for the pageant night. As for the change of sponsorship, Ms. Seumanutafa said there is a perfectly logical explanation for this. On 2 August 2017 -- the closing date for registrations to Miss Samoa 2017 -- M.S.V.B.P./Cantoa submitted an incomplete application form on behalf of Adele, the statement reads. This two-page form, filled out by either Pulotu or Aumuas hand, was not signed by Adele -- who was unaware of the form being sent, and was not accompanied by the $300SAT registration fee. The only supplementary document attached to the application was the business name registration of M.S.V.B.P., however, after a thorough check by S.E.I., in regards to the businesss operative status, it was found via the Australia Taxation Office website that the businesss A.B.N. (Australian Business Number) had the status of cancelled, since June 26th 2017. According to the A.T.O.s glossary page on its website A status of cancelled means the business has ceased trading. S.E.I. had no choice but to reject the incomplete application. Today, another search shows that the A.B.N. for M.S.V.B.P. is now current, as of 14 August. On the same day, M.S.V.I. submitted an application form to register Adele as their entrant. The application was accompanied with all legal documents, as well as a letter from Adele outlining why she had parted ways with M.S.V.B.P./Cantoa and moved to M.S.V.I. The 15-page application, attached with Adeles medical report, community organisation support letters, and police report, were also attached. The application was accepted and approved by S.E.I. on the basis that all requirements in this application were met meticulously. On Friday 4 August 2017, Pulotu and Aumua McCarthy met with Adeles parents, Pastor Esera and Safata Faaosofia. Adeles parents thanked the McCarthys for their time and efforts in organising the pageant on 29th July, but insisted that because there was no sponsorship agreement put in place (just her previously signed application to enter the M.S.V. pageant), Mr. and Mrs. Faaosofia told the McCarthys that they were finding their own sponsor for Adele. The McCarthys seemed relieved and grateful that the family were willing to find a way for their daughter to enter the pageant. The McCarthys left the Faaosofia residence on good terms with the family. A video recording of this meeting was made and is in the hands of the Faaosofia family and is ready for use in the event of court proceedings regarding this matter. On this day also, a letter was sent from M.S.V.I. and V.I.C.Sac to M.S.V.B.P./Cantoa giving them a heads up that they will sponsor Adele in Miss Samoa 2017. A letter dated 8 August 2017 was sent to S.E.I. Director ,Laeimau Oketevi Tanuvasa, from Pulotus solicitor, Paul Lewis of Total Legal, requesting that Tanuvasa allow Pulotu to submit his now-completed registration for Adele. This letter was posted on a public Facebook page by user OlePalemia 29 August, as well as partially printed in the Samoa Observer. On Friday 12 August, M.S.V.B.P. crowned Monalisa Irene Siania as their Miss Samoa Victoria. They announced on their Facebook page that she was going to enter Miss Samoa 2017 as Miss Samoa Victoria. However, Pulotu had not registered her as a candidate before the cut-off date (2 Aug). On 26 August, M.S.V.B.P. announced on their Facebook page that Adele Faaosofia had brought the M.S.V. crown in to disrepute and they had stripped her of her crown/sash, which is now to be worn by new M.S.V. title holder, Monalisa. There was no sponsorship/representative contract presented to Adele, nor was there one signed. Ms. Seumanutafa insists there is no contract between Ms. Faaosofia and Cantoa. It is unfortunate and sad to see that two innocent young Samoan women have been dragged in to a drama that should never have occurred, the statement says From the very start, even before the pageant took place, we had publicly called-out the organisers of the event to acknowledge our first Miss Samoa Victoria in 1999, Gina Tafea, but they ignored our public posts and statements. Many of us who had seen previous advertisements of the upcoming pageant were wondering why Gina had not been acknowledged or even invited to hand over her crown, which was her right as the previous title holder. Pulotu had an opportunity to host a great event for our community, considering that it was the first pageant since Gina was crowned 18 years ago. He has created so much noise and nuisance in recent weeks -- he needs to humble himself and accept that his mistakes need to be fixed. For those of us who are calling for accountability and justice in this whole ordeal, we have been subject to false accusations and online abuse from members of M.S.V.B.P./Cantoa via social media and the media in New Zealand. However, our Melbourne Samoan community is in a very strong position at the moment, we are led by the Victoria Samoan Advisory Council (V.I.C.Sac), and are represented by various groups who promote Samoan culture, music, and dance all year round. We applaud our people for helping Adele get to Samoa, in particular the elders of our community who prayed for us, rang in to the radio stations and sent us their blessings -- as well as the young who put their social media skills on high for our cause. We started with absolutely no money three weeks ago and with the help of everyone who answered our call, we raised the amount we needed to continue her campaign. We wish our Miss Samoa Victoria representatie, Adele Faaosofia, the very best -- as well as all the other beautiful tamaitai Samoa competing for Miss Samoa 2017. The finale of the Miss Samoa pageant is scheduled for next Saturday with the contestants today beginning the pre-pageant activities. The secret is out of the bag. Member of Parliament for Vaisigano No. 1, Lopaoo Natanielu Mua, is the new Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi had kept the new minister in the dark about the appointment until he took the podium to make the announcement at the Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi building, yesterday morning. Tuilaepa told the Samoa Observer that he received the divine whisper when he was on the podium to address the gathering of Cabinet ministers and the Head of State, His Highness Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II. It just came to me while I was giving my speech, Tuilaepa said. I was prompted that that was him (Lopaoo). A surprised Lopaoo, who is serving his first term in Parliament, said he is humbled by the appointment. Im delighted with the appointment and I will try my best to fulfill my roles. Lopaoo replaces former minister, Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt, who resigned last week following a criminal charge filed against him, his wife and a business partner. The new Minister was immediately sworn in before His Highness Tuimalealiifano. Later, Lopao'o thanked his constituency, village, church, family and all of his supporters. Many members of my family told me to pray but I said its up to the Prime Minister, he said. I want to thank my mother, my wife, my children and my village. I have been in Savaii for three weeks; I came not knowing anything about being appointed to a ministerial position, not even an inkling. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the appointment and will give it my all to serve my people as I know what its like because I am a farmer looking in from the outside. Now that I am in this position, I will do my best to help our people. In making the announcement, Tuilaepa said the agriculture and fisheries portfolio is a critical one for Samoa. The decision on whom to pick was a difficult one, he admitted, since the H.R.P.P. is full of individuals who are well qualified. The Cabinet ministers are here to serve the needs of the people, he said. They dont sit back and relax in their air conditioned offices, they work hard. Tuilaepa thanked the former minister, Laaulialemalietoa, for his work. And he also had some strong words for the new minister and members of his cabinet. To Lopaoo, Tuilaepa said: You will start your work as a minister and you must conduct your duties with honesty. What does this mean? Your entire time will be dedicated to your ministerial portfolios and this includes catering for the needs of our people. Tuilaepa reminded the cabinet ministers that they should refrain from running private businesses. You will no longer be involved in a business, he said. If you have a business, leave it to your family. You should not become involved with it anymore. The Prime Minister added that nothing is hidden under the sun. Dishonest work conducted in the darkness will not be hidden from God, he said. Lopaoo entered Parliament last year. He defeated former Member of Parliament, Tufuga Gafoaleata Faitua. It has been worth the wait, he said last year. Fifteen years I have waited. Lopaoo said his village approached him many years ago to run but he didnt want to. I waited for the right time. I thank God for choosing me. We all prayed and I asked God for this. We also prayed for other candidates who did not win the race. A first time candidate, Lopaoo said his voters wanted him to run for the H.R.P.P. Our village has been serving Parliament under the opposition for many years, said Lopaoo. We felt that it was time to change so that we can have a lot more say in the developments that are happening. Born in the village of Asau, Lopaoo went to Asau Primary and to Fasaga Sataua Intermediate School before he finished his studies at Avele College. He then left Samoa in 1981 for New Zealand where he lived, studied and worked. Before returning to Samoa, Lopaoo was the Contract Manager for ACI Glass Company in New Zealand. Lopaoo, 58, is married to Siaumau Kena Mua and they have eight children. The proposed $10 million prison at Tanumalala is finally on the move with the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for today. This was confirmed by the Minister of Prisons, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, in response questions from the Samoa Observer. Tialavea declined to discuss the details and who has won the bid to build the facility. You will know tomorrow, he told the Samoa Observer. Last week, the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, who is also the chairman of the Tenders Board, said the delay was due to the Board requiring additional information from the bidder. This now appears to have been sorted. During a previous interview, the minister told the Samoa Observer the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new prison on 550 acres of land at Tanumalala was scheduled for May this year. At the time, Tialavea said the project was made possible through a $10 million loan for construction from the Unit Trust of Samoa (U.T.O.S.) and had been approved by Cabinet. We have advertised the position for a project manager, said Tialavea. It is estimated that it will take about eight months to build." We are hoping that by the beginning of next year, we will be able to move from Tafaigata to Tanumalala. Already, there is access to both water and electricity at the site, he said. The new facility will hold shelter for about 600 to 700 people. This building will have separate holding cells for women inmates remanded in custody awaiting court proceedings. The new facilities will also center on areas of reform and rehabilitation with workshops for the prisoners to learn trades and skills, not to mention a multi-purpose hall. So thats the plan for Tanumalala. Last month Assistant Commissioner of Prison and Correction Services, Ulugia Niuia Aumua, told the Samoa Observer the construction of the Tanumalala Prison will most likely be completed by July next year. Ulugia said the delay in getting the project underway, was because they had been waiting for financial help from overseas. That did not materialise, so that according to Ulugia, the Government of Samoa has stepped up to fund the project." Dear Editor, Re: Lawyer rejects customary land threat Iid like to ask Ms. Stowers Fui how can a legal system that canit even conceive of customary traditional rights to lands protect those rights for the people that own these customary lands? The answer is her white manis legal system cannot. Never has been able to and never will be able to because they are incompatible thought processes. One of the most interesting pictures I ever saw regarding the promise of wealth, and opportunity for the worldis poor and their rights to their communal traditional lands was of a woman. She was crying and in absolute terror standing in front of her communal farmland with one arm outstretched and the other hand holding a cell phone to her ear while an army of first world bulldozers were descending upon her and her lands to level it for whatever purpose the new owners wanted it for. Iim assuming she was trying to call her police for help. She was alone, crying against the bulldozers. Thatis development for you, she had no land, no rights, no one to call, but she had a cell phone. Thatis the real story of Ms. Stowers-Fiuis argument for Samoan rights to their lands under their Constitution in a white manis courts over customary lands against the banks who believe that they too have rights to the land because of the leases they have loaned money for. Traditional rights and white manis rights to lands are incompatible and the courts are designed to uphold the rights of those who believe land is to be privatized and owned as a commodity. They cannot conceive of land in any other way. One other thing to note in comparing Fiji and the leadership in Fiji and Samoa and the leadership in Samoa is that if the Fijian people were getting screwed over by the palagi and their law courts Bainimarama would not be afraid to toss the culprits out and nationalize these companies for the Fijian people. He is not afraid of the international white manis economic/legal institutions. Tuilaepa on the other hand is afraid of these white man-run institutions and he would sacrifice his own people so that he could still play footsie with the powerful British/American institutions and the people that run them that call the shots. Bainimarama is no coward to these dominating forces if they try to push him around too much. He did it once with the British/Indian contingency in his country. He did it to some American companies in Fiji and he would do it again. Bainimarama is not afraid to be called a dictator by these first world overlords and he is not afraid of their sanctions. Heid kick them all out in a heartbeat. Tuilaepa is too scared because of his own cushy economic position in playing by the white manis rules. The reason Bainimarama can do this is because when he takes money from these groups he uses it to develop his country for the people of Fiji so that if he ever needs to kick them all out he has everything already in place for the survival of his Fijian people. Whereas Tuilaepa doesnit so he remains in a dependent fearful state of existence from these land privatizing overlords and their legal system and their institutions that keep the rich rich and the poor poor. Bainimarama is not afraid to keep yearly poverty data while the only data on poverty that is on record in Samoa is 2008. This to me shows who really has it in their heart to improve the lives of his people and who has it in their heart to be a puppet for their own survival. Bainimarama just gives off so much more of a protective aura than Tuilaepa. If I were Ms. Stowers-Fiu, I wouldnit even attempt to compare Fiji and its leadership with Samoa and its leadership. There is no comparison. Wendy Wonder Canada Dear Editor, Re: Lawyer rejects customary land threat All of what the lady lawyer says is true, however, reality is quite different. This is not contract law 101. There are a number of issues, which lessors need to carefully consider before they can be confident that the lease is fine. For a start, there is inequality of power between the sao of an aiga (the lessor) and in many cases the powerful entities (the lessees) which want to lease the customary land. It is not unreasonable to assume that a lessee would be backed by powerful and well informed legal attorneys who would draft the lease agreement in ways to benefit the lessee and contain so many loopholes that you can drive a Mack truck through. Perhaps these smart Samoans have all heard about the small legalese writings on p.50 of the lease agreement which is easy to overlook and/or difficult to understand but have significant bearing on the lease. If all lease agreements were of the same standard, easy to read, understand and apply then life would be so rosy and we can be economically better off Ms. Lawyer. Contracts and contract law, which is what lease agreements are all about, are difficult to administer. Are you offering free services to the sao of my aiga who wants to lease his family land to a bank to set up business there. You rattle off the list of safeguards under the present constitution but since this government has an absolute majority, it can change the constitution as easily as Stui can change his matai titles. In other words, the Constitution does not really offer the assurance that my friends at the makeki and elsewhere are looking for in any changes to the use of customary land. You quote the example of Fiji but my friends at the makeki can quote many more examples of where the lease of customary land has led to land alienation and poverty - total opposite of what is being proposed. Sweeping statements are good for a lecture but not useful as a life lesson. Vai Autu The countdown towards New Zealands General Election is well and truly underway. With voters set to go to the polls on 23 September, New Zealands election-mania is not lost on these shores with so many people here affected by the policies to be decided by Members of Parliament down at the Beehive. So far, there have been some surprising development in the political discourse with the announcement of a new Labour Party Leader. Jacinda Ardern weeks out before the elections. There was also the introduction of the Opportunities Party with Gareth Morgan and one much closer to home and a first of its kind, the partnership between the Maori Party and newly formed One Pacific Party. Although they are two independent parties, the One Pacific party will be running under the Maori Party ballot in this years New Zealand General Elections. Up to nine candidates of Pacific descent are allowed but only six have been named so far. Two Samoans are standing in Labour stronghold seats traditionally, former Samoa Rugby Union C.E.O, Tuilagi Saipele Esera for Manukau East and Tofilau Esther Tofilau Tevaga for Mangere. As part of their campaign strategy, One Pacific is reaching out to locals in Samoa who are eligible to vote, in a bid to win votes for the Maori party and promote their Samoan candidates. Executive Committee member for One Pacific, Tuigamala Anetipa Lam Sam, has been campaigning in Samoa. He spoke to the Samoa Observer about why One Pacific was formed and how their relationship with the Maori Party developed. One Pacific came into being because the Pacific Leaders Forum was approached by the Maori party and said, can we do something about getting together with the Pacific Islanders and contest the General Elections, he said. So the Pacific forum leadership group then decided they want to remain independent but form a political arm of the group which is now the One Pacific Party. While the Maori Party recognised that Pacific Island communities have similar needs and saw an opportunity to increase their voter influence, Tuigamala Anetipa explained why One Pacific chose to run under the Maori Party rather than running under their own party ballot. Because we started late and we dont have a real organisation in One Pacific. However the Maori party has already been established so we agreed to go into this election as the Maori party but through the next three year term we are going to have serious discussions on whether we are going to change the name to the Maori Pacific Party. Tuigamala was pressed on why there was no support from the Pacific Leaders Forum for the already existing Pacific M.P's and he is skeptical about their ability to affect real change at a policy level for Pacific Island communities. We have no real Pacific leadership group in those main parties. For a long time now, the candidates that are running under Labour and National are only the individuals." They want to run but not as candidates for Samoa or Fiji and so the Pacific islanders have realised that their views dont count because it never gets to the decision making areathe Maori party recognised that the Pacific Islands need a forum whereby they can channel their wants, needs and votes and then voice them in parliament. But not everyone agrees. The Samoa Observer reached out to Labour Party M.P., Carmel Sepuloni, of Tongan and Samoan descent, who represents the Kelston Electorate office in West Auckland. There is something disturbing about a party that purports to represent Pacific views but then in the same breath seeks to undermine the Pacific representatives who have been elected to Parliament, Sepuloni said. We live in democracy so I respect anyone who puts themselves forward as a candidate in an election, including the Pacific candidates who have done so as part of the One Pacific movement, however I believe that Labour has always been the political party that is aspirational for Pacific people and that is why I stand alongside Labours seven other Pacific candidates." Im very proud of the fact that I am in a party where Pacific M.P's make up 16% of our caucus (despite the fact we only make up 8% of the population)." Our Pacific M.P's are Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands and Tokelauan. We have N.Z. born and we have Pacific Island born. We have Pacific women and men. Pacific people are not one homogenous group, so diversity amongst us of ethnicity, gender, life experience and views on issues is important to ensuring we represent our people effectively. " As Pacific MPs we absolutely recognise the role we have in representing and serving our Pacific communities. Our aim is to further grow the number of Pacific MPs at this years election and to get in to Government so we can effect the change that we want to see for Pacific peoples. Tuigamala admits that the policies that One Pacific promotes do not differ much from those proposed by other Pacific candidates from Labour or National. The real difference is that the Maori/Pacific alliance if successful in the elections, will have a much stronger voice in the New Zealand government which is why they are pushing the party vote even if One Pacific candidates dont win any seats. Tuigamala believes it is time for Pacific people to take charge of their own destiny and in his opinion, the timing is perfect as smaller parties are starting to weaken with the Green party losing support and Peter Dunne resigning weeks out from the election. This gives this new alliance a chance to make its presence known and perhaps gain more support. Vaovasa Winston Peters has in past elections been touted in New Zealand as the King Maker when he has been in the position of holding the balance of power. Could the One Pacific Party be the next King Maker? Tuigamala was modest but optimistic. Anything is possible. The revival of the Vaimosos Boys Brigade has had a positive impact on the lives of the youth. Last Sunday the Vaimoso Village Council celebrated the one-year anniversary of that revival during a combined church service. Village Mayor Faleafa Mataia told the Samoa Observer the revival of the Boys Brigade has brought together the youth in a way they have not seen before. As we all know, some of the young ones of our village were involved in gangs. However since the revival of the Boys Brigade everything is back to normal and the youth are active in the activities, he said. A year ago, the youth involved themselves in ways that could get them in trouble, and thats when the village stepped in." At this time last year we decided to revive the Boys Brigade to make sure that all the young ones of the villages are occupied and are a member of this group. Joining the Boys Brigade is compulsory for Vaimoso youngsters, he told the Samoa Observer. Now the group has more than a hundred members. According to Faleafa, the Boys Brigade was originally started by the Congregational Christian Church in 1940 and was inactive several years ago. After a while it was then passed on to the village. Now it is no longer the C.C.C.S. Boys Brigade but the villages so this is a way of ensuring that our young people stay out of trouble. It wasnt until last year when the Boys Brigade was revived and the boys have been inactive in the activities of the village." They clean and decorate the village when there are big events in our country." With the Teulila festival coming up, the Boys Brigade are the ones who will be in charge of the decorations and beautifying Vaimoso." Aside from that, they are also involved with the curfew and are part of the village untitled men (aumaga). The new officers include Captain Tauiliii Anthony Pauga; Vice Captain Tuumalu Jr Patauave; Secretary Ronnie Ulberg; Deputy Secretary Fiti Fiti; Treasurer Lemafua Leu Maifiti; Deputy Treasurer Asotolu Auavaa. Faleafa further stated the Boys Brigade have now been separated into three groups, Zone A which consists of the young men in Vaimoso Uta and the leader is Lematua Leu Maifiti. Zone 2 is overseen by Se Tofa and the members are from the inner village while the Zone 3 is led by Epesi Metaui and the members are from Muliumu and Pesega area, he said. The Village Mayor also acknowledged the continued assistance from businesses such as B.S.L. and B.S.P for their continued support. Working for a newspaper doesnt just involve reporters and camera people. There are many skills required ranging from Accountants, I.T. to Marketing and skilled mechanical engineers. This is what students of St. Josephs College Year 10 English class learnt during a visit to the Samoa Observers headquarters at Vaitele yesterday. Teachers Aitulagi Iosefa and Meaalofa Tofaeono accompanied the students during a tour of the daily newspaper facility. They met with the Samoa Observers Editor, Mataafa Keni Lesa and Chief Reporter, Joyetter Luamanu. Teacher Aitulagi said the students were extremely excited to finally visit where their favourite newspaper was being produced. It was a great day. They had the chance to learn about Graphics and Layout work, meet the Samoa Observer Online team and see the Printing staff prepare the machine for a run. Sam Tavita, 15, said he was impressed by the amount of work and people involved in producing a daily newspaper. He was even more impressed by the growth of the Samoa Observers online market. This tour has been a huge learning experience for me, he said. I know this is exactly what I would want to be doing when I finish school, I want to work here because I know this is a job for me especially now that I am taking Maths and English and it is the topic that we are learning at the moment. The last activity of the visit was a group photo which they were told would be published today. Samoa and the United States of Americas bilateral relationship is strong and mutually beneficial. This is according to new Charge dAffaires of the American Embassy in Samoa, Antone Greubel. He was speaking during a welcoming reception at Vailima on Tuesday night. The United States focus is to help Samoa build the capacity to respond to environmental threats, assist Samoa secure its borders and to promote sustainable economic development, Mr Greubel said. He believes that the United States is also Samoas closest neighbour. Two daily flights to Pagopago, cross cultural ties, extensive trade and the ability for Samoans to work in American Samoa perhaps best reflect this relationship. On trade, the United States is Samoas second largest import destination and fourth largest source of exports. The United States is the largest source of remittances to Samoa and American companies present in Samoa include McDonalds, Sheraton, Western Union, National Pacific Insurance, Matson Shipping, First Solar and Netvo. The United States also provides significant foreign assistance to Samoa indirectly through the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Global Climate Fund and I.M.F. This assistance is considerable with large grants provided to Samoa for climate change related projects and other infrastructure projects. The United States single largest contribution to Samoa is the Peace Corps, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary celebration this year in Samoa. Currently we have volunteers spread across schools in the country and doing valuable work at S.P.R.E.P. He added that United States Embassy assistance is in the form of small grants, Fulbright programmes and cultural exchange programmes bringing U.S. performance groups and professional athletes to Samoa. The United States has also built a hospital and schools in Samoa U.S.A.I.D. has focused on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Research ships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration often make port calls in Apia while in the region. Mr. Greubel was the Senior Pacific Islands Desk Officer in the East Asia Pacific Bureaus Office of Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands Affairs. He managed bilateral relations with five Pacific island countriesFiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. Finally there is someone with a positive story to tell about water. Water has now reached our place, we are super grateful. So said Pologa Soe, 23, of Ulutogia. Hes extremely thankful towards the Samoa Water Authority for providing water to families like his living on higher ground. He told Village Voice that S.W.A. has just begun their work on the installation of the water system We have been waiting for this moment for a long time, he said. Even though it has taken ages for my family and families living on this area, at least we have water now. Thank God for S.W.A. Thank you for noticing and hearing our plea. Pologa seeing the work being done is a massive relief. They are making sure that all families will get access to water as soon as possible. Personally, I feel grateful and thankful towards the S.W.A. because finally what we wanted for long time is finally being delivered. We can live without most things but water. Water is life. Away from water, the 23-year-old said everything is going smoothly back in the village. Life, in fact, is great I live in Vaitele but I usually visit my family here in the village when we have family obligations. Its always a good chance to catch up with friends living here and to be able to experience village life again. Think a minuteThere was a young, intelligent university student named Bill. Bill was what some people call a free spirit or hippie. He had wild long hair, always wore the same old and torn T-shirt, jeans and no shoes. Across the street from the university campus was a conservative church. The people there were rich, older and well-dressed. They wanted to help the university students nearby, but they did not know exactly how to do it. Well, one day Bill decided to go visit this church by his university. As usual, he went wearing his only jeans, old, torn T-shirt and his dirty long hair. The church service had already started and was full, so Bill walked down the center aisle looking for a seat. People were getting more and more uncomfortable as they watched this unclean, wild-looking young man. Finally, Bill got to the front and saw there were no more empty seats, so he just sat down on the floor right in front of the preacher. No one had ever done that in this church before! By now, everyone was upset and distracted. Then, a respected old church deacon got up and started toward the front. Everyone was thinking: You cant blame the deacon, he really should correct this disrespectful young man. Everyone was watching. Even the preacher stopped his sermon when the old man finally got to the front. Then, they were all completely surprised to see the old deacon drop his walking stick and very slowly sit down on the floor next to this young hippie. He did not want this young man to sit alone and feel unaccepted. The people in the church were moved to tears. Finally, the preacher said: What I am preaching about today you will probably never remember. But what you have just seen you will never forget! Friend, it does not matter how you look or how much money or education you have. It does not matter what wrongs you have done in your past. Jesus Christ forgives and loves you just the way you are. So wont you ask Him to forgive you and finally take full charge of your life? He will fill your life with His real love, peace, and power you need to start changing and living His way every day. Just Think a Minute The Trump administration announced Thursday that it had picked a former official at for-profit DeVry University to head an Education Department unit that polices colleges for student aid fraud. Last year, DeVry paid $100 million to settle federal claims it misled students. Julian Schmoke Jr., who was an associate dean at DeVry from 2008 to 2012, will lead federal student aid enforcement activities, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. Advertisement In addition to a track record of successfully advocating for students for more than 20 years, he brings experience in higher education leadership, instruction and accreditation, including serving in an academic capacity at DeVry University, where he ensured the delivery of a quality education to students, the Education Department said in a news release. Dr. Schmoke will lead a team focused on identifying, investigating and adjudicating statutory and regulatory violations of the federal student aid programs and on resolving borrower defense claims, the release said. The move drew criticism given DeVrys troubles and the Trump administrations efforts to reverse an Obama administration crackdown on for-profit colleges. This is like the fox guarding the hen house, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Twitter. DeVry is based in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago. President Trump ran a for-profit school, the now-defunct Trump University, and paid $25 million to settle a class-action suit that alleged fraud at the operation. And DeVos is an advocate of for-profit schools; her government ethics forms showed she has investments in companies connected to the industry, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank. In June, DeVos suspended new rules set to go into effect on July 1 that had been designed to make it easier to forgive loans for students left stranded by the collapse of for-profit chains such as Corinthian Colleges Inc. and ITT Technical Institute and to try to prevent future abuses. DeVos is rewriting those rules, a move that drew complaints from student advocates and Democrats. DeVos said Thursday that she was focused on a stronger approach to enforcing compliance by colleges with federal student aid rules and to protect students, parents and borrowers against bad actors. Protecting students has always been my top priority, she said in a written statement. Schmoke was among five new hires announced Thursday. They will work under A. Wayne Johnson, the new chief operating officer of the departments Federal Student Aid office. Schmoke will head a unit created by the Obama administration in part because of problems involving for-profit colleges. In December, DeVry and its parent company, DeVry Education Group Inc., agreed to pay $100 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that the school had misled potential students with ads about its post-graduation success rates. DeVry Education Group, which is one of the nations for-profit college chains, renamed itself Adtalem Global Education this spring. Since mid-2012, Schmoke has been executive director of campus operations for West Georgia Technical College, a public school that is part of the Technical College System of Georgia, according to his profile on LinkedIn. Schmoke, who has degrees from Dartmouth College, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Mercer University, began at DeVry in 2007 as a department chair teaching electronics and math courses, his profile said. In October 2008, he became associate dean for DeVrys College of Engineering and Information Sciences, leading a staff of more than 40 full-time and adjunct faculty. He left in April 2012. He also was a visiting professor for DeVrys Online degree program during that time. On Aug. 9, Durbin and three Democratic colleagues wrote to DeVos and Johnson urging them to take immediate action to name a credible, well-qualified, independent and permanent enforcement chief. This individual must be well-qualified to serve in this critical role, and they must be politically independent and insulated from the rest of the departments leadership, said the letter, which also was signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Patty Murray of Washington and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. They must also have relevant experience in consumer protection or litigation, managing attorneys, and conducting investigations with the highest ethical standards, the senators said. The Obama administration had named FTC veteran Robert Kaye as the first head of the unit. He had been chief litigation counsel for the FTCs Consumer Protection Bureau and manager of the bureaus enforcement division. Kaye left the job in March. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday it may have created as many as 3.5 million checking, savings and credit card accounts without customers authorization over the last eight years a number that is similar to an estimate in a class-action case but one that far exceeds the banks initial accounting of its sham-accounts scandal. The question of just how many unauthorized accounts were created has loomed over the San Francisco institution since it agreed to pay $185 million to regulators after acknowledging the existence of as many as 2.1 million such accounts opened over a four-year period that ended in mid-2015. But this spring, the bank agreed to settle several class-action lawsuits over the matter for $142 million, and the plaintiffs attorneys who negotiated the deal estimated that some 3.5 million accounts were created since 2002. Advertisement The bank on Thursday released a statement, based on a long-awaited independent report it had commissioned from accounting firm PwC, that concluded as many as 3.5 million sham accounts were created, though in a shorter time period dating from January 2009. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan, in a conference call, called the new figure a reminder of the disappointment we caused to customers and investors, adding the bank lacked the records to expand the review to an earlier date. Though the new, larger figure was not a total surprise, it gave new ammunition to critics of the bank. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) renewed her call for the Federal Reserve to oust more members of Wells Fargos board over the still-growing scandal. And Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), the ranking Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that the bank should be broken up. Wells Fargos misdeeds are egregious, and they must be held accountable for their many abuses of American consumers, Waters said. Wells Fargo has made a routine practice of ripping off and preying on their customers, in a seemingly never-ending avalanche of scandals. Indeed, the larger sham accounts figure is only the latest in a series of admissions, mea culpas and management changes the company has made as it continues to try to put the scandal behind it. Over the last six weeks alone, the bank has admitted charging hundreds of thousands of auto loan customers for insurance policies they didnt need, reported that federal regulators are looking into claims mortgage borrowers were forced to pay excessive fees and has been sued over allegations that its credit-card processing division gouged small-business customers. Amid the seemingly unending stream of bad news, the bank announced in August that Stephen Sanger, a longtime board member who took over as the banks chairman in the early days of the scandal, will step down at the end of the year. His departure and that of two other long-serving directors mark the highest-profile exits from the bank since former Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf resigned about a month after the Sept. 8 settlement. Wells Fargos practices were first uncovered in a 2013 Los Angeles Times story that found workers, faced with overbearing pressure from management, were creating sham accounts so they could meet sales goals. In many cases, customers paid fees on those unauthorized accounts or faced potential damage to their credit scores because of unapproved credit inquiries and unknown fees. After the story, Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer began investigating the bank, and his office sued Wells Fargo in 2015. The $185-million settlement was shared by Feuers office and two federal regulators: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Soon after, during a bruising Capitol Hill hearing, then-CEO Stumpf said the bank would review accounts created as far back as 2009 and as recently as September 2016. The new estimate of 3.5 million potentially unauthorized accounts is based on that review, which looked at more than 165 million accounts. The review found that 190,000 of those accounts incurred fees or charges, up from an earlier estimate of 130,000 accounts. The study also found that about 528,000 accounts were potentially enrolled in online bill pay without customers knowledge or consent. The bank said it would refund $910,000 to those customers who incurred fees or charges. Payouts from the $142-million class-action settlement would be on top of those refunds. The bank had known for weeks that the new review would identify a larger number of potentially unauthorized accounts. Last week, Sloan sent a letter to employees warning that there would be a wave of news coverage after the announcement of the new figures. The results of our reviews will generate news headlines, Sloan wrote, 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. Still, despite the expanded review, it remains unclear exactly how many unauthorized accounts were created in all. Sloan said the bank could only review back to 2009 because that is the year it acquired Charlotte-based bank Wachovia. That was a big demarcation in terms of data, Sloan said. The farther you go back, the data is just not as available or of as high quality. The ongoing scandal has taken a toll on the banks retail business, which has seen fewer customers open new accounts than in the past. In January, the bank announced a plan to trim expenses by $2 billion by 2018, and in May, it announced plans to cut $2 billion more by the end of 2019. Wells Fargo shares fell 29 cents, or 0.6%, to $51.07 on Thursday, their lowest point since late last year. Analysts who follow the bank said they werent surprised by Thursdays announcement, but theyre still waiting to see what other bad practices the bank may divulge and how management and the board will handle new developments. Cathy Seifert, an analyst at research firm CFRA, said its inevitable that there will be more bad news. More stuff is going to come out, she said. The question is, what is the board going to do, and what will regulators do? james.koren@latimes.com samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @jrkoren Twitter: @smasunaga ALSO Opinion: Stop the next Wells Fargo scandal before it happens Wells Fargo hit with class-action lawsuit over mortgage lock-in fees Wells Fargo charged customers for unneeded auto insurance then repossessed their cars UPDATES: 9:10 a.m.: This article was updated with more information about the independent review and details from a conference call held Thursday morning. 7:30 a.m.: This article was updated with more information about the independent review and background information. 6:40 a.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan and more findings from the independent review. This article was originally published at 6:20 a.m. Chemical engineering researcher-turned-entrepreneur Lu Yin isnt the kind of arresting public speaker who can blow anyone away with his charisma or magnetism. That mattered little on Friday, when Yin, 22, pitched his battery tech company, Ocella, to a panel of judges in the semi-final portion of San Diegos Quick Pitch competition. Now Ocella is charging into the final round a pitch-off against nine other area startups where $50,000 is on the line with the type of mind-bending technology that might make Yins lack of panache irrelevant. Perhaps the only real challenge for Yin will be explaining Ocellas invention, a patented ink formulation for making long-lasting, stretchable batteries, in terms that regular folks, and not scientists, can grasp. Basically, Yin and co-founder Rajan Kumar, 25, have discovered a way to turn everyday surfaces, think clothes and walls, into battery-powered devices. The ink theyve engineered can be printed on to vests, jackets, shirts and the like using standard silk-screen printers. Or it can be painted on to walls. Advertisement These guys didnt invent e-textiles, by any means. They have an ink formulation process, which from I understand, can be incorporated into electronics that go into textiles, said Russell Hall, a Tech Coast Angels member and investor who judged Fridays semi-final event. What really resonated with me is that this is very much the path to the future. And, if you believe the companys co-founders, the future is now. Yin and Kumar, who invented the technology at UCSD and are advised by experts in the field, claim to have a working prototype. They are potentially six months away from perfecting the ink formula so that, beyond stretching, its printable batteries would be washable and safe for skin contact. People have been working on stretchable electronics for a while, but their approach is usually using the structure of the battery itself. So you can create wrinkles on batteries so when you stretch the wrinkles reach each end, Yin said. Another existing approach involves whats called an island-bridge configuration, where the non-stretchable functional part is connected through serpentine structures that deform during stretching, he said. But those things either are too expensive to manufacture or waste a lot of area due to the contact structures they require, Yin said. With our formula, we make the battery internally stretchable. The main value, said Yin, is that Ocella can design batteries around products as opposed to designing products around batteries. The applications are vast, and range from extending the life of common devices to powering military communications in the field. If you attach an Ocella battery to an Apple Watch band, it can increase the devices capacity by 25 percent to 50 percent, Yin said as an example. But direct-to-consumer-availability is not in the works. Of course the startup, which only officially branched off from a UCSD research project to a company this past March, is thinking along those lines. To start, however, it plans to forge partnerships with manufacturers and the military. Already the company has fielded interest from some of the largest apparel companies and consumer electronics brands, Yin said without disclosing specifics. Hall believes this is the right approach for the startup. Thats a smart move, he said of Ocellas licensing approach. Why wouldnt you have Nike invest in the necessary technology to incorporate your patented ink process, versus trying to do it yourself? But there are potential obstacles. One being financing, and the other being the patented ink formula. Ocella has raised roughly $100,000, and isnt looking for venture capital right now. But that will change as soon as the company exits its research-and-development stage. In addition, Ocellas intellectual property is technically owned by UCSD, where it was developed, which means the company must negotiate licensing rights. The ownership structure complicates talks with would-be investors and partners. The IP is always the first thing we get asked about, Yin said. Weve signed a letter of intent and were now talking about the terms to license the IP with exclusive rights. The IP issue will likely be a non-factor at the Oct. 5 Quick Pitch finals, where Ocella can win a portion of the $50,000 pot if Yin can craft a good narrative. Hell have just two minutes to impress an auditorium of peers, investors and business leaders, who vote to determine the three companies that end up with the cash prizes. My advice is (for Yin) to try and entertain the audience, because this competition is about showmanship and inspiration, as much as anything, Hall said. He certainly has the necessary content to deliver. But he needs to, in my opinion, come out of his shell a little bit. Related: San Diegan seeks to build a better Yelp Business jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin Encinitas took the first step Wednesday night toward ending its citywide election system for City Council members and replacing it with a district-based system. By voting to start the research process to create individual districts for council members, the City Council joined many other elected bodies in California that are changing the way they handle municipal elections, including Oceanside, Carlsbad and Poway. The city is making the change in response to threats of litigation from Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman, who contends that at-large election systems dilute the votes of minorities and thus violate the states Voting Rights Act of 2001. Advertisement Though the Encinitas City Council unanimously agreed to spend up to $195,000 for research and publicity related to dividing the city into election districts, the council members all said theyd rather not be forced to make the change and some said the city should consider trying its luck in court by fighting to keep the current system. I think its worth defending, Councilman Tony Kranz said. Kranz, along with Councilman Joe Mosca and Councilman Mark Muir, said he wanted to privately talk with a city-hired attorney to get more information related to the citys legal prospects, but a closed-to-the-public session hadnt been scheduled that night. Mayor Catherine Blakespear and Councilwoman Tasha Boerner Horvath said the council already had hosted several closed session meetings on the topic in the weeks since the city received Shenkmans letter in July and the citys prospects for winning in court look dismal. Its not a question of, Is it fair? Is it right? It comes down to, Can we win? Boerner Horvath said. Blakespear, an attorney, noted that no city in California has yet won California Voting Rights Act-related case and said Encinitas was likely to lose $2 million or even $3 million in a failed attempt to fight a lawsuit. The city of Palmdale lost $4.5 million in its losing effort to retain citywide elections. Encinitas prospects are particularly grim, Blakespear added, because the city lacks a current, state-certified housing plan that addresses the needs of low-income residents. The citys failure in that regard has already made it the subject of multiple lawsuits in recent years, and Shenkman would likely use this to his advantage, she said. In its decision to start the district-voting process Wednesday night, the council agreed to: Spend up to $45,000 for an independent consultant to research the city census data and draft proposed district boundaries Added $150,000 into the general fund budget for legal services, publication costs and other expenses associated with making the transition Backed a proposed timeline for public meetings and other events related to the process. Plans call for the city to host a series of meetings, starting with one on Sept. 6. The proposed maps spelling out how the city could be divided into districts are expected to be published in late September, and the city council could be asked to pick from the various district map options in November. If the city makes the shift, voters would likely experience the new system in the November 2018 election. The city would likely be divided into four districts and voters would be electing only one council representative someone who lives in their new district area, council members said. Cities have typically kept the mayors post as an at-large spot, meaning that people in all four Encinitas districts would be able to vote on who gets to be mayor. Before their decision Wednesday night, the council heard from nine public speakers, many of them active in city politics and all but one of them opposed to the district-based system. Former Encinitas mayor Sheila Cameron and former councilmember Lisa Shaffer urged the council to go to court to keep the citys current system, saying a district-based system would be harmful to the towns cohesion and encourage divisions between neighborhoods. Shaffer said that even if it cost $1 million to fight the lawsuit, I think it would be $1 million well spent, while Cameron said Encinitas shouldnt let itself get pushed around by a lawyer who goes around threatening sue everybody. Have the courage to fight it for Gods sake, Cameron said. But Joan Grosewisch, a New Encinitas area resident, said she thought the shift to a district-based system could have a huge benefit for the New Encinitas region along El Camino Real. Its an often-forgotten area and if its residents had a designated council representative, they would have a bigger voice in city affairs, she said. Cannabis consumers, consultants and dispensary representatives offered their ideas this week on how Oceanside can create a medical marijuana ordinance unique to its needs. The real issue is going to be on the dispensary side, said Oceanside Councilman Jerry Kern. Hes one of four members of the citys medical marijuana ad hoc committee, which is ironing out details of the proposed legalization. Oceanside allows medical marijuana deliveries but has no legal dispensaries in the city. Advertisement Dispensaries carry a stigma, and most people dont want them near their homes, parks, churches or schools. Some fear dispensaries attract crime or simply a bad element of society. However, people who oppose the shops might agree to allow marijuana cultivation, testing or delivery. This is probably the most intense part of the process, Kern said Wednesday. Its a workable deal, but there still are concerns. Like many California cities, Oceanside is working to pass local legislation that will supersede the new state marijuana laws that take effect in January. Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista and Solana Beach have approved or proposed ordinances to keep cannabis illegal. So far in the county only San Diego has a plan for legalization, and La Mesa has indicated it may favor cultivation. However, a San Diego-based group called the Association of Cannabis Professionals is working for widespread legalization with an effort to place marijuana initiatives on ballots in cities across the county. The group needs the signatures of at least 15 percent of a citys registered voters to require a special election, or 10 percent of registered voters to get on the ballot of the next regular election, which will be Nov. 6, 2018. Oceanside is trying to stay ahead of both the new state law and the Cannabis Professionals by crafting its own ordinance for some form of legalization. Leading that effort is the ad hoc committee of Kern, acting Mayor Chuck Lowery, patient advocate Gloria Ryan and physician Wendy Wiehl. Oceansides City Council has been divided on the issue so far, with Kern and Lowery favoring legalization, and Jack Feller and Esther Sanchez opposed. Mayor Jim Wood, whos been out on a long-term medical leave, also has opposed legalization. The council approved deliveries last year on a 3-2 vote with Feller and Wood opposed. Several prominent members of Oceansides farming community have spoken strongly in favor of marijuana cultivation. They say it could replace crops such as strawberries and avocados that are being driven away by the high costs of land, water and labor. The county Farm Bureau also strongly supports legalized cultivation. The citys ad hoc committee has courted public participation with about a dozen community meetings so far, and Tuesdays session had about 100 participants, nearly all favoring legalization. Kern said he hopes that by cultivating popular support and tailoring the ordinance to local needs, the committee can win a third council members vote. If we come up with a good ordinance, we can probably get support, Kern said. Cannabis consultant Robbin Lynn suggested at the committees meeting Tuesday that Oceanside could use a dispensary model with two separate locations. Patients with a valid California recommendation for marijuana would go to one public location for consultations, selections and to make an order. The order would be transmitted to a second, private location used for bulk storage and delivery. Legal dispensaries are far more safe than illegal ones, Lynn said, and thousands of them operate across the country with few problems and little media attention. Its time to take local control and regulate, Lynn said. Its happening in cities across California. Other speakers Tuesday included Michelle Giberti, a co-owner of the Oceanside 420 Alternative Medicine Evaluation Center, and Michelle McKechnie, who operates Oceanside only licensed medical marijuana delivery service. Giberti said her business, which specializes in medical marijuana evaluations, has served more than 11,000 patients. McKechnie said she delivers medical marijuana from 420 Central, one of 14 licensed dispensaries in Santa Ana. The product is delivered in an opaque container without advertising, and with a printed receipt stapled to the bag. Legalization sets strict guidelines and will gradually eliminate bad operators, she said. philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phildiehl When it came to his vision for just the right restaurant in Pacific Beach, Mark Oliver asked himself a couple of rhetorical questions. People want to eat healthy, he recalled thinking at the time, and what is the image that San Diego has? Mexican and seafood. And what can you do that combines those types of food? The answer to the second question, which turned out to be restaurateur Olivers inspiration, is Pueblo. Advertisement Serving what he calls Baja Coastal cuisine, the restaurant and bar in the upscaled, remodeled digs of what once was the China Inn on P.B.s Hornblend Street, opened last November and has been steadily building a following of locals and visitors ever since. The airy, contemporary venue with its soothing Southwestern accents includes first-floor patio seating and two bars, one indoors and the other on a rooftop deck where by day customers can bask in the sun. I tried to do something that would feel like a Baja resort in terms of design, said Oliver, who is operator and managing partner in Pueblos ownership group. He calls Pueblos ambience casual sophistication. People come in shorts and flip-flops. But youre not out of place if you are dressed up. Oliver, who was born and raised in San Diego and who earned a degree in accounting from San Diego State University, is not out of place in the restaurant business. For 20 years, he was a partner with George Hauer in the perennially popular Georges at the Cove in La Jolla before deciding to strike out on his own. After six years at the helm of the Randy Jones All-American Grill in Mission Valleys Hazard Center, Oliver started looking for something else to do by mid-2014. I hung out in P.B. a lot, said the La Jolla resident, and felt the area was underserved. I decided Pacific Beach could use a place that was more food-forward, more sophisticated. After assembling a group of investors, Oliver located the China Inn space, which had closed. Olivers group purchased the shuttered eaterys liquor license and then spent two years rebuilding and remodeling at a cost he estimated at around $3.5 million. Oliver was up for the challenge. I had a chance to design something from scratch, he said. My vision for the restaurant was that it would be an adult venue in Pacific Beach. Were not designed to compete with the bars that serve food. We had no ambition of being a nightclub. This is a nice place to come to eat, drink and relax with an adult clientele. For the youth demographic that is so prominent in the P.B. area, Pueblo is a date night place, Oliver said, emphasizing that the majority of his customers are late 20s, young professionals on up. Though not located on the heavily trafficked (by cars and pedestrians) Garnet Avenue to the north, the 8,000-square-foot Pueblo boasts parking all around us, Oliver said of the location one block off Garnet and one block off Mission Boulevard. I thought this was a great place to be. I could not have done this on Garnet and gotten the same crowd. But location aside, every new restaurant is judged by its cuisine, and its this Baja Coastal menu of which Oliver is most proud. What were doing in the culinary world is known as Baja Med (as in Mediterranean) contemporary Mexican food with Italian, French and Spanish cooking styles, techniques and recipes, he explained. Its the influence of those four cuisines. Were not an Old World Mexican restaurant. I tell people where we are different is beans and rice dont come on every plate. Were seafood-driven, and were chef-driven. The menu changes all the time. Driving that cuisine, if you will, is chef Eduardo Rosales, who is originally from Santiago, Chile, and who, Pueblos website recounts, began cooking at 8 years old when he did so for his grandparents. For more than a dozen years, Rosales was chef instructor at Mexicos Culinary Art School, which is based just across the border in Tijuana. When he heard what I was doing (at Pueblo), he was super excited, remembered Oliver, because Baja Med was what he was doing. A glance at Pueblos extensive menu confirms Olivers description of the cuisine as a bold bringing together of Mexican and seafood. Its dinner entrees from the sea, for example, include a succulent lobster prepared in the Puerto Nuevo style; Shrimp Santiago prepared with spinach pasta, peas, pea-chive sauce, Parmesan and mesquite bacon; and Salmon Sur that incorporates Poblano Salsa with quinoa, shiitake and enoki mushrooms and fresh vegetables. And, in line with Olivers insistence on all dishes being fresh fresh fresh, Pueblo serves up a daily market fish dish, fresh as can be. Youll find on Pueblos menus some items familiar to Mexican restaurant-goers, such as carne asada, carnitas and even tacos, but each one receives Chef Rosales eclectic touch. The restaurant is also proving popular for its agave-inspired cocktails, margaritas and sangrias. Now, about that Pueblo name I needed a name that said Mexican, for one, Oliver said. When you look at the history of San Diego and how it was settled by the Spanish, there was a system of settlement: the church, the presidio and the pueblo, which was the village, the community. Its that feeling of community, so important to the identity of Pacific Beach, that Oliver aims to nurture at Pueblo. Pueblo Where: 877 Hornblend St., Pacific Beach Phone: (858) 412-3312 Online: pueblopb.com Coddon is a freelance writer. Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com La Jolla Playhouse has unveiled the full lineup for the 2017 Without Walls Festival, the third edition of the theaters celebration of immersive and site-specific art. As announced previously, the festival will take place Oct. 19-22, mostly in and around downtown San Diego. The fest, whose new director is Meiyin Wang, features a wide range of both San Diego-based and international artists. And it boasts such WoW returnees as Basil Twist, the Playhouses 2017 artist-in-residence, whose new piece FAETOPIA: A Faerie Flash Mob is presented in partnership with the New Childrens Museum. Advertisement Other newly announced WoW projects include Shasta Geaux Pop, by the New York-based artists Ayesha Jordan and Charlotte Brathwaite; 4x4 TJ Night, by the Tijuana-based Lux Boreal Dance Company; Waking La Llorona, from Optika Moderna and David Israel Reynoso (of the Playhouses 2015 WOW Festival piece Healing Wars); And Then You Wait, by University of California San Diego graduate students Dylan Key and Lily Padilla; OSLO, by San Diegos Max Robert Daily; and CVRTAIN, by L.A.s Yehuda Duenyas. All of those will unfold at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights, with CVRTAIN hosted by the Athenaeum Arts Center space inside the venue. Also announced: The Quiet Volume by the UK-based Ant Hampton and Tim Etchells, taking place at the San Diego Public Library; and Among Us, a walking piece by the L.A.-based Dutch director Marike Splint that begins at Horton Plaza Park. Twists whimsical 10-minute piece will have multiple daily performances Oct. 21-22 as part of the festivals Family Days. The artist, whose credits include the robots for the Playhouses 2012 world-premiere musical Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, will be joined by puppeteers from the San Diego Guild of Puppetry, as well as the UC San Diego percussion ensemble red fish blue fish. Family Days also will offer art-making activities and creation stations presented by the Timken Museum of Art, the Mingei International Museum and the Museum of Photographic Arts. Those activities will take place at Museum Park across from the childrens museum. The just-announced works join the fests six previously unveiled projects: Gob Squad Arts Collectives Super Night Shot at the San Diego Public Library; Mimi Liens Model Home at Horton Plaza Park; So Say We Alls Incoming: Sex, Drugs and Copenhagen at Border X Brewing; The Quest 3.0 at the New Childrens Museum; Sledgehammer Theatres Under Construction: An American Masque at Bread & Salt; and Trisha Brown Dance Companys In Plain Site, presented by ArtPower. Tickets are now on sale, and range in price from free to $35; call (858) 550-1010 or go to WOWFestival.org, which has complete details on fest events and times. jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @jimhebert No, there wont be turkey bacon (the organizers refuse to acknowledge its existence). And, no, there will be no vegetarian options. Be prepared to partake in the saltiness and smokiness from the belly of the porker with an entire day filled with bacon and beer at the San Diego Bacon Fest. VIP guests can get in a whole 90 minutes before everyone else to sample the beer and food, plus they get a Brew Sling to hold their beer around their neck while they eat. Some of the types of food available on site include Greek, sushi, burgers (made with bacon), cupcakes and hot dogs, along with a slew of breweries. The samples are unlimited, so eat and drink to your hearts content. (Must be 21 or older to attend, and no designated driver admission is available.) San Diego Bacon Fest: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Preble Field at NTC Park, 2600 Cushing Road, Liberty Station in Point Loma. $55-$90. sdbaconfest.com. Advertisement Two amphibious ships carrying Marines are enroute today to help with hurricane relief in Texas, while Navy search-and-rescue helicopters have been plucking people from flood waters since Monday. The amphibious carrier Kearsarge and its partner ship, Oak Hill, will leave bases in Virginia today along with Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The ships -- which usually carry Marines and their Humvees and helicopters to the battlefield are capable of providing air support, medical aid, maritime security and logistics help. Advertisement Photos of the preparations show Marines loading heavy trucks into a ship. Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day Two Navy helicopter squadrons have been helping in Texas since Monday. On the first day of search-and-rescue operations, Navy teams made 227 rescues including 11 dogs and a cat during 37 flight hours. On Wednesday, the Navy helicopters went back in for 58 rescues all made from chest-deep water via the aircrafts hoists, a Navy spokesman said Thursday. In a sign of the dramatic conditions on the ground, one of those rescues was a 93-year-old woman. Another was a pregnant woman, said Navy Cmdr. David Hecht. The Virginia-based units are Helicopter Sea Combat squadrons 7 and 28. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal jen.steele@sduniontribune.com Facebook: U-T Military Twitter: @jensteeley As a blistering heat wave gripped California this week, firefighters statewide tackled massive wildfires that forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Temperatures across California were expected to surpass the 100-degree mark Thursday as strong winds in the western half of the state triggered red flag warnings and posed a significant danger to firefighters. Across the state, firefighters were battling 16 wildfires some as small as 29 acres and as large as 68,400 acres. Advertisement Increased large wildfire activity across Northern California & the Sierra Nevada (August 31) #cawildfires pic.twitter.com/hhFTQXUAcy USFS Fire-California (@R5_Fire_News) August 31, 2017 Hot, dry & increased north winds in the western portion of interior NorCal today-Sat. Red Flag warning in effect. 1 less spark, 1 less fire! pic.twitter.com/nMV5TC44sj NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) August 31, 2017 In Butte County, more than 1,100 firefighters who are tackling the Ponderosa fire trudged through rugged woodlands east of Oroville in broiling temperatures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The heat does not work in our favor by any means, said Paul Lowenthal, a Cal Fire spokesman. Fire crews had hoped to make significant gains battling the blaze overnight, but weather conditions remained hot and dry. The destructive wildfire, which is 10% contained, swelled to 3,500 acres overnight and continued to threaten hundreds of homes in its path. The fast-growing blaze has already destroyed 30 structures, including 10 homes near Feather Falls. As flames inched closer to homes Wednesday, a new round of evacuation orders was given to residents living in the communities of Berry Creek, Brush Creek and Mountain House. Authorities estimated at least 1,500 residents received evacuation orders since the blaze started Tuesday afternoon, but not everyone has heeded the warnings, Lowenthal said. Cal Fire said the blaze was started by an out-of-control campfire that was ignited outside a designated campground and allowed to escape. John Ballenger, a 29-year-old Oroville resident, was arrested on suspicion of recklessly starting the campfire, Cal Fire said. Elsewhere, firefighters were scrambling to get a handle on a massive wildfire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The Helena fire started just after 5 p.m. Wednesday about 59 miles northwest of Redding and scorched 5,000 acres. About 2,000 residents between the town of Helena and Oregon Mountain Summit were forced to flee as the blaze exploded amid terrain-driven winds, according to the U.S. Forest Service. CAL FIRE is assisting @ShastaTrinityNF with a wildfire off Hwy 299 near town of Helena (Trinity County) #HelenaFire https://t.co/6a4MMNeyrp pic.twitter.com/yrzpN1GBCu CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 31, 2017 As the blaze burned along both sides of the Trinity River, firefighters also tackled flames along Highway 299, prompting authorities to close a portion of the road. Meanwhile, the Forest Service also deployed a group of smoke jumpers, who parachuted into the burn area. The cause of the fire was not known. On the northern edge of California, the 64,400-acre Eclipse Complex fire was formed from at least four wildfires that were sparked by lightning on Aug. 15 in Klamath National Forest. Burning in remote forestland, the wildfire is about 70 miles west of Yreka, Calif. veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA Less than five years after it started offering hospice care, Scripps Health is poised to shutter the service, notifying patients that they will need to find new providers by mid-September. Its a significant change of course for an organization that has been committed to providing end-of-life care since it stepped in when San Diego Hospice went bankrupt in 2013. Today, 114 county residents most who receive care in their homes must choose a new hospice company by Sept. 4. Scripps is working with Escondido-based Elizabeth Hospice, which has expanded its service area to San Diego in recent years and has agreed to hire its employees. However, patients and their families are free to select whichever service they want. Advertisement Scripps Chief Executive Chris Van Gorder said Wednesday that his organization is following the law, which requires patients to be presented with a range of local hospice companies that can take over their care. We will work with whoever the patient selects to make sure there is as smooth a transition as possible, Van Gorder said. There is no transfer of cash from one organization to the other, Van Gorder added. Elizabeth, he said, pays nothing for Scripps recommendation. The company has agreed to hire all of Scripps Hospices 111 workers, including the doctors who oversee day-to-day care, he added. Jan Jones, Elizabeths president, confirmed that arrangement. Patients who choose Elizabeth, Van Gorder said, should be able to keep their current caregivers. While 111 workers might seem like a lot for 114 patients, Scripps daily census ran between 150 and 180 before it stopped admitting new patients on Aug. 23. Staff-to-patient ratios are also high because hospice services run 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Weve made offers to each of their employees and most of our offers have been accepted, Jones said, adding that her operation currently has about 500 hospice patients receiving services throughout San Diego County and in southeast Riverside County. Scripps, which operates five hospitals and a slew of outpatient offices across San Diego County, is exiting the hospice business for financial reasons. Van Gorder said that the service has never reached a break-even point, let alone even minor profitability, since the company purchased a small Poway-based hospice in 2013 and began accepting transfers from San Diego Hospice while the organization was under bankruptcy protection. Weve lost between $2 million and $3 million per year, Van Gorder said. That amount, he added, has totaled nearly $14 million including a projected $3 million loss this year. While that amount might seem like a rounding error for an organization that lists $2.1 billion in investments on its balance sheet and $2.7 billion in expenses last year, Van Gorder said changes to the way health providers are reimbursed have recently put a crimp on operating revenue. The organization is still profitable, but margins are not as wide as they once were. He said he must consider the big picture for his entire organization, and a set of interlocking needs in the future, in deciding which services to continue and which to drop. In some cases, he noted, he has no choice. Every hospital is required, for example, to treat every patient that walks into its emergency room regardless of whether or not they have the ability to pay. In terms of hospice, he said, he was not sure that Scripps could provide the service any better than Elizabeth Hospice does at a lower cost. We dont enter any business like this with an intent to make a profit, but we also cant afford to be running services at a loss when somebody else in the community can run it well, Van Gorder said. Elizabeth Hospice, though it is much larger than the Scripps operation, also faced losses from 2012 through 2015 but Jones said the operation broke even in 2016 and generated a slight profit in 2017. Jones said that nearly 40 years running a hospice service has taught the organization to watch its expenses very carefully. We operate lean but we also operate very much with mission, Jones said. This is our total focus. In general, hospices tend to operate with single-digit margins, said Jonathan Keyserling, senior vice president for communication and policy at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. He added that there is a nationwide consolidation trend underway. We are seeing smaller hospices form alliances, join up together or merge to achieve some economies of scale in order to purchase equipment and other supplies such as prescription drugs, Keyserling said. Today, he said, Medicare pays between $140 and $180 per day for hospice care when a doctor certifies that they have six or fewer months of life left. People dont realize it, but when a hospice accepts a patient under Medicare or Medicaid, theyre responsible for all of the goods and services, any equipment supplies and all of the drugs related to their care, Keyserling said. Just like the rest of health care, hospice programs are feeling the effects of cost increases whether its labor, supplies or gasoline. Scripps exit does not appreciably diminish the supply of hospices operating in the region. Hospice Compare, and online database maintained by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, lists 143 organizations serving the San Diego region, though most are based outside the area. The database also rates hospice performance nationwide and both Scripps and Elizabeth Hospice bested national averages in all categories in the most recent survey period. Those categories range from whether patients were checked for pain at the beginning of their care to whether they got timely treatment for shortness of breath. Today, the local hospice landscape is much different than it was prior to 2013 when San Diego Hospice was still operating and had about 1,000 people on service at any given time. The nonprofit had an international reputation for training physicians in hospice practice, drawing fellows to its Hillcrest facility perched near the edge of the bluffs that overlook Mission Valley. The 24-bed facility opened in 1992 with the help of a $18.5 million grant from the late Joan Kroc, the philanthropist and wife of McDonalds chief, Ray Kroc, and former owner of the San Diego Padres. Scripps purchased the facility during the San Diego Hospice bankruptcy auction for $16.55 million and recently sold it to a Texas real estate development company for $20 million. The company plans to build apartments on the 8-acre property which has sweeping views across Mission Valley and Mission Bay all the way to the Pacific. The property is home to tributes to hundreds of San Diegans who died at the hospice. Anyone who wants to remove their loved-ones memorial from the property before construction begins can contact Scripps coordinator Jamie Nelson at nelson-jamie@scrippshealth.org or (858) 678-6340. Some are not taking the sale too kindly. Peter Jensen, whose wife, Janeen, died seven years ago at the hospice, said he does not think Scripps should profit from selling a property that has a philanthropic focus over the years from Krocs large bequest to smaller gifts memorialized in tributes placed throughout the grounds. If theyre going to sell it at a profit, I hope they donate it to the next hospice facility that gets built, he said. Van Gorder said proceeds from the property sale are being put toward rebuilding Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest, which does not meet state seismic safety requirements and must be replaced or repaired by 2030. We have been providing community benefit through the hospice that we have been running at a loss for the last four years. I respect that opinion, but the money is going to go back into health services for the community, Van Gorder said. To use the building for inpatient care, millions in additional upgrades would have been required. San Diego Hospice, he said, did not have to make similar upgrades because it had obtained a special grandfathered status that did not transfer with the sale in 2013. Of course, the parcel never would have been sold at auction if not for San Diego Hospices run-in with the federal government, which was investigating allegations of Medicare overbilling. Eventually, the federal government filed a claim for $112 million that made it impossible for the nonprofit to survive. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Prototypes for President Donald Trumps border wall may be completed by the end of October. After months of delay, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it had selected four vendors to build prototypes of their proposed concrete walls in the San Diego area. Up to four selected proposals for alternative building materials will be announced later. None of the finalists are San Diego-based. Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Alabama, Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. of Tempe, Arizona, Texas Sterling Construction Co., of Houston and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Philadelphia, Mississippi were chosen. They were awarded between just under $400,000 and about $500,000 each. Advertisement The prototypes will be built near the Otay Mesa port of entry. They will be 30 feet long and up to 30 feet high. U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said he expected construction to begin in a couple of weeks, and companies will have 30 days to complete their projects. Once they are finished, border experts will test the walls for aesthetics, anti-climbing features, resistance to tampering and penetrability with small hand tools. Contractors are also required to account for other technological features, like sensors, cameras and lighting, that would accompany the physical walls. Theres a more holistic view here, Vitiello said. This is a much safer environment than what weve planned for before. After testing, Border Patrol may choose to leave the structures in place, move them or get rid of them, Vitiello said. Contractors will be responsible for providing their own security, according to Joshua Wilson, spokesman for the San Diego chapter of the National Border Patrol Council. Because they will be building so close to the border, Wilson said, Border Patrol will also be monitoring the area. There has been a lot of planning thats gone into this, Wilson said, adding that he couldnt go into specifics. All the appropriate measures are being taken. For residents who live near the construction site, Wilson said he would expect increased traffic in the area though he did not know of any scheduled road closures. Were looking forward to the construction of an improved physical barrier, and were quite interested to see what kind of innovation private industry is going to bring to the process, Wilson said. Its going to mean increased border security and enhanced public safety. Prototype construction was initially scheduled for June but was pushed back to November after two companies questioned their exclusion from a list of finalists. The last of those protests were dismissed on Friday by the federal agency responsible for reviewing them. The prototype project could still face further delays. Companies that believe they were wrongfully left out of the running will have another chance to protest, which would put an additional pause on construction. Arizona-based environmental advocacy group, the Center for Biological Diversity, has already filed a lawsuit over the planned prototypes and wall extensions. Since former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly implemented a waiver to avoid delays caused by required environmental reviews, the center has been working on an amendment to its case to challenge the waiver in court. A hearing for the case is scheduled in mid-December, but given the construction timeline, Brian Segee, a senior attorney working on the case, said that the center will ask a judge to block construction until the case is decided. The group is concerned about several endangered species that would be affected by prototype and actual wall construction, including the checkerspot butterfly, coastal California gnatcatcher and San Diego fairy shrimp. The butterfly cant fly very high, Segee said, so even though it has wings, walls meeting the projects height requirements would cut it off from migration to Baja. Thats not the only environmental danger, Segee said. Much of the existing border barriers were built using similar waivers that skirted environmental review. The government went forward blindly with construction and has largely kept the blindfold on after construction, Segee said . Thats a byproduct of lawless border wall building. We know much less than we should about the impacts of the existing wall. Some, including Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, criticized the administration for making the announcement so soon after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. He also thought that other border issues, like sewage in the Tijuana river, would be a better use of the funding. Ramirez, who is against building a border wall, was skeptical that, with acting heads of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, the Trump administration would be able to meet the timeline outlined with the announced contracts. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter For many dreamers, questions about the fate of a program that protects them from deportation have morphed from Will he or wont he? to When? as rumors grow that President Donald Trump may end the program as soon as this week. From Californias attorney general to a UC San Diego professor, those hoping to protect dreamers have rallied to defend the deferred action for childhood arrivals, or DACA, program, created under former President Barack Obama. Those who supported Trump for his immigration campaign platform are hoping that the current president will keep his promise to get rid of the program. Unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and meet certain education and security requirements can apply for DACA, which gives them two-year, renewable protection from deportation and lets them work legally in the U.S. Advertisement 1 / 28 Vianey Martinez from Normal Heights is recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and came out to show support for todays rally at the County Administration building on Tuesday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 28 Christian Ramirez spoke to the crowd at the County Administration building before turning over the rally to DACA recipients. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 28 Standing on the step to the County Administration building, several groups address the crowd during a rally to show support for DACA. Included in the group were many individual recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 28 Sophie Thompson from Clairemont came out to support for DACA at Tuesdays rally held in front of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 28 Brisa Johnson shared a song during Tuesdays rally for DACA at the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 28 Supporters made signs before the start of Tuesday rally for DACA in front of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 28 Supporters for DACA listened to various guest speakers during a rally held on the steps of the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 28 Stephanie Garper recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and came out to show support for todays rally at the County Administration building on Tuesday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 28 Standing on the step to the County Administration building, several groups address the crowd during a rally to show support for DACA. Included in the group were many individual recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 28 Brisa Johnson shared a song during Tuesdays rally for DACA at the County Administration building. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 28 People protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway in front the Westfield North County shopping mall. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 28 Diana Solano holds a sign as she and other people protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway in front the Westfield North County shopping mall in Escondido. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 28 People protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway in front the Westfield North County shopping mall. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 28 Melinda Nieto uses a loudspeaker to yell chants as she and other people protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway in front the Westfield North County shopping mall. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 28 A motorist gives a thumbs up in support of people protesting President Trumps decision to end the DACA program. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 28 A motorist gives a thumbs down in disagreement of people protesting President Trumps decision to end the DACA program. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 28 A cyclist shows his support for people protesting President Trumps decision to end the DACA program. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 28 People protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway in front the Westfield North County shopping mall. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 26 / 28 Christine Jackson uses a loudspeaker as she and other people protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 27 / 28 Kelsey Sportsman holds a sign as she and other people protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 28 / 28 People protest President Trumps decision to end the DACA program while on Via Rancho Parkway. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) Because of a threatened lawsuit from 10 states attorneys general led by Texas, Trump has until Tuesday to decide what to do with the program. Many believe he will make an announcement sooner. If he ends the program, Trump could cut it off all at once or let the permits expire over time. For Jesus Mendez Carbajal, an organizer at Alliance San Diego, planning a rally to defend DACA has kept his mind off more personal concerns, what will happen to him if DACA goes away. Its so very uncertain, Mendez Carbajal said. The tables could turn one way or another or be flipped all together. Mendez Carbajal, 24, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was about 5. Hes trying not to let his fears get to him. We have this looming thing in the air, but theres also this sense of resiliency, Mendez Carbajal said. Earlier this week, he searched daily for updates about what the future holds for people like him. By Wednesday, he made himself stop checking. He has thought about what he will do if DACA ends, he said. When his mind wanders over the possibilities, its a rabbit hole on repeat. One idea that I have is what if I go back to Mexico, what if I take that time to reconnect with my family in Mexico, reconnect with the country, the land. And then I kind of fizzle out of that possibility because I dont know how that would feel, Mendez Carbajal said. And then another thing that I think about is my finances because, to possibly have to go back to working under the table for lower wages, thats connected to paying rent and paying my bills and paying my car. And then I also try to remember that one way or another I, we, will get through this and to also acknowledge whatever comes up as it comes up and to care for myself in that way, too. If DACA ends, he said, he hopes that his fellow dreamers will not self-deport out of fear of what may come next. Do your best to ride the wave of whatever is coming, and stick through to the other side, he said. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that the program is still under review. DACA has about 800,000 participants, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Peter Nunez, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California and a board member at the Center for Immigration Studies, an immigration restrictionist think tank, said hes not holding his breath for Trump to end the program because hes been disappointed by politicians in the past. He is hopeful that Trump will do what he said he would do, and what he sees as an unconstitutional program will soon be gone. Hes on the record his whole campaign saying that he was going to end DACA his first day in office or early in the administration, Nunez said. Now theyre issuing new DACA permits which makes no sense. The president should honor his commitment. Congress, not the president, Nunez said, should decide who can stay in the U.S. Beyond his concerns about the programs constitutionality, Nunez worries that there could be increases in future unauthorized immigration if those here now are allowed to stay. Anytime you provide any benefit to anybody thats here illegally, youre doing nothing more than encouraging more people to come illegally, Nunez said. As harsh as it may seem, the only way to end that message, to create a deterrent to future illegal immigration is to enforce the law. If that means deporting 800,000 people, so be it. Nunez doesnt think the U.S. will actually deport all of the dreamers. He would accept a compromise, he said, if Congress comes up with a bill that gives legal status to dreamers while implementing immigration enforcement measures like e-verify, which electronically checks identities of workers hired in the U.S. He would want the dreamers legal status to be something less than a green card, he said, a new category of immigrant that is not able to sponsor visas for family members. There has to be some significant consequence to whatever relief is granted to the dreamers so that it doesnt encourage more illegal immigration, Nunez said. As politicians across the country made speeches and sent letters to Trump asking him to protect dreamers, Tom Wong, a UC San Diego professor who advised the Obama administration, released a study highlighting dreamers increased economic contributions under DACA. Hourly wages of study participants increased by 69 percent, to $17.46 per hour from $10.29 per hour, and about two-thirds of the participants were able to purchase their first cars because of DACA, Wongs study found. The available evidence couldnt be clearer: DACA positively impacts the lives of recipients, their families, and the American economy more broadly, Wong said. DACA has provided a glimpse of the potential of these young people, and their contributions are continuing to grow. A decision to end DACA now would be a mistake. The Center for American Progress, in another study, estimated that more than 30,000 people per month would lose their jobs if DACA work authorizations expire over time. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking, H.L. Mencken observed a century ago. The 21st-century version of that could be, Conscience is the inner voice that warns that something is always looking with something being technology that grows ever more invasive by the year. While theres plenty of awareness of how tech giants want to vacuum up every bit of information about our online activities to maximize marketing to individuals of products and services they might want, theres not as much recognition of the intensity of their efforts to maximize knowledge of what we do every minute of the day, online or offline. It is this desire that is a key factor in the massive push to perfect facial-recognition technology. Underneath our very noses, there is a facial-recognition arms race going on. Advertisement Slate reported this month that Facebook is ignoring state laws that forbid the compiling of biometric data because it is convinced that DeepFace a deep learning facial recognition system that uses advanced artificial intelligence will be a revenue gusher. Slate wrote that even if ... ... Facebook never sells its biometric data troves and keeps them locked in encrypted storage, the company still stands to turn big profits, as businesses look to tailor ads to specific customers based on their mood, age, eye gaze or other personal attributes that could indicate a propensity to buy. Facebook has innovated heavily in this space. Its worked on a feature that can identify a user even if her face is hidden, drawing from other potentially unique identifiers, like body shape, hair, posture and clothing. Fantastical? Hardly. In 2014, Facebook patented technologies that, according to Slate, can deliver ads based on a persons perceived emotions. Mashables report this week about the new iPhone 8 expected to debut Sept. 12 shows Apple is also very much in the facial-recognition game. The new iPhone reportedly will have a default of automatically scanning the faces of everyone in a room something media leaks suggest it will be able to do even in the dark and while face up on a table. Mashable summed up the downside of more prevalent facial-recognition devices like this: Does this matter to you now? Maybe, maybe not. But it probably will when someone drains your bank account using nothing more than a photo they pulled off your Instagram account. Mashable, like most tech blogs, focused on how facial recognition will be used in lieu of a fingerprint for sign-in or purchase-confirmation purposes. But the Facebook angle that your face offers clues as to what you might be inclined to buy obviously has occurred to Apple as well. If people dont en masse change the default settings on their new iPhones, Apple could be on its way to having a facial database that could someday dwarf Facebooks. And Facebooks database is already so large and its algorithms so proficient that it is quickly able to identify your friends in photos seconds after theyre uploaded. So, yes, there are already algorithms looking at individuals online images to determine if they are depressed or elated or angry and pitch them products based on that conclusion. Are there also algorithms that can determine if someone is intoxicated and pitch her or him products or services that wasted people are most likely to impulse buy online (surveys show buzzed women are into shoes and clothes, while buzzed men prefer wagering and cigarettes)? It seems probable. How long until these algorithms are so prescient that authorities consider anti-BUI (buying under the influence) laws to go along with anti-DUI laws? But the potential issues raised by hyperaccurate facial recognition go far beyond its use as a marketing tool. Kaspersky Lab, the Russian cybersecurity company, used its blog last year to report on the fallout from the FindFace app. It was initially introduced as a way to help users find people on VK.com, Russias version of Facebook, using photos taken on the street. But FindFace quickly became a trolling tool used by cyberbullies to find out the full identities of people they had clashed with online and to try to embarrass them. FindFace users also turned to the tool to try to get the full names of performers in Russian pornography, who typically also have regular jobs and prefer anonymity, and confront them on VK.com. But perhaps the most intriguing use of FindFace, per Kaspersky, was by authorities who were able to gather information on Russian criminals even with the apps mediocre face-recognition capabilities. Which gets to perhaps the most provocative aspect of advances in facial recognition occurring in sync with the development of gigantic databases of images of individuals. A fairly common scene in movie spy thrillers is for computers being able to use photos to quickly find individuals around the world by scanning millions of video feeds. Aha Jason Bourne is at the Rome airport! Such scenes have always seemed on the preposterous side. Britain is perhaps the most heavily surveilled country in the world, with about 6 million closed-circuit TV cameras constantly collecting security video footage. Still, after riots in London in August 2011, it took more than five months to identify suspects. But before long, Bourne-y scenes might not seem preposterous at all. In 2002, the Bush White House launched the Total Information Awareness project to stockpile as much biometric and biographic information as possible on individuals who could be involved in terrorism. After an uproar over privacy concerns, the Bush White House declared the project had been scrapped in 2003. But as former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowdens massive leaks of U.S. intelligence documents showed, the goals of Total Information Awareness remained in place. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that ... The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets. The companies included Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo and Skype which offer services used billions of times a day. U.S. officials insist theyre aware of privacy rights and make distinctions between Americans and non-Americans when stockpiling personal information. But theyre part of the same national security establishment that has long resisted congressional oversight and that disavowed Total Information Awareness tactics even as it ramped them up. If this establishment insisted it hadnt figure out how to listen in on everyone via the microphone on every smartphone, would you believe it? Should you believe it? This context gives a Wild West-quality to where government spying is going or has already gone. If the 16th-century nostrum knowledge itself is power is true, then Americas national security agencies are far and away the most powerful force in world history. This may reassure you if you worry about terrorism or upset you if you worry about civil liberties. But one thing everybody should be able to agree on is this: It sure would be interesting to know which stocks top spies are investing in and whether they run hedge funds on the side. Reed, who doesnt believe hes paranoid, at least based on what he learned in two college psych classes, is the deputy editor of the editorial and opinion pages. Have an idea for a topic that could use this sort of treatment? Send an email to chris.reed@sduniontribune.com. Twitter: @chrisreed99 Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion A new study finds that nearly 460,000 people in San Diego County including 162,000 children do not know where their next meal is coming from. In all, 15 percent of San Diego Countys population is impacted by hunger, according to research released recently by Feeding America San Diego. The findings are from the Map the Meal Gap study, which was completed in partnership with Feeding America and its network of member food banks. Map the Meal Gap estimates the rate of food insecurity for both the general population and, separately, for children under the age of 18. The study is the first of its kind to calculate food insecurity at both the county and congressional-district level. Its also an eye-opener for the San Diego community as we examine hunger in our own backyard. At Feeding America San Diego, were fortunate to work with a network of community partners including 160 partner agencies, local school districts, organizations and volunteers. Each week, were able to feed 73,000 children, families and seniors, but its still not enough. According to the study, 22.5 percent of children in San Diego County struggle with hunger. This is especially true during the summer months, when children are out of school and no longer have access to subsidized school lunch and breakfast programs. Advertisement Studies show that children impacted by hunger are more likely to face developmental and health challenges. Dr. Sheila Gahagan, professor and chief of academic general pediatrics, child development and community health at the University of California, San Diego, recently spoke to this issue. Dr. Gahagan states that when food insecure children intermittently go hungry, this can impair their learning and emotional development. Or that when a child misses a meal, they may overeat, which leads to obesity, associated health problems and poor mental health. San Diego has many groups dedicated to feeding kids during the summer months, including the San Diego Unified School District, which hosts a summer BBQ series. FASDs Summer Food Service Program also provides meals and snacks to kids at various distribution sites throughout the county. But theres still plenty more that we can do to ensure no child goes hungry. This includes educating children and their families on the importance of nutrition. This has been an important goal at FASD, as we work hand in hand with community partners to distribute healthy foods, while also educating our clients on the importance of their nutrition in overall health. In 2011, our organization launched a nutrition initiative to improve access to resources and increase the healthy food distributed to our community. Weve found that families and children in need prefer healthy foods when given the option. Last year, 39 percent of the food we distributed was fresh produce and we are on target to exceed that benchmark this year. Our goal is to work with community partners and the public to increase awareness about the difference between being healthy and being full. Were also working within the community to raise awareness about those who fall into the gap of being income-ineligible for food assistance, while still being unable to pay for food. The Map the Meal Gap study reveals that right here in San Diego, 37 percent of food insecure children fall into this gap leaving their families to rely on local charities and food pantries for their meals. So how can we work together to fill the gap? We invite the community to join us in advocating and spreading awareness about the face of hunger in San Diego. Beyond that, every little bit counts. Our team at FASD has created a highly organized distribution model so that we can provide six meals for every dollar donated. There are many different ways to get involved. Individuals and businesses can donate time, food or funds. Were proud that 97 percent of donations directly fund hunger-relief programs in San Diego County. We ask all San Diegans to help us build a hunger-free, healthy community and fill the gap. This is the third year that Feeding America has conducted the Map the Meal Gap study. The research findings are based on statistics collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; food price data and analysis were provided by Nielsen, a global information and measurement company providing insights into what consumers watch and buy. The study was supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Nielsen and The ConAgra Foods Foundation. Regarding Lets learn something from Texas tragedy (8/30): I am absolutely appalled that anybody would say they dont have much sympathy for Texas. So what this writer is assuming is that because the state voted for Donald Trump therefore all Houstonians automatically deny climate change and they deserve this punitive damage? There has been a hurricane season in south and east for much longer than this senior citizen has been alive. As for the brain drain, who is leaving? I agree, global warming is happening but I also know that citizens of this country from scientists to educators to school children are researching and fighting to help improve the future of our planet. The writer is not a messenger of anything. He is a reminder that being mean spirited is ugly. Laurie Preece Advertisement University City Paul Emus writes that he doesnt have much sympathy for Texas, which voted for Donald Trump and denial of climate change. On the face of it, his view is really scandalous if his lack of sympathy is simply because his political views are different than others. Furthermore, he makes an interpretative mistake in assuming that Trumps rejection of the Paris Climate Accord means that he is a denial of climate change. I cant speak for the president but I am his supporter while I also believe more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has lead to global temperature rise (although there is no hard evidence to correlate higher temperatures with storms such as Harvey). The view of the Trump administration and EPA - and mine - is that there are better and much less expensive ways to deal with climate change than the Paris plan Does that make me evil? Phillip Hawley La Jolla Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. With America focused on Harveys extreme flooding, a series of responses, varying in scope, have come from the U.S. and its allies since North Koreas audacious launch of a ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday. The launch came amid a threat from dictator Kim Jong Un to strike the U.S. territory of Guam. It flew for 1,677 miles and reached a maximum hieght of 341 miles, according to South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff . Meanwhile, the U.S. has been participating in joint military exercises with South Korea an issue that has long been a frustration for Jong Uns regime and a reason used to justify its ongoing weapons programs. The annual exercises were scheduled to go for 10 days starting on Aug. 21 with 25,000 U.S. troops involved. Heres what you need to know about what has occurred since the launch by North Korea. Tuesday: The U.S. tests missile defense in Hawaii This US Navy handout photo released on August 30, 2017 shows a medium-range ballistic missile target as it is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, during Flight Test Standard Missile-27, Event 2 on August 29, 2017. (AFP PHOTO /US NAVY/LATONJA MARTIN/HANDOUT) On Tuesday, the U.S. military shot down a test ballistic missile near Hawaii on the same day as North Koreas missile launch. A target missile was launched at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai Island and sailors aboard the USS John Paul Jones tracked it and shot it down with an interceptor missile. We will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves, said Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, the director of the Missile Defense Agency. Wednesday: Mixed messages from U.S. leaders US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (L) and South Koreas Defense Minister Song Young-moo listen to their respective national anthems August 30, 2017 upon Young-moos arrival at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis offered seemingly conflicting responses on Wednesday. The president tweeted that Talking is not the answer! RELATED: How Obama, Bush, Clinton dealt with North Korea Then Mattis, meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at the Pentagon, told reporters Were never out of diplomatic solutions. On Thursday, Mattis tried to clear up confusion saying his comments were widely misinterpreted and there was nothing contradictory there. Thursday: U.S. and South Korea counter missile test In this handout image provide by South Korean Defense Ministry, Bombs hit mock target at the Pilseung Firing Range on August 31, 2017 in Gangwon-do, South Korea. (Photo by Handout/South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images) In response to the latest missile test by North Korea, U.S. and South Korean warplanes participated in a bombing drill near the border between North and South Korea. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35B stealth fighter jets joined four South Korean F-15 fighters in simulated precision strikes (shown above) in eastern South Korea. Park Su-hyun, spokesman of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said the exercise was conducted after Moon directed the military to display a strong capability to punish the North, according to the AP. Well keep monitoring developments this week and update this post as need be. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin The bogus bank account scandal at Wells Fargo appears to be a lot worse than originally known. Just how much worse? Newly reported figures show that the number of unauthorized accounts created by employees is up from 2.1 million to now close to 3.5 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Repercussions for Wells Fargo since the scandal broke a year ago have been severe it paid a $185 million fine to the federal government, it underwent Congressional hearings, its CEO quit and it has since been dogged by a dozen investigations and public backlash. Editorial: Wells Fargo scandals: Why the SEC must act to end abuses But the new revelations brought the bank to new lows. On Thursday, it faced piles of harsh criticism and more calls for oversight. So severe was the criticism that even Mad Money host Jim Cramer called Wells Fargo a rogue bank. Unbelievable, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, said in one tweet followed by another calling for additional Congressional hearings. .@WellsFargos massive fraud is even worse than we thought. The scandal first caught widespread attention a year ago when the bank paid a $185 million fine to federal regulators and fired more than 5,000 employees for improperly creating accounts without customers consent. Bank insiders blamed the scandal on an internal high-pressure sales culture, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Wells Fargo scandal is hardly an isolated incident it is not the first one for the company and it is not the only bank to come under suspicion over its business practices. But the whole episode spells trouble for a consumer brand in the age of trial by social media. And people were showing their displeasure right away. Others hinted at closing their accounts or skepticism in having any accounts at all at Wells Fargo. Exactly how heavy the price Wells Fargo might pay following the most recent news is yet to be seen. The bank already faces a $142 million class action lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reported, and its new revelation has put a harsh light on its new chief executive, Timothy Sloan. Wells Fargo stock took a slight dip on Thursday, bringing it to around $50.92 or almost as much as it was a year ago when the scandal first broke. Will it get worse for Wells Fargo? What should the bank do to make amends with customers and regulators? Share your thoughts, especially if you have a Wells Fargo account. Have some thoughts to share? Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard. The masked, black-clad, anti-fascist protesters, better known as antifa, faced new criticism this week and calls to be labeled as a gang following weekend violence in Berkeley, where the groups approach to countering white supremacists has come under fire. The groups name is gaining mainstream notoriety following a deadly day of protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and President Donald Trump s comments blaming them and others for the violence in there this month. Related: Trump says 'alt-left' bears some blame for Charlottesville. What exactly is it? Outside of that, few people know the groups history, what it stands for or whether they are dangerous. Some have debated whether they are the moral equivalent of neo-Nazis, as one columnist for The Washington Post put it. To understand the conversation around this group and its actions, heres a brief look at the role it has played in recent protests. What is antifa? Antifa is a leftist group that opposes fascism, white supremacy and forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. The group tends to lean liberal but it is not centrally organized and does not promote a specific political platform, according to Mark Bray, a historian and an author of a book on the group. Other left-leaning groups, however, are often identified with the anti-fascist movement including some named By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, and the Redneck Revolt, the magazine Mother Jones reported. And while antifa members have lately been seen at protests countering white supremacist groups, the black-clad group is not new. Where does it come from? The rise of the anti-fascist movement grew out of World War I to counter fascism in Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe in the 1920s where Nazi and neo-Nazi movements were seen as a threat to freedom. Why do antifa members wear masks? Wearing protective gear and masks have allowed antifa members to remain anonymous and free of risk of retaliation. In a Reddit online discussion, apparent antifa members explained their reasons to wear masks: Antifas are targets. Masks are to protect us, specially because our identity isnt the point of our action, for the libertarians (anarchists) or the apolitical that are unheard and riot because its their only tool left, wrote one user. What makes them so controversial? The groups philosophy to stop fascism by any means necessary has given many of its members the motivation to use violence to counter white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Though not all protesters are violent, many have been accused of using violence at their rallies. A June protest in Portland, Oregon, resulted in 14 arrests after violence broke out between white supremacists and counter-protesters, KGW-TV reported. Arrests followed under similar circumstances in Chicago in mid-August and most recently in Berkeley. In this widely shared video, a group of antifa protesters can be seen beating an apparent alt-righter, according to Shane Bauer, the journalist who caught the confrontation on video. What happened in Berkeley and how has it affected the groups reputation? A gathering of far-right groups, including Trump supporters, ended in violence when they were met by counter-protesters at a park in Berkeley on Sunday. According to reports, protesters were accused of exchanging blows, using pepper spray and carrying weapons. No one was reported to have been seriously hurt or killed. Conservatives and Trump supporters typically criticize the antifa of using violence in some cases they call them terrorists but the incident in Berkeley was so egregious that even one key Democrat denounced the group and even the citys mayor has called for it to be labeled a gang. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , D-San Francisco, on Tuesday blamed the group by name for the violence in Berkeley. The day before, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin called on the group to be labeled as a gang and called on for UC Berkeley to cancel a week-long event set to feature the far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos . I think we should classify them as a gang, Arreguin told CBS affiliate KPIX-TV. They come dressed in uniforms. They have weapons, almost like a militia and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach. Where does antifa go next? On Wednesday, the university confirmed to The Washington Post that its so-called Free Speech Week, from Sept. 24-27, was still set to go on. The events include conservative speakers like Yiannopoulos that are likely to draw antifa groups to protest their presence. Meanwhile, anti-fascist groups continue to organize rallies and counter-protests in other places, all through Facebook. In one Facebook Page, a Berkeley-based antifa group organized a rally there with a flier saying, Nazis are coming. Defend Berkeley! Antifa groups have not earned the level of condemnation that neo-Nazis and white supremacists received in the aftermath of Charlottesville, but so far their actions have been met with some criticism. Do you agree with the philosophy of anti-fascists to counter neo-Nazis at whatever cost or do you think they should refrain from using violence? Join the conversation and share your thoughts on the subject. Have some thoughts to share? Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard. The San Diego County District Attorneys office issued a warning Thursday about potential charity scams in the aftermath of the Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Tens of thousands of people are donating to people in need due to the devastating hurricane that has killed dozens of people and left 30,000 homeless. We have such a caring community in San Diego County that wants to help those in need during a crisis, like this latest natural disaster thats taking such a toll in Texas and Louisiana, District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement. Unfortunately, some people use times of crisis to take advantage of others, she said. People who want to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey by donating to charities can protect themselves from scammers by watching out for red flags. Advertisement Those wishing to contribute should not respond to direct solicitations, especially over the telephone. Instead, contributors should deal with charities that they know are certain to be helping out in these kinds of emergency situations. When in doubt, she warned, make sure to do a background check on who is doing the solicitation by checking with Charity Navigator, which has published a list of organizations that are collecting on behalf of storm victims. The Federal Trade Commission has provided tips to make sure your money is going to where it was intended, including asking detailed information about the charity, searching the name of the organization, calling the charity to see if it is collecting for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and whether the charity is registered by contacting the National Association of State Charity Officials. The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a way to reduce telemarketing calls, but it exempts charities and political groups. However, if a fundraiser is calling on behalf of a charity, you may ask not to get any more calls from, or on behalf of, that specific charity. If you think youve been the victim of a charity scam or if a fundraiser has violated Do Not Call rules, you may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. . As the regions largest public employee union prepares to strike, Service Employees International Union Local 221 is itself coming under attack for the way it treats its own employees. It is the literal definition of hypocrisy to allow poor treatment of our members while demanding better for your members, Communications Workers of America, Local 9509 wrote in letter to SEIUs board. CWA represents rank-and-file workers at SEIU 221s headquarters, and its Aug. 18 letter details a series of concerns its members have with SEIU, ranging from a shortage of office supplies to managers who have short workdays. Advertisement The problems at SEIU are so pervasive that it has harmed negotiations for a new contract for county employees, the letter said. Both unions said that they have met since the letter was receive and are working to address its contents, but SEIU did not comment on its substance. Were pleased to continue the discussion, said David Lagstein, SEUIs political director. The letter warned that inadequacies among that unions leaders are so pervasive they have harmed negotiations for a new contract for county employees. It warned that some of the members the union represents will likely try to cut their ties with SEIU. One bargaining unit that represents dispatchers in the Sheriffs Department alerted the county on Monday that they are trying to leave SEIU and wish to be represented by the Association of San Diego County Employees instead. The dispatchers said they said they get little or no attention and services from SEIU and believe they will fit better within another organization. Lagstein said employees represented by SEIU are frustrated because of a pay hike the county supervisors approved for themselves earlier this year. Many county workers are upset because the Board of Supervisors voted themselves a 12.5 percent raise and their workforce is among the lowest p[aid in the region, he said. Despite the rift detailed in the letter, CWA said in a statement that it stands with SEIU as it bargains with the county. The CWA staff at SEIU 221 and all of CWA Local 9509 stands unequivocally behind the members of SEIU 221 in their demand that the County of San Diego negotiates in good faith, CWA president Christopher Roberts said. The Union-Tribune obtained the letter a communication CWA said was supposed to remain private as SEIU prepares to strike on Sept. 12 and 13. SEIU said that the county has not bargained in good faith, and has offered a series of increasingly unpalatable contract proposals. The County denies the charge, and says SEIU has not bargained fairy, an allegation that the union rejects. The current contract proposal includes a 13 percent wage increase spread over five years in addition to step raises, as well as $5,250 in one-time annual payments over the contracts duration. It also increases benefits by 35 percent to offset increased healthcare costs, but also puts new employees in a new pension program with a higher retirement age and lower benefits. The countys offer costs about $495 million. SEIU represents about 10,000 of the 17,000 county government employees, including approximately 5,600 pay full dues and are eligible to vote on union business. CWAs letter accuses SEIUs leaders of incompetence, and ignoring problems because of blind loyalty to each other. There is rapid employee turnover, and Local 221s president, David Garcias, struggles to maintain adequate staffing levels with competent staff, the letter said. The unions staff director, Micki Mursalyan, is mercurial, weak at the bargaining table, makes errors in contract proposals, and has bungled negotiations with the county, the letter added. SEIU could have been better prepared for the pathetic County attacks, the letter said. Instead SEIU fumbled the messaging by being late to get the word out. This was a direct result of Micki being underprepared. Lagstein, the political director, likewise, has shortcomings, CWA wrote. Daves political meetings are a joke, everyone knows that, the letter said. It noted that it was paraphrasing Mark Leo, one of Lagsteins colleagues. The CWA letter gave faint praise to Lagstein for his work habits, compared to others at SEIU. To be fair to him, he keeps the longest office hours, ranging from 3-6 hours a day, it said. CWA also criticized how SEIU ran the vote that authorized the strike, and said that membership rosters were poorly designed and caused delays at voting booths, and that ballot boxes were left at work or taken home by members. These types of actions can cause members, or anti-union workers, to question the legitimacy of the vote, the letter said. SEIU said that thousands of its members cast a ballot and 90 percent of voters supported a strike. The county has contingency plans to accommodate staffing shortfalls in the event of a strike, and is working with the union to identify essential personnel who will not be able to leave work. The remaining employees can make a personal decision about whether or not they will strike. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 Quetzaltenango, Guatemala -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/31/2017 -- Casa Xelaju, is offering Spanish a language program for Retirees In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Being retired can be freeing and liberating; no two ways about it. Retirees want to make the most out of their retirement years and live their lives to the fullest. At the same time, many want to do things they might not have had a chance to when they had professional responsibilities. For those who aspired to learn Spanish, now there is a smart option of enrolling for a program in a beautiful city in Guatemala and having the experience of a lifetime. Casa Xelaju has been offering its unique and personalized Spanish learning programs in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for three decades. These programs are a fun way of learning the language while exploring the stunning country as well. As a part of the program, participants can choose to stay with a local family. The home-stay offers students a chance to practice their Spanish with their host families. Students can also choose to rent their own apartments during the course of the program. Study Spanish For Retirees in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala option offered by the school is unique because students get a daily dose of social and cultural activities. From making tortillas to being part of a traditional Mayan ceremony; there are many opportunities for learners. Thus students can not only learn the language but immerse themselves in the culture of the country, which has so much to offer. Casa Xelaju classes are taught by experienced teachers with great responsibility. Since one teacher is assigned to every student, retirees do not have to compete with others to get their questions answered. The program is geared towards enhancing conversational skills rather than textbook learning. Casa Xelaju offers regular and accelerated Spanish programs to accommodate students' present language skills. About Casa Xelaju Established in 1987, CX has offered a personalized language learning experience to over 12,000 students in the city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Media Contacts: Julio E. Batres URL: http://www.casaxelaju.com/spanish-retirees-quetzaltenango-guatemala/ Phone: 612-353-1809 Address: Casa Xelaju, Callejon 15, Diagonal 13-02, Zona 1, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, 9001 Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/30/2017 -- Zion Market Research has published a new report titled "Cosmetic Packaging Market by Material Type (Plastic, Glass, Paper and Others), by Container Type (Jars, Bottles, Tubes, Sachets and Others) for Hair Care, Nail Care, Skin Care, Makeup and Other Applications: China Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2016 2022" According to the report, the demand for cosmetic packaging market in China was valued at over USD 5.87 billion in 2016, is expected to reach above USD 7.75 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of slightly above 4.8% between 2017 and 2022. Packaging is the process of enclosing, wrapping and protecting products for storage, distribution, sale, and use. Packaging can also be defined as the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Cosmetic packaging depends on four major aspects such as the type of container, compatibility, functionality, and protection of products. Cosmetic packaging is gaining huge demand in recent times owing to the huge demand for cosmetic products in China. Request Free Sample copy of Research Report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/cosmetic-packaging-market The sharp rise in the cosmetic industry is expected to drive the cosmetic packaging market in China in upcoming years. Moreover, major focus on innovative cosmetic packaging is likely to fuel the growth of the cosmetic packaging market in the forecast period. However, fluctuations in the raw material of the packaging may obstruct the growth of the cosmetic packaging market in coming years. Nevertheless, increasing number of domestic players in this market may open opportunities for the cosmetic packaging market growth within the forecast period. Furthermore, development of new materials is considered to be the major driver opening new opportunities for the cosmetic packaging industry. Based on the material type, the cosmetic packaging can be segmented as plastic, glass, paper, and others. Plastic seized the cosmetic packaging market in 2016 due to high use of plastic in packaging owing to its well-situated in use and low cost. The cosmetic packaging is carried out using various types of container type such as jars, bottles, tubes, sachets, and others. Bottles held the significant market share in 2016 followed by tubes. Tubes are expected to experience amplifying growth in the forecast period. The cosmetic packaging is utilized in various applications such as hair care, skin care, nail care, makeup, and others. Skin care clutched the cosmetic packaging market in 2016 with noteworthy market share. Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/cosmetic-packaging-market China cosmetics market is growing rapidly. There are various new brands attracting the Chinese consumers. China is the second-largest cosmetics consumer market across the globe. China's cosmetics industry underwent a significant transformation over the past decade, owing to its rapid economic development. China is witnessing the decisive and approving shift in women's lifestyles coupled with remarkable growth in disposable income. The women population in China hunts for greater beauty expectations. Their prominent and escalating liberty combined with the focus on appearance is expected to ladder up the cosmetic market which in turn is anticipated to accelerate the growth of the cosmetic packaging market in the forecast period. Moreover, China is experiencing spectacular growth in skin care sector and is expected to gain traction in the forecast period. Some of the major manufacturers in the cosmetic packaging include Jiangyin Bonus Cosmetics Packaging Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Taimei Cosmetic Packaging Co., Ltd, QUEENSPACK Co. Ltd, JUMBO, Alovey Cosmetic Packaging Co.,Ltd, Rise Cosmetic Packaging Co., Ltd., BI-packaging, IMS NINGBO LIMITED, Rayuen Packaging Co., Limited , Fine Cosmetic Packaging Co. Ltd., HCP Packaging and Auber Packaging Co., Ltd among others. The presence of numerous players in cosmetic packaging market in China there has been extreme competition among the manufacturers to uphold in the market. Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/cosmetic-packaging-market About Zion Market Research 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 client's 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. Parnu, Estonia -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/31/2017 -- PneumaPure has announced the launch of its amazing travel pillow, which is the world's most hygienic and luxurious pillow ever created. The company has decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for this amazing pillow and it is welcoming everyone to support the pillow. With its state of the art filter, incredible design and several other unique features, the pillow will make sure that the users are safe from bacteria and germs that can cause diseases. In addition, the new generation foam used in this pillow guarantees proper spinal alignment and comfortable sleep during travel. Moreover, the functional fabric used in this astonishing travel pillow is liquid proof and breathable. Moreover, it is also sweat resistant and comes with a portable pouch that is highly compact and can be used for a comfortable and risk free sleep. The company has a goal to raise $20,000 for this crowdfunding campaign for this revolutionary pillow and it is welcoming everyone for support. Pillows are the most important part of the daily lives of people around the world but a lot of people get really uncomfortable while using pillow in hotels. However, this amazing PneumaPure pillow will change it all and will give them a reassurance like never before for a great night sleep. The Indiegogo Campaign is located on the web at: www.indiegogo.com/projects/pneumapure-travel-pillow-the-most-cleanest-pillow-hotel-sleep and supporters from around the world can back this project by making pledges and donations that can range from $31 to $69 or more. Each pledge offers a great reward and PneumaPure pillows are shipped worldwide as rewards for the backers. About PneumaPure PneumaPure is a revolutionary travel pillow that will redefine the way people use pillows in hotels or during travel. The all new travel pillow will virtually eliminate a travelers exposure to harmful bacteria, invisible, and other unseen hazards and contaminants. Therefore, the creators of this remarkable travel pillow have launched a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo and they are welcoming everyone to support it generously. Contact: Contact Person: Lyane Lind Company: Gabriel Scientific OU City: Parnu Country: Estonia Phone: +372 56605967 Email: lyanelind@gmail.com Website: www.indiegogo.com/projects/pneumapure-travel-pillow-the-most-cleanest-pillow-hotel-sleep Metro Manila, Philippines -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/31/2017 -- People who are on the lookout for houses for rent in Manila can consider PropertyAsia.ph list of rental properties. It is one of the most sought after online platforms in Philippines that cover several top cities in the region. Their representatives have been described as being professional and punctual in all their dealings. Having a list of available properties for rent with details such as the exact rent, dimensions, area and owners is an ideal situation. Interested people can peruse the same from the comforts of their homes and identify those that appear interesting. Apart from the pictures, the said website is also believed to offer information that can help the users take the best course of action. Quezon City has a number of areas that are ideal for renting homes. Therefore, it is important to find a source that has the best listings in the market. PropertyAsia.ph has representatives everywhere in Philippines and they are able to get the best properties for rent in their website. Whether it is condos, an apartment or a bungalow, there are many options to choose from. Their services are available at competitive prices and all their listings are said to be updated on regular intervals. It has helped people from other countries as well in their house-renting endeavors. The website says, "We had a customer from the USA who was new to Quezon and was looking for a rental Property. James had to find a home in the area without any delays and this was his first time in Philippines. When a friend of his suggested our website, he contacted us and let us know of his requirements. He was able to find a house for rent within a week's time. We have helped several other people in similar situations with our listings." To obtain more information about the listings, visit https://www.propertyasia.ph/rent/properties/quezon-city-ncr-manila/house-and-lot. About PropertyAsia.ph The website claims that anyone can contact the live chat team and discuss their requirements in order to know more about specific listings in Quezon. Theirs is believed to be a secure platform that offers genuine information about properties for rent and has received several positive reviews from users. It is a useful and handy source for rent and purchase of houses. Media Contact Oliver Oliveros, PropertyAsia.ph/Chanz IT Business Solutions Inc. Address: Garnet Road corner Dona Julia Vargas Avenue Centerpoint Building, San Antonio, Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines Phone: +63 2 904 1292 Email: ooliveros@propertyasia.ph URL: https://www.propertyasia.ph/ On March 11, 1437, Korean royal astronomers spotted a bright new star in the constellation Scorpius. From the ancient records, modern astronomers determined that what the Koreans saw was a classical nova explosion, but they had been unable to find the binary system that caused it until now. A nova is a colossal hydrogen bomb produced in a binary system where a Sun-like star is being cannibalized by a white dwarf. It takes about 100,000 years for the white dwarf to build up a critical layer of hydrogen that it steals from the Sun-like star, and when it does, it blows the envelope off, producing a burst of light that makes the star up to 300,000 times brighter than the sun for anywhere from a few days to a few months. For years, Dr. Michael Shara, a curator in the American Museum of Natural Historys Department of Astrophysics, has tried to pinpoint the location of the binary star that produced the nova eruption in 1437, along with Dr. Richard Stephenson of Durham University and Dr. Mike Bode of Liverpool John Moores University. Recently, the team expanded the search field and found the ejected shell of the classical nova. The researchers confirmed the finding with another kind of historical record: a photographic plate from 1923 taken at the Harvard Observatory station in Peru. This is the first nova thats ever been recovered with certainty based on the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese records of almost 2,500 years, Dr. Shara said. With the 1923 plate, we could figure out how much the star has moved in the century since the photo was taken. Then we traced it back six centuries, and bingo, there it was, right at the center of our shell. Thats the clock, thats what convinced us that it had to be right. Other Harvard plates from the 1940s helped reveal that the system is now a dwarf nova, indicating that so-called cataclysmic binaries novae, novae-like variables, and dwarf novae are one and the same, not separate entities as has been previously suggested. After an eruption, a nova becomes nova-like, then a dwarf nova, and then, after a possible hibernation, comes back to being nova-like, and then a nova, and does it over and over again, up to 100,000 times over billions of years, the scientists explained. In the same way that an egg, a caterpillar, a pupa, and a butterfly are all life stages of the same organism, we now have strong support for the idea that these binaries are all the same thing seen in different phases of their lives, Dr. Shara added. The real challenge in understanding the evolution of these systems is that unlike watching the egg transform into the eventual butterfly, which can happen in just a month, the lifecycle of a nova is hundreds of thousands of years. We simply havent been around long enough to see a single complete cycle. The breakthrough was being able to reconcile the 580-year-old Korean recording of this event to the dwarf nova and nova shell that we see in the sky today. The research appears today in the journal Nature. _____ M.M. Shara et al. 2017. Proper-motion age dating of the progeny of Nova Scorpii AD 1437. Nature 548: 558-560; doi: 10.1038/nature23644 Coastal areas around South East Asia suffer the most from pollution caused by ship traffic, according to a global study that estimates shipping emissions based on real-time, local activity for the first time. The study, published this month (19 August) in Atmospheric Environment, sheds light on forces at play in a region where shipping pollution is believed to cause up to 24,000 deaths a year. The researchers put together a detailed picture of the emissions of around 300,000 commercial vessels for the year 2015. They found that three of the six most polluted harbours Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai are in South East Asia. The Malacca Strait, the Eastern China Sea and the Yellow Sea have the worlds highest concentration of shipping emissions, the authors said. In some harbour areas shipping can cause severe health effects and premature deaths. Lasse Johansson They used data from the global Automatic Identification System (AIS), which requires all ships larger than 300 tonnes to regularly report their position. This is significant because it records where ships have been and when, allowing a more precise estimate of shipping pollution compared to previous studies. The team from the Finnish Meteorological Institute joined around 8 billion AIS data points to cover more than a billion kilometres travelled by commercial ships worldwide in 2015. By combining this data with information on vessel size, engine type and fuel used, they managed to draw a high-resolution image of shipping pollution, particularly highly dangerous small-particle pollution less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. The consequences of inhaling these pollutants are serious, says lead author Lasse Johansson, a research scientist at the institute. In some harbour areas shipping can cause severe health effects and premature deaths. A 2007 study showed that small-particle emissions from ships lead to an estimated 60,000 premature deaths globally each year. The situation in South East Asia is compounded by the large number of unregistered local vessels, according to Johansson, which were not included in the study. Globally, the researchers identified 76,000 vessels for which no technical data, such as the ships size or type of fuel used, could be obtained. Together, these vessels travelled a distance that accounts for only 3.5 per cent of all recorded shipping kilometres, but Johansson says their local impact should not be underestimated. Near coastal cities the [emission] contribution of these vessels can still be larger than the overall contribution might suggest, he says. Registered ships were responsible for 93 per cent of small-particle emissions and 91 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions covered by the study. Part of the large concentration of shipping emissions in the region is explained by the rapid economic growth of countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN),which is fuelled by export of consumer goods. The ASEAN nations GDP grows by an average 6 per cent annually, according to the OECD, with 74 per cent of the regions exports travelling by sea to non-ASEAN countries. South East Asia also suffers from high shipping emissions because its location exposes it to the densest and most frequent shipping traffic in the world. Aretha Aprilia, a civil engineer from Indonesia and former coordinator at the UN Environment Programme, tells SciDev.Net that regional efforts to curtail shipping emissions have been a huge challenge. To date, not much attention has been given to the issues regarding emissions from shipping, and this needs to shift, says Aprilia. It is a prerequisite to have more legally binding regulations that are enforced from the countries. The study suggests that pollution control areas, where carbon dioxide and fine particle emissions from ships are subject to strict rules, can work if enforced. Yet these can be costly for ship owners, says Johansson. He suggests that poorer nations should look at alternatives, like re-routing large ships and planning their infrastructural development in order to mitigate pollution. For instance in Helsinki, where I live, the cargo terminals were relocated well outside of the city. This piece was originally published on SciDev.Nets Global edition. Most families are looking for ways to spend more time together, but managing the family schedule can be a daunting task, especially with the additions of nightly homework and extracurricular activities a new school year brings. Hectic weeknight schedules during back-to-school season don't need to get in the way of quality time spent around the dinner table with these simple tips for enjoying dinner together. Designate a time. Write dinner time on a calendar in the kitchen so every family member is aware of this special time and can look forward to sitting down together. Even if your schedule is overwhelming, pick a specific day each week and block out time to have a meal as a family. Rely on foods rooted in tradition. Experimenting with recipes can add quick and easy new favorites to the family meal repertoire like Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs, a modern twist on the nostalgic family classic. As food trends come and go, RAGU continues to be a culinary staple for family meals. For 80 years, RAGU has gathered families at the table to celebrate the tradition of creating memories around a mouthwatering meal. Whether that's a new take on ravioli or a family-favorite pasta dish, families can count on serving up delicious pasta sauces rich with bold, Italian flavors and vine-ripened tomatoes. Create rituals. To build a tradition in the kitchen, try involving the whole family by showing your kids age-appropriate ways to contribute to their favorite meal. Let them measure ingredients to create better-for-you turkey meatballs, carry ingredients from one place to another, mix and pour ingredients, and set the table. Creating a ritual of cooking a favorite back-to-school meal with your kids is a good way to help them build healthy habits and skills that will last a lifetime. Step away from your cell phone. Designate dinnertime as a no-cellphone zone. Leave your mobile devices in another room to allow for time to reconnect with your loved ones and be fully present. Create fun dinner table topics. Making the table a fun place to be is the best strategy for getting your family to dinner and keeping them at the table longer. Make a game out of sharing the best parts of your day with each other. This can be a great way to laugh together as well as an opportunity to offer much-needed advice and support. Find more easy recipes to bring the family together during the busy back-to-school season and throughout the year at RAGU.com or on Facebook. Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Servings: 5 10 ounces spaghetti 1 pound (85 percent lean) ground turkey 1/2 cup Italian-seasoned, dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional (optional) 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley 1 egg, beaten 3/4 cup water, divided 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 jar RAGU Homestyle Thick and Hearty Traditional Sauce Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt; keep warm. Combine turkey, bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, egg, 1/4 cup water and salt. Shape mixture into 25 (1 1/4-inch) meatballs. In large, nonstick saute pan on medium heat, heat olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. Add sauce and remaining water once garlic is golden. Arrange meatballs in sauce; cover and cook 10 minutes, or until cooked through (165 F), stirring occasionally. Serve with cooked spaghetti and additional Parmesan, if desired. Tip: Use a small ice cream scoop or melon baller to easily make evenly sized meatballs. LAMAR, S.C. The Lamar chief of police and a former investigator with the Darlington Police department were arrested this week on separate charges by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Lamar Police Chief Jason Michael Chaney was arrested by SLED agents on warrants issued Aug. 25 charging that he removed evidence from the police department locker, filed a false report and impersonated a suspect for a recorded confession in the investigation into the death of a 90-year-old man. A former Darlington police officer was also arrested after SLED determined that money was missing from the evidence locker at the department. According to the arrest warrant, Rickey Edward Williams removed $910 between March 28, 2016, and June 16, 2017. He was relieved of his duties and the missing money was discovered later. The warrants provided by SLED say that Chaney removed two bottles containing hydrocodone and codeine in June and changed information in a police report to cover up the missing drugs, which amounts to filing a false report. Chaney is charged with two counts of theft of a controlled substance, two counts of misconduct in office and one count of filing a false report. Jason is innocent of the charges and looks forward to his day in court, said Chaneys lawyer, Rose Mary Parham. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a law enforcement officer in this state. Williams was charged with petit larceny of the $910 and official misconduct since he was the custodian of the property locker. "We are aware that there was an ongoing investigation into the conduct of this officer, Darlington Police Chief Danny Watson said in a statement. The officer was in fact dismissed from our ranks on June 15, 2017." Williams also was charged in an October of 2016 incident in which a $100 gift card was reported missing. He is accused of using the card to purchase personal items. LAKE CITY, S.C. Six people from the lower part of Florence County are on their way to South Texas to help victims of Hurricane Harvey because they know how crushing it can be to lose everything. Several parts of Texas and Louisiana have been slammed with historic amounts of rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, leaving hundreds of thousands without shelter, food or essential needs. This is why Tamara Johnson and Tonia Young decided to gather as emergency many supplies as they could and head west. The two of us decided we were going to help. We knew we needed to go, no question, Johnson said. We put a public post on Facebook asking for supplies and donation, and the community came together in an amazing way. In fact, they got more than they could carry in one load. This includes canned food, first aid kits, diapers, cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothes, large amounts of bottled water and other essential items. We got so much that we had to get another trailer, a truck to pull it and more people to come with us, Young said. We were hit hard down here during the flood in 2015 and Hurricane Matthew last year, so people in our community know what its like. The group has connected with Eastside Free Will Baptist Church in Houston, as well as a disaster recovery group in the area, for direction when they arrive. Johnson said she has firsthand disaster experience, not only personally, but in her line of work. I have worked disasters all across the South. I know what its like for people who are stuck, she said. I normally work during disaster but this time Im going to help. WASHINGTON There is something eternally bonding about a shared near-death experience, which is how I first met Michael Cromartie. This was approximately 15 years ago, before I had moved to the nation's capital for an up-close look at power. Cromartie had called to invite me to one of the Faith Angle Forums he hosted for a select group of journalists and scholars to discuss religion in the public square. I happened to be driving when my cellphone rang. "Kathleen, you don't know me, but I've got a fabulous invitation for you!" His enthusiasm was such that he was nearly chirping, and I do believe there was a choir of angels humming in the near-distance when suddenly another car shot out of nowhere. I was forced into the median, across two lanes of oncoming traffic and onto the grassy shoulder on the far side of the road. Whew! Shaking and gasping for air, I realized I was still on the phone with Cromartie, who was sputtering and trying to determine what had happened. Was I all right? Yes, no, I don't know, I think so. For the next 30 minutes or so, we chatted away, he in his office and I still sitting roadside in my car, about everything under the sun life, death, God, gratitude. When a conversation suddenly swerves from cordial hellos to, "Oh-my-God-that-person-almost-killed-me," one is allowed to bypass several centuries of pleasantries and cut to the chase. We also nearly died laughing, both from relief at my having thwarted death and appreciation for having forged this strange and serendipitous friendship. Yes, of course, I'd love to attend the Faith Angle Forum, I nearly shouted into the phone. How could I not? Miguel, as I called him, delighted in retelling this story often, and each time slightly more embellished. Another decade or so and I'd have been killed instantly and resurrected from the dead. The forums, meanwhile, became a gift to a handful of journalists invited to convene with religious scholars, rabbis, imams, priests, preachers and prayer leaders. Cromartie, who was vice president and director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Evangelicals in Civic Life program, felt strongly that the public's perception of journalists as unfriendly toward religion and especially toward evangelical Christians, though not unwarranted, was a reflection of the media's lack of exposure to and understanding of America's faithful rather than willful animus. He was, in other words, one of Washington's relatively unknown elves who work diligently and without fanfare to make the world a better place. The forums, which were his brilliant idea, were held twice a year in Key West and more recently Miami's South Beach. In between lectures a total of three over a day-and-a-half invitees convened for lunches, cocktails and dinners interspersed with free time for carousing, bike riding or dancing. Cromartie loved to dance. There are stories. Atheist Christopher Hitchens, who died nearly six years ago, was a chapter unto himself. There were at least two romances then marriages or pending nuptials that blossomed over the debate table. Epic tales of nightlife that will remain in the cone of silence, as well as ghost stories told one night under the spell of moonlit waves lapping against the dock. Those were glorious, fun-filled, intellectually stimulating days that probably have benefited the country indirectly through the enlightenment of more than 220 journalists from roughly 30 newspapers, magazines and broadcast networks. Cromartie, though ill, had promised another this fall, but when I saw him recently, it was clear there'd be no more under his watch, if at all. The ravages of the cancer he had been fighting for more than a year were etched in his hollow cheeks and in eyes that betrayed a deep sadness. We pressed our foreheads together as if to connect our minds more fully, perchance to discover some elusive bit of information that would solve the riddle and reverse the course of events. "It's horrible, horrible, just horrible," he whispered. I doubt Cromartie feared death, because he was a man of enduring faith, though he may have grieved the loss of a life well-lived but not yet finished. When he died Monday morning at 67, he left a void that will be felt by hundreds of friends, admirers and, of course, his family. For them and even the greater world for which he steadily prayed the loss is immeasurable. And, yes, Miguel, it was a fabulous invitation. Kathleen Parker's email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com. With the elections scheduled to be held in Gujarat next month, one of the key issues affecting Bassu village in the state is unemployment. Many educated youths here are dissatisfied with the 'Gujarat model' as they are sitting at home without jobs. These youths will play a crucial factor in deciding if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf remains saffron or not. Indeed, Greece will need to work hard if Piraeus is to retain or strengthen its standing as a maritime capital, with an alarming one in two Greek shipping companies ready to consider relocating their administrative bases abroad. According to the findings of the study Repositioning Greece as a Global Maritime Capital conducted by multinational professional services firm, EY, some 56% of responding companies to the study would consider repositioning as the European Commissions Directorate-General for Competition is causing uncertainty for the Greek shipping industry with its prolonged examination of its legal framework. Indeed, EY reports some echoing sentiment of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) that a major exodus by Greek-owned shipping companies is possible. The UGS has warned the prevailing uncertainty is threatening Greek shipping, which makes up half of Europes industry. The EY study and UGS statements underline the prospect of relocations by shipping firms to new bases offering more favorable conditions beyond Europe, or even within Europe, to non-EU countries can no longer be ruled out. Taxation and the regulatory framework are the main concerns with 84% of respondents in the EY survey referring to taxation and 64% to the regulatory framework as the main reasons that would prompt them to seek new bases. Singapore, London and Dubai ranked as the most popular alternative destinations with Cyprus also emerging as a nearby, competitive maritime cluster. All have actively been touting Greek business. The EY study shed light on the industrys perceptions of the competitive advantages and disadvantages of Greece as a basis for shipmanagement functions, the attractiveness of competitive maritime centers and the ways in which the competitiveness of the Greek maritime cluster could be improved. Perceived advantages and disadvantages of the Greek flag are also examined. EY says: "The survey revealed human capital, the seamanship, along with geographic location and, obviously, ship-ownership, are the main competitive advantages of Greece as a ship-management center, while the lack of a stable regulatory environment governing the cluster, lack of access to financial institutions, poor infrastructures and tax issues are the main disadvantages. However, EY says that "in spite of the perceived disadvantages of Piraeus and the growing attractiveness of competing maritime centers, the Greek shipping community remains confident about the role of Greece as a maritime center in the coming years and believes its enhancement would strengthen their business. EY says Maritime UK, a non-profit organisation which brings together the UKs shipping, ports, marine and business services sectors to promote the UK as a world-class maritime center, could be a useful model for a similar Greek association. Indeed, the benefits of continuing to foster the strong long-standing relationship between Britain and Greece, and in particular their shipping industries after Brexit, were emphasised by the ministers of shipping of each country, within the context of the 4th Greek-British Shipping Forum held in Athens, in July. "Traditional ties between our two people will continue," Greece's Shipping and Island Policy minister, Panagiotis Kouroumplis said, adding "this cooperation in the field of shipping can have concrete and beneficial results for both". But as EY noted, for the time being, Greece continues to find itself among the maritime capitals offering attractive environments for shipping companies, but the future is uncertain, sector pundits underlined, citing the fears felt over legal, regulatory and tax terms as primary concerns. County officials had ordered an evacuation on Tuesday of residents within a 1.5-mile radius of the plant. The storm that paralyzed Houston is predicted to be one of the most expensive natural disasters in US history By Reuters: Two explosions hit the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, 30 miles northeast of Houston and the company said more could come. A deputy was taken to hospital after inhaling fumes at the flood-hit chemical plant, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter. The French chemical group Arkema added there was a risk of further explosions at the site. advertisement "We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so," it added. County officials had ordered an evacuation on Tuesday of residents within a 1.5-mile radius of the plant. Tropical Depression Harvey weakened as it moved inland over Louisiana on Thursday, leaving behind record flooding that drove tens of thousands from their homes in Texas. DEATH TOLL RISING The death toll was rising as bodies were found in receding waters. The storm that paralyzed Houston is predicted to be one of the most expensive natural disasters in US history and presents the administration of US President Donald Trump with massive humanitarian and rebuilding challenges. The storm has killed at least 35 people and forced 32,000 people into shelters since coming ashore on Friday near Rockport, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico Coast. It was the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in half a century. The Houston Fire Department will begin a block-by-block effort on Thursday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann told reporters. On Thursday Harvey is forecast to move northeast through Louisiana into Mississippi, dumping 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain, the National Hurricane Center said. Flood watches and warnings extend from the Texas-Louisiana coast into Kentucky. "Our whole city is underwater," said Port Arthur, Texas, Mayor Derrick Foreman in a social media post where he also broadcast live video of floodwaters filling his home in the city of 55,000 people, about 100 miles (160 km) east of Houston. Nearly 30 inches (76.2 cm) of rain hit the Port Arthur area, the National Weather Service said. Beaumont, near Port Arthur, said it had lost its water supply due to flood damage to its main pumping station and residents in the city of about 120,000 people would lose water pressure from Thursday morning. advertisement NEIGHBOURS HELPING NEIGHBOURS Fort Bend County ordered a mandatory evacuation on Thursday for areas near the Barker Reservoir, which was threatening to flood. The reservoir is about 20 miles west from Houston. The county did not say how many people would be affected by the evacuation order. Clear skies in Houston on Wednesday brought relief to the energy hub and fourth-largest US city after five days of catastrophic downpours. The first flight out of Houston since the storm hit boarded on Wednesday evening. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hoped the port of Houston, one of the nation's busiest, would reopen soon. Police in Harris County, home to Houston, said 17 people remained missing. Nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana and Texas were without power on Thursday, utilities reported. Flooding shut the nation's largest oil refinery in Port Arthur in the latest hit to US energy infrastructure that has sent gasoline prices climbing and disrupted global fuel supplies. Average US retail fuel prices have surged by more than 10 cents per gallon from a week ago, the AAA said on Thursday. Average retail gasoline prices have risen to $2.449 per gallon nationwide, up 4.5 cents a gallon from a day earlier and 10.1 cents from a week ago, data from the industry group showed. advertisement Moody's Analytics is estimating the economic cost from Harvey for southeast Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion, ranking it among the costliest storms in U.S. history. At least $23 billion worth of property has been affected by flooding from Harvey just in parts of Texas' Harris and Galveston counties, a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and property data showed. "The worst is not yet over for southeast Texas, as far as the rain is concerned," Governor Greg Abbott said on Wednesday. He warned that floodwaters would linger for up to a week and said the area affected was larger than that hit by 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in New Orleans, and 2012's Superstorm Sandy, which killed 132 around New York and New Jersey. Houston's metropolitan area, with an economy about as large as Argentina's, has a population of about 6.5 million, far greater than New Orleans' at the time of Katrina. A day after visiting Texas to survey the damage, Trump pledged on Wednesday to stand by the people of Texas and Louisiana. The storm made it less likely Trump would act on his threat to shut the federal government over funding for a border wall with Mexico, Goldman Sachs economists said. They now estimate that probability at 35 percent, down from 50 percent previously. advertisement Vice President Mike Pence and several Cabinet secretaries will travel to Texas on Thursday to meet residents affected by the storm as well as local and state officials, Pence's press secretary said. An army of volunteers has turned out to help the thousands of police, National Guard personnel, Coast Guard flood teams and emergency crews to ferry thousands of people stranded in floodwaters to safety. Also Read: Hurricane Harvey : More than 1,000 people evacuated overnight, flood water recahes catastrophic levels Bihar floods: PM Narendra Modi promises Rs 500 crore after aerial survey with Nitish Kumar ALSO WATCH: Hurricane Harvey: Video showing life-saving rescue operation of a stranded truck driver goes viral --- ENDS --- By PTI: (EDs: Updating with background, court observation) Shahjahanpur (UP), Aug 31 (PTI) Close on the heels of Supreme Court questioning the tardy pace of trial in a case involving self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, the district administration has bolstered the security of the rape victim here. "Two more security personnel have been deployed at the residence of the rape victim and now half a dozen police personnel, including a lady constable, will remain on duty," Superintendent of Police KB Singh said. advertisement Bullet proof jackets have also been made available to two personnel so that they can move about to check security arrangements, he said. The SP said that security had been provided to the entire family and he himself was monitoring it. The father of the victim, however, alleged that he has been making requests for an arms licence for his son ever since the incident took place but to no avail. He stressed that it was important for their security. He also sought additional security for local scribe Narendra Yadav, who had actively covered the entire incident in a local daily, as he had been given only one security guard. He needs to be given proper security as per the SC directives, the victims father said. The 16-year-old Shahjahanpur girl had alleged rape against Asaram in his Jodhpur ashram and had lodged a case in this regard in Delhis Kamla Market police station which was later transferred to Jodhpur. On August 28, a Supreme Court bench comprising justices N V Ramanna and Amitava Roy had questioned the delay in the trial of the rape case involving the godman asking the state government as to why the victim had not been examined till now. The top court had earlier refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds including his poor health in two separate sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The apex court, while dismissing his bail plea on January 30, had observed that Asaram had placed a "fictitious document" to persuade the court to grant him bail and had ordered registration of an FIR against those responsible for preparing and filing the alleged fake papers. Two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges. In the case in Rajasthan, a teenage girl had accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram. The apex court had noted that trial in the matter was unnecessarily prolonged and the prosecution witnesses were being attacked. advertisement The apex court had on November 18 last year sought the response of the Centre and five states on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged murder of children and attacks on ten witnesses in the Asaram rape cases. Asaram was arrested by Jodhpur Police on August 31, 2013 and has been in jail since then. PTI COR SAB SMI ADS --- ENDS --- Sen. Bam defends measures for start-ups, scientists and researchers The Senate on Wednesday started plenary discussions on three measures that aim to provide needed assistance to innovative start-ups and benefits to support Filipino scientists and researchers. Senator Bam Aquino, chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, defended the three measures -- Innovative Startup Act, Balik Scientist Act and Magna Carta for Scientists -- during period of interpellation. Sen. Bam, who stood as principal sponsor and co-authors of the said measures, underscored the importance of providing support to around 200,000 innovative start-ups in the country. Innovative start-ups are businesses that provide unique and relevant solutions to pressing problems, from a simple application for finding a taxi and other systems for improving healthcare, supporting Filipino farmers and addressing unemployment. "Our country has a number of promising start-ups and we need to provide them with the environment where they can grow and succeed, just like what their counterparts in other countries like United States and Israel are enjoying," said Sen. Bam. "Hopefully, this measure will unlock the potential of this sector. A lot of Filipino innovators are looking forward to this bill," added Sen. Bam. If enacted into law, innovative startups will enjoy benefits such as tax breaks and grants and other forms of assistance, including a faster process for business registration. Innovative start-ups could also avail of technical assistance and training programs, free use of equipment, facilities and support for patenting or licensing of their product through the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. Aside from the Innovative Start-up Act, the Senate also tackled the Balik Scientist Act and Magna Carta for Scientists, which both aim to ramp up support to Filipino scientists, engineers and researchers. After the period of interpellation, the Senate will continue discussions on the said measures next month during period of amendments. Nancy wants Senate to provide sign language interpreters for persons with hearing impairment during hearings, sessions Concerned for persons with hearing impairment who attend the committee hearings and sessions in the Senate, Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday said that the Senate must have sign language interpreters available to assist them. "The growing presence and involvement of PWDs in matters of national importance is an indication of their resolve to participate in the development of our nation and it is the duty of the Senate to promote their rights by policy or by law," Binay said. "This is why we in the Senate must recognize the rights, privileges, and freedoms of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and provide the assistance they need during our sessions and committee hearings," the senator urged. In Senate Resolution No. 480 which the senator filed this week, she cited the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons which explains that the "State shall adopt policies ensuring the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons." "The Magna Carta for Disabled Persons states that PWDs should be able to live freely and as independently as possible. This includes their participation in discussions on significant social, economic and political issues," said Binay. "Tulungan po natin silang magawa ito at bigyan natin sila ng oportunidad na makilahok sa pagtalakay sa mga importanteng pagpupulong, lalung-lalo na dito sa Senado," she added. Binay has earlier co-sponsored Senate Bill No. 1455 which calls for the declaration of the Filipino Sign Language as the national sign language of the Filipino deaf. By PTI: Toronto, Aug 31 (PTI) Scientists have created music from the Saturns moons and rings - converting their rhythmic orbits into musical octaves - to celebrate the Grand Finale of NASAs Cassini spacecraft next month. The Cassini spacecraft has been collecting data while orbiting Saturn since its arrival in 2004 and is now in the throes of a final death spiral. advertisement It will plunge into the planet itself on September 15 to avoid contaminating any of its moons. After centuries of looking with awe and wonder at the beauty of Saturn and its rings, we can now listen to them, scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada said. The conversion to music is made possible by orbital resonances, which occur when two objects execute different numbers of complete orbits in the same time, so that they keep returning to their initial configuration. The rhythmic gravitational tugs between them keep them locked in a tight repeating pattern which can also be converted directly into musical harmony. "To celebrate the Grand Finale of NASAs Cassini mission next month, we converted Saturns moons and rings into two pieces of music," said Matt Russo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA). "Wherever there is resonance there is music, and no other place in the solar system is more packed with resonances than Saturn," said Russo. "Saturns magnificent rings act like a sounding board that launches waves at locations that harmonise with the planets many moons, and some pairs of moons are themselves locked in resonances," Dan Tamayo, a postdoctoral researcher at CITA. The musical notes and rhythms both come from the orbital motion of Saturns moons along with the orbits of the trillions of small particles that make up the ring system. For the first piece which follows Cassinis final plunge, the researchers increased the natural orbital frequencies of Saturns six large inner moons by 27 octaves to arrive at musical notes. "What you hear are the actual frequencies of the moons, shifted into the human hearing range" said Russo. The team then used a state of the art numerical simulation of the moon system developed by Tamayo to play the resulting notes every time a moon completes an orbit. Saturns moon Titan actually gives the Cassini probe the final push which sends it hurtling towards its death in the heart of Saturn. The music follows Cassinis final flight over the ring system by converting the constantly increasing orbital frequencies of the rings into a dramatic rising pitch; the volume of the tone increases and decreases along with the observed bright and dark bands of the rings. advertisement The death of Cassini as it crashes into Saturn is heard as a final crash of a final piano chord, which was inspired by The Beatles "A Day in the Life", in which a rich major chord follows a similarly tense crescendo. In addition to the soundtrack, Russo has had a large wood carving made of Saturns rings so people can follow along with their fingertips while listening. PTI MHN MHN --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Regular BART riders have grown accustomed to intermittent weekend shutdowns in Oakland to accommodate track work, but the next closure has the potential to take many people by surprise. Thats because its happening on a holiday weekend, when thousands of travelers will be heading to and from Oakland International Airport. If they try to get there via BART through Oakland, theyll have to hop buses to avoid areas where crews will be working on the tracks from Saturday through Labor Day. It will be the same story for As fans heading to the Coliseum for a Monday afternoon game against the Los Angeles Angels. BART says it doesnt expect too many people to be inconvenienced. We chose this weekend because it not only offers us three uninterrupted days to get this work done but, traditionally, it tends to be one of the least-traveled weekends, BART spokesman Jim Allison said. People tend to stay home and find things to do like have barbecues in their backyards. The shutdown will mainly affect people traveling on the Warm Springs/Fremont, Dublin/Pleasanton and Oakland Airport lines. Once BART shuts down early Saturday, no trains will run between 19th Street and Fruitvale and West Oakland and Fruitvale stations until 4 a.m. Tuesday. Lake Merritt Station will be closed all three days. BART will provide free rides on very high-frequency buses running between the 19th Street and Fruitvale stations, Allison said. Passengers hoping to head south after passing through West Oakland will have to instead continue west on BART to 19th Street Station to catch the shuttle bus. Riders should expect that to add 20 to 40 minutes to their trip. AC Transit, which is operating the bus bridge, will also give free rides to people with BART tickets from Lake Merritt Station on the 18 line to downtown Oakland and the 1 line to Fruitvale. The shutdown will allow work crews to replace worn rails and outdated electrical systems from Lake Merritt Station through downtown Oakland. There isnt enough time to do that during the handful of hours that BART is shut down in the middle of the night, the agency says. The workers will install 3,100 feet of welded rail, replace a 1,000-foot restraining rail that keeps trains on the tracks in a steeply banked section, and repair or replace 1,500 pads beneath the rails. Also on the itinerary: installing 3,000 feet of conduit to protect power cables, swapping out 150 electrical insulators, replacing train communication devices between the 12th Street and MacArthur stations and erecting new signs in Lake Merritt Station. When we have this opportunity to work uninterrupted for 72 hours, we take advantage of it, Allison said. Shane Edwards, BARTs assistant chief mechanical and engineering officer, said the work would take eight weeks if done during overnight hours. It is a little inconvenient over the weekend, especially on a holiday, he said. But its good for BART; its good for the Bay Area. Riders should expect intermittent weekend shutdowns to continue. And with the transit system ready to undergo $3.5 billion in upgrades funded by Measure RR, BART officials are also considering delaying the start of weekday service from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. to speed rehabilitation work. 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. Most BART riders will be affected by the weekend shutdown, even if its only by seeing strange destinations signs in San Francisco and on the Peninsula reading All East Bay an effort to make sure nobody waits for a Warm Springs or Dublin/Pleasanton train. Passengers traveling from Dublin/Pleasanton or Warm Springs to any destination on the West Bay, Richmond or Pittsburg/Bay Point lines will need to transfer to a bus at Fruitvale, then board a train at 19th Street to reach their destination. People heading from points on the Richmond, Pittsburg/Bay Point or West Bay lines to destinations on the Warm Springs or Dublin/Pleasanton lines will need to get off at 19th Street, get on the bus and transfer to their train at Fruitvale station. Keonnis Taylor, a spokeswoman for Oakland International Airport, advised Labor Day travelers taking BART to the airport to add in extra time for both the bus shuttles and the bigger crowds at the airport. Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the weekend, she said, but holiday travel continues through Monday. As fans should also plan ahead, said Catherine Aker, a team spokeswoman. The As are still working on logistics for Mondays game, she said, but they typically send out email advisories to fans who have bought tickets online. This is a fairly common thing and weve never had a problem with it, she said. But we try to get out in front and let our fans know about it. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The diplomats at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco have been known to bring plates of delicacies and vodka shots to neighborhood block parties and, for the last few years, inflated a big snowman out front at Christmas. The gestures of goodwill, though, will be sidelined amid escalating tension between the U.S. and Russia. The Trump administration, in a move reminiscent of the Cold War, ordered the shutdown by Saturday of the stately brick building on Green Street in Cow Hollow. The closure, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat retaliations, carried clear symbolism but will also limit Moscows operations in the U.S. and deprive Russians in the Bay Area of the support of consular staff. At the same time, its likely to inconvenience Americans seeking to travel to Russia or do business with the country. Last year, the consulate issued 16,000 visas for Americans, officials said. Now Playing: The U.S. just took a big step that could effect thousands of Russian tourists. Jose Sepulveda (@josesepulvedatv) has more. Video: Buzz 60 In addition to the San Francisco closure announced Thursday, the U.S. is forcing the shut down of Russias chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and its consular annex in New York, in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. After Saturday, Russia will have three consulates in the U.S. in Seattle, Houston and Washington, D.C. the same number the U.S. has in Russia, she said. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, Nauert said, we have chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. The State Department is not expelling the diplomats who work in San Francisco from the country. It was not immediately clear whether Russia would have to sell the building that houses the consulate its oldest in the U.S. In a statement, Russian officials called the decision another unfriendly step of the U.S. authorities that will hurt both Russian and American citizens. The new Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, who arrived Thursday in Washington, D.C., commented before the announcement on the strained relationship between the two countries. Unfortunately, Russia-U.S. relations have seriously deteriorated over the past few years because of the actions taken by the previous U.S. administration, which was set to undermine the foundations of Russian-U.S. cooperation that took a very long time to create, he said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that was posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry. The San Francisco closure reflects the spiraling of the U.S. relationship with Russia and suggests a turnaround under Trump who has often spoken glowingly about Russian President Vladimir Putins authoritarian leadership is now a pipe dream, said Edward Walker, a UC Berkeley political scientist. Its as bad as its ever been since the end of the Cold War, he said. Its a negative-sum game that we never should be playing. He added, The nuclear option, like cutting off banking, would be a huge deal. That would be economic war, and were nowhere near there with Russia. Stuck in the middle of the conflict are Russian entrepreneurs like Daniel Kravtsov who rely on easy access to a consulate to keep their businesses running. Kravtsov, who is in the U.S. on a work visa, had to go to the consulate in San Francisco twice in the last year alone once to get some business documents verified and again when money in his Russian bank account got stolen. Its very inconvenient. ... Now we need to go to another city, Kravtsov said. Im upset that everything is going in this direction. Russians dont need to interact with the consulate frequently. But when they do, they typically have pressing reasons like renewing a passport, getting a birth certificate or completing a background check for the police. Securing an appointment at the consulate in San Francisco was already a time-consuming process, with people from as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix flying in. Now, the Russian Consulate in Seattle is the closest to the Bay Area, and some experts worry that the move will further strain U.S.-Russia business relations. If they were to renew a passport, they would have to wait three months just to get an appointment, said Andrei Romanenko, a Bay Area immigration attorney who frequently deals with Russian clients. But now its hard to predict what will happen. The closure of American consulates in Russia have also frustrated travelers. It is frustrating on both sides, he said. By Thursday afternoon, at least 30 people were in line on Green Street, trying to renew passports or get visas to travel to Russia during the consulates walk-in hours. Hours earlier, Max Kolysh, an American citizen born in Russia, tried to get inside to obtain a visa to travel to his native country for his fathers birthday. He was denied access because he didnt have an appointment, and he feared it was too late to obtain the documents he needed. 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. Its really upsetting, he said. They need to expand (the consulate), not close it. Ekaterina Stanton was luckier. The dual citizen did not have an appointment but was able to get in Thursday morning because her renewed Russian passport had already been processed. She plans to visit her mother in Yekaterinburg in central Russia, which just had its U.S. Consulate closed. I guess there is a clear reciprocity that affected our family on both sides of the globe, Stanton, a San Francisco attorney, said. Im very upset that the relationship has deteriorated so much. It affects so many common people. Its sad. The State Departments action on Thursday followed months of escalation. In July, Putin ordered the reduction of personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in response to sanctions passed by Congress and approved by President Trump. The sanctions were, in turn, retaliation for Russias suspected interference in last years presidential election as well as other actions, including the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. In December, then-President Barack Obama ejected 35 Russian diplomats, including 11 from the San Francisco consulate, in response to what a State Department briefing paper described as harassment of U.S. diplomats in Russia that had gone far beyond international diplomatic norms of behavior. The State Department said it hoped the two sides could avoid further retaliatory actions, improve relations and gain increased cooperation on mutual areas of concern. The United States, Nauert said, is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. Antonov, the new ambassador, urged common sense as tensions rise. It shouldnt be forgotten that Russia and the United States possess the biggest nuclear potentials and have particular responsibility for global stability and security, he said. The world is calmer and safer when we act together on the international arena. In 1893, Chicago hosted the Columbian Exposition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus arrival. The celebration featured huge exhibition halls, a Ferris wheel and a White City of alabaster buildings illuminated at night by electric lights (Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouses alternating current beat out Thomas Edisons direct current for the contract). More than 25 million people visited the fair, which provided an economic boom to a city finally resurrected from the devastating fire of 1871. For the exposition, Francis Bellamy, a Christian socialist and the editor of the Youths Companion, composed a Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and the Republic for which it stands (under God would be added in 1954). Bellamys phrase furnishes the title for Richard Whites comprehensive and masterful study of the period between 1865 and 1896. A professor of history at Stanford, White offers a new perspective on the Gilded Age, a label coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their novel of that name published in 1873. Twain and Warner satirized a world of ostentatious wealth built upon corruption and speculation. Twenty years later, Twain would not have been surprised to learn that those dazzling white buildings at the Columbian Exposition were nothing but empty shells, gorgeous on the outside but hollow within. The era brings to mind Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Mellon and other industrialists and bankers who would be derided as robber barons. It also recalls labor leaders, such as cigar-chomping Samuel Gompers and finger-pointing Eugene Debs, who built unions and challenged the capitalists power. Thousands of strikes, many of them violent, punctuated the era as workers sought better wages and conditions. These men and events make their appearance, as do reformers such as Jane Addams, but they are not the books central focus. Instead, White, who has written widely about the West, Indians and railroads, emphasizes westward expansion. This means the explosive growth of Chicago and the Middle Border, the small towns and frontier settlements of the Midwest, as well as the movement across the continent. It was no accident, White notes, that Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield and Benjamin Harrison all hailed from Ohio, roughly the nations center of population. So too William Dean Howells, one of the best-known writers of the day, who White uses as a one-man chorus to chart liberal ideals and the cultural meaning of the home in Gilded Age America. White excels at providing telling statistics to illustrate his points. Between 1870 and 1900, the mean center of population moved 121 miles west from Ohio to central Indiana. Immigrants fueled much of that movement. By 1890, more than 9 million people, about 14.8 percent of the population, were born abroad, the highest percentage ever. (In 2010, it was 12.9 percent.) We think of immigrants as massing in the East and contributing to the creation of a wage-earning urban poor. While that account is certainly true, in 1890, Californias population was 30.3 percent foreign born, South Dakotas was 27.7 and Washingtons 25.8. Many of these immigrants were Mexicans and Chinese, but also Germans, Swedes and Czechs. Whether east or west, they settled in cities. In 1890, 25 percent of Californias population lived in San Francisco. Urban immigrants were creating the American future, notes White. The story of migration and the West connect at the railroad station. Railroad corporations, led by men such as Jay Cooke, Jay Gould, Leland Stanford and Collis Huntington, helped create modern American finance capitalism. Between 1871 and 1900, railroad mileage quadrupled, from 45,000 to 215,000 miles, and railroads served as the engine of mobility for people and goods. The railroads even rearranged the clock as local times became standardized so that schedules could be synchronized. Railroad construction and the settlement of farmers on public land meant the subjugation of native tribes. William Tecumseh Sherman called the Pacific Railway the solution of the Indian question. Congress, White writes, dispatched troops to conquer Indians and funded state efforts to slaughter them. He labels this the Greater Reconstruction of the West. Continental development, White argues, allowed commentators to shift the narrative of Reconstruction from the failure to subdue Southern Democrats and protect the freedmen from exploitation and oppression to a story of successful nation building and westward expansion. Indians would be exterminated or assimilated and forced to cede their lands. White points out that in seizing Indian homelands, the United States acted as an imperial power. American imperialism in the era, however, is a theme left underdeveloped. Although questions of Pan-Americanism and relations with Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hawaii would not detonate until 1898, two years after the end of this volume, the struggle over expansion and empire was also crucial in the decades before. The language of civilization versus savagery, of survival of the fittest, would be applied across the seas to people other than Indians, immigrants and workers. Although no one at the time paid much attention, historian Frederick Jackson Turner helped make a case for imperialism and the acquisition of new land when he argued at the Columbian Exposition that the frontier was closed, that a demarcated line of settlement no longer existed. It wasnt quite true, and his contention that individualism, rather than cooperation, shaped American character told only part of the story. The ideal of the frontier has long captured the American imagination. At the end of Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Huck decides to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, to leave behind the conflict and chaos of civilization for the freedom of the frontier. Its a pleasing fantasy, but The Republic for Which It Stands makes it abundantly clear that Huck would find little respite there. Louis P. Masur is Distinguished Professor of American Studies at Rutgers University and author of Lincolns Last Speech (2015) and The Civil War: A Concise History (2011). Email: books@sfchronicle.com The Republic for Which It Stands The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 By Richard White (Oxford University Press; 941 pages; $35) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Stuck in the middle of the tit-for-tat closure of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco Thursday are Bay Area entrepreneurs like Daniel Kravtsov, who rely on easy access to a consulate to keep their companies running. Kravtsov, who lives in the U.S. on an O-1 visa, has needed to make two trips to the consulate in the last year alone: once to get some business documents verified, and again when money in his Russian bank account got stolen. Its very inconvenient. ... Now we need to go to another city, Kravtsov, founder of data aggregation startup Improvado, said of the sudden closure, which leaves Seattle as the only city with a Russian consulate on the West Coast. Im upset that everything is going in this direction. The Trump administration ordered the Russian Consulate in San Francisco to shut down by Saturday, a few weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the reduction of U.S. personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in response to sanctions passed by Congress and approved by President Trump. In addition to the San Francisco closure, State Department officials said the U.S. would scale back the Russian diplomatic presence in Washington and New York. Russia relations US shutters Russias San Francisco consulate in retaliation The consulate in San Francisco was a hub for Russians on the West Coast, with some flying in from as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix to use it. While Russians dont need to interact with the consulate frequently, when they do, it is typically for pressing reasons: a passport renewal, a birth certificate request or a background check for police. Getting an appointment at the Russian Consulate on Green Street was already a time-consuming process. When the San Francisco consulate closes, experts worry U.S.-Russia business relations will suffer as obtaining travel documents gets harder. If they were to renew a passport, they would have to wait three months just to get an appointment but now its hard to predict what will happen, said Andrei Romanenko, a Bay Area immigration attorney who frequently deals with Russian clients. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Whats worse, he said, are the wait times in Russia. Now that staffing in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has been significantly reduced, Romanenko said some of his clients are struggling to get their visas approved to enter the U.S. And for students on an F-1 visa who need to start school in the next few weeks, and those on H-1B work visas who need to start their jobs in the U.S. soon, the clock is ticking. Eugenia Kuyda, a Russian entrepreneur and co-founder of artificial intelligence messaging startup Luka, has many friends stuck in that line. Its impossible to get anything done there, she said. Its just disappointing where we are going. We grew up in Moscow when everything American was welcome ... and now, all of a sudden, instead of going forward, were going backward. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As the United Automobile Workers union seeks to organize Teslas Fremont car factory, some employees say they never received proper training to handle hazardous chemicals they blame for causing rashes, dizziness, nosebleeds and, in one case, eye damage an accusation the company calls completely false. An organizing committee of Tesla employees has spoken with 22 workers raising complaints about chemical training and handling within the bustling plant, which is revving up production of Teslas latest electric car, the Model 3. This is just one of many issues, but its one of the scarier ones, said Jonathan Galescu, a repair technician at the factory and member of the organizing committee. Some employees say their training on use of the chemicals including one that can cause birth defects was limited to warnings from supervisors not to let the substances touch their skin and, in case of contact, wipe the chemicals off with a rag and water or alcohol. California law requires companies that use hazardous chemicals to give employees training on the proper handling of those materials and make available detailed information on their potential dangers. Ive only been trained through the Internet and the union on how to deal with the chemicals, said Dennis Cruz, who has worked on the factorys auto body line since 2014. Residue from an adhesive used within the cars, he says, caused chemical burns in his eyes after he rubbed them at the end of a night shift. I was like a blind person bumping into walls I had to count the steps to the bathroom, said Cruz, 41. Tesla, however, says it follows all local, state and federal labor laws, and regards the questions about chemical safety as another attempt by the union to pressure the company. Tesla says that all employees who handle potentially hazardous chemicals must undergo training on how to handle those substances, as well as wear any personal protective gear recommended by the products manufacturer. In addition, every new employee must attend orientation sessions that include health and worker safety training, down to learning how to read hazard warnings on product labels. Anyone who does not complete this orientation does not become a Tesla employee, a Tesla spokesman said in an email. The company accused union organizers of spreading misinformation both inside and outside the factory. Given the UAWs overwhelming election loss at a Nissan plant earlier this month, the recent corruption charges leveled against union leaders who misused UAW funds, and the fact that their efforts have failed to gain any traction with our employees, its no surprise that the union is feeling pressured to continue their public relations campaign against Tesla, the spokesman said. Galescu, two other Tesla employees and the union complained to the federal government in April that Tesla was trying to prevent its workers from distributing pro-union flyers, alleging intimidation. The Oakland office of the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday ordered Tesla to respond by Sept. 14 and scheduled a hearing for Nov. 14. Tesla, in a statement, called the allegations baseless and meant only to generate headlines. In May, the Worksafe occupational safety group in Oakland released a report on accident rates at the plant, after the UAW and several Tesla employees who want to join the union raised complaints about workplace conditions. The report found that Teslas Fremont factory in 2014 and 2015 suffered a higher accident rate than the auto industrys average. Tesla countered that its accident rates have substantially decreased since then. The complaints about chemical safety suggest that Teslas factory operations do not adequately protect workers from known hazards, said Mike Wilson, director of the Occupational and Environmental Health program at the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups and unions pushing for a cleaner economy. Wilson, a former chief scientist in the California Department of Industrial Relations and director of UC Berkeleys Labor Occupational Health Program, interviewed some of the affected Tesla workers at the UAWs request, although the UAW is not part of the Alliance. What weve seen in these cases is this persistent pattern of employees describing a pretty striking lack of controls in the workplace, things I would describe as routine industrial safety practices that just dont appear to be there, he said. For nearly two years, Charley Briese had to apply an adhesion promoter to auto parts, squeezing it from a clear bottle. Sometimes the chemical would spray out, particularly if the bottle had been sitting unused overnight, and the adhesion promoter would land on her clothes and skin. It itched and burned, she said. It also produced a strong, sweet smell that gathered in the work space. She began experiencing vertigo, numbness, nosebleeds and what Briese describes as borderline fainting spells. Briese recalls signing papers when she was hired stating that she understood she would be working around potentially dangerous chemicals. But she says she was not given any training or information on the adhesion promoter, nor was it named on the bottles she used. Its label, however, was on larger bottles used to refill the ones she used. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes It turned out to be a 3M product whose safety data sheet, a standardized description of a chemicals potential hazards, warns against breathing in the fumes, saying it should be used only in a well-ventilated area. The adhesion promoter, according to the data sheet, can cause dizziness, affect fertility, damage fetuses and prove fatal if it is swallowed and enters the airways. Briese requested work assignments elsewhere in the factory to get away from the chemical. That helped her symptoms, but they only went away after she went out on leave with a shoulder injury. She returned to the plant earlier this month and wants Tesla to use an alternate chemical. If its possible to stop using it, that would be ideal, said Briese, 21. But if not, we need education on what it is and the dangers. Tesla says it has extensively monitored workplace exposure to the adhesion promoter, finding that exposures were effectively controlled and below regulatory limits. The company also held meetings with employees to explain those findings and answer questions about the products safe use. Cruz says an adhesive used to bind parts together got into his eyes after he absentmindedly rubbed them in December. Within days the eyes grew painful, filled with mucus and pus and became difficult to open, he said. I had a 4-year-old (son) going, Daddy, look at me, and I was like, I cant, he said. A doctor told him he had suffered chemical burns on the eyes. Although the mucus and pus are long gone, he says he still has to take eye drops daily. Tesla says that employees who work with that adhesive undergo specific training for its use. Cruz says he was not trained how to use the product but was told to try to avoid touching it. In case of contact, he says, he was told to clean it off with a rag or, if necessary, wash it off in the bathroom. The products safety data sheet calls for washing it off with soap and water, and in the case of eye contact, rinsing the eyes for several minutes. Wilson said the Tesla employees he met generally did not realize the potential long-term harm these chemicals can cause. Charley came with complaints of nosebleeds, but the real danger was reproductive toxicity, Wilson said. Sitting there, talking with these folks, they didnt understand the magnitude of what they were telling me. David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Australian Minister for Trade, Investment and Tourism Steve Ciobo MP today visited the Asias largest fruits and vegetables wholesale market at Azadpur in the national capital. He visited the new fruit market in Azadpur to inspect the largest fruit wholesale market in Asia, a statement said . Australia currently exports counter season fresh fruit to India including citrus, apples, pears, stone fruits, table grapes, and cherries. advertisement "Ciobo is keen to see this trade grow and expand," the statement said. Australia also imports mangoes from India. Ciobo is currently leading the largest Australian business delegation to visit India in several years, including some of Australias leading agricultural and food companies. Australia is exploring business opportunities in India in the field of agriculture and food. PTI MJH MKJ --- ENDS --- The Castro Valley man accused of killing a Sacramento County sheriffs deputy and wounding two California Highway Patrol officers was wanted by federal authorities after he failed to show up to court twice this summer, court records show. Authorities on Thursday named Thomas Daniel Little Cloud, 32, of Castro Valley as the gunman they say opened fire on police during a stolen vehicle investigation Wednesday as he tried to flee a Sacramento hotel room. One Sacramento County sheriffs deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured. Little Cloud was shot during an ensuing pursuit and remained in a hospital Thursday in critical condition. Records show that he had skipped out on bail and that a federal judge had issued a warrant for his arrest last month when he didnt appear in a San Francisco federal courthouse as scheduled. Prosecutors told the judge that his whereabouts were unknown. The alleged gunman has an extensive criminal history in the Bay Area, including several instances of assault on officers and first responders. In Alameda County alone, his criminal history extends back at least 14 years, when at age 18 he was charged with drug possession, robbery, grand theft and assault with a stun gun, records show. In 2004, during another stolen vehicle case, he was arrested in Alameda County and charged with battery on emergency personnel, resisting an officer and drug possession. The following year, he was arrested again in the county and charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer or firefighter, in addition to six counts of assault with or possession of firearms. Last June, federal prosecutors indicted Little Cloud on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, using a counterfeit credit card and identity theft, court records show. The incident Wednesday began about 9:30 a.m., when CHP officers and sheriffs deputies working as part of an auto-theft task force followed a stolen vehicle they saw leave the parking lot of the Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento, officials said. The investigators had gotten information that a group behind a string of recent car thefts was working out of the hotel. The driver led the police on a chase that ended in Elk Grove. One of the two women inside, 23-year-old Priscilla Prendez of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and evading police, officials said. She was booked at the Sacramento County jail and is being held on $90,000 bail. Her companion was questioned and released. The detectives went back to the hotel after learning that Prendez, who was on probation, had booked a room there, authorities said. They knocked on the room and announced themselves as police, when shots were fired through the front door and walls at them, striking the two CHP officers. Little Cloud tried to exit through the back balcony of the room, where sheriffs deputies were positioned, officials said. Using a high-powered assault rifle, he engaged them in gunfire and struck Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sheriffs Department, police said. French died on his way to a hospital. The CHP officers were in stable condition Thursday. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The gunman ran from the balcony into a nearby car also stolen and drove south on Fulton Avenue, then went east on El Camino Avenue, before crashing just west of Watt Avenue, officials said. Another shootout unfolded at the scene of the crash, where Little Cloud was shot and taken into custody. French, the deputy who was killed, is survived by three adult children, several grandchildren, a sister and his girlfriend. Prendez is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Sacramento Superior Court. The sheriffs office and Sacramento County district attorneys office are conducting parallel investigations into the incident, and six deputies involved will be placed on paid leave, in keeping with standard protocol after an officer-involved shooting, officials said. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Santa Rosa police officers jailed a man in early August for allegedly abusing his girlfriend, they worried the violence might escalate and obtained an emergency order barring him from contacting the woman. But the man, Nery Israel Estrada Margos, faced a larger impediment to seeing his girlfriend. Federal immigration agents wanted to take custody of him and deport him to his native Guatemala. Nevertheless, Estrada Margos was released the day after his arrest when he posted bail. He soon returned to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend of nine months, Veronica Cabrera Ramirez. And on Aug. 18, authorities said, he walked into the lobby of the Santa Rosa Police Department and confessed he had killed her. With Estrada Margos, 38, now accused of murder, Sonoma County sheriffs officials say they did in fact notify immigration authorities of his impending release but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, says the heads-up came too late. The tangled circumstances behind the release have infuriated the victims family and raise new questions about how local jails across California cooperate with immigration agents. More than two years after a man who was released from jail in San Francisco despite being wanted for deportation killed Kate Steinle on San Franciscos Pier 14, the issue remains politically and emotionally charged. It is the subject of shifting local policies, legislative efforts in Sacramento and threats from the Trump administration against local governments that have sanctuary policies. Some advocates for immigrants believe counties shouldnt cooperate at all with the ICE, in order to build trust with immigrant communities. But Cabrera Ramirezs ex-husband said he doesnt understand why a potentially dangerous man would be released when another option existed. If the county kept this guy in jail, my ex-wife wouldnt have died. This could be avoided, said Gerardo Lopez, 50, of Rohnert Park, who has two daughters ages 16 and 17 with Cabrera Ramirez, who was 42 and worked in a nursing home. This guy shouldnt be out on the streets and put other peoples lives in danger. I dont get why they would leave this guy out on the streets. When they learned of the first arrest on Aug. 2, federal officials asked the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office to hold Estrada Margos, who had been deported once before in 2008, in jail for up to 48 hours after his release, giving ICE agents time to pick him up. But Sonoma, like every other county in the Bay Area, prohibits such detainers unless ICE presents a warrant, citing federal case law that says holding inmates beyond their release dates violates their constitutional rights. Advocates for immigrants argue that detainers could ensnare U.S. citizens, increase local costs and open up legal liability. Instead, many counties now respond to detainer requests by notifying ICE prior to releasing an inmate. Some counties make notifications in all cases, and some only in cases involving a defendant who faces serious charges or has a significant rap sheet. The precise details of what happened Aug. 3 are disputed. The sheriffs office said it learned at 7:03 p.m. that Estrada Margos, who had been jailed on suspicion of felony domestic violence, was posting $30,000 bail. That started a 14-step process to release him, the sheriffs office said, which included warning his girlfriend. At 8:20 p.m., the office notified ICE. Misti Harris, a spokeswoman for the sheriffs office, said Estrada Margos was then released at 9:05 p.m. But ICE officials say he was released at 8:36 p.m. In any event, ICE officers would need between two and three hours to pick up an inmate in Sonoma County, officials said. Within days of his release, Estrada Margos moved back in with Cabrera Ramirez, even though police had secured a five-day protective order. Just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 18, Santa Rosa police said, Estrada Margos entered the lobby of their headquarters and stated that he had assaulted his girlfriend, and thought that she might be dead. Responding to the apartment, officers found Cabrera Ramirezs body. Lopez said Estrada Margos had increasingly controlled everything in his ex-wifes life, including her Facebook page and cell phone, and had banned Lopez from even setting foot in her home. In mid-August, Lopezs brother called to tell him Estrada Margos had made bail. Lopez sped over to the apartment to take his daughters and their belongings. Afterward, he called police twice, he said, asking them to check on her. They reported back that she was safe. He was a psycho, Lopez said. She was in fear. This guy showed up in the picture and screwed everything up. James Schwab, an ICE spokesman, said in a statement that Sonoma Countys policy of notifying ICE only minutes before releasing a criminal alien clearly failed in this case as it has in too many others. He said the vast majority of notifications over the last six months from the county had been too late. This case underscores yet again why immigration detainers are such a crucial enforcement tool and why it is highly problematic, and even tragic, when jurisdictions choose not to comply, Schwab said. Harris said the sheriffs office could not have held Estrada Margos, because immigration agents didnt provide a warrant. It is ICEs responsibility to pursue people who have those immigration violations. We dont enforce immigration laws, she said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. People are released from jail all the time they dont always go out and do something as heinous as this, Harris said. This is awful, but it is unusual. Coincidentally, on the same day Cabrera Ramirez was killed, the sheriffs office instituted a new policy that had long been in the works, one that further limits cooperation with immigration agents. Now, officers cant notify ICE about an impending release unless an inmate has past convictions that meet a threshold of severity. Estrada Margos would not have qualified under the new rules. In the backdrop of the Sonoma County dispute is the fight over a proposed law, SB54, authored by state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. Known as the California Sanctuary State Bill, it would restrict the scenarios in which counties could notify ICE about an inmate. Meanwhile, the Trump administration, which has long used San Franciscos Pier 14 case to argue jails should turn over deportable immigrants, has threatened to withhold federal funding from local jurisdictions that do not notify ICE at least two days before releasing an inmate wanted for deportation. The specifics of the debate continue to change, but the broad contours remain. ICE officials argue that by taking custody of deportable immigrants in jails, they avoid having to track them into public places like neighborhoods and workplaces. But counties like Sonoma and San Francisco say they must balance concern for public safety with a desire not to be seen as an arm of federal immigration. Every day is a balance for us to make sure that we have the communitys trust and make sure we are protecting the public safety, Harris said. Pratheepan Gulasekaram, a professor and immigration expert at Santa Clara University School of Law, said no policy for dealing with criminal offenders guards completely against the potential for tragedy. Even ultra-enforcement and cooperation would still let some unauthorized persons through the cracks, he said, and at some point, one of those individuals might commit a horrific crime. As the debate continues, Cabrera Ramirezs daughters, who found out about her death while on their high school campus, are focused only on how to carry on. Theyre sad theyre still sad, Lopez said. Theyre just crying and they cant believe their mother is gone. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz On a recent summer night, we started telling ghost stories. I was with a group of writers in a cabin in the Vermont woods, the kind of deep dark that stirs your imagination and heightens your sensitivity to the universe. Some stories happened to us. Some to a friend, or a friend of a friend, or a friend of a friend of a friend, stories that put us on edge even though a couple werent ghost stories at all. The banging at odd hours, that went on for days, in a place that was supposed to be quiet and still? Turned out it was the sound of someone moving out. The eerie laughter echoing throughout the night? Although the mother revealed to her sons that shed bought her house on the cheap after a murder-suicide by the previous owners, the sound originated not from the spirit world, but their neighbors lawn gnome. Every time the neighbors dog tripped its motion detector, the gnome laughed maniacally. Thats not a ghost story! we shouted, laughing, with the relief, with the fun that comes from getting momentarily spooked. Our efforts fell far short of that famed ghost story challenge, held in the summer of 1816, when writers gathered in Switzerland in a lakeside villa. Night after night, as rain fell and lightning flashed outside, they told stories that would give rise to Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and John Polidoris The Vampyre. Although Ive never been much of a fan of horror movies I get too nervous, have to cover my eyes or leave the room even though I know the monsters face is a rubber mask and the pools of blood are corn syrup dyed red Im drawn to the collective experience of telling, of listening to ghost stories. Our fears, our doubts, our suspicions feed off each other in a storytelling ritual that has surely gone on for as long as humans have possessed language and gathered around campfires. We joked about getting a Ouija board, or making one of our own with a plastic cup serving as a planchette to communicate with the spirit world. Back in elementary and middle school, at slumber parties we gave fake eulogies before sliding two fingers of each hand beneath a supine friend, while chanting, Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Up shed go, as high as our chests, all the way up to our shoulders. Then I grew up and didnt think much about ghosts. But in the woods where we were staying, I felt more susceptible. Internet access was sporadic, I didnt have much time to check the news, and what little I heard seemed chaotic. As much as I wanted to take a stand against white supremacists and to help those in the path of Harveys torrential rains, I felt very far away. At the end of the night, a writer told us about the apartment shed moved into, where she kept hearing animals tussling in the yard. No, her landlords told her matter-of-factly. The commotion came from two men whod died fighting each other. I shivered. As the days passed, the stories continued. In another tale, friends on a retreat in the countryside woke up to a racket, but were paralyzed in bed until the noise stopped. They ran screaming to the caretakers. One attendant scolded the other, I told you not to put anyone in there. The next morning, when the friends returned to fetch their belongings, dead bees covered every surface of the room. All of us at the picnic table gasped. The precision of the detail haunted me, the crispy husks of bees that must have crunched underfoot. On the day of the solar eclipse, we hiked to a mountain lake brimming with inky, chilly waters. The bottom fell steeply away from the shore. How deep did it go, and what lurked beneath? We donned our eclipse glasses and gazed at the wonder transpiring overhead. After swimming, we sunned ourselves on the granite slabs and a poet told us about the Tie snake, about a warrior punished and transformed into a serpent. He slithers and knots himself around your legs, yanking you into his underwater lair. They say its a legend, but ... she said. Was she teasing us? Her expression remained serious. Isnt that but at the heart of every ghost story, the possibility of the supernatural that the most practical and pragmatic among us allow ourselves to consider? I took another dip in the lake, but when long weeds trailed against my legs, I imagined getting tangled up and pulled in. Maybe these stories dont scare you. Im paraphrasing, retelling from memory, and maybe Im forgetting the details that would make you jump in your seat. Maybe you had to be there. Or maybe you have a ghost story of your own. Vanessa Hua is a Bay Area author. Her columns appear Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com By PTI: Lucknow, Aug 31 (PTI) The appointment of Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey as the Uttar Pradesh BJP president appears to be a calculated move by the saffron party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to consolidate the crucial Brahmin vote in the countrys most populous state. Brahmins constitute over 10 per cent of the electorate in the state and their support can swing electoral fortunes in almost all the regions of the state - Bundelkhand, Rohilkhand, Purvanchal, Awadh and western UP. advertisement 59-year-old Pandey brings with him rich experience in organisational matters having served as UP BJP general secretary and various other key positions. A first-time Lok Sabha member from Chandauli in eastern UP bordering Bihar, Pandey shot into prominence after his induction in the Union government in July last year. The Brahmins, who were traditionally considered Congress supporters, had been siding with BJP in the post-Mandal era. However, a large chunk of them later also voted for Mayawatis BSP. Pandey, a two-time MLA, was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 1991 and 1996. He also has been the secretary of the BJP legislature party. In 1997, Pandey became Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development and was the MoS Planning (Independent charge) between 1998 and 2000 in UP. He was also the MoS Panchayati Raj in UP between 2000 and 2002. During his student days, he was secretary of BHU students union representing ABVP, the student wing of BJP. Pandey will take charge from incumbent Keshav Prasad Maurya, who has been holding dual charge of UP BJP chief and deputy chief minister. UP BJP spokesman Manish Shukla said the party will benefit from Pandeys vast experience spanning student union activities to electoral politics. PTI NAV SMI ADS --- ENDS --- WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Thursday announced it has chosen four companies to build concrete prototypes of the president's much-touted border wall. Construction of the prototypes, to take place in San Diego, is the first step in fulfilling Trump's campaign promise of building a "big, beautiful" wall stretching along the 2,000-mile Mexico border. "Today we mark a significant milestone," said Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "This is the first tangible result of the action planning that has gone on. This is the use of the resources we had available for this year." There appears to be a lack of political will to fund a continuous barrier. Congress has set aside $20 million in the current budget to build the prototypes but has not appropriated any other money for the wall. Each of the four contracts are worth between just under $400,000 and $500,000, Vitiello said. The companies chosen are: Caddell Construction in Montgomery, Alabama, Fisher Sand & Gravel/DBA Fisher Industries in Tempe, Arizona, Texas Sterling Construction in Houston, Texas, and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Construction is expected to begin on the concrete prototypes in two weeks, Vitiello said, and should be complete this fall within 30 days after breaking ground. Each prototype will be 30-feet long and up to 30-feet high, and will be located within close proximity of each other, he said. They will act as a secondary barrier in a border enforcement zone that already has a fence. Homeland Security officials will then spend 30 to 60 days using small hand tools to test the prototypes to see how resistant they are to tampering and penetration, Vitiello said. Officials will consider aesthetics as well as anti-climb features and how technology could be used to complement the physical barrier. "We are not just asking for a physical structure," Vitiello said. "We're asking for all the tools that help secure the border." The administration was originally expected to announce its decision on prototypes in June, but the contracting process was delayed after protests from two companies that had not made the list of finalists. The Government Accountability Office dismissed the protests last Friday, but unsuccessful bidders now have another opportunity to file new protests, which could further delay construction. During his visit last week to Phoenix, Trump threatened to shut down the government if Congress does not agree to fund his wall in September. "Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said during his Arizona rally. " The American people voted for immigration control. That's one of the reasons I'm here, and that is what the American people deserve, and they're going to get it." Seven hundred miles of fencing has already been built in the most critical areas, following the 2006 Secure Fence Act under President George W. Bush. And there's been a significant decrease in the number of illegal border crossers since Trump took office. The government in March asked for design submissions for two types of wall: a reinforced concrete barrier wall as well as one made of an alternative material with see-through capability. The government specified that the wall must be insurmountable and "aesthetically pleasing in color," at least from the United States side. More than 200 companies responded with proposals. The contenders were winnowed down to a secret list of about 20 finalists. Thursday's announcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not include the winners of the non-concrete wall prototype. Trump earlier this summer had floated the possibility of a solar-paneled wall, between 40 and 50 feet high as a way to help pay for construction. But with less than 2 percent of the U.S. population living within 40 miles of the Mexico border, most of the electricity generated by the wall would be useless - without the construction of costly transmission lines to channel the electricity to other parts of the country. Vitiello said the agency expects to award up to four contracts for the non-concrete prototypes next week. The prototypes will allow the agency to learn about what type of structure would work best along the border. They could function as permanent barriers in San Diego, or be removed or relocated elsewhere, he said. The firms selected to build the prototypes are not necessarily the ones that would be picked to build the wall, an agency official said. Another bidding process would ensue if funding is approved for the wall itself. "This is not a competition to build the rest of the wall," the official said. Trump's 2018 budget calls for $2.6 billion for "high-priority tactical infrastructure and border security technology." Of that amount, $1.6 billion is for "bricks and mortar construction" and $1 billion is for infrastructure and technology, such as roads needed to access construction sites and surveillance equipment. Since the campaign, Trump has scaled back his wall ambitions, admitting that a continuous barrier would not be possible -- nor necessary -- given natural barriers such as lakes, rivers, and mountains. A seamless wall is also unrealistic because of international treaty and flood zone requirements. The administration had hoped to add more than 100 new miles of wall over the next two years, according to a Department of Homeland Security planning document. Among the "high priority" locations would be the border sectors of the Rio Grande Valley in the southern tip of Texas as well as El Paso, Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California. Of the more than 400,000 illegal immigrants apprehended along the southern border in 2016, nearly half were stopped in the Rio Grande Valley, according to data compiled by the U.S. Border Patrol. Customs and Border Protection said in June that it would be installing 35 new gates in the Rio Grande Valley to cover existing gaps, as well as begin replacing fencing in San Diego and vehicle barriers in El Paso. Trump has pointed to these repairs as a sign that his wall promise was coming to life. Customs and Border Protection had initially planned to award contracts by June 12, with construction beginning by July 21, according to a June Homeland Security Inspector General's report. The waning days of a long, hot and tumultuous summer is no time to make lasting political judgments. But it is a good time to offer some passing observations about where the country is after only seven months of a new and unpredictable president. And add some balance to over-the-top debate. First, Trump deserves some credit. Hes been on top of Hurricane Harvey. Seven years after Joe Biden falsely promised a Recovery Summer with thousands of shovel-ready new jobs flowing from a trillion-dollar stimulus package, the U.S. economy has genuinely gained steam. The unemployment rate is down, even with more hopeful people re-entering the job market. Regulations have been shredded. Stock markets have reached record heights. Mortgage applications have soared. Optimism seems afloat after eight years of Barack Obama hand-wringing, negative nation-viewing and apologies. For sure, Obama was a Real Good Talker. Like all pols, Obama promised things he knew were false; think Obamacare. He did speak the rote good things about America. However, over time they began sounding insincere. Thats because the man who spent his formative childhood years in a foreign culture that he romanticized always felt compelled to point out the many profound faults he sees in America. Never ask Obama to fix the roof. He wants to rebuild entire neighborhoods, even if his transformational ambitions far outweigh his overrated abilities to inspire and lead. Just ask the more than 1,000 Democrats he blithely led out of office at all levels of government during his endless me-first terms. Along comes his successor in the most shocking U.S. political upset of modern times. Just enough Americans in just the right places wanted something perhaps anything different. They chose Donald Trump, a boastful, boorish billionaire. He tapped into flyover countrys molten frustration and bipartisan antipathy toward establishment elites flocking around the capital playing their rigged games and making Washington, not by accident, epicenter of the nations richest counties. Trump also had the good fortune to face one of modern times most inept, message-free candidates whos now written a cathartic book to ponder what everyone else realized last year. Hillary Clintons crowd and a fair number of others couldnt believe that those ignorant, deplorable masses in Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere could, would or did buy into Trumps bragging bull to deny her preordained political inheritance. They still cant believe it, especially within some sycophantic media now baldly displaying the most unprofessional and amazing animus of an era. They actively seek to retroactively overturn voters verdict by a selective presentation of the most negative acts and behaviors of a man who craves their attention while simultaneously attacking them with truths and falsehoods that resound with the presidents plurality that never needs convincing. And Trumps ever-expanding self-regard and lack of discipline give his critics ample ammo to present and distort, just as he does their faults. Take last weeks Phoenix rally. It was for anyone following Trump rallies lo these nearly 27 months pretty standard fare, sometimes fiery, sometimes angry, sometimes exaggerated, sometimes incoherent. The Washington Examiners perceptive Byron York calls the 77-minute performance a Trump sandwich. That means the New Yorker opens with a prebaked message. Then, fed by cheers and chants, he wanders off venting his frustrations and angry asides for all to see and some to follow, attacking not Democrats but members of his own adopted party that hell badly need next month. Then, Trump remembers the need to wrap it all in the evening message again. Media largely presented it as the chief executive having a nationally televised virtual nervous breakdown, questioning his fitness for office, even his sanity. Those who did not watch the rally have only that coverage to go by. Lost in all that anti-Trump hysteria was his address to the nation on Afghanistan strategy 25 hours earlier. It was short (2,900 words versus 8,000 in Phoenix), reasoned, nuanced and presidential. He does well in such set pieces, then drowns out any positive impact with wild talk after. The commander in chief stuck to the teleprompter and shared his own organized doubts about the path forward there, warned Afghan leaders U.S. patience is limited and vowed strength in overcoming the terrorists who planned 9/11 there 16 years ago. A disciplined Trump could have reviewed those remarks in Phoenix, perhaps thrown in some red-meat lines about dishonest media and obstructionist Democrats blocking court appointees. And hed have reinforced that impressive presidential message and importantly denied opponents fodder to feign fears for nuclear codes. Supporters claim Trump needs to energize his base with anger. But rain or shine, its shown no proclivity to flee. The problem for Trump heading into a crucial autumn of legislative challenges is that given such regular unhelpful, unnecessary, improv drama, a majority of Americans ominously has shown no proclivity to flock to this mixed style of leadership. Andrew Malcolm is an author and veteran national and foreign correspondent covering politics since the 1960s. Twitter: @AHMalcolm. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HOUSTON - On Monday morning, as floodwaters were rising fast in their neighborhood in northeast Houston, three brothers and two friends set off in a small boat to rescue anyone they could find. In two trips, they brought two families - seven people in total - to safety, then went out a third time. "Everybody told them to stay, that they had already done their part," said Stepheny Jacquez, 25, a family member. "But they said, 'No, we have to go back, there's a lot of people in danger.'" THE LATEST: As Houston dries out, rescues and recovery continue On their third trip out, around 3 p.m. Monday, they lost control of their boat in strong currents and drifted toward downed power lines throwing off sparks. "They all jumped in the water and got electrocuted, and the current took them," Jacquez said. Now two of the men are dead, two are missing and one is in the hospital with electrical burns, Jacquez said. "They're heroes; they were just trying to help people," Jacquez said. More for you More than 30 people reported dead from Harvey, and officials... READ ALSO: Explosions reported at flooded Crosby chemical plant Two journalists who were on the boat to document rescue missions also suffered severe burns and were hospitalized. They were photographer Ruaridh Connellan and reporter Alan Butterfield, who had been on assignment in the area for DailyMail.com, a British news organization. Jacquez identified the dead as Yahir Vizueth, 25, and Jorge Perez, 31. Yahir's brother, Jose Vizueth, 30, was rescued by police about noon on Tuesday and taken to a local hospital after spending a cold, wet night clinging to a tree along with the two journalists. Still missing are the third Vizueth brother, Benjamin Vizueth , 31, and family friend Gustavo Rodriguez-Hernandez, 40, who owned the boat and was driving it. Police have reported the incident but have not publicly identified the victims. READ ALSO: Maps show what Harvey's impact would look like in other states Now Playing: Andrew Pasek killed by submerged live wire Video: Fox 26 Houston Jacquez said Jose Vizueth was able to describe the incident from his hospital bed, including the long, harrowing night in the water. "They could see the helicopters and they were screaming and screaming, but nobody heard them," said Jose's wife, Juany Vizueth, who was with her husband in the hospital on Wednesday as he was recovering from burns. "Jose tried to save his brother, but the current was so fast he wasn't able to reach him," she said. "There were police boats and helicopters overhead and we were screaming, but no one saw us," Butterfield said in an account on DailyMail.com. The Vizueth brothers worked together at Perla's Motors, a used car dealership owned by Benjamin. "They were always together," Stepheny Jacquez said. She said Benjamin's house flooded on Monday, so he came to his mother-in-law's home, which was still dry. Gustavo is his mother-in-law's boyfriend, so his boat was there. "Benjamin said, 'We have a boat, we have to go help people,'" she said. "He wanted to go back into his neighborhood to save people, because he knew how bad it was." The accident took place near the intersection of Wallisville Road and Normandy Street, near Greens Bayou, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Houston. Benjamin was posting on Facebook all day Monday, with his first post coming at midnight, showing his flooded house. He posted to Facebook Live nine times on Monday; the last was a 7-minute post at 3:07 p.m. that showed the seven men on the boat, including the photojournalist recording the events with his camera. The men seemed to be in high-spirits, motoring through the flooded streets, past flooded gas stations, bantering in Spanish in the high winds and heavy rain. They towed a smaller boat behind Gustavo's fishing boat, and they had a huge inflatable tube. The video ends with the men walking alongside the boat in knee-deep water. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The diplomats at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco have been known to bring plates of delicacies and vodka shots to neighborhood block parties and, for the last few years, inflated a big snowman out front at Christmas. The gestures of goodwill, though, will be sidelined amid escalating tension between the U.S. and Russia. The Trump administration, in a move reminiscent of the Cold War, ordered the shutdown by Saturday of the stately brick building on Green Street in Cow Hollow. The closure, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat retaliations, carried clear symbolism but will also limit Moscows operations in the U.S. and deprive Russians in the Bay Area of the support of consular staff. At the same time, its likely to inconvenience Americans seeking to travel to Russia or do business with the country. Last year, the consulate issued 16,000 visas for Americans, officials said. Now Playing: The U.S. just took a big step that could effect thousands of Russian tourists. Jose Sepulveda (@josesepulvedatv) has more. Video: Buzz 60 In addition to the San Francisco closure announced Thursday, the U.S. is forcing the shut down of Russias chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and its consular annex in New York, in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. After Saturday, Russia will have three consulates in the U.S. in Seattle, Houston and Washington, D.C. the same number the U.S. has in Russia, she said. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, Nauert said, we have chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. The State Department is not expelling the diplomats who work in San Francisco from the country. It was not immediately clear whether Russia would have to sell the building that houses the consulate its oldest in the U.S. In a statement, Russian officials called the decision another unfriendly step of the U.S. authorities that will hurt both Russian and American citizens. The new Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, who arrived Thursday in Washington, D.C., commented before the announcement on the strained relationship between the two countries. Unfortunately, Russia-U.S. relations have seriously deteriorated over the past few years because of the actions taken by the previous U.S. administration, which was set to undermine the foundations of Russian-U.S. cooperation that took a very long time to create, he said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that was posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry. The San Francisco closure reflects the spiraling of the U.S. relationship with Russia and suggests a turnaround under Trump who has often spoken glowingly about Russian President Vladimir Putins authoritarian leadership is now a pipe dream, said Edward Walker, a UC Berkeley political scientist. Its as bad as its ever been since the end of the Cold War, he said. Its a negative-sum game that we never should be playing. He added, The nuclear option, like cutting off banking, would be a huge deal. That would be economic war, and were nowhere near there with Russia. Stuck in the middle of the conflict are Russian entrepreneurs like Daniel Kravtsov who rely on easy access to a consulate to keep their businesses running. Kravtsov, who is in the U.S. on a work visa, had to go to the consulate in San Francisco twice in the last year alone once to get some business documents verified and again when money in his Russian bank account got stolen. Its very inconvenient. ... Now we need to go to another city, Kravtsov said. Im upset that everything is going in this direction. Russians dont need to interact with the consulate frequently. But when they do, they typically have pressing reasons like renewing a passport, getting a birth certificate or completing a background check for the police. Securing an appointment at the consulate in San Francisco was already a time-consuming process, with people from as far away as Los Angeles and Phoenix flying in. Now, the Russian Consulate in Seattle is the closest to the Bay Area, and some experts worry that the move will further strain U.S.-Russia business relations. If they were to renew a passport, they would have to wait three months just to get an appointment, said Andrei Romanenko, a Bay Area immigration attorney who frequently deals with Russian clients. But now its hard to predict what will happen. The closure of American consulates in Russia have also frustrated travelers. It is frustrating on both sides, he said. By Thursday afternoon, at least 30 people were in line on Green Street, trying to renew passports or get visas to travel to Russia during the consulates walk-in hours. Hours earlier, Max Kolysh, an American citizen born in Russia, tried to get inside to obtain a visa to travel to his native country for his fathers birthday. He was denied access because he didnt have an appointment, and he feared it was too late to obtain the documents he needed. Its really upsetting, he said. They need to expand (the consulate), not close it. Ekaterina Stanton was luckier. The dual citizen did not have an appointment but was able to get in Thursday morning because her renewed Russian passport had already been processed. She plans to visit her mother in Yekaterinburg in central Russia, which just had its U.S. Consulate closed. I guess there is a clear reciprocity that affected our family on both sides of the globe, Stanton, a San Francisco attorney, said. Im very upset that the relationship has deteriorated so much. It affects so many common people. Its sad. The State Departments action on Thursday followed months of escalation. In July, Putin ordered the reduction of personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in response to sanctions passed by Congress and approved by President Trump. The sanctions were, in turn, retaliation for Russias suspected interference in last years presidential election as well as other actions, including the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. In December, then-President Barack Obama ejected 35 Russian diplomats, including 11 from the San Francisco consulate, in response to what a State Department briefing paper described as harassment of U.S. diplomats in Russia that had gone far beyond international diplomatic norms of behavior. The State Department said it hoped the two sides could avoid further retaliatory actions, improve relations and gain increased cooperation on mutual areas of concern. The United States, Nauert said, is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. Antonov, the new ambassador, urged common sense as tensions rise. It shouldnt be forgotten that Russia and the United States possess the biggest nuclear potentials and have particular responsibility for global stability and security, he said. The world is calmer and safer when we act together on the international arena. Police confirmed that the image of a whale was carved on Vignesh's left forearm with the words "Blue Whale" written beneath it. By Pramod Madhav: Police investigation into the suicide of a 19-year-old student has revealed that the victim had played the Blue Whale Challenge - a dare-based "game" for 50 days. Vignesh, a second year college student from Thirumangalam, Madurai committed suicide by hanging himself on Wednesday. He was found hanging around 4:15 PM. Police confirmed that the image of a whale was carved on Vignesh's left forearm with the words "Blue Whale" written beneath it. A note was also recovered from the spot which said, "Blue Whale- This is not a game but danger. Once you enter, you can never exit". Vignesh's friends told the police that they saw him attempting the Blue Whale Challenge on his phone. Police have confiscated the phone and are analysing if his friends might have taken the challenge too. advertisement A special team has been created for investigation, which will involve analysts from cyber-crime wing as well. "We have created a separate WhatsApp group for parents to complain about children playing Blue Whale game and we'll directly go to the child's home with Councillors to analyse the situation," said Manivannan, Superintendent of Police, Madurai district. Tamil Nadu Police had recently released a circular asking parents to keep an eye for children attempting the Blue Whale Challenge on the computer or their phones and to monitor their behaviour. Police have once again requested the parents to be more vigil. Also Read: Blue Whale Challenge hits Chennai: Madurai teen hangs himself, leaves note saying 'you can't exit once you enter' Blue Whale Challenge: 17-year-old girl arrested for being worldwide mastermind of the suicide challenge Blue Whale Challenge: 13-year-old Lucknow boy commits suicide, probe underway Also Watch: Once you enter, can never exit: Madurai boy latest to fall prey to Blue Whale Challenge --- ENDS --- The silence of Republican leadership, which has been deafening until only very recently, has been very much on my mind, not just in the aftermath of what took place in Charlottesville but during much of the seven months of this administration. Are statements of condemnation enough? Its evident that violent reactions toward those who enact violence are not a solution either. As a daughter of two Holocaust survivors, I must remain vigilant and outspoken toward racism in word and in deed whether on the streets or in the hallways of power. Despite the trickling departure of a few key individuals, the Republican-held Congress is so far permitting Nazi-sympathizers to remain inside the highest office in the land. Some members of my fathers extended family fled Germany in 1933, as soon as Hitler rose to power. Some members of my mothers extended family left Eastern Europe shortly after the Russian Revolution. Among the few who remained in Europe, miraculously still alive at the end of the World War II, my parents made their way to America, choosing this country as home because the American liberators of the concentration camp at Buchenwald (where my father was imprisoned as a teenager) represented the moral power of a nation that defeated evil. My mothers relatives who migrated to the United States ahead of her promised that its laws and citizens would offer permanent sanctuary from fear and hatred. Something like the Holocaust would never happen here, my father often says. Americans wont allow it. I stand not in singular defense of my tribe but in defense of all who represent otherness to the haters. I speak to drown out those who feel increasingly emboldened to claim white racial superiority now that they have one of their own in the Oval Office. In Germany and in many other countries, it is illegal to display a swastika or to proclaim allegiance to any Nazi slogans. Meanwhile, here in America, we have yet to come to terms with our own mostly unacknowledged history of genocide against Native Americans, our incomplete resolution of slavery, lynching and the modern-day extra-judicial executions of unarmed black men and women. Protection for the statues that represent the history of dehumanization is an overt means of continuing the legacy of hatred. Whether or not the president of the United States understands the causes of the Civil War, he must be held accountable for understanding that much of daily American life is being defined by his ignorance, willful or otherwise. We the people must also be held accountable for loudly and relentlessly seeking to awaken our elected leadership, demanding that they represent our highest and best selves. Our insistence, and resistance, must continue. Neutrality is unacceptable in the face of hate crimes. The opposite of evil action is not inaction; it is action taken against evil. To remain silent is to condone. Each day members of Congress chose not to denounce the presidents words or behaviors, each day they chose not to censure his racist positions, they were choosing to endorse those expressions of hatred and bigotry. Among those identified as righteous Gentiles who risked their own lives in efforts to save victims of the Nazis (to whose ranks we may now add the name of Heather Heyer), one woman explained her choice of action this way: We did it out of self-respect. Perpetrators are not only those with guns (or tiki torches) in their hands. They are also silent bystanders, complicit by way of doing nothing to intervene. What we now call moral injury among the returned veterans of war refers to those who failed to prevent atrocity, those who watched or looked away. We are all complicit now, failing the test of self-respect, if we remain silent, passive, frozen. Every day we are learning more about the generational damage of war and about how the aftermath of atrocity lingers. But silence can be a legacy too, one that can be just as damning. A friend asked me the other day if Im afraid to speak out? No, I answered her. I am more afraid not to. Elizabeth Rosner is the author of the forthcoming Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and The Labyrinth of Memory, (Counterpoint Press, September 2017). For eight months, voters who didnt choose Donald Trump to be president have struggled with this question: Why does Trump remain popular among his conservative base? Finally, Southern California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter has come up with a succinct explanation. When asked at a gathering of Riverside County Young Republicans what Trump was really like, Hunter answered: Hes just like he is on TV. Hes an a, but hes our a, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. And thats coming from Trumps first congressional endorser occupying a safe GOP seat. Yet Hunters theory may explain Trumps recent flurry of right turns during the summer congressional recess. Some Democrats were wishfully dreaming that the departure of the right-wing nationalists in the White House domestic adviser Steve Bannon and foreign policy adviser Sebastian Gorka would force Trump to suddenly become more moderate. Instead, the opposite has been true: Trump has sounded more conservative since Bannon and Gorka were shown the door. Since mid-August, hes sympathized with right-wing demonstrators like the kind who held demonstrations last weekend in the Bay Area; banned transgender people from serving in the military; pardoned former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; threatened to close down the government if Congress doesnt fund the U.S-Mexico border wall; and ripped into establishment GOP figures including Sens. Mitch McConnell, John McCain and Bob Corker. While all this might appear scattershot, it could be more calculated than it appears. Without Bannon in an office down the hall, Trump might be trying to reassure his Breitbart News-reading base that hes still one of them. Being anything less might incur their wrath, especially now that Bannon has returned to helm the influential right-wing website. On the way out of the White House, Bannon ominously said: We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency. But that presidency is over. Itll be something else. Could the fear of what something else means be motivating Trump to turn even more to the right? Trump may try to play the dumb country lawyer, but they look at a lot of data in that White House, said John Pudner, a former GOP strategist who oversaw outreach to religious communities during former President George W. Bushs 2000 campaign. They may be seeing a pressure point that is working. So far, it is working. While Trumps overall approval rating remains flat, his base my people remains loyal. Theres a feeling among his voters that hes accomplished a lot, because hes annoyed the enemy a lot, said Tim Miller, an Oakland GOP consultant who ran an anti-Trump super PAC during the campaign. Hes been successful in causing distress among the people his base dislikes. But theres trouble on the horizon. A Pew Research survey out this week shows that one-third of Republicans agree with Trump on on only a few or no issues. Lets break down some of what Trump has checked off his reach-out-to-the-base list in the last two weeks and what it really means: Trumps move right: Hes sympathized with those who support keeping Confederate monuments by telling a rally in Phoenix that they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. Why his base loves it: Bannon said, President Trump, by asking, Where does this all end Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln connects with the American people about their history, culture and traditions. Reality check: American people may be a none-too-subtle reference is to white American people who havent bought a new calendar since 1957. Or 1857. But Trump may have tapped into something, as 62 percent of Americans say the Confederate statues should remain as a historical symbol according to a recent National Public Radio survey. Trumps move right: Threatening that if we have to close down our government, were building that wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Why his base loves it: The only chant more ubiquitous than Build the wall! at Trump campaign rallies was Lock her up! Reality check: Congress isnt with him. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, the Tea Party-influenced band of House Republicans, doesnt back shutting down the government over the wall. Trumps move right: Pardoned Arpaio, saying Sheriff Joe has done a great job and has been strong on illegal immigration. Why his base loves that: Arpaio is the id of Trumps America first philosophy. Reality check: A federal court convicted the former sheriff of contempt of court for refusing to obey a court order to stop racially profiling Latinos. As fellow Republican McCain said, Trumps pardon undermines his claim for the respect of the rule of law, as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions. Trumps move right: Rips Republicans McConnell (failed to repeal Obamacare), Tennessee Sen. Corker (Tennessee not happy!) and McCain for opposing the Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Why his base loves that: Trump ran against the political establishment. And that will always be the motive, Pudner said. Hes not one who is going to say I want to make Republican leadership look good. He will not be on the side the people making the decisions. Reality check : Trump wont be able to accomplish anything on the GOPs fall calendar pass a tax overhaul, deal with the debt ceiling or pass a budget without McConnells help. His base may love his rhetoric, but other Republicans dont. The Pew Research survey said that 58 percent of Republican voters say Trump should listen more to Republicans who have experience working in government. That will be important to watch when Congress returns from its monthlong vacation Tuesday. If Trump continues turning to the right, will he be able to accomplish anything other than to annoy those who oppose him? Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli ANAHEIM Josh Phegley will come off the disabled list Friday at Seattle, as anticipated, and the As catcher says he feels great after a lengthy rehab assignment. It made sense, Im not going to argue that point at all, Phegley said of spending two weeks with Triple-A Nashville. Im just happy to be back. Im not going to complain about getting extra at-bats. I feel really good coming back into this. Id much rather have this happen than rush it. Phegley hit .310 with a homer and four RBIs in eight games and caught four nine-inning games over a six-day span, a good test for the left oblique he strained July 24. I feel like I got my swing going pretty well, he said. It was a really productive rehab assignment. I accomplished the main goal of getting back healthy but I also got back in the groove. Phegley doesnt get regular at-bats with Oakland, and he knows that wont change. Im used to my role here. I dont expect to come back and play every day, he said. But it was nice to get into a tempo and when Im called upon, Im feeling confident. I think any time you get multiple at-bats, especially for a guy who does some platooning, right away they feel a little more comfortable, manager Bob Melvin said. Thats probably the most consistent at-bats hes gotten in a long time. The As have been happy with the job that Dustin Garneau has done behind the plate during Phegleys absence and theres a good chance Garneau will continue to draw the bulk of starts against left-handed pitchers, but Phegleys arrival means that Melvin can pinch hit more liberally with his catchers. Disaster donations: Jed Lowrie, a Houston resident, will match all donations up to $25,000 for relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. To help, go to youcaring.com/Lowrie. Lowrie, second in the league in doubles, calls his matching donation doubling the fund-raising. In addition, the As are donating $1 of every ticket sold for the Sept. 8-10 series against Houston to hurricane relief, along with the proceeds from the 50-50 raffles at the games. Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Thursday Off Friday at Mariners 7:10 p.m. NBCSCA Manaea (9-8) vs. Gallardo (5-10) Saturday at Mariners 6:10 p.m. NBCSCA Cotton (7-10) vs. TBA Leading off No Angels: Oakland is 6-10 against the Angels in 2017 and will drop the season series for the fourth year in a row. Its the first time Oakland has lost four straight season series to the Angels. Susan Slusser Town hall: Constituents in House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosis district hold a town hall to address issues such as environmental protections, health care and immigrant rights, and to push for Pelosi to limit the presidents power to launch a preemptive nuclear attack. The event is from 6:45 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Park Branch library, 1833 Page St. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/ 2vCCmO0 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 California Assemblyman Ted Lempert. 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay. Information: www.goo. gl/d2KVLu Sexual minorities: Phillip Ayoub, assistant professor of politics at Drexel University, discusses the recent history of transnational movement in Europe and the reasons for states varying approaches to legal recognition for LGBT rights. His talk begins at 4:10 p.m. Thursday in Room 382 of the humanities building at San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. at 19th Avenue. Admission is free. Information: https://lca.sfsu.edu/events/2017-08-31-231500/817163 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. Friday. Information: www.facebook.com/events/336289353489096 Indivisible: General meeting of Indivisible to plan weekly actions. Meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at 1661 15th St. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2xrMHOK Coal film: Screening of the film From the Ashes, a look at the coal industry and its role in climate change. Film begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St. Free. Information: http://bit.ly/2woej7t Abortion rights: Meet-up and panel discussion on abortion rights. Event is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Nurx headquarters, 81 Langton St. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2gozC4S Town hall: A forum 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 a swearing-in ceremony. Sponsored by Democracy Action, which works to advance Democratic candidates. 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 7 outside Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Information: https://demaction.us Town hall: State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and other community leaders discuss reforming Proposition 13s commercial property tax system. Hosted by Make It Fair, the event is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Information: http:// bit.ly/mifbay17 Picnic in the park: Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, hosts a picnic in Golden Gate Parks Marx Meadow picnic area Sept 10. RSVP: http://chiuassembly.ngpvanhost.com/form/-1081566039410473216 Prayers for peace: Multifaith prayers for peace and justice on the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Event is from 7 to 8 p.m. Sept. 11 at King Plaza, 250 Hamilton Ave. in Palo Alto. Information: http://bit.ly/ 2wQEUNz Climate action: Climate Action in the City, a panel discussion on adapting to climate change in San Francisco, sponsored by San Francisco Tomorrow. Event is from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Richmond District Police Station community room, 461 Sixth Ave., San Francisco. Information: www.sftomorrow.org/ 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 Cap-and-trade forum: Oil industry experts and activists in the climate and environmental justice movement will explain Californias cap-and -trade law and its recently approved extension. Hosted by Sunflower Alliance and 350 Bay Area. Event runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 17 at 155 Grand Ave. in Oakland. Information: www.sunflower-alliance.org/the-cap-and-trade-scam-sept-17/ Politics and media: Longtime San Francisco journalist Tim Redmond discusses media coverage and the Trump administration. Event begins at 2 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Richmond Meeting Room of the Sen. Milton Marks Branch Library, 351 Ninth Ave. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2wJub72 To list an event, email Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com. 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. Friday. Information: www.facebook.com/events/336289353489096 Indivisible: General meeting of Indivisible to plan weekly actions. Meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at 1661 15th St. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2xrMHOK Iran deal: Trita Parsi, a Middle East expert who advised the Obama White House during the talks leading to the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, discusses the pacts prospects under President Trump. Sponsored by the World Affairs Council. Admission is $20 for non-council members, $7 for students. Event is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the World Affairs Auditorium, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200 in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2glLrow Coal film: Screening of the film From the Ashes, a look at the coal industry and its role in climate change. Film begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St. Free. Information: http://bit.ly/2woej7t Abortion rights: Meet-up and panel discussion on abortion rights. Event is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Nurx headquarters, 81 Langton St. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2gozC4S Town hall: A forum 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 a swearing-in ceremony. Sponsored by Democracy Action, which works to advance Democratic candidates. 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 7 outside Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Information: https://demaction.us Town hall: State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and other community leaders discuss reforming Proposition 13s commercial property tax system. Hosted by Make It Fair, the event is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. Information: http:// bit.ly/mifbay17 Picnic in the park: Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, hosts a picnic in Golden Gate Parks Marx Meadow picnic area Sept 10. RSVP: http://chiuassembly.ngpvanhost.com/form/-1081566039410473216 Prayers for peace: Multifaith prayers for peace and justice on the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Event is from 7 to 8 p.m. Sept. 11 at King Plaza, 250 Hamilton Ave. in Palo Alto. Information: http://bit.ly/ 2wQEUNz Climate action: Climate Action in the City, a panel discussion on adapting to climate change in San Francisco, sponsored by San Francisco Tomorrow. Event is from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Richmond District Police Station community room, 461 Sixth Ave., San Francisco. Information: www.sftomorrow.org/ Town hall: Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, holds a town hall at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at West Marin School Community Gym, 11550 Shoreline Highway, Point Reyes Station. Information: http://bit.ly/2vpinSI Cap-and-trade forum: Oil industry experts and activists in the climate and environmental justice movement will explain Californias cap-and-trade law and its recently approved extension. Hosted by Sunflower Alliance and 350 Bay Area. Event runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 17 at 155 Grand Ave. in Oakland. Information: www.sunflower-alliance.org/the-cap-and-trade-scam-sept-17/ Politics and media: Longtime San Francisco journalist Tim Redmond discusses media coverage and the Trump administration. Event begins at 2 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Richmond Meeting Room of the Sen. Milton Marks Branch Library, 351 Ninth Ave. in San Francisco. Information: http://bit.ly/2wJub72 To list an event, email Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The government of St. Kitts and Nevis has launched an investigation into the clinical trial for a herpes vaccine by an American company because it said its officials were not notified about the experiments. The vaccine research has sparked controversy because the lead investigator, a professor with Southern Illinois University, and the U.S. company he co-founded did not rely on traditional U.S. safety oversight while testing the vaccine last year on mostly American participants on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. The trial received financial backing from a former Hollywood filmmaker who has asserted the vaccine was highly successful in stopping herpes outbreaks. Since then, a group of investors, including PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, have backed the ongoing vaccine research with a $7 million investment that could include additional clinical trials in Mexico and Australia. Now Playing: A new report in BuzzFeed says that Silicon Valley billionaire investor Peter Thiel supports Trump in public, but privately calls his administration "incompetent." Elizabeth Keatinge (@elizkeatinge) has more. Video: JW Player Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor a safety panel known as an institutional review board, or an "IRB," monitored the testing on the 20 human subjects. Now, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis says that the researchers also did not officially seek permission to test the vaccine, which took place from April to August 2016. "The Ministry of Health states categorically that neither the Cabinet, the Ministry of Health, the office of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) nor the St. Kitts and Nevis Medical Board has ever been approached on this project," said the government press release sent out Wednesday night. "By extension, none of these agencies has approved such a venture." Agustin Fernandez III, the co-founder of Rational Vaccines, the company that oversaw the vaccine testing, said his partner, William Halford, told him that he notified the St. Kitts government. Halford, who was the lead investigator on the research, died of cancer in June and Fernandez said he did not have any other details about whom Halford might have talked to. "I don't know exactly," Fernandez wrote in an email Thursday. "[Halford] said he spoke to local authorities." Southern Illinois University did not immediately respond Thursday to questions about the research but told a reporter previously that Halford was not doing the research as part of his job at the university. U.S. researchers are increasingly going offshore to developing countries to conduct clinical trials, citing rising domestic costs. But in order to approve the drug for the U.S. market, the FDA requires that clinical trials involving human participants be reviewed and approved by an IRB or an international equivalent. The IRB can reject research based on safety concerns. In the St. Kitts press release, the Ministry of Health and Social Services said it "will always ensure that all research involving human participants follow international standards which protect the safety and security of persons involved." To ensure this happens, an ethics review committee is supposed to vet medical research protocols "in keeping with international best practices." Experimental trials with live viruses could lead to infection if not handled properly or produce side effects in those already infected. Genital herpes is caused by two viruses that can trigger outbreaks of painful sores. Many patients have no symptoms, though a small number suffer greatly. The virus is primarily spread through sexual contact but also can be released through the skin. However, Rational Vaccines downplayed safety concerns, asserting there was little risk the participants would be harmed because they had herpes already. Fernandez has said Halford took the necessary precautions during the trial. Halford also told him he manufactured the vaccine outside the United States, Fernandez said Thursday. "I don't know how he [got] it there," Fernandez said in the email. He added that the doses were already in St. Kitts when he agreed to fund the trial. SIU did not immediately respond to questions about whether it knew if Halford sought permission from St. Kitts officials. Rational Vaccines was established in February 2015 and the company entered into its patent agreement with the university later that year, Fernandez said. A university spokeswoman earlier said the university first learned about the trial in October 2016 after it had ended. The spokeswoman added that Halford didn't need to bring the trial to SIU's IRB because the trial wasn't overseen by the university. However, after a reporter raised questions about the lack of an IRB, the university launched a review of "internal processes to assure we are following best practices." Depending on how Halford transported the vaccine, he might have been required to seek approval from St. Kitts customs officials, said Dr. Patrick Martin, St. Kitts and Nevis' chief medical officer until June 2016. Martin, who had been in that position since 2004, said he never heard from Halford or any other member of the company, although he should have been notified. "Where did the testing of the herpes vaccine take place?" Martin asked. "Where [were] the material, the drugs, the storage equipment for these vaccines housed? Were there appropriate customs declarations?" Martin said he had to shut down another unauthorized research site, which was testing a stem cell product around the same time. "We are a country of rules and regulations," he said. "Researchers can't just do whatever they like without notifying the government or going to an IRB." The St. Kitts official now in charge of such matters, Dr. Hazel Laws, did not return repeated phone calls. An employee who answered the phone said it was unlikely she or any other official would call back because "the press release spoke for itself." American scientists called for more rigorous clinical trial oversight in the wake of Nazi atrocities involving human experiments but the U.S. did not require IRBs until the 1970s. Steven Joffe, chief of the division of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said for research to be considered ethical "the study must be conducted in accordance with international standards for human subjects research." That includes approval by an institutional review board, research ethics committee or the equivalent. "Legally, it must comply with the laws and regulations of the country," he added. This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. By PTI: By Aditi Khanna London, Aug 31 (PTI) A 26-year-old man, said to be of Bangladeshi origin, was today charged with a terror offence for injuring three police officers with a sword outside the Buckingham Palace last week, Scotland Yard said. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, from Luton in England, has been charged with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on August 25. advertisement "Choudhury was charged on Thursday, August 31 with an offence contrary to Section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 namely, on or before 25 August 2017 engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism," the Metropolitan Police said. Choudhury, believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, had been caught with a four-foot sword shouting "Allahu Akbar" near Queen Elizabeth IIs London residence. Three police officers had been injured in the course of the attack. Scotland Yards Counter Terrorism Command had earlier revealed details of the attack, which took place at approximately 20:35 hrs on August 25 when a man stopped his blue Toyota Prius car in a restricted area near a police vehicle on the Mall roundabout near Spur Road. Officers at the Mall spotted a large bladed weapon in his vehicle and went to arrest him. During the course of detaining the man, three male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm. Two of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment and have since been discharged. The suspect was taken to a London hospital for treatment of minor injuries and has now been taken to a central London police station for questioning. "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of these officers who quickly brought this incident under control. Their vigilance, courage and the swiftness of their response demonstrates how our officers are protecting the public at this time," Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, had said. "We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage. While we cannot speculate on what the man was intending to do ? this will be determined during the course of the investigation ? it is only right that we investigate this as a terrorist incident at this time," Haydon had said. Another 30-year-old man was detained on suspicion of terrorism offences a few days later at an address in west London in connection with the palace attack. No further information has been released on that arrest. advertisement Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family were not in the Buckingham Palace at the time. The 91-year-old monarch was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and other senior members of the royal family were also away during the summer holiday season in the UK. PTI AK KJ AKJ KJ --- ENDS --- Piedmonts embattled councilman and former mayor, who gave up his honorary mayors post Sunday after being criticized for insensitive Facebook posts, announced Wednesday that hes stepping down from the City Council altogether. Jeff Wieler, 65, told The Chronicle that he had become a distraction for the city and wanted to do the right thing. His critics had claimed that it was not enough for him to resign as mayor, a mostly ceremonial job that is assumed by one of the council members and not an elected position. Frankly, Im tired of being a problem for the city, Wieler said. When you spend a quarter of a century trying to help make a great city even greater and you see that youre causing damage, its time. I felt that this has gone on long enough. Wielers Facebook posts, which a concerned city resident shared at an Aug. 21 council meeting, reportedly included a number of politically and socially charged comments, such as Black Lives Matter encourages cop killing and Transgenders are mentally ill. News of his posts drew widespread criticism from residents of the upscale city of 11,353. His fellow council members responded by scheduling a vote on whether to remove him, but he vacated the position before any judgment. Wieler acknowledged in his mayoral resignation that his posts were inappropriate. On Wednesday, he said that he simply posted threads of stories and links to content that he found well written, logical and in some cases contrary to what he believed. He did not specify which of his posts espoused his views and which ran counter. Im a great believer in exploring every side of the issue. If you understand where other people stand you can do a much better job of what youre trying to do, he said. Wielers resignation from the council, which he made public on social media site Nextdoor, is effective next Tuesday. Acting Mayor Bob McBain, who as vice mayor took over the mayoral responsibilities, said he was pleased to hear that Wieler had recused himself from the council. Ive known Jeff a long time, but I still thought this was really important to do for the city, McBain said. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander This story originally appeared in San Francisco magazine. The greatest threat standing in the way of Californias march toward legalized marijuana isnt Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Big Pharma. Its the cannabis industry itself. Proof positive is hidden behind the glass-and-concrete walls of a low-slung building on an otherwise nondescript block of warehouses and auto body shops in Hunters Point. It was here, where Anresco Laboratories has been testing imported seafood for the FDA since 1982 and, more recently, marijuana, that workers in white lab coats recently confirmed what many within the cannabis world have known for years: Much of the roughly $1 billion in cannabis sold in Californias 1,000-plus dispensaries every year is dirty. At least thats what workers at Anresco found when they were asked to test buds, edibles, and concentrates entered in the competition at last Augusts HempCon, one of several such trade shows. Some 80 percent of the product entered came back tainted with mold, pesticides, and harmful solvents. The dirty pot wouldnt have been allowed on dispensary shelves in Colorado or Oregon, where marijuana must undergo quality-control testing before entering the legal market, and it certainly wont pass muster when California adopts its own controls in Januaryexpected to be even stricter than those in other states. All of which means that its up to growers to invest in cleanerand necessarily more expensivecultivation practices to avoid being turned away from Californias dispensary shelves. And theyll need to do it in a hurry. Until then, its buyer beware. The marijuana legalization era has just begun, and its first major challenge has already emerged. Here, a guide to the crud that's turned up in California cannabis. PESTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES Risky products: Cannabis extracts Potential health problems: Reproductive toxicity, cancer Its just a weed, but the cannabis plant can be a tricky mistress. An untimely bout of powdery mildew can render an entire crop worthless; many a plant has survived that plague only to fall victim to a pestilence of spider mites. For a commercial grower, the allure of chemical aids is hard to resist. That means pesticides are practically ubiquitous. About 70 percent of the cannabis Anresco tested that was intended for the California marketplace failed to meet pesticide screening standards currently in place in Oregon. One common contaminant is myclobutanil, sold under the brand name Eagle 20. Marijuana tainted with myclobutanil has already sickened consumers in Canada, where the federal health ministry regulates medical cannabis. Of particular concern are oil-based marijuana concentrates, made from trimmings.Weve seen pesticide levels 1,000 times higher in concentrates than what we might normally find in foods, says Anrescos Kyle Borland. MOLD, FUNGI, AND BACTERIA Risky products: Cannabis flower Potential health problems: Lung infections, cardiovascular issues Marijuana by itself hasnt killed anyone, but a fungus found on some medical cannabis may well have. Researchers suspected a weed link when several cancer patients at UC Davis Medical Center developed rare lung infectionsand one diedafter smoking or vaporizing medical marijuana. And sure enough, a review of dispensary-bought pot revealed the fungus on numerous samples sold in Bay Area dispensaries. Mold is a particular risk to the immuno-compromised, a serious consideration given marijuanas value to AIDS and cancer patients. About 15 percent of the cannabis flower Anresco tested at HempCon ended up as a fuzzy, hairy science experiment. Since many dispensaries test their product only for potency and not for bacteria or mold, its anyones guess whats currently on the market. RESIDUAL SOLVENTS AND CHEMICAL ACCELERANTS Risky products: Concentrated cannabis (wax, oil, shatter, dabs); CO2 cartridges Potential health problems: Neurotoxicity, cardiovascular complications Todays high-THC concentratescalled dabsare fascinating science experiments. They also rely on solvents like butane to separate the plant material from the good stuff: the cannabinoids and the terpenes. A good maker will take care to purge the finished product of solventsand in other legal states, its required. (In Colorado, residual butane cant exceed 50 parts per million.) When a concentrate maker eschews such practices, the result is a shiny, chemical-laden mess called poop soup. About 10 percent of the Anresco samples failed tests for residual solvents. But it takes a heroic amount of butane to cause toxicity: Drowsiness, an early symptom, doesnt occur until a user is exposed to 10,000 parts per million. Of greater concern to some in the industry are compounds, like propylene glycol, that are added to CO2 cartridges in vape pens. At high concentrations, propylene glycol can destroy lung tissue. HEAVY METALS Risky products: Anything Potential health problems: Cancer, developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity Even cannabis grown without a drop of pesticides can be dangerous if its water or the soil or fertilizer its rooted in is dirty. Heavy metals like arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury naturally occur in water and soil, but in high enough concentrations, cancer-causing compounds can build up over time. So far, Anresco gives marijuana a failing grade for heavy metals alone quite rarely, but as cannabis enters an era of mass production, they are becoming a growing concern. Scrupulous growers will remove traces of fertilizer from their plants via a process called flushing, but if the water table is contaminatedand some areas that are expected to turn to cannabis cultivation have heavy metals in their groundwater tablestheres nowhere to turn. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Brad Johnson has been a bookseller at Diesel in Oakland for five years. Now, however, the shop is his and it has a new name. Friday was the first day of East Bay Booksellers, a rechristened space that Johnson has been working to acquire for the past year. The 42-year-old became the stores new owner after raising $165,000 through an innovative community-lending program. More than 50 people, most of whom live within 2 miles of the Rockridge district store, loaned the money, to be repaid over five to 10 years. It all came down to the idea that we need spaces like this, Johnson said. Diesel owners John Evans and Alison Reid, with stores in Larkspur and Los Angeles, decided to part with their Oakland shop last year. If you dont shake things up yourself, Evans said at the time, its only a matter of time before somebody else shakes it up for you. Evans, Reid and Johnson signed the paperwork a few days ago to make it official. Im still in a bit of a daze its been a sprint to the finish. I feel like Ill be able to get back to being an actual bookseller, Johnson said, with a laugh. In addition to running the business, hell still spend time on the floor of the shop a handsome, high-ceilinged space on College Avenue on weekends. Engaging with customers, he said, is his greatest joy. A native of Lexington, Ky., Johnson has attributed the stores new name to being an unabashed cheerleader for the East Bay. How better to illustrate this than to wed in a store name my affection for where I am with what I do? Johnson envisions that any changes to the store will be gradual. He hopes, for one, to re-examine events, to create some sort of a semblance of a narrative theme over time, contributions to a greater conversation that goes beyond a single book. Also, as his own boss, Johnson said he welcomes the chance to make decisions on the fly, without having to go through proper channels. For instance, East Bay Booksellers has already decided to donate 20 percent of its opening weekend sales to Hurricane Harvey relief. Once Johnson and his five co-workers get acclimated, they plan to celebrate their new venture with a party. The cake and Champagne will probably come out by the end of September. More information: www.ebbooksellers.com John McMurtrie is The San Francisco Chronicles book editor. Email:jmcmurtrie@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @McMurtrieSF PayPal is turning to its old nemesis, plastic, to help it expand beyond the digital realm. The San Jose online payments venture is introducing a credit card that offers customers 2 percent cash back on purchases one of the industrys highest rebate rates with no annual fee. The rewards will appear in users online wallets and can be spent immediately on additional PayPal purchases or transferred to a bank. The move is part of CEO Dan Schulmans effort to transform PayPal from a payments button on websites into a versatile financial tool for everyday use, even in brick-and-mortar stores. He has forged 24 deals in 18 months with technology and financial companies including Apple, Visa and JPMorgan Chase & Co., looking to make PayPal ubiquitous in the lives of its 210 million customers. The company already tested the card with some of them. Not only are they using us to shop outside of PayPal in the physical world but theyre also shopping more on PayPal with this card, said Darrell Esch, the chief commercial officer for global credit. Some customers began checking the balance in their digital wallets more often, leading to additional shopping online. By the end of June, before the cards full rollout, transactions per PayPal account rose 10 percent to 32.3 over the trailing 12 months, according to the company. Among credit card enticements, cash back remains king. Almost 70 percent of consumers say their favorite rewards card offers such rebates, according to a June survey by card processor Total System Services. PayPals entry may challenge Citigroup, which offers the popular Double Cash card with 1 percent back when consumers make a purchase and another 1 percent back when they pay the balance. Regulation Home Depot and feds settle Home Depot has agreed to pay the U.S. government $5.7 million to settle charges that it sold recalled washing machines, fire extinguishers and other faulty products. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the products were sold by the home-improvement retailer between 2012 and 2016. In agreeing to the settlement, Home Depot did not admit guilt. Home Depot also agreed to continue a compliance program designed to make sure recalled products are not sold in its stores. Home Depot did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Uber to pay $250,000 Ubers leasing arm has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle allegations that it overcharged for tolls for hundreds of Massachusetts drivers who leased vehicles from the San Francisco ride-hailing companys subsidiary. State Attorney General Maura Healey announced Wednesday that the settlement with Xchange Leasing LLC includes $210,000 for 336 drivers, and $40,000 for her offices local consumer aid fund. The amount each driver was reimbursed was linked to the amount they were overbilled, but averaged about $600. Xchange Leasing primarily leases to potential Uber drivers who dont own a vehicle. The states investigation found that Xchange Leasing at times double- or triple-charged for each legitimate toll. Uber acknowledged mistakes and said the company has taken steps to improve. Ride sharing Toyota grabs a piece of Grab Toyota is pushing deeper into the ride-sharing business. Toyota Tsusho, the automakers trading arm, will invest an undisclosed amount in Grab, Southeast Asias leading ride-hailing operator. Toyota Motor said it will work with Grab to provide services in the region, a year after the carmaker bought a small stake in Uber. Carmakers are working with and competing against technology companies to figure out how to make money as automation, electrification and on-demand transportation threaten to reshape the current model of individual car ownership. Honda has also invested in Grab, its first in a ride-sharing company, in a partnership for expanding motorcycle-hailing operations in Southeast Asia. Toyotas investment in Grab will be through the $55 million Next Technology Fund set up in April by Toyota Tsusho for opportunities in innovative technologies, products and services. Grab wants to raise $2.5 billion from the latest round of funding, including $2 billion it already announced from Didi Chuxing and SoftBank. That will put Grabs valuation over $6 billion, a person familiar with the matter said in July. Toyota will record and analyze driving patterns in 100 Grab cars in Singapore, and offer recommendations on what connected services it can provide Grab drivers. Chronicle News Services A former Roman Catholic monk has filed a federal lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against cosmetics giant LOreal, accusing the company of stealing patented technology in an antiaging wrinkle cream that his charity was selling to raise money for the poor. Dennis Wyrzykowski and his company, Carmel Laboratories LLC, have been joined in the lawsuit by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which developed the technology and licensed it to Carmel in 2009. According to the lawsuit, the cream, called Easeamine, is made using technology inspired by a discovery by two UMass scientists that adenosine, a chemical compound found in the heart, can promote skin elasticity. The lawsuit, filed in June and amended this month, alleges LOreal was aware UMass held the patent for the science. It alleges LOreal had been denied patents because of their similarity to those granted to UMass, but the cosmetic company went ahead with a line of products based on the adenosine technology. Wyrzykowski, who leads a religious charity known as the Teresian Carmelites in Millbury, Mass., said in an interview Tuesday that he was selling the cream online for $65 per tube to support the Carmelites work with prisoners, drug addicts and schoolchildren. He said the availability of the LOreal products decimated the Carmelites business. For me, LOreal pillaged the poor, thats what they did, Wyrzykowski said. LOreal, which is from Paris and has U.S. operations in New York, has asked a U.S. District Court judge in Delaware to dismiss the lawsuit. The companys attorneys argue in court documents that LOreal believes its use of adenosine falls outside the University of Massachusetts patents. While we admire the purpose of the work these two organizations are doing together, we find no merit in these allegations, LOreal said in an email Wednesday to the Associated Press. We expressed this point of view in many conversations we had with the Teresian Carmelites and their outside legal advisers over the past two years. James Dobson Jr., a now-retired cardiovascular physiologist who was one of two UMass scientists to make the discovery, said the technology is potentially worth millions of dollars. If you know a patent is out there and you willingly infringe on it, that really upsets me, he said. What also upsets me is that the Teresian Carmelites were going to use the proceeds for the poor and disadvantaged in central Massachusetts, and that was a noble thing to do. Wyrzkowski said the loss of profits from the cream forced him to sell property that was going to be used for a spiritual center and curtailed other charitable works. Pat Eaton-Robb is an Associated Press writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate By last Friday afternoon, most of Ubers eight directors had gathered in San Francisco for a board meeting. Their agenda was simple: Pick a CEO. What unfolded over the next 72 hours was anything but straightforward. In discussions at the Four Seasons Hotel downtown and at the offices of private equity firm TPG Capital, which holds an Uber board seat, directors operated under the cloak of secrecy. They spoke in a kind of code about some of the candidates, limiting knowledge of the shortlist to a handful of people. By Sunday morning, one of the finalists, Jeffrey Immelt, the former General Electric chief, had publicly pulled out. Some board members were behind another finalist, Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and some people close to the process had taken steps to prepare for an announcement of her appointment. But as Sunday wore on, Whitman, emboldened by her front-runner status, started negotiating for increasing control were she to accept the job, siding with one faction of the board that wanted to limit the clout of Travis Kalanick, the former chief. Those tactics deterred most board members, who then swung decisively in favor of Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Expedia. This account of the ride-hailing companys CEO selection is based on interviews with more than a dozen people with knowledge of the boards discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations were private. It illustrates the high-wire act of herding eight board members many of whom have big personalities and some of whom are feuding with one another toward consensus at the worlds most valuable privately held company. It also gives a taste of the kinds of issues Khosrowshahi may have to navigate at Uber. In an interview at Expedias offices in Bellevue, Wash., Khosrowshahi said he was attracted to the Uber role because the company is reinventing the transportation industry and is one of the most powerful brands in the world, adding, Im excited to shape that unfinished story. One of his priorities, he said, is helping employees get back to running a company they can be proud of. That may be difficult given the numerous scandals that Uber has confronted this year, including a development that surfaced Tuesday: The Department of Justice is looking into whether Uber managers broke a federal law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which governs acts such as international bribery. Uber confirmed that it is cooperating with the Justice Departments preliminary review in the matter, which was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal. The company declined to comment on its search for a CEO. The process was already complicated leading up to last weekend. Since Kalanick resigned under pressure in June, the companys board had worked to put together a list of potential recruits with Heidrick & Struggles, the executive search firm. Over two months, that list was whittled down to three candidates. Whitman, a veteran of the tech industry who had led multiple public companies, quickly became a favorite candidate of Benchmark, one of Ubers largest investors, which also has a board seat. Whitman, who was steering Hewlett Packard Enterprise through a challenging landscape for corporate technology, was intrigued by the possibility of leading a turnaround at Uber. But in July, she publicly denied she wanted the Uber job in a series of tweets, taking herself out of consideration. Board members had all but written her off until recently, when Ryan Graves, an Uber director and early employee, coaxed Whitman to return to the process. Immelt, who was on the verge of leaving GE, was favored by Kalanick and a few other directors for his depth of experience running a public company. Khosrowshahi, the long-shot candidate, also gained favor with some directors. On Friday, Immelt and Khosrowshahi made the trip to downtown San Francisco for the last leg of the selection. In an airy conference room on the 33rd floor of TPGs offices, the two candidates presented their visions for the future of Uber. Whitman met with some board members the next day at the Four Seasons Hotel, changing locations as a way to throw people watchers off the trail. After the presentations, some board members grew concerned about Immelt. They questioned the success of his tenure at GE, while others particularly Benchmark worried that he would serve only as a surrogate for Kalanick. And while Immelt had experience with large organizations, some board members felt he lacked the technical and strategic prowess to run Uber. Immelt withdrew from the process Sunday morning with a post on Twitter. At the same time, Khosrowshahi continued to present himself as a low-key and steady hand. The fact that he was not publicly campaigning for the job his name had not surfaced in the media helped his cause. Khosrowshahi said of the recruitment process: When I was at Uber, they asked me if I knew my passenger rating. Whitman also had many positives in her favor. Benchmark liked her track record of imposing order on a company, along with her no-nonsense approach to governance. Yet others, like Kalanick, were wary. Kalanick viewed Whitman as potentially compromised by her strong affiliation with Benchmark, which had sued Kalanick for board control. A Delaware judge said Wednesday that the case can go to arbitration. Some of Whitmans points to board members did echo Benchmarks. At one point, she suggested to Uber directors that it would behoove the company to box out Kalanick. Throughout the recruitment, directors had agreed to pick their first- and second-choice candidates. While many leaned toward Whitman as a first choice, all of the directors continued including Khosrowshahi in their selections. Still, Whitman appeared to have an edge. After Immelt dropped out Sunday morning, things changed. Whitman, as the front-runner, negotiated for conditions including limiting Kalanick and potentially reshaping the board of directors. She also wanted an end to the lawsuit between Kalanick and Benchmark. I said Benchmark and Travis needed to settle their lawsuits and the board needed to put in place a functioning governance structure, Whitman said in a statement Tuesday to the New York Times. She added that the directors, including Travis, seemed eager to take those steps on Saturday and Sunday morning, but by midday Sunday, it was becoming clear that the board was still too fractured to make progress on the issues that were important to me. Directors were put off by Whitmans tactics. A consensus grew among Uber board members that Khosrowshahi was a stronger candidate who came with fewer potential headaches. By Sunday evening, that conclusion had hardened into a unanimous vote for Khosrowshahi. The board also agreed to hold the news until it had time to formally offer Khosrowshahi the job and tell Uber employees that he had accepted. After months of turmoil surrounding the company, it was the least directors could do to instill confidence among the rank and file. Minutes later, news of the boards decision leaked. On Wednesday, Khosrowshahi told Ubers 16,000 employees that the company could go public in as soon as 18 months, according to an employee who attended the meeting. Khosrowshahi wasnt definitive, the person said. In a meeting that was broadcast from San Francisco across the world, Khosrowshahi appeared to be trying to allay one of the biggest concerns not only for investors but also for employees. With a $69 billion valuation by private investors, funders have grown frustrated by the lack of timeline for getting their payouts. Employees have also felt pent up, as many are compensated with options. The Associated Press and the Washington Post contributed to this report. Mike Isaac is a New York Times writer. The Trump administration has halted a rule that would have required large companies to report to the government what they pay employees by race and gender an Obama-era policy that aimed to close what economists call the wage gap. The decision landed Tuesday evening, prompting outrage from groups who note that women and minorities still arent receiving equal pay for equal work. Some of the furor was directed at Ivanka Trump, who has previously spoken out against wage disparities and workplace discrimination. Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Womens Law Center, said the move contradicts President Trumps claim that he wants prosperity for every American. Its not enough to say equal pay, Grave said. It matters what policies you stand behind. In a letter sent Tuesday to Victoria Lipnic, acting chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said the Office of Management and Budget had paused the governments pay data collection process to review it. OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues, Rao wrote, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post. Ivanka Trump released a statement hours later. Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results, she said. We look forward to continuing to work with EEOC, OMB, Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap. Graves said that Ivanka Trumps platform to fight discrimination at work now seems flimsy. We have seen her say the words equal pay and that she supports equal pay, Graves said, but halting an equal pay policy, which would have brought transparency and improved enforcement and made employers more accountable that shows her rhetoric doesnt match reality. The rule, which did not require congressional approval, would have given the EEOC more reach in its efforts to investigate firms with glaring pay disparities. Starting next year, companies with more than 100 employees and federal contractors with at least 50 would have had to report more detailed salary data to the EEOC on a form they already annually submit to the agency. If the numbers revealed that a business paid, say, male sales employees far more than their female counterparts, the EEOC could choose to look into the matter and perhaps file a discrimination lawsuit. As of today, only large federal contractors provide such data to the government. This year, the Department of Labor took Google to court for what the government called extreme pay disparities between men and women at the company. (The case is ongoing.) When Obamas rule was proposed in January of last year, Jenny Yang, former EEOC chairwoman, said officials would not have shared how much money individual employees make or how much firms pay, but they would have released an annual report showing how much workers in different kinds of jobs earn by race and gender. The updated form would have grouped workers in 10 categories, from service employees to managers to executives. It would have also lumped them into 12 annual wage bands, from about $19,000 to $208,000 and higher. Some business leaders strongly opposed the measure, saying it added an unfair burden to a companys workload. Others said the data would not have offered a clear enough picture to right any economic wrongs. Nancy Hammer, senior government affairs policy counsel at the Society of Human Resource Management, a global business group with 270,000 members, said the expanded data collection process still lacked specificity to find evidence of discrimination. We didnt think it would help them solve the issue they were trying to solve, which is rooting out pay discrimination, she said. Pay has a lot of variables, and the way they collected the data was in pretty big categories. Hammer said wage disparities remain a problem in the United States. She recommends that employees go to human resources if theyre concerned about their paycheck and give their employer a chance to explain or fix the issue. Otherwise, she said, to really do it, youd need to practically report on every single employee. Thats not a practical way of looking at this issue nationwide. Federal law has banned pay discrimination since 1963. Women, though, still earn an average of 79 cents for every dollar paid to men. The gap is larger for black women, who take home 60 cents for every white mans dollar, and Hispanic women, who average out at 55 cents. Francine Blau, an economist at Cornell University, found in a recent study that a womans career decisions account for about 60 percent of the gap, while about a third is left unexplained. That leaves room, she determined, for employer bias, unconscious or otherwise. Danielle Paquette is a Washington Post writer. By PTI: By Aditi Khanna London, Aug 31 (PTI) A 26-year-old man, believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, was today charged with a terror offence for injuring three UK police officers, days after he was arrested with a four-foot sword outside the Buckingham Palace, Scotland Yard said. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, from Luton in England, has been charged with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on August 25, Scotland Yard said. advertisement "Mohiussunnath Choudhury was charged on Thursday, 31 August with an offence contrary to Section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 namely, on or before 25 August 2017 engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism," the Metropolitan Police statement said. He has been remanded to custody to appear at the Old Bailey Court on September 21. Choudhury, believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, had been caught with a four-foot sword shouting "Allahhu Akbar" near Queen Elizabeth IIs London residence and appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court today. Three police officers had been injured in the course of the attack. Scotland Yards Counter Terrorism Command had earlier revealed details of the attack, which took place at approximately 20:35 hrs (local time)on August 25 when a man stopped his blue Toyota Prius car in a restricted area near a police vehicle on the Mall roundabout near Spur Road. Officers at the Mall spotted a large bladed weapon in his vehicle and went to arrest him. During the course of detaining the man, three male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm. Two of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment and have since been discharged. The suspect was taken to a London hospital for treatment of minor injuries and has now been taken to a central London police station for questioning. "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of these officers who quickly brought this incident under control. Their vigilance, courage and the swiftness of their response demonstrates how our officers are protecting the public at this time," Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, had said. "We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage. While we cannot speculate on what the man was intending to do ? this will be determined during the course of the investigation ? it is only right that we investigate this as a terrorist incident at this time," Haydon said. A second 30-year-old man was detained on suspicion of terrorism offences a few days later at an address in west London in connection with the palace attack. advertisement He was released without charge yesterday. Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family were not in BuckinghamPalaceat the time. The 91-year-old monarch was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and other senior members of the royal family are also away during the summer holiday season in the UK. PTI AK AK KJ MRJ MRJ --- ENDS --- The Castro Valley man accused of killing a Sacramento County sheriffs deputy and wounding two California Highway Patrol officers was wanted by federal authorities after he failed to show up to court twice this summer, court records show. Authorities on Thursday named Thomas Daniel Little Cloud, 32, of Castro Valley as the gunman they say opened fire on police during a stolen vehicle investigation Wednesday as he tried to flee a Sacramento hotel room. One Sacramento County sheriffs deputy was killed and two California Highway Patrol officers were injured. Little Cloud was shot during an ensuing pursuit and remained in a hospital Thursday in critical condition. Records show that he had skipped out on bail and that a federal judge had issued a warrant for his arrest last month when he didnt appear in a San Francisco federal courthouse as scheduled. Prosecutors told the judge that his whereabouts were unknown. The alleged gunman has an extensive criminal history in the Bay Area, including several instances of assault on officers and first responders. In Alameda County alone, his criminal history extends back at least 14 years, when at age 18 he was charged with drug possession, robbery, grand theft and assault with a stun gun, records show. In 2004, during another stolen vehicle case, he was arrested in Alameda County and charged with battery on emergency personnel, resisting an officer and drug possession. The following year, he was arrested again in the county and charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer or firefighter, in addition to six counts of assault with or possession of firearms. Last June, federal prosecutors indicted Little Cloud on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, using a counterfeit credit card and identity theft, court records show. The incident Wednesday began about 9:30 a.m., when CHP officers and sheriffs deputies working as part of an auto-theft task force followed a stolen vehicle they saw leave the parking lot of the Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento, officials said. The investigators had gotten information that a group behind a string of recent car thefts was working out of the hotel. The driver led the police on a chase that ended in Elk Grove. One of the two women inside, 23-year-old Priscilla Prendez of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and evading police, officials said. She was booked at the Sacramento County jail and is being held on $90,000 bail. Her companion was questioned and released. The detectives went back to the hotel after learning that Prendez, who was on probation, had booked a room there, authorities said. They knocked on the room and announced themselves as police, when shots were fired through the front door and walls at them, striking the two CHP officers. Little Cloud tried to exit through the back balcony of the room, where sheriffs deputies were positioned, officials said. Using a high-powered assault rifle, he engaged them in gunfire and struck Deputy Robert French, a 21-year veteran of the Sheriffs Department, police said. French died on his way to a hospital. The CHP officers were in stable condition Thursday. The gunman ran from the balcony into a nearby car also stolen and drove south on Fulton Avenue, then went east on El Camino Avenue, before crashing just west of Watt Avenue, officials said. Another shootout unfolded at the scene of the crash, where Little Cloud was shot and taken into custody. French, the deputy who was killed, is survived by three adult children, several grandchildren, a sister and his girlfriend. Prendez is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Sacramento Superior Court. The sheriffs office and Sacramento County district attorneys office are conducting parallel investigations into the incident, and six deputies involved will be placed on paid leave, in keeping with standard protocol after an officer-involved shooting, officials said. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Shannon Cole, 32, noticed a change before she even set foot in a classroom. "There always seems to be people who don't know where they're going on college campuses," said the third-year student at City College of San Francisco. This year Cole says the number of folks with that "lost, slack-jaw look" on their faces had markedly increased. An influx of newcomers was to be expected this semester. In February, the city announced a deal to provide free tuition to all San Francisco residents, and enrollment has already increased by 18 percent compared to the same time last year. SEE ALSO: City College enrollment up with free tuition for SF residents "I saw a line at the bookstore for the first time ever. About 50 people, all day long, for three days," said Cole of her first week back on the Ocean Ave. Campus. "Last semester, I walked in, bought my book, and walked out." Don't even get her started on the parking lot. Audrey Zigmond, 24, is one of the new faces on campus. Inspired by the free tuition incentive, she signed up for a beginning guitar class held weekly at the Ocean campus. She says her first night of class, the room was "overflowing," with about 35 students and the same number of stringed instruments. Students were invited to take a music theory class held at the same time to ease the cramped classroom. --- "Frustration is high, but so is the energy," said Madeline Mueller, chair of the City College music department. Crowded classrooms signal a college in transition after a 2012 accreditation crisis led to plunging enrollment and empty desks. In the years that followed, enrollment dovetailed from 90,000 to 65,000 full- and part-time students. The college received accreditation in January, and after five years of a "dark cloud" hanging over campus, Mueller says the staff is "ecstatic" to see overflowing classrooms rather than empty ones. "We're busy stealing chairs from each other, but happily so," she said. Leslie Milloy, the college's new "Free City" director, says few accommodations have been required to host the influx of new students because, simply, the campus is already well-equipped to receive them. "We're used to being able to serve over 90,000 students," she said. The data can also be somewhat misleading. It's measured by full-time equivalent students (FTES), which averages the total number of units taken on campus and determines the equivalent number of full-time students. In other words, one FTES unit equals one full-time student. There isn't a "Giants game or Outside Lands"-size crowd flooding the campus each night, says Milloy, as fewer than 5,000 new students have enrolled this semester. --- Having experienced firsthand the scourge of under-enrollment, Cole says she'll always prefer a class with standing-room only over no class at all. "If a 3-unit class gets canceled, you're not only out that course, but back another step towards your degree and out $1,000 in grant money," she said. In her five semesters on campus, three of her classes have been cancelled due to under-enrollment. Currently, the college is busy adding sections, says Mueller, rather than axing them. In the first week of classes alone, administrators penciled 100 new sections into the schedule. This, says Mueller, is how the campus used to feel. "For me, it's a going home kind of moment," she said. "I recently had a student yell at me [because he couldn't add a fully enrolled class]. I thought it was wonderfully refreshing." Nanette Asimov, a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer, contributed to this story. Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling didnt think it was fair that wine enthusiasts got to have all the fun with their wine clubs, so it decided to launch a club of its own. Members of the Whiskey Club on a quarterly basis are given access to limited-release whiskey and rare bottlings that may or may not be accessible to the general public at a later date. And if you were one of the 120 members in the debut membership drive, you had access to one of the most Texas things to ever fill a 375 milliliter bottle: Brisket Whiskey. Take a moment to allow that to soak in, because I sure did. Like any whiskey, the 96-proof bite will open the eyes, but what follows is a definite liquid flavor of smoke, spice and well, brisket. Youll feel like chasing a shot with a slice of white bread slathered in barbecue sauce. Its real savory, and it definitely tastes like you are drinking a piece of meat, Ranger Creek co-owner Mark McDavid said. At the Aug. 19 pickup party, where Gin #1 also made its debut, Ranger Creek served the whiskey in bloody mary form with the glass coated in a salt, pepper and cayenne pepper dry rub. It worked. The whiskey was the brainchild of head distiller Allan Hall. Hall experimented with a beef jerky infusion to Ranger Creeks white whiskey, and the final product came out better than he had hoped. But he knew he had to go bigger for the club opener. I figured, lets make this top shelf, Hall said. With the help of local chef John Herdman, Hall took 60 pounds of prime brisket and dehydrated it, taking 20 pounds of water out of the meat before chopping it up. The brisket was then added to kegs, where it was mixed with roasted garlic and ancho chile peppers in the white whiskey base and left to sit in a cold room for two months before moving on to the barreling process. When it was time to filter out the brisket into a clear whiskey, the challenges of dealing with a fatty cut of beef began to arise. It turned out to be a little bit more of a hassle than we anticipated, Hall said. Even though the meat was dehydrated, there was just so much fat that had to be filtered out. And once you started to think it was ready, a bottle would cloud up and you had to filter it again. Ninety bottles of the brisket whiskey were made available to club members, and if you have one, consider it a rare collectible. McDavid said the time required to make it put too much of a dent on the production of other Ranger Creek products to regularly offer it on store shelves. The theory with the club is, if we get a good reception on something with the members, its something well consider for a full release, McDavid said. The brisket whiskey will probably never see that day. The Ranger Creek Whiskey Club has two membership levels, a $55 per quarter two-bottle club, or the $100 per quarter four-bottle club. Even though you may not be able to taste Ranger Creek Brisket Whiskey, there are other special bottles planned for members. This fall will be Halls take on coffee whiskey in November, then absinthe will be released in February, orange bitters in May, blanc vermouth in August 2018 and then a fall spiced whiskey will hit the bottling line. Hall isnt quite as ready to rule out brisket whiskey as a future release. Maybe next year, he said. I definitely learned some things during the process that would make it a little easier to pull off the next time around. For more details, go to Ranger Creeks website, drinkrangercreek.com, or visit it on Facebook: RangerCreek. cblount@express-news.net Twitter: @chuck_blount SAN DIEGO The September roster expansions begin Friday, with manager Bruce Bochy predicting the number of promotions from the minors will be smaller than usual because of injuries. Christian Arroyo is still recuperating from a broken hand and Tyler Beede from a groin strain. They almost certainly would have been in the majors if healthy, with Arroyo up long before Sept. 1. Relievers Derek Law and Steven Okert will be back, with a chance that right-handed submariner Ty Rogers, a Triple-A All-Star this year, and left-hander D.J. Snelton, will join them. If not Friday, then after the Pacific Coast League season ends Monday. Left-handed relief is such a critical need, the Giants might feel compelled to assess Snelton in the majors before deciding to pursue a more experienced lefty this winter. Now 25 and four years removed from his selection in the 2013 draft, Snelton has taken a leap this year. After pitching to a 1.66 ERA in 15 games at Double-A, he has a 2.02 ERA in 34 games at Sacramento. Snelton is 6-foot-7 and has a deceptive delivery. The Giants saw on the last homestand how valuable deceptive lefties can be. They were steamrolled by Josh Hader, who has a 1.44 ERA for the Brewers, and got nowhere in three cracks at the Phillies Hoby Milner. Other possible call-ups include utilityman Orlando Calixte, catcher Tim Federowicz, third basemen Jae-Gyun Hwang and Conor Gillaspie, outfielder Mac Williamson and reliever Reyes Moronta. More intriguing is the likely return of outfielder Austin Slater, who hit .290 in a 100 at-bat Giants debut before tearing an adductor muscle in his hip July 7. Slater is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Sacramento on Friday. Bochy said the Giants hope he can play in all four RiverCats games that will remain. Briefly: Bochy hopes Buster Posey (left thumb bone bruise) can return for the opener of a four-game series against the Cardinals on Thursday. Reports say Arroyo will play winter ball in the Dominican for Escogido, which needed to secure his rights from the Santurce team in Puerto Rico. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Thursday vs. Cardinals 7:15 p.m. Channel: 11 Wacha (9-7) vs. Bumgarner (3-6) Friday vs. Cardinals 7:15 p.m. NBSCBA Flaherty (0-0) vs. TBA Saturday vs. Cardinals 1:05 p.m. NBCSBA Lynn (10-6) vs. TBA Leading off Calmer skipper? After earning five ejections in 2015, Bruce Bochy has been tossed just twice in 2017 after two in 2016. This years came June 16 (Gary Cederstrom) and July 24 (Chris Conroy). Henry Schulman An adjunct professor at San Jose State University says the ever-rising cost of living in the Bay Area has made her homeless. Ellen Tara James-Penney says despite her full-time job teaching four English classes at the university, she sleeps in her car most nights, along with her husband and two dogs. After class, James-Penney said she often drives to a parking lot to grade papers. When it's dark, she'll use a headlamp from Home Depot so she can continue her work. At night, she'll re-park in a residential neighborhood and sleep in her 2004 Volvo. She keeps the car neat to avoid suspicion. "You cannot look homeless," James-Penney said. She explained the hardest part about living in her car isn't the lack of space (though she's gotten rid of so much stuff, all her clothes fit in a duffel bag), it's the fear of being caught. "You have to watch out for cops because if you park on the street, you get busted. And if you get a fine, then your finances get hit. And that's a real hit." TOO EXPENSIVE TO STAY? People who left the Bay Area tell us what it's like James-Penney made $28,700 last year, according to California's state worker salary database. This year, she is making a little more money, taking home about $2,500 per month. That's still nowhere near the salary needed to afford San Jose's sky-high rental market. A one-bedroom apartment will set you back an average $2,380 per month and a two-bedroom costs about $2,820, according to rental tracking website Zumper. James-Penney is struggling with another financial issue familiar to many Americans: student loan debt. "I'm $143,000 in debt. And I'm in my 50s. But I pay that loan back every month," she told KPIX. "That is mandatory for me. But that chunk I pay also affects how much I can afford in rent." COST OF LIVING: How much must you make to live comfortably in San Francisco? The teacher has tried to move away from the Bay Area, but found other job offers didn't pan out, or paid so little that relocating would have been prohibitively expensive. "I'm probably going to have to leave teaching and that makes me sad. I was in high tech and I was in admin, but I was never fulfilled," James-Penney said. "It angers me because I have a passion for teaching. I care about all of my students." While the Bay Area is often thought of as one of the most liberal and progressive places in the country, income inequality is a growing problem for the region. A 2014 study found the level of income inequality in San Francisco was similar to that of Rwanda. The same year, the San Jose Mercury News reported Santa Clara County had the highest median household income in the country. "Shame on Silicon Valley. Shame on people who want to continue to live in their little bubble world," James-Penney said. "Take the time to find out who the person is living in the vehicle." Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com. HONG KONG Kevin Kwan believes that America will embrace the Crazy Rich Asians movie, based on his best-selling novel of the same name. The Singaporean novelist was in Hong Kong recently to promote Rich People Problems, the third and last book in his Crazy Rich trilogy. His first book, Crazy Rich Asians, released in 2013, is the story of an Asian American girl, Rachel, accompanying her boyfriend, Nick, to Singapore for a wedding, only to learn about Nicks family wealth and power after stepping off the plane. The book provides a glimpse into the decadent and opulent lives of Asias ultra-rich. Its popularity gave birth to a sequel, China Rich Girlfriends. It didnt take long for Hollywood to notice the success of Kwans books and buy the rights to make Crazy Rich Asians into a film. Kwan served as an executive producer on the Crazy Rich Asians movie, and said it was a long time coming for Hollywood to make a romantic comedy with an all-Asian cast. I think its huge, he said. Its really the first time. ... Im sorry it hasnt happened earlier. People are really eager to see if Hollywood keeps its promise and rolls out this movie the way we want it to, he said. Hollywood came under heavy criticism for so-called white-washing last year when Tilda Swinton was cast as a character that was originally Tibetan in Doctor Strange and Scarlett Johansson played the cyborg protagonist in the Japanese anime remake Ghost in the Shell. More recently, British actor Ed Skrein was cast as a Japanese American character in a reboot of Hellboy. After a backlash, Skrein announced that he had withdrawn from the film. Kwan said that for Crazy Rich Asians, he and the films director, Jon M. Chu, insisted on an all-Asian cast. Its really been a dream come true, you know, Kwan said. Because even from the very start, when Hollywood was first interested in adopting it, I was thinking, Michelle Yeoh would be perfect, Constance Wu would be perfect. All these people, the fact that the dream sort of all came together. Wu, the breakout star from the sitcom Fresh off the Boat, plays the unassuming Rachel, while Yeoh plays her boyfriends disapproving mother. The dashing, rich Nick is played by newcomer Henry Golding. Others in the cast include Hangover star Ken Jeong and Harry Shum Jr. from Glee. With racial tensions on the rise in the United States, Kwan said he remains confident that Americans will embrace Crazy Rich Asians. They have a history of multiculturalism in the industry, but over the last few years, its really, I think, the corporatization of Hollywood, the fact that its owned by these big huge corporations, where they just want to see profit, profit, profit, Kwan said. They take a lot less risks and a lot less artistic risks. But I think thats changing, it really is, because the audience is demanding it, not just the Asian audience, the American, white audience is demanding it. When asked if his Crazy Rich trilogy glorifies the lives of the top 1 percent in Asia, Kwans answer was a definitive No. My books are satires, you know, they are really comedies of manners, he said. So I think most of my readers, when they read it, I dont think theyre really seeing this world through these rosy lenses. Theyre seeing the problems these rich people have. In a way, thats why I named the third book Rich People Problems. Rich People Problems is available at bookstores now, and the Crazy Rich Asians movie is in postproduction and slated for release in 2018. Angela Chen is an Associated Press writer. ORANGE, Texas A weaker Harvey replicated its devastating roll Wednesday, returning to shore with a deluge of rain that inundated homes and highways and left police and government officials struggling to pluck people from the water. The Texas-Louisiana border bore the brunt of Harveys second coming, this time as a tropical storm before it was downgraded Wednesday night to a tropical depression. It caused a repeat of the flooding endured by Houston, its suburbs and nearby beach towns when it made first landfall last week as a Category 4 hurricane before meandering back to the Gulf of Mexico. It has dumped more than 50 inches of rain in spots, leaving at least 31 dead. But as Houston got its first glimpses of sunlight in days, areas to the east that had already seen rain were waking up to even more and to waterlogged homes. Orange, Texas, resident Mike Henry said he went to bed Tuesday with water only in his yard. He woke up to rain falling so hard it sounded like a power washer. And then it quickly started seeping into his house. A neighbor delivered him, his longtime girlfriend, Rose Marie Carpenter, and her dog, Maggie May, to dry ground first in a truck, and then in a boat. They were trying to figure out what to do next as they waited along Interstate 10, where ambulances were taking the medically fragile to Louisiana. Police in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, were recruiting anyone with boats to help check neighborhoods for potential rescues, with one meeting point for available vessels at a Walmart. Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted on his Facebook page: city is underwater right now but we are coming! Officials said 911 centers in the Houston area were getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. Jeff Amy and Adam Kealoha Causey are Associated Press writers. Sources said at least 6 of these ministers were asked to resign from the Modi Cabinet based on their performance review. By India Today Web Desk: Ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several ministers including Rajiv Pratap Rudy have resigned from their posts. According to sources, firebrand BJP leader Uma Bharti who held the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, has also offered to resign on health grounds. Rudy, a BJP MP from Bihar's Saran, held independent charge in the ministry of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Nitish Kumar's JD-U, which has also decided to join the NDA after a break-up with Lalu Prasad Yadav and Congress, is expected to be offered two berths in the new Cabinet. advertisement It is speculated that since ministers from JD-U will be from Bihar, Rudy who also hails from the state was dropped in the reshuffle. Sources said Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, has also tendered his resignation. It is understood that both Amit Shah and PM Modi were unhappy with the attendance of Kulaste in the ministry. On the other hand, ministers Sanjeev Baliyan, Kalraj Mishra and Mahendra Pandeya have offered to resign. Kalraj Mishra, a senior leader from Uttar Pradesh, has offered to quit and will be sent as a Governor to some state. At least 7 posts of Governor are lying vacant. Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, creating one more vacancy in the Council of Ministers. Sources said at least 6 of these ministers were asked to go based on their performance review. Some of them were handling key ministries that are supposed to push PM Modi's favourite programmes. The portfolios of Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and Maneka Gandhi may be changed. Although Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had offered to resign after rail accidents, sources said PM Modi is in a mood to give him another chance. Highly-placed sources have indicated to India Today that the much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle could happen on September 2. Earlier in the day, BJP chief Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and at least eight union ministers where new portfolios were discussed. Sources said a change in portfolios is likely while new faces will be inducted. It is being understood that the Modi government will make nearly a dozen changes in the reshuffle. Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan are likely to be elevated in the reshuffle. Key ministries like Defence and environment will get new bosses in the Cabinet rejig.Also read: BJP in huddle ahead of Cabinet reshuffle likely by Saturday: Who gets what --- ENDS --- 1 Sanctuary lawsuit: Philadelphia on Wednesday became the latest so-called sanctuary city to sue Attorney General Jeff Sessions over what officials say are unconstitutional immigration restrictions placed on a major federal grant. In the lawsuit, the city is asking the court to stop Sessions from adding these conditions to its Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant, which is used to pay police overtime, upgrade equipment and courtroom technology, and train officers. Sessions said in July that cities and states can only receive the grants if they allow federal immigration officials to access detention facilities, and that they must provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released. Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco have also sued over the grant conditions. 2 West Point lawsuit: A former U.S. Military Academy at West Point cadet who sought judicial relief from what she described as a sexually oppressive culture that included crude chants during campus marches was told on Wednesday by a federal appeals court in New York to go to Congress for relief instead. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that civilian courts are ill-equipped to second-guess military decisions regarding the discipline, supervision and control of military members. Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote that the former cadet, identified only as Jane Doe, could not pursue damages from two former superior officers she claimed ignored or condoned a sexually hostile culture for women before her 2010 rape by another cadet. STOWE, Vt. Normally used in dentists offices and hospitals, nitrous oxide yes, laughing gas is starting to turn up again in ambulances in some rural areas where medical workers with clearance to provide more traditional painkillers often arent on board. It gives advanced emergency medical technicians, who are a step down from higher-level paramedics, a way to help relieve patients pain and anxiety on what can sometimes be long trips to a hospital. For someone to be in pain for that extended period of time, you know we want to try to ease that, said Scott Brinkman, chief of emergency medical services in Stowe, a ski resort town that sees many related injuries and started using nitrous a year ago. Nitrous oxide equipment has been sold to ambulance crews in at least 30 states in the past three years, including Maine, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin, according to Henry Schein Medical, the sole distributor of the version for ambulances. Nitrous has been more commonly used in ambulances in Europe and Australia. It is also not an opioid, a bonus as the country grapples with a drug crisis. Experts have blamed prescription opioids for spikes in overdoses, and some patients simply might not want to be given an opioid, or their injury doesnt require something so strong. In Stowe, for example, a woman who dislocated her shoulder asked not to be given narcotics because she was recovering from addiction, Brinkman said. The drug is delivered by breathing through a mask or tube that the patient holds so they can regulate how much they are getting. Lisa Rathke is an Associated Press writer. The CBI today filed a supplementary chargesheet in a 2014 murder of an RSS leader in Kannur, Kerala. The agency has accused a CPM worker of killing the RSS man. By Meetu Jain: In the killing fields of Kannur in northern Kerala, the saga of RSS-CPM political murders took an expected turn with the CBI filing a supplementary chargesheet Thursday accusing a CPM worker for the murder of an RSS leader in 2014. The chargesheet names CPM senior leader and Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan and five of his associates for the murder of RSS worker E Manoj in September 2014. The CBI had filed the first charge sheet in the case in March 2015, listing 19 people as accused and 200 as witnesses. Jayarajan was arrested then and has been on bail since. advertisement In the supplementary chargesheet filed in a Kochi court, the CBI says political rivalry was the main motive behind the murder. The chargesheet says it was the "need of the hour for the CPM to boost the morale" of its cadre and preventing its from deserting the party which was moving towards the RSS and the BJP was a "serious issue for Jayaraman". E Manoj was an influential and rising district leader of the BJP. The CBI says Jayarajan got in touch with a close aide of his, Vikraman who then put together a team of six others. these seven persons then first threw country made bombs at Manoj and later hacked him to death. Jayarajan is a close aide of Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan who himself hails from Kannur. The lotus bloomed for the first time in Kerala in the 2016 polls with the BJP winning one seat in Thiruvananthapuram. Coincidentally, Manoj was the main accused in the case pertaining to murder attempt on P Jayarajan in 1999. Rejecting the charges, CPM leader Brinda Karat told India Today, "Its a politically motivated charge, Jayarajan is the victim of an RSS attack. The CBI is targetting him and carrying out a completely biased probe. The agency has bypassed the state government and the probe is being done completely on the directions of the Centre. The CBI has forgotten its indictment by the courts for political vendetta. The CPM will fight this charge politically". In the slugfest of political killings in Kerala, the narrative the RSS has tried to build, with a series of Central leaders making a beeline to Kerala, is that the majority of those killed were from the RSS. Records show there have been 96 political killings recorded in Kerala since January 1995. Of these, 42 were victims affiliated to the BJP-RSS and 40 were from the CPM. Kannur accounts for just over half of the political killings linked to the rivalry between the CPM and the BJP-RSS in Kerala since 2006 - 41 out of 80. advertisement ALSO READ | Kannur, epicentre of CPM-RSS Mahabharata, derives its name from Lord Krishna ALSO WATCH | Red vs saffron war has claimed 60 RSS, 120 CPM men: Is Kannur the Wild West of Kerala? --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A wildfire burning about 40 miles southwest of Nevada's Black Rock Desert closed the main road into the Burning Man festival overnight Wednesday. Arriving burners were redirected through Alturas, Calif., to access the festival through the backside. Highway 447 reopened on Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. when lines of containment were established along the route. But the Tohakum 2 Fire continues to impact the 70,000-person gathering. "If you go to the Burning Man web camera, you can see that there's definitely smoke out there," says Marvin Boyd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. "They're not in the thickest part of the smoke, but it's still blowing in that area." The fire has scorched 30,000 acres of short grass and brush near Pyramid Lake and crews are working to contain it. The inferno started roughly 40 miles north of Nixon, Nev., from a lightning strike on Aug. 29. It grew rapidly Wednesday as gusts reaching up to 30 mph spread flames, and then calmed overnight as temperatures dropped and winds died. "With the new day, we have to see what the fire is going to do," says John Gaffney, a public information officer with the Bureau of Land Management. "They're actively fighting it. They're working on establishing containment lines." Gaffney says some power lines burned on Wednesday and seven ranches are currently threatened by the fire. No evacuations are currently in place. "There is a facility called the Empire Farms Geothermal Plant that is in the vicinity. It's not immediately threatened, but could become as time goes on," Gaffney says. "Burning Man is not immediately threatened. The fire is a good distance from the Black Rock Desert. We have to watch the fire behavior to see what it does." Temperatures are forecast to reach the upper 90s Friday and hit or exceed 100 degrees on Saturday. A previous forecast predicted Sunday could reach 102, but the Thursday forecast brought the mercury back down to the upper-90s. "We did back off temperatures for Sunday," Boyd says. "It's looking a little less warm than the previous forecast. We're no longer forecasting record-highs." Winds are predicted to reach up to only 15 mph on Thursday, and the fire isn't expected to spread as dramatically as it did on Wednesday, but smoke is forecast to continue to impact Burning Man. "Smoke from the fire will continue to flow northeast today and by late afternoon evening it will stall and winds will lighten up," Boyd says. "The smoke will drain into the valleys tonight. Expect smoke and haze to remain in the Burning Man area." The National Weather Service doesn't have air quality sensors in the Burning Man area, but Boyd says "you can see [in satellite imagery] there's smoke that has settled in the valley and it's decreasing air quality, but I can't tell you how much." The upside to all the smoke? Sunrise and sunset with the large particles in the air refracting the light should be vibrant and gorgeous. "There's your red hazy lining," Boyd says. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Kern County A test version of a spacecraft resembling a mini space shuttle was carried aloft over the Mojave Desert by a helicopter Wednesday in a precursor to a free flight in which it will be released to autonomously land on a runway as it would in a return from orbit. Sierra Nevada Corp.s Dream Chaser craft was lifted off the ground at 7:21 a.m., at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base and was carried to the same altitude and flight conditions it will experience before release in a free flight. A control team sent commands to the wingless vehicle and collected data before the helicopter brought it down at 9:02 a.m., the company said. Everything we have seen points to a successful test with useful data for the next round of testing, director of flight operations Lee Bru Archambault said in a statement. A second captive-carry test is scheduled this year and if it is successful, a free-flight test will follow. The Dream Chaser is being developed to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station without a crew aboard. The version flown Wednesday is for tests in the atmosphere. The version that will be launched into space is still in development. With the addition of life support equipment, a Dream Chaser could transport a crew of seven. Last month, Sierra Nevada selected United Launch Alliances Atlas 5 rocket to launch the first two Dream Chaser cargo missions, which are scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in 2020 and 2021. Those missions will land at Kennedy Space Center. The Dream Chaser is a type of craft known as a lifting body in which aerodynamic lift is generated by its shape rather than wings like those of a conventional aircraft. Tail fins angling upward at the rear of the craft provide control. NASA proved the lifting body concept by flying a series of wingless aircraft at Edwards in the 1960s and 70s. The Dream Chaser is 30 feet long, about one quarter the length of a space shuttle. Sierra Nevada is headquartered in Sparks, Nev., and the Dream Chaser is being developed by the companys Space Systems business in Louisville, Colo. The RBI report and numbers on demonetisation have predictably sparked off a political furore. The Opposition is saying that it's evidence that demonetisation has been a flop. No one has spoken more caustically and severely than former finance minister P Chidambaram. By India Today Web Desk: The RBI statistics on the return of demonetised notes have sparked off a debate across the political spectrum. The Opposition which has been critical of the Modi government's note ban drive, has yet again come out and lambasted the Centre, calling demonetisation a flop show. Former finance minister P Chidambaram today disapproved Centre's claim that demonetisation has been a successful effort. He called the note ban move a total failure. The former union minister also said that cashless economy was not the original objective of note ban. advertisement When asked if he was being excessive with his criticism of demonetisation, Chidambaram said that his view was based on facts. Here is the full interview of Chidambaram, hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai. FULL TRANSCRIPT Rajdeep Sardesai: The RBI report and numbers on demonetisation have predictably sparked off a political furore. The Opposition is saying that it's evidence that demonetisation has been a flop. No one has spoken more caustically and severely than former finance minister P Chidambaram. Your tweets in particular suggest that demonetisation is an unmitigated disaster. Are you being a little excessive in your criticism simply because you belong to the Opposition? P Chidambaram: Firstly, I want you to take back the word caustic. I am matter of fact. The matter of fact conclusion is against the three objectives set by the government in its letter to the RBI and the prime minister's address to the nation. Demonetisation is an abject failure. Q: You say don't use the word caustic, but how am I to interpret tweets that you put out? 99% notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white?- P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 30, 2017 RBI 'gained' Rs 16000 crore, but 'lost' Rs 21000 crore in printing new notes! The economists deserve Nobel Prize.- P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 30, 2017 A: They are matter of fact statements. Every word of that is correct. Q: Trenchant criticism? A:You can call it trenchant. Q: But are you being excessive? Because the government claims that the glass is more than half full. Arun Jaitley says this is a major step towards the formalisation of the economy, and don't look at it in terms of confiscation of money. A: But that is the objective they set for themselves. One of the three objectives. And then the attorney general told the Supreme Court of India that the government expects Rs 4-5 lakh crore.. or Rs 3-4 lakh crore, it doesn't matter, a very large proportion will not come back to the Reserve Bank and the government expects dividend from that. He said it. Q: Rajiv Kumar, the soon to be vice-chairperson of Niti Aayog, said - don't look at the flow of black money, but look at the stock. Government has attacked the swamp of black money that has come into the system. Kumar said, Unlike Mr Chidambaram who seems to suggest black has become white, black has become grey, and the tax and enforcement directorate now can target this swamp and stock of black money. advertisement A: I don't want to comment on someone who has assumed office just now. Three days after he assumed office, the government disowned Niti Aayog's report. The aim of the government was to attack the stock of black money. In fact, we said demonetisation will not attack the flow, or the generation of new black money. It will only attack the stock of Rs 3-4 lakh crore which should not have come back to the system. Now it means that anybody who hoarded black money has found a way to convert it, which is why I ask the question: This seems to be designed to help people or enable them to convert black money to white. Q: The government says now they are equipped to actually know which of those accounts with illegal money has been brought into the system and thereby they can penalise and expose those individuals. advertisement A: Let's ask that question and get an answer. The government claims that about Rs 16,000 crore or so of black money or undisclosed money has been detected, and they have actually seized about Rs 1,000 crore of cash. Now, go back to the previous years of income tax records, the I-T department has claimed that x thousand crores of undisclosed income has been detected, and in various searches and seizures, we seized got Rs 500-1000 crore, it's about the same range. Nothing new. The fact remains that it is not the final word. There's a process of appeals after that. It's only when the final adjudication takes place that you'll know that how much of this confiscated is tax and black money. I don't think one can come to any conclusions based on claims made of tax seizures, because I have seen this over 10 years. Every year the income tax department makes similar claims. Q: So you don't accept the government's argument that account holders can now be tracked. More than 3 lakh crore account holders are now under scrutiny? A:They've always been under scrutiny. For example, when I introduced the cash transaction tax. It was intended to track people who were depositing or withdrawing cash. We found a large number of people and proceeded against them. When we introduced the suspected transactions reporting, we tracked a large number of people. There are various ways to track people. I don't think you can claim that demonetisation was a way to track people. advertisement Q: The government will claim, even though it may be very small fraction, among those objectives - counterfeit notes - .00008 percent. At least an effort has been made in that direction? A: But that was identified by NIA in collaboration with a think tank in Kolkata, that the total counterfeit currency was Rs 400 crore. Countries deal with counterfeit currency by redesigning their notes every two or three years, introducing new security features, and announcing that currency notes printed prior to a date will not be legal tender. This has been done in the past and that's the way it should have been done again. Demonetisation is not the way to detect counterfeit currency notes. Besides, we have Rs 2,000 currency notes counterfeited now. What is your answer to that? Q: You are also a former home minister. The government also claims that this was also a drive to cut terror funding. They claim Naxalite incidences are down, and terror funding actually in some form been strangulated by the decision of demonetisation. A: Let's take terrorist incidences. I have some figures, may be dated. In Kashmir, where terrorism and terror financing is high. The casualties in 2017 is higher than 2016 - in terms of incidence, security forces killed and civilians killed. So assuming that terrorism in Kashmir is financed by black or unaccounted money or counterfeit money, there's no evidence that in Kashmir these objectives has been achieved. Q: Naxalite incidents? A: Naxalite incidents were coming down after 2009. Just plot it on a graph. I have done it. It is a secular decline. That decline is continuing because the government is following a policy followed by the previous government. I don't grudge them, I compliment them. But don't link it to demonetisation. Q: The other objective the government claims are cashless economy, digitisation of economy has gathered pace, 20 percent increase in digital transactions? A: That was not the original objective of demonetisation. Q: Are you accusing the government of changing the goalpost? A: That apart. Look at the facts. In November 2016, non-cash or electronic payments were Rs 94 lakh crore. In May 2017, six months after demonetisation, it had come back to Rs 94,21,000 crore. There's no evidence that there is sharp rise in non-cash transactions. Cash still seems to be the main mode of transaction in this country. I am not saying that some sections of the people, you and me, may have been nudged into digital transactions. That is good. In fact, I support digitisation of transactions. But to say that demonetisation is the way to push people into digitisation, you made sure that millions of people stood in a queue, in rain and sun. 104 people died. Several small and medium enterprises were wiped out. 15 lakh jobs were wiped out. Economy slipped down from 7-8 percent to 6-7 percent. And you say that digitisation is the answer to all these woes? Q: Yet, in almost every election since November of 2016, the BJP has been triumphant. So in political terms, despite the social, economic and human cost, people seem to be validating demonetisation? A: Let's answer that question. How easily the media is conned. Five elections took place on the same date (in March). In UP, the BJP scored a resounding victory. So your conclusion is that the people have voted for demonetisation. But on the same day, the people of Punjab voted resoundingly against the BJP. So what will you conclude in Punjab? In Goa and Manipur, BJP was pushed to second place. So will you conclude that demonetisation got half a vote. I think these are facile conclusions. No state election takes place on one issue. I don't think you can decide the merit and demerit of demonetisation, except in economic terms. Q: But the contrarian view is that the UPA or the Congress party did very little to tackle the swamp or stock of black money. Here comes the NDA with the promise to target black money, tries to do something about it, and instead of at least giving the government some marks for the courage, here's the Opposition simply saying please restore the status quo and allow the black money flow through the economy. A: We didn't say that. Wrong again. Income tax department is still there. The gentleman who was the director is now the chief vigilance commissioner. Please ask the government to publish figures from say 1999 - the Vajpayee years, through the Manmohan Singh years - year-wise figures so on. Number of income tax searches and seizures, amount of undisclosed income detected, number of adjudications or prosecutions started, and amount of tax actually levied. You'll find that year after year, the same trend has continued. Q: You agree that the quantum of black money was high and the high value transactions... A: What does demonetisation answer? The VDIS (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme) were an answer. Through VDIS, we brought to surface nearly Rs 33,000 crore of undisclosed income. People were obliged to file income tax returns. We collected Rs 10,000 crore tax. Mind you, this was 1997. If you look at it current rupee terms, it is over a lakh of crores. Q: If you were the finance minister, you would have preferred a VDIS part 2, a sequel, rather than a dramatic move like demonetisation, which has according to the government spread fear in the minds of black money hoarders today? A: I am not saying that. I didn't say the VDIS can be repeated every year. It can be done once in 25 or 30 years. The answer is not demonetisation. Q: What is the answer? A: Please understand, India's economic and tax structure is peculiar. In India, we have legitimate non-taxable income in the hands of over half the population - farmers, religious institutions, religious trusts, charities, people living in northeastern states and tribals. It sits alongside legitimate taxable income. As long as you have this two-structure economy, flow of money from one to another takes place constantly. A Rs 2,000 note will change hands 20 times in a day, depending on whose hands the money is, it will be either white or black. Answer is therefore to incentivise people to pay tax by having lower tax rates, which I did in 1997. They have stood the test for 20 years. Lower tax rates, more friendly tax administration, which encourages people to file and pay taxes. And, various other tools for detecting transactions - the cash transaction tax, the suspicious transaction reporting, third party reporting were tools. So you have to sit down and think of other tools. Answer is not demonetisation. Q: The government is also saying now that the tax base has widened, and this is also a consequence of demonetisation? A: You guys don't want to ask questions. Either you are too scared to ask the government questions. Ask this question. The tax base has increased year after year in the last 15 years. Yes, there is a spurt in the tax base this year. But the average taxable income reported in those returns is Rs 2.7 lakh, which is barely above the threshold of taxation. Therefore, the income tax that will be collected will be so little. Ask the government to disclose how many of those who have filed returns, filed no tax liability returns. Q: The government is also claiming that the critical areas that demonetisation has tackled include real estate and yesterday the finance minister said that the next target is political funding. A: Oh please. Let him do it. No difficulty. The biggest beneficiary of political funding in the last three years of Rs 707 crore is the BJP. Nothing wrong in him targeting political funding. There are sectors in the economy which are prone to generate black money. You know those sectors. Construction, large parts of the film industry, capitation fees extracted by education institutions, petty corruption at every level of administration - panchayat, municipality, revenue administration - and political funding. Rallies are held. Are you suggesting that every rupee spent on rally was paid for by check. RK Nagar by-election - the EC counter-mandated the ground, and this was after demonetisation, that black money was distributed. Income tax department had seized a sheet of paper which showed how much money was given to which minister for how many booths. Are you saying that was white money? So the answer is how do you dis-incentivise those sectors from generating black money. Q: The government claims that the Congress did nothing too and it is the current government which is now waging a moral crusade. A: I don't agree that we did nothing. Mr Vajpayee was there for six years. Mr Morarji Desai for a year and a half. They did nothing? These statements have any value? Q: Given your trenchant criticism, the RBI governor, or the chief economic adviser to the government, someone must be held accountable for what went wrong in your view? A: I don't think the chief economic adviser advised or supported demonetisation when it was announced. The RBI governor acted hastily on a letter received on November 7, and recommended it on November 8. I believe he should not have done that. I think he has learnt his lessons. Q: Manmohan Singh went on to call it organised loot and plunder. A: He called it monumental mismanagement. Which is right. It is justified. If everybody who had a hoard of black money, as it seems has converted his black money into white, that is in sense a plunder of the economy. Q: Government says they have moved on from demonetisation to remonetisation. A: Because they had no choice. Because of the complete chaos across the country and collapse of the economy to remonetisation with Rs 2000 note. These are the things the PM and the finance minister can do now. The highest denomination of currency in this country should be Rs 500. In the US, it is a 100 dollar bill. Gradual withdrawal of the Rs 2000 note. There are well-known rules for this. If I were doing demonetisation, I would have prepared by printing a huge amount of Rs 200 notes before I demonetised the 500 and 1000. 200 and 500 is where it should have stopped. That would push people to do only do small transactions in cash and large transactions in digital mode. FULL INTERVIEW - Chidambaram to India Today: Cashless economy not original objective of demonetisation --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Attorneys for the man accused of murdering Kate Steinle on San Franciscos Pier 14 two years ago want to present evidence at trial they believe will show their client didnt steal the gun allegedly used in the killing, but found it moments before the shooting. An attorney for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who had previously used the name Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, filed a motion in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, seeking to include evidence that several cars had been broken into along the Embarcadero the day the gun was stolen from a Bureau of Land Management rangers car. The defense believes if it can show Zarate, 54, didnt steal the gun, it will back up its argument that he found the weapon on the pier, and Steinles death was a tragic accident, not a cold-blooded killing. The series of break-ins is consistent with a skilled auto burglar or a ring of thieves who managed to break into at least seven cars undetected not the defendant, who has no history of committing theft crimes, Matt Gonzalez, the chief attorney for the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, wrote in the motion. Steinle, 32, was fatally struck in the heart while walking with her father on the pier along the Embarcadero on July 1, 2015. A spokesman for the district attorney on Thursday said he sees no relevance over whether Zarate or someone else stole the gun, which disappeared from the rangers car on June 27, 2015. Hes not charged with auto burglary. Hes charged with murder, said Max Szabo, a spokesman for District Attorney George Gascon. The question isnt whether he broke into a car. The question is whether he pulled the trigger. Police arrested Zarate a Mexican immigrant, who was in the country illegally and had been deported five times near the scene. The crime set off a national debate over immigration policy. A Superior Court judge has ruled that the auto burglary in which the gun was stolen is relevant to the case. The car break-ins that night were first reported by a neighborhood resident, whose car was also burglarized. The woman was not named in court papers. Stolen from her car were her birth certificate and work documents. Those papers were mailed back to her by an anonymous person after Zarate was in custody, Gonzalez wrote. Zarates attorney said that items taken from the rangers car were found in a second burglarized vehicle, but not the gun. It indicates, Gonzalez wrote, that whoever stole the rangers gun, also hit the other vehicles. If the auto burglar committed a string of burglaries, it makes sense that they would decide to abandon the gun, wanting to avoid the extra trouble and potential legal exposure associated with possessing a gun from a federal agent, Gonzalez wrote. Steinles death sparked scrutiny over the Sheriffs Departments policy that led to Zarates release from San Francisco jail three months before the killing. Zarate had been scheduled for a sixth deportation to Mexico after being released from state prison after 46 months for felony re-entry into the country. But rather than being handed over to federal immigration agents, state officials brought him to San Francisco to face a decades-old marijuana charge that was immediately dismissed, leading to his release. Zarate is scheduled to return to court Tuesday, when a judge will hear arguments on the new motion. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky A popular YouTube personality named Elijah Daniel found out firsthand just how vicious politics can be. Daniel, who in a stunt he says was inspired by Donald Trump's presidential run and subsequent policies, says he spent two days calling small towns in the United States requesting to be their mayor. The effort wound up working. He eventually found a small, unincorporated town in Michigan that would allow him to be Mayor of the Day something anyone with a little cash to spare can do while visiting Hell so he traveled there, signed some documents, and it happened: However, the 72 residents of Hell were probably not expecting that Daniel would begin making drastic changes with his limited time in office. The first thing he did while serving as acting mayor: ban all heterosexuals from entering Hell. "I love straights, but my #1 priority is the safety of my town. Until the heterosexual threat has been reviewed we cannot allow them to enter," he wrote on Twitter. "I am the first U.S. mayor to ban heterosexuality but I hope my act of bravery will inspire fellow politicians to ban straights as well." Those who were heterosexual and wanted to enter Hell still could, Daniel explained in the document if they agreed to undergo "new vetting measures to keep radical heterosexuals out of our town." Those heterosexuals already in Hell could also stay, but only if they agreed to a deposit of $84,000 (ensuring their abstinence for a year). The proclamation, Daniel told the Huffington Post, was a commentary on Trump's controversial travel ban, which many have noted appears to disproportionately affect Muslim visitors and immigrants. "My ban is a copy-and-paste of Trump's Muslim ban," he said, "but with heterosexuals instead." The mandate was apparently not very well received. Only an hour later, Daniel wrote on Twitter, "I've been informed that I've been impeached as mayor of Hell." He wasn't too bothered. Noting that everyone who becomes mayor of Hell gets impeached anyway (as it is a tourist attraction), he says the unceremonious ousting was "not a problem." "Most of the people who visit are same-sex couples who want to be married in Hell." Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira. Terrorism is one of the key issues in focus at the Xiamen Summit, along with cyber security, besides economic issues. Beijing has made it clear that it will not support discussions that highlight concerns on Pakistan's track record By Ananth Krishnan: China said on Thursday that it "would not be appropriate" to discuss Pakistan's counter-terrorism record and the concerns of countries like India, at the September 3 BRICS Summit in Xiamen. With Pakistan's record in the spotlight after US President Donald Trump said last week that Washington "would no longer be silent" about Pakistan providing "safe havens" for terrorists, its "all-weather" ally Beijing has mounted a strong defence. advertisement Terrorism is one of the key issues in focus at the Xiamen Summit, along with cyber security, besides economic issues. But days ahead of the summit, Beijing made clear that it would not support any discussions that highlighted concerns on Pakistan's track record. "Pakistan is at the forefront of counterterror efforts and has made sacrifices for this. The international community should recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by Pakistan," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. "China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties," Hua added. "We also noticed that India when it comes to Pakistan's counterterrorism has some concerns. I don't think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at the BRICS summit." Hua said that "the world is paying great attention to the BRICS Summit" and that China "hopes relevant parties can work with China to ensure the success of the summit and make due contributions." ALSO READ: Meet Prime Minister Modi's key men who cracked Doklam for him After Doklam standoff gets resolved, Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping bilateral meet on cards during BRICS Summit in China Between India and China, who won in Doklam? World media seems divided Also Watch: India, China agree to disengage on Doklam ending two-and-a-half-month-long standoff --- ENDS --- By PTI: Colombo, Aug 31 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said countries in the Indian Ocean bear the primary responsibility for its peace, stability and prosperity as she underlined the need to keep it safe and secure. Swaraj said that if the revitalised maritime economy of the Indian Ocean region is to be a force for global economic growth, it is essential that the waters remain peaceful, stable and secure. advertisement "It is imperative too, that all stake holders abide by a rules-based global order," she said while addressing the 2nd Indian Ocean Conference here. Noting that the Indian Ocean is one of the most critical maritime transportation links in the world today, she said nearly one lakh ships a year pass through these waters, carrying about half of the world?s container shipments, one- third of the world?s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the oil shipments. "The fact that three quarters of this traffic is headed for destinations beyond the region underlines the fact that the Indian Ocean is of vital importance well beyond the shores of the littoral states," she added. For India, she said, the Indian Ocean is of vital importance - the country has an extensive coastline of 7,500- km and 90 per cent of Indias trade by volume and almost all of our oil imports come through the sea. "As we envisage the Indian Ocean as an engine for growth and prosperity in our region and beyond, it is of utmost importance that these waters remain safe and secure. We consider it an imperative that those who live in this region bear the primary responsibility for the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indian Ocean," she said, amid increasing forays by the Chinese Navy in the region. Apart from establishing a naval base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, China is currently building ports in Sri Lankas Hambantota and Pakistans Gwadar. Chinese ships and submarines have appeared more frequently in the Indian Ocean in recent years. Pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modis concept of SAGAR ? Security and Growth for All in the Region, she said this is a clear, high-level articulation of India?s vision for the Indian Ocean. Swaraj said these are enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories and interests; deepening economic and security cooperation; promoting collective action to deal with natural disasters and threats like piracy, terrorism and emergent non-state actors among others. "The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment, and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas, including food, medicines and clean energy," Swaraj said. advertisement "We remain committed to extending port connectivity among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean and beyond. This is the objective behind the Sagarmala initiative, which aims to establish new ports and modernise old ones," she added. Noting that connectivity is one of the major themes of Prime Minister Modis Neighbourhood First policy, she said India would continue to work on a range of projects to improve maritime logistics in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. "Our other initiatives include the Kaladan transport project leading to Sittwe port in Myanmar; the Trilateral Highway to Thailand; and, the Chabahar port project in Iran." Asserting that security is fundamental to the SAGAR vision, she said the Indian Ocean is prone to non-traditional security threats like piracy, smuggling, maritime terrorism, illegal fishing, and trafficking of humans and narcotics. "We realize that to effectively combat transnational security challenges across the Indian Ocean, including those posed by non-state actors, it is important to develop a security architecture that strengthens the culture of cooperation and collective action," Swaraj said, adding that India is prepared to bear its share of responsibility. advertisement She mentioned Indias active participation in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa; and, joint EEZ patrols off the waters of Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius. She said India has been the the "first responder? to calls of assistance - providing relief supplies and medical aid to flood ravaged peoples of Sri Lanka in June 2017 or to rescuing Bangladeshis swept off the coast due to cyclone Mora or to alleviating the acute drinking water crisis in Maldives in 2014 when it airlifted 1,000 tonnes of fresh water to Male. PTI ZH AKJ ZH --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A man was shot and injured near the 16th Street Mission BART station in San Francisco on Tuesday night, police said. RELATED: Officer shot dead, two others hit by gunfire at Sacramento hotel; suspect in custody The 22-year-old man was walking on Mission Street around 11:40 p.m. when another man pointed a gun and shot rounds in his direction, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. ALSO: SF resident, 38, shot and killed in city's Tenderloin The suspect had not been located or arrested as of this morning, and police did not release a description of him. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) A report prepared by global consultancy firm, Ernst and Young, has suggested that the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) continue as an attached office of the housing and urban affairs ministry (MoHUA). The move could dispel fear of corporatisation of the 162-year-old department among its workers. The government had roped in the consultancy in May this year to study the functioning of CPWD, a move opposed by the workers unions who termed it as an attempt by the Modi government to "corporatise" the department. advertisement The report titled Working and Reorganisation of CPWD for Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness was presented to Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today. Besides suggesting that CPWD could continue as an attached office of the ministry, the report recommended gradual outsourcing of maintenance functions of the construction major to reputed private agencies, an official release said. "We will study the report thoroughly before commenting on it," said a union leader when asked about the recommendations. The report also stressed on the need for the Central Public Works Department to focus on its core area of construction, leaving the maintenance of residential properties to outsourcing. HUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra discussed the recommendations with Tomar and it was decided that the department will initiate action to outsource maintenance functions in select areas of Delhi, and a road map will be evolved to implement other recommendations after detailed examination, the release said. At present, over half of the total strength of 21,806 personnel of CPWD is engaged in maintenance works. A ministry official said outsourcing will not impact the workers engaged in maintenance works. "It (outsourcing) will be gradually implemented and most of the workers are above 50 years. They would retire in a few years," he said. The report also recommended reduction in hierarchy from present eight levels to two-three layers by categorising projects into small, medium and large. As against present mode of selection of Director General (DG) of CPWD based on seniority, it has been recommended that DG be chosen from a panel of senior officers. Extensive use of technology has been recommended for effective monitoring and resource utilisation. Proper integration of different wings of CPWD like civil, electrical, horticultural and architecture cadres under common command is among the other recommendations, the release said. The recommendations have been made after over 50 per cent of works by CPWD were getting delayed coupled with lower levels of satisfaction over maintenance services, it added. PTI MP SRY --- ENDS --- The divide in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling has come out in the open over the question of withdrawing the indefinite strike in the hills. By Indrajit Kundu: The divide in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling has come out in the open over the question of withdrawing the indefinite strike. In a surprise move, party joint secretary Binay Tamang announced a temporary suspension of the indefinite shutdown in the hills. The decision was announced after a meeting of the Morcha central committee in Kurseong. However, almost immediately Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri informed the media that party chief Bimal Gurung had rejected the decision. advertisement Tamang had announced that the strike shall remain suspended till September 12, the scheduled date for second round of talks with the state government. "We are suspending the strike for twelve days to facilitate the dialogue process, but this does not mean we are quitting the movement. The CM had made an appeal before us, the strike has been continuing for 80 days so we want to honour the Centre and the state even while continuing with the agitation peacefully," the GJM leader told reporters in Kurseong. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had appealed to the Gorkha delegation to withdraw the strike in order to restore normalcy in the region during the crucial meeting between the Gorkhaland agitators and the state government held in Kolkata. However, continuing with his hardline stance on the issue GJM supremo Bimal Gurung had rejected the proposal. "Gorkhaland remains our one-point agenda. There is no question of calling off the strike. Too many people have died for the cause," Gurung has declared in an audio statement on Tuesday. But in an interesting turn of events, the GJM delegation which took part in Tuesday's meeting chaired by the chief minister returned to the hills and held an emergency central committee meeting of the GJM in Kurseong on Thursday. Following which, the decision to suspend the strike was announced by the pro-talks faction of the party. Apart from Binay Tamang, the meeting was attended by the likes of Anil Thapa, Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma, central committee member Prabha Chhetri and leaders like Subi Rai and Yogendra Rai. However, Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and senior leaders like Roshan Giri were conspicuously absent. Gurung had earlier reacted sharply to the first round of talks between the state government and Gorkha leaders, reiterating that a separate Gorkhaland state shall remain the single-point agenda of the party. He had even slammed the Gorkha delegation led by Binay Tamang after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee categorically ruled out any discussions on the issue of Gorkhaland during Tuesdays meeting. The Morcha supremo had reportedly told his associates that the delegation should have walked out of the meeting after such a response from Banerjee. advertisement (With inputs from Kayes Ansari in Darjeeling) ALSO READ: Darjeeling unrest: Mamata Banerjee government begins dialogue with Gorkha leadership, next meet on Sept 12 Blast strikes Darjeeling ahead of CM Mamata Banerjee's All Party meeting --- ENDS --- In an interview to Pakistani TV channel, Musharraf slyly backed Dawood and said,"India has been killing Muslims and Dawood Ibrahim has been reacting." By India Today Web Desk: Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf while almost admitting that fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was in his country has said that Islamabad would never assist New Delhi in its search for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind. In an interview to Pakistani TV channel, Musharraf slyly backed Dawood and said,"India has been killing Muslims and Dawood Ibrahim has been reacting." advertisement "India has been accusing Pakistan for long. Why should we now become good and assist them? I don't know where Dawood is. He must be here, somewhere," Musharraf added. Pakistan has consistently denied about Dawood residing there, despite India maintaining that that he indeed lives in a palatial house in Karachi. Musharraf's remarks almost coincided with outgoing Home Secretary's Rajiv Mehrishi statement that Dawood was indeed in Pakistan and the neighbouring country was creating hurdles in getting him back to India. Mehrishi said the government is taking all required action so that Ibrahim could be brought back to India. "Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law," he said. "Whatever action is required, we are taking. We will get him. The process is on. But the attitude of the Pakistan government is not in conformity with the international law. Pakistan is working against India. The legal process is on. We will get him at an opportune time," he said. Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. In April, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated there was no doubt that Ibrahim was still in Pakistan. During the last 10 years, India has sent several dossiers to Pakistan in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. ALSO READ: Nawaz Sharif was a liar, deserved to go: Pervez Musharraf to India Today Death rumours scotched, Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim is alive in Pakistan Is Dawood Ibrahim critical in Pakistan hospital? Family reportedly denies Dawood Ibrahim is 2nd richest gangster of all time; 10 things about most wanted global terrorist WATCH: It's a very good verdict, says former Pakistan PM Pervez Musharraf on Nawaz Sharif's ouster --- ENDS --- By PTI: safeguards: LG New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal today told a meeting, which was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, that a decision on mohalla clinics would be taken after ensuring sufficient safeguards, so that quality healthcare could be offered to Delhiites. The development comes a day after 45 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs camped at the Raj Niwas for hours, seeking an immediate nod for the mohalla clinics, an initiative of the party. advertisement Besides Kejriwal, the meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary M M Kutty, Finance Secretary S N Sahai, Principal Secretary (Vigilance) Ashwani Kumar and other officers. After the meeting, although Sisodia claimed that the LG had assured that the files on mohalla clinics would be cleared by Tuesday, Baijal said a decision on offering quality healthcare to the residents would be taken only after incorporating safeguards to ensure transparency and objectivity. "Hon LG has assured that Mohalla Clinic files would be cleared by Tuesday. If he has any queries, hell call us for clarification (sic)," Sisodia wrote on Twitter. Jain had submitted the files on mohalla clinics to the LG at the meeting. The LG also told the meeting that all the issues pertaining to the project should be addressed. According to a statement issued by the LGs office, the health secretary gave a detailed background of the project. "The secretary also explained the gist of the complaints received regarding setting up of these clinics such as no transparent method to select the premises, the rent of the premises being higher than the market rate, the premises of party workers being taken on rent etc.," the statement said. It added that there were also complaints about the clinics being located far from the existing dispensaries, that the four-hour time period for the functioning of the clinics was not sufficient and that there was no proper accounting while deciding payments to be made to the doctors. Following the health secretarys explanation, the LG said it was of utmost importance that while implementing such a vital project, all the issues were addressed to ensure that it achieved its goal. Yesterday, there was high drama at the LGs office as 45 AAP MLAs camped there till late evening, insisting that he cleared the files on the mohalla clinics immediately. The LG later described the act of the legislators as "laying siege to the office of a constitutional functionary". advertisement The episode has marked a fresh confrontation between the ruling dispensation in Delhi and the LGs office. The two have frequently been at loggerheads. PTI BUN RC --- ENDS --- BJP councillors argued that while dengue has killed only one person -so far, Swine Flu is wreaking havoc, having claimed six lives already. By Baishali Adak: Politics took centre stage at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday even as the city continued to reel under the 'quadruple whammy' of dengue, malaria, chikungunya and swine flu. The BJP-led North MCD House decided to discuss 'Swine Flu' in its monthly meeting even as Aam Aadmi Party's councillors protested why the 'viral disease' was being discussed when its control does not fall under the ambit of MCD. advertisement "It is a ploy to divert attention from the issue of thousands of DBC (mosquito breeding checkers) who are sitting on dharna outside the Civic Centre building, threatening to ruin all efforts towards preventing more dengue, malaria and chikungunya cases in Delhi," said Rakesh Kumar, AAP's leader of Opposition in North MCD. "It's a shrewd move to corner the Delhi government because prevention of swine flu rests with the AAP-led state authorities only," he alleged. BJP councillors argued that while dengue has killed only one person - a 12-year-old boy in Humayunpur on August 21 - so far, Swine Flu is wreaking havoc, having claimed six lives already. Another reason they cited was of a senior Congress leader in MCD, Mukesh Goel, having fallen sick of Swine Flu, which prompted them to pick up the subject. "We are public representatives. People are worried of Swine Flu. How can we ignore a topic just because it does not fall under our ambit?" one BJP councillor fought back. While mosquito-borne diseases are a concern of MCDs because it relates to sanitation, 'viral' diseases like Swine Flu are taken care of by the Delhi Government only. "It only concerns us to the extent that two hospitals of North MCD - Bara Hindu Rao and Kasturba Gandhi - are notified to provide curative facilities to Swine Flu patients. So far, 18 cases of Swine Flu have been reported from Bara Hindu Rao," the North MCD Commissioner, PK Gupta, informed the House later. Congress's Alley Mohammed Iqbal said, "People don't know they should avoid shaking hands and cover their mouths and nose while coughing and sneezing to avoid swine flu." AAP's Rakesh Kumar asked, "What is the MCD doing about swine flu if it is so concerned? Why put all the burden on Delhi Government?" Also Read: Prepare for worst ever dengue, chikungunya outbreak this year, warns Ganga Ram Hospital doctor Rajasthan: BJP MLA from Mandalgarh passes away due to swine flu --- ENDS --- Indian and Chinese troops had been confronting each other at the Doklam plateau near the borders of India, its ally Bhutan and China in the most serious and prolonged standoff in decades. India. China agreed to disengage from troops from Doklam after a over 70-day standoff (File Photo for representation) By Reuters: China's Defence Ministry today said it would beef up patrols along a disputed stretch of its border with India but would also "adjust" deployments, after the two countries ended a more than two-month standoff. Indian and Chinese troops had been confronting each other at the Doklam plateau near the borders of India, its ally Bhutan and China in the most serious and prolonged standoff in decades. advertisement The trouble started in June when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, known in China as Donglang, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and Bhutan. India said it sent its troops because Chinese military activity there was a threat to the security of its own northeast region. "The Chinese military will continue to carry out its mission and responsibilities, strengthen its patrols and garrisons in the Donglang area and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security," Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqing said. "In light of the changes in the situation on the ground, Chinese border forces will carry out adjustments to deployments," Ren told a monthly news briefing, without elaborating. Neither country has offered explicit details of the terms of disengagement from the area which had raised fears of a wider conflict between the Asian giants who fought a brief border war in 1962. The ending of the stand-off comes ahead of a weekend summit in China of the BRICS nations, that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend. ALSO READ: How India, China compromise: A look at how standoffs before Doklam were resolved Doklam standoff ends: What made China agree to restore pre-June 16 position of troops China's foreign minister hopes Doklam won't repeat, calls for long-term solution 70 days of Doklam standoff: What it signifies for India, China and neighbourhood WATCH: India, China agree to disengage on Doklam ending two-and-a-half-month-long standoff --- ENDS --- China has said the Doklam border stand-off was "an issue between China and India", reacting to the Bhutan government's statement on resolution of the confrontation. By India Today Web Desk: China on Thursday said that the Doklam border stand-off was "an issue between China and India", reacting to the Bhutan government's statement on Monday's resolution of the two-and-a-half-month-long confrontation. Bhutan said on Tuesday it "welcomes the disengagement by the two sides at the face-off site" and that it hopes it "contributes to the maintenance of peace and tranquility and status quo along the borders of Bhutan, China and India in keeping with the existing agreements between the respective countries." advertisement In response, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that "the Doklam issue is between China and India, and now the issue has been resolved." "This serves the common interest of the two sides and is good for both and that is a basic fact," spokesperson Hua Chunying said. INDIA's TRESPASS CENTRAL TO DOKLAM DISPUTE: CHINA China had in recent weeks emphasised what it called "India's trespass" as central to the dispute, and hence framed the issue as an India-China row. India and Bhutan, however, have pointed out that the stand-off was actually triggered by Beijing building a road into a territory that Bhutan claims and that is disputed with China. Bhutan's government had said that the road construction had altered the status quo and violated bilateral agreements with China in 1988 and 1998, under which both sides had pledged to not change the status quo pending a final settlement of their border disputes. ALSO READ | How India, China call truce: A look at past 3 standoffs resolved before Doklam After Doklam standoff gets resolved, Modi-Xi bilateral meet on cards Doklam standoff ends: Chinese daily Global Times changes anti-India stance WATCH VIDEO | India, China agree to disengage on Doklam ending two-and-a-half-month-long standoff --- ENDS --- Beyonce is following up on her promise "to help as many as we can" in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The Houston native launched BeyGOOD Houston on Thursday, an initiative that is reaching out directly to local residents affected by the historic storm. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Emergency Management officials in Tyler County in East Texas posted a harrowing Facebook message Wednesday evening warning residents of imminent and deadly flooding. "The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has advised the Tyler County office of Emergency Management that the flood gates were opened to 100 feet at 3:00 pm CSDST," wrote Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette. "River levels will rise to near seventy nine feet. With additional rain fall accumulations, a potential elevation could reach near eighty two feet." The alarming message said residents near the area must evacuate immediately. STORM DEATHS: Death toll from Harvey flooding exceeds 30 "Anyone who chooses to not heed this directive cannot expect to be rescued and should write their social security numbers in permanent marker on their arm so their bodies can be identified," wrote Blanchette. "The loss of life and property is certain." The emergency advisory ended with the words "GET OUT OR DIE!" along with a phone number for anyone needing boat assistance or rescue. Tropical Storm Harvey made a second landfall in Louisiana early Wednesday. Along the way, it has dumped rain on east Texas communities, including Tyler County. AFTER HARVEY: How to help victims of the Texas storm According to the National Weather Service, communities in Southeast Texas received between 8-15 inches of rainfall as Harvey slowly made its way to Louisiana. In Harris County, an average of 27 inches fell on the region between Friday and Monday, with some spots receives a record 50 inches. See photos of the destruction and flooding caused by Harvey above. Doklam standoff was the second such incident since Narendra Modi government took over in 2014 and fourth border face-off in the last four years. By Prabhash K Dutta: Doklam standoff was the fourth such military face-off between India and China in the last four years along their borders, most of which is not clearly demarcated. The previous three standoffs were resolved in around three weeks while Doklam engaged Indian and Chinese troops for 70 days. Doklam standoff was the second such incident since the Narendra Modi government was sworn in three years ago. The last standoff is understood to have been resolved after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping took personal interest and discussed the matter during latter's visit to India in mid-September, 2014. advertisement DAULAT BEG OLDI STANDOFF: APRIL, 2013 On April 15, 2013, around 40 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of China intruded into Indian territory for about 20 km in Daulat Beg Oldi (referred to as DBO in the defence establishment) area of Ladakh. Daulat Beg Oldi is a historic camp site. Daulat Beg Oldi is located on the ancient trade route passing through India and Tibet. It connects Ladakh to Tarim Basin in Xinjinang province in western China. Daulat Beg Oldi is an important military base of the Indian Army. As the vast tract of the area is uninhabited, the Chinese troops set up their tents with ease and without being noticed. When Indian patrol teams found the tents, they objected to Chinese presence on Indian soil but the PLA soldiers refused to back off. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police troops were ordered to march to the site. An equal number of ITBP soldiers put up their tents some 300 metres from the Chinese troops. China kept saying that its troops were on its side of the border. India contested their claim. The diplomatic channels were opened up and negotiators talked at length. Ministry of External Affairs officials got in touch with their Chinese counterparts. The then Indian Ambassador to China S Jaishankar visited the Chinese Foreign Office in Beijing twice. Finally a series of flag meetings between the local commanders from the two sides took place and after three weeks, Daulat Beg Oldi standoff was resolved. CHUMAR STAND-OFF: APRIL - May 2013 Hours after Chinese troops pulled back from Daulat Beg Oldi, they came back in Chumar area in Ladakh. This time, the local patrol teams said that some 300 PLA troops were camping in Chumar. Chinese troops came there objecting to tin shed structures put by the Indian forces. Chinese troops said that as per the deal agreed during the last standoff, India had to dismantle the tin sheds which PLA termed as bunkers. Chumar is the last village in Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir bordering Himachal Pradesh. Chumar has been a bone of contention between India and China with latter claiming it to be its own territory. Chinese troops have been foraying into this border area with their helicopters almost every year. This time, their troops raised tents on the ground. advertisement Hectic diplomatic parleys began once again. S Jaishankar again played a key role in restoring the status quo. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was scheduled to visit on May 19 to India that year. In the view of his visit, diplomatic deliberations yielded results. Chinese troops dismantled their tents on May 5 and then the Indian forces removed their tin sheds. Flag meetings were held on May 6 and the Chumar standoff was resolved in 21 days with China agreeing to patrolling by the Indian troops in the area as before. DEMCHOK STANDOFF: SEPTEMBER 2014 The last standoff before the Doklam incident happened in the backdrop of Xi Jinping's India visit in September, 2014. Demchok standoff began on September 10, 2014 as Indian patrol teams discovered that the Chinese troops had deployed heavy machinery to build a road inside Indian territory. Objecting to it, Indian forces moved and camped opposite Chinese troops. Demchok is located in the same Chumar area. According to the 2011 census of India, Demchok has 31 households with a total population of 78 persons. But, China claims that Demchok is part of Autonomous Tibet Region. advertisement The Demchok standoff continued even when Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping signed 12 deals on September 18. Modi is understood to have raised the matter with Jinping, who was reportedly embarrassed over the incursion by Chinese forces. Jinping, reportedly, assured Modi during the talks and that paved the way for resolution of Demchok standoff. But, it took another week for the Chinese forces to withdraw, which followed a meeting between External Affairs Minister Suchm Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart in New York on September 26. Finally, after 20 days, PLA troops withdrew to their pre-September 10 position. DOKLAM STANDOFF: JUNE--AUGUST, 2017 Doklam standoff began on June 16 this year, some 10 days after the Bhutan objected to Chinese road construction in the disputed area. Doklam plateau is a disputed area between Bhutan and China. The two countries have held 24 rounds of talks for finding a resolution to border disputes in three pockets including Doklam. After Bhutan requested the Indian Army, the troops reached the site of road construction and stopped the Chinese activity. This led to soldiers jostling with each other. They were seen pushing each other in a widely circulated video. Soon, the troops from both the sides took their positions merely 150 metres from each other at Doklam. advertisement While China kept demanding that India must withdraw the troops unconditionally and acknowledge Chinese sovereignty over Doklam, MEA officials launched diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation of the standoff. High level contacts were also established with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval holding a meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former's Beijing visit in July. With international support growing in India's favour and BRICS summit approaching fast, Chinese side agreed to resolve the standoff. Both sides disengaged at Doklam by pulling out troops. China also agreed to stop road construction, at least, for the time being in the disputed Doklam area. Finally, after 70 days of eyeball encounter, Indian and Chinese troops returned to their pre-June 16 positions and Doklam standoff ended without escalating into a military confrontation which China threatened several times during the period of face-off. ALSO READ | Doklam standoff ends: What made China agree to restore pre-June 16 position of troops China's foreign minister hopes Doklam won't repeat, calls for long-term solution 70 days of Doklam standoff: What it signifies for India, China and neighbourhood ALSO WATCH | India, China agree to disengage on Doklam ending two-and-a-half-month-long standoff --- ENDS --- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for the prosecution of violent members of the group known as "antifa," or anti-fascists. "Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts," Pelosi said in a statement. "The violent actions of people calling themselves antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted." The Directorate of Revenue (DRI) and Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGSTI) busted a syndicate illegally manufacturing cigarettes. Investigations have revealed that several foreign brands of tobacco products including Gudang Garam may have been counterfeited. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: Intelligence was passed between the officers of the Directorate of Revenue (DRI) and Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGSTI) Mumbai, regarding a syndicate which is into illegal manufacturing and sale of foreign brands of cigarettes. The syndicate has bases in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and Banswara, Rajasthan and were illicitly producing and selling foreign brands of cigarettes like Gudang Garam. advertisement DRI and DGGSTI after conducting searches have busted the syndicate. THE OPERATION AND BUST An operation was initiated by the DGGSTI officers in coordination with DRI at Vaake Industrial Estate, Thikariya, Banswara, Rajasthan. The officers seized 12 cartons of cigarettes worth Rs 35 lakh, cigarette manufacturing machines worth more than Rs 50 lakh and 124 packs of pan masala with tobacco valued at Rs 18 lakh. When the Banswara godown was searched, the officers seized six gutka manufacturing machines along with raw material used for manufacturing gutka and cigarettes, worth Rs 33 lakh. "As per the law, the six gutka manufacturing machines, whether in use or not, are liable to pay Rs 6 crore of GST per month at the fixed rate of Rs 1 crore per machine per month," the official said. The machines were in operation for the past one and a half years. Apart from the aforementioned searches, an Indore-based transport company was alsa searched from where the officers seized three master cartons of cigarettes and 26 other cartons of gutka. "In the past, around 200 cartons of illicitly manufactured Gudang Garam cigarettes have already been sold by the syndicate to various buyers across India and Nepal. Each master carton of cigarettes is valued at Rs 1 lakh. Thus, the value of 200 cartons of seized cigarettes is Rs 2 crore," the official said. During the operation, two key fellows involved in the case -- Vivek Wartewar from Indore and Insaf Ali from Banswara -- have been apprehend, along with one of their associates Lokesh Kumar. Officials are on to arresting more in the case. HISTORY OF THE SYNDICATE Before illegal production of cigarettes, the syndicate used to smuggle cigarettes from Dubai. To dodge custom security checks and make more profits, they started manufacturing foreign brands of cigarettes in India itself. This comes in violation of various laws including Intellectual Property Rights of the original brand owners. What comes as a surprise is that such an illegal factory was functioning in an industrial estate without local authorities knowing about it. advertisement FYI || Watch: Uttar Pradesh cop drinks with prisoner, asks him to buy cigarettes || FYI || State's now smoking: Marijuana penetrates deep in Bihar after liquor ban || --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The difference in style between Californias two Democratic U.S. senators was apparent Wednesday in Oakland, where Sen. Kamala Harris urged supporters at a town hall to stand up and fight during this challenging time of Republican dominance in Washington. This is a moment of time that is challenging our country to look in a mirror and answer a question: Who are we? Harris told a crowd of about 700 people at Beebe Memorial Cathedral. This is a moment in time that challenges us to fight. Be heard. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, on the other hand, drew jeers Tuesday during an on-stage interview when she said President Trump possessed the capacity to change. The question is whether he can learn and change, Feinstein said at the Commonwealth Club event in San Francisco. If so, I believe he can be a good president. After drawing criticism for her remarks from fellow Democrats, Feinstein issued a statement Wednesday reminding Californians that she has rebuked Trump in the past and is prepared to again in the future. The town hall was an example of how Harris, during her first term in the Senate, has taken a more assertive tone than the veteran Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992. In Washington, Harris drew upon her background as a prosecutor and was assertive during committee hearings on Trump appointees, and has voted to confirm only four of his 22 Cabinet and other upper level nominees. Feinstein has backed 11. Another difference: Harris was cheered Wednesday when she announced that she would support the Medicare-for-all legislation essentially single-payer health care that Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent-Vt., plans to introduce when Congress returns from its August recess. On Tuesday, Feinstein said she favored a public option for health care. But that stops short of the position of the executive board of the California Democratic Party, which endorsed single-payer health care at its meeting last weekend in Anaheim. She has not signed on to Sanders legislation. Harris declined to comment Wednesday on what Feinstein said about Trumps potential as president, since she hadnt heard the remarks directly. But she made clear she found no room for him to evolve. Everything that this president has done in the last eight months leads me to believe that he has spoken his intentions, he has spoken his values, he has spoken his style of communicating, and his boundaries or lack of boundaries on many issues, Harris said. And I have no reason to believe he will change course. Lisa Bennett, a Sausalito resident at Wednesdays event, was struck by the differing opinions of the states two senators. Its a disappointing difference between the two, Bennett said. Its very easy for Kamala Harris to get in front of an issue and run with it. Christine Wei, one of many activists from the Indivisible grassroots organization at Wednesdays town hall, was also at Feinsteins event Tuesday. She said she appreciated how Harris credited activists with helping defeat the GOP attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act with demonstrations, and phone calls and emails to Senate offices. I was happy to see Sen. Harris give grassroots activists and the people credit for our role in protecting our rights these past months, especially in regards to health care, said Wei, who lives in San Francisco. Based on her comments yesterday, Sen. Feinstein still seems uncomfortable with our crowd and unsure of how to interact with her general constituency. Harris mentioned the word fight nearly a dozen times during the 1-hour, 13-minute event and specifically urged attendees to steel themselves for one if Trump kills the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA, which affects 220,000 people in California, enables immigrants who were brought to the United States without documentation as children to work and live in the country temporarily. Ten state attorneys general all Republicans have said they will take legal action if Trump doesnt end the program by Tuesday. We have 220,000 kids living in utter terror, Harris said. They dont know whats going to happen. None of us know whats going to happen. Weve got a fight on our hands, Harris said. Regardless of what happens Tuesday. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli It's no secret that former President Barack Obama and his family love Martha's Vineyard, having vacationed on the idyllic Massachusetts island seven out of the eight summers they were in the White House, as well as this August. And rumors are now flying that they're looking to purchase property in the area. Local real estate agents are tight-lipped on the reports that the Obamas are house-hunting, since part of the charm of this island is that despite its popularity, VIPs can still get plenty of privacy. That's why it's a magnet for celebsincluding Bill Clinton, Larry David, Alan Dershowitz, and David Lettermansome of whom can be frequently sighted at low-key hotspots like the front porch of the Chilmark General Store. According to anonymous sources cited in the Boston Globe, the Obamas are shopping for homes or land lots in the northern, less populated regions of Aquinnah, Chilmark, and West Tisbury. In particular, the Globe suggests the former president might be eyeing two oceanfront properties in Aquinnah that were once part of the 377-acre Red Gate Farm owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who passed this property down to Caroline Kennedy and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg. They later subdivided it into these two parcels. One parcel is 75 acres at 8 Red Gate Farm Road, for sale at $15 million; it's pictured below. 8 Red Gate Farm Road realtor.com The second, seen below, is a 40-acre parcel at 6 Red Gate Farm Road, for sale at $12 million. Both are listed with Hancock Real Estate in Chilmark (which refused to comment when we called). 6 Red Gate Farm Road Granted, even without a fabulous mansion on the premises, it's clear that either (or both!) of these properties would offer the Obamas a slice of heaven on earth. "Both lots are stunning," says Joy Cifuni, a real estate agent in Cape Cod, MA, at Keller Williams. "If I had to choose, I would pick the one for $15 million, because of the extra acres." While comps in this price range are tough to come by, a 106-acre lot at 3 Red Gate Farm Road sold in 2012 and is currently valued at $12,685,000. So, given that these lots for sale are in the same price range (or higher) but offer far less land, you've gotta wonder: Are they overpriced? Possibly, considering the length of time they've been lingering unsold. "Both pieces of land have been on the market for 83 days," points out Cifuni. This could spell an opportunity for the Obamas, should they decide to make an offer. "Personally, I would deduct 10% from asking," says Cifuni. Those savings could come in handy, since the Obamas will have to build a home from scratch, which is no small undertaking on this island south of Cape Cod. "Being on the ocean creates its own challenges, like steps constantly washing out, erosion of land, and painting needing to be done more consistently because of salt," says Cifuni. "Picking the right builder is the most important step they could possibly make." Other experts agree that building the perfect house could bring the former first family a ton of headaches. "As good as a builder may be, problems always arise, causing delays," says Denise Supplee, a property management specialist at SparkRental. "And although the Obamas do have a political advantage, there is much to deal with in zoning, licensing, permits, and ground preparation." "The Obamas need to check all permits, and [see] if their land can be subdivided, and if it's on Wampanoag land," says Julianne Kavoussi, who has owned a home in the Edgartown part of the Vineyard for 20 years. The Wampanoag are Native American people who, she says, own a good portion of Aquinnah. Nonetheless, this land is bound to be a great investment. "Oceanfront property here holds its value," says Cifuni. "It's the first to come up in price from a declining market, and the last to go down in a declining market." In other words, if these rumors are to be believed, the Obamas have picked a great place to put down some roots. Lobster roll, anyone? The post The Obamas May Buy Beachfront Property in Martha's Vineyard: What Could Go Wrong? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. British royalty has been calling Windsor Castle home since the days of William the Conqueror almost a thousand years ago and its still a favored castle of the current Queen Elizabeth. While commoners cant stay at her digs, the town that lies just outside its walls does make for a cozy stay. I find it to be an especially good spot for a peaceful and charming last night in England before flying out from London. Even though it lies just under the landing path of planes coming into Londons Heathrow Airport, Windsor is a delightful town at night and its B&Bs are far less expensive than Londons hotels. The town, which sits along the Thames River, has a wonderful pedestrian zone right in the shadow of the hulking castle, and an enticing array of small restaurants and pubs. Windsor also works as a day trip from London, only 20 miles away and accessible by train in under an hour. Day or night, the castle dominates the town. William built the first fortification in the late 11th century for himself and his occupying Norman forces. Meant for defense more than comfort, it was basically just an earthen mound surrounded by a stockade with a lookout tower. Back then castles were crude, cold, damp and dark, with little privacy. (Ive stayed in youth hostels like that.) But with easy access to London and a handy hunting forest nearby, it was only a matter of time before later royals began enhancing the site as a sumptuous palace. Nowadays, the castles lavish state apartments are open whenever the queen isnt in residence (she flies her standard from the castles Round Tower when shes home usually on weekends). Dripping with chandeliers, finely furnished and strewn with history and the art of a long line of kings and queens, these royal rooms are the best Ive seen in Britain. Pay a visit here and youll see a grand vestibule decorated with exotic items seized by British troops as they colonized various corners of the world, plush rooms wallpapered with heroic portraits and some of the finest works from the royal art collection. The castles spectacular (and huge) St. Georges Hall is decorated with the colorful emblems of the knights of the chivalric Order of the Garter. For state banquets, the queen sets a single table stretching the length of the hall, seating 160 guests. (The cooks in the kitchen keep their clocks set five minutes fast to be sure that the queens meal is never late.) You know youre important if youre invited for a dine and sleep dinner followed by an overnight in the castle. A visit to the lavish state rooms includes a chance to enjoy an up-close peek at Queen Marys Dolls House. Made for the current queens grandmother in 1924, this miniature masterpiece is executed in astonishing detail. Each fork, knife and spoon on the expertly set banquet table is made of real silver and the tiny pipes of its plumbing system actually have running water. The castle grounds are also home to St. Georges Chapel, one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England. Dating from about 1500, it holds the tombs of 10 sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his favorite wife, Jane Seymour (favored perhaps because she was the only one who died before he could divorce or behead her). During World War II, then-Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret spent much of their time at Windsor, safely away from the bombing in London. The castle survived the war years unscathed, but 50 years later, on Nov. 29, 1992, a catastrophic fire destroyed some of its finest spaces. It took 15 hours and 1.5 million gallons of water to put out the blaze and five years and about $55 million to restore it. The castles not the only icon of British privilege on this spot. Across the Thames from Windsor, in the neighboring village of Eton, is the countrys most famous private high school. Eton College has molded the characters of 19 prime ministers as well as members of the royal family (most recently Princes William and Harry). Today, this exclusive enclave educates about 1,300 boys (ages 13-18). A guided tour gives visitors a glimpse of the schoolyard, chapel, cloisters and a museum dedicated to Eton life (with artifacts that include the birch whips once used to discipline students). Even if youre not touring the school, its worth the few minutes it takes to wander up Etons High Street for its mix of antique shops, boutiques and restaurants. Architecture buffs will appreciate some finely preserved shop fronts with typical 15th century timber framing. While 99 percent of visitors come to Windsor just to tour the castle and go, overnighters have the added pleasure of attending evensong in St. Georges Chapel, with a glorious fan-vaulted ceiling overhead, Henry underfoot and the banners of the knights of the Garter all around. Consider this as a royal send-off for your last night in Great Britain. Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com BANGKOK Several hundred Buddhist nationalists, including monks, rallied in Myanmars largest city on Wednesday to urge stronger action against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority for attacks on police last week. The attacks in Rakhine state in western Myanmar have spiraled into chaotic violence, with more than 100 dead and villages torched. At least 18,000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed into Bangladesh in less than a week, with hundreds stranded in a no-mans-land at the countries border, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday. The army, responding to last Thursdays attacks, launched what it called clearance operations against the insurgents, but advocates for the Rohingya say they are attacking and burning Rohingya villages, shooting civilians and causing others to flee. The government blames Rohingya insurgents and their sympathizers for the continuing violence. Government figures put the death toll since last week at a minimum of 103, including 12 members of security forces, 77 people described as insurgents and 14 civilians. There were reports of additional deaths Wednesday. Rohingya advocates fear the death toll for civilians is much higher. Most of Myanmars estimated 1 million Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state. They face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights. Long-standing tension between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in bloody rioting in 2012. That set off a surge of anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country. The Information Ministry said Wednesday that 45 homemade bombs were detonated and seven villages, one security post and two neighborhoods in the township of Maungdaw were burned down on Sunday and Monday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed asked the U.S. on Wednesday to pressure Myanmar so its government would stop pushing Rohingya toward Bangladesh, her spokesman said. 1 Border reopens: Jordan and Iraq reopened their only border crossing Wednesday after a two-year closure, taking a step toward stabilizing an area devastated by Islamic State extremists and allowing for a resumption of vital trade. Iraqi and Jordanian officials celebrated the reopening as another victory over the militant group, which has been pushed back by U.S-backed military offensives in northern and western Iraq over the past year. Reviving cross-border traffic could help bring normalcy back to Iraqs Anbar border province after years of heavy fighting to drive Islamic State militants from its towns and cities. 2 Russia war games: NATO said Wednesday it will send three experts to observe military exercises between Russia and Belarus next month, but alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants the two countries to allow broader monitoring. Russia and Belarus say the Zapad 2017 exercise, which runs from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20 not far from the borders of NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, will involve fewer than 13,000 troops. Under international rules, the two should allow wider access to monitors if troop numbers exceed that figure. NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said international rules permit monitors to have much wider access, including briefings on the exercise, opportunities to talk to soldiers and overflights. BEIRUT The U.S.-led coalition said Wednesday it carried out air strikes to disrupt a convoy of Islamic State militants being evacuated from the Lebanon-Syria border to an Islamic State-held area in eastern Syria near Iraq, without targeting the evacuees themselves. Coalition aircraft struck a small bridge and cratered a road to hinder the convoys progress. The coalition also struck a separate group of Islamic State militants traveling to meet the convoy, according to Col. Ryan Dillon, a coalition spokesman. U.S. officials have criticized the transfer of hundreds of militants and civilians who are bound for an Islamic State-held area near the Iraqi border, saying the extremists should be killed on the battlefield. The evacuation came as part of a controversial deal brokered by the Lebanese Hezbollah group to clear the militants from an area along the Lebanon-Syria border. The coalition is reluctant to strike the actual convoy of evacuees because the fighters have wives and children traveling with them, said a U.S. official, who wasnt authorized to discuss military details and requested anonymity. Although Hezbollah members are believed to be the ones escorting the convoy, the Syrian governments involvement creates further risk for the U.S. if the coalition were to hit it. The coalition nevertheless said in a statement that it is not bound by the evacuation agreement. There are about 300 militants and almost as many family members on buses being evacuated under the deal. We are monitoring their location in real time, Dillon said, adding that the coalition will not rule out strikes against Islamic State fighters being moved. He added that any strike will be in accordance with the law of armed conflict and if we are able to do so and can discriminate and discern the difference between fighters and civilians. Syrian opposition activists said the convoy, which left the Lebanon-Syria border on Tuesday, is still in government-held territory in eastern Syria. The evacuation agreement, the first such publicized deal, had already angered many Iraqis, who accused Syria and Lebanons Hezbollah of dumping the militants on the Iraqi border rather than eradicating them. The top U.S. envoy for the international coalition against Islamic State, Brett McGurk, tweeted Wednesday that Islamic State terrorists should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border without #Iraqs consent. McGurk added that the anti-Islamic State coalition will help ensure that these terrorists can never enter Iraq. Bassem Mroue is an Associated Press writer. Comeback tour After a four-year hiatus, Santa Fe is set to bring back unmanned speed-enforcement vans. By a one-vote margin, the City Council approved a measure that will start the process for a new contract. At 11 mph over the limit, drivers will be mailed a ticket for $50. That rises for school and construction zones, as well as for repeated tickets in a two-year timeframe. Councilors got rid of parts of the measure that would let the city seize vehicles from owners who didn't pay. Long night at City Hall Last night's meeting stretched past midnight after a long debate on the speed-enforcement SUVs and the city's formal approval of an extension with its banking partner, Wells Fargo. The longest debate ended with a unanimous vote, as councilors approved changes to the city's approval process for new cell towers. The next generation of wireless broadband will need more, smaller receiver sites and a vocal group of Santa Feans are worried that will impact their health. Rankled ranked-choice voting advocates sue Santa Fe The debate over whether it's finally time for the city to implement ranked-choice voting is going to court. A group of advocates filed suit against the city, claiming the City Council is ignoring the will of voters, who approved the use nearly a decade ago. But the measure enshrined in the city charter has a bailout clause that let the city put off the use due to cost. It's now cheap, and advocates say there will be plenty of time to implement the system before the next city election in March 2018. Clovis shooter planned to target school Nathaniel Jouett, the 16-year-old high school sophomore, apparently wanted to target his school, not the Clovis-Carver Public Library. Jouett shot six people on Monday, killing two. That's from court documents, which also say the teen's father called police just minutes after the shooting to report two guns missing from his safe. Police searched the home and also found suicide notes from the boy. NMSU regents still want Carruthers out The freshman class at New Mexico State University is bigger than it's been in recent years, but regents at the school say it's not enough to convince them Garrey Carruthers should keep his job as chancellor. The regents voted unanimously to continue a planned search for a replacement when Carruthers' contract ends next year. Top of the heap New Mexico still tops the list of states with the highest percentage of inmates in private prisons. More than 42 percent of the state's prison inmates are in privately run facilities that hold contracts with the state. A recent report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found that private prisons are more dangerous than state-run prisons. State board shuns greenhouse gas regulation proposal Saying a petition asking it to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gases was too broad and potentially exceeded its authority, the state Environmental Improvement Board voted against a petition from a Santa Fe environmental group. In rejecting the petition, filed on behalf of children in New Mexico, the board deferred to federal regulations. Not my party Santa Fe Public Schools are giving students the option to skip Fiesta activities this year, namely the visit to schools by the Fiesta Court. The celebration of Spanish heritage is offensive to some, including many Native Americans who say it ignores the atrocities suffered at the hands of Spanish colonialists. The district's superintendent says schools have to provide other activities for students who decide they'd rather do something else. Thanks for reading! The Word is on one of those week-long stretches of eating really poorly. Also, people are selling pumpkin spice donuts and whatnot now. So much for that. Subscribe to the Morning Word at sfreporter.com/santafe/signup. Santa Fe Reporter One third of Bangladesh was believed to be underwater and the UN described the situation in Nepal, where 150 people have died, as the worst flooding in a decade. The floods have also destroyed or damaged 18,000 schools in the south Asia region, meaning that about 1.8 million children cannot go to classes, Save the Children said on Thursday. The charity said hundreds of thousands of children could fall permanently out of the school system if education was not prioritised in relief efforts. ...Floods have caused devastation in many parts of India. Unprecedented rainfall in Assam in the north-east has killed more than 150 people. About 600 villages are still underwater even though the torrential rain began earlier this month. ...[In Mumbai], children swam or paddled down the streets lying on planks of wood. ...Others living in the low-lying areas most affected by the flooding were swept away into the sea or died when walls collapsed. [Content Note: Extreme weather; flooding; death]While many of us in the United States have been preoccupied with the flooding in Texas and Louisiana, monsoon rains across South Asia have done an extraordinary amount of damage , displacing millions of people from their homes and taking nearly 2,000 lives.More than 1,200 people are believed to have died across India, Bangladesh, and Nepal as a result of the flooding, which reached Pakistan today, killing at least 14 people in the port city of Karachi.The flooding is so severe that they have caused buildings to collapse. In Mumbai, a four-story residential building " gave way on Thursday morning in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar, after roads were turned into rivers in India's financial capital. ...Thousands more buildings that are more than 100 years old are at risk of collapse due in part to foundations being weakened by flood waters."People who have made a run for it are saying they've weathered these monsoon rains every year of their lives, but this is unlike anything they're used to navigating. Climate change has intensified monsoon season.It's just devastating, in every way.If you would like to help, Will Worley has some ideas at the Independent . Please share additional ways to help in comments, and, as always, let's keep this thread image-free. Thanks. By PTI: school New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has sought External Affairs minister Sushma Swarajs intervention into a reported "ban" on a Sikh article of faith Kirpan in a school in Australia. DSGMC general secretary and legislator Manjinder Singh Sirsa has written a letter to Swaraj urging her to take up the matter with Australian authorities. advertisement "It has come to our notice that the Education Department in Queensland, Australia, has banned the wearing of Kirpan by Sikh students," he said in the letter. Sirsa said that it was a "discriminatory" move that "harassed" students from the community. Reports had it that the schools principal was told by Queensland authorities that it was wrong to allow a parent of the faith to carry a ceremonial knife (kirpan) onto the school grounds. He hoped that the Indian governments intervention will help in lifting the ban. PTI VIT ANB --- ENDS --- An Australian private equity fund has been cleared to buy half of Nirvana Health, the country's largest independent primary health care group. Mercury Medical Holdings, which is ultimately controlled by Sydney-based Mercury Capital Fund 2, has bought half of NMH Holdings, the holding company of Nirvana Health's existing business, for an undisclosed amount. The two plan to be joint venture partners for Nirvana's 37 primary care clinics, most of which are in Auckland, the Overseas Investment Office approval documents show. Former health minister Tony Ryall is a member of NMH's board of directors, alongside Nirvana's Mahesh Patel, and Mercury directors Clark Perkins, Oliver Tompkins and Chris Criddle. Nirvana Health says it serves 200,000 enrolled patients across its clinics. It first began in 1977 when Kantilal and Ranjna Patel took over a one-doctor general practice in Otara. The A$300 million Mercury Capital Fund 2, which was raised in 2015, is also invested in commercial printing company Blue Star in New Zealand, contract research organisation Novotech, label printer Hexagon, Sydney-based physiotherapy provider HealthStrong, and Australia's second-largest day hospital operator Nexus Day Hospitals. The two parties "will work together to expand the medical business, through the opening of new sites, acquisitions of similar businesses and geographic expansion outside the Auckland market," the OIO documents say. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: AIA Provision of Financial Assistance - Employee Share Plan THL - Apollo shareholders approve merger TWL - TradeWindow and EMA partner-up to build export capability November 14th Morning Report The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report State-owned Television New Zealand posted an 89 percent drop in full-year profit after taking a $12.4 million writedown on the value of an "onerous" contract for content from the Disney studio and some $4.5 million of restructuring costs. Profit fell to $1.39 million in the year ended June 30 from $12.7 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based broadcaster said. Sales fell 2.5 to $316.5 million while operating expenses, excluding the Disney cost, were little changed at $286.7 million. Advertising revenue fell to $299 million compared with $303.8 million the previous year, although chief executive Kevin Kenrick told BusinessDesk that a falling trend in ad revenues had reversed in the second half of the year. "What we've had is a year of restructuring and renegotiating content agreements and setting things up for what we think is a more sustainable future," he said. The TVNZ board has yet to conclude discussions with shareholding ministers about what level of dividend, if any, the broadcaster should pay to the government. "TVNZ, from an operating cash flow point of view, is in really good health. We don't carry debt. But we also need the ability to hang onto resources to invest in growing our future," he said. The Disney contract has two years to run, so TVNZ decided to take projected losses up-front. Shorn of that cost, annual programming costs were about $180 million, or 63 percent of TVNZ's total annual operating expenses last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and changes in the value of financial instruments fell to $17.4 million, compared with $36.9 million in the previous financial year. "With improved revenue and cost trajectories, TVNZ is on track to grow ebitdaf in the year ahead," said TVNZ chair Therese Walsh in a statement. While the Disney contract was a loss-maker, Kenrick said key content contracts with ITV and Warner Brothers were in better shape. The ITV contract was renegotiated "to a sustainable position" during the year and TVNZ was "very pleased with the yield" on its Warner deal. "We're working together to migrate the focus towards paying more for digital (rights) and less for linear (scheduled free-to-air TV), as audiences migrate," he said. "The big shift occurring globally is that the construct used to be output deals, so you would commit to a studio and you would take their total output." Those contracts also tended to be based on geographic exclusivity, which video-on-demand services and widespread content piracy had eroded. "Content negotiation is moving from backing studios to more of a spot market buy on individual programmes and yet there's also opportunity to have preferential deals with studios that you back," Kenrick said. "We're really pleased that we've been able to shift this shift in industry dynamics without incurring losses and doing it in a way that sets us up for a sustainable future." In the year ahead, TVNZ would be investing "aggressively" in its TVNZ on Demand offering. Changes would include a shift away from 'catch-up' viewing rights on popular series to carrying series in their entirety. Investment in local long form video content would also increase, as this was TVNZ's greatest point of difference with global video on demand services and was also proving more capable of attracting advertising revenue than short form video, where YouTube dominates and advertisers struggle to gain audience attention. There were no plans for a subscription-based video on demand service because small local players like TVNZ could not compete against deep-pocketed competitors such as Netflix, which are "incurring massive cash losses" to build global audience share. TVNZ's news operation remained expensive to produce but a "very strong contributor for us at a yield level". Kenrick said there appeared to be growing skepticism among advertisers about the value of digital media measurements of value and a growing belief that TV remained an important channel for brand-building. "The truth is that video-on-demand and linear TV are complementary," he said. "They play very different roles and I think people are starting to see that TV is very, very good at building brands." With TVNZ on Demand showing cash positive results, TVNZ would also be placing more bets on online offerings, including recently starting to offer products on the Chromecast platform, talking to Apple TV, and looking to simplify viewers' ability to search for TVNZ's online content. Kenrick said the proposed review of copyright law next year was "overdue and really critical to the future of the industry. The question is whether it's still considered to be a priority (after the election)," he said. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: AIA Provision of Financial Assistance - Employee Share Plan THL - Apollo shareholders approve merger TWL - TradeWindow and EMA partner-up to build export capability November 14th Morning Report The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report Former Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe will mentor Michael Hill International's new CEO Phil Taylor as he establishes himself in the role. Fyfe has agreed to a two-year consultancy, and will be paid up to $16,000 per month for his services, Michael Hill said in a statement to the NZX. Fyfe was CEO of Air New Zealand between 2005 and 2012. Taylor was appointed to the role in March, having worked for Michael Hill since 1987 and had been chief financial officer since 2003. He became acting CEO last August after longtime chief Mike Parsell resigned. He is currently chair of merino clothing brand Icebreaker and a director of Michael Hill. Earlier this month, the company reported it had boosted annual profit by two thirds to A$32.6 million as its Michael Hill chain grew steadily in its main markets of Australia and New Zealand and recorded stronger growth in Canada, but posted wider losses in its troubled US business and its fledgling Emma & Roe chain. The company said the past year was solid, "achieved on the back of steady performances by our Australian and New Zealand businesses, and a strong performance by our Canadian business." According to Fyfe's Linked In page, he is a long-term admirer of founder Michael Hill, who he describes as "one of New Zealands most enigmatic and successful entrepreneurs." The dual-listed shares recently traded at $1.29, and are unchanged so far this year. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: AIA Provision of Financial Assistance - Employee Share Plan THL - Apollo shareholders approve merger TWL - TradeWindow and EMA partner-up to build export capability November 14th Morning Report The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report While Texas and Houston in the United States brave Hurricane Harvey which has claimed 30 lives, the death toll due to floods in three South Asian countries has already climbed above 1,200. International aid agencies have said that this year the situation is worse in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. By India Today Web Desk: While Houston, Texas in the United States brave Hurricane Harvey which has claimed lives of 30, the death toll due to floods in three South Asian countries has already climbed above 1,200, reported Reuters. International aid agencies have said that this year the situation is worse in India, Bangladesh and Nepal as people in thousands of villages have been deprived of food and clean water for days. advertisement NEPAL Some 600 tourists were stranded when the Rapti River overflowed its banks in Sauraha and elephants were used to rescue hundreds of tourists from the flood. Aid workers also built rafts from bamboo and banana leaves. Sauraha, on the fringe of Chitwan National Park, is home to 605 rhinoceroses and is popular with foreign tourists. "Some 300 guests were rescued on elephant backs and tractor trailers to (nearby) Bharatpur yesterday and the rest will be taken to safer places today," Suman Ghimire, head of a group of Sauraha hotel owners, told Reuters. After four days of heavy rain, thousands of homes were destroyed and many people swept away. As the death toll rose to 150, some families held last rites of the missing people even without their bodies being found. Photo: Reuters The floods have affected the parts where most families live in bare mud houses and rely on subsistence farming, Suman Ghimire said. The United Nations has called this year's flood in Nepal as the worst one in a decade. BANGLADESH In Bangladesh more than 5.7 million people have been affected by this year's monsoon which has left more than a third of its terrain submerged. At least 134 people have died and crops on 10,583 hectares have been washed away. "I could not find a single dry patch of land," said Matthew Marek, the head of disaster response in Bangladesh for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, who made an aerial assessment of the worst affected parts of the country. "Farmers are left with nothing, not even with clean drinking water", he told Reuters. Photo: Reuters Canada announced financial assistance of 200,000 Canadian dollars to Bangladesh in response to the massive flooding. The aid will be provided through the Emergency Disaster Assistance Fund which will assist the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society in providing relief, reported thedailystar.net . India Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Mumbai have been swept by the monsoon floods. In Bihar, at least 418 people have been killed and 1.67 crore people in 19 districts were affected by it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar made an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of the state. Later, PM Modi announced Rs 500 crore as immediate relief for Bihar apart from Rs 2 lakh each to the next kin of those died in the floods. advertisement According to the PMO, Modi asked the insurance companies to send their personnel urgently to assess the damage to crops so that farmers could get early relief. In Mumbai, constant heavy rain suspended suburban train services and water-logged roads in low-lying areas affected traffic. Mumbai floods 2017 Disaster management teams and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were on alert, as water-logging has already been reported in several parts of the city. Mumbai and adjoining Navi Mumbai and Thane regions were left crippled after 300 mm rainfall flooded the roads and railway tracks. Air traffic was badly hit and flights were delayed. Even in Uttar Pradesh, the floods claimed lives of 88 people. In Assam, 19 districts are under water and over 11 lakh people have been affected. Among the worst affected are Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Kikrajhar, Dhubri, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivsagar, Charaideo, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. advertisement The animals in Kaziranga National Park were also moved to higher ground after the floods killed 58 animals. This is not the first time Assam has been ravaged by the floods. Over 76 people have died in floods since April, and around 25 lakh have been uprooted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had visited the state on August 1 when he announced a package of Rs 2,350 crore for the entire northeast to deal with the flood situation. PM Modi also instituted a corpus of Rs 100 crore for setting up an expert committee to study the course of the Brahmaputra so that the recurring floods can be resolved. (With inputs from Reuters) --- ENDS --- Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky Yadav, son of JD-U MLC Manorama Devi and history sheeter Bindi Yadav, is accused of killing Class XII student Aditya Sachdeva for overtaking his SUV in Gaya on May 7, 2016. By India Today Web Desk: A local court in Bihar's Gaya district will today announce its verdict in the road rage case in which a Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader's son shot dead a teenager for overtaking his SUV in May 2016. Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky Yadav, son of JD-U MLC Manorama Devi and history sheeter Bindi Yadav, is accused of killing Class XII student Aditya Sachdeva for overtaking his SUV in Gaya on May 7, 2016. advertisement "We hope we will get justice," Aditya's mother said ahead of the court's verdict. Have our hopes with the honourable court: KC Sachdeva (father of Aditya Sachdeva) before judgment on accused Rocky Yadav #BiharRoadRage case pic.twitter.com/OomwNanXtl- ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 Police had filed a charge sheet in a Gaya court against Rocky and another accused in connection with the murder. They had also filed charge sheet against Rocky's cousin Teni Yadav, his father Bindi Yadav and his MLC mother's bodyguard, Rajesh Kumar, in the murder case. Aditya Sachdeva's parents are awaiting justice for their son since last 16 months. (File Photo) Rocky is facing two cases - one of murder of Aditya and another under Excise Act for recovery of liquor bottles from the house of his mother. He was arrested from his father's mixer plant in Gaya on May 10. His name was included along with his father Bindi Yadav in the case of recovery of liquor bottles which were found when police raided his mother's house looking for Rocky. Rocky was granted bail by Patna High Court but it was cancelled by the Supreme Court later in October 2016. ALSO READ: Bihar's high-profile road rage case: No one killed Aditya Sachdeva Bihar road rage case: JD(U) leader's son Rocky Yadav who had killed teen for overtaking car, granted bail Bihar teen shot dead by JD-U leader's son for overtaking in Gaya Now, Tejaswi Yadav compares Bihar road rage killing to Pathankot attack --- ENDS --- The Haryana government has been accused of allowing rape-convicted godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim's family members to leave Sirsa with cash and proof. By Manjeet Sehgal: After being accused of allowing Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim to let his followers assemble in large numbers in Panchkula by diluting Section 144, the BJP-led Haryana government has now been accused of giving an opportunity to his family members to leave the sect's headquarters in Sirsa with cash and evidence. While police claimed it was clearing the Dera's Sirsa headquarters of sect cadres, sources say it secretly faciliated their escape from the town and helped them get into Rajasthan with illegal weapons, cash and evidence, which if confiscated, would have helped build a stronger case against Rahim. advertisement Interestingly, the Haryana government did not allow the Army to take control of the situation both in Panchkula and Sirsa. Sources say the police wanted to give a safe passage to the accused's family to leave the dera complex, which may have been blocked by the Army. CASH STASHED INSIDE SECT HEADQUARTERS: SOURCES Dera sources say that Gurmeet Ram Rahim had stashed crores of cash inside the sect headquarters' promises, apart from several weapons which were being used by the private army trained and managed by former military personnel and retired police officers. Residents of nearby villages informed India Today over the phone that some vehicles belonging to the sect had left Dera on the intervening night of August 25 and 26 under mysterious circumstances. Sources say Gurmeet Ram Rahim's henchmen managed to smuggle the illegal weapons elsewhere. Call it a secret deal or negligence of police officers, Dera men had successfully managed to destroy some evidence right under the nose of the police, which failed to recover any weapon during its so-called 'sanitisation drive'. While the Haryana police remained a mute spectator, Dera cadres continued to destroy evidence. A luxury vehicle owned by Gurmeet Ram Rahim was set ablaze by the Dera goons themselves, hours after the controversial baba was convicted, to destroy some documents and other evidence inadvertently left inside the vehicle. TRUCK CONTAINING ARMS ALLOWED TO LEAVE FOR RAJASTHAN Sources also said that a truck containing cash and illegal weapons, among other things, was allowed to leave for Rajasthan soon after the Dera chief was arrested. Haryana Police chief BS Sandhu has, however, denied the allegations and said that the probe was already on to find the lapses, if any. "There are no inputs about a truck carrying weapons and cash leaving for Rajasthan. We will probe the matter", BS Sandhu said. Sources said that Gurmeet Ram Rahim's family was currently camping in his ancestral village located in Gurusar Modia area in Rajasthan. Rahim's foster daughter Honeypreet has also gone underground. Security agencies are hunting the controversial relative Priyanka Taneja alias Honeypreet. advertisement Meanwhile, Ram Rahim's family members have not been allowed to meet him inside jail due to security reasons. According to the jail manual, inmates are allowed to meet their family members in alphabetical order. As Gurmeet Ram Rahim's name begins with alphabet G, his family members can only meet him on Mondays and Thursdays. KHATTAR REFUSES TO STEP DOWN Under attack from Opposition parties and various other quarters including his own party members, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has refused to step down. The BJP high command has, however, thrown its weight behind Manohar Lal Khattar, who will not be resigning at this point of time. However, sources said the party was mulling a reshuffle in the BJP's state unit. ALSO READ | Dera-run newspaper gives Ram Rahim clean chit, slams media for negative reporting Cars, cosmetics, gold: The lavish lifestyle of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh No Dera follower caused any harm to police officials: Ram Rahim's advocate WATCH VIDEO | Massive crackdown on Dera assets, 103 centres shut in Haryana --- ENDS --- STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Back in 2012, we put the Advance spotlight on Rodolfo (Rudy) Rubano, who at 13 years of age became an apprentice to the town barber in a little village near Salerno, Naples, in post-war Italy. At the time, the Dongan Hills resident and proprietor of Brewery Barber Shop in Mariners Harbor was celebrating his 50th year in business. Today, his daughter Gina Rubano, reports "everyone's Mr. Rudy" is determined to regain the use of his "Golden Arm," which was injured two years ago after a fall on the ice. "He fell hard -- hitting his head, tearing muscles in both shoulders and his upper body turned purple," Gina said. "He was in the hospital for days, later having two different surgeries. The fall left extensive damage to his hand and arm leaving him not able to lift his arm and especially not able to hold the scissors he had used for over 50 years." Rudy arrived in New York City in 1955, taking a job in a barber shop in lower Manhattan. By 1960, he was living on Staten Island and decided to open his own business in the shadow of the old Piels Brewery on Canal Street in Stapleton. He later relocated to Forest Avenue in Mariners Harbor. "My father enjoyed his years of cutting his client's hair -- bonding with them, having special relationships with generations of families and cutting hundreds of first haircuts, including actors Rick Schroeder and Carmine Giovinazzo," Gina said. "He still enjoyed serving the community and his loyal customers. He had no plans on retiring anytime soon." Not only was he in pain, she added, but frightened because the mishap impacted the arm needed to feed himself, brush his hair and hold a pen. But, mostly, Gina said he was worried about letting down his clients -- loyal ones who called him daily, concerned about his condition and asking when he would be back in the swing of things. During his two years of twice weekly physical therapy, the frequent calls have put a smile on his face. Gina said the stories are endless and ongoing: "From 'Rudy, I'm waiting for you to cut my hair -- it's down to my shoulders' to 'My daughter is getting married and can you please do my hair and my husband is in the hospital and only wants you' to 'Where can I go to get my hair fixed? They messed it up' to 'Rudy, where can I go to get a good haircut' to.'Rudy, no one cuts hair like you' to 'Rudy, let me know if you open another shop.'" Rudy's barber chair that he's had forever is sitting in a warehouse -- for now -- since he was forced to clean out his shop. However, he's making great progress in physical therapy -- but still has a way to go. "He's been working really hard to regain full use of his arm and hand and he's not losing hope," Gina said. "My brother Frank and I, and his two grandsons, Frankie and Joseph, keep him going. Whether he goes back to cutting hair or not -- he truly is a strong fighter and my hero. And everyone is encouraging him to never, ever, give up," Always a dapper dresser, Rudy looks spiffy every day. Even if he has no plans, he'll tell you, "At least I'm ready." Rudy and his wife, Jean, were married for 46 years before her passing in 2007. "He misses her every day. Anything and everything we needed, my dad and mom provided it for us. Dad never complained once about going to work. Never even took a day off, sick and all -- no matter the weather. He walked in every day to his shop, Mr. Rudy's Barbershop, with a smile, and treated every customer like they were the only ones to come sit in his antique barber chair." Rudy will turn 80 on Sept. 2. "We are truly blessed to have my dad and witness him doing so much better, having him turn 80 and looking so fabulous. He makes my heart sing," Gina gushes. "He is truly the best friend, daddy and pop any family can wish for. His customers know that 'Rudy the Barber' is one of the finest men and barber around. He is truly an awesome man. And he's everyone's Mr. Rudy." Happy 80th birthday, Rudy! HOUSTON -- Fires and two explosions rocked a flooded Houston-area chemical plant early Thursday, sending up a plume that federal authorities described as "incredibly dangerous" and adding a potential new hazard to the aftermath of Harvey. The blasts at the Arkema Inc. plant, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston, also ignited a 30- to 40-foot flame. Local officials insisted that the explosion produced no toxins. The blasts happened as floodwaters from days of relentless rain began to recede and the threat of major dangers from the storm shifted to a region near the Texas-Louisiana line. Fire authorities said the blasts were small and that some deputies suffered irritated eyes from the smoke, but they emphasized that the materials that caught fire shortly after midnight were not toxic. At a news conference in Washington, D.C., the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, told reporters that the plume was hazardous. In the largely rural area surrounding the plant, officials said they went door to door to explain the situation and called on residents to evacuate, but leaving was not mandatory. The plant, in Crosby, lost power after the storm, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as temperatures rise. Arkema shut down the plant before Harvey made landfall. As the sun rose, an AP photographer at a roadblock about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the scene could see no sign of a blaze in the direction of the plant. In Houston, the rescues continued apace. The fire department planned a block-by-block search Thursday of thousands of flooded homes. Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said rescuers would ensure that no one is left behind in the floodwaters. Farther east, Beaumont and Port Arthur struggled with rising water after being pounded with what remained of the weakening storm. The confirmed death toll climbed to at least 31, including six family members -- four of them children -- whose bodies were pulled Wednesday from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou. Beaumont and Port Arthur worked to evacuate residents. Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city. More than 500 people -- along with dozens of dogs, cats, a lizard and a monkey -- took shelter at the Max Bowl bowling alley, general manager Jeff Tolliver said. "The monkey was a little surprising, but we're trying to help," he said. Floodwaters also toppled two oil storage tanks in South Texas, spilling almost 30,000 gallons (114,000 liters) of crude. It was not immediately clear whether any of the spilled oil was recovered. More damage to the oil industry infrastructure is expected to emerge as floodwaters recede. Forecasters downgraded Harvey to a tropical depression late Wednesday from a tropical storm, but it still has lots of rain and potential damage to spread, with 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) forecast from the Louisiana-Texas line into Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. Some spots may get as much as a foot, raising the risk of more flooding. For much of the Houston area, forecasters said the rain is pretty much over. "We have good news," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. "The water levels are going down." Houston's two major airports were up and running again Wednesday. Officials said they were resuming limited bus and light rail service as well as trash pickup. At Hermann Park, south of downtown, children glided by in strollers and wagons, joggers took in midday runs and couples walked beside cascading fountains and beneath a sparkling sun. People pulled into drive-thru restaurants and emerged from a store with groceries. At the same time, many thousands of Houston-area homes are under water and could stay that way for days or weeks. And Lindner cautioned that homes near at least one swollen bayou could still get flooded. Houston-area 911 centers are getting more than 1,000 calls an hour from people seeking help, officials said. Altogether, more than 1,000 homes in Texas were destroyed and close to 50,000 damaged, and over 32,000 people were in shelters across the state, emergency officials reported. About 10,000 more National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas, bringing the total to 24,000, Gov. Greg Abbott said. In Orange, Texas, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Beaumont, residents of a retirement home surrounded by thigh-deep water were rescued by National Guardsmen and wildlife officers, who carried them from the second floor and put them aboard an airboat. Harvey initially came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane in Texas on Friday, then went back out to sea and lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for days, inundating flood-prone Houston. Harvey's five straight days of rain totaled close to 52 inches, the heaviest tropical downpour ever recorded in the continental U.S. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Bob Hughes never will forget the horror of identifying Lorraine Miranda's body after his 24-year-old disabled niece was brutally slain and mutilated by her fiancee, Chris Patterson. Hughes and his wife rushed to Staten Island University Hospital where she worked as a nurse at the time after receiving a late-night call from a work friend. "She said, 'Bob, it's horrible, you gotta get up here, it's Lorraine, she's gone,' and I was stunned," Hughes recalled. "That image is seared into my soul of that girl laying there and what he did after he strangled her," Hughes said about the traumatic obligation of viewing the body. Hughes, his wife, Laura, and their daughter, Allyson Mahoney, are passionately opposing Patterson's latest bid for parole for the savage murder he committed in the couple's apartment in Bulls Head near the border of Graniteville on Dec. 5, 1988. Although nearly three decades have passed, time has not healed the emotional wounds felt by Miranda's uncle and cousin and their resolve to keep Patterson behind bars has strengthened over time. The family currently has to relive the nightmare of Miranda's death every other summer due to the timing of the parole hearings, with the next one scheduled for Tuesday. Patterson, serving a sentence of 15 years to life on a second-degree murder conviction, previously has been denied parole seven times. Mahoney and Hughes both gave tearful accounts of the crime and its aftermath while speaking to an Advance reporter outside of the United Cerebral Palsy Center in Port Richmond where Miranda worked as a therapist and found support for her disability. She coped with cerebral palsy. 'HE'S A MONSTER' "He should not be let out of prison," Mahoney said of Patterson, who committed the murder at 20 years of age. "He's a monster and if you don't want this man to live next door to you or to date your daughter or to be in your life in any way, then there's no reason why he should be out of prison," Mahoney said. "That's the scariest part today, that you can allow someone like that to be in a Staten Island neighborhood," Hughes said "Someone who has that depravity of mind goes beyond making a mistake and paying," Hughes said, adding, "It's good for him and it's good for society that he remains in jail." Hughes graphically described the murder based on what he said where transcripts of Patterson's taped confession to the District Attorney. "It's not the fact that he killed her, it's what she did while she was still breathing," Hughes contended. "While her chest was heaving up and down gasping for air after he strangled her," Patterson used a kitchen knife to "slit her throat slowly," Hughes said. Patterson carved a cross on her chest and "then he decided to go get a sweat sock and stuff it down her throat, left her like that and then went out to Miggy's to buy milk," Hughes said. "She could not fight back," Mahoney said, stressing that Miranda was five feet tall and walked with a severe limp. TRIED TO MISLEAD Prosecutors contended that Patterson's actions after the strangling were an attempt to mislead police into thinking that Miranda was killed during a botched burglary. "What he did to her to cover up defies the human mind," Hughes said, shaking his head in disgust. Mahoney was 13 when she lost Miranda, whom she described as akin to a "best friend" and "big sister" who lived with the Hughes family for years. "The day I found out, it was surreal," Mahoney said. "My heart just broke and to this day it's still broken. It doesn't matter how much time goes by. "Chris Patterson took part of my heart and my family's heart and he destroyed my adolescence that day and he destroyed all of our lives because he ripped her life from us and the thought of the things that he did to her will never go away." Despite a nearly 10-year age gap between the cousins, "we did everything that two young girls would do together" such as watching movies and going to the beach and mall, Mahoney said. "She taught me how to put on makeup and how to dress and I wanted to be just like her," Mahoney said. "She was planning her wedding to this monster of a person who we trusted because she loved him and she wanted me to be her bridesmaid," Mahoney said. When Mahoney was married, "I placed a candle and flowers with my bridesmaids so that she would still be there with us." Mahoney and Hughes also are pushing for passage of Lorraine's Law, named in their relative's honor, that would push back the time that convicts may ask for parole from the present two years to five years in New York State. A MISSING PRESENCE At every family reunion, Miranda is missing from the group photo where the grown ups all pose in the same order that they did as children. A tree was planted in Miranda's honor at the Cerebral Palsy property. "Lorraine was just an inspiration and a spirit to all of us," Hughes said. "She was a beautiful kid who just made you smile and laugh." Authorities said the murder was committed sometime between 10:30 and 11 p.m. on Dec. 5, 1988, in the apartment on Gary Court, according to Advance records. Investigators found Miranda's neck slashed and an "X" gashed into her stomach. Someone stuffed two white cotton crew socks down her mouth. Patterson initially told detectives he found his bride-to-be dead on the apartment floor early on Dec. 6, after he went to a neighborhood store to buy milk. He claimed that several hundred dollars were missing. But in a videotaped confession given to police, Patterson said he "snapped" while high on cocaine and booze. Prosecutors, dissatisfied with Patterson's self-described motive, had evidence the couple faced money trouble and that, while they wanted to marry, Patterson didn't have enough money to buy an engagement ring. Patterson's mind was not that of someone who suffered a momentary loss of control, former Assistant District Attorney John Loughrey said at the time. Prosecutors believed that Patterson strangled his bride-to-be -- then, in a failed attempt to portray the slaying as someone else's crime, cut Miranda and shoved the socks down her mouth. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31(PTI) In an unprecedented move, Delhi High Court judges led by Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Gita Mittal today paid surprise visits at the lower courts here and found that several had not started functioning as the judicial officers were late. ACJ Mittal, who herself visited the Patiala House courts complex here to get the first-hand account of punctuality of judges, working atmosphere and cleanliness, found that out of 27 judicial officers there, only eight were presiding over the courts at 10 AM, the reporting time for the lower courts. advertisement Registrar General (RG) Dinesh Kumar Sharma told PTI that the surprise move was aimed at checking various aspects of functioning of the lower judiciary including punctuality and discipline. Sharma said other senior judges carried out similar inspections of trial court complexes at Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka and Saket. "Justice Ravindra Bhat visited Tis Hazari courts, Justice Sanjiv Khanna went to Rohini courts, Justice G S Sistani showed up at Karkardooma courts, Justice S Muralidhar at Saket court and Justice Vipin Sanghi went to Dwarka court," the RG said. He said the "unprecedented" decision to conduct surprise checks was taken by ACJ Mittal. On being asked whether any action would be taken against the judicial officers who were late-comers, the Registrar General said the high court will take "appropriate action". Court sources said that a majority of judicial officers were found to be late and many of them arrived only after 10:30 AM, though the reporting time is 10 AM. The High Court, in the recent times, has taken strict view of laxity and impropriety on the part of judges of the subordinate judiciary. Recently, the services of a judicial officer was terminated days before taking charge as a Metropolitan Magistrate in Tis Hazari court. The high court had also compulsorily retired an additional sessions judge over graft allegations which came to fore in a complaint lodged by the Enforcement Directorate. The High Court reviews the performance of a lower court judge at the age of 58 to decide whether he or she can be allowed to superannuate at the age of 60 years. PTI PPS SKV SJK ARC --- ENDS --- STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - After meeting when they were both teachers at a Manhattan high school, Joseph and Samara "Sam" Cuccurullo found they share a love for imparting knowledge to their students. Joseph and Samara "Sam" Cuccurullo opened the second Resource Room on Forest Avenue. (Staten island Advance/Tracey Porpora) Having each earned two master's degrees, he specializes in English and history, and she in math and science. For years, Sam would tutor students on the weekend, traveling to their home for sessions. That's when the pair decided to open their own tutoring business, The Resource Room -- in the heart of New Dorp. After achieving much success with the business -- only open a little more than two years -- the Cuccurullos opened their second location in June on Forest Avenue in West Brighton. "I really like the flexibility that I have outside of the normal classroom environment. I get to teach so many different subjects now, and I work with so many different types of children of all different ages," said Joe. "In one day I'll go from teaching a second-grader how to improve reading to global history at the high school level, to a verbal SAT class or teaching a TACHS (Test for Admission to Catholic High Schools) test group," he added. After the business got off to such a good start, Joe left the city Department of Education in December 2015 to run the Resource Room full-time. "Our first location was very special, but this [the West Brighton] location affords us the space to expand to so many different programs," he said about the facility, which has a classroom, tutoring room and a multi-purpose room. A 'PERFECT PARTNERSHIP' The Cuccurullos say their key to success is their "perfect partnership." "As a partnership we always come up with different ideas, so it always balances out," said Sam. Said Joe: "We both have our particular strengths. There are certain things that Sam doesn't necessarily have interest in. And there are things Sam does that I don't have interest in. So we complement each other." PROGRAMS OFFERED The Resource Room offers everything from specialized Lego robotics and computer programs to one-on-one tutoring for all ages and SAT preparation classes. The Resource Room also partners with outside organizations, such as Painting with a Twist, to offer additional programming at the facility. There will also be an occupational therapist at the facility, and they offer special education programs. In addition to the Cuccurullos, they employ seven other tutors. DEBUNKING MYTHS The Cuccurullos say that tutoring isn't just for students who need extra help, adding that a good portion of the students they teach come to the Resource Room because they want to "get ahead," in their studies. THE RESOURCE ROOM AT A GLANCE Address: 534 Forest Ave., West Brighton 2481 Richmond Rd. Dongan Hills Website: www.resourceroomsi.com New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners. If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - It's on. No, Michael Grimm hasn't made it official yet, but there seems little doubt that the former congressman is going to launch a GOP primary in a bid to reclaim his old House seat. Grimm was on NY1 on Thursday, and he clearly has his sights set on Rep. Dan Donovan (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), who succeeded Grimm in Congress after Grimm left because of a tax evasion conviction. Donovan, according to Grimm, is doing a good job "as a liberal Democrat." As proof, he pointed to Donovan votes on Obamacare repeal and sanctuary cities. He mentioned anti-Second Amendment bills. "These are all Democrat positions," Grimm said, "and he's been down the line on those positions, and that's a problem." Grimm said he hasn't made his mind up about a race, but acknowledged he's looking at it. He said he'd announce a decision "fairly soon." But make no mistake: The battle lines have been drawn. Grimm has also created a new Twitter page. He's been writing op-eds here and there. So he's getting out there. It all looks like campaign prep. Donovan, meanwhile, appeared more than ready to engage with Grimm, telling NY1 that the former congressman would have to explain his "transgressions" to district voters, and that voters will have to decide if they want a "convicted felon" representing them in Washington. Grimm served seven months in jail on those tax charges. He's paid financial restitution to the government. He's said he was the victim of a political witch hunt carried out by then-U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. He said he should have gotten a civil fine for his transgressions. It's an argument that resonates with some. And Lynch's halo got seriously tarnished after she got caught chatting with former President Bill Clinton in that famous airport tarmac meeting during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lynch, who was attorney general at the time, was heading up the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails. Those on the right cried foul, saying Lynch was playing politics with the Hillary probe. It will only help Grimm with GOP primary voters to keep pushing Lynch as his tormentor. Her approval ratings with Republicans are down there with Nancy Pelosi's and the antifas'. And, yes, Grimm is a convicted felon. There's no getting around that fact. But he's a convicted felon who has paid his debt to society. He wasn't a violent criminal. Doesn't he get a clean slate? Isn't America about second acts and redemption? At least that's the argument that I expect Grimm to make somewhere along the line. So it remains to be seen how much traction Donovan will get with that line of attack. Donovan, meanwhile, is among the most popular public officials on Staten Island. He's got a spotlessly clean record. Never a hint of scandal around him. He's been the anti-Grimm. He's well-liked by Republicans and Democrats alike. Are voters really going to throw him over and return to the soap opera days of Grimm, who once threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony in the U.S. Capitol? So it appears the battle will be joined. It looks to be one of those classic Staten Island battles waiting to happen. Grimm is backed up by Guy Molinari, a former congressman and borough president. Molinari was Donovan's political mentor, brought him into politics here back in the 1990s. Former Borough President Jim Molinaro also looks to be on the Grimm side. Donovan was Molinaro's deputy borough president. The two had a bitter falling out over a case involving Molinaro's grandson when Donovan was district attorney. So, storylines abound. Bloodlines. A family feud writ large that will look to drag the entire GOP establishment in. We've only just begun. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Politics is supposed to be a contest of ideas. Candidates present their views on the issues. They talk about how they would solve problems. They express what they would do to serve the public. Voters cast their ballots for the person they think has the best platform. Fraudulent Facebook pages aren't part of the equation. Simple, right? But we now know that that's not how it works in Staten Island politics. At least in some circles. There was a report on NY1 recently that said that borough attorney Richard Luthmann was the administrator of a fake Facebook page aimed at Janine Materna when Materna was running in a GOP primary against Assemblyman Ron Castorina (R-South Shore). The falsified page included posts that mischaracterized Materna's positions, and included photos of her with Democrats including Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Attorney General Eric Holder. All designed to cast Materna, a former Democrat, in a bad light with Republican voters on the South Shore. While there was a small disclaimer on the fake page indicating that the page was not a product of the Materna campaign, it was clearly meant to confuse anybody who happened upon it. As part of its report, NY1 obtained screenshots of a Facebook message exchange between Castorina and Luthmann that discussed the creation of the fraudulent Facebook page. It was also reported that Luthmann discussed the page with City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore). We know that social media has become a huge part of our everyday lives. Everybody gets to have their say on Facebook or Twitter or wherever. Too often the social space is full of vitriol and bile, and isn't a place where ideas are exchanged and productive dialogue is engaged in. This is particularly true when politics is the topic. A shame, but that's part of our freedom of speech in America. But the creation of a fake page on Facebook or anywhere else is where we should all draw the line. Castorina said he had "zero involvement in the creation of this page other than to be told in texts about it" and regrets "even engaging in any chat about it." Borelli told the Advance he assumed Luthmann was responsible for negative Facebook ads and cautioned the attorney from using them. When reached by the Advance, Luthmann said he wouldn't comment on the situation, citing attorney/client privilege. He has also told the Advance that he knows who accessed his Facebook account to reveal the messages, and said he's optimistic he can prove it and get criminal charges filed against them. Luthmann also kept up the drumbeat against Materna on social media for a time, using the hashtag #BitterJanineMaterna and including in one post a picture of a cartoon character holding a gun and including the words, "I'm reloading." Disturbing, to say the least. The whole thing has been a disgrace, and the worst kind of politics. Back-handed, deceptive and juvenile. And menacing. Not about the issues. About personal animus. It's a perfect illustration of everything that's wrong with social media. There's no place for it in politics. Or anywhere. Think it's all fun and games? A special prosecutor has been appointed to look into the Facebook spoofing. District Attorney Michael McMahon requested the special prosecutor because McMahon himself was at one time the subject of a fake Facebook page. So was Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore). It's serious business. Both those pages have also been linked to Luthmann. If Luthmann wanted to hit at Materna, he should have created a Facebook page that delineated what he saw as her shortcomings and put his name on it. He should have taken ownership of it. And Castorina, Borelli and anybody else who knew about the origins of the page and objected to it privately would have made a stronger statement if they'd come out in public and denounced it as it was happening. It should have been made clear: This is not how we do business. This is not how campaigns are to be conducted. Materna and South Shore Republicans have a long history. When she was a Democrat, Materna took on then-City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) in 2009. The campaign left hard feelings all around. And Materna certainly didn't cover herself in glory in last year's Assembly primary, when she falsely claimed that Castorina had been arrested (he'd actually gotten a speeding ticket), and also incorrectly said that Castorina resided outside of the Assembly district (public records showed otherwise). That being said, there's no excuse for fake Facebook politicking. The consequences will be for law enforcement to decide. Let it be a lesson for everybody. By Ian Fontenot/Special to the Advance Introduced in 2009 and heading into its ninth year in 2017, the New York Yankees' HOPE (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) Week initiative is rooted in the fundamental belief that acts of goodwill provide hope and encouragement to more than just the recipient of the gesture. The Staten Island Yankees adopted the parent club's initiative in 2011 and carry the tradition into 2017 for a seventh season. Beginning Thursday, Staten Island Yankees players, front office staff and Scooter the Holy Cow will recognize the efforts of an outstanding individual in the community as well as showing support to groups around us in need. At its core, HOPE Week is about people helping people. The one thing everybody has -- no matter where they come from, what their financial situation is or what kind of skills they possess -- is time. By involving players and front office staff during the celebration of HOPE Week, the entire New York Yankees organization is sending the message that everyone can give of themselves to make our community a better place. Below is the schedule of events for the Staten Island Yankees HOPE Week: Thursday, Aug. 31: Eric Rosen is an honorary Staten Island Yankee for a day. Eric Rosen was diagnosed with autism as a child, but with the help of his mother Ilene, he never let that slow him down. Now at the age of 32, Eric is graduate of St. John's University, has two shows on Community Television, "The Blitz Zone" and "Eric's View", works at Eden II Programs, and serves as a role model for those learning to live with autism. Eric will join the Baby Bombers for their doubleheader against the Connecticut Tigers as an honorary Staten Island Yankee for a day. Read more about Eric's story in the attached PDF. Friday, Sept. 1: Richard H. Hungerford School takes a trot around the bases for Home Run for Life. The Hungerford School for students with special needs helps students develop to their maximum potential and functional levels by providing them with essential social, emotional, language, technological and academic skills. As part of a long-standing relationship with the Hungerford School and the Staten Island Yankees, students come to the ballpark several times a week throughout the year to assist with mailings, stadium clean-up and other miscellaneous tasks. During the Staten Island Yankees game against the Connecticut Tigers, the Baby Bombers will recognize the students with an in-game Home Run for Life. For more information about HOPE Week, visit hopeweek.com. Congress leader Kapil Sibal took to sarcasm to attack the Centre over its decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes on November 8 last year. By India Today Web Desk: A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed that nearly 99 per cent of the demonetised currency has come back into the system, the Opposition has launched a fierce attack on the Narendra Modi government questioning the need for such a decision on November 8 last year. The RBI said that of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore notes taken out of circulation post November 8, Rs 15.28 lakh crore demonetised currency has returned to the system through deposits. advertisement Congress leader Kapil Sibal took to sarcasm to attack the Centre over its decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes on Twitter. In a poem titled Demonetisation, the Congress leader wrote, "gain for the rich, pain for the poor/ cash back in system, exposed their wisdom/ now this is our take, their promises fake". Demonetisation gain for the richpain for the poor cash back in systemexposed their wisdom now this is our taketheir promises fake- Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) August 31, 2017 The Congress, which has been running a #KnowYourLegacy quiz on Twitter since the last few weeks wherein some of the questions are targeted at the BJP, has posted a fresh question today, this time on demonetisation. The Congress through its @INCIndia handle posted, "Which Prime Minister demonetised notes in 2016, causing a loss of trillions of rupees to the nation?" It gave the options as Morarji Desai, Narendra Modi, Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Which Prime Minister demonetised notes in 2016, causing a loss of trillions of rupees to the nation? #KnowYourLegacy- Congress (@INCIndia) August 31, 2017 Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram tweeted, "Rs 16000 crore out of demonetised notes of Rs 15,44,000 crore did not come back to RBI. That is 1 per cent. Shame on RBI which 'recommended' demonetisation." Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been vocal about her criticism on demonetisation since the decision was announced, asked if the RBI's revelation on demonetisation points to a "big scam". "I feel it was totally a flop show," Mamata Banerjee said. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said that "India can never forgive Modi government for this anti-national act". "Over 100 people died due to demonetisation. Jobs lost, lives turned upside down, livelihoods over. Just due to one man's whim," Sitaram Yechury tweeted. Lives & livelihoods lost, the Economy got a shock, workers lost their jobs. India can never forgive Modi govt for this anti-national act.- Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 30, 2017 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, denied that demonetisation has failed to achieve its objectives. He said the exercise has expanded the tax base, reduced cash in economy, increased digitisation, checked black money and has helped in integrating the informal economy with the formal one. advertisement ALSO READ: Jaitley on RBI report: Demonetisation had extremely positive impact Rahul asks PM Modi to own up the colossal failure of demonetisation What was the goal of demonetisation? Comparing Jaitley's comments with Modi's note ban address ALSO WATCH: Note ban had positive impact on black money, formalisation of economy: Arun Jaitley --- ENDS --- By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree By PTI: Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) Scientists may have solved the mystery behind how our universe emerged from the cosmic dark ages to a clearer, light-filled state that we see today. Researchers at the University of Iowa (UI) in the US propose that black holes within galaxies produce winds strong enough to fling out matter that punctures holes in galaxies, allowing light to escape. advertisement Soon after the Big Bang, the universe went completely dark. The intense, seminal event that created the cosmos churned up so much hot, thick gas that light was completely trapped. As many as one billion years after the Big Bang, the universe expanded, became more transparent, and eventually filled up with galaxies, planets, stars, and other objects that give off visible light. According to a new study, black holes that dwell in the centre of galaxies fling out matter so violently that the ejected material pierces its cloudy surroundings, allowing light to escape. The researchers arrived at their theory after observing a nearby galaxy from which ultraviolet light is escaping. "The observations show the presence of very bright X-ray sources that are likely accreting black holes," said Philip Kaaret, professor in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy. "It is possible the black hole is creating winds that help the ionising radiation from the stars escape. Thus, black holes may have helped make the universe transparent," said Kaaret, corresponding author of the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The team focused on a galaxy called Tol 1247-232, located some 600 million light years from Earth, one of only three nearby galaxies from which ultraviolet light has been found to escape. In 2016, using an Earth-orbiting telescope called Chandra, the researchers saw a single X-ray source whose brightness waxed and waned and was located within a vigorous star-forming region of Tol 1247-232. The team determined it was something other than a star. "Stars dont have changes in brightness. Our Sun is a good example of that," Kaaret said. No one knows for sure how a black hole, whose intense gravitational pull sucks in everything around it, also ejects matter, researchers said. Black holes are hard to study, in part because their immense gravitational pull allows no light to escape and because theyre embedded deep within galaxies. Recently, however, astronomers have offered an explanation: The jets of escaping matter are tapping into the accelerated rotational energy of the black hole itself, researchers said. advertisement As gravity pulls matter inward toward a black hole, the black hole likewise spins faster. As the black holes gravitational pull increases, the speed also creates energy, they said. "As matter falls into a black hole, it starts to spin and the rapid rotation pushes some fraction of the matter out," Kaaret said. "They are producing these strong winds that could be opening an escape route for ultraviolet light. That could be what happened with the early galaxies," he added. PTI SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Indian-American doctors have started a relief fund to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey and the amount collected will be given to the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott. By India Today Web Desk: Hurricane Harvey has swamped roads and paralysed neighbourhoods throughout the state of Texas. Thousands have been affected by the strongest tropical hurricane in the United States after the category 5 Hurricane Wilma. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said more than 2,000 calls for help had been received by midday Sunday. Flooding was so bad that residents were being urged to seek refuge on their roofs. advertisement People and authorities are coming together to brave the flood which claimed 30 lives. The video of a Houston television news team saving the life of a truck driver who was stranded in rising flood waters too went viral . Also read: Hurricane Harvey Roundup: Trump's visit, Indian student's death and other incidents from Houston Now, Indian-American doctors have started a relief fund to help those affected by the floods. "Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas with severe winds and flash flooding. This serious natural disaster inflexed a grave loss of lives and property. Our hearts are with the victims of the disaster," said Gautam Samadder, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). The amount collected through donations will be given to the governor of Texas. According to the president of AAPI, the association is concerned about the devastation and is in the forefont to support and help people affected. He announced that the association's physicians in Texas will serve the victims for free for the next 2-4 weeks. AAPI physicians represent 10 percent of all physicians in America but service approximately 30 percent of the patients in the country, Samadder said. He called upon his fellow physicians to offer help for the purpose. --- ENDS --- System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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Within minutes of the Australian Electoral Commission's announcement of a third lower house seat for the ACT, Mr Barr said he would not be standing for Labor. Chief Minister Andrew Barr has ruled out running for federal parliament. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong "I am enjoying my current role and there is much still to do. I won't be seeking pre-selection for the next federal election," Mr Barr told The Canberra Times. Along with federal colleagues Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh, Mr Barr welcomed the ACT's larger presence in the expanded House of Representatives, just a year after the ACT's Legislative Assembly grew from 17 to 25 members. He yelled in our faces about cheap hardware for more than a decade - but whatever happened to that bald guy from the Magnet Mart ads? We managed to track down 'Magnet Mart guy' - real name Brendan Sloane - through our advertising contacts. Turns out he's ditched the yelling and the red service station sunglasses for a quiet life in the United Kingdom, working in finance for the UK government. 'Magnet Mart guy' Brendan Sloane (right) with Magnet Mart founder Paul Donaghue in 2004. Credit:Gary Schafer Now based in London, Sloane is a project costing manager for the National Health Service (NHS), Britain's version of Medicare. He's dad to Roman, six months, and husband to Canberra girl Lucinda Watson. But don't stress - he's still a staple on Canberra telly. You may have seen him in television ads for Phillip-based business Hip Pocket Workwear, which he shoots once a year when he flies home to Canberra. The ACT government says its Schools For All reform is about "sustained cultural change", not ticking off recommendations, as its implementation remains months behind schedule. A May report last week tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly showed some recommendations from the inquiry into the school cage scandal were up to a year overdue. The cage in a Canberra school which led to an independent review. The ACT Education Directorate had 15 outstanding recommendations while the ACT Catholic school system had 11 recommendations yet to be completed. A spokeswoman for education minister Yvette Berry confirmed on Wednesday evening only one recommendation was still outstanding for the Catholic school system, while the ACT Education Directorate still had 15 to tick off. As many as 100 subcontractors have been sacked as the federal government's largest department conducts a massive internal fraud probe. Their contracts were ripped up late last week as allegations of potentially criminal activity inside the Department of Human Services emerged. As many as 100 employees have been caught up in an internal fraud probe at the Department of Human Services. Credit:Eddie Jim Many of the subcontractors were supplied by a labour hire company to work on IT projects within the department. "It appears there are a few 'rogue operators', but because of this breach they had to remove everyone," a source told Fairfax Media. The project will build on her Honours thesis, also completed at the University of Canberra, in which she found 213 of 311 negative interruptions made in the senate over the past decade were directed towards female senators. Her PhD will focus on female heads of government and use case studies and semiotic analysis to explore her hypotheses: that women are more often blamed for many-handed problems, and that a male leader's responsibility will be diffused in difficult circumstances, while a woman's will be accentuated. Ms Richards said her aim was to make invisible barriers visible. The push to get women into positions of leadership neglected to ask what happens when they reached the top spot, she said. "Julia Gillard was literally the most successful legislator Australia ever had in terms of legislation and actually getting it through, so the fact that we had a female prime minister that was that successful in that respect, and yet we still think Australia isn't ready for another female prime minister, it all comes back to how that ended and what her term was like," she said. "We can do all we want with quotas, we can do all we want with leadership mentoring and these fast tracks, but there's no point working on a road if no cars want to drive on it." Qantas is dropping Dubai from its network and will instead have its Europe-bound aircraft stop over in Singapore, in a major shake-up that repositions it towards the booming Asian market. The airline said on Thursday it would reroute its daily Sydney-London A380 service to fly via Singapore instead of Dubai from March 2018. That service will replace one of its two daily Sydney-Singapore A330 flights. Qantas had already announced its Melbourne-London service will fly non-stop to Europe out of Perth on its new Dreamliners starting in March, meaning the airline will not have any flights to Dubai. Flights to Singapore from Melbourne are also being ramped up as part of the overhaul, with Qantas' daily service upgraded from a 235-seat A330 to a 484-seat A380 and its thrice-weekly A330 service increased to a daily service. The financial regulator is demanding meetings with the boards of superannuation funds that are failing to deliver "quality" outcomes for members, raising pressure on poorly performing funds to lift their game or merge with a rival. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority deputy chairman Helen Rowell has written to fund boards, telling them APRA has identified a group of funds whose performance is not up to scratch. APRA deputy Helen Rowell says the regulator will seek meetings with a group of poorly performing funds. Credit:Pat Scala In the letter, she says APRA sifted through data on how funds are performing against a range of criteria including returns, costs to members, insurance costs and changes in member numbers. The assessment revealed there was a group of underperforming registrable superannuation entities (RSEs) and APRA had doubts about whether they had adequate plans in place to improve. This week was arguably the most significant yet for "crypto-currencies" in Australia. At least since a guy from the nondescript Sydney suburb of Gordon claimed to be the mastermind behind bitcoin. If your eyes have already glazed over, I don't blame you. I don't particularly enjoy writing about crypto-currencies, but given the genuine technological breakthroughs involved and the potentially damaging financial bubble that's building, they've become impossible to ignore. This week a Perth-based energy trading start-up called Power Ledger said it raised $17 million from speculators and crypto enthusiasts in Australia's first ICO (initial coin offering). An ICO is a bit like an IPO, except digital tokens created from thin air are up for grabs, rather than small pieces of ownership in a business. There are no regulators or stock exchanges involved. To describe ICOs as the wild west of finance would be an understatement but, at the moment, lots of people are making a killing from them. By PTI: Kozhikode, Aug 31 (PTI) Voicing concern over the "falling standards" in certain sections of the media, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayantoday urged the journalists to identify their weaknesses and correct them from within. He said this after inaugurating the renovated office building of the Calicut Press Club here. "There are many who have served the profession with dedication, but the falling standards (of the media) can also be seen among certain sections," Vijayan said. advertisement He added that this needed to be addressed and corrected from within. The chief minister was all praise for the role of the media during the countrys freedom struggle. "The media scenario has changed a lot with the advent of information technology. Despite the absence of such facilities, publications like Mathrubhumi andDesabhimani had contributed immensely to the freedom movement," he said. Member of Parliament M K Raghavan and MLAs M K Muneer and APradip Kumar were also present on the occasion. PTI KV SS VS SS RC --- ENDS --- Ryan Ebert is a physiotherapist but that title alone doesn't suffice. Ebert, it deserves adding, is also an entrepreneur, public speaker and University of Melbourne lecturer. And just 26 years old. Physiotherapist Ryan Ebert is co-founder of two physio industry businesses. Credit:Kelvin Drayton "I've tried to be very well-rounded," he says. "I've also been able to build and harness good relationships with mentors. My co-founders are quite esteemed in physio and they've really helped." Ebert is the co-founder of two health businesses. Productive Healthy Workplaces Group is a national occupational physiotherapy, workplace training and office design company that supports businesses to improve their workplace health and productivity. Jakarta: The Indonesian Government has expressed its "deep concern" after Australia launched an investigation into the alleged dumping of steel rods exported from Indonesia and two other countries. The investigation comes within months of the Australian government's decision to impose dumping duties on cheap paper exported from Indonesia - a move negotiators have warned could impact on sensitive free trade talks between the two countries. Anti-dumping commissioner Dale Seymour said he was investigating steel rods in coils - which is used to produce wire - that was imported to Australia between April 2016 and March 2017 from Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam. The investigation followed a complaint by OneSteel, an Australian manufacturer of steel rod in coils, which claimed the dumped imports had led to loss of sales, reduced market share, price depression and loss of profits. On a recent trip, Susan McMahon, of Lismore Heights, sent a bunch of postcards from the four countries she visited, but it took three months for the 15 sent from England and Scotland to arrive, all within 24 hours of each other. "They'd been sent via the Philippines and all reference to Scotland or England had been blacked out with a texta and the stamps were covered with a Philippines sticker. Is this outsourcing and why obscure the countries' names?" Sent via the Department of Duterte Tricks? Valerie King, of Hunters Hill, spotted an advert under "freebies" in her local Weekly Times the other day. "Birdcage suit budgerigar 40x40x70cm high." That's one beast of a budgie to smuggle. Allyn Sayers, of South Turramurra, was asked by his four-year-old son to write something on his drawing. "When I asked what he wanted me to write, he said, 'Swipe to next page'." That's an old-style iPad. Talk of granny flats (C8) reminded Al Wetten, of Scarborough, that his mate Starl moved into a detached backyard structure. "He dubbed it the garoom. It's got a nice big front door." When it comes to Americanisms (C8), Rosalind Vaughn, of Rydalmere, notices shopping centres "reaching out". "Entering one local shopping complex car park, we are greeted with the sign 'Welcome to a place to reclaim yourself'. Exiting, it's 'Farewell. We look forward to reconnecting'." It's not called retail therapy for nothing. Allocating federal electorates across the states and territories is governed by what John Howard famously called "the iron law of arithmetic". But that doesn't always make it fair. Canberra's population grew by 11.2 per cent in the five years to December 2016, adding 40,000 new residents and bringing our city to 406,403 people. The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on Thursday that figure put Canberra over the required quota for three federal seats, prompting a redistribution and near-immediate preselection posturing by ACT Labor, Greens and Canberra Liberals rank-and-file. Coming one year and one day after the 45th Parliament sat for the first time, the announcement is a welcome development for Canberra voters, under-represented in Parliament for too long. The boat was eventually named the RRS Sir David Attenborough. One of its remotely operated subsurface vehicles was name Boaty in recognition of the vote. The UK government demurred, Science Minister Jo Johnson saying there were "more suitable" names. In case you've forgotten, Boaty McBoatface was the runaway popular choice in a public vote conducted by the UK government in early 2016 to name a new polar research vessel. If we needed a lesson in how the west's ruling elites have lost touch with the ruled, the Boaty saga was one. The name itself was a send-up of the process, in that gently self-deprecating British mode. The government's response to name the vessel after a not-quite-dead white male was the sort of unconscious two-fingered salute the British ruling class is so adept at giving; add a patronising tip of the bowler hat in bestowing the people's choice on the subservient sorry, subsurface vessel. A month later, in case the ruling class hadn't got the Boaty point, Britons voted for Brexit. Now Victoria's government has launched a similarly cack-handed competition to have "the people" name Melbourne's five new underground train stations. And while there were some funny early suggestions Smashed Avo, Father Bob and some gestures towards recognising Melbourne's Indigenous past and present Birrarung Premier Daniel Andrews was firm that the outcome wouldn't be entirely left to the vagaries of online polling: an advisory committee, he said, would select "sensible names" from among those suggested. The number of Aboriginal Australians living in NSW and Victoria has doubled since 2001, figures released by the Bureau of Statistics show, far outpacing the growth in the non-Indigenous population of both states. In NSW, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has increased from 120,000 in 2001 to 216,000 in 2016 while in Victoria the numbers have almost doubled from 25,000 to 47,000. "The Indigenous population is growing - rapidly," Australian National University associate professor Nicholas Biddle and research fellow Francis Markham will tell ANU's Centre for Economic Policy Research on Friday. Over the same period the non-indigenous population has grown by between 15 and 20 per cent in NSW and Victoria. Keep calm and let the constitutional citizenship fiasco run its course, former prime minister John Howard has advised, as the High Court saga threatens to engulf its eighth federal politician. "My view about this is nobody is to blame and I think trying to apportion blame, and people running around and saying 'oh you knew about this', or 'you should have known', I think that is silly," he told ABC radio. Victorian crossbench senator Derryn Hinch was the latest politician to become caught up in the crisis, confirming on Wednesday night he holds a United States social security number. Senator Hinch said on Thursday he suspected someone close to him had leaked the details of his US social security number to the media. Broadcaster Alan Jones has been accused of inciting violence against women in a tweet attacking City of Sydney's controversial artwork, the Cloud Arch, and the Lord Mayor Clover Moore. Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the 2GB host slammed the City of Sydney's proposed Cloud Arch sculpture, a 58-metre artwork that will frame the city's Town Hall. It's a project backed by Cr Moore, and has been at the centre of a long-running battle between the city's councillors. Last week, it was revealed the structure's revised cost had increased from $3.5 million to $11.3 million. "$11.3m - can you believe it? You can guess what many people would rather hang 58 metres over George Street...and it's not a Cloud Arch," Jones published to his 8000 followers. Cavalier Tier Dress WAS $1,100 NOW $350. Founded in Indonesia and nurtured in Australia, weekend devoted brand Tee Ink are offering 80 per cent off all men and women's stock. Expect adventure and casual wear including hoodies, tees, dresses, swimwear, hats and bottoms. 59 Hume St, Crows Nest. Thursday 29- Saturday 2 10am-4pm. Tees and other casual wear will be one sale. Next week, minimalist clothing, accessories, beauty and decor digital atelier My Charmeleon will be holding a three-day sale in Paddington with up to 85 per cent off past season designer collections. The sale will feature international and local designers including Dion Lee, Ellery, Christopher Esber, Simon Miller, Marques, Jacquemus and more. 17 Oxford St, Paddington. Thursday 7 4pm-6pm, Friday 8 10am-6pm, Saturday 9 10am-4pm. Shop designers at My Chameleon's sale. In case you missed it, Double Bay's The Corner Shop is clearing out past-season stock at up to 70 per cent off all sale designs. Stocking many cult international designers, the closing down sale will feature clothing, shoes and accessories from the likes of Isabel Marant, Self-Portrait, Marques Almeida, Aquazzura and Stella McCartney at a fraction of the usual price. Shop 2, 20-26 Cross Street, Double Bay. 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 women from brands including Wrangler, One Teaspoon, Ksubi, Insight, Zanerobe, RVCA and more. Sale prices start from $10, with nothing over $50. Can't make it into the city store? Don't fret, the brand is also currently offering up to 60 per cent off favourites in all other stores and online. 197 Pitt St, Sydney. The sale stock will be available until the store relocates. Just Opened Having picked-up a cult celebrity following including Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin and Rita Ora in recent years, local favourite Bec and Bridge has asserted its dominance online and in mortar-and-brick spaces, but strangely did not have its own store presence. Until now. Millennial pink accents are dominant throughout the store. Opening their first standalone retail store in Westfield Bondi Junction, the store will house each season's entire collection along with exclusive pieces from international and Australian accessory brands, including Elvis et Moi, Reliquia, F+H Jewellery, Avec Moderation, LOQ, Atiana shoes, Lacoste sneakers and Mehry Mu bags. Designed in collaboration with architect George Livissianis, the store's aesthetic draws influence from Sydney's quintessential outdoor lifestyle, including light filtering through columns, luxurious materials and day beds. A feminine feel is also created through soft textures and neutral tones including the shade of 2017, millennial pink. "We are incredibly excited to be opening our first retail concept store in Bondi Junction, providing our customer with a complete brand experience that is truly reflective of who we are," the designers behind the brand, Bec Cooper and Bridget Yorston, told Fairfax Media. "It's been a dream to create a physical space that truly encapsulates our style and after 15 years of building the business, we finally feel the timing is right." Bondi Junction Westfield, 3058A, 500 Oxford Street. It's the high-seas mystery that's confounded historians for almost 200 years: what happened to the famous French navigator Comte de La Perouse? La Perouse disappeared without a trace in 1788 - along with two ships and 225 officers, sailors and scientists - while exploring the Pacific for King Louis XVI. Now, a Canberra researcher says the answer to this cold case could lie at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef. Portrait of French explorer La Perouse. Credit:ANU Anthropologist Dr Garrick Hitchcock of the Australian National University believes he has stumbled across a clue suggesting the last survivors of La Perouse's voyage were wrecked on the "graveyard of ships" - the Great Barrier Reef, near Murray Island. "La Perouse's voyage of discovery in the Pacific is recognised as one of the most important of its era, rivalled only by the work of Cook," Dr Hitchcock said. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) As heads rolled in the Railways following a series of train accidents, its new chief echoed Rabindranath Tagore, recalling the Nobel Laureates much quoted lines on dignity and fearlessness. In his first Facebook post after taking over as the chairman of the Railway Board, Ashwani Lohani said the Railways as an organisation should create an environment without fear in its bid to achieve excellence. advertisement "Where the head is held high and the mind is without fear is an environment that ensures excellence and we all should strive to create (it)," he wrote, referring to Tagores poem, Where The Mind Is Without Fear. Lohani took over as the Board chief after the August 19 Utkal Express accident, in which 20 people were killed. Following the derailment, action was taken against senior officials, while the services of 13 junior employees were terminated yesterday. The new chief has been trying to boost employee morale over the last two weeks which have seen four derailments. He met senior officials as well as other employees, stressing that they were the strength of the Railways. In his FB post, he praised vigilance officials for their work. "I never had a great opinion of railway vigilance till I met Rajnish and Shailender in their avatar as vigilance officers. Still I believed that they are a flash in the pan till I started interacting with Sunil Mathur in the recent past," Lohani posted. While the first two are vigilance officers, Mathur is the railway ministrys vigilance adviser. "The presentation made by him (Mathur) yesterday convinced me that vigilance is in perfectly safe hands and while it would crush corruption and malafide it would never create an environment of fear, except for thieves," he said. Lohani, former Air India CMD, was made Railway Board chairman on August 23 after his predecessor A K Mital resigned following the Utkal Express accident. "We are facing a serious issue with the image perception of the Railways following four derailments in the last 10 days," Lohani said in a letter earlier this week to the 1.3 million-strong work force of the Indian Railways. PTI ASG BDS --- ENDS --- Bail conditions preventing two of former Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston's children speaking to each other pending a criminal trial over an alleged $144 million tax fraud have been relaxed on "humane" grounds after the Local Court ruled existing orders were too strict. Adam and Lauren Cranston are among nine people charged over an alleged tax fraud scheme the Australian Federal Police claim skimmed millions in PAYG tax through a web of payroll administration companies. Adam Cranston and his pregnant wife Elizabeth leave the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday. Credit:AAP On Thursday, lawyers for the Cranston siblings appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court seeking changes to bail conditions to allow them to attend family functions and meet each other's children. Lauren Cranston gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on July 28 while Mr Cranston's wife Elizabeth is due to give birth later this year. A woman who almost killed a patient in a breast implant procedure at a Sydney beauty clinic is a Chinese tourist with no Australian medical qualifications, a court has heard. Jie Shao, 33, allegedly performed the procedure on Jean Huang, 35, at The Medi Beauty clinic in Chippendale on Wednesday afternoon. Ms Huang, who is the manager and co-owner of the newly opened clinic, went into cardiac arrest. She remained unconscious and in a critical condition on Thursday, and there were grave fears for her chances of survival. A man who was shot dead after a "confrontation" with police near Bathurst in central western NSW has been remembered as a loving father, brother, uncle and son by family members. Ian Fackender, 47, was left with fatal injuries after police were called to a home in Kelso on Wednesday evening. The incident was captured on police radio with a female voice saying: "We've got a male down, he's been shot. We need an ambulance urgently." A male voice said: "All police have been accounted for ... none injured." The parents of Sydney man Matthew Leveson, who was buried in a national park a decade ago, want an automatic $1 million reward to be offered for the most serious cold-case murders. Mr Leveson's remains were found in the Royal National Park south of Sydney in May, almost 10 years after he was last seen leaving Darlinghurst's ARQ nightclub in 2007 with then-boyfriend Michael Atkins. Atkins, who was acquitted of murder in 2009, led police to the burial site after striking two immunity deals with authorities. Mark and Faye Leveson say they had to "beg" for the reward in their son's unsolved case to be increased to $250,000. The NSW opposition has accused the government of being soft on gun crime, after new figures reveal the NSW Police Firearms Squad has shed almost a quarter of its staff in the past seven years. The figures, obtained by Labor under freedom of information laws, show the firearms squad had 49 staff in 2010 but that number has slowly reduced to 37 this year. Opposition minister for police Guy Zangari said the government needs to justify the staff decline which he said occurred after the Liberals took office in 2011. "This specialist squad exists for a reason, because they have a very important job to do," Mr Zangari said. "But it appears that by slashing the number of staff in the firearms squad, the government's not actually serious about cracking down on gun crime. The NSW premier is standing by a Liberal MP who found himself in an awkward position after ordering a massage in a New York hotel room. Kiama MP Gareth Ward says he was targeted by blackmailers after trying to arrange a massage "as people on holidays will often do". Mr Ward insists he requested "a normal massage" at his hotel room, although various media outlets report he asked for a "special massage" - a claim he denies. Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday defended Mr Ward's character. Shark Tank judge Steve Baxter will be swimming in a new pond after being appointed Queensland's newest Chief Entrepreneur. Queensland's first Chief Entrepreneur, Mark Sowerby, was appointed in 2016 and will be passing the mantle to Mr Baxter. Shark Tank judge Steve Baxter has been announced as Queensland's newest Chief Entrepreneur. He will be responsible for promoting entrepreneurship and investment in Queensland. Mr Baxter described his new job as "chief cheerleader". Small business owners risk being fined thousands of dollars if they are caught slapping excessive surcharges on credit card and debit card payments from this Friday. A ban on excessive surcharging will be extended to include all businesses from the start of September, and this may force a re-think by small retailers that charge flat fees for customers who make small payments by card. Under the new rules, small business owners must not charge any more in surcharges than what it costs them to accept payments made through EFTPOS, Visa, MasterCard or American Express cards issued by banks. The exact cost of accepting card payments varies between banks and small business owners, meaning there is no single figure on what will be deemed "excessive." Embattled anti-vaccination GP John Piesse has agreed to temporarily stop practising as a doctor after he was advised that his medical registration could be suspended. The move comes a week after medical authorities launched an investigation into his registration. Dr Piesse will keep his status as a registered medical practitioner but struck a binding agreement with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency on Thursday which bars him from providing any direct or indirect clinical care for two weeks while the investigation continues. The GP, who works at the Natural Healing Centre in Mitcham, made headlines when he revealed he was helping anti-vax parents sidestep "no jab, no play" laws. Two children left home alone have escaped a house fire in Melbourne's north-east which police are treating as suspicious. A 12-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother fled a unit in Bamfield Road, Heidelberg Heights when a blaze broke out about 5.30am on Thursday . Metropolitan Fire Brigade Sergeant Matt Bull told ABC News the girl saved her brother's life. "She not only saved her life but her brother's life as well," he said. By PTI: combat black money New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Ways to effectively combat black money and tax evasion figured extensively during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard, who expressed strong commitment to help India to deal with the problem. Modi thanked Switzerland for helping India become a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control regime, and consistently supporting New Delhis bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). advertisement Describing their talks productive, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. "Be it black money, dirty money, hawala transaction or money related to arms and drugs, our cooperation with Switzerland continues to deal with the global curse," the prime minister said in a statement to the media. The Swiss president exuded confidence that a law on ensuring automatic exchange of information relating to tax would be cleared by the Swiss parliament by end of the year and her country will be able to exchange first set of information with India by 2019. "We hope by end of this year, this (law on automatic exchange of information) will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," she said, adding India and Switzerland can go hand-in-hand to ensure financial transparency. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. In his comments, Modi also referred to the joint declaration on exchange of information relating to tax signed by the two sides last year. "Last year we signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. As per its provision, after completion of the internal process in Switzerland, information will be shared with us on automatic basis," he said. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". The two sides also deliberated on further boosting ties in key sectors like trade and investment, infrastructure and energy while agreeing on the need to continue dialogue on a bilateral investment pact. Two pacts providing for cooperation in railways were also inked. Giving broad contours of their discussions, Modi said the extensive and productive talks covered bilateral, regional and global issues and that Leuthards visit further strengthened the bilateral ties. advertisement Modi said there was deliberations on challenges of climate change and both sides agreed to work for implementing the Paris climate accord focusing on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. On trade cooperation, he said FDI has been a major pillar of economic ties and India particularly welcomes Swiss investors. "We agreed on the need to continue dialogue on bilateral investment pact. Swiss companies have avenues to be part of Indias growth and development," he said. The prime minister said there was deliberation on the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and European Free Trade Association and both the countries expressed resolve to conclude the pact. On Switzerland support to Indias NSG bid, he said, "India will be benefited from membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to meet its growing demand of clean energy." Leuthard said she was very happy over the outcome of her talks and that there was scope for further expansion of trade ties. In this regard, she underlined the need for having an investment protection pact. She said Switzerland can offer India "infrastructure of tomorrow" in many areas including in railways. "Negotiations for it are on. We hope it is important for our investment," she said. advertisement India had joined the MTCR as a full member in June last year. The membership enables India to buy high-end missile technology. New Delhi has also been pressing for membership of the 48-nation NSG but China has been stonewalling its bid. PTI MPB PYK ZMN --- ENDS --- Melbourne Express: Friday, September 1, 2017 Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss Gerald Ridsdale, Australia's most notorious paedophile priest, is a step closer to dying in prison after having his jail term extended by three years for more historical sexual assaults of children. Ridsdale, who at 83 is in poor health and has been in prison since 1994 for sexual offences against children in his care or supervision across western Victoria, was jailed on Thursday for 11 years. However, part of the sentence will be incorporated into the jail time he is serving, meaning he will only spend an extra three years in prison before being eligible for parole. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to 23 charges, including rape and buggery, against 11 boys and a girl, aged between six and 13, between 1962 and 1988 in Ballarat, Mildura, Horsham and other locations. Northcote MP Fiona Richardson's family had wanted her state memorial service to be a celebration of her life. Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, who led the ceremony for Ms Richardson on Thursday, was following those instructions to the letter. "That is what Fiona would have wanted and I'm not brave enough to cross Fiona," he told mourners who had gathered in honour of Ms Richardson, who died last week, aged 50. Ms Richardson's family had also asked mourners to wear purple in her honour and they obliged, packing into Northcote's Regal Ballroom wearing coloured ties, blouses, scarves and ribbons. Perth Airport is set to be the location for a new designer fashion outlet centre, offering exclusive brands at up to 70 per cent discount to shoppers. The $150 million Direct Factory Outlet shopping centre, to be located on Dunreath Drive, will house 120 stores offering international designers, premium apparel, mainstream fashion, childrenswear, lifestyle and homewares, sports and adventure. An artist's impression of the DFO at Perth Airport. Credit:Chloe Leray The centre will also offer dining options, a playground and parking for more than 1500 cars. The project, unveiled on Thursday, is jointly funded by Vicinity Centres and Perth Airport Pty and is set to open in 2018. A notorious Australian drug lord behind a global criminal syndicate who is wanted in WA in connection to a $40 million drug haul has been arrested in eastern Europe. The Australian Federal Police put out a statement on Thursday claiming Vaso Ulic, 58, was arrested in Montenegro on Tuesday. Ulic is wanted in connection to a $40 million drug shipment of MDMA. Credit:NSW Police Ulic is wanted in connection to a $40 million drug shipment of MDMA powder that arrived in Fremantle port aboard a cargo ship from Melbourne on April 17, 2008. While about 16kg of the drug later went missing, 44kg was taken to a house in the Perth northern suburb of Lockeridge where police, who had been monitoring the drug-smuggling operation, substituted it with a harmless substance. Two men have been charged with the murder of a 36-year-old man in Balga earlier this month. The two men, aged 22 and 28, both from Cannington have been charged with the death of Dejan Dimitrovski who was murdered at his Dallington Crescent home on August 4. Two men have been charged with the murder of a Balga man. Credit:Louie Douvis Both men were due to appear in the Perth Magistrates court on Thursday. China has ended the mystery and international guessing games and officially set the date for its most important political meeting, held only twice in a decade. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party will open on October 18, with 2300 delegates in attendance. The Chinese Communist Party Congress is held once every five years. Credit:Lee Jin-man During its course, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to consolidate his grip on power for the next five years as the party's general secretary. The key policies set for China's next five year's at the week-long meeting will have global implications. Sisters Sandra Green, left, and Eve Clark, who work as mail carriers in Daphne, Alabama. They had been told never to contact Hutchinson or his family. Credit:New York Times Millions of people have signed up with these firms, sending saliva samples to laboratories and paying $US100 to $US350 ($125 to $440) or more for an analysis. The customers are eager to know where they came from. The answers hidden in DNA can be revelatory, shedding light on hidden events occurring decades earlier and forever changing the family narrative. A Penn State University class who took a DNA test for genetic ancestry learn surprising information about their backgrounds. Credit:New York Times But a new analysis of DNA test kits by The Wirecutter, a review site owned by The New York Times, finds that the services also have limitations that the providers do not always fully acknowledge. Hutchinson decided to have his DNA analysed by 23andMe. The report revealed he is one-eighth sub-Saharan African, which means that his mother was of mixed race. There was some Italian and Swedish heritage. "She was good at brushing people off": Bob Hutchinson shows some family photos at his house in Pacifica, California. Credit:New York Times Hutchinson also learned that his mother was not an only child, but had a brother. A genealogist helped him track down some first cousins in Alabama, who said they had been told never to contact Hutchinson or his family. The cousins, Sandra Green and Eve Clark, were delighted to hear from him. He plans to visit next year at Mardi Gras. Hutchinson's results were enlightening, but in other contexts ethnicity has posed a particularly knotty problem for DNA testing firms. The very definitions of "race" and "ethnicity" are fuzzy, said Joseph Pickrell, a computational geneticist at the New York Genome Center laboratory, affiliated with Columbia University. "Different people mean different things when they say 'race'," he said. In the United States, for example, a person with almost any African ancestry is often identified as black. "That's not necessarily the case in other parts of the world," Pickrell said. Researchers at 23andMe acknowledged the difficulty in a recent paper, writing: "It is important to note that ancestry, ethnicity, identity and race are complex labels that result both from visible traits, such as skin colour, and from cultural, economic, geographical and social factors." In a recent study, the researchers decided to use US Census Bureau definitions - black, white, Hispanic - to ask how often people who identify as one race actually have genetic markers indicating a mixed heritage. After examining data from 160,000 customers who agreed to participate, the geneticists learned that 3.5 per cent of those who said they were white actually had DNA that was 1 per cent or more African in origin. The chances of having African ancestry were highest in the South, and highest of all in South Carolina, where at least 13 per cent of those who said they were white had African ancestors. Among those who said they were black, genetic ancestry overall was 73.2 per cent African, 0.8 per cent Native American and 24 per cent European. Experts say the large proportion of European DNA found in African-Americans can be traced to before the Civil War, and the rape of enslaved African women. The ancestry of those who said they were Hispanic was something of a hodgepodge. Some had no Native American ancestry; others had 50 per cent or more. Hispanics living in the South tended to have more African ancestry. As a group, their DNA was 6.2 per cent African, 18 per cent Native American and 65.1 per cent European. Jewish ancestry, on the other hand, is far easier to discern. Historically, Jewish populations were small and tended not to marry outsiders. As a result, they share tell-tale sequences of DNA, easily identified by testing. But is this sort of ethnic categorisation really instructive? Humans share more than 99.9 per cent of their DNA; what makes us different is vanishingly insignificant in terms of genetics. If testing "tells me I'm 95 per cent Ashkenazi Jewish and 5 per cent Korean, is that really different from 100 per cent Ashkenazi Jewish and zero per cent Korean?" wondered Jonathan Marks, an anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, in The Wirecutter. The question of ethnicity is enmeshed with another difficult challenge for DNA testers: geography. Genetics researchers generally know which DNA sequences originated on which continents. But pinpointing a particular country of origin, as many testing services claim to do, is far trickier. Scientists simply do not have good data on the genetic characteristics of particular countries in, say, East Africa or East Asia. Even in the developing world, distinguishing between Polish and, for instance, Russian heritage is inexact at best. The precise numbers offered by some testing services raise eyebrows among genetics researchers. "It's all privatised science, and the algorithms are not generally available for peer review," Marks said. "That's why their ads always specify that this is for recreational purposes only: lawyer-speak for 'These results have no scientific standing'." For many, though, the point of DNA testing has nothing to do with ethnicity. Theresa Musumeci, 49, of Hockessin, Delaware, wanted the test in order to solve a long-standing mystery in her family. Who was her biological grandmother? Decades ago, Musumeci's mother had discovered she had been adopted after she overheard the nuns at her Catholic high school in Camden, New Jersey, talking about it. For years, she searched for clues to her birth mother's identity, eventually learning her name: Mary Culliton. But Musumeci's mother died in 1995, aged 55, without knowing anything more. Musumeci decided to continue the quest by submitting a sample to Ancestry.com, which also will notify users of relatives in its database if they have given permission. Among the matches were Musumeci's half-brother and a few well-known cousins - but also a man she had never heard of. His great-aunt, it turned out, was her great-grandmother, Mary Culliton's mother. He filled her in on the woman's life. Eventually Musumeci discovered other long-lost aunts and uncles. "I found five great family members," she said. Yet there is one regret: Her mother did not survive long enough to learn the story of her own mother. "I feel bad that the technology was not available for her," Musumeci said. If DNA testing has the potential to shed light on new family relationships, it can also muddy those that had seemed settled. While putting together The Wirecutter's own report, one researcher learned that a grandparent was in fact not biologically related. The news can be burdensome - or freeing. Mark, a 43-year-old banker in Delaware, got his test results back from Ancestry.com along with a list of relatives in its database. Oddly, there was no one on the list from his father's side of the family. There was one name he recognised, though: his father's best friend. Who, it turned out, actually was his biological father. Mark, whose last name was withheld to protect his family's privacy, is estranged from his mother, and the man he knew as his father died more than a decade ago. So he reached out to his father's best friend, who confirmed an affair with his mother decades ago. The two live near each other and have gotten together several times recently. The secret that the older man thought he would take to his grave is well out of the bag. Washington: US President Donald Trump's pardon of former Arizona sheriff and civil rights abuser Joe Arpaio raises the question of whether the President may act with impunity to pardon individuals caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's dealings with Russia. Based on my experience studying the pardon power during the Watergate investigation, I believe the answer is no. Almost certainly, a presidential decision to preemptively pardon any of those caught up in Mueller's investigation, whether former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn or Donald Trump jnr, would be effective and would spare those pardoned from prosecution, at least on the federal level. So Trump may be tempted to use this mechanism to extricate himself from what he calls derisively "the Russia thing". Bangkok: By the time Ferdinand Marcos fled a popular uprising on the streets of Manila, he had amassed a fortune estimated at $US13.5billion ($17billion). His annual salary during 21 years as president of the Philippines never rose above $US13,500. From left, Marcos children Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos jnr, Irene Marcos-Araneta, Imee Marcos and their mother Imelda, pay tribute to the flag-draped casket of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos at his reburial in November. Credit:AP Now, 31 years, later Marcos' heirs have offered to return some of the wealth they claimed never existed. "They [the Marcos family] told me they'll open everything and probably return what is uncovered," incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte told reporters, after being approached by an unnamed Marcos family member. By PTI: combat black money (Eds: Adding fresh information) New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Ways to effectively combat black money and tax evasion figured extensively during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Doris Leuthard, who expressed strong commitment to help India to deal with the problem. Modi thanked Switzerland for helping India become a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a multilateral export control regime, and consistently supporting New Delhis bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). advertisement A joint statement said both leaders urged all the countries to work towards disrupting terrorist networks and financing as well as preventing violent extremism and called for early finalisation of the CCIT. Describing their talks productive, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. "Be it black money, dirty money, hawala transaction or money related to arms and drugs, our cooperation with Switzerland continues to deal with the global curse," the prime minister said in a statement to the media. The Swiss president exuded confidence that a law on ensuring automatic exchange of information relating to tax would be cleared by the Swiss parliament by end of the year and her country will be able to exchange first set of information with India by 2019. "We hope by end of this year, this (law on automatic exchange of information) will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," she said, adding India and Switzerland can go hand-in-hand to ensure financial transparency. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. In his comments, Modi also referred to the joint declaration on exchange of information relating to tax signed by the two sides last year. "Last year we signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. As per its provision, after completion of the internal process in Switzerland, information will be shared with us on automatic basis," he said. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". On terror they further said Both leaders also urged that all member countries should demonstrate a collective political will to take concrete actions against terrorism and to implement the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Strategy. advertisement The two sides also deliberated on further boosting ties in key sectors like trade and investment, infrastructure and energy while agreeing on the need to continue dialogue on a bilateral investment pact. Two pacts providing for cooperation in railways were also inked. Giving broad contours of their discussions, Modi said the extensive and productive talks covered bilateral, regional and global issues and that Leuthards visit further strengthened the bilateral ties. Modi said there was deliberations on challenges of climate change and both sides agreed to work for implementing the Paris climate accord focusing on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. On trade cooperation, he said FDI has been a major pillar of economic ties and India particularly welcomes Swiss investors. "We agreed on the need to continue dialogue on bilateral investment pact. Swiss companies have avenues to be part of Indias growth and development," he said. The prime minister said there was deliberation on the trade and economic partnership agreement between India and European Free Trade Association and both the countries expressed resolve to conclude the pact. On Switzerland support to Indias NSG bid, he said, "India will be benefited from membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to meet its growing demand of clean energy." advertisement Leuthard said she was very happy over the outcome of her talks and that there was scope for further expansion of trade ties. In this regard, she underlined the need for having an investment protection pact. She said Switzerland can offer India "infrastructure of tomorrow" in many areas including in railways. "Negotiations for it are on. We hope it is important for our investment," she said. The joint statement also said Australia welcomed Indias intensified engagement with the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG), Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement and expressed its support for Indias Accession to these regimes. India had joined the MTCR as a full member in June last year. The membership enables India to buy high-end missile technology. New Delhi has also been pressing for membership of the 48-nation NSG but China has been stonewalling its bid. Both leaders also reaffirmed the need for reform of the UN Security Council, including its expansion, to make it more representative, accountable, effective and responsive to the geo-political realities of the 21st century. "PM Modi encouraged the support of Switzerland to make a decisive push towards actual "text-based? negotiations in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN), as the IGN process needs to be guided to its logical conclusion culminating in a meaningful reform of the UNSC," the statement said. advertisement Both leaders also urged that all member countries should demonstrate a collective political will to take concrete actions against terrorism and to implement the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Strategy, it said. PTI MPB SBR ZMN --- ENDS --- The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo relishes controversy, often seeming to invite offence with its provocative cover art. One 2010 cover illustration showed a Muslim woman running naked, a burqa stuffed up her backside. "Wear the burqa," the caption read, "on the inside." Another showed the prophet Muhammad weeping because he was "overwhelmed by fundamentalists." A June cover depicted British Prime Minister Theresa May decapitated. The latest cover of the provocative Charlie Hebdo magazine. The newspaper's latest issue takes aim at a new target: the victims of the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas on Friday, killing at least 35 people, displacing thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage. The art on the Charlie Hebdo cover shows swastika flags and hands raised in what looks like Nazi salutes poking out above floodwaters. The text reads: "God exists! He drowned all the neo-Nazis of Texas." The illustration is an apparent reference to Texans' support of Donald Trump, who won 52.6 per cent of the state's vote in the presidential election. The Trump administration directed Russia to close three buildings in the US but declined to expel any diplomats in retaliation for Russia's decision in July ordering Washington to cut staff at its embassy and consulates. "We are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, DC and a consular annex in New York City," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement Thursday. "These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2." Tthe Consulate-General of Russia in San Francisco. Credit:AP In a bid to soften the consequences of the decision, a US official who asked not to be identified said that no Russian officials will be expelled. Instead, Moscow can reassign them to other consulates in the US or the embassy in Washington. The US move comes after Russia directed Washington to cut staff at its diplomatic missions in Russia by 755, or nearly two-thirds, following congressional approval of tougher sanctions against Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time that he hoped there wouldn't be need for further retaliation but Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later vowed to respond by September 1. Former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. In 2005, Citgo offered $US1 million in disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. It also offered food, water, fuel and other assistance. The Bush administration rejected the aid, calling it "counterproductive." (Chavez personally weighed in on the federal government's response to Katrina, calling Bush "the king of vacations" for staying in Texas as the storm swept through Louisiana. "There were many innocent people who left in the direction of the hurricane," Chavez said in a speech. "No one told them where they should go.") That same year, Citgo began delivering discounted or free heating oil to low-income Americans. The program - which eventually served more than 1.7 million Americans in 25 states and Washington, D.C. - was celebrated by the likes of Joe Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, who ran Citizens Energy, said that Chavez cared for the poor when "some of the wealthiest people on our planet have more money than they can ever reasonably expect to spend." There were other efforts, too. Chavez was particularly partial to the South Bronx, where he donated millions of dollars over the years. That money funded after-school classes, literacy programs, food cooperatives and the restoration of the Bronx river. One woman, Lucia Solano, remembers "stalking" Chavez when he came to visit the New York borough in 2005. Her nonprofit was $18,000 behind on rent, and Solano believed Chavez might help. She finally wrangled her way to the leader and made her case. He soon sent her a check to cover the rent. Claudettes release new album with show at The Acorn in Three Oaks By PTI: Swiss Prez New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Swiss President Doris Leuthard today said India is expected to get in 2019 the first batch of data relating to tax from Switzerland under a new framework for automatic exchange of information. After holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leuthard said the framework is likely to be ratified by the Swiss parliament by end of the current year and expressed her governments willingness to help India to deal with the problem black money. advertisement The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. Last year, India and Switzerland signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. "We hope by end of this year, this will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," Leuthard told media. On his part, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". According to a Swiss government document, the country has found Indias data security and confidentiality laws "adequate" for the automatic exchange of information framework. PTI MPB ZMN --- ENDS --- By PTI: Swiss Prez Eds: With additional inputs New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Swiss President Doris Leuthard today said India is expected to get in 2019 the first batch of data relating to tax from Switzerland under a new framework for automatic exchange of information. After holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leuthard said the framework is likely to be ratified by the Swiss parliament by end of the current year and expressed her governments willingness to help India to deal with the problem black money. advertisement Later a joint statement said that the two leaders look forward to the first transmission of financial account information between the two countries. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. Last year, India and Switzerland signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. "We hope by end of this year, this will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," Leuthard told the media. Both leaders emphasised their willingness to further enhance cooperation in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion and acknowledged the importance of a global level playing field for effective implementation of the international standards on tax transparency, the statement said. On his part, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". According to a Swiss government document, the country has found Indias data security and confidentiality laws "adequate" for the automatic exchange of information framework. Switzerland will implement the recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information in Tax Matters with the view to further improve mutual administrative assistance in tax matters. Modi expressed hope that Switzerland will implement the recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information in Tax Matters with the view to further improve mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, the statement said. "Both leaders agreed for enhanced engagement, closer convergence and stronger cooperation in tax and financial matters. Both sides also recognised the importance and potential benefits of cross-border investment and financial services and agreed to continue cooperation on these matters through regular dialogue," it added. PTI MPB SBR ZMN --- ENDS --- The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement Six parties will be contesting JNUSU polls who have come together to contest the elections against ABVP. By Arpan Rai: The JNU is all set to witness turbulent times, as suggest the nominated candidates for the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union elections in their speeches on Tuesday. Scripting history in the books of JNU politics, all parties fighting JNUSU elections have decided to field women candidates for the post of president this year. However, creating a buzz among all candidates is Rajya Sabha member and Communist Party of India leader D Raja's daughter Aparajitha Raja, who tore into JNU administration in her nomination speech on the campus. advertisement A second-year political sciences and PhD student, Aparajitha hinted that JNU is witnessing testing times. "This particular JNUSU poll is being conducted in dark times of the varsity." Slamming the seat cut in JNU in MPhil and PhD courses, Aparajitha blamed the JNU administration for the move taken in April, in accordance with a UGC guideline. "The move led to enforced disappearance of 1,000 students from our campus who could have been admitted to JNU, had the administration not decided to eliminate 85 per cent of seats," Aparajitha told Mail Today. Aparajitha, if voted to the seat of JNUSU president, also promised to start a discourse around turmoil in Kashmir. "The discussion on the chaos in Kashmir is lost on JNU campus. The basic debate and discussion around half-widows, disappearances needs to begin in our campus," Aparajitha said, adding she will begin the discourse if AISF wins the JNUSU elections. The university reduced the intake of students for MPhil and PhD programme from 970 seats to 139 this year. PARTIES CONTESTING JNUSU POLLS Six parties will be contesting JNUSU polls, which include coalition of three left-leaning groups All India Students Association (AISA), Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Students Federation (DSF) who have come together to contest the elections against student wing of RSS Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Even the political atmosphere can witness anguished times as Aparajitha has actively participated in contentious movements led by JNU, including the alleged antinational sloganeering incident at the controversial event questioning Afzal Guru's hanging. "The world is witnessing a slight rightworld tilt with anti-people policies," Aparajitha said. The daughter of national secretary of CPI also took to "focussed and targeted attacks" on minorities in the recent times in her speech. FIELDED CANDIDATES Being a woman candidate who will contest independently this time, Aparajitha argued that women, among other minorities, are still asked to prove their loyalties towards the country, which should be stopped. The Left coalition has fielded Geeta Kumari and has promised to "reclaim protest spaces and instill culture of free democratic protests in JNU". Confident of winning two seats minimum, ABVP has fielded Nidhi Tripathi, a student of JNU's special centre for sanskrit studies who has promised to restore the legitimacy of JNUSU. advertisement Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) has pitted Shabana Ali as their presidential candidate, and will contest the polls to implement a reservation policy for students and teachers belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities. Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has fielded Vrishnika Singh who outright rejected VC Jagadesh Kumar's idea of installing a tank in JNU campus in her speech. Also Read: JNUSU members didn't turn up for meeting to discuss positive developments on campus, says administration ABVP to organise conference on elimination of terrorism, naxalism in JNU --- ENDS --- Algiers, August 31, 2017 (SPS) - Saharawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar called Wednesday, in Algiers, for protection of Western Sahara people and speeding up the organization of a self-determination referendum, to find a definitive solution to the Saharawi conflict. Haidar, in an interview with APS, said the violations of Saharawi people's human rights by Moroccan occupation authorities "will continue, at all levels, as long as Western Sahara conflict is not settled." "The abuses committed by Moroccan authorities against Western Sahara people include the non-respect of Saharawi people's right to self-determination and the confiscation of their civil, economic, social and cultural rights." The Saharawi activist said the Moroccan regime "has confiscated the most basic rights of Saharawi people, including their right to create associations and freedom of movement, in addition to harassment against human rights activists." Haidar cited the example of the Saharawi delegation that took part recently in a POLISARIO's summer conference in Boumerdes, Algeria, and who have been ill-treated, and some of them arrested at the airports of Casablanca and al-Ayun." "There are arrests on a daily basis, and Saharawi activists are arrested and tried in summary trials based on confessions obtained under duress and torture," she said. Any peaceful demonstrations calling for "speeding up self-determination referendum in Western Sahara, releasing political prisoners and stopping despoliation of natural resources, in addition to international celebrations, including the International Women's Day, are banned by Moroccan authorities," Amniatou Haidar said. SPS 125/090/700 Raise a glass to Connecticut's beer-brewing industry, which in 2016 contributed $1.01 billion to the state economy, according to a new report. According to the "Beer Serves America" report, produced by the Alexandria, Va.-based National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Washington, D.C.-based Beer Institute, last year the Nutmeg State's brewing industry accounted for more than $144.3 million in economic output, while wholesaling totaled $220.1 million and retailing contributed more than $645.8 million. Comedian and Kent native Seth MacFarlane is returning to TV this fall in his own new space comedy series, "The Orville." Created and starring MacFarlane, the series takes inspiration from the Star Trek franchise. The prolific comedian, who's crafted more than a dozen TV series, will play the captain of an intergalactic space crew, cruising in space 400 years into the future. The show airs on Fox on Sept. 10. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The overdose antidote that has provided hope for many during the surging heroin epidemic has become easier to get without a doctors visit. Naloxone, a prescription drug sold under the brand name Narcan, reverses opioid overdoses, which killed hundreds last year across Connecticut. The state medical examiner said the state is on track to reach 1,000 overdose deaths by the end of 2017 a new record. There have been five overdose deaths so far this year in Stamford. Most of the deaths statewide are the result of mixing opioids, which include heroin, a natural opiate derived from the poppy plant, and synthetic opiates like oxycodone and fentanyl. Silver Hill Hospital, the addiction and mental health treatment center in New Canaan, and Communities 4 Action, a regional coalition for substance abuse education, led a Narcan training session at the Stamford Government Center Thursday on International Overdose Awareness Day. These numbers are scary, said Ingrid Gillespie, executive director of Communities 4 Action. Weve never seen numbers that look like this. Advocates argue that Narcan, which is carried now by many public safety responders, including Stamfords, saves lives so people can decide they want treatment. But those against the drug believe it enables addicts to keep abusing opioids without seeking help. For years, advocates have tried to make Narcan more available to addicts and their families. Unable to be abused, Narcan only has an effect on those who have taken an opioid, since it is specifically designed to block opioid receptors in the brain. Although Narcan is a prescribed medication, a doctor at Silver Hill has a standing order for the drug, which enables the clinic to distribute it without a prescription after a brief training session. Six pharmacies in Stamford, including CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens and Rite Aid, now have pharmacists trained to give out the drug, which at $120 a box for Narcan and more than $600 a dose for injectable antidotes, is prohibitively expensive for many unless covered by insurance. In Connecticut, an average of one or two people die each day from opioid overdoses, Gillespie said. Many recent overdoses have involved fentanyl, which can be up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Meanwhile, the relapse rate for people trying to kick drugs is 40 to 60 percent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Some research suggests the rate is even higher among opioid abusers. Its like your brain is being high-jacked. Youre not dealing with the person you knew, Gillespie said. Its truly a chronic, relapsing, life-threatening disease. People at the training session learned about the ways an opioid antidote can be administered either through an injection or a nasal spray like Narcan. The latter was handed out to those who sat through the presentation. The Narcan packages each contain two doses. The second is supposed to be given two to five minutes after the first if the person does not wake up. But even if the person is roused, the antidote only stays active for 20 to 90 minutes, so the users must always be brought to the hospital for treatment. Lai Jane Eng, 58, said she came to the event to get Narcan so she would have it around for her friends. I have several friends who are addicts and I have a friend who took fentanyl, the Stamford woman said. Its huge in Fairfield County. eskalka@stamfordadvocate.com Kangana Ranaut has gone back to slamming Hrithik Roshan and she is now demanding a public apology from the Krrish star and his father Rakesh Roshan. By India Today Web Desk: Kangana Ranaut, who got involved in a legal battle with Hrithik Roshan last year, says their fight is still not over as she deserves an apology from the actor and his father Rakesh Roshan. Kangana opened up on the controversy once again on an interview. The Queen actor says that the senior Roshan had tried to fix a meeting between her and Hrithik, but that is yet to happen. advertisement "I'm still waiting to meet him face-to-face and exchange two words on this and sort this out, but he's been running and hiding from me," Kangana said. "He (Hrithik) and his father have made fools of themselves, they should apologise to me in public. Even if they don't, I will clarify to the world what happened to the case. The case has not died down. They couldn't prove anything," she added. Issues between the two began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex-boyfriend" when she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". Kangana lodged a legal complaint against Hrithik for "misusing" the confidential emails and photographs of the time when they were together. Hrithik later filed a complaint with the cyber crime cell, claiming an imposter had been emailing Kangana from a bogus email ID, pretending to be him. "For me it's important that he (Hrithik) claimed many things, but couldn't prove anything. You can't go about slapping notices on people. He had been preparing all this for two years. He used to send himself emails from my account because he had my password," Kangana said. "I stayed quiet till now because I needed time to understand what all they (Roshan family) were doing... Of course it was all lies, but I didn't know what they would do next. I was scared. Look at what happened to the Malayalam actress because she went and complained to the actor's wife. "They got her raped... Of course that was much after my case, but I was scared. So many things happen to women. The media would call me, or my sister and say, 'You are not safe... You guys should move to a safe place or go in hiding'." Without naming anyone, Kangana said she used to get calls from people from the industry who told her, "You should apologise, they are powerful people." "He (Hrithik) and his father claimed they would expose me and shock the world, but they couldn't prove anything. He (Hrithik) slapped a notice saying she caused great harm to my reputation because she called me a 'silly ex'... I am the silly ex. But, he couldn't prove it. So, he changed his stance and said... She's right, she had an affair, but that wasn't me, it was an imposter. But, he couldn't prove that also," Kangana said. advertisement It was in February 2016 when news broke that Hrithik had sent a defamation notice to Kangana for referring to him as an 'ex' who was doing 'silly things to get her attention'. Over the next few months, an extremely nasty blame game played out in front of the country. The kind of mud-slinging and name-calling that Kangana and Hrithik indulged in, was hardly seen in Bollywood till then. Then, after a few months of the ugliness, reports said that Kangana and Hrithik were trying to sort out the things between them. But looks like we're in for a re-run of the Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut battle. (With inputs from IANS) ALSO READ | Kangana says sleeping with colleagues makes things difficult: 5 revelations ALSO READ: All you need to know about the Hrithik-Kangana battle ALSO READ: Hrithik went and cried to the entire industry, tried to sabotage my career, says Kangana advertisement ALSO READ: Timeline of the Hrithik-Kangana battle ALSO READ: Hrithik is a 43-year-old man, why should his father rescue him, asks Kangana? ALSO WATCH: Kangana accuses Hrithik of circulating her intimate pictures --- ENDS --- Hey, Brian! You HAVE to check out this new restaurant -- Seasons 52. These were the words of my friend Mel a couple years ago, and they began my love affair with this amazing super-fresh restaurant in King of Prussia, Pa. Ive been back lots of times since -- their flatbread and wine special is amazing -- but I wouldnt have gone that first time without a recommendation from my friend. Thats how business works a lot -- by the power of word-of-mouth advertising. But its not always easy to get. So what do you do instead? Related: Which Marketing Communications Model Should You Choose? What if you could duplicate that word-of-mouth effect with advertising dollars? What if you could get word-of-mouth trust from so-called influencers. Is it possible? You bet it is. Its (not surprisingly) called influencer marketing, and it takes place on social media. Social media is a strange beast that's created a new type of celebrity. A person people trust, just like I trusted my friend about Seasons 52. A person who gives their recommendations a lot more weight than a traditional advertisement. My friends kids say these people I am referring to are "Instagram/YouTube/Facebook famous." And it's these people you want to connect with. The best part about this? It doesnt have to cost a lot of money. Here are five steps to leveraging influencers to recommend your products or services, giving you that word-of-mouth effect for your business. 1. Start with the small fish. There are tons of people with huge followings on all of the social media platforms. But they cost a lot of money to work with. Until you are sure of your market/message match, it just isnt a good idea to spend like that. Instead, find people who have smaller accounts on YouTube and Instagram (Facebook can work, but is harder to get organic reach with these days), and contact them to partner with you. Youll need to do some research within your industry. But smaller accounts can work very well if they have engaged followers. And youll spend far less money getting your products and services places. 2. Find influencers who are hyper-related to you. The more tightly related the influencer is to your brand, the better your chance of success when they recommend you. If you have a fitness brand, you want to stick with influencers in the fitness market, not the dog market, for example. And if you have a Yoga brand, reach out to Yoga influencers, not influencers in CrossFit. The more targeted, the better. The idea here is to reach influencers who have audiences who are similar to your target customer. Related: How One Entrepreneur Worked with More Than 300 Influencers Last Year 3. Contact your influencers directly and with a compliment. Once youve identified your influencers -- start with at least 25 -- reach out to them by private message or by email, depending on what you have available to you. A compliment goes a long, long way here. Tell them you like their account and that you have a product that would be a good fit and ask them what their rates are. This is a bit of a slog, but if you can find a good fit, it pays off big time. Sometimes you can also give away products instead of money. It just depends on the influencer. 4. Realize this is a numbers game. When contacting influencers to place your products with them, its important to understand that its a numbers game. Out of 25 influencers that you contact, one to four may respond and strike a deal with you. This is normal. Be prepared for running these numbers in advance, and it wont seem so intimidating. Related: How to Create a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign 5. Be willing to test different ideas and different influencers. There are two super important things to remember when looking for success with influencer marketing. Not every influencer will be successful for you. Always be polite, but keep trying until you find the right fit. The market/message match may take some time to develop. Stick with it, and try new things and different influencers. Like most marketing, influencer marketing takes some time to perfect, but its totally worth it when you get it. It can create a huge amount of ROI for your business because its like having friends recommend you. Related: Here's How to Find Affordable Influencers to Reach More People and Increase Sales 4 Important Marketing Insights Gleaned From Sprint's New Campaign 11 Common Mistakes You're Making With Influencer Marketing Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com By PTI: Mecca (Saudi Arabia), Aug 30 (PTI) Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar today visited the tent city of Mina near Mecca and interacted with the Indian pilgrims who have assembled here to perform Haj. All 1,70,000 Indian Hajis have gathered in Mina before setting off tomorrow to climb Mount Arafat, the pinnacle of the annual Haj. advertisement Akbar, who is leading the governments Haj goodwill delegation, was wearing the simple white garb of the pilgrim and was accompanied by Indian Ambassador to Saudi Ahmad Javed and Consul General Md. Noor Rahman Sheikh. "Deeply grateful to PM @narendramodi for sending me on his Haj goodwill mission. In Jeddah now. Heading for Mecca Sharif shortly," Akbar tweeted. Akbar also called on Dr Muhammad Saleh Benten, Saudi Minister of Haj and Umrah. "MOS @mjakbar visited a hospital in Makkah established to assist the medical requirements of Indian Hajjis," the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson tweeted. The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which capable Muslims must perform at least once, marking the spiritual peak of their lives. PTI ZH AKJ ZH --- ENDS --- Edward Kett Mullen, 94, of Cream Ridge, N.J. passed away on Thursday, August 24 at home of natural causes. Son of Edward Kett and Mary Kinnear Mullen, loving husband of Joanne Hilbish Mullen. Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of Eds life at the Happy Apple Inn on Friday, September 8 from 4 - 7 p.m., 29 Imlaystown Road, Cream Ridge, N.J. 609-259-7889. Ed was an avid outdoorsman and became an Eagle Scout in his youth in Brooklyn, NY. His college education at the Forestry College of the State University of New York was interrupted by World War II where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant in the Army Air Force. He was a pilot of B-29 aircraft in the Pacific, flying 31 missions from the island of Tinian. He returned to complete his college degree In Pulp and Paper Engineering in Syracuse, NY where he met and married Joanne Hilbish. Their 70th wedding anniversary would have been October 11 of this year. In his professional life, Ed entered the pulp and paper industry, and rose quickly through the ranks at Robert Gair Company and Continental Can Company, eventually becoming President and CEO of the Newark Group, which he built into one of the 200 largest privately held companies in the U.S. Ed built and grew Fair Winds Farm in Cream Ridge into one of the foremost Standardbred racehorse breeding operations in the state. He was a longtime summer resident of Bay Head, NJ and member of the Bay Head Yacht Club. He was a dedicated fisherman and kept a boat near the Manasquan Inlet. Ed and Joanne donated their home, Walnford, the historic mill site in Upper Freehold Township, to the Monmouth County Park System in 1985. Ed is survived by his wife Joanne, his daughter Susan of New York City, his four sons, Jeffrey (Julie) of Middletown, NJ, Robert (Adriana) of Philadelphia, PA, Mark (Laura) of Cranbury, NJ and Matthew(Sarah) of Manhattan Beach, CA; 10 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Monmouth Conservation Foundation at P.O. Box 4150, Middletown, New Jersey 07748 732-671-7000, or to the Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation at SUNY-ESF, One Forestry Drive, Syracuse, New York 13210, 315-470-6592. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Edward Kett Mullen. (SBOANJ) According to a top source in the energy department, the state does not have coal reserves for more than two days and the supply from Coal India is also not regular due to dip in production at their end. By Hemender Sharma: Madhya Pradesh is staring at a power crisis of unprecedented nature with production dipping and demand increasing due to shortage of rainfall. According to a top source in the energy department, the state does not have coal reserves for more than two days and the supply from Coal India is also not regular due to dip in production at their end. advertisement Among the four thermal plants, the condition of the Birsinghpur Power Plant, which has a generation capacity of 1300 megawatts, is most critical. It is left with just one day of coal reserves. The Sarni Power Plant is left with coal reserves of three days, while the Khandwa Power Plant has reserves of seven days. The situation at the Amarkantak Power Plant, which has a generation capacity of just 210 mega watts, is slightly better as it is left with coal reserves for 17 days. "To meet the immediate need, Coal Minister Peeyush Goyal has for the moment obliged and issued the necessary instructions after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made an SOS call to him two days back, but the problem is that many states facing a similar problem have also raised similar demands and coal is being supplied only on a day to day basis. So, if there is a one day gap in the supply the situation could turn out to be really dire," a top source, on condition of anonymity, said. The demand in Madhya Pradesh has peaked at around 8000 megawatts per day due to farmers using pumps for irrigating as there are many areas which have not received rainfall. The state would be left with no other option, but to buy power from other states if the coal supply is not increased. The crisis is likely to further aggravate in the Rabi season as Madhya Pradesh has not been able to supply the 500 mega watts for which it has signed an agreement with Punjab. "According to the agreement, Punjab returns this 500 mega watt power in the Rabi season, but this year this too shall not happen as we have not supplied them power when they need it," an official of the energy department said. --- ENDS --- By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today that he has signed orders for deployment of new troops in Afghanistan as part of a new South Asia strategy announced recently by US President Donald Trump. In an interaction with Pentagon reporters, Mattis, however, refused to give any details of the new troop levels in terms of their numbers, deployment and where they are coming from. advertisement "Yes. Ive signed orders but its not completed. In other words Ive signed some of the troops that will go and were identifying the specific ones,? Mattis said. Mattis announcement came a day after the Pentagon disclosed that there are about 11,000 US troops in Afghanistan as against 8,600 announced earlier. Unveiling his South Asia strategy ten days ago to win the war on terrorism , Trump said he will prolong the US military intervention in Afghanistan, which he had once described as a "complete waste". Trump acknowledged that his "instincts" told him to pull out troops from Afghanistan. "Historically, I like following my instincts," Trump said. "A hasty withdrawal," Trump said, would create a "vacuum" for terrorists. "Let me just be real clear when you go into Afghanistan and youre carrying a gun youre going into a combat zone. I dont buy it. Dont get me wrong the fight will still be carried by the Afghan security forces plus the 38 other allies who were there alongside us and will be working," Mattis said. "We have some counterterrorism strike teams that are there as you know. But by and large this is to enable the Afghan forces to fight more effectively. And there are some other things logistics," he said. Mattis said he would reveal details of the new troop level before the Congress soon. "Theres always some who are going in and probably the specific alignment of those forces are starting to align with the decision to put more enablers in. In other words youll start seeing the change in the forces who are there as they become more aligned to the Presidents new assigned mission," he said. PTI LKJ MRJ MRJ --- ENDS --- About 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, six Virginia State Troopers took a break at Sheetz just outside of Madison. Across U.S. 29, two more troopers were breaking for lunch at the Madison Tastee Freez. Somewhere in the vicinity, three VDOT vehiclestwo crash cushion trucks and a supervisor in a separate vehiclewere also getting a few minutes off. All 11 state employees were providing security for less than two dozen members of the March to Confront White Supremacy, who were making their way into Madison from Greene County. Marchers are expected to pass through Culpeper today. The march started Monday in Charlottesville and is scheduled to conclude on Sept. 6 in Washington. State protection is expected to continue the entire nine days that the protestors travel Virginia highways. Who is paying for this protection? State taxpayers. How much is this protection costing? Neither the state police nor VDOT will say. Those [troopers] assigned to this event are working within their normal shifts, so as to minimize any costs associated with overtime, State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller wrote in an email Wednesday in response to questions about the cost. Geller would also not release the number of troopers assigned to the march or what daily duties they would have been performing otherwise. For tactical and operational purposes, we do not release the number of personnel assigned to this event, Geller wrote. Each day two state police vehicles have preceded the marchers with two more behind the group. The VDOT trucks are also ahead and behind the marchers, with a supervisor somewhere close by in a separate vehicle. The protection assignment is for the marchers safety and to minimize the impact on traffic, Geller said. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Making health systems resilient to climate change, improving access to essential medicines for all and intensifying efforts to end tuberculosis are among key issues that will be discussed at a meeting of health ministers of WHO South-East Asia Region next week. The 70th regional committee session of WHO South-East Asia Region is being hosted by Maldives from September 6-10, said an official statement. advertisement World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom and Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh will address the meeting. WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region, Amitabh Bachchan, will join the meeting to advocate for urgent action against viral hepatitis, a preventable disease. "Strengthening primary health care and the health workforce and progress towards universal health coverage are among other priority issues being addressed at the meeting. "The focus of the meeting will be climate change ? on how to build health systems resilience to climate change. A well prepared and responsive health system is crucial for preventing and minimising the increasing health risks posed by climate change," the statement said. The Regional Committee will also review recent progress on priority programmes and discuss next steps to safeguard the health of people throughout WHO South-East Asia Region. PTI PLB TIR --- ENDS --- Im a white guy from the Piedmont of North Carolina. I was raised in the same area I now live; I never thought I would be on a worldwide platform like MTVs Video Music Awards this past Sunday. Im quickly realizing that I have quickly become a lightning rod for all kinds of hate and fear surrounding perceptions of the Black Lives Matter movement and the Womens March on Washington. But my friend and mentor Bishop Karen Oliveto has this to say about lightning rods: By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Westover and Smith roads, on the far western edge of the county, will get paving priority for 2023. Country commissioners and Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, decided at last Thursdays commission meeting to go ahead and seal up that corner of the county. That way, graders will not have The president of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP), Daniel Barbu, on Thursday took over the presidency of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), for a two-year term, informs AEP in a press release. The appointment was made official at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, on the occasion of the opening of the 3rd General Assembly of A-WEB, during a ceremony of taking over the flag from his predecessor Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman, the president of the Central Electoral Board of the Dominican Republic. Daniel Barbu stated his was proud to take over the mission of facilitator of communication and collaboration between the members of an organisation playing such an important role in promoting democracy in the world. "It's time that an international organisation takes over a mission asserted one hundred years ago by Woodrow Wilson, that of making the world a better place, through democracy," he said. The decision that the AEP president be the next to take over this office was taken in August 2015, during the previous General Assembly of the Organisation. AEP is a member of A-WEB ever since the setting up of the latter body, in October 2013, with Romania having hosted the reunion of the Executive Committee of A-WEB in March 2015. According to the A-WEB Charter, this association promotes efficiency in the organization of free, correct, transparent and participatory elections at world level. Its objectives are to identity as many recent trends as possible, challenges and evolutions in the democratic electoral management and the election process, and to facilitate the efficient exchange of experience and expertise between members, to strengthen electoral democracy at world level. Agerpres. Minister of National Defence Adrian Tutuianu on Thursday stated that the Romanian Naval Forces' endowment programme with the four new corvettes has a component that includes the achievement of the second stage of upgrading and equipping with weapons the frigates of the 22 Type (F-221 King Ferdinand and F-222 Queen Mary), acquired 14 years ago from the UK, according to the government resolution draft published on the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) website for public consultation. "The four corvettes will be bought in an effort that we think will take seven days. This will be a competitive dialogue procedure and we are interested, as I told you, in having as many as possible of these economic operations carried out in Romania, for we need economic development, we need jobs, taxes and fees paid and important technological transfer. I have seen certain comments that have appeared in the mass media that nobody comes to build a shipyard especially for us to produce four corvettes. This was understood wrongly; what we are interested in are the collaborations with the Romanian industry in the field and there are companies running on Romanian capital or foreign capital that have production facilities in Romania, Braila, Galati, Tulcea, Constanta and even Mangalia," explained Tutuianu, at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. According to the Minister, it was decided that the upgrading of the frigates must take place at the same time with the building of the four corvettes. "The frigates belong to the same package of measures, for the effort of having the frigates modernized must be made simultaneously with the building of the corvettes and they must be complementary things, to complete one another, with the endowment component to be added to this combat ships," Minister of National Defence Adrian Tutuianu underscored. Agerpres. Amrapurkar fell in the manhole on Monday, his body was found near the Worli sea front by BMC workers who informed the police and fire brigade. By Vidya : Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, a renowned gastroenterologist from Mumbai, who died after falling into a manhole was cremated by family members at Shivaji Park crematorium on Thursday. Amrapurkar fell in the manhole on Monday, his body was found near the Worli sea front by BMC workers who informed the police and fire brigade. The body was sent for post-mortem at as Sion hospital. advertisement A large crowd including patients gathered to witness the cremation of the doctor. "We have lost a friend and a colleague. I have known him since the day he was studying gastroenterology and he was one of the best gastroenterologist in the country. It is not only a loss to medical fraternity but to the entire society at large. We need to look at our entire system," said senior cardiologist Dr Satyawan Sharma. Sharma had also treated Amrapurkar for his heart ailment in the past. Amrapurkar had also promised to visit him soon for a check up. "I met him the other day. He was so jovial and said that he had completed a year after angioplasty and that he will come and see me again. But, little did I know that he will never come back," said Sharma. "It is not just a case of losing a friend, the flood has also claimed many other lives. We want to tell the government that it is not acceptable," said Dr M G Nariyani. ALL FOR NOTHING "It is such a shame that we want to turn Mumbai into Shanghai. Despite all the development we lost such an eminent and internationally known doctor to a freak accident. The infrastructure needs to be reworked," said senior spine surgeon Dr Arvind Kulkarni. Kulkarni added that Amrapurkar was a very straightforward person. "He took gastroenterology to a different level. He has traveled all over the world for conferences and published research work. He is a role model for many, " added Kulkarni. While family and friends grieved over the loss, there were several patients too who felt the loss of an eminent doctor. The doctors present at the cremation slammed the local authorities for their apathy. "There are two things that we have to do. We don't have to believe in the system. I am going to ask all my colleagues to never depend on the system. I am going to start a campaign to cover all the manholes in the city with a grill. This death is unexplainable and it was preventable," said cardiac surgeon Dr Anirudh Trivedi. advertisement In a related development, the Federation Of Retail Traders Welfare Association filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court asking that a case under Section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code be filed i nthe death of Dr Deepak Amarapurkar. PIL AGAINST AUTHORITIES The IPC section deals with death due to negligence. The PIL has marked the state of Maharashtra, the Muncipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, and Commissioner of Mumbai Police, among other officials and bodies, as respondents. The petitioners have also asked for a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to be paid by the BMC to a charitable institute or an NGO. Ashish Mehta, one of the advocates for the petitioners, said, "The money is not for the family. We just want this money to be given by the BMC Treasury to drive in a point. We want this to be a lesson for them." The petitioners also want that an advisory committee of ex-bureaucrats and former technocrats be formed to give suggestions in operating manholes. The PIL will be presented tomorrow before a division bench headed by Bombay High Court Chief Justice Manjula Chellur by advocates Sujay Kantawala and Mehta. advertisement Also Read: Mumbai rains: Dr Deepak Amarapurkar's body recovered almost 24 hours after he went missing WATCH | Mumbai floods: Missing doctor Amarapurkar's body found near Worli --- ENDS --- National Defence Minister Adrian Tutuianu stated on Thursday, on the occasion of the ceremony for authorizing the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) deployed at the "Mihai Kogalniceanu" Air Base for air police operations, that NATO missions of this kind increase the response speed to emerging security threats and challenges. "I wanted to attend today, as a sign of my appreciation for the complex mission that you are conducting at the "Mihail Kogalniceanu" Air Base, a mission that will contribute to the development of the reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as the strengthening of the inter-operability between Romanian Air Forces and the Canadian ones. I highlight the deterrence concept because it has to be understood in its true meaning. Unfortunately, 2014 brought a fundamental change in the security paradigm of the entire European continent. The direct and significant impact made its presence known globally. But, on the Eastern flank of the Alliance, the impact and implications are much deeper and complex. In this context, this mission proves NATO's vigilance, but also the increase of its speed of reaction to security threats and challenges that are developing and diversifying," Tutuianu stated. The National Defence Minister also said that the security climate in the area requires proper measures, as the North Alliance is in process of implementing a series of adequate strategies. Minister Tutuianu also highlighted the fact that Romania is one of the NATO members that understood the stringent necessity of reconfiguring defence budgets and enrolling them on an upward trend. "NATO's credibility, in general, but also of its member states, in particular, will finally depend on the allocation by the member states of the necessary resources for providing the military capabilities that we need in a complex security context such the one we are facing today. Romania is firmly engaged in this direction, and by the end of the year, our country will become one of the only six NATO countries that understand and put efforts to fulfill the commitment to earmark 2 percent of the GDP to defence expenditures. This political commitment is to be endorsed by a ten-year period, until 2026, and the Army's endowment programme was designed for such a financial allocation. 2017 is an extremely important year, not just in terms of equipping the Romanian Army, but it proves, alongside our allies and partners, our country's mobilisation and maneuver capacity of the combat forces in the Black Sea region, with a high degree of inter-operability and precision," Minister Adrian Tutuianu concluded. The ceremony, held on the aircraft parking platform, was also attended by Canada's Ambassador in Bucharest Kevin Hamilton, General Air Force Lieutenant Ruben C. Garcia Servert, who is also the Commander of NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Torrejon, Spain, Brigadier General Scott Clancy, the director general of RCAF planning and superior officers. Canadian Air Task Force Romania detachment, deployed at the "Mihail Kogalniceanu" Air Base is made up of approximately 135 servicemen (pilots and technical staff) and CF-188 Hornet aircraft, being scheduled to conduct, in the next four months, alongside MiG-21 LanceR aircraft and Romanian Air Forces, strengthened air police missions under NATO command. The joined missions are conducted with Romanian pilots and will contribute to the development of the reaction and deterrence capacity, while strengthening inter-operability between the Romanian and Canadian forces. The deployment of RCAF's aircraft to Romania is part of the implementation of the Action Plan for ensuring NATO's operational capacity on the Eastern flank of the Alliance, both on north and south areas, and proves NATO's unity and determination as a response to challenges of the security environment. The Royal Canadian Air Forces (RCAF) are at their second mission in Romania, after the one conducted in April-August 2014, at the "General Emanoil Ionescu" 71st Air Base, in Campia Turzii and taking part by rotation in this mission with other allied nations, as part of operation Reassurance. Agerpres. The move has been opposed by parents who are concerned that telling children about the triple talaq practice could have a detrimental effect on them. By Siraj Qureshi: Barely a week after the Supreme Court struck down the practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional, an organisation of the Barelvi Sunni Muslims has stirred the hornet's nest. Raza-e-Mustafa, a Barelvi Sunni Muslim organisation, has asked madrasssas to include a chapter on triple talaq in their syllabus and tell students about the practice. The move has been opposed by parents who are concerned that educating children about triple talaq could have a detrimental effect. advertisement Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad chairman Sami Aghai said there is no justification for including triple talaq in the syllabus even in the name of making children aware of this practice. He said children must not hear the word talaq in their formative years. Aghai said talaq is a practice that has been looked down upon in Islam and even the Prophet has proscribed it. It is not a subject that should be taught in madrassas, he said. Aghai said that government has not issued any instructions on including triple talaq in the syllabus for madrassas, but some maulvis in their attempt to appear progressive and liberal are jumping the gun. UP Sarvdaliy Muslim Action Committee president Syed Irfan Salim said that be it a madrassa or a school, teaching children subjects like divorce when they have just learnt to read and write is an incomprehensible decision and needed review. Former secretary of Agra Collectorate Bar Association and senior advocate Amir Ahmed said that such a move was not in the right direction. Instead of making children aware of the ill-effects of triple talaq, this could rather fill them with resentment against the Supreme Court's interference in Islamic law. Educating children about triple talaq could create more problems, he said. Hindustani Biradari secretary Ziauddin said that while the decision to tell students about triple talaq has been taken in good faith, it is still a wrong decision and would face stiff opposition if implemented. ALSO READ: Triple talaq: These women braved threats, abuse, boycott for landmark Supreme Court judgement Supreme Court has banned instant triple talaq, not triple talaq Triple talaq verdict to speed up Uniform Civil Code report ALSO WATCH: Historic Supreme Court ruling on instant triple talaq: Meet the heroines who made it happen --- ENDS --- The long vacant Missouri Theatre building in Midtown's Grand Center district will open in a year with a 146-room hotel, restaurant, rooftop bar and headquarters for Bull Moose Industries, developer Steve Smith said at a dedication event Thursday. A renovation of the 12-story building at 634 N. Grand Boulevard, next to Powell Hall, has been planned for several years and the project was initially slated to open this summer. Smith said now the mixed-use project is slated to open in late summer 2018. The Lawrence Group, led by Smith, is the developer, and Paric is the general contractor. Enterprise Bank & Trust and the Bank of Springfield are lenders on the project, which is receiving a New Markets Tax Credit loan and historic tax credits. The City of St. Louis Clean Energy Development Board also approved more than $10 million of commercial PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) funding for the project. Ladue-based RAHILL Capital served as the owners' representative in securing the PACE funding, which is used for efficiency improvements in lighting systems, windows and heating and cooling equipment. "This is the last empty historic building standing on Grand Boulevard," said Grand Center president and CEO Karin Hagaman at the event dedicating a plaque to the building's namesake, Andag Paul. Angad Paul, a former CEO of Caparo Group, died in November 2015 in London. Caparo Group is a British steel company that has an ownership stake in the Midtown building and owns Chesterfield-based manufacturing company Bull Moose Industries. Bull Moose is relocating its 75 corporate employees to 25,000 square feet of space in the newly named The Angad Paul Building. The hotel will be called the Angad Arts Hotel. "This is a city that has gone through a tremendous transformation," Angad Paul's father, Swraj Paul, who founded Caparo, said at the dedication where the plaque honoring his son was unveiled. Swraj Paul holds the title Lord Paul of Marylebone. Hearst Newspapers has acquired The Telegraph of Alton and Journal-Courier of Jacksonville, Ill., from Civitas Media. The announcement was made Thursday by Hearst President and CEO Steven R. Swartz and Hearst Newspapers President Mark Aldam. Financial terms were not disclosed. With the addition of the Illinois papers, New York-based Hearst owns 24 dailies, including the Edwardsville Intelligencer, 64 weeklies across the United States, magazines and several digital properties. Known as the oldest continuously published newspaper in Illinois, the Journal-Courier was founded in 1830 in Jacksonville. The Telegraph was established in 1836 in Alton. Together, the newspapers have a circulation of more than 30,000 in the southwestern Illinois region. The two papers were sold in 2012 by Freedom Communications to an affiliate of Versa Capital Management, a private equity firm. Versa formed Civitas after the purchase. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce major changes to his cabinet of ministers late this week. Here's a list of who is expected to be inducted and what factors are likely to play a role in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: With the inauspicious 15-day period of 'Pitru Paksha' starting from September 6 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaving for three days to China and Myanmar on September 3, the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place in the evening of Saturday. The process has already seemingly kicked off with Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigning as the Skill Development Minister. advertisement Several others ministers and ministers of state, including senior BJP leader Uma Bharti, have offered their resignations as well, indicating that the cabinet reshuffle will happen in the next few days. Notably, President Ram Nath Kovind, who has the responsibility for swearing in new ministers, leaves Friday for a two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh. President Kovind will be back in New Delhi on Saturday, making it likely that the cabinet reshuffle could happen only on Saturday evening. PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah are learnt to have already carried out the groundwork for the third cabinet reshuffle of the NDA government. They met the ministers to discuss their performance. The two top leaders also had discussions with BJP's parent organisation RSS, party MPs and chief ministers to apprise themselves of the ministers who need to be dropped and the leaders who could be inducted in the new team. The swearing-in of Prime Minister Modi and 45 ministers - comprising 23 of cabinet rank, 10 ministers of state (independent charge) and remaining 12 ministers of state - had taken place on May 26, 2014. PM Modi undertook the first cabinet reshuffle on November 9, 2014 and inducted 21 new ministers (four of cabinet rank, three ministers of state with independent charge and the remaining 14 as ministers of state). They included heavyweights such as Manohar Parrikar, Suresh Prabhu, JP Nadda, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Mahesh Sharma and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The second reshuffle took place on July 5, 2016. While Prakash Javadekar was elevated to the cabinet rank, 19 new faces were inducted as ministers of state. In a major change, Javadekar replaced Smriti Irani as the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister. Irani was handed out the Textile ministry. With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the upcoming cabinet reshuffle is being viewed as PM Modi's last one in this tenure. The cabinet reshuffle has been necessitated because of five factors - vacancy in key ministries, mid-term appraisal of the performance of the ministers, forthcoming Assembly elections, gubernatorial assignments and realignment of NDA. VACANCIES As of today, there are 72 ministers in PM Modi's council of ministers - 24 of cabinet rank, 12 MoS (independent charge) and 36 MoS. The PM can add only nine more ministers as the total number of council of ministers cannot exceed 81. advertisement Even though the PM would include new ministers, he may still keep some berths vacant. However, filling the existing berths, some of them significant ones, would be Modi's priority. At least four senior cabinet ministers are holding additional portfolios. Finance Minister has the additional charge of Defence after Manohar Parrikar shifting to Goa as chief minister. Narendra Singh Tomar, who is already burdened with rural development, panchayati raj, drinking water and sanitation departments, was given the additional charge of urban affairs while Textile Minister Smriti Irani of information and broadcasting after Venkaiah Naidu quit the two crucial ministries to contest the vice-presidential elections. Besides, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan is also handling the sensitive environment ministry after the death of Anil Dave on May 18. The cabinet reshuffle is likely to ensure filling up of these vacancies and redistribution of portfolios. PERFORMANCE Several train accidents have taken place in the recent months, denting the image of the railway ministry. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has offered to resign. However, PM Modi has asked him to wait. advertisement Sources said Prabhu has apprised the PM of the reforms he has undertaken in his ministry as well as the decreasing number of accidents as compared with the previous years during the UPA regime. Modi may ask him continue in the ministry. However, if at all he decides to shift him, he has two options. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari may replace him. It is also likely that railways and road transport ministries could be merged and Gadkari may head both of them. In the third scenario, the railway ministry could go to the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)]. In this case, RCP Sinha may be considered for the railway berth. Some ministers may be dropped on the basis of their performance. PM Modi, Amit Shah and RSS leadership have already made the assessment. Some of those who could be dropped are cabinet minister Radha Mohan Singh and Vishnu Deo Sai, Sudarshan Bhagat, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Krishna Raj and Vijay Sampla among the ministers of state. On the other hand, five ministers of state with independent charge are likely to be elevated to cabinet rank. The names of Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, Manoj Sinha and Jitendra Singh are considered for elevation. advertisement The state units of the BJP may also be affected by the reshuffle. For instance, minister of state in HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey, who has been appointed as Uttar Pradesh BJP president, will relinquish his ministerial job. Baghpat MP Satya Pal Singh, who is a former Mumbai police commissioner, may be brought as a Union minister. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, is tipped to be inducted and given Environment Ministry. Minister of state for defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre may be shifted to health. Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is being considered for the defence berth. REALIGNMENT The reshuffle is sure to witness the inclusion of JD(U) members as ministers as the party formally joined the NDA on August 19 after breaking away from the mahagathbandhan comprising Lalu Prasad-led RJD and Congress in Bihar. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is learnt to have expressed the desire that JD(U) be given the railway ministry. Nitish had held the portfolio in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. JD(U) MP RCP Sinha may get the railway ministry if Suresh Prabhu is shifted out of it. JD(U) Lok Sabha MP Santosh Kushwaha or former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur's son Ram Nath Thakur is also likely to be included in the Modi cabinet. The AIADMK may also join the NDA and two of its MPs may be made Union ministers. It may get one cabinet and MoS berth each. Two other NDA allies - Shiv Sena and Telugu Desam Party - may get one more central berths each. ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS With a number of states going to polls till 2018, the BJP may send some Union ministers to these states. The party may also include some leaders in the Union ministry. Health Minister JP Nadda is likely to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate of BJP's Himachal Pradesh unit. In his place, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal may be brought to the centre. Himachal Pradesh goes to polls later this year. The other state to face elections along with Himachal Pradesh is Gujarat. In view of Hardik Patel-led Patidar-Patel quota stir, the party is considering the inclusion of a couple of MPs of OBC category in the Modi ministry. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, which go to polls in 2018, will also see increased representation in the Union ministry. MP is likely to get two new faces - one including in place of Anil Dave. GOVERNORS With seven states without a governor, a couple of ministers may be sent on gubernatorial assignment. One of them is Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra. He is likely to be sent to Maharashtra. PM Modi and Amit Shah are likely to have another round of discussions before finalising the names. Before that, Shah may have a last minute talk with the RSS leaders who are meeting in Vrindavan for three days starting today. ALSO READ | BJP in huddle ahead of Cabinet reshuffle likely by Saturday: Who gets what ALSO READ | Why Suresh Prabhu's offer to resign and PM Modi's reply to him indicate an imminent Cabinet reshuffle ALSO WATCH | Cabinet reshuffle likely before PM Modi leaves for China on 3rd September --- ENDS --- Updated at 4:42 p.m. WASHINGTON Affirming its disdain for "Obamacare," the Trump administration on Thursday announced sharp cuts in programs promoting health care enrollment under the Affordable Care Act for next year. Advertising will be cut from $100 million spent on 2017 sign-ups to $10 million, said Health and Human Services officials. Funding for consumer helpers called "navigators" will also be cut, from $62.5 million for 2017, to $36.8 million for next year. About 12.2 million people signed up for subsidized private health insurance under former President Barack Obama's signature law this year. The number currently enrolled is estimated to be around 10 million, due to attrition also seen in prior years. Democrats are likely to accuse the administration of trying to undermine the ACA. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have been unable to deliver on their vow to "repeal and replace" the 2010 health care law. Trump has repeatedly pronounced the program on the verge of collapse, and has threatened via Twitter to cut off payments to insurers that help reduce consumers' copays and deductibles. Independent observers say the program has problems, but is not on the verge of collapse. For next year all U.S. counties will have at least one participating insurers, although consumers in a growing number of counties will only have one carrier to pick from. HHS officials announced the promotional cutbacks in a conference call with reporters. None of the three officials who described the details of the cuts wanted to be identified by name. The administration says the government hasn't gotten much bang for its buck as far as ACA advertising and the navigator program, with some enrollment centers signing up very few customers. By comparison, HHS said the combined advertising budget for Medicare Advantage and Medicaid prescription drug plans is $9.7 million. HHS officials said the 98 navigator programs funded by the ACA enrolled fewer than 82,000 people, or less than 1 percent of the total. For next year, officials said navigator funding will reflect each sign-up center's prior performance. For example, if a navigator program met 70 percent of its enrollment target, it will get 70 percent of its previous funding. If it only enrolled 30 percent, its funding will be cut to 30 percent. However, every center will get some money from the government, even if it's only a few thousand dollars. Adding to sign-up challenges, the ACA enrollment season will be considerably shorter for 2018, running from Nov. 1-Dec. 15. WASHINGTON Wells Fargo on Thursday announced that it had potentially opened an additional 1.4 million sham accounts customers didnt want, 67 percent more than it initially estimated, escalating an already contentious battle over the future of the mega bank. The revised total, 3.5 million, means that Wells Fargo employees have been opening unauthorized credit card and bank accounts for customers for far longer than the bank initially acknowledged. The eye-popping figure will hamper the banks efforts to move beyond the nearly yearlong scandal as lawmakers and regulators delve deeper into its inner workings and demand changes. It also comes amid a simmering debate over whether Wall Street has learned from its mistakes during the 2008 financial crisis and should have it regulatory reins loosened. Republicans in Congress who support such regulatory relief have acknowledged that Wells Fargos repeated stumbles could make that effort more difficult. We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said. We are working hard to ensure this never happens again and to build a better bank for the future. But even Wells Fargos revised figure could be underestimating the extent of the problem. For its latest review, Wells Fargo examined internal data dating back to 2009 rather than 2011 as it had done initially, leading it to identify the additional 1 million fake accounts. Yet, the bank has previously acknowledged that instances of unauthorized accounts have been found as far back as 2002. The bank doesnt plan to extend its review far enough to identify potential customers, Sloan said. The data just is not as available or as high-quality, he said. Weve cast a wide net to reach customers and address their remaining concerns. The latest review also does not address other scandals that have beset the firm recently, including that 570,000 of its customers were charged for auto insurance they didnt need, driving some to default on loans and have their cars repossessed. Even one of Wells Fargos largest shareholders, Warren Buffett, appears to have become weary of the controversy. Anytime you put focus on an organization that has hundreds of thousands of people ... you may very well find that it wasnt just the one who misbehaved that you find out about, he said on CNBC Wednesday. What you find is theres never just one cockroach in the kitchen. These revelations will keep the political and regulatory spotlight on the bank for some time, Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Cowen, said in a research report Thursday. What the bank needs to do is build political capital so it can escape this controversy, Seiberg said. Hurricane Harvey could provide that opportunity if the bank is seen as taking the lead in helping with the recovery. This comes nearly a year after Wells Fargo was fined $185 million by regulators after acknowledging that employees had opened unauthorized accounts for customers to meet the banks aggressive sales goals and qualify for bonuses. Wells Fargo fired 5,000 employees over several years for the practice. It did not comment on whether more employees were fired for the practice during the additional years reviewed. Of the 3.5 million potentiality unauthorized accounts the bank has now identified, about 190,000 incurred fees and other charges, Wells Fargo said, up from its initial estimate of 130,000. It is now expected to issue refunds of more than $6 million, double its initial estimate. The expanded review also found problems in another part of the banks business. About 528,000 accounts were potentially enrolled in online bill pay programs without customers knowledge. The bank said it would refund $910,000 to those customers who incurred fees or charges. Sloan stressed that some of the additional accounts identified may have been authorized by customers but got swept up in the review because they were not being actively used. The scandal has grown to dominate Wall Street and Washingtons conversations about one of the countrys largest and oldest banks and the corporate culture that allowed the practice to go on for so long. The banks longtime CEO John Stumpf resigned and was forced to give up millions in bonuses. Wells Fargo is still under investigation by regulators and has seen customers shy away. Congressional leaders have repeatedly dragged company executives to Washington for hearings. Under pressure, the bank announced last month that it would shake up its board of directors. Stephen W. Sanger, former chief executive of General Mills, will be replaced by Elizabeth Betsy Duke as board chair starting in 2018. Two other long-serving members of the board, Cynthia Milligan and Susan Swenson, also announced they would retire. But the move falls short of what Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other critics have called for. The Federal Reserve should remove every Wells Fargo board member who served during this scandal, Warren said Thursday on Twitter. I dont know what theyre waiting for, she said. On a conference call with reporters, Sloan defended the companys board, noting that it had conducted its own investigation and pointing out that new members will be joining their ranks soon. I appreciate that there are a number of folks that continue to question what our board has done, he said. My personal perspective is that the board has taken significant action. The troubles surrounding Wells Fargo have become a proxy battle on Capitol Hill over the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog agency established after the 2008 financial crisis. The bureau levied the biggest fine in its history against Wells Fargo for the sham accounts. Democrats and consumer groups argue that the banks problem show the need for the agency. But Republicans, who have long been critical of the CFPB, argue that the agency should have done more to identify and stop the problems at Wells Fargo earlier. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has repeatedly lambasted the agency and proposed stripping it of many of its powers. This latest revelation of customer abuse is further evidence of catastrophic mismanagement at the bank, Hensarling said in a statement. The Financial Services Committee is still investigating the matter, he said, before pivoting to regulators. Regrettably, the CFPBs failure to provide documents the committee subpoenaed is slowing progress on our investigation, he said. Could a great Roman general suffer from depression? Well, who knows? After all, Titus Andronicus has spent the last 10 years battling the Goths and his whole adult life battling somebody. Returning at last to Rome, he leads a procession that, along with prisoners, includes the body of one of his own sons. If he isnt feeling tiptop, can you blame him? Maybe that explains Chad Littles muted performance in the title role of this blood-soaked revenge tragedy, now on stage at St. Louis Shakespeare. Perhaps he and director Tom Kopp decided that Titus needed to start out quietly, to give him a place to build from as the play proceeds and as the general becomes more and more involved in avenging his familys woes. That pits him against another ruthless plotter, the Goth queen Tamora (Suki Peters). Between them, cruelty culminates in a nightmare dinner party that is nauseating no matter how often its been parodied (which is very, very often). But Littles understated style scarcely changes. Peters making her entrance in a slithery, Theodoric of Hollywood get-up remains similarly unaltered, though at least she gets to feign other moods because our lusty evil queen is quite the liar. But Littles stolid Titus neither soldier nor statesman, mourner nor madman seems to come from a naturalistic, modern play. Death of a Patrician? That could be intriguing, if weird. But nothing else in Kopps production points us in that direction. In fact, the strongest performances are the ones that are most traditionally Shakespearean, invested with authority if not exactly stature. Britteny Henry gives a heart-wrenching portrayal of Titus martyred daughter, Lavinia and she achieves much of that without speaking a word. Roger Erb, as the greedy young emperor who marries Tamora, is another standout, a potential Iago without the brains or nerve. Cut to come in at about two hours, the play still manages to make sense and to distinguish among the various factions: the house of Andronicus, other Romans, the Goths and one lone Moor (Darrious Varner). Fortunately, Kopp hangs onto one of the best scenes. Assuming that Titus is mad with grief and rage, Tamora and her two creepy sons (Ted Drury and Michael Pierce) confront the general in disguise. They claim to be underworld spirits come to serve him. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Rev. Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, had to weather another storm. He was harshly criticized in social media for not opening his church to the surrounding area as a place of refuge. His ecclesiastical stadium could have provided shelter for more than 16,000. Keeping it closed during a time of human crisis reflects his concern more for peoples wealth than their welfare, as one detractor stated. I felt myself initially aligning with these critics. Osteen and I may not see eye to eye on many issues. It would have been easy to pile on. I hesitated, however. I sensed people doing to him whats so easy to do with leaders, especially religious ones: Assume the negative to be true and jump to conclusions. People can derive a bit of satisfaction from wagging a finger at a pastor, especially one of Osteens magnitude. People who hold clergy in high esteem feel betrayed if theres a rumor of humanness instead of saintliness, of fault instead of perfection. They express their betrayal by enhancing and spreading the rumor. And people who have no use for the church find hints of frailty or neglect to be justification for their disdain. For a pastor, even Osteen, there is no defense for this. He did interviews refuting the critics. He claimed his church had been, and was, doing everything possible to aid the flood victims. I would like to believe him and give him benefit of the doubt. But ultimately, that doesnt matter. Neither do the facts. The enjoyment of assuming the negative, and pointing out a perceived failure, will trump any pastoral denial. Even if he were totally exonerated, the shame of the rumor would still persist. Perhaps Jesus was thinking of this human defect when he said, in his succinct style, Dont judge, so that you wont be judged. Youll receive the same judgment you give. Whatever you deal out will be dealt out to you. (Matthew 7:1-2, CEB) Theres a bit of Christian karma in these words. If youre going to spread a rumor about someone, remember that youll be that someone some day. The best thing to do, consequently, is simply not perpetuate a judgment in the first place. Unfortunately, thats not as much fun. It takes restraint to refuse a hate-wagon ride. It takes work to give someone benefit of the doubt before posting something on Facebook or Twitter. It takes time to ask questions before passing sentences. Perhaps if theres a starting point for ever doing this, its empathy. When I was about to agree with the perceived insensitivity of the Houston preacher, I started imagining what he would be feeling. I imagined the hurt of having been accused without having a chance to explain or defend. Its rather a shame that it sometimes takes a tragedy to make us see that we have much more in common with each other than wed ever imagined. That commonality lies in acknowledging that we all make mistakes, and that judging can sometimes be, in reality, a bigger sin than the imagined one. Weeks is senior pastor of Manchester United Methodist Church. He is a regular Faith Perspectives contributor to STLtoday.com/religion. Q: Our daughter will be a senior in high school this year with the possibility of graduating six months early. We have been looking into colleges but need financial assistance. Some of these deals look too good to be true. What is the best way to weed out the offers that may be potential scams? From the mailbag: If you are only looking online, it's best to contact the college and ask for a copy of their scholarship offers. We found one for our son, but when we met with the counselor from the school, she said the one we had chosen was no longer available. When we mentioned it was on their site, she said that the information on it had not been updated and/or was overlooked. This put us in a serious jam and we had to rush out and try to find something similar at a different college. It's a smart move to go in and talk to the financial office before putting all your eggs in one basket. W. K. in San Antonio, Texas FROM JODIE: There are definitely all kinds of scams on the internet that sound exciting and seem quite professional. Things can quickly get out of hand if you do not follow through with each college your daughter is interested in if you simply base a choice on things you read on the internet. It's safe to say that everything offered needs to be verified with the actual company, or in your case, each individual college. Be aware of free money for college tuition, especially if it's not a school with a real address and phone number listed where you can actually call and perhaps visit and ask questions or get info mailed to you. Be sure to read all the fine print on each article, form and handbook and ask for any addendum. Also, check for any dates that any of these have and be sure they're current. In fact, ask if guidelines have been updated recently or if they are in the works to be changed in the next six months. With all the available books and online information about the many schools, you should never have to pay anyone or any company to find scholarships for your daughter. If a college has scholarships available, they will certainly let the public know because they very much want to give it to the right student. Of course, many have guidelines about the recipient that may require certain grades, background, etc. and can even stipulate specific extracurricular activities or volunteering for the student associated with one. For those that you and your daughter are most interested in, get every offer and every detail in writing; never base a decision on any verbal discussion or promise. CAN YOU HELP? We have four children and have to watch our money closely. Three of them are girls and like to dress fashionably, but it gets quite expensive. My solution to is shop at the Goodwill or Salvation Army centers near us. My sister-in-law says we should not tell the children where we buy their clothing due to the potential ridicule that could happen if the other kids at school should find out. Should we explain to our kids about our budget and where we buy their clothes or let them continue to think they're new? To share parenting tips or submit questions, write to: Parent to Parent, 2464 Taylor Road, Suite 131, Wildwood, MO 63040. Emaildirect2contact@parenttoparent.com,or go to www.parenttoparent.com which provides a secure and easy way to submit tips or questions. All tips must have city, state and first and last name or initials to be included in the column. To share parenting tips or submit questions, write to: Parent to Parent, 2464 Taylor Road, Suite 131, Wildwood, MO 63040. Email direct2contact@parenttoparent.com, or go to parenttoparent.com which provides a secure and easy way to submit tips or questions. All tips must have city, state and first and last name or initials to be included in the column. By PTI: By Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Aug 31 (PTI) Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about US President Donald Trumps harsh remarks and it will share its perspective with the top US leadership, the Foreign Office said today. Trump last week slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so. advertisement At his weekly media briefing here, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about Trumps statement and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will share Pakistan?s perspective in his future interaction with the US leadership. Terming the remarks of Gen John Nicholson - the top US commander in Afghanistan - as "highly unwarranted and unacceptable", Zakaria said Pakistan strongly rejects all allegations and insinuations regarding the presence of any safe havens of terrorists. "While rejecting the baseless US assertions in this context, the National Security Committee in its statement of August 24 expressed Pakistans concerns about the presence of sanctuaries/safe havens inside Afghanistan from where anti- Pakistan elements, particularly India, continue to operate against Pakistan," he said. He also said Pakistan believes that there is no military solution to the complex Afghan conflict and it has advocated for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political solution. Zakaria also raised the Kashmir issue and accused India of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He allged that India has been systematically and deliberately exonerating perpetrators of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack and Pakistan took up the issue with India "many times in the past." The spokesman also welcomed the end of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Dokalam. "We expect India to resolve its differences with all its neighbours in a similar way. We appreciate the sagacity and restraint shown by the Chinese side in this standoff and resolving the issue amicably," he added. PTI SH ZH --- ENDS --- ST. LOUIS Preparations for potential protests when the verdict is announced in the murder trial of a former police officer have escalated this week. Barricades have gone up around the two downtown courthouses and city police headquarters ahead of St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilsons decision in the first-degree murder trial of Jason Stockley, accused of killing Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, after a chase in 2011. Officials say they dont know when Wilson will rule on the case but are taking precautions in case protests erupt. St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts said he and some of his staff have had meetings with interim Police Chief Lawrence OToole, Wilson and other judges to discuss security after the verdict is announced. He said he doesnt know when the verdict will come and that Wilson did not talk about the timing. Wilson could set a hearing to announce his verdict or just issue it. The decision is his alone because Stockley waived his right to have a jury hear his case. The trial began Aug. 1 to a packed courtroom and ended with closing arguments Aug. 9. The judge gave prosecutors and defense attorneys until Aug. 18 to file post-trial briefs summarizing their arguments. Prosecutors said Stockley carried out the premeditated murder of Smith by shooting him five times at close range and then planting a revolver in Smiths Buick after police pulled Smiths body from the car. The defense said Stockley acted reasonably in self-defense in killing a drug suspect he believed was reaching for a hidden handgun. Stockley, 36, now of Houston, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action last year, about four years after state and federal prosecutors reviewed the case and declined to charge Stockley. Then-Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce charged Stockley citing new, unspecified evidence. The state did not say in trial what the new evidence was, and the defense claimed in closing arguments Aug. 9 that theres been no new evidence in the case since 2012. The states argument At trial, the states evidence focused largely on Stockleys conduct during the police chase before the shooting and in the immediate aftermath. Prosecutors relied on surveillance, in-car and dashboard police videos as well as clips from bystanders at the shooting scene to connect key moments during the initial encounter at a Churchs Chicken parking lot, comments made by Stockley, the shooting itself and clips of police activity inside the crime scene tape. The video dont lie, Assistant Circuit Attorney Robert Steele repeated at the trial. That expression became central to the states narrative. In their post-trial pleading, Steele and prosecutor Aaron Levinson argued that the evidence supported a first-degree murder conviction, comparing Stockleys conduct to that of his partner Brian Bianchi. Bianchi was the reasonable officer who approached Smiths car and drew his pistol, but then holstered it without opening fire. Among the states points were: Stockleys self-defense claim lacked credibility. Bianchis actions lie in stark contradiction to Stockleys words and claims of self-defense. Stockley carried a personal Draco AK-47 pistol on duty that day; Bianchi did not. Stockley, but not Bianchi, fired his 9 mm pistol seven times at Smith as Smith fled the parking lot. We must judge the credibility and reasonableness of Stockleys actions through the simultaneous actions of Officer Bianchis, prosecutors wrote. (It is unclear why Bianchi was not called to testify at the trial.) During the pursuit, Stockley told dispatchers only that shots had been fired, not that he and Bianchi had seen Smith with a gun. Stockley violated department policy by carrying the AK-47 and firing his department-issued 9 mm pistol at a fleeing vehicle. Stockley fired a kill shot from within 6 inches of Smiths body; one of the five 9 mm shell casings from Stockleys gun was found inside the Buick. None of the police officers at the crime scene testified that Stockley told them that Smith had a gun. Stockley told only one officer at the scene to watch Smiths hands. If Stockleys account of seeing Smith with a gun is to be believed, then he left a suspect armed with a gun alone inside a vehicle out of view of any officers. This undermines his claim to have been protecting himself or other officers, the state said. Only Stockleys DNA was found on the silver .38-caliber Taurus revolver seized from Smiths car; only Stockleys DNA was found on his AK-47 pistol. The only evidence linking Smith to the .38 revolver was Stockleys testimony that he and Officer Bianchi saw Smith with it, prosecutors wrote. The defense argument Stockleys lawyers titled their post-trial summary, Final argument: The magic bullet, a tale of two guns and other fairy tales. Neil Bruntrager and Brian Millikan agreed with Steeles comment that the video dont lie in that it revealed at least 15 seconds between the time Stockley approached Smiths car and when he drew his pistol. A witness testified to observing a struggle between Stockley and Smith moments before the shooting; the defense said Stockley reasonably believed that using deadly force was necessary to stop an imminent threat. Other defense points: Stockleys DNA on the revolver seized from Smiths car did not prove Stockley had the gun before the shooting, arguing that the absence of evidence is not evidence. The videos didnt prove Stockley retrieved the revolver from the police SUV to put in Smiths car because they did not show what Stockley was holding. There was no kill shot because witnesses testified hearing Stockleys five gunshots in succession. Stockley testified that he ordered Smith to show his hands and freeze before shooting him. The recording of Stockley saying, Going to kill this (expletive), dont you know it on police videos lacks context and cannot prove intent. Stockley testified that he had no recollection of making the statement. The dashcam video shows Bianchi with his gun drawn after the crash, suggesting that he, too, observed Smith as a threat. The video does not show whether Bianchi holstered his gun during the final encounter. DNA analysts testified that the presence of Stockleys DNA on the revolver does not prove Smith didnt own the gun. It only proves that Stockley touched it, which he testified to doing when he entered Smiths car. DNA analysts also testified that their tests only confirm the presence of DNA on the guns, not the source such as blood, saliva or sweat. Bystander cellphone video of Stockley entering the Buick does not prove he planted a gun inside. Stockley testified that after shooting Smith, he retrieved a first aid clot pack from a bag in the police SUV, not a handgun, and then stepped into the Buick to search for a gun. Getting ready Tension rose this week after activists announced their intent to protest and cause mass disruption if Stockley is acquitted of murder. They are holding planning meetings and resistance training this week, and some clergy have pledged full support of planned protests. At a news conference Monday outside the Carnahan Courthouse, Smiths supporters said that if Stockley is acquitted, St. Louis should expect demonstrations downtown, including at Busch Stadium and other businesses, that resemble protests in Ferguson in 2014. If you not with the people, you against us, activist Tory Russell said Monday. I cant tell you what the direct action look like, but I can tell you it aint business as usual. UPDATED at 12:30 p.m. Thursday with ID of victim. BERKELEY A man was found fatally shot here Wednesday afternoon, St. Louis County police said. Robert Green, 27, was found injured at about 3:40 p.m. in the 8300 block of Airport Road, police said. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities have not released any information about a suspect or motive. Green lived in the 8600 block of Haltonia Lane in Berkeley, less than a mile from where he was shot, according to police. Nearby Airport Elementary School was placed on lockdown after police alerted administrators to the shooting, a spokesperson with the Ferguson-Florissant School District said. The lockdown caused a slight delay before students were eventually released from school as usual. St. Louis County Police said they are assisting the Berkeley department in the investigation. They are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to contact CrimeStoppers 1-866-371-8477. ST. LOUIS A man who jumped from a car that had been reported as stolen and pointed a gun at a police officer was shot Thursday afternoon, the acting police chief said. Acting Chief Lawrence OToole said the man was hit in the upper torso and was being treated at a hospital. He described the mans condition as guarded and stable. Another man who jumped from the same car is in custody, OToole said. The names of those taken into custody were not released, but OToole suggested that the man shot has a criminal history. This is just another example of a violent offender, an armed violent offender, posing a danger not only to the officers but also to the community, OToole said at a news conference shortly after the shooting. No officers were shot, but an officer assisting in the arrests injured his knee and was taken to a hospital. The shooting was about 4:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of Maffitt Avenue in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood, police said. Police said the vehicle, a 2017 Ford Explorer, had been reported as stolen on Aug. 11 from Bridgeton. Officers put a spike strip in the path of the vehicle and it was disabled before the two people inside jumped out and fled on foot. One of the occupants was armed with a handgun and turned and pointed it toward the officer. The officer feared for his life, fired several shots, striking the individual in the upper torso, OToole said. The other suspect was captured by another officer. The gun pointed at the officer was recovered, the chief said. The officer who shot the man is 39 years old and a 10-year veteran of the department, police said. He has been placed on administrative leave, per policy, the department said. Asked about several recent incidents in which St. Louis officers have been involved in shootings, OToole said they are happening in response to the violent crime and armed offenders his officers are facing. As to whether officers could use something less lethal than guns in response to crime, he turned the question back on those his officers are facing. Heres one option, pull over and comply with the officers, the chief said. Thats the best option. Several dozen bystanders gathered outside the police tape that officers put up at the scene on Maffitt. Among them was Ronnie Hawkins, who said the man shot was his nephew. He said the younger man had been released from prison in recent months. Hawkins said he himself is a former St. Louis police officer and he said he had questions about whether police needed to use gunfire in the arrest of his nephew. Because he fled, does that give you a right to shoot him? asked Hawkins. He spoke to people who identified themselves as witnesses to the incident who told him that his nephew had been shot in the back. He said he planned to get to the bottom of what happened. UPDATED Thursday with comments from U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. A Missouri state representative drew scorn Wednesday, with the head of the state Democratic Party calling on him to resign, after he seemed to call for a lynching on social media. Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, posted a link to an article describing vandalism discovered Wednesday to a Confederate monument in Springfield National Cemetery. This is totally against the law, Love wrote. I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope. Criticism on social media came swiftly. Rep. Shamed Dogan of Ballwin, the only black Republican in the Legislature, posted a screenshot of the Facebook post and condemned it. Vandalizing property is wrong, but hoping for people to be hung/lynched over it?? Way over the line!! Dogan tweeted. What is wrong with us #moleg? Stephen Webber, the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, called for Loves resignation. This is a call for lynching by a sitting State Representative, Webber tweeted. Calls for poltical (sic) violence are unacceptable. He needs to resign. Rep. Bruce Franks, D-St. Louis, tweeted: Damn Warren thats how you feel? House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty of Kansas City said that while vandalism is a crime, its punishment is not extra-judicial murder. In calling for the lynching of those who vandalized a Confederate statute in Springfield, state Rep. Warren Love invoked a form of political violence used throughout the South to keep African-Americans subjugated for generations following the fall of the Confederacy, and for that he must resign, she added. On Monday morning, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., weighed in with a brief statement: "Representative Love should resign for his unacceptable comments." Love represents the 125th District in rural western Missouri and was first elected in 2012. When reached by the Post-Dispatch, he confirmed the Facebook post, and said he was not calling for a lynching. Oh no, he said. Hell no! That was an exaggerated statement that, you know, a lot of times is used in the western world when somebody does a crime or commits theft. Thats just a western term and Im very much a western man. You know, I wear a coat. You know, I dress western. And, you know, Im the cowboy of the Capitol. I guess I couldve put on there that, you know, they were yellow-bellied, low-life or whatever. But it is disturbing when you see objects of remembrance and they can be anything from memorials to tombstones to, you know, somebody putting a cross on the highway and planting flowers on it that somebody would be a low-life enough to desecrate it or vandalize it. Love said the fact that the monument was dedicated to the Confederacy was not what triggered him to post. I wouldve done that right across the sidewalk from that monument is a monument of General Nathaniel Lyon, Love said of the Union general. Id of done the same statement if itd been him in a national cemetery. Love said he was a dues-paying member of the Sons of Union Veterans and Sons of Confederate Veterans groups. I try to tell history and protect the integrity and the reputation of both men that served in that terrible war, Love said. And I want to tell the good, the bad and the ugly. He said Confederate monuments were low-hanging fruit. He said activists are also turning their attention to statues and monuments of other historical figures, such as Christopher Columbus and Thomas Jefferson. At what level would they be satisfied? Love asked of activists. He said he would not delete the post. I could take it off but Im not because its already out, Love said. I think if it starts anything it starts a dialogue: Should we increase the penalty for vandalism and desecration for objects of memorial or remembrance? Love has run into controversy in the past. He has a picture of himself and another person on his Facebook page with a Missouri Battle Flag sometimes called Prices Flag in the background. Unlike the more widely-known Confederate flag, the Missouri battle flag features a white cross, blue background and red outline. Missouri Democrat who hoped for Trump assassination apologizes amid calls for her resignation Sstate Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal gave no indication she'll step down, saying she "will continue to fight for issues that are really important." In a February Facebook post, the Pitch, a Kansas City news site, reported he shared a blog post calling President Abraham Lincoln the greatest tyrant and despot in American history. In a House committee hearing in January, during debate on a prevailing wage bill, Love referred to the black Negro. Love told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday he is not a racist. Listen, Ive got good friends in the Capitol, Love said. Me and Tommie Pierson (a black St. Louis County Democrat) was co-captains of a softball team. And you can ask anybody in that Capitol. I probably have a better relationship with the minorities than anybody up there at the Legislature. I play softball with them, Im good friends with them. I, you know, I sit on the same side of the aisle with them and theyre on my softball team, Love said. I am definitely not that word, Love said of the word racist. I dont even like to use that word. WASHINGTON Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will speak to the well-known Republican Leadership Conference on Michigans Mackinac Island in late September. Greitens is one of several top Republican speakers touted for the conference, which will be held Sept. 22-24 at Mackinac Island in Michigan. Others include former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who now is a Fox News contributor; and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who is from Michigan. The conference bills itself as one of the top Republican gatherings in the Midwest, and it has a history of hosting prospective presidential candidates, including 2008 GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2007; 2012 nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in 2011; and four Republican presidential candidates in 2015. The conference began in 1955 and meets every other year. The specific date for Greitens speech to the group has not been announced, but he is listed as a featured speaker. In a statement, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser referenced Greitens Navy SEAL background and called the governor a rising star. In Missouri, he is showing the country what strong, conservative leadership can accomplish, Weiser said. Hes growing the states economy, fighting for more jobs and safer streets, and standing up for our conservative values. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. David Rose sat under the shade of a big For Sale sign advertising a building that used to house Kmart. About 20 protesters had just staked claim to a patch of sidewalk, not far from him. I think its nonsense, Rose, a supporter of President Trump, said of the protesters. No matter whos in there, you support. This is America. Rose, of Miller, Mo., said he didnt support President Barack Obama, but he never protested him. Down on the sidewalk stood one of those protesters, Julie Blackmon, 51, of Springfield. I feel strongly that this country is headed in the wrong direction, she said. I want to be vocal, to say, even though Im in the heart of the red, theres still plenty of us here that are outraged. It was a little after 1 p.m., and a little before President Donald Trump was scheduled to give remarks to a private crowd inside a local manufacturing facility. His fans waved American flags and Trump flags on blocked-off Kearney Street. His opponents gathered nearby on Glenstone Avenue, holding signs saying things like Lets talk taxes - Yours! and Resign youll be famous forever. Offshoots from each group mixed, but debates, for the most part, seemed calm. As the clock ticked closer to when Trump would speak, people on both sides and people just interested to see the president in Missouri migrated to another intersection. Word was Trumps motorcade was getting near. But many people were too late. Steve Holdener, 40, of St. Louis, said he caught a glimpse of the motorcade in the distance. But not to show the president support. I wanted to make sure that there was a demonstration of resistance to Trump, Holdener said. He made statements via Twitter, naturally considering Missouri like a hot-bed of support... And I thought it was important to show a counterpoint. One side of the sign he carried said: Trolling Liberals is not Governing. The other said: 45 Impotent As a Leader. Beth Burlison, 52, and Kay Pogue, 65, of Springfield were happy to see the president in town. We dont hate the protesters, Burlison said, we just support our president. Pogue held a sign that said I love Melanias shoes a dig at those who criticized First Lady Melania Trumps choice of high-heels when she left the White House to travel to flood-ravaged Houston Tuesday. Ann Coleman, 51, of Springfield, said she is from Pakistan but is now an American citizen. She voted for Trump. Was she worried about his anti-immigrant rhetoric? Yep, she said. But you know, I came here in the right way, so I didnt have anything to lose. As Trump neared the end of his speech, opponents, supporters and others checked their phones on Kearney Street at the spot where his motorcade might come again. Angela Michael, 39, of Springfield, held a red sign saying RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA. I want Trump to see this sign, she said, because I believe he got in there by cheating. Jonathan Reid, 35, stood on a nearby hill by himself, on edge. He said he wasnt there to protest Trump, just to watch. Im really just here to see how everything unfolds because theres always something happening at a Trump rally, Reid said. He aint did s--- to me but gave me a headache! Reid is black. He said a Trump supporter came up to him and put his hand on Reids shoulder, to speak against the Black Lives Matter movement. He didnt like the way I looked at him, Reid said about the man. Im like, Buddy, theres a lot of tension in the air, you know, we can talk without touching each other. Three big dump trucks moved in to block off Kearney Street. The president was coming. The first vehicles to zoom by, lights flashing, were police motorcycles. The crowd was maybe 100 feet away from the motorcade. One man flipped the motorcade off. Joe Urie, of Bolivar, Mo., clapped. The dump trucks blocked most of the view. Steve, Joe and Preston Urie, came from Bolivar to see the president. Joe Urie clapped as the motorcade sped away into the distance. It was just kind of an amazing experience, Joe, 21, said. This was my second time seeing a president come through, Steve, 48, who is Joe and Prestons father, said. He said George H.W. Bush came through Bolivar when he was vice president. I wanted to bring the family here to experience this. Because how often do you get this close to the president of the united states? I thought it was neat, Preston, 24, said. It doesnt happen too often for Springfield, so. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was today declared an absconder in the Benazir Bhutton assassination case as a Rawalpindi court sent two police officers to 17 years in jail. By India Today Web Desk: Former Pakistani President and Army chief Pervez Musharraf was today declared an absconder in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, Pakistani media reported. An Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the murder case. Five other accused - believed to be members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan - were acquitted on a lack of evidence. advertisement The Express Tribune reported that Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, who was president when Bhutto was assassinated, has been declared a proclaimed offender and the court has ordered authorities to seize his property. Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. 23 Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) workers had also died in the attack. The murder case was registered soon after her assassination and the trial went through many ups and down until it concluded yesterday in Rawalpindi. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict, declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordered seizure of his property. Musharraf, 74, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on pretext of medical treatment. The judge sentenced former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad, suspects out on bail, to 17 years in prison and ordered them to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each. Both police officers - who were present in the court - were arrested from Adiala Jail. Five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted over lack of evidence. The suspects - Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid - were arrested soon after the crime and have been in jail. They had denied the charges. All accused were present at the time of announcement of trial, except Musharraf. The trial of five suspects started in January 2008, while Musharraf, Aziz and Shahezad were implicated in 2009 after fresh probe by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). "10 years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free," Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted soon after the verdict was announced. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes," she tweeted. Bhutto's another daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari tweeted, "Musharraf ordered crime scene washed & doors locked trapping SMBB vehicle inside #ArrestMusharraf." Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sheila Raza also expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict. "We had reservations over the probe and the FIR lodged by the government," she said. Eight different judges heard the case during this period who were changed due to different reasons. advertisement Initially TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for murder and Musharraf government issued a taped conversation of Mehsud with a certain operator in which he was congratulating the operator for the murder. But FIA Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation. He termed it a cooked up story by Musharraf to mislead the investigators and to save himself. ALSO READ | Dawood Ibrahim may be in Pakistan, but why should we assist India in finding him, says Musharraf ALSO WATCH | It's a very good verdict, says former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Nawaz Sharif's ouster --- ENDS --- Repetition is the enemy of maintaining proper distinctions. It is a short road from being serially outraged to being slightly bored to being completely inured. Thus many are likely to find the pardon of former Arizona county sheriff Joseph Arpaio to be just another ... something. Just another public feeding of Donald Trumps base; or just an additional shiny distraction from real issues; or just one more cause for head-shaking and shoulder-shrugging; or just further evidence of the tawdry political company kept by the president of the United States. This would be a mistake. This presidential action is not just anything. Following his expression of sympathy for the very fine people attending a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville who were, he said, defending our history and heritage Trump must have known his next move would be highly symbolic, either as a retreat from prejudice or as its affirmation. What followed with the Arpaio pardon constitutes the most forthright racist incitement of the Trump era. Trump has called Arpaio a great American patriot, employing a definition of patriotism that includes extreme ethnic profiling, terror raids, and cruel and unusual punishment. A definition of patriotism that covers using internment camps in extreme heat, parading women and juvenile offenders for the cameras in chain gangs, and degrading inmates in creative acts of bullying. This is not patriotism; it is the abuse of power in the cause of bigotry. Others have commented on the legal precedent of effectively pardoning someone for abusing the constitutional rights of an ethnic minority. Done in a manner that employs the pardon power as a reward for political loyalty. Resulting from a process that evidently did not involve the normal review and recommendation of the Department of Justices pardon attorney. Was White House Counsel Donald McGahn a reputed libertarian involved in this permission for swaggering government oppression? Better question: Why did he not resign in protest? And how about Gary Cohn, who famously almost resigned over events in Charlottesville, demanding that the president must do better. Does he think the Arpaio pardon is doing better? Congressional Republicans have often taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the dishonoring and destruction of their party. Now they can hardly deny that Trumps worst moments are his most authentic moments, or that his definition of loyalty requires defending the indefensible. A few voices including both Arizona senators and House Speaker Paul Ryan were critical of the pardon. But congressional hearings demanding an account of the pardons purpose and process would demonstrate seriousness in the only task the only path of self-respect and self-preservation left to Republican leaders: attempting to salvage a party identity separate from racism. These legal and political ramifications are clear enough. But it is the moral damage that is deepest: the stoking of tribal hatreds; the reckless fracturing of national unity; and the statement made about human worth. A societys treatment of prisoners is a measure of its commitment to human dignity. Some of these men and women are guilty only of the wrong geography in trying to feed their families. Others have done terrible things. But they are still all of them men and women, human beings, at the complete mercy of the state. According to Jewish and Christian teaching, they bear Gods image, which can never be completely effaced. Treating them humanely is the expression of a defining national belief: that human rights are not earned or granted, they are recognized. Or not. Arpaio made a career of dehumanizing prisoners in his charge. His pardon sends the signal that some people are less than human. In one sense, this is perfectly consistent. Trump has employed dehumanization as a political tool from the start of refugees, of migrants, of Muslims. By his pardon of Arpaio, he has metaphorically pardoned his own cruel and divisive approach to politics. It is a further step in Trumps normalization and entrenchment of bigotry in our public life. This creates a personal dilemma for many Republicans. How do they explain to their neighbors, and to their own children, their involvement with an institution that has been allied with forces of exclusion (at least at the national level)? The answer is not for all people with pricked consciences to leave, lest only unpricked consciences remain. But complacency is permission. Resistance is required. Any party that swallows the Trump/Arpaio ethic will be poisoned. And gagging, in this case, is a sign of health. Michael Gerson Copyright The Washington Post There are 4,000 tax lobbyists in Washington, D.C. How many of them are working for you? If you are like most Americans, the answer is none. Most people cant afford well-paid tax lobbyists. So while the lobbyists get their clients special favors, ordinary Missourians get the shaft paying more of their hard-earned money in taxes than they should. And Missouri pays a lot. The federal government calculates more than 20 percent of our states economy goes to Washington, D.C. This means less money in our pockets to save, spend or invest as we see fit. This unfairness has Americans questioning the American dream. According to an Election Day poll, 72 percent said that the American economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful. And 54 percent said that it is increasingly hard for someone like me to get ahead. It is hard to accept, but understandable. Americans will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined. The result is ordinary Americans working harder than ever. Theyre working overtime, part-time jobs, and on weekends instead of spending time with their families. Besides taking too much, how does the tax code keep Americans down? For starters, it is incredibly complex. In the three decades since the last major tax reform, the code has tripled in size, from about 26,000 pages to 74,000 by 2014. This adds up to 4 million words. As U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., said, the tax code is longer than the Bible with none of the good news. And because the tax code has grown into a monstrosity of words and numbers, Americans spend long hours every year filing out their tax returns. Some estimates peg this at 6 billion hours of taxpayer time and $195 billion in compliance costs a year. No surprise then that around 68 percent of unincorporated businesses and around half of all taxpayers rely on professional tax preparers for help. It shouldnt be this way. Thankfully, there is real momentum in Washington to fix our broken tax code. President Donald Trump is planning to travel across the country to make his pitch on why tax reform is needed, including Wednesdays stop in Springfield, Mo. The president called for a more efficient and fair tax code that lets ordinary Americans keep more of what they work so hard to earn. That probably sounds great to you, but for thousands of special interests benefiting from the current tax system at your expense, it would be the end of their first-class compartment on the gravy train. But the only way the president can fix the tax code is if the American people are fighting with him. At a time when Congress agrees on little these days, tax reform has the ability to bring together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to do something good for the American people. Just last week Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said: I welcome President Trump to Missouri, and Im looking forward to working with him to make bipartisan tax reform a reality. Missourians have a right to be skeptical; it is the Show-Me State, after all. It was just this month that McCaskill sent a letter to the president with a list of conditions on tax reform not exactly the actions of someone looking for a bipartisan solution. But Missourians will soon know if McCaskill is serious about tax reform. Fixing our broken tax code wont be easy. Special interests including those 4,000 tax lobbyists will fight tooth and nail to protect a status quo that favors a select few. We cant let them. The time has come to enact a simpler and fairer tax system that lets ordinary Americans keep more of what they earn. Congress and the Trump administration should capitalize on this momentum to deliver for the American people. Jeremy Cady is the Missouri state director of Americans for Prosperity. By PTI: (EDs: With additional inputs) New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate, which has been interrogating controversial meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi since August 26, was today allowed by a city court to continue quizzing him for four more days in a money laundering probe against him and others. Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj sent the accused to custody after the probe agency said he was required to be questioned about his foreign bank accounts to unearth the trail of crime proceeds. advertisement The ED said Qureshi was to be confronted with documentary evidence, witnesses and other co-accused. EDs special prosecutor N K Matta sought nine-day custody of Qureshi claiming he was to be confronted with the government officials who allegedly received money or proceeds of crime from him. He also said the properties purchased from the proceeds of the crime were to be ascertained by questioning Qureshi. "The data of e-mail server of the accused company M/s Forum Sales Pvt Ltd seized by Income Tax Authorities are to be confronted with viz-a-viz for transfer of proceeds of crime by hawala channels through TTs from Dubai onward. "The associates of the accused who were involved in the transfer of proceeds of crime from various other sources needs to be confronted with... The foreign trade associates are to be identified towards their involvement in layering and laundering of the proceeds of crime," the ED said. It said the entire money trail of foreign remittances and their sources are to be ascertained and verified through the accused. "Various bank account statements and other records needs to be confronted with and he will also be question in regards to the audio recordings," the ED said. The agency claimed that during the earlier five day custody, the accused did not reveal any information appearing on record and the remaining needs to be shown and required to be confronted with. The agency claimed that it has got inputs about some foreign accounts which belonged to Qureshi and his associates. During the five day custody, he was confronted with six of his associates, the counsel said, adding that quantified proceeds of crime in India was to the tune of around Rs 12 crore, besides other properties. The advocate appearing for the accused opposed EDs plea. Qureshi was produced before the court today on expiry of his five-day ED custody. The court had on August 26 sent him to five-day ED custody "considering the seriousness of the allegations and to enable the ED to complete thorough investigation." The agency had told the court that "the witnesses have confirmed in their statements that they have delivered crores of rupees for Qureshi and his associates through his employees and one of the witnesses has stated that nearly Rs 1.75 crore have been exported by the accused from him and his friend in lieu of the help provided to him in a CBI case." advertisement According to the agency, Qureshi was arrested late night on August 25 here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after "he was not cooperating in the probe". PTI UK SJK ARC --- ENDS --- Pebble Beach Systems Urges Broadcasters to Think INSIDE the Box For Broadcast Playout, Connecting Signals with Video Over IP Might Be Old-School, Says Pebble Beach Systems CTO Ian Cockett Weybridge, UK( ) Weybridge, UK and Broomfield, CO., USA, August 31st, 2017 With so much discussion about Video over IP replacing SDI infrastructure, its not surprising that some might get the impression that Video over IP is the way forward for any broadcasting workflow. However, its important to remember that thinking outside the box is not always a good thing, particularly when considering integrated playout and virtualization. Video over IP as an interconnect has its benefits for broadcasters, but when it comes to playout either OTT or OTA, instead of concentrating on how equipment is physically cabled together, shouldnt we ask ourselves why use cables at all? says Ian Cockett, CTO of Pebble Beach Systemsin the run-up to IBC 2017. Changing the interconnection from SDI to IP keeps everyone stuck in an old-school engineering paradigm. Its not enough to simply stick an RJ45 jack on the back of the latest hardware and claim victory. In playout, most organizations are already familiar with the term channel-in-a-box (CiaB). However, its important to consider what enables these different processes to be in a single box. In the IT world, a typical modern computer has a single enclosure with a complement of CPU cores, memory, and maybe some GPU horsepower -- all running on a common operating system. It doesnt connect to an assortment of separate boxes that perform discrete tasks. Instead, manufacturers have integrated their best-of-breed software and drivers into applications that simply plug-in to the OS via APIs (application program interface) and SDKs (software development kits). Having a standard way to integrate lets individual applications find and utilize data from each provider. Broadcast playout is evolving the same way, driven initially by the cost effective and simple CiaB. Whats needed now, more than ever, is for vendors to work together and develop plugins that can be mixed and matched to provide the end user with precisely what they require from the best companies making the technology. We need to see more standards for integrating video and audio processing plugins within an application or alternatively as standalone applications with some type of IPC (inter-process communication), adds Cockett. The audio industry has had plugin interfaces such as VST for many years. Currently, there is a lack of integration agility as development cycles are required every time a new 3rd party process is required. Some companies such as Pebble Beach Systems are ahead of the curve, since they have already done the work and have many 3rd party tools on board including shared memory interfaces that allow 3rd party graphics engines to co-exist with playout channels, however, its easy to see how the industry as a whole is lagging behind with so many individual implementations. Plugins vs. IP integration in the broadcast pipeline? The plug-in concept becomes even more important as organizations start to explore the idea of virtualization and cloud deployments. Obviously, everything has to be software-based and capable of integrating seamlessly with other applications and services running on COTS servers found in a data center. Specialized hardware wont do, and IP video connectivity only gets in the way, unless were talking about how the final signal exits the server and the building. For vendors creating software tools that plug into a larger ecosystem, its also important to include a method for metering usage as part of any evolving standard so that vendors have a reasonable way of charging for their products. Its not surprising that no single company can make the best tool for every stage of a broadcast pipeline. However, its going to take a concentrated effort by customers and vendors alike to demand that standards are put into place that allow organizations to choose what technology and services they need in a software defined, increasingly virtualized world. Video over IP has a lot of appeal for video signals connectivity and the standards work thats been done by the VSF and AIMS group for passing uncompressed video, audio and metadata via IP is a great step forward. However, there is a genuine need to have standards that support interoperability within software on the same host operating system. The future is all about software that is portable and plays well with others, says Cockett. I believe that customers should be able to choose the best-of-breed tools they need, and its the vendors collective job to make sure everything works well together, whether in a single box, or in the cloud. As the world remembers 'the people's princess' on her 20th death anniversary, we take a look at how her influence will last forever. By Shreya Goswami: Princess Diana passed away on August 31, 1997, after her car crashed in a Paris tunnel. It's been 20 years since her passing, and most people who loved her then still feel raw about it. It doesn't matter how old you were, or where in the world you were, but you know it was the time when a light went out of the world when this ex-British Royal passed away so tragically while so young. Those who were too young to remember the 1990s, and those born after, have been familiarised with the globally renowned persona this "people's princess" was. People in Paris are leaving memorial notes and gifts to mark Princess Diana's 20th death anniversary. Photo: Reuters advertisement And there's good reason for it. Lady Diana Frances Spencer wasn't born a royal, and she definitely didn't remain a royal with the status of 'Her Royal Highness' after her divorce, but she has forever been a princess who influenced the world. A woman who was way ahead of her time, Diana was a feminist who still inspires men and women across the world. A police officer stands next to flowers and tributes left in memory of the late Princess Diana at the gates of her former residence Kensington Palace in London. Photo: Reuters Here are just a few ways Diana's short life still manages to give us the hope that no matter how big our issues, we can deal with them. Also Read: Princess Diana's secret tapes prove just how strong she was during her marriage 1. "I am going to be me." While in conversation with her biographer, Andrew Morton, in 1991, Diana opened up to acknowledge all the issues in her life--from her failing marriage to her depression and bulimia. More than that, she openly made a commitment towards herself: "From now on, I am going to own myself and be true to myself. I no longer want to live someone else's idea of what and who I should be. I am going to be me." Prince Charles and Princess Diana ride in an open carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in July 1986. Photo: Reuters She held on to this commitment and left a marriage that had been deeply troubled. More importantly, she recognised all the mental health issues she had suffered from, and dedicated herself to address them. Diana made it possible through a commitment to herself, something that all of us could do with as well. 2. Smashing patriarchy from within The family that Diana married into is actually an age-old institution, where the rules are many and not even remotely easy to break. Diana's whole life was proof that she lived on her own terms, and worked around the limits of the establishment that is the British Monarchy. Her charitable works were many, and those were approved of by the British Royals, who are expected to carry out such works. Princess Diana holds the hand of a leprosy sufferer during a visit to Anandaban Hospital in Nepal, in 1993. Photo: Reuters Princess Diana holds the hand of a leprosy sufferer during a visit to Anandaban Hospital in Nepal, in 1993. Photo: Reuters advertisement But her insistence on being public about her marital and mental health issues ensured that the people saw her as just another human being. The way she boldly carried out her charitable works--where she shook hands with lepers as well as those suffering from AIDS--made her stand out, and people were able to cut out the picture of privileged royals and appreciate the woman for what she truly was. Britain's Princess Diana meets an AIDS patient at the hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1991. Photo: Reuters She was the princess with a common touch and appeal. And while you can't attribute her for having done something revolutionary against patriarchy, her little fight from within normalised the way the public perceives those among the rich, the famous, and the entitled. Also Read: Princes William and Harry recall their final call with Princess Diana advertisement 3. Straddling two worlds Hard-core feminists across the world always had an issue with the contradictions that made Diana what she was, as authors Julie Burchill and Beatrix Campbell have recently revealed in their works on Diana's life. On the one hand, she worked for so many charities, upholding the rights of downtrodden women and creating awareness about people suffering from diseases that were prejudiced against in the 1990s. Diana, Princess of Wales, serves food to a pupil at Nemazuva Primary School in Zimbabwe on July 12, 1993. Photo: Reuters On the other hand, Diana shopped expensively and went on holidays that were nothing short of extravagant. No, she was definitely not the bra-burning, give-it-all-up kind of feminist. Diana's achievement was in the fact that she did not ever deny that she lived in two worlds at the same time--not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Britain's Princess Diana shakes hands with a leper child during a visit to Sitanala leprosy hospital on November 4, 1989, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters She straddled both worlds with panache because she knew her mind and herself, marking out clearly that there were things she couldn't do without--like pretty gowns and tiaras--and things she wanted to do, like feeding the poor and working for the rights of the homeless. advertisement Also Read: Hurts that my wife and kids will never know Princess Diana: Prince William 4. The mother who encouraged independence Not one person in the world can deny what a splendid job Diana did of raising her two boys, Princes William and Harry. The grown men we know today wouldn't have had their approachable image if it hadn't been for the exposure Diana gave them throughout their childhood. Young Prince Harry tries to hide behind his mother during a morning picture session at Marivent Palace, August 9, 1988. Photo: Reuters Both William and Harry recently came out to discuss their mother openly as a tribute to her, and you can easily understand from these conversations that both young men grew up to be as open as their mother about their own issues--whether they're related to mental health, parenthood or relationships. They indulge in charitable works with as much ease as Diana did, which is still markedly different from how the rest of the royals do it. Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry gesture as they walk to look at flowers and tributes left in memory of the late Princess Diana at the gates of her former residence Kensington Palace in London. Photo: Reuters William's marriage with Kate Middleton is also a testimony to the fact that this future king is more than just comfortable with a woman who knows her own mind, despite what society or an establishment dictates. The way this couple is bringing up their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, also shows all the influence Diana has had on them. Diana's life and nature might have been made of contradictions, but whose isn't? The fact that a princess can be as common as the rest of us, that too with everyday problems, proves that we're all the same when you cut out all the privilege in the world. Diana's legacy is definitely all about equality, and there can't be an ideal that feminists--both men and women--can ever hold more dear. --- ENDS --- Five accused persons in the Benazir Bhutto murder case were exonerated of all charges on Thursday as the Anti-Terrorism Court hearing the case for over nine years announced its verdict. ATC Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict in court, where former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad suspects out on bail were also present. Aziz and Shahzad were sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs0.5 million each. Moreover, Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf was declared an absconder. The court had reserved its verdict on Wednesday after the counsels of the suspects completed their arguments. Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief and two-time former prime minister, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally in Rawalpindis Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007. An FIR over the incident was registered on behalf of the state following which the murder trial of five suspects began in February of 2008. However, once PPP won the 2008 elections, the investigation was handed over to the FIA. Read more: Mark Siegel blames Musharraf for benazir's murder During Wednesdays hearing, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) public prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar said then PPP leader Babar Awan was in Bhuttos backup vehicle, which was under the control of party leader Farhatullah Babar. He added that when the investigation was handed over to the FIA, the vehicle was recovered from Zardari House, Islamabad. He said then president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharrafs appearance before the court was excused as he had threats against his life from Al Qaeda. Of the 121 witnesses, only statements of 68 were recorded, he informed the court further. On Tuesday, suspects Hussain Gul and Rafaqats legal counsel Jawad Khalid told the court the statements received from his clients hold Musharraf, among others, responsible for the crime. He also claimed that there is no solid proof against his clients. There is a conflict between investigating officers statements and the weapons recovered from the scene of the crime, he added. This raises suspicion, he remarked, adding that the court should show mercy towards the innocent. The real culprits are not being punished for the crime, the counsel claimed. FIA prosecutor Khawaja Asif accepted that there is no record of the suspects in the DNA report. The truth is that Bhutto was targeted for deviating from US policy, said Khalid, adding that there were no explosives in the suicide jacket that the suspects had submitted for DNA testing. Moreover, the suspects DNA report has not been submitted to the court. Also read: ATC reinforces arrest order of JIT member in BB murder case On the other hand, the lawyer of Aziz and Shehzad said that nobody can stop a suicide attacker but it can be investigated who facilitated the attacker. The statements of those injured in the attack have yet to be recorded and the post mortem of the bodies was not done, the lawyer pointed out. From the three SIMs which were seized, two were not registered in any citizens name while the third SIMs ownership was not investigated, the court was informed. Former president Pervez Musharraf is also a suspect in the case, who has remained absconding since the beginning. A separate case was filed against his continuous absence, the trial for which is yet to begin. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) India will collaborate with Switzerland for developing trains which will tilt on approaching a bend, just like a motorbike on a winding road. A memorandum of understanding was signed today between the two countries in this regard. Such trains are now operational in 11 countries -- Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, the UK, Switzerland, China, Germany and Romania. advertisement Explaining how the tilting trains work, officials said that as a train rounds a curve at speed it cause objects to slide about. "While it makes seated passengers feel squashed by the armrest, standing passengers tend to lose their balance. The design of the tilting trains counteract this," an official said. During a curve to the left, the train tilts to the left and vice versa, the official said. The railway ministry signed two MoUs with the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport and Communications of the Swiss Confederation for technical cooperation in rail sector in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first agreement is a follow up on bilateral cooperation in rail sector discussed in the meeting held between Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the Swiss Ambassador in July 2016. The MoU aims at cooperation in the areas of traction rolling stock, electric multiple unit and train sets, traction propulsion equipments, freight and passenger cars, tilting trains, railway electrification equipments, tunnelling technology among other things. The second MoU was signed between Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology which will help the former in establishing the George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology (GFITT) at Goa especially for assimilation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of tunnelling, the officials said. PTI ASG ZMN --- ENDS --- During the 15 months of investigation and trial, the Aditya Sachdeva murder case saw several twists and turns with key witnesses turning hostile and the Supreme Court setting deadline for completion of trial. Eventually, the court pronounced Rocky Yadav guilty of killing Aditya. Chanda and Shyam Sachdeva with photograph of Aditya, who was killed by Rocky Yadav in a road rage incident in May, 2016 in Gaya. By India Today Web Desk: In May last year, Gaya district of Bihar suddenly hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A youth studying in class XII was killed in a case of road rage. The victim was identified as Aditya Sachdeva, the son of a well-known businessman of Gaya. A Gaya court today convicted Rocky Yadav, son of an influential politician and JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi and history sheeter Bindi Yadav. Here is how the case progressed: advertisement ADITYA SACHDEVA CASE: A TIMELINE May 7, 2016: At 7.25 pm, Aditya and his four friends left for Gaya after attending a birthday party in Bodh Gaya. Around 25 minutes later, Rocky Yadav's SUV overtook and stopped their car. Rocky was agitated as Aditya Sachdeva's car had overtaken his car on the way. After stopping the car, Rocky and his associates attacked Aditya and his friends. They tried to speed away in their car. But, Rocky and his gunman opened fire at Aditya. The bullet pierced through rear windshield, hit Aditya's head. His friends brought him to the ANMC hospital where Aditya was declared brought dead. May 8, 2016: News spread across Gaya and hit national headlines. The accused was identified as Rocky Yadav. May 10, 2016: Gaya Police arrested Rocky Yadav after lot of pressure from media, and hue and cry made by the BJP, then in Opposition in Bihar. June 10, 2016: Police filed chargesheet against Rocky Yadav, his cousin Teni Yadav and bodyguard Rajesh Kumar. They were charged under IPC Section 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). Rocky's father Bindi Yadav was also named in the chargesheet. October 19, 2016: The Patna High Court granted bail to Rocky Yadav. This led to huge uproar in media with Opposition parties in Bihar accusing the Mahagathbandhan government headed by Nitish Kumar of shielding the murder accused. October 21, 2016: Rocky Yadav walked out of the jail after getting bail from the Patna High Court. Under pressure from media and Opposition, Nitish government decided to challenge the bail order in the Supreme Court. October 28, 2016: The Supreme Court cancelled the bail order granted by Patna High Court. The apex court ordered the Bihar police to arrest Rocky Yadav. Trial continued in the Gaya court. The Supreme Court fixed the deadline of September 5, 2017 for completion of trial by the district court. August 24, 2017: The arguments from both prosecution and defence sides concluded. The defence counsel questioned the prosecution logic of establishing the murder plot solely on the basis of forensic lab report and call details of the accused as most of the witnesses had turned hostile, apparently under pressure, in the court. advertisement August 31, 2017: The Gaya court convicted Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky Yadav - five days ahead of the Supreme Court deadline. Quantum of sentence will be pronounced on September 6. ALSO READ | Gaya road rage: JD-U MLC's son Rocky Yadav convicted of killing Class XII student Aditya Sachdeva WATCH VIDEO JDU leader's son Rocky Yadav convicted of killing teenager over road rage --- ENDS --- A Tauranga woman who created an elaborate scheme to defraud taxpayers of nearly $3 million has been sentenced to prison for three years and seven months. Karina Charmaine Knedler, 31, was sentenced today in Tauranga District Court on 19 charges of using a document. The charges mostly related to false GST refund claims for several fictitious businesses which never actually traded. These offences resulted in her receiving more than $1.1 million in refunds. Inland Revenue Group Manager Investigations and Advice Patrick Goggin says Knedler created an extremely complex scheme to rip-off taxpayers. From 2014 to 2016, Knedler filed numerous faIse GST returns on behalf of Fitonez Limited, claiming a refund was due. In total, 21 fraudulent GST returns were filed, and the defendant provided forged invoices and bank statements to support the claims. Some of the refund claims related to fictitious property transactions in the millions of dollars. Knedler was calculating, devious, and quite relentless in her pursuit of money to which she wasnt entitled. Even when returns were being questioned, she produced numerous forged documents and conflicting explanations to back what became an increasingly elaborate web of deceit. Even while Knedler was being investigated in respect of Fitonez Limited, she commenced a series of new fraudulent offending relating to other fictitious companies set up using different personal identities. This defendants behaviour clearly showed brazen disregard for the tax system. She thought it was fine to repeatedly try to rip off millions in taxpayers money that goes towards funding vital social services. She used the money she received to fund overseas travel, construction of a residential property and costs associated with setting up her business activities, among other things. "In short, she showed utter contempt for honest New Zealanders who do the right thing and pay their fair share of tax. In addition to the GST offences, Knedler also committed fraud by making false Working for Families tax credits claims. This meant she received nearly $70,000 she wasnt entitled to for children that were in her care since 2010. Inland Revenue will be exploring every available action to recover the money Knedler had stolen from taxpayers, says Patrick. Actor James Rolleston has been sentenced to 200 hours community service on a charge of dangerous driving causing injury. Rolleston pleaded guilty to the charge in March, after a serious crash that left him badly injured in July last year. The 20-year-old also received 12-months supervision and was disqualified from driving for a year when he appeared for sentencing in the Opotiki District Court yesterday afternoon. The star of the hit New Zealand film Boy was charged after crashing the car he was driving into the Otara Bridge near the Eastern Bay of Plenty town on July 28, 2016. Rolleston was seriously injured after being trapped in his vehicle and a friend of his was thrown from the car and also seriously injured. The court heard that excessive speed and tiredness were to blame. Judge Louis Bidois said Rolleston and his friend were lucky to have escaped the crash alive. He accepted Rolleston had shown sincere remorse and had participated in safe driving campaigns in schools since the crash. The court heard that Rolleston was still recovering from head injuries and is unable to return to acting at the moment. His lawyer, Ron Mansfield, described Rolleston as a mature, polite, courteous and humble young man who was a credit to his family. He said Rolleston drove like an idiot with excessive speed for the road and conditions. "He is probably one of the nicest young men I have had the pleasure of acting for and such conduct is out of character." In a statement when he pleaded guilty, Rolleston said he was "genuinely regretful" for his actions, and to the harm caused to his friend. Rolleston played the lead role in the recent film Pork Pie, a remake of Kiwi classic Goodbye Pork Pie. -RNZ A Bland County man got jail time on Aug. 16 after being convicted of assaulting a woman whos made similar accusations against him three times since 2007. William Russell Wright, 54, of Bland had originally been charged with unlawful wounding, a felony, after Melissa Miller took out a warrant accusing him of pushing her on the pavement on July 6. The charge, though, was reduced to a misdemeanor last week in Bland County General District Court. In her criminal complaint, Miller wrote that she went to Wrights house and talked with him before he started to get on edge and paceing (sic) the floor. She claimed that Wright pushed her when she tried to leave and that she ended up seeking treatment in the emergency room. Miller also took out assault and battery warrants against Wright in 2007 and 2011. The 2011 charge was dismissed, but Wright was convicted of the 2007 charge. In that case, he was sentenced to serve two days in jail. In the most recent case, Wright was sentenced to 20 days in jail and will be on probation for a year. These were some of the other cases heard on Aug. 16. A Feb. 8 manufacturing/etc. drugs charge against Michael Emory Cox of Oakwood was certified to a grand jury for consideration. A possessing drug paraphernalia charge was dropped. Lashunta Shunike Stephens was convicted in her absence of a June 27 charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. Stephens was fined $100 plus $121 in court costs. Jan. 19 charges of conspiring to violate the drug act, manufacturing/etc. drugs, possessing a gun with drugs and felony drug possession against Carolyn Ann Tickle of Bland were certified to a grand jury. Julius Burton Wright Jr. of Dublin was convicted of a March 30 driving while intoxicated charge. Wright was given a 90-day suspended jail sentence, given a years probation and license suspension, fined $250 plus $356 in court costs, and ordered to complete an alcohol safety and awareness program at his expense. These were some of the cases heard on Aug. 23. April 10, 2016, charges of identity theft (two counts) and buying or receiving stolen goods (two counts) against Timothy Andrew Gaffney of Christiansburg were dropped. Mary Arleta Plumley of Langeloth, Pennsylvania, was convicted of an Aug. 13 driving while intoxicated charge, which was amended from second-offense DWI. Langeloth was given a 10-day jail sentence, given a years probation and drivers license suspension, fined $500 plus $351 in court costs, and ordered to complete an alcohol safety and awareness program at her expense. Jan. 19 charges of conspiring to violate the drug act and manufacturing/etc. drugs against Jeremy Lynn Thompson of Bland were certified to a grand jury. Charges of possessing a gun with drugs and manufacturing/etc. drugs were dropped. This was one of the cases heard on Aug. 2. Aug. 23, 2016, charges of firearm larceny (two counts) against Shellie Renee Nelson of Narrows were certified to a grand jury. The toll in today's building collapse in Bhendi Bazaar could have been much less had the families living in the building vacated it after authorities declared it unsafe. Rescue operations are on at the site of building collapse in Bhendi Bazaar, Mumbai. Photo: Reuters. By India Today Web Desk: The multi-storey building that collapsed today in the Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai today, killing 15 people so far, was said to be a 117-year-old structure. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) had declared the building unsafe in 2011. Two MHADA notices dated March 28, 2011 and May 20, 2011 declared the building dilapidated and offered transit accommodation to the remaining tenants and occupants. advertisement However, as the 117-year-old building collapsed, residents in the locality said that nine families were staying in the dilapidated structure. Some said that the building also housed a nursery-cum-playgroup. More than a dozen people have been rescued from the debris even as officials feared that at least 30 more could be trapped. CITY OF OLD BUILDINGS Mumbai is home to many old buildings such as the 117-year-old Husaini Building and most of them are in an urgent need of repair and restoration. More than 35,000 residential buildings in Mumbai and suburbs are at least 30 year old, while more than 10,000 buildings are believed to 70 year old. In a survey conducted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) early this year, 617 structures in the city were identified unsafe and "dilapidated". Of these, 112 were vacated while 42 were referred to the technical advisory committee. Further, in a pre-monsoon survey, the BMC identified 791 buildings as 'most dangerous'. After today's building collapse in Mumbai, South Mumbai BJP corporator Atul Shah said it was not clear if the 117-year-old Husaini building also featured the BMC's list of dangerous buildings. LIVING DANGEROUSLY The toll in today's building collapse in Bhendi Bazaar could have been much less had the families living in the building vacated it after MHADA declared it unsafe. Last month, residents of 32-year-old Raj Kishore Building in Kandivli West refused to vacate the dilapidated building despite several requests by the BMC. During the building's structural audit in 2012 it was found to be dilapidated. Since then, BMC officials have been visiting the building every year before monsoon, asking residents to vacate it. In Kandivli West alone, roughly 64 buildings are said to be in a dilapidated condition, and residents of 16 such buildings have managed to get a stay on their evacuation from court. Evicting residents from unsafe, dilapidated building has been a major challenge for the BMC. Residents of many such buildings refuse to vacate despite being served with BMC notices. THE BANE OF MONSOON The building collapse in Bhendi Bazaar was the second major such incident reported in Mumbai this monsoon. Twelve persons were killed and several injured when a residential building collapsed in Ghatkopar last month. advertisement Structures like the Husaini Building in Bhendi Bazaar have shaky foundation and have possibly never been repaired. These buildings are prone to collapse during monsoon, especially when the city receives more than 300 mm rainfall in a day. In June 2013, a five-storey building collapsed in Mahim area of Mumbai following two days of incessant rain. The incident claimed 10 lives and injured another seven people. While officials are still counting the dead in the building collapse of Bhendi Bazaar, many are still living dangerously in old, dilapidated buildings in Mumbai. ALSO READ: Mumbai's Ghatkopar building collapse: Mega city, maximum apathy Mumbai: Residents fight out BMC officials who request them to move out of dilapidated building Mumbai rains and the vicious cycle of water-logging, administrative apathy and hapless citizens ALSO WATCH: Mumbai: Atleast 30 people trapped in five-storey Dongri building collapse --- ENDS --- Tonight (August 31), the Town of Floyds A Small Town Summer Series at the Warren G. Lineberry Park will feature a concert with Mountain Heart and After Jack beginning at 6 p.m. The event is free. The Floyd County Store will feature: on Friday, the Jamboree ($5), Janet Turner & Friends at 6:30, The Floyd Country Four at 7:30, and The Snow Creek Old Time Band at 9:00. Saturday, free Americana Afternoons with Paul LeMay & David Hall at 12:00, Carrie Hinkley & Virginia Hollow at 1:00, Dan Purdom at 2:15 and The Floyd Radio Show at 7:30 p.m., featuring Nikki Giovanni, The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters and David & Linda Lay. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 day of show. On Sunday, at 11:00 a.m., Fiddle Workshop ($25) with Erynn Marshall and Mandolin Workshop ($25) with Carl Jones, and free Sunday Music Jams, Old-Time Music Jam with Earl White from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., and Bluegrass Music Jam with David Cannaday & Sue Winchester from 4 to 6:00 p.m. On Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m., ($25), Live Sound Workshop with Joebass. This week at Dogtown Roadhouse, The Dirk Quinn Band plays Friday, September 1 at 8 p.m. Music Road Company plays Saturday, September 2 at 8 p.m. The weekly Open Mic Night on Sunday, September 3 begins at 6 p.m. Music of the Mountains, sponsored by Hotel Floyd, is moved to the park for a town event on Thursday, August 31. At Wildwood Farms General Store on Saturday, the Country Boys will play from 7-9 p.m. On Sunday, music jam will take place from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday Sounds at the Chateau Morrisette Winery Courtyard September 3 will feature the Paul Deck Trio, playing Brazilian jazz, from 1 to 4 p.m. When Jaxon Fisher heard about the crisis in Texas, he wanted to help. The 5-year-old Floyd boy, soon to turn 6 years, got money out of his piggy bank to go shopping. His mother Emily, who wrote about him on Facebook, explained Jaxon has been learning about random acts of kindness in school and giving to the flood victims was his response. On Tuesday, Jaxon went shopping and bought toothpaste, diapers, wipes, toilet paper, dog food and toys for the children. He then stopped by the Christiansburg Police Station, which has a collection drive underway, to deliver his donations. Captain Doug Weddle was there to greet him. Weddle said the idea for the drive came from a dispatcher. Contributions are being accepted all week at Christiansburg fire, rescue and police locations. On Friday from 8 to 4, donations will also be accepted at Walmart. Weddle, who lives in Floyd, said requested items are from a list supplied by Gods Pit Crew website. Any money received in the drive will be used to purchase items on the list. Everything will be taken to the Crew. Their tractor trailers are in Houston now, Weddle said Tuesday. They cant get into Houston yet because of the flooding. Plans are to deliver local donations to a nearby collection site this weekend or the first of next week. Floyd resident David Morris will park his truck and trailer at Floyd Xpress this Saturday for donations of packages of bottled water that he will be taking to Gods Pit Crew in Danville on Monday morning. He will also take any monetary donations to the Crew for them to buy other supplies that are needed. The truck will be parked at the store beginning at 8 a.m. until it is full. Gods Pit Crew has also helped locally for instance in Pulaski, when disaster struck, reminded Indian Valley resident Paige Dalton. They are a wonderful organization. They respond to most anything that happens like this. Paiges husband Cephas has worked at the groups distribution center. She has helped to collect for them. If anyone wants to send money, she encourages them to note on the check memo line for Texas. Donations may be sent to Gods Pit Crew, 2499 North Main Street, Danville, VA 24540. Harvey at first a Category 4 Hurricane and now a Tropical Storm continued to wreak havoc in Texas days after making landfall. Over 51 inches of rain have fallen. Stories of survival and courage have emerged as people have been forced from their homes and make their way toward safe shelter. Local residents have been sharing some of the stories of their loved ones who have been affected. Laureen Hollandsworth Conner said, The area in which my aunt and uncle live was evacuated on Monday by the Coast Guard due to the opening/releasing of the Buffalo Bayou Dam. It is pretty close to their house. The dam caused most of the flooding in their area. They were able to move most of their belongings upstairs in their house. They left with their neighbors family and my aunts mother. I was told they went to a friends house north of them. They are safe. Not only my family, but Houston needs prayers right now. Her aunt wrote on Tuesday morning: Yes, we are at neighbors in a neighborhood across the street no electricity hoping to get in to nearby hotel with electricity relying on neighbors, we dont have vehicles or anything. Have to keep phone powered off to save electricity. Gretchen St. Lawrence has relatives who had to be evacuated from their Houston home in the middle of the night by boat and then later had to be evacuated from their friends house where they had sought shelter. Gretchen said later, They are now safe, on high ground. She added that more rain through Thursday is expected so theres no going back to check on their house for some time. David Weeks, who lives in Huntsville, 70 miles north of downtown Houston, told the Press his family wife and 16-year-old son - was on the edge of the storm but still received over 25 inches of rain. We just had to survive an incredible amount of rain. It was like you were under a waterfall. When you opened the door, he added, a wall of water was there. When it finally stops raining, you realize the constant drumbeat was gone. The family lost power for about 30 hours. Temperatures cooled down to 70 or 71. Prior to Harvey, the area had been experiencing temperatures of 100 degrees. He said 90-degree temperatures are now expected, and that would create problems, not only due to the lack of air conditioning in affected areas but also other conditions. A lot of people here have been going down with boats to help people, Weeks commented. A couple of storm shelters in his area are open and are filled with people. All of our groceries come out of Houston. Theres nothing on the shelves. Finding bread is difficult. County offices were to reopen on Wednesday. Schools are closed until next Tuesday. Weeks, District Attorney for Walker Co., is a Floyd County High graduate, who grew up in Willis, Va. On Wednesday, Weeks explained that their home in Huntsville is on high ground, but the backyard, which is flat, alternates between puddles and swamp. Houston is pretty much level....Theres just no place down there for the water to go. The devastation in Houston, he said, is beyond belief. The setting may have been an airport terminal, but the conversation focused on jobs and the economy Monday afternoon. Federal, state and local officials gathered at Mountain Empire Airport Monday afternoon to celebrate the re-opening of the newly rehabilitated runway. The $3.3 million price tag was borne largely by the Federal Aviation Administration, which contributed 90 percent of the funding. The Virginia Department of Aviation covered 8 percent of the costs, and Smyth and Wythe counties and the towns of Marion and Wytheville contributed 2 percent. The airports single runway was showing its age. After more than 20 years of use, major cracks were appearing. Roy Lewis, vice president and director of planning, for Delta Airport Consultants, (which designed the project) said the runway was at the end of its useful life. Brian Burkett, the airports manager, said that if the project had been delayed, the runway might have required replacement, and that would have cost closer to $10 million. The project repaired the cracks and included surface milling as needed as well as an overlay of asphalt pavement and new marking and pavement grooving. The grooving will help water better drain off the runway. Burkett explained that in prior years pilots would sometimes avoid Mountain Empire in wet weather because of the poor runway drainage. As scary as hydroplaning in a car is, he asked those gathered to imagine it in an aircraft coming in at over 100 mph. Airport personnel as well as several pilots gathered there agreed the new markings improve visibility for pilots. It pops out, one said. Burkett estimated that it will be another 20 years before the runway requires more major work. For their celebration of the rehab project, which closed the airport for about 30 days, the officials reflected on its contribution to the economy. Burkett only expects these improvements to increase corporate aircraft traffic, which, he said, is already up. He cited PepsiCo, MEC and Utility as among some of the areas biggest industrial users of the airport as well as their suppliers. Ten companies connected with PepsiCo have come in through Mountain Empire Airport recently, Burkett said. Marion Mayor David Helms agreed, saying that industries tell him the airport is essential. He thanked the FAA and Virginia aviation officials for their help. Curtis Pennington, the airport commissions chairman, said, The rehabilitated runway enhances the safety for all airport operations, but in particular the corporate jets visiting businesses in Smyth and Wythe counties. A 2011 Virginia Airport System Economic Impact Study concluded that Virginias general aviation airports contributed $728 million to the commonwealths economy in 2010, while Mountain Empire contributed $2.88 million to the two-county area. By PTI: Gaya, Aug 31 (PTI) A court here today held JD(U) MLC Manorama Devis son Rocky Yadav, her husband Bindeshwari Prasad and two others as guilty in the murder of a class 12 student in a road rage incident last year. The court would pronounce the quantum of sentence on September. Additional district judge Sachchidanad Singh passed the order holding Rakesh Kumar Ranjan alias Rocky, his father Bindi Yadav, cousin Teni Yadav and his mothers security guard Rajesh Kumar as guilty under various sections of the IPC. advertisement While Rocky Yadav was found guilty of IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 427 (mischief causing damage) and section 27 of the Arms Act, Bindi Yadav has been held guilty under sections 212 (harbouring the offender) and 177 (furnishing false information). Teni Yadav and Rajesh Kumar have been found guilty under sections applicable in the case of Rocky Yadav. All the four convicts were taken into custody soon after pronouncement of verdict and sent to Gaya central jail under tight security, police said. Rocky Yadav had fatally shot at Aditya Sachdeva, son of a Gaya-based businessman, after the latters car overtook his luxury SUV on May 7, 2016. Rocky had fled from the spot after committing the crime and took shelter at his fathers factory at Bodh Gaya from where he was arrested 48 hours later. His parents too were arrested and charged under different sections of the law. The police had filed charge sheet against the accused persons a month after the commission of the crime. During the trial, the victims four friends who were travelling with him in the same vehicle on the fateful day, turned hostile but the prosecution pressed on the charge on the basis of scientific evidences against Rocky and others. Rocky was granted bail by the Patna High Court on October 19 last year, but the state government challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which had on October 27 stayed the order. PTI CORR KDK KK ZMN --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 31 (PTI) Actor Saif Ali Khan today said his film "Kaalakaandi" is currently in the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and he is hopeful that the film will come out with a few cuts. There were reports that the Central Board of Certification (CBFC) ordered for as many as 73 cuts in the film, post which the makers went to FCAT. advertisement "I wouldnt say that the film is stuck. There were a lot of cuts (suggested by CBFC). There is a government body of films called FCAT. So, films that go there with a lot of cuts come out with no cuts or really less cuts," he told reporters. "Hopefully it will come out with few cuts because its a lovely movie and the process is still on. We think the trailer should come out after we know what the final cut is," the actor added. When asked how hopeful he was that films would no longer be censored since lyricist Prasoon Joshi has replaced Pahlaj Nihalani, he said, "I am always hopeful and also realistic. I dont know what will happen lets see." He was speaking at the trailer launch of his latest, "Chef", in which the 47-year-old actor plays the role of a father to a teenage son and how he rekindles his relationship with him. Saif said he tries to strike a balance between his personal and professional life in a way that he also gets to spend time with his son, Taimur. "When I am working Id like to do a 7-7 shift if I can. Thats really good because I get to see him (Taimur) in the morning and when I get home I get to spend a decent amount of time with him. If you shoot in the wrong shift, you dont get to see your children at all sometimes," he said. "In the earlier days, I remember senior actors telling me that they used to do so many shifts that they often didnt get to see the family for a long time. I think today we all have become more conscious of it now and we balance." The actor said the aim is to find the right balance and he is happy the way he and wife Kareena Kapoor Khan manage their personal life. "I am lucky we have some help at home. My wife and I try to balance it as much as we can so one of us is around always. Its all about the balance, which is the most important thing," he said. advertisement The actors son, Taimur, is already used to getting snapped by the paparazzi and Saif feels it is only fair that the media does this as there is an audience for that. When asked today star kids are getting fame right from the beginning, Said said, "The world is a free market. If theres a need for something, it is supplied. So, I think the press likes taking pictures and people are interested while having coffee to see the pictures, so it sells." When quizzed that Taimur is already a star, so how he sees that, the actor quipped, "I will take his autograph then." "Chef" is scheduled to release on October 6. PTI JUR ARS SSN --- ENDS --- This page no longer exists or may have been moved.If you believe this is a mistake please email The Bigg Boss 10 contestant hurt himself while shooting for a difficult scene. By India Today Web Desk: Bigg Boss 10 contestant and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai actor Rohan Mehra, who is currently seen playing the scheming Sameer in Colors' Sasural Simar Ka, was injured while shooting for an intense sequence, according to reports. "There was this scene where I had to hit myself continuously and in order to get the perfect shot, I hit myself with full force while we were doing close ups and I got a few bruises, no serious injuries," Rohan told Pinkvilla. advertisement "I applied ice over it and resumed shooting," the actor added. Now that is some serious dedication. Rohan made his comeback to the hit show after being a part of reality show Bigg Boss 10, where he courted a few controversies for losing his temper with infamous contestants like Om Swami and Priyanka Jagga. Also read: This is the secret behind BB 10 contestant Rohan Mehra's amazing transformation Also read: Is Rohan Mehra's Sasural Simar Ka character inspired by this popular Ranveer Singh movie? --- ENDS --- PapaBravo BHPian Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: KOL-DEL-LKO Posts: 713 Thanked: 3,467 Times re: Thar & Duster AWD Twins drive to Sikkim Nice graffiti work on the walls MG Marg, Gangtok Ladies ready for the eveningNice graffiti work on the wallsMG Marg, Gangtok Day 4-5 : STUCK in Gangtok We had a hard time coming from Kolkata to Sikkim this time. We had thought that the return would be better. We hardly knew what was in store for us. All this while, we were hearing about the floods in North Bengal. The train routes were submerged & the services were suspended. From the news we got to know that the roads connecting Kolkata to N.Bengal & Sikkim have gone underwater too. A few friends of ours were on a trip to Dooars in North Bengal. Their plan was to return one day prior to us. They told us that they went 200 kms on NH34 but could not cross Raigunj as the water level on the road was upto waist level. They had to return back to Siliguri. We knew that the water level wasn't receding so fast so we decided to stay in Gangtok till the situation got better. We utilized this day by going to Rumtek Monastery Ready for Rumtek Blackpearl with a monk kid Prayer wheels Posing while Sayantan & Sarmistha were busy clicking the monksBlackpearl with a monk kidPrayer wheels After visiting the monastery, we were again off to The Square, MG Marg for Lunch. The Square is one of our favourite food joints in Gangtok. Lunch at The Square, MG The guys came back to the hotel, while the girls went on for some shopping. Dinner was served in the Hotel. Post dinner desserts were consumed in Cafe Live & Loud nearby Dessert Session All this while we were in constant touch with our friends who were trying to get back to Kolkata by finding out alternative routes. By this time we had 4 options of coming back to Kolkata Option 1 : Thru Dalkhola-Purnea-Bhagalpur..... Rejected because the bridge connecting Dalkhola & Purnea had broken Option 2 : Thru Siliguri-Araria-Purnea-Bhagalpur.... Rejected because the roads were washed away near Araria Option 3 : Thru Nepal (Kakdbitta-Biratnagar-Forbesganj-Bhagalpur....) Rejected because Biratnagar was flooded & the border was closed We were in touch with Bhpian Sheel constantly & the above information was verified by him. A lot of thanks to him. Option 4 : NH 34. The same route which was being tried by our friends for two days now but they had not been successful. We decided to go to Siliguri & stay there & wait for the window of opportunity to cross the flooded area. We left Gangtok at 10 in the morning. The other team was on their third attempt to try this route. They were around 45 minutes ahead of us on the same route. We thought of following them & give a try ourselves. Bhpian Uprasenjit was in that team & was dropping location regularly thru all the detours. We were following their footsteps hoping that we made it through. Around 100kms ahead of Siliguri, we got our first shock. My car started juddering & these warning lights came up. After a lot of calls to the ASC & members of Team Duster India(TDI), it was concluded that one of the injectors has been blocked. We tried flashing the error by disconnecting the battery terminals but the problem didn't resolve. On assurance from ASC, we decided to continue our journey to Malda, where would show the car to the ASC & get it repaired. So, the onward journey on started on 3 cylinders. I had to maintain an rpm between 1500 to 2100 in order to minimize juddering & putting load on the engine. I was driving at 50 kmph for the rest of journey. Ghostrider28 was ahead of me while Blackpearl was behind in order to have a back up if anything else goes wrong. Soon we started entering the flooded area. I was not sure whether the car will make it through the floods in this conditions. I could not revv to hard to get through. Everything underwater Starting of floodEverything underwater Gradually the water crossings started becoming deeper than the earlier ones. Crossed all of them with fingers crossed. Now the time gap between us & the other team had increased to more than one hour since I could not speed. The other team informed us about a detour & told us that the water level was pretty high. Two cars from the other team had stalled crossing the stream. I had no hope of crossing it but since I had two more cars along, we approached that crossing. Sun had already bid us goodbye & it was dark. The other team got their cars repaired & were waiting for us on the other side of this section. It was really great of them to wait for our safe passage. There were two back to back crossings with more than 2.5 ft of water. As per plan, Blackpearl would lead in his Thar, which would creat a bow wave & I would follow him behind. Behind me was Ghostrider28. A short video of the crossing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpkki6NlWeE My headlights went dipped twice underwater. But all three of us made it without any problem. Meeting the other team(Atish, Gaurab, Abhishek & Prasenjit) just after crossing the stream. No amount of thanks is enough for them. We could only cross this section due to their constant help & route guidance. Reunion with the other team Reunion with the other team We halted at Malda to show the car the next day while the other team proceeded toward Kolkata. Day 6 : Malda to Kolkata Got up in the morning & went straight ahead to the service center. As expected, the OBD found out the problem to be Injector 1. Bad fuel was the culprit. Since this was a big job, Malda ASC could not do it at the spot. I spoke to the Head technician there & he assured me tht the car is fit to go till Kolkata albeit in the same manner, that is keeping revvs bewteen 1500-2100 & speed below 60. The staff at Malda ASC was very helpful & attended to my car on priority. We started from Malda at 2 pm. Team at Malda ready for the final leg Team at Malda ready for the final leg The traffic was less since most roads were closed due to flood. We drove at slow speed towards SH7 & took a break Teesta(Rasjri) & Meghna We soon reached NH2 & there was a sigh off relief since we were near home & the roads were good. We reached home at 2200 hrs. The ladies obliged us by making home cooked dinner at our place. The journey had come to an end. Even with so many hurdles all along, this was one of the most memorable time we had. After all, for a traveler, if you are on the road, you have to be ready for everything. We all enjoyed this trip lot & hope you guys enjoyed going through the TL as well. Signing off Regards, Pawan While I was resting, the rest of the gang went to a nearby cafe on MG Marg to grab a biteWe had a hard time coming from Kolkata to Sikkim this time. We had thought that the return would be better. We hardly knew what was in store for us. All this while, we were hearing about the floods in North Bengal. The train routes were submerged & the services were suspended. From the news we got to know that the roads connecting Kolkata to N.Bengal & Sikkim have gone underwater too.A few friends of ours were on a trip to Dooars in North Bengal. Their plan was to return one day prior to us. They told us that they went 200 kms on NH34 but could not cross Raigunj as the water level on the road was upto waist level. They had to return back to Siliguri. We knew that the water level wasn't receding so fast so we decided to stay in Gangtok till the situation got better.We utilized this day by going to Rumtek MonasteryAfter visiting the monastery, we were again off to The Square, MG Marg for Lunch. The Square is one of our favourite food joints in Gangtok.The guys came back to the hotel, while the girls went on for some shopping. Dinner was served in the Hotel. Post dinner desserts were consumed in Cafe Live & Loud nearbyAll this while we were in constant touch with our friends who were trying to get back to Kolkata by finding out alternative routes. By this time we had 4 options of coming back to KolkataThru Dalkhola-Purnea-Bhagalpur.....because the bridge connecting Dalkhola & Purnea had brokenThru Siliguri-Araria-Purnea-Bhagalpur....because the roads were washed away near ArariaThru Nepal (Kakdbitta-Biratnagar-Forbesganj-Bhagalpur....)because Biratnagar was flooded & the border was closedWe were in touch with Bhpianconstantly & the above information was verified by him. A lot of thanks to him.NH 34. The same route which was being tried by our friends for two days now but they had not been successful.We decided to go to Siliguri & stay there & wait for the window of opportunity to cross the flooded area. We left Gangtok at 10 in the morning. The other team was on their third attempt to try this route. They were around 45 minutes ahead of us on the same route. We thought of following them & give a try ourselves. Bhpianwas in that team & was dropping location regularly thru all the detours. We were following their footsteps hoping that we made it through.Around 100kms ahead of Siliguri, we got our first shock. My car started juddering & these warning lights came up.After a lot of calls to the& members of, it was concluded that one of the injectors has been blocked. We tried flashing the error by disconnecting the battery terminals but the problem didn't resolve. On assurance from ASC, we decided to continue our journey to Malda, where would show the car to the ASC & get it repaired. So, the onward journey on started on 3 cylinders. I had to maintain an rpm between 1500 to 2100 in order to minimize juddering & putting load on the engine. I was driving at 50 kmph for the rest of journey. Ghostrider28 was ahead of me while Blackpearl was behind in order to have a back up if anything else goes wrong.Soon we started entering the flooded area. I was not sure whether the car will make it through the floods in this conditions. I could not revv to hard to get through.Gradually the water crossings started becoming deeper than the earlier ones. Crossed all of them with fingers crossed. Now the time gap between us & the other team had increased to more than one hour since I could not speed.The other team informed us about a detour & told us that the water level was pretty high. Two cars from the other team had stalled crossing the stream. I had no hope of crossing it but since I had two more cars along, we approached that crossing. Sun had already bid us goodbye & it was dark. The other team got their cars repaired & were waiting for us on the other side of this section. It was really great of them to wait for our safe passage. There were two back to back crossings with more than 2.5 ft of water. As per plan, Blackpearl would lead in his Thar, which would creat a bow wave & I would follow him behind. Behind me was Ghostrider28.My headlights went dipped twice underwater. But all three of us made it without any problem.Meeting the other team(Atish, Gaurab, Abhishek & Prasenjit) just after crossing the stream. No amount of thanks is enough for them. We could only cross this section due to their constant help & route guidance.We halted at Malda to show the car the next day while the other team proceeded toward Kolkata.Got up in the morning & went straight ahead to the service center. As expected, the OBD found out the problem to be Injector 1. Bad fuel was the culprit. Since this was a big job, Malda ASC could not do it at the spot. I spoke to the Head technician there & he assured me tht the car is fit to go till Kolkata albeit in the same manner, that is keeping revvs bewteen 1500-2100 & speed below 60. The staff at Malda ASC was very helpful & attended to my car on priority. We started from Malda at 2 pm.The traffic was less since most roads were closed due to flood. We drove at slow speed towards SH7 & took a breakWe soon reached NH2 & there was a sigh off relief since we were near home & the roads were good. We reached home at 2200 hrs. The ladies obliged us by making home cooked dinner at our place. The journey had come to an end. Even with so many hurdles all along, this was one of the most memorable time we had.After all, for a traveler, if you are on the road, you have to be ready for everything.We all enjoyed this trip lot & hope you guys enjoyed going through the TL as well.Signing offRegards,Pawan Last edited by PapaBravo : 31st August 2017 at 00:27 . Amazons digital assistant, Alexa, has a new musical talent, the company announced Tuesday. Today, were making Alexa even smarter with an all-new feature that lets you play music synchronized on multiple Echo devices to provide room-filling music throughout your home, said Amazon Alexa Vice President Toni Reid. Setting up the syncing is easy. Using the Alexa app, you give a group of devices a name first floor, for instance. Then you can play music through all the devices simultaneously by saying something like Alexa, play Allman Brothers first floor. Alexa supports music streams from Amazon Music, Tunein, iHeartRadio and Pandora. Spotify and SiriusXM support is expected soon. The feature is available now for owners of Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show devices in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Voice-Enabling Bose Amazon on Tuesday also announced the immediate availability of new APIs that allow any connected speaker to tap into Alexas multiroom functionality. For example, if you had three Echo Dots and two Alexa Voice Service-enabled devices in your first floor group, youd be able to synchronize music through all five devices. Among the brands working with Amazon to make their systems Alexa-friendly are Sonos, Bose, Sound United and Samsung. Alexa set the standard for voice in smart homes, so working with Amazon to bring voice control to Sonos for the first time was an obvious choice, said Antoine Leblond, vice president of software at Sonos. This has been a close collaboration from the beginning he continued, as weve worked together to combine the magic of Alexa with the seamless multiroom audio capabilities that Sonos pioneered. Market Leader With multiroom music synchronization, Amazon is bringing its Echo products in line with Google Home, which already supports that feature, noted Jonathan Collins, a research director at ABI Research. Google Home is the only current challenger to Alexas grip in the smart home voice control market, he told TechNewsWorld. However, Google is a distant challenger. Amazons share of the voice control speaker market is 82 percent, compared to Googles 24 percent, according to a survey Edison Research released in June. Echo seems to have won the early battle for the hearts and minds of consumers. When asked which device better fit their lifestyle, 17 percent of the 2,200 adult participants in a recent Morning Consult survey chose the Amazon Echo. Another 12 percent chose the Echo Dot. That compared to 11 percent for Apples yet-to- be-released HomePod and 11 percent for Google Home. Echo is the segment leader in terms of both market share and third-party hardware support. This move potentially ensures the first and eventually expands the last, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. Amazon is the market maker for the segment. The others are slipstreaming Amazon at the moment, he told TechNewsWorld. Amazon also licenses out their platform to others, Enderle noted, which allows it to work more broadly in the long term than any of the hardware-only solutions, like Apples. Parrying Apple The combination of multiroom and third-party speaker support could serve as a bulwark against Apple, which will be launching its HomePod speaker at the end of the year. During the introduction of that product, Apple emphasized the quality of the speaker for music, aligning it with the likes of Sonos. This is a defensive move on the part of third parties like Sonos and Amazon to get out in front of what Apple has positioned as a superior music system, suggested Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insight for the Local Search Association. All the players in the market have one thing in common: They want to use voice control to drive consumers to core businesses, whether that be selling music or anything else. Thats why the devices have to appeal to as wide a range of consumers as possible with their feature sets and price points, ABIs Collins said. The greater the adoption, the more additional value that can be driven to the vendors core services and revenues streams. The stakes could be very high for companies jockeying for position in this market. If Amazon gets embedded in the home and is able to hold off Google and Apple, then it can be the gateway for this ecosystem of devices that are voice-controlled everything from TVs to light bulbs, LSAs Sterling told TechNewsWorld. Then, suddenly, its at the center of all this data that it can use in various ways. T-Mobile last week announced that it has begun the long-anticipated rollout of its new 600-MHz LTE premium low-band spectrum network in Cheyenne, Wyoming, kicking off a massive rollout designed to provide wireless coverage to rural communities across the United States. T-Mobile also plans to use the low-band spectrum to accelerate deployment of next-generation 5G mobile service. T-Mobile acquired about 45 percent of the low-band spectrum licenses the Federal Communications Commission made available two months ago. It spent about US$8 billion to gain access to millions of potential wireless customers in small communities where access to wireless and broadband coverage has been limited due to low-density populations and high buildout costs. T-Mobile aims to meet a record-setting deployment schedule, it said, condensing a two-year deployment process to make the network available to consumers in only six months. T-Mobile has seen rapid growth in recent years, observed Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst. The one area where it has not grown is the rural U.S., he told the E-Commerce Times. Major Expansion T-Mobile has set an ambitious schedule for deploying low-band spectrum around the country, with new service planned for Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, coastal North Carolina, central Pennsylvania, central Virginia and eastern Washington. The deployment will bring T-Mobiles total LTE coverage from 315 million to 321 million customers nationwide by the end of 2017, according to the company. T-Mobile earlier this year said it was working with PBS and Americas Public Television Stations to cover the cost of relocating low-power broadcast facilities to new broadcasting frequencies following the FCC auction. Up to 38 million rural viewers are at risk of losing access to free public television with the change to new frequencies. Tech Advancements Nokia and Qualcomm have developed new technology to facilitate the wireless deployment, T-Mobile noted, and Samsung and LG plan to have new mobile devices ready to operate on the spectrum by the end of the year. Nokias Flexi MultiRadio 10 Base Station will be used in the buildout. Qualcomms X20 LTE modem and RF transceiver were designed with 600-MHz capability, Jim Tran, senior vice president of product management, noted in an online post this spring. Qualcomm had been working with the FCC on the design, he said. However, OEMs would face antenna design challenges, Tran pointed out, because the range of frequencies supported by mobile devices would be stretched at the low end of the radio spectrum. Qualcomms RF Front End technologies, including dynamic antenna tuning, were designed to operate in the 600-MHz spectrum without having to increase antenna size or compromise RF performance. Both Qualcomms Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, which is part of its 835 mobile platform, and its WTR5975 RF transceiver will support 600 MHz, according to Tran. The T-Mobile deployment will help spur new competition in Wyoming, where smaller, local providers compete against major telecoms like Verizon and AT&T, said Bryan Woody, chief customer relations officer at Union Wireless, a Wyoming-based carrier. Finally a Tier 1 carrier is trying to push the envelope, he told the E-Commerce Times. Late to the Party? However, the impact on Wyoming will be limited, at best, in the view of Matt Larsen, CEO of VistaBeam, a Nebraska-based wireless firm. It may help drive down the price of cellular service somewhat, but the areas that they will be going to first are the ones that already have pretty decent coverage from existing providers, and there is nothing particularly innovative or interesting about 600-Mhz spectrum that will make people want to switch, he told the E-Commerce Times. Frankly, T-Mobile is a little late to the party, said Verizon Wireless spokesperson Meagan Dorsch. While theyre catching up, were planning for tomorrows customer needs. We currently have the largest 5G test bed in the world in 11 cities where precommercial trials are going on with live customers, she told the E-Commerce Times. Low-band spectrum such as T-Mobile is now deploying is what we started deploying years ago, Dorsch said, and what our customers are using now. Our 4G LTE network, using 700 MHz spectrum, is the largest in the country. T-Mobiles smaller network has roughly 750,000 fewer square miles of coverage. By PTI: (Eds: With additional inputs) New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court today agreed to hear next week the Centres plea seeking transfer of various petitions challenging the validity of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) pending before various high courts to the Delhi High Court. The government mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and said that 21 petitions challenging the validity of the Act were pending before the high courts across the country. advertisement Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh told the bench, which also comprised Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, that all these matters should be transferred for adjudication before the high court here. To avoid multiplicity of litigation on the issue, all these matters pending in the high courts including those of Bombay and Karnataka, should be transferred here, he said. The bench agreed to hear the plea on September 4. The RERA came into effect on May 1, a year after it was passed by both Houses of Parliament. The validity of this Act has been challenged in various high courts by several petitioner, including the builders and promoters of real estate firms. Recently, the Bombay High Court had asked the Centre and the state to file their responses on the petitions challenging various provisions of the Act. As per the Act, developers, projects and agents had till July 31 to mandatorily register their projects with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Any unregistered project would be deemed to be unauthorised by the regulator. Under RERA, each state and union territory will have its own Regulatory Authority (RA) which will frame regulations and rules as per the Act. RERA covers both new project launches and the on-going projects which have not been completed or the occupation certificate not received. It makes it obligatory on the part of the builders not to book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project without registering the project with the authority. PTI ABA PKS SJK RKS ARC --- ENDS --- By PTI: (eds: Inserting para four) New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) With Mission-150 on his mind, BJP chief Amit Shah today held a strategy session with the party leaders tasked with leading its charge in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls. Union ministers Arun Jaitley, who has been made the states election in-charge, as well as Narendra Singh, Jitendra Singh, P P Chaudhury and Niramala Sitharaman- the four co-incharges- met Shah at his residence and were joined by senior organisational leaders including general secretaries Ram Lal and Bhupender Yadav. advertisement "Detailed discussions were held over the Gujarat polls. We have kept our eyes on Mission-150 and will work with enthusiasm and energy to achieve it," Yadav, who is in-charge of the states affairs, later told reporters. Asked whether Shahs meeting was linked to expected reshuffle in the Modi Cabinet, Yadav insisted that it was not so and deliberations were over the Gujarat polls. Gujarat BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani also attended the meeting. The assembly poll are slated for later this year. The party has set a target of winning 150 seats in the 182-member assembly. In the last elections in 2012 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the states chief minister, the BJP had won 116 seats. In 2007 and 2002, two other polls it fought under Modi, it had won 117 and 127 seats. With Modi now the prime minister, the party must strive to win 150 seats, Shah had told party leaders in Gujarat earlier. The state has witnessed a lot of development under Modi and it has to be continued, Yadav said today, adding that organisational matters related to the state elections were discussed in the meeting. The western state has emerged as a saffron citadel with the BJP in power there since 1995 except for over an year when its rebel Shankersinh Vaghela split the party and formed a government with the support of the Congress. Vaghela recently quit the Congress. Many of his supporters have joined the BJP. PTI KR RT --- ENDS --- New findings on the past and future of sea ice cover in the Arctic Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX) Aug 30, 2017 Temperatures in the Arctic are currently climbing two to three times faster than the global average. The result - and, thanks to feedback effects, also the cause - is dwindling sea ice. In a study published in the actual volume of Nature Communications, geo- and climate researchers at the Alfred-Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI) show that, in the course of our planet's history, summertime sea ice was to be found in the central Arctic in periods characterised by hig ... read more The letter written to protest his removal as party leader in Parliament is dated 14th August 2017 and signed by Sharad Yadav himself, but, it talks about a petition pending before the EC since 25th August 2017. By Anand Patel: Rebel Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav's letter to party MP Kaushalendra Singh has led to more embarrassment for the veteran leader. The letter written to protest his removal as party leader in Parliament is dated 14th August 2017 and signed by Sharad Yadav himself. But, it talks about a petition pending before the Election Commission since 25th August 2017 in which Sharad Yadav has staked claim to have support of JD-U rank and file. The letter questions party national president Nitish Kumar's authority to remove Sharad Yadav from the post of leader of JD-U in the Rajya Sabha. advertisement The letter reads, "As a matter of fact that Shri Nitish Kumar and yourself (Kaushalendra Kumar) have abandoned the basic principles of JDU and have voluntarily given up the membership of the party.' Sharad Yadav has alleged Nitish Kumar of political opportunism and violating the trust of people of Bihar. The rebel leader has also claimed that majority of rank and file of the party have not approved the alignment with the BJP and are not supporting Nitish Kumar and his faction. Sharad Yadav has also informed that his faction has already moved to the Election Commission staking claim over the party symbol since majority of the rank and file of the JD-U are with him. The letter further says that the matter is pending before Election Commission and hence the decision to remove him from the post of party leader in Rajya Sabha is invalid. Arun Srivastava, close aide of Sharad Yadav confirmed to India Today TV the decision to move EC and said that he was not aware about the back dated letter to Kaushalendra Kumar. Meanwhile, the JD-U spokesperson K C Tyagi has taken strong exception to the letter calling it a fraudulent practice and a desperate attempt by the rebel leader to save his Rajya Sabha membership. He further added that the party is mulling all legal options to move to Rajya Sabha chairman to disqualify Sharad Yadav's membership holding him responsible for anti-party activities. Party has maintained that Sharad Yadav's participation in RJD leader Lalu Yadav's 28th August rally in Patna amounts to anti-party activity. ALSO READ: Communal forces are working to destroy India's unity: Sharad Yadav The rise of a rebel: Why JD-U's Sharad Yadav can't be written off --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Realtors apex body CREDAI today said image of the entire real estate industry is being hit due to stalled projects of some big builders in Delhi-NCR and offered its help in completing their under-construction flats. A meeting was held today among a group of ministers of the Uttar Pradesh government, senior official of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities and developers to discuss the problems of homebuyers, particularly of three builders -- Jaypee, Amrapali and Unitech. advertisement CREDAI-NCR President Pankaj Bajaj said the associations members can become co-developers in the stalled projects, provided they have legal safeguards backed by a state policy. Delhi-NCR property market is currently witnessing huge protests by homebuyers of Jaypee Group and Amrapali due to significant delays in delivery of projects. These two firms have also defaulted in repayment of loans to lenders. Buyers of other developers such as Unitech, The 3C Company, Today Homes, Cosmic Group and Earth Infrastructure are also protesting on streets. Representatives of Jaypee and Unitech did not attend todays meeting, while Amrapalis top management was present. A three-member panel has been formed by the state government to address issues being faced by home buyers. "CREDAI has come forward to resolve the difficult situation of stalled deliveries of a few larger developers. The image of the entire industry is suffering because of this situation," said Bajaj. He said the association has given its suggestions to the group of ministers. "Once a viable structure for appointing co-developers in stalled projects is found, we shall be circulating the list of available projects amongst our members. We hope the situation gets resolved," he said. However, Bajaj made it clear that CREDAIs role would be that of a facilitator and not a developer or guarantor. "We also want to appreciate the all-out efforts of the state government to ensure deliveries to the home buyers," he added. PTI MJH ABM --- ENDS --- Baton Rouge police on Thursday identified the man shot to death Wednesday afternoon near the intersection of Greenwell Springs Road and Washington Avenue. Joshua Washington, 28, died at the scene in the 5500 block of Greenwell Springs Road, BRPD spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola said in a news release. Washington, 3579 Victoria Drive, was shot about 3:15 p.m. No suspect or motive has been identified, Coppola said. Neighbors at the scene said Wednesday they heard as many as 30 shots ring out and some said they saw a car speed away down Greenwell Springs Road. Can't see video below? Click here. Dozens of shell casings littered the ground around an SUV parked behind a laundromat. The bright yellow evidence cones marking the casings then trailed into a 5-foot wide alleyway where the man's body lay on the other side of a short chain-link fence. The SUV was towed away with four bullet holes in the passenger side windows. On May 31, at the same intersection, Donovan Robinson, 25, was killed after he went to the food mart there. His grandmother, Priscilla Stevenson, had said Robinson went to the store to get a pack of cigarettes before he was shot multiple times. Advocate staff writer Emma Discher contributed to this report. The Advocate's Aug. 22 editorial, which speaks in praiseworthy terms of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson's recent visit to New Orleans, was an unfortunate rewrite of history. After Katrina, thousands of our city's most vulnerable residents were locked out of their homes in public housing developments and prevented from returning, even though many of the buildings came through the storm relatively unscathed. The Advocate's statement that even these undamaged buildings "needed to go," particularly without citing any evidence that the new model has benefitted New Orleans, is as much a statement about the people who lived in them as the buildings themselves. Instead of being welcomed back to the city, displaced public housing residents were issued vouchers and expected to find an apartment in a city where half the rental housing stock was destroyed and rents had doubled overnight. The housing market they re-entered after Katrina was also one where voucher holders seeking apartments faced an 82 percent rate of discrimination. Under these conditions, the demolishing and redevelopment of the Big Four public housing developments did not tackle the problem of concentrated poverty. Instead, it pushed concentrated poverty farther away from the city center into still poor and segregated neighborhoods. The Big Four developments St. Bernard, Lafitte, B.W. Cooper, and Magnolia provided over 5,000 units of public housing before Katrina. Now, over 5,000 Housing Choice Voucher ("Section 8") families live in New Orleans East, while nearly 3,000 voucher families reside across the river in Algiers. In some neighborhoods, as many as 700 voucher families live within the space of a few blocks. While Columbia Parc the redeveloped St. Bernard features a host of new amenities and Bienville Basin the new Iberville is near jobs in the French Quarter, most voucher holders are forced to live in farther-flung, heavily segregated neighborhoods with little access to jobs, public transit, high-performing schools, grocery stores, or other amenities. It is sadly ironic that the HUD secretary praised the new developments as examples of what we should be striving for because they are "healthy communities that are walkable, that are looking out for education, for health care, that ensure that theyre not food deserts." This is certainly true, but also true is that the overwhelming majority of housing authority residents now have less access to those resources because of the redevelopments. The current housing authority leadership, to their credit, is working to restore affordable units to scattered sites in neighborhoods that already have these resources, like the Bywater and Uptown. The units are desperately needed in these areas, which have become some of the most expensive in the city. They will provide residents with easy access to jobs, and the walkability, educational opportunities and health care access that Secretary Carson lauded. The editorial closes with a call for more funding to address our affordable housing crisis and we agree: we are still a long way from fulfilling our promise to the vast majority of HANO residents who have yet to benefit from the "fruits" of the new developments. Maxwell Ciardullo Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center New Orleans By PTI: Srinagar, Aug 31 (PTI) Suspected militants today shot and injured a police officer in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. Sub-Inspector Gowhar Ahmad was shot by militants in the leg at a field near his residence at Imam Sahib in Shopian, 52 kms from here, around 7 pm, a police official said. He said the officer was taken to a hospital, from where he was referred to the Bone and Joint hospital here for treatment. advertisement The condition of the injured policeman, who is posted at Anantnag, is stated to be stable. Ahmad had gone home to celebrate Eid with his family. PTI MIJ GVS --- ENDS --- Police seized ammunition, drugs and cash during a raid in Canberra's city centre on Wednesday. A "significant amount" of suspected stolen property was also seized during the raid, carried out by ACT Policing's Targeting and City Response teams. Police seized ammunition, drugs and cash during a raid in Canberra's city centre. Credit:ACT Policing Police suspected the seized drugs were cocaine, cannabis and anabolic steroids. A 33-year-old Canberra man was arrested at the residence and will soon face ACT Magistrates Court on property, guns and drugs charges. Missing Canberra teen Kristy-Leigh Wetton has been found safe and well. On Thursday night, police called on the public to help find the 14-year-old, after she was last seen about 3:20pm at Melba High School. Kristy-Leigh was last seen leaving her school on Thursday. Credit:ACT Policing At the time, she was understood to have planned to walk to Charnwood. Kristy-Leigh remained missing on Friday morning before she was eventually found safe some time before midday. Police had been called to the couple's Gordon home previously and Al-Mdwali approached at least one support service. Credit:Jeffrey Chan She left Al-Harazi and went to court with her sister to seek divorce papers but was told the couple weren't eligible as they had only been separated several days. Al-Mdwali returned after senior members of the Arabic community brokered a "peace agreement" between Al-Harazi and her father. Legal Aid ACT cultural liaison officers Zouheir Dalati and Engy Abdelsalam - who are migrants from Muslim backgrounds - help culturally and linguistically diverse clients. Credit:Claudia Long The deal was reached, and she went home to her husband, weeks before her violent death in March 2015. It was hope for a better life that brought Al-Mdwali to Australia, and one brutal and final act of domestic violence at the hands of her husband that ripped her from the tight-knit Muslim family that tried to protect her. They lose their family connections, they are homeless, they have financial issues. They're violent and they're dangerous and it's like leaving a ticking bomb in the community. Legal Aid ACT cultural liaison officer Engy Abdelsalam Canberra's cluster of high-profile killings linked to domestic and family violence around the time of Al-Mdwali's death were a glaring reminder abuse behind closed doors cut across all ages, genders, cultures and socioeconomic groups. But it was the perfect storm that surrounded her stabbing murder and her husband's dramatic trial earlier this year that revealed the particular vulnerabilities and barriers faced by migrant victims in their battle against domestic abuse. Social isolation, cultural and family pressures, stigmas around divorce, language barriers, visa arrangements, reluctance to seek outside help, unemployment, lack of transport and difficulty securing housing have been identified as hurdles to victims seeking help. A lack of knowledge about their rights and the kinds of support services available, and fear of police and the justice system further exacerbated those challenges, which continued to face a rising number of Canberrans. ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner John Hinchey says culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women were less likely to report violence and less likely to leave a violent relationship than other Australian women. "Achieving safety is a difficult process for any woman in a violent relationship but it is even harder for CALD women," Hinchey says. Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT chief executive Mirjana Wilson can't say domestic abuse happens more often in culturally and linguistically diverse communities, but those women are over-represented among the service's clients. Those who identified as having a culturally diverse background accounted for 4131 of about 20,000 contacts the service had with clients - the vast majority of whom were women - in the first six months of 2017. The service has supported more than 1400 people who identified as having a diverse background in the past two years. Wilson says a lot of those women have come to Australia based on a belief life here would be better than in the country left behind. Their arrival often signals a real clash of cultures, systems and ways of addressing problems such as family violence. "What they might have thought is acceptable or OK is not and that's a really big thing for them to get their heads around. "In the community there may be awareness [domestic violence] is happening, but there's pressure to keep it in the community and keep the family together. "It's also really secretive so they're not always letting a lot of people into what their situation is." Increased demand for help for culturally and linguistically diverse clients drove the appointment of Legal Aid ACT cultural liaison officers Zouheir Dalati and Engy Abdelsalam - both migrants with Muslim backgrounds - in late 2015. Abdelsalam helps at least one woman each day affected by family violence with securing legal assistance, safety planning, court visits, finances, accommodation, counselling and migration matters; clients have come from about 50 countries. She says stigmas attached to marriage breakdown and divorce remain a powerful force among many migrant communities, often led by male elders, and could lead victims to staying with abusive partners for fear of being ostracised if they leave. "With the amount of family violence that's happening I think these attitudes are changing, but it's still there," she says. "Some [community elders] when women come to them and disclose family violence they will just encourage them to go back and sometimes even blame them for the violence. That's something you think is a cliche but it actually happens." Dalati faces many challenges trying to explain to migrant men - including a small number who had been victims of violence - that domestic violence was unacceptable and often led to criminal offences in Australia. But he also points out that men from many other cultures were used to providing for their families and the majority of his clients had been "victims of their circumstances". "They came here and found out they are part of a much larger family from the other side, the wife's family, who have been here for ages. "[They have] good English, good connections and he's here with limited English skills, limited connections, no job ... emotion will get into that. "Males in the Middle East, for example, aren't used to talking about their feelings and emotions, those are big things." The idea of seeking outside help was unusual to many. Dalati says marriage problems are considered a family issue and often handled within families or communities. "It's part of their culture - even if they don't want to help they have to do it. "It's a customary kind of law over there." Dalati says he's faced resistance to running information sessions on domestic violence in the past from some community elders. "It's a trust issue as well, they don't trust the system. It's a 50/50 relationship where we can't just blame the community, we have some work to do here." Abdesalam says there is a "huge gap" in support services for migrants with mental health problems, which were often also stigmatised and went hand-in-hand with domestic violence. "You see clients who are clearly unwell and clearly cannot engage with you properly. I've had these clients so many times and they just fall through the cracks. "They get themselves into criminal offences, they lose their family connections, they are homeless, they have financial issues. They're violent and they're dangerous and it's like leaving a ticking bomb in the community." Among the biggest challenges for women experiencing violence was their visa status, with victims on spousal visas particularly vulnerable to threats and manipulation from a partner. "Sometimes it's an extra fear for women, because abusers do use this as a controlling tool," she says. "[Perpetrators] say if you leave you're going to go back home, and if you go back home I'm going to make your life really difficult." Those women who did flee faced isolation from their communities and homelessness, often being forced to live in refuges for months. Beryl Women's Refuge manager Robyn Martin says 30 per cent of the Canberra refuge's clients had been from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the first six months of this year, and expected that percentage would rise this year. They tended to stay at the refuge for far longer periods as they often weren't permanent residents, or had not lived in the ACT for long enough to be eligible for government housing. Those women also face added barriers to earning an income, enrolling their children in schools and accessing healthcare. "Everything you do for a woman whose from a non-English speaking background is 10 times more intense. Particularly with language barriers, we use interpreters so it's time-consuming." More women were also presenting with serious health problems - often due to abuse or from overseas experiences such as years in refugee camps - that required medical treatment. Hinchey says migrant women and families need a more targeted approach that is designed together with their communities. "To date, our efforts to address domestic and family violence have focused largely on the community as a whole, with minimal attention being paid to initiatives targeted to CALD women. Dalati says while a new family violence unit at ACT Policing and the addition of cultural liaison officers at services like Legal Aid had bolstered the territory's domestic violence response, there was still much more work to be done. "There's obviously improvement, but not when it comes to CALD clients." Better access to interpreters, more community engagement and cultural liaison officer roles, and better education and preparation, such as legal workshops, for migrants were among the top priorities. Disconnected men would particularly benefit from more support to secure housing, employment and mental health help. Wilson says it is important migrant women know crisis workers can help them wherever they are in their relationship, whether that meant with safety planning so they could stay home, or assisting to put supports in place so they can leave. Jamie Summons, the Swiss Re Asia Pacific Head of Weather Solutions, is one of Australia's most experienced energy traders. The core of his job is developing weather and energy hedge products, for example, to smooth out the volatile nature of wind generator Infigen Energy's income. His Swiss Re experience and time spent at TXU, Energy Australia and Barclays Capital have left him scathing about Australia's policy failure, walking into an energy crisis that could be seen coming. To say he is pessimistic about our energy market is an understatement The lack of national co-ordination, an old grid that wasn't prepared for renewables' penetration, the disruptive nature of renewable energy (once built and when generating) being cheaper than thermal and the lack of political will to pay for building idle capacity have combined to mean there will be more blackouts on hot days. At the corporate level, Summons believes smelters have no future here as their existing generous power contracts expire. For other commercial energy users, procurement officers generally have not understood how to hedge their power costs and it's now too late to do so. The shutdown of 5477 megawatt hours of economically uncompetitive thermal production means the grid can barely handle any disruption at times of peak demand. And peak demand is rising again after several years of decline. In February blackouts were avoided in New South Wales only by scaling back consumption at an aluminium smelter. Demand peaked that day at 14,181 MWH, closing in on the previous 14,744 MWH record day set in February, 2011. Summons says Snowy River 2.0 will help but it is years away. South Australia's big battery farm will only provide power for one hour. Photo-op was a farce According to Summons, the solution for the reliability problem is being prepared to pay for idle capacity, not just for the electricity that is used. That means building gas-fired generators that can be turned on quickly but will often sit idle. Current national policy doesn't allow for that. Building new coal-fired generation is out of the question, it's simply not viable. If you accept what Summons and the other speakers presented to the risk managers or even half of it - the photo-op of the Prime Minister and energy company chiefs was a farce. Sending letters telling consumers there are cheaper power plans if they bother to ask for them makes no difference to the underlying, worsening crisis. And this is just the simple, obvious stuff. The projections for the rise and rise of electric cars, for example, mean increased demands on the electricity grid, never mind what higher temperatures do to air conditioning use. Where politics fail, where the ratbag end of the coalition clings to a "clean coal" fantasy, lawyers may be at hand to force change. Among the many present and future threats raised by Minter Ellison special counsel Sarah Barker was the example of force majeure being declared during the South Australian blackout this year. Force majeure suggests there was an Act of God involved, that the extremely high winds toppling the powerlines could not be foreseen but the way could be open for lawyers to claim that such extreme weather is no longer an Act of God, that it has indeed been predicted. Lawsuits have started The lawsuits have already started against the carbon giants. Barker suggests what will matter is not so much allegations that burning oil and coal has caused damage, but that Exxon and peers knew it, suppressed that knowledge for decades, encouraged "alternative facts" and thus delayed or prevented earlier action to prevent the damage. She believes Big Carbon eventually will have to settle multi-party action with a mega-settlement, as Big Tobacco did in the US. And in the meantime, local companies now have clear warning of the need to have policies in place to deal with the impacts of climate change on everything from the risk of investing in stranded assets to extreme price movements. While our politicians at both state and federal levels continue to fail, shareholders and consumers will have to pay more. Loading Uber's new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi has told employees the ride-services company will change its culture and may go public in 18 to 36 months. Khosrowshahi, who led travel-booking site Expedia for 12 years, made the remarks as he introduced himself to Uber's workforce on Wednesday during an all-staff meeting at its San Francisco headquarters. With a $US68 billion ($86 billion) valuation by private investors, Uber is the most valuable startup Silicon Valley has produced over the last decade, but funders have grown frustrated by the lack of a timeline for getting their payouts. Employees have also felt pent up, as many are compensated with options in the company. The loose IPO timeline gives Khosrowshahi an opportunity to resolve many of the controversies facing the company. That includes litigation with Google in a major case in which Uber is accused of stealing trade secrets from Google's self-driving car program, as well as two pending federal investigations. Alan Root, a wildlife filmmaker who splashed through crocodile-infested rivers, piloted hot-air balloons over stampeding wildebeests and lost a "Coke bottle"-sized chunk of his calf to an angry hippopotamus, all while producing nearly two dozen acclaimed nature documentaries,has died aged 80. Root had just returned from a safari in Alaska when he was hospitalised near his home in central Kenya, just outside the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. He had been diagnosed with the brain cancer glioblastoma in April. Alan Root, the wildlife filmmaker, was attacked by creatures great and small. Root, an Englishman, spent nearly all his life in Kenya, where he and his first wife, Joan, acquired a reputation as two of Africa's finest and most scar-ridden documentarians. "The Man Who Was Eaten Alive," as a New Yorker profile by George Plimpton once described him, was working on a watering-hole scene when he was mauled by a hippo. He nearly died after going into anaphylactic shock following a bite from a puff adder, but lost only the index finger of his right hand, forcing him to reconfigure the hand controls of his helicopter an aircraft that he began flying in his 60s and crashed at least twice. One of the great oversights in the voluminous coverage of the same-sex marriage postal survey is that it might not even happen. If you've been playing close attention you might recall there's an impending High Court challenge against its constitutional validity. And if you've been paying still closer attention you might have noted Professor George Williams' expert view this week that he expects that challenge to succeed in derailing the plebiscite. But by and large, media, politicians and campaigners are behaving like this isn't happening. That's understandable, I suppose. If you're part of a campaign, to wait for the court's verdict is to risk conceding a head start, so you might as well get started. But it's also regrettable because there's plenty to be learned by paying attention to the way our politicians behave in court. Do that and you'll see the things they'll tell a judge have apparently little to do with the things they'll tell us as a public. And it keeps happening. For instance, you might think we're about to vote on same-sex marriage. Indeed Malcolm Turnbull said it twice in a single sentence once: "Lucy and I will be voting 'yes' in the postal vote." But once the government got to court, we got this: "It is not correct to characterise the activity as a vote." It needs to say this because it has to justify that the Australian Electoral Commission isn't involved. But it also seems to mean it. The argument facing the government is that this plebiscite is a disguised vote, and for that reason needs enacting legislation. In resisting this argument, the government is declaring this process isn't even a vote by another name. That is, it isn't a plebiscite at all. And yet it's being sold to us as the fulfilment of an election promise to hold a plebiscite. But if that isn't sufficiently brazen, take last week's developments in the dual citizenship saga. Having beseeched the public for understanding on the basis that his Italian citizenship was quietly foisted upon him by his mother at the age of 25, Matthew Canavan declared to the High Court that he had in fact been an Italian citizen ever since he was two. The present story is that his citizenship was conferred by a change in Italian law so that his citizenship by maternal descent was automatic unless renounced. Beyond this automatic process, Canavan's mum had suddenly vanished from the script, presumably because if you're trying to argue you had no idea you'd become a citizen, it's not ideal to have been 25 at the time. More than 50 shark nets are back in place at beaches from Wollongong to Newcastle and has decided to reintroduce them at north coast beaches even before releasing a report into the first year's trial. The NSW Department of Primary Industries said the 51 metro nets are part of the Shark Meshing Program, which dates back about 80 years for Sydney beaches, that will run until April 30. The government has also announced on Friday morning that it had decided to reintroduce the nets at five north coast beaches off Ballina and Evans Head beaches from early November 1, once the southern migration of whales is complete. Minister for Primary Industries, Niall Blair said more data was needed in order to make a long-term decision on the future of the nets. A DPI spokeswoman said on Thursday the report of the trial would be released in early September. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Colombo tomorrow to attend two-day Indian Ocean Conference, the Ministry said here today. During the visit, Swaraj will be calling on the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a statement from the External Affairs Ministry said. "She will also have a separate meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister," it said. advertisement The two-day conference is being jointly organised by the India Foundation, the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Colombo, the Ministry said. Swaraj will address the inaugural session of the conference. "The theme of this year?s conference is Peace, Progress and Prosperity and will involve participants from more than 35 countries. The first edition of the Indian Ocean Conference was held in Singapore in September 2016," it said. There will be ministerial representation from Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Vietnam and the conference will also be attended by senior officials from the USA, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Germany, Kenya, South Korea and Afghanistan among others, India Foundation had said in a statement. PTI PYK/ABS TIR --- ENDS --- Independent senator Derryn Hinch will attempt to refer himself to the High Court over fears he may be ineligible to sit in Parliament but not even his biggest opponents think he has a case to answer. Senator Hinch told reporters in north Queensland of his plan to refer himself after it was revealed he held a social security number in the United States, and had previously received an American pension. He confirmed he had never received United States citizenship and only received the pension after paying an additional tax for the decade he spent in America, working for Fairfax Media. He stopped the payments once he was sworn in to the Senate in 2016. Senator Hinch said there was potential he had fallen foul of an "entitlement" clause within section 44 of the constitution and planned to have it tested in the High Court. A US former Catholic monk is suing beauty giant L'Oreal, alleging they stole his patented anti-ageing cream formula. Dennis Wyrzykowski, from Massachussetts, has filed a lawsuit against L'Oreal regarding their use of a technology that uses chemical compound adenosine. The L'Oreal Revitalift creams contain adenosine. Credit:L'Oreal Adenosine is a compound found in the human heart which has been found to increase the skin's elasticity. It is used by L'Oreal in its popular Revitalift anti-ageing range. According to court documents, the technology was developed by the University of Massachussetts Medical School in 2009, and subsequently licensed to Wyrzykowski, the leader of religious charity, the Teresian Carmelites, based in Millbury, Massachusetts. Several inner-city Brisbane suburbs have been handpicked for a proposed speed limit change, with some limits potentially lowered by 20km/h. But the proposal has already met with opposition from Brisbane City Council's Liberal National Party administration. Greens councillor for The Gabba Jonathan Sri said he wanted a blanket limit of 40km/h across his entire ward, including Dutton Park, South Brisbane, West End, Highgate Hill, East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Woolloongabba. Jonathan Sri has launched a petition for his entire council ward to have a 40km/h speed limit. Credit:Bradley Kanaris On Wednesday he launched a petition to lower the speed limit for The Gabba ward. An electrical fault could have sparked the fire that tore through an Inala shopping centre, destroying a dozen businesses and causing multi-million dollar damage, the centres operations manager says. Firefighters were called to the Inala Civic Centre at Wirraway Parade and Corsair Avenue about 1.30am Saturday morning and found a single-storey building ablaze. Fire crews battled a large blaze at Inala's Civic Centre on Saturday morning. Credit:Ruth McCosker The building was destroyed along with the 12 businesses occupying it, including a medical centre that was one of the biggest in the community, Regional duty officer for Brisbane Inspector Rob Graham told Fairfax Media at the scene. On Wednesday, Inala Civic Centre operations manager Steve Simonis said demolition had already begun on the 55-year-old building. I blamed myself for the incident and in addition to the threats made by the perpetrator, I decided that I would not be telling anyone and I would never get caught alone with him again. Up until two years ago, I had kept both promises to myself. Unknowingly I developed a coping strategy, a survival tool of sorts. I tried to always keep everyone happy, whilst constantly battling myself internally. I became a chameleon of sorts. I used to constantly tell myself that one day it would be all right, that the church would come and sort it all out and it would all be OK. Now that I have disclosed my abuse I am just as confused as I was when the incident first happened. I do not know who I really am, what the real me is. Am I really the happy smart arse who most people might think I am, or am I really the quiet loner, who through necessity prefers the company of himself and maybe a few people he knows very well? I don't know. What I do know now and probably always knew subconsciously is that I have some ongoing issues relating to the incident. I have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder relating directly to the incident. When things eventually caved in on me, I tried to end my own life and have spent a period of time in an acute mental health unit, including periods as an involuntary patient. As much as I would like to say that I am fine, I am not. At a rough estimate, I have had somewhere in the vicinity of 4500 nightmares (the calculation being two to three per week, for 35 years). I struggle to sleep for any longer than four to five hours. I am involved in a range of counselling services to help me, but it is still early days, there are 35 years of wiring to be undone and that will take time. I found it chilling that the royal commission's data identified that the average period of time between an incident occurring and disclosure was 33 years. This matched my own scenario precisely. Convicted paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale. I can now sit back and review things, almost looking over the past 30-odd years and consistently identify times when things got difficult, I would just put them off, or block them out. Sometimes putting things off meant needing to find an escape. Over time one of the escapes became gambling. I used gambling the way other people would use alcohol or drugs, to numb the pain or escape. I did well at school and did well at sport, but under pressure I would blow up internally. I thought because I was smart and "mentally strong" that I could overcome or outrun things. I now know that I was very, very wrong. I stopped believing in the church and going to church. That coincided with two pivotal events in my life, meeting my now ex-wife and the perpetrator first coming before the court. For the preceding 10 or 11 years I had convinced myself that my incident was a one-off. That view was shattered when I read the media reports about the perpetrator and I felt betrayed and sickened by the story. I switched off totally from anything to do with it and did so for another 22 years. By this stage, however, the psychological effects had already started to take hold. I am told I have an "addictive" personality and that seems pretty fair observation. I get consumed by things and allow them to dominate me, subconsciously this helped me to escape from thinking about the incident. I have always wanted to be able to escape it. I have always resented the term "survivor", but in reality, that is the perfect description. Yes, I have managed to survive, but only just. I don't know how to live, I do not get much joy from things and certainly not much at all in recent years. I desperately want to stop surviving and start living, but I know that the road that I am now on is a long one, but at least I am now on it. I have always been very nervous around girls and found it difficult to talk to them. My ex-wife was different and for 20 years she was my rock of support. She did everything that I couldn't: she bought our first house, she arranged our wedding, I didn't even ask her. But eventually she had enough and I do not blame her one bit. My mental health and ability to cope and concentrate had been declining for many years. The past few years have been a very traumatic experience and one that I would wish upon no one. I wished I had told people sooner, I never even told my ex-wife, but at the time I just couldn't. My working career is littered with the same form line over and over. Start brightly, look outstanding for a period, before trailing off alarmingly and ending in an acrimonious split. As a result of my situation, I have now had to return to live with my parents. In the lead up to my suicide attempt the daily ritual of driving past the local church destroyed me mentally. For nearly 20 years I had avoided going anywhere near it, often using the back road to avoid having to see it. For a blind few it is a place of worship, to me it is a crime scene. You cannot imagine what it is like to have to go past the place where you were abused on a daily basis, it is soul destroying. I have limited contact with my children and have had none with my eldest for almost two years. It is just one of the prices I have paid, but the loss of my family is the biggest one and nothing will ever replace that. For a while I had some sympathy for the perpetrator, truly a sick individual who needed professional help and should have been removed from society decades ago. But that has waned given his apparent total lack of remorse and understanding of the psychological damage that he has inflicted. The ending of this matter provides me with no relief or closure. I wish it did. In almost every situation the abuse was facilitated and enabled by an organisation that was supposedly looking after us. If we victims are at the epicentre of the damage, there are secondary victims attached to us in terms of family and friends who have all experienced the follow-on effects of this evil. The damage is inflicted well beyond the victims. A Melbourne private school teacher who told a 17-year-old schoolgirl he was "feeling horny" and wanted to sleep with her has been suspended for just six months. Yukihiro Nagashima, a former teacher at Beaconhills College in Pakenham, confessed to sending inappropriate Facebook messages to a student at a Japanese sister school in September 2015. The teacher has been suspended for six months. Credit:Eamon Gallagher He was also accused of asking the student to send a photo of herself masturbating an allegation he denied but one which was substantiated by the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In a decision published this week, the teaching watchdog said Mr Nagashima, "on his own admission, compromised and violated his professional relationship with the student". Researchers at Perth's University of Western Australia have developed a new "ground-breaking" procedure which could "dramatically" reduce the risk of heart attack in some patients. The new procedure uses ultrasound to target receptors in the artery near the throat to regulate the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and lower blood pressure. UWA Professor Markus Schlaich, who is part of a global research team dedicated to treat high blood pressure, said the treatment could help solve an enormous burden on health and society. According to Bureau of Statistics data released in 2016, heart disease was the leading cause of death in Australians. It could be an open war between the Edappadi Palanisamy and O Paneerselvam camp with TTV Dhinakaran, but sources say everyone is trying to work on via media. With none in the AIADMK wanting to lose power, looks like there are efforts to save the government from all the sides. It could be an open war between the Edappadi Palanisamy and O Paneerselvam camp with TTV Dhinakaran, but sources say everyone is trying to work on via media. Sources say that since TTV's camp only wants to do away with Edappadi Palanisamy, there are efforts by " some mediators to find a replacement". advertisement The present Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan had a long meeting with Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman who is looking into the affairs of Tamil Nadu BJP in Delhi on Thursday. Sources in the EPS-OPS camp say, "Sengottaiyan and EPS both belong to same community and they are from the same Kongu belt. So, to pacify TTV camp, Sengottaiyan is being considered to become the CM." The TTV camp is supposed to be close to Sengottaiyan. In fact during the famous Koovathur episode after OPS split, Saskikala had given two options to be made as the CM. It was Sengotaiyyan and EPS. But, the latter emerged as the winner. Sources say, "Each one is making a very careful move. Because it's a chess game. Number of MLAs dwindling to each side is differing. We can't afford to take chances of losing the government. If there is another election, then it could mean an end game for the AIADMK government which has four more years of power." Meanwhile, as TTV camp is approaching the Election Commission of India to stop the general council called by EPS camp on 12th September, the present chief minister met MLAs and ministers in batch at his residence on Thursday. Sources say that EPS is trying hard to consolidate his MLAs. DMK is pressurising the Governor and President of India to conduct a floor test. In a dicey situation, they feel a floor test could be difficult for EPS government. Manu Sundaram, spokesperson of the DMK, said, "The constitutional responsibility of the governor is to satisfy that the government representing majority of the people is functioning. Neither this government represent a majority nor its functioning. "It is a matter of concern that governor's office has maintained a strange silence during the ongoing constitutional/political crisis. The governor has to satisfy himself and people of the state that the government has the mandate of the people. Only way to do that is a floor test and that is what SC has repeatedly said." DMK on cat and mouse game of AIADMK Manu Sundaram, DMK spokesperson said, "It's a cat and mouse game between different factions of AIADMK. Some MLAs have given a letter that they are unhappy with the present chief minister not realising that if the CM falls then entire government falls. advertisement The present CM has offered a plump post to OPS, the person who levelled allegations against him. He has made him the Deputy CM. BJP has played a very dubious role when the Home Minister of the country had reported to have stated this is internal party dispute. Where there is no need for Home Minister to the express such opinion when the matter is with the constitutional authority Governor. BJP is trying to prejudice the issue. They are obviously trying to interfere in the work." ALSO READTamil Nadu political crisis: Dinakaran challenges EPS by appointing new office-bearers AIADMK merger: Now, ex-Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam knocks on PM Modi's door --- ENDS --- A coroner examining the case of a teenager who drank herself to death at her 18th birthday party has called for all West Australian high school students to undergo thorough education on the effects of alcohol. School leaver Nicole Emily Bicknell died with a blood alcohol reading of 0.319 per cent in the hours after the November 2014 BBQ, having consumed melon- flavoured liqueur, pre-mixed vodka drinks and Polish Pure Spirit 95 per cent. The coroner said students should be educated on the effects of alcohol. Credit:Mitch Tucker Faction Photography The WA Coroner's Court heard at her inquest in May that she had 18 shots to mark each year of her life and continued to drink after that. The teen didn't appear particularly drunk until the end of the night when she and about 10 others sat in a circle and played the "waterfall" drinking game. A group of indigenous women have completed a month long 'walkabout protest' against uranium mining in Western Australia that saw them travel on foot through remote lands being considered as mine sites. The protest was kindled by the WA government's move in June to allow four uranium projects previously granted environmental approval to proceed, whilst blocking any future mining bids. Shirley Wonyabong, Elizabeth Wonyabong, and Vicky Abdullah are protesting the development of uranium mines on their traditional lands. Credit:CCWA Toro Energy's Wiluna project, Vimy Resources' Mulga Rock project, and Cameco's Kintyre and Yeelirrie projects all had the approval before Labor won the March election. Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston said Labor, which banned uranium mining when last in power between 2002 and 2008, had received advice it could not legally deny secondary approvals for the purpose of frustrating those already granted. Bangkok: Australia has warned Myanmar to respond to attacks on its security forces in a "measured way" as tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee the worst violence in the country's western Rakhine State in years. Amid multiple but unconfirmed reports of massacres and evidence of the widespread torching of villages, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said "we have emphasised Myanmar's responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people in Rakhine, regardless of ethnicity or citizenship status". Nearly 400 people have died in the fighting that has rocked the state for a week, according to new official data cited by Reuters. Ms Bishop said Australia, one of the largest aid donors to Rakhine, has expressed "deep concerns", including to Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Bangkok: Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has broken two years of silence to compare Thailand's military government that seized power in a 2014 coup to tyrants. In a tweet Mr Thaksin quoted the 1770s French lawyer Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu as saying "There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra Credit:AP Mr Thaksin, a communications mogul who lives in exile in Dubai, made the comment five days after his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra fled Thailand ahead of a court verdict that could have seen her jailed for 10 years. Ms Yingluck is believed to have joined her brother in Dubai. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... The worker, identified as Ayub Khan, was a former president of the political party's Tandur unit. The worker, identified as Ayub Khan, was a former president of the political party's Tandur unit By Ashish Pandey: In a shocking incident, a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) worker immolated himself in Telangana's Warangal district on Wednesday. The incident took place during a meeting of the TRS at Tandur in Vikarabad district near Hyderabad. The worker, identified as Ayub Khan, was a former president of the political party's Tandur unit. Khan was peeved over being ignored in the party. He had raised allegations that the party leadership was ignoring those who had worked for it, and was instead promoting those who had done nothing. advertisement Khan was upset that the TRS, which came into power after fighting a long political battle for a separate Telangana state, was ignoring those who participated in the movement. On Wednesday, when the state transport minister was visiting the newly formed district of the state, Ayub Khan poured kerosene and set himself afire. Post the incident, the police have shifted 60-year-old Khan to a hospital in Hyderabad where he is undergoing treatment. ALSO READ | Telangana: Rahul Gandhi to expose Centre, TRS government's failures in Congress rally in Sangareddy ALSO READ | One family running Telangana, says Congress VP Rahul Gandhi on eve of state's formation day ALSO WATCH | Telangana: Ugly clash between TRS, Congress workers --- ENDS --- By Shweta Keshri: Yesteryear show Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai was a popular show of its time, which was aired on Sony TV. The show revolved around the family of Vishal (Sachin Khedekar), whose untimely death leaves the family distorted. The show was directed by Ravi Rai, who is known to have directed gems like Sailaab, Sparsh and Teacher. It was a beautifully made show and the current shows with melodramatic tracks could learn a lot from it. advertisement Here are few reasons why Indian TV needs Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai today. 1. Sensitive story: The show was about how a family cope up with the death of a loved one. Vishal, the sole bread earner dies and how the family comes to terms with their loss forms the crux of the story. Vishal's wife Kavita (Prajakti Deshmukh), who herself is coping with the loss of her husband tries to keep the family together. The sensitive tone of the show appealed to the viewers. The recent shows feature death track in melodramatic form, which either has a conspiracy theory or probably they are bluffing it to fool the villains. 2. Real emotions: The show portrayed a family, which lost their eldest son, they kept it so real that the viewers could relate to the characters and their emotions and could also feel their pain. The show never went overboard with emotions and kept it real. Prajakti Deshmukh (right) and Masumeh Makhija in a still from the show. 3. Realistic approach: Viewers could identify with the characters, be it Kavita, Vishal or Vishal's younger brother (played by Akshay Anand). An elder brother who took care of the entire family and post his death, the younger one feels totally lost. Gone were the days, when he could enjoy his youth with carefree attitude. He realises the gravity of the situation and takes up responsibilities in the house. 4. The show focussed more on script than make-up and costumes: The show presented a middle-class family that lived in humble homes, unlike some of the middle-class families in ongoing shows, that live in lavish apartments and bungalows. The cast didn't wear designer clothes neither did they wear heavy make-up. Currently running shows like Ishqbaaz and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai hardly have a story to tell but they try to attract viewers with jazzy designer costumes and grand sets. 5. Strong cast: The show boasts of an amazing cast that included actors like Alok Nath, Rita Bhaduri, Prajakti Deshmukh, Simone Singh and Akshay Anand. 6. No convoluted story and a simplistic portrayal: Post Vishal's death, things are not easy for his family. His parents are still coping with his death and don't want their daughter-in-law Kavita to remarry, while Kavita wants to earn and help her family. The show didn't show the mother-in-law scheming and plotting against Kavita. The family went through an emotional turmoil but the flashback memories managed to put a smile on your face. Unlike usual Ekta Kapoor shows like Kasam and Kumkum Bhagya, the show never lost the plot and neither did they mess up with the storyline by introducing non-required new characters. advertisement Also read: These progressive shows of 90s will put current soaps to shame --- ENDS --- A second student, a 25-year-old female international student who was pulled from the lake during storms related to Hurricane Harvey, remained in critical condition at CHI St. Joseph early Thursday. Authorities said Bhatia and three other international students were swimming at Lake Bryan on Saturday when Bhatia and the woman began to struggle in the water. The other two students flagged down bystanders to assist them. A group of bystanders and a Bryan police officer pulled Bhatia and the woman out of the water and administered CPR until additional officers and medical personnel arrived. Individuals, businesses and churches throughout the Brazos Valley have been hard at work collecting and delivering what's needed for those affected by Harvey -- and in true Aggieland fashion, the generosity has been overwhelming. At three locations in Bryan-College Station, The Eagle, KBTX-TV and Bryan Broadcasting packed five 24-foot trucks and an 18-wheeler with donations during an 11-hour period Wednesday -- the second such drive from Brazos Valley Media Giving Back this week. Two truck loads collected Monday made the trip the following day to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Though the organization didn't request monetary donations, generous residents handed over $15,000 to the cause on Wednesday alone. Volunteers from organizations including Bryan Texas Utilities, the Junior League and Wells Fargo joined in at Bryan's Target to help The Eagle and KBTX staffers organize and load boxes of diapers, medicine, toiletries, baby formula, kids clothing, linens, snacks, toys and other items. Kent Moore Cabinets, which donated the use of four of the trucks and its drivers, also had a crew working the donation site at the Target in College Station. Meanwhile, Bryan Broadcasting plugged the drive throughout the day on its collection of radio stations. With one hour left in the effort, David Posadas, who owns Taco Crave, and his sister, Karla Posadas, who owns Jose's Restaurant, dropped off more than $1,200 worth of diapers on behalf of the merchants in Downtown Bryan. The two went door-to-door to restaurants, law firms and stores to collect donations in the area. "We collected about $1,000 in cash, and Sam's Club donated $250, too," David Posadas said. "All we got was diapers. KBTX had the tweet about collecting diapers and other things, and Karla and I decided, you know, a baby can go through five or six diapers a day, and they don't have a say on things. People need to realize that people in shelters only have what they have on their backs." Like many in the region, the siblings have family and friends in Houston, and their fellow merchants downtown felt a similar call to action. "I think every Texan is feeling same way," David Posadas said. By 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, three trucks already had been packed to the top, with 99 percent of it coming straight from a store. Five trucks will take supplies to Houston; one, which is loaded with cleaning supplies, will go to Rockport and is being driven there by Little Guys Movers. Brian Collier, the company's branch manager, said his moving company also is transporting for MidSouth Baking company in Bryan, which is sending 400 loaves of bread requested by a Baytown-area church. Thunder Elite Cheerleading based out of Bryan provided a horse trailer full of supplies to the media drive. The Barracks Town Homes in College Station sent over two truckloads of items, including several pallets of water. Kelly Burt Dozer Inc. hauled in a truck full of dog and cat food. Local tech company StataCorp gave the media groups massive cornucopias of necessities, particularly bottled water. "These are Texans [who are affected], and Texans stick together," said StataCorp specialist Gretchen Farrar. "This hits very close to home for us." Dozens of businesses opened up donation drives throughout the region as residents hurting for their neighbors to the south found ways to help. The Caldwell-based Bud Cross Ford dealership, along with C3 Farms & Poultry, delivered to Rockport on Wednesday two 24-foot Gooseneck trailers filled with new items collected in their city. Caleb Tarver, an executive team leader with the Target in Bryan, said the store was happy to offer its parking lot and gave out scores of freight boxes to help package items. Target's corporate office gave each of its stores $3,000 to spend on storm victims. "One of reasons we're doing this is that Target is always about community effort," Tarver said. "We saw what our neighbors in Houston were going through, and it sparked interest in out management here." Some of the funding was used by Target in Bryan to buy insulin bottles through the store's CVS Pharmacy. One pharmacist donated hundreds of dollars to add several bottles of insulin to the count, and 18 bottles will be delivered today to the George R. Brown Convention Center, along with medicine called in to a pharmacy in Bryan and picked up by a family member. The shelves of Target have been wiped clean of many of the items on donation lists, Tarver said, adding that he remembers past disasters, such as the wildfire that destroyed entire neighborhoods in Bastrop. He said that nothing compares to what locals are doing now. "To see the community and so many groups and businesses do this -- I've never seen anything like this," Tarver said. Aggieland Outfitters in College Station collected food and water and American Red Cross donations on Wednesday, while Connecting Point Church in College Station stockpiled water and toilet paper to take to Rockport. CapRock Emergency partnered with the College Station Fire Department and loaded up on goods such as baby diapers and feminine hygiene products. Dozens upon dozens of local groups continue to assemble nonperishables and take donations. The Ranch-Harley Davidson staff were overwhelmed not only by the participation of their own customers in their food and supply drive, but by others in the community who had never been in their store. The company has started to transport trailers filled with water, underwear and socks, as well as cleaning supplies and food, to Second Baptist Church of La Grange, Grace Church of Humble, and to sites in Port Arthur, Baytown and Beaumont. Alex Gipson, whose family owns the dealership, said donations filled almost three rooms of the business. "A lot of small towns down there aren't getting relief, so we're trying to hit those places separate from bigger organizations, who are taking on big onslaughts of people," Gipson explained. Bryan resident Jacqueline Thoele said she is from Switzerland and doesn't have family in Houston, but felt compelled to help. "I just saw pictures and videos [and] wanted to help -- it's so crazy," she said. As devastating as the images are, David Posadas said what many fear. "I think people still don't realize how bad it's going to be when water recedes," he said. "When the water goes down, we'll see the real damage will be even worse than what everybody thinks." The College Station Police Department is warning citizens to be wary of a slew of recent "warrant scam" phone calls. Recently the city's municipal court received reports from locals about phone calls from people claiming to work for the city of College Station. Local residents explained that each caller would insist that local law enforcement had put warrants out for their arrests. The callers have pretended to be police officers, often providing fake names and badge numbers, and have demanded that money be paid to them to prevent an arrest. The College Station Police Department issued a statement Wednesday reminding citizens that under no circumstances will the police department demand any kind of immediate payment over the phone, nor request a specific method of payment. If a debt or fine is owed to the police department or courts, a person will be notified via mail before they are reached over the phone, and they will be given ample time to appeal a debt. Anyone who receives a call from a person claiming to want money as a police officer or city staffer should contact CSPD to verify the claim the caller is making. The police department can be reached at 979-764-3600. The College Station Police Department is warning citizens to be wary of a slew of recent warrant scam phone calls. Recently the citys municipal court received reports from locals about phone calls from people claiming to work for the city of College Station. Local residents explained that each caller would insist that local law enforcement had put warrants out for their arrests. The callers have pretended to be police officers, often providing fake names and badge numbers, and have demanded that money be paid to them to prevent an arrest. The College Station Police Department issued a statement Wednesday reminding citizens that under no circumstances will the police department demand any kind of immediate payment over the phone nor request a specific method of payment. If a debt or fine is owed to the police department or courts, a person will be notified via mail before they are reached over the phone, and will be given ample time to appeal a debt. Anyone who receives a call from a person claiming to want money as a police officer or city staffer, should contact CSPD to verify the claim the caller is making. The police department can be reached at 979-764-3600. Carolyn Murphy didn't have a lot of space to work with, so she could only pack the essentials into her subcompact Honda Fit before evacuating from her Friendswood home to Brazos County in the final hours before Hurricane Harvey made landfall: two boxes of photographs, one box of business papers, a single suitcase full of clothes and seven dogs -- plus the crates and food to house and feed them. "It was a nightmare," Murphy said of the two-and-a-half-hour drive to her niece's College Station home. "With all the dogs, there wasn't much room for anything else." Four of the pups were Murphy's own; she had been fostering the other three -- two teacup Chihuahuas named Luke and Leia and a three-legged spaniel and poodle mix named Malone. Murphy said her house had flooded in 2008 when Friendswood got 21 inches of rain during Hurricane Ike, so she felt she had to leave her home before the 50 inches of rain projected to hit her south Texas home started falling. "With that forecast, I fully expected the house to have 3 to 4 feet of water in it," she said. So she loaded the car with mostly dog-related items and started driving. Five pooches were crated in the back, but two -- Bonnie and Sophie, both of whom are hers -- sat in the front seat, co-captains as the family made the trek to College Station. Bonnie usually gets carsick, so Murphy gave her medications for her anxiety and nausea and lined the floor with materials in case she got sick. But, for what Murphy said she thought was the first time, Bonnie didn't throw up during the long car ride. "I think Sophie helped her make the trip," Murphy said. In the same south College Station neighborhood, Melissa Cadena and 11-year-old Angelique are staying with Amy Chesson. Angelique is Chesson's cousin, Cadena is unrelated, but all attend the same church: Reigning Glory Church in Sugar Land. Cadena was originally just going to move her car from her Houston condo, but she decided to evacuate Friday after checking in with a friend at a place she used to live. "It was a very last-minute decision," she said. Cadena said she has been in contact with the owner -- who also worships at Reigning Glory -- and knows water has breached her home's windows, but that was before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water from the Addicks reservoir, so she isn't sure of the extent of the damage. "I still don't know what the status of my condo is," she said, but her faith is keeping her grounded during the "humbling" and "surreal" experience. "If I lose everything, I'll get it back," Cadena said. Angelique made it to College Station on Tuesday from her Houston home, where she lives with her mom and dog. "We were trapped for about two days without electricity," Angelique said, which was "weird" because they had to do things such as cook in darkness, lighting the room with lanterns and miner-like helmets with lights attached to them. "Thank God we have a gas stove," said Angelique, whose mom is still in Houston but now has electricity again, a power restoration that Angelique called "a miracle from God." Murphy, Cadena and Angelique are three of many evacuees currently in Bryan-College Station whose lives have been put on hold because of devastating flooding in southern Texas counties. Amy Grace, executive director of American Red Cross Serving the Heart of Texas, said one official shelter had been open in Bryan, but it was closed around noon Tuesday. Thirty-two people had been in the shelter at its peak, but Grace said they had been moved to bigger cities where they could stay for longer periods. Grace said evacuees were being routed to "mega shelters" in larger communities, and that local efforts were being "focused on our community." She said the Brazos Community Emergency Operations Center had told them to keep their shelters on standby, but there was "no indication we will be activating in the next week or so." Nathan Dennis, crime prevention deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, said it was unclear how many evacuees are currently in B-CS, since there isn't a system in place that tells officials when people arrive from out of town to stay with friends or families. An official, open shelter might provide some means to quantify the number of evacuees in the area, he said, but no general-population shelters are open in the county, and even if some were, it wouldn't be a comprehensive list because of the people who fled to Brazos County and stayed in private homes or in hotels. Michele Meade, Brazos County emergency management coordinator, said the county is focused on supporting first responders passing through the area who need a place to sleep before heading to South Texas. Meade said the state is coordinating with Texas's 254 counties to "offer the most number of people the highest level of support they can." Meade said the situation is so fluid that the county could revert back to finding shelter for evacuees, since "some of the same needs will be on the table for a long time," such as shelter and food. "Everything is going to change from day to day, in terms of needs," she said. Brazos County Judge Duane Peters said the county is looking for additional locations to open a shelter for incoming evacuees. "This may go on for a good while," Peters said of the flooding and need for places to stay before people can return to their homes in the southern parts of the state. "I'm being told there's potentially more [evacuees] who may be coming in," Peters said. Peters said officials are looking into potentially using vacant buildings that aren't owned by the county as temporary shelters, but that will require permission from the building owners. "We're just thinking outside the box," Peters said. "We're looking. We're trying to see if we can find a way to help." "As we go through the days to come, we'll be looking at a lot of different things, just because of the magnitude," Meade said. Dennis said it was "hard to say" if more evacuees would come into Bryan-College Station, since there's no way of knowing how many people still need to be rescued in South Texas who will have nowhere else to go and require shelter. Experience Bryan College Station is tracking the number of available hotel rooms in the twin cities: six hotels were sold out -- and one listed as "oversold" -- as of yesterday morning, out of the 45 surveyed. Five were listed as having a few available rooms. Better Than A Hotel -- luxury apartment, condos and houses available for short- and long-term rental -- is offering its 10 apartment units in College Station, as well as its properties in Austin, at no charge for evacuees looking for a place to stay. Albert Smith, Better Than A Hotel director of business development and marketing, said 40 to 50 people were staying at the properties in College Station and Austin so far, and two or three local units are still available. Smith said he was trying to allow people to stay for two or three days before rotating and allowing another group of evacuees to use the free lodging. Pets are not allowed. "As a team, we try to give back when we can," Smith said. "We're getting pretty full." Smith said he expected those local available units to be filled up by the end of the day on Wednesday. Cadena said she and Angelique will probably try to go home -- they live relatively close to each other -- on Sunday after going to church in Sugar Land, "to feel like we can breathe again." "Hopefully by then I know whether or not I'm able to go home," she said. According to Mikki Hathaway, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, Sugar Land got about 43 inches of rain from Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday night. Murphy said she'll try to head home Friday. In the meantime, she walks five of her seven dogs -- she worries about hawks if she takes the teacup Chihuahuas for outside walks -- every day, though not all at the same time. She said she tries to keep the dogs in their own separate room in her niece's home so they don't mess up the house or bother the two dogs that normally live there, not to mention the 10 chickens that live on the property. Murphy found out Wednesday morning that the roughly 41 inches of rain that Hathaway said Friendswood received from Friday to late Monday came "right to the front door." No one has been inside yet, Murphy said, but she remains cautiously optimistic about her home. "Frankly, it's a miracle," she said of the possible lack of water inside her house. Asked if she would take all the dogs back to Friendswood all in one trip, Murphy paused and looked down at her seven-member canine family: "Yes, I'll take them all back like we came." Eagle Contributor Kristy Gillentine contributed to this report. Hurricane Harvey dominated the early portion of discussion among lawmakers during a Wednesday panel in College Station. Between dire predictions of what Harvey will do to the state's bottom line and reiterations of arguments that surfaced in the last legislative session, Brazos Valley state representatives gave their take on the state's economic standing Wednesday at the Bryan-College Station Economic Outlook Briefing Luncheon at the Hilton. State Senator Charles Schwertner joined Texas House Representatives John Raney and Kyle Kacal for the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event. On Hurricane Harvey With rescue efforts still underway in parts of Texas ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, the Republicans didn't offer any specific recovery plans but affirmed that the state will step in with aid. Reflecting on the $217 billion budget the legislature adopted this summer, Schwertner said he anticipates this aid to be a serious financial burden on the state, although he added that this disaster is why the Economic Stabilization Fund, more commonly referred to as the Rainy Day Fund, is in place. Kacal said he expects the state to shoulder a lot of the recovery effort based on his experience with the West fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people in his district in 2013. "Being a representative for about three weeks and having West -- you see how the federal government moves so slow," added Kacal. "The state's commitment is to get that infrastructure back and running and to get schools running. ... This is going to be a significant economic impact." Referencing reports of a tropical storm forming off the coast of Africa, Tropical Storm Irma, Kacal added that Harvey may not be the only hurricane Texas has to cope with. On school finance Representatives also were asked to delve into the school finance, and they rehashed many of the arguments heard during the legislative session. Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that urged the Texas legislature to significantly reform the state's school finance system, lawmakers left the system in place largely the same. The House proposed providing more funding to education this session by tapping into the Rainy Day Fund but ultimately accepted the Senate's changes to its school funding bill. Schwertner said school finance needs to be reformed, but that the House's plan to dip into the Rainy Day Fund wasn't the answer. "The Economic Stabilization Fund is supported obviously by excise taxes from oils and gas and those are variable," he said. "And to utilize that fund for ongoing expenditures I don't think is financially prudent or wise." He said the state already spends 52 percent of its general revenue on education, but that it needs to ensure that it focuses enough funds toward teachers, referencing a bill to provide teachers with bonus structures brought by the Texas Senate this legislative session. "It's not like we aren't spending money," he said. "It's how we are spending it. ... I don't mind spending money. I just want the outcome." Raney said problem with the senate's bill was that it did not provide a new funding source. "When I talked to my school superintendents, they were all concerned," Raney said. "They think they're already running on a tight budget anyway." Kacal said the need for Rainy Day funds is pressing -- he said schools in his largely rural district will lose millions with the expiration of Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction funding in September. "That's what's bothered me the last three sessions," Kacal said. "We can never agree when to spend the ESL. How long are we going to leave that money on the sideline?" On the bathroom bill Given the state's financial status, Kacal said the state could not handle the backlash that would have come from businesses with passing Senate Bill 3, more commonly known as the bathroom bill. The bill requires Texans to use bathrooms in government buildings and public schools that correspond to the sex listed on a person's birth certificate. It drew some backlash from companies such as IBM and the NFL. "Those potential economic downturns we could not handle," Kacal said. "It was strictly a business decision from the state. The bill was taken out of context." The bill stalled in the House during special session. Calling it the "600-pound gorilla into the room," the luncheon moderator asked Schwertner why the Senate spent so much time trying to pass the bill. Schwertner said the Obama administration forced the Texas legislature's hand when he sent down an executive order. "If you really think about it -- if you have children or grandchildren, granddaughters that are 12 or 14 -- do you really want males to come into their changing rooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms just because they identify as a female?" Schwertner said. Raney said he agreed with the sentiment of "maintaining the social structure of male and female," but he said it did not add any additional protection or solve any issues. "I think there are sexual assault laws that are there should that occur -- and I couldn't find any instance where sexual assault had occurred in the restroom, so I felt like it was a law that really didn't accomplish much." Despite fall classes at Texas A&M kicking off Wednesday after a two-day delay, some students who have been affected by Harvey are still unable to make it to the campus. Senior communication major Kassy Ortiz, a native of southeast Houston suburb Pasadena, said she is among the many residents in the region still unable to travel because of flooded and storm-damaged roads. Ortiz, who spent the summer in Pasadena, said outside of some flooding and water making it into her car, she was fortunate to have stayed safe during the "nerve-racking" experience of Hurricane Harvey. She said her anxiety during the storm was amplified by her worry for her firefighter roommates -- including her boyfriend -- who were out responding to emergencies throughout Harvey's rainfall. Once she realized she would not be making it back to College Station in time for the start of classes, Ortiz said she reached out to the university's Student Assistance Services to make sure they knew she wasn't just skipping out. "I was very upset about having to miss class and was worried about being a burden to my professors," she said. Though a seemingly simple conversation, Ortiz said the kindness and support of the university worker she spoke with was moving. "I feel like others would just say the nice lady that answered the phone simply gave a normal response, but to me it was much more than that," Ortiz said. "... She was very calm and had a soothing voice and notified me she would take care of it. But I think what affected me the most was when she said 'stay safe.' It has been such an emotional and frustrating past couple of days seeing loved ones lose everything and me being on basically house arrest, not able to help them in any way. When she spoke those simple two words, her voice of concern truly got to me, and I really did feel like I was about to emotionally break." Ortiz said while she is hopeful she will be able to return to College Station by this afternoon, she will be keeping an eye on flooding and road closures to ensure it is a safe trip back to Aggieland. Until she can safely return to College Station, Ortiz says she plans to continue volunteering in Pasadena. Dean of Student Life Anne Reber said the office has received a near-continuous stream of calls from students reporting they will not be able to make it to their first day of class Wednesday due to the storm. She said officials are keeping a list of students who are unable to attend class Wednesday and informing their professors of the situation so they can make arrangements to make up for the absence. For those who have made it to College Station but may need support in dealing with their feelings in regard to the impacts of the storm, Reber said there will be two support groups meetings -- the first of which met Wednesday evening and a second that is set to meet this evening from 6-7 p.m. The meetings will be in the Students Services building at the White Creek Complex on West Campus. The groups are expected to discuss the ways people have been affected by natural disasters such as Harvey, as well as ways in which they can work to cope with the aftermath. She said if any student is in need of further support or would prefer an individual meeting, those arrangements can be made at either of the two group meetings or by reaching out to Student Counseling Services. For more information, visit scs.tamu.edu/hurricane. The University of Texas at Austin, which began classes Wednesday, estimates that nearly one-third of its students come from counties affected by the storm. It's difficult to say how many students will miss the first days of classes at universities across the state. Some made it out of town before the storm hit. Others stuck around to help their families or found themselves trapped by flooded roads on the way out of Harris County. University officials say they recognize the dilemma and are trying to be as accommodating as possible. University presidents at Texas Tech University, UT-Austin and A&M instructed professors to excuse the absences of students affected by the storm. UT-Austin students were encouraged to fill out an online form notifying the university of their expected absence. At Baylor University in Waco, which began class Aug. 21, administrators wrote personalized emails to the nearly 4,000 students who come from areas hit by Harvey. "We wanted students to know that we cared about them," said Martha Lou Scott, associate vice president for student life at Baylor. "We knew that it was difficult to be in Waco when their hearts and thoughts were back home." The Texas Tribune contributed to this report. Accepting all items for flood victims, including slightly used clothing. All used donations need to be clean and in good shape. 794 N. Harvey Mitchell Parkway in Bryan. 1 to 10 p.m. daily. 820-1106 ______________________________________________________________ Vista College Vista College will be collecting items that will go to the school's Beaumont campus. The College Station campus is requesting: Basic medical supplies, diapers for babies and adults, wipes, formula, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, clothing, blankets, towels, ready-to-eat food, bottled water, dog and cat food, hand sanitizer, socks, towels, blankets, pillows and towels. Donations accepted through 4 p.m. Saturday at 2704 S. Texas Ave. ______________________________________________________________ Escape Rooms of BCS Book a Sunday Escape Game through September and October and 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the United Way to help Hurricane Harvey victims. 3030 E. 29th St. ______________________________________________________________ Altitude Trampoline Park Cleaning supply donation drive is set to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday. Items desired include bleach, shovels, shop vacs, sponges, dish soap, laundry soap, mops, brooms, gloves, trash bags, fans, Pine-Sol, face masks, buckets and humidifiers. Drive is sponsored by Treehouse Real Estate, Altitude Trampoline Park and the Sleep Station. Free 30-minute jump passes given with drive-through donation. 2205 Longmire Drive ______________________________________________________________ Real Estate Gallery The Real Estate Gallery will be collecting diapers, formula, paper goods, feminine hygiene products and medical supplies through Sept. 14. 4121 Texas 6, Suite 200 in College Station Hurricane Harvey Relief Benefit Show Music from The Ex-Optimists, Mutant Love, Electric Astronaut, and LUCA. Sept. 17 at Grand Stafford Theater, 106 Main Street, Downtown Bryan. Doors at 7 p.m. Minimum $5 donation requested at the door. Proceeds benefit the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. grandstaffordtheater.com. ______________________________________________________________ Albert's Hair Design Albert's Hair Design is collecting water, baby food, formula, diapers, wipes, toilet paper, facial tissues, feminine hygiene products, toiletries, blankets, pillows, towels, rubber gloves, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant for men and women, pet food, canned goods and nonperishable food, dust masks, phone chargers, clothing, new socks and underwear. The salon will be accepting donations from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays; 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and 9 a .m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. They will be accepting donations until further notice. 725 Texas Ave. ______________________________________________________________ Brazos County Firefighter's Association Donations will be collected at all Brazos County Fire Stations, as well as the Navasota Fire Department, to help Rockport and its outer small towns to be taken to affected fire departments. Donations requested include: Gift cards to Walmart, Walgreens, HEB and Lowe's; bleach, bleach wipes, cleaning supplies, dish soap, baking soda, detergent, mosquito repellent, roach and ant spray, ant poison, vinyl cleaning gloves, heavy-duty cleaning sponges, mops, brooms, scrub brushes, buckets, rakes, flat-nose shovels, shop rags, large and extra large trash bags, flashlights, batteries, lanterns, generators, tarps, ropes, chainsaws and extra chains. Donations will be collected through 7 p.m. Sunday. ______________________________________________________________ Santa's Wonderland Santa's Wonderland will be collecting small toys and gift cards from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. In partnership with Lone Star Santa, Santa's Wonderland will be bringing toys and gift cards to children at NRG Stadium. 18898 Texas 6 ______________________________________________________________ Texas A&M From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, a collection drive seeking water, nonperishable food items, adult diapers, baby diapers, baby wipes, cots, air mattresses, over-the-counter medications, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products and wheelchairs will be in Lot 100. A blood drive is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at Hall of Champions at Kyle Field. Donations can also be dropped off at the gamma Phi Beta House from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Those who wish to make monetary donations may visit bthoharvey.org/donate. By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) US President Donald Trump will launch a series of "globally competitive" tax reforms which he said would bring back trillions of dollars stacked abroad. While announcing his plans, Trump warned members of Congress not to "disappoint" him, predicting that lawmakers would make a "comeback" to pass a comprehensive measure to overhaul the tax code. advertisement "This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hardworking Americans, and I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. I dont want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me? Do you understand?" Trump said, amidst applause from his supporters in Springfield in Missouri. Noting that the last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago, Trump said the new tax reforms will eliminate dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduce the number of tax brackets from fifteen to two, and lower tax rates for both individuals and businesses. Trump said his "globally competitive" tax reforms are based on four principles. "First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests," he said. "Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. Its time to give American workers the pay raise that theyve been looking for many, many years," he said. Trump said the third principle for reform is tax relief for middle-class families. "We will lower taxes for middle-income Americans so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. That really means buying product ideally made in this country, but that means they?ll go out, and they?ll spend their money," he said. "Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth thats parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high US tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there," said the US President. The amount of money were talking about is anywhere from USD 3 trillion to USD 5 trillion. "By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation," he said. advertisement Trump said his administration is embracing a new economic model. "It is called very simply: The American Model. Under this system, we will encourage companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild our American cities and communities," he said. "That is how we will all succeed and grow together, as one team, with one shared sense of purpose, and one glorious American destiny," said the US President. "The tax reform plan Trump announced today is a vital measure for strengthening US prosperity as well as global prosperity through investment and job creation," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "A strong economy is a fundamental element of US foreign policy, and the State Department will continue to engage in economic diplomacy to bolster the prosperity of our nation through increased investment and trade," he said. However, Trumps Democratic opponent described this as a billionaires-first tax plan. "Instead of offering the American people a plan for real, job-creating tax reform, President Trump is pushing a billionaires-first, trickle-down tax scheme that hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, at the expense of American families," said Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic leader. advertisement House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said the tax plan is a "joke". "It provides no details and has no basis in reality. After nine months in power, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have failed to provide any solutions to lower the tax burden for working Americans or to make our tax code simpler for small business owners," he alleged. PTI LKJ UZM --- ENDS --- Marie "Elaine" Walker, 69, of Navasota passed away Sunday, August 27th at CHI St. Joseph Regional Hospital in Bryan, Texas. Visitation with family and friends will be from 5:00 7:00pm, Thursday, August 31st at Nobles Funeral Chapel in Navasota. A celebration of her life will be at 12:00 noon, Friday, September 1st also at the funeral home. Rev. Henry Sanders will officiate. Interment will be in Oakland Cemetery in Navasota. Arrangements are under the direction of Nobles Funeral Chapel. Elaine was born in Navasota, Texas on January 13, 1948 to Albert and Frances (Rodriguez) Garza. She attended Navasota High School and shortly after graduation she married Walter Walker. She worked in retail sales most of her life, and retired from the College Station Wal-Mart nine years ago after heart surgery. Two years later, her health would throw her yet another curveball and due to poor circulation, a necessary amputation was performed on one of her legs. Remaining very active in spite of her health and physical limitations, Elaine enjoyed trips to the casinos in Louisiana, cooking and baking (she made the best dewberry cobbler!) and admiring the beautiful flowers in her yard. Elaine was a generous, caring woman who made friends easily. She and her fur-baby, a Yorkshire Terrier named Prince who was forever by her side, enjoyed watching her soap operas and the Price is Right. We knew this was coming. This August the rains have come with a vengeance. But we knew something like this was coming. In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its summary of the expected impacts of climate change. In dry, academic language, the report sets out the evidence: climate change will bring extremes of precipitation: more droughts and more deadly floods. Early in the morning on 14 August, heavy rains in Freetown, Sierra Leone triggered a mudslide. Muddy rubble cascaded down the hillside, destroying homes and burying people inside them. The official death toll from this tragedy has now risen to over a thousand. At the same time, monsoon rains were causing deaths in India and Nepal. In Himachal, two buses with their passengers were swept into a gorge in a landslide. Fatalities from flooding are not uncommon in the summer monsoon season, but this time the heavy rains just kept coming, leading to extraordinary flooding in Nepal, northwestern Indian states and downstream Bangladesh, where the floods submerged over a third of the country. A storm was brewing By 24 August, official estimates were 41 million affected across the three nations of India, Nepal and Bangladesh and at least 900 killed. The next day the reported death toll had risen to 1200. And yet this catastrophe was barely reported in the western media. Meanwhile, a storm was brewing off the southeastern US coast. Having been downgraded to a tropical wave, Harvey picked up energy again and regained hurricane status as it moved across the abnormally warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It also picked up unusual amounts of moisture. As it hit Houston and surrounding areas of Texas, there was no lack of media attention this time. Experts had warned that Houston was particularly vulnerable to flooding in a warming climate because of several factors. In a low lying plain, with poor draining clay soils, and with the expanding city laying down ever more concrete, the water management plan is in no way fit for increasing storm risks. But this was a storm that would overwhelm even the most well-prepared city. In the first 72 hours over a metre of rain fell in some areas. Dramatic photographs showed freeways turned into deep rivers, while stranded families sent out desperate pleas for rescue on social media. Just days earlier, Donald Trump had signed an order scrapping stricter rules around flood risk for federal investment in infrastructure. As Harveys rains fell, Trumps top official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, dismissed the subject of linking the storm to climate change. When asked in an interview, Pruitt described those discussing cause and effect as opportunistic. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Supreme Court today expressed dismay over the prevalence of the practice of child marriage despite the existence of the Child Marriage Prohibition Act and termed as unfortunate that this was being done mostly at the behest of girl childs parents. The court was hearing a plea questioning the validity of a provision permitting a man to have physical relationship with his wife, even if she was aged between 15 and 18 years. advertisement During the hearing, the top court said striking down of such provision in section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) would amount to creating an offence. Section 375 of the IPC, which defines the offence of rape, has an exception clause that says intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife, not below 15 years, is not rape. "It is a hard reality and is unfortunate that most of the child marriages happening in the country are done by parents of the girl child. However, to this, there are odd exceptions when a minor boy and girl fall in love and marry on their own," a bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said. It also sought to know whether it can create an offence by striking down the exception 2 of section 375 of IPC which the Parliament has refused to do. Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, appearing for NGO Independent Thought, said by amendment to CrPC in 2013, the age of consent for sexual intercourse by a girl, which was earlier 16 years has now been increased to 18 years. He said that exception 2 to section 375 of the IPC still retains the age of consent as 15 years, due to which there is a huge gap of three years in the age of consent for a married girl child and an unmarried girl. Agarwal, assisted by advocate Vikram Shrivatava, said that exception 2 to section 375 of the IPC was discriminatory and violate Article 14 of the Constitution. Taking note of the arguments, the bench said, "We have to accept this hard reality. These kind of marriages are still happening in the country and if we are going to strike down this exception, then what would happen to the child born from such marriages. We have to keep all aspects in mind." Agarwal said the court can strike down the exception like it did recently in the practice of triple talaq among Muslims for being arbitrary and discriminatory. He contended that this classification has no rationale nexus with the object sought to be achieved as the reasoning behind increasing the age of consent to 18 years in 2013, was that a girl below that age is incapable of realising the consequences of her consent. advertisement "If this is the object for increasing the age of consent to 18 years of age, then marriage of girl between the age of 15-17 years does not make the girl mature enough (mentally or physically) for the purpose of consent. Thus, it is discriminatory," Agarwal said. He cited the fourth National Family Health Survey of 2015-16, and said there were 26.8 per cent of brides in the country who were married below the age of 18 years of age. In the third Survey of 2005-06, the figure was even larger and 46 per cent of women (23 million brides) were married before the age of 18 in the country, he added. The Centre, in its affidavits, had admitted that child marriage were still happening in the country due to uneven economic and educational development. "It has been therefore decided to retain the age of 15 years under exception 2 of section 375 of IPC, so as to give protection to husband and wife against criminalising the sexual activity between them," it had said. advertisement It had said that lawmakers had taken a pragmatic view regarding the issue of marital rape as marriage being a social institution was the bedrock of any society and hence, needs to be protected. "Exception 2 of section 375 of IPC envisages that if the marriage is solemnized at the age of 15 years due to traditions, it should not be a reason to book the husband in the case of offence under the IPC," it had said. The Centre also gave details of number of prosecutions that have been instituted over the last three years. The apex court had on August 9 said the raging issue whether to make forced marital intercourse and sexual acts, part of offence of rape in penal law, has been extensively debated and it cannot be considered as a criminal act. Earlier, the apex court had in 2015, made National Commission for Women (NCW) party to explain how the offence of rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) afforded an exception to a man to have physical relationship with his minor wife and still not qualify it as crime. advertisement The NGO in its petition sought direction to declare exception 2 to Section 375 of the IPC as "violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution to the extent that it permits intrusive sexual intercourse with a girl child aged between 15 and 18 years, only on the ground that she has been married." It has also referred to the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, and said these provisions were contrary to the IPC provision. The POCSO provision provides that physical relationship with a minor constitutes the offence of rape and it does not exclude such relationship between a man and his minor wife. PTI MNL ABA SJK RKS ARC --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As Connecticut community colleges resumed classes this week, a handful scored well on an updated ranking of the career preparation opportunities, but their overall ratings were pulled down by their comparative costs to other schools and educational outcomes. WalletHub publishes the annual study based on a number of quantitative measures, including the amount spent by community colleges annually on each student, graduates starting salaries and their ability to keep up on student loans. When it comes to career outcomes, Norwalk Community College ranks in the top 25 nationally of more than 700 community colleges assessed by WalletHub, just ahead of New Havens Gateway Community College. In Connecticut, NCC was topped only by Manchester Community College, which placed in the top 10, and Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted. No community college in Connecticut cracked the top 200, however, in affordability or education outcomes, the latter metric factoring in criteria like student retention, graduation rates and student-faculty ratios. In Bridgeport, Housatonic Community College failed to make the top half in any of the three categories studied by WalletHub under President Paul Broadie II, who also leads Gateway in New Haven. Naugatuck Valley Community College placed outside the top 200 in the category. The school has a campus in downtown Danbury. The WalletHub survey is one of several community college rankings nationally, including a U.S. Department of Education college scorecard that lists schools according to a factors including cost and salaries after graduation. In a late August interview with WICC 600 AM in Bridgeport, NCC President David Levinson said his school only charges $4,300 in annual tuition, and issues $12 million in the form of financial aid annually to students. He said NCC goes the extra mile in other ways, including a $500,000 transfer scholarship coffer for students who go on to four-year colleges after completing their associate degrees. Levinson told WICC he does not know of another community college in the country offering that perk. Our graduates are in hot demand in fact, in some areas we cant even keep them, they are wanted for example ... in information technology before they even get a degree from us, Levinson said. Its an amazing value I always tell students that its not just the price point, but its the quality of the education. ... When you come to NCC, theres no reason for anybody to get into debt. Levinson said enrollment is booming this fall for health and nursing fields. NCC has added a program of study for those interested in careers as genomic medicine technicians. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; www.twitter.com/casoulman Eight union ministers met BJP chief Amit Shah amid speculations that the Cabinet reshuffle could happen by this weekend. By Rahul Shrivastava: At least eight Union Ministers today met BJP president Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi amid speculations that the Narendra Modi government is planning a Cabinet reshuffle by the end of this week. Among the ministers who met Shah today is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the Defence portfolio after Manohar Parrikar was sent to Goa as the state Chief Minister earlier this year. advertisement Jaitley today said he does not expect to continue holding dual charge of Finance and Defence for very long. "At least, I hope, not very long," he replied, chuckling when the anchor at the India Summit of The Economist magazine asked him how long he would continue to hold dual charge. Highly-placed sources have indicated to India Today that the much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle could happen on September 1 or 2, i.e. after President Ram Nath Kovind returns from a foreign trip, and before Modi leaves for China for the BRICS summit slated between September 3-5. WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR: Modi and Shah are expected to make a result-oriented distribution of ministries in the forthcoming rejig. Sources have said that Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari may be given a larger role. The AIADMK is likely to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and could be offered three berths in the Union Cabinet, including one of Cabinet rank. The Janata Dal-United, which has also decided to join the NDA, is expected to be offered two berths. Sources said that as ministers from JD-U will be from Bihar, a minister hailing from the state could be dropped in the reshuffle. Some senior NDA ministers could also be made Governors, sources add. At least seven Governor posts are lying vacant. The talk of Cabinet reshuffle had gained currency last month after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned as a Union Minister to become NDA's candidate in the vice-presidential election. The charge of Naidu's portfolio of Urban Development and Housing and Poverty Alleviation was given to Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Naidu's other portfolio of Information and Broadcasting was given to Textiles Minister Smriti Irani. Apart from Tomar and Irani, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan have also been given additional portfolios. Jaitley was given charge of the weighty Defence portfolio after Manohar Parrikar moved to Goa as Chief Minister earlier this year following Assembly polls in the state. Harsh Vardhan was given charge of environment ministry after the death of Anil Madhav Dave. Some election-bound states including Congress-ruled Karnataka could get greater representation in the council of ministers. Karnataka will go for Assembly polls next year. The reshuffle, which will be third since the Modi government assumed office in 2014, could take place later this week. Modi and Shah are likely to meet again for a final round of deliberations. A series of discussions over the reshuffle between the PM, Shah and the RSS have already taken place. ALSO READ | Why Prabhu's offer to resign, Modi's reply to him indicate imminent Cabinet reshuffle Modi may accept Suresh Prabhu's resignation ahead of Cabinet reshuffle WATCH VIDEO | Cabinet reshuffle likely before PM Modi leaves for China on 3rd September --- ENDS --- Welcome back ol friend. Following more than two years of restoration, Mystic Seaports wooden steamboat Sabino, a National Historic Landmark, is again plying the Mystic River, offering cruises of various lengths six days a week through Oct. 9. The oldest coal-fired vessel in the United States operating on a regular schedule, Sabino was built in 1908 in East Boothbay, Maine, by W. Irving Adams, to ferry passengers and cargo between Maine towns and islands. Sabino is a special boat in our collection in that people can actually go out for a cruise, said seaport spokesman Dan McFadden. We went to great lengths in this restoration to maintain the authenticity of not just her hull, but the mechanical systems. Shes still powered by the same steam engine that was installed when she was first launched in 1908 and the engineer is still shoveling coal into the boiler to generate steam. Passengers today are having the same experience as they did 100 years ago and that is what we strive to provide as a museum. Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport, seconded that opinion in a written statement: We are very proud to return Sabino to work on the Mystic River as she has done for more than 40 years. As the only one of our four National Historic Landmark vessels we regularly operate, she is the best example of our philosophy of preservation and active use. Until earlier this month, Sabino has been under restoration since December 2014 in the Museums Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard. The 74-passenger steamboat is 57 feet long and has a beam of 23 feet. More Information Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Ave. Daily 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. $28.95 ages 15, older; $18.95 ages 4-14. Cruises are six days a week. Prices vary. 888-973-2767, mysticseaport.org See More Collapse According to McFadden, her hull is constructed of wood and is powered by a 75-horsepower two-cylinder compound steam engine. Sabino came to Mystic Seaport in 1973 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The recent restoration which included the installation of a new boiler and new planking and decking is expected to keep the steamboat in operation for at least the next 25 to 30 years, McFadden said. Financial support for the project was provided by a combination of private philanthropy and public grants. We are excited to have Sabino operating again, McFadden said. The boat has become such a fixture on the Mystic River that, for many, the place hasnt been quite the same for the last two years she has been out of the water. Hearing her blow her whistle as she goes through the downtown drawbridge will mean that things are back as they should be. SCHEDULE Sabino will operate six days a week, Wednesday through Monday, through Oct. 9 from the Mystic Seaport waterfront. There are three cruises per day: a 30-minute upriver cruise for $8 at 2:30 p.m., a 90-minute downriver cruise to the mouth of the Mystic River for $18 at 3:30 p.m. and a two-hour downriver cruise at 5:30 p.m. for $25. There is a two-hour downriver cruise at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays for $25. Sabino does not operate on Tuesdays. Although seaport admission is not required for downriver cruises, it is required for the 30-minute cruise. Children 3 and younger ride for free, but they must have a ticket to board. Tickets may be purchased up to two weeks in advance by calling 860-572-5331. pasboros@ctpost.com; Twitter: @PhyllisASBoros This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD When City Rep. Steven Kolenberg got a call that the turkeys who had been threatening mail carriers all summer had just attacked his mother during her morning run, he snapped into action. Kolenberg, was on his way to work, but he turned the car around and drove to the scene of the attack at St. Johns Lutheran Church on Newfield Avenue in Turn of River. He came across two Tom turkeys that have been chasing residents and mail carriers in the Turn of River and Newfield neighborhoods. In some cases, residents have to chase off the birds with brooms in order to have their mail delivered. On Wednesday, the city representative managed to chase the threatening birds to a nearby pine tree, where he and his father, Bob Kolenberg, stood guard, keeping the birds trapped until animal control arrived. When animal control arrived about 15 minutes later, we began converging on turkeys position, but the closer we got, the more the birds freaked out and they actually began attacking each other, the younger Kolenberg said. More News Wild turkeys invade Stamford neighborhoods Despite the struggle between the two large and aggressive birds, Kolenberg said Stamford Animal Control Supervisor Tilford Cobb was able to net both turkeysuntil one escaped. We were only able to net one of them in the end, Cobb said. They are very strong and very fast, and difficult to confine ... Theyre strong enough in some cases where they can fly straight up in the air without getting a running start. Youre not going to just walk up to them and catch them with a net. The captured 15 pound male turkey, large enough to feed agood-sized family for Thanksgiving, was placed in a dog cage and is in animal control custody. It will be picked up by a Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Officer to be relocated somewhere upstate, Cobb said. Im glad we were able to resolve situation without loss of life or a disturbance to the community, Kolenberg said of the catch and release plan for the captured turkey. But the second Tom turkey, who is often accompanied by a female bird or two, remains at large. Kolenberg, whose district includes the Turn of River and Newfield neighborhoods, is asking that residents call in their turkey sightings to animal control. But Cobb warned that his department is focused on the problem birds in Turn of River and Newfield, and cant always respond to every turkey sighting in the city. Typically we dont deal with nuisance wildlife, Cobb said. But in this cases these birds have been fed, so theyre walking up to people looking for food. Theyre not going to go away on their own. It is important that residents stop feeding the turkeys, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wild turkey program biologist Michael Gregonis said, because that is likely the cause of the birds aggressive behavior. Once the birds lose their fear of people, they tend to target the elderly, children and, surprisingly, mail carriers, he said. When turkeys are fed by people, they become habituated to them and start to see them on the same level as other turkeys, Gregonis said in an interview last week. Theres a hierarchy in turkey flocks and each turkey has its place and they fight among themselves. NORWALK Last week, Norwalk resident Ashley Darnley helped a refugee from Congo find his first full-time job in the United States. She was so moved by his response that she shared his words This is a day of happiness with the whole office. It made me feel good about my job, Darnley said. Darnley works at the Bridgeport-based International Institute of Connecticut, helping refugees find employment. According to her, Norwalk and Milford have been working hard welcoming refugees. IICONs data shows 60 refugees had found employment in the area since November of last year. Darnley will be speaking with Amy Ewing, a volunteer for the Stamford Interfaith Settlement Group, about Connecticuts support of refugees at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the Silver Star Diner at 210 Connecticut Ave. in Norwalk. The free event is organized by the Humanists and Freethinkers of Fairfield County. Attendees can expect to learn about the resettlement process, the vetting process, what programs in the area are doing to support refugees and ways in which volunteers can help. The speakers will address common misconceptions they have encountered in their work. For example, the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker. In order to be legally considered a refugee in the United States, a person has to be registered as one before arriving. This means a refugee has work authorization upon arrival, unlike an asylum seeker, who enters the country with the intention of starting the process upon entering the country. Darnley estimated 85 percent of the employers she works with are unaware of this difference at first. She described watching the guarded expressions melt from their faces as soon as they realized refugees have work authorization. Some of their worries go away, she said. Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the refugee travel ban with the exception of direct relatives, IICON has seen a sharp decrease in refugees arriving in Connecticut. Last November, the program received 16 refugees. This August, it didnt receive a single one. Administrations set ceilings on the number of refugees allowed entry to the United States every fiscal year. This fiscal year, the Obama administration lifted the cap to 110,000 refugees, a number that has not yet been reached. Jessica Suarez of IICON said the organization predicted the cap Trump will set for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will be half that. People interested in newly arriving refugees can reach out to IICON or the Interfaith Settlement Group to volunteer in a range of ways, from providing mentorship to setting up apartments for newly arrived refugees or organizing donation drives. University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds says this his is favorite time of year, just past the date of summer commencement and at the start of a new academic year. I like when students are there and faculty are there, said Bounds, during a Wednesday afternoon conversation with the editorial board of the Grand Island Independent. He said he always enjoys it when students and staff come back for a new school year with renewed hope and optimism. You know, commencement is what we all work for. Unfortunately, Bounds said, I really have to work hard to find ways to interact with students because so much of my job is surrounding the business of running the university. You know we are facing fiscal stress, a $49 million budget gap. We were really proactive and pulled together a steering committee and then selected a number of areas to investigate. We brought in content experts in the areas of travel, procurement, IT, human resources, facilities, energy. We brought together the best content experts from all of the campuses, Bounds said. He told everyone there are no rules on what they could consider, so they could decide whether to consolidate, privatize, do whatever is necessary to find these savings. There were two guiding principles: One, we want to protect academic integrity of the university and we want to protect affordability. Bounds believes the university protected affordability, even though he knew from the very beginning of the process that a tuition increase would be necessary. Ultimately, the Board of Regents cut the budget by $30 million and raised tuition by 5.4 percent for the 2017-18 school year. The plan anticipates a second increase for the 2018-19 school year. Bounds acknowledged that, if the state of Nebraska continues to make cuts, the next step for the university will be to look at its academic programs. In getting to $30 million in spending cuts, the university relied strongly on consolidation of business functions across its four campuses. We wanted to run the business part of the organization like a business, said Bounds, who pointed out that simple phrase means that there will be a significant number of university jobs that are lost. He hopes to eliminate most of those jobs through attrition, but he added, We wont be able to completely close the gap by attrition. That means the university will have to go through a reduction-in-force process. Bounds said that he and university officials will monitor state tax receipts. If those receipts come in below expectations, the university will likely begin looking at ways to get savings in academic programs sometime this fall. Bounds said each campus will have to look at academic programs and ask if there are areas where we are not productive anymore, whether there are things we shouldnt be doing anymore. Despite the fiscal realities now facing the University of Nebraska, Bounds sounded a number of optimistic notes at the beginning of his conversation. Enrollment is going to be up for the 2017-18 school year, with an official announcement on enrollment coming on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. We need to grow, said Bounds, who added that he wishes that the university was growing at 3.5 percent or 4 percent annually, instead of its current rate of about 1 percent per year. Bounds was asked whether a 4 percent growth rate is realistic given Nebraskas small population base. He said that rate is not possible now, but he believes it will be possible in three or four years when the system implements a national and international strategy for getting more students from outside the state to enroll. Bounds said, in addition to seeing enrollment growth, the university has a growing research portfolio in the right areas. He said most people know about the work the university does in production agriculture, where its research have helped boost crop yields. He said the research that has produced increased yields is helping farmers withstand the current slowdown in the ag economy. Bounds said few people know about the work the University of Nebraska is doing for the Department of Defense, where it is doing work to combat weapons of mass destruction that includes nuclear, biological and chemical detection. It also is doing work on extremist behavior, including following ISIS on social media. We have direct contact with the highest level at the Pentagon, he said. He said the universitys willingness to use a multi-disciplinary approach has enabled it to obtain such research opportunities. While Bounds wants to see the university grow, he also wants to see Nebraska grow. He said different economic development groups from around the state have asked him to recruit business to Nebraska. Bounds said he would like to do even more such work. He said if Nebraska successfully attracted the Toyota-Mazda automobile plant, it would have a statewide economic impact because parts suppliers for that plant would have to be located in Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, North Platte and other communities. He said todays auto plants are not manufacturing plants, but assembly plants that require nearby suppliers to provide same-day or one-day delivery of parts. Bounds said even if Nebraska does not get the Toyota-Mazda plant, there are other opportunities to create true statewide economic for multiple communities, not just the metro areas of Nebraska. The Nebraska Childrens Home Society and the Literacy Council of Grand Island each received Fearless Grants from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska during a brief ceremony at Grand Island City Hall. Fearless Grants are described as larger requests that support programs, general operating support and some long-term partnerships. As part of Wednesdays ceremony, Marjorie Maas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska director of corporate responsibility, presented a $25,000 check to support the Circle of Security-Parenting program operated by the Nebraska Childrens Home Society and $7,500 to support the work done by the Literacy Council of Grand Island. The Circle of Security-Parenting program operates in Grand Island, as well as Omaha, Norfolk, Kearney and North Platte. Accepting the grants were Brian Osborne, chief development officer of the Nebraska Childrens Home Society, and Kurt Stoppkotte, executive director of the Literacy Council of Grand Island. In presenting the grants, Maas noted the money goes to nonprofits that are doing inspirational, motivational and aspirational work. Maas said the Literacy Councils work in teaching English as a second language and literacy instruction helps meet a growing need in Grand Island. Stoppkotte said the Literacy Council now has more than 450 students who need tutoring either to learn English as a second language or so they can improve their literacy skills. The program works with more than 100 tutor volunteers. There is such a need here, said Stoppkotte, who said the Literacy Councils four pillars include one-on-one tutoring, group classes, a language and learning lab, and a community connections center. He said the vast majority of students are either refugees, immigrants or people born in the U.S. who might have developmental disabilities or who for some reason slipped through the cracks in the public school system. Stoppkotte thanked Blue Cross and Blue Shield for its Fearless Grants program, saying it helps the Literacy Council make Grand Island a stronger community and a community where people are better connected to one another. Maas pointed out that the Fearless Grant to the Nebraska Childrens Home Society will allow that organization to train six additional staff members to teach the Circle of Security-Parenting program. After they have received the training, those staff members can lead a Circle of Security-Parenting program to educate parents and caregivers about attachment theory. That theory says early positive attachments between children and parents will lead to positive outcomes when it comes to the childs emotional and social development. It also leads to the parent or parents having a more successful life. One of the people attending Wednesdays presentation was Abdelatit Khater, a native of Sudan who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp from 2003 through 2011, when he was allowed to come to the United States. He first lived in Chicago for eight months before hearing from a friend in Grand Island that this community was a good place to live and find a job. Khater moved to Grand Island in 2012 and began going to classes to learn English at Central Community College-Grand Island. But Khater said he did not have a car, which made it difficult to make the trip to the CCC campus on the south edge of Grand Island. That prompted him to start learning English through the Literacy Council of Grand Island, which is located in a downtown building. Julie Gustafson, the grants coordinator of the Literacy Council, also served as Khaters tutor. In December 2012, Khater took and passed the test to get his U.S. citizenship. He participated in the swearing-in ceremony for U.S. citizens that same day. As a new U.S. citizen, Khater was able to return to Sudan to visit family and friends whom he had not been able to visit since coming to the United States. Khater, who only recently returned from Sudan, said he resumes working this week and that next week he will begin attending Literacy Council classes to continue to improve his English and literacy skills. Another person attending the ceremony was Michelle Moline, director of foster care and pathway to permanency. Moline noted that the pathway to permanency portion of the title means either that a child has been reunited with his or her family, or has been adopted. Moline noted the Circle of Security-Parenting is a parenting program for those who are caregivers for foster children, adoptive children or their own children. She said the focus of the Circle of Security is strengthening the parent-child bond. If we have a strong parent-child relationship, it enhances the success of that parent and that child throughout life. Moline said some people might believe the Circle of Security is intended only for at-risk children and families. But Osborne said that the limited training he has had with the program has shown him techniques that he knows would have been useful with his own children, who are now in their 30s. Its great stuff, its applicable to any family, Osborne said. Moline said she and others who have done more lengthy training with Circle of Security have emerged from those sessions telling each other, Thats what we should be doing with our kids. Weve all been using some of the techniques with our own children. By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) In an apparent retaliatory move, the US today asked Russia to close down its consulate in San Francisco and the two chancery annexes in Washington and New York in two days. The decision of the Trump Administration comes weeks after Russia forced a cut in US diplomatic staff in Moscow by hundreds. advertisement "The US has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D C and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2," Nauert said. With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each, she added. Russia forced the cut in US diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for American sanctions. The US had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship," Nauert said. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federations desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," she said. The US is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted, Nauert warned. PTI LKJ MRJ --- ENDS --- Visitors seemed to go underwater with the ancient sea creatures Wednesday at the Omaha Childrens Museum exhibit at the Nebraska State Fair. Families perused the exhibit, taking advantage of photo opportunities to frame themselves between large megalodon jaws. The exhibit featured large ancient sea creatures, some which weighed 15 tons back in the day. A megalodon looks sort of like a Great White Shark, but is a relative of whales and dolphins. Megalodon means big tooth. It lived during the Cenozoic Era. The exhibit also includes a large pirate ship that kids can pretend to steer while dressing up as pirates and sea creatures. Kris Hickey of Cairo has three daughters who took advantage of the pirate ship and had lots of fun. Leslie, 8, Autumn, 6, and Hannah, 4, played on the ship. Leslie and Autumn spun the ships wheel, leading the way. The two girls, donning pirate bandanas on their heads, posed for their mom, who took a picture of them on the ship. I was kind of like the captain, Autumn said. Leslie said the pirate ship was her favorite part of the exhibit. She said she liked this years exhibit a little more than last years. She said she likes how the sea creature models move their mouths and eyes. This is the second year the Omaha Childrens Museum has had an exhibit, per the partnership with the State Fair. Hickey said her daughters went to the exhibit last year and looked forward to it this year, too. This was on their bucket list for the Fair, Hickey said. She said her daughters enjoy dinosaurs and that its good for them to learn about that history. Betsye Paragas, community liaison for the Omaha Childrens Museum, said they wanted to have this years exhibit different from last year so the kids could see something new. We hope if feels like its underwater in here, Paragas said. The room is filled with blue lights and an underwater backdrop. Paragas outlined the sleuth station, where kids and adults can buy a bag and search for treasure. Some bags contain gemstones, while the others contain fossils. Participants use water and a sifter to find the treasure and wash away the sand. Then, they get to take home their findings and identify them using a fossil and gemstone chart. They dont realize theyre learning, Paragas said, noting that the activity is popular at the exhibit. The parents like it just as much as the kids, Paragas said. She said finding the treasure appeals to all ages. Its participatory and interactive. The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day at the Nebraska State Fair, and is located in the Nebraska Building. Since the War on Terror began on Sept. 11, 2001, many Americans have lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. To remember those who have given their lives in service to their country, a new traveling display, Remembering Our Fallen Tribute Towers Memorial, is located on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds at Fonner Park next to the south entrance of the Heartland Events Center. The memorial features 30 towers with 4,600 photos of Americans who lost their lives in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each photo has information about the fallen hero: their age, their hometown, their rank and when, how and where they died. There is also a nonmilitary photo to help personalize the individual as a civilian. At the memorial at the State Fair was Noala Fritz of Verden, who lost her son, 1st Lt. Jacob Fritz, who was a West Point graduate, on Jan. 20, 2007, in Iraq as a result of a combat wound. Her sons photo is on display at the memorial. The project was started by Bill and Evonne Williams of Omaha. Bill Williams has helped organize 11 honor flights for 3,400 veterans from the Omaha area who served their country during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. All of the Williamses children have served in the armed forces. Fritz said she first met the Williamses when they unveiled the Nebraska version of Remembering Our Fallen. Several years later, Fritz was asked to speak at a program about the Nebraska fallen during the War on Terror, where she shared her sons story. After the program, Bill Williams asked her if she would speak again at various functions. She has also helped the Williamses with one of the Korean War veterans honor flights. I wanted to share my sons story, she said. Fritz, a Gold Star parent, also has helped in working with other Gold Star families. Gold Star families are ones who have lost a family member in combat. Bill Williams also persuaded her to work with the new national version of the Remembering Our Fallen display. A retired teacher, Fritz agreed. She said there was overwhelming emotion among many who have witnessed the memorial at the State Fair. There have been tears; there has been a kind of pride when they find someone they knew on one of the towers; there have been the memories and they will share stories, Fritz said. I talked to a mother the other day. Her son was 43 years old with four kids and he was in the Navy and he was always known for easy day. When someone asked him how his day was going, he would say, easy day, or what is going on, he would say, easy day. We talked for quite a while and I took her picture next to her sons photo. When she left, she looked at me and said, easy day. Fritz said it is hard for people to describe the flood of emotions they experience when looking at the memorial. For a lot of people, even ones who dont have a loved one here, it brings them to tears, she said. Many of the photographs in the memorial are of men not even 20 years of age. One young man, who was 18 years old, died for his country during the War on Terror less than a year after graduating from high school. She said those are the ones that cause people to pause and be taken aback. Fritz also said the duration of the War on Terror, since it first began in 2001, and seeing the dates for those who have lost their lives, also impacts the people viewing the memorial, as the War on Terror is ongoing. One of the things notable about her son Jacobs photo is his smile. He loved life and, you know, I need to go out and live my life now for him and share his story and share these kids stories and listen to stories, Fritz said. The memorial also contains the photos of some of the 157 women who have been killed during combat in the War on Terror. Williams said seven years ago, the Omaha World-Herald published a story about a father who had lost his son in Iraq, and his concern that his son would be forgotten. After reading the story, the Williamses came up with the idea to create the exhibit. We didnt want it to sit in a museum, Bill Williams said. We wanted it to travel. While the memorial at the State Fair has photos of the fallen warriors from throughout the nation, the Williamses first created the memorial to honor the fallen from Nebraska. That project expanded and since then, they have created similar Remembering Our Fallen memorials for 19 states. They have been working on the project since January 2011. My wife has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours researching this because there is no list, Williams said. People think you go to the government and get a list, but there isnt one. She does all the research to contact the families to ask them for the photos that are on the towers. It has been quite an undertaking. So far, the Williamses have identified 65 percent of those who have died as a result of the War on Terror since Sept. 11, 2001. Williams estimated that once they complete the task of getting all the name,s they will have about 40 towers and more than 7,000 photos. The national Remembering Our Fallen memorial was first unveiled on July 22 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. Before coming to the State Fair, it has been on display at fairs in West Point, Neb., and Minnesota. After the State Fair, the memorial will travel to Washington, D.C., for its national unveiling at the Lincoln Memorial on Sept. 8. After the national unveiling, it will travel to New York City, the Reagan Library and the Rose Bowl in California. We are trying to make this a gift from Nebraska to the nation, Bill Williams said. The biggest fear of the Gold Star families is that their loved ones will be forgotten. Our mission is that they will not be. Those who want to donate to the project can do so at the display at the State Fair or visit their website at www.rememberingourfallen.org. It took a long time to get to Grand Island, Ronnie Milsap says. Still, he made good time. My drivings getting better, Milsap said to the crowd at the Heartland Events Center Wednesday afternoon. A little while later, the blind vocalist said he used to love to ride bumper cars. It was fun, he said, to just run over everything. No matter how he got to Grand Island, a sellout crowd was glad he made it to the Older Nebraskans Day concert. The show drew about 5,000 people, who wouldnt have missed it for the world. Owning the best seats in the house were Roger and Carol Magnussen of York. Roger called the minute tickets went on sale last spring. When he called, he had his choice of any seat in the building. Well, give me the best two, he said. The Magnussens were smack-dab in the middle of the first row. Next to them in the front row were Greg Stimple and his son, Raiden. Raiden, 10, is the youngster who got Brad Paisleys guitar at Friday nights concert. His father takes him to many concerts as part of his music education. Ive been to 17 concerts this summer, said the Knickrehm Elementary fifth-grader. Raiden, whos taking guitar lessons, also took a souvenir home from a Queen concert this year. He got a British sixpence coin that Queen guitarist Brian May used as a pick. Members of the Ronnie Milsap fan club were in the second and third rows of the Events Center. One of them was Ken Jurgens of Wilcox. Jurgens likes Milsaps voice. The notes he hits he holds onto, said Jurgens, who was accompanied by Janet Pratt. Another big fan was Diane Skutnik of Grand Island. Husband Dave Skutnik said his wife knows every song, every word of Milsaps music. Sitting behind the Skutniks was Lissa Moeller of Ravenna. Diane Skutnik and Moeller both graduated from Blair High School in 1978. Ive loved him my entire life, Moeller said of Milsap. What a Difference Youve Made in My Life was played at her wedding. Moeller was with her mother, Beverly Langabeer, who has fond memories of Elvis Presley. I saw him three times, and shook his hand, said the 76-year-old Grand Island woman. The fan club members also included Andy and Mike Stewart of Sutherland. Seated in the crowd were 27 people from Greeley Care Home and Assisted Living. The group included 13 residents of the nursing home. All of them were wearing T-shirts identifying the nursing home. On the back of the shirt, it said the facility is home to 78 friendly people and a few old crabs. Asked to name one of the crabs, everyone pointed to Jerry Smith, 83. Smith denied being a grouch. At the nursing home, We have a lot of fun, he said. In fact, Smith loves to dance, said his niece, Julie Dugan Johansen. Hell dance to polka or any kind of music. Also enjoying the concert were VirJeanne Baker and Connie Anderson, who have known each other since they were seventh-graders in Dannebrog. Deb and Gary Pospichal of Atkinson were also in the crowd. Gary, 61, thinks he might have owned some Milsap eight-track tapes at one point. He likes Milsaps voice and the way he clearly pronounces every word. A word of advice: If youre going to one of the concerts, arrive early. Because of the checkpoint security system, there will probably be a line to get in the building. Wednesdays concert started at 2:25 p.m. In light of Hurricane Harvey, I wanted to share my concern for the lack of reporting done on our Army National Guard units that reside in Grand Island. There have been multiple aircraft and crews dispatched to help in Houston, yet no word about it in our paper? However, the Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald immediately reported on the aviation and ground assets that have been sent to help from their cities. There is a severe lack of knowledge of the great and many things our units here in Grand Island are doing for their community, as well as their country. There is a lot going on with these units, and the men and women who serve in them, that is worth reporting and for them being recognized for. It seems that many people in this community and the surrounding communities dont even realize that we have such a large aviation asset right here in our city. I find this troubling. For your information, Grand Island has sent four aircraft to help with relief efforts in Houston with coordinating crews. A company out of Lincoln has been activated and will be sending more aid in the following days. Grand Island (and surrounding communities) have citizen soldiers volunteering to help in the midst of this disaster, and the community should be hearing about it. By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 31 (PTI) The United States has about 11,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as per the policy of President Donald Trump for the war-torn country, the Pentagon has said. The announcement is part of the new transparent accounting procedure set in motion by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, Chief Pentagon spokesman Dana W White told reporters at a news conference yesterday. advertisement "Under the new, simplified accounting methodology, the current total forces number in Afghanistan is approximately 11,000. This does not include any potential future adjustments the secretary of defence may make in order to accomplish the presidents new strategy for South Asia," said Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of joint staff. However, White noted that said this is not an announcement of a troop increase. "We are simply being more transparent about the way we communicate Americas military commitment in Afghanistan, while still protecting sensitive information," he said. McKenzie had said that in November 2016, the previous administration authorised the increase of the force manning level to 8,448. And until now, the department has routinely reported approximately 8,400 forces, with a complex series of authorised exemptions above that, he said. Congressman Mac Thornberry, chairman of the house armed services committee said he is pleased to see that ahead of the execution of a new strategy in Afghanistan, Trump and Mattis have chosen to put the facts on the table. "The Obama Administration did not shoot straight on how many people they sent to Afghanistan, which added cost to the mission and made it harder to succeed. It is important to be upfront about the importance of the mission and what it takes to succeed," he said. White said similar calculation is being done in on troops deployed in Iraq also. PTI LKJ ASV --- ENDS --- It's not over. Thousands of uncounted ballots remain in Bucks, Montco Bucks County officials do not anticipate all ballots cast Tuesday will be counted - or not - until next week. Leaving House key races in limbo Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 08:10 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aea9d66 4 Editorial #Editorial,haj-pilgrimage,haj,#Haj,#HajPilgrimage,Idul-Adha,First-Travel Free Muslims worldwide will celebrate Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, tomorrow to commemorate the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (known as Abraham to Christians and Jews) to follow Gods command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. The annual festival falls on the 10th day of Zulhijjah, the last month of the Islamic Hijrah calendar system. Idul Adha, held in remembrance and in honor of Ibrahims readiness to submit himself to the divine will, generally centers on Muslims performing mass morning prayers, sacrificing offerings (mostly cattle, goats or sheep) and sharing the meat with the poor. It will also be observed by charitable donations, as well as an exchange of gifts among family members. Idul Adha is a ritual that creates a bond among Muslims as it is a special time for the fortunate to show their concern and support for the less fortunate. It can be seen through the slaughter of the sacrificed animals and the immediate distribution of the meat to the needy so they can take part in the celebration. The holiday is inseparably connected to the annual haj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the fifth pillar of Islamic teaching and worship, as it will only start worldwide after the descent of the Hujjaj (haj pilgrims) from a mass gathering on Mount Arafat, a hill east of Mecca. The gathering on Mt. Arafat, also known as wukuf, peaks and concludes the entire haj ritual. Apart from the symbolization of Ibrahims devotion to Gods command through the sacrifice of animals by Muslims, the rituals of the month-long haj pilgrimage follow the steps of the prophet himself. The joyful Idul Adha celebration is therefore part and parcel of a solemn and orderly haj pilgrimage procession set forth by the prophet. Unfortunately, the government-administered organization of the Indonesian end of the haj has repeatedly been tainted by mismanagement. This years organization was marked by poor government oversight of private travel agents authorized to send would-be pilgrims on umrah (minor haj). A case in point was the failure of the Religious Affairs Ministry to closely supervise the umrah services provided by the First Travel agency, which has deprived tens of thousands of would-be pilgrims of their voyage to Mecca, even though they had paid up in full. The ministry should take some share of the blame as complaints about the agencys poor services had arisen months before the police arrested the owners of First Travel. The ministry has revoked the companys permit and its owners will soon face trial. But the core problem of lax supervision has apparently not been completely resolved as there are many other travel agents with equally poor track records that remain untouched. Unless the government overhauls the haj and umrah management, complaints about poor services and scams will continue to arise. Let us hope this is carried out. In the meantime, to our Muslim brothers and sisters, we wish you a blessed Idul Adha! Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Thu, August 31, 2017 Travelers in the city of Semarang can look forward to a new experience in modern hospitality, with property developer Sinar Mas Land soon to open Rooms Inc. Hotel Semarang. Designed as the city's first lifestyle hotel, the three-star Rooms Inc. Hotel Semarang will be the first of many Rooms Inc.-branded properties to come from Sinar Mas Land. The hotel makes use of a smart urban concept to attract young executives visiting the city on business and millennial travelers seeking to enjoy its sights and sounds. The entire property is wrapped in an urban atmosphere, from its interiors designed with stylish art-deco touches, to its public facilities, which include modern communal areas. The informal atmosphere of these communal areas with billiard tables, a relaxed furniture layout and super-fast Wi-Fi access that guests can use for socializing after a busy day, makes for the perfect place for guests to unwind after a busy day. Sinar Mas Land believes that a modern lifestyle hotel should give guests an experience, not just four walls of booked accommodation. "Just as malls are no longer just places where tenants sell things, hotels also have to be more than just accommodation. Hotels have to be an experience that leaves an impression, said Alphonzus Widjaja, Sinar Mas Land's CEO of retail and hospitality. Rooms and facilities - (-/-) This new hotel has 162 rooms, comprising 56 Standard rooms (including rooms for people with disabilities), 97 Superior rooms and 9 Deluxe rooms. Each room gets its own first-class facilities, including premium beds, and guests get to enjoy the benefits of smart check-in facilities and high-speed internet access with speeds of up to 100MB/s. Other facilities include three combinable meeting rooms, a gym, the Verve Bistro & Coffee Bar that aims to be a lifestyle icon of the city, and a 24-hour Grab & Go corner for guests short on time. Rounding off the lifestyle facilities is an outdoor terrace that can accommodate up to 100 people. The hotel also has its own dedicated parking area. A gateway to the city - (-/-) The hotel's strategic location on top of the Duta Pertiwi Mall gives guests direct access to even more facilities beyond Rooms Inc., such as Carrefour, XXI Cinema, family karaoke and a wide range of other tenants in the mall. Thanks to its position in the center of Semarang, Rooms Inc. also is within close reach of the city's government buildings, its city hall, its transportation hubs, Ahmad Yani International Airport and landmarks such as the historic Lawang Sewu building. "We are confident that the Rooms Inc. Hotel can be a favorite destination for business people and travelers who are visiting Semarang and craving hospitality with a modern lifestyle touch that can leave an impression," Alphonzus said. We hope we can become a market leader for three-star hotels. The hotel is set to open its doors to the public on Sept. 9. Its prices currently start as low as Rp 600,000 per night. For reservations, email reservation@roomsinchotels.com. For more information, visit www.roomsinchotels.com. Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur comes alive on the big screen tomorrow with Ileana D'Cruz playing her in Ajay Devgn-starrer Baadshaho. By Ananya Bhattacharya: "She was dressed in a turquoise-blue chiffon sari with silver sequins sparkling like stars on a moonless night. She looked around with her large almond eyes. Everyone stood up. As Hillaire Belloc once described someone, 'her face was like the king's command when all the swords are drawn.'" - The New York Times Magazine, 1966 In 2005, a few years before her death, Maharani Gayatri Devi visited her hometown, Cooch Behar, one last time. She performed a pooja at the local temple, Madan Mohan Bari. The municipality had sprung into action a few months before her visit and 'beautified' the temple complex with artificial palm trees. But the mercurial princess wasn't pleased. She snapped at the people showing her around, "Why are these artificial trees here? They belong in five-star hotels!" advertisement And just as quickly as she lost her temper, she got back to smiling at the hundreds of residents around her. Eight-year-old kids with their parents, 80-year-olds with their families. No one in the town could think of doing anything else that evening. She was about 86 years old at that time. You had to see her to understand what beauty means. No make-up, no frills, a wrinkled face, but what radiance! The Rajmata of Jaipur was the Princess of Cooch Behar The Maharani spent the night at the town's Circuit House and left for Jaipur the next morning. Her home, the Cooch Behar Rajbari, was an ASI monument; inhabitable, but for the guards. She told the people that she would return to Cooch Behar soon. She never did. In 2009, four years after the last time her hometown saw her, we received the news that the Maharani was no more. The last 'guardian' of the town was gone. She outlived her brother Jagaddipendra Narayan, who died in 1970, and was the last king of Cooch Behar before the kingdom became a part of India. The town came to a standstill. People all over the town mourned their 'Rajmata' for three days. Offices, shops, markets were all shut for those three days. A pall of gloom covered the town. It took several months for the town to cripple back to normalcy. Gayatri Devi was dead. The truth sank in after many days of disbelief. Maharani Gayatri Devi with her husband, Maharaja Jai Singh Gayatri Devi is still that one person who made the country know my little town by its name. Tomorrow, one of the darkest chapters of her turbulent life will be on the big screen. Ajay Devgn-starrer Baadshaho releases tomorrow. Barfi's Ileana D'Cruz has the mighty task of stepping into the shoes of Maharani Gayatri Devi. Vogue called her 'a dream in sari and jewels' Before we see Ileana D'Cruz as Gayatri Devi in Baadshaho, here's what you need to know about the woman whose beauty cast a spell on the entire world. EARLY YEARS: 'A DREAM IN SARI AND JEWELS' She holds the record of a landslide win in the 1962 elections where she got 77 per cent of all votes cast Gayatri Devi was born to royalty, to Maharaja Jitendra Narayan and Indira Devi. The kingdom of Cooch Behar, nestled at the foothills of the Himalayas, saw her shooting her first panther at the age of 12. Vogue named her year after year as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world. She was a 'dream in sari and jewels'. advertisement Born to a royal family and married into another, Gayatri Devi grew up surrounded by an unimaginable display of wealth. Her six-year courtship with Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur culminated in marriage; her first, his third. He proposed to her in the back seat of a Bentley in London, as the car went around Hyde Park. The third wife of Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur was not ready to be confined to the regressive purdah, a custom that her two sister-wives followed. Her early years were spent in the royal palace of Cooch Behar and in estates in London She lived in Jaipur till her death in 2009. RIVALRY WITH INDIRA GANDHI Gayatri Devi belonged to one of the country's last royal families after the privy purses were abolished. She remained a formidable opponent of the Congress all through her brief political career. It was a relationship fraught with problems and rivalries that dated back to her years in Shantiniketan where she constantly found herself pitted against Indira, then Nehru. The stories about Indira Gandhi's ego problems with Gayatri Devi's beauty and unabashed display of wealth in Vishwa Bharati form part of an urban legend now. 1962 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS advertisement In 1962, Gayatri Devi decided to run for the Parliament as the Swatantrata Party candidate from Jaipur. The Lok Sabha elections that year went into the Guinness Book of World Records. Gayatri Devi won the constituency in the world's largest landslide, winning 192,909 votes out of 250,272 valid votes. The Congress was decimated in Jaipur with its candidate Sharda Devi managing to secure only 35,217 votes. Gayatri Devi was a member of parliament from 1962 to 1975. THE EMERGENCY AND IMPRISONMENT Maharani Gayatri Devi with Jacqueline Kennedy The relationship between Gayatri Devi and Indira Gandhi reached a tipping point during the Emergency. 1971 saw the privy purses abolished and Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in 1975. A series of income tax raids all over the country followed, with Gayatri Devi landing up behind bars for undeclared gold and wealth that was recovered from her palace. She spent five months in jail, and hated the Congress till her last breath. LIFE AFTER EMERGENCY Maharani Gayatri Devi was the third wife of Maharaja Jai Singh Gayatri Devi's remaining years saw her retiring from politics and concentrating on her life and women's empowerment in Jaipur. She published her biography, A Princess Remembers, in 1976, authored by Santha Rama Rau. In a desperate bid, the Trinamool Congress named Gayatri Devi as their candidate from Cooch Behar in 1999. By then, the Rajmata had stopped even bothering to respond to anything that she did not have her heart in. advertisement The Princess of Cooch Behar, the Rajmata of Jaipur, died a quiet death in 2009. Surrounded by just the handful of people who belonged to her reclusive inner circle. Remembered by the town she belonged to and the city she helped transform. (The writer tweets as @ananya116) ALSO READ: The Rajmata Remembers ALSO READ: Big B remembers the 'exquisitely beautiful' Gayatri Devi ALSO WATCH: Indira Gandhi raided Jaigarh fort fort for gold during 1976 Emergency --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jamie James (The Jakarta Post) Lombok Thu, August 31, 2017 08:53 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeac2c3 4 Art & Culture music,#music,classical-music,Lombok,West-Nusa-Tenggara Free Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara is famed for the rugged natural beauty of its mountains and beaches, which attract adventurers and pleasure-seekers from throughout the world, yet culture on the island is usually associated with traditional village life, such as martial arts and the production of earthenware pottery. On Friday evening, residents and visitors to Lombok had an opportunity to experience culture of a more refined sort: a world-class performance of piano music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Gershwin, and others, at the ballroom of the Santika Hotel in the provincial capital Mataram. Nigel Clayton, a professor of piano at the Royal College of Music, London, and Imma Setiadi, a brilliant young pianist from Surabaya, East Java, who recently completed her doctoral studies at the Royal College, performed piano duets with impressive precision and deep feeling. The first piece on the program, Schuberts stirring Marche Caracteristique, revealed the musicians shining asset: a nearly perfect unison, not only in the playing of the notes but also in interpretation. The sympathy that bonded the performers flowed freely through the hall, holding the near-capacity audience rapt. Read also: Millennials making classical music great again The second piece, Mendelssohns Duett, opus 92, opens with an andante movement with just two musical lines, like an ordinary piece for solo piano, which is played by four hands as the musicians swap off, picking up the sparkling musical arc as it glides up and down the keyboard. Bonded: Pianists Nigel Clayton and Imma Setiadi prepare for the show in a support of musical education in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. (Classical Music Comes to Lombok/File) Then a third musical line is added, and in the finale, an exciting allegro brilliante, four hands play in a thrilling race to the finish. Rachmaninoffs moody, melancholy Vocalise, the Russian composers famous work for solo soprano, a song without words, was also scored as a piano duet. Here, the performers in Mataram explored delicate shades of bittersweet musical emotion, which surged and receded in a seamless musical fabric that required them to reach over each others hands, and ended in a poignant, dying fall. The program then took an energetic turn with George Gershwins Three Preludes. Clayton, a seasoned performer on cruise ships, introduced it, as he did every piece on the program, with lively remarks about the composer and the work. In the performance, the British professor and the lady from Surabaya achieved a remarkably authentic impression of Broadway boogie-woogie. The program concluded with an exciting, flawless performance of Antonin Dvoraks Three Slavonic Dances, one of the most famous and famously difficult keyboard works composed for four hands. Fridays recital was the third annual program organized by a group called Classical Music Comes to Lombok, in collaboration with Forum Gesek Mataram, an amateur orchestra that supports musical education on the island. The day before the concert, Forum Gesek presented a public master class for students of piano and violin, supervised by Clayton. Clayton and Immas recital on Friday was preceded by a mixed program of short classical works performed by the Forum Gesek String Orchestra, including chamber works. The stand-outs among the talented student group were Ariel, in a confident performance of Jaya Supranas Fragmen, and Azka Putri Akbar, with a polished rendition of a Chopin nocturne. The pros, Clayton and Setiadi, assisted in the finale, the tender, moving Andante from Mozarts Piano Concerto in A minor, K. 414, transcribed for piano and string trio. *** Nigel Clayton and Imma Setiadi repeated the program of their recital in Mataram at a performance on Aug. 30 at Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 10:32 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeae654 1 Food nasi-padang,food,#food,#nasipadang,rice,#rice,rice-production,Padang,Padang-food Free Recently, a one-and-a-half minute video about bouncing left-over rice from a Padang restaurant in Central Jakarta went viral. Uploaded on YouTube, the video accused that the rice contains plastic, as it was not sticky. Fortunately, Central Jakarta Police found that there was no trace of plastic rice being produced or served in the eatery When it comes to nasi Padang (rice served with various side dishes), rice grain plays a crucial role. Marco Padang Peranakan restaurant executive chef Marco Lim told The Jakarta Post that he only serves Pandan Wangi rice from Solok regency, West Sumatra. He explained that there are three types of beras Solok, namely Pandan Wangi, Sokan and Anak Daro. Sokan is also available in Batu Sangkar area in West Sumatra, he said, adding that Bukit Tinggi and coast areas produce different varieties of rice. The rice is said to have different characteristics as the grain is firm yet soft. It blends well with coconut milk gravy [that we serve in Padang restaurant], he said. Read also: A Norwegian man's ode to Nasi Padang: Audun Kvitland Marco also said that rice grains from other parts of Indonesia, such as Cianjur regency in West Java, tend to be pulen (soft, chewy and sticky textures). This type of rice does not blend well with the coconut milk gravy. It's stickier too, added Marco. To get beras Solok in Jakarta is not an easy job. For instance, Marco needs to work directly with the farmers in Solok and ships the rice to Jakarta. Usually, people [in Jakarta] get beras Solok via word-of-mouth," he said, explaining that most of the rice sellers in the capital only offer small amount of beras Solok. Though beras Solok is popular among Padang natives, not all Padang restaurants able to sell it. Due to the shipping cost, the price tends to be more expensive too. Simay Padang restaurant server Jon shared that the shop uses rice from Cilegon, West Java, adding that they would not be able to make a profit out of beras Solok. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Li Wenfang (China Daily/Asia News Network) Guangzhao, China Thu, August 31, 2017 15:36 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec5709 2 Lifestyle plastic-surgery,China,students,cosmetic-surgery,#students,beauty,#beauty Free More students in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are taking out loans for plastic surgery as access to the financial service increases. About one-sixth of the 300 or so students who had cosmetic surgery at Guangzhou Huamei Aesthetic Hospital over the summer borrowed money for the purpose, according to Peng Weihong, assistant to the general manager of the hospital, one of the largest cosmetic surgery providers in the city. Since mid-2015, a number of lenders targeting cosmetic surgery have tried to grab a slice of the market. Ant Financial Services Group, the online finance company backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, began offering loans and installment payment programs for cosmetic surgery in March, said Ke Sufang, a senior researcher at Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, a consulting agency. Loans to students for cosmetic surgery at Peng's hospital generally ranged from 10,000 to 30,000 yuan ($1,520 to $4,560), he said. The boom in such loans is attributable to huge demandthe market sector was valued at 796.3 billion yuan in China last year, with annual growth of about 20 percentas well as the hefty cost of the procedures, Ke said. The Guangzhou Mylike Aesthetic Medicine clinic saw 40 percent growth in clients aged 18 to 24 in July over the same month last year, as the acceptance of cosmetic surgery continues to increase, according to public relations manager Du Xiuming. Some students were accompanied by their parents, indicating a more open attitude on the matter, Du said. Read also: Plastic surgery popular among Chinese students after national exams Students mostly choose minor surgeries for double-folded eyelids, removal of acne and body hair, treating teeth and dermal fillers, Du said. Students made up 12 percent of those opting for cosmetic surgery last year, behind only white-collar workers and people in the fashion industry, Ke said. A postgraduate student in Beijing, who gave only his surname, Guo, said he had a dermal filler and a Botox injection in June that he paid for with 10,000 yuan borrowed from Alipay because people around him were doing it. "Seeing the plastic surgeries my classmates got, I suddenly felt the urge to take out a loan to pay for it," the 23-year-old said. With part-time work, he paid off the loan in six months, "with a few hundred yuan in interest", he said. A 22-year-old college student from Shanxi province, who didn't want to give her name, said that many students she knew had borrowed money to get plastic surgery. She got her first loan7,000 yuanfrom an online lending platform shortly after Chinese New Year to change her eyelids and nose. Representatives of a beauty institute had come to her school and told students that installment payments would be accepted, so she grabbed the chance and took the loan. "I had no savings to pay for the surgery, and my family still has traditional opinions, so it was hard to get their approval or financial support," she said. Read also: A girl group promises to publicize before and after of plastic surgery By cutting costs she paid back the loan in three months, she said, adding that she would do it again. Huamei Aesthetic Hospital's Peng thought the number of students seeking plastic surgery would continue to expand, with more people believing in the importance of appearance in success, and with the influence of TV drama stars and internet celebrities. Ke, however, said loans for cosmetic surgery may become harder to get, as the authorities have tightened rules for on-campus loans. The loan market remains chaotic, and students, given their relatively weak spending power and immature judgment, may have trouble repaying loans and are prone to default, Ke said. Peng Peng, vice-chairman of the experts committee at South Nongovernmental Think-Tank, said students should assess their financial capabilities before borrowing money and warned against loan sharks and "naked loans", which involve extortion. The lenders demand nude photos of borrowers that they threaten to release if payment isn't made. Cosmetic surgery does not necessarily lead to a good job, he said. Li Jiayue in Beijing and Zhong Yongshi in Guangzhou contributed to this story. Topics : This article appeared on the China Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta, Central Java Thu, August 31, 2017 06:43 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aea990a 1 National surakarta,Palace,sultan,sultanate,Hangabehi,Pakubuwono,Tjahjo-Kumolo,Keraton,FX-Hadi-Rudyatmo Free The years-long power struggle within the Surakarta sultanate in Central Java has significantly eased since Sultan Pakubuwono XIII Hangabehi finally sat on the throne in April. However, many issues appear to remain and they could result in the Rp 1.4 billion (US$105,000) grant earmarked for the sultanate not being disbursed this year. The Surakarta city administration has allocated Rp 300 million while another Rp 1.1 billion has been allotted by the Central Java provincial administration in grants for the sultanate. However, the two administrations require the palace to establish a new palace management body before the grants can be disbursed. Read also: Cirebon to host festival of palaces across Indonesia We demand the palace establish the body by Sept. 7. Otherwise, [the grants] cannot be disbursed [until next budgetary year], Surakarta city secretary Budi Yulistianto said on Wednesday. Previously, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo failed to get a letter of approval from Hangabehi as a legal requirement to establish a technical managing unit (UPT) for the management of the palace. Surakarta Sultan Pakubuwono XIII Hangabehi sits on the throne to watch the sacred Bedaya Ketawang dance during the Tingalan Jumenengan event commemorating the anniversary of his coronation at the Surakarta Palace on Saturday. The ceremony marked the beginning of reconciliation between the sultan and the customary council that has opposed his leadership. (The Jakarta Post/Ganug Nugroho Adi) A recent meeting attended by Tjahjo, Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudy Rudyatmo, Presidential Advisory Board member Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo, and representatives of the royal family, as well as representatives from the Education and Culture Ministry and Tourism Ministry, which was intended to discuss the unit, broke down in acrimony. We were accused of neglecting the palace. I cannot accept that. All this time the funds used to take care of the palace have been from the state, Rudy said. (bbs) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh Thu, August 31, 2017 13:53 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec1387 2 World Myanmar,Bangladesh,Rohingya,death,refugee Free Coastguards in Bangladesh on Thursday found the bodies of 16 Rohingya, many of them children, who drowned when their boat capsized as they fled an upsurge in violence in Myanmar that has forced at least 18,500 to seek refuge across the border. Officials in Bangladesh say growing numbers of Rohingya are trying to cross the Naf river that divides the two countries in rickety boats, which often do not survive the rough waters as they become increasingly desperate to escape. The International Organization for Migration said Wednesday that at least 18,500 Rohingya had crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar's neighbouring Rakhine state six days earlier. But some do not make it. On Wednesday, the bodies of two Rohingya women and two children washed up in Bangladesh after their rickety boat capsized. And on Thursday Nurul Amin Rohingya, a local official, said another boat had capsized killing 16 Rohingya. "We have found 16 bodies washed ashore this morning," he told AFP. A coast guard official, who asked not to be named, said the migrants were travelling on "rickety inland fishing boats" ill-equipped for the rough seas around Bangladesh. The Naf river that divides the two countries is narrow in places, but the Rohingya are increasingly crossing where the river is wider, or even venturing out to sea, after Bangladeshi authorities toughened their border patrols. Bangladesh is already home to an estimated 400,000 Rohingya, a mainly Muslim stateless minority. Topics : Myanmar Bangladesh Rohingya death refugee Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nadera Bouazza (Agence France-Presse) Mount Arafa, Saudi Arabia Thu, August 31, 2017 12:23 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeb26e8 2 World Islam,ritual,haj,Mecca Free More than two million Muslims from around the world began the haj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites Wednesday, a religious duty and a multi-stage spiritual journey. This year sees pilgrims from Shiite Iran return to Mecca in Saudi Arabia after a hiatus following a diplomatic spat between the regional rivals and a deadly stampede in 2015. It also comes with the Gulf mired in a major political crisis that has seen thousands of faithful who would usually make the journey from neighbouring Qatar stay away. On the esplanade of Mecca's Grand Mosque, the excitement was palpable as crowds from all four corners of the world gathered for a pilgrimage that all able Muslims are required to perform at least once in their lives. Tidjani Traore, a public service consultant from Benin, said he was on his 22nd pilgrimage at the age of 53. "Every time, there are new emotions," he said. "There are new innovations for organizing and hosting the pilgrims. Now, for example, the tents are air-conditioned." Wearing the simple garb of the pilgrim, the faithful waited at dawn with their suitcases for buses to take them to Mina five kilometers (three miles) to the east. There, hundreds of thousands were gathering before they set off on Thursday at dawn to climb Mount Arafat, the pinnacle of the haj. In the midst of a hot desert breeze, the first arrivals prepared to spend the night in tents on the plain below Mount Arafat. "I will spend the evening in prayer before we climb up the mountain for the dawn prayer," said a 72-year-old Tunisian woman, stretched out on a mattress. Earlier in Mecca, the pilgrims performed a ritual walk known as the tawaf seven times around the Kaaba, a black masonry cube wrapped in a heavy silk cloth embroidered in gold with Koranic verses at the centre of Mecca's Grand Mosque. The shrine is the point towards which Muslims around the world pray. "I still have to finish the tawaf!" said a breathless Nour, 30, from Saudi Arabia as she rushed past without stopping. Topics : Islam ritual haj Mecca Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 11:24 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeb0475 1 Business Garuda-Indonesia,loss,first-half,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,statement Free Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said she will look into the rising losses of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to find out whether anything was wrong with its investment strategy. Garuda Indonesia is one of 24 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) suffering losses, as announced by SOE Ministry on Wednesday. The airline recorded US$282 million in losses in the first half of 2017, swelling from $61.92 million in the corresponding period of last year. If the mistake is fundamental in its management, we will manage it better, said Sri Mulyani during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI, which oversees trade, industry and investment. Other reasons for the losses could include losing out in competition or making wrong investments, she said in Jakarta on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com. The minister said that because of the losses, Garuda Indonesia would not be transfering any dividends to the state in 2018. The other companies include Merpati Nusantara Airlines, State Logistics Agency (Bulog), PT Indofarma, PT Energy Management Indonesia, PT Hotel Indonesia Natour, postal firm PT Pos Indonesia (Persero), film production company Perum Produksi Film Negara, publication firm PT Balai Pustaka, shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia and shipyard operator PT Dok dan Perkapalan Surabaya. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 12:51 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeb9c07 1 City Idul-Adha,livestock,North-Jakarta Free The North Jakarta Fisheries, Agriculture and Food Security Agency (KPKP) has checked the health of 9,799 sacrificial animals in six districts in North Jakarta ahead of Idul Adha (Islamic Day of Sacrifice), which falls on Friday. From the examination, we found 66 sick animals in six districts, the head of the North Jakarta KPKP, Rita Nirmala, said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. The 66 unhealthy animals consisted of six cows, five sheep and 55 goats. Another 34 animals were too young. Rita said there was a significant increase in healthy animals compared to last year. Last year, there were 8,544 healthy animals for Idul Adha, fewer than this year's 9,733. The celebration of Idul Adha on Sept. 1 requires Muslims to slaughter animals to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to obey God's command to sacrifice his son Ismail. The health of sacrificial animals is a major concern of the city administration ahead of Idul Adha. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura Thu, August 31 2017 The Papua Police will monitor the use of village funds amounting to Rp 4.3 trillion (US$322 million) allocated for 5,420 villages in 28 regencies and one municipality across the province. The police will monitor the channeling of the village funds in Papua this year. Babinkamtibmas [police officers assigned to villages as advisors on security and public order] in villages will be trained to watch and guard the utilization of the funds, Papua Police head Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Wednesday. He said two regencies and one municipality in Papua would pilot the involvement of National Police personnel in the supervision and monitoring of village funds in the province. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 15:16 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec3e23 1 National tsunami,earthquake,Yogyakarta,angkasa-pura,Kulonprogo,Airport,disaster,disaster-mitigation,disaster-risk-reduction Free State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I (AP I) has not yet developed a plan for infrastructure to reduce the danger of tsunamis as part of its construction of the new Yogyakarta airport, which is located near the coast in Kulonprogo regency. During a visit of representatives from the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry and the Cabinet, AP I field officers could not show the location for the creation of sand banks and the planting of Australian pine trees or she-oaks to reduce the impacts of a tsunami. We will ensure that the new airport will be developed in one package with its disaster mitigation system, said the ministrys deputy minister for infrastructure coordination, Rahman Hidayat, on Wednesday. (Read also: Airport construction continues despite lack of environmental permit) AP I airport-planning head Yudhaparana Sugarda admitted that the company did not yet have a detailed plan on tsunami mitigation for the airport, which covers 600 hectares and is targeted for completion in March 2019. He said AP I would develop the tsunami mitigation system based on input it had received during a workshop on infrastructure support for national strategic projects in Yogyakarta held by the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry on Tuesday. We will develop it based on this workshop, said Yudhaparana. At the workshop, earthquake and tsunami experts from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology warned that the location of the new airport, which is only 200 meters from the coast, was prone to tsunamis. (ebf) By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) A 48-year-old woman from Rohtak has received a fresh lease of life after undergoing an over 12-hour-long rare surgery for removal of a malignant neck tumour at a city hospital. At a press conference here today, the Fortis Hospital claimed the operation was a "first of its kind" in north India. Bimla Devi was brought to the Fortis Hospital at Shalimar Bagh in a state of "complete weakness" and was being fed through an external apparatus as she had extreme trouble swallowing and breathing, doctors said. advertisement "An endoscopy and biopsy were performed proving the presence of a squamous cell carcinoma in the laryngeal region. The tumour was cylindrical in shape and weighed about 160-170 gms. "After reviewing her case, we decided to perform a total laryngopharyngectomy and reconstruction of pharyngeal tube with a free jejunal flap. Post the surgery the patient was kept on ventilator support for two days," said Dr Surender Dabas, Director (Head, Neck and Thoracic Surgical Oncology) at the hospital. A total laryngopharyngectomy is the removal of the entire voice box and the pharynx. "In free jejunal flap, a small section of the jejunum (middle segment of the small intestine found between the duodenum and the ileum) is cut out and sutured in the oesophegal region to let her ingest food. Since, in Bimlas case, it was a post-cricoid carcinoma, her food pipe and windpipe that were affected, were removed," he said. A senior official of the hospital said, the surgery was conducted on August 14. "She is stable and kept under observation in the HDU (high-dependency unit). She would be discharged in a few days," he said. Bimlas husband Mehtab Singh said she was earlier treated at a hospital in Rohtak before being brought to Fortis facility in Delhi. Doctors at the Fortis Hospital said another cancer patient, 50-year-old Mukesh Devi, also recently underwent a life-saving surgery for removal of a nearly 560 gm dumbbell- shaped malignant tumour in her neck. "In her (Mukeshs) case, the surgery was fraught with risk, so we took consent of the family before operating. She had been operated four times before for the tumour at various hospitals in Delhi, but to no avail. "The tumour was arising from a cranial nerve and had its roots extending to the skull base, tonsil and behind the food pipe. The surgery (on August 16) lasted 6 hours and the patient was kept in the ICU for a day, and was discharged on the fourth day after the surgery," Dabas told reporters. Mukesh would now need radiation therapy to prevent recurrence of malignancy and speech therapy to get her voice restored to normal, he said. advertisement "This was a complete removal of the tumour, unlike the operations she had undergone before. So, a chance of recurrence of cancer is very little. Also, in 70 per cent of such cases it doesnt recur," he added. Head and neck cancers account for more than 5.5 lakh of the total cancer cases reported in India every year, putting India in the sixth place worldwide, the hospital said. PTI KND GVS --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 13:41 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec0f2c 1 City pak-ogah,traffic-attendant,salary Free The city administration has dismissed a request from the Jakarta Police to pay monthly salaries to informal traffic attendants, popularly called Pak Ogah, who have undergone traffic control training with the police since Aug. 21. Where will the money come from? There is no [allocation] for them in the regional budget, Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com. City councilor Syarifudin said the administration had finalized the draft for the 2017 budget priorities (KUA-PPAS) as the basis for the citys 2017 revised budget. He advised the police to propose the idea again in 2018. Commenting on the issue, Jakarta Police traffic division chief Sr. Comr. Halim Pagarra said he would visit City Hall and talk to Djarot about this matter in the near future. I will explain to him that the program must be run, he said. Halim also said he hoped the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) could pay for them. Previously, the police stated that they would ask for financial contribution from private enterprises located where the Pak Ogah operate. The traffic attendants help to keep traffic moving at U-turns or road intersections in return for tips. The attendants got the name Pak Ogah in reference to a character in the popular 1990s puppet show Si Unyil, where Pak Ogah is an unemployed person who asks for small change from people he meets. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 13:21 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aebd32d 1 National PPATK,National-Police,First-Travel,umrah,umrah-business,umrah-pilgrims,Wiranto Free The National Police have begun to trace First Travels flow of funds in their investigation into the companys alleged umrah (minor haj) scam. The police are using data from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK). Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said the PPATK had provided data on the capital flows of First Travel to the police in a meeting on Tuesday. Their money did not disappear. It was only moved or transferred [to other accounts]. We invited the PPATK chairman [Kiagus Ahmad Badaruddin] last night. They have listed all of First Travels transactions, Wiranto told journalists at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. The minister added that the number people harmed by First Travels alleged scam continued to increase. Would-be-pilgrims continued to submit reports on losses they had suffered to a crisis center at the polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim). The police are still calculating the exact losses. As the number of victims continues to increase, the height of the losses is not yet determined, said Wiranto. He added that the case would be taken to court as soon as the exact losses and other details of the case had been clarified. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 12:45 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeb8f60 1 Business Telkom-4,launching,2018,Telkom1-satellite Free State-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom Indonesia) plans to launch its Telkom 4 satellite in a years time to replace the troubled Telkom 1. We have signed a contract to launch the Telkom 4 satellite. It will be launched from the United States in August 2018, said PT Telkom president director Alex J. Sinaga during a press conference with Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara in Jakarta on Wednesday. Telkom 4 is manufactured by Space Systems Loral (SSL) and will be launched by SpaceX. It will have transponders for the domestic market and some to be marketed in India. Read also: Telkom to deorbit troubled satellite Alex said the name of the satellite was still tentative, as his company was still considering possible names. The satellite, which will be placed in orbit slot 108 BT, the current location of Telkom 1, will have a 15-year lifespan, similar to Telkom 1. Telkom will closely monitor the progress on Telkom 4 to make sure that the satellite will be launched as scheduled, Alex said as reported by kompas.com. Telkom 1 services went offline on Friday at 4:51 p.m. Jakarta time. The services of a number banks, such as Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Bank Mandiri, have been affected as they use Telkom 1 VSAT connection for their ATM and EDC machines. Telkom began the migration on Saturday and expects to finish the process by Sept. 10. Telkom will also rent foreign-owned satellites to cover the services, because Telkom 2 and Telkom 3S can only cover 77 percent of Telkom 1's services. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 20:51 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aecc2ea 1 City Idul-Adha,cikampek,toll-road Free As many as 93,000 vehicles are expected to leave Jakarta through the Cikarang Utama toll gate in Bekasi, West Java, on Thursday, one day prior to Idul Adha, says state-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga. The peak of the Idul Adha exodus will be on Thursday, Jasa Marga spokesman Dwimawan Heru said in a statement on Thursday. However, there would not be a significant traffic flow increase from normal days, he said. The volume of vehicles passing the toll gate would see a 19 percent increase from traffic on normal days, which could reach 77,000 vehicles. Besides in Cikarang Utama, there would also be increased traffic at the Jagorawi, Cipularang and Padaleunyi toll gates, Dwimawan added. In anticipation of traffic congestion at the toll gates, Jasa Marga will open seven more gates that will lead to the Cikampek at Cikarang Utama toll gates. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 15:01 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec341d 1 City transjakarta,employees,Dispute Free City-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court after former employee Fery Febriansyah won a case against it at a lower court. Fery is among four PT Transjakarta ex-workers who filed separate lawsuits with the Industrial Relations Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, with assistance from the Mawar Saron Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Mawar Saron). "We have lodged an appeal, said Wibowo, PT Transjakarta spokesman, as quoted by tempo.co on Thursday. Fery demanded PT Transjakarta pay him Rp 73.5 million (US$5,507) in compensation for firing him as a contract worker. PT Transjakarta has been in dispute with 13 former employees who had worked for the company as contract workers since 2004, when the company's legal status was that of a special public service (BLU) company. However, when it officially became an enterprise in 2015, PT Transjakarta reportedly only made those employed that year permanent workers. Thousands of other employees were kept on as contract workers. Earlier in August, the 13 contract workers filed a lawsuit with the industrial court, demanding to be hired as permanent workers. They also demanded compensation of Rp 580 million. (agn) Topics : transjakarta employees Dispute Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Thu, August 31, 2017 19:06 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec9e4c 2 Tips vacation,Holiday,relaxation,travel Free As well as getting enough sleep, working out and eating well, there are many other ways to de-stress and bring some calm into your life, and vacations are the perfect moment to practice some self-care. Here we round up how complementary methods such as essential oils, relaxing baths and natural surroundings, can all help you fully switch off and unwind this vacation. Get a massage A massage is a great way to take time out and do something for yourself, and can help boost relaxation, reduce stress, as well as give you a physical boost before heading back to work. Some different types of massage to look out for in your hotel spa include tui na massage, a traditional Chinese massage with a firmer and more vigorous technique to not only relax but also improve muscle and joint pain. It can also help improve sleep and reduce stress; Chi Nei Tsang massage, also known as Taoist abdominal massage, which reportedly helps to calm the nervous system and has a calming and detoxifying effect on the body; and shiatsu massage, which can aid sleep, important for overall health and well-being and for improved mental health and resilience to stress. Read also: Five books for your vacation reading list Go outdoors If your holiday location is by the beach or in the countryside, or your hotel is offering some day trips to get out of the city, then heading outdoors is a great way to reduce stress. Many recent studies have shown the benefits of living near nature and visiting green spacesand getting some natural lightincluding reduced stress, improved sleep, better eye health, reduced aggression in teens and better test results in children, and an improvement in health overall. To reap the rewards, head to the beach for a view of the ocean, which can also give mental health a boost, take a walk in the countryside, do a day trip to the mountains, or if youre on a city break seek out a park. Yoga teacher Mandy Ingber also recommends walking barefoot where possible, for added health benefits such as reducing stress, relieving tension headaches, and enabling deeper sleep. Read also: A guide for binge-watching your vacation away Pack some essential oils If you rarely take time for self-care at home, turning your hotel room into a little sanctuary while away can help de-stress. Light a candle, dim the lights, run a bath and get out some essential oils. Adding oils to your bath, or in massage products post-soak, can help with a variety of emotional ailments. Be careful with the quantities you use, and as a general rule, up to six drops of essential oil can be diluted directly into bathwater, and for a body oil or massage, six drops can be diluted into 5ml of a plant-based carrier oil, like sweet almond oil, macadamia nut oil or apricot kernel oil. As for which oil to choose to, frankincense is great for a meditative state, lemongrass has an anti-depressant effect, bourbon geranium oil calms a depressed mood and irritability, calming lavender helps with stress management, and clary sage can have an anti-stress effect. Verbena, ylang-ylang, orange blossom and jasmine blossom also have relaxing properties. Topics : vacation Holiday relaxation travel Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Angus Whitley (Bloomberg) Thu, August 31, 2017 13:36 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aebffae 2 News Singapore,Qantas,Airlines,#airlines,Dubai Free Singapore notched up a victory over rival aviation hub Dubai as Qantas Airways Ltd. rerouted its classic Kangaroo Route to the U.K. through Asia. With travel demand surging in Asia, Australias national carrier will fly from Sydney to London through Singapore instead of the Middle East under a renegotiated alliance with Emirates, Qantas said in a statement Thursday. Reverting Qantass 82-year-old, long-haul service through Asia reflects a shift in the balance of power away from the Gulf as the worlds key aviation hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, joust to retain their roles as key transit points for regional flights. Asia is the fastest-growing air travel market and China is expected to displace the U.S. as the worlds largest aviation market around 2024. This allows us to expand our Asian operation, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said on a conference call with reporters. Hes plowing capacity and routes into the region as Australia draws record visitor numbers from China. Ditching Dubai, the headquarters of partner Emirates, also shows how a three-year turnaround at Qantas that delivered record profits has given Joyce more power over his partners. When he dumped British Airways for an alliance with Emirates in 2012, Qantas had just reported its first annual loss in more than a decade and some international routes were hemorrhaging cash. Qantas had also turned its back on Singapore the same year as part of the Emirates tie-up. Read also: The worlds longest flight is coming Our partnership has evolved to a point where Qantas no longer needs to fly its own aircraft through Dubai, Joyce said. Qantas shares climbed 0.9 percent to A$5.71 as of 1:07 p.m. in Sydney, taking this years gains to 71 percent. Flight QF1 on an Airbus A380 from London to Sydney will fly through Singapore from March next year. At the same time, Qantas current Melbourne-Dubai-London service will go through Perth when Qantas starts the worlds first direct flights from Australia to London next year. To be sure, Joyce said Emirates also benefits from the renewed five-year partnership with Emirates. Qantas passengers can fly on Emirates own planes from Australia to Dubai, from where they can reach Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Joyce called it a partnership of equals. The new alliance will deliver to Qantas more than A$80 million ($63 million) annually in net benefits, starting from the year ending June 2019, the airline said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 14:09 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aec1661 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,tana-toraja,coffee Free Tana Toraja regent Nicodemus Biringkanae talked about his aim to change the regency's image at the Coffee and Culinary Festival 2017 that was held in Pango Pango, Toraja on August 26. I want to change the image from Toraja that has been famously known for its burial cave to a lighter appeal, which is coffee, said Nicodemus. Coffee from Tana Toraja, labeled as Toraja Arabica coffee, has been an export commodity for countries such as Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Japan. Located 300 kilometers north of Makassar, South Sulawesi's provincial capital, Tana Toraja is surrounded by hills and mountains, situated 1,700 meters above sea level. Read also: Borobudur among National Geographics 15 iconic adventures Toraja coffee is served in more than 5,000 cafes and restaurants in Japan. This festival is the first step to develop coffee tourism in Toraja," said the tourism ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy, Esthy Reko Astuti Esthy also suggested for the Torajan people to develop coffee as a leading commodity that can also serve as a tourism object, an example is enjoying a cup of Arabica Toraja while touring the plantation. In Japan, Toraja coffee is the most expensive coffee, one cup is priced at is Rp 169,000 ($12.67). We can create a tour that explores Toraja Coffee, selling the beauty of Toraja through coffee, Esthy added. Tourism minister Arief Yahya also hopes for Toraja coffee to boost local tourism. "We can invite tourists to harvest coffee, see the planting, picking and processing of the coffee beans for themselves. This will take Toraja coffee tourism to a new level," he said. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Thu, August 31, 2017 13:03 1900 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97aeba60e 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,ende,East-Nusa-Tenggara,Wonderful-Sail-2-Indonesia-Rally-2017 Free A total of nine yachts consisting of tourists from Switzerland, Australia and Canada among others that take part in Wonderful Indonesia Sail 2017 event arrived at Maourole Beach, Ende regency, East Nusa Tenggara on August 28. They were welcomed with a gala dinner hosted by the locals, serving up traditional dishes such as ikan bakar cakalang (grilled skipjack tuna), cap cay cumi (stir-fried vegetables with squid) and sate ikan with lontong aregau (fish satay served with rice cakes). The yachters were also entertained by traditional dance and dewi padi opera performances by local youths. Prior to the gala dinner, the yachters visited several leading tourist sites in Ende such as Kelimutu Tri-Colored Lakes at Kelimutu National Park. Read also: Tips for visiting Komodo National Park In Maulore, you can explore so many places in one day. This place has plenty of cultural and natural sites that can be explored, said tourism ministrys archipelago marketing development deputy for market data analysis, Sutarjo. Sutarjo also mentioned a small island called Hopping Island that can be accessed from Maulore. This island the best place for tourists who want to do snorkeling. (asw) By Pooja Shali: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was in Ghaziabad today to inaugurate a space for Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan, promised to turn the state into a renowned tourist hub. Inaugurating a space for Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan to facilitate an easy journey for the pilgrims the CM said, "I understand many people were disappointed for not being able to get a space for bhawan, which was deemed a property dispute at another location. This new bhawan will provide shelter to 200 people and will provide basic facilities to all pilgrims. This bhawan will become a destination for history, eco-tourism and religious tourism." advertisement The budget for the bhawan is Rs 90 crore and is likely to be completed in next two years. The focus of CM speech was on developing Uttar Pradesh into a major tourist destination. He said, "The aim is to make the state into a landmark religious-tourist destination where each place of worship will also become a place of learning and knowledge. By 2022, based on PM Modi vision, we shall be able to bring significant changes in the country and especially the state." Striking a promising note for welfare of people, the CM added, "These tourist destinations must also become arenas for social change where we can work against casteism, discrimination and corruption. We must use these landmarks for social change and development." The chief minister travelled to Ghaziabad via a chopper and stayed at the venue for one hour. During his speech, he mentioned the sanction of Rs 12 crore for development of Khoda Nigam. CM Yogi Adityanath also referred to plight of farmers during his speech. He said, "Apart from making UP a tourist destination and a clean state, our focus also remains on helping the farmers. On 8 and 11 September, loan waiver certificates will be distributed amongst the farmers in the state. The sugarcane farmers have already been given 93 percent of their promised amount and remaining payment will be cleared soon. Farmers of western Uttar Pradesh toil hard in their fields and this government will now work for the welfare of farmers and development of this region." The venue witnessed heavy police deployment with senior officials tracking all movement. Volunteers from civil defense and the party were seen manning the rows, barricaded into sections. Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people had gathered at the grounds cheering loudly for the chief minister. ALSO READ: Yogi Adityanath, deputy Maurya won't contest election, to enter Uttar Pradesh Assembly as MLCs Yogi Adityanath gives Uttar Pradesh's bureaucracy the jitters --- ENDS --- A terrific lead performance by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau makes up for the fact that Shot Caller doesn't dig as deep as it should into its dark, unsettling subject matter. Shot Caller, written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh, is ostensibly about how serving time in prison can change you forever. Banker and family man Jacob Harlon (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of Game of Thrones fame) is sent to prison after a fatal traffic accident for which he's responsible. He joins a prison gang in order to survive, but that's a rabbit hole that runs deep. Ten years later, he goes by the name 'Money', is covered in tattoos and muscles, and his first order of business upon release is to facilitate a major illegal arms trade deal. This is how Shot Caller starts - with Jacob/Money already a hardened criminal who's leaving prison after a lengthy sentence. Much of the movie takes place after the character's time in prison, with numerous flashbacks peppered throughout that showcase his transformation. This is by far its biggest misstep. At its core, Shot Caller is about the lengths to which someone is willing to go to in order to survive and protect the ones closest to them - and yet the movie doesn't nearly enough time exploring that transformation. Money appears in the movie as the finished product of a flawed system. The flashbacks feel rushed and almost perfunctory; in one Jacob smuggles something for the gang in his ass, while in another not long after, he's already moved up to shanking other prisoners because they snitched. It does its job in terms of plot functionality, but it fails to emotionally connect with the viewer. That, in turn, diminishes the shock value and impact of Jacob's character development. Fortunately, Coster-Waldau is terrific in the lead and his performance more than makes up for the movie itself missing the mark somewhat. He can be pretty intimidating as is, but the tattoos and facial hair take that to the next level. Yet, not unlike with Jaime Lannister, you still get the sense that there's still some good left in this guy. One of the movie's highlights is a harrowing scene in which Jacob/Money meets his now grown-up son for the first time since he got out. The pain on the guy's face says it all. Jon Bernthal also pops up for the requisite small, but memorable supporting role, much like he did in Sicario and The Wolf of Wall Street. It's always great to have him around. Benjamin Bratt also pops up. Both Bernthal in Bratt were in 2013's Snitch, which was by the same director and also, hillariously enough, had a very similar poster. See for yourselves: Shot Caller has a subplot about Money's police officer coming to terms with getting shot as well as shooting a criminal. It's not bad, but in all honesty, it could have been cut from the movie and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Ultimately, Shot Caller is a competent, if flawed chrime thriller elevated by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's performance. It's worth checking out, especially if you're a 'Game of Thrones' fan looking for something to watch now that the seventh season is over. In recent years, the dominating narrative on climate change has been the imposing of a choice. We either choose to protect the environment by limiting economic sectors which cause harmful emissions or support economic growth and endanger the planet and our future. Most of the time we get so lost in these extremely polarized standpoints that we forget the issue is much more complex than we, the media, and politicians make it out to be. Perhaps there are other alternatives, which we choose to ignore just for the sake of arguing. President Donald Trump signed an order In March earlier this year,at the Environmental Protection Agency, which, according to officials, prioritized the creation and sustainment of work opportunities, while overlooking the federal governments enforcement of climate change regulations. This act in a larger sense averts USAs general approach to the two main factors that impact climate change: rising temperatures and sea levels. The President stated that his decision is the foundation of more profitable production and the creation of more work spaces. However, Trump didnt stop there. June In, the President announced that the USA will be withdrawing from the Paris climate accord of 2016. The Paris Agreement is agreed upon by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The agreement includes measures, goals, and financing plans to reduce global warming among the countries that have signed the agreement. Various limiting measures are included in the greenhouse gas emissions mitigation plans, including banning of petrol and diesel, less use coal for electricity production, and other. In turn, these limitations are severely harmful and deteriorating for numerous economic sectors involved in generating energy supply. 2.7 million Trumps argument for backing out of the agreement is that this decision will provide more jobs for American workers. He stated that according to research the cost of staying in the Paris Agreement will be the loss ofjobs by 2025. Although it is understandable that Trump wants to satisfy the needs of his political supporters, this decision has been feared and criticized by specialists and influencers alike. Trump's opponents stated that his abrupt decision augurs the imminent death of USA as a powerful international leader. Political analysts have expressed concerns that other world leaders will back out of the agreement in favor of short term economic boost. Bill Clinton and Mark Zuckerberg (below) have severely criticized Trumps withdraw from the agreement via Twitter and Facebook respectively, stating that this decision is detrimental to both USAs political future and the worlds upcoming generations. Walking away from Paris treaty is a mistake. Climate change is real. We owe our children more. Protecting our future also creates more jobs. Bill Clinton (@billclinton) June 1, 2017 Just last week , Chile showed the other side of the coin. On the 22nd of August, the Chilean government rejected a billion-dollar proposal for a mining project due to the harm it would cause to the environment, and more specifically to endangered species in the area. In order to fully understand Chiles standpoint, we need to put this decision in wider economic context. Chile is considered to possess a high-income economy , which allows the country to rank itself amongst the most prosperous and successful states in Latin America. 59.5% of exports in 2012 more favorable to foreign investments one-third One of the main reasons for Chiles considerable affluence is its mining sector, which accounted for. The Chilean government recognizes the sectors economic stability and opportunity for growth and has thus adjusted its mining industry legislation to be. Furthermore, Chile has naturally substantial copper resources, making the country the worlds copper mining hub, accounting forof the worlds copper output. The governments recent decision might be considered as a turning point in Chiles legislation on climate change and industry limitations. The rejected Dominga Project was proposed by Andes Iron, a Chilean mining company, for the construction of a 2.5 billion dollars copper and iron mine in Coquimbo region, the construction of which would involve immense infrastructural alterations in the region. The project became an issue once environmentalists stated that the planned constructions were in close proximity to the Humboldt Penguin Reserve. The penguins survival and procreation depend on their existence in a safe and undisturbed environment, since they are endangered species. The reserve also protects sea turtles, humpback whales, sperm whales, sea lion, bottlenose dolphins, albatross, and other species that would suffer from the possible changes. Chiles Minister of Environment Marcelo Mena told BBC: "I firmly believe in development, but it cannot be at the cost of our environmental heritage or cause risk to health, or to unique ecological areas in the world." Both the media and the political narrative of economic growth against climate change have been overly simplified and has thus become an issue of polarized debates. We dont necessarily have to make a choice. While it is still too early to discuss a global switch to renewable energy sources, the change has to start somewhere. In the recent chaos of political shifts and drastic climate changes, we need to take a step back and consider what we want our future to be. The economic sectors harmful to the economy could invest in infiltration systems so that production continues without damages to the environment. If this proves to be an impossible measure, workers can be re-oriented to other sectors of employment. Furthermore, renewable energy generation offers numerous work spaces. There are a lot of different viewpoints and alternatives to the present narrative on climate change and jobs. We need to be accepting and willing to understand these changes in order to create a future where both economic growth and the sustainment of ecological welfare can exist in a healthy symbiosis. Research commissioned by UniHealth , the UKs first health and wellbeing messaging platform for students has just revealed some distressing statistics. The new report, based on a survey of over 1000 first and second year university students revealed that 82% of students at UK universities suffer from stress and anxiety and 45% have experienced depression. More worrying still, 1 in 5 students have suicidal feelings. Yet only 25% of students experiencing this said they would seek help - the other three quarters admitted being too embarrassed, think its waste of time, or dont even know where to find help. The report also uncovered the five biggest worries for students starting their university careers: making friends; doing well on their course; cooking; money; and feeling under pressure to take drugs. Many of these incoming students admit to feeling unsupported by their universities as freshers week approaches. More than three quarters of the students surveyed believe that more wellbeing support such as help to fit into university life could help to prevent them dropping out. Indeed, many UK institutions have been criticised over how they are handling mental health issues. Just earlier this year it became apparent that there had been a significant rise in the number of students dropping out of university due to mental health problems. According to UniHealth, every student dropping out costs their university 33,000. Dr Dominique Thompson, an in-house university GP said: Being able to manage stress, eat healthily, make new friends and sleep well are vital, not only for student wellbeing but great academic outcomes. As the research suggests, many students shy away from getting help, so its crucial universities consider how they can offer different support services that fit with their students lifestyles, and digital is one of the answers. Unsurprisingly, nearly a third of students would prefer to receive support via private message on social media. Daphne Metland, Director at UniHealth said: The majority of students starting university now are digital natives, communicating mostly via their smartphone. Messaging programmes delivered on Facebook Messenger offer private 24/7 messaging support and can cover a range of topics from mental wellbeing and resilience to sexual health and contraception. A digital solution means students can get the help they require, when and where they need it. Image courtesy of New Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker says her gender is irrelevant in the show because Im playing an alien. The star, 35, has signed up as the first female Time Lord in Doctor Whos long history, taking over from Peter Capaldi in the Tardis. But she told Rolling Stone magazine: Im playing an alien and gender is not a part of that. Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor in Doctor Who (BBC/Colin Hutton) A moment like this, of being the first woman cast as something, it makes you really think about your sex, whereas actually what you want to do is play a part where your gender is irrelevant. The Broadchurch and Trust Me actress added: I am a woman, so I dont need to play that. And so for me, this was the most freeing experience because theres no right or wrong way to do it. The rules went out the window. Whittaker said that she was up against other actresses for the plum role. Peter Capaldi (Ian West/PA) It was very much that (new show boss Chris Chibnall) was auditioning people for the first female Doctor, she said. Actor, comedian and quiz show host Bradley Walsh is being tipped as the Doctors new assistant. Capaldi, who first stepped into the Tardis in 2013, will be seen for the last time by viewers in this years Christmas special. About Me Name: Infidel753 Location: Portland, Oregon, United States Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe. View my complete profile Theresa May is currently visiting Japan on a trip which will focus on trade and security. So far she has experienced a ride on a bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo, a dinner and a traditional tea ceremony with Japans Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. As pictures emerged from the ceremony, Twitter users couldnt resist giving one particular shot the meme treatment. As May lifted the bowl to her lips, she clearly enjoyed the tea inside, smiling as she put it down. realising at a dinner party that the people are so dull that you'll need to drink your way through it: pic.twitter.com/VYKt8BaWmG Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) August 30, 2017 Japanese PM wondering why Theresa May just downed the finger washing bowl.Pic: Stefan Rousseau/PA pic.twitter.com/KlGhBPcXd8 Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) August 30, 2017 Some thought the receptacle she was drinking from looked familiar. Theresa May is so patriotic that she will now only appear in public with a Yorkshire Pudding held over her face. pic.twitter.com/zF2RBcWM5h John Rain (@MrKenShabby) August 30, 2017 Theresa May getting stuck into a Yorkshire pudding whilst visiting Japan. pic.twitter.com/al7poNRpeF Huge News (@RealCoote) August 30, 2017 Theresa May, trying to eat a pain au raisin with her whole face. pic.twitter.com/J2GMjC8eGo Tj (@TPWJoyce) August 30, 2017 May will be joined in Tokyo by a 15-strong delegation of UK business leaders, along with International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. They will attend the UK Japan business forum in central Tokyo, where the PM will make a speech. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. 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Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini. Every week during the school year, and sporadically through the summer, Cindy Hewlett hosts story time at the Gibraltar Community Center for the citys younger residents. PHOTOS: Story Time in Gibraltar The weekly reading hour, Wednesdays at 10 a.m., is themed each week. The program returns Sept. 13 and runs through the school year. The event is both a playgroup and a story book reading each week. Children from newborns to age 5 are welcome. The cost is $3 per family. A parent or guardian must stay with their children for the hour. The Community Center is at, 29340 South Gibraltar Road. For more information call 734-658-8198, The first International Conference dedicated to the insurance claims settling is to be held in Russia On 20th September 2017 the first international Conference "RISKS&CLAIMS. Assessment of Insurance Risks and Settlement of Claims" will be held in Moscow. The conference is arranged by the National Association of Insurance Adjusters (NAIA) supported by the International Federation of Adjusting Associations, IFAA - the biggest community of the most important unions and associations of experts worldwide. NAIA, in the name of its President Mr. Andrey Bogachov is accredited with the presidentship of IFAA in 2017. In accordance with Mr. A. Bogachov, "NAIA hopes that the conference unites the representatives of different institutes of the insurance market, involved in the insurance claim settling. The event will become the platform for discussing the current problems, surrounding the claim work of all parties concerned - the insured, the broker, the insurer, the reinsurer, the adjuster. The Conference is aimed at improving the quality of the claims settling, at upgrading the effectiveness of the work of the insurance market players, whose main aim is to secure the property interests of the individuals and legal entities when the insured event occurs. The good quality of the claims settling process forms the basis for the confidence between the insurer and the insured and thus influences the development of the insurance market". "In Russia, the independent insurance adjusters are the key players in the settling of claims related to big property risks, although on the international level the adjusters are involved in other types of insurance, as well. However, as per Mr. A.Bogachov, the market of independent insurance adjusters in our country is rather immature and it develops on the basis of the experience and models from other markets - from European to Chinese. By 2017, when the insurance market in Russia has turned to self-regulation and to the elaboration of the professional standards, the specialists involved in the claims settling also face challenges of the adoption of the standards and the market strategy. In view of the importance of such questions, the representatives of the Central Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance of RF, of the State Duma (Parliament) have been invited to take part in the Conference. The representatives of the leading international unions of the insurance adjusters, in particular the President of FUEDI Mr. Martin Schorkhuber, the President of CILA Mr. Jonathan Clark also confirmed their attendance. Apart from the members of the insurance market the Conference will be attended by the risk managers of the clients of the insurance market - among them the leaders in the oil extracting, metal and motor industries, IT sector, etc. Purpose and Objective: To review legislative change and prospects for the claim handling and risk assessment industry To identify and discuss the problems, which are common for various insurance sectors and societies To exchange experience in the application of fundamental principles and novel technologies in the field of risk assessment and claim handling for various types of insurance Main Topics: Professional Standards of Insurance Market. Requirements and Prospects. Educational Programs. Draft amendment to the Federal Law "On the Organization of Insurance Business in the Russian Federation". Insurance surveyors and adjusters as participants of insurance market: status, requirements, authority. Risk assessment and claim handling techniques for certain types of insurance in Russia and abroad. Improvement in the interaction between the insurance policy parties at different phases of the policy period. Review of interesting and useful cases, analysis of difficulties / challenges and experience exchange Recent problems relating to claim handling Claim handling as enhancing the confidence in insurance. The National Association of Insurance Adjusters (NAIA) - the first professional union of organizations in Russia, which specialize in rendering of services in the area of independent adjusting of insurance losses. Established in 2010, it consolidates about 50% of members of adjusting market of Russia and is a part of the European Federation of Loss Adjusting Experts (FUEDI). In May2017the President of NAIA Mr. A.Bogachov was elected as the President of International Federation of Adjusting Associations (IFAA). Contacts: www.naia-rus.ru Information support of the Conference "RISKS&CLAIMS-2017. Assessment of insurance risks and settlement of claims"RISKS&CLAIMS-2017.Ms Tatyana Zhukova+7 916 168 84 84, +7 495 641 05 67 jukova@consult-cct.ru Published on 31.08.2017 Archive Comment this article 0 comments Atention! "Comment" and "E-mail" are mandatory Name: If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered If you are not logged on, your name will appear preceded by '(Anonymous)'. For authentication, click here If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered E-mail: Comment: < 10.000 car. Fill in the code from the image: India, in todays time, is reeling under various pertinent issues that require persistent debates and discussions to understand the new India. However, even after 70 years of Independence, our country still witnesses dreadful caste system, attacks on fellow beings over bovine issues, raising doubts on ones patriotism, coercion of chanting slogans and much more. Nihilism has never been a way for a secular country like ours, but nowadays the communal violence is being inflicted in the society, which is by and large politically motivated. Giving insights into these significant topics, Amish Tripathi, one of Indias well-regarded authors, shares his perspectives on these contemporary issues in his latest book Immortal India. He delves deep into the ancient culture of our country by providing contemporary outlook to it. Being widely known for his fascinating narrative style, called the hyper-link, and his love for mythology, religion, tradition and history, the author has now entered the non-fiction genre. Amish never fails to impress his readers and has, in fact, made a huge impact on the booklovers with his Shiva trilogy and now Ram Chandra series. InImmortal India, he has touched upon serious topics like LGBT rights and Section 377, Uniform Civil Code, bane of casteism, religious violence and many more. The book contains a collection of the authors thoughts on various subjects and gets conveyed by articles, nuanced speeches and debates. He provides his standpoint on these topics by taking the readers through the history as well. The introduction part of the book has a quote from the epic Ramayan by Lord Ram, Janani Janmabhoomischa Swargadapi Gariyasi. (Mother and motherland are superior to heaven). Amish explained, In this book, through my articles and speeches, I have tried to answer questions like, what is it that makes India special? What is it about our ancient culture that still animates how we live today? What can we learn from our ancestors? And equally importantly, in what way can we be critical of our ancestors? Through all these questions and answers, I try to explain modern issues facing India, the way I see it. For we are a relatively young country at seventy years but our nation has the soul of an age-old civilisation. He further adds, We have had a few bad centuries. It happens. Many corruptions also seeped in, like the heinous caste system. Its time for us to learn from our ancestors, put our shoulder to the wheel, reform what needs reforming, build what needs building and make this country worthy of its history once again. On LGBT rights and Section 377, he writes, Even the conservative Manu Smritidoes not view homosexuality as an abomination. Culturally, ancient India had a liberal attitude towards non-mainstream sexual practices. Section 377 does not reflect the traditional Indian attitudes towards sex. It is, in fact, a reflection of the British colonial mindset, influenced by medieval interpretations of Christianity. This attitude gradually seeped into the colonised people over the centuries. This cultural debate is an ongoing process in society and laws, on the other hand, cannot, and should not, be circumscribed by religious or cultural restrictions. In all, he unflinchingly takes on several topical issues and with an easy-to-understand language and simple vocabulary, the book keeps the readers engrossed right till the end. About the book Immortal India by Amish Tripathi Westland publications ltd Pp: 188 ; Price: Rs.275 Rejecting criticism after the RBI indicated that almost 99 per cent of demonetised currency returned to the banking system, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Thursday said the government never said it didnt expect it to come back and ruled out any more window period for exchange of old notes. There was clear expectation that much of it (demonetised notes) will come back. Whether all of it will come people had different estimates and guesses. But the Centre never said it expected any currency not to come back, Garg told the media here. Asked if people could get another deadline for depositing scrapped currency of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 that they might be left saddled with, he said: At this point, no way. Most families had high-value currency and they used it for making payments as a way of exchange, Garg said. On the November 8 demonetisation, the RBI on Wednesday said that of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore of notes taken out of circulation, Rs 15.28 lakh crore, or almost 99 per cent, returned to the system by way of public deposits. Thus, only Rs 16,000 crore worth of old currency did not return to the banks. Talking about the Reserve Bank of India dividends for 2016-17 reducing to less than half of what it paid in the previous year due to demonetisation costs, Garg said the government was in discussion with the RBI for more. In the Budget, we had estimated (it to be) Rs 58,000 crore. The RBI has calculated a surplus of Rs 44,000 crore. The RBI has transferred Rs 30,000 crore to the government. We are discussing with the RBI whether there is scope for more transfers as we have our Budget estimate at Rs 58,000 crore, he said. The RBI this month approved the transfer of surplus to the government, totalling Rs 30,659 crore for the year ended on June 30, 2017. The central bank had in the previous year paid Rs 65,876 crore dividend to the government. Haryana Police on Thursday arrested an aide of rapist Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh after he surrendered here after being booked for sedition and inciting violence. Police officials did that Surender Dhiman, a Dera functionary and journalist with its newspaper Sach Kahoon, surrendered before the police here on Thursday. He was taken into custody and produced in a local court which sent him on a seven-day police remand. Dhiman, along with Dera spokesman Aditya Insan, were among the five people booked by the Haryana Police here last week for inciting violence by Dera followers after the rape conviction of the sect chief by the CBI special court here on August 25. A local journalist had complained to the police that he saw the Dera functionaries inciting followers of the sect after the court convicted the Dera chief for the rape of two female followers in 1999. The police had booked them on charges of sedition, inciting violence and other sections. At least 38 people died and 264 were injured in large scale violence by Dera supporters following the conviction of the Dera chief. Actor-producer Saif Ali Khan is set to whip up an entertaining film, Chef, soon. Its trailer, which was unveiled on Thursday, is a truck full of food, fun and family ties. The almost three-minute trailer gives a peek into the north and south Indian cultures while taking the audience on a journey of a successful chef and his son, who stays with his mother and craves for his fathers attention and time. Just like in Jon Favreaus Hollywood movie Chef, on which the Bollywood version is based, the parents are separated. The north Indian father, played by Saif, manages to take a break and spend some time with his son. Then begins their fun times at a vegetable market, eating joints in different places, a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and more. The son seems to be less aware of north Indian culture and food habits which is clear from the scene in which the father-son duo are eating a rice meal on a banana leaf and then the father mentions chole bhature, after which the son asks What is chole bhature? Soon, the chef realises that he needs to contribute more than just money to his son. So apart from loving his profession, he decides to be in love with life and son. Then he fixes an old bus to make it more like a restaurant on wheels. Does this move help to strengthen the bond between the two? The audience can find out when it will be served hot on October 6. Presented by Gulshan Kumar in association with Abundantia, A Bandra West Pictures Production, Chef is directed By Raja Krishna Menon. Chef also stars Svar Kamble, Padmapriya and Chandan Roy Sanyal. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, whose film Kaalakaandi was reportedly advised over 70 cuts by the censor board, says the film is in the process of going to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which he calls a magic place. Saif said the trailer of Kaalakaandi wont be released until the makers are sure of the number of cuts being finalised as that might spoil the essence of the story. The actor spoke about it at the launch of the trailer of his new film Chef here on Thursday. About Kaalaakandi, he said: There were lots of cuts. There is a government body called FCAT. So a lot of films that go there with a lot of cuts come out with no cuts or really fewer cuts. It is a magic place apparently where films go with a lot of cuts and come out with no cuts. It sounds to me like a waste of time, but its great. So yes, the process is on. Hopefully, it will come out with few cuts because its a lovely film. We think the trailer should be released only after we are sure about the number of cuts. Saif was present here along with Chef director Raja Krishna Menon and producer Bhushan Kumar. Chef is a remake of Jon Favreaus eponymous film about the relationship between a father who is a chef and his teenaged son. As Saif is playing the fathers role, asked if he cooks well in real life, the actor said: Well, I like cooking spaghetti which is easy for me. I learnt chopping vegetables during the shoot. We cooked in an Amritsari kitchen Some Punjabi khana. Vikas Khanna is one of my favourite chefs He is one of the international top chefs from our India, and he is a Punjabi. They are an indispensable part of our lives, yet are the most exploited lot. If they fail to turn up for a couple of days, chaos reigns in our homes. But, instead of gratitude, abuses and insults are heaped on their heads, not to talk of that extra lot of tasks, which they are expected to take in their stride. Domestic workers ~ theres a plethora of nomenclature for them, servants, help and maids to name a few ~ are part of that unorganised labour force that we choose to brush aside when we speak of rights. With none of the labour laws applicable to them, their wages are negotiated ~ often they do not even earn the minimum wages prescribed by government. They have no job assurance or social security. Despite forming an important part of our economy, little thought is given to their lives or problems the moment they step out of our houses. We dont want to acknowledge that domestic work can also be dignified, asserted Rajesh Tandon, president of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). Im really concerned that as a society, in 70 years of Independence, we have not changed our mindset of dignity of work. A nationwide estimate of domestic workers, according to the National Sample Survey (NSS) (2011-12) puts their number at 41.3 lakh, of which 68 per are women. There are three categories of domestic workers, informed Tandon. The first is employed 247 in a house. The second lot works in high security, tightly regulated housing complexes and the third is part-time labour that lives in slums or colonies and work in three to five houses. Part of economy In an extensive research in this area, one of PRIAs reports suggests that the contribution of the informal settlement dwellers to urban GDP is 7.53 per cent; if calculated further it is almost 4.5 per cent of the countrys GDP. The study, the largest in India on this particular issue, was conducted in 50 major cities across the country. About 5,353 households and 24,445 individuals were covered in the study. The recent incident of the exploitation of a domestic worker at Mahagun Moderne, a housing society in Noida, once again brings the focus back to the situation of the workers in the informal sector in urban areas. Most employers cut our wages if we take more than two days leave in a month, said Babita, who works part-time in a housing society in Gurgaon. I cannot afford to fall ill. Nor can I stay back and care for my children if they fall ill. The other issue is that there is no standardisation or certification of skills. Rajesh Tandon notes that most domestic workers learn on the job but their improved skills do not get any credit. If they lose their job in one household and move to another, their training and improved skills are not recognised. Taking cognizance of this, PRIA started a project six months back to train domestic workers and certify them. Resident Welfare Associations should take the responsibility to look after the interests of this labour force, said Tandon. There should be a harassment forum and standardisation of wages, and also a leave system. A ray of hope for these workers is the draft National Policy for Domestic Workers, which is currently pending before the Union Cabinet. However, Tandon said, The norms are there but there is no mechanism to check them. But the main thing is to recognise service. That concept is not there. Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht extended the Iranian outcry about the visit on Tuesday, when he spoke to Iranian state media. Irans military sites are off limits, he said according to Reuters. All information about these sites are classified. Iran will never allow such visits. Dont pay attention to such remarks that are only a dream. Multiple other officials have contributed to Tehrans dismissal of the push for stricter enforcement of the nuclear deal, which has been a common refrain among figures close to the Trump administration since before the current US president took office. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, sometimes described as a moderate in global media, placed emphasis on the possible international response to American requests when he commented on the situation later on Tuesday. The same Reuters report indicated that he predicted US objections to be unconvincing to the IAEA, though he failed to explain why. Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, injected provocative language into the response to Haleys visit to Vienna, saying, The Americans will take their dream of visiting our military and sensitive sites to their graves. This arguably ties the nuclear issue to the overall pattern of provocative statements and actions that the Islamic Republic has directed against the US since the implementation of the JCPOA. These include close approaches of US Navy vessels transiting the Persian Gulf, as well as multiple tests of ballistic missiles, in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling upon the Islamic Republic to avoid work on weapons that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Those missile tests are the key examples of what US President Donald Trump has described as Irans violation of the spirit of the nuclear agreement. The obstruction of military sites may also be seen in the same light, insofar as it demonstrates a lack of full transparency and a lack of willingness to negotiate with the international community. Notwithstanding the unprecedented cooperation involved in concluding the nuclear agreement, the Iranian regime continues to publicly refer to the US as an enemy, and it excuses the isolation of military sites by saying it is worried that information gathered by international nuclear inspects could find its way into the hands of American or Israeli intelligence agencies. But various critics of the Iranian regime continue to suspect that illicit nuclear activities may be ongoing at those sites. And these suspicions have arguably been amplified by recent Iranian comments suggesting that the country would be able to dramatically increase its output of nuclear material in a matter of days if the United States continues to push enforcement of the nuclear agreement toward its breaking point. President Trump railed against the nuclear agreement while on the campaign trail, but he has twice certified to Congress that the Islamic Republic was complying with its obligations. Since then, however, he has suggested that the next deadline for certification, in October, would likely see the Iranian regime branded as non-compliant. Toward that end, the White House is reportedly pushing intelligence agencies for a closer review of available data, with an eye toward emphasizing violations that might have been overlooked, deliberately or otherwise. Such information would make it much easier for the US to obtain international support for efforts to undermine or renegotiate the nuclear deal. But the president may be willing to act against the deal even in absence of explicit intelligence findings. Meanwhile, some hardline figures who have ties to the Trump administration but are not actually a part of it are publicly advocating for just such a course of action. CNN reported on Tuesday that John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN and former candidate for Secretary of State under Trump, had prepared a policy brief describing how the US might end the nuclear agreement. Boltons plan involves meeting with diplomats from other countries to outline the US intentions and then formulating a new coalition for implementation of new measures against the Islamic Republic. It also calls for the Trump administration to release declassified information about Irans destabilizing activities with respect to issues other than the nuclear program, and to prepare a white paper in order to present these issues to the public and build consensus. But the CNN report also indicates that Bolton has complained of being unable to reach the president with his proposal a situation he blamed on staff changes in the White House. This raises questions about whether Trump, who repeatedly called the JCPOA the worst deal ever negotiated, will still be willing to tear it up as he promised to do. At the moment, it seems clear that that is what will happen if US intelligence or the IAEA uncover more definitive evidence of Iranian cheating. But the outcome is perhaps less predictable in the event that things proceed according to the status quo. Minister of State for Skill Development Rajeev Pratap Rudy on Thursday night resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, while six others are believed to have offered to resign from their posts, ahead of much-spculated reshuffle shortly. Union ministers Uma Bharati, Radha Mohan Singh, Giriraj Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Nirmala Sitharaman, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sanjiv Baliyan are understood to have offered to quit after a nudge from the party to pave way for the Cabinet reshuffle, informed sources said. In a late night development, Rudy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed over his resignation. Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, along with General Secretary (Organisation) Ram Lal, met more than half-a-dozen union ministers at his residence and is believed to have sought their resignations, saying their services would be utilised in the party organisation. Sources said that it is only after after this development that these leaders have offered to resign from their posts. AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai met Shah on Thursday, leading to speculation that the party might become part of the Union Council of Minister. However, sources said the AIADMKs entry might be delayed till the problems in the party were resolved. The reshuffle could see the entry of Janata Dal-United (JD-U) nominees into the ministry, with the party striking an alliance with the BJP in Bihar recently. There is speculation that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may shed the additional charge of Defence he is holding now. Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkaris name is doing the rounds for Railway Ministers post. Incumbent Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered to quit last week in the wake of recent back-to-back train derailments that claimed around two dozen lives. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept it on hold. The appointment of Union Minister of State Mahendra Nath Pandey as the next BJP chief of Uttar Pradesh lent greater impetus to an imminent Cabinet reshuffle that may take place on Saturday, a day ahead of Modis depature on a two-nation visit to China and Myanmar from September 3 to 6. There have been clear indications of an upcoming Cabinet reshuffle from sources in the government and the ruling BJP, but the timing remains uncertain. President Ram Nath Kovind embarks on a two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh on Friday and will be returning on Saturday, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving for China on Sunday. Sources in the BJP said that a reshuffle may take place either on Saturday or sometime after the Prime Ministers return from China and Myanmar. BJP President Amit Shah, who is likely to be in Vrindavan for the next three days to attend an RSS coordination meet, on Thursday held meetings with some ministers and senior party leaders. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are also likely to attend the meet in Vridavan on Saturday. A cabinet reshuffle has been on the cards since Manohar Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister to become Chief Minister of Goa. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been holding additional charge of the Defence Ministry since then. Talk of a reshuffle gained ground after Jaitley on Thursday hinted that he would not continue to hold the Defence portfolio for long. At least not for very long, Jaitley said in response to questions on how long he would continue as Defence Minister. Besides Jaitley, three other union ministers are also holding additional charges of different ministries. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is holding additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, while Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar has additional charge of the Urban Development Ministry, after Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu resigned from his ministerial responsibilities to take up the high office. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan is holding additional charge of the Environment Ministry following the death of Anil Madhav Dave in May. Some election-bound states, including Congress-ruled Karnataka, could get greater representation in the Council of Ministers. Karnataka would have assembly polls next year. The last Cabinet reshuffle took place in July last year, in which Modi inducted 19 new faces and elevated Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar to Cabinet rank. Five junior ministers were also dropped. Britain will give Nigeria aid worth 200 million over five years to help it cope with the brutal insurgency being waged by Boko Haram jihadists, the foreign ministry in London has said. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson visited Maiduguri, the capital of Nigerias northeast Borno State and epicentre of the Boko Haram organisation, to meet some of those involved in the fight. The Islamist militant group has increasingly used child suicide bombers and targeted civilians in its eight-year insurgency which has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million. In Maiduguri I met casualties of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and saw for myself the displacement of people that brutality and poverty have created, Johnson said in a statement yesterday. The 200 million ($260 million, 220 million) will help supply food to 1.5 million people facing famine as a result of the bloody insurgency, while providing treatment for 120,000 children at risk of malnutrition and assisting 100,000 children with education needs. British military teams will also continue to help prepare Abujas security forces for counter-insurgency operations, having already helped to train 28,500 Nigerian personnel. The uprising by Boko Haram, which is seeking to impose hardline Islamic law in Nigerias mainly Muslim north, has included a campaign of civilian kidnappings. More than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram from their school in the remote town of Chibok in April 2014. A total of 106 of the kidnapped girls have been released, rescued or escaped after more than three years in captivity, while 113 are still being held. The catastrophic Hurricane Harvey has weakened to a tropical depression with its centre now located in southwest Louisiana, but continues to cause heavy rains, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) announced. In the public advisory released late Wednesday night, the NHC indicated that Harvey has maximum winds of 55 km/h and is located 15 km southwest of Alexandria, Louisiana, reports Efe news. It moves to the northeast with a speed of 13 km/h, and is expected to gradually weaken in the next 48 hours while moving further inland, the NHC said. According to a storm track forecast, Harveys centre will move through Louisiana on Wednesday night, and then pass through northwest Mississippi on Thursday. Catastrophic and life threatening flooding will continue in and around Houston, Beaumont/Port Arthur, eastward into southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week, the NHC said. It also warned that Harvey could produce additional rainfall accumulations of seven to 15 cm from southwest Louisiana and the border of eastern Texas northwestward into Kentucky until Friday, with isolated amounts of up to 25 cm. The NHC strongly advised people they do not attempt to travel in the affected areas and do not drive into flooded roadways. Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on the night of August 25 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, has left catastrophic floods in Texas, leaving at least 20 people dead and over 17,000 displaced. Meanwhile, Irma, the ninth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed near the Cape Verde archipelago on Wednesday, is expected to intensify into a hurricane on Friday while continuing its course towards the Caribbean. The Trump administration said it was necessary that Islamabad take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan, after the National Assembly unanimously condemned US President Donald Trumps hostile and threatening statements against the country. We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue, a State Department spokesperson said. But, the spokesperson added, Trump has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries, the spokesperson said. The comments came as the National Assembly passed a resolution opposing Trumps move to give more space to India in Afghanistan in his new strategy for the war-torn country. The National Assembly also condemned Trumps hostile and threatening statements against Pakistan. Since Trump called out Pakistan when he outlined the new strategy for South Asian on August 21, Pakistan-US ties have headed south. Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it, has cancelled at least three senior level meetings with Trump administration officials. The State Department, however, said Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with their efforts in the region. As Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson said, We are ready to work with [the Pakistanis] to help them protect themselves against these terrorist organisations, the spokesperson said. Sharon Bisesti, front, along with her parents, Mary and Vincent Bisesti, with a photo of Sharons son Terry, who died at home Aug. 17 of a fentanyl overdose. The last days of the Newfie Pride There were many nights he didnt sleep. The numbers and scenarios turned over and over in his mind, making rest impossible. Id get up two, three oclock in the morning, night after night, come out to the kitchen table and work the numbers every ... Iran News Update pointed out that this incident contributed to a bleak picture of the future of womens rights under the Rouhani administration and beyond. Other contributors to that picture include videos depicting the forcible apprehension of women accused of inadequate veiling. Estimates from within the Iranian regime indicate that an average of 2,000 women are accosted in this way each day in cities throughout the Islamic Republic. And Iranian officials have reportedly committed to intensifying the crackdown even further. This may account for some of the pressure that was exerted on Joneidi to dress in a manner that is more in line with hardline expectations. Underscoring the intensifying crackdown, Iran Human Rights Monitor reported on Tuesday that the public prosecutor in Mazandaran Province had recently vowed that the judiciary would aggressively prosecute women for bad hijab, even in semi-private areas. The prosecutors highlighted the phenomenon of women removing their veils while alone in cars. This is the means by which some women participated in the widely popular My Stealthy Freedom campaign, in which they posted images of themselves on social media after privately removing their veils. Iranian authorities had already made efforts to crack down on this trend, announcing new legal guidelines for the impounding of vehicles in which women have been found to have violated the Islamic dress code. Now the Mazandaran public prosecutor has made clear that the province intends to aggressively follow through on those guidelines, as well as taking other measures to discourage clothing violations, as by monitoring and controlling the manufacturers and sellers of clothing deemed appropriate by clerical authorities. Mazandaran is by no means alone in its proactive approach to forced veiling. In recent years, various provincial and local authorities have taken up the cause, including the mayor and city council in Tehran, where gender segregation in public spaces and in the workplace have dramatically expanded. And these local-level efforts are in line with preoccupations that have been established at the national level, particularly by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the final authority in all matters of Iranian policy. In 2015, Khamenei announced broad-ranging initiatives to reduce access to birth control while encouraging Iranian women to eschew education and the workplace in favor of raising large families at an early age. This roughly coincided with legislation aimed at increasing the power of the Revolutionary Guards-linked Basij militia to harass women and men in public for perceived violations of Islamic laws and guidelines. Meanwhile, there have certainly been contrary pressures regarding womens rights and gender issues. These come not only from activists like the participants in the My Stealthy Freedom campaign but also from a handful of relatively reform-minded legislators in the Iranian parliament. Yet legislative measures in this area meet with severe resistance from powerful hardline voices. And wherever this is the case, the legislation is unlikely to be made law regardless of its level of support among legislators, since all bills are vetted by the Guardian Council for compliance with the supreme leaders guidelines and his vision of Islamic law. This phenomenon of hardline resistance was highlighted recently by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, which reported that Zabihollah Khodaian, the Iranian judiciarys assistant for legal affairs, had expressed strong opposition to legislation aimed at preventing and punishing domestic violence. This proposal has some 100 articles, 70 of which describe situations with criminal implications, he objected. They impose prison sentences for every little tension between couples. The CHRI report notes that studies have shown that approximately one third of all women in Irans urban areas and two thirds of all women in its rural areas have been victims of domestic violence. Nevertheless, conservative lawmakers and government officials, including hardline female members of parliament, have disregarded the issue and used it as an opportunity to lash out against Western society. CHRI quotes one such female MP, Fatemeh Alia, as speculating that her reformist colleagues are only trying to impress international organizations with their legislation in defense of women. She also asserted that violence against women is rare in Iran but a constant trend in Western countries. According to the domestic violence resource center, approximately 29 percent of women in the United States have been subjected to rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner. While this is slightly below the figure for Iranian urban areas alone, there is a much greater difference in the two countries rates of violence against women if one takes into account the state-sanctioned instances of violence perpetrated by Irans morality police. Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy should now lie low for some time and stop repeatedly questioning the board till the time Nandan Nilekani is there, said experts. They said that there was nothing new in his statement to the investors and it, in fact, repeated the same thing which he had been saying about Infosys and the importance of corporate governance all these days. Experts such as Kris Lakshmikanth of Head Hunters India Limited feels that Murthy's address to the investors is rather self congratulatory and how he had brought in corporate governance in the company and how after his return to the company had boosted the performance of the company. Murthy came back after S.D.Shibulal and tired to bring in new changes in the company and that is what his statement to the investors says. He has tried to praise his efforts and how the performance of the company revived under him and that how under him corporate governance took shape in the company. There is nothing new in Murthy's statement which talks mainly about lapses in corporate governance in the company under the previous board, said Lakshmikanth. Lakshmikanth feels that Nilekani is a very diplomatic person and has successfully worked under the Congress as well as with the BJP governments. I feel Nilekani can handle any difficult situation very tactfully and I feel that till Nilekani stays Murthy is expected to keep quiet. I feel that though he will get new additional directors to the board, further resignations of the board members may not happen immediately. I feel that Ravi Venkatesan will remain in the board as he is close to the ruling BJP government, he adds. This expert further feels that no major changes are expected in the company in the next few months. He also feels that in case the company looks for an external candidate it might take at least 5-6 months. Prof. Arvind Jadhav of TAPMI Manipal feels that investors have lost confidence in Infosys and this can be seen in the restricted rebound even after the appointment of Nilekani as the chairman. Nilekani is the only one who is expected to mend the relationships between NRN and the Board. Nilekani also has the confidence of the institutional investors and is expected to sooth the frayed nerves of the investors. Yet the restricted rebound is due to the fact that Nilekani has to fill the big shoes of Murthy. The shadow of Murthy will always loom large over Nilekani in the near future and he will have two constituencies to satisfyinstitutional shareholders who are unhappy with public spat and Murthy whose focus may be more on board behaviour. A parallel can be drawn during Indian independence when Jawaharlal Nehru had the continuous extra-constitutional shadow of Mahatma Gandhi to look after when setting up Indias first free government, Jadhav told THE WEEK. Jadhav also feels that for the benefit of Infosys and to regain its reputation it will be good if Murthy lies low for some time and allows Nilekani to lead the company as he deems fit. Murthy should give-up the role of activist shareholder for some time as he has publicly acknowledged Nilekani's capabilities to bring back good governance practices to Infosys. Continuous questioning by Murthy will be viewed as Murthy's unhappiness of not being able to come back and control the board which may not be true, adds Jadhav. Apparently Murthy had made it clear in his statement that when he was requested by the board in 2013 to return to the helm of the company, he had fulfilled the objectives of his return. He has stated that during his brief tenure of 15 months, the company's revenue growth rate doubled from 5.8 percent in 2012 2013 to 11.6 percent in 2013 2014 (not achieved since then). Murthy had also stated that he had introduced innovations and enhanced productivity to improve the operating margin by 200 basis points by Q4 of 2013 2014 (not achieved since then) and had successfully completed the first project using machine-learning based automation for a European telecom customer in March 2014. At the same time he said that he had provided a dignified and courteous exit for people not seeing a bright future for themselves in the new direction of the company. In early June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at Astana, Kazakstan, where India was being formally inducted into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). It was a difficult time. India had boycotted China's One Belt One Road Summit earlier in May, largely because the proposed China Pakistan Economic Corridor would wend its way through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. China too wasn't happy with the way India had allowed the Dalai Lama to travel to Arunachal Pradesh. Yet, in a bilateral on the sides of the summit, the two thrashed around for common ground. They spoke on economic ties. They discussed two Indian exports that are popular in Chinayoga and cinema. And, they forged the Astana Consensus (the architect of which is reportedly foreign secretary S. Jaishankar). This consensus recognises that at a time of global uncertainty, India-China relations are a factor of stability. More importantly, it says differences between the two nations should not be allowed to become disputes. When there are two large countries aspiring for regional supremacy, and they share a boundary over four thousand kilometres long (much of which is still not settled), it is a given that there are bound to be differences. But did the two nations have a premonition that the Astana Consensus would be put to test within days of its establishment? Throughout the 70-day plus "stand-off", while China postured itself threateningly and India retorted that "this is not 1962", foreign office communiques from both sides continued to stress that diplomatic channels remained open. India emphasised that Doklam should find solution within the Astana Consensus, even as it sent its forces to the tri-nation boundary at Doklam. Now that there has been "an expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face off site" as the ministry of external affairs (MEA) calls it, everyone is breathing easy. For the situation was unprecedented. While China and India have had longer standoffs in the past, this was the first time that a third country was involved. The Doklam border is a dispute between China and Bhutan, and Indian presence there was in the capacity of Bhutan being its "protectorate". Sandwiched, Bhutan had issued a statement opposing the Chinese road building on its territory, but then, decided to opt for a potent diplomatic toolsilence. "Good diplomacy has won, the MEA has done its job well," said Lt Gen S.L. Narasimhan, former formation commander in the Doklam area and member, National Security Advisory Board. "But it was also correct for the Chinese Army to have stopped road building immediately on getting the call from Bhutan. Land in that area is compact, road building is quick work, and, had we waited for the matter to be taken up diplomatically, within five days, you'd have seen the road ready for use. Then, it would have been difficult to get them to break it." So, India's strategy this time was different from the Chinese. While China breathed fire through its official communiques and state sponsored media, India chose to stay silent, offering just a line or two when it became imperative. Every time the MEA was asked what was being done, the officials sidestepped the query by saying it was a work in progress. Away from the media glare, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Indian Ambassador to China V. Gokhale were hard at work. It helped that Jaishankar knows the country well, he was ambassador there earlier. Doval's visit to China in late July, for the national security advisor level meet of BRICS was crucial. It not only gave him opportunity to meet with top Chinese leaders, including Jinping and his counterpart Yang Jiechi, but also reiterated India's stand of giving diplomacy a chance, Astana Consensus style. For the first time in over a month, the Chinese official news agency toned down its belligerence to say the countries were "not born rivals", and spoke of the need to avoid war. Yet, there was no immediate outcome. Battle positions, it appeared, hardened over the days, China baited India, quoting how it had reduced its soldiers from 400 hundred to over 40. Was it trying to assess Indian strength or get India to reveal its position? The jury is still out on that. War, of course, was not an option for either side. China's brows are perpetually furrowed these days with the activities on its eastern sea board, what with North Korea's unpredictable behaviour making those waters rather choppy. India already has its Pakistan headache. War would also hit economic growth, something the aspiring neighbours are keenly aware of. Yet, the stand off had the potential to get more acrimonious with time if it came to a who blinks first situation. Both sides had the capability to winter it out. Indian forces were already stationed there, the Chinese would not find it too difficult to erect portable shelters. Besides, there was fear on the Indian side of how far Bhutan was willing to be drawn into this strife. The approaching BRICS leaders' summit gave both nations a target to work towardsa deadline to meet to resolve the issue. China, as host, wants it to be a success, which a no-show by India would have scuttled. On August 28, MEA announced rather cryptically that expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face off site has been agreed to and is ongoing. China, rather than complete India's statement, added another dimension, saying Indian troops had pulled back and thus, China will make "adjustments and deployment in accordance with the situation on ground". And that it would continue to patrol the border. It's taken some days to get more clarity on the picture, though the Chinese commitment still seems fuzzy. "We've gained as we got China to stop road building and revert to the status quo pre-stand off. But the gains are tactical, not strategic. The core issues of conflict have not been addressed," said Lt Gen G.M. Nair, former military secretary. Indeed, neither side can even pretend they've bought lasting peace and tranquility. "Since such flare ups are likely in future, both nations have to work maturely at developing mechanisms to diffuse them." M.V. Rappai, honorary fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, noted it was important when Bhutan complained of road building into the disputed territory that India had exhibit it was working in Bhutan's interest, which the Indian Army did. "But one lesson from Doklam is that we must not take our smaller neighbours for granted, we have to ensure Bhutan feels secure with Indian protection. This can be done with greater economic engagement, which will thwart any pro-China leaning by Bhutan. Good military intelligence to nip any development that could flare up into another Doklam is also crucial," he said. So Modi is heading to Xiamen to shake hands and take selfies with Xiamen and show to the world that "All is well" (a line from the Indian film Three Idiots that was hugely popular in China). But the two countries have a lot of homework to tackle, too. "To avoid future Doklams, we have to engage on many fronts. The canvas of interaction should include competition and cooperation, rivalry and collaboration, where no single event can topple the overall relationship,'' said Ravi Bhootalingam, honorary fellow, ICS. Also, experts warn that there is no guarantee China might not get its road rollers out the following summer. How China responded to a dispute with Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal standoff should serve as a reminder that China's thought process is not the same as ours. Then, in a deal mediated by the US, China was supposed to withdraw its forces from the shoal till its ownership was established. China, however, did not abide by the agreement, claiming no deal had been reached. The matter remains unresolved till date. The easiest administrative issue to study in India, and make a report, is about defence reforms. But they are also the most difficult to implement. On Wednesday, the Narendra Modi government finally set the ball rolling, but up the hill. The problems are known to all. Forget defence personnel and bureaucrats, even media persons can reel out to you the problems and the solutions that have been offered by every committee over the past few decades. So much so that many treated it as a joke when the Naresh Chandra committee's report was kept classified. In fact, the joke among strategic experts has been that each committee was simply cut-pasting from the recommendations of the previous committees' reports. Most reports have been offering more or less the same set of solutionsappoint a chief of defence staff; dismantle the present system of separate service commands; instead, have a system of integrated theatre commands; set up a cyber cell or command, explore the requirement of a space command; consider rolling plan for defence financing; cut the revenue budget; hike the capital budget; increase defence expenditure to more than two per cent of the GDP; outsource tasks of a civilian nature, such as nursing in peace stations, to civilian agencies, and so on and so forth. So much so that a defence reorganisation committee had become almost a joke. Finally, the government has begun to act. On Wednesday, the cabinet decided to implement 65 of the 99 recommendations made by the Lt Gen D.B. Shekatkar committee, which, incidentally, took the least time to study the issue and submit a report. The government hasn't specified whether it has rejected any recommendations. As of now, the cabinet has approved 65 recommendations, was what the defence minister told the media on Wednesday. He did not rule out the possibility of the remaining 34 recommendations being accepted. The mother of all committees was the K. Subrahmanyam committee, better known as the Kargil Review Committee. It went in detail into every aspect of higher defence management, and made radical recommendations, including integration of the military establishments with the defence ministry, appointment of a chief of defence staff, establishment of a defence intelligence agency and so on. A group of ministers, headed by the then home minister L.K. Advani, examined the Subrahmanyam recommendations, and made their own set of recommendations which largely concurred with the original. The announcement of the decision to accept 65 recommendations came as a big surprise | AP However, the UPA government of Manmohan Singh was not quite impressed with the changes suggested. The Congress was, in principle, opposed to having a single defence chief, and whenever asked about the CDS issue, the UPA defence ministersboth Pranab Mukherjee and A.K. Antony either gave evasive replies or cited that there still was no consensus on it. And when it appointed another committeethough with the nomenclature of task forceunder Naresh Chandra, it was clear that the government did not have its heart in it. The change of guard in 2014 rekindled the hopes of the pro-changers. However, it was soon apparent that the new government was taking time to come to grips with defence matters, especially with minister Manohar Parrikar giving non-committal replies like soon and a decision is on the anvil. And, when it appointed another committee, now headed by Lt. Gen D.B. Shekatkar, many read it as another attempt at postponing a decision. Meanwhile, a second committee that Parrikar had appointed to look into defence modernisation, got stuck when its chairman Vivek Rae, who had earlier been director-general (acquisition) in the defence ministry, resigned. However, to the surprise of the pessimists, the Shekatkar committee submitted its report within about six months. Then there were again doubts, raised especially when the full-time defence minister was sent to Goa as chief minister and Arun Jaitley was in effect made a part-time defence minister. It appeared that the regime's idea of defence reforms and modernisation was merely confined to upgrade of weaponry, and providing improved pay and facilities to the personnel. Thus the announcement of the decision to accept 65 recommendations came as a big surprise, though the ministry had already indicated that it was moving to dismantle the infrastructural anachronisms such as military farms. If theatre command system is implemented, the northern theatre which faces the Chinese threat would have to be an air force-dominant command | AFP What next? The biggest reform, yet to be implemented, is appointment of a CDS. Now there are various ideas about who exactly will be a chief of defence force. While the earlier committees had recommended a five-star officerfield marshal, admiral of the fleet or marshal of the air forcethe more current thinking is said to be about having a four-star officer. In other words, the CDS could be another general, admiral or air chief marshal. He would not be a CDS, but a permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee. A bigger challenge would be to accept and implement the theatre command system. To implement it, the present command structures of the three services would have to be dismantled and a new system will have to be put in place. This system would give primacy to one service depending on the kind of territory that needs to be defended in that particular theatre. Thus, the northern theatre which faces the Chinese threat from across the Himalayas would have to be air force-dominant command, under an air marshal, with the other two services planning operations under his command. Similarly, the western theatre, facing Pakistan would be an army-dominant command, and the western and southern command will be navy-dominant. Such a restructuring would call for almost complete dismantling of the present service set-up. There would have to be integration of training institutions, planning institutions and even the materials and ordnance departments and corps. The Naresh Chandra Committee is also learnt to have recommended deputing service officers to the ministry which is a civilian establishment. The Kargil review committee and the group of ministers had also recommended this, and there was a half-hearted attempt at implementing this under the Vajpayee government. But Parliament's standing committee on defence found in 2009 that follow-up had been lethargic. Wednesday's cabinet decision has finally indicated that the Modi government is keen on restructuring the defence organisation. But the decisions taken so far have been the ones pertaining to lower-level institutions. The real challenge is in reforming the top, that is the headquarters and the ministry. The BRD medical college hospital, Gorakhpur, has become a virtual graveyard for children. Even after visit of high profile politicians and bureaucrats including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there is no let up in the situation in BRD medical college where babies have been dying continuously. After the tragic deaths of 60 children in the hospital on August 9 and 10 due to inadequate supply of oxygen, another 42 children died in the past 48 hours. Inquiry committees were constituted, concerned officials were suspended, additional chief secretary Anita Bhatnagar Jain was transferred and former principal Dr Rajiv Mishra and his wife were arrested. But these measures failed to control the situation. Even Chief Minister Yogis direct intervention failed to prevent the number of mounting deaths. Since January this year, more than 1,200 children have lost their lives. Appalling official figures indicate that in the past five years 2012-2017 (till August) around 4,000 babies have died here. New working principal of the BRD medical college Dr P.K. Singh said that over the past three days 63 children died in paediatric department and out of which 36 deaths took place in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care unit). He added that in these wards premature babies are admitted who are quite weak and vulnerable and they catch infections very easily. The figures for month of August alone are appalling 290 children died in just 30 days which means little less than 10 children per day. Parents who have lost their children blame it on the utter neglect on the part of doctors, shortage of staff and apathy of higher authorities. Buddhi Ram, who had lost his baby during treatment in the hospital said that doctors attending the patients were quite rough in their behaviour. Another parent Damodar Kumar, too, blamed the negligence of doctors. Though the deaths over the last two days have not been due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE), Singh claims that these children were suffering from various health complications. As per routine, again the district officials reached the hospital to find out the cause of these deaths. The Additional District Magistrate Rajneesh Chandra said that DM has directed to conduct inquiry into these recent deaths. As a precautionary measure, the district administration has deployed PAC(provincial armed constabulary) in the district to prevent any unpleasant incident. There is no denying the fact that like other government medical colleges in the state the administration of BRD medical college is in shambles. Abysmal management, shortage of funds, understaffing and the malady of kickbacks ail the hospital, adversely affecting treatment. Earlier, too, hospital authorities had written to the government for a sanction of Rs 37 crore for proper treatment of JE cases but the plea had fallen onto deaf ears. A hospital doctor requesting anonymity said that this is not a big demand and government could easily sanction the funds to improve condition of treatment here but 'unfortunately those have the powers to release funds are least bothered about it'. BRD hospital receives patients from about 30 districts from eastern UP and Bihar. Neighbouring Nepal, too, sends patients to this hospital. Over 4,000 patients suffering from JE come to this hospital every year for treatment. This is besides patients suffering from other ailments. Quick, stringent measures need to be taken to save lives, and the face of the state healthcare system. Mumbai had a 300mm rainfall on August 29 that brought the financial capital to a standstill. Lakhs of people had to seek shelter at every possible place, including bus stops, Gurudwaras, mosques and railway stations. Many organisations and residents came out voluntarily to help those stuck in traffic or in the waterlogged areas. Western railway, central railway and the harbour lines of the local trains, considered as the lifelines of Mumbai, were not plying trains for over 12 hours. Fourteen people lost their lives, including Dipak Amrapurkar, a reputed gasteroenterologist of Bombay Hospital. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who addressed a press conference along with BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta after the water receded, was furious when asked about the failure of the BMC's drainage system. You should have stopped the rain, he said, adding that it was an unprecedented rain fall. He chose to forget the fact that Mumbai had experienced a 945mm rainfall on the July 25, 2005 that had brought the city to a standstill and that truly was an unprecedented rain-fall. Thackeray and Mehta pointed out in the press conference that the drainage system can drain out only 50mm rainfall every hour. In the last 12 years since then, Shiv Sena-BJP who have been ruling the BMC for the past two-and-a-half decades, have spent over Rs 36,000 crore on drainage, de-siltation of Meethi river and the nullahs, but couldn't even develop a system to drain out 300mm rainfall, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said. Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said, Rs 36,000 crore to create a drainage system for 50mm rainfall is a case of gross corruption. Especially after experiencing the havoc in 2005 with 945mm rainfall. The chief minister's office was busy circulating pictures and videos of everything that Devendra Fadanvis was doing that day. CM had also spoken to TV channels about how he personally went to the disaster control room and discussed measures to be taken with the police commissioner and the BMC commissioner. He didn't tell common people that his office is on the sixth floor and the control room is on the ground floor of the same building. Commissioner's office is on the corner of the road and he could have simply called them on his cell phone. It is a shame but the govt is happy doing only optics, Nirupam said. Devendra Fadanvis and Uddhav Thackeray had praised the 'spirit of Mumbai' and the resilience shown by the people. However, 14 people had died at various places due to the waterlogging, including a top doctor and a renowned lawyer. Amrapurkar was driving home and his car failed at a waterlogged street just before Prabhadevi where his house is located. He got out of his car to walk down but drowned in an open manhole in the street. His body was found only after 32 hours. Priyen Methia, a lawyer, had gone to Gandhi Market in Sion, but got stuck inside his car because the central locking of his car failed to operate. The water around rose and he died inside. Nirupam said, It is shameless to hide the inefficiency and corruption behind the 'spirit of Mumbai'. What is the value of human life? Why the manhole was not adequately surrounded by barricades and the red flags to alert the pedestrians? The Indian Medical Association has issued a press release condemning the inefficiency and failure of the BMC and has stated that the IMA will take due legal action, holding BMC responsible for the death of Amrapurkar. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks decision to hike the salaries of state government employees as per the recommendations of Seventh Pay Commission is said to be aimed at keeping vocal government servants happy as general election is one-and-a-half-year away. The decision will benefit 4.5 lakh state government employees and 3.5 lakh retired employees who avail pension. The revised salary structure, which will cost Rs 4,500 crore per year to state exchequer, will be applicable from January 1, 2016. The employees will get the revised pay from October and as Dussehra holidays start from September 27, they will be handed over hiked pay packet a day before, Patnaik announced. It was expected that the chief minister would implement Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for state government employees and make it a Puja gift as keeping government employees happy has been his strategy from day one. Perhaps, he never wanted to repeat the mistake of his late father Biju Patnaik. Biju Patnaik had been physically attacked by government employees in state secretariat at Bhubaneswar after he cancelled some of their perks because of resource constraints in early 1990s. After coming to power in 2000, Naveen Patnaik has so far implemented recommendations of two Central Pay Commissions besides increasing the retirement age of government employees from 58 to 60 years. However, the salary revision will add to states loan burden which has reached Rs 65,000 crore and is expected to cross Rs 76,000 crore by the end of current financial year in March, 2018 due to repeated borrowings. The arrears resulting from salary hike would be around Rs 7,500 crore. When asked about the financial burden caused by the salary hike, Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera said the state will get Rs 1,500 crore per annum from Indian Oil Corporation that has set up a refinery at Paradip as the tax dispute between state government and IOCL has been resolved recently. The employees are happy as they have been agitating for long, demanding the implementation of Seventh Pay Commission. In fact, the state government had set up a fitment committee to work out the modalities of implementation and the committee had prepared its report after talking to everyone concerned, including the employees. Govt thanked The largest government employees forum in the state, Odisha non-gazetted employees coordination committee, has expressed its gratitude to chief minister after the announcement on Tuesday. General secretary of the forum Braja Kishore Nanda flayed the Centre while hailing the state government. He said because of the recommendations the the Seventh Pay Commission of Centre, rich employees have become richer whereas poor employees have become poorer as the ratio between rich and poor employees is 1:14. In earlier pay commissions, such high gap was not there, he pointed out. He, however, thanked the chief minister for implementing the recommendations of the two Central Pay Commissions during his rule. Salary hike soon for teachers? Besides the new pay for state employees, the CM is most likely to give full salary to 50,000 agitating school and college teachers who had been appointed by private educational institutions that have been receiving government honorarium in the form of block grants. The teachers had allegedly voted against against Biju Janta Dal in the last rural body elections held in early part of this year which had seen the rise of Bharatiya Janta Party. It is estimated that if this section of teaching community has to be placated, the additional burden will be Rs 1,250 crore. But a new dispute has arisen between both sides. Seeing the vulnerability of ruling BJD before election, the teachers have placed more demands which will increase the estimate by another Rs 500 crore. The teachers have been sitting on a dharana in Bhubaneswar since August 16. The meetings between both sides have not found a way to resolve the issue. School Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra and Higher Education Minister Ananta Das have said if the teachers do not agree to governments package, nothing can be done. The leaders of agitating teachers have stuck to their demands. The state government is also considering pay hikes for other employees and labourers including anganwadi workers. Meanwhile, recruitment programmes are being conducted and the chief minister himself has been handing over recruitment orders. Besides, the government has tentatively decided to hike minimum wage of labourers by Rs 50 per day. This is in addition to several welfare measures taken for them in last few months. With 'Mission-150' on his mind, BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday held a strategy session with the party leaders tasked with leading its charge in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls. Union ministers Arun Jaitley, who has been made the state's election in-charge, as well as Narendra Singh, Jitendra Singh, P P Chaudhury and Niramala Sitharaman- the four co-incharges- met Shah at his residence and were joined by senior organisational leaders including general secretaries Ram Lal and Bhupender Yadav. "Detailed discussions were held over the Gujarat polls. We have kept our eyes on 'Mission-150' and will work with enthusiasm and energy to achieve it," Yadav, who is in-charge of the state's affairs, later told reporters. Gujarat BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani also attended the meeting. The assembly poll are slated for later this year. The party has set a target of winning 150 seats in the 182-member assembly. In the last elections in 2012 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state's chief minister, the BJP had won 116 seats. In 2007 and 2002, two other polls it fought under Modi, it had won 117 and 127 seats. With Modi now the prime minister, the party must strive to win 150 seats, Shah had told party leaders in Gujarat earlier. The state has witnessed a lot of development under Modi and it has to be continued, Yadav said today, adding that organisational matters related to the state elections were discussed in the meeting. The western state has emerged as a saffron citadel with the BJP in power there since 1995 except for over an year when its rebel Shankersinh Vaghela split the party and formed a government with the support of the Congress. Vaghela recently quit the Congress. Many of his supporters have joined the BJP Relief was writ large on Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohits face as he entered the sessions court in Mumbai on August 22. The Supreme Court had granted him bail in the 2008 Malegaon blast case the previous day. Dressed in a white full-sleeved shirt and grey trousers, Purohit, 45, accompanied by his team of lawyers led by Shrikant Shivde, presented himself before Special Judge S.D. Tekale to complete the formalities of the bail. I am happy that I will get to spend time with my family after a long time, said Purohit. The Supreme Court order came weeks after the National Investigation Agency had opposed his bail, saying that he was one of the main conspirators behind the Malegaon blast, which killed six people and injured about 100. As the legal team was busy with procedural matters, Purohit appeared calm. After asking the judge for permission, he stepped out of the courtroom to phone his wife, Aparna. Surrounded by policemen, he had a brief conversation with her and, as he ended the call, a few bystanders shook his hand. He reciprocated without words and returned to the courtroom. I want to get back to my family. I have two families, the first is the Army. I do not wish to say anything more, he told the media during the lunch break. On August 23, he was released from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai and taken to the Colaba military base. Eminent lawyer Harish Salve, who appeared for Purohit in the Supreme Court, said charges were yet to be framed, despite him being in jail for nearly nine years. From an unsung hero, he has now become an incarcerated hero, Salve reportedly told the Supreme Court bench of Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice A.M. Sapre. Purohit is accused of forming Abhinav Bharat (a right wing organisation allegedly behind the Malegaon blast), collecting funds for it and arranging meetings in which the Malegaon blast was allegedly planned. Salve said Purohit accepted that he had, in 2007, attended meetings of Abhinav Bharat, but had done so as an Army officer in a covert operation, and had informed his seniors about the groups activities. He has been caught in political crossfire, said Salve. He also argued that no conspirator would ever divulge details of the conspiracy to superior officers. Salve said that there wasnt sufficient evidence that there was any conspiracy hatched at those meetings. Born in a middle-class Brahmin family in Pune, Purohit had always wanted to be an Army officer. His father, a retired bank officer, encouraged him. Boys in Pune have a fascination for the Army as they see National Defence Academy cadets strolling on the streets on weekends. Purohit was one such boy. He studied at Abhinav Vidyalaya and Garware College in Pune and, after graduation, joined the short service commission. After training at he Officers Training Academy in Chennai, Purohit opted for the Maratha Light Infantry regiment in 1994 and was posted in Kashmir. Around 2003-04, he was transferred to the Military Intelligence, where he continued till his arrest on November 5, 2008. His wife, a doctor, and two sons, Kanishka Vikram and Yashovardhan, live in a bungalow on Law College Road in Pune. Old wounds: Residents at Bhikku Chowk, near the Malegaon blast site, in 2008 | Amey Mansabdar The NIA, which took over the investigation from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2011, recommended Purohits prosecution under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA said it had evidence against Purohit in the form of audio, video, call data records and witness statements. We had opposed Purohits bail application. The NIA has enough evidence on him to show his involvement in the terror conspiracy, an NIA spokesperson told THE WEEK. On May 31, 2014, Purohit wrote an 18-page letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, explaining how the Maharashtra ATS had used four of his recorded informants against him. Two of them were made co-accused while two were made witnesses. He claimed that he was being made a scapegoat. While dismissing his bail plea on April 25 this year, the Bombay High Court referred to a report submitted by the NIA, which said Purohit had prepared a constitution for a Hindu rashtra with a separate saffron flag, and had also plotted revenge for atrocities that Muslims allegedly committed against Hindus. The High Court did not accept Purohits claim that he had attended the meetings as part of a covert operation. The Supreme Court, while granting conditional bail to Purohit, observed that the NIA has submitted a supplementary charge-sheet which is at variance with the charge-sheet filed by the ATS, and that the trial is likely to take a long time and the appellant has been in prison for eight years and eight months. Advocate Sanjiv Punalekar, who represents four other accused, including Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Rakesh Dhawade, said, We have been saying from the beginning that the ATS has [been up to] mischief. It is on record that Major Pravin Khanzode and Subedar K.K. Pawar had informed Army Headquarters that they had seen ATS inspector Shekhar Bagde in suspicious circumstances at Sudhakar Chaturvedis house [on November 3, 2008, when he was allegedly not home]. Said special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal: Currently, we are arguing framing of charges. Now that Col Purohit has been granted bail, his legal team will soon move an application to discharge him from the case. But, we have to fight with the evidence we have. That is why I am here. Purohit, in his letter to Modi, had alleged that the ATS planned his arrest on November 5 after planting RDX in Chaturvedis house on November 3. The ATS arrested Chaturvedi on November 4, said Punalekar. Neela Gokhale, Purohits advocate in the Supreme Court, said: The bench has referred to the alleged role of the ATS in planting the RDX, which the NIA had noted in its investigation. This has raised serious doubts about the investigation. The court has said there are variances in the charge-sheets filed by the agencies. Said a senior NIA official: We could not find any evidence to sustain the charge that Purohit provided RDX to other accused persons. Senior lawyer Rohini Salian, who was earlier associated with the case, said: I left that brief after voicing my reservations about the way NIA was handling the case. However, as a citizen of this country, I feel concerned. It could become a precedent. It could also become a point of reference for other accused to apply for bail. Also, the way NIA has negated important points in the ATS charge-sheet is something happening for the first time. The UPA government, which had entrusted the case to the NIA, had called it a classic case of Hindu terror. The BJP had rejected the claim. Purohits case, however, does not put a lid on the Hindu terror theory. Interestingly, during the bail arguments, neither the prosecutor nor the defence counsel refuted the fact that suspected Hindu extremists held meetings in Bhopal. It is now part of the Supreme Courts records that Purohit was privy to the clandestine meetings of Abhinav Bharat. The fact that he attended certain meetings only strengthens the argument that Hindu extremists might have tried to carry out terror acts, of which he may or may not have been a part of. There were mixed reactions to Purohits bail. Thankful Col Purohit finally got bail. His imprisonment is one of the most dangerous games played by the Congress to protect Pak backed terror groups, tweeted writer Madhu Kishwar. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, however, tweeted: It was expected as the present BJP government is protecting all the accused connected with the RSS in all bomb blast cases. Whether Purohit is an Army operative gone rogue or a man caught in political crossfire will become clear only if the trial in the Malegaon blast case is expedited and daily hearings are held. Till then, he will remain a prime accused in a bomb blast case, out on bail. WITH NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA CURIOUS CASE OF COL PUROHIT Lt Colonel Purohit was granted conditional bail by the Supreme Court, nine years after he was sent to jail for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blast. After completing his education from Garwara College in Pune, he was commissioned into Maratha Light Infantry in 1994.He served in the counter-terrorism operations unit in Jammu and Kashmir from 20022005 and was then shifted to Military Intelligence. ALLEGED ROLE Projected as a conspirator in the 2008 Malegaon blast, Purohit is alleged to have formed a right-wing group Abhinav Bharat to form a central Hindu government. He claimed to have infiltrated the group as a farmer on the direction of his superiors, which the NIA dismissed as false. Im a simple soldier, says Lt Col Purohit WHEN THE WEEK spoke to Lt Col Purohit in the corridors of the sessions court, he clearly did not want to say anything controversial on the day of his release on bail. Dressed smartly, Purohit was polite even as he stressed that he did not wish to make any political comments. Asked whether he was made a scapegoat by the previous political dispensation (the United Progressive Alliance government), Purohit merely said, I do not want to say anything now about politics. On whether the Maharashtra ATS had framed him in the case, Purohits response was: I would not like to comment anything on the investigations as the matter is sub judice. All I want to say is that I remain a simple soldier who loves his uniform and the Indian Army. I thank the Army for standing by me. On Wednesday evening 8 Elul, the Israel Rescue Coalition (IRC) will mobilize and dispatch a team comprised of elite members of United Hatzalahs Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit to Houston, Texas in order to provide mental and emotional stabilization to people who need it. The team includes Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and therapists and will be arriving in Houston early Thursday morning, local time. While not yet confirmed, there is a succinct possibility that a military psychologist from the IDF will be joining the group. People need help on the ground, said Dov Maisel, Director of International Operations for the IRC and Vice President of United Hatzalah. They need to be able to wrap their minds around what was lost and they need assistance figuring out how to cope and where to go from here. That is the biggest challenge currently facing all Houston residents who have suffered during Hurricane Harvey. Maisel himself was dispatched to Haiti in 2016 following Hurricane Matthew and Nepal in 2015 following the devastating earthquakes that killed thousands of people. We inquired on the ground in Houston with regards to what was needed and the response that we received was that the most urgent need was psychological and emotional assistance. The Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit members excel in exactly that. There are thousands of displaced people who are currently living in shelters across the area. We were told that Search and Rescue, as well as EMS assistance, were not needed at this time, but the option is there to send a second team comprised of experts in those areas should we be asked to bring them, Maisel added. The IRC is primarily a search and rescue unit comprised of Israels top-level experts in mass casualty incident (MCI) and disaster response. The volunteer responders and trainers specialize in disaster preparedness, training, and deployment, as well as tactical search and rescue operations. Another aspect of the IRCs mission is to train international emergency response personnel. The coalition was formed to provide immediate search and rescue response throughout Israel, and disaster relief worldwide. By utilizing the pre-existing Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit team members of United Hatzalah, the IRC is mobilizing the most specialized people in Israel to answer the greatest need currently on the ground in Houston. Miriam Ballin, the Director of United Hatzalahs Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit is a Houston native and was a student at Poe elementary school before she moved on to begin her Jewish education. As a native of the city, a veteran EMT and EMS dispatcher, as well the Director of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit, it was determined that Ballin should lead the mission. Im am happy to be given the opportunity to head back to my hometown and help during this time of crisis. Our team provides the IRC with a new capability developed in Israel that no one else in the world is currently doing, and that is to provide rapid response psychological first aid and trauma support. The community in Houston and the people of Texas feel a strong connection to the State of Israel and many of them are big supporters of the state and of the Jewish People. It is therefore, our responsibility to help them in their time of need, as friends and professionals who can offer help to our fellow human beings. We are going tonight to help all of the people of Houston, no matter what community you belong to or what your background is, from one lone star state to another, we will be there for you. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The Valero Houston Refinery is threatened by the swelling waters of the Buffalo Bayou CRUDE FALLS The devastation caused in Texas by Hurricane Harvey drove oil prices down 1.1pc to $51.45 a barrel yesterday. A fifth of US refineries have shut, triggering a slump in demand for crude and driving up US petrol prices amid fears of shortages. UK pump prices are unlikely to be hit. HQ SALE The London headquarters of 'Big Four' auditor KPMG, 15 Canada Square, is up for sale at 400million. KPMG said it would remain based there. AIRLINE RETREAT Budget airline Ryanair has abandoned plans to buy the assets of insolvent German rival Air Berlin. Ryanair believes Lufthansa will buy the assets. NAVY SABBATICAL The organisation behind Britain's two 6.2billion new aircraft carriers has got a new boss. Vice Admiral Sir Simon Lister is taking a sabbatical from the Royal Navy to run the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership between the MoD and weapons makers. ON TRACK A strong performance at airports and railway stations has put WH Smith on course to hit its targets for the year, and it says it sees 'further opportunities' in the retail travel market. BETTER TERMS Discount supermarket Aldi is cutting pay terms to 14 days for all suppliers that transact up to 250k worth of business. PEAK PERFORMANCE Fitness chain The Gym Group posted an 18.8 per cent rise in revenue to 42.8million in the six months to June 30, while profit rocketed 75.5 per cent to 5.9million. Membership numbers increased by 19.8 per cent to 508,000. TRILLION TARGET The next iPhone could be the 'defining moment' that helps Apple become the first company to be valued at $1 trillion, it is claimed. Shares in the world's most valuable company are trading at record highs taking it to a market capitalisation of $815billion. HIGH RETURN Investment business F&C Commercial Property Trust delivered returns of 5.1 per cent in the first half of 2017 beating the average 4.6 per cent from rivals. The 1.3billion trust's boss Richard Kirby said he is not looking to buy and sell property in the present turbulent market. TAX CALL The life sciences sector should be handed tax cuts, more public funding and better access to NHS data, says Oxford University professor Sir John Bell, who was asked by ministers to lead a review. Nerves: Uber's new chief exec Dara Khosrowshahi The new boss of Uber told staff at the scandal-hit cab firm that he was a 'fighter' just hours after admitting to his former employees that he was 'scared' to take up the top role. Addressing Uber staff at an open meeting yesterday, former Expedia boss Dara Khosrowshahi, said he was prepared to fight to restore confidence in the startup which has been marred by a series of sexual harassment claims. He said: 'I'm a fighter. I will fight with every bone in my body.' The 48-year-old's comments came after he told staff at US travel company Expedia, where he has been chief executive for 12 years, that he had 'mixed feelings' about leaving the company. He wrote in a farewell letter to staff: 'I have to tell you I'm scared. I've been here at Expedia for so long that I've forgotten what life is outside of this place. 'But the times of greatest learning for me have been when I've been through big changes, or taken on new roles you have to move out of your comfort zone and develop muscles that you didn't know you had. 'I always tell people to look for a role where they, as an individual, can make a difference, at a company that is making a difference. 'I know I can look back at my work at Expedia and say mission accomplished. 'And I can look forward to Uber and know that I will make a difference, hopefully for the better.' His comments came as the appointment was also officially confirmed by Uber itself, with a letter from board members to staff at the taxi app firm adding: 'We are really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision.' Development: Royal Mail's iconic Mount Pleasant sorting office Housing is to be built on land next to England's largest postal sorting depot in a 190million deal. On the day Royal Mail Group crashed out of the FTSE 100, the company confirmed it had sold part of its Mount Pleasant site in London to developer Taylor Wimpey. It cleared the way for almost 700 homes to be built there, largely luxury flats expected to fetch more than 1million each. Planning permission was granted in 2015 for the scheme, which will be 24 per cent affordable housing. Martin Gafsen, Royal Mail's director of property and facilities, said: 'The sale of our development sites at Mount Pleasant is a great opportunity for us to contribute to the regeneration of the area. 'It will also help us secure the long-term future of our key central London operational site.' Mount Pleasant is Royal Mail's main base in London and one of the world's largest sorting offices. The introduction of new machines in 2012 meant the company no longer required all of the land it owned there. It has sold 6.25 acres to Taylor Wimpey, with 0.27 acres set aside for office space still to be sold. Jimmy Choo, the British shoe designer loved by celebrities including the Duchess of Cambridge, has seen profits more than double thanks to a store revamp and growing demand for its mens range. The high-end accessories label, which sells jewel-encrusted shoes and luxury trainers, posted a 174 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to 18.1million in the first six months of the year. That is on the back of a 16.5 per cent rise in revenues to 201.6million on a reported currency basis, as the retailer benefited from a weaker pound. Celebrity-favourite: The Duchess of Cambridge, left, and Downtown Abbey actress Lily James, both wearing Jimmy Choo heels Jimmy Choo, which ventured into mens footwear in 2011 selling velvet slippers that cost 3,500 and trainers at 595, said that remains its fastest growing category, making up 9 per cent of global revenue. It added it has continued to increase the number of stores selling its men products and it now counts 86 stores where it sells both men and women shoes and accessories, up from 71 at the end of last year. Jimmy Choo, which was bought by rival Michael Koors last month for 896million, said its store overhaul continued to progress. It closed five shops and opened six new ones in the first half. It now has 151 stores around the world, including new flagship stores in Londons New Bond Street and Sloane Street, in Milan, Paris, Beverly Hills, Madison Avenue and Harbour City Hong Kong. It said its final three flagship stores are expected to be opened in Asia by the end of the calendar year. In demand: Jimmy Choo, which ventured into mens footwear in 2011 selling velvet slippers that cost 3,500 and trainers at 595, said that remains its fastest growing category Jimmy Choo is also refurbishing and converting stores into a new format. It renovated eight stores in the period, which the new store format now making up half of all of its stores. The update comes as Jimmy Choo is in the process of merging with Michael Koors after putting itself up for sale earlier this year. Chief executive Pierre Denis said he was delighted by the performance despite challenging market conditions. We have continued to make good progress through the first half and are well positioned to deliver over the remainder of the year, he said. Luxurious: Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 by Tamara Mellon and cobbler Jimmy Choo In the UK and Europe sales rose by 5.9 per cent at constant currency to 83.8million, but in the US, sales fell 2.7 per cent to 55.8 million amid weaker footfall in department stores. The strongest performance came from Japan, where sales rose 11 per cent to 28.6million on a constant currency basis, with mens sales counting for 28 per cent of the revenues. Shares in the group were trading 0.05p higher at 229.55p in the afternoon. Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 by Tamara Mellon and Malaysian bespoke cobbler Jimmy Choo. After a series of private equity owners Mellon and Choo left the business. Choos niece Sandra Choi is now the brands creative director. The firm is controlled by JAB Luxury, the investment arm of the German billionaire Reimann family. MANZINI As students are itching to implement phase two of their Right to Education Campaign; the August Onslaught, SNUS has formally invited unionised workers under TUCOSWA and churches to join them. The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS), which is behind the campaign, has written letters inviting the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (SUFIAW) and the Council of Churches, to join them as they implement the August Onslaught. Brian Sangweni, the President of the students union said this invitation was a follow-up to the informal invitation which they made during the celebration of the Workers Day 2017 at Mhlume. We are in a process of meeting the organisations we are inviting to join the campaign to finalise finer details regarding the strategy among other things, Sangweni said. Explaining the August Onslaught, the president said with the word August they did not mean the month but they used it as an adjective to the onslaught which means that it would be impressive and overwhelming. He said the time for the August Onslaught, a period of intense action to be dictated by the opening of all institutions of higher learning in the country has come. He said it could have been carried out during the month of August, as many had anticipated but delayed by the opening of the Swaziland Christian University and Limkokwing University of Creative Technologys first year students, who were still delayed by the scholarship list, resulted in postponement of the action-filled part of the campaign. Ngabezweni His Majesty King Mswati III commissioned the thousands of Imbali at Ngabezweni Royal Residence yesterday and announced the return of Princess Sikhanyiso to lead the regiment. MBABANE Princess Sikhanyiso is back! Maidens went into a wild frenzy when His Majesty King Mswati III announced the princess return to the regiment yesterday. Speaking when commissioning the maidens to cut the reed, the King said the return of the princess was a blessing to the regiment. Nalobekangekho nyakenye ukhona lonyaka, utabe ahamba nalo libutfo, kusibusiso leso Mbali, the Monarch said in vernacular loosely translated: the one who was missing last year is in our midst today. She will be leading the regiment and that is a blessing to you. The princess was not part of the regiment last year; however, she was seen seated among royalty at the grand stands during the main day. She sometimes appreciated the maidens during the course of their dance. Princess Temtsimba performed the giya dance on her behalf at Ludzidzini Royal Residence while Princess Temaswati represented the maidens from Ngabezweni Royal Residence. It could not be ascertained why the princess was not part of the regiment last year. It was as if the regiment was waiting for that message from the throne as they shouted Bayethe soon after the princess return was announced. The King then pleaded with the maidens to fetch quality reed that would be used for the enclosure at the Royal residences. May the Almighty God and the ancestors be with you, he said speaking through Imbali Leader Nonduduzo Zubuko. The old maidens will be fetching the reed from Mpisi Farm, while the younger ones will go to Bhamusakhe at Luyengo. MBABANE The future of 960 students at the Swaziland Christian University has been shattered. This follows the suspension of operations at the university by government with immediate effect. The shocking announcement was made by the Minister of Education and Training, Phineas Magagula, during a press conference late yesterday afternoon. Magagula said he wanted to inform the public, including students and parents, that operations of the SCU had been suspended with immediate effect until further notice. The ministry, working with all concerned stakeholders, will work tirelessly to ensure that the institution resumes operations as soon as it is practicable, said Magagula briefly. This essentially means that the registration of students, which was ongoing, will stop and that those who had expected to graduate this year will not be doing so. The university was founded by the Africa Continent Mission (ACM) under Pastor In Whan Kim. During the brief press conference, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Swaziland Higher Education Council (SHEC), Mboni Dlamini, first gave a summary of how the situation ended up in this manner. Dlamini said in 2016 there were problems at the institution which led to lecturers protesting. Government then asked us to check what was going on because we want to ensure that all our institutions produce graduates who can be employable in all SADC states and the world beyond, said Dlamini. MBABANE Nedbank employees may have reached a settlement with their employer and returned to work but the court went ahead and heard the formers appeal. Yesterday, the Industrial Court of Appeal heard the appeal, which was filed by the bank after Judge Nkosinathi Nkonyane issued an order restraining Nedbank from engaging replacement labour while the employees strike ongoing. SUFIAW which represented the employees, took the bank to court arguing that the engagement of temporary staff during their recently concluded strike undermined its purpose. Advocate Paul Kennedy, who had been instructed by Robinson Bertram, yesterday informed the appeal court that the Industrial Court committed an error in its use of international law to interpret the right to strike under the Constitution. He said the court misinterpreted and misapplied the principles of international law. The appeal was heard by Judge John Magagula, who was flanked by Judge Cyril Maphanga and Judge Doris Tshabalala. Kennedy said the court seemed to rely on the ILOs principles concerning the right to strike, which state that the replacement of strikers is justified in the event of a strike in essential services and during national crisis. The advocate submitted that in the absence of domestic law dealing with the infringement of the right to strike, the court should have had regard to relevant South African case law which he said would have been of significant value. The advocate made an example that the South African Constitutional Court which he said held that its courts can derive assistance from public international law and foreign case law but are in no way bound to follow it. Did you vote in the midterm elections as if your countrys existence depended on it? columns This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY Does New York's environmental protection agency have a policy for retaining employee emails that would preserve them for later public scrutiny? Earlier this week, an open records officer for the agency informed a reporter it did not, in fact, have such a policy. The press office of the Department of Environmental Conservation, however, told the Times Union it actually does have such a policy though not one specific to email. Dan Telvock, an environmental reporter for the Buffalo nonprofit outlet Investigative Post, had filed an open records request with DEC seeking certain emails from the years 2011 and 2016. The request sought emails shared by DEC staff with Executive Chamber personnel as it dealt with a dozen news agencies' records requests. The point, Telvock said, was to examine the degree to which Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration influenced DEC's responses to Freedom of Information Law requests. The Executive Chamber is known to often exert tight control over agency operations, including open records request responses. Telvock eventually got a few records back: 37 emails from 2016, and none from 2011. None of the emails contained internal discussion of any real consequence. (The results of the request did, however, show that Executive Chamber FOIL officers are copied when DEC staff discussed new FOIL requests.) Telvock appealed, seeking more extensive records. He then received an email from DEC's open records officer. "A diligent search produced no records for 2011," wrote DEC records access officer Aldie Levine, an attorney. "Please also note that the Department has no record retention policy for email communications." In 2015, Cuomo ended the controversial policy of automatically deleting state employees' emails after 90 days. The administration instead said it would create a uniform policy consistent with best practices across the country. After Telvock tweeted Levine's statement about DEC having no record retention policy for email communications, the Times Union asked agency's press office if that was indeed the case. DEC's press office maintains it has does have a policy requiring that all records be maintained. DEC says that is part of a state document retention policy that applies to all agencies. DEC spokeswoman Erica Ringewald said that the policy "applies to all records, which can include emails that qualify as records." She added that the "longstanding record retention policy has always been focused on content, not form, and the content of emails fall squarely into that. The only specific policy regarding emails was a since-rescinded 90-day deletion policy. Currently, there is no 'email policy' and emails can be preserved indefinitely as they were prior to the policy." She declined to directly address the statement of DEC's own FOIL officer, Levine, who could not be reached for comment Thursday. Levine is not new to the job: She has supervised DEC's open records operation since May 2016, according to her LinkedIn profile, and before that had worked in the Executive Chamber's FOIL office for a year. In other transparency news, Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi on Thursday said the administration has filed a notice of appeal in response to the New York Times' court victory in July that required the governor's office to hand over voluminous records related to the Buffalo Billion scandal. Former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco, former SUNY Polytechnic Institute leader Alain Kaloyeros and six others await upcoming trials, with many of the charges related to potential bid-rigging in upstate development deals. The ruling, issued in state Supreme Court in Albany, required Cuomo's office to hand over the material within 45 days. Azzopardi said a notice of appeal was filed Aug. 18. Additional filings are expected in the next several weeks. Gasoline prices in the Capital Region, propelled by shortages from Harvey, continued to climb Friday, rising another 7 cents following a 5-cent jump the day before, according to the latest data from the AAA Fuel Gauge report. A gallon of unleaded regular averaged $2.519, according to AAA, compared to $2.392 on Wednesday. Prices are up 18 cents a gallon in the past week. [August 30, 2017] Teledyne LeCroy and Anritsu Integrate Best-in-Class Solutions to Create Industry's Most Comprehensive PCI Express 4.0 Test System CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y., Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. and Anritsu Company U.S. announce today a partnership to provide the industry's most capable PCI Express 4.0 (PCIe Gen4) test solution, integrating the Anritsu Signal Quality Analyzer (SQA) MP1900A BERT with the LabMaster 10Zi-A oscilloscope and QPHY-PCIe4-Tx-Rx software from Teledyne LeCroy. This comprehensive system provides high-speed IC, device, and network engineers with one complete solution to conduct automated transmitter and receiver compliance tests, as well as link equalization verification. The Anritsu/Teledyne LeCroy solution can be easily expanded to 32 Gb/s, making it the first end-to-end solution to address PCI Express 5.0 (PCIe Gen5) requirements. The system will also support PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe Gen3) transmitter, receiver and link equalization testing for complete PCI Express ecosystem coverage. "Anritsu and Teledyne LeCroy share a common goal of providing engineers early availability of highly accurate and efficient test solutions required to verify their leading-edge designs. Our combined solution integrating the SQA MP1900A and LabMaster 10Zi-A oscilloscope fills the market void for a complete physical layer PCIe Gen4 test system that can be easily expanded to PCIe Gen5 as the market continues to develop technologies for high-speed networks," said Paul Innis, Vice President and General Manager, Anritsu Company. "PCIe Gen4 represents a significant test challenge for design engineers. Our collaborative test solution leverages two best-in-class instruments to accurately measure and validate product performance in accordance with the PCI-SIG standards. Recognizing that PCIe Gen5 is expected to emerge within two years, we have protected our customers' investments by creating a clear and efficient upgrade path that will control test costs," said Conrad Fernandes, Vice President of Sales, Teledyne LeCroy. Best-in-Class Performance The LabMaster 10-25Zi-A oscilloscope provides the necessary 25 GHz bandwidth for PCIe Gen4 transmitter testing and receiver test calibration, and may be upgraded in bandwidth to support next-generation serial standards at 32 Gb/s and higher. The LabMaster 10-25Zi-A and the forthcoming QPHY-PCIe4-Tx-Rx software option performs all necessary automation and control for PCIe Gen4 transmitter, receiver, and link equalization test in conjunction with the Anritsu MP1900A. Debugging of PCI Express interfaces is simple and intuitive with integrated eye diagram and jitter analysis tools and PCI Express decoding with waveform annotation and tabular analysis. A high-speed BERT that supports 2.4 Gb/s to 32.1 Gb/s, the SQA MP1900A can conduct highly accurate link training/equalization and Link Training and Status State Machine (LTSSM) analysis. It combines an internal pulse-patter generator (PPG) with integrated 10-tap emphasis and built-in high input sensitivity error detector (ED) with clock recovery, and variable 12 dB continuous time linear equalization (CTLE) and Link negotiation functions required for PCI Express receiver tests. Its ability to produce high-quality waveforms allows the MP1900A to conduct reliable jitter and noise tolerance tests. About Teledyne LeCroy Teledyne LeCroy is a leading manufacturer of advanced oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, and other test instruments that verify performance, validate compliance, and debug complex electronic systems quickly and thoroughly. Since its founding in 1964, the Company has focused on incorporating powerful tools into innovative products that enhance "Time-to-Insight". Faster time to insight enables users to rapidly find and fix defects in complex electronic systems, dramatically improving time-to-market for a wide variety of applications and end markets. Teledyne LeCroy is based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. For more information, visit Teledyne LeCroy's website at teledynelecroy.com. About Anritsu Anritsu Company is the United States subsidiary of Anritsu Corporation, a global provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions for 120 years. Anritsu's "2020 VISION" philosophy engages customers as true partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multidimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimization. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for 5G, M2M, IoT, as well as other emerging and legacy wireline and wireless communication markets. With offices throughout the world, Anritsu has approximately 4,000 employees in over 90 countries. About PCI-SIG PCI-SIG is the consortium that owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards. The organization defines industry standard I/O (input/output) specifications consistent with the needs of its members. Currently, PCI-SIG is comprised of nearly 800 industry-leading member companies. To learn more about PCI-SIG, and for a list of the Board of Directors, visit www.pcisig.com. PCI Express is a registered trademark of PCI-SIG. Media Contact: Hilary Lustig, Marketing Communications Manager (845) 578-6120 Teledyne LeCroy Contact: Patrick Connally, Technical Marketing Engineer (845) 425-2000 Customer Contact: Teledyne LeCroy Customer Care Center (800) 553-2769 Website: teledynelecroy.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teledyne-lecroy-and-anritsu-integrate-best-in-class-solutions-to-create-industrys-most-comprehensive-pci-express-40-test-system-300511776.html SOURCE Teledyne LeCroy [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CSX's outline to federal regulators of changes it's making include some that could directly affect local operations in the Capital Region. E. Hunter Harrison, the railroad's president and CEO, told Surface Transportation Board officials that the railroad plans to consolidate nine of its dispatching offices to Jacksonville, Fla., in an effort to "right-size" its assets and "align its workforce with business needs." Among those is the CSX dispatch operation at Selkirk, which covers an area from Buffalo to eastern Massachusetts and New York City to Montreal, said CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle. "CSX understands that this transition could be disruptive to employees and we are working to assist them in making the move successfully," Doolittle said. "(W)e are providiing relocation assistance, support on real estate matters, information about the communities, schools and other amenities in Jacksonville, facilitating visits to Jacksonville to look for housing, and reimbursing employees for moving expenses." Doolittle said 36 dispatchers in Selkirk will be affected by the consolidation. The railroad has been asked by the STB to file weekly performance reports, after shippers complained about deteriorating service. CSX under Harrison is introducing "precision scheduled railroading," which is intended to improve service and efficiency. Precision railroading is intended to operate trains on regular schedules, so that shipments aren't delayed while waiting for a train to fill. As part of that effort, Harrison, who previously worked at Canadian Pacific and before that Canadian National, also moved to phase out so-called hump yards, where individual freight cars roll down an incline and are switched to various siding depending on destination and routing. He sought to replace humps with locomotive-powered flat switching, where blocks of cars are assembled into trains. Now, "the goal is to find the right balance of hump and flat yards as we pursue optimal processing efficiency to best serve our customers," Harrison told the STB. The Times Union has seen a union document that suggests three hump yards will remain systemwide, and one may be Selkirk. In a May 2017 presentation to analysts, CSX identified Selkirk as a yard "in transition" to flat switching. Asked about Selkirk's hump yard, Doolittle said that Selkirk has not been converted, and that "when changes are made CSX is communicating directly with employees, customers and other stakeholders who may be affected." I came to the conclusion on a recent train trip from Montana to New York that there is no better way to get a sense of the vast space between the towns and cities that make up this country than by watching it roll by your window in real time. Joined by my husband and two daughters and from the comfort of an Amtrak sleeper car, we crossed several state lines, the Continental Divide and the mighty Mississippi. We watched the geography and climate switch from the hot, dry plains of eastern Montana and North Dakota to the lakes and rivers and cloudy skies of Minnesota and points east. Wildlife was plentiful, and we spotted something nearly every time we looked up: deer, antelope, osprey and at least a dozen foxes. It was such a quintessential American experience that more than once, my younger daughter and I spontaneously broke out singing "This Land Is Your Land." We originally considered taking the train to and from Montana, where we would visit family and tackle two national parks in one go Glacier and Yellowstone. It was an ambitious plan, and the cost and time involved proved too much. The journey between Montana and New York spans two nights and almost three full days, and sleeping accommodations for the four of us were nearly double what the airfare would have been. We settled for a flight out West and a one-way train ticket from Whitefish, Mont., back to Schenectady. We figured it would be a good way to relax and unwind following the frenetic pace we had set for ourselves in Montana. Although we would not technically be traveling coast to coast, the trains we took did. The Amtrak Empire Builder, which we picked up in Whitefish, started its journey the evening before in Portland and Seattle, with those legs combining in Spokane, Wash., before continuing east to Chicago. After Chicago, we hopped aboard the Lake Shore Limited, which would separate in Albany and continue on to Boston and New York City. More Information If you go When purchasing sleeping accommodations on Amtrak, the room charge is a set fee on top of your regular ticket prices. We paid just under $2,200 for our four tickets and two roomettes from Whitefish, Mont., to Schenectady. All meals are included in the price. Rooms sell out quickly, and the prices almost always go up as you get closer to departure. The purchase window opens about 11 months before your departure, so if you know your travel dates, get your tickets sooner than later. Tickets can be purchased at amtrak.com, where you'll also find menus, additional train information and room layouts. In the Capital Region, it makes the most sense to use the Schenectady station for traveling to and from points west. There is nearly an hour difference between that and the Rensselaer stop, despite the short distance. Currently, the Schenectady station has limited services as it undergoes long-awaited improvements. Pack hand sanitizer and toiletries and keep your carry-on light. There is not a lot of storage in the rooms. See More Collapse I booked two "roomettes" for the four of us; kids in one, adults in the other. The Empire Builder is a Superliner, which means it has two levels. Through some reservations quirk, my daughters ended up on the lower level, and my husband and I were upstairs. The girls enjoyed the independence, and the walk up and down the tiny spiral staircase between levels was a good excuse to stretch the legs. On the Empire Builder, there were four shared bathrooms and a shower per car. The Lake Shore Limited, however, is a single-level train with an en suite toilet that is every bit as awkward as it sounds. Family bedrooms are available on both trains, but they can be significantly more expensive. All sleeping car passengers have their meals included in the fare. The three vegetarians in our group found the choices limited but workable (although we won't be eating another veggie burger for some time). Non-vegetarians have a lot more options. Our early morning departure from Whitefish meant we were settled in and enjoying breakfast in the dining car with the craggy, snow-capped peaks of Glacier National Park as our backdrop. Afterwards, we made our way to the domed observation car. While we traveled across the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, a National Park Service guide discussed the significance of the Great Plains bison and the impact of their decline on the native people. The talk was popular, and seats in groups of four were hard to come by, so the kids retreated to their roomette for some downtime. The guide, who hopped off in Havre, Mont., was part of Amtrak's Rails & Trails program that provides information about a region's cultural and natural heritage. Each sleeper car has an attendant who helps passengers get settled in, provides coffee and juice, and prepares bunks for sleeping at night and returns them to their upright position in the morning. The bunks were fun in a summer camp kind of way, and I found the gentle rocking of the train relaxing as we slept our way through most of North Dakota. Train travel is not always comfortable. Hallways, seats and rooms would be difficult to navigate for tall or larger-framed people, as well as those with mobility issues. Spaces are tight, and in the roomettes, you are knee-to-knee with your travel companion, so it had better be someone you don't mind being cooped up with for hours or days on end. Also be prepared for delays. Passenger trains often have to wait while freight trains pass, and we were at a standstill on more than one occasion. The Empire Builder, however, rolled into Chicago almost to the minute of its late-afternoon ETA, a rarity I was told. With the station in the heart of downtown, we had plenty of time to explore the area for a bit before enjoying another perk of sleeper-car travel access to the newly built first-class Metropolitan Lounge in the Chicago station. The Lake Shore Limited left Union Station around 9:30 p.m. We were in bed shortly after, so there was very little lake to experience. We woke up the next morning near Erie, Pa., nearly an hour behind schedule and eager to be home. While both the Empire Builder and the Lake Shore Limited could have been tidier, the trip on the Lake Shore lacked the Empire's grace and charm, and the views through western New York were lacking. By the time we pulled into Schenectady, the verdict was in: Overall, the trip was better than expected, but we wouldn't be repeating the second leg anytime soon. Even though there are some areas that could use improvement, I am glad my family was able to make the trip when we did. It is hard to say how much longer the Amtrak Empire Builder or Lake Shore Limited will be around. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump's proposed budget included eliminating those and other long-distance routes in favor of beefing up service along the Northeast corridor. This would be a major loss for those who rely on this vital transportation link to rural communities, as well as those who want to see a side of the country they may not normally experience because, despite the inconveniences, train travel has the magic to transport you in more ways than one. Downstairs in R&R Kitchen + Bar, the latest occupant of 43 Phila St. in Saratoga Springs, we yell our drink orders across the bar. It's a scrum of bodies and shrieking, lubricated voices the length of the dim room, which makes it all the more admirable that the remarkably attentive staff led by the omnipresent, chivalrous co-owner Ralphie Balsamo in pressed, collared shirt effortlessly retrieve and lead tottering guests to reserved tables. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is having a ball. Mature, suited men with slicked-back hair cling to women in strappy stilettos and dresses tighter than sausage skins. So if you're here and not having fun, really it's you in the wrong place. It's a snapshot of summer in Saratoga. Another night, we head upstairs to Ronnie and Ralphie's, the formal, fine-dining room, where lovely wood panels and white tablecloths host booming, backslapping families. We're given slightly awkward seats to accommodate a blinged-out stroller in black and gold. Our waiter calls us "My friend" and uses enough plural "yous" to suggest "bada-bing, bada-boom" might fall from his lips. Even the menu ends with a good-natured invitation to submit any "criticism, complaint or issue ... in writing, under the Brooklyn Bridge, tonight only." They should add an emoji of cement boots. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For shoppers looking to buy reduced-price building materials, appliances or lightly used furniture while also funding a charitable cause, the Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Albany and Schenectady have been local options. Now, two new outlets with similar business models are coming further north. In July, Rebuilding Together Saratoga which helps low-income homeowners make necessary repairs opened a retail store in Ballston Spa. And Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties which builds affordable homes that are then purchased with no-interest mortgages by people who help build them is opening its own ReStore in Fort Edward. More Information Two for the show Proceeds from the annual Showcase of Homes, hosted by the Saratoga Builders Association, benefit both Rebuilding Together Saratoga and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. The showcase 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. See More Collapse The business models are similar. Both organizations take in donated goods, often from people who would rather give to a good cause than bring their stuff to the dump. The money then goes to fund the core missions of the organizations. In other words, these are places where you can both donate and shop. The board of directors of Rebuilding Together Saratoga had been talking for years about opening a retail store to help fund operations. "The bottom line is that we could help more people with home repairs," said Michelle Larkin, the organization's executive director. "Our goal is to help folks stay healthy, safe and dry." The store, at 132 Milton Ave., is located at the organization's headquarters. The main floor looks like a boutique, not a warehouse. There is also a bargain basement. Everything from dressers to lamps to vases to kitchen tables is sold. Larkin said a trip to the store was a "great day trip," noting that multiple antique stores are close to the newly opened location. Habitat for Humanity has been operating ReStores for decades. The new location, in an old Jeep showroom at 1373 U.S. Route 9 in Fort Edward, is nearly 7,000 square feet. It is currently being renovated. Habitat expects to open in mid-September, and have a grand opening ceremony at the beginning of October. The South Glens Falls-area shop will have construction supplies available for contractors or do-it-yourselfers, fixtures and decorative items from area rugs to china sets. Furniture and appliances are likely to be among the most-popular items, said Tammy DiCara, president of the Habitat chapter. Charlie Burd, the ReStore manager, is recruiting volunteers. He needs a minimum three dozen a week to make sales, greet customers and do merchandising. DiCara said the organization for years had money to build just one house a year but built two in both 2016 and 2017. The goal is to build three in 2018. DiCara noted Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County has built more houses, despite having been founded later than her chapter, because the retail store at 115 N. Broadway, Schenectady has been so successful in providing funding. The two homes built by DiCara's organization this year were in Saratoga Springs, where affordable housing is much needed. "Affordable housing is such a massive issue in Saratoga Springs, so this was really crucial to the community," she said. cbragg@timesunion.com 518-454-5303 @chrisbragg1 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany County Sheriff Craig D. Apple, Sr. is warning local residents to watch out for Hurricane Harvey charity scams. Fake Facebook pages and bogus charity websites are soliciting donations from people who want to help victims of the flooding in Texas. "These cyber criminals are exploiting this disaster by using fake social media accounts and websites. Whenever a natural disaster strikes, many of us ask, how can we help? Giving to help those impacted is good, but it's important to donate to a legitimate charity that has experience getting help to those affected quickly," Apple said in a statement released by his office. The Sheriff offers the following tips to avoid being duped by charity scams: If you would like to make a donation, go to the website of the charity of your choice and make a donation. Do not click on any links in emails or texts that you might receive. Donate to charities you know and trust. Beware of charities that seem to have appeared overnight in connection with current events. If you receive a telephone call asking for a donation, inquire if the caller is a paid fundraiser, who they work for, and what percentage of your donation goes to the charity and to the fundraiser. If you do not get a clear answer - or if you do not like the answer you get - consider donating to a different organization. Do not give out personal or financial information - including your credit card or bank account number - unless you know, the charity is reputable, and never give that information over the phone. Never send cash: you cannot be sure the organization will receive your donation, and you will not have a record for tax purposes. Research charities through the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance website. To report suspected charity fraud in Albany County, please contact the Albany County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Unit at (518) 765-2351. Theres more heroin on the street, and its more powerful and dangerous than ever. Thats what law enforcement personnel and addiction treatment experts in the Capital Region will tell you. And its what the federal government said Thursday, on International Overdose Awareness Day, in a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates of overdose deaths involving heroin were up all over the country in the decade from 2006-2015, according to CDC. A previous spike in overdose deaths was driven by prescription painkiller use. But since 2010, an increase in heroin supply appears to be the culprit. And since 2013, deaths involving both heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl rose sharply. The largest increases in death were in the Northeast and Midwest, where white-powder heroin is sold. It is more easily mixed with the potent and deadly fentanyl than the black-tar heroin sold west of the Mississippi, according to federal health officials. More for you Deadly lure of fentanyl-laced heroin The data lines up with what Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple sees every day. It's rare that a package of straight heroin is ever seized any more. The dealers have responded to the market, providing the riskier high their buyers are looking for, with fentanyl mixed in, he said. "It's sad, but people are just drawn to it," Apple said. "If (a mixed batch) killed six people, that's what they want, to get that euphoric high they've never had. The CDC report describes something akin to a perfect storm for a spiraling drug abuse crisis. The easier availability of heroin comes as some 2 million people reported addiction to prescription painkillers and nearly 600,000 to heroin in 2015. People who develop addictions to prescribed opioids like hydrocodone and oxycodone have sometimes turned to heroin use in recent years because it is easier and cheaper to get. Locally, drug users know that whats on the street is more dangerous, local experts said. It scares some, and sends others chasing down the hot batches. Our patients know heroin could be cut with fentanyl, said Megan Zacher, director of the opioid treatment program at the Whitney Young Health center in Albany. A lot of them are scared -- scared for themselves for other people who are still using. Many users who find fentanyl dont know what theyve taken they just know it packs a bigger punch. They may have not known that it was fentanyl it was laced with, but we hear, Whoa, that was some powerful stuff, said Micky Jimenez, who heads the Camino Nuevo treatment program in Albany. Those who work to reduce the harm of injection drug use warn users they will likely need many more shots of the antidote naloxone (known as Narcan) to reverse an overdose from heroin cut with fentanyl. At syringe exchange program Project Safe Point, staff warn users to no longer try to ride an overdose out because they won't make it, said the programs director, Joseph Filippone. Between 1999 and 2015, overdose deaths from both legal and illegal opioids heroin, prescriptions like oxycodone, and manmade drugs like fentanyl quadrupled in the United States, accounting for 63 percent of all overdose deaths. From 2010, deaths from heroin alone quadrupled, from just over 3,000 to almost 13,000. The largest increase in heroin deaths and in reports of fentanyl seizures by law enforcement during this period occurred in the Northeast and Midwest. Deaths involving both heroin and synthetic opioids accounted for most of the increase 77 percent of it in heroin deaths, according to CDC data. The deaths are likely under-reported, because some death certificates for drug overdoses do not include specific drug names. Other deaths may have been suicides or homicides, though the report seeks to identify unintentional overdoses. The data signal an urgent need for more public health interventions, according to CDC. Suggestions in the report are largely already underway in New York: safer opioid prescribing through systems like the I-STOP prescription monitoring program, increased availability of the lifesaving opioid reversal medication naloxone, access for heavy users to treatment with medications like methadone and buprenorphine (Suboxone), and using syringe exchange programs to reduce infection, for instance. In a statement, the state Health Department pointed to a $200 million investment in this years budget for addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs. On International Overdose Awareness Day and every day, New York State remains dedicated to giving New Yorkers the tools they need to break the cycle of misery caused by heroin and opioids and find their path to recovery, the statement read. Several experts agreed the state has done a lot to address the epidemic. But it appears to not be enough. The reality is there are a lot of people out there still using, and were still winding up with people addicted, Filippone said. So the question is what is the larger measure that we can take? Jimenez supports safe injection sites, where addicts are supervised, have clean needles and Narcan available. Stephanie Campbell, executive director of Friends of Recovery-New York, said the medical community must move forward in treating addiction like any other chronic disease, with ongoing access to medical providers and follow-ups. Only one in 10 people with addiction get treatment, she said. Can you imagine if one in 10 cancer patients received treatment? Campbell said. In large part, thats because we dont stigmatize people with cancer the way that we stigmatize people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs. ALBANY A judge acquitted an Orange County woman of all charges connected to allegations she assaulted a Bethlehem police officer at a Slingerlands medical office, her lawyer said. Albany County Judge Will Carter delivered the verdict Wednesday at Aisha Talley's assault trial, said her attorney, Trevor Hannigan. Talley, 37, waived her right to a jury trial Monday and elected to have her second-degree assaultcase decided by the judge, a former state trooper. Prosecutors accused Talley of starting a fight with another woman on April 28, 2016, while they were at a doctor's office at 1220 New Scotland Road. They said Talley injured the hand of Bethlehem Police Officer Cesar Martinez after a nurse called 911 to summon police to the medical office to handle the chaotic situation. Talley was allegedly holding her infant child when the fight started. But Hannigan questioned the likelihood that a woman holding an infant would provoke a fight. Hannigan, told the judge the fight was instigated by Kimberly Ryan, whom he alleged punched his client -- and Talley's infant -- because she was upset. "Is it reasonable that a woman who is holding a six-month-old would attack another person? I submit it's not," the attorney said. Talley, who was also charged with child endangerment and resisting arrest, could face up to seven years in prison if convicted of the assault at 1220 New Scotland Road on April 28, 2016. Brockport Police are looking into a link between bizarre, ranting YouTube videos and Facebook postings and a woman accused of killing a random victim in western New York. Holly Colino, who a relative said was severely mentally ill, is charged with shooting a woman in the head Friday as she sat in her pickup truck on a lunch break in Brockport, a village on the Erie Canal. Police identified the victim as Megan Dix, 33, of Lyndonville. Colino, 31, was arrested Monday in nearby Henrietta after police responded to a report that a woman pointed a gun at someone in a restaurant parking lot. In a YouTube video, a woman who identified herself as Holly M. Colino accused strangers of stealing her identity by imitating her hair, eyebrows and lips. "It's like accomplicing murder, using someone else to go murder somebody," she said in the recording. In another video, she accused a former employee of the state College at Brockport of being "so envious and jealous of me she wanted my contacts." In a number of videos, she recorded herself in a car in parking lots, pointing out women and saying they're mimicking her hair or eyebrows. In one video, she yelled incoherently about someone damaging her vehicle and stealing bank statements, "onlookers calling the police," "dead bodies," being alone and living outside. A Facebook page for Holly M. Colino is filled with long stream-of-consciousness rants and links to several of the YouTube videos. Colino was from the Rochester area but had been living in Arizona recently, police said. One of her cousins, Todd Colino, of Tempe, Ariz., told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper he found angry graffiti from her in Phoenix and believed her mental illness was worsening. He told the newspaper in a telephone interview Tuesday that the graffiti, which accused "women who imitate" Holly Colino of being "sex offenders," led him to fear she was going to hurt somebody or be hurt. He said family members had tried to get Holly to seek help for her apparent psychiatric issues but she refused. Another cousin, Audra Colino, told the newspaper Holly had lived with her and her father for a while but was asked to leave when her personality grew dark and angry. "She started having this weird perception of me and it kind of made it scary and my dad kicked her out," she said. In recent years, Holly Colino lived in her car and elsewhere, Todd Colino said. Colino pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Tuesday and was jailed without bail. She's due back in court Friday. Her public defender, Joshua Stubbe, didn't return a call seeking comment. [August 30, 2017] Anritsu, Teledyne LeCroy Integrate Best-in-Class Solutions to Create Industry's Most Comprehensive PCI Express 4.0 Test System RICHARDSON, Texas, Aug. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Anritsu Company U.S. and Teledyne LeCroy announce today a partnership to provide the industry's most capable PCI Express 4.0 (PCIe Gen4) test solution, integrating the Anritsu Signal Quality Analyzer (SQA) MP1900A BERT with the LabMaster 10Zi-A oscilloscope and QPHY-PCIe4-Tx-Rx software from Teledyne LeCroy. This comprehensive system provides high-speed IC, device, and network engineers with one complete solution to conduct automated transmitter and receiver compliance tests, as well as link equalization verification. The Anritsu/Teledyne LeCroy solution can be easily expanded to 32 Gb/s, making it the first end-to-end solution to address PCI Express 5.0 (PCIe Gen5) requirements. The system will also support PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe Gen3) transmitter, receiver and link equalization testing for complete PCI Express ecosystem coverage. "Anritsu and Teledyne LeCroy share a common goal of providing engineers early availability of highly accurate and efficient test solutions required to verify their leading-edge designs. Our combined solution integrating the SQA MP1900A and LabMaster 10Zi-A oscilloscope fills the market void for a complete physical layer PCIe Gen4 test system that can be easily expanded to PCIe Gen5 as the market continues to develop technologies for high-speed networks," said Paul Innis, Vice President and General Manager, Anritsu Company. "PCIe Gen4 represents a significant test challenge for design engineers. Our collaborative test solution leverages two best-in-class instruments to accurately measure and validate product performance in accordance with the PCI-SIG standards. Recognizing that PCIe Gen5 is expected to emerge within two years, we have protected our customers' investments by creating a clear and efficient upgrade path that will control test costs," said Conrad Fernandes, Vice President of Sales, Teledyne LeCroy. Best-in-Class Performance A high-speed BERT that supports 2.4 Gb/s to 32.1 Gb/s, the SQA MP1900A can conduct highly accurate link training/equalization andLink Training and Status State Machine (LTSSM) analysis. It combines an internal pulse-patter generator (PPG) with integrated 10-tap emphasis and built-in high input sensitivity error detector (ED) with clock recovery, and variable 12 dB continuous time linear equalization (CTLE) and Link negotiation functions required for PCI Express receiver tests. Its ability to produce high-quality waveforms allows the MP1900A to conduct reliable jitter and noise tolerance tests. The LabMaster 10-25Zi-A oscilloscope provides the necessary 25 GHz bandwidth for PCIe Gen4 transmitter testing and receiver test calibration, and may be upgraded in bandwidth to support next-generation serial standards at 32 Gb/s and higher. The LabMaster 10-25Zi-A and the forthcoming QPHY-PCIe4-Tx-Rx software option performs all necessary automation and control for PCIe Gen4 transmitter, receiver, and link equalization test in conjunction with the Anritsu MP1900A. Debugging of PCI Express interfaces is simple and intuitive with integrated eye diagram and jitter analysis tools and PCI Express decoding with waveform annotation and tabular analysis. About Teledyne LeCroy Teledyne LeCroy is a leading manufacturer of advanced oscilloscopes, protocol analyzers, and other test instruments that verify performance, validate compliance, and debug complex electronic systems quickly and thoroughly. Since its founding in 1964, the Company has focused on incorporating powerful tools into innovative products that enhance "Time-to-Insight". Faster time to insight enables users to rapidly find and fix defects in complex electronic systems, dramatically improving time-to-market for a wide variety of applications and end markets. Teledyne LeCroy is based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. For more information, visit Teledyne LeCroy's website at teledynelecroy.com. About Anritsu Anritsu Company is the United States subsidiary of Anritsu Corporation, a global provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions for 120 years. Anritsu's "2020 VISION" philosophy engages customers as true partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multidimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimization. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for 5G, M2M, IoT, as well as other emerging and legacy wireline and wireless communication markets. With offices throughout the world, Anritsu has approximately 4,000 employees in over 90 countries. To learn more visit www.anritsu.com and follow Anritsu on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. About PCI-SIG PCI-SIG is the consortium that owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards. The organization defines industry standard I/O (input/output) specifications consistent with the needs of its members. Currently, PCI-SIG is comprised of nearly 800 industry-leading member companies. To learn more about PCI-SIG, and for a list of the Board of Directors, visit www.pcisig.com. PCI Express is a registered trademark of PCI-SIG. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anritsu-teledyne-lecroy-integrate-best-in-class-solutions-to-create-industrys-most-comprehensive-pci-express-40-test-system-300511790.html SOURCE Anritsu Company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STILLWATER Village Mayor Rick W. Nelson faces child pornography charges after, State Police said, they linked him to downloaded photographs depicting a sexual performance by a child. Nelson, 62, was arrested following an investigation by a State Police Computer Crime Unit that found a Stillwater IP address was being used to download child pornography, police said. The investigation led to a search of Nelson's home and his arrest, troopers said. Police said there is no evidence so far that suggests Nelson was using computers at Village Hall to view child pornography. Nelson was charged with one felony count each of promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child. Village Attorney James Peluso of Dreyer Boyajian was unavailable for comment. Village Trustee Judy Wood-Zeno said that no one in the village can comment at this time. "It's too early to say anything," Wood-Zeno said. "He could be innocent." The campaign for Nelson's son Patrick Nelson, a Democratic candidate in the 2018 21st Congressional District race released a statement Thursday afternoon addressing the arrest. "These allegations have come as a shock to all of us and we understand people are concerned," the statement said. "At this time, we do not have any additional information than what is available to the public. Our campaign will continue to focus on the issues affecting the people of the North Country." The elder Nelson was arraigned in Saratoga Town Court and sent to the Saratoga County jail on $25,000 bail. He is due back in court on Wednesday, Sept. 6. Nelson was elected mayor of the village in early 2015, defeating a 23-year incumbent for the right to lead the village of about 1,700 inhabitants on the Hudson River. Washington President Donald Trump said Wednesday that "talking is not the answer" to North Korea, after it upped the stakes in its standoff with Washington by calling for more weapons launches in the Pacific. Trump's morning tweet followed a highly provocative North Korean missile test Tuesday that flew over Japan, a close American ally. But his comment contradicted statements from his Cabinet officials and was likely to deepen confusion over his administration's policy on the nuclear threat from Pyongyang. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday told reporters, "We're never out of diplomatic solutions," and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had hinted at possible direct talks with North Korea. Trump's tweet returned to a familiar theme: the failings of past U.S. administrations to halt North Korea's weapons development over the past quarter-century. The North last month tested for the first time a long-range missile, putting it closer to its goal of posing a direct nuclear threat to the U.S. mainland. "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" Trump said. Trump's tweet did not spell out what he meant by "extortion." The White House did not immediately respond to questions. North Korea has in the past temporarily halted nuclear development when the U.S. and others provided food aid or other types of compensation. According to the Congressional Research Service, between 1995 and 2008, the United States provided North Korea with more than $1.3 billion in assistance: slightly more than 50 percent for food aid and about 40 percent for energy assistance. But since early 2009, the U.S. has provided virtually no aid to North Korea. The last formal talks between the two sides on the North's nuclear program were in 2012. The North hasn't made demands for aid, at least publicly, since Trump came into office. Instead, it has focused on finishing its decades-long effort to master the technology for fitting a nuclear warhead on a missile that can strike the U.S., which it views as essential for its national defense. Trump's assessment about the need for dialogue also appears at odds with his top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had in recent weeks been softening the conditions for a possible, formal dialogue with Pyongyang. The U.S. also has been maintaining a diplomatic back channel with North Korea. At the Pentagon, during a photo opportunity with his South Korean counterpart, Mattis said the U.S. remains focused on diplomacy as well as military readiness. Amid the heightened tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula, the U.S. and South Korea have been conducting annual military drills. "We continue to work together. The minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations, our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today," Mattis said. On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for more weapons launches targeting the Pacific Ocean to advance his country's ability to contain Guam, state media said. The U.S. territory is home to key U.S. military bases that North Korea finds threatening. The Korean Central News Agency said the launch that overflew Japan was of an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile, which the North first successfully tested in May and threatened to fire into waters near Guam earlier this month. It described the launch as a "muscle-flexing" countermeasure to the U.S.-South Korean military drills that conclude Thursday. Trump offered a surprisingly subdued response to Pyongyang's latest missile test, avoiding a repeat of his bombastic warnings earlier this month of a potential military confrontation. In a terse written statement Tuesday, Trump said that, "All options are on the table" a standard formulation signaling that Washington is not ruling out the use of military force. For the second time in two days, Trump spoke by phone Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about their "close cooperation" on efforts to address the launch, the White House said, without elaborating. U.S. officials announced Wednesday morning that they had conducted a missile defense test that resulted in the successful intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii. [August 30, 2017] Bristol-Myers Squibb Data at ESMO 2017 Demonstrate Company's Innovative Research Approach to Treating Cancer from All Angles Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced more than 60 presentations, including seven late-breaking abstracts, from its Oncology portfolio will be featured at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid, Spain, September 8-12. Presentations of data from company-sponsored studies, clinical collaborations and investigator-sponsored research will explore the potential role of Opdivo (nivolumab) as monotherapy and in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab); with relatlimab (formerly known as BMS-986016), a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3); or with chemotherapy in 13 types of cancer and analyses that provide insights into the potential role of biomarkers to predict patients' treatment response. Presentations that illustrate the company's approach include the following: Late-breaking research to be featured in Presidential Symposia from CheckMate -238 evaluating the safety and efficacy of adjuvant Opdivo in resected high-risk melanoma, and from CheckMate -214 on Opdivo in combination with Yervoy in previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma. in resected high-risk melanoma, and from CheckMate -214 on in combination with in previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma. Additional late-breaking presentations featuring the first disclosures of data on Opdivo in advance of surgery in squamous cell cancer of the head and neck, from CheckMate -358, and for Opdivo following induction treatment in triple-negative breast cancer. in advance of surgery in squamous cell cancer of the head and neck, from CheckMate -358, and for following induction treatment in triple-negative breast cancer. Late-breaking updated efficacy results from an ongoing study of relatlimab in combination with Opdivo in patients with melanoma who progressed during prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in all-comer and biomarker-enriched populations. in patients with melanoma who progressed during prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in all-comer and biomarker-enriched populations. Analyses of emerging biomarkers, including tumor mutation burden, microsatellite instability, LAG-3, T cell infiltration and immune cell profiles, that may help inform more precise treatment approaches. Data on the clinical impact of a fixed duration of Opdivo in non-small cell lung cancer from CheckMate -153 will also be presented. in non-small cell lung cancer from CheckMate -153 will also be presented. Additional data evaluating Opdivo-based combinations that are rationally designed based on BMS' deep understanding of cancer biology, including studies of Opdivo in combination with Yervoy, and the first disclosure of data from ONO-37 on the safety and clinical activity of Opdivo in combination with chemotherapy in previously untreated gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer. The full set of data from research investigating the company's I-O medicines includes the following: Gastrointestinal Malignancies A phase 3 study of nivolumab in previously treated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer: updated results and subset analysis by PD-L1 expression (ATTRACTION-02/ONO-4538-12) Author: N. Boku Abstract #617O Proffered Paper Session: Gastrointestinal Tumors, Non-Colorectal 1 Friday, September 8, 2:51-3:03 PM CEST, Barcelona Auditorium Two-year survival and safety update for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab (ATTRACTION-01/ONO-4538-07) Author: Y. Kitagawa Abstract #638P Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Interim safety and clinical activity of nivolumab in combination with S-1/capecitabine plus oxaliplatin in patients with previously untreated unresectable advanced or recurrent gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer: part 1 study of ATTRACTION-04/ONO-4538-37 Author: Y-K. Kang Abstract #671P Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Nivolumab in patients with advanced chemotherapy-refractory esophagogastric cancer according to microsatellite instability status: CheckMate -032 Author: P. Ott Abstract #674P Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 ATTRACTION-04/ONO-4538-37: A randomized, multicenter, phase 2/3 study of nivolumab plus chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced or recurrent gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer Author: L.-T. Chen Abstract #777TiP Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 ATTRACTION-05/ONO-4538-38/BMS CA209844: A randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo- controlled phase 3 study of nivolumab in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy in Stage III gastric and esophagogastric junction cancer Author: M. Terashima Abstract #778TiP Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Real-world productivity, healthcare resource utilization, and quality of life in patients with advanced gastric cancer in Canada and Europe Author: G. Maglinte Abstract #1112PD Poster Discussion Session: Public Health Policy and Health Economics Saturday, September 9, 4:30-5:45 PM CEST, Tarragona Auditorium Analysis of tumor PD-L1 expression and biomarkers in relation to clinical activity in patients with deficient DNA mismatch repair/high microsatellite instability metastatic colorectal cancer treated with nivolumab + ipilimumab: CheckMate -142 Author: T. Andre Abstract #484PD Poster Discussion Session: Gastrointestinal Tumors, Colorectal Sunday, September 10, 3-4 PM CEST, Sevilla Auditorium Genitourinary Cancer Medical costs and health care resource use in elderly U.S. patients with newly diagnosed metastatic or surgically unresectable urothelial carcinoma using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Medicare data Author: A. Aly Abstract #1131P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 A phase 3, randomized, double-blind, multicenter study of adjuvant nivolumab vs placebo in patients with high-risk invasive urothelial carcinoma (CheckMate -274) Author: D. Bajorin Abstract #921TiP Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Impact of tumor mutation burden on nivolumab efficacy in second-line urothelial carcinoma patients: exploratory analysis of the phase 2 CheckMate -275 study Author: M. Galsky Abstract #848PD Poster Discussion Session: Genitourinary Tumors, Non-Prostate Sunday, September 10, 2:45-4:15 PM CEST, Cordoba Auditorium Epithelial-mesenchymal transition, T cell infiltration, and outcomes with nivolumab in urothelial cancer Author: M. Galsky Abstract #850PD Poster Discussion Session: Genitourinary Tumors, Non-Prostate Sunday, September 10, 2:45-4:15 PM CEST, Cordoba Auditorium CheckMate -214: Efficacy and safety of nivolumab + ipilimumab v sunitinib for treatment-naive advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, including IMDC risk and PD-L1 expression subgroups Author: B. Escudier Abstract #LBA5 Presidential Symposium II Sunday, September 10, 4:30-6:20 PM CEST, Madrid Auditorium Glioblastoma Nivolumab in combination with radiotherapy temozolomide: updated safety results from CheckMate -143 in patients with methylated or unmethylated newly diagnosed glioblastoma Author: M. Lim Abstract #325O Proffered Paper Session: CNS Tumors Friday, September 8, 4-4:12 PM CEST, Alicante Auditorium Head and Neck Cancer An open-label, multicohort, phase 1/2 study in patients with virus-associated cancers (CheckMate -358): safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant nivolumab in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Author: R. Ferris Abstract #LBA46 Poster Discussion Session: Head and Neck Cancer Saturday, September 9, 2:45-4:15 PM CEST, Alicante Auditorium Nivolumab vs investigator's choice in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: treatment effect on clinical outcomes by best overall response in CheckMate -141 Author: L. Licitra Abstract #1055P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Estimated costs of treatment-related adverse events for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in the CheckMate -141 trial Author: M. Venkatachalam Abstract #1056P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Treatment beyond progression with nivolumab in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in the phase 3 CheckMate -141 study: a biomarker analysis and updated clinical outcomes Author: R. Haddad Abstract #1043O Proffered Paper Session: Head and Neck Cancer Monday, September 11, 3:12-3:24 PM CEST, Granada Auditorium Melanoma Characterization of complete responses in patients with advanced melanoma who received the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab, nivolumab or IPI alone Author: C. Robert Abstract #1213O Proffered Paper Session: Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors Saturday, September 9, 2:45-3 PM CEST, Madrid Auditorium Cost-effectiveness of nivolumab + ipilimumab in first-line treatment of advanced melanoma: analysis using 28-month overall survival from CheckMate -067 Author: J. Sabater Abstract #1115P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Late physical, psychological and social consequences of ipilimumab treatment in advanced melanoma Author: A. Boekhout Abstract #1260TiP Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Real-world use of ipilimumab and nivolumab monotherapy or in combination in patients with advanced melanoma: results from a retrospective chart review Author: A. Tarhini Abstract #1250P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Regional differences in overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma who received nivolumab combined with ipilimumab or nivolumab alone in a phase 3 trial (CheckMate -067) Author: J.-J. Grob Abstract #1222PD Poster Discussion Session: Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors Monday, September 11, 11 AM-12:15 PM CEST, Pamplona Auditorium Quality-adjusted survival of combined nivolumab plus ipilimumab or NIVO alone vs IPI among treatment-naive patients with advanced melanoma: a quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) analysis Author: M. Botteman Abstract #1223PD Poster Discussion Session: Melanoma and Other Skin Tumors Monday, September 11, 11 AM-12:15 PM CEST, Pamplona Auditorium Adjuvant therapy with nivolumab versus ipilimumab after complete resection of Stage III/IV melanoma: a randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial (CheckMate -238) Author: J. Weber Abstract #LBA8 Presidential Symposium III Monday, September 11, 5:15-5:30 PM CEST, Madrid Auditorium Thoracic Malignancies Randomized results of fixed-duration (1-yr) vs continuous nivolumab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer Author: D. Spigel Abstract #1297O Proffered Paper Session: NSCLC, Metastatic 1 Friday, September 8, 4:39-4:51 PM CEST, Madrid Auditorium Efficiency of nivolumab in the treatment of second-line advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer in Spain Author: P. Gonzalez Abstract #1319P Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Three-year follow-up from CheckMate -017/-057: nivolumab versus docetaxel in patients with previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer Author: E. Felip Abstract #1301PD Poster Discussion Session: NSCLC, Metastatic Sunday, September 10, 4:30-6 PM CEST, Barcelona Auditorium Nivolumab in previously treated patients with metastatic squamous NSCLC: results of a European single-arm, phase 2 trial (CheckMate -171) including patients aged =70 years and with poor performance status Author: S. Popat Abstract #1303PD Poster Discussion Session: NSCLC, Metastatic Sunday, September 10, 4:30-6 PM CEST, Barcelona Auditorium Early Assets & Cross-tumor Impact of licensing and reimbursement discrepancies on patient access to cancer treatments across Europe and Canada Author: J. McKendrick Abstract #1124P Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Anti-CC-chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) antibody mogamulizumab and nivolumab combination phase 1 study in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors Author: N. Yamamoto Abstract #LBA17 Proffered Paper Session: Developmental Therapeutics Sunday, September 10, 4:30-4:45 PM CEST, Cordoba Auditorium Efficacy of BMS-986016, a monoclonal antibody that targets lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), in combination with nivolumab in patients with melanoma who progressed during prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in all-comer and biomarker-enriched populations Author: P. Ascierto Abstract #LBA18 Proffered Paper Session: Developmental Therapeutics Sunday, September 10, 4:45-5 PM CEST, Cordoba Auditorium Initial results of BMS-986012, a first-in-class fucosyl-GM1 mAb, in combination with nivolumab, in patients with relapsed/refractory small-cell lung cancer Author: Q. Chu Abstract #1528PD Poster Discussion Session: Non-metastatic NSCLC and Other Thoracic Malignancies Monday, September 11, 2:45-4:15 PM CEST, Pamplona Auditorium Clinical Collaborations A phase 1/2 study on safety of rovalpituzumab tesirine in combination with nivolumab or nivolumab + ipilimumab in small cell lung cancer Author: C. Scripture Abstract #1538TiP Poster Display Session Saturday, September 9, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 PIVOT-02: A phase 1/2, open-label, multicenter, dose escalation and dose expansion study of NKTR-214 and nivolumab in patients with select, locally advanced or metastatic solid tumor malignancies Author: A. Diab Abstract #1212TiP Poster Display Session Sunday, September 10, 1:15-2:15 PM CEST, Hall 8 Bristol-Myers Squibb & Immuno-Oncology: Advancing Oncology Research At Bristol-Myers Squibb, patients are at the center of everything we do. Our vision for the future of cancer care is focused on researching and developing transformational Immuno-Oncology (I-O) medicines for hard-to-treat cancers that could potentially improve outcomes for these patients. We are leading the scientific understanding of I-O through our extensive portfolio of investigational compounds and approved agents. Our differentiated clinical development program is studying broad patient populations across more than 50 types of cancers with 14 clinical-stage molecules designed to target different immune system pathways. Our deep expertise and innovative clinical trial designs position us to advance I-O/I-O, I-O/chemotherapy, I-O/targeted therapies and I-O/radiation therapies across multiple tumors and potentially deliver the next wave of therapies with a sense of urgency. We also continue to pioneer research that will help facilitate a deeper understanding of the role of immune biomarkers and how patients' tumor biology can be used as a guide for treatment decisions throughout their journey. We understand making the promise of I-O a reality for the many patients who may benefit from these therapies requires not only innovation on our part but also close collaboration with leading experts in the field. Our partnerships with academia, government, advocacy and biotech companies support our collective goal of providing new treatment options to advance the standards of clinical practice. About Opdivo Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers. Opdivo's leading global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibb's scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 25,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression. In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 60 countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan. In October 2015, the company's Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union. U.S. FDA-APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma. OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and brentuximab vedotin or after 3 or more lines of systemic therapy that includes autologous HSCT. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric (12 years and older) patients with microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY. Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose. Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions. Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis. Fatal cases have been reported. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and for symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or more severe pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, fatal cases of immune-mediated pneumonitis have occurred. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.1% (61/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients. In Checkmate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 6.0% (16/266) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 4.9% (13/266) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=12). Immune-Mediated Colitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. Withhold OPDIVO monotherapy for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon re-initiation of OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO and YERVOY for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.9% (58/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients including three fatal cases. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis. Immune-Mediated Hepatitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 1.8% (35/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%. Immune-Mediated Neuropathies In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported. Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis, immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency, autoimmune thyroid disorders, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer hormone replacement as clinically indicated and corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypophysitis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (20/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.7% (54/1994) of patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, diabetes occurred in 0.9% (17/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, diabetes occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated nephritis. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grades 2-4 increased serum creatinine. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased serum creatinine. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 1.2% (23/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients. Immune-Mediated Skin Adverse Reactions and Dermatitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated rash, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), some cases with fatal outcome. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 rash. For symptoms or signs of SJS or TEN, withhold OPDIVO and refer the patient for specialized care for assessment and treatment; if confirmed, permanently discontinue. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis. Immune-Mediated Encephalitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated encephalitis. Evaluation of patients with neurologic symptoms may include, but not be limited to, consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI, and lumbar puncture. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, encephalitis occurred in 0.2% (3/1994) of patients. Fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient after 7.2 months of exposure despite discontinuation of OPDIVO and administration of corticosteroids. Encephalitis occurred in one patient receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (0.2%) after 1.7 months of exposure. Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. Across clinical trials of OPDIVO the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in <1.0% of patients receiving OPDIVO: uveitis, iritis, pancreatitis, facial and abducens nerve paresis, demyelination, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune neuropathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypopituitarism, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastritis, duodenitis, sarcoidosis, histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi lymphadenitis), myositis, myocarditis, rhabdomyolysis, motor dysfunction, vasculitis, and myasthenic syndrome. Infusion Reactions OPDIVO can cause severe infusion reactions, which have been reported in <1.0% of patients in clinical trials. Discontinue OPDIVO in patients with Grade 3 or 4 infusion reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with Grade 1 or 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, infusion-related reactions occurred in 6.4% (127/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients. Complications of Allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO Complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who received allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Outcomes were evaluated in 17 patients from Checkmate 205 and 039, who underwent allogeneic HSCT after discontinuing OPDIVO (15 with reduced-intensity conditioning, 2 with myeloablative conditioning). Thirty-five percent (6/17) of patients died from complications of allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Five deaths occurred in the setting of severe or refractory GVHD. Grade 3 or higher acute GVHD was reported in 29% (5/17) of patients. Hyperacute GVHD was reported in 20% (n=2) of patients. A steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, without an identified infectious cause, was reported in 35% (n=6) of patients. Two cases of encephalitis were reported: Grade 3 (n=1) lymphocytic encephalitis without an identified infectious cause, and Grade 3 (n=1) suspected viral encephalitis. Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred in one patient, who received reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT and died of GVHD and multi-organ failure. Other cases of hepatic VOD after reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody before transplantation. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD have also been reported. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT. Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune-mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO. Lactation It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose. Serious Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=268). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In Checkmate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=206). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) relative to the OPDIVO arm (n=313). The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 46% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pyrexia, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. In Checkmate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In Checkmate 205 and 039, adverse reactions leading to discontinuation occurred in 7% and dose delays due to adverse reactions occurred in 34% of patients (n=266). Serious adverse reactions occurred in 26% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were pneumonia, infusion-related reaction, pyrexia, colitis or diarrhea, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and rash. Eleven patients died from causes other than disease progression: 3 from adverse reactions within 30 days of the last OPDIVO dose, 2 from infection 8 to 9 months after completing OPDIVO, and 6 from complications of allogeneic HSCT. In Checkmate 141, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, dyspnea, respiratory failure, respiratory tract infection, and sepsis. In Checkmate 275, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were urinary tract infection, sepsis, diarrhea, small intestine obstruction, and general physical health deterioration. Common Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=268) was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=206) vs dacarbazine (n=205) were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO (n=313) arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite. In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406) vs everolimus (n=397) were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In Checkmate 205 and 039, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=266) were upper respiratory tract infection (44%), fatigue (39%), cough (36%), diarrhea (33%), pyrexia (29%), musculoskeletal pain (26%), rash (24%), nausea (20%) and pruritus (20%). In Checkmate 141, the most common adverse reactions (=10%) in patients receiving OPDIVO were cough and dyspnea at a higher incidence than investigator's choice. In Checkmate 275, the most common adverse reactions (= 20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270) were fatigue (46%), musculoskeletal pain (30%), nausea (22%), and decreased appetite (22%). The most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients who received OPDIVO as a single agent were fatigue, rash, musculoskeletal pain, pruritus, diarrhea, nausea, asthenia, cough, dyspnea, constipation, decreased appetite, back pain, arthralgia, upper respiratory tract infection, pyrexia. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%). Checkmate Trials and Patient Populations Checkmate 067 - advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 037 and 066 - advanced melanoma; Checkmate 017 - squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Checkmate 057 - non-squamous NSCLC; Checkmate 025 - renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 205/039 - classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 141 - squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275 - urothelial carcinoma. Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY. About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Collaboration In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Ono), Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies - as single agents and combination regimens - for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that any of the oncology compounds mentioned in this release will receive regulatory approval for an additional indication. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170830006274/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] GlaxoSmithKline Japan Selects SciBite Semantic Platform to Enhance Pharmacovigilance Capabilities TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, England, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SciBite - The award-winning semantic analytics company, today announced that GlaxoSmithKline K.K. (hereinafter referred to as GSK Japan), one of Japan's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, has selected SciBite's Semantic Platform to enhance pharmacovigilance capabilities and deliver on its commitment to improve the quality of human life. TERMite, SciBite's semantic named entity recognition (NER) and extraction engine, is currently being implemented to reduce the duration and enhance the certainty involved in constantly evaluating the vast body of English language research produced worldwide for potential safety information. Prior to selecting SciBite's Semantic Platform, GSK Japan initiated a Proof of Concept in order to assess whether the technology had the potential to complement a part of current manual pharmacovigilance processes used in Japan. To kick-start the project, the team created a custom-built thesaurus of GSK drug terms (or VOCab). Additionally, the pharmaceutical giant made use of SciBite's TERMite Expressions (TExpress) module to search for phrases within texts suggestive of pharmacovigilance events. TExprss patterns were grouped together into subject-specific sets enabling the software to annotate sentences with category labels based on the phrases and keywords used. Following the annotation process, a bespoke novel ranking algorithm was employed to determine the overall importance of each article to GSK pharmacovigilance activities in Japan. The power of the solution to provide huge advantages to GSK Japan in terms of process assurance and duration became apparent extremely quickly. The result of the Proof of Concept was an ultra-fast processing period, providing accurate identification of all articles requiring reporting. "SciBite is absolutely committed to our Japanese clients and is extremely pleased to welcome GSK Japan to our international group of customers," said Rob Greenwood, Chief Executive Officer, SciBite. "Our highly flexible technologies are proven by life science companies the world over to offer new, innovative opportunities to change the way they achieve their pharmacovigilance activities. We look forward to seeing how GSK Japan combine our market-leading technology and their internal human-centric expertise to evolve their pharmacovigilance capabilities." About SciBite SciBite is a leading provider of semantic solutions for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Headquartered in the UK, it supports its global customer base with offices in both Cambridge UK & US and in Tokyo, Japan. SciBite's semantic software suite includes TERMite, VOCabs, TExpress, DOCstore and SciNav. To learn more about SciBite and its solutions please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website at http://www.scibite.com Contact (English) Monica Kulkarni Marketing Manager SciBite Ltd. +44-7740268926 [email protected] Contact (Japanese & English) John Bolger General Manager Japan Marunouchi Trust Tower 20F, 1-8-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo +81-3-5288-5537 [email protected] NOTE: SciBite, TERMite, VOCabs, TExpress, DOCstore and SciNav, and the SciBite logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SciBite Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 30, 2017] SK Infosec's official MSS launching in Singapore with global Data Center partner "Equinix" SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Infosec officially announced it has recently signed partnership contract with Equinix Singapore and would launch its Managed Security Services (MSS) business, targeting Enterprise and Financial corporations, in the third quarter of 2017 in Singapore. Equinix, the global Interconnection and data center company, operates more than 180 world-class data centers in 44 metros across 22 countries. This partnership combines the strengths of both companies, and enables Equinix to meet current data center customers' demands for MSS and allows SK Infosec to expand its MSS business abroad. According to SK Infosec, Singapore has its geographical advantages and is IT hub of Asia. It is a good starting place to expand its global MSS business. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2020 of cybersecurity in Singapore is expected to be 9.3 percent and service market (MSS, outsourcing) size is approximately US$356M accounting for 80 percent of total cybersecurity in the market. SK Infosec plans to implement MSS platform (Secudium) into Equinix's data centers in Singapore and provide remote MSS to customers through Security Operations Center (SOC) in South Korea. Equinix will support co-marketing campaigns targeting at its current data centers customers. Mr. Clement Goh, Managing Director of Equinix South Asia, said, "Cybersecurity is a persistent business risk that many enterprises regard as their top priority. We are thrilled to have SK Infosec onboard as a partner. This partnership demonstrates our commitment to providing maximum value to our customers. With the strengths from both companies, we will offer businesses value-added services within our Equinix Cloud Exchange ecosystem, as well as enable our customers to sharpen their digital edge and achieve effective and extensive security protection from multiple fronts." Mr. Kang, Business Development Division Director of SK Infosec, said Singapore has the best business environment for SK Infosec to expand its MSS abroad. Through partnership with Equinix, it will expand business area to surrounding Asia Pacific countries. About SK Infosec SK Infosec is a leading cybersecurity company in Korea and provides managed security services to protect customers' business for more than 1,800 organizations in government, finance and enterprise sectors. SK Infosec provides a solution that incorporates threat intelligence services and a big data security analytics platform called Secudium to protect IT infrastructure against advanced cyber attacks. In addition, SK Infosec provides security consulting services to meet information security compliance along with penetration testing and forensics. For more information about SK Infosec, please visit: http://skinfosec.com/en/. Contact Information: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170830/1930439-1 SOURCE SK Infosec [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 30, 2017] New and Updated Data for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) from Merck's Extensive Immuno-Oncology Program to be Presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that studies involving KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), the company's anti-PD-1 therapy, in 12 different types of cancer will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 8-12. In total, 35 abstracts - including data from studies investigating the use of KEYTRUDA as monotherapy and in novel combinations - were accepted for presentation at the congress, including five late-breaking abstracts. Data to be presented include studies of KEYTRUDA as monotherapy in advanced urothelial (bladder) carcinoma, gastric cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), microsatellite instability-high (MSI (News - Alert)-H) or mismatch repair deficient cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), as well as studies of KEYTRUDA in combination with other therapies in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric cancer and melanoma. Merck's broad KEYTRUDA clinical development program includes more than 30 tumor types in more than 550 clinical trials, including more than 300 trials that combine KEYTRUDA with other cancer treatments. In addition to the data for KEYTRUDA to be presented at ESMO, researchers will also present data for LYNPARZA (olaparib), including the SOLO-2 and OlympiAD trials. For more information, including a complete list of KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) and LYNPARZA (olaparib) abstract titles, please see the ESMO program at https://cslide.ctimeetingtech.com/library/esmo/browse/search/Fag. Late-Breaking KEYTRUDA Abstracts In total, five KEYTRUDA abstracts were selected as late-breaking abstracts. In lung cancer, an additional five-months of follow-up from the phase 2 KEYNOTE-021 trial, Cohort G, which is studying KEYTRUDA in combination with pemetrexed/carboplatin for the first-line treatment of NSCLC, will be presented. Three abstracts will be featured in the official ESMO press program, including results for KEYTRUDA in advanced gastric cancer, as monotherapy and in combination therapy, from the multi-cohort phase 2 KEYNOTE-059 trial; longer-term overall survival data for KEYTRUDA versus chemotherapy for urothelial carcinoma from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-045 trial; and, the first-time presentation of data for KEYTRUDA monotherapy in previously treated patients with recurrent or metastatic HNSCC from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-040 trial. Further information on late-breaking abstracts for KEYTRUDA: NSCLC: (Abstract #LBA49) Proffered Paper Session: Updated results from KEYNOTE-021 cohort G: a randomized, phase 2 study of pemetrexed and carboplatin (PC) with or without pembrolizumab (pembro) as first-line therapy for advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. H. Borghaei. Friday, Sept. 8, 5:03 - 5:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. (Abstract #LBA49) Proffered Paper Session: Updated results from KEYNOTE-021 cohort G: a randomized, phase 2 study of pemetrexed and carboplatin (PC) with or without pembrolizumab (pembro) as first-line therapy for advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. H. Borghaei. Friday, Sept. 8, 5:03 - 5:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. Gastric Cancer: (Abstract #LBA28_PR) Proffered Paper Session: KEYNOTE-059 update: efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) cancer. Z. A. Wainberg. Friday, Sept. 8, 3:03 - 3:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Barcelona Auditorium. (Abstract #LBA28_PR) Proffered Paper Session: KEYNOTE-059 update: efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) cancer. Z. A. Wainberg. Friday, Sept. 8, 3:03 - 3:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Barcelona Auditorium. Urothelial Carcinoma: (Abstract #LBA37_PR) Poster Discussion Session: Pembrolizumab (pembro) versus paclitaxel, docetaxel, or vinflunine for recurrent, advanced urothelial cancer (UC): mature results from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-045 trial. R. De Wit. Sunday, Sept. 10 Poster: 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. CEST. Discussion: 3:15 - 3:45 p.m. CEST. Location: Cordoba Auditorium. (Abstract #LBA37_PR) Poster Discussion Session: Pembrolizumab (pembro) versus paclitaxel, docetaxel, or vinflunine for recurrent, advanced urothelial cancer (UC): mature results from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-045 trial. R. De Wit. Sunday, Sept. 10 Poster: 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. CEST. Discussion: 3:15 - 3:45 p.m. CEST. Location: Cordoba Auditorium. HNSCC: (Abstract #LBA45_PR) Proffered Paper Session: Pembrolizumab (pembro) vs standard of care (SOC) for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC): Phase 3 KEYNOTE-040 trial. E. E. Cohen. Monday, Sept. 11, 3:00 - 3:12 p.m. CEST. Location: Granada Auditorium. (Abstract #LBA45_PR) Proffered Paper Session: Pembrolizumab (pembro) vs standard of care (SOC) for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC): Phase 3 KEYNOTE-040 trial. E. E. Cohen. Monday, Sept. 11, 3:00 - 3:12 p.m. CEST. Location: Granada Auditorium. Breast Cancer: (Abstract #LBA13) Proffered Paper Session: Relationship between tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels and response to pembrolizumab (pembro) in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC): results from KEYNOTE-086. S. Loi. Saturday, Sept. 9, 11:45 - 12:00 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. Additional KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) Abstracts Combination data at ESMO include findings from the phase 1/2 ECHO-202/KEYNOTE-037 trial of KEYTRUDA in combination with epacadostat, Incyte's investigational oral selective IDO1 enzyme inhibitor, in advanced melanoma, as well as findings from the phase 1b/2 trial of KEYTRUDA with Eisai's multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Lenvima (lenvatinib), in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Monotherapy data include findings from the phase 1 KEYNOTE-028 trial studying KEYTRUDA in PD-L1 positive advanced carcinoid or pancreatic cancer and findings from the KEYNOTE-164 and KEYNOTE-158 studies of KEYTRUDA in MSI-H cancers. Further information on select KEYTRUDA abstracts: Renal Cell Cancer: (Abstract #847O) Proffered Paper Session: A Phase 1b/2 trial of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab in patients with renal cell carcinoma. C. Lee. Saturday, Sept. 9, 10:15 - 10:30 a.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. (Abstract #847O) Proffered Paper Session: A Phase 1b/2 trial of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab in patients with renal cell carcinoma. C. Lee. Saturday, Sept. 9, 10:15 - 10:30 a.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. Melanoma: (Abstract #1214O) Proffered Paper Session: Epacadostat plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma: phase 1 and 2 efficacy and safety results from ECHO-202/KEYNOTE-037. O. Hamid. Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:00 - 3:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. (Abstract #1214O) Proffered Paper Session: Epacadostat plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma: phase 1 and 2 efficacy and safety results from ECHO-202/KEYNOTE-037. O. Hamid. Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:00 - 3:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. Melanoma: (Abstract #1216O) Proffered Paper Session: KEYNOTE-022 update: phase 1 study of first-line pembrolizumab (pembro) plus dabrafenib (D) and trametinib (T) for BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma. A. Ribas. Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. (Abstract #1216O) Proffered Paper Session: KEYNOTE-022 update: phase 1 study of first-line pembrolizumab (pembro) plus dabrafenib (D) and trametinib (T) for BRAF-mutant advanced melanoma. A. Ribas. Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. CEST. Location: Madrid Auditorium. Pancreatic Cancer: (Abstract #427O) Proffered Paper Session: Pembrolizumab for patients with PD-L1-positive advanced carcinoid or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: results from the KEYNOTE-028 study. J. M. Mehnert. Sunday, Sept. 10, 4:30 - 4:42 p.m. CEST. Location: Tarragona Auditorium. (Abstract #427O) Proffered Paper Session: Pembrolizumab for patients with PD-L1-positive advanced carcinoid or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: results from the KEYNOTE-028 study. J. M. Mehnert. Sunday, Sept. 10, 4:30 - 4:42 p.m. CEST. Location: Tarragona Auditorium. Advanced MSI-H Cancer: (Abstract #386P) Poster Display Session: Efficacy of pembrolizumab in phase 2 KEYNOTE-164 and KEYNOTE-158 studies of microsatellite instability high cancers. L. Diaz. Monday, Sept. 11, 1:15 - 2:15 p.m. CEST. Location: Hall 8. About the AstraZeneca and Merck Strategic Oncology Collaboration On July 27, 2017, AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., Inc. announced a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize AstraZeneca's LYNPARZA, the world's first PARP inhibitor, and potential new medicine selumetinib, a MEK inhibitor, for multiple cancer types. The collaboration is based on increasing evidence that PARP and MEK inhibitors can be combined with PDL-1/PD-1 inhibitors for a range of tumor types. Working together, the companies will jointly develop LYNPARZA and selumetinib in combination with other potential new medicines and as a monotherapy. Independently, the companies will develop LYNPARZA and selumetinib in combination with their respective PD-L1 and PD-1 medicines. About KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) Injection 100mg KEYTRUDA is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body's immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. KEYTRUDA is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes which may affect both tumor cells and healthy cells. Studies of KEYTRUDA - from the largest immuno-oncology program in the industry with more than 550 trials - include a wide variety of cancers and treatment settings. The KEYTRUDA clinical program seeks to understand factors that predict a patient's likelihood of benefitting from treatment with KEYTRUDA, including the exploration of several different biomarkers across a broad range of tumors. KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) Indications and Dosing Melanoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Lung Cancer KEYTRUDA, as a single agent, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression [tumor proportion score (TPS) =50%] as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations. KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), as a single agent, is also indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 (TPS =1%) as determined by an FDA-approved test, with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving KEYTRUDA. KEYTRUDA, in combination with pemetrexed and carboplatin, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous NSCLC. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. In metastatic NSCLC, KEYTRUDA is administered at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. When administering KEYTRUDA in combination with chemotherapy, KEYTRUDA should be administered prior to chemotherapy when given on the same day. See also the Prescribing Information for pemetrexed and carboplatin. Head and Neck Cancer KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. In HNSCC, KEYTRUDA is administered at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), or who have relapsed after three or more prior lines of therapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. In adults with cHL, KEYTRUDA is administered at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. In pediatric patients with cHL, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) is administered at a dose of 2 mg/kg (up to a maximum of 200 mg) every three weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. Urothelial Carcinoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. KEYTRUDA is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. In locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, KEYTRUDA is administered at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) Cancer KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options, or colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. The safety and effectiveness of KEYTRUDA in pediatric patients with MSI-H central nervous system cancers have not been established. In adult patients with MSI-H cancer, KEYTRUDA is administered at a fixed dose of 200 mg every three weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. In pediatric patients with MSI-H cancer, KEYTRUDA is administered at a dose of 2 mg/kg (up to a maximum of 200 mg) every three weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression. Selected Important Safety Information for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) KEYTRUDA can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases. Pneumonitis occurred in 94 (3.4%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 1 (0.8%), 2 (1.3%), 3 (0.9%), 4 (0.3%), and 5 (0.1%) pneumonitis, and occurred more frequently in patients with a history of prior thoracic radiation (6.9%) compared to those without (2.9%). Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of pneumonitis. Evaluate suspected pnemonitis with radiographic imaging. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Withhold KEYTRUDA for Grade 2; permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent Grade 2 pneumonitis. KEYTRUDA can cause immune-mediated colitis. Colitis occurred in 48 (1.7%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (0.4%), 3 (1.1%), and 4 (<0.1%) colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater colitis. Withhold KEYTRUDA for Grade 2 or 3; permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA for Grade 4 colitis. KEYTRUDA can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. Hepatitis occurred in 19 (0.7%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (0.1%), 3 (0.4%), and 4 (<0.1%) hepatitis. Monitor patients for changes in liver function. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hepatitis and, based on severity of liver enzyme elevations, withhold or discontinue KEYTRUDA. KEYTRUDA can cause hypophysitis. Hypophysitis occurred in 17 (0.6%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (0.2%), 3 (0.3%), and 4 (<0.1%) hypophysitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis (including hypopituitarism and adrenal insufficiency). Administer corticosteroids and hormone replacement as clinically indicated. Withhold KEYTRUDA for Grade 2; withhold or discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 hypophysitis. KEYTRUDA can cause thyroid disorders, including hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroiditis. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 96 (3.4%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (0.8%) and 3 (0.1%) hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism occurred in 237 (8.5%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (6.2%) and 3 (0.1%) hypothyroidism. The incidence of new or worsening hypothyroidism was higher in patients with HNSCC, occurring in 28 (15%) of 192 patients with HNSCC, including Grade 3 (5%) hypothyroidism. Thyroiditis occurred in 16 (0.6%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), including Grade 2 (0.3%) thyroiditis. Monitor patients for changes in thyroid function (at the start of treatment, periodically during treatment, and as indicated based on clinical evaluation) and for clinical signs and symptoms of thyroid disorders. Administer replacement hormones for hypothyroidism and manage hyperthyroidism with thionamides and beta-blockers as appropriate. Withhold or discontinue KEYTRUDA for Grade 3 or 4 hyperthyroidism. KEYTRUDA can cause type 1 diabetes mellitus, including diabetic ketoacidosis, which have been reported in 6 (0.2%) of 2799 patients. Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes. Administer insulin for type 1 diabetes, and withhold KEYTRUDA and administer antihyperglycemics in patients with severe hyperglycemia. KEYTRUDA can cause immune-mediated nephritis. Nephritis occurred in 9 (0.3%) of 2799 patients receiving KEYTRUDA, including Grade 2 (0.1%), 3 (0.1%), and 4 (<0.1%) nephritis. Monitor patients for changes in renal function. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater nephritis. Withhold KEYTRUDA for Grade 2; permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA for Grade 3 or 4 nephritis. Immune-mediated rashes, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) (some cases with fatal outcome), exfoliative dermatitis, and bullous pemphigoid can occur. Monitor patients for suspected severe skin reactions and based on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold or permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA and administer corticosteroids. For signs and symptoms of SJS or TEN, withhold KEYTRUDA and refer the patient for specialized care for assessment and treatment. If SJS or TEN is confirmed, permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA. KEYTRUDA can cause other clinically important immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may occur in any organ system. For suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, ensure adequate evaluation to confirm etiology or exclude other causes. Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold KEYTRUDA and administer corticosteroids. Upon improvement to Grade 1 or less, initiate corticosteroid taper and continue to taper over at least 1 month. Based on limited data from clinical studies in patients whose immune-related adverse reactions could not be controlled with corticosteroid use, administration of other systemic immunosuppressants can be considered. Resume KEYTRUDA when the adverse reaction remains at Grade 1 or less following corticosteroid taper. Permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA for any Grade 3 immune-mediated adverse reaction that recurs and for any life-threatening immune-mediated adverse reaction. The following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in less than 1% (unless otherwise indicated) of 2799 patients: arthritis (1.5%), uveitis, myositis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, myasthenia gravis, vasculitis, pancreatitis, hemolytic anemia, and partial seizures arising in a patient with inflammatory foci in brain parenchyma. In addition, myelitis and myocarditis were reported in other clinical trials, including classical Hodgkin lymphoma, and postmarketing use. Solid organ transplant rejection has been reported in postmarketing use of KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab). Treatment with KEYTRUDA may increase the risk of rejection in solid organ transplant recipients. Consider the benefit of treatment with KEYTRUDA vs the risk of possible organ rejection in these patients. KEYTRUDA can cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions, including hypersensitivity and anaphylaxis, which have been reported in 6 (0.2%) of 2799 patients. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions, including rigors, chills, wheezing, pruritus, flushing, rash, hypotension, hypoxemia, and fever. For Grade 3 or 4 reactions, stop infusion and permanently discontinue KEYTRUDA. Immune-mediated complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after being treated with KEYTRUDA. Of 23 patients with cHL who proceeded to allogeneic HSCT after treatment with KEYTRUDA on any trial, 6 patients (26%) developed graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), one of which was fatal, and 2 patients (9%) developed severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) after reduced-intensity conditioning, one of which was fatal. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD after allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor-blocking antibody before transplantation. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT. Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune-mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly. Based on its mechanism of action, KEYTRUDA can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. If used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant during treatment, apprise the patient of the potential hazard to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use highly effective contraception during treatment and for 4 months after the last dose of KEYTRUDA. In KEYNOTE-006, KEYTRUDA was discontinued due to adverse reactions in 9% of 555 patients with advanced melanoma; adverse reactions leading to discontinuation in more than one patient were colitis (1.4%), autoimmune hepatitis (0.7%), allergic reaction (0.4%), polyneuropathy (0.4%), and cardiac failure (0.4%). Adverse reactions leading to interruption of KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) occurred in 21% of patients; the most common (=1%) was diarrhea (2.5%). The most common adverse reactions with KEYTRUDA vs ipilimumab were fatigue (28% vs 28%), diarrhea (26% with KEYTRUDA), rash (24% vs 23%), and nausea (21% with KEYTRUDA). Corresponding incidence rates are listed for ipilimumab only for those adverse reactions that occurred at the same or lower rate than with KEYTRUDA. KEYTRUDA monotherapy was discontinued due to adverse reactions in 8% of 682 patients with metastatic NSCLC. The most common adverse event resulting in permanent discontinuation of KEYTRUDA was pneumonitis (1.8%). Adverse reactions leading to interruption of KEYTRUDA occurred in 23% of patients; the most common (=1%) were diarrhea (1%), fatigue (1.3%), pneumonia (1%), liver enzyme elevation (1.2%), decreased appetite (1.3%), and pneumonitis (1%). The most common adverse reactions (occurring in at least 20% of patients and at a higher incidence than with docetaxel) were decreased appetite (25% vs 23%), dyspnea (23% vs 20%), and nausea (20% vs 18%). When KEYTRUDA was administered in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed (carbo/pem), KEYTRUDA was discontinued in 10% of 59 patients. The most common adverse reaction resulting in discontinuation of KEYTRUDA (=2%) was acute kidney injury (3.4%). Adverse reactions leading to interruption of KEYTRUDA occurred in 39% of patients; the most common (=2%) were fatigue (8%), neutrophil count decreased (8%), anemia (5%), dyspnea (3.4%), and pneumonitis (3.4%). The most common adverse reactions (=20%) with KEYTRUDA compared to carbo/pem alone were fatigue (71% vs 50%), nausea (68% vs 56%), constipation (51% vs 37%), rash (42% vs 21%), vomiting (39% vs 27%), dyspnea (39% vs 21%), diarrhea (37% vs 23%), decreased appetite (31% vs 23%), headache (31% vs 16%), cough (24% vs 18%), dizziness (24% vs 16%), insomnia (24% vs 15%), pruritus (24% vs 4.8%), peripheral edema (22% vs 18%), dysgeusia (20% vs 11%), alopecia (20% vs 3.2%), upper respiratory tract infection (20% vs 3.2%), and arthralgia (15% vs 24%). This study was not designed to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in adverse reaction rates for KEYTRUDA as compared to carbo/pem alone for any specified adverse reaction. KEYTRUDA was discontinued due to adverse reactions in 17% of 192 patients with HNSCC. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 45% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients were pneumonia, dyspnea, confusional state, vomiting, pleural effusion, and respiratory failure. The most common adverse reactions (reported in at least 20% of patients) were fatigue, decreased appetite, and dyspnea. Adverse reactions occurring in patients with HNSCC were generally similar to those occurring in patients with melanoma or NSCLC, with the exception of increased incidences of facial edema (10% all Grades; 2.1% Grades 3 or 4) and new or worsening hypothyroidism. KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) was discontinued due to adverse reactions in 5% of 210 patients with cHL, and treatment was interrupted due to adverse reactions in 26% of patients. Fifteen percent (15%) of patients had an adverse reaction requiring systemic corticosteroid therapy. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 16% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions (=1%) included pneumonia, pneumonitis, pyrexia, dyspnea, GVHD, and herpes zoster. Two patients died from causes other than disease progression; one from GVHD after subsequent allogeneic HSCT and one from septic shock. The most common adverse reactions (occurring in =20% of patients) were fatigue (26%), pyrexia (24%), cough (24%), musculoskeletal pain (21%), diarrhea (20%), and rash (20%). In KEYNOTE-045, KEYTRUDA was discontinued due to adverse reactions in 8% of 266 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. The most common adverse reaction resulting in permanent discontinuation of KEYTRUDA was pneumonitis (1.9%). Adverse reactions leading to interruption of KEYTRUDA occurred in 20% of patients; the most common (=1%) were urinary tract infection (1.5%), diarrhea (1.5%), and colitis (1.1%). The most common adverse reactions (20%) in patients who received KEYTRUDA vs those who received chemotherapy were fatigue (38% vs 56%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 27%), pruritus (23% vs 6%), decreased appetite (21% vs 21%), nausea (21% vs 29%), and rash (20% vs 13%). Serious adverse reactions occurred in 39% of KEYTRUDA-treated patients, the most frequent (=2%) of which were urinary tract infection, pneumonia, anemia, and pneumonitis. The most common adverse reactions (reported in = 20% patients) were fatigue, pruritus, diarrhea, decreased appetite, rash, pyrexia, cough, dyspnea, musculoskeletal pain, constipation and nausea. It is not known whether KEYTRUDA is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, instruct women to discontinue nursing during treatment with KEYTRUDA and for 4 months after the final dose. About LYNPARZA (olaparib) LYNPARZA was the first FDA-approved oral poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor that may exploit tumor DNA damage response (DDR) pathway deficiencies to potentially kill cancer cells. Specifically, in vitro studies have shown that olaparib-induced cytotoxicity may involve inhibition of PARP enzymatic activity and increased formation of PARP-DNA complexes, resulting in DNA damage and cancer cell death. LYNPARZA (olaparib) tablets are currently being investigated in combinations in a range of tumor types, including breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. LYNPARZA capsules (400mg twice daily) will still be available through a limited specialty pharmacy network, for patients currently being treated for deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with three or more prior lines of chemotherapy. LYNPARZA tablets and capsules are not the same. If you have been prescribed LYNPARZA tablets, do not take the capsules. If you have any questions about LYNPARZA, please talk with your physician or pharmacist. LYNPARZA Important Safety Information Dosing and Administration To avoid substitution errors and overdose, do not substitute LYNPARZA tablets with LYNPARZA capsules on a milligram-to-milligram basis due to differences in the dosing and bioavailability of each formulation. Recommended tablet dose is 300 mg, taken orally twice daily, with or without food. Continue treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. For adverse reactions, consider dose interruption or dose reduction. Warnings and Precautions There are no contraindications for LYNPARZA. Myelodysplastic Syndrome/Acute Myeloid Leukemia (MDS/AML): Occurred in <1.5% of patients exposed to LYNPARZA monotherapy, and the majority of events had a fatal outcome. The duration of therapy in patients who developed secondary MDS/AML varied from <6 months to >2 years. All of these patients had previous chemotherapy with platinum agents and/or other DNA-damaging agents, including radiotherapy, and some of these patients also had a history of previous cancer or bone marrow dysplasia. Do not start LYNPARZA (olaparib) until patients have recovered from hematological toxicity caused by previous chemotherapy (=Grade 1). Monitor complete blood counts for cytopenia at baseline and monthly thereafter for clinically significant changes during treatment. For prolonged hematological toxicities, interrupt LYNPARZA and monitor blood counts weekly until recovery. If the levels have not recovered to Grade 1 or less after 4 weeks, refer the patient to a hematologist for further investigations, including bone marrow analysis and blood sample for cytogenetics. Discontinue LYNPARZA if MDS/AML is confirmed. Pneumonitis: Occurred in <1% of patients exposed to LYNPARZA, and some cases were fatal. If patients present with new or worsening respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea, cough, and fever, or a radiological abnormality occurs, interrupt treatment with LYNPARZA and initiate prompt investigation. Discontinue LYNPARZA if pneumonitis is confirmed and treat patient appropriately. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: Based on its mechanism of action and findings in animals, LYNPARZA can cause fetal harm. A pregnancy test is recommended for females of reproductive potential prior to initiating treatment. Advise females of reproductive potential of the potential risk to a fetus and to use effective contraception during treatment and for 6 months after receiving the final dose. Adverse Reactions-Maintenance Setting Most common adverse reactions (Grades 1-4) in =20% of patients in clinical trials of LYNPARZA in the maintenance setting for SOLO-2: nausea (76%), fatigue (including asthenia) (66%), anemia (44%), vomiting (37%), nasopharyngitis/upper respiratory tract infection (URI)/influenza (36%), diarrhea (33%), arthralgia/myalgia (30%), dysgeusia (27%), headache (26%), decreased appetite (22%), and stomatitis (20%). Study 19: nausea (71%), fatigue (including asthenia) (63%), vomiting (35%), diarrhea (28%), anemia (23%), respiratory tract infection (22%), constipation (22%), headache (21%), and decreased appetite (21%). Most common laboratory abnormalities (Grades 1-4) in =25% of patients in clinical trials of LYNPARZA in the maintenance setting (SOLO-2/Study 19) were: increase in mean corpuscular volume (89%/82%), decrease in hemoglobin (83%/82%), decrease in leukocytes (69%/58%), decrease in lymphocytes (67%/52%), decrease in absolute neutrophil count (51%/47%), increase in serum creatinine (44%/45%), and decrease in platelets (42%/36%). Adverse Reactions-Advanced gBRCAm ovarian cancer Most common adverse reactions (Grades 1-4) in =20% of patients in clinical trials of LYNPARZA (olaparib) for advanced gBRCAm ovarian cancer after 3 or more lines of chemotherapy (pooled from 6 studies) were: fatigue (including asthenia) (66%), nausea (64%), vomiting (43%), anemia (34%), diarrhea (31%), nasopharyngitis/upper respiratory tract infection (URI) (26%), dyspepsia (25%), myalgia (22%), decreased appetite (22%), and arthralgia/musculoskeletal pain (21%). Most common laboratory abnormalities (Grades 1-4) in =25% of patients in clinical trials of LYNPARZA for advanced gBRCAm ovarian cancer after 3 or more lines of chemotherapy (pooled from 6 studies) were: decrease in hemoglobin (90%), increase in mean corpuscular volume (57%), decrease in lymphocytes (56%), increase in serum creatinine (30%), decrease in platelets (30%), and decrease in absolute neutrophil count (25%). Drug Interactions (News - Alert) Anticancer Agents: Clinical studies of LYNPARZA in combination with other myelosuppressive anticancer agents, including DNA-damaging agents, indicate a potentiation and prolongation of myelosuppressive toxicity. CYP3A Inhibitors: Avoid concomitant use of strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitors. If a strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitor must be co-administered, reduce the dose of LYNPARZA. Advise patients to avoid grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Seville oranges, and Seville orange juice during LYNPARZA treatment. CYP3A Inducers: Avoid concomitant use of strong or moderate CYP3A inducers when using LYNPARZA. If a moderate inducer cannot be avoided, be aware of a potential for decreased efficacy of LYNPARZA. Use in Specific Populations Pediatric Use: The safety and efficacy of LYNPARZA (olaparib) have not been established in pediatric patients. Lactation: No data are available regarding the presence of olaparib in human milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in the breastfed infant, advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment with LYNPARZA and for 1 month after receiving the final dose. Hepatic Impairment: No adjustment to the starting dose is required in patients with mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh classification A). There are no data in patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment. Renal Impairment: No adjustment to the starting dose is necessary in patients with mild renal impairment (CLcr 51-80 mL/min). In patients with moderate renal impairment (CLcr 31-50 mL/min), reduce the dose to 200 mg twice daily. There are no data in patients with severe renal impairment or end-stage renal disease (CLcr =30 mL/min). APPROVED USES for LYNPARZA LYNPARZA is a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor indicated: For the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy For the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with 3 or more prior lines of chemotherapy. Select patients for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for LYNPARZA Our Focus on Cancer Our goal is to translate breakthrough science into innovative oncology medicines to help people with cancer worldwide. At Merck, helping people fight cancer is our passion and supporting accessibility to our cancer medicines is our commitment. Our focus is on pursuing research in immuno-oncology and we are accelerating every step in the journey - from lab to clinic - to potentially bring new hope to people with cancer. As part of our focus on cancer, Merck is committed to exploring the potential of immuno-oncology with one of the fastest-growing development programs in the industry. We are currently executing an expansive research program that includes more than 550 clinical trials evaluating our anti-PD-1 therapy across more than 30 tumor types. We also continue to strengthen our immuno-oncology portfolio through strategic acquisitions and are prioritizing the development of several promising immunotherapeutic candidates with the potential to improve the treatment of advanced cancers. For more information about our oncology clinical trials, visit www.merck.com/clinicaltrials. About Merck For more than a century, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and communities around the world - including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer's disease and infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the "company") includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company's 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)) available at the SEC's Internet site (www.sec.gov). Please see Prescribing Information for KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) at http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/k/keytruda/keytruda_pi.pdf and Patient Information/Medication Guide for KEYTRUDA at http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/k/keytruda/keytruda_mg.pdf. Please see complete Prescribing Information for LYNPARZA (olaparib), including Patient Information (Medication Guide). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170830006315/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 30, 2017] Avita Medical Names Erin Liberto as Chief Commercial Officer Avita Medical, Ltd. (ASX: AVH), (OTCQX: AVMXY), a medical device company developing innovative therapeutic solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin, today announced that Erin Liberto has become the company's Chief Commercial Officer effective 28 August 2017. As CCO of Avita Medical, Ms. Liberto will have responsibility for successful execution of the company's comprehensive commercial strategy including the further development of the company's sales, reimbursement and marketing efforts, and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Perry (News - Alert). "Erin's extensive experience in the global dermatology markets, including a proven track record of successful US product launches, will be instrumental as we position ReCell in the US burns market following our anticipated PMA approval next year," said Dr. Perry. "We are laying the foundation for our future growth across multiple indications, and I'm energized to be working with Erin as we continue to leverage our clinical progress across a broad range of indications." Ms. Liberto was most recently Vice President of Marketing, Topical Dermatology at Allergan (NYSE: AGN (News - Alert)) where she led the commercial operations of marketing and strategic communication for two dermatology franchises: SkinMedica, a cash-pay, physician dispensed topical aesthetics business unit, and the Medical Dermatology division which included reimbursed topical pharmaceutical products for skin conditions and where she oversaw more than US$650M of business revenue. While at Allergan, she doubled the domestic SkinMedica growth rate; gained the #1 share position for the therapeutic acne product Aczone; launched the new 7.5% Aczone formulation in mid-2016, and achieved the most successful launch in the professional dispensed skin care market. Previously, (2001-2007) Erin served as Director of US Marketing at Biosense Webster, a division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED Avita's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin. Our medical devices work by preparing a Regenerative Epithelial Suspension (RES), an autologous suspension comprised of the patients' own skin cells and wound healing factors that are necessary to regenerate natural healthy skin. This is then applied to the area to be treated. In all countries outside of Europe, our portfolio is marketed under the ReCell brand to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, chronic wounds and aesthetics. ReCell is TGA-registered in Australia, and CFDA-cleared in China. In the United States, ReCell is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use. In Europe, our portfolio of medical device products received CE-mark approval as three tailored product presentations, with three individual brand names. ReCell is designed for the treatment of burns and plastic reconstructive procedures; ReGenerCell has been formulated for chronic wounds including leg and foot ulcers; and ReNovaCell is tailored for aesthetic applications including the restoration of pigmentation. To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This letter includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "look forward," "forecast," "goal," "target," "project," "continue," "outlook," "guidance," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this letter include, but are not limited to, statements concerning, among other things, our ongoing clinical trials and product development activities, regulatory approval of our products, the potential for future growth in our business, and our ability to achieve our key strategic, operational and financial goal. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward-looking statement contained in this letter is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the timing of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the company's control. Investors should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this letter. Investors are encouraged to read our publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this letter speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170830006317/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] RadiumOne Bolsters UK Leadership Team With Two Key Promotions LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, August 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RadiumOne, a RhythmOne Company, today announces the promotion of two key team members within the United Kingdom management team. Louise Briggs, previously the head of Sales and Account Management will be promoted to the Director Business Operations and Emma Hazlehurst, previously the head of Strategic Solutions, will now assume the role of Director of Business Development. Louise and Emma both joined the team in 2014. Together, they have significant tenure in the ad tech industry, helping clients such as eBay, Ford, O2 and Microsoft build and grow their businesses by leveraging best-in-breed data and technology solutions. "I am pleased to announce these additions to our leadership team in the UK," said Craig Tuck, Managing Director. "Louise and Emma are both phenomenal practitioners and will be instrumental in shaping our new value proposition - combining the strength of RhythmOne's brand-safe supply with RadiumOne's data-driven marketing solutions - whilst continuing to drive success for our clients by doing what we do best: creating connections that matter." In her new role, Louise will continue to be responsible for sales and account management, but will broaden her responsibilities to include operations overall. Louise will bear strategic responsibility for crafting the go-to-market strategy in the UK for the combined capabilities of RhythmOne and RadiumOne in the UK market. Her role's emphasis will be on helping clients navigate the advertising ecosystem by developing transparent, brand-safe solutions that leverag proprietary creative, data, insight and activation technology. Emma Hazlehurst will now lead the division servicing publishers in the UK. She will focus on continuing the roll out RadiumOne's sharing, dark social and web analytics tools, and develop new and innovative strategies to enhance ReadiumOne's partner ecosystem. On the demand side, she will be tasked with helping agencies and clients gain transparency and insight into the full customer journey and how signals across paid, earned, owned and shared media can drive engagement and value for advertisers. The strengthening of the UK leadership team follows RhythmOne's acquisition of certain assets of RadiumOne and is part of the Company's overall strategy to enhance its international capabilities and servicing. For more information about RadiumOne, visit http://www.radiumone.com About RadiumOne RadiumOne is the only data-driven marketing technology company helping brands connect activity on paid, earned, shared and owned channels to find high-value customers. Through our ability to see the strongest signals of consumer intent and predict where consumers are on their journeys, we can build safe and effective brand-specific campaign strategies. RadiumOne delivers digital campaigns that are measured against real-world business outcomes. Based in San Francisco, RadiumOne has offices across the North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. About RhythmOne RhythmOne is a technology-enabled digital media company that connects online audiences with brands through premium content across devices. Founded in 2004 in the UK, the Company pioneered Internet video search and works with digital advertisers, publishers and content providers to offer fully integrated, cross-screen solutions that span desktop and mobile video, rich media, display, social and native advertising, and content formats. Through its fully integrated programmatic platform, RhythmMax, the Company offers digital advertising inventory across owned, controlled and extended supply sources. The RhythmMax platform includes unique brand safety technology, RhythmGuard, which combines leading third-party verification and proprietary filtering technologies to ensure inventory quality in brand safe environments. RhythmOne's goal is to maximize the return on advertising spend and provide the most efficient and effective marketplace for digital advertising. The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, United States with offices in the US, UK and Canada. For more information, please visit http://www.rhythmone.com. Press Contact for RhythmOne Helen Line Marlin PR [email protected] [email protected] +44(0)7825-000598 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] Cybersecurity Training Scholarships for Veterans Residing in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming DENVER, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Daniels Fund, in collaboration with the USO Colorado Springs, has announced a grant for veterans to receive cybersecurity training at no cost with the SANS Institute's VetSuccess Immersion Academy. VetSuccess is a three-to-four month immersion training program for veterans with an interest in, and an aptitude for, cybersecurity. Twelve students will be selected for the program and veterans residing in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming that meet the requirements are invited to take the SANS CyberTalent Aptitude Assessment. The grant is part of the Daniels Fund's Boundless Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides scholarship funding for non-traditional students, including returning military. "Finding employment can be among the greatest challenges our transitioning military service members face when returning home," said Linda Childears, President and CEO of the Daniels Fund, "We are pleased to support this program which can put these deserving men and women on a fast track to a meaningful career in a high-growth field." The 2015-16 VetSuccess Academies had a 94 percent graduation rate. Nearly 9 in 10 (89 percent) of those program graduates are employed within the field. VetSuccess alumni hold positions such as Information Security Analyst, Security Engineer, Web Security Engineer, Security Analyst I, Information Security Engineer and Cybersecurity Specialist and report a median salary of $80,000. "The number and complexity of cyber threats continue to rise at a time when the cybersecurity industry is challenged to keep pace in the face of a severe talent shortage," explained Max Shuftan, Director, CyberTalent, SANS Institute. "We are proud to honor the service of our nation's veterans with the VetSuccess program and offer tremendous thanks to the Daniels Fund and the USO Colorado Springs for supporting this cademy. Transitioning service members offer a unique set of skills, making them well suited for cybersecurity jobs. Their training, discipline and integrity are exactly what are required to succeed in in this field." "The USO is not only committed to supporting our active military service members, we are also here to help our veterans transition back to their communities," said Phil Martinez, Director, USO Colorado Springs. "Our partnership with the Daniels Fund and the SANS Institute enables us to meet our mission and help our veterans build critical skills, find great jobs, and build rewarding careers." Interested veterans must demonstrate knowledge application, comprehension, and problem solving skills using the SANS CyberTalent Aptitude Assessment and participate in interviews with officials from SANS CyberTalent and partner organizations. Accepted participants will receive industry-leading training and hands-on learning taught by expert SANS faculty. Graduates earn the associated GIAC certification recognized and accepted by employers around the world. Key dates: Application period: Now through October 10, 2017 Classes begin: November 6, 2017 Graduation: February 2018 For more information, interested veterans can visit www.sans.org/u/v0l or email [email protected] . About the Daniels Fund The Daniels Fund, established by cable television pioneer Bill Daniels, is a private charitable foundation dedicated to making life better for the people of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming through its grants program, scholarship program, and ethics initiative. Visit DanielsFund.org to learn more. About the USO The USO strengthens America's military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country throughout their service to the nation. For nearly 75 years, the USO has been the nation's leading organization to serve the men and women in the U.S. military, and their families, throughout their time in uniform. From the moment they join, through their assignments and deployments, and as they transition back to their communities, the USO is always by their side. About SANS Institute The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 50 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates employee qualifications via 30 hands-on, technical certifications in information security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (www.SANS.org) View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cybersecurity-training-scholarships-for-veterans-residing-in-colorado-new-mexico-utah-and-wyoming-300512233.html SOURCE SANS Institute [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] Downtown Tucumcari, New Mexico, to Be Revitalized, Thanks to Grant Located just off Highway U.S. 40 is one of Route 66's most iconic small towns - Tucumcari, New Mexico. Described by Tucumcari MainStreet Corporation Executive Director Gail Houser as a "friendly town where everyone knows each other," the town of nearly 6,000 is undergoing a revitalization. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831006069/en/ Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association and FHLB Dallas partnered to award $16,000 in Partnership Grant Program funds to Tucumcari MainStreet Corporation to revitalize the Tucumcari, New Mexico, downtown area. (Photo: Business Wire) Thanks to $16,000 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP (News - Alert)) funds from Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas), revitalization efforts will be boosted. As part of Tucumcari MainStreet Corporation's goal to encourage, foster and stimulate the preservation of downtown Tucumcari, Mr. Houser said he and his team want to take the small-town charm for which Tucumcari is known and breathe new life into the downtown area. The funds will be used to offset annual operating expenses, continue educational opportunities for entrepreneurs and develop fundraising programs. Representatives from the banks were joined by Tucumcari MainStreet Corporation's leadership, New Mexico State Senator Pat Woods, R-7, and Ron Wilmot, regional representative for U.S. Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, D-NM, at a check presentation yesterday announcin the grants. Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association President David Hale said the PGP supports his institution's commitment to serve the community. "As a mutual thrift, we have a strong interest in the entire community," said Mr. Hale. "Because we are owned by our depositors and borrowers, we have a considerable commitment to the community that has made us what we are today." The structure of the PGP enables FHLB Dallas member institutions like Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association to make a contribution of $500 to $4,000 to a community-based organization (CBO), which FHLB Dallas will match at a 3:1 ratio. In 2017, FHLB Dallas awarded $300,000 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds through 31 member institutions to assist 30 community-based organizations. Combined with the $104,550 contributed by FHLB Dallas members, a total of $404,550 was awarded to the organizations. This is the first time Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association has utilized the PGP. "The PGP has the potential to create a positive effect on communities in more ways than one," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "Member financial institutions who utilize the program strengthen their bond to the community and the community itself works toward revitalization, stimulating the local economy." Mr. Hale said Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association is proud to be an FHLB Dallas member. "We are pleased to be a part of the FHLB Dallas PGP program and we're excited about the prospects of greater things for downtown Tucumcari," said Mr. Hale. Mr. Houser said the grant funds will help the organization achieve its goal to reinvest in the community. "I can't express my sincere appreciation in the banks' support of our operation," he said. "This grant is astonishingly important to our organization." To learn more about the PGP, visit fhlb.com/pgp. About Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan Association was founded in 1934 to provide a safe place for residents of the community to deposit their money, and to help residents own their own homes. Tucumcari Federal continues to employ its original philosophy: to provide a safe place for depositors' hard-earned money, pay competitive rates and support homeownership for residents in Quay County. For more information, visit tucfed.com. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $62.9 billion as of June 30, 2017, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831006069/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] Canada launches new Climate Kids interactive website to encourage young Canadians to take action on climate change Everyonebig and smallcan be part of the solution. GATINEAU, QC, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - The next generations of Canadiansour children and grandchildrenwill be vital to the protection and conservation of the environment. Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, was joined by curious young minds at thePierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School to launch Climate Kids, an interactive website for children. Climate Kids focuses on empowering children and teens aged 8 to 15 years to take action on climate change. The website helps children talk about this important issue with their friends and family and provides tips on how they can take action in their daily lives, at home, at school, and in their communities. Quote "You're never too young or too old to start taking climate action. Getting our children talking and involving them early will better equip them to become strong leaders, thinkers, and problem solvers in the global effort towards a cleaner, more prosperous Canada for generations to come." Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Quick fact Climate Kids is an interactive website intended for children and teens aged 8 to 15 years. Associated link Climate Kids Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Natural Resources in Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] elium Raises 4M from Serena Capital and S.R.I.W. to Digitize Knowledge Sharing among Employees in the Consulting Firms and Industries of Tomorrow elium, the collaborative platform for knowledge-based organisations, announces the closing of a Series A funding round for 4 million. This fundraising effort is being led by Serena Capital in collaboration with S.R.I.W, a historical investor who has renewed its trust in elium (formerly known as Knowledge Plaza). elium aims to become a leader in the new "Knowledge Sharing Platforms" market, a new category of Enterprise Social Networks that complement teams-centred productivity platforms such as Slack and Facebook (News - Alert) Workplace. The market size was around 4.5 billion $ in 2016 according to IDC (considered a conservative view) and estimated to double within 5 years. Artificial intelligence coming into the enterprise will be able to take full advantage of this inherently shareable and critical knowledge. From 2012 onwards, elium relied on a 100% Saas offer by subscription. It gradually conquered a few large French actors who took advantage of its resolutely cross-platform architecture, allowing advanced re-use of existing knowledge as well as very dynamic capture of new knowledge. This strength of the application naturally attracts not only companies whose competitiveness rests on sound knowledge management, but also organizations facing major processes transformation. With elium, these companies see the impact of information flows increase tenfold. Today, elium holds a stable market position thanks to international projects such as the ones carried out with Capgemini (News - Alert) Consulting, Lafarge Holcim, MSL Group, the International Committee of the Red Cross, BNP Paribas, Oreal. European companies such as Touring Club Switzerland, Bouygues, InExtenso, EDF, Derbigum, SNCF have also been acquired and retained. These customers have enabled elium to clearly stand out from the competition by demonstrating that its solution can also grow in power on large corporate networks by avoiding the frictions encountered by traditional document management systems, paralyzed by governance constraints affecting individual files. This round of financing will provide elium with the opportunity to grow from 20 to 40 employees by the end of 2018, to increase the platform connectors, to have a UX/AI/data applied research structure, and to accelerate the platform deployment in Europe on three strategic vertical markets: service companies, transforming indstries (electricity, transport, engineering) as well as administrations and NGOs. Indeed, they are all facing an acceleration of change covering economy and innovation at both global and local levels. elium gives them the capacity to facilitate critical information sharing (from internal and external sources) and to increase their overall performance through re-use of good business practices. In other words, reduce physical and digital silos for an accelerated change. For the past couple of years the Lecko consulting firm has analysed about thirty collaborative tools to put together the most complete benchmark in France. It positions elium in pole position on its "social knowledge" quadrant which brings critical legitimacy to elium. The platform's new version is scheduled for autumn this year and will offer both simplicity for users and full functional coverage. It should comfort its customers along with Lecko that elium is keeping the right balance between the circulating information dynamism and stability. elium is preparing for GDPR and ISO 27000 certification. It is also getting ready to migrate to the excellent ENGIE datacentre based in Belgium. The entire user interface has been completely revised to be based on React, opening the door to excellent use in native mode. The API is now based on GraphQL which facilitates complete and sustainable integration. All these changes will accelerate innovation, as well as with the major market integrators and will bring a complete experience for users now connected in real-time. elium has found in Serena a strong partner for a lasting relationship. The operational support offered by the investment fund is already bearing fruit on commercial and marketing structuring. For Antoine Perdaens, CEO of elium: "Serena is a calm and responsive force. They have helped us to place even greater emphasis on our core markets, leverage our internal talents and give us key advice to increase our revenues." For Marc Fournier, Serena Capital partner: "We were seduced not only by their offer success but also by the team composition, it was a decisive factor in our investment choice. We are convinced that elium has its place among the world's key actors, the relevance of their architecture proving critical and inevitable in the face of the current digital transformation. " For the S.R.I.W.: "We have developed a true relationship of trust with the team. We are delighted to take part in this financing round, which will certainly contribute to the regional economic development, but especially to the start-up's international reach. " About elium Founded by Antoine Perdaens, CEO, and three other co-founders in 2008, elium (formerly known as Knowledge Plaza) has succeeded in creating its own collaborative platform market centred on knowledge sharing, gaining large internal corporate networks deployment projects (intranets) against competitors such as Microsoft SharePoint, IBM (News - Alert) Connections, and Jive Software. In 2013, elium acquired the Swiss competitor HyperWeek, positioned on corporate social networks and led by Raphael Briner, now elium CMO and co-founder. The platform is used by global and distributed companies (BNP Paribas, Capgemini Consulting, CICR, EDF, MSLGroup, SNCF) as well as small and medium-sized service companies (Finaxim, JointheDots, Euranova, Siltea, etc.) About Serena Capital Created in 2008 by Marc Fournier, Philippe Hayat and Xavier Lorphelin, Serena Capital is a recognized investment structure in France and Europe with more than 250 million euros under management. Highly active in the innovation and digital market (Internet & Media, Mobile & Telecom, Software, Big Data, Electronics), the company invests up to 15 million euros in innovative and rapidly growing companies (AramisAuto, Augure, Lafourchette, Melty Group, Prestashop, SanteVet, Worldstores, etc.). About S.R.I.W S.R.I.W. Group (Societe Regionale d'Investissement de Wallonie) contributes to the Belgian economy development by helping to finance Walloon companies development (Odoo, Bone Therapeutics, Acapela, Clue points, Proxistore). It takes part in their growth, alongside private investors, via loans as well as equity investments. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831005102/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 31, 2017] Qadium Announces $40 million in Series B Funding, Led by IVP Qadium, the first automated global Internet intelligence company, announced today that it has raised $40 million USD in Series B funding led by IVP. IVP is joined by new investor TPG Growth. Prior investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, and angels also participated. Qadium indexes every device on the public Internet every hour, similar to how search companies crawl web pages. It uses these data to continually monitor the global Internet for large organizations' true network boundary, surfacing comprehensive information about all of an organization's Internet-facing risks. Critically, this includes risks not tracked by any other system or vendor, including shadow IT, misconfigurations in cloud hosting, unauthorized or unmonitored Internet of Things (IoT) equipment, regional offices and subsidiaries violating policy, "lost" devices due to M&A events, and more. A rapidly growing ecosystem, IDG projects approximately 30 billion "things" connected to the Internet -- nearly 3x growth -- in five years. "Our technology would have been impossible just a few years ago," says Co-Founder and CTO Matt Kraning. "Now, we leverage distributed and massively parallelized computation to monitor the global Internet in real time. It's the first game-changer in a decade for defenders in cyberspace, allowing them to find and fix risks faster than attackers can exploit them." Beyond-the-firewall device discovery is a rapidly growing and underserviced market, according to Stephen Gold, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of CVS Health. "Enterprises are faced with a new era of Internet-based theats that require investment in new approaches, including Internet-scale monitoring, to counteract them. We are pleased to partner with Qadium as they give us a more complete view of potential threats to our network." In its first year on the market, Qadium sold its SaaS (News - Alert) product, Expander, to a wide range of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Its customer base now includes CVS, PayPal, Capital One, Allergan, and Fluor, among others in banking and other financial services, IT manufacturing, commercial real estate, software, healthcare, and more. Qadium is also deployed at multiple government agencies, including US Cyber Command, the premier cyber operations arm of the US military. Qadium previously raised a $20 million USD Series A round led by NEA in 2016 to build its team and secure initial adopters of its technology. "We saw healthy interest in this round, with IVP preempting us ahead of a process, and NEA investing more than their pro rata," says Tim Junio, the CEO and Co-Founder of Qadium. "Prior rounds were a bet on the vision that we'd be able to monetize persistent monitoring of the entire Internet's surface area; since then, our sharp uptick in initial sales affirms our intuition was on the right track." "Every large organization needs to be running Qadium across their global network," says Somesh Dash, General Partner at IVP. "It turns out that despite years of massive increases in security budgets, large organizations still can't understand what their network boundaries really are. Qadium built the first product that definitively shows the world's largest enterprises and government organizations complete visibility around their own networks. Seeing Qadium's product for the first time is a truly magical moment - we couldn't be more enthusiastic about the company's future prospects." The Series B funding will be used to focus the company's efforts on sales and marketing in addition to continuing to grow its engineering and product teams. Qadium generated multiple millions of dollars in subscription revenue in its first year of sales with no money spent on marketing. "It's time to invest in communicating what we do and why every large organization needs it," said Junio. ABOUT QADIUM Headquartered in San Francisco, Qadium is leveraging its technology to secure the public Internet with real-time detection and classification of connected digital assets and the risks they pose to the largest organizations in the world. The company sells subscriptions of Expander, its browser-based SaaS product and associated integrations, starting at $250,000 USD per year and ranging to over $1 million USD for its largest customers. Expander surfaces facts in their relevant context regarding customers' true network boundary in real time, and pushes prioritized alerts. Qadium has raised $65 million USD since 2015. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831005455/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Raytown Police Chief warns of drastic staffing reductions ahead of massive budget cuts The Raytown Police Chief is warning residents that drastic staff reductions are coming ahead of a massive budget cut that will happen in November. Chief Jim Lynch drafted an open letter to residents of Raytown detailing the changes. Public safety is on the chopping block in this embattled section of Kansas City. Take a look: Kansas City Tech Scene Introducing 2017's Top 10 Under-the-Radar startups in Kansas City Whether they're intentionally lying low or just working too hard to stop and share their stories, Kansas City is full of inconspicuous innovators. Consider this list of 10 firms as a spotlight into the shadows of promising, but little-known Kansas City startups. Kangaroos Suffer Harsh Times Interim UMKC Chancellor: 'Hard Hiring Freeze' Until Perilous Budget Situation Improves More cuts may be coming at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. An email Interim Chancellor Barbara Bichelmeyer sent to staff Wednesday suggested that the budget situation was even worse than anticipated. UMKC is already operating with a budgeted deficit of $4.5 million for the fiscal year that began July 1. Kansas City Economic Comeback??? Private-sector job growth in major U.S. markets - Kansas City Business Journal The Kansas City metro area has added 80,400 private-sector jobs during the past 10 years, outpacing the national growth rate for the nation's major markets, according to a federal report issued Wednesday. Click on the View Slideshow button for a rundown of private-sector employment in 67 U.S. Help Find This Missing Lady Independence Police asking for help to find woman last seen in April The Independence Police Department is asking for help to find a woman who hasn't been heard from since April. Janelle Johnson, 48, was last seen by a case worker on April 3. That case worker dropped Janelle off in the 5800 block of Forest in Kansas City, Missouri. Rural Prison Industrial Complex Probs EXCLUSIVE: Clay County Jail inmate's death ruled homicide UPDATE 4:30 PM 8/30/2017: LIBERTY, Mo. - New documents exclusively obtained by 41 Action News revealed that a man who died while inside the Clay County Jail was killed by strangulation. The 41 Action News Investigators obtained 26-year-old Brian Parisi's death certificate issued by the state of Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services. Dead-Tree Media Rolling Coverage Cyclists could get their wish for Grand Boulevard by late October After years of delays, Grand Boulevard could finally get bike lanes by late October, under a $600,000 funding plan that the Kansas City Council votes on Thursday. The public works department is asking the city council to provide $600,000 in local funds to get the work done, after two bid requests that relied on federal funds, with expensive federal contracting rules, came in way over budget. Cowtown Tech Party Coming Soon Techweek & LaunchKC prep for center stage on Sept. 11-15 The third annual Techweek Kansas City conference + festival returns to KC on Monday, Sept. 11, featuring a week of learning, networking and playing, along with the final round of competition in the annual $500,000 grants competition for tech entrepreneurs on Friday, Sept. 15. Quick look at the news scene for tonight asinspires this delve into Kansas City media. Checkit:And this is thefor right now . . . Kansas University professor teaches in bulletproof vest University of Kansas students sitting down for their first screenwriting course of the year were greeted by a professor who looked more aptly dressed for a war zone than a college classroom. Film and media professor Kevin Willmott however, hopes his ensemble, the focal point of which happens to be a black bulletproof vest, will serve as a lesson all its own, the University Daily Kansan reported. Actually, a creative form of protest that speaks to the level of American violence and the proliferation of guns in American life . . . Those who support the 2nd Amendment (like TKC) should also support the educator's right to protect himself and practice freedom of expression. Read more: Kansas City 1st Responder Helping Hand Kansas City firefighters, rescue boats heading to Texas for Hurricane Harvey relief The Kansas City Fire Department is accustomed to answering calls. But this one came all the way from Texas. 20 firefighters from KCFD along with the Central Jackson County Fire District are packing for high water. "We're taking 2 of our air boats, 3 flat-bottom John boats, and Zodiac boats," said KCFD Rescue Division Battalion Chief Larry Young. Kansas City Newsie Close Call FOX 4 crew witnesses driver crash in East KC and flee the scene KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, FOX 4's Robert Townsend and his photographer, Jerry Paauwe were in the area of East 19th and Topping to check out a potential story, when they stumbled on a bizarre car crash. Lesson In Northeast Relocation Kansas City Museum's new space now open to the public The Kansas City Museum at the Historic Garment District (KCM@HGD) is now open to the public, and for the time being admission is free. The first exhibit on display in the space is Inspired Quilts, which features five quilts and an art installation that aim to highlight artistic and cultural value of each piece. Tragic Local Death Note Or Lack Thereof Metro family says weeks passed without knowing their loved one had died, leaving them outraged KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A metro family is outraged after being notified more than seven weeks after their loved one passed away. Now the family says the detectives and medical examiner's officer were negligent when it came to notifying next of kin. The Losing Season Cont'd Tampa Bay Rays 5, Kansas City Royals 3 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr. and Adeiny Hechavarria each went deep and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Wednesday night for their latest series victory. The Rays took two out of three and have won three consecutive series. This morning we start our blogging journey withand a peek at some of the top news links to start the day. Take a peek:is the #TBT song of the day because we're classy like that and this is thefor right now . . . CITY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES ARE PREPARING MORE QUESTIONS FOR COUNCIL LADY JOLIE JUSTUS ABOUT PAYMENTS AND HIRING OF ALEC KELLEY AND/OR ALEC E. KELLY GIVEN CAMPAIGN DONATIONS FROM BURNS & MAC AND CITY HALL EMPLOYMENT RULES & REGS!!! "We have to ask why Councilperson Justus recused herself recently on the Kemper Arena matters because her law firm, Shook Hardy Bacon (SHB) represented one of the parties involved. This totally discredits the city attorney's analysis and begs the question as to why recuse on the Kemper transaction but not the Airport?" ETHICS CONTROVERSY CONTINUES FOR COUNCIL LADY JOLIE AS HER SOCIAL JUSTICE CREDENTIALS FADE AMID GRASSROOTS RAGE OVER CRONY CAPITALISM QUESTIONS!!! While a City Hall committee quickly cleared Council Lady Jolie Justus of recent ethics questions, her many alleged local conflicts have become a topic of increasing discussion.First of all, the turnaround time for the KCMO Ethics Commission decision was nearly record breaking. Usually, months pass without this group meeting or weighing in on any topic. Expect future depositions on what sparked this group into action when this airport hot mess inevitably goes to court and/or trial.Fun fact . . . It wasn't a local political hack who filed the ethics complaint against Council Lady Justus but a Rockhurst University professor who penned an excellent screed against the conflict. This is important because it reveals growing resentment across KCMO as to how City Hall is doing new airport business.Now . . . More ethics questions are on the table.An awesome TKC tipster tells us thatOn Jolie's campaign finance reportingPlease reference the KCMO Code of Ethics (yes, they have one) and review "Division 7. Political Activities", specifically . . .Section. 2-2070. Permitted and prohibited political activities of employeesSection. 2-2071. Prohibition on required political participationSection. 2-2072. City communications - prohibitions related to city electionsAccording 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."And so . . .In the latest campaign reports, a sum of $8,500.00 was noted over about a year's time . . . So this isn't exactly chump change we're talking about . . . Which is why we're not even going to talk about Council Lady Jolie's property taxes.Furthermore, tax fighters are crying foul over a the recent ethics contradiction . . . From a recent e-mail blast:Accordingly . . .You decide . . . The Magnolia Awards are bestowed on foreigners working in Shanghai, who contribute to the development of the city and to strengthening relations between China and their country of origin Rania Katavouta, a doctoral candidate of modern Greek literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will be awarded a Silver Magnolia Award from the Chinese city of Shanghai for her work teaching Greek to Chinese students. The Magnolia Awards are bestowed on foreigners working in Shanghai, who contribute to the development of the city and to enhancing relations between China and their country of origin. In the framework of the Scientific Co-operation Agreement signed between the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Shanghai International Studies University in 2013, Katavouta moved to Shanghai in September 2014 to teach Greek language and literature at the Department of Greek Studies of the University of International Studies in Shanghai. "Teaching Greek to Chinese students, who are interested in Greek culture and know alot about ancient history and mythology, was an interesting challenge," Katavouta noted in an interview with the Athens Macedonian News Agency. "Even though Greek is not their first choice," she clarified , " they show determination and they manage and overcome the linguistic differences and difficulties." As for what makes it difficult for Chinese students to learn Greek, Katavouta explained the main problems concerned pronunciation and sounds in the Greek language that don't exist in Chinese. Katavouta was nominated as a candidate for the award by the Shanghai University of International Studies. "The criterion for my candidacy," she stressed, "was my teaching as well as the organisation and participation in a series of events related to Greek and Chinese culture." She will receive her award on September 6, during a ceremony to take place in Shanghai. 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 Source: ANA-MPA [August 31, 2017] Razer Launches New Blade Pro with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Graphics IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced a new configuration option for the Razer Blade Pro, now with a Full HD display and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This new build at a lower price point than the Razer Blade Pro with a GeForce GTX 1080 is targeted toward gamers and creative professionals that need a slim, powerful desktop replacement. Equipped with a 7th gen Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, the latest Razer Blade Pro is a performance-focused system with stunning 17.3-inch Full HD, 120Hz screen. The 1920 x 1080 matte panel offers users a beautiful display that is ideal for pushing out high framerates, and providing amazing color with wide viewing angles. The Razer Blade Pro with GeForce GTX 1060 is also VR-ready. Experience games with next-generation VR performance, the lowest latency, and plug-and-play compatibility with leading headsetsdriven by NVIDIA VRWorks technologies. Gamers can enjoy breakthrough features such as NVIDIA Shadowplay and Ansel to capture and share gameplay and in-game shots that can be viewed in 360 degrees. The machine's slotted 16GB of dual-channel memory can be expanded up to 32GB capacity for powerful video editing and gaming. The hybrid storage configuration of 256GB PCIe SSD plus 2TB HDD delivers both speed and capacity, and can support up to 2TB SSD and up to 4TB HDD upgrades. Other highlights include Thunderbolt 3 for advanced connectivity, a built-in SD card reader, and Killer DoubleShot Pro network technology. Featuring the full spectrum of 16.8 million colors with vibrant lighting effects, the anti-ghosting individually backlit keys and trackpad on the new Razer Blade Pro offers endless possibilities for customization, powered by Razer Chroma. Game developers have the opportunity to integrate lighting effects directly into their game, creating more intuitive tutorials, pervasive in-game alerts, or even displaying cooldowns and health bars directly on the Blade Pro keyboard. Built with durable CNC military-grade aluminum, weighing only 6.78 pounds, and measuring just 0.88 inches thin, the Razer Blade Pro with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 packs in the power, resulting in a machine that is both refined and relentless. "The Razer Blade Pro is the ultimate gaming laptop that packs desktop-level performance with unmatched portability," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. "This latest iteration offers an optimized configuration for gamers and professionals that want a 17-inch display and top-notch build quality. The thin design houses the latest in performance components and features expandable memory and storage capability." Razer also announced another new product that complements the Razer Blade Pro. For mobile warriors, Razer announced a new Roge backpack that is designed for 17-inch laptops, offering a streamlined and stylish way to take the Razer Blade Pro on-the-go. The acclaimed Razer Blade family includes the 13.3-inch Blade Stealth - one of the most awarded laptops from any manufacturer lauded for its combination of performance, value, expandability and portability; the 14-inch Razer Blade, recognized for its perfect combination of portability and performance; and the existing 17.3-inch Razer Blade Pro with a GeForce GTX 1080, for the ultimate 4K desktop replacement laptop for work or play. Price: U.S. $2299.99 / Canada $2899.99 / EU 2399.99 / UK 2099.99 Availability: Razerzone.com (U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany) Q3 2017 Amazon, Best Buy, and Select Retail Partners Available Soon Worldwide Q4 2017 Product features: 17.3? Full HD (1920 x 1080) 120 Hz IPS Non-Touch Matte Display Quad-Core Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor (2.8 GHz / 3.8 GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5) 16GB (8GB x 2) Dual-Channel System Memory (slotted, DDR4, 2400MHz) Expandable to 32GB (16GB x 2) 256GB SSD (PCIe m.2) + 2TB HDD storage Expandable up to 2TB SSD (PCIe m.2) and 4TB HDD Windows 10 64-Bit Killer DoubleShot Pro technology: Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1) Killer E2500 (gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000) USB 3.0 port x3 (SuperSpeed) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) HDMI 2.0 video and audio output SDXC card reader Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater Edition Built-in stereo speakers Built-in array microphone 3.5 mm microphone/headphone combo jack 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI) Built-in webcam (2.0 MP) Anti-ghosting individually backlit keyboard powered by Razer Chroma Multimedia keys with scroll wheel Multi-touch Precision Touchpad Razer Synapse enabled with programmable keyboard, backlighting, and fan control Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) security chip embedded Kensington Lock interface Compact 165W Power Adapter Built-in 70Wh rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery 0.88 in. (22.5 mm) Height x 16.7 in. (424 mm) Width x 11 in. (281 mm) Depth 6.78 lbs. / 3.07 kg For more information about the Razer Blade Pro, please visit www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro Learn more about Razer Chroma devices and integrations at www.razerzone.com/chroma Images: For digital screens (websites, mobile, social media) ABOUT RAZER: Razer is the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers. The triple-headed snake logo trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized icons in the global gaming community, and the company has a fan base that spans every continent. Razer has designed and built the world's largest independent gamer ecosystem of hardware, software and services with over 35 million users. Razer's award-winning products include hardware such as high-performance gaming peripherals (for the PC and console platforms), the Razer Blade line of gaming laptops; software such as Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher); and services such as Razer zGold (a virtual credit service and payment engine for gamers). The company additionally provides audio-visual certification through its subsidiary THX Ltd. The company has a global footprint with 9 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading gaming brand in the US, Europe and China. Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, Razer is backed by institutional investors such as IDG-Accel, Intel Capital, Digital Grid and Horizons Ventures. Press Contacts: Americas Kevin Scarpati [email protected] Europe/Africa Jan Horak [email protected] Asia Pacific Nicholas Ferguson [email protected] China Evita Zhang [email protected] Razer - For Gamers. By Gamers. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/razer-launches-new-blade-pro-with-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-graphics-300511258.html SOURCE Razer [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Al Salam Bank-Bahrain, one of the pioneering Sharia-compliant banks in the kingdom, has extended its appreciation to Tamkeen on its continuous support and initiatives that helped in facilitating training programs for the banks staff. With the support of Tamkeen and in cooperation with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), the bank recently commenced to provide its Retail Banking employees with specialised training programs to underscore the importance of customer excellence. The bank is looking forward to enroll more of its employees in diversified training programs to further nurture their professional expertise, it said. Yousif Taqi, director and group CEO of Al Salam Bank-Bahrain, expressed his appreciation to Tamkeen over its efforts and programs aimed at supporting individuals as well as the private sector to achieve professionalism and career development. - TradeArabia News Service Abdulelah Al Shaikh, CEO of Saudi Home Loans (SHL), was recently honoured for his achievements recognised in the Business Worldwide Magazine (BWM) 2017 CEO Awards. The awards celebrate innovative, inspirational leaders and recognise the dedication and personal qualities that drive their success. Al Shaikh has achieved the top spot in the category 'Best CEO - Financial Services Industry Saudi Arabia' In the awarding process BWM praised Al Shaikh's accomplishments during his time as the head of SHL; one of the leading finance companies in Saudi Arabia and the first to specialise in home loans. The local residential property market has seen rapid growth over recent years, and SHL has gained a strong reputation as being a go-to agency for citizens and expats looking to purchase homes in the area. The Islamic Banking Sector is now one of the biggest and most important industries in Saudi, and it operates differently from many other parts of the world. One notable point is that financial institutions are prohibited from charging fees and interest on loans. SHL has grown a strong network of satisfied customers, and Al Shaikh puts this down to the company's commitment to exceptional customer care and service. "We understand that buying a home is often the largest financial commitment someone will ever make in their life, so our aim is to make that decision, and the process that follows it, as easy and stress-free as possible, Al Shaikh said. SHL was one of the first companies to be granted with a Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama) licence and now operates with a team of 40 Home Finance Consultants who are highly trained and experienced in helping people find the most suitable finance option based on their individual circumstances. A BWM spokesman said: "The property market in Saudi Arabia has had a huge impact on the local economy, and we're delighted to be able to commend someone who has personally worked so hard and achieved so much in this area. Abdulelah Al Shaikh has been a leading force in the industry and he and his team have allowed many people to finance homes, from apartments and holiday homes to substantial villas." TradeArabia News Service Omans Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm (Sezad) has signed an agreement with Boskalis Westminster (Oman) LLC for the construction of the liquid bulk berth project at Duqm Port at a cost of RO199.1 million ($515.4 million). The new agreement prepares Duqm Port to export liquid refined products and enhance its value in national economy. Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al-Jabri, chairperson of Sezad, signed the agreement on behalf of Sezad and Neil Haworth, general manager, on behalf of Boskalis Westminster. According to the agreement, Boskalis Westminster will carry out detailed engineering designs, construction of marine infrastructure, and dredging and reclamation works, while Worley Parsons Engineering will oversee the engineering and construction works of the project scheduled to be ready within 32 months from the date of awarding. The execution of the project shall be through a unified team of specialists from Sezad, Worley Parsons Company, and Duqm Refinery Company. Under the agreement, 2.4 km of the 4.6 km of secondary wave breakwater will be developed and reclaimed for the construction of the liquid quay, and the dual berth marina will be constructed with accessories and navigation equipment. Dredging of 26 million cu m The agreement works also include excavation of about 26 million cubic metres of material for the works of deepening the basin and track channel at the port, which leads to the liquid dock to reach 18 metres. About 5 million cu m of these materials shall be used to reclaim and fill the site dedicated to the quay. The agreement also provides for the construction of the quay wall of 1 kilometre and installation of buoys and navigational aids devices. Oil tanks After completion of the project, oil tanks and warehouses for bulk materials and facilities will be built by Duqm Refinery, on the reclaimed land area to export refined products from Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Area. Examples of refined products to be handled at the Berth shall be naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) and liquefied petroleum gas, coke and sulfur. Duqm Port is currently witnessing the implementation of a number of infrastructure projects, including the establishment of commercial terminal of commercial quay, which includes the construction of roads and commercial gateway of commercial dock, inspection area, trucks registration building, Port single-window building, customs building and other buildings related to the clearing work of commercial terminal. The Port also witnesses the construction of the commercial quay for the collection of containers and construction of buildings and workshops for the operation of the dock, cranes and service roads on the dock, in addition to the infrastructure of the government berth, the first integrated berth implemented in the Omani ports to serve government agencies. Duqm Port has a unique geographical location close to the international shipping lines and African and Asian markets. It has also an advanced infrastructure. The total length of breakwater is about 8.7 km. The depth of the Port basin is 18 metres and the entry channel is 19 metres. This would qualify the Port to receive and handle giant container vessels. TradeArabia News Service Bahrain has agreed to postpone the implementation of Commercial Registration (CR) fee hike by another six months following discussions with the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in this regard, said a report. In its appeal, BCCI said that the fee hike postponement would enable it to study the situation of small merchants and also create awareness among them on the importance of merging commercial activities and its expected benefits, reported BNA. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism was set to implement the Ministerial Edict 130/2016 starting from September, but now with this postponement, it will take effect from March next year. The move comes upon directives from HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to hold meetings with BCCI to reach an agreement on CR fees, and those of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, to ensure that any steps to be taken should support the governments plans to achieve economic growth, and contribute to generating job opportunities for Bahrainis, stated the report. Following the endorsement of the proposal, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and BCCI extended deepest appreciation to HRH the Prime Minister and HRH the Crown Prince for their constant keenness on supporting the commercial sector, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises in order to push economic growth forward and safeguard the sector. As per the terms of the agreement, the Ministry and BCCI called on owners of enterprises and companies to review their business activities and remove ineffective ones to reduce commitments associated with the Commercial Register, said the BNA report. The Ministry said that it is fully prepared to provide the necessary advice to merge activities for CR holders, it addded. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) recently received the first-ever cargo of Arabian crude oil from Saudi Aramco at its flagship Huizhou refinery in South Chinas Guangdong Province The original 240,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery has recently completed a 200,000 bpd expansion that is configured to process sour Arab Gulf grades, and Aramcos Arab Medium crude oil is a preferred choice for the plants baseload. CNOOC is the last of Chinas three large national oil companies to join Saudi Aramcos customer family. Prior to its expansion, Huizhou had no need for imported sour crudes since it mostly processed domestic oil from CNOOCs own offshore fields. Entrusted by the government to be the sole developer of Chinas offshore upstream, CNOOC in 2016 produced about 1.1 million bpd of crude oil, as well as 1.3 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, and its total refining capacity stood at 1.2 million bpd. The vessels arrival at the Huizhou terminal was celebrated by an Aramco Asia delegation together with representatives from CNOOC upper management. The groundwork for this successful delivery was laid through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on future crude supply and downstream cooperation last year. The MoU came in the context of intergovernmental efforts to further energy cooperation and forge closer synergies between Saudi Vision 2030 and Chinas Belt and Road initiative. Nabil A Al-Nuaim, president and CEO of Aramco Asia, welcomed the news of CNOOCs first Arabian crude oil arrival, noting: The new crude sales agreement with CNOOC highlights that China is at the front and centre of our downstream strategy and that we continue to be Chinas most reliable supplier. Aramco Asia will continue to support Chinese and other Asian refiners to have access to reliable Saudi crude. Expanding the companys market share in China is an important strategic target, for which new crude sales agreements such as the Huizhou supply make a vital contribution. By fostering strong relationships with a diverse customer base, Aramco continues to be well positioned to play an important role in meeting Chinas fast growing oil demand. TradeArabia News Service LUX* Hotels and Resorts, a major hotel operator based in Mauritius, has unveiled a sparkling new addition to Turkey's Aegean Riviera - the country's most glamourous holiday destination - with the opening of Lux* Bodrum. Perched on a picturesque pine-clad site and surrounded by rocky coves, the new resort lies on the south-western coastline, on a private peninsula with its own exclusive bay, where the Aegean is at its bluest. Setting it apart are the spectacular sea views, private beach and breathtaking sunsets that can be enjoyed from every angle. It is also located not far from some of the Greek islands, including Patmos and Kos. The resort has 91 guest rooms and 19 private residences and a one-of-a-kind exclusive beach house with its own private yacht anchorage. The sea is always the star along this coastline and LUX* Bodrum has been designed so guests enjoy it fully. In the heart of the resort, the rooms and suites provide discretion within a sophisticated setting, and exceptional 180- degree ocean views. Floor-to-ceiling windows promise unforgettable high-definition views of the crystal waters and Turkey's famous moonrise. With panoramic sea views, the three-room villas with private terrace and balcony provide ideal accommodation for large families. Pure clean lines and bespoke furnishing complement the award-winning architecture which blends harmoniously with nature - each feature of LUX* Bodrum is carefully orientated to make the most of the natural lie of the land. As well as a picture-postcard private beach, LUX* Bodrum has a 20m x 8m swimming pool, while the Aegean itself is a winner for a refreshing swim. Beside LUX* Bodrum's stretch of shoreline, guests gravitate to LUX* Bodrum's atmospheric bar, restaurant, club lounge to relax in armchairs and day beds or soak up the sunshine on the wooden deck. By night, its music-loving personality kicks in as DJs amp up the beat, mixologists get shaking and bon viveurs hit the dancefloor. Bringing a fresh breath of LUX* style island living to Turkey's most scenic and cosmopolitan destination, LUX* Bodrum entices travellers with more than idyllic conditions in which to unwind. A curated calendar of expert-led workshops inspires curious minds - creative artists and leading specialists share their secrets here throughout the year. Expect uplifting and edifying resort experiences like no other. Discover Sri Sri Yoga and stress-busting meditation, try the water marbling and the stained-glass workshop or take home tips to making the ultimate cup of coffee at Cafe LUX*. When it comes to cuisine, LUX* Bodrum is a sophisticated and delightful combination of the traditional and the innovative. Its restaurants feature fresh, seasonal produce and dining is a feast, taking cues from Bodrum's Mediterranean and Asian neighbours. Using the freshest flavoursome ingredients, and highest-quality fish and game, the chefs pick the best from both cuisines to reimagine simple, traditional Turkish dishes. Stella, the resort's Italian restaurant, thrills epicurean tastes. The menu reveals the talent of executive chef Baris Torcu and LUX*'s corporate chef Walter Lanfranchi, resulting in not-to-be-missed gourmet dishes. In a region blessed with fertile soil, guests can expect the finest organic vegetables and fruit and local olives, olive oil, grapes, figs, aromatic herbs, mandarins and kumquats which are second to none. The Aegean coast is one of the best spots for fresh fish and shellfish, and this part of the world is also famous for its grape varieties and delicious wines. - TradeArabia News Service Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform, and Ethiopian Airlines have announced a new multiyear full content agreement which will see Ethiopias flag carrier promote its inventory across Travelports platform. Under the agreement, Travelport's industry leading technology will support Ethiopian Airlines market and retail its offerings, in a more visual and effective way to a network of over 68,000 Travelport-connected travel agents in over 180 countries worldwide. The two companies have also renewed their long-term operator agreement, which will continue to see Ethiopian Airlines distributing Travelports technology in the country. This means that the Ethiopian customer base will continue to take advantage of Ethiopian Airlines regional expertise, and Travelports revolutionary products and services, including the industry-leading point of sale solution for agencies, Travelport Smartpoint, which was recently upgraded to further boost agent efficiency. Tewolde Gebremariam, chief executive officer, Ethiopian Airlines said: We are very happy to continue and expand our collaboration with Travelport. As travel technology advances, Travelport will support our business meeting and exceeding travellers personalized needs. Travelports innovative solutions and unrivalled choice of travel content provide many opportunities to make our business stronger and we are looking forward to continuing to support the travel industry in Africa." Rabih Saab, Travelport's president and managing director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, said: We are delighted to cement a successful 20 year relationship with Ethiopian Airlines, an airline that has established itself as a key component in the development of travel and tourism in the region , by signing both a full content and operator agreement. Travelport is committed to deliver a world of consumer ready content to the travel agent community and travellers, and support the countrys travel and tourism industry. As such, we are confident that Ethiopian Airlines will further reinforce and revitalise our successful operations and business partnerships in Africa. - TradeArabia News Service [August 31, 2017] Jenkins Community Announces Record Growth and Innovation in 2017 JENKINS WORLD -- The Jenkins project, the community of practitioners using Jenkins, is hosting its annual Jenkins World conference this week in San Francisco. In addition to featuring a world-class line up of Jenkins and DevOps experts and speakers, the Jenkins project is also reporting multiple milestones achieved this year. With an estimated 1,000,000+ users around the world, Jenkins is the de facto continuous delivery and DevOps orchestration tool. Record Growth, Industry Award Jenkins is widely considered the most popular automation server in use today. The project hit more than 150,000 active* installations as of June 30, 2017 - growth of 50 percent since the Jenkins project announced a 100,000 active installations milestone in January of 2015. (*Active installations are instances which permit anonymous usage data collection and have sent information in the preceding 30 days. This statistic does not reflect all Jenkins installations - only those installations that permit the data collection. This is an extremely conservative, but concrete, record of Jenkins usage. The Jenkins project also makes the usage information it captures publicly available.) In the 2016 State of Jenkins Community Survey, 85 percent of community survey respondents stated that their company's use of Jenkins had grown over the past year. Additionally, fully 90 percent said their use of Jenkins is mission-critical for their company. The 2016 State of Jenkins Community Survey results indicate that usage of Jenkins is providing value for both existing and new users through the expanded use of Jenkins within organizations. Jenkins was also awarded "Best DevOps Open Source Project" by DevOps.com as part of the DevOps Dozen awards. "Jenkins has really become the nexus of continuous delivery," said Alan Shimel, editor-in-chief, DevOps.com. "Everyone has a plugin for Jenkins, and while there are lots of great open source developer tools on the market, Jenkins is one of the most used and most trusted. The sheer number of users speak for the reliability and innovation Jenkins provides." An Innovative Year for the Community In February 2017, the community released Declarative Pipeline, a new, simpler way to automate continuous delivery pipelines. With this announcement, the project introduced declarative syntax to pipeline automation, making it significantly easier for software delivery teas - and especially non-programmers - to create and maintain continuous delivery pipelines. CloudBees collaborated with the Jenkins community to develop the new functionality. In April, the anticipated launch of Blue Ocean, a dramatic new UX implementation for Jenkins, brought a new user experience to Jenkins. Blue Ocean is based on a personalized, modern design that allows users to graphically create, visualize and get an instant status of their continuous delivery pipelines. Blue Ocean reimagines the Jenkins user experience, enabling software delivery teams with members of all skill levels to more easily adopt continuous delivery. Once again, CloudBees supported this project by providing an entire team of developers working on the project full-time. The previous releases of Jenkins 2 and Jenkins Pipeline in 2016, followed by Declarative Pipeline and Blue Ocean in 2017, has triggered a surge in the adoption of Jenkins Pipeline. As of June 30, 2017, the community had defined 1,018,605 Jenkins Pipeline jobs - more than 13x as many pipeline jobs as existed at June 30, 2016. The combination of Declarative Pipeline and Blue Ocean is lowering the barriers to entry for continuous delivery and, as a result, Jenkins users are shattering previous numbers of jobs created with Jenkins Pipeline. Inaugural Jenkins World Awards The Jenkins World 2017 Award Program recognizes the achievements of continuous delivery innovators and Jenkins contributors around the globe. Individual Jenkins community contributors are celebrated via the Jenkins Community Awards and enterprise companies who have transformed to a DevOps culture and can quantify significant value to their organizations are honored via the CloudBees Innovation Awards. Winners will be announced today at Jenkins World 2017. "The uptake in Jenkins usage continues to set record numbers, and Jenkins innovation is accelerating dramatically," said Kohsuke Kawaguchi, Jenkins founder and CTO at CloudBees. "In 2017, we saw Declarative Pipeline and Blue Ocean introduced and they have quickly been adopted by the community - gaining tremendous traction and realizing immediate acceptance." Additional Resources for Jenkins: Download Jenkins: http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-download-jenkins http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-download-jenkins Learn more about Declarative Pipeline: http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-declarative-pipeline-jenkins-blog http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-declarative-pipeline-jenkins-blog Learn more about Blue Ocean: http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-blue-ocean-page http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-blue-ocean-page Take the 2017 State of Jenkins Community Survey: http://join.cloudbees.com/jenkins-momentum-2017-state-of-jenkins-community-survey About Jenkins and the Jenkins Community Jenkins is the leading open source automation server supported by a large and growing community of developers, testers, designers and other people interested in continuous integration, continuous delivery and other modern software delivery practices. Built on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), it provides more than 1,300 plugins that extend Jenkins to automate with practically any technology software delivery teams use. The Jenkins community advocates the use of Jenkins to the global development community, serving as a central source for tutorials, forums and other helpful resources for Jenkins users of all experience-levels. By recognizing the numerous contributors to the Jenkins project, the Jenkins project creates and fosters a community-powered infrastructure for maintaining and further developing Jenkins. You can follow the Jenkins community on Twitter (News - Alert) (@JenkinsCI). About CloudBees CloudBees is the hub of enterprise Jenkins and DevOps, providing companies with smarter solutions for automating software development and delivery. CloudBees starts with Jenkins, the most trusted and widely-adopted continuous delivery platform, and adds enterprise-grade security, scalability, manageability and expert-level support. By making the software delivery process more productive, manageable and hassle-free, CloudBees puts companies on the fastest path to transforming great ideas into great software and returning value to the business more quickly. Backed by Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Verizon (News - Alert) Ventures, CloudBees was founded in 2010 by former JBoss CTO Sacha Labourey and an elite team of continuous integration, continuous delivery and DevOps professionals. Follow CloudBees on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831005110/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TCG and Members GE, Infineon, Microsoft, OnBoard Security and Wibu-Systems to Host Industrial Security Session at IoT Solutions World Congress Trusted Computing Group (@TrustedComputin), with members GE, Infineon, Microsoft (News - Alert), OnBoard Security and Wibu-Systems, will host a free session at the IoT Solutions World Congress, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 09:30-13:00 p.m. in Fira Barcelona, hall CC5, room 5.1 on securing the industrial IoT. Speakers from the companies will talk to attendees about deploying techniques to better secure the industrial Internet of Things, how to ensure identity and security of very constrained "things," and using available APIs for encryption, authentication, device identity and integrity. Monty Wiseman, GE, will update attendees on TCG's new industrial IoT work group, and its efforts to apply widely vetted industry standards to industrial networks and devices. A panel, including Steve Hanna, Infineon; Lee Wilson, OnBoard Security; and Wiseman will talk about the many standards within TCG that can be used to secure the industrial IoT and how to apply them. Microsoft's Dennis Mattoon will explain TCG's new work with DICE, or the Device Identifier Composition Engine specification, to establish a root of trust and identity in IoT and embedded systems not suitable for a traditional TPM. Attendees can also see many of these standards and specifications deployed in demos from the speakers and Wibu-Systems. Wibu-Systems will show its CodeMeter license protection product, using the TPM to protect vital intellectual property and software assets. TCG session attendees must have a conference or expo pass to the congress event and can save 500 on a Full Conference Pass with code 526E24AF or get a free Expo Pass with code 111B9B47. http://www.iotsworldcongress.com/visit/passes-and-prices/ About TCG TCG (@TrustedComputin) is a not-for-profit organization formed to develop, define and promote open, vendor-neutral, global industry standards, supportive of a hardware-based root of trust, for interoperable trusted computing platforms. More information about TCG is available at www.trustedcomputinggroup.org. Follow TCG on Twitter and on LinkedIn. Brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Tweet this: @IOTSWC secure #IIOT session Oct 3. free expo pass 111B9B47 http://ow.ly/oUbj30eLftt View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170831005333/en/ Registration open for current affairs presentation on North Korea at Effingham Library EFFINGHAM -- On Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. Ryan Ervin returns to the Effingham Public Library for another session of his popular "Whats the Deal with..." Series, providing background and discussing pertinent current affairs. Ervin, Effingham High School History Teacher and Adjunct Lake Land History Instructor, will lead a timely discussion about the current events and political climate of North Korea. Registration is required for this program. To register go the Librarys website at www.effinghamlibrary.org, call the library at 217-342-2464 x1, or email info@effinghamlibrary.org. Domestic violence education and volunteer training scheduled DECATUR -- Training is available for individuals interested in educating themselves on the issues surrounding domestic violence. The training will take place Oct. 2 - 18, on Monday through Thursday afternoons from 1-5 p.m., in Decatur at Dove, 302 S. Union, Dean Simcox Conference Room. This 40-hour training is approved by ICADV (Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence) and facilitated by Dove and other community agencies' staff members. There is a $150 fee for the training and some scholarships available. To register, contact Barbara Blakey at 217-428-6616; a phone interview needs to take place by noon Wednesday, Sept. 27. Individuals interested in making a difference in the lives of victims and children that Doves Domestic Violence Program serves are encouraged to participate in this training. Be an advocate for peace in your school, workplace or church. This extensive training program will allow you to volunteer in many areas, such as support group facilitation, legal advocacy and children's services. Dove provides services to Macon, Moultrie, Shelby, DeWitt and Piatt Counties. CHARLESTON -- Tarble Arts Center staff had time and otherness on the mind when bringing in art for their Fall Season of Exhibitions. Along with Eastern Illinois University, the center has opened up with exhibits showcasing art from a Japanese traditionalist, a rock and roll quilter, studio faculty and other artists this season. And Rehema Barber, Tarble Director, said this idea of time and otherness could be seen through the work of the artists in the building. The perceived value of time and its correlation to otherness is an alluring and elusive and transitory concept-- especially as it relates to high and lowbrow culture, Barber wrote on the theme. A highlight of the Falls exhibits, prints of traditional Japanese woodcuts by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi are on display in the Brainard Gallery. Yoshitoshi, who died in 1892, was considered a master in the field of woodcuts, Barber said, and 23 Japanese prints of his work have traveled from the Taubman Museum of Arts permanent collection to Charleston. We are super stoked about it, Barber said. He was one of the preeminent Ukiyo-e print masters of the last 19th century. The prints depict traditional aspects of Japanese culture often portraying a scene with samurai and geisha. Also, embedded in each piece, a Japanese characters describe the seen and all of those involved in the art. Barber noted that labels next to each artwork explain the scenes. Barber said that at the time these pieces were created, modernism was rolling into Japan, and it worried Yoshitoshi. This collection of works was his counter to modernism as a reminder of Japans traditional background. He saw the age of modern Japan when it was sort of transitioning over that the traditional Japanese culture was being somewhat lost, Barber said. Accompanying the exhibit, Robert Petersen will be presenting a lecture on woodcuts art at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in the centers atrium. In that similar vein, another exhibit in the center takes a more modern approach to a very traditional form of art, quilting. Located in the eGallery, a collection of quilts depict more edgy visuals that what is often presented on quilts. This is a collection of work entitled No More Mr. Nice Guy was done by a California-based artist Ben Venom. In all of these works, Venom illustrates through fabric more pop culture and rock and roll type scenes. Considered a focal point of the collection, one quilt depicts a fierce-looking owl with bombs dropping from his wings and a single in the middle of a spade symbol above his head. Venoms work riffs off of imagery from vintage tattoos, the occult, motorcycle gangs, heavy metal bands, and pop culture with quilts, according to a description of his collection. He has shown his work internationally and has been noted by several national media outlets. Venom plans on coming to Charleston to speak on his work along with Mike Schuetz, Tarble Assistant Director, at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the atrium. Also on display, EIU faculty will present their work in the 2017 Art and Design Biennial in the Main Gallery. This is exhibit has an assortment of different style of art from paintings to sculptures. A gallery talk will take place at 11 a.m. Sept. 13 in the Main Galleries. Barber said a permanent group of works the center has collected will also be on display and said to fit in line with the theme of the fall season of artworks. The galleries are open for viewing from 10-5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Coming soon to your local Hy-Vee store: celebrity burgers and trendy fitness classes. The Iowa-based supermarket chain on Wednesday announced partnerships with Wahlburgers and Orangetheory Fitness that it said will "diversify its business model while reinforcing its mission of making customers lives easier, healthier and happier." The company said its deal with Wahlburgers involves plans to build, own and operate 26 Wahlburgers restaurants -- more than doubling the brands current locations. Wahlburgers is a casual burger chain run by Paul Wahlberg, who is the brother of actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg. It currently has 17 restaurants in nine states and Canada. Hy-Vee said its first franchised Wahlburger's location will open next year in West Des Moines, Iowa. It did not say when other locations will open or where they will be; however, a map included with press materials showed both Lincoln and Omaha as future Wahlburgers locations. The company also said it will serve a limited selection of Wahlburgers-branded menu items at its 84 Market Grille restaurants, including the one at the Hy-Vee at 5020 N. 27th St. in Lincoln. The deal with Orangetheory will bring the fitness chain's high-intensity group workouts to Hy-Vee locations, either in stores or in locations adjacent to them. The first Hy-Vee Orangetheory Fitness location is scheduled to open later this year in the Minneapolis area. Hy-Vee did not say in how many other stores it plans to open Orangetheory locations or when they will open. Hy-Vee officials were unavailable for comment Wednesday, but in a news release, Jeremy Gosch, executive vice president of strategy and chief merchandising officer, said the deals "are just another example of Hy-Vee listening to the needs of our customers. At Hy-Vee, we are committed to meeting our customers where they are -- whether that is in a retail grocery environment, restaurant or online through our Aisles Online program, Gosch said. Hy-Vee has been aggressively adding amenities to its stores. In just the past year, it has added walk-in health clinics, clothing boutiques and additional restaurants to some of its five Lincoln store locations. In 2015, it added an online delivery service to all of its stores. Sanjeev Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 The government today defended the demonetisation exercise undertaken in November last year after the annual report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed that as much as 99 per cent of the scrapped currency (around Rs 15.28 lakh crore) had come back to the banks, thereby putting a question mark on the gains accrued in the disruptive exercise. Read: Fallout of demonetisation on predicted lines: Jaitley The RBI reported in annual accounts that specified bank notes (SBNs) of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 of the said amount have been deposited back as on June 30, 2017. The outstanding SBNs as on November 6, 2016, were worth Rs 15.44 lakh crore. This means only around Rs 16,000 crore has not been returned to the banks. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Former Finance P Chidambaram attacked the government and the RBI after the figures came out. 99% notes legally exchanged! Was demonetisation a scheme designed to convert black money into white? he said in a tweet. Rs 16,000 crore out of demonetised notes of Rs 15,44,000 crore did not come back to the RBI. That is 1%. Shame on the RBI which recommended demonetisation, he added. The quantum of the notes returned after demonetisation has been a much speculated subject with the RBI not having given figures till today, citing several factors. The figures given in the report today are subject to future corrections based on the verification process when completed, the RBI said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley defended the demonetisation exercise as it had gained on the objectives of flushing out black money, eliminating fake Indian currency notes (FICN), to strike at the root of financing of terrorism and Left wing extremism, to convert non-formal economy into a formal economy to expand tax base and employment and to give a big boost to digitalisation of payments to make India a less-cash economy. Countering the criticism of such quantum of notes returned, the Finance Ministry said the government had expected all SBNs to come back to the banking system to become effectively usable currency. The fact that the bulk of SBNs have come back shows that the banking system and the RBI were able to effectively respond to the challenge of collecting such a large number of SBNs in a limited time, it said. Jaitley pointed out that there was less cash in circulation today at only 83 per cent with full remonetisation having taken place. The total currency in circulation of all denominations as on November 8, 2016, was Rs 17.77 lakh crore, whereas the total currency in circulation as on August 4, 2017, was Rs 14.75 lakh crore. Jaitley said people with inadequate understanding of how to tackle black money linked note ban with money returned to system. He said it was unfortunate that those who had not taken a single step against black money while being in power were now criticising. He said the cash squeeze after the note ban in Chhattisgarh and J&K was evident from dip in terrorist and separatist activities. What gains? Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 31 Just outside the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, where Dean Students Welfare (DSW) Prof Emanual Nahar is the director, one can see printed posters pasted on the walls. It not only violates the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act 2007, which carries a fine of Rs 50,000 and one-year imprisonment or both, but also the Lyngdoh committee guidelines. Under the Defacement Act, the FIRs are registered. When asked about defacement on the campus, the DSW clarified that once they get any complaint, they would get the FIR registered and also the police could take cognisance. Most of the posters on the canteen walls belong to Indian National Students Orgaisation (INSO), which is a students wing of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Hindustan Students Association and one belonged to Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) too. Also according to the Lyngdoh committee guidelines, No candidate shall be permitted to make use of printed posters, printed pamphlets, or any other printed material for the purpose of canvassing and candidates could only use hand-made material which has to be put up at designated places. But the posters are featuring those leaders who are not contesting elections but hold positions in the respective parties. Meanwhile, the PU has boards at various places where publicity material could be pasted. These are the only designated places where publicity material could be pasted. On Wednesday, Chandigarh Police registered three cases of defacement by students in colleges. Printed stickers on shirts not allowed Most of the supporters of student parties have been wearing their party stickers on their shirts. These stickers are printed and thus violate the Lyngdoh norms. In a meeting with representatives of parties on Thursday, both the DSW and the Chief Security Officer cautioned that they couldnt wear stickers on their shirts. Only the Students for Society (SFS) is wearing handmade stickers on their shirts while the rest continued to flout norms even on the second day of the code of conducts implementation. Chief Security Officer Ashwani Koul said when he reached the Law Department, there were about 50 cars, belonging to one particular political party, on which printed posters were pasted. I tore the posters as they were printed ones, he said. The DSW said they had been sensitising the leaders about the rules and regulations. SOPU under scanner Leaders of Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) who are using the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi are under the scanner. We are watching the situation and observing the activities of SOPU, said DSW Emanual Nahar. Rajinder Nagarkoti Tribune News Service Panchkula, August 31 Surender Dhiman Insan, journalist of Sach Kahoon newspaper, a Dera Sacha Sauda mouthpiece, who was booked under sedition charges surrendered in Panchkula on Thursday. This was confirmed by Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh. The FIR was registered at Sector 5 police station, against him along with dera spokesperson Aditya Insan and three others. He was produced in the Panchkula court and sent to seven days police remand. Dera spokesperson Aditya Insan and others, who are facing charges of inciting violence in Panchkula on August 25 after the special CBI court convicted dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim in rape of two followers, are still absconding. The police had even issued look out notices against these five accused. Our Correspondent Patiala, August 30 After facing the problem of disbanding 134 truck unions in the state, truck operators alleged that the payments of over Rs 150 crore as transportation charges have been pending with the Punjab Government. Happy Sandhu, president, All-Punjab Truck Operator Union, said five government agencies Punsup, Markfed, Pungrain, Punjab Agro and Warehouse were engaged by the government for purchasing and lifting of wheat and paddy. He said though season of wheat was over four months back, no agency had released arrears of transportation charges to the truck operators. He said during a meeting with the chief principal secretary, Suresh Kumar, in August-mid, they were assured of payments within 10 days, but now even another week of passing that deadline, they had not received a single penny. He alleged that the government was hell bent on destroying them as it had earlier dissolved truck unions and now their payments were pending. He added that they were now facing problems in government transport offices as after abolition of the post of DTO, the Punjab Government had not issued any fresh guidelines for the Transport Department due to which transporters, truck operators and others were facing problems of passing of vehicles, transfer cases, permits and other issues. Notably, the truck operators across Punjab under the banner of All-Punjab Truck Operator Union are constantly protesting against the governments decision to dissolve 134 truck unions. Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, August 31 The police will conduct a probe to establish if there was any laxity in investigation in the cases against controversial godman Rampal and four others, who were acquitted by court for lack of evidence on Tuesday. SP Manisha Chaudhary said here today that the court order would be studied and a probe instituted to find out whether there was any shortcoming in the investigation. If the probe finds any laxity on the part of the investigation officer in the case at any level, action will be taken against him, she said. The court of judicial magistrate (first class) Mukesh Kumar had criticised the police investigation while acquitting Rampal and four others in the case (FIR number 426) registered under sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC. The court stated that it was highly disappointed with the shoddy probe conducted by police officials and the case is an example of worst investigation. It said the investigating/prosecuting official(s) responsible for the acquittal of Rampal and others be identified and responsibility fixed for the errors committed during such a poor investigation. The investigating officer in the case has miserably failed in discharging his duties. The prosecution has been instrumental in not serving the cause of justice, the court said while ordering for sending a copy of the judgment to the Hisar SP for necessary action. Four more criminal cases against godman Four more criminal cases are pending against Rampaltwo of murder, one of waging or attempting to wage a war, or abetting to wage a war, against the Government of India and one case under the Essential Commodities Act. Tribune News Service Nahar Majra (Kurukshtra), August 31 Three birs of Guru Granth Sahib were burnt in a fire at a gurdwara in Nahar Majra, near Shahabad Markanda town on Thursday morning. The fire was noticed at around 4 am by Jaswant Singh, the granthi of the gurdwara, who immediately informed the villagers. The villagers further informed the Gurdwara Chhevein Patshahi at Kurukshetra, about 35 km from the village, and the local administration. On getting the information, police officials visited the spot. People who gathered at the gurdwara denied any suspicious movement at Nahar Majra in the last few days. A local resident, Gurmukh Singh, said it was premature to point fingers at anyone for which no one was an eyewitness. After the granthi raised an alarm, we saw smoke billowing out of the room. Several electrical appliances and three birs burnt inside the gurdwara building, said Sukhwinder Singh, who was also present at the spot. Based on the preliminary investigations, Superintendent of Police Abhishek Garg denied any foul play. He said there was no sign of forced entry at the gurdwara. He said the fire appeared to have occurred due to the electric short circuit from a running fan. The SP said the forensic experts had taken samples to confirm the cause of the fire. Later on, a delegation from Gurdwara Chhevein Patshahi and representatives of the Shiromani Akali Dal also visited the site. Meanwhile, official sources said strict vigil had been maintained to check any criminal angle behind the incident. On August 25, when Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was pronounced guilty for rapes, an attempt to burn a telephone exchange at Nalvi village, about 4 km from here, was foiled by the alert villagers. Nine followers of Dera Sacha Sauda have been arrested by the police for damaging public property and other offences at Nalvi. Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, August 31 Picking up further leads following the interrogation of police personnel arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the custodial death of one of the accused in the Kotkhai minor rape and murder case, the CBI today called two more members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), ASP Bhajan Negi and DSP Rattan Negi, to Delhi for questioning. The CBI is zeroing in on more accused and besides conducting lie detection test of the arrested police officials, some high-profile persons are also under the scanner. The reason behind the killing of Suraj may provide vital clues which could help solve the case. Some big names may be exposed as the investigation progresses. The CBI had arrested IG ZH Zaidi, who was heading the SIT, and seven others on August 29 and booked them under Section 302 of the IPC following scientific investigations and statement of the sentry under Section 164 of CrPC. The investigations revealed that the SIT had not conducted investigations in a proper manner, CBI lawyer Anshul Bansal said. However, sections could be changed as the case progresses, said legal experts. The investigations are on track and the status of the investigations would be submitted to the High Court on September 6. The CBI action has caused panic in the Police Department and the government. Highly placed sources in the Police Department said the decision to handover the twin cases to the CBI was taken on the behest of DGP Somesh Goyal, who discussed the case with the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary. DGPs orders not complied with The fact that the entire staff of the Kotkhai police station was not shifted to the Police Lines, Shimla, after the custodial death of Suraj, one of the accused, despite the orders of the DGP is a clear indication that every possible attempt was made to shield them. The DGP had ordered shifting of the entire staff of the Kotkhai police station which included 17 policemen and six Home Guard jawans on July 19 to the Police Lines, Shimla, but the orders were not complied with and the staff remained in Theog. It was only after a few days when it was brought to the notice of the new Shimla SP Soumya Sambasivan that the orders were enforced. Sambasivan said she called for explanation to which the erring police personnel replied that they were in Theog as per the order of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer. The working of the police is again under suspicion as the possibility of the remaining four accused, including Rajender Singh, alias Raju, Subash Singh Bisht (42), Deepak, alias Deepu (29) and Lok Jung, alias Chotu (19) being threatened by the police cannot be ruled out. Moreover, even the CBI had pointed out that the functioning of the police was not proper. Meanwhile, all police officials arrested by the CBI have been placed under suspension. Big names may be exposed Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, August 31 After the arrest of eight police personals, including an IG-rank officer, the CBI on Thursday summoned ASP Bhajan Negi and DSP Ratan Negi to Delhi to join the investigations into the custodial death of Suraj. Both of them were members of the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the state police in the Kotkhai minor rape and murder case. Inspector General of Himachal Pradesh Police Zahur Zaidi and seven other policemen were arrested in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday. Also read: CBI arrests Himachal IGP, 7 cops in Kotkhai rape suspect murder case Meanwhile, the CBI Wednesday indicated that none of the six persons arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) of the Himachal Pradesh Police were involved in the crime. The DNA samples of eight persons collected initially by the police have not matched with the forensic evidence of culprits gathered from the crime scene and the victims body, lending credence to the allegations that the SIT deliberately arrested innocent persons to shield the culprits. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The CBI had been banking heavily on the forensic evidence and awaiting the report of DNA samples of Ashish Chauhan (29), alias Ashu, a resident of Sharaal village in Kotkhai; Rajender Singh (32), alias Raju, driver of a pickup van from Haliala village; Subhash Singh Bisht (42) and Deepak (29), alias Deepu, both of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand; Lok Jung (19), alias Chotu, and Suraj Singh (29), both from Nepal; and two others under the scanner. Suraj was later killed in lockup. Samples of human cells, including blood, semen, skin, saliva, mucus, perspiration and roots of hair, collected from the crime scene were sent for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing. The samples of eight suspects were also taken for matching, but the result came back negative, said sources. The case would have been cracked had even a single sample matched, sources said, adding that call record details of one of the eight police officials, who were arrested yesterday in connection with the custodial death of Suraj, played a key role in nailing them. The case may put the government in an awkward position if the CBI succeeds in exposing the alleged conspirators. With the DNA reports going against the SIT theory, the CBI may now seek nod to conduct a lie detector test on the arrested cops. Hamirpur, August 31 Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur today alleged gross negligence on part of the government and the police in investigation the Kotkhai rape and murder case. Thakur said it was highly shameful and condemnable that police were trying to save the real culprits. He said that the arrest of police officials had shattered the trust of people in the state police system. The MP said there was complete lawlessness in the state and demanded the imposition of Presidents rule in HP. Earlier, the MP visited Anu village near here and participated in a cleanliness drive. The village was adopted by Anurag Thakur. He also addressed the grievances of the villagers said sufficient funds would be provided for development of the village. OC State Sen. Matt Hansen announced Thursday he will run for a second term in the Nebraska Legislature representing northeast Lincoln's District 26. Hansen, 29, is a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature and was elected in 2014. He said he will continue to focus on supporting Nebraska's students, investing in neighborhoods and communities, and protecting workers and the economy. The senator has introduced a number of bills in his three years in the Legislature. Some of those include a bill (LB93) that would regulate the use of automatic license plate readers by law enforcement agencies, which is in the first stage of consideration; one (LB111) that would require county offices to be elected on nonpartisan ballots, which is in the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee; and a bill (LB211) to increase the minimum wage for people who are paid by tips, from $2.13 an hour to $3.60 and then $4.50 an hour, which is in the first stage of consideration. It has been a wonderful experience to represent northeast Lincoln in the Legislature. It would be an honor to be re-elected, and continue to work for the priorities and needs of the people in the district, Hansen said. Hansen and his wife Jane were married in 2016 and live in the University Place neighborhood. He serves on the boards of the University Place Community Organization and the Child Guidance Center. He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska College of Law. In the Legislature, he serves on the Business and Labor Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Planning Committee. He is also the vice chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee. Jammu, August 31 The BJP today charged National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with instigating people by propagating communalism on Article 35A for petty political gains. In a statement issued here today, BJP spokesman Varinder Gupta cautioned Omar that his aggressive posture and the act of instigating people on his presumption that the Supreme Court would turn down Article 35A would divide the people on communal lines and may lead to a division in the state. Instead of fighting this legal issue in the court of law, Omar Abdullah is instigating people, which is against the unity of J&K, he observed. If the issue of Article 35A creates a regional and communal divide, the NC would be solely responsible for it, he said. The BJP spokesman, while taking note of Omars statement that the PDP-BJP alliance was dividing people on communal lines, said it was the NC which had expertise in playing communal politics to grab power. He said that right from the day of its birth as the Muslim Conference, it had exploited Kashmiri Muslims and pitted them against the Hindu Maharaja on communal lines and engineered the 1931 riots, targeting Kashmiri Pandits, resulting in their massacre and destruction of property. The role of Omar Abdullah and his party during the Amarnath land row in 2008 was a clear example of the divisive politics of the NC and other Kashmiri leaders, he said. TNS Tribune News Service Srinagar, August 31 At a time when the National Investigation Agency is probing the chain of players behind the alleged financing of secessionist activities, militant group Hizbul Mujahideen has reportedly tasked one of its top commanders based in north Kashmir to target an officer of the agency. The J&K Police have already alerted its men on the ground about the threat and asked officers to ensure comprehensive security for the NIA officers during their stay in Kashmir. Top police sources said Hizb supreme commander Syed Salahuddin, who is based in Muzaffarbad, has tasked Parvaiz Ganai, alias Mubashir, who is based in north Kashmirs frontier Kupwara district, to target an NIA officer. Yes, as per our input, Hizb commander has been tasked to target an NIA officer. We have taken all necessary safety measures, a J&K police officer said, wishing not to be named. The info has been shared with the agencies concerned. After a series of raids by the NIA for more than a month, it arrested in July seven separatists, including Hurriyat hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelanis son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah, alias Fantoosh, Geelanis political secretary Peer Saifullah and Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar. The others arrested by the NIA include National Front chairman and suspended provincial president of the hardline Hurriyat Nayeem Ahmad Khan and former militant commander and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmad Dar, alias Bitta Karate. In August, the NIA also arrested prominent Srinagar businessman Zahoor Watali from New Delhi. Watali is suspected of acting as a conduit for illegally remitting funds to secessionists. While Watali is in police custody, Altaf Funtoosh, Peer Saifullah and Nayeem Khan are in judicial custody. Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 30 At the fag end of their lives, the beneficiaries are not even getting the promised Rs 500 on a regular basis as pension, leave Rs 2,000, which was promised by the Congress, before coming to power in Punjab in their election manifesto. The Congress in its manifesto had announced to increase the amount of old-age pension to Rs 2,000 from present Rs 500. They get Rs 500 once in three or four months that, too, after making several rounds to the office of the Social Security Department here. Sant Ram, who is an octogenarian, told The Tribune that senior citizens were expecting to get enhanced pension, when the Congress government took over. Forget about Rs 2,000, we are not even able to get Rs 500 per month, which we used to get earlier, he said. He said the government should release the old-age pension as even Rs 500 a month matters to people like him a lot. At the fag-end of our lives, we need money for medicines etc. We cannot put undue pressure on our children to provide us with money, he said. It is not an isolated case. Several old-age pensioners have to make several rounds to the office to get the old-age pension. Highly placed sources in the Finance Department said the state was finding it too difficult to sustain in the absence of finances. They do not have enough funds to provide regular salaries of employees. How can they provide pensions? said one of the officials in Chandigarh. Reliable sources said old people were also suffering because bills were not cleared by the state Treasury for long. It is learnt that till December, the pension was disbursed to the beneficiaries, but after that, they could not get the benefits. The pensioners make several rounds to the offices to get a meagre amount of Rs 500 still they are sent back empty-handed. District Social Security Officer Inderpreet Kaur, however, said the bills for January, February and March were sent for clearance and these would be cleared anytime once the funds are released. Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, August 31 At least 19 persons died and more than 30 others, including fire brigade personnel, suffered injuries after a five-storey building collapsed in south Mumbais Bhendi Bazaar area this morning, police and fire officials said. The 117-year-old Hussaini Building located near the JJ Hospital housed five families and a commercial establishment. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) We are still trying to ascertain the number of people living in the premises, a police official said. Some of those trapped in the collapsed premises were making phone calls to their friends and relatives for help. Fire officials said it was not possible to bring in excavators as the roads leading to the structure were narrow. Survivors from the building told police that the structure had become weak following the heavy rain in the past few days. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation had declared the building unsafe more than six years ago, but some of its residents had refused to shift, officials said. The Hussaini Building was part of a cluster of buildings that were scheduled to be demolished as part of the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project. The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), which is carrying out the redevelopment project, said it had already shifted seven families three years ago. However, several residents had sought more clarity on the alternate accommodation so they stayed put in the building. Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who is the guardian minister for Mumbai, while visiting the site of the collapse, said the administrations priority was to first rescue those trapped in the building. The government will order a probe to look into the cause of the collapse later, Desai added. Within a few minutes of the collapse, fire brigade officials and personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot to carry out rescue and relief operations. Mumbai, August 31 At least 24 persons were killed and 12 others, including five fire brigade personnel and an NDRF jawan, suffered injuries after a five-storey building collapsed in south Mumbais Bhendi Bazaar area this morning. Around 10 persons were still feared trapped under the rubble. Some of the trapped victims called their friends and relatives for help. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The 117-year-old Hussaini Building, located near JJ Hospital, housed nine families and a school. The children had a narrow escape as the building collapsed minutes before they arrived. Fire officials said it was not possible to bring in excavators as the roads leading to the structure were narrow. Survivors told the police that the structure had become weak following heavy rains over the last few days. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had declared the building unsafe more than six years ago, but some residents had refused to leave, officials said. The building was part of a cluster of dwellings that was scheduled to be demolished as part of the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project. The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), which is executing the project, said it had already shifted seven families three years ago. However, several residents who had sought more clarity on the alternative accommodation stayed put. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, who visited the site, ordered an inquiry by the state additional chief secretary. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. Industries Minister Subhash Desai, the guardian minister for Mumbai, said the priority was to rescue those trapped. TNS/Agencies Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Kolkata, August 31 In a great relief for people living in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Thursday announced lifting from tomorrow the 80-day shutdown of the hills. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) After a meeting of the partys central committee held in Kurseong today, Binay Tamang, convener of GJM, said a fresh call on the shutdown would be taken on September 12 when the Gorkha leadership is slated to meet the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Siliguri for a second round of dialogue. The GJM decision to lift the shutdown which was in force in the hills since June 12 follows their meeting with the Chief Minister in Kolkata on August 29. Besides GJM, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and Jan Andolon Party (JAP) also took part in the meeting. West Bengal tourism minister Gautam Deb said Mamata Banerjee should get all the credit for resolving the impasse in Darjeeling. The meeting she had with the Gorkha leadership has paved the way for the lifting of the shutdown. I welcome the decision of the GJM, he said. In the meeting held in the state secretariat here on Tuesday, the GJM presented a memorandum to the Chief Minister listing various demands including a separate state (Gorkhaland) carved out from West Bengal, judicial probe into the incidents of firing by the police at agitators during the current phase of the Gorkhaland movement and compensation to families of agitators who lost their lives in police action. In the August 29 meeting the Gorkha leadership promised to discuss with their colleagues the issue of lifting of the shutdown. The two sides decided to meet again on September 12. Banerjee, however, made it clear that no way she was ready to discuss the issue of bifurcation of West Bengal for creation of Gorkhaland. The present phase of the Gorkhaland agitation started as a GJM-led protest against a state government announcement to make Bengali a compulsory subject for students across the state. The protest snowballed into a movement for a separate state leading to the loss of lives of eight agitators, one policeman and one civic volunteer, and crippling life in Darjeeling and its neighbourhood. Bimal Gurung, GJM president, who is believed to be hiding and opposed to the idea of the lifting of the shutdown, was not present in todays GJM central committee meeting. Mumbai, August 30 Just before the first light of dawn at 4.30 am, office-goers stranded at their workplaces--which got converted into makeshift dormitories for the night--made their way to the Churchgate station in south Mumbai to reach home. Shortly after the suburban train services resumed after the rain fury, Churchgate and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus witnessed scenes resembling any evening when offices shut for the day and commuters flock to return home. People started trickling out on the streets and made their way to the two primary train terminuses--CSMT on Central Railway and Churchgate on the Western Railway. After the heavy downpour subsided overnight, commuters were seen crowding these stations, in expectation of taking a train back home and resting peacefully on a day virtually declared as an unofficial holiday by the state administration. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The place of work turned into place of stay or a dormitory for the office-goers and almost all the offices, especially those of state-run institutions that dominate the south Mumbai area, hosted employees for the night. Discussions about the night spent away from home, the adjustments which had to be made and the odd body ache were common as people descended on railway stations in the commercial district. With no information on easing of rail traffic forthcoming, there was anxiety on what fate awaits. It transpired to be a mixed bag. While the Western Railway services were up albeit in a limited manner, it was status quo on Central Railways both Main Line and Harbour Line till 7.26 am when the first train chugged out for Kalyan from CSMT. Predictably, there was disappointment and a few irate women passengers entered the station masters office in the heritage Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. People are trying to enter station masters offices at various stations, including ,CSMT asking for services to resume at earliest. We have deployed additional force where necessary, a Government Railway Police official said. A few hundred people had to be pushed back and the station managers office had to be cordoned off. Outside, in the Nagar Chowk precinct, every passing vehicle was being waived at and asked for a lift. I have been stuck at office since Tuesday evening and now have to pay extra to get back home to Thane, said a 40-something woman who works for a state-run bank and paid a hefty Rs 200 per seat for the 35-km journey till neighbouring Thane. However, not everybody was as lucky as her and the crowds kept swelling. Some blamed the lack of coordination between the railways and BEST undertaking which runs local public transport buses. If CR knew that services cannot be resumed by morning, why they did not deploy additional buses as the rains have stopped and roads were clear? asked an irate insurance employee. In what seemed like an ad hoc arrangement, BEST deployed a few buses to ply from CSMT to suburban Ghatkopar, through the Eastern Freeway, with priority to ferry women. For some, it was a long haul with train services being stuck near Ghatkopar but for the lucky ones, the wish to return home was unfulfilled as another challenging day dawned. PTI Lahore, August 31 Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has hinted that fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, the key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is in Karachi. In an interview with a Pakistani news channel, Musharraf said, "India has been accusing Pakistan for long. Why should we now become good and assist them? I don't know where Dawood is. He must be here, somewhere. India has been killing Muslims and Dawood Ibrahim has been reacting," giving a clear indication that the wanted criminal might be putting up in Pakistan. Pakistan has consistently denied about Dawood residing there, despite India maintaining that he indeed lives in a palatial house in Karachi. For the last 10 years, New Delhi has sent several dossiers to Islamabad in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. India had earlier also accused Pakistan of giving shelter to Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and a team of the United States Navy, SEALs, in a special operation, killed him on May 2, 2011. Musharraf, when asked about Pakistan's consistent denial about Bin Laden's erstwhile presence in their country, said, "The issue is we have human intelligence. When Osama was killed, nobody knew that he was Osama and was staying there as people thought of him as a drug dealer." "Even I have doubt that he was living in Abbotabad continuously for five years," he added. ANI One person has died after a minivan and semitrailer collided head-on southwest of Lincoln around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office. The collision occurred on Nebraska 33 at Southwest 100th Street. Investigators from the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said the driver and lone occupant of the eastbound minivan swerved into incoming traffic and struck a semitrailer head on. The minivan's driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The semitrailer's driver was treated and released at the scene. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts and alcohol is not believed to be a factor, the sheriff's office said. Names are being withheld until families are notified. New Delhi, August 31 The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to the bail plea of former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh who has been chargesheeted in connection with a money-laundering case. A bench comprising Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao issued notice to the ED and asked it to file its response in two weeks. Singh has approached the apex court challenging the order passed by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court denying him bail in the matter. In his plea before the Allahabad High Court, he had contended that he was technically entitled to bail since the chargesheet was not submitted by the probe agency within the statutory period. However, the high court had dismissed his petition considering the EDs submission that the chargesheet was filed on time. In 2015, the ED had slapped money-laundering charges against Singh, who was engineer-in-chief of the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI. Earlier, an Income Tax raid in November 2014 had revealed that Singhs assets were hugely disproportionate to his income, following which he was suspended by the then Uttar Pradesh government. In July 2015, the Allahabad High Court directed the CBI to investigate the case stating that the allegations were most serious. PTI Washington, August 31 The Trump administration has notified Congress that it has given $255 million worth of conditional military assistance to Pakistan that the country can access only if it takes more action against terror groups. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has much to lose by harbouring terrorists. The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting $255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met. The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries has strained. Pakistan has cancelled at least three high-profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening. The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. According to the report, State Department officials have said Trumps promised changes will bring explicit conditions on military aid. Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson, officials were quoted by the report as saying. The $255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of $1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported. The US has provided Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid since 2002. If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury, it said. Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens. We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue, a State Department spokesperson told PTI. The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevented terrorist sanctuaries, the spokesperson said. After Trumps policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it. PTI Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 31 As many as 32 businessmen were nabbed last night by the city police in a gambling raid on a five-star hotel, Radisson Blu, on the Ferozepur road. The gambling was on in a room on the fifth floor of the hotel. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The nabbed businessmen were reportedly from various cities of the region. The raid was conducted by the city police after it received a tip-off that a room has been booked by several businessmen in the hotel, where gambling on a large-scale was going on. The police have also seized Rs 32 lakh from the businessmen. Unaware of any such activity: Hotel management In a statement, the hotel management said, This development comes as a shock to us wherein our premises got used for such nefarious activities. We as a management were totally unaware of any such activity ever at our premises. Management of the hotel had never allowed any such activity in its history and we condemn such activity. The statement added that the hotel management has initiated suo-motu internal inquiry to find the accomplices, if any, at hotels end. We will take serious action against the guilty, if any found, it said. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 31 With the Congress in power, family members of former Punjab CM Beant Singh have expressed hope that his memorial in Sector 42 here would be completed soon. Attending the state-level function to observe the death anniversary of the former CM, his son and former minister Tej Parkash and grandson and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu said they were today informed by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal that the government was taking up the matter with the Governor, who is also the chairman of the memorial society. Others members of Beants family present were his daughter Gurkanwal Kaur and grandson Gurkirat Singh. Though the work on the 14-acre memorial began in 1999, the project remains incomplete due to shortage of funds. So far, a library, a samadhi and an open-air theatre have been built. A multi-faith (sarvdharam) centre, a cafeteria, an exhibition-cum-multipurpose hall, a media centre and a convention centre are yet to come up. Manpreet, who attended the function, said it was sad that the previous SAD-BJP government did not provide funds for the project. The project is a joint venture of the Punjab Government and the Chandigarh Administration and is managed by the Beant Singh Memorial Society. There is an issue of Punjab not depositing its share. We are taking up the matter with the Governor, he said. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, in his message, recalled Beants sacrifice for Punjab and its people. His political secretary Capt Sandeep Sandhu laid the wreath at the memorial on his behalf. Prominent among others present were Cabinet ministers Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Charanjit Singh Channi, state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, and Maninderjit Singh Bitta. Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 31 The senior-most IAS officer in Punjab, Himmat Singh, who was facing two cases under the previous Akali-BJP government, was superannuated from service today with a clean record. The officer, appointed vice-president of four farm councils during Capt Amarinder Singhs first stint as Chief Minister, was chargesheeted around four years back on one count each of misconduct and financial impropriety. But the governments view of the charges changed with the change of guard in March this year. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Officials in the Personnel Department worked over the past two months to absolve him of the charges and clear all files related to his cases, just in time for his retirement. One of the charges was that he remained on unauthorised leave for more than two years (from May 2007 to August 31, 2009). Though the chargesheet was quashed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) earlier this year, the then SAD-BJP government had recommended that an appeal be filed. However, after the Congress government took charge, no such appeal was filed. Sources say the leave has also been approved now. Himmat Singh, a 1980-batch officer, is perceived as being close to Capt Amarinder, who after taking over as CM in March gave him the charge of the Horticulture Department. The officer remained sidelined during the 10 years of SAD-BJP rule. Sources say he is now likely to be given a post-retirement assignment, again related to horticulture. The second chargesheet had accused him of having incurred unauthorised expenditure, borne by the farm councils, while he was on leave. He spent money on travel, tours and other indulgences. The statement of imputations issued in 2014 said, During the 27-month leave period, he undertook several trips from Chandigarh to Delhi and Mumbai, and the expenditure on travel, stay in hotels, taxi charges, telephone and Internet has been borne by the council. The total irregular expenditure was calculated to be Rs 6.41 lakh. Official sources say these bills too have been settled. Himmat Singh was appointed vice-president of the farm councils to promote agricultural diversification. These councils too had subsequently faced controversy over irregularities as well as failure to achieve the goals. Sanjeev Singh Bariana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 30 Construction contractor Gurinder Singh, main suspect in the ongoing Vigilance Bureau investigation into the suspected favours and illegal tendering in projects of the Punjab Irrigation Department, has absconded, but not before withdrawing more than Rs 100 crore from his bank accounts. According to sources, he was seen a day before registration of a case against him and three former chief engineers on August 18. He has not offered to cooperate. His phone is switched off, and his whereabouts are not known, an official said. Some people among his personal staff, including drivers and accountants, also seem to have gone off the radar. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) In what may add a new dimension to the case, Vigilance officials say they have discovered unaccounted for heavy cash withdrawals amounting to more than Rs 100 crore from Gurinder Singhs personal bank accounts (HDFC and Punjab and Sind Bank), made after the investigation became public in May. VB, an anti-corruption investigation wing of the state, has booked eight persons including Gurinder Singh, three retired chief engineers, two serving executive engineers and a sub-divisional officer of the Irrigation Department. They have been charged with causing loss worth crores. Wrongful awarding of public works is suspected to have taken place under the previous SAD-BJP regime. The bureau has prepared a list of Gurinder Singhs properties with an estimated worth of more than Rs 100 crore, and acquired during the past 10 years. Documents show purchases of residential property in Sectors 18 and 19 of Chandigarh, as well as a micro-brewery. Gurinder Singh has also been found to have at least eight properties in Mohali, besides those in Patiala, Ludhiana and Noida, all purchased during the period under question. Several documents supposed to have been only in the custody of the Irrigation Department were also seized from his possession. Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of irrigation engineers has called an emergency meeting on Thursday to chalk out a plan of action to demand a fresh inquiry into the case by a team of professionals. JAC head BPS Brar said: We are only demanding an inquiry by technical experts, an assurance given by Secretary VK Singh on August 8, following which we called off our stir. But if the current course of action continued, we will be forced to resort to an indefinite agitation. Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, August 31 In a raid at a five-star hotel, Radisson Blu, located on the Ferozepur road in the city late last night, a team of the Ludhiana police commissionerate arrested 34 persons 33 on the charges of gambling and one hotel employee for connivance. The police allegedly caught red-handed high profile businessmen of the city and adjoining areas. The police seized Rs 34 lakh, 40 mobile phones and three luxury cars. The raid was conducted by Additional DCP Surendra Lamba along with two SHOs and over 24 cops. Addressing the mediapersons today, Police Commissioner RN Dhoke said they raided the hotel after getting specific inputs about its premises being used for gambling. He said around five persons managed to escape. They would also face action once identified, he said, adding that the illegal activity was going on in the hotel with the connivance of its staff. We have booked hotels general manager Arinder Chakarwati and a manager. We will also add the names of hotel owners after identifying them, Dhoke said. The hotel staff had given room no. 833 located on the 8th floor to the gamblers and provided them liquor and eatables. The accused had bribed the security personnel who were told to inform them in case of a police raid. A case under Sections 420, 120B IPC, and 13, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered. Management denies role Radisson Blu management, in a statement, said: The development comes as a shock to us wherein our premises were used for such illegal activities. We were totally unaware of any such activity. The management never allowed it and we condemn it. We will take serious action against any staff member if found guilty of conniving with the accused. Staff in trouble for removing evidence Hotel staff members, including security incharge and one Sukhwinder Singh, will face action for allegedly removing evidence from the spot. The arrested persons told the police that there was a locker in the room where gambling was on, which contained a weapon and some cash. ADCP Lamba said they could not open the locker yesterday. Today, we could not find anything in it. We recovered a receiving slip issued to Sukhwinder by the management showing the delivery of cash and weapon. The hotel staff connived with Sukhwinder and allowed him to open the locker. We have added Section 201 IPC (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) in the FIR, he said. Dehradun: Chief Minister TS Rawat has asked the officers of the Department of Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) to involve engineers of IIT Roorkee for testing the quality and design of the retaining wall being built along the banks of Rispana and Bindal rivers under the riverfront development project. While chairing a meeting, the CM stressed on ensuring the quality of the retaining walls being built along the banks of the river. The Rispana-Bindal Riverfront Development Project worth Rs 800 crore aims to beautify the banks and rejuvenate the rivers. In the first phase, the state will contribute Rs 90 crore against the sanctioned budget of Rs 140 crore while the remaining amount would be given by the MDDA. TNS Tribune News Service Dehradun, August 31 Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik yesterday said the state government was willing to construct a ropeway in Kedarnath provided the feasibility studies were satisfactory and the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment gave its clearance. We understand the concerns of the NGT Bench and are looking into the issue of constructing a ropeway. A feasibility study is already under way. We need forest clearance for 20 km route, which is given by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, said Kaushik, while speaking to The Tribune. The minister was responding to a question after the NGT Bench asked the state government to clear its stand on constructing ropeway in Kedarnath instead of operating choppers in the fragile zone. The minister also said that during preliminary discussions it came to light that several trees had to be axed for installing poles. We may have to construct the ropeway in two parts, which means more trees will have to be cut, he said. He also said that the government would study the ruling in detail and give an appropriate reply. Meanwhile, Rajesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, Department of Civil Aviation, said that the NGT had not imposed a ban on operating choppers for pilgrims in Kedarnath. The minister also said the work to construct ropeway in Mussourie was pending on account of difficulties faced in securing environment clearance. The matter has been in limbo for close to 10 years now. We will start the work soon, said Kaushik. Paris/Washington, August 31 French chemicals group Arkema confirmed on Thursday two explosions at its plant in Crosby, Texas, and added there was a risk of further explosions at the site. "We want local residents to be aware that the product is stored in multiple locations on the site, and a threat of additional explosion remains," Arkema said in a statement. "Please do not return to the area within the evacuation zone until local emergency response authorities announce it is safe to do so," it added. The plant makes organic peroxides used in the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products. Richard Rowe, chief executive officer of Arkemas North America unit, told reporters on Wednesday that chemicals on the site will catch fire and explode if they are not properly cooled. He said the company has no way to prevent that because the plant is swamped by about 6 feet (1.83 m) of water due to flooding from Harvey, which came ashore in Texas last week as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Any fire will probably resemble a large gasoline fire. The fire will be explosive and intense, Rowe said in a late Wednesday statement. He added that the black smoke produced would irritate the skin, eyes and lungs. The company said it opted not to move chemicals before the storm but made extensive preparations. The plant is 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Houston. There is a small possibility that the peroxide could release into the flood waters without igniting, and in that case would break down and either dissipate in the water or evaporate, he said. However, the fire is the most likely outcome. Rowe did not disclose the volume of chemicals on the site and said it was speculative to predict how much damage the plant could sustain. He said a fire would not pose any long-term harm or impact. The plant has been without electric service since Sunday. The plant lost refrigeration when backup generators were flooded, and workers transferred products from warehouses into diesel-powered refrigerated containers. The company said some refrigeration of back-up containers has been compromised because of high water levels, and the company is monitoring temperature levels remotely. The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily barred flights near the plant because of the risk of fire or explosion. Reuters Islamabad, August 31 Pakistan's former dictator Pervez Musharraf was today declared a fugitive by an anti-terrorism court, which ordered seizure of his property and sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassination. Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time Prime Minister, was killed along with more than 20 persons in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindis Liaquat Bagh during an election rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54. The case was registered soon after her assassination.The trial, that went through many ups and down, concluded in Rawalpindi yesterday. Judge Asghar Khan announced the verdict, declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordering seizure of his property. Musharraf, 74, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on the pretext of medical treatment. The judge sentenced former Rawalpindi CPO Saud Aziz and former Rawal town SP Khurram Shahzad the two suspects out on bail to 17 years in prison and fined them Rs 5 lakh each. They were present in the court today. Five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted for lack of evidence. The suspects were arrested soon after the assassination. They had denied the charges all along. The trial of five suspects started in 2008, while Musharraf, Aziz and Shahezad were implicated in 2009 after a fresh probe by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Ten years later and we still await justice. Abettors punished but those truly guilty of my mothers murder roam free, Bhuttos daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari tweeted. There will be no justice till Musharraf answers for his crimes, she added. Bhuttos another daughter Bakhtawar tweeted: Musharraf ordered crime scene washed & doors locked trapping SMBB vehicle inside. Initially, TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud was blamed for the killing, but FIA disowned the evidence, calling it a cooked-up story by Musharraf to save himself. PTI Sydney, August 31 Officials say a Chinese woman with no Australian medical licence has been arrested for administering an anesthetic to a customer at a Sydney beauty salon who then suffered cardiac arrest. They said Shao Jie was charged with causing reckless grievous bodily harm and using poison to endanger the life of the customer during the breast procedure on Wednesday at the Medi Beauty Laser and Contour Clinic. She faces a possible penalty of 20 years in jail. The customer, Jean Huang, was hospitalised in a critical condition. The prosecutor told the court that Shao had admitted in a police interview that she had administered an anesthetic despite not being a licensed medical practitioner in Australia. AP Lahore, August 31 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed has challenged the order of Pakistans Punjab government to extend his detention for 60 more days. The Punjab Home Department issued an order on July 28 under which the detention of Saeed and his four aides--Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain--was extended for another 60 days. Apparently frustrated with not getting a decision from the Lahore High Court that had on June 7 reserved his petition against his first detention order on January 30, Saeed on Wednesday filed a fresh petition challenging the detention order. The petition says: There is no evidence whatsoever that the petitioners are planning to spread chaos in the country or that they have planned violent demonstrations. It says the government in the impugned detention order has only shown apprehension against the petitioners. The petition says blatant violation of laws has been committed by the government in this case. It pleads that imprisonment without trial and conviction is prima facie unlawful and unconstitutional. The government detained the petitioners to please India and America. Courts in past have declared detention of JuD leaders illegal as the government failed to prove its charges, it says and requests the court to set aside the detention order for being issued without lawful authority. In response to their previous petitions, the government had clarified that the JuD and its allied organisation (Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation) had been kept under observation on the basis of a report sent by the ministry of foreign affairs. In the light of that report, the government has reasons to believe that JuD and FIF are engaged in certain activities which could be prejudicial to peace and security and in violation of Pakistans obligation to the UN Security Council resolution, the government said. Earlier on June 7, a division bench headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan had reserved the decision on Saeed and his four aides petitions against their detention after hearing the arguments from petitioners counsel and the government law officer. On April 30, detention of Saeed and his four aides was extended by the Punjab government for another 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The Punjab government on January 30 had put them under house arrest in Lahore under the Second Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The Pakistan government had reportedly taken action against Saeed after the US firmly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed it might face sanctions. JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The organisation is accused of involvement in militant activities in India and has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2014. PTI Texas, August 31 The remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey drenched northern Louisiana on Thursday as it moved inland, leaving behind record flooding that paralysed the US energy hub of Houston, killed at least 38 persons and drove tens of thousands from their homes. Two explosions were reported at a flood-hit chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, 30 miles northeast of Houston, with one sheriffs deputy sent to the hospital after inhaling toxic chemicals. The Arkema SA plant, which local media said was flooded and accessible only by boat, had lost power as a result of the storm, causing organic peroxides stored there to warm to dangerous levels. When the chemicals exploded, toxic gas and smoke were released. A 1.5-mile radius around the plant had been evacuated and the company urged people to stay away from the area, warning further blasts were likely. The question is whether or not we can actually get in and assess the full scale of the impact from an environmental standpoint to an infrastructure standpoint, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said at a news briefing. The plume is incredibly dangerous. The storms death toll was rising as bodies were found in receding waters. Some 32,000 people were forced into shelters around the region since Harvey came ashore on Friday near Rockport, Texas, as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in a half-century. By Thursday, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression, located 15 miles south of Monroe, Louisiana. The storms rains wrought the most damage along the Gulf Coast and the National Weather Service warned that as much as 10 inches could fall in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. Rivers and reservoirs in Texas and Louisiana remained at or near flood level, with officials warning that high water would remain a danger in the region for the next few days. Federal officials also had already rescued 10,000 people from flooded homes and would continue to search, Brock said. Flooding shut the nations largest oil refinery in Port Arthur in the latest hit to US energy infrastructure that has sent gasoline prices climbing and disrupted global fuel supplies. Agencies Costliest storm in US history Hurricane Harvey, the costliest natural disaster in US history, may cost a whopping $160 billion in economic damages in Texas, according to a preliminary estimate from private weather firm AccuWeather This is equal to the combined costs of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and represents a 1% economic hit to the gross national product, it said AccuWeather president Joel Myers called Harvey a 1,000-year Storm and said parts of Houston will be uninhabitable for weeks or months Indian-American doctors form relief fund Tokyo, August 31 Britain and Japan will pledge on Thursday closer cooperation on defence, cyber security and counter-terrorism as Prime Minster Theresa May looks to strengthen relations with one of her closest allies ahead of Brexit. Visiting her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe as Tokyo responds to the increasing military threat posed by North Korea, May toured Japans flagship Izumo helicopter carrier for a military briefing with Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera before attending a national security meeting. My visit today is a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership we have on defence matters, May told Onodera after inspecting an honour guard at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, which is also home to the US Navy Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. May and Abe will agree a joint declaration on security cooperation, including plans for British soldiers to take part in military exercises on Japanese soil and for collaboration to address the threat of cyber and militant attacks when Japan hosts the Olympics in 2020. North Korea is expected to feature heavily in the talks after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday that passed over Japanese territory, prompting international condemnation. The two leaders are expected to discuss the possibility of further sanctions on North Korea, Mays office said. May called on China to put more pressure on North Korea after she arrived in Japan on Wednesday. The Global Times, a publication of the official Peoples Daily of Chinas ruling Communist Party, attacked May for her comment. Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea, it wrote. Following the security briefing, the trips focus is expected to return to trade and investment, with May keen to persuade nervy investors that Britains exit from the European Union will not make it a less attractive business partner. Both May and Abe will address both a travelling delegation of British business leaders, and senior representatives from major Japanese investors in the UK economy such as carmakers Nissan, Toyota and conglomerate Hitachi. As we leave the EU, we will work to quickly establish a new economic partnership between the UK and Japan based on the terms of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, May will say according to advanced extracts of her speech. During a two-hour train ride between Kyoto and Tokyo late on Wednesday the two leaders discussed Brexit, with May talking Abe through the details of a series of papers published in recent weeks setting out her negotiating position. Formal trade discussions are scheduled for Thursday, after which both leaders will give a news conference. May said on Wednesday Japans upcoming trade deal with the EU could offer a template for a future Japan-Britain trade agreement, the latest attempt to show investors that Brexit will not lead to an overnight change in business conditions. Japan has been unusually open about its concerns over Brexit, worrying that 40 billion pounds ($51.68 billion) of Japanese investment in the British economy could suffer if trading conditions change abruptly when Britain leaves the bloc. Reuters Washington, August 31 US President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis between Qatar and its neighbouring countries, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday, the White House said in a readout of the conversation between the two leaders. The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region, it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists funding and combat extremist ideology. The president and the King praised the resilience of the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, and King Salman offered his condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in the catastrophic storm, the White House said. Qatar is facing a boycott by a group of countries led by Saudi-Arabia and United Arab Emirates who had cut off political and trade links with Doha on June 5, initiating the Gulfs worst political crisis in years. The bloc accuses Qatar of supporting extremism, a charge the emirate denies. PTI New York, August 31 Art lovers have two more weeks to sit and ponder the meaning of America, the name given to an 18-carat gold toilet that has been on display at New Yorks Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for nearly a year. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) During that time more than 1,00,000 people have paid a visit to Italian artist Maurizio Cattelans exhibit, located in what looks like a typical bathroom on the museums fifth floor. Most people I think are pretty happy to get in there and have a few moments to take a selfie or whatever they choose to do, said Michael Zall, associate director of facilities operations at the museum. America encourages unusually close interaction for art, and is meant to remind viewers of their shared humanity in the pursuit of the American dream of success, the Guggenheim says on its website. Some visitors believe Cattelans artwork took aim at excess in society and art. Its called America. An ironic kind of statement about wealth and silliness in art, said Avital Fryman. Others who lined up to see the luxury latrine were surprised to find it in full working order. Its definitely the first golden toilet Ive ever seen. I didnt really know what to expect, said Hayden Tobin. The exhibit closes on September 15. Reuters Seoul/Tokyo, August 31 South Korea said its air force conducted an exercise with two US nuclear-capable bombers above the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after a North Korean missile fired over Japan sharply raised tensions. The drills, involving two supersonic US B-1B bombers, four US stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean fighter jets, came at the end of annual joint US-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. North Korea strongly objects to the exercises, which it sees as a preparation for invasion and has responded with a series of threats and missiles launches in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump has responded with his own threats, warning North Korea it would face fire and fury if it threatened the United States and that the US military was locked and loaded in case of any provocation. Trump on Wednesday declared talking is not the answer to resolving the long-standing impasse with North Korea. The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years, Trump, who last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was starting to respect the United States, wrote on Twitter. Talking is not the answer! However, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, when asked by reporters just hours later if the United States had run out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea, replied: No. We are never out of diplomatic solutions, Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a visible form, Japans defence ministry said. Sanction options The 15-member UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan as outrageous, and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons programme, but the US-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan was pushing the United States to propose new UN Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Koreas labourers working abroad, oil supply and textile exports. Diplomats expected resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given new measures were only recently imposed after North Korea staged two long-range missile launches in July. Asked if Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump talked about restricting North Koreas fuel supply when the two spoke by telephone on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said an embargo on oil and oil-related products would be an option. A US ban on travel to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, curbing one of its few remaining supplies of foreign currency. China, North Koreas neighbour and main ally and trading partner, again urged restraint from all parties. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions, Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. I also want to stress that the current tense situation on the peninsula isnt a screenplay or a video game, she told reporters. Its real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region. Key milestone Early in August, North Korea announced plans to fire four missiles into the sea near the US Pacific territory of Guam. The Pentagons Missile Defense Agency and the crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted a complex missile defence flight test off Hawaii on Wednesday, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target, the agency said. The agencys director, Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, called the test a key milestone in giving US Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ships an enhanced capability, but did not mention North Korea. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea routinely says it will never give up its weapons programmes, calling them necessary to counter perceived American hostility. Reuters Washington, August 31 The United States has about 11,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as per the policy of President Donald Trump for the war-torn country, the Pentagon has said. The announcement is part of the new transparent accounting procedure set in motion by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, Chief Pentagon spokesman Dana W White told reporters at a news conference yesterday. Under the new, simplified accounting methodology, the current total forces number in Afghanistan is approximately 11,000. This does not include any potential future adjustments the secretary of defence may make in order to accomplish the presidents new strategy for South Asia, said Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of joint staff. However, White noted that said this is not an announcement of a troop increase. We are simply being more transparent about the way we communicate Americas military commitment in Afghanistan, while still protecting sensitive information, he said. McKenzie had said that in November 2016, the previous administration authorised the increase of the force manning level to 8,448. And until now, the department has routinely reported approximately 8,400 forces, with a complex series of authorised exemptions above that, he said. Congressman Mac Thornberry, chairman of the house armed services committee said he is pleased to see that ahead of the execution of a new strategy in Afghanistan, Trump and Mattis have chosen to put the facts on the table. The Obama Administration did not shoot straight on how many people they sent to Afghanistan, which added cost to the mission and made it harder to succeed. It is important to be upfront about the importance of the mission and what it takes to succeed, he said. White said similar calculation is being done in on troops deployed in Iraq also. PTI Cummins has developed an electric technology demonstration vehicle. Photos: Jim Park COLUMBUS, IND. For 98 years, Cummins has been powering trucks and buses around the globe, and the company said on Aug. 29 that it has every intention of being in that same position 98 years from now. Cummins executives stressed that they will continue to deliver the right powertrain for any marketplace anytime in the future, regardless of the energy source. "Energy diversity is the key to the future, and a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer viable," said Jennifer Rumsey, vice president and chief technical officer. "At this point in time, we believe there is a place for a wide range of technologies from diesel and natural gas to electric. "These technologies will evolve in the coming years," she continued, "and Cummins is capable and ready for this range of power technologies to meet our customers' needs today and in the future." The message was clear; anyone who believes Cummins' best days are behind it had better think again. These are certainly good times for the engine maker, currently holding a 37% market share in the heavy-duty engine space where a heavy presence of captive engines can leave the independent engine maker at a pricing disadvantage. Brett Merritt, executive director, EBU On-Highway Business, said the company commands nearly 80% of the North American medium-duty market and more than 90% of the school and transit bus markets. "Cummins is a technology company, first and foremost," he said. "Whether you're talking about diesel combustion, emissions catalysis or controls integration, we have the technical expertise combined with market knowledge to deliver technical innovations in the future." And to that end, the company is investing $700 million annually in research and development to stay on the leading edge of emerging technologies -- some of which involves marrying proven diesel technology with battery and electric technologies that meet regulatory requirements, societal demands, and customers' needs. Cummins is quite confident that diesel engines will be powering heavy trucks for many years to come, especially in the long-haul sector. "Twenty years from now, we will still be using internal combustion engines running on conventional fuels or unconventional fuels," said Srikanth Padmanabhan, president of Cummins' Engine Business, noting that they may not be the engines that we are familiar with today. "By that time, all ICE will have some form of mild hybridization and/or accessory drives, but ICE will continue to be an important player in global transportation." Padmanabhan said that whichever technologies may emerge in the next 15 to 20 years. it will be Cummins' responsibility to make sure customers get the right technology, not just a new technology for technology's sake,but something reliable and efficient that meets both the customers' and society's needs. Energy Diversity While electrification has seen very heavy exposure in the mainstream press in the past couple of years, Padmanabhan said Cummins has been working on this for over two decades. "Electrification makes sense in some areas, but not all," he said. "We know from real data and real-life experience where it works, where it makes sense and why we should use it." Cummins seems well placed to explore the potential for electrification because of its previous experience in power generation as well as engine design and development. Batteries supplemented with some form of high-efficiency, low-emission ICE seem best able to bridge the gap between 100-mile local trucks and 300-mile regional trucks. The company is now developing a high-efficiency spark-ignited engine that it says can deliver diesel-like performance and durability across a range of liquid fuels, like ethanol, methanol, and gasoline, while meeting the most stringent emissions requirements. Natural gas and diesel both figure prominently in this research. Engineers and scientists are also investigating the viability of alternatives like bio-fuels, synthetic fuels, and hydrogen. And, with its partners, Cummins is looking at projects focused on Proton Exchange Membrane and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technologies. "Cummins is partnering with a few different fuel cell providers to develop that technology," said Rumsey. "We have been working for a number of years on those technologies." Diesel Still Has a Future Next spring, Cummins will introduce the 12-liter X12 engine, which will boast the highest power-to-weight ratio in the industry. It's targeted at vocational, regional and weight-sensitive bulk-haul applications. Its 600lbs lighter than the closest 13L engine and 150 lbs lighter than the closest 11L engine. The X12 engine will come to market in the spring of 2018. The X12 is derived from the ISG first introduced in 2013 as a global engine platform. It made its first appearance a year later in a joint venture with the worlds largest independent engine maker, Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd. of China. Foton now uses the ISG diesel in a new truck series developed with Daimler. Cummins said the engine in ISG trim already has more than a billion miles under its belt and is ready to take on North America. While on a tour of the technical center, reporters were shown, but were not allowed to photograph, the next generation X15 engine, slated to launch in 2022. Cummins said it will be capable of meeting 2027 GHG rules five years ahead of the legislated requirement --and without using the feared waste heat recovery system. This 15 L engine will be 300 lbs lighter than the current X15, with the height of a 13 L engine, ensuring efficient installations in future ultra-aero trucks, both conventional and cabover. And natural gas remains a viable alternative to diesel, in a way similar to electric vehicles. It's still best suited to shorter ranges and a return-to-base operationwith a fuel supply. Range is limited by the size of the fuel tanks, but it does work in many instances, and it can be used to power range-extended battery electric vehicles. Cummins revealed its latest Near Zero natural gas engines during the media event in Columbus. According to Cummins, end users will find the Near Zero natural gas engines are an equivalent performance option to diesel and, like the latest clean-diesels, these produce little to no emissions. Cummins said it managed a 90% reduction in NOx, getting output down to just 0.02 gm/bhp/hr. A growing crowd of observers seems ready to pronounce diesel engines a marooned technology while electric systems seem poised to emerge as the power technology of choices. Cummins, however, would beg to differ. Padmanabhan sees diesel as a safe bet for at least the next 20 years, and likely far beyond that. It's simply has no equal in terms of energy density, portability, and flexibility. Used as a range extender with battery electric systems, diesels can be made to run at near-zero emissions levels because they operate at a steady state, with zero transient cycles to worry about. Diesels will emerge with varying degrees of hybridization and with various off-engine accessory drives that help to minimize parasitic losses. And trucks as a whole will become more efficient, which will require less power to run at highway speeds, so smaller displacement engines could well find a home in heavy-duty long-haul applications, with much improved fuel efficiency. "We succeeded during previous major disruption periods because Cummins is a technology company that embraces change, and capitalizes on that change with the right technology that matters in the marketplace and to our customers," said Padmanabhan. He doesn't see that changing anytime soon. Related: Cummins Unveils Class 7 All-Electric Daycab Tractor Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10. The jackpot ticket was sold at Joes Service Center in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The business will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million. The Multi-State Lottery Association said Monday nights scheduled drawing was delayed by nearly 10 hours until Tuesday because a participating lottery had issues processing sales. The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016. A Tulsa County jury spent about 30 minutes deliberating Wednesday before recommending a man spend life in prison without parole for a fatal shooting during an argument over a car. The jury found Joseph Johnson, 21, guilty of first-degree murder in the Oct. 10 slaying of 23-year-old Quavis Cato in the 1200 block of South 73rd East Avenue. Johnson will be sentenced Sept. 7 by District Judge Doug Drummond. Johnson was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, two days after the shooting after being identified by three witnesses as Catos shooter, Tulsa Police Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker said at the time. Assistant District Attorney Kevin Keller said during closing arguments that Cato didnt deserve to be shot 14 times over a dispute about who owned a black Mercedes. However, Johnsons defense team suggested the shooting was an act of self-defense because Johnson believed Cato was reaching into the trunk of a vehicle and could have grabbed a weapon. Keller noted that no witnesses testified about Cato opening the trunk to any vehicle or trying to do so. A probable cause affidavit states Cato, his girlfriend and another friend went to retrieve a vehicle they purchased from Johnsons cousin, but they said Johnson did not believe they should be able to take it. Catos girlfriend alleged Johnson left the scene in a Chevrolet Tahoe during an argument and returned a few minutes later carrying two pistols. Catos friend, Shannon Cage, testified that Johnson exchanged words with Cato before the shooting occurred. Cato died later at a hospital. Update: Tulsa city officials reported Thursday morning that the crews led by the Tulsa Fire Department immediately rescued a family of five and evacuated 34 people when they arrived Monday. The Tulsa Urban Search and Rescue Team, supported by Tulsa firefighters, Tulsa police and personnel from Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Verdigris and Northwest Rogers County fire, responded to 600 incidents, totaling 534 evacuations, 65 citizen rescues and 109 pet rescues, according to city of Tulsa spokeswoman Michelle Brooks. Oklahoma emergency responders have found no shortage of work in flooded Houston. Crews led by the Tulsa Fire Department unofficially had evacuated 481 people, rescued 66 more and even grabbed 65 pets since 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to Michael Atchison, TFD deputy chief of operations. They pause only to wipe grime off their faces and perhaps consume a bit of food or fluids while refueling their boats to answer the deluge of calls for help. Atchison said 26 boats are out nonstop with crews pulling 12-hour shifts to respond continuously to calls people who are either trapped by the high waters or simply ready to be evacuated. Its just everywhere in the city, he said. A core group of 22 15 Tulsa firefighters and seven personnel from Tulsa police, Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Verdigris and Northwest Rogers County fire are joined by 104 other first-responders from across Oklahoma, according to Atchison. After navigating back roads Tuesday to avoid flooding and reaching a command post in Houston, the crews set up a base camp that night and immediately began motoring out to help. The main (danger) is the debris in the water and the unknown underneath the water, Atchison said, referencing potentially open manhole covers and other underwater obstacles. If you step out to help someone and you dont use a pole to check underneath the water, thats dangerous. The group discussed the May 2015 death of Claremore fire Capt. Jason Farley as a reminder of whats at stake. Farley was swept away into a drainage ditch during a high-water rescue near Claremore amid flash flooding caused by storms. The boats also must keep an eye out for debris, fences or other obstructions that could trip up an outboard motor. Otherwise, the rescuers may find themselves in need of rescue. The flood waters also are polluted. Ive got a good team that works for me, so Im not worried, Atchison said, noting he hasnt received any reports of injuries. We train everyday, and we train for these reasons. Gov. Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency so that Oklahoma government entities can adequately respond to the mutual aid requests and needs of the Gulf Coast states. The order allows state agencies to make emergency purchases or acquisitions needed to help deliver resources. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management discouraged residents from self-deploying to help in Texas or Louisiana. In most cases, access to the affected areas is extremely limited due to high water, state emergency management spokeswoman Keli Cain said in a statement. As Oklahoma continues to receive requests for personnel, equipment and supplies, OEM will look to local county and municipal emergency managers to identify the needed resources. Attorney General Mike Hunter reminded Oklahoma residents that the states price-gouging statute is in effect to protect people who want to make purchases to help those devastated by Harvey. In a statement, Hunters office said the Emergency Price Stabilization Act prohibits an increase of more than 10 percent for the price of goods and services after a declared emergency. The act is in effect for 30 days, with protections in place for another 180 days for prices of repairs, remodeling or construction. facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter Published August 30, 2017 The Louisiana Board of Regents approved the reinstatement of the University of Louisiana Monroe Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree at its regular meeting Wednesday in Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Board of Regents approved the reinstatement of the University of Louisiana Monroe Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree at its regular meeting Wednesday in Baton Rouge. In 2011, about 100 degrees at state universities were removed due to budget cuts, including chemistry at ULM. Dr. Nick J. Bruno was pleased with the boards decision, saying, Its a great program for us as it is the foundation of many health sciences. Regaining chemistry adds a significant opportunity for those students who are interested in going into a health science or science track. Anne Case Hanks, Ph.D., Director of the School of Science, said reinstating the chemistry degree is an important step for the university. This strengthens not only the School of Science, but ULM as a whole, said Hanks, who plans to have the degree program in place for Spring 2018. Chemistry classes are already offered, and with the redesigned chemistry degree program students have the option of declaring a concentration in one of three areas, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry or forensics chemistry, as well as remaining on the traditional chemistry degree path. The Board of Regents also approved going forward with a doctor of physical therapy program by developing a full proposal. Bruno said establishing a doctor of physical therapy is a progressive move, allowing the university to expand our health sciences footprint. It gives us the opportunity to focus on areas recognized around the state as our hallmark, he said. Bruno, however, stressed that the science-based curriculums are only one aspect of the programs offered by the university. This does not detract from our other programs in any way, he said. We have excellence across the colleges, which continue to develop programs to attract new students to the university, which I encourage. | By Office of Communications and Public Affairs Two undergraduate students from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) learned about lab research and presentation techniques this summer as they took part in the UM Scholars Program under the guidance of faculty members from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON). The UM Scholars Program provides UMCP math, science, and engineering students with exposure to graduate-level research while they spend the summer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) working with University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and UMSON faculty on mentored research projects. The program also is designed to expand students knowledge and enlighten them about career choices, and it introduces UMCP undergraduates to the vast array of graduate degree programs at UMB. UMSOM and the Office of Student Research administer the program, which is overseen by Gregory B. Carey, PhD, assistant professor in UMSOM and director of student summer research and community outreach. The program, which is conducted over the course of 10 weeks, is supported through the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State. UM Scholar Shira Movsas and Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, (first row, third and fourth from left, respectively) pose for a picture with others who work in Colloca's lab. UMCP senior Shira Movsasa, a public health science major, was paired with UMSON researcher Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, associate professor. Movsas highlighted the teams work at the Summer Research Programs Student Research Forum in an oral presentation entitled An Exploration of Expectancy-Induced Analgesia in Temporal Mandibular Disorder Patients. Movsas saw the UM Scholars Program advertised on a flier on the College Park campus and decided to apply. I thought it was a really cool combination of being able to do research and being exposed to different professions in the field of medicine, Movsas said. I attended seminars and gained experience in presenting and got a lot of cool experience. Colloca was an amazing mentor, Movsas continued. She was happy to answer any question I had and explain the process of doing things in the lab. It was really great working with her. The research teams project focused on various aspects of pain modulation. I have been doing research (at UMCP) but not interacting with patients, Movsas said, adding that her experience at UMB also included writing abstracts and drawing and processing blood from study participants, all of which were new learning opportunities for her. Everyone in the lab was really helpful in teaching me what was going on and encouraging me when I didnt know what I was doing. Before the UM Scholars Program, Movsas had never publically presented research or data. Whatever path I go on, I will have to do similar types of presentations, so that experience was invaluable to me, she said. After concluding her oral presentation, she was thrilled when three people in the audience asked questions and she was able to answer them with confidence. Movsas said she also enjoyed becoming friends with Sarah Gun, another UMCP student who was paired with UMSON faculty for the UM Scholars Program. We met through the program and became friends and would grab lunch, Movsas said. Gun, a pre-nursing junior, worked with the UMSON team of Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, associate professor, and Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, professor and Sonya Ziporkin Gershowitz Chair in Gerontology. Gun presented a poster at the Student Research Forum based on the teams research project on implementing function-focused care in assisted living communities. I never made a poster presentation on my own, Gun said. That was exciting. I received a lot of input from my mentors since they have done many poster presentations. Gun said she learned about the UM Scholars Program in an email sent to a pre-nursing society. I thought it was a cool opportunity to try something different since I dont have a lot of research experience. The program allowed her to see all the different possibilities that nursing has to offer, said Gun. Colloca and Resnick said participating in the UM Scholars Program was every bit as rewarding for them as it was for the students. This is the second year UMSON has participated in the program. Last year was very rewarding and this year even better, Colloca said. We had a fantastic opportunity, and I feel like Shira was extremely talented and the other students in the lab were very impressed with her as well. Colloca said she usually does not allow lab students to interact with patients directly but she was so impressed with Movsas, she made an exception. I had her drawing blood, Colloca said. She was able to learn all the basic rules and paradigms to the lab and at the same time get involved intellectually, learning and presenting with confidence." Resnick was equally taken with Gun. Sarah touched my heart, Resnick said. I was really impressed by her passion. She was so eager to learn. Taking on a UM Scholar in the lab is also a great opportunity to get some help in studies, Resnick added. We are always looking for opportunities to engage students in research. Apologies, it seems we cant find what you were looking for. The content has either moved or no longer exists. Maybe try a search Sen. Deb Fischer was confronted Thursday with continuing concern over health care policy that sometimes bordered on fury during a town hall meeting in Lincoln that attracted more than 250 people. The first question out of the gate at what Fischer prefers to describe as a listening session asked Nebraska's senior senator why Republicans wouldn't attempt to reach a bipartisan agreement with Democrats to amend the Affordable Care Act instead of attempting to repeal Obamacare and strip 23 million Americans of their health care insurance coverage. "Our friends on the other side haven't been open" to a reasonable compromise, Fischer told the questioner, sparking a loud round of boos. Democrats are focused on market stabilization, Fischer said, "and I don't think that solves a lot of the issues." Fischer noted that she had encouraged Republican leadership to hold hearings on the GOP plan and that she voted to begin debate on the legislation "to get to amendments," but a GOP effort to repeal major provisions in the Affordable Care Act collapsed when a motion to launch the debate failed. Questioner after questioner returned to the health care topic during a lively mid-morning meeting at the Jack J. Huck Continuing Education Center of Southeast Community College, while other topics like climate change, trade policy, tax reform and continued protection for immigrant DACA youths were also raised. Most of the questions were politely confrontational, and several participants held up signs challenging Fischer. One large banner proclaimed "Medicare for All," and one woman wore a T-shirt that shouted "Lock Him Up," turning the tables on President Donald Trump's campaign chant directed at Hillary Clinton, his Democratic presidential opponent. Fischer expressed differences with Trump over U.S. trade policy and said she supports ongoing investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. "I look forward to seeing what they come up with," she said. "I am worried about what may happen to NAFTA," Fischer said after declaring that "I differ with the president" on trade issues, including his decision to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The United States, at the president's direction, is in the process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. That trade pact provides a huge marketplace for Nebraska agricultural products. Challenged by one questioner as to how she could continue to support the president when he is "tearing the country apart," Fischer said: "I do support the president on many, many issues." And, she reminded the audience, "Trump carried this state" during last November's election. "We're going to disagree on things," she told questioners, "but I represent you all." Fischer acknowledged that she is "disappointed we can't get health care done" and added: "I'm a little pessimistic." "Everyone should have access to affordable health insurance," Fischer said, and she agrees that there is "government responsibility for those in need." Asked if she would support a bill that would grant DACA youths some form of permanent protection to legally remain in the U.S., Fischer said that's "a sensitive issue (and) border security should be first and foremost" in dealing with immigration policy. The predominantly Latino DACA population has legal presence in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action taken by former President Barack Obama. Although there were occasional shouts and interruptions, Thursday's meeting remained orderly with a visible police presence. Among the signs that occasionally were held up was one supporting Jane Raybould, who will likely be Fischer's Democratic challenger in 2018. After being charged last week with five felonies, Lancaster County Treasurer Andy Stebbing must resign. It must be noted that the charges filed against Stebbing are for alleged personal conduct, not improprieties in his role as Lancaster County Treasurer. But the nature of those charges conflicts directly with his elected office and renders him ineffective to carry out the duties of his position. Among the felonies with which hes been charged are two counts of falsifying a bill of sale and two counts of filing a false income tax return. In Nebraska, county treasurers offices are responsible for collecting property taxes to be disbursed and managing motor vehicle registrations and titles. The accusations of falsifying documents related to both taxes and automobiles run counter to duties explicitly given to his office. Accordingly, Stebbings ability to effectively execute the statutory requirements of the Lancaster County Treasurer would be overshadowed by the skepticism and concerns about the integrity of the man in charge. Faith in Lancaster Countys government cannot be allowed to be undermined in that manner. Yes, it goes without saying that Stebbing is innocent until and only if hes found guilty in court. Those proceedings, however, are likely to drag on for several months. That timeframe is far too long for the Treasurers Office to have its leadership compromised. Complicating the matters, too, is the inability of Stebbing to be recalled. State law requires recall petitions against elected officials to be filed within six months of the incumbent filing deadline. For his office, that date is Feb. 15 meaning any recall petition would have had to be signed by more than 48,000 Lancaster County voters and filed by Aug. 15, which passed before Stebbing was charged. For those reasons, Lancaster County Board Chairman Todd Wiltgen has called for Stebbing to resign a suggestion in the best interest of all parties. I don't know how he can continue to serve as treasurer with these charges having been filed, Wiltgen told the Journal Star last Friday. It's the right thing to do for the sake of the county, the treasurer's office and the taxpayers and residents of the county for him to resign." Lancaster County needs someone at the helm of the Treasurers Office while Stebbings case plays out in the courtroom. The serious nature of his charges, particularly in light of how they reflect on his responsibilities, mandates a fresh start at the top. In 2018, voters will determine a new Lancaster County Treasurer. However, the position must not simply languish until then: Stebbing must step down to ensure the office can continue effectively serve Lancaster County without his felony charges looming over its important work. 2017/18 Foreign Films 2017/18 foreign films are scheduled as follows: Sept. 14-17: A Man Called Ove, by Hannes Holm (Sweden, 2015). Ove at first seems like a cantankerous and nosy old man, but when the truth about his life is revealed through flashbacks, one cant help but root for him. Sept. 28-Oct. 1: Land of Mine, by Martin Zandvliet (Denmark/Germany, 2015). Based on the true, but not well known, story of how Denmark used young German POWs to rid the Danish coastline of nearly 2 million land mines after World War II, this moving antiwar essay is also a gripping thriller. Oct. 12-15: Elle, by Paul Verhoeven (France, 2016). Isabelle Hupperts magnificent performance in this complex, compassionate and often corrosively funny film earned her a Best Actress award in 20 film festivals around the world. Oct. 26-29: Hunt for the Wilderpeople, by Taika Waititi (New Zealand, 2016). When a defiant city kid is threatened with having to leave the foster family hes come to love, he and his foster uncle go on the run and a national manhunt ensues. Nov. 9-12: Things to Come, by Mia Hansen-Love (France/Germany 2016). The way is wide open, but the journey seems terrifying, for Nathalie a high school philosophy teacher who finds herself suddenly single in her 60s. Nov. 30-Dec. 3: Aquarius, by Kleber Mendonca Filho (Brazil, 2016). Clara, a retired music critic living in a beachside apartment block, is the only holdout stopping the buildings replacement with a skyscraper and the developers seemingly charming grandson tries to convince her to move out. Dec. 7-10: Our Little Sister, by Hirokazu Koreeda, (Japan, 2016). A delightfully-beautiful drama, with comedic undertones, about a young girl who is rescued from a Cinderella-like existence by her long-lost sisters. Jan. 25-28: The Handmaiden, by Chan-wook Park (South Korea, 2016). This fiendishly clever, con-job melodrama tells the story of two women, oppressed by the predatory men in their lives, who learn to twist games of identity and manipulation to their advantage. Feb. 8-11: The Salesman, by Asghar Farhadi (Iran/France, 2016). Life is turned upside down for an Iranian couple both actors, rehearsing Death of a Salesman when she is brutally attacked. Feb. 22-25: Sing Street, by John Carney (UK, 2016). Musics powerful influence shines in this musical comedy about a young man who comes to see the world around him in a different light, when he forms a band to win a girls attention. March 8-11: Neruda, by Pablo Larrain (Chile, 2016). It is 1948 and Pablo Neruda is the poet laureate of Chile, and part of the political scene as a senator representing the Communist Party. When the president declares communism against the law, a perilous cat-and-mouse game ensues between the poet and police. March 22-25: The Kings Choice, by Erik Poppe (Norway, 2016). When the German war machine arrives in Oslo in 1940, Norwegian King Haakon VII must choose between signing a pact of cooperation with Hitler, or refusing the virtually non-negotiable agreement and forgoing any notion of remaining neutral in the Britain-Germany conflict and joining the fight. April 12-15: I, Daniel Blake, by Ken Loach (UK, 2016). A rare political drama that touches the soul, this film has believable characters and a quiet beauty that made it a winner at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. April 26-29: Toni Erdmann, by Maren Ade (Germany/Austria/Romania, 2016). Surprising, awkward, refreshing and at times downright hilarious, this comedy is about a young workaholic whose aging, practical joker father comes to visit and refuses to go home. Full descriptions can be found at www.uwp.edu/foreignfilms. RACINE COUNTY Over the past week, area residents have watched and read the shocking news of more than 50 inches of rain falling in the Houston area over four days, causing catastrophic damage. People have been stranded, lost everything and more than 30 have been confirmed dead. Seeing that, locals have been opening their hearts to do what they can to provide help. Woof Gang Rescue, 1535 Layard Ave., is sending a transport vehicle to pick up rescued animals from shelters, a local Carpetland subcontractor is heading down Friday with a large U-Haul full of supplies, and another group of area residents is working to fill a donated semi-trailer with needed items in preparation for a shipment next week. Locals helping out Freddy Franco said he saw the damage and wanted to help out. Franco, 41, of Kenosha, told his wife he was going to get a pallet of water and drive down. He spread the word to a few others and, before he knew it, he had a trailer full of supplies. Carpetland, Francos employer, worked with the Piggly Wiggly at 5600 Spring St. to supply the water. People also donated food, personal hygiene items and clothing. Franco also received a donation to help cover his gas. The experience was similar for Shawn Wiskerchen, 41, of Racine, who owns his own semi-truck and transportation company. After watching the devastating flooding, he didnt hesitate to help out when he heard about a local effort to collect goods to transport down. Next week, he is donating his time and truck to bring items down to those in need. Ive always told myself times are good and times are bad. If there is a time I can help someone, Im going to do it, Wiskerchen said. In an effort to fill the trailer, drop-off locations have been set up throughout the area they include: The Woof Dog Daycare and Boarding, 5326 Durand Ave.; Foxhole Lounge, 820 Main St.; Cham Tap North, 4653 Douglas Ave.; Cham Tap South, 2511 Durand Ave.; and accepting pet donations are Katies K9 Klubhouse, 5246 Douglas Ave.; and Prairie Side Veterinary, 6300 Washington Ave. Collections will be accepted through Saturday and suggested items include water, baby supplies such as diapers, personal care items such as shampoo and deodorant, batteries, flashlights, paper plates and paper towels, nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, new socks and underwear of all sizes, as well as dog and cat supplies such as food, treats, litter and blankets. Helping four-legged friends While thousands of people have been affected, countless animals have also been left without homes. Woof Gang Rescue is planning to send its critter gitter transport vehicle to the Houston area this weekend to pick up and bring back more than 40 dogs from at least three flooded humane shelters. Woof Gang Executive Director Jodie Hoffmann-Ruffalo said her group will bring back as many dogs as they have foster homes lined up. As of Wednesday morning, that number was 42. Hoffmann-Ruffalo said the dogs will be checked out by veterinarians before leaving for Racine. When they arrive, likely Monday morning, they will come to the Woof Gang intake center at 1535 Layard Ave. There, many volunteers will assist in unloading, giving baths, walking the dogs, clipping claws if necessary and installing microchips. Foster parents will pick up their dog and be sent home with a collar, leash and food, said Hoffmann-Ruffalo, a dog trainer and owner of J. Hoffmann Dog Training. When the dogs are deemed ready for adoption by their foster parents, they will be offered for adoption via the groups website, www.woofgangrescue.com. People can also sign up there to volunteer to help in various ways or provide a temporary foster home. Homer Page (1918-1985) was an American documentary photographer whose most famous photographs were taken in New York City in 1949-1950, after he received a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation.Page studied art and social psychology at the University of California, graduating in 1940. He worked in the shipyards in the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Area during World War II. His neighbor and later his mentor, photographer Dorothea Lange, encouraged him to take up photography in 1944. By 1947, he was featured in a major show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.Page received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949 and spent a year documenting modern urban culture, primarily by photographing people on the streets of New York City. Most of his subjects appear unaware of his presence. Rescue workers look for survivors at the site of a building collapse in Mumbai on Aug 31, 2017. At least three people died and dozens were feared trapped when a building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai on Aug 31, after days of heavy rain swamped the city. (Photo: AFP/Punit PARANJPE) Rescue workers look for survivors at the site of a building collapse in Mumbai on Aug 31, 2017. At least three people died and dozens were feared trapped when a building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai on Aug 31, after days of heavy rain swamped the city. (Photo: AFP/Punit PARANJPE) The four-storey residential building gave way around 8.40am (1110 SGT) in the densely populated area of Bhendi Bazaar, after heavy rains in the city killed 10 people. An official in the control room of India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said one body had been pulled from the rubble. Four people have been rescued but dozens more are thought to be trapped, he added. "Forty people are believed to be stuck inside and a 43-member team is conducting rescue operations," the official told AFP. He said eight or nine families were thought to have been living in the building. Building collapses are common in India, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September, when heavy rains lash the teeming metropolis. MOUNT PLEASANT Things got heated Monday among residents, board members and Village President Dave DeGroot during the public comment portion of a Mount Pleasant board meeting. Kelly Gallaher, a village resident and local activist, was barred from speaking and has filed a complaint with the village. In the complaint, she states that DeGroot does not possess the authority to choose who speaks during public comments or require her to submit a written or oral apology to the board. Multiple residents raised concerns during the meeting about the new project director being hired while the village is without an administrator. Another exchange between DeGroot and resident Alfonso Gardner almost led to Gardner being escorted out of the Village Hall, 8811 Campus Drive, although he ended up leaving voluntarily. When Gallaher tried to speak about the project director, DeGroot voiced his discontent with a previous incident with Gallaher. Before you speak ever again in these chambers, you have to have a way, way better idea of the conduct that is expected of you when youre speaking at a public meeting, DeGroot said. The last time you spoke here, upon leaving the table and walking away, you dropped the F-bomb not once, but twice, and it was noticed by many people in these chambers. At that point, Village Trustee Jon Hansen interrupted and said This is public comment, this is not public reprimand. DeGroot responded by saying She is not speaking until some things are taken care of. Hansen and DeGroot both said that the other was out of order. DeGroot struck the gavel and said to Hansen Youre out of order. Once more and youre gone. Ms. Gallaher, youre very fortunate that I did not hear your outburst because I wouldve thrown you out on your can, DeGroot said. Hansen interrupted, but DeGroot struck the gavel again and said Number two for you, but Hansen tried to make an argument saying These are residents of our community. DeGroot warned Hansen by saying If I hit this gavel one more time youre gone for the rest of the meeting. Nothing to apologize for DeGroot turned his direction back to Gallaher and said if he would have heard her curse he would have had her cited or arrested for disorderly conduct. So having said that, you will not be speaking in these chambers again until I have heard an oral apology thats suitable to me and the rest of this board, DeGroot said. Number two, Im not going to hear an oral apology from you until I read a written one that has been delivered to me five business days before this board meets so I can check the credibility of it because you have had a long history of issues with the truth. Go back and sit down. Gallaher briefly addressed DeGroot and said she didnt know what meeting he was referencing when this incident took place. You have accused me of something and I dont know what youre talking about, Gallaher said. So there wont be an apology letter because I dont feel that I have anything to apologize for. After the meeting, Gallaher said she found the interaction with DeGroot to be inappropriate, punitive and childish. I dont know what hes talking about, Gallaher said. It was very non-specific. I think he just doesnt want to hear people talk. DeGroot said the public is given a chance to speak at the public meetings as long as they dont curse; however, it is not the place to have a debate between board members and residents. If Im going to be challenged at every meeting going forward, then I guess Im going to have to get used to throwing people out, DeGroot said. At the end of the day, this is a business meeting and we debate and vote on stuff in front of the board, and I just cant have the distraction of people shooting their mouth off. After increasing its capital by VND850 billion ($37.4 million), bringing the total chartered capital to VND1.65 trillion ($72.6 million), Aviva Vietnam has officially changed its brand name from VietinAviva and became one of the life insurance companies with the largest chartered capital in Vietnam. This is a strategic decision from Aviva Groupone of the world's leading insurance groups with more than 300 years of experience around the globeto increase the long-term commitment to Vietnam. Chris Wei, executive chairman of Aviva Asia & FPI and global chairman of Aviva Digital, said, Vietnam is a high-potential market in Asia with one of the worlds lowest insurance penetration rates, stable economic growth, and rising middle class and high-income individuals. Aviva Vietnam's development strategy is to invest substantially in digital capabilities and information technology infrastructure in order to meet the evolving needs of Vietnamese customers. Digitalisation will be fully embedded into every aspect of the company's operations, including the development of distribution channels as well as the initiatives to improve customer experience, which will lead Aviva Vietnam to become a fully digital-integrated company by 2020 with the best services and most advanced technology, offering convenience and premium services to customers. Aviva Vietnam also completed the signing of a long-term exclusive distribution agreement with Vietinbank, one of the leading domestic banks with a large branch network nationwide. This distribution agreement attests to Avivas long-term commitment to the country as the insurer continues on its growth trajectory in the region. As a leading insurer with more than 300 years of experience, we are confident that our strategic partnership with VietinBank will propel Avivas future growth in Vietnam, remarked Wei. In line with its multi-channel approach, Aviva Vietnam will continue to leverage the strategic partnership with Vietinbank while building a professional agency channel. Aviva Vietnam will focus on building an agency force that has in-depth product understanding and is equipped with best-in-class digital sales tools to provide customers with the most convenient insurance purchase experience. Besides, Aviva Vietnam showed their strong commitment to community development, by setting up Aviva Community Fund (ACF) and Aviva Scholarship in 2017. The first to launch ACF in Southeast Asia, Aviva Vietnam will fund projects that can bring about positive impacts to the Vietnamese community in three aspects: environment, community health, and education. So far, such funds have already been launched in numerous markets across the world and have achieved great success in markets such as the UK, France, Canada, Italy, Poland, and Hong Kong. Aviva Scholarship is an exclusive programme created by Aviva for its customers in Asia. Partnering with 11 prestigious universities in the UK, the scholarship aims to promote British education in Asia and assist outstanding students in the region to further their studies at leading UK universities by covering up to 20 per cent of the tuition fees. It also provides students with opportunities to apply for the Aviva internship programme and Aviva Groups global postgraduate programme. We will strive to bring the best insurance products and services to Vietnamese consumers while continuing to invest in community programmes that promote greater societal development, said Wei. The conjoined twins after the surgery. The twins, Dieu Thi Bao Han and Dieu Thi Bao An, who hail from the southern province of Binh Phuoc, were hospitalised last August and since then had undergone four skin-related surgeries. Professor Tran Dong A, advisor to the hospital, said doctors decided to separate the twins because it was life-threatening to keep them conjoined for long. It took the doctors a long time to arrive at a decision as they considered carefully all the risks associated with the major surgery and the possible after-effects. To limit risks during surgery, 40 doctors from both hospitals were assigned to the procedure. The surgery lasted for nearly 12 hours, and was successful beyond expectation, the professor said. The conjoined twins before the surgery. Dang Do Thanh Can, head of surgical ward of Paediatric Hospital No 2, said the toughest issue was ensuring that the twins legs would work normally after operation, as they were joined at the spinal cord and were really small. Doctors used micro-surgery tools and microscopes during the surgery. The twins condition is stable now. They are drinking milk and have had normal bowel movement. Professor A said that usually, across the world, most conjoined twins are joined at the chest and belly. After 1975, in Viet Nam, this is the first twins to have been joined at the anal region and spinal cord. So far, world over, there have been only 29 similar cases. The success of the surgery is a statement of Vietnamese doctors skills and achievement internationally, he said. President Donald Trump, followed by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., waves before they board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., prior to their departure to Springfield, Missouri. (Source: AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Trump visited Springfield, Missouri, hoping to pull voters and lawmakers behind what described as a "once in a generation" opportunity to remake the tax code. Advocating a 15 per cent corporate tax rate, and a slew of other reforms, Trump insisted "our self-destructive tax code cost millions of jobs, trillions of dollars, and billions of hours spent on compliance and paper work." Trump has argued that ambitious reform of the tax code is needed to juice the economy further, and is counting on the Republican-controlled Congress to make that ambition reality. The economy has been bright spot for Trump's troubled presidency, with unemployment rates falling and growth rates reaching their fastest clip in over two years. Shortly before Marine One lifted off from the South Lawn of the White House, news came that economic growth had reached Trump's target of three percent in the second quarter. "I happen to be one that thinks we can go much higher than three per cent," Trump said, welcoming the news. Trump argued that at 26,000 pages the US tax code was out of control, with complex deductions and nominal rates that made the United States uncompetitive. "It disadvantages ordinary Americans who don't have an army of accountants, while benefiting deep-pocket special interests," he said. "China and some others that are highly competitive and really doing very well against us," he added. "They are taking us, frankly, to the cleaners." But he offered little detail of what he wants to change. It was not clear, for example, whether the goal for 15 per cent corporate tax rate was workable or would aim to reduce the nominal rate - currently 39 per cent - or the actual rate that company's pay, which is closer to 19 per cent. The White House's stated goal is to adopt tax reform by the end of the year, but that's a tall task both technically and politically. The US tax code has not been modified significantly since 1986, despite numerous efforts. With most of his legislative agenda stalled and political pressure mounting, Trump took aim at Republican lawmakers, telling them to get tax reform done. "I don't want to be disappointed by Congress. Do you understand me? Do you understand?" he said. "I think Congress is going to make a comeback. I hope so. I tell you what, the United States is counting on it." Trump also trained fire at Democrats, crediting them with scuppering his efforts to undo Barack Obama's health care reforms. "The Dems are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform just like they obstructed so many other things, including administration appointments and health care," he said. Missouri's democratic senator Claire McCaskill, who faces a reelection fight in 2018, was singled out for the Trump treatment. "She must do this for you, and if she doesn't do it for you, you have to vote. Her. Out. Of. Office," he said. Trump's problems may however be closer to home. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but there is hardly a consensus on tax reform, and talks on the issue is set to be arduous. Trump may ultimately be forced to abandon broad reform in favor of more modest, and temporary, tax relief. Even then he faces opposition from fiscal hawks inside the Republican party, who insist that any cuts must be paid for and not add to the roughly US$350 billion deficit. Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (pictured) replaces co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was pressured to resign as chief of the leading smartphone-summoned ride service. (Photo: AFP/Drew Angerer) Khosrowshahi will be at Uber's headquarters in San Francisco for an 'all-hands' gathering to meet workers at the controversy-battered company. "We are delighted to announce that Uber's Board has voted unanimously to appoint Dara Khosrowshahi to be our new CEO," Uber executives said in an email sent to employees late Tuesday. Khosrowshahi is credited with turning Expedia into a global travel services behemoth, winning admiration from employees on the journey. Uber is hoping he will now slip into the driver's seat at the controversy-battered ride-sharing service and steer it along a similarly glorious route. Khosrowshahi replaces Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was pressured to resign as chief of the leading smartphone-summoned ride service. Kalanick was the driving force behind Uber, taking a spur-of-moment idea and turning it into the world's most valuable venture-funded tech startup. But his brash personality and freewheeling management style, which some argue set a problematic tone at the company, made him a liability as well as an asset to the global ridesharing giant. In June, he stepped down as chief executive. Khosrowshahi was nine years old when he and his family immigrated to the United States on the eve of the Iranian Revolution, according to Uber. Khosrowshahi is known as an experienced top executive, willing to speak his mind and to advocate for women getting equal pay and leadership opportunities. "We're really fortunate to gain a leader with Dara's experience, talent and vision," Uber said in the message to employees. Mike and Jesse are adding interesting stuff to the blog in our spare time, so pardon the miscellany and lack of any organization. If you need to email about something (not hood ornaments) that isn't relevant to the comment section, e mail me at jbohjkl@yahoo.com, which will be responded to pretty fast on weekdays Images used IAW Title 17 U.S. Code 107 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107 This is under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license.See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode Kurds and Assyrians: a tumultuous past and present Much of what the Kurds claim as their own unique culture is actually borrowed from older cultures, such as the Assyrians, Armenians and Suryoye. In fact, much if not all of the land in Eastern Turkey that the Kurds claim as their own once belonged to the Armenians. It is hardly surprising, then, that the Kurds assisted in the Turkish genocide of Assyrians [1] and the 1915 genocide of Armenians [2]. Also known as Shato du Seyfo, or the Year of the Sword, this genocide targeted Christians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, mainly in 1915 [3]. The size of the Assyrian population was reduced by as much as 75 percent as a result. On the Nineveh plains of northern Iraq, the Kurds dwell in cities such as Dohuk (formerly known by the Assyrian name of Nohadra). But these cities are theirs only in that they have established a relatively recent presence there. Employing the criteria of cultural identity and thousands of years of historical authenticity, these lands are, and have been, uniquely Assyrian. The Kurds were essentially given these lands in the early 1970s as a means of drawing their eyes away from the oil-rich lands in and around the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. To this end, there were large migrations of Kurds into Dohuk which displaced, often forcibly, Assyrians who had far greater legal and historical claims to these lands. This is a tactic commonly employed by the Kurds when attempting to ascribe validation to their sacred quest of establishing a Kurdish state something which has never existed at any point in recorded history. By defining Kurdistan as any place where Kurds happen to dwell at any given point, they seem to be going by the maxim possession is nine-tenths of the law which may work well in determining criminal liability, but not so well in determining ones homeland. In the early 1970s, the Kurds of Nineveh began to fall into what would become a familiar pattern of being used as a pawn of U.S. interests. In this instance, they betrayed their host country when the U.S. through its puppet, the Shah of Iran began arming them and encouraging them to rise up against the government. The Iraqi government cracked down, which resulted in many Kurds being forced out of the lands they had only recently acquired. Iraq and Iran came to a diplomatic resolution and the Kurds were left holding the proverbial bag in what would also become a recurring scenario. Nearly the exact same phenomenon occurred in the 1980s and 1990s when, during the first Gulf War, a no-fly zone was established that granted the Kurds a tangible measure of international support and protection. Despite the oppression the Kurds have suffered at the hands of the Turks, they have not learned to be tolerant. In the Kurdish autonomous of North Iraq, The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) are acting in the same way as the Turkish government has for 90 years against Kurds and Assyrians. Reports of systematic abuses against Assyrians within the Kurdish autonomy in Iraq are constantly increasing in number. There is organized harassment, sanctioned by the Kurdish authorities. The aim is obviously the same as that of the Turks, to assimilate or expel the Assyrian indigenous people who have lived in these parts of the country for more than 7,000 years. Augin Haninke wrote in her article The Kurds: Victims and Oppressors with Assyrian [4] As explained in the video above, Kurdish security forces in Syria tortured and murdered Assyrian military commander David Jindo after a false invitation under the pretense of cooperation. This was a move reminiscent of Kurdish leader Simko Shikaks 1918 assassination of Assyrian Patriarch Mar Shimun XXI Benyamin, which took place when he invited the patriarch into his home. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq claims that it is $25 billion dollars in debt, despite having negotiated its own oil deals and received significant amounts of foreign aid [5]. One has to question how much corruption exists within the Kurdish administration for it to be in the financial situation it claims to be in. This has resulted in circumstances where small charity groups are left to facilitate and distribute aid to the Assyrians and Yazidis, who are supposed to be under the governorship of the KRG. In 2011, imams in Dohuk encouraged Sunni Kurds to destroy Christian churches and businesses. In response, shops were attacked and clubs were besieged by mobs of people numbering in the hundreds. Hotels and restaurants were attacked with small arms fire [6]. In recent years, Kurds have continued acting disingenuously towards Christian minorities, including Assyrians, and even Yazidis. Their abuses have gone far beyond historical revisionism an example of which can be seen in the picture below. This was also seen when they took refuge in northern Syria in the early 19th century and proceeded to drive Arabs and Armenians out of numerous towns. Modern day horrors as Kurds allow Daesh to murder Assyrians In July 2014, as Daesh began its incursion into Iraqi territory, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) began its systematic disarmament of Assyrians and several other ethnic groups so that it could use their weapons in its own struggle. Notices were circulated threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. Assurances were given that the Peshmerga would provide some degree of protection. But as Daesh advanced, the Peshmerga took the weapons and fled, following the same example as the Iraqi Army. This left the Assyrians and Yazidis with no means to resist or defend themselves against Daesh. Reports even surfaced of these same Peshmerga gunning down Yazidis who tried to prevent them from fleeing with all the weapons. Haydar Shesho, a Yazidi commander who managed to procure weapons from the Iraqi government, was then arrested by KDP authorities for organizing an illegal militia. This scene was repeated elsewhere throughout the country, as 150,000 Assyrians were forced to flee the Nineveh plains, their ancestral land. These actions can only be seen as a deliberate ploy by the Kurdish leadership to allow foreign forces to violently cleanse these areas of all non-Kurdish residents and then, with the help of their U.S. allies, retake and liberate their lands. On April 13, 2016, Kurdish security forces blocked hundreds of Assyrians from participating in a protest outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government Parliament building. The protest was planned in response to the ongoing confiscation of Assyrian land by Kurds in northern Iraq. Many testimonies have surfaced, such as a statement given to the UK Parliament by Yazidi ex-captive Salwa Khalaf Rasho, in which it is said that the Peshmerga, eager to flee first ahead of Yazidi civilians, has refused requests to stay and protect Yazidis or at least leave them their weapons. They had even reassured the Yazidis that they should return to their homes, where they would be defended. Some Peshmerga ultimately started firing on Yazidis when their protests grew forceful killing some of them in order to clear the way for their convoy of vehicles to pass unhindered. Yazda, an organization that campaigns for Yazidi genocide recognition, wrote in its last report in January 2016: Had they [Yazidis] been defended for one day, they could have been evacuated safely and the massacres and enslavement crisis could have been averted. The following is an excerpt from Rashos testimony to the UK Parliament in which she pleaded for help after escaping eight months of Daesh slavery, rape and multiple attempted suicides [7]. My name is Salwa Khalaf Rasho. I was born in 1998 and was in the ninth grade. I was leading a simple and modest life with my family until the day when Daesh attacked Shengal on August 3, 2014. I liked my city, Shengal, very much. I grew up under the principle of coexistence with all societies within the community, regardless of ones religion or sect, because the values of my religion do not allow to hate others and discriminate against them. Therefore, Shengal was well known as the city of tolerance and ethnic diversity. What happened was shocking and unexpected, because we saw Daesh as our brothers. With this, I mean the Arab tribes of the villages that belong to Shengal. Suddenly, they became monsters and wolves. They collaborated with Daesh when Yazidi women and children were enslaved and men were killed. There were about 9,000 Peshmerga in my city who were armed with various types of weapons. They said to us, We will protect and defend Shengal, and Daesh will only enter Shengal over our dead bodies. We will defend Shengal until the last bullet. Unfortunately, they ran away without any resistance and without warning or giving notice to the civilians so we could escape from falling into the arms of Daesh monsters. They left us women and children to our cold-blooded fate. I and the people with me tried to flee into the mountains like the others. Watch: How Kurds disarmed Assyrian Christians and abandoned them to Daesh: A history of human rights abuses In light of these horrors, it should easily be understood why the Kurds would have a vested interest in claiming Arab, Assyrian or Armenian history as their own. Failing in that endeavor, they often resort to destroying any relevant history altogether. In this aspect, they operate in a similar manner to Daesh. Every time the Kurds failed in an attack against Turkey, they would migrate to Syria and try to claim Syrian land as their own. For instance, they tried to claim the Syrian city of Ayn al Arab, naming it Kobani. The origin of the name is the word company, a reference to a German railway company that built the Konya-Baghdad railway. The Kurds also claimed Al Qamishli, another Syrian city, as their illegal capital and renamed it Qamishlo [8]. Its worth mentioning that the Kurds are not even a majority in the land they claim as theirs in northeast Syria. For example, in the governorate of Al Hasakah, they amount to about 30 to 40 percent of the population. That number has decreased since the outbreak of the current Syrian conflict, as many Kurds have left for European countries. Most of the have fled to Germany, where their numbers are about 1.2 million, a little less than the number of Kurds living in Syria. However, they do not seem concerned about seeking autonomy there. They only seek it in the Middle Eastern countries that have provided them with refuge all of these years these are the countries they want to stab in the back instead of thanking them for their hospitality. Amnesty Internationals many refutable allegations against the Syrian government and the Syrian Arab Army cannot be taken at face value in the absence of other corroborating reports [9]. In some cases, however, they do report truthfully, such as when they released a report in 2015 accusing the YPG, the militia of Syrias Kurdish population, of a range of human rights abuses [10]. These abuses include forced displacement, demolition of homes, and the seizure and destruction of property, the group wrote. In some cases, entire villages have been demolished, apparently in retaliation for the perceived support of their Arab or Turkmen residents for the group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS) or other non-state armed groups. Amnesty International has also documented the use of child soldiers, according to Lama Fakih, a senior crisis advisor for the group. The Kurds claim that their Kurdistan is multicultural and multireligious, which is disingenuous when you consider that those additional cultures consist of people now dwelling amongst a Kurdish majority in lands the Kurds took by force. These people will be faced with the prospect of casting meaningless votes on Kurdish independence since, even if they all voted no, they would nonetheless be outvoted by the Kurdish yes majority and as a result would still find themselves subject to a Kurdish government and agenda. Why are they stateless? The Sykes-Picot agreement, officially known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was a secret 1916 agreement between the United Kingdom and France, to which the Russian Empire assented [11]. It set the borders for countries like Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, but the Kurds held little or no influence. The main purpose of the agreement for the French and British was to bolster their own influence and power in the region. The Kurds have made the argument that they were promised land at the time, but were then cut out of the deal at the last minute. Kurdish history in the 20th century is marked by a rising sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of establishing an independent Kurdistan in accordance with the Treaty of Sevres of 1920. Countries like Armenia, Iraq and Syria were able to achieve statehood, but the prospective Kurdistan was in the way of the newly founded state of Turkey, established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The state of Kurdistan has simply never existed. The only areas in the Middle East where the Kurds were able to establish some semblance of legal autonomy are the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq where minorities are well-protected under new laws and Israel [12]. As a result of the disparity between areas of Kurdish settlement and the political and administrative boundaries of the region, a general agreement among Kurds could not be reached regarding borders. However, the Treaty of Sevres was not implemented and was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne. The current Iraq-Turkey border was agreed upon in July 1926. While Article 63 of the Treaty of Sevres explicitly granted full safeguards and protections to the Assyro-Chaldean minority, this reference was dropped in the Treaty of Lausanne. Its worth noting that the Iraqi Kurds are situated on the countrys oil-rich fields [13]. Syrias Hasakah province which the Kurds are illegally claiming as their territory and which includes their self-appointed capital, Al Qamishli also contains some of Syrias most valuable oil fields. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the U.S. is putting its money on the Kurds. Unethical and violent treatment of minorities, particularly Christians According to Rudaw, in an article written in 2014, Last year Ahmed Turk, a Kurdish politician in Turkey, declared that the Kurds have their share of guilt in the genocide, too, and apologized to the Armenians. Our fathers and grandfathers were used against Assyrians and Yazidis, as well as against Armenians. They persecuted these people; their hands are stained with blood. We as the descendants apologize, Turk said. [14]. The Kurds have a centuries-long history of persecuting minority groups, having committed genocide against them with alarming frequency. Historical accounts of acts of genocide by the Kurds from 1261 through 1999 are documented in Genocides Against the Assyrian Nation. In A.D. 1261, in what was referred to as the coming of the Kurds, thousands of Assyrians fled the Nineveh plains villages of Bartillah, Bakhdida (Qaraqosh), Badna, Basihra and Karmlis, moving toward the citadel of Arbil to escape a substantial Kurdish emigration. King Salih Ismail had ordered a great number of Kurds to move from the mountains of Turkey to the Nineveh plains. Assyrian villages on the plains were looted and the thousands of Assyrians who were not able to escape to Arbil were butchered by the Kurdish newcomers. A monastery for nuns in Bakhdida was invaded and its inhabitants brutally massacred. A New York Times article from 1915 addressing the mass slaughter of Christians at the hands of Turks and Kurds. Kurdish tribes in Turkey, Syria and Iran conducted regular raids and even paramilitary assaults against their Christian neighbors during World War I. The Kurds, acting in accordance with a long-standing tradition of a perceived Kurdish right to pillage Christian villages, were responsible for many atrocities that were committed against Assyrian Christians. A Kurdish chieftain assassinated the patriarch of the Church of the Aast at a negotiation dinner in 1918, the aftermath of which led to the further decimation of the Christian population. Kurdish complicity in Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacres and subjection of army conscripts to forced labor, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and the infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert [15]. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape and massacre. Other indigenous and Christian ethnic groups, such as the Assyrians and the Ottoman Greeks, were similarly targeted for extermination by the Ottoman government in the Assyrian genocide and the Greek genocide, and their treatment is considered by some historians to be part of the same genocidal policy that targeted the Armenians. Most Armenian diaspora communities around the world came into being as a direct result of the genocide. In the eastern provinces, the Armenians were subject to the whims of their Turkish and Kurdish neighbors, who would regularly overtax them, subject them to brigandage and kidnapping, force them to convert to Islam, and otherwise exploit them without interference from central or local authorities. Egged on by their Ottoman rulers, Kurdish tribal chieftains raped, murdered and pillaged their way through the southeastern provinces where for centuries they had co-existed, if uneasily, with the Armenians and other non-Muslims. Henry Morgenthau [16], who served as U.S. Ambassador in Constantinople at the height of the bloodshed, described the Kurds complicity in his chilling 1918 memoir Ambassador Morgenthaus Story: The Kurds would sweep down from their mountain homes. Rushing up to the young girls, they would lift their veils and carry the pretty ones off to the hills. They would steal such children as pleased their fancy and mercilessly rob all the rest of the throngWhile they were committing these depredations, the Kurds would freely massacre, and the screams of women and old men would add to the general horror. [17]. Discrimination against Feyli Kurds in Iraq It is important to reiterate that there are many Kurds to whom some of the characterizations presented in this analysis cannot and should not be applied. There are Kurds who have assimilated into their current cultural societies and reject the ideals of the separatist Kurds. Their concerns are mostly political in nature and specific to the nations in which they reside. They are not interested in establishing a united Kurdish country in the four countries they occupy, through Balkanization, land theft, genocide or any of the other violations against humanity that have been addressed here. In fact, these Kurds have faced discrimination from the Kurdish community as a result of their unwillingness to support the establishment of a Kurdish state. The Feyli Kurds in northern Iraq are a prime example. Many of them expressed opposition to a referendum on independence announced by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on June 7, 2017, as they feared it could lead to an escalation of the areas ongoing crisis. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi laid out the Iraqi governments official position on June 18 [18], stating, The Kurdistan Regional referendum on secession is illegal, and the federal government will not support it, fund it or participate in it. The United States [19] and Iraqs neighbors, including Turkey, Iran [20] and Syria, oppose the countrys territorial division [21]. Fouad Ali Akbar, a Feyli member of the Baghdad provincial council, told Al-Monitor, They are Shiite Kurdsneither Shiites nor Kurds have done Feylis justice. Most Feylis are moderate and culturally diverse, and this has prevented them from earning the trust of Kurds and Shiites, who, for ethnic and sectarian reasons, have not wanted them to have a stable identity with normal rights like other Iraqi citizens. Feyli activist Hassan Abdali said, We, the Feyli Kurds, consider ourselves original Iraqis. We have deep historical and social roots in Iraq. We defended the country and its people in all the Iraqi liberation movements, in the Iraqi revolt against the British, and we took part in Kurdish movements and Shiite revolutions and also in the fight against the Islamic State (IS). And we faced persecution from Arab and Kurdish nationalist movements. [22] Ali Akbar also told Al-Monitor, The majority of Feylis are voicing concerns about the potential displacement, killing, confiscation of funds and systematic looting that they might face in the event of the declaration of independence of Kurdistan as a result of the threats they receive whenever a dispute between the central government and the KRG erupts. Sarwa Abdel Wahid, head of a KRG parliamentary bloc in Gorran (an Iraqi Kurdish political party), said at a joint press conference with Feyli representatives, including legislators, The referendum to be held in September in Kurdistan is a partisan referendum that does not represent the ambition of all the Kurdish people, as it has failed to go through the legitimate national institutions. Kurdish racism against Arabs especially Syrians Finnish investigative journalist Bruno Jantti described his experience working in Iraqi Kurdistan while investigating Daesh: When working in Iraqi Kurdistan, I was struck by the prevalence of regressive attitudes, including racism and sexism. I returned recently from Iraqi Kurdistan where I spent a couple of weeks investigating the Islamic State (IS) group. Working mostly in the vicinity of Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk, I could not help but notice a great many societal and cultural characteristics that somewhat surprised me. Considering what is happening right next door in Syria, the level of anti-Syrian racism did catch me off guard. I came across such prejudice almost daily. A taxi driver quipped in Sulaymaniyah: These Syrians are ruining our country. Another taxi driver was quite upset at Syrian kids who were washing car windows and selling tack. These are dirty kids. he said. It was all but unusual that internally displaced persons of Iraqi or Syrian Arab descent who had fled to Iraqi Kurdistan were discussed using such language. It wasnt just taxi drivers. In the Sulaymaniyah governorate building, an officer deemed it appropriate to prep us for our interviews in refugee camps in the area. She told me, verbatim, that Syrian refugees complain about everything. In another city, a police chief was astonished and disappointed that my colleagues and myself were applying for a permit to work in a camp inhabiting Syrian refugees. The police chief stated: But these are Syrian refugees! There was no shortage of contempt in his voice. I had been fully aware that Kurdish nationalism flirts with highly questionable portrayals of Arabs, Persians and Turkish people. In Iraqi Kurdistan, I was surprised at how prevalent some of those attitudes seemed to be. [23] A Well-Curated Myth The Kurds have gained popularity through effectively marketing themselves to Western audiences as revolutionary, feminist, Marxist freedom fighters [24] who have a burning desire to create their version of a utopia where peace for all will reign an image that Stephen Gowans recently critiqued in The Myth of the Kurdish YPGs Moral Excellence. [25]. What they actually seek to create is an illegal autonomous state carved out of existing sovereign countries. The freedom they seek is to be brought about by means of slaughtering natives in the countries that they want to Balkanize and divide on sectarian lines [26]. They have set about vacating areas of indigenous people, utilizing fear and forceful tactics that are supported by their sponsors but that are in violation of globally accepted human rights. To agree with their cause is to agree with genocidal actions that, in essence, tear people away from their homes and lands while fitting conveniently into the imperial views of Western nations. Up until recently, Kurds with separatist ambitions were seen in a positive light. But their hidden agenda has now been exposed and their true intentions revealed.Their past and present alliance with Israel and the United States is indicative of these intentions. This can not be dismissed or underappreciated, as it is the hidden foundation on which they have built their mission. The Greater Israel project is in full swing and needs to be halted before it makes any further headway [27]. To support the Kurds demands for autonomy, and the establishment of a federation at the expense of others in the region, is illegal, profoundly illogical, and a violation of human rights for all of the reasons that have been discussed here. And it bears remembering as well that one of the top leaders of Daesh was a Kurd [28]. If the Kurds truly want to live in peace and coexist with others, they must end the excessive historical revisionism in which they incessantly partake; they must forgo alliances that threaten the stability of the countries in which they currently reside; and they must work together and unite with their brethren who share the same geographical land. Only then will the Kurds truly have friends other than the mountains. National Honours - Call For Nominations The Gibraltar Honours Board (GHB), under the Chairmanship of His Excellency the Governor, will meet in October 2017 to consider nominations for The Queens Birthday Honours List 2018 and The Gibraltar Award that is awarded by the GHB and announced coincident with The Queens New Year Honour List 2018. Nominations should be submitted to recognise those people, from any section of the Gibraltarian Community, that have made an exceptional contribution or given exceptional service in the progression of either the well-being, achievement or reputation of Gibraltar. Nominations should be submitted no later than 2nd October 2017 on a GHB Nomination Proforma for the attention of the GHB Secretary, Office of the Governor, The Convent, Main Street, Gibraltar GX11 1AA. Nominations can be submitted by anyone. A copy of the GHB Nomination Proforma, along with detailed guidance on its completion, can be obtained at The Convent Reception or from the GHB Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Nominations can be supported by up to five letters of endorsement from people with a personal knowledge of the nominees contribution or service. Nominations will be considered by the GHB for the following Honours albeit nominations should not recommend someone for a specific award as this is decided by the GHB. Commander of the British Empire (CBE) - Awarded for having made a most prominent, distinguished and decisive contribution / service at International level within a certain field or discipline. Officer of the British Empire (OBE) - Awarded for having made a most prominent, distinguished and decisive contribution / service at local level within a certain field or discipline; a contribution / service that has led to an all-encompassing enhancement of life / outcomes at the National level. Member of the British Empire (MBE) - Awarded for having made a most distinguished and decisive contribution / service at local level within a certain field or discipline; a contribution / service that has led to the enhancement of life / outcomes at the National level. British Empire Medal (BEM) - Awarded for a most distinguished and decisive hands-on contribution / service at a local level within a certain field or discipline; a contribution / service that has led to the enhancement of life / outcomes for the Gibraltarian Community. Gibraltar Award (GA) - Awarded for a most distinguished and decisive hands-on contribution / service at a local level within a certain field or discipline; a contribution / service that has led to the enhancement of life / outcomes for the Gibraltarian Community. Alicia, youre doing amazing sweetie Alicia Vikanders moms friend. Photo: Alex Bailey/The Weinstein Company A this point, the selling point for Tulip Fever has become that its not nearly as bad as you expect. Famed producer Harvey Weinstein made the odd choice of sort of defending the film in an op-ed for Deadline today, in which he claimed, I know this films not perfect, very few are, but its a perfectly good time in a movie theater. Tulip Fever, a costume drama set in 17th-century Holland, based on the book by Deborah Moggach, was shot in 2014, and back then it looked like Oscar bait. The Weinstein Company has since bumped back its release several times over, finally pushing it out this weekend after canceling nearly all the press screenings, and setting a review embargo that breaks Friday afternoon. Tulip Fever is now being marketed as a the years sexiest thriller. None of that bodes well for the quality of the film. But as Harvey Weinstein mounts his defense, he would like you to know that its really not that bad, everyone. Im sure that the critics will have their fun with it, Weinstein said, but Im proud of this movie, as is the rest of the team behind it. He points out that novelists, of all people, loved it. He says it did well at a posh screening hosted by Tina Brown, Ariana Huffington, Martha Stewart, and Robbie Myers. No, they werent telling me that its Citizen Kane or Shakespeare In Love, Weinstein writes, listing one all-time great movie and a best picture-winner he produced, but they loved the performances, the cinematography, the costumes, the twists and turns, and enjoyed it for the film it is. Weinstein quotes Shakespeare: I suppose this is my nuanced attempt to take arms against a sea of troubles. To be or not to be isnt the question, he just wants you to want Tulip. Most important of all, Weinstein says, Alicia Vikander also reached out to tell me that her moms friend gave her a rare call just to tell her how much she enjoyed it. A rare call! Alicia Vikanders moms friend, why arent you talking to Alicia more often? Is there some Swedish drama going on? Alicia Vikanders moms friend, if you would like to discuss your thoughts on Tulip Fever in-depth, please do reach out. While the reviews have been middling for Netflixs adaptation of the classic manga series Death Note, one thing thats clear is its star, Lakeith Stanfield, thinks the movie is both bad and good. Or maybe its so bad that its good. Anyway, just an hour before we meet at his hotel in New York, Stanfield dashed off in a now-deleted tweet: WE WILL RISE TO THE TOP OF BAD FILMS OF 2017 ABD YOU WILL ALL BOW IN AWE [sic]. When I see him in person, I ask if he likes the movie. I love it, he laughs. And its also the worst movie of 2017! Dont misunderstand: Hes kidding. Sort of. (If youve seen the movie, which is deeply silly, his Twitter review seems exactly right.) Really though, Stanfield is just trying to take the piss out of celebrity, asking us not to take him or Hollywood too seriously. We learn more from what we dont fuck with than what we do fuck with, he says after weve settled on some beige couches at the hotel bar downstairs. Sometimes, as actors, we sit up and we dont have no fucking answers. And its important that we point that out: Im a stupid human, just like you are. Im not the fucking messiah, Im a goddamned actor! Stanfield is in New York City for the week doing double-promotion duty for the aforementioned Death Note where he plays the mysteriously named L, a savant criminal investigator with a candy addiction, and Crown Heights, a biopic that tells the story of Colin Warner, a real-life Trinidadian-American man who spent 21 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit. Together, the two films showcase Stanfields range as an actor: He gives a highly compressed, internalized performance as a man buffeted by systemic racism and institutional indifference in Crown Heights, and an exuberant, physical one in Death Note, where he crouches on chairs and talks in a slight staccato. Stanfields press forays have run the gamut too, including a bonkers GQ interview in which he deadpanned one-word answers, sober Q&As alongside Warner himself, and red carpets where he wore something he imagined L himself would wear. (He also says that he hopes to one day wear an outfit that is, spiritually, like a baby dragon.) For Stanfield, the interview process is about getting what you give. I dont understand whats in it for [reporters] if youre just going to ask like, what Im playing, he says. It makes me respond in that way like, Okay, youre making me say this. Makes it lame and not that interesting. I like to feel theres a human behind it, and not just a robot. Right now, sipping on a Jameson and ginger, hes clearly enjoying the chance to talk about craft and opportunity. On the latter front, its been a good year for Lakeith Stanfield. Since breaking out as Darius in Donald Glovers warm and surrealist FX series, Atlanta, in 2016, Stanfield has skipped around genre, time period, and character type. This year alone hes played Corporal Billy Cole in War Machine, black Chandler in Jay-Zs Moonlight music video, the hard-to-get-over boyfriend in Netflixs The Incredible Jessica James, and a victim of a body snatcher in Get Out, in addition to his leading turns in Crown Heights and Death Note. And soon, hell star in Come Sunday about televangelist Oral Roberts and a magical-realist film about telemarketers in Sorry to Bother You. For Crown Heights in particular, he feels the weight of responsibility bearing down on him. Stanfield met with Warner as part of his research process, and wanted to do justice to his experiences. [Warner] talked and talked, and I extended my antennas and took it all in, says Stanfield. It doesnt feel like talking about a movie to the press in the same way. I want people to go see it just for him and his fucking family. I dont care about the other shit. Like his breakout role in 2013s Short Term 12 as Marcus, a teenager stuck in a state-run group home, Crown Heights gives him a sense of greater purpose. But these are the roles that also get inside his head. I still feel there are parts of me that arent the same having played both [Colin] and [Marcus]. Sometimes I have weird dreams and shit. Last time I had one about being pursued by men and locked in a cell, he says. You have to create a balance because you want to be mentally stable enough to work, and you can easily slip into it, because the worlds fucked up. You can go to those places and realize how fucked up it is, and jump in those rabbit holes and not get out of there. But maybe thats what roles like Death Note are for. When I ask him whose name he thinks L writes down in the Death Note something left ambiguous at the end of the film he turns sanguine and bemused. Its a very emotional scene. I dont really remember, he laughs. All I know is I drew a line, you know? Crazy! Photo: Meron Menghistab /Vulture He wont call it method, but Stanfield slips into a different state when hes in character. When he plays Darius, his high-chill pot philosopher character from Atlanta, he zones out. What I do is I blank out my mind. I have nothing in my head when I step on set, says Stanfield. I can barely remember my line, and Im immersed completely in the moment, so whatever happens is gonna happen. Ive always thought about my character and his relationship to the story in that way. I dont even know what Atlantas about. It doesnt even mean anything to me! What it does mean is that he riffs a lot of his lines, and that happens frequently with his scene partner, Brian Tyree Henry, who plays Paper Boi. A scene where Darius is cleaning his gun and calling it Daddy was one of those moments. We just fucking riffed it, man! I love the way that they are so in tune with the creative aspect that they just leave us alone, let us go, and shit just happens. And I was trying so hard not to laugh in that fucking scene, says Stanfield. Hiro [Murai, who directs many of the episodes] never says Cut! Once he says Action! and we start going, he just sits there chuckling. Unlike Darius, Stanfield says he quit smoking weed nine years ago (so you should probably stop gifting him pot). I had to give up the old pipe, he says. When I smoked weed, I just got super-philosophical to a point where I was detached from everything. It could make me depressed, because I would feel that all this shit is so melancholy and sad, and itd get me in a sad state. He hasnt gotten the scripts yet for the second season of Atlanta, which is set to start shooting in September, but he does have a wish list for the writers: that Darius gets a girlfriend, purple and blonde dreadlocks, and, heh, a conservative family. Theyre all alt-right or something! he says. How would they live? All Confederate-flagged out. Thatd be hilarious! Oh, and maybe they should just off Darius, he says, lightly trolling: I dont know what Dariuss whole point of being in the show is. I hope that maybe they kill him off next season. I have nothing in my head when I step on set I dont even know what Atlantas about. It doesnt even mean anything to me! But the love he has for the Atlanta cast seems real, a little bubble that he cherishes. Ill always remember season one of Atlanta, he says. These dudes are just so good about creating an environment on set where we just feel like homies. Me, Donald, Brian, the producers, were always just talking about weird, crazy shit, and we come up with ideas! He tells me about the eighth episode, in which the crew goes to a club, and theres a scene where Darius gets up and starts dancing. Stanfield realized later that was something the writers took from a time they all went to Follies, a strip club in northeast Atlanta, together. This moment comes where the DJ fucks up and the music stops. I just got up and I was still dancing randomly. Something made me say, dance, and I got up and had to go, recalls Stanfield. They took that from that strip club. At this point, Stanfield gets up and cuts a rug in the middle of the hotel bar. As we discuss Atlanta, Stanfield starts to feel more like his character Darius meditative, absurdist, and attuned to a different plane. When we start talking about his Twitter, Stanfield suggests that everyones social-media accounts might not be what they seem. Theres a lot of accounts for things in Atlanta run by people in Atlanta. You wouldnt know who runs it or who does it, or whos tweeting certain things at certain times, and also, you dont know which accounts are fake, which are real, and whos speaking for who, he wonders. Am I really tweeting my tweets? Whos tweeting on the Atlanta account? Interesting thing. Does Donald really tweet? Whos tweeting his tweets? Are they just quotes from where? Brian? He likes to let his mind wander, and when it goes to an unexpected place, he lets the spirit take him there. Like the time he did a helicopter motion with his pelvis when Atlanta won Best Comedy at the Golden Globes, or when he ran up onto the stage at the Critics Choice Awards before Silicon Valley accepted the award for Best Comedy and Kanyed them. I dont always have the best filter. When I came off that stage, I didnt even know what had happened. People were like, What the fuck did you just do? I literally didnt know! he says with a smirk. I just do shit, and I dont know what happens, and I come to, and Im like, Oh shit! This could also be a way to keep fame at arms length of creating a persona to absorb the attention while he keeps his private life separate. When I ask him about his relationship with The Mindy Project actor Xosha Roquemore and their newborn, he simply tells me, I dont talk about it. In a frank conversation with Complex last year, in the run-up to the premiere of Atlanta, he talked about witnessing domestic violence growing up, but its among the subjects hes loath to discuss now. His family is a sacred space, one he protects from the glare of celebrity. This is a very fickle business, and its a very fickle job choice, Stanfield explains. And thats another reason you have to stay grounded, because if you dont, then you just begin to do it and become like a little monkey. Especially the way my lifestyle is going right now, as things begin accelerating and moving forward, its important I understand the things that matter. If I lose sight of that, then I lose sight of where Im supposed to be going. And all of a sudden I wake up and I go, What the fuck is going on? Stanfield tries to remember what he calls the dirt. I couldnt do this job if there werent opportunities to go back home, and go back to the dirt, the real, the truth, blood, and sweat of things, he adds. Other than that, I see no point in doing it. If you get all the money and shit, thats cool, but it doesnt involve fucking doing anything if you just remain in that same little wheel. His efforts to separate his public and private lives have even extended to his own name. Early on his career he went by Keith Stanfield in his credits as opposed to his full name, Lakeith. When I first came into the business I thought, Im Lakeith, but Keith Stanfield is the actor, he says. I wanted to separate myself from it, so I dropped the La. As I grew more, I realized they were one and the same, so I put La back on there. As he becomes increasingly recognizable, what I sense is happening now is a desire to be authentic without losing himself in the process. Then again, maybe its just a name. I might take it back off next week, he adds. Its been a game. But I just like to play around with it. Or make it Keithla. Maybe thats the next move, man! Or Sta-Keith Lanfield! Photo: Meron Menghistab/Vulture Perhaps whats most refreshing about Stanfields career is that hes been able to decide who he is with fewer compromises something a black actor wasnt able to do not that long ago. The people who put the bid down before me that allowed me to have that track to stand on, I thank them for taking those roles. A lot of them didnt want to play those humiliating fucking things, but they had to do that in order to create a space where we could do what were doing now, says Stanfield. Which is why I try as much as I can to not take humiliating roles. I try to not take roles that I feel dont pay homage to that ever-expanding freedom. Except Darius, because Darius is racist, sexist, weird, he adds and then laughs. No, Im kidding! Photo: Getty Images When SoundCloud announced mass layoffs last month and that the music-streaming service might not have enough cash to see out the year, panic rippled through the internet. If SoundCloud folded, where would all the music go? And, even more worrying, did it signal the death knell of the democratic online music platform? The Berlin-based company beloved by DJs and electronic-music producers had been struggling to monetize for years. Despite being venture backed, attracting 175 million monthly users (Spotify has 140 million), and helping the careers of megastars like Chance the Rapper, it teetered on the brink of collapse a few weeks ago. Had it not been for the $170 million lifeline thrown at the eleventh hour by investors that saw co-founder Alexander Ljung step down as CEO, it most likely would have been forced to shutter. SoundClouds woes, however, are not an outlier. Spotify and Pandora are the two largest independent companies not backed by a tech giant and neither are turning profit. Smaller players like 8tracks and Hype Machine have seen their advertising revenues gobbled up by Facebook and Google. On the surface, it seems like online music is a losing game. But the music industry is booming for the first time in nearly two decades, entirely because of streaming. In 2016 the music industrys revenues hit $115.7 billion and are projected to keep rising, in large part because of the 100 million people globally paying for a subscription service. The internet has come full circle and is now the music industrys silver bullet. So why is it so damn hard to build a successful online music business? The first hurdle to jump is licensing. The rights to recorded music are closely guarded by record labels that are not prepared to be burned again, having only just recovered from the digital piracy of the early 2000s that decimated the industry. Funding is one of the main issues, Zach Fuller, an analyst at media and technology analysis company Midia Research, said. If you are a music service you have to convince a venture capital fund to part with money that will go straight back into the labels pocket. Streaming services typically have to pay hefty up-front costs to the rights holders in the form of advanced payments. Its the record labels that make bank from this arrangement: Warner Music is projected to make $1.3 billion from streaming revenue this year. Major labels have a de facto duopoly on streaming rights, Mark Mulligan of Midia Research said. Each major can dictate terms as they each have the effective power of veto, like at the U.N. security council. So they get to shape what the streaming market looks like. One way to legally get around paying these advances is to operate as an internet-radio model, which is what Pandora, MixCloud, and 8racks are all built on. By not offering an on-demand service straight out of the gate, and imposing some restrictions on what users can do on the platforms (such as not rewinding tracks) these companies have avoided huge up-front costs. Once the companies have built up a healthy user base, they then start working on licensing deals that allow them to offer an on-demand option. We provide the platform for people who have great taste to craft online mixtapes, David Porter, 8tracks founder and CEO said. Its a legal way to license thats prescribed by U.S. law. 8tracks is licensed as a non-interactive internet-radio service. This type of licensing is available to companies that mimic radio broadcasting, and royalties are paid out by performance-rights organizations like SoundExchange. When Porter founded 8tracks in 2006, it was the original mood playlist service. Users uploaded their self-created playlists, and the result was a platform ripe for a passive, or lean-back, music-discovery experience historically associated with TV or radio. In the digital music landscape, Pandora is the best known example of lean-back listening. Elizabeth Moody, Pandoras vice-president of global content licensing, said that the reality is most people actually want to be told what to listen to. Regardless whether youre a Spotify or Pandora subscriber, were learning that roughly 75 percent of peoples behavior is lean back, she said. Its only really when people are hanging out with friends or creating playlists for specific events that theyre actively seeking out specific music. Its no surprise, then, that Spotify, which has historically been a more lean-forward service, cooked up the expertly curated Discover Weekly Playlist in 2015. The Swedish companys move is symptomatic of the need for music services to find that sweet spot between offering a predominantly lean-back experience, with the flexibility to dive in occasionally. Analyst Fuller echoed this, saying that as streaming continues to evolve, the music-discovery issue will get better and better. The similarities between 8tracks and Pandora dont stop at the playlists. The two companies also both initially pursued an advertising model to support their business. Unfortunately for 8tracks however, this increasingly became less viable. Digital advertising revenues have been shrinking for a number of years now because of Facebook and Google. A significant shift in how advertising works was the move toward whats known as programmatic advertising using an algorithm to buy and sell ads rather rather a human sales team. 8tracks, a small company, which for a number of years thrived while it scaled steadily, found itself losing advertising deals to Pandora and Spotify. Its challenging to make the economics work unless you have sufficient scale, Porter said. For that reason, at the end of 2016, Porter made the decision to implement a cap on the free listening available on the service. It was a conscious decision to reduce the size of our audience, our revenue base, and cost base, he said. But it was a gamble that we would reduce our costs by more than our revenues and essentially force profitability at the expense of growth. Growth is a tricky goal to get right in the online-music business. Take VC funding and be forced to scale too quickly, or take a more modest approach and kiss advertising dollars good-bye is the dilemma all companies face. As SoundClouds travails acutely demonstrated, the Silicon Valley playbook of scale first, revenue second doesnt quite work. Mulligan explained that this is because the main cost base for a streaming platform is the music rights, which scale in proportion to the companys user base. In other words, because a platforms costs scale linearly with its number of listeners, every listener must be monetized in order to turn a profit. For music streaming start-ups, 70 to 80 percent of revenue, in the best case scenario, goes to rights holders from the word go, Mulligan said. If the streaming service is acquiring users but not monetizing them yet because they have free users without a scaled ad business, then those costs still need to be paid even though there is no revenue. Nikhil Shah, co-founder and commercial director of Mixcloud echoed this: In other industries it might be easier to focus on driving scale without having to worry about a business model from the start, Shah said. But within digital music, because we believe in paying rights holders fairly and equally for their work, it means theres a cost in place from day one. As a platform that also primarily appeals to DJs and podcasters because its led by user-generated content, Mixcloud and SoundCloud have long been direct competitors. But while Mixcloud and SoundCloud might look and feel similar, the former differentiated itself early on by figuring out how to to grow sustainably. We chose to go down a path of being a self-funded, self-sustained, lean, and organically grown business, Shah said. Mixcloud, which has 1.1 million creators on the platform and time spent listening has grown 50 percent year over year, generates revenue primarily from branded-content deals, in the form of partnerships with companies like Red Bull and Adidas. It also makes some revenue from its users through its professional account offering. We did all that because we wanted to build something sustainable and long-lasting, but thats meant that we havent been able to add lots of rocket fuel to the ship. Its been patient and steady growth. Shah said. Leaning into being lean is something all indie online music companies have to embrace. 8tracks Porter talked about this when he described the tough decision he took in limiting plays at the end of last year. Another company which has also aggressively trimmed the fat is Hype Machine. Once hugely popular in the 2000s, the aggregator launched a crowdfunding campaign earlier this year because it was struggling to stay afloat. People have become more comfortable paying for intangible things on the internet, Hype Machines founder Anthony Volodkin said. They are ok with the idea that their capital still makes a difference. Since starting the campaign, Hype Machine has met its goal of securing over 3,000 monthly supporters and will be able to keep the lights on. Its been an amazing opportunity to have a dialogue with people who use the service all the time, Volodkin said, emphasizing that Hype Machines users are the real core of their business. Mixcloud, 8tracks and Pandora all agreed with this and expressed the importance of figuring out how to write their community into their business models. Building our community has been a core part of how weve grown the platform, Mixclouds Shah said. Theres been some real brilliant moments when some of our power users have put their hands up to help us grow the platform and have investing their time and energy to recommend us. For Pandora, Moody said that the users support also directly translates to how well the business can perform. Its about being able to meet the needs of those who are engaged, she said. Its really engagement numbers that advertisers care about and not the total number of people you have on the platform. Bandcamp, the online music store lauded for fairly compensating artists, is one of the few independent internet music businesses currently claiming to make money. We became profitable in 2012, and have maintained profitability, and double-digit annual growth, ever since, Ethan Diamond, Bandcamps co-founder and CEO said. Bandcamps model offers streaming, downloads and physical sales, for which the pricing is set by the artist, who get 85% of the revenue. The company, which recently donated a days worth of sale proceeds to transgender activist groups, prides itself on transparency and fairness. According to the company, fans have paid artists $234 million using Bandcamp, and $6 million of that in the last 30 days. Diamond said: If were claiming to be part of a sustainable future for artists, but arent sustainable ourselves, it would, I think, be hard to take us seriously. A Waco man who sexually abused a young family member for seven years beginning when she was 6 was sentenced to 33 years in prison Thursday. Jurors in Wacos 54th State District Court recommended that Judge Matt Johnson sentence Guadalupe Roberto Munos to 30 years in prison for continuous sexual abuse of a young child and to three years and a $10,000 fine on his conviction for indecency with a child by contact. Jurors deliberated about three and a half hours Wednesday before convicting the 21-year-old Munos on both counts. The judge ordered that Munos serve the sentences consecutively, meaning Munos will have to serve a minimum of 31 years in prison before he can be released. Those convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a young child are not eligible for parole. Munos, who did not testify during either phase of his trial, rejected a plea bargain of 20 years that included the possibility for parole before trial. Prosecutors Christi Hunting Horse and Sydney Tuggle asked jurors to assess a significant prison sentence, saying the victim, who is now 15, has been traumatized by years of abuse that will linger long into her adult years, if not forever. Munos attorney, David Martinez, of Lubbock, asked jurors for the 25-year minimum. He said Munos is a young man who will have to serve every day of his sentence for continuous sexual abuse with no hope for parole. The girl testified she was 6 the first time Munos abused her. She said he was hiding in a closet in her room and emerged to molest her. She said the abuse continued on a regular basis until she reached the eighth grade. She reported him after she feared she was pregnant at 13. We tell our kids who are scared at night that there are no monsters in the closet, Tuggle told jurors in summations Thursday. We tell them it is not real. But we know that he is the monster in her closet. She will never be the child she could have been. She will never be the woman she could have been, and its all because of his actions. Think about what it is for a 13-year-old to wake up every day and pray she isnt pregnant. That was her reality. Martinez said after the four-day trial he thinks the sentence was fair. He has never admitted his guilt, Martinez said. Of course, the jury heard the evidence. I am not displeased with the punishment, with the minimum being 25. I thought it was a fair punishment under the circumstances. Hunting Horse told jurors it would be appropriate to consider a life sentence. Consider the level of deviance, she said. This defendant had access to other girls his own age and those who werent his family members. But thats who he chose, a 6-year-old relative. That shows just an incredible level of deviance. 10 injured in Terathum bus accident At least 10 people have been injured in a bus accident that took place at Kaande, Lalugurans Municipality-9 in Terathum district on Thursday. Carmen Serrato Guffey December 20, 1949 - August 24, 2017 Carmen Serrato Guffey was called upon by the Lord on Thursday, August 24, 2017, surrounded by family members at her loving home as she had wished. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 2, at Waco Memorial Park Mausoleum Chapel, 6623 South Interstate 35, Waco, Texas 76706.Carmen Duron was born of Catholic faith on December 20, 1949, in Greenville, Mississippi, to Porfirio and Guadalupe Duron. On July 8, 1966 she married her high school sweetheart and the man of her dreams, Jerry L. Guffey, and then became Carmen S. Guffey. She was preceded in death by her husband of 36 years, Jerry L. Guffey; her mother and father, Porfirio and Guadalupe Duron; and her brother, Robert "Bob" Duron. Carmen is survived by four dedicated children, Elizabeth Shumate (Mark) of Tampa, Florida, Jerry Guffey Jr. (Lisa) and Jay Guffey (Shante) of Waco, and John Guffey (Sara) of San Antonio; seven granddaughters, Ashley, Brittney and Courtney Shumate, Maghan, Madison, Callee and Katie Guffey; and one great-granddaughter, Tabitha Shumate. Carmen is also survived by her siblings, Pedro (Jesusita) Duron of San Antonio, Texas, Guadalupe Gonzales of Findlay, Ohio, Antonio (Becky) Duron and Rosie (Ernie) Valdez, all of Waco, Texas; and many nieces and nephews. Our mother, in her small frame, had the biggest heart for helping those in need in both her personal and professional life. Professionally these areas included Waco Family Home Care, Waco Center for Youth, WISD, La Vega ISD, Visiting Angels and Compassion Ministries. Our family wishes to thank all of those at Compassion Ministries for not only her employment but for their friendship. Our family would also like to thank the many healthcare providers that cared for our mom over the years inclusive of Drs. Patricia Wilcox, Ramadan, Bardgette and Gibney, the Fresenius Kidney Care Clinic as well as Providence Hospital, in particular the second floor ICU team over the last two weeks. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Compassion Ministries, 1421 Austin Ave., Waco, TX. 76701 or (254)755-7640. Messages for the family can be sent to: www.Wacotrib.com. Our mother was the toughest fighter that we know as she battled many health hurdles throughout her life. Her primary opponent was herself as she tackled one health issue after another. She, along with our dad taught us how to be strong, hard working, to face our fears and challenges, and to never give up, all without ever asking why me or feeling sorry for themselves. For that we are forever grateful. The first picture I saw of the Charlottesville march and mayhem fought over the fate of a 93-year-old statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was almost three weeks ago. It was part of a full-page spread in the London Telegraph. I picked up a copy at Heathrow Airport on Sunday, Aug. 13, on our way home from a fascinating eight days in Berlin. I instantly remembered one of the first columns I wrote for the Waco Trib last fall, telling the story of my teenage experience as a missionary kid in Nigeria, talking with a Nigerian friend about the full-page pictures in Nigerian papers of water hoses and dogs turned on civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham. His question to me: How can you missionaries be here when this is happening back in your country? Here I was again, coming back to America, asking the same question about how America can profess to lead the world when these kinds of things are happening in our own back yards. Perhaps we can learn some things from the Germans, a people who in the last 80 years have dealt with both the rise and fall of a fascist movement and then a divided country. The Jewish Museum in Berlin traces the history of Jews in Germany from the Dark Ages till modern times. It also recounts recurring periods of religious and political oppression of the Jews and their slow yet steady drive to attain rights as full and equal citizens. The great irony in that history is that the first German constitution to give them full and equal rights was that of the Weimar Republic, right after World War I. You know what happened. In the period of depression, resentment and vulnerability that followed, they became targets once again this time of a systematic and demonic attempt to rid them from German society. Is there a parallel? Not long after African Americans and other minorities in America finally gained full legal and civil rights on paper, we too began moving into a period of both great uncertainty about identity in an increasingly diverse world as well as deep feelings of vulnerability in a global economy. Rather than blaming the principalities and powers, as the Apostle Paul might say, its much easier to turn others into scapegoats. The Jewish Museum in Berlin is but one of an amazing collection of museums in Berlin. The city itself feels like a living museum, a history lesson in plain sight. You can see and hear the ongoing recovery from the destruction of World War II and fall of the Berlin Wall. There are memorials all around the city. But none honor the leadership of the Nazis or German Democratic Republic, the former East Germany. I visited the site of the former offices of the SS and Gestapo. But there are no memorials to them, just a nondescript building with graphic displays of the rise, horrors and fall of the Third Reich inside. Outside, just below a remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, is another long graphic display of Hitlers rise and fall. The sites name: Topographie des Terrors. Other small pieces of the infamous wall dividing East and West Germany still stand around town, connected with a stone outline in the streets marking where the wall once stood. If you look down, as you walk Berlin neighborhoods, you also see small bronze squares embedded in the sidewalks with the names of individuals, mostly Jews, who were seized at that spot, the street on which they lived, the date and the concentration camp where their lives ended. You can almost lose yourself in the undulating maze of the Holocaust Memorial, amongst rows of oppressive, solid, upright stones whose shadows on one another look like chimneys. Its easy to feel swallowed up, in so deep you wonder how to get out. Now, compared to then, there is always a path and a light at the end. The overwhelming message of the city: Remember, but never again. Flash forward with me to the moving, nonpartisan Racial Unity event held at First Presbyterian Church of Waco last Thursday night, led by an impromptu local coalition. We heard short, time-limited statements (with boundaries upheld in good humor) by local leaders from multiple political, ethnic and religious backgrounds. In each talk, we got short flashes of light into the story of that speaker and why he or she felt the need to condemn white supremacy and address the less visible, but still pervasive, racism in our community and society. The two most memorable to me were from very different parts of the diverse spectrum of speakers. Wesley Lloyd, a lawyer and president of the Republican Club of McLennan County, proclaimed himself the most conservative person in the hall and then talked about his raising a black son: I can show you racism. It still exists and is a big problem. At the end, Dr. Peaches Henry, president of the Waco NAACP, confessed that she was not sure she wanted to come: I am weary of flash-point unity events that happen after each crisis. The question is what we do, day to day, and whether we can be curious about people from other backgrounds rather than defensive or afraid. I sat in the pew thinking about Berlin. I wondered why there are not memorials of some kind next to, or near, every single Confederate memorial memorials to slaves, their suffering and their fight for freedom. Why are there not memorials at the sites of over 4,000 lynchings across America with a name and a date, including one for Jesse Washington in downtown Waco, the infamous horror of 1916? If Germany can both remember the victims and refuse to honor the perpetrators, how come we cannot? Even if all the monuments to Confederate officers stayed in place, I know which memorials would get the attention. Remember, but never again. Why do it? The answer came Thursday night in the period of silence during the racial unity event. All you could hear was the tiny voice and murmurings of a small child. I have no idea whether he or she was red, yellow, black or white. It did not matter, but it is clear what we grown-ups need to do for them, if not ourselves, and their American future. Just as Berlin is doing for theirs. Remember, but never again. The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office will be participating in a crackdown on drunk driving through high visibility enforcement and saturation patrol Sept. 1 through Sept. 3. The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office will conduct a high visibility checkpoint from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. Sept. 1. The checkpoint will be set up on Highway 6 just west of 98th Street. Vehicles will be selected in a systematic fashion and the occupants will be checked for signs of alcohol usage. The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office will increase the number of deputies, in marked patrol cars, Sept. 2 and 3. The additional deputies will concentrate their efforts on traffic law violations and the detection of impaired driving violations from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. The "You Drink & Drive, You Lose" crackdown is a nationwide campaign directed at cracking down on drunk and impaired drivers. Overtime for the additional deputies working during the crackdown will be paid through a mini-grant funded by the Nebraska Department of Roads Highway Safety Office. A stitch in time As the recent monsoon rainfall-induced floods overran large swathes of the Nepal Tarai and parts of Bangladesh and India, including Bihar, disturbing images of the havoc they wrought were flashed across news channels and information platforms. 8 Nov. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds return to Rome four years after their last concert in the Italian capital, as part of their upcoming eight-week European tour. Known for hits such as Red Right Hand and The Mercy Song, the Australian alternative rock band comes to Rome's Palalottomatica to promote songs from their latest album Skeleton Tree. For ticket information see TicketOne website. Sept. 9 , the Museum presents a special screening of The Milllionaires Unit screens at 2 p.m. , and is free with Museum admission. On, the Museum presents a special screening of The Millionaires Unit-U.S. Naval Aviators in the First World War , the story of a privileged group of college students from Yale who formed a private air militia in preparation for Americas entry into World War One. The film was made veteran documentary filmmakers Ron King and Darroch Greer, who will attend the screening and field questions from the audience. Narrated by Bruce Dern, with filming on three continents, the documentary includes stunning new aerial footage recreating World War I aviation using actual aircraft.screens at, and is free with Museum admission. See trailer online Special guests at the screening include Seattle-local Chris Brown and his brother David Brown, Jr., who are grandsons of First Yale Unit aviator Robert Lovett. One of the films producers, Ron King, is a grandson of First Yale Unit member John M. Vorys. The program will be introduced by Amy Heidrick, the Museums Associate Director of Collections, who leads a project to digitize the Museums rare World War I aviation photos and prints, making them available for viewing online for the first time. About the Film The military flying group formed by Ivy League college students during World War I was known as the First Yale Unit, and dubbed the millionaires unit by the New York press. It became the founding squadron of the U.S. Naval Air Reserve, and the first to fly for the United States in the Great War. The documentary uses the diaries and letters of these pioneer aviators to tell the story of young men coming of age as America was coming of age as a world power. Their service and sacrifice is the great untold story of American aviation in World War One. CDC submits its report with 165 electoral constituencies The Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC) on Wednesday submitted its report in line with its mandate to carve out 165 constituencies across the country for the election of House of Representatives. The self-proclaimed "world's number one anti-vaxxer" has been denied permission to visit Australia. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Thursday Kent Heckenlively would not be able to tour Australia later this year as part of an international campaign calling for a pause in childhood vaccinations. "We're not going to allow him to come here," Mr Dutton told Sydney radio station 2GB. "These people who are telling parents that their kids shouldn't be vaccinated are dangerous. We have been very careful in having a look right through this particular case and it's clear to me that it's not in our national interest that he should come here." Crosby, Texas: The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath up the Mississippi Delta on Thursday, but not before hammering the Gulf Coast with more punishing cloudbursts and growing threats that included reports of "pops" and "chemical reactions" at a crippled chemical plant and the collapse of the drinking water system in a Texas city. Authorities warned of the danger posed by the plant in Crosby, located 5 km northeast of Houston, and the French company operating the facility said explosions were possible. Still, officials offered differing accounts regarding what occurred at the Crosby plant, which makes organic peroxides for use in items such as counter tops and pipes. The plant's operators, which had earlier Thursday reported explosions, later said they believe at least one valve "popped" there, though they noted it was impossible to know for sure since all employees had left the site. Beijing: Admiral Harry Harris has been described in China as the "most prejudiced" US military chief since World War II, following reports he could be appointed ambassador to Australia. Chinese military analysts said sending Admiral Harris, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, to Australia was an attempt by the US to pull Australia back into full support of the American Asia Pacific strategy, and get tougher on China. The Global Times newspaper quoted Zhang Junshe, researcher with China Naval Research Institute, as saying Admiral Harris was "the most prejudiced and Cold War-minded chief of all US pacific commanders since WWII". Admiral Harris has publicly opposed China's "increasing assertiveness" in the South China Sea, where he has been a proponent of freedom of navigation patrols by US vessels to challenge China's territorial claims. Australia had declined invitations to join the US patrols. Chinese developer approves JV pact The long-delayed West Seti Hydropower Project is likely to be implemented soon, as the board of directors of the Chinese company, which is building the project, has endorsed an agreement signed previously with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Gold smuggling racket busted, 15 kg gold seized A police team deployed from Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police have seized 15 kg gold out of 22 kg that was smuggled from China and arrested seven persons in connection with the smuggling. Gorkhaland protest: Indefinite protest called off The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (JGM) has decided to withdraw the indefinite protest programmes in Darjeeling, 80 days after the protests intensified in the hill town. Govt decision to hold polls in 2 phases irks UML CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli has expressed displeasure at governments decision to hold provincial and parliamentary elections in two phases. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday approved the Election Commissions proposal to hold provincial and parliamentary elections in two phaseson November 26 and December 7. by Richard Coulson First published in The Tribune, Wednesday, August 30, 2017. The new FNM government of PM Doctor Hubert Minnis has enjoyed the usual grace period of 100-plus days. Now the hard questions begin. When does the page turn to change course from a PLP regime guilty, at least, of gross incompetence? In the very act of getting elected, with an overwhelming majority, Doc Minnis and his FNM colleagues did a great service to the nation, simply by removing a passel of cronies who ran their Ministries like blindfolded cowboys. Campaigning was not easy, even in the first phase when the struggle was inside his own party, and his determination and hard work deserve great respect. No better example of the mess he now faces was the sight of new Immigration Minister Brent Symonette glumly eyeing the boxes cluttering his Hawkins Hill office, stuffed with thousands of files that had never seen a computer, and worrying whether the toilets were safe for use. This had been the empire of Nassaus debonair voyager, Fred Mitchell, now found pontificating from his new Senate seat. Rather than devote any of his five-year term to tedious managerial tasks of reducing the delays and petty graft endemic to his Ministry, finicky Fred preferred constant travel for diplomatic palaver around the world. One trip to the Mid-East was publicized as his personal effort to raise funds for the Treasury. Did he bring home enough to cover his first-class air fare? The Docs first mission was to clean out the Augean stables, and he seems well on the way. The general message of austerity has become a clarion call in every department, and Minister of Finance Turnquest is squeezing each line-item of the budget in his campaign for a 10% expense reduction. Excess staff, often hired as a last- minute PLP election ploy, are being pared, notably by the Minister of Tourism. Corruption prosecutions are part of the judicial process, not the executive, so the PM cannot take credit for the recent perp walks of arrested one-time magnates, but clearly he leaves the police, prosecutors and judges free to do their jobs without political hindrance. While necessary, these steps are, corrective not creative. In lowering our rating forecast from stable to negative, Moodys found stability but no signs of growth. The big issues clamoring for solutions have not been addressed. One hundred days are not long enough to accomplish hard results, but give enough time to outline basic programs leading towards change. Instead, we hear windy generalities like we are still looking into it, and we will do better. Here are specific urgent needs that citizens demand to be met, not overnight, but within a realistic time-frame: 1. Electric Power. The dismissal of CEO Pamela Hill by a newly decisive Board of Directors was purely a band-aid for an open wound. The appointment of Power Secure as manager of Bahamas Power & Light last year was doubtful from day onea small specialist company acting purely as advisor with no equity interest or commitment of funds. Their role is now in tatters and is likely to be terminated. Neither then nor now has the elephant in the room been confronted: the estimated $650 million needed to pay off legacy debt and build new oil-fired generating plants. Ownership by a major foreign utility company may be the solution, despite loss of sovereignty objections. Or alternatively, reduce oil dependence, and for the first time look seriously at renewable energy potentials: sun, wind, and thermal. Or consider the offers of LNG, or the mobile barge often promoted in The Punch. The answer will not be immediate, but Government has not yet given the slightest hint of which way it is looking. We certainly want to avoid another consultancy committee, while years of high tariffs and outages continue, a major drag on our economy and obstacle to growth. 2. Waste Disposal at the Landfill. Its hard to know who was more inept, PLP Government itself or their chosen contractor Renew Bahamas, but we know the disastrous results. For the moment, we are avoiding fires and clouds of toxic smoke, but the eruptions are merely dormant and far from extinct. Meanwhile Government dithers. An experienced and well-financed Bahamian consortium made its bid, but was put on hold. Apparently new RFPS, requests for proposals, will be sent out, but how long before they are prepared, the results analyzed, and the winner goes to work? Meanwhile the Stellar Waste venture keeps renewing its proposal to convert garbage into electric power, an accepted technology but not in the form promoted by this unproven company. 3. VAT. Reduced rates on bread-basket items have been mooted but none announced. Our many low-income families are entitled to know whether they can expect some relief from this food-counter burden, or whether they must keep their belts tight to preserve the Treasurys budget integrity. Admittedly, a tough decision for Government , but one that must soon be made and explained. 4. Postal Service. The failings of our post office seldom capture the limelight, but are pervasive and insidious. How can we pretend having an efficient commerce platform when mail takes a fortnight to traverse a 21-mile island, and weeks longer internationally? Several new sites to replace our collapsing and unhealthy central building have long been identified and are being studied, but no decision seems imminent to start the transfer. 5. Ease of Doing Business. This admirable principle gets lip-service, but where are the practical steps? No announcement has been made about creating a verifiable property register, long urged by lawyers and real-estate experts, and now more achievable with modern computer technology. And what about easing the expensive administrative burdens of filing tax compliance certificates for multiple Government transactions? 6. Bank of The Bahamas. The PLP sank $100 million of citizens money to save it, and the FNM is apparently committing another $160 million. Where is any hard evidence that this will convert it to profitability without further rescues? Why not simply shut down and transfer whats left including some doubtless excellent staff - to one of our proven commercial banks? The guiding principle should not be Save the name BoB at any cost, but rather Provide Bahamians with the best banking services at the lowest cost. The same principle should apply to BahamasAir and other state-owned businesses eternally dependent on subsidies. 7. Downtown Nassau. The most visible failure of Government policy is the deplorable state of downtown Nassau, as the Ministry of Tourism itself laments. While the responsibility extends back many years, the new broom administration of Doc Minnis has not yet said a single word to resolve this national disgrace. It cannot even give a straight answer about the fate of The Pointe the ambitious scheme owned by a Chinese Government company and currently blocking a stretch of prime waterfront. Originally scheduled for completion in 2017, no construction activity is visible. Have our authorities disapproved the plans? Is the Chinese contractor too busy completing Baha Mar? Or has Beijing decided to pull back, as part of its retrenchment from foreign resort projects? Nothing is said. Nearby, Arawak Cay, aside from the efficient container port, remains an industrial junkyard. More serious is the fate of the Bay Street zombie zone east of Rawson Square. Ever since the departure of commercial shipping, these blocks have featured acres of bare cargo docks and vacant warehouses, shuttered shops or empty window displays, and the grim facade of a long-closed hotel, all shunned by both tourists and natives. The few property owners who prepared development plans were stymied by Government silence and absence of any sensible zoning rules. The Chinese owners of the BC Hilton hotel allegedly prepared a master plan for Mr. Christie, which was never published. A master plan will certainly be requiredsome form of public-private joint venture including compulsory seizure of abandoned tax-delinquent properties. More than a plan, it will need firm financial investment commitments to assure action not simply more talk. This will not be an easy project, but the New York World Trade Center, demolished at 9/11, is finally being rebuilt through tough negotiations between sparring parties the City, two States, Washington, and a feisty private owner. The same should be feasible for our little Nassau, but Government must take the lead in supporting the objective. The efforts of the well-meaning but ineffective Downtown Partnership have not resulted in a single new construction. Only the Prime Minister can announce the initial impetus. No country can thrive if its capital city remains infected by dereliction. Perhaps the new American Ambassador, with a track record of invigorating the San Diego waterfront, will stimulate new thinking. Foreign ideas are always welcome, but the responsibility will stay with Bahamians , just as Britons restored London after the Blitz and Germans raised Berlin from the rubble left by the Russians. Doc Minnis can take the initiative on all the above issuesbut he had better start moving, or his reservoir of good-will start leaking away. Septembers next parliamentary session will be none too soon. Mr. Coulson has had a long career in law, investment banking and private banking in New York, London, and Nassau, and now serves as director of several financial concerns and as a corporate financial consultant. He has recently released his autobiography, A Corkscrew Life: Adventures of a Travelling Financier. Hope fades for families of disappeared When Phadindra Simkhada was arrested by police from his hometown in Chitwan on February 15, 1998, the Maoist insurgency had just marked its two years anniversary. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | 05:34 PM | PADUCAH, KY As the remnants of Hurricane Harvey make their way into our area this week, the City of Paducah's Comprehensive Storm Water Master Plan project team requests that residents continue to collect and submit data about storm water on their property. Residents are encouraged to provide as much information as possible about any flooding events that have affected their businesses or homes. Photos showing the extent of flooding, date of the rain event, and the property's address are being requested. Photos and firsthand accounts can be submitted through email at stormwateranddrainage@paducahky.gov . City Engineer & Public Works Director Rick Murphy said, "This rain event provides a golden opportunity for residents to help us collect much needed data for the Master Plan. The photographs and information submitted by residents will help the study team in the development of solutions designed to mitigate flooding in targeted problem areas." In March, the city contracted with Strand Associates, Inc. who is being assisted by Paducah-based Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering & Testing, Inc. to complete a Comprehensive Storm Water Master Plan for Paducah. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 31, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 31, 2017 | 01:48 PM | PADUCAH, KY Local attorney Chuck Walter has filed the necessary paperwork to seek Governor Bevins appointment to the now vacant McCracken District Judge Division I position. Walter, who is 56 years old, has been in private practice for more than 30 years. He is a partner with the local litigation firm of Boehl, Stopher & Graves. He is licensed in federal and state courts for Kentucky and Illinois. A press release says Walter has served many terms as a local representative in the House of Delegates for the Kentucky Bar Association. He has the highest peer rating of AV Preeminent pursuant to Martindale-Hubbells survey of practicing attorneys and members of the Judiciary. He first received this rating in 2009. Walter said, I have practiced in dozens of courts throughout the region. This includes numerous cases in District Court throughout Western Kentucky, involving probate, guardianship, landlord-tenant disputes, misdemeanors, traffic, juvenile matters, DUIs and civil claims. A judge need not be a former prosecutor. A judge needs broad experience, gained from a variety of legal matters, practiced in multiple courts. The community will be well served by a judge with a strong private practice background. Walter reports that he has the backing of several members of the local bar. He also points to his experience in civic work, including Easter Seals West Kentucky, public school committees, Paducah-McCracken County Senior Citizens Center and St. Paul Lutheran Church. My volunteer work has put me in direct contact with local folks and their needs. This experience will be very valuable in District Court where you are constantly addressing people and their everyday problems, Walter said. Walter has been married to his wife Tonya for 36 years. They have 3 adult children, Rachael, Ben and Rebecca. The office of District Judge was vacated by Judge W.A. "Tony" Kitchen, who was appointed Circuit Judge by the Governor when Judge Craig Clymer retired this summer. Kitchen was re-elected as Judge in 2014, so the unexpired term will be filled by the Governor's appointee until November 2018. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | 05:20 PM | PADUCAH, KY A local church seeks the public's help supplying Houston residents with cleaning kits. Broadway United Methodist Church is asking for prayer, monetary donations and cleaning kit supplies to send to the Houston area. They request that people bring specific items on their list according to the first letter of their last names. The deadline to bring items and monetary assistance to the church at 701 Broadway in Paducah is Wednesday, September 6th at 3 p.m. Church members will pack the kits at 5 p.m. Here is a list of items needed for the kits. Organizers are asking that participants bring two of the following items. *If your last name starts with *A-C 5 gallon bucket with resealable lid (Buckets from fast food restaurants or bakeries can be used if washed and cleaned. Do not use buckets that have stored chemicals such as paint or pool cleaner. Advertisements on the outside are acceptable.) *D-F Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottles only) 1 pair work gloves (cotton with leather palm or all leather) *G-I Liquid household cleaner (12-16 oz. liquid cleaner that can be mixed with water--no spray cleaners) Dish soap (16-28 oz bottle, any brand) *J-L 50 clothes pins Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.; cotton or plastic.) 5 scouring pads (remove from wrapper, no stainless steel, Brillo pads or SOS pads; nothing with soap built in) 1 scrub brush (plastic or wooden handle) *M-P 7 sponges (No cellulose sponges due to mold issues; remove from wrapper) 2 pair kitchen dishwashing gloves (Should be durable enough for multiple uses; remove from packaging) *Q-R 1 can air freshener (aerosol or pump) 1 insect repellant spray (6-14 oz. aerosol or spray pump with protective cover) *S-T 24 roll of heavy duty trash bags (33-45 gallon sizes, remove from the box) *U-Z 18 cleaning wipes (Handi-wipes or reusable wipes; no terry cleaning towels; remove from packaging) 5 dust masks All items must be new except for the actual bucket and lid. All cleaning agents must be liquid and in plastic containers. If you can't find the requested size of a liquid item, use a smaller size. Financial donations may be made out to Broadway United Methodist Church with the memo Texas Disaster Relief. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. ICJ calls for criminalising enforced disappearance The International Commission of Jurists has called for recognising the cases of enforced disappearance as a serious crime in domestic law to ensure justice to the victims. Alec Baldwin sues to 'clear his name' in movie set death Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | METROPOLIS, IL By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 30, 2017 | 06:07 PM | METROPOLIS, IL UPDATE: The Massac County Sheriff's Department says deputies apprehended Wierman Thursday in Paducah. He is charged with criminal damage to property, and is being held in the McCracken County Jail awaiting extradition to Massac County. Authorities in Massac County are asking for the public's help locating a man suspected of breaking several windows at a home. The Massac County Sheriff's Department says deputies were called to the Lakeview Drive Subdivision a few minutes after 10 p.m. Tuesday after residents reported hearing the sound of glass breaking in the area. A homeowner was arriving at their home when they saw a red Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck leaving the area at a high speed. The homeowner discovered several windows broken out of the home. Deputies said their investigation led them to 25-year-old Joshua Wierman, an acquaintance of the homeowner. Wierman is a white male, 6' 0" and weighs 210 lbs. He previously lived in Minnesota, but has been in the Metropolis and Paducah area recently. Deputies said he had been driving an unknown year red Chevrolet S-10 truck with no license plate. Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Wierman or the vehicle is asked to contact the Massac County Sheriff's Office at 618-524-2912. By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 31, 2017 | 08:55 AM | MURRAY, KY Police are investigating a reported robbery at a local restaurant. According to the Murray Police Department, officers responded Wednesday night to a report of a robbery at Penn Station on South 12th Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke with two employees who told them an unknown male entered the building after they had closed. They described the suspect as being approximately 61 in height with a skinny build. He was wearing dark pants, black boots, a gray hoodie, a black ski-mask, and was armed with a handgun. Employees said the masked individual left with money from the register and safe. The Murray Police Department is currently reviewing security footage obtained from the area and looking at possible suspects. No other information is available at this time as the investigation is ongoing. By The Associated Press Aug. 30, 2017 | 09:09 PM | FRANKFORT, KY A Democratic political consultant has been indicted by a federal grand jury and accused of bribing a state official. James Sullivan is charged with one count of conspiring to bribe and three counts of payments to influence an employee of a federally funded program. The indictment says Sullivan paid former Kentucky Personnel Secretary Tim Longmeyer $9,000 in exchange for him awarding and renewing a state contract to one of Sullivan's clients. It also says Sullivan paid Longmeyer $1,000 while he was deputy attorney general in an attempt to win contracts from the attorney general's office. A news release from the U.S. attorney's office says Longmeyer is not accused of crimes while working for the attorney general. Longmeyer pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges last year and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. LOCAL RESCUE TEAM UPDATE: HENDERSON COUNTY RESCUERS--THE TECHNICAL RESCUE TEAM---NOW IN FLOOD-RAVAGED TEXAS CONTINUING COVERAGE OF OUR LOCAL TEAM IN TEXAS HENDERSON COUNTY'S RESCUE SQUAD SWIFT WATER RESCUE TEAM HAS JOINED OTHERS FROM NORTH CAROLINA PROVIDING MUCH NEEDED SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS IN TEXAS. ONE MEMBER OF THE LOCAL RESCUE TEAM, WHKP CHIEF ENGINEER ED MCDADE, REPORTED ON FRIDAY HE HAD BEEN BITTEN BY A TEXAS FIRE ANT...IT WAS NO FUN AND UNCOMFORTABLE...BUT ALL ARE CONTINUING THEIR RELIEF WORK 9-1-17 9:14pm The Henderson County Technical Rescue Team has arrived to the staging area in College Station, TX along with the other North Carolina Swift Water Teams. 8-31-17 11:29am The Henderson County Technical Rescue Team (HCTRT) departed for Eastern Texas with an 18-person Swift Water Rescue Strike Team on August 31, 2017, to join in the Hurricane Harvey response and recovery effort. Blue Ridge, Etowah Horse Shoe, Fletcher, Saluda, and Valley Hill Fire and Rescue Departments, and the Henderson County Rescue Squad and Office of Emergency Management are all providing Strike Team personnel to the mission. HCTRT is joining rescue teams from departments from Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, and Raleigh, for a total of 92 personnel, assigned to provide assistance out of College Station, TX. North Carolina is responding to Texas Emergency Management's assistance request. NC's swift water rescue program is organized by North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) which supports the teams with training and funding. Teams are prepared to conduct operations including using small boats and other equipment to respond to a variety of needs in a flooding event. FROM EARLIER REPORTS: The Henderson County Technical Rescue Team (HCTRT) departed for Eastern Texas with an 18-person Swift Water Rescue Strike Team on August 31, 2017, to join in the Hurricane Harvey response and recovery effort. Blue Ridge, Etowah Horse Shoe, Fletcher, Saluda, and Valley Hill Fire and Rescue Departments, and the Henderson County Rescue Squad and Office of Emergency Management are all providing Strike Team personnel to the mission. HCTRT is joining rescue teams from departments from Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, and Raleigh, for a total of 92 personnel, assigned to provide assistance out of College Station, TX. North Carolina is responding to Texas Emergency Management's assistance request. NC's swift water rescue program is organized by North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) which supports the teams with training and funding. Teams are prepared to conduct operations including using small boats and other equipment to respond to a variety of needs in a flooding event. WE EXPECT FURTHER UPDATES FROM ED ON OUR LOCAL TEAM IN TEXAS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE. Nepal, India to conclude boundary works in 5 yrs Nepal and India have agreed to continue the remaining boundary field works with an aim to complete them in the next five years. Of faith and indoctrination Conversion has once again become a hot topic in Nepali media; however it has always remained an obsessive preoccupation in the minds of evangelists and hill Hindu nationalists in Nepal. One held with 14 kg gold from Tokha A team of Nepal Police Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Wednesday evening arrested a man in possession of 14 kg gold from Tokha of the Capital. PM Deuba hints electoral alliance if situation demands Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has said dialogues are underway on forging alliance with other political parties for the third phase of local level elections taking place in Province 2 slated for September 18. Small-town grocers Hansens IGA and Randys Neighborhood Market may be looking to fill the gap left by cash-strapped grocery chain Gordys Market after it announced the closure of three of its locations last week. According to a layoff notice public notices filed Aug. 23, in Arcadia, Galesville and Black River Falls, the number of closing locations may soon climb. Public notices indicate Shawn Christiansen, general manager of Gordys Black River Falls location, applied for a liquor license on behalf of Hansens IGA, headquartered Bangor. Heather Heineman, general manager for Gordys Galesville location, filed for a liquor license on behalf of Arcadia Food Bank Inc. and Galesville Food Bank Inc., both for the purposes of a Randys Neighborhood Market, headquartered in Iowa. Christiansen could not be reached for comment. Heineman declined comment. A move into the region for the Bangor-based grocery chain wouldnt be unprecedented. Hansens IGA launched its northernmost branch in Stanley in May 2015 and has locations in neighboring Neillsville and Mondovi. Nick Hansen, co-owner of Hansens IGA, declined to comment on acquisitions. The recent closures were made in response to a lawsuit filled last week by Michigan-based food distributor SpartanNash, which alleged Gordys market owed $86 million in unpaid debts. The same day, Gordys shuttered stores in Stanley, Richland Center and Spencer and announced it would be appointing a receiver to assist in the financial restructuring of the company. To date, Gordys has closed six of its locations including one in Chippewa Falls, and two in Eau Claire that were announced prior to filing for receivership. Gordys Market could not be reached for comment. Small-town grocers Hansens IGA and Randys Neighborhood Market may be looking to fill the gap left by cash-strapped grocery chain Gordys Market after it announced the closure of three of its locations last week. According to a layoff public notice filed Aug. 23, in Arcadia, Galesville and Black River Falls, the number of closing locations may soon climb. Public notices indicate Shawn Christiansen, general manager of Gordys Black River Falls location, applied for a liquor license on behalf of Hansens IGA, headquartered Bangor. Heather Heineman, general manager for Gordys Galesville location, filed for a liquor license on behalf of Arcadia Food Bank Inc. and Galesville Food Bank Inc., both for the purposes of a Randys Neighborhood Market, headquartered in Iowa. Christiansen could not be reached for comment. Heineman declined comment. A move into the region for the Bangor-based grocery chain wouldnt be unprecedented. Hansens IGA launched its northernmost branch in Stanley in May 2015 and has locations in neighboring Neillsville and Mondovi. Nick Hansen, co-owner of Hansens IGA, declined to comment on acquisitions. To date, Gordys has closed six of its locations including one in Chippewa Falls, and two in Eau Claire that were announced prior to filing for receivership. Gordys Market could not be reached for comment. A thunderstorm that dumped heavy rain across the southern half of Buffalo County in July caused more than $1 million in damages and cleanup of public roads, bridges and drainage ditches. A preliminary account of disaster assistance claims recorded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) listed damage claims filed by eight towns, two cities and the highway department of Buffalo County. Claims tallying $1.07 million were likely to be adjusted upwards before a final claim report is signed off by FEMA and money distributed. Road and bridge related storm damages caused by flash-flooding were listed at $866,177, according to preliminary FEMA findings. Cost of debris removal was at $188,420. The county highway department had at least $196,000 in damages to county roads and bridges and $188,420 in emergency response service costs for clearing and removing debris from roads, bridges, culverts and ditches. Preliminary findings by FEMA showed processed public damage claims of $151,643 in the Town of Buffalo and $136,781 in the town of Waumandee. Claims for disaster funding in Buffalo County were processed and, in some cases, adjusted by FEMA. Most claims were categorized by FEMA as validated and reasonable. The town of Belvidere claim was at $55,600, about $5,500 less than requested due to federal eligibility rules. File notes attached to the Belvidere claim said adjustment reductions included $3,000 for debris removal from an unimproved creek and $2,500 for unspecified damages that did not meet the FEMA minimum damage amount codes. The town of Dover claim was adjusted down to $10,540, a $2,560 reduction having to do with a claim for mitigation funding. Other claims validated or awaiting validation included Alma at $66,911, and Fountain City, $32,948, which included public damages of $28,599 and $4,349 for debris removal; town of Lincoln, $18,166, most of it, $13,359, for cost of removing debris; town of Milton, $69,200; town of Cross, $49,116, and town of Glencoe, $97,054, possibly more. The July storm was severe enough to qualify Buffalo County for federal disaster assistance to pay for damages to public property, roads and bridges, but not private real estate, land or personal property. A financial technology company ranked Buffalo County first among the top 10 counties in Wisconsin in best overall value index. The Buffalo County Jail held an average daily population of 13 inmates in July, nearly all of them men. Lt. Diane Mikelson, county jail administrator, said total jail bookings January through July included 200 men and 82 women. There were 55 people booked into the county jail in July, 33 in June, and 33 in May, according to Mikelson. Of all the inmates in lock up at the jail for extended stays, only 20 of them were employed to utilize work release privileges granted by the court. Mikelson listed several jail policies that have been revised, added or updated in 2017, including an inmate handbook, jail safety regulations and rules having to do with inmate medical and medication services. Inmates with medical related issues receive a discharge referral form that offers them instructions for continued care at clinics and other health service outlets. Buffalo County Chief Deputy Sheriff Colin Severson filed reports listing 588 calls-for-service to the sheriffs department in June and 772 in July. There were 34 traffic accidents in the county in July, 39 in June. A dozen arrest warrants were issued in June, 16 in July, Severson reported. The July report showed that deputies employed by Fountain City to provide temporary police services amounted to 30 hours between July 18 and July 30. Deputies working those special shifts are paid at overtime rate. Officers that worked for the Fountain City PD in July included Mitchell Zastrow, Lee Engfer and Joseph Bresette. County squad statistics for July showed officers logging more than 18,500 miles, averaging 1,430 miles per vehicle. Squad vehicle model years range from 2007 to 2017, including eight Fords, four Chevrolets and a Dodge Charger. The sheriffs department law enforcement unit employs eight patrol deputies, an investigator, a chief deputy, an elected sheriff and two reserve officers. Buffalo County Circuit Court actions: Jerry R. Breitung, 56, of Eau Claire, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of misdemeanor trespass to a dwelling. A charge of disorderly conduct was dismissed. Breitung was sentenced to a year of probation with orders to avoid contact with a crime victim, no bars, taverns or consumption of alcohol, and payment of $443 in assessed court costs. Michael A. Jain, 32, of Augusta, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of cocaine, amended from felony second offense possession. A felony charge of second offense possession of THC was dismissed. Jain was sentenced to a year of probation, 20 days in jail, no taverns or consumption of alcohol, and payment of $443 in assessed court costs. Ronnie G. Killian, 41, of Mondovi, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, amended from a misdemeanor to ordinance offense. Killian was fined $181.50. He was ordered to pay fine and cost assessments totaling $851.34 for operating while license revoked. Leslie B. Richardson, 65, of Alma, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of failure to keep vehicle under control, operating left of centerline and failure to notify police of a traffic accident. Charges of battery and disorderly conduct were dismissed. Richardson was fined $815.70 Scott J. Stauffer, 37, of Cochrane, pleaded guilty to possession of THC. Stauffer was sentenced to 30 days in jail, running concurrent to a felony case in Eau Claire County. A charge of possessing a controlled substance was dismissed. Carol J. Hines, 44, of Winona, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, amended from a misdemeanor to local ordinance offense. She was fined $181.50 Kierra Jo Dison, 30, of Rochester, Minn., court hearing adjourned to Sept. 6th on traffic citations accusing her of second offense operating while intoxicated, refusal to take test for intoxication after arrest, driver in possession of open intoxicant and operating left of centerline. Sandra M. Moldenhauer, 40, of Winona, has a preliminary hearing scheduled Sept. 1 on a felony charge accusing her of possession with intent to deliver up to 10 grams of amphetamine. Moldenhauer also is accused of possessing THC. Alexa M. Von Drashek, 30, of Mondovi, court hearing scheduled Sept. 6 on traffic charges accusing her of second offense operating while intoxicated, driver in possession of open intoxicant, operating while license revoked and vehicle nonregistration. Shanara J. Patchen, 30, of Bloomer, preliminary hearing scheduled Sept. 28 on a felony drug charge accusing her of possessing methamphetamine. Patchen also is accused of possessing drug paraphernalia. Robert F. Streif, 46, of Dubuque, Iowa, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 4 on felony charges accusing him of 7th-offense operating while intoxicated and second offense possession of THC. Ronald J. Baldridge, 41, of Buffalo City, court hearing adjourned to Sept. 6 on felony charges accusing him of second offense possession of THC and bail jumping. Throughout the fall, Winona and Xcel Energy will be partnering to help save energy costs throughout town. The city expects to come out with its Partners in Energy plan in October or November to bring to the city council for approval. The program is supposed to give communities tools to implement a plan for energy use and supply going forward. Winona natural resource sustainability coordinator John Howard said their plan, after approval, is broken down for residential, industrial, government and small business uses. In all cases, its about saving energy and trying to get more clean energy used, Howard said. The draft of the plan is currently being finalized to go to council. The city works with an Xcel Energy team planning and implementation to provide guidance, education, and resources for city staff, businesses and residents and try to achieve specific measurable goals by the date they choose, which will be announced in the plan. Winona got into it in 2016, but Partners in Energy initially launched in 2014 and in Minnesota also includes St. Paul, the Midtown-Lake Street Corridor in Minneapolis, Maplewood, Red Wing, Edina, St. Louis Park, St. Cloud, Faribault and Ramsey County Park and Recreation. During that time, individual households will also have a chance to work with Xcel to save on energy. In September and October, there will be visits to Winona by Xcels Home Energy Squad in a collaboration with the city to look at homes in the community. In the two-hour visit, two technicians contracted by Xcel will look for opportunities to save energy like light bulbs, shower and sink heads, and the weather proofing on doors and windows. As the city is finalizing its plan with Partners in Energy, they are hoping to sign up 100 households. The program was also here last year. Howard said they were trying to make a push in involvement. Its one of the ways to really address household efficiency, Howard said. The program is open to Xcel customers. The cost of a Home Energy Squad visit is $70 for basic installations or $100 for an enhanced energy audit. Xcel said that for the basic visit, the materials and products installed are estimated to be worth as much as $200 and those for the more in-depth energy checkup at $600. During an enhanced visit they also do blower door tests to check for possible air leaks, a visual inspection of insulation levels, heating system and water heater combustion safety tests, thermal image testing and provide a report with recommendations. The visits will be conducted on two sets of Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sept. 26 and 28, and Oct. 10 and 12. In all cases, its about saving energy and trying to get more clean energy used. John Howard, Winona natural resource sustainability coordinator What would happen to Winona if the Mississippi River went away? Thats the qestion asked by Theatre du Mississippis next production Endwaters. In a Winona set in the future, an out-of-town developer comes in with big plans for the citys greatest natural resource... And then what happens? Three years ago Theatre du Mississippi artistic director Dan Munson contacted Scott Dixon about writing a play about Winona for the theater. Dixon, an actor, playwright, and director of development at Commonweal Theathre in Lanesboro, Minn., started writing plays nine years ago. He told Munson hed mull it over, but was concerned about not living in Winona or knowing much about the citys culture and history. I told him I dont have a strong sense of Winonas stories, but what if we did a play about Winona in the future? Dixon said. Munson bought the idea, and connected Dixon with a number of Winonas community leaders to pick their brains. At the end of each interview Dixon asked the same question: If aliens came down and took one thing away from Winona, what would have the biggest impact on the community? Every single person said losing the (Mississippi) River would, he said. At that point, it became a no-brainer for Dixon to set the play in the future where Winona and its community members no longer have access to the river. He started writing the play in the spring of 2015, and in October it comes to life on Theatre du Mississippis stage. The theatre is holding open auditions on September 6 and 7 on the second floor of the Masonic Temple. Munson, director of the play, said hes looking forward to seeing all the characters, and their perspectives, come to life. Scott does a good job of presenting different sides through different characters, Munson said. Itll really make the play interesting. Munson said people interested in auditioning need not worry about prior theater experience. He hopes to see a whole band of people who have never done theater before. Thats part of what community theater does, bringing people of all walks of life together for new experiences, Munson said. Hell have people read different lines from the book, and have them read from different characters to get a good idea of what role theyd fit best. Dixon said the most difficult part of writing the play was developing characters with perspectives from all sides. From business owners to politicians to everyday community members, people will get a taste of what the conversation might be like if a developer came in and stripped the city of a major part of its identity. It was important to me to make sure every characters perspective was honest, whether I agreed with it or not, he said. I set them all on a collision course, it should be fun. President Trump pardoned an embattled but resilient Joe Arpaio. Now this Arpaio guy was a very tough Maricopa County Sheriff (Phoenix, AZ). Federal court found him guilty of profiling Mexicans or Latinos, after he was ordered not to conduct police business using profiling. Now, I do not know about you, but I profile. Its innate. I look out for things that might harm me or those close to me. I know most of us know certain snakes, spiders and so on might hurt us and we avoid these critters like the plague. The average Joe and Jane know what kind of people might do harm by the way they talk and dress; their pals and habits. We spy those things and, last but not least, use the vital tell what they look like generally. Thats race often area-specific. No one condones racial profiling as bigotry but there is no way no one should not do it, either. You want to keep breathing, you better profile. Thats the basic survival instinct. In fact, profiling is what keeps bad actors live and kicking too. Back to Arpaio. Some dodgers can guess why the governments wrath descended on Arpaio. Could it have been politically motivated? Some southern sheriffs are indeed bad, but Arpio was nationally high profile and likely targeted. Few care why, but a good bet is zero-sum politics. Know this. Unlike most politically inclined elected people, this sheriff won elections by high margins mainly because what voters saw is what voters got in Maricopa. And that is something most dodgers appreciate. Give em what they want. Security or vengeance instead of lies, cheats and thieves much of the time, which what we get ordinarily from nearly all politicians, be they judge, county something, sheriff or legislator. At least, with Arpaio, ya got what you paid for, and then some. Maybe it was the and then some got him in Dutch, but bet your horse twas more PC politics than anything. People who live in Arpaios county know crime and they decided Arpaios way suited their views hand out hard justice. The sheriffs prison uniforms (pink underwear) outdoor facilities or his duty were not questioned. His racial policies or lack thereof, were depicted by a court as offensive, which avoids his elections and crime rate reductions. Phoenix, Chicago, Winona, Minneapolis, Charlottesville, you want to reduce danger and crime, what do you look for? Easy, you look for what might harm you or someone else. What you do then is up to you. What a police person might do is basically contractual, but essentially they do the same thing as everyone else, right? Dodgers dont do that, meaning these not avoiding harm, are self-destructive prime candidates for a Darwin Award. In other words, liars to themselves always have a problem. If you say you dont profile but do, then you are just another indifferent political type. Trumps pardon plays to his narrow-minded political base. All zero-sum politics. If you thought as much then you just profiled. Qatar adds one more flight to Doha-Ktm route Qatar Airways has announced adding an additional daily flight on its DohaKathmandu route from Friday, to meet the surge in demand during Nepals festival season, which takes place every year in September and October. MADISON A battle between national retailers and Wisconsin municipalities moved from the courtroom to the Statehouse Wednesday during a hearing on divisive tax legislation. A Senate tax committee conducted a five-hour hearing on two bills written to stem a tide of lawsuits filed by big-box chains against communities over annual property tax assessments. Municipal leaders accused retailers of exploiting a tax loophole to push their share of the property tax burden onto average home and business owners. Business advocates claimed local governments have disregarded state law, court rulings and logic in an effort to tilt the playing field for their own benefit. Its the big, bad business vs. homeowners, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce spokesman Scott Manley said. Its a great narrative, but its not accurate. Baraboo Mayor Mike Palm testified in favor of the legislation, noting that Menards has sued the city over its tax bill the past three years. I see a pattern here, that they keep coming back to the well, he said. Last week, the Baraboo City Council approved a resolution asking for legislation to eliminate what local leaders call the dark stores tax loophole. National retail chains looking to reduce their property taxes are suing municipalities over their assessments, claiming their stores should be valued the same as vacant buildings of comparable size. Indiana passed legislation tightening its property tax assessment rules, and bills supported by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities are moving through the Senate and Assembly. Not built to sell Tax experts whove represented national retailers say its the government, not big-box chains, thats trying to pull a fast one. Minnesota attorney Robert Hill, who has represented Menards and Walmart, said stores should be assessed at the value theyd fetch on the open market. He argues that because most major retailers would rather build their own customized stores at $40 to $50 per square foot rather than buy a less-than-perfect fit for $20 to $30 per square foot, the properties should be treated like warehouses, rather than thriving stores. Tax expert Michael Wedl, who has worked with Hill on big-box cases, said if Menards were to leave its Baraboo store, the building would lose much of its value. Theyre not building them to sell, said Wedl, a former assessor. As soon as they build it, its obsolete. Business groups testifying against the legislation Wednesday said the bills would invite constitutional challenges because they target large retailers, treating big-box stores differently than other properties. They said municipalities are trying to change the law rather than follow it. Hill said every property type should be taxed at its sales value. Vacant homes arent called dark homes and taxed differently. These guys are really trying to ratify discrimination, he said. Fair assessment More than 50 Wisconsin municipalities have passed resolutions calling for legislation setting new rules for taxing big-box stores. Some are losing tens of thousands of dollars as courts order them to refund tax money to retailers. Statewide, more than 200 lawsuits have been filed by big-box chains over the past decade. Municipalities found themselves on the defensive after a 2008 Wisconsin court ruling found Madison overvalued Walgreens stores. One of the bills introduced in the Legislature seeks to reverse that ruling. The bills sponsors said stores should be taxed according to their highest and best use as thriving enterprises rather than treated like warehouses. They said the legislation writes assessors best practices into state law. This is about fair market value, said Sen. Roger Roth, R-Appleton. When you build a location for $20 million and insist that it be assessed for $6 million, it defies logic, added Rep. Robert Brooks, R-Saukville. This affects every school district, every police department, every fire department. Sen. Duey Strobel, R-Cedarburg, said retailers legal teams are bullying municipalities. Theyre using the courts to their financial benefit, he said. Critics of the legislation said municipalities are using legislation to get around the courts. Legislation will only lead to lawsuits, creating expense for all parties, Hill said. He said dark store is a nonsensical term municipalities created to cast his clients as greedy villains. A property being vacant and available is essential to any sale. What they really mean is theyre finding themselves exposed, Hill said. These guys are going on the offensive without any facts. While business groups spoke against the legislation, dozens of municipal officials and assessors said state tax law needs to be clarified. The 9 a.m. hearing extended past 2 p.m. Legislators expressed interest in Palms note that a law firm contacted him, promising to help the city cut the property taxes it pays on the airport it owns in the town of Delton. When is this going to end? Palm asked. There needs to be a line drawn. I think we need to find an answer and solution to make sure businesses are paying their fair share of taxes and not skirting it and challenging it, said Sen. Devin LaMahieu, R-Oostburg. The United States Constitution lays out three branches of government the executive branch (the president), the judicial branch (the courts) and the legislative branch (Congress). The three branches are supposed to be equal and provide a system of checks and balances over each other. The system is out of balance, and the imbalance resides in the Senate. The Senates rules have usurped the power of legislating, not only with imbalanced power over the House, but also the White House. Senators wield this power because the Constitution allows for each of the legislative arms to make their own rules. The Senates rules have made it impossible to do the heavy lifting of legislating. The reason for this imbalance is because of cloture. It is a rule that goes back to 1917 and was designed to avoid lengthy floor debates while Senators filibustered against legislation they disliked. It also was intended to allow each senator to be heard, while allowing debate to end when they had heard enough. Cloture at that time required a two-thirds vote to end debate. In 1975, it was changed to a three-fifths vote, or the 60-vote rule, as we know it today. Essentially, with neither political party able to garnish 60 votes, we have persistent deadlock. According to the Senate website, Filibusters were particularly useful to Southern senators who sought to block civil rights legislation, including anti-lynching legislation, until cloture was invoked after a 60-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, party politics makes it nearly impossible to invoke cloture and has become an effective way for the minority to block legislation. This Senate rule has essentially put all of the power into the hands of the Senate minority. It is now irrelevant what legislation is passed by the House of Representatives. Neither party has had 60 votes since the Democrats held 61 seats four decades ago. It also was the Democratic majority of 61 seats in 1975 that lowered the threshold from 67 votes to 60. The Senate also uses a rule called the blue slip. When the president makes a judicial appointment, the two sitting senators in that district are asked to provide a recommendation to the judicial committee of the Senate. In essence, it gives each senator the right to veto any judicial appointment in their home state. It is a privilege that both Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin have enjoyed. It essentially has put each senator on equal footing with the president when it comes to judicial nominees. For years, Congress has squawked as the White House officeholder grabbed more power for the office. Presidents always are testing their power and have been successful over the years reaching over the line through the use of expansive executive orders. Congress has been concerned about the power of the presidency going all the way back to George Washington. Washington refused to share with the House of Representatives the details of the Jay Treaty (a trade agreement with Great Britain), citing that only the Senate has the power to approve treaties. The Senate does have constitutional powers not granted to the House, such as confirming treaties made by the president. It also confirms presidential appointments. Due to the cloture requirement, the Senate minority often has the power to stop or block any legislation with which it doesnt agree. Its the equivalent of a presidential veto with no override option. The founding fathers created a system of governance that was meant to be difficult. It intentionally separated the powers of government so that no one person could rise to be king of the land. It was designed to serve the majority while protecting the minority. The rules put into play since the Democrats rose to full power in 1917 have made it difficult for the government to even function. The House of Representatives has 435 members. The rules they have adopted limit the amount of time dedicated to each bill. The Senate, with its 100 members, can afford to adopt similar measures so the rest of our government can get back to working for the American people. Along with reviewing cloture, its time for the Senate to review the blue slip, too. The Senates power is usurping the House of Representatives, and the presidents even when it was President Barack Obama. If the Senate cannot fix this legislative imbalance, then maybe we can send them all their pink slips. Sauk Citys riverfront will get a temporary plaza and birding area, after approval by the Sauk City Village Board at its meeting Aug. 29. The Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with MSA Professional Services and village officials partnered to create the proposed plan. The project is broken down into four phases spanning four years, with enhancements beginning just past the Highway 12 Bridge along the river front to the Hahn House. The first phase, which would begin this summer, will cost $111,000 and features a birding area with low/no mow grass, bench seating, educational signs, a piece of art and possibly a viewfinder to observe birds. It will be located along the riverfront by the Highway 12 Bridge. The plan is to start construction in early September and with completion in the fall. Local businesses will be used to create the two areas, including Creative Landscaping, Cole Contractors, Miller and Associates, Sauk Prairie Remodeling and Radel Steel and Irrigation, said Raine Gardner, of MSA Professional Services. Board members wanted everything about the plaza to be easily deconstructed or moved, should a developer later become interested in the property. Pieces planned for the park could be moved to other sites in the village. In a previous presentation to the board, Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tywana German said the total cost for all four phases would be just under $1 million, which could involve grant funding and corporate support. Further enhancements could involve adding green spaces between downtown businesses, surface amenities such as playground equipment, plantings and landscaping with a natural feel, shade elements, and possibly a floating ADA compliant fishing pier or kayak/canoe launch. Art pieces established along the river front would tie into Sauk Citys history and include educational history boards. Plans for future phases include painting and adding an outdoor patio to the Hahn House, with the idea that people could rent it out for private parties such as graduations, baby and bridal showers and more. German told board members they have received positive feedback about the signs put out during Fire on the River detailing the proposed enhancements. So far Vintage has already booked 22 weddings and more are calling about the possibility of outdoor weddings in the area, German said. The boards vision really did yield the results it was looking for. Rasuwagadhi-Kerung becomes intl crossing point The Rasuwagadi-Kerung border point, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, has been upgraded as an international crossing point with an aim to develop it as a major junction linking China to the whole of South Asia. Scrap affiliation of National Med College: NMA Declaring the affiliation granted to the Kathmandu National Medical College as illegal, the Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has demanded an immediate annulment of the decision. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Student injured in khukuri attack by classmate in Dhading A student was seriously injured in a khukuri attack by one of his classmates at Campuschowk in Dhadingbesi, Dhading on Thursday morning. Funding boost for Australian Synchrotron 31 August 2017 Share The number of beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron will be increased from ten to as many as 18, boosting research output at the facility. The expansion has been made possible by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Ansto) securing AUD80.2 million ($63 million) in new funding. The Australian Synchrotron (Image: Australian Synchrotron) The funding comes from the New Zealand Synchrotron Group Limited (which represents funding from the New Zealand government and ten New Zealand universities and research institutes), the Defence Science and Technology Group, and 19 universities and medical research institutes across Australia. Ansto said the first stage in the expansion of the Australian Synchrotron will be the construction of the Micro-computed Tomography (MCT) beamline and the Medium Energy XAS (MEX) beamline. The MCT beamline will complement the Imaging and Medical Beamline (IMBL) by allowing 3D structures to be studied in close detail. The MEX beamline will enable mapping of lighter elements such as sulphur, phosphorous, chlorine, calcium and potassium. A Small Angle X-ray Scattering (BioSAXS) beamline will then be constructed at the facility, which will allow for detailed protein studies. The addition of this beamline will be funded by AUD25 million of funding from the New Zealand Synchrotron Group. The funding for the beamline expansion will be supported by the Australian government's operational investment made via the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA). NISA provides AUD520 million in operational funding to the Australian Synchrotron, which includes operational funding for the new beamlines. Arthur Sinodinos, Australia's minister for industry, innovation and science, said: "The Australian Synchrotron is one of our most important pieces of landmark research infrastructure, which on a daily basis delivers practical benefits across a variety of vital areas. This is applied science at its best, with applications for medical researchers, the environment and industry." Ansto CEO Adi Paterson said the organisation had been working to secure more than AUD100 million in funding for the Australian Synchrotron. "This is a great first step and we look forward to continuing to work with industry and government to support the vitally important work of our scientists and researchers," he said. Ansto will continue to work with universities and other stakeholders to secure the remainder of the required funding. The Australian Synchrotron, in Melbourne, is a powerful electron accelerator. Since beginning operations in 2007, it has been used across a number of areas including: health, materials, minerals, manufacturing, food security, the environment, national security and energy. In 2006, New Zealand joined other shareholders as a Foundation Investor in the Australian Synchrotron, with each Foundation investor contributing AUD5 million towards the cost of building beamlines at the facility. The other Foundation Investors comprise various combinations of Australian state governments and universities. The Australian Synchrotron and Opal Nuclear Research Reactor were identified as landmark facilities that will require ongoing investment in a draft National Infrastructure Research Roadmap released for public comment last December. The roadmap sets out Australia's national research infrastructure priority areas for the coming decade. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Salamanca uranium project fully financed 31 August 2017 Share The Sultanate of Oman is to become a long-term strategic investor in Berkeley Energia through an investment agreement worth up to $120 million. The investment means that the Salamanca uranium project in western Spain is now fully funded and can proceed to production. Infrastructure work began at Salamanca in 2016 (Image: Berkeley Energia) The agreement with the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) - the sovereign wealth fund of Oman - was announced yesterday by UK-based Berkeley and comprises two elements: a $65 million investment in a convertible loan that will give the fund a 28% share of the company; and an option package worth $55 million, which would allow the fund to purchase a further 9% share. Berkeley chief commercial officer Hugo Schumann said the convertible loan fully finances construction at the Retortillo deposit, while the option package would provide capital to fund later stages of development at the mine. The agreement also gives the SGRF the right to match future uranium offtake transactions. If Berkeley enters into a long-term contract the government of Oman will be given the chance to match it, effectively doubling such sales, Schumann said. "Ideally they'll place that material into the Middle East, to a high quality utility," he said. Berkeley Managing Director Paul Atherley welcomed the fund as a long-term strategic investor and said the fund's interest in matching future offtake contracts would further enhance the company's revenue stream. An off-take agreement for the sale of the mine's first output, signed last year with privately-funded commodity trading company Curzon Resources, was approved by the Euratom Supply Agency in March. The SGRF acts on behalf of the government of Oman in managing and investing the financial surplus achieved by the state from its oil and gas revenues. Tim Keating, SGRF private equity manager, said the Salamanca mine matched the fund's investment criteria of being a long-life, low-cost mine development opportunity with "outstanding" economic fundamentals. "We are excited to partner with the Berkeley Energia team to unlock the full potential of the Salamanca project," he said. The Salamanca project has 59.8 million pounds U3O8 (23,000 tU) of measured and indicated resources as well as inferred resources of 29.6 million pounds of U3O8. According to a definitive feasibility study published by Berkeley last year, it would be capable of producing an average of 4.4 million pounds of uranium per year at a cash cost of US$13.30 per pound over an initial ten-year period. Development began at the site last year with infrastructure work. Atherley said production is expected to begin around the end of 2018 or early in 2019. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics The passport of the United States of America is one of the world's most powerful. However, this does not mean that American citizens have free entry to all of the countries of the world. On the contrary, due to politics and policy, there are many countries that are very difficult for Americans to visit, or where Americans are banned altogether. We outline these countries below. 10. Libya The entire world knows of the political turmoil that has engulfed the North-African country of Libya since the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, which led to the overthrow and subsequent execution of the then Libyas head of state, Muammar Gadhafi. The ongoing civil unrest that ensued has torn the country in half and has led to the deaths of thousands of people. The security concern also led to countries in the world, including the United States, issuing travel advisories to their citizens against traveling to Libya. However, aside from this travel advisory, any American wishing to visit Libya would be sure to face difficulty. The major hurdle Americans encounter are the numerous and difficult requirement needed by the Libyan embassy before one is issued with a Libyan Visa. 9. North Korea Photo credit: LMspencer / Shutterstock.com. One of the world's most isolated countries is also one of the world's most mystified. Contrary to popular belief, the North Korean government has not banned American visitors from visiting the country. The tour around the country prohibits access to many areas around the country. However, individual tours were open to American citizens up until September 2017. At this time, a directive from the US government is expected to come into effect which will deny US citizens the opportunity to travel to North Korea except for visitors with a particular permission from Americas State Department. 8. Cuba Tensions between the United States and Cuba have persisted for decades. However, the travel rules for American travel to Cuba may not be what they seem. In fact, American citizens are not required to hold a travel visa to be granted passage into the country, and in many instances, immigration officers in Cuba will see no need of stamping American passports as such visitors are so rare in the island nation. The issue behind the difficulty Americans face while attempting to visit Cuba emanates from the US government which issued a directive which prohibited Americans from visiting Cuba during the peak of the US-Cuba diplomatic conflict. 7. Central African Republic The Central African Republic is often labeled as one of the world's most dangerous countries. Its ongoing civil conflict is one of the world's bloodiest. Millions of residents have already fled their homes in an attempt to seek refuge in neighboring countries, many of whom also have some degree of political or civil unrest. All of Central African Republics neighboring countries have closed their borders from the infiltration of refugees from the war-torn country. 6. Iran Photo credit: Grigvovan / Shutterstock.com. Iran and the United States have had an ongoing diplomatic row that began after the Islamic revolution of the country during the 1970s. The diplomatic tussle was temporarily eased during the administration of President Obama but have now picked up since the election of President Donald Trump. The United States has issued travel advisories to its citizens, advising them against visiting Iran which has affected the number of US visitors to the country. 5. Eritrea One of the most difficult countries to visit, particularly as an American citizen, in Eastern Africa is Eritrea. The only circumstance when an American citizen can acquire an Eritrean Visa in the United States is at the Eritrean Embassy in Washington D.C., and therefore people from other states need to travel to the nations capital to get the paperwork processed. The alternative is the visa offered upon arrival, but this is only possible if a respective visitor also has an invitation letter from a resident. 4. Chad Traveling to Chad as an American citizen is a nightmare. Chad, which is located in the Sahara, has many picturesque desert landscapes which could in theory be major tourist pulls. However, the US State discourages travel to the country, particularly in the tumultuous border regions. 3. Angola Angola is one of the most difficult countries for Americans to visit. The Angolan government has been accused of discouraging Americans from visiting the country. The African country is laden with natural attractions which appeal to tourists from all over the world. While there are little or no diplomatic issues between Angola and the United States, the bureaucracy involving the paper required to enter Angola is tedious. Some of the many requirements needed include a recent vaccination against yellow fever, a reference letter from the visitors boss at respective place of employment and an invitation letter (written in the Portuguese language) from Angolan citizens, among many other documents. 2. Syria The civil war in Syria has grown from low-key skirmishes witnessed in the start of the Arab Spring in 2011 to become the bloodiest civil war in the world for several years now. The Syrian war which has pulled in international players including Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. This has led to the US to issue travel advisories advising Americans from visiting Syria. 1. Saudi Arabia Photo credit: hikrcn / Shutterstock.com. Every year, millions of pilgrims from around the world flock to the holy site of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. However, visiting Saudi Arabia is not easy. The Kingdom discourages travel done by US citizens, and women are not permitted to travel alone without a male "chaperone" if they are under 30. Men and women can only travel together if married (and be prepared to show prove of your union). Lao, also called Laotian, is the official as well as the dominant language in Laos. Migration and conflict have resulted in the present ethnic composition of Laos and to the geographical diffusion of its ethnic groups. 86 languages have so far been documented in the country as used by its various ethnic groups. French and English are identified as minority languages in Laos. Lao: The Official Language Of Laos Lao is among the tonal languages of Southeast Asia's Tai-Kadai language family. The major Lao dialects are Southern Lao, Vientiane Lao, Western Lao, Central Lao, Northeastern Lao, and Northern Lao. Vientiane Lao is the dialect which is widely understood and upon which the Lao vocabulary is based. Several languages used in Laos and Thailand are closely related to Lao such as Tai Daeng, Phu Thai, Tai Dam, and Nyaw. Lao and Thai share a significant portion of its core vocabulary. Over time, Lao has been influenced by Pali, Thai, and Khmer languages due to their proximity. The Lao script was developed in the 14th century by the Khmer script which has its roots in the Indian Brahmic script. The script's arrival in Laos is attributed to the Theravada Buddhists who were on a mission of popularizing Buddhism. Most of the Lao dialects possess six tones. A little over half of the population of Laos can use Lao and an estimated 3.3 million people can speak Lao in the world. Lao is also common in the northeastern region of Thailand and by small communities in Cambodia, France, Australia, the US, and Canada. The Lao language helps people from the many ethnic communities interact with one another and in doing so serve as the lingua franca of Laos. Foreign Languages Spoken In Laos French Laos is home to Southeast Asias second largest Francophone population. The arrival of French explorers in Laos in the 19th century facilitated the spread of French. Laos officially became a French protectorate in the 1890s. French subsequently grew in importance in the territory and reached its climax between the 1910s and the 2nd World War. The position of French in the independent Laos was uncertain especially after periods of decline, but it has since regained a substantial minority position. Nearly 35% of the nation's students are instructed in French, and it is the language preferred by elite classes, those in higher professions, diplomats, and elders. Some Lao words have been incorporated into French giving it a local flavor unique to Laos English English has been threatening the dominance of French as the preferred foreign language. English features in the system of many schools in Laos, and it is increasingly being regarded as the language of global commerce. The younger generation in Laos is particularly eager to adopt English. Minority Languages Spoken In Laos More than 80 languages are used by the different ethnicities of Laos. The largest of these ethnicities are the Khmu people who reside in five provinces situated in the north. Khmu is classified in the Austroasiatic language family, and its dialects fall into either the Western or Eastern Khmu categories. The Hmong language is used by the Hmong community inhabiting the mountains of Laos, Thailand, and Burma. The language is used in two groups namely White Hmong and green/blue Hmong. Other minority languages of Laos include Arem, Hung, Khmer, Maleng, Pacoh, Lamet, Phai, Akha, and Kim Mun. Arabic is recognized as Oman's national and official language. The Baluchi language is also widely spoken in Oman. The CIA identifies English, Urdu, and several indigenous languages as the other primary languages used in Oman. The presence of Indian languages in Oman can be explained by the influx of immigrants from India in the 1980s and 1990s. Immigrants in Omani have contributed significantly to the diverse pool of languages heard in Oman. Arabic: The Official Language Of Oman The Arabic used in Oman features several dialects which represent the nation's diversity. Omani Arabic is prevalent in the Al-Hajar Mountains and some neighboring coastal areas. This dialect ranks as the easternmost Arabic dialect. It was previously used by colonialists in Tanzania and Kenya. The dialects of Omani Arabic include Shihhi Arabic which is heard in Oman's Musandam Governorate and Dhofari Arabic used in the Dhofar Governorate. Bahrani Arabic is another dialect native to Oman as well as Bahrain. English: The Most Widely Spoken Second Language In Oman Oman has adopted English as a second language, and it is used as a medium of instruction to pupils from a young age. English is especially popular among business circles in Oman. Many posters, road signs, and notices are in Arabic and English making it easy for expatriates and tourists to get around Oman. The expatriate community of English speakers continues to grow in Oman, further boosting the usage of the language. Baluchi: A Popular Language Of Oman Baluchi is another of Oman's main languages. The language is native to the Baloch community who inhabit the Balochistan region situated on the Iranian Plateau's southeastern-most edge in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and also the Arabian Peninsula. Oman is home to approximately 312,000 Baloch people. The Baluchi language is recognized as a Northwestern Iranian language, and it is written with the Urdu Arabic script. The Mazaris and Mandwani tribes each use their dialects of Baluchi with slight differences between them. Baluchi is closely related to the Semitic languages used in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Native Languages Of Oman Several South Arabian languages are used in Oman. Mehri is used by the Mahra people in Oman as well as Kuwait and Yemen. The Nagdi dialect of Mehri is the most popular in Oman. The Shehri language is indigenous to the Dhofar region where it had 25,000 speakers in 1993. Most of the speakers have since adopted Dhofari Arabic. The Harasis people, who inhabit the Harasis Mountains situated in Dhofar province, use the Harsusi language. Bathari and Hobyot languages are other native forms of the language in Oman. Immigrant Languages Spoken In Oman Sultan Qaboos, who got into power in 1970, oversaw the modernization and liberalization of Omans economy. The discovery of oil resulted in the migration of thousands of job-seekers to Oman. Today, Oman remains a labor importing nation. Pakistani migrants who trooped to Oman in the 1980s and 1990s introduced the Urdu language to the country. Urdu is classified as an Indo-Iranian language along with Hindi spoken by Indian workers in Oman. Other immigrant languages present in Oman are Somali, Gujarati, Sindhi, and Portuguese. In history, Oman maintained trade relations with Zanzibar in Africa which explains the presence of Swahili in Oman. Tiger Palace casino resort slated to open on September 15 Tiger Palace Resort, a Rs5-billion five-star casino resort newly completed in Bhairahawa, is slated to soft open on September 15. The casino, however, will throw open its doors only on November 30, the resort said. Tickets on sale for legendary meal at pop-up dining experience at Holt Castle This article is old - Published: Thursday, Aug 31st, 2017 A brand new pop-up dining experience is coming to Holt Castle next month offering just 50 local foodies a one off chance enjoy a three course legendary meal in some very unique and historic surroundings. Based on previous successful al fresco pop-up dining events at Moel Fammau and Cilcain Forest, local foodie company Fodder In the Field have teamed up with the Big Hand Brewery and Wrexham Museums to stage a third pop-up evening at Holt Castle on Friday 8th September. The evening will offer the 50 lucky diners a locally sourced three course meal, served up by Caroline Dawson and her Fodder in the Field team on top of the mound at Holt Castle. Of course the evening is weather dependant but if its a fine evening, the views, accompanied by the delicious food, drink and live medieval music from the Minstrel band will provide a unique and magical experience. The team from the popular Big Hand Brewery will also be on hand with their bar and local ales providing diners with a pint of local Big Hand ale and a bar. The evening has been supported by both the Tourism and Museum teams at Wrexham County Borough Council as it is designed to celebrate the Welsh Year of Legends and showcase one of Wrexhams great heritage assets. Speaking about the venture, Caroline Dawson from Fodder in the Field said: Were really excited to bring our third pop-up foodie evening to Wrexham and somewhere really unique with spectacular views such as Holt Castle. The meat will be from traditional Welsh breeds and the meal will also feature handmade bread and locally grown veg. We came up with the idea while chatting about the promotion of local produce, said Caroline who works closely with producers in the Clywdian Range Food Trail. She added: North Wales is home to some of the best food and drink products in the UK but the sector needs continuous promotion to raise its profile. We thought it would be a great idea to tie in the local food producers and brewers like the Big Hand who are based on Wrexham Industrial Estate with a full dining experience. Unique tourism experiences are a big part of what Wrexham Councils tourism team strive to do, with Destination Manager Joe Bickerton adding: Were becoming an increasingly attractive foodie destination each year here in Wrexham County and this is a great opportunity to showcase some of our best local food & drink producers in a unique setting. Holt Castle presents a challenge in terms of the elements, however this night will be totally rustic and we advise ticket holders to come with an empty belly and a sense of adventure. The menu looks fantastic and Im sure it will be a memorable experience for everyone. Tickets are limited to just 50 and are likely to sell out fast. They are on-sale for 25.00 per person (over 18 only) and available from Wrexham Museum on Regent Street or by calling 01978 297460 (maximum six per person). Castle Capers will take place between 6:30pm and 9:30pm on Friday 8th September ad the event is over 18s only. *Access is limited to the castle via uneven pathway and staircase, so may be difficult to access for some Traffic resumes on Narayangadh-Muglin road Narayangadh-Muglin road section, which was obstructed after a section of the road stretch caved in at Char Kilo in Chitwan district on Wednesday night, has come into operation on Thursday. Speaking Tuesday to a conference of French ambassadors for his inaugural foreign policy speech, President Emmanuel Macron laid out plans for a military build-up and an aggressive global policy. He made clear that the counterpart to the assertion of French imperialist interests overseas would be an escalation of police-state measures, such as the state of emergency, at home. The Macron administration is facing the collapse of American imperialist hegemony that has shaped world politics since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the Stalinist bureaucracys dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The quarter-century of Middle East wars and ebbing US influence have undermined the geo-strategic order on which French capitalism worked out its world policy. Macron himself all but acknowledged that, after Trumps election to the White House, the political foundations of Europe are collapsing. He said, We are passing through a period of most intense questioning of the diplomatic certainties and of confusion about developments in 25 or 50 years. Today, the post-1989 order, one based on a form of globalisation that became totally unfettered and the hyper-power of one state, is shattered. Without naming the United States or the Trump administration, Macron presented Europe as a democratic counterweight to a collapse of the world capitalist order, declaring: Europe is one of the last refuges where the Enlightenment ideals of electoral and representative democracy, the respect for human personality, religious tolerance and freedom of expression and the belief in progress are still largely shared. Only a few paragraphs later, however, he acknowledged that Europe is threatened with war, as well. Pointing to potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 NATO-backed coup in Kiev, he said, We have forgotten that the last 70 years of peace on the European continent were an aberration of our collective history. That is however what the building of European institutions allowed us to create. But the threat is on our doorstep, and war is on our continent. The inescapable conclusion from Macrons remark that the last 70 years since World War II were an aberration is that world war is again a possibility, including in Europe. The End of History triumphalism of bourgeois commentators, who declared that the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union spelled the definitive triumph of capitalism, has collapsed. The same objective contradictions of capitalism that drove the Russian working class to socialist revolution a century ago are erupting today. Under Macron, moreover, the French bourgeoisie is embarking on policies of militarism, politicised racism, and attacks on social and democratic rights that twice in the last century led Europe to war. Macron called for a major military build-up, including an increase in defence spending to 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product, and called for making the struggle against Islamist terrorism the main priority of our foreign policy. He called for making the French army one of the very best in the world, the best in Europe, to protect France and also our continent. This will inevitably involve deep social attacks on the working class and a major confrontation with opposition in the working class, where Macrons popularity is plummeting. As his administration prepares to permanently write the main provisions of Frances draconian state of emergency into common law, Macron said: The choice between liberty and security of course poses a difficult problem at the national level. However, we have made our choices. The claim that a war against Islamist terrorism is the centre of French foreign policy is a political lie. France and its NATO allies have for more than six years used Islamist militias tied to Al Qaedawhich originated in the CIAs covert war against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan in the 1980sin wars for regime change in Libya and then Syria. The supposed war on Islamist terror was a pretext on which Paris justified military interventions across its former colonial empire and stoked a nationalist, anti-Muslim atmosphere at home that benefited the neo-fascist National Front. The rest of Macrons speech showed that Frances foreign policy is driven not by opposition to terrorism, but by the bitter struggle for military and economic influence in all the major world markets that motivated the imperialist strategists of the twentieth century. Appealing to Frances ambassadors to improve Frances image with opinion-makers worldwide and work for growth in the number of French firms that export, he then briefly surveyed the policy France would pursue to maximise its influence in the worlds major conflict zones. At the centre of Macrons policy is an attempt to re-assert French influence in its former colonial sphere in Syria, North Africa, and the Sahel. Two great zones are the focus of our efforts in the struggle against terror: Syria and Iraq on the one hand, and Libya and the Sahel on the other, he said. He announced that he would soon travel to Ouagadougou, the capital of the former French colony of Burkina Faso, which has played a significant role in the French war in neighbouring Mali. Apart from the policy of military intervention in the Middle East, however, what appeared the most clearly in his remarks were the explosive tensions between Washington on the one hand, and its nominal European alliesabove all, Germany and Franceon the other. Macron stressed Frances attachment to the Iranian nuclear treatyimplicitly criticising Trumps denunciations of the deal and Trumps vocal support for Saudi Arabia against Iranand called for limiting Saudi threats against the oil sheikdom of Qatar, which shares a gas field with Iran. He said, as soon as the crisis between Qatar and its neighbors erupted, I sought to place France in a role of supporting mediation. One of the hidden aspects of this crisis is the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and their respective allies. As Trump threatens North Korea with war, Macron also demanded an intransigent policy against North Korea. However, he also called for building solid relations with China, so long as it contributes to the stability of international relations. Macron called for careful engagement with China and its New Silk Road infrastructure project, which Washington strongly opposes, and which he saw as a challenge for French and European diplomacy: I say with great gravity, if we are not able to use multilateral strategies, other great powers will seize these tools. The New Silk Road is a classic example of a major geopolitical project carried out by China, which we must take into account from the standpoint of our European interests. In contrast to Macrons obvious if unstated geo-strategic conflicts with Trump, he stressed the importance of Frances alliance with Germany: I sought to give it strength as soon as I took office by traveling to Berlin and by making this alliance, this foundation, between France and Germany not an answer to all our problems, but the condition to possibly start solving them. The insane project of making Europe the basis for a bid to replace America as the worlds imperialist hegemon confronts not only opposition from US imperialism, but also from the rising opposition to militarism and war in the European and international working class. The attempts to deal with rising social discontent and opposition to the institutions of the European Union (EU) took up a large part of Macrons speech. With the EU discredited by a decade of deep austerity policies against workers across the continent, Macron called for a refoundation of the EU. He stressed that the EU was obliged to honour the initial promises that repaired our continent after World War II: peace, prosperity, and liberty. This is why we will launch in the coming months, in France and in other volunteer countries, democratic conventions to more profoundly associate our fellow citizens with debate on Europes future. Macrons proposals are bankrupt and cynical. While calling for peace, prosperity, and liberty, he is preparing war, police-state rule, and unilateral decrees to rewrite French labour laws, which are already overwhelmingly unpopular, in favour of the employers. Macrons agenda shows that the promises the European bourgeoisies made as they launched the European institutions after World War IIthat it would never again fall into war, economic depression, and dictatorshipwere false. Unless they are stopped by a conscious political movement of the international working class against war, the imperialist powers are again heading towards military catastrophes on a scale as great, or even greater, than the wars of the previous century. There is a strong and growing response among autoworkers to the appeal by the Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter to oppose the censorship of the WSWS by the tech giant Google. The company is manipulating its search results so as to block access to the WSWS as well as a number of socialist, anti-war and progressive websites. As a result Googles actions there has been a large drop in readership to oppositional websites. In the case of the WSWS the top 45 search terms that formerly led readers to the WSWS are now blocked by Google. Despite this, thousands still access the WSWS and are sharing and otherwise distributing material from the site. Support for the campaign against Google censorship is broadening. Thousands have signed the online petition against Google censorship and many have submitted statements of support. This week an SEP campaign team at the University Illinois in Chicago collected scores of signatures in support of the campaign against Google censorship of the WSWS. Among those registering support for the SEP campaign have been autoworkers. The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter has been in the lead of exposing the corrupt relationship between the United Auto Workers and the management of the Big Three automakers in the US. On Saturday, a SEP campaign team distributed copies of the Autoworker Newsletter and material on the Google censorship campaign at the Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly plant north of Detroit. During the shift change, 15 workers stopped to sign the petition opposing Google censorship of the WSWS and hundreds took leaflets home. Tanya, a young tier-two worker said, I think it is wrong. You are trying to keep people informed with good information we need to know. You expose secrets that are kept from us. People appreciate it. Bill, a 23-year veteran at Fiat Chrysler stopped to sign the petition. He told the WSWS he had being following the recent indictments of high level Fiat Chrysler and UAW officials on corruption charges. We understand that they are corrupt. I think the contract should be null and void. I think the attendance policy is ridiculous. He spoke about Googles efforts at censorship. Any kind of censorship is wrong. The Internet should be treated just like the newspapers. He said he followed the WSWS and was struck by its analysis of the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where neo Nazis carried out a murderous attack on peaceful demonstrators. The real war is the lower class against the rich. Those Nazis who are fighting for skin color and race are in the wrong fight. They want to fight their neighbors, when the ones who are really controlling things are the rich. They are the real enemy. Margaret, a General Motors retiree from Ohio, spoke to the World Socialist Web Site by phone from her home. I read the Autoworker Newsletter regularly, she said. I see how they are trying to censor the Internet. They are trying to block out the truth. Even with Facebook, they are trying to block certain places. To me, it seems like they are trying to force people to listen to the mainstream, corporate media. She said the WSWS was informative and kept her abreast of developments I havent liked Trump since he got into office. Referring to the Nazi riot in Charlottesville she added, He tried to say there is nothing wrong with that. She added, There is too much crap going with the UAW. The UAW is in bed with management. They are trying to take away everything we fought so hard to get. I am glad that their corruption is being exposed. I have been trying to share your articles widely with my friends. There is so much unfair treatment of autoworkers. A number of workers at the giant Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan responded immediately to the WSWS campaign against the Google censorship. That should be illegal, said a worker in his middle thirties. I use Google all the time, and they can pretty much do whatever they want. I will definitely sign that petition." A worker at the Fiat Chrysler Jeep complex in Toledo explained why he supported the campaign against Google censorship. It is a great injustice that Google has chosen to deny the WSWS their freedom of speech and the rights of citizens of this country and to all people across the world. It is not only intolerable and unlawful, it violates everything this country was founded on and what many have died to protect and uphold. He continued, The WSWS provides the working class an important outlet no matter what political party you align with. They were the main source of information during the auto contract talks (in 2015) with the Big Three. USAID launches 5-year $32.7m Kisan II project The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched Kisan II with the aim of facilitating the value chain of farm products of Nepals rural areas. The $32.7 million project will be implemented for the next five years in 20 districts. Nearly one week after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southeastern Texas, the historic scope of the damage and destruction caused by the storm is coming into sharper focus. Rescue efforts continued Wednesday in Houston and other areas as the storm continued to inundate the Gulf Coast with heavy rains and flooding. Harvey is expected to far surpass any previous storm as the costliest in American history, with at least $190 billion in damage and destruction, equivalent to one percent of the US gross domestic product, according to an estimate by AccuWeather. The damage from Harvey far exceeds the combined impact of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed much of New Orleans in 2005, and Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the East Coast in 2012. The official death toll in Texas remained at 30 Wednesday, but it is expected to rise as the true extent of the damage is surveyed, now that the storm has moved east. Many Houston residents stayed in their homes since there was no mandatory evacuation order before the storm. They became trapped as the flood waters rose. Houston, the fourth largest city in the US, has been devastated by the record rains and flooding. The storm dropped the most rain ever recorded in the lower 48 states with a record 52 inches falling in Mont Belvieu, just east of Houston. Up to 30 percent of Harris Countys 1,800 square miles were flooded by the storm, covering an area larger than New York City and Boston combined. Flood waters in Houston are not expected to recede for days or even weeks. Even after the city dries out, many parts will be uninhabitable. It is estimated that as many as 40,000 homes in the sprawling city and surrounding areas have either been damaged or destroyed. Large areas have been fouled by water containing toxic chemicals, pesticides and sewage. Some 32,000 people are currently in shelters across the region, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). At least 10,000 of this number remain packed into the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, which is at double its capacity. Another 1,800 have been placed by FEMA in area hotels. Since the storm made landfall on Friday, 4,200 people and 1,000 pets have been rescued by the Coast Guard. However, residents report that the Coast Guard and other government agencies have either been slow to respond to distress calls or completely unresponsive. In the face of criminal government negligence, those who comprise the volunteer force of fishermen and workers dubbed the Cajun Navy have continued to risk their lives responding to distress calls put out on social media by the thousands. Even as stranded residents continue to be rescued from the flood waters, a law-and-order crack-down is being prepared in anticipation of a potential eruption of social anger in the aftermath of the storm. Texas Republican governor, Gregg Abbott, announced Wednesday that 14,000 Texas National Guard troops have been deployed to the city and surrounding areas and 10,000 additional National Guard members from across the country are on their way. Houstons Democratic mayor, Sylvester Turner, announced a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew of indefinite duration, effective Tuesday, ostensibly to stop property crimes against evacuated homes. In the face of criticism that the curfew restricted the efforts of rescue workers, who could be arrested or detained for being out late, Turner altered the curfew to start at midnight. Turner took to Twitter Wednesday to ignorantly reject criticisms that the absence of zoning laws in Houston had contributed to the record level of flooding. Zoning wouldnt have changed anything, he said. We would have been a city with zoning that flooded. Scientists and engineers had warned repeatedly in recent years that Houston was due for a catastrophic flood due to the unrestrained and haphazard character of development in and around the city. Free from any restrictions, developers in Houston and Harris County have paved over significant tracts of wetlands and prairie lands, which absorb rainfall and are critical to flood control. There have been repeated flood events in recent years outside of areas designated by FEMA to be at high risk. While the rains abated Wednesday in Houston, Harvey continued to bring devastation to areas further east. After meandering back out into the Gulf of Mexico, Harvey made its second Gulf Coast landfall as a tropical storm on Wednesday near Cameron, Louisiana, bringing record rainfall and flooding to the border region between southeastern Texas and southwest Louisiana. One hundred miles east of Houston, the Texas cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur, with a combined population of more than 170,000, were completely overwhelmed by flood waters Tuesday night. Hundreds of people were stranded on their roof tops, in attics and on the tops of vehicles throughout the area. The Bob Bowers Civic Center, set up as an emergency shelter in Port Arthur, flooded Tuesday night, forcing the evacuation of approximately 100 people who had taken shelter there from the storm. The flooding Tuesday night into Wednesday morning also forced the complete shutdown of the Motiva oil refinery, the largest such facility in the United States. Dennis, a retired oil worker from the ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont, Texas, told the World Socialist Web Site that he and his family had to flee Winnie, Texas for a hotel after their home filled with two feet of water. This is the worst Ive ever seen, even with Hurricane Ike in 2008, he said. Weve been in our home for nine years and it never flooded. We live in an area above sea level, mostly rice lands and farming area. The big refineries are in Beaumont and Port Arthur. Exxon is only letting essential personnel in and operations have been reduced due to the storm. Exxon Mobil's Baytown, Texas plant is shut down, along with Shells Deer Park refinery, while the Beaumont facility is working at reduced capacity. All told, the storm has forced at least 15 refineries to be taken off line from Corpus Christi to Port Arthur, representing the closure of 25 percent of US refining capacity. More than one million barrels per day are offline just from the Houston/Galveston area. Analysts say the refinery outages could last for weeks or months, leaving thousands out of work. Two recent reports, released over the past month, provide a further glimpse into the deepening social disaster affecting broad layers of the Australian population. The crisis is characterised by declining real incomes, a massive growth of debt and soaring house prices that are out of the reach of most workers and young people. The annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, produced by the University of Melbourne, found that real median household disposable income declined by a total of over $1,000 between 2009 and 2015. The figure stood at $77,411 in 2009, before plunging to $73,500 in 2011. It was just over $76,000 in 2015, when the latest data was collected. Between 2014 and 2015, however, median disposable income fell by roughly $600. When equivalised in the report, the 2015 median disposable income for a single person was just $46,000, meaning that 50 percent of respondents earn less than that. The figures are among a series from the survey, based on a sample of more than 17,000 people. The data underscored the social reversal which has been imposed by governments and the corporate elite since the 2008 financial crisis, through real wage cuts, widespread sackings and the gutting of social services. Young people have been among the hardest hit by this agenda. Average weekly earnings for employed university graduates, under 30-years-old, in the year after they completed their studies, plummeted from $1,428 for those who graduated between 2006 and 2009, to $957, for those who completed their course between 2012 and 2013. The decline has gone hand in hand with the rise of part-time, casual and precarious work, which accounts for up to 40 percent of all employment, and is particularly prevalent among young people. Full-time employment, for the 20102011 university graduate cohort, three years after they received their degree, was just 56.6 percent, compared with 73 percent for those who finished studies between 2006 and 2009. Underscoring the same trend, part-time employment, a year after university, rose from 19 percent for graduates from 2006 to 2009, to over 25 percent for the 2012 to 2013 cohort. The falls in income documented in the HILDA report tally with other figures, including record low official wage growth, which was just 1.9 percent for the last financial year. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in March this year, found that labours share of national gross domestic product has fallen to the lowest level in history, while the proportion going to corporate profits has continued to rise, reaching a high of 24 percent. The HILDA report pointed to inequality in income growth. The income of the top 10 percent of households grew by 1.91 times the median rate in 2014. This was the fourth time in the five years to 2014 that income rises for this cohort outstripped median growth rates. The report highlighted entrenched inequality, noting that an increase in income stability over the past 15 years indicated that, people with low incomes are more likely to have persistently low incomes. The fact that much of the real income decline is being registered by the poorest layers of the workforce was underscored by ME Banks Financial Comfort Report, released at the end of July. Based on a survey of 1,500 households, it found that 45 percent of those earning less than $40,000 a year suffered an income decline over the previous six months. Only 22 percent of households in that bracket saw an income rise. Other vulnerable sections of the working class reported stagnant or declining incomes, including 91 percent of unemployed respondents, 80 percent of retirees and 76 percent of students. By contrast, 46 percent of households earning over $100,000 a year saw income gains, with only 17 percent reporting falls. The bulk of the respondents reported that the divergence between declining incomes and a rising cost of living was creating increasing financial uncertainty. Some 51 percent said they had no cash left at the end of the month after paying bills and living costs, meaning they are living from pay-cheque to pay-cheque, and could fall into a financial crisis as a result of a job loss, or any unexpected expenses. The main living expense was housing. Around 48 percent of respondents with a mortgage were spending more than 30 percent of their disposable income on housing, the figure generally used to define mortgage stress. Some 10 percent of all respondents reported allocating more than 60 percent of their disposable income to housing, a measure of severe stress. Average house prices have doubled over the past eight years in Sydney and Melbourne, the centres of the property boom, reaching $1 million in the former, and more than $900,000 in the latter, this year. Over the same period, mortgage stress has grown, currently affecting an estimated 800,000 households, while the national household debt to income ratio has soared to 189 percent, the second highest ratio in the world. The HILDA report found that among young mortgage-holders, housing debt rose from $169,000 in 2002, to $337,000 in 2014. In line with these trends, the percentage of respondents to the ME Bank survey who said they would not be able to service their minimum debt repayments over the next 6 to 12 months grew to 9 percent, a 4 percent increase in 6 months. Among those earning less than $40,000 a year, the number of respondents who said they were unlikely to be able to pay their debts was almost 20 percent. Another 33 percent of all respondents across income levels said they would just manage to make the minimum payments. The responses underscored the warnings that mounting debt could result in a rush of mortgage defaults, which would threaten the stability of the entire property market, upon which the Australian banks, and the entire economy, are heavily reliant. The HILDA report also made clear the housing boom has priced broad sections of the population out of the market. Home ownership rates among under 40-year-olds fell from 29.2 percent in 2002, to less than 20 percent in 2014. The decline has been most marked in Sydney, where youth ownership rates plummeted from 31 percent to 20 percent in the space of just two years, between 2012 and 2014. As a result, by 2015, 60 percent of men, and 48 percent of women, between 22 and 25 years of age, live with their parents. These are increases of around 20 percent since 2001. Working-class families have been severely affected. Among 18- to 39-year-olds with children, home ownership fell from 56 percent, to 39 percent, between 2002 and 2014. The historic reversal in ownership rates was a factor in the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute labelling 1.3 million households as being in a state of housing need this month. The term describes those who have been locked out of home ownership, or who are suffering rental stress. The deepening social crisis around housing is a consequence of the decimation of public housing stocks by successive Labor and Liberal-National governments, and the assault on the jobs, wages and conditions of workers they have overseen over the past three decades. At the same time, the frenzy of speculation in the property market is a result of a raft of incentives put in place for the major investors, and the deepening crisis of the economy. Unable to make sufficient profit from productive investments, the financial elite has poured money into real estate. A broad mood of social panic has swept through Houstons undocumented immigrant population, forcing many to risk death in their flooded homes rather than escape to government-run evacuation centers. It is estimated that there were some 600,000 undocumented immigrants living in the city before Hurricane Harvey dumped historic amounts of rain on the city this week. Rumors of ICE arrests at stores, aid centers, and food banks have spread through word of mouth and on social media. One undocumented immigrant in Houston told the World Socialist Web Site that amid the climate of fear, access to water and food is worrying. The Department of Homeland Security has announced it will not conduct immigration raids at evacuation centers and immigrants rights groups in Houston are unanimously urging all immigrants to seek help at evacuation centers. People were telling each other that the immigration men were coming to check our papers, one immigrant truck driver told the New York Times. VICE relayed the story of an immigrant named Luis: As the floodwaters rose, trapping Luis and his family in their Houston home and threatening to burst through the door, his anxiety mounted. His one-week-old granddaughter was short on formula; within two days, hell have to swim to a store. We cant leave...but Im going to have to leave to look for food for her. The panic in Houston is the deadly product of a longstanding, anti-immigrant atmosphere whipped up by the ruling class. In a speech to police and immigration officials in July, President Donald Trump said immigration officials are liberating our American towns, adding that he loves watching immigrants and criminal suspects get thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, adding, Please dont be too nice. On Friday, just before the storm made landfall, ICE dropped a busload of immigrant mothers and their children at a bus station in San Antonio in the potential path of the hurricane, even though all buses and public transport had announced they were stopping service. The 50 people were stranded without money or cell phones and were rescued by passers-by who brought them to shelter. As the flooding in Houston worsened, Texas officials, potentially with a nod from ICE or Customs and Border Patrol, sent border patrol boats, ostensibly to rescue flood victims. Many undocumented immigrants shared the sighting on social media and the posts spread rapidly among undocumented Houston residents. Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the immigrant rights group FIEL Houston, told the New York Times, Just physically and visually seeing the Border Patrol out there caused panic. They thought they were coming to get them. Criminal elements emboldened by the anti-immigrant climate have taken advantage of the confusion, posing as immigration officials and knocking on doors to demand that undocumented residents leave the area. DHS was forced to issue a statement stating that imposters hope to rob the empty homes. The flood coincides with the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 4, which comes into partial effect in two days, on September 1 after an injunction was handed down by a federal judge Wednesday evening. SB 4, the anti-sanctuary act, is the toughest state anti-immigration bill in the US since Arizonas SB 1070, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2010. SB4 provides that state officials will be jailed for failing to help ICE and CBP round up immigrants for deportation, and has already drastically increased immigrants fear of police and government officials. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law in May with a bellicose rant delivered on Facebook live. Texans expect us to keep them safe, and that is exactly what we are going to do by me signing this law, he said, adding that sanctuary city policies wont be tolerated in Texas. Immediately after the Facebook live signing, Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch bragged that the purpose of using social media was to instill fear in the immigrant population. He tweeted a screenshot of the video announcement receiving a reach of 400,000 viewers and wrote, For those wondering why we chose Facebook live. And its been an hour. While the anti-immigrant hysteria has been greatly exacerbated under the Trump administration, its roots are entirely bipartisan. Barack Obama oversaw the deportation of nearly 3 million people during his eight years in office. Democratic Minority Whip Steny Hoyer announced in July that immigration and other social issues wont be the focus of the Democratic Party. Essentially, he said, what we dont want to do is distract people ... we dont want to distract ourselves. In other words, the Democratic Party will appeal to the most anti-immigrant sections of the population to win votes in the 2018 midterm elections. Just last month, when 10 immigrants suffocated in the back of an abandoned semi-truck less than 200 miles from Houston, in San Antonio, the Democratic Party leadership basically ignored the atrocity. The rescue efforts along the Gulf Coast have largely fallen to the working class. The New York Times noted Tuesday that while the response to one of the worst disasters in decades in Texas has been, in many ways, improvised ... Recreational vehiclesairboats, jet skis, motorized fishing boatshave rushed to the aid of people trapped in their homes, steered by welders, roofers, mechanics and fishermen wearing shorts, headlamps, and ponchos. The working class, in large part, is being saved by the working class. Many immigrants have joined the rescue efforts despite the fear of deportation. Officials found the bodies of two Mexican immigrants living in Houston and a third survivor of a crew who had braved the flood to rescue those stranded, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday. Jorge Perez, a 33-year-old father of two and 25-year-old Yahir Vizueth were confirmed dead. As of this writing Benjamin Vizueth, 31, and Gustavo Rodriguez Hernandez, 40, are still missing. Benjamin Vizueths wife, Perla Jaquez, told Univision, They found two bodies already ... my brother-in-laws and his close friends. The immigrant crew were swept away by floodwaters and clung to a telephone pole before being forced to let go due to fear of electrocution from swinging wires. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality PartySGP) strongly condemns the banning by the German government of the left-wing website linksunten.indymedia.org and demands the immediate lifting of the ban. This brazen act of political censorship is a fundamental attack on freedom of speech and sets a precedent for the suppression of all social and political opposition. In his justification of the ban, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere left no doubt about the fact that he is seeking to suppress criticism of government policy and the established parties. For years, they have been using this platform to sow hatred against different opinions and the countrys representatives, he said. There could be no places of refuge for extremists from the left or rightneither on the internet nor beyond it. In referring to hatred against the countrys representatives de Maiziere means the mounting anger towards a political elite which has nothing to offer the vast majority of the population besides austerity, attacks on democratic rights, and militarism. De Maiziere justified the ban by asserting that linksunten.indymedia.org is the most influential internet platform for left-wing extremists prepared to commit acts of violence in Germany. But this is a brazen lie. In fact, the ban is not directed against posts containing illegal content. The authorities could have taken action against any post violating existing laws without banning the website by calling on administrators to remove them. Instead, the Interior Minister, without a court ruling, banned an internet platform whose main focus was the struggle against right-wing extremism, anti-refugee agitation and war. Linksunten.indymedia.org was part of the global indymedia network founded in 1999 in connection with demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle. The open platform published posts calling for protests against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and right-wing extremist demonstrations, criticizing the federal governments restrictive refugee policies, and exposing the right-wing extremist terrorist group National Socialist Underground. Other subjects included the struggle against war and militarism. The banning of linksunten.indymedia.org is a major breach of press freedom, which is guaranteed under Article 5 of Germanys Basic Law. To legitimise this violation, de Maiziere employed a transparent legal sleight of hand. He declared the website to be an association so as to be able to ban it outright under the Associations Law. The Associations Law is a relic from the German empire which was renewed in 1964. It makes a mockery of the rule of law and the separation of powers. It grants interior ministers at the federal and state level the power to ban an association and confiscate its wealth without a court hearing being held or those affected being allowed to testify. The precondition for a ban is that the activity of the association runs counter to the criminal law or are directed against the constitutional order and the ideas of international understanding, a vague paragraph that throws the door wide open to manipulation. To date, only small violent groups like neo-Nazi organizations have been banned under the Association Law. This is the first time that the law has been used against an internet publication, or, for that matter any left-wing organization. The basis has thereby been established to censor or ban any website or platform criticizing the status quo. As the Interior Ministry confirmed in a response to an inquiry submitted via Twitter, the government considers any website with an administrative team of at least two people to be an association in the sense of the broad concept of an association in the Association Law, which can be banned if the relevant preconditions are met. The banning of linksunten.indymedia.org is the high point to date of systematic efforts to censor and suppress left-wing and progressive internet publications. The ruling class is alarmed that the government-owned and corporate-controlled media is losing its monopoly on ideas, and that growing numbers of people are forming their own opinions. Under the threadbare pretext of combatting fake news or hate speech, they are seeking to bar the growth of political opposition. In April, search giant Google introduced new algorithms that radically demoted content from socialist, progressive and anti-war websites in search results. These censorship measures were discussed with German government officials. Ben Gomes, Googles Vice President of Engineering, visited Germany shortly before the announcement and took part in a meeting of the Broadcasting Commission. The site worst affected by these measures was the World Socialist Web Site, which saw search traffic from Google drop dramatically. At the end of June, the German parliament (Bundestag) adopted the so-called Network Enforcement Law which obliged providers like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google to fulfill the role of a censorship authority. Without any judicial ruling, the companies must delete obviously unlawful content within 24 hours. Otherwise, they face the threat of fines of up to 50 million. What precisely is obviously unlawful will be determined by the major corporations and government authorities, outside of the courts. Taking into account all of these developments, one gets the impression that authoritarian structures, the likes of which have not been seen since the Nazi dictatorship, are being erected. The German governments attempts to censor the internet are increasingly comparable to those by authoritarian regimes in China or Turkey, which the German media regularly criticize. Reporters Without Borders, one of the few organizations to denounce censorship by the German government, went on to state, This is a troubling signal internationally and supplies a pretext to repressive regimes around the world to act like the German authorities. Press freedom applies also to uncomfortable publications, and even those which are hard to bear, noted the organizations operations director, Christian Mihr. The second subsidiary of Indymedia in Germany, de.indymedia.org, which was not affected by the ban, described the move as a serious attack on the left-wing movement and press freedom. By contrast, the mainstream media was overwhelmingly supportive of the ban. Engagement to defend press freedom is sorely lacking in German editorial offices, especially when it concerns their own country. The Berlin-based Tagesspiegel titled an editorial, The Indymedia ban is right, but doesnt go far enough, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung went so far as to celebrate the ban as a victory for freedom of speech! Precisely those who take to the streets against the rule of the powerful should welcome the ban, wrote the mouthpiece of the Frankfurt stock exchange. It secures freedom of speech and assembly for the peaceful and vulnerable. Political parties also endorsed the ban. Isolated criticism came only from the ranks of the Greens and Left Party. Justice Minister Heiko Maas (Social Democrats, SPD) wrote on Twitter, Extremism, regardless of which side it comes from, can have no place with usnot even online. Berlins Interior Senator, Andreas Geisel (SPD), explicitly welcomed the ban and spoke of a step in the right direction. The censorship and suppression of press freedom is inseparable from the return of German militarism. Behind the backs of the population, influential circles in politics and the military are preparing a massive military build-up after the election. Handelsblatt wrote last weekend that Germany stands in the midst of a storm of several geopolitical crises, because there is no other land so dependent upon cross-border trade. The US is no longer a guarantor for the liberal world order following the election of the economic nationalist Trump. Germany now has to fill the leadership vacuum and assume the role of global policeman, it wrote. Among the political crises Germany will have to deal with in the coming four years, the newspaper included conflicts in Korea, Venezuela, the South China Sea, Turkey, Syria, North Africa and the Arab peninsula, as well as within the EU with Brexit. The German ruling elite knows full well that it can only enforce its militaristic plans through the suppression of opposition on the home front. Following the horrific crimes of German imperialism in the last century, the majority of the population opposes a return to militarism and war. Germany, among the most unequal countries in the world, is deeply polarized along class lines. As Handelsblatt put it, the vast sums that will be required for the public security and defence of our country in the future, have to come from somewherenamely from wages and social spending. During the First World War, the ruling class imprisoned opponents of the war like Rosa Luxemburg, who resisted the Burgfriedenspolitik agreed to by the SPD and trade unions. In the Weimar Republic, journalists like Carl von Ossieztky, who denounced rearmament, ended up in jail. And the Nazis prepared the way to World War II by violently crushing the workers movement and all political opposition. Germanys ruling elite is once again resorting to its authoritarian traditions, which is only temporarily set aside during the postwar period. Everything now depends upon the working class and young people intervening independently into political affairs. This is the goal of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei. The SGP is the only party standing in the federal election on a socialist program, which is directed against war and capitalism, and which strives to build an international movement of the working class and youth against imperialism. Indian supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) held a successful public meeting in Chennai on August 27 against the US-led imperialist war drive. The meeting in the capital of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu was attended by workers and youth and also streamed live via Facebook. Online participants sent greetings from different Indian cities, as well as internationally. Police officers tried to prevent the meeting occurring, underscoring the increasing attack on democratic rights in India. A day before the meeting, the Ambattur industrial estate police summoned an ICFI supporter to a police station in a bid to cancel the meeting. Police inspector Vijayaragavan asked if the meeting would avoid talking about opposing the US and mentioning the danger of an India-China war. When that was flatly refused, the police exerted pressure on the person in charge of the meeting hall, who asked the ICFI supporters whether they would advocate armed struggle and oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modis government. The ICFI supporters insisted on their democratic right to free speech, including to criticise the government. They also explained that Trotskyists are politically opposed to the Maoists or Naxalites and their methods of armed guerrillaism and wage a political struggle in the traditions of the Bolsheviks who led the working class to power in Russia in 1917. The ICFI supporters emphasised that after getting a receipt of the payment for the meeting hall, a four-week campaign was launched that involved distribution of leaflets and displaying posters, as well as advertising on Facebook and Twitter. They explained that many people in different parts of the country and internationally were waiting to join the meeting via live video streaming. Although the meeting was allowed to proceed, police entered the meeting hall in a calculated move to create an atmosphere of intimidation. They looked around and then wanted the names and mobile numbers of the main speaker and other office bearers of the ICFI supporters group. A police officer hung around outside, then sat in a chair near the steps leading to the meeting hall, watching those who entered or left until the very end. A leading member of the ICFI supporters group, Sathish Simon, chaired the meeting. He spoke about the 25 years of imperialist wars of plunder waged by the US-led powers in central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and the preparations for war against China that have destabilised the Indo-Pacific region. Simon drew attention to Googles censorship directed against the WSWS and other left-wing, anti-war and progressive web sites. The political censorship has been directed mainly against the WSWS, he said, which amounted to blacklisting it. Simon appealed for support for the online petition campaign launched by the WSWS against Googles attack on free speech. Turning to the Indian ruling class offensive against the working class, Simon highlighted the life sentences given to 13 Maruti Suzuki workers whose only crime was to challenge the sweatshop slave labour conditions in their factory. He emphasised the importance of the international defence campaign launched by the ICFI for the release of the jailed Maruti Suzuki workers. Arun Kumar, the main speaker, said: Today the world is on the brink of an eruption of a catastrophic nuclear war. He cited the recent provocative fire and fury threats made by US President Donald Trump against North Korea. Kumar explained that the threat of nuclear war is not simply the product of a fascistic madman in the White House but arises out of the immense geopolitical tensions fuelled by the deep economic crisis of American and global capitalism. The speaker said powerful sections of the military and political elites in Washington have been pressing for the US to challenge and if necessary go to war with China, regarding it as the chief obstacle to American global dominance in the Asia Pacific. Kumar referred to Trumps new policy in Afghanistan as a declaration of open-ended and unrestrained military violence against a country that has suffered 16 years of unbroken American aggression. In its striving to establish global hegemony, the US has cemented a military strategic partnership with India as a counter weight to China, Kumar said. The principal cause of the rapid deterioration in Sino-Indian relations, of which the current border confrontation is only the latest and most explosive example, is Indias ever-deeper integration into Washingtons military-strategic offensive against China. The speaker explained that India has become a frontline state for the US under Prime Minister Modi and his ruling Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party. India has opened its military bases and ports to routine use by the Pentagon, and expanded bilateral and trilateral military-strategic ties with Japan and Australia, key allies of US imperialism. Indias bellicose attitude toward Pakistan also has been encouraged by Washingtons support for New Delhi. The border disputes in this region are historically rooted in the imperialist partition of South Asia and the imperialist-created reactionary state structures, Kumar said. Both the Hindu and Muslim bourgeoisie collaborated with British imperialism in 1947 to crush the freedom struggle in communal blood. Kumar pointed out that although the ICFI opposes that US imperialist war drive against China and Russia, it does not support the reactionary nationalist policies of these countries capitalist regimes, which are the product of capitalist restoration. Speaking on the role of the Indian Stalinist and Maoist parties, Kumar referred to Communist Party (Marxist) (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechurys participation in an all-party leaders meeting summoned by the BJP government to build a consensus on the border standoff with China at Doklam. Kumar also reminded the audience that Kerala Chief Minister and CPM politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan instigated a state legislature resolution hailing the Indian militarys illegal and highly provocative surgical strike ordered by Modi inside Pakistan. Concluding his speech, Kumar urged workers and youth to join the ICFI and help build a mass revolutionary socialist party in India. Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the larger and more populous metropolitan area of Houston, Texas is being turned into a scene of indescribable suffering. The articles in this pamphlet from 2005 analyze the social background to the failure of the levees and the destruction of the Lower Ninth Ward, the indifference of the official media, the deployment of the National Guard, and the inept and cynical government response to the plight of the citizens of New Orleans. Like Katrina, Hurricane Harvey has lifted the lid on the ugly reality of American society, exposing colossal levels of social inequality, pervasive poverty and ruling class criminality. This pamphlet, offered by Mehring Books, traces the 2005 disaster from beginning to end, always with an eye toward its historic roots in the crisis of the capitalist system. Order here for $4.95 US President Donald Trump has again placed North East Asia and the world on a knife edge by threatening North Korea with war. In a tweet yesterday, following North Koreas launch of a missile that passed over Japan on Tuesday, he lashed out at Pyongyang and those advocating a diplomatic solution by flatly declaring: Talking is not the answer! The implication of this brief phrase is obvious. If talking is not the answer, then there is no point in further UN sanctions on North Korea and additional efforts to press Beijing to bully Pyongyang into coming to the negotiating table on Washingtons terms. The only alternative is a military attack on North Korea, which Trump also implied when he emphasised on Tuesday that all options are on the table. In his tweet, Trump declared: The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. By describing the minor concessions offered to Pyongyang in the two deals that the US did strike with the regimein 1994 under President Clinton and in 2007 under President Bushas extortion money Trump demonstrated he has no intention of offering North Korea anything, even if talks were agreed. The only conclusion that the North Korean leadership can draw from Trumps remarks is that the country faces a real and immediate danger of attack by the most powerful military on the face of the planet. This simply compounds the crisis of this unstable, ultra-nationalist regime, which regards its only option as developing and threatening to use its limited nuclear arsenala reactionary ploy that plays into Washingtons hands and divides the international working class, the only social force that can halt the drive to war. It is nevertheless US imperialism that bears the chief responsibility for bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war in North East Asia. Having maintained a diplomatic and economic blockade on North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953, Washington failed to keep its promises and broke the two agreements it did sign with Pyongyang. Obama and now Trump have imposed increasingly stringent sanctions aimed not simply at its nuclear program but at crippling the countrys economy. This has been accompanied by the constant refrain that all options are on the table, backed by huge joint US-South Korean war games that, since 2015, have been premised on pre-emptive strikes against North Korea. Since Trump took office, his administration has made clear that war is not a distant prospect, years away. Following the firing of two long-range ballistic missiles by North Korea last month, the US Defence Intelligence Agency assessed that the Pyongyang regime would have a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the American mainland by next yeara red-line for Trump who declared it wont happen. In a series of unprecedented and incendiary statements this month, Trump warned that the US would engulf North Korea in fire and fury like the world has never seenwhich can only mean the nuclear incineration of the country. Trumps utterly reckless comments have provoked tactical divisions within his administration and more broadly within the American political establishment. Within hours of Trump declaring an end to talking, US Defence Secretary James Mattis openly contradicted the president. Asked by reporters if the US was out of diplomatic solutions to the confrontation with North Korea, Mattis bluntly replied no, adding, We are never out of diplomatic solutions. Mattis, along with others, such as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have never ruled out attacking North Korea militarily, but in recent weeks have emphasised that the current priority is a diplomatic solution. Just last week, Tillerson declared North Korea had demonstrated some level of restraint and hinted at a pathway in the near future to having some dialoguea comment suggesting that indirect talks with Pyongyang might be underway already. Far from dampening tensions, the lack of a coherent policy in Washington intensifies the uncertainty in the extremely tense situation on the Korean Peninsula, which has been under the constant threat of war for months. The fears in Pyongyang of an imminent US attack are further exacerbated by Trumps insistence that he will not signal any military plans in advancein other words, any military strikes would come out of the blue. As he contradicted Trump, Mattis was about to go into a meeting with his South Korean counterpart and promised to work together to protect our nations, our populations and our interests. South Korea would inevitably bear the full brunt of any North Korean retaliation following US military strikes. Estimates put the number of dead and wounded in the capital of Seoul alone as high as one million in the first few days of fighting. On Tuesday, James Clapper, former US Director of National Intelligence, responded to Trumps threat of war against North Korea by declaring that for the first time he agreed with the former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon that US options were limited. Just before his removal from Trumps staff, Bannon ruled out any military option, until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul dont die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons. Clapper, who has repeatedly criticised Trump, last week questioned whether Trump was fit to have access to the codes needed to launch a nuclear attack. He warned that if in a fit of pique he decides to do something about Kim Jong-un, theres actually very little to stop him [ordering a nuclear strike]. Clapper added: The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So theres very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary. Earlier this month, Trumps fascistic adviser Bannon shifted the focus, to target China as the chief threat to US global dominance. Declaring that Korea was just a sideshow, he called for harsh trade sanctions against China. Weve come to the conclusion that theyre in an economic war and theyre crushing us, he said. One of us is going to be a hegemon in 25 or 30 years and its gonna be them if we go down this path. Bannons remarks underscore the deep crisis in Washington over foreign policy that has followed Trumps installation as president. The ongoing political furore over, and investigation into, allegations that Trump officials colluded with Russia during the presidential election campaign reflect bitter divisions over whether to confront, and ultimately go to war with, Russia or China first. The political turmoil over foreign policy is intensified by the worsening economic crisis in the US and internationally. This is widening the social gulf between rich and poor and fuelling popular opposition to Trump, whose utter indifference to the plight of working people has been graphically displayed in response to the Houston flood. The great danger is that Trump could resort to a catastrophic war with incalculable consequences as a means of directing acute domestic tensions outward against an external enemy. Such a decision would be made behind the backs of the American people and the worlds population by the cabal of generals, political gangsters and billionaires in the White House. The only means of halting this drive to war is for the working class in the United States and around the world to fight for its own class solution to the crisis: a united international movement based on socialist internationalism to put an end to capitalism, which is the source of war, social inequality and attacks on democratic rights. The official preparation for and response to Hurricane Harvey have been characterized by a stunning level of incompetence and indifference, from the lack of a coordinated evacuation and emergency housing plan, to the completely ad-hoc character of rescue operations. As Houston and other parts of Texas drown and the death toll mounts, various government officials, from the White House on down, have spent much of the past several days patting themselves on the back. You have been terrific, Trump told the governor, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other officials in Texas on Tuesday, hoping that no one would notice what was happening around him. The flooding, however, has produced an overwhelming response from workers in Texas and throughout the region, who have rushed to volunteer for rescue operations, using their own equipment and receiving nothing in return. The New York Times, which generally refers to the working class only to disparage it, wrote on Wednesday that the response to one of the worst disasters in decades has been, in many ways, improvised. The article continued: Recreational vehiclesairboats, Jet Skis, motorized fishing boatshave rushed to the aid of people trapped in their homes, steered by welders, roofers, mechanics and fishermen wearing shorts, headlamps and ponchos. The working class, in large part, is being saved by the working class. Perhaps thousands have participated in these efforts to save those stranded in their homes, often traveling great distances. Many of these rescues have been coordinated by means of an online map, houstonharveyrescue.com, put together early this week by a local software developer. Individuals and families needing assistance are able to register on the site. Thousands have done so in the first few days of its operation, and the site reports as of Wednesday night that nearly 5,000 have been marked safe. A report in Quartz notes that The army of rescuers, who can also register on the site, can then easily spot the neediest cases. A team of 100 phone dispatchers follows up with those wanting to be rescued, and can send mass text messages with important information. An algorithm weeds out any repeats. The response of workers raises broader issues. Hurricane Harvey, like Hurricane Katrina and many other disasters in the US and internationally, has exposed the class reality that the media and the political establishment attempt to cover up. As always, it is the working class and poor, of all races and ethnicities, that are the hardest hit. It is they who are either without insurance or face insurance companies that refuse to cover damages. It is they who will see the media and ruling class politicians depart as the flood waters recede and the major industries resume operations. No small part of the reaction of the media and political establishment to the disaster is motivated by fear that it will spark social unrest, serving as kindling for a conflagration arising from the immense contradictions of American society. At the same time, the response of workers to the hurricane expresses a basic class consciousness and solidarity that the ruling class works so hard to undermine. Contrary to the claimspromoted in particular by the Democratic Partythat American society is riven by racial hatred, the emergency operations have involved white, black and Hispanic workers on both sidesin the boats and in the stranded houses. The response makes a powerful case for independent workers organizations and workers control, not only of the basic industries and means of production, but of all essential resources and services. Workers have a much greater understanding of what needs to be done than those who currently determine government policythe corporate and financial aristocracy and beyond it the top 5 or 10 percent of the population. If workers had been involved in decisions over how to allocate resources, the level of preparation for the hurricane itself would have been far more advanced. Trillions of dollars would be allocated not to bailing out Wall Street and financing the American military machine, but to building social infrastructure. The flooding, after all, was neither unforeseeable nor unforeseenit was just not planned for. The destruction of the fourth largest city in the United States is one expression of a general phenomenon. In a million different ways, the basic requirements of a modern mass societypreparation for natural disasters, the distribution of food, the development of health care and education systems, not to speak of ensuring a livable income for all of humanitycome into conflict with the subordination of society to the dictates of profit. The domination of the stock markets ensures that all is sacrificed to the quarterly corporate figures. The case for socialismand inextricably bound up with this, economic planningis made not by utopian dreams, but by the concrete demands of social development. In every aspect of social life, the working class must take matters into its own hands, through the organization of workers committees in factories, workplaces and neighborhoods to assume control over the production and distribution of resources. These organizations must begin with the needs of the working class and be democratically controlled by the working class. They must take ever greater responsibility for unifying workers and organizing their common struggles against the capitalist class and its political representatives. The establishment of genuine democratic control over production and economic organization is the necessary basis for the development of a rational plan to replace the anarchy of the market and ensure that all decisions are based on social need. Police in Akron, Ohio, say that 17-year-old Xavier McMullen killed himself while in police custody last Friday night. McMullen died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head while in the back of a police car, the Summit County Medical Examiner announced on Monday. Relatives of McMullen are questioning the official version of events and want to know how the boy could have had a gun on him after being handcuffed and taken into custody on suspicion of armed robbery. Wiley McMullen, Xaviers 29-year-old brother, told Cleveland.com he was still shaken days after the shooting and wanted to know how his brother could have shot himself with his hands in cuffs behind his back. I dont believe he killed himself. I cant, Wiley told the news site, But maybe, if he had a gun on him, he was trying to get it off of him and while wiggling and struggling, the trigger pulled. Id understand a gunshot wound to his back, stomach, something like that. But not the head how is that possible? Why wasnt he patted down properly? Wiley asked. The cops did not do their job. I feel the cops took my brother. He demanded answers from police officials, saying, Enough violence is going on around us. We want the real truth, someone needs to pay the consequences. There needs to be justice. Akron police say that Xavier and two other young adults were arrested following an armed robbery. A man and a woman allegedly told police they were sitting in a van when three robbers approached them, showed a gun and demanded money. Police found the suspects in a nearby house and arrested McMullen and two 18-year-old men. At a press conference on Monday, Akron Police Captain Jesse Lesser said the three suspects were placed in separate police cars while they questioned witnesses. One of the officers returned to the car to find McMullen dead with a .45 caliber gun. None of the six officers involved have been placed on leave, according to Lesser. The police official also did not say whether officers searched McMullen before placing him in a police cruiser. He also refused to review the police departments rules for pat-downs, saying, It all depends on the circumstances. He added, Its hard just to say, every time you do it this way. Its a rapidly evolving situation. Mentally ill Army veteran calls for help in Sunrise, Florida, SWAT shoots her dead Police in Sunrise, Florida, shot and killed 28-year-old Army veteran Kristen Ambury after she barricaded herself in her house for more than three hours last weekend. Police were called to the Waters Edge apartments around 4 p.m. on Saturday after getting a call about a woman who was threatening suicide. Veda Coleman-Wright, the spokeswoman for the Broward County Sheriffs office, said that officers arrived on the scene to negotiate but determined that Ambury was armed and called in the SWAT team. As many as a dozen heavily armed officers arrived, leading to a tense standoff, with neighbors told to stay in their homes by police and others coming home from work denied access to the apartment complex. Witnesses heard five or six shots. It was not clear whether Ambury had fired a weapon at officers. She died at the scene; no officers were injured. A witness told local media how Ambury often walked her dogs throughout the complex and sometimes sat for long periods of time near the edge of a canal near her building. Relatives told Local10 news that Ambury seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and had mental health issues. She was a U.S. Army explosive ordinance specialist and emergency medical technician who worked for the American Heart Association. Michigan State Police trooper kills 15-year-old for riding ATV in Detroit In a neighborhood on the east side of Detroit, on Saturday, a 15-year-old boy, Demond Grimes, was killed by a state police trooper at about 5:30 p.m. The officer claims to have been pursuing Grimes for driving his four-wheel ATV in the street. According to reports, the officer Tased the boy from his patrol vehicle with the window rolled down while he was driving his ATV in the street. Operating ATVs in the street is technically illegal in Detroit but commonly practiced by teenagers in neighborhoods throughout the city. After being Tased, Demond lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the back of a pickup truck, a collision which killed him. The officer has been suspended not for the murder of a 15-year-old child playing in his neighborhood but because it is a violation of policy for an officer to deploy a Taser from a moving vehicle. Detroit Police Department Chief James Craig defended the officer in a press conference, saying, In no way should this be an implication of criminality but in any incident whether its a Detroit Police officer, in this case a Michigan State Police officer, our actions are scrutinized. He went on to reiterate that the opening of an investigation does not mean that the troopers actions were wrong or even unlawful. While the name of the officer has yet to be released, reports have surfaced from those familiar with the case that he had been previously accused of excessive force in two separate lawsuits. Grimes was in the ninth grade. His older sister told the Detroit Free Press that her brother had never been in trouble with law enforcement and always had good grades. He didnt deserve what happened to him. He was a good kid. A loving, happy kid. According to Killedbypolice.net, at least 808 people have been killed by police so far this year, outpacing last years deaths by 20 victims. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's governor has taken two more capital murder cases from a prosecutor who is opposed to the death penalty. Gov. Rick Scott signed executive orders Wednesday reassigning the cases from Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala to a prosecutor in a neighboring district. State Attorney Brad King's office will handle a new sentencing for Jermaine Foster, who was previously sentenced to death following a 1994 murder conviction. The office will also prosecute Robert Cardin, who is charged with killing his elderly mother and brother in May. Scott, a Republican, began taking cases away from Ayala, a Democrat, after her March announcement that she would no longer seek the death penalty. They argued the legality of this before the Florida Supreme Court in June, but no decision has been announced. (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) MOBILE USERS: Download our WTXL news app on your Apple and Android devices for the latest from South Georgia and North Florida. Also, download our WTXL Weather Now app for Apple and Android devices to get the latest local weather wherever you go. TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- It was standing room only at FSU's conference center Wednesday afternoon as a panel of speakers spoke about how China is actively stealing ideas and intellectual property from Americans. This practice, known as "Indigenous Innovation" in China states that their goal is to tweak foreign technology. Some examples of this kind of theft include anything from technology and software to counterfeiting fashion productions, sculptures, and pirating the music industry. When something like this happens, it costs American companies over 600 billion dollars a year with millions of jobs lost. This town hall panel comes after President Trump announced a formal investigation into China's practices. TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Innovation Park is being dubbed as North Florida's hub for world class research and emerging technology. "We're developing some great resources here," says Ron Miller, the executive director of Leon County Research and Development Authority. "We're looking at how we're going to develop some business incubation capabilities to support the new businesses." It's been more than 30 years since Innovation park began construction and has continued to grow through the help of local universities. "We've got a ton of great research resources out here that have been built over the last 30 years by FSU and FAMU," continues Miller. "Now, we would like to try to attract more private sector companies to come in who can take advantage of those resources." It's those very same resources that allowed for the Panacea Oyster Co-Op to grow their business by networking with others at Innovation Park. "This is a new industry," explains Robin Olin, the CEO of the Panacea Oyster Co-Op. "It has never been done like this in our state. We have to communicate and network with other people who are creative and fearless, so that's why we're here. That's why we work so well with these folks." The next challenge is to get more businesses interested in using these resources, so some improvements need to be made. One way they'll be doing that is by redeveloping the Collins Building for future use. "The Collins Building was an old office building, but it also includes some wet-lab facilities which in dire need for early stage companies to have that access to those kinds of resources," says Miller. Innovation park is hoping to also develop a trail system around their central pond that will connect the Mag-Lab and other facilities to other portions of the park. The idea is that by getting more private sector companies to take advantage of Innovation Park's resources, they'll be able to produce more products and jobs. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos toured two schools yesterday, neither of which were part of Leon County Schools. Devos spent time Wednesday with the Florida Chamber and also visited the Bethel Family Life Center, though she didn't tour Bethel Christian Academy. Nevertheless, it was another day in the Capital City without going to a traditional public school. Hanna said DeVos missed an important opportunity. "At the very least, give respect to all of us. Come see all of us. Come by my principals' meeting this morning -- for 5 minutes," asserted Hanna. "Five minutes and say, 'You know what? Thank you, guys. I value what you do. The President values what you do every day in serving 34,000 students -- and letting your teachers know that." TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Leaders of different faiths sat down with Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum to learn more about the city's efforts to promote tolerance and unity in light of recent events. The mayor's office holds meetings with interfaith leaders every quarter but Wednesday's get-together came on the heels of two major incidents that prompted many across the country to rely on faith: the racial tension in Charlottesville and the devastation in Texas and Louisiana from Hurricane Harvey. More than 50 leaders of different denominations and religious practices gathered for a special luncheon at the Old West Florida Enrichment Center. Mayor Andrew Gillum announced the city will organize a blood drive Friday and collect supplies to send to hurricane victims. He said leaders of faith help unite communities in times of crisis. "This is the embodiment of what community is supposed to represent," said Gillum. "So, it is quite strange that we could see that, just in a short period of time, we can go from our corners -- fighting in many ways -- to all being on the same accord and on the same page on what it means to be part of the human family and to support each other in our times of need." Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna also announced a new initiative to encourage interfaith leaders to plug into the district. The new "Adopt-A-School" program is in need of mentors and volunteers to interact with students. Mayor Gillum also announced the date of the next Longest Table event, which brings together residents from all over the city for a meal and discussion. The next event is on November 5th of this year with a location to be announced. MOULTIRE, Ga. (WTXL) - More than 10 bags of dog food have been donated in Moultrie for Texas animals displaced by Hurricane Harvey. A shelter in South Florida stepped up to take in 60 animals that were left behind during the storm. Several shelters in South Georgia have started a donation drive to collect supplies for these animals. Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society employees say they want to help in anyway they can. Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form A US-led coalition conducted air strikes to block a convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families from reaching Islamic State-held territory in eastern Syria from the Lebanese border under a truce deal, a coalition spokesman said on Wednesday. Islamic State fighters had surrendered their enclave straddling the Lebanese-Syrian border and departed on Monday for eastern Syria under the deal with the Syrian army and Hezbollah. The government is set to vote Sunday on an amendment to the Entry into Israel Law proposed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, which allows the deportation of illegal migrants to another country even without their consent. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The proposed amendment came after Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days. According to the existing law, migrants who refuse to be deported can be held against their will indefinitely at Saharonim Prisona detention facility for African asylum seekers located in the Negevuntil they are "convinced" to be deported to another country. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Photo: Photo: Mark Israel Salem) The result, according to the Ministry of the Interior, is the illegal residence of some 40,000 immigrants from Eritrea and Sudan in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked have already announced they intend to support Deri's initiative to amend the existing legislation. "I toured south Tel Aviv and saw the daily suffering of the residents, whose life in recent years has become a nightmare," Deri said. "This difficult reality also exists in Eilat, Jerusalem, Pardes Katz, Petah Tikva, Hadera, Netanya, Ashdod and other communities around the country. It is time to put an end to this, and I intend to act on several levels to take care of the residents of the State of Israel, who suffer greatly." Protest against the HCJ's decision in South Tel Aviv (Photo: TPS) Deri will present the government ministers with updated data on the number of illegal aliens currently living in Israel and the impact of their stay on the lives of local residents. He is also set to demand to add an additional 250 Population and Immigration Authority inspectors to the 120 inspectors currently operating. According to the interior minister, "The Population and Immigration Authority has complained that the number of inspectors who are supposed to enforce the law regarding illegal aliens is low and insufficient. I hear also complaints about this in my tours of Israel from residents of neighborhoods who have illegal aliens living next to them. "I intend to demand that the prime minister, the minister of finance and the other ministers in the meeting on Sunday increase the number of immigration inspectors in order to ultimately better the lives of the residents of the State of Israel." WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is urging the countries embroiled in a regional dispute with Qatar to find a diplomatic resolution. The White House says Trump discussed the issue Wednesday in a telephone conversation with Saudi Arabia's King Salman. The diplomatic crisis began in June, when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties to Qatar over allegations that it was funding extremists and was too close to Iran. Qatar has denied funding extremists. Trump has tweeted that Qatar funded terrorism. The longtime UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon was extended Wednesday with new directions to conduct more patrols with Lebanese forces and report when peacekeepers run into roadblocks in Hezbollah strongholds in the country's south after both Israel and the United States called in the weeks leading up to the decision to provide it with more power and authority to act independently. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The UN Security Council unanimously approved the plan for the mission known as United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), extending it another year after a flurry of negotiations over US and Israeli desires to do more to keep Hezbollah from gathering illegal weapons. The two countries sought a more muscular approach for UNIFIL to tackle what they say is a blatant, unauthorized arms buildup by the militant group in southern Lebanon. A UNIFIL convoy in south Lebanon (Photo: Reuters) Some other nations, including Lebanon , didn't want major changes in a peacekeeping force seen as playing an important role in the area's decade of relative stability. In the end, the US and Israel emerged pleased with what they saw as important changes, while other nations noted that the mission's overall mandate hadn't changed. "The status quo for UNIFIL was not acceptable, and we did not accept it," said US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has made a priority of scrutinizing the effectiveness and expense of UN peacekeeping missions. She said the changes will help ensure UNIFIL "has the power and the will to do its job." UNIFIL forces in Lebanon (Photo: AFP) For example, she said, Hezbollah sometimes bars peacekeepers from entering certain areas. Now, UNIFIL is being asked to provide "prompt and detailed" reports on where and why its troops were stopped. Now a 10,500-member force with a $489 million budget, UNIFIL was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border, to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country's south for the first time in decades. But this year, the annual exercise of renewing UNIFIL became unusually fraught. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised his criticisms of the mission personallyand publiclywith UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a joint news conference Monday, and Haley and UNIFIL's commander openly clashed last week. The commander, Maj. Gen. Michael Beary, told The Associated Press there was no evidence of the arms traffic and stockpiling that the US and Israel describe in Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon. Haley said his remarks show Beary is blind to a "massive flow of illegal weapons." UNIFIL peacekeepers (Photo: AP) Lebanon, which rejects the claims that Hezbollah is stashing weapons in the south, called Tuesday for renewing UNIFIL's mandate unchanged. Its UN mission didn't immediately respond to a request for comment after the vote. Neither Lebanon nor Israel is on the 15-member Security Council. Council members largely wanted to keep UNIFIL as-is, said French Deputy Ambassador Anne Gueguen, whose country was in charge of drafting the renewal resolution. France didn't want to put "the delicate balance" of southern Lebanon into question, Gueguen said. "UNIFIL, of course, can do better and can do more, but no one within this council can imagine, for one second, the environment (of stability) existing there without UNIFIL," she said. Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, whose country is among the biggest contributors of troops to UNIFIL, said it was important not to blur lines between peacekeepers' duties and those of Lebanese forces. "Promoting confusion in that regard undermines UNIFIL's operation and strips the Lebanese authorities of their own sovereign prerogatives," Cardi said. He said his nation was concerned about the changes but accepted them for the sake of Security Council unity. The Secretary-General has stressed that under UNIFIL's mandate, it is primarily the Lebanese military's responsibility to ensure the south is free of unauthorized weapons. A golden statue of Chief Justice Miriam Naor was erected outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem early Thursday, some two months before she's due to leave office. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The statue was discovered by Supreme Court security at the corner of Zusman and Rabin streets in the capital. Police launched an investigation into the matter, while the statue was removed a little over an hour after it was first sighted. The statue of Naor Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan criticized the police, which is under his ministry's authority. "The reports on the 'police investigation' into the placing of a statue near the Supreme Court does indeed raise the need for an explanation from the police regarding what offense is being investigated exactly. Not every exhibit of protest art justifies investigation, and definitely not one that does not call for violence or displays violent actions," Erdan said. A placard under the statue identifying it as being of Miriam Naor, the chief justice of the Supreme Court An organization headed by Rabbi Chaim Ginzburg of Yitzhar later took credit for the statue. "The statue was built to serve as part of the struggle against the Supreme Court and Naor at its head who are patronizing and disconnected from the people," Ginzburg's organization said. The statue was erected in collaboration with May Golan, a social activist in the protest against illegal aliens in south Tel Aviv. Security removing the statue (Photo: Yishai Porat) Naor's statue was put up three days after Supreme Court judges ruled that illegal migrants cannot be imprisoned for more than 60 days, even if they refuse "voluntary expulsion." The existing law allows keeping a foreign national in custody for an unlimited period of time, until he or she is "convinced" to agree to "voluntary expulsion." The Supreme Court's ruling limited the state's ability to force expulsion on those who refuse it by using long imprisonment. Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor (Photo: Yariv Katz) On Saturday night, some 100 peopleresidents of southern Tel Aviv and their supporters protested outside Naor's home , demanding that the court rules on the matter. Naor will step down from the role of Supreme Court chief justice on October 25 and be replaced by Judge Esther Hayut. Russia has reportedly stationed its advanced S-400 anti-missile defense system near an Iranian arms factory in Syria, which allegedly manufactures long-range guided missiles for Hezbollah to use against Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Hezbollah, which has already accumulated over 100,000 rockets, is now seeking to target specific sensitive sites in Israel. To that end, it has been trying to obtain long-range guided missiles by smuggling them from Iran through Syria. However, according to foreign reports, Israel has been bombing these weapons convoys, essentially foiling Hezbollah's smuggling efforts and leading the terror group to the conclusion its only option is to move the missile production closer to home. S-400 batteries deployed in Syria (File photo: AFP/Russian Defense Ministry) On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the Iranians are building factories to that end in both Syria and Lebanon. In his own meeting with Guterres , the head of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, told the UN chief the Iranian efforts to manufacture accurate weapons for Hezbollah on Lebanese soil and using the Syrian military industries was a serious development that Israel will not remain indifferent to. Israeli satellite images, which were examined by intelligence researcher Ronen Solomon from the Intellitimes blog, show a facility not far from the Syrian coastal city of Tartus, where it is suspected the Syrian regime is producing long-range ballistic missiles under Iranian auspices. The satellite images allegedly show a Russian base built over the past year west of Hama, near Tartus, where Moscow has stationed S-400 batteries, according to opposition sources. According to opposition reports, the base is located only 15 kilometers (about 9.5 miles) from the facility seen in the satellite images. The state-of-the-art S-400 system is supposed to provide aerial defense that would make it difficult to attack the facility. In addition to the S-400 batteries, some reports indicate the base also houses Russian surface-to-surface 9K720 Iskander missiles and anti-ship P-800 Oniks (Yakhont) cruise missiles. Kremlin rejects Pravda report Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday rejected a report on Pravda, which is considered the Kremlin's propaganda website, that claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reach an agreement on Iran's role in the Syrian crisis in their meeting earlier this week, with the Russian president reportedly backing Iran. "It would be wrong to assess the meeting that way," Peskov told reporters. "The nature of the conversation was different. The talks were a continuation of the trust-based dialogue between Russia and Israel. The talks were particularly meaningful." Netanyahu and Putin meet in Sochi (Photo: AFP) Peskov went on to say Russia and Israel have been "cooperating in the most sensitive fields," including cooperation between the two countries' military leaderships and special services. "No one holds emotional conversations here. Interaction continues, the frequency of high-level contacts is the best proof for that. It was a trust-based exchange of views on the situation in the region, the possible ways to ensure security in the border areas and so on," he explained. The Lebanese army was greeted warmly Wednesday upon its return to the country following the conclusion of the "Dawn of the Mountains" operation, at the end of which ISIS was forced to withdraw from its enclave on the Syrian border. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Lebanese citizens showered them with candy, served them cake and waved banners. Lebanese soldier after the victory over ISIS (Photo: AP) Lebanon's president and the chief of the army hailed the " victory " against ISIS at a press conference. "Today, we are announcing Lebanon's victory against terrorism. I dedicate this victory to all Lebanese, who can be proud of their army," President Michel Aoun said. Syria also participated in the operation to root out the ISIS enclave on the Lebanese border. "Chances on the regional and international arenas are a product of the victories of the Syrian military and its allies in the fight against terror," said Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lebanon celebrates victory over ISIS (: ) X Meanwhile, in Baalbeka city in Lebanon's Beqaa Valleypreparations were being finished for the operation's victory celebrations set to take place Thursday, marking the liberation of the mountain ranges on the Syrian border. The celebration is being produced by Hezbollah and the organization's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to speak. The location was chosen based on the number of people it can hold, said a Hezbollah information official, adding signs communicating the messages of victory have already been hung onsite. ISIS convoy fleeing Lebanon blocked from approaching Deir ez-Zor by US The US-led coalition carried out two sets of air strikes on Wednesday to block Islamic State group fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, its spokesman told AFP. Hundreds of ISIS fighters as well as civilians were evacuated Monday from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a ceasefire deal and were headed to an ISIS-held town near Syria's eastern frontier with Iraq. Lebanon, Syria and Hezbollah standards after the battle (Photo: AP) Jihadists and civilians, including children, left the border region, but on Wednesday their buses were still held up at Hmaymah. A first set of strikes hit the road leading from the Syrian town of Hmaymah to the ISIS-held town of Albukamal further east, said coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon. "To prevent the convoy from moving further east, we cratered the road and destroyed a small bridge," he told AFP. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the convoy was looking for a "new route" to reach Albukamal after the coalition strike. Lebanese soldiers and civilians celebrate victory (Photo: AFP) Dillon said the US-led alliance was monitoring the convoy in real time and its last known location was near Hmaymah. "If we are able to strike them without harming civilians, then we will do so," Dillon said. Asked whether the presence of civilians had prompted the coalition to bomb the road instead of the convoy itself, Dillon said that would be "consistent" with protocol. The stalled Islamic State evacuation convoy in eastern Syria will now travel north to government-held Sukhna before crossing towards Deir ez-Zor region, which is held by the jihadists, a commander in the pro-Syrian government military alliance said Thursday. The commander said the location for the convoy to move into Islamic State territory had been changed and that part of the deal was already moving forward. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah commented on the criticism levied against his organization by Iraq regarding the transfer of the ISIS fighters from the Syria-Lebanon border to northeast Syria, near the Iraqi border. "The ISIS fighters and their families are being moved to Syrian, not Iraqi, territory. Most of them are of Syrian descent and only few remained in Lebanon," he said. "310 defeated fighters won't turn the tide in Dir ez-Zor," he continued, "where estimates say there are tens of thousands of fighters. The agreement was the only way to conclude the matter of unearthing the fate of the Lebanese soldiers." "No finger should be point in blame at the Syrian leadership," Nasrallah concluded. "Hezbollah brought them the agreement and they merely signed off on it." Israeli student Eli Cohen was left with a broken nose and stitches to his head after allegedly attacked by an Egyptian man at a bar in Lithuania earlier this week. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The incident took place several days ago, when Cohena student at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliyawent on a bar-hopping tour of Vilnius organized by the hostel he was staying in. "A guy walked up to me in one of the bars," Cohen recounted, "and asked me where I was from. I said I was from Israel. His eyes went wide and he said, 'I'm from a state that's an enemy of yours, Egypt.'" Student Eli Cohen showing the aftermath of the anti-Semitic attack (Photo: Eli Cohen) Cohen said he tried to smooth things out. "We're not enemies. There's a peace agreement between our countries. I myself visited Egypt and had a great time," he told the Egyptian. However, it was to no avail as the Egyptian persisted, saying, "Did you serve in the army? Do you think Israel belongs to the Jews or the Palestinians?" Cohen tried avoiding the confrontation. "I'm not here to talk about politics," he said, shaking the Egyptian's hand and then moving to another corner of the bar. According to Cohen, the Egyptian kept staring at him throughout the night and later approached him again, accosted him and forcefully tried to manufacture a confrontation. "There's no such thing as Israel, only Palestine. You're occupying their land," the Egyptian reportedly told Cohen. At this point, Cohen said things turned violent. "The guy stuck his finger in my face and pinched my cheek," he said. "I was shocked. I threw up my arms to try and create some space between us and asked him to move away from me." The Egyptian then punched Cohen in the face. "I didn't react," Cohen said. "I just kept reaching forward to create space, and then the Egyptian broke a glass over my head. The bar's bouncer separated us and took me to the restrooms." Cohen was attacked by an Egyptian man in a bar (Photo: Eli Cohen) In the restrooms, Cohen saw his face was bloodied, as were his clothes and shoes. He went to a local emergency room, where he received stitches to his head and was diagnosed with a mild fracture to his nose. "Jew hatred is alive and well in the world, as I learned tonight when I was attacked merely for being an Israeli Jew," wrote Cohen in a Facebook post about the incident. "I never imagined anything like that could happen to me, but it did," he said Wednesday. "I'm a victim of a hate crime only because I'm an Israeli Jew." Local police was not involved in the incident, and the Israeli embassy in Lithuania said it was not aware of it. On any given day, Muslim pilgrims arrive at a Middle East airport on a journey to one of Islam's holiest sites. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, they rub shoulders with larger groups of visitorsdiaspora Jews and Christian touristsmany of them headed for the same destination, a 45-minute drive away: the sacred city of Jerusalem. The Muslims are only a small part of the Holy Land's religious tourism market. But both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank are vying for their business. Muslim tourist takes a selfie outside the Dome of the Rock (Photo: Reuters) Israel's Tourism Ministry recorded 115,000 Muslim tourists in 2016three percent of the 3.8 million foreigners who arrived at its airports or land borders it controls with Jordan and Egypt. Half of these Muslim tourists identified as pilgrims, the ministry said. Most of themaround 100,000came from Turkey, which recognizes Israel. But there were also some from Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not, and whose citizens Israel admits under special provisions for pilgrims. Each Muslim tourist spends an average of $1,133 on the trip, the Israeli ministry said. Palestinians fret that too much of that goes to Israel and want the tourists to opt for alternative Palestinian venues in Jerusalem or the West Bank. "We have been conducting a campaign to introduce Turkish tourist companies to Palestinian hotels in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and we have started to see many of them booking their rooms in these hotels," said Jereyes Qumseyah, spokesman for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. He said the Palestinians have permanent displays at major tourism conferences in Turkey. The Palestinian ministry offered no statistics on the scope of foreign tourism to the West Bank and east Jerusalem. But Qumseyah said Palestinians are also enjoying "big success" in teaming up their tour companies with counterparts in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Arab world so to draw more pilgrims. Politics and religion Beyond the economic benefits, Palestinians see such visits as cementing pan-Islamic sympathy for their goal of establishing a state with east Jerusalemwhose walled Old City is dominated by Al-Aqsa and the gilded Dome of the Rockas their capital. To that end, Palestinian religious authorities dispute an edict by Youssef Al-Qaradawi of Egypt, Sunni Islam's top cleric, that non-Palestinian Muslims should not go to Jerusalem lest they be perceived as validating Israeli rule. Even for Palestinians, access is not a given: Since their 2000 uprising against Israel, it has routinely restricted their travel to Jerusalem from the West Bank and imposed a tighter clampdown on the Gaza Strip, which is under Islamist Hamas rule. Muslim tourists take a photo inside al-Aqsa mosque (Photo: Reuters) Still, the senior Palestinian cleric, Grand Mufti Mohammad Hussein, sounded cautiously optimistic about foreign pilgrims. "An increasing number of Muslims are visiting Al-Aqsa. Maybe the numbers are not as high as we had hoped, but we hope they will increase in days to come," he told Reuters. One British pilgrim, Adeel Sadiq, came to Al-Aqsa this week with 15 fellow Britons. "We want to show our support to the people here, that you are not alone and Al Masjed Al Aqsa (Al-Aqsa mosque) is for all Muslims," he told a Palestinian reporter. Israel has no counter-campaign aimed at attracting Muslim pilgrims. The Israeli Tourism Ministry said its marketing budget is allocated to countries in North and South America, Europe and the Far East and Russia, and does not include Turkey. At the height of tensions in Jerusalem last month over Israeli controls on access to Al-Aqsa, Turkey's Islamist-rooted president, Tayyip Erdogan, urged his compatriots to flock there in solidarity with the Palestinians. The general manager of Turkish Airlines followed up with an ad offering $159 round-trip flights to "Jerusalem"though in fact the planes land at Ben Gurion. Israel's envoy to Ankara, Eitan Na'eh, tweeted in turn: "We will always be glad to warmly welcome Turkish tourists to Israel and our capital Jerusalem." BENGHAZI, Libya At least two troops with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's forces were killed on Thursday when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in the area of Nawfiliya, a local witness said. Haftar's Libyan National Army is one of the most powerful armed brigades in Libya, where rival factions and their military backers have competed for control since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 uprising. BERLIN German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he favors extending a temporary ban on Syrian migrants bringing their families to Germany, a move that reflects growing popular opposition to family reunifications. De Maiziere, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, told the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper that a "huge" number of Syrians were expected to enter Germany unless the ban was extended when it expires in March 2018. Officials expect every refugee to bring at least one family member to Germany, he said in an article published on Thursday. An Israeli drone company says the Defense Ministry has suspended some of its export licenses to one of its clients abroad. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Aeronautics issued a statement to the stock market saying exports of the Orbiter 1K to a "significant client of the company in a foreign company" were suspended. It did not name the country, but said it expects the measure to be lifted following a probe by the ministry. Illustrations: Israel's Kochav (Star) drone (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) Israeli media identified the country as Azerbaijan. Reports said the move came following a complaint the "suicide" drone armed with explosives landed near an Armenian military post during a demonstration. Aeronautics denied the reports Wednesday. It said "Aeronautics has never carried out demonstrations on live targets, and that was true in this case as well." Iran has stayed within key limits on its nuclear activities imposed by its 2015 deal with six world powers, a report by the UN atomic watchdog showed on Thursday. The report was the third since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has called the 2015 agreement between six major powers and Iran, reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, "the worst deal ever negotiated". Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium as of Aug. 21 was 88.4 kg (194.89 pounds), well below a 202.8-kg limit, and the level of enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap, according to the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to IAEA member states and seen by Reuters. A 28-year-old man was seriously injured on Thursday in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim, after an explosive charge placed underneath his car was detonated. Emergency services were called and evacuated the man for medical treatment. The injured man is known to the police, which have opened an investigation on the incident. Police believe the motivation for the hit was criminial. French Jews and Muslims have expressed outrage over a recent article in the Le Parisien newspaper in which a police warning was published urging farmers to be extra vigilant against members of the two religions, who it said may engage in the theft of poultry and sheep ahead of upcoming religious holidays. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to the warning, Jews and Muslims carry out "unauthorized sacrifices" of the animals as they prepare to mark the festivals of Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha. While animal sacrifices have long been outlawed in Judaism, the tradition of Kaparot, usually practiced by members of the ultra-Orthodox denomination before Yom Kippur, has attracted widespread disapproval by less conservative-minded Jews, who argue that the action of elevating a chicken above ones head is a cruel act that causes distress to the animal. Photo: AFP During Eid al-Adha, also known as the "Sacrifice Feast, some Muslims, much to the distaste of animal rights activists, sacrifice sheep and lambs before the meal. Members of the Jewish community of France rushed to protest the police warning, arguing that it was fallacious and could spur anti-Semitism. The President of the Jewish community organization Consistoire voiced his official objections to the polices caution, saying in an interview with the newspaper La Croix that he was shocked that suddenly, they indiscriminately turned all Jews into potential chicken thieves. Francis Kalifat, the French businessman and philanthropist who presides over the leadership of the CRIFan organization representing French Jewryalso heaped criticism on what he argued was an apparent attempt to draw parallels between Jews and Muslims. Photo: Gil Yohanan Kalifat slammed this recurring tactic employed by the authorities to make Muslims and Jews synonymous with one another in order to repel accusations of Islamophobia. Due to the anger-filled reactions which were also manifested in demonstrations, a spokesperson from the department of internal security in France rushed to restore calm, insisting that there was no intention to cause harm or offense, but rather to encourage awareness. According to reports in Le Parisien, in the last few years, numerous lambs were stolen as the festival of Eid al-Adha approached, but noted that Muslims were not the likely culprits. Photo: Gil Yohanan The report also reminded readers that Roma traders had once sold sheep ahead Eid al-Adha for around half their market value. It did not, however, mention any examples of not offer a report of any theft of chickens before the Jewish holidays. Rabbis against Kapora In recent years, rabbis and religious officials in Israel have publicly stated their opposition to the custom, citing the distress it can inflict on the chicken. Rabbi David Lau, after becoming Israels chief rabbi, published his call to prevent unnecessary suffering and pain to animals, reminding people wishing to repent for their sins that they must do so through their hearts rather than through chickens. Last year, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) financed a campaign dubbed the chicken rebellion in which people practicing the custom were called upon to substitute the chickens for bags of money. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured South Tel Aviv with Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Culture Minister Miri Regev on Thursday, in response to the residents' recent protests over the influx of illegal immigrants in their part of the city. "We are on a mission to return South Tel Aviv to Israeli citizens," said Netanyahu during the tour. "I've heard all the residents. What I hear is pain and suffering." Syrian activists and Iranian state TV say Syrian troops and allied forces have seized a strategic mountain overlooking Deir el-Zour province, which is mostly controlled by Islamic State militants. Syrian government forces control part of the provincial capital of the same name and its airport, but have been besieged by IS for years. Russia, which is providing air support to Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, says capturing the oil-rich Deir el-Zour province is the current military priority. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the advancing forces gained control of the Bishri Mountains on Thursday. Iran's state-run Al-Alam TV also reported the advance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told residents of south Tel Aviv that he was facing a mission to return the area back to Israel Thursday evening, three days after the High Court of Justice ruled that the State of Israel cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Paying a rare visit to south Tel Avivthe area which has been seriously affected by the wave of illegal migration in recent years that swept through Israels once-porous southern borderNetanyahu inaugurated a new police station and received a briefing from the police, before addressing the matter. PM Netanyahu talks to residents in south Tel Aviv (Photo: Shaul Golan) We have a very clear policy. We are dealing with the illegal infiltrators and it is Israels right to deport them, he said in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling, which stated that illegal migrants could not be deported against their will. Joined by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Minister of Culture and Sport, Netanyahu also met with residents embittered by what they say has given rise to a fundamental and conspicuous transformation of the areas ethnic composition. He added that on Sunday the government would be receiving a comprehensive overview on the matter and that a ministerial committee under his leadership would be established to tackle the problem directly. PM, Regev and Erdan inaugurate new police station (Photo: Shaul Golan) The committee, he said, would consist of members of south Tel Aviv and various officials and would be tasked with monitoring all activities being implemented on the matter each month. Moreover, he promised to clamp down on those abetting the migrant phenomenon by offering them illegal employment. Together with the public security minister and the minister of culture and sport, we will enforce (the law), in a far stronger fashion against those employing illegal infiltrators, Netanyahu vowed. Responding to calls that the state had to resist the High Court of Justice, Netanyahu said he respected its verdicts even when he did not agree with them, but insisted legislative measures could be adopted to circumvent their implementation on the sensitive issue. We either have to change the law or change agreements which I worked on, he continued. Minister Erdan and PM Netanyahu (Photo: Shaul Golan) Residents who met with the prime minister said later that he was extremely receptive to their stated grievances and that he gave them ample time to voice their concerns and problems and elaborate on what was required to resolve them. According to Sheffi Paz, one of the neighborhoods inhabitants who discussed the issue with the prime minister, Netanyahu accepted all of their demands. He also added that his visit to the area was the fruit of efforts undertaken by the residents. But despite Pazs optimism, others were less complimentary of the prime minister, with dozens staging a demonstration outside the blocked off roads and accusing the government of sowing divisions among weaker segments of the population. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah claimed Thursday night he recently came out of hiding to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adding that his organization, with Russias assistance, managed to prevent an alleged US-Israeli plan to take over the region by exploiting ISIS. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Nasrallah also stated that Hezbollah's recent military victory against ISIS forces along the Lebanese-Syrian border had halted Israel and the US's quest for domination in the region. Nasrallah (L) and Assad (Photos: AFP, HO/SANA) The statement was made as the terror group's leader marking the so-called "Second Liberation Day" in celebration of its defeat of ISIS in a stand-off that took place along the Labanese-Syrian border. The operation, launched two weeks ago in cooperation with the Syrian and Lebanese armies, ended this week after the last ISIS militants abandoned the territories they had captured on the Syrian side of the border. The Hezbollah-led celebrations were held in the town of Baalbek within the Bekaa Valley where an official ceremony was attended by an Iranian delegation headed by Jaberi Ansari, who is the advisor to Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Jawad Zarif on the Middle East and Africa. The ceremony featured a speech by Nasrallah, broadcast from his hiding place on a huge screen. "I would have liked to participate in the celebrations with you," said Nasrallah. He went on to reference Israel's stake in the area, stating that "Israel and the US's dreams in the region are based on ISIS and they are collapsing," Nasrallah said. "The axis of resistance, with Russia's help, thwarted the American-Israeli plan in the region. The Trump administration has brought diplomatic relations with Russia to its lowest ebb. The US poses the real threat to the world and is preparing to take us into nuclear war," he continued. Earlier Thursday, it was reported that Russia had stationed its advanced S-400 anti-missile defense system near an Iranian arms factory in Syria, which allegedly manufactures long-range guided missiles for Hezbollah to use against Israel. Hezbollah, which has already accumulated over 100,000 rockets, is believed to be seeking to target sensitive sites in Israel. To that end, it has been trying to obtain long-range guided missiles by smuggling them from Iran through Syria. However, according to foreign reports, Israel has been bombing these weapons convoys, thereby foiling Hezbollah's smuggling efforts and leading the terror group to the conclusion its only option is to move the missile production closer to home. During his speech, Nasrallah added that even after ISIS's defeat, the US had a "new terror plan." "We all know that Iran has decided to fight the American-Israeli plan led by ISIS, that Israel has been troubled by 'the Second Liberation' and that the US has tried to serve Israeli (interests) and change Resolution 1701 (the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah after the Second Lebanon War), which turned UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) into an organization in Israel's service. "The Lebanese Foreign Ministry is struggling against this, and here too the Iranians have invested a great deal of effort, so that the efforts of the United States, Britain and Israel have failed yet again," he continued. "The (UN) Security Council ignores the daily violations of Israel at sea, in the air and on the groundfor as far as the Americans are concerned, people in Israel are more important than the residents of Lebanon," Nasrallah charged. He also detailed Hezbollah's successful operation on the Syrian-Lebanese border and his cooperation with Assad in working to expunge and liquidate ISIS fighters. Nasrallah "There was terrorism on the northern and eastern borders of Lebanon. In the north, the army defeated the terrorist operatives. In the east, where radical elements became a problem for Syria, Lebanon took over," Nasrallah said. "The Lebanese had three options: to do nothing, to cooperate, or to fight." He added that his group had "asked the Syrian leadership to help us recover the mountain ranges from ISIS, and we very much appreciate the sacrifices made by the Syrian army in the campaign to liberate Lebanese territories." Assad, he claimed said, "No problem, and went out to help Lebanon. We are making it clear to the Lebanese people that the borders are currently under the control of the Lebanese army," said Nasrallah. "We are waiting for Lebanon to make another decision, which is to return the Lebanese territories captured by Israel in the Shebaa Farms. We expect this achievement to be achieved during the time of President Michel Aoun," added Nasrallah. US President Donald Trump had ordered the removal of US Ambassador to Jordan Alice Wells following the request of Jordanian King Abdullah II, this according to news site Foreign Policy. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The decision apparently came despite the fact that no evidence was found to suggest that Wells acted in an improper manner. She was slated to finish her time as ambassador to Jordan in June or July, but ended up returning at Trump's order in March. Wells (L) and Abdullah (Photo: AFP) Trump's predecessor, former president Barack Obama, had refused a similar request by King Abdullah to remove Wells from office. Additional US sources stated that Abdullah had a strained relationship with Wells ever since she took up her post in 2014, apparently over his objection to the Obama-led nuclear deal with Iran. Sources estimated that Abdullah saw Wells as a representative of everything he detested in the Obama administration, from the Iran deal to his feelings that the US could have done more to rescue the Jordanian pilot whose plane was shot down by ISIS. The terror group eventually executed the pilot by burning him alive. According to the report, Abdullah even went as far as to try and prevent Wells from sitting in on his meetings with US generals visiting Jordan. King Abdullah II (L) and US Pres. Trump (Photo: AP) Wells's colleagues describe her as a sharp and intelligent diplomat. They also mentioned that her being a woman may have been a factor in the aversion that Abdullah seemed to harbor toward her, stating that many leaders in Jordan's region are still unaccustomed to women having a seat at the table. Several seasoned diplomats stressed how irregular it is for heads of state to express such a level of dissatisfaction from a US diplomat before the White House, as well as how rare it is for the White House to actually remove a diplomat from their post over such criticisms. The White House, US State Department and Jordanian Embassy in Washington have yet to respond to this report. The United States will hold up $255 million in military assistance for Pakistan until it cracks down on extremist groups that threaten neighboring Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, in the first concrete step since President Donald Trump vowed to ramp up pressure on Pakistan. In his new strategy for the 16-year Afghan war, Trump singled out Pakistan for harboring Taliban leaders and other militants that are battling American troops in Afghanistan. Trump's tough words about Pakistan, a troubled U.S. security partner, infuriated Islamabad and triggered anti-US protests that Pakistani police have had to use tear gas to disperse. Although the Trump administration had floated the possibility of curtailing aid, hitting Islamabad with sanctions or severing its status as a major non-NATO ally, it had been unclear until Thursday exactly what types of measures the administration would pursue, or how quickly. YORK The State of Nebraska has a constitutional obligation to fund public education, however the jury is very much out on the verdict; is state government complying with that mandate or is it not. That is the hook upon which beleaguered property tax paying owners of ag lands appear likely to ultimately be forced to hang a lawsuit seeking relief. The many-headed beast known as property tax was confronted head-on during a public forum of an hour and half at the York Public Schools board room Wednesday morning with some 20 in attendance, many of them farmers personally invited by letter. York Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas began with an explanation of such terms as equalization and state aid and TEOSSA, the formula by which the state itself calculates school funding. Trouble is, suggested Lucas, When the TEOSSA calculation has been more than the state feels it can or is willing to fund, then that pushes things back on property taxes to pick up the tab for Nebraska public education. Were (education) one of the biggest pieces of the (state budget) pie, so when theyre short thats where they go for in the search for cuts. YPS, Lucas said, has not had a spending increase since the 2014-2015 budget year. How is such a thing even possible? We all know about robbing Peter to pay Paul, he said by way of explanation, and then drew a big laugh adding, but were looking at Paulette and Pedro. Were way beyond Peter and Paul. There are no clear-cut answers, he commented, but there are a lot of groups with a sense of urgency about the many inequities in how education is funded at present. One factor among many is that 20 percent of the states sales tax receipts were intended for return to districts to help fund education. That figure, he said, has been nibbled away over time to a paltry 2 percent today. At long last, said Dennis Richters of Utica, a farmer who owns land across school district lines, Farmers and educators are talking together instead of silently butting heads from mutually adversarial positions. Thats something thats been needed for a long time. Richters and Nebraska Fair, a property tax reform organization he helped to found, has discovered the anger of farmers and Im a farmer has been misplaced at the doorstep of educators. Our taxes went up nearly 200 percent and your (York) school spending did not, he commented. A return to fairness has to come about through legislative action in Lincoln, a ballot initiative or a lawsuit against the state. Richters bets are down on the lawsuit option. Were (ultimately) going to have to go ahead with the lawsuit, he predicts. None of the state senators, he said, are big landowners. Theyve got a job down there and thus are unlikely to move on this issue. Term limits hurt you in a situation like this, added Lucas. Mandated legislative turnover is why were always on this yo-yo of one generation of legislators choosing a course of action, only to have the next batch of green, inexperienced senators send the whole works to circle the drain and start over. Farmer Doug Nienhueser said 22.19 percent of property taxes in York County are paid by residential homeowners. Ag land owners, on the other hand, bear 57.08 percent of the burden despite the fact they have few if any children in public schools and, if their home of record lies outside the district in which they hold land, dont even get to vote on bond issues, etc. On top of that farm families pay property tax on the homes they live in, exactly as is required of city dwellers. By these numbers, Mike, he said to a group chuckle, we probably should have two-thirds of your (school) board be ag members. At $3 corn, said York ag producer Duane Grotz, we (farmers) cant fund a hundred bucks an acre in tax. Too bad, Grotz said, farmers cant do what the state does to residents when it hits the financial wall simply, Tell em were done. I think it gets down to an east vs. west issue, said Aurora businessman and Adrian Smith opponent in the coming election. As long as theres any way to get taxes off the farmer and the rancher nothings going to happen. Weve been snowed by the eastern part of the state, added Richters. Nebraska is addicted to property taxes, said Lucas, on top of which there are some elected folks in Lincoln who are in favor of less local control. They think they know better whats best for York than the people who live here. There already is a lot of state control, he said. If we lose local control he trailed off ominously. One down side of ramping up state funding is that local control will be at risk in direct proportion to the number of dollars the state would toss on the pile. As York school board president Jean Vincent pointed out, in that scenario it will be their money to encumber however the state suits see fit. One needs look no further than hard numbers to realize something must give if ag is to survive in York County. While YPS has been robbing Peter and Paulette and Pedro to pay Paul by slicing six teaching positions and 16 staff jobs in the face of a 230-student enrollment spike, the number of actual state equalization dollars of $1.56 million in 2015-2016 dropped off the table to $225,557 the next year and plummeted again to $166,556 last year. Soon, if nothing changes, York will receive nary a dime of equalization funding from the state. Or consider that Yorks three-year spending increase of zero dollars factors into an increase of but 1.3 percent since 2008-2009. Clearly this is a storm that has been brewing for a very long time. Nebraska K-12 schools on average must rely upon property taxes for 49 percent of their funding compared to the national average of 29 percent from local sources. Yorks predicament is much worse than even its sibling districts in Nebraska. YPS, Lucas told the group, must rely a farm-patron-piercing 74 percent upon property tax if its expected to keep school. We love to be above the state average in a lot of things, he said, then drew a group guffaw by completing the thought saying, but that aint one of em. Expert Advice with Tyron Hyde - 31/08/2017 Around this time of year The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ramps up client compliance monitoring by writing to property investors who have purchased an investment property. From my experience the ATO tends to target the following areas: 1. Whether property investors are claiming repairs and maintenance correctly. For example are they instant deductions or should the costs be spread out over time? This is a complex area and you should always check with your accountant before claiming repairs as an outright deduction. 2. Are the deductions being claimed for an income producing asset? For instance, if you make a repair to an oven whilst living in the property, then moved out 2 months later, you cant claim that as a repair! 3. Are property investors claiming the correct building allowance and depreciation deductions? This is the most common area of concern in my opinion, and some of the obvious mistakes I have seen include: - Claiming the building depreciation allowance based on the purchase price NOT the original construction cost. - Incorrectly classifying items of plant and equipment when they should be part of the building cost. Be safe this financial year get a Quantity Surveyor like Washington Brown to prepare your depreciation report and hand it to a qualified accountant. .............................................. Tyron Hyde is the CEO of Washington Brown and is considered one of Australias leading experts in property tax depreciation. He is also a registered tax agent. Washington Brown manages construction costs worth over $2 billion and completes 10,000 schedules annually. For a depreciation schedule quote CLICK HERE and follow the 3 simple steps or estimate your depreciation cost. The Washington Brown Free Depreciation Calculator will give you an estimate of the depreciation deductions you could claim on your investment property Read more Expert Advice articles by Tyron Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property. Growing uncertainty around state-backed policy changes in China has stalled property deals worth at least $40m in the Gold Coast, with many nervous China-backed groups leaving the negotiating table altogether. On August 18, Beijing issued the first set of rules on overseas investment by Chinese companies. The new list of banned investments includes casinos and defence technology, while overseas property development, film production, theme parks, and hotels were classified as heavily restricted. Mark Witheriff, joint managing director at Knight Frank Gold Coast Australia, said he knows of at least two major deals, worth about $40m together, that have fallen through after Chinese interests withdrew from the negotiations. I suspect there will be a slowdown until people see the lie of the land in terms of property, he said. There is still interest from Chinese groups but they may not be as bullish as they were. Witheriff said the east coast capitals were likely to be harder hit than the Gold Coast. The Coast is still relatively cheap and there is still significant interest from Australian groups and from Southeast Asia Singapore and Malaysia, he added. The policy changes would be the final nail in the coffin for the ASF Groups integrated resort and casino development on the northern Gold Coast Spit. Last month, the Queensland government pulled the plug on the planned casino resort, which would have included corporate facilities, a hotel, and restaurants. Four years ago, the ASF Group won the exclusive right to negotiate with the Queensland government for a Gold Coast casino license. A representative for the Palaszczuk government said it would refund all monies lodged with the state. This does not include the significant financial investment that was channelled into developing the project. According to The Australian, the ASF Group has spent approximately $30m on planning, design, and other consultancy work to progress the development proposal. The policy changes have capped off a difficult August for the ASX-listed group, whose $3.5bn casino plan at the Spit was repudiated a fortnight before it lost a multibillion-dollar bid to develop a major site at Londons Royal Docks. Dalian Wanda Group, a partner in the Gold Coasts Jewel development, offloaded hotels and theme parks worth $12bn in July, and backed out of a $760m land lead in London in August following Beijings crackdown on irrational overseas investment. In July, Dalian transferred its 60% share of the Jewel project from one of its Hong-Kong listed companies to its China-based Dalian Wanda Commercial, which is majority-owned by billionaire Wang Jianlin and his family. Related Stories: Decline In Chinese Investment Offset By Other Countries Unprecedented Investment Is Pouring Into Hobart 31/08/2017 A job at a bowling alley led young investor Crystal Palmer into the world of real estate and renovating. After gaining some experience and learning under mentors, she struck out on her own and 14 years later has made more than 15 profitable investments Fifteen years ago, when she was just 19, Crystal Palmer had one conversation she likely never expected would change her life. I was working in a bowling alley at the time. I got talking to a regular league bowler who had a few negatively geared properties, and he wanted to move away from that strategy into positive cash flow investments, she says. Crystal hadnt been interested in real estate up until that point, but as their talk went on she found herself drawn in. She made the decision soon after to form a company with her new friend, through which they purchased cheap houses for the purpose of renovating and leasing. By the time I was 23, I had learnt a lot and built on my investing knowledge, so I decided to part ways from the company. By then my boyfriend at the time was also interested in getting involved in property investing, so we decided to buy our first investment together in late 2006, Crystal explains. Property as a bond Over the next five years, Crystal and her then-boyfriend took on full-time jobs and used their savings to fund the purchase of several properties. They renovated the properties during their annual leave from work, and then rented them out. A standard renovation for us consisted of taking two weeks annual leave, sleeping in the house on a mattress on the floor, and renovating it 14-plus hours per day at the same time, Crystal says. It is emotionally and mentally draining and physically exhausting at times, working to tough time frames and then having to go back to full-time work the day after you return. They can also consist of long drives out to the properties for us, it took up to seven hours to get to certain locations! Crystal and her boyfriend split up in 2011, but they continued to invest together. Although we parted ways, we shared the same financial goals, skill set and purchasing power between us, Crystal explains. Together, they bought a total of 16 properties. In the latter half of 2014, Crystal moved to the north coast of NSW for work. She met her current partner the following year, and in 2016 the couple purchased their rst property together in Banora Point: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. At the same time, Crystal bought another two properties in her own name. One was a house that was under the hammer. At initial review, I thought the house would be over our price range my first thought was that it would sell for between $120,000 and $150,000. I called the agent for a chat and explained that we were serious buyers, as I wasnt going to drive five hours for a property that didnt hit the numbers, she says. It was a mortgagee in possession sale. I showed up on auction day and was the only one who did! I let the house get passed in so I could negotiate outside of auction terms, and it was passed in at $75,000! TOP BUYING TIPS 1. Do your research on your insurance policies and compare who offers what, and what is important to you to cover, such as loss of rent, malicious damage, or accidental damage by tenants. Every company offers different benefits, limits and excesses. 2. Shop around for a managing agent that works for you and has your best interests at heart. Set your expectations, ask plenty of questions as to what they would do in certain circumstances, and ensure they are great communicators. Not selecting the right property manager can cost you money and time. 3. Pick up the phone and make a call about a house, any house that catches your interest. You would be surprised at the information agents disclose, which in turn can assist you in negotiating the sale! 4. Be prepared that something at some stage will unexpectedly go wrong with your property. You must have funds set aside to be able to make these repairs at any time. 5. Where you can, look to do the work yourself when it comes to repairs and maintenance. Paying call-out fees and for labour eats into your profit. PROPERTY MILESTONES I put an offer in of $70,000 subject to building and pest. The building report came back with [word of] water damage, and we were able to negotiate the price down by another $8,000 to $62,000. Crystal proceeded to renovate a few key areas, including the kitchen, before promptly leasing the property out for $300 a week. Buy cheap with high returns In her property investment career, Crystal has stuck to a basic strategy of buy, renovate (if required), rent and hold, with capital gain being a plus. In 99% of instances, I look for property priced under $150,000, allowing more funds for more future purchases, she says. I look for property priced under $150,000, allowing more funds for more future purchases Im on RealEstate.com and Domain.com every day to see what is out there and at what price. Potential purchases must meet a minimum of 13% rental yield and, after basic renovations, create an instant $50,000 worth of value on top of the renovation expenses. This tactic has allowed Crystal to save more money, enabling her to add to her portfolio. Her aim is to purchase one or two properties every year, and she focuses on freeing up as much cash as possible each time she makes a purchase. Utilising interest-only loan options, [and] finding a good accountant who can maximise your rental deductions, has been key to my success, she says. Ive also learnt to renovate to the level that will achieve maximum rent at minimal cost. If the numbers dont hit it, forget about it and find another property. You will find another property that hits the figures you are after. The location of a property is important, Crystal adds, but it must be weighed up against its potential in terms of value, the strength of the rental market, risks within the area and long-term capital growth. Work less, live more For Crystal, property investment is about creating freedom to focus on herself on her own targets, strategy and end goal. She considers her property venture her ticket to cutting back on the time she needs to spend at the office. The cash flow from the properties will allow me to reduce working hours and assist in funding an early retirement, she says. Crystal doesnt seem far from her goal, as she currently has a net worth of $1.5m from her 18 properties a goal she has achieved despite the fact that at times she has let deals slip past her. Dont procrastinate! Its one thing to do your research on property investing, and its another thing to throw yourself into it, she says. If you are unsure, start with something low-risk; something at the lower end of the price scale where you cant really lose much on the purchase price if something goes wrong. CRYSTAL'S PORTFOLIO *Rates, insurance and property management fee plus interest As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More News Springfield, Missouri - Remarks by President Trump on Tax Reform: THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. It's so nice. And we appreciate it. And all of the people outside that were waving proudly the American flag -- believe me, we appreciate it very much. I want to thank Jerry Cook, Steve Burney -- (applause) -- and all of the tremendous employees here at the Loren Cook Company for hosting us today. Where is Jerry? Where is Jerry? (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you, Jerry. What a job. I've heard so much about you. It's a great honor to know you, Jerry. Thank you. I also want to welcome the many distinguished guests who are here with us for this very important event: Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin. (Applause.) Thank you, Steve. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross. (Applause.) Small Business Administrator -- which, by the way, is a very large business, I will tell you that -- Linda McMahon, a friend of mine. (Applause.) And from the purely political world, a really great friend who did such an incredible job with his beautiful wife at the inauguration, Senator Roy Blunt. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Where's Roy? Thank you, Roy. Governor Greitens is here, who is doing some job. (Applause.) Thank you, Governor. Special. Lieutenant Governor Parson. Lieutenant Governor, thank you, Lieutenant Governor. And our great members of Commerce [Congress], I want to thank you all for coming. There are so many. I was asking the Governor and Roy, I said, do you think I should announce them all? I have so many. But I'm honored that they're here. Representative Sam Graves. (Applause.) Representative Vicky Hartzler, who has been terrific. (Applause.) My friend for a long time, and just somebody that he liked me from the beginning and I liked him, Billy Long. Where's Billy? (Applause.) Billy. Right, Billy? Right from the beginning. Blaine Luetkemeyer -- where's Blaine? Good. Thank you, Blaine. (Applause.) Representative Jason Smith. (Applause.) Jason, thank you for everything, Jason. Representative Ann Wagner. Hi, Ann. Good job, Ann. (Applause.) And, I dont know, we have so many more. Anybody I forgot? Right? Everything okay? Good, I got it. You, I remember more than anybody. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. And to the congressmen and congresswomen, we very much appreciate you all being here. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Before we begin, Id like to take a few moments to discuss the deeply tragic situation in Texas and Louisiana. As we all know, our Gulf Coast was hit over the weekend with a devastating hurricane of historic proportion. Torrential rains and terrible flooding continue to pose a grave danger to life and to property. Our first responders have been doing absolutely heroic work to shepherd people out of harms way, and their courage and devotion has saved countless lives. They represent truly the very best of America. (Applause.) We must be vigilant. We must protect the lives of our people. I was on the ground in Texas yesterday to meet with Governor Abbott -- who is doing, by the way, and incredible job -- and local officials so that we could coordinate the very big and unprecedented federal response. In difficult times such as these, we see the true character of the American people: their strength, their love, and their resolve. We see friend helping friend, neighbor helping neighbor, and stranger helping stranger. And together, we will endure and we will overcome. (Applause.) To those affected by this storm, we are praying for you and we are here with you every single step of the way. And I can speak, I know, for the people in this room -- every step of the way. (Applause.) To those Americans who have lost loved ones: All of America is grieving with you, and our hearts are joined with yours forever. The citizens of Texas and the Gulf Coast need all the prayers, support, and resources our communities have to offer. Recovery will be tough, but I have seen the resilience of the American spirit firsthand, all over this country. To the people of Houston, and across Texas and Louisiana: We are here with you today, we are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover, and rebuild. As our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people -- people -- great, great people -- all affected by this tragedy. We're also glad to be back in the heartland with the very, very fine folks of Missouri. (Applause.) And I said to Senator Blunt and I said to Billy Long on the plane coming in -- can I say "Missouri," or should I say "Missouruh"? Okay? And they said, whatever you want is okay. So I said, good. But I'm especially pleased to be here in Springfield, the birthplace of a great American icon, the legendary Route 66. Who would have known that? (Applause.) This is the place where the "Main Street of America got its start, and this is where Americas main street will begin its big, beautiful comeback that -- you are seeing it right now. This is a comeback of historic proportions. You're seeing it happen right now. (Applause.) Right? You're seeing it. We're here today to launch our plans to bring back Main Street by reducing the crushing tax burden on our companies and on our workers. (Applause.) Our self-destructive tax code costs Americans millions and millions of jobs, trillions of dollars, and billions of hours spent on compliance and paperwork. And you have seen what's happening with regulations -- they're going fast. We need regulations, but many of them are unnecessary, and they're going fast. (Applause.) That is why the foundation of our job creation agenda is to fundamentally reform our tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. I want to work with Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, on a plan that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker -- and pro-American. (Applause.) There is no more fitting place to launch this effort than right here in the American heartland, surrounded by hardworking men and women whose skill, determination, and drive are truly second to none. (Applause.) And, by the way, before I start, Ivanka Trump -- I see my beautiful daughter is in the audience. Stand up, honey. (Applause.) She's working very hard. I'm very proud of Ivanka. For many decades, Route 66 captured the American spirit. The communities along this historic route were a vivid symbol of Americas booming industry. Truck drivers hauled made-in-America goods along this vital artery of commerce. Families passed through bustling towns on their way to explore the great American West. And high-quality manufacturing jobs lifted up communities, gave Americans a paycheck that could support a family. Mr. Cook is a great example of the people that do it. (Applause.) Stand up. Stand up Mr. Cook. Stand up. (Applause.) I think they like you. And provided millions of our fellow citizens with the pride and dignity that comes with work. But, in recent years, millions of Americans have watched that prosperity slip away in the rearview mirror. And it wasn't pleasant to watch, especially for me. I would sit back -- I was in business -- and I could see what was happening. It wasn't good. If we want to renew our prosperity, and to restore opportunity, then we must reduce the tax burden on our companies and on our workers. (Applause.) In the last 10 years, our economy has grown at only around two percent a year. If you look at other countries and you look at what their GDP is, they're unhappy when it's seven, eight, nine. And I speak to them -- leaders of the countries -- how are you doing? "Not well, not well." Why? "GDP is down to seven percent." And I'm saying, we were hitting one percent just a number of months ago. So we're going to change that around, folks, that I can tell you. And we're going change it around fast. (Applause.) And today -- a very appropriate day that this should happen -- we just announced that we hit three percent in GDP. It just came out. (Applause.) And on a yearly basis, as you know, the last administration, during an eight-year period, never hit three percent. So we're really on our way. If we achieve sustained three percent growth, that means 12 million new jobs and $10 trillion dollars of new economic activity over the next decade. That's some numbers. (Applause.) And I happen to be one that thinks we can go much higher than three percent. There's no reason why we shouldnt. (Applause.) So this is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hardworking Americans, and I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. And I don't want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me? Do you understand? (Applause.) Congress -- I think Congress is going to make a comeback. I hope so. (Laughter.) I tell you what, the United States is counting on it. (Applause.) Here are my four principles for tax reform: First, we need a tax code that is simple, fair, and easy to understand. (Applause.) That means getting rid of the loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests. Our last major tax rewrite was 31 years ago. It eliminated dozens of loopholes and special interest tax breaks, reduced the number of tax brackets from fifteen to two, and lowered tax rates for both individuals and businesses. At the time, it was really something special. Since then, our tax laws have tripled in size, and the tax code itself now spans more than 2,600 pages, and most of it is not understandable. Tax rates have increased, and special interest loopholes have crept back into the system. The tax code is now a massive source of complexity and frustration for tens of millions of Americans. In 1935, the basic 1040 form that most people file had two simple pages of instructions. Today, that basic form has one hundred pages of instructions, and it's pretty complex stuff. The tax code is so complicated that more than 90 percent of Americans need professional help to do their own taxes. This enormous complexity is very unfair. It disadvantages ordinary Americans who dont have an army of accountants while benefitting deep-pocketed special interests. And most importantly, this is wrong. (Applause.) Thank you. First and foremost, our tax system should benefit loyal, hardworking Americans and their families. (Applause.) That is why tax reform must dramatically simplify the tax code, eliminate special interest loopholes -- and I'm speaking against myself when I do this, I have to tell you. And I might be speaking against Mr. Cook, and we're both okay with it, is that right? It's crazy. We're speaking -- maybe we shouldn't be doing this, you know? (Laughter.) But we're doing the right thing. (Applause.) True. And allow the vast majority of our citizens to file their taxes on a single, simple page without having to hire an accountant. Second, we need a competitive tax code that creates more jobs and higher wages for Americans. Its time to give American workers the pay raise that they've been looking for for many, many years. (Applause.) In 1986, Ronald Reagan led the world by cutting our corporate tax rate to 34 percent. That was below the average rate for developed countries at the time. Everybody thought that was a monumental thing that happened. But then, under this pro-America system, our economy boomed. It just went beautifully -- right through the roof. The middle class thrived and median family income increased. Other countries saw the success. They looked at us. They saw -- what is America doing? What's happening with the United States? And they acted very swiftly by cutting their taxes lower, and lower, and lower, and reforming their tax systems to be far more competitive than ours. Over the past 30 years, the average business tax rate among developed nations fell from 45 percent to less than 24 percent. And some countries have an unbelievably low tax, including, by the way, China and some others that are highly competitive, and really doing very well against us. They are taking us, frankly, to the cleaners. So we must -- we have no choice -- we must lower our taxes. And your Senator, Claire McCaskill, she must do this for you. And if she doesn't do it for you, you have to have to vote her out of office. (Applause.) She's got to make that commitment. She's got to make that commitment. If she doesn't do it, you just can't do this anymore, with the obstruction and the obstructionists. If we don't get tax cuts and reform approved, potentially, the biggest ever -- we are looking for the biggest ever -- jobs and our country cannot take off the way they should, and it could be much worse than that. But, at a minimum, they won't take off the way they should. The Dems are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform, just like they obstructed so many other things, including administration appointments and healthcare. Not one vote. We got not one vote to try and fix healthcare and get rid of Obamacare. The strategy of our economic rivals has worked. They made their taxes lower -- and far lower, in many cases, than ours -- and jobs left our country. Large corporations changed their business models by exporting jobs to other countries and then shipping their goods back to the United States, where they'd make massive profits, and they wouldnt be paying tax to us either. So we lost the jobs, we lost the taxes, they closed the buildings, they closed the plants and factories. We got nothing but unemployment. We got nothing. Other businesses -- even classic American brands -- switched their headquarters to foreign countries. Because of this and other reasons, like weak borders, America remains stuck in the past. Although I have to tell you, we have General Kelly here today, and we stopped 78 percent -- going up to 80 percent -- on the border traffic coming through, in just a short period of time. (Applause.) He has done some job. A whole different world out there right now. Today, we are still taxing our businesses at 35 percent, and its way more than that. And think of it: In some cases, way above 40 percent when you include state and local taxes, in various states. The United States is now behind France, behind Germany, behind Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and many other nations. Also, with these countries and almost every country, we have massive trade deficits -- numbers that you would not believe. But this administration is going to fix that. One by one, we're fixing it. We're working right now on NAFTA -- the horrible, terrible NAFTA deal that took so much business out of your state and out of your cities and towns, and we're working on it. Let's see what happens. (Applause.) Mexico is not happy. (Laughter.) But as I told them, you made a lot of money for a lot of years and everybody left you alone. We got to change this deal. And hopefully we can renegotiate it. But if we can't, we'll terminate it and we'll start all over again with a real deal. (Applause.) So when it comes to the business tax, we are dead last. Can you believe that? So this cannot be allowed to continue any longer. America must lead the way, not follow from behind. We have gone from a tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors, to one that is more than 60 percent higher. We have totally surrendered our competitive edge to other countries. We have totally surrendered. We're not surrendering anymore. (Applause.) Ideally -- and I say this for our Secretary of the Treasury -- we would like to bring our business tax rate down to 15 percent, which would make our tax rate lower than most countries, but still, by no means the lowest, unfortunately, in the world. But it would make us highly competitive. In other words, foreign companies have more than a 60 percent tax advantage over American companies. They can pay their workers more, sell their products and services at lower cost, and still make more money than their U.S. competitors. We cannot restore our wealth if we continue to put our businesses at such a tremendous disadvantage. We must reduce the tax rate on American businesses so they keep jobs in America, create jobs in America, and compete for workers right here in America -- the America we love. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Because when businesses compete for labor, your wages will go up. Lower taxes on American business means higher wages for American workers, and it means more products made right here in the USA. (Applause.) When I was growing up, I always used to see the signs, and it was always stamped on the product: Made in the USA. You don't see it anymore. We're going to go back to Made in the USA -- Made in the USA." (Applause.) The third principle for tax reform is a crucial one: tax relief for middle-class families. (Applause.) In a way -- and Ive been saying this for a long time -- they've been sort of the forgotten people, but they're not forgotten any longer. I can tell you that. (Applause.) We will lower taxes for middle-income Americans so they can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. And that really means buying product ideally made in this country, but that means theyll go out, and theyll spend their money. And it will be a beautiful thing to watch. This includes helping parents afford childcare and the cost of raising a family. That's so important to Ivanka Trump. (Applause.) Very, very important to everybody in this room, but so important to my daughter. Its one of her real big beliefs. And shes very committed to that. Right, Ivanka? We believe that ordinary Americans know better than Washington how to spend their own money, and we want to help them take home as much of their money as possible and then spend it. (Applause.) So theyll keep their money. Theyll spend their money. Theyll buy our product. Our factories will be moving again. Companies are going to move back into our country, jobs are going to prosper, and our country is going to be just like it says on that beautiful red hat -- it says: Make America Great Again. That's what we're going to do. (Applause.) Right? Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth that's parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated, bureaucratic rules, large companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high United States tax if the money is brought back home. So they leave the money over there. The amount of money we're talking about is anywhere from $3 trillion to $5 trillion. Can you believe that? By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money, and by making the process far less bureaucratic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spur billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation. Its time to invest in our country, to rebuild our communities, and to hire our great American workers. (Applause.) My administration is embracing a new economic model. Its called very simply: The American Model. Under this system, we will encourage companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild our American cities and communities. That is how we will all succeed and grow together, as one team, with one shared sense of purpose, and one glorious American destiny. (Applause.) So today Im calling on all members of Congress -- Democrat, Republican and independent -- to support pro-American tax reform. They have to do it. Its time. (Applause.) They have to do it. It is time. Im calling on Congress to provide a level playing field for our workers and our companies, to attract new companies and businesses to our shores, and to put more money into the pockets of everyday, hardworking people and also into the pockets of our companies so they can continue to grow and expand. (Applause.) What could possibly be more bipartisan than allowing families to keep more of what they earn and creating an environment for real job and wage growth in the country that we love so much? (Applause.) So lets put -- or at least try to put -- the partisan posturing behind us and come together as Americans to create the 21st century tax code that our people deserve. (Applause.) If we do this, if we unite in the name of common sense and the name of common good, then we will add millions and millions of new jobs, bring back trillions of dollars, and we will give America the competitive advantage that it so desperately needs and has been looking for for so long. Its time. (Applause.) Products made with American hands, American labor, and American grit will once again be delivered throughout the world. It's true. (Applause.) Its time. Instead of exporting our jobs, we will export our goods. (Applause.) Our jobs will both stay here in America and come back to America. Well have it both ways. Millions of struggling citizens will be lifted from welfare to work. They will love getting up in the morning. They will love going to their job. They will love earning a big, fat, beautiful paycheck. They will be proud again. (Applause.) That is the future I want for our people. That is the future I want for America -- a nation where we are proud, prosperous, united, and free. Today, I am asking every citizen to join me in dreaming big and bold and daring things -- beautiful things -- for our country. I am asking every member of Congress, of which we have many with us today, to join me in unleashing Americas full potential. I am asking everyone in this room and across the nation to join me in demanding nothing but the best for our nation and for our people. And if we do these things, and if we care for and support each other, and love each other, then we will truly make America great again. Thank you. God bless you. (Applause.) God bless you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Governor, thank you. Thank you, Governor. Thank you, Senator. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Living Section Somerton, Arizona - In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Somerton Library is hosting a Costume Contest on Wednesday, September 13th, at 5:00 p.m. All ages are invited to wear traditional Mexican clothing and costumes, and enjoy music, singing, and dancing! There is no charge to attend. The Somerton Library is located at 240 Canal Street in Somerton, AZ. For more information, call (928) 627-2149. Living Section San Luis, Arizona - In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, the San Luis Library will host their 4th Annual Art Exhibition, featuring the artwork of local artists, from September 14th through October 14th, 2017. The public is invited to a grand opening ceremony on Thursday, September 14th, at 4:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. There is no charge to attend. The San Luis Library is located at 1075 N 6th Avenue in San Luis, AZ. For more information, call (928) 627-8344. Crosby: Explosions at a chemical plant near Houston posed a fresh worry for storm-battered Texas on Thursday while rescuers searched block by block for survivors of Hurricane Harvey and the death toll rose to 35 people. The explosions in Crosby, Texas, were the latest aftermath of the historic flooding brought by the most powerful storm to land in Texas in a half-century, which drove tens of thousands from their homes around the US energy hub. Portions of the state`s southeastern coast, including Beaumont and Port Arthur, remained largely cut off because of flooded roadways, even as some commuters began to return to the streets of parts of Houston. In Crosby, about 30 miles northeast of Houston, a sheriff`s deputy was taken to a hospital after being exposed to the 40-foot high smoke plume that erupted when chemicals stored at a Arkema SA plant erupted into flames after the refrigerator cooling the truck trailer they were stored in failed. After the multiple blasts, local public safety and company officials insisted there was no risk to the public outside the 1.5-mile safety perimeter, even though they said eight more trucks storing the same chemicals would eventually catch fire. "They are going to burn with intensity," said Bob Royall, assistant chief of emergency operations at the Harris County Fire Marshal`s Office. "Most of the material is going to be consumed by a very hot fire." That was no comfort to Frances Breaux as she pleaded with police at the perimeter to check on an elderly married couple that live two streets from the plant. The couple, Leo and LeJane Opelia, both in their late 70s, were evacuated from their home but returned Wednesday night to check on their cats and belongings, Breaux said. "I keep trying to call them and I can`t reach them," she said through tears. "I just want to make sure that they are OK." Police said the potential for more blasts made it too dangerous to check on the couple. "The plume is incredibly dangerous," Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long told reporters. An Arkema company official described the smoke as a noxious irritant created after refrigeration systems on a truck used to store the chemicals failed, causing them to overheat. Downgrade To Depression By Thursday, Harvey was downgraded to a tropical depression, located about 15 miles south of Monroe, Louisiana, but there was potential for more flooding in the brimming rivers and reservoirs it left behind in Texas. The Houston Fire Department will begin a block-by-block effort on Thursday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann told reporters. Nine members of the ad-hoc "Cajun Navy" volunteers towing boats behind pickup trucks - gathered in Lake Charles early on Thursday, deliberating whether they could safely get in to badly flooded parts of coastal southeastern Texas, including Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont. "You can`t get anywhere by vehicle," said Troy Payne, 56, who had driven in from Atlanta. "To me, this is a helicopter function from here on out unless the water level falls." Nearly 30 inches of rain hit the Port Arthur area. Beaumont said it had lost its water supply due to flood damage to its main pumping station. Fort Bend County ordered a mandatory evacuation on Thursday for areas near the Barker Reservoir, which was threatening to flood. The reservoir is about 20 miles west of Houston. Police in Houston`s Harris County said 17 people remained missing. Some signs of normal life returned to Houston, the nation`s fourth-most-populous city, as businesses began to reopen downtown, commuters returned to roadways and shelter residents headed out to check on their flooded homes. That proved a heartbreaking experience for some. 'Not My House Anymore' Anita Williams, 52, was among dozens of people lined up Thursday morning at a shelter at Houston`s George R Brown Convention Center to register for FEMA aid. She said she had returned to her neighborhood on Wednesday to survey the damage to her one-story house. "It`s not my house anymore. My deep freezer was in my living room," she said, her voice breaking. The storm prompted the US Energy Department to authorize the first emergency release of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve since 2012. Some 500,000 barrels of oil will be delivered to a Phillips 66 refinery in Louisiana unaffected by the storm, an Energy Department spokeswoman said. Moody`s Analytics estimated the economic cost from Harvey for southeast Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion, ranking it among the costliest storms in US history. At least $23 billion worth of property has been affected by flooding from Harvey just in parts of Texas` Harris and Galveston counties, a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and property data showed. The storm has drawn comparisons to 2005`s Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people in New Orleans, and 2012`s Superstorm Sandy, which killed 132 around New York and New Jersey. US Vice President Mike Pence and several Cabinet secretaries will travel to Texas on Thursday to meet residents affected by the storm. Washington: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis openly differed with his commander in chief over North Korea on Wednesday, the latest example of a once-rare public display of disagreement by top US aides that has become more frequent under President Donald Trump. "We are never out of diplomatic solutions," Mattis told reporters, just hours after Trump said in a tweet that "talking is not the answer" to the standoff over North Korea`s nuclear weapons and missile programs. His public contradiction of Trump`s position came a day after the Pentagon chief, a retired four-star Marine general, appeared to delay implementation of Trump`s decision to ban transgender people from enlisting in the military. Mattis was also among the senior aides, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, who implicitly criticized the Republican president`s response to violence at a rally organized by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. Presidents often disagree with senior advisers over policies or other matters but the differences are usually confined to internal deliberations and become public only through leaks or much later in memoirs, historians and former government officials said. "I haven`t seen a modern president with a pattern of this many high officials saying things like that," said Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian. Asked in a television interview on Sunday whether Trump`s initial comments blaming "many sides" for the violence in Charlottesville instead of focusing on neo-Nazis and white nationalists raised questions about his values, Tillerson said simply: "The president speaks for himself." White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders sought to play down the significance of Tillerson`s comments. "I don`t think anyone has tried to distance themselves. I think that at moments maybe you have people that disagree. I think that`s a healthy thing for you to be able to have productive conversation," Sanders told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. But Beschloss said the differences being aired publicly were notable. "These are people protecting their reputations in real time, and that is something you usually do not see in high-level officials around a president," he said. 'Best Advice' Mattis has repeatedly made clear that diplomacy backed by a credible military option is the only way to prevent the North Korea crisis from escalating into a potentially devastating conflict. When asked about Mattis` comments on Wednesday, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said: "Secretary Mattis provides the President with his best advice. It is the President who makes the ultimate decisions." Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary and CIA director under former Democratic President Barack Obama, said the airing of differences inside the Trump administration had its roots in the president`s habit of sharing his opinions in Twitter posts. "I think the problem is that they (advisers) are now dealing with a president who tweets his thoughts to the country," said Panetta, who has said he had his own policy differences with Obama. "He`s not the kind of individual who sits down with his national security team and tries to work these issues out in a policy process that is confined to the White House." Earlier this month, a video posted on social media showed Mattis telling US troops that the United States has problems that its military does not have. "You just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it," he said. The impromptu speech, believed to have been made during an Aug 21 visit to Jordan, came after the violence in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and many people were injured. Cohn clearly distanced himself from Trump`s comments on the violence, and officials said he considered resigning. "Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK (Ku Klux Klan)," he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Aug 25. Jennifer Lawless, a professor of government at American University, said it was significant that several of Trump`s advisers distanced themselves from Trump`s comments on Charlottesville. "That makes it very difficult for him" to retaliate against individual advisers, she said. "You can`t go after every single member of your Cabinet. That makes it look like maybe you`ve made wrong choices." Mumbai: Terming FY18 as a "challenging" year for Indian banking, domestic rating agency Icra on Thursday said newer segments like MSMEs and farmers are also reporting stress, and NPAs for listed banks will shoot up to 10.2 percent by FY18-end. It said the April-June period saw fresh slippages shooting up to a five-quarter high of Rs 1.15 lakh crore and estimated that the system will end FY18 with slippages of Rs 3 lakh crore. On an annualised basis, the 6.3 percent for Q1FY18 is higher than 6.2 percent (annualised) for the preceding March quarter and the 5.5 percent tracked in FY17, it said. Apart from large corporates, trouble is also being reported from the micro, small and medium enterprises segment and the farm loans, which together contributed for half of the incremental NPAs, its group head Karthik Srinivasan told reporters over a conference call. He said the MSMEs are facing trouble because of the transient impact of Goods and Services Tax implementation, while it is the weakening of the credit culture in the aftermath of waivers that is affecting the farm loans. The gross NPAs for the 41 listed banks are likely to increase to Rs 8.8-9.0 trillion (9.9-10.2 percent) by March 31, 2018 from the 9.5 percent at the end of FY17. Because of the rising NPAs, the amount of provisions to be set aside as cover will also increase. Banks are also writing-off loans at a faster clip (Rs 30,600 crore in Q1FY18 versus Rs 22,100 crore) in order to compress the GNPA figures, and recoveries and upgrades continue to be weak, it said. Srinivasan warned that the money set aside for the accounts in the newer list of stressed assets cases to be filed under the bankruptcy code is low, especially for the state-run lenders, and will also impact profitability. Credit growth is expected to be slower and will come between 7-8 percent for FY18, it said. All this will have an impact on the capital positions for the banks, it said, adding that over Rs 1.3 lakh crore in core equity capital will have to be raised by the Indian banks during the fiscal as they gear up for adhering with newer requirements under the Basel-III framework. The agency warned that at least six state-run lenders are at the risk of undershooting the minimum capital buffers if the government does not recapitalise them. On the additional tier-I instrument, the agency said the issuances will be lower in FY18 than in FY17, it said, pointing out instances of issues being abandoned recently by some weaker banks. "We feel FY18 will be a challenging for banks and especially so for the public sector banks. There are pressures on asset quality, net interest incomes, profitability, provisions and capital requirements," he said. New Delhi: Sweden`s Saab will tie up with India`s Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircraft in India, an aerospace consultant aware of the proposed partnership told Reuters on Thursday. The partnership will compete with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to equip the Indian military with single-engine jets to be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s "Make-in-India" initiative. The Saab-Adani partnership would be aimed at producing planes under India`s new "strategic partnership" policy, said Ratan Shrivastava, an independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at India`s industry lobby group FICCI. The partnership will likely be announced on Friday, Shrivastava said. Saab declined to comment. Saab President and Chief Executive Hakan Buskhe will host a media event in New Delhi on Friday, Saab said in a press invitation issued on Wednesday. It did not give details. There was no immediate comment from Adani, which is a $12 billion group with businesses ranging from energy and logistics to real estate and defence. Shares in Adani Enterprises Ltd, a group company, rose on Thursday after the news of the planned Saab tie-up and were trading about 2.7 percent higher. Saab shares were up 1.8 percent. Under India`s new defence partnership policy, a foreign aircraft maker will collaborate with an Indian firm to develop a world-class indigenous aeronautical base that India has struggled to build for decades. Lockheed has already picked India`s Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner to produce its F-16 fighter planes that will compete with Saab`s Gripen aircraft. The government will issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official told Reuters earlier this week. India`s air force needs hundreds of aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet, but Modi wants the planes built in India to help boost the domestic industrial base and cut imports. New Delhi: In a bizarre case, a taxi driver has been accused of raping a puppy to death in the national capital. Naresh Kumar, who reportedly hails from the Naraina area, had boasted about what he had done. A post-mortem has confirmed the rape and the subsequent death due to excessive bleeding and shock, India Today reported. The 34-year-old accused was reportedly under the influence of alcohol when the incident took place on August 25. He allegedly grabbed the puppy, raped her and left it bleeding. Kumar later confessed to his neighbours about the incident. The accused reportedly took help of his brother to dispose of the body near the Naraina Industrial area. The Naraina Police have lodged an FIR against the accused. New Delhi: Swiss President Doris Leuthard on Thursday said India is expected to get in 2019 the first batch of data relating to tax from Switzerland under a new framework for automatic exchange of information. After holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leuthard said the framework is likely to be ratified by the Swiss parliament by end of the current year and expressed her government's willingness to help India to deal with the problem black money. Later a joint statement said that the two leaders look forward to the first transmission of financial account information between the two countries. The issue of black money has been a matter of major debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by some Indians. Last year, India and Switzerland signed a joint declaration relating to automatic exchange of information relating to tax. "We hope by end of this year, this will be passed and be operational by 2019 when the first exchange can take place," Leuthard told the media. Both leaders emphasised their willingness to further enhance cooperation in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion and acknowledged the importance of a global level playing field for effective implementation of the international standards on tax transparency, the statement said. On his part, Modi said transparency in financial transactions is a major global challenge and that cooperation between India and Switzerland over it will continue further. Leuthard said her country follows all international rules on financial transaction to ensure transparency, adding "we have probably today one of the strongest laws on money laundering". According to a Swiss government document, the country has found India's data security and confidentiality laws "adequate" for the automatic exchange of information framework. Switzerland will implement the recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information in Tax Matters with the view to further improve mutual administrative assistance in tax matters. Modi expressed hope that Switzerland will implement the recommendations of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information in Tax Matters with the view to further improve mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, the statement said. "Both leaders agreed for enhanced engagement, closer convergence and stronger cooperation in tax and financial matters. Both sides also recognised the importance and potential benefits of cross-border investment and financial services and agreed to continue cooperation on these matters through regular dialogue," it added. London: A 47-year-old Indian-origin family doctor on Thursday appeared before the UK court charged with 118 sexual offences, including sexually assaulting a girl aged under 13. Manish Shah, from Romford area of London, had been charged with 65 counts of assault by penetration and 52 allegations of sexual assault by Scotland Yard earlier this month. "Shah is also charged with one count of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13," the Metropolitan Police said. Barkingside Magistrates' Court in east London was told that he denied all the charges against him. Judge Richard Hawgood granted him conditional bail and set September 27 as the date for his next court appearance at a plea and case management hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court in north-east London. "These are matters that can only be dealt with in the crown court, or they are matters that are linked to matters that can only be heard at crown court," Judge Hawgood said. The court was told that Shah has been suspended from practising as a general practitioner (GP) by the UK's General Medical Council (GMC) and is barred from accessing medical records held by the country's state-funded National Health Service (NHS). His bail condition states that he must not attend his former surgery in east London or contact any current or former patients of the surgery or any of its past or current employees. The offences are alleged to have taken place at a medical practice in Havering, Romford, between June 2004 and July 2013, when he was first arrested. Scotland Yard had launched an investigation after several people contacted the police in July and August 2013. "Manish Shah has been charged with 65 assault by penetration, contrary to Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, 52 sexual assault, contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and 1 sexual assault on a child under 13 years, contrary to Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003," the Met Police said in a statement. Shah is a family planning specialist who trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and qualified in 1993. Until recently, he was listed as working in a limited capacity at a GP surgery in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The alleged offences do not relate to his time at that particular practice in the east of England. New Delhi: With 'Mission-150' on his mind, BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday held a strategy session with the party leaders tasked with leading its charge in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls. Union ministers Arun Jaitley, who has been made the state's election in-charge, as well as Narendra Singh, Jitendra Singh, P P Chaudhury and Niramala Sitharaman- the four co-incharges- met Shah at his residence and were joined by senior organisational leaders including general secretaries Ram Lal and Bhupender Yadav. "Detailed discussions were held over the Gujarat polls. We have kept our eyes on 'Mission-150' and will work with enthusiasm and energy to achieve it," Yadav, who is in-charge of the state's affairs, later told reporters. Gujarat BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani also attended the meeting. The assembly poll are slated for later this year. The party has set a target of winning 150 seats in the 182-member assembly. In the last elections in 2012 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state's chief minister, the BJP had won 116 seats. In 2007 and 2002, two other polls it fought under Modi, it had won 117 and 127 seats. With Modi now the prime minister, the party must strive to win 150 seats, Shah had told party leaders in Gujarat earlier. The state has witnessed a lot of development under Modi and it has to be continued, Yadav said today, adding that organisational matters related to the state elections were discussed in the meeting. The western state has emerged as a saffron citadel with the BJP in power there since 1995 except for over an year when its rebel Shankersinh Vaghela split the party and formed a government with the support of the Congress. Vaghela recently quit the Congress. Many of his supporters have joined the BJP. New Delhi: CBI judge Jagdeep Singh who sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years of "rigorous imprisonment" has been given the country's highest security cover called the Z-plus. On Monday, Singh had sentenced the Dera chief to 10 years each for the rape of two disciples. The judge reportedly received threats after the sentencing, which prompted the government to extend his security cover, the Economic Times reported. On August 28, Ram Rahim was found guilty of rape on two counts. In the light of August 25 riots, the CBI judge was especially flown to the Rohtak jail for the sentencing. The Z plus security is the highest among the four levels of security cover in India. The Z+ reportedly comprises 55 personnel, including about 10 National Security Guard commandos and police personnel. New Delhi: When rape accused Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh defended himself in a CBI court saying he is 'impotent' and not capable of rape, the presiding judge reportedly shot back asking, how your daughters were born? Ram Rahim had reportedly presented many 'false facts' in the court in his defence. However, it overruled them and convicted him of rape on August 25. Dera chief had claimed that he was not capable of any physical relationship because he has been impotent since 1990, and hence, 'no question of rape'. He also claimed that he was 'mentally ill' and the charges against him be dropped. The CBI judge reportedly made the remarks when the witnesses told the court that Ram Rahim has two daughters and have been living in a Dera hostel. The judge pointed out that Rahim's two daughters are proof that he is not impotent and his claim is false. After the August 25 conviction, thousands of Dera supporters resorted to violence in which 38 people were killed and over 250 others were injured. In the light of the violence, CBI judge Jagdeep Singh was especially flown to the Rohtak jail three days later for the sentencing. On August 28, he sentenced him to 20 years of 'rigorous imprisonment', noting that he is a 'junglee jaanwar' (wild animal) and no rapist is worth the mercy. Singh has been reportedly given the country's highest security cover, the Z-plus, following threats to him and his family after the verdict. Gaya: The Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ),Sachchidanand Singh, is scheduled to deliver the judgement in the Gaya road rage case, in which suspended Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) leader Manorama Devi's son Rocky Yadav was involved, today. While talking to ANI, the parents of the class XII student, Aditya Sachdeva, who lost his life in the road rage, said, "We hope that the law does justice with us and with our son." On March 6, the Supreme Court denied to vacate its order of cancelling the bail of Rocky Yadav in the case. The Apex Court, earlier in October last year, stayed the bail granted by the Patna High Court to Yadav, who is the main accused in the killing of Aditya Sachdeva in the road rage case in Gaya on May 7. Rakesh Ranjan Yadav, also known as Rocky, was granted bail by the Patna High Court earlier on October 19 last year. The police arrested Rocky from his father Bindi Yadav's mixer plant in Gaya on May 10 last year. Rocky's parents, accused of sheltering him while he was on the run after the murder, were recently granted bail. The police filed a chargesheet in a Gaya court against Rocky and another accused in connection with this case. They also filed charge sheets against Rocky's cousin Teni Yadav, his father Bindi Yadav and his MLC mother's bodyguard Rajesh Kumar in this connection. The state government had put the case on speedy trial. The investigation was completed within three weeks and the chargesheet was filed within a month of the incident Jaipur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday evening re-registered 18 cases in the alleged Bikaner land scam deals, including four against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's firm. Among the 18 first information reports (FIRs) registered by the investigative agency, 16 were lodged at the Gajner police station and two at Kolayat police station in Bikaner between August and September 2014, reported PTI. Last week, the Rajasthan government asked the Centre to initiate a CBI probe in the Bikaner land dealings and money laundering scam. Vadra's firms are allegedly involved in the purchase and sale of 275 bighas of land in Rajasthan's Bikaner. The land was originally given as compensation to those displaced by the Mahajan Firing Range. However, the beneficiaries never received the land. It was, instead, allotted to false persons. "The cases pertain to fraudulent and fictitious claims and allotments in lieu of land acquired for Mahajan Field Firing Range Bikaner, which is used by the Army," said a CBI spokesperson. Previously, the cases were probed by the Rajasthan Police. According to Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, Vadra's company was the third party to purchase 275 bigha of land in 2010 and it sold it to a fourth party in 2012. "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," Kataria had said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who included the Vadra land deals in 2013 election campaigning, has the welcomed move. With PTI inputs New Delhi: Over 800 firms are registered at two addresses in based out of Delhi, revealed a recent investigation carried out by Zee News Media. Out of the 800, more than 50 per cent firms are related to two big corporate houses engaged in real estate, power and finance - and are now under the scanner of the Income Tax Department. The two addresses are in Delhi's most congested areas Jhandewalan and M Block market. PM Narendra Modi had said in his recent Independence Day address: "You will be surprised to know that there are some shell companies operating from a single address. As many as 400 companies have been found to be operating from one address. There was no one to question them. There was a total collusion". Following his statement, Zee investigation found out a total of 468 companies were registered at an old dilapidated building address 1-E Jhandewalan. The data, released by Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) that in 2015, a total of 468 companies were registered at the 1-E Jhandewalan address. "No one is here, all have left," said an old man, the only living soul in the three-story building. The corporate group owning the address, which had close links with the UPA government, had accommodated hundreds of companies in this crumbling building (also known as Naaz Cinema complex), reported DNA. "Most of the companies left this building around demonetisation," said an insider, refusing to be named. All enquiries (including those by IT agencies) are fielded by security guards, who now accept mail for only 63 of the over 400 companies that were registered. A board shows a listing of the companies, some blacked out. Most of the companies were created in 2007. Post demonetisation, the number of firms were down to 245 (MCA data as on December 31, 2016). Interestingly, 111 out of the 245 companies shared a single email address too. One of the more prominent ones (in terms of paid-up capital), Caraf Builders & Construction, has now shifted to another location and has assumed a new Corporate Identification Number (CIN). A source who has worked in the finance department of the real estate major which owned most of the companies registered at Jhandewalan told Zee Media that the entities had been created for land-pooling or for land-transfer purposes the objective being to avoid paying stamp duty. In normal course, if they transfer the land parcel to any other company or person they must have to pay stamp duty as per state law. To avoid such stamp duty, they created shell companies and transferred the ownership instead of land. Like in Jhandewalan, Zee Media found a 20-by-20 feet room on the first floor of 62/63 M Block market, Connaught Place as a registered address for 405 companies, as on March 2015. After demonetisation, the number of companies shrunk to 191, as per MCA data of December 2016. Most of these companies have similar email IDs, and directors were found to be related - a classic feature of shell companies. The mother firm is a real estate major with head office in Gurgaon, and corporate HQ in Mumbai. A list of companies (as on December 31, 2016) have been passed on by MCA to the IT department. These are now under scrutiny along various parameters including unusual concentration in a single address. Shell companies are firms created on paper for the sole purpose of tax avoidance, said Sanjay Sharma, MD, Qubrex, a real estate exchange company. "In some cases, the proprietor inflicts losses on clients for personal profit by entering into unfavourable deals with companies which are effectively his own subsidiaries," he added. Hitender Mehta, a corporate law expert, said 400 companies registered in just one address is illogical by itself. "Formation is not the issue, but under the law there is a certain legal requirement with respect to verification of registered office. Every company is a separate legal entity, and it has to have a registered office, either on-lease or purchased. In such cases, they have to have separate lease deeds or rent agreements." In MCA data of 2015, the Registrar of Companies, Delhi, shows a total 2,72,369 companies. Out of these, 1,718 companies have registered addresses as vague as 'Delhi, India.' Recently, a government financial watchdog agency has raised an alert on 16,794 shell companies. The list had been prepared by different law enforcement and investigating agencies like the CBI, Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office. - DNA Bureau New Delhi: President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard, who is on a four-day visit to India, received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday. Accompanied by senior government officials and a business delegation of leading Swiss companies, Leuthard was welcomed by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I hope this visit will boost Indo-Swiss ties. Pending negotiations on trade and partnership will be done. We will try to have a new investment protection agreement," she said after the ceremonial. "Switzerland is one of the most innovative countries in the world...that will bring jobs to India," she added. Ministry of External Affairs spokersperson Raveesh Kumar tweeting the event said "a friendship based on shared values of democracy. President Doris Leuthard receives ceremonial honours..." Switzerland is the seventh largest trading partner for India with a total bilateral trade, including merchandise exports, bullion and IT services and software exports, amounting to $18.2 billion in 2016-17. From April 2000 to September 2016, Switzerland invested approximately $3.57 billion in India, thus becoming the 11th largest investor and accounting for about 1.2 per cent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in India during this period. About 100 Indian companies have invested around $1.42 billion between 2013-14 and 2015-16 in Switzerland, placing it among the top five European investment destinations and top 10 places globally for Indian investors. Major Indian IT companies including TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra have their offices in that country and provide services to major Swiss pharmaceutical companies, banks and insurance firms. Modi visited Switzerland in June 2016 in what was the first prime ministerial visit from India in several decades. During the course of that visit, Switzerland expressed support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The issue of black money parked by Indians in Swiss banks also came up for discussion. Swiss Presidents have earlier visited India in 1998, 2003 and 2007. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended by four days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Meat exporter Moin Qureshi. The ED has arrested Qureshi on August 25 in connection to a three-year-old money laundering case. The meat exporter was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The controversial businessman was arrested in New Delhi after being called in for questioning. The agency further alleged that he was not cooperating in the probe. Qureshi has been under the scanner for alleged tax evasion and hawala-like dealings. Apart from the ED, he's facing probes from the Income Tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for illegal black money hoarding. Qureshi on Wednesday challenged his arrest in the Delhi High Court in connection with a money laundering case. The HC issued a notice to the ED and sought their response within five days. New Delhi: BJP leader and senior advocate Subramaniam Swamy termed it a "big blow" to Delhi Police when the Delhi High Court reproached it for delaying the report on Sunanda Pushkar's death. He also said that the police should go to the logical end of the FIR which is murder. The HC asked the Delhi Police why they had not filed a chargesheet or a closure report even after three-and-a-half years since the death. As informed by Swamy, the Delhi Police said in their status report that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) board met four times and gave contradictory versions each time, so they are looking for some other agency to decide. Swamy, who had demanded a CBI probe into the murder, rubbished it by saying that the forensic department of AIIMS said the same thing in all of its four meetings , that it was unnatural death caused due to poison. The BJP leader seconded the court's dismissal of Delhi Police's further argument that they had to send the poison abroad to find out its source, which caused the delay. Swamy termed it a time-wasting technique, adding that Supreme Court has said, "If you have come to the conclusion that death has been caused by poison then it is not material to know which poison it was." "Finally the court said, you sit down with all the files and in two weeks you tell us what you propose to do. They have only two options- either close the case or file a chargesheet," Swamy told ANI. If the Delhi Police files a chargesheet, Swamy's role in the case is complete but if they file a closure report, then the court will have to hear from him why this closure report needs to be set aside andSIT (Special Investigation Team) should be set up. "It is a big blow to Delhi police. Since this is a new commission of police, they should now not stick to what previous police officials did and come out straight and go to the logical end of the FIR which is registered, which is murder," he said. He also disclosed that he has filed an application that IPL (International Premier League) was the reason for the murder as Delhi Police has said, and the Enforcement Directorate ( ED) should also be made a party for this purpose so that they may investigate the money laundering angle in the IPL. Earlier in August, Delhi's Patiala House court had reprimanded the Delhi police for delaying the de-sealing of the hotel suite where Sunanda was found dead. Swamy on 6 July this year had filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored enquiry into the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar. They also asked the Police as to why it had taken two months to inform the hotel that they would need more time. On July 20, the court directed Delhi Police to file an additional status report with details in the death case within three days. The court pulled up Sunanda Pushkar's son after he questioned Swamy's locus standi in filing a plea in his mother's death case. Swamy on July 6 this year had filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored enquiry into the mysterious death of Sunanda. Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at a suite in a five star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Delhi: A reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers appears imminent with Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State (independent charge), Skill Development and Entrepreneurship resigning on Thursday. There are also reports that some more ministers in the BJP-led NDA government may quit. "Yes, I have put in my papers and it is part of the process," Rudy told IANS over phone. However, he did not elaborate on the reasons behind his resignation. The reshuffle exercise may take place before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for China on Sunday. President Ram Nath Kovind embarks on a two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh on Friday and will be returning on Saturday. Meanwhile, BJP chief Amit Shah, who held a meeting with several ministers at his residence in the morning today, along with general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, met the PM later in the day. On the other hand, Uma Bharti, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister, has offered to quit, citing health reasons, as per Zee News sources. Faggan Singh Kulaste, MoS, Health and Family Welfare, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Mos, Human Resource Development and Uma's deputy Sanjeev Balyan may also tender their resignations. Earlier in the day, Pandey was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Kalraj Mishra, who met BJP chief Amit Shah today, too may resign, PTI quoted sources as saying. He is well above 75 years, the age bar the party has informally set for ministers. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may also go, as per media reports. Interestingly, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier today had hinted that he would not continue to hold the defence portfolio for long. "At least not for very long," the FM had said in response to questions by the media on how long he would continue as Defence Minister. He was given the additional portfolio after Manohar Parrikar resigned as defence minister to become CM of Goa. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is also holding additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and so is Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar, who was given responsibility of the Urban Development Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu's resignation. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan too is holding additional charge of the Environment portfolio following the death of Anil Madhav Dave in May. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Rape convict self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had plotted a filmy escape from the Panchkula court, on the day he was convicted by special CBI court, the Haryana police confirmed. Speaking to reporters in Gurgaon yesterday, Inspector General of Police KK Rao said that as soon as the self-styled godman was convicted, he demanded a 'red bag' that he had brought along from Sirsa. "The Dera chief demanded the bag, saying his clothes were in it. It was actually a signal for his men to spread the news of his conviction among supporters so that they could resort to causing disturbance," Rao said. Rao said that Baba had come with full planning of the violence that happened after the verdict was pronounced against him. He said that Ram Rahims red suitcase,caught the eyes of almost everyone. It was actually used as a signal to instigate the violence outside the court after his conviction. We were asked to not to let the convoy, following the Dera chief, to enter the area near the court premises. Few incidents did take place during this time, if we would have not taken care, then it would have caused a lot of danger, he said. Baba had planned a conspiracy. As soon as the court pronounced him guilty, he asked us to bring the Red bag, saying that his clothes are inside that bag. The bag was a signal for the supporters of baba, who were waiting outside. As soon as the bag was taken out, we heard his supporters started protesting outside and it was then we came to know that he has planned to give signals to this protestor and everything had a hidden meaning, he added. Further discussing about another incident which made them yet more alert, Rao said that post verdict, Ram Rahim and her daughter were standing in the corridor for quite a long time, even after being told to not to stand there. He said that both of them were just wasting the time by standing there, as if they were waiting for something to happen. Rao said that it was after this incident they did not let Ram Rahim travel in his own car and took him in the government vehicle after he was held guilty. When we asked Baba to sit the government vehicle, his personal commando surrounded him. The DCP team, who was in charge of moving baba from that place also had an argument with the babas commando. We tried to manage the situation with talks as didnt want any kind of violence to break out there, he said. As per Rao, the Dera chief had Z-plus security from quite a long time and a team of 650 commandos of Haryana police escorted him on his way to the court. Rao added that the cavalcade following Ram Rahim was not allowed to come near the court premises and was stopped near Suraj Theater in Panchkula. Since the convoy of 60-70 cars was standing near the theater, we planned to take Ram Rahim from different route after the courts verdict to avoid any kind of mishap and added that not much people of the security personnel was informed about this, he said. We got a clue that he was planning to escape from the time he asked us to bring the red bag. Secondly they were just wasting time so that their supporters can take action. He was followed by 60-60 cars what were they doing there? It was needed to handle them tactfully and we did to avoid any major happening, he added. Earlier on Monday, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief was sentenced to 20 years in jail for rape and criminal intimidation of two female disciples. The sect chief has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in each of two cases of rape that date back to 2002. Both sentences will run consecutively. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: Amid speculation of an imminent reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the Defence portfolio, hinted on Thursday that soon he may be just managing one ministry. Ever since Manohar Parrikar resigned as defence minister to become Chief Minister of Goa, Jaitley has been holding additional charge of the ministry. "At least not for very long," Jaitley said today in response to questions on how long he would continue as Defence Minister, IANS reported. Besides Jaitley, three other union ministers are holding additional charges of different ministries. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is holding additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar was been given additional charge of the Urban Development Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu's resignation. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan is holding additional charge of the Environment portfolio following the death of Anil Madhav Dave in May. On the other hand, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had offered to resign recently owning moral responsibility for the recent train accidents but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put it on hold. Meanwhile, in an important development, Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigned tonight amid speculation that some more ministers may quit. BJP chief Amit Shah, who held a meeting with some senior ministers at his residence in the morning, met PM Modi later in the day. PTI quoted sources as saying that Kalraj Mishra, who had met Shah today, may also resign. He is well above 75 years, the age bar the party has informally set for ministers. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president in place of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has also reportedly offered to quit on health grounds. (With Agency inputs) Jamshedpur: The police on Thursday rescued over 40 cattle from an illegal slaughter house at Dhatkidih under Bistupur police station here. Police said one person was also detained during a raid there amidst tight security arrangement. The cattle were kept on the roof and locked inside a room. Mumbai: Unstoppable, unreal and finest are some of the words that Bollywood celebrities have used to describe actor Rajkummar Rao, who turned 33 on Thursday. They have wished him a year full of opportunities and appreciation. Rajkummar, whose performance in his latest film "Bareilly Ki Barfi" has been lauded, is currently in Poland for a shoot of a web-series on Subhas Chandra Bose. He is on a roll given how the trailer of "Newton" has been received and amidst news that he has been roped in to feature with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anil Kapoor in "Fanney Khan". Here's what the celebrities tweeted for Rajkummar: Hansal Mehta: Happy Birthday my dearest RajkummarRao. I'm blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for Shahid, Deepak, Deepu, Omar and Subhash. Patralekhaa: Happy Birthday RK. Hope this year is full of great movies greater characters. Keep shining and keep moving us with ur fine performances Rajkummar Rao. Nimrat Kaur: Happy happy birthday India ke Rajbhog! Rajkummar Rao you're unstoppable and simply unreal... Blaze on forever! Stay blessed. Aditi Rao Hydari: Happy birthday favourite! Have an epic year... Biggest love and can't wait for 'Newton'. You're the bestest.... Rajkummar Rao. Ayushmann Khurrana: Birthday greetings to the amazing actor and super amazing human Rajkummar Rao. Have a great run my friend. Dia Mirza: Happy Birthday to one of the finest actors of our generation! May you have a year filled with opportunity and appreciation. Rajkummar Rao Milap Zaveri: Happy birthday Rajkummar Rao May you have a wonderful day and a year full of success and brilliance. Rakul Preet: Happy bdayyy Rajkummar Rao! May the coming year be filled with more rock solid power packed performances by you. Wish u the best of everything. Maniesh Paul: Wishing a very happy birthday Rajkummar Ra! Stay blessed. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi, who held onto the tag of 'serial kisser' for nearly 14 years, feels media stretched that tag a bit too long. The 38-year-old actor, who made his way into Bollywood with crime thriller 'Footpath', was quick to gain the title of a serial kisser, thanks to choice of films like 'Murder', 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne', 'Aksar' and 'The Train' to name a few. While talking exclusively to ANI, the 38-year-old actor said, "I have not held onto the tag of serial kisser, media did. My contribution to the tag was only 2 years and for the rest of 12 years, media stretched it. It's very amusing for me. I let it go off long time ago, now I don't even think about it. I think people need to be slightly more innovative, you don't have to be an actor with a tag. So, I think that's the way I see my career after this." "I don't want to associate myself with particular label or genre because things in cinema change very rapidly. I think it's very important not to be a star but to be an actor who plays different characters. And that's only way you work in film industry. That's the way I see myself," he added. Emraan, who has recently completed 14 years in the industry, also talked about his journey and shared, "During this journey, I have meet some really good people and have learnt some lessons. For me every day is a new day. Every film comes with its own sets of learning experiences and that's how I take it up. I feel one should keep striving and try to do better work." The 'Hamari Adhuri Kahani' actor was recently in the national capital on a promotional spree of his film 'Baadshaho' along with actor Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz, and director Milan Luthria. Set during the emergency period, ' Baadshaho' will hit theatres tomorrow. New Delhi: With films like 'Singham', 'Gangaajal', 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' and 'Shivaay' to his credit, Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn has proved to be an actor par excellence. In his 25-career spanning over 25 years, the 'Shivaay' actor has tried his hands in all genres. Be it comedy, action or romance, Devgn excels in all. During an exclusive conversation with ANI, Devgn said he likes to rotate all genres and is not interested in taking up repetitive roles. "The roles that I have taken up earlier and roles that I am doing excites me but as far as genres are concerned, I would to like to rotate genres. I do not like to be repetitive as it gets very boring." "Doing similar kinds of roles do not excite me as it makes me feel boring and, then, one stop enjoying his work. As an actor, I like doing all genre films. Now, I have done 'Baadshaho', earlier I did 'Golmaal' both are of different genre films. So, I keep exploring all genres and that's keep me going," he added. The 48-year-old actor, who will be seen playing a gangster 'Bhawani' in the Milan Luthria directorial, also dismissed the reports of his badass character bearing similarity to his role in 'Kachche Dhaage'. "Every character is different and the way Milan Luthria has written up the character for me, it has got lot of layers. It's a grey shade character. And I enjoyed doing it. The whole character is completely different from my role in 'Kachche Dhaage'. I like a lot of grey shades roles with of layers as it helps one to perform better," he explained. The actor was recently in the national capital on 'Baadshaho' promotional spree along with film's entire cast Emraan Hashmi, Ileana D'Cruz, and director Milan Luthria. On a related note, ' Baadshaho' that marks fourth collaboration of Ajay and Milan, is set during the emergency period. Also starring Vidyut Jammwal and Esha Gupta, the film is set to hit theaters tomorrow. New Delhi: While we were all busy obsessing about the social media accounts of Priyanka Chopra or Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar is one celebrity who has silently been spilling awesomeness all over the Internet. Yes, you read that right. In spite of old-age and health issues, the 94-year-old star is quite active on Twitter and, amazingly, he is quite good at it. The thespian was even concerned about the condition of Mumbaikars who got stranded in the heavy Monsoon rains on Tuesday. In no time, he took to Twitter to extend his wishes and asked the citizens to be safe. Not just this, he also makes sure time and again to share the best moments of his life with his fans. Check out some of the most interesting tweets of Dilip Saab: Momin keh gaye "wo jo humme tumme qarar tha" lekin ab camera ka flash aur meri aankhon mein qarar nahi pic.twitter.com/UrrkYVy494 Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) June 28, 2017 ek chahne wale ne tasveeron ka ek khoobsurat sa majmua arsaal kiya hai pic.twitter.com/fCMX8uns6E Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) April 14, 2017 Checking some of the beautiful messages and greetings and photos you have shared with me on this medium. pic.twitter.com/uH173yGzM2 April 17, 2017 Your love and affection has been so enduring and so touching, your heartfelt messages on this medium brought tears to my eyes. Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) December 11, 2016 Kahani ko phir se dohrate hain chalo... Let's repeat our story of togetherness. pic.twitter.com/VeoM5JisUE Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) October 10, 2016 Mera wajood ye kabka bikhar gaya hota pic.twitter.com/DBVNBo8Kb8 Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) October 10, 2016 Aaj ka din khushi se bhara raha -- aap sab ke paigham aur Dua se bhara hua. Khuda Hafiz. God bless. Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) December 9, 2015 These posts are proof that Dilip Kumar is the ultimate king of social media. New Delhi: Realtors' apex body CREDAI on Thursday said image of the entire real estate industry is being hit due to stalled projects of some big builders in Delhi-NCR and offered its help in completing their under-construction flats. A meeting was held today among a group of ministers of the Uttar Pradesh government, senior official of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities and developers to discuss the problems of homebuyers, particularly of three builders -- Jaypee, Amrapali and Unitech. CREDAI-NCR President Pankaj Bajaj said the association's members can become co-developers in the stalled projects, provided they have legal safeguards backed by a state policy. Delhi-NCR property market is currently witnessing huge protests by homebuyers of Jaypee Group and Amrapali due to significant delays in delivery of projects. These two firms have also defaulted in repayment of loans to lenders. Buyers of other developers such as Unitech, The 3C Company, Today Homes, Cosmic Group and Earth Infrastructure are also protesting on streets. Representatives of Jaypee and Unitech did not attend today's meeting, while Amrapali's top management was present. A three-member panel has been formed by the state government to address issues being faced by home buyers. "CREDAI has come forward to resolve the difficult situation of stalled deliveries of a few larger developers. The image of the entire industry is suffering because of this situation," said Bajaj. He said the association has given its suggestions to the group of ministers. "Once a viable structure for appointing co-developers in stalled projects is found, we shall be circulating the list of available projects amongst our members. We hope the situation gets resolved," he said. However, Bajaj made it clear that CREDAI's role would be that of a facilitator and not a developer or guarantor. "We also want to appreciate the all-out efforts of the state government to ensure deliveries to the home buyers," he added. Chennai: Actress Gayathrie has joined hands for the third time with actor Vijay Sethupathi in the upcoming Tamil drama "Aneethi Kathaigal", which she describes as a special film. "I play Vijay's pair for the third time in Aneethi Kathaigal'. It's going to be a very special film. That's all I can say at the moment," an excited Gayathrie told IANS. Working with Vijay Sethupathi, with whom she has already worked in "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom" and "Puriyaatha Puthir", makes it even more special. "We started our careers around the same time. He's a much bigger star today. Working with him is always special because he is a great friend too," she said. The film is directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja, best known for his critically-acclaimed Tamil film "Aaranya Kaandam". On teaming up with Thiagarajan, she said, "I've been told he's a task master and doesn't get easily convinced. I'm looking forward to be challenged. It'll be a very different experience." The film also stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu. New Delhi: To celebrate the grand finale of NASA's Cassini spacecraft next month, astrophysicists have created music from the Saturn's moons and rings - converting their rhythmic orbits into musical octaves. The Cassini spacecraft has been collecting data while orbiting Saturn since its arrival in 2004 and is now in the throes of a final death spiral. It will plunge into the planet itself on September 15 to avoid contaminating any of its moons. After centuries of looking with awe and wonder at the beauty of Saturn and its rings, we can now listen to them, scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada said. The conversion to music is made possible by orbital resonances, which occur when two objects execute different numbers of complete orbits in the same time, so that they keep returning to their initial configuration. The rhythmic gravitational tugs between them keep them locked in a tight repeating pattern which can also be converted directly into musical harmony. "To celebrate the Grand Finale of NASA's Cassini mission next month, we converted Saturn's moons and rings into two pieces of music," said Matt Russo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA). "Wherever there is resonance there is music, and no other place in the solar system is more packed with resonances than Saturn," said Russo. "Saturn's magnificent rings act like a sounding board that launches waves at locations that harmonise with the planet's many moons, and some pairs of moons are themselves locked in resonances," Dan Tamayo, a postdoctoral researcher at CITA. The musical notes and rhythms both come from the orbital motion of Saturn's moons along with the orbits of the trillions of small particles that make up the ring system. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: Opposition parties on Thursday knocked at the President's door demanding a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, claiming that the Palaniswami government in the state had been reduced to a minority after 19 AIADMK MLAs withdrew their support. A delegation of opposition leaders of the DMK, the Congress, the CPI-M and the CPI met President Ram Nath Kovind and handed over a memorandum to him. The delegation that included Congress leader Anand Sharma, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, DMK leaders Kanomozhi and Tiruchi Siva, and CPI's D Raja urged Kovind to direct Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to hold a floor test in the Assembly. The DMK approached the president after the governor allegedly did not act on its request for a floor test. "Each of the 19 MLAs has submitted letter to the governor withdrawing their support. We cannot call it an internal issue of the party. When OPS (O Panneerselvam) demanded a floor test earlier, the governor called for it, but it is surprising why he has not taken action in this case," Kanimozhi said after the meeting. Sharma said a delegation of leaders of opposition parties met the President and requested him to intervene and give directions to the governor to hold a floor test soon as many AIADMK MLAs have given individual letters of withdrawal of their support to the government. "The situation in the state is very serious as the Tamil Nadu government has lost majority," he said, adding that the President gave them a patient hearing and said he would look into their demands. Raja told reporters, "Tamil Nadu politics is in dire straits today and its foundation has been questioned. The governor should have acted in accordance with the Constitution by calling for a floor test." The DMK said it would continue to take up the issue with various authorities until the governor convenes a floor test. "The ruling AIADMK only has the support of 113 MLAs pushing it below the majority mark. Whereas around 120 MLAs in the assembly are against the ruling party. We have explained it to the president," DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva said. Responding to a question on AIADMK leaders claiming the rift was just "an internal issue", Kanimozhi said it could not be called an internal issue even after MLAs withdrew their support. The delegation also included DMK MPs TKS Elangovan and R S Bharathi. Following the merger of the two rival AIADMK factions led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and rebel leader O Panneerselvam, a former chief minister, 19 MLAs owing allegiance to sidelined party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran withdrew support to the government. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs. There is no one representing the R K Nagar constituency following the death of J Jayalalithaa which triggered feud in the AIADMK. The DMK has 89 seats, Congress eight and IUML one. Las Vegas: As both large and small and medium enterprises (SMBs) in India aim to modernise their data centres to address customers needs better, top-level VMware executives feel that the company is ready to help them achieve this daunting task. The task is being facilitated by a robust research and development (R&D) infrastructure the Cloud infrastructure and business mobility leader has built over the years in India. In the area of network virtualisation and security, the researchers in Pune are contributing significantly to the Next-Gen portfolio in "VMware NSX". The R&D centres are developing products that VMware markets to its global customers. "India has a strong and unique value proposition for us. As countries in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region embrace digital technologies, I am positive that the Indian firms are now busy making plans to modernise their data centres to serve their customers efficiently," Duncan Hewett, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, VMware, told IANS. The R&D teams in India are also contributing towards key software components to realise the implementation of the Hybrid Cloud. According to Arun Kumar Parameswaran, Managing Director, VMware India, the country is fast removing "digital" roadblocks towards data modernisation, adopting secure virtualisation technologies and moving on to Cloud. "When I meet the top Indian executives, apart from the cost, they are concerned about how secure our platforms are. I tell them that with a zero-trust infrastructure in place and cost-effective solutions on offer, VMware is a natural choice for them to keep their data secure," Parameswaran told IANS on the sidelines of the "VMWorld 2017" conference here. The company has renewed its focus towards telecom, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and a burgeoning start-up community as the firms look forward to embracing software-defined data centres. Transforming networking and security is a main challenge for the company. "The enterprises are asking about agility, automation and security. All our offerings - be it the network virtualisation and security platform `VMware NSX`, VMware Cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) or `Workspace ONE`, remove barriers to Cloud migration and portability, increases IT efficiency and opens up new opportunities for customers," Parameswaran added. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), VMware is the market share leader in both the worldwide cloud systems management and the data centre automation software markets, based on the 2016 revenue. In India, the key innovations coming from VMware`s R&D centres are in the fields of software-defined networking, virtualisation, virtual desktops, digital workspace, enterprise mobility management, cloud automation and operations monitoring. "Several customers in India want to modernise data centres and integrate Public Cloud into their infrastructure. But the penetration of virtualisation is still low in the country. Some of the large government and public companies have not yet virtualised their infrastructure," Rajiv Ramaswami, Chief Operating Officer, Products and Cloud Services, VMware, told IANS. The State Bank of India is one example where the company has modernised its entire banking experience - from building new apps, virtual desktop infrastructure, access and storage in data centre and secure it. "Over the time, public cloud services are going to increase in the country. Different companies are at the various stages of cloud adoption and would eventually fall in place," Ramaswami said. "Although we are not launching country-specific products but our key offerings have significant R&D components coming from India," he added. New Delhi: Former on-screen Bhabhi of famous sitcom 'Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai', Shilpa Shinde was approached for 'Bigg Boss 11' reportedly. According to a MissMalini.com report which was originally attributed to ABP news, Shilpa demanded a huge sum to be on the show because of which she might not be a part of it this year. Here is what a source told the news channel: "'Bigg Boss makers were keen on having Shilpa Shinde as their celebrity contestant, as she is beautiful, talented and short tempered too, which would be all the valid reason for her joining the show. If not this, then the controversies she carry with herself and has a great fan base was the reason she was approached by the makers. But now she is not part of the show as she demanded 20 Lacs as a signing amount and 4 lacs per day to stay in the camera-lockup house." 'Bigg Boss' is hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan every year and is one of the most popular reality shows on Indian television. Gorakhpur: The suspended principal of BRD Medical College Rajiv Mishra and his wife Poornima were sent to 14 days judicial custody by an anti-corruption court here on Thursday. They were arrested on Tuesday by Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF) after more than 60 children, including infants, died in a span of six days at Baba Raghav Das Medical College. The BRD medical college attracted global attention when more than 60 children, including infants, died at the hospital within a span of a week in August. The deaths reportedly happened due to disruption in the oxygen supply by the vendor who was not paid for several months. The charge, however, was denied by the Yogi Adityanath government. Meanwhile, BRD Medical College principal PK Singh has has recorded 1,256 deaths since January 2017. Giving a detailed accoount of the deaths, Singh said the toll in January was 152, in February 122, March 159, April 123, May 139, June 137 and 128 in July. While the Uttar Pradesh government has vehemently denied that lack of oxygen led to the deaths, a high-powered probe committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajeev Kumar indicted Mishra and others on laxity and other charges. Dr Mishra was accused of sitting over payments to the vendor supplying oxygen gas to the hospital, the disruption of which allegedly led to the deaths of many children. Earlier, an FIR was lodged against Misra, along with six other hospital personnel, and two officials of the oxygen-supplying agency Pushpa Sales Private Limited, Manish Bhandari and Uday Pratap Sharma under the charges of criminal negligence. Cases were registered under various sections of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Medical Council Act against Dr Rajiv Mishra, Dr Purnima Shukla, Dr Kafeel Khan, Dr Satish, Chief Pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal, Accountant Sudhir Pandey, Assistant Clerk, Uday Pratap Sharma of Pushpa Sales and Manish Bhandari. CM Adityanath had formed the committee on August 12, a day after the deaths of children were reported at the hospital. Darjeeling: The bandh in Darjeeling hills has been put off from Friday till next round of talks with the West Bengal government. The indefinite shutdown in the hills had entered its 78th day today. "The indefinite bandh will remain suspended for 12 days from tomorrow. Shops, markets, offices, schools, tea gardens will open and transport will be on the road from 6 am tomorrow," convenor Binay Tamang told reporters after the party's central committee meeting. Tamang said the next round of dialogue with the state government on the situation in the hills is scheduled for September 12. "If the outcome of the dialogue is not positive, we will convene a meeting on the same day and decide whether to resume the shutdown or chalk out a new course of action," he said. Asked whether GJM supremo Bimal Gurung, who was not present in the meeting, had been apprised of the central committee's decision to suspend the bandh, Tamang said, "He will be informed." However, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said the bandh will continue and there is no question of withdrawing it. "Gurung has said the strike will continue and there is no question of withdrawing it," Giri claimed. Earlier today, the GJM central committee meeting came at a time when sharp differences has emerged between Tamang and party chief Bimal Gurung. A section of senior leaders want the differences between Tamang and Gurung to be sorted out soon. "We feel that there has been some sort of misunderstanding and miscommunication between the two. We want this miscommunication to be sorted out soon, as we do not want others to take advantage out of it," a senior GJM leader had told PTI. Meanwhile, since August 15, picketing was withdrawn by the GJM from various parts of the hills. But fresh picketing was visible in Mirik, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Sonada and other areas from this morning. (With Agency inputs) Kolkata: Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners in the triple talaq case, who had claimed of getting threats after the historic Supreme Court verdict, on Thursday said that her two children have gone missing. Jahan on Thursday filed a missing complaint at Golabari Police Station in Howrah. Following the historic Supreme Court verdict on triple talaq, Jahan, had written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking security for herself and her children after allegedly facing threats from in-laws and neighbours. Ishrat's husband had divorced her over phone from Dubai in 2014 by uttering 'talaq' thrice, a practice that was struck down by the apex court on August 22. She has a 13-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son. My life is in danger. My husband's older brother molested me twice. An FIR was lodged at the police station but no action was taken. So I have no faith in the police station. I request you to take some steps for my protection," Jahan had written in her letter. In a landmark verdict, the apex court on August 22 put the curtains down on a 1,400-year-old practice of 'triple talaq' among 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. A five-judge Constitution bench, by a majority of 3:2 in which Khehar found himself in a minority, had said in its 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." Kolkata: Two children of Ishrat Jahan, one of the five petitioners who challenged the Triple Talaq practice in the Supreme Court, went "missing" on Thursday morning but were found by police and returned to their mother by evening. Jahan, a resident of West Bengal`s Howrah district, on Thursday lodged a police complaint that her two children were kidnapped from her residence, police said. "My two minor children have been kidnapped from my lawful guardianship around 11.30 a.m. on August 31 from near my residence in Howrah," her complaint at Golabari police station read. In her complaint, Jahan, who is mother to four children, alleged that her seven-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl went missing while playing outside their house. Her two other children stay with Jahan`s husband`s second wife in Bihar. Confirming that an FIR was lodged on the basis of Jahan`s complaint, police said the children went out with their father and have been traced. "This is not a case of kidnapping. The two kids went out for shopping with their father. They have been traced already," a senior officer from Golabari police station told IANS. "The two children have since been restored to the complainant," he added. Jahan`s lawyer Nazia Elahi Khan alleged "conspiracy" in the matter. "Without taking her permission he took them away... Ishrat is their guardian... the children should have been taken to the mother, but instead they were taken to the police... this indicates a conspiracy and that anything can be done to Jahan," Khan told IANS, adding that their father has returned from Dubai recently. Jahan had recently written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, appealing for police protection in the wake of "threats" to her life. WASHINGTON: About 11,000 US troops are serving in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, thousands more than it has previously stated. The announcement by Pentagon officials at a news conference did not represent an increase in troops in Afghanistan and came after U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis expressed frustration with the method of counting U.S. troops in conflict zones. The Pentagon said previously that there were roughly 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, under a cap set during President Barack Obama`s administration. While the Pentagon said the move was a step in increasing transparency, it did not provide counts of U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. "This is not an attempt to bring more forces in, but it is an attempt to actually clarify a very confusing set of reporting rules that has the unintended consequence of forcing commanders to make readiness trade-offs," said Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, joint staff director. "So what it does is, it actually lets the American people know what their sons and daughters are doing in Afghanistan," McKenzie said. Previously disclosed troop numbers did not reflect the extent of the U.S. commitment on the ground since commanders sometimes brought in forces temporarily to get around the Obama-era limits. Mattis has said that he would wait for a complete count of U.S. troops in Afghanistan before making a decision on how many additional troops to send, calling the accounting system strange. Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, welcomed the change. "The Obama Administration did not shoot straight on how many people they sent to Afghanistan, which added cost to the mission and made it harder to succeed," Thornberry said. On Iraq and Syria, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said accounting for troop numbers was still under review. The force levels, which are officially at 5,262 in Iraq and 503 in Syria, are believed by U.S. officials to be more than a couple of thousands troops shy of the actual number of U.S. forces in both countries. "We are reviewing Iraq and Syria and the same guiding principals will govern how we roll out those numbers as well," White said. US officials have suggested that the delicate political situation in Iraq could be one reason why the United States is cautious in releasing a full picture of forces in the country. Islamabad: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday declared former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf as an absconder in Benazir Bhutto assassination case. Former two-time premier Bhutto was killed in a gun and bombing attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007 when she came out of park after addressing an election rally. However, Five militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group were allowed to walk free by ATC judge Asghar Ali Khan. The TTP members Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid were arrested soon after the assassination and since then have been in jail. Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation. Musharraf has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The court's verdict came after Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments had disowned prosecution evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation of the former chief of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a cleric in which he had congratulated five terrorists on carrying out the successful attack on Bhutto. Chaudhry termed it a "fake story" fabricated by former president retired General Pervez Musharraf to mislead the investigators. He had claimed that Musharraf, through his aide former director general of the National Crisis Management Cell retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, had disseminated the fake evidence to save himself. Musharraf was accused of conspiring to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule. Tokyo: Britain and Japan said on Thursday they would cooperate in countering the threat posed by North Korea, two days after it fired a missile over northern Japan, and will call on China to exert its leverage. Prime Minister Theresa May, looking to strengthen relations with one of her closest allies ahead of Brexit, is visiting Japan as it responds to an increasing military threat. Terming North Korea`s missile programme "a global threat", Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference that Japan and Britain would cooperate. "It is very meaningful that Prime Minister May and I agreed to further strengthen pressure on North Korea and to call on China to play a larger role," he added. May agreed, noting that China, North Korea`s lone major ally, had been involved in U.N. Security Council debate earlier this week. "China does have a particular position in this, they have leverage on North Korea and I believe we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage to do what we all want - which is to ensure that North Korea is not conducting these illegal acts." May toured Japan`s flagship Izumo helicopter carrier for a military briefing with Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera before attending a national security meeting. May and Abe agreed on a joint declaration on security cooperation, including plans for British soldiers to take part in military exercises on Japanese soil and for collaboration to address the threat of cyber and militant attacks when Japan hosts the Olympics in 2020. North Korea featured heavily in the talks after it launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday that passed over Japanese territory, prompting international condemnation. May`s office had said the two leaders were expected to discuss the possibility of further sanctions on North Korea, but neither Abe nor May touched on the issue at the news conference. The Global Times, a publication of the official People`s Daily of China`s ruling Communist Party, criticised an earlier comment of May`s comment calling for more pressure from China. "Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea," the newspaper said. Asked about the United States, Japan and Britain looking to impose new sanctions on North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation could only be resolved peacefully through dialogue. "We think it is regrettable that some countries selectively overlook the relevant Security Council resolutions` demand to advance dialogue, and stubbornly emphasise pressure and sanctions," she told a daily news briefing. Apart from security, May`s trip has focused on trade and investment. She is keen to convince nervy investors that Britain`s exit from the European Union will not make it a less attractive business partner. Both May and Abe addressed a delegation of British business leaders and senior representatives from major Japanese investors in Britain, such as carmakers Nissan, Toyota and conglomerate Hitachi. Abe told the gathering that May had assured him Britain`s negotiations on leaving the European Union would be transparent. May said Japanese investment after Britain`s vote to leave the EU was a vote of confidence and she pledged to build close trade ties with Japan. "I very much welcome the commitment from Japanese companies such as Nissan, Toyota, Softbank and Hitachi," May said. "I am determined that we will seize the opportunity to become an ever more outward-looking global Britain, deepening our trade relations with old friends and new allies." During a two-hour train ride between Kyoto and Tokyo late on Wednesday, the two leaders discussed Brexit, with May talking Abe through the details of a series of papers published in recent weeks setting out her negotiating position. May said on Wednesday Japan`s upcoming trade deal with the EU could offer a template for a future Japan-Britain trade agreement, the latest attempt to show investors that Brexit will not lead to an overnight change in business conditions. Japan has been unusually open about its concerns over Brexit, worrying that 40 billion pounds ($51.68 billion) of Japanese investment in the British economy could suffer if trading conditions change abruptly when Britain leaves the bloc. Sacramento (California): County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French died and two other Patrol officers were wounded in a shootout at an Auburn Boulevard hotel. The 52-year old French died on his way to the hospital, said Sheriff Scott Jone, reported a local newspaper. French was serving the country from past 21-year and worked as a training officer with the north area patrol unit. "This is certainly the most difficult thing a department can go through. We'll survive this as a community. We've been through it before. But it is painful. It will take a period of grieving," Jone said. The two California Highway Patrol officers are hospitalized and are expected to survive, Jones said. The Police have arrested three suspects in connection with the incident, which took place at the Ramada Inn in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard, while investigation of a stolen vehicle. Tony Turnbull, Sheriff's Department spokesman said that two additional suspects may remain inside the motel. As per Turnbull, a vehicle theft task force had gone to hotel parking lot, where two suspects, both women, then led the officers on a chase that ended in the Laguna area of Elk Grove, where the women were taken into custody. The officers then checked then returned to the Ramada Inn in search of possible suspects in a room. When they knocked on a hotel room door, a man opened fire through the door. Additional deputies responded on the back side of the room, but the male suspect wielding a high-powered rifle, in a shootout that killed French. The suspect then jumped off the balcony and got into a car in the parking lot. He escaped on Fulton Avenue and crashed near Watt Avenue. After exchanging gunfire again with officers, he was struck and then arrested. Beijing: China on Thursday said India`s concerns over terrorism emanating from Pakistan will not be discussed at the BRICS Summit next week. Like in earlier occasions, China defended its "iron friend" Pakistan, hailing its efforts in countering terrorism. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Islamabad was at the "forefront" of counter terror efforts and had made "sacrifices" for the cause. "The international community should recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by Pakistan," Hua said at a press briefing. "We notice that India, when it comes to Pakistan`s counter-terrorism, has some concerns. I don`t think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at BRICS Summit," she said The three-day annual meet of the five-member grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will begin at the Chinese city Xiamen from Sunday. "China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to enhance our cooperation in counterterrorism. This serves the common interest of all parties." Terrorism emanating from Pakistan is one the contentious issues between India and China. Beijing has repeatedly blocked New Delhi`s resolution at the UN to declare Pakistan`s terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist. Last year, at the BRICS Summit in India, China did not back India`s attempts to have names of terror groups like JeM and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) included in the BRICS Declaration. Paris: French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Thursday presented labour market reforms which he called "ambitious, balanced and fair" but that met with mixed reaction from trade unions. The measures curb the role of trade unions in small companies, limit unfair dismissal pay-outs and allow bosses to negotiate more working terms and conditions directly with their employees. The head of the country`s biggest private sector union CFDT, Laurent Berger, said he was "disappointed" by the reform overall, a pre-election promise by new President Emmanuel Macron. The boss of the hard-left Force Ouvriere (FO) union, Jean-Claude Mailly, said he disagreed with some of the changes, but like Berger suggested he would not recommend his members join street protests. "A debate will take place in public now," he said. "Fortunately we`ve done our union work." "There are differences. We accept them," Philippe said, presenting the reforms which formed the basis of three months of negotiations with the unions. The Communist-backed CGT has already called for a strike and demonstrations against the reform on September 12. Thursday`s reforms come at a pivotal moment for Macron`s domestic agenda as he seeks to encourage entrepreneurship in France, where the unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is almost double that of its large European rivals. He argues the measures are needed to introduce greater flexibility in France`s rigid labour law to encourage hiring. "We are the only major economy in the European Union that has not defeated mass unemployment for more than three decades," he told Le Point magazine in an interview published late on Wednesday. New Delhi: French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo has suggested that the victims of the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, which hit the US state of Texas, are neo-Nazis, according to a media report on Thursday. The hurricane has killed at least 35 people and displaced thousands of others. The illustration on the paper's cover shows swastika flags and hands raised in what looks like Nazi salutes poking out of floodwaters, The Independent said. The report also said that an accompanying text reads: "God exists! He drowned all the neo-Nazis of Texas." The controversial cover is an apparent reference to Texans who gave massive support to Donald Trump in the presidential elections, it said. The cartoon has drawn sharp reactions from the social media users in the US. Vienna: Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, a UN atomic watchdog report showed Thursday, even as growing tensions between Tehran and Washington threaten to torpedo the landmark agreement. US President Donald Trump has vowed to "dismantle" the "disastrous" accord between Iran and six major powers curtailing Tehran`s atomic activities in exchange for sanctions relief. While US sanctions imposed over Iran`s nuclear work remain suspended, Washington has ramped up others related to Tehran`s support for "terrorism", its ballistic missile programme and its human rights record. Iran says this contravenes the "spirit" of the deal, an accusation fired back by Trump at Tehran because of the Islamic republic`s funding and supplying of armed groups "across the region". The 2015 accord covered only Iran`s nuclear activities and the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly report, seen by AFP, showed that these remained in compliance. Its stock of low-enriched uranium used for peaceful purposes, but when further processed for a weapon did not exceed the agreed limit of 300 kgs, the report said. It added that Iran "has not pursued the construction of the Arak... reactor" which could give it weapons-grade plutonium and has not enriched uranium above low purity levels. Iran`s stock of heavy water, a reactor coolant, remained below the ceiling of 130 tonnes throughout the previous quarter, with Iran exporting 19.1 tonnes. Iran has previously inched above an agreed ceiling of 130 tonnes. The plant producing the heavy water was shut for maintenance earlier this year and has now restarted, the IAEA said. Trump is due in October to certify to Congress whether Iran is sticking to the nuclear deal. In July he told the Wall Street Journal he "would be surprised if they were in compliance". The Guardian this week cited former officials and analysts as saying that the White House is pressuring US intelligence services to produce a justification to declare Iran in violation. As well as the United States the hard-fought agreement also includes China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday there is "no alternative" to the deal. With much of Iran`s dismantled nuclear equipment still physically in Iran albeit under IAEA monitoring Tehran has warned that it can ramp up its programme again within days. This would give Trump a second nuclear crisis to add to the standoff over North Korea. Lahore: A day after Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said that Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan, the former president of the country Pervez Musharraf, has asserted that the fugitive underworld don is in Karachi. While talking to a Pakistani news channel, Musharraf said, "India has been accusing Pakistan for long. Why should we now become good and assist them? I don't know where Dawood, the key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts is. He must be here, somewhere. India has been killing Muslims and Dawood Ibrahim has been reacting," giving a clear indication that the wanted criminal might be putting up in Pakistan. Pakistan has consistently denied about Dawood residing there, despite India maintaining that that he indeed lives in a palatial house in Karachi. For the last 10 years, New Delhi has sent several dossiers to Islamabad in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. Earlier on Wednesday, the Home Secy had said that the government is taking all required action so that Ibrahim could be brought back to India. "Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law," he told PTI here. "Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law," he told PTI here. The home secretary said the "attitude" of Pakistan was not in conformity with international law and it is working against India in Ibrahim's case. "Whatever action is required, we are taking. We will get him. The process is on. But the attitude of the Pakistan government is not in conformity with the international law. Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present. In April, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated there was no doubt that Ibrahim was still in Pakistan. During the last 10 years, India has sent several dossiers to Pakistan in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. In 2011, P Chidambaram, the then home minister in the UPA government, had also said that Ibrahim was based in Karachi. India had earlier also accused Pakistan of giving shelter to Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and a team of the United States Navy, SEALs, in a special operation, killed him on May 2, 2011. Musharraf, when asked about Pakistan's consistent denial about Bin Laden's erstwhile presence in their country, said, "The issue is we have human intelligence. When Osama was killed, nobody knew that he was Osama and was staying there as people thought of him as a drug dealer." "Even I have doubt that he was living in Abbotabad continuously for five years," he added. (With inputs from Agencies) Islamabad: Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about US President Donald Trump's harsh remarks and it will share its perspective with the top US leadership, the Foreign Office said on Thursday. Trump last week slammed Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so. At his weekly media briefing here, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan is undertaking internal deliberations among all stakeholders about Trump's statement and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will share Pakistan's perspective in his future interaction with the US leadership. Terming the remarks of Gen John Nicholson the top US commander in Afghanistan as "highly unwarranted and unacceptable", Zakaria said Pakistan strongly rejects all allegations and insinuations regarding the presence of any safe havens for terrorists. "While rejecting the baseless US assertions in this context, the National Security Committee in its statement of August 24 expressed Pakistan's concerns about the presence of sanctuaries/safe havens inside Afghanistan from where anti-Pakistan elements, particularly India, continue to operate against Pakistan," he said. He also said Pakistan believes that there is no military solution to the complex Afghan conflict and it has advocated for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political solution. Zakaria also raised the Kashmir issue and accused India of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He alleged that India has been systematically and deliberately exonerating perpetrators of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack and Pakistan took up the issue with India "many times in the past." The spokesman also welcomed the end of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Dokalam. "We expect India to resolve its differences with all its neighbours in a similar way. We appreciate the sagacity and restraint shown by the Chinese side in this standoff and resolving the issue amicably," he added. Ankara: Turkey has hit out against a fresh indictment from the US Justice Department against Turkish security personnel accused of assaulting protesters during a Washington visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May. A total of 19 people including Turkish security officials were identified from video footage of the May 16 clashes with Kurdish protesters outside the residence of Turkey's ambassador, following a meeting between Erdogan and President Donald Trump. Three more names were added to the case on Tuesday after US officials said videos showed Turkish guards beating and kicking protesters on the ground in the "Embassy Row" section of downtown Washington. The Turkish foreign ministry reacted angrily to the move in a statement yesterday. "We protest in the strongest terms that such an unjust and biased indictment, with names of people that have never been to the US, has been accepted," the ministry said, adding that it had conveyed its reaction to the US ambassador to Ankara. Turkey "reserved the right to take action via legal means" against the charges, which the ministry said were "unfounded". A total of 21 counts of assault and hate crimes based on the victims' ethnicity were levelled against the group by Washington DC district attorney Channing Phillips. All but two of the 19 "security personnel and supporters of Erdogan" remain at large. Two Turkish-American businessmen were arrested in June for their roles in the clash with protesters. Of the 17 others, two are Canadians, and the remaining are Turkish citizens. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been strained over the US arming Syrian Kurdish militia fighting against the Islamic State group in northern Syria. The clashes during Erdogan's visit exacerbated tensions between the NATO allies, with the Turkish leader accusing US police of having allowed "terrorists" to protest "50 metres from me". The Turkish foreign ministry repeated Ankara's criticisms of "serious negligence" by US security authorities who did not "secure our delegation's safety". It also reiterated its claims that the protesters were supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency in Turkey since 1984. New Delhi: A Japanese man has been reportedly banned from Twitter after he allegedly posted a photo of a mosquito he killed on the micro-blogging site. The user @nemuismywife had posted the photo after he was bitten by a mosquito on August 20, the Hindustan Times reported. Where do you get off biting me all over while Im just trying to relax and watch TV? Die! (Actually youre already dead), the report quoted him a saying in the tweet. Twitter reportedly sent him a message saying his account had been frozen. He than reportedly created a new account @DaydreamMatcha and tweeted: My previous account was permanently frozen after I said I killed a mosquito. Is this a violation? According to the report, his tweet was retweeted over 31,000 times and liked by more than 27,000 Twitter users. United Nations: US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday Iran had shown its "true colours" by restoring ties with Palestinian militant group Hamas and must be held to account by the international community. The new leader of Hamas in Gaza said on Monday that Tehran was again its biggest provider of money and arms after years of tension over the civil war in Syria. Hamas had angered Iran by refusing to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the six-year-old civil war. Haley described the Hamas leader`s statement as a "stunning admission." Iran is subject to an arms embargo with exceptions granted only in cases when it has received UN Security Council approval for imports or exports. "Iran is showing its true colours. Iran must decide whether it wants to be a member of the community of nations that can be expected to take its international obligations seriously or whether it wants to be the leader of a jihadist terrorist movement. It cannot be both," Haley said in a statement. "Its long past time for the international community to hold Iran to the same standard that all countries who actually value peace and security are held to, she said. Neither Hamas nor Iran has disclosed the full scale of Tehrans backing. But regional diplomats have said Irans financial aid for the Islamist movement was dramatically reduced in recent years and directed to the Qassam Brigades rather than to Hamas political institutions. Hamas seeks Israels destruction. It has fought three wars with Israel since seizing the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Hamas and Abbass Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are locked in a political dispute over the issue of Palestinian unity. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Several Turkish police officers and one high-ranking officer of the countrys national intelligence service have requested asylum in Germany, Die Welt reported citing an anonymous source in the security agencies. German authorities did not disclose the identities of the asylum seeking Turkish security officers for privacy concerns. According to Die Welt, more than 6700 Turkish citizens requested asylum in Germany after the 2016 coup attempt. The citizens include diplomats and their family members. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The launch of the new WorldSkills Eurasia cooperation was signaled on the sidelines of WorldSkills International in Astana, Kazakhstan. The project includes Armenia, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. These countries signed a declaration on creating WorldSkills Eurasia in Astana, at the presence of WorldSkills International president Simon Bartley. A memorandum of cooperation was also signed in addition to the declaration, which in part implies the introduction of a common system of skill assessment which will be recognized in all EEU countries. The Eurasian Economic Union will involve WorldSkills Eurasia as a tool for human resources management in EEU member states. It is expected that in addition to the 4 countries, nearly 12 countries of the EEU, CIS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be involved in WorldSkills Eurasia. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. During todays Cabinet meeting PM Karapetyan asked David Tonoyan, the minister for emergency situations, whether the Armenian firefighters-rescuers have been dispatched to Georgia again to tackle the Borjomi wildfires. The minister said he had a phone conversation with the Georgian interior minister yesterday. We agreed to maintain our units on stand-by. The Georgian side has a problem of helicopters, our units are currently on standby, Tonoyan said. The PM told the minister to closely follow the situation in the neighboring country. A few days ago Armenian firefighters-rescuers were dispatched to Georgia to assist in tackling the wildfires in the Borjomi forests. The Georgian president and prime minister expressed their gratitude to the Armenian side for the support. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Government will continue the steps to liberalize entry visas with different countries, foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said at the Cabinet meeting on August 31, reports Armenpress. He presented a draft decision according to which Armenia will eliminate the visa requirements for the citizens of Japan. Japanese citizens will be able to visit and stay in Armenia for a maximum of 180 days within a year without a visa. In response to the question of Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the FM said Japan is already the 6th country the citizens of which can visit Armenia without a visa. We intend to move forward on this path aimed at making the process two-sided. The Japanese side will facilitate visa issuance for the Armenian citizens starting from September, the same we are doing with other countries, the minister said. Based on the explanation, Armenia has warm relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with Japan, the development of relations of the two countries records positive dynamics year by year, the opening of Armenian embassy in Tokyo in 2010 and the opening of Japanese embassy in Yerevan in 2015 gave a qualitatively new impetus to the development and deepening of bilateral ties at all spheres. The elimination of visa requirements for the Japanese citizens will create more favorable conditions for boosting bilateral economic ties and tourism. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The area adjacent to Amiryan Street and Buzand Street in downtown Yerevan, where the State Institute of Cinema and Theater is located, will be sold to GM Development, a private company, which will build an apartment block there. The matter was discussed today at the Cabinet meeting. Narek Sargsyan, chairman of the state committee of urban development, said the previous contractor had gone bankrupt, and now a new contractor has come forward, in person of the abovementioned company. The company will resolve the problems with the residents, and it has also assumed the construction of a new street linking Amiryan Street with Buzand Street, and the construction of the Sos Sargsyan Theater. The project will be carried out by two phases, and the total worth of the investment program is 15 million dollars, Sargsyan said. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government approved the proposal for signing a grant agreement within the frames of Program of improving the firefighting equipment between the governments of Armenia and Japan, reports Armenpress. Minister of emergency situations Davit Tonoyan said in 2010 the Japanese government provided 28 units of equipment to the Armenian rescue service. At the moment new grant agreement is being signed. Based on the program explanation, the new equipment will operate in Syunik, Shirak and Lori provinces taking into account their geographical position, considerable differences of absolute height of the area. The minister said several communities of the aforementioned provinces are located 32-48km away from firefighting-rescue brigades, and the firefighting crews sometimes arrive to the scene 50-60 minutes late based on which the response becomes meaningless. As a result significant material and moral damage is caused to environment, companies and citizens. The minister added that firefighting trucks are old, so its necessary to upgrade them. The experience showed that the most reliable ones are the Japanese trucks. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and China are discussing the issue of implementing an investment project in Armenia on constructing a copper industry, minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan told reporters after todays Cabinet meeting. We are holding discussions in order to prepare the technical-economic justifications on building the copper factory in Armenia. The works are currently underway. We are workding with our Chinese partners, we will inform you when we have news, he said. The minister said the investment program is worth 300 million dollars. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan commented on Turkeys possible joining to the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), reports Armenpress. Our respective agencies have already responded to this issue. I will only add that the decisions in the EAEU are being made by the principle of consensus, and when it comes to the decision-making, Armenia will express its stance, the minister said. Earlier deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan also commented on the matter: First, the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union doesnt foresee an opportunity to join the customs territory of the EAEU. Moreover, its ironic, that it is Turkey who talks of joining the customs territory of the EAEU; a country which unilaterally closed the Armenian-Turkish border the only land border between Turkey and the EAEU customs territory. The Turkish economy minister announced on August 18 that Turkey has a proposal to launch talks with the EAEU on signing the customs agreement by not violating the respective agreements with the European Union. He said Turkey wants also to create cooperation with the EAEU. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Meghri free economic zone will start operating in November 2017, minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on August 31, reports Armenpress. Recently at my invitation the chief advisor of Irans president, chairman of Iran free trade zones council arrived in Armenia. A memorandum was signed according to which a joint working group has been formed which will be engaged in development of cooperation of the free trade zones. In November we will launch the Meghri free economic zone, Karayan said. The works on creating free economic zone in Syunik province near the border with Iran have launched in 2017. The construction of the zone will be in stages. In the 1st stage over 10 million USD investments will be made by the organizer of the free economic zone, and during the activity of the FEZ, it is expected to attract over 120 operating companies that will make 350-400 million USD investments, will create more than 2500 jobs, and the annual average export will comprise over 80-100 million USD goods. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. On August 31, the Armenian branch of the FMD KL Europe CRO international corporation and Haematology center after prof. R.Yeolyan of the Ministry of Health of Armenia organized blood donation. The collected donor blood will be donated to the children with blood cancer diseases. With this step the organization does not pursue any business goals, but seeks to establish a strong social orientation within the company, the Development Foundation of Armenia told Armenpress. Corporate social responsibility is related to all the levels of the organization, and we want to introduce this culture in our entire company. I am proud to support this initiative: blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person. Moreover, many lives can be saved thank to all this. The human body can quickly replenish the donated blood, so it is possible to organize such events in a regular basis, head of the FMD KL Europe company Kirit Velany said. We are happy that this company, being part of the international corporation, not only constantly increases investments and actively participates in economic development of Armenia, but also develops an important culture of corporate social responsibility, head of the Aftercare team of DFA Hayk Mirzoyan said. The event was organized in the Yerevan office of the company in addition to its other corporate social responsibility projects, such as the initiatives aimed at supporting young artists and assisting Orran charitable NGO. FMD KL Europe, the Armenian branch of the FMD K&L international corporation, is a company, providing contractual services to the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies. YEREVAN, 31 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 31 August, USD exchange rate up by 0.05 drams to 478.44 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 3.48 drams to 568.15 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 8.19 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.85 drams to 616.42 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 154.01 drams to 20127.61 drams. Silver price down by 2.43 drams to 268.27 drams. Platinum price down by 182.97 drams to 15213 drams. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, referring to the shootings by Azerbaijan during a monitoring on Armenia-Azerbaijan border line, noted that experts should comment on the incident by evaluating the situation on site. Russia has traditionally called on the sides to display balanced stance in case of tensions or escalations, aiming to move in the direction of a political settlement, but not escalate the situation. As refers to the mentioned case, the experts should comment on it evaluating the situation on site, Zakharova said. In answer to the question about organizing a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, the Russian MFA official representative noted that she has no such information. We remain in dialogue with all the parties and when there is a necessity to organize such a meeting you will be kept informed, she said. To the question if Russia can initiate the return of Nagorno Karabakh to the negotiation table, Zakharova answered, Our traditional position in this issue is well known. I can make a reference to earlier comments. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE is closing its Office in Yerevan today, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the OSCE. The Organization opened its field presence in Armenia in 2000. During the years of its operation, the OSCE Office in Yerevan and its dedicated staff promoted the implementation of OSCE principles and commitments, conducted successful operations and implemented valuable projects in all three OSCE dimensions of security the politico-military, the economic and environmental and the human dimension. The OSCEs activities in the country included, among others, assistance with police reforms, promoting environmentally-sound natural resources management, support for streamlining the national regulatory frameworks affecting business activity, and support to formulation and implementation of reforms affecting the justice system and electoral management. The closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan follows months of negotiations and extensive efforts by the 2016 German OSCE Chairmanship and the 2017 Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to reach consensus among OSCE participating States on the extension of the Offices mandate. The Organization will seek to continue its engagement with Armenia in line with existing OSCE commitments. YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. The hand of the Turkish authorities has reached the staff of the Istanbul-based Armenian periodical Agos. Minister of Interior of Turkey Suleyman Soylu filed a complained against the columnist of Agos Baskin Oran on August 25, ARMENPRESS reports Birgun periodical informs. Oran is accused of terrorism propaganda. Only in August, 2017, 33 journalists have been detained in Turkey, among which there are foreign citizens. 14 of the 33 detained have already been arrested. The arrests following the failed coup in Turkey in July 2016 have reached unprecedented scales. Turkeys prisons are overcrowded. There are politicians, journalists, businessmen and teachers among the arrested. They are mainly accused of participating in the coup attempt and being member of Gulen movement, as well as for terrorism propaganda. By the means of the mass arrests Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan tries to clean the political and civil landscape from undesirable elements making his power more monopolistic. CHEYENNE, Wyo.Popular clip site iWantClips is donating $3,000 toward hurricane relief efforts through the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, Austin Pets Alive!, and Houston Area Womens Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. We are very saddened to hear of the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Harvey on Houston and nearby communities in Texas and Louisiana, said iWantClips Vice President Jay Phillips. We would like to demonstrate our support to those in need and those who are assisting them with this donation. Harvey, which made landfall on August 25 in Rockport, Texas, has dropped more than 52 inches of rain in the Houston metropolitan area, resulting in widespread flooding, countless water rescues and several deaths, according to published reports. The Category 4 hurricane is set to surpass 2008's Hurricane Ike and 2001's Tropical Storm Allison, two of the most destructive storms to hit the Gulf Coast in recent memory. Moreover, millions of people from Corpus Christi to New Orleans were under flood watches and warnings earlier this week as Harvey's storm bands pummeled the same areas. We are honored and humbled to be in a position to offer some small financial support to the organizations who are on the ground actively assisting those impacted by this tragedy, Phillips added. To donate to the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, visit Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, Austin Pets Alive! and Houston Area Womens Center. LOS ANGELESNaughty expert, and author of five Naughty Travel Guides, Sienna Sinclaire is set to host another one of her most popular naughty events, a Naughty Mixer at 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, at Cliftons Republic in Downtown Los Angeles. I love throwing these mixers, said Sienna. Its a great way for the members of my Meet Up group to meet, connect and get a feel for what my Naughty LA group is all about. This weekend, well be at Cliftons Republic in Downtown L.A., a lovely, naughty joint with multiple floors and a great mix of every type of music. Snifflier is the author of Naughty Girls Guide to Los Angeles, Naughty Girls Guide to Las Vegas, Naughty Vancouver, Naughty San Diego and Naughty San Francisco. Free entry. Dress to impress, as the door man decides who gets in. Meet the group under the tree. Everyone in the group will get a Naughty LA name tag so they can identify who is in the group and there will be a reserved spot for everyone to mingle. For more information, visit Meetup.com. About 30 percent of North Carolina's 6.8 million registered voters are Republicans. So how in the world do Republicans ever win election in the Tar Heel State?Be careful how you answer that question. GOP candidates have done quite well in recent election cycles. Yes, Republican margins in the North Carolina House and Senate are padded by favorable district maps. But they've still won a majority of the statewide vote for legislature in every election since 2010. By contrast, during the previous decades, Democrats often won seat majorities despite losing the "popular vote" for legislature statewide. Republicans also hold a majority on the Council of State, composed of executives elected statewide, as well as on the state court of appeals.Obviously, GOP candidates can't win with registered Republicans alone. They have to get other voters to cross over. So do state Democrats, who make up 39 percent of the electorate. Almost all the remaining voters are registered as unaffiliated, with about half a percentage point consisting of registered Libertarians.To say that 30 percent of North Carolina voters are unaffiliated is not, however, to say that 30 percent of North Carolina voters begin each election as truly undecided and then "swing" to one or the other major party. Careful studies of voting behavior identify only about 10 percent to 15 percent of the electorate as true swing voters in today's polarized politics.A new survey commissioned by the Civitas Institute of unaffiliated voters in North Carolina offers additional support for this model of the electorate. Of its random sample of 400 unaffiliated voters, about a third said they identified more with the Republican Party than the Democrats, a comparable percentage opted for Democrat over Republican, and the remaining third were truly independent of party preference.Those fully up-for-grabs independents, then, constitute about a tenth of the North Carolina electorate. Add a few points of registered Democrats and Republicans who aren't strongly committed to their parties anymore, and you have a reasonable estimate of the swing-voter population in an average election.Democratic registration has been falling for many years, with Republican registration roughly flat and unaffiliated registration way up. Nevertheless, Democrats still outnumber Republicans. The latter have to win a sizable majority of unaffiliated and mildly Democratic voters in order to be competitive.We know it's quite possible to do that, since Republicans have won many (although not all) statewide contests in recent cycles. One reason is that unaffiliated voters, on a whole, are somewhat more amenable to Republican messages than they are to Democratic ones.Again citing the Civitas poll, unaffiliated voters are more likely to identify as conservative than as liberal, are much more likely to identify as fiscally conservative rather than as fiscally liberal, live mostly in suburban and rural areas, favor capital punishment, overwhelmingly favor either outright or partial repeal of Obamacare, and overwhelmingly favor a photo-ID requirement to vote.On the other hand, unaffiliated voters are more split when it comes to social issues such as abortion. And at present, they are souring on the Republican Party as a brand. They disapprove of President Donald Trump's job performance by a 53 percent to 43 percent margin, while approving of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's job performance by 56 percent to 27 percent. Their favorability ratings of the Democratic Party are mixed. Their ratings of the Republican Party are not, at 28 percent favorable to 50 percent unfavorable.This is probably a Trump phenomenon, not a larger, lasting realignment. The 2018 midterms also remain quite a ways off. In 2013, for example, a comparable Civitas poll of unaffiliated voters had Democrats up 10 percentage points over Republicans in the generic ballot for legislature. As we know, that edge didn't stick through 2014. On the other hand, that cycle occurred under a somewhat-unpopular Democratic president. The 2018 cycle may well occur under a more-unpopular Republican one.I'd describe the survey's findings as good news for Democrats - with the usual admonition against counting unhatched chickens. Free-market experts debate future of federal health program at national conference SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Health policy experts disagree whether significant free-market reforms can supplant Obamacare despite the program's rocky decline.During a panel discussion Monday at the State Policy Network annual convention, they agreed congressional Republicans are unlikely to honor seven years of promises to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. States like North Carolina also will face incredible pressure to expand Medicaid under the costly national health insurance law.Health care reformer Avik Roy, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and opinion editor at Forbes predicted over the next four years, states that refused to expand Medicaid are likely to reverse course.Roy said."Left-wing propagandists" use misleading information to argue Medicaid health care outcomes have improved under Obamacare, Roy said. The false narrative began under the Obama administration.Roy also criticized the Congressional Budget Office, which says 16 million people would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal.The CBO estimate that 5 million people would drop out of Medicaid is "crazy," he said, because recipients who pay no premiums will not surrender their health-insurance coverage. The CBO projects 6 million people now in the health care exchanges would drop out of the market.he said. One million is a more likely estimate.Flawed estimates trumpeted by progressives and amplified by the media have shifted political momentum against repeal, Roy said.Without ending the Obamacare individual mandate, which requires people to purchase insurance or pay fines, few market-based alternatives are available at the state level, Roy argues.He thinks Congress will bail out Obamacare despite its shortcomings.Rea Hederman, executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Buckeye Institute in Ohio, agrees with much of Roy's gloomy scenario for a nationwide free-market solution.House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, Hederman said.But he thinks the Trump administration would allow bold, innovative state fixes. Some states are stepping up to the plate with state innovation waivers under Section 1332 of the Obamacare law.More than 21 states have applied for 1332 waivers or are considering them.Hederman thinks states could use 1332 waivers to request limits on the health benefits mandated by Obamacare, impose Medicaid work requirements, or replace the various gold, silver, and bronze plan coverage levels with something else.Waivers could lower costs for long-term care, one of the fastest-growing and most expensive parts of Medicaid, for example, by expanding in-home care options instead of relying on more expensive nursing home placements.Roy countered that any aggressive action to curtail Obamacare mandates would spur lawsuits. The law bars any changes that cut coverage or the number of people served. Hederman said states must push the envelope or lose the fight.Hederman contends Obamacare has collapsed. Some states once had 50 providers offering Affordable Care Act coverage and now have one. In many counties only one provider offers coverage. Although premium costs are skyrocketing, taxpayers pick up the difference through increased subsidies.Roy disagrees.Roy said. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed terribly, yet the federal home mortgage companies were bailed out and expanded. He predicts the same thing would happen with Obamacare, citing current bipartisan efforts to increase spending on the failing program.Dr. Deane Waldman, a cardiologist and member of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange, said while conservatives talk about costs and insurance, they fail to frame the debate in a more salient way: Obamacare has expanded insurance coverage, but the people now covered may not get treated.Enticed by $3 billion in new funding, New Mexico expanded its Medicaid program. The share of the state population on the program went from 25 percent to 41 percent, Waldman said.But burdensome Obamacare mandates left the state with $417 million in unfunded costs. To bridge the deficit, he said, the state cut Medicaid reimbursements to doctors. Many doctors then stopped treating Medicaid patients. 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. Tom Campbell Representative Justin Burr obviously has a burr under his saddle, almost single-handedly leading an effort to redistrict the judicial and prosecutorial districts in our state. In the closing days of the legislative session he surprised most everyone by introducing House Bill 717, claiming in part that the current districts elect too many Democrats and more Republican judges are needed.I don't want either Republican or Democratic judges. I want jurists who will follow the constitution and laws of our state impartially. Their political affiliations should have no sway when issuing rulings, but that obviously isn't the desire of our lawmakers. During the past legislative session we saw many new laws affecting our courts. They reduced the number of court of appeals judges by three seats, decreased the number of emergency judges by 70 percent, required judicial candidates be identified by political affiliation and cut funding to legal aid organizations, along with $10 million in budget cuts to the Attorney General's office. A cynic might these border on judicial tampering or blatant attempts to interfere in the separation of powers in our state.John Locke drew North Carolina's first Constitution when the Lord's Proprietors still controlled our colony. It was replaced in 1776 after Independence was declared. That document spelled out the three separate branches of government, appointing the governor (for a one year term) and judges for life. That Constitution was modified in 1868, and the current constitution was approved in 1971, with many amendments added. One common thread throughout these documents is found in Article IV, which reads,Current Chief Justice Mark Martin follows in a long line of distinguished modern-day Chief Justices that include Sarah Parker, James Exum, I. Beverly Lake, Henry Frye, and Burley Mitchell. Martin convened an equally distinguished group for a two-year study, The North Carolina Commission on The Administration of Law and Justice. It recommended a number of ways our current system could be reformed. Nowhere in these recommendations was any suggestion to alter our current judicial districts. In fact, since the report's release in March of this year, it has received scant attention from by our General Assembly.We can agree that judicial reforms are needed and both Chief Justice Martin's recommendations, along with other proposals, deserve due consideration. There may even be some elements of wisdom in Representative Burr's HB717, but the state, the courts, and our judges deserve better justice than a hastily drafted and quickly presented bill that by all appearances is on its way to approval in a special session of our legislature in October.Burr says the bill's enactment would better reflect population growth, geography and workloads by creating new, smaller districts and would add judges to some existing districts. Perhaps so, but many judges and DA's disagree.Judicial reforms demand a fair hearing in the court of public opinion and by our legislature before being enacted. However, there is no justice in passing them in a brief special session. As the late Chub Seawell, attorney, humorist and editorial writer, was fond of saying, "Call Your Next Witness." We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Are you getting antsy waiting for Black Friday sales? We get the feeling. That's why we're so excited that Black Friday is already here! Every Friday this month, we're dropping amazing READ THE REST My friend Koichi, founder of the Japanese culture website Tofugu, went to Tokyo to "rent" Kotani Makoto for 50 (45 cents). Kotani became homeless in 2013, and is now famous in Japan. Read Koichi's article about the experience here. "Do you sleep on the street?" I asked between bites of salmon and rice. "I haven't done that in a while now," Kotani said. "Only the first couple months was spent on the streets. That first month was tough. I used my phone to write about my homeless life on Twitter and it got a little popular. I also tried to get some part-time jobs, but the interviews didn't go so well. Then Nishino-san suggested I sell myself for 50 per day, so I did." At first, Kotani-san was skeptical of how it would work out. But then, he noticed something: people felt guilty about renting him for only 50. He would do a favor for someone for basically no money at all, so his "customers" would buy him food, and sometimes offer their couch or floor to sleep on. Kotani would do something for them and they wanted to return the favor. He ate more than ever before and gained a lot of weight. Then he tweeted that he couldn't fit in his pants because he got fat. One of his followers bought him new pants. "I have this 'worldwide family' now," he said. Kotani looked at each of us in turn. "Either I'd become friends with someone who rented me and at the end of the evening they'd offer to let me stay at their place, or I'd ask on social media and someone would offer. I'd be like: 'Is there anyone who can let me stay over tonight?' There are so many good people in the world." A serious disease that affects canola crops has popped up again in Saskatchewan. Clubroot stops moisture and nutrients from entering the plant, eventually killing it. In fields where there is significant infection, it could mean a loss of 50-100 per cent of the crop's yield. According to SaskCanola, clubroot has been found in crop district 9B in west central Saskatchewan, adjacent to the Alberta border. Errin Willenborg, research manager with the organization, said producers in the area should take extra precautions to protect against the spread of the disease. "It's really just a reminder to all growers to be looking for this disease in their crops," Willenborg said. The disease was first detected in Alberta a number of years ago but wasn't found in Saskatchewan until 2011 when two fields tested positive for the disease. This is the first time the infection has been found in the province since then. Franck Groeneweg, who farms near Edgeley, Sask., about 50 km northeast of Regina, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the findings. "We have Alberta beside us, with quite a few fields with a high incidence of clubroot, and sooner or later, with the frequency we grow canola in rotation with other crops in this province, it just had to come," he said. The disease can be transported by anything with soil on it, including agricultural equipment, oilfield equipment or recreational vehicles. The destructive, tumour-like growth needs moisture to complete its lifecycle, so it flourishes in areas that have had more rain. Soil with a lower pH is also favourable to clubroot. Scouting for the disease Willenborg said it can be present in a field for two years, but undetectable. At first, clubroot gall won't be visible, but by the time there are 10,000 spores per gram, producers will start to see some infection on their plants. Often times, it can only be found if farmers pull up a plant and look very closely at the root. Story continues In the area Groeneweg is farming in, none has been detected yet. And he hasn't known any farmers in Saskatchewan or Alberta who have had it in their fields. Despite this, now that it is in district 9B, Willenborg said he thinks it is likely to spread to the rest of the province. He said that's a concern as canola is one of the most profitable crops for farmers in Saskatchewan. "It gives the the risk of less profitability in the future and farming is not always the most profitable activity out there," he said. If growers suspect clubroot, they can test a soil sample for the disease's DNA. If a field's soil tests positive for clubroot, producers are urged to plant canola only every two or three years. "Farmers need to maybe lengthen their rotation and try to make the other crops as profitable," Willenborg said. The Ministry of Agriculture is conducting its annual clubroot survey in the province. Mustard and other cruciferous crops can also host the disease. To view more photos of clubroot, visit the Canola Council of Canada website. Wildfires that have forced residents out of the northern Saskatchewan community of Pelican Narrows could rage for another week or more, government officials say. Saskatchewan Wildfire Management Branch executive director Steve Roberts said there's no significant rain in the forecast for the area. "We will continue to see aggressive fire activity around the clock and we do not see any huge reprieve from a weather perspective for at least a week," Roberts told reporters on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. Three fires are burning within 10 kilometres of the community of several thousand people. The largest is the Granite fire, covering an estimated 50,000 hectares. Peter Beatty, chief of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation which includes the community of Pelican Narrows signed a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday evening as smoke from northern forest fires intensified. "We got a lot of people out, but we don't know how many," Beatty said Wednesday morning as he prepared for a day of meetings and planning. Overwhelming smoke Pelican Narrows resident Charla Ballantyne was one of those taken to Saskatoon Tuesday. She said the smoke was overwhelming at times. "The helicopters couldn't land. They couldn't see. The helicopter almost crashed into the church," Ballantyne said. Provincial commissioner of emergency management and fire safety Duane McKay said residents can't be forced out of the community. As many as 3,000 remain there. Pelican Narrows is a village located roughly 420 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, but the majority of residents live on the adjacent reserve under the umbrella of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. Early Wednesday morning, all roads in and out of the community were closed after fire crossed them, Beatty said. That includes the highway south to Prince Albert, north to the PBCN community of Sandy Bay, and east to Flin Flon, Man. Wednesday afternoon, McKay said vehicles could travel on some roads, as long as there was an escort by police or other emergency officials. Story continues PBCN Vice-Chief Harold Linklater is helping those staying in Prince Albert. He said the smoke was unbearable and the fires visible when he left Tuesday. "The fire was getting too darn close. We don't want to take any risks," Linklater said. "I'm not feeling too good about it. I'm worried about the people who decided to stay." Linklater said he's worried about the firefighters and others who have remained. "I'm grateful to those who are risking their lives for our community," he said. On Tuesday, roughly 450 people from Pelican Narrows with health concerns were driven to Saskatoon. People with babies, elderly people and people with breathing problems were all taken out of the community. Provincial officials estimate another 1,100 people will be leaving the community Wednesday. Of those, 500 people will be travelling to hotels and shelters in Saskatoon and another 600 people will be staying in hotels in Prince Albert. Anyone who chooses to stay behind is being asked to contact Pelican Narrows security and the RCMP. Prepared to leave Meanwhile, other people in the area are getting ready to flee their homes if they have to. Moira Davis lives in nearby Creighton, and has already started collecting photo albums, insurance information, water and food if her family needs to make a quick escape. "I'm not thinking the fire is coming our way," she told CBC Radio's The Morning Edition. "I'd be more concerned about smoke or if the power lines get compromised and it leaves three communities without power." Davis says the area is extremely dry this year, and it wouldn't take much to set local forests ablaze. "All of our leaves in our backyard have been turning yellow," she said. "It isn't because it's turning cold and it's fall. It's because there's no water." She says the situation can change rapidly and she wants to be prepared for the worst. "Pelican Narrows went from, 'We're getting a few people out who have health conditions,' at 8 p.m. to a full evacuation later that night," said Davis. "It only takes that length of time for something to happen." Smoke warnings spread Meanwhile, Environment Canada says forest fire smoke has covered a large section of northeastern Saskatchewan. Thick smoke is hanging over an area that includes Prince Albert, La Ronge, Hudson Bay, Kamsack, Melfort and Pelican Narrows. As well, the resort village of Jan Lake declared a state of emergency over the smoke and many people have left the area. Anyone inside the warning area with breathing issues are being asked to stay inside with the windows shut. People may get shortness of breath, increased coughing and headaches. The national weather service says much of central and northern Saskatchewan will be experiencing extremely poor air quality and reduced visibility until Thursday. There were 33 active wildfires in the province as of 6 a.m. CST Wednesday. The overall number of forest fires is down compared to the five-year average. The province's chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, is warning all Saskatchewan residents to be aware of smoky outdoor conditions. Shahab said conditions are worst in the northeast region, but the smoke could spread across the entire province in the coming days. Shahab says those with breathing problems or special health concerns should take extra care. "It is important to stay indoors as much as possible. If you're indoors, especially when it's warm, you do have to keep the windows closed to prevent the smoke from coming in," he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, August 31, 2017The Kurdistan Regional Government should immediately investigate todays attack on independent broadcaster NRT in Dohuk, northern Iraq, and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Video footage aired by the channel showed what appeared to be a group of men entering the building and ripping down the stations rooftop sign. Uniformed members of the Kurdish Zeravani brigade seen in the footage do not appear to immediately intervene. NRT deputy newsroom manager Soran Rashid told CPJ that the assailants threatened to burn the Dohuk office down if staff didnt leave. Rashid added that staff in the stations Dohuk and Erbil offices said that they received calls and messages from unidentified people threatening them with assault. Rashid told CPJ that no vital equipment was damaged in the attack. NRT has been reporting on Iraqi Kurdistans preparations for an independence referendum. The channels founder, Shaswar Abdulwahid, is funding a No for Now campaign in the referendum. On August 30, Kurdish authorities blocked NRTs broadcast signal for one week after accusing the channel of not paying broadcast fees, according to reports. The block came after Abdulwahid launched the campaign and affiliated channel separate from NRT to urge voters to reject the upcoming referendum on Iraqi Kurdish independence. Coming on the heels of this weeks blocking of NRTs signal this assault on NRTs Dohuk office points to a pattern of intimidation of a broadcaster that takes a different view of the upcoming independence referendum from that of the government, said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney. Kurdish authorities must live up to their professed commitment to press freedom by ensuring NRT can operate freely. A NRT report quoted the head of the Dohuk bureau, Sipan Amedi, as saying that the group arrived in vehicles marked with the logos of the Kurdistan Regional Governments Ministry of Peshmarga Affairs, which manages the regions defense forces. The report added that the assailants chanted yes to referendum. When CPJ contacted the Kurdistan Regional Governments office in Washington D.C. a press officer said that he is waiting for comment from local officials. CCS approves first phase of Army reforms Published: August 31, 2017 The Union Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved implementation of first phase of reforms pertaining to the Indian Army based on recommendations of Lt Gen Shekatkar Committee. The purpose of reforms is to enhance combat capability and also optimize and rebalance defence expenditure of Indian Army in phased manner by December 2019. It is first ever reform exercise to be undertaken in Indian Army since independence. The first phase of reforms involves Redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers/Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)/ Other Ranks (ORs) and civilians. Optimisation of signals establishments: Its purpose is to include Radio Monitoring Companies, Air Formation Signal Regiments, Corps Air Support Signal Regiments, Composite Signal Regiments and merger of Corps Operating and Engineering Signal Regiments. Its purpose is to include Radio Monitoring Companies, Air Formation Signal Regiments, Corps Air Support Signal Regiments, Composite Signal Regiments and merger of Corps Operating and Engineering Signal Regiments. Restructuring of repair echelons in Army: Its purpose is to include Base Workshops, Advance Base Workshops and Station Workshops in the field Army. Its purpose is to include Base Workshops, Advance Base Workshops and Station Workshops in the field Army. Redeployment of Ordnance echelons: Its purpose is to include Vehicle Depots, Central Ordnance Depots and Ordnance Depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms. Its purpose is to include Vehicle Depots, Central Ordnance Depots and Ordnance Depots apart from streamlining inventory control mechanisms. Other Reforms: Better utilization of Supply and Transport echelons and Animal Transport units. Closure of army postal establishments and military farms in peace locations. Enhancement of standards for recruitment of clerical staff and drivers in Army. Improving efficiency of National Cadet Corps (NCC). Background The Union Ministry of Defence had constituted a Committee of Experts under Chairmanship of Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar for recommending measures to enhance combat capability & rebalancing defence expenditure of Armed Forces with an aim to increase teeth to tail ratio. The committee had submitted around 99 recommendations. So far, Defence Ministry has approved 65 of these recommendations pertaining to Indian Army for implementation. Remaining 34 recommendations pertaining to Indian Navy, Air Force and Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) are likely to be taken up soon. These reforms will be completed in all respects by December 2019. The committee had suggested that, if these recommendations are implemented over the next five years, it can result in savings of up to Rs. 25,000 crore in defence expenditure. Month: Current Affairs - August, 2017 Category: Defence Current Affairs Topics: Army Reforms Cabinet Committee on Security Cabinet Decisions Defence National Shekatkar Committee Latest E-Books India, Switzerland ink two MoUs in the field of Railways Published: August 31, 2017 India and Switzerland have signed two Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for exchanging technical cooperation in the field of Railways. They were signed after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting President of Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard in New Delhi. They also issued Joint press statement. Signed Pacts MoU between Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. MoU between Ministry of Railways and Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of the Swiss Federation on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector. Key Takeaways of Joint press statement FDI is a big part of the Indo-Swiss cooperation. Both countries agreed to enhance the business to business cooperation. Both countries are working on new bilateral investment treaty. India thanked Switzerland for supporting for its bid for MTCR and Nuclear Suppliers Group membership. Switzerland agreed that reforms taken by India will serve good base for expanding cooperation in several areas. Switzerland has accepted automatic exchange of information for transparency in financial transactions with India to effectively combat black money and tax evasion and its parliament is going to pass legislation supporting it by year end. India committed to clean energy and green future and termed climate change as a global challenge. India-Switzerland India and Switzerland have long standing relationship and enjoy robust economic ties. Switzerland is being seventh largest trading partner and eleventh largest foreign investor for India. Both countries share common views on many major global issues. Month: Current Affairs - August, 2017 Topics: black money FDI india-switzerland National NSG Railways Trade Latest E-Books This is a joint engineering effort between Databricks Apache Spark engineering team (Sameer Agarwal and Wenchen Fan) and Huaweis engineering team (Ron Hu and Zhenhua Wang) Apache Spark 2.2 recently shipped with a state-of-art cost-based optimization framework that collects and leverages a variety of per-column data statistics (e.g., cardinality, number of distinct values, NULL values, max/min, average/max length, etc.) to improve the quality of query execution plans. Leveraging these statistics helps Spark to make better decisions in picking the most optimal query plan. Examples of these optimizations include selecting the correct build side in a hash-join, choosing the right join type (broadcast hash-join vs. shuffled hash-join) or adjusting a multi-way join order, among others. In this blog, well take a deep dive into Sparks Cost Based Optimizer (CBO) and discuss how Spark collects and stores these statistics, optimizes queries, and show its performance impact on TPC-DS benchmark queries. A Motivating Example At its core, Sparks Catalyst optimizer is a general library for representing query plans as trees and sequentially applying a number of optimization rules to manipulate them. A majority of these optimization rules are based on heuristics, i.e., they only account for a querys structure and ignore the properties of the data being processed, which severely limits their applicability. Let us demonstrate this with a simple example. Consider a query shown below that filters a table t1 of size 500GB and joins the output with another table t2 of size 20GB. Spark implements this query using a hash join by choosing the smaller join relation as the build side (to build a hash table) and the larger relation as the probe side . Given that t2 is smaller than t1, Apache Spark 2.1 would choose the right side as the build side without factoring in the effect of the filter operator (which in this case filters out the majority of t1s records). Choosing the incorrect side as the build side often forces the system to give up on a fast hash join and turn to sort-merge join due to memory constraints. Apache Spark 2.2, on the other hand, collects statistics for each operator and figures out that the left side would be only 100MB (1 million records) after filtering, and the right side would be 20GB (100 million records). With the correct size/cardinality information for both sides, Spark 2.2 would choose the left side as the build side resulting in significant query speedups. In order to improve the quality of query execution plans, we enhanced the Spark SQL optimizer with detailed statistics information. From the detailed statistics information, we propagate the statistics to other operators as we traverse the query tree upwards. Once propagated, we can estimate the number of output records and output size for each database operator, enabling and optimizing an efficient query plan. Statistics Collection Framework ANALYZE TABLE command CBO relies on detailed statistics to optimize a query plan. To collect these statistics, users can issue these new SQL commands described below: ANALYZE TABLE table_name COMPUTE STATISTICS The above SQL statement can collect table level statistics such as number of rows and table size in bytes. Note that ANALYZE , COMPUTE , and STATISTICS are reserved keywords and can take specific column names as arguments, storing all the table level statistics in the metastore. ANALYZE TABLE table_name COMPUTE STATISTICS FOR COLUMNS column-name1, column-name2, . Note that its not necessary to specify every column of a table in the ANALYZE statementonly those that are used in a filter/join condition, or in group by clauses etc. Types of Statistics The following tables list the detailed statistics information we collect for numeric/date/timestamp and string/binary data types respectively. Given that CBO traverses Sparks LogicalPlan in a post-order fashion, we can propagate these statistics bottom-up to other operators. Although there are numerous operators for which we can estimate their statistics and corresponding costs, here well describe the process to estimate statistics for two of the most complex and interesting operators: FILTER and JOIN . FILTER Selectivity A filter condition is a predicate expression specified in the WHERE clause of a SQL SELECT statement. A predicate can be a compound logical expression with logical AND , OR , NOT operators combining multiple single conditions. A single condition usually has comparison operators such as =, <, <=, >, >= or <=>. Therefore, it can be quite complex to estimate the selectivity for the overall filter expression. Lets examine a few computations of filter selectivity for a compound logical expression comprising of multiple single logical expressions. For logical AND expression, its filter selectivity is the selectivity of left condition multiplied by the selectivity of the right condition, i.e., fs(a AND b) = fs(a) * fs (b) . . For logical-OR expression, its filter selectivity is the selectivity of left condition, plus the selectivity of the right condition, and minus the selectivity of left condition logical-AND right condition, i.e., fs (a OR b) = fs (a) + fs (b) - fs (a AND b) = fs (a) + fs (b) (fs (a) * fs (b)) i.e., For logical-NOT expression, its filter factor is 1.0 minus the selectivity of the original expression, i.e., fs (NOT a) = 1.0 - fs (a) Next, lets examine a single logical condition that can have comparison operators, such as =, <, <=, >, >= or <=>. In order to drive intuition, we will compute the filter selectivity for equality (=) and less than (<) operators for the case with one operand as column and the other operand as a literal. Other comparison operators can be derived similarly. Equal-to (=) condition: Here we check if the literal constant value of the condition falls within the qualified range between the current minimal and maximal column value. This is necessary because the range may change due to a previous condition applied earlier. If the constant value is outside the qualified range, then the filter selectivity is simply 0.0. Otherwise, it is the inverse of the number of distinct values (note that without additional histogram information, we just assume a uniform distribution for the column values). Future releases will leverage histograms to further improve estimation accuracy. Here we check if the literal constant value of the condition falls within the qualified range between the current minimal and maximal column value. This is necessary because the range may change due to a previous condition applied earlier. If the constant value is outside the qualified range, then the filter selectivity is simply 0.0. Otherwise, it is the inverse of the number of distinct values (note that without additional histogram information, we just assume a uniform distribution for the column values). Future releases will leverage histograms to further improve estimation accuracy. Less-than (<) condition: Here we check where the constant literal value of the condition falls. If it is smaller than the current minimal column value, then the filter selectivity is simply 0.0 (and if its larger than the current maximal value, then the selectivity is just 1.0). Otherwise, we compute the filter factor based on the available information. If there is no histogram, we prorate and set filter selectivity to: (constant minimum) / (maximum minimum) . On the other hand, if there is a histogram, we can calculate the filter selectivity by adding up the density of histogram buckets between current column minimal values and the constant value. Also, note that the constant on the right hand side of the condition would now become the new maximal column value. Join Cardinality Now that weve discussed filter selectivity, lets talk about join output cardinality. Before computing the cardinality of a two-way join output, we should already have the output cardinalities of both its child nodes. The cardinality of each join side is no greater than the number of records in the original join table; rather, it is the number of qualified records after applying all execution operators before this join operator. Here we are specifically interested in computing the cardinality of inner join operation as it is often used to derive the cardinalities of other join types. We compute the number of rows of A join B on A.k = B.k as: num(A IJ B) = num(A)*num(B)/max(distinct(A.k),distinct(B.k)) where num(A) is the number of qualified records in table A immediately before join operation, and distinct is the number of distinct values of the join column k. By computing the inner join cardinality, we can similarly derive the join cardinality for other join types as below: Left-Outer Join: num(A LOJ B) = max(num(A IJ B),num(A)) meaning the larger value between the inner join output cardinality and cardinality of the left join outer side A. This is because we still need to factor in every record of the outer side although some of them do not produce join output records. meaning the larger value between the inner join output cardinality and cardinality of the left join outer side A. This is because we still need to factor in every record of the outer side although some of them do not produce join output records. Right-Outer Join: num(A ROJ B) = max(num(A IJ B),num(B)) Full-Outer Join: num(A FOJ B) = num(A LOJ B) + num(A ROJ B) - num(A IJ B) Optimal Plan Selection Now that we are armed with intermediate data statistics, let us discuss how Spark SQL uses this information to pick the best possible query plan. Earlier we explained selecting build side based on accurate cardinality and statistics for a hash join operation. Similarly, with accurate cardinality and size estimation for all operators preceding a join operator, we can better estimate the size of a join side to decide whether or not that side can meet the broadcast criteria. These statistics also help us leverage cost-based join reordering optimizations. We adapted the dynamic programming algorithm in [Selinger 1979] to pick the best m-way join order. To be more specific, when building m-way joins, we only keep the best plan (with the lowest cost) for the same set of m items. For instance, for 3-way joins, we only keep the best join plan with its order for items {A, B, C} among plans (A join B) join C, (A join C) join B and (B join C) join A . Our adapted algorithm considers all combinations including left-deep trees, bushy trees, and right-deep-trees. We also prune cartesian product candidates when building a new plan if there exists no join condition involving references from both left and right subtrees. This pruning strategy significantly reduces the search space. Most database optimizers factor in the CPU and I/O costs separately to estimate the overall operator cost. In Spark, we estimate the cost of a join operator with a simple formula: cost = weight * cardinality + (1.0 - weight) * size The first portion of the join cost formula roughly corresponds to the CPU cost and the second portion roughly corresponds to the I/O cost. The cost of a join tree is the summation of costs of all intermediate joins. Query Benchmark and Analysis We took a non-intrusive approach while adding these cost-based optimizations to Spark by adding a global config spark.sql.cbo.enabled to enable/disable this feature. In Spark 2.2, this parameter is set to false by default. This was a conscious short-term choice keeping in mind that Spark is being used in production at thousands of companies and changing the default behavior might be undesirable for existing production workloads. Configuration and Methodology We ran all TPC-DS benchmark queries with Apache Spark 2.2 on a 4 node cluster (Huawei FusionServer RH2288 with 40 cores and 384 GB memory each) and a scale factor of 1000 (i.e., 1TB data). It took us ~14 minutes to collect the statistics on all 24 tables (and a total of 425 columns). Before examining the end-to-end results, let us first look at a specific TPC-DS query (Q25; shown below) to better understand the impact of cost-based join ordering. This query involves three fact tables: store_sales (2.9 billion rows), store_returns (288 million rows) and catalog_sales (1.44 billion rows). It also involves three dimension tables: date_dim (73K rows), store (1K rows) and item (300K rows). SELECT i_item_id, i_item_desc, s_store_id, s_store_name, sum(ss_net_profit) AS store_sales_profit, sum(sr_net_loss) AS store_returns_loss, sum(cs_net_profit) AS catalog_sales_profit FROM store_sales, store_returns, catalog_sales, date_dim d1, date_dim d2, date_dim d3, store, item WHERE d1.d_moy = 4 AND d1.d_year = 2001 AND d1.d_date_sk = ss_sold_date_sk AND i_item_sk = ss_item_sk AND s_store_sk = ss_store_sk AND ss_customer_sk = sr_customer_sk AND ss_item_sk = sr_item_sk AND ss_ticket_number = sr_ticket_number AND sr_returned_date_sk = d2.d_date_sk AND d2.d_moy BETWEEN 4 AND 10 AND d2.d_year = 2001 AND sr_customer_sk = cs_bill_customer_sk AND sr_item_sk = cs_item_sk AND cs_sold_date_sk = d3.d_date_sk AND d3.d_moy BETWEEN 4 AND 10 AND d3.d_year = 2001 GROUP BY i_item_id, i_item_desc, s_store_id, s_store_name ORDER BY i_item_id, i_item_desc, s_store_id, s_store_name LIMIT 100 Q25 without CBO Let us first look at the unoptimized join tree for Q25 without CBO (shown below). This is also commonly referred to as a left-deep tree. Here, joins #1 and #2 are large fact-to-fact table joins that join the 3 fact tables store_sales , store_returns , and catalog_sales together, and produce very large intermediate tables. Both these joins executed as shuffle joins with the large join #1 outputting 199 million rows. Overall, the query takes 241 seconds when CBO is disabled. Q25 with CBO On the other hand, with cost-based optimization, Spark creates an optimal join plan that reduces intermediary data size (shown below). In this case, Spark creates a bushy tree instead of a left-deep tree. When CBO is enabled, Spark joins the fact tables with their corresponding date_dim dimension table first (before attempting any fact-to-fact joins). Avoiding large fact-to-fact joins means avoiding large expensive shuffles. In this query, this reduces the intermediate data size to about 1/6th (compared to the previous case). As a result, Q25 took only 71 seconds, representing a speedup of 3.4X. TPC-DS Query Performance Now that weve established an intuition behind where the improvements come from, let us look at the end-to-end TPC-DS query results. The figure below shows query times for all TPC-DS queries with and without CBO: First of all, note that about half of TPC-DS benchmark queries do not show performance change. This is because there is no change in the query plan when running queries with or without CBO (i.e., even without CBO, existing heuristics in Sparks Catalyst optimizer were able to optimize these queries well). For the remaining queries, while there were improvements across the board, whats perhaps more interesting is the set of 16 queries where CBO brought substantial changes to the query plan and improved performance by more than 30% (shown below). Overall, we observed that the geometric mean speedup for these 16 queries was around 2.2X with Q72 achieving a maximal speedup of 8X. Conclusion To recap, this blog post highlighted various aspects of the new cost-based optimizer in Apache Spark 2.2. We discussed details of the statistics collection framework, cardinality propagation for filters and joins, the cost-based optimizations they enable (build side selection and multi-way join reordering), and its performance impact on TPC-DS benchmark queries. In the past year, weve resolved a total of 32 sub-tasks spanning over 50+ patches and 7000+ line of code under the CBO umbrella JIRA SPARK-16026. That said, leveraging cost-based optimizations in distributed databases is an extremely complex problem and this is just a first step in this direction. In future releases, we plan on continuing work in this direction by adding more complex statistics (histograms, count-min sketches, partition-level statistics etc.) and refining our cost formulas. We are excited about the progress made and hope you will enjoy the improvements. We encourage you to try out the new Cost-Based Optimizer in Apache Spark 2.2! Read More You can view our Spark Summit 2017 talk: Cost Based Optimizer in Spark 2.2 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) The Alabama Supreme Court has set execution dates for two death row inmates. Jeffrey Lynn Borden is set to die by lethal injection on Oct. 5. Borden was convicted of killing his estranged wife, Cheryl Borden, and her father, Roland Harris, during a Christmas Eve gathering in Jefferson County in 1993. Torrey Twane McNabb is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 19. McNabb was convicted of killing Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon in 1997. Court records show that juries recommended the death sentence by a 10-2 vote in each case and judges agreed. The state attorney generals office asked the court to set execution dates for both men earlier this month. Alabama has executed two death row inmates so far in 2017. Alabama sets execution dates for 2 inmates; both set to die in October The Alabama Supreme Court has scheduled October execution dates for 2 death row inmates. Jeffrey Borden is set to be executed on October 5, and Torrey Twane McNabb on October 19. The Alabama Attorney General's office had asked the state's highest court earlier this month to set execution dates for 3 inmates-- Borden, McNabb, and Doyle Lee Hamm. No execution date was set for Hamm. McNabb has spent the last 18 years on death row, after being convicted of fatally shooting Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon in September 1997. McNabb was convicted on 2 capital murder counts-- 1 for killing Gordon while he was on duty, and 1 for killing him as Gordon sat in his patrol car. McNabb also was found guilty of 2 additional counts of attempted murder. Borden has been on death row for 22 years, and was convicted of the murders of Cheryl Borden and her father Roland Harris. The murders took place at a family gathering in Gardendale on Christmas Eve 1993. Court records show Borden travelled from Huntsville to Gardendale to bring his 3 children to Cheryl Borden, his legally separate wife and the children's mother. After Cheryl Borden arrived, Jeffrey Borden shot her in the back of her head outside the house in the presence of the children. Borden then shot Roland Harris, his wife's father, in the back as Harris tried to run into the house. AG Steve Marshall said earlier this month that the state does not anticipate any problems securing enough drugs to execute the men. "Yes, we have the means," he said, when asked if the state would be able to follow through. John Palombi, Assistant Federal Defender for the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama who represents both McNabb and Borden, commented on both execution dates: "It was premature for the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for Mr. McNabb. Mr. McNabb has a pending case in Montgomery Circuit Court challenging the legality of his death sentence after the Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida... This case was filed long before the State requested an execution date for Mr. McNabb, and the Circuit Court previously indicated that it wanted a hearing on the issue," he said. "Jeffrey Borden is severely mentally ill, and has been since at least the age of 17, when he sustained a serious head injury that left him in a coma for four days and permanently damaged his judgment and ability to control his impulses. The same principles that exempt the intellectually disabled and people who committed crimes before the age of 18 from being executed apply to cases like Mr. Borden's, where the individual who committed the crime had a diminished ability to control himself or understand the full implications of his actions," Palombi said. Alabama has executed 2 death row inmates in 2017 - Tommy Arthur on May 25 and Robert Melson on June 8. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "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 Associated Press, August 30, 2017: al.com, August 31, 2017 Iran Human Rights (AUG 29 2017): At least two prisoners were reportedly hanged at Ardabil Central Prison on drug related charges. According to close sources, the executions of "Fardin Hosseini" and "Massoud Vaizadeh" were carried out on the morning of Wednesday August 30. Fardin and Massoud were reportedly held in prison for more than four years before they were executed. The two men were reportedly convicted in the same file and sentenced to death each for the charge of manufacturing three kilograms of crystal meth. "Fardin was a chemical engineer and had no previous criminal record," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights. The execution of prisoners with drug related charges continues in Iran at the same time that the Iranian Parliament has approved a bill to stop drug related executions. The bill must be approved by Iran's Guardian Council before it can be passed. Sunni Prisoner Hanged on Moharebeh Charges Iran Human Rights (AUG 30 2017): Sunni prisoner Seyed Jamal Seyed Mousavi was reportedly hanged at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison on Wednesday August 23, but his famliy did not find out until Sunday August 27. According to close sources, it was the prison authorities who confirmed Seyed Jamal's execution to his family. The day before his execution, Seyed Jamal's family were reportedly able to meet him for a brief visit. Close sources say the Iranian authorities buried Seyed Jamal's body in a location unknown, even to his family. A week before his execution, Seyed Jamal was held in solitary confinement, but he was returned to his cell on Tuesday August 22, only to be taken back to solitary confinement on the same day and executed on Wednesday. Seyed Jamal Seyed Mousavi was reportedly arrested in 2008 by the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj and was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court for the charge of "Enmity against god through cooperation with Salafi groups". | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde A New Zealand court on Thursday rejected an appeal from a man challenging the government's decision to extradite him to China in the 1st case of its kind for the Pacific nation. New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams had twice ordered that South Korean-born New Zealand resident Kyung Yup Kim could be sent to China to face murder charges, and both times Kim had appealed against the decision in the High Court. Kim has denied the murder accusation, according to court documents. Judge Jillian Mallon, who had accepted Kim's first appeal last year, said that when Adams reconsidered she had sought extra information that allowed her to conclude Kim's rights would be protected in China. A lawyer for Kim told the High Court in April that New Zealand's government could not rely on assurances from China that the man would not be tortured or receive the death penalty. New Zealand agreed in December 2015 to extradite Kim to Shanghai on murder charges after the body of a 20-year-old woman, who had been strangled, was found in a Shanghai field in 2009. China's 1st extradition request to New Zealand comes as it is trying to drum up international support for returning to China corruption suspects who have gone abroad. China has struggled to enlist Western countries in its efforts, with many proving reluctant to sign extradition treaties with China, pointing to its poor rights record and opaque criminal prosecution process. Kim can appeal again. His lawyer, Tony Ellis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment but earlier this year he told Reuters his client would likely continue to appeal the decision. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde Reuters, August 31, 2017 The U.S. Department of States Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Muhammad al-Jawlani, leader of the al-Nusrah Front, or ANF, terrorist group. This is the first Rewards for Justice reward offer for a leader of al-Nusrah Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida. In 2013, al-Jawlani pledged allegiance to al-Qaida and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri after he had a public falling out with ISIS. In 2016, in a video posted online, al-Jawlani praised al-Qaida and al-Zawahiri and claimed the ANF was changing its name to Jabhat Fath Al Sham. Under al-Jawlanis leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians. In April 2015, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In June 2015, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in a Druze village in Idlib province, Syria. In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. ANF remains al-Qaidas affiliate in Syria and Jawlani remains the leader of ANF, which is at the core of HTS. In 2014, ANF was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department. The same year, the UN added ANF to its sanctions list. Since its inception in 1984, the Rewards for Justice program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. For more information about al-Jawlani go to www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information about al-Jawlani to contact the Rewards for Justice office via e-mail on the website: info@rewardsforjustice.net; by phone, 1-800-877-3927 in North America; or by mail, Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA. All information will be kept strictly confidential. The Entrepenas resevoir in Guadalajara. David Ramos (Getty Images) More information The drought punishing Spain Reservoirs without water, expansive desertlike fields, lost crops, and wildfires. These are all symptoms of the persistent drought in Spain. The reservoirs are at their lowest levels since the 1990s. Those along the Segura river, which flows through Albacete, Murcia, Alicante and Almeria, have reached alarming lows. The European Environment Agency published a report early this year warning about the impact that climate change would have on the Mediterranean region of the continent, which is more exposed to global warming. Many of these effects are already underway: reduced rainfall, wildfires, and heat waves that increase demand for air conditioning. The reservoirs at the head of the Tagus River are also at rock-bottom levels. Residents who live near the Entrepenas and Buendia reservoirs, in Guadalajara province, want to protect their most precious asset. But droughts are not just a Spanish problem. It is spreading all over the world. According to the United Nations, by 2050 at least a quarter of the planet's population will live in countries with a scarcity of this vital resource. English version by Debora Almeida. As I wrap up my final week of an incredible internship at EL PAIS (and a life-changing summer abroad), preparing to return to the United States for my final year of college, I cant help but fixate on one of my favorite films of all time: Mike Nichols 1967 classic The Graduate. More specifically, Im compelled to think of its opening title sequence, in which Dustin Hoffman, returning home from college, drifts along a moving walkway against a bland white wall at LAX airport, set to Simon and Garfunkels The Sound of Silence. The opening scene is a portending metaphor for how adolescent life in America can be viewed as a forced pathway a straight line, on which you are almost vacuously propelled forward from the time you are born, with little purpose and little choice for direction only to be thrown out into the wild upon graduating from college. Henry Hahn at the EL PAIS office in Madrid. Though the film was made 50 years ago, the statement feels more pertinent than ever. Through the succeeding decades, it seems that the capitalist obsession on fixed paths in America has only intensified that the infamous walkway of adolescence has only been elongated and accelerated. Today, American students seeking admission to prestigious universities are advised to spend their high school summers engaged in an assortment of jobs, internships, and academic programs. The expectation continues through college summers, as students strive to secure coveted internships to bolster their resumes in time for graduation. The ideal maneuver is to land a gig at a large corporation the summer before your senior year say, at a bank, a consulting firm, or a tech company in the hopes of being given a return offer on your last day, saving you from the job search frenzy of senior year. Hence, the smoothest of transitions that allows the moving walkway to carry on, unimpeded. After years of adhering to the process myself, I eventually burnt out. Just as I was approaching my final college summer the most pivotal one of a young job seekers life, I rebelled and sought an unpaid internship in Spain a land stereotyped in my mind by fiesta and siesta. Hahn (c), on one of many weekend trips in Spain this summer, visits Pamplona during Sanfermines. But during the months Ive spent here, Ive also gotten to see a more nuanced picture. Through the friends Ive made, Ive been given a privileged perspective on the difficulties surrounding the culture of work for young Spaniards. While, by contrast, theres little to no pressure here for students to work internships during their college summers, whether or not they choose to do so ultimately has little impact on the reality they face upon graduating: in some sectors, its nearly impossible to find jobs straight out of college. Two of my initial roommates when I arrived in June were biology students who had just graduated from the Autonomous University of Madrid, which boasts the best program in the field. One had just received her undergraduate degree, the other, his masters. Both were working in coffee shops. Lacking nearly perfect grades, they were left jobless and contemplating grad school (yet, understandably, struggling to find the funds to pay for it). They resentfully attributed the absence of available jobs to a lack of investment in the sciences by the ruling PP party. When I arrived in June, two of my roommates had just graduated with degrees in biology. They were both working in coffee shops Others I met, who did manage to secure work (usually in more business-oriented sectors), seemed only slightly less unfortunate plagued with low wages and long working hours. As I learned from them, many companies try to pigeonhole young prospects into internships or part-time roles for as long as possible to save on costs (typical intern salaries in Spain range from 600 to 900 per month). Given the higher-than-average unemployment in Spain as a result of the 2007 economic downturn, the market of young professionals is easily exploited. One friend told me that its almost impossible to secure a full-time job with less than two years experience as an intern first. If you try to switch companies in the middle of this process, youre often forced to start from square one. As a result, he ended up staying on an extra year as an intern at a company he didnt enjoy working at to avoid demotion. He also took issue with the quality of work offered to young employees here. While applying for internships at many large American tech companies, he noticed that their Spanish branches often merely wanted interns to do dirty work number crunching and basic data analysis a notable contrast from the more educational and holistic internship programs offered in the US and elsewhere. Another friend, working a low-salary job in Spain from Sweden, noted the difference in the daily schedule of a Spanish office. While Spaniards are accustomed to working long hours often 12 hour days from 9am to 9pm they are typically less productive, taking long lunch and coffee breaks. Though he didnt necessarily enjoy this alternative system, he said the group mentality of his office made it difficult to do anything other than go along with it. If you wanted to be accepted socially by your co-workers, you were staying until 9pm. Many Spanish companies pigeonhole graduates into internships, paying as little as 600 a month Though he had hoped to transition to another job with a better salary, he was unsuccessful in his search and forced to return home. Even a bachelors degree and EU papers, fluency in three languages (English, Spanish, and Swedish) and previous work experience in the country were apparently not enough to expect a living wage in a high-skill job. Nor can young Spaniards easily just pick up and move to another European country. I initially had just assumed that EU nations function exactly as states do in America, but its not a perfect analogy. Without the right connections or superior grades, its often difficult for a Spanish student to secure a well-paid, high-skill job in another country without prior work experience first. So moving abroad after school often just means waiting tables in a different country. While some remain optimistic despite the difficulties they face, the recent biology graduate had a terse and despairing tone when I inquired about her possible options. Were screwed. Were stuck here, and were screwed. Addressing my situation directly, she continued: America may not be a perfect country, but you have no idea how much I wish I could have been raised there. Naturally, the comment struck me. There I was sharing a tinto de verano with my friend at a quiet bodega late on a Wednesday night (something I would never do back home), enchanted by this country and its way of life, but also, in that very instant, humbled and reminded that I was only a tourist. Perhaps I had taken for granted all the opportunities I had been afforded back home. If you want to be accepted socially by your co-workers, that can mean staying at work until 9pm Still, I remain perplexed and defiant. Can there really be no compromise between the rigorous grind in America, which I felt deprived me of my adolescence, and the system in Spain, which limits many adolescents in their ability to transition to adulthood? (Most Spaniards live at home with their parents until their late 20s, a considerable number of them not by choice.) Regardless, I find myself in quite the predicament. I would love to return to Spain when I finish school. Its been a remarkable experience, and I dont think Ive had enough. But I only want to come back on the pretense of having a comfortable job an aim that seems unattainable as a Spaniard, let alone an American lacking EU papers. Perhaps its time to step off the moving walkway for real, entering the real world without concern for how much money Ill make and without an immediate answer to what Im going to do with my life. Well have to see if the work-obsessed American in me is up to such a task. I still have a year to decide. Until then, Ill just be drifting along like Dustin Hoffman bleakly contemplating the void that not only awaits me, but that awaits many of the friends I have made here as well. Despite whatever sobering realities it has forced me to confront, the time Ive spent in Spain and the people Ive met here are far too special to ever forget. The Lady of Elche in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. CARLOS ROSILLO Someone at Spains National Archaeological Museum (MAN) has some explaining to do after a visitor posted a video on Twitter on Friday of an ant crawling around inside the glass case supposedly airtight housing the Lady of Elche, a national treasure dating back to the fifth century BC named after the town in Valencia where it was discovered and that some in the Mediterranean region want returned. On Tuesday, Charles Mulet, a senator from Valencia, told the regional parliament there that the incident proves the Madrid museum is not fit to look after the sculpture and that it should be returned to Valencia. You can silence an ant, but not the whole anthill Campaign slogan to have the Lady of Elche returned None of the minimal protocols were followed by the museum, said Mulet, explaining the ant's entry into the case. That would never have happened to the Lady of Elche in her place of origin, he said. Mulet continued: this is a symptom of the greed of a centralist government that believes only people in the capital should enjoy important archaeological finds, despite being a city that has not contributed anything significant to the museums collection. In short, said Mulet, if Madrid cannot look after the sculpture, then it should be returned to Valencia. The MAN, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport said in a joint statement that they have begun to check the cases housing artifacts and have increased pest control following the incident. According to the statement, the sculpture is made of inorganic material (limestone) and cannot be affected by insects. In any case, conservation experts at the museum have carried out a review of the piece and say it is in perfect condition. The director of the MAN, Andres Carretero, said: technicians and museum staff acted quickly. As soon as they detected the presence of the small creature in the case, they notified the conservation department to proceed with its removal. Subsequently, a rapid disinfection treatment was carried out. Since then, no other insects have been detected in any of the exhibition facilities in the museum. A comprehensive review will be carried out to find out how the ant entered the showcase The Lady of Elche was found in L'Alcudia in 1897 and bought by a French archaeologist. It was first displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. In 1941, it was moved to the Prado Museum in Madrid and later moved to the National Archaeological Museum. Regional politicians in Valencia have long argued it should be returned. On August 4, the mayor of Elche, Carlos Gonzalez, announced he had asked Madrid to have the sculpture displayed during the first half of 2018 in the town. As expected, the answer was negative, citing security measures. Then the ant showed up. Gonzalez, on his personal Twitter account, broadcast a video saying, We do not know if it is a matter of concern, or just a mistake, but we need an explanation and guarantee that the Lady is properly protected and preserved." Visit Elche, a tourism organization based in the Valencian city of Alicante, has launched a social media campaign calling for the return of the bust to its original home, saying: You can silence an ant, but not the whole anthill. English version by Debora Almeida. One of the memorials to the victims of the terror attack in Barcelona. MARTA PEREZ (EFE) Authorities in Catalonia admitted on Thursday that the northeast regions police force, the Mossos dEsquadra, was warned about a possible terrorist attack on the La Rambla boulevard this summer. On August 17, a van was driven at high speed down Barcelonas central La Rambla boulevard, killing 14 people. The Catalan authorities say they received multiple warnings in the first half of 2017 of possible attacks in Barcelona Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the head of the Mossos dEsquadra, Josep Lluis Trapero, and Catalonias chief of interior affairs, Joaquim Forn, said that the warning did not come from the CIA or any counter-insurgency agency in the United States, but refused to reveal the sources. The warning was not very credible, said Forn, adding that it was passed on to state authorities, which didnt see it as credible. Spanish counter-terrorism sources had previously confirmed that US intelligence warned Spain that the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) was planning terrorist attacks against busy tourist spots in Barcelona, specifically La Rambla, according to the text, which has been published by El Periodico de Cataluna and seen by El PAIS. On May 25, the warning was passed on to the Mossos dEsquadra, the regional police force in Catalonia and the body tasked with counter-terrorism in the northeastern region, according to the same sources. The Catalan government has denied receiving any warning. The warning said: Uncorroborated information of unknown veracity from end of May 2017 indicated that the Islamic State of Iraq and ash Sham (ISIS) were planning to carry out non-specified terrorist attacks during the summer against busy tourist spots in Barcelona, Spain, specifically, La Rambla street. The warning mentioned uncorroborated information of unknown veracity Spanish counter-terrorism sources say the document was sent by US intelligence to Spains National Intelligence Center, the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Intelligence Center Against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) on May 25. As soon as the warning was received from US intelligence, it was passed on by the National Police to Manel Castellvi, the head of Information at the Mossos, according to the sources cited. The warning did not provide telephone numbers, names or any other lead that might have been followed up to prevent the attack on August 17. The US agency that made the warning points out that the information is only for intelligence use and can only be used for certain purposes. This information is provided for intelligence purposes as part of an effort to develop potential investigative leads. It cannot be used in any way that would expose or compromise the sources or methods of intelligence. It cannot be used in relation to judicial proceedings externally or nationally, or for other legal, judicial or administrative ends, reads the document. Forn said that the regional police in Catalonia had been receiving warnings about possible attacks in the months prior to the events of August 17 in different points of Catalonia, among them places of worship, infrastructure, concerts, sporting events, and places where large numbers of people congregate, such as La Rambla and the Sagrada Familia. Trapero said that the warning about an attack on La Rambla was received and evaluated, and was discussed with state officials Enric Millo, the central governments delegate in Catalonia, said the information existed and was shared, as always, with the security forces. Millo did not specify what level of credibility was given to the warning. Ada Colau, the mayor of Barcelona, said that City Hall never had any knowledge of a warning about a possible terrorist attack. Speaking to radio station Cadena Ser, she said that if she wasnt informed, it was because the regional government gave no credibility to the threat. English version by Nick Lyne. The Mercedes that Lady Diana was traveling in on the night of the crash. PIERRE BOUSSEL (AFP) I touched her face. She had the face of an angel. I thought: The Angel of Death. Very beautiful, recalls one of the last people to have seen Princess Diana alive. An ambulance had just brought her into Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris in critical condition, following a violent car crash inside the Pont de lAlma tunnel. She was 36 years old. For years, Sami Nair said nothing about the events of that night The speaker was, back then, a 51-year-old intellectual who had temporarily gone into politics. On that summer night, he was the highest-ranking official at the French Interior Ministry. On August 31, 1997, he was on duty when he received a telephone call: there had been an accident, and it looked like there was a celebrity among the victims. For years, Sami Nair said nothing about the events of that night. His position at the time, as adviser to Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement, entailed a duty to preserve the secrecy surrounding a period of just a few hours that would later spawn a multitude of wild conspiracy theories. It was a little-known episode in the life of this essayist, philosopher, sociologist, university professor, politician and EL PAIS columnist. But his name crops up in some of the last testimonies of Lady Dis last hours a confusing, alcohol-infused period of time that ended in a car chase to get away from paparazzi who wanted a shot of the celebrity with her lover Dodi Fayed, the son of an Egyptian billionaire. Also in the car were a bodyguard and the chauffeur, who had had too much to drink. Lady Di at an event in Bonn in 1987. AP Nair has not forgotten those hours in which he held the responsibility of crafting the French states official response to an unexpected crisis whose effects are still being felt two decades later. Diana Spencer, who came from an old aristocratic family, had married Prince Charles, heir apparent to the British throne, in 1981. She was 20 years old; he was 32. It was an unhappy marriage from the start, but like the biographer Tina Brown notes in The Diana Chronicles, happily ever after will never sell as well as everything has gone pear-shaped. Not for the media and not for the public in general. The story of the Princess of Wales was a reality show from day one. The stars of the show were, on one hand, a royal heir with stiff manners and his equally starchy clan a bunch who felt uncomfortable with the mass media and celebrity culture, and who preferred to remain ensconced in their archaic ways and traditions. On the other, a woman who quickly learned how to handle the media, with little formal education and who considered herself not too bright, but who oozed emotional intelligence and empathy. The Queen of Hearts and The Peoples Princess is how former prime minister Tony Blair called her after her death. I was later offered a lot of money to talk, especially by the Americans, but I never accepted Sami Nair There was a fairy-tale wedding; then the relationship soured; then the couples dirty linen was aired in public; then came the separation and divorce...In the days before Twitter, Instagram and social media, the tabloids covered the story exhaustively, day after day, minute after minute, for all of 16 years up until Dianas tragic death, the Queens cold reaction, the mourning by millions of Britons, and the princesss unofficial rise to sainthood status. She proved that the royal family, as an institution, was out of touch with the times, recalls Denis MacShane, a Labor politician who was an MP for Rotherham at the time. There was an outpouring of grief that I had never seen in England before: we are not an emotional people. It was like something out of the Middle Ages. Thousands and thousands of people were crying. I remember phoning the Queens private secretary and saying: Look, if she doesnt come down [Queen Elizabeth was on holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland] and if the royal flag is not at half-staff soon, within a week were going to have a republic. When he got a call about an accident inside a tunnel near the Seine, and was told that the celebrity in question might be the Princess of Wales, Sami Nair had never yet seen a photograph of Diana. He had never been interested in royal affairs. He woke up Philippe Masoni, the police prefect in Paris, and 10 minutes later the latter called back with the confirmation: It was Diana all right. EL PAIS Magazine dedicated a cover to Lady Diana in 1997. Nair then called the minister, who was not in Paris at the time. Diana was still alive at that point, trapped inside the Mercedes at the site of the crash. Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, were dead. Diana and the bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, clung to life. Nair went down to the hospital. It would still be 45 minutes before Diana was brought in. Nair and Chevenement were waiting. The ambulance showed up between 1.30am and 1.45am. The driver and a nurse, together with Nair and Chevenement, took her out of the back of the vehicle. Her face was angelical, recalls Nair in a telephone conversation. She was very pale. Blonde. It was getting close to 2am and very few people knew about the accident yet. The British ambassador, Sir Michael Jay, who did not speak a word of French, was also at the hospital. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin was informed later. President Jacques Chirac could not be located that entire night or the next morning, a fact that spawned a vaudevillian subplot to the Diana tragedy. We never did manage to get through to the head of state, writes Aquilino Morelle, then an advisor to Jospin, in his book Labdication. Some theories hold that he was spending the night with a woman outside the Elysee. While doctors did what they could to save Dianas life, Nair and the others waited in a nearby room. At 4am, they were told that she was dead. The royal wedding in 1981. AFP The ambassador started to weep like a child, says Nair. We called Jospin and he asked us to warn the Queen. Nair got in touch with the Queens head of protocol. Tony Blair already knew. So did US President Bill Clinton, who had phoned Jospin even before Diana was dead. It was now 4.30am. Dodi Fayeds father had arrived, and Nair was in charge of receiving him. I saw a very tall, pale man, who carried himself in an extraordinary, noble manner. He said: It is fate; God wanted it this way. He asked to see her. The minister acquiesced. He went in to see her. He placed a hand over her forehead. Nair and Chevenement prepared the statement to the press a piece of paper that he still keeps, as many other documents relevant to that night and he remained inside the hospital until Prince Charles showed up. By now, Dianas death had ceased being a French matter. It was now a British issue, a global issue. In the following hours, the first displays of grief would begin in Britain. There was a week of catharsis that probably transformed the British monarchy forever. Dianas death was a wake-up call for the monarchy: they had to be closer to the people, says MacShane. It was part of an extraordinary change in Britain that probably began with the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. The Britain of Dunquerque, of Empire, of Winston Churchill, of conventional mores, in which gays were sent to prison that Britain died very quickly. London became a more international city, more modern and gay. We switched from an industrial Britain to a financial Britain, with tremendous differences between rich and poor; a country committed to building Europe, and with a young prime minister from the Labor Party [Tony Blair] who practically incorporated the Diana myth into his own idea of the country. The world is observing the 20th anniversary of Lady Di's death. Diana and her death captured the zeitgeist. The reverse of the coin is the self-absorbed Britain of the Brexit era. Sami Nair, who just a few hours earlier had barely known who Diana was, quicky understood the implications of what had just happened. I immediately realized its impact. My first reaction was to keep quiet: to avoid the journalists. I was later offered a lot of money to talk, especially by the Americans, but I never accepted it, he says. One day, he adds with a smile, I will write a book titled My night with Lady Diana. English version by Susana Urra. Details added (first version posted on 12:34) Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 Trend: The illegal visit of Canadian MP to Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia is another political provocation of Armenia, said Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev. This illegal visit of Canadian parliament member Tony Clement to the occupied Azerbaijani territories is organized by the Armenian National Committee of Canada and the Armenian lobby, with which Tony Clement had close relations as an exchange for financial reward, said Hajiyev. This person, who has repeatedly been accused of bribery and corruption, having visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in exchange for financial reward, is trying to hide behind the veil of lies and justify the aggression and the bloody policy of ethnic cleansing committed by Armenia against Azerbaijan, noted the spokesperson. Tony Clement also tries to get financial support from the Armenian lobby of Canada in future elections as an exchange for this services, added Hajiyev. According to him, such actions, accompanied by violation of laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, norms and principles of international law, as well as moral, ethical and humanistic values, should first of all be viewed as contempt for Canadian voters and the traditions of parliamentarism in Canada. We hope that the relevant ethics committee of Canadas parliament will consider Clement's actions outside the country, said the Azerbaijani official. He noted that Armenias Foreign Ministry deliberately introduces NGO Head Majed Al Shafi, who accompanied Tony Clement during this visit, as a member of the Canadian parliament. We call upon Majed Al Shafi, who deals with the rights of religious minorities, to draw attention to the fact that Armenia has become the only monoethnic state in the world. Armenia subjected to ethnic cleansing more than 300,000 Muslims living in Armenia, persecutes the Yazidis, Assyrians and Russian Molokans living in this country, and also shows intolerance towards representatives of other Christian churches and communities, said Hajiyev. He added that Armenia has completely destroyed the material and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in the occupied territories. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has expressed its concern and discontent to the Canadian Foreign Ministry and parliament. The names of Tony Clement and Majed Al Shafi will be included in the list of undesirable persons. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 Trend: Armenian Foreign Ministrys statement about the alleged ceasefire violation on Aug. 31 during the OSCE monitoring in Azerbaijans Tovuz district on the border between the two countries is disinformation, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev said. International observers, who participated in the monitoring, didnt report any ceasefire violations, he added. This is another provocation of Armenia in anticipation of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers meeting under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs within the UN General Assembly session in New York, Hajiyev said. Armenia is trying to artificially create escalation and negatively affect the peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, he noted. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. I extend my cordial congratulations to you and all the people of Kyrgyzstan on the occasion of the national holiday of your country Independence Day, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter. Im confident that the traditions of good friendship ties and mutual support that bind our nations will continue to be a firm foundation for developing and strengthening mutually fruitful relations between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, said the letter. Azerbaijani president also wished Atambayev the best of health, success and the brotherly people of Kyrgyzstan peace and prosperity Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 Trend: It is an absolute necessity that the key principles enshrined in the Global Strategy for the EUs Foreign and Security Policy, particularly those pertaining to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders, are equally respected by all states, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. He was addressing a meeting of foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries in Budapest Aug. 31. Only living up to the principles identified as the key elements of the European security order will determine the EUs credibility and influence it for the years ahead, according to Mammadyarov. He noted that today, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of four out of six Eastern Partnership countries continue to be undermined due to the existing conflicts. It is already third decade that Armenia a member of the Eastern Partnership has been using force against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another member of the EaP and continues to keep one-fifth of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territories under military occupation. Armenia carried out notorious ethnic cleansing on all seized lands of Azerbaijan, said the Azerbaijani FM. The unlawful presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the territories of Azerbaijan is the major impediment to political settlement of the conflict, he added. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 Trend: Azerbaijan is interested in building its relations with the EU based on mutually agreed priorities, said the countrys Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. He made the remarks Aug. 31 in Budapest at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) and the Eastern Partnership countries. Azerbaijan has been a reliable EU partner and the number of its strategic partners among the EU member states and V4 Group is also growing, Mammadyarov noted. We are interested in progressing our bilateral track through speedy negotiations on a new strategic agreement with the EU. Since official launch of the negotiations back in February, we have engaged in a productive and constructive dialogue within different blocks of the agreement, he said. The FM further noted that successful implementation of readmission and visa facilitation agreements should pave the way for launching the dialogue on visa liberalization between the EU and Azerbaijan. The European Council adopted a mandate for the European Commission and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan in November 2016. 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. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.1 Trend: President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has sent a letter of congratulation to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries. "It is with immense pleasure that I would like to note that for a quarter of century friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries has been rapidly developing and growing year by year," the Kazakh leader said. "Discussions held during my official visit to your country in April ensured the opening of new boundaries in relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and determined new priorities of cooperation in various areas. The implementation of the reached agreements will give an additional boost to the development of strategic cooperation between our countries." "Dear Ilham Heydarovich, taking this opportunity, I wish you the best of health, happiness and success in your state activity and the brotherly people of Azerbaijan peace and prosperity," Nursultan Nazarbayev said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Paris will host meetings of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, and the Monitoring Committee on Sept. 4-7, said the press service of Azerbaijans parliament. The meetings will be attended by a group of Azerbaijani MPs, led by chairman of the parliaments International and Interparliamentary Relations Committee, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, Samad Seyidov. The Azerbaijani delegation will include MPs Sahiba Gafarova, Vusal Huseynov and Sabir Hajiyev. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: Visitors from Arab countries and Russia topped the list of tourists traveling to Azerbaijan in summer 2017, Chairman of Azerbaijan Tourism Association Nahid Bagirov told Trend. In January-June 2017, 1,199,667 foreigners visited Azerbaijan, which is 24 percent more compared to 1H16, according to him. In the first half of 2017, Azerbaijan was visited by 374,491 tourists from Russia, 254,425 tourists from Georgia, 180,103 tourists from Iran, 44,196 tourists from the UAE, 27,342 tourists from Ukraine and 19,355 tourists from Iraq. Bagirov also noted that direct flights will be operated from Baku to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah and Thailand's Bangkok starting September, which will help the tourist flow grow during that month. The airport closest to Mecca is located in Jeddah. Therefore, pilgrims from Azerbaijan will also use this destination, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 29 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Baku International Sea Trade Port in Azerbaijans Alat settlement will make a great contribution not only to the countrys economy, but also to the economy of the whole region, Elvyn Masassya, head of the Indonesia Port Corporation II (IPC), told Trend. He said that his current visit to Baku is logical continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual cooperation signed between IPC and Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC. Azerbaijan and Indonesia have many opportunities and directions for cooperation, said Masassya. He noted that, he visited the new port and was very impressed with the planned introduction of a new concept, called the "integrative port" in Indonesia, at the new port in Baku. The "integrative port" concept envisages integration between the main activity of port, activity of terminals and the industrial zone, he said, adding that, Baku is following a new trend in the port industry of the world. Masassya noted that Azerbaijan has strategic geographical location. Azerbaijans proximity to the Caspian Sea and the countries of Central Asia makes it possible to transport a great number of goods, he said. The availability of the port will help maximize the benefits of the geographical location, he noted, adding that, it will be possible to distribute goods from the port through the Central Asian countries to the east and back to the west. The Indonesian representative also recommended the use of the "digital port" concept in Baku International Sea Trade Port. All activities should be automated, because its required by customers, by the port network, and by time itself, he said. The Baku port could research the "digital port" concept, which make the work of the port more efficient, productive and integrated with other ports, said Masassya. He added that the sides have a lot of plans for cooperation. First of all, Indonesia can share the experience and provide technical assistance, especially in terms of port technologies that can be implemented in Baku; at the same time, we can cooperate on the Baku ports terminals, said Masassya. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Opening a customs laboratory of the Central Customs Examination Department in Azerbaijans Zagatala district will have a positive effect on production of hazelnuts, Ismayil Orujov, chairman of Hazelnut Producers and Exporters Association, told Trend. The lab is designed to ensure enhancing the export potential of domestically produced hazelnuts and products made of them, improving business environment and facilitating the work of entrepreneurs. This will significantly speed up the process of customs clearance of exported products, according to Orujov. Before, we carried out the customs clearance in Baku in the laboratory of the main customs office, and this took several days. As a result, our products were exported abroad with delays. This reduced our competitiveness, as the customs clearance in the neighboring Georgia, for example, took one day. In addition, it affected the cost of our products, he said. The Zagatala laboratory allows carrying out customs clearance within 1-2 days, which will make it possible to deliver products abroad faster and increase their competitiveness, Orujov added. Hazelnuts were Azerbaijans most exported agricultural product in 2016. The total volume of sales on foreign markets reached 105 million manats. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: A mission of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will visit Azerbaijan in September, reads a message posted on the ADB website. The mission for the Subprogram 1 of the Improving Governance and Public Sector Efficiency Program will be in Baku from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2. The missions aim is to collect data for preparation of the subprogram, within which ADB plans to allocate $300 million to Azerbaijan. ADB was founded in 1966. Sixty-seven states are its members. Azerbaijan became an ADB member on Dec. 22, 1999. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.30 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The profitability of of the existing/ongoing projects comprising Southern Gas Corridor is independent from any third party gas suppliers, Trend learned from Azerbaijans Southern Gas Corridor CJSC. "Southern Gas Corridor is chain of interlinked projects comprising one value chain the development of Shah Deniz gas and condensate field (the SD project), South Caucasus Pipeline and its Expansion (SCP and SCPX), the construction of Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP ) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). These projects are coordinated together, have multiple agreements defining their legal framework and aiding in the achievement of common goals, including the production of gas volumes needed for the fill of all three pipelines, and thus are economically independent of projects outside of this value chain," said a message from the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC. The full-field development of Shah Deniz gas and condensate field or Shah Deniz Stage 2 (SD2 project) is one of the largest and most complex gas projects in the world and the first subsea infrastructure in the Caspian Sea, according to the message. "SD2 will add another 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum and up to 105,000 barrels of condensate per day to about 9-10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum and up to 45,000 barrels of condensate per day currently produced from Shah Deniz Stage 1 (SD1 project)," said the message. "All of the additional volumes of gas to be produced under SD2 project have already been contracted - 6 billion cubic meters per annum will be supplied to Turkey, while 10 billion cubic meters per annum will go to the European consumers. " SCPX project will increase SCPs throughput capacity by 16 billion cubic meters per annum, bringing the overall transportation capacity of the pipeline to circa 23.4 billion cubic meters per annum, reads the message. The transportation capacity of TANAP system will be equal to 16 bcm per annum as well and since the volume of gas to be supplied to Europe will equal to 10 billion cubic meters, so will be the transportation capacity of TAP, according to the message. "As it can be seen from the above, the transportation capacity of the currently constructed pipelines matches the volumes of gas to be produced and supplied under SD2 project. The profitability and economy of all Southern Gas Corridor projects were based on these volumes of gas, thus are independent from gas supply from third parties." Based on the above, even if additional volumes of gas from other potential sources were ready to be supplied to Turkey or Europe via the infrastructure of the Southern Gas Corridor, at the moment there is simply no available capacity for additional volumes of gas, reads the message. "However, all three pipelines (SCP, TANAP and TAP) have embedded options for additional expansion if needed: SCPs and TANAPs throughput capacity may be further expanded to reach 31 billion cubic meters per annum each, while TAPs throughput capacity may be increased by an additional 10 billion cubic meters per annum (reaching 20 billion cubic meters per annum)." In case there is firm interest from third parties wishing to supply gas via these pipelines and appropriate agreements in place, based on the relevant decisions of the shareholders at each project level, the new expansion projects may be considered, according to the message from the company. "If such is the case, the profitability of these new projects will be evaluated accordingly and before the new agreements are signed. As stated above, at this moment the economy of the existing/ongoing projects comprising Southern Gas Corridor is independent from any third party gas suppliers." The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The Leviathan field was discovered in 2010. Its recoverable resources are estimated at 21.9 trillion cubic feet (620 billion cubic meters). --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 31 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Ashgabat will host the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCAVII) soon, the Turkmen government said in a message. Taking an active position on the issues of the revival of Afghanistan, our country has put forward several important proposals, says the message. All of them are aimed at developing mutually agreed approaches to the solution of the Afghan problem, including the provision of political space for the negotiation process. Turkmenistan put forward initiatives in this regard, including from the rostrum of the United Nations, to unite efforts in developing fundamentally new mechanisms to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan. The Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, initiated in Kabul in 2005, is called upon to consolidate the efforts of countries of the region in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan and promoting regional economic integration of South and Central Asia. The Turkmen side promotes the implementation of a number of regional infrastructure projects with Afghanistans participation. In particular, Turkmenistan is working on the implementation of such projects through Afghan territory, as the construction of a railway to Tajikistan and a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India. Meanwhile, projects are also being studied to supply Turkmen electricity through Afghanistans territory. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 31 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Transport sphere is one of strategic directions of Turkmenistan-Georgia relations, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported Aug. 31. According to the article, Ashgabat has recently hosted a meeting of the joint Turkmenistan-Georgia intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation. The meeting was attended by ministers, leading experts of the two countries. The South Caucasus is a part of the Caspian-Black Sea transport and transit corridor, the use of which allows ensuring a wide interregional integration with the states of Europe and the Middle East, says the article. In this context, the importance of creating the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey corridor was noted at the meeting. According to the article, the Georgian delegation expressed interest to participate in implementation of promising projects that meet the two countries interest and are designed to give a powerful impetus to the formation of energy security architecture throughout the Eurasian area. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 31 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The opening of the Turkmenistan trading house has taken place in Mazar-i-Sharif city of the Afghan province of Balkh, Turkmenistan State News Agency reported. The project was implemented by the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan together with Afghan private companies with the assistance of state structures of the two countries. The opening ceremony was attended by heads of the administrative bodies of the province of Balkh, representatives of the Afghan Foreign Ministry and other government agencies. Textiles, carpet products, as well as goods of the electronics industry, which is new for Turkmenistan, are represented in the trading house. Turkmen food products are also strengthening their positions in foreign markets. Afghan consumers have already assessed the quality and taste of the foodstuffs supplied from Turkmenistan, said the report. Wide variety of confectionery, natural juices, canned fruits and vegetables is also represented in the trading house. At the same time, a meeting of Turkmen entrepreneurs with Afghan businessmen was held in Mazar-i-Sharif, where the sides discussed further steps for the development of business contacts and mutual trade, holding of joint forums and exhibitions, information exchange in the field of economy and investments. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug 31 By Kamila Aliyeva Trend: Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov held a meeting with the Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Abdulaziz Usman Al-Tuwaijri, who is on an official visit in Uzbekistan. The prospects of relations between Uzbekistan and ISESCO were discussed during the meeting, according to the information published on the website of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry. Al-Tuwaijri stressed that the motto of the Uzbek chairmanship in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC Education and Enlightenment as the Path to Peace and Creation put forward at the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent and the initiative of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev fully correspond to the aims and tasks of ISESCO. This is evidenced by the opening of a special ISESCO chair on the study of Islamic civilization at the Tashkent Islamic University on Aug. 26. Following the talks, Kamilov on behalf of Uzbekistan conveyed a written notification of intention to become a full member of ISESCO to the Director-General and formally signed the charter of this organization. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug 31 By Kamila Aliyeva Trend: Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is expected to pay an official visit to Turkey in autumn, the Uzbek national news agency (UzA) reported. This was stated in the congratulatory message of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of independence of Uzbekistan. "I am convinced that your upcoming visit to Turkey in October of this year will raise the current state of bilateral cooperation to a new level," Erdogan said in the message. Erdogan believes that in 2017 relations between the two countries have noticeably developed. In particular, the meeting of the two leaders in November 2016 in Samarkand "has become a turning point." Uzbek leader is also expected to visit Kyrgyzstan on Sept. 6 and address the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 29 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: Unblocking banned social media platforms could help the Iranian government bring down the unemployment rate which has already climbed over 12.5 percent, touching 3.3 million individuals in the country. Derin Cag, Board Member at UK-based Humaniq, believes that social media is a valuable asset to any economy leveraging it and this is indisputable. While Iranians have been barred from access to popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for years, the countrys top communications official, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, says that negotiations are underway that could lead to unblocking of Twitter. "Social media creates new jobs for entrepreneurs, copywriters, app developers, web designers, security experts and digital marketers to name a few. As a result, this brings down national unemployment, which improves economic indicators. In addition, social media improves sales by double-figure percentages for all types of businesses, hence stabilizing consumer prices and increasing GDP in parallel," Derin Cag told Trend. Facebook and Twitter have been heavily filtered to prevent access in the Islamic republic following the 2009 post-election disputes. However, social media has hardly been ignored by some of the country's high-ranking authorities, including the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "A Facebook-sponsored study found that the social network has created 4.5 million jobs around the world and added $227 billion to the global economy in 2014," Derin Cag said citing an earlier report by CNN. According to the World Bank, the Iranian economy bounced back sharply in 2016 at an estimated 6.4 percent. However, the unemployment rate returned to a three-year high of 12.7 percent (or 3.3 million unemployed) in the second quarter of 2016 despite the high growth rate in this period. "Furthermore, social media enables the forming of important relationships between businesses and their market by simplifying ways of advanced communications. And the most impressive part of using social media is that all this can be accomplished with little or no budget," Cag said. Derin Cag added that Iran is currently deprived of such opportunities because of restrictions on platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. "There is a lot to gain and little to lose by unblocking the usage of prominent social media platforms in this region," Cag said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: While the economic indicators show no significant changes in the purchasing power of Iranians, the number of Iranian tourists visiting Turkey has hit a three-year high over the first half of 2017. In the meantime, Turkish officials are expecting to host at least two million tourists from the neighboring Iran by the year-end. The latest statistics by the Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkey indicates that the number of Iranian tourists in the country has exceeded 1 million over the first half of the current year. On the other hand, Iranian officials say that 1.9 million Iranians traveled abroad over the first quarter of the current Iranian year (starting March 20), marking a 9-percent increase year-on-year. Iranian officials have suggested that the increase in the number of tourists going abroad has led to a negative balance between inbound and outbound tourism. The surge in the number of tourists traveling abroad causes the question whether the purchasing power of Iranians has improved. "In the current situation the average income of Iranians has apparently dropped. The fact that the number of Iranian tourists traveling abroad has increased by 9 percent indicates a growing income inequality among the different groups of the population," Jamshid Pazhouyan, an outstanding economist and professor at Allameh Tabatabai University, told Trend. "Over the last years, security issues caused a decline in the number of tourists visiting Turkey, which led to a drop in the prices of package tours. However, the security has relatively been maintained there. I assume that the lower prices have encouraged Iranian tourists to visit the neighboring country," Pazhouyan said elaborating on the reasons behind the growing number of Iranian tourists arriving in Turkey. "Another notable point is that the value of Irans national currency over the past year has fallen against the foreign currencies, therefore the costs of visiting European countries have increased for Iranians. So, Turkey still remains as an affordable option for Iranian tourists" Iranian tourists contributed about $1 billion to Turkeys tourism industry in 2015. Interestingly, over the past decade the fluctuation of foreign currency in Iranian market had an apparent effect on the number of tourist departures from the Islamic Republic. One US dollar in Iranian market in years 2001-2010 valued between 8,000 and 10,000 rials. In this period of time, the number of Iranian tourists visiting Turkey increased from 327,000 to 1.8 million. However, following a sharp devaluation of rial in 2011 the number of Iranians traveling to Turkey dropped considerably. Since 2014, when the US dollar exchange rate in Iranian market became stable, the country has witnessed an upward trend in the number of tourists visiting Turkey. However, there is another group of observers who suggest that the high quality of tourism sector in Turkey as well as shopping opportunities lure Iranian tourists. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday and urged all the parties in the Qatar dispute to find a diplomatic resolution to end a crisis that has embroiled several Gulf countries, the White House said in a statement, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, have cut political and trade ties with Qatar since June because they say Doha supports regional foe Iran and Islamists. Britain and Japan will pledge on Thursday closer cooperation on defense, cyber security and counter-terrorism as Prime Minster Theresa May looks to strengthen relations with one of her closest allies ahead of Brexit, Reuters reported. Visiting her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe as Tokyo responds to the increasing military threat posed by North Korea, May toured Japans flagship Izumo helicopter carrier for a military briefing with Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera before attending a national security meeting. My visit today is a sign of the growing cooperation and partnership we have on defense matters, May told Onodera after inspecting an honor guard at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, which is also home to the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. May and Abe will agree a joint declaration on security cooperation, including plans for British soldiers to take part in military exercises on Japanese soil and for collaboration to address the threat of cyber and militant attacks when Japan hosts the Olympics in 2020. North Korea is expected to feature heavily in the talks after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday that passed over Japanese territory, prompting international condemnation. The two leaders are expected to discuss the possibility of further sanctions on North Korea, Mays office said. May called on China to put more pressure on North Korea after she arrived in Japan on Wednesday. The Global Times, a publication of the official Peoples Daily of Chinas ruling Communist Party, attacked May for her comment. Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea, it wrote. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkeys eastern province of Van banned holding public events from September 1 for security reasons. This decision was taken as part of a state of emergency in Turkey, the Van governorate said in a message Aug. 31. On August 2, Ankara governorate banned various events in public places, including parks, for 30 days to ensure security in the capital. Turkish authorities introduced a state of emergency for a period of three months on July 20, 2016 shortly after the July 15 coup attempt failed. Since then, the state of emergency was three times extended for three months each. 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. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu KYODO NEWS - Aug 31, 2017 - 20:08 | World, All China's Communist Party will convene on Oct. 18 a once-in-five-years congress, official media said Thursday, at which Xi Jinping is likely to solidify his status as the country's strongest leader in decades. The congress, the most important political event in China this year, is expected to run for about 10 days in Beijing and be attended by more than 2,000 delegates from across the country. A report from China's state-run Xinhua News Agency did not say how long the forthcoming congress will run. As Xi begins his second five-year term as head of the ruling party, the 19th National Congress will appoint the next generation of Chinese leaders. When Xi rose to the top party post in November 2012, he had few trusted allies by his side. However, that is all expected to change after Xi has wielded huge influence over who is chosen to sit on the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's highest decision-making body that was reduced to seven from nine men in the previous congress, and on the 25-person Politburo, as well as on the new makeup of the Central Committee and its alternate members. Over the course of his first term as party general secretary, Xi succeeded in sidelining his rivals through an extraordinarily bold anti-corruption campaign and by tackling various entrenched interests. Xi also made the world's second-largest economy's growing clout felt internationally, sometimes through his more assertive foreign policy. At the same time, he created an image of himself as a more visionary leader than his predecessors, possibly best exemplified by his grand goal of bringing to life a "Chinese Dream" of prosperity and national rejuvenation. In late 2016, Xi was elevated to the title of the party's "core leader," edging him closer to achieving his aspiration of exercising the sort of authority once enjoyed by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Reflecting his strong power, the 64-year-old leader's political theory may already be written into the constitution of the party in the upcoming congress. In the months leading up to the congress, jockeying for power among factions within the party is believed to have intensified as they scrambled to secure key posts. In a symbolic development, Sun Zhengcai, once a contender for China's top leadership in the reshuffle, was put under investigation in July for alleged "serious violation of discipline," a common euphemism for corruption. With the sudden fall of Sun, Chen Min'er, a rising political star known as a Xi loyalist, took over as party chief of the mega-city of Chongqing in southwest China. Whether the party will change the retirement age of senior members, set at 68 by Xi's predecessors, is another focus of the congress. If the age ceiling holds, Wang Qishan, one of the seven members of the party's standing committee and seen as Xi's most trusted right-hand man, will need to step down from the country's apex of power with four others. Speculation is rife that Xi may maneuver to raise the age limit to retain Wang, who has been in charge of driving the Chinese president's sweeping anti-graft crackdown. The change would also pave the way for Xi to stay in power for a third term. KYODO NEWS - Aug 30, 2017 - 22:21 | All, World Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his British counterpart Theresa May agreed Wednesday in Kyoto to work together to counter the "unprecedented" security threat from North Korea following the launch of a ballistic missile over Japan the previous day. May arrived in Japan on Wednesday afternoon for a three-day visit, her first to the country since taking office in July last year. She is expected to stress her unity with Abe over North Korea and discuss the future of bilateral economic and trade ties. Ahead of formal talks scheduled for the following day in Tokyo, Abe and May affirmed over dinner in Japan's former capital that North Korea's provocative actions now present "an unprecedented grave and serious threat and absolutely cannot be tolerated," according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. They agreed to work in coordination to put more pressure on North Korea, including at the United Nations, and to urge China to play a greater role in the matter, the ministry said. The dinner talks were preceded by a tea ceremony in Kyoto following May's arrival at Osaka International Airport. At their meeting on Thursday, the leaders are expected to announce a set of joint statements pledging cooperation on security and the economy. They are expected to discuss in Tokyo how their countries' trade relationship might evolve once Britain completes its exit from the European Union. Japan and the European Union sealed a broad agreement last month on a free trade deal that analysts said served as a signal to skeptics about the benefits of staying in the bloc. May will also attend a meeting of Japan's National Security Council to be held Thursday afternoon ahead of the bilateral talks, according to the Japanese government. Such an invitation has previously been extended just once, to then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2014. Abe and May agreed in April this year to advance joint defense exercises and equipment research. Prior to the meeting between Abe and May, the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and Britain agreed in separate telephone talks to further pressure North Korea over its missile development and deepen bilateral defense cooperation. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono that he shares Japan's concern over North Korean missiles and vowed to cooperate with Japan at the U.N. Security Council and elsewhere. On Thursday morning, May is scheduled to visit the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo. She is also set to meet with Emperor Akihito before leaving Japan on Friday. By William Hollingworth, KYODO NEWS - Aug 31, 2017 - 07:50 | All, Feature Appalled by shocking images of starved and dying dogs and horses in Tokyo after World War II, two British women set about raising money to improve animal welfare while changing public attitudes in Japan. And decades on, the charity they set up in London is still going strong and contributing large sums of money each year to projects on the other side of the world. Many might be surprised a charity registered in Britain is raising money for the welfare of neglected animals in Japan, one of the richest countries in the world. Trustees argue the organization has kept true to the aims of its postwar founders and needs to continue its campaign to improve welfare standards for pets, while at the same time tackling more high-profile issues like whaling, dolphin hunts and conditions in Japan's bear parks. The Japan Animal Welfare Society Ltd. was established in 1956 in London by Lorna Gascoigne and Eleanor Close, who had both just returned from Japan after spending time there with their husbands. Gascoigne's husband, Alvary, was head of the postwar British mission in Japan, and Close's partner, Reg, was the first British Council representative in Tokyo. While in Japan, both women were deeply moved by the condition of the many horses they saw, often tethered without adequate food, water or shelter. They were also shocked by the state of dogs kept at Tokyo University Hospital where they were used for medical research. Gascoigne, Close and other local volunteers provided water, food, and scarce veterinary drugs to relieve the animals' suffering. They were frequently derided by some locals as "eccentric" for their concerns about animal welfare. However, they gave encouragement to local Japanese who felt the same way. On their return to London they established JAWS with the aim of raising money for a sister organization in Japan and that funding continues to this day. The financial lifeline has continued with legacy income over the years, without which the charity's current assets would soon diminish. Today, JAWS funds a variety of different programs in Japan. These include animal neutering, rehoming schemes and the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured and abandoned animals. In addition, it campaigns for improvements in animal welfare laws and supports the training of Japanese officials. The charity has also assisted animals caught up in various natural disasters over the years. The London office also funds other charities and individuals, usually, although not exclusively, in Japan. The group is also keen to tap into schools and encourage young people in Britain and Japan to work together. Chairman Tony Crittenden told Kyodo News, "There have been rapid improvements in animal welfare over the last six years and we think a lot of that is down to the ability of young people to travel, compare and communicate internationally on these and other modern issues. "The function of JAWS was to kindle the flame of interest in animal welfare and get Japanese people to take the lead without lecturing to them. That is now happening." Kevin Degenhard, a JAWS trustee who recently visited Japan, said, "Although official figures show an encouraging reduction in the number of stray animals handled by the official animal management centers, the demands upon voluntary animal rescue groups and individuals remain excessive." "There are fears that unwanted pets and surplus animals from breeders -- no longer accepted by the animal management centers -- will eventually be an extra burden on the private rescue centers." "Fortunately, these centers are now moving toward the euthanasia of unwanted stray animals by means of an appropriate injection rather than gassing, which caused stress and panic." On the downside, Degenhard noted that animals are frequently seen as a source of amusement on television and he is concerned about the trend of dogs being seen as a fashion accessory. He added that animal welfare policies tended to vary prefecture by prefecture in the absence of national standards and that is something JAWS is trying to address through the funding of training programs. Looking back over the charity's last 61 years, Crittenden said, "I think the valiant ladies who set up JAWS would see many improvements with the situation in Japan, but there is still a long way to go compared with modern animal welfare legislation and standards in other developed countries. KYODO NEWS - Aug 31, 2017 - 19:51 | All, World, Arts An exposition, held by a Japanese digital art group, has been drawing thousands of visitors daily in Beijing. Cutting edge digital technology has been combined with art, allowing people to see their drawings come to life at the exhibition. The event, which began on May 20, is being run by Team Lab, and allows visitors to create pictures, and see them put on to a screen and turned into an animated sequence. Up to 3,000 people per day have been visiting the exposition in Beijing's 798 Art Zone district, with around 160,000 having already attended. The exhibition, entitled "Mirai no Yuenchi," or Amusement Park of the Future, is being held until Oct. 10. As well as seeing their drawings come to life, visitors can create sounds by stepping on shapes projected onto the floor. The coloured squares and triangles on the floor also allow visitors to created animated water ripples. More popular galleries: GALLERY: Hong Kong street scenes come to life in Tokyo miniature show GALLERY: Tokyo now and then - 1964/2017 GALLERY: New sleeper train "Twilight Express Mizukaze" debuts in Japan Conservative commentator Ann Coulter took to Twitter Wednesday to blast President Donald Trump for his speech in Springfield, Missouri. Coulter appeared less than pleased with the presidents remarks about reforming taxes. In the tweets, Coulter compared Trump to 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush utilizing his oft-mocked campaign slogan Jeb! In a flurry of 140-character assaults, Coulter slammed Trumps tax cutting plan. This is the worst, most tone-deaf speech @realDonaldTrump has ever given. Jeb! had better ideas, Coulter tweeted Wednesday. Trump touted a fundamental reform of the tax code and a 15 percent corporate tax rate in his speech. This speech could have been given by Jeb! except he wouldnt have talked about the govt helping yuppie women with child care costs, Coulter wrote in a string of tweets. Oh stop pretending this is about letting families keep more of their money. HALF OF AMERICANS DONT PAY TAXES! This is for Wall Street. Coulter railed against Trumps plan and said he got only polite applause for tax cuts. At one point, she suggested he talk about THE WALL! Bush cut taxes! she wrote. Did it create millions of jobs? Nope. The rich pocketed their tax cut & sent jobs abroad, hired guest workers, F--- them. Related Articles trump hat Exchange-traded funds are getting political. The investment manager Point Bridge Capital is launching an ETF that will enable direct investment in companies that hold Republican interests in mind. According to a Wednesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Point Bridge GOP Stock Tracker ETF will specifically track the performance of an index of stocks meeting the following criteria: "Companies whose employees and political action committees (PACs) are highly supportive of Republican candidates for election to the United States Congress, the Vice Presidency, or the Presidency and party-affiliated federal committees or groups that are subject to federal campaign contribution limits." And in a tip of the cap to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, the ETF's ticker will be MAGA, according to the SEC filing. MAGA, which is short for "Make America Great Again," became a popular rallying cry for Trump supporters during the 2016 election. To select its constituents, the fund's underlying index starts with an initial universe of S&P 500 companies and then whittles it down based on factors like campaign donations made during recent elections. While this marks the first ETF to specifically track partisan interests, there are plenty of other funds embodying Trump's political spirit. They include the Global X US Infrastructure Development, which started trading on March 18, and the WisdomTree Global ex-Mexico Equity Fund, which hit the market on February 10. The Point Bridge GOP ETF has an expected inception date of September 7, according to Bloomberg data. NOW WATCH: GARY SHILLING: No one is making impulse buys online More From Business Insider Investors in Pandora Media, Inc. P need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the September 15th, 2017, $14 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy. What do the Analysts Think? Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Pandora Media shares, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Pandora Media is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) in the Internet - Servicesindustry that ranks in the Top 29% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, 3 analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter, while 6 have dropped their estimates. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from a loss of 7 cents per shareto a loss of 6 cents in that period. Given the way analysts feel about Pandora Media right now, this huge implied volatility could mean theres a trade developing. Often times, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected. Looking to Trade Options? Each week, our very own Dave Bartosiak gives his top options trades. Check out his recent live analysis and options trade for the NFLX earnings report completely free. See it here: Trading Netflix's (NFLX) Earnings with Options or check out the embedded video below for more details: Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Pandora Media, Inc. (P) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research From Woman's Day OFFICIAL RULES NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING 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." 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SPONSOR: The Sponsor of these Sweepstakes is Hearst Communications, Inc., 300 W. 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. You Might Also Like FILE PHOTO: Paul Manafort of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's staff listens during a round table discussion on security at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo Congressional investigators examining Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election are now focusing on whether the Trump campaign or the Republican National Committee received donations from Russian sources after a meeting involving two Russian lobbyists in Trump Tower last year, according to a Thursday NBC report. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, attended the meeting, on June 9, 2016, with two Russian lobbyists: Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin. Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, organized the meeting. Manafort took notes during the meeting on his iPhone and submitted them to the Senate Intelligence Committee late last month. References to political donations and the RNC in the notes have "elevated the significance" of the meeting for congressional investigators, according to NBC. NBC initially reported that the word "donations" appeared in the notes, but clarified later that the notes made a vague reference to political contributions but did not use the word "donations" specifically. "A complete investigation will answer whether the Russians were working with the Trump campaign and whether that included financial assistance," said Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. "There are enough accounts out there that we should probe further to see if that was the case," Swalwell added, pointing to the meeting and the recent revelations about the Trump Organization pursuing a real-estate deal in Moscow during the election. "Clearly, we have to keep following the money," he said. In a statement later reported to have been dictated by his father in early July, Trump Jr. said the meeting centered on an adoption program that Russian President Vladimir Putin cut off in retaliation for the 2012 Magnitsky Act, a US law that blacklisted and sanctioned Russians suspected of human-rights abuses. Story continues But subsequent reporting and evolving statements from Trump Jr. revealed that he had been offered damaging information on Hillary Clinton in exchange for taking the meeting, and that Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin used the rendezvous to push for a repeal of the law. "The Russian approach to Trump Jr. via Veselnitskaya was truly carefully planned," said Bill Browder, the founder of the investment advisory firm Hermitage Capital who spearheaded the Magnitsky Act. "Asking Donald Trump Jr. and the rest to withdraw the Magnitsky Act if Trump were elected was such a significant request that they would have come with various things to offer, and they would have thought carefully about what," Browder said. "They wouldn't have come to this meeting empty-handed." Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya speaks during an interview in Moscow, Russia November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kommersant Photo/Yury Martyanov The June 9 meeting has also come under intense scrutiny by Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the FBI's Russia investigation, whose grand jury interviewed Akhmetshin at length earlier this month. Browder was less than optimistic about how useful Akhmetshin's testimony was to federal investigators. "Akhmetshin is a known liar," Browder said. "So the testimony will be most useful in seeing where those lies contradict other people's lies." Also at the meeting were Irakly "Ike" Kaveladze, a representative of Aras and Emin Agalarov, the wealthy Russians who first requested the meeting be arranged; Rob Goldstone, a British music publicist; and Anatoli Samachornov, a Russian translator. Trump Jr. did not disclose the presence of Akhmetshin, Samachornov, or Kaveladze at the meeting. And it is unclear why a discussion of Russia's adoption policy would have required Kaveladze, who's based in Los Angeles, to be there. Renato Mariotti, a longtime federal prosecutor, wrote on Twitter that Mueller could use Manafort's notes against Trump Jr., who issued multiple and often inconsistent statements about the meeting after it was made public. "One thing this news indicates is that 'adoptions' weren't the only thing discussed at the meeting," Mariotti said, "and his attempt to characterize the meeting as concerning adoptions could be used against him if he was charged and took the witness stand, to undercut his credibility." Trump Jr. also told Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, in an interview early last month that Manafort was "on his phone" during the meeting, Mariotti noted, in an attempt to indicate Manafort wasn't paying attention though he was apparently taking detailed notes. "This gives you a window into how Trump Jr.'s public statements will be picked apart," Mariotti said. NOW WATCH: We went inside the Charlottesville winery Trump bragged about during the press conference More From Business Insider By Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile over Japan could increase pressure on Washington to consider shooting down future test launches, although there is no guarantee of success and U.S. officials are wary of a dangerous escalation with Pyongyang. More attention is likely to focus on the prospects for intercepting a missile in flight after North Korea on Tuesday conducted one of its boldest missile tests in years, one government official said. Such a decision would not be taken lightly given tensions over North Koreas nuclear and missile programs. And while President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed that "all options are on the table", there has been no sign of any quick policy shift in Washington toward direct U.S. military action. But Pyongyang's launch of an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile over Japan's northern Hokkaido island underscored how Trump's tough rhetoric, pursuit of sanctions and occasional shows of military force around the Korean peninsula have done little to deter North Korea's leader. "Kim Jong Un has chosen to thumb his nose at the Americans and Japanese by conducting this test," said David Shear, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for East Asia. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has already pledged that the military would shoot down any missile it deemed a danger to U.S. or allied territory. What is unclear is whether Washington would be prepared to use its multi-layered missile defense systems to intercept a missile like the one that overflew Japan but never directly threatened its territory. Doing so would essentially be a U.S. show of force rather than an act of self-defense. "I would think that in government deliberations that would likely be one of the options out on the table," Shear said. Some analysts say there is a danger that North Korea would see it as an act of war and retaliate militarily with potentially devastating consequences for South Korea and Japan. China, North Koreas neighbor and main trading partner, would also likely oppose such a direct U.S. military response. MINIMIZING DAMAGE Experts say there is no guarantee that U.S. missile defense systems, including Aegis ballistic missile defense ships in the region and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems based in Guam and South Korea, would hit their target, despite recent successful tests. A failed attempt would be an embarrassment to the United States and could embolden North Korea, which this year has already conducted two tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. The United States has spent $40 billion over 18 years on research and development into missile defense systems but they have never been put into operation under wartime conditions. Mattis this month expressed confidence the U.S. military could intercept a missile fired by North Korea if it was headed to Guam, after North Korea said it was developing a plan to launch four intermediate range missiles to land near the U.S. territory. If North Korea fired at the United States, the situation could quickly escalate to war, Mattis said. GROWING THREAT Not everyone is convinced the U.S. military can defend against North Korea's growing missile capability. Some experts caution that U.S. missile defenses are now geared to shooting down one, or perhaps a small number, of incoming missiles. If North Korea's technology and production keep advancing, U.S. defenses could be overwhelmed. "If a shootdown fails, it would be embarrassing, though not terribly surprising," said Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the 38 North think tank in Washington. "Missile defense does not provide a shield that protects against missiles. Rather, it is like air defense; it is designed to minimize the damage an adversary can inflict," he said. One U.S. official said the military would be especially cautious about shooting down a North Korean missile that did not pose a direct threat because of the risk of civilian casualties if it were intercepted over Japan or South Korea, as well as difficulty in determining how Pyongyang might retaliate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. U.S. military and intelligence officials warn North Korea could unleash a devastating barrage of missiles and artillery on Seoul and U.S. bases in South Korea in response to any military attack. Targeting of a North Korean missile in flight that did not endanger the United States or its allies could also raise legal questions. U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyangs ballistic missile programs do not explicitly authorize such actions. Japan also faces questions over the legality of shooting down missiles in its airspace but not aimed at Japan. Under legislation passed in 2015, Tokyo can exercise a limited right of collective self-defense, or militarily aiding an ally under attack, if it judges the threat to Japan as "existential". (Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom Additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Mike Stone in WASHINGTON, Linda Sieg and Tim Kelly in TOKYO; Editing by Warren Strobel and Lincoln Feast) Cohen & Steers (CNS) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. Investors in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. CLF need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the September 8th, 2017 $6 Put had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy. What do the Analysts Think? Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for Cleveland-Cliffs shares, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, Cleveland-Cliffs is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) in the Mining - Ironindustry that ranks in the Top 9% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, no analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter, while two analysts have revised the estimate downward. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 37 cents per share to 35 cents in that period. Given the way analysts feel about Cleveland-Cliffs right now, this huge implied volatility could mean theres a trade developing. Often times, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected. Looking to Trade Options? Each week, our very own Dave Bartosiak gives his top options trades. Check out his recent live analysis and options trade for the NFLX earnings report completely free. See it here: Trading Netflix's (NFLX) Earnings with Options or check out the embedded video below for more details: Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research In a speech Wednesday, President Trump cited the 1986 tax reform as a model for the kind of bipartisan effort he wants this fall, but in a 1999 op-ed he called that bill a catastrophe. During a visit to Springfield, Missouri, Trump called for a bipartisan effort to simplify the tax code, praising the reform signed by President Reagan in his second term which simplified the code and simultaneously lowered the top tax rate and increased the bottom rate. Under this pro-America system, our economy boomed, Trump continued. It just went beautifully, right through the roof. The middle class thrived, and median family income increased. Government data shows that median family income did not increase in the mid 1980s after the bill was passed, and actually declined between 1989 and 1993. The praise for the 1986 bill marks a reversal for Trump, who was previously heavily critical. In 1991, according to footage published by the New York Times, Trump testified before Congress about the law, where he derided the bill as an absolute catastrophe. I really hope that something can be done to change at least parts of it, because it has taken all incentive away from investing in real estate really means so many jobs, he said in the clip published by the Times. And in a 1999 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about then-presidential candidate Bill Bradley, who had sponsored the bill, Trump described it as an offense against the working man. He acknowledged there were positive aspects of the legislationthe tax cuts, which he credited to Reaganbut he slammed the portion of the bill that eliminated tax shelters for real estate investments, which he said hurt his business. Businesses make billion-dollar decisions based on the tax code, he wrote at the time. When sweeping changes are abruptly enacted, as they were by Mr. Bradley, it puts those businesses in a bad spot. How fast is a broadband internet connection? That question is at the heart of a controversy at the Federal Communications Commission. After a study about connection speeds in the US last year, the FCC decided that too few people had access to high speed internet. But that conclusion never sat right with the commission's Republicans, who argued that the agency set too high a bar in deciding what counts as broadband. Now that the GOP is in the majority at the agency, the FCC is considering new guidelines for gauging the availability and competitiveness of high speed internet. There's no specific proposal yet, but based on their past statements there's a good chance those same commissioners will vote to lower it. That could affect how much funding is available to expand broadband networks into rural or low income areas. The issue hasn't received as much attention as the debate over net neutrality, but Roberto Gallardo , a researcher at Purdue University's Center for Regional Development, worries that lower standards would reduce the motivation of broadband providers to expand service into rural communities, which already lag behind urban areas in both speed and availability of high speed internet. If the FCC decides that rural areas and poor neighborhoods have adequate coverage, future funding for internet infrastructure upgrades could receive short shrift, says Harold Feld, a senior vice president of the digital-rights advocacy group Public Knowledge. Related Stories Longread The Land That the Internet Era Forgot Traveling the highways of America's least connected state. Digital Divide Millions Need the Broadband Program the FCC Just Put on Hold The FCC's new chairman says the program is overrun with waste and abuse. In the meantime, kids are going to McDonald's to get their homework done. Internet Access Want Real Choice in Broadband? Make These 3 Things Happen In a truly competitive market, you could pick an ISP with the privacy and net neutrality policies you like. But most Americans don't have a real choice. Story continues net neutrality FIGHT: The WIRED Guide to Net Neutrality On the internet's day of action in support of net neutrality, a look at what's at stake. According to the FCC's 2016 report, about 39 percent of rural Americans lacked access to a 25 megabit-per-second internet connection, the agency's threshold for broadband and sufficient speed to support multiple people streaming video simultaneously. Urban dwellers were better off, with only 4 percent lacking access. But even in the cities, there wasn't much competition. Only 44 percent of urban residents lived someplace where they could choose between more than one provider that offered connection speeds of 25 mbps or faster. By law, the FCC is required to regularly asses whether "advanced telecommunications" technologies are reaching the public quickly enough, and to take action if not. The Obama-era FCC interpreted this mandate to mean that it must promote the adoption of ever-faster internet speeds. In 2015, it changed its definition of broadband from 4 mbps to 25 mbps for downloads, citing bandwidth-hungry new technologies, such as 4K resolution television that could one day become the norm. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, an industry group, opposed the changes, arguing in a letter to the FCC that 25 mbps wasn't necessary for streaming 4K TV and that the agency's evaluation should be built on current typical broadband usage, not expected future use. Republican FCC commissioners Ajit Pai (now the chair of the agency) and Michael O'Rielly also opposed the change. O'Rielly argued that mobile internet could act as a viable substitute for home broadband. Both accused the FCC of setting the bar artificially high to justify government intervention into the broadband market. "The ultimate goal is to seize new, virtually limitless authority to regulate the broadband marketplace," Pai wrote in his objection to the FCC's decision to set the 25 mbps minimum. Earlier this month, the FCC took the first steps toward changing the agency's standards by publishing what's called a "notice of proposed rule making." The document suggests a minimum standard of 10 mbps for mobile broadband, for which there's now no standard, and asks whether the 25 mbps minimum for home broadband should be lowered and whether communities served by either mobile or home broadband should be considered adequately served. The public has until September 7 to file comments. Gallardo, the Purdue researcher, argues that mobile broadband is no replacement for home broadband. While it's possible to use a mobile connection with a laptop or desktop computer, even carriers that offer "unlimited" data plans will often throttle users to slower speeds if they actually use much data. He also argues that while 10 mbps might be good enough for most households today, future applications will likely demand more bandwidth, and it's important to make sure the country's most disadvantaged communities are ready for those changes. "It's like asking 'Why build a four lane highway when we already have a two lane highway?' " he says. "The investment needs to be done nowwe're falling behind." Feld, of Public Knowledge, says that some federal broadband subsidies will not be affected even if the FCC lowers its standards, because those programs only require carriers to offer 10 mbps connections. But he warns that state programs that rely on the FCC's definition to target their own broadband initiatives might be affected, as could internet connectivity programs at the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. A potentially bigger impact: If and when Congress creates an infrastructure spending program, the amount of money directed to internet infrastructure could depend in part on what the FCC says about the existing availability and capability of broadband connections. In other words, trying to define away the problem means it's less likely to be solved. By Taro Fuse TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp may not seal a $17.5 billion deal to sell its memory chip unit by a self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline due to disagreements over details of an offer by the bidders, people familiar with the matter said late on Tuesday. Talks with a consortium led by Western Digital Corp were in final stages, with the head of the U.S. firm in Japan to hammer out details, the sources said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with media. The two sides, however, could not yet agree on specifics such as the size of Western Digital's future stake in the business, they said, while adding the two sides would continue negotiating. A Toshiba spokesman said the company could not comment on details of the talks. A Western Digital representative declined to comment. Toshiba has been trying to sell the unit for months to pay down debt and cover the impact of over $6 billion in liabilities linked to U.S. nuclear arm Westinghouse. 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 six months, the company has been hoping to reach a deal by the end of August to ensure it can close the sale in time. In addition to Western Digital, the consortium includes U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co and the state-backed Innovation Network of Japan and Development Bank of Japan. Sources have said the group was offering around 1.9 trillion yen ($17.5 billion) for the business. (Reporting by Taro Fuse and Makiko Yamazaki; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Mark Potter) Toyota to Expand in Southeast Asia via Ride-Hailing Service Toyota (TM) collaborates with other companies to offer ride-hailing services in Southeast Asia. The company will provide both financial and technical assistance in this team effort. Toyota Motor Corporation TM engages in collaboration to offer ride-hailing services in Southeast Asian countries. Companies like Toyota Financial Services Corporation (TFS), Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd. (Aioi) and Grab, Inc. (Grab), a leading ride-hailing service provider in Southeast Asia, will be coordinating with Toyota in this endeavor. To realize this project, TransLog driving recorder will be installed in 100 Grab ride-hailing cars for extensive use in the Southeast Asian region. The device is developed by Toyotas in-house company, The Connected Company. The recorder captures driving patterns and offers telematics services to help drivers manage vehicle positioning. Installation of these recorders will help Toyota examine driving patterns from the captured images and take steps to offer connected services to its customers, which are user-based insurance, financing programs and predictive maintenance to name a few. Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Price and Consensus Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Price and Consensus | Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Quote Per Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota and president of the Connected Company, this collaboration with aid the company to explore suitable ways to deliver mobility services to Southeast Asian fleet customers. Per Financial Times, Toyota will also be investing 6 billion ($55 million) in Grab, through Next Technology Fund, set up by its trading arm, Toyota Tsusho Corp. Toyota is eyeing the emerging markets for sales growth. In January, Toyota and Daihatsu jointly set up an internal company called Emerging-market Compact Car Company to tap in to the compact vehicles sector in key markets. This company plans to develop and launch competitive compact vehicles in the evolving markets with huge growth potential. Price Performance Shares of Toyota have gained 3.4% in the last three months, marginally outperforming the industrys 1.8% increase. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Toyota currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). A few other automobile stocks with the same bullish rank are Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. ALSN, Renault SA RNLSY and Volkswagen AG VLKAY. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Allison Transmission has a long-term growth rate of 11%. Renault has a long-term growth rate of 4.6%. Volkswagen has a long-term growth rate of 8.9%. One Simple Trading Idea Since 1988, the Zacks system has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +25% per year. With compounding, rebalancing, and exclusive of fees, it can turn thousands into millions of dollars. This proven stock-picking system is grounded on a single big idea that can be fortune shaping and life changing. You can apply it to your portfolio starting today. Learn more >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord (TM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report RENAULT SA (RNLSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (ALSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Trump vows to 'bring back Main Street' by cutting business tax to 15% Donald Trump speaks in Springfield, Missouri. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he told his audience. President says US is being taken to the cleaners by rivals and issues blunt demand for Democrats to support his reforms Donald Trump speaks in Springfield, Missouri. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he told his audience.Photograph: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images Donald Trump has vowed to cut the US business tax rate to 15%, in a speech otherwise short on specifics but heavy on America first rhetoric. Addressing workers in Springfield, Missouri, the US president who is yet to release his own tax returns sought to take up the mantle of Ronald Reagan, the last president to oversee a major tax reduction, even though he has sharply criticised Reagans measures in the past. Trump claimed that America has gone from a tax rate lower than its economic competitors to one that is more than 60% higher. When it comes to the business tax, we are dead last: can you believe that? he said. So this cannot be allowed to continue any longer. America must lead the way, not follow from behind. Emphasising a theme of restoring lost glory, the president continued: We have totally surrendered our competitive edge to other countries. Were not surrendering any more. Ideally, and I say this for our secretary of the treasury, we would like to bring our business tax rate down to 15%, which would make our tax rate lower than most countries but still by no means the lowest, unfortunately, in the world. But it would make us highly competitive. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was present, is one of the main architects of the tax reform, but Trumps figure seems to be a stretch. Some members of Congress have already said any plan would be likely to cut business taxes to no lower than 20%, while experts say 25% is more likely. Reagan pulled off tax reform in 1986 but only after two years of haggling and developing relationships with House speaker Thomas Tip ONeill and other Democrats to achieve bipartisan support. He was also in the sixth year of his presidency, had fewer distractions than Trump and was more reluctant to add to the government deficit. Story continues Trump, who has shown little interest in reaching across the aisle, said: In 1986, Ronald Reagan led the world by cutting our corporate tax rate to 34%. That was below the average rate for developed countries at the time. Everybody thought that was a monumental thing that happened. But then, under this pro-America system, our economy boomed. It just went beautifully, right through the roof. The middle class thrived and median family increased. Other countries emulated Americas success, he argued, and cut their taxes to become more competitive. They are taking us, frankly, to the cleaners. So we must, we have no choice, we must lower our taxes. Instead of a Reaganesque olive branch, he then issued a threat to a Democratic Senator in her home state. Your senator, Claire McCaskill, she must do this for you. If she doesnt do it for you, you have to vote her out of office. The crowd cheered and whistled. Trump added: Shes going to make that commitment. We just cant do this anymore with the obstruction and the obstructionists. The Dems are looking to obstruct tax cuts and tax reform. But Trump was not always so enthusiastic. Writing in the Wall Street Journal in 1999, he described Reagans Tax Reform Act of 1986 as one of the worst ideas in recent history. Trump set out four priorities: simplifying the tax code and closing loopholes exploited by the wealthy and special interests (Im speaking against myself when I do this); a lower tax rate that will give Americans a pay rise and the business tax reduction to make the US competitive; tax relief for middle income families, the forgotten people; and bringing back trillions of dollars that US companies currently park off shore. Trump is striving to recover from a humiliating defeat in his attempt to repeal and replace Barack Obamas healthcare law. Whereas he made no major public speech during that process and blamed Congress for the failure, Wednesdays event at a manufacturing company is expected to be the first aiming to drum up support. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he said. I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done and I dont want to be disappointed by Congress. His voice rose and his hand sliced the air then pointing to the audience, which included several members of Congress. Do you understand me? You understand? Understand. The crowd cheered and applauded. Trump, shaking his head a little wearily, hands gripping the lectern, added: Congress. I think Congress is going to make a comeback. I hope so. There was some laughter. I tell you what: the United States is counting on it. The audience included his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump. I see my beautiful daughters in the audience, the president said. Stand up. She working very hard. Im very proud of Ivanka. In a hard-edged speech that characteristically pushed US self-interest, Trump declared that his reforms would would bring back Main Street by reducing the crushing tax burden and spur economic growth to benefit both companies and workers. Appealing to every member of Congress to get on board, Trump added: Instead of exporting our jobs, we will export our goods. Our jobs will both stay here in America and come back to America. We will have it both ways. Millions of struggling Americans will be lifted from welfare to work. I want Americans to wake up happy to go to work for a big fat beautiful pay cheque. I want them to be proud again. But Democrats condemned what they see as an attempt to benefit corporations and the top 1%. Nancy Pelosi, minority leader in the House, said: Instead of offering the American people a plan for real, job-creating tax reform, President Trump is pushing a billionaires-first, trickle-down tax scheme that hands out massive tax cuts to the wealthiest, at the expense of American families. If Republicans have their way, they will blow a huge hole in the deficit, gut Medicare, Medicaid, social security and the Affordable Care Act all just to fund deficit-busting tax breaks for the high-end. The life sciences industrial strategy recommends Britain emulate America's defence tech lab Darpa, behind innovations including satellite communications - Barcroft Media The UK should lead the world in discovering future medicines by launching a research agency that apes an American Cold War tech lab that helped invent the internet, the Governments first industrial strategy report has said. Oxford University scientist Sir John Bell, who authored the paper on how to boost Britains 64bn life sciences sector, has called for public sector investment in high risk moonshot programmes to create two to three entirely new industries over the next 10 years. He told The Telegraph the Government will respond with an outline sector deal of further investment and policy support for drugmakers within six to eight weeks, on top of the 160m injection trailed overnight. Among his recommendations is that the Government set up a Health Advanced Research Programme to direct hundreds of millions of pounds of public and industry funding into pioneering research. Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt were in Birmingham today to launch the industrial strategy Credit: Aaron Chown / PA Emerging fields that could benefit include using artificial intelligence to help diagnose illness, genomic medicine that identifies or fixes faulty DNA and imaging tools that can spot chronic illness before symptoms present. Sir John said he took inspiration from the US, saying: The Americans are very good at this. They do the research and use that as a way to then dominate a sector. Theyve done it very effectively with satellites and GPS and they make many multiples of what was invested. His report cites US research agency Darpa as a body to emulate, a lab set up by President Eisenhower in 1958 to help American military technology compete with the Soviet Empire. Britain's life sciences sector is worth 64bn Credit: Parker/ANL/REX/Shutterstock Darpa, through collaboration with academics and industry, has made advances in many non-military fields, including the computer networking that provided the basis for the modern internet and satellite technology. Other recommendations in Sir Johns report include greater tax incentives, fostering better collaboration between industry and the NHS, and an action plan to address skills shortages. Story continues Business secretary Greg Clark and health secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the report at a launch event for the strategy at the University of Birmingham today. Sir Johns report also went down well with drugmakers, although they called for it to be swiftly adopted. Mene Pangalos, an executive vice president at FTSE 100 giant AstraZeneca, said: Its a great first step, but its just a first step. We now need to make sure it gets implemented. Mr Pangalos also confirmed AstraZeneca had committed a significant investment in its largest manufacturing site in the UK. The 34m investment in its packing operations will help the firm increase capacity and meet rising demand for breast cancer drug Zalodex in Asia, Mr Pangalos said. At a time when corporate leaders have been highly critical of President Donald Trump over his response to deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has remained quiet, telling CNBC on Wednesday he tries not to mix business and politics. "I'm not in the business of attacking any president, nor do I think I should be," Buffett said in a "Squawk Alley" interview. Earlier this month, a deluge of CEOs distanced themselves from Trump in the wake of Charlottesville by leaving White House business advisory councils, which were later dissolved. The tipping point for corporate America seemed to come Aug. 15 when the president angrily doubled down on his original comments about the deadly rally, and again blamed both the white nationalists and the counterprotesters for the mayhem. Trump's critics felt he put neo-Nazis on the same moral footing as the demonstrators who gathered to denounce their racist views. As a supporter of Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, Buffett said he was disappointed by the election result. "I worked for Hillary. I raised money for Hillary. I voted for Hillary. I was disappointed when she lost." But Buffett argued, as he has in the past, that "this country will move forward [under Trump.] It is important that government functions well." "I won't say if my candidate doesn't win, and probably half the time they haven't, I'm going to take my ball and go home," he said. Earlier on CNBC , Buffett said he does not think the economy feels like it's growing at 3 percent, a level Trump and his administration have set as a goal for what they view as their business-friendly economic agenda of tax cuts and infrastructure spending. Buffett, who turned 87 on Wednesday, said he's lived through 15 of the 45 presidents. "Forty-five presidents of the United States and I lived under a third of them," he said. "I bought stocks under 14 of the 15. The first one was [President Herbert] Hoover. I was only 2 when he left so I hadn't gotten active at that point. But [ Franklin Delano] Roosevelt was next. And I bought stocks under him, even though my dad thought it was the end of the world when he got elected." Story continues Buffett was in New York City on Wednesday for a private lunch with the winner of an annual auction to benefit Glide, a San Francisco-based homeless charity. The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, paid $2,679,001. WATCH: CNBC's full interview with investing icon Warren Buffett More From CNBC 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 Today is Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) chairman and CEO Warren Buffett 's birthday. He is 87, but the best birthday present he ever received came long ago, before he made his first penny before he was even born. It didn't come wrapped; it doesn't even take a physical form. It's called luck. Of course Buffett's made a lot of money for those who like playing around with numbers, like Buffett does, his fortune works out to millions of dollars per each day of his life . But even with Berkshire Hathaway shares up about 20 percent in the past year easily outpacing the S&P 500 and sitting near an annual high and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), one of his shrewd post-crisis financial investments, reaching a $12 billion paper profit , some recent headlines suggest that his luck may be running out: Sempra Energy outbid master dealmaker Buffett's $9 billion offer for energy company Oncor. But luck, or winning the "ovarian lottery," as Buffett called it, has been as instrumental as any factor in building his billionaire fortune. Luck doesn't get the recognition it deserves as a success factor. Analysis of the traits of billionaires and the effort to uncover their secret to success tend to go granular: Do they awake at 4 a.m. ? Do they write handwritten notes from their CEO desk to everyone, even the little people? Or does success tend to circle around some new (and not necessarily improved) versions of habits already covered by the likes of Stephen Covey? Some American billionaires and captains of industry attempt to encapsulate business brilliance in methodical form and with their own pen, such as Koch Industries' Charles Koch, who shared his market-based management approach in his book "The Science of Success." But luck matters. "Having the good luck to win the 'ovarian lottery' is a major determinant in success in life in general and in business in particular," Professor David Kass told CNBC. The clinical professor of finance for the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland was the first to publish Buffett's "ovarian lottery" comments, based on notes he took at a 2013 graduate student event where Buffett spoke. Story continues Luck may seem like the least tangible, least controllable success factor. After all, what can one do about luck? But there's a perfect example from Buffett's business history that Kass shared with CNBC, showing how those who believe in luck are also on the lookout for luck when it delivers an opportunity into their lap: When Buffett was a 20-year-old MBA student at Columbia University, he learned that his hero, Professor Benjamin Graham, was the Chairman of the Board of GEICO. Since Buffett was interested in anything that Graham was interested in, he took a train to Washington from New York (1950), arriving on a Saturday morning. Without calling or writing ahead of time, Buffett was very lucky that one employee was there, Lorimar Davidson, who spent four hours explaining both insurance and GEICO to Buffett. Buffett immediately grasped that GEICO would have an enduring competitive advantage. (Davidson subsequently became CEO of GEICO.) Insurance later became the primary business and building block of Berkshire Hathaway. "Warren Buffett has stressed the importance of luck in his life, focusing not only on where he was born but also when. His primary skill of allocation of capital has worked well for him in the United States and in his lifetime," Kass said. Michael Mauboussin, a managing director and head of global financial strategies at Credit Suisse and author of "The Success Equation," which looks at the role of skill and luck, said Buffett's example reveals something fundamental about business greatness: Positive outliers, including Buffett, "are the product of lots of skill and lots of luck ... in business dealings." You set the rules Buffett's view of luck is also important to how a business culture is built, as reflected in this key section from Professor Kass' notes: "Just imagine that it is 24 hours before you are born. A genie comes and says to you in the womb, 'You look like an extraordinarily responsible, intelligent, potential human being. [You're] going to emerge in 24 hours and it is an enormous responsibility I am going to assign to you determination of the political, economic and social system into which you are going to emerge. You set the rules, any political system, democracy, parliamentary, anything you wish you can set the economic structure, communistic, capitalistic, set anything in motion, and I guarantee you that when you emerge, this world will exist for you, your children and grandchildren. What's the catch? One catch just before you emerge, you have to go through a huge bucket with 7 billion slips, one for each human. Dip your hand in and that is what you get " Lawrence A. Cunningham, Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor of Law at George Washington University and author of several books about Buffett, including "Berkshire Beyond Buffett," said Buffett borrowed this idea from Harvard philosopher John Rawls and his canonical work, "A Theory of Justice." A just society is based on principles everyone would agree to if impartial and if starting from an original position behind a "veil of ignorance" not knowing who they would be or which side of an argument they would be on. Rawls' philosophical treatise on how to create a just society includes a much simpler message for those building a business on their own: "Treat everyone on your team whether employee, customer, supplier, financier the way you would want to be treated if you were them. The golden rule, in a nutshell," Cunningham said. Kass added, "For entrepreneurs who hope to have as much luck for as long as Buffett has had it, be humble about your own contributions and the contributions from others upon which you depend. Appreciating the contributions of the teachers we have had and the people before us who have assisted us is a critical attribute of luck and lasting business success." That's a practical philosophy worth practicing every day of the year. You can read Buffett's full quote on the nature of luck at Professor Kass' blog. This story, originally published on August 29, 2016, has been updated to reflect Warren Buffett's performance over the past year. More From CNBC Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday that U.S. economic growth does not feel like 3 percent. The 3 percent threshold is what President Donald Trump and his administration want to achieve for gross domestic product growth. The government reported on Wednesday that GDP increased at a better-than-expected 3.0 percent annual rate in the second quarter. The upward revision from the 2.6 percent pace reported last month reflected robust consumer spending as well as strong business investment. Economists had expected a 2.7 percent advance. "I would guess we're in a 2 percent growth economy now," Buffett said in interviews on "Squawk Alley" and " Squawk on the Street ." "Every now and then we think it's accelerating. And every now and then that maybe there's a double dip or something. It just seems to be a couple of percent." "If we have 2 percent for a generation, 25 years, you would have a $19,000 GDP gain per person in the United States," added the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A). Growth last quarter, according to the Commerce Department, was the strongest since the first quarter of 2015. It followed a 1.2 percent pace in the first quarter of 2017. Reuters contributed to this report. More From CNBC NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday that he had not sold a share of Apple and was not concerned about Wells Fargo as a long-term investment, calling it a "terrific" bank. Buffett, chairman and chief executive of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said about Apple compared to IBM: "I feel more certain about the future as I look at a company like Apple than when I look at IBM now." Berkshire has disclosed a roughly $20 billion stake in Apple. Buffett owned about 81 million shares of IBM at the end of 2016 and sold about a third of them in the first and second quarters of 2017, CNBC reported in May, citing Buffett. Buffett also said Wednesday that he continued to have faith in investments in Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo. Berkshire has become Bank of America's largest shareholder by exercising its right to acquire 700 million shares at a steep discount, more than tripling an investment it made six years ago. When asked if U.S. food company Kraft Heinz would buy Mondelez, Buffett said: "I think the answer is no on that." He also said Kraft Heinz, which Berkshire controls along with Brazilian firm 3G Capital, would not again seek to buy Unilever Plc. Kraft Heinz withdrew its proposal for a $143 billion merger with larger rival Unilever Plc, the companies said in February. Following a six-month cooling off period required by UK takeover law which expired this month, there has been speculation over whether Kraft Heinz would come back for another shot at Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever. "That was a misunderstanding, basically. We will not make hostile takeover offers, and we did not intend that to be hostile, but it turned out it was, and we immediately the next day, when I learned about it, we called it off," Buffett said on Kraft Heinz's bid. When asked why he was silent about U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, Buffett said: "I am not in the business of attacking any president, nor do I think I should be." He had supported Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential election. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) Caterpillar (CAT) stock climbed to a new all-time high on Wednesday after it was officially announced that the company received a substantial U.S. government contract. Caterpillar CAT stock climbed to a new all-time high on Wednesday after it was officially announced that the company received a substantial U.S. government contract. The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Tuesday that the construction and mining equipment maker won a five-year, $663.6 million government contract. Caterpillar will officially work with the Defense Logistics Agency to provide commercial construction equipment. The defense department noted that Caterpillar beat out three other firms to earn the lucrative government contract. Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar will work with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies as part of the fixed-price contract that will end in August 2022. Shares of Caterpillar rose by more than 0.83% on Wednesday morning to touch a new all-time intraday trading high of $117.00 per share. The construction equipment company, valued at over $68 billion, has seen its stock price skyrocket from $79.33 a share at the end of August 2016 to its current high. The companys run of success in the market can be attributed in part to solid earnings and revenue beats this year. Caterpillar earned seven upward estimate revisions in the last month, without receiving any downgrades. Caterpillar also received nine positive full-year upgrades and no downgrades. The companys full-year earnings estimates climbed from $4.32 a share in late July to over $5.20 per share today, which marks an increase of over 20%. Caterpillar is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and operates in a highly valued market sector. But as of now, President Donald Trumps pro growth agenda has yet to get off and running. If President Trumps infrastructure spending platform does begin to take shape, Caterpillar stands to benefit even more. And this new five-year, $663.6 million contract isnt a bad place to start. Other Construction Stocks Caterpillars rise helped some major infrastructure ETFs climb as well. Shares of the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF XHB and the PowerShares Dynamic Building & Const ETF PKB both jumped by over 0.50%, while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF ITB gained over 1.0 %. Story continues Other companies with ties to infrastructure spending also experienced gains on Wednesday. Shares Thor Industries THO and NCI Building Systems NCS both climbed over 0.60%. Gibraltar Industries ROCK stock popped over 2.08% and shares of United Rentals URI climbed over 3.50%. 4 Surprising Tech Stocks to Keep an Eye On Tech stocks have been a major force behind the markets record highs, but picking the best ones to buy can be tough. Theres a simple way to invest in the success of the entire sector. Zacks has just released a Special Report revealing one thing tech companies literally cannot function without. More importantly, it reveals 4 top stocks set to skyrocket on increasing demand for these devices. I encourage you to get the report nowbefore the next wave of innovations really take off. See Stocks Now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report NCI Building Systems, Inc. (NCS) : Free Stock Analysis Report United Rentals, Inc. (URI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Thor Industries, Inc. (THO) : Free Stock Analysis Report SPDR-SP HOMEBLD (XHB): ETF Research Reports ISHARS-US HO CO (ITB): ETF Research Reports PWRSH-DYN BLDG (PKB): ETF Research Reports Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Gibraltar Industries, Inc. (ROCK) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has sought to recast his countrys relations with neighbor India in a more positive light, saying the two countries have great potential for cooperation. His comments, made on August 30, come ahead of a visit next week to China by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. China and India have also agreed this week to pull back on a months-long standoff regarding their disputed border. September 3 marks the start of a summit for BRICS -- a grouping of nations that also includes Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. Ahead of the summit, Wang told a news briefing in the southeastern city of Xiamen that it is natural for the two giant neighbors to have certain differences. "What's important is that we put these problems in the appropriate place and appropriately handle and control them in the spirit of mutual respect and based on the consensus of both countries' leaders," he said. "There is huge potential for cooperation between China and India." The standoff in the Himalayan region started when India dispatched troops to stop China from building a road in the remote territory of Doklam, which is claimed by both China and Bhutan. China says its forces will continue their patrol of Doklam (Donglang in Chinese), and Wang emphasized that he hopes India has learned a lesson from the incident. China and India have deep connections both culturally and historically, but relations have been tumultuous since a brief border war in 1962. Modi has refused to join the Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping's signature project that aims to interconnect Asia and beyond. India was the only country to boycott a summit in Beijing in May. As well as the ongoing border dispute, which includes areas near Pakistan, China and India have had disagreements. India finds Chinas close relationship with archrival Pakistan to be suspect, along with its growing military activity in and around the Indian Ocean such as its first overseas military base in Djibouti. China is upset over Indias hosting of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in India and is reviled by Beijing as a separatist. The Dalai Lama maintains he simply wants autonomy for Tibet. In particular, Beijing bristled at a weeklong trip by the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, an eastern Himalayan region administered by New Delhi but claimed by China as "southern Tibet." -- With reporting by Reuters English Swedish Finnish Fiskars Corporation Press release August 30, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. (EEST) Fiskars gift to Finland for the nation's centenary more than 750 man-hours dedicated to renovating Dagmar Park In honor of Finland's centenary, Fiskars Group is donating the calming effect of nature: on August 30, 2017, Fiskars will hand over the park area of Dagmar in Raasepori to Finland for the next hundred years. Fiskars is one of the official partners of the Prime Minister's Office on the Finland centenary year. In line with the year's theme, "Together", Fiskars' employees have dedicated their time this year to renovate Dagmar Park to serve hikers and others enjoying the wilderness. Fiskars Group has long heritage of owning and managing forests as wood has always been an important raw material for the ironworks industry. Established in 1649 as an ironworks in the village of Fiskars, the company's operations have changed over the centuries, but the heritage is still alive in western Uusimaa. Kallviken, in western Uusimaa, houses an area of land and waters covering about 40 hectares. The scenic Kallviken is a combination of diverse Finnish forest, natural beaches, coastal rock faces, and the sea. Kallviken is also the location of Dagmar Spring, which has great cultural value and is known for its exceptionally clear and clean water that invigorates hikers and provides an experience of pure nature. Fiskars is today donating the park area of Dagmar for Finns and friends of Finland to use as a hiking and recreational area for the next hundred years. Fiskars wants its donation to enable as many people as possible to enjoy the natural environment and find peace and inspiration. The company is donating the area to Finland for management by Metsahallitus, the state's forest enterprise, for a nominal annual lease of one euro. More than 750 man-hours of work: the park area was renovated to become a nature conservation area Before the area was handed over, Fiskars' employees renovated Dagmar Park in line with the official theme stated by the Prime Minister's Office for the jubilee year: "Together". The work involved restoring the paths, structures in the area such as piers, bridges, and steps, and the surroundings of Dagmar Spring to make it easy and enjoyable for walkers, hikers, boaters, and tourists to get around the park, while conserving the valuable forest environment. A total of more than 750 man-hours of work was done. "The work ranged from clearing twigs and branches to sanding down worn painted surfaces and protecting popular places from erosion by marking out clearer routes and moving the pathways. The work was carried out in accordance with plans prepared by Fiskars' forest managers and experts from Metsahallitus. Teams took up shovels and rakes as gravel was used to lay the foundations for the paths and the forest floor was cleaned up," says Fiskars' Interim President and CEO, Teemu Kangas-Karki. "I am proud of the effort made by Fiskars' employees to contribute to our joint gift. The enthusiasm and team spirit on display during the work days demonstrated how important nature is to Fiskars' teams: it is a source of well-being and inspiration," continues Kangas-Karki. The Uusimaa ELY Centre has approved Fiskars' application for the area to be established as an official nature conservation area. Protection rules have been drawn up for the area with a view to preserving it as a rewarding historical, cultural, natural, and recreational destination. The area will now be transferred to Metsahallitus, the state forest enterprise, which will manage it for the next 100 years. When Fiskars announced its donation last year, Jere Rauhala, Field Manager from Metsahallitus, said that the donation was unique for the nation and in the history of Metsahallitus: never before has a private entity donated such a historically significant area for Metsahallitus to administer. This year, it has also been possible to take a virtual tour to the area via a virtual reality (VR) video. Fiskars' Finland 100 VR experience has been touring Finland all year. The video is also available in a 360 video format on Fiskars' Finland 100 website: http://suomi100.fiskarsgroup.com/ Anniversary collection to include limited editions of unique design In addition to the Dagmar Park, Fiskars has commemorated Finland's centenary by launching a jubilee collection highlighting past decades, sustainable design, beloved patterns that have gained special significance, and colors and forms that appeal to all Finns. "The anniversary collection includes 45 special products from Fiskars, Iittala, Arabia, and Hackman. A limited edition of each product is available, and the products will be sold until the end of 2017. We are proud to be able to commemorate our homeland with timeless design and unique products," says Pekka Salmi, Vice President of Sales Finland and Finland 100 Project Manager. For further information, please contact: Maija Taimi, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, maija.taimi@fiskars.com, tel. +358 204 39 5031 Pekka Salmi, Vice President of Sales Finland and Finland 100 Project Manager at Fiskars, pekka.salmi@fiskars.com, tel. +358 204 39 5044 Fiskars Making the everyday extraordinary Fiskars serves consumers and customers around the world with a portfolio of globally recognized brands, including Fiskars, Gerber, Iittala, Royal Copenhagen, Waterford, and Wedgwood. In line with our mission, we are building a family of iconic lifestyle brands. Fiskars' vision is to create a positive, lasting impact on people's quality of life. For further information about the company, visit www.fiskarsgroup.com CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Church of Scientology announces its next Downtown Block Party on September 23rd in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, on the corner of Cleveland Street and Fort Harrison Avenue. The event welcomes all people from all communities, and will feature a Hispanic flair. The event starts at 5pm. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a0b9acfd-c5a5-4e8f-8dd7-0e3a6fc77e0a Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988. The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Dia de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period. This party celebrates the community and partnerships with local non-profits and our social betterment programs, said event organizer Nicole Biancolini. Local charities participate alongside programs sponsored by the Church of Scientology - helping educate youth about the truth about drugs, teaching kids about their human rights and bringing common sense values to help people to make good decisions in life. This is the 5th block party the Church has held since the opening of the Scientology Information Center on Cleveland Street and the Humanitarian Centers on North Fort Harrison on July 11th, 2015. Block Party activities will include: Live Music Food Raffles Prizes Carnival games, bouncy houses, face painting, a petting zoo, and a caricature artist. There is no cost to attend or to participate in the various activities. For more information about this event, or to participate as a non-profit please contact Amber at 727-467-6966 or amber@cos.flag.org. About the Church of Scientology: The Scientology religious philosophy was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, in 167 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this. For more information please visit www.scientology-fso.org. Re: The ultimate pendulum clock, indeed the ultimate mechanical clock of a [ #permalink 17 Kudos 4 Bookmarks 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 On 30 August, the head of Uruguays agriculture, livestock & fishing (MGAP) ministry, Tabare Aguerre, told the local press that Southern Common Market (Mercosur) rules do not allow Brazil to impose unilateral import quotas on any traded goods, and he said that the Uruguayan government will insist on this point with its Brazilian counterpart. End of preview - This article contains approximately 468 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Everyone feels sad from time to time. But what happens when that sadness lasts a long time? Is it just a passing feeling or the medical condition known as depression? Many people do not know whether what they are feeling is a passing phase or a serious condition requiring treatment. They may not know where to turn to find out if they should get help. Google is trying to change that by helping people recognize whether what they are feeling is actually depression. The company has teamed up with the National Alliance for Mental Illness, or NAMI, to offer a questionnaire to people who search for the word "depression" on Googles website. The alliance says, "Clinical depression is a very common condition. In fact, approximately one in five Americans experience an episode in their lifetime. However, the alliance says, only about 50 percent of people who suffer from depression actually receive treatment." Google has set up a short examination that can help people recognize whether they are suffering from clinical depression. The test will be offered to people who search for "depression" or "clinical depression" using Google on a mobile device. The search results will show information on depression with a link to a series of questions, to help identify if someone has signs of depression. The questionnaire is called Patient Health Questionnaire-9, or PHQ-9. Mental health experts use many of the same questions to help identify depression in their patients. While only a trained expert can identify depression, PHQ-9 can be a starting point to help you know whether to seek treatment. NAMI explains, "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." Using the depression questionnaire on Google To take the test, search for "depression" in Googles search engine. The results should show an explanation about clinical depression. Below the explanation is a message that reads, "-> Check if you're clinically depressed." Click that message to begin taking the questionnaire. Google says the test takes about five minutes to complete. Touch the "Get Started" button to begin. At the end you will see a list of numbers from 0 to 27. It will show how likely you are to have signs of clinical depression. The website also shows what to do next, based on the results of the questionnaire. What else you need to know PHQ-9 was developed for adults, not children. The questionnaire is available on Google search results only on phones and tablets, not other computers. If you search using a computer, you will see information about depression, but not the link to PHQ-9. If you want to search for "depression" with a computer, or do not see the link to the questionnaire on your phone or tablet, you can search for "PHQ-9" on Google instead. By taking this questionnaire on Google, you will be sharing information about yourself with the company, if you are in your Google account. Google says that your answers will be kept private. They will not be shared with others. Google's privacy statement appears before the questionnaire: Other ways to assess depression There are other ways to help identify whether you are suffering from depression. The PHQ-9 quiz is also available at the patientinfo.com website. You can take the test and see the results to help judge whether you suffer from depression. Mental Health America, or MHA also offers an online depression test. After you take the test, MHA asks for personal information, but you can ignore that part by clicking on the word "Submit" without answering any of the questions. You will see the results after you take the test, with suggestions about what to do next. The free Depression Test app for Android by Japps Medical also uses the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The app also gives users test results based on their symptoms of clinical depression. As with all computer software, be sure to read the permissions section before getting this app. Also, the magazine Psychology Today has a depression test you can take online. Its test lasts about 20 minutes and gives you a short report. If you want a full report, you will have to pay about $5. Im Caty Weaver. Carolyn Nicander Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Do you like the idea of Google offering a depression questionnaire in its search results? Do you think this questionnaire will help people become more aware of depression? Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story phase - n. a short period of time during which a person behaves in a particular way or likes a particular thing clinical - adj. requiring treatment as a medical problem approximately - adj. close in value or amount but not precise check - v. to get information by looking at something, asking about something, etc. Officials in Tajikistan have decided to begin the new school year this Friday, even if Friday is one of the holiest days for the countrys Muslims. The Education Ministry confirmed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Monday that classes will be held in schools and universities across Tajikistan on September 1. This is the same day as the start of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, which takes place over several days. Eid al-Adha is one of two major religious observances named as public holidays in Tajikistans 1994 constitution. The other is Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The country also observes September 1 as the Day of Knowledge, which marks the beginning of the school year. Tajik officials said they decided to start the new school year on this date. But they also chose to give students a public holiday on Saturday, September 2, to celebrate Eid al-Adha. Students in Tajikistan attend school six days a week, including Saturday. Eid al-Adha is celebrated for three days, so our students will still have an opportunity to celebrate it on Saturday and Sunday, the ministry spokesman said. The decision was supported by imams across Tajikistan, where about nine out of 10 people are Muslim. The religious leaders urged parents to honor the governments decision and send their children to school on September 1. Imams in Tajikistan largely support the countrys secular system of government. In recent years, Tajik leaders took steps to tighten control over some Islamic customs as officials warned of the possibility of growing extremism. The hijab head covering and other forms of Islamic clothing are not permitted in Tajik schools and government offices. Children are mostly barred from praying in mosques. Other Central Asian states that declared independence from the Soviet Union have made their own decisions on how to handle Eid al-Adha and the start of school. Kyrgyzstan will mark both the religious festival and the first day of school on September 1, but has canceled classes. Instead, schools will hold gatherings to mark Education Day. Kazakhstan moved the first day of school to September 2 to enable Eid al-Adha celebrations. Uzbekistan did not need to make changes because September 1 is already a public holiday held to mark Independence Day. Turkmenistans state media reported that Eid al-Adha would be celebrated with a three-day public holiday starting on September 2. The country announced an additional day off September 5, to make up for the Sunday that happens during the Eid al-Adha festival. Im Dorothy Gundy. Farangis Najibullah wrote this story for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story imam n. Muslim religious leader secular n. not related to religious or spiritual matters hijab n. head covering worn in public by some Muslim women A top United Nations official has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for his repeated criticisms of the news media. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein is warning Trumps comments could incite violence against news media workers. He also accused the president of attacking freedom of the press. Trump has repeatedly criticized news organizations such as The New York Times newspaper and CNN television for their reporting. He has also been critical of The Washington Post newspaper, which is part of the internet business Amazon. The president criticized some media organizations for their reports on violence in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. The violence took place at a demonstration called by white nationalists. Their opponents launched a counter-protest to answer the demonstration. One counter-protester was killed in the violence. Later, Trump criticized the media for their reporting, calling some reporters truly dishonest people for the way they described those events. Al-Hussein spoke about Trumps recent comments in Geneva Wednesday. To call these news organizations fake does tremendous damage, the U.N. official said. He went on to question criticizing individual reporters. Is this not an incitement for others to attack journalists he asked? Al-Hussein called the violence in Charlottesville an abomination. He added that a reporter from the Guardian newspaper had been, in his words, assaulted in the United States most recently. The U.N. official also expressed concern over Trumps decision to pardon Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona law enforcement official. A court had found Arpaio guilty of disobeying the order of a federal judge to halt targeting immigrants at traffic stops. The Trump administration announced the pardon last Friday. Al-Hussein also said he was worried about comments the president has made in the past about women, Mexicans and Muslims. Al-Hussein formerly served as Jordans ambassador to the United States. He has been the U.N.s top human rights official since September 1, 2014. Im Mario Ritter. Wayne Lee reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted his report for Learning English. His story includes additional material from the Reuters news agency. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story fake adj. not real tremendous adj. to a very great or high level abomination n. something that causes horror or hatred We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. I have a younger cousin through marriage that I've always had a fondness for. I've known him since he was in grade school and we're both kind of geeky and his family has never really understood him (not mean, just kind of alienating) so we have a good rapport. He's in his late twenties, I'm about 10 years older. It's become clear that he is a member of the alt-right. I only really see his facebook stuff and hear a few things via family members (we live several hours away, so I only see him a few times a year now), but it's a lot of s#!+ posting and brietbart and memes and "why are whites the only group that can't play racial politics?" stuff. The thing that really gets to me is how completely unaware he is of his good fortune in life. He seems to have a severe case of being born on third base and thinking he hit a triple. Do I (a cis white man currently of the upper-middle class that believes in the importance of social justice issues) have a duty to engage him and point out his hypocrisies and false-equivalencies? I might be a voice he'd listen to and not dismiss out of hand, but it seems like it would be so incredibly exhausting to have these conversations. But, it kind of feels like I should put up or shut up, too. Side note - is there a way in insert line breaks for Q submissions? I occasionally submit longish things in this chat and the resulting wall o' text is awful. (HealthDay)About six in 10 sexually active single men in the United States are taking responsibility for birth control, government health officials say. When they have sex, these unmarried males are using a condom (45 percent), vasectomy, "withdrawal," or a combination, according to a new report released Thursday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the study, the researchers surveyed about 3,700 unmarried and sexually active men, aged 15 to 44. The researchers found that use of any male birth control method rose from about 52 percent in 2002 to more than 59 percent by 2011-2015. Male-method contraception was highest (75 percent) among men who had never married, followed by formerly married men (55 percent) and men currently living with their partner (36 percent), said study lead author Kimberly Daniels. Daniels is a statistician with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The proportion of guys relying on condoms or vasectomy hasn't changed since 2002, but use of withdrawal before ejaculation has, Daniels said. Reliance on pulling out nearly doubled, rising from about 10 percent in 2002 to nearly 19 percent in 2011-2015, the study found. Asked whether the CDC considers withdrawal a reliable form of contraception, Daniels said it is among the rubric of male methods. Yet as a family-planning tool, the CDC ranks withdrawal relatively poorly, more or less on par with condom use, and far below the effectiveness of the birth control pill for women. Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry, chief of adolescent medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, said a "variety of things likely contribute to relatively high levels of [male contraceptive] use." Among them, he said, are comprehensive sex education programs, increased emphasis on communication with sexual partners, emphasis on men's responsibility for contraception, and access to reproductive health services through means such as the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). "The data speak against any return to abstinence-only education for younger men, or creation of access barriers to sexual and reproductive health for all people," Fortenberry added. The researchers analyzed data collected between 2011 and 2015 for the National Survey of Family Growth. Condom use varied by marital status, age and race, the findings showed. Six out of 10 never-married men reported using condoms, followed by 35 percent of formerly married men and about one-quarter of co-habitating men, the survey found. Racially, more than half of single black men used a condom compared to 44 percent of their white peers and 42 percent of Hispanics, according to the report. And in terms of age, more than three-quarters of 15- to 19-year-old guys used condoms compared to just over one-quarter of men aged 35 to 44. Withdrawal decreased in popularity with age, too, dropping from 26 percent of teens to just 12 percent of men 35 to 44. It was also more frequently tried by men who'd never married compared with previously married men and those living with a partner. When the researchers looked at male and female contraception combined, they found that 82 percent of men who'd had sex in the past 90 days said either they or their partner had used some type of birth control. The findings were published Aug. 31 in the NCHS Data Brief. More information: Kimberly Daniels, Ph.D., demographic statistician, National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics, Reproductive Statistics Branch, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; J. Dennis Fortenberry, M.D., M.S., professor, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and chief, section of adolescent medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis; Aug. 31, 2017, CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, NCHS Data Brief Kimberly Daniels, Ph.D., demographic statistician, National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics, Reproductive Statistics Branch, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; J. Dennis Fortenberry, M.D., M.S., professor, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and chief, section of adolescent medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis; Aug. 31, 2017, CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, There's more on contraception at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Elderly Chinese-Americans feel helpless when faced with racial biases and become twice as likely to consider suicide than those who don't encounter similar discrimination, according to a new University of Michigan study. U-M researchers examined how racial discrimination contributed to Chicago-area Chinese-American adults age 60 and older thinking about taking their lives during a 30-day period. Discrimination can impair a person's physical and mental well-being, and can be challenging for the elderly, said Lydia Li, U-M associate professor of social work and the study's lead author. The Chinese-American population is rising and aging quickly, but little research has examined this population, especially as it relates to suicidal behavior. Li and colleagues used data from 3,157 Chinese seniors who immigrated to the United States an average of 20 years before completing the survey. Their average age was 72, and 57 percent of them were women. In addition to obtaining background information on the participants, such as age, education and marital status, the questionnaire asked about suicidal thoughts. Participants also provided specific experiences of discrimination. About 4 percent considered suicide in past 30 days and roughly 21 percent reported experiencing discrimination in public places, at work and in other situations. Those who reported discrimination were nearly twice as likely to think about suicide than those who didn't harbor similar thoughts. "Among older Chinese-Americans, discrimination encounters may not only invoke a sense of alienation and helplessness," Li said. "Assimilation difficulty, cultural beliefs and family pride may preclude them from seeking help. Consequently they may come to see suicide as a viable alternative." The researchers also found that age, loneliness, pain and depression are significant risk factors for this group, but family support can be a positive protective factor to lessen the risk of suicidal thoughts. Li said help can also come from clinicians, who must also recognize the impact of discrimination on ethnic minority elders. "Efforts to promote civil rights and reduce discrimination may also be a form of primary prevention of suicide," she said. Li collaborated on the research with Gilbert Gee of UCLA and XinQi Dong of the Rush University Medical Center. The study appears in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Li presented the findings last month at the World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics in San Francisco. More information: Lydia W. Li et al. Association of Self-Reported Discrimination and Suicide Ideation in Older Chinese Americans, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2017). Journal information: American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Lydia W. Li et al. Association of Self-Reported Discrimination and Suicide Ideation in Older Chinese Americans,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.08.006 A 3-D view of dolichylphosphomannose. Credit: DPMS You may have never heard of congenital disorder of glycosylation, but parents whose children are born with forms of this rare and underreported metabolic disorder know all too well the dangers they pose, including developmental delay, failure to thrive, stroke-like symptoms, seizures and cerebellar dysfunction. Often serious, and sometimes fatal, CDG diseases are hereditary disorders that affect a complex metabolic process, known as glycosylation, which is critical for the development of organs. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have demonstrated for the first time the way in which certain types of CDG diseases arise from the shortage of a fundamental building block for proteins, the enzyme dolichylphosphomannose, which is known as DPMS. Glycosylation produces sugar chains that are attached to the surface of proteins. The majority of proteins produced in the human body, about two thirds, undergo the maturation process to become glycoproteins. A glycoprotein obtains its final shape and function once the sugar chains are in place. Although there is yet no cure for CDG, the researchers in Sweden have given us an unprecedented look at the inner workings of DPMS. KTH Biotechnology Professor Christina Divne says the team hope that their work will lead to improved chances of predicting and treating CDG. The article in Nature Communication details how the team determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of DPMS, using a technically-advanced and time-consuming method. "From the very 3-D image of the enzyme's appearance, we have managed to determine how it functions; and by that explain why disease-causing variants of DPMS lack the ability to produce the necessary building block, and therefore cause disease," Divne says. The study also sheds new light on how aberrant DPMS causes severe psychomotor developmental delays, microcephaly, epileptic seizures, and sometimes body malformations. A connection has also been found to certain forms of cancer. First identified in 1980, CDG cases have been documented in limited numbers. Divne says that many cases are likely unrecorded since a correct diagnosis requires that the sequences for known disease genes be determined a step that is not regularly performed. Diagnosis also requires knowledge of relevant genetic variants. "CDG diseases are often misdiagnosed and mistaken for other disease states," she says. "The symptoms resemble those of many other neurometabolic diseases and physicians do not always know what they are looking for." She says that genetic variants that cause CDG disease most likely occur at a considerably higher frequency than what can be observed in a population. Most CDG diseases cause severe disabilities, and probably lead to premature death of the fetus and spontaneous abortion. "A spontaneously aborted fetus rarely ends up at a hospital to be gene tested," she notes. About 120 different glycosylation disorders are currently known, a number that has increased threefold in 10 years, and there are probably many more to be discovered, she says. In a Canadian study on patients examined for unexplained developmental retardation, more than 10 percent could be traced to genetic defects in glycosylation processes. More information: Rosaria Gandini et al. Structural basis for dolichylphosphate mannose biosynthesis, Nature Communications (2017). Journal information: Nature Communications Rosaria Gandini et al. Structural basis for dolichylphosphate mannose biosynthesis,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00187-2 Infographic explaining global burden of dengue virus infection and new findings with implications for vaccine development. Credit: Carla Schaffer / E. Simon-Loriere et al. / AAAS (Phys.org)A large team of researchers from France and Cambodia has identified gene expression patterns and immune signatures associated with dengue fever symptoms in people who demonstrate an immune response. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes obtaining blood samples from children in Cambodia infected with the dengue virus and finding differences between those who showed symptoms and those who did not. Dengue fever is an infection caused by the dengue virus. Prior research has found that most people who are infected have a mild response or no response at all. Unfortunately, some develop very serious infections that result in hospitalization or death. Scientists have been searching for a reason for the different responses, but until now, have found few answersthis is mainly due to the fact that people without symptoms do not seek help that would result in their blood being tested. In this new effort, the researchers overcame that problem by asking parents in Cambodia to bring their children in for blood tests whether they were sick or not. The team was able to collect blood samples from 85 local children and found that nine of them had contracted the virus but showed no symptoms, and another 25 had also contracted the virus and were showing symptoms. To better understand why some of the children were able to withstand an infection with no apparent problems while others became very sick, the researchers looked for immune response signals in the blood of both. They also conducted a genetic analysis looking for differences in gene expression regarding an immune response. Infografia que explica la infeccion por el virus del dengue en el mundo y nuevos hallazgos con implicaciones para el desarrollo de la vacuna. Credit: Carla Schaffer / E. Simon-Loriere et al. / AAAS The researchers report that they found those children with a stronger response had lower expression from genes that were part of the process involved in antigen presentation, which is part of the process of activating T cells. They also had lower expression from genes that were involved in apoptosis and increased expression from genes involved in the maturation of B cells, which produce antibodies. The team concluded that children who develop symptoms typically exhibit diminished expression from genes that contribute to apoptosis, which contributes to the generation of plasma cells, which in turn produce low-affinity antibodies. More information: Etienne Simon-Loriere et al. Increased adaptive immune responses and proper feedback regulation protect against clinical dengue, Science Translational Medicine (2017). Etienne Simon-Loriere et al. Increased adaptive immune responses and proper feedback regulation protect against clinical dengue,(2017). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aal5088 Abstract Clinical symptoms of dengue virus (DENV) infection, the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral disease, range from classical mild dengue fever to severe, life-threatening dengue shock syndrome. However, most DENV infections cause few or no symptoms. Asymptomatic DENV-infected patients provide a unique opportunity to decipher the host immune responses leading to virus elimination without negative impact on an individual's health. We used an integrated approach of transcriptional profiling and immunological analysis to compare a Cambodian population of strictly asymptomatic viremic individuals with clinical dengue patients. Whereas inflammatory pathways and innate immune response pathways were similar between asymptomatic individuals and clinical dengue patients, expression of proteins related to antigen presentation and subsequent T cell and B cell activation pathways was differentially regulated, independent of viral load and previous DENV infection history. Feedback mechanisms controlled the immune response in asymptomatic viremic individuals, as demonstrated by increased activation of T cell apoptosisrelated pathways and FcRIIB (Fc receptor IIB) signaling associated with decreased anti-DENVspecific antibody concentrations. Together, our data illustrate that symptom-free DENV infection in children is associated with increased activation of the adaptive immune compartment and proper control mechanisms, leading to elimination of viral infection without excessive immune activation, with implications for novel vaccine development strategies. Journal information: Science Translational Medicine 2017 Phys.org Credit: Cancer Research UK It's often research into new drugs that makes headlines. But examining routine data can also help doctors continually improve how they use treatments already available. To do that the NHS needs to look at how these treatments are being used and how different patients fare following treatment. Last year, we worked with Public Health England to do exactly that. Our world-first study of patients treated for breast and lung cancer in 2014 gave us a national picture of what happened to patients following treatment with chemotherapy, 'targeted' drugs and immunotherapy. The study was made possible by routine data collected by Public Health England as part of the treatment of all patients across the English NHS. And for the first time each English NHS hospital trust was able to see how well their breast and lung cancer patients fared in the first 30 days after receiving these treatments compared with other trusts. This measure, called '30-day mortality', is really useful. If a patient dies in that short window of time, it's unlikely they benefitted from the treatment and they might still have experienced its side effects, even if it didn't directly lead to their death. For those patients, other types of treatment and support might have led to a better outcome. But the only way to know this is by giving treatment teams data to help them spot where they could make improvements. So how did the doctors who make decisions about these treatments feel about their trust's 30-day mortality levels? Especially where they were higher than they might have hoped. A year on, we spoke to doctors at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, and the Royal Free hospital in London, to find out. Improving the outlook for cancer patients For Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation trust, 30-day mortality for breast cancer patients receiving palliative treatment seemed to be higher than average in 2014. According to Dr Hugo Ford, the director of cancer services at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, the new national chemotherapy data set was like a canary in a coal mine. It flagged a problem, but it was up to his team to solve it. "You obviously worry that increased 30-day mortality is due to the treatment," says Ford. But when he looked more closely at the patients who had died, what he found reassured him that wasn't the case. "Very few people died because of complications of chemotherapy it was nearly always their breast cancer," he explains. "So the question then became: 'Are we giving those patients chemotherapy for too long?' rather than: 'Are we giving them the wrong treatment?'" Knowing the right question to ask led Ford and his team to an answer they could use in their hospital. Following a breast cancer diagnosis, long-term survival is high: almost 8 in 10 breast cancer patients (78%) survive for at least 10 years. That means many patients will get to know the treatment teams managing the chemotherapy they're given. So if chemotherapy stops working, making the transition to palliative care teams who help patients to manage pain and other symptoms can be particularly difficult and upsetting for patients. "We want to bring palliative care teams into the clinics, so that they can be involved with patients from an earlier stage," explains Ford. "They can also help to give advice and support to the doctors involved in their care." He told us that having these new data about patients helped the team put these plans into action sooner. "It's given us more of an argument for the resources we need to actually change the support we give patients in their transition to palliative care," he says. In January this year the team changed how they approach discussions with patients so that they're introduced to palliative care teams earlier. Ford says they're "really interested to see what impact that has on our patients' outcomes in the next year or two". And he believes that being able to share these results with other trusts will be the key to improving patient outcomes nationally. "I don't for a minute pretend that the changes we've got planned will be perfect but other people will have these same experiences. "Public Health England will be able to look at what some trusts have done that has improved patients' experiences and outcomes, and say that these are the sorts of things that other trusts should think about doing." Digging deeper into patient data But it's not just about solving problems. For trusts whose overall 30-day mortality wasn't significantly higher than average, there may also be opportunities to improve patient care. Dr Roopinder Gillmore, chemotherapy lead for the Royal Free London NHS foundation trust, explains that the study made her team change how it reviews cases where individual patients die shortly after starting treatment. "We used to hold meetings every 3 months where we discussed cancer patients who had died within 30 days of receiving chemotherapy," she says. "We now do them in real time at monthly meetings for anybody who dies unexpectedly, or shortly after being given chemotherapy with the intent of curing their cancer. We need to learn from those cases." The 30-day mortality study found that there were some patients such as those who are generally less well, or who haven't had any chemotherapy previously who had a higher risk of dying in the 30 days following treatment. So now, she says, they're exploring whether the patients they discuss in their meetings have anything in common, to help them understand when they might need to take extra care when deciding on treatment. "We're looking at patients who begin chemotherapy during their stay in hospital since they may be frailer or those who are generally less well. "If those patients crop up more in mortality meetings we need to make sure we discuss those patients properly, so that we can make well-informed decisions with them." Ultimately, the decision about whether or not to accept chemotherapy lies with the patient, with advice from their doctor. And this can be a really difficult decision to make. But Gillmore feels optimistic that looking at national data on these treatments will help doctors and their patients make the right choices for them. "For patients who might not benefit from chemotherapy, but who still want it, we need to help them understand why a different treatment strategy might give them a better outcome. "Now I'll be able to say that we look at the effect of all our treatments at a national level, to make sure that we are acting in their best interests at every stage of their journey." What else could we learn from these data? The new information has already changed how some hospitals manage and review chemotherapy treatment. But this is just the beginning. Public Health England is now exploring other ways of using data to help improve patient outcomes. One way will be to expand the data collection to include more cancer types in future, and to track these data over time. "My speciality is pancreatic cancer, so I'd love to know how many pancreatic cancer patients get treated, and what sort of treatments they're given," says Gillmore. "I don't really have a feel for what's happening day-to-day across the country." Until now, almost all the information on how well treatments work for patients came from clinical trials. These remain the gold standard of evidence, but they tend to involve patients who are younger and with few other medical problems. But doctors in the NHS have to care for a wide range of patients. Public Health England's data includes all cancer patients receiving these treatments across England that's around 489,000 patients so far. And it can be used to help doctors ensure patients receive the treatments that are most likely to be right for them, something doctors like Ford are keen to find out. "If we don't know how well treatments work in the normal population, how are we supposed to advise patients properly on what sort of treatment they ought to be having?" he says. These answers will only come if trusts put high quality data into the system. Public Health England is working closely with trusts to make sure all their data are present and correct, for every patient, which is no mean feat. But the reward will be steady improvements in patient care, for all cancer patients in the NHS, for years to come. And that's worth it. Design learning and journey maps are all the rage here at Stanford University and in Silicon Valley. So why not apply it to health systems to reduce diagnostic errors? That's what Stanford Health Policy's Kathryn M. McDonald is trying to do: Map the journey of worrisome scenarios that keep clinicians up at night, and then plant design seeds that might just help those clinicians get back to sleep. One of those real-world scenarios involves a preventable diagnostic error made as a high-risk condition unfolds across multiple visits to the doctor. Missed cancer diagnoses, for example, are the leading cause for paid medical malpractice claims in the ambulatory setting, with one in 20 patients experiencing potentially preventable diagnostic errors each year. "For example, a patient who has a positive fecal blood test, but no follow-up colonoscopy within a reasonable period may experience a missed opportunity to detect and successfully treat colon cancer," McDonald said. McDonald and her team worked with San Francisco public health clinics that cater to low-income patients to investigate this key problemmissed diagnosis and prevention activities during outpatient carethen came up with design seeds to plant possible solutions. She and her co-authors published their research in the journal Implementation Science. The project was conducted at the Ambulatory Safety Center for Innovation (ASCENT), a patient safety learning laboratory led by Dr. Urmimala Sarkar at University of California San Francisco, and funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The team used a research design approach called "journey mapping," a tool that tells the story of a customer's experience through his own viewpoint. They constructed maps for each pathway used by doctors to monitor patients with sinister findings, starting with the initial diagnostic assessment during an initial clinic visit and continuing through ongoing follow-up visits. "Whenever participants in the study verbalized elements of the pathway that were particularly vulnerable to error or poor monitoring, we marked the activity with a bullseye target, also referred to by clinicians as a 'pain point,'" the authors wrote. "To our knowledge, this technique has seldom been applied to the ambulatory setting, and has not been targeted to clinic workflow efficiency or patient safety intervention development." "A design seed gives the specs for what a solution needs to do," said McDonald, who is the executive director of Stanford Health Policy's Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research. "Once you know the vulnerabilities through journey mapping, you create all the design seeds that are tied to the problem, then the implementation stage becomes much more straightforward and more likely to assure that all the key goals are met." To test out this theory, McDonald's team spent the last two years working with doctors, residents, nurse practitioners and registered nurses with the San Francisco Health Network. The publicly funded integrated health network operates under the auspices of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and includes 14 primary care clinics, as well as urgent and specialty care at Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital. "The health system serves many of the most medically and socially vulnerable patients in San Francisco," the authors wrote in their research paper. "Like many safety-net systems and ambulatory practices, the health system does not have a comprehensive electronic health record system and struggles with information transfer as well as fragmentation of health information across over 50 electronic platforms." The health system had more than half a million outpatient visits last year by people who could not afford care. Patients at the network's main clinics and hospital are diverse: 35 percent are Latino, 21 percent are white, another 21 percent are Asians, and 17 percent are African-American. Only 1 percent of the network population has commercial insurance; 10 percent were uninsured; 57 percent were on Medi-CalCalifornia's Medicaid program21 percent were on Medicare and the remaining 11 percent were covered by other, mostly public sources. This type of ambulatory health care is complex, requiring constant tracking and reconciliation of individual patient activities, patient data, and the unique evolution of each clinical case. "Human factors and industrial design methodologies have tremendous potential to help unravel these complexities and provide fundamental insights that can drive the development of novel solutions," said co-author George Su of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. McDonald said that journey mapping helped frontline clinic members see their workflow for a specific task, which in this case was monitoring this diverse population for follow-up visits after a potentially sinister finding. The system challenge is population management of an ill-defined problem. "Lots of ambulatory care work is done one patient interaction at a time, but robust monitoring requires a view from a higher plane," she said in an interview. "Journey mapping makes the aerial view more tangible and realistic for clinic team input." McDonald's team selected high-risk cancer situations: incidentally discovered pulmonary nodules; monitoring for breast, colorectal and prostate cancers; and ear, nose and throat cancers. These high-risk cancers require recurring and timely follow-up care to assure intervention whenever the disease takes hold. The team interviewed clinicians from each of five specialty clinics responsible for these high-risk patients in pulmonary medicine, breast cancer, gastroenterology, urology, and otolaryngology. They asked the frontline clinicians: "What keeps you up and night? And what are your clinical hunches about who might fall through the cracks?" While the providers talked about the types of patients who become lost to follow-up visits, the researchers found, none of the clinics had a standardized and efficient method of quantifying how many patients were lost to follow-up care and, perhaps more importantly, why. "Many other health networks share similar struggles with incomplete documentation and measuring the real-time scope of patient safety problems," wrote McDonald and co-authors Sarkar, Su and Sarah Lisker of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine; and Emily S. Patterson of Ohio State University College of Medicine. "When a patient has a warning signal for a serious condition that has yet to materialize but may in the future, the ability of a clinical team to watch the patient closely over time hinges on incredible vigilance on the part of individual clinicianshardly an ideal solution," McDonald said. This is the crux of the problem, she said, and where so-called "design seeds" are planted. "The design seeds lay the groundwork in a very specific fashion. Journey mapping and process tracing figure out the problem, in our case, vulnerabilities, and then the design seeds are the first-stage of the solution," McDonald said. "It's very user-focused, learning directly from those who are on the frontlines of the work, and making sure that the problem is specified in a way that allows for the developments of solutions that can scale more flexibly during implementation." The team identified 45 vulnerabilities within San Francisco's publicly funded health clinics. "Repeatedly, we heard that clinicians worry about properly tracking these patients, and are troubled by the significant personnel time required in carrying out patient-level monitoring activities without tools and organization approaches for population-level monitoring," they wrote. But even then, the team did not jump straight to solutions. That's the next step. The team will launch a pilot project to test possible solutions that will grow from the design seeds, such as whether new digital technology, workflow arrangements, and structured data collection could help find those patients lost in the cracks of an overloaded system. "Such focused and potentially scalable work is particularly needed for patients who may be lost to follow-up in systems that are stretched for dollars and time," the authors concluded. "Providers will often create informal workarounds in response to the lack of comprehensive and coordinated record-keeping systems, which can result in errors as well as redundant efforts." The ASCENT team is already implementing a monitoring solution informed by the journey mapping activities, in subspecialty care clinics at Zuckerberg San Francisco General, by testing technical and workflow models. "We determined the need for a registry for high-risk patients in the otolaryngology clinic to help us monitor the entire process," said Sarkar, a primary care physician and head of the ASCENT lab at UCSF. "This means the final diagnosis, workup and treatment planning, the actual treatment itself and then surveillance and follow-up." More information: Kathryn M. McDonald et al. Implementation science for ambulatory care safety: a novel method to develop context-sensitive interventions to reduce quality gaps in monitoring high-risk patients, Implementation Science (2017). Kathryn M. McDonald et al. Implementation science for ambulatory care safety: a novel method to develop context-sensitive interventions to reduce quality gaps in monitoring high-risk patients,(2017). DOI: 10.1186/s13012-017-0609-5 Professor Chen Sheng, Professor of PolyU's Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, discovered a newly emerged superbug, hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae. Credit: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Partner State Key Laboratory of Chirosciences at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) discovered a newly emerged superbug, hyper-resistant and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae, which may cause untreatable and fatal infections in relatively healthy individuals and will pose enormous threat to human health. Prof. Chen Sheng, Professor of ABCT, collaborating with Prof. Rong Zhang from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, conducted an investigation into a fatal outbreak of pneumonia in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in China in February 2016. The study involved five patients who underwent surgical operation for multiple-trauma. All of them were later infected in the intensive care unit (ICU) and developed severe pneumonia, and eventually died of septicaemia and multiple organ failure. The causative agent of these five patients was found to be a carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKP) strain, a type of previously-defined superbug. Furthermore, these CRKP strains are also hypervirulent and belong to ST11 type of CRKP, the most prevalent and transmissible CRKP strains in Asia. As these strains simultaneously exhibit the features of hyper-resistance, hypervirulence and high transmissibility, they can be considered a real superbug known as ST11 CR-HvKP (ST11 carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent K. pneumoniae). ST11 K. pneumoniae strains proliferate in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) of human and animals and may cause opportunistic infections such as pneumonia in clinical settings. These strains, after acquiring plasmid encoding a carbapenemase gene, become resistant to the carbapenem antibiotics and caused untreatable or hard-to-be treated infections, therefore defined as superbug. These superbug strains could further evolve to become ST11 CR-HvKP through acquisition of the hypervirulence plasmids. The ST11 CR-HvKP strains do not only infect lungs and cause pneumonia, but also invade the bloodstream and other internal organs. Due to its hypervirulence and phenotypic resistance to commonly used antibiotics, ST11 CR-HvKP strains may cause untreatable and fatal infections in relatively healthy individuals with normal immunity. ST11 CR-HvKP strains possess a mucoid outer layer, which enables them to stick to various materials, such as the surface of medical devices and tubing as well as other surfaces in the ICU. The transmission route is not clear yet, but our data suggest that medical equipment such as ventilator and different catheters might be transmitting these new superbug strains. Human-to-human transmission may also be possible, mainly in hospital settings. Improved infection prevention and control policy in hospital seems to be effective to control further transmission of this superbug in the ICU. Novel strategies must be devised to prevent ST11 CR-HvKP from proliferating extensively in the human intestinal tract where they were detected. ST11 CR-HvKP can easily be detectable by the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, targeting specific resistance and virulence genes. The study showed that the use of colistin (the last resort drug for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae infections) alone or in combination with other drugs were not very effective in treating infections caused by ST11 CR-HvKP. Ceftazidime/avibactam may be the effective antibiotic, but ST11 CR-HvKP may develop resistance to this antibiotic very quickly based on the clinical data from the USA. Prevalence of ST11 CR-HvKP strains in Hong Kong is currently unknown. Two studies conducted in Hong Kong have shown that mortality rate due to K. pneumoniae-mediated bloodstream infections was high, reaching 20% and 32% respectively. We plan to collaborate with clinicians in local hospitals to investigate the proportion of clinical K. pneumoniae isolates that belong to HvKP or CR-HvKP, and characterize their genetic features. This study is recently published in the prestigious academic journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. More information: Danxia Gu et al. A fatal outbreak of ST11 carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Chinese hospital: a molecular epidemiological study, The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2017). Journal information: Lancet Infectious Diseases Danxia Gu et al. A fatal outbreak of ST11 carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Chinese hospital: a molecular epidemiological study,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30489-9 UC San Francisco scientists have developed an imaging tool that could soon allow doctors to locate and visualize bacterial infections in the body and to rule out other common causes of inflammation, such as autoimmune reactions. On August 11, 2017 in Scientific Reports, the UCSF research team reported that scans made with the imaging technique known as PET (positron emission tomography) effectively detected infections in mice caused by either of the two broad groups of bacteria, gram-negative and gram-positive, without generating a signal from other causes of inflammation. The new work uses D-methionine, an amino acid that is readily absorbed by both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, to which a weakly radioactive atom has been chemically attached. If D-methionine-based PET imaging were approved for use in humans, it would let doctors facing challenging diagnoses find and treat infections much more quickly. The method could also give greater certainty to doctors when prescribing antibiotics, which, if overused, can promote resistant bacterial strains. "We have these scenarios all the time," said Michael Ohliger, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at UCSF and one of the paper's senior authors. Patients will complain of chronic pain around a new implant, or a recent surgical incision and it is hard to tell whether the area is infected, or merely inflamed after the surgery, he explained. "Currently, we tell if it's an infection or not based on other information and educated guesses. But this would allow us to stop guessing and know for sure," said Ohliger. Collaboration Built a Better PET Imaging Agent To perform PET imaging, doctors inject patients with small doses of "radiotracers" that bind to particular proteins or accumulate in tumors, inflamed areas, and other problem spots. The most commonly used tracer, a sugar-like molecule called FDG, accumulates in infected areas, but also follows immune cells to germ-free inflammation sites and tumors. And the treatment for a sterile inflammation usually some form of immunosuppressant is the last thing doctors would want for a patient with an infection. Other tracers, like radiolabeled antibodies that attach to particular bacteria, could easily miss many infectious strains, and can also emit a stronger signal from dead bacteria which often have ruptured and spilled their contents than from intact, live ones. The search for a better radiotracer brought Ohliger together with fellow UCSF researchers David Wilson, MD, PhD, and Oren Rosenberg, MD, PhD, the paper's other senior authors. Rosenberg, an assistant professor of medicine, studies and treats infectious diseases, so he had long wished for a better imaging tool. Wilson, an associate professor of radiology, had a lab experienced in synthesizing and testing new imaging chemicals. "It's a great example of people from different fields combining their expertise," said Rosenberg. The ideal molecule would detect only live bacteria, rather than bind to living or dead cells indiscriminately; it had play an active part in their growth. And it couldn't be a substance used by human cells, because then every cell in the body would "light up" on a PET scan. Molecule Incorporated into Bacterial Cell Walls One group of molecules that fit the bill was the D-amino acids, which bacteria take up from their environment to build their protective cell walls. These molecules are mirror images of the L-amino acids, which all organisms use to build proteins. But human cells make much smaller use of the D variety, so the team reasoned a radiolabeled D-amino acid would zero in on bacteria. The team settled upon D-methionine, a minor component of the bacterial cell walls that they found gives a strong signal when radiolabeled. To probe D-methionine's capabilities, the researchers injected infectious bacteria both the gram-negative Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") and the gram-positive Escherichia coli into mice. When they later injected D-methionine molecules tagged with a single radioactive Carbon-11 atom into the mice, PET scanning showed the radiotracer accumulating at both kinds of injection sites. "Many radiotracers can detect gram-negative infections, but a lot of the infections we care about are gram-positive, so this is huge," said Wilson. What's more, the imaging didn't detect the injections of dead bacteria, showing the diagnostic tool only picked up active infections. Radiotracer Should be Quickly Adaptable Unlike some other experimental radiotracers, "radiolabeled D-methionine is totally trivial to make," said Wilson. "There's automated equipment at many, many medical centers to make L-methionine," and making D-methionine simply requires starting with a slightly different molecule. The team therefore hopes for rapid translation of their D-methionine findings for diagnosis in human patients. "I don't anticipate any difference between the mice and humans, since the tracer only targets bacteria," said Javier Villanueva-Meyer, MD, assistant professor of clinical radiology at the University of Virginia, who did the PET experiments as a postdoc in Wilson's lab. If approved, the imaging could indirectly help in the fight against antibiotic resistance. "If a physician doesn't know whether they're dealing with an infectious or inflammatory issue, they may overprescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics, leading to antibiotic resistance," said Kiel Neumann, PhD, an assistant professor of biomedical and radiology at the University of Virginia and the paper's other lead author. "With this approach, the clinician gets a definitive diagnosis." Also, scanning during treatment to see if an infection is responding could help doctors avoid treating infections with antibiotics to which those infections are already resistant. "You would see immediately whether you're getting a response," said Rosenberg. If the infection isn't responding, doctors would change treatment. And treatment could end quickly after the infection is defeated. "This is the epitome of precision medicine," said Neumann. More information: Kiel D. Neumann et al. Imaging Active Infection in vivo Using D-Amino Acid Derived PET Radiotracers, Scientific Reports (2017). Journal information: Scientific Reports Kiel D. Neumann et al. Imaging Active Infection in vivo Using D-Amino Acid Derived PET Radiotracers,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08415-x Credit: FLICKR People with mental illness in Manitoba have better access to family doctors and rely less on emergency departments than in four other Canadian provinces, a comparative study has found. But youth in Manitoba attempt suicide at higher rates than in the other provinces that were studied (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec). And overall, youth in all five provinces have poor access to mental health and addictions care. A report on the landmark study, Toward Quality Mental Health Services in Canada, was published today on the website of the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA) at Simon Fraser University in B.C. This is the first study to make a detailed comparison of care and outcomes of people with mental illness and addictions across five provinces. "We found that youth with mental illness and addictions across Canada are struggling and not having their needs properly met," says James Bolton, associate professor and director of research in the department of psychiatry at University of Manitoba's Max Rady College of Medicine. Bolton was part of a team of scientists from the five provinces who conducted the study by analyzing existing data from the provincial health-care systems. In Manitoba, researchers used anonymous health data stored at the U of M's Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, where Bolton is an adjunct scientist. "What we found were striking variations in access and outcomes of care, and a concerning theme of poor access to mental health and addictions care among youth," says Paul Kurdyak, co-author of the study, psychiatrist and scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Ontario. "Stakeholders have been calling for national reporting on the quality of mental health and addictions services for nearly two decades in Canada, and this report is a first step in being able to do that," said Amanda Butler, study co-author and research program manager at CARMHA. In order to compare the situations in different provinces, the researchers developed six health-care performance indicators, including whether an individual with a mental disorder or addiction had ongoing access to the same family doctor; whether the first treatment contact was at a hospital emergency department; and whether there was physician follow-up after hospital discharge for a mental disorder or addiction. They also compared rates of suicide attempts, death by suicide and overall mortality among those diagnosed with a mental disorder or addiction. "Based on these findings, I hope to see more resources dedicated to suicide prevention among young people in Manitoba, particularly in the Indigenous population, where we know this is a major concern," Bolton said. "It's encouraging to see that individuals with mental illness in Manitoba have better access to family doctors. However, we need more systematic hospital discharge followup for those who have been treated for a mental health or addiction issue." The scientists said they hope to see standardized processes so that reporting on mental health and addictions care can be streamlined, and data from all Canadian provinces and territories can be measured and compared. In Manitoba, Bolton said, the study points to the need for a commission or advisory council to review ways to address critical mental health and addictions issues. One of the SABCs interim board members believes they have turned the SABC around. John Matisonn, currently serving on the interim board, was interviewed as a candidate to be appointed to the permanent SABC board on Wednesday. The other four members of the interim board chairperson Khanyisile Kweyama, her deputy Mthatha Tsedu, Krish Naidoo and Febe Potgieter-Gqubule are all on the shortlist of 36 candidates to be interviewed by the portfolio committee on communications on Thursday and Friday. The SABCs image Asked what he thinks the interim boards biggest achievement is, Matisonn said he believes they have changed the SABCs image. We took over a SABC that was heading for a crash, and we managed to tip the nose of the plain, said Matisonn, a veteran journalist who was blacklisted by the Apartheid era SABC in the 1980s. DA MP Phumzile van Damme asked him if he experienced any political interference in his current stint at the public broadcaster. There has been nothing significant, but one gets signals indirectly that people want things done in a certain way, he said. Political pressure He said political interference is very damaging to the SABC. This was a sentiment shared by all the candidates interviewed. Seipati Khumalo, a journalism lecturer who previously worked two years at the Gupta-affiliated ANN7, was asked by ANC MP Mondli Gungubele for her views on editorial independence. It is very important that it is protected. If it is not, if there is infiltration, that is when we see restrictions on reporting, she said. Van Damme asked her to describe ANN7s editorial policies. Honestly, a lot of interference, said Khumalo. Van Damme said she asked because they need people with backbones of steel to serve on the board. Business interests DA MP Gavin Davis asked Dinkanyane Mohuba, dean of students at the University of Limpopo, about allegations that he moves in the same business circles as former ANC premier of Limpopo, Cassel Mothale. Mohuba said he has no business interests with Mathale, except that they stay in same suburb in Polokwane. Davis also asked him about allegations that he awarded illegal contracts to members of the ANC Youth League. Mohuba said these were malicious fabrications by a journalist and that he didnt serve on the universitys procurement committee. The ANCs Polokwane conference Davis then asked him if he persuaded the university to host the ANCs Polokwane conference in 2007. And [do] you regret it given that the ANC didnt pay and owe R6 million? Davis added. Mohuba said the university appointed him to be the project manager for the conference and therefore had to meet with the ANC in Limpopo. I had an opportunity to meet very important people, said Mohuba. EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said: We live in a serious era of poverty of integrity. I am unsatisfied with the way in which you dealt with questions from Honourable Davis. What exactly is your relationship with Cassel Mothale? Ndlozi complained that the university is very poor, and that the ANC did not pay for the conference that he said gave us the wrong president. In 2006 I was asked to head the project and work with the Limpopo chairperson (of the ANC) and that was Cassel Mothale, said Mohuba. He said the ANC paid the R6 million three years ago. Ensuring accountability and compliance with laws and procedures to restore the SABC was the golden thread through the first day of interviews on Wednesday. News24 Former chief operating officer at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Hlaudi Motsoeneng believes that he is more dangerous now that he is no longer employed there. He also went on to say that if he was still at the SABC, he wouldnt do anything different and would be worse in terms of radical transformation. People believe that because Hlaudi is on the outside, he is not going to be able to change anything, but now that I am on the outside, I am more dangerous than when I am within, he said. Motsoeneng was briefing the media at the Milpark Hotel in Johannesburg on Thursday morning. He wanted to address journalists on President Jacob Zumas recent proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate procurement at the SABC, the broadcasters interim board and its policy of 90% local content. Hlaudi is still alive and kicking. Very powerful and decisive about everything that is happening around him and in South Africa, he said. Motsoeneng welcomed the SIU announcement, saying the truth into what was happening at the SABC would finally be revealed. This gives us a chance to deal with real issues at the SABCI was not given an opportunity to deal with all of the hullabaloo around Hlaudi Motsoeneng People have been tainting us, saying we have been doing the wrong stuff at the SABC. I can assure you today that I believe that we did everything that we were supposed to do. If I was there now I would still do the same thing. If I go back to the SABC now, I would be worse because I believe in radical transformation and what we have been implementing with the previous boards was to ensure that the SABC deals with local content. Local content He said the SABC had the responsibility to promote local content because local content did not harm the SABC. I have been hearing analysts saying local content has caused harm. The evidence is different, local content is generating revenue for that organisation. Motsoeneng criticised the interim board saying it had not delivered. What the board delivered was firing Hlaudi and that is not delivering for South Africans Hlaudi is a non-issue. We have serious issues in South Africa to make sure that we transform South Africa. He said if the board cannot turn around the finances of the SABC then they have not done well. Motsoeneng said the board did not have a vision or a strategy to bail out the SABC. I see people who are like children waiting for Father Christmas to come. I do not think that this board is capable to turn the SABC around. They have actually taken the SABC backwards from where I am sitting. In his view, South Africans were happy that local content was introduced. Ninety-percent was the vehicle that will make sure that we create jobs for unemployed artists and graduates. Members should be investigated Motsoeneng said the current board should be investigated by the SIU. They are more operational now. I am aware that they have not followed the governance of the SABC. The new board should reflect the rainbow nation of South Africa but also it should be people who understand that they are coming to make sure that they implement what they need to implement at the SABC. He said there were good policies in place, but there were no people to implement them. He claimed that management was no longer running the SABC instead it was being run by the board. Members of Parliament should reject the recommendation recommending the current board members because they must be investigated by the SIU like all of us. Motsoeneng said he would continue to defend his decisions because they were in the interests of the SABC. On the current review of the editorial policy, Motsoeneng said it was not necessary to change the policy. What is wrong with the editorial policy? It was through that policy that we were able to introduce local content. I appeal to all South Africans to bring back 90%, in their contribution they should say they want local content. Blaming journalists Motsoeneng also blamed journalists for contributing towards harming the SABC. He said he never instructed journalists to stop covering violence but instead not to show visuals of violence. Since he left, Motsoeneng said the state broadcaster had become biased. I have a serious concern that they are not giving people information, it is all about scandal and fighting and I am asking how people are benefitting from such reporting. There should be balance and programmes that have a good story to tell. I do not see good stories at the SABC anymore, he said. News24 The value of cryptocurrencies has climbed rapidly in recent months, making them appealing to those interested in mining. Cryptocurrency mining using consumer-grade graphics cards or ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) hardware to mine blocks on a blockchain sees users earning the cryptocurrency of a blockchain. As ASIC devices are prohibitively expensive and usually only applicable to a specific blockchain, mining rigs comprising standard PC components and an array of powerful graphics cards have become extremely popular. Graphics-card rigs can be used to mine a number of altcoins, including Ethereum the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world. The once-off cost of purchasing a mining rig, the monthly expenses of running it, and how much money you can make are outlined below. Mining Rig Mining Rig Component Price Motherboard Biostar TB250-BTC R1,599 Processor Intel Celeron G3930 2.9GHz R829 Memory Kingston ValueRAM DDR4 2,133MHz 4GB R532 Storage Corsair Force LS 60GB SSD R776 PSU Andyson 1,200W Modular PSU R3,599 Chassis Cooler Master test bench R995 Graphics Cards 6x MSI Radeon RX 580 4GB R3,687 x 6 PCIe Risers 6x USB PCIe Riser card R145 x 6 Total R31,322 It must be noted that the price above excludes any assembly or setup of the rig, and users who do not wish to build the rig may have to pay for this. Users will also have to connect their rig to a mining pool, set up mining software, and create a cryptocurrency wallet. It is also important to note that many AMD and Nvidia graphics are not in stock in South Africa including RX 580 cards due to global shortages. This can substantially drive up the price of available cards. For our rig example, we will examine the income generated from the build if it was used to mine Ethereum. Running Costs According to Cooler Masters power load calculator estimate for the rig, this builds energy consumption comes in at 1.03kWh. The rig will run 24 hours a day, meaning the cost of electricity becomes a notable factor when determining profit. The electricity cost of running the rig using the City of Joburgs power tariffs for users consuming between 2,000kWh and 3,000kWh per month is R1,238 in a 31-day month. Additional factors to consider when running a mining rig are the heat and noise generated. To keep the rig from overheating and its noise driving you crazy it is best to run the rig in a cool, dry room away from living or sleeping areas. Profit An Ethereum mining rig with six Radeon RX 580 4GB cards mining to the Ethermine pool currently produces an average hashrate of 148MH/s. This equates to an estimated monthly payout of 0.83475 ETH, which was worth R4,105 at the time of writing. Subtracting the electricity cost incurred brings the monthly profit figure to R2,867. This means you can theoretically pay off the component costs of your rig excluding assembly and setup costs in just under 11 months. However, forecasting profit on mining is not that simple, and there are multiple factors to consider. If the price of Ethereum drops substantially, which is a possibility, your revenue drops accordingly. Blockchain improvements and block size changes can also affect the profitability of a rig. If Ethereum becomes less profitable than other altcoins, however, it is easy for miners using graphics-card rigs to switch to other cryptocurrencies. A way to implement this solution is mining program NiceHash, which automatically selects the most profitable coin to mine and pays out its users in Bitcoin. Now read: Blockchain wallet gets support for Ethereum Alpine to make 3 electric crossovers Number of injured in Istanbul blast rises to 81 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 As Tropical Storm Harvey, formerly a Category 4 hurricane that brought a deadly amount of rain to East Texas, makes its final landfall, and as North Korea's most recent missile launch over Japan may serve as prelude to more military operations directed at the U.S. territory of Guam, corporate boards are finding it difficult to prepare for a disaster that by its nature is unpredictable, executive search firm consultants said. Planning for a disaster, such as a hurricane, is ongoing, said Constantine Alexandrakis, member of the Board and CEO Advisory Group at executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, but the problem is the magnitude of the disaster, which can force boards to improvise on its crisis management plan. "Boards can never really prepare for the extreme disaster," he said. "It's very hard to predict what the crisis might look like," said Dennis Carey, co-leader for board services at executive search firm Korn Ferry. "The degree to which boards have a plan has to do with the culture of the company and the industry," John Kurtz, a partner at management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, said in an interview. Boards need to plan at various levels of detail, looking at how they mobilize in the face of a disaster and which partners they might pull into play, like providing phone assistance for those stranded, Kurtz said. "Boards have to be able to be very imaginative, but they can't plan for everything." A 2016 study by Deloitte called "A crisis of confidence," found that 76% of board members believed their companies would respond effectively if a crisis struck, and yet, only 49% said their companies have playbooks for likely crisis scenarios. Fewer than half of the directors surveyed (49%), said they have engaged with management to understand what has been done to support crisis preparedness. About a third said their companies engage in crisis simulations or training. Deloitte surveyed more than 300 board members from companies representing every major industry and geographic region. Typically, management develops a plan and brings it to the board, said Carey. It would be a broad plan that "might be flexible enough to respond to a variety of events," he added. "The oil and gas industry is extraordinarily good at planning, and that includes disaster planning," said Kurtz. "I expect that they all had fairly robust plans." When Harvey touched down in Texas over the weekend, it disrupted refineries across the region, affecting Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) - Get Free Report , Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) - Get Free Report and Phillips 66 (PSX) - Get Free Report among others. The closures of these refineries "are already impacting markets with crude prices lower on a perceived drop in demand and gasoline prices spiking in response to lower supply," Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research at Morningstar Commodities Research, wrote in a note on Tuesday. "The bigger concern now is crude supply and product distribution for plants further east in Houston," Fielden said. Accounting and consulting services company BDO noted in 2015 that natural disasters appear to be on the rise in recent years and that these events are a "powerful" demonstration of supply chain risks in a global economy. "Any single failure in a business's supply chain can cause problems throughout the company," BDO said. "Boards should be prepared to articulate what they have done to prepare for low probability, but high impact events such as natural disasters." TheStreet reached out to five oil and gas companies; ConocoPhillips (COP) - Get Free Report and Phillips 66 both declined to comment on their boards' plan to deal with natural disasters; the rest, Exxon Mobil, Valero and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) did not respond to a request for comment. "With a natural disaster, its location and asset specific," said Alexandrakis. He said the plan to respond to a natural disaster will be localized to ensure that assets are being protected and that the people working in that area are safe. Another potential crisis such as a potential military strike, given North Korea's most recent activity and the ramped up rhetoric by President Donald Trump, might be on a board's radar, but directors are "probably spending more time on currency issues and natural disasters," Alexandrakis said. "Few companies have contingency plans for an all-out war between the U.S. and another country," said Alexandrakis. Kurtz echoed that sentiment, saying that there is probably no U.S. company that has a war plan, which could be due in part to "overconfidence of our country and our military." Although the feeling is probably different in Japan, he said. TheStreet reached out to a several of Japan's and South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (SSNLF) , car makers Hyundai Motor Co. (HYMTF) , Kia Motors (KIMTF) and Nissan (NSANY) , and steelmaker Posco (PKXFF) , to see if these boards have taken any measures in preparation for further military action by North Korea. "Hyundai has business continuity plans for various potential disruptions in its business, but it is not something we discuss publicly," Hyundai's press relations team said via email. "We support and encourage a diplomatic resolution of the current tension with North Korea." "As a company, we have no specific comment on this issue other than to say that we would follow any guidance or emergency response plans put in place by the competent government authorities in Japan should this be the case," Jean-Yves Jault, a media relations manager for Toyota, wrote in an email. The other companies did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. Government plans, however, tend to be focused in a different way, said Carey. While a government has more resources at its disposal, it doesn't typically respond financially as efficiently and as immediately as companies can. "A company, because it is a smaller and well-defined universe, can be much more efficient and targeted in its response than a government can be," Carey said. Increasingly, the best companies have practiced scenario planning, by asking structured "what if" questions, to think about the possible events in the future, said Kurtz. Both Kurtz and Alexandrakis agree that boards should have specific discussions about crisis prevention and management at least once a year, and even more frequently for companies that have business exposure in volatile parts of the world. -- This story has been updated to include Hyundai's response. so was this filmed before andy got hurt? i remember my mom being all concerned because he was injured filming a CF or something :( ANYWAY donnie was so good in his tiny star wars part. i'm glad i picked it as my first star wars movie, lol. i have no desire to watch any of the other ones. even though i enjoyed rouge one it felt soooo long. but i was also on an international flight so who knows. Reply Thread Link Chasing the Dragon started filming September, and Andy got mildly hurt on a commercial in Thailand in January, soooo yep before! Nothing for your mum to be concerned about <333 Donnie and Jiang Wen were SO good in Rogue One!! I dispute it being a tiny part though, it was quite significant! And he and Jiang Wen were the first main asian roles in SW history so it was a big deal too. Reply Parent Thread Link last weekend I binge watched a bunch of classic HK cinema! That used to be my shit when I was younger! Also I've been reading all these articles about how people think the Cantonese language is on the decline? Even in some Chinatowns? But I was wondering if there was any truth in that as a non Asian (and Chinese) person lol. Any ONTDr's have any thoughts? Edited at 2017-08-31 03:29 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link i'm chinese-canadian. my family speaks mandarin, but 99% of my chinese friends are cantonese speakers. i can't really say it's true or not, lol. but i did read an article where for the first time there are more mando speakers in canada then cantonese, which i found surprising because when i go out to eat chinese food or go to stores in chinatown everyone still communicates mostly in cantonese. that being said, i have friends who say cantonese is being like, phased out in china? like my friend's husband comes from a place where cantonese was the majority language, but when he went back to visit almost everyone spoke mandarin and he even said canotnese was a dying language. plus, i've read that china is really pushing mandarin over cantonese like in HK it's being pushed more for kids to learn mandarin over cantonese now when before i always associated HK with cantonese speakers only. there's also the belief that ppl will want their kids to learn mandarin more in order to succeed in china in general. i was recently in seoul and when i went shopping so in myeongdong so many of the shop workers would start talking to me in mandarin because they could tell i wasn't korean. none of them tried cantonese. idk, it would be sad if it died out even if my canto is super basic. but my parents speak a variety of chinese dialects that i assume are still going strong so i don't think cantonese is going to disappear any time soon. this was much longer then i expected, lmfao. Reply Parent Thread Link I live in LA and I feel like a lot of Chinese descent residents now speak Mandarin (fellow Cantonese speaker here). I went to Vancouver and there are more Cantonese speakers there. Reply Parent Thread Link So here for this. Reply Thread Link Here for this Donniessance! Reply Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link China loves their drug/crime films. Reply Thread Link Donnie I'll always love Rogue One for the very rare chance of seeing him on a big screen in my are end of nowhere town (among other things). Also this looks good! Reply Thread Link So this is like a sequel? Reply Thread Link No not technically. It's a remake of the 1991 film 'To Be Number One', and Andy Lau previously played Lee Rock in the film 'Lee Rock' which was also released in 1991... but it's not a sequel. Reply Parent Thread Link I shall just casually leave this here. Reply Thread Link Andy Lau is one of my childhood loves and I stanned for 3/4 of the Heavenly Kings because Leon Lai was my cousin's favorite and I didn't want to fight her for it. Reply Thread Link Also one of my childhood faves!! Andy, Tony Leung, Leon Lai. And tbh Chow Yun-fat. And now in more recent years, Donnie! So to see Donnie and Andy teaming up is like <333 Reply Parent Thread Link So many childhood loves. Louis Koo, too. He was especially fine before and after his tan. Reply Parent Thread Link oh my days, nostalgia! SHAME ON ME FOR FORGETTING HIM tbh! Reply Parent Thread Link Oh, I love Tony Leung sooo much! The Grandmaster was the last film I have seen of him lately, and he was amazing, as always! He seems almost ageless, same with Andy Lau in the trailer here. Reply Parent Thread Link yes!!! I was legit thinking last night when replying to you and looking at Tony and Andy pics "damn they're ageless iconique mofos" Reply Parent Thread Link Texas' Texting Ban Kicks in 9/1 "The new law will help reduce crashes, save lives, and make Texas roads safer for everyone," Kent Livesay, vice president and general manager of AAA Texas, wrote in his message to readers. "This new law will make travel safer for every Texan." Texting while driving will be illegal in Texas as of Sept. 1, as a bill signed into law in June by Gov. Greg Abbott takes effect. Texas is the 47th state to pass a texting ban. Authorities such as AAA say texting while driving is one of the most dangerous activities drivers can take while behind the wheel, and Kent Livesay, vice president and general manager of AAA Texas, wrote in the organization's September/October 2017 issue that research shows texting drivers are six times more likely to crash than other drivers are. Enacting a ban on texting while driving in Texas has been a AAA priority for a decade, he wrote. "The new law will help reduce crashes, save lives, and make Texas roads safer for everyone," Livesay wrote in his message to readers. "AAA Texas favors all efforts to prohibit texting while driving, and we thank you for your support," he added. "This new law will make travel safer for every Texan." His column included these tips for drivers: Get your Milwaukee history fix this summer with OnMilwaukee's Urban Spelunking, sponsored by DearMKE. Fall in love with Milwaukee and its stories on DearMKE.com, or go on your own urban exploration and share your photos and your stories of Milwaukee with #DearMKE on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The remnants of Milwaukees manufacturing and industrial past have long provided havens for creativity for the citys musicians, photographers, painters and other artists, to say nothing of folks more suited to deserted factory life than traditional apartment dwelling. One such place was the Bern Boys building in Walkers Point. Another was the dearly departed Sausage Factory on the northwest end of the Humboldt Avenue viaduct. Still another was the former tannery buildings on Virginia Street, where the founders of Colectivo and Fuel Cafe, among others, were housed. Think, too, of Lincoln Warehouse on the western edge of Bay View. Then there was the legendary Sydney Hih. Chief among a list of these places would have to be what is called "The Fortress," 100 E. Pleasant St., that complex complex of at least six connected buildings including the one with the Medieval-looking tower that were once home to the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Co. Over the past few decades, it has been a creative home to musicians like BoDeans, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, and Pat McCurdy; filmmakers like Frankie Latina, Scott Reeder, Andrew Swant and Bobby Ciraldo; visual artists like Davey Noble, Ray Chi and Faythe Levine, among others. (Mary-Louise Schumacher wrote a nice piece on this aspect of the building's life.) There have been galleries, theater companies, an art supply shop and even a daycare and Montessori school in the building. Rick Wiegand (who also owns the former Tower Theater and the Ambassador Hotel) bought the place in 1988 and has been landlord to these folks for all those years. But, now hes selling the place to a developer that plans to turn this complicated web of buildings erected between 1880 and 1912 into apartments, including one on the giant cube of a space in the tower that has given the building its nickname. Wiegand says closing is set to take place by the end of September. Born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1823, Frederick Mayer (pictured above, courtesy of Mark Kuehn) arrived in Milwaukee and opened a thriving and ever-growing shoe store on Water Street in 1852. Twenty-eight years later, he moved into the shoemaking business, setting up shop with his sons A.J., George (pictured at right) and Frederick Jr., in a two-story building on the northeast corner of 1st and Walnut Streets. After enlarging that building with a two-story addition to the east, Mayer still needed more space and so in 1892 he tapped architect Herman P. Schnetzky to make that building larger still, expanding not only to the east but also upward to create a five-story structure (that seems like six stories on the Pleasant/Walnut Street side thanks to an exposed basement level). Business was booming for Mayer, which had started out making about 150 pairs of a shoes a day and in 1893 employed 125 people. The expanded plant capacity soon boosted production to as many as 3,000 pairs each day. In 1899, Mayer hired Eugene Liebert to draw a further expansion to the east, replacing a two-story factory with a roof lined with dormers (seen below in a photo courtesy of Milwaukee Public Library). (PHOTO: Courtesy of Mark Kuehn) Liebert had been partners will Schnetzky from 1892 until 1897, but had been Schnetzkys draughtsman since 1887, which means Liebert most likely had a hand in designing the 1892 building, too. That likely make it quite simple for Liebert to maintain the continuity of design, especially of the Walnut/Pleasant Street facade. Here are Sanborn Fire Insurance Map images of the site from 1894 and 1910. Note that the 1910 map details on which floor each manufacturing process took place: Further additions went up to the north in 1900, 1906 and 1912, creating the array of connected structures that we see today and that are collectively called "The Fortress." A 1908 postcard notes that in 1908, Mayer had 259,000 square feet of factories in Milwaukee and Seattle, and were turning out 9,000 pairs of its "Honorbilt" shoes daily. In 1910, the company again hired Schnetzky and his son Hugo to design the striking terra cotta building that is home to West Elm on the corner of Water Street and St. Paul Avenue. "The F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Company represents one facet of the giant tanning industry which made Milwaukee a leader in the country," notes the Wisconsin Historical Society. "The Brewers' Hill area saw the largest concentration of tanneries along the banks of the Milwaukee River. Manufacturers such as the U. Schoenecker Boot & Shoe Company and the Mayer plant were located in the proximity to the supply of tanned leather. By 1910, in a period of property for the leather industry as a whole, Mayer had expanded nationwide and established a five-story building in Seattle to meet the demand for shoes along the West Coast and Alaska." Although Mayer died in 1897, his sons continued to run the business into the 1930s. These days, most though not all tenants have moved out. Wiegand showed me around one day recently and it is really a warren of hallways and spaces of all different shapes, sizes and configurations, in part because of its many varied usages and subdivisions over the years, but also because of the fact that there are six buildings fused together. In the southwest corner of the basement, you can really see the earliest parts of the structure, with cream city brick walls and heavy timber framing. Toward the back, in the 1906 building, is the site of the former daycare (pictured above), which was also a Montessori school for a time. The storied "piano graveyard" still survives on the top floor of the earliest building, with a stack of pianos and piano parts mounded into what looks almost like an art installation, or the result of a piano factory collapse. If you keep heading south in this space and then turn left, you find the wooden ladder that is the first leg of the journey to the roof of the crenelated tower. Go up through the scuttle and youre in the dark, lower level of the tower, which has windows, but not facing Pleasant Street. Take the metal ladder through another scuttle and prepare to be amazed. This is the gorgeous, two-story open cube of space, with two levels of windows on all four sides, that Wiegand says he thinks the new owners will convert into an apartment. The 360-degree views for the lucky renter will be astonishing. Another metal ladder this one much taller thanks to the height of the space leads to the scuttle that opens on to the roof, which, of course, offers more unobstructed 360-degree views because youre another 25 feet or so higher and with no walls around you. I stand up here for a good long while I wouldnt blame Wiegand if he had been eying his wristwatch impatiently, though I didnt see him do it taking in the views, despite the fact that it was raining lightly. Back downstairs, Wiegand takes me into the Mayer offices in the 1899 Liebert building. In here, theres a vault with a stunning red brick surround, and offices with fireplaces of matching brick and nice arched openings. A series of smaller offices are behind a wood-and-glass wall with decorative iron escutcheons and doorknobs, evoking a long-departed era. Before I head out the studded leather doors toward Pleasant Street, Wiegand urges me to take a photograph of the heavy black slate stairs. "Imagine the boots of all the workers that wore down those steps coming in here to collect their pay every week for all those years," he says. I stop to take the photo and pause for a moment to hope that the new owners of this Milwaukee landmark appreciate its history as much as Wiegand does. Sandia National Laboratories Mike Beabout and Patrick Barnes, left to right top, and Mark Stroman and Jamison Lee, left to right bottom, prepare a nitrogen-powered gas gun for the labs Alternative Pyroshock Test by installing a resonant cone to a resonant beam. Sandia successfully demonstrated a more environmentally friendly way to ensure avionics can withstand the shock from stage separation during flight. Credit: Randy Montoya Sandia National Laboratories has successfully demonstrated a new, more environmentally friendly method to test a rocket part to ensure its avionics can withstand the shock from stage separation during flight. The new methodcalled the Alternative Pyroshock Testused a nitrogen-powered gas gun to shoot a 100-pound steel projectile into a steel resonant beam, which then transfers energy through a resonant cone attached to the part being tested. The resulting energy transfer mimics the conditions of stage separation in space. The first test of this type using the flight hardware was completed this spring. Until now, pyroshock tests to ensure aerospace parts were ready for the rigors of flight had used explosives encased in lead to provide the impacts to parts needed for such experiments, mechanical engineer Mark Pilcher said. The lead and explosives were environmental hazards, so cleanup was costly and time-consuming. The Sandia Labs team wanted a better approach. "We recognized early in the program that we need to seek out alternative test methods in order to reduce our hazardous work exposure, minimize environmental waste and develop a controlled and repeatable test capability," Pilcher said. "Investigating a large-scale nonexplosive gas gun test became a reality when we partnered with Sandia's large-scale mechanical test facilities. The combined team worked hard to get to this test." Hopkinson bar technology proved a more controllable alternative to explosives Asked to research whether an alternative means of testing was possible using a gas gun, Sandia mechanical engineer Bo Song turned to a 1-inch-diameter Hopkinson bar. The Hopkinson bar was first suggested in 1914 by Bertram Hopkinson, a British patent lawyer and Cambridge University professor of mechanism and applied mechanics, as a way to measure the pressure produced by explosives. It was further modified in 1949 for dynamic stress-strain measurements of materials. In Sandia's Experimental Impact Mechanics Laboratory, Song and his team conducted small-scale testing with a metal rod about 20 times smaller than that used in the full-scale test. They discovered the Hopkinson bar technology could provide the frequency levels and the mechanical energy needed in the large-scale test to recreate conditions found during flight. A 100-lb solid steel projectile, fired from Sandia National Laboratories 6-inch gas gun, impacts material on a resonant bar attached to a test article. The impact initiates a wave that travels through the resonant bar assembly into the test article, simulating a stage separation pyroshock event. Credit: Sandia National Laboratories Song's team conducted more than 50 tests. They looked at what types of projectiles to use, how fast the gas gun needed to shoot, how to design a Hopkinson bar-type apparatus called a resonant bar at a larger scale, how to design a steel resonant cone to transfer the energy to the object being tested and how to manipulate the pulse of energy using small copper "coins" called programmers or pulse shapers, which were placed on the surface of the resonant bar. "The most difficult part was designing the programmers, or pulse shapers, because we had to select the right material, geometry and dimensions," Song said. "We got a lot of experience through this kind of testing for the future large-scale testing. The same concept can be used for a variety of defense and space applications. This provides a new path for pyroshock testing, but very clean and more controllable and will save a lot of costs." Gas gun used in large-scale tests The next phase of the Alternative Pyroshock Test applied the Hopkinson bar technology to a pneumatically driven gas gun. For this test, the gas gun was not required to reach its maximum capacities. The 60-foot-long gas gun used compressed nitrogen gas to shoot metal projectiles into a resonant beam coupled with a resonant cone to expand the final diameter to interface with the rocket part, essentially a hybrid version of a large-scale Hopkinson bar. Sa and Seu Chiquinho sites featuring circular, square, and U-shaped earthworks. Credit: Sanna Saunaluoma The geometric earthworks of southwestern Amazonia have intrigued researchers, the media and the general public, and they have been explored recently by several international research teams. They examined pre-colonial geometric earthworks in southwestern Amazonia from the point of view of indigenous peoples and archaeology. The study shows that the earthworks were once important ritual communication spaces. These unique archaeological sites have been labeled the Geoglyphs of Acre, as most of them are located in the Brazilian State of Acre. Nearly 500 sites have been registered and are included on the Brazilian State Party's Tentative List for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The construction period and use span the time period of approximately 3000 to 1000 BP. The earthwork ditches form geometric patterns including squares, circles, U-forms, ellipses and octagons. They can be several meters deep and enclose areas of hundreds of square meters. Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland, conducted research with indigenous peoples in the study area for a long time. Sanna Saunaluoma, postdoctoral researcher at the Sao Paulo University, Brazil, specializes in Amazonian archeology and made her doctoral dissertation on Acre's earthwork sites. Their article, published in the American Anthropologist, examines pre-colonial geometric earthworks from the point of view of indigenous peoples and archaeology. The study shows that the sites were once important ritual spaces where, through the geometric designs, certain members of the community communicated with ancestor spirits, animals and celestial bodies. Thus, people were constantly reminded that human life was intertwined with the environment and previous generations. People did not distinguish themselves from nature; rather, nonhumans enabled and produced life. The geometric earthwork sites were used by the experts of that era who specialized in the interaction with the nonhuman beings. The sites were important for members of the community at certain stages of life, and the geometric patterns acted as "doors" and "paths" to gain the knowledge and strength of the beings of the environment. Visualization and active interactions with nonhuman beings were constructive for these communities. The geometric patterns inspired by characteristics and skin patterns of animals typify the thinking of the indigenous people of Amazonia and are still present in their modern pottery, fabrics, jewelry, and arts. As the theories of Amerindian visual art also show, geometric patterns can provide people with desired qualities and abilities, such as fertility, resistance, knowledge and power. Contemporary indigenous peoples of Acre still protect earthwork sites as sacred places, and unlike other Brazilian residents in the area, avoid using the sites for mundane activities such as housing or agriculture, and therefore protect these peculiar ancient remains in their own way. Infographic describing the intergenerational effect of DACA on childrens mental health. Credit: Noelle Daly, Stanford Immigration Policy Lab In recent years unauthorized immigrants known as "dreamers" have captured nationwide attention and become a force in American politics. Brought to the United States as children, these young adults came forward to ask for the right to give back to the country they call home. With protection from deportation, they say, comes the ability to pursue higher education and forge careers, to move from fear and uncertainty to planning a future with purpose. In 2012 their call was answered with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which awarded temporary work permits and protection from deportation to childhood arrivals. Today the program covers about 800,000 immigrants. For many DACA recipients there is more at stake than a college degree or dream job: they are also parents to children born in America. The anxiety surrounding the family's immigration status can be detrimental to the health and development of the U.S. citizen children. As Congress and the Trump administration consider whether to extend or cancel the program, those children are often overlooked, though their well-being hangs in the balance. How do their lives change when their parents no longer fear being deported? ''DACA is the largest immigration reform in the US since the mid-1980s, but so far there have been almost no credible studies of how it has affected unauthorized immigrants and their families. Hence, policymakers have lacked concrete evidence to make informed decisions about the future of DACA", says Linna Marten, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Immigration Policy Lab and co-author of a new study examining the intergenerational effects of DACA. The results show that protecting unauthorized immigrant parents from deportation leads to dramatic improvements in their children's mental health. About 4 million children born in the United States have at least one parent who is unauthorized. Research suggests that fear of separation is a significant source of stress for these children, but it is difficult to pin down how their disadvantages stem from immigration status as opposed to poverty, cultural barriers, or other factors common among unauthorized immigrants. Most previous studies have provided evidence of correlations, not the causal consequences of immigration status. When examining unauthorized immigrants one must also clear another hurdle: finding a large sample of people who by definition are excluded from most surveys and are reluctant to identify themselves. With DACA comes the opportunity for a creative solution to these research limitations. An interdisciplinary team including members from Stanford University, Oregon Health and Science University, the Stanford School of Medicine, and Northwestern University designed a novel strategy to identify the intergenerational health effects of DACA. First, the researchers used data from Oregon's Emergency Medicaid program, which is used for pregnancy coverage by immigrant women who do not qualify for traditional Medicaid. As U.S. citizens, the children born to these mothers were eligible for full-scope Medicaid, so they could be tracked through their medical claims. Second, they took advantage of one of the program's criteria for eligibility: individuals born before June 15, 1981 are not eligible, while those born after are eligible if they fulfill the other criteria. On either side of that date are nearly identical groups of mothers, women with no meaningful differences other than their eligibility for DACA. "Evaluating the consequences of immigration status is often challenging, since it is not randomly assigned, but the arbitrary DACA age cutoff created a natural experiment. We also conducted several tests that confirmed that their children had similar background characteristics and health status before DACA was implemented", says Jens Hainmueller, Stanford professor and co-director of the Immigration Policy Lab. The researchers narrowed in on 5,653 mothers born just before and after the cutoff date for DACA eligibility. Among the 8,610 children born to these mothers between 2003 and 2015, the researchers looked for a range of mental illnesses known to be provoked by external stress, including adjustment disorder, acute stress disorder, and anxiety disorder. Why were these so important? Imagine a child who can't sleep, who is withdrawn and depressed, who doesn't participate in school activities or who lashes out at teachers and other kids. Mental illness at such an early age can set the child on a path for a lifetime of challenges, from low education to dependence on welfare to poor physical health and substance abusepersonal struggles with high social costs. Childhood mental illness also accounts for the highest share of the nation's pediatric health care spending, reaching $13.8 billion in 2011 alone. Before DACA was introduced, the two groups of children, as you might expect, were diagnosed with these disorders at roughly the same rate. After DACA, a gulf immediately opened between the two groups on either side of the mothers' birthdate cutoff: Among those whose mothers were eligible, the rate dropped by more than half, from 7.8 percent to 3.3 percent. "Our results imply that expanding deferred action, or providing more permanent protection, to the millions of unauthorized immigrant parents who do not meet the current DACA eligibility criteria could equally promote the well-being of their children. This would have important implications for this next generation of American citizens", says Duncan Lawrence, executive director of the Stanford Immigration Policy Lab. Policy shifts at the federal level can take a while to be felt on the ground, but these findings show that the benefits of DACA were almost instantaneous in giving young children security and peace of mind. This evidence suggests that policy choices have the power to either consign these children of immigrants to the same disadvantages as their parents, or to lift them into the healthy trajectory that other U.S. citizen children enjoy from birth. "Compared to other social determinants of children's health, this is the only one I know that can be changed by a simple legislative or executive act. All the other social determinants we have been trying to improve in child health have been very difficult to change", says Fernando Mendoza, Stanford professor of pediatrics. As policymakers deliberate over DACA's future, they should consider the program's broader impact, which may extend for decades and have life-altering consequences for U.S. citizens. More information: J. Hainmueller el al., "Protecting unauthorized immigrant mothers improves their children's mental health," Science (2017). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/ 1126/science.aan5893 Journal information: Science Nearly 150,000 people have signed an online letter supporting protesters against Bialowieza logging Some 50 environmental activists blocked logging equipment and vehicles Thursday in Poland's ancient Bialowieza forest, as authorities continued to fell trees despite an EU injunction to stop, Greenpeace said. The right-wing government has vowed to continue logging in the forest that includes Europe's last primeval woodland following last month's ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the bloc's top court. "Around 30 people blocked the road to trucks transporting chopped wood, thus joining those who for three days now have been blocking harvesters in another part of the forest," Greenpeace Polska spokeswoman Marianna Hoszowska told AFP. "The brutality of the logging supporters is counterproductive. There are more and more of us and the scope of our activity will increase," Greenpeace Polska director Robert Cyglicki added in a statement. Cyglicki later reported that one of the trucks had "unloaded its wood and left it in the forest" but qualified the success by adding that it was owned by "just one of the 120 companies that buy wood cut down in Bialowieza". "That's the extent of the devastation," he said. Bialowieza, which straddles the border with Belarus, includes one of the largest surviving parts of the primeval forest that covered the European plain ten thousand years ago. The vast woodland is home to unique plant and animal life, including some 800 European bison, the continent's largest mammal. The Polish government began logging in May last year, saying it was clearing dead trees to contain damage caused by a spruce bark beetle infestation, fight the risk of forest fires and preserve road traffic. Scientists, ecologists and the European Union protested and activists now allege that it is being used as a cover for the commercial logging of protected primeval forests. An online letter in support of the "Defenders of the forest" protesters has so far been signed by nearly 150,000 Europeans on the website of the citizens' movement We Move Europe. The ECJ said its decree "ordering the immediate halt to the forest's exploitation" was temporary pending a final court ruling in the case, which could take months or possibly years. The court was acting on a July 13 request by the European Commission, the 28-nation EU executive, for "interim measures" to stop the large-scale logging. Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko has said he would appear in person before the ECJ on September 11 to "defend the honour of Polish science, Polish rangers and residents" of the area. 2017 AFP Credit: ESAG. Porter, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO A deceptively valuable wall hanging: this section of the NASAESA Hubble Space Telescope's solar array flew for eight years in space before being returned to Earth aboard a Space Shuttle, and is now displayed at ESA's technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. See it for yourself at ESA's Open Day in the Netherlands on Sunday 8 October. The theme this year is Bringing Space to Earth, focussing on knowledge, hardware and people returned to the ground from space. VIP guests for the Open Day have been confirmed: astronauts Michael Foale of the UK, Dumitru Prunariu of Romania, Ulf Merbold and Ernst Messerschmid of Germany, Dirk Frimout of Belgium, Jean-Jacques Favier and Claudie Haignere of France and Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands. More than 9200 people have already registered to attend the event; you can sign up here. Forty years ago this year NASA and ESA agreed to be partners on the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched into orbit on 24 April 1990. ESA provided the first two generations of solar wings for Hubble, replaced and returned during later servicing missions. ESA's solar power engineers had the valuable opportunity to study how solar arrays degraded in the space environment. Today, Hubble is powered by US-made solar wings, but they are kept trained on the Sun by the original European drive mechanisms. This satellite image shows the Wadi Rum desert and irrigated farmland in Jordan. Credit: NASA A new analysis of drought in Jordan - one of the world's most water-poor countries - suggests that without alternate water sources, better land use and improved water-sharing agreements, the country could face a future of potentially disastrous droughts. The research, which was the first to analyze several types of drought and to take into account land use changes in upstream Syria, could inform water policies in other arid countries with shared rivers. "Jordan's ability to satisfy future urban and agricultural water demands will be stressed by cascading effects on its freshwater supply," said study co-author Steven Gorelick, the Cyrus Fisher Tolman Professor in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. "These impacts are from increasingly severe droughts and eventual agricultural land-use recovery in the aftermath of the Syrian civil war." Gorelick leads the Jordan Water Project, which is exploring water management and policy in Jordan with the hope of both improving water security in the water-poor nation and developing tools to improve water availability in other drought-prone regions. The recent paper, published August 30 in Science Advances, found that without significant changes, Jordan could face lower rainfall, much higher temperatures and as much as a 75 percent decline in water flowing into the country from Syria. The situation would be exacerbated by increasing Syrian agricultural water use in the aftermath of the country's prolonged civil war, which could further diminish flow to the Yarmouk River, the largest tributary to the Jordan River. Management-focused analysis Rather than focusing just on lower rainfall, the team measured three types of drought as they affect Jordan: rainfall decrease, agricultural soil moisture loss and declines in freshwater streams. They looked at each of those conditions through, first, a business-as-usual lens that assumes a lack of international climate-policy action with continued high rates of greenhouse gas emissions and, second, an optimistic scenario of reduced emissions with climate change policy interventions. They used the period 1981-2010 as a historical baseline against simulations for the years leading up to the end of the century. The authors said this approach could better inform drought management by considering all vulnerabilities for people, agriculture and the environment. That's because declines in streamflow and soil moisture, which are critical to freshwater supply and agriculture, are driven not only by lower rainfall but also by higher temperatures, evaporation and land-use change. Importantly, countries such as Jordan that are dependent on waterways flowing downstream to them are vulnerable to the consequences of drought and land-use change in upstream regions. Sobering findings The team's results suggest that by the end of the century under a business-as-usual scenario, rainfall in Jordan will decrease by 30 percent, temperatures will increase by 6 degrees Celsius, and the number and duration of droughts will double. Increasingly severe drought events will occur almost every year. Flow from the Yarmouk River, an important source of water that flows from Syria, would decline by up to 75 percent. "Most importantly, our findings also showed a steep rise in the simultaneous occurrence of multiple drought types," said lead author Deepthi Rajsekhar, a former postdoctoral scholar in Gorelick's lab now working at the California Department of Water Resources. "This brings on a compound effect and increases the overall drought impact significantly. The need for an integrated drought analysis has never been more important for water management." In a sad twist, an end to the Syrian civil war could add to Jordan's water misery. That's because resurgent Syrian agricultural operations now stalled by the conflict would draw heavily on the Yarmouk. Toward solutions Jordan's experience holds lessons for not only countries in arid regions but also those that obtain supplies from one or more of the 278 trans-boundary waterways that feed into shared watersheds occupying nearly half of the world's land. Despite the challenges, countries such as Jordan have already gone a long way toward water security through sound water management such as efficient irrigation and extensive use of treated wastewater for agriculture. But regional cooperation on water is paramount. A shining example: Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement to desalinate and share water from the Red Sea. Geometric configuration of Apollo seismic stations and deep moonquake source regions. The lunar globe was taken from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)coutresy of NASA, and Apollo stations and deep moonquake nests were marked by the studys authors. Credit: NASA and Kawamura et al/Journal of Geophysical Research/AGU The same gravitational force responsible for creating tides on Earth could be causing deep quakes on the moon, a new study confirms. A new analysis of data gathered by the Apollo missions confirms that tidal stress the gravitational pull of the moon on the Earth and of the Earth on the moon is responsible for causing deep moonquakes, the lunar equivalent of earthquakes. Seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 missions revealed the moon experiences deep moonquakes about 800 to 1,200 kilometers (497 to 746 miles) below its surface roughly every 27 days. Since this is about the time it takes the moon to make a complete circuit around Earth, scientists suspected the moonquakes were a result of tidal stress, but their exact cause remained a source of debate. A new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, combined readings from two different seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo missions in a new way. Using this technique, researchers analyzed 131 moonquakes occurring from 1969-1977 from the three most active moonquake sites and confirmed they are likely caused by built-up tidal stress on the moon. The tidal force causes Earth and its oceans to bulge out on the side closest to the moon and the side farthest from the moon. These bulges of water are high tides. On the moon, these same forces are occurring, causing a small-scale distortion of the entire planet, which scientists have named a solid-body tide. These solid-body tides create faults or cracks on the moon, which rub against each other when tidal stress builds up and result in moonquakes. Reanalyzing old data Like Earth, the moon has a crust, mantle and core, but unlike Earth, the moon doesn't have tectonic plates, so it doesn't experience quakes when tectonic plates move into or past each other the way Earth does. While deep moonquakes are generally only magnitude 2 or smaller, they occur on a monthly basis, whereas quakes occurring along the same fault line on Earth may be decades or centuries apart. Moonquakes also last longer than earthquakes, which typically cease within a few minutes. Since the moon is much drier and cooler than Earth, the vibrations carry for longer, whereas Earth's more compressible structure acts like a sponge to absorb vibrations. This view of the north polar region of the Moon was obtained by NASAs Galileo camera during the spacecraft flyby of the Earth-Moon system on December 7 and 8, 1992. Credit: NASA/JPL Previous studies of deep moonquakes using the Apollo data were limited, since neither of the two seismic instruments on the moon entirely captured the signals from the moon's activityone detected high-frequency seismic activity and the other detected low-frequency seismic activity. Previous studies using only the readings from one of the seismometers underestimated the stress released by the moonquakes, and could not see the full relationship between tidal stress buildup and the stress released by the quakes, according to Renee Weber, a planetary scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama who is not affiliated with the new study. The new study's authors used a new method that combined signals from the two different instruments. The combined data helped improve researchers' understanding of the faults where the quakes occur. The researchers were then able to relate stress released during the moonquakes to the buildup of tidal stress over the course of the month, and found the two values agreed. This confirms that the moonquakes are a result of the tidal stress, according to Taichi Kawamura, lead author of the new study and a planetary scientist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris who is currently affiliated with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Insight into the moon's interior The new study's findings also suggest the moon's mantle may be colder than previously thought, according to Weber. Scientists previously thought the areas of the moon's interior where deep moonquakes occur were warmer, which would make the faults more supple and malleable. But based on the new study, the moon's faults would need to be brittle to endure the observed tidal stress and create the recorded seismic readings, meaning they may be colder than previously thought. More research is necessary to explore the implications for the internal temperature and composition of the moon, according to the study's authors. The new study also sheds light on what kind of instrumentation is needed for future space missions, such as the InSight mission to Mars scheduled for May 2018, according to Weber. "They similarly plan to send both a broadband and a short-period instrument, so it's possible that this same type of technique of signal combination in the frequency domain could be applied to those Insight instruments," Weber said. More information: Taichi Kawamura et al. Evaluation of deep moonquake source parameters: Implication for fault characteristics and thermal state, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2016JE005147 This story is republished courtesy of AGU Blogs (http://blogs.agu.org), a community of Earth and space science blogs, hosted by the American Geophysical Union. Read the original story here. Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument captured this image of several major fires in Washington state on August 29, 2017. The three highlighted fires are the Diamond Creek fire, the Jolly Mountain fire and the Norse Peak fire. Inciweb lists nine separate fires going on in the state but these three fires are the largest and the Norse Peak fire is currently spewing massive amounts of smoke into the atmosphere as evidenced in this image. The Norse Peak fire began on August 11 with a lightning strike, in fact, thirteen fires were ignited by lightning in a series of storms on August 10th and 11th, in the vicinity of the William O. Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness Areas on the Naches Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Two of the fires have reached significant size and remain active: the Norse Peak Fire and the American Fire). These fires are being managed collectively as "Norse Peak." This collective fire is currently 13,210 acres and is still growing at a moderate pace. Hot, dry conditions which contributed to the start of this fire, continue to allow it to grow although a cold front is expected soon which will hopefully bring more moderate relative humidity. The Diamond Creek fire is a human caused fire that began on July 23, 2017. It is currently at 33,728 acres and is 63% contained. The Diamond Creek Fire is burning within the Pasayten Wilderness approximately 12 air miles north of Mazama, Washington and 5.5 miles (8.9 kilometers) south of the Canadian border. The fire continued to move to the north and west with active burning during the night. Smoke continues to affect air quality in the upper Methow Valley. The Jolly Mountain fire began on August 11 with a lightning strike. It is 5,164 acres in size. The area is critically dry having only received 1/10th of an inch of rain since the fire began. Fuels for the fire are extremely dry allowing the quick spread of fire. On August 29, helicopters and scooper planes dropped nearly 85,000 gallons of water on the Jolly Mountain Fire Aerial firefighting resources drop water on the fire perimeter to minimize spread and slow the fire's progression. Evacuations south of the fire are in effect for several areas that are being threatened by the growth of the fire. The Suomi NPP satellite is a joint mission between NASA and NOAA. Provided by NASA Volunteers try out the Selection for UAS Personnel, or SUPer. Developed with support from the Office of Naval Research, SUPer is a series of specialized tests assessing cognitive abilities and personality traits, to identify potential Navy and Marine Corps unmanned aviation systems (UAS) operators. Credit: Naval Aerospace Medical Institute Before acceptance to flight school, aspiring naval pilots must pass the Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB)a rigorous intellectual exercise that evaluates things like aviation and nautical knowledge, math and engineering skills, and personality traits. Since training a single pilot costs the U.S. Navy over $1 million, the ASTB is a critical tool for finding the right candidates to fly manned aircraft, such as fighter jets. But the Navy doesn't have ASTB-style tests to qualify pilots of today's latest aircraftremotely operated, unmanned aviation systems (UAS), popularly called drones. Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, UAS have played ever-larger roles in intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, and other missions. Consequently, there's an increasing need for well-trained UAS pilots. Georgia Tech and the Naval Aerospace Medical Institutesponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR)are developing a series of new specialized tests to assess cognitive abilities and personality traits, and identify potential Navy and Marine Corps UAS operators. It's called the Selection for UAS Personnel, or SUPer. "The temperament and personality of F-18 pilots won't necessarily be the same as those flying surveillance aircraft," said Cmdr. Brent Olde, a program officer in ONR's Warfighter Performance Department. "Neither will the required skill set be identical, so it's important that we create a standardized way to assess the abilities of future UAS operators." In recent years, the Air Force established its own formal screening process for UAS operators, and the Marine Corps designated a UAS career path for its ranks. The Navy, however, doesn't have an official selection and training pipeline specifically for UAS operators. Historically, the service took aviators who already earned their wings, gave them on-the-job, UAS-specific training, and placed them in temporary positions. SUPer comprises both written and computerized tests covering skills like math knowledge, spatial orientation, reading cockpit dials and critical thinking. SUPer participants also study computer maps featuring prominent natural or manmade landmarksand then remember object locations on larger, less defined maps. Tests are followed by training exercises on a flight simulator designed to mirror common UAS missions. Participants also complete psychological and personality tests to ascertain if they would excel as UAS pilotswhich often involves 12-hour shifts sitting in front of a control station, inside of an isolated command center. "SUPer will be a valuable tool in helping the Navy pick the best people to become UAS operators, and determine who will be an optimal fit and find satisfaction in the role," said Dr. Phillip Ackerman, a Georgia Tech psychology professor overseeing SUPer's development. Approximately 350 civilian and military volunteers are participating as SUPer research subjects at Ackerman's Georgia Tech laboratory and various Navy and Air Force training centers. The current version of the SUPer test battery takes approximately four hours to complete. At September's end, Ackerman and his research team will review the results; design a standardized exam for validation by prospective Navy and Air Force UAS pilots; and, hopefully, have a product ready for fleet implementation in 2018. "Training pilots for manned and unmanned systems is time-intensive and expensive," said Lt. Cmdr. Tatana Olson, deputy director of the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory at the Naval Medical Research Unit, Dayton, and who serves as SUPer's government lead. "SUPer will define and assess the knowledge, skills and abilities required to be a successful UAS operator, and, ultimately, optimize naval use of human resources for unmanned aviation." The RRS Discovery at St Johns, Canada, and the beginning of the expedition. Credit: Shannon Hoy A group of international researchers have returned from a highly successful expedition to the Labrador Sea and coastal Greenland, led by scientists at the University of Bristol. The aim of the expedition was to investigate the role of melting ice on the chemistry and biology of the oceans to find out how melting ice supplies the essential nutrients that feed marine life. Dr Kate Hendry from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, led the expedition. She said: "We used cutting edge, automated equipment to make measurements and take samples. "Two automated gliders were deployed, and took high resolution measurements of water temperature, saltiness, and particles in the water including algae that take up carbon from the atmosphere and form the bottom of the marine food chain. "A remotely operated vehicle, essentially an underwater robot that it controlled from the ship, took high-definition video images of biology on the seafloor, as well as samples of sediments and water." The team's preliminary results show that glacial channels in the shallow, continental shelf, fed low salinity waters into the open ocean, and that these channels are key in the distribution of nutrients and marine organisms. Credit: University of Bristol The sediments within the channel are also likely to be important in supplying nutrients to the overlying seawater. However, the scientists have a lot of data and many more samples to analyse before they can fully tie together the physical, chemical and biological impacts of the meltwater. The expedition was on board the RRS Discovery, a ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK. The research was funded by the European Research Council. South Dakota State University Professor Scott Pedersen holds an Antillean fruit-eating bat captured on the Caribbean island of Montserrat in the British West Indies. Pedersen made 13 trips to the island to survey bats that are threatened by an active volcano on the island. Credit: South Dakota State University Rustling or scratching sounds coming from the eaves troughs at 3 a.m. may be a telltale sign that you've got "bats in the belfry." Residents across the state are noticing more bats this summerand that's a good thing, according to South Dakota State University biology and microbiology professor Scott Pedersen. "These critters eat so many mosquitoes and crop pests," said Pedersen, who is co-chair of the South Dakota Bat Working Group. Pedersen typically gets calls about bats in and around buildings in August and September. This coincides with young male bats being encouraged to leave the nests where they were raised and fend for themselves. Essentially, Pedersen said, "They aren't very good at it, so find themselves in make-shift roosts, such as garages and front porches, that are more obvious to humans." In the last two weeks, Brookings Animal Control Officer Duane Walburg has received eight to 10 calls about bats. "It's a bit unusual," he said, noting that one day he had three calls. "As long as we have eyes on it, we will remove a bat or two, but we do not search for them," Walburg said. However, for a larger number of bats, residents will have to contact a bat control expert. Pedersen estimated that 90 percent of the bats he collects at private residences and buildings on campus are young males. In addition, young bats, regardless of gender, can be easily separated from their mothers when they are hunting for bugs to eat, whether trying to evade a hungry owl or getting caught in strong winds and rain. "These youngsters are not strong flyers," Pedersen added. Homeowners can also displace bats that they often didn't even know were there by cleaning out and/or replacing gutters, soffits and shingles in the fall, Pedersen explained. The South Dakota Bat Working Group website, www.sdbwg.org, has instructions on what those who find bats should do, as well as how to prevent the bats from returning. "Never handle bats without wearing leather gloves," warned Pedersen, due to the risk of contracting rabies from a bat bite. "If you get bit, be sure to capture the bat and have it tested for rabies. If you don't hang onto the bat, you'll need to get rabies shots." A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team lead by Anna Hiszpanski has devised guidelines for an alternative to anti-reflective coatings on optical devices such as solar cells, glasses and cameras, by engineering their surfaces with layers of hierarchical micro- and nanometer length structures. Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory When it comes to solar cells, less is morethe less their surfaces reflect a sun's rays, the more energy can be generated. A typical fix to the problem of reflectivity is an anti-reflective coating, but that might not always be the best solution, depending on the application. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have come up with guidelines for an alternative to anti-reflective coatings on optical devices such as solar cells, glasses and cameras, finding that reflectivity of silicon optics can be reduced to as little as 1 percent by engineering their surfaces with layers of hierarchical micro- and nanometer length structures. A team of LLNL researchers, led by chemical engineer Anna Hiszpanski and UC Santa Cruz graduate student Juan Diaz Leon, described the parameters in a recent paper published by the journal Advanced Optical Materials . The technology has its roots in nature, mimicking the hierarchical structures found in the eye of a moth, allowing them to absorb more light and better navigate in darkness. "It's a different anti-reflective approach," said Hiszpanski, who performed the experiments and was the co-lead author on the paper. "The design rules for these hierarchical anti-reflective structures haven't been explicitly laid out in these size scales. I'm hopeful they will enable others to more quickly design and fabricate optimal structures with the anti-reflective properties needed by their applications." Reflections from surfaces can be a major challenge in optics, according to Diaz Leon, who performed the computer simulations. Typically, single-layer anti-reflection coatings are used to counter it, using destructive interference to eliminate reflections for only a narrow band of wavelengths and viewing angles. However, when reduced reflectivity across multiple wavelengths and viewing angles is desired, different approaches are needed, he said. In the study, the group found the average hemispherical or total reflectance of silicon can be as much as 38 percent, but if only micro-scale pyramidal structures are engineered into silicon, as is common in solar cells, reflectance drops to about 11 percent. However, by stacking micro- and nano-sized arrays on top of the larger structures, total reflectivity can be reduced to as little as between 1 percent and 2 percent regardless of the angle of incoming light. If solar cells could be textured to collect more light at all angles, Hiszpanski said, they wouldn't have to be tracked with the sun's position in the sky and could potentially be more efficient at converting energy. When used in eyeglasses, hierarchical structures could eliminate reflectivity and glare without producing the green or purple color effect that current anti-reflective glass coatings have. Cameras would be able to take photos in lower light. The technology also could be translated to telescopes and diffraction optics. Diaz Leon used a wave optics package to simulate the behavior of moth eye structures, combining them in a hierarchical fashion. The researchers realized the periodicity of the structures (recurrence) modified their anti-reflection properties, so they simulated structures with a similar size but introduced aperiodicity to better understand this effect. "With these simulations, we were able to come up with a set of design rules to combine different moth eye structures hierarchically for a specific need in anti-reflection properties," Diaz Leon said. "We found that by combining moth-eye structures of different sizes, you can not only reduce reflections at the wavelength region they are supposed to operate (following the previously known rule of thumb), but you can also further reduce reflections at a given wavelength range." Specifically, Diaz Leon said, by using the solar spectrum as a target, the researchers learned that regular micro-scale pyramidal structures largely reduce specular reflectancethe mirror-like reflectance found in polished surfaceswhereas the small nanometer-scale structures reduce diffuse reflectance, which consists of reflections coming from angles different than the main specular reflectance angle. By combining two different structures with varied sizes, the researchers could selectively minimize specular and diffuse reflectances. Also, they learned that while the overall reflectance for periodic and aperiodic structures was similar, aperiodicity reduces specular reflectance and increases diffuse reflectance, useful when trying to minimize a specific (specular or diffuse) reflectance depending on the end application. Hiszpanski fabricated the samples at LLNL using all mask-less and wet etching (chemical) techniques, making the process easily scalable to large areas. The fabrication methods are unique to silicon, but researchers are looking to transfer them to plastics and glass. They plan to collaborate with UC Berkeley to make solar cells and try to improve efficiency, as well as translate the methods to flexible substrates with potential use in glasses. More information: Juan J. Diaz Leon et al. Design Rules for Tailoring Antireflection Properties of Hierarchical Optical Structures, Advanced Optical Materials (2017). DOI: 10.1002/adom.201700080 Journal information: Advanced Optical Materials Korber acquires HighJump a leading US-American supply chain & cloud solutions specialist Hamburg/Minneapolis, August 30, 2017. International technology group Korber reinforces its Business Area Logistics Systems with the acquisition of the US-American supply chain software specialists HighJump. The acquisition has been completed with effect from August 28, 2017, after receiving approval from the relevant antitrust authorities. HighJump specializes in the development of software solutions for supply chain management (SCM). The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, USA. HighJump has additional operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China. HighJump serves over 4,000 customers across the retail, consumer products, automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical and food/beverage industries. HighJump has developed a cloud-ready underlying technology platform called the HighJump One Platform which is consistently recognized for being one of the industrys most flexible and adaptable supply chain software platforms. On top of this technology platform the company offers globally leading software applications that provide customers with an integrated view of their entire supply chain: from warehouse management and intralogistics to transport management. The platform enables consistent visibility of all goods flows, with excellent adaptability, and the synchronization of business processes across all channels. With the acquisition of HighJump and the software companies Inconso, DMLogic and Aberle Software, which already belong to the Korber Group, the Group underlines its claim to be the technology leader in the SCM software segment. With the acquisition of HighJump we are really putting down a marker in the sector as we are taking a leading international position in the areas of supply chain management and cloud solutions, says Stephan Seifert, Chairman of the Group Executive Board at Korber AG. We want to be the go-to company worldwide for our customers when it comes to providing support for their successful business development. With its experienced team of experts and its broad customer base HighJump will strengthen our long-term internationalization and growth trajectory. At the same time we are establishing another competence center in the important North American market. In this process, the expertise and experience of our new colleagues will support our group-wide digitization initiatives through mutual exchange within the Group, emphasizes Seifert. Only recently, with the acquisition of the US-American logistics software specialists DMLogic, we already gained an important partner for our Business Area, says Hubert Klo, CEO of the Business Area Logistics Systems. With our new HighJump colleagues on board, we now have a very solid basis, both in Europe and the USA, to continue our dynamic growth rapidly and successfully. The company will be integrated into the Business Unit Software within our Business Area and is another perfect addition to our portfolio. Korber AG will be a tremendous long-term strategic and financial partner for HighJump, says Chad Collins, CEO of HighJump. The leaders from Korber demonstrated their commitment to customer satisfaction, market leadership through technology and long-term business focus. This is very consistent with HighJumps business philosophy. We look forward to collaborating with our new colleagues from the Business Area Logistics Systems such as Inconso, Aberle Software and DMLogic and the entire Korber Group to establish a market leading position in this ever-changing supply chain environment. The purchase of HighJump will be from its parent company, Accellos Holdings and its primary investor, Accel-KKR, a technology focused investment firm. Both parties agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price. TrueCommerce, a cloud based business-to-business commerce network and former sister company to HighJump will continue to be owned by Accellos Holdings and Accel-KKR. About Korber Korber AG is the holding company for an international technology Group with approx. 11,500 employees around the world. The Group comprises leading-edge technology companies and more than 130 production, service, and sales entities. At locations around the globe, Korber combines the benefits of a globally-present organization with the strengths of highly-specialized, flexible, medium-sized enterprises that offer their customers solutions, products, and services in the Business Areas of Automation, Logistics Systems, Machine Tools, Pharma Systems, Tissue, Tobacco and Corporate Ventures. About HighJump HighJump is a global provider of supply chain management software that streamlines the flow of inventory and information from supplier to store shelf. With approx. 440 employees worldwide HighJump supports more than 4,000 customers in 66 countries, ranging from SME business to marquee global enterprises. HighJumps functionally rich and highly adaptable end-to-end solutions efficiently manage customers warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, delivery routes and retail stores. About Korber Logistics Systems The Business Area Logistics Systems, belonging to the international technology group Korber and based in Bad Nauheim, Germany, is the leading provider of fully integrated applications for the optimization of complex internal and external logistics processes. Under the umbrella brand Korber Logistics, the Business Area provides digital solutions for smart factories (production logistics), warehouses, e-commerce, and the management of entire supply chains. In three Business Units, the umbrella brand unites the companies Aberle GmbH and Consoveyo S.A. (System Integration), Langhammer GmbH and Riantics A/S (Product Solutions), Inconso AG, Aberle Software GmbH and DMLogic LLC (Software). They offer an extensive range of products and services, from system integration to technologies for storage, palletizing, de-palletizing and conveyor systems, through to software. About Accel-KKR Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $4.0 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and IT-enabled businesses well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKRs investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value through significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across a wide range of transaction types including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. Accel-KKR is headquartered in Menlo Park with additional offices in Atlanta and London. About TrueCommerce TrueCommerce revolutionizes trading partner connectivity by linking suppliers, retail hubs and end consumers in one global commerce network. TrueCommerces Global Commerce Network includes over 92,000 pre-connected retailers, distributors and logistics service providers. With flexible, integrated and fully managed service solutions, customers of any size can easily connect with any trading partner while enjoying the peace of mind of a proven service platform that reliably handles tens of millions of transactions annually without the need for any customer interaction. From the factory to the warehouse, from distributor to retail storefront, customers are able to achieve new levels of business connectivity and performance with the worlds most complete trading partner platform. Other POS News: SARASOTA, FL, August 31, 2017 The BarCode News, the ultimate resource for the barcode industry, has released a new issue of The Bar Code News Magazine. This free, online publication includes case studies, helpful articles, FAQ, and tips pertaining to labeling and the barcode industry. Also a list of upcoming bar code and RFID trade shows and a career page. This issue features case studies showcasing the positive effects of utilizing labeling in many industries. Read through a case study on how LSI Industries Inc. achieves substantial benefits by leveraging TEKLYNX Internationals label design software. Harold Desjarlais of Loftware Inc. presents the strong impact labeling has on the supply chain. Desjarlais answers the questions, How can labeling help me stay ahead of constant change? and How can labeling help us grow as we expand our business?. Another success story presents how labeling affects a global dairy company through the use of NiceLabel. Seagull Scientific also contributes a piece to the magazine on Streamlining Label Processes Captures Efficiencies, Saves Time and Money. For those with more questions on labeling, there is an FAQ of the most commonly asked questions. The magazine includes a helpful graphic on Automatic Identification and Data Collection Technologies provided by Mohammad Amer Shallah of Auto-ID Support. There is also a piece on Using Barcodes to Reduce E-Commerce Picking Errors by Dr. Peter Green of BellHawk Systems. This publication is packed with insightful information from experts in the Barcode and Labeling Industry and of course, a link to our free barcode label maker. The Bar Code News (www.barcode.com), now in its 8th year, does not sell software, hardware, bar code products or services. Use the links on the left side menu of any page on the site to find the products or services you need. Want to reach us? See the links on the Footer menu. Please let our sponsors know youve seen them here. Top categories with relevant content: * Asset Tracking * Transportation/ Logistics * Labels, Cards, Security, Time/ Attendance * Healthcare * Municipal Government and Public Safety * RFID * Warehouse Management * QR Code Solutions ** Get our monthly newsletter free (no spam, we promise) Click to subscribe Other POS News: Australian Jason Peter Darragh was involved in a drunken tussle in Changi Airport on 20 April 2017. (Photo: Screen shot off YouTube) An Australian man whose drunken tussle with several police officers in Changi Airport earlier this year was caught on a viral video has been sentenced to six months and two weeks in jail. Jason Peter Darragh, 44, pleaded guilty in the State Courts on Thursday (31 August) to four charges of voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force to deter a public servant, using abusive words against a police officer and behaving aggressively while drunk in a public place. Seven other charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. Darragh, who is divorced with two children, appeared in the dock bespectacled and in a white prison shirt. His parents had flown in from Australia for the hearing and were present in court. Two of Darraghs charges that he admitted to were for the incident that occurred at the airport on 20 April this year, when he was in Singapore for a stopover. During the altercation with the police officers, Darragh hurled expletives at them and tried to resist arrest. One of the charges proceeded involved Darragh causing annoyance to a woman when he loitered around a taxi stand at Clarke Quay while he was drunk and placing his hand over his crotch on 1 May this year. He also pleaded guilty to verbally abusing a police officer who brought him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 26 April, after he was found to be too drunk to take care of himself. On 19 April, Darragh arrived in Changi Airport from Perth during a stopover flight, according to the statement of facts. He drank alcohol at the airport before going to Clarke Quay. Darragh later returned to the airport in the evening to catch his next flight to Cebu. Just after midnight on 20 April, Darragh, who was drunk, could not find the check-in counter for his flight to the Philippine city. He asked Teh Gim Tuck, a member of the public, for directions to Terminal 2 and Teh showed him the way. Darragh got agitated and hurled vulgarities at Teh, who then walked away. The Australian suddenly took Tehs mobile phone from his back pocket and threw it on the floor before walking away. Story continues Teh sought the help of the police at Terminal 2. Around 12.30am, a police officer spotted Darragh and engaged the Australian who became aggressive and shouted vulgarities at the officer. A second officer later came into the scene of the incident and decided to arrest Darragh. The officer had to use a baton as the Australian was becoming violent. It was at this point that Darragh put on his earphones, danced about and taunted the two officers. During the altercation, Darragh hit the second officer on the face. Even when four more officers joined in to help out in dealing with Darragh, the latter continued to resist arrest and yelled expletives. The officers then moved in to arrest Darragh. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jason Nim sought a sentence of at least eight months and two weeks. Citing the need for a deterrent sentence, DPP Nim said Darragh had caused public fear and alarm. He added that the offence took place at airport with heavy human traffic. The stand-off lasted for a considerable period of time and at least six officers were needed to subdue Darragh, DPP Nim told the court. (Darragh) verbally abused and threatened the police officers loudly. He challenged their authority and taunted them by dancing. (Darragh) subjected them to physical violence, said DPP Nim. S S Dhillon, Darraghs lawyer, said his client was not in proper control of his senses after having drunk on the flight, at the airport and at Clarke Quay. The incident arose out of a misunderstanding after he was brought by a taxi to the wrong airport terminal, said Dhillon. The lawyer added that his client only caused hurt to an officer after he was hit by a police baton several times. Darragh has been treating his alcohol problem in Australia through therapy, the lawyer added. During sentencing, District Judge Tan Jen Tse said there is a need to deter like-minded people from committing similar offences. Darragh went on to commit the offence at Clarke Quay on 1 May when he was out on bail for his earlier offences, DJ Tan added. PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview he had major differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and "won't let him get away with anything." "I speak with everybody. Very directly and very frankly," Macron said in an interview with French weekly Le Point published on Wednesday. "On Ukraine, we have major differences with Vladimir Putin. I take note of it. France won't let him get away with anything." The conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists has claimed more than 10,000 lives since it erupted in 2014. Germany and France have tried to persuade both sides to implement a peace deal agreed in Minsk in 2015, but with little success, including since Macron came to power in May, despite several meetings and calls. Macron in late May hosted Putin at the 17th-century palace of Versailles outside Paris. Both men said they had agreed on the need to move forward on divisive issues such as Syria and Ukraine. (Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by John Irish and Peter Cooney) Hungary has demanded that Brussels refund half the 800 million euros ($950 million) it says it has spent defending its southern borders against illegal immigration, the government said Thursday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Janos Lazar said border protection was an issue of "European solidarity" that must be "demonstrated in practice". "Brussels should pay its share," as it has done with Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, he said. Orban requested the "exceptional costs" in a letter to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker. In response to a wave of refugees and migrants crossing its border with Serbia in 2015, Budapest erected a razor-wire fence patrolled by soldiers and dogs. It then reinforced that barrier with a second fence line, recruited some 3,000 special "border hunter" police and built another fence on its other southern border with Croatia. The measures protect Europe as well as Hungary, but so far their cost since the start of the migration crisis has been financed by Budapest alone, Lazar said. Over 400,000 people crossed through Hungary in 2015 but the numbers fell to a trickle after the fences were built. Subsequently the "Balkan Route" northwards from Greece was also closed. The construction drew fierce criticism from Brussels, though other EU member states later built their own versions. This year, Budapest's systematic detention of all asylum seekers entering Hungary in "transit zone" closed camps built into the fences and composed of shipping containers has also sparked outcry. Orban, who has called immigration the "Trojan Horse of terrorism", has also refused to take any migrants under an EU scheme to share them around the bloc. Poland's Foreign Minister said Thursday that recent harsh criticisms of his government's policies by French President Emmanuel Macron were aimed at his "domestic audience" rather than Warsaw. Macron used a regional tour last week to say Poland is "a country that has decided to go against European interests in many areas", and risks finding itself "on the margins" of the EU in the future. Witold Waszczykowski said Macron is in "a difficult situation" domestically and under pressure to "deliver right now" as his poll ratings slide. "He has to create the programme which will be implemented, so I understand that some of his comments are not directly related towards Poland but to the domestic audience," Waszczykowski told reporters after a meeting in Budapest of central and eastern European foreign ministers. Macron's remarks came as he seeks to overhaul a controversial EU rule that lets firms send temporary workers from low-wage countries like Poland to rich economies without paying the host country's social charges. Wealthy nations like France, Germany and Austria say the so-called Posted Workers Directive leads to unfair competition and undercuts local workforces. Macron hopes the rule will be reformed at a Brussels summit on October 19-20. But Poland -- the EU member that benefits most from the regulation -- wants to keep the current rules. "We will defend our position to the end, because it is a position that is in the interest of Polish workers," Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said last week. Szydlo called Macron's criticisms "arrogant", but, in a fresh broadside published Thursday in French weekly Le Point, Macron dubbed Warsaw's stance on a range of issues "very worrying" and accused it of "calling into question the rule of law". That alluded to EU concerns, which Warsaw rejects, over controversial court reforms that Brussels fears will erode judicial independence. Warsaw insists they are "in line with European standards". Waszczykowski said the posted workers issue should be "discussed in the framework of experts and not be brought to the political or ideological level. "I hope that when we move this problem from the political agenda to the technical discussion we can find a compromise solution for the whole EU," he said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said "our Polish friends can expect solidarity" from Budapest, a staunch ally of Warsaw. A US judge agreed Thursday to extradite former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli to face corruption and other charges in his country. US District Court Judge Edwin Torres said Panama had demonstrated probable cause against Martinelli, who ruled from 2009 to 2014. The 65-year-old has lived in Miami since January 2015. He left Panama days before the Supreme Court there launched a corruption investigation against him. He was detained in Miami on June 12, accused of graft and spying on political foes at home. Panama filed an extradition request last year. Panama's Supreme Court alleged that Martinelli used public funds to illegally spy on telephone calls and emails of more than 150 prominent opponents. Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, denies the accusations, saying they are politically motivated. After the judge's ruling, a spokesman for the ex-president, Luis Eduardo Camacho, told Panamanian TV channel Telemetro that Martinelli would appeal. His Miami lawyers also confirmed the appeal plans. Martinelli also has a political asylum request pending in the United States. It is up to the State Department to decide whether to go ahead with the extradition. A department official declined comment Thursday, saying its was policy not to speak publicly about extradition issues. The official referred queries to the Justice Department. Allegations against the former president include accusations he helped embezzle $45 million from a government school lunch program, as well as other cases of extortion, bribe-taking, misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power. In his ruling, Judge Torres wrote "we find only that there are reasonable grounds to suppose him guilty of all or some of the offenses charged. As a result, good faith to the demanding government [in Panama] requires his surrender." How did the basic document of the Slovak Republic come to exist? Font size: A - | A + It was shortly after the Velvet Revolution when it was still not clear what would become of the Czechoslovak Federation, and whether and in what relationship both nations would remain. Amending the mistakes of the previous regime led, among other things, to both republics having their own constitutions. The law on the Czechoslovak Federation was long considered by them as an option, but due to the communist era of normalisation, had never been implemented. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement In such circumstances, the Slovak Constitution began to be born. Recently, it has been 25 years since its adoption. Those were hours and hours spent in a very interesting way for me, Anton Hrnko, current SNS MP and one member of the Committee comprised of the then Slovak National Council (SNR, i.e. parliament), recalls. The Committee continueds meeting from February 1990 until May 1991 every week, sometimes every second week. The Committee came later to be called Planks Committee, as it was led by the then-head of the Supreme Court, Karol Plank. It was a group of 42 people, including constitutional lawyers, historians, and also politicians and political nominees. Their task was to put together a text capturing the essence of the state while they did not know exactly then what type of state. In the Committee there were people like me who more or less were resigned to the federation and there were also clear supporters of the federation who were staunch nationalists, Hrnko continues. Another group were federalists who wanted to keep the federation even at the price of Slovakia losing the position it had had since 1968. Alongside the first Committee, a second committee initiated the same activities which came to exist after the 1990 election. The other Committee, comprising 22 people, was led by Plank. Political parties and their members were simultaneously working on their own versions of the constitution as well. Ultimately, the first version of the constitution came into existence at the beginning of 1991, and its draft was handed over by SNR leadership. This document fully respected the federative organisation of Czechoslovakia. Out of this Committee, new teams were born later, which then elaborated individual constitutional texts, then-SDL MP Lubomir Fogas, who worked in the Committee while also negotiating with the Czech side, recalls. They worked in Trencianske Teplice The initiatives of individual sides finally led to seven different drafts of the constitution in the middle of 1991. At various times, even nine parallel texts existed; although ideologically close, some counted on, for example, a presidential, or even chancellor system of state. The conclusion then was to put together a single draft that would constitute a combination of all the proposed versions. The difficult situation was ultimately influenced by the 1992 election, from which the HZDS party of Vladimir Meciar emerged as the winner. This again resulted in another committee including representatives of opposition parties or, again, experts participating in professional debates. By that time, it was very probable that Slovakia would become independent. As an employee of the Government Office, constitutional lawyer Ivan Trimaj, who later became advisor to president Michal Kovac, was a member of the committee comprising more than 30 people. It was not possible to work on such a large team, Trimaj remembered recently in an interview for Sme. I said it to Vladimir Meciar, who accepted it. As prime minister Meciar thus appointed a smaller team of people meant to be crucial in the debates: apart from Trimaj, there were the lawyers Ernest Valko, Pavel Hollander, Peter Kresak and the politician Jozef Moravcik. For two or three weeks, always with a one-week break, we sat down in Trencianske Teplice and wrote what forms the basis of todays Constitution, Trimaj describes. They did not leave the government facility in Trencianske Teplice; neither did Fogas, or MPs Milan Cic and Milan Secansky (both HZDS). Cic is mentioned as the main engine behind the work by Fogas, as well as by later president Ivan Gasparovic. The latter, as then-speaker of the Slovak National Council, attended the meetings, working mostly on parts of the wording concerning prosecution and judicial bodies, as well as the police. Before this, he was also a member of the first Plank Committee. The academician Cic requested the opinion of each and every member of the Committee, Gasparovic recalls. We created a structure of the constitution and drafts for individual chapters, and we handed them over to him in written form. Even though some chapters of the future constitution were prepared by individual Committee members separately, the final form was always decided on by the entire Committee. Gasparovic adds that many passages stem from the draft originally filed by the SNS party. However, not everything was accepted, as the Slovak National Party, for example, was against re-naming the Slovak National Council to the National Council of the Slovak Republic. SDL, on the other hand, refused to include a note in the constitution about the heritage of Cyril and Methodius, Gasparovic adds. But finally, a compromise was struck, as the new name was accepted, the mention of Cyril and Methodius added as well. Express adoption The final version of the Constitution eventually went through grammar proofreading and amendments at the Government Office. The final form as elaborated by the Committee was assessed by Meciar as prime minister as well, Gasparovic admits. Ultimately, it went to parliament on September 1, 1992. Even though it originally expected the draft to be discussed for several days, in the afternoon of that same day the news arrived that the communist-era politician, dissident and then-chair of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, Alexander Dubcek, had a car crash near Prague. As his condition was critical and he could have died at any moment, this sped up the negotiations. The fear arose that this could threaten the passing of the Constitution, and slow down the entire process of gaining independence. So the adoption process was accelerated artificially, and the vote was taken on the very evening of that day, Hrnko recalls. In the end, 114 MPs voted for adopting the Constitution, while 16 were against and four abstained. The entire Christian-Democratic Movement, KDH, was against it, which tried pushing its own draft through. The protection of life was not sufficiently secured, not in the way KDH had it in its agenda, argues then-KDH chairman, Jan Carnogursky. It was also part of Meciars political offensive, which later resulted in the Czechoslovak Republic being split, and being installed in the Meciar regime. In the 25 years since its adoption, the Constitution has gone through several amendments from enabling Slovakia to join the European Union, through introducing the protection of water, marriage, to solving the fall of the government or the possibility of revoking amnesties. Even though the last two issues are often criticised by experts, the authors of the Constitution are convinced that it has passed the test of time. The essence of the Constitution is still valid and unchanged, which we did not expect, said Trimaj, who received an order from President Andrej Kiska at the start of this year. Nobody expected it. A Constitution is usually formed in the course of several years. President Andrej Kiska handed over a state award to Pika at an event marking the 95th birthday of the man who fought in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Font size: A - | A + On August 30 Kiska bestowed the Order of Ludovit Stur 2nd-class on retired Brigadier General Milan Pika for his extraordinary contributions towards democracy and the protection of human rights and freedoms. He is one of the last living Czechoslovak officers who fought in the British Royal Air Force during World War II, the TASR newswire wrote. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The president later wrote on Facebook that Pika had been fighting against the Hitler army for five years. However, he paradoxically fought his biggest battle after the war, Kiska noted. His father, a prominent Czech military officer and hero of World War I and II, Heliodor Pika, was executed by communists in a conspiracy trial with trumped-up charges, he wrote. Unusual life story Father and son spent their last night together in a prison cell. The executioner came at six in the morning and took the father to be hanged. The son was sent away. The communists who persecuted the legionaries of the western foreign resistance fight against the Nazis thus got rid of one Pika, and made the other one a second-rate citizen. The younger Pika also faced persecution by the communist party and was forced to leave Prague. He was not allowed to work, even as a labourer. He later moved to Bratislava, where he has been living to this day. Pika only managed to clear his fathers name after the fall of communism in 1989. Thanks to Milan, the world learned the truth about the sad story and execution of General Heliodor Pika. Before the communists, the Nazis persecuted both Pikas. Kiska thanked Milan Pika for his actions in fighting for freedom and truth. Life posed tough obstacles before you but you have never given up, which makes you a real hero, Kiska concluded. Third-country nationals who have come to Slovakia from outside the EU and wish to work in the country may apply for a financial grant to improve their prospects on the jobs market. Font size: A - | A + The support may be obtained for a variety of vocational and training courses, including a Slovak language course, work with computers, accounting or to become a beautician, massage therapist or welder, the Migration Information Centre of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) informed the TASR newswire on August 28. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The contribution can be used to cover education courses (e.g. Slovak/foreign language courses, PC skills courses, etc.) or retraining courses (e.g. a hairdressing course, course for using a high-lift truck, etc.), IOM writes on its website, adding that the contribution can be awarded to all foreigners who are NOT citizens of the EU and EEA countries; but not to the holders of temporary residence for the purpose of study, residence of the family member of an EU citizen, and holders/beneficiaries of subsidiary protection or asylum in Slovakia. The applicants residence permit should be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the date of submitting the application, and it should be valid for the duration of the course. People cannot apply for the contribution if they have already paid for/started attending the course. The course should be provided by accredited educational institutions. The commission decides within 15 working days after the submission of a complete application. The financial contribution is paid in the form of a reimbursement after the successful accomplishment of the course and the submission of required documentation. The financial contribution cannot be legally claimed. More information can be found at http://www.mic.iom.sk/en/social-issues/education/493-we-offer-an-opportunity-to-get-a-financial-contribution-for-a-course.html. The traditional annual wine-harvesting feast, called vinobranie in Slovak, will be centred around the courtyard of the historical town-hall. Font size: A - | A + More information about travelling in Slovakia Please see our Please see our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide On September 15 the renovated town-hall courtyard will become the focus of the Modra Wine Fests festive opening, or Modranske Vinobranie. It will become a vinicultural yard with a town wine-cellar, and the opening programme will include the awarding of prizes for the Best Modranske Vinobranie Wine contest. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Visitors will be able to taste the competing wines in the historical town cellar, the TASR newswire wrote, citing the www.modranskevinobranie.sk website. By adapting the courtyard of the historical town-hall, we created a town wine-cellar, and the heart of the local wine fest, the website continued, adding that the creme de la creme of Modra will be offered: Federweisser (fermented alcoholic drink from pressed grapes), wine, musts, home-made wine-harvest delicacies, products from grapes and sale of table grapes. The viniculture courtyard will also present commented demonstrations of grape-pressing and the traditional making of musts and wines. video //www.youtube.com/embed/t6etdvg6iLE The stylised allegorical parade Posledna Lajtra will be the focal point of the September 16 programme and a symbol of the event. It is a typical concluding act, the historically documented conclusion of the vintage feasts, the website explains. It is named after the festively decorated last carriage of the vintage harvest, which used to be accompanied by the wine-pickers to the house of the farmer who owned the vineyard. Local vinicultural associations and unions, civic associations, lay performing ensembles, local schools and volunteers will participate in the reenactment of the traditional parade, which includes selected typical features documented from the items between the two world wars. The parade will take place on September 16 at 15:00, as directed by the Modra-based ethnologist and artist Agata Petrakovicova. Part of the grape harvest will be music and theatre performances, exhibitions and a vintage cars parade. The full programme can be found on the website. The man who surprisingly stabbed his wife to death while she sat inside a police car ready to file complaint against him will remain in custody, charged with murder. Font size: A - | A + Police informed the TASR newswire that they have pressed murder charges against a 50-year-old man, identified only as Igor T. from Nova Bana (Banska Bystrica region). On August 26, the police received an emergency phone call from a third person claiming that 40-year-old Lubica T. was being threatened by her husband Igor T, Regional Police Director Stefan Surka told a press conference. A police patrol then arrived at the couples home. The wife told them that her husband was threatening her, that she was afraid of him and that she did not want to be left alone with him in the flat. She wanted to go with the officers and file a report. The woman was not injured, and her husband had not physically attacked her. Quite the opposite: he got down on his knees in front of the police officers and begged his wife not to leave, promising that everything would be all right. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement He was not aggressive and spoke calmly, according to the police officers. He had no object in his hands. Surka went on to say that despite her husbands pleas, the woman got into the police car along with the police officers. Suddenly, Igor T. emerged from an unlit car-park, opened the back door of the car and stabbed his wife several times with a knife. The police officers took action immediately, but she died later in the hospital despite first aid rendered by a police officer. The attacker, who probably carried out his act out of jealousy, seems to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time. Igor T., who has never been convicted of a crime before, could face between 20 and 25 years in jail. On August 30, a judge decided he would be investigated and tried while custody, as he otherwise may continue with criminal activities. As neither the prosecutor, nor defendant appealed this, the judges decision is effective. The measures taken by Nova Bana police officers will be looked into by the Interior Ministry. Wrongdoing can only be corrected by lawful means, say police. Font size: A - | A + The Police have accused activist and artist Lubos Lorenz of disorderly conduct for removing eight communist symbols depicting the hammer and the sickle from a memorial for World War II victims. Lorenz has been imprisoned since August 30 because he damaged the memorial which is included in the list of the cultural memorials of the Kosice monuments board, according to Kosice police spokesperson Jana Mesarova. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement If someone considers the memorial or its symbols as defamatory, he or she should choose a lawful way to correct this, Mesarova said, as quoted by the SITA newswire, because every wrongdoing can only be corrected by lawful means, not by violating other laws. Read also: Read also: Monument of deceased communist leader sparks emotions Read more In the past Lorenz also defaced the monument of communist-era leader, Vasil Bilak, built after he died in February 2014 and unveiled in his home village, Krajne Bystre, on February 21. The following night, Lorenz and artist Peter Kalmus painted the monument with the word Svina / Pig. Later Lorenz wanted to paint over the memorial plaque in the village of Velky Lipnik (Presov Region) honouring former communist general prosecutor and justice minister Jan Pjecsak on May 28, 2016. The Mayor of the village, Peter Labant, acted to prevent Lorenz from painting the plaque. Following the incident, Lorenz ended up in the hospital in Stara Lubovna, claiming that his rib had been broken. He could have several opponents. Font size: A - | A + Marian Kotleba of the LSNS, the current chairman of the Banskobystricky self-governing region, stated that he is going to stand as a candidate in the coming election. There were rumours in last weeks media that Kotleba did not intend to stand. The right-wing extremists announced their candidates for the chairmans seats in other regions but held back in the case of Banska Bystrica. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement His strongest opponents stated a few months ago that they are going to back out in favour of the strongest candidate facing Kotleba, according to the polls. Some of the political parties as well as Smer and Most-Hid have already stated that they will support Jan Lunter, a producer of vegetarian products. He won the last poll made by the Focus agency, beating Kotleba. Read also: Read also: Everyone against Kotleba? Appeal on candidates to connect Read more However, it is not clear whether the other candidates will actually back out in favour of Lunter. The parties should wait until the announcement of Kotlebas candidature. It could be that there will be three candidates for the seat of chairman, said MP Martin Klus (SaS) for Sme Daily. He is also in the running for the seat of Banskobystricky chairman. The head of the SNP (Slovak National Uprising) Museum and another candidate Stanislav Micev also admits to the possibility that there will be two candidates fighting with the extremist Kotleba. It is important to mobilize people to vote, according to him. Kotlebas strongest rival candidates Lunter, Micev and Klus agreed in September that they would give up the candidature in favour of the strongest one, however the memorandum documenting this decision has been signed only by Klus and Micev for now. Lunter's reaction to this has been that not-signing does not mean that he will not keep his word. The regional elections are set for November 4. An asteroid with similar mass to a house is all set to take a close fly by to Earth in the coming month, declared NASA. The asteroid, named as 2012 TC4 is going to pass with an extreme proximity to earths surface on 12th October and astronomers are completely ready to frame this rare event. The accurate proximity of the space rock to earth surface is yet to be confirmed by the NASA team. But as confirmed, the asteroid will have a safe distance from our planet, while passing. Many teams of scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and also from the European Space Agency (ESA) are equipping up to monitor the exact location and trajectory of this near-Earth object as it has not seemed since its discovery in 2012. The asteroid 2012 TC4 was detected by astronomers from the Hawaii-based Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). With a mass of 33 feet to 100 feet or 10 to 30 meters, the asteroid was last seen in 2012, while taking its close flyby of the earth. Since then, it was missing from the global astronomical frame, and hence the astronomer community across the world is highly excited to see the asteroid again passing the earth. As revealed by NASA, the asteroid 2012 TC4 is one of the most detached and pale asteroids, be discovered over the last half decade. Since its discovery, scientists from NASA and ESA have been monitoring and tracking it with the help of a variety of powerful telescopes and other instruments, including the Very Large Telescope Observatory of ESA. With the aid of those focused telescopes and tools, NASA and ESA now have provided a clear-cut prediction bout the flyby of the asteroid to Earth. As disclosed by NASA, the asteroid 2012 TC4 will pass earth with an approximate proximity of 27,000 miles or 43,500 kilometres, which is nearly one-eighth of the distance of earth to the moon. Some earlier made observations pointed that the asteroid may come to approximately 4,200 miles or 6,800 kilometres close to earth during its latest flyby. However, denying the suggestion, NASA has confirmed about the safe flyby of the 2012 TC4 to earth. According to the officials of NASA, the forthcoming flyby of 2012 TC4 poses no risk of any impact with earth. However, for ensuring complete safety and protection to our planet, astronomers will keep on chasing and monitoring the course of the asteroid all through the flyby on 12th September. NASA with the help of International Asteroid Detection and Tracking Network is all set to monitor the activities and movement of the asteroid, confirmed its official. Alongside NASA and ESA, the NASA-funded International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) will also be conducting additional examinations and observations to track the asteroid in the mid weeks of September as a part of its program of its recovery, classification and mentioning of a potentially dangerous stellar object approaching Earth. Theresa May, Donald Tusk and Claude Juncker Matt Cardy / Getty LONDON With Brexit negotiations stalled in their early stages and Britain's exit date rapidly approaching, earnest discussions are underway about what the UK can do to avoid a "cliff-edge" Brexit. One option now being openly considered by the government is that they follow aspects of the so-called Norway model of retaining close ties to the EU without being a fully paid-up member. Supporters of this model, which include figures from both the Remain and Leave camps, argue that this 'softer' version of Brexit would allow the UK to get as close to "having its cake and eating it" as possible. They argue that the Norway model would allow Britain to both retain full access to the European single market as well as "take back control" of policy areas that for decades were handled by the EU. So would it be possible, or desirable for Britain to follow the same path as our Norwegian neighbours? What is the Norway model? The "Norway model" would mean Britain becoming members of two key European organisations the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA). Norway, like Lichenstein and Iceland, is a member of both. EFTA comprises the three countries listed above plus Switzerland, and facilities free trade between all four. The trade group has also signed free trade deals with various non-EU countries, Canada, Mexico and others. The EEA, on the other hand, is a collaboration of all EU member states plus Norway, Lichenstein and Iceland. All EEA members including the non-EU members enjoy full access to the coveted European single market. The UK quit EFTA in 1972 but has the option of rejoining the group and then becoming part of the EEA as an EFTA member. Only EU or EFTA members can currently become contracting parties to the EEA, meaning if Britain wants to secure full access to the single market after Brexit, joining EFTA is in theory, the most straightforward route. Story continues What are the pros of the Norway model? The Norway model's chief selling point is that it would allow Britain both to retain full access to the single market and regain control over powers that under EU membership are controlled by Brussels. For example, non-EU members of the EEA are not in the customs union, meaning they can strike new trade deals around the world, something that Brexiteers like Trade Secretary Liam Fox argued is one of the biggest benefits of Brexit. Joining the EEA as an ETA member will allow "democratic revitalisation at home and the restoration of sovereignty on a manageable scale," Oliver Norgrove, a former Vote Leave campaigner who is now a member of EFTA4UK, told Business Insider this week. Norgrove previously supported a hard Brexit but describes himself as "converted" from a hard Brexiteer to an advocate for a softer version i.e. the EFTA-EEA route. "It [the Norway option] is very often framed as a compromise but that doesn't do it the justice it deserves," he says. "The EEA allows us to get our competencies back but not too many," Norgrove said. "One of the issues with leaving everything and what we call a hard Brexit is we all have these competencies coming back to Westminster meaning we'll have to carve, draft and administer new policy all across the board and that is very tough to do. "The referendum result wasn't a landslide. I think Brexiteers are guilty of not necessarily treating this as a national pursuit and they think it's their toy to play with. We need to think of as where we go as a country. Single market membership through EEA is a good compromise as far as acknowledging the concerns of most of the country. It's a wretched phrase but we are all in this together and the effects of Brexit will impact all of us." The Norway model is an "off-the-shelf" solution which means Britain will be able to replicate an existing political framework rather than attempt to create a range of whole new structures. "Rejoining EEA by virtue of EFTA gives us the most stability politically, legally and economically," Norgrove told BI. How easy would it be for Britain to join EFTA? Another major upside of the Norway route is that joining EFTA is a relatively straightforward process. A state cannot join EFTA while in the EU but can apply to join while an EU member state. So, in theory, Britain could submit an application tomorrow. From there, the length of time from application to accession could be less than a year, according to David Phinnemore, Professor of European Politics at Queen's University Belfast. Professor Phinnemore explained the process to BI this week: "It should be quite straightforward. A country applies, EFTA takes a decision in the Council, which must be unanimous among the four EFTA states. They have to agree on the terms but those a relatively straightforward. "The two things are to be aware of are 1) the UK would not automatically become part of the various free trade agreements EFTA has with non-members, so there would need to be negotiations around that, and 2) the decision which the EFTA ministers make would require approval at national level from all four states i.e in national parliaments. There could be a hold-up there but I can't see it." Michel Barnier David Davis REUTERS/Francois Lenoir What about European judges? Will they play a part? Prime Minister May has long been hostile to European judges having sway over UK law and has made total judicial independence for the UK a red line in her Brexit strategy. "We will not have truly left the European Union if we are not in control of our own laws," she declared in her Lancaster House speech in January. Joining EFTA will not subject Britain to European judges in any foreign court. However, joining the EEA as an EFTA member would require Britain to accept the supervision of the EFTA court. The EFTA court handles Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway's dealings with the single market and Britain would not be exempt. Clearly, this would be a difficult pill to swallow for staunch Brexiteers who oppose interference from all foreign judges. Here's the thing, though: Britain will likely be forced to accept the interference of European judges after Brexit, whether the prime minister likes it or not. This is because a UK-EU post-Brexit free trade deal as deep, multifaceted and wide-ranging as the one May has envisioned will be far more complex than any deal the EU has negotiated before, and will almost certainly require a judicial body to oversee its creation and implementation. This, in theory, could involve a bilateral system where the EFTA court would oversee the free trade deal alongside the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Or perhaps even a trilateral system where the EFTA court would act as an impartial mediator between the ECJ and a UK court. "This is certainly an idea out there at the moment," Professor Phinnemore said. "You wouldn't want to create additional structures and Carl Baudenbacher, EFTA court president, signalled that they could explore the option of allowing EU-UK disputes to be referred to the EFTA court. It's certainly out there for possible consideration." Ultimately, the idea that Brexit will mean a total escape from the sway of European judges is a far-fetched proposition. What about immigration? The biggest sticking point when it comes to the Norway model is what it would mean for immigration to the UK. All EEA members are required to accept the 'four freedoms', including the free movement of people. Again, this would be a tough pill to swallow for Westminster Brexiteers, and would likely trigger a backlash from Leave voters. However, Article 112 of the EEA Agreement does allow non-EU member states to opt out from any of the four freedoms if they are facing serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties as a result of the freedoms. For example, Lichenstein used Article 112 to impose controls on EEA migration due to concerns regarding its modest size and whether it was able to handle a huge influx of people. Norgrove concedes it is very unlikely Britain would be able to negotiate a similar opt-out. "I don't necessarily think the UK could arrange the same sort of thing," he said. This is a view shared by most academics and commentators. However, with the latest figures showing that net migration to the UK this year was 81,000 less than the number recorded in 2016, it may well be the case that by the time Britain leaves the EU, there will be a clear desire among politicians and business people for more EEA citizens to be allowed to come and work in the UK. Immigration was arguably the most prominent issues during the referendum campaign, but public opinion could quickly shift should a pre-Brexit economic downturn await. And as a Brexit cliff-edge approaches, the appeal of the Norway model could well grow both inside government and the country. NOW WATCH: The EU's top negotiator explains how he thinks Article 50 is going to work See Also: DON'T MISS: Former ECJ judge: Theresa May's pledge to end all ECJ jurisdiction 'shows just how ignorant she is' MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambican opposition Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama, said he would sign a peace deal with the government by early November, in a bid to end almost three years of sporadic violence. Renamo and the ruling Frelimo party fought on opposing sides of a civil war from 1976 to 1992 in which a million people died before a peace accord ended the fighting. Violence has flared up again since Renamo challenged results of the southern African nation's 2014 elections. "It will be in October or November, no later than the beginning of November," Dhlakama told the weekly independent newspaper, Canal de Moz and quoted by Noticas, the pro-government daily paper on Thursday. Dhlakama said his party was negotiating cautiously with the government to avoid a deadlock, which has seen previous talks collapse. Issues still being discussed include plans to decentralise powers, constitutional reforms to allow provincial governors to be elected and reintegrating Renamos staff into the police and army. Renamo wants governors to be elected in 2019, seeing it as a chance to rule areas where it has popular backing. Nyusi and Dhlakama met in early August for the first time since 2015 to discuss the next steps in the peace process, which they hoped will be completed by the end of the year. (Reporting by Manual Mucari) By Denis Dumo JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's former army chief is being confined to his home for security reasons, the country's defence minister said on Thursday. Paul Malong was sacked in May by President Salva Kiir amid resignations by senior generals alleging military abuses and tribal bias as the country's ethnically charged civil war ground on. "He was not arrested, but he [is] confined. There are no charges against him," Defence Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk told Reuters in an interview. The oil-rich nation gained independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011. The world's youngest nation plunged into civil war in 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a member of the rival Nuer community. A peace deal between the two sides signed in 2015 collapsed last year amid fighting in the capital. Machar is now in exile in South Africa. Malong, a former elected civilian governor, is a member of the Dinka ethnic group. He was not immediately available for comment. The former army chief had left Juba, the capital, in a convoy of vehicles hours after he was removed from his post, sparking fears he might join a revolt. The defence minister said Malong "was persuaded to come back" to Juba and is "now back in his house." He said government doctors will be provided in the event Malong needs medical care, and that he must see those doctors "before he decides to go anywhere outside the country." The minister also said the president had granted amnesty to Thomas Cirillo Swaka, the most senior officer to defect from the military in the last year. Cirillo, who now lives in Ethiopia, says his aim is to overthrow Kiir and accuses him of running a tribalist army and government. "W hope he will respond to the amnesty by the president," Juuk said. "If he wants, he can come and form his own political party and then we can develop our democratic system." East African leaders said in June they would push South Sudan's warring sides to revive collapsed peace efforts and delay scheduled elections but did not set a date for that new process. In July, donors from the European Union, the United States, Britain and Norway said they would offer no further support to implementation of the peace deal until regional leaders find a credible way of re-launching the peace process. (Editing by Larry King) BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that a recent series of air force exercises around self-ruled Taiwan were routine, after Taiwan's military said this month it was on a high state of alert following three straight days of drills. The Chinese aircraft, which have included bombers and advanced fighter jets, staged exercises flying through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines and up to the north of Taiwan, by Japan's Miyako island, according to Taiwan's government. The drills were the latest in a series of exercises conducted by China near Taiwan and Japan in the past several weeks. China said nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "These activities are routine exercises by the Chinese air force," Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly news briefing when asked about the most recent drills around Taiwan. He did not elaborate. China frequently refers to such exercises as routine. China has been increasingly asserting itself in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. It is also worried about Taiwan, run by a government China fears is intent on independence. Beijing has never ruled out the use of force to bring proudly democratic Taiwan under its control, and has warned that any moves towards formal independence could prompt an armed response. China is in the midst of an ambitious military modernisation programme that includes building aircraft carriers and developing stealth fighters to give it the ability to project power far from its shores. Taiwan is well armed with mostly U.S. weaponry, but has been pressing Washington to sell it more high-tech equipment to better deter China. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors will hold its quarterly board meeting at 1:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, in the Board Room of Torgersen Hall (Room 2100) on the Blacksburg campus. On Sunday, Sept. 10, the Executive Committee will meet in closed session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the 1872 Salon at the Inn at Virginia Tech. An information session for all board members will be held in open session from 1 to 2:15 p.m. in the Smithfield Room, also at the Inn at Virginia Tech. The following Board of Visitors committees will meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech during the two-day meeting: The Academic, Research, and Student Affairs Committee will meet Sept. 10 in open session from 2:30 to 4:45 p.m. in the Solitude Room, followed by a closed session meeting from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m., also in the Solitude Room. will meet Sept. 10 in open session from 2:30 to 4:45 p.m. in the Solitude Room, followed by a closed session meeting from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m., also in the Solitude Room. On Sept. 11, the Buildings and Grounds Committee will depart from the Inn at Virginia Tech to tour the Route 460 Southgate Drive Interchange beginning at 7:30 a.m. At 9 a.m., the committee will meet with the Governance and Administration Committee in closed session in the Solitude Room. Building and Grounds will then meet in open session at 9:30 a.m., also in Solitude Room. The committee will then join the Finance and Resource Management Committee in open session beginning at 11 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room. will depart from the Inn at Virginia Tech to tour the Route 460 Southgate Drive Interchange beginning at 7:30 a.m. At 9 a.m., the committee will meet with the Governance and Administration Committee in closed session in the Solitude Room. Building and Grounds will then meet in open session at 9:30 a.m., also in Solitude Room. The committee will then join the Finance and Resource Management Committee in open session beginning at 11 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room. The Compliance, Audit, and Risk Committee will meet in closed session on Sept. 10 from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room and will meet in open session from 9:15 to 11 a.m. in the Solitude Room. will meet in closed session on Sept. 10 from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room and will meet in open session from 9:15 to 11 a.m. in the Solitude Room. The Finance and Resource Management Committee will meet Sept. 11 in closed session from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. in the 1872 Salon. The committee will then meet in open session from 8:45 to 11 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room. will meet Sept. 11 in closed session from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. in the 1872 Salon. The committee will then meet in open session from 8:45 to 11 a.m. in the Duck Pond Room. The Governance and Administration Committee will meet Sept. 11 in open session at 9:30 a.m. in the Smithfield Room. This will be the first Board of Visitors meeting with the new committee structure. During the two-day session, board members will hear reports on Destination Areas, the Health Science and Technology Campus and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and the Honor System; and review initial design concept on several capital construction and renovation projects. Public comment will not be received at the meeting. More information may be found at the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors website. JARALES Gil Sanchez Elementary, a tidy school just off Highway 109 south of Belen, is a friendly, unassuming success story. During the past year, the school boosted its grade from a C to an A thanks to data-driven instruction, clear goals and lots of hard work. It is now among the highest-performers in the state. Across New Mexico, only 14 percent of schools received an A grade, according to 2017 results released by the Public Education Department last week. Gil Sanchez Elementary is particularly notable because it is part of the federal Title I anti-poverty program, and almost 80 percent of the 292 students are members of minority groups. New Mexico Secretary of Education-designate Christopher Ruszkowski visited the school earlier this month and said it is an inspiration. Its awesome what theyre doing, he said. Im gushing. I was blown away. The things they were saying are so exactly what one would hope for. Principal E. Renee Sanchez said its gratifying to see her staffs work translate into strong results. We had talent here, but now we are all going the same direction, said Sanchez, a Belen-area native who became principal in January 2015 after 15 years in the classroom. Her office is ground zero for the transformation. From Monday to Thursday, teachers gather around the conference table to review the states Common Core standards and compare them with students performance. The group writes out detailed descriptions of the standards on large pieces of white butcher paper and hangs them on the wall to understand the progress children are expected to show at each grade level. For instance, second-graders are asked to describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. By sixth grade, they should be able to explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. Fifth-grade teacher Rebecca Lewis said the weekly meetings have been helpful. Every grade builds if they have a good foundation, she said. Lewis and the other teachers discuss the standards with their students and give regular exams to assess their progress. The approach is showing results. Gil Sanchez students scores on the PARCC New Mexicos main standardized test have grown steadily over the last two years. Math proficiency climbed from 16 percent in 2015 to 32 percent this year. In reading, the rate rose from 37 percent to 41 percent. Lewis a 10-year veteran of Gil Sanchez Elementary said the schools new data-driven approach is a lot more guided and clear than before. I love reading and I thought I was a good reading teacher, but I would get my scores back and they wouldnt reflect what I thought we had done all year, she said. This, I think, matches the PARCC and what they need. While Gil Sanchez Elementary is taking a close look at data, it doesnt neglect the human side of teaching. Staff strive to create a positive, respectful culture for students, Sanchez said. The Journal visited several classrooms and saw students learning about cells, plants and letters. Sanchez said the children are generally engaged and well behaved. We try to guide them through modeling, she said. We are trying to be intentional with how students talk to students and students talk to teachers. At the same time, Sanchez said she believes all children should be held to high expectations. Its our job to create a safe place and educate them, she said. If were not, were doing a disservice to the child. These parents trust us with their kids. Gil Sanchez Elementary is entering its third year of intensive, standards-focused teacher groups, and Lewis said she cant wait to see what they are able to accomplish next. New Mexicos school grades are largely based on standardized test results, particularly the improvement students show from year to year. For elementary schools, test score growth makes up 65 percent of the total grade. The Public Education Department is starting to weigh overall proficiency more heavily, bumping it up from 15 percent in 2015 to 25 percent today. In 2019, proficiency will make up 33 percent of an elementary schools grade. Sanchez said her school is setting ambitious goals and digging deeper into the data. She acknowledged that the process has been exhausting at times, and the teachers can disagree during the weekly meetings, but student learning is always the priority. Belen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Max Perez emphasized that there are no magic ingredients, just hard work. Gil Sanchezs success is energizing and exciting to the rest of us and the rest of the schools, Perez said. We have this confirmation that we are doing things the right way, he added. Sanchez said Perez has supported her efforts and advocated for more data-driven instruction across the district. A few years ago, he asked all schools to start creating 90-day plans and year-end goals to stay on track a process PED instituted through the Principals Pursing Excellence mentorship program. The community is also on board, Sanchez said. Parents are talking about standards now, she said. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal LAS CRUCES The New Mexico State University Board of Regents voted Wednesday to move forward with the search to replace Chancellor Garrey Carruthers despite widespread support from university faculty, staff, students and state lawmakers. Carruthers, 78, said earlier he would be willing to stay on another two years. In an interview after the meeting, he said he was thankful for the show of support. I could have retired a long time ago, he said. I love this place. I love the students. I really, really enjoy this job. Four of the five regents voted in favor of searching for a new chancellor with Margie Vela abstaining. I believe we have an opportunity to build on a strong foundation, said Regent Mike Cheney, who supported replacing Carruthers. Half a dozen speakers at the meeting told regents the stability the chancellor brought to the university was critical during tumultuous times and funding cuts for higher education. Larry Allen, a member of the NMSU Foundation, said Carruthers was key to fundraising efforts at NMSU, including the $125 million Ignite Aggie Discovery campaign. He is one of the few people in the country that can knock on any door of any executive and be admitted, he said. Allen read a letter from the NMSU Foundations executive board urging the regents to extend Carruthers contract for an additional two years. His current contract ends next spring. William Jones, a student senator, told regents that student leaders are concerned about the number of presidents in recent years, five in the past decade. I think we should hang on to Garrey Carruthers as long as possible, he said. But the regents rejected Carruthers offer to stay two more years. The board has expressed ongoing concern about significant enrollment lost, said Regents Chairwoman Debra Hicks, noting enrollment is down 27 percent, three times as much as at the University of New Mexico. Carruthers, who has served as chancellor since 2013, announced he planned to retire July 2018, triggering the search for a replacement. The chancellor said he made the decision after regents told him they would not extend his contract, which expires next spring. But he also said he would welcome the opportunity to serve another two years. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers was among those who supported the idea. If you ever wanted a vote of confidence, I got it, Carruthers said. I got it from a whole lot of people and so Im walking away feeling very good about what we were able to accomplish at this university and will continue to accomplish once we find out what the next person wants to do. Some critics have questioned whether the decision not to extend Carruthers contract was based on politics rather than job performance. Peter Goodwin, a NMSU alum and community radio host who spoke in favor of keeping Carruthers, asked regents if there was a plan to put somebody else, another governor, in his place? Nothing could be further from the truth, that theres any political intervention in the process, said Regent Kari Mitchell, who also voted against keeping Carruthers on for another two years. I dont know her (Gov. Susana Martinezs) background in its entirety, but I cant foresee or fathom a scenario where she would even meet the qualifications, and she herself has been on record saying shes not going to do it, so I dont understand where this stuff comes from, Mitchell said. Martinez has said she is not interested in applying for the position. Jerean Camunez Hutchinson was the fourth regent who voted against extending Carruthers contract. Video link A dead parrot was apparently the final straw in an ongoing dispute that led to the shooting and killing of a man in Tucumcari on Tuesday, New Mexico State Police says. Christopher Shain Bamberg, 46, was arrested and charged with an open count of murder in the death of Justin Hoth. State Police was called to assist Tucumcari police in the investigation of the incident that took place in the 400 block of College Street. According to a State Police news release, Bamberg told investigators that a rear gate at his home was left open and a dog entered his property and killed his parrot. Mr. Bamberg explained Mr. Justin Hoth and a female lived in their recreational vehicle on his property for the last two months, the news release reads. There has been an ongoing issue with the gate. Bamberg confronted Hoth about the dog killing the bird and, as he walked away, Hoth came out of the RV with a metal object in his hand, according to State Police. At that point, Bamberg went to his home, got a loaded shotgun, and returned to Hoth. According to Mr. Bambergs statement Mr. Hoth confronted him with the metal object and he fired the shotgun striking Mr. Hoth in the chest, State Police said. Bamberg was placed under arrest and booked into the Quay County Detention Center without incident. This case remains under investigation, State Police said. WASHINGTON President Trump has united us, after all. He brought together the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Jews. This modern-day miracle was on display Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall, 54 years to the day after the great man gave his greatest speech. There, clergy of all varieties, but mostly rabbis and black ministers, came together in common cause against the despicable anti-Semitism and racism Trump has unleashed, most conspicuously in Charlottesville. Sharpton has been a controversial figure in the Jewish community for decades, earning criticism during the Crown Heights riot in Brooklyn in 1991 and when he called a Jewish landlord in Harlem a white interloper before a deadly attack on the mans store in 1995. But that was long ago, and a rehabilitated Sharpton, who has privately expressed regrets to Jewish leaders for his past actions, made Jews the centerpiece of his Thousand Minister March for Justice on Monday. The civil rights leader, joined by Martin Luther King III, stopped in at a pre-march prayer session held by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and he addressed the assembly of 300 rabbis, cantors and lay leaders. Sharpton told the Jews that we could not commemorate this day and face the challenges today without standing together as Dr. King stood 54 years ago. Invoking those murdered in the Freedom Summer of 1964, he went on: We should never forget that it was Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner that died together two Jews and a black to give us the right to vote. Sharpton spoke of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with King at Selma, and he addressed the more recent ill feelings. We have had days good and bad, but from this day forward were going to make sure we do our part to keep this family together, he said. When we can see people in 2017 with torches in their hands, talking about Jews will not replace us, its time for us to stop praying to the cheap seats and come together. Some of the rabbis shouted amen. Jewish leaders applauding Al Sharpton? Who knew? Miracles out of a mess, proclaimed Reconstructionist Rabbi Malka Binah Klein of Philadelphia. Its tragic that it took Trumps bigotry and the spectacle of Charlottesville to remind Jews and African-Americans of their shared vulnerabilities. But it played out movingly at Mondays march, which was in planning long before the violence in Charlottesville. Rather than 1 million men, Sharpton asked for 1,000 ministers and got somewhat more than that among the 3,000 who assembled. Rabbis swayed and clapped to hip-hop and gospel music. There were skullcaps of every color and size, mainline Protestant ministers in white collars and colorful shawls, black evangelicals in bright choir robes, black-robed monks, Buddhists in saffron, a Sikh in a yellow turban. There were Black Lives Matter signs and posters with verses of scripture. As if by way of greeting, a white-and-green chopper from the Marine One fleet buzzed low over the crowd during the opening prayer. Speaker after speaker, regardless of color or creed, denounced the person who rides in that helicopter, and more than one faulted Jerry Falwell Jr. and other white evangelicals for the sin of silence in the face of the hatred Trump has stirred. A cantor led the crowd in the Hebrew song Hine Ma Tov how good it is for brothers to live as one. A black Jewish woman in a tallit a Jewish prayer shawl spoke, and a rabbi blew a shofar. A black Catholic nun spoke. Gods majestic creation, observed Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, head of the Religious Action Center. From the Nazis in Charlottesville, Pesner said, we learned that anti-Semitism and white supremacism are intertwined. They are dual threats that call us to act and confront them together and directly. African-Americans responded with cries of Yes! and All right! to the rabbis preaching. Jonah Geffen, a conservative rabbi from New York, in white robe and tallit, liked what he heard from Sharpton. He pronounced him a totally different man from the Sharpton of old. Joining Sharptons march was Jesse Jackson, of Hymietown fame. But there is no time to dwell on old slights when neo-Nazis are at the door. We dont have a person to lose, King told the Jews at their prayer meeting Monday morning. We are brothers and sisters. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank. Email: danamilbank@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group. Santa Fe will continue to use Wells Fargo Bank as city governments primary bank, despite the banks record of having been embroiled in a phony bank account scandal and controversy of helping to finance the Dakota Access Pipeline. The City Council on Wednesday approved a 4-year contract extension with Wells Fargo on a vote of 6-3, with councilors Signe Lindell, Joe Maestas, and Chris Rivera against. I have a hard time supporting this with the history of what Wells Fargo has been involved in, Rivera said, mentioning the banks funding of DAPL, a $3.78 billion project designed to transport crude oil 1,172 miles from the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota to storage tanks in southern Illinois, where it is distributed by other means. The city previously passed a resolution opposing the project and in support of protesters at Standing Rock Indian Reservation, who say the pipeline crosses land bestowed on them by the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, threatens their drinking water, and would damage and destroy sites of religious and cultural significance. The motion to extend the contract was passed subject to the Wells Fargo being in compliance with the citys investment policy, which bars city funds from being used for investment in fossil fuels. Maestas referenced the bank account scandal that resulted in Wells Fargo being assessed $185 million in fines from California and federal regulators for generating 2 million fake bank and credit card accounts without customer authorization. But the majority of the council felt they were left with little choice but to continue the relationship with Wells Fargo. Not only did it score well above the four other financial institutions that bid for the citys business, an evaluation committee determined that it was the only bidder capable of meeting all the citys financial needs. Wells Fargo Bank provided a strong alignment of business interests, community initiatives and process priorities while keeping fiduciary responsibility and the safeguarding of the Citys financial assets in the forefront, Finance Director Adam Johnson wrote in a memo to the council. Councilor Renee Villarreal, who has led efforts for Santa Fe to establish its own public bank, voted yes with assurance from the citys finance director and city attorney that the contract wouldnt prevent the public bank initiative from being feasible and going forward. Mayor Javier Gonzales, who himself cheered protests against DAPL, said he was reluctantly supporting the motion. But he said it seemed clear to him that the board had a fiduciary duty to act in the most financially responsible manner and there were no clear second choice. Gonzales noted that for the first time in the citys history the procurement process took into consideration the bidders community involvement, a measure designed to attract and award local banks during the procurement process. Wells Fargo has contributed about $220,000 to local groups in the past year and employs about 88 people in Santa Fe. By a wide margin, it outscored local banks in the community involvement evaluation that was part of the bidding process. The contract calls for the city to pay no more than $145,000 per year to Wells Fargo, though Finance Director Adam Johnson said that with the interest income the city earns on its accounts, it likely wont pay more than $60,000 per year. Johnson said city transactions totaling about $500 million are passed through Wells Fargo Bank each year. The city has more than $200 million in Wells Fargo accounts, about three-quarters of that amount in a trust, or custodial, account, which holds the citys investments in government and agency fixed income securities. Another $30 million is in operational checking accounts. SANTA FE The state Supreme Court has been asked to order the Santa Fe mayor and City Council to implement ranked choice voting in Marchs municipal elections a change that was approved overwhelmingly at the ballot box nearly a decade ago. In a petition to the high court filed Wednesday, the leader of FairVote New Mexico and three others say the conditions called for in a voter-approved 2008 city charter amendment have been met, with a company now offering suitable vote-counting software at the mandated reasonable price. Weve been waiting for 10 years already almost, the time to implement RCV is here, said Maria Perez of FairVote at a press conference outside City Hall Wednesday evening. Perez said the councils vote in July to not implement ranked choice voting until at least 2020 is an insult to Santa Fe voters. Councilors who voted against using ranked choice next year said there wasnt enough time to implement RCV and educate voters about the change. Contractor Dominion Inc., offering software for $39,000, still needs certification from the New Mexico Secretary of State. That office has said it should complete certification by late September. Although its arguable whether the prerequisites to give effect to the RCV Amendment were met in the past, they are in place now, the Supreme Court petition states. Ranked-choice voting, also called instant runoff, would be utilized when a race includes more than two candidates. Voters rank their choices among candidates by order of preference. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-ranked votes in an initial tabulation, the last-place candidate is dropped and the second choices of those who voted for the last-place candidate are counted as votes for the remaining candidates. That process continues until one of the contenders receives a majority. Attorney Teresa Leger de Fernandez, who filed the Supreme Court petition, said kinds of voting software nationwide are always pending certification prior to local and state elections, but that doesnt keep candidates from campaigning or prevent other election preparations. Perez also said the city would only need about 30-60 days to educate the voters. The petition says RCV capabilities would be free and available for Santa Fe in 2018 as part of a statewide voting system. But the city still would have to directly pay Dominion Voting for server use, trainings and on-site support, according to Secretary of State Office spokesperson Joey Keefe. Councilor Peter Ives, who voted in July to halt implementation for 2018, said there were too many lingering questions about the softwares certification process and its abilities as well as the amount of time the city would have to educate citizens. He said in addition uncertainty on what the technology was being tested for and if the Secretary of States office was vetting the technology under the most updated guidelines, the software company had already missed a June 1 deadline to get approval for next years election. He also mentioned the softwares limitation of having 10 candidates on the ballot, which left him with questions of what would happen if the upcoming mayoral race had more candidates than that. This wouldnt be inconceivable to him considering the mayor will now be a full-time position with a six-figure salary. The worst thing that could happen would be for an elections integrity to be called into question, Ives said, and he does not feel differently about his July vote following the citizens Supreme Court filing. I made [the decision] for reasonable and correct reasonsThe fact that someone disagrees with me, I dare to say that happens every day, he said. Former City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer, who helped draft the language in the 2008 vote that said the city would wait for when equipment and software for tabulating the votes and allowing correction of incorrectly marked, in-person ballets are available at a reasonable price, said the another main issue with implementing anything right now is that the city hasnt made any for what ranked-choice in Santa Fe would look like. This questions include how many candidates voters can rank in some systems, voters rank their top three, while others call for ranking all candidates, no matter how many as well as what would happen in an event of a tie. Though she says shes agnostic on RCV, Heldmeyer said its important that implementation is done correctly. [RCV] sounds simple until you get down into the weeds, and then its more complicated, she said Leger de Hernandez said the petitioners have requested the Supreme Court respond to their case by Sept. 30. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal The civil case of Ayudando Guardians Inc. v. Desert State Life Management involves two companies accused of siphoning client accounts for personal gain. With their owners absent for an initial hearing in the lawsuit Wednesday, a state district judge heard from those who are picking up the pieces after the shocking collapse this summer of the two New Mexico nonprofit companies that for more than a decade specialized in serving developmentally disabled, elderly and otherwise vulnerable clients. In the audience were lawyers from the U.S. Attorneys Office, which is prosecuting Ayudando Guardians and its two principals on criminal charges of embezzling at least $4 million in client funds; and Liane Kerr, whose former husband Paul Donisthorpe has been accused by state and federal authorities of embezzling $4 million from his clients accounts at Desert State. He hasnt been criminally charged. At issue Wednesday was how to proceed with the lawsuit filed by Ayudando Guardians on June 6 seeking damages from Desert State on behalf of seven clients. Those clients entrusted their funds for Desert State to manage, the lawsuit states. That case was filed a month before Ayudandos two principals, Susan Harris and Sharon Moore, and the company itself, were indicted July 11 by a federal grand jury for embezzling more than $4 million from their clients. The U.S. Marshals office has been running Ayudando since then, with the prospect of a shutdown of the company imminent. Harris and Moore have pleaded not guilty. Donisthorpe didnt attend Wednesdays hearing. He hasnt responded to requests for comment and is reportedly brain damaged from a botched suicide attempt. His wife of 31 years, Kerr, filed for divorce in March after state financial examiners began to look into Desert States books. She appeared in court with her attorney Wednesday, but didnt comment. In court records, Kerr has denied any involvement in the alleged embezzlement scheme or the trust company business. Both companies are being dismantled by government agencies in light of the fraud and embezzlement allegations. Judge Alan Malott on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss Ayudandos claims against Desert State, vowing to make sure the seven Ayudando clients who may have lost trust funds at Desert State dont fall through the cracks because their guardian is under federal indictment. There may be nothing left, but Im going to try to get as close to the penny as I can get,said Malott. Desert State in early August was placed into the receivership of the state Financial Institutions Division. An estimated 70 people who were clients of Desert State have lost some or all of their trust money, state officials say. Malott, during the hearing, said state district judges are in crisis management mode trying to find replacement guardians for Ayudandos clients. State FID attorney Kevin Graham told Malott that families and individuals, some with limited ability to understand whats going on in the case, have contacted the state to find lawyers to help recover their missing trust funds. Meanwhile, the state Public Accountancy Board last week revoked Donisthorpes CPA license. Police say more than 30 bomb threats and threats of other shootings were called into businesses in Clovis Wednesday night as the city was still reeling from a shooting at a public library earlier in the week. Carl Christiansen, a spokesman for New Mexico State Police, said none of the threats turned out to be credible, but State Police assisted local agencies in investigating each one. They take each threat seriously, Christiansen said. Depending on if the business is open or closed, then either we evacuate the facility or do a rough check. The number one thing is public safety. He said they hadnt identified any suspects and he doesnt know if the businesses were targeted specifically or randomly. Christiansen said police dont have any indication that the threats were related to 16-year-old Nathaniel Jouett, who is accused of shooting six people, killing two, at the Clovis-Carver Public Library Monday. However, at least some of the threats referenced Jouett, according to a post on The Eastern New Mexico News Facebook page. The newspaper received back-to-back threats. The newspaper quoted an employee who talked to the caller and said his voice sounded altered. He said, Today is just the beginning and were going to shoot people tomorrow,' said copy editor Jenna Zamie, who took one of the calls. He talked about his friend Nathaniel isnt the only one and that hes got tons more and the bomb threats and shootings were just the beginning. By 9:30 p.m., Christiansen said the threats were no longer being reported. FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to reflect that the executive director of eREAD and the former executive director of the state Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission are under investigation. Neither has been formally charged. The executive director of the nonprofit eREAD, which provides educational programs for kids, including ACT/SAT preparatory programs, is under investigation for illegally spending money intended for the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission. Meanwhile, the former executive director of the commission is also under investigation for illegally depositing commission funds with eREAD in order to circumvent state rules and regulations for collecting and dispersing money. Thats according to a search warrant served Aug. 23 at the Public Employee Retirement Association of New Mexico, looking at the account of eREAD executive director Charles Countee. Copies of that search warrant were released Wednesday by the Attorney Generals Office. Countee, a retired probation and parole officer, draws a pension from PERA. His financial records from the retirement account, including statements, withdrawals, transfers and personal correspondences were among the items named in the search warrant in order to verify Countees claim of having withdrawn from his retirement account in order to provide funding for eREAD. A message left for Countee at eREAD Wednesday evening was not returned. According to Special Agent Christopher Kohler, who is conducting the investigation, Kimberly Greene, the MLK Commissions executive director from 2012 until February 2, 2016, used eREAD as a third-party fiduciary to circumvent the states procurement rules and regulations because she thought the process was too rigid and did not fit her model of how she wanted to conduct the commissions activities. The bulk of eREADs funding is from government entities, including the state of New Mexico and Bernalillo County. Greene and Countee apparently entered into an informal agreement in which eREAD would hold all funds donated to the MLK Commission in an eREAD account at the Bank of the West, resulting in the co-mingling of funds from both organizations. Countee would then disperse the MLK Commission funds to Greene upon her request. This arrangement was never revealed to the state, the warrant said. According to the search warrant, multiple times between 2014 and 2016, Countee used money from the co-mingled account to pay eREAD bills and salaries, including his own. On some occasions, eREAD had a negative balance, although the MLK Commissions funds in the account appeared to make eREAD solvent. Countee also fraudulently obtained money from public entities by producing invoices for phony expenses or by saying he needed money to pay for a program that he had no intention of funding, according to the warrant. AGs investigators originally served a search warrant on the MLK State Commissions office in January 2016, when it began looking into alleged financial mismanagement by the former executive director Greene. Among the items seized were flash drives, memory cards, external hard drives, cellphones and a host of handwritten and printed financial documents. The Bernalillo County Commission approved Santolinas first Level B Master Plan on Wednesday, bringing the massive 21-square-mile development southwest of Interstate 40 and 118th Street one step closer to fruition. This plan provides a solid foundation for the future, said James Strozier of Consensus Planning, who presented the plan on behalf of the developer. Leading the charge to move the project forward was Commissioner Wayne Johnson, who joined with fellow Republican Lonnie Talbert and Democrat Steven Michael Quezada in voting for the Level B plan. Commission Chairwoman Debbie OMalley and Maggie Hart Stebbins, both Democrats, voted against it. While the Level A Master Plan approved in 2015 provides a broad overview of the entire development, the Level B plan just approved offers more specificity, although it covers only about a third of the Santolina property. Additional Level B plans will likely be submitted in the future for other segments of the development. The Level B plan approved covers about 4,200 acres on the northwest and northeast portions of the Santolina property. It is generally bounded by Interstate 40 to the north, 118th Street and the escarpment open space to the east, Dennis Chavez Boulevard on the south and the escarpment area adjacent to the Rio Puerco Valley on the west. The plan envisions a maximum of 9,444 households on that portion of the property. The plan includes a 493-acre mixed-use commercial and town center, a 176-acre business park, a residential area totaling 1,276 acres and a 671-acre industrial park. The plan also calls for 842 acres of open space and parks, which is more than 20 percent of the area covered by the Level B plan. The County Planning Commission and county staff had recommended approval, although opponents of the project appealed the planning commissions decision. That appeal was denied on the same 3-2 vote. Jaimie Park, an attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, who argued on behalf of SouthWest Organizing Project and other Santolina opponents, said the developer had failed to provide critical information to determine whether the development would truly result in no net expense to the county, which is one of the conditions. Strozier countered that the no net expense requirement had been addressed by both county staff and an outside firm hired by the county. The master developer, Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, and the county must now hammer out a Level B development agreement for the project. The developer will then have to negotiate an agreement with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority before moving forward with the countys permitting and subdivision process. More than a dozen people addressed the commission on the Level B plan prior to the vote. Our economy is stale. Unless we grow, we will die as a community, said John Garcia, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. Planned growth makes sense. No planned growth is bad growth. But Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, said her organization opposes the Level B plan because the developer has not demonstrated that theres sufficient water for the development. Were not opposed to growth, and were certainly not opposed to planning, she said. But there is an elephant in room not being discussed and that is water. At full build-out in about 50 years, the Santolina development could be home to 90,000 people, which is about the size of Rio Rancho. ATLANTA Saying America was watching, Cobb County officials Thursday announced plans to fire a police lieutenant who told a woman during a traffic stop that we only shoot black people. But Lt. Greg Abbott sent an email to the county announcing that he plans to retire, even as the police chief was on live television saying Abbott would be terminated, according to Cobb County Commission Chairman Mike Boyce. Boyce said he was unsure how that development would affect the decision to fire the lieutenant. The racial comments by Abbott, who is white, only surfaced this week, when WSB-TV aired video from Abbotts dash cam from a July 10, 2016, traffic stop. Abbott has been on the Cobb force for 28 years. Remember, we only shoot black people, Abbott says on the video. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? He was speaking to a white woman who was a passenger in a car that had been pulled over for DUI. At a news conference Thursday afternoon in Marietta, Police Chief Mike Register said, There is no place for those types of comments. This badge and uniform should mean justice and fairness for all. I have known Lieutenant Abbott for years and perceive him as honorable, but hes made a mistake. I dont know what is in his heart, but I know what came out of his mouth. We recommend that he be terminated and we are moving forward on that. Register said the recommendation to fire Abbott came from his command staff. Register notified Abbott of the recommendation Thursday morning. Not only is Cobb County watching, but America is watching what we do to respond to these events, Boyce said at the news conference. What we told America today is that we are different. We believe in the rule of law. We believe in equal justice. We have a long way to go, but our journey is forward. Theres never a good time for a police officer to make such remarks, even in jest, but Abbotts timing couldnt have been worse. According to the date stamp on the police video, Abbotts encounter with the woman occurred July 10, 2016. That was just four days after Minnesota police shot and killed Philando Castile, a beloved cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school, whose last moments were recorded by his girlfriend on her phone. In this environment, with sensitivities running high, it is inappropriate, for any police officer, but especially one of our leaders, Register said. Ben Williams, president of the Cobb Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Deane Bonner, president of the countys NAACP chapter, both attended the announcement and said they were satisfied with the departments decision. Police misconduct is not news, Williams said. The real story here is the behavior of this police chief in Cobb County . To be here today and stand with Chief Register as he pulls the shades up and exposes the sunrise is news. The footage obtained by WSB-TV shows the officer speaking through the car window to the female passenger. The police had already arrested the driver of the car in which the woman was riding and placed him in a squad car. The woman tells Abbott she is afraid to reach for her cellphone because Ive just seen way too many videos of cops At that point, Abbott cuts her off. But youre not black, he says. Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos youve seen, have you seen the black people get killed? Abbotts attorney, Lance LoRusso, argued in a statement that Abbotts comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. LoRusso said Abbott was trying to gain compliance by using the passengers own statements and reasoning to make an arrest. That explanation didnt fly with Register, who said the comments make it harder for officers on the street trying to gain community trust. No matter what (the) context was, the statements were inexcusable and inappropriate, Register said. I have worked hard since becoming chief to strengthen the relationship between the department and the community. It is sad to think that several seconds of video has the potential of tearing that apart. The countys black leaders expressed grave concern about Abbotts comments. We know police officers get up every day and protect and serve, but this was so cavalier, the NAACPs Bonner said. (The) young lady never mentioned black. So, for him to take it to that level, its just very sad. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid, also present at the news conference, also said she was satisfied with the chiefs decision. Cupid filed a seven-page complaint with county police in 2012 after an undercover officer followed her into her subdivision late one night. It said, I believe the officer who followed me had complete and utter disregard for my safety, my well-being and the sanctity of community. That police officer was not there to protect and serve. He was there to harass and intimidate. Cupids concerns were dismissed by her fellow commissioners, who were all white, and by the Police Department as well. On Thursday, Cupid said regardless of what Abbotts intentions were, his comments only served to confirm the fears many people of color have of law enforcement. She also questioned how Abbotts remarks were received by the woman in that moment on the side of the road. Theres nothing that indicates that woman was put at greater ease when those statements were made, Cupid said. (END OPTIONAL TRIM) Chief Register took over the department in June, so the Abbott incident predated his arrival by almost a year. Suri Chadha Jimenez, an Atlanta attorney who represented the man charged with DUI in the case, said he thinks the officer was being sarcastic after the woman gave him some lip. It makes you cringe when you hear it. Its unacceptable, Jimenez said. The attorney also said on Thursday that neither his client nor the woman in the car wants the media attention that has come with the revelations. Shes not trying to get paid, Chadha Jimenez said. She wants it to go away. 2017 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) at www.ajc.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ PHOENIX Authorities say they are working to recover a body found in a pond at Papago Park outside the Phoenix Zoo. Phoenix Fire Department officials say the body had been in the water for an unknown period of time. Firefighters were called to the area Thursday morning to recover the body, which was in a pond outside of the zoos main entrance. Authorities didnt immediately release the gender of the body. Phoenix police say they will be conducting an investigation into the death. St. Felix Pantry is looking for volunteers to sort through clothing that will be sent to Houston-area residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The Rio Rancho-based pantry that serves that city, Albuquerque and Sandoval County, has teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Central New Mexico to sort and pack clothing, according to a news release issued today. The clothing will be transported to Houston thanks to Kirtland Air Force Base, which has secured a cargo plane to fly the clothing, with other area donated items, to be distributed in Houston, the release reads, adding that the Federal Emergency Management Agency expects 450,000 people to seek disaster relief. The basic thing were doing is offering hope, in a way that is needed by all those people fleeing the floods in Texas, Sister Mary Angela, the president and CEO of St. Felix Pantry. For many of them, all the clothing they have left is what they were wearing when they left their homes. As part of the effort, St. Felix is in need of volunteers to sort through the clothing and prepare it for shipping . Sorting and repackaging will be done at the Boys & Girls Club in Rio Rancho, 4600 Sundt Road NE, on Saturday, Sept. 2, starting at 9 a.m. Anyone interested in helping should Manuel Casias at 505-270-1366 or email at mcasias@stfelixpantry.org. Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull is encouraging everyone to pitch in and help where possible to alleviate the suffering of the people affected by Hurricane Harvey. Rio Rancho has always been a city that helps others in a time of need, he said. This is a time of need for the city of Houston and another opportunity to help. Coverfox.com , Indias fastest growing online insurance marketplace, has announced the appointment of Premanshu Singh as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. Premanshus appointment is part a of planned leadership transition, as he succeeds Varun Dua, who has moved on to set-up a new online general insurance company. Premanshu is a strategic thinker and an expert in scaling-up businesses. He will spearhead and lead the strategic growth at Coverfox across critical business areas including strategic business planning and development, partner management and customer engagement, driving engagement through new touch points and overseeing transformational customer experiences while including newer products with attractive and customized price points. His primary focus will be on sustained business viability and charting a suitable course for the future. Premanshu brings to Coverfox more than a decades experience across sectors namely FMCG, technology and start-ups. His understanding of the dynamics of working across MNCs and start-up environment/ecosystem allows him to approach and solve complex business problems from both sides of the ecosystem. Premanshu, has pursued MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad, his last stint being at Practo as the Vice President Marketing of the company. He has led senior level roles in strategic planning, marketing, sales and business development at leading corporates such as Johnson & Johnson, SMSGupShup, People Interactive, Shaadi.com , Webaroo Technologies and ITC Ltd. He co-founded a2zbaby.com in 2011, an ecommerce store wherein parents can find products of their choice for their kids. He is also an active Angel Investor, Coverfox being one of his early investments. Devendra Rane, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Coverfox.com. Premanshu is one of the early startup specialist and Thought Leader in the industry. He brings valuable experience as a leader, learner and someone who has his ears to the ground and feet on street approach. His illustrious track record and value system make an ideal choice for an organisation of our size and repute. He is aligned with our vision of using technology to take insurance to the last mile. We could not think of a better person to help support Coverfox through its next exciting chapter of growth. I wish Premanshu a successful innings at Coverfox. I am pleased to welcome Premanshu to Coverfox family, said. Premanshu is one of the early startup specialist and Thought Leader in the industry. He brings valuable experience as a leader, learner and someone who has his ears to the ground and feet on street approach. His illustrious track record and value system make an ideal choice for an organisation of our size and repute. He is aligned with our vision of using technology to take insurance to the last mile. We could not think of a better person to help support Coverfox through its next exciting chapter of growth. I wish Premanshu a successful innings at Coverfox. In line with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) commitment to its consumers and customers, SPN has announced the following changes in the leadership team portfolio: Saurabh Yagnik, will move into a newly created role of EVP Monetization Strategy & Consumer Insights. In this role, Saurabh will lead the identification of organic and inorganic monetization opportunities in partnership with the revenue and channel heads, to increase SPNs participation in the marketplace. He will also leverage consumer insights to identify and facilitate implementation of new business opportunities for the network. Saurabh moves into this new role from being SPNs EVP & Business Head for the English cluster of channels, where he was heading AXN, Sony PIX, Sony Le Plex HD and Sony BBC Earth. Tushar Shah will take on the role of EVP AXN, Sony PIX, Sony Le Plex HD, Sony BBC Earth and Sony AATH. Tushar moves into this role from being SPNs EVP & Business Head Sony AATH. Both these roles will report into NP Singh, CEO, SPN. Saurabh has been with SPN for over four and a half years and Tushar has been with SPN for over eleven years. These moves are in line with SPNs philosophy of providing exciting career opportunities to internal talent and the networks focus on the future. 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. While its sister-brand JBL announced three speakers that have the Google Assistant built-in, Harman Kardon has now announced its own speaker that supports Amazons Alexa. Its the Harman Kardon Allure which is a 360-degree speaker from HARMAN, which is now part of Samsung. Perhaps making this the most high-end (or in the least, the best sounding) Alexa speaker currently on the market. The Harman Kardon Allure brings the best of Harman Kardons sound with Amazons personal assistant, all into one speaker. Having Alexa built-in is a big deal. Alexa has over 20,000 skills available, which can do things like order you pizza from Dominos or Pizza Hut, or you can have Alexa start your car and even remind you where your car is. And there is so much more available. Amazon has been courting developers for quite some time to bring their work over to Alexa, and now its the most used platform as far as skills go. Its far ahead of the Google Assistant, which is catching up quite quickly. Having Alexa built into this speaker means that you can tell Alexa to turn on the lights in your home, or adjust the thermostat. You can even talk to Alexa and ask her to tell you a joke or cheer you up. The Harman Kardon Allure does have far-field voice recognition, so it is able to hear that you are calling Alexa from another room. This is thanks to the four microphones that it has built into the speaker. It has advanced noise cancellation, so that you are able to talk to it from across the room. Additionally, it has 360-degree ambient lighting. Harman Kardon has added responsive lighting in an iconic design to really make the Harman Kardon Allure really stand out. Finally, it does support both Bluetooth and WiFi streaming of music. So for instance, if your music streaming service of choice does not have Alexa compatibility, you can stream it over Bluetooth of course itll be higher quality over WiFi due to the larger bandwidth. Advertisement HARMAN will be releasing the Harman Kardon Allure for $249 this winter. Itll be available from all of the usual retailers that sells Harman Kardon products, including HARMANs website as well as Amazon. HARMAN has not confirmed which other retailers will offer up the Harman Kardon Allure just yet. United States District Judge Lucy Koh on Wednesday came to a decision that a number of plaintiffs are allowed to move forward with their lawsuit against Yahoo which they filed over several data breaches that the company suffered in recent years which compromised more than a billion users. The San Jose-based District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the plaintiffs have a legitimate claim that they suffered due to Yahoos failure to disclose the controversial breaches in time, consequently rejecting the defendants claim that theres no legal basis for the case. Judge Koh specifically mentioned allegations related to unfair competition and breach of contract as being a valid basis for the plaintiffs to sue the company that now operates as part of Verizons division Oath which was created by merging Yahoos Internet assets with AOL. Some of the plaintiffs claim that they were victims of identity theft after their Yahoo-stored data was compromised without their knowledge, with others claiming that they had to spend money to minimize the chances of their identities being stolen and saying how such a scenario is now significantly more realistic due to Yahoos actions. A number of plaintiffs also claimed that they could have avoided any negative consequences of the hacking attacks had Yahoo notified them about the issue and told them to change their passwords in a timely manner. One of the plaintiffs attorneys John Yanchunis referred to Yahoos troubles as the largest data breach in the industrys history and called Judge Kohs decision as a significant victory for consumers. Yahoo suffered three breaches in a period from 2013 to 2016, with the first one being said to have affected over a billion users. Verizon has yet to comment on the matter in an official capacity, though the latest turn of events is unlikely to please the telecom giant which spent $4.76 billion to acquire Yahoos core business as part of a deal which was concluded in June in an attempt to diversify its operations and strengthen its advertising endeavors. The U.S. Department of Justice has already indicted three people over Yahoo hacks earlier this year, though only one of them is expected to personally face the charges laid out by the government, with the other two currently residing in Russia with little to no chances of being extradited. LG Electronics on Thursday unveiled the V30, its latest Android-powered handset meant to compete in the high-end segment of the market. While the device is equipped with a broad range of premium hardware, so are its many competitors like the Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 series, HTC U11, and other Android flagships released in recent times, which is why the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) went on to implement a number of unique features into the LG V30 in an effort to differentiate its offering from those of its many competitors. While the special features of the LG V30 will depend on the region, just like it was the case with the LG G6, its general capabilities still look promising on paper; the device is equipped with a 32-bit Advanced Hi-Fi Quad DAC, a digital-to-analog signal converter which should significantly improve the audio quality you can experience when using the LG V30 in conjunction with headphones or external speakers. Compared to the Hi-Fi Quad DAC of the V20, the one inside its successor introduces sound presents and support for digital filters and can still sound identical to its predecessor in terms of eliminating white noise and sound distortion at the cost of everything else but also ships with a significantly wider variety of customization options. The LG V30s HD Audio Recorder can also simultaneously receive sounds while serving as a microphone, with this Receiver-as-a-Mic (RAM) solution allowing it to record a larger sound range compared to the previous V-series device. The phablet also features Graphy, which is how the Seoul-based tech giant calls its new platform for downloading camera presets from the main Camera app of the device. Taking advantage of it is as simple as activating the Manual (Pro) photography mode on the LG V30 and tapping a corresponding on-screen button in order to access a database of various camera settings calibrations meant for different types of scenes. Naturally, youre not forced to use the exact configuration you download and are free to tweak it as you see fit. The LG V30 also ships with support for Googles virtual reality (VR) platform Daydream, meaning that the smartphone is compatible with the Daydream View and other hardware powered by the same solution and can also run Daydream apps from the Google Play Store. The phone maker said that the LG V30s P-OLED panel can reproduce 148 percent of the sRGB color space, making it more than suitable for VR applications. HDR 10 compatibility is also part of the package, as is the brightest lens in the history of the mobile industry, with the main 13-megapixel sensor of the LG V30s dual camera setup having an aperture of f/1.6 and thus dethroning the 12-megapixel f/1.7 module found on the Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup and the upcoming Galaxy Note 8. Advertisement Furthermore, LGs flagship is coming with the latest build of the companys proprietary mobile software suite which now includes a floating navigation bar thats meant to replace the physical secondary screen of the V20, providing users with a semi-transparent toolbar which can be dragged off of the phones Full Vision display panel if and whenever the user chooses to do so. Consumers will also be provided with granular control over haptic feedback intensity and a broad range of other features meant to allow for a highly personalized user experience, the OEM said. The LG V30 is now official, and LG has announced that the device is coming to North America, and it will be available in the US, and quite probably from all four major US carrier, but a confirmation is yet to be released. Unfortunately, we do not have specific dates or pricing for each carrier at this point, or anything of the sort, all we know is that the phone will become available in South Korea on September 21, and other markets will follow after that. It is expected to become available in the US in late September or early October, however. The LG V30 will probably be available at all of the usual carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon, similar to the V20 last year. It should also be available at retailers like Best Buy, B&H Photo and Amazon shortly thereafter. LG V30 is the latest smartphone from LG and here the company decided to iterate on its design that it debuted with the LG G6 earlier this year. So there is still that bezel-less display, and its a 6-inch display this time, instead of a 5.7-inch on the V20 last year. Its also an OLED display, which is the first time in quite some time that LG has moved away from IPS panels, and its something its customers are going to love. Powering the LG V30 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. The 128GB storage variant of the phone will be available some markets only, and LG actually named this variant of the device the LG V30 Plus. The LG V30s storage is supplemented by a microSD card slot as well. LG has included a 3300mAh battery in the V30 to keep it going all day long, and it is not removable either. This smartphone is expected to be priced around $649 full retail, however as is usually the case, the carriers will offer slightly differing prices, so some might be closer to $700 and some may be lower. The carriers have not yet announced pricing, so its hard to say what pricing will be just yet. The LG V30 is going to be available in silver and black in the US, although the silver is what LG calls its hero color, which basically means its the one that will debut in all of its promotional material and be manufactured the most. Marshall is a well-known company within the speaker market and especially by those who often purchase guitar amplifiers. However, the company has recently started branching out and even brought out a Marshall-branded smartphone not too long ago. Now, at IFA 2017, the company has announced the next step in its speaker portfolio with the introduction of the Marshall Acton, Stanmore and Woburn, wireless speakers that collectively form the companys first Wireless Multi-room system. On offer here are three different wireless speakers which look to offer a similar sound quality, but at different prices. Essentially, a range which caters to different needs and budgets. However, the three speakers are also designed to be able to work in unison when purchased together, or over time. As a result, the Action, Stanmore and Woburn wireless speakers all have the ability to work on their own, playing individual songs in different rooms, as well as being brought together in the same room, playing in concert. Advertisement As these are wireless speakers, owners of compatible devices including smartphones will be able to connect to any of these speakers without the need of cables. In fact, all three are now confirmed as equipped with Google Cast technology, aka Chromecast built-in. So smart device owners can literally cast content to these speakers and from a number of their favorite Cast-supported apps. In addition, all three speakers also come equipped with seven presets for quick access to select radio stations or specific Spotify listings. Adding to its compatibility, and in addition to being both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled, all three speakers remain usable as traditional speakers with the option to connect analog devices directly to the twin RCA ports, or via the included 3.5 mm port. Those specifically keen on the way Marshall amplifiers look will be pleased to know all three speakers come equipped with classic Marshall-themed controls. In terms of their differences, the Marshall Acton can be considered the baby of the bunch, as this is the most compact of the new speakers. Although one which is still designed to offer a loud and quality sound. In terms of the price, the Marshall Acton is due to become available priced at $350 in the US, 350 in Europe, and 320 in the UK. Up next is the Marshall Stanmore which is the middle offering of the three. So expect this one to offer even greater levels of performance, including a greater ability to perform at louder volumes. Although this one comes with an additional $100 on top, priced at $450 in the US, 450 in Europe, and 399 in the UK. Lastly, there is the Marshall Woburn. Compared to the others this is designed as the flagship option and certainly the most powerful. Largely due to the Woburn coming loaded with two 5.25-inch drivers, as well as offering a total output of 100-watts. In addition to being louder, clearer, and more powerful, this is also the biggest of the three and designed to act as the centerpiece when used together. As for the price, the Marshall Woburn will cost $600 in the US, 600 in Europe, and 539 in the UK. Marshall has also now confirmed that all three speakers will be available to buy starting from September 21. Pre-orders however, are set to begin on September 1. Advertisement Marshall Acton Marshall Stanmore Advertisement Marshall Woburn A mysterious new device from the relatively unknown handset maker, Coolpad, looks to have just hit GFXBench bearing the model number VCR-I0. The device bears quite a few similarities to several other smartphones made by the manufacturer, including a couple that has been announced more recently by the company, namely the Coolpad M7 or the Coolpad Cool Play 6. However, benchmarks do not always show the whole picture and there are plenty of differences between any of those known or rumored devices and the outlined specifications for VCR-10. That means the benchmark most likely points to a completely different device altogether. Regardless of which scenario turns out to be true, the specs associated with the VCR-10 place it solidly in the upper end of the mid-tier handset category. The benchmark for the Coolpad VCR-10 shows the device arriving with a Coolpad-skinned version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat, laid out onto a 5.5-inch HD screen with 5-finger gesture support. Powering that is a Qualcomm-branded octa-core SoC, clocked at 1.4GHz and coupled with an Adreno 510 graphics chip. It can probably be assumed those specs point to the Snapdragon 625 SoC, specifically. That, in turn, will be backed up by a very generous 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage space. As to the cameras, the benchmark reveals a 12-megapixel main sensor capable of shooting both photos and video at above 4K resolutions. The camera is also listed as having HDR, autofocus, and face detection built in. Meanwhile, the VCR-10 features an 8-megapixel sensor on the front. While the benchmark doesnt give away any too many other hardware specifics, the device in question does come with a single SIM slot and the wealth of other sensors that have come to be expected with a mid-to-upper tier device. That all adds up to another solid mid-level offering from the company, but theres really no easy way to determine whether this is a brand new device or something that has previously been rumored, unveiled, or leaked. Until the company comes forward with a device that more solidly matches up to the above-listed specs, its simply unclear what device this could be. Sony has already announced two new smartphones during the companys IFA 2017 press event today, although they are not the only new smartphones on the way from Sony. In addition to the now-confirmed Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, Sony is also preparing to release the Xperia XA1 Plus. As the name suggests, this is a follow up device to the Xperia XA1 and the Xperia XA1 Ultra, which were both introduced during this years MWC event in Barcelona. Similar to the previous XA1 and XZ models, the difference between the Xperia XA1 Plus and the Xperia XZ1 phones announced today, is that the Xperia XA1 Plus is designed to be more of a mid-range option. Thereby it does come with a reduction in specs, compared to the other two new smartphones, and largely across the board. Although, when it comes to the core specs, there is very little difference between the Xperia XA1 Plus and the Xperia XA1 and Ultra. If anything, the Xperia XA1 Plus seems to be a blend of the Xperia XA1 and Ultra. First off, the resolution on the 5.5-inch display included with the Xperia XA1 Plus is 1920 x 1080. This is up from the 720p resolution on offer with the Xperia XA1, although it is the same resolution on offer with the Ultra model which comes with a larger 6-inch display. In other words, the Xperia XA1 Plus comes with a smaller display compared to the Ultra, but with the same resolution. One area where the Xperia XA1 Plus does eclipse both the Xperia XA1 and Ultra is the battery capacity department. As the Xperia XA1 Plus comes equipped with a 3,430 mAh battery, compared to the 2,300 mAh battery included with the Xperia XA1 and the 2,700 mAh battery on offer with the Xperia XA1 Ultra. As well as featuring a number of software tweaks designed to improve the battery experience. Such as Qnovo Adaptive Charging support, Stamina mode support, and quick charging support through Pump Express+ 2.0. Advertisement In terms of the rest of the core specs, the Xperia XA1 Plus features 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, and powered by a MediaTek Helio P20 octa-core processor. As for the cameras, the rear camera is also the same setup found on the Xperia XA1 and the Ultra, which in turn, is the same camera configuration that was originally on offer with the Xperia Z5 from 2015, a 23-megapixel camera. In contrast, the front-facing camera is an 8-megapixel camera, the same as what was on offer with the Xperia XA1. In either case, both the front and rear cameras come with HDR for photos support, as well as anti-shake technology. Other notable features include the option to expand the storage when needed (up to 256GB), Bluetooth 4.2, 4G LTE support, and Android 7.0 (Nougat) pre-installed. In terms of availability, Sony has announced that the Xperia XA1 Plus is due to start to become available from October 20. In terms of the price, the Xperia XA1 Plus is set to arrive with a $379.99 price tag attached, further cementing its position as a mid-range smartphone. In addition, Sony has also confirmed that the Xperia XA1 Plus will be available in a variety of colors, including black, blue, gold, and pink. Although it seems the pink version will not be making its way to the US. Sony has taken off the wraps of three brand new noise cancelling headphones that are joining its already popular 1000X lineup. Sony has also decided to change up the nomenclature for these headphones, instead of going with MDR-1000X, its now the WH-1000X m2. Starting off with the true upgrade to the MDR-1000X headphones, the WH-1000X m2, youll notice that Sony has dropped the price to just $349. Which makes them more competitive with the Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones. With this pair of headphones, Sony has added compatibility with its Headphone Connect App thats available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, which gives users pressure optimization, ambient sound control and much more. Additionally, battery life is now 30 hours with noise cancellation on, or 40 hours with it off. Sony has also decided to announce the WI-1000X, these are wireless, neckband style headphones from Sony and they are now in the 1000X lineup. Which means youre getting the noise cancellation technology from the larger over-ear headphones, now in a smaller form factor. It features a hybrid driver unit with BA and a 9mm dynamic driver. Together, these bring premium sound quality to the consumer. It does also feature high resolution audio including support for the LDAC, DSEE HX, and S-Master HX. The LDAC codec is important because it is now standard in Android Oreo which is rolling out to Android devices this fall. So more and more users will be able to experience this higher-resolution audio. Battery life on the WI-1000X are slated at around 14 hours. Finally, there is the WF-1000X, and these are truly wireless earbuds from Sony. When you take the WF-1000Xs out of the case, they automatically power on and connect to your device, making it easy to get started in using them. There is a built-in equalizer that users are able to adjust to their preference. There are five EQ points here, which allow you to get the best sound possible from these headphones. The WF-1000X uses 6mm drivers, which offer some incredible sound for such a small earbud. Normally with a larger driver, youd expect somewhat average or below average battery life. But Sony has been able to keep it above average, slightly. Sony is quoting around 9 hours of battery life. Compared to other truly wireless earbuds which get around 6 to 8 hours of playback, thats pretty good. Advertisement As mentioned with the WH-1000X m2 headphones, the Sony Headphone Connect app is now available in the Google Play Store and it works with all three of these headphones. The app allows the user to go ahead and adjust the ambient sound control as well as pressure optimization. Now this feature is pretty neat, as it allows the headphones to adjust while youre flying, so that its more comfortable when you are 35,000 feet in the air. You also get adaptive sound control as well as the ability to adjust the EQ through this app. So its definitely a must have app for any customer of these new headphones. These will all be available in September from the usual assortment of retailers that sell Sonys headphones. That includes the likes of Amazon, B&H Photo, Best Buy and of course Sonys online store. The WF-1000X, the truly wireless earbuds, will be available for $199, with the WI-1000X coming in at $299 and the WH-1000X m2 headphones coming in at $349. Sony has finally announced the price for its 77-inch BRAVIA OLED 4K HDR Android TV in Europe. In the UK, itll cost 19,999 and the rest of Europe will see a price tag of 24,999. Sony had already announced this TV, but it wasnt given a price tag until now. Sony says that the 77-inch model will begin shipping in September, in Europe. This TV joins Sonys other Android TVs that are currently on the market, not only in Europe but in other parts of the world. This 77-inch TV offers an incredible looking display, it is a 4K HDR TV from Sony, which is going to give you a great viewing experience when watching movies and such. It does also support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision Sony says that Dolby Vision will be added through a firmware update before the end of the year. Sony has a slew of HDR content already available, and watching it on its BRAVIA TV set gives the user an incredible experience. There are over 8 million self-illuminating pixels here on the BRAVIA OLED A1 4K HDR TV, which provides an enriched visual experience with very deep black levels and rich and lifelike colors. It also provides a fairly large viewing angle, so you can see the TV from anywhere in the room. Since this TV is an Android TV, you also get a slew of different apps and games available for use. This includes the likes of Hulu, Netflix, Google Play Movies & TV, Amazon Video, YouTube and many others. With many of these supporting 4K content, youll be able to use this TV to its full potential. Sony is also offering up a Google Play Bundle for those that purchase the 77-inch BRAVIA OLED A1 TV, or any of its other BRAVIA 2017 Android TV models. The bundle includes a 3-month Google Play Music Unlimited subscription, a special booster pack from EAs Real Racing 3, and youll get to choose a 4K UHD movie to pick up from Google Play Movies & TV, which includes Spider-man: Homecoming, which was produced by Sony Pictures. Thats a pretty good bundle to get your hands on this fall. Sony has just announced and introduced two new smartphones. Both of which are designed to be flagship options, the Sony Xperia XZ1 and the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact. These phones do follow on from last years Xperia XZ debutantes, the Xperia XZ and Xperia XZ Compact, although the new models come with a number of notable upgrades and improvements. One in particular is quite surprising as both of these phones are already confirmed as launching with Android 8.0 (Oreo). In either case, Android Oreo is not the main selling point with these two new smartphones, as that title largely resides with the cameras. As not only do these two Xperia XZ1 models come with the usual Sony camera technology, but they have the capability to capture 3D images of objects. 3D images can be captured in under 60 seconds, and without the need of any additional hardware or software, making these two models rather interesting additions to the smartphone market. Once a 3D image has been captured, scans can then be exported out and used for various purposes including external 3D printing. Although, Sony has confirmed that 3D printing as a native phone feature will become available in due course it is in the works now. As well as greater app integration where scans can be used for additional purposes, and through a selection of third-party apps. Advertisement In terms of the specs, surprisingly, there is almost no difference between the Xperia XZ1 and the Xperia XZ1 Compact. So much so that Sony is positioned the Xperia XZ1 Compact as the first truly premium compact smartphone. For instance, both the Xperia XZ1 and the Xperia XZ1 Compact feature 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, and are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. Which largely means the only noticeable difference between the two models (besides their size), is that the Xperia XZ1 Compact is a single-SIM device, compared to the dual-SIM support on offer with the Xperia XZ1. Even their battery capacity is the same with both models coming powered by a 2,700 mAh battery. In addition, both models also include an IP68 certification for protection against dust and water. In terms of availability, Sony has not provided exact regional and local dates on when the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact will become available. Although, the company has said that the Xperia XZ1 is due to start to become available from September 19, while the Xperia XZ1 Compact will also start to become available from October 4. Which if correct, could mean the Xperia XZ1 will be the first phone on the market running Android Oreo out of the box. Seemingly, even before Googles own Pixel successor, the Google Pixel 2 as the Pixel 2 is not expected to be announced until early October at the earliest. In terms of pricing, the Xperia XZ1 will cost $699.99 at launch, while the Xperia XZ1 Compact is set to hit the market priced at $599.99. In the US, both the Xperia XZ1 and Compact will be GSM-supported phones, with Sony confirming that there are no current plans to release a CDMA variant of either model. On a final note, there will be a difference between the US and international versions, as consistent with previous Sony phones, the fingerprint sensor will not be enabled on US models. Sony Xperia XZ1 Advertisement Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact Sonys newest flagship is now official, the Xperia XZ1, and we have gone hands on with the device. Sony is offering up the Xperia XZ1 in four colors black, warm silver, moonlit blue, and venus pink. The Xperia XZ1 has all of the high-end specs youd expect from Sonys flagship smartphone. That includes the Snapdragon 835 running the show with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. These are the specs that just about every flagship has in 2017, so these are not surprises at all and also great to see. The Sony Xperia XZ1 actually has a few physical differences compared to the Xperia XZ1 Compact, other than its size. The sides are curved and the device feels thinner. It also has an antenna line above the laser autofocus, flash area on the backside of the phone. Otherwise, the two phones look pretty identical, and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Sony hasnt done much to change the design this year, keeping its design rather unique. The Xperia XZ1 does feel really thin in the hand, and its almost uncomfortable. I actually liked the feel of the Xperia XZ1 Compact over the Xperia XZ1, due to it feeling thicker. The back of the device is now just one sheet of metal, instead of having a couple of different pieces covering the back. It gives the phone a more flush finish and it looks nicer. Advertisement Camera is always a big deal for Sony smartphones, and thats the case with the Xperia XZ1. Its the same camera that Sony has used already, the 19-megapixel shooter. However, it has added some more features. Like autofocus burst. What this does is it shots 10 frames per second, but keeps everything focused. This is thanks to its insanely quick autofocus capability, allowing the subjects to be in focus in every single shot. Thats definitely a good thing for those that want to get a picture of their kid doing something. But, an even bigger feature, thats part of the camera is 3D scanning. This allows you to 3D scan an entire object, and you can also scan a plate of food, which is pretty impressive for those foodies out there. There are some use cases for this, but its mostly a gimmick for right now. Sony says that you can scan yourself and put yourself in games, like one of its engineers did for Grand Theft Auto V, which is pretty cool. Sony also says that youll be able to 3D print these 3D scans in the future, which is awesome and creepy at the same time. Interestingly enough, Sony has kept the same battery from the smaller Xperia XZ1 Compact in the Xperia XZ1. This means that it has a 2700mAh battery running the show. Now this should be perfectly fine, since this is a 1080p display, and the Snapdragon 835 does work pretty well with battery life. But we cant really comment on that, just yet. Seeing as we had limited hands on with the device, and not enough time to really test the battery life. Its also still waterproof, not a surprise and its rated at IP68. The Xperia XZ1 is also launching with Android Oreo on-board. Which means it has the absolute latest version of Android, which is great for a new smartphone. The experience was just as youd expect with Android Oreo, the software is still pretty smooth and fast with the Snapdragon 835 running the show. Sonys UI is still here, but its still fairly minimal. So you have Sonys features like Remote Play on the PlayStation 4, as well as getting a near stock experience. Advertisement Similar to the Xperia XZ1 Compact and recent Sony smartphones, there is a fingerprint scanner, but its disabled in the US. Sony is still saying that it is a business decision here, and not elaborating on why the fingerprint sensor is not available in the US, but it is everywhere else including Canada. Its unfortunate, especially since the device will be the same price here as in other parts of the world. Sonys Xperia XZ1 will be available in mid-September, and its looking like itll be a great smartphone to pick up. The device will be available unlocked and only support GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile. Now where it is technically an unlocked device, the Xperia XZ1 is approved to use T-Mobiles services like VoLTE and WiFi Calling which is a big deal (unfortunately it does not support its 600MHz spectrum yet though). This is something that most unlocked smartphones dont support, so this is a big win for Sony. The Xperia XZ1 is looking like a great smartphone, but the disabled fingerprint sensor will likely keep it out of even more hands. Following LGs unveiling of the LG V30, Sprint Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure has now confirmed that the companys customers will be able to pick up this latest phone from LG in the coming weeks, presumably by early fall. The wireless carriers top executive didnt disclose any other details on the matter, thus essentially doing the same what the other three telecom giants in the country did earlier today confirming that the LG V30 will be coming soon but without providing more details on the matter. The full price of the device is likely to be around the $750 mark, as suggested by LGs recently announced Twitter sweepstakes. While that suggests customers will at the very least be able to purchase the V30 from Sprint for zero down and around $30 per month with a two-year plan, the fourth largest wireless carrier in the country is also likely to launch the device alongside some attractive promotion(s), perhaps even the same half-down promo that the company is currently offering for the upcoming Galaxy Note 8. Sprint will presumably to share specifics on the availability and pricing of the LG V30 by mid-September, with the device being expected to hit the market come October. As for the LG V30, this is LGs other major smartphone release this year and directly follows on from the LG V20. However, compared to last years model, there are some clear and noticeable upgrades on offer. The most telling of which is the inclusion of a Full Vision display. Another important upgrade is that the LG V30 comes with an IP68 certification which does mean that it can be submerged in water up to a depth of 1.5 meters for as long as 30 minutes. With this being a camera-centric smartphone line, it should not be surprising to note the V30 comes loaded with a dual rear camera configuration, made up of a 16-megapixel primary camera and a 13-megapixel secondary camera. Although what is equally as noteworthy, is that the V30 comes with a number of software tweaks and camera-focused modes designed to really showcase what a smartphone photography experience can be like. So much in fact, that LG is positioning the V30 as the smartphone with the best camera experience currently on the market. The Saint Petersburg-based graphic designer took to his Behance page to showcase three virtual iterations of the F90 M5, with the most outlandish coming in the form of a four-seat cabriolet. With the top down and painted in matte green, the V8-powered ragtop is the stuff of any BMW fans dreams.Unfortunately, BMW cant find the business case to hack the roof off the F90 M5 to turn it into a convertible. The second rendering from Aksyonov depicts the 117,900 sedan with German police livery. But for all that, the Polizei is more interested in the inline-6 diesel-powered 5er. Australian police is also assessing the G30 5er as a replacement for the Falcon and Commodore.Last, but certainly not least, the Russian graphic designer imagines the F90 M5 with trademark ///M livery and a jumbo-sized carbon fiber rear wing. The thing is, the Bavarian automaker already has a GT4-spec machine in the form of the M4 GT4 . Priced at 169,000, the customer racing car talks the talk and also walks the walk, boasting with bits and bobs borrowed from the M6 GT3.People in the market for an M-branded convertible with the firepower of the F90 M5 shouldnt fret, for BMW has a surprise in store for next year. The M8 Convertible is the model in question, which acts as a spiritual successor to the M6 Cabriolet. Bearing in mind 8 is better than 5 in BMW jargon, its highly likely the 4.4-liter lump will be tuned to produce more than 600 hp. The winner was a German student team from the Technical University of Munich who managed to clock 201 mph 323 km/h. That was a new record for a pod traveling inside the nearly vacuumed tube which Elon Musk believes can conjure speeds of up to 800 mph (almost 1,300 km/h), which is more than the speed of sound.However, only a few days later, Musk decided to give the Tesla's own Hyperloop pod a go. The vehicle is used to give student pods a push, as some of them require a little nod before they can catch up speed. That means it's far from being set up to achieve great velocities, and yet it ran the relatively short course with a top speed of 220 mph (355 km/h).Musk described the process as "racing with a tugboat," suggesting they would have tried more runs if it weren't for the pod overheating. But, the Tesla, SpaceX, and Boring Company CEO continued in his Instagram post, he thinks reaching 500 km/h (310 mph) over the next month is not impossible after "a few tweaks or maybe tiny pieces."Of course, comparing the achievements of a multi-billion company such as Tesla to those of a student team is like comparing apples to orange alien spaceships, so credit where credit is due. The WARR team from Germany deserves all the praise, but does this trial of the proprietary pod and the subsequent claim of even better performances suggest Musk is thinking about taking over and doing things his own way?Given how driven he is, we wouldn't be surprised if he were unhappy with the pace at which things are unfolding, so he felt the need to step in. After all, back in 2013 when Musk first talked about the Hyperloop, he did mention it was far from being his priority. With the Model 3 all but out of the way, SpaceX running smoothly for a change and the Boring Company... boring , the Hyperloop project might have moved up on the list. A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus in Yonkers, New York, was found beheaded Wednesday, per NBC. Police found the head of the statue nearby. This incident comes days after protestors vandalized a monument to Columbus in Baltimore. Statues of Columbus, who spearheaded violence against Native Americans, are among the monuments around the country that have come under scrutiny as racist symbols after the violence in Charlottesville. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is currently reviewing a statue of the explorer at Columbus Circle as part of a larger look into racist monuments in the city. Brian Hajeski, 41, of Brick, N.J., reacts after looking at debris of a home that washed up on to the Mantoloking Bridge the morning after superstorm Sandy rolled through, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, in Mantoloking, N.J. AP Photo/Julio Cortez Social media proved to be a key search-and-rescue tool in Houston this weekend. Identifying those who needed to be evacuated, connecting families, and recruiting volunteers are just a few ways sites like Twitter and Facebook were used. Here are other ways social media has been used in a crisis: Paul Manafort's notes taken during the infamous meeting with Russian officials at Trump Tower last summer which also included Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner use the word "donations" and "RNC" in close proximity, per NBC News. A spokesman for Manafort told Axios, "It is 100 percent false to suggest this meeting included any discussion of donations from Russian sources to either the Trump campaign or the Republican Party." Who's seen them: Manafort's notes were taken on a smart phone NBC's source refers to them as "cryptic" and are in the possession of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Why it matters: Foreign individuals can't contribute any money to American election campaigns. It's impossible to know exactly what Manafort's notes mean based on this report, but it's another blast of smoke surrounding the Russia investigation just when the Trump administration needs it least. 31 August 2017 09:00 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov August 31 marks the 24th anniversary of occupation of Azerbaijan's Gubadli region by the Armenian armed forces. The magnificent region, covering 802 square kilometers, is situated in the southwest of Azerbaijan, between Zangezur Mountains and Nagorno-Karabakh mountain range. About 30,000 people were living in Gubadli before the Armenian troops occupied the region on the last day of 1993 summer. The Armenian armed forces besieged the region after the occupation of Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil regions. About 283 volunteers from Gubadli heroically died while defending their region from the Armenian invasion, and seven of them were awarded high title Azerbaijani National Hero for their valor in defending their motherland. The Armenian invasion resulted in destruction of thousands of public facilities in Gubadli. As many as 21 secondary and 26 incomplete secondary schools, 15 primary schools, four hospitals and 33 health centers, 111 cultural and educational institutions, including 60 libraries, ten cultural centers, 28 cultural clubs, and many other facilities were seized and demolished. Gubadli region is distinguished by its favorable geographic location, unique and spectacular landscape, craggy mountains, swift rivers, especially the rivers Barkushad and Akara. Before the invasion, about 13.2 acres of the state forest fund existed in the territory of Gubadli. Moreover, numerous endangered animal and bird species were protected in the Gubadli State Sanctuary. Gubadli also had vast deposits of agate, marble, many springs rich with natural minerals. Unfortunately, after the occupation, Armenian invaders depleted the diverse nature of Gubadli. The cultural heritage of Gubadli included archeological monuments like a residential area of the late bronze-early iron ages in the old part of Gubadli town, two castles of the late bronze-early iron ages in Aliguluushagy village, one more castle of the same period in Murdakhanly village, havens of the IV century in the Aliguluushagy, Balahasanli and Zor villages, a IV century cave in Gavur gorge and a XIV century cemetery in the territory of Yazy flat, blue castles of the V century in Aliguluushagy and Eyvazly villages, the XIII-XIV century tombs and XVI century spring in Damirchilar village, the XVIII century tomb in Gurjulu village, defence castle of IX-XII centuries in Ashaghy Khojamsaghly village and Albanian temples of middle ages in Basharat, Mazra and Yukhary Cibikhly villages, as well as a number of other monuments. Unfortunately, the cultural values of Azerbaijani people were looted. Today, all 93 villages of Gubadli region are under the control of the enemy troops. Every family from Gubadli has suffered from the horror committed by the Armenian armed forces in the region. People who survived that tragedy now forced to live in other regions of Azerbaijan with a hope of returning to their native homes someday. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 14:49 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev Anyone living in Armenia knows that it is absolutely in vain to expect help from the government whether its an economic problem or just informing people about disaster. The recent fire that erupted in Nairit factory in Yerevan proved this once again, as no one informed people residing close to the plant about possible dangers and consequences. Despite state agencies' assurance that the levels of toxic substances in air does not exceed the norm following the fire at the chemical plant, those living near the Nairit factory increasingly complain on bad feelings and problems with health. I have 8 grandchildren, the youngest of them is a newborn, and on that day we all were breathing that toxic smoke, our home is covered with soot, a citizing residing close to Nairit told local media. We were feeling sickness and dizziness the whole day. We were in the most dangerous zone and no one Emergency Situations Ministry, Health Ministry, none of relevant state agencies helped use. They even failed to instruct us what to do, how to protect ourselves, what should we do to keep ourselves from poisoning. The former worker of the Nairit factory, Grachik Mirzoyan, also noted that a large amount of soot was emitted to the air during the fire. It cannot be called smoke, smoke has different consistency. It was a process of incomplete combustion, since the emission of soot is a characteristic result of this process. This kind of combustion results with emission of a big dose of carbon monoxide into the air. Nevertheless, the relevant entities of the Nature Protection Ministry didnt analyze these materials. It turns out that we are looking for the things that dont exist and we are not looking for the really existing things. Why this all happens? I think the entities of the Nature Protection Ministry must answer this question, said Mirzoyan. A fire in the Nairit factory erupted on 28 August after four reservoirs of Lac-ethanol caught fire. The Armenian officials stated that the fire has no dangerous consequences, but a large number of complaining local residents makes the official statements unclear. The investigation into the cause and outcome of the fire is still underway. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 15:46 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Dressed in black, to signify mourning, a soloist played the melancholy melodies of her homeland Azerbaijan in commemoration of the occupied Gubadli region. Gubadli fell under Armenian occupation 24 years ago on August 31, 1993, during the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions. Rising above the hubbub of the London streets, the timbre of the violin soared like the sound of a human voice at the touch of the deft fingers of the musician. Despite the right to peacefully demonstrate on the streets of London being enshrined in UK law, one Armenian diplomat emerged from inside the Embassy and objected noisily at one stage even reaching out as though to grab the violin. After the head of the London Office of the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS), Jack Pegoraro, explained about the remembrance, the Armenian diplomat disputed the occupation of Azerbaijani territory by the armed forces of his country and carried out his threat to call the police. The policeman who responded to the complaint understood the nature of the demonstration, replying: This is the UK you have a perfect right to a peaceful protest. "The performance of Bayaty-Shiraz and Sari Gelin by a woman who wears black clothes, whose face is closed, is dedicated to the Azerbaijanis killed and expelled from their native land. In front of the Armenian embassy, we want to remind Armenians that Azerbaijan will never reconcile with the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions, Pegoraro said. About 30,000 people were living in Gubadli before the Armenian troops occupied the region on the last day of 1993 summer. The Armenian armed forces besieged the region after the occupation of Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil regions. About 283 volunteers from Gubadli heroically died while defending their region from the Armenian invasion, and seven of them were awarded high title Azerbaijani National Hero for their valor in defending their motherland. The Armenian invasion resulted in destruction of thousands of public facilities in Gubadli. As many as 21 secondary and 26 incomplete secondary schools, 15 primary schools, four hospitals and 33 health centers, 111 cultural and educational institutions, including 60 libraries, ten cultural centers, 28 cultural clubs, and many other facilities were seized and demolished. Today, all 93 villages of Gubadli region are under the control of the enemy troops. Every family from Gubadli has suffered from the horror committed by the Armenian armed forces in the region. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 17:24 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Baku has dismissed Armenian Foreign Ministrys statement about the alleged ceasefire violation on August 31 during the border monitoring. The reports on the alleged ceasefire violation during the OSCE monitoring in Azerbaijans Tovuz region on the border between the two countries is disinformation, Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on August 31. International observers, who participated in the monitoring, didnt report any ceasefire violations, he added. This is another provocation of Armenia in anticipation of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers meeting under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs within the UN General Assembly session in New York, Hajiyev said. He added that Armenia is trying to artificially create escalation and negatively affect the peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 10:38 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The economical position in the global market, huge recourses and favorable business environment make Azerbaijan an attractive business travel destination. Over the past years, the volume of travel to the country has been increasing with its economical incline. Most recently, the country was included in TOP 5 directions of Russian businessmen. Azerbaijan was included in the list of the five countries of the near abroad, to which Russians most often travel with the purpose of business tourism, according to Travel and Travel Management company Aeroclub. The research shows that in 2017 Russian businessmen most often chose Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Belarus and Azerbaijan for business trips. Georgia for the first time in the past few years entered the top three countries for this indicator. The number of flights from Russia to this country for business purposes has grown by 2.5 times. Ukraine ranked sixth in the list. After the termination of direct air communication between the two countries, 70 percent of Russian businessmen fly to Ukraine by transit through Belarus, 17 percent through Azerbaijan and 4 percent through Latvia. Group of companies "Aeroclub" is a professional agency for the organization of business travel and MICE events, the official representative of the global business travel agency BCD Travel in Russia. The Russian-Azerbaijani partnership is regarded as an important factor of regional stability. Azerbaijan ranks fifth in Russia's foreign trade with the CIS countries. Moreover, Russia is also considered to be a leading importer of Azerbaijani goods. Some 600 Russian companies are operating in Azerbaijan. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 18:38 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Azerbaijans National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) provided preferential loans worth 72 million manats ($4.3 million) since the beginning of the year. The Economy Ministry reported that these loans were issued to more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and will help to create more than 3,000 new workplaces. Following the business forum in Tartar region, entrepreneurs received preferential loans in the amount of 492,000 manats ($289,200). These funds will be used to develop livestock, cotton growing and increase sowing areas. The implementation of these projects will open more than 40 new workplaces. So far, entrepreneurs of Tartar has received preferential loans amounted to 5.1 million manats ($3 million) for the implementation of 264 investment projects. Moreover, to date more than 19,000 entrepreneurs operating in the front-line and border zones have got soft loans worth 681 million manats ($400,300). Entrepreneurs can apply to the Fund through authorized banks and non-bank lenders, in accordance with the rules for using the funds of the NFES. Small projects can be fully financed through concessional loans. About 150 million manats ($88 million) will be issued for granting preferential loans to entrepreneurs in 2017. The main goal of the Fund, which was established in 1992, is to provide preferential loans from the state budget for small and medium business, in order to develop entrepreneurship in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Allocation of funds by NFES is aimed at the minimizing of the impact of global economic crisis to the national economy and mitigation of its dependence on the oil sector. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 18:11 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Turkey earned $204 million from exports of ice cream to 68 countries and 4 Free Trade Zones over the past five and half years. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) reported that nearly 88.400 tons of ice cream were exported in the aforementioned time period, with Iraq, Kosovo, Albania, Northern Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan topping the list. Turkey, being the worlds 15th top ice cream and iced food product exporter, sold ice cream worth $5 million to Azerbaijan. Some $36.3 million were earned from ice cream exports in 2012, $38.3 million in 2013, $35.3 million in 2014, $36.4 million in 2015, $34.8 million in 2016 and $22.4 million in the first half of this year. The export value of ice cream sold abroad was calculated as $2.3 per kilogram. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $1.2 billion in the first half of 2017, which is up by 1.73 times as compared to the same period of 2016, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. The contractual base of bilateral Turkish-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations includes more than 40 documents aimed at expanding economic cooperation between states. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 11:57 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry says Yerevan, instead of making accusations and excuses, should join substantive negotiations with the Azerbaijani side and co-chairs of the OSCE MG to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, who by his previous statements put himself in an awkward position, now resorts to deceit and various excuses to get out of the situation. Nalbandian is still absurdly playing with words, said the spokesperson, commenting on the anti-Azerbaijani statements and accusations voiced by the Armenian FM. Principles of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict settlement, voiced by the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland, are also supported by the other co-chair countries, and envisage a phased resolution of the conflict. According to the essence and logic of these principles, based on the Helsinki Final Act, as a first step, the Armenian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied territories around Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, and IDPs must be returned to these territories. These principles were also reaffirmed in the L'Aquila, Muskoka and Los Cabos statements by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, Hajiyev said. Most importantly, the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories was also confirmed in the UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884, he noted. Richard Hoagland, addressing a round-table in Washington on August 24, emphasized that territorial integrity is an important part of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He stressed that there can be no settlement without respect for Azerbaijans sovereignty and the recognition that sovereignty over these territories must be restored, adding that an enduring settlement will have to recognize the right of all IDPs and refugees to return to their former places of residence and ensuring international security guarantees. Hajiyev reminded that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries Russia, France and the U.S- , as permanent members of the UN Security Council, directly participated in the adoption of these resolutions. We would like to remind the Armenian foreign minister that the main point of substantive negotiations is the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories in accordance with these principles and a specific timeline, he said. Instead of making accusations and excuses, Armenian side should join substantive negotiations with the Azerbaijani side and co-chairs in order to change the status quo on the basis of the existing proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group, withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and open up ways for living together in peace and prosperity in the region. Hajiyev emphasized that Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness for the serious talks on the soonest resolution of the conflict and changing the status quo. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 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 regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. The conflict remains unsolved for many years due to the fact that the Armenian side does not fulfill and deviates from its duties with meaningless statements. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 10:20 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has thanked President Ilham Aliyev for Azerbaijans help in extinguishing fires in his country, Georgia Online reports. The fire zone is in Abastumani. Its scale is not similar to that in the Borjomi Gorge, the PM told reporters during his visit to Turkmenistan. He noted that Georgia is going to receive a helicopter from Azerbaijan to tackle the fires. I want to thank the president of Azerbaijan not only for this aid, but also because we used their aircraft in the past, Kvirikashvili said, adding that regional cooperation is very important during such emergencies. The helicopter was sent upon the request of the Georgian government and under the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, Azertac reported. The Ka-32A helicopter of the ministry supplied with special equipment takes part in extinguishing forest fires in the neighboring country. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 13:44 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The Caspian Sea, Earth's largest inland body of water has been slowly evaporating for the past two decades due to rising temperatures associated with climate change, a new study finds. In case current climate models continue, the northern waters of the Sea, which lies between Europe and Asia, can disappear within 75 years. The researchers announced their shocking findings in a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Water levels in the Caspian Sea have dropped nearly seven centimeters (3 inches) per year, from 1996 to 2015 - a total of 1.5 meters (5 feet). The current sea level is only about 1 meter (3 feet) above the historic low level it reached in the late 1970s. The Caspian reached an all-time historic low of 29 meters (95 feet) below mean sea levels in the late 1970s, before water levels jumped in 1978. The increased evaporation over the Caspian Sea has been linked to increased surface air temperatures, likely due to climate change, and the decrease in water levels could threaten shallow spawning grounds for unique species. The study shows that the average yearly surface temperature over the Caspian Sea rose by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) between the two timeframes studied, 1979-1995 and 1996-2015. Evaporation brought about by warming temperatures appears to be the primary cause of the current drop in sea level and the decline will likely continue as the planet warms, according to the study's authors. From our point of view as geoscientists, it's an interesting place because it's possible to construct a sort of budget for the total amount of water that's there, said Dr Clark Wilson, a geophysicist with the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, and co-author of the new study. The real control that causes it to go up and down over long periods of time is really most likely the evaporation, which is almost completely dominated by temperature. Evaporation contributed to about half of that decline, and the combined effects of precipitation and river discharge changes contributed to the other half. Although the observed evaporation rates are linked with increased surface air temperatures, they're also associated with other factors such as surface humidity and wind. At 1,200 km long, 320 km wide, and with a surface area of approximately 371,000 km2, the Caspian Sea is the largest completely enclosed body of water on Earth. The sea receives water from the Volga, Ural and the Kura rivers and numerous other freshwater inputs, but has no outlet to the world's oceans. The Volga River, the largest in Europe, is the source of 80% of the Caspian's freshwater inflow. This landlocked mega lake bordered by five countries including Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan contains an abundance of natural resources and diverse wildlife. The sea is rich with oil and natural gas deposits, and is an important resource for fisheries in the surrounding countries. Director of the Institute of Geography of ANAS Ramiz Mammadov, commenting on the new study, does not entirely agree with the opinion that in case of global warming, the Caspian Sea will dry only on the territory of Russia and Kazakhstan. A decrease in the water level in the Caspian Sea may cause shoaling in other Caspian countries, including shallow water in Azerbaijan, he said. Global warming and a decrease in sea level will affect the entire coastal zone and shallow areas. Mammadov told APA that the level of the Caspian Sea falls yearly. "This in turn creates problems in the coastal areas of the Sea, in particular, in shallow water areas. Most of the shallow water falls on the northern Caspian - the territories of Kazakhstan and Russia. Here the average depth is 7 meters. A fall in the water level may lead to a decrease in water, create problems for biodiversity and shipping, he said. Mammadov warned that this will also hugely affect Azerbaijan. This can create problems in Neftchala region, where the depth of the coastal zone is small. Such problems can appear on the Lankaran lowland, even in Khachmaz and Sumgayit, he said. The expert added that no one can guarantee that in the near future the decline in water will increase or, conversely, decrease; noting that the change in the level of the Caspian Sea is associated with climate change, which makes long-term forecasting impossible. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 17:07 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev The U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center has put the Azerbaijani Army at the 58th place in the list of world's strongest armies. The nation of 9.8 people outperformed the countries of the region in the global ranking of military powers for 2017. Azerbaijan is currently ranked 58th among 133 countries considered for the annual GFP reviews, with power index rating of 0.8875 (0.0000 being perfect). The report reads that countrys manpower available is 5 million people, of whom over 3.75 million are fit for the service. The total military personal is 374,500 people, with 67,000 active personal. Noting that war goes beyond simple physical "strength-in-numbers", relying heavily on financing and effort as much as any one piece of hardware fielded, the report says that Azerbaijans military budget is over $3 billion. The Georgian Army was ranked the 82nd, while the Armenian Army took the 93rd place. The first three places of the rating belong to the U.S.A, Russia and China respectively. The top 10 also includes India, France, Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Germany and Egypt. Iran is placed on the 21st place. The Global Firepower organization functions since 2006 and provides its unique analytical display of data concerning over 130 modern military powers. The ranking is based on each countrys potential war-making capability across land, sea and air. The results incorporate values related to resources, finances and geography with over 50 different factors ultimately making up the final annual rankings. The history of the modern Azerbaijani army dates back to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic created in the early 20th century. The Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan Republic were created on June 26, 1918 to protect the country from the military aggression of Armenia and Russia. Today, the Azerbaijans Armed Forces consist of Air Force and Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces. The Azerbaijani army was repeatedly named the strongest and most modern army in the South Caucasus region. Azerbaijan pays special attention to the professional training of its military personnel. Alongside the exercises inside the country, Azerbaijani Armed Forces participate in various military exercises conducted at the international level, including those with the Turkish, Russian and Georgian armed forces. The national army possesses modern weapons and technical equipment for maintaining a high level of combat capability. These weapons are both purchased from other countries, such as Turkey, Israel, Russia, the U.S., and also are of domestic production. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 16:19 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan assists Georgia in extinguishing fire in Abastumani forest. Currently, more than 1,000 people on the ground are fighting against the forest fires. The fire at the resort of Abastumani began on August 29. On the same day, about 500 people and a helicopter were involved in the fire fighting. Their work is complicated by the terrain and dense forest. Georgia requested international assistance in the elimination of the fire. Two Georgian helicopters, one helicopter from Azerbaijan, one from Turkey and one Ukrainian airplane are engaged in the operations to eliminate the forest fires. It is expected that today another Turkish helicopter and a plane, as well as a helicopter from Iran, will arrive in the country to extinguish the fire. Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Mgebrishvili told reporters that the fire in the Abastumani forest would be eliminated much faster than in Tsagveri. Earlier, a fire broke out in Borjomi-Kharagauli forest near the village of Daba. The country was able to extinguish the forest fires only after six days. The territory with an area of more than 100 hectares was burnt, according to preliminary data. A number of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Turkey, helped to extinguish the fire of Georgia. After the fires were localized in Borjomi-Kharagauli forest, new fires broke out in two regions of Georgia - Kakheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti. The Azerbaijani side again sent assistance for their extinguishment. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 16:44 (UTC+04:00) Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Abdrakhmanov had an exchange of congratulatory letters on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In the letter addressed to his counterpart, Mammadyarov said that deep historical and cultural-moral relations, mutual respect and long lasting friendship of the two countries constitute the basis for the high level cooperation, Azertac reported. Furthermore, the Minister mentioned that bilateral relations encompassing all fields serve to the development of mutually beneficial cooperation. Mammadyarov pointed out that the main decisions on further development of cooperation were made during the visit of President of Kazakstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Azerbaijan this year and his meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The FM expressed his confidence that diplomatic activity focused on implementation of abovementioned decisions will be continued successfully and effectively during the upcoming years. Mammadyarov highly appreciated Kazakhstan's support to Azerbaijan's fair position on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders in bilateral and multilateral levels. Abdrakhmanov, for his part, said that over passed period high level political dialogue, traditional respect and atmosphere of mutual confidence based on the historical friendship between the two countries are the main achievements of Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan cooperation. The minister mentioned that the mutual contacts between two countries in all levels led to the development of multilateral cooperation. In this respect, the Minister pointed out that within the framework of the official visit of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Azerbaijan this April the main issues on the agenda of bilateral relations were discussed. He stressed that the implementation of these decisions will give further impetus to the future development of strategic partnership. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 17:22 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The problems of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) were the main topic of a meeting between Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov and Ukrainian Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, George Tuka. Speaking at the meeting in Baku, Tuka said that Ukraine is interested in Azerbaijan`s experience in tackling social and housing problems of refugees. The Ukrainian deputy minister hailed Azerbaijani governments efforts to improve social conditions and employment opportunities of more than one million refugees and IDPs. In turn, Hasanov gave an insight into the governments work to provide better social and housing conditions for Azerbaijani refugees. He pointed out the existence of the international standard legislative base for tackling social and housing problems of refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan. Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms. With the growing economic and political situation of the country, the state pays much attention to the most difficult problems once concerning the refugees and IDPs. The state improves the living conditions of refugees and IDPs and it has adopted relevant state programs and legislative acts. Azerbaijan spent over 6 billion manats ($3.5 billion) over the past years for solution of problems of refugees IDPs. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 16:11 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan is interested in building its relations with the European Union based on mutually agreed priorities. Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made the statement addressing a meeting of foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries in Budapest on August 31. Stressing that Azerbaijan has been a reliable EU partner, the minister noted that growing number of strategic partners among the EU member states and V4 Group inspires the country to advance dialogue with the EU under the same conditions. We are interested in progressing our bilateral track through speedy negotiations on a new strategic agreement with the EU. Since official launch of the negotiations back in February we have engaged in a productive and constructive dialogue within different blocks of the agreement, the FM said. Baku and Brussels are holding the negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership, which must replace the partnership and cooperation agreement signed in 1996 and must more take into account the common goals and challenges facing the two sides. Mammadyarov further emphasized that priority-driven cooperation tailored to the economic potential and specific goals of each country would be more efficient in realization of the principles of differentiation, flexibility, focus and greater ownership. The EU-Azerbaijan Partnership Priorities will translate these goals into concrete areas of cooperation, he said. The minister reminded that, first of all, Azerbaijan is a key enabler of the $45-50 billion Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) largest infrastructure and energy project in Europe with the aim of bringing alternative gas to the European markets. SGC with potential of meeting up to 20 percent of EUs gas demand in the future is unique project of energy diversification, as we will observe diversification of routes and sources. Moreover located on the strategic crossroads of East and West Azerbaijan is open to potential initiatives on expansion of inter-regional energy connectivity and bringing Central Asia closer to European energy architecture. Second, unique participatory framework of the SGC - involving diverse stakeholders from EaP region, as well as EU member states and candidate countries may be deployed in other areas of common interest, particularly transport, via exploring synergies for establishment of new transport-transit routes connecting Europe and Asia, Europe South and North South, he said. Today Azerbaijan in involved in implementation of several major transport projects to promote East-West and North-South corridors, according to Mammadyarov, who informed that this week Azerbaijan along with four other countries signed an agreement in Kabul on Lapis Lazuli Corridor new transit route projected to transport goods to European markets. The minister continued that promotion of the mobility and people-to-people contacts is an important dimension of the EU-Azerbaijan interaction. We do believe that the successful implementation of readmission and visa facilitation agreements should pave the way for launching the dialogue on visa liberalization between EU and Azerbaijan, he said. Mammadyarov went on to say that the revised ENP has put forward the stabilization as the most urgent challenge in many parts of the European Neighbourhood. True stabilization is unimaginable without the settlement of protracted military conflicts which threaten the stability and cooperation in the EaP geography. It is already third decade that Armenia a member of the EaP has been using force against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another member of the EAP and continues to keep the one-fifth of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territories under military occupation. Armenia carried out notorious ethnic cleansing on all seized lands of Azerbaijan which totally contradicts to the code of conduct adopted in Europe and the world. The unlawful presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the territories of Azerbaijan remains the main cause of violence in the conflict zone and is the major impediment to political settlement of the conflict, he said. The minister emphasized that failure to eliminate consequences of the ongoing violation of the principles of international law, as well as misinterpretation and selective application of these principles in the context of the conflict resolution undermines rules-based European order. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 16:56 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Crude oil prices slightly fell on August 31 despite a larger than expected draw in crude oil inventories reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price of Brent oil was at $50.71 down from $51.79 and U.S. WTI crude was at $45.91 from $46.32 on August 31. Traders are focused on the disruption in refinery operations, due to Hurricane Harvey. Motiva, the largest refinery in the United States, closed operations on August 30, adding to the shut ins, that have reduced refining capital in the United States by 20 percent, which is reducing crude oil demand. The inventories saw an unexpected decline, according to the report. The U.S. commercial crude oil inventories dropped by 5.4 million barrels from the previous week, compared to expectations that inventories would drop by 2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories remained unchanged last week, and distillate fuel inventories increased by 0.7 million barrels last week. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 1.1 million barrels last week. Hurricane Harvey led to the suspension of refineries processing over 4.25 million barrels of oil per day. Thus, the remaining oil refining capacity in the U.S. fell to a minimum level in seven years, according to experts. The main impact of the disaster fell on the refining capacity of Texas and Louisiana, which is 5.6 million barrels per day and 3.3 million barrels per day, respectively. A number of companies suspended the work of their refineries, and, according to American Goldman Sachs, 23 percent of oil refineries are idle in the country. Goldman Sachs said it could take several months to restore all production. "While no two natural disasters are similar, the precedent of Rita-Katrina would suggest that 10 percent of the ... currently offline capacity could remain unavailable for several months," the investment bank told Reuters. Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Oreshkin expects that oil prices will be stable until the end of the first quarter of 2018 and will fall to $ 41-42 per barrel by the middle of next year. On November 30, 2016, the OPEC summit was held in Vienna, where OPEC members reached an agreement on reducing oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day. On December 10, 2016 was a meeting of oil producers outside the OPEC. Following the meeting, was signed an agreement to reduce oil production by a total of 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 2017. The total reduction by OPEC countries and countries outside the cartel will be 1.8 million barrels per day. The deal participants agreed to extend the production adjustments for nine months, on May 25, 2017. The next meeting of the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Technical Committee (JTC) of OPEC is scheduled for September 22 in Vienna. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 11:40 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Despite the fact that the investor for the construction of the Verkhne-Narynsky cascade of hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) was found, the fate of the Kyrgyz ambitious project remains unclear. It is rather difficult to predict, whether the construction of the Verkhne-Narynsky cascade of HPPs in Kyrgyzstan will be implemented, Leonid Gusev, a senior researcher of Moscow State Foreign Relations Institutes (MGIMO) Analytical Center, told Trend. The matter is that in the beginning, the construction of the cascade was conducted in 2013-2015, in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and the launch of the first hydroelectric unit was scheduled for 2016, he explained. The expert recalled that financing of construction was entrusted to the Russian side. Nevertheless, on January 20, 2016, the intergovernmental agreement was denounced by the Kyrgyz parliament, in connection with the inability to attract funding from the Russian side on the initial terms, he added. Thus the project remained in limbo for about a year and a half, but on July 10, 2017, two agreements were signed between Kyrgyzstan and the Czech company Liglass Trading, according to Gusev. One of them is on the construction of the Verkhne-Narynsky Cascade of HPPs, while the second one concerns the construction of 10 small HPPs. Liglass Trading is ready to invest about 400 million euro in total into Kyrgyz energy sector, he said. However, it is unknown whether this Czech company will be able to cope with such a project, for, as previously reported, this firm had never engaged in capital construction or projects related to hydropower energy, according to the expert. In turn, the president of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, stated that if the Czech company pays out initially $37 million, it can be considered a serious investor, and if not, we will have to look for others, he added. Therefore, we need to see how the events will develop further, the expert noted. The investment agreement with the Czech company Liglass Traiding CZ, SRO for the construction of the Verkhne-Narynsky hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) and small hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan was signed on Aug 4. The deal also envisages the attraction of financing in the amount of about $230 million for the construction of the Akbulun HPP and Naryn HPP-1. In case of investors failure to fulfill taken obligations, this investment agreement will be terminated, and all of the funds invested in the authorized capital of Verkhne-Narynskye HPPs CJSC will not reimbursed. The project of construction of small hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan is implemented by the Kyrgyz government and Liglass Traiding CZ, SRO, following a tender conducted in accordance with the decree of the government, dated May 15, 2017. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 10:42 (UTC+04:00) By Trend About 100 militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group were killed on the Iraqi-Syrian border as a result of operations of the Iraqi Air Force, Iraqs Defense Ministry said in a message on August 31. There are two field commanders among the killed terrorists, says the message. The Air operations against IS terrorists were carried out in response to the execution of an officer of the Iraqi army by the terrorists, according to the message. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 13:08 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev The deepening crisis triggered by Saudi-led efforts to boycott Qatar has prompted Russia and the U.S. to intensify the efforts to solve the Gulf crisis. Russia, which voiced readiness to contribute to resolution of the confrontation, is trying to maintain a delicate balance as it has close ties with Qatar and is cooperating with Saudi Arabia to stabilize oil markets and resolve the Syrian issue. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Qatari officials on August 30 as part of a regional visit that saw him travel to the UAE and Kuwait previously. In Doha, Lavrov and Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani mulled the developments of the current Gulf crisis. Abdulrahman Al-Thani voiced Qatar's readiness for dialogue with the siege countries, noting that the State of Qatar has presented an official request to Kuwait stating its readiness for dialogue but it has not yet been answered by the siege countries. Qatar welcomes the Russian position, and all efforts from friendly countries that support the Kuwaiti mediation process and a diplomatic solution to this crisis unconditionally, he added. Stressing Moscow's support for the Kuwaiti mediation, Lavrov voiced Russia's keenness on a unified and strong Gulf Cooperation Council, noting that there is no need for new problems in the region. Unfortunately, the visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed no signs of having eased tensions among the Gulf Arab powers. The United States is also trying to heal a bitter dispute between Qatar and four Arab countries that has damaged business ties and disrupted travel for thousands of people. President Donald Trump has called for a diplomatic solution for the crisis, urging them to follow their commitment in fighting terrorism. Trump made the remarks during a telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on August 30, the White House said in readout of the conversation between the two leaders. The president urged that all parties to the Qatar dispute find a diplomatic resolution that follows through on their commitments made at the Riyadh Summit, to maintain unity while fighting terrorism. The two leaders also addressed the threat that Iran poses to the region, it said. Trump and King Salman also discussed the need to defeat terrorism, cut off terrorists funding and combat extremist ideology. In early June, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Emirates severed political and trade ties with the small gas-rich country, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Several other countries followed the Arab four and reduced their diplomatic relations with Doha. Doha denies the charges dismissing them as "baseless" violation of countrys interests and political freedom. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 August 2017 16:00 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Arab tourists hold the first position among tourists visiting Azerbaijan, followed by travelers from Russia, according to the official statistics from January to July 2017. A total of 1,513,000 overseas visitors visited Azerbaijan, also known as the Land of Fire, in the seven months of 2017. The figure shows a 24-percent rise compared to 2016. Vugar Shikhammadov, the spokesperson for the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said that the largest number of tourists - 330,000 people- visited the country in July. Arab tourists account for the largest part of foreign tourists visiting Azerbaijan, followed by Russian neighbors, he added. Today tourism is developing with high speed in Azerbaijan, with a contribution of 4.5 percent to the national GDP and the number of tourists heading to Azerbaijan is growing from year to year. The country aspires to enhance its tourism share from Arab states with brand new experiences: shopping festival, rail tourism and etc. Tourism Association Chairman Nahid Bagirov expects more tourists from overseas in the coming years. Bagirov said that direct flights from Baku to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and from Bangkok to Baku, which will soon be opened, will also increase the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan from these countries: Today, direct flights from Kuwait, Qatar and Dubai are carried out to Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. Opening of new flights is also expected in 2018, according to Bagirov. Experts say that every tourist chooses own way for rest. Arab tourists, for example, prefer to relax in a good hotel, take a walk in the city, do shopping and go to restaurants. As for Russian and European tourists, they are more interested in sightseeing tourism, cultural cognitive and culinary tourism. For the past 10 years, the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan increased by five times. In 2016, the number of tourists visiting the Land of Fire amounted to 2,242 million people and this is 11.7 percent more than in 2015. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy After having raised $1.2 million from Entrepreneur First and GrowX Ventures in 2021, how do you see the perfor...Read more Milkha Singh appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador An estimated 8.5 million people die due to NCDs every year in WHO South-East Asia Region. Indias legendary sportsperson, Milkha Singh, has been appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Physical Activity in South-East Asia Region. Promoting physical activity for health is an important intervention, which is expected to get a significant boost in the Region with the support of octogenarian Milkha Singh, a champion for the cause, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia. Regular exercise and physical activity help to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer diseases that are now increasingly afflicting people across the world. An estimated 8.5 million people die due to NCDs every year in WHO South-East Asia Region. Many of these deaths are premature and nearly all are lifestyle related, the Regional Director said. An alarming 70 per cent of boys, 80 per cent of girls and nearly 33 per cent adults in the Region report insufficient physical activity which is becoming a common feature of modern life, she said. As WHO Goodwill Ambassador, Milkha Singh will promote WHO South-East Asia Regions NCD Prevention and Control Action Plan which seeks to reduce the level of insufficient physical activity by 10 per cent and NCDs by 25 per cent by 2025, Dr Khetrapal Singh said. Physical activity is not only cost effective, but also has long-term impact when applied strategically, for example at schools and workplaces, communities and cities, and national and sub-national events. WHO has been advocating for physical activity as a best buy intervention for reducing the risk of deaths due to NCDs. WHO recommends at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity for children and 150 minutes of weekly activity for adults to stave off noncommunicable diseases. Physical activity helps those aged 65 years and above to maintain cognitive functioning and reduce the risk of depression. To facilitate this, WHO has also been advocating with governments to create public spaces for recreational and organized sport. Whatever the age group, gender, physical ability, or socio-economic background, being physically active is an effective way to ensure a healthy and productive life, the Regional Director said. With support of Milkha Singh, we expect to promote and scale up physical activity in the Region to be able to arrest and reverse the NCD epidemic, she said. The startup will deploy its technology and capitalize on the network created by this agency in Bengaluru. Health technology startup Click2Clinic has acquired Home Health Care, an agency which offers home health care services in Bengaluru, for approximately Rs 4 crore in an all-stock deal. The startup, which is an aggregator of hospitals, clinics, diagnostics, pharmacy, ambulance services and allied health services, will deploy its technology and capitalize on the network created by this agency in Bengaluru. Founded by Punnam and Dr. Murali Bharadwaj in the United States, the company is now looking to raise $1 million for an aggressive expansion into Indian cities. The company also forayed into Malaysian markets recently and plans to extend their presence in other countries including Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by the end of this year. Click2Clinic, which has raised approximately Rs 6 crore in the past, also launched a health application Clinicopedia, which enables connects home health services and patients. The march will start from Mandi House at 4pm and end at Jantar Mantar. August 9 will witness science rallies in major cities of India. The motive of the pan-India march will be to do away with unscientific beliefs and to press for increase in funding for research activities. Spearheaded by Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), the gatherings would see the members of scientific community standing in defence of science and scientific attitude in an open and visible manner as done by scientists and science enthusiasts worldwide. Scientists from research institutes across New Delhi will take part in a rally, March for Science on August 9 to protest against cuts in research funding. The march will start from Mandi House at 4pm and end at Jantar Mantar. The March for Science movement started globally in April. On Earth Day on April 22, scientists ditched their labs and hit the streets in over 600 cities, in what was dubbed as the largest ever protest by science advocates against US President Donald Trump. It is an organic thing. We will start the march at 4pm and express our views as we move along, said Dr. Chetana Sachidanandan, Senior Scientist, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi. We expect around 500-600 people to be a part of this rally, stated Dr. Vinay Kumar, Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University. "We will build together such an India, which will be clean, healthy and fulfil the dream of self-rule" PMs Independence Day Speech 2017- Highlights in English The Prime Minster, Shri Narendra Modi today addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 71th Independence Day. Following are the highlights from his speech: 1. Greetings to my fellow Indians on Independence Day. 2. For the freedom and glory of the country, those who have contributed, those who suffered and sacrificed their lives, I salute all those noble souls, mothers and sisters on behalf of 125 crore people of the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort. 3. We remember the great women and men who worked hard for India's freedom. 4. People of India stand shoulder to shoulder with those affected in the wake of natural disasters in parts of the country & the death of children in the hospital. 5. This is a special year- 75th anniversary of Quit India, 100th anniversary of Champaran Satyagraha, 125th anniversary of Ganesh Utsav. 6. The Quit India Movement was Bharat Chhodo, but the call today is Bharat Jodo. 7. We have to take the country ahead with the determination of creating a 'New India'. 8. From 1942 to 1947, the country had demonstrated collective strength, in the coming 5 years, we have to take the country forward with the same collective strength, commitment and hard work. 9. In our nation, there is no one big or small...everybody is equal. Together we can bring a positive change in the nation. 10. We have to move forward for making a New India with the collective strength of 125 crore people without any discrimination of small and big people. 11. 1st January 2018 will not be an ordinary day- those born in this century will start turning 18. They are Bhagya Vidhatas of our nation. 12. We have to leave this 'Chalta Hai' attitude. We have to think of 'Badal Sakta Hai'- this attitude will help us as a nation. 13. The country has changed, is changing and can change. We have to move forward with this belief and commitment. 14. Security of the country is our priority. Internal security is our priority. Whether it is our oceans or borders, cyber world or space for all kind of security India is capable to defeat all such inimical forces. 15. Our uniformed forces have achieved the pinnacle of sacrifice in fighting left-wing extremism, terrorism, infiltration and elements disturbing peace. The world had to recognise the strength of India and it clout in the surgical strike. 16. One rank, One Pension policy has boosted the morale of our security forces. 17. Those who have looted the nation and looted the poor are not able to sleep peacefully today. 18. No law was passed for those having Benami property for years. However after the recent passage of the Benami Act, within a short span of time, government has confiscated Benami property worth Rs. 800 crores when these things happen, common men feel that this country is for the honest people. 19. Today, we are celebrating the festival of honesty. 20. GST has shown the spirit of cooperative federalism. The nation has come together to support GST & the role of technology has also helped. 21. Today, the poor of the country is joining the main stream and the country is moving torwards the path of progress. 22. Good governance is about speed and simplification of processes. 23. India's stature in the world is rising. The world is with us in fighting the menace of terror. I thank all nations helping us doing so. 24. We have to work for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir. 25. There is no question of being soft of terrorism or terrorists. 26. Neither by bullet: nor by abuses but by hugging we can solve the problem of Kashmir. 27. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue. We are trying to bring transparency through technology. 28. There is no question of being soft on terrorism or terrorists. 29. People would be the driving force behind the establishment, rather than the other way around Tantra se Lok nahin, Lok se tantra chalega. 30. New India will be the biggest strength of democracy. 31. Nature of job is changing with changing demand and changing technology. 32. We are nurturing our youngsters to be job creators and not job seekers. 33. I want to mention those women who have to suffer due to 'Triple Talaq'- I admire their courage. We are with them in their struggles. 34. India is about Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. Casteism and communalism will not help us. 35. Violence in the name of 'Astha' is not something to be happy about, it will not be accepted in India. 36. The country is being run by peace, unity and harmony. It is our civilisation and culture to take everybody along. 37. We are taking the nation on a new track (of development) and are moving ahead with speed. 38. We are devoting significant attention to eastern India- Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Northeast. These parts have to grow further. 39. Our farmers have worked hard to ensure a Record foodgrain production. 40. Over 5.75 crore farmers have been covererd under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojaana. 41. Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, 30 projects have been completed while work is on for 50 more projects. 42. Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samapada Yojana we are providing handholding to the farmers from availing seeds to accessing the markets for their produce. 43. More than 14000 un-electrified villages have been electrified. 44. 29 crore JanDhan accounts opened. 45. More than 8 crore youth have received loans without any guarantee. 46. We are fighting corruption - for the bright future of India and the wellbeing of our people. 47. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue and move forward and the loot in the country will not be allowed. 48. Our strive for a Corruption Free India has yielded results. 49. Black money worth Rs. 1.25 lakh cror has been unearthed. 50. Over 1.75 lakh fake companies have been shut down. 51. Post GST savings and efficiency in transportation sector has increased. Efficiency has gone up by 30 percent. 52. More money has come to the banks due to demonetization which will give impetus to the economy. 53. Our country has the worlds largest youth population. Today is the era of IT and lets move ahead on the path of digital transaction. 54. Let us lead from front, promote digital economy and adopt the Bhim App. 55. We have moved from Co-operative Federalism to Competitive Co-operative federalism. 56. It had been said in the old scriptures that if a work is not completed on time, one does not get the desired results. 57. For the Team India it is the right time to commit for a New India. 58. We shall build together an India, where the poor will have concrete houses with water and electricity connection. 59. We will build such an India, where the farmers will have a peaceful sleep without any worry. He will earn double than what he is earning today. 60. Our resolve is to build an India, which provides all the opportunities to the youth and women to fulfil their dreams. 61. Our resolve is to build such an India, free from terrorism, communalism and casteism. 62. We will build together an India, where there will be no place for nepotism and corruption. 63. We will build together such an India, which will be clean, healthy and fulfil the dream of self-rule (Swaraj). 64. We aspire to build a Divya and Bhavya Bharat. The acquisition expands the Groups presence within the US healthcare market and increases US sales by more than double. Tissue Regenix Group plc, a UK-based leading medical devices company in the field of regenerative medicine announced the completion of the acquisition of CellRight Technologies LLC, a US-based specialist in regenerative osteoinductive bone scaffolds. The acquisition, expands the Groups presence within the US healthcare market and increases US sales by more than double, bringing together two highly complementary technology and product platforms focused on soft-tissue regeneration and regenerative bone matrices, respectively. TRX has built a portfolio of soft tissue products for use in wound care, orthopaedics and cardiac applications, based on its patented dCELL Technology with DermaPure, a decellularised dermal allograft for chronic and acute wound care, currently commercialised. CellRight, brings a complementary regenerative technology which is used to turn allograft bone into various malleable applications including, DBM Putty, strips, blocks and fibres, primarily for use in spine, orthopaedics and dental surgeries. Leveraging the capabilities of CellRight Technologies existing tissue bank in San Antonio, TX, Tissue Regenix is set to launch its OrthoPure HT, decellularised human tendon, into the U.S. orthopaedics market in early 2018, which will initially address anterior cruciate ligament repair. This facility also provides the Group with a purpose built U.S. base to self-manufacture products utilising its patented dCELL process. The scientists discovered properties of the metal that allow its catalytic abilities to be accessed in living things without any side effects. According to a recent study, tiny flecks of gold could be used in the fight against cancer. The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers at the University of Zaragoza's Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon in Spain, with funding coming from Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Minute fragments, known as gold nanoparticles, were encased in a chemical device by the research team. While this has not yet been tested on humans, it is hoped such a device could one day be used to reduce side effects of current chemotherapy treatments by precisely targeting diseased cells without damaging healthy tissue. Gold is a safe chemical element and has the ability to accelerate, or catalyse, chemical reactions. The scientists discovered properties of the metal that allow these catalytic abilities to be accessed in living things without any side effects. The device was shown to be effective after being implanted in the brain of a zebrafish, suggesting it can be used in living animals. Though Bhargava had ceased to be an active researcher for over 20 years, he remained engaged with issues in science and policy. Veteran molecular biologist and a vehement critic of genetically modified crops, Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, died at 89 in Hyderabad. Though Bhargava had ceased to be an active researcher for over 20 years, he remained engaged with issues in science and policy. A strident critic of multinational seed companies, Bhargava was opposed to the introduction of genetically modified crops from cotton to brinjal and, most recently, transgenic mustard in India. His argument was that these crops posed health hazards and required decades more of tests before possible clearance. He had led what came to be called the Award Wapsi programme in 2015 when scientists and litterateurs returned their awards against what they called rising tide of intolerance in the country. Bhargava was chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2013. The Bill was the culmination of a 15-year struggle as he mobilised and marshalled support by meeting legislators and policy makers. The draft Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2016. However, Bhargava opposed the ban on surrogacy, instead calling for protection of the rights of surrogate mothers. Bhargava was also vice-chairman of the National Knowledge Commission. In his role as a founder director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), he also invigorated the art scene in Hyderabad by inviting artistes from across the country and creating a residency programme. He was instrumental in developing, implementing and monitoring national-level strengthening of basic science research in Indian universities. S P Thyagarajan, a former Vice-Chancellor at the University of Madras and at present Professor of Eminence and Dean (research), Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, was honoured with the A P J Abdul Kalam award for the current year. He is an eminent scientist, educationist and internationally acclaimed researcher. He has to his credit 345 research publications, authored 20 books and has eight patents to his credit. Thyagarajan discovered a drug for treating chronic hepatitis B. Now patented and sold under the brand name ViroHep, it is manufactured using Keezhanelli (Phyllanthus amarus) herb, well known in Tamil Nadu. He has already been honoured with the Chevalier award of the Italian government. Thyagarajan played a pivotal role in developing policy documents and regulations of the UGC on various aspects of higher education quality promotion, including XIth and XIIth Five Year Plan policy documents on higher education. He was also instrumental in developing, implementing and monitoring national-level strengthening of basic science research in Indian universities besides several theme-based research programmes in medical sciences through UGC, ICMR, DST, DBT, MOEs and WHO - in his capacity as chairman/member of several national-level committees. His other unique scientific contributions include an internationally acceptable scientific design for drug development, validation and standardisation of natural products and traditional systems of medicine, molecular epidemiology and natural history of diseases like viral hepatitis B, C & E and HIV/AIDS, WHO Policy guidelines for blood-borne pathogen screening, diagnostic laboratory services and Hepatitis-B immunisation programme for India. Stickers That Seal Your Penis Before Making Love Pulse oi-Syeda Farah When it is all about making love, people like to try new things that give them pleasure and a kick that is mostly unexplainable. From kinky stuff to protection, there is a lot that goes on in the mind of the people while they invent new things for sexual pleasure. One such new invention is that of a Jiftip, which is a bizarre invention. The shocking part is, it is an invention that glues to your penis and shuts the opening and acts like a condom. Interesting right? know how it works and is it the next best thing to use instead of a condom? The Company's Offering... The company is encouraging men to buy small stickers that they can affix on the tips of their male parts. This eventually helps in sealing off the hole to keep any and all the ejaculate inside. All About The Stickers These pasties seem to sound like a bizarre invention, as most people are worried about how it would hurt the skin, for which the company promises that the top layer is made out of polyurethane film, and the adhesive layer is used in specialty skin bandages, but at the same time offers maximum grip. The Drawback Of The Concept Though the concept of these stickers seems to be unrealistic, it can potentially cause a back flow of sperm into your bladder and prostate, as you need to peel out the sticker at the peak of your climax and it seems to be extremely painful. Apart from all this, it can cause issues like STIs according to sex health experts. pulse Penises Are Twice As Long As You Think They Are! An Alternative For Condoms The company promises that nothing gets ejaculated when the person uses it and when the user is about to ejaculate, they need to remove the sticker, and only then they will be able to do so. Its A Desperate Way To Avoid The Condoms The inventors of these pasties for the penis stickers claim that this is a desperate invention to avoid using condoms, but at the same time, it cannot be used to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. So, do you think this concept will last? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below. GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 31, 2017, 15:03 [IST] Eid al-Adha 2021: Important Things To Do On Bakrid Festivals oi-Lekhaka Bakrid is celebrated in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar. It generally falls on the tenth day of the month of Dhul-Hijja according to the lunar calendar of Islam. This festival is a very prominent festival of Muslims. Muslims from every corner of the globe indulge in celebrating this festival with great joy. It is the second most important festival after Eid-ul-Fitr. This year, Eid al-Adha is expected to begin on July 20 and continue till the evening of July 21. They commemorate the sacrifices that were made by prophet Ibrahim. Bakrid is also known as the day of sacrifice among Muslims. Muslims organize feasts and invite their friends and family and also exchange gifts with each other. Bakrid And The Associated Legend According to the legend, Prophet Ibrahim had been instructed by God to leave his wife and son in the middle of the desert. Ibraham did not hesitate to do so, and his family was saved by God. Later, Ibraham started preaching all the wise words of the Almighty. God again wanted to test how faithful he was, and he wanted him to sacrifice his only son Ishmael. Ishmael was also a great devotee of God, and he was ready to be sacrificed. When Ibraham was about to sacrifice his son, God was pleased and he saved Ishmael's life. Ibrahim's son was replaced with a ram, which was later sacrificed to God. Things You Must Do On Bakrid Muslims have to follow various rituals on Bakrid. They follow each rite and ritual with a lot of dedication during Bakrid which is also known as Eid-Ul-Adha. Dressing up Muslim men and women dress up in new clothes on the occasion of Bakrid. They purchase the dresses beforehand and keep them ready for the morning of this special day. Going to the Mosque After wearing the new dresses, the Muslims visit the mosque. They perform prayers, also known as 'Dua' and seek blessings from God in order to live a healthy, prosperous and happy life. Reciting Takbir The Muslims recite Takbir in the mosques before they start praying to God and after they finish offering their prayers. Generally, the prayres are offered in groups, though not mandatorily. Sacrifice Sacrifice is considered to be one of the most important aspects of the celebration of Bakrid. Generally, animals like sheep, goat, cow, camel, etc. are sacrificed on this day. The animals should meet certain proper standards. The animals are sacrificed after maintaining proper rituals. Dividing the sacrifice After the animals are sacrificed, around one-third of the entire meat is offered to the poor, another one-third is distributed among the relatives and the rest is retained for one's own cosumption. Giving alms It is one of the most important rituals of the Muslims. They are required to distribute alms to the poor and the needy people. Visiting friends and relatives The Muslims visit all their relatives and close ones to exchange the greetings of Bakrid. Bakrid is a happy celebration, and they even exchange gifts with each other. Preparing feasts After the animals are sacrificed, a grand feast is prepared by all the Muslims. This feast is also one of the most eminent rituals of the festival of Bakrid. Friends, family, and relatives enjoy the feast together to celebrate this great event. Preparing delicacies The Muslim women prepare delicacies for the special occasion of Bakrid. These delicacies are served as dessert and kept for consumption for many days after Bakrid. Praying at the end of the day After the celebrations of the day are over, the family members come together to thank God for all his blessings. Bakrid is celebrated with a lot of excitement among all the Muslims. Like all other festivals of Islam, especially the Ied-ul-Fitr and Bakrid are celebrated with all the complete rituals and rites. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/08/2017 (1901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The fight got a little too real for a Winnipeg-born professional wrestler at a major Mexican wrestling card Saturday, after she was injured in what many are saying was a malicious attempt by her opponent to hurt her. The incident has left the wrestling world up in arms and sparked coverage in publications as far ranging as niche websites to Rolling Stone, with many suggesting the perpetrator of the attack could be blacklisted from the sport entirely. Holly Letkeman was born in Winnipeg in 1983 and entered the world of professional wrestling in 2008, where she currently fights under the name Rosemary. Over the weekend she was involved in the TripleMania XXV event in Mexico City, which is the one of the largest annual shows in the country. Wrestler Sexy Star (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times/TNS) She was fighting in a four-way womens match for the Queen of Queens title, when all of a sudden one of the wrestlers began to go off-script. At the end of the match Mexican wrestler Sexy Star placed Letkeman in an armbar that was dangerously real. Video from the event, which was seen by more people than usual since it was streamed by an Amazon-owned company, shows Letkeman yelling in pain and repeatedly tapping out as her elbow is hyper-extended. Despite the referee calling the match and the final bell ringing out, Star continued to hold Letkeman in the armbar. About eight seconds after the match finishes the referee finally manages to pry open Stars grip on Letkemans arm, only to have her reapply the armbar and hold it for a few more seconds. The incident left Letkeman rolling around in pain as Star walked around the ring in celebration of her victory. It was a short lived win for Star, however, as the wrestling world quickly turned on her and some of her future bookings were dropped. If you take liberties with someones body when they are giving it to you and trusting you to keep them safe, you are not tough. You are an ass-. And you dont belong in this business, wrote Letkeman in one of two public statements shes made since the incident. An outpouring of support for Letkeman was posted to social media by well-known figures in the wrestling world, while Star was the target of many vitriolic comments and denunciations. When Andrew Shallcross, promoter of an independent professional wrestling company in Winnipeg, first saw the video, he couldnt believe what he was seeing. I immediately wondered if it was actually true or if it was an elaborate story line. When I realized it was true, I was shocked and disappointed. Its completely unprofessional and cowardly. It would not be accepted by any wrestling promotion in the world, he said. IMPACT WRESTLING Winnipeg-born Holly Letkeman, who goes by the name Rosemary. I would never book that person again. Weve seen people die or be paralyzed in the ring. It can happen. This is a dangerous sport. And you have to co-operate and trust your opponent. Obviously, that trust was violated. Jackie Lee, a multi-year professional wrestler living in Winnipeg, agrees with Shallcross and admits he wouldnt be comfortable getting in the ring with someone who had a documented history of purposely injuring an opponent. It takes two to tango and you have to put your trust in your opponent because youre taking care of their body and their taking care of yours. Its like going in a car ride with your friend, where you trust them to drive safely, because youre putting your life in their hands in a way, Lee said. While initial reports on the extent of Rosemarys injury varied in severity, shes now said that she has a strained tricep/bicep with swelling around the area and will be out of the ring until a doctor allows her to return to the sport. In the statement she made it clear she would no longer be addressing the incident. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Ten's current affairs show The Project has taken aim at a controversial anti-marriage equality commercial, skewering the ad in a skit that's gone viral. Co-host Peter Helliar introduced the bit on Wednesday night's episode, saying he "got hold of the raw tapes of those candid conversations" featured in the official ad. "It's amazing what ends up on the cutting room floor," he told viewers. The video features women calling "bullshit" on a number of claims made by mothers in the original ad, including the idea that school classes on gay relationships have become "compulsory" in countries where same-sex marriage laws have passed. A bucolic scene of rural Victoria by Eugene von Guerard has reached one of the highest auction prices for the colonial artist, selling for a smidge under $2 million, twice its conservative market value. One of only two property portraits the artist painted in the Gippsland region the other sits in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia the painting had been commissioned by the grandson of the NSW Governor, Philip Gidley King. Before auction the painting, Mr John King's Station ,depicting the pastoral run King purchased in 1851 had been valued between $800,000 and $1,200,000. Eugene von Guerard's Mr John King's Station, from the John Fairfax collection. The von Guerard sold to a private collector for $1.952 million with buyers premium, reaching the equal second highest price paid at auction for a work by that artist. The record is held by A View of Geelong sold at Christies in 1996 for $1,982,500. The Von Guerard had been in the personal art collection of the late James Fairfax which went under the hammer Wednesday night for more than $10 million. The collection featured some of the most important artists of the 19th century, the impressionists, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, and Charles Conder, classic modernists Grace Cossington Smith and Roy De Maistre and late 20th century artists Jeffrey Smart and Sidney Nolan. The first of the negative televised advertisements for the upcoming postal vote on marriage equality has aired, and hooley dooley it's a crackerjack of misinformation, paranoia and straight up lies. The ad features three women (mothers, naturally, because they are the most important kind of women in the eyes of the Coalition for Codified Homophobia) sitting in their tidy homes (the natural habitat of The Mother), each expressing a statement of "truth" about the anarchy that awaits us if we allow gay people to wed. Scored by an ominous soundtrack, The Mothers warn of perverted societies in which boys are allowed to wear dresses to school, and mysterious but compulsory "programs" are instituted while pre-teens are forced to empathise with people different from them. A written overlay within the ad warns us that, "in countries with gay marriage, parents have lost their rights to choose." It isn't made clear exactly what choices are being lost, but the purpose of this kind of dog-whistling propaganda isn't to give straightforward information. It's to invite viewers to draw their own conclusions. With much fanfare, the May budget announced a relaxation of the rules on superannuation contributions that would allow downsizing retirees to place up to $300,000 each in super irrespective of their ages and current super balance. In announcing the change, Treasurer Scott Morrison said, "the measure reduces a barrier to downsizing for older people It may also enable more effective use of housing stock freeing up larger homes for younger, growing families." Downsizing to a unit can reduce the cost of maintaining a house and garden. Credit:James Brickwood There is no doubt that there comes a time when moving from the long-held family home comes to front of mind. When I was in private practice I continually heard, "There are now just the two of us rattling around in a house that has become far too big for us since the kids left. And the increasing maintenance costs are really eating into our savings." So, the motivation is there, but if like most Australians they receive a part age pension, they will be reluctant to move because the tighter assets test means they could lose up to $7800 a year for each $100,000 converted to financial investments. The need for a Senate inquiry into bungled government IT projects has been vindicated following allegations of fraud at the Department of Human Services, the Labor party says. On Thursday Fairfax Media revealed that as many as 50 IT subcontractors were under investigation in a fraud probe at the government's largest department. As many as 100 employees have been caught up in an internal fraud probe at the Department of Human Services. Credit:Eddie Jim The allegations related to fake invoicing practices and the use of false CVs and qualification records to secure government contracts. Do you know more? Contact steven.trask@fairfaxmedia.com.au Ammonia can be fatal to fish and other aquatic life, scientists warn. Credit:Kylie Stevens Swanbank is a locality in Ipswich, described earlier this month as "Australia's dumping ground", with interstate trucks dumping one million tonnes of household and building waste in the city's three landfills to avoid New South Wales' $138 per tonne waste levy. "Upward trends" of ammonia - which is toxic to fish - have been found in a borehole at one of the landfills in Ipswich, Queenslands Environment Department has confirmed. Ammonia is a form of nitrogen that is naturally occurring and can be found in cleaning products, decaying material or in disinfectants. It is a nutrient for plants and humans release it in urine. However, the Australian governments Environment Department makes it clear that ammonia can be toxic to aquatic life in water catchments which are in poor condition. The level of ammonia found at a borehole at Remondis Australias landfill at Swanbank did not yet exceed the conditions of its licence, Queensland's Environment Department said. The landfill is close to Bundambas Six Mile Creek, which flows into the Brisbane River. But the two water catchments in the immediate Ipswich area - the Bremer and Mid-Brisbane catchments - are both in poor condition, rated D+ according to Healthy Land and Waters report cards. The closure of an Ipswich chicken meat processing facility will cost south-east Queensland farmers an estimated $150 million, the industrys peak body says. Baiada Poultry announced earlier this week its intention to close up shop by mid-January next year, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs. Queensland Chicken Growers Association has condemned the closure and estimated it would strip 26 meat chicken growers in the region $150 million in lost production and devaluation of their farms. Baiada Poultry will close its doors early next year. Credit:Gillian Wong QCGA president Jodie Redcliffe said 155 purpose-built poultry houses and 80 workers across south-east Queensland supplied the Ipswich facility with about 23 million chickens per year. One of Fortitude Valley's most run-down precincts could soon have a new lease on life, with the historic Walton's building set to be listed for sale on Friday. It would be the first time in 33 years the heritage-listed building would hit the market and it was hoped a buyer would be found to revitalise the dilapidated area, around the corner of Wickham and Brunswick streets. The sale would open the door for a transformational investment in the heart of the suburb and improve access to the Fortitude Valley train station. The Waltons building in Fortitude Valley is up for sale. Credit:Tony Moore The L-shaped brick Waltons Buildings covers the corner of Brunswick and Wickham streets across Wickham Street from McWhirters. Whoever said there was a man drought has never been to Wacol, the Tablelands or Mount Isa. The Brisbane suburb of Wacol had more than double the number of men to women, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. For every 100 women, there are 238.2 men in Wacol. Men in Mount Isa outnumber the women, but the local MP says plenty of blokes still find love. But singles in the market for a man should not get too excited; the figure is skewed, as the suburb is home to two male prisons - the Wolston and Brisbane correctional centres. The "yes" campaign has dedicated its first salvo in the same-sex marriage debate, arguing the only people who will be affected by changing the Marriage Act, are those who are gay. But conservative senator Matt Canavan said he remains concerned same-sex marriage was only the "first step" in a wider change of society's values, and argued relationships between males and females deserved "a special word and a special institution" for their ability to produce children. The Coalition for Marriage released its first television advertisement on Tuesday opposing any change to the definition of marriage, by claiming a "yes" vote would lead to children being forced to learn radical gender and sex theories. In its first advertisement, released on Wednesday, Australian Marriage Equality directly tackled its opponent's campaign, with Dr Kerryn Phelps telling viewers that "sadly, some are trying to mislead us by saying it will have a negative impact including on young people". A NSW MP has avoided a blackmail attempt by two New York scammers who offered a "special massage" and threatened to tell the authorities they were under age. Kiama MP Gareth Ward has spoken of the "terrifying" ordeal which unfolded when he booked a "normal, standard massage" online but two young men turned up to his hotel threatening to blackmail him. "It was terrifying," he said. "As soon as I could I made a break and ran to the front desk and they called the cops." The 37-year-old was staying at the Intercontinental Hotel on 44th Street near Broadway on a personal break before attending a conference in Canada when he booked the massage on Tuesday evening. As Queensland powers towards the next state election, the major parties are keen to prove their energy credentials and how they will reduce bill shock. On Thursday, the LNP released a "five-point renewable energy plan" and committed to the National Renewable Energy target of 23 per cent. Queensland Labor has a target of generating 50 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2030. Opposition Energy spokesman Michael Hart said the LNP supported a 23 per cent renewable energy target. Credit:Chris Hyde Opposition Energy spokesman Michael Hart said Queensland power bills were increasing and people wanted price relief. The Queensland government has been cleared by the Fair Work Commission to start external recruitment of train drivers, after the Rail, Tram and Bus Union attempted to block the move. The RTBU had lodged a formal dispute with Queensland Rail to stop the operator proceeding with external recruitment. QR pursued a resolution through the Fair Work Commission, with the Commission ruling in the government's favour on Thursday afternoon. Advertising for drivers with no prior QR experience will now begin on Friday as scheduled. Hiring external drivers and guards with no prior QR experience was a key recommendation in the Strachan inquiry, sparked after mass cancellations, partly caused by a lack of train crew. Angry sections of the Western Australian Liberal party are pushing to launch a fresh attempt for the state to secede, in what members are calling "WAxit" a nod towards Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The Liberal Party's division of Brand has proposed the idea, which comes in response to long-held unhappiness in the state with GST distribution. Western Australians voted to self-govern in 1933 but the move was overruled. The WAxit idea is one of 25 motions to be put to this weekend's state conference, potentially embarrassing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who is due to address the gathering. The motions, provided to Fairfax Media, show the Brand division calling for the party to establish a high-level committee of three ex-MPs and three State Council members. What began as a spontaneous movement calling for a serious inquiry into the gruesome death of a fishmonger in the mountainous the Rif region along Morocco's coast has turned into one of the longest protest movements in North Africa since the Arab Spring. The protesters are seeking to draw attention to government corruption, as well as to the neglect of infrastructure and economic development in the region. Nasser Zefzafi, the leader of the group organising the protests known as Hirak Chaabi, or the Popular Movement has been in jail since late May. In 2011, Morocco's King Mohammed VI pushed for constitutional reforms and ceded some power to Parliament in response to Arab Spring protests. Credit:Moroccan Royal Palace When the Arab Spring protests toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011, Moroccans also took to the streets. In response, King Mohammed VI pushed for constitutional reforms and ceded some power to Parliament. The country also enshrined Tamazight, the local Berber tongue, as an official state language in its constitution. As a result of those relatively modest changes, Morocco had been mostly stable, even while uprising convulsed many countries in the region. But the death of the fishmonger, Mouhcine Fikri, in October jarred the status quo. Brussels: A man was shot dead in the centre of Brussels on Friday evening after attacking two soldiers with a knife, officials said. Police said the suspect had been "neutralised" after witnesses reported he had attacked two soldiers. Freddie Martyn, 25, told the the London Telegraph: "We saw two to three ambulances, three army dogs, 10 police officers and the same amount of soldiers. "Apparently a guy with a machete attacked one soldier and apparently it all went very quickly. They thought he had a bomb on him. They fired two shots directly at him and took him out." Modified On Dec 11, 2018 03:44 PM By Raunak for Renault Duster 2016-2019 The evolution of the 2018 Duster from the first-generation model will certainly be something buyers will appreciate Updated: November 24, 2017 The first-gen Duster's design, perhaps, has an emotional connect with enthusiasts and buyers. A testament to this is the fact Renault and Dacia (Renault's European budget brand) have together managed to sell more than 20 lakh units of the Duster in seven years. Thats some number considering the Duster is sold mostly in developing countries such as India and Brazil! The specifications of the new 2018 Duster are out now. There's no denying that the new model looks unmistakably Duster, which was expected, wasnt it? Even the test mules, which were spotted earlier this year, indicated the same. Official sketches: old vs new Though you simply cannot miss the essence of the previous Duster in the 2018 model, look closely, and its subtle but noticeable differences come to the fore. A broad and bold front fascia, voluminous haunches at the sides and a raised-up stance had made the previous Duster instantly popular and these design traits have been retained though with subtle improvements. Let us see how visually different the new Duster is from the older model. At the front, the overall layout of various elements such as the headlights, grille and bumper are reminiscent of the older model. The headlights are now pushed further to the sides, which make the new model look relatively wider than the outgoing one that already was a wide looking vehicle. The headlights also sweep slightly upward, so you get a fair look of the DRLs and the entire unit from the side, similar to newer cars nowadays. The internal detailing of the new headlamps also reminds of the older model. Notice the new three-element LED daytime running lights? The bumper still features circular fog lamps and a large faux skid plate as before. While the hood of the outgoing Duster had a hump at the centre, the new SUV features a more sculpted hood thats recessed at the centre. This imparts a bolder and a more SUV-ish stance to the 2018 model. Changes at the sides will go unnoticed by many, save for the new set of diamond cut alloys. Speaking of which, the 2018 model rides on 17-inch alloys compared to the 16-inch ones offered in the first-gen. The new front fender cladding, which has the 4WD label, will also grab a lot of attention. The roof rails look slimmer in profile now, while the Duster badge is still there. Renault/Dacia highlighted that theyve pushed the windscreen further by as much as 100mm! This has certainly resulted in a relatively steeper A pillar. Also, it appears that the front doors and windows are now larger than before. Pushing the windscreen ahead is expected to make the, yet to be revealed, cabin feel more spacious and airy than before. It might also increase the width of the dashboard compared to the outgoing model, which has a very slim dash. The automaker has also pushed the waistline upward compared to the previous model, making the glass area look sleeked and sharper, and in line with the new design. The doors have more or less the same profile. It was the rear profile of the first-gen Duster that needed an overhaul, particularly its relatively tiny tail lamps and the protruding metal adjacent to them. Gone are those tiny looking units and in come the new square-ish ones which seem to be inspired from the Jeep Renegade. Renault has kept the layout of the rear windscreen intact, but it is now slimmer in profile and looks wider as well. The license plate area and applique, which features the Duster label as before, have also been widened to accentuate the overall approach to making it look wider. The rear faux-skid plate now extends all the way up to the boot making the rear profile appear more streamlined and tough at the same time. Renault Duster Dimensions: Old Vs New Dimensions Duster 2017 Duster 2018 Difference Length 4315mm 4341mm 26mm Width 1822mm 1804mm 18mm (-ve) Height 1695mm 1693mm 2mm (-ve) Wheelbase 2673mm 2674mm 1mm Ground Clearance 210mm 210mm Same Overall, Renault/Dacia has kept the charm of the old model alive and rocking, while filling most of its loopholes. The 2018 Duster might not look like a new-gen model, but it certainly is a lot more than a botox job! Disagree? Comment! Check out: Renault Captur: All You Need To Know Read More on : Duster on road price Manage your notification subscription by clicking on the icon. To start receiving timely alerts, as shown below click on the Green lock icon next to the address bar Click it and Unblock the Notifications Click it and Unblock the Notifications Close X Philippine cement producers oppose import inspections 31 August 2017 Letters from local cement firms addressed to Trade and Industry Secretary, Ramon M Lopez, and the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) have opposed plans to conduct pre-shipment inspection of imported cement, as substitute to testing upon arrival in the country. However, revised rules and guidelines would be welcomed. Ramon S Ang, chairman of Eagle Cement Corp opposed the proposed minimum requirement of pre-shipment inspection for cement imports, reports the Manila Bulletin. Ang maintained that all cement coming from abroad must be subjected to rigorous testing upon arrival in the Philippines to ensure consumer safety. "Eagle Cement Corp stands against the possible minimum requirement of a pre-shipment inspection as the substitute for testing cement imports upon arrival in the Philippines," said the letter, which was also signed by Eagle Cement president and CEO, Paul Ang, on behalf of the companys chairman. Eagle Cement COO, Manny Teng, stressed that the government should come out with revised rules and guidelines for the cement industry, such rules must foster a level playing field and ensure high regard for quality and environmental protection. "We believe that any diminution of the minimum quality standards of cements products, as imposed, would pose a great risk to the entire industry and to the clients it serves the Filipino people. "In this regard, we respectfully propose that all cement players, whether a manufacturer or a mere trader, should be required to have their imported cement duly tested at the port. We cannot underscore the importance of doing a local test as a crucial safeguard for consumers safety and lives," the executives said. Published under Houston floods show that churches should act first, ask questions later Joel Osteen is an easy target. His shiny image, feel good phrases and tendency towards a consumer model of Christianity have made him a target for evangelicals and liberals alike. This week, he's come to wider attention outside the Christian bubble after the length of time it took his church Lakewood to open up to house victims of the flooding in Houston. It now has been opened up and the church is joining in with the relief effort. Some have claimed that's only because of the outcry on social media. Either way, it's been an interesting insight into the reaction of the church. On the Today show, Osteen was quizzed about why the response took longer than expected. His answer suggested that the church should be 'precautious' because of a flood risk to the building. He then said, 'The main thing is that the city didn't ask us to become a shelter then.' Osteen also suggested that the church was working closely with City authorities and they opened up when asked to by the city. It's probably true that Osteen has received an unfair amount of criticism. But this statement seems pretty thin. To say that the church wasn't opened up just because the city hadn't asked yet is painting the church is merely a service provider of the state. Actually Lakewood is one of the biggest civil society organisations in the whole of Texas, and it certainly one of the biggest churches in America. The idea that it needed to wait for a specific request from the city to open up seems rather anaemic. Of course safety concerns need to be addressed and careful thought should go into how to respond to such an emergency. But the considerations are about how to respond, not whether to respond. Take the recent example of the churches and other faith institutions in West London which responded with amazing speed to the Grenfell Tower fire. Amidst the complaints about the slow response of the local council, there was almost universal acclaim for the local churches which not only worked long hours and went above and beyond in their provision of services they were also among the first on the scene. From opening up churches and church halls, to gathering food and supplies, to providing prayer and pastoral services, the church responded with lightning speed. This meant that in the ensuing weeks, not only was the church right at the heart of the emergency response, it was also involved in advocacy for the residents of the tower, convening meetings with politicians and other leaders. If Christians throughout history had adopted the 'well, we weren't asked so we didn't do' approach, so much of the most influential Christian social action would never have happened. The Good Samaritan didn't ask permission before embarking on his action, and neither should we. The state didn't ask the Church to start schools, hospitals, foodbanks, debt counselling, homeless provision, drug rehab, refugee welcome programmes, childrens' and youth groups, street pastors, international aid organisations, prison ministries, anti-trafficking initiatives, the Living Wage campaign, AIDS clinics, conflict resolution centres or many, many other vital services. The Church didn't need to be asked to begin these works because it's in our DNA to offer them. In the light of an emergency, we just do what the Church does and what the Church has always done we roll up our sleeves and get involved. If our work is done in close collaborations with the state, then that's good, but we mustn't ever allow our response to be dictated by the state. It's understandable that a surprise event such as the storm and floods in Houston takes people and institutions by surprise. But as churches, our orientation is towards service so we should naturally be ready to spring into action. As Christians and members of local churches, we're never just consumers of a message but volunteers for the common good, ready to get our hands dirty and to act quickly and effectively. None of this is a direct critique of Osteen but a much bigger issue in parts of the Church. We should always be poised to help. In the event of an emergency it's better to offer hospitality first and ask questions later. Mother of Christian girl in foster care was born to Muslim parents The mother of a five-year-old 'Christian' girl who complained at her child being placed with conservative Muslim foster parents was herself born into Islam. The child at the centre of what has become a major fostering row is now living her grandmother after a judge ordered her to be removed from the devout family. But the girl's grandparents 'are of a Muslim background but are not practising', court documents released on Wednesday revealed. The grandmother who she now lives with is considering returning to her country of origin, meaning the girl could be forced to leave Britain. The mother, who struggles with substance abuse, had previously protested the girl is a Christian and should not have been placed with the conservative Muslim family where she was forced to remove her cross necklace and was denied her favourite food spaghetti carbonara, according to reports. Tower Hamlets Council who made the decision to place the girl into care said it did not recognise the claims and hit back at the media coverage of the controversy. Debbie Jones, corporate director of children's services at Tower Hamlets council, said: 'As a local authority, our number one priority with foster care is ensuring a child is placed in a safe and loving environment. 'Our foster carers are qualified people from different backgrounds, with vast experience of looking after children. They represent the diverse makeup of our borough, which is a place where people of all backgrounds get on with one another. 'Once the decision was taken to place the child into temporary care, we had to find the best placement available at the time. 'While cultural background is always a significant consideration in making this decision, so too are other factors, including remaining in the local area to promote contact with the child's family and for the child to continue at the same school, in order to give them as much stability as possible.' Jones added: 'We are disappointed with the tone of some of the media coverage, especially given the judge's comments yesterday that reporting has been intrusive for both the child and the foster carer. 'While we cannot go into details of a case that would identify a child in foster care, there are also inaccuracies in the reporting of it.' Sir Martin Narey, the Government's official adviser on fostering, intervened on Wednesday and said it would be wrong to ban carers from looking after children just because they were a different religion or ethnicity. He told the Telegraph: 'Skin colour and religion do not matter in 2017.' A government report at the end of the year is expected to make the ethnicity and religion of carers a 'secondary' issue with local authorities currently required under The Children Act 1989 to give consideration to 'religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background' when making decisions about a child who is in care. Nigeria: Two Christian men killed, three women and a baby kidnapped Yet another tragedy has befallen the Christian community in northern Nigeria. The latest attack on Christians by extremist Muslims has seen a father and son were killed, and three women and a baby abducted, in an attack in Nigeria's northern state of Kano, in the largely Muslim area of Tudun Wada. World Watch Monitor reports that the armed attackers shot a father and son before going to other houses and kidnapping the baby and three women. Kano state is in the north of Nigeria which is under the control of Sharia influenced governments. The South is mainly Christian while the middle of the country sees pockets of both faith s predominant. In the north, a series of attacks on Christians and churches have taken place. In 2007 a series of churches were burnt and at least nine people killed. The victims of the latest atrocity were named as Dankali, a 62-year-old local Christian, and his son, Micah Kale who was 20. Both victims' widows are reported to have fled with their children. Open Doors, the anti-persecution charity describes Nigeria as being the twelfth most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian. It says 'in northern Nigeria, Christians who have already been displaced by Boko Haram extremists are being forced out of their refugee camps and denied access to vital aid.' North Korea: The reality of life in the pariah state A North Korean family has spoken about their horrific ordeal and ongoing suffering because of their faith at the hands of the pariah state. In an extensive interview Hannah Cho (named changed for security purposes) described a life of pain, torture and loss. The harrowing first person account, first published by World Watch Monitor, details the realities of life in North Korea as attention is focused on its threats and dispute with US President Donald Trump. The story was released on the day Trump appeared to hint again at military action against the communist state, tweeting 'talking is not the answer'. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017 Cho described how her mother would pray in secret, constantly fearing being caught, after religion was suppressed following the Korean War in 1950. Cho wanted to understand what her mother was saying but all she could make out was: 'Hananim! Hananim! Lord! Lord! Help.' Cho said: 'We had no idea who this "Hananim" was. My daughter even asked her one day why she wouldn't simply visit this guy if he was that important to her. My mother replied: "One day I will."' As the hardships of the regime set in, Cho married but lost two children at a young age, with another four surviving. After permanently damaging her spine, loosing a finger and suffering without medical care, her new family decided to flee to China. 'My eldest daughters were first to flee, but they were betrayed by the broker. They were supposed to meet with a relative of my husband but were sold into marriage to poor Chinese farmers. Fortunately, they were sold to families in the same village, so could stay in touch with each other. 'When we didn't hear from them, my husband went to China to try to find them. Meantime, I took care of my two youngest children at home. My husband didn't come back; a year later, I went to look for them all in China. At first, I couldn't locate my husband. I worked on a Chinese farm as a maid, but didn't receive any money. I had lost everything that was dear to me. I prayed to God with the only words I knew: "Hanonim, Hanonim! Lord, Lord! Please help!" Finally, I found my husband's relative and he connected me with my husband.' Describing what it was like to have the family reunited, Cho said: 'We had seen my mother's faith, but now we understood it. 'We felt peace in our hearts and unexplainable joy. It was so refreshing, as if the specks in my eyes had been washed away and I could finally see God. Now I could follow Him like my mother had. The pastor taught us about Christ and the Christian life. Our faith grew very quickly because we had been prepared all our lives for this moment.' But their joy did not last long. 'We were discovered by Chinese secret agents and arrested. They moved us from prison to prison until we were finally sent back to North Korea. We'd hardly arrived when we witnessed a terrible scene. A woman in prison was pregnant by a Chinese man. Race is very important in North Korea: the pure race may never be defiled. To mix Korean blood with Chinese blood is a terrible "sin",' she said. 'The woman gave birth in prison, but then the guard ordered her to kill her baby, but she couldn't. The guard threatened another woman, telling her he would let her live if she killed the baby. He put his gun to her head and the inmate had no other choice but to strangle the baby until he died. And we had to watch.' The family were seperated and once it was discovered they were Christians they were held in solitary confinement. 'Prisoners in solitary confinement were badly beaten. Nobody dared resist because you'd only make the torture worse. But my husband was different. The more they tortured him, the harder he defended his faith. He yelled at them: "If believing in God is a sin, I'd rather die! Just kill me! It's my mission to live according to God's will!" 'Each time he spoke out against them, they stripped his clothes and beat him up as if he was an animal. His flesh was torn and ripped. When he lost consciousness, they woke him and started again. 'I felt close to dying. I was dehydrated and beaten until I was unconscious too. When I woke up, I was dragged back to a regular cell with my daughter and other female inmates. Then they beat me in front of them. All my daughter could do was cry silently, which she did day and night. 'Of course, we prayed throughout our time in prison. One day, our entire family was called out of the prison cell. That was a bad omen. Usually when people are taken from their cells during the night they are transferred to a camp for political prisoners. 'When we got to the office, there were two male prisoners. I recognized my son, but the other was in such a bad shape, I didn't recognize my husband and he didn't recognize me. That's how horrendous we looked from all the torture. His ribs and collarbone were broken, so he couldn't even stand up straight. But I realized it was him. 'We were in front of the prison deputy, waiting to hear our verdict. We all desperately prayed for a miracle. We didn't want to suffer and die in a political prisoner camp. But the deputy gave us a special amnesty. When we walked out of the prison that night and were finally free and alone, we quietly sang a hymn.' Cho and her daughters fled to China again with her husband telling her he would follow one month later with their son. But a month passed. Then a second. And a third. After three years Cho found out her husband had died from his injuries shortly after leaving prison. Now living in South Korea, Cho has not seen her son for many years. 'My mother only taught me one prayer. But I still pray it every day, for my family and for my country: "Hanonim, Hanonim! Lord, Lord, please help!"' US Episcopal Church head appeals for Hurricane Harvey relief effort The Rev Michael Curry, the presiding Bishop and Primate of the US Episcopal Church has appealed for support for the relief efforts currently underway in Houston, Texas following the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey. 'We are indeed all the children of God. And if we are all God's children, then we are all brothers and sisters,' wrote Curry yesterday. 'In our recent days, we have watched and witnessed the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Our brothers and sisters in Texas and Louisiana need our help.' Episcopal Relief and Development, an international agency that partners with the Anglican Communion and other churches in the wake of disasters, has asked supporters 'not to send food, clothing or other items because affected dioceses have limited or no capacity to receive, store or distribute goods. It is more efficient and better for the local economy to make a donation'. Opportunities to alleviate the crisis include donating to their Hurricane Harvey Response Fund, or registering to be a volunteer in the future. The agency is working to provide 'emergency support' in the wake of the hurricane that began on Friday, that 'includes pastoral care, gift cards and funding for temporary housing'. Thousands have been made homeless and several killed following the severe flooding that has left parts of Texas submerged underwater. Curry added: 'As our fellow Episcopalians minister to those in need they need our help not just now or in the short term, but for the long haul. Our support of Episcopal Relief & Development is a tangible, practical, effective and reliable way to do that. Keep in your prayers for the people in Texas and Louisiana whose lives have been forever changed by Hurricane Harvey. 'Together we are the human family of God and our efforts in times like these truly help bring God's love and ours to our sisters and brothers in great need.' More information about supporting Episcipal Relief and Development's efforts can be found here. 'We are all made in the image of God': Church leaders join forces to denounce Nashville Statement Hundreds of church leaders have joined forces to denounce an evangelical manifesto that condemns same-sex marriage, promoting instead a message of inclusion in the name of the Christian faith. This week's Nashville Statement reaffirmed conservative Christian teaching that any sex outside of heterosexual marriage is sinful and that it is 'sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness'. In a statement today signed by the Church of England's general synod member Jayne Ozanne as well as dozens of US pro-gay church leaders, more than 300 Christians affirm that 'every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that the great diversity expressed in humanity through our wide spectrum of unique sexualities and gender identities is a perfect reflection of the magnitude of God's creative work.' Titled Christians United, the statement continues: 'In every generation there are those who resist the Spirit's leading in various ways and cling to the dogmas and traditions that he is calling us to rethink and reform. Throughout our history, those who have been on the leading edge of the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work have often found themselves initially excluded, marginalized, and demonized by some of those within established Christian institutions. 'In the twenty-first century, we believe that the Church finds itself once again on the brink of a new reformation, one which in which the Holy Spirit is calling us to return to the Scriptures and our traditions in order to re-examine our teachings on human sexuality and gender identity.' The statement includes ten 'articles', concluding: 'We deny that Christ rejects anyone from his loving embrace because of their sexuality or gender identity. We likewise deny that homosexuality, bisexuality, queer sexuality, trans* identity, asexuality, or any other queer identity is sinful, distorted, or outside of God's created intent.' Another statement was released by a group called The Liturgists. They wrote: 'As floodwaters still rise in Houston, many prominent Christian leaders released the Nashville Statement. This document released a flood of its own, only this time instead of homes flooded with water, it was hearts flooded with grief. Yet again, powerful people of means use the platform of the Church to demean the basic dignity of gay, bisexual, lesbian, trans, intersex, and queer people. 'This isn't new. "Biblical" morality has been used to justify slavery, resistance to interracial marriage, genocide, and war. The scope of the Bible's narrative allows a broad interpretation of what is right and moral, and both the church and society at large have moved toward universal justice and acceptance on issues once thought to be "crystal clear". 'In regards to Christians across the spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities, it's past time to accept and affirm them as they are. In the same way that we no longer accept the morality of slavery based on its inclusion in our scriptures, we can no longer project first century notions of sex and sexuality on people today. The very notion of "orientation," or even "heterosexual" would be completely foreign to the authors of both the old and new testaments in the Bible.' Ozanne told Christian Today: 'I think it very telling that within hours of the "Nashville statement" being released, Christians United gathered twice as many signatories from church leaders that endorsed a far more affirming, loving and inclusive set of articles that embraces the LGBTI community. I challenge people to read both statements and see which they believe reflects the width, length, height and depth of God's love for all creation and in so doing see which is the more prophetic and courageous in a world that is increasingly fueled by fear and hate.' The Fundraising Regulator has announced that it has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with its counterpart in Scotland. The Fundraising Regulator has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel. It is the fifth such MoU the regulator has signed with co-regulatory bodies including the Charity Commission, the Information Commissioners Office and the Institute of Fundraising. The agreement sets out how the two organisations will collaborate on areas of mutual interest and outlines the joint use of a lead regulator model when dealing with complaints. The MoU also sets out that the Fundraising Regulator will have an observer sit on board meetings of the panel, while a panel observer will also be invited to attend meetings of the regulators standards committee. Both organisations will also liaise on strategic issues, and representatives from each organisation will hold a meeting once a year. Lead regulator model According to the document, the lead regulator model will see the two organisations deal with complaints based on the country in which a charity is primarly registered. As the document explains: The Fundraising Regulator will deal with complaints about charities whose principal regulator is the Charity Commission of England and Wales. While the Scottish Panel will focus on charities whose principal regulator is OSCR. The document notes that some charities may well be fundraising in Scotland and registered with OSCR, despite having their headquarters in either England or Wales. In such a case, the Fundraising Regulator would take the lead on regulation. The regulator will also deal with all complaints about fundraising agencies, even if they are based in Scotland. The panel will not deal with such complaints. The MoU was signed by both Stephen Dunmore, chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator and by Alison Elliot, chair of the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel. Speaking about the announcement, Dunmore said: This Memorandum of Understanding builds on the close working relationship we have developed with our regulatory colleagues in Scotland. It aims to ensure that whether north or south of the border, the public experiences a consistent approach in how complaints are dealt with, while ensuring that national differences are identified and addressed in the Code of Fundraising Practice as they arise. Elliot said: Were looking forward to having a strong working relationship between the Fundraising Regulator and the panel, based on this MoU. Together we hope to ensure that, across the UK, charities can be confident about how to raise funds and donors can be comfortable about giving, so that everyone benefits from the huge contribution that charities make to society. The Memorandum of Understanding can be read in full here. Andrea Ritchie, a prominent Chicago lawyer who focuses on cases involving police misconduct, has been arguing for years that an important voice is missing in coverage of police violence, racial profiling, and mass incarceration. Black women and other women of color are among the most visible forces fighting against police violence and pushing for an end to mass incarceration, she says. Yet most of the conversation and news coverage revolves around the experiences of men; specifically, heterosexual men of color. A book called Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, is her latest project in 20 years of fighting for police accountability and against gendered violence as an attorney, organizer, researcher, and writer. Ritchie, who is black and identifies as a lesbian, says she was a victim of sexual assault as a teen at the hands of a police officer. Ritchie chatted with CJR about the issues raised in her book, including how journalists frame the publics perception of the issues, and how they can do better. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length. ICYMI: One question that turns courageous journalists into cowards Sign up for CJR 's daily email How does the media help shape the publics understanding of police violence? I think media plays a pivotal role in two respects: by reinforcing the silence around experiences of black women and women of color and in breaking it. The mainstream media has reinforced over and over again that police violence is a story about black and brown men who are not queer, who are not trans, and that certainly is an essential part of the story. I would never dream of saying black and brown men are not disproportionately targeted by state violence. Theres just no question about that, and you will see me in the streets on any given day at protests for Laquan McDonald, or Amadou Diallo back in the day, or Rodney King. Sandra Bland was definitely heavily on my mind this month on the second anniversary of her death. But somehow her story is not placed in the broader narrative around racial profiling and mass incarceration; its somehow almost an anomaly. Like, lets read a list of 10 or 12 black and brown men and then well throw in Sandra Bland, as if its an outlier. Recently video surfaced of a Florida state attorney being profiled and stopped by a police officer, and, again, that wasnt an anomaly. That was part of everyday experience for black women. So its making that connection to the broader structural issue rather than covering it as a one-off or anomaly? And making the connection to the stories and experiences of queer and trans people who experience similar things. One of the things I do at the beginning of the book is draw parallels. Eric Garner was subjected to a chokehold in New York City and died again three years ago this month. There are stories of black women in New York City who have been subjected to chokeholds by NYPD. Thankfully, they lived to tell the tale, but those stories need to be tied to Eric Garner, specifically because they happened in the context of broken-windows policing in New York. We need to be making connections to how things are similar for men and women of color and how they are different, and how we can build shared fights and struggles based on those similarities. What are some of the stories journalists have overlooked? I think Michelle Cusseaux, for instance. She was a black lesbian who was killed by Phoenix police within a period of days from Mike Browns killing. I think that most people dont know her name, and everyone knows his name. And her case raises questions about how police perceive black women they consider to be gender-nonconforming, or perceived to be queer, and also questions around how police engage the people who they believe to be experiencing mental illness or a mental health crisis. Tenisha Anderson is also someone who was killed by police within a few months of Mike Brown, but again most people dont know her name. Most people dont know Aura Rosser, who was killed by police who were responding to a domestic violence call, and [her death] was within that same six-month period. Another story that always stayed with me, the first black woman in space, Mae Carol Jemison, after she came back, she was racially profiled and subject to a traffic stop in the town where she lived and worked for NASA and abused by police there in what was a classic driving-while-black situation. What are events in the news recently that you can connect with the ideas in your book? I think that on an ongoing basis, the federal governments intention or threats to ramp up the war on drugs are very much related. Intensified immigration enforcement at the border and in the interior is very much connected to the ideas in the book. The federal governments rampant Islamophobia, and how that plays into police interactions. And then there are particular cases. For instance, Charnesia Corley, who was subjected to a public strip search and vaginal cavity search by police officers just outside Houston after a traffic stop for a very minor offense, and they said she was concealing marijuana on her body. I talk about it in the book, and also in a recent New York Times op-ed. This is the way the war on drugs is waged on black womens bodies, and its a pattern that has been in existence since late 80s and early 90s. RELATED: The telling difference between captions for these Hurricane Katrina photos There is a lack of diversity in newsrooms, but which journalists are covering these stories well? I feel like the fact that were having much more news coverage of black women and women of colors experiences with police violenceyoull notice who the stories are written by. They are published largely by black women and in some instances white women. Kirsten West Savali being at The Root means those stories get bigger play. Collier Meyerson being at Fusion and at The Nation means those articles get bigger play. Dani McClain being a Nation Institute fellow means those articles get bigger play. When Im talking to black women or women of color reporters, theyre often speaking from their own personal experiences. Where should journalists look to investigate and find more stories around the experiences of women of color and policing? If the standard of covering police violence is a fatal encounter, that leaves out police sexual violence, violence against pregnant women, child-welfare enforcement, searches where police officers are conducting completely unconstitutional searches, and profiling of women of color as being engaged in prostitution-related offenses. All of that gets lost if we focus only on fatal shootings of unarmed people. I think on social media, women of color are telling these stories. I encourage journalists to dig deeper, go beyond whats at the surface. And follow hashtags like #SayHerName. When I first started doing this kind of research 20 years ago, I would have to go through reams of Amnesty International testimony to find four or five stories of black women who came forward [as victims of police violence], but nobody lifted those stories up as the iconic ones. So I would encourage investigative journalists to do that. Go to the civilian complaint review board meetings, because women go to those meetings and talk about stuff that happened to them. Even during the stop-and-frisk hearings that happened in New York in 2013, I would say fully a quarter of the people who testified were young women and old women who talked about their experience of police violence and sexual harassment. Call up women organizations, anti violence organizations, organizations working with young women, organizations made up of people in the sex trade, or people who are targeted for drug use, because those are the populations being targeted, and youll likely find more information about whats happening. From archives: Oh, here we go again: Investigative reporter laid off for the third time Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Adeshina Emmanuel is a Chicago-based journalist focused on race, class, inequality, social problems, and solutions who has been published in The New York Times, Ebony, Chicago Magazine, and by ATTN.com. He's a former reporter at the Chicago Reporter, Chicago Sun-Times, and DNAinfo Chicago. Follow him on Twitter @Public_Ade. As the citizens of New Orleans suffered the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, two images from the storms aftermath drew widespread attention and criticism. Both showed people wading through chest-deep water clutching soda and other goods, but one featured a young black man, the other a white couple. The Associated Press caption accompanying the first image described the man as looting, while the second, from Getty Images, labeled the couple as finding their goods. Remember this after Katrina? The difference between "looting" and "finding" is often black and white pic.twitter.com/nZoaP0KJ2l Astead W. Herndon (@AsteadWH) August 29, 2017 The conversations sparked by those photos raised familiar questions about race-based descriptions and the choices reporters make in labeling the actions of people in a disaster. Both organizations stood by their word choices, because the photographers who shot the images cited additional observations that they claimed justified the decisions. ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back Twelve years later, with Texas deluged by flooding from Harvey, reporters find themselves in a similar position. On Tuesday, ABC Newss Tom Llamas tweeted that he had witnessed looting at a supermarket in Houston, and that he had informed police. After sharp criticism from Twitter users, Llamas deleted and attempted to clarify his earlier message. Let me clear this upwe were w/police who had discovered a dead body & mentioned we saw ppl w/faces covered going into a supermarket nearby pic.twitter.com/bfM5WCCO1e Sign up for CJR 's daily email Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) August 29, 2017 The narrative that looting and other lawless behaviors run rampant in the midst of a humanitarian crisis is a pernicious one. Though incidents of theft and crime occurred during events like Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, widespread myths about roving bands of murderous criminals in New Orleans fueled a perception unsupported by evidence that still persists today. A similar storyline has played out on a smaller scale in Houston, where unconfirmed reports have people shooting at the boats of civilian rescuers. None of those claims could be verified. In the context of a situation that has already resulted in at least 37 deaths, reporters should have better things to do than directing police toward people just trying to survive and feeding a narrative that encourages panic. As to another act of reporting that drew criticism on Tuesday, I have more sympathy. CNNs Rosa Flores was speaking with residents in a Houston shelter when a woman she was interviewing, understandably distraught in the midst of a disaster, unloaded on the reporter. Yall sitting here, yall trying to interview people during their worst times. Like, thats not the smartest thing to do, the woman, identified only as Danielle, said. Danielles response was honest and justified. So, too, was Floress interest in her story. Reporting on disasters is messy, awkward, and often invasive. Journalists obviously need to take precautions to not offend, to gain permission from interviewees, and to act with decency, but on-the-ground reporting is part of whats driving attention and action in response to Harveys devastation. Despite criticism from some, Flores was doing her job, however uncomfortable it might be. Below, more on these issues. Other notable stories Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. LAST WEEK, AS THE CHARLESTON POST & COURIER covered a hostage standoff and shooting at a local restaurant, editor Mitch Pugh announced his paper would shut down comments on the developing story. FYI: We are in the process of disabling comments on the breaking shooting story. Majority either violated TOS, off topic or repugnant. Mitch Pugh (@SCMitchP) August 24, 2017 Pugh has advised his Twitter followers for years to avoid the comments sections on stories and social media sites. But responses to coverage of the shooting in Charlestona scene that gripped a city familiar with gun violence and the national newscompelled Pugh to shut down comments on a story at the P&C for the first time he can recall. RELATED: The telling difference between captions for these Hurricane Katrina photos The Post & Courier followed its breaking news coverage with a story about the comments its work attracteda torrent of racist, conspiratorial, politically-charged and outright bizarre comments. For that story, Pugh said most of the comments were coming from outside of our market. The P&C also noted an uptick in comments after its coverage caught a link from The Drudge Report. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project The incident in Charleston reignited a debate about whether local news outlets should keep online commentsand just how to keep such comments civil. Countless newsrooms rely on comments sections and social media to foster community engagement and drive traffic to their sites, but those platforms are too frequently hosts to hate, bigotry, threats and damaging content. Many of those newsrooms lack the resources required to clean up comments or scrub offensive material from such platforms. A lot of editors in the country are struggling with how to handle this, Pugh says. The Post & Courier previously covered Dylann Roofs racist church massacre, as well as the shooting death of Walter Scott by police officer Michael Slager. With each of those stories, Pugh says he didnt have to handle commenters in the comments section to the extent he did last week. However, some local newsrooms are experimenting with new technology to try and disinfect the cesspools that can swirl in the spaces below online stories. Civil Comments sells a platform to news sites and provides a self-moderation system which requires commenters to rate multiple other comments for civility and then rate their own comment before a comment shows up on the site. The system also uses algorithms and machine-learning artificial intelligence to pool data concerning the voting and comment histories of frequent users, in order to filter out bad behavior. The system will automatically handle it for you, says co-founder Christa Mrgan. Its sort of like trolls get a timeout, basically, and when they behave themselves they come back and rejoin the conversation. Civil Comments, which is funded by investors and charges for its service based on comment volume, is working with about 60 newsrooms, most of them based in North America. Canadas largest paper, The Globe and Mail, is a client; so is Alaska Dispatch News, the states largest newspaper. Al.com, the Alabama Media Groups online platform for its three markets in Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile, is in a testing phase with the product. In late May, The Denver Post acknowledged that its free commenting system could sometimes work like rich manure, fostering fertile battlegrounds for all manner of trolls, racists and spam artists. The Post, Colorados largest newspaper, instituted Civil Comments; the move is considered an experiment by the papers owner, Digital First Media, which could potentially employ Civil Comments at its considerable local news properties, says Dan Petty, Digital First Medias digital director for audience development. Policing comments takes a toll on resources, which is why the DFM-owned Daily Camera in Boulder killed off its comments altogether last summer. But since The Denver Post started using Civil Comments, a paid service rather than a free commenting system, the investment so far has been worth it. The time it takes to moderate has just given back hours to us, says Rebecca Risch, the Posts digital director. Daniel Schneider, an online producer at the paper who has overseen its various comment sections for a decade, says staffers used to spend up to 20 hours a week moderating commentsmany times what they spend now. ICYMI: One question that turns courageous journalists into cowards I remember sort of being, frankly, skeptical myself, thinking, Oh great, some other vendor says they solved the comment problem, says Petty, who spent several years at The Denver Post before taking a corporate job at Digital First. Petty says Civil Comments have been transformative for The Denver Post. Civil Comments, however, is just two years old. The companys marketing director, Toby Hicks, says some of Civil Comments anticipated funding hasnt come through. The company recently informed its media partners that there could be some changes to its corporate structure, but the papers shouldnt be concerned, he says. Civil is not going away, says Hicks. We have been looking at potential opportunities for mergers or even acquisitions, but were all very confident that everything will remain pretty well established as it is today. Coral, a Mozilla Foundation project developed in conjunction with The Washington Post and The New York Times, is a like-minded effort. Launched in 2014 with a grant from the Knight Foundation, Coral endeavors to bring journalists and the communities they serve closer together. Weve created a situation right now [where] were putting an empty box at the bottom of articles, walking away for two days, coming back and going, Why the hell is it full of trash? Andrew Losowsky, who oversees Coral, thinks he knows why comment sections have become so bad for news sites. He puts it like this: Imagine youre collecting donations for a food bank. You set a box down on the sidewalk and leave it for a few days. Passersby throw trash in it. So you do better. You set the box outside a grocery store with a sign on it stating youre taking food donations. You monitor it and take the trash out if you see it. Then you try to do even better. Show examples of the kind of food youre hoping for and whats already been donated. Now you have an understanding of what youre looking for and what success looks like. And youre monitoring it to make sure it happens. Weve created a situation right now [where] were putting an empty box at the bottom of articles, walking away for two days, coming back and going, Why the hell is it full of trash? Losowsky says. What it comes down to is more fundamental thinking about not just How do we add community on top, but What does success even look like with community? One of Corals efforts is a free, open-source commenting software program called Talk, which seeks to create a space where audience members can offer insights and engage in conversation about journalism, without being unduly vulnerable to attack. The Brisbane Times in Australia uses Talk, and The Washington Post is in its second round of experimenting with it. Coral has a testing group of 15 different newsrooms, says Losowsky. Local media is very much a part of what we do and the way our focus is. Corals blog is a font of research on comments and moderation, much of it original. In January, Coral released what it calls one of the largest surveys ever carried out on commenters across news sites, whose respondents represent commenters from more than a dozen news sites in at least 10 states. A majority of respondents craved expert opinions and journalist responses in comment spaces, while the percentage of commenters who thought their sections were civil varied considerably. Anyone want to write a plugin for our open-source comments system that forces users to wait the average reading time before posting? https://t.co/dzrXjdOMJ5 The Coral Project (@coralproject) August 30, 2017 Petty, at Digital First, says hes been impressed with Corals research, and is keeping an eye on it. I am firmly in the camp that we shouldnt abandon comments, Petty says. I do think that clearly it has its problems and were working through those and its getting better. Pugh, the Charleston Post & Courier editor, sees last weeks uptick in offensive comments at his paper as out-of-character. The P&C previously covered Dylann Roofs racist church massacre, as well as the shooting death of Walter Scott by police officer Michael Slager, which was caught on a cellphone camera. With each of those stories, Pugh says he didnt have to handle commenters in the comments section to the extent he did last week. I think when you see a thread get out of control, it sharpens the mind, and well certainly be watching those things more closely in the future, he says. I dont think were going to make any snap decisions or policy decisions as a result. Id like to believe this is an outlier and were not going to continue to have these sorts of problems, but Im not naive enough to think that we shouldnt be checking and keeping closer eye on it. ICYMI: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Corey Hutchins is CJRs correspondent based in Colorado, where he teaches journalism at Colorado College. A former alt-weekly reporter in South Carolina, he was twice named journalist of the year in the weekly division by the SC Press Association. Hutchins writes about politics and media for the Colorado Independent and worked on the State Integrity Investigation at the Center for Public Integrity; he has contributed to Slate, The Nation, the Washington Post, and others. Follow him on Twitter @coreyhutchins or email him at coreyhutchins@gmail.com. Tiny Owl employees work at computers inside the company's head office in Mumbai, India China's stronghold as the leading BRICS economy could be up for contention by the end of the next decade, according to a new report which suggests that India is set to see a surge in innovation. India's innovation growth rate is expected to rise significantly over the next 15 years, placing it ahead of Russia and close to surpassing China, the study from China's Science Technology Exchange Center said Wednesday. Already India's economy is expected to grow by a greater margin than China's this year. Latest figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast India's gross domestic product (GDP) the total value of goods and services produced to grow 7.2 percent in 2017 versus China's 6.5 percent. This new study highlights the growth that can be expected in intellectual advances, such as science and technology, which are often perceived as indicators of future growth. watch now "It is predicted that the innovation competitiveness of India would see a significant rise with its growth rate probably surpassing China between 2025-2030," the independent Chinese research body wrote in its BRICS Innovation Competitiveness Report 2017. Currently, China is the leader in terms of innovation competitiveness among BRICS nations, followed by Russia, South Africa, Brazil and, lastly, China. However, Russia is expected to fall in the rankings as India continues to innovate, leaving it to vie with China for the top spot. India has been taking notable steps forward in innovation, supported in part by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reform agenda. Government schemes such as Digital India, which expands the country's online infrastructure, and Startup India, which promotes financial backing for entrepreneurs, have been unveiled to boost the country's innovation and technology sectors. Meanwhile, the country's growing information technology and scientific expertise have also helped turn it into an increasingly dominant outsourcing hub. BRICS leaders to meet in China The findings come as global leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are due to meet in Xiamen, China, this weekend for the ninth annual BRICS summit. China has been at loggerheads with India in recent months over a disputed border in the Himalayan region of Doklam. The two countries withdrew troops from the region Tuesday after a 73-day standoff, after which Modi agreed to attend the summit. Russia's President Vladimir Putin,(L), China's President Xi Jingping (R) and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for the concluding session of the BRICS summit. Prakash Singh | AFP | Getty Images watch now The takeovers are coming, the takeovers are coming! At least that's what CNBC's Jim Cramer thinks based on the stock market's response to some recent, large-scale combinations. "It's pretty simple: the upward movement in the stocks of the acquirers is going to drive the takeover bus," the "Mad Money" host said. Until recently, Cramer felt there had been a notion among investors that companies should wait for the Trump administration to implement tax or regulatory policy before making acquisitions. "I think corporate America has finally given up on our dysfunctional government and is now going full speed ahead on acquisitions. Ripe areas? Drugs, aerospace, even oils, if the price of oil were to drop to the low $40s where I think it's headed," Cramer said. "All bad news for the shorts and a bit of welcome good news for the longs." Hurricane Harvey Beneficiaries Weyerhaeuser wood products Source: Weyerhaeuser Hain Celestial CEO on His 'Year of Hell' Irwin Simon, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial Group Inc. Francis Specker | Bloomberg | Getty Images It hasn't been an easy year for Hain Celestial Group founder, Chairman, President and CEO Irwin Simon. "I went through a year of hell," Simon told Cramer in a Wednesday interview, referring to a lengthy accounting probe into Hain's financial practices. In his 24 years at Hain, Simon said "2017 was one of my toughest years ever." The review found no financial wrongdoing, but Hain's stock has struggled to fully bounce back to its levels before the investigation. Still, Simon said that he and his employees learned some valuable lessons from the probe. Centene CEO talks Health Care Reform Then, Cramer sat down with Michael Neidorff, the chairman, president and CEO of Centene Corp. , a major provider at the front-and-center of government-sponsored health care. Neidorff offered his take on fixing health care reform in the Wednesday interview, saying it should be easier than Congress' deliberations make it seem. The CEO recommended simplifying the system, putting in place a "copper" plan with a big deductible for wellness and catastrophic care for healthier people and a re-insurance plan for higher-risk patients. "That would cost you $15, $20 billion on a $3 trillion budget," Neidorff said. "I don't think anybody would get hurt, it's just they're trying to be 'all things, all people.' You know, they're trying to help the states and say [to] the states, 'You can do what you want. You have chrome plans and iron plans.' I believe in keeping it simple." Workday CEO Talks Competition and Partnership Finally, Cramer spoke with Aneel Bhusri, the co-founder and CEO of human capital management software system Workday . With new clients including Citigroup , Siemens and Shell under its belt, Workday is entering a higher level of involvement with massive international companies, Bhusri said on Wednesday. "Our math is that 30 percent of the Fortune 500 has chosen Workday. Fifty percent of the market of those Fortune 500 companies haven't made any decision yet," Bhusri told Cramer. "So from our math, we're the clear leader in the Fortune 500 segment and likely in the Fortune 50 segment as well, but there's still a lot of market opportunity in front of us." And when it comes to competition with the likes of ADP , Bhusri painted the playing field as fairly complex. "In places we compete and [in] places we partner," Bhusri said. "I think a fair comparison for ADP is, candidly, SAP and Oracle . You have to look at other companies that have to deal with legacy software and generations of old technology and it's a challenge to overcome that and I think [CEO] Carlos [Rodriguez], again, is doing a good job in the time he's had at ADP." Lightning Round: SNA Has a Problem Residents of La Vita Bella assisted living facility are seen in waste-deep flooding due to Tropical Storm Harvey in Dickinson, Texas, U.S. August 27, 2017. Photo taken August 27, 2017. Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters have taken a toll on health-care facilities in southeast Texas, and it could take weeks if not months for some of the area's major medical centers to recover. "Over 20 healthcare facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and others have been evacuated. Another two dozen ... announced that they were on 'internal disaster status,'" but are still treating patients, said Darrell Pile, CEO of the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, which has been coordinating the disaster response in the region. With waters beginning to recede in areas south of Houston, Pile says that most area hospitals should be able to get staffing back to normal and supplies in place over the next few days. "I anticipate that at least 90 percent of our health care facilities will be back in service within one month," Pile said. HCA Healthcare is one of the largest for-profit hospital operators in Texas, with facilities accounting for more than a quarter of its business in the region. By late Tuesday, its facilities in Corpus Christi had reopened, a spokesman said, but two of its Houston-area hospitals were still affected by flooding. He described the damage as minor. "The evacuation of Bayshore Medical Center's most critical patients has been completed, and further evacuation has been suspended, though we will continue to assess the situation," said Ed Fishbough, spokesman for HCA. "East Houston Regional Medical Center, which was evacuated before the storm, remains closed." Nearly 10 percent of Community Health Systems' hospital operations are located in the area affected by Harvey. The company says five of its hospitals were affected this week, with two facilities in Victoria, 120 miles southwest of Houston, in the direct path of the storm. DeTar Hospital North is expected to remain closed through next week, but its sister facility DeTar Hospital Navarro is expected to resume full operation by week's end. "Water and power were major challenges, and DeTar loaned CHS' back-up mobile generators to the City of Victoria which allowed restoration of the city water supply for residents as well as DeTar Hospital Navarro and the county-owned hospital," said Rebecca Ayer, spokeswoman for Community Health Systems, in a statement. LifePoint Health says its facilities in south Texas were not affected by the storm surge following Harvey and are operating normally. "Our facilities in Louisiana, however, are bracing for the continued impact of the storm. They are currently open, operating and are well prepared to treat patients and support the community," said Michelle Augusty, spokeswoman for LifePoint Health. Analysts estimate the closures could impact patient volumes into the next quarter for hospitals in the Houston area. After past storms in Louisiana and Texas, the major hospital operators saw between 1 and 5 percent declines in revenues. Hurricane Harvey has hit at a time when hospital admissions growth is already down. "Houston is a really important market for them," said ratings analyst Jessica Gladstone, a vice president with Moody's investor service, in a note to clients. "Patient volumes are going to be way down, but there's also going to be a lot of extra costs," for cleanup, she said. "Even though it's 5 to 10 percent of their overall revenues, we're going to see it in the results." But the lowered volumes are likely to be temporary, given that most of the public hospitals were well-prepared for the storm and those that had to evacuate patients did so without incident. "The market usually looks through hurricane impact on results, so long as the issues do not result in the kind of patient care issues we saw with Katrina," noted Mizuho director of research Sheryl Skolnick in a report to clients, "even if it takes weeks to get the hospitals back on track for normal levels of volume and activity." Pile said Houston hospitals learned a lot from prior Texas storms and New Orleans' experience during Katrina. "I can't say enough about the role of preparedness and responders," which is possible in part because of the federal hospital preparedness program due to be renewed by Congress, Pile said. "It's at risk to have funds reduced. I hope that Texas can become a model and demonstrate why those funds continue to be needed," he said. Follow Bertha Coombs on Twitter: @coombscnbc Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday that Mexico will leave the negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to start the process of withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). American flags, left, stand next to Mexican flags ahead of the first round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. On Monday, Trump said he would probably need to terminate NAFTA to get what he considers a fair trade deal with economic partners Mexico and Canada, and revisited his campaign promise that Mexico would pay for a border wall. Asked in Washington if Mexico would continue negotiating if Trump pulled the trigger on the six-month process of withdrawing from the trade deal, Videgaray responded with an emphatic "No." Videgaray said he, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross agreed on Wednesday to continue with a "serious" renegotiation process. At around the same time, during a speech at a Missouri factory, Trump repeated his threat to shred the deal. Videgaray and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo traveled to Washington following Trump's near daily threats in the build up to the second round of NAFTA talks, due to be held in Mexico Sept. 1-5 A clause in NAFTA allows any of the three countries to withdraw from the deal after giving 180 days notice, and Trump has previously flirted with the idea of starting that process to ramp up pressure on the other trade partners. Some experts in the United States argue that Trump would not be legally allowed to leave NAFTA without the approval of Congress. The first five-day round of talks between the three countries concluded in Washington on Aug. 20, with all sides committing to follow an accelerated process in revamping the agreement. watch now U.K. and EU diplomats are locked in the third round of talks this week in Brussels, but real negotiations have yet to begin, the European Parliament chief for Brexit warned in an exclusive interview with CNBC. "Let's be honest, I think it's maybe the first round of negotiations," Guy Verhofstadt, who represents the European Parliament in the Brexit process, told CNBC Wednesday about the latest series of formal discussions between the two sides that are due to conclude Thursday. The U.K. and the EU have already held two rounds of talks in June and July. But according to Verhofstadt, those represented respectively an official start to talks and the public presentation of both sides' initial positions. "I think what we need to do is really to start negotiations and to see how we do this withdrawal; if a transition is needed, making a transition that is not causing economic damage (for either side)," Verhofstadt said, adding that it was only then that both parties should consider their future relationship. The U.K. had initially pushed for negotiations to focus on its exit and its future relationship with Europe at the same time. But the Europeans have said they want to confirm the technicalities of how the U.K. will leave the bloc, before deciding on the shape of any future cooperation or partnership. The EU wants to agree first on the U.K.'s financial and budgetary liabilities the so-called Brexit Bill as well as finding a mutually agreeable resolution to the issue of the Irish border, and some concrete confirmation of the future rights for EU citizens' living in the U.K. Chief negotiator for the European Union, Michel Barnier (R) and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis (L) hold a joint press conference during the second round of the Brexit negotiations in Brussels, Belgium on July 20, 2017. Dursun Aydemir | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images At the conclusion of the July round of talks, the division between the two sides was obvious, with the EU's leading negotiator Michel Barnier demanding the U.K. clarify its position and what it hoped to achieve in the exit discussions. Since then the U.K. government has published several position papers but Verhofstadt like many in Brussels was largely dismissive of their utility, since "most of them were in fact papers concerning the future relationship between U.K. and the European Union." And given the substantial differences, he said he was "pessimistic" about this latest series of discussions, especially when it relates to Britain's financial liabilities. "It's like in a divorce and in a divorce when you go away you don't let all the bills with the rest of the family," Verhofstadt said about the Brexit bill. He suggested that negotiators should agree on a methodology to come up with the figure. On the issue of European citizens' rights in the U.K., and the reciprocal rights of British passport holders on the continent, Verhofstadt believes the British government's proposal to create entirely new classifications simply adds unnecessary complication. "In my opinion, what we need to do is not to introduce now a new system for EU citizens living in Britain and then a new status for U.K. citizens living on the continent. What we need to do is agree on a system in which all these people can keep their rights as they have now," the European Parliament member said. watch now "European democracy, and I think also British democracy, has not been established to diminish the rights of citizens but to protect the rights of citizens," he said, reiterating his often repeated position that the European Parliament will insist negotiating teams must focus on this issue. "Let's be honest, who is the biggest victim of this whole story? Well, the citizens. The citizens will have problems today." Verhofstadt said the European Parliament has received hundreds of letters from EU and U.K. citizens, complaining about new practices by government authorities on both sides of the English Channel that are making it difficult for them to continue with their current lives. Transition deal is unavoidable Verhofstadt agrees with many of the technical experts who have commented on the scale and complexity of these negotiations; the Brexit process will be long and complicated. "There's a necessity for a transition period because it's impossible in one year and a half (years) not only to discuss and to debate and to negotiate a departure but on top of that also a new relationship. That's not realistic," Verhofstadt said. And he said that those who think the U.K. will be able to retain EU benefits but not meet its obligations are living in a fantasy land. "Some people think or dream they could have all the advantages of the European Union, free trade single market, customs union, without any liability, without any inconvenience, no migration no payments, no oversight by the European Court of Justice and full authority on trade," he said. Brexit is 'dangerously expensive' watch now After a century-old paper mill in Brokaw, Wisconsin, closed a few years ago, the town of 250 residents effectively went bankrupt. Brokaw will soon be dissolved by its two neighboring towns. But it has found a new way to live on: through a federal bill named for it that would restrict Wall Street's activist hedge-funds, the type of investing firms that were blamed for the town's demise. The Brokaw Act would require more disclosures by these hedge funds, which have been accused of promoting short-term gains over the long-term health of the companies they battle for change. Its sponsor, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), plans to reintroduce the bill when the Senate is back in session after earlier attempts last year stalled. This time, she has a Republican co-sponsor, Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, and the backing of a coalition of business leaders, including Home Depot . That has already garnered the concern of hedge-fund activists, who say if the bill becomes law it could severely restrict their ability to take minority stakes in companies and push for change. These days in Brokaw, located over 1,000 miles from Wall Street, everyone knows what a hedge fund is. When asked who's to blame for what happened in Brokaw, Jeff Weisenberger, 61, quickly responded: "hedge funds." Outside of the paper mill, which still retains one of its smoke stacks from the turn of the 20th century, Weisenberger is driving a forklift. He worked for 35 years as a machinist in the mill, making $28 an hour. Today, he's helping the new owners demolish the mill, making wages that he describes as "drastically lower." "It hurt the community when they shut down because the people here had good jobs and spent their money on toys, snowmobiles, and boats and motorcycles," said Weisenberger. "The income's gone; the people gotta go elsewhere." While activist investors were involved with the mill's parent company, their actual culpability for what happened in Brokaw is disputed. It all started in 2011, when Starboard Value, the New York hedge fund led by Jeff Smith, took a stake in shares of Wausau Paper, the Mosinee, Wisconsin-based company that owned a slew of mills, including the one in Brokaw. The Brokaw mill was known for making rainbow 8-by-11-inch sheets of paper that could be purchased at office supply stores like Staples and OfficeMax. Starboard said that business was in decline and dragging down the rest of Wausau Paper, which made everything from toilet paper to paper towels. By December of that year, Wausau's board of directors approved a plan to permanently close the Brokaw mill, eliminating 450 hourly and salaried jobs. Those who defend the hedge funds say it was management at Wausau Paper, and not the investors, who were responsible for closing the mill. The same story had been happening all over during that time period as the American paper industry began facing greater competition from China and a more-environmentally-conscious consumer that was turning more frequently to computers and printing out fewer documents on paper. Wausau Paper already had shut down a sulfite pulp mill in Brokaw in 2005, and two years later, closed its Groveton, New Hampshire mill, followed by the closure of one in Appleton, Wisconsin. In 2009, it closed its Livermore Falls, Maine, mill. About 550 jobs were lost as a result of all those closures -- all of them took place before Starboard arrived on the scene. "Hedge-fund activists played essentially no role in the closure of the Brokaw mill," wrote Alon Brav of Duke University in a 2016 paper co-written with several other academics, who studied the case. "To the contrary, the paper company's incumbent management closed the mill just the latest in a series of management's mill closures amid an industry-wide decline that made the mill uneconomic to keep open." But management believes the story of Brokaw would be much different had Starboard never taken a stake in Wausau Paper. Hank Newell was the chief executive of the paper company during much of Starboard's involvement. Newell said that Wausau had a buyer lined up to acquire the Brokaw mill, but they balked after Starboard started publicly criticizing the company. A major customer as well as the company's lender also turned away amid the public battles with the hedge fund. "They are predators trying to take value from those who create value," Newell said in an interview. Sen. Baldwin's office reached out to Newell after she saw the devastation that the paper mill closure had on the town. He offered advice and suggestions for legislation that would limit the powers that activist hedge funds currently enjoy. The bill would shorten the time period hedge funds have to disclose any stakes they have taken in a public company greater than 5 percent of its shares. Today, that window is 10 days; if the Brokaw Act passes, it would be four days. The initial version of the bill went even further, shortening it to two days. It would also require the disclosure of short positions that surpass the 5 percent threshold. The bill also requires coordinated groups of hedge funds to identify themselves as working together. Newell said three other hedge funds were working with Starboard, something that was not known to the public. Representatives from Starboard and the Council for Investor Rights and Corporate Accountability, or Circa (the lobbying group that represents activist investors) did not respond to CNBC's requests seeking comment. Additionally, the bill would force activists to disclose stakes they acquired indirectly through derivatives. Wausau Paper sold last year to a Sweden-based company, SCA , though Newell had departed the management by then. While the legislation won't restart the Brokaw mill or bring the town back to life, Newell said he hopes it would prevent other CEOs from having a similar fate. "Often times I'm asked why Brokaw is the appropriate name for the legislation," said Newell. "Everything that is happening to Wausau and to Wisconsin is directly applicable to any public company operating in the United States." A company, like society, needs rules. Otherwise, things fall apart. But at what point are rules holding you back? What happens when the confines are too tight? "Overly rigid rules are the enemy of cultivating judgment," Barry Schwartz, a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, tells CNBC Make It. He believes that with too much regulation and too little choice, you will not develop "practical wisdom," a concept introduced by Aristotle over 2,000 years ago, and the focus of Schwartz's 2009 TED Talk, "Our loss of wisdom," as well as the title of a book he wrote. Barry Schwartz, TED Speaker and visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business The ancient Greek philosopher defined the concept as a "combination of moral will and moral skill." In other words, knowing what the right thing is, and then having the courage to do it, even if it entails breaking rules. With too much regulation, says Schwartz, "You don't get a chance to improvise, experiment, learn from your mistakes and get better." And this is an issue because unanticipated problems inevitably arise. Take the case of a hospital janitor, which Schwartz offers as an example during his TED talk. He points out that, on the surface, a janitor's tasks are menial. He takes out trash, sweeps floors and restocks cabinets. The role has nothing about interacting with other human beings. Yet, for a hospital to function properly, janitors need to know when to be compassionate and decent. Sometimes, that entails neglecting their duties. Schwartz introduces Mike, who "stopped mopping the floor because Mr. Jones was out of his bed getting a little exercise, trying to build up his strength, walking slowly up and down the hall." And there was Charlene, who "didn't vacuum the visitor's lounge because there were some family members who were there all day, every day who, at this moment, happened to be taking a nap." These are demonstrations of practical wisdom, he says: The janitors knew what was right and acted on it. When, instead, employees mindlessly follow orders, they rely on incentives. Such a reliance, says Schwartz, "undermines people's desire to do the right thing." "You can never create incentives so that what's in your best interest is also in everybody else's best interest," he says. So, what then do you work for if not a reward like a paycheck or a promotion? According to Schwartz, you should work to fulfill your purpose, whatever that may be. "If you're a financial advisor," he says, "your aim should be to serve your clients. If you're a teacher, your aim should be to educate and inspire your students. If you're a doctor, your aim should be to prevent suffering and cure disease." There's no shortage of evidence to support the claim. The 2016 Workforce Purpose Index found that employees with a sense of purpose outperform others, are more productive and are more inclined to stay late at the office. More than half of China's oil production will be at risk if tensions between North Korea and its North Asia neighbors spirals into conflict, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie warned. Military action could halt the flow of crude oil imports to South Korea, Japan and China, which together account for 34 percent of seaborne oil trade globally, the consultants said in a Wednesday report. Under a "worst case scenario," China could permit the release of oil from strategic reserves "for the first time since it started building these 3-4 years ago," said Chris Graham, product suite director for gas and LNG at Wood Mackenzie. South Korea and Japan could take similar action and both countries have emergency reserves to cover 90 days' worth of demand. Japan may accelerate the re-commissioning of nuclear power generators to compensate for any squeeze on imported oil and gas in the event of a conflict. For China, its domestic oil production would provide a buffer, but the proximity of key producing basins to the North Korean border leaves the country vulnerable to disruption. The low-key presence of these two from a brand perspective is deceiving because they were in fact all over the place. In many of the product launches, from many different companies, either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant was mentioned as a partner. But tucked in the tiny corner of the venue, in one of the smallest halls, was a stand for Amazon Alexa, the e-commerce giant's voice assistant. So far, no Google branding could be spotted. Construction of booths was still ongoing on Thursday ahead of the opening day on Friday. Companies like Sony , Panasonic and Samsung were putting the final touches on their giant stands. But quietly in the background, two players with barely any branding anywhere are making the most noise: Google and Amazon . IFA is one of the largest consumer electronics shows in the world. The largest device makers in the world from Samsung to Lenovo tend to stage flashy launches at the event which takes place in Berlin, Germany. Chinese firm Qihan for example integrated Alexa into its humanoid robot called the Sanbot Nano. Sony released a 230 euro ($272) smart speaker, similar to the Amazon Echo, but with Google Assistant as the main voice feature. Meanwhile, LG announced that all of its smart home devices released in 2017 will be compatible with Google Assistant. That means users can ask the voice assistant things like how long is left on the cycle of their LG washing machine. It's an absolute land grab by Amazon and Google, two tech behemoths who are leading the way in artificial intelligence (AI). And there's a few reasons why. Firstly, the more devices that each voice assistant is on, the smarter it will become because it has large amounts of data available. But the most important strategic reason is that the so-called internet of things (IOT) is becoming reality. That is, an increasing number of devices are becoming connected and Amazon and Google both want to be major players, without actually making much hardware. Think what has happened in smartphones. There are two dominant operating systems: Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Owning these has allowed Apple and Google to become major mobile players and reap the revenues from their respective app stores and other services. As of yet, there is no unified "smart things" operating system. It's disjointed, expensive, and not seamless, like we have come to expect on mobile. But there's rising interest in voice assistants which could prove to become the operating system of the IOT. You can control devices without screens and those assistants can almost become your handy helper. Amazon missed the mobile wave in terms of hardware and software, but this could be its chance to become a major IOT platform. And the reward could be a significant new revenue stream. In a report earlier this year, RBC predicted that Alexa could bring Amazon $10 billion of revenues by 2020 and be a "mega-hit." Think about a world with Alexa all around you. Imagine now what Amazon could sell you. The vision is similar for Google. Ads and e-commerce could give the search giant some new revenues. There's potentially a lot at stake and it's risky if voice doesn't take off. But neither Amazon nor Google wants to miss out and that's why this epic landgrab to get on as many devices as possible is set to continue. The federal government's ability to work with state and local officials to respond to the devastation from Hurricane Harvey has been "remarkable," American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern told CNBC on Thursday. "The coordination has been very, very tight. I just deeply appreciate the help," McGovern said. "The coordination through this disaster with FEMA, with state government, with local government has been remarkable." The Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Donald Trump's choice to lead it has been given high marks for its response to Harvey, in stark contrast to FEMA's initial mishandling of Hurricane Katrina relief in 2005 during the presidency of George W. Bush. On Wednesday, Scott Cowen, the former president of Tulane University who had helped lead rebuilding efforts in New Orleans 12 years ago, told CNBC he thinks FEMA's preparedness is "better than it's ever been before." The failures of FEMA in 2005 became apparent as then-President Bush, while touring Katrina destruction, infamously praised the then-administrator of the agency, Michael Brown. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," Bush said at the time. Brown resigned shortly thereafter over what was viewed as a botched federal response to the disaster. Brown, who spoke to CNBC on Tuesday, praised FEMA on Harvey describing the current administrator, Brock Long, as a "great person to have in this position." Long, nominated to head FEMA in April by Trump, was confirmed in June. Trump on Tuesday visited Texas where Long has been leading the administration's response to the storm. McGovern, who's led the Red Cross since 2008, said that daily conference calls between federal, state and local officials have helped keep Harvey relief efforts on the same page. "We explained we couldn't get our volunteers and cots through. And the next thing I knew, we had 20 high-water vehicles from the Department of Defense to help us out," she said. Arkema shares fell sharply on Thursday after two explosions were reported at its flood-hit chemical plant in Crosby, Texas. Chemicals were released into the atmosphere after Arkema's U.S.-based complex sustained significant damage from Tropical Storm Harvey. One police officer helping to secure the site was reportedly taken to a nearby hospital after inhaling fumes, while nine others admitted themselves as a precaution. Residents living within a 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) radius of the French chemical group's site had been evacuated as the company warned there was a risk of explosions and fire. Arkema said further explosions of organic peroxides stored on site were possible and urged people to stay away as the fire burns itself out. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sat lower at around 2.129 percent at 2:54 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 2.731 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to upcoming data and a speech by a member of the Federal Reserve. On Thursday, investors were greeted by a cluster of new data, as key economic releases were published throughout the trading day. The Commerce Department announced that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased 0.3 percent last month after an upwardly revised 0.2 percent rise in June. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated consumer spending rising 0.4 percent in July. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy edged up 0.1 percent in July after a similar gain in June. The core PCE is the Fed's preferred inflation measure. U.S. weekly jobless claims totaled 236,000, matching estimates while personal income rose 0.4 percent in July versus a 0.3 percent increase expected. After a brief improvement in June, home sales continued their downward slide in July. An index of so-called pending home sales, which represent closings one to two months from now, fell 0.8 percent compared to June, according to the National Association of Realtors. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan was in Texas at the NASCO and Dallas County Community College District's Workforce Forum on Thursday, where he gave his thoughts on a panel entitled "improving growth by closing the skills gap." While geopolitical tensions surrounding North Korea may have eased in the last day, investors will still be on edge awaiting any news surrounding the country's motives. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to state that "talking is not the answer" when it comes to resolving the ongoing tensions the country is dealing with, when it comes to North Korea. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer! Meanwhile, investors will also be keeping their focus on news coming from Brussels, as leading officials from both the U.K. and European Union wrap up their third round of Brexit negotiations on Thursday. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Lin Wei, managing partner at Beijing-based law firm Daxiao, also known as Dare & Sure, said he and his colleagues filed the complaint to China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the National Development and Reform Commission. He told CNBC that the SAIC is reviewing the complaint. Chinese regulators are looking into an antitrust complaint filed against Apple that accuses the tech giant of abusing its market position in the mainland, according to the law firm that filed it. The lawyers accused Apple of removing apps from its App Store without fair or legal reasons. They also alleged that Apple levies a 30 percent cut on certain apps. The complaint against Apple was filed early August and it was done so on behalf of 28 local developers, according to Reuters. The law firm did not provide details of the developers involved in the complaint, according to Reuters. For context, Apple has more than 1.8 million people working in the App Store ecosystem in China. To be clear, the Chinese regulators are not formally investigating Apple over any breach of antitrust laws. Instead, the SAIC is only reviewing the complaint. Following their review, the regulators may choose to start an investigation. In response to CNBC's request for comment, Apple pointed to a previous statement in which the company said, "The App Store team works to review more than 100,000 apps every week from around the world, and are proud that most submissions in China are reviewed and approved to be on the store within 48 hours, or less." It added that its App Store has published guidelines that apply equally to all developers in every country in which Apple operates and that it complies with local laws and regulations. "If an app is rejected or removed for violating App Store guidelines there is an escalation process for all developers to ask for another review of their situation and assistance getting their app quickly back on the store," the statement said. Apple has recently stepped up business efforts in China. Earlier this year, the company announced the appointment of Isabel Ge Mahe in a new role of vice president and managing director of Greater China to provide leadership and coordination across Apple's China-based team. CNBC has also reached out to the SAIC but did not immediately hear back. CNBC's Daisy Cherry, Barry Huang and Patrick Wong contributed to reporting. watch now The tuition is paid, the books are purchased and the dorm room mini-fridge is stocked. But there's still one back-to-college expense families should assess renters insurance. Theft and property damage incidents on college campuses are relatively rare, but not unheard of. In 2015, colleges reported 1,926 fires at on-campus student housing, according to the Department of Education. Burglary is the most common on-campus crime, per a 2016 National Center for Education Statistics report, accounting for half of crime at public and private 2- and 4-year institutions. The 13,500 burglaries reported equal roughly nine incidents per 10,000 full-time students. Top renters insurance claims, by frequency Loss Percentage of claims Theft 41% Water (not related to weather) 12% Electrical failure 12% Mysterious disappearance 6% Source: SOURCE: Travelers, based on data from 2013 to 2016. Your student might not need a separate policy. Usually, dependent students' possessions are covered under their parents' homeowners or renters insurance policy, said Angie Orbann, vice president of property and personal insurance for Travelers. Top renters insurance claims, by claim payments Loss Percentage of claim payments Theft 37% Fire 27% Water (not related to weather) 12% Mysterious disappearance 5% Source: SOURCE: Travelers, based on data from 2013 to 2016. Yet it's worth checking with your agent. Depending on the details of that policy, there can be gaps that leave you or your student at risk: Housing. A parent's policy often extends coverage for students living in on-campus dorms, but may exclude a student living in an off-campus home or apartment, said Loretta Worters, a vice president for the Insurance Information Institute. They'll need their own policy to protect their possessions and provide liability coverage. Possessions. Most policies cap coverage for "items stored off-premises," which would include your child's dorm-room contents, at 10 percent of the policy, said Orbann. Valuable items like electronics, collectibles and jewelry have even lower limits and of course, those are the items more likely to be misplaced (what insurers dub "mysterious disappearance") or stolen. "The stuff students bring to college can add up pretty quickly," she said. Common items claimed as lost or stolen Rank Theft on premises Theft off premises Mysterious disappearance 1 Cash Hobbies and collectibles Jewelry and watches 2 Jewelry and watches Clothing and accessories Clothing and accessories 3 Music, movies and media Sporting goods Housewares 4 Clothing and accessories Cash Cameras and equipment 5 Hobbies and collectibles Jewelry and watches Cash Source: SOURCE: Travelers, based on data from 2013 to 2016. Renters insurance basics A renters insurance policy can be cheap peace of mind, said Tim Manni, a mortgage expert with NerdWallet.com. Policies typically protect the policyholder's personal possessions and provide liability coverage, as well as compensation if a covered disaster (like a fire) forces you to find alternate housing. The average annual cost of a renters policy is just $190, according to the latest data from the Insurance Information Institute. (For comparison, the average homeowners insurance premium is nearly six times that, at $1,132.) Hero Images | Getty Images Consumers often think they don't need their own insurance, because their landlord has it or a roommate does, Manni said. But that's a misconception. A landlord's policy doesn't cover tenants' possessions, and neither will a roommate's policy, he said. As with other kinds of insurance, it's smart to shop around for a renters policy, comparing prices and terms, he said. Create an inventory of possessions to make sure your student has enough coverage. Ask to see if there are any discounts like those for attending a particular college or having another type of insurance (like auto) with the same company. Insurers may also offer a break for security precautions in the building or apartment. WATCH: Using AI to buy insurance Some U.S. business leaders urging Washington to lower corporate tax rates may want to be careful what they wish for. Despite widespread calls for slashing the top rate from the current 35 percent, dozens of major companies are already paying less in some cases, far less than that share of their profits in taxes. So if the push for tax reform ends up slashing through the thicket of business deductions, exemptions and loopholes, companies that currently take full advantage of those tax breaks would end up paying more to the Treasury, not less. "All of the things packed into the tax code would have to be unpacked," said economist Diane Swonk. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that the White House has a "detailed plan" for overhauling the nation's tax code but stopped short of spelling out those details, including the administration's goal of lowering the top rate. President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to lower the rate to 15 percent, but congressional Republicans have indicated that 20 to 25 percent is a more realistic goal. That's not much lower than the current "effective" corporate tax rate the share of profits companies actually pay of about 27 percent, according to the Congressional Research Service, which is in line with other developed countries. But some companies that enjoy the most generous loopholes can end up paying no tax at all. A review of the effective tax rates the amount companies actually pay after taking advantage of tax breaks shows that dozens of them would pay more in taxes if their favorite tax breaks were eliminated to pay for revenues lost by cutting the top rate. Earlier this year, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, combed through the financial filings of 258 major U.S. corporations to see how much tax they reported paying. The result: more than two-thirds of the companies paid less than 20 percent of their profits in taxes, on average, between 2008 and 2015. Some actually got money back from the government. CNBC's Jim Cramer called Wells Fargo a "rogue bank" on Thursday after the bank said it uncovered much more potentially unauthorized consumer and small-business accounts than originally thought. On Thursday, Wells Fargo said its review of 165 million retail accounts opened from January 2009 to September 2016 identified 3.5 million as potentially unauthorized, up from 2.1 million accounts identified in a narrower review. "A million extra? I mean that's not a rounding error," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "It's not embarrassing, it's rogue. This is a rogue bank." Perhaps Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been tough on Wells Fargo, had a point, added Cramer. In June, the Massachusetts Democrat called for the ouster of 12 board members at Wells Fargo due to the fake accounts scandal. "They thought they got to the bottom of it but they left out a million accounts," Cramer said. "That does not seem like the bottom of this. This is so outrageous." "I'd like to call all those board members to Congress," he added. "This was a bank that ran amok in order to meet cross-selling obligations. ... We should not let up on this Wells Fargo situation." On Wednesday, billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC that when one puts a spotlight on a large financial institution like Wells Fargo, they're likely to find something. "What you find is there's never just one cockroach in the kitchen when you start looking around," the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said on "Squawk Alley." Berkshire is Wells Fargo's largest shareholder. In response to Buffett's comment, a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in part: "Our top priority is rebuilding the trust of our customers, team members, community partners, and shareholders." CNBC has reached to Wells Fargo for further comment but the company did not immediately respond. CNBC's Liz Moyer contributed to this report. To counter the rising interest in exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, CNBC's Jim Cramer wanted to explain why individual companies do still matter to these funds and the overall market. "What was behind the incredible rally in non-FANG tech yesterday?" the "Mad Money" host asked on Thursday. Cramer argued that it wasn't Warren Buffett's endorsement of Apple or the small jump in shares of Netflix . "No, it was all about a little company called Analog Devices ," Cramer said. "Of course, it's not really little anymore. It's a $30 billion semiconductor company, and it reported a terrific quarter and held a brilliant conference call." Analog Devices, a multifaceted semiconductor manufacturer that many once regarded as being hostage to Apple, delivered a top- and bottom-line beat in its third-quarter report. The company specializes in chips and other technology for data conversion and signal processing, serving 125,000 customers around the world, according to its website. Since Analog's $14.8 billion acquisition of Linear Technology, Cramer said the manufacturer's scope has become even more broad. "It's a totally different animal, with just 17 percent of its products going into 'consumer' markets, which is often code for ... Apple," the "Mad Money" host said. The rest of Analog's business was what really piqued tech investors' interest. Forty-nine percent of the company serves the industrial sector, helping build robots and automate factories. Given that a company can save roughly $2 million each time it automates its factory with Analog's devices, Cramer figured Analog's industrial business has promise. Then, 16 percent of the manufacturer's products go into autos, at about $250 a car. Analog said it hasn't felt the effects of slumping auto sales, yet another promising trend for the company. "Some of that is because of demand from car companies seeking autonomous driving solutions," Cramer said. "And, for electric vehicles the other mega-trend beside autonomous driving when you're charging the battery, ADI's chips give you a reading that's three times more accurate than the competition." Analog also thinks that it can double its products' car applications in the next eight years, bringing its total income per car to $500. The manufacturer also devotes 18 percent of its business to communications. Currently, it plans to assist in the roll-out of 5G wireless networks, first in China and Japan and then worldwide. "Now think about this mosaic: industrial, autos, communications, consumer," Cramer said. "What you get is a company that's involved in all of the important elements of the future, the hottest parts of the IoT, internet of things, and it's doing incredibly well. No wonder tech is taking center stage as we enter the ninth month of the year." Paired with Analog's 70 percent gross margins and healthy cash flow, its lines of business could propel the individual stock much higher than a broader ETF, Cramer said. "Long story short, these are unstoppable trends, people, like the move to the cloud, like the importance of the data center, like the need for security ... and power, and like the desire to mine data to better understand your customer, like artificial intelligence driven by voice, like the need for more environmentally friendly cars that don't need a human driver, and, of course, the desire to compete with Amazon ," the "Mad Money" host said. "These trends are why tech stocks are more robust than any other time I can recall in my career, except when the personal computer became cheap enough to be a mass-market product and the internet became universal." The French government is to unveil final details of proposed labor reforms Thursday in what is seen as a key plank of President Emmanuel Macron's political and economic strategy for the next five years but also a highly contentious issue inside the country. The recently-elected president wants to make the labor market more flexible to improve the country's economy. Macron has always advocated that France needs to become more competitive and the reform program became one of his key pledges on the campaign trail. The high costs when both firing and hiring in France are seen as a reason for a lack of investment in a society that has been hit by high unemployment. However, the issue has always sparked problems with trade unions. "We will not avoid some little strikes, but this is normal. In all countries around the world there are strikes when you touch labour law," Pierre Gattaz, the president of Medef, a large employment federation in France, told CNBC on Wednesday. "We have to do that (labor reform). I hope Emmanuel Macron will not fail to do that," Gattaz added, asking for simpler rules from the government. Attending college is a major investment, and it's essential that students factor how much they expect to earn upon graduation into the decision about which school to attend. Job site PayScale collected information from 2.3 million Americans with bachelor's degrees from 2,441 institutions and found that graduates with highest median salaries often attended small colleges with strong engineering programs. Read on to see PayScale's list of the 10 schools with the alumni with the highest median income: 10. Stanford University Early career pay: $73,300 Mid-career pay: $140,400 Percentage of STEM majors: 49 percent 9. Harvard University Early career pay: $69,200 Mid-career pay: $140,700 Percentage of STEM majors: 19 percent 8. Babson College Early career pay: $66,600 Mid-career pay: $141,700 Percentage of STEM majors: 0 percent 7. California Institute of Technology Early career pay: $78,800 Mid-career pay: $142,500 Percentage of STEM majors: 97 percent 6. United States Naval Academy Early career pay: $75,000 Mid-career pay: $143,800 Percentage of STEM majors: 60 percent New cadets stand in formation during the Oath of Allegiance ceremony during Reception Day at the United States Military Academy at West Point, June 27, 2016 in West Point, New York. Getty Images 5. United States Military Academy Early career pay: $75,100 Mid-career pay: $144,300 Percentage of STEM majors: 43 percent 4. SUNY Maritime College Early career pay: $71,600 Mid-career pay: $145,100 Percentage of STEM majors: 35 percent 3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Early career pay: $81,500 Mid-career pay: $147,000 Percentage of STEM majors: 69 percent 2. Princeton University Early career pay: $69,800 Mid-career pay: $147,800 Percentage of STEM majors: 47 percent 1. Harvey Mudd College Early career pay: $81,000 Mid-career pay: $155,800 Percentage of STEM majors: 85 percent Analysis It's important to note that these wealthy alumni do not accurately represent the socioeconomic, racial and gender distribution of the U.S. population. Many of the schools with high-earning alumni enroll a disproportionate number of men. Given that women on average earn just 83 percent of what men earn, it makes sense that schools with high percentages of male students have high-earning alumni. Babson College Boston Globe | Getty Images French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference at the Chancellery on May 15, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Axel Schmidt | Getty Image Bosses in France will find it easier to hire and fire staff under new reforms aimed at overhauling the country's notoriously stringent labor market. The French government laid out 36 new measures on Thursday as part of President Emmanuel Macron's plans to encourage employment and business freedoms. These include greater autonomy at a workplace level, rather than an industry level. The changes will be especially significant for small and medium-sized businesses, which employ over half of the French workforce. watch now Under the new rules, companies with fewer than 50 employees will be able to set up workers' committees which can bypass unions. This means that if a business can agree terms with the majority of its employees, for instance on working hours and pay, that deal can trump wider industry guidelines. The rules will also place a cap on damages payable to staff for unfair dismissal. This is one of the more controversial measures, but the government insists that having transparency will make employers less reluctant to recruit. Employees will now have one year to challenge a dismissal in courts, rather than the previous two years. Meanwhile, damages payments will now be capped at three months' pay for two years of work and 20 months' pay for 30 years. The plans have attracted criticism, with demonstrations scheduled for next month, but the country's two biggest unions have said they will not take part. watch now Republican congressman Ted Poe whose district includes northern parts of Houston told CNBC on Thursday that explosions and fires are expected to continue for days at the flooded-out Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas. "The company says it could be as long as six days," Poe said in a "Squawk Box" phone interview, while describing the chain of events that led to the volatile situation. "Six foot of water got into the plant. It took out the power system. Both backup power systems went out. Those are used to keep the chemicals cool. The refrigeration unit wasn't working. So the chemicals get hot. They burn and they explode." Arkema, which is based in France, was urging people to stay away as the fires burn themselves out. Poe said that the plant has been evacuated and so has about "two miles in diameter" from the facility. At an early morning news conference, officials in Harris County where the plant is located downplayed the severity of the situation, saying nearly Thursday containers under pressure that need to be kept cool popped and started small fires. Disney is attempting to cut 10 percent a year from its costs, a move that may bring layoffs after a summer of bad box office numbers and struggling ratings. The media giant is targeting the cuts in its ABC television group, a source familiar with the changes told CNBC. Disney has yet to finalize plans regarding staffing levels but the company is seeking to make reductions by attrition, the source said. Disney is expected to identify those cuts by the end of September. Cuts are anticipated to take place throughout subdivisons of the ABC television group, according to The Wall Street Journal. Disney plans to make reductions at ABC's broadcast network, news, television production studio and local stations. Disney stock price reflects the company's recent lackluster performance, down 2 percent this year at $102 per share, after hitting a 52-week high of $115.84 on April 2, according to FactSet. In conversations with CNBC, several high-level executives at large media companies have expressed frustration and anger with Disney CEO Bob Iger's decision, announced on Aug. 8, to create two direct-to-consumer offerings. Disney plans to remove its movies from the popular streaming service Netflix beginning in 2019 and start its own. Next year, ESPN's streaming service kicks off, with content from 10,000 sporting events. Iger's response to the criticism has been: "Any intellectual property company should be careful about being lulled into supporting a platform that may not serve the customer effectively in a disrupted world." Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation and his team are reportedly working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as part of the federal probe into Paul Manafort, according to Politico. The report, citing sources, said the teamwork could give Mueller additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate with the broader investigation into President Donald Trump's election campaign. Manafort was the former campaign chairman for Trump. The pairing between state and federal teams is potential significant because experts say Trump does not have the power to pardon state crimes. Still, the Politico report said that no decision had been made on where or whether to file charges, and Manafort has previously said he did not engage in wrongdoing. Trump has reportedly said before that, as president, he had the power to pardon relatives, aides and likely even himself in response to the Russia investigations. Mueller is investigating Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin. The president has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt," has denied any collusion with Moscow and has been critical of Mueller. Politico said Mueller and Schneiderman's teams have shared evidence and talked regularly in recent weeks about a potential case they have reportedly collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering. Representatives for Mueller's office and the New York attorney general's office declined to comment to Politico. In July, the FBI raided Manafort's home after he willingly met with Senate Intelligence Committee staff, according to reports. NBC News reported the search "is tied to the intense investigation" into Manafort's "business dealings and financial relationships both in the U.S. and abroad." That includes "records tied to Manafort's activities in Ukraine, Cyprus and other parts of the world," according to NBC. Read the full Politico report on Mueller teaming up with New York attorney general. CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters August 21, 2017. Ahmad Masood | Reuters The Navy is under pressure due to several deadly accidents involving warships in the western Pacific. Members of a congressional panel will weigh in next Thursday with a hearing to look at "underlying problems." The accidents in the Seventh Fleet have shaken the confidence of the Navy and raised questions about basic fleet operations, training, crew stress, maintenance and the ability of the service to handle more ships in the future. The Navy's downsizing in the quarter century since the Cold War ended also is blamed for the current state along with readiness challenges from budget caps from sequestration. "It's part of a larger systemic issue that's the bottom line," said Jerry Hendrix, a former Navy strategist and officer. Hendrix, a senior fellow at the centrist think tank Center for a New American Security, said current and former Navy officers "have been increasingly concerned about the overall decline of the American fleet." Four Navy accidents Last week, the USS John S. McCain guided-missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker near Singapore, resulting in the loss of 10 sailors. It followed the USS Fitzgerald, another destroyer, colliding with a cargo vessel off Japan in June, an accident claiming seven sailors. There also were two nonfatal mishaps involving Navy vessels. In May, the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Lake Champlain colliding with a South Korean fishing boat off the Korean Peninsula. In January, the USS Antietam, a guided missile cruiser, ran aground near Yokosuka naval base and had to be helped by tug boats. A subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services is scheduled to hold a hearing on Sept. 7 looking at Navy readiness and what it calls "underlying problems associated with the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain." The hearing comes as the Navy is stretched with more demands to patrol not only the Asia-Pacific region but to provide security for the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf as well as European-Atlantic areas. "They're having to do more with less," said Seth Cropsey, a former deputy undersecretary of the Navy in the Reagan and Bush administrations and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Since the Cold War, he said, "the fleet size has been decreasing the whole time while commitments have been increasing." Regardless, the Pentagon last week removed Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin as commander of the Seventh Fleet just days after the McCain accident. Earlier this month, the fleet released a statement about the USS Fitzgerald, saying "the collision was avoidable and both ships demonstrated poor seamanship." The Navy also disciplined several officers and crew of the Fitzgerald for losing "situational awareness," which left them unable to do their jobs properly and avoid the collision. In an email statement to CNBC, the Navy said this week it was still investigating the McCain accident. "We do not know what caused the collision, who is at fault or how this could have happened yet that's why we have initiated several investigations so that the Navy can learn from and prevent collisions like this from recurring," said Cmdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for the Navy's Seventh Fleet. Possibility of hacking Last week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in a Facebook message that he ordered a temporary halt to operations and a service-wide review into the "root causes" of the two fatal collisions. Next week's House hearing also may look at whether more technology can help reduce human errors. Experts say technology and new sensors can help up to a point but not substitute for trained crew presence. At the same time, there were some reports that electronics on the destroyers may have been hacked or jammed, and the admiral indicated in a tweet that the "possibility of cyber intrusion or sabotage" was being looked at in the review but there are "no indications right now" it played role. "The reports back from the three previous incidents show that there seems to have been a breakdown in the coordination and communication amongst those three previous bridge crews," said Hendrix. "And there seems to be something very specific happening out in the western Pacific that we're not necessarily seeing everywhere else, which tells me that there seems to be a training issue in the way those crews are trained out there." Training shortcuts In May, then-Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley testified to a Senate defense panel that "schedules for training and maintenance have been compressed" due to a smaller battle force. Stackley now is assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisitions, the role he had before temporary serving as the acting secretary. Cropsey, a former naval officer, said he also believes training is a common issue found in the accidents. "It's possible that training is connected to increased maintenance demands, but investigations will look into that." In May, the Government Accountability Office wrote a report about a 2001 initiative called optimal manning, which was designed "to achieve workload efficiencies and reduce personnel costs." However, the GAO said "increased maintenance costs offset the reductions in personnel costs," and it pointed out that the Navy blamed the higher maintenance costs on "reduced crews, longer deployments, and other factors." 'Strain' on crews Michel Barnier during a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator has lamented a lack of developments in the third round of Brexit negotiations, saying that no "decisive progress" has been made on any principal subjects. Michel Barnier said Thursday that the three-day talks in Brussels with his British counterpart David Davis, and their respective delegations, had secured "useful clarification on a number of points," but insisted that both sides remain far from agreeing a final deal ahead of the U.K.'s departure from the EU. "We did not get any decisive progress on any of the principal subjects," Barnier told reporters, referring to the key issues citizens' rights and the U.K.'s Brexit bill. He admitted, however, that talks on the Irish border the third issue of contention in early stage discussions had been "fruitful." watch now U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as investors geared up for a slew of economic data, while keeping a close eye on oil and the political space. Thursday also market the last day of trading in August. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 55 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 5.5 points and 12.75 points, respectively. Entering Thursday's session, the Dow was on track to post a slight monthly gain, while the Nasdaq was up 0.3 percent in August. The S&P, however, was down 0.5 percent in the time period. On Thursday, investors were greeted by a cluster of new data. Investors need to understand that volatility is inevitable, and attempting to navigate around it is risky. Getty Images It will take more than a creepy clown with a red balloon to scare off these professional clowns. Ahead of the September release of a new film iteration of Stephen King's best-selling book "It," the World Clown Association says it isn't afraid of losing gigs. "It's a nonissue," Pam Moody, president of the WCA, told CNBC. "I honestly don't expect any repercussions from the movie 'It.'" Moody said that there have been countless movies and television shows to feature scary clowns since the first 'It' movie came out in 1990 and that, in her more than 20-year career as a clown, she has only encountered one person with a true clown phobia. "That's pretty good odds," she said. The WCA, which has upwards of 3,000 members in 30 countries, has only seen business impeded on one occasion a surge of creepy clown sightings last year. The creepy clown sightings began in early summer 2016 in South Carolina and have grown in frequency through the month of October. In September 2016, more than a dozen people were arrested for taking part in the clown pranks or for making false reports to police. Even McDonald's was forced to distance itself from the frenzy by decreasing the public appearances of its mascot Ronald McDonald. Moody said several professional clowns in the organization saw business slow, but the majority of entertainers were able to continue their craft. On one occasion last year a WCA member arrived early for a party and while she was waiting in her parked car she was surrounded by four police officers, Moody told The Hollywood Reporter. She said someone in the neighborhood had called in a clown sighting. "Last year was unexpected and totally different," Moody said. "But I don't really see that as being a huge issue now." An Amazon Alexa-powered humanoid robot could be wheeling its way to a home near you. Chinese technology firm Qihan launched the Sanbot Nano on Thursday equipped with Amazon's voice assistant that is featured in its Echo speaker. The 2.7 foot robot will go on sale in October for $2,800, and will be available in English and German. Those are the languages that Alexa currently understands. Qihan's Sanbot Nano is equipped with 50 sensors that helps it avoid obstacles, hear voices, and recognize when someone enters the room. Users can access all the features that Alexa enables such as controlling lights in the home or ordering pizza. Amazon first introduced Alexa on its Echo smart speaker in 2014. But the e-commerce giant's strategy has been to license Alexa out to other vendors to get the voice assistant across several devices and even home appliances. This is Qihan's first robot designed for the home. The company's previous humanoid models have been put to use in businesses. For example, the Sanbot Elf was used by the Dubai Police to interview potential candidates. "Sanbot Nano's customized capabilities will make every family feel like they have a personal assistant," Ryan Yu, chief marketing officer at Qihan, said in a press release on Thursday. Qihan is playing in an increasingly competitive but young market of humanoid robots that could grow quickly. The global personal robots market is expected to see average yearly growth of 37.8 percent between 2017 and 2022, reaching $34.1 billion in size, according to Research and Markets data. Robots are slowly being trialed in sectors such as hospitality and policing, but are yet to take off in the home. Other competitors like SoftBank with its Pepper robot are also trying to crack the market. Hurricane Harvey is seen as a wake-up call of sorts for an earthquake disaster scenario that could be possible in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Both natural disasters fundamentally alter daily life for months or years," the paper reported. The long-awaited "big one" is an earthquake that could have a magnitude of 8.0 or more and be much larger than the 6.7 magnitude Northridge earthquake of 1994, which killed at least 60 people and injured more than 9,000 people. There are various cost estimates of the 1994 Northridge earthquake but the Insurance Information Institute estimates there was $20 billion in total property damage and other estimates put the total economic damage at nearly $50 billion. Total economic damage from a reoccurrence of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, though, could total $95 billion to $155 billion, according to a 2014 report presented at a quake symposium. By comparison, AccuWeather on Thursday estimated Harvey's cost at about $190 billion, which it noted is more than the combined economic impact of Katrina and Sandy. Harvey has resulted in massive flooding and led more than 30,000 people to flee to Texas shelters. Also, storm surges and winds destroyed large portions of Rockport, where the hurricane struck Friday. The Times quoted from a 2008 federal and state government study that estimated a 7.8 temblor alone would be "so powerful that it causes widespread damage and consequently affects lives and livelihoods of all Southern Californians." Six of the world's biggest banks have joined a project to create a new form of digital cash that they hope to launch next year for clearing and settling financial transactions over blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin. Barclays , Credit Suisse , Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce , HSBC , MUFG and State Street have teamed up to work on the "utility settlement coin" which was created by Switzerland's UBS to make financial markets more efficient. The move comes as the project shifts into a new phase of development, in which its members aim to deepen discussions with central banks and to work on tightening up its data privacy and cyber security protections. Hyder Jaffrey, head of strategic investment and fintech innovation at UBS, said: "We have been in discussions with central banks and regulators and we will continue that over the next 12 months with the aim of a limited 'go live' at the back end of 2018." Blockchain technology is a complex set of algorithms that allows so-called cryptocurrencies including bitcoin to be traded and verified electronically over a network of computers without a central ledger. Having initially been sceptical about it because of worries over fraud, banks are now exploring how they can exploit the technology to speed up back-office settlement systems and free billions in capital tied up supporting trades on global markets. "The distributed ledger is one of the most innovative technologies out there," said Lee Braine from the chief technology office of Barclays' investment bank. "From reducing risk to improving capital efficiency in financial markets we see several benefits of this project." The utility settlement coin, based on a product developed by Clearmatics Technologies, aims to let financial groups pay each other or to buy securities, such as bonds and equities, without waiting for traditional money transfers to be completed. Instead they would use digital coins that are directly convertible into cash at central banks, cutting the time, cost and capital required in post-trade settlement and clearing. The coins, each convertible into different currencies, would be stored using blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, allowing them to be swapped quickly for the financial securities being traded. Existing members of the project are Deutsche Bank, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon and NEX. Mr Jaffrey said: "This isn't going to come in with a big bang, it is going to come in with a series of developments over time." He said that in the first instance, from the end of next year, he expected the utility settlement coin to be used for banks to pay each other in different currencies. For instance, if one bank owed $100m to a rival with a 50m debt in the other direction, the two institutions could transfer the money almost instantly using the new coins. Before the coins could be used for settling securities trades, he said the securities themselves will need to be transferred to blockchain systems, otherwise the benefits of speed and reduced capital requirements will be lost. Peter Randall, founder of the UK-based rival Setl, said there were still questions over whether payments using a quasi-central bank currency would be considered certain and risk-free enough to achieve "settlement finality" reducing the capital and liquid assets that need to be held against them. But Mr Jaffrey said that "following legal, regulatory and accounting viewpoints, we now feel we have a structure that gives us a basis to move on to phase three with a workable structure" for achieving "settlement finality". He admitted the utility settlement coin could be rendered obsolete if enough central banks issued their own blockchain-based digital currencies, yet he added that was likely to take "many years", especially given the "public policy questions" involved. More from the Financial Times: From max to minimum optionality with Dentacoin The fall of King Dollar Explosions rip through Texas chemical plant flooded by Harvey The "Star Wars: Jedi Challenges" game requires players to wear the Lenovo Mirage augmented reality (AR) headset. While wearing this, the game will be overlaid onto the real world, allowing players to battle enemies with the Lightsaber controller that comes with the game. Disney has partnered with Lenovo to create an augmented reality (AR) "Star Wars" game which users play via their phone, a headset, and a Lightsaber. Google Android and Apple iPhone users can pre-order "Star Wars: Jedi Challenges" with the products being available in November in certain markets. Here's how it works: Users download the "Star Wars: Jedi Challenges" app onto their phone Then they slot their phone into the Lenovo Mirage AR headset A tracking sensor that comes with the headset is placed on the floor to detect the user's position in the room The headset pairs with a Lightsaber controller which allows players to point and battle in the game "Players will hone their Jedi talents across a variety of augmented reality-based experiences, each offering multiple levels of deep and immersive gameplay," a Lenovo press release said. Disney has introduced a new character called the Archivist who instructs players in the way of the "Force" and Jedi knowledge. "Throughout these challenges, users will train to perfect their lightsaber skills by taking on some of the most menacing villains the dark side has to offer, command armies in combat missions to defeat the Empire, and outwit their opponents in Holochess, all in augmented reality," the press release explained. Lenovo has not yet released pricing but said it will vary by market. Augmented reality is a huge area of focus for many of the major technology players. Apple released a set of developer tools called ARKit recently, followed by Google with its own version called ARCore. Lenovo has been venturing into AR. Last year it released a device called the PHAB2 Pro, its first device with AR technology. This is the company's latest foray into AR but takes a new tact by selling hardware in the form of the lightsaber and AR-specific headset. The Chinese firm is hoping the Force is with it with this latest venture. As Hurricane Harvey moves northeast, it leaves behind an historic level of damage from flooding. So what should people living in Hurricane Harvey's path do now to start their recovery? One Superstorm Sandy survivor, Tony Kono, recounts his 2012 nightmare to help Gulf Coast residents rebuild. Kono, a senior vice president with public relations firm JConnelly, and his wife Debbie rode out Sandy from their home in Brick Township, New Jersey. He lays out five things Harvey victims need to do as soon as possible to jump-start their own recovery efforts. FOOD & SHELTER NO, REALLY Seek shelter and reliable food, then stick with it, Kono urged. It was days before stores were able to re-open. "This sounds crazy in America in 2017, but my town had no electricity for many days and food and water was hard to come by," Kono said. FEDERAL AID Apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid as quickly as possible, says Kono. "Make sure you submit all your information into the FEMA system on-line ASAP," he added. In Kono's case, FEMA came to his front door to collect information and provided an emergency check a few days later. Don't expect all money to be available in the near-term. "It was years later until [FEMA] notified us that we qualified for a grant to raise our home," Kono says. FILE INSURANCE CLAIMS File any insurance claims as soon as possible to get in the beginning of the line, Kono said. "If you wait too long, the process of collecting can be slowed immensely." Insurance companies are going to be inundated. "They are going to have thousands of claims, and processing them is going to be a huge job," Kono said. DON'T RUSH When it comes to rebuilding, patience and reputation are important. Kono suggests "don't rush into anything." Staying local may be best, he recommends. "Try and use local contractors with a reputation you can verify." Silicon Valley's medical technology start-ups might have their pick of local investors, but many are now looking further afield to China. One of the most prolific recent funders on the block is Tencent , the Shenzhen-based internet giant that is best known for its social messaging apps. In recent years, Tencent has funded a slew of U.S. biotechnology and digital health ventures. According to data from start-up research firms Crunchbase and Rock Health, they include: Grail, an ambitious venture to screen for cancer in the blood Scanadu, a futuristic "medical tricorder" device that shut down in 2016 Karius, a genetics company that tests for infectious disease Clear Labs, a food testing company HomeHero, a company that brought technology to home care before it announced it was pivoting to a new (unannounced) business CliniCloud, a company building a connected home medical kit Circle Medical, a tech-friendly primary care provider. The company also invests in more indirect ways. Tencent led a $155 million round in health and artificial intelligence company iCarbonX, which subsequently secured a $100 million deal with the U.S.-based patient social networking company PatientsLikeMe. The goal for the partnership is to merge various forms of health data, like genomics and patient-reported symptoms, with AI to further our understanding of human disease. At the time, the companies did not share whether they intended to expand PatientLikeMe's operations to China. Tencent declined to comment on its investment strategy. Pizza Hut employees deliver free pizzas by kayak to families trapped in their homes by Hurricane Harvey Record rainfall and flooding in Texas wasn't enough to stop a local Pizza Hut from providing food to families trapped in their homes by Hurricane Harvey. Shayda Habib, regional manager of a Pizza hut in Sugarland, mobilized a small crew on Tuesday and made dozens of pies to bring to families, according to NBC Houston affiliate KPRC. "When I heard there were families in need, I knew we needed to act fast," Habib told the station. "I called my husband and asked him to gather up kayaks and meet me at the restaurant." Habib and her team stacked delivery pouches into their kayaks and paddled through chest-high waters to deliver the pies, according to KCRA, an NBC affiliate in Sacramento, California. "We packed 120 pizzas into kayaks and took them out to people in their homes," Habib told KCRA. "The people in the houses didn't expect us to come. It was so nice to see their smiles after so much gloom." Habib told KCRA she plans to continue delivering pizza until the store runs out of food. Pizza Hut Tweet Johnson, an only child, learned to hustle from an early age. He was evicted from his home in Hawaii at age 14, he tells The Hollywood Reporter: "We were living in an efficiency that cost $120 a week. We come home, and there's a padlock on the door and an eviction notice. My mom starts bawling. She just started crying and breaking down. 'Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?'" That moment "was the tipping point," he continues. "It was about, 'What can I control with these two hands?' The only thing I could do was train and build my body. The successful men I knew were men who built their bodies." He did just that, and "rent's due" became his daily mantra to keep him on track, he shares in a recent post on Instagram: "I started saying 'rent's due' to myself when we were evicted when I was 14, as a personal motivator to hit the gym and workout. But what's funny about that is technically there was no actual 'rent due' considering we didn't have a place to live. "I got lucky along the way, because these days I'm not getting evicted, but I'm still up at 4 a.m. dropping sweat, because the rent's due. It's ALWAYS due." Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, sits with Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe as they attend a Japan-UK Business Forum on August 31, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. British Prime Minister Theresa May is in Tokyo this week, actively attempting to assuage fears that Japanese business leaders have on the possible impact of Brexit on their U.K. businesses. But corporate owners don't necessarily care about the bilateral terms between Japan and Great Britain. Instead, they really want a liberal global trading environment. And that's well beyond May's control. Business leaders from Japan, the world's third-largest economy, are carefully tracking global trade trends to decide if they want to remain invested in the U.K., said Heizo Takenaka, a former Japanese minister of state for economic and fiscal policy. A trend toward liberalism could boost Japanese companies' confidence in overseas projects in the long term, he added. Japan's preference for free trade may work in May's favor as the prime minister seeks to strike a U.K.-Japan trade deal some time in the future, after Britain officially leaves the European Union in 2019. "A Japan-England free trade agreement is very important to stop the movement of populism. To stop the movement of anti-free trade," Takenaka said. However, the United Kingdom has also been perceived by some to reject the free trade model, following its vote to leave the EU last year. May, for her part, has reiterated her support for economic liberalism. "If we look at free trade and globalization, I'm a promoter of free trade, I believe in free trade. I believe that it brings economic growth and prosperity. And globalization does," May told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin put Harriet Tubman's role on the $20 bill in question. The idea of putting the former slave and abolitionist on the bill was proposed during the Obama administration. Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday: "Ultimately we will be looking at this issue. It's not something I'm focused on at the moment." Instead, he said he was concentrating on making sure any tweaks to U.S. currency bills thwart counterfeiters. "The No. 1 issue why we change the currency is to stop counterfeiting. So the issues of what we change will be primarily related to what we need to do for security purposes. I've received classified briefings on that. And that's what I'm focused on for the most part," Mnuchin said. "People have been on the bills for a long period of time. And this is something we will consider. Right now, we've got a lot more important issues to focus on," he added. Jack Lew, secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama, last year proposed putting Tubman on the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, the slave-owning seventh U.S. president. President Donald Trump has pledged $1 million of his own money to Harvey relief efforts, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday. She said Trump has not decided which organization he will donate to. The spokeswoman said Trump specifically told Sanders to ask journalists at the briefing for suggestions since they have been reporting on groups and their relief efforts. "As I said, he'll pledge proudly $1 million of his own personal money to help the people of both Texas and Louisiana," Sanders said. Trump donated his first two quarters' worth of presidential pay to government agencies. He gave his first installment to the National Park Service and his second to the Department of Education. Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to Texas and Louisiana on Saturday, Sanders said. The two visited Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence toured damage in Rockport, Texas, on Thursday. The details of the Trumps' next trip are still being finalized, Sanders said. The tentative plan is for the first couple to travel to Houston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, she said. Once he makes the donation, Trump will join a long list of donors who have promised at least $1 million to relief efforts. The Abbvie Foundation has committed $1 million in funding. The Allstate Foundation has pledged $1.55 million to relief and is matching employee and agency owner contributions. Vizient has announced a $1 million donation raised from the company and employees to help hospital workers. Houston-based Reliant donated more than $2 million for relief efforts. J.J. Watt, star defensive lineman for the Houston Texans, has raised $10 million. Correction: This story was updated to reflect Sanders' quote that Trump proudly pledged a donation. watch now One third of Americans may be on their way to developing full-blown type 2 diabetes, and most of them don't even know it. A recent report from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more than 84 million Americans, or roughly one-third of the population, have prediabetes, a condition marked by higher-than-normal blood sugar. Of that group, 90 percent aren't aware they have the condition. The primary risk factors for type 2 diabetes are genetics and lifestyle excess weight, obesity and lack of exercise contribute to this alarming medical trend. "People with prediabetes who don't change their lifestyle are at a much higher risk of developing heart disease and stroke and can develop type 2 diabetes within five years if left untreated," said William T. Cefalu, MD, chief scientific, medical & mission officer of the American Diabetes Association. The health risks go beyond heart disease and stroke. As diabetes worsens over time, blindness, kidney disease and lower-limb amputation are also major health risks. Diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States in 2015, according to the CDC. This population of diabetes "ticking time bombs" is particularly alarming, because in many cases type 2 diabetes can be avoided, simply by leading a healthy lifestyle. Type 2 diabetes is often progressive, and within 10 years of diagnosis, 50 percent of individuals need to use insulin to control their blood glucose levels, according to the ADA. More than 30 million Americans 9.4 percent of the U.S. population are already battling diabetes, according to the CDC's National Diabetes Statistics Report, which used data through 2015. The CDC found that of those cases, 7.2 million were undiagnosed. "The country needs to take this seriously, ratchet it up and make it a priority," said Ann Albright, PhD, RD, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation. "Far too few people know about it or know they have it, and that is why we launched the prevention program and joined forces with other organizations," she said. "It requires us all to take this condition seriously." What prediabetes is, and how you get it Prediabetes is a condition in which a person's blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Doctors often refer to prediabetes as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), depending on which test they used to detect the condition. The A1C test is the most commonly used to detect the condition, because it is a blood test that provides information about a person's average blood glucose levels over the past 90 days. To be prediabetic, an individual would have to have an A1C result of 5.7 percent 6.4 percent. The results of a fasting glucose test that are 100-125mg/dl indicate IFG. If an oral glucose tolerance test is performed and the result is 140-199, it indicates IGT. All are considered prediabetes. More from Modern Medicine: FDA testing groundbreaking tech: Human organs on a chip Venture capitalist wages war against Parkinson's ER costs are skyrocketing, leaving patients in shock The cost to the American health-care system and economy from diabetes is steep. The American Diabetes Association estimates at least $245 billion a year. Medicare, Medicaid and the military foot a large portion of that bill, paying for 62.4 percent of the cost of care, while 34.4 percent is paid for by private insurers and 3.2 percent by the uninsured, according to the ADA. The medical community has so far failed to contain prediabetes. A big part of the problem: People simply avoid going to the doctor. William Argenta was 48 when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a couple of years ago. He had not been to a doctor in more than five years and only received the diagnosis when he finally decided to go in for a physical. He had experienced a feeling of being overly thirsty often a sign of diabetes but other than that, he didn't see any reason to get checked out. I guess I had just gotten used to feeling bad. Your body adjusts to it in some ways. William Argenta diagnosed with diabetes at age 48 Once a patient is diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, they are advised to change their eating and exercise habits. Many are prescribed metformin it is the most widely prescribed drug for diabetes under many brand names, including Glucophage and helps control blood sugar levels. Metformin lowers blood glucose by reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and by helping the body respond better to the insulin made in the pancreas. The FDA has approved metformin for treatment of type 2 diabetes, but not for prediabetes, which is a serious health condition but does not reach the blood sugar level to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. The FDA has been conservative about approving drugs for use beyond specific disease states. However, the FDA is now considering approval of metformin for use in prediabetes. While physicians can already administer it at their own discretion, the ADA says the drug is currently underused as part of treatment options. Ongoing follow-up to the federally funded Diabetes Prevention Program research study has shown that metformin has long-term cost-saving value in delaying type 2 diabetes, with great safety and low cost to the consumer, which may persuade the FDA to approve an indication for prediabetes. According to the ADA, metformin therapy for prevention of type 2 diabetes should be considered for people who have a high body mass index BMI, are aged 60 years or older, have rising A1C test results, despite lifestyle intervention, and for women with prior pregnancy-related glucose intolerance. There are several other drugs prescribed for prediabetes, including a weight loss drug, but many have significant side effects. The ADA states that metformin has the best track record and safety profile. The ADA also notes that even metformin has been shown to be less effective than lifestyle modification lifestyle changes can slow or prevent type 2 diabetes in some individuals with a genetic predisposition. Now a type 2 diabetic, Argenta has changed his lifestyle. He cut down on sugary food and has increased his protein intake. He is also exercising and taking metformin and a couple of other medications. Argenta says he now feels much better than he did before he was diagnosed. "I guess I had just gotten used to feeling bad. Your body adjusts to it in some ways," he says. watch now The CDC, ADA and the American Medical Association have launched a new prediabetes awareness campaign, DoIHavePrediabetes.org. The campaign encourages people to take an online test of seven simple questions that can assess a person's prediabetes risk. The organizations are also beseeching those at risk to change their eating and exercise habits before their condition worsens. Dr. Rhonda Todd, MD, internal medicine, is doing her part to raise prediabetes awareness. Based near Ann Arbor, Michigan, she tries to test as many of her patients as she can for prediabetes if they fit a risk profile, using the A1C test. Most private insurers cover the expense of an A1C test, as do Medicaid and Medicare when the patient present risk factors. Todd said she has never had a problem getting a test approved. The cost of the test is roughly $50 dollars, but Todd has seen some hospitals offer the test for $10, as a part of wellness programs. "I will try to test every patient I see who is over 35, has a family history of the disease or who is obese or overweight, which is almost everybody," she says. Todd blames the sedentary lifestyle of Americans for the explosion of diabetes and prediabetes cases. "We are not a healthy people anymore, technology is killing us," she said. Todd said the majority of doctors, many of whom are affiliated with hospitals, test for prediabetes often. She thinks the bigger problem is people not going to the doctor rather than doctor's not offering the tests. The ADA recommends testing for prediabetes in adults of any age who are overweight or obese and who have one or more additional risk factors. For all people, testing should begin at age 45 years and be carried out at a minimum of three-year intervals. The numbers are staggering Every 21 seconds another person in the United States is diagnosed with diabetes, according to the ADA. That's 4,110 people in America diagnosed with the disease every 24 hours. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all those cases. The risk for developing the disease also increases drastically in people age 45 and older, and after age 65 it increases exponentially. There has also been a troubling rise in the number of adolescents developing both prediabetes and diabetes. Weight has a lot to do with it. Among adolescents, ages 12 to 19, about 1 in 5 are considered to have obesity, and about 1 in 11 (9.1 percent) are considered to have extreme obesity, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "Nutrition for adolescents is the cornerstone of treatment," Cefalu said. "People need access to adequate nutrition, and you have to get that information in their hands." Testing for prediabetes in children and adolescents should be considered for those who are overweight or obese, and who have two or more additional risk factors for diabetes, including having a family history of type 2 diabetes, or who are African American, Native American, Latino, or Asian Pacific Islanders. More than half of Asian-Americans and nearly half of Hispanic Americans with diabetes are undiagnosed. Health-care specialists say getting people to change their behavior isn't easy. "Telling people to lose weight does not give them enough information. It is not a message that helps and supports them," Albright said. To teach people how to change and maintain a new set of lifestyle habits, the CDC is also promoting its National Diabetes Prevention Program, which was initiated in 2010. Just by participating and staying in the program, prediabetics can lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 58 percent over three years, and by 71 percent for people over age 60. "We want to help them determine what is realistic and doable so they can make real life changes that are sustainable," Albright said. A DDP program can cost as much as $500 a year. (The CDC-recognized organizations delivering these programs determine the cost, which can vary depending on factors such as the size and experience of the organization offering it.) Diabetes prevention programs are growing in number and participation, but are still underutilized, according to the ADA. All sectors, including health care, business, nonprofit community organizations and faith-based organizations, need to be talking about prediabetes and encouraging those with prediabetes to enroll in a National DPP lifestyle-change program. Ann Albright PhD, RD, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation The U.S. economy could take a multibillion-dollar hit if the Trump administration decides to end the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, an Obama-era policy protecting some 750,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, according to groups supporting the program. The latest research comes from FWD.us, a pro-immigration reform group co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, which found that 91 percent of DACA recipients are employed. Canceling the program, which shields those immigrants from deportation, would mean roughly 30,000 a month would lose their work permits as their DACA status expires, the report said. The research follows a study earlier this year by the Center for American Progress that estimated the loss of DACA workers would reduce U.S. gross domestic product by $433 billion over the next 10 years. That economic impact would be felt unevenly across the country. California, with an estimated 188,000 DACA workers, would suffer a GDP loss of $11.3 billion a year, according to the CAP research. Texas would lose $6.1 billion in GDP annually, and North Carolina would lose $1.9 billion a year. The United States and its close allies must "beef up" activities in the fight against terrorism and other threats such as North Korea, the U.S. ambassador to NATO told CNBC on Thursday. "We know that today NATO is facing some of our biggest tests," Kay Bailey Hutchison, also a former Texas senator, said on "Squawk Box." Hutchinson spoke as the U.S. deals with the aftermath of North Korea firing a ballistic missile over Japan earlier this week. On Thursday, Britain and Japan said they would cooperate in countering the threat posed by North Korea and will pledge closer ties in defense, cybersecurity and counterterrorism. Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "have stepped up to the plate" to combat known threats, Hutchison said, and have agreed "we need to be more productive in anti-terrorism." "I think there are a lot of real threats and I think we need to beef up the activities to address those common threats," she added. "I think our allies are ready to say and actually have said already that we are going to deter nuclear activities, we're going to speak with one voice." Hutchison said the U.S. and its allies have already faced big tests with Afghanistan. In a prime-time address to the nation last week, President Donal Trump said he would ramp up engagement in Afghanistan, reversing his past calls to pull American troops out of the country. Trump, who won the White House in part on a promise to reduce intervention in conflicts overseas, said, "The American people are weary of war without victory." "Our country is going to go forward with a more robust effort to assure that there are no terror cells that are fermenting in Afghanistan and the surrounding areas," Hutchison said. President Donald Trump's Homeland Security Advisor, Tom Bossert, said Thursday there are "about 100,000 affected homes" in areas hit by Hurricane Harvey, as he announced plans to soon make the first of two planned supplemental funding requests to Congress to provide money for relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. But Bossert also said, "I'm not concerned at all that we don't have the money for the operations underway right now" in Houston and elsewhere. And he said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be "well-funded" under Trump's proposed budget. Bossert praised the ongoing rescue and relief efforts, saying, "I'm seeing nothing but positive, I'm seeing nothing but appropriate coordination" between federal, state and local authorities. At the same press conference where Bossert spoke, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly declined to confirm reports that Trump as early as Friday will announce plans to terminate the Obama-era DACA program, which now allows many young illegal immigrants to remain in the United States. Reports also indicated that Trump will allow immigrants currently in the program to stay in the U.S. until their current work permits expire. "Final decisions have not been made," Sanders said. Sanders also said that Trump still supported Gary Cohn, the director of the White House Economic Council, who reportedly had drafted a resignation letter after Trump blamed "both sides" for the racially fueled violence in Charleston, Virginia, that ended in the killing of a woman protesting neo-Nazis and other racists. "Gary is an integral member of the team," Sanders said. Bossert did not say how much money the Trump administration planned on asking Congress for in supplemental funding to help the areas affected by Harvey. Wells Fargo & Co. said it uncovered nearly 70 percent more potentially unauthorized consumer and small-business accounts than originally thought after an independent investigation into a sales scandal that erupted last year. The disclosure on Thursday marks the conclusion of that investigation, the bank said. Earlier this month, Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan warned his employees to brace for more negative headlines, saying the review by an outside firm could reveal a "significant increase" in the number of accounts involved. On Thursday, the bank said the review of 165 million retail accounts opened from January 2009 to September 2016 identified 3.5 million as potentially unauthorized. That is up from the 2.1 million accounts originally identified in a narrower review that only covered 93.5 million accounts opened from May 2011 to mid-2015. Sloan said on a conference call early Thursday morning that the bank was now focused on remediation for customers, adding that it cast a wide net in the review and that some of the accounts identified may have been opened legitimately. Types of obituaries The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries family obituaries and life stories. A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories. Installing a pre-release version of your web browser promises at least two distinct thrills. The first one: You get to test new features sometimes months before mainstream users see them. How cool is that? The second thrill comes from taking a risk. Installing pre-release software can cause data loss (perhaps even hair loss), excess battery drain on portables and other aggravations. As Google puts it on its Chrome Canary download page, its not for the faint of heart. [ Further reading: Best Google Chrome extensions of 2017 ] But lets assume youre up for the challenge and eager to see whats next for your browser. Heres what you need to know about pre-release versions of Chrome, Safari Technical Preview, Firefox and Edge. Chrome Canary, Dev, Beta Google maintains three release channels for Chrome builds Canary, Dev and Beta in addition to Chrome Stable, the final release channel. Canary, as in canary in a coal mine, is the experimental version of Chrome, in which Google throws new features at the wall, spaghetti-style, to see what sticks. Its updated daily. IDG From Canary, features migrate (or not) to Chrome Dev. Dev is, in essence, alpha software. Its updated once or twice weekly. Chrome Beta, updated about every week, is the most reliable version of Chrome aside from Stable. You can download Canary, Dev, Beta and Stable on The Chromium Projects download page. All four are available for Windows 64-bit and 32-bit PCs, Macs and Android devices. For iOS, only Beta and Stable are available. For Linux, Dev, Beta and Stable, but not Canary, are available. In addition, a la Gmail Labs, you can run experimental Chrome features by navigating to chrome://flags. But a heads up: As Google says, these experiments may change, break, or disappear at any time. We make absolutely no guarantees about what may happen if you turn one of these experiments on, and your browser may even spontaneously combust. Joking aside, Google warns that your browser may delete all your data, or your security and privacy could be compromised in unexpected ways. Now, some good news. You can run Chrome Stable on the same machine as Canary, side by side, so you dont have to dedicate a machine to Canary. Last August, Google announced that you could also run Dev and Beta builds on the same machine as Chrome Stable. Anyone can download these builds. Among the most anticipated features to appear in Chrome Stable is Chromes built-in ad blocker, which will block pop-up and some other ads, including those that automatically start playing video and audio, on desktop and mobile devices. (Of course, there are already plenty of ad-blocking Chrome extensions, such as Adguard AdBlocker.) You can learn more about Chrome channel updates on the Chrome Releases blog. [ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is the default browser for Windows 10 desktops and mobile devices. For a sneak peek at upcoming Edge features, start by joining the Windows Insider Program, which gives you access to upcoming Windows 10 features before general release. From there, you can install Windows 10 Insider Preview, which includes Edge, on a Windows 10 machine. IDG There are three Insider Preview rings, or categories, defined by the frequency of Preview builds: Fast Ring (for eager beavers wanting new features ASAP), Slow Ring (where builds are more stable), and Release Preview Ring (in essence, beta). Give the program overview a read first, so youll have a better sense of what youre getting into. Dont like the idea of giving over your Windows machine to a still-in-development version of Windows 10? One alternative is to download a Microsoft-provided virtual machine and run an Edge preview version on it. You can test Edge on a Mac using a Microsoft virtual machine and selecting VMware or Parallels software, which run Windows on a Mac OS computer, as your virtual machines platform. Your virtual machine will expire after 90 days, however. With the Windows Insider Program, you can get a jump on the next release of Windows 10. The latest official release is Windows 10 April 2018 Update, which arrived April 30. (Here's Computerworld's review of this version of Windows 10.) Firefox Nightly, Developer Edition, and Beta The most bleeding-edge option on the open-source Firefox development train is Nightly, which, as the name implies, is updated, if not nightly, then close to it. Its the least stable pre-release Firefox browser. But its also where youll get access to features months before they reach the final Release channel. Nightly has its own blog, with notes about updates, patches and new features, and a Mozilla Wiki page, too. Developer Edition is, as the name suggests, specifically for website developers who want to create and debug web experiences with powerful, open source tools. Developer Edition isnt its own channel. Rather, its a version of Firefox that provides tools specifically for developers and is based on the Beta build. Mozilla eliminated a separate developer channel called Aurora earlier this year, to shorten the time required to get from Nightly to the final release version. IDG Firefox Beta is where features nearly ready for prime time live. Unfortunately, only one copy of Firefox can be open on the same machine at the same time. If youre a Firefox fan, spending time in Nightly or Beta is worth it. The preview versions offered a sneak peek at Firefox Release version 57 before it was released Nov. 14, 2017 with the new Photon interface. For example, in Nightly, the applications (or hamburger) menu contents appear in a list, vs. the icons you see in Firefoxs current release. Firefox Nightly and Beta are also available for Android. iOS beta versions of Firefox are available via Apples TestFlight app. Safari Technology Preview and Beta Safari Technology Preview is Apples experimental browser, introduced in March 2016 and updated to version 58 on June 6. It gives developers and users a first look at upcoming features likely to be added to future versions of Safari on macOS and iOS. You can download Safari Technology Preview for macOS High Sierra (the current OS) or for the upcoming macOS Mojave announced earlier this week at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. (Its not available as an iOS download.) IDG Similar to Canary, Safari Technology Preview can run side by side with the current Safari browser. (Thats not the case with Safari beta.) Its easy to install, and you dont have to be a developer. The latest release notes detail what's new and changed for Version 58. With Safari Technology Preview, you can sample upcoming Safari features, including new features that will be added in macOS Mojave. Apple highlighted these two changes in the release notes: Icons in Tabs. You can enable showing website icons in tabs in Safaris Tabs preferences. Automatic Strong Passwords. Safari automatically generates strong, unique passwords when signing up for accounts or changing passwords on websites. New to Safari 12 and Safari Technology Preview 58, generated passwords can be customized using the passwordrules attribute.... Safari 12, which includes a variety of new features, ships with iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 (Mojave) this fall. It's also available now for macOS 10.12.6 and 10.13.6. The European Court of Justice is an almost unknown institution which has suddenly taken on enormous political significance. For as Lord Ashcrofts research has indicated, the main reason people voted for Brexit was not to reduce immigration but to take back control. And taking back control turns out to mean leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ. We have this on the authority of the Prime Minister, who last October declared to the Conservative Party Conference: Our laws will be made not in Brussels but in Westminster. The judges interpreting those laws will sit not in Luxembourg but in courts in this country. The authority of EU law in Britain will end we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Thats not going to happen. Her point has recently been reiterated by Jacob Rees-Mogg: It [the ECJ] cannot be our senior court for a day after we leave the EU. It is about control. Do we make our laws according to our own democratic principles on the day we have left or not? If we dont, we are still in the European Union. That is the essence of the whole debate the court must just stop on the day we have gone. But many doubts have been raised about whether this is really feasible. James Chapman, who used to work for David Davis, says that by taking such an absolutist position, Theresa May has hamstrung the British negotiators. Piet Eeckhout, who used to work at the ECJ and is now Dean of Laws at University College London and Academic Director of the UCL European Institute, concluded a piece published a few days ago by declaring: (1) that the UK had better not antagonise the ECJ too much, if it really wants to continue to cooperate with the EU, and (2) that one wonders how much is gained by formally leaving the Courts jurisdiction. The purpose of this profile is not to adjudicate on the rights and wrongs of the argument. It is to render the ECJ slightly less unknown. For like other European institutions, it has avoided scrutiny by appearing impossibly dull and technical, the sort of place only a lawyer would find interesting. It has attracted less attention than the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, with which the ECJ is sometimes confused. No British editor has ever exclaimed, in a fit of excitement, I want a profile of the European Court of Justice! or none until Paul Goodman commissioned this profile. While writing it, I could not help being struck by the fact that for most of the time, neither side sees, or even wants to see, the others point of view. As in the referendum campaign, each side is deeply emotional, but regards its own position as the only one a sane, well-balanced person could take of the matter, while the other sides arguments are madly exaggerated and intolerably provocative. The ECJ sits in Luxembourg, in a large collection of modern buildings, faintly suggestive of an art gallery, equipped with flagpoles carrying the flags of the member states, and situated on a plateau with a view over the old city. From the top of its bronze-coloured towers, four countries Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg can be seen. It was founded in 1952 as the court for the European Coal and Steel Community, and from the signing in 1957 of the Treaty of Rome and the Euratom Treaty took on the same role for the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. In the view of Hugo Young, who looked carefully into the matter for his magisterial volume This Blessed Plot: Britain and Europe from Churchill to Blair (1998), As early as 1963 [in Case 26/62, Van Gend en Loos v. Nederlandse Tariefcommissie] the European Court of Justice pronounced that the Treaty of Rome had, among other things, created a new legal order in international law for whose benefit the States have limited their sovereign rights. Each of the 28 members of the EU nominates one judge to the court, which in the course of its history has had 11 presidents, including one Briton, Jack Mackenzie-Stuart, from Edinburgh, who presided from 1980-84. In an obituary of him for The Guardian, Lord Cameron of Lochbroom wrote of his eagerness to lead the ECJ into debate with members of the Supreme Court of the United States. This was to a Scots lawyer like Mackenzie-Stuart a rational extension of the principles of the age of enlightenment with which Scotland and Scots lawyers had been associated. He considered that in holding the balance between collective law-making through Brussels and the laws of the member states, especially in the areas of freedom to trade and work, the best way for the Court of Justice to secure that balance lay in a community-wide rule of law rather than the subsidiarity of the Maastricht treaty. In 1996, he warned that the court functions as a bulwark against the Balkanisation of western Europe, and we undermine it at our peril. One may note here how reasonable, enlightened and balanced the work of the court appears to those engaged in its development. In a recent interview, the present President, Koen Lenaerts, who is from Belgium and is also Professor of European Law at the Catholic University of Leuven, sees the judges as so many umpires, whose work benefits everyone on the field of play. According to Lenaerts, After Brexit, there will be British firms begging our court to get locus standi [the right to be heard in court]. He also predicts that if the EU imposes anti-dumping measures against Britain, of course the UK Government will run to this court to ask for judicial review. But most interesting of all is the comparison which Lenaerts, who has long specialised in the comparative study of American and European law, makes, as Mackenzie-Stuart did, with the US Supreme Court: After the independence of the United States, 4 July 1776, it didnt last long before the USA took a 180 degree opposite route than the Common Law basis that existed in the UK. And this on the crucial point, that lawyers know under the code name, Marbury v. Madison 1803, Chief Justice Marshall writing for a unanimous court at the time composed of five judges. And that ruling said that an act of Congress can be quashed by the Supreme Court for being in conflict with the constitution. And there you have it. In the United Kingdom, nothing of the sort exists. Because their paradigm is 180 degrees the opposite. Parliament can do no wrong. So an act of the parliament of Westminster cannot be quashed in a British court. This is comparative constitutional law we should de-emotionalise all of this. So mentally, emotionally, it is in the British perception of the triangle representative democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights unthinkable that a court can quash an act of parliament. This exists for 220 years in the US, that system, not in Britain. The European Union has the exact same system as the US. And for an obvious reason the EU is united in diversity. The US motto is e pluribus unum out of the many, one. So both systems are confronted with keeping the balance between unity and diversity, which is the proper picture of federalism. Often ill-understood in the UK, because federalism there is seen as something uniting, not federalism as something with Belgium with us, it has exact opposite meaning. That is, that you empower all these regional governments, and keep the proper balance, like in Germany the Bundeslaender etc. Thats also the balance of the European Union, like the balance of the United States. Eleanor Sharpston QC, the longest-serving British member of the court she has served there as an advocate-general since 2006 says the British common law tradition has enriched the work of the court: Some very good [UK] people have served in the court Lord Gordon Slynn, Sir Konrad Schiemann [both appeal court judges] and Sir Francis Jacobs and they have made a difference. Only after Britain joined in 1973 did judges start asking questions, instead of just listening, as is the French tradition. Sharpston points out that the ECJ does not decide national cases. It instead rules on points of law which have been referred to it by national courts, and by this method harmonises national legal systems. As the EUs competences have expanded, so have those of the ECJ. In February 2016, the courts tendency to engage in judicial activism drew a fierce rebuke from a senior lawyer in London, Marina Wheeler QC: My thesis is this: the reach of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg has extended to a point where the status quo is untenable. Aside from eroding national sovereignty, which it does, the current situation also undermines legal certainty, which in turn undermines good governance. To limit the still-growing reach of EU law, it is not enough to use red cards to stem the flow of EU legislation. Reform needs to address the EU legal order, in particular the jurisdictional muscle-flexing of the Court in Luxembourg. David Cameron failed to obtain any such reforms, and as Wheeler went on to complain, the ECJ was now using the Charter of Fundamental Rights, proclaimed in 2000, to compete with the ECHR in Strasbourg, even though Tony Blair had been assured that the Charter would change nothing. This attack on the ECJ was loyally taken up by Wheelers husband, Boris Johnson. It became one of the most powerful elements in the case he made for leaving the EU, and re-emerged in the Prime Ministers speech last October. But how easy will it be to leave the ECJ? Piet Eeckhout, already quoted at the start of this piece, contends, as others have, that co-operative arrangements with the EU in such fields as aviation, financial passporting, the European Arrest Warrant, recognition of judgments in civil and commercial matters (a huge issue, he contends, for a legal system which prides itself on being the place to go for international commercial contracts), Euratom and the movement of nuclear material, and international sanctions, all depend on accepting the continued ultimate jurisdiction of the ECJ. Eeckhout goes on: The ECJ insists on the autonomy of EU law being safeguarded in any dispute settlement arrangements [reached as part of a comprehensive Brexit settlement]. It has the tools to enforce this, particularly as any envisaged agreement can be made subject to ECJ review on the mere request of any member state or EU institution. In recent years it is becoming established practice that any controversial agreements are first put to the Court. There is no reason to expect that this will not be the fate of the Article 50 withdrawal agreement, or of a future deep and comprehensive agreement. The ECJ takes a very high view of its competences. The British Parliament and people likewise take a very high view of their perfect right to leave the EU, and therefore the jurisdiction of the ECJ. It is by no means clear how easy it will be to reach a reasonable compromise between these two views, in which each side feels the other is behaving outrageously. In 1532, Henry VIII wished to have Thomas Cranmer, who looked with favour on the Kings matrimonial plans, made Archbishop of Canterbury. The Pope resisted, but gave in when Henry, supported by Parliament, threatened to cut off Romes payments from the English Church. One cannot help thinking any payments the UK continues making to the EU will in practice be conditional on reasonable rather than confrontational behaviour by the ECJ. Our last monthly survey found 51 per cent of Party member respondents declaring that Theresa May should stand down as Conservative leader before the next election is due in 2022. 56 per cent took the same view the month before. This months survey is being conducted as we write and it is safe to say without giving too much away the response will be in the same ball park. This sites sense is that the vast majority of Tory MPs take the same view. We have found very few takers off the record for the Prime Minister leading the Party into the next election and not all that many on. It follows that if May says that she will do so none the less, as she did yesterday in Japan, the collective media will find no shortage of Conservative MPs prepared to say on background terms that they do not agree. This will be duly reported which will do nothing either to help stabilise her position or to improve the Partys. When she spoke to the 1922 Committee in the elections immediate aftermath, she told them that I will serve you as long as you want me. That was a defensible position as matters stood then, and it remains so now. ConservativeHome understands that her words yesterday (Im not a quitter she said, echoing Peter Mandelson) werent part of a new Downing Street plan. There has been no deliberate decision to change the view put to the 1922 Committee. The Prime Minister was simply answering a snap question from a journalist, which was bound to be put to her sooner or later. Her position may not be unsalvagable, and there is no crisis if only because there is no clear successor, and Tory MPs dont want to risk another election soon. But the answer that she gave is simply unsustainable as matters stand for the reasons set out above. If asked in future, she should simply repeat what she said to the 1922 Committee: that she will stay in post for as long as her Party and the country need her. This is not a perfect solution by any means. But under the present circumstances, it will have to do. To try anything else at Party conference, or in the run-up to it, is simply asking for trouble. Cybercriminal are targeting account login credentials of Microsoft Office 365, with its more than 100 million monthly active subscribers, to ultimately launch attacks from within organization, including financial institutions. Cybercriminals have a long history of designing attacks to reach the largest number of eyeballs possible, according to research from Campbell, Calif.-based real-time spear phishing and cyberfraud defense firm Barracuda Sentinel. From the early days of traditional spam, to search or trending topics on social platforms, criminals follow the users, and Office 365 has become a breeding ground for highly personalized, compelling attacks, Asaf Cidon, spear phishing behavior expert and vice president, content security services at Barracuda, said. Attackers prey on the inherent trust of email received from coworkers. Most individuals are almost positive it is legitimate, but unfortunately, thats not always the case. Barracuda Sentinel examined increasingly popular threat, Office 65 Account Compromise, within its large customer based on Office 365. They found Office 365 account compromise attackers attempt to steal user credentials to launch attacks from an internal account. 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 Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. Read More Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail. Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories. The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name. Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022. Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG). The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients. AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behcet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection. It also provides CREON, a pancreatic enzyme therapy for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency; Synthroid used in the treatment of hypothyroidism; Linzess/Constella to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation; Lupron for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty, and patients with anemia caused by uterine fibroids; and Botox therapeutic. In addition, the company offers ORILISSA, a nonpeptide small molecule gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist for women with moderate to severe endometriosis pain; Duopa and Duodopa, a levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel to treat Parkinson's disease; Lumigan/Ganfort, a bimatoprost ophthalmic solution for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension; Ubrelvy to treat migraine with or without aura in adults; Alphagan/ Combigan, an alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist for the reduction of IOP in patients with OAG; and Restasis, a calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant to increase tear production, as well as other eye care products. AbbVie Inc. has a research collaboration with Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. AutoZone, Inc. retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs. In addition, the company offers maintenance products, such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluids; brake drums, rotors, shoes, and pads; brake and power steering fluids, and oil and fuel additives; oil and transmission fluids; oil, cabin, air, fuel, and transmission filters; oxygen sensors; paints and accessories; refrigerants and accessories; shock absorbers and struts; spark plugs and wires; and windshield wipers. Further, it provides air fresheners, cell phone accessories, drinks and snacks, floor mats and seat covers, interior and exterior accessories, mirrors, performance products, protectants and cleaners, sealants and adhesives, steering wheel covers, stereos and radios, tools, and wash and wax products, as well as towing services. Additionally, the company provides a sales program that offers commercial credit and delivery of parts and other products; sells automotive diagnostic and repair software under the ALLDATA brand through alldata.com; and automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through autozone.com. As of August 27, 2022, it operated 6,168 stores in the United States; 703 stores in Mexico; and 72 stores in Brazil. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Memphis, Tennessee. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides government-sponsored managed care services. The company operates in three segments: Medicaid Health Plans, Medicare Health Plans, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs). The Medicaid Health Plans segment offers plans for beneficiaries of temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and aged blind and disabled residents; and other state-based programs, such as children's health insurance programs and long-term services and supports programs for qualifying families who are not eligible for Medicaid. The Medicare Health Plans segment provides Medicare, a federal program that provides eligible persons aged 65 and over, as well as some disabled persons with a range of hospital, medical, and prescription drug benefits; Medicare Advantage, a Medicare's managed care alternative to the original Medicare program, which offers individuals standard Medicare benefits directly through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and coordinated care plans that are administered through health maintenance organizations and require members to seek health care services and select a primary care physician from a network of health care providers. The Medicare PDPs segment provides Medicare part D PDP plans to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Its PDP plans offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, including a preferred pharmacy network. As of December 31, 2018, the company served approximately 5.5 million members in the United States. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Delek US Holdings, Inc. engages in the integrated downstream energy business in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment processes crude oil and other feedstock for the manufacture of various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum-based products that are distributed through owned and third-party product terminal. It owns and operates four independent refineries located in Tyler, Texas; El Dorado, Arkansas; Big Spring, Texas; and Krotz Springs, Louisiana, as well as three biodiesel facilities in Crossett, Arkansas, Cleburne, Texas, and New Albany. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, intermediate, and refined products; and markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products for third parties. It owns or leases capacity on approximately 400 miles of crude oil transportation pipelines, approximately 450 miles of refined product pipelines, an approximately 900-mile crude oil gathering system, and associated crude oil storage tanks with an aggregate of approximately 10.2 million barrels of active shell capacity; and owns and operates ten light product distribution terminals, as well as markets light products using third-party terminals. The Retail segment owns and leases 248 convenience store sites located primarily in West Texas and New Mexico. Its convenience stores offer various grades of gasoline and diesel under the DK or Alon brand; and food products and service, tobacco products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and general merchandise, as well as money orders to the public primarily under the 7-Eleven and DK or Alon brand names. It serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, the U.S. government, and independent retail fuel operators. Delek US Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH. Read More Greenhill & Co., Inc., an independent investment bank, provides financial and strategic advisory services to corporations, partnerships, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. The company offers advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, financings, private capital raising, and other similar transactions. It also advises clients on strategic matters, including activist shareholder defense, special committee projects, licensing deals, and joint ventures; and valuation, negotiation tactics, industry dynamics, structuring alternatives, and timing and pricing of transactions, as well as financing alternatives. In addition, the company provides restructuring advisory services to debtors, creditors, governments, and other stakeholders, and acquirers of distressed companies and assets; and advice on restructuring alternatives, capital structures, and sales or recapitalizations. Further, it assists clients in identifying and capitalizing on incremental sources of value; and on court-assisted reorganizations by developing and seeking approval for plans of reorganization, as well as the implementation of such plans. Additionally, the company advises on private placements of debt and structured equity, refinancing of existing debt facilities, negotiating the modification, and amendment of covenants, as well as acts as an independent advisor. It also offers financial advisory services to pension funds, endowments, and other institutional investors on transactions involving alternative assets; and advice to alternative asset fund sponsors for private capital raising, financing, restructuring, liquidity options, valuation, and related services. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Harley-Davidson, Inc. manufactures and sells motorcycles. The company operates in two segments, Motorcycles and Related Products and Financial Services. The Motorcycles and Related Products segment designs, manufactures, and sells Harley-Davidson motorcycles, including cruiser, touring, standard, sportbike, and dual models, as well as motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel, and related services. This segment sells its products to retail customers through a network of independent dealers, as well as e-commerce channels in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The Financial Services segment provides wholesale financing services, such as floorplan and open account financing of motorcycles, and parts and accessories; and retail financing services, including installment lending for the purchase of new and used Harley-Davidson motorcycles, as well as point-of-sale protection products comprising motorcycle insurance, extended service contracts, and motorcycle maintenance protection. This segment also licenses third-party financial institutions that issue credit cards bearing the Harley-Davidson brand. Harley-Davidson, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Humana Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health and well-being company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Group and Specialty, and Healthcare Services. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It also has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits. In addition, the company provides commercial fully insured medical and specialty health insurance benefits comprising dental, vision, and other supplemental health benefits; and administrative services only products to individuals and employer groups, as well as military services, such as TRICARE T2017 East Region contract. Further, it offers pharmacy solutions, provider services, and home solutions services, such as home health and other services to its health plan members, as well as to third parties. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 17 million members in medical benefit plans, as well as approximately 5 million members in specialty products. Humana Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Allergan plc, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical, and regenerative medicine products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: US Specialized Therapeutics, US General Medicine, and International. It offers a portfolio of products in various therapeutic areas, including medical aesthetics and dermatology, eye care, neuroscience, urology, gastrointestinal, women's health, and anti-infective therapeutic products. The company also offers breast implants and tissue expanders; and RM-131 (relamorelin), a peptide ghrelin agonist for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis. In addition, it develops medical and cosmetic treatments; therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and other liver diseases; inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders; atopic dermatitis drug candidate; peri-ocular rings for extended drug delivery and reducing elevated intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients; and treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Further, the company develops RST-001, a novel gene therapy for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa; small molecule therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases; topical medicines for fat reduction; and delivery system and botulinum toxin-based prescription products. It has collaboration, option, and license agreement with Lyndra, Inc.; and strategic alliance and option agreement with Editas Medicine, Inc. Allergan plc also has licensing agreements with Assembly Biosciences, Inc.; MedImmune; and Heptares Therapeutics, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Actavis plc and changed its name to Allergan plc in June 2015. Allergan plc was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Caleres, Inc. engages in the retail and wholesale of footwear in the United States, Canada, China, and Guam. It operates through Famous Footwear and Brand Portfolio segments. The company offers licensed, branded, and private-label athletic, casual, and dress footwear products to women, men, and children. Its retail shoe stores provide brand name athletic, casual, and dress shoes, including Nike, Skechers, adidas, Vans, Converse, Crocs, Puma, Birkenstock, New Balance, Asics, New Balance, Under Armour, Bearpaw, Timberland, Sperry, and Dr. Martens, as well as company-owned and licensed brands, such as Dr. Scholl's Shoes, Blowfish Malibu, LifeStride, Naturalizer, Zodiac, Circus by Sam Edelman, Franco Sarto, and Ryka. The company also operates naturalizer.com, naturalizer.ca, vionicshoes.com, samedelman.com, allenedmonds.com, drschollsshoes.com, lifestride.com, francosarto.com, ryka.com, bzees.com, and zodiacshoes.com, as well as Vince.com, blowfishshoes.com, and veronicabeard.com websites. In addition, it designs, sources, manufactures, and markets footwear to retail stores, such as national chains, online retailers, department stores, mass merchandisers, independent retailers, and catalogs. Further, the company wholesales men's apparel, leather goods, and accessories under the Allen Edmonds brand; footwear for women under LifeStride brand; Italian footwear Franco Sarto brand; athletic footwear for women under the Ryka brand; women's shoe collection under the Vince brand; and women's footwear under the Bzees brand; other footwear under Zodiac brand; and women's footwear collection under Veronica Beard brand, as well as Via Spiga brand. It operates approximately 980 retail stores. The company was formerly known as Brown Shoe Company, Inc. Caleres, Inc. was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. As of December 31, 2021, its operations consisted of 112 active selling communities and 41,675 owned or controlled lots. The company sells its homes through own sales representatives and independent real estate brokers. It also provides financial services, such as mortgage financing, title and escrow, and property and casualty insurance agency services. The company was formerly known as TRI Pointe Group, Inc. and changed its name to Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. in January 2021. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities. The specialty segment rents specialty construction products, including trench safety equipment consists of trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment; fluid solutions equipment for fluid containment, transfer, and treatment; and mobile storage equipment and modular office space. This segment serves construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, and municipalities and industrial companies. It also sells aerial lifts, reach forklifts, telehandlers, compressors, and generators; construction consumables, tools, small equipment, and safety supplies; and parts for equipment that is owned by its customers, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. The company sells used equipment through its sales force, brokers, website, directly to manufacturers, and at auctions. The company operates a network of 1,360 rental locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. United Rentals, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Valvoline Inc. manufactures, markets, and supplies, engine and automotive maintenance products and services. It operates through two segments, Retail Services and Global Products. The company offers lubricants for passenger car, light duty, and heavy duty; antifreeze/coolants for original equipment manufacturers; functional and maintenance chemicals, such as brake fluids and power steering fluids, as well as specialty coatings for automotive and industrial applications; and oil and air filters for light-duty vehicles. It also provides batteries, windshield wiper blades, light bulbs, serpentine belts, and drain plugs. In addition, the company operates Valvoline instant oil change service centers. As of September 30, 2021, it operated and franchised approximately 1,594 quick-lube locations under the Valvoline Instant Oil Change brand in the United States and the Great Canadian Oil Change brand in Canada. The company also serves car dealers, general repair shops, and third-party quick lube locations, as well as through distributors and licensees. It has operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Credit Management LLC, AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe Holdings S.a.r.l, AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Operations Inc., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund II GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund III GP LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund IV GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American International Group UK Limited, American International Realty LLC, American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A. en Liquidacion S.A., Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., C.A. de Seguros American International, Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Glatfelter Underwriting Services Inc., Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Illinois National Insurance Co., Inversiones Segucasai C.A., Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, Lexington Specialty Insurance Agency Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PCG 2019 Corporate Member Limited, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SAFG Capital LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., and Western World Insurance Company. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of MetLife: 10700 WILSHIRE LLC, 1201 TAB MANAGER LLC, 1350 EYE STREET MANAGER LLC, 1350 EYE STREET OWNER LLC, 150 NORTH RIVERSIDE PE MEMBER LLC, 1925 WJC OWNER LLC, 23RD STREET INVESTMENTS INC., 500 GRANT STREET ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 500 GRANT STREET GP LLC, 6104 HOLLYWOOD LLC, AFP GENESIS ADMINISTRADORA DE FONDOS Y FIDECOMISOS S.A., AGENVITA S.R.L., ALICO HELLAS SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, ALICO OPERATIONS LLC, American Life Insurance Company, BEST MARKET S.A., BLOCK VISION HOLDINGS CORPORATION, BLOCK VISION OF TEXAS INC., BORDERLAND INVESTMENTS LIMITED, BOULEVARD RESIDENTIAL LLC, BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER LLC, CC HOLDCO MANAGER LLC, CHESTNUT FLATS WIND LLC, CLOSED JOINT-STOCK COMPANY MASTER-D, COMPANIA INVERSORA METLIFE S.A., CORPORATE REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC, COVA LIFE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, DAVIS VISION INC., DAVISVISION IPA INC., DELAWARE AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, EURO CL INVESTMENTS LLC, EXCELENCIA OPERATIVA Y TECNOLOGICA S.A de C.V., FORTISSIMO CO. LTD, FUNDACION METLIFE MEXICO A.C., GLOBAL PROPERTIES INC., General American Life Insurance Company, Grand Bank N.A., HASKELL EAST VILLAGE LLC, HOUSING FUND MANAGER LLC, INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITED, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO DOS LIMITADA, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO TRES LIMITADA, LHC HOLDINGS LLC, LHCW HOLDINGS LLC, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING 2002 LLC, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING LLC, LHCW HOTEL OPERATING COMPANY 2002 LLC, LUMENLAB MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., Logan Circle Partners, MARKETPLACE RESIDENCES LLC, MC PORTFOLIO JV MEMBER LLC, MCJV LLC, MCPP OWNERS LLC, MCRE BLOCK 40 LP, MEC HEALTH CARE INC., MET 1065 HOTEL LLC, MET CANADA SOLAR ULC, METLIFE 1007 STEWART LLC, METLIFE 1201 TAB MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MANAGER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 555 12TH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 8280 MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ACOMA OWNER LLC, METLIFE ADMINISTRADORA DE FUNDOS MULTIPATROCINADOS LTDA., METLIFE ALTERNATIVES GP LLC, METLIFE ASHTON AUSTIN OWNER LLC, METLIFE ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., METLIFE ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE ASIA SERVICES SDN. BHD, METLIFE ASSET MANAGEMENT CORP., METLIFE ASSIGNMENT COMPANY INC., METLIFE BORO STATION MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMINO RAMON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMPUS AT SGV MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAPITAL CREDIT L.P., METLIFE CAPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, METLIFE CAPITAL TRUST IV, METLIFE CB W/A LLC, METLIFE CC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CHILE ADMINISTRADORA DE MUTUOS HIPOTECARIOS S.A., METLIFE CHILE INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A., METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS GENERALES S.A., METLIFE CHINO MEMBER LLC, METLIFE COLOMBIA SEGUROS de VIDA S.A., METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CONSQUARE MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CONSUMER SERVICES INC., METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CREDIT CORP., METLIFE DIGITAL VENTURES INC., METLIFE ENHANCED CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE EU HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE INSURANCE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LLC., METLIFE FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. LTD, METLIFE FM HOTEL MEMBER LLC, METLIFE FUNDING INC., METLIFE GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE GLOBAL BENEFITS LTD., METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY I GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY II GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION S.A. De C.V., METLIFE GLOBAL INC., METLIFE GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE GROUP INC., METLIFE HCMJV 1 GP LLC, METLIFE HCMJV 1 LP LLC, METLIFE HEALTH PLANS INC., METLIFE HOLDINGS INC., METLIFE HOME LOANS LLC, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE LIMITED, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE PTE. LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT TRUST, METLIFE INSURANCE BROKERAGE INC., METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF KOREA LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE K.K., METLIFE INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HF PARTNERS LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND I LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND II LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND III LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND IV LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND V LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VI LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VII LP, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT EUROPE LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENTS ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS SECURITIES LLC, METLIFE INVESTORS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, METLIFE INVESTORS GROUP LLC, METLIFE IRELAND TREASURY D.A.C., METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND LP, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS BLOCKER LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS LLC, METLIFE LATIN AMERICA ASESORIAS E INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE LEGAL PLANS INC., METLIFE LEGAL PLANS OF FLORIDA INC., METLIFE LHH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE S.A., METLIFE LOAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT FUND LP, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT MASTER FUND LP, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MAS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO HOLDINGS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT FUND II LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP II LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT II RATED FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL GP LLC, METLIFE MMPD II SPECIAL LLC, METLIFE MULTI-FAMILY PARTNERS III LLC, METLIFE OBS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE OFC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ONTARIO STREET MEMBR LLC, METLIFE PARK TOWER MEMBER LLC, METLIFE PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED, METLIFE PENSIONES MEXICO S.A., METLIFE PET INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE PLANOS ODONTOLOGICOS LTDA., METLIFE POWSZECHNE TOWARTZYSTWO EMERYTALNE S.A., METLIFE PRIVATE EQUITY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, METLIFE RC SF MEMBER LLC, METLIFE REAL ESTATE LENDING LLC, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF BERMUDA LTD., METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF CHARLESTON, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF VERMONT, METLIFE RETIREMENT SERVICES LLC, METLIFE SECURITIZATION DEPOSITOR LLC, METLIFE SEGUROS S.A., METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FINCO LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FUND LP, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING GP LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING HOLDINGS LP, METLIFE SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE SERVICES CYPRUS LTD., METLIFE SERVICES EAST PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EEIG, METLIFE SERVICES EOOD, METLIFE SERVICES SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, METLIFE SERVICES SP Z.O.O, METLIFE SERVICIOS S.A., METLIFE SINGLE FAMILY RENTAL FUND GP LLC, METLIFE SINGLE FAMILY RENTAL FUND LP, METLIFE SOLUTIONS PTE. LTD., METLIFE SOLUTIONS S.A.S., METLIFE SP HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE STRATEGIC HOTEL DEBT FUND GP LLC, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN LUX GP S.A.R.L., METLIFE THR INVESTOR LLC, METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO FUNDUSZY INWESTYCYJNYCH S.A., METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ZYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A., METLIFE TOWER RESOURCES GROUP INC., METLIFE TREAT TOWERS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, METROPOLITAN GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE SEGUROS E PREVIDENCIA PRIVADA S.A., METROPOLITAN LIFE SOCIETATE de ADMINISTRARE a UNUI FOND de PENSII ADMINISTRAT PRIVAT S.A., METROPOLITAN TOWER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER REALTY COMPANY INC., MEX DF PROPERTIES LLC, MFA FINANCING VEHICLE CTR1 LLC, MIDTOWN HEIGHTS LLC, MIM CAMPUS AT SGV MANAGER LLC, MIM CLAL GENERAL PARTNER LLC, MIM CM SYNDICATOR LLC, MIM EMD GP LLC, MIM I LLC, MIM LS GP LLC, MIM METWEST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER LLC, MIM ML-AI VENTURE 5 MANAGER LLC, MIM OMD MANAGER LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF GEORGIA 1 LLC, MIM SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MIM THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MISSOURI REINSURANCE INC., ML 300 THIRD MEMBER LLC, ML ARMATURE MEMBER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MANAGER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MEMBER LLC, ML CAPACITACION COMERCIAL S.A. DE C.V., ML CERRITOS TC MEMBER LLC, ML CLAL MEMBER LLC, ML CORNER 63 MEMBER LLC, ML DOLPHIN GP LLC, ML DOLPHIN MEZZ LLC, ML HUDSON MEMBER LLC, ML MATSON MILLS MEMBER LLC, ML MILILANI MEMBER LLC, ML OMD MEMBER LLC, ML ONE BEDMINSTER LLC, ML PORT CHESTER SC MEMBER LLC, ML SENTINEL SQUARE MEMBER LLC, ML SLOANS LAKE MEMEBR LLC, ML SOUTHLANDS MEMBER LLC, ML SOUTHMORE LLC, ML SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML SWAN GP LLC, ML SWAN MEZZ LLC, ML TERRACES LLC, ML THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML VENTURE 1 MANAGER S. DE R. L. DE C.V., ML VENTURE 1 SERVICER LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 1 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 2 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 3 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 4 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 5 LLC, ML-URS PORT CHESTER SC MANAGER LLC, MLIA MANAGER I LLC, MLIA PARK TOWER MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF COLONY MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF MANAGER LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS II LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, MLIC CB HOLDINGS LLC, MLJ US FEEDER LLC, MM GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER S.A. DE C.V., MMP CEDAR STREET OWNER LLC, MMP CEDAR STREET REIT LLC, MMP HOLDINGS III LLC, MMP OLIVIAN OWNER LLC, MMP OLIVIAN REIT LLC, MMP OWNERS III LLC, MMP OWNERS LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK OWNER LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK REIT LLC, MNQM TRUST 2020, MREF 425 MKT LLC, MSHDF HOLDCO I LLC, MSV IRVINE PROPERTY LLC, MTL LEASING LLC, MTU HOTEL OWNER LLC, NATILOPORTEM HOLDINGS LLC, NEWBURY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, OCONEE GOLF COMPANY LLC, OCONEE HOTEL COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC, OCONEE MARINA COMPANY LLC, OMI MLIC INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL NORTH LLC, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL SOUTH LLC, PARK TOWER JV MEMBER LLC, PARK TOWER REIT INC., PJSC METLIFE, PLAZA DRIVE PROPERTIES LLC, PREFCO FOURTEEN LLC, PREFCO XIV HOLDINGS LLC, PROVIDA INTERNACIONAL S.A., SAFEGUARD HEALTH ENTERPRISES INC., SAFEGUARD HEALTH PLANS INC., SAFEHEALTH LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, SOUTHCREEK INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS LLC, ST. JAMES FLEET INVESTMENTS TWO LIMITED, SUPERIOR PROCUREMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION HOLDINGS INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE PLAN OF WISCONSIN INC., SUPERIOR VISION OF NEW JERSEY INC., SUPERIOR VISION SERVICES INC., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Security First Group Inc., THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL HOLDING LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL OWNER, THE DIRECT CALL CENTRE PTY LIMITED, TRANSMOUNTAIN LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, UVC INDEPENDENT PRACTICE ASSOCIATION INC., VERSANT HEALTH CONSOLIDATIONS CORP., VERSANT HEALTH HOLDCO INC., VERSANT HEALTH INC., VERSANT HEALTH LAB LLC, VIRIDIAN MIRACLE MILE LLC, VISION 21 MANAGED EYE CARE OF TAMPA BAY INC., VISION 21 PHYSICIAN PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, VISION TWENTY-ONE MANAGED EYE CARE IPA INC., Versant Health, WDV ACQUISITION CORP., WFP 1000 HOLDING COMPANY GP LLC, WHITE OAK ROYALTY COMPANY, WHITE TRACT II LLC, and Willing. Read More Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. The company develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages. It also advises on actuarial issues, oversees distribution, administers claims payments, performs policy administration and underwriting, and assists with reinsurance negotiations; places and manages reinsurance programs for the insurance entities; and operates Clovered.com, an online platform in which consumers receive side-by-side quotes from various carriers across multiple states, as well as educational materials about homeowners' insurance policies. It offers its products through a network of independent agents, as well as Universal Direct, a direct-to-consumer online platform, which enables homeowners to directly purchase, pay for, and bind homeowners' policies. The company was formerly known as Universal Heights, Inc. and changed its name to Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. in January 2001. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Best Buy Co., Inc. retails technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products. The company's stores also offer appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry, ovens, refrigerators, blenders, coffee makers, and vacuums; entertainment products consisting of drones, peripherals, movies, music, and toys, as well as gaming hardware and software, and virtual reality and other software products; and other products, such as baby, food and beverage, luggage, outdoor living, and sporting goods. In addition, it provides consultation, delivery, design, health-related, installation, memberships, repair, set-up, technical support, and warranty-related services. The company offers its products through stores and websites under the Best Buy, Best Buy Ads, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Health, CST, Current Health, Geek Squad, Lively, Magnolia, Best Buy Mobile, Pacific Kitchen, Home, and Yardbird, as well as domain names bestbuy.com, currenthealth.com, lively.com, yardbird.com, and bestbuy.ca. As of January 30, 2022, it had 1,144 stores. The company was formerly known as Sound of Music, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Penske Automotive Group, Inc., a diversified transportation services company, operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships. The company operates through four segments: Retail Automotive, Retail Commercial Truck, Other, and Non-Automotive Investments. It operates dealerships under franchise agreements with various automotive manufacturers and distributors. The company engages in the sale of new and used motor vehicles, and related products and services comprise vehicle and collision repair services, as well as placement of finance and lease contracts, third-party insurance products, and other aftermarket products; and wholesale of parts. It also operates a heavy and medium duty truck dealership, which offers Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks, as well as a range of used trucks, and maintenance and repair services. In addition, it imports and distributes Western Star heavy-duty trucks, MAN heavy and medium duty trucks, buses, and Dennis Eagle refuse collection vehicles with associated parts in Australia, New Zealand, and portions of the Pacific. Further, the company distributes diesel and gas engines, and power systems. The company operates 320 retail automotive franchises, including 146 franchises located in the United States and 174 franchises located outside of the United States; 23 CarShop used vehicle dealerships in the United States and the United Kingdom; and 37 commercial truck dealerships in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Utah, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, and Oregon, as well as Canada. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. London stocks were set for a slightly firmer open on Thursday, taking their cue from a positive session in the US after the release of encouraging jobs and GDP data. The FTSE 100 was expected to open 13 points higher at 7,378. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "While European markets managed to post a modest recovery yesterday the rebound was still a pretty mediocre one when set against the declines of the previous day, as some cautious buyers returned to the market, as tensions around North Korea subsided temporarily. "US investors remained more exuberant, with the S&P500 closing higher for the fourth day in succession with tech stocks helping drive gains, as US economic data continued to surprise to the upside, while in Asia a better than expected Chinese manufacturing PMI number for August also kept spirits up." There are no major UK data releases due on Thursday so market participants will be turning their attention to the US, where the PCE, jobless claims, pending home sales and the Chicago purchasing managers' index are all due ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report. In corporate news, Restaurant Group sales deteriorated as the first half of the year wore on, but the Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's owner served up a flat dividend as it reported early signs of improvement and broke back into the black. For the 26 weeks to 2 July, like-for-like sales shrank 2.2% and the company reported an adjusted profit before tax of 25.5m down from 36.6m a year ago, while at the statutory level a 2.8m PBT followed last year's loss of 22.5m. Interim pre-tax profits at international building materials distributor Grafton rose 18% to 74.1m as it warned that recent softer trends in the UK economy are likely to be sustained over the remainder of the year. The dividend was lifted 11% to 5.25p a share. British American Tobacco updated the market on its management structure following the completion of the acquisition of Reynolds American. The FTSE 100 firm had previously announced the addition of Debra Crew as president and CEO of Reynolds American from the end of July, and was now confirming that Jack Bowles - currently regional director of the Asia Pacific region, would be appointed to the newly-created role of chief operating officer for the international, non-US business. British American Tobacco updated the market on its management structure on Thursday following the completion of the acquisition of Reynolds American . The FTSE 200 firm had previously announced the addition of Debra Crew as president and CEO of Reynolds American from the end of July, and was now confirming that Jack Bowles - currently regional director of the Asia Pacific region, would be appointed to the newly-created role of chief operating officer for the international, non-US business. Bowles would be reporting directly to chief executive Nicandro Durante, as Crew does, and would take his post from 1 October. He initially joined the group in 2004, and had been a member of the management board since October 2009. We have decided to simplify our regional structure and to fully integrate our Next Generation Products business into the core operations of the group - reflecting the outstanding growth of this part of our business to date and its long term importance to the group's future, the board explained in its statement. At the same time, British American said it was simplifying its regional organisation structure to create three new regions. Those regions would be the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, including east and central, west and southern Africa; Europe and North Africa, including Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, central Asia, Belarus and Turkey; and a region encompassing Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Regional director responsibilities, reporting directly to the new chief operating officer and continuing as members of the management board, were also being reorganised with effect from 1 January. Ricardo Oberlander, regional director for the Americas, would be appointed regional director for the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa. Oberlander joined the BAT Group in 1989 and had been a member of the management board since January 2013. Tadeu Marroco, regional director for Western Europe, would be appointed regional director for Europe and North Africa. Marroco joined British American Tobacco in Brazil more than 20 years ago, and had been a member of the management board since September 2014. Johan Vandermeulen, currently regional director for the EEMEA region, would be appointed regional director for Asia Pacific and Middle East. Vandermeulen had been with the BAT Group for more than 20 years and joined the management board in September 2014. Now that we have built a successful Next Generation Products (NGP) business which is poised for substantial growth, we will be fully integrating NGP into our existing business infrastructure across the group - both within the functions and the regions - to leverage the scale and expertise of the whole group to drive growth in an area that is fast becoming a key part of our mainstream business, the board added in its statement. Kingsley Wheaton, managing director for Next Generation Products, will manage this integration process. Additionally, Andrew Gray, currently the director of marketing, would be appointed chief marketing officer, reporting directly to the chief executive, with effect from 1 October. This expanded role combines the areas of marketing and research and development across all categories - [both] combustible cigarettes and NGPs, the board said. Gray had been with the BAT Group for 31 years and had been a member of the management board for more than nine years. David O'Reilly, currently group scientific and R&D director, would remain a member of the management board, and would report to the chief marketing officer under the new structure. This new structure will enable better, more integrated resource allocation and decision making across geographies and categories, British American Tobacco said. It creates a truly global multi category business, with NGPs embedded at its heart, to drive continued long term success. Royal Mail and Provident Financial will be demoted from the FTSE 100 next month as part of the quarterly index reshuffle, replaced by NMC Health and Berkeley Group , while three replacement were made at the bottom of the FTSE 250 index. Embattled Carillion, Petra Diamonds and Northgate were booted out of the mid-cap index, with promotions for 888 Holdings, Alfa Financial Software Holdings and Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund. The changes were confirmed by FTSE Russell overnight, with the quarterly review simply relegating companies from the FTSE 100 automatically if they fall to 111th or below on the list of companies market capitalisations. Provident's departure was not unexpected after its share price cratered nearly 70% last Tuesday as the doorstep lender warned of troubles from its new staffing model on its core division and the FCA investigation into its Vanquis bank. Royal Mail's slide has been more gradual, with the share price down 11% since its controversial initial public offer in 2013, when the coalition government was criticised for selling it on the cheap as its shares rise from the 330p float price above 600p. "Maybe the government didnt get such a bad price for it after all," said analyst Neil Wilson at ETX Capital, suggesting that the criticism levelled at the government may have been a touch unfair. "Royal Mail faces structural problems, namely falling letter volumes and parcel business being leached to rivals and independent operators who are nimbler and more efficient. Its also facing trouble with unions. This is a big battle about the way the company operates and one Royal Mail will need to win to satisfy investors." Pension costs could climb to as much as 1.3bn a year from the current level of 400m if unions gets the scheme it wants, with the 6 September deadline for the company to produce a new offer perhaps leading to industrial action around the key Christmas period. FTSE 100 JOINERS NMC Health, the Abu Dhabi based private hospital operator, has a market cap of 5.5bn after its shares have rocketed from below 200p five years ago to north of 2,700p this week helped by strong interim results last week. Results showed revenues of $775.2m up 34% over the prior year, with EBITDA up 47% to $170.7m thanks to strong performances from acquired businesses in Sharjah and newly opened facilities in Saudi Arabian and Oman, as well as continuing growth in the more mature hospitals in UAE. NMC enters the FTSE 100 with a new management structure under new CEO Prasanth Manghat to ensure a solid management foundation for future strategic growth, with newly promoted finance, investment and operations directors. Meanwhile Berkeley Group returns to the FTSE 100 a year after being demoted when the shares dropped 30% after the EU referendum last year as concerns hit the sector. Greater cash flow and an improving sentiment for house builders is the key, said Graham Spooner, analyst at The Share Centre, with the shares having rallied by around 50% to now trade at better than pre-Brexit levels, helped by Deutsche Bank raising its price target lately. "Furthermore, investors recognise that the yield is attractive and a special dividend programme has undoubtedly attracted some positive attention," Spooner said. MID CAP MOVES Carillion has been demoted from the FTSE 250, having lost more than three-quarters of its value this year after a series of profit warnings, taking its market cap to just over 210m, less than half of the next lowest in the index. "No wonder given the amount of short interest in this stock," said Wilson. "Markets expect a capital raise, which may come when it reports interim results on September 29th. Market cap is about 240m while liabilities are around 1.6bn. Even the award of lucrative HS2 contracts is not helping." The promotion for 888 came amid ignominious news that the UK Gambling Commission had slapped a record fine over the online gaming companys "serious failings in its handling of vulnerable customers". A 7.8m penalty was issued after "significant flaws" were discovered in 888's social responsibility processes, which aim to protect consumers from gambling-related harm. Alfa Financial, a developer of software for the asset finance industry, joins following its IPO in June this year. Results form the company on Friday showed at 10m profit on revenues up 57% to 45.1m as two new customer wins took total number of customers to 31. "Our IPO was always about creating a platform to grow our business and in the relatively short period since then we've continued to deliver on our strategic plan, maintaining focus on expanding our customer base and on the ongoing development of Alfa Systems," said CEO Andrew Denton. Interim pre-tax profits at international building materials distributor Grafton rose 18% to 74.1m driven by organic growth across its core businesses. Revenues were up 9% 1.3bn. The dividend was lifted 11% to 5.25p a share. The company warned that recent softer trends in the UK economy are likely to be sustained over the remainder of the year. The strength of UK housing starts should support house building activity while the residential repair, maintenance and improvements (RMI) market was expected to be broadly flat with continuing competitive pricing conditions, it added. Expansion of the Selco branch network reflects our confidence in the medium term outlook for the UK economy, Grafton said. The outlook for the Irish economy is positive with the pace of growth projected to remain strong and to provide a favourable trading environment, it added, noting that Ireland was still in the early stages of a recovery that was expected to gather pace in response to strong underlying demand. Recent strong growth in the Netherlands economy is forecast to continue with the Dutch merchanting business expected to benefit. While modest growth is forecast for the Belgian economy, our focus remains on self-help initiatives to restore profitability, Grafton said. Ultra Electronics announced on Thursday that it has expanded its relationship with Jupitor Corporation of Japan to support the introduction of its latest technologies on major Japanese aerospace programmes. The FTSE 250 firm said Jupitor had a long and successful history of supplying the latest aerospace technology to the benefit of its Japanese and regional customers and, with its excellent connections in Japanese industry, would provide Ultra with the best possible regional partner to support its aerospace business. It said the enhanced partnership would allow Ultra technology to be offered on the latest Japanese aerospace platforms. In addition, Ultra's ability to offer ITAR-free technology supported continued development within the industry. The announcement was made during Ultra's participation in Prime Minister Theresa May's three-day visit to Japan. I am very pleased that Ultra's partnership with Jupitor has been expanded to encompass the latest aerospace technologies, said Ultra chief executive Rakesh Sharma. Japan is an important market for Ultra and our aerospace technology is particularly well suited to the future civil and military aircraft platforms currently under development in Japan. Through our relationship with Jupitor we are making use of some of the best local knowledge and experience within the industry. Toshiyasu Asano, president of Jupitor Corporation, explained that it was Jupitor's mission to benefit Japan industry through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies which satisfy customer needs. Introducing Ultra's expertise and experience in state-of-the-art aerospace products to our customers in Japan is core to this mission and we are therefore delighted to build upon our long-standing relationship. UK Prime Minister Theresa May's overnight claim that show would contest the next General Election was met with some scepticism by members of her own party on Thursday. The next election must be held by 2022. May spectacularly lost the government's parliamentary majority in June's snap vote after blowing a 22 point opinion poll lead. The vote resulted in a hung parliament and forced the weakened prime minister into a controversial pact with Northern Ireland's right wing Democratic Unionist Party in order for her to get legislation through. However, in an interview with the BBC while on a trade trip to Japan, May insisted she was going nowhere. "Yes, I'm here for the long term. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit but delivering a brighter future for the UK," she said. Many observers feel May will struggle to hold the party together as clearer internal divisions emerge over the shape of any final Brexit deal and that an election will be held before 2022. Former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said May's claim "will certainly raise some eyebrows". "The truth is we ran a very poor election and you can't just brush that under the table and pretend it didn't happen - not least because we went from having a workable majority to no majority at all, so that stands to reason, he told the BBC. By Andy Rowell As much of the North American media focuses on the ongoing unprecedented flooding and relief efforts in Texas and now potentially Louisiana, another tragedy is unfolding, which is going largely unreported, in Asia. Whereas the death toll in Texas stands at 20, the death toll in South Asia is estimated at 1,200 after weeks of unusually strong monsoon rains affecting India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Red Cross estimates that 14 million people have been affected by flooding in India; more than seven million in Bangladesh and 1.5 million in Nepal. The United Nations puts the total number of people affected by floods and landslides at a total nearly double that, at 41 million. According to the Red Cross, Vast swaths of land across all three countries are under water Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and their livelihoods. Many medical facilities, schools, markets and other essential services are submerged. And as the rains continue, many people are worried that the death tolland the number affectedwill rise. Although the monsoon is an annual event, this years rains have been considered far worse than usual, and people are blaming climate change for making things much worse. In India, for example, half the huge state of Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 220 million people, is under water. But they are not alone. One rescue and relief officer recently told Reuters that at least 850 people had been killed in six flood-affected states in the past month. In the eastern state of Bihar, People didnt have much time to get out, Hanna Butler at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRCRC), who has been studying the damage in region, told the Financial Times. More traditional homes have been wiped out and concrete homes have also been ripped from their foundations. In Indias largest city, Mumbai, which is home to some 20 million people, and which is largely built on reclaimed land, schools and colleges are shut, with the citys transport system said to be in chaos. One news report said that city has been paralyzed by incessant rains. In some parts of the city, water is said to be five feet high. Five people are believed to have died in the city in the last 24 hours. In Bangladesh, at least 134 people have died and 700,000 homes have been impacted, with more than eight million affected. A third of the country is now subject to flooding. This is the severest flooding in a number of years, said Matthew Marek, head of disaster response in Bangladesh for the IFRCRC, who recently flew over the country. I could not find a single dry patch of land. Farmers are left with nothing, not even with clean drinking water. His colleague, Corinne Ambler, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Bangladesh, who also flew over the affected area, said, All I could see was water, the whole way. You have tiny little clumps of houses stuck in the middle of water. Indeed Reaz Ahmed, the director-general of Bangladeshs Department of Disaster Management, told CNN, This is not normal Floods this year were bigger and more intense than the previous years. Meanwhile, in Nepal, 150 people have been killed and some 90,000 homes destroyed. Francis Markus, a spokesman for the IFRCRC told the New York Times from Kathmandu, We hope people wont overlook the desperate needs of the people here because of the disasters closer home. That disaster is Superstorm Harvey. Many people have commented at how little press coverage the South Asia floods have received compared to Harvey. Indeed, as with Harvey, climate change is exacerbating the problem in Asia, with one commentator in the Pacific Standard noting, Climate change appears to be intensifying the regions monsoon rains. Thankfully, we are now starting to see media coverage of the devastation in South Asia facilitated by the coverage of Houston, added Jagat Patnaik, the Asia Regional Head at ActionAid International. If there is one thing that unites us, its climate change: so perhaps our attention and efforts should be equal. If you want to donate, you can via the Red Cross appeal or via ActionAid. Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams. By Alex Kirby Tropical storm Harvey is by any standard off the scale. Some parts of Texas have received in just over a week the rainfall they would normally expect in an entire year, and the storm is described as generating as much rain as would normally be seen only once in more than 1,000 years. Exceptional as it is, Harvey is not a direct consequence of climate change, in the judgment of one leading climate scientist, professor Stefan Rahmstorf, co-chair of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany. However, Rahmstorf couples his clear rebuttal that the warming climate triggered Harvey with a significant qualification. The increased heat accumulating in the atmosphere, he said, has almost certainly intensified the storms destructiveness, in line with other evidence suggesting a link between extreme weather and the human influence on the climate. Extreme rainfall In a statement released by PIK, he said: Storm Harvey was not caused by climate change, yet its impactsthe storm surge and especially the extreme rainfallvery likely worsened due to human-caused global warming. Asking for a single cause of a specific weather event usually doesnt make sense, since theres always a number of factors at play. What can be said is whether and how climate change affects the character of some extreme events. Scientific findings from past decades offer some insights here. A logical consequence of global warming is a global increase of extreme rainfall eventsin the case of Harvey, it is in fact the heavy rain and the resulting flooding which is probably the greatest threat. The increase of extreme precipitation is due to the fact that warmer air can hold more water vapor. A global increase of daily rainfall records is indeed seen in the rainfall observations, as has been shown in a PIK study. This trend will continue as long as we keep pushing up global temperatures by emitting greenhouse gases. More tentative, yet quite possibly also relevant, is a general slowdown of atmospheric summer circulation in the mid-latitudes. This is a consequence of the disproportionally strong warming in the Arctic. It can make weather systems move less and stay longer in a given locationwhich can significantly enhance the impacts of rainfall extremes, just like were sadly witnessing in Houston. In what sounds like support for Rahmstorfs tentative suggestion, a BBC journalist reported on Tuesday, The big problem with tropical storm Harvey is just how slow-moving it has become, with the centre of the storm just meandering around, allowing moisture to pile in continuously from the Gulf of Mexico, and that has fed torrential rain, which has affected the same areas for several days now. Strongest storms Rahmstorf said that no change in the overall frequency of tropical storms was expected, and no significant change had been observed so far. But theory and models both suggest there was likely to be a change in the intensity of storms. The strongest tropical storms could become even stronger due to increasing sea surface temperatures, because this is where these storms get their energy from, he said. Thats the reason they develop only above water warmed to at least 26C. It is under debate whether observational data support the theoretical expectation of an increase in the strongest storms, since these are rare and the observational data series therefore need to be very long and homogeneous to be conclusive. Rising seas are a clear result of global warming, causing ocean levels to increase by roughly 20cm since the late 19th century. Thermal expansion of sea water, melting mountain glaciers and mass loss in Greenland and Antarctica are the main contributors. Tim Palmer, Royal Society research professor in climate physics at the University of Oxford, UK, said that perhaps the single most important question for attributing Harvey to climate change is whether such stationary hurricanes would become more commonplace in the future. This is a question about possible changes in circulation, and hence dynamics, he said. There is still uncertainty about many aspects of the dynamics of climate change, and this will only be addressed by investment in climate models and the top-of-the-range supercomputers needed to run them. This is an area where UK scientists must continue to collaborate strongly with their colleagues in Europe. Dave Reay, professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburghs School of Geosciences, UK, said, Flood defense plans based only on past events will become obsolete as our warming atmosphere delivers much more rain and much more often. President Trump may have withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, but he cant opt out of the laws of physics. Other countries are also struggling with severe flooding. Reports from Bangladesh, for instance, said that by late August more than 100,000 people in flood-affected areas had sought refuge in emergency centers. Reposted with permission from our media associate Climate News Network. 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 New Delhi: After talks with Switzerlands President Doris Leuthard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India will continue to work closely with Switzerland in the fight against black money. Modi, while addressing the media jointly with Lutherard, said, Transparency in todays world is a matter of concern, whether it is on black money, as dirty money, hawala or weapon, and drug To be financed. They said, We will continue to cooperate with Switzerland to fight this global problem. Modi said that foreign direct investment is an important basis for economic cooperation between India and Switzerland. He said, We especially welcome Swiss investors in India. In this regard, we have agreed to continue the discussion on bilateral agreements. Modi said that talks about the main trade agreement between the EU and India are in progress. Doris Leuthard said that Switzerland is one of the toughest laws against money laundering and it is expected that other countries will do the same. ARLINGTON, Va., August 31, 2017 - The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has selected 43 recipients to be presented with one of its 2017 Annual Meeting Abstract Awards. These individuals will be recognized for their top-rated research abstracts at ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting, taking place September 24-27 in San Diego. "ASTRO's Annual Meeting attracts the most impactful science in the field of radiation oncology, and ASTRO is proud to recognize the researchers and clinical teams behind this cutting-edge work," said ASTRO President Brian D. Kavanagh, MD, FASTRO. "It is always difficult to narrow down the list of award winners from the large pool of excellent submissions, and we appreciate all of the great work in the field of radiation oncology being done around the world. We salute these 43 award winners who stood out for their innovative science." The Resident Clinical/Basic Science Research Abstract Award recognizes the top research from medical residents, with one award for the highest-scored abstracts in each of three categories: clinical practice, radiation and cancer biology, and radiation physics. Award winners receive a $1,500 honorarium. The 2017 Resident Clinical/Basic Science Research Award recipients are: James Bates, MD, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida (clinical practice) Aadel Chaudhuri, MD, PhD, Stanford Cancer Institute, Palo Alto, California (radiation and cancer biology) Sanjay Aneja, MD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (radiation physics) The Basic/Translational Science Abstract Award recognizes the lead authors of 12 top-rated basic and translational abstracts in clinical practice, radiation and cancer biology, and radiation physics. Award winners, who are a mix of junior and senior investigators, receive a $1,000 honorarium. The recipients of the 2017 Basic/Translational Science Abstract Award are: Erica Bell, PhD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (clinical practice senior investigator) Christopher Corso, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (clinical practice junior investigator) Narek Shaverdian, MD, University of California, Los Angeles (clinical practice junior investigator) Anurag Singh, MD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York (clinical practice senior investigator) Sophia Kamran, MD, Harvard University, Boston (radiation and cancer biology junior investigator) Fei-Fei Liu, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto (radiation and cancer biology senior investigator) Stephanie Markovina, MD, PhD, Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University in St. Louis (radiation and cancer biology junior investigator) Catherine Park, MD, University of California, San Francisco (radiation and cancer biology senior investigator) Hao Han, PhD, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (radiation physics senior investigator) Sang Ho Lee, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York (radiation physics junior investigator) Gang Yin, PhD, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Chengdu, China (radiation physics junior investigator) Hao Zhang, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore (radiation physics senior investigator) The Annual Meeting Travel Award recognizes outstanding research by early-career scientists, biologists and physicists. Lead authors of 15 high-scoring abstracts selected for the meeting will receive awards of $1,000 to support travel to the meeting. The 2017 Annual Meeting Travel Award winners are: Rohann Correa, MD, PhD, London Regional Cancer Program, Western University, London, Canada (clinical practice) Shrinivas Rathod, MD, CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada (clinical practice) Antoine Schernberg, MD, Hopital Tenon, Paris (clinical practice) Monica Serban, MSc, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark (clinical practice) Shankar Siva, PhD, MBBS, FRANZCR, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia (clinical practice) George Grass, MD, PhD, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida (radiation and cancer biology) Kathy Han, MD, MS, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto (radiation and cancer biology) Wen Jiang, MD, PhD, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (radiation and cancer biology) Jonathan Leeman, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York (radiation and cancer biology) Harish Vasudevan, PhD, University of California, San Francisco (radiation and cancer biology) Mireia Crispin-Ortuzar, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York (radiation physics) Penny Fang, MD, MBA, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (radiation physics) Olga Green, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis (radiation physics) Giuseppe Palma, PhD, Italian National Research Council, Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging (radiation physics) Leith Rankine, MS, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (radiation physics) The International Annual Meeting Scientific Abstract Award provides a $4,000 grant to a radiation oncologist from a developing country, based on the World Bank's definition, to attend ASTRO's Annual Meeting and to spend additional time at a comprehensive cancer center in the United States. The award fosters continuing medical education, assists in career development and aids in establishing relationships with ASTRO members who may serve as scientific mentors to the award winner. The recipient is the lead author of an abstract selected for presentation at the 2017 ASTRO Annual Meeting and has a letter of support from the chair/mentor of the U.S. institution that will host the awardee at his or her cancer center. The awardee must submit a written summary of their Annual Meeting participation and the experience garnered at the host cancer center. The recipient of the 2017 International Annual Meeting Scientific Abstract Award is: Indranil Mallick, MD, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, India The Resident Poster Viewing Recognition Award recognizes the highest-rated abstracts submitted by residents that were selected for paper poster presentations, with awards for the top three resident authors in each of three categories: clinical practice, radiation and cancer biology, and radiation physics. The 2017 Resident Poster Viewing Recognition Award recipients are: Corbin Helis, MD, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (clinical practice) Chan Woo Wee, MD, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea (clinical practice) George Q. Yang, MD, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida (clinical practice) Linda Chen, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (radiation and cancer biology) Michael Farris, MD, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (radiation and cancer biology) Jenna Kahn, MD, Virgnia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia (radiation and cancer biology) Sanne Blinde, MD, Erasmus MC Center Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands (radiation physics) Seung Hyuck Jeon, MD, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea (radiation physics) The Resident ePoster Recognition Award recognizes the highest-rated abstracts selected for digital poster discussions that have residents as the lead author, with one award each for the top abstracts in clinical practice, radiation and cancer biology, and radiation physics. The 2017 Resident ePoster Recognition Award recipients are: Richard Cassidy, MD, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta (clinical practice) Ariel Marciscano, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (radiation and cancer biology) Noah Kalman, MD, MBA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia (radiation physics) The Annual Meeting Nurses Abstract Award honors the highest-rated abstract with a nursing designation. Award candidates must be nurses who are the lead author or co-author of an abstract selected for presentation at the 2017 ASTRO Annual Meeting. The award winner receives a $1,000 honorarium. The 2017 Annual Meeting Nurses' Abstract Award recipient is: Antonia Pryor, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, A0CNP, Texas Oncology, Dallas ### For more information about ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting, visit http://www.astro.org/AnnualMeeting. For press registration and media policies for ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting, visit http://www.astro.org/AMPress. ABOUT ASTRO'S ANNUAL MEETING ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting, the nation's premier scientific meeting in radiation oncology, will be held September 24-27, 2017, at the San Diego Convention Center. The 2017 Annual Meeting is expected to attract more than 11,000 attendees from across the globe, including oncologists from all disciplines and members of the entire radiation oncology team. More than 2,800 abstracts sharing results from clinical trials and other research studies will be presented in conjunction with educational sessions and keynote addresses that underscore the meeting's theme, "The Healing Art and Science of Radiation Oncology." Led by ASTRO President Brian Kavanagh, MD, MPH, FASTRO, the 2017 meeting will feature keynote addresses from Richard D. Zane, MD, FAAEM, Chief Innovation Officer for the University of Colorado Health System; Lucy Kalanithi, MD, FACP, widow of Paul Kalanithi, MD, the best-selling author of "When Breath Becomes Air," with Heather Wakelee, MD, her late husband's oncologist; and Vinay K. Prasad, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University. During the four-day meeting, more than 200 exhibitors will demonstrate cutting-edge technology and medical device innovations for radiation oncology. Visit us online for more information about ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting or press opportunities at the meeting. ABOUT ASTRO Anyone who owns an Android smartphone will soon be able to contribute to a research project, simply by recording surrounding noise. The purpose is to establish a participatory map of the sound environment. The NoiseCapture application, which was developed by researchers from the CNRS and IFSTTAR(1), uses signal processing algorithms to calculate acoustic indicators during the user's trips. These geolocated indicators are then anonymously stored in a database to develop noise maps that reflect reality as closely as possible, with extremely dense connections. These noise maps obtained with the help of smartphones could be used by local governments to implement more targeted plans of action for preserving or improving the quality of urban sound environments. The NoiseCapture application, which was developed within the framework of the ENERGIC-OD (2) European project, is a participatory project that brings together specialists in environmental acoustics and geographic information, thereby enabling researchers to address major issues such as interoperability or the qualification and handling of data from various sources (noise level, cadastral data, statistical data on populations...). In fact, the NoiseCapture application is accompanied by a comprehensive information system that can store, query, and share the collected data. This geographic information system now functions in real time, and will enable the creation of a permanent database on a global scale. Beyond scientific considerations, which raise questions about the analysis of data quality and the creation of indicators or new mediums for the rendering of results, the researchers were driven by a desire to open up research on the sound environment to the broadest possible audience (citizens, companies, local authorities, government services, scientists...). This opening is reflected in an "open science" project, with the development of shared resources under an open source license, the diffusion of anonymous data collected under an open data license, and the publication of research results in open access journals. The research of the two teams involved is therefore in line with a citizen-based approach to science. The goal is to use the NoiseCapture project to involve citizens in the control of their territory, notably in matters of noise pollution, a prerequisite to allow them to be actors in improving the quality of their environment. The NoiseCapture application will be presented to the public(3) during Digital Week, which begin on September 24, 2017 in Saint-Nazaire (northwestern France). It will be available as of September 1 on all Android telephones. ### To find out more: Application: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.noise_planet.noisecapture Project: http://noise-planet.org/ (1) From the Laboratoire des sciences et techniques de l'information, de la communication et de la connaissance (CNRS/Universite Bretagne-Sud/ENI Brest/ENSTA Bretagne/Universite Bretagne Occidentale/Institut Mines Telecom) and the IFSTTAR's Laboratoire d'acoustique environnementale. (2) The ENERGIC-OD (https://www.energic-od.eu/) project was co-funded by the GEOPAL (http://www.geopal.org/) program of the region Pays de La Loire. (3) A first version has already been tested and used by other institutions in Geneva and San Francisco as part of research programs. CNRS Researcher l Erwan Bocher l T +33 (0)2 97 62 64 92 l erwan.bocher@univ-ubs.fr IFSTTAR Researcher | Judicael Picaut | T +33 (0)2 40 84 57 89 l judicael.picaut@ifsttar.fr CNRS Press Officer l Alexiane Agullo l T +33 (0)1 44 96 43 90 l alexiane.agullo@cnrs-dir.fr Buck converters, also known as step down converters, are chatty Cathys. The systems put out less power than they receive, and the tracking signals in the output can get stuck--the result is a small but harmful frequency fluctuation. A research team composed of scientists from Golestan University, Concordia University, and Delft University of Technology has proposed a way to cut the chatter. The researchers published their study in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS), a joint publication of the IEEE and the Chinese Association of Automation. The chatter can lead to worn hardware, dangerous temperature changes in the circuits, and it makes the system difficult to accurately control. "In order to suppress the chattering, a high order sliding mode control technique was [previously] proposed, and has been established as the most successful chattering avoidance method," wrote Prof. Hassan HosseinNia, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The problem, he continued, is that the control method becomes less reliable and robust if other, unknown variables come into play. HosseinNia and his team built upon the previously proposed sliding mode control technique--in which the systems are nonlinear and time-dependent, so the control is discontinuous. The technique basically samples the system, creating a representative sample of the system's typical behavior. To eliminate the chatter and better control the system, the scientists designed what they call a second order sliding mode controller via twisting algorithm. "...the purpose of the sliding mode control for [the] buck converter is to control the output voltage," HosseinNia wrote. Since the output is known, the researchers need to control the other variables to meet the desired output. "The adaptive sliding mode control method for controlling the buck converter voltage, leads to a more effective performance against disturbances and system uncertainties to the [sliding mode control] method; the only difference is that in this method the parameter in [the] sliding line is not constant." By allowing flexibility in the sliding line parameter, the researchers can clear the chatter while retaining robustness of the system at the output. "Experimental validation of the present design proves that the control and tracking performance is improved in presence of uncertainties and disturbances while the stability is maintained," HosseinNia wrote. The scientists built a prototype buck converter to test the various designs, and found that their method provided the most efficient performance with the best settling time of the output voltage--the chatter was gone. ### Fulltext of the paper is available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7974895 IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS) is a joint publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc (IEEE) and the Chinese Association of Automation. JAS publishes papers on original theoretical and experimental research and development in all areas of automation. The coverage of JAS includes but is not limited to: Automatic control/Artificial intelligence and intelligent control/Systems theory and engineering/Pattern recognition and intelligent systems/Automation engineering and applications/Information processing and information systems/Network based automation/Robotics/Computer-aided technologies for automation systems/Sensing and measurement/Navigation, guidance, and control. To learn more about JAS, please visit: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6570654 http://www.ieee-jas.org The growth of humanity is limited by our tools. Each era of human development, from caves to the Industrial Revolution to sending Curiosity to Mars, is marked by technological evolution. A collaborative team of scientists believe the next spurt of advancement is upon us, and it will be defined by energy production and consumption and the inherent human involvement. They published their proposed methodology of establishing and investigating "social energy" in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS), a joint publication of the IEEE and the Chinese Association of Automation. "Current research on energy systems is either focusing on the technical aspect, or the social scientific aspect, which may be sufficient for traditional energy system development. However, with society's rapidly growing demand on energy supply and the popularity of distributed energy generation, we believe the best approach is to consider them together, so as to substantially improve energy's utilization efficiency," said Jun Zhang, an assistant professor of electrical and computing engineering at the University of Denver in Colorado. Zhang and his team also have an eye toward creating new management and control measures of society's energy systems. To begin to tackle this combined methodology, the researchers employed parallel intelligence and control, in which data from each variable informs and improves the other. The scientists conducted a case study on the University of Denver campus grid to demonstrate the concept of social energy, in which they included power system operation, smart building modeling, a real-time pricing mechanism, and human behavior modeling. One typical summer week and one typical winter week were selected to study the social cost of energy in six target buildings. They studied work efficiency using indoor temperature as a variable, as it can affect such things as temperature comfort and perceived air quality--both of which effect work performance. They found that the change of the hourly energy consumption cost was influenced by both the number of people in the building and the amount of energy consumed, but that an increase of occupancy didn't necessarily increase energy use. "The case study only provides an application scenario of a relatively small smart community, and our vision for social energy is that it can be applicable in different social and technical scales and it provides a multi-layered solution to benefit the socio-technical system," wrote Zhang. Zhang and the scientists noted that while, "tremendous efforts and decades of research and development work," lies ahead, they believe even early stages of the socio-technical ecological system will help determine more efficient energy uses to the benefit and satisfaction of society. "The next step is to deeply incorporate social computing into energy system analysis to build a standard form of social energy," Zhang said. "By doing so, our next goal ... is to find out how to seamlessly integrate social and technical energy systems into one unified scientific framework." ### Fulltext of the paper is available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7974894 IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS) is a joint publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc (IEEE) and the Chinese Association of Automation. JAS publishes papers on original theoretical and experimental research and development in all areas of automation. The coverage of JAS includes but is not limited to: Automatic control/Artificial intelligence and intelligent control/Systems theory and engineering/Pattern recognition and intelligent systems/Automation engineering and applications/Information processing and information systems/Network based automation/Robotics/Computer-aided technologies for automation systems/Sensing and measurement/Navigation, guidance, and control. To learn more about JAS, please visit: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6570654 http://www.ieee-jas.org August 31, 2017, Cleveland: A team of Cleveland Clinic researchers found that a common heart disease medication, beta blockers, may help treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a debilitating lung disease. Caused by high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries, PAH is a progressive disease which usually leads to right-sided heart failure and death within five to seven years of diagnosis. In fact, right-sided heart failure is the leading cause of death in PAH patients. Right ventricular dysfunction (which leads to right-sided heart failure) occurs independently of increased blood pressure, yet all currently approved PAH treatments target the pulmonary vessels, rather than address the heart dysfunction that is the more likely cause of death in these patients. In contrast, targeting left ventricular dysfunction has been the foundation of left-sided heart failure therapy for nearly 40 years. Specifically, beta-adrenergic receptor blockade ("beta blockers") have been a cornerstone therapy for improving left ventricular function. "There is a critical need for new therapies to support right ventricular function in pulmonary hypertension," said lead author Serpil C. Erzurum, M.D., Chair of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. "While treatments with beta blockers such as carvedilol are standard therapy in patients with left-sided heart failure, successful therapies in right-sided heart failure and PAH have lagged behind. Longer-term studies are needed but our initial analysis shows that carvedilol may also benefit patients with PAH, who currently have few available treatment options." The Cleveland Clinic team assessed carvedilol use in a group of 30 patients with PAH in a double-blind, randomized study. The participants received either placebo, low fixed-dose, or escalating doses of carvedilol over a six-month period. They found that the drug lowered heart rate in correlation with carvedilol dose, improved heart rate recovery from exercise, and did not worsen heart failure or lead to airflow deterioration. The findings suggest carvedilol is safe to use in PAH patients for six months with evidence of improved outcomes that could prevent right-sided heart failure. Previously, the use of beta blockers in PAH patients has not been widely studied due to mostly anecdotal concerns about decreased functional lung capacity. "There is good reason to consider beta blockers for the right ventricular failure in PAH," said W. H. Wilson Tang, M.D., study co-author and advanced heart failure/transplant cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic. "The fact that beta blockers were well-tolerated and effective in lowering heart rates thereby improving the heart efficiency is unto itself a key observation, since doctors have been cautioned against using them in this setting for safety concerns. This study provides important new data that advances our knowledge of using this class of drugs in this chronic and life-threatening lung-associated vascular disease." ### Dr. Erzurum holds the Alfred Lerner Memorial Chair in Innovative Biomedical Research and is a member of the medical staff in Lerner Research Institute's Department of Pathobiology and Cleveland Clinic's Respiratory Institute. Samar Fahra, M.D., is first author on the study, which was published in JCI Insight. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01HL115008 and R01HL60917 and in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, UL1TR000439. 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. Scientists have discovered the details of an unconventional coupling between a bacterial protein and a mineral that allows the bacterium to breathe when oxygen is not available. The research, conducted by a team of scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), could lead to new innovations in linking proteins to other materials for bio-based electronic devices - such as sensors that can diagnose disease or detect contaminants. It could also help researchers to understand and control the chemical reactions sparked by these protein-material interactions. "Moving electrons to metals can cause different minerals to grow or dissolve. Studying how a protein does this can help us understand both how organisms remodel their environment and make biominerals for teeth or protection," said Caroline Ajo-Franklin, a staff scientist in the Biological Nanostructures Facility at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, which is a nanoscience research center. Ajo-Franklin led the study, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society earlier this month. "Understanding what these interactions between proteins and materials look like can help us design them better," she added, "and give us insight on how to connect living cells with devices." Researchers relied on an X-ray-based technique at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, known as "footprinting," to pinpoint the chemical connections between the bacterial protein and nanoparticles composed of iron and oxygen. The study, which identified a surprisingly small and weak binding site, also benefited from tools and expertise at the Lab's Molecular Foundry; and the Lab-led Joint BioEnergy Institute, which specializes in biofuels research. The structure of this exotic protein had been previously mapped in isolation with atomic-scale detail by other research groups using X-ray crystallography, which required a crystallized form of the protein. But scientists didn't know how it bound to the metal-containing mineral - conventional techniques can't see this binding process. In 2014, Ajo-Franklin learned from Corie Ralston, another Lab researcher who works in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division, about the X-ray mass spectrometry footprinting technique, an innovative way to precisely probe proteins and their surroundings with X-rays at the Advanced Light Source. Ajo-Franklin and Ralston were each pursuing separate Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects, and they saw that the two efforts could actually be complementary. Ralston had adopted the X-ray footprinting technique from her former advisor, Mark Chance, a professor at Case Western Reserve University who established the X-ray footprinting technique at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y. This X-ray technique is only available at the ALS and Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). "Footprinting can tell you how proteins are interacting," Ralston said. "It can provide structural and dynamics information about proteins in close to their native environment." The protein selected for the study is from a metal-reducing bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, which "eats sugar and basically breathes minerals" when oxygen is unavailable, Ajo-Franklin noted. "One of the reason these organisms are so much fun to study is that they interact with a wide range of materials." After Tatsuya Fukushima, a former Lab scientist who was a co-lead author of the study, found a suitable way to prepare the protein and nanoparticles in a liquid solution for X-ray studies, Sayan Gupta, an X-ray footprinting expert in Berkeley Lab's MBIB Division, used an X-ray beamline at the Advanced Light Source to study the samples. "We are catching the snapshots of the state of this molecule at a particular time," Gupta said. "It's a simple technique and gives you lots of information about a protein's native state." In this technique, X-rays produce highly reactive molecules known as hydroxyl radicals as they pass through the liquid solution surrounding the protein. These radicals modify the protein in a way that allows scientists to pinpoint slight chemical variations where the protein is in touch with the solution. The regions of the protein that are interacting with other proteins or materials are protected from the radicals and not subject to the chemical alterations. The locations where the protein is not altered indicate where the binding occurs. In the latest study, these chemical snapshots produced by the X-ray footprinting technique at different points in time were subsequently analyzed using a technique known as mass spectrometry at the Joint BioEnergy Institute. A detailed analysis by Fukushima revealed how the protein connected to the mineral. "The biggest finding, that was quite surprising, was that our proteins bind relatively weakly," Ajo-Franklin said. "Most proteins that interface with materials bind really tightly," changing shape as they form this connection. This particular protein doesn't appear to change shape at all and only interacts with the mineral in a small area, requiring about five times less binding energy, by comparison, than typical proteins that form biominerals. That actually makes a lot of sense, she added. "The job of this protein is to transfer electrons to the mineral, so it doesn't have to be in contact for very long." The research team is now working to study how this and similar proteins interact with a range of minerals. "There are a bunch of proteins in this family," Ajo-Franklin said. "We are really excited to see how these proteins interact with different materials. Do they all use the same binding strategy?" This study already provides ideas on how to redesign these proteins to make better electronic connections and thus more sensitive bioelectronic sensors - a project Ajo-Franklin is working on. ### The Molecular Foundry, Advanced Light Source, and National Synchrotron Light Source II are DOE Office of Science User Facilities that are available to staff and visiting scientists from the global scientific community. The work was supported by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences and by the DOE's Lab Directed Research and Development program. Find out more about Caroline Ajo-Franklin's research: http://cafgroup.lbl.gov/. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Sandia National Laboratories has successfully demonstrated a new, more environmentally friendly method to test a rocket part to ensure its avionics can withstand the shock from stage separation during flight. The new method -- called the Alternative Pyroshock Test -- used a nitrogen-powered gas gun to shoot a 100-pound steel projectile into a steel resonant beam, which then transfers energy through a resonant cone attached to the part being tested. The resulting energy transfer mimics the conditions of stage separation in space. The first test of this type using the flight hardware was completed this spring. Until now, pyroshock tests to ensure aerospace parts were ready for the rigors of flight had used explosives encased in lead to provide the impacts to parts needed for such experiments, mechanical engineer Mark Pilcher said. The lead and explosives were environmental hazards, so cleanup was costly and time-consuming. The Sandia Labs team wanted a better approach. "We recognized early in the program that we need to seek out alternative test methods in order to reduce our hazardous work exposure, minimize environmental waste and develop a controlled and repeatable test capability," Pilcher said. "Investigating a large-scale nonexplosive gas gun test became a reality when we partnered with Sandia's large-scale mechanical test facilities. The combined team worked hard to get to this test." Hopkinson bar technology proved a more controllable alternative to explosives Asked to research whether an alternative means of testing was possible using a gas gun, Sandia mechanical engineer Bo Song turned to a 1-inch-diameter Hopkinson bar. The Hopkinson bar was first suggested in 1914 by Bertram Hopkinson, a British patent lawyer and Cambridge University professor of mechanism and applied mechanics, as a way to measure the pressure produced by explosives. It was further modified in 1949 for dynamic stress-strain measurements of materials. In Sandia's Experimental Impact Mechanics Laboratory, Song and his team conducted small-scale testing with a metal rod about 20 times smaller than that used in the full-scale test. They discovered the Hopkinson bar technology could provide the frequency levels and the mechanical energy needed in the large-scale test to recreate conditions found during flight. Song's team conducted more than 50 tests. They looked at what types of projectiles to use, how fast the gas gun needed to shoot, how to design a Hopkinson bar-type apparatus called a resonant bar at a larger scale, how to design a steel resonant cone to transfer the energy to the object being tested and how to manipulate the pulse of energy using small copper "coins" called programmers or pulse shapers, which were placed on the surface of the resonant bar. "The most difficult part was designing the programmers, or pulse shapers, because we had to select the right material, geometry and dimensions," Song said. "We got a lot of experience through this kind of testing for the future large-scale testing. The same concept can be used for a variety of defense and space applications. This provides a new path for pyroshock testing, but very clean and more controllable and will save a lot of costs." Gas gun used in large-scale tests The next phase of the Alternative Pyroshock Test applied the Hopkinson bar technology to a pneumatically driven gas gun. For this test, the gas gun was not required to reach its maximum capacities. The 60-foot-long gas gun used compressed nitrogen gas to shoot metal projectiles into a resonant beam coupled with a resonant cone to expand the final diameter to interface with the rocket part, essentially a hybrid version of a large-scale Hopkinson bar. "What's novel is the application of the Hopkinson bar," said mechanical engineer Patrick Barnes. "Typically the bar and test objects are really small, but in our case, we used a 1,500-pound, 8-foot-long, 8-inch diameter bar." Like a musical tuning fork, the resonant bar and the resonant cone needed to vibrate at certain frequencies to apply the right amount of energy to the test object, Barnes said. Ahead of the final tests, Barnes' team used an empty mock test object outfitted with accelerometers to measure the impact. Barnes changed the geometry and composition of the programmers to simulate the test conditions required for the program. Now that Sandia has put in analysis and testing, future tests of this sort should require less development and cost less. "Ideally, we can create a repeatable environment, something we can dial in, so if they need to do this test again in the future, we can build this back up and start testing," Barnes said. ### 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. Sandia news media contact: Sue Holmes, sholmes@sandia.gov, (505) 844-6362 LUGANO-MADRID, Aug. 31, 2017 - The optimal follow-up protocol for patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive after results of the IFCT-0302 trial, presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid (1), did not show a difference in overall survival (OS) between patients who received computed tomography (CT) scans as part of their follow-up, and those who did not. Indeed, the findings suggest regular CT scans, which many guidelines recommend, may not be necessary. "Because there is no difference between arms, both follow-up protocols are acceptable," said study investigator Prof. Virginie Westeel, from Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Hopital Jean Minjoz in Besancon, France. "A conservative point of view would be to do a yearly CT-scan, which might be of interest over the long-term, however, doing regular scans every six months may be of no value in the first two post-operative years," she said. The suggestion is a departure from standard clinical practice, since the majority of medical societies and clinical practice guidelines (2) recommend follow-up visits in which chest CT is considered appropriate every three to six months in the first two years after surgery. The multicenter study included 1775 patients with completely resected stage I-II-IIIA NSCLC who completed follow-up visits every 6 months for the first two years, and yearly until five years. Patients were randomised to a control follow-up, that included clinical examination and chest X-ray (CXR), or an experimental follow-up that included the control protocol with the addition of thoraco-abdominal CT-scan plus bronchoscopy (optional for adenocarcinomas). After a median follow-up of eight years and 10 months, overall survival (OS) was not significantly different between the groups (hazard ratio [HR] 0.95, 95% CI: 0.82-1.09; p=0.37) at a median of 99.7 months in the control arm and 123.6 months in the experimental arm. Three-year disease-free survival rates were also similar, at 63.3% and 60.2% respectively, as were eight-year OS rates at 51.7% and 54.6%, respectively. Commenting on the study, ESMO spokesperson Dr. Floriana Morgillo, from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy, said that although the study does not demonstrate a significant benefit with CT-based follow-up, the trend towards better survival in the CT arm suggests longer follow-up may eventually reveal a benefit of this approach. However, in the meantime, she says CT-based surveillance is still an appropriate option because of its potential for impacting second primary cancers. "A significant proportion of patients with early stage NSCLC develop second cancers between the second and fourth year after surgery, and early detection of these with CT-based surveillance beyond two years could allow curative treatment," Morgillo said, adding that patients must also be informed of the radiation exposure with CT. ### Notes to Editors Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO 2017 Congress References 1 Abstract 1273O 'Results of the phase III IFCT-0302 trial assessing minimal versus CT-scan-based follow-up for completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)' will be presented by Virginie Westeel during Presidential Symposium I on Saturday, 9 September 2017, 16:30 to 18:00 (CEST) in the Madrid Auditorium. 2 ESMO guidelines for Early-Stage and Locally Advanced (Non Metastatic) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Disclaimer This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct. About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With 16,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 130 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment. http://www.esmo.org Boulder, Colo., USA: Airborne dust from Asia travels across the Pacific passport-free, carrying pollution, building soil, and coloring sunsets thousands of miles from its source. Identifying that source is important for understanding atmospheric circulation, contaminant pathways, and climate. But collecting enough airborne dust to pinpoint its source is challenging. Now, a team of researchers has developed a way to match microscopic quartz grains to the desert they blew in from. The team, led by Kana Nagashima of the Japan Research and Development Center for Global Change, used cathodeluminescence (CL) spectral analysis of tiny quartz grains to distinguish between two major Chinese dust sources: the Gobi and the Taklimakan Deserts. "The cathodoluminescence spectra of single quartz grains provide crystal-chemical features in quartz, such as impurities and imperfections," explains Nagashima. Those features, she says, vary with the conditions of quartz formation and later geological events such as metamorphism. Compared to the Taklimakan desert, source rocks of the Gobi desert include a high percent of volcanic rock. To determine if that and other differences in source rocks are reflected in dust, Nagashima and colleagues analyzed 268 quartz grains from the Gobi and 311 grains from the Taklimakan. The grains, collected from loess, riverbeds, and sand dunes, ranged in size from 5 to 16 micrometers. That matches the clay to silt size typically blown across the Pacific Ocean. Previous studies provided an overall average value for isotopes such as strontium and neodymium, says Nagashima. "Instead," she says, "our CL spectra shed light on the heterogeneity in grains." The results: statistically robust clustering of crystal-chemical characteristics that matched the percent of different rock types from each desert. This suggests a way that very small samples (a few tens of microscopic grains) can reveal big information about the pathways and effects of long-distance airborne dust. ### FEATURED ARTICLE Composition of Asian dust from cathodoluminescence spectral analysis of single quartz grains Kana Nagashima, Research and Development Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan; Hirotsugu Nishido, Masahiro Kayama, Yasunori Kurosaki, Syuhei Ohgo, and Hitoshi Hasegawa. Geology, August 2017, https://doi.org/10.1130/G39237.1 GEOLOGY articles are online https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary articles by contacting Kea Giles at the e-mail address above. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GEOLOGY in articlespublished. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org. http://www.geosociety.org/ WASHINGTON -- Frequent e-cigarette use does help smokers quit -- a finding that Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers say supports the use of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid for those trying to quit cigarette smoking. But, they note, an examination of a recent national survey uncovers important clues about who's successful at quitting and why. The findings, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, examined a national survey of more than 24,500 current or recent former cigarette smokers, which is the largest sample of smokers studied to date. This study, along with a July study published in the BMJ, provide some of the strongest evidence so far on the link between use of e-cigarettes and cessation, says the study's lead author David Levy, PhD, professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi. However, Levy notes, there are important nuances in the data that impact a person's success in quitting cigarette smoking. "Both cigarette quit attempts and quit success were directly related to the number of days of e-cigarette use," Levy explains. "The odds of quit success increased by 10 percent with each additional day of e-cigarette use." The data also show that among those making at least one quit attempt, quit success was lower among individuals who had used e-cigarettes at some point in the past, but higher among those with at least 5 days of e-cigarettes use in the last month. The data is drawn from a special tobacco use survey that, since 1992-1993, has been taken every 3-4 years as part of a population survey conducted monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau. The latest tobacco use survey, taken from 2014-2015, was co-sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This survey, the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS), is designed to track long-term trends in tobacco use, cessation attempts and tobacco-related policies. All states are represented, and participants are interviewed either by telephone or in person. The latest TUS-CPS consisted of three samples collected in July 2014, and in January and May of 2015. These samples included more than 150,000 respondents. Levy and his Georgetown Lombardi colleagues examined the relationship between frequency of e-cigarette use, cigarette quit attempts and cigarette abstinence. Because of the dates of the survey, it includes the more current types of e-cigarettes that are more effective at delivering nicotine. "Our findings are consistent with randomized trials and those observational studies that measure frequency of e-cigarette use. These results support the use of e-cigarettes -- especially, consistent use -- as an effective smoking cessation aid. Since e-cigarettes are generally estimated to have a small proportion of the mortality risks of cigarettes, this represents an important life-saving intervention that doctors can recommend when other forms of treatment fail," says Levy. ### Study co-authors include Zhe Yuan, MS, Yuying Luo, MS, and David B. Abrams, PhD, all from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study. The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01DA036497) and the National Cancer Institute (P01-CA200512). About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center -- the only cancer center of its kind in the Washington, DC area. A part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Georgetown Lombardi seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Connect with Georgetown Lombardi on Facebook and Twitter (@LombardiCancer). About Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook and Twitter (@gumedcenter). Infrared data provides temperature information and the highest, coldest cloud tops in tropical cyclones indicate where the strongest storms are located. NASA's AIRS instrument provides that critical temperature information and captured an image of Harvey within the hour of its landfall in southwestern Louisiana. Harvey made landfall just west of Cameron, Louisiana at 4 a.m. CDT, Aug. 30. ### For the first time, a relationship has been found between fetal genes and the risk of preeclampsia in the mother. Norwegian researchers, including a team from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), figure prominently in the international group that presented the find in Nature Genetics, first published online earlier this summer. Preeclampsia affects around 3 per cent of births in Norway; worldwide, that number is estimated to be about 5 per cent. In the vast majority of cases, the mother has mild symptoms, typically high blood pressure. Nevertheless, preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of death in both mothers and babies around the time of birth, and sometimes the only way to treat it is to deliver the baby, even prematurely. Little studied "For the first time ever, we have discovered a fetal gene that increases the risk of preeclampsia," says Ann-Charlotte Iversen at the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine at NTNU. She says there has not been much research on the role of fetal genes in triggering the illness. Preeclampsia usually begins with a problem in the placenta, which is mainly composed of fetal cells. For that reason, it makes sense that fetal cells might have a hand in causing the illness, Iversen said, even though it is the mother's symptoms during the last part of the pregnancy that lead to the diagnosis. Iversen is head of a research group at NTNU's Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR). The largest of its kind in the world "Our findings are particularly solid for three reasons: we analysed a large number of individuals, we found several genetic variables that all point to the same gene associated with the risk, and two independent population studies confirmed that this gene is associated with the risk," Iversen said. There are also a number of major studies that support the conclusions. CEMIR is one of 12 partners from 6 different countries in an EU project called InterPregGen, which was created in 2011. "We are all working together to uncover the genetic risk factors for preeclampsia in the mother and fetus. We have linked a number of major European population studies to conduct the world's largest genetic study of preeclampsia," says Iversen. "Our contribution to the project has been information on a group of women from the HUNT study who have had problematic and healthy pregnancies, as well as information from the Preeclampsia Biobank, which has been collected independently." The Nature Genetics article includes analyses of material from the Preeclampsia Biobank, including blood samples and tissue samples from placentas that have been collected at St. Olavs and Haukeland University Hospitals Protein as biomarker The genetic variants identified by the researchers are associated with the FLT-1 gene, which encodes a protein that in soluble form is known as a biomarker for preeclampsia. The protein contributes to damaging the mother's vascular system so that she develops symptoms such as high blood pressure and an increased amount of protein in the urine. This happens as a result of problems with the placenta, essentially because fetal cells in the placenta produce the protein. "We have shown here that the risk of disease may be because changes in the gene affect how the protein works and how it affects the mother. This is a fetal gene that gives the mother an increased risk of developing preeclampsia. This find clearly brings us closer to a better understanding of preeclampsia," Iversen said. Building on established expertise CEMIR's contribution to the effort came in the form of three researchers: Gabriela Silva, a PhD candidate; gynecologist and postdoctoral physician Liv Cecilie Vestrheim Thomsen (who also works at Helse Vest, the Western Norway Regional Health Authority) and Iversen herself. The research center has solid expertise in molecular analyses of the activation of the placenta. "The EU project has brought together geneticists, statisticians and clinicians. NTNU and CEMIR's expertise has been a complementary strength," says Iversen. Gabriela Silva analysed the protein expression of FLT-1 in placental samples from sick and healthy pregnant women, while Liv Cecilie Vestrheim Thomsen has been central in collecting the placentas. "We have compared the result with the occurrence of the genes associated with the risk. This means that we have conducted a functional follow-up of the gene discovery, which has now been published," Iversen says. CEMIR is one of the foremost research centers in Norway and has been selected as a Centre of Excellence by the Research Council of Norway. Predicting which women will get sick "CEMIR's Research Group for inflammation in pregnancy has as its goal to figure out which disease mechanisms cause problems with the placenta and lead to the development of preeclampsia," says Iversen. The group is working to understand what goes wrong so they can detect problems early in a pregnancy. The goal is to predict which women will develop the disease. "Our molecular analyses have identified specialized fetal cells in the placenta as the main actors in preeclampsia. These are the same fetal cells that have been identified with this new genetic discovery. This reinforces our conviction that fetal cells play an active role, and represents a big change in thinking, since research has previously focused most on the mother's immune system. If we want to prevent preeclampsia, we have to understand the foundation for the disease," says Iversen. ### The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, also participated in the Nature Genetics study. In countries with more limited resources than Norway, preeclampsia can be an even bigger problem. In conjunction with their research project, the partners in InterPregGen have helped built up pregnancy-based biobanks in Central Asia, where they have been in short supply. While overt and blatant expressions of prejudice seem to have declined on American university campuses over the last few decades, racism is still evident in the small things that white students say and do. This is especially true for those who think that minorities are too sensitive about race issues, says Jonathan Kanter of the University of Washington in the US. He is the lead author of a study in Springer's journal Race and Social Problems. The study is the first to ask white American students how inclined they are to deliver statements that contain so-called microaggressive messages about people of other races. Microaggressive messages refer to brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults. These might appear to be harmless, but are in fact forms of everyday racism or discrimination. Thirty-three black and 118 non-Hispanic white undergraduate students aged between 18 and 35 years old were included in the study which was done at a large public university in the Southern/Midwest United States, where prejudice towards black people is stronger than elsewhere in the US. Participants completed online questionnaires about their self-reported likelihood to engage in microaggression, and real situations where they did so. Furthermore, participants reported on contexts during which they had experienced microaggressions. The results suggest that the likelihood of students engaging in microaggressions across five common contexts goes hand in hand with several known measures of prejudice. Specifically, white students who reported that they were more likely to be microaggressive were more likely to endorse colorblind, symbolic, and modern racist attitudes. They also held significantly less favorable feelings and attitudes towards Black people. This was especially true for white students who thought that minorities are too sensitive about matters related to racial prejudice. Almost all of the black respondents experienced being called "too sensitive" to be racist in some form or another, and linked it to hostile feelings toward black people. "These findings provide empirical support that microaggressive acts are rooted in racist beliefs and feelings of deliverers, and may not be dismissed as simply subjective perceptions of the target," says Kanter. "The delivery of microaggressions by white students is not simply innocuous behavior and may be indicative of broad, complex, and negative racial attitudes and explicit underlying hostility and negative feelings toward black students." ### Reference: Kanter, J. W. et al (2017). A Preliminary Report on the Relationship between Microaggressions against Black People and Racism among White College Students, Race and Social Problems DOI: 10.1007/s12552-017-9214-0 The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics is proud to award Lek-Heng Lim, University of Chicago, with the James H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing in 2017. This prize, established in 1979, is given for research in, or other contributions to, numerical analysis and scientific computing during the six years preceding the award. The purpose of the prize is to stimulate younger contributors and to help them in their careers. The prize was awarded at the 2017 SIAM Annual Meeting in July. Lim's work is directly impacting the public through real-world applications. "In joint work with Thomas Schultz, an exceptionally talented computer/neuroscientist in Bonn, we figured out a way to get high-resolution 3D images of neural fibers in the human brain from diffusion MRI measurements," Lim says. "Among other things, mapping major bundles of neural fibers in the human brain is vitally important in neurosurgical planning and is an integral component of the Human Connectome Project." Lek-Heng Lim's research focuses on tensors and their coordinate representations, hypermatrices. He is particularly interested in hypermatrix equivalents of various matrix notions, their mathematical and computational properties, and their applications to science and engineering. He is also generally interested in applied/computational algebraic/differential geometry/topology (all possible combinations). Lek-Heng was educated at Stanford, Cambridge, Cornell, and the National University of Singapore. He was a Morrey Assistant Professor at Berkeley and thereafter an Assistant Professor at Chicago. He serves on the editorial boards of Linear Algebra and its Applications and Linear and Multilinear Algebra. He has received an AFOSR Young Investigator Award, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, an NSF Faculty Early Career Award, and, more recently, a Smale Prize from the FoCM Society and a Director's Fellowship from DARPA. ### Teak, the most valuable species for tropical reforestation, often performs poorly in the acid soils of steeply sloping land in the tropics. As human population skyrockets and land becomes a scarce resource, balancing tradeoffs between reforestation, conservation, water availability and carbon storage becomes paramount. In a recent publication from the Smart Reforestation Program, Smithsonian scientists and collaborators including the Panama Canal Authority confirm that native tree species performed very well in field trials and would be preferable to teak in this situation. "The take-home message of this experiment is that if you want to reforest to maximize timber harvest on poor, acidic soils in the Panama Canal watershed, plant Amarillo (Terminalia amazonia)," said Carolina Mayoral, post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and first author of the paper. "It's spectacular. It grows amazingly fast and the trunks are straight and have excellent timber value. It accumulates biomass much faster than teak in these soils." In 2008, scientists planted five native species, Anacardium excelsum, Dalbergia retusa, Pachira quinata, Tabebuia rosea and T. amazonia, in single-species plots and also in mixtures with each other and with companion species. In all, they tested 21 different land-use options. For the next seven years, they measured the height and basal diameter of more than 22,000 trees each year and calculated the biomass of the trees in each of the treatments. The companion species, Erythrina fusca, Glircidia sepium, Inga punctate, Luehea speciose and Ochroma pyrimidale, were chosen because they contribute nutrients, provide shade or otherwise improve growth in combination with timber species. By planting a fast-growing timber species with a species that provides nitrogen that it captures from the air (a nitrogen-fixing species), for example, this natural fertilization effect may result in greater growth. "The first major result of this experiment was that the trees survived: on average, about 95 percent of the seedlings we planted were still there seven years later," Mayoral said. Amarillo outperformed all of the other species in growth trials. After only seven years, Amarillo trees were more than 9 meters tall and 14 centimeters in diameter at the base and had a biomass of 47.1 tons per hectare when grown in monoculture, compared to 14.9 tons for Dalbergia, 14.2 tons for Anacardium (Espave) and 4.4 tons for Pachira and 3.6 tons for Tabebuia (Roble). From a scientific point of view, it was also interesting that Dalbergia, which fixes nitrogen, and Pachira grown together performed much better than either when grown alone. Currently, the area planted in teak, Tectona grandis, in Central America is estimated to be almost 133,000 hectares of which 55,000 are planted in Panama. Teak represents 76 percent of the plantations established in Panama between 1992 and 2000, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It does not perform well in infertile, acidic soils. "We're very pleased to see that native species are a viable alternative to teak for reforestation in these poor soils," said Jefferson Hall, STRI scientist and director of the Agua Salud project. "The unknown is still the pricing structure for these native hardwoods." "Amarillo has excellent timber quality," Hall said. "It may not be quite as pretty as teak, but it can be painted and it very long-lasting. Cocobolo [D. retusa] is perhaps even more beautiful than teak and is traditionally used for decorative woodwork and rosewood sculptures. High demand has caused the price to double, and there are reports that Dalbergia can be sold for more than $5,000 per cubic meter, almost 10 times the market price of the highest quality teak." ### The Agua Salud project is part of a global network of 65 forest monitoring sites coordinated by the Smithsonian ForestGEO. Project collaborators include the Panama Canal Authority and Panama's Ministry of the Environment (MiAmbiente). The Agua Salud project receives support from the Panama Canal Authority, Stanley Motta, the Silicon Valley Foundation, the Smithsonian's Competitive Grants for Science, the Smithsonian Institution's Grand Challenge grant to BiodiveriTREE, the Heising-Simons Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Website: http://www.stri.si.edu/. Promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9JDSIwBegk. Agua Salud Project Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-b2SuzJcc&t=33s Mayoral, C., Van Breugel, M., Cerezo, A. and Hall, J.S. 2017. Survival and growth of five Neotropical timber species in monocultures and mixtures. Forest Ecology and Management 403, 1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.08.002 A KAIST research team presented a novel method for improving medication treatment for liver cancer using Systems Biology, combining research from information technology and the life sciences. Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST conducted the research in collaboration with Professor Jung-Hwan Yoon in the Department of Internal Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital. This research was published in Hepatology in September 2017 (available online from August 24, 2017). Liver cancer is the fifth and seventh most common cancer found in men and women throughout the world, which places it second in the cause of cancer deaths. In particular, Korea has 28.4 deaths from liver cancer per 100,000 persons, the highest death rate among OECD countries and twice that of Japan. Each year in Korea, 16,000 people get liver cancer on average, yet the five-year survival rate stands below 12%. According to the National Cancer Information Center, lung cancer (17,399) took the highest portion of cancer-related deaths, followed by liver cancer (11,311) based on last year data. Liver cancer is known to carry the highest social cost in comparison to other cancers and it causes the highest fatality in earlier age groups (40s-50s). In that sense, it is necessary to develop a new treatment that mitigates side effects yet elevates the survival rate. There are ways in which liver cancer can be cured, such as surgery, embolization, and medication treatments; however, the options become limited for curing progressive cancer, a stage in which surgical methods cannot be executed. Among anticancer medications, Sorafenib, a drug known for enhancing the survival rate of cancer patients, is a unique drug allowed for use as a targeted anticancer medication for progressive liver cancer patients. Its sales reached more than ten billion KRW annually in Korea, but its efficacy works on only about 20% of the treated patients. Also, acquired resistance to Sorafenib is emerging. Additionally, the action mechanism and resistance mechanism of Sorafenib is only vaguely identified. Although Sorafenib only extends the survival rate of terminal cancer patients less than three months on average, it is widely being used because drugs developed by global pharmaceutical companies failed to outperform its effectiveness. Prof. Kwang-Hyun Cho's research team analyzed the expression changes of genes in cell lines in response to Sorafenib in order to identify the effect and the resistance mechanism of Sorafenib. As a result, the team discovered the resistance mechanism of Sorafenib using Systems Biology analysis. By combining computer simulations and biological experiments, it was revealed that protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) plays a crucial role in the resistance mechanism of Sorafenib and that its efficacy can be improved significantly by blocking PDI. The research team used mice in the experiment and discovered the synergic effect of PDI inhibition with Sorafenib for reducing liver cancer cells, known as hepatocellular carcinoma. Also, more PDIs are shown in tissue from patients who possess a resistance to Sorafenib. From these findings, the team could identify the possibility of its clinical applications. The team also confirmed these findings from clinical data through a retrospective cohort study. "Molecules that play an important role in cell lines are mostly put under complex regulation. For this reason, the existing biological research has a fundamental limitations for discovering its underlying principles," Professor Cho said. "This research is a representative case of overcoming this limitation of traditional life science research by using a Systems Biology approach, combining IT and life science. It suggests the possibility of developing a new method that overcomes drug resistance with a network analysis of the targeted drug action mechanism of cancer." ### The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT. ANN ARBOR -- Elderly Chinese-Americans feel helpless when faced with racial biases and become twice as likely to consider suicide than those who don't encounter similar discrimination, according to a new University of Michigan study. U-M researchers examined how racial discrimination contributed to Chicago-area Chinese-American adults age 60 and older thinking about taking their lives during a 30-day period. Discrimination can impair a person's physical and mental well-being, and can be challenging for the elderly, said Lydia Li, U-M associate professor of social work and the study's lead author. The Chinese-American population is rising and aging quickly, but little research has examined this population, especially as it relates to suicidal behavior. Li and colleagues used data from 3,157 Chinese seniors who immigrated to the United States an average of 20 years before completing the survey. Their average age was 72, and 57 percent of them were women. In addition to obtaining background information on the participants, such as age, education and marital status, the questionnaire asked about suicidal thoughts. Participants also provided specific experiences of discrimination. About 4 percent considered suicide in past 30 days and roughly 21 percent reported experiencing discrimination in public places, at work and in other situations. Those who reported discrimination were nearly twice as likely to think about suicide than those who didn't harbor similar thoughts. "Among older Chinese-Americans, discrimination encounters may not only invoke a sense of alienation and helplessness," Li said. "Assimilation difficulty, cultural beliefs and family pride may preclude them from seeking help. Consequently they may come to see suicide as a viable alternative." The researchers also found that age, loneliness, pain and depression are significant risk factors for this group, but family support can be a positive protective factor to lessen the risk of suicidal thoughts. Li said help can also come from clinicians, who must also recognize the impact of discrimination on ethnic minority elders. "Efforts to promote civil rights and reduce discrimination may also be a form of primary prevention of suicide," she said. Li collaborated on the research with Gilbert Gee of UCLA and XinQi Dong of the Rush University Medical Center. The study appears in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Li presented the findings last month at the World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics in San Francisco. ### Hundreds of scientific studies over 2 decades have told us that apes are clever -- just not as clever as us Apes' intelligence may be entirely misunderstood, because research has so far failed to measure it fairly and accurately, according to scientists. Hundreds of scientific studies over two decades have told us that apes are clever - just not as clever as us. A new analysis argues that what we think we know about apes' social intelligence is based on wishful thinking and flawed science. Dr David Leavens, of the University of Sussex, with Professor Kim Bard, University of Portsmouth, and Professor Bill Hopkins, Georgia State University, USA, published their analysis in the journal Animal Cognition. Dr Leavens said: "The fault underlying decades of research and our understanding of apes' abilities is due to such a strongly-held belief in our own superiority, that scientists have come to believe that human babies are more socially capable than ape adults. As humans, we see ourselves as top of the evolutionary tree. This had led to a systematic exaltation of the reasoning abilities of human infants, on the one hand, and biased research designs that discriminate against apes, on the other hand. "Even when apes clearly outperform young human children, researchers tend to interpret the apes' superior performance to be a consequence of inferior cognitive abilities. "There is not one scientifically sound report of an essential species difference between apes and humans in their abilities to use and understand clues from gestures, for example. Not one. "This is not to say such a difference won't be found in future, but much of the existing scientific research is deeply flawed." This isn't the first time science has seen such a pervasive collapse of rigor - 100 years ago scientists were sure that northern Europeans were the most intelligent in our species. Such bias is now seen as antiquated, but comparative psychology is applying the same bias to cross-species comparisons between humans and apes, the researchers say. Professor Bard said: "In examining the literature, we found a chasm between evidence and belief. This suggests a deep commitment to the idea that humans alone possess sophisticated social intelligence, a bias that is often not supported by the evidence." The starting point in comparative psychology research is that if an ape makes a pointing gesture, say a point to a distant object, the meaning is ambiguous, but if a human does it, a double standard of interpretation is applied, concluding that humans have a degree of sophistication, a product of evolution, which other species can't possibly share. In the absence of rigorous scientific research, Professor Bard said, "it is reasonable to ask if current comparative or developmental psychology has anything useful to contribute to our understanding of the 'cognitive foundations' of communication development. "For researchers interested in the origins of language, focusing on behaviours without considering the animal's specific learning experiences will easily and inaccurately load results in favour of humans." Examples of this bias include in one large set of studies, the children were raised in Western households, steeped in the cultural conventions of nonverbal signalling, whereas the apes were raised without that cultural exposure. When both were tested on their understanding of Western conventions of non-verbal communication, of course the children out-performed the apes on some tasks, but it remains ambiguous whether this is due to their evolutionary histories or their specific learning experiences with respect to non-verbal communication. In another study, children aged 12 months were compared to apes aged, on average, 18-19 years old. The study found that humans alone have evolved to be able to point towards an absent object, taking no account of the differences in the humans' and apes' age, life history, or environment. More recent studies have amply demonstrated that, like human children, adult apes do communicate about absent objects. The researchers cite four possible remedies for what they describe as the pervasive superiority complex in comparative psychology research: Cross fostering - where apes are 'adopted' by humans, gives the clearest available comparison between the two species. The method has a long history and raises many ethical issues, so this is a theoretically strong remedy but one that is often not ideal in practice. Cross fostering has shown that apes brought up alongside humans cannot produce many spoken words, but they can communicate in ways other apes do not. Radical operationalisation - where scientific explanations for comparisons between apes and humans are grounded in variables which can be objectively measured. Dr. Leavens and colleagues say many explanations for skills in comparative psychology research can't be observed or measured, and therefore can't be scientifically tested. Training - if apes are to be compared to humans, they should first be given training and experience in the skills being tested. Science has for too long assumed human behaviour is spontaneous and not taken account of the training and experience a human child has, for example, in seeing others point and coming to learn and understand the gesture. Specifying the amount and types of training necessary for a naive individual to learn a skill, would advance the field. Sampling - almost all studies comparing humans with apes have compared humans from a small group - Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic - with apes who have been orphaned and/or raised in sterile institutions. In 2014, Professor Bard and Dr Leavens proposed, in the Annual Review of Anthropology, that more than a single group of humans should be compared to more than a single group of apes to determine the influence of environment on communicative outcomes, for example. ### CAPTION 1: Bias at play: Apes show sophisticated abilities but their understanding has not so far been measured accurately against humans CREDIT: Enrico Ferorelli CAPTION 2: Nahko, a 28-year-old male chimpanzee gestures to distant bananas while looking at the cameraperson CREDIT: Lisa A. Reamer Researchers contactable via email: Dr David Leavens - davidl@sussex.ac.uk Professor Kim Bard - kim.bard@port.ac.uk PAPER: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-017-1119-1 New research, led by the University of Southampton and involving a team of international scientists, suggests that an extreme global warming event 56 million years ago was driven by massive CO2 emissions from volcanoes, during the formation of the North Atlantic Ocean. The study, published in Nature, used a combination of new geochemical measurements and novel global climate modelling to show that the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was associated with a geologically rapid doubling of atmospheric CO2 in less than 25 thousand years - with volcanoes squarely to blame. The PETM is the most rapid and extreme natural global warming event of the last 66 million years. It lasted for around 150 thousand years and global temperatures increased by at least 5oC - a temperature increase comparable with projections of modern climate beyond the end of this century. While it has long been suggested that the PETM event was caused by the injection of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere; the ultimate trigger, the source of this carbon, and the total amount released, have up to now all remained elusive. It had been known that the PETM roughly coincided with the formation of massive 'flood basalts' - large stretches of ocean floor coated in lava, resulting from of a series of huge eruptions. These occurred as Greenland first started separating from north-western Europe, thereby creating the North Atlantic Ocean, the vestiges of which are still continuing in miniature in Iceland today. What has been missing is evidence linking these huge volcanic outpourings to the carbon release and warming that marks the PETM. Dr Marcus Gutjahr, who led the study while a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Southampton, and is now at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel Germany, explained: "In order to identify the source of carbon we first generated a new record of the change in ocean pH (a measure of its acidity) through the PETM, by measuring changes in the balance of isotopes of the element boron in ancient marine fossils called foraminifera." The geochemical facilities at the University of Southampton is one of few locations in the world where this kind of work can be carried out. Foraminifera are tiny marine plankton that live near the sea surface and the chemical makeup of their microscopic shells records the environmental conditions of the time when they lived, millions of years ago. Professor Andy Ridgwell from University of California, Riverside continued "Ocean pH tells us about the amount of carbon absorbed by ancient seawater, but we can get even more information by also considering changes in the isotopes of carbon, as these provide an indication of its source. When we force a numerical global climate model to take into account both sets of changes, the results point to the large-scale volcanism associated with the opening of the North Atlantic as the primary driver of the PETM." The team found that the PETM was associated with a total input of more than 10,000 petagrams of carbon from a predominantly volcanic source. This is a vast amount of carbon - some 30 times larger than all the fossil fuels burned to date and equivalent to all current conventional and unconventional fossil fuel reserves. In their computer model simulations, it resulted in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 increasing from 800 parts per million to above 2000 ppm. The Earth's mantle contains more than enough carbon to explain this dramatic rise and it would have been released as magma, pouring from volcanic rifts at the Earth's surface. Professor Gavin Foster from the University of Southampton said: "How the ancient Earth system responded to this carbon injection at the PETM can tell us a great deal about how it might respond in the future to man-made climate change. For instance, we found that Earth's warming at the PETM was about what we would expect given the CO2 emitted and what we know about the sensitivity of the climate system based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. However, compared with today's human-made carbon emissions, the rate of carbon addition during the PETM was much slower, by about a factor of 20." Dr Philip Sexton from the Open University in Milton Keynes continues: "We found that carbon cycle feedbacks, like methane release from gas hydrates which were once the favoured explanation of the PETM, did not play a major role in driving the event. On the other hand, one unexpected result of our study was that enhanced organic matter burial was important in ultimately drawing down the released carbon out of the atmosphere and ocean and thereby accelerating the recovery of the Earth system. This shows the real value of studying these ancient warming events as they provide really valuable insights into how Earth behaves when its climate system and carbon cycle are dramatically perturbed." ### Notes to Editors 1) The paper Very large release of mostly volcanic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum is published in the journal Nature. Journalists can request a copy from Media Relations. 2) Images are available from Media Relations. 3) This collaborative study, also involving the University of Bristol, Cardiff University, University of Bremen, University of California San Diego and Yale University, is an output from 'Abrupt Ocean Acidification Events' jointly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of the UK ocean acidification research programme. 4) The University of Southampton drives original thinking, turns knowledge into action and impact, and creates solutions to the world's challenges. We are among the top one per cent of institutions globally. Our academics are leaders in their fields, forging links with high-profile international businesses and organisations, and inspiring a 24,000-strong community of exceptional students, from over 135 countries worldwide. Through our high-quality education, the University helps students on a journey of discovery to realise their potential and join our global network of over 200,000 alumni. http://www.southampton.ac.uk 5) Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton has a well-established reputation for outstanding research and teaching. Our unique waterfront campus at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) attracts prominent researchers and educators from around the world, who join us to work within the areas of geochemistry, geology and geophysics, marine biogeochemistry, marine biology and ecology, palaeoceanography and palaeoclimate and physical oceanography. Following publication of the national Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF2014), OES was ranked second in the UK, for proportion of research recognised as world-leading (4*) in the Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences Unit of Assessment. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/oes/index.page 6) The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.8 million students and has almost 170,000 current students, including more than 15,000 overseas. Over 70% of students are in full-time or part-time employment, and four out of five FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses. In the latest assessment exercise for university research (Research Excellence Framework, 2014), nearly three quarters (72%) of The Open University's research was assessed as 4 or 3 star - the highest ratings available - and awarded to research that is world-leading or internationally excellent. The Open University is unique among UK universities having both an access mission and demonstrating research excellence. Regarded as the UK's major e-learning institution, the OU is a world leader in developing technology to increase access to education on a global scale. Its vast 'open content portfolio' includes free study units, as well as games, videos and academic articles and has reached audiences of up to 9.8 million across a variety of online formats including OpenLearn, YouTube and iTunes U. For further information please visit: http://www.open.ac.uk While winter sea ice in the Arctic is declining so dramatically that ships can now navigate those waters without any icebreaker escort, the scene in the Southern Hemisphere is very different. Sea ice area around Antarctica has actually increased slightly in winter -- that is, until last year. A dramatic drop in Antarctic sea ice almost a year ago, during the Southern Hemisphere spring, brought its maximum area down to its lowest level in 40 years of record keeping. Ocean temperatures were also unusually warm. This exceptional, sudden nosedive in Antarctica differs from the long-term decline in the Northern Hemisphere. A new University of Washington study shows that the lack of Antarctic sea ice in 2016 was in part due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole. The study was published Aug. 24 in Geophysical Research Letters. "This combination of factors, all these things coming together in a single year, was basically the 'perfect storm,' for Antarctic sea ice," said corresponding author Malte Stuecker, a UW postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric sciences. "While we expect a slow decline in the future from global warming, we don't expect such a rapid decline in a single year to happen very often." The area of sea ice around Antarctica at its peak in late 2016 was 2 million square kilometers (about 800,000 square miles) less than the average from the satellite record. Statistically, this is three standard deviations away from the average -- an event that would be expected to occur randomly just once every 300 years. The record low was not predicted by climate scientists, so UW researchers looked at the bigger picture in ocean and atmospheric data to explain why it happened. The previous year, 2015-16, had a very strong El Nino in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Nicknamed the "Godzilla El Nino," the event was similar to other monster El Ninos in 1982-83 and 1997-98. Unlike the 1997-98 event, however, it was only followed by a relatively weak La Nina in 2016. Far away from the tropics, the tropical El Nino pattern creates a series of high- and low-pressure zones that cause unusually warm ocean temperatures in Antarctica's eastern Ross, Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas. But in 2016, when no strong La Nina materialized, researchers found that these unusually warm surface pools lingered longer than usual and affected freeze-up of seawater the following season. "I've spent many years working on tropical climate and El Nino, and it amazes me to see its far-reaching impacts," Stuecker said. Meanwhile, observations show that the winds circling Antarctica were unusually weak in 2016, meaning they did not push sea ice away from the Antarctic coast to make room for the formation of new ice. This affected ice formation around much of the Southern Ocean. "This was a really rare combination of events, something that we have never seen before in the observations," Stuecker said. The researchers analyzed 13,000 years of climate model simulations to study how these unique conditions would affect the sea ice. Taken together, the El Nino pattern and Southern Ocean winds explain about two-thirds of the 2016 decline. The rest may be due to unusually big storms, which a previous paper suggested had broken up ice floes. Scientists predict Antarctica's ocean will be one of the last places on Earth to experience global warming. Eventually the Southern Ocean's surface will begin to warm, however, and then sea ice there will begin its more long-term decline. "Our best estimate of the Antarctic sea ice turnaround point is sometime in the next decade, but with high uncertainty because the climate signal is small compared to the large variations that can occur from one year to the next," said co-author Cecilia Bitz, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences. Stuecker noted that this type of big, rare weather event is useful to help understand the physics behind sea ice formation, and to learn how best to explain the observations. "For understanding the climate system we must combine the atmosphere, ocean and ice, but we must focus on more than a specific region," Stuecker said. "If we want to understand sea ice in Antarctica, we cannot just zoom in locally -- we really have to take a global perspective." ### The other co-author is Kyle Armour, a UW assistant professor of atmospheric sciences and oceanography. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, administered by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science. For more information, contact Stuecker at stuecker@atmos.washington.edu or Bitz at bitz@uw.edu and reach either author at 206-543-1339. Newly discovered human-like footprints from Crete may put the established narrative of early human evolution to the test. The footprints are approximately 5.7 million years old and were made at a time when previous research puts our ancestors in Africa - with ape-like feet. Ever since the discovery of fossils of Australopithecus in South and East Africa during the middle years of the 20th century, the origin of the human lineage has been thought to lie in Africa. More recent fossil discoveries in the same region, including the iconic 3.7 million year old Laetoli footprints from Tanzania which show human-like feet and upright locomotion, have cemented the idea that hominins (early members of the human lineage) not only originated in Africa but remained isolated there for several million years before dispersing to Europe and Asia. The discovery of approximately 5.7 million year old human-like footprints from Crete, published online this week by an international team of researchers, overthrows this simple picture and suggests a more complex reality. Human feet have a very distinctive shape, different from all other land animals. The combination of a long sole, five short forward-pointing toes without claws, and a hallux ("big toe") that is larger than the other toes, is unique. The feet of our closest relatives, the great apes, look more like a human hand with a thumb-like hallux that sticks out to the side. The Laetoli footprints, thought to have been made by Australopithecus, are quite similar to those of modern humans except that the heel is narrower and the sole lacks a proper arch. By contrast, the 4.4 million year old Ardipithecus ramidus from Ethiopia, the oldest hominin known from reasonably complete fossils, has an ape-like foot. The researchers who described Ardipithecus argued that it is a direct ancestor of later hominins, implying that a human-like foot had not yet evolved at that time. The new footprints, from Trachilos in western Crete, have an unmistakably human-like form. This is especially true of the toes. The big toe is similar to our own in shape, size and position; it is also associated with a distinct 'ball' on the sole, which is never present in apes. The sole of the foot is proportionately shorter than in the Laetoli prints, but it has the same general form. In short, the shape of the Trachilos prints indicates unambiguously that they belong to an early hominin, somewhat more primitive than the Laetoli trackmaker. They were made on a sandy seashore, possibly a small river delta, whereas the Laetoli tracks were made in volcanic ash. 'What makes this controversial is the age and location of the prints,' says Professor Per Ahlberg at Uppsala University, last author of the study. At approximately 5.7 million years, they are younger than the oldest known fossil hominin, Sahelanthropus from Chad, and contemporary with Orrorin from Kenya, but more than a million years older than Ardipithecus ramidus with its ape-like feet. This conflicts with the hypothesis that Ardipithecus is a direct ancestor of later hominins. Furthermore, until this year, all fossil hominins older than 1.8 million years (the age of early Homo fossils from Georgia) came from Africa, leading most researchers to conclude that this was where the group evolved. However, the Trachilos footprints are securely dated using a combination of foraminifera (marine microfossils) from over- and underlying beds, plus the fact that they lie just below a very distinctive sedimentary rock formed when the Mediterranean sea briefly dried out, 5.6 millon years ago. By curious coincidence, earlier this year, another group of researchers reinterpreted the fragmentary 7.2 million year old primate Graecopithecus from Greece and Bulgaria as a hominin. Graecopithecus is only known from teeth and jaws. During the time when the Trachilos footprints were made, a period known as the late Miocene, the Sahara Desert did not exist; savannah-like environments extended from North Africa up around the eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, Crete had not yet detached from the Greek mainland. It is thus not difficult to see how early hominins could have ranged across south-east Europe and well as Africa, and left their footprints on a Mediterranean shore that would one day form part of the island of Crete. 'This discovery challenges the established narrative of early human evolution head-on and is likely to generate a lot of debate. Whether the human origins research community will accept fossil footprints as conclusive evidence of the presence of hominins in the Miocene of Crete remains to be seen,' says Per Ahlberg. ### Place Your Advert Register or sign in to advertise your job The fipronil scandal, along with the revelation that another surge of salmonella cases in the United Kingdom has been linked to Polish eggs, has added further weight to calls from the UK egg industry for retailers and processors to buy British. Leading retailers have been forced to withdraw prepared foods from sale because of concerns that egg products contaminated with a banned pesticide make have been used. The eggs were not produced in this country, but imported from the continent. Another 73 cases of salmonella found in the UK since February have been traced back to a Polish packing station. Public Health England had already revealed, towards the end of last year, that more than 160 cases of salmonella had been traced to Poland. Across the European Union more than 500 confirmed or probable cases in 14 countries have been connected to Poland in the last year. The new revelations have prompted the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) to renew calls for Britain to source only British eggs. This is just the latest of a number of food safety issues connected to eggs produced outside of the UK in recent years," said Ian Jones, chairman of British Lion Egg Processors. "Consumers clearly want retailers, caterers and food manufacturers to use good quality British ingredients that are produced to high standards of food safety, but in some prepared foods this is not the case." Sourced from overseas Whilst major supermarkets promote the fact that they source their shell eggs from British producers, the withdrawals following the fipronil scandal show that many eggs for processing are sourced from overseas. Phil Jones accused the retailers of operating double standards: The major retailers are operating to double standards when it comes to eggs. All of them stock British Lion shell eggs but they use imported eggs in many of their other foods containing eggs." He said: As we approach Brexit, shoppers are growing increasingly concerned about the ingredients used in manufactured food and now more than ever want and deserve transparency on food packaging. The egg industry believes that this is a great opportunity for retailers to listen to the concerns of their customers and reassure them by specifying the use of British eggs and using the Made with British Lion eggs logo on packs. Robert Gooch, chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers' Association (BFREPA), also called for both retailers and manufacturers to buy British eggs produced under quality codes like Lion and Laid in Britain. "British egg producers follow stringent production standards to ensure that what they produce is perfectly safe and nutritious for consumers to eat," he said. "Consumers want safe, traceable food and we have ready-made schemes which delivers that in the form of the British Lion Code and Lain in Britain." Health scares Egg imports have been connected with a series of food and health scares over recent years. In 2011 the Health Protection Agency confirmed that 136 cases of salmonella had been traced back to a farm in Spain. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) pointed out at the time that the outbreak was the latest in a long line of food poisoning outbreaks associated with imported eggs. It said there was a fatal outbreak of salmonella food poisoning in 2002, which was also linked to Spanish eggs. In 2004, Spanish eggs were linked to a food poisoning outbreak at a cafe in central London. One third of the Spanish eggs used by the cafe tested positive for salmonella. An outbreak in a restaurant in Kent in 2005 was also linked to Spanish eggs after owners purchased a batch of eggs from an unapproved supplier. In 2009 several outbreaks took place in England involving a strain of salmonella (salmonella enteritidis PT 14b NxCpl) which has not been found in egg-laying flocks in Great Britain. Use only British In 2015 the BEIC again urged retailers, caterers and food manufacturers to play safe and use only British eggs, following a high profile salmonella poisoning scandal in the United States. A judge in the state of Iowa handed out jail sentences to a well-known egg company boss and his son for their part in a scandal that left thousands of consumers ill with salmonella poisoning. Austin DeCoster, his son Peter DeCoster and their company, Quality Egg, had entered guilty pleas as part of a plea agreement after being charged with a series of offences following investigations into a nationwide salmonella outbreak. It is estimated that more than 56,000 consumers may have been affected by the outbreak. Quality Egg admitted that eggs were falsely labelled to disguise their age and that a US Department of Agriculture inspector had been bribed to approve poor quality eggs for sale. Dioxin in eggs Last years salmonella cases in the UK were traced back to Poland as a result of laboratory testing and Public Health England has now confirmed that the Polish salmonella problem has re-emerged. Salmonella is not the only health issue connected with foreign eggs. In 2011 and 2012 high levels of dioxin were found in eggs from Germany. Nearly 5,000 German farms were temporarily closed in 2011 as a result of dioxin contamination. There was a European Union-wide alert when contaminated eggs produced in Germany were traced to other countries. In the United Kingdom, supermarkets removed suspect products from their shelves after contaminated eggs found their way into the cakes and quiches of two British food manufacturers. The spread of dioxin was traced to animal feed. Fats not intended for food use were used in animal feed for pigs and poultry. German authorities subsequently made revisions to the country's food safety laws and placed restrictions on animal feed ingredients. New regulations The European Union also introduced new regulations to prevent a similar outbreak in future, but in April 2012 high levels of dioxin were found in eggs on a farm in North Rhine Westphalia. Contaminated eggs were also found on two farms near the city of Duisburg and two poultry farms in the northern German state of Lower Saxony were also affected. High levels of dioxin were also found in eggs on another farm in North Rhine Westphalia. The current fipronil scandal is another crisis that has been brought into Britain as a result of egg imports. Whilst well over 100 farms in the Netherlands were shut down after apparently being treated for red mite with the banned chemical, the Food Standards Agency said there was no evidence that the chemical had been used on British production units. The BEIC has again called for retailers and processors to play sale and ensure that they buy British eggs. Many farmers are hoping to poach skilled workers from other industries and make use of advanced technology to tackle the challenges of post-Brexit Britain. Concerns are growing that UK agriculture will find it increasingly difficult to retain the European Union workers on which farms have come to rely as withdrawal from the EU approaches. And there are also fears that new trade deals with countries outside the EU will make it harder for high welfare British farmers to compete with lower welfare, low cost imports from other parts of the world. But a new survey conducted by the National Farm Research Unit suggests that farmers are already planning to recruit workers with the right skills and make use of technological advances to make themselves more competitive. Some 61 per cent believed that emerging technology would impact their business over the next five years, requiring a new set of skills and talent Some 62 per cent of farmers who took part in the survey said attracting talent from outside the industry would be a key priority over the next five years and 20 per cent said they expected to increase the number of people they recruited from non-farming backgrounds. Some 64 per cent of farmers said they were looking to use or already were using satellite mapping and precision farming techniques that used sensors Some 34 per cent said they planned to make use of robotics. The research was commissioned by burger chain McDonald's UK - a big customer of British producers, spending 600 million each year in its British supply chain. Farmers 'have got the bit between their teeth' Connor McVeigh, the company's supply chain director, said the survey indicated that British farmers were ready to take on the challenges facing the industry over the next few years. "I think that what's really encouraging and exciting is that they have an appetite, not to wait for it to happen, but actually to play an active part in conjunction and in partnership with companies like ourselves to put the practical solutions in place. I think that's the most encouraging thing." He said. "Based on this survey, farmers have got the bit between their teeth and they want to manage their futures, they want to take a greater control and they see within that technology playing a very active role. "So that gives me an awful lot of encouragement, as a representative of a company that is a big customer, spending large part of a billion pounds through our supply chain each year with British farmers and a business that is so reliant upon British farming, that we have, potentially, and I think in practice, a very prosperous and thriving prospect ahead of us." The challenge of recruiting people into farming had been an issue for some time, even before the vote to leave the European Union, but many farmers had a plan to address the problem, he said. "My take on it is that Brexit is somewhat incidental; it's taking place and it's an important event in the backdrop, but I didn't necessarily join the dots between what we heard through some of the key messages in this survey and what's going on with Brexit," he told Farming UK. "The challenge that food production and farming has around recruitment is one that we have been aware of for the last couple of years. "The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) were quoted last year as suggesting that food production and farming would need to attract 170,000 new people in. That was pre-Brexit." Recruitment McDonald's runs a Farm Forward programme to help its 17,500 British and Irish farmers improve skills and knowledge, animal welfare and the environment. Part of that is its Farm Forward Barometer, which regularly seeks the views of the company's farmers on the challenges and opportunities for the industry. "I think what's interesting for us, as part of the Farm Forward Barometer, is the appetite to recruiting technology and experience and talent in the technology and therefore how important technology will be to facing some of the challenges, maybe some of them Brexit related or otherwise that the industry is facing, as well as the opportunities that are presented in the near future," said Connor McVeigh. The latest survey found that 86 per cent of farmers questioned said that recruiting the right skills and talent would be the top priority. Some 62 per cent said attracting this talent from outside the industry was a key priority and 20 per cent said they expected to increase the number of people they recruited from non-farming backgrounds over the next five years. Some 61 per cent believed that emerging technology would impact their business over the next five years, requiring a new set of skills and talent. Asked which skills they thought the industry would need more access to in five years' time, 75 per cent of farmers said digital and technology skills, 72 per cent said business skills and 55 per cent said data analytics and coding. Some 64 per cent of farmers said they were looking to use or already were using satellite mapping and precision farming techniques that used sensors, GPS controlled machinery and predictive analytics to ensure crops and livestock got exactly what they needed. Some 44 per cent pointed to big data analytics, 49 per cent to remote sensing technology that took real-time measurements on crop height and weather conditions, 39 per cent highlighted drone technology and 34 per cent robotics. Technology "Robotics is one element of it, but technology is a broad church in farming," said Connor McVeigh. "In the early part of next month I'm up at the Elveden Estate, who produce some of our potatoes. "You've got Andrew Francis, who is the farm manager there, using in some instances very simple technology where he's adapting his mobile phone to create an app to help him with a dashboard of diagnostics and performance measures on his farm right the way through to, I guess you could call it robotics, where he is looking at potentially drone technology to map his farm and his fields and also to be able to map it to assess stone content in a field, therefore verifying the viability of certain parts of the farm. "I wouldn't necessarily classify that as robotics but it's probably a more advanced form of technology than perhaps we would have expected farmers to have the appetite to use." Andrew Francis, himself, explained how technology was helping his farming operation. "Were using drones and GPS guidance to improve the timing and accuracy when we apply fertiliser to our crops. "This increases yields, reduces waste and keeps both our carbon and water footprint at optimal levels for efficient food production," he said. "Technology skills are increasingly important as more of our monitoring, application machinery and grading equipment is digitally operated. We see the best results when we have people in place who understand technology and how to apply it." 'New challenge' Connor McVeigh said that the use of technology and recruiting the talent to make use of such technology would help improve the efficiency of British agriculture and enable it to compete globally. "Efficiency can be in the form of input efficiency, it can be about output efficiency in the form of yields and, again, we have heard some case study examples that have come through from our farmers on both fronts. "Do I envisage that what we are hearing through this survey will see current forms of labour replaced in a significant way with automated technology? No. But I think what we are going to see is a need to recruit and increase the workforce that we've got in the farming industry. Also, it's going to be a different type of workforce," Mr McVeigh said. "I think one of the interesting stats was around 20 per cent of new recruits the farmers believe they are going to be bringing into the industry are going to be from different backgrounds, different disciplines, where they can draw best practice from disciplines where technology is at a more advanced stage and replicate that in the farming industry. "I certainly think it's good news from an employment perspective. "Good news if we can get that talent because there are some great career opportunities that exist. "The challenge of recruiting new people into the industry is not a new one. Recruiting different types of people and different experience and skills is, perhaps, new." Skill shows He said the company had taken a virtual reality display to agricultural shows and skills shows to give young people an idea about the kind of opportunities that existed in today's food and agriculture sectors. "The skills shows are a good example of where we took feedback from our farmers. "We converted it into the form of using the latest in virtual reality technology and we took it on a 40 foot truck around those two skills shows in London and in Birmingham to engage with sixth formers who maybe haven't made their final decision on career options. "We took the opportunity to show them first hand through the use of the latest virtual reality technology what food production and farming genuinely involves. It's not as narrow an opportunity from a career perspective as, perhaps, some of them expected. "It's got marketing, it's got technology, it's got data, it's got engineering opportunities - a lot of which first had we heard from those kids that they didn't anticipate that food and farming could offer them. So I think the people are out there. "The career options are there and the breadth of choice exists there. And we, as a big customer to British farming, have got an opportunity to join the dots between those two." 'Big challenges' The company's Progressive Young Farmer Training Programme, which has doubled in size since it began in 2012, encourages young people from all backgrounds to consider a future in agriculture. Students on the programme develop the mix of skills to succeed in the modern farming sector by spending a year working in every part of the McDonalds supply chain, from farm through to restaurant, and being mentored by some of the UKs most progressive farmers and suppliers. Connor McVeigh said, "The farming industry is currently facing some big challenges but its encouraging to see that, despite this, farmers are being front-footed in their investment in technology and skills to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of producing great quality produce. As one of the biggest customers of British farming, we want to help the industry meet these challenges head on and thrive in future." That was why the company was continuing to support the industry through its Farm Forward programme and why, this year, it would be opening its training programme to even more young farmers to help nurture the next generation and equip them with the right skills needed by a changing industry. Exports of beef, lamb and pork from the UK have surpassed the 500 million mark for the first six months of 2017 up 18 per cent year-on-year. The new data from HMRC shows that exports to non-EU countries have also risen, with the Asian markets continuing to offer exciting opportunities for beef, lamb and pork. According to figures, there has also been a 21 per cent increase in offal exports, taking the total value of shipments from the three sectors to 582 million. In the first half of the year, beef exports to countries outside of Europe are up 45 per cent year-on-year to almost 8,000 tonnes. This has resulted in a 62 per cent rise in value to 23.5 million. Third country pork exports rose by nearly 4 per cent in volume to 41,000 tonnes more than half of which has gone to China where there has been a 6 per cent rise in exports in the first half of the year, worth 24 million. Total recorded lamb exports to both European and non-EU countries have performed well for the first half of 2017, with volumes up 18 per cent valued at 178 million. And while its a lower proportion, exports of sheep meat to non-EU countries have doubled in 2017 so far. 'Positive picture' AHDBs Head of Livestock Export Trade Development Jean-Pierre Garnier said the lhese latest figures 'paint a positive picture' for the meat export industry. It is very encouraging to see an increase in exports to non-EU countries and a strong progression in value as this is an important area for our meat exports with the challenge of Brexit. AHDB recognises the importance of developing balanced international trade that does not rely solely on the EU, but we also cannot underestimate the importance of Europe as two-thirds of our meat exports are still destined for the EU. However, we understand the challenges that our meat industry faces and we must look at new exports deals and continue to work towards securing access to third countries. Key Asian markets Key target markets such as Hong Kong and China have led the growth of exports to non-EU countries this year with the latest data showing a four-fold increase in chilled beef exports to Hong Kong as well as a 91 per cent rise in chilled lamb. Non-EU exports are expected to rise even further following the recent announcement of a 200 million trade deal for pork access to China and a 34 million deal to export beef to the Philippines. AHDB Exports has been attending numerous world-leading food and drink events around the world during 2017 in a bid to showcase the UKs high quality meat on a global stage. Next month, AHDB will be attending Asias leading hospitality expo - the three-day Restaurant and Bar trade show in Hong Kong. It follows on from the Speciality Fine Food Show in Singapore last month and the world-famous SIAL exhibition in China in May. American Food Fair AHDB is also leading a mission of meat exporters to key African markets next month to meet with leading supply chain participants. AHDB Pork also attended the American Food Fair in Chicago earlier this year in a bid to boost pig meat exports. The USA is a growing market for pork with exports up by 2.6 per cent in the first six months of the year to 4,500 tonnes. Mr Garnier added: We are targeting key markets outside of the EU where we are confident meat exports can continue to add value. Working with government and other organisations in the UK we have been able to help open up markets which have been closed to us for many years. Kapil Unwell Everybody knows that Kapil Sharma is unwell, because of which the show's shooting is getting cancelled. Recently, he didn't report to the sets as he suffered from a panic attack and Baadshaho team had to return without shooting. Recommended Video Kapil Sharma Show: Krushna Abhishek reacts on REPLACING Kapil's show; Watch Video | FilmiBeat Old Episodes Are Being Aired The channel now has no bank of fresh episodes and has been airing old episodes so that audiences are not disappointed. Krushnas Show To Replace The Kapil Sharma Show According to IE reports, "Super Dancer will take The Drama Company's time slot of 8 pm, while the latter will be pushed to Kapil's air time of 9 pm." Channel Is Waiting For Kapil To Recover The source was further quoted by IE as saying, "The channel is waiting for Kapil to recover and get back fit and fine. If and when it happens, the show might get the 10 pm slot." No Bad Blood Between Kapil & The Channel There were also reports that Sony had issued a notice to Kapil, as the channel head honchos were upset with Kapil's unprofessionalism. But Sony EVP, and Business Head Danish Khan has denied any bad blood between them and Kapil. Danish Khan Adds Danish was quoted by IE as saying, "There's Kapil as an artist, a person, and a show. As a channel, we are really proud of the artist and TKSS has been one of our most successful shows." No Comments On His Personal Life "When a person shoots continuously for one and a half years, they do go through ups and downs. We are no one to comment on his personal life..." Kapil Has Delivered Good Show! "... but for us, he has delivered a good show and has been spreading smiles among our audience for a long time. And that keeps us really happy." Kapil Needs A Break! The source further added, "Kapil has been genuinely unwell and needs time to get back. The channel is not giving up on him but giving him time to recover and also get his charm and magic back." Sony Undergoing A Revamp "It would indeed be a good break where we can come back stronger and with a much better content. Anyway, there were always plans for revamping the show and this time can be utilized for the same." The Drama Company To Take TKSS Time Slot "The Drama Company is for a finite period and if its season two doesn't happen, Kapil might even get its 9 pm slot." Shares of Bank of America (BAC 0.73%) were up 2% on Wednesday after the bank announced that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 2.49%) (BRK.B 2.15%) had exercised its right to purchase 700 million shares of the bank's common stock. As Bank of America explained in a press release issued Tuesday, Berkshire Hathaway's right to purchase the stake came from the conglomerate's $5 billion investment in the bank's preferred stock in 2011. With that deal, which helped to buttress Bank of America's fortunes at the nadir or its post-financial crisis troubles, Berkshire acquired warrants to buy the shares for $7.14 each. Berkshire executed the purchase not by injecting new funds into Bank of America, but rather by converting its existing $5 billion worth of preferred stock. Buffett had telegraphed that he would do so earlier this year in his latest letter to shareholders: [Bank of America's preferred] stock, which pays us $300 million per year, also carries with it a valuable warrant allowing Berkshire to purchase 700 million common shares of Bank of America for $5 billion at any time before September 2, 2021. At yearend, that privilege would have delivered us a profit of $10.5 billion. If it wishes, Berkshire can use its preferred shares to satisfy the $5 billion cost of exercising the warrant. If the dividend rate on Bank of America common stock -- now 30 cents annually -- should rise above 44 cents before 2021, we would anticipate making a cashless exchange of our preferred into common. If the common dividend remains below 44 cents, it is highly probable that we will exercise the warrant immediately before it expires. It was Bank of America's decision in June to raise its dividend that accordingly prompted Berkshire Hathaway to convert its preferred stock into common stock. Prior to that, Bank of America paid $0.075 per share in dividends each quarter. Following the hike, it pays $0.12 per share. "In 2011, we welcomed Berkshire Hathaway as a shareholder, and we appreciate their continued support now as our largest common shareholder," said Bank of America chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan. Beyond this news, Buffett also gave an interview to CNBC's Becky Quick in which he talked about Bank of America, saying: It will be a long, long time before we sell a share of Bank of America. I'm very happy. We have 700 million shares. I like the business. I like the valuation. And I like the management very much. So I think you see that for a long time in our holdings. This is great news for Bank of America. Buffett is the most revered bank investor in the United States, having accumulated major ownership stakes in many of the nation's leading banks for Berkshire Hathaway. Consequently, having him as the bank's biggest shareholder gives Bank of America an important and valuable seal of approval. And, of course, Buffett didn't do too bad either. All told, Berkshire has made about $13 billion in profit from its investment in the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank. Kinder Morgan (KMI 2.69%) stock is trading at historic lows, but there are good reasons for Wall Street's current pessimism. The company's fee-based revenue model has taken a hit from lower oil and gas prices, which has reduced earnings and forced management to slash capital expenditures and accelerate efforts to strengthen the balance sheet. But things are about to change -- and not just because management's efforts are paying off (though they are). Why? There are structural changes underway in North American energy flows that will alter the global energy market for decades to come. While these are just getting underway, they'll arrive virtually overnight, with significant impacts felt by 2020. It's possible there is no company better positioned to capitalize on the long-term opportunity than Kinder Morgan. That makes the stock an awesome buy today. North American energy flux American shale oil and gas have quietly transformed the country's trade fortunes in the last decade. Consider that in 2010 the United States had an energy trade imbalance of negative $273 billion, which made up 43% of the country's total trade deficit. By 2016 the nation's energy trade imbalance shrunk to just negative $59 billion, which represented only 8% of the total trade deficit. Three major things contributed to the massive decline in trade imbalances from 2010 to 2016: America produced more oil and gas within its own borders, allowing it to significantly reduce imports. The remaining energy (crude oil) that America imported last year was significantly cheaper per unit (barrel) than it was in 2010. Congress allowed exports of American crude oil and crude products. Here's the scary part: these forces aren't close to being exhausted. American oil and gas production are expected to rise for the foreseeable future to account for increasing shares of domestic consumption. Meanwhile, it only became legal to export crude oil in late 2015, and the country's first major shipments of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, only began in late 2016. The United States is now exporting 1.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, which is about 15% of total production. Why export when domestic consumption isn't fully met with domestic production? Shale crude is categorized as light and sweet, which means it is easy to refine and can be sold at a premium in the international market. That's offset by importing and processing cheaper crudes from the Canadian oilsands. While few other countries can handle these grades, American refineries are specifically outfitted to do just that. The largest source of growth for energy exports won't be in crude oil, however, but in natural gas. At the beginning of last year, total natural gas exports were just under 6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), all from land-based pipelines to Mexico and Canada. Net exports to Mexico alone are expected to increase by 2 Bcf/d by 2021. Meanwhile, growing LNG exports will make the United States a net exporter of natural gas in 2017. That hasn't happened since 1958 -- and Uncle Sam won't be turning back. By the end of 2019 the United States will have 9.5 Bcf/d of LNG export capacity, up from just 1.4 Bcf/d at the end of 2016. Wall Street isn't pricing it in yet, but energy exports are the most important long-term driver for Kinder Morgan. The company owns an unparalleled pipeline network in North America that moves 2.1 million barrels of crude oil per day and includes 70,000 miles of natural gas pipe -- longer than all pipeline infrastructure in China. It's connected to every major natural gas resource in the United States, moving about 40% of all domestic consumption. It owns the only oilsands pipeline that reaches Canada's West Coast (and is about to triple capacity). It's the largest independent natural gas terminal operator and largest transporter of petroleum products, natural gas, and CO2 on the continent. That means Kinder Morgan will be first in line to benefit when Uncle Sam starts slinging ever increasing amounts of energy across the globe. As more export infrastructure is built on the coast, more inland oil and gas production will need to make its way to the country's shores. And if it's going to an LNG export facility, then it has to be stored somewhere. Good thing the company owns 16% of the nation's storage capacity. Simply put, the coming golden age for American energy exports will result in higher throughput and fees for the company's pipeline infrastructure -- and that doesn't even include increased demand from new natural gas power plants. Indeed, Kinder Morgan estimates that total American natural gas production will increase 21%, or 16.5 Bcf/d, over 2016 output by 2021. That's despite the fact that company projections for LNG exports are 2.6 Bcf/d lower than numbers from the EIA. What does it mean for investors? This one is pretty simple. Even though more and more domestic energy consumption will be met with domestic production in the coming years, there will still be plenty left to export. Kinder Morgan's extensive North American pipeline network means the stock is an awesome buy for investors looking to own a piece of the long-term opportunity. UK dairy processor Muller has increased its standard non-aligned milk price by 1p/litre from 1 October. The rise means the 700 Muller Direct producers will receive 30p/litre on its liquid contract with constituents of 4% butterfat and 3.3% protein. As of 1 September, the retailer supplement paid by supermarkets Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons will end. See also: China: What are the dairy opportunities for UK producers? The added payment, which was introduced in August 2015 and was worth around 3p/litre at its peak, has been gradually phased out as the Muller milk price has headed upwards. The October rise means Mullers non-aligned milk price will have increased by over 50% in the last 12 months. The processor said the rise reflected higher returns from butter and cream as well as an improved collaboration between Muller and its dairy farmers to maintain a level milk supply more closely aligned to forecasts. Futures meetings The Muller Direct Futures Contract, which goes live on 13 September, will be discussed with interested producers this week at a series of meetings across the UK. The contract gives Muller Direct dairy farmers the opportunity to lock in a monthly price for up to 25% of their milk volume across a 12-month period for a guaranteed monthly milk price. We are pleased with the response we have had to the steps we are taking to ensure that farmers who supply us have a competitive milk price and an increasing number of tools available to manage their businesses through the markets which we operate in, said Muller agriculture director Rob Hutchison. Haiti - FLASH : Former US Colonel arrested for attempting to bribe Haitian officials Joseph Baptiste, a dentist and ex-retired US Army Colonel, was arrested in Maryland on charges of conspiring to corrupt senior Haitian officials as part of a $84 million Haitian port development project, to Mole Saint Nicolas, a project that involves a number of peripheral projects. Baptiste, who served on the board of directors of a company that promoted the project, sought bribes from undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations who were seen as potential investors, said federal prosecutors in Boston. Baptiste reportedly told the undercover agents at a meeting held at a Boston hotel that he would make payments to Haitian officials through a non-profit organization he controlled based in Maryland in order to obtain the approval of the Haitian Government for the project. Also in a recorded phone call with a federal agent, he said the official would need $25,000 to approve the project. It is alleged that after the infiltrators transferred about $ 50,000 to a non-profit organization controlled by Baptist in order to corrupt Haitian officials, Baptiste used this sum for personal purposes. He intended to ask the agents for additional money in order to use it as future payments for the corruption of senior officials within the framework of the port project. Prosecutors said the case stems from an investigation launched in 2014 on some Haitian-American businessmen who offered to help corrupt Haitian officials in order to obtain or keep business in that country. Baptiste could face a five-year prison sentence and a $ 250,000 fine. SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Entry to the UEH Competition The Rectorate of the State University of Haiti (UEH) informs applicants who have already enrolled online at the entrance examination for the academic year 2017-2018 in particular that they can pay the required fees to SOGEBANK until Friday 1 September 4h00 pm https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21603-haiti-notice-registration-open-for-the-entrance-examination-to-the-ueh-2017-2018.html PM visited incarcerated school children Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant visited minors incarcerated in the Juvenile Reinsertion Center in Conflict with the Law (CERMICOL) of Delmas 33 and the prison of Cabaret. Did you know ? August 29, 1793 is a considerable historical date. Following the revolt of the slaves of the colony of Santo Domingo, on the night of August 22 to 23, 1791, freedmen, slaves and whites lived on the foot of war. It was necessary to pacify the Colony, which led to the Proclamation of General Liberty of the Slaves on August 29, 1793. The MUPANAH preserves, in its permanent collections, The bell of Liberty which is a witness-object of this memorable historical turning point. Rebuilding the MICT structures Monday Fednel Monchery, General Director of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT) said it had initiated since 1 month and a half a profound administrative overhaul of the structures of the Ministry in order to make it fully operational, more efficient and effective at the service of territorial collectivities. For the strengthening of communities, he promised to create a true territorial administration. 1,500 solidarity baskets and 6,000 hot meals The Social and Economic Assistance Fund (FAES) distributed no less than 1,500 baskets of solidarity and 6,000 hot dishes to St-Louis du Nord to the inhabitants and pilgrims from all sides attending the patronal feast of the commune. Launch of the book Frantz Liautaud, Haitian Ambassador to Canada, and Minister-Counselor Ann-Kathryne Lassegue, attended on August 25, at the book launch "Haitian Immigration and Culture Shock: Inform to transform", organized by the Society Child Welfare in Ottawa. The purpose of this book is to "inspire positive change in the community". This book is a collaboration between Gustave Boursiquot, Marlene Chouloute-Hyppolite, Michel-Ange Hyppolite (kaptenn koukourouj) and Faudry Pierre-louis. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politics : The reduction of the diplomatic staff will start The major cleaning in the diplomatic missions announced at the end of July by Chancellor Antonio Rodrigue in order to rectify the Haitian diplomatic apparatus and clean up the finances of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whose debt exceeds 1.5 billion Gourdes https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20931-haiti-flash-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-close-to-bankruptcy.html , will start on September 30th. In a note, the Chancellor Rodrigue informs the contractual diplomatic staff of the Embassies and Consulates of Haiti around the world "[...] that it was decided to put an end to the practices of contractual diplomats, incompatible with the prescriptions of The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and those of the 1963 Convention on Consular Relations. Consequently, the Advisers, the Consultants, who are unable to obtain the necessary accreditation for the performance of their duties, and administrative employees (EA 1, EA2, EA3) are advised that their contracts ending September 30, 2017 will not be renewed. However, the Chancellor states that "[...] administrative and technical personnel and service personnel such as secretaries, receptionists, drivers, security agents and housekeepers are not affected by this measure, just as in Europe, contract employees have a contract of indefinite duration." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21622-haiti-flash-moise-will-start-the-big-cleaning-of-the-haitian-diplomacy.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20931-haiti-flash-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-close-to-bankruptcy.html HL/ HaitiLibre Zoning board OKs apartments, RVs in Etowah development Related Stories The Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday granted a developers request to include apartment buildings and an RV park in a 299-unit development in Etowah that has drawn strong opposition from neighboring homeowners. More than 30 residents who live near the 232-acre site on McKinney Road raised numerous objections during a public hearing that lasted more than 90 minutes. Developer John Turchin, who has built residential communities in Miami and Banner Elk, is seeking the countys approval for a 299-unit development, including 173 single-family homes, 70 duplexes, 56 apartments, 16 guest rooms and 24 RV spaces on what is now a cow pasture between McKinney Road and the French Broad River. I believe theres a niche in the market to downsize out of our houses and move into a rental community in a rural situation and move on to a farm, Turchin said. The project is geared toward healthy living, fitness, an active lifestyle with outdoors amenities and wellness programs. Its geared toward year-round rentals, long-term rentals, not transient rentals. ... Were trying to create an active lifestyle community for baby boomers, he said. The single-family units would be built in clusters of eight to 16 cottages. Rent in the community would range from $1,000 to $2,500 a month, he said, and residents would be required to sign leases of at least six months. We could put a lot more units on this property. Thats not what our intention is. Our intention is to build a prototype of a community thats geared toward the future, that the country is moving toward," Turchin said. The Zoning Board of Adjustment was authorized under the county land-use code to take up two components of the development that require a special-use permit seven two-story eight-unit apartment buildings and the 24-space RV park. Neighbors objected to the apartments and the RV spaces but also raised concerns about the prospect of adding 299 units in all. I understand the need for the Hammonds to sell off their property but this is not the solution, said Mary Kathleen Riddle. You cant just drop a little settlement into the middle of a farm and continue to call it a farm. Its not honest. .. this will ruin the quality of some peoples lives. The reality is its going to be absolutely devastating. Homeowners said the development would overburden roads and the Etowah Sewer Co., which would serve the community and would destroy habitat of birds and animals. Turchin has other hurdles to clear before he could break ground. The Henderson County Planning Board, which has the authority to approve or reject the development, tabled consideration of the master plan for the development.The Planning Board has 90 days to make a decision on the master plan. Even if Turchin wins approval for the master plan, he still must come back to the Planning Board for final approval of a development plan, which spells out specifics like erosion control, water and sewer service, stormwater management and traffic. Will Indian government take note of this and ensure that China does not build roads in disputed area ? Editor, Hindujagruti Beijing : China on Tuesday remained non-committal on the issue of stopping road construction in Doklam, a day after Indian and Chinese troops ended 73-day standoff that was triggered by Chinas move to build a road in the border area. In order to meet the needs of defending the borders, improving the living conditions, China has long engaged in infrastructure development including the road construction, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. India and China yesterday ended their standoff in Doklam by withdrawing their troops from the area, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to China to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit. When asked if China will continue with building the road in the area, Hua said, we will take into consideration all relevant factors, including the weather, to make relevant construction plan in accordance with the situation on the ground. Hua reiterated that Chinese border troops will continue to station and patrol the Doklam area. We will continue to exercise our sovereignty with historic conventions. She also parried a question whether China is in consultation with Bhutan, which has protested the Chinese troops road building in Doklam. So far we have resolved the issue of illegal trespass of the Indian troops, she said. When asked whether China halted the work on a road in Doklam to end the standoff so that the BRICS summit could be held, Hua said, Peaceful resolution of the issue through the diplomatic channels serves the common interests of all relevant parties. It shows the sincerity and responsible attitude of China as a major country, Hua added. Welcoming the end of the standoff, senior Chinese scholars said major lesson out of border tensions is that China and India should be sensitive towards each others concerns to avert future conflicts. I am very glad to hear that finally the two governments demonstrated their maturity and far reaching and farsighted decision to peacefully end the conflict, Hu Shisheng, Director of the official China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told PTI. Hu said China and India should be sensitive to each others concerns. Rong Ying, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow of the China Institute of the International Relations, which is affiliated to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the resolution of Doklam standoff showed maturity and resilience of India-China bilateral relations. This is by far the most the serious incident between the two countries on the boundary. Ten weeks of very serious and grave situation. So the fact that both sides through the diplomatic means solved it in a peaceful (way), I think it should be definitely welcomed, said Rong, who served as a diplomat in the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Source : Zee News A variety of start-ups have moved in to the tours and activities to capitalize on the fastest growing sector in travel, opening up new experiences for consumers and ways for them to purchase their vacation's activities. EyeforTravel's the Changing Face of Tours and Activities report, which is free to download now, has identified start-ups as key to understanding the development of the tours and activities market as they are innovating across the entire supply chain and broadening access to the sector. Core to all of their businesses is the development of cheaper technology. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and cloud computing are allowing suppliers and vendors to sync up and distribute inventory, and start-ups are aiming to make this as easy as possible. Tours and activities suppliers can now independently upload their inventory to a variety of start-up services, such as Bokun or GetYourGuide, or they can work with other that provide them with templates to allow them sell online, such as TrekkSoft. These start-ups are then marketing tours and activities suppliers' services across their own and thousands of third-party partners and interfacing directly with the suppliers' reservation systems to make the process as smooth as possible. The upshot of this is it is allowing the sector to be brought into the digital age and giving consumers access to tours and activities that just five years ago would have been impossible. Consumers can now both book far in advance online from centralised databases of inventory and also use their smartphones to make reservations as they travel. They are also far better armed with information, for example Arrivedo aims to create neighborhood guides and use these to link together tours and activities, hotels and consumers. Erik Tengen, Co-founder, Oaky App believes one day we could see a single platform capable of handling all activity bookings. "Traditionally offline-oriented people are making the shift towards online. And because of the growth in API possibilities, we're likely to soon get a market where people book all their activities on one platform," he says. This is not only to the benefit of the consumer, who has more choice, more personalized packages, and ways to plan and pay, but also travel brands across all verticals. "Think about the following: without technology, a personalized tour desk could only be available in the biggest hotels. Now, with technology, virtual and personalized desks could be in the smartphone of any user when reaching any hotel lobby, despite the size of the hotel," says Alonso Franco, CEO and Co-founder of Arrivedo. Whereas previously, huge resources would be needed to put in place a distribution system for this most diverse sector of the travel industry, now even the smallest players can jump in to tours and activities. Not only have start-ups helped to digitalize inventory, but they are also now the power behind the throne to several of the internet's largest online travel companies. For example, Bokun teamed up with Expedia Local Expert at the end of 2016 with the aim of streamlining the booking process for tours and activities. GetYourGuide has integrated with Booking.com and lists its tours inventory via KAYAK's dedicated tours and activities product and has recently partnered with EasyJet to offer tours and activities direct to the airline's customers. TourRadar has been working with Amadeus since 2015 and TrekkSoft works with Viator. Tours and activities start-ups are therefore becoming a key piece of the travel industry and everyone should keep an eye on who becomes the next big thing. 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 View source On October 19, EyeforTravel will kick off its 19th annual North American summit the only travel conference in America that guarantees you will walk away with actionable insights & take-aways. With 400 senior distribution, marketing, mobile, revenue management, and data &technology executives present, it will be the ultimate location for knowledge sharing, strategy formulation as well as partnership advancement. Here are just a few quotes from past attendees: "Having never attended this conference before, I did not know what to expect. I can honestly say, after participating, that this was one of the best conferences I've ever attendedI met some great people and learned much about current travel and hospitality trends and what we need to do to prepare for the future"- - Marcus Lund, Regional Director of Sales & Marketing, Patton Hospitality Management "I have been in the hotel for over 33 years, and I have attended the EyeforTravel summit for the past 10 years, and even I was surprised how many take-aways I got from this year's summit. Innovative topics gave new perspectives on how we can enhance our business" Jordan Joanou, Director of Revenue Management, Castle Resorts & Hotels Here are the 5 big reasons attending EyeforTravel North America 2017 will be the best professional decision you make in 2017: 1. Case studies & actionable content you can apply right away The summit is designed to give you compelling stories and actionable content from some of the biggest travel brands including: Priceline.com, IHG, Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham, Allegiant Air, Lufthansa Systems America, Expedia and more. Hear about the challenges and successes of these organizations, straight from the source. Understand how they listen to their customers and strategize accordingly. 2.The ultimate location to catch up with your peers We know how important it is for you to make those connections and develop long-term business relationships. We've created a range of networking opportunities to enable you to meet, collaborate or even partner with your industry peers in travel. Over 15 hours of networking along with access to our dedicated networking app will make sure you make those all-important partnerships and long term connections. 3. Value for money The opportunity to gain high-level insights as well as tackle the day-today challenges in your business is just a start. We have designed the summit to not only offer the big picture, but also dedicated conference tracks covering distribution, marketing, data analytics, revenue management and travel technology. With over 70 speakers sharing insights across 4 tracks, over two days I'd say this is a good start to breaking down departmental silos. 4. The Venue Four words - Mandalay Bay Las Vegas. An award-winning hotel on the strip, this venue provides a fantastic platform for our event this year. One of the highlights include the rooftop networking drinks on Day 1 - not a bad place to wrap up the first day in my opinion! 5. Team discounts really stack up As soon as you bring a team member to this event, you activate discounts. The more people you bring, the higher the discounts go. Just email me with the number of people you want to bring, and I'll set up a discount code for you. Plus, the last chance price is still going which means those group discounts stack up even further. Don't forget to secure your place before September 22nd. EyeforTravel North America (October 19-20) guarantees cross-industry unity, high-level insights, a true forum for you to network and get those all important deals done. Visit the website for more information. Register before September 22 to save $200. 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 Professional certification continues to be a priority for hospitality professionals and educators in the Philippines, supported by Asia World Hospitality, an international partner of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI). During a session held July 21-24 at Seda Hotel Nuvali, 11 general managers from the Ayala Hotel & Resorts Corporation and Hotel Benilde (the hotel of De La SalleBenilde College) passed the Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) exam, the largest group of hoteliers in the Philippines to earn the certification on their first attempt. The following week, 13 educators from eight academic institutions participated in a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) workshop July 27-30 at Seda BGC Hotel. The schools included: PHINMA Education - Araullo University, PHINMA Education - Southwestern University, Nueva Vizcaya State University, Tarlac State University, Centro Escolar University, Far Eastern University, Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts Philippines, Philippine Merchant Marine School. In addition, Ms. Wilma Moran Estaura, the group director of human resources for Ayala Hotel & Resorts Corporation, participated in the workshop. She has the distinction of being the first Filipina to earn the Certified Hospitality Trainer (CHT) designation. This was the first CHE workshop to be held after the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved the CHE and other AHLEI programs (Certified Hospitality Instructor and Certified Guest Service Professional) for inclusion in their Professional Advancement Grants Program. Through this program, Filipino educators can receive scholarship grants to pursue certifications that will further their expertise and mastery of skills in hospitality education. "The CHED's endorsement of AHLEI's programs are a welcome development to the portfolio of programs that we offer as aligned with our mission to aid in the advancement of our educational system in the Philippines. We are also grateful to deliver these globally-recognized programs with the help of the US Embassy Commercial Service." said Machi Borja, CGSP, CLSO, director of Asia World Hospitality. "We are honored to see CHED embrace our vision in in upgrading the skills of the Filipino educators through the professional development programs we offer internationally and locally," added Ed Kastli, MBA, CMHS, CGSP, AHLEI's vice president, international sales. About the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) Established in 1953 as the nonprofit education and training arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), AHLEI's mission is to be the preferred provider of quality resources to educate, develop, and certify hospitality educators, students and professionals worldwide. AHLEI became part of the National Restaurant Association" Training & Certification division in 2017, connecting and leveraging the resources of two organizations that are deeply committed to a vision of career success and upward mobility for current and future hospitality, restaurant, and food service employees. The Digital Age is truly the era of knowing many things, but given our access to incessant tribal chatter across social platforms, the equal coexistence of facts and alternate facts along side news and fake news, one could rightly feel as though we humans may have access to more information than is necessary or even helpful. Despite such misgivings, I think we are better people because of our access to plentiful data. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to revive an analogy that was first offered to me when I was a Cub Scout: Data, particularly 'big data,' is like fire - used wisely it can light our way, allay our fears and give us warmth. Used foolishly, it can be destructive and devastating. The most useful objective, therefore, is not fire prevention but meaningful fire management - learning to discern the difference between quantity and quality, and react accordingly. In the world of hospitality, the collection and use of data are the industry's game changers. Location, location, location is now everywhere on planet Earth, and the room product ranges from pup-tents through the royal suites set aside for the exclusive use of the Sultan of Brunei. Despite the dizzying panorama of possibility out there, the truth is that within any given price and service class there isn't a great deal of differentiation in products and amenities. We depend on data to deliver the differences that turn personal travel into opportunities to collect life experiences and unique memories, and to tailor personalized service; it's access to data that gives Millennials and business travelers efficient access to availability, price shopping and loyalty / reward points. But all data is not created equally. As I look across the kinds of information that we use to find and serve our guests, I see four distinct data types, distinguished by their method of manufacture: Active When we specifically elicit information from a guest or customer, this is active data collection. We can either ask in person (What is your last name? Could you spell that for me, please?) or on a form, but either way we are telling the provider what we wish to record so that we may use that information in a manner that somehow benefits him or her - at least, that's the theory. Active data is typically the best information you can retain; unless your respondent has something to hide or simply does not want you to have access to the requested information, what you get is accurate according to the best source possible. It's important to note, however, that even active data has a shelf life: last name, address, age (as distinct from birthdate), marital status, smoking preference, need for ADA accommodation or assistance can all come and go. "Eternally true" is not a property that we associate with guest data; there is a need to ask and reconfirm all kinds of data on a regular basis. Passive During the course of conducting routine business within a hotel, a great deal of routine data is generated. Keeping this data available and using it to make future operational decisions is an example of passive data collection. One might assume that since the data is factual (e.g., the guest slept in a king room the last time s/he stayed at the hotel), it is a realistic reflection of preference (the guest prefers sleeping in a king-sized bed). It is also reasonable to assume that there was some deliberate data collection step involved in the assignment of the room (Do you prefer a king bed or two double beds?). Thus the king room, duly noted, would seem a clear preference for future room assignments, correct? The official answer in this example is "maybe or maybe not." Reusing this type of data implies that an active choice was made and a clear preference is reflected in its presence. What is not clear is if the prior circumstances are an expression of an ongoing preference. Even less clear is what was actually being selected at the time - what if the question the guest answered was "Do you prefer two double beds on the first floor facing the freeway or a king bed on the concierge floor overlooking the waterfalls?" Did the guest select the king bed or acquiesce to the situation? What was actually selected? Was it a king bed or a higher floor or a premium view? Asking the unfettered question, "All things being equal, what kind of bed do you prefer?" is entirely different than giving your guest a choice between room 104 and 2227. Passive data collection produces true facts that can be misleading when used to make derivative decisions. Assumptive From my perspective, assumptive data is that which is based not on me or my personal responses, but rather because I "fit the profile" of a particular affinity group about which data is known. Assumptive data exploits the old marketing maxim that calls out flocking tendencies of "birds of a feather." An example from outside the hospitality industry that illustrates the risk of using assumptive data is the fact that I've lived in a "deep red" southern state for nearly a decade. This could imply something about my cultural values and/or political leanings - or it might not. In an industry example, a revenue manager from a very large chain that focuses on moderate priced hotels for the business traveler, once told me that if I call on a Monday or a Tuesday to request one night's accommodation within that same business week then, with statistical certainty, I will request and will be willing to pay extra for a king-bedded room. Statistically, I'm sure she was correct. I, however, always get a room with two double beds so that I can throw luggage, clothes and papers on the other bed. Assumptive data works well if your guest is not a statistical outlier; for outliers your data point, regardless of probability, is wrong. Aggregated Another way to get actionable data is to collect and retain large quantities of raw data, assuming that the more you have or observe, the more apt you are to extrapolate meaningful information from it. This is essentially the "secret sauce" of big data: the whole is more revealing than any of its parts. Parsing a passel of data is how we compute averages, spot trends and evaluate statistical possibilities. Armed with this information we may not always win, but we are certainly playing the odds and betting with the house; this is "mathe-magic" of aggregated data. Consider my earlier question of the king size bed with the waterfall view. In that one single transaction it's difficult to determine the guest's motivation in the selection. If however, a guest stays eighteen times a year, and fourteen of those times are in a king room, we can, with gathering confidence (nearly 90%), be justified in thinking that the guest's room preference is being accommodated. The best evidence to support our conclusion is the frequency with which the guest rebooks the hotel; something must be to the guest's liking, even if it's just location, location, location. The lesson we take from this particular example is that more data can indeed make us righter. Another example of the power of big data is the way it can improve hotel service. Because today's systems have the capacity to process and store massive quantities of data, service rendition can be analyzed in detail and can be used to predict service outcomes. Properly architected service optimization systems produce a wealth of data as they monitor and record request fulfillment. By tracking lapsed time of each incremental step from initial order through final fulfillment, we can track staff productivity and harness the data for predictive purposes. For many years, the industry used standard statistics against which performance was measured; for standard guest rooms (think about a roadside Holiday Inn here), a housekeeping room attendant was expected to turn the room in thirty minutes, finishing sixteen rooms in an eight-hour shift. Of course, a slew (a precise term for an imprecise quantity) of variables affected the actual outcome. Sixteen rooms was simply a target number that was deemed to be challenging but practically attainable, and variations either "came out in the wash" or were used to identify consistent over or underachievement. It was really as much practical measurement as circumstances permitted; short of holding a stopwatch to a room attendant, it was a rule of thumb that generally worked. But today, the memory stopwatch is abundantly available, and can be used for every room attendant on every room assignment. And those slew of variables? We can passively record almost all of them: we can know the size of the room assigned, the number of occupants lodged within, the level of service requested or due today, the time of the assignment (for shift or day-part analysis), the travel time from room to room, the inspection time, any come-back requirements to correct inspection discrepancies, and last but certainly not least, the room attendant him or herself, with whatever tracking is permitted or useful there, things such as age and years of experience. We know everything but the weather conditions. Now, let all these data points collide over a span a thousand room turns - that's 12.5 full-time weeks by the old reckoning - and a desk clerk can be told that the room s/he needs, a king-bedded junior suite with terrace and a park view, that was vacated three hours ago, requires full checkout service that takes the assigned room attendant forty-four minutes and forty-five seconds to complete. It will take the inspector an additional twelve minutes and fifteen seconds to arrive, inspect and release the room, with a nine percent chance of requesting corrective action, which could (but likely won't) add another fourteen minutes to the completion. Since the room is already in progress, the attendant having started on it thirty-nine minutes ago, the room is now estimated for completion in exactly eighteen minutes. Sending both the attendant and inspector an automatic "guest is waiting" request to expedite the room will shave six minutes off that estimate. That leaves the guest a theoretical wait time of twelve minutes - just enough time to enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee while the room is finalized. So does data really light our way, allay our fears and give us warmth? Maybe in a somewhat strained analogy, one out of three isn't bad. Data is most certainly a part of enlightenment. While it might be short on warmth and reassurance, it is what makes guest recognition and superior service a practical reality. It allows you to personalize guest service, assuming, of course, that you train and field personable, hospitable service providers. Understanding data collection, interpreting it well and making it accessible when appropriate is the key to surpassing guest expectations and delivering memorable and differentiating hospitality experiences. Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.HotelExecutive.com About Infor Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. Infor's mission-critical enterprise applications and services are designed to deliver sustainable operational advantages with security and faster time to value. We are obsessed with delivering successful business outcomes for customers. Over 60,000 organizations in more than 175 countries rely on Infor's 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals. As a Koch company, our financial strength, ownership structure, and long-term view empower us to foster enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. Visit www.infor.com. A guest room at the Viceroy Chicago Viceroy Hotel Group announced that Viceroy Chicago, the latest addition to the Viceroy Icon Collection and the brand's first property in the Midwest, opens its doors to locals and guests this Friday, September 1, 2017. Taking center stage in the heart of the vibrant Gold Coast neighborhood, the 180-room modern luxury hotel is located on the site of the former historic Cedar Hotel and features culinary concepts from Chicago's Boka Restaurant Group. Positioned at the intersection of Cedar and State Streets, this urban resort rises a magnificent 18-stories and is home to the neighborhood's first rooftop pool. This desirable rooftop space, in addition to floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the hotel, affords guests sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the cityscape, offering a unique vantage point of Chicagoto inspire curiosity and exploration. An enviable location, Viceroy Chicago is steps away from top Chicago attractions including Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile, and some of the city's favorite high-end storefronts and boutiques on Oak Street. "A hub for culture, cuisine, and style, Chicago is the ideal location to start Viceroy Hotel Group's journey into the Midwest," said Bill Walshe, CEO of Viceroy Hotel Group. "We're proud to make our Chicago debut in partnership with hotel owner Convexity Properties, with whom we share a passion for creating distinct, memorable experiences, and who are a team with a unique knowledge of this incredible city." Adds David Nelson, Head of Real Estate at Convexity Properties: "The unveiling of Viceroy Chicago, with its unique programming, design and culinary experiences, is an exciting moment for Convexity Properties, Viceroy Hotel Group, Boka Restaurant Group and this amazing city we call home. We are grateful for the collaborative effort of the City of Chicago officials, local aldermen, and neighborhood groups that helped bring this project to life." Advertisement With community partnerships being a cornerstone of the hotel experience, the hotel offers its guests wellness and fashion programming provided by locally based businesses including Chill Chicago, a modern meditation studio; CorePower Yoga, a nationally-recognized yoga provider; and FELT, an upscale women's clothing boutique located in Chicago's Logan Square. In partnership with Chill Chicago, Viceroy Chicago presents a number of ways for guests to remain mindful while traveling including "Moving Meditation," an airport pick-up service that features a pre-recorded meditation session to enjoy while en route to the hotel, and "Chill Hour," a weekly, on-site meditation class. Guests are also provided with meditation tips in-room. Beginning in September, the hotel will host weekly yoga classes from CorePower, which will be open to guests and locals alike. Always ahead of the trend, Viceroy Chicago has partnered with local women's clothing boutique FELT to provide guests with individualized styling sessions and private shopping experiences. The fashion-forward package includes an advance consultation with a FELT stylist, an in-room styling and shopping session, as well as a custom-tailor session as needed. Energetic, Engaging Design Thoughtfully curated design, art, style and culture are infused into the hotel to create an authentic and inspired experience and maintain a distinct sense of place for guests eager to explore the vivacious Chicago landscape. To bring this vision to life, Viceroy Hotel Group worked in collaboration with Chicago-based Convexity Properties, Todd-Avery Lenahan of award-winning hospitality design firm TAL Studio, The Gettys Group procurement team, and leading architect Goettsch Partners. In homage to its history, Viceroy Chicago proudly embraces the Cedar Hotel's original brick and terracotta facade, first designed by architects Rissman and Hirschfield. Viceroy Chicago's design is inspired by the Flaneur, a French literary figure known for its free spirit and eye for exploration. International luxury hotel and resort designer Todd-Avery Lenahan used this spirited character as a guide to create surprise-and-delight moments throughout the hotel, piquing guest curiosity and offering the opportunity for discovery. The hotel's public spaces feature bold art fixtures, including a 30-foot teal Poem Wall towering over the lobby living room and inscribed with quotes from French poet Marcel Proust. Guestrooms feature a distinct headboard-wall, a digital reproduction of an original work produced by London artist Tim Modus. The display is inspired by the architectural elements and sculptural forms of the mid-century, and serves as a nod to Chicago's storied architectural history. Guestrooms also host enlarged, luxurious bathrooms and closets, and a selection of suites offer expansive terraces with incredible views of the cityscape and Lake Michigan. Celebrated Culinary Talent Coupled with Skyline Views Viceroy Chicago is also home to the highly anticipated restaurant Somerset, helmed by James Beard Award finalist Lee Wolen of Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the hotel and hosts a large landscaped and tree-lined patio. Wolen's curated menu features flavor-forward and approachable dishes and highlights the best in seasonal, local ingredients. In addition to making all of the pastries and breads in-house daily, James Beard nominated pastry chef Meg Galus serves seasonal desserts, specialty sundaes, parfaits and homemade Somerset chocolate bars. Chef Wolen also oversees the culinary offerings for the hotel's year-round rooftop lounge Devereaux, as well in-room dining, catering and events. In addition, the hotel has 3,600 square feet of meeting and event space, including the 2,200-square-foot Cedar Ballroom and adjoining outdoor Lakeview Terrace. Viceroy Chicago guest amenities include Natura Bisse and ROIL bath and salon products in luxurious bathroom settings, private bars with local and artisanal offerings, complimentary Wi-Fi access, and an expansive fitness center featuring Technogym equipment with panoramic views of Lake Michigan and the Gold Coast neighborhood. To celebrate the hotel's opening, Viceroy Chicago is offering a limited time introductory Stay Curious package of 25% savings on two-night stays between September 1, 2017 and December 9, 2017. To inquire or make a reservation, please visit the hotel's website. Despite hailing from the North, Torontos Drake has always had love for Houston. The city even had the honor of appearing in Drizzys early hit Houstatlantavegas, and in No New Friends, Drake alludes that H-Town is his second home. Suffice it to say, Drake has some personal connections to the flood-ravaged city, so its no surprise that hes using his extensive influence and considerable means to do some good to those affected. And while nothing can change the destruction that Mother Nature wrought upon the people of Houston, its still good to see that people are banding together to make a difference. In a recent video post on Drakes Instagram page, Champagne Papi addresses the tragedy and those affected: To the resilient people of Houston and the entire state of Texas I would like to send you all of our love, all of our prayers. To the brave men and women that have assisted in aid, relief, rescue, your actions are truly heroic. He goes on to announce that his close friend JJ Watt has set up a You Caring page (find that here), and as of now, the total amount of donations has surpassed the ten million dollar goal. Drake himself contributed two hundred thousand dollars to that cause, before imploring his fans and followers to contribute whatever they could. The journey to rebuilding is going to be a long one, so anything you can give greatly appreciated, says Drake. As of now, the impact of Hurricane Harvey continues to grow. The U.S. military has since been dispatched, with over 6,000 troops deployed (per CNN). While its great to see that Drakes goal has been surpassed, hopefully his message can spread and continue to make a difference. Drake The birth of Def Jam Records is the stuff of legend. Rick Rubin launched the label out of his NYU dorm room in the mid-80s, and the stories of his collegiate escapades, documented in a 2011 oral history assembled by New York Magazine, seem straight off the pages of a Judd Apatow movie script: Adam Horovitz, Beastie Boys: Nick Cooper knew about this guy Rick Rubin who went to NYU and would throw parties and had turntables. And a bubble machine. We were like, If we had a fucking D.J. and a fucking bubble machine, wed be fucking killing it. Eric Hoffert, college classmate: Rick Rubin was in a hardcore band called Hose. They would play downstairs in the cafeteria of the Weinstein dorm. It was crazed, almost Charles Mansonlike. They were pretty awful. And people couldnt make sense of what he was ontothe fact that he was in this band, and then hed come back from these hip-hop clubs at night. He was already a budding impresario. He was a complete powerhouse; he worked fourteen, sixteen hours a day. Adam Dubin, college roommate: Ricks most famous dorm party was the bikini contest. It was about 150 people. Packed. Everything about it was unsafe. Surging crowds, straight vodka, gin, tons of beer. Finally the time rolls around for the bikini part, and girls start stripping and people start throwing drinks. I kind of remember Adam Horovitz pouring water over some of those girls. Around this time, Rubin met Russell Simmons, a man five years his elder who was already a power player on the fledgling New York hip hop scene. Rubins creative vision and Simmons connections and business savvy were the twin rockets that launched the the careers of Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and Beastie Boys into the stratosphere. Indeed, Rubins coarse, rock-driven sound was instrumental in the establishment of hip hop as a bonafide commercial force. This piece revisits 10 of his most significant early productions: T La Rock and Jazzy Jays Its Yours, the first record that Def Jam ever released, and seminal records by Run-DMC, LL Cool J, & the Beastie Boys. Rubin took an extended break from rap production in the 90s before returning to the fold in the early 00s with songs like Rage Against The Machines Maggies Farm. System of a Downs Chop Suey, and Jay Zs 99 Problems. T La Rock and Jazzy Jay Its Yours (1984) Rubin on Its Yours, as told by Genius: Its Yours is the very first record I made. At the time, the only place you could hear hip-hop on the radio in New York was on WHBI, WBLS, or 98.7 Kiss, for an hour or two. Magic was on WHBI and then moved to WBLS, and Afrika Islam was on WHBI, where Red Alert was guest of his. Then Red got his own show on 98.7 Kiss. I felt like all of us made really interesting, challenging records. And they were all different, and cool, in their own way. And then when you listened to a DJ like Mr. Magic, every record sounded different. Run DMC Walk This Way (1985) DMC on Walk This Way, as told by Loudwire: We always loved to rap over Walk This Way at block parties and park parties. Before Rappers Delight, every MC rapped over Walk This Way. We didnt know it was Walk This Way. It was, Yo Jay, get out that Toys in the Attic album out and play number four! And we had never heard the lyrics. The DJs would never let it play that far. LL Cool J Rock the Bells (1986) LL Cool J on how he signed to Def Jam, as told by Complex: I used to send out demo tapes out to all different labels. They would send me rejection letters. Then I met Rick Rubin. I didnt meet him, I actually sent him a tape and called him every day and bugged him. And finally he called me back. I had bought a T La Rock record, he had Def Jam productions, and I sent it in based on that. First time I met Rick, I walked in the dorm area at 5 University Place. He was like, Im Rick. I was like, You Rick? I thought you was black!' Run DMC Its Tricky (1986) Rubin on how Def Jam challenged the hip hop status quo, as told by NPR: Up until the time of Def Jam, pretty much most of the rap records at the time were R&B records with people rapping on them. And then I think one of the things that separated our records from the ones that came prior was that they had more to do with what the actual hip hop culture was like, and that was only because we came as fans from this culture and, in making the records and producing the records, the goal was to capture the energy that you felt at a hip hop club and they werent really clubs then, they were more like a hip hop night at another club. So if you went out and you saw DJs and MCs and the energy that would happen on that one night, thats was really what we tried to get into the records. Beastie Boys No Sleep Til Brooklyn (1986) Rubin on the genesis of No Sleep Til Brooklyn, as told by Rolling Stone: All four of us always wrote lyrics and then kind of pooled ideas, and we hung out a lot. We would go out to Danceteria pretty much every night and hang out and come up with lines to make each other laugh. Usually wed only be working on one song at a time, so lets say that song was the song of that month. So for that month, every time wed go out, we write rhymes and collect them all. Then eventually, wed put them all together and try to figure out the best order for it to happen in. Beastie Boys The New Style (1986) Russell Simmons on the Beastie Boys fateful decision to leave Def Jam, as told by DJ Vlad: They couldnt get along with Lyor [Cohen] and Rick. Lyor wanted to manage em and make them a big movie at a big movie studio Rick being the genius he was, Im sure their next album would have been greater. Im sure that had Rick stayed with the Beastie Boys they would have been Eminem or greater. Beastie Boys Girls (1986) Rubin on Girls, as told by Consequence of Sound: Adam Horovitz and I wrote Girls on a train. We trained down to DC to record with the Junkyard Band, this band of kids who played D.C. go-go on garbage cans. We put out a Junkyard Band single on Def Jam. On the train back, we wrote Girls. It was rooted in an Isley Brothers song, Shout. It was written with that music in mind and then we sort of did our version of what that would have been. We just wrote really stupid, offensive words. Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right (1987) Rubin on the incredible success of Licensed to Ill, as told by XXL: That one was recorded over a long period of time, and I think one of the reasons its as good as it is is that each song really has its own life, which I dont think wouldve been the case had we made the whole album in two or three months, it wouldnt have had the breadth and depth that it does, especially musically. That was kind of two years of our lives. Not two years of our lives in the studio every day, but wed work on a song for a couple of days, then we might not go back in the studio for another month or six weeks, then whatever was sort of speaking to us at that moment would be the next one. So it really came together over time, with all of the influencesboth of the day and the influences wed grown up with. Id grown up with Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and more hard rock, and theyd grown up on punk rock, and you can feel all of those influences in that record. Run DMC Christmas in Hollis (1987) Rubin on turning music into a career, as told by NPR: My parents always wanted me to go to law school, but at the same time were supportive of the things that I liked. I looked at it as a hobby, I never looked at it as a job, and then the hobby sort of took on a life of its own and ended up becoming a job, but I never knew that it could be, I didnt even know that it was possible to be. LL Cool J Going Back to Cali (1988) Rubin on Going Back to Cali, as told by Rolling Stone: Its safe to say its been a pretty busy month for Saba. A couple weeks ago, the Chicago rapper released a new song called There You Go which coincided with the launch of the John Walt Foundation in honor of his late cousin, DinnerWithJohn. And now today, he decides to return to the scene & share a new remix over Jamila Woods Emerald Street. Going in over the re-worked beat from Saba himself, the Chicago rapper delivers a laid back, effortless verse that finds him reflecting & reminiscing about his childhood growing up in the Chi, Before the Pro Tools and the Ableton, he recalls Granny worried how to keep the cable on. The track was mixed/mastered by Papi Beatz. The original version of Emerald Street was produced by Chance the Rapper affiliate Peter Cottontale and comes from Woods impressive debut full-length, HEAVN. Sabas most recent release was his 2016 project, Bucket List Project. Recently, he appeared on his brother Joseph Chilliams debut mixtape, Henry Church, but hopefully hes got a solo project on the way. For now, take a listen to the upgraded remix & let us know what you think. If you wish to catch Saba live in person youre in luck, the Chicago rapper will be hitting the road this Fall for the Day N Night Festival in Orange County, CA on September 10th, All Things Go Fest in D.C. on October 7th, and A3C Fest in Atlanta on October 8th. Not to mention that hell also be throwing a benefit concert for his aforementioned late cousin, John Walt aka DinnerWithJohn, on November 25th at the House of Blues in the Windy City. Quotable lyrics: Birthday is just another day to us Not knowing another way to make a buck Back to the block when the cake is cut Before the block is self tainted us Saba If youre still sleeping on him, Tay K is a 17-year old rapper from Dallas who exploded onto the music scene this Summer with his hit record The Race, which follows his time running from the law. Back in June, Tay K was arrested & locked up after he cut off his ankle monitor and fled the state of Texas to New Jersey, where he was eventually captured. Currently locked up on capital murder charges stemming from a couple years back, Tay K hasnt been able to reap the rewards of his success, but has definitely seen his fair share of support from fellow artists. On Wednesday, Tay-K was scheduled to appear in court for those capital murder charges, where his lawyer was confident that Tay-K would be freed, but that ultimately didnt happen. Instead, the trial was pushed back reportedly due to lack of evidence. New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli spoke to Tays lawyer, the same as Kodak Blacks, James McMillan, on Wednesday and said he was told that Tay-K would be tried as an adult in the case. The judge apparently told Tay-K that the decision to move the case to adult court had no bearing of his guilt or innocence, but added that officers testified that there was no evidence that the rapper had weapons or engaged in any violent acts. Heres a statement from Tay-Ks lawyer: We just concluded the certification transfer hearing for Mr. Mcintyre. The judge has ruled that his case should be moved to adult court case based on his age (and the fact that the juvenile court will lack jurisdiction soon). The judge was very clear to tell Mr. Mcintyre on the record that this decision had no bearing whatsoever of his guilt/ innocence in this case. After a full day of hearing with numerous officers testifying under oath, officers testified there was no evidence that Mr. Mcintyre engaged in any violent act or possessed any weapons. Mr Mcintyre remains upbeat after this hear. I believe once all of the evidence is presented, Mr. Mcintyre will be exonerated on all charges. We look forward to moving ahead. Theres no set release date yet, but well continue to keep you posted moving forward. Check out a couple tweets (below). Tay K Kolkata, Aug 31 (IBNS): The West Bengal government will provide to the small traders and businessmen free software for filing GST returns. This was announced by state Finance Minister Amit Mitra while addressing a GST Seminar GST Road Ahead - organized by the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA), one of the largest apex trade bodies in West Bengal representing over six lakh traders. We are in touch with the NIC (National Informatics Centre) and work is on to develop the software, Mitra said. "West Bengal would be one of the first and few states in India to provide free GST software under the new GST tax regime in the country," he added. Mitra requested CWBTA to submit a detailed project report (DPR) for setting up a trading logistical hub in and around Kolkata. He also said that CWBTA, being one of the apex trade bodies, should organize an international Trade Summit in Kolkata on the lines of the Biswa Banga Sammelan to highlight the development taking place in the area of trade and e-commerce. The seminar was inaugurated by Amit Mitra along with Chief Guest H K Dwiwedi (IAS), Principal Secretary, Guest-of-Honour, Smaraki Mahapatra (IAS), Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Sajal Barui, Special Commissioner, Commercial Taxes and Khalid Anwar, Senior Jt. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. CWBTA as a trade body supports the original objective of one nation, one market, one tax of the GST regime. Sushil Poddar, President, CWBTA, expressed hopes that the Government would implement the suggestions requested by them so that smoothness in implementation is achieved soon. The trading community, through their associations and apex bodies, including CWBTA, have continuously given suggestions informing authorities about the fears of economic slowdown and difficulties in regular compliance at the B to C level they are operating in at present, said Poddar. Traders provide business-to-consumer services, are important stakeholders in participating and shaping of GST. Many traders, being small individual businessmen, are ill equipped to observe multiple and digitally operative procedures. GST being destination based tax they carry larger risks, said Pawan Jajodia, Working President. CWBTA, while highlighting the plight of the traders, called upon the government to address and remove the road blocks affecting the GST on road to its perfect shape. The trade body expressed its thanks and gratitude to Dr Amit Mitra, Honorable Finance Minister, West Bengal, and the learned member of the GST Council Kolkata, Aug 31 (IBNS): XLRI a Xavier School of Management on Thursday inaugurated the 8th batch of its Post Graduate Programme for Certificate in Entrepreneurship Management (PGP-CEM: 2017-18) at XLRIas Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) in XITE campus, Gamharia. The new batch consists of 40 students shortlisted on the basis of a rigorous selection process. While half of the students are from Jharkhand, the rest is drawn from the rest of the country. The inaugural ceremony was graced by Fr. E. Abraham, S.J (Director, XLRI), Dr. A. K. Pani (Dean [Academics], XLRI), Fr. Jerry Cutinha, S.J. (Dean [Administration & Finance], XLRI) and Dr. Vishwa Ballabh (Chairperson, Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) at XLRI). Addressing the students, Fr. E. Abraham S.J, Director, XLRI said, We have to carry out our responsibilities as a social entity. A strong connection with the society will provide the edifice for value-oriented learning. XLRI, besides being a higher learning institution is also a social institution and we try to inspire future business leaders like you to search for solutions to the socio-economic problems in the environment in which we are living. However, our resurgent economy is slowly but steadily putting in place a favourable eco-system for budding entrepreneurs like you all. On the occasion, Fr. Abraham also congratulated XLRI student Harshit Sonkar, who under the mentorship of XLRIs Entrepreneurship Development Centre and its Chairperson Prof. Vishwa Ballabh, created the NGO The Mango Foundation with the aim to provide basic education to children of economically deprived sections of society. Beginning journey in 2016 with only 10 students, 3 volunteers and a noble intention, The Mango Foundation currently has 100 students and has also received great support from Harley Davidson Group, Lucknow Gazelles, PVR, Coca-Cola, Red FM, OYO Rooms and many others by April 2017. It is heartening to learn that The Mango Foundation is doing all the right things to bring about a positive impact in the society and has the kept flag of XLRI flying high, Fr. Abraham commented. Our new students have diverse educational backgrounds in professional disciplines like engineering, business management, computer application, fashion industry, tourism & logistic, Mass communication, Digital Cinematography, PG Diploma in Emergency Medical Services etc. More than 40 per cent of the students have work experience of varying duration. We hope the diversity among the students will help the process of peer learning, Fr. Abraham said. Fr. Abraham further added, We are happy to note that a majority of the graduates passing out of the previous seven batches of this programme are into their own entrepreneurial ventures. We expect our students to make the best of their stint in XLRI during the next six months. We would like them not only to imbibe the nuances of entrepreneurship, but also to develop within themselves the values of honesty, integrity and fellow feeling, so that they turn out not only as competent entrepreneurs, but also as good human beings. The Post Graduate Programme for Certificate in Entrepreneurship Management (PGP-CEM) is a full time 6-month program in the domain of entrepreneurship management designed and developed by Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) of XLRI to provide competency-based education to the candidates with a view to promoting entrepreneurship having equipped them with the essential conceptual and operational skills required for running an entrepreneurial venture successfully. Dr. Vishwa Ballabh, Chairperson, Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC), XLRI commented, Our objective in launching this programme is to generate a breed of entrepreneurs who are equipped with conceptual and operational skills required for running an entrepreneurial venture successfully. The programme has been designed carefully in order to ensure that it helps meet the gaps identified in similar programmes currently being run elsewhere. We would like the graduates of PGP-CEM not only to be informed of the different functions of an entrepreneur, but also to be equipped adequately to get over the challenges as and when they encounter the same. We are happy to see that over the years, many of our graduates have come forward with unique ideas and launched their own ventures. Guwahati, Aug 31 (IBNS): The Gauhati High Court on Thursday granted bail to ten accused persons including three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officials, who were arrested in connection with the cash-for-job scam of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC). According to the reports, the court granted bail petitions of the ten accused persons including APSCs former member Basanta Doley, Samedur Rahman, employee Pabitra Koiborta, Musharaf Hussain, ACS officers Bhaskarjyoti Dev Sharma, Bhaskar Dutta and Amit Sharma, Engineer Nabakanta Patir after the Assam police failed to submit charge sheet against them. The court asked police to re-arrest them in a fresh case in connection with the cash-for-job scam. Earlier, the Dibrugarh police had arrested all ten persons in connection with the cace. Earlier, the Supreme court had granted bail to APSCs sacked chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul in the case number 936/2016 on August 16 last, but the Assam police had re-arrested him on August 17 in a fresh case, ostensibly to prevent his release from jail on bail. Police had arrested Rakesh Kumar Paul and an employee of APSC Musharraf Hussain, who was also known a close aid of Rakesh Kumar Paul in the case number 159/2017 registered at Bhangagarh police station in Guwahati under sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the IPC and Sections 13(1)(a)(d)(iii) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. On the other hand, the Gauhati High court on Thursday sent Rakesh Paul to 14-day judicial custody after he was produced before the court. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Twitter New Delhi, Aug 31 (IBNS): Ahead of a speculated Cabinet reshuffle, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigned from his post on Thursday evening. Rudy was the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. A major Cabinet reshuffle is expected at the Centre ahead of the 2019 elections, media reports said. According to media reports, the reshuffle is likely before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on Sunday for a BRICS summit in China. New York, Aug 31(Just Earth News): The Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for one year. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body requested the Secretary-General to look at ways to enhance the efforts of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including through increasing the mission's visible presence, through patrols and inspections, within its existing mandate and capabilities. Originally established in 1978, UNIFIL was greatly reinforced after the 2006 fighting to oversee the cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbollah. It is tasked with ensuring that the area between the so-called 'Blue Line' separating Israel and Lebanon and the Litani River is free of unauthorized weapons, personnel and assets. It also cooperates with the Lebanese Armed Forces so they can fulfil their security responsibilities. UNIFIL's initial mandate included confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area. The Council affirmed its strong continuing commitment to the existing mandate of UNIFIL, also urging all parties to cooperate fully with the Security Council and the Secretary-General to make tangible progress towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution as envisioned in resolution 1701, which helped end the 2006 hostilities in Lebanon between Israel and the Hizbollah. Photo: UNIFIL/Pasqual Gorriz Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 31(Just Earth News): The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended its authorization of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 May 2018, approving a reduction of its uniformed personnel to a maximum 21,626 by 31 December 2017, with an eye towards the gradual handover over of responsibilities to Somali security forces. Unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council decided that the downsizing the first ever for the African-led operation would include a minimum of 1,040 AMISOM police personnel and five Formed Police Units. A further reduction (from the current maximum of 22,126) to 20,626 uniformed personnel by 30 October 2018 would follow, unless the Council decides to accelerate that pace, taking into account the capabilities of Somali security forces. Emphasizing that the long-term objective for Somalia, with international support, is for the Somali Security Forces to assume full responsibility for security, with AMISOM remaining critical during the transition, the Council welcomed the recommendation by the AU-UN review for a gradual and phased reduction and reorganization of the Mission. Further by the text, AMISOM's strategic objectives would be to enable the gradual handover of its security responsibility to Somali security forces, to reduce the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and other armed opposition groups, and to assist Somali security forces in providing security for Somalia's political process and peacebuilding efforts. The Council decided that AMISOM's priority tasks would be, among other efforts, to conduct targeted offensive operations against Al-Shabaab and other armed opposition groups, including jointly with the Somali security forces, and to mentor the latter in cooperation with the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and in line with national security structures. It would reconfigure, as security conditions allowed, in favour of police personnel, and receive defectors on a transitory basis. AU/UNISTPHOTO /Mohamed Guled Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 31(Just Earth News): The head of the United Nations agriculture agency on Wednesday called for greater funding for a sustainable response to the refugee crisis in Uganda, as he concluded a visit to the country's north hosting those crossing the border for safety. Uganda's refugee model is an example to the world, said UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva in a news release, noting that the country allocates land to refugees for shelter and cultivation so that they can provide food for themselves rather than rely on food aid. It is vital that funds be mobilized to support this effort [] so that refugees and their host communities can have a real opportunity to overcome hunger and poverty. Uganda is giving not only food and land but hope, he added. Uganda is host to the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world. Since July last year, more than one million South Sudanese refugees have crossed into the country. The refugees are predominantly women and young people and come from farming or livestock herding communities. Graziano da Silva visited two refugee settlements, Agojo and Mungula 1, in Adjumani district near Uganda's border with South Sudan. At Agojo, the FAO Director-General helped distribute crop and vegetable seeds to more than 1,000 refugee and host community households. At Mungula 1, he inaugurated a micro-irrigation project that will provide the refugee and host community households with a reliable source of water for their crops and animals. Prior to visiting the settlements, Graziano da Silva met with Uganda's Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. Under a new response plan, FAO is intensifying its efforts in providing livelihood assistance to refugees and host communities. The plan focuses on food and livestock production, nutrition, protecting the environment and enhanced technical support to the Government. The Director-General's visit comes after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the donor community in June to strengthen their support to the refugee response. Uganda requires around $2 billion annually for 2017-2020 to address refugee needs, and donors have so far pledged around $358 million. Photo: FAO/Anita Tibasaaga Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 31(Just Earth News): Forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) terrorist group in Syria are losing sight of the obligation to protect civilians as the battle to retake Raqqa from ISIL is being waged at the cost of their lives, the top United Nations human rights official warned on Thursday. Surely the purpose of defeating ISIL should be to protect and assist civilians who have been suffering under their murderous regime, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a news release. Given the extremely high number of reports of civilian casualties this month and the intensity of the airstrikes on Raqqa, coupled with ISIL's use of civilians as human shields, I am deeply concerned that civilians who should be protected at all times - are paying an unacceptable price and that forces involved in battling ISIL are losing sight of the ultimate goal of this battle, he added. Between 1 and 29 August, the Coalition reports that it conducted 1,094 airstrikes on and near Raqqa city up from 645 in July. In July, throughout the whole of Syria, a total of 885 airstrikes were conducted by the Coalition. The Russian air force, which operates separately from the Coalition, reported publicly that it had carried out 990 combat flights in Syria from 1 to 21 August and that 2,518 aviation strikes had been conducted. Airstrikes and ground-based strikes on Raqqa have resulted in a large number of civilians casualties. While it is difficult to get a full picture, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has managed to verify 151 civilian deaths in six incidents since 1 August 2017, in each of which more than 20 civilians were reportedly killed. So as airstrikes bombard Raqqa, some 20,000 civilians are either trapped, or risk their lives to flee and end up confined in makeshift camps in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces under horrendous conditions until prolonged security procedures are completed, with no oversight on how they are treated and screened, Zeid said. The High Commissioner called on all those with involvement or influence in the conflict to facilitate the rapid, safe departure of civilians wishing to leave Raqqa, and to ensure the protection of those who remain. OHCHR has also received information about ISIL forcibly conscripting civilians in Deir-ez-Zor, including children. Once Raqqa is retaken from ISIL, the next big battle will be Deir-ez-Zor, Zeid said, appealing to all the parties involved in the conflict in Syria to fully respect their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population and civilian objects. Photo: UNICEF/Delil Soulaiman Source: www.justearthnews.com FORT WAYNE - A spa off Lima Road will maintain its right to do business, but will need to ma Caledonia, Aug 31 (IBNS): A blockage by members of First Nations in Caledonia due to a land dispute barred a portion of Argyle Street for last three weeks, media reports said. The protest emerged from a piece of land which was put by Six Nation's elected band council into a federal corporation making an allegation against Ontario for breaking the promise of returning the land to Six Nations in 2006. The blockage is taking at the same place where the violence was witnessed 10 years ago. The dispute is due to a disagreement between the elected band council and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a traditional form of government. A letter, which was written by Ontario premier David Peterson 10 years ago, is quoted by the Star as saying: "The title of the Burtch lands will be included in the lands rights process of the Haudenosaunee/ Six Nations/Canada/Ontario. It is the intention that the land title be returned to its original state, its status under the Haldimand Proclamation." A spokesperson of Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation said Ontario had honoured the commitment of 2006 by transfering the particular piece of land into a corporation. Antoine Tedesco, whose written statement is quoted by the Star reads: "We are hopeful that all of the parties involved will be able to work together in a spirit of mutual respect to ensure the land benefits all the people of Six Nations." "As this matter is before the courts right now, any further comment would be inappropriate Tedesco said. Despite a five years lease given to Mohawk farmer Kristine Hill, she was removed from the Burtch lands-around 380 acres on the west of the reserve line- following an injunction filed against her. The decision of her case is awaiting. Hill was quoted as saying by the Star: "The government needs to sit down and talk." "They cant make unilateral decisions, pan-Aboriginal decisions and expect individual nations to be happy with that she added. However, she refused to comment on the disputed lands or the Burtch lands since her court case is underway. A resident in Caledonia called the blockade an "inconvenience". Sean Sullivan (45) felt the place chosen for the blockade is wrong. He was quoted by the Star as saying: "Its a land dispute, but it has nothing to do with Caledonia. This is in the wrong place." (Reporting by Suman Das) (Doors open at 7pm for seating, tabling with local groups and interaction. Speakers begin at 7:30. Free tickets for admission: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/standing-rock-legal-update-and-urgent-call-to-action-tickets-37259420931 Youre invited to a special evening with social justice attorneys Chase Iron EyesEyes and Daniel Sharmaneehan of the Lakota People's Law Project.In spring of 2016, a movement was born at Standing Rock. When the Dakota Access pipeline (#DAPL) was rerouted to the reservation, endangering its sacred water supply, Lakota elders asked allies to rally to their cause, symbolized by the phrase: Mni WiconiWater is Life. Hundreds of thousands of you answered their call.Revelations of illegal paramilitary tactics employed by private security firms against Chase and other peaceful water protectors on the front lines underscore that our very democracy is at stake. This forum provides a unique opportunity to engage with two generational voices sharing first-hand accounts of this historic movement and the legal battles being waged in the Dakotas.We invite you to join Chase and Danny for this exceptional evening. Together, let's continue to answer and advance the call to unite at this critical hour.Please RSVP at our Eventbrite page today, and arrive on time with your tickets to be guaranteed admission. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/standing-rock-legal-update-and-urgent-call-to-action-tickets-37259420931 About Our SpeakersChase Iron Eyes is a citizen of Standing Rock and a leading spokesperson for the #NoDAPL movement. In February, following intense surveillance by militarized security forces, he was arrested and charged with two felonies by North Dakota law enforcement.Daniel Sheehan is president of the Romero Institute and a renowned constitutional attorney. As chief defense counsel for Chase Iron Eyes, his legal strategy will expose the collusion between government, industry and militarized security to suppress Native populations and the right of all Americans to peacefully demonstrate.Email jennifer [at] lakotalaw.org for more information.About Our Co-SponsorsThe Congregational Church of Sunnyvale - UCC provides a spiritual home that is open and diverse. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here! http://www.uccsunnyvale.org There is no charge to attend this event, but please consider bringing donations to the Congregational Churchs Homeless Services Drives. Particularly, we will welcome donations of ready-to-eat meals and toilet paper. The church regularly distributes these goods in the community. Also, local environmental groups are invited to table at 7 p.m. before the main event. Please stop by!#MniWiconi #WaterIsLife Burma Faced With Aid Cuts, Shan IDPs Call for Continued Support IDPs from the Loi Sam Sip camp being relocated further inside the Shan border in May 2007. / SHRF YANGON Thousands of displaced Shan have called for continued humanitarian support for refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps along the Shan-Thai border. After more than a decade of providing aid, international non-governmental organizations have announced that they will cut off food support for all six camps in the region in October, said Sai Korn Lieo, spokesperson for the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF). The Shan-Thai border campsestablished 18 years agohost around 6,200 displaced people, 70 percent of whom are women and children, according to SHRF. Many of the camps residents fled central Shan State between 1996 and 1998 due to clashes between the Myanmar Army and Shan armed groups. Those in the camps represent a range of ethnicities, including Shan, Lahu, Akha, Wa, Taang, Pa-Oh, Lisu, Karen and Chinese. News of the upcoming cuts to aid was reported to camp leadership in April and May, after more than a decade of support; international non-governmental organizations cited progress in Myanmars peace process as a reason for the policy shift. Lung Sai, chairperson of the Shan State Refugee Committee (Thailand), outlined some of the challenges faced by these communities. We dont have land to cultivate. Thailand does not allow us to work. We have a water shortage in the camps. And now, the aid is going to stop, he said. IDPs cannot engage in traditional agriculture on either side of the border, where they live on slivers of territory controlled by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S), situated between the Myanmar Army or militias on one side, and the Thai authorities on the other. Those in the camps rely on aid13 kilograms of rice, as well as yellow beans and one liter of cooking oil per person, per month. Sai Korn Lieo told the Irrawaddy on Thursday that they are urging donors to continue this support for their survival. Although the RCSS/SSA-S signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement with the military and government in 2015a key step in the current peace processfighting continues to take place near several IDP camps over disputed territory with the Myanmar Army. There are also frequent clashes between the military and non-signatory ethnic armed groups in Shan State. Despite the peace process, it is still impossible for the displaced villagers in camps along the Thai-Shan border to return home, unless there is a genuine nationwide ceasefire, withdrawal of Burma Army troops, and a political settlement with the ethnic armed stakeholders, read a statement from SHRF. Sai Korn Lieo added that despite the existence of a peace process, theres still not any peace in Shan State. We dont have or have lost our national identity cards, so I dont think we can enter Myanmar. I havent heard of any plans from the Myanmar government regarding long-term IDPs, said Lung Sai. Lower House MP Sai Thiha Kyaw of Shan States Mong Yai Township told The Irrawaddy that he would propose a discussion regarding a government plan for Shan States displaced during the upcoming parliamentary session. According to SHRFs report on the crisis, the future of many in Shan State is further complicated by plans to construct large hydropower dams in the regionlike the Mong Ton project on the Salween Riveras well as mining projects, which they say will cause further displacement. Burma Poverty Decreases, But Rural Areas Slower to Develop: Report Two young girls walking near Yadana Hninsi Housing development project in Yangon in December 2016. / The Irrawaddy YANGON The number of people in Myanmar living in poverty has decreased from 32 percent of the population in 2004 to 19 percent in 2015, according to a recent report. The World Bank and the Ministry of Planning and Finance analyzed data on living conditions from surveys conducted in Myanmar in 2004-5, 2009-10, and 2015. Household spending has increased by 1.4 percent annually and living standards have improved according to a number of indicatorsincluding the sales of mobile phones, televisions, and motorcycles. More than 42 percent of households owned a motorcycle in 2015, compared with just 25 percent in 2009. The report states, however, that 37 percent of people in Myanmar still live on or near the poverty line, meaning they remain vulnerable to poverty. We are encouraged by the decline in poverty, moving ahead it will be critical to ensure that economic reforms continue to reach everyone in Myanmar, said U Kyaw Win, Union Minister for Ministry of Planning and Finance. The report was compiled using two different methodologies: The Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey conducted in 2004-5 and a second method introduced by the World Bank in 2009-10. Using the second method, poverty went down from 44.5 percent in 2004-5 to 37.5 percent in 2009-10 and 26.1 percent in 2015. The report shows that rural poverty declined slower than in urban areas in the same time framefrom 36 percent to 23 percent in rural areas compared to 22 percent to 9 percent in urban areas. This reflects growth in the respective areas1.1 percent per year in rural areas compared to 1.9 percent in urban areasfueled by greater development in manufacturing and services than in agriculture. After 2010, the garment sector improved significantly and created many jobs, according to Dr. Khin Maung Aye, a central executive committee member of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA). In the garment sector, there was a major increase in order rates and product quality after 2012. No doubt that could have helped reduce poverty through employment, he told The Irrawaddy. Most garment factories are based in Yangon and Mandalay regions, according to MGMA, although recently factories have opened in Irrawaddy and Bago regions. There are some problems with transportation costs in opening garment factories in other states and regions though opening them could create job opportunities for locals and help develop the areas, said Dr. Khin Maung Aye. Upper House lawmaker Sai One Hlaing Kham of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) said peoples living conditions had improved in non-conflict areas of Shan State. A lot of young people from Shan State went to China or Thailand as migrant workers, they sent their income back to their families, and then new buildings appeared, he told The Irrawaddy. Consumption rates also increased in the last decade. Sai One Hlaing Kham said: We can see improvement in non-conflict areas. My question is, is this real improvement? We have lost manpower in the country because we cant create job opportunities in our own area and country. On the other hand, migrants face exploitation and lose their citizens rights because most of them migrate illegally. The governments technical and financial support is still needed to boost production and create jobs, which would reduce poverty in the area, he said. Karen and Mon states are among the highest producers of migrants in Myanmar, which some observers say has brought money and development to the states, with almost everyone able to access phones and transport. We can see the improvement of buildings in our area. Many people own motorbikes here, said Ko Tun Myint, chairperson of Mon Youth Network in Mudon Township. But, he added, nowadays there is too much crime such as robbery and theft in the area, showing that people are still suffering from poverty. Ko Tun Myint said young people believe the government can create better job opportunities by supporting the technology and finance industries in order to boost the quality and production of the many rubber plantations in the region. The report is the first of a two-part series on poverty assessment that recommends a revision of poverty measurements for Myanmar. Part two of the assessment will be released in late 2017. Burma US Ambassador Rejects Govt Implication of Aid Agencies in Rakhine Attacks The Myanmar governments Information Committee reported that packets of biscuits provided by the UNs World Food Program were found at suspected terrorist camps YANGON The US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel on Thursday rejected suggestions by the Myanmar government that international aid agenciesincluding the US Agency for International Development (USAID)are supporting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in northern Rakhine State. Any suggestion that USAID, or any other US government agency is providing support to ARSA, an organization we have condemned, is absurd, Marciel told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. Everything that we have been doing, and that we continue to do, is in support of the Myanmar people and their effort to build democracy, peace, and prosperity, he said, adding that embassy staff had spoken to the government regarding the allegations. The Myanmar government reported the discovery of aid items in suspected militant camps in a number of official statements, as it has launched large security operations in northern Rakhine State after ARSA attacked police and military posts last Friday. The attacks and continuing violence have left more than 100 confirmed deadincluding 12 security personneland displaced thousands, with the International Organization for Migration estimating on Wednesday that some 18,000 Rohingya had fled to Bangladesh. On Wednesday, the governments Information Committee reported that packets of high-energy biscuits provided by the UNs World Food Program (WFP) and packets of USAID-branded rice were found at suspected terrorist camps near Kyeekyun in Maungdaw Township on Monday. At a press conference held by National Security Advisor U Thaung Tun on Tuesday, police Brig-Gen Win Tun said militants had made land mines from aid groups construction materials such as ammonia nitrate fertilizer and metal pipes, though he did not specify which aid groups and how militants accessed the materials. WFP said it was aware of photographs circulating of WFP-branded food and had asked Myanmar authorities for more details in order to track the supply batch and investigate the matter further in a statement released Thursday. WFP takes any allegations of food diversions very seriously and considers any manipulation of food assistance destined for needy families as theft, the statement said. A US Embassy spokesperson said because the situation is fluid, and access to reliable information is limited, it cannot verify the discovery of the bags of rice or investigate how they might have been diverted. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein also expressed concern about claims by the government that international aid workers were complicit in or supporting the attacks. Such statements are irresponsible and only serve to increase fears and the potential for further violence, he said in a statement on Tuesday. I am extremely concerned that the unsupported allegations against international aid organizations place their staff in danger and may make it impossible for them to deliver essential aid. There were 77 aid agencies active in Rakhine State in March 2017, including 28 international NGOs, according to the Myanmar Information Management Unit. Reuters reported this week that the UN and other aid groups had evacuated non-critical staff from northern Rakhine in response to the violence. Anti-NGO sentiment has developed in Rakhine State since conflict in 2012, with ethnic Arakanese protesting what they feel is unfair favorable treatment of the Rohingya. Marciel echoed sentiments of the UN and other embassies in condemning Fridays vicious attacks and said he welcomed government comments that security forces would restore law and order with restraint. He also urged unfettered access for monitors, aid groups, and journalists. Editorial Tough Choices Ahead to Prevent Black Friday, Achieve Stability in Rakhine A police officer stands guard near a house that was burned down in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, Aug. 30, 2017. / Reuters It was Myanmars Black Friday declared National Security Advisor U Thaung Tun at a press briefing, describing the August 25 attacks on 30 police stations and an army base in Northern Rakhine State. Now, the question is how to prevent Myanmars second Black Friday. The volatile situation in Rakhine State will require time, patience, and calm responses to counter extremists and assure citizens. First, the government needs to restore normalcy, and deliver aid and assistance to the needy. A military presence is required to maintain security, but in the long run, a political solution must be sought. Whatever obstacles and strains they may have, the government and military should coordinate (they have been doing so according to their press briefings) to establish a clear strategy on Rakhine State. The importance of a report issued by the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Advisory Commission has been acknowledged in part. Upon receiving the commissions report, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi hastily said that her government would implement the recommendations, but army leaders voiced their reservations. If that is the case, the two will have to find common ground and reconcile pragmatically in order to move forward. We cant have a repeat of the violent attacks or allow Muslim extremists to gain control. Army leaders must have a reason behind their hesitance to implement the commissions recommendations. And make no mistake, we all know who calls the shots in Myanmar. The army is the countrys most powerful institution and it is deeply entrenched in politics. It is important to listen to these army leaders as well as the elected civilian leaders. Combat Terrorism? But How? First, the government and military should not fall into terrorists trap. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned that terrorists wanted a strong military reaction and corresponding political backlash to the attacks. We saw that the army, which deployed additional troops to Northern Rakhine ahead of the attacks, was not able to secure the large territory. Perhaps the army planned to divide its troops to tackle insurgents belonging to the Arakan Army that are active along the China border and recently in Paletwa Township, Chin State, next to Arakan State. So when the attacks occurred and soldiers scattered, they were unable to maintain a hold, as they were instructed to exercise restraint and were outnumbered by mobs that included women and children. Army leaders were well aware of the international comdemnation that could arise, as an increase in troop operations has often been tied to accusations of human rights abuses and excessive force. After attacks on Oct. 9, 2016, the army was accused of serious rights abuses against the Rohingya. Since then, there have been repeated requests for the Myanmar government to allow access to a United Nations fact-finding mission to the area, which has thus far been denied. At the press briefing, National Security Advisor Thaung Tun said that the government would exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid collateral damage and casualties among innocent civilians. At the same time, opposition parties including Arakanese politicians and former ruling party leaders have pressed to declare an emergency situation in Rakhine State. This will only heighten tensions and is not a permanent solution. Whether armed forces leaders including Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing want to take on this burden is the question. Domestic and international media are covering the issue, and the attention of the UN and the international community is there. And in fact, this is a good opportunity to explore the real cause of the attacks and explain the situation on the ground, as it was recently raised at the UN Security Council. Embassies and organizations are ready to assist Myanmar to combat terrorism if necessary. The government and army need to respond to some medias one-sided coverage of the issue without emotion, and as well counter some allegations and pressure. But they need to be extremely careful when rushing to accuse INGOs and NGOs of aiding terrorists. This could backfire against the government and undo much-praised reforms. To eventually repair the wounds in Rakhine State, Myanmar will need international goodwill and assistance. Thus, it should allow media access to troubled northern Rakhine State with protection provided for reporters, and begin to allow aid and outside support in the near future. International media at the moment is too far removed from the situation on the ground to provide nuanced coverage. To hunt down those that the government has deemed terrorists, Myanmar will also need sophisticated training, regional and international support and coordination. Over the years, authorities have studied the immediate and root causes and effects of the conflict, but much more remains to be done. Sending infantry troops to engage extremists who allegedly have international ties will not work in the long run. Myanmar will need counterterrorism training and to strengthen the National Security Agency and intelligence gathering forces A Rakhine task force and counterterrorism strategy are needed starting with a debate in Parliament. But the government, military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies will all need to coordinate to combat and prevent terrorism. This includes the business and finance sector, in regards to rooting out terrorist financing. In this context, maintaining law and order and respecting human rights are both key compenents. Thus, Myanmar will need to seek assistance and draw lessons from its neighbors particularly India, China, Indonesia and Thailand. Indonesia, for instance, has come a long way. In order to conduct counterterrorism campaigns, police there have been given priority jobs and trainings. The military has also played its part in gathering intelligence, and providing civic assistance in conflict areas and propaganda campaigns. Myanmar has a lot to learn from its neighbors in countering any future threats of terrorism. More importantly, Myanmar will have to work with moderate voices in Rakhine State and beyond. There is some encouraging news in that local Muslim and Buddhist leaders have stated that they dont agree with or condone the use of violence in the region. Violence is not the solution to the issues to Rakhine State. The danger that Myanmar faces is real and will have serious long-term consequences within the country and beyond its borders. The government and security agencies must be aware that there are extremist elements such as IS and the Taliban that could exploit the plight of Muslims in Rakhine State. Some regional security analysts predict that its only matter of time before jihadists flock in. The real danger is in homegrown terrorists linking with foreign backing, which will only inflame the violence in Northern Rakhine. At a press briefing, Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe said that the latest attacks show that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is trying to establish an Islamic State in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. But this is not new. Myanmar saw the rise of local mujahideen starting in the late 1940s when the country regained its independence. Muslim leaders sought the concession of land to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), but this was rejected by Myanmar and the insurrection was quelled by the army. During World War II, colonial forces, both British and Japanese, exploited the Arakanaese and Muslim populations along this loose border. Convene an NDSC Meeting? Brig-Gen Win Tun claimed at the press briefing that the recent systematic attacks were a plan to force locals to flee the area. Military leaders claimed that militants had taken four steps toward claiming territory: scaring locals from the area, killing government informants, the October 9 attacks last year, and the latest attacks. Army leaders have wanted to call a meeting of the 11-member National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) as mandated in the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, but the ultimate decision rests in the hands of President Htin Kyaw, a close confidante of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Such a meeting would be used to present and analyze the countrys security situation and discuss preparations. The meeting could also serves to warm relations between the two sides, as interactions between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the commander-in-chief have been uneasy at times. If the meeting is held, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will sit as foreign minister along with the president, vice presidents, commander-in-chief, vice commander-in-chief, and border and home affairs ministers. The president, and not Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, will chair the meeting and one thing is certain he will need to make some major assessments and decisions. The government and the army had a duty to secure the northern territory and prevent further attacks. But this is also a sovereignty issue for Myanmar and its citizens. The country should pay attention to international concerns but it must listen to its own inner voice, because it is this country and its citizens that will need to find a solution. Guest Column Losing Sight of Solutions in Rakhine Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan talks to reporters as Myanmar government-appointed Chairman of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, during his news conference in government guest house, Rakhine State, on December 2, 2016. / Soe Zayar Tun / Reuters Rakhine State took a distinct turn away from a possible peaceful future the day after the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State released its final report. Friday saw the second wave of attacks claimed by a Rohingya militant group who refer to themselves as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). This week, they aired pre-recorded video messages on social media in the style of many international terror groupsincluding infamous Islamic State. ARSA, in their videos, claimed Arakan [Rakhine] belongs to the Rohingya, and warned the Myanmar Army to withdraw its troops immediately. The same group claimed previous violent attacks on border guard police in northern Rakhine State in October 2016just one month after the Annan commission was established. Although it is not a comfortable truth for the country, Myanmar is likely facing cross-border terrorism, that the commission labeled a potential threat. The question is: Is the Myanmar government prepared to face this reality? The answer is, probably not. Violence invites more violencethe Myanmar government promptly declared ARSA a terrorist group on Friday and immediately responded with anti-terrorism security operations. Conflict in northern Rakhine has so far claimed dozens of civilians lives and displaced thousands. As violence sweeps through northern Rakhine, former UN general secretary Kofi Annans recommendations to alleviate the states suffering have been forgotten. Rakhines Complex History Since its beginning, the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State was widely rejected by both ethnic Arakanese and Muslim Rohingya. Although the mandate of the commission was to find lasting solutions to the complex and delicate issues in Rakhine state, many, including Arakanese politicians and Rohingya militant groups, immediately turned a blind eye to the commission appointed to find solutions. The first thing the Commission tackled in its report was nomenclatureopting to use neither the term Bengali nor Rohingya to refer to the Rohingya population but instead use Muslims or the Muslim community in Rakhine on the advice of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Rohingyathe ethnic group living along the Myanmar-Bangladesh borderare referred to as Bengali by many in Myanmar, including the government, to infer they originated from Bangladesh and dont belong in Myanmar. Neither Bangladesh nor Myanmar recognizes them as citizens though the Myanmar government in the past registered some 700,000 Rohingya with temporary identify cards popularly known as white cards. Myanmar has been practicing different categories of citizenship for a long time and does not guarantee equal rights to all its citizens. The Commission finds the linkage between citizenship and ethnicity, has caused problems in Rakhine, it recommends to re-examine it. Different categories of citizenship create social injustices between majority ethnic Bamar and minority ethnic groups. Thus, the Commission recommends the abolition of distinctions between different types of citizens in Myanmars 1982 Citizenship Law to align with international standards and treaties. The final report says: The law should be reviewed to ensure the equitable treatment of all citizens. With that recommendation, the commission kills two birds with one stone: Issues of citizenship and issues of ethnic identity. If everyone in Myanmar came under one category of citizenship, there should be fewer arguments over ethnic identity. It requires, however, the government to review the 1982 Citizenship Law. This recommendation might not sit well with both sides. Ethnic Arakanese have expressed concern over providing equal citizenship status to Rohingya in Rakhine State. Various protests against the governments citizenship verification process for the Rohingya community have been organized in Rakhine State. The protesters fear was that if the Muslim community living along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border was gaining in population, they might occupy Rakhine territory in the future. The ARSAs claim that Rakhine belongs to Rohingya, taps into this great fear of ethnic Arakanese people. On the other hand, the Rohingya Muslim community is reluctant to go through the citizenship verification process in Rakhine State as they lack trust in the government and cant envisage any tangible benefitsas mentioned in the final report. Practicing Basic Human Rights International media have long highlighted the plight of the oppressed Rohingya population in Rakhine State, who are denied basic human rights such as freedom of movement and access to health services and education. Violence in Rakhine State in 2012 which resulted in 120,000 internally displaced people (IDPs)the vast majority Rohingya and many still living in campsmade headlines around the world. Rohingya IDPs are almost entirely deprived of freedom of movement, the report highlights. Travel of non-IDP Rohingya is restricted by a lack of citizenship status. Both communities face self-imposed restrictions emanating from the fear of neighboring communities, limiting access to farmland, fishing areas and markets, the report adds. The Commission highly recommends the government to ensure freedom of movement and equal access to health and education for all people in Rakhine State, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, or citizenship status. Myanmar was among the first 48 nations to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by United Nations which recognizes human rights and fundamental freedomshuman rights should not be limited to one particular group, race, or religion. Rakhines Delicate Reality The Commission finds a sense of lawlessness along the border with Bangladesh. The Bangladesh-Myanmar border area has seen illegal trafficking in humans and drugs for many years. Uneducated and jobless young men, unprotected children and young girls living in refugee camps along the border become prey of human traffickers. In a graphic by the BBC, Bangladeshi and Rohingya trafficking routes are shown to originate in Coxs Bazarhome to Rohingya refugee camps on the Bangladesh side of the border. A report released by UN High Commission for Refugees in 2015 showed about 25,000 people, including women and children, were trafficked in the three months from January to March 2015double the number in the same period in 2014. A US Department of States 2017 report said transnational drug trafficking organizations operate within Bangladesh with underground operations stretching from Myanmar to India. Recently, there have been numerous reports in local media of vast hauls of illegal narcotics in Rakhine State. The Commissions final report highlights drug smuggling is reportedly funding the activities of non-state armed groups, such as the Arakan Army (AA) and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The illegal drug trade is the delicate reality of Rakhine and has remained unsolved for decades. The Annan commission recommends Myanmar government to establish a joint commission with Bangladesh to discuss bilateral relations including combating human trafficking and drug smuggling, and security cooperation to combat violent extremism. ARSA is using terror to claim Rakhine territory and using the lives of several hundred civilians as shields or weapons. ARSAs violent actions inevitably will harm, not help it, despite its claims to be fighting the Myanmar stateand not Rakhine civiliansfor the Rohingya cause, International Crisis Group pointed out in its recent report. If the real intention of ARSA is to save its own peoplethe Rohingyaand fight for their rights, it should not be using terrorist tactics. Rather than taking note of the commissions recommendations, ARSA is rushing to claim territory in Rakhine State and encroach on Myanmars sovereignty. The question is whether ARSA really represents the Rohingya in Rakhine State. If it does, thousands of civilian lives are in danger. Speaking about the Aug. 25 attacks, Kofi Annan showed grave concern over the perilous situation in Rakhine State: After years of insecurity and instability, it should be clear that violence is not the solution to the challenges facing Rakhine State, he said in a statement released on his website. If all parties involved turn a blind eye to the commissions recommendations, there will only be more violence. Mon Mon Myat is an independent journalist and graduate student at the Department of Peace Studies in Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Guest Column Myanmars Post-Panglong Problems (Part 3) Ethnics leaders and Myanmar government officials attend the opening ceremony of the 21st Century Panglong Conference in Naypyitaw. / Reuters This is the third and final in a series of articles on Myanmars peace process. Demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR) processes are only one aspect of the state building process that will need to occur in ethnic armed organization (EAO) areas; durable peace will only arrive when communities in EAO areas discern value in citizenship, and so a distrusted state must deliver health, education, and other services, and offer impartial protections, including the provision of land tenure. Education is particularly important: successful reintegration and enhanced livelihood security in EAO areas are fundamentally a question of human resources, the foundation of which is public schools. Across Myanmar, the educational system is in need of repair, and this is doubly so in many EAO areas. Education is supposed to create citizens as well as workers literate in a common language. A lack of vocational and technical training centers, not only in areas accessible to EAO populations, but in Myanmar as a whole, is also an urgent issue. These matters warrant much greater exploration exploration that is beyond the scope of this analysis, however. Afghanistan amply demonstrates how both DDR and alternative livelihood programs fail when they are standalone programs occurring in areas lacking the administrative, service-oriented, and coercive presence of the state. The process of state building in insurgent areas will occur through an inflow of Bamar civil servants into these areas to deliver services, and this will also lead to resentment. As a rule of thumb, many EAO host populations will not possess the requisite human resource capacity to completely staff education, health, and general administrative posts. Business and capital, some of it exploitative, will follow. Migrants historically dominate local markets in newly colonized areas; Chinese already play this role in Kachin, while Naga markets in Northeast India are dominated by Marwaris and Biharis, and Han Chinese in Tibet. This can also cynically play into conflict resolution efforts, if it gives struggling ex-EAOs entities to levy extra legal taxes on. Myanmars ethnic minoritiesand for that matter, Chinas Tibetans, Indonesias highland Papuans, Thailands hill tribes, and othersknow that uncontrolled in-migration will reduce them to minorities, with their cultures and lands subsumed by newcomers. James C Scotts engulfment defined as the settlement of loyal (read: docile) populations with an existing national identity in areas where such identity was lacking among indigenous peoples may occur as a part of an unstated but overarching government strategy to dilute the concentration of peoples with separatist tendencies in sensitive areas. Rich historical precedents exist, such as Manchu/ Qing settlement of Han Chinese colonists and soldiers in Southwest China: Han settlement into areas where they are not a majority has been a Chinese government policy that transcends types of rule, and its continuity from empire to republic to communist dictatorship to the present appears unbroken. Significantly, however, the greater the disruption of the previous demographic status quo, the greater the volatility, as is demonstrated by contemporary anti-state violence in Xinjiang and unrest in Tibet. Controls on migration will likely be sticking points in future negotiations, between the Union and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), and United Wa State Party (UWSA) in particular. Lessons from Thailand: The future settlement of conflicts in Myanmars EAO borderlands, either through Panglong or another forum, cannot be predicted, but the contours of a long path can be inferred from the recent experience of Northwestern Thailand, which only became integrated into the modern Thai state beginning in the 1960s. While Afghanistans experience demonstrates how reintegration and alternative livelihoods standalone programs not synchronized within a larger state-building and service delivery exercise can often prove futile, Northwestern Thailands integration into the Thai state confirms this. The regions hill tribe regions were developmentally and administratively ignored until the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) based itself there: hill tribe members served as CPT foot soldiers, and the exponential increase in poppy cultivation in hill tribe areas made many Thais perceive them as threats to the state. The governments defeat of the CPT involved coaxing CPT members to surrender, but unlike Myanmar, the Thai states relatively strong position made the process a simpler one than the current context of EAO areas. In Thailands opium-growing strongholds, much of them in then-CPT areas, poppy cultivation dropped from 12,112 hectares in 1961 to 281 hectares in 2015, and the opium trade shifted almost entirely to Laos and Myanmar. The historical success of Northwestern Thailands incorporation into the state through both counterinsurgency and alternative development in formerly insurgent areas is not attributed to any one factor, but to a combination of many. Opium poppy cultivation there was not halted because substitute crops earned the same income as opium. In the Thai case, nothing equaled the price of opium to smallholder farmers, especially those without land tenure and the consequent inability to invest in longer-term crops: in 1984, 15 years after alternative crops and extension services were introduced, cultivation was again peaking, and the Thai authorities introduced forcible eradication and arrests in response. But alternate crops did provide income, especially through Arabica coffee. Despite the interference of middlemen and exploitative contract farming problems for farmers across Thailand and Myanmar, not simply in opium cultivation areas farmers did earn a living. But the end of illegality was aided by much more than new crops and price guarantees, and the presence of state security actors. The means by which this once remote area of Thailand was truly integrated into the state was through the provision of health and education services, the extension of roads, the provision of land tenure, and the assignment of civil servants to administer areas they were previously absent from both the presence of the state, and peoples perceptions that its presence was worthwhile. This success took generations. Myanmars will as well: If Panglong 21 is a success, then it will only be because it serves as the foundation upon which services and protections for EAO communities are built. If Panglong 21 is the end of a process, rather than a beginning, then it will fail. Conclusion: The negotiated assertion of the power of the lowland state into state-resistant areas continues with the Panglong 21 peace process. Myanmars borderland insurgents have replicated lowland state coercive power in order to fight the state. The egalitarianism discussed by Scott and others mainly exists in those armed communities which continue to resist the state, as they form and fracture over time. Many of these insurgents historically protected their communities from Tatmadaw incursions distinguished by violence, flight and impunity. Like states, they also tax and control the communities they protect. Many have resorted to criminal activities to survive, and also, profit. EAO communities have been caught between a rock and a hard place. Panglong 21 offers them a chance to be relieved of the pervasive insecurity and occasional violence they have been subject to for generations. It offers many of those who represent them less: what we witness in the insurgent offensives that began in Shan in November 2016 may be the last gasp of certain smaller groups and the beginning of serious negotiations between larger entities and the government. That process will see EAOs surrender some powers while retaining others: outlaws will legitimize, and a certain amount of post-conflict criminality from former militia and EAO structures will be tolerated as the price of peace. The peace process, if it works, will not be the end of an era of instability, but rather, the beginning of a different type of insecurity, and expectations must be managed. Transitional justice and other demands will prove to be illusory. No one should underestimate the long task ahead of both the government and the insurgents; it will take a generation, at least, before insurgent populations will find a place in licit economies, and before adequate services are provided. No particular program or step serves as a magic bullet. The same infrastructure that will allow troops to travel quickly to quell unrest will also serve to reduce costs for farmers to get their produce to market and reduce times for people to access emergency care. That access, to name one example of many, gives people a vested interest in the state. And in many an EAO territory, that interest is lacking. It is exactly this type of social capital that the state needs to invest in EAO areas that will guarantee peace after Panglong. The states presence will be measured not in terms of soldiers but by health, education, markets and opportunities. Bobby Anderson ([email protected]) is a Myanmar-based Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The opinions expressed in this article are the authors own. This article originally appeared in Tea Circle, a forum hosted at Oxford University for emerging research and perspectives on Burma/Myanmar. France has asked Microsoft to pay 600 million (US$715 million) in what it claims are back-taxes owed by the American software giant for billing local customers from Ireland. The French weekly L'Express reported that the billing was for Internet advertising and keywords for Internet searches. It said that Microsoft had paid corporate taxes of just 32.2 million last year. Microsoft reacted by saying that it "acts in accordance with the laws and regulations in all the countries in which it operates, working in close co-operation with local tax authorities to ensure complete compliance with local laws". L'Express said that the French taxation authorities had refused to comment on the claims. France has also sought back-taxes from Google, in this case a sum of 1.1 billion. In May last year, Google's Paris offices were raided in connection with these allegations. But a French court later ruled in favour of Google. The tax authority is appealing the ruling. American multinational technology companies have come under fire in a number of locations over allegedly avoiding the payment of taxes. Last year, the EU asked Apple to pay 13 billion in back taxes, claiming it had found that a number of deals the company cut to do business in Ireland were illegal. Data centre operator NEXTDC has reported a net profit after tax of $23 million for the year to the end of June, a significant lift of $21.2 million on profits of just $1.8 million for the 2016 year. The Brisbane-based company (ASX:NXT) also boosted revenue to $123.6 million, up from $92.8 million in 2016, on the back of what chief executive Craig Scroggie says was strong demand for the companys services and with the number of customers climbing 19%, from 647 to 772. We are very pleased with our FY17 results. They demonstrate the companys continued strong growth with significant increases in contracted utilisation, strengthening EBITDA and a more than doubling of operating cash flow, Scroggie said. Coupled with liquidity greater than $600 million, NEXTDC is in an outstanding position to take advantage of current and future customer opportunities. NEXTDC also reported an EBITDA of $49 million, an increase of 77% on the previous year. According to Scroggie, NEXTDC continues to experience strong demand for its premium data centre services right across the national footprint. NEXTDCs sales pipeline is at an all-time high. We are currently in advanced negotiations in relation to several large customer opportunities, which are likely to result in a significant increase in the companys contracted utilisation base. Scroggie says NEXTDC is in great shape and continues to raise the bar for the industry, adding that FY17 has been the most significant year in the companys history. Three new world-class hyperscale data centres are in development as we achieve industry-leading certifications for design and construct standards, operational excellence and energy efficiency. NEXTDCs ability to attract new investment and new business is creating incredible value for Australias digital economy, where cloud and co-location are playing an increasingly critical role, he says. On the outlook for 2018, NEXTDC says it expects: Astana. 31 August. Kazakhstan Today - Today, the world needs to increase the participation of women in increasing the global sustainable growth of inclusive development. This was reported by State Secretary of Kazakhstan, Chairwoman of the National Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan Gulshara Abdykalikova, speaking at the international forum "Women for Future Energy" in Astana. The Secretary emphasized that nowadays the humanity has entered the transformational phase of the Digitalization of the economy and the spread of new technologies that change the global conditions for the development of the green economy. "Today, the world needs to increase the participation of women in the development of the global sustainable growth of inclusive development. We must make a special contribution to the transit of mankind to the "green" economy and the use of alternative energy", the State Secretary emphasized. G. Abdykalikova outlined the main issues facing the forum. "Firstly, it is the development of women's aggregate potential in the field of "green" technologies, assistance in developing advanced technologies and providing support for women's initiatives. Secondly, the formation and implementation of the policy of women's entrepreneurship in the field of green economy, comprehensive support for investment projects, including at the level of public and private partnerships with the participation of women", she noted. Today the participants will also discuss the issues of the coming future, promoting energy efficiency and cleaner technologies, strengthening the role of women in politics, science and business. "As you know, humanity has now entered into the transformation of Industry 4.0. In the world there are structural changes related to technological innovations and development of digital technologies. They radically change the global conditions for the development of the green economy. The priority of its growth is the renewable energy sector, which is developing for the following world trends: Development of energy storage and storage technologies and their growing price competitiveness; More open access to financing, political initiatives, conducive to the development of this sector. The aggravation of the problems of natural disasters associated with climate change; The growing need for energy from developing economies", G. Abdykalikova said. According to the Secretary of State, global investments in the RES has also reached a peak level, ahead of the traditional energy. "Recently, the Ministry of Energy of our country conducted a study "Forsyte-2050". The new world of energy and the place of Kazakhstan in it" which analyzed 6 million data in 139 countries. It says that by 2050 the total energy demand will decrease by 3%, the demand for coal will almost halve, and the need for oil will reach 95 million barrels per day. It is expected that the cost of batteries will drop to 5-8 times, energy generation due to wind will fall by 2 times, due to the sun in 4-5 times, which will lead to a tenfold increase in the share of solar and renewable energy sources", Gulshara Abdykalikova said. Over 300 delegates from 25 countries participate in the forum. It is expected that, following the results of the event, the participants will adopt a resolution calling on the international community to adhere to international principles on minimizing the burden on the environment, curbing climate change and degrading natural resources that will accelerate the transition to the green economy and increase the welfare of the population. Source: strategy2050.kz website This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today. A report on card payment security issued by the US company Verizon has revealed that almost half the organisations surveyed for the 2017 report were not compliant with all the regulations laid down for secure transactions. The report, which has been an annual affair since 2010, comes at a time when the EU is looking to bring in data breach regulations. Australia is also looking to introduce similar laws in February 2018. The EU General Data Protection Regulation includes provision for fines for failing to protect personal information which includes payment card data of up to 20 million or 4% of turnover, whichever is greater. Australia's laws will levy fines on organisations that have turnover of more than A$3 million. The survey found that only 9% of organisations where card security had been breached were able to provide evidence of fully conforming to the PCI DSS regulations. The payment card industry data security standard, or PCI DSS, is an information security standard set up by the major card brands for organisations that handle these cards. The key requirements for a security set-up are: Install and maintain a firewall configuration; Do not use vendor-supplied defaults; Protect stored cardholder data; Protect data in transit; Protect against malicious software; Develop and maintain secure systems; Restrict access; Authenticate access; Control physical access; Track and monitor access; Test security systems and processes; and Maintain information security policy. Verizon said that of the nearly 300 card data breaches it had investigated between 2010 and 2016, all took place at organisations that were not compliant with the PCI DSS requirements. The report was based on data sourced from Verizons team of PCI qualified security assessors, who have done more than 5000 assessments at more than 500 organisations, including government agencies. A lack of qualified personnel was found to be hampering the implementation of these regulations. Additionally it was found that having a single powerful control, such as strong authentication, in place could cut attacks by as much as four-fifths. Ashish Thapar, managing principal Investigative Response, and Ferdie Delos Santos, senior manager Security Assurance APAC, Verizon, discussed the report with iTWire during a phone call on Wednesday. iTWire sought detail on how many organisations or companies were examined for the 2017 report, but this was not forthcoming. Both Thapar and Delos Santos agreed that the question of operating platform security should be included in the report. There is no mention in the 2017 version of how much security is affected by the underlying operating system that runs payment devices like point-of-sale machines or ATMs. They also agreed that the presence of patched systems was no indicator of overall security though this could make a contribution to lessening the possibility of a card data breach. While the 2017 report found that the percentage of organisations that were becoming compliant had increased, it also found that the control gap the average percentage of controls that companies failing an audit did not have in place had widened. In 2015, this figure was 12.4% of controls among failed companies, while the 2016 percentage was 13%. Globally, the best level of compliance was found in the IT services industry where 61.3% achieved full compliance followed by financial services (59.1%), hospitality (50%) and retail (42.9%). The report can be downloaded here after registration. The New America Foundation, a think-tank which received large infusions of funds from Google, sacked the head of its Open Markets group after he cheered the European Union for hitting the search firm with a fine of US$2.7 billion in June. Barry Lynn, who was in charge of the Open Markets division, was asked to leave the organisation by the chief executive of the think-tank, Anne-Marie Slaughter, according to a report in The New York Times. The report said the Foundation, set up in 1999, had received more than US$21 million from Google, Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt and his family's foundation. Lynn told the NYT that soon after he had posted a statement praising the EU move against Google, Schmidt made his displeasure known to Slaughter. Let me be clearer in era of fake news; facts are largely right, but quotes are taken way out of context and interpretation is wrong. https://t.co/ynlNR8FDEx Anne-Marie Slaughter (@SlaughterAM) August 30, 2017 The statement was pulled from the Foundation's website but reappeared a few hours later. The Foundation, which has a main conference room called "Eric Schmidt Ideas Lab", was said to be worried whether Google would pull its funding as a result of the Lynn statement. About 200 people work for the Foundation. But a few days later, the report said, Slaughter called Lynn to her office after telling him via email, "the time has come for Open Markets and New America to part ways". While Slaughter told Lynn that the decision was not based on his work, she accused him of "imperilling the institution as a whole". Lynn said: Google is very aggressive in throwing its money around Washington and Brussels, and then pulling the strings. People are so afraid of Google now. A Google spokesperson Riva Sciuto told the paper: "We dont agree with every group 100 percent of the time, and while we sometimes respectfully disagree, we respect each groups independence, personnel decisions and policy perspectives." New Americas executive vice-president Tyra Mariani and Sciuto said Google was continuing to pour money into the Foundation. After the NYT article was put online, Slaughter claimed in a tweet that it was false. But she did not cite any errors either in the tweet, or in a statement issued to the newspaper. NBN Co has no plans to increase the number of premises that receive fibre-to-the kerb (or curb as the company calls it) and these will not increase beyond a million as it has already specified. Outlining its corporate plan for 2018-21, the first plan that goes beyond the projected end of the rollout in 2020, the company rolling out Australia's national broadband network indicated that the cost of delivering full-fibre connections to new premises had dropped to $2100 per premise. For brownfields sites, FttP is still costed at $4400. FttC connections have a typical copper lead-in of between 300 to 400 metres; in the hustle of the politicised debate over the network, it has often been confused with fibre-to-the-distribution-point where the lead-in is much shorter, about 40 metres. The cost of these FttC connections has been estimated at $2300 per premises, the same as for fibre-to-the-node connections. The full NBN Corporate Plan was not released today and there was no indication of when this would happen. What the company did issue was a media statement and a series of slides that were used for a presentation. (NBN Co later sent iTWIre a link to the full plan.) Going by these two documents, the company does not see expenditure rising beyond the peak $49 billion funding when the rollout is completed in 2020 as has been projected. The number of premises has fallen to 11.6 million with fresh geospatial mapping predicting this lower figure. The earlier figure had been up by more than 300,000. In 2020, the NBN Co expects to see 8.1 million premises activated, revenue of $4.9 billion and an internal rate of return ranging from 3.2% to 3,7%. In 2021, the first year after the build, the company said it expected to be cash-flow positive, with $5.4 billion in revenue from 8.6 million active services and average revenue per user being $52 per month. In full-year 2018, the company expects to connect three million premises after reaching a figure of 2.8 million in FY2017. The overall speed mix, however, indicates that less than 20% of those who connect to the network will subscribe to the top speed plans of 100/40Mbps. Even the 50/20Mbps plans will be a small percentage. The 25/5Mbps plans will be taken up by most, nearly 50% of the subscribers, according the NBN Co's presentation slides. NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said: "Our strategy remains unchanged to have the network built and eight million premises connected to an NBN Co service by 2020, within peak funding of $49 billion and IRR of 3.2% to 3.7%. FttC is currently expected to support one million premises, and we continue to look for ways to make it cost-effective to hopefully expand that footprint further. As planned, we will launch FTTC in 2018. On top of the reduced number of expected premises in FY2020 plans, we have also been able to bring forward the rollout for 200,000 premises, making them ready for service earlier in FY2019. This now means we expect to be 97 per cent completed by end of June 2019." Morrow said NBN Co had now reduced its expected peak funding range to $47 billion to $51 billion. "Since our 2016 corporate plan we have reduced our peak funding expectations from a $10 billion range, to a $4 billion range today." Graphics: courtesy NBN Co The New Zealand competition enforcement and regulatory agency The Commerce Commission has released the first in a series of infographics which it says is aimed at helping consumers navigate the often complex world of telecommunications. The infographic dubbed "How do I choose my broadband?" encourages consumers to think about how their household uses the Internet before deciding how much data and what speed they might need from their plan. And the Commission says the infographic also breaks down the different technologies available and encourages consumers to visit www.broadbandmap.nz to see what technology is available in their area. The retail telecommunications sector generates a high level of complaints from consumers and is a priority area for us across both our consumer and regulation work, Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said. The initial focus for these infographics is to provide consumers with plain English information to help them make informed purchasing decisions. The Commission says future infographics will provide more information including how consumers can test and improve their broadband speed and performance, and what avenues are available to them to resolve issues. A copy of the infographic can be viewed on the Commissions website. Reddit Email 207 Shares TeleSur | The news comes prior to a boost in U.S. forces as part of Trumps new approach to quelling the Afghan insurgency. In a rare step toward transparency, the Pentagon has revealed that about 11,000 U.S. troops are currently fighting in the 16-year-long war in Afghanistan, nearly a quarter more than the previously stated count of 8,400 reported by the Obama administration. The announcement comes prior to an expected boost in U.S. forces to the war-ravaged country made public earlier this month by President Donald Trump, who signed off on bolstering NATOs occupation force in Afghanistan by 3,900 additional personnel as part of his new approach to quelling the nationwide insurgency. While the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama had set a cap of 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, commanders brought in thousands of private military contractors and personnel on temporary duty, skirting the Pentagons elaborate Force Management Level system of providing a head count of U.S. forces in the Central Asian country. Theres a very strange accounting procedure I inherited, the Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters last week. Mattis said that he would wait for a complete count of military personnel in Afghanistan before making a decision on how many additional troops to send. This is not an attempt to bring more forces in, but it is an attempt to actually clarify a very confusing set of reporting rules that has the unintended consequence of forcing commanders to make readiness trade-offs, said Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, Jr., director of the Joint Staff. So what it does is, it actually lets the American people know what their sons and daughters are doing in Afghanistan. Military intelligence personnel hold a memorial service for a platoon member killed in southern Afghanistan. | Photo: Reuters The number 11,000 is an approximation. It may be slightly above that, it may be slightly below that, it will certainly vary, McKenzie added, noting that the number has been the reality over the last six months or so. Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, welcomed the change. The Obama Administration did not shoot straight on how many people they sent to Afghanistan, which added cost to the mission and made it harder to succeed, Thornberry said. Trump recently announced his new approach to the war aiming to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for Islamists aiming to attack the United States, while signaling an intention to fight the Taliban until its willing to begin a peace process with the U.S.-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani. The Taliban has remained firm in its rejection of negotiations with the U.S. occupation forces and the the impotent and incapable Kabul administration. The real issue in Afghanistan is the presence of foreign forces and the objectives of American invaders in killings and protraction of war, the Taliban said in a statement. (We have) a clear policy about negotiations, the statement added. Our true adversary is the occupation side and the real issue of our country is the presence of foreign occupiers Talking about minor matters and side notes during the presence of occupation does not have any benefit. Via: TeleSur Related video added by Juan Cole Wochit News: Pentagon Acknowledges Thousands More U.S. troops in Afghanistan ShiaWaves | (Video News Report) | Houstons Muslim community is at the forefront of helping those affected by Tropical Storm Harvey, which has flooded much of the fourth most populous city in the United States. Dozens of mosques have either opened their doors for shelter, aided in rescue operations or provided goods, such as food, blankets and bottled water for those in need. In the whole Greater Houston area, people are helping people; neighbors are helping neighbors and we are trying everything we can to help people, said MJ Khan, the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. The Islamic Society of Greater Houston represents 21 Islamic centers in the area. Khan said all types of evacuees, including a number of families, have come to find shelter at the places of worship. Our volunteers there got together with the first responders to rescue people. Since 9/11 was inundated and were only dealing with life threatening situations, our volunteers knew where people were stranded, boated into their homes and brought them to the mosque, Khan told Middle East Eye. Reddit Email 583 Shares By Sam Morgan | ( EURACTIV.com) | China eclipses Europe as 2020 solar power target is smashed. China has reached its 2020 solar power target three years ahead of schedule, after installed capacity topped well over its 105GW target. Europe has been urged to show similar ambition. New figures published by solar industry firm Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory (AECEA) last week revealed that China has exceeded its 2020 target of 105GW of installed solar capacity, after new builds in June and July pushed it up beyond 112GW. Solar power is enjoying a sunny 2017 in China, after the first half of this year saw capacity increased by 24.4GW, dwarfing similar efforts in Europe, and cementing Chinas status as the worlds leading solar nation. Sun sets on nuclear as solar capacity catches up with atomic power Solar photovoltaic capacity (PV) will soon match and even overtake nuclear energys global capacity, according to new US research. High demand means PV could even become the globes dominant energy source by 2050. China is not planning to rest on its laurels either. Officials have recently tweaked its 2017 forecast for new solar installations and figures now suggest that total new capacity for this year could reach 45GW. In contrast, in 2016 Germanys total capacity was 41.1GW. Renewable energy groups have called on Europe to be more like China and strive to be number one in the sector. SolarPower Europe association urged the EU to increase the current 27% renewable energy target for 2030 to 35%. The associations recent Global Market Outlook concluded that only a 35% target will maintain the impetus for the renewable industry. It also estimated that the bloc will struggle to hit the current 27% goal unless ambitions are raised. Chinas ambitions are admittedly impressive. It already boasts the largest solar farm in the world, which measures in at over 30 square kilometres. It also recently opened the worlds largest floating solar farm, which is positioned over an old coal mine. But once capacity and landmark projects are excluded from the equation, the Chinese solar sector does have significant problems. Although China hit its 2020 target, only 1% of its energy demand is satisfied by solar power. Coal still reigns supreme in its energy mix. There is also the issue of subsidies. Feed-in-tariffs, paid to solar companies to generate power and make the market more attractive, have often arrived late, hurting the bottom lines of many of those energy firms. Via EURACTIV.com Related video added by Juan Cole: China Leaving United States Behind On Green Energy Jobs | On Assignment with Richard Engel | MSNBC Reddit Email 67 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | US troops in Syria operating north of Manbij have been fired on twice in the last couple of weeks. The attackers are fundamentalist remnants of the Free Syrian Army, backed by Turkey. The US has tried to persuade rebel groups to concentrate their firepower on ISIL (IS, ISIS, Daesh) rather than on the Syrian regime of president Bashar al-Assad. It hasnt been particularly successful. The Arab fighters, many of them linked to the old Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, still desperately want the regime to fall, and theyve expended far more energy attacking it that they ever did in attacking Daesh. The US troops are closely allied with the Syrian Kurdish YPG or Peoples Protection Units, a leftist paramilitary that favors womens rights and cooperatives. As leftists, these Kurds are relatively secular-minded, though they are nominally for the most part Sunni Muslims (some are Yazidis). The Arab fundamentalist fighters are nearly as scathing about the leftist Kurds as they are about the Baath regime. The Kurds have exacerbated tensions with Arabs by attempting to establish a land bridge between the Kurdish enclaves of Kobane and of Afrin in the west, between which lie Arab villages. Arabs accuse the Kurds of ethnically cleansing Arab villages that stand in the way of this unification of Kurdish territory. So there is a low-intensity struggle between the US-backed Kurds and the Turkey-backed remnants of the Free Syrian Army. Since the US strongly supports the Kurds, its personnel are being targeted by the Arab fundamentalists. The US sent over a sharp note of protest to Turkeys foreign ministry. Turkey is a NATO ally, but you couldnt tell it by its relative disinterest in the rolling up of ISIL. On the other hand, Turkish troops did not assist in the attack on their American forces and Turkish sources insist that they helped halt the Arab fundamentalist assaults. Related video: FREE SYRIAN ARMY ATTACKED US TROOPS VANCOUVER, Aug. 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Leagold Mining Corporation (TSX: LMC) ("Leagold" or the "Company") is pleased to report several high-grade drilling results from Bermejal including 15.5 grams per tonne ("gpt") over 27.0 metres, 17.4 gpt over 13.3 metres, 8.0 gpt over 20.3 metres and 16.8 gpt over 8.6 metres (all capped grades and true widths; see Table 1). These results are part of 20 holes being reported from the infill and step-out exploration program at the Bermejal Underground deposit at the Los Filos Mine, following the initial 20 holes reported on July 13, 2017. Neil Woodyer, CEO stated "This second set of holes continue to delineate the broad widths and high grades of the mineralization below the junction of the sill and the Bermejal intrusive. Overall the program has an impressive 90% success rate with 36 of the 40 holes drilled intercepting the key targets." Over 25,000 metres (45%) of the 56,000 metre Bermejal Underground program have been completed. A total of 62 of the planned 113 holes have been drilled and, to date 40 holes have been reported, 12 are in progress and the remaining 10 are in the process of sampling or assaying. The entire drilling program is expected to be completed within 2017 and these drill hole results will be incorporated in an updated resource estimate. Bermejal Underground mineralization extends approximately 1,600 metres along the strike of the intrusive contact and has a vertical depth extent of over 600 metres (Figure 1). The drilling shows consistent oxide mineralization at carbonate/intrusive contacts either along the intrusive contact or below the intersection between the sill and the Bermejal intrusive contact (a "sub-sill" deposit; Figure 2). The mineralization in the Bermejal Underground deposit remains open in several directions. All holes intersected iron-oxide skarn mineralization as targeted and only two holes (BU-36-17, BU-40-17) were below a 3 gpt over 3 m diluted minimum width threshold. Bermejal Underground Expansion Project Update An environmental permit for the mine portal and exploration ramp was completed in July 2017 (see news release dated July 31, 2017). Surface preparation for the portal is currently underway. The ramp will provide access to the eastern and central portions of the deposit and will enable additional exploration, allow collection of material for confirmatory metallurgical testwork for heap leaching, demonstrate the minability of Bermejal Underground, and advance the project towards declaration of reserves. Table 1: Drilling Program Highlights for Bermejal Underground Deposit Sector Hole ID Zone Skarn Type From (m) To (m) Length (m) True Width (m) Grade (g/t Au) Capped (g/t Au) Central BU-14-17 UI Exo 301.25 304.35 3.10 2.68 9.9 and LC Endo 470.10 473.35 3.25 3.05 9.0 and LC Endo 478.95 487.70 8.75 8.22 8.1 and LI Endo 575.50 583.70 8.20 2.12 9.2 including LI Endo 579.00 582.20 3.20 0.83 19.7 Central BU-14A-17 LI Exo 603.00 608.35 5.35 4.22 14.2 and LI Exo 614.75 617.20 2.45 1.93 5.7 and LI Exo 704.05 713.20 9.15 7.76 5.3 including LI Exo 704.05 707.75 3.70 3.14 7.8 East BU-21-17 UI Exo 270.35 273.95 3.60 3.38 4.4 and UI Endo 277.45 283.95 6.50 6.11 3.2 and UI Endo 307.45 321.30 13.85 13.01 4.4 East BU-22-17 LC Exo 546.35 552.60 6.25 6.16 3.4 including LC Exo 546.35 547.65 1.30 1.28 11.6 Central BU-23-17 UC Exo 373.55 380.85 7.30 7.19 4.5 and Sill Endo 405.20 411.65 6.45 6.23 6.2 and Sill/LC Endo/Exo 454.55 476.15 21.60 20.30 8.0 including LC Exo 457.30 470.60 13.30 12.50 10.9 and LI Exo 566.10 571.85 5.75 2.43 3.8 Central BU-24-17 UC Exo 300.90 303.80 2.90 2.89 4.7 and LI Endo 455.55 460.40 4.85 3.97 3.4 and LI Endo 478.05 481.55 3.50 2.87 3.3 and LI Endo 526.10 528.30 2.20 1.80 9.3 and LI Endo 577.80 579.15 1.35 1.11 9.9 Central BU-25-17 UI Endo 242.80 247.15 4.35 3.33 3.4 Central BU-25A-17 Sill Endo 396.20 400.20 4.00 3.06 4.44 and LI Endo 531.90 536.80 4.90 0.85 24.23 21.9 Central BU-26-17 UC Endo 247.05 250.55 3.50 2.87 4.0 Central BU-27-17 UC Exo 220.15 221.65 1.50 1.45 10.5 and UI Endo 255.90 268.10 12.20 11.78 5.2 and UI Endo 279.00 281.70 2.70 2.61 5.0 and UI Endo 309.95 314.90 4.95 4.78 7.0 Central BU-28-17 UI Exo 237.20 240.45 3.25 2.49 4.9 and UI Endo 268.00 273.10 5.10 3.91 6.9 and UI Endo 279.95 296.35 16.40 12.56 5.6 Central BU-29-17 UI Endo 212.10 224.55 12.45 12.03 3.8 including UI Endo 212.10 216.50 4.40 4.25 4.5 including UI Endo 220.05 224.55 4.50 4.35 4.6 Central BU-30-17 UI Exo 18.15 19.20 1.05 0.95 13.1 Central BU-31-17 LC Exo 440.75 444.85 4.10 3.85 3.8 and LI Exo 455.95 519.80 63.85 26.98 18.4 15.5 including LI Exo 455.95 466.90 10.95 4.63 6.3 including LI Exo 468.35 506.75 38.40 13.13 26.9 22.1 including LI Exo 506.75 519.80 13.05 4.46 5.7 East BU-33-17 UI Exo 369.75 374.45 4.70 3.85 4.7 and UI Endo 379.20 382.15 2.95 2.42 3.9 and UI Endo 402.35 407.45 5.10 3.91 3.4 and UI Endo 415.20 416.60 1.40 1.21 28.7 and UI Endo 431.45 433.55 2.10 1.82 7.8 Central BU-34B-17 Sill Endo 389.10 390.05 0.95 0.89 10.5 and LC Exo 402.30 406.05 3.75 3.74 3.4 Central BU-35-17 UI Exo 337.45 340.05 2.60 2.59 4.1 East BU-36-17* UI Endo 412.80 413.55 0.75 0.70 4.9 Central BU-37-17 UI Exo 271.50 273.00 1.50 1.49 8.4 and Sill Endo 383.35 389.25 5.90 5.70 4.1 and LC Exo 411.95 420.85 8.90 8.60 16.8 including LC Exo 418.20 420.85 2.65 2.56 31.2 East BU-38-17 UC Endo 354.25 356.95 2.70 2.61 5.0 and UC Endo 391.50 395.85 4.35 4.20 5.5 East BU-40-17* UI Exo 314.35 318.25 3.90 2.99 2.5 Central BU-41-17 LI Exo 451.65 490.50 38.85 13.29 17.6 17.4 including LI Exo 453.60 461.65 8.05 2.75 22.7 including LI Exo 480.70 487.45 6.75 2.31 31.7 30.7 and LI Exo 497.60 515.20 17.60 4.56 14.1 and LI Exo 519.55 538.60 19.05 4.93 17.0 16.0 including LI Exo 520.75 529.60 8.85 1.54 31.3 29.0 and LI Exo 560.55 586.30 25.75 4.47 4.9 and LI Exo 617.25 626.30 9.05 2.34 7.6 NOTES: Intervals in bold are shown on cross sections or mentioned in the text of the news release *Drill holes BU-36-17 and BU-40-17 dilute below 3 gpt; all other intercepts are over 3 gpt when diluted to a minimum true width of 3 metres are shown UC = Upper Contact of Sill; LC = Lower Contact of Sill; Sill = Oxide within Sill; UI = Intrusive Contact above Junction with Sill; LI = Intrusive Contact below Junction with Sill Individual assays within the intercepts were capped using 40 gpt limit Figure 1: Plan View Map of Bermejal Area Showing Geology, Drill Holes Reported and Outline of Bermejal Underground Resource at 1,175 m elevation Figure 2: Cross Section A-A' Facing East Showing Step-Out Drilling below the Sill in the Bermejal Underground Deposit Qualified Persons Doug Reddy, P.Geo, Leagold's Senior Vice President Technical Services, is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of Leagold. Los Filos Mine employs industry standard drilling and sampling procedures. All exploration samples are sent to an ALS Global facility in Guadalajara for preparation and Vancouver for analyses by fire assay and ICP. A full quality control and assurance program and protocols are in place and are aligned with best practices including regular insertion of certified reference standards, blanks, and duplicates. About Leagold Mining Corporation Leagold is building a new mid-tier gold producer with a focus on opportunities in Latin America. Leagold is based in Vancouver, Canada and is listed on the TSX under the trading symbol "LMC". The recent acquisition of the Los Filos Mine, a low-cost gold producer in Mexico, provides an excellent platform for growth. London (FSCwire) - The Board of SolGold (AIM and TSX code: SOLG) is pleased to provide an update on the drilling results of Holes 26 and 27 and the drilling progress at Cascabel, the Company's 85% owned copper-gold porphyry project in Ecuador. HIGHLIGHTS: Hole 26 assay results return open ended 810m grading 0.72 % copper equivalent. Hole 26 extends Alpala mineralisation 300m to the northwest of Hole 15R2 (which returned 830m grading 0.93% copper equivalent). Alpala Northwest now presents second potential large block cave target. Hole 27 assay results extend Alpala mineralisation 100m southeast of Hole 21, and 250m southeast of Hole 16. Alpala Southeast has been growing. Hole 24-D1R (Rig 3) extends Alpala Southeast mineralisation beneath Hole 24. Assay Results pending. Alpala Central has been growing. Hole 23R-D1 (Rig 1) extends Alpala deep mineralisation east of Hole 23R-D1. Assay results pending. Man-portable drill rigs 6 and 7 mobilising to site from Cuenca, Southern Ecuador. Drilling program expanding to 10 drill rigs by January 2018. Second drilling contractor signed. Large track mounted Sandvik drill rigs 8 and 9 mobilising via sea freight, expected on site at beginning of November. Geophysical 3DIP survey in progress - 70% Spartan portion completed. Aguinaga target scheduled for drill testing on completion of drill data collection for the Alpala Maiden Resource Estimate expected by end of 2017, and on completion of Spartan Orion IP Survey and new magnetic modelling. Planning to complete a prefeasibility assessment by end of 2018. Commenting on the current drilling, SolGold CEO, Nick Mather said: "Hole 26 results have demonstrated a clear extension of Alpala to the northwest, with much more intense mineralisation than evident in Holes 11 and 13. It appears that Holes 11 and 13 may have skirted the top southwest side of the deposit, underscoring the importance of the magnetic modelling. We now envisage a second large block cave target at Alpala Northwest. Hole 27 has extended the halo mineralisation on the south east side of Alpala Central." Drilling Results - Continued Growth at Alpala SolGold's Alpala deposit continues to grow with each new drill hole as drilling focuses on high grade porphyry centres at Alpala Northwest, Alpala Central and Alpala Southeast. Over 44,500m of drilling has been completed to date along the greater Alpala trend (Figure 1). The use of the Devico drilling technique for deviated path holes from existing parent holes is delivering savings of up to three weeks and $500,000 per drill hole. From the drilling results at the growing Alpala Porphyry Copper Gold Deposit, the data gathered has provided the basis for the estimation of an exploration target over the area drilled to date. Updated 3D modelling and grade shell interpolants outline an approximate exploration target at Alpala close to 1 billion tonnes at >1% copper equivalent, using a cut-off grade of 0.3% copper equivalent. This management estimate equates to an endowment of > 8Mt of contained copper equivalent (see Figure A: Cautionary Notice). The Company is directing drilling capability and operations currently to the collection of drill data to be used in the delivery of a Maiden Inferred Resource Estimate to address this target by end of 2017. SolGold is also commencing planning for the collection of necessary data to complete a prefeasibility assessment by end of 2018. Hole 26 (Rig 4 Alpala Northwest), was completed on 30th July at a depth of 1875.9m. Assay results returned an open ended 809.95m grading 0.72% copper equivalent. Hole 26 extends Alpala mineralisation 300m to the northwest of Hole 15R2 (which returned 830m grading 0.93% copper equivalent). A strongly mineralised diorite intrusion encountered in the lower portion of Hole 26 confirms the Alpala Northwest deposit at depth, some 400m below the intersection achieved in Hole 13 of 190m @ 0.82 % copper equivalent (0.63 % Cu, 0.31 g/t Au). Mineralisation intersected in Hole 26 presents second a potential large block cave target for the project. Hole 27 (Rig 2 Hematite Hill), was completed on 14th July at a depth of 1614.3m. Hole 27 extends Alpala mineralisation 100m southeast of Hole 21, and 250m southeast of Hole 16, which returned 894m @ 1.41 % copper equivalent (0.78 % Cu, 0.99 g/t Au). Summary intersections from Holes 26 and 27 are shown in Table 1 below. Hole 23R-D1 (Rig 1 Alpala Central) was completed on 10th August at a depth of 1626.6m. Hole 23R-D1 assay results remain pending. Hole 23R-D1 (Rig 1 Alpala Central) was a "daughter" hole using Devico testing for the eastern extensions to the high-grade intrusions intersected in Hole 23R, which recently returned 770m @ 1.44 % copper equivalent (0.71 % Cu, 1.16 g/t Au). Hole 24-D1R (Rig 3 Alpala Southeast) was completed on 17th August at a depth of 1268.15m. Hole 24-D1R assay results remain pending. Hole 24-D1R was a "daughter" hole leaving the "parent" (Hole 24) at 735.0m depth testing for depth extensions to the mineralisation discovered in Hole 24 which recently returned 586.0m @ 0.43 % copper equivalent (0.27 % Cu, 0.25 g/t Au) from 636m, including 160m @ 1.04 % copper equivalent (0.63 % Cu, 0.65 g/t Au). Selected examples of mineralisation being encountered in recent drill holes are shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5. The Cascabel drilling program is expanding to 10 drill rigs by January 2018 as a second drilling contractor mobilises large track mounted drill rigs via sea freight. A further two man-portable drill rigs (rigs 6 and 7) are currently mobilising to site from Cuenca, Southern Ecuador. Current Drill Holes at Alpala - Further Expanding Resource Potential Hole 26-D1 (Rig 4 Alpala Northwest) commenced drilling 2nd August and is at a current depth of 1426.7m. Hole 26-D1 is a "daughter" hole breaking away from the Hole 26 parent hole at 790m depth. Hole 26-D1 is testing for the eastern extensions to the high-grade intrusions intersected in Hole 15R2, which returned 830m @ 0.93 % copper equivalent (0.63 % Cu, 0.46 g/t Au). Hole 28 (Rig 2 Hematite Hill) commenced drilling on 15th July, and is at a current depth of 1267.36m. Hole 28 is infilling between Holes 19, 16, 21 and 27 focusing on confirming resource potential at Alpala Central. Hole 29 (Rig 5 Alpala East) commenced drilling on 9th August, and is at a current depth of 478.53m. testing high grade extensions along Alpala Central deposit eastern flank. Hole 30 (Rig 1 Alpala Central) commenced drilling on 18th August, and is at a current depth of 315.0m. Hole 30 is infilling between Holes 22 and 27 focusing on confirming resource potential at Alpala Central. Hole 31 (Rig 3 Alpala Southeast) commenced drilling on 27th August, from a drill site approximately 100m north of the Hole 24 and 24-D1R drill site. Hole 31 is at a current depth of 21.0m, drilling the first of a series of infill holes between Alpala Southwest and Hematite Hill, ahead of resource estimation expected in December 2017. Geophysics and Geochemistry - Refining Drill Targeting Recently completed constrained 3D MVI magnetic models have revealed a northwest trending line of significant magnetic bodies at Moran, Trivinio, Alpala Northwest, and Alpala Central (Figure 2). These bodies are thought to replicate subsurface mineralised envelopes, such as that confirmed by drilling at Alpala Central (Figures 6 and 7). Specialised 3D geochemical modelling of porphyry geochemical signatures in soil and auger data by Fathom Geophysics has produced a number of targets that have confirmed the major porphyry centres at Alpala Central, Aguinaga and Tandayama-America, as well as highlighting a deep target extending immediately north of the existing Alpala West porphyry centre, to approximately 1000m west of the Moran target. (Figure 8). These targets are determined from computer algorithm analysis of the zoning of copper, molybdenum, bismuth, tellurium, selenium, arsenic, antimony and thallium in soil and auger samples, as compared to the distribution of similar elements in global porphyry copper deposits (e.g., Yerington, Nevada - USA). The Geophysical 3DIP survey across the Cascabel tenement is progressing well, having completed over 70% of the Spartan portion of the Spartan-Orion hybrid 3DIP survey. Qualified Person: Information in this report relating to the exploration results and exploration targets is based on data reviewed by Mr Nicholas Mather (B.Sc. Hons Geol.), the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr Mather is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy who has in excess of 25 years' experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules. Mr Mather consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears. While the Wisconsin Legislature continues to debate its own budget, local school districts work on nailing down their own finances. The Holmen School Board took a preliminary look at the approximately $48 million proposed budget during the board meeting Monday night while the Onalaska School District scheduled the public hearing for its $33 million proposed budget for late September. Both districts are waiting on a number of outstanding data points in order to finalize their budgets, which receive final approval in October. Holmen Administrator of Business Services Julie Holman presented an update on the budget, the first big report on the topic since it was first presented in February. Development started in Nov. 2016 and staff have been revising estimates and updating forecasts as new information has become available. Significant changes that impact the budget include the final numbers from last years budget, the results of teacher and staff wage negotiations and changes to employees health plans, Holman told the board. The budget will also take into account spending related to a series of safety, security and campus upgrade referendums voters approved in April. A final state budget hadnt been approved before the meeting, with negotiations taking place Monday afternoon. Because of this Holman, only factored in a $150 categorical per pupil aid increase instead of the proposed $200 per pupil increase the Legislature is considering in her estimates. State budget is the biggest outstanding variable, she told the board. Hopefully, we will learn more soon. Despite this conservative estimate, she said this would result in a $1.6 million increase in general fund revenue. On the expenditure side, the budget will include $1.1 million for safety and security improvements and $900,000 for high school parking and safety improvements. Other outstanding variables include final pupil counts in September, which will impact state revenue and the proportion of state versus property tax funding for the district. Property valuations in the district also have to be set, which will impact the tax rate for the school district levy. There are a number of significant variables that will change how numbers are distributed in the budget in October, Holman said. Onalaska expects revenue dip Updated budget information will be presented at Sept. 25 budget hearing and annual meeting. The Onalaska School District will also hold its budget hearing on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. with the regular board meeting scheduled to take place afterwards at 6:30 p.m. According to information presented at the board meeting Monday, Onalaska is expecting to see $300,000 dip in revenue from last year and a larger dip in expenses of $741,000, resulting in net loss of less than $45,000 according to the projections. The 2016-17 resulted in a larger net loss of just under $500,000 according to the presentation. Onalaska is also waiting on a final state budget and local numbers, Finance Director Kent Ellickson told the board during his update Monday night. The district is also waiting to hire some staff budgeted for until after the final state budget has been approved. According to details that came out of the Legislatures budget-writing committee discussions, the proposed $200 per pupil funding increase in 2017 and $204 per pupil increase in 2018 proposed by Gov. Scott Walker were included in the latest budget negotiations as part of a $639 million increase in K-12 funding. The proposal also includes the potential for increases in some districts revenue limits, the total amount of state aid and local levy districts can incur, but the impact of that change was unknown Monday night. Come the end of October we will have to do a budget revision, Ellickson told the board. That will incorporate what happens out in Madison and set the final tax levy. August 31, 2017 / TheNewswire / Vancouver, British Columbia - LiCo Energy Metals Inc. (the "Company "or "LiCo") TSX-V: LIC; OTCQB: WCTXF is pleased to announce that effective today, Mr. Greg Reimer has joined the LiCo Energy Metals Board of Directors. Greg Reimer is the former Executive Vice-President (EVP) of BC Hydro's Transmission & Distribution (T&D) business group, and held the EVP position from June 2010 until recently leaving BC Hydro to pursue work in the green energy field. In his senior executive capacity, Greg brings a wealth of operational experience and strong leadership from over 26 years in the public sector. At BC Hydro, Greg was responsible for approximately 2,300 employees who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the systems and assets needed to deliver electricity safely and reliably to BC Hydro's four million customers. In total, Greg was accountable for $580M in annual capital investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, and $325M in annual operating and maintenance expenditures. Greg also recently led a major strategic, multi-year transformation of BC Hydro's T&D organization that is increasing operational efficiency, improving safety performance, building a more reliable, modern electricity grid to meet growing customer expectations. BC Hydro is Canada's third largest electric utility with over $5.7 billion in annual revenues. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by profession, Greg held a number of senior leadership positions in in the public sector prior to joining BC Hydro, including Deputy Minister of Provincial Revenue, Chair of the BC Oil and Gas Commission and, Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. "I am very excited to join the LiCo Board and have a much greater role in making LiCo successful. Since joining LiCo's Advisory Board in June, I quickly realized what a great company we have here. I am very grateful to the members of the current LiCo Board for their vote of confidence." Tim Fernback, President & CEO of LiCo Energy Metals, states "We are thrilled to have such a high calibre Director join our Board at LiCo. Greg brings a substantial wealth of experience, as well as practical mining industry experience in his former role as British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. Greg is clearly passionate about the evolution of the global electric vehicle market and we are looking forward to his contribution to our company." Concurrent with this board appointment, Mr. James Hellwarth will be resigning from the LiCo Board but will continue with the Company as a member of the advisory board. LiCo is grateful for Mr. Hellwarth's valuable input and looks forward to his continued contribution in his advisory role. About LiCo Energy Metals LiCo Energy Metals Inc. is a Canadian based exploration company who's primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's focus is directed towards exploration for high value metals integral to the manufacture of lithium ion batteries. Chile Purickuta Lithium Project: The Purickuta Project is located within Salar de Atacama, a salt flat encompassing 3,000 km2, being about 100 km long, 80 km wide and home to approximately 37% of the worlds Lithium production. The salar possesses a very high grade of both Lithium (1,840mg/l) and Potassium (22,630mg/l and is close to power, labour, communications, transportation and other infrastructure. The property of 160 hectares is enveloped by a concession owned by Sociedad Quimica y Minera ("SQM") and lies, significantly, within a few kilometers of the property of CORFO (the Chilean Economic Development Agency) where its leases to both SQM and Albermarle's Rockwood Lithium Corp Together these two companies have combined production of over 62,000 tonnes of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) annually making up 100% of Chile's current lithium output. The unique characteristics of Salar de Atacama make finished lithium carbonate easier and cheaper to produce than any of its peer group globally. Purickuta is a smaller exploitation concession rather than a large exploration concession thereby accelerating the task of taking the project to production once a measured reserve can be established. Currently, the Chilean government retains ownership of lithium separate from other minerals and thus production can only proceed upon receipt of a special lithium operation contract know as a "CEOL". In the future, it will be necessary for LiCo and partner to negotiate a production contract with CORFO concurrently with completing any positive feasibility study. "Chile, which has one of the world's most plentiful supplies of lithium, is pushing ahead with new policies to develop those reserves". (Reuters Jan 2, 2017). Ontario Teledyne Cobalt Project: The Company has an option to earn 100% ownership, subject to a royalty, in the Teledyne Project located near Cobalt. Ontario. The Property adjoins the south and west boundaries of claims that hosted the Agaunico Mine. From 1905 through to 1961, the Agaunico Mine produced a total of 4,350,000 lbs. of cobalt and 980,000 oz. of silver. A significant portion of the cobalt that was produced at the Agaunico Mine located along structures that extended southward onto property currently under option to LiCo Energy Metals. Nevada Dixie Valley Lithium Project: The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest, subject to a 3% NSR, on a large lithium exploration project at the Humboldt Salt Marsh in Dixie Valley, Nevada. The geologic setting and presence of lithium in active geothermal fluids and surface salts in Dixie Valley match characteristics of producing lithium brine deposits at Clayton Valley, Nevada and in South America. Nevada Black Rock Desert Lithium Project: The Company has entered into an option agreement whereby the Company may earn an undivided 70% interest, subject to a 3% Net Smelter Return Royalty, in the Black Rock Desert Lithium Project that consists of 128 placer claims (2,560 acres/ 1,036 hectares) in southwest Black Rock Desert, Washoe County, Nevada. The Company is planning an exploration programs for all its properties over the next several months. WEST KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 31, 2017) - COLORADO RESOURCES LTD. (TSX VENTURE:CXO) ("Colorado" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of August 4, 2017, the Company has closed the non-brokered private placements (the "Placements") of 10,000,000 units (the "Units") at an issue price of $0.26 per Unit and 12,720,000 flow-through units (the "FT Units") at an issue price of $0.365 per FT Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $7,052,528. Each Unit consisted of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one non-transferable Common Share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") entitles the holder to acquire an additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.45 until February 29, 2020. Each FT Unit consisted of one common share in the capital of the Company that qualifies as a flow-through share for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (a "FT Share") and one-half of one Warrant. The Company has paid aggregate cash finder's fees in connection with the Placements of $190,268. Proceeds from the FT Units will be used by Colorado to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenditures to expand the 2017 exploration program. Colorado will renounce the qualifying expenditures to subscribers of the FT Units for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. Proceeds from the sale of Units will be used for general corporate purposes. In connection with the Placements, Goldcorp Inc. ("Goldcorp") received the right to maintain its pro-rata ownership percentage in Colorado during future financings. This right will entitle, but not obligate Goldcorp to participate in any future equity financings by Colorado to the extent necessary for Goldcorp to maintain a 19.95% equity ownership interest in the issued and outstanding common shares of Colorado. Goldcorp's right to participate in future financings will terminate if its equity interest falls below 7.5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Colorado. Goldcorp will also have a right to match non-equity financing and tolling arrangements related to future exploration or development on the KSP property and any BC properties Colorado expends the Goldcorp use of proceeds. Colorado has been advised that Goldcorp has acquired beneficial ownership of 16,960,000 Units at $0.26 per Unit for a total purchase price of $4,409,600. Accordingly, Goldcorp will be acquiring beneficial ownership of: (i) 16,690,000 Common Shares, representing approximately 14.0%14.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares; and (ii) 8,480,000 Warrants representing approximately 25.48% of the issued and outstanding warrants of the Company. Should Goldcorp exercise all of the Warrants, Goldcorp would hold 25,440,000 Common Shares representing approximately 19.61% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares (on a partially diluted basis). Prior to this acquisition Goldcorp did not own any securities of Colorado. Goldcorp is acquiring the beneficial interest in the securities for investment purposes. Goldcorp will evaluate its investment in Colorado from time to time and may, based on such evaluation, market conditions and other circumstances, increase or decrease shareholdings as circumstances require. The exemption relied on by the Company for the sale of the FT Units and the Units to Goldcorp was Section 2.3 of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions. Goldcorp will be filing an early warning report in connection with the acquisition which will be filed on Colorado's SEDAR profile. Goldcorp's head office is located at Suite 3400 - 666 Burrard St. Vancouver, BC, V6C 2X8. All securities issued in the Placements are subject to a statutory hold period ending January 1, 2018. About Colorado Colorado Resources Ltd. is currently engaged in the business of mineral exploration for the purpose of acquiring and advancing mineral properties located in British Columbia and Nevada. Colorado's main BC exploration projects include the 100% owned KSP property, the 100% owned Kingpin property and the 100% owned North ROK property. Additionally Colorado holds an option on the Green Springs Property (Nevada) from Ely Gold & Minerals Inc. Vancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / August 31, 2017 - Nexus Gold Corp. ("Nexus" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NXS, OTC: NXXGF, FSE: N6E) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement with BELEMYIDA SA (the "Optionor"), pursuant to which Nexus will acquire the right to earn up to 100% interest in the Rakounga Gold Property (the "Property") located in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The 250-square kilometre Rakounga Gold property is contiguous to the Company's Bouboulou gold concession. The Property borders Bouboulou on the west and south sides and hosts the Bouboulou 1 gold showing, which is the southern extension of the Bouboulou 2 trend. Bouboulou 1 is an active orpaillage with shaft workings that extend down approximately 80 metres. Nexus will have an option to acquire a 90% interest in the Property, in consideration for cash payments of US$400,000 and the issuance of 575,000 common shares of Nexus, over a period of three years, broken down as follows: US $ 15,000 (fifteen thousand) and 25,000 shares of the Company upon signing of a definitive agreement. US $ 15,000 (fifteen thousand) and 50,000 shares of the Company not later than the first anniversary of the definitive agreement. US $ 120,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand) and 200,000 shares not later than the second anniversary of the definitive agreement. US $ 250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand) and 300,000 shares on or before the third anniversary of the definitive agreement. Following the acquisition of a 90% interest in the Property, Nexus will have the option to acquire the remaining 10% interest in the Property through a cash payment of US$1,000,000 with a 1% net smelter return royalty remaining with the Optionor. "We are very pleased to add Rakounga to our portfolio, which effectively represents a 700 percent increase in size to the Bouboulou concession area," said President & CEO Peter Berdusco. "With just under 300-sq km of ground, we can now follow both the already established Bouboulou 2 and Pelatanga-Rawema mineralized trends for several kilometres to the southwest. There is significant artisanal activity along these trends and we're excited to continue our exploration efforts there in the coming months," continued Mr. Berdusco. All securities issued in connection with the property option will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. The property option remains subject to a number of conditions, including negotiation of definitive agreements, approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and such other conditions as are customary in transactions of this nature. Historical Data - Work to date at Bouboulou The main Bouboulou concession covers an area of 38.3 square kilometers and is located approximately 100 kilometers north by northwest of the capital city of Ouagadougou. Exploration on the permit area has been conducted by Boliden (1997 - 1999), Riverstone Resources (2005 to 2011) and Roxgold Inc. (2011 to 2012). The property is situated at the north end of the Boromo greenstone belt underlain by an alternating sedimentary-basalt-sedimentary-volcanic progression which strikes generally northeast-southwest, and is bisected by the Sabce Shear Zone, which hosts numerous artisanal gold zones over its 120-kilometre length plus the Bissa Mine operated by Nordgold. Four zones of gold mineralization were previously identified on the property termed Koala, Rawema, Bouboulou 2 and Pelatanga. A fifth zone, Rawema West, was recently identified by Nexus geologists, as announced in a June 6, 2017 news release. The Koala zone as well as the new Rawema West zone have both yielded strong samples, as announced in the June 6 news release. Highlights include high-grade quartz sample BBL-012, which contained visible gold, taken from an artisanal shaft (or orpaillage pit) 70 metres below surface at the Koala zone, that returned 66.1 grams-per-tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au"). Sample BBL-013 (quartz material containing pyrite), also taken from an artisanal shaft at approximately 70 metres below surface, returned a value of 29 g/t Au. The Rawema West zone occurs approximately 1000 metres west of the main workings at the previously identified Rawema site. The Artisanal workings extend some 150 metres in length and appear by observation to extend to depths of greater than 20 metres. In 2011 and 2012 Roxgold Inc completed reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) programs to test the previously identified mineralized zones. Historical drilling highlights from Bouboulou can be found on the Company website here: http://www.nexusgoldcorp.com/index.php/en/projects-3/bouboulou-gold-concession The Company has subsequently identified three distinct 5000m (5km) long anomalous gold trends at the Bouboulou concession. Each of the three trends display strong coincidental geochemical and geophysical gold anomalies, and extend from the four previously drill-identified mineralized zones, namely Rawema, Pelatanga, Bouboulou 2 and Koala. They are identified by numerous orpaillages (artisanal workings) and geochemical samples of greater than 1 g/t Au. All three of the Bouboulou trends display similar coincidental anomalies. Each trend has substantial artisanal workings either directly on them, or along trend. Exploration Update A total of 2,596 metres of diamond drilling was completed at the Bouboulou concession in mid-July. Phase one drilling tested the Koala, Rawema, and Bouboulou 2 zones, to depths of approximately 150 to 175 metres. Assays are currently pending and results will be released once received, reviewed and verified. In addition, the Company is also awaiting results of approximately 2000 metres of diamond drilling from the Niangouela concession, completed in mid-May. After lab delays, the Company also anticipates receiving these results shortly and will release them once received, reviewed and verified. The Company plans on resuming exploration activity at its Burkina Faso projects in the fall. About Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation, located in West Africa. It covers an area of roughly 274,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of more than 16 million people. The country has a stable political setting with a pro-mining and foreign investment stance. Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa, and was the 4th largest gold producer in Africa in 2012. Eight new mines have been commissioned there over the past six years. The country has excellent geological potential. The Greenstone Belts that host all the major deposits in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire continue northward into Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso has undergone less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, remaining under-explored in comparison to neighbouring Ghana and Mali; both of which host world-class gold mines in the same belts of Birimian rocks. From left, Cho Yoon-je, Noh Young-min, and Lee Su-hoon / Yonhap South Korean President Moon Jae-in has tapped new chiefs of missions to the United States, Japan and China, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, the world's most powerful countries that are also considered Seoul's key partners in efforts to rein in North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies. The president named Cho Yoon-je the country's new ambassador to Washington, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun. Cho, 64, served as a key adviser on Moon's election camp earlier this year. Cho, an honorary professor of international studies at Seoul's Sogang University, earlier served as the head of the South Korean mission in Britain, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Noh Young-min, a former lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, has been tapped as the new South Korean ambassador to China. President Moon also named the new head of the diplomatic mission to Japan - Lee Su-hoon, an international relations professor from Kyungnam University. The 63-year-old served as the head of the foreign relations and security division on Moon's transition team. (Yonhap) Project pushed back on priority list after Moon took office By Kim Jae-kyoung / Graphic by Cho Sang-won SINGAPORE Concerns are mounting that Korea is lagging far behind in a bid to win the lead role in a Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project as its efforts have been clearly losing momentum under the new administration. This is in stark contrast to the fact that Japan and China, its two biggest rivals, are doubling efforts not only to develop strategic bidding plans but also to step up lobbying activities to win over the governments of the two Southeast Asian nations. An international tender for the HSR project, designed to develop a 350km rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, is expected to be called by the end of this year. The construction is scheduled to wrap up by 2026. The $15 billion project is considered particularly important because it can pave the way for any country to lay the groundwork in the burgeoning Southeast Asian infrastructure market. However, it seems the project was pushed back on Korea's priority list after President Moon Jae-in took office. It was one of the key overseas projects under former President Park Geun-hye. While Japan and China are jostling for the mega deal, South Korea is sitting idle just a few months ahead of the tender to appoint the assets company (AssetsCo), which will be responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining all rolling stock and rail assets. The Korean government, which has been trying to build a consortium for the project, has yet to come up with specific plans on how to pitch its rail system and court the two Southeast Asian nations. Asked what kind of preparations are underway, a senior official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "I think we will be able to do something in early October at the earliest." Japan's pitch On Monday, Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii hosted a symposium in Singapore to make a pitch for the HSR project by inviting ranking Singapore officials, including Singapore's Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan. Japan held similar symposium in Kuala Lumpur in May this year. At the symposium, the Japanese government highlighted the strengths of Shinkansen, Japan's bullet train, and its knowhow in regional and human resource development, with a focus on safety and reliability. The event was hosted jointly by three Japanese ministries the land ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as well as Japan External Trade Organization, Japan Railway Technology Service and Japan Overseas Railway System Association. Also, they have sharpened up their strategies to become more competitive over rivals. On top of safety and reliability, they also focused on discussing technology transfer and development of regions around train stations, which are the areas Korea has highlighted as its key strengths. What is notable is that they invited ranking officials from Taiwan and India, which imported Japan's HSR system, to share their views, which made Japan's system more credible and attractive. Following the symposium, Japan set up a business meeting between its consortium and Singapore companies for possible joint ventures. "We can suggest tracks can be produced locally by a Singapore company ... When it comes to building the actual infrastructure, I believe joint ventures are possible," Minister Ishii told reporters. Market watchers say Korea needs to drum up efforts to make their bidding more competitive while trying to build relationships with local companies in Singapore and Malaysia. "I think the Korean government should speed up its promotional plans if there are any. In this kind of megaproject, the government's role and timing are important," a source based in Singapore said, asking not to be named. "In particular, high-level officials have to play a bigger role in pitching the project to show the country is ready to contribute to cooperation with the countries. Also, Korea needs to look into details of rivals' bidding plans and seek ways to differentiate its strengths." The Black River Falls police department lost its police dog earlier this year under unfortunate circumstances, but a short time later were approached with the offer to be gifted another dog and the necessary training. Officer Jeremy James took the trip out to meet the new dog and participate in the training, once pooch and person were certified it was time to go to work in Black River Falls. James named his new companion Mattis and has been working the city streets for the past four months. Jessie Smith, one of the owners of Jessifanny, was the one who originally put in the application with Summit Nutritionals based on their mutual partnership to help out the Black River Falls Police Department get a new police dog. Mattis came from a breeder over in Czechoslovakia that Jessifanny Canine Services, the facility that has helped train James and Mattis, works with and they worked with James to get a dog that matched what they wanted. We wanted a social dog thats able to find drugs. That was our main concern, James said. In around two months, James was meeting his new partner and off to training in Iron Ridge, making the turnaround from Kilo brief, but James was excited to be getting a new partner. It wasnt weird to get a new dog, Ive been around dogs my entire life, James said. The training all took place in Iron Ridge with a few other departments who were also getting new canines, and after a month of training it was time to return to Black River Falls and hit the streets. I saw a big old bull head and that caught my eye. I didnt know much about shepherds at the time so he was the first dog I saw, James said. He brought along a handful of toys and threw them around for Mattis to chase and chase he did, showing off his drive and ambition to his new partner. When he originally came over from Czechoslovakia, his name was Allen, but being a former Marine, James chose to change the name in honor of General James Mad Dog Mattis. Canines are such a valuable asset for both the department and the community, new Black River Falls police chief Kelly Bakken said. Bakken has always worked on a department with some canine units and said she was excited that Black River Falls had one and wants to make sure the proper training continues. In his short time with the department, Mattis has already been making himself known in the community as James has responded to over 50 calls in four months. Of those 50 calls, theres been a hit on just about every call, which is good for his success rate, but it also shows how bad the drug problem is in the community. James said he was a bit worried at first that Mattis alerted on every call it seemed, but running him through some blank cars showed the training was working and Mattis was really finding the drugs. Mattis was trained as a passive alert dog meaning that when he finds the scent hes looking for instead of barking or scratching Mattis will instead just sit or lay down. The biggest benefit for having Mattis is that simply by his presence alone, people will turn in drugs before getting him involved said James. I remember three or four years ago when Detective Adam Olson was still working nights I would stop people and ask if they had anything in the car and theyd say no, James said. There were indicators that told me something was in the car. Id call Detective Olson and hed give them the canine spiel and ask them to hand anything over and they would just hand stuff over to him. People are now doing the same thing with James and Mattis as their presence becomes more known in the community. All the work isnt necessarily bad though, as its what these dogs were bred and trained for. They live to work James said. Mattis has been trained so far in narcotics detection, tracking and apprehension as well, but most of the work has been in drug sniffs. That training has lead to a lot more work since more finds lead to more paperwork, but it just means Mattis is working as hard as he should be. He is great, hes definitely showing results, James said. You see the program is working. The hope is that with continued use of Mattis, the department will be better able to track and get a handle of the drug problem in the county. Police dogs are just such incredible tools, you cant replace them and the work they do, Bakken said. Its hard to measure just what sort of impact a police dog has on the problems in a community, but with so many narcotic dogs in the county and more alert officers, the work itself becomes a bit easier. The process used to stall when people didnt allow officers into a car to search for drugs, but with a dog on the force, officers know they will be able to search cars and get drugs off the street. Working with other departments theyll say they had maybe 34 calls all year for the dog, Mattis has been here a few months and weve had 50, James said. So the numbers show were combating the problem. Part of that success, James said, is having plenty of officers who arent afraid to utilize the resource they have in finding narcotics. Most of his calls keep him in the Black River Falls area, but James has had a few outside the limits and even a call from Osseo that he was eventually called off of. I can help everyone, but then again everyones helped me, James said. The biggest success of the Black River Falls Police Department K-9 Unit has been the community support said James. James said the community raised $8,000 to send him to training and on top of that, Tysons donates all the food while Country Vet covers medical costs for Mattis. Mattis has also put in work with the community as well, doing demonstrations in churches and common council meetings to show off all the hard work the pair has been through. James has been given freedom to go and help whoever needs it when its needed, and moving forward the plan is to continue helping others as he was helped in the past. In 1983 a book titled A Nation at Risk was published about a study that showed U.S. graduates were falling behind the rest of the world, which began the push for education to send more children to college. After 30 years of changes to the education system, especially under the Bush administration with the No Child Left Behind Act, school districts like Black River Falls are building on their tradition of career and technical education curriculum to develop individualized paths for students whether that be career planning or college readiness. What happened is that in the education world as well as the political world, that translated into we need to get kids into college, we need to send more kids to college. What we found though is that essentially the numbers stayed about the same as far as kids that actually completed a bachelors degree or masters degree. In Black River Falls and in the nation it is about 30 percent and it has been there for a long time, Black River Falls High School principal Tom Chambers said. For those 30 years since then, we (as a nation) have kind of in many ways neglected that 70 percent of the population, he said. A lot of them actually went to four-year colleges, but didnt complete. So then they are coming back and looking at getting into the workforce, but then they dont have a credential because they have two years at a four-year college. They didnt have a completion to show for that. In this national culture, companies like Regal, which manufactures small engines in Black River Falls, have taken on the responsibilities of doing most of the employee training. I would say it is under 10 percent of our applicants come with some education or prior work experience that would be relevant to those types of positions, Regal human resources manager Reva Witte said about specialized positions like machinists. Most of our positions are strictly on-the-job training. We can hire somebody that has had no manufacturing experience and provide all of the necessary training once they are here on the job. It is for these reasons that Black River Falls School District is focusing even more today on students that dont plan to go to college, adding to programs like work study that are already a huge part of some students education. Connecting students with employers Aaron Wood is a recent Black River Falls graduate that works at Regal in the assembly department. His first professional encounter with Regal was at a career fair hosted by the school. That one day I knew it was mandatory and I knew Regal was there. My mom happens to work here and told me that Regal was going to be there and to just look for them, Wood said. So I applied here and got the job. Hosting a yearly career fair is one of many initiatives Black River Falls is using to connect students with possible employers. I think that part of our workforce solution has to come from a better relationship between employers, parents and schools so that we are graduating kids who have more of a career path in mind as they are coming out of high school rather than, Ok, so what am I going to do now? Black River Country Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chris Hardie said. A recent law passed in Wisconsin requires schools to create a written plan for sixth through 12th-graders for their career goals after college, which is supposed to take effect in all schools in Wisconsin this school year. The program that houses these plans is called Career Cruising. The 7 Rivers Alliance took this idea one step further and created an additional platform called Inspire that connects students and employers. Hardie said Jackson County will test the Inspire program for the seven rivers region and the program will be rolled out to the entire region next year. It links local businesses to the Career Cruising platform, allowing businesses to connect with students and students to connect to businesses right in their local area so that as students start to explore their future plans and their future careers, the local businesses that are connected through this platform, their information will show up to those students and the students can start to make connections to the businesses, Chambers said. Connecting with students and getting them interested in manufacturing jobs is one of the reasons Regal participates in high school career fairs and is joining the Inspire program. One of the things that I have seen in speaking with some high school students is I would just encourage them to being open to manufacturing as a career path. I dont know that we always think about all of the opportunities that a career in manufacturing may provide us, so yes you may begin working on an assembly line or working at a machine and you may not see yourself in that position for the next 20 years, but there are a lot of support positions and office positions that might be along that path for the right candidate, but they just need to get their foot in the door, Witte said. On top of testing the Inspire program and being a part of the Career Cruising platform, Black River Falls High School is also making this resource a part of its daily schedule. What we are able to do at the high school level is we have an adviser period at the beginning of every day where our students are with the same teacher for the four years that they are here, and they will be during that time actually logging into their Career Cruising accounts, Chambers said. This is all in an effort to stack credentials, as Chamber would call it. I say you think about what makes the most sense for you, and you start by getting as many credentials as you can and then you begin stacking those credentials on top of each other until you begin to feel like you are in the right position, are comfortable with the job you are doing and you are making the kind of money that is supporting the lifestyle you want, Chambers said. High school is not about getting ready for college high school is about getting ready for life. Hardie and Chambers are looking for at least 50 businesses to sign-up for the Inspire program in Jackson County. Businesses can sign-up for the Inspire program at www.7riversalliance.org/inspire-7rivers/. Redefining Ready moves forward at BRF Not only is the district connecting more students with employers, it is also collecting career-focused data. As a presentation to the school board, Black River Falls School District Superintendent Shelly Severson presented a new initiative in education called Redefining Ready, which aims to provide students a road map detailing what they need to accomplish in high school to achieve career success. I very much want all of our kids to be prepared for whatever their career goals are. If the highest ACT score is the most direct route to their future career success, then great. But for so many professions and career choices, your score on that one test really is not indicative of your future success, Severson said. Redefining Ready uses a list of indicators to helps students gauge what students need to do to achieve their idea of career success. If someone wants to go to college, Redefining Ready argues you should be taking advanced placement classes, completing Algebra II and have a GPA greater than a 2.8. For those that want to focus on being career ready, students should have a 90 percent attendance record, 25 hours of community service and a workplace learning experience. Wood had a workplace experience on a farm, which he feels was the most important experience that prepared him for the working world. Just being more versatile and learning more things and getting to learn stuff faster so you dont have to go back and keep asking questions. I just thought that helped me quite a bit, Wood said. I was out on a farm and it just taught me new mechanics almost every day because you never know when you are going to get new equipment in. Witte agrees that having workplace experiences are really great indicators that someone will be a good employee. I think especially if they have had restaurant or fast food experience. Weve had a lot of luck with the younger generation that has had those experiences. It plays really well into manufacturing in terms of teamwork and working efficiently, Witte said. Severson said these indicators will not replace test scores, but will rather enhance them. It just looks at kids in a more holistic view as opposed to a one-day test that they sit down for between their junior and senior year. That is what I appreciate the most. It just is much more tangible data that they can impact on a daily basis that will help guide them toward success in whatever they choose after high school, Severson said. The board approved moving forward with collecting these additional data points. We definitely are going to move forward with measuring some of that stuff in our student records system. We currently dont hold all of that in there, so I do want that data to be recordable because I think when we talk about us as an organization and education institution, we should know what percentage of our graduates already have college credits under their belt, Severson said. That is a data point we should know. I think that communicates value in education to our community. School board member Amy Hoffman agrees. One of the reasons I think a checklist can be helpful is because so many times we only look at grades as a measure of a kids ability to be successful, she said. You can have a valedictorian of a class go nowhere in life and somebody who would very much be considered an average student be wildly successful. In 332 B.C. Persian rule in Egypt came to an end with the arrival of Alexander the Great (pictured here). After his death a dynasty of Greek kings would take control of Egypt and would rule for the next three centuries. Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C. and conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. During his reign, Alexander the Great had a massive impact in his time and sent ripples into the future. "In a reign of 13 years Alexander shot across the Greek and Middle Eastern firmament like a meteor, transforming whatever he often brutally touched and ensuring the ancient world and so eventually our world could never be the same again," Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis professor of Greek culture at Cambridge University, wrote in All About History (opens in new tab) magazine. Alexander's triumphs also made him a legendary figure and an inspiration for future generations. "Until the internet age, Alexander the Great was probably the most famous human being who ever lived," Cartledge wrote. "His astounding career of conquest inspired not just Caesar and Augustus but also Mark Antony, Napoleon, Hitler and other would-be world conquerors from the West." Related: Has the tomb of Alexander the Great's mom been found? Yet, despite his military accomplishments, ancient records say that he failed to win the respect of some of his subjects, wrote Pierre Briant, emeritus professor of history at College de France, in " Alexander the Great and His Empire (opens in new tab)" (Princeton University Press, 2010) and, furthermore, he had some of the people closest to him murdered. "The personality of Alexander the Great was a paradox," Susan Abernethy of The Freelance History Writer (opens in new tab) told Live Science. "He had great charisma and force of personality but his character was full of contradictions, especially in his later years (his early 30s). However, he had the ability to motivate his army to do what seemed to be impossible." Where was Alexander the Great from? Alexander was born around July 20, 356 B.C., in Pella in modern-day northern Greece, which was the administrative capital of ancient Macedonia. He was the son of King Philip II and Olympias (one of Philip's seven or eight wives) and was brought up with the belief that he was of divine birth. "From his earliest days, Olympias had encouraged him to believe that he was a descendent of heroes and gods. Nothing he had accomplished would have discouraged this belief," wrote Guy MacLean Rogers, a professor of classics at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, in his book " Alexander (opens in new tab)" (Random House, 2004). Alexander's father was often away, conquering neighboring territories and putting down revolts. Nevertheless, King Philip II of Macedon was one of Alexander's most influential role models, Abernethy said. "Philip ensured Alexander was given a noteworthy and significant education. He arranged for Alexander to be tutored by Aristotle himself His education infused him with a love of knowledge, logic, philosophy, music and culture. The teachings of Aristotle [would later aid] him in the treatment of his new subjects in the empires he invaded and conquered, allowing him to admire and maintain these disparate cultures." Alexander watched his father campaign nearly every year and win victory after victory. Philip remodeled the Macedonian army from citizen-warriors into a professional organization, wrote Ian Worthington, professor of history and archaeology at Macquarie University, in " Philip II of Macedonia (opens in new tab)" (Yale University Press, 2010). Philip suffered serious wounds in battle, such as the loss of an eye, a broken shoulder and a damaged leg, according to Worthington. Philip decided to leave his 16-year-old son in charge of Macedonia while he was away on campaign, Cartledge wrote in his book " Alexander the Great (opens in new tab)" (Overlook Press, 2004). Alexander took advantage of the opportunity by defeating a Thracian people called the Maedi and founding "Alexandroupolis," a city he named after himself. "Alexander felt the need to challenge his father's authority and superiority and wished to out-do his father," Abernethy said. Ancient records, such as Plutarch's " Lives (opens in new tab)," indicate that Alexander and Philip became estranged later in Alexander's teenage years. "Alexander may have resented his father's many marriages and the children born from them, seeing them as a threat to his own position," said Abernethy. At one point his mother Olympia was exiled to Epirus in western Greece. A wood engraving of the assassination of Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, from 1880. (Image credit: ZU_09) Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C. while celebrating the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra (not the famous Egyptian pharaoh). The person who stabbed him was said to have been one of Philip's former male lovers, named Pausanias. While the ancient Greek historian Cleitarchus pointed to jealousy and betrayal as the motive, as outlined by Diodorus Siculus in "Library of History (opens in new tab)," other ancient sources like Justin in "Epitome of the Philippic History Of Pompeius Trogus (opens in new tab)" suspected that Pausanias may have been part of a larger plot to kill the king one that may have included Alexander and his mother. At the time of his death, Philip was contemplating invading the Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, which at its peak stretched from the Balkan peninsula to modern-day Pakistan and had repeatedly attempted to conquer the Greek world. Philips dream was passed onto Alexander, partly via his mother Olympias, according to Abernethy. "She fostered in him a burning dynastic ambition and told him it was his destiny to invade Persia." Upon his father's death, Alexander moved quickly to consolidate power. He gained the support of the Macedonian army and intimidated the Greek city states that Philip had conquered into accepting his rule. After campaigns in the Balkans and Thrace, Alexander moved against Thebes, a city in Greece that had risen up in rebellion. He conquered it in 335 B.C. and had the city destroyed. With Greece and the Balkans pacified, he was ready to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire. Conquering the Persian Empire While Alexander may have had his own reasons for expanding eastward, "his official reason for wanting to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire was to lead the allied Greeks in a war of liberation: to free forever from Persian control the Greek cities along the Anatolian coast and on the island of Cyprus, and in so doing also to exact revenge for the Persians' invasion of Greece under Great King Xerxes in 480-479 BCE," Cartledge wrote. But ironically, Alexander often fought Greek mercenaries while campaigning against Darius III, the king of Persia. Even more ironically, Sparta , a city that had famously lost its king and 300 warriors in the Battle of Thermopylae during a Persian invasion attempt, also opposed Alexander, going so far as to seek Persian help in the Spartans efforts to overthrow him, according to Siculus. Nevertheless, Alexander was hugely successful against Persia. The first major battle he won against the Perisans was in 334 B.C. at the Battle of Granicus, fought in modern-day western Turkey, not far from the ancient city of Troy . The ancient Greek historian Arrian wrote that Alexander defeated a force of 20,000 Persian horsemen and an equal number of foot soldiers. He then advanced down the coast of west Turkey, taking cities and depriving the Persian navy of bases. The second key battle he won and perhaps the most important was the Battle of Issus, fought in 333 B.C. near the ancient town of Issus in southern Turkey, close to modern-day Syria. In that battle, the Persians were led by Darius III himself. Arrian estimated that Darius had a force of 600,000 troops (probably wildly exaggerated) and initially positioned himself on a great plain where he could mass his force effectively against Alexander, who hesitated to give battle. Darius is said to have thought this as a sign of timidity. "One courtier after another incited Darius, declaring that he would trample down the Macedonian army with his cavalry," Arrian wrote. So, Darius gave up his position and chased Alexander. At first this went well, and Dariuss soldiers got in the rear of Alexander's force. However, Dariuss army had been led to a narrow spot where the Persians could not use their superior numbers effectively, and at that point Alexander moved his force against the Persians. Alexanders experienced army proved too strong for the Persian force, and eventually Darius fled, along with his army. In his haste, Darius left much of his family behind, including his mother, wife, infant son and two daughters. Alexander ordered that they be "honored, and addressed as royalty," Arrian wrote. After the battle, Darius offered Alexander a ransom for his family and alliance, through marriage. Arrian wrote that Alexander rebuked Darius in writing, saying "in the future whenever you send word to me, address yourself to me as King of Asia and not as an equal, and let me know, as the master of all that belonged to you, if you have need of anything." A marble bust of Alexander the Great found at Pergamon in modern-day Turkey, now residing in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Pharaoh of Egypt Alexander then moved south along the eastern Mediterranean, continuing a strategy designed to deprive the Persians of their naval bases. Many cities surrendered, but some, such as Tyre , which was on an island in modern-day Lebanon, put up a fight and forced Alexander to lay siege. In 332 B.C., after Gaza was taken by siege, Alexander entered Egypt, a country that had experienced on-and-off periods of Persian rule for two centuries. On its northern coast, he founded Alexandria , the most successful city he ever built. Arrian wrote that "a sudden passion for the project seized him, and he himself marked out where the agora was to be built and decided how many temples were to be erected and to which gods they were to be dedicated". Alexander claimed the title of pharaoh, and according to Cartledge, looked to attach himself to the line of Egyptian rulers through a traditional ceremony. "Almost certainly he had himself crowned pharaoh in the old Egyptian capital of Memphis, thereby not only ingratiating himself with the Egyptian masses but also enfolding the old and still powerful Egyptian priesthood in the embrace of his new Egyptian monarchy," Cartledge wrote. Battle of Gaugamela With the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt under his control, , Alexander successfully deprived the Persians of naval bases and was free to move inland to conquer the eastern half of the Persian Empire. At the Battle of Gaugamela, fought in 331 B.C. in northern Iraq near present-day Erbil, Alexander faced as many as 1 million troops, according to Arrian (modern scholars estimates vary but put the total closer to 100,000 against roughly 50,000 soldiers for Alexander). Darius brought soldiers from all over his empire, and even beyond. Scythian horsemen from the Persian Empires northern borders faced Alexander, as did "Indian" troops (as the ancient writers called them) who were probably from modern-day Pakistan. The battle soon became a war of nerves. "For a brief period the fighting was hand to hand, but when Alexander and his horseman pressed the enemy hard, shoving the Persians and striking their faces with spears, and the Macedonian phalanx, tightly arrayed and bristling with pikes, was already upon them, Darius, who had long been in a state of dread, now saw terrors all around him; he wheeled about the first to do so and fled," Arrian wrote. From that point on the Persian army started to collapse and the Persian king fled, with Alexander in hot pursuit. Darius was later betrayed by one of his satraps, or regional governors, named Bessus (who then claimed kingship over what was left of Persia), and was killed by his own troops in 330 B.C.. The Battle of Gaugamela in 331 B.C., painted by 17th century artist Jacques Courtois (Image credit: Heritage Images / Contributor) Alexander wanted a peaceful transition of power in Persia following Dariuss defeat. He needed to have the appearance of legitimacy to appease the people, so Alexander provided a noble burial for Darius. "[Providing noble burials] was a common practice by Alexander and his generals when they took over the rule of different areas of the empire," Abernethy said. Alexander was influenced by the teachings of his tutor, Aristotle, whose philosophy of Greek ethos did not require forcing Greek culture on the colonized. "Alexander would take away the political autonomy of those he conquered but not their culture or way of life. In this way, he would gain their loyalty by honoring their culture, even after the conquest was complete, creating security and stability. Alexander himself even adopted Persian dress and certain Persian customs," Abernethy said. Wishing to incorporate the most easterly portions of the Persian Empire into his own, Alexander campaigned in central Asia from 330 and 327 B.C.. It was a rocky, frost-bitten conflict, which raised tensions within his own army, and led to Alexander killing two of his closest friends. Why did Alexander kill his friends? Alexander killing Parmenio, his former second in command, and Cleitus, the Macedonian kings close friend who is said to have saved his life at the Battle of Granicus, may be seen as a sign of how Alexanders men were becoming tired of campaigning, and how Alexander was becoming increasingly paranoid. At some point during Alexander's campaign in central Asia, Parmenio's son, Philotas, allegedly failed to report a plot against Alexander's life. The king, incensed, decided to kill not only Philotas and the other men deemed conspirators, but also Parmenio, even though he apparently had nothing to do with the alleged plot. According to the first-century A.D. writer Quintus Curtius (as found in " Alexander The Great: Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius (opens in new tab)," Hackett Publishing, 1800), Alexander tasked a man named Polydamas, a friend of Parmenio, to perform the deed, holding his brothers hostage until he murdered Parmenio. Arriving in Parmenio's tent in the city where he was stationed, Polydamas handed him two letters: one from Alexander and one from Parmenios son. When Parmenio was reading the letter from his son, a general named Cleander, who aided Polydamas with his mission, "opened him (Parmenio) up with a sword thrust to his side, then struck him a second blow in the throat" killing him, Quintus Curtius wrote. A second casualty of Alexander's fury was his friend Cleitus, who was angry at Alexander for adopting Persian dress and customs. After an episode where the two were drinking, Cleitus scolded the king, telling him, in essence, that he should follow Macedonian ways, not Persian customs. Cleitus lifted up his right hand and said, "this is the hand, Alexander, that saved you then (at the Battle of Granicus)," according to Arrian. Alexander, infuriated, killed him with a spear or pike. Alexander took his act of murder terribly. "Again and again, he called himself his friend's murderer and went without food and drink for three days and completely neglected his person." Arrian wrote. This 1875 map shows Alexander the Great's empire. (Image credit: Steven Wright/Shutterstock) Alexander's final battles Alexander's days in central Asia were not all unhappy. After his troops had captured a fortress at a place called Sogdian Rock in modern-day Uzbekistan in 327 B.C. he met Roxana, the daughter of a local ruler. The two married, and they had an unborn son at the time of Alexanders death. Despite his mens fatigue, and the fact that he was far from home, Alexander pressed on into a land that the Greeks called "India" (what is now present-day Pakistan). Plutarch explained in " The Life of Alexander the Great (opens in new tab)" that he made an alliance with a local ruler named Taxiles, who agreed to allow Alexander to use his city, Taxila, as a base of operations. He also agreed to give Alexander all the supplies he needed which was very useful given Alexander's long supply lines. In exchange, Alexander agreed to fight Porus, a local ruler who set out against Alexander with an army that reportedly included 200 elephants . The two armies met at the Hydaspes River in 326 B.C. Alexander bided his time; he scouted the area, built up a fleet of ships and lulled Porus into a false sense of security. When Porus mobilized his forces he found himself in a predicament; his cavalry was not as experienced as Alexander's. As such, he put his 200 elephants animals the Macedonians had never faced in large numbers up front. Alexander responded by using his cavalry to attack the wings of Porus's forces, quickly putting Porus's cavalry to flight. The result was that Porus's cavalry, foot soldiers and elephants eventually became jumbled together. Making matters worse for Porus, Alexander's soldiers attacked the elephants with javelins, and the wounded elephants went on a rampage, stomping on both Alexander and Porus's troops. With his army falling apart, Porus stayed until the end and was captured. Arrian wrote that Porus was brought to the Macedonian king and said, "treat me like a king, Alexander." Alexander, impressed with his bravery and words, made him an ally. The journey home In 324 B.C., Alexander's close friend, general and bodyguard Haphaestion died suddenly from fever. Haphaestion's death caused a drastic change in Alexander's personality, Abernethy said. "Alexander had always been a heavy drinker and the substance abuse began to take its toll. He lost his self-control and his compassion for his men. He became reckless, self-indulgent and inconsistent, causing a loss of loyalty by his men and officers. He had always had a violent temper and been rash, impulsive and stubborn. The drinking made these traits worse." Under such conditions, many of his men insisted that Alexander turn back home, according to Abernethy. Sailing south down the Indus River, he fought a group called the Malli and was severely wounded after he led an attack against their city wall. After reaching the Indian Ocean he split his force in three. One element, with the heavy equipment, would take a relatively safe route to Persia, the second, under his command, would traverse Gedrosia, a largely uninhabited deserted area that no large force had ever crossed before. A third force, embarked on ships, would support Alexander's force and sail alongside them. The Gedrosia crossing was a miserable failure, and upto three-quarters of Alexander's troops died along the way. His fleet was unable to keep up with the main force due to bad winds. "The burning heat and the lack of water destroyed a great part of the army and particularly the pack animals," Arrian wrote. Why Alexander chose to lead part of his force through Gedrosia is a mystery. It could simply be because no one had ever attempted to bring such a large force through it before and Alexander wanted to be the first. Return to Persia and death Alexander returned to Persia, this time as the ruler of a kingdom that stretched from the Balkans to Egypt to modern-day Pakistan. In 324 B.C., he arrived in Susa in present-day Iran, where a number of his innermost advisers got married. Alexander got married to two other women, in addition to Roxana, whom he had married in central Asia. One was Barsine, daughter of Darius III, and the other was a Persian woman Arrian identified as Parysatis. Roxana likely did not take kindly to her two new co-wives and, after Alexander's death, she may have had them both killed, Plutarch wrote. In 323 B.C., Alexander was in Babylon in modern-day Iraq, and his next major military target was apparently to be Arabia on the southern end of his empire. In June 323 B.C., while he was readying troops, he caught a fever that would not go away. He soon had trouble speaking and eventually died, with some suggesting he was poisoned . However, his death may have been announced prematurely, according Katherine Hall , a senior lecturer in the Department of General Practice and Rural Health at the University of Otago in New Zealand. A depiction of the final moments of the life of Alexander the Great. The exact cause and nature of his death remains a mystery (Image credit: Universal History Archive / Contributor) Shortly before his death, Alexander was supposedly asked who his empire should go to. His answer was said to be "to the strongest man," although he had an unborn son. However, there was nobody strong enough to hold his empire together. "Alexander's untimely death, without any provision having been made for a smooth succession (if such were indeed possible), opened the floodgates for two generations of warfare among his marshals, generals and lieutenants for their slice of his hypertrophied empire," Cartledge wrote. Alexander's legacy "Perhaps the most significant legacy of Alexander was the range and extent of the proliferation of Greek culture," Abernethy said. "The reign of Alexander the Great signaled the beginning of a new era in history known as the Hellenistic Age. Greek culture had a powerful influence on the areas Alexander conquered." Many of the cities that Alexander founded were named Alexandria, including the Egyptian city that is now home to more than 4.5 million people. The many Alexandrias were located on trade routes, which increased the flow of commodities between the East and the West. Alexander's legacy remains alive today, according to Cartledge, and is reimagined and reinterpreted by each generation; "There have been many Alexanders, as many as there have been observers, enemies, admirers, worshippers or serious students of the man, and hero, and god." Additional reporting by Jessie Szalay, Live Science contributor, and Jonathan Gordon, Editor of All About History. After spending nearly 18 years in the Field Museum's great hall in Chicago, Sue the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered will move to an exhibit upstairs, making room for the world's largest known dinosaur: a titanosaur. Once upstairs, Sue will be reconnected with its gastralia, a unit of rib-like bones that stretch across the belly. The dinosaur will also have adjustments made to its furcular (wishbone), arms and legs, said Bill Simpson, the collections manager of fossil vertebrates at the Field Museum. "The gastralia [addition] is the biggest thing, but we're also making a few other corrections to Sue," Simpson told Live Science. [Dinosaur Detective: Find Out What You Really Know] Sue was originally found near Faith, South Dakota, in 1990 by paleontologist Sue Hendrickson during a commercial fossil-hunting expedition, Simpson said. The Field Museum later bought the 67-million-year-old T. rex for $8.4 million, and put it on display in Stanley Field Hall in 2000. However, at the time, scientists weren't sure how to attach Sue's gastralia, also called the gastral basket. Sue's gastralia (rib-like bones) were originally on display in a nearby case. In spring of 2019, they will be attached to Sue in an exhibit upstairs. (Image credit: Copyright the Field Museum) "Gastralia are often referred to by the shorthand of 'belly ribs,' because they're in the belly and because they look like ribs," Simpson said. "[But] they're not really ribs they're actually developed in the skin itself." In primitive animals, the gastralia likely protected the belly, but in dinosaurs, it's thought that the gastral basket helped the beasts push air in and out of their lungs, as they didn't have diaphragms, Simpson noted. Museum curators have more than half of Sue's gastral basket and plan to attach it to the rest of the dinosaur's skeleton once it's taken off display in February 2018. Sue will return to public view on the second floor, as part of the Evolving Planet exhibit in spring of 2019, Simpson said. Gastralia are rare, but aren't exclusive to T. rex: They're also found in other nonavian theropods (bipedal, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs), prosauropods (the ancestors of the long-necked, long-tailed sauropod dinosaurs), crocodilians and the tuatara, a small reptile native to New Zealand, Simpson said. It's also thought that the underside of turtle shells (called the plastron) developed from expanded gastralia, he said. After Sue is whisked away from the great hall, museum curators will install the titanosaur Patagotitan mayorum (pat-uh-go-tie-tan my-or-um). This dinosaur's scientific name refers to Argentina's Patagonia region, where the specimen was uncovered, and the Mayo family, who owned the ranch where the 69-ton (62 metric tons) dinosaur was found. An artist's rendition of how the titanosaur Patagotitan mayorum will fit into the Field Museum's great hall. (Image credit: Copyright the Field Museum) While Sue's 40.5-foot-long (12 meters) skeleton is made out of real fossils, the 122-foot-long (37 m) titanosaur display is made from a cast, meaning that visitors can touch it, museum curators said. Alongside it, the museum will display some of P. mayorum's real bones, including an 8-foot-long (2.4 m) thighbone. The titanosaur is vastly larger than Sue. (Image credit: Copyright the Field Museumt) The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City also has a cast of the roughly 100-million-year-old P. mayorum on display. Sue's makeover and the addition of the titanosaur to the Field Museum were made possible by a $16.5 million gift from the Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund. Sue appeared excited about the move, at least on Twitter, saying, "For years now, I've been pitching this to the museum. A room with a better defensible position against velociraptor attacks and reduced exposure to possible meteorite collisions. Finally, the mammals in charge have come to their senses." See more Original article on Live Science. Social media applications are everywhere: on our computers, our phones, our televisions and even in our cars. Nowhere is this more evident than on a college campus, where students use these apps as a means of making personal and professional connections to help them prepare for the future. But all of that goodwill can be undone by scammers and identity thieves who set up traps on these apps with a goal of capturing users' money and personal information. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection asks college students to help protect their identities and their wallets by tightening the security around their social media accounts and by thinking before they click on links in social posts. "Academic and lifelong learning is the primary focus for a college student, and spending time undoing damage caused by a scammer or identity thief takes away from that experience," said Frank Frassetto, division administrator for Trade and Consumer Protection. "There are numerous scams targeting users of all of the major social media apps, and the best protection for a student is to limit the sharing of personal information and clicking of suspicious links." Users of all services should set up complex passwords or passphrases for their social media accounts, turn on two-factor authentication if it is offered, and use the security features available in the apps to block public access to their posts. To avoid scams, users should be very suspicious of links in posts that direct them to unfamiliar websites or that advertise unrealistic offers for popular products. Scammers often use fake account support emails to gather login details from social media users. These "phishing" emails falsely warn recipients that they need to provide their usernames and passwords in order to update a social media account or avoid an account suspension. Delete similar emails and log directly into the service if you need to check your account status. Each social media application has its own risks for identity theft and scams. Watch for these app-specific risks: Twitter: Watch out for links in direct messages from users you don't know. These links may be included with a message intended to draw you in, like "Can you believe this is true?" Watch for warnings from Twitter about unsafe links. According to Twitter, these links match a database of potentially harmful URLs which could lead to phishing, malware or spam sites. Buying followers and engagements and using "free followers" apps could compromise your account and may also violate Twitter's rules. Facebook: Watch for "profile viewer tracking" service pitches Facebook does NOT offer this feature. Hacked accounts can send malicious posts to everyone in your friends list, and the messages will post to their feeds (potentially attracting other victims). The links in these posts could drive users to websites where malware is transmitted to their devices. Fake surveys and quizzes can be ploys to harvest personal information. LinkedIn: Watch for "get rich quick" and work-from-home scams. Do your research on a company before you apply for a job posting, particularly if it seems too good to be true. Third-party websites claim to provide LinkedIn phone support for a fee, but these groups are not affiliated with LinkedIn. LinkedIn does not charge users for support and will not request login information from customers. Other common scams according to LinkedIn: mystery shopper offers, phony inheritance scams (advance fee scams) and romance scams. For additional information or to file a complaint, visit the Consumer Protection Bureau at datcp.wisconsin.gov, call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-422-7128 or send an e-mail to datcphotline@wisconsin.gov. Press Gazette, Wednesday, August 30, 2017 8:50 AM Murdoch has pulled the plug on Sky's Fox News channel with an official announcement that the channel is designed for the US rather than the UK. The decision comes after the satellite tv operator had broadcast the US news channel for the past fifteen years. Press Gazette suggests the move is linked with the Government's upcoming decision on whether to allow Murdoch to fully own Sky. Read the whole story at Press Gazette Audiences consuming magazine media on the web and mobile dropped in July 2017, compared to the same month a year ago, while video audiences steadily grow, according to the Magazine Media 360 Brand Audience Report from MPA - The Association of Magazine Media. Most magazine audiences come from print and digital. In July, print and digital audiences made up 53% of the total audience, while 32% came from mobile, 11% from the web and 4% from video. The total audience for July 2017 is flat versus the same month a year ago, with a marginal growth of 0.8%. The report includes 127 magazine brands across 30 companies. This is the first month Mens Journal is included in the report, as AMI bought it in June from Wenner Media. advertisement advertisement When MPA analyzed the top 100 web domains and the top 100 mobile web domains, it found that year-over-year comparisons for magazine brands are consistent with the audience trends of the online industry as a whole, per an MPA spokesperson. From July 2016 to July 2017, video audiences defined by the MPA as unique viewers that watched a video at least once through a player owned or operated by the publisher and/or through a clearly branded video channel have grown 51.9%. Print readers and digital visitors, which include those that consume electronic issues of a publication, such as on an e-reader or app, have also increased year-over-year, by 3.7%. We have found that while consumersof all agesstill report a strong preference for print magazines, our audiences consume a lot of digital content, too. You dont have to choose one over the other. Audiences consume digital content in addition to printed magazines, not in place of them, Linda Thomas Brooks, president and CEO of MPAThe Association of Magazine Media, told Publishers Daily. However, web audiences consuming content from magazine brands on a desktop or laptop are down 14.4%. Mobile audiences, which are unique visitors that visit a site on a mobile device, fell 2.2%. The top five magazine brands with the most total audience across all platforms for July were ESPN The Magazine, People, Forbes, WebMD and Allrecipes. The magazine brands with the greatest percentage growth in total audience for July, compared to the same month a year ago, were Entrepreneur, Teen Vogue, domino, W and Veranda. by Sara Guaglione , August 31, 2017 Hearst has acquired local Illinois papers The Telegraph and Journal-Courier, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the state, from Civitas Media. The Journal-Courier was founded in 1830 in Jacksonville and The Telegraph was established in 1836 in Alton. Together, the newspapers have a circulation of more than 30,000 in the southwestern Illinois region. The two newspapers will add to Hearsts local coverage in the state, thanks to its ownership of the daily Edwardsville Intelligencer, which it bought in 1979. Combined with our Edwardsville Intelligencer media assets, the additions of The Telegraph and Journal-Courier will enable us to upgrade our enterprise reporting across the region, while serving advertisers with the most comprehensive media solutions, stated Hearst Newspapers president Mark Aldam. The deal also includes the two papers digital assets, including its websites. advertisement advertisement Jeff Bergin, Hearst Newspapers' vice president of vertical strategy development, will oversee business and news operations for The Telegraph and Journal-Courier. The previous owner, Civitas, is headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, and is a portfolio company of Philadelphia-based private equity investment firm Versa Capital Management. Civitas was formed when Versa bought the two newspapers from Freedom Communications in 2012. Hearst has recently acquired a number of local newspapers, including 21st Century Media Newspaper, a subsidiary of Digital First Media, and its three daily newspapers, eight weekly newspapers and Connecticut Magazine in June, and the Pioneer Group in Michigan in January. Hearst Newspapers now owns 24 dailies and 64 weeklies across the U.S., including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 31, 2017 Yahoo can't shake a class-action lawsuit stemming from massive data breaches that affected at least one billion account holders, a judge ruled on Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California rejected Yahoo's argument that the users who are suing didn't suffer any injuries and therefore lack "standing" to proceed. "All plaintiffs have alleged a risk of future identity theft, in addition to loss of value of their [personally identifiable information]," Koh wrote in a 93-page opinion. She added that some of the people who filed suit alleged that they suffered actual misuse of their data, or paid out of pocket to mitigate their risks. The ruling grew out of recent revelations of data breaches at Yahoo. Last September, Yahoo disclosed that it suffered a massive data breach in late 2014. Chief Information Security Officer Bob Lord said at the time that hackers may have been able to obtain names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, security questions and passwords associated with 500 million accounts. Most of the passwords were encrypted, according to Yahoo. advertisement advertisement In December of last year, Yahoo disclosed that it had also suffered a data breach in 2013, when hackers stole data associated with more than one billion Yahoo accounts. The data taken in the 2013 attack "may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords ... and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers," the company said. This February, Yahoo announced yet a third attack in which hackers gained access to users' passwords by forging cookies. The disclosures prompted numerous lawsuits against Yahoo by users, who alleged that the company failed to adequately protect their data, among other claims. In the past, some judges have ruled that consumers can't sue based solely on a fear of future economic harm. But in 2015, the influential 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a class-action lawsuit against Neiman Marcus, which suffered a data breach in 2013. The appellate judges said that customers of the department store "should not have to wait until hackers commit identity theft or credit card fraud" before proceeding in court. In that case, unlike Yahoo's situation, hackers appeared to have stolen credit card information. by Wayne Friedman , August 31, 2017 Disney-ABC Television looks to make more significant layoffs adding to cuts made earlier this year. Reports suggest that the companys cutbacks will occur largely at its broadcast and production operations: ABC Television Network, ABC-owned local TV stations, its production studio, and ABC News. For the 2016-2017 TV season, ABC Television Network was down 11% to a 1.6 average Nielsen live program-plus-same day time-shifted rating among key 18-49 viewers. This landed ABC in fourth place among the big four networks. ABC was also down 9% among total viewers to 6.2 million viewers -- good for third place. Other cuts might also occur at its cable network operations, including Disney Channel and Freeform. Earlier, Disney-ABC witnessed cuts at its biggest cable network -- ESPN -- where an estimated 100 jobs were eliminated. The Wall Street Journal said as many as 300 jobs could be on the line with the latest round of cuts -- which would yield a 10% savings in costs. Walt Disney Co.'s stock price down 1.6% on Thursday to close at $101.20. The upswing seen in July only affected hot rolled coil (HRC) products, but the adjustments unveiled this month were applied to all flat steel goods HRC, cold rolled coil (CRC), hot dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and heavy plate. The first mill to announce a price rise was CSN, which was reported on August 10 to be raising its prices for the local market by 12.75%, with effect from Friday August 25. It was followed by Usiminas, which said on August 18 that it will increase its flat steel prices by 13.10% on Friday September 1. Later in the month, both Gerdau and ArcelorMittal were reported to have introduced rises of around 12-13%. ArcelorMittals new prices for flat steel goods hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized coil came into effect on August 20, while Gerdau will adjust its prices for HRC and heavy plate on September 4. The price adjustments recorded in the Brazilian flat steel market were in line with rising international values and were expected to be passed on to the whole steel chain. Metal Bulletins monthly price assessments for Brazilian flat steel goods will be updated at the beginning of September to reflect the adjustments scheduled for both August and September. But additional rises in local flat steel prices are not being analysed by Brazilian steel producers at the moment, as these upswings would depend not only on prices in China, but also domestic demand and exchange rates, according to domestic sources. And flat steel prices in China may have reached a ceiling, according to market rumours. Imports Import prices for flat steel goods into South America, including Brazil, showed increases of $45-60 per tonne during the month of August, driven by high-priced volumes from China. Metal Bulletins weekly price assessment for HRC imports into the region came to $590-600 on August 25, against $545-560 on August 4, while CRC import prices increased in the same comparison, to $640-650 from $580-590 all values on a per tonne cfr basis. Over the same period, Metal Bulletins weekly price assessment for HDG imports rose to $725-735 per tonne cfr from $680-700 per tonne cfr. But market participants have been indicating recently that flat steel prices in China might have reached a peak, with prices stabilising at current high levels for a while. Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. Bob Harlow, a native of Barneveld, Wis., who intends to win the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Scott Walker for the top job in his home state, pins much of his hopes on derailing state approval of a $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn. I object in general to the use of tax incentives to lure businesses, said Harlow, a 25-year-old 2016 graduate of Stanford University in California with a bachelors degree in physics. Harlow, whose previous political experience was an unsuccessful primary election campaign for Congress in California last year in which he garnered 7.4 percent of the vote, said he doesnt expect his age to be a detriment to his campaign. He has gathered 500 signatures on a petition against Foxconn both online and in person in a campaign he launched a week ago with a goal of 1,000 signatures. The fact that his petition to urge the state Senate to reject the proposal made it halfway to its goal in a week shows that the people of Wisconsin want the Senate to vote no and that they believe in his policy positions, Harlow said during an interview Wednesday. Money that Walker has proposed for the incentive package would be spent better investing in the states schools and infrastructure, said Harlow, who said he had been canvassing for support for the past few days in La Crosse. Harlow alleged that Walkers base of support is anchored in wealthy and special-interest groups, while he is trying to develop a volunteer network. He advocates repealing Act 10, which, in part, reduced public employees pay and ended their collective-bargaining rights, and espouses a minimum wage. Walkers assault on the unions has shut people out, Harlow said. They have no seat at the table. The only ones with seats are wealthy donors, corporations and PACs. Harlow advocates an eight-point plan, including more universal high-speed internet and creating jobs through repairing and building new elements of the states infrastructure, such as a high-speed rail system he calls the Wisconsin Badger Bullet connecting several cities throughout the state with those in other states, such as Chicago and the Twin Cities. He also favors revamping the states health-care access system to make everyone eligible for Badgercare and accept the millions of federal dollars Walker rejected in spurning President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act. Other Democratic hopefuls for the nomination include state Rep. Dana Wachs of Eau Claire, state schools Superintendent Tony Evers and Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik. Also mulling campaigns are state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma, longtime Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, political activist Mike McCabe of Madison, former state Reps. Kelda Helen Roys of Middleton and Brett Hulsey of Madison, and Mahlon Mitchell, president of the state firefighters association. The Miss Ghana 2017 audition at Ho in the Volta Region over the weekend was tagged impressive by organisers as a number of 'wannabe' queens came out in their numbers to be part of the audition. Many ladies defied the heavy rains and thronged the Sky Plus Hotel in Ho for a chance to be selected for the final leg of auditions in Accra in September. Popular actor/producer, Kafui Danku, who is also a former Miss Ghana contestant, led a panel of judges who presided over a very successful audition in the Volta Region. The others were Ivy Emefa Doe, human resource manager for Sky Plus Hotel, and Mrs Saha Kambo-Lamptey, a designer and longstanding donor to the Miss Ghana pageant. At the end of the session, six lucky ladies were selected to join those already chosen in the other regions, with those in Takoradi and Cape Coast also happening in the course of the week. The 10-region audition is expected to come to a close in Accra at the Holiday Inn on September 1, 2017, where six are expected to be selected too. The Miss Ghana 2017/'Miss Ghana 60 Years On' is powered by Exclusive Event Ghana Limited, in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture and 'Ghana 60 Years On' Planning Committee. The 'Miss Ghana 60 Years On' event is sponsored by Nasco Electronics, Special Ice Water, Intercity STC, Akayet Hotel, Global Dream Hotel & Service Apartments, Tang Palace, Aqua Safar Resort, JIL, Amaing U, Hottees, Pokuaa Accessories, Accents & Curve, Queens Touch Decor, Forever Easy, Goodluck Africa, Limpex Impressions, Starbow Airline and a host of others. The final event of this year's Miss Universe Ghana beauty pageant is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 2 at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra. The event which is being organised by MALZ Promotions seeks to discover the most poised, intelligent, confident and gorgeous Ghanaian woman who can represent her country on the international stage. Organisers have promised that this year's event will be exciting, adding that a number of measures have also been put in place to make the event a memorable one. The grand finale promises to be fun-packed and a night of surprises because all the contestants will be involved in various tasks to prove themselves worthy to be crowned Miss Universe Ghana 2017. The 10 contestants who have managed to sail through the competition to the final stage are putting their bits and pieces together to compete keenly against one another, all in pursuit of the enviable crown, car and cash. The winner will take home a brand-new car and a year-contract with a modelling agency in Italy, organisers disclosed. The following are the final 10 contestants who are competing for the enviable crown at the grand finale of Miss Universe Ghana Akyere Gladys Rockson (Ashanti Region), Nana Ama Agyekum (Brong Ahafo Region), Ruth Quashie (Central Region), Nadia Sarbah (Eastern Region) and Sefakor Esinam Ahiave (Greater Accra Region). The rest are Loretta Doe Lawson (Northern Region), Nura Ladi Mohammed (Upper East Region), Emily Randolph (Upper West Region), Cindy Emefa Coffe (Volta Region) and Hephie Armah (Western Region). Menaye Donkor Muntari, Miss Universe Ghana national director, was optimistic this year's edition would live up to expectation. It's been a long journey but I'm extremely proud of how these young ladies have been co-operative. They have worked extremely hard to be here and I believe we just have to continue to support them. We are expecting something different this year because we've taken it upon ourselves to revive the brand and so far, it's been hectic but great. So far, I'm very proud and impressed I can't wait to announce the winner to participate in Miss Universe pageant internationally, she remarked. Judges for this years event are Tessa Brix, Sean Guy, Chester Annie, Giovanna Nicole and Michelle Attoh. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Actor cum musician Kwadwo Nkansah Lil Win before leaving Ghana For Sarkdoie's History In The Making in the USA releases another potential banger titled Nyame Gye Me for all to enjoy. The Boss Nation Music label act features Top Kay on this Slo Deezy produced High Life tune. Lil Win, who aside movies, is currently entertaining Ghanaians with his music releases has promised to release the visuals to this song in no time soon. The video for Nyame Gye Me was shot in Denkyira Obuasi, and was directed by in house video director, Steve Gyamfi Nollywood actors Ibinabo Fiberesima and Emeka Ike have reconciled after years of being rivals in the struggle for the position of President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). The crisis was resolved at the 2017 Peace and Reconciliation Conference held in Enugu, which had representatives from 29 AGN state chapters in attendance. Addressing the media, Ibinabo and Emeka agreed that peace was now very necessary as their division has stagnated the Guild and it has also rubbed off on the Nigerian movie industry. Ibinabo said, The division was not about I, Ibinabo, but about the BOT of the Guild whose tenure has longed expired and has refused to allow fresh ideas and innovations and I said NO, because Nollywood is a global phenomenon and the idea of life BOT will not just work." Emeka added that, As you know this agitation has cost me a lot but today because of the youths I have embraced peace so we can build the future generation together. This reconciliation is for the young Actors in Nollywood." Ibinabo also disclosed that her immediate plan was to take out her appeal in the court and call for a proper joint congress of both factions where the process to conduct a national free, fair and transparent election that will herald a new dawn in Actors Guild of Nigeria would be held. She said, Today is one of the happiest days of my life because we can now say Peace at last in AGN. Our members should be allowed to choose their leaders in a peaceful manner and by tricks and ambushing. This division has not helped us in any way. I thank Emeka Ike who has made this day possible. Africa's last absolute monarch of Swaziland, King Mswati III (R) attends the annual "Reed Dance". By Jinty Jackson (AFP/File) 29.08.2011 LISTEN EZULWINI, Swaziland (AFP) - Swaziland's annual "Reed Dance", a ceremony which is meant to be a traditional show of virginity by thousands of maidens, is acquiring a seedier reputation for events off stage. Around 60,000 bare-breasted girls from across the landlocked kingdom, some as young as 10 years old, were presenting reeds they had cut from surrounding hills to the royal kraal on Monday while they danced before King Mswati III. Mswati, Africa's last monarch who already has 13 wives, has often used the ceremony to choose a new spouse. But the presence of tens of thousands of teenage girls, far from parental supervision and with plenty of free time on their hands, has also proven a magnet for men who have anything but marriage on their mind. "You get the choice here. There are so many of them," said Sifiso Ngomane, one of the many men hanging around near the entrance to one of the camps where the girls are temporarily housed during the week. "All you have to do is call them through the fence," he told AFP. The girls are supposed to be protected by male overseers from their home regions while police also stand guard at the base camps. The camps hum with laughter and song, while the atmosphere is heady and festive, akin to a scout camp. But only a short distance away, it is different story. A nearby river where the girls bathe naked at dawn attracts ogling eyes while a hot spring dubbed the "cuddle puddle" has become a byword for sex. "We are going to the cuddle puddle tonight and clubbing tomorrow," said 18-year-old Patricia proudly. The southern African kingdom, where life expectancy is just 49, has the world's highest HIV prevalence rate. A 2007 study led by the United Nations Children's Fund found that a staggering one out of three Swazi girls between the ages of 13 and 24 reported having been sexually abused. Victims of sexual violence were four times more likely to be HIV positive and twice as likely to be suicidal. For NGOs working in HIV prevention, the Reed Dance is an ideal opportunity to reach people that are especially vulnerable. Thirty percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive compared to 20 percent of men. But since condom promotion is outlawed at an event that is all about virginity, they instead have to encourage abstinence and warn about the dangers of sleeping with several men at once. "I am a vigin and proud of it. I love my culture," said 18-year-old, Tsabile Dlamini. A minor royal herself, she has attended the Reed Dance several times and now works for the NGO, Population Services International. Wearing a t-shirt that says, "I am a maiden, I protect my flower", she encourages the other girls to talk about their bodies and about sex -- taboo subjects up until now for many girls brought up in the countryside. A Trade Fair in Manzini coincides with the Reed Dance, offering music concerts and all night parties. Officially however, the revellers are expected to resist temptation. "They must be on their best behaviour. We do not want any news of pregnancies from the Reed Dance," warned the region's governor, TV Mtetwa in a radio announcement in the lead-up the event. 2011 AFP ROCHESTER, Minn. Rochester Chamber of Commerce President Rob Miller resigned his post effective immediately on Wednesday after a key chamber executive went public with allegations Miller had bullied her and was trying to push her out. Earlier in the day, the Rochester Post-Bulletin published a letter from membership director Judy Braatz, who said Miller had belittled and defamed her. MPR News confirmed the letters authenticity. An outside law firm has been hired to investigate. But even before the investigation was complete, Miller said, the small but powerful media storm around Braatzs departure prompted his resignation. Miller characterized Braatzs allegations as an attack on him and one he worried would affect his staff and family. Ive never in my life seen anything like this or gone through anything like this and I felt like it was time to let the healing begin, Miller said in an interview. The damage to my team, the damage to the volunteers, and the damage to my family is already done. We cant put that genie back in the bottle. Miller added that he urged the investigation of her complaints, which he said he was confident would clear his name. In her letter, Braatz alleged Miller has significant difficulty working with women. It is no secret that other strong women in the organization have left because of how Mr. Miller has treated them. Among the other accusations: Miller would often comment on how expensive she was to employ, specifically the cost of her health insurance. Miller badgered her for a retirement date, which she refused to give. Miller defamed her in public, suggesting that she has a drinking problem, which she denies. Braatz did not return MPR News repeated phone calls. Chamber Board Chair Lisa Clarke praised Miller as she announced his exit. In a statement, she did not mention the allegations by Braatz. Rob is a visionary leader who brought great energy, business acumen and an entrepreneurial vantage point to our chamber ... We know there are great things in store for Rob in the future, Clarke said in her statement. The chamber board, she added, will meet immediately to begin a search for Millers full-time replacement. The Rochester chamber is big and gaining prominence. One ranking has it as the largest in Minnesota after the statewide Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. The Rochester groups profile is on the rise along with the Destination Medical Center economic development effort. A big component of DMC is growing the Rochester economy and attracting new businesses to the area. The Chamber plays a key role in cultivating and supporting the citys business community. The two are joined at the top. DMC CEO Lisa Clarke also chairs the Chambers board. 31.08.2017 LISTEN "We all know what it means to be honest. Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth speaking, truth living and truth loving." - James E. Faust When the economy of a nation is founded upon the principles of truth and honesty, it results in economic stability. Thousands of public officers in Ghana act against their conscience on daily basis to divert funds meant to undertake public project for their private purposes. What about our hospitals? where the money that is meant for patient's medications and equipments end up landing in foreign bank accounts or are used to build private clinics belonging the medical officers? How many Ghanaians do you think have alibi when they give bribe to the policemen at the countless check points all over Ghana? How many people do you think claim they have alibi when funds meant for road constructions are diverted into personal use and gains? How many universities could have been built, if not for people who think they have an excuse? Our university students pay huge sums of money to private hostel owners despite the fact that the parents of these students are poor all because funds meant to build Halls of residence for the University has been squandered by officials. I mean, these are acts of dishonesty which destabilizes the economy, dishonesty has eaten deep into the fabrics of our beloved country, it has almost become our culture. We cannot continue this way and be expecting economic regeneration, absolutely impossible! This is a vivid picture of the role of truth and honesty in national transformation. When truth and honesty is absent in Ghana, it relates not only just to the politicians. "Three things to love - Honesty, Purity and Truth." - unknown To be continued... God bless our Homeland Ghana LIFE IS PREDICTABLE GODFRIED K. KONGLO, Knust. A Koforidua Circuit Court has found guilty some 29 foreigners who invaded and mined in the Atewa Forest Reserve. They, together, are to cough up a little over GHc15 million or serve a three-year jail term. The 29 were rounded up on January 26, 2017 by a joint Military Police and Forestry Task-force, led by Palmer Aikins Amponsah, the Forest Range Manager in the Atewa Forest Reserve, where the foreigners had camped and were mining. Presiding judge, Her Honour, Ms Mercy Adei Kotei, convicted three accused Ghanaian accomplices; Abdulai Umaru, Zibo Alidu and Haruna Mumuni, with conspiracy to mine without license, and were asked to pay a fine of 2,500 penalty units each (GHc30, 000.00) or in default serve 3 years imprisonment. The judge said she handed them the sentence because the court had no previous criminal records against them. The other 26 accused persons who were all foreigners were convicted of conspiracy to mine without license, and mining without license as against Ghanas mining laws, and were also asked pay a fine of 50,000 penalty units each (GHC 600,000.00) or in default serve 5 years imprisonment. A third count of Trespassing was however dismissed by the court with the judge stating that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused persons indeed trespassed. In an interview with Citi News, the counsel for the accused persons, Dolla Jabah Mensah, said they were disappointed with the ruling. He said Im obviously disappointed with the judgement because prosecution failed to prove my clients were illegally mining. He also said the sentence is very harsh so we will take our time to study the judgement and advice our clients as to the next step to take. Their woes come on the heels of a war the government of Ghana has waged on illegal mining in the country. Operation Vanguard arrests over 90 more illegal miners An anti-illegal mining task force formed by government to clamp down on the menace known as Operation Vanguard, has so far arrested 183 persons who engaged in illegal mining activities across the country. The miners were arrested in some illegal mining areas in the Ashanti, Eastern and Western Regions. By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana YaoundA (AFP) - Cameroon's President Paul Biya halted on Wednesday the trial of leaders of the nation's English-speaking community who stand accused of terror-related charges over their fight for Anglophone rights in the French-majority nation. The leaders -- lawyer Felix Agbor Nkongho, teacher Neba Fontem Aforteka'a and Paul Ayah Abine -- were expected to be released soon, one of their lawyers said. They are among roughly 30 activists being prosecuted on charges that include terrorism as well as rebellion, and which are punishable by death. Biya's decision, which was announced on state radio, was seen as an effort to calm tensions in the crisis over Anglophone rights in the central African nation of 22 million. The men were arrested in January after the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium led by Nkongho and Aforteka'a called a strike to promote the rights of the English-speaking minority, which accounts for about 20 percent of the population. The crisis was triggered by a strike by lawyers demanding that the anglophone regions use Anglo-Saxon common law as their judicial benchmark. Teachers then went on strike. Biya's decree did not mention by name one of the movement's jailed leaders, the broadcaster Mancho Bibixy, leaving his fate uncertain for the moment. 'Not fundamentally resolve conflict' Protests in the two main English-speaking regions, in northwest and southwest Cameroon, have pressed for a federal state while some secessionists have even called for independence. However, the government took a hard line, including the cutting off of internet access for over three months in the two English-speaking regions. The president's decree also applies to "certain other people detained over the violence in recent months". "The process of freeing them is under way, but I strongly doubt that it will be tonight," Claude Assira, a member of the leaders' legal team, said on Wednesday. Biya's decision came without much warning and as the situation appeared at a stalemate between unyielding authorities and strikes in the anglo areas that have wrought havoc. "This is a decision that was made to calm the situation, but from my point of view will not fundamentally resolve the conflict," said Mathias Eric Owona Nguini, a politics professor at Yaounde-II University. "Once the English-speaking leaders are released, will they start agreeing with the regime?" he asked. The English-speaking minority can be traced back to Cameroon's unique history. At the end of World War II the one-time German colony was handed to France and Britain to run. The dual communities are a legacy of the unification in 1961 of two colonial-era entities previously run by France and Britain. An exporter of oil that is rich in timber and agriculture, Cameroon is among the most prosperous economies on the continent. But the anglophone minority has long complained that wealth has not been shared fairly, and that they have suffered discrimination. Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Free Zones Board, Michael Okyere Baafi 30.08.2017 LISTEN Chief Executive Officer for the Ghana Free Zones Board, Michael Okyere Baafi is supporting the construction of an ultra modern computer laboratory for the Wesley Methodist Basic School at Koforidua in the Eastern Region. At a short presentation ceremony held at the Methodists Church office in Koforidua, Mr. Kingsley Ofosu, an aide to Mr. Okyrere Baafi, presented a Cheque for 33,000 for the construction of the ICT laboratory. The cheque donation was raised by the Okyere Baafi Educational Foundation through Melcom Ghana Ltd for this purpose. The total cost of the project is estimated at 40,000. Kingsley Ofosu indicated that, the donation forms part of efforts by the Okyere Baafi Foundation to contribute to the development of human resources in the New Juaben Municipality where the Free Zones Board CEO hails from. Already, a number of residents have benefited from educational support from the Foundation. Synod Secretary for the Methodist Diocese, Very Rev. Dr. Samuel Duah Dodd who received the Cheque on behalf of the Church indicated, the presentation is timely. He said the school received 15 computers from government as a reward for emerging the best school with high score in General Science during 2016 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) exams. According to him, the school is unable to use these computers due to lack of space to serve as laboratory. It was therefore, fascinating for the school authorities to see efforts being made to have an ICT Center to facilitate teaching and learning. On 27th August, 2017 at 8:30pm to 11:15pm, I was invited by Sompa Radio Station based in Cape Coast on their Christian programme to discuss on the topic Advice for the young Proverbs 3 (Youths and the Law). As the President of CCCN (www.cccn.webs.com or www.facebook.com/cccnpage)and ordained lay preacher below is a summary of my Biblical point of view on the topic: Youth literally means the stage between childhood and adulthood. The time at which a person is said to appearsfresh, vigour, and being young. To some the age limit is between 13 to 35, or 13 to 40, whiles others defined it to be a stage where a person is vigorous and age does not matter. Young is the state of being young, fresh and not old. Law is a set of rules made and enforced in a community or society as a whole. It is made for people for peace and justice. According to the Bible, it has been made by GOD and interpreted by anointed men or ministers of GOD with the aid of the Holy Spirit. The secular law or constitution is made by man or people who arerulers, opinion leaders, trained and philosophers. Proverbs chapter 3 is about advice for the young or youths; the advice of Godly wisdom. The youth or young is always targeted by the experienced people, parents, and ministers of the gospel for advising. Proverbs 22:15 , it is stated that foolishness is bounded in the heart of a child or a youth and need to be counselled to live an expected life. It is hard for many young people to flee from immoralities. Immoralities That the Young Or Youth Is Struggling With: Life is a learning process, day in day out; there are new things that emerge either by nature or the cause or action of man. What the young does not know or understand is the parents or adults have once passed through stages he or she is now passing through. Many youths indulge in sexual immoralities, alcoholism, occultism, and, drug abuse, examination malpractices, and many more. I am happy that Christ CenteredCounseling Network (CCCN www.cccn.webs.com and www.facebook.com/cccnpage )aims at dealing with social vices and helping the youths in social innovations. The Law The law is the love, which is to be expressed on GOD and humanity. In (Matthew 22:36-40; Luke 10:27) we are to love GOD with our heart, soul, and mind; and love our neighbours as ourselves. In Proverbs 3 Solomon is advising the young to gain Godly wisdom. The young is made to understand not to forget the counsel or advice by the prophets or ministers of GOD. Solomon wrote obtaining Godly wisdom gives long and prosperous life. He said the young is to be: Loyal Faithful Keep GODs word in the heart, trust in GOD, Rely on GOD only and not self. Obey GOD and refuse to do wrong Should not resist GODs rebuke when he go contrary to His rules Value wisdom than gold. Kind and resist being wicked (thats reject wickedness) Avoid arguing unnecessary And honour GOD with his possessions or wealth. What Wisdom Produces Are: Obtaining godly wisdom and denying or rejecting the world (immoralities/social vices) offers Abundant blessings Happy and profitable life Pleasant life and leads one to safety Removes fear and empowers. The wicked is cursed and righteous is blessed. Conclusion: Understanding GODs ways and gaining His Wisdom and Knowledge makes one happy and profitable. Wisdom is valuable and out of it GOD created Heavens and the Earth. Wisdom is more valuable than gold and silver and offers healthy long and prosperous life. Holding on to godly wisdom and rejecting the worldly things offers peace and good relationship with GOD. One needs to be humble, kind to all, avoid being wicked and foolish, avoid useless argument, and resist the lust of the flesh and rely on GOD only to live a successful life. The youth has to understand that those who are not righteous are under curse until they turn to GOD. The righteous is blessed. Supporting Bible Readings Below: Bible version: King James Proverbs 22:15, Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proverbs 13:24, He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Proverbs 19:20: Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. 1Tmothy 4:12: Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Titus 2:6: Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 2Tmothy 2:22: Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Yours in Christ M. K. Acquah (CCCN) Join CCCN. Christ CenteredCounseling Network (CCCN) is looking for partnership, donors, volunteers, philanthropist, professionals, and Christian Organizations to support my cause. We would be really happy to experience your warm partnership support. We are eagerly asking all Christian business organizations, churches, institutions, and the general public to come into our aid. We will also appreciate you by introducing or suggesting us to other organizations and people. Please read more about us on www.cccn.webs.com www.facebook.com/cccnpage Twitter: https://twitter.com/cccncounseling / @cccncounseling Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8582950 N.B. CCCN Principal Activity/Causes/Objects Our principal activities are Biblical Counseling, Social Studies and Research Works, Human Resource Development and Entrepreneurship Aid, and Schools and Community Outreach Programs. Join our LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8582950 Website: www.cccn.webs.com Acknowledgements: SOMPA FM 90.9 Studio Contact lines: (00233) 0312290385 / 0362194490 Online links: https://tunein.com/radio/Sompa-FM-909-s259175/ http://onlineradiobox.com/gh/sompafm/ http://www.streamingthe.net/Radio-Sompa-FM-90.9-Cape-Coast/p/28064 http://raddio.net/269073-sompa-fm/ Feel free to join, call and make your contribution. SOMPA FM 90.9, Cape Coast South of Ghana, West Africa. The growing incidence of financial and cross-border crimes such as human and drug trafficking, cyber crimes, fraud, and terrorism have become a major security threat to West African countries with millions of lives and properties being destroyed. Its a worrying time for developing countries over the spate of transnational crimes that are fast gaining root in the sub-region. The Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Gifty Twum Ampofo has called on reps of ECOWAS countries to forge strong collaboration within the West African to effectively fight the aforementioned crimes which are threatening our security and stability. She noted that perpetrators of these crimes take advantage of globalization, trade liberalization and exploring new technologies. According to her, women and children suffer the greater part of the generally increasing reports of financial and cross border crimes in the sub-region. She said this at a 3day regional forum of 15 ECOWAS reps on Gender and Youth Dimensions of Financial and Cross-border Criminality in West Africa organized by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC) in Accra. In addressing the issue, the sector minister indicated that this requires an all-inclusive approach towards the gender disparities and high rate youth unemployment. We need to further invest in quality education in order produce the right set of people for development. We also have to strengthen the cross-border law enforcement agencies so as to enable them effectively check the frequent crimes that impede its internal relations and development, Hon. GiftyTwumAmpofo stated. She emphasized that Ghana has empowered institutions and legal frameworks to address the menace such as Narcotic Control Board, Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Human Trafficking Unity under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. Deputy Director General of Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Mr. Brian AnkuSapati, said ECOWAS has envisioned to create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region built on good governance and where people have the capacity to access and harness its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation by the year 2020. He indicated that members of organized criminal group and terrorists organisations are mobile and often seek to evade detection, arrest, and punishment by operating across international borders. Mr. Sapati posted that they take advantage of the porosity of our borders and play on the frequent reluctance of law enforcement authorities to engage in complicated and expensive transnational investigations and prosecution. Therefore the inability of any one state to effectively address these threats translates itself into an overall weakness in the international regime of criminal justice administration. For states with relatively weak criminal justice capacities, these challenges can often time appear insurmountable, he stated. The Deputy Director General of GIABA added that international initiatives require countries to adopt and effectively adopt standards to fight money laundering and terrorist financing with the view to taking the profit out of crime and applying appropriate sanctions to deter criminal elements from perpetrating their nefarious activities. He intimated that the mission of GIABA, a specialized institution to promote concerted action in the design and diligent Implementation of harmonized anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes in West Africa, consistent with international standards and thereby enhance the safety and stability of the economies of member states. According to him, the forum is also a response to the call by the Authority on member states to intensify ongoing efforts against drug trafficking and other organized crimes, by strengthening enforcement mechanisms, including expanding the scope of predicate offences for money laundering to cover all acquisitive offences and prosecute those responsible for drug trafficking and economic and financial crime within member states by ensuring there is no impunity. The Director of ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (EGDC), Mrs. Sandra OulateFattoh E stressed that one very important emerging dimension of the dynamics if organized crime in West Africa that needs critical attention is the growing involvement of women and the youth, both as active participants and as victims. She indicated that this phenomenon which is largely fueled by poverty and to an extent by greed is done in the form of forced recruitment of children or young girls and women for the purposes of economic and sexual exploitation. According to her, every year, between 3,800 and 5,000 girls and women are reported as victims of human trafficking in the sub-region. Mrs. Sandra OulateFattoh E emphasized that mainstreaming gender and youth issues into the relevant policies and mechanisms will not only bring about equitable participation in decision making on issues bordering on the prevention of economic and financial crimes and violence extremism, it will also ensure a more committed appropriation of the process, transparency, accountability and a strong sense of purpose. The forum aimed at bringing together key stakeholders in ECOWAS member states to share knowledge, experiences and best practices with a view of defining a comprehensive framework to mainstream gender and youth into the fight against financial crimes and related issues in the ECOWAS region. With Additional Files From Abubakari Seidu Ajarfor All roads this Sallah break leads to TerraKulture arena, Victoria Island, Lagos to witness one of the best works of Literature veteran, Prof. Wole Soyinka- Death and the Kings Horseman performed live on stage. The play Death and the Kings Horseman which is set in ancient Oyo town describes Nigeria during the Second World War, when Nigeria was still a British colony where after the Kings death, the kings horseman commences the traditional ritual that will ensure the smooth transition of the dead king to the world beyond as the British colonial officer intervenes. As an effect, the harmonious co-existence between the living, the dead and the unborn is under severe threat, leading to a grave conflict. The presentation of the classic play according to the organisers- Arambe Productions and Mahogany International, will be the toast of town for both dignitaries and regular people as it has been scheduled to run from 1st of September to 4th of September 2017. The stage play will see stars such as Toyin Oshinaike, Tunji Sotimirin, Bukky Ogunnote, Tunde Onikoyi, Wale Lampejo and many more thrill the audience to a show of thrills and ambience as it will be directed by ace stage director, Bisi Adigun. The organisers also disclosed that tickets to this landmark event are avaible at Terra Kulture, Slot outlets, Bruno's Place, Ikeja, Prince Ebeano Supermarkets, and ariiyatickets.com Freeze in government sector employment is expected to continue till April 2019 following an extension of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme with Ghana. The IMF yesterday approved the extension during a meeting between the government of Ghana and the Executive Board of the Fund. President Akufo-Addo during his maiden encounter with senior journalists at the Flagstaff House recently stated that government will not extend the programme after it ends on December 2018. Speaking to Citi Business News on the issue, the Chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee, and Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah explained that the first quarter of 2019 will present the IMF board an opportunity to assess the impact of the overall programme. You recall that immediately following the press conference, the Finance Ministry released a statement that what the president actually meant was that when the programme ends in 2018 there will be no further extension. The extension to my understanding is to end in December 2018, but the fund will need a period after that to assess the entire programme, he said. Dr. Assibey-Yeboah stated that the assessment will not be comprehensive if it is undertaken in the last quarter of 2018 since the budget cycle will end in December 2018. Touching on freeze of public sector employment, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah observed that all the conditionalities including the freeze on public sector recruitment holds. Meanwhile, the Fund has announced that completion of the fourth Extended Credit Facility review has enabled the disbursement of $94 million. This brings the total disbursement under the programme to $565.2 million, with the remainder subject future reviews. By: Lawrence Segbefia/Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Pupils of Saint Nicholas School in Tema Manhean embarked on a cleanup exercise along the Tema Beach on Friday July28. The children were guided by their teachers to pick up litter spread across the beach. These included plastic bottles, gallons, cups and other refusethat serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Headmaster of the School, Mr. Emmanuel Donkor, explained that it was important for the children to understand the link between filthy environments and diseases such as malaria. The beach cleanup served as the perfect opportunity to educate the kids on the value of keeping the environment clean. They were joined by Rev. Samuel Candy Yankey, of the Sailors Society, as well as Elders representing Nii Adjei Kraku II, the paramount chief of Tema.8 The puipils were also taken on a tour of the Tema Fishing Harbour where they interacted with a fishing trawler which had just called at Tema to discharge frozen Tuna. They were educated on various seafaring/ marine activities such as fishing and different types of fish that were caught, as well as how the Port works. The Public Affairs Manager of the Tema Fishing Harbour, Mrs. Joana Francis Adaa, inspected a drill organized by the Navy Cadet Corps and Brass band of the school. 15 students from the Cadet Corps will commence a three week Maritime training course at the Regional Maritime University, an international tertiary institution in Accra, sponsored by the Sailors Society of U.K. The beach cleanup exercise and the harbour tour served as an opportunity to help the students gain a practical understanding of subjects taught in the classroom. St. Nicholas School is located in Tema new town, Manhean, one of the closest towns to the Tema fishing harbour. The school was setup to provide children in this deprived community with education. The School was founded in February 2012, starting as a nursery for twenty children between the ages of 3 and 5. Starting with a donation of land and funds from the Tsakos Foundation, the school has grown to include a kindergarten and primary school.In 2015 the Charity received Charitable status in the UK with affiliation to other charities and a board of Trustees were appointed. The Sailors Society has given sponsorship to help with the building of more classrooms and for maritime activities. The schools major objective is to break the vicious cycle of poverty that has taken hold in the Tema New Town community. Tema Aug. 30, GNA - The Greater Accra Regional Minister has asked Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDAs) to resource Sub-Metro, Zonal, Town and Area Councils for them to effectively assist the Assemblies in their developmental agenda. Mr. Ishmael Ashitey said this on Tuesday during the swearing in of Council Members and inauguration of the Tema East and West Sub-Metropolitan Councils at Tema Newtown and Baastona, respectively. 'The Sub-Metro concept has not been functional as expected, and this calls for a serious concern in order to address the challenges accounting for this lapse,' he informed. Mr. Ashitey observed that the ceremony was necessary as a means of bringing governance to the door step of the people by focusing on effective and efficient decentralization through greater grass root participation, better planning, and improved service delivery in the local communities. He said, 'The inauguration and operationalization of the Sub-Metro, and for that matter Town and Area Councils, form a critical part of Ghana's governance structure as they bring democracy to the doorstep of the local community.' Mr. Ashitey observed the need to give some of the revenue items and their collection responsibilities to the sub-structures 'so that after collection, they will retain a percentage of the revenue as mandated by law for effective running of their offices and other mandatory responsibilities whilst remaining accountable to the assemblies.' He asked the Sub-Metro members to give of their best, and coordinate with the Assembly to work in line with the standing orders of the Sub-Metro Council and the Assembly as well as other legislative instruments in the conduct of their business. Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Annan-La, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, said it was a great occasion because it marked a milestone in the history of the decentralization process and local governance system of the Metropolis. He said, according to the new Local Government Act, Act 936, 2016, the Council Members were to keep records of all datable persons and properties in the Sub-Metro, assist any person authorized by the Assembly to collect revenue, organize communal labor and voluntary works, educate people in their rights, privileges and responsibilities, and assist the Council to provide focal point for discussion on local matters and make recommendations to the assembly. He added that they were to 'recommend to the Assembly the naming of streets within their localities and numbering of buildings, plant trees, control and prevent fire outbreaks, assist the Council to prepare its annual budgets for approval by the Assembly, monitor the implementation of developmental projects, and make proposals to the assembly regarding levies and collection of rates for projects and programs.' Mr. Annan-La pledged his support to the Council in ensuring that their functions were achieved, and asked the Council to make consultations with other stakeholders where necessary 'given the need to build a stable and all-inclusive government in deepening local governance systems.' GNA By Alexander Nyarko Yeboah, GNA Tony Evers said Wednesday in La Crosse he wants to bring his decades of experience to the governors mansion. Evers is one of several Democrat challengers jockeying for the right to challenge Gov. Scott Walker in next years election. Hes hoping his three elected terms as the highest elected education official and head of the states Department of Public Instruction will be what voters are looking for to change direction in Wisconsin. One of the reasons I am running for governor is to invest in people, he told the Tribune editorial board during a visit Wednesday. That is what the state is about. I want to return to the notion that if people need a lift, they will get a lift. Evers, who was born in Plymouth, Wis., and describes himself as a Plymouth Progressive, has a long history in education. He has worked in and led school districts in Tomah, Oakfield and Verona and was first elected state superintendent in 2009. Evers said his philosophy of investing in people starts with K-12 education and trickles up to businesses and the economy. If students and families can succeed in the state, then businesses will be attracted to Wisconsin and the middle class will grow. An educated populace is good for businesses, which can hire good workers, he said. It is also good for democracy and building a society for the future. I felt the time is right for a change, he said. I think people in the state of Wisconsin are of a similar mind to me. Gov. Walker has not yet formally announced he will seek a third term. Other announced Democrat candidates include Rep. Dana Wachs, an attorney from Eau Claire, and Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik. Evers said it was going to be tough balancing a campaign and his full-time job at the DPI, but he was excited for the opportunity to pitch his ideas to the people. He said he has received a good response from voters he has met around the state and was confident he was the Democrat who could beat Walker at the general election. Evers brought up Act 10, which eliminated collective bargaining for many public employees such as teachers, as one the things that Walker has done to sow discord in the state. He also said Walkers refusal to accept federal Medicaid and rural broadband dollars shows the governor isnt interested in building people up, especially those in rural parts of the state who are suffering. His record overall makes him unqualified for governor going forward, he said. I know I can beat Scott Walker. Accra, Aug. 30, GNA - Madam Rebecca Ampa-Korsah, National Coordinator of the Network on Technical and Vocational Education (NETTVET) Wednesday said government's handling of Technical and Vocational Education and training was not making the sector attractive to prospective students. She said although government was taking some initiatives aimed at improving the sector, only TVET institutions under the ministry of education were currently benefitting from such initiatives, while those under other ministries were left to fend for themselves. Speaking to the GNA at the opening ceremony of the 5th Annual General Meeting of NETTVET in Accra, Madam Ampa-Korsah bemoaned the worrying trend where TVET institutions under other ministries outside that of education were left with little or no support from government. She noted that the situation where policies on TVET by the government and the ministry of Education focused more on schools under the ministry was a longstanding issue which had extended to the implementation of the free Senior High School, where only TVET schools under the ministry are expected to benefit from the programme at the start of implementation in the next academic year. Government has recently initiated moves to put all TVET institutions under one umbrella in order to streamline and standardize the sector. As part of that move however, TVET institutions are required to register their institutions, accredit their courses and also accredit their teachers, all at a fee. These institutions are thus expected to charge extra fees to cover the cost of these registrations, in addition to paying their school fees, since they will not benefit from the free SHS programme. 'How many of the SHS register their schools or accredit teachers? Who should provide tools for government schools? Is it the students, or the teachers, or the heads?' she questioned, adding that government, by this, was not making TVET attractive to students. She noted that if government gave the TVET schools outside the ministry of education; which were larger in number than those under the ministry, the needed attention as had been given to the ministry of education schools, the sector will grow. According her, there was currently more than 14 ministries implementing TVET Education through more than 300 schools, while the ministry of education had 50 TVET institutions. 'If they give the schools tools, retrain the teachers to handle the sector, just as they've for GES, then technical and vocational education will be attractive but if you leave it to the heads, to find a way of registering their schools, giving accreditation to the teachers, when their salaries cannot even take them home, they will be where they are. 'We are not getting it, we are not getting the support of government. TVET is even more expensive than the grammar school and so if you are not meeting us, not even halfway, how do you expect the youth to go into that?' she stated. Meanwhile, Mr. David Prah, Head of Quality Assurance at the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), who represented the Executive Director as guest speaker, said government recognized the importance of TVET as a change agent for the country's industrialisation. He said in line with this, the process had begun for TVET institutions to be brought together under the regulation of the Ministry of Education and COTVET. They will be enjoined to use the Competency-Based Training for TVET delivery in Ghana, which will allow industry to set the standards for training; resulting in a relevant, competent and competitive workforce. On the concerns about some TVET institutions being left out the free SHS programme, Mr. Prah stated: 'the government is rolling out the free SHS with the technical and vocational institutions in mind. The only thing is that some TVET institutions have not been capturedI believe maybe next year or thereabout they will all enjoy the free SHS'. He however urged the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and NETTVET to raise the concern with the appropriate policy makers so that it can be addressed as soon as possible. GNA By Belinda Ayamgha, GNA Accra, Aug 30, GNA - The Kwabena Nketia Centre for Africana Studies, would on September 27, celebrate the 96-year achievements of the Emeritus Professor, Kwabena Nketia, to commend him for his scholarly contributions towards the development African History. The event, which would take place at Banquet Hall, in Accra, is under the patronage of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and would be used to raise GH500,000 for the expansion of the African Library facilities at the Centre, which is under the African University College of Communications (AUCC). These were contained in statement issued by Mr Kofi Yankah, the Management Consultant of the Centre, and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday. The statement said the Centre sought to collate, digitise, and preserve Emeritus Prof Nketia's 'thousands of archival files and field notes on Ghanaian culture, history, language, arts, material culture' to provide strong academic and cultural reference avenues for the public. It explained that the donations would also be used to assemble and digitise 'his 80 Classical African Music Albums' to help disseminate his works to empower Ghanaians 'to use them as vessels of national consciousness and conscientisation.' 'The Emeritus Professor has contributed immensely to the development of African culture, history, language, music and dance, as well as their holistic cross-cultural relevance and global import,' the statement said. It said Former Presidents J.J. Rawlings, J.A. Kufuor, and John Dramani Mahama would grace the occasion as the Guests of Honour; whereas Mr Kojo Yankah, the Founder of the AUCC would deliver special remarks to herald the occasion. Prof Kwabena Akurang-Parry, the current Director of the Kwabena Nketia Center of Africana Studies would give an overview of the festival. The event, which would be chaired by Prof. Kofi Asare Opoku, the Former Director of the Kwabena Nketia Center of Africana Studies, would be attended by Members of the Council of State, National House of Chiefs, Chiefs from the Ga State, Ministers of State and Members of Parliament. Other dignitaries on list are the Chief Justice, Members of the Judiciary, Vice-Chancellors, Members of the University Teachers 'Association of Ghana, Africana Studies Departments of Ghanaian Universities, Christian Council of Ghana and the Muslim Council. Others are dignitaries from Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church, Catholic Bishops Conference, Ghana Pentecostal Council, E.P. Church of Ghana, Ghana Journalists Association, MUSIGA and the Association of Ghana Industries. The Festival would also be graced by members from the Ghana Association of Bankers, National Insurance Commission, Ambassadors of Foreign Missions, Academics, and other important personalities. The event would coloured with performances from the Ghana Police Band, Classical Music Group led by Andrew Agyemfra-Tete, Traditional Music and Dance Group, Harmonious Choir, Ghana Dance Ensemble, and Koo Nimo, among others. GNA Nyinahin (Ash) Aug 30, GNA - Farmers have been asked to become more receptive of improved farming methods to assure them of increased crop yield and returns. Mr. William Yaw Darko, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima-Mponua, said this required relying on extension service support by deepening their engagement with agricultural extension officers. He asked that it should not be business as usual and that there should be radical shift towards technology application to raise production levels. He was addressing farmers at a forum they held at Nyinahin, the district capital, to discuss ways of making farming attractive and rewarding to the young people in the area. They also used it to elect new chief and queen farmers for the town. Mr. Darko underlined the government's unwavering determination to transform the face of the nation's agriculture. He said everything would be done to assist improve the lives of farmers by ensuring that they had access to inputs and market. Nana Otuo Antwi Boasiako, the Deputy District Chief Farmer, advised his colleague farmers into cocoa farming to make sure that their farms were properly maintained. They should additionally stick to best practices, which had over the years helped to sustain the quality of Ghana's cocoa beans. Mr. Edmund Frimpong Manso, 52, was elected as the new Nyinahin local chief farmer. He polled 245 votes out of the 284 cast to beat off the challenge by Mr. Nathan Amankwah. Madam Georgina Konadu was also elected the queen farmer after she garnered 218 votes as against the 63 votes polled by her only other contestant, Madam Yaa Achiaa. Mr. Frimpong Manso appealed for the establishment of additional cocoa spraying gangs and said the situation where there were only two spraying gangs in the area, serving a farmer population of excess of 7,000 was not the best. GNA By Bernard Bekoe, GNA 31.08.2017 LISTEN On August 3rd 1857, in what can only be described as one of the most profound, moving, passionate and inspiring speeches in human history, Frederick Douglas, the former black slave and the great freedom fighter and philosopher said, inter alia, the following: "Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. In the light of these ideas, Negroes will be hunted at the North and held and flogged at the South so long as they submit to those devilish outrages and make no resistance, either moral or physical. Men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others". These powerful and insightful words are as true and as relevant today as they were 150 years ago when they were first spoken. They are words that have universal application to humanity and that have been recited and repeatedly chanted like a haunting and inspiring mantra by virtually every notable prisoner of conscience, freedom fighter and agitator for equity, liberty and human rights over the last one hundred and fifty years. They are particularly relevant in the Nigeria of today where tyranny and injustice runs deep, where any form of resistance or opposition is regarded as subversion and is met with brutality and lethal force and where any telling criticism of the ruling APC party, government officials or the President is regarded as "hate speech" that must be supressed. Permit me to give just one example of the latter in this contribution which, in my view, clearly reflects the nervous and obsessive disposition, the sheer madness and the sociopathic narcissism of the Buhari administration. . A few days ago I had a revealing, probing and in-depth interview with a leading television station about President Muhammedu Buhari, his record in office over the last two years, his health and his governent. Lai Mohammed, our notoriously excitable and mendatious Minister of Information, was so upset and disturbed by the contents of that discussion that he personally called the television station that recorded it and told them that the government would close them down if they dared to air it. His call was followed by an equally threatening one from the chief executive of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation who issued the same threat. Yet it did not stop there. Femi Adesina, the President's spokesman, almost defecated in his pants when he got a whisper of some of the things that I had revealed and he wondered out loud how I managed to get all the facts and information that I shared during the interview. He begged the station not to air it as well and also threatened them with dire consequences if they did so. Sadly the station in question got cold feet, succumbed to the threats and fell for the blackmail. I am not surprised by this and neither do I blame them for doing so. I say this because they, more than any other, have been subjected to all manner of harrasment over the years yet despite that they remain one of the most balanced, professional, forthright and courageous media outfits in the country till today. They are indeed the first amongst equals but they also know the monsters that they are dealing with when it comes to the Buhari administration and they appreciate the fact that they have to be extreemly careful even when it comes to reporting what are essentially notorious facts. They have to be even more careful when it comes to allowing strong opposition figures like yours truly and other non-conformists and perceived enemies of the government to use their powerful platform to air their personal opinions and strong dissenting views. The truth is that this government is vicious and dangerous and, in my view, they are only one step away from "disappearing" (Argentinian style) media practitioners, publishers, essayists, columnists and writers that are not prepared to bow down to their unholy will and lick their filthy, unclean and unwashed posterior. Simply put they are a chicken-hearted government that are terrified of their own shadow. They are a government of uncircumcised Philistines who were put in power by heathans and unbelievers and who attract and enjoy the support of every low-life and apostate from the south side of hell. Nothing terrifies them more than public scrutiny and the glorious light of accountability and truth. From the top to the bottom they are all the same: gangsterish and paranoid charlatans who flourish in darkness and who thrive in division, conflict, lies, deceit, suppression, threats, murder, violence and intimidation. Femi Adesina's cowardice and perfidy particularly is nothing new. This is the same man that threatened the publisher of two leading national newspapers to close my weekly column and that has been begging and offering inducements to virtually every online magazine that I write for to stop publishing my essays. That is how fearful, feeble, powerless, shameless, cowardly and paranoid the Buhari government has become. That is the level of their depravity and that is the level that they have degenerated to. They cannot take criticism and they cannot bear any form of factual and in-depth analysis of their abysmal and woeful performance. They do not have the stomach or intellectual stamina for a strong and lively challenge, for what I would describe as "hardtalk" or indeed for any form of virile debate and contentious public discourse. Simply put they behave like a congress of baboons and a colony of monkeys. They always run away from a real fight and a real debate and they are terrified of those that are ready to take them on. Instead of attempting to defend themselves in the court of public opinion they seek to silence the opposition by the power of their might and they seek to supress dissent, muscle the media and bury the truth. Despite their sheer desperation to hold on to power at any cost and to cower the people and in spite of their despicable, tyrannical and inglorious mindset I have the following to say to them: like satan, your time is short. You oppress the people and whip them into line, not by good works or inspiring leadership, but through the usage of nothing but intimidation, lies, threats, blackmail, disinformation, witchunts, fear, hate, division and terror. Your tactics are as despicable as they are deplorable. Yet despite your subjugation and tyranny it will soon be over for you. The earth and the heavens have rejected you, the elemental forces oppose you and the Nigerian people secretly despise you. This is the doing of the Lord and it is marvelous in our sight. You cannot wash away the blood that you have shed. You cannot erase the memory of your failures and your atrocities and those that you have humiliated, destroyed, insulted, tortured, incarcerated and subjected to persecution and the most vicious and callous media trials. You cannot silence the voice of the voiceless, you cannot intimidate the servant of truth and you cannot supress the champion of the oppressed. The finger of the Lord has marked you down for shame, torment and destruction and the sword of the Lord has wounded you beyond redemption. The rats were just the beginning. More miracles and wonders will soon come. The truth is that no matter how hard you try to put out the raging fire and the crisis of confidence that has afflicted you it will not stop. Your days are numbered and your end is nigh. The Ancient of Days has spoken and He shall perfect it. Algiers (AFP) - A suicide bomber killed two Algerian policemen on Thursday, including one who threw himself on the attacker whose explosives belt then detonated, state media said, in the second such jihadist attack this year in the North African state. The Islamic State jihadist group, in a posting on its Telegram site, said "a martyrdom-seeker" from IS "detonated his explosive belt near an Algerian security headquarters" in Tiaret, according to the US monitor, SITE Intelligence Group. The attacker tried to enter the police headquarters in Tiaret, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Algiers, but was blocked by the officers, the official APS news agency reported. It said the "terrorist" had been carrying a weapon as well as wearing an explosives belt. "The policemen on duty responded quickly, and one of them, in an act of bravery, threw himself on the assailant at the entrance of the headquarters and lost his life" as the belt exploded, killing both men, the national security directorate said, quoted by the agency. The other police officer died of his wounds after the bomb attack, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility. In February, a policeman foiled an attempted suicide attack on a police station in the eastern city of Constantine by opening fire on the approaching assailant and triggering the explosives belt he was wearing. That attack was also claimed by IS. "Vigilance seems to have been stepped down. We had a feeling that this was coming," a former security services official said after Thursday's bombing, asking not to be named. He told AFP it was probably the work of Algerian members of IS who had fled countries where the jihadists were under increased military pressure. Algerians had hoped that a 2005 peace and reconciliation charter would turn the page on a 1991-2002 civil war between Islamists and security forces that cost 200,000 lives. But Islamist groups remain active in some areas, especially in southern and eastern Algeria, mostly targeting the police and army. Dozens of armed Islamists have been killed in sweeps by Algerian security forces this year. The deadliest post-civil war clash dates back to March 2013, when Al-Qaeda-linked militants stormed the In Amenas gas plant in southeast Algeria, resulting in 40 hostages and 29 assailants killed in a rescue operation by Algerian troops. The Koforidua Circuit Court (B), presided over by Mercy Adei Kotei, has sentenced 26 foreigners and three Ghanaians, who invaded and mined in the Atiwa Forest Reserve in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region on January 26 without licence, to pay a total fine of GH1,560,000. The illegal miners are mainly Nigeriens while the others are from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Togo. The court found Abdulai Umaru, Zibo Alidu and Haruna Mumuni, who are Ghanaians, guilty of conspiracy to mine without licence in violation of Section 23(1) of Act 29-1960. They were ordered to pay 2,500 penalty units, equivalent to GH30,000 each or in default serve three years' imprisonment. The 26 foreigners were found guilty of conspiracy to mine without licence and mining without licence in violation of Section 99(2) and 99(3) of the Minerals and Mining Act 2015. They were ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 penalty units each or in default serve five years' imprisonment. They were arrested by the Forestry Department in an operation led by Palmer Akins Amponsah upon a tip-off. In the court, Hausa and French interpreters were provided for some of the accused, who told the court they were on a hunting expedition. Some of them claimed they were praying in the forest, although the Forestry Department found sophisticated mining equipment at the scene of the arrest. The judge, while delivering the verdict, said claims of the accused persons of hunting for grass cutter and birds in the forest reserve could not be backed by evidence, adding that no weapons were found on the accused to buttress their point. The court said that the convicts provided conflicting evidence indicating they attempted to deceive the court. The Deputy Eastern Regional State Attorney, Cyril Boateng Keteku, told the court that the complainants in the case are members of the Forestry Taskforce made up of police, military and personnel of the Forestry Services Division, while the accused persons are nationals mainly from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. According to the prosecutor, on January 26, 2017, the complainants, on their routine patrols in the forest, chanced upon the accused persons at about 5:00am using sophisticated mining equipment to prospect for gold and other minerals in the forest reserve without licence. The prosecutor further explained that the team succeeded in arresting the accused persons. He noted that sophisticated mining equipment were retrieved, adding that a search in the forest revealed that the illegal miners had destroyed a large portion of the forest reserve and also created death traps. The prosecutor noted that they were escorted to the regional police headquarters in Koforidua for interrogations. Mr Boateng added that the accused persons could not produce any licence and were properly charged. He however asked the court to impose the maximum sentence to serve a deterrent to others, stressing that the verdict of the court would boost the governments fight against 'galamsey. [email protected] From Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua Joseph Kofi Adda 31.08.2017 LISTEN Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Kofi Adda, has outlined plans for more resource allocation by government to address water and sanitation challenges in the country. The minister, touting the progress made in the sanitation and water sector so far, said he would be pushing for an increase in budgetary allocation from the current 1.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to about 3 per cent in next year's budget. The funds that we have now are the equivalent of 1.5 per cent of GDP. We are getting that from a situation of uncertainty, but we are taking the necessary steps to becoming a dedicated ministry, to work on increasing those funds in terms of the percentage of GDP, he revealed. Mr. Adda made this assertion during a showcase of Ghana's district-based approach to meeting SDG 6 at the ongoing World Water Week Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. He said Ghana's President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, considers the ministry as a key catalyst in achieving one of his flagship programmes. We now want to double the resources to about 3 per cent of the allocation; but all that will come from the strategic plan that we hope to put together, the minister underscored. Mr. Adda said the ministry is working fervently on getting all the other ministries interested and involved in water and sanitation issues through its marketing tool of total sanitation strategy initiative. The initiative, which will be launched in Ghana a few weeks to come, will get all the other ministries involved in improving water and sanitation through their activities. It is to get all the sectors to come together to support the water and sanitation sector and play a part of it. There will be a sort of healthy competition among the ministers that will foster advocacy for allocation of more resources and support to the sector, he stated. Mr. Adda said the ministry is also creating a comprehensive strategic plan to realign the approach in meeting the national target of basic sanitation in the next five years. Touching on what stakeholders should expert from the ministry, Mr. Adda said ending open defecation and providing access to safe drinking water are among the priorities of his outfit. We want to get rid of open defecation entirely. We have targeted one million toilets in the next couple of years, he disclosed. He asserted that between now and the end of the year, the ministry has projected the construction of about 20,000 toilets countrywide. KVIP will be left to the private sector operators to deal with in the markets and communal places. We will support institutional toilets and then household toilets. So in the next three to five years, we hope we can eliminate open defecation, he pointed out. Mr. Adda acknowledged the steady progress in providing safe drinking water to the citizenry, which stands at a little over 50 per cent of the population. We have targeted a number of boreholes to dig. Currently, we have 25,000 boreholes, 300 small town mechanised systems that we are going to construct with funding from World Bank and African Development Bank, he added. From Jamila Akweley Okertchiri, Stockholm, Sweden Charlotte Osei Chairperson of EC 31.08.2017 LISTEN Details of the second petition that is seeking the impeachment of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, are coming out. The petitioner, Douglass Seidu, a lawyer, is claiming that Mrs Osei was in breach of public procurement practices and provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663), as well as gross financial mismanagement. He accused the EC boss of awarding contracts amounting to GH249,081,895.03 and $71,406,388.80 respectively without following the required procurement processes and laws. The petition, which was filed on August 18 at the office of the president, claimed Mrs Charlotte Osei unilaterally awarded contracts in the run-up to the 2016 general elections without recourse to the 7-member commission. There are 15 allegations leveled against the EC boss in the fresh petition, and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reportedly forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, pursuant to Article 146 (3) of the 1992 Constitution. Charlotte Osei has up to September 5, 2017 to respond to a previous petition. The new petition has been titled: 'In the matter of Article 46 of the 1992 Constitution and in the matter of the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, from office on the grounds of stated misbehaviour and incompetence.' According to the petitioner, the action is being initiated pursuant to Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, to trigger impeachment proceedings against the EC chairperson. Giving the grounds for triggering the impeachment proceedings, the petitioner claimed that in the 2016 fiscal year, The respondent unilaterally awarded various contracts in respect of voters' registration, exhibition of the voters' register and general elections, which contracts amount to GH249,081,895.03 and $71,406,388.80 respectively without following the required procurement processes and laws. According to Mr Douglass Seidu, the EC boss allegedly failed, neglected and refused to subject the said contracts to the Entity Tender Board and the Tender Review Committees, contrary to Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) (as amended). The petitioner attached as exhibit a summary for the said contracts awarded by Mrs. Osei allegedly without recourse to the Entity and Tender Review Committee, as well as the copies for the actual contract. Mr Douglass Seidu further claimed that Mrs Osei, without recourse to the committee, unilaterally awarded contracts to IT Market Limited and Ideyas Design Agency, amounting to GH1,823,625 and GH19,800 respectively in apparent breach of the requirements for tender under the Public Procurement Act; and attached exhibits to that effect. The respondent failed, neglected and refused to submit a contract awarded to Dream Oval Limited to competitive tender and unilaterally awarded a contract amounting to $32,510, to Dream Oval Limited for the development and redesign of the website of the EC, contrary to Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663). According to Mr Seidu, Dream Oval Limited was introduced to the commission by Ms Charlotte Osei and therefore awarding the company the contract, she fell into a conflict of interest situation. Procurement Powers The petitioner claimed that in order to arrogate procurement powers to herself, the EC boss, upon assumption of office, has been chairing both the Entity Tender Board and the Tender Review Committee of the commission at the same time. The respondent has collapsed the Tender Review Committee and constituted herself into a sole member of the review committee by sidelining the two deputy chairpersons, who by law are also supposed to be members, the petitioner alleged. He said, This action resulted in the respondent being the sole reviewer and awarding authority at the EC, in clear breach of oversight responsibility in public procurement, adding, This has resulted to situations where the respondent unilaterally approves and awards contracts without minutes from the Tender Review Committee. EC Letterhead Mr Seidu claimed that the EC chairperson again awarded a contract amounting to GH154,218 for printing a customized letterhead after unilaterally changing the logo of the EC, and the contract had been unilaterally awarded by the commissioner without recourse to the entire commission. The respondent insisted that the customized letterhead should have the names of all the commissioners embossed on it. This has the proclivity of causing financial loss to the state in the event that a member of the EC was to retire in the near future, Mr Seidu noted. Private Company The unwavering desire for the respondent to treat the EC as if it was her private company underscores her overt lack of understanding of public administration and amounts to incompetence, the petition stated. According to the petitioner, Mrs Osei also spent GH265,051.46 on her unilateral decision to rebrand the EC. This needless misappropriation of national resources by a public official must be of grave concern to every Ghanaian. Initial Petition Already, there is an initial petition from unnamed EC staff who are being led by Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, against Mrs. Osei, which is pending before the Chief Justice. A litany of allegations have been leveled against her, including spending GH3.9 million to partition an office, receipt of a Toyota Land Cruiser from the erstwhile Mahama-led NDC government, spending about $14 million when the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) had authorized her to use only $7.5 million, as well as attending Cabinet meetings during the tenure of President John Dramani Mahama, among other issues. Preliminary Investigations As a result, preliminary investigations into the purported abuse of power and corruption scandal commenced recently. The Chief Justice reportedly wrote officially to the embattled EC boss to respond to the damning allegations that could lead to her impeachment. The two other commissioners Amadu Sulley, in-charge of Operations and Georgina Opoku-Amankwa, in-charge of Corporate Services who have running battles with Mrs. Osei, were equally being written to for the provision of answers to counter petitions against them, seeking their respective removals from office. That petition was said to have been initiated by someone who is said to be very close to Charlotte Osei. Legal experts say that if a prima facie case is established against any of the commissioners during the preliminary investigations, the Chief Justice, per the rules, will then set up a committee to fully investigate the issues and a report submitted to the president who forwarded the petitions for action. By William Yaw Owusu President Akufo-Addo's order to the police to investigate some of his top appointees following corruption allegations leveled against them is a positive step for the young administration. Empirically, it is not implausible to associate extreme poverty and perverse inequality to countries with high levels of corruption. Corruption is one of the most destructive impediments to economic and social development. It takes away resources from the common pool and deprives a large population of partaking in the share of the national cake. Despite Ghana's good governance and democratic credentials, corruption still remains cancerous in our public service and society. President Akufo-Addo per his actions is proving that there is hope for Ghana as far as the fight against corruption is concerned. This is a leader who is not prepared to shield his appointees as was done in the past. At least, we all know that previously, all those appointees who were alleged to have stolen or misappropriated public funds were withdrawn from their positions and brought back to the seat of government. It is no wonder corruption became rampant in the recent past. At least under the current dispensation, an appointee should by now know that there is a President who is not ready to shield anybody found to be corrupt. As the saying goes, the big brother is watching over their shoulders. Even with the slightest allegation, the President has caused the police to investigate his trusted aides. Our humble appeal to those who are raising the allegations of corruption against the public officials is to assist the police and other investigative bodies to get to the bottom of the issues raised. They should be assured that the President is intolerant when it comes to issues of corruption and when they are raised he is ever ready to crack the whip without fear or favour. The President's resolve to fight illegal mining aka galamsey even if that will cause his defeat in the next election should tell all of us that he is a highly disciplined individual with a big heart for Ghana. Do you remember President Akufo-Addos comment on corruption when he visited Sierra Leone? To remind readers, he said: I am imploring people not to come to me and say that 'Oh! Nana, this man is my relative, so spare him. That is the problem in Ghana. You find people going to speak to your wife with the hope of trying to influence you. I am not going to listen to that, because my concern is Ghana and not one or two individuals. At the NPP's national delegates' conference in Cape Coast, Central Region over the weekend, President Akufo-Addo reiterated his commitment to stem rampant corruption in the country and warned his appointees that he was not going to shield anybody found to be corrupt. Let me reassure you of one thing. Any allegation about corruption against any official member of my government will be investigated by the law enforcement agencies. And those who made that allegation better be prepared to support it when they are making these allegations of corruption because nobody is going to get away with it, the President said. With open declaration by the president, the security services which must be seen to be working, also said he has instructed the law enforcement agencies to investigate every allegation of corruption in my government. The request to the police to investigate his trusted aides shows that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is walking the talk and we must all help him to make Ghana corrupt-free. Ghana midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah is angling for a move away from Juventus with Galatasaray his preferred destination. Asamoah, 28, is eager to leave Turin due to limited playing opportunities. The Ghanaian has been linked with a move to the Turkish giants all summer with Galatasary believed to have increased their a7 million bid for the midfield maestro. However, the Italian champions are reluctant to sell the midfielder amid fears of their inability to land his heir. And Asamoah's agent Federico Pastorello has confirmed Juventus are unwilling to do business. 'He wants to join Galatasaray, but Juve can't find a replacement,' agent Federico Pastorello told Sportitalia. 'With the Spinazzola situation stuck, it's unlikely they'll let him go.' The Ghana international has made 36 league appearances in all since summer 2014, having transferred from Udinese in 2012. The Minority in Parliament has fought off an attempt by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to blame its inability to end the IMF programme on the agreed timeline of 2018, on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former president John Mahama. Former Deputy Finance Minister, Casiel Ato Forson who now speaks on finance on behalf of the Minority stated Thursday on Joy FM that, they are disputing the fact that all targets were missed. The comments follow the announcement by the IMF that Ghanas economic reform programme with the Fund which was expected to end in 2018, has now been extended by one more year. It means the freeze in government sector employment will remain in force until 2020 when it will to be lifted. This comes in sharp contrast to an assurance President Akufo-Addo made at his maiden media encounter to mark six months in office. The President had said the programme will not be extended beyond the agreed timeline of April 2018. President Akufo-Addo at his maiden media encounter There is no question of the IMF being extended; it will end as agreed in April 2018," Nana Akufo-Addo told journalists at the Flagstaff House. The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta in an interview with Joy Business, corroborated the presidents statement. We are confident that we will meet the targets that we have set this year, and remember that the Fund will be with us, as we work through the 2018 budget, and we are truly committed to ending the program in April 2018, he said. However, the government appears to be holding the previous administration responsible for the latest development. Kwaku Kwarteng Explaining the circumstances leading to the decision to extend the programme, a Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng said the previous regime did not meet all the targets set by the IMF. "I concede that we are in difficultythat difficulty is coming from the fact that we went into a programme in 2015; it was supposed to have ended it in 2018 [first quarter], the IMF came back and told us we have missed the targets and therefore, unless we would commit to allow the 2018 budget statement which would be budget compliance to run the full 2018, they were ending it...that is the difficulty were in..., Mr. Kwarteng told host of the Super Morning Show, Kojo Yankson. But former deputy Finance Minister, Casiel Ato Forson in a determined move to fight off the attack on the former administration, demanded that the Akufo-Addo-led administration admit that it erred in telling Ghanaians that the countrys programme with the Fund was going to be discontinued next year. In his opinion, the Finance Minister may have misled the President ahead of his media engagement. Probably, the Finance Minister failed to brief the president properly, stated the Minority spokesperson. He said the opposition NDC will be studying documentation relating the latest development and would soon state its official position on the matter. Background The Government of Ghana in 2015 reached an agreement with the IMF for a new economic reform programme following four straight years of poor performance. The main priority of the programme is to restore debt sustainability through a sustained fiscal consolidation and to support growth with adequate capital spending and a reduction in financing costs. Subsequently, the IMF agreed to support the government with a loan of about $940 million aimed at boosting economic growth and tightening fiscal discipline. The programme rests on three pillars: Restraining and prioritizing public expenditure with a transparent budget process; increasing tax collection; and strengthening the effectiveness of the central bank monetary policy. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com with additional files from IMF| Jerry Tsatro Mordy | Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jerrymordy IFS Capital Management Limited, one of the fastest-growing investment companies in Ghana, announced remarkable growth for its open-ended unit trusts at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday in Accra. Manfred K. Bressey, General Manager of IFS Capital, who spoke to journalists prior to the conference, said the company's Mywealth Unit Trust Fund grew in assets by 27.66 percent. The fund's assets were invested mainly in short-term securities and listed equities. The fund returned a positive and impressive yield of 25.43 percent over the 2015 return of 14.69 percent. This was achieved notwithstanding the unimpressive performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange over the period. Net income from operations also increased from GH153,416 in 2015 to GH227,937 at end of 2016. The fund structure was mainly dominated by money market investments, totaling over 80 percent of the entire portfolio followed by equities of 8.9 percent. Its Richie Rich Unit Trust, for the period under review, recorded a robust yield of 26.05 percent. The fund therefore outperformed both the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills, which were at 16.43 percent and 17.63 percent respectively by end of year. Net investment income for the fund grew significantly ending the year at GH80,069, representing a 40 percent increase over 2015's performance of GH47,818. The fund registered very steady growth during the period under review. Assets under management (AUM) increased from GH303,941 to GH480,222, representing almost 40 percent growth. The number of unit holders also grew from 271 to 325 over the period, representing a 15 percent growth in the client base. Richie Rich won the Market Money Fund of the Year 2015 at the Ghana Investment Awards organised in November last year. The fund invested largely in Government of Ghana T-bills in the first two quarters of the year taking advantage of the relatively higher return on T-bills at the time. In the course of the year, the portfolio was spread out into other higher earning fixed income instruments to balance out the falling return on Government securities. The Legacy Unit Trust also grew by 30.33 percent to GH692.848 from GH531,588. This is a marked improvement over the previous year's growth of 1.6 percent. The number of unit holders however shrunk marginally to 164 from 167 at end of 2015, despite the impressive growth in assets in 2016. The economic and market performance were factors that partly affected investors' decisions. The capital market posted unimpressive results as the GSE composite index posted a negative return of 15.33 percent at the end of the year. Legacy Unit trust holds positions in shares and the significant drop in the prices of the shares held by the Fund, including CAL, EGL, GCB and TOTAL in 2016 affected the performance of the Fund. Nevertheless, under the circumstances, the trust made an impressive return of 22.17 percent, a marked improvement over the previous year's performance of 13.73 percent. A business desk report Trailer and truck drivers operating at the Tema Port are unhappy with the proposed certification and verification of their vehicles by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA). The drivers claimed the implementation of the policy could throw them out of business. They therefore appealed to GPHA not to use the policy to impose untold hardship on them. The drivers, who embarked on demonstration on Wednesday to express their displeasure about the verification system to be introduced by the GPHA, said the policy was a scheme by the port authorities to replace their old trucks with that of some officials. They wondered why their trucks must undergo tests to be carried out by ELIE Company Limited, partners of GPHA after satisfying the requirements of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). In a letter dated August 8, 2017 and signed by the Acting Director General of GPHA, Paul Asare-Ansah titled, 'DVLA Approval To Conduct Inspection of Trucks and Trailers Entering The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA),' it warned drivers operating at the port that certificates would be inspected at the gates before the drivers would be allowed into the premises. We write to inform you that the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has licensed Geovino Company Limited to use ELIE Company Limited, an accredited Private Vehicle Testing Station (PVTS) located off the Tema-Kpone Road to conduct inspection of trucks entering the port for their road and load worthiness in addition to the articulated head that are already tested, the letter stated. However, Alhaji Suleiman Mohammed, Chairman of the Ghana National Transport Drivers Association, speaking to DAILY GUIDE, said that the DVLA's assessment of their trucks bi-annually was enough to ensure the proper maintenance of the vehicles. According to Alhaji Mohammed, only new trucks would meet the requirements of GPHA and ELIE Company Limited, adding that drivers of old trucks could lose their livelihood. He pointed out that the drivers were not interested in the new policy. The chairman said that GPHA and ELIE Company Limited must consult with stakeholders before implementing the policy. According to the port authorities, whereas DVLA would continue to do its mandatory road worthiness checks, ELIE Company Limited would check the load worthiness of the vehicles at the port, a check the DVLA does not undertake. A sticker containing security details of the vehicles would be embossed on the trailers and trucks. From Vincent Kubi, Tema Kigali (AFP) - An opposition figure who was barred from challenging Rwandan President Paul Kagame in last month's election has been "taken" by police, her brother said Thursday, a claim authorities have denied. Police officers took Diane Rwigara and some of her family members to an unknown location on Tuesday night after raiding her house in the Rwandan capital Kigali, her brother Aristide said. An accountant and political newcomer, Rwigara announced her intention in May to run in the August election against Kagame, who has held held de facto power in Rwanda since 1994. Nude photographs purporting to be Rwigara appeared online soon after she declared her candidacy. She was later disqualified on a technicality from running against Kagame, who went on to win his third seven-year term with 99 percent of the vote. Paul Kagame's long tenure has been criticised for muzzling political opposition and stifling free speech Rwigara's family say the former candidate, her mother and four siblings have been missing since the raid. "I know for a fact that they were taken to a place I don't know. I don't know how they are. Their phones and laptops plus the house was searched while they were held in handcuffs," Aristide Rwigara, who lives in the United States, said by phone. "This is about silencing my sister because she exposed some things and she speaks her mind against the wrong things that the government of Rwanda is doing." Rwandan police denied arresting Rwigara. "The rumour that is currently circulating that Diane Rwigara has been arrested is not true," said police spokesman Theos Badege. "What is true is that police have conducted a search at her family residence as part of preliminary investigations on tax evasion and forgery." Rwigara's father was a onetime ally of Kagame and financial backer of the ruling party. He died in a car crash in 2015, with family members suspecting foul play. Kagame first became de facto leader when his Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels halted a 1994 genocide. His long tenure has produced strong economic results but has been criticised for muzzling political opposition and stifling free speech. The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has strongly dismissed media reports that his ministry will license all teachers before they are eligible to teach. According to the minister, he has not on any platform said anything about teacher licensing since his appointment. Since I became a minister, I have not on any public platform talked, spoken, asked anything about teacher licensing, the Manhyia South MP said during the 12th National Delegates Conference of National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Kumasi. The minister denied the implementation of the system and used the opportunity to launch a scathing attack on the media describing them as fake news producers. The mischievousness of the press, we should all see. Go and check the dailies, 3 August 2014, national teaching council executive secretary makes a statement on teacher licensing. I'm happy all the unions say they are being engaged for a long time. Actually the council of the national teaching council was formed just about three weeks ago. How could it have been that the council says that they are starting teacher deployment? It is not true. But if we believe everything fake news producers will put out there, we would insult ourselves to death, Opoku-Prempeh said. The Ghanaian Times reported on 15 August 2017 that the National Teachers Council (NTC) of the Ministry of Education had announced that teachers will now have to pass a special examination before being granted a licence to teach. The move, according to the NTC, as reported by the Ghanaian Times, is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licencing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008). -Starrfmonline 31.08.2017 LISTEN The Party's policy is to liberate the energies of the people for the growth of a property owning democracy in this land, with right to life, freedom and justice, as the principles to which the Government and laws of the land should be dedicated in order specifically to enrich life, property and liberty to each and every citizen. - J.B. DANQUAH The import of the messages of the political duo: Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and Mahamudu Bawumia could not be lost on any NPP member who attended the party's conference in Cape Coast. Indeed, the phraseology of the messages was catchy and the gospel well delivered: 'competence' had taken over 'incompetence' and 'anti-corruption' had taken over 'corruption'. The bastardization of the economy had to be arrested; the corrupt practices of the previous regime had to be curtailed; the promises given to the nation by the NPP had to be honoured and there was evidence that this was being done. The removal of various 'nuisance taxes' was one of them: the introduction of the 'one-district-one- factory' project had to be demonstrated at Ekumfi as a payback for honouring the NPP with their votes. Of course, the whole of Central Region giving the NPP 17 of the total 23 seats of Parliament was significant as it was unprecedented. The fall of two die hard' NDC enclaves of Twifo Atti-Mokwa and Ekumfi into the hands of NPP was an honour the people bestowed to NPP. In Asikuma Odoben- Brakwa, the home of maverick P.C. Appiah Ofori it was a close shave for Anthony Effah (NPP: 23,760 votes) against Alhassan Kobina Ghansah (NDC: 23, 330) the votes were just as significant as that of Ejisu Juaben (NPP: 54,508, NDC: 19,485) or Francisca Oteng's Kwabre East (NPP;70,688, NDC: 15, 003) it was significant for the conference to be held in the region which can be called ' the cradle of education' or 'citadel of learning' in Ghana, where veterans like Mensah Sarbah, Kweigyir Aggrey and Philip Quaicoo, had their umbilical cards cut. We are expected to give honour where honour is due, and the free education promised the nation could best be re-affirmed in the region. One could not lose sight of the fact that two men (among others) in this region threw their weight behind the NPP: Kwamena Duncan, the present Regional Minister and Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central. While the former could be heard on various TV and radio programmes touting the achievement of the NPP, the latter was all over the country doling out cash to lift the financial burden of the various constituencies. No wonder, when Kennedy Agyapong entered the Conference Hall, he received a standing ovation! If some people think he brags unceasingly, it is because he knows more than the people think he does. NDC could hardly believe that the following seats would fall into the hands of the NPP: Hemang Lower Denkyera, Ekumfi, Awutu Senya West, Twifto Atimokwa, Agona West, Mfantsiman, Cape Coast North, Assin North, AAK, Agona East. The people of this region, indeed, deserve a 'thank you'. He had had his term of Presidency, and demonstrated great wisdom, but at the Conference, former President J.A Kufuor was the toast of the moment! He could not hide his elation about the youth's involvement in the activities of the party, advising them never to give up hope for a cassava planted takes time to mature. He reminded the youth not to seek instant gratification, but to bide their time and help the NPP to build the nation- for themselves and the children yet unborn. The party needed to groom communicators who would sell the good deeds of the party which included bright ideas and projects, and which would bolster the party for the next 20 years. Being the sagacious man who had been 'there before', he knew what he was saying when he suggested the formation of 'think tanks' to help in the formulation of policies. This should be the real 'invisible force' behind the party. NPP does not lack the men who have ideas to offer, but need not show their faces. And the big one-NPP, do not wash your dirty linen in public! Don't the party members talk too much? Or don't they complain too much? Some people may not agree with Mr Kufour the big men's phones are switched off too suddenly but there is wisdom in what he has said. The devil is in the details, they say, and the people who know the details happen to be the same party members. No one should get him wrong. He did not say deviants should be covered, or that corrupt persons should not be exposed. Rather, what he means is that people should learn to exercise restraint and have the patience to wait- every body's time will come- as the pidgin English speakers would put it; Your time go com. Kufuor's statement must be etched in gold. When the NDC was invited, they dispatched Koku Anyidoho and his team to the Conference. He came singing NDC victory song, and saying NDC is in a comfortable lead Some people thought it was humour; others thought otherwise and that was most un-protocolic, to say the least. On another platform, Koku could have sung whatever song he chose to praise NDC with; he could have said NDC was in a comfortable lead- for 2020 or 2040. But one does not provoke another political party into such unwarranted instigation a 'conflagration' could have resulted if cool heads had not reigned. NPP believe in peace and equanimity, for as taught by Busia, We share the common ideals of the democratic life, respect for the dignity of the human person, an ordered society ruled by law and a brotherhood of peoples based on the acknowledgement of our common humanity and equality. Koku may have to be told that the teachers' and nurses' allowances are on their way; peace shall prevail; law and order shall triumph- and there shall be no corruption in contracts. What is important for members to remember is the theme for the Conference. Delivering on our promises: Our roots, our strengths, and our future. The roots of the NPP are certainly the 'longest, noblest and most enduring in Ghana's political history. Our tradition has survived the martyrdoms, deaths, detentions and exiles of the First Republic. It has survived the various military take overs of our history and long periods in opposition it will not be under my watch that we throw away this proud heritage ., so says the President. The NPP is in a flying start. They should not let any criticism break their backs. As one man of God puts it; all Ministers of State and government appointees should shun self-pride, and dutifully help Nana Addo achieve success. No one should welcome the fate of Honourable William Quaitoo the Deputy Minister of Agriculture on his/her head. Quaitoo spoke; miscalculated; apologized; apology not accepted by the Opposition party members; he called it quits! Se asa. Africanus Owusu- Ansah [email protected] There is now hope for poor patients suffering from breast and cervical cancers in the country, as government will henceforth support them with funds for their treatment. The Minister of Gender, Children & Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, making the announcement, explained that the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) would cater for the cancer patients, who are vulnerable. She added that other poor patients who are also suffering from diseases such as fistula, haemophilia and cerebral palsy have also been included in the LEAP programme by government to help them to stay alive. The Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection has taken note of the vulnerability of women living with cancer, especially those in extremely poor communities. That is why we are adding them along with fistula, haemophilia and cerebral palsy patients to the LEAP programme to ensure that they are well catered for, the minister announced the good news. She was speaking during the official opening of a national basic oncology training for community-based nurses, who were selected from 29 districts in the Ashanti Region and 26 districts in the Eastern Region on Monday. Madam Afisa Djaba bemoaned how breast cancer is sending more Ghanaian women to their graves earlier than expected, suggesting that there should be one district, one breast care unit to help save our women from dying early. In all, 130 jobless nurses, including 70 from Ashanti Region and 60 from the Eastern Region, are taking part in the five-day extensive training at the Peace & Love Hospital at Oduom in Kumasi. The Breast Care International (BCI), Ghana, headed by renowned breast surgeon, Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, is the organiser of the training. Resource persons from the USA, France, Morocco and Ghana will train the nurses. After their intensive training, the nurses would be visiting homes, clinics and other places in their various districts and diagnose people suffering from breast cancer and refer them to appropriate hospitals for prompt treatment to help save their lives. Dr Wiafe-Addai cautioned the public to refrain from taking breast cancer patients to prayers camps and herbalists, reiterating that herbal medicine cannot cure breast cancer. She mentioned that the training, aside providing job for the nurses, would also help bring breast cancer care to the doorstep of the public. The renowned breast surgeon added that trainees would also check the sugar level blood pressure and breast status of people in their various vicinities and advise them accordingly. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi Tuberculosis (TB) has killed 23 people in the West Akyem Municipality of the Eastern Region for the past three years. The West Akyem Municipal Disease Control Officer at the Eastern Regional Health Directorate, Moses Ali Laar, who made this known in an interview with Bryt FM, disclosed that out of the figures, 43 cases were recorded within half year in 2017 with three deaths. According to him, 184 cases were recorded, in which 131 were treated, whilst others are on medication. He attributed the death to delay in seeking medication, adding that some TB patients move to prayer camps, while others seek for healing from herbalists who have not been authorised to admit and camp them. Mr Ali stated that TB is not a spiritual disease, therefore, people should seek for medical treatment instead of moving to prayer camps. He called on people living with TB patients to stop stigmatising them, but rather support patients to cure the disease. The disease is caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, an organism that has caused infection in humans since Stone Age, and its airborne-aerosols containing the bacterium remain suspended in rooms for hours after being coughed out by a person with TB. It is worrying that Ghana is currently recording 640 new cases per year in a new form of tuberculosis cases. Ghana is a Tb-endemic country; 14, 632 cases were diagnosed and put on treatment in 2015. The National Tuberculosis Programme says 77 cases of multi-resistant TB were recorded in 2016. Out of the number, 12 have died, 15 declared cured, while 51 are still on treatment. The National Tuberculosis Programme began the enrolment of Multidrug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases onto treatment in 2012, which currently has about 182 patients being treated. In 2015, TB killed 1.5 million people worldwide, with an estimate of 26,000 people living within the sub-Sahara Africa and in Asia, particularly in India and China. FROM Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua Africas Young Entrepreneurs (A.Y.E), the worlds largest entrepreneurship network, has appointed Olabode Opeseitan, a top public relations practitioner, as its ambassador. The network, which has its headquarters in Johannesburg, South-Africa, has over 12.6 million members across Africa. In a statement signed by Joy Michael, A.Y.Es regional manager, the organisation said Opeseitans enormous continental public relations experience would be harnessed to support the entrepreneurial skills of young Africans and transforming them into a global economic power house. Our focus at A.Y.E is the successful development of Africas budding entrepreneurs through mutual networking in collaboration with established captains of industry, government parastatals and international organisations, the statement read. We are delighted that Mr Opeseitan identifies with A.Y.Es objectives and has accepted to be our PR ambassador, thereby using his decades of experience in journalism, public relations, events and promotions to support the bold agenda of A.Y.E to uplift Africas budding entrepreneurs. 31.08.2017 LISTEN There is so much about Africa that many dont know, even some of those who are from and live in Africa. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 things most people don't know about Africa. Africa is Home to One of the Oldest Universities in the World The University of Timbuktu is one of the oldest universities in the world, established in 982 CE. After Timbuktu was occupied in the 1591 Battle of Tondibi, the University went into decline and many of the Universitys scholars were killed or exiled. The Worlds Biggest Frog is Found in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon The worlds biggest frog, also called the Goliath Frog or Conraua Goliath, which can grow up to a foot long and weighs up to 8lb, has a small habitat range in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The number of this species has dwindled over the years because of habitat destruction and its collection for food and pet trade. The frogs have now been classified as an endangered species. Sudan Has More Than 200 Pyramids, Which is Double the Number Found in Egypt The Nubian pyramids in Sudan were built by the rulers of the ancient Kushite kingdom. The pyramids are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Approximately 255 pyramids were constructed at the three sites in Nubia (Kerma, Napata and Meroe) over a period of some hundred years. The Meroe pyramids, which were part of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush, are believed to be up to 4,600 years old. Africa is the Only Continent to Extend From the Northern Temperate Zone to the Southern Temperate Zone Africa is considered the worlds hottest continent and the second driest continent after Australia. It is four times the size of Europe, and its straighter shores means it has a shorter overall coastline. 31.08.2017 LISTEN The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) is calling on the Nana Addo-led administration to demonstrate one more time that it is a listening government by revoking all permits granted to over 20 companies to harvest and process rosewood trees in northern Ghana and that of the Brong Ahafo region. NORPRA has intercepted a copy of a document signed by the Chief Executive of Forestry Commission granting approval to over 20 companies to engage in logging rosewood in northern Ghana and Brong Ahafo region. In an effort to ascertain the facts on the operations of these companies, NORPRA made a field trip to a number of communities in the Talensi district of the upper east region and shockingly saw for itself rosewood being cut down in commercial quantities. It is recalled that environmentally conscious Ghanaians, climate change advocates and people of northern Ghana strongly supported the NPP in opposition when the party raised the alarm bell through a press conference on the felling of these rosewood tress in northern Ghana. The Nana Addo led government was again highly went applauded when government in the 2017 Budget Statement and Economic Policy stated that it had placed high premium on combating climate change through prioritization of climate change programmes and projects. Regrettably, this same government in this very month of August is authorizing the cutting down of the same rosewood trees in the part of the country that has livelihoods seriously threatened by the harsh impacts of climate change. What is more worrying is that government is engaging in this environmentally unfriendly action at a time Ghanas development partners and the international community are sympathizing with the Ghanaian people on the increasing impacts of climate change on livelihoods and supporting the country with huge resources to implement a number of climate adaptation projects to help the people especially rural communities to improve livelihoods under severe climate change impacts through effective adaptation interventions. Government needs to be constantly reminded that research has already shown clearly that impacts of climate change will intensify in northern Ghana with temperature increasing by 2OC by the year 2030. This is certainly very alarming and what NORPRA expects of government is to rededicate itself to the implementation of a very comprehensive national policy on climate change to minimize the threats posed by climate change. This very action of the government is therefore not only undermining and defeating the noble objectives of the countrys climate change policy and that of the Paris Agreement on climate change but also a demonstration of no practical commitment to the global development agenda such as the Africa Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) We wish to conclude by urging government to, as a matter of urgency stop all these companies from further logging of the rosewood trees in northern Ghana that is already grabbling with desertification and other climate change impacts. NORPRA will not hesitate to embark on series of well-organized actions to stop the companies from turning the affected communities into a complete desert if government does not respond in good time . Bismark Adongo Ayorogo (Executive Director) 31.08.2017 LISTEN Ho, Aug. 30, GNA - A total of 222 communities in the Volta region have been targeted for a three-month immunisation campaign under the Second Year of Life (2YL) project of the Health Promotion Department (HPD) of the Ghana Health Service. The project, themed: 'Protecting Children from Vaccine Preventable Diseases by strengthening the 2YL Immunisation Platform in Ghana', would be implemented with support from UNICEF, Red Cross, and the Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in Health (GCNGH) from August to November 2017 in the Greater Accra, Northern and Volta regions. The GCNGH, an umbrella organisation of over 400 NGOs and CSOs operating in the health sector, had shortlisted 117 and 105 communities in the Ho municipality and Adaklu districts respectively for the campaign. The Coalition, from September 1, will organise door-to-door visitations, durbars and community engagements and tour schools, churches and mosques to educate and provide "catch-up" for missed vaccines, particularly the second dose of Measles Rubella. Dr Joseph Opare, Project Coordinator, 2YL, at the regional launch in Ho said, a greater percentage of mothers were not reporting for successive doses of the Measles vaccine and asked them to ensure infants completed the two-year immunisation cycle towards achieving the Measles elimination goal of 95 per cent by 2020. He said the immunogenicity of Measles vaccine improved by age and asked health workers, as major stakeholders, to provide adequate information to caregivers on the exercise. Dr Opare cited among others, the lack of a clear national policy, low coverage rates and varied understanding of the vaccination cycle, as challenges facing disease control through immunisations. Mrs Grace Kafui Annan, Head of the HPD, said other services such as growth monitoring, mosquito net distribution and Vitamin A supplementation would be provided during the campaign. She said most children in their second years were in pre-schools and that Parent-Teacher Associations would be called upon to support the exercise. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Accra, Aug. 30, GNA - The Ghana Manganese Company, through its holding company, the Consolidated Minerals Limited, has signed an agreement with the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), to rehabilitate part of the western rail lines from Kojokrom to Tarkwa. The agreement will see the Ghana Manganese Company paying a freight advance of $10 million to the GRCL, for the rehabilitation project. The amount will then be deducted from freight fees over a period of three years and five months, following a seven month moratorium during which the rehabilitation will be completed. Mr Joe Ghartey, Minister of Railway Development, speaking at a press briefing prior to a meeting of the Rehabilitation Committee, said the agreement had been necessitated by a drop in the amount of manganese that the GRCL was able to carry for the Manganese Company Limited during the rainy season. The GRCL, he said, will be able to pay for their operations if they carried 80,000 tonnes of manganese a month, but the company was unable to do so after the first three months of the year due to the rains. There has since been a drop to about 30,000 tonnes. 'What it does is that, it forces Ghana Manganese to go by road, which is slightly more expensive but also affects our roads. We want them to come by train, and so we decided to collaborate with them to see how we can improve the line,' he explained. He stressed that the amount was not a loan, but an advance payment of freight to be carried; an arrangement that the Manganese Company had used in previous times to support the GRCL. He explained that $5.1 million of the amount will be used for Capital Expenditure whiles the remaining $4.9 million will be used for operational expenditure. 'Government of Ghana is matching those funds,' he assured. Ghana Manganese Company has appointed its consultants, who will be technical advisors, and along with representatives from the government of Ghana, have formed the Rehabilitation Committee, which will meet to decide a work plan. Mr Ghartey said the GRCL had already began work on the western line using $40 million allocated for the line from the ministry's GHc518.4 million budget for the sector this year; with the directive to use local expertise, especially in the GRCL. 'I'm happy to report that even before this agreement, the GRCL had started rehabilitation of the line, from Tarkwa to Nsuta, where Ghana Manganese is located,' he said. He stated that the ministry had reviewed the railway Master Plan, which was initially envisaged to rehabilitate the old narrow gauge. It will now rehabilitate the old western line up to Tarkwa and the eastern line; up to at least Nsawam and perhaps Koforidua. 'But what we are going to do is to start the construction of the standard gaugeAs I speak the final design for the standard gauge of the western rail line from Kojokrom towards Kumasi has commenced. 'This will enable us, hopefully before the end of this year, to award the contract to a contractor who can start the construction,' he stated, adding that, the preference will be given to the GRCL but the Ministry will not hesitate to use expertise from outside the country where it does not exist in Ghana. Mr Oleg V. Sheyko, Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Minerals Limited, noted that, while Ghana was rich in natural resources, infrastructure was a problem in some parts of the country. Ghana Manganese, he said, wanted to increase production but was not able to do so due to infrastructural challenges in Ghana thus the agreement to rehabilitate the line. This, he explained will remove some of the bottlenecks and help the company increase its production. 'We have plans to increase up by three million tonnes this year,' he said, adding that, it also focused on creating commercial centres along the line, which will be hubs for business people living along the line. He reiterated the company's commitment to Ghana and to working with the ministry, not only to rehabilitate the lines, but also to further develop the region. 'It is just the beginning. I strongly believe in the future of Ghana. The company has been mining for more than 100 yearsWe are here for the long-term and we are happy to have such strong support from the authorities in Ghana,' he stated. GNA 31.08.2017 LISTEN Kumasi, Aug 30, GNA - Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signaled strong support for the government's flagship one district one factory (1D1F) programme with the donation GHE62,320.00 laptop computers to the District Business Advisory Centers (BACs) of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) across the Ashanti Region. This is to help strengthen their operation to provide the needed impetus to business growth in the various districts. Ms. Kosi Yankey, the acting Executive Director of the NBSSI, said the BAC's had vital role to play in the implementation of 1D1F. The computers, she indicated would enable the Centers to effectively discharge their duty of aiding businesses to thrive. JICA and NBSSI launched the National KAIZEN Project in Ghana in 2015 - an industrial development model, under which small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) are being taught best management practices. The programme is targeting BAC Heads, nationwide for intensive training to guide the growth of the SMEs. So far, 56 of the Heads in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central and Northern Regions had benefitted from the training as part of the KAIZEN Project. Ms. Yankey indicated that JICA had continued to resource and build the capacity of the staff of the NBSSI through the supply of logistics and technical backstopping. She said the Board was motivated to go the extra mile to sustain SMEs on the path of growth to transform the nation's economy - give jobs and create wealth for the population. GNA By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA 31.08.2017 LISTEN Accra Aug. 30, GNA - An Accra Circuit Court has ordered the arrest of Arnold Asante, a businessman, who is accused of defrauding Kofi Adams, the National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Asante is said to have failed to appear before the court to answer a charge of defrauding by false pretences. Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Adjei prayed for a bench warrant to arrest Asante, Chief Executive Officer of Kamsak Limited Ghana. He is alleged to have defrauded Mr Adams of GH840,000.00 with the intent of using the amount to pre-finance tyres supply contract secured from Goldfields Mining Ghana at Tarkwa and pay same but he refused to do so. Agona Nsaba (C\R), Aug 30, GNA - The Agona East District has concluded the decision to cultivate cocoa and oil palm plantations to serve as raw materials for the one district one factory programme. Mr Dennis Armah-Frempong, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Agona East, made this known at a Town Hall Meeting held at Agona Nsaba in the Central Region. The Town Hall meeting was organised by the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to create a platform for citizens to express their views on the government's policies and programmes. The DCE said the rationale behind the choice of cocoa and oil palm was to entice the youth to go into agriculture and also serve as job creation opportunity to reduce unemployment in the District. He said the programme could offer over 5,000 jobs to young graduates in the area. Mr Armah-Frempong underscored that cultivating the two cash crops would encourage and create more opportunities for existing farmers to increase their yields. The DCE disclosed that an assessment team for the one-district-one-factory programme visited Agona East some weeks ago and had submitted their report to the secretariat in Accra for consideration and approval. Mr Armah-Frempong said part of the one million dollars for each constituency promised by the government under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would be used to support the farmers and infrastructural development for the factory. He appealed to graduates from Agona East to come home and contribute to the planning and implementation of the policies in order to produce more raw materials to feed the factory. He said farmers would be resourced to plant the cash crops, and plans were far advanced to link other districts which produce cocoa and oil palm to supply raw materials to feed the factory. The DCE assured the citizens they would not face problems in marketing their farm produce as there would be ready market for them and as such there would be no post-harvest loses. Mr Nortey Wilson, Agona East District Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said the District received hundreds of thousands of subsidized fertilizers for the planting for food and jobs programme. According to the Director of MOFA, the government had also given bags of improved maize seeds to the directorate which had been distributed to farmers at subsidized prices. Mr Nortey Wilson said under the one district one factory programme, the government has rolled out another programme known as 'planting for Investment' to enable farmers to plant more crops to feed the factory. He said over 10,000 farmers would benefit from the programme which would start in October, and appealed to farmers to take advantage of the opportunity to invest in it and increase their income. The MOFA Director said majority of the food produce would be purchased by caterers who would cook for students under the free Senior High School (SHS) programme. Nana Nkansah Duam, Queen mother of Nsaba Traditional Area, assured of the traditional Council's readiness to rally behind the government's policies especially, the planting for food and jobs, one district, one factory, planting for investment and others rolled out for economic development of the people in the area. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Takoradi, Aug. 30, GNA - The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has announced plans to establish Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in the Western Region. The institute, the Chamber said, would focus primarily on building the capacity of existing and would be entrepreneurs to contribute to the holistic development of the country. Mr Stephan Abass Miezan, Western Regional Chairman of the Chamber, who said this an interview with the GNA, said the establishment of the institute would form part of the programmes the Regional branch has outlined to grow the local economy. He said whilst many targeted goals over the last two years under his stewardship has already been achieved following his election as chairman, the establishment of the institute, which was among two critical programmes would soon see light of the day. "I will leave no stone unturned in actualising the establishment of the institute during this second tenure", he said. He said the institute when becomes operational would improve the revenue generation efforts of the GNCCI to support activities of the Chamber. Mr Miezan said the project would position the chamber in a more positive light, "the Chamber would stand to gain positively with the coming into being of these projects". He said the lack of capacity by some members of the chamber remained a major concern and that he would help to improve upon their capacity to be able to make meaningful contribution to national development. The Regional GNCCI Chairman called for cooperation from members to expand their knowledge on business development, financing modules, technical and handling challenges of business environment. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Nsuta (W/R), Aug. 30, GNA - The Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) Limited has awarded scholarship to 71 students in its operational area under its 2017/2018 scholarship package. Twenty nine students in second cycle institutions, who benefited from the scholarship scheme, received Gh700.00 each, whilst 42 students in tertiary institutions were given Gh2,800.00 each. Mr Mose Ackah, the Chairman of the Education and Scholarship Committee, presenting the awards to the beneficiaries at a ceremony in Nsuta, said a total amount of Gh140,000 was disbursed to the beneficiaries. He said in 2002, the GMC's instituted a bursary awards scheme for students in its 17 host communities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility. 'Stakeholders in the company asked for a scholarship scheme to be introduced alongside the bursary award,' he said. An 11 member education and scholarship committee, made up of representatives from the host communities, Esuoso Stool Council, GMC and the Municipal Directorate of Education, was, therefore, established in 2014 to implement the scheme. He said the Esuoso Divisional Council, which manages the scheme, engaged GMC to introduce the scholarship scheme and improve upon the bursary award. The Chairman said the committee was tasked to revise the selection criteria to focus more on mining, engineering and science related courses, adding that agreement was also reached to allow second cycle students to receive bursary whilst students in tertiary institutions received scholarship awards. Mr Ackah said to create awareness on the scholarship/bursary awards, the committee organised community sensitisation programmes in all the host communities prior to the 2015/2016 academic year. In the 2015/2016 academic year, 63 students benefited from the scholarship scheme as against 71 students in the 2016/2017 academic year, he added. Mr Benjamin Asare Ankrah, the Head of Community Affairs, GMC, said the company's ability to thrive in a competitive mining industry depended on its quality human capital, which could only be developed through education. Therefore, supporting and improving educational efforts and in other forms such as infrastructure was a worthy course the GMC sought to champion. Nana Kwasi Atobrah II, the President of Esuoso Stool Council, thanked GMC for the kind gesture and called on the beneficiaries to study hard, stressing that that would motivate the company to increase the number of awardees in the coming years. A new fee for owners of hybrid and electric vehicles under consideration by lawmakers would affect drivers in the Madison and Milwaukee areas most, according to federal data. Legislators are more than two months late in passing a new two-year spending plan as Republicans in both houses continue to disagree on how to fund road projects and to shore up a $1 billion shortfall in the states transportation budget. But the idea of imposing a new fee on owners of vehicles that use little or no gasoline has popped up recently as one possible revenue source for Republican lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker who are divided over whether to borrow more money for road projects. Their task got harder Thursday, when state Department of Transportation officials said the state received $66.4 million in federal funding the highest amount the state has ever received but less than the more than $300 million state officials sought. The revenue generated from a new $95 annual fee on alternative-fuel vehicles could be enough to make the estimated $8 million annual payments on $100 million in bonding for road projects, according to an Aug. 21 memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau to Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, who sits on the Legislatures budget-writing committee. Budget-writing committee co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said Thursday lawmakers are discussing a top fee ranging from $75 to $100 for electric vehicles and a smaller fee for hybrid vehicles. Darling said lawmakers havent made a final decision yet on either, however. Most of the money generated from the fees, if enacted, would come from drivers in Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha and Winnebago counties, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. The fee would be in addition to the $75 annual registration fee Wisconsin owners of light vehicles typically pay under the idea lawmakers are considering. Drivers of gas-fueled cars pay 32.9 cents of tax for every gallon of gas purchased. That money goes to maintain roads. 18 states imposed fee Most of the alternative fuel vehicles in Wisconsin are hybrid-electric, and most of those exist in Milwaukee County, where there are between 150 and 200 such vehicles per five square miles, according to the federal data. There are between 50 and 60 hybrid-electric vehicles in Dane County per five square miles. In Waukesha County, there are about 40-50 vehicle owners in the same size area and 10-20 vehicle owners in Winnebago County. Those four counties also have the highest number of electric vehicles, according to the data. If lawmakers pass a new state budget with the new fee, Wisconsin would become the 19th state to impose a hybrid-electric vehicle fee, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures as of July. The fees in other states range from $50 to $200. Some states require higher fees for electric vehicles than hybrid vehicles. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, who sits on the budget-writing committee, said the only reason the hybrid fee is being discussed is because the state needs to borrow another $100 million for road projects. Erpenbach said he wouldnt support the proposed fee because it doesnt fix the problem, and suggested the committee look at larger vehicles that really tear up the roads. Some lawmakers floated the idea of imposing a tax on heavy trucks in June, but it quickly died because too many Senate Republicans opposed it. Hintz, who represents a portion of Winnebago County, characterized the idea as Republicans answer to the best way to punt for the next two years on the states transportation shortfall and questioned whether other kinds of road-users who dont pay gas taxes will be assessed a fee, too, like the Amish, who typically travel via horse and buggy. Im interested in getting behind a comprehensive transportation solution and if we are just trying to nickel and dime selective people as a way to pass another irresponsible budget, Im not interested, Hintz said. Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, who also sits on the budget-writing committee and represents Waukesha County, said all vehicle owners who use our roads should be responsible for road maintenance costs. Hybrid and electric vehicles should not be exempt. But she added that she would need to see finalized budget language and continue to talk to constituents before knowing what she would ultimately support. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, who is the ranking Democrat on the budget-writing committee, said through a spokesman she would not support the fee if proposed. Senator Taylor is concerned that this fee is punitive and would be a disincentive toward clean energy vehicles, spokesman Jordan Krieger said. Budget-writing committee co-chairs Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Darling said last week that lawmakers on the committee plan to take up the last parts of the budget, including transportation funding, on Tuesday. But Darling said Thursday that the committees work could be pushed beyond that. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Accra, Aug 30, GNA - The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), a leading Regional Peacebuilding organization, has urged the international community to put an eye on Togo, in order to prevent the ongoing unrest from degenerating into a conflict situation. Mr Chukuemeka B. Eze, the Executive Director of WANEP, said the international community should be concerned about Togo because when the state fails to protect its citizens under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm, which all countries of the world have assented to, it was the responsibility of the international community to apply that R2P Act to Togo. The R2P is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a series of protests in Togo by the opposition, with a call for the country to return to the use of the 1992 constitution which imposes limits on presidential terms. Mr Eze made the appeal on Wednesday in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on the sideline of a roundtable on 'Reflection on Security Series'. The roundtable was organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on the Topic: 'Should ECOWAS Expand? Mechanisms, Implications, Options and Challenges for Regional Integration.' Mr Eze noted that there were fundamental human rights that needed to be observed in Togo; declaring that 'the first thing is the freedom of expression which is very important'. 'The people of Togo needs to be given that liberty to express either their frustrations or their believe in the government. It is the duty that the government should allow such to happen. 'On the other part, I think it is also important that ECOWAS begins to give ears to some of these agitations. We have experienced it in Burkina Faso, we have experienced it in The Gambia and we are now experiencing it in Togo,' he added. The Executive Director said it was high time that the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance was reviewed to accommodate term limits and tenure of offices of Presidents and Governments in West Africa; adding that 'because we have consistently seen that this is a source of violence. So why do we want to continue to go in this direction'. He said it was now only Togo that was opposing that review of the democracy and good governance protocol. He said formally, The Gambia used to oppose it; 'but I don't think they are still opposing. So we have 13 countries in West Africa out of 15 that have agreed that this protocol needs to be reviewed'. Mr Eze noted that it was high time that ECOWAS reviewed the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. WANEP is a leading Regional Peacebuilding organization founded in 1998 in response to civil wars that plagued West Africa in the 1990s. Over the years, WANEP has succeeded in establishing strong national networks in every Member State of ECOWAS with over 500 member organizations across West Africa. WANEP places special focus on collaborative approaches to conflict prevention, and peacebuilding, working with diverse actors from civil society, governments, intergovernmental bodies, women groups and other partners in a bid to establish a platform for dialogue, experience sharing and learning, thereby complementing efforts at ensuring sustainable peace and development in West Africa and beyond. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Tarkwa (W/R), Aug. 30, GNA - The Tarkwa Nsuaem Assembly has organised a five-hour clean-up exercise at the Tarkwa main lorry station. The exercise brought security personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service, Police service, Immigration service, security guards, heads of departments from the Municipal Assembly, as well as traders and drivers to sweep and desilt chocked gutters along the Tarkwa main lorry station. Mr Gilbert Kennedy Asmah, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), commended the various groups who participated in the clean-up exercise for making it a success. Re-launching the national sanitation day, which was instituted by the previous government and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to keep every District, Municipal and Metropolitan clean, the MCE promised to work hard to ensure the assembly achieved the aim for which it was established. Mr. Emmanuel Kudor, the Municipal Environmental Officer, said it was his outfits' responsibility to undertake such clean-up exercises, which formed part of its programmes to keep the Municipality clean. He said in this regard trucks were provided to convey the waste to its final disposable site. He described the turnout as impressive and called on the people to clean their surroundings to avoid the outbreak of diseases. GNA By Erica Apeatua Addo, GNA Takoradi, Aug. 30, GNA - Dr Affail Monney, the President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), has said the media's role in keeping the peace in the country cannot be understated and needs to be encouraged in its efforts. He said fears expressed in some sections of the public about the media being a factor in spinning the wind of instability could not be too appropriate. The GJA President said this in Takoradi at the start of a two-day stakeholder meeting being organised by the National Peace Council (NPC) to take stock of its activities on the recent past election and to strengthen team building schedules with its stakeholders including the media, religious bodies, and NPC committee members. Dr Monney said not many appreciate the contributions of the media in helping to ensure a successful election and other institutions do, however, engage the GJA to ensure that its members provide violent free content to maintain the peace of the country. He said the media could do better and needed to be encouraged and appreciated for its efforts. Mr George Amoh, Director of Programmes at the NPC, who welcomed the participants, reiterated the important role the media played in moulding minds of members of the public and in maintaining the peace in the society. He urged journalists not to relent in pursuing activities that will continue to bring and maintain the peace in the country. Dr Osei Kufuor, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, who facilitated the meeting, said there is the need for journalists to continue to hold their watchdog roles in high esteem as the peace and cohesion of the country depends on them. The participants would discuss various thematic areas including creating a congenial experience and sharing environment, reflecting on common trends and developing a roadmap for further collaborations. 31.08.2017 LISTEN Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - Mr Yahya Meirigah, a Senior Performer, Ghana Dance Ensemble, has said Africans lack boldness to take hard decisions to turn the fortunes of the continent around to liberate its citizenry from poverty. He said as a result, the society was characterized with indiscipline and lawlessness because everybody was doing what he or she thought was right. 'Boldness in taking hard decision irrespective of who will be affected is the antidotes to Africa's development and emancipation,' he said. Mr Meirigah was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra during one of their rehearsal at the national Theatre. 'Because we are not bold to take result oriented decisions, we cannot implement our beautiful laws that we put on paper,' he said. He said things that are of socio-cultural values have been politicized, and urged the politicians to give the electorate a break by remaining focus on their call and not giving political colours to every issue. He, therefore, called for awareness creation through various platforms to inculcate boldness in the youth to correct what the older generation has failed to achieve. Mr Meirigah also called on educational institutions, especially the basic schools to start training pupils at the tender age to be self-confident so that as they grow they would be bold in all endeavour. 'Our Churches and mosques should not be left out in this crusade as they gather large congregations on regular basis,' he added. GNA By Patience Gbeze/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA 31.08.2017 LISTEN Bawku (UE) Aug. 30, GNA - Superintendent of Police John Kusorbor, the Bawku Municipal Police Commander, has called on communities in Bawku to form community watch dogs committees to help combat crime in the area. Superintendent Kusorbor said due to the reoccurrences of attacks by armed robbers, thieves, and miscreants there is the need for communities to support the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies to fight crime. He said crimes such as stealing, fighting and public disturbances among others in the communities could be handled by the watch dog committees and later referred to the police for redress. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Superintendent Kusorbor said the watch dog committees could serve as the mouth piece of the community, to seek for information that could help track criminals who try to disturb the area. He said the committees could also monitor the movement of suspected or strange people in the area in order to help provide security. Superintendent Kusorbor said even though the Police Service was doing its best to combat crime and ensure that the people enjoy a 'crime free environment', there is the need for the community to relay relevant information that could help the police fight crime. He said there is also the need for community support to police to provide an enabling environment for the people since they stayed with them. He reminded the citizenry of their right to live in a law abiding society, saying any person or group of people who want to deny them from enjoying that should be reported to the police for further action. GNA By Jerry Azanduna, GNA Accra, Aug. 30, GNA - Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, has pledged to work with local partners in the construction, mining and allied industries to enhance quality work and grow the brand's market share in the country. In a media engagement ahead of a VIP market event in Accra which aims to showcase and introduce a range of professional power tools with targeted demonstrations to clients, Mr Benjamin Ofori, Regional Sales Director, Power Tools, responsible for West & Central Africa, said the company was focused on strengthening its relationship with its local partners. 'Bosch Ghana has geared a full business offering for the construction, mining & related industries to meet their needs which includes a wide variety of power tools such as measuring, drilling, cutting and grinding to name a few,' he said. In addition, these are supported with a wide range of accessories for construction, woodworking and metalworking industries, delivering high quality performance delivering optimal efficiency for industries thereby fulfilling the needs of the developing economy, Mr Ofori said. He said the major significance of the VIP event was to underline the commitment of Bosch in Ghana at building sustainable business relationships with customers, increase awareness in its solutions and products as well as to build confidence of the brand in the market. The event is also to show Bosch as the business partner supporting in the development and growth of Ghana. Mr Ofori said aside supplying the tools, there are ready teams with the primary focus of identifying end user needs, supporting in day-to-day challenges of users with a focus on strong after sales service. 'We also frequently organise training for tradesmen and construction users on sites,' he said, adding that the company's aim is to provide professionals with tools that are easy to use to increase productivity in their day-to-day work. 'Our focus on the end-user has enabled us provide a wide range of professional products best suited to meet the user needs focusing on innovative solutions with safety features and supported with training and after sales service outlets. The tools are designed to assist the user to deliver high quality under extremely tight deadlines. At the same time, occupational health and safety plays an increasingly important role. ' Mr Emmanuel Agyei, the Managing Director Bosch-Ghana, said the establishment and official opening of a local Bosch office was a further demonstration of the company's commitment to Ghana. He said in the past year, the Bosch power tools team in Ghana has established Bosch Solution Boxes at various construction sites and the team has engaged with trades people on 'best-in-class' solution fit power tools and supported them with training and after sales service. Trades people have come a long way as they have been accustomed to traditional hand tools. With the conversion to the use of power tools, productivity has increased with accuracy and trades people enjoy the benefit of reduced wastage of raw materials. One solution is powerful cordless tools. They offer high mobility on construction sites without long set-up times - trades people can start work immediately. Mr Edwin Eromokhodion, After Sales Manager, said the tools and machines displayed at the event meet the highest standards in speed, precision and robustness for consistent, professional work results. Tools which are said to be environmentally friendly running on lithium ion technology were also displayed during the event. GNA Government has stressed that the excise tax stamp policy will not add unto the tax burden of manufacturers and retailers even as it begins to roll out the policy. According to the Ministry of Finance, the policy will encourage tax compliance while protecting the consuming public against harmful and unwholesome products. The excise tax stamp among others requires manufacturers to affix stamps on all excisable products. The stamps are either manually attached after the production process or electronically generated during the production chain. The move has been met with stiff opposition from some key business associations. The businesses have expressed worry over possible rise in prices of such excisable goods. But speaking at the launch of the product, a Deputy Finance Minister, Kweku Kwarteng explained that his outfit will continue dialogue to reduce any apprehension. All the things that have to be done in order to make this policy work will now be done. These will include; how we affix the stamps, how we engage, which other product we will rope in, among others. All those arrangements would have to be done, he stated. Mr. Kwarteng added, Suggestions such as not having enough consultations yet the ministry is rolling the policy out today, we urge the taxpaying business community to exercise patience and to continue engaging with us as they have. Following the concerns that the implementation of the tax stamp will add unto the cost of production of businesses, government has initiated measures to reduce the burden. As a result, the cost in affixing the stamp has been absolved by government from now till June 2018. Subsequently, government will be expected to bear at least half of the cost between June and December 2018 until it eventually weans itself from bearing any cost. With this, Kweku Kwarteng is confident the implementing institutions would crack the whip on any business which fails to abide by the directives when the program is rolled out fully. The enforcement will be next year when we have done all the work and we are clear in our minds that there is no excuse for anybody not to implement this fully then we will start going to the market to see who are defaulting or otherwise. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Freetown (AFP) - Irregularities in voter registration efforts in Sierra Leone, coupled with growing fears of intimidation of opposition groups, threaten to damage the credibility of national elections set for early next year, several NGOs have warned. Officials have begun voter registration drives ahead of the March 2018 vote, when President Ernest Bai Koroma is barred by the constitution from standing again after two terms in power since 2007. But independent observers have found several cases of lost or omitted personal data in several areas, according to Sierra Leone Elections Mega Observers, an alliance of advocacy groups. The data losses "hold a real potential to create chaos during the election," which could "undermine the credibility of the elections," the alliance said. On Thursday, another NGO, the National Election Watch (NEW), called for an independent inquiry into a fire this week at the headquarters of the Alliance Democratic Party, an opposition group. The party's leader, Mohamed Kamarimba Mansaray, said Tuesday that two people on a motorcycle threw molotov cocktails at the building, and alleged that the ruling All People's Congress (APC) was trying to "silence the opposition." "Such attacks and impunity are bound to meet the threshold of insecurity for opposition parties and candidates," NEW said in a statement. A spokesman for the APC, Robin Falley, rejected the claims, telling AFP they were "hollow". 31.08.2017 LISTEN General overseer of Revival Assembly Church, Apostle Anselm Madubuko with his Kenyan wife, Emmy Kosgie, is currently celebrating their 4th year wedding anniversary in style. The ever busy man of God took out time to appreciate his woman who has shown him the most tremendous support a woman could give a man and has also help ensure that the church of God moves forward. The two love birds tied the knot on Saturday, August 31, 2013, in Kenya. They came back to Nigeria shortly after and held their wedding thanksgiving on Sunday, September 15, 2013, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. How many will believe that the man of God can be this romantic as he called his wife Bae just to rekindle that youthfulness in him. Happy anniversary bae.... U are my best forever my Nubian queen. Great heart. Great person. I love u! 'The big truck is still on ... Empire Fire Helicopter Operations View Photos Yosemite, CA Mother Nature assisted firefighter this morning battling two fires in Yosemite National Park. Rain fell on both blazes helping crews in managing the flames. The South Fork Fire, burning near the community of Wawona, climbed overnight by 375 acres totaling 6,100 while the containment held steady at 44 percent. Most of the fire activity was on the north flank on Tuesday as the flame burned into heavy pockets of fuel, according to park fire officials. The south and west flanks are contained, but some smoke and fire glow at night is visible form Wawona due to logs and brush burning in the interior. Crews will continue to patrol and monitor the flanks closest to the community of Wawona and Mariposa Grove. Road, trail and campground closures provided by park officials are listed below: The Swinging Bridge Trail on both the north and south sides of the South Fork of the Merced River. The Chilnualna Falls Trail from Wawona Trailhead to the top of Chilnualna Falls. The two mile connecting trail heading north from the top of Chilnualna Falls to the intersection of the Buena Vista Trail. The Chilnualna Creek Trail from the top of Chilnualna Falls east to the intersection of the Buena Vista and Buck Camp trails (Just east of Johnson Lake). Turner Meadow Trail Turner Meadow intersection east to Buena Vista trail Off-trail areas in the vicinity of the South Fork Fire Area, including the swimming holes north of Chilnualna Creek. All climbing routes on and around Wawona Dome are closed. The lightning strike Empire Fire sparked about a 3/4 mile south of Glacier Point Road inched up in acreage by 25 acres for a total of 4,150 overnight, but saw a hike in containment from 40 to 55 percent. Thanks in part to fire management personnel implemented a firing operation on the south flank of the fire to tie in containment lines on the Deer Camp trail on Tuesday. Additionally, park officials indicate the fire growth was moderated due to lower temperatures, higher humidities and cloud cover. The same strategy will be used on three sides of the fire to also limit further smoke production in heavy fuels, according to fire officials. The west and northwest flanks of the fire are contained. Glacier Point road is closed so tree felling and vegetation clearance can be conducted. Park officials are assessing conditions to determine when the road can be opened. Additional crews and engines have been called in to support that work. Park officials released this list of area closures: Glacier Point Road Bridalveil Campground Ostrander Trail Bridalveil Trail Alder Creek Trail Mono Meadow Trail Turner Meadow Trail An overall strategy for both fires is to steer fire deeper into the wilderness where there is sparse vegetation and natural granite barriers, which will slow spread and limit smoke production, which is expected to persist at least through the first part of September. Click here for air quality details. Sonora, CA It is looking more likely that the 2020 California presidential primary will be the first Tuesday of March, instead of the traditional spot in June. The first Tuesday in March is traditionally referred to as Super Tuesday, when 10 other states hold primaries. Come June, during many election years, it is already known whom the leading parties candidates will be, giving the Golden State minimal influence on the selection process. California experimented in moving up its presidential primary to February in 2008, and experienced its highest voter turnout since 1980, according to elections officials. However, there were complaints because the states primary election for other offices was held in June, creating double the costs. SB 568, which just passed in the Senate, calls for moving the states primary to March during just presidential years, to eliminate the need for two elections. Lawmakers have named SB 568 the Prime Time Primary bill. Ahead of the bill heading to the Assembly next week, Democratic Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Mullin announces that he has signed on to be a co-author of the bill, joining Democratic Senator Ricardo Lara. Mullin says, By combining our efforts on SB 568, we have a great opportunity to make sure that our voters have a more prominent voice at a time when candidates are first being tested for national strength and viability. Californias top election official, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, is also backing the legislation. Have you heard about plastic rice? It is a serious problem that can be found mostly in African countries. Consumption of plastic rice can lead to various stomach related problems including gastritis. It is essential to learn how to detect plastic rice. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe by reading this information. What is plastic rice? In the days of advanced technology, its becoming extremely easy to create something and sell it. China is well known for being a country that 'makes it all.' They have now taken things one step further, by creating plastic rice. But what is it? The plastic or the fake rice is made by using sweet potatoes, potatoes, and industrial synthetic resins or, as it is mostly known, plastic. The potatoes are formed in a shape of rice grains, and then the plastic is added. The fake rice looks exactly like rice. But in order to make it more believable, rice substitute is sprayed over the grains to mimic the smell of rice. The Wuchang rice, to be exact. Reports have it that fake rice has been on the market for at least four years. One of the Chinese officials claimed that eating three bowls of this fake or plastic rice is the same as eating one plastic bag. You wont know that you are cooking plastic rice until youve tasted it. After cooking, it will remain hard. In addition, the synthetic resin that is mixed with the potatoes is poisonous to the human body. It is terrifying to know this if you ask us. Thats why we decided to teach you how to know plastic rice. Maybe a lot of you consume the Wuchang rice daily, so its better to be safe than sorry. How to identify plastic rice? READ ALSO: How to start quail farming business? A lot of people are thinking - How can we identify plastic rice? There are tests that you can do to identify fake rice. Unfortunately, there is no way to know if the rice is fake before buying it, but at least you can prevent yourself or your family from eating it. We also recommend testing every brand of rice that you usually by, not just the Wuchang rice. You will never know for sure, even if it is a trusted brand. Lets start the testing! 1. The test with water You will need a glass of cold water and a tablespoon of raw rice. Place the rice into the water and stir it. The plastic rice will float on the top of the water while the real rice will stay at the bottom. Since you havent done any cooking yet, you can get rid of the rice on the top and then cook the good rice. It wont be dangerous anymore. 2. The test with hot oil Take a pan and heat some oil in it. Make sure that its really hot. Take some grains of rice and drop it into the oil. The fake plastic rice will melt and stick together while the real rice will get nicely fried. 3. The test with fire Have you ever smelled burning plastic? Take a plastic bottle and burn it a little bit. Now take a handful of rice and burn it too. If the rice is real, you wont feel the plastic smell, only the smell of burning rice. If the rice is fake, you will know it for sure by its plastic smell. 4. The test by fungus In this case, you will have to waste some of the rice that you've bought for sure. Take the rice and boil it. Then leave it in a warm place for at least 2-3 days. After three days, check the rice. If there is no mold on the top, then the rice is plastic. The reason is that plastic is not affected by temperature or weather. 5. The boiling test The last but not least - the boiling test. Boil some rice and observe it while boiling. See the thick layer of rice on the top? Its the fake or plastic rice. Remember how we tested the rice with water and the plastic rice float to the top? The same thing here, but its also melting because of the hot temperature. Remember that you wont buy a full bag of plastic rice - it will be mixed with real rice. Make sure to place the rice in cold water and stir it before cooking. If there is plastic rice, then you can easily get rid of them. Nigeria remains one of the countries with the highest amount of rice that is imported from China. There is a high possibility that part of the imported rice is plastic. Remember to take care of your health and the health of your loved ones by checking the rice. Its not that long or hard to do, but it will save you from getting poisoned by plastic. READ ALSO: How to make peppered chicken wings? Source: Legit.ng - The army carried out an operation against Boko Haram terrorists - Top commanders of the group were killed in the operation - The army vowed not to relent in its fight against terrorism The Nigerian army in its latest operation against Boko Haram terrorists attacked some of its top commanders leading to the death of five of them. In a statement released by Sani Usman who is the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, he confirmed that the army and the Nigerian Airforce carried out a bombardment operation that killed a large number of the terrorists. READ ALSO: IPOBs demand cannot be absolute - South-east governors tell Kanu He identified top five commanders of the terrorist group who were killed in the attack. One of the Boko Haram terrorists killed in the operation. Credit: Facebook, SK Usman They are: 1. Abu Dujana 2. Man Tahiru (Deputy to Boko Haram terrorists group Hisba leader) 3. Man Chari 4. Malam Abdullahi Abu Sa'ad 5. Goni Bamanga Read full statement below: Based on received information about the location of some suspected top Boko Haram terrorists leaders, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force have been carrying out heavy artillery bombardments and air interdictions on registered targets that have killed a large number of Boko Haram terrorists including some of the groups key leaders. The army's latest operation decimated major Boko Haram commanders. Credit: Facebook, SK Usman The Nigerian Army artillery using Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers has lobbed many rockets over the suspected location the terrorists leaders are hiding. Video clips obtained on battle damage assessment shows clear success of the exercise. More details of successes achieved will be made available as the operation continues. Another major Boko Haram commander killed in the operation. Credit: Facebook, SK Usman PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The key Boko Haram terrorists Ameers neutralized within the week during the joint Artillery and Nigerian Air Force air bombardments include; Abu Dujana, Man Tahiru (deputy to Boko Haram terrorists group Hisba leader), Man Chari, Malam Abdullahi Abu Sa'ad and Goni Bamanga. The Nigerian military would continue with the concerted onslaught on the reported Boko Haram terrorists location till they have been eliminated. You are please requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium. Thank you for your kind cooperation. Meanwhile, a report by Reuters indicates that the Pentagon on Monday, August 28, notified the U.S. Congress that Nigeria is set to buy 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons worth $593 million (over N200 billion) It was specifically mentioned that Nigeria wants to utilize the planes for its fight against Boko Haram. According to the report, the move was announced by the Pentagons Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of the air force giving update on its operation against Boko Haram: Source: Legit.ng - Niger Delta militants ambushed four soldiers in Bayelsa state - The militants dragged the soldiers to a location and killed them - The army warned against the rising spate of killing of security operatives in the region Four soldiers and one civilian have been reported dead after they were ambushed by unknown gunmen suspected to be Niger Delta militants in Bayelsa state. The Punch reports that the attack was carried out along the waterways of Letugbene, Ekeremor local government area of the state. READ ALSO: Top 5 Boko Haram terrorists killed in new operation (pictured) Security sources also confirmed the attack and that the soldiers were coming from Letugbene community when they were attacked. It was reported that the militants seized their soldiers weapons and dragged them to another location before shooting them dead. The newspaper reported that while one of the civilians, a boat driver, allegedly escaped, the only survivor of the attack was said to have jumped into the river before he was shot by the criminals. Mr. Tare Porri who is chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, central zone, confirmed the attack. He described it as bizarre and unprovoked and condemned it. He said residents in the area said soldiers burned down houses and destroyed properties in a bid to fish out the attackers. A security commander also confirmed the killing saying this spate of killing of security operatives had risen in the region and said this must stop. Meanwhile, National coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) warned that the matter of the quit notice issued to Yorubas in the Niger Delta by militants must be duly taken care of. The Cable reports that Adams urged leaders of the region to call to order the militants, who under the umbrella of Niger Delta Agitators (NDA), had asked Yorubas and Hausa-Fulanis living in the region to leave on or before October 1. A statement issued by Gani Adams on Friday, August 25, said Niger Delta leaders should caution the militants. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians talking about the state of the country: Source: Legit.ng - The Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has accused his predecessor of leaving a N220 billion debt - He advised the people of Ondo to desist from activities that would drive the state into economic crisis - He said an internal debt of N53.15 billion constituted almost a quarter of the debt legacy Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state says his administration inherited a debt burden of N220.58 billion at its inception. Akeredolu made this known in Akure on Wednesday, August 30, while swearing-in commissioners and special advisers, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. He advised the people of the state to refrain from acts that could further push the state into deep economic crisis. But his claim about the debt legacy was promptly attacked by a former commissioner for Information during the Mimiko administration, Kayode Akinmade, who said that Mimiko left N20 billion in the kitty of the state government. Akinmade skirted the issue of debt and also did not explain why Mimiko failed to match the N38.64 billion left in the kitty of the state government by his predecessor, Governor Olusegun Agagu. READ ALSO: Army bombard top Boko Haram commanders, see names of those killed (Full List/pictured) Akeredolu said with a debt of more than N220 billion, it was not difficult for anyone to know that the governments capacity for adjustment to cater for the people had been stretched to its limit. According to him Internal Debt of N53.15 billion constituted almost a quarter of the debt legacy. Others are external debt, N17.48 billion; unpaid salaries and allowances, August to December 2016, N17.27 billion; and January to February 2017, N6.91 billion, Ondo state pension liabilities, N4.80 billion; Ondo state gratuity, N15.04 billion; unpaid local government salaries and allowances August to December 2016, N9.3 billion; January to February 2017, N5.19 billion. Local government pension liabilities of N25.23 billion; Local government gratuities N20.96 billion; contractors liabilities N39.74 billion; outstanding payment requests in the Office of the Accountant-General without cash backing, N5.45 billion made up the rest of the debt profile. However, Akeredolu promised to provide the needed leadership to move the state forward and make life more abundant for the people. We will continue to strive to keep that vow within the available resources. We can turn things around positively, he said. READ ALSO: IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu met with south-east governors today; find out what they told him The governor also congratulated the commissioners and special assistants, adding that they should use this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people. Mr Femi Agagu, who spoke on behalf of other commissioners, thanked the governor for the privilege given them to serve the people. We are aware that your administration has a blueprint to transform the state. Collectively, we will take the state to a glorious destination. We pledge to discharge our duties faithfully and with the fear of God. We will defend the oath we have sworn to and we will uphold this honour you have bestowed on us, Agagu said. The commissioners are Taofiq Abdusallam, Rasheed Badmus, Solagbade Amodeni, Adegboyega Adefarati, Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, Omowumi Olatunji, Donald Ojogo, Yemi Olowolabi and Wahab Adegbenro. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Others are: Funso Esan, Wale Akinterinwa, Emmanuel Igbasan, Olurimisi Ismaila, Femi Agagu, Bayonle Ademodi, Julianah Fagbemi, Timilehin Adelegbe and Kola Olawole. The special advisers sworn in include Victor Olabimtan, Olubukola Ademosu, Tunji Ariyomo, Tobi Ogunleye, and Akinboye Oyewunmi. Others are Olawunmi Ilawole, Jibayo Adeyeye, Tunji Fabiyi, Alaba Isijola, and Raheem Aminu. Former governor, Olusegun Mimiko, handed over to Akeredolu on February 24, 2017. Legit.ng earlier reported that some aggrieved workers in Ondo state staged a massive protest at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo. The protesters in their scores decried the non-payment of their 18 months salary arrears. They also succeeded in barricading the entrance to the medical facility preventing doctors and other health workers from carrying out their duties.. The protesters in their outcry also called for the sack of the minister of labour and productivity Chris Ngige over an allegation of mismanagement of dues meant for workers across Nigeria. You can watch this Legit.ng video of Governor Akeredolu speaking on gubernatorial election in Ondo state: Source: Legit.ng Following what must have been a very heavy downpour in some parts of Benue state recently, pictures of a lady posing after her house was completely flooded has emerged. Legit.ng gathered that some parts of Benue state, were subjected to flooding due to heavy rainfall recently. According to reports, the rain which has been falling consistently since Saturday, August 26, 2017, has displaced almost 90,000 people in the state's capital. One of the displaced people, a lady who is yet-to-be identified, decided not to allow herself be overtaken by sadness, choosing instead to pose for pictures inside the flood. The young lady didn't allow her situations stop her from posing for pictures. Photo: Laila's blog READ ALSO: Lives, properties lost as heavy flood takes over Suleja near Abuja See more pictures below: Parts of Benue state have been hit with flood. Photo: Laila's blog READ ALSO: Lekki residents trapped in their homes due to heavy downpour The flood was caused by incessant rainfall. Photo: Laila's blog Na wa o! Meanwhile, see this video of victims of the Lekki flood speaking to Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng WASHINGTON One of the barriers to sensible politics is the opportunism that so often infects our debates about what government is there for, where we want it to be energetic, and how we can keep it from violating the basic rights of citizens. The muddled nature of our discussions of these matters has been brought home by two unfortunate events: The mass suffering unleashed by Harvey and President Trumps pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio. In the case of the vicious storm, we are reminded that some politicians think government is great when it helps their own constituents and wasteful if it helps anyone else. We also regularly assert that government is better when it prevents problems than when it focuses primarily on cleaning up after the fact. But when environmentalists suggest that development can be carried out in more sustainable ways or that climate change is worth dealing with, they are mocked as anti-business or crisis-mongers. Then a crisis comes, and we wonder why the politicians were so short-sighted. As for the Arpaio pardon, it is seen as technically legal because presidential authority in this area is almost unlimited. But it may be the most dangerous act of Trumps presidency. The occupant of the White House has claimed the power to permit government agents to violate the constitutional rights of Americans and to override the courts if he doesnt like what theyre doing. This is the largest single step toward autocracy Trump has taken. What we hear all the time is that conservatives are for small government and liberals are for big government. But this is very misleading shorthand. Yes, liberals typically favor more social insurance programs, including expanded guarantees of health care, and more government regulation of business in what they insist is the public interest. Conservatives are often critical of some or all of these initiatives. But liberals (often joined by libertarians) are among the first to stand up against government violations of the civil rights of individuals. Many conservatives most certainly including Trump use the law and order battle cry to accuse liberals concerned about civil liberties of being soft on crime. (In the case of the Arpaio pardon, Trump seems to be for his version of order but indifferent to the law part.) So who is really for big government and who is against it? Which is more threatening to our liberties: higher taxes to pay for new benefits, or an expansive view of police powers and presidential prerogatives? The conversation about disaster relief helps clarify another issue. The conservative critique of government aid is that it is on some level unjust because it takes money from one group of people and gives it to another. Applying this logic to natural disasters, why should parts of the country that will almost never experience hurricanes help the hurricane-prone areas? After all, people dont have to live in places subject to hurricanes. Well, its also true that some places get tornadoes and others dont. Some experience earthquakes and others dont. Some people live near rivers that overflow their banks and others dont. Disaster relief is premised on an old-fashioned there but for the grace of God go I solidarity. We are happy to see government give a hand to our fellow citizens facing sudden catastrophe today and assume that they will help us if we face comparable challenges tomorrow. This is why it is entirely appropriate to call out the hypocrisy of Texas conservatives who voted against assistance for the victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York and New Jersey but are now asking for federal help on behalf of their folks. They broke this basic rule of solidarity in the name of an ideology that, when the chips are down, they dont really believe in. Of course we should help all the areas devastated by Harvey. Id just appreciate hearing our Texas conservative friends, beginning with Sen. Ted Cruz, admit they were wrong. Call me a liberal (I wont mind) but I do believe in using governments taxing powers reasonably to direct help toward people who really need it, and in regulations to protect the environment and prevent catastrophe. But I also believe it is vital to stand firm when government officials violate constitutional rights, which is what Sheriff Arpaio was found to have done with Latinos in Arizona and why pardoning him is so dangerous. We can certainly debate where government compassion becomes overreach. Unfortunately, were not anywhere close to such a measured and civilized dialogue. - Bad roads is one issue Nigerians still grapple with in modern times - Successive governments have failed to fix roads that are valuable to the lives of the people - The Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway is just one of many such roads A Facebook user, Iroha Stanley Buchai, has raised an alarm over the state of the popular Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. In a post on the social-networking site on Wednesday, August 30, Buchai specifically mentioned and photographed the Umudiawa-Umuahia section of the expressway, which he suggested was practically impassable. Bad portion of the expressway as trailers queue to make their way out of the area Photo credit: Iroha Stanley Buchai He wrote: Though some sections of this road is under reconstruction, but this particular spot has become a nightmare to motorists. Goods worth millions of naira have been lost on this spot. Please I want to know if FERMA has been scrapped or are they no longer functional? Something should be done urgently to remedy the situation at that point to avoid further losses. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app An articulated vehicle stuck in the bad portion of the expressway. Photo credit: Iroha Stanley Buchai Meanwhile, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state is set to ban use of keke in the state capital, Owerri. In a Facebook post shared by one Ifeanyi Njoku on Wednesday, August 30, he stated that the governor gave out new taxis to the keke operators. In the pictures shared alongside the post, the keke operators could be seen rejoicing and applauding the governor for the good gesture. Watch Legit.ng TV video of how villagers scoop fuel from a fallen petrol tanker on the bad roads of Ohuhu in Umuahia, Abia state: Source: Legit.ng Ive long associated the name Harvey with a six-foot, three-and-a-half-inch- tall, helpful rabbit that happened to be invisible to everyone but a friend in a movie that went by the same name. It was a truly tender comedy with Jimmy Stewart playing the rabbits best buddy, but the new Harvey on the scene, a Texas hurricane, is anything but funny although human goodness has shown up in it, too. This hurricane has been a major disaster, pouring rain in depths almost unimaginable, wrecking homes and other buildings, closing off transportation and electrical power, leaving people stranded, and taking no one yet knows how many lives. Weve got a new Texas coming our way, a beaten-down Texas, a recovering Texas. Its going to be years before the old, robust days are fully back, and the entire nation will be affected. Nevertheless, the response has been something to warm hearts, with millions all over jumping in with donations. President Donald Trump has been at his very best, with early reports telling us of exceptional federal help and cooperation with local authorities. Local police? Excellent. The national guard? Nothing could be better. Charitable organizations? Hallelujah. And then there are just ordinary people from all walks of life putting themselves at risk as they strenuously work to rescue people each day. You watch the TV news and see all kinds of marvels, such as a fellow standing on his roof and a helicopter flying over and lowering another guy who helps attach him to a line that pulls the two up and transports them to safety. You read about a pregnant woman about to give birth who cannot get to a hospital. Everyone in the apartment building helps her until someone gets in touch with a fire department and it sends over a garbage truck that can deal with the flooded streets. You see photos of people saving their pets and see the looks in their faces the faces of the dogs as well as the people and almost want to cry. Here is unity in a nation so, so divided, and there is a feeling of warmth about what we Americans really are beneath it all. But then comes the bad news, the news about looters, for instance. For them, an empty house is a picnic, and they dont mind shooting at rescuers. They also rob rescuers and the stranded they let no opportunity pass them by. Price gougers also know a good thing when they see it, such as charging ridiculous prices just for bottled water or motel rooms. A multimillionaire preacher fails to open the doors of his 16,000-seat megachurch immediately as a shelter. You can look up his excuses. Climate scientists have mostly sounded reasonable, saying that, yes, global warming can add to a storms intensity and almost certainly did in this instance. Warming, however, does not appear to cause the storms, and there are fewer hurricanes than there used to be. Some screeching journalists would make you see things differently without adding that so-called solutions like the Paris accords would do next to nothing to prevent what they ultimately fear. A Wall Street Journal editorial said something important. Were a rich country, and that makes this unprecedented flooding terror far less devastating than it would otherwise be. I believe corporate tax reform of the kind Trump wants would boost economic growth to the point of helping to keep that wealth intact and that the promised infrastructure plan should focus first on Texas roads and bridges. This latest Harvey will make no one laugh, but despite our imperfections, it has helped show us what most of us are made of, and that can be crucial as we face a host of other challenges. Lets meanwhile continue to do all we can for the afflicted Texans. - APC members in Jigawa state converge at the Buhari organisation office to celebrate the presidents return - The states party chairman, Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, says Jigawa has no presidential candidate besides President Buhari come 2019 - The deputy governor, Barrister Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, commends President Buhari for the way he is governing the country despite the effects of the economic recession Members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Jigawa state have held a rally to celebrate the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from medical vacation. READ ALSO: Top 5 Boko Haram terrorists killed in new operation (pictured) The party members also promised two million votes for President Buhari if contests in 2019. The Tribune in a report on Thursday, August 31, stated that thousands of party members, mostly youths from the 27 local government areas of the state converged at the Buhari organisation office in the state capital to celebrate the presidents return. The states party chairman, Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, who addressed the elated crowd, stated that Jigawa has no presidential candidate besides President Buhari come 2019. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The party members also gathered at the state government house where they were received by the deputy governor, Barrister Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, states party (APC) chairman, Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, and acting speaker of the house of Assembly, Hon. Ahmed Maikudi. The deputy governor commended President Buhari for the way he was governing the country despite the effects of the economic recession. Barrister Hadejia promised work with the people Jigawa state in implementing the APC manifesto. Meanwhile, supporters of President Buhari in Gombe state stormed the streets on Wednesday, August 30, to celebrate the president's return from medical vacation. The Sun reported that the rally started from state secretariat of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the early hours of Wednesday. Legit.ng learnt that the rally was organised and led by Alhaji Habu Muazu, APC gubernatorial candidate for the state. In the video below, Governor Aminu Bello Masari and Katsina activists celebrate Buhari's return Source: Legit.ng - Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state has donated N5 million to the widow of Osaze Omorogbe, a community leader killed and burnt by kidnappers in Ikorodu - The late Omorogbe was killed and burnt while leading security agents to kidnappers hideout in Ikorodu area of Lagos - Ambode said the late Omoregbe paid the supreme sacrifice while responding to the governments charge to community development Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state has donated N5 million to the widow and children of Osaze Omorogbe, a community leader killed and burnt by kidnappers for leading security agents to foil their operation. Legit.ng gathered that while presenting the cheque to the widow and children on behalf of the governor at a solemn ceremony at the familys residence in Isawo, Ikorodu, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Community & Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan praised the late Omoregbe for his heroic role. READ ALSO: Top 5 Boko Haram terrorists killed in new operation (pictured) Bamigbetan was received by the Chairman of the Community Development Association, Mr. Ahmed Yusuf. Representative of Ambode & Special Adviser on Community & Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan (2nd right); presenting a cheque of N5milion to the widow, Mrs. Omodunni Omoregbe. Photo: Premium Times Reading the condolence message personally signed by the Governor, the Special Adviser said the late Omoregbe paid the supreme sacrifice while responding to the governments charge to community development associations to support its effort to rid the state of kidnappers. Part of the condolence message read, It is with deep grief that I share your sorrow on the unfortunate death of your father, husband and breadwinner, Mr. Osaze Omoregbe. At a time our administration is consolidating partnership with our communities and their courageous and committed leaders, your benefactor stood up to be counted. "He supported the forces of light seeking to crush the notorious kidnappers who had turned your neighbourhood into a jungle of death. In that patriotic response to our call to join hands and collectively secure our communities, he paid the supreme price. Receiving the cheque, the widow, Mrs. Omodunni Omoregbe who was short of words, broke into tears. Speaking on behalf of the LCDA, the chairperson, Mrs. Jumoke Ademehin-Jumbo thanked the Lagos State Government for coming to the rescue of the family. Bamigbetan, who led a delegation including the Senior Special Assistant on Community Affairs, Alhaji Tajudeen Quadri; the chairperson of Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area, Mrs. Jumoke Ademehin-Jumbo; the chairperson of the Community Development Committee, Alhaja K.A. Damole and their teams, prayed at the graveside of the deceased. The deceased is survived by his wife, and two children, Adesuwa and Osaze. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The late Omoregbe, who led the security committee of the Olorunsogo Community Development Association, had alerted the police on hearing heavy bullet shots of kidnappers seeking to capture a victim. On arrival, the police and soldiers asked him to lead them to the area. All of them were ambushed by the kidnappers and killed. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that another ritualist den was discovered in a tunnel at the Challenge area of Mushin, Lagos state on Wednesday, August 30. Watch Legit.ng video of survivors of Boko Haram attacks narrate their horrible experience: Source: Legit.ng - Former President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated Muslims in Nigeria and across the world - Jonathan urged every Nigerian to imbibe the example of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son for God - The former president pleaded with Nigerians to sacrifice individually to make the country a better place Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians and the world to work towards uniting humanity with the 2017 Eid-el-Kabir celebration. Jonathan made the call in a social media post noting that the religious festival is to celebrate Abraham, who he called the patriarch of three different religions. READ ALSO: Top 5 Boko Haram terrorists killed in new operation (pictured) He urged Muslims and Nigerians to make their individual sacrifices to make the country and the world better for living. As Nigerian Muslims mark Eid el Kabir (Eid al-Adha) my family and I join in their celebration. This eid celebrates Abraham, a patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and is thus an opportunity to bring humanity together. As we mark Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for the greater good of humanity, let us all be inspired to make our individual sacrifices for the betterment of the world, our country, and our community. As we enjoy our feast, let us not forget to pray for the less privileged amongst us and show them the love of God demonstrated through us, His creations. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app May God bless us all as we celebrate. Eid Mubarak, he prayed. Legit.ng earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari received resounding reception when he arrived Daura in Katsina state ahead of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration coming up on Friday, September 1. The president left Abuja after taking charge of the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, August 30 for his hometown. Watch this video as some Nigerians continue to have a positive impression of Jonathan: Source: Legit.ng - President Muhammadu Buhari expresses gratitude to Nigerians for praying for his recovery prior to his return from the UK - The president appeals to Nigerians to strengthen the bonds of friendship and unity to keep the country together - Buhari says his administration will continue work relentlessly to ensure that Nigeria becomes the dream country of every citizen President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with Nigerians, particularly the Muslims faithful on the Eid-El- celebrations. The president in a statement on Thursday, August 31, by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, extended the Sallah message to Muslims who are currently in Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj. READ ALSO: Top 5 Boko Haram terrorists killed in new operation (pictured) Buhari also expressed gratitude to Nigerians for praying for his recovery prior to his return from the UK where he had been on treatment. He said: From the outset, I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians who prayed for my recovery and have continued to extend their goodwill and support after my return to the country. "Indeed your fervent and sincere prayers, which cut across religion, political and ethnic divides, has energised me to re-dedicate myself and this administration to the task of building a great Nigeria." The president appealed to Nigerians to strengthen the bonds of friendship and unity to keep the country together. He expressed the belief that the country can make progress if all emulate Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim who displayed obedience to Allah's command and constituted authority. He said: We must learn to see ourselves as brothers and sisters from the same heritage, who must come to terms with the African proverb that a family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Buhari said his administration will continue work relentlessly to ensure that Nigeria becomes the dream country of every citizen. "Once again, I assure you that this administration, which has made the security, economic well-being and prosperity of all Nigerians its priority, will not rest on its oars until we see the Nigeria of our dream. I wish everyone happy Sallah celebrations," he said. Read Buhari's full message bellow: Meanwhile, members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Jigawa state have held a rally to celebrate the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from medical vacation. The party members also promised two million votes for President Buhari if contests in 2019. The Tribune in a report on Thursday, August 31, stated that thousands of party members, mostly youths from the 27 local government areas of the state converged at the Buhari organisation office in the state capital to celebrate the presidents return. The states party chairman, Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, who addressed the elated crowd, stated that Jigawa has no presidential candidate besides President Buhari come 2019. In the video below, Governor Aminu Bello Masari and Katsina activists celebrate Buhari's return Source: Legit.ng Since these columns began appearing in the Westby Times, Ive been surprised by the number of people whove called to connect with me. Last week I spoke with a 58-year-old Westby man, and during the call our conversation shifted to the great changes that have occurred in farming. As he talked about the farming methods of the past, he called it fork-and-shovel farming. That struck me as an apt description, because in past generations the fork and shovel were the two most important tools a farmer used to care for cows, his chief source of income. That was true on our farm. Just inside the barn door, a manure fork and a manure shovel leaned against the wall. Each was used for cleaning manure from the gutters and into the manure carriera steel half-barrel suspended from an overhead track. With the fork we pitched the solid manure, and with the shovel we scooped up the liquid. Both went into the carrier. When the carrier was full, we pushed it outside, where it traversed the track until we tipped the bucket above the manure pile to empty the contents. This happened every day. Just one type of fork was not adequate, however. The average farmer owned and used several forks. Perhaps the most-used one was the pitchfork. This was used on the wagon to pile hay from the loader. Then, in the hay mow, we employed it to spread the hay. When using the hay we would pitch the hay down the chute where it dropped into the feeding alley. Finally, at least twice a day, we pitched that hay into mangers for the cows and horses to eat. The silage fork was another valuable tool. With enough tines to keep silage from falling through, it was used for pitching that silage out of the silo to the floor below. Once enough silage had accumulated on the floor, we carried a heaping forkful of silage to each cow. A fourth fork used by the farmer was the straw forkthe largest of the forks, with many tines to hold a large amount of the light straw. During oat harvest the threshing machine blew the straw onto a large stack. With the fork we would load straw from that stack onto a wagon, then haul it into the barn for livestock. That straw, like a mattress, kept cows warm and comfortable. Prior to threshing, we cut the grain with the grain binder that tied it into bundles, then piled those bundles into a shock. On threshing day, with the help of a pitchfork, we pitched the bundles onto the hayrack and hauled them to the threshing machine. There we pitched them one by one into the machine. As for shovels, a farmer might have a variety of them, including the common spade. But the farmers most important shovel was the scoop shovel. This large shovel was mostly used for moving grain. Corn, for instance, had to be shoveled from the wagon into the corn crib. Both corn and oats had to be shoveled into large sacks for hauling to the mill for grinding. In winter, when snow filled the path from the house to the barn, and to other buildings, the scoop shovel became our tool of choice. We had no tractor, so snow removal was always a manual task. There were, of course, farm tasks, for which a fork or shovel would be ineffective. Thus, another commonly-used tool was the hammer. My father kept a hammer in the basement, another in the barn, and a third one in the granary. As he had no workshop, his tools were kept in several different buildings. His hammer was used often for repairs, such as nailing a loose board, or building or reinforcing the wood gates that secured many of our fields. Although he wasnt a professional carpenter, Dad constructed a few buildings on our farm. During my childhood years, he, with the help of another man, built a two-stall garage. We had only one car at the time, but that second stall eventually housed a Chevy pickup that Dad bought after I left the farm. Dad also built a 48 x 20 machine shed, a project with which I was able to assist. The lumber had been sawn from logs harvested in our woods. My father, handy with the hammer, deftly drove large spikes into those hard oak studs. Though we were fork-and-shovel farmers, garnished with the frequent use of a hammer, we often needed other tools as well. The variety of projects on a farm required straight wrenches; pipe wrenches; pliers; screw drivers; a brace and bits; files; chisels; punches; a sledge; and a riveter (for repairing harness). All these tools were made and used long before the days of the cordless tooland before our farm had electricity. Thus, everything we did required muscle and tough hands. A farmer who used such tools regularly had hands thick with muscle and callouses. Whenever I preached for the first time in a rural congregation, and shook hands with members, I knew immediately which of the men was a farmer, carpenter, or mechanic. A thick, calloused strong hand revealed his trade. Such hand work also contributed to a lean body. Among the 12 to 15 men on our annual threshing crew, hardly a man had a big belly. And it was rare for a farmer to be rushed to the hospital with a heart attack. The Scriptures tell us that, because of Adam and Eves fall, making a living would be hard workBy the sweat of your brow you will eat your food (Genesis 3:19, NIV). How true. The manual labor of farming, that earned our bread and butter, made us sweat. Especially during the hot summer days of haying and threshing. But that curse could also be a blessing. Because all that hard labor of fork-and-shovel farming kept us strong. And we lived well. - An Igbo socio-political group, Nzuko Umunna has warned federal government against re-arresting Nnamdi Kanu - The federal government has indicated its plan to re-arrest Nnamdi Kanu over hate speech - The group said Kanu has not done anything criminal An Igbo socio-political group, Nzuko Umunna, has cautioned the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) against the move to re-arrest the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Prince Nnamdi Kanu, saying the IPOB leader has not done anything criminal except exercise his fundamental human rights of speech, association and movement. Vanguard reports that the Igbo group also said it backs the stand of the President-General of the apex Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo who had equally cautioned the AGF to jettison what he termed double standard in making moves for Kanus re-arrest and his bail revocation while looking the other way in the case of the northern Arewa Youths Forum who had issued a quit notice to Ndigbo living in all northern states to vacate the region before October 1 or face physical attacks. Legit.ng gathered that the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in a message signed by Paschal Mbanefo, the groups Secretary General and Jude Ndukwe, its Publicity Secretary, it urged the federal government to tour the line of peaceful dialogue with Kanu and his Biafran group as embarked upon by the South-East governor. READ ALSO: Tears as Governor Ambode donates N5m to widow of burnt kidnap victim According to the statement, The recent intervention of the President General of the apex Igbo group in the Federal Republic of Nigeria- Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, which rightly cautioned the Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) to abide by his oath of office and stop pandering to the whims and caprices of the Northern regional interest as against national security interest of Nigeria, remains one of the most heroic and patriotic commentaries in the recent political annals of Nigeria. Nzuko Umunna hereby affirms our total support of Chief Nwodos position and indeed, wish to add our voice of caution against the ill-advised decision of the AGF to kick-start the process of re-arresting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. As an organization that is deeply concerned about the degenerating fragility of peace and security of the country, we strongly believe that just as the AGF in his wisdom cited security reasons for not ordering the arrest of Arewa Youths who brazenly issued quit notice to Igbo people living in the North or those who composed genocidal song against Ndigbo, revoking Kanus bail and re-arresting him at this inflamed time will not in any way advance the course of peace; it will rather create crisis of monumental proportion, especially in the South East and South-South where he commands fanatical followership. Nzuko Umunna therefore cautions that at this tempestuous period of our national life, the AGF and indeed other officials of government, must exercise utmost discretion in their decisions, especially such that have the potency and capacity to inflame sentiments, aggravate tension, heat up an already fragile polity and ignite crisis in any part of the country. Given that Nigeria is a practicing democracy, Nnamdi Kanu and others like him who are agitating for self-determination have not necessarily done anything criminal apart from exercising their fundamental right of speech, association and of movement. No matter how vexatious, discomforting and nauseating their utterances and posturing might sound or appear, it is still within their democratic right to exercise them as long as they remained non-violent. To the extent that they are still within the confines of the law, it is the duty of the AGF to ensure that their rights are protected or conceded to them. Nzuko Umunna is also of the view that re-arresting the IPOB leader will rubbish the effort of governors of the South East and other eminent leaders of thought to ensure that he and his group conduct their agitation within the ambits of the law. We are quite satisfied with this window of opportunity created with the meeting of south East Governors and Nnamdi Kanu. It is our fervent hope that a better approach in handling self-determination agitation especially in the South East which Kanu and his IPOB group are spearheading will be reached in their meeting. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app We therefore urge the AGF and the government he represents to give impetus to this current effort of the Governors and other leaders of the South East by not pandering to the impulses of some mindless hawks who believe that the only way to end Kanus agitation for self-determination is to crush him. It is a better judgement to have the patience of exploring the path of peaceful negotiation than the rash resort to jackboot option. Let wisdom and discretion guide your action for the good of our country. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Nnamdi Kanu allegedly insisted that there is no going back in his agitation for Biafra shortly after his meeting with the five south east governors. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Kanu speaking about his Biafra agitation: Source: Legit.ng - Governor Ayodele Fayose says the utterances and actions of President Buhari led to the agitations currently being witnessed in the country - Fayose states that he is committed to the call for full and total restructuring of Nigeria through dialogue and negotiation - The governor says he is glad that southeast governors have come to the realisation that they cannot ignore the agitation in the southeast region Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for the agitations that have arisen in several parts of the country. READ ALSO: IPOBs demand cannot be absolute - South-east governors tell Kanu The Ekiti state governor claimed that the utterances and actions of Buhari, which he said did not represent unity, fuelled the agitations, the Punch reports. Fayose made the statement on Thursday, August 31, in reaction to the meeting of governors of the south-east states with leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. The governor said he was committed to the call for full and total restructuring of Nigeria through dialogue and negotiation because it is too late for Nigeria to disintegrate. Fayose said he was glad that southeast governors have come to the realisation that they cannot ignore the agitation in the southeast region. He said: Particularly glad that Southeast governors have come to the realisation that they cannot ignore their own in times like these as agitation is normal and must not be ignored, although the approach should be handled with caution. The governor however, noted that certain utterances of the president triggered the agitations. The father figure of this country is President Buhari and if his language does not represent unity, there will be agitations like we are witnessing now, he said. A father figure rallies even the bad boys in his house. His utterances and actions when he became President were against the unity of this country. How can a president say that he will only attend to the needs of those who gave him 97 per cent vote and neglect others who didnt vote for him? PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app For Nigeria to move forward and in unity; there must be no sectionalism, there must be no oppression and there must be justice and equity. Meanwhile, an Igbo socio-political group, Nzuko Umunna, has cautioned the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) against the move to re-arrest the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Prince Nnamdi Kanu, saying the IPOB leader has not done anything criminal except exercise his fundamental human rights of speech, association and movement. Vanguard reports that the Igbo group also said it backs the stand of the President-General of the apex Igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo who had equally cautioned the AGF to jettison what he termed double standard in making moves for Kanus re-arrest and his bail revocation while looking the other way in the case of the northern Arewa Youths Forum who had issued a quit notice to Ndigbo living in all northern states to vacate the region before October 1 or face physical attacks. Legit.ng gathered that the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in a message signed by Paschal Mbanefo, the groups Secretary General and Jude Ndukwe, its Publicity Secretary, it urged the federal government to tour the line of peaceful dialogue with Kanu and his Biafran group as embarked upon by the South-East governor. In the video below; Legit.ng TV asked some Nigerians if they prefer restructuring or for Nigeria to split. Source: Legit.ng According to a latest study by the researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the average age of fathers of the new born babies in United States has risen by 3.5 years over the last four decades. The study was published yesterda in the journal Human Reproduction. Average paternal age rises in the USA. Image Credit: Lopolo / Shutterstock It seems that men in their 40s make up for being fathers of around 9 percent of all U.S. births. Men over the age of 50 form around 1 percent of all fathers of newborns. This study from the Stanford researchers is the first comprehensive look at all the live births that have been reported to a federal data depository in the United States between 1972 and 2015. This accounts for 168,867,480 births. The data came from the National Vital Statistics System that is an intergovernmental data-sharing program funded by federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study is authored by Yash Khandwala, a medical student at the University of California-San Diego who was a research scholar to Michael Eisenberg, an assistant professor of urology at Stanford. The team looked at the National Vital Statistics System that records births and deaths reported by all 50 states along with self reported maternal and paternal ages along with levels of education and race and ethnicity of the parents. The authors say that the CDC routinely comes up with data and information about mothers in relation to births all over the country. There is little information regarding fathers of these babies. Eisenberg said that one in every nine live birth had little or no information about the father. That could be because the father was unknown or because the mother did not wish to reveal details about him. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Black and Native American mothers showed least amount of paternal data reporting whereas older and more educated women tended to provide more details about the father. Results of this study showed that between 1972 and 2015, the average paternal age rose from 27.4 years to 30.9 years. When seen according to ethnicities, Asian-American dads, especially Japanese- and Vietnamese-American dads were an average of 36 years and over. These are the oldest in the analysis. As education levels rose, so did the paternal ages. A father with college degree typically was around 33.3 years old. Black fathers were found to be the youngest in the study. Results revealed that fathers of newborns who were older than 40 years rose from 4.1 percent to 8.9 percent and those over 50 rose from 0.5 percent to 0.9 percent during the assessment period from 1972 to 2015. United States is not alone in this assessment. Most industrialized countries show a similar trend. According to Eisenberg this rise in paternal age has a significant public health impact. For starters as a man gets older before his first child is born, he is less likely to father too many children. Further all men acquire an average of two new genetic mutations in their sperm each year. Older fatherhood is linked to several conditions including higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities, childhood cancers, autism, schizophrenia and rare genetic disorders. On the other hand older fathers also indicate a better settled and financially stable father who can give their children a better upbringing. Also older fathers are more likely to live with the children and give them a more involved parenting explained Eisenberg. The mothers ages are also on the rise he said. With advancing age the average age difference between mothers and fathers have shrunk from 2.7 years in 1972 to 2.3 years in 2015. This is seen in all races and ethnicities in the study he noted. Recording electrical signals from inside a neuron in the living brain can reveal a great deal of information about that neuron's function and how it coordinates with other cells in the brain. However, performing this kind of recording is extremely difficult, so only a handful of neuroscience labs around the world do it. To make this technique more widely available, MIT engineers have now devised a way to automate the process, using a computer algorithm that analyzes microscope images and guides a robotic arm to the target cell. This technology could allow more scientists to study single neurons and learn how they interact with other cells to enable cognition, sensory perception, and other brain functions. Researchers could also use it to learn more about how neural circuits are affected by brain disorders. "Knowing how neurons communicate is fundamental to basic and clinical neuroscience. Our hope is this technology will allow you to look at what's happening inside a cell, in terms of neural computation, or in a disease state," says Ed Boyden, an associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and a member of MIT's Media Lab and McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Boyden is the senior author of the paper, which appears in the Aug. 30 issue of Neuron. The paper's lead author is MIT graduate student Ho-Jun Suk. Precision guidance For more than 30 years, neuroscientists have been using a technique known as patch clamping to record the electrical activity of cells. This method, which involves bringing a tiny, hollow glass pipette in contact with the cell membrane of a neuron, then opening up a small pore in the membrane, usually takes a graduate student or postdoc several months to learn. Learning to perform this on neurons in the living mammalian brain is even more difficult. There are two types of patch clamping: a "blind" (not image-guided) method, which is limited because researchers cannot see where the cells are and can only record from whatever cell the pipette encounters first, and an image-guided version that allows a specific cell to be targeted. Five years ago, Boyden and colleagues at MIT and Georgia Tech, including co-author Craig Forest, devised a way to automate the blind version of patch clamping. They created a computer algorithm that could guide the pipette to a cell based on measurements of a property called electrical impedance -- which reflects how difficult it is for electricity to flow out of the pipette. If there are no cells around, electricity flows and impedance is low. When the tip hits a cell, electricity can't flow as well and impedance goes up. Once the pipette detects a cell, it can stop moving instantly, preventing it from poking through the membrane. A vacuum pump then applies suction to form a seal with the cell's membrane. Then, the electrode can break through the membrane to record the cell's internal electrical activity. The researchers achieved very high accuracy using this technique, but it still could not be used to target a specific cell. For most studies, neuroscientists have a particular cell type they would like to learn about, Boyden says. "It might be a cell that is compromised in autism, or is altered in schizophrenia, or a cell that is active when a memory is stored. That's the cell that you want to know about," he says. "You don't want to patch a thousand cells until you find the one that is interesting." Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today To enable this kind of precise targeting, the researchers set out to automate image-guided patch clamping. This technique is difficult to perform manually because, although the scientist can see the target neuron and the pipette through a microscope, he or she must compensate for the fact that nearby cells will move as the pipette enters the brain. "It's almost like trying to hit a moving target inside the brain, which is a delicate tissue," Suk says. "For machines it's easier because they can keep track of where the cell is, they can automatically move the focus of the microscope, and they can automatically move the pipette." By combining several imaging processing techniques, the researchers came up with an algorithm that guides the pipette to within about 25 microns of the target cell. At that point, the system begins to rely on a combination of imagery and impedance, which is more accurate at detecting contact between the pipette and the target cell than either signal alone. The researchers imaged the cells with two-photon microscopy, a commonly used technique that uses a pulsed laser to send infrared light into the brain, lighting up cells that have been engineered to express a fluorescent protein. Using this automated approach, the researchers were able to successfully target and record from two types of cells -- a class of interneurons, which relay messages between other neurons, and a set of excitatory neurons known as pyramidal cells. They achieved a success rate of about 20 percent, which is comparable to the performance of highly trained scientists performing the process manually. Unraveling circuits This technology paves the way for in-depth studies of the behavior of specific neurons, which could shed light on both their normal functions and how they go awry in diseases such as Alzheimer's or schizophrenia. For example, the interneurons that the researchers studied in this paper have been previously linked with Alzheimer's. In a recent study of mice, led by Li-Huei Tsai, director of MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and conducted in collaboration with Boyden, it was reported that inducing a specific frequency of brain wave oscillation in interneurons in the hippocampus could help to clear amyloid plaques similar to those found in Alzheimer's patients. "You really would love to know what's happening in those cells," Boyden says. "Are they signaling to specific downstream cells, which then contribute to the therapeutic result? The brain is a circuit, and to understand how a circuit works, you have to be able to monitor the components of the circuit while they are in action." This technique could also enable studies of fundamental questions in neuroscience, such as how individual neurons interact with each other as the brain makes a decision or recalls a memory. To help other labs adopt the new technology, the researchers plan to put the details of their approach on their web site, autopatcher.org. Researchers have developed a novel technique where molecules would be motorized using light and these would be used to drill holes in the membranes of individual cells such as the cancer cells. This could bring the treatment molecule into the cancer cell directly and cause them to die. Rice University nanomachines constructed to deliver drugs, destroy diseased cells. Image Credit: Rice University This technique would save the millions of normal healthy cells that are killed by the traditional chemotherapy agents when they attempt to kill the cancer cells. The study was published in the journal Nature. The study led by Dr Robert Pal Department of Chemistry and Biophysical Sciences Institute at Durham University was worked upon by researchers Professor James Tour from Rice University, Houston, and Assistant Professor Gufeng Wang from North Carolina State university. Rice graduate student Victor Garcia-Lopez is lead author of the study. Co-authors of the study include graduate students Lizanne Nilewski and Amir Aliyan, research scientist Guillaume Duret, Anatoly Kolomeisky, a professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering and Jacob Robinson, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering from Rice and Fang Chen from North Carolina State. The team worked to develop rotors in a single-molecule nanomachine which could be activated by using ultraviolet light to spin at two to three million rotations per second. This would act a s a drill that would open membranes in cells. As an initial step the researchers tested these microscopic motorized cells to target cells from prostate cancer. Within activation, these molecules took from one to three minutes to kill the cancer cells said Dr. Pal. The attacked cells showed bubbles on their surface called blebbing followed by their death. Rice University nanomachines constructed to deliver drugs, destroy diseased cells Play Dr Pal believes that this technique could mean that a wide variety of cancers could be treated using these tiny machines. Dr Pal, a Royal Society Research Fellow, added that these light-activated nanomachines would be able to target cancer cells including those that are difficult to treat or resistant to treatment. This is a step towards change in the non-invasive cancer treatment he said. This means, cancer treatment no longer has to be debilitating for the patient. Further this treatment would improve survival rates greatly worldwide and thus benefit millions of patients. Dr James Tour added that these nanomachines are so small that around 50,000 of them could be placed across the diameter of a single human hair. But these can be used to target specific cells with great accuracy. Nobel laureate Bernard Feringa won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2016 for developing these microscopic motors. The motors are a paddle-like chain of atoms which can move in one direction when they are provided with energy. The Rice laboratory created the motor-bearing molecules in more than one size. In addition they also made peptide-carrying nanomachines that could home in on the target cells and kill them. North Carolina State University worked to test these nanomachines on synthetic replicas of the cell membranes which these molecules successfully broke apart. The next step was tested at the Durham University where these motorized molecules were tested on live cells including human prostate cancer cells. This last step showed that the mototrized molecules reached the target cells and stayed on the surface. They would drill into the cancer cells only when activated using UV rays. The researchers are working on other methods that could activate these motors such as two-photon absorption technique, near-infrared light or radio frequencies. This would allow for an easier and more cost effective photodynamic therapy. The research received support from the National Science Foundation, North Carolina State University, the Royal Society and the Biophysical Sciences Institute at Durham University. At present the team is progressing to work on microbes and small fish. Soon they would work on laboratory rats and mice. Once animal testing is successful, clinical trials could begin for humans. References We have a symbiotic relationship with the trillions of bacteria that live in our bodies--they help us, we help them. It turns out that they even speak the same language. And new research from The Rockefeller University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai suggests these newly discovered commonalities may open the door to "engineered" gut flora who can have therapeutically beneficial effects on disease. "We call it mimicry," says Sean Brady, director of Rockefeller University's Laboratory of Genetically Encoded Small Molecules, where the research was conducted. The breakthrough is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature. In a double-barreled discovery, Brady and co-investigator Louis Cohen found that gut bacteria and human cells, though different in many ways, speak what is basically the same chemical language, based on molecules called ligands. Building on that, they developed a method to genetically engineer the bacteria to produce molecules that have the potential to treat certain disorders by altering human metabolism. In a test of their system on mice, the introduction of modified gut bacteria led to reduced blood glucose levels and other metabolic changes in the animals. Molecular impersonation The method involves the lock-and-key relationship of ligands, which bind to receptors on the membranes of human cells to produce specific biological effects. In this case, the bacteria-derived molecules are mimicking human ligands that bind to a class of receptors known as GPCRs, for G-protein-coupled receptors. Many of the GPCRs are implicated in metabolic diseases, Brady says, and are the most common targets of drug therapy. And they're conveniently present in the gastrointestinal tract, where the gut bacteria are also found. "If you're going to talk to bacteria," says Brady, "you're going to talk to them right there." (Gut bacteria are part of the microbiome, the larger community of microbes that exist in and on the human body.) In their work, Cohen and Brady engineered gut bacteria to produce specific ligands, N-acyl amides, that bind with a specific human receptor, GPR 119, that is known to be involved in the regulation of glucose and appetite, and has previously been a therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The bacterial ligands they created turned out to be almost identical structurally to the human ligands, says Cohen, an assistant professor of gastroenterology in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Manipulating the system Among the advantages of working with bacteria, says Cohen, who spent five years in Brady's lab as part of Rockefeller's Clinical Scholars Program, is that their genes are easier to manipulate than human genes and much is already known about them. "All the genes for all the bacteria inside of us have been sequenced at some point," he says. In past projects, researchers in Brady's lab have mined microbes from soil in search of naturally occurring therapeutic agents. In this instance, Cohen started with human stool samples in his hunt for gut bacteria with DNA he could engineer. When he found them he cloned them and packaged them inside E. coli bacteria, which is easy to grow. He could then see what molecules the engineered E. coli strains were making. Although they are the product of non-human microorganisms, Brady says it's a mistake to think of the bacterial ligands they create in the lab as foreign. "The biggest change in thought in this field over the last 20 years is that our relationship with these bacteria isn't antagonistic," he says. "They are a part of our physiology. What we're doing is tapping into the native system and manipulating it to our advantage." "This is a first step in what we hope is a larger-scale, functional interrogation of what the molecules derived from microbes can do," Brady says. His plan is to systematically expand and define the chemistry that is being used by the bacteria in our guts to interact with us. Our bellies, it turns out, are full of promise. Twenty-two years ago, in the winter of 1995, a regional organization called Citizens United Against Low Level Flights was formed, with its headquarters in Viroqua. The organization produced a pamphlet explaining that, The Air National Guard has proposed increased military training in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The proposal includes expansion of the Hardwood Bombing Range southwest of Wisconsin Rapids. Two new flight corridors are planned in northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. In the Wisconsin corridors, the proposal calls for 2151 round-trip training flights per year...Jets in the corridor would fly up to 615 mph at altitudes as low as 300 ft and possibly 100 ft. Those proposed corridors would have passed over parts of Vernon and Crawford counties. The mission of the Citizens United group was to oppose low-level military flights in inappropriate areas, areas with large populations of humans and animals, including Hillsboro, La Farge, Readstown and Viroqua. Citizens United mounted a successful campaign to halt the expansion of flight corridors into this region. The campaign was waged before the days of social media, and when few people had email addresses or websites. Instead, those who opposed the flight corridors wrote letters to distant legislators, talked one-on-one with local officials, and attended regional public meetings. The organization contacted a wide variety of people to ask to join the campaign: the Amish, other local farmers, tourists enjoying rivers in the area, private pilots. Citizens United literature stated that, We are concerned that B-2 Stealth bombers, F-16 fighters, and B-52 bombers appearing suddenly over the ridge top may frighten our children and elderly, endanger our Amish friends and private pilots, startle our livestock, drive off our tourists, and reduce our wildlife populations and water quality. Citizens United Against Low Level Flights disbanded when the flight corridor expansion plan was abandoned. Over the years since then, people once involved with the group have given some of their documents, maps, newspaper articles, videotapes, and other related items to the museums archives. Learn more about the history of this protest movement at the museums next free public program on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. Guest speaker Marilyn Leys, who was deeply involved in the Citizens United organization, will talk about what made the campaign successful. Copies of her 2015 book, Denting Goliaths: Citizens Unite Against Regional Low Level Flights, will be available for purchase. Programs are held in the museums wheelchair-accessible conference room. Refreshments will be served after the program. Individuals who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in neighborhoods with higher percentages of black residents had lower rates of bystander CPR and defibrillator use and were less likely to survive compared to patients who experienced an OHCA in predominantly white neighborhoods, according to a study published by JAMA Cardiology. Approximately 350,000 patients experience OHCA each year in the United States. The survival rate is 8.3 percent to 10 percent annually; however, there is regional variation in the incidence of and survival from OHCA. The incidence of OHCA has been consistently higher in black individuals compared with white individuals in the United States. Using data from the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium for January 2008 to December 2011, Monique Anderson Starks, M.D., M.H.S., of the Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues examined whether differences in care and outcomes exist in predominantly black neighborhoods vs neighborhoods with a lower proportion of black residents. Neighborhoods where OHCA occurred were classified by census tract, based on percentage of black residents. The study included 22,816 adult patients with OHCA. The researchers found that the percentage of patients with OHCA receiving bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation or a lay automatic external defibrillation was inversely associated with the percentage of black residents in neighborhoods. And compared with OHCA in predominantly white neighborhoods (less than 25 percent black), those with OHCA in mixed to majority black neighborhoods had lower adjusted survival rates to hospital discharge. Despite lower survival in predominantly black neighborhoods, survival was no different for black and white patients having a cardiac arrest in any neighborhoods. "Improving bystander treatments in [predominantly black neighborhoods] may improve cardiac arrest survival," the authors write. The study notes some limitations, including that the observational data demonstrate an association between neighborhood race and survival, but this association does not prove causation. A research team led by Deborah Ellis, Ph.D., professor of family medicine and public health sciences in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, received a $3.2 million award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund a study that will develop interventions to reduce barriers to optimal asthma management and reduce the risk for asthma-related deaths of minority children, with a focus on African American adolescents. The project, "Translating an efficacious illness management intervention for African American youth with poorly controlled asthma to real world settings," will adapt and test an evidence-based intervention for use in pediatric emergency rooms and evaluate factors that affect whether the intervention is likely to be used in real-world settings. "The goal of our study is to improve the quality of life for a vulnerable population while reducing health care costs," said Ellis. "Our previous studies have shown that an intensive, multicomponent, home-based psychotherapy was significantly more effective than home-based family support in improving adherence to medications and improving lung function in African American adolescents with moderate to severe, poorly controlled asthma. However, many factors, such as intervention cost and suitability to the agency using the intervention, influence whether a scientifically validated intervention is ever used outside a university setting." This study will test REACH for Control (RFC), an adapted intervention based on Ellis' earlier work. RFC will be delivered to adolescents with poorly controlled asthma by community health workers from the Wayne Children's Healthcare Access Program (WCHAP), a community agency providing health care services to underserved children in the Detroit area. Adolescents will be referred to WCHAP for services when they are seen for an asthma exacerbation in the emergency department at Children's Hospital of Michigan. REACH for Control aims to improve the quality of life for this vulnerable population by providing an evidence-based intervention in a cost-effective way. "WCHAP is delighted to be participating in this project with Wayne State University," said Teresa Holtrop, M.D., executive director of WCHAP. "WCHAP works with multiple Detroit and Wayne County pediatricians and family practitioners who refer asthmatic patients to WCHAP for asthma home education services. WCHAP community health workers have been providing these services since 2013, and outcomes have been good in terms of improved asthma control scores, decreased missed days from school and decreased use of the ER. We are always seeking ways to improve outcomes for children and feel this project will meet a critical need for expanded community-based intervention services." Music is not only a major part of Dan Fabbio's life, as a music teacher it is his livelihood. So when doctors discovered a tumor located in the part of his brain responsible for music function, he began a long journey that involved a team of physicians, scientists, and a music professor and culminated with him awake and playing a saxophone as surgeons operated on his brain. Fabbio's case is the subject of a study published today in the journal Current Biology that sheds new light on how music is processed in the brain. In the spring of 2015, Fabbio was serving as substitute music teacher in a school in New Hartford, New York. He was in a small office at the school working on the capstone project for his Master's degree in music education when he began to suddenly "see and hear things that I knew were not real." He became dizzy and nauseous and the episode prompted a visit to hospital in nearby Utica later that day. After undergoing a CAT scan, the doctors sat Fabbio down and told him they found a mass in his brain. "I was 25 at the time and I don't think there is any age when it is OK to hear that," recalled Fabbio. "I had never had any health problems before and the first thing my mind went to was cancer." The good news was that the tumor appeared to be benign - in fact, it had probably been slowly growing since childhood - and was in an area of the brain that was relatively easy for surgeons to access. The bad news was that it was located in a region that is known to be important for music function. Fabbio was referred to UR Medicine's Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and neurosurgeon Web Pilcher, M.D., Ph.D. "When I met Dan for the first time, he expressed how concerned he was about losing his musical ability, because this frankly was the most important thing to him in his life, not only his livelihood, but his profession and his interest in life," said Pilcher. A Precise Map of Brain Function Pilcher, who is the Ernest and Thelma Del Monte Distinguished Professor of Neuromedicine and Chair of Department of Neurosurgery, had struck up a partnership with Brad Mahon, Ph.D., an associate professor in the University of Rochester Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. The two have developed a Translational Brain Mapping program for patients who had to undergo surgery to remove tumors and control seizures. "Removing a tumor from the brain can have significant consequences depending upon its location," said Pilcher. "Both the tumor itself and the operation to remove it can damage tissue and disrupt communication between different parts of the brain. It is, therefore, critical to understand as much as you can about each individual patient before you bring them into the operating room so we can perform the procedure without causing damage to parts of the brain that are important to that person's life and function." The brain mapping program Pilcher and Mahon developed is tailored to circumstances of the individual. Patients with brain tumors are now routinely referred to Mahon before undergoing their surgery. Mahon and his team subject each individual to a battery of tests, including brain scans that identify important functions - such as motor control and language processing - that may be located in proximity to the tumor and potentially impacted by the surgery. "Everybody's brain is organized in more or less the same way," said Mahon. "But the particular location at a fine grain level of a given function can vary sometimes up to a couple centimeters from one person to another. And so it's really important to carry out this kind of detailed investigation for each individual patient." While testing language and motor skills was relatively straightforward, evaluating musical ability, especially in a trained musician, was a different undertaking altogether. Perhaps nowhere in the world was Fabbio's case a better fit. Not only had Pilcher performed hundreds of these surgeries and had partnered with Mahon to develop a sophisticated brain mapping program that would be key to the procedure's success - but the famed Eastman School of Music, a part of the University of Rochester, could be called upon to help plan Fabbio's surgery. Mahon reached out to Elizabeth Marvin, Ph.D., a professor of Music Theory in the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. Marvin also holds a position in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and studies music cognition - the ability of our brains to remember and process music. Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today The two developed a series of cognitive musical tests that Fabbio could perform while the researchers were scanning his brain. During functional MRI (fMRI) scanning, Fabbio would listen to and then hum back a series of short melodies. He also performed language tasks that required him to identify objects and repeat sentences. The fMRI detects changes in oxygen levels, so the parts of the brain that were activated during the tests helped pinpoint the areas important for music and language processing. Using this information the research team produced a highly detailed three-dimensional map of Fabbio's brain - with both the location of the tumor and music function - that would be used to help guide the surgeons in the OR. Saxophone Serenades Surgeons The ability to process and repeat a tune was an important measure, but the team also wanted to know if they were successful in preserving Fabbio's ability to perform music. So they decided to bring his saxophone into the OR and, if possible, have him play it during the procedure. The challenge was that Fabbio would be lying on his side, so it would be difficult to play the instrument. Also, the pressure caused by the deep breathes required to play long notes on the saxophone could cause the brain, which would be exposed during the procedure, to essentially protrude from his skull. Fabbio and Marvin ultimately selected a piece - a version of a Korean folk song - that could be modified to be played with shorter and shallower breaths. "The whole episode struck me as quite staggering that a music theorist could stand in an operating room and somehow be a consultant to brain surgeons," said Marvin. "In fact, it turned out to be one of the most amazing days of my life because if felt like all of my training was suddenly changing someone's life and allowing this young man to retain his musical abilities." During the procedure, Pilcher and the surgical team used the map of Fabbio's brain that had been developed by Mahon to plan the surgery. They also went through a process of painstakingly reconfirming what the brain scans showed them. This was accomplished by delivering a mild electrical stimulus that temporarily disrupts a small area of the brain. While this was occurring, Fabbio was awake and repeating the humming and language tasks he performed prior to the surgery. Marvin was present in the OR and scored his performance to let the surgeons know whether or not they had targeted an area that disrupted music processing and, therefore, should be avoided during the procedure. Once the tumor had been removed the surgeons gave the go ahead to bring over the saxophone and let Fabbio play. "It made you want to cry," said Marvin. "He played it flawlessly and when he finished the entire operating room erupted in applause." Fabbio has since completely recovered and returned to teaching music within a few months of his surgery. Harnessing Science to Improve Brain Surgery While the brain mapping program's primary purpose is to help improve surgical outcomes, the information that the researchers gather before, during, and after the surgery is also helping advance understanding of complexities of the brain's structures and function. "We study about 40 or 50 patients a year and what this allows us to do is ask what are the factors that we can identify in these patients before their surgery or early on after their surgery that distinguish which patients go on to have a good outcome versus which patients may have lingering cognitive impairments," said Mahon. The data from Fabbio's case, which is the basis of a study in the journal Current Biology, has helped more precisely define the relation between the different parts of the brain that are responsible for music and language processing. "As I think back about Dan's case and about the incredible outcome and what we were able to achieve, it reminds me of how far we have come," said Pilcher. "Ten years ago, we mapped the brain using very simple tools - electrical stimulation and image guidance. But now, we have all the tools of cognitive science. We have brought the cognitive science laboratory into the operating room and now almost as a matter of course with every single patient." When the Fukushima power plant released large quantities of radioactive materials into nearby coastal waters following Japan's massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it raised concerns as to whether eating contaminated seafood might impair human health--not just locally but across the Pacific. A new study by an international research team shows that those concerns can now be laid to rest, at least for consumption of meat from migratory marine predators such as tuna, swordfish, and sharks. The team focused on cesium, a silvery metal with a large number of radioactive isotopes. Two of these, 134Cs and 137Cs, form when uranium fuel breaks down in nuclear reactors. The cesium isotopes are of particular concern because they were discharged in large quantities following the disaster, exhibit relatively long half-lives (2.1 and 30 years respectively), and tend to accumulate in the muscle tissues that people like to eat. However, the team's sampling of tissues from predatory fishes and other large vertebrates collected across the northern Pacific between 2012 and 2015 revealed no detectable levels of 134Cs, and 137Cs concentrations that were generally consistent with background levels from aboveground nuclear testing during the 1940s and 50s. They collected the animals from waters near Japan, Hawaii, and California. Lead author Daniel Madigan of Harvard University says, "Our measurements and associated calculations of how much radioactive cesium a person would ingest by eating this seafood shows that impacts to human health are likely to be negligible. For marketed fish to be restricted from trade, the cesium levels would have to be more than 1,600 times higher than in any samples we measured." Co-author Kevin Weng, an assistant professor at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, participated in the study by collecting fish samples in waters around Oahu and a remote seamount. He says, "Go ahead and eat some sushi! Our work shows that radioactivity from the Fukushima disaster is very low in open-ocean vertebrates." Also contributing to the study were Zofia Baumann and Nicholas Fisher of Stony Brook University; Owyn Snodgrass, Heidi Dewar, and Peter Dutton of NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center; Michelle Berman-Kowalewski of the Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit; and Jun Nishikawa of Tokai University. The researchers undertook their analysis partly in response to earlier studies by Madigan and colleagues showing elevated levels of radioactive cesium in bluefin and albacore tuna caught off the California coast shortly after the Fukushima disaster--evidence that these fishes had swum almost 6,000 miles in less than two months. (It took ocean currents more than two years to deliver much-diluted cesium from Fukushima to those same waters.) Although this early work focused on the utility of cesium isotopes as a happen chance tool that could help scientists characterize migratory patterns among a group of heavily exploited commercial fishes, public attention focused on perceived risks to human health. "The earlier studies showed extremely low risks from cesium to anyone eating these migratory species, but public concern persisted," says Weng. That concern also expanded to include not only the species of tuna in which cesium had been measured, but to other fishes, marine mammals, and sharks. "People were very concerned about North Pacific salmon, halibut and scallops off British Columbia, and sea lions in Southern California," says Madigan. "There was even information on the Internet that 'the Pacific is dead'." "One goal of our study," he says, "was to put these perceived risks in context by surveying a broad range of vertebrate species across the entire North Pacific for the presence or absence of Fukushima-derived radiocesium. Our results, which show very low or undetectable levels in these animals, are important both for public perception of seafood safety and for scientific understanding of radionuclide transfer." The authors suggest that scientists and funding agencies should look for at least one silver lining in any future nuclear or industrial accidents. "We can and should use future point sources of contamination, radioactive or otherwise, to shed new light on migratory dynamics of pelagic species that are poorly understood, heavily exploited, or of high conservation concern," says Madigan. "But we would need to act quickly, within that narrow opportunistic timespan." Source: http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/2017/weng_fukushima.php A recent study conducted by the Northwestern University indicated that most of the aesthetic surgery service providers who advertise themselves on social media are not board certified, thereby putting the people who respond to these ads at risk. Lenka Horavova / Shutterstock.com Social media has transformed itself into a leading platform for people who seek cosmetic surgery. The findings of the study suggest that young people, who often desire physical enhancements to their appearance for their social media channels like Snapchat and Instagram, are the most affected by these ads, as they are unable to identify the unqualified professionals. Providers -- ranging from physicians who are not licensed in plastic surgery to dentists, hair salon employees and barbers -- are doing procedures for which they do not have formal or extensive training. Robert Dorfman, the first author of the study, The Feinberg School of Medicine. The list includes gynecologists and emergency medicine doctors as well as cosmetic surgeons, who are not necessarily the same as a board certified plastic surgeon. Therefore, proper awareness is very important for the patients, added Dorfman. According to Clark Schierle, a plastic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine, these misleading social media advertisements are putting patients at risk; there are several recent reports indicating patient complications and casualties due to services performed by inexperienced providers, outside of their expertise. In a previous study from the Northwestern University, Dr. John Kim reported that the number of post- panniculectomy complexities has increased by nearly 300 % when performed by non-plastic surgeons compared with board-certified plastic surgeons. The study is the first of its kind to analyze various kinds of aesthetic service providers promoting body-contouring procedures like facial surgery, breast augmentation, gluteal buttocks augmentation and liposuction on Instagram. The type of plastic surgery content posted and hashtags used were also identified. The researchers investigated 21 Instagram hashtags that are associated with plastic surgery. A total of 189 posts (top 9 posts related with each hashtag) were qualitatively evaluated using content analysis and among those 163 posts met required criteria. The post with the most engagement is shown at the top of the feed, which has been ranked by Instagrams proprietary algorithm, while the researchers excluded irrelevant and duplicate posts. As per the findings of the study, only 17.8% of the top posts were by the plastic surgeons that were eligible for ASAPS memberships; whereas 26.4% posts were by non-eligible physicians consisting of otolaryngologists, gynecologists, dermatologists, family medicine physicians, general surgeons, and an emergency medicine physician. All the physicians who were trained for non-plastic surgery promoted themselves as cosmetic surgeons. Also, the top 9 posts (5.5 %) were by non-physicians like dentists, spas and a hair salon. Most of the posts (67.1%) included self-promotional content as opposed to educational posts (32.9%). It was also found that in comparison with non-plastic surgeons, educational content were more likely to be posted by board certified plastic surgeons on Instagram (38.1 % vs 62.1 %). Dr. Schierle said that it is critical to recognize the ecosystem of online platforms as people depend more on social media to choose their provider. It is also vital for board-certified plastic surgeons to use social media to educate people on the risks of surgery. Getting educational content noticed on social media platforms is a major challenge for plastic surgeons. To reach customers online, its important to find a balance between sophisticated terminology and terms that are excessively colloquial. To have a positive impact on people without going below the ethical standards, one should understand and use natural language that the general public uses. A plastic surgeon is certified by the board only if they complete six years of surgical training with a minimum of three years of experience in plastic surgery. However, a general practitioner (general surgeon, gynecologist, dermatologist, family physician or internist) who refers herself/himself as a cosmetic surgeon may have much less training, they might have undergone training on a one-year cosmetic surgery fellowship or maybe even just few short weekend courses on topics ranging from liposuction to breast implants. Source: https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/nu-bhs082817.php A new study questions the efficacy of treatments for depression based on stimulating brain areas with low-intensity electric current. The technique, known as transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), was considered a promising alternative to treatment with antidepressant drugs. In the new study, researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's teaching hospital (HU-USP) and the Psychiatry Institute of Hospital das Clinicas (HC-FMUSP-IP), the largest general hospital in Brazil, describe a trial in which they found tDCS to be less effective than escitalopram, an anti-depressant. Results of the research were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The team of researchers led by Andre Brunoni, a professor in the Psychiatry Department of the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FMUSP) and director of HC-FMUSP-IP's Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation Service, randomly divided 245 patients with depression into three groups. One group was treated with tDCS plus oral placebo, the second received sham tDCS treatment plus the anti-depressant, and the third received sham tDCS treatment plus oral placebo. The tDCS treatment was administered in 30-minute sessions for 15 consecutive weekdays, followed by seven once-weekly sessions. Escitalopram was administered at a dose of 10 mg per day for three weeks and 20 mg per day for another seven weeks. "We defined non-inferiority of stimulation compared with medication as at least 50%, meaning that tDCS would have to be at least 50% as effective as the anti-depressant, but this wasn't the case," Brunoni said. The study was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) through its Young Investigators Awards program. "We found that treatment with tDCS was not half as effective as treatment with escitalopram and concluded that transcranial stimulation cannot be recommended as first-line therapy. The anti-depressant is easier to administer and much more effective. On the other hand, tDCS performed better than placebo in our previous studies." About 12%-14% of the world's population is estimated to suffer from depression, and it is relatively easy to find self-help websites with videos showing how to administer tDCS at home. "It's very striking," Brunoni said. "These sites that claim to show how to stimulate your brain represent a huge risk for patients with depression. 'Do-it-yourself' solutions are strongly contra-indicated. In fact, they're dangerous. I expect our study to have an impact on this phenomenon because we've proved there are adverse side effects and that it's not as effective as many people think." According to the study, patients who received tDCS treatment presented with higher rates of skin redness, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and nervousness than the other two groups, and new-onset mania developed in two patients in this group. Electroconvulsive therapy Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Brunoni stressed the importance of not confusing tDCS with other methods such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which involves a far stronger current - typically 800 milliamperes, or 800 times the current used in tDCS - and is designed to produce a controlled seizure. Other differences include the fact that ECT delivers a brief pulse rather than a steady current. The tDCS device is connected to a headband with twin electrodes placed on the patient's temples so that the current runs through the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area with diminished activity in depressed people. "People with depression display cerebral hypoactivity, especially in this brain region but also in others," Brunoni said. "The action mechanism of stimulation was believed to increase brain activity in this region, but no such effect has yet been proven." Other techniques designed to change the brain's electrical activity include transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial alternating-current stimulation, deep-brain stimulation and focused ultrasound. "Of these, only transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy are currently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] for the treatment of depression, and deep-brain stimulation has a humanitarian device exemption for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder," writes Sarah H. Lisanby, director of the Division of Translational Research at the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in an editorial in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Lisanby highlights the study performed in Brazil and argues that parameters are needed to measure the functioning of tDCS. Brunoni agreed. "There are no parameters that enable us to know whether the tDCS dose is right," he said. "I know two pills are a higher dose than one. Moreover, some drugs can be measured in the bloodstream. The most common example is lithium. You can dose magnetic stimulation. In electrical stimulation, however, it isn't what you see. It's a very weak current that can be altered even by anatomical aspects in each patient." Brunoni is currently a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Munich in Germany, where he plans to finish analyzing data collected from his clinical trial. "We collected a large amount of blood, genetic and neuroimaging data during the study," he said. "I'm going to finish analyzing all these data and investigate whether there's a patient profile with an optimal response to the treatment. Clinically speaking, there doesn't seem to be such a profile at first glance, but less-refractory patients who have never tried treatment before are thought to show a better response. I also plan to question the stimulation parameters themselves in order to try to discover whether there's a type of depression that responds more readily to this kind of treatment." Gadolinium contrast agents, which are mainly administered via intravenous injection, exhibit excellent in vitro and in vivo stability. These agents have a half-life of about two hours. They are excreted from the body unchanged via the kidney-urine pathway and passed into wastewater. Molecular structure of Gadobutrol (Gadovist) - gadolinium containing MRI contrast agent. Image Credits: Raimundo79/Shutterstock.com Flocculation with Al3+ or Fe3+ salts is carried out in municipal sewage treatment plants to improve the settling behavior of suspended and dissolved colloidal materials. These trivalent metal ions that are added compete with Gd3+ ions for the organic ligands. IC-ICP/MS analysis of gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents Depending on the thermodynamic complex stability, addition of the trivalent metal salts may cause transmetallation or recomplexing in the MRI contrast agents, resulting in the release of toxic Gd3+ ions. Metal exchange in gadolinium chelates occurs as part of iron flocculation (Kunnemeyer, J., 2009; Kummerer, 2008). This article examines the degree to which toxic gadolinium ions are released from MRI chelates as a result of flocculation carried out in wastewater treatment. IC-ICP/MS is used to carry out gadolinium speciation. Results Well-separated peaks for Magnevist and Gadovist are generated by IC-ICP/MS analysis on the anion-exchange column. Being an uncharged, polar compound, Gadovist elutes after just a few minutes, whereas the twice negatively charged Magnevist is retained more strongly and elutes much later, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Chromatograms of polar and electrically neutral Gadovist and of ionic Magnevist (both 100 g/L). Column: Metrosep A Supp 3 - 250/4.6; eluent: 7.2 mmol/L Na 2 CO 3 , 6.8 mmol/L NaHCO 3 ; flow rate: 1.0 mL/min; m/z 156, 158, 160 The extent of transmetallation is reflected by the concentrations of the competing Gd(III) and Fe(III) ions on the polyaminopolycarboxylate ligands. This showed that displacement of gadolinium increased as the concentration of Fe3+ ions increased. This effect was stronger for Magnevist than for Gadovist. According to the higher thermodynamic stability constant of the iron(III)-DTPA complex (log K = 28.6), Magnevist (log K = 23.0) can be recomplexed to about 80% by Fe3+ concentrations of just 5 mg/L (Kunnemeyer, J., 2009). Over 90% of the chelate complexes are in the form of iron chelate complexes, with an Fe3+ concentration of 20 mg/L, whereas, Gadovist releases less than 10% of the Gd3+ ions, even at higher concentrations of Fe3+ ions. The complex center of Gadovist is effectively shielded against the competing Fe3+ ions by the crownether-like polyaminopolycarboxylic acid ligand, which is spherically arranged around the gadolinium. This largely prevents transmetallation. On the other hand, the linear DTPA ligands of Magnevist only weakly protect the central atom, so gadolinium is largely substituted by iron, resulting in the formation of the more stable iron (III) complex (Bianchi, A., 2000). Gadolinium further applications with IC-ICP/MS Speciation and Isotope Dilution Analysis of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents in Wastewater - Telgmann, L.; Wehe, C.A.; Birka, M.; Kunnemeyer, J.; Nowak, S.; Sperling, M.; Karst, U. (2012) Environ. Sci. Technol. 46(21), 1192911936. References Aschner, M.; Syversen, T. (2005) Methylmercury: Recent advances in the understanding of its neurotoxicity. Ther. Drug Monit. 27, 278283. Bianchi, A.; Calabi, L.; Corana, F.; Fontana, S.; Losi, Maiocchi, A.; Paleari, L.; Valtancoli, B. (2000) Thermodynamic and structural properties of Gd(III) complexes with polyaminopolycarboxylic ligands: Basic compounds for the development of MRI contrast agents. Coord. Chem. Rev. 204, 309393 Burger, J.; Gochfeld, M. (2005) Heavy metals in commercial fish in New Jersey. Environ. Res. 99(3), 403412 Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium. US National Institutes of Health; Office of Dietary Supplements. Retrieved Oct 11, 2016. Gochfeld, M.; Burger, J. (2005) Good fish/bad fish: A composite benefitrisk by dose curve. Neurotoxicology 26(4), 511520 Herrmann, T. Einsatz der On-line-Kopplung von Ionenchromatographie und ICP-MS zur Bestimmung von Anionen. Diploma thesis, Philipps-Universitat Marburg, Germany, 2006 Knoll, J. Ph.D. Ultratrace determination of aminopolycarboxylic acid based chelating agents using inverse on-line coupling of IC with ICP-MS. PhD thesis, Philipps-Universitat Marburg, Germany, 2013 Knoll, J.; Seubert, A. (2012) Indirect ultra trace determination of aminopolycarboxylic acids in surface water using ion exchange chromatography coupled on-line to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A 1270, 219-224. Kummerer, K.; Ed. Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Sources, fate, effects, and risks. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2008; 3rd ed. Kunnemeyer, J.; Terborg, L.; Meermann, B.; Brauckmann, C.; Moller, I.; Scheffer, A.; Karst, U. (2009) Speciation analysis of gadolinium chelates in hospital effluents and wastewater treatment plant sewage by a novel HILIC/ICP-MS method. Environ. Sci. Technol. 43(8), 28842890. Kunnemeyer, J.; Terborg, L.; Nowak, S.; Telgmann, L.; Tokmak, F.; Kramer, B. K.; Gunsel, A.; Wiesmuller, G. A.; Waldeck, J.; Bremer, C.; Karst, U. (2009) Analysis of the contrast agent Magnevist and its transmetalation products in blood plasma by capillary electrophoresis / electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 81(9), 36003607 Levenson, C. W.; Axelrad, D. M. (2006) Too much of a good thing? Update on fish consumption and mercury exposure Nutr. Rev. 64(3), 139145. Montaser, A.; Golightly, D. W.; Eds. Inductively coupled plasmas in analytical atomic spectrometry. VCH Publishers, Inc.: New York, 1992. Rahman, G. M. M.; Martone, N.; 'Skip' Kingston, H. M. (2012) Determination of hexavalent chromium in NIST SRM 2701 by speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry (EPA Method 6800) using IC-ICP-MS. In Handbook of hyphenated ICP-MS applications, 2nd edition; Agilent, 2012; pp 3335. http://www.agilent.com/cs/library/applications/5990-9473EN_icpmsSpeciationHB_lr.pdf (accessed Oct 7, 2016) Saranko, C. J. et al. Fact Report for toxicity of arsenite and arsenate, Florida Dept. of Health, Nov 6, 1998 Schedlbauer, O. F.; Heumann, K. G. (2000) Biomethylation of thallium by bacteria and first determination of biogenic dimethylthallium in the ocean. Appl. Organomet. Chem.14(6), 330-340 Wilber, C. G. (1980). Toxicology of selenium: A review.Clin. Toxicol. 17 (2), 171230. About Metrohm At Metrohm is one of the worlds most trusted manufacturers of high-precision instruments for chemical analysis. Metrohm was founded in 1943 by engineer Bertold Suhner in Herisau, Switzerland. Today, Metrohm is represented in 120 countries by subsidiaries and exclusive distributors. The global Metrohm Group also includes the Dutch companies Metrohm Applikon and Metrohm Autolab, manufacturers of online analyzers and instruments for electrochemical research, respectively. Recently, the Metrohm Group was joined by Metrohm Raman, a leading manufacturer of handheld Raman spectrometers. Metrohm is the global market leader in analytical instruments for titration. Instruments for ion chromatography, voltammetry, conductivity, and stability measurement make the Metrohm portfolio for ion analysis complete. Instruments for Near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy are another, strongly growing segment of the Metrohm portfolio. Metrohm is a problem solver, both in the laboratory and within the industrial process. To this end, the company offers their customers complete solutions, including dedicated analytical instrumentation as well as comprehensive application know-how. More than 30% of the companys employees at the Metrohm international headquarters in Herisau work in R&D. Metrohm has been owned 100% by the non-profit Metrohm Foundation since 1982. The Metrohm Foundation, which does not exert any influence on the companys business operations, sponsors gifted students in the natural sciences, supports charitable and philanthropic purposes and, above all, ensures the independence of the company. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Nextbigfuture interviewed Rob Topol about 5G. Rob is general manager of Intels client and IOT business and systems architecture group. Rob Topol, general manager of Intels client and IOT business and systems architecture group. The Internet of Things will soon have 50 billion devices and 200 billion sensors deployed. LTE/4G will not be able to handle it. 5G chips will enable tens of billions and trillions of connected devices connected cars, drones, robots, collaborative augmented reality glasses with high speed and power efficiency. Intel feels 5G is a broader set of tracks to enable all of the predicted machine to machine protocols. Intel indicates the machines are coming Intel sees three tracks (lower latency, high capacity, machine to machine communication) Machine to machine Uplinks needs to have different protocol to manage the lower power and architecture change in the device. 5G IOT enable density of communication (1000s of devices per square kilometer, spectrum management) End to End solutions Intel will offer and end to end 5G solutions Make 5G the fabric of smart cities. Use 5G for better smart car Fixed deployments for wireless instead of fiber Efficiency and increased spectrum will lower costs and end to end solutions enable more capacity Intel is working on using 5G for improved industrial automation with Honeywell and GE. 5G greater spectrum and greater efficiency will enable far lower cost per bit. Backhaul will be improved with offload of machine to machine to protocol. Improved backhaul, higher end to end efficiency and increased spectrum means that capacity will be increased. Nextbigfuture translates increased 5G capacity as meaning 5G providers should have the likelihood of going up to 100 Gigabytes or terabytes per month instead of 3 to 10 Gigabyte limits today in the USA. 5G is near with pilot deployment in south Korea this year, a China commercial trial in 2018 and broad deployments starting in 2020 Intel indicates that Asia will leverage higher population density to lead in 5G deployment. Asian governments and operators recognize the 5G opportunity and are moving quickly to make investments in network infrastructure to enable early first deployments. Intel expects to see pilot 5G deployments using 28 GHz spectrum this year in South Korea, in preparation for the upcoming major international sporting event with all three operators executing commercial launches by 2020. Japan, the host of some of the most pioneering 5G trials to date, will likely launch commercial 5G network services in Tokyo in time for the next major international sporting event. Commercial trials will be taking place in China next year, with deployment planned for 2020, and a target of showcasing technological progress at the major international event in 2022. Intel is currently engaged in active 5G interoperability development testing trials with operators and system partners throughout the Asia region. In China, we are collaborating with Ericsson in a trial utilizing our 2nd Generation Mobile Trial Platform, which supports critical early 5G New Radio functionality, including multi-carrier operation; addressing and interaction with multiple devices, and scheduling via multiple transmission points. This trial will form the basis for field tests with China Mobile (CMCC) and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). These trials are the first step in launching whats expected to be the worlds largest 5G network in China by 2020. Improving citizens quality of life with smart cities Smart city initiatives are also gaining momentum in Asia, backed by governments that recognize the potential. South Korea claims to have achieved the worlds first smart city with Songdo, an international business district which is being used as a test bed for new technologies. China has more than 285 smart city projects in motion, and Indias government has set a goal of building 100 smart cities by 2020. Cities consume two-thirds of the worlds energy and a majority of other resources. Enabling smart cities in crowded Asian markets with low-latency 5G network connectivity for billions of things (IoT) can deliver both environmental (energy efficiency, air quality, clean water), and social benefits (emergency response drones, structural safety). Asia is engaging in standards based trials, building and testing and partnering to bring 5G technology and the benefits it will provide to improve the quality of life of millions of people. A smart city knows how to manage its power mobility connectivity Intel working on Narrow band IOT, millimeter wave. Make the recipe of 5G works. A Westby woman was taken to the hospital for suspected minor injuries following a single-vehicle accident at about 2 p.m. Aug. 30 in the town of Christiana. Hana S. Sedlmayr, 31, Westby, was west on Carlson Ridge Road just west of Knapp Valley Road when she swerved to miss an oncoming vehicle. The vehicle went down a steep embankment, coming to rest in a dry creek bed. Sedlmayr was wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash and was transported to Vernon Memorial Hospital by Tri-State Ambulance, according to the Vernon County Sheriffs Office. Airbags in the Sedlmayr vehicle were deployed. The central Bank of Papua New Guinea is running blockchain trials. Central Bank Governor Loi Bakani described the blockchain trials underway at the Bank of PNG and introduced the PNG Digital Commerce and Cryptocurrency Association for the growing number of Papua New Guinea tech entrepreneurs and businesses interested in blockchain technology. Banks and central banks around the world are experimenting with blockchain technology. They include Bank of America, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Bank of England, Peoples Bank of China, Bank of Canada, the National Bank of Cambodia, and the Central Bank of India. Banks Beyond partnerships, banks have also invested heavily into internal R&D. In 2016, JP Morgan recently announced that it had earmarked $9 billion to explore technologies like blockchain. Bank of America is looking to gain a first mover advantage by having filed close to 15 blockchain patents, with another 20 in its pipeline. Capital market applications is another area of interest for the global banks. Deutsche Bank has tested a corporate bond platform that uses smart contracts to issue and redeem bonds while Mitsubishi UFJ is working on a proof of concept for promissory notes. In general, global banks have the majority of their efforts centred on moving funds and securities quickly and cheaply around their global networks. Closer to home, DBS, Standard Chartered and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore initiated a trade finance collaboration with Ripple to better track invoices and to solve the problem of invoice duplication. A group of Korean banks have also come together to kick off a blockchain remittance project. One other key application that goes beyond finance is data management. Contrary to the belief that a shared ledger will have inherent privacy issues, R3s Cooper holds the view that a distributed ledger can serve as a shared platform where client data can be exchanged securely, bound by a specific data privacy legal contract and its use can be made transparent to the respective data provider, for example a regulatory authority. Fintechs The most common use cases of blockchain among fintechs are in remittance, payments followed by clearing, settlement and other capital markets applications. Among these fintechs, some are competing directly with banks, such as P2P lender, BTCJam while others are forming collaborative relationships with banks. China Science and Technology Exchange Center has a new 87 page report with a comprehensive analysis and rating of the national innovative competitiveness of the BRICS countries last year, with China on top, followed by Russia, South Africa, Brazil and India. The BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) represent approximately 42% of the world population and occupy 30% of the earths territory with a combined nominal GDP of approximately 23% of the world GDP and a combined trade volume of approximately 16% of the world trade. Over the past decade, the BRICS countries have contributed over half of the global economic growth. BRICS countries invest heavily in research and development, with the annual R&D expenditures accounting for approximately 17% of the worlds total, high-tech exports reaching nearly USD6 trillion or approximately 28% of the worlds total, and publications of science papers totaling 590,000, approximately 27% of the worlds total. As their contribution to global science, technology and innovation steadily increases, the international influence of the BRICS countries has been improving as well. The BRICS countries are pacesetters and leaders in their respective regions and lead regional countries in scientific, technological, economic and social development. Forecast on the STI (Science Technology Innovation) competitiveness of BRICS countries: The average score of innovation index of each BRICS country would be on the rise for 2017-2025 as the overall national innovation competitiveness of BRICS countries would be constantly strengthened over time. It is predicted that the innovation competitiveness of India would see a significant rise with its growth rate probably surpassing China between 2025-2030; the growth rate of Russia would fall and India would take over Russia in terms of its comprehensive STI competitiveness by 2030. In terms of R&D expenditures per researcher (in full-time employment equivalent) Russia has the lowest figure among BRICS countries, at $80 $90 thousand (PPP) during the last 5 years. In other BRICS nations relevant figures in recent years were between $200$250 thousand. In 2015 BRICS countries produced almost 29% of the worlds total number of Scopus-indexed publications; out of that, Chinas share was 18%, Indias 5%, Russias and Brazils 2.6% each, and South Africas 0.72%. In terms of forecasting, Chinas comprehensive innovation index is expected to achieve rapid growth from 2016 to 2021 with an increase by 16.43 points and the annual growth rate will exceed 5.1%. According to the forecast, Indias innovation index score will rise year by year, expecting to reach 26.79 points by 2020. China has a innovation index score of 52.5 in 2017 and India is 35.5 according to the Global Innovation Index. This score is different from the China Science and Technology Exchange Center. It appears that China is ahead in overall innovation but India could start improving more rapidly from 2025 to 2030. Chinas naval modernization effort encompasses a wide array of platform and weapon acquisition programs, including anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), submarines, surface ships, aircraft, and supporting C4ISR (command and control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) systems. Chinas naval modernization effort also includes improvements in maintenance and logistics, doctrine, personnel quality, education and training, and exercises. A congressional research service report reviews the situation. The report uses the term Chinas near-seas region to refer to the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Seathe waters enclosed by the so-called first island chain. The so-called second island chain encloses both these waters and the Philippine Sea that is situated between the Philippines and Guam. Chinas military (including naval) modernization effort has been underway for more than 25 years. Chinas effort kicked into high gear after watching the US crush the Iraq forces in the 1991 Desert Storm war and after a 1996 incident where the US forced China to backdown over Taiwan. Chinas naval modernization effort had been focused on modernization and capability improvement. China has begun to also put some focus on quantity. Some key areas of naval quantity: * Ballistic missile submarines Through 2008, China had only one ballistic missile submarine. By 2016, that figure had grown to four. * Aircraft carriers. Until 2012, China had no aircraft carriers. Chinas first carrier entered service in 2012. China is building one or two additional carriers, and observers speculate China may eventually field a total force of four to six carriers. * Corvettes (i.e., light frigates). Until 2014, China had no corvettes. Since then, China has built corvettes at a rapid rate, and at least 31 had entered service as of early 2017, with some observers projecting an eventual force of more than 60 Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles (ASBMs) and Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCMs) China is fielding an ASBM, referred to as the DF-21D, that is a theater-range ballistic missile equipped with a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) designed to moving hit ships at sea. A second type of Chinese theater-range ballistic missile, the DF-26, may also have an anti-ship capability. DF-26 has a reported range of 1,800 miles to 2,500 miles, or more than twice the reported range of the DF-21D. The DF-21Ds warhead apparently uses a combination of radar and optical sensors to find the target and make final guidance updates. Finally, it uses a high explosive, or a radio frequency or cluster warhead that at a minimum can achieve a mission kill. China reportedly is developing a hypersonic glide vehicle that, if incorporated into Chinese ASBMs, could make Chinese ASBMs more difficult to intercept. Submarines Many scientists from Los Alamos have returned to Chinese universities and research institutes that people have dubbed them the Los Alamos club. A recent breakthrough allowed them to predict the turbulence generated by a submarine more quickly and accurately. The technology will allow China to build quieter submarines and better detect foreign ones. By 2020, China should have 70-80 modern submarines. Aircraft Carrier Chinasfirst aircraft carrier entered service in 2012. Chinas second aircraft carrier (and its first indigenously built carrier) was launched in April 2017. China may have begun construction on a third aircraft carrier. Observers speculate China may eventually field a force of four to six aircraft carriers. Chinas third and subsequent carriers may use catapults rather than ski ramps, and that at least some of them might be nuclear-powered rather than conventionally powered. A March 29, 2017, press report states that that Chinas third carrier, referred to as the Type 002 design, has been under construction at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard in Shanghai since March 2015. It is expected to be launched [i.e, put into the water for the final stages of construction] in about 2021. It is reported to be much bigger and likely nuclear powered. China reportedly is building or preparing to build one or more large floating sea bases. The bases are referred to in press reports as very large floating structures (VLFSs). They are broadly similar in appearance to a concept known as the Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) that U.S. defense planners considered at one point years ago. VLFSs could be used for supporting operations by aircraft and surface ships and craft. Two Chinese companies are to build 3.2 kilometer [2-mile] long platforms that could host airstrips, docks, helipads, barracks, or even comprehensive security bases. You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person. Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else. With countless Houstonians still awaiting rescue, Tropical Depression Harvey devoured another Texas city. The unrelenting storm unleashed its wrath on a wide swath east of Houston, leaving thousands stranded in flooded homes and forcing the evacuation of a nursing facility and even an emergency shelter where residents had sought refuge. "Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming!" Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted Wednesday on Facebook. "If you called, we are coming. Please get to higher ground if you can, but please try (to) stay out of attics." At least 37 deaths related to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath have been reported in Texas. One of them, Houston police Sgt. Steve Perez, drowned while trying to get to work. "To those Americans who have lost loved ones, all of America is grieving with you and our hearts are joined with yours forever," President Donald Trump said in Springfield, Missouri. The storm left record-setting rain in Harris County -- which saw 19 deaths -- before unleashing 15 inches in the Beaumont area, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. "While there may still be flooding, the good news is there shouldn't be any rain in the region for the next several days," said CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward. Misery in Houston While heavy rains have ended in the Houston area, more danger looms. Emergency workers and throngs of volunteers went door to door for a fifth day Wednesday, trying to rescue victims of the flood. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said authorities have received 60,000 to 70,000 calls for help. "We just pray that the body count ... won't rise significantly." Acevedo said. The US Coast Guard is searching for two civilian rescuers who were swept away after their boat capsized Tuesday night, the Harris County Sheriff's Office tweeted Wednesday. Three volunteers were trying to cross Cypress Creek when their boat crashed and capsized, sending all three under a bridge. One of the volunteers was found clinging to a tree. About one-third of the Houston area is covered in water. And it's unclear exactly how many people still need to be rescued, Texas Military Department spokesman Lt. Col. Travis Walters said. For the first time since the weekend, authorities said, the flooding in Houston is slowly receding in some areas. The Houston Astros announced they will play a doubleheader at home on Saturday against the New York Mets. The team played the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Florida, earlier this week because of the hurricane. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the home game will provide "a much needed boost for our city" and offer residents "some aspect of normal life." But dangerous flooding will continue from Houston all the way into southwestern Louisiana for the rest of the week, the National Weather Service said. Houses built 'inside a lake' could degrade Controversy has surrounded the placement of houses near Houston's Barker and Addicks reservoirs, especially since floodwater overflowed the latter. "They allowed them to build homes inside the reservoir. And these homes are flooded -- 2,500 homes are flooded, some of them up to 5 feet deep," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said Wednesday. "They built homes inside a lake." And those homes "will be inundated for several weeks," said Jeff Lindner with Harris County Flood Control. "The closest comparison that I can draw to those homes ... is Hurricane Katrina," Lindner said. "When water sits in a house for several weeks, the house begins to degrade." Lindner said those residents will be able to return after several weeks, but "we are not sure what the condition of those homes are going to be." He also said it's unclear whether rebuilding homes in the same area will be allowed. Louisiana weathers Harvey, Texas 'taking it on the chin' Louisiana was largely spared from Harvey's wrath on Wednesday. "While things are still serious and there is a long way to go, we ... have fared much better than we'd feared might be the case, but our neighbors are still taking it on the chin," Gov. John Bel Edwards said. "In Texas, we're going to do everything we can do to be good neighbors to them." Edwards requested a federal disaster declaration be extended to seven additional Louisiana parishes. Harvey is still threatening to dump an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain from northern Louisiana into western Kentucky, forecasters said. It weakened over land and fizzled to a tropical depression Wednesday night, with winds of 35 mph. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said volunteers helped New Orleans recover after Katrina and they will do the same for Texas residents affected by Harvey. New Orleans officials announced a fundraiser to help the residents of Houston and other flooded Texas cities recover from Harvey. "No city was more welcoming for the citizens of New Orleans than the people of Houston," Landrieu said. "And our heart breaks for them as they go through their trying to times." More rescues, mother dies In Beaumont, rescuers Tuesday afternoon came upon a toddler in a pink backpack clinging to her mother's body in floodwaters about a half mile from their car. The mother was getting out of her car when she stepped into a canal, Mayor Becky Ames said. The girl was in stable condition with hypothermia. "Had we been a few moments later, they would have been swept underneath (a trestle) and our boats wouldn't have been able to get them," Haley Morrow, spokeswoman for the Beaumont Emergency Management Office, told CNN on Wednesday. "A true testament of a mother who put her own life at risk and sacrificed her life to save her child. That was devastating." In Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of the devastated Houston area, the deluge was so severe that floodwaters overwhelmed the Bob Bowers Civic Center, which was serving as a shelter. It was evacuated Wednesday after taking on water overnight, according to volunteer Ana Platero. Cots where people slept the night before floated on 2 feet of water on Wednesday as people waited on tables or sat on elevated bleachers to be evacuated to a nearby middle school. At Lake Arthur Place, a nursing home in Port Arthur, rescue workers evacuated up to 74 bedridden patients after an altercation involving relatives who tried to take out loved ones on their own, CNN affiliate KTRK reported. All residents were taken to local hospitals in Beaumont, the nursing home operator said. Some Port Arthur residents sought shelter in a bowling alley. Cynthia Harmon told CNN by phone that she was trapped with her two sons and two grandsons in the attic of her Port Arthur home. They began waiting for rescuers at midnight Tuesday and had run out of food and water by Wednesday afternoon. "I didn't think the water was going to rise like that," she said. "I've never been in anything like this." The family was rescued later on Wednesday. Police made an appeal for volunteers to bring boats and help. "Rescue boats welcome in Port Arthur to assist emergency personnel," the police department posted on Facebook. The city asked anyone trapped to hang a white towel, sheet or shirt outside to alert rescuers. The disaster in Port Arthur is part of Tropical Storm Harvey's devastating encore. Harvey made landfall once again Wednesday morning, slamming into the Louisiana coast near the Texas border. 26 inches in 24 hours Harvey has broken the US record for rainfall from a single storm, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said. It has dumped almost 52 inches of rain in parts of Texas. The coastal cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur got pummeled with 26 inches of rain in 24 hours. "Life-threatening flash flooding continues in far east Texas around Beaumont and Port Arthur," Hennen said. Port Arthur, a city of about 55,000, is in exceptional danger because water from Beaumont is expected to flow toward it. In Beaumont, a man who accidentally drove a truck into a flooded ravine that looked like a street was rescued by CNN correspondent Drew Griffin, producer Brian Rokus and photographer Scott Pisczek on Wednesday. "I want to thank these guys for saving my life," said the driver, Jerry Sumrall. In Woodville, a town north of Beaumont, US Rep. Brian Babin was trapped for part of Wednesday at home with members of his family after a creek overflowed. "I'm in my home in Tyler County, and we could not get out unless a helicopter plucks me out or I get my boat and launch it," the Texas Republican told CNN by phone early in the day. "We're fine. These waters are going to recede hopefully sometime this evening." On Wednesday afternoon, a US Navy helicopter plucked seven people from floodwaters. 'We help each other out' Strangers from across the country descended on Texas and braved treacherous floodwater to evacuate victims. Tom Dickers is among those who came hauling boats from Dallas and San Antonio. "This is what Texans would do. We help each other out," Dickers said. At least 9,000 to 10,000 people have been rescued in the Houston region by first responders. Volunteers said they have helped as many as 400 in one day. Some would just "come crying, just wanting help," volunteer Bobba Bedri said. "I just felt like I had to get more people out, keep going and keep going." CLARIFICATION: Harvey made its first landfall at 10 p.m. local time Friday, initially striking a barrier island near Port Aransas, Texas, before moving onto the US mainland two hours later near Copano Bay, Texas. After re-emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, it made another landfall Wednesday in Louisiana. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, Tina Burnside, Amanda Watts, AnneClaire Stapleton, Paul Vercammen, Samira Said, Cheri Mossburg and Darran Simon contributed to this report. Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe A controversial bill to extend last call until 4 a.m. at California bars and restaurants will be heard before a state assembly committee tomorrow, but it's not without local opposition. Drafted by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Senate Bill 384also known as the Let Our Communities Adjust Late Night (LOCAL) Act would allow, but not require, bars and restaurants in California to serve alcohol two hours past the current last call time of 2 a.m. One opponent of SB 384 is Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, who held a press conference at City Hall on Thursday to express his objections to the bill. "We'll get more revenue as a city if we stay open until 4 a.m., but the offsetting cost to local municipalities will be greater," said Koretz, who was joined by representatives from the Westside Impact Coalition, the California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) and The Wall Las Memorias Project. Koretz suggested the bill would place an undue burden on local law enforcement and ultimately pose a threat to public safety, saying, "Five or ten years after [SB 384] passes, I will believe we will reverse itover the objections of a powerful alcohol lobbybut who knows how many people will die in the meantime?" Koretz's concern about the impact SB 384 would have on law enforcement was echoed by the Los Angeles Police Protective Union. "Los Angeles does not have enough police officers now to respond to 911 calls, and extending last call at bars to 4 a.m. will only make matters worse. With more alcohol consumption comes more DUI incidents, more assaults, and more trouble in and around bars open that late," police union spokesperson Tom Saggau told LAist Thursday. The public nuisance aspect of a potential 4 a.m. last call was also brought up at Thursday's press conference, with Richard Zaldivar, founder and executive director of The Wall Las Memorias Project, asking, "Who's going to want to live next to a place where there are expanded liquor hours? If anyone has any questions about that, go downtowngo to 6th and Main, where I used to live." Zaldivar dismissed the local control aspect of the bill, which would allow individual cities in California to decide for themselves whether to extend last call to 4 a.m., as "fake news." Some local advocates dispute Koretz's claim that the passage of SB 384 would significantly increase alcohol-related risk in Los Angeles. "A 2 a.m. last call encourages people to pound their drinks and pour out into the streets all at the same time, and that kind of fast drinking and lack of oversight from security and bouncers leads to a lot of DUIs, drunken scuffles, violent altercations," Ace Katano, a defense attorney in Los Angeles who works with alcohol-related crimes, told LAist on Wednesday. Bars and restaurants do stand to gain revenue from the passage of SB 384, and some hospitality experts say the extra profit isn't necessarily at odds with public safety interests. Eddie Navarrette, a senior consultant at FE Design & Consulting who specializes in hospitality permitting and has worked with L.A. bars and restaurants including Salazar, Arts District Brewing Company and Hotel Erwin, told LAist on Thursday, "People are going to drink no matter whatat home, in after-hours clubs, in parking lots, in public parks. Why not give those people two extra hours in a safer, controlled, regulated environment?" Navarrette noted that SB 384 would grant individual cities the option to implement a 4 a.m. last call, but the number of California bars and restaurants who actually chose to do so would likely be in the minority. Public reactions to a 4 a.m. last call in L.A. vary, with the bill's supporters pointing to New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago as urban hubs bolstered by later closing times. The L.A. Times editorial board came out in support of the bill on Wednesday, pointing out that the 2 a.m. last-call mandate in California is based on an antiquated law that dates back to 1935. "Its the age of Uber. Drunk driving is on the decline. I think a 4 a.m. last call would go a long way towards making L.A. a nightlife destination. I know when I moved here from New York I immediately felt the loss," Nick Theodorakis, a film producer who lives in West Hollywood, told LAist. Extending last call also has the potential to build inclusive spaces for marginalized communities; Senator Wiener, the bill's author, told the LA Times in March, Nightlife plays a critical role in what makes cities unique. Especially for LGBT people, nightlife helped us find our community. It matters a lot. "The LOCAL Act recognizes that cities like Los Angeles could benefit - if it chooses to do so - from developing a plan to expand nightlife in neighborhoods like Downtown LA," Senator Wiener said in a statement last week. Kelsey Goldberg, agitprop co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Los Angeles chapter, cited the potential benefits of "more eyes on the street" at late hours in downtown L.A., pointing to Redwood Bar & Grill owner Christian Frizzell's recent assault on a homeless man as a situation that might have been deescalated by the presence of more foot traffic in the area. The State Assembly's Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on the bill on Friday, September 1, according to a representative from Senator Wiener's office. If the bill passes through the Appropriations committee, it will go to the full Assembly for review. The bill was already approved by the state Senate in May. If SB 384's supporters succeed, Los Angeles could implement a 4 a.m. last call as soon as January 2020. Update [Friday, 4:43 p.m.] The State Assembly's Appropriations Committee rejected SB 384's proposal to extend last call to 4 a.m. in a vote on Friday, instead revising the bill's language to create a task force to look further into the matter. The task force will report back to the Legislature by the end of 2019. Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe As the story goes, Porto's first started in Echo Park, where Rosa Porto opened a 300-square foot bakery on Sunset Boulevard in the '70s. That store would expand to a 2,000-square foot facility in Glendale, which then doubled in size and was followed by locations in Burbank, Downey, and Buena Park. Despite the years of expansion, the store never set up shop on the Westside. That's about to change, however, as a Porto's pop-up will arrive at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City in September. As noted at Eater, the Cuban bakery will crop up as a cafe called Dona Dulce. It will dole out Porto's classic cheese rolls and raspberry besitos, among other items. There will also be coffee from F. Gavina & Sons, which was founded in Cuba in 1870. The Cuban connection is not a coincidencethe pop-up will be part of an exhibit that focuses on photography in Cuba. Titled CUBA IS, the exhibit builds up to an intimate portrait that reveals the humanity taking place behind the island country's colorful walls. There'll be over 120 photos that touch on subjects ranging from El paquete, an underground system of sharing digital content, to the Cuban punk rockers dubbed "Los Frikis." The exhibit includes works by Leysis Quesada, Raul Canibano, Tria Giovan, and Elliot Erwitt. CUBA IS will kick things off with an opening celebration on September 9 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. There will be food, cocktails, music, and dance performances. The exhibit, which is free, will run from September 9 to March 4. Check here for hours. The Portos Dona Dulce pop-up will be in place from September 9, 2017 to March 8, 2018, and will only be open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Annenberg Space for Photography is at 2000 Avenue of the Stars #10, Century City. (213) 403-3000. Admission is free for exhibits and public programming. 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(3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 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(1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) As Harveys rains devastated neighborhoods across Houston, local rescue groups provided assistance to people who were stranded or in trouble. More than three thousand requests made from Sunday to Wednesday are shown here. 12 a.m. Monday BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR HOUSTON Gulf of Mexico Galveston Bay Rescue request 10 miles 12 a.m. Monday BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR HOUSTON Gulf of Mexico Galveston Bay Rescue request 20 miles 12 a.m. Monday BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR HOUSTON Gulf of Mexico Rescue request 20 miles 12 a.m. Monday BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR HOUSTON Rescue request 20 miles 12 a.m. Monday Beaumont Port Arthur Houston Rescue request 25 miles Thousands of people sought help through these local groups, submitting requests through one of several databases circulating on the internet. The unofficial rescue groups dispatched boats to people who asked for assistance, said Melissa Wynn Adair, co-founder of the Texas Navy, one of the organizations. Though not every account could be confirmed, in aggregate, the animated map offers a glimpse into the geography of the disaster. Emergency responders could not always keep pace with the influx of rescue requests as residents from neighborhoods across the city watched the waters rise higher and higher. Sunday On Sunday night, the rescue calls came mainly from areas along Brays Bayou, which runs through neighborhoods near Rice University and the Texas Medical Center. Calls also began to come in from a small subdivision at the edge of East Houston called Verde Forest, along Greens Bayou. braeswood place beechnut st. robindell Brays Bayou westbury 1/2 MILE braeswood place beechnut st. robindell Brays Bayou westbury 1/2 MILE southwest houston beechnut st. Brays Bayou 1 MILE southwest houston Brays Bayou 1 MILE 7:13 p.m. My grandparents are trapped in their house. 8:56 p.m. Elderly Bedridden...cant walk. Is 100% bed bound 9:53 p.m. Needs evacuation, one elderly person in a wheel chair Overnight, the calls from northeast Houston increased, and new calls were being heard along Cypress Creek in the north. Monday On Monday, rescue requests began to come from the west end of Barker Reservoir, indicating that the dry lake bed used to absorb floodwaters from the upper Buffalo Bayou was filling. And floodwaters in the northeast were spreading rapidly. Buffalo Bayou grand lakes Barker Reservoir westpark tollway twin oaks village grand mission 1/2 MILE Buffalo Bayou grand lakes Barker Reservoir westpark tollway twin oaks village grand mission 1/2 MILE Buffalo Bayou Barker Reservoir westpark tollway 1 MILE Buffalo Bayou Barker Reservoir 1 MILE 4:17 a.m. These people are outside and flooded out of the home and cannot access the roof. Both are elderly. 5:36 a.m. Hes on bottled oxygen now, and running out. Nausea from lack of oxygen has already started. 7:32 a.m. Need help getting out of here! Dont think it will get any better! I have a 6 week old and a 1 year old! Running out of food and water!! On the second floor but water is rising. By the afternoon, things were worse everywhere. There were new calls for help from below the spillways of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, and dozens more on Cypress Creek. At this point, the calls from the northeast were coming from far outside areas that have been officially designated as flood-prone. concord bridge bear creek village Langham Creek Clay Rd. Bear Creek Addicks Reservoir 1/2 MILE Langham Creek Clay Rd. Addicks Reservoir Bear Creek 1 MILE Addicks Reservoir 1 MILE concord bridge bear creek village Langham Creek Clay Rd. Bear Creek Addicks Reservoir 1/2 MILE 2:25 p.m. Blind man with medical needs disabled woman and three year old. 8:19 p.m. ELDERLY, NEED WATER, IN ADDICKS RELEASE 9:19 p.m. The water is rising fast and they are on a rescue list for 911 but need out immediately. Tuesday It was apparent that the area northeast of the city was one of the hardest hit. Middle-class subdivisions like the Village of Kings Lakes, Beaumont Place, Parkway and Stonefield Terrace had more rescue calls than other areas. HIDDEN MEADOW Greens Bayou STONEFIELD TERRACE Parkway tidwell Rd. EAST HOUSTON Halls Bayou beaumont hwy beaumont place 1/2 MILE HIDDEN MEADOW Greens Bayou STONEFIELD TERRACE Parkway tidwell Rd. EAST HOUSTON Halls Bayou beaumont hwy beaumont place 1/2 MILE Greens Bayou EAST HOUSTON STONEFIELD TERRACE Parkway Halls Bayou beaumont place 1 MILE Greens Bayou STONEFIELD TERRACE Parkway beaumont place 1 MILE 3:04 p.m. Grandmother has a bad hip and bad knees. grandmother also has a pacemaker. 5:20 p.m. We are on our second story first floor flooded We are both 70 years old 10:56 p.m. 3 adults and 3 children trapped; some might be drowning. Water is knee deep! Wednesday By Wednesday morning, as the rains eased in Houston and the rivers began to recede, the storm lingered offshore, picking up more moisture to dump on the old oil towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur to the east. After midnight, as it turned toward shore again, the rescue calls started there. 1:41 a.m. One Pregnant Mother and 4 year old with Asthma and his machine is damaged in the water. 1:56 a.m. Its my sister and her family Im not sure of the severity but shes panicking water is raising in her home and she has an infant please help Their suffering is largely a result of monstrous misconduct by a Saudi-led coalition that is supported by the United States and Britain. Their suffering is largely a result of monstrous misconduct by a Saudi-led coalition that is supported by the United States and Britain. Thats a young Yemeni boy, acutely malnourished like two million other children in Yemen caught up in what the United Nations calls the worlds largest humanitarian crisis. Thats a young Yemeni boy, acutely malnourished like two million other children in Yemen caught up in what the United Nations calls the worlds largest humanitarian crisis. A Yemeni soldier on the rubble of a house in Sana, the capital, hit by an airstrike that killed 14 people. Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse Getty Images A malnourished boy, with his mother, receives nutrition through a tube at a hospital in Al Hudaydah, Yemen. Marco Frattini/World Food Program A malnourished boy, with his mother, receives nutrition through a tube at a hospital in Al Hudaydah, Yemen. Marco Frattini/World Food Program Lets be blunt: With U.S. and U.K. complicity, the Saudi government is committing war crimes in Yemen. The country is on the brink of famine, with over 60 percent of the population not knowing where their next meal will come from, the leaders of the U.N. World Food Program, Unicef and the World Health Organization said in an unusual joint statement. Yemen, always an impoverished country, has been upended for two years by fighting between the Saudi-backed military coalition and Houthi rebels and their allies (with limited support from Iran). The Saudis regularly bomb civilians and, worse, they have closed the airspace and imposed a blockade to starve the rebel-held areas into submission. That means that ordinary Yemenis, including children, die in bombings or starve. A child dies in Yemen every 5 minutes Buthaina is the only member of her family not killed in a Saudi-led airstrike last week. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters This is Buthaina, a girl believed to be 4 or 5 who was the only survivor in her family of a bombing last week by the Saudi coalition that killed 14 people. Saudi Arabian imports of major arms by supplier, 2012-2016 United States 52.0% Britain 27.1 Other* 20.8 *Includes Spain, France, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, China, South Africa, Georgia, Austria, Slovakia, and Bulgaria Source: Sipri Arms Transfers Database Human Rights Watch has repeatedly concluded that many Saudi airstrikes were probable war crimes and that the U.S. shares responsibility because it provides the Saudis with air-to-air refueling and intelligence used for airstrikes, as well as with much of the weaponry. Yet victims like Buthaina arent on our television screens and rarely make the news pages, in part because Saudi Arabia is successfully blocking foreign journalists from the rebel-held areas. I know, because Ive been trying for almost a year to get there and thought I had arranged a visit for this week and then Saudi Arabia shut me down. With commercial flights banned, the way into rebel areas is on charter flights arranged by the United Nations and aid groups. But Saudi military jets control this airspace and ban any flight if theres a journalist onboard. I dont think the Saudis would actually shoot down a plane just because I was on it, but the U.N. isnt taking chances. This is maddening: Saudi Arabia successfully blackmails the United Nations to bar journalists so as to prevent coverage of Saudi atrocities. 2 in 3 Yemenis dont know where their next meal is coming from Alaa, two days before dying. Marco Frattini/World Food Program The Saudis dont want you to see children like this one, Alaa, severely malnourished and photographed by a World Food Program team. Two days later, Alaa died. The situation in Yemen is a disgrace that brings shame to our global community, says Michelle Nunn, president of Care USA. More than 20 million Yemenis are in need of emergency assistance, and a child dies every five minutes. Yet few Americans know about the daily bloodshed, near-famine conditions and a raging cholera epidemic. We should cut off military transfers to Saudi Arabia until it ends its strangulation of Yemen. The civil war in Yemen started as a local conflict, but Saudi Arabia rushed in because of exaggerated fears of Iranian influence there. All parties have behaved outrageously. But its our side that appears to be responsible for the most deaths: A draft U.N. report says that the Saudi-led coalition is responsible for 65 percent more deaths of children than the Houthis and their allies, and its the Saudis who have imposed the blockade that is leading to starvation. In addition, the worlds worst cholera epidemic has broken out in Yemen, partly because so many people are malnourished. An additional 5,000 Yemenis are infected with cholera each day. 5,000 Yemenis are infected with Cholera each day Yemeni children suspected of being infected with cholera received treatment at a makeshift hospital in Sana in June 5. Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse Getty Images The Saudis say, correctly, that they are also providing large amounts of aid to Yemen. But bombing and starving civilians is not excused if one provides Band-Aids afterward. A Yemeni child with a poster of a family killed in an airstrike on a residential area last week in Sana. Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse Getty Images This catastrophe started under President Barack Obama, although he tried not nearly enough to rein in Saudi Arabia. President Trump has removed the reins and embraced the rash and inexperienced Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is overseeing the assault on Yemen. Yemen is a moral, humanitarian and strategic disaster for America, says Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East analyst who advised both Republican and Democratic administrations. U.S. policy is being driven by its pro-Saudi proclivities and its own desire to contain Iran. But by enabling Riyadh, its only making an already fraught situation worse. What do we do? Jan Egeland, a former senior U.N. official who now leads the Norwegian Refugee Council, urges an immediate cease-fire, a lifting of the embargo on Yemen, and peace talks led by the U.N., the U.S. and the U.K., forcing both sides to compromise. A glimpse of moral leadership has come from the U.S. Senate. A remarkable 47 senators in June voted to block a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia, largely because of qualms about Saudi conduct in Yemen. Those senators are right, and we should halt all arms transfers to Saudi Arabia until it ends the blockade and bombings. Saturday 4) 10 A.M. Crypts and Gravestones Find a counterpoint to ultramodern Glasgow at the citys cathedral, a dark, Gothic structure that was originally dedicated in 1136, and whose lower crypt contains the tomb of the citys patron saint, St. Mungo, who went to his reward in the early seventh century. The church retains several unusual features, including one of its original oak doors, said to have been scarred by bullets during one of the citys numerous historical conflicts. Nearby, the ornate tombs and gravestones of the citys 19th-century elite can make the hilltop Necropolis cemetery seem like a surprisingly uplifting place, at least on sunny mornings. 5) 11 A.M. Yarn Bombs Pick up a local souvenir for your favorite knitter at the Queen of Purls, which stocks colorful yarns from the Scottish maker Jamiesons of Shetland, as well as English, Icelandic and Finnish yarns, to say nothing of plain wool for those who spin their own. Not too far away, the Bargain Wool Shop stocks even more skeins in a small shop just across from the Barras Market, a love-it-or-hate-it weekend destination for fans of antiques, bric-a-brac and vintage clothing. The UFO-like SSE Hydro Arena. Credit Andy Haslam for The New York Times 6) 1 P.M. Unexpected Eats Most people come to the Center for Contemporary Arts to check out the quirky artistic exhibitions, though the food at the in-house Saramago Cafe rich beet and portobello bourguignon (9.75); a salad of roasted butternut squash with cucumber, pomegranate and mint, covered with a lemony harissa dressing (7.50) is often just as unorthodox. (Only later, you might realize that everything on the inventive menu is vegan). Take in one of the oft-changing exhibits, peek in the print studio or simply enjoy the spacious 1868 building designed by Glasgows greatest neoclassical architect, Alexander Greek Thomson, before shopping for illustration and arts-focused titles at the ground floors Aye-Aye Books on your way out. 7) 2 P.M. Small Producers Head to the Kelvinbridge subway station and walk west along Great Western Road to discover some of the citys most interesting shops. Start off among the rare whiskies, wines and craft beers at Valhallas Goat before going through the racks of rather glamorous used clothing at the nearby Glasgow Vintage Company. Farther down the street youll find used collectibles and rare first editions, often on local subjects, at family-owned Caledonia Books, as well as unusual British- and Scandinavian-made design and lifestyle products at trendy Hoos. 8) 4 P.M. Rippling Waves Its not just the classic architecture that makes Glasgow beautiful. Several large modern buildings also brighten the skyline, including the SEC Armadillo amphitheater and the UFO-like SSE Hydro Arena, both designed by Foster and Partners. Even more remarkable is the Riverside Museum, a Zaha Hadid construction from 2011 with a roof that resembles waves of water, a fitting motif considering the waterside location. Inside, the museums collection of more than 3,000 historic cars, trams and motorcycles almost feels like a bonus. (As with most Glasgow museums, entry is free.) A free shuttle bus service operates in summer months, though its a relatively easy walk from either the Partick or Kelvinhall subway stations the rest of the year, as the buildings rippling rooftop and the soaring masts of the Glasgow-built tall ship Glenlee moored just behind it create a perfect landmark to aid your journey. At Shilling, one of the citys newest brewpubs, you can try excellent house craft brews. Credit Andy Haslam for The New York Times 9) 6:30 P.M. Mysterious Flavors There are enough great restaurants in town to keep you from having to go anywhere twice. One worth several revisits is Kimchi Cult, a hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant on a small street in the West End. Korean classics like bibimbap rice bowls (7) and fluffy Taiwanese bao steamed buns (4) compete with new-style kimchi-bacon cheeseburgers (8) and French fries topped with bulgogi barbecue beef (7), all served with pickled vegetables. If you dont have the chance to taste the incomprehensibly crispy fried chicken (7), available either slathered with sweet and tangy soy-garlic glaze or dressed with tart and piquant gochujang hot sauce, you now have your reason to return. Dinner for two is about 30, including soft drinks.) 10) 9 P.M. Church-Going Stroll past the shops, bars and restaurants of bustling Byres Road until you hit Great Western Road and your next destination: the former Kelvinside Parish Church, built in 1862, which is enjoying new life as Oran Mor, a combination pub, restaurant, dance club and concert venue. Start at the Whisky Bar, where the patient staff will ask your preferences and offer a fitting dram from one of the hundreds of available bottles, including many rarities. Later, you can stay up late in the Club Room in the former church crypt, where house and R&B D.J.s keep the dance floor moving until 3 a.m. Meditation (Image by kstepanoff) Details DMCA It seems like it is part of human nature to want to belong to and participate in a nonhierarchical group to share our deepest political and spiritual values and beliefs. Perhaps that is why many of us long to be part of a tribe, ultimately a network of tribes or intentional communities. In mainline Christian churches, I can enjoy the singing and music, sometimes the sermon, if I ignore the theistic doctrines and the neo-conservative or neo-liberal foreign policies of the members shared during coffee hour. Even at Unitarian-Universalist churches, you won't find many leftists, though many are progressive Democrats. Moreover, I don't like the idea of supporting the salary of a minister, who often does not seem any more enlightened than the rest of us. I do like the fact, however, that more UU churches are allowing mindfulness and Buddhist meditation groups to meet at their churches. Unity and Science of Mind churches that I have attended are more likely to support the perennial philosophy (as found in the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Yoga and Zen philosophy, and the writings of Aldous Huxley), which I value, as compared to the Unitarian-Universalist churches, which often take a more intellectual approach to everything. However, about two years ago, I attended a Science of Mind church around Memorial or Veterans Day. The theme of the service that day, with more American flags added for the occasion, was to honor the troops who gave up their lives, so that we can enjoy our current freedom. I too deeply honor and support our troops, which is why I think we should bring them all home. After attending that particular service, I felt somewhat alienated from the group. More churches should teach and preach about nonviolence and the importance of diplomacy during Memorial and Veterans Day: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4)." It seems like the various Socialist, Communist, and Green groups have their hierarchies and narrow agendas as well. If you are even fortunate enough to live in a city where such groups exist, you will often find that attending their meetings is often like attending a boring, impersonal business meeting. In Indianapolis where I live there was a socialist group that formed through Meetup.com, which I attended only once, but it has seemingly disbanded, I'm sorry to say. I had suggested at the website that a book discussion group form, but not one person responded to my request. It apparently was not important to the group's agenda. I greatly appreciate the time and energy that many activists put into making public demonstrations to make people aware of the issues. But some of us need more than just that. In college, my favorite class was a course called The Dynamics of Group Therapy. The eight members in our small group psychologically and emotionally bonded, especially during a weekend retreat, which was a requirement of the course. Moreover, at public libraries, I've noticed there are more Socrates Cafe' groups where participants discuss what is on their minds about very important issues. The average churchgoer has not studied the Bible scientifically the way a good liberal seminary would direct them. The average person graduating from a typical high school or college has not seriously studied any radical ideas that challenge the worldview as presented by the corporate-owned mainstream media. The average person works in a company that does not have workplace democracy; he or she has to endure a tyrannical and hierarchical system of domination and control. Growing up at home and in school, the average person has not learned conflict resolution skills or nonviolent communication skills, as taught by Marshall Rosenberg. With tension and pressure at work, followed by marital and family conflicts at home, the average person has little time or energy to think about world religions and political philosophy. Not very many people understand how important the study of psychology can be to work through interpersonal conflicts, which many people throughout the world are struggling with, among many other problems. Instead of empowering the professional experts, let us teach what they have learned to each other. That is how each person can become empowered by learning more about everything. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From The National Still, opening the doors to "Jewish" non-Jews is a step too far Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a crushing rebuke to the perennial optimists roused to hopes of imminent peace by the visit to the Middle East last week of Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. At an event on Monday in the West Bank celebrating the half-centenary of Israeli occupation, Mr Netanyahu effectively admitted that US efforts to revive the peace process would prove another charade. There would be no dismantling of the settlements or eviction of their 600,000 inhabitants -- the minimum requirement for a barely feasible Palestinian state. "We are here to stay forever," Mr Netanyahu reassured his settler audience. "We will deepen our roots, build, strengthen and settle." So where is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict heading if the two-state solution is dead? The answer: back to its origins. That will entail another desperate numbers battle against the Palestinians -- with Israel preparing to create new categories of "Jews" so they can be recruited to the fray. Demography was always at the heart of Israeli policy. During the 1948 war that founded a Jewish state on the ruins of the Palestinian homeland, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled in a campaign that today would be termed ethnic cleansing. By the end, a large native Palestinian majority had been reduced to less than a fifth of the new state's population. David Ben Gurion, the country's founding father, was unperturbed. He expected to swamp this rump group with Jews from Europe and the Arab world. But the project foundered on two miscalculations. First, Ben Gurion had not factored in the Palestinian minority's far higher birth rate. Despite waves of Jewish immigrants, Palestinians have held fast, at 20 percent of Israel's citizenry. Israel has fought a rearguard battle against them ever since. Studies suggest that the only Israeli affirmative action program for Palestinian citizens is in family planning. Israeli demographic scheming was on show again last week. An investigation by the Haaretz newspaper found that in recent years, Israel has stripped of citizenship potentially thousands of Bedouin, the country's fastest-growing population. Israel claims bureaucratic "errors" were made in registering their parents or grandparents after the state's founding. Meanwhile, another Rubicon was crossed last month when an Israeli court approved revoking the citizenship of a Palestinian convicted of a lethal attack on soldiers. Human rights groups fear that, by rendering him stateless, the Israeli right has established a precedent for conditioning citizenship on "loyalty." Justice minister Ayelet Shaked underlined that very point this week when she warned the country's judges that they must prioritise demography and the state's Jewishness over human rights. The second miscalculation arrived in 1967. In seizing the last fragments of historic Palestine but failing to expel most of the inhabitants, Israel made itself responsible for many hundreds of thousands of additional Palestinians, including refugees from the earlier war. The demographic "demon," as it is often referred to in Israel, was held at bay only by bogus claims for many decades that the occupation would soon end. In 2005, Israel bought a little more breathing space by "disengaging" from the tiny Gaza enclave and its 1.5 million inhabitants. Now, in killing hopes of Palestinian statehood, Mr Netanyahu has made public his intention to realise the one settler-state solution. Naftali Bennett, Mr Netanyahu's chief rival in the government, is itching to ignore international sentiment and begin annexing large parts of the West Bank. There is a problem, however. At least half the population in Mr Netanyahu's Greater Israel are Palestinian. And with current birth rates, Jews will soon be an indisputable minority -- one ruling over a Palestinian majority. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "Rob Kall's book is amazing. He's created a real breakthrough, visionary how-to for a sustainable, quality future. Like Saul Alinski's Rules for Radicals, this book is destined to become a classic must-read for all those concerned with social, economic, and environmental justice in today's interconnected world. Story shapes the world and our world needs new stories if we are to survive and thrive. The story of the bottom-up evolution and revolution is one that can change individuals, groups, businesses, religions, and governments for the positive as it shows how bottom-up inclusiveness, connectedness, collaboration, empathy, innovation, and freeform creativity can help unleash the great potentials for good inherent in our very nature. If you want to improve things in your world and the world, first read this book, then apply the suggestions. Change is sure to come." Pamela Jaye Smith, mythologist and author of InnerDrives, Power of the Dark Side, Symbols* Images* Codes* and award-winning writer-producer-director (Image by Public Banking Institute) Details DMCA Watching the broadcast media reporting on the catastrophe in Texas, I heard the team on Fox News wonder aloud what the evacuees would do and where to turn to find shelter and safety? Many left their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs. What resources could they draw on? Commentator, Chris Stirewalt put it in perspective when he observed that most Americans can not, in times of crisis, lay their hands on more than $500. Other published estimates put that at $400. Texas may be drowning in water, but the American people are drowning in debt. This is the legacy of decades of neo-liberal economic policy enforced by both political parties, in the Congress and the White House: Americans trapped in a web of debt spun over four decades by a parasitical finance "industry." The "capitalism" endlessly extolled by talking heads on networks like Fox and in leading publications like The Wall Street Journal and the Economist is dead; having been steadily degraded into a global economics of trans- national monopolies, with wealth and income monopolized by the few. It's simple, really. It takes capital to be a capitalist. Most Americans don't have any. They have debt. Families, students, small businesses, state and local governments, school districts and the taxpayers that support them are drowning in debt. The proposed way out? It's just another step deeper into the web of debt. As in Pennsylvania and across the nation, the same old, same old: more debt and taxes. The burden of debt will come quickly into focus as Congress is asked to appropriate the many billions that will be needed to fund the federal participation in the recovery from Hurricane Harvey. Deficit hawks are already insisting that whatever amount is appropriated must be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. There is an alternative. To understand its utility, it is first necessary to understand how the money of the United States is created. Look at a dollar bill, or any bill. It says clearly at the top, "Federal Reserve Note." The Fed has a monopoly on the creation of our money. It works like this. The Fed takes the "full faith and credit" of the United States (Nothing more - no gold, no silver), sells bonds and transfers the credit raised to the Treasury. The majority of the buyers are the global cabal of parasites in pinstripes and some foreign governments. The roughly two dozen banking and finance companies with a license to sell those bonds have made a fortune over the decades. The Treasury then pays off those bonds, at interest, with the money raised in income taxes. The interest is killing taxpayers and keeping Americans in debt. Interest on mortgages, car loans, business loans, student loans, credit cards, municipal bond issues and built into the chain of production and supply for almost everything we purchase. One example. The new Bay Bridge in San Francisco cost about $6 billion. But there is another $6 billion in interest costs for California taxpayers to pay off. The alternative is the one used by Lincoln in the Civil War, to by-pass the banksters and their high interest. The Treasury can issue the money directly, as "U.S. Treasury Notes," and avoid the interest paid to the banksters. Cut out the middleman. Lincoln had the Treasury issue $450 million of "greenbacks," which went directly into the productive economy, buying goods and services. That $450 million in 1864 is equal to roughly $6.7 billion in today's dollars, a small fraction of the current $4 trillion federal budget and almost $20 trillion U.S. economy. Trump has proposed a $1 trillion infrastructure package. It will come at interest. The Treasury could issue three times that as low, almost no cost interest (the same terms on which the Fed loaned an estimated $17 trillion to Wall Street) to underwater homeowners and businesses, students and cash strapped state and local governments and school districts, to pay off older, more costly debt and start rebuilding the entire national infrastructure. Millions can be put to work. The Treasury can be repaid easily by an elimination of debt-service costs, an explosion of wealth-generating productivity, the growth of tax receipts at all levels of government and the future employment of well-educated young people. The Treasury can bypass the Fed --which is nothing more than the administrative arm of Wall Street and the banksters -- and rescue the American people from their high interest racket. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Wallwritings (Image by USINFO Photo Gallery) Details DMCA Another day, another Donald Trump tweet. This one came Thursday, August 17, a few hours after a van plowed into a crowd on the Barcelona pedestrian mall of Las Ramblas, Spain. The Islamic state claimed credit for the attack. President Trump tweeted, via iPhone: Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017 The Atlanticdebunked the story: "It seemed to be a reference to a story Trump told at campaign rallies during the 2016 primaries, which in turn was a garbled version of an Islamophobic meme that has made its way around the internet for years. "In the fable, the legendary U.S. General John J. Pershing once ended a wave of Muslim terrorism in the Philippines by executing prisoners with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. Other superstitious fighters were so terrified by the prospect of being killed while touching part of a forbidden animal, the story goes, that fighting immediately stopped, for some period of time. "(For 25 years, Trump said at a North Charleston, South Carolina, rally in February 2016; a few weeks later, in Costa Mesa, California, it had jumped up to 42.)" This story of General Pershing and Pig's Blood, is not only false; it also reveals Trump's ability to continually lie to evoke applause and cheers for himself. The Pershing false story is also an ugly demonstration of Trump's repeated use of Islamophobia as a political tool. It is a statement of injustice. Polling indicates the base which provides the applause and cheers he craves, has dropped into the lower 30 percent approval rating. Trump did not cause this moral collapse. He found it sitting there, waiting for someone with his bravado and narcissism to turn the public's innate fear of others into a narrow political upset. The metaphor which I find best addresses the phenomenon of Donald Trump, is the schoolyard bully who gains power through force and intimidation. In my faith tradition, Joshua 24:15, gives the declaration of how best to confront and reject the schoolyard bully, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Article Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their articles after publishing them. To see if the article was renamed or re-published, please click here. There is good reason, however, to consider stack height, particularly given the axle to crown dimension on those 170-millimeter travel forks that spearhead a lot of enduro bikes these days or any of the 140-plus millimeter travel 29er forks on the market. Few things bung up front-end handling like the sensation that your low-rise handlebars are inexplicably at nipple height. That T-Rex feeling blows. I'm poaching Transition's illustration here...it illustrates stack height nicely. Cane Creek's Hellbender bearing adds an extra dose of sealing and durability. While the whole "" movement has historicaly been more of a roadie obsession than a dirt thing, a growing number of mountain bikers are starting to fixate on stack height as well. You can chalk some of that up to the fact that nobody can obsess like a cyclist when it comes to the subject of bike geometry and it. I mean, whylose sleep over your handlebar height since you're already twitching uncontrollably over your bottom bracket height or reach?Enter Cane Creek's new Slamset headset.The name kind of says it all. While Cane Creek already sold short stack versions of their Zero Stack and Integrated Stack upper headset assemblies, those short stack versions still had a bout 8 millimeters of height to them. The Slamset damn near levels them completely. The Zero Stack version of the Slamset, for instance, sits just two millimeters above dead flush. Cane Creek will offer the Slamset in both integrated (IS) and Zero Stack (ZS) versions. The Slamset will be available in November. The cups are machined in-house, at Cane Creek's Fletcher, North Carolina headquarters.The bearing is a new design as well. Cane Creek calls it the Hellbender bearing. The Hellbender bearing is a completely stainless-steel ball bearing. Instead of having the casing, or the webbing, for the balls to sit inside, it's completely contacting all the way around. There's an extra six ball bearings tucked up in there (over what you'd find in Cane Creek's typical 41-millimeter cartridge). The Hellbender's sealing is also more robust than what you'll find in Cane Creek's other headsets.The reason for that extra sealing? The IS Slamset top assembly has lost its sealing elements because of the emphasis on creating a low stack height; as a result, the Hellbender bearing has to house all of the seal elements required to keep it from getting contaminated and freezing up. Side note: if you run a Cane Creek headset and you simply dig the idea of upgrading to an uber-sealed bearing, you can trade up to the Hellbender. The Hellbender bearing is retrofittable to Cane Creek's 40 series, 110, Air and Angleset headsets. Naturally, if you run the Zero Stack version of the Slamset, you also get an additional dose of sealing, since the Zero Stack upper assembly retains its seals.The Slamset will retail for $130 (top and bottom IS assemblies) and $160 for the ZS (top and bottom assemblies). Anisic Aldehyde Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 08:47:12 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States 3479183531 email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 462 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Scented products are chosen by a large number of inhabitants. Considering daily life, products containing fragrance are preferred, consumed and utilized which in turn has resulted in increase in demand for global anisic aldehyde market. Anisic aldehyde also known as para-methoxybenzaldehyde is a clear colourless pale yellowish liquid with powerful aroma. Being an organic compound, it is used in both natural and synthetic form to provide fragrance and flavour. Anisic Aldehyde, form of speciality chemical is increasingly cited as a trigger to produce more scented and odourless products. It is found in vanilla aroma and in essential oils of fennel and anise. It is produced commercially by methoxytoluene using manganese dioxide. It can also be created by oxidation of anethole (an allied fragrance that is found in alcoholic bevVisit For TOC@ erages). Owing to its good persistence, it is widely used in perfumery and pharmaceuticals applications.Anisic Aldehyde Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe demand for anisic aldehyde is constantly rising with growth in fragrance & flavour, pharmaceuticals and personal care industry. An advanced chemical, physical & efficient property of anisic aldehyde drives the demand for global anisic aldehyde market. With progress in the global pharmaceutical market followed by high consumption in cosmetics and personal care, the global anisic aldehyde market is likely to expand at double digit CAGR during the forecast period (2016-2025). However, unexpected fluctuation in raw materials along with government regulations is acting as a restraint in the growth of global anisic aldehyde market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-479 Anisic Aldehyde Market: SegmentationOn the basis of end-user, the global anisic aldehyde market has been broadly segmented into:Perfumes & FragrancesPharmaceuticalsPersonal & Home CareOthersOn the basis of regions the global acetophenone market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia-Pacific and Japan.Anisic Aldehyde Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global anisic aldehyde market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. India and China is the major manufacturing hub for anisic aldehyde. As of 2015, Asia Pacific, and Western Europe dominates the global anisic aldehyde market in terms of market revenue. U.S., Australia and South Africa are few other countries having a large consumer base for speciality chemicals like anisic aldehyde. India, China & Japan are projected to expand at a substantial growth and will continue to contribute to the global anisic aldehyde market value, exhibiting a robust CAGR during the forecast period, 2016?2025.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-479 Anisic Aldehyde Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in global bariatric surgery devices market are BASF SE, Atul Ltd, Neshiel Chemical Pvt Ltd, Parchem, AscentFinechem Pvt ltd and Elan Chemical Company and Nandolia Organic Chemicals Pvt Ltd, Global Essence, among many others. ASEAN Confectionery Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 06:43:20 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 614 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 ASEAN Confectionery Market OverviewItems in confectionery market consists of candies, chocolates, toffees, lollies, bakery items;basically food items that are rich in sugar and sweet content. Mostly confectionery market items consists of food products like butter, cocoa, honey, milk, flour, fruits, honey, nuts, sugar syrup and more. They are consumed globally, mostly by all regions and countries and are expected to grow in developing countries. Confectionery market is growing in mostly all the South East Asian countries and saw a tremendous growth in the last couple of years.ASEAN Confectionery Market SegmentationThe confectionery market is segmented into three segments Chocolates, Sugar confectionery and Gum. Chocolates constitutes the significant part of confectionery market. Cocoa and sugar are the raw materials for chocolate and latex is the raw material used for gum.Worlds largest cocoa processor Barry Callebauts production has also moved to Asia pacific and Latin America because of its low production costs and great future opportunities.Its factories are in Malaysia and Thailand. Nestle has acquired a majority stake in Chinese confectioner Hsu Fu Chi.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-as-420 Europe constitutes the biggest share of confectionery market, followed by Asia Pacific confectionery market. ASEAN region has become an attractive place to do business. Some big MNCs have shifted their base(plants) for the production of chocolate to Indonesia to improve efficiency and reduce costs in supply. Indonesia has the most consumption of confectionery items as compared to other South East Asian countries. Flavors GmbH (WILD), another company is opening its branch center in Singapore to serve the hub for the ASEAN region. Main markets in South East Asian countries include Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia for confectionery market.ASEAN Confectionery Market DynamicsRising disposable income, higher population, high GDP growth and consumer spending are the major key drivers of ASEAN confectionery market. The biggest constraint to ASEAN confectionery market could be rise in raw material cost and uncertain consumer behaviour. Also health issues, increasing government regulations, could also be the biggest challenge for confectionery market. Chocolate segment expected to grow the most under ASEAN confectionery market. On special occasions and celebrations, sale of confectionery items increase because people gift each other and its consumption and demand increase. Vietnam is gradually cutting down the import tax imposed on products of ASEAN, countries in accordance with the ASEAN Free Trade Area, AFTA, regulations. As a result, the Vietnamese confectionery market is vibrant compared to other nations.ASEAN Confectionery Market Distribution ChannelMostly confectionery items are sold in retail stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. Multinational flavor companies and smaller local manufacturers are active in South EastAsia confectionery market. The latter offers good distribution expertise and local connections. Innovation by producers playing a great role in experimenting with flavors, taste, size which is driving a growth of this market. Enterprises operating under Vietnamese confectionery market use modern technology of foreign countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan and Austria to make their products, and apply non-chemical preservation techniquesVisit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-as-420 ASEAN Confectionery Market Key PlayersKey players in this confectionery market are Ferraro, Hersheys,Lindt, Wrigleys, Perfetti Van Melle and ChupaChupa. Product innovation and consistent in quality are the reasons for their success. Dunkin Donuts has signed a franchisee agreement to develop a brand in Vietnam with Vietnam Food and Beverage Co. domestic confectionery companies have simultaneously launched many new products in confectionery market. Pioneers of the campaign included famous companies such as Kinh Do, Bibica, Kotobuki, and smaller producers like Nguyen Tran and ThanhPhat, etc. ierce competition was found between Malaysian Khongguan biscuits and Vietnamese products The Asia Pacific Feed Additives Market was worth $9.52 billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 5.1%, to reach $12.29 billion by 2021. "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 12:40:59 Press Information Market Data Forecast USA Abhishek Manager (International Business Development) +1-888-702-9626 email http://www.marketdataforecast.com/ # 586 Words USAManager (International Business Development)+1-888-702-9626 The Asia-Pacific feed additives market is evolving at a significant rate due to the surge in the livestock population for meat consumption as a source of protein.Feed additives are used in animal nutrition to lift the quality and properties of animal fodder to augment features such as palatability preservation, overall gut health/digestive performance, and others. They have gained reputation internationally, as they further the general health of the animal, in turn improving the quality and quantity of meat produced from them. For example, poultry feed additives are used to enhance the birds egg-laying capacity, disease prevention, and feed utilization.To view full report: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-feed-additives-market-319/ The growth of the Asia-Pacific Feed Additives market is majorly driven by factors such as the increase in meat consumption, industrialization of the livestock industry, and the threat of diseases in livestock. Increasing cost of raw materials is a key factor hindering the growth of the market in the Asia-Pacific region.The Asia-Pacific feed additives market is segmented based on type and livestock. The market for feed additives, on the basis of type, is classified into Antibiotics, Antioxidants, Amino Acids, Enzymes, Vitamins, Mycotoxin Detoxifiers, Prebiotics, Acidifiers, Probiotics, Feed Pigments, Feed Binders, Flavours and Sweeteners, Feed Minerals and each is further classified into subgroups. On the basis of livestock, the Asia-Pacific feed additives market is segmented into poultry, cattle, swine, aquatic animals, and others. By livestock, the poultry segment leads the feed additives market in this region. Amino Acids, antibiotics, acidifiers, and vitamins are the major sectors accounting for almost 50% of the entire feed additives market. Feed antioxidant is another high growth segment in this market owing to ramped-up efforts of manufacturers to avoid feed spoilage and wastage.Free sample of the report is available at: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-feed-additives-market-319/request-sample The Asia-Pacific region is geographically segmented into China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. This region offers significant opportunities for the feed additives market, with China and India being the most populous countries in this region contributing to the increasing demand. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities, owing to the considerable increase in feed production and increasing awareness among the consumers about the quality of meat products and due to the rise in disposable incomes in developing economies, primarily in China and India. China is the major feed additives manufacturer in the world and accounts for around half the production of feed additives in the Asia-Pacific region.Some of the major companies dominating this market in this region are BASF SE, Alltech, Inc., Novozymes A/S,Cargill, Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited,Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Evonik Industries AG, Adisseo France SAS, andNutreco N.V,.About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit, www.marketdataforecast.com Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@ marketdataforecast.com Visit MarketDataForecast Blog @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ View latest Press Releases of MDF @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 11:14:49 Press Information future market insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 633 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 An automotive natural gas vehicle uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to the diesel or petrol. A natural gas is widely used in lift trucks, buses, light and heavy duty trucks, motorcycles, cars, vans and locomotives.A natural gas provides an economical and environmental friendly option over diesel or petrol. Currently, the penetration of automotive natural gas vehicle is less globally, but due to its operational advantages, in future the penetration is expected to increase globally.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Drivers and ChallengesAround the world, the governments have issued stringent regulations regarding the emissions and fuel efficiency. The global fossil fuel price has seen an increasing trend over the past 5-10 years. Due to these reasons, there is a growing demand for cheap and environmental friendly fuel alternative. Original equipment manufacturers of vehicles are promoting their products by showcasing the fuel efficiency and emission free features. This factor is fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-530 High upfront purchase cost, low awareness in many countries are some of the factors which are inhibiting the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: OverviewCurrently, the automotive natural gas vehicle market is still in the nascent state, thought the market experienced growth in sales in last 3-4 years.The global automotive natural gas vehicle market by volume is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 5-7% during the forecast period (2015-2025), due to stringent government emission regulations and growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: SegmentationThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market can be segmented by fuel type, by vehicle type and by regionsBased on Fuel Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:Compressed Natural GasLiquefied Natural GasBased on Vehicle Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:PassengerCommercialAutomotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market is expected to register a single-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global automotive energy recovery 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 market revenue, Asia Pacific automotive energy recovery market is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Stable economic growth, growing automotive production, stringent government emission norms, changing consumer preferences, are some of the factors which are fueling the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market in Asia Pacific. The significant demand for natural gas is from commercial vehicle segment in Asia Pacific. India, China and Iran are forecast to register a significant growth in the Asia Pacific automotive natural gas vehicle market, as these countries have significant network of gas infrastructure and CNG fueling network.In Europe, countries like Russia and Ukraine have a high demand for natural gas in trucks and buses. The Europe automotive natural gas vehicle market revenue is currently dominated by commercial vehicles. The government policies, subsidies, increasing fossil fuel prices, stringent environmental regulations are fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle in Western and Eastern Europe.In North America and Latin America, compressed natural gas is seeing the high demand. Currently, U.S.A. is dominating the North America automotive natural gas market by value, on the other hand, Columbia is dominating the Latin America automotive natural gas market by value.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-530 Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global natural gas vehicle market are Ford Motor Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Honda Motor Company, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor Group, etc. Automotive Piston System Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 11:07:54 Press Information future market insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 577 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The increasing demand for automobile, especially in emerging economies, is expected to drive the global Automotive Piston Systems Market in the coming decade. As a piston is an essential part of an internal combustion engine, the demand for pistons is directly coupled with the automobile production. Owing to the continuous developments, the automobile sector is witnessing increased demand for lightweight pistons, which is expected to result in push for the global automotive piston system market.A piston is a key component of automobile internal combustion engine, which reciprocates within the cylinder, delivering energy to the crankshaft after each power stroke during an engine cycle.Automotive Piston System Market: Drivers & ConstraintsThe global automotive piston system market is expected to grow on account of increasing sales of automobiles across various segments such as two wheelers, four wheeler, and other automobile segments. With increasing demand for automobiles, especially two wheeler segment in emerging economies such as India, demand for pistons is expected to increase further thereby positively impacting the global automotive piston system market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-532 Furthermore, the two wheelers is increasingly moving towards double cylinder engines as opposed to conventional single cylinder engines, particularly in the high end bikes segment. A double engine cylinder requires two pistons as compared to a single cylinder, wherein only one piston is used, hence with increasing production of high end bikes, the global automotive piston system market is expected to grow as well. Demand for passenger car, light & heavy commercial vehicle is also expected to contribute towards the growth in global automotive piston system market in coming years.Additionally, due to burgeoning fuel costs across the globe, the automobile industry is in continuous phase of research & development in order to increase fuel efficiency. The global automotive piston system market is hence witnessing an increased demand for light weight pistons across the globe.One of the key constraints for the global automotive piston market can be attributed to the increasing penetration of electric vehicles, which do not use pistons. Yet another constraint in the global automotive piston system market is the downsizing of engines in order to reduce weight and fuel increase efficiency. Using technologies such as turbocharger, automobile manufacturers have been able to downsize engines by reducing number of cylinders, without compromising on power of the engine.Automotive Piston System Market: SegmentationThe automotive piston system market has been segmented on the basis of types of vehicle such as two wheelers, passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and heavy commercial vehicles. On the basis of piston material, the market has been segment as aluminium & steel piston. Increasing demand for lightweight aluminium piston is expected to have a positive impact on the global automotive piston system market in coming years.In terms of geography, the global automotive piston system 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. Within these regions, the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Japan can be attributed as the largest contributing regions towards the global automotive piston system market, in terms of volume. The North American region is follows the aforementioned regions in the global automotive piston system market.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-532 Automotive Piston System Market: Key PlayersThe global automotive piston system witnesses key players such as Rheinmetall AG, Aisin-Seiki Co. Ltd., Mahle GmbH, Federal-Mogul Corporation, and Hitachi Ltd. Automotive Test Equipment Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 11:12:52 Press Information future market insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 601 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Automotive test equipment is primarily used for adjustment of vehicle performance and executing the quality tests on the vehicle. Automotive test equipment are used for measuring the engine wear, lubricant aeration, engine oil consumption, fuel dilution and evaporation and clogging of after-treatment systems. These test equipment are also used for testing the impact on engine oil consumption, hand brake tension and for interaction between fuel and lubricant. The examples of automotive test equipment are used as engine dynamometer, vehicle emission test system, wheel alignment tester, chassis dynamometer, fatigue testing, impact testers, tire plunger testers, fogging testers, etc.Automotive test equipment are providing control over the stability of the vehicle and excelling the riding comfort, these advantages are fuelling the market for automotive test equipment.Automotive Test Equipment Market: Drivers and ChallengesExpected growth in automotive industry is projected to fuel the growth in automotive test equipment market during the forecast period. As original equipment manufacturers are technologically advancing the automotive test equipment, the global automotive test equipment industry is expected to experience a growth during the forecast period. The growing demand for automotive test equipment from Asia Pacific and Middle East is fuelling the growth of the global automotive test equipment market. Stringent emission regulations regarding CO2 and NOX are boosting the demand for automotive test equipment globally.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-531 Automotive test equipment market is facing a challenge of market maturity in the developed economies such as U.S.A., Canada, etc.Automotive Test Equipment Market: OverviewThe global automotive test equipment market is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 4-7% during the forecast period (2016-2025), due to stringent government emission regulations (CO2 and NOX) and technological advancements.Automotive Test Equipment Market: SegmentationThe global automotive test equipment market can be segmented on the basis of type of vehicle, type of product and by regions.Based on type of vehicle, the global automotive test equipment market is segmented as:Passenger VehiclesCommercial VehiclesBased on type of product, the global automotive test equipment market is segmented as:Vehicle emission test systemWheel alignment testerChassis dynamometerEngine dynamometerAutomotive Test Equipment Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive test equipment market is expected to register a single-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global automotive test equipment 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 market revenue, Asia Pacific automotive test equipment market is projected to register a fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Many automotive original equipment manufacturers are shifting their manufacturing base to Asia Pacific, as the region is considered to be the low cost production destination. Due to the increased presence of manufacturing plants in Asia Pacific, the demand for automotive test equipment is growing in the region. North America & Western Europe are the matured markets for automotive test equipment and they are projected to register a single-digit CAGR of 4-5% during the forecast period.Asia Pacific is forecast to register a fastest CAGR during the forecast period, due to the high demand for automotive test equipment from countries such as India and China. Expected growth in the automotive production is also going to fuel the demand for automotive test equipment in Asia Pacific.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-531 Automotive Test Equipment Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global automotive test equipment market are Robert Bosch gmbh, Siemens AG, Honeywell Industrial Inc., ABB Ltd, Delphi Automotive PLC, Actia S.A., etc. PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 09:57:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 376 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for SolGold plc--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---London (FSCWire) - SolGold plc (TSX Venture:SOLG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Cascabel Exploration UpdateTo 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 SolGold plc, 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/SolGold plcSource: SolGold plc (TSX Venture: SOLG, AIM: SOLG)Date: August 31, 2017Time: 3:57 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of SolGold plc 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.) Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Ceramic Tiles Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015 - 2019"report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 11:06:05 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website :www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 368 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite :www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The global ceramic tiles market was valued at US$ 78.7 Bn in 2015, and is expected to grow at a year-over-year rate of 9.2% to reach US$ 86.0 Bn in 2016. Asia and Europe are the two major markets for ceramic tiles, collectively accounting for 80.6% share of the global market in 2015. Asia Pacific (APAC) is the largest market globally, both in terms of production and consumption.Demand for ceramic tiles is primarily driven by rising construction activities, economic reforms in developing countries, rapid urbanisation, growing per capita income, population expansion and higher disposable income especially in emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India. However, factors such environmental restrictions and stringent government regulations pertaining to excessive emission of CO2 during ceramic tiles production can hinder the growth of the market.By application, residential replacement is the largest segment owing to its myriad uses, such as substitutes for marble, paint and other similar products. The residential replacement segment is anticipated to increase at a year-over-year rate of 9.5% in 2016 to reach US$ 85.9 Bn in revenues.On the basis of type, ceramic floor tiles is the largest segment, accounting for US$ 33.4 Bn worth of demand in 2015. This segment is anticipated to increase at a year-over-year growth of 9.5% to reach US$ 36.6 Bn in revenues in 2016.Request A Sample Copy Of This Report at: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1669 On the basis of regional segmentation the global ceramic tiles market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America & Latin America and rest of world (ROW).In recent years, the global ceramic tiles landscape is witnessing increased production offerings and capacity expansion by various market participants, including China Ceramics, Ceramica Saloni, RAK Ceramics, Porcelanosa Grupo, Mohawk Industries and Kajaria Ceramics. The revival of the global economy has been bolstered the global housing sector, which in turn, has led to growth in the global ceramic tiles market.Long-term Outlook: The global ceramic tiles market is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period to reach US$ 112.3 Bn in revenues by 2019 end. Asia Pacific will remain the most lucrative region during the forecast period, whereas residential replacement application segment will continue to account for the highest demand.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1669 PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 09:05:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 404 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Great Atlantic Resources Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSX Venture:GR). has issued a press release with the following headline:Great Atlantic Trenching Returns up to 9.7 oz./ton Gold Golden Promise Project, NewfoundlandTo 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 Great Atlantic Resources 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/Great Atlantic Resources Corp.Source: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSX Venture: GR, WKN: A1JZ4T, ISIN: CA3900871045)Date: August 31, 2017Time: 3:05 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Great Atlantic Resources 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.) The Middle East and Africa Feed Additives Market was worth $3.45 billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 3.96%, to reach $4.19 billion by 2021. "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 12:43:54 Press Information Market Data Forecast USA Abhishek Manager (International Business Development) +1-888-702-9626 email http://www.marketdataforecast.com/ # 608 Words USAManager (International Business Development)+1-888-702-9626 The Middle East and Africa feed additives market is developing at a significant rate due to the increase in the livestock population for meat consumption as a source of protein.Feed additives are used in animal nutrition to boost the quality and properties of animal fodder to enhance features such as palatability preservation, overall gut health/digestive performance, and others. They have gained reputation globally, as they further the overall health of the animal, in turn enhancing the quality and quantity of meat produced from them. For example, poultry feed additives are used to enhance the birds egg-laying capacity, disease prevention, and feed utilization.To view full report: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-feed-additives-market-321/ The growth of the Middle East and Africa Feed Additives market is majorly driven by factors such as the rise in meat consumption, industrialization of the livestock industry, and danger of diseases in livestock. Increase in the cost of raw materials for feed additives is a key challenge for the companies in the Middle East and Africa market.The Middle East and Africa feed additives market is segmented based on type and livestock. The market for feed additives, on the basis of type, is classified into Antibiotics, Antioxidants, Amino Acids, Enzymes, Vitamins, Mycotoxin Detoxifiers, Prebiotics, Acidifiers, Probiotics, Feed Pigments, Feed Binders, Flavours and Sweeteners, Feed Minerals and each is further classified into subgroups. On the basis of livestock, the Middle East and Africa feed additives market is segmented into poultry, cattle, swine, aquatic animals, and others. By livestock, the poultry segment leads the feed additives market in this region. Amino Acids, antibiotics, acidifiers, and vitamins are the major sectors accounting for almost 50% of the entire feed additives market. Feed antioxidant is another high growth segment in this market owing to ramped-up efforts of manufacturers to avoid feed spoilage and wastage.Free sample of the report is available at: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-feed-additives-market-321/request-sample The market has been geographically segmented into Middle East and Africa and is projected to be the fastest-growing market for feed additives market. In terms of revenue, South Africa leads the market in this region. This region is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities, owing to the considerable increase in feed production and increasing awareness among the consumers about the quality of meat products and due to the rise in disposable incomes in developing economies, primarily in South Africa. The emphasis in the Middle East has moved to animal husbandry due to the water shortages and water exhaustive crop production techniques such as animal fodder is gradually being phased out creating new openings for international players.Some of the major companies dominating this market in this region are BASF SE, Cargill, Inc., Alltech, Inc., Novozymes A/S, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited, Nutreco N.V., Evonik Industries AG, and Adisseo France SAS.About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit, www.marketdataforecast.com Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@ marketdataforecast.com Visit MarketDataForecast Blog @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ View latest Press Releases of MDF @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 15:07:45 Press Information Nexus Gold Corp 720-700 W Pender St Vancouver BC V6C 1G8 Canada Alex Klenman COO 604-558-1919 email http://www.nexusgoldcorp.com/ # 1124 Words 720-700 W Pender StVancouver BCV6C 1G8CanadaCOO604-558-1919 Vancouver, Canada August 31, 2017 - Nexus Gold Corp. (Nexus or the Company) (TSX-V: NXS, OTC: NXXGF, FSE: N6E) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement with BELEMYIDA SA (the Optionor), pursuant to which Nexus will acquire the right to earn up to 100% interest in the Rakounga Gold Property (the Property) located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.The 250-square kilometre Rakounga Gold property is contiguous to the Companys Bouboulou gold concession. The Property borders Bouboulou on the west and south sides and hosts the Bouboulou 1 gold showing, which is the southern extension of the Bouboulou 2 trend. Bouboulou 1 is an active orpaillage with shaft workings that extend down approximately 80 metres.Nexus will have an option to acquire a 90% interest in the Property, in consideration for cash payments of US$400,000 and the issuance of 575,000 common shares of Nexus, over a period of three years, broken down as follows: US $ 15,000 (fifteen thousand) and 25,000 shares of the Company upon signing of a definitive agreement. US $ 15,000 (fifteen thousand) and 50,000 shares of the Company not later than the first anniversary of the definitive agreement. US $ 120,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand) and 200,000 shares not later than the second anniversary of the definitive agreement. US $ 250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand) and 300,000 shares on or before the third anniversary of the definitive agreement.Following the acquisition of a 90% interest in the Property, Nexus will have the option to acquire the remaining 10% interest in the Property through a cash payment of US$1,000,000 with a 1% net smelter return royalty remaining with the Optionor.We are very pleased to add Rakounga to our portfolio, which effectively represents a 700 percent increase in size to the Bouboulou concession area, said President & CEO Peter Berdusco. With just under 300-sq km of ground, we can now follow both the already established Bouboulou 2 and Pelatanga-Rawema mineralized trends for several kilometres to the southwest. There is significant artisanal activity along these trends and were excited to continue our exploration efforts there in the coming months, continued Mr. Berdusco.All securities issued in connection with the property option will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. The property option remains subject to a number of conditions, including negotiation of definitive agreements, approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and such other conditions as are customary in transactions of this nature.Historical Data Work to date at BouboulouThe main Bouboulou concession covers an area of 38.3 square kilometers and is located approximately 100 kilometers north by northwest of the capital city of Ouagadougou. Exploration on the permit area has been conducted by Boliden (1997 1999), Riverstone Resources (2005 to 2011) and Roxgold Inc. (2011 to 2012).The property is situated at the north end of the Boromo greenstone belt underlain by an alternating sedimentary-basalt-sedimentary-volcanic progression which strikes generally northeast-southwest, and is bisected by the Sabce Shear Zone, which hosts numerous artisanal gold zones over its 120-kilometre length plus the Bissa Mine operated by Nordgold.Four zones of gold mineralization were previously identified on the property termed Koala, Rawema, Bouboulou 2 and Pelatanga. A fifth zone, Rawema West, was recently identified by Nexus geologists, as announced in a June 6, 2017 news release.The Koala zone as well as the new Rawema West zone have both yielded strong samples, as announced in the June 6 news release. Highlights include high-grade quartz sample BBL-012, which contained visible gold, taken from an artisanal shaft (or orpaillage pit) 70 metres below surface at the Koala zone, that returned 66.1 grams-per-tonne (g/t) gold (Au). Sample BBL-013 (quartz material containing pyrite), also taken from an artisanal shaft at approximately 70 metres below surface, returned a value of 29 g/t Au.The Rawema West zone occurs approximately 1000 metres west of the main workings at the previously identified Rawema site. The Artisanal workings extend some 150 metres in length and appear by observation to extend to depths of greater than 20 metres.In 2011 and 2012 Roxgold Inc completed reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) programs to test the previously identified mineralized zones. Historical drilling highlights from Bouboulou can be found on the Company website here:The Company has subsequently identified three distinct 5000m (5km) long anomalous gold trends at the Bouboulou concession. Each of the three trends display strong coincidental geochemical and geophysical gold anomalies, and extend from the four previously drill-identified mineralized zones, namely Rawema, Pelatanga, Bouboulou 2 and Koala. They are identified by numerous orpaillages (artisanal workings) and geochemical samples of greater than 1 g/t Au. All three of the Bouboulou trends display similar coincidental anomalies. Each trend has substantial artisanal workings either directly on them, or along trend.A map of the three trends can be seen online here:Exploration UpdateA total of 2,596 metres of diamond drilling was completed at the Bouboulou concession in mid-July. Phase one drilling tested the Koala, Rawema, and Bouboulou 2 zones, to depths of approximately 150 to 175 metres. Assays are currently pending and results will be released once received, reviewed and verified.In addition, the Company is also awaiting results of approximately 2000 metres of diamond drilling from the Niangouela concession, completed in mid-May. After lab delays, the Company also anticipates receiving these results shortly and will release them once received, reviewed and verified.The Company plans on resuming exploration activity at its Burkina Faso projects in the fall.About Burkina FasoBurkina Faso is a landlocked nation, located in West Africa. It covers an area of roughly 274,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of more than 16 million people. The country has a stable political setting with a pro-mining and foreign investment stance. Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa, and was the 4th largest gold producer in Africa in 2012. Eight new mines have been commissioned there over the past six years. The country has excellent geological potential. The Greenstone Belts that host all the major deposits in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire continue northward into Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso has undergone less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, remaining under-explored in comparison to neighbouring Ghana and Mali; both of which host world-class gold mines in the same belts of Birimian rocks.About the CompanyNexus Gold Corp. is a Vancouver-based gold exploration and development company operating in some of the worlds premier mining districts. The Company is currently concentrating its efforts on two gold projects located in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Bouboulou gold concession is a 38-sq km advanced exploration target where previous drilling has confirmed multiple zones of gold mineralization. The Niangouela gold concession is a 178-sq km project featuring high grade gold occurring in and around a primary quartz vein 1km in length and associated shear zone. For more information on these projects, please visit the Company website at www.nexusgoldcorp.com The North America Feed Additives Market was worth $3.02 billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 3.71%, to reach $3.85 billion by 2021. "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 12:38:24 Press Information Market Data Forecast USA Abhishek Manager (International Business Development) +1-888-702-9626 email http://www.marketdataforecast.com/ # 521 Words USAManager (International Business Development)+1-888-702-9626 The North America feed additives market is developing at a significant rate due to the increase in the livestock population for meat consumption as a source of protein. Feed additives are vital in animal nutrition, as they enhance the quality of feed, and thereby enrich the animals performance and health. They also subsequently enhance the yield and quality of food from animal origin.To view full report: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-additives-market-317/ Feed additives are used in animal nutrition to boost the quality and properties of animal fodder to enhance features such as palatability preservation, overall gut health/digestive performance, and others. They have gained reputation globally, as they further the overall health of the animal, in turn enhancing the quality and quantity of meat produced from them.The growth of the North America Feed Additives market is mainly driven the demand for low-cost meat with superior nutritional value throughout this region. Technology innovations are also playing a crucial role in the advancement of this industry. Different regulatory structures, increasing cost of raw materials and operations are the key restraining factors for the market.The North America feed additives market is segmented based on type and livestock. The market for feed additives, on the basis of type, is classified into Antibiotics, Amino Acids, Enzymes, Antioxidants, Vitamins, Prebiotics, Acidifiers, Probiotics, Mycotoxin Detoxifiers, Feed Pigments, Flavours and Sweeteners, Feed Minerals, Feed Binders, and each is further classified into subgroups. On the basis of livestock, the North America feed additives market is segmented into poultry, cattle, swine, aquatic animals, and others. By livestock, the poultry segment leads the feed additives market in this region.Free sample of the report is available at: http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-additives-market-317/request-sample The North America market, which has the largest consumer base in the world, has been geographically segmented into USA and Canada. The USA leads the market in this region. The poultry segment is developing as a leading livestock segment for the consumption of feed additives, trailed by swine and cattle, because of the increase in demand for poultry meat, consumer taste predilections.Some of the major companies dominating this market in this region are BASF SE, Cargill, Inc., Alltech, Inc., Novozymes A/S, Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited, Nutreco N.V., Evonik Industries AG, and Adisseo France SAS.About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit, www.marketdataforecast.com Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@ marketdataforecast.com Visit MarketDataForecast Blog @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ View latest Press Releases of MDF @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 23:24:01 HUDSON, N.Y., Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taconic Biosciences, a global leader in genetically engineered rodent models and associated services, is funding the development of a custom mouse model to study Kabuki syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Taconic is donating model generation services as a third-time sponsor of the Rare Disease Science Challenge, BeHEARD. Hosted by the Rare Genomics Institute, the Rare Disease Science Challenge is an annual event in which industry sponsors donate services to accelerate rare disease research. Characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability, stunted growth, immune dysregulation, and hearing loss, Kabuki syndrome is caused by mutations in the KMT2D or KDM6Agenes. Taconic will use CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editing technology to develop the first Kmt2d missense mouse model of Kabuki syndrome and generate a cohort of mice for study. In parallel, Taconic will cryopreserve and store the mouse line. "Taconic recognizes the vital role mouse models play in understanding the mechanisms of rare diseases and the challenges of funding their research," said Bob Rosenthal, CEO, Taconic Biosciences. "Taconic is committed to advancing rare disease research through efforts such as sponsorship of the BeHEARD challenge and donation of an integrated solution of model generation, breeding and cryopreservation capabilities." Teresa Luperchio, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Hans Bjornsson, MD, PhD, director of the Epigenetics and Chromatin Clinic, McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will employ the Taconic model. Dr. Bjornsson's lab previously characterized a mouse model carrying a loss-of-function variant of the Kmt2d gene and demonstrated reversal of some learning and memory deficits using therapeutic strategies. However, the initial mouse line models only a subset of individuals with Kabuki syndrome. Taconic will generate a Kabuki syndrome mouse model based on a patient-specific missense mutation. This will enable investigators to assess whether therapies they are developing can reverse disability in a wider spectrum of the Kabuki syndrome patient population. "The model will be invaluable in moving the field closer to treating what has been viewed as an untreatable disorder. Experience with our first mouse model showed that for patients with the KMT2D mutation, the disease may be treatable in humans," Dr. Bjornsson said. "We hope the Taconic model will demonstrate this capability in an expanded patient population, allowing us to employ a single therapeutic strategy for all Kabuki syndrome type 1 patients." "Taconic's ability to develop a patient-specific model was essential. Generating a model that closely represents what is seen in patients is critical for translating our findings from the bench to the clinic," Dr. Luperchio says. To learn more about Taconic's custom model generation, please call 1-888-TACONIC (888-822-6642) in the US or +45 70 23 04 05 in Europe, or email info@taconic.com. To learn about the BeHEARD Project, visit http://www.raregenomics.org/beheard-competition/. About Taconic Biosciences, Inc. Taconic Biosciences is a global leader in genetically engineered rodent models and services. Founded in 1952, Taconic helps biotechnology companies and institutions acquire, custom generate, breed, precondition, test, and distribute valuable research models worldwide. Specialists in genetically engineered mouse and rat models, precision research mouse models, and integrated model design and breeding services, Taconic operates three service laboratories and six breeding facilities in the U.S. and Europe, maintains distributor relationships in Asia and has global shipping capabilities to provide animal models almost anywhere in the world. PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-31 11:11:11 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 375 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for SolGold plc--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---London (FSCWire) - SolGold plc (TSX:SOLG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Total Voting RightsTo 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 SolGold plc, 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/SolGold plcSource: SolGold plc (TSX: SOLG, AIM: SOLG)Date: August 31, 2017Time: 5:11 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of SolGold plc 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.) 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. VAAA phone app bring Native American art to your cell phone Contact Vera Sheehan ***@abenakiart.org Vera Sheehan End -- The Google Play store has released a new Android app called Vermont Abenaki Artists Association which was designed by Dustin Lapierre, a senior at Champlain College.It all began two months ago when Lapierre's professor, Melody Walker Brook, sent an email to the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA) stating she had "a student very well versed in computer application"and inquired if VAAA might need an intern with those skills. Although Lapierre had previously worked with desktop apps, he accepted the challenge to develop a phone app.Lapierre, a Computer Science and Innovation major with a minor in foreign languages said, "I was very excited to get a chance to work with the Abenaki tribe of Vermont in creating a new avenue for them to introduce their culture to the public. Between my skills and my interests, this project was a perfect fit for me, and I hope I was able to help in some way."Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, explains that the app, which is entitledapp "will be used to deliver additional content about our current and future exhibits to the public." The app contains photos and descriptions of current Abenaki exhibitions, works of art, important regalia and related videos.Currently featured on the app, the traveling exhibitbrings before audiences in New England a group of objects and images that document the way in which garments and accessories that reflect Abenaki heritage have been and still are made and used to express Native identity.was curated by Longtoe Sheehan and Eloise Beil of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) in Vergennes. Theexhibit is currently on view at LCMM until September 3, and then it will move to Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH and the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.VAAA is happy with the new app that Lapierre developed and is excited for the opportunity to expand interpretation of the exhibition through digital technology. Theexhibit opened the door for VAAA needing the app. The exhibit and app are among the most recent outcomes of a longstanding partnership between VAAA and LCMM. "For the past decade, as a maritime museum dedicated to Lake Champlain, LCMM has been on the cutting edge of the museum field by working with community stakeholders whose ancestors lived and died in the Champlain Valley for over 10,000 years," explained Longtoe Sheehan.As for Lapierre's future plans, he says "I definitely prefer Desktop programming due to familiarity, but I'm open to mobile development as a career path. Ideally, I would like to work in any field where I can communicate or interact with an international audience."Download the app from the Google Play Store today. https://play.google.com/ store/apps/details? id=dustin.exhibitapp2 The VAAA mission is to promote Vermont's Indigenous arts and artists, to provide an organized central place to share creative ideas and professional development as entrepreneurs, and to have a method for the public to find and engage Abenaki artists. For more information about VAAA, please visit http://abenakiart.org or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.LCMM is an all-year hub for maritime education that uses the discovery and stewardship of Lake Champlain's underwater cultural heritage and environment to inspire life-long learning. LCMM brings Lake Champlain's storied past to life through replica ships, active boat building, on-water ecology programs, nautical archaeology, collections and exhibits, and cultural heritage events. From late-May through mid-October visitors explore LCMM's 4-acre campus, antique boats, lake history, shipwreck discoveries, step aboard a 1776 gunboat replica and enjoy hands-on and on-water opportunities. 4472 Basin Harbor Road, 7 scenic miles from Vergennes. Find Museum dates, hours of operation, events & reservations, and the Schoonertour itinerary at www.lcmm.org or call 802 475-2022. Security Services of Georgia is celebrating 10 years of protecting homes and business in and around Atlanta Georgia. Our family owned company is here to keep your family safer, and we're excited to celebrate this milestone with you! Contact Security Services of Georgia ***@gmail.com Security Services of Georgia End --Security Services of Georgia is celebrating 10 years of protecting homes and business in and around Atlanta Georgia. Our family owned company is here to keep your family safer, and we're excited to celebrate this milestone with you!Our CEO, John Dunning came into the security business from the home building industry, so he knows the ins and outs of designing and installing a quality home security system. He's an Atlanta resident and is dedicated to the safety of his fellow citizens.Our home security systems include1) Intercoms: You can check who's at the front door using your home intercom system and your voice.2) Home camera monitoring: You can monitor the front door when you're not there.3) Fire protection: The proper authorities will be called when your smoke alarm goes off.4) Burglary protection: If your doors or windows are breached while the system is activated, we will contact the police for you.We are a truly reliable home security company in Atlanta GA. Also, our expert installers offer both burglary and fire protection, as well as intercoms and audio entry systems.Whether you have an office at the back of the house or a workroom in the basement, our intercom system lets you check who's at the front door before you get close to it. You don't have to get close to the peephole to see who's out there.Our CCTV streaming feature lets you monitor your home from wherever you are. Kids home alone after school? When that doorbell rings, you can check the porch before anyone opens the door; an invaluable safety feature.Looking for great home security in Decatur GA? We're physically located in Marietta, but we are happy to help citizens throughout the Atlanta metro area and outlying suburbs. For great home security in Kennesaw GA, call or email us!We've been in business for 10 years, offering affordable services to our customers. As a home security company in Atlanta GA, our goal is your safety, so if your new or existing home is ready for a security upgrade, be aware that whether you're looking for home security in Decatur GA or home security in Kennesaw GA, we are here to help.In addition to being a long-standing home security company in Atlanta GA, Security Services of Georgia ( http://www.securitygeorgia.com/ ) also offers smart home monitoring. These systems are critical to the safety of you and your family; for example, smart home technology can turn off your furnace if carbon monoxide is detected in your home.For quality home security in Decatur GA, home security in Kennesaw GA or in any of the Atlanta suburbs, our security professionals can help design a system that's ideal for your home. From historical beauty to brand new construction, we are happy to protect your home.Ten years is a great start. Contact us, one of the best home security companies in Atlanta GA to protect your family and your investment. For home security in Decatur GA or home security in Kennesaw GA, Security Services of Georgia is ready to work for you. Activity at a DAV RecruitMilitary Veterans Job Fair Media Contact Kelly Wagner RecruitMilitary LLC kelly.wagner@ recruitmilitary.com 513-677-7084 Kelly WagnerRecruitMilitary LLC513-677-7084 End -- DAV and RecruitMilitary will produce a Veterans Job Fair at the New York Hilton Midtown on September 14, 2017 for veterans, transitioning military personnel, National Guard members, Reserve members and military spouses. The event is sponsored by Skanska and will feature nearly 70 New York-area exhibitors."Last year, 52% of veteran job seekers expected to secure an interview following a DAV RecruitMilitary job fair. Employers were expected to extend as many as 40,300 interviews and more than 12,560 job offers," said RecruitMilitary Senior Vice President of Sales Rob Arndt. "DAV RecruitMilitary job fairs offer the opportunity to meet a variety of veteran candidates face-to-face, assess their skills and even interview them on the spot for available positions."Among the companies attending RecruitMilitary's New York event are Apple, Inc., Canon USA, Inc., City of New York Fire Department, Department of Veteran Affairs (VESO), Federal Aviation Administration, GardaWorld, JetBlue Airways Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Marsh & McLennan Companies, Montefiore Medical Center, MTA Headquarters, MyComputerCareer, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nestle Infant Nutrition (Gerber) and Nestle Health Science, New York Community Bancorp, Inc., NYC Department of Environmental Protection, The Home Depot, Unilever United States, Inc. and United States Postal Service. A full list of all exhibitors can be found at https://events.recruitmilitary.com/ events/new-york- veterans-job- fair-september- 14-2017#event- exhibitors In May of this year, the DAV RecruitMilitary New York event connected more than 251 veteran job seekers with 65 exhibitors including JPMorgan Chase & Co., BlueLine Rental, Apple, Inc., City of New York Fire Department, Department of Veteran Affairs (VESO), Drug Enforcement Administration and Farmers Insurance.RecruitMilitary has held 23 events in New York, drawing 8,086 attendees and 1,216 exhibitors.The company has produced more than 814 events in 65 cities across the country.DAV was founded by World War I veterans in Cincinnati in 1920 and chartered by the United States Congress in 1932. DAV ( www.dav.org ) is a non-profit organization with 1.2 million members. Together, DAV and RecruitMilitary share a common mission: to connect America's veterans and their family members with meaningful and fulfilling employment opportunities and to help employers attract, appreciate and retain veterans, spouses, and their survivors. Through career fairs, outreach and resources, this partnership fights to ensure veterans receive the benefits they've earned to lead productive, dignified and high-quality lives.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVjqGgtBodMIn addition to veterans job fairs, RecruitMilitary also offers subscriptions to its database of 1,205,188+ registered candidates at http://www.recruitmilitary.com. RecruitMilitary provides employer job postings, targeted email campaigns, retained hiring services and advertising space in online and print media. The company also publishes, a bimonthly print and digital magazine; and distributes 50,000+ print copies of each issue.RecruitMilitary (http://RecruitMilitary.com)is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI), the largest military-focused recruiting company in the U.S. Together, BMI and RecruitMilitary offer employers access to more than 1,000,000 military job seekers via services that include contingency recruiting, military job fairs, a job board, employer branding, a military base publication and more. Starlight Homes offers Assisted Living in San Antonio that specializes in memory care. The facility has a staff that is trained and educated in memory care, in addition to the owners having personal experience in the field. By: Starlight4U.com End -- Starlight Homes is a residential living facility in San Antonio that provides a loving and caring environment for those who are suffering from memory loss. The facility provides assisted living in San Antonio for all elderly, but state that they offer a specialization in memory care that is not seen in all other such facilities.Owners Andreen and Andre McDonald have personal experience in memory care, having cared for McDonald's grandmother in Jamaica before the pair moved to Texas. The owners state that all staff not only receives initial education and training for this specialization but says that staff members receive ongoing education so that they are always aware of the newest breakthroughs and care methods related to Alzheimer's and other memory impairments.The residential care facility offers two locations in Northern Hills Subdivision and Alamo Heights. Facility owners and staff meet with residents and their families prior to admittance to ensure that any and all questions are answered. McDonald says that this is the only way to ensure that families feel comfortable in relying on Starlight Homes for their memory care needs.The assisted living in San Antonio facility offers memory care in both locations and says that those who are considering this transition for their loved ones can contact them to schedule a one on one consultation as well as a tour of either facility. Starlight Homes operates under the goal of keeping residents happy and ensuring that they receive the very best in care. The facility provides a comfortable and calming atmosphere that is essential for those suffering from memory loss, while also having around the clock care and supervision available to keep residents safe and secure.Starlight Homes is owned and operated by Andreen and Andre McDonald, who migrated to Texas from Jamaica several years ago. Mr. McDonald earned his Master's degree in Engineering and Mrs. McDonald holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance. Together, the McDonald's operate both San Antonio residential care home locations, having years of experience in caring for residents with memory impairment. More information can be found at http://starlight4u.com or by calling: 210-560-1497. By: Church of Scientology "Grupo Folklorico Mahetzi" dancers performing at the Fall Downtown Block Party. Contact Amber Skjelset ***@cos.flag.org Amber Skjelset End -- The Church of Scientology announces its next Downtown Block Party on September 23rd in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, on the corner of Cleveland Street and Fort Harrison Avenue. The event welcomes all people from all communities, and will feature a Hispanic flair. The event starts at 5pm.Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988.The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Dia de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period."This party celebrates the community and partnerships with local non-profits and our social betterment programs," said event organizer Nicole Biancolini. "Local charities participate alongside programs sponsored by the Church of Scientology - helping educate youth about the truth about drugs, teaching kids about their human rights and bringing common sense values to help people to make good decisions in life."This is the 5th block party the Church has held since the opening of the Scientology Information Center on Cleveland Street and the Humanitarian Centers on North Fort Harrison on July 11th, 2015.Block Party activities will include:-Live Music-Food-Raffles-Prizes-Carnival games, bouncy houses, face painting, a petting zoo, and a caricature artist.There is no cost to attend or to participate in the various activities.For more information about this event, or to participate as a non-profit please contact Amber at 727-467-6966 or amber@cos.flag.org.About the Church of Scientology:The Scientology religious philosophy was founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, in 167 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this.For more information please visit www.scientology-fso.org.Photo Caption: In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrated from September 15th October 15th each year, the Church of Scientology will be hosting its bi-monthly Downtown Block Party with tribute to Hispanic Heritage with design and theme on September 23rd. Event starts at 5:00pm, all communities and families are welcome. The Little House on the Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder (Feb. 7, HarperCollins, hardcover, $12.99, 978-0-06-247072-0). Laura Ingalls Wilders 150th birthday would have been February 7 of this year, and in celebration of that milestone, Harper is rolling out a keepsake book filled with quotes from the series, The Little House Book of Wisdom (978-0-06-247078-2), as well as reprints of three volumes from the series: The Little House on the Prairie; Farmer Boy (978-0-06-247073-7), and The Little House in the Big Woods (978-0-06-247072-0). The new editions include introductions by former First Lady Laura Bush, Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, and author Patricia MacLachlan. Released by John Lennon in 1971, Imagine is a timelessand 46 years later a hauntingly timelysong of peace and tolerance that has been performed by hundreds of musicians across the world. The lyrics to this iconic song will appear in picture-book format for the first time on September 21, the annual International Day of Peace, when Clarion publishes Imagine in partnership with Amnesty International. The book features a foreword by Yoko Ono Lennon and illustrations by Jean Jullien. In boldly colored mixed-media art, the French graphic illustrator follows the journey of a pigeon spreading a message of friendship and hope to birds on land and sea. Clarion has announced a 250,000-copy first printing for Imagine, which will be published in 15 languages and 20 territories this year, the majority in September. Frances Lincoln Childrens Books in the U.K. is the originating publisher of Imagine, said Clarion senior editor Lynne Polvino, noting that Clarion has had a strong relationship with that publishing house. In fact, she recalled, in May of 2016, I was celebrating the success of a Frances Lincoln/Clarion co-venture, The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield, with Frances Lincolns associate publisherthen editorial directorJenny Broom over lunch in New York when she mentioned Imagine. Broom told Polvino that earlier in 2016, her team had been discussing song lyrics as possible picture book texts. Frances Lincoln had earlier published two picture books in partnership with Amnesty International, We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures and Dreams of Freedom. When Broom proposed a book version of Imagine to Nicky Parker, publisher at Amnesty U.K., she responded favorably to the idea, knowing that Yoko Ono Lennon was a longtime supporter of Amnesty, and that they could approach her with the idea. Polvino in turn instantly warmed to the book project. I knew immediately that Imagine would be perfect for the Clarion list, she recalled. Clarion has a long, proud history of publishing socially conscious books with themes of music, peace, and social justice. I initially saw nothing beyond a very early version of the jacket, but I began putting together acquisition plans. The book eventually went to a highly competitive auction with several U.S. houses bidding. The editor feels a personal connection to Imagine on multiple levels. I grew up loving the music of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and the Beatlesthanks to my activist, music-professor mother, Polvino said. And Ive been a supporter of Amnesty International ever since I was in high school, when I first participated in letter-writing campaigns organized by the Amnesty International student group at the state university in my town. Ive been a card-carrying member since 2003. Yoko Ono and I even attended the same collegeSarah Lawrencethough not at the same time! Partnering for a Purpose Eric Ferrero, Amnesty International U.S.A.s deputy executive director of public affairs, echoes Polvinos enthusiasm for Imagines message and its impact on those being denied their human rights, especially since a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to Amnesty International. This special project reflects everything Amnesty International stands for and everything our seven million members and supporters around the world work for every day, he said of Imagine. In addition to helping generations of people understand human rights more deeply and personally, this book will directly help protect human rights around the world. Currently, were focused on addressing the unprecedented refugee crisis and defending people who face harassment, prison, or death because they advocate for human rights. Imagine will help more people understand why our work is so importantand will make it possible for us to help even more people. Noting that his organization and Clarion are a great fit for partnering on the book, given their respective missions to raise awareness about important issues and to connect people with the world around them, Ferrero described the publisher as a valuable part of what we call our Famnesty, of which Yoko Ono Lennon is a longtime member. Yoko has worked with us, literally for decades, to raise consciousness of human rights in so many ways, including granting permission to use John Lennons music and becoming personally involved in our various campaigns and fundraising efforts, Ferrero explained. And now, with this picture book that makes human rights so clear and simple and relevant to everyone, she is helping to pass the message of Imagine on to a new generation. Amnesty International will spread word of Imagine on its website and will promote the book on its social media channels, which encompass more than three million Twitter followers and close to one million Facebook fans in the U.S. alone. And on August 14, an Imagine website, launched in nine countries and five languages. Visitors can use the site to submit their own messages of peace, read those from others around the world, and share messages on their own social media platforms. Polvino pointed out the propitious timing of Imagines releasein this country and across the globe. I acquired this book about a week before the 2016 presidential election, when a Trump presidency seemed unfathomable to me, Polvino said. But even pre-Trump, Imagines message was relevant, and the work of groups like Amnesty that fight against intolerance was important and needed. Now that those with hateful, divisive beliefs have been given a bigger, more visible platform, Imagines message is even more urgent. Like the song that inspired it, Polvino added, Imagine invites readers to imagine a world at peace. It is hopeful, and we really need that kind of hope now, as we work toward a kinder, more just world. As Yoko Ono says in her foreword, Every small, good thing that we do can help change the world for the better. Imagine by John Lennon, illus. by Jean Jullien, foreword by Yoko Ono Lennon. Clarion, $17.99 Sept. ISBN 978-1-328-80865-3 A new collection from Chicken Soup for the Soul, My Kind (of) America, has the publisher asking a complex question during a troubling time: "Is America still filled with people who help each other and do the right thing?" The bookwhich answers that question with a resounding yeswas slated to release in November, a year to the date after the election of President Donald Trump. Then CSS's distributor, Simon & Schuster, asked the publisher to push the book to August. So Amy Newmark, publisher at CSS and author of 140 Chicken Soup for the Soul titles, complied. "We rushed to get it done," she said. "Its definitely an example of just-in-time publishing." The book, which hit shelves this week, incorporates a number of stories from Random Acts of Kindness, a CSS book released in the spring. My Kind (of) America focuses more heavily, though, on stories about people in diverse, mutually supportive communities. (Following the template of CSS titles, the book is a compendium of first-person accounts that highlight a single theme.) In one story, a number of friends reach out to a gay woman in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre. In another, Muslims in a Jewish and Muslim interfaith group help elderly Jews, who opposed their mosque, during a blackout. Newmark admitted that some could perceive the book as espousing a leftist mindset, and this would certainly be a departure for CSS, which is an apolitical publisher that remains unaligned with any religion or ideology. For Newmark, the book is not political; it merely touts the importance of inclusion and respecting one's neighbors, wherever they may come from. While Newmark doesn't believe My Kind (of) America throws CSS into the political ring, it does, she said, make a statement. Ive been reading a lot about how people are putting out so-called resistance books. So I thought, if resistance means sticking up for what America has always stood for, then I guess were part of the resistance. Newmark also believes the book gives CSS fans something they've been craving. We realized that theres so much demand out there from our readers for books that reassure them that America is filled with passionate and tolerant people," she said. She also believes CSS fans wanted to be reminded that "only a tiny minority of [Americans] dont espouse those traditional American values of embracing our differences." The book was released in a 31,000-copy first printing, which is a smaller printing than many of CSS's books. Newmark said this speaks to the fact that, despite her confidence that CSS readers want and need this kind of book, she's still unsure if they will, at least initially, "know quite what to make of it." By comparison, the book's spiritual predecessor, Random Acts of Kindness, has 100,000 copies in print. But Newmark said that producing more copies would be no problem. "We tend to run tight on inventory and then print fast. We can do a two-week reprint order, she said. "I guess Im taking a little bit of a risk on the book, but Im doing what I think is the right thing. If I only sell tens of thousands but I help make tens of thousands feel hopeful and like America is a great place, then Ill be happy about that. Speaking to the book's unusual title, and using parentheses around the "of" in the phrase "my kind (of) America," Newmark said her purpose was twofold. "I really wanted to emphasize 'kind America,' she said, "but I also wanted it to be 'my kind of America,' because my kind of America is an America that stands for all these good things." Louise Hay, founder of Hay House Publishing and the author of several self-help books, passed away from natural causes on August 30 in San Diego, Calif. She was 90. Hays career in publishing began in 1976 when she self-published her first two books, Heal Your Body and You Can Heal Your Life (1984). Telling the story of her recovery from what she described as incurable cervical cancer, You Can Heal Your Life has sold more than 50 million copies, according to Hay House. The early success of Heal Your Life led Hay to establish Hay House Publishers in 1987 from her living room in New York. Today, Hay House, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif., with additional offices in New York, London, Sydney, Johannesburg, and New Delhi. It publishes over 130 self-help authors, such as Wayne Dyer, Esther Hicks, and Doreen Virtue. Reid Tracy, president and CEO of Hay House who first joined the company as an accountant in 1988, reflected on Hay's passing in a statement on Wednesday. Meeting Louise changed the direction of my life, he said. Her passion for serving others translated into everything she did. Being able to learn from her has been one of my lifes greatest blessings. The publisher will continue to focus on producing products and online learning courses that align with Hays message of self-improvement, it said in a statement. A private service is being held for Hay, and donations are being accepted by the Hay Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by Hay that helps provide resources to those with AIDS, battered women, and others in need. WASHINGTON -- Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to Washington, hailed U.S. President Donald Trumps recent policy statement on the war in his country, saying it was better than what we were expecting. We welcomed President Trumps announcement, Mohib said on August 31. It was something we have been working on with the U.S. administration since President Trump took office. There were intense deliberations on what needs to be done, said Mohib, who was speaking on U.S. cable TVs C-SPAN network and took phone questions from viewers. It couldnt have been any better than what we were expecting, said Mohib of Trumps policy announcement. On August 21, Trump set out what he called his administrations new, more aggressive path forward for Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces have been fighting a 16-year war against Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other extremist groups attempting to overthrow the government in Kabul. Trump vowed "to win" the war and said his strategy will not be based on "arbitrary timelines" but on conditions on the ground. Following Trump's address, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis suggested the United States and other countries would send more troops to Afghanistan. In the C-SPAN broadcast, Mohib praised the American soldiers who made sacrifices, the veterans, the 1 million Americans who served in Afghanistan. He also cited the toll on Afghan citizens, saying that over the past two years, we've had 75,000 casualtiesMany of them were civilian casualties targeted by terrorist groups. Mohib insisted that the conflict in his country was not an Afghan war but a battle "we are all fighting" against terrorism. The Afghan people are on the front line of defending against these terrorists. You have seen what they do. They turn anything into a weapon. In Europe, they turn cars and trucks into weapons," he said. "In Afghanistan, theyre using large bombs to indiscriminately target people at banks, at hospitals, at places of worship. They have no religion and the only objective they have is to terrorize the world. Mohib did not comment directly on recent incidents of civilian deaths mistakenly caused by Afghan and allied forces -- including reports of 11 civilians allegedly killed on August 29 in Logar Province by a NATO helicopter raid on a house that militants had seized. But, he said, We lose people on a daily basis to this conflict. We want nothing more than to end it. He added that to bring the 16-year conflict to a successful conclusionrequires the kind of commitment that both the Afghan people and the Afghan government, and the United States and our allies have madeto end this tyranny on our people and the world. Mohib said he was not concerned by the U.S. militarys announcement on August 30 that it had sharply raised its estimate of the number of U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan, to about 11,000 from the previously listed 8,400. The U.S. military, as part of Trumps new strategy for Afghanistan, is considering adding about 4,000 troops to its effort in the country, according to multiple press reports. We have always wanted to move away from talking about troop numbers. That is a detail that must be decided by those who are fighting the war on the ground, he said. He said the numbers will fluctuate. There are monthswhen we need a lot more support, then months when there are quiet periods, he said. Questions from viewers centered on the levels of illegal opium production, corruption within the government and the security forces, and relations with neighboring Pakistan. Mohib said that each day, we make progress against terrorists; each day we make progress against corruption, against narco traders; and each day we are building institutions to make Afghanistan safe for Afghans and everyone else. Trump, in his policy speech, also criticized Pakistan for providing safe harbors to Taliban and other terrorists operating in Afghanistan. Mohib said he was pleased by the U.S. administrations focus on the problem of the sanctuaries across its border, saying, We have been complaining about it, and I am really glad there is serious attention paid to this in Washington. Wealthy Chechen businessman Umar Dzhabrailov has been suspended from the ruling United Russia party and charged with hooliganism after allegedly firing into the ceiling of his luxury Moscow hotel room during the early hours of August 30. There is bound to be speculation over whether the charge will stick, however, given the 59-year-old Dzhabrailov's close ties to Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian Interior Ministry (the pistol he used was a gift from former Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, according to the Russian daily Kommersant). Russian media report that Dzhabrailov fired into the ceiling of his hotel room in a fit of rage when the meal he had ordered from room service was brought not by a uniformed waiter but by a member of the cleaning staff. Dzhabrailov, for his part, says he pressed the trigger involuntarily during a moment of nervous tension. He was taken to the local police precinct, charged, and released on assurance that he not try to leave the country. It is not clear whether he was questioned about a white powder, reportedly found in the room, which is said to be under analysis. According to a brief biography compiled by the news portal Caucasian Knot, Dzhabrailov quit high school at the age of 15 and studied for three years as an apprentice furrier at a technical school in Moscow before his military service with the Strategic Rocket Forces. Having been talent-spotted by the Soviet Interior Ministry, he then entered the economic faculty of the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Affairs (MGIMO), graduating in 1985. Dzhabrailov began his business career in 1989 as a representative in Moscow of various Western companies. In 1992 he founded an oil company, Danako. He was also a partner in a Moscow hotel joint venture with U.S. businessman Paul Tatum, who was gunned down in the Moscow subway in November 1996 in what had the hallmarks of a contract killing. While Tatum had publicly accused Dzhabrailov of trying to blackmail him, no evidence emerged linking Dzhabrailov to the murder. He was nonetheless barred entrance to the United States. With the apparent backing of the Moscow municipal council, Dzhabrailov subsequently expanded his business empire, acquiring shares in the Rossiisky Kapital bank and becoming president of the Plaza Group, owner and manager of a number of Moscow companies in the service sectors. In early 2000, Dzhabrailov ran in the election in which Vladimir Putin was first elected Russian president, placing last of the 11 candidates, with less than 1 percent of the vote. Dzhabrailov nonetheless professed himself glad to have fulfilled his duty before Allah by demonstrating to the world by the mere fact of running for president that claims of a genocide against Chechens were totally untrue. That statement would have endeared Dzhabrailov both to Putin and to Kadyrov's father, Akhmad-hadzhi Kadyrov, a former Chechen mufti whom Putin installed as Chechnya's leader in the summer of 2000. It is presumably as a reward for his financial support to his war-ravaged homeland that Dzhabrailov was named in January 2004 as one of Chechnya's two representatives in the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. Dzhabrailov was confirmed in that position for a second term in 2007 by Ramzan Kadyrov, who by that time had been maneuvered by Putin into the post of Chechen Republic president, Akhmad-hadzhi having been killed in a bombing in May 2004. But in 2009, Dzhabrailov was constrained to "resign voluntarily" as senator to make way for another Kadyrov protege, Suleyman Geremeyev, who has indirect ties to the man suspected of masterminding the murder in February 2015 of Russian oppositionist Boris Nemtsov. Chechnya's other senator, Ziyad Sabsabi, told Caucasian Knot that Dzhabrailov had decided to devote himself full-time to his business interests. But Moscow-based Chechen politician and businessman Malik Saidulayev was quoted by the Russian daily Kommersant as saying that "no senator steps down prematurely." Kadyrov nonetheless publicly praised Dzhabrailov for his role in financing reconstruction of Chechnya's war-shattered infrastructure, declaring that during those years "he did everything he could for Chechnya and its people," Caucasian Knot reported on October 7, 2009. Dzhabrailov was one of the founders in 2005 of the short-lived Russian Islamic Heritage movement, and he served together with then-Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev on its oversight committee until its demise. (Dzhabrailov's younger brother Khuseyn served as its chairman.) From 2009-13 Dzhabrailov was an adviser to Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko. He is currently deputy chairman of the Russian-Arab Business Council and president of the Russia-Qatar Business Council. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL BRUSSELS -- The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator has expressed concern that Britain might not honor long-term EU loans to Ukraine after it leaves the 28-member union. Speaking on August 31 after the third round of negotiations on Britain's exit from the EU, Michel Barnier said that Britain "recognized" that it has financial obligations toward the EU after it leaves, which is due to occur at the end of March 2019. But he said he learned this week that British payments will be limited to their last payment to the EU budget before departure." The EU has "joint obligations toward third countries -- for example, we have guaranteed long-term loans to Ukraine together, Barnier said. "After this week, it is clear that the U.K. doesn't feel legally obliged to honor these obligations after departure. The EU has so far pledged a total 12.3 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in loans to Ukraine. Of that, 3.4 billion euros has come in the shape of macro-financial assistance, out of which 2.2 billion euros has already been provided. A total of 8.9 billion euros has been pledged by the EU's financial institutions, the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Britain contributes about 14 percent of the EU budget. With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels KYIV -- The Association Agreement strengthening ties between Ukraine and the European Union entered into force on September 1, marking an end to four years of political drama surrounding the accord. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko celebrated the development in a Facebook post. He called it an "important step in confirmation of the future that we chose in the Revolution of Dignity," a reference to the street protests that drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power after he scrapped plans to sign the EU deal in 2013. Kaja Tael, the Estonian ambassador to the EU, said that "it goes without saying that this is really a major upgrade in our relations" and that the two sides now have "the full range of all instruments at our disposal." Tael, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, noted that the European Union and Ukraine have "already been implementing parts of the agreement, some of them for years." The landmark accord was originally meant to be signed in November 2013 by Yanukovych. However, in a dramatic turnaround, Yanukovych walked away from the accord under pressure from Moscow, prompting massive protests that pushed him from power -- and into self-imposed exile in Russia -- in February 2014. Poroshenko, the tycoon and pro-Western politician who came to power in the aftermath, signed the Association Agreement in June 2014. But the deal -- which required unanimous EU approval -- remained unratified after 61 percent of Dutch voters opposed it in a citizen-driven, non-binding referendum in April 2016. The Dutch government attempted to ease voter concerns in December by negotiating a legally binding supplement with the other 27 EU member states to underscore that the agreement would not grant Ukraine automatic EU membership or provide any guarantees of military aid. Both the Dutch lower house and Senate voted in favor of the agreement earlier this year and ratified it in June. All 28 EU member states formally endorsed the Association Agreement in July. Many elements of the agreement have been provisionally applied since 2014, but the adoption of the accord will ensure closer cooperation between Brussels and Kyiv in areas such as foreign policy, justice, education, science, and technology. After Yanukovych abandoned office and fled the country, Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region and fomented separatism in eastern and southern Ukraine. The Russia-backed separatists seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border Russia, igniting a war that that has killed more than 10,000 people and continues despite a Western-brokered peace deal. Russia's interference in Ukraine has led the United States, the European Union, and other countries to impose sanctions on Moscow, whose ties with the West have deteriorated to levels unseen since the Cold War. With reporting by RFE/RL Correspondent Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels 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 Authorities say a sudden methane gas leak in a coal mine in central Kazakhstan has killed three miners. The director of the Qazaqstan mine in the town of Shakhtinsk in Qaraghandy Region, Aleksandr Zabelin, told reporters that the three miners died of gas poisoning following the leak on August 31. He identified them as Maksim Shebanov, 31, Rustam Akhmetzhanov, 34, and Valery Rudenko, 37. Their bodies have been recovered. The rest of the 133 miners who were in the mine when the gas leak occurred made it to the surface, but three of them were hospitalized with gas poisoning. The gas leak was reported early in the morning on August 31. The regional police department said the authorities have opened an investigation into the possible work safety violations. With reporting by Tengrinews BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstans Supreme Court has upheld the Central Election Commission's rejection of thousands of signatures collected by supporters seeking to get jailed opposition politician Omurbek Tekebaev on the presidential ballot. The election commission said on August 31 that the high court ruled a day earlier that almost 39,000 signatures collected by Tekebaev's Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party were invalid. Prospective candidates for the October 15 election were required to collect at least 30,000 signatures, pay a deposit of 1 million soms ($14,600), and pass a Kyrgyz-language test. The election commission said that, by law, signature collections must be financed by the candidate's election fund only, and that this was not the case in Tekebaev's campaign. Ata-Meken took its complaint to the Supreme Court after an appeals court upheld the election commission's decision on August 22. Tekebaev was arrested in February and was named by Ata-Meken as its candidate for president in March. He was convicted of bribe-taking and sentenced to eight years in prison on August 16. Tekebaev says he is innocent. He and his party contend that President Almazbek Atambaev's government prosecuted him in order to rein in opponents ahead of the election and keep him off the ballot. A final list of officially registered presidential candidates will be made public on September 10. Atambaev, who has been in office since December 2011, is constitutionally barred from running for a second term. He has made clear that he favors Sooronbai Jeenbekov, an ally who stepped down as prime minister on August 21 to run for president. On August 30, Atambaev rejected accusations that he has abused his authority in remarks backing Jeenbekov and warned that, before he leaves office in December, he would "severely punish" anyone who plans "disturbances" over the election. Both Tekebaev and Atambaev were members of an interim government that came to power after protesters ousted authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010. Bakiev's predeccessor, Askar Akaev, had been pushed out by street protests in 2005. BISHKEK -- Former Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva says her successor, incumbent Almazbek Atambaev, has negated in the last two years "all the country's achievements" through his actions. Speaking to RFE/RL on August 31, Kyrgyzstan's Independence Day, Otunbaeva said Atambaev is making a "big mistake" by saying that everything that preceded him was bad and that good things were accomplished only during his presidency. "I handed presidential powers to Almazbek Atambaev [in December 2011]. Now, he and those who want to look good to him are saying that for the first time in Kyrgyzstan's history, a president, Atambaev, is voluntarily leaving office," Otunbaeva said. "In the first five years [after toppling authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010], we moved ahead on the democratic path, but in the last two years, this man [Atambaev] is trying to find his role in history. He is trying to reject everything that was done before him. "Obviously, history will evaluate his forgetting about the nest he took off from, and how he destroyed that nest," she added. Otunbaeva and Atambaev were close allies when she took over the Central Asian country after violent street protests in April 2010 toppled Bakiev, who fled the country and is currently living in Belarus. Otunbaeva refused to run in the 2011 presidential poll, giving Atambaev a chance to win. Relations between the former allies became noticeably tense a year ago, after Otunbaeva left a public gathering during Atambaevs Independence Day speech, in which he harshly criticized her. Omurbek Tekebaev, another former Atambaev ally, who is currently the leader of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party, was sentenced to eight years in prison on bribery charges earlier in August. Tekebaev and his party insist that he was imprisoned in order to prevent him from running in a presidential election scheduled for October 15. Otunbaeva said the treatment that Tekebaev was subjected to was shameful. "We feel ashamed that in just seven years, without leaving the house, we found ourselves on different sides of the barricades. One of our comrades is in jail. I am not invited as an ex-president to Independence Day celebrations. I think history will assess all of this," Otunbaeva said. During his Independence Day address on August 31, Atambaev reiterated that all those who attempted to provoke "public disorder" after the presidential polls would be "severely punished." Atambaev said that some politicians, "in order to prevent a candidate from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to win," are eager to sow disorder. The SDP candidate is Atambaev's close ally, former Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov. Atambaev is constitutionally barred from running for a second term. The United States and Russia have both sent messages of congratulation to Kyrgyzstan on its Independence Day. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Atambaev and expressed confidence that bilateral ties will continue to develop. "Our countries are engaged in substantive political dialogue, fruitful bilateral cooperation...and efficient interaction within the Eurasian Economic Union, the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), and other international organizations," Putin said in his message. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in his message that "the United States joins the people of the Kyrgyz Republic in celebrating both this special anniversary and our 26-year partnership," adding that Washington "looks forward to deepening our relationship with the people of the Kyrgyz Republic over the coming years on the basis of trust, equality, and mutual respect." Macedonia called on Greece on August 31 to recognize the "new reality" that Skopje's new government is committed to resolving remaining obstacles to joining the European Union and NATO. After a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nokos Kotzias in Skopje, Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said, "We hope that Greece will recognize the new reality in Macedonia and our honest wish for friendship. We expect and we hope for help and support for European integration." The new government of Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, which took over in May, has pledged to speed up the process of joining NATO and EU, including meeting EU conditions that it establish good relations with its neighbors. Kotzias said that Athens would fully support Macedonia's EU bid as soon as their longstanding dispute over the name Macedonia is resolved and Skopje meets other "preconditions" laid down by the EU. Referring to Macedonia as "our dear neighbor in the north," he joined Dimitrov in committing to improving relations. Athens has long insisted that the name Macedonia should only be used for its own northern province, and it has vetoed Skopje's attempts to join NATO and to start accession talks with the European Union over the dispute. As a result, Athens, Brussels, and the United Nations all refer to the Balkan country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). After their second meeting since May, Dimitrov said the two ministers discussed practical matters involved with improving relations and easing Macedonia's entry into the Western European community. "We spoke about the process, how it will be going, the methods and modalities, but we also spoke about what exactly are the interests and worries on both sides," he said. Ahead of Kotzias's one-day visit, a source from Macedonia's Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying that the talks would focus on improving cooperation in the spheres of economy, transport, infrastructure, and energy. The source told BIRN that any discussion on the name dispute will wait until after the local elections in Macedonia in October. In Greece, local media cited unnamed sources in Greece's Foreign Ministry as saying that Athens would use the visit to "feel the pulse" of the Macedonian government, which came to power at the end of May. "I'm here to ask for your support," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov told Kotzias during a visit to Athens in June. "I'm convinced that you have the leverage in your hands and this leverage can help toward closing the way for the one open issue." Kotzias said that Athens would support Macedonia's integration "in every way, once the name issue has been resolved." "That is a prerequisite and I believe we must -- and can -- work toward a good compromise benefiting both sides," he added. The name issue came to the fore after Macedonia gained independence in the 1990s following the collapse of Yugoslavia. Greece claims a historical right to the name because the heart of Alexander the Great's ancient kingdom lies in its northern province of Macedonia. Greece also says that Macedonia's use of the name could imply territorial claims on parts of its territory. With reporting by BIRN, AP, and Reuters U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he has signed the orders to send additional troops to Afghanistan as part of President Donald Trump's new strategy to fight the 16-year war against the Taliban and other insurgents. Mattis told reporters on August 31 that the fresh troops will enable the Afghan force to fight more effectively. It is more advisers, it is more enablers -- fire support, for example." He added, though, that the deployment orders were not complete and that military leaders were still identifying specific additional troops to include as part of the deployment. Mattis did not disclose the number of troops to be added to the U.S. contingent in Afghanistan, although officials have indicated it will be about 4,000. The Pentagon on August 30 sharply raised its estimate of the number of U.S. troops already serving in Afghanistan, putting the figure at approximately 11,000. The Pentagon had previously listed 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan but said the new figure was determined after a comprehensive review and a desire to give a more transparent accounting of the size of the U.S. force. U.S. troops have led a NATO force assisting the Afghan government in the fight against the Taliban since 2001. At its peak, the U.S. military had some 100,000 troops in the country before scaling back and handing active combat operations over to Afghan forces. Based on reporting by AP, APF, and Reuters The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on August 30 called on Estonia to reverse its decision to bar three Russian journalists from covering an EU meeting in Tallinn next month. "I urge Estonia to reconsider denied accreditation," Harlem Desir, the organization's freedom of media representative, said on Twitter. Estonia said it barred the reporters from the European Union foreign ministers meeting on September 7 because their news outlet was "promoting hostile, subversive activities and propaganda under the cover of press freedom," Estonia's EU office told the EUobserver on August 29. TASS said the barred reporters are from the Russia Today news agency, but the EUobserver said they were from Rossia Segodnya, a firm that owns the Sputnik online site, which it said was "notorious" for posting "bogus anti-Western content." Sputnik has been called a pseudo news agency by the European Parliament and an enemy of journalism by Reporters Without Borders, but the European Federation of Journalists has defended the outlet's right to cover events, the EUobserver said. The European journalist association's head, Ricardo Gutierrez, accused Estonia of a "serious attack on media freedom," the EUobserver said. TASS reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry also said it was "astonished" by Estonia's move. With reporting by EUobserver.com and TASS An antiterrorism court in Pakistan has declared former President Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in connection with the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. The court in Rawalpindi also jailed two senior police officers on August 31 for negligence and acquitted five other men in the first verdicts to be issued in the case, nearly 10 years after Bhutto's killing in a gun and bomb attack during an election rally in the city. The court ruled that Musharraf "absconded," a court official said, and ordered the confiscation of his property. Musharraf was charged in 2013 with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in an unprecedented move against a former Pakistani military ruler. He has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai since a travel ban was lifted in March 2016 for health reasons while awaiting trial. Musharraf has denied being part of a conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. Following Bhutto's death, her party, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), came to power and her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, was elected president, but failed to make headway unraveling the mysteries behind the murder, drawing fresh allegations of conspiracy. The court also found two senior police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene," the court official said. They were sentenced to 17 years in prison each and fined 500,000 rupees ($4,700). One of the convicted, Khurram Shahzad, was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after Bhutto's assassination took place. Saud Aziz, who was chief of the Rawalpindi police at the time, was accused of giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene and of refusing to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead. Meanwhile, the court acquitted five men of conspiracy to murder, citing lack of evidence. They had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to murder Bhutto. A defense lawyer said it was not yet clear when they would be freed. Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, currently the leader of the PPP, called the ruling disappointing and unacceptable in a message on Twitter and said the party would explore legal options. "There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes!" Bhutto's daughter Aseefa Zardari wrote on Twitter moments after the announcement. Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2009. In 2010, a UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection. With reporting by AFP A Russian man who was recently released from prison after serving time for reposting an article advocating the return of Crimea to Ukraine has reportedly left Russia. Moscow-based activist Anna Borko wrote on Facebook on August 30 that Andrei Bubeyev and his wife left Russia. Media reports cited another activist, Yekaterina Bashilova, as saying on August 31 that Bubeyev and his wife are currently in Kyiv. Bubeyev, who is from the northwestern Russian city of Tver, was released from prison on August 23 after serving his full term of two years and three months. Bubeyev was arrested in 2015 after he reposted several articles criticizing the Russian government. In August 2015, he was found guilty of inciting hatred via the Internet and illegal possession of ammunition and sentenced to one year in a colony settlement, a penitentiary in which convicts live close to an industrial facility or a farm where they work. However, days after that sentence was pronounced, Bubeyev was charged with promoting extremism and threatening Russia's territorial integrity. This time the charges were about Bubeyev's reposting an article by jailed Kremlin critic Boris Stomakhin that had earlier been deemed "extremist" and "threatening to Russia's territorial integrity." Stomakhin's article argued that the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea had been illegally annexed by Russia and should be returned to Ukraine. In May 2016, Bubeyev was convicted of the new charges and sentenced to two years and three months in prison. In March 2016, the Moscow-based human rights group Memorial declared Bubeyev a political prisoner and called for his immediate release. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has detained two people who were planning to carry out terror attacks in Moscow on September 1, the first day of school. In a statement on August 31, the FSB said that a powerful homemade bomb was found in the home of one of the suspects and claimed that he acknowledged he was planning a suicide attack. It said the other suspect had posted a video on the Internet in which he swore allegiance to the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and said he was planning to attack civilians with a bladed weapon. An FSB video carried by state-run Russian media showed a man saying that he planned to "commit jihad" and carry out a bomb attack "on the orders of Islamic State." It also showed an ax it said the other suspect was planning to use. The FSB statement said that both suspects were from Central Asia, but it did not specify which country or countries. It suggested there was no direct link between the two suspects. There was no way to independently verify the accuracy of the FSB statement or the authenticity of the video. Russian authorities frequently report that they have foiled terror plots ahead of major public events or holidays. The first day of school coincides with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, widely known in Russia and the mostly Muslim former Soviet republics of Central Asia as Kurban Bairam. A hostage-taking attack on a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan on September 1, 2004, ended two days later with a botched rescue bid and led to the deaths of 334 people, more than half of them children. On April 3 of this year, a blast that authorities said was a suicide bombing carried out by an ethnic Uzbek Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan killed 16 people on a subway car in St. Petersburg. President Vladimir Putin said in April that some 9,000 militants, about half of them from Russia and half from Central Asia, have joined IS in Syria. Putin has said that a crucial goal of Russia's military campaign in Syria is to kill militants there and prevent them from returning home. In the months after Russia began a campaign of air strikes in Syria in September 2015, Western officials said it mainly targeted not IS militants but other opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. With reporting by RIA Novosti and AP A 10-year-old girl from St. Petersburg has reportedly died of complications from AIDS after a lengthy battle in which her adoptive parents cited religious objections in refusing medical treatment for her. Media reports say the child's adoptive father -- a Russian Orthodox priest -- insisted that he didn't believe in the existence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS and dismissed it as a hoax invented by greedy pharmaceutical companies. The child, whose name was withheld along with that of her adoptive parents, died on August 27 at the St. Petersburg Children's Hospital, where she was placed earlier this year after a court ordered the parents to seek treatment for her condition. But it was too late to save the child, according to St. Petersburg children's ombudsman Svetlana Agapitova. "She was brought to the intensive care in serious condition with almost no hope [of survival].... It was already too late," the ombudsman's office was quoted as saying. The parents could face criminal charges. It was unclear from local reports at what age the couple adopted the girl, but they were said to have previously adopted and raised other children with serious medical conditions. The girl in question was diagnosed with HIV at birth. But the couple resisted pressure from doctors and authorities for hospital treatment for their adopted daughter, instead seeking alternative, nonconventional treatment. Doctors alerted the authorities about the case, prompting court trials that lasted a year and a half before the child was finally placed in a hospital. Even during her ongoing treatment, the parents tried to "kidnap" the child from the medical facility, the office of the ombudsman said. 'AIDS-Dissidents' The Russian Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg described the girl's death as a "huge tragedy" and said the church did not ban medical treatment for HIV/AIDS patients. "The church rejects 'AIDS dissidence,'" Archpriest Maksim Pletnyev, head of the St. Petersburg diocese's care center for HIV patients, said. The church is "realistic" about HIV/AIDS issues, he added. Yevgeny Voronin, the Health Ministry's chief specialist on HIV-related issues, said the St. Petersburg child's case was "yet another death on the conscience of AIDS deniers," a term used for those who refuse to believe the condition exists. In the western Siberian city of Tyumen, a father filed a complaint against his wife in which he accused her of refusing medical treatment for the couple's HIV-positive child. That 3-year-old died in a hospital in April. The woman was charged with negligent homicide, but the case was closed after the man withdrew his complaint. The prosecutors, however, have filed an appeal asking the court to resume the case. The Health Ministry puts the HIV-positive population in Russia at 860,000, but some nongovernmental groups estimate the real number is around 1.5 million. With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Interfax, Medusa.io, and Fontanka.ru KAZAN -- A court in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, has sentenced a local activist to three years in prison for inciting hatred on the Internet, inflicting bodily harm, and hooliganism -- charges which rights groups say are fabricated. The Vakhit district court found Danis Safargali guilty on August 31 and sentenced him the same day. Safargali, the leader of the Tatar patriotic movement Altyn Urda (The Golden Horde), denies all charges. He was arrested in October 2016. Memorial, a Moscow-based human rights center, has called Safargali a political prisoner. In an August 29 statement, Memorial said that Safargali is "a victim of a persecution campaign against opposition activists of the Tatar national movement...that has been launched since 2014." Investigators say his 15 posts on the Internet in which he criticized the Russian government, President Vladimir Putin, and Moscow's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 can be defined as incitement to hatred. The two other charges are linked to an alleged brawl that took place in Kazan in April 2016. Safargali insisted that his son was being beaten by two attackers, who also attacked his pregnant wife. He said he had to intervene in the incident but denied that he had beaten the attackers. Memorial called on authorities to immediately release Safargali, to drop the charge of inciting hatred, and fairly investigate his involvement in the alleged brawl. The studio of Russian director Aleksei Uchitel, who has been under pressure from conservative activists for his film highlighting the romantic youth of Tsar Nicholas II, has reportedly been attacked. Russian media reports quoted police in St. Petersburg as saying on August 31 that unknown assailants threw Molotov cocktails into the building that houses Uchitel's studio at 3:30 a.m. According to the reports, the fire was extinguished before police arrived and nobody was hurt. The reports have not been officially confirmed by city authorities. Uchitel said earlier that he had received verbal threats from representatives of a group that calls itself Christian State-Holy Rus, which along with other Orthodox activists and conservatives called unsuccessfully for a ban on his film Matilda. On August 10, Russia's Culture Ministry said it had issued a screening certificate for the film, which depicts Nicholas II's relationship with teenage ballet dancer Matilda Kshesinskaya. The ministry said the film had been cleared for release nationwide on October 26. Some Russian Orthodox figures and hard-line nationalists vehemently opposed allowing the film to be shown, claiming it besmirches the memory of Nicholas, who was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. The campaign to ban the film was led by Natalya Poklonskaya, a controversial member of parliament who has expressed monarchist views and served as the chief regional prosecutor in Crimea following its armed takeover by Russia in March 2014. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya, argued that Matilda should be barred from theaters in the mostly Muslim regions in Russia's North Caucasus, saying it was a "premeditated insult to the feelings" of religious believers. The film tells the story of a romance between Nicholas and Kshesinskaya when he was an unmarried crown prince. Trailers showing romantic scenes between the young prince and Kshesinskaya have outraged conservative critics. The affair ended in 1894, when Nicholas married the German princess who became Empress Aleksandra. Kshesinskaya later married the tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Aleksandr Vladimirovich. She died in 1971. Conservatives deny the well-documented affair took place, with some claiming that it would have been impossible for a prince to fall in love with a Pole who was "utterly homely. Uchitel has received support from several prominent Russian filmmakers. The tsar and his family were killed by a Bolshevik firing squad in July 1918. With reporting by TASS, RIA Novosti, and Fontanka Russia on August 30 urged against further sanctions or military action against North Korea even as U.S. allies called for more sanctions stiffening limits on Pyongyang's workers in Russia and China. In a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the United States to refrain from military action or pursuing further sanctions in the wake of North Korea's launch this week of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead over Japan's island of Hokkaido, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. While U.S. President Donald Trump after the launch hinted at the possibility of military action or further sanctions by asserting that "all options are on the table," the United States has not pushed for any further action this week. Britain and Japan, however, have floated the possibility of further sanctions at the United Nations, arguing that previous measures including limits on North Koreans working abroad have not gone far enough. "The time is right to consider further constraints on the [Korean] regime, given that the constraints that we have put in place so far have clearly not yet got them to change course." Britain's Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft said in New York on August 30. "One other thing we could look at is building on the cap on foreign laborers...to see whether we could do more to prevent the flow of money coming into [North Korea from] nationals who are working abroad," he said. Rycroft was referring to the limit on laborers in an August 5 UN security council resolution that called on all countries to refrain from hiring more of Pyongyang's workers as part of a package of stiff new economic sanctions imposed in response to previous ballistic missiles launches this summer. UN investigators have said that most of the estimated 60,000 to 100,000 North Koreans who work abroad are employed in Russia and China and earn between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year -- providing a significant infusion of foreign cash for Pyongyang at a time when its access to hard currency is limited by sanctions. Japan has joined Britain in advocating tighter limits on North Koreans working abroad, and also is suggesting targeting Pyongyang's oil supply and textile exports in a new round of sanctions, Reuters reported. The UN council on August 29 condemned North Korea's latest "outrageous" missile launch over Japan but refrained from calling for new sanctions and instead called for a resumption of negotiations with Pyongyang. After the UN's condemnation, Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow opposed new sanctions because "sanctions and pressure produce little effect." He called for "peaceful, diplomatic, and political solutions" and said "there is no military solution to the Korean peninsula problems." Both Russia and China, which also said it opposes further sanctions, have veto power on the UN security council. Russia's Lavrov also warned the United States against military action against North Korea in his phone call with Tillerson, saying that would be "fraught with unpredictable consequences," Russia's Foreign Ministry said. Trump had earlier seemed to raise the possibility of military action by tweeting that "talking is not the answer" for dealing with North Korea. With reporting by Reuters, dpa, TASS, and Interfax Russia's new ambassador to the United States on August 30 called for re-establishing regular, direct contacts between Moscow's and Washington's military, intelligence, and foreign policy chiefs. Military contacts between Moscow and Washington were frozen in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, but the U.S. secretary of state and Russian foreign minister still meet at times. In an interview published on Kommersant's website, Anatoly Antonov said "the time has come to resume joint meetings" regularly, and he also called for meetings between the heads of Russia's intelligence services and the U.S. CIA and FBI, saying that would further the fight against terrorism and cyberattacks. He also suggested a "working cooperation" between Russia's Security Council and the U.S. National Security Council. "We are interested in bringing bilateral relations back to normal," Antonov told Kommersant. "The closer our countries get to each other, the stronger the international security becomes," he said. "I'm convinced this serves the interests of the Russians and the Americans likewise." Antonov's suggestion of increased cooperation comes amid multiple investigations in Washington over allegations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election and help then-Republican candidate Donald Trump, who was promising to improve relations with Russia. Based on reporting by Reuters, Kommersant, TASS, and Interfax The European Union says the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo have agreed the final steps for the implementation of a key agreement to integrate the courts in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo into the countrys judicial system The office of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini made the announcement on August 31 after she hosted a meeting with Serbias Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci of Kosovo in Brussels as part of an effort to move forward dialogue between the two neighbors and normalize ties. A statement said that both presidents confirmed that the February 2015 Justice Agreement will be "fully implemented" on October 17. "On that day, judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff will be integrated into the Kosovo judiciary, she said. The integration of the judicial personnel will allow for justice to be delivered across Kosovo and, in particular, in [the northern] Mitrovica region, the statement added. Vucic and Thaci "followed up on their commitment" from their last meeting in July where they agreed to start working on a "new phase of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina for normalization of relations and reconciliation," it also said. After the July 3 talks in Brussels, Vucic said it was necessary to talk "more seriously and bravely about future relations." Thaci told RFE/RL that Kosovo and Serbia were entering a "new phase of dialogue" as they look to sign a "comprehensive, political agreement" to benefit both countries on the path to Euro-Atlantic integration. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by 115 countries but not by Belgrade. Currently there are around 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo and most of them, mainly in the north, oppose the Pristina authorities. Kosovar Albanians, who are the ethnic majority in the small Balkan nation, oppose greater autonomy for Serb-dominated municipalities, saying that this would give Belgrade more influence. Relations have also been strained since June 11 elections in Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people, 90 percent of whom are ethnic Albanian. Two potential prime ministers, Ramush Haradinaj and Albin Kurti, have said in the past that they don't support the current format of the dialogue. But Thaci told RFE/RL that he foresees a full normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade and reconciliation of their people, including the affirmation of the rights of Kosovo Serbs. "We have to be sincere; we have many open questions between Kosovo and Serbia to discuss and normalize," Thaci said, noting that he could not predict how long the final stage of talks would last but saying he didnt think it would be a matter of years. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Tajikistan has passed a law that urges citizens to wear traditional clothes. Though the recommendation is vague and carries no penalties, authorities appear to have a specific goal in mind: discouraging women from wearing the Islamic hijab. (RFE/RL's Tajik Service) ON MY MIND There is a specter haunting the Kremlin -- the specter of Vladimir Putin as a lame duck. Sure Putin is all but certain to seek and win a fourth term in the Kremlin next March. But then what? The Kremlin leader, after all, will turn 65 in October. If he completes another six year term as president, he'll be 71. Will he then change or ignore the Russian Constitution and seek a third consecutive term -- a move that would effectively amount to declaring himself president for life? Will he try to repeat the so-called "castling" and anoint a placeholder president as he did with Dmitry Medvedev in 2008-12 -- and triumphantly return to the Kremlin at the age of 77? Either is possible, but probably unlikely. And there appears to be a growing realization that, while Putin isn't going anywhere right now, his next term in the Kremlin will probably be his last. And what that probably means is that -- like in 1999 and in 2007-8, when the prospect of a transition loomed -- we are probably in for a period of high-stakes court politics, intensified intrigue, and elite instability. In fact, as Nikolai Petrov and Donald Jensen note in separate pieces featured below (and as Yevgeny Minchenko noted in his latest Politburo 2.0 report featured in the Morning Vertical earlier this week), we are seeing evidence that this is already happening. IN THE NEWS Anatoly Antonov, Russia's new ambassador to the United States, has called for reestablishing regular, direct contacts between Moscow's and Washington's military, intelligence, and foreign policy chiefs. NATO says it will send three observers to Belarus and Russia to monitor the upcoming Zapad 2017 military exercises, but is repeating its calls on the two countries to allow broader monitoring of the drills. A Moscow court has rejected an appeal to end the house arrest of former Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev, who is facing bribery charges. More than 300 young Russian cultural figures have published an open letter of support for theater director Kirill Serebrennikov, who is under house arrest and facing embezzlement charges, and four other figures connected with the case. Russia has urged against further sanctions or military action against North Korea even as U.S. allies called for more sanctions, including stiffening limits on Pyongyang's workers in Russia and China. Some 15 members of the Tatar Public Center rallied in the capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, Kazan, on August 30, demanding the renewal of the Kazan-Moscow treaty on power sharing. The Kremlin has confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump's lawyer sent an e-mail about a real estate project in Moscow during the U.S. presidential campaign. News reports from Moscow say that Umar Dzhabrailov, a wealthy businessman and former member of the Russian parliament, could face criminal charges after allegedly firing a pistol in a luxury hotel near the Kremlin. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe has called on Estonia to reverse its decision to bar three Russian journalists from covering an EU meeting in Tallinn next month. Ukrainian authorities say they have expelled a Russian state TV journalist, despite condemnation from Russia and the OSCE. A court in Austria has rejected a Spanish extradition request for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash. A Ukrainian politician's son charged with hitting and seriously injuring a pedestrian while driving a car has avoided pretrial detention. WHAT I'M READING Power Games In Vedomosti, political analyst Nikolai Petrov argues that repression is now being used to control the Russian elite. And on the Center for European Policy Analysis website, Donald Jensen, a former U.S. State Department official who is currently a fellow at CEPA, looks at the power struggles in the Russian elite. Info Ops Emilio J. Iasiello has a paper in the U.S. Army War College's scholarly journal Parameters on how Russia is improving its information operations "from Georgia to Crimea." Media Wars Estonia is defending its decision to ban some Russian journalists from EU presidency events. The Center for International Media Assistance looks at Germany's efforts to fight against fake news. Navalny Strikes Again -- And Prepares To Go On Tour Aleksei Navalny's latest expose lifts the veil on "Putin's secret dacha." Navalny will begin a tour of Russian cities on September 15, his campaign has announced. When Vladimir Met Viktor The Budapest-based Political Capital Research and Consulting Institute has produced a post-mortem on Putin's meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this week. Exposing Russia's Mercenaries Meduza has an interview with Denis Korotkov, the journalist for the St. Petersburg-based Fontanka.ru who exposed the Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria. Book Review: Masha Gessen's The Future Is History In Bookforum, Sean Guillory of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies and host of the SRB Podcast reviews Masha Gessen's new book The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. Recalling 1999 In Tablet magazine, David Satter looks back at the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities that propelled Putin into power. More On Zapad In The National Interest, Peter Zwack, the former U.S. defense attache in Moscow, looks ahead to the Zapad 2017 military exercises. Authorities in Belarus said on August 31 that a Ukrainian teenager whose disappearance has triggered claims of a Russia-orchestrated kidnapping entered the country a week earlier but that they have no record of his departure. The case of 19-year-old Pavlo Hryb, whose father reported him missing after his son left for Belarus to meet a young woman, has rattled ties between Kyiv and Minsk and prompted Ukrainian appeals to Moscow to clarify whether Hryb is in Russian custody. The father, Ihor, wrote on Facebook last week that his son departed the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on August 24 to meet the woman, whom hed met on social media, in the Belarusian city of Homel. His father says that after Hryb did not return, he went to search for him in Homel. There, he claims, he learned unofficially that his son was wanted in Russia on terror-related charges, though there has been no public confirmation of this from Russian authorities. Hrybs father has alleged that his son was lured into meeting the woman by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) and kidnapped by its agents. I immediately understood that an FSB special operation was conducted, he told Current Time TV, a Russian-language television network run jointly by RFE/RL and Voice of America. He said his son had published social-media posts criticizing Russia for its 2014 seizure of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. He added, however, that Hryb had not served in the military due to a disability. Ukrainian media outlets say they identified and interviewed the woman, reportedly a 17-year-old resident of the southern Russian city of Sochi. They have quoted her as saying that she persuaded Hryb to meet her under pressure from the FSB. For a week after Hrybs disappearance, Belarusian authorities had yet to confirm whether the Ukrainian man had entered or left the country. But Belarusian border officials on August 31 said Hryb had entered that country legally on August 24. But Anton Bychkouski, a spokesman for Belaruss state border committee, told RFE/RLs Belarus Service that, at the moment, authorities have no record of Hryb leaving the country. Diplomatic tensions have flared between Kyiv and Minsk over the case. In an August 30 television interview, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal criticized Belarusian efforts to locate Hryb. She accused Belarus of acting like a partner in words, but in reality they behave in a completely different way and suggested that Kyiv might not support Minsks bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Minsk hit back a day later, calling Zerkals comments unacceptable and saying that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry had called in the top official at the Ukrainian Embassy in Kyiv over the matter. Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dzmitry Mironchik said in an August 31 statement that several law enforcement and security agencies have been looking for Hryb on the entire territory of the country based on an August 29 request from the Ukrainian Embassy. Mironchik added that people, unfortunately, disappear for all kinds of reasons and that if a 19-year-old young mans parents and own government didnt keep track of him, thats no reason to shift the blame. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that he planned to raise the matter with his Belarusian counterpart, Uladzimir Makey, at an international meeting in Budapest on August 31. The Ukrainian governments top human rights official, meanwhile, said on August 30 that she had appealed to her Russian counterpart citing information that Hryb had been transferred to the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation. "I ask you to check the information about the fact of Pavlo Hrybs detention, the legal grounds for his detention, his location, the conditions of detention, and his state of health," Ukrainian Ombudswoman Valeriya Lutkovska wrote in a letter to Kremlin human rights point woman Tatyana Moskalkova. With reporting by RFE/RLs Belarus and Ukrainian services, Current Time TV, Hromadske, and 5.ua A court in Russian-occupied Crimea is to hold a new hearing on August 31 in the trial of Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who is fighting what he says is a politically motivated separatism charge. Semena told RFE/RL on August 31 that the trial is entering the final stage in which the prosecution and defense will make statements and prosecutors will give their sentencing recommendation. Semena expressed confidence that he will be found not guilty despite the politically charged nature of the trial on the Russian-controlled Ukrainian peninsula and the fact that acquittals are very rare in Russian courts. "The trial has proceeded in such a contradictory way, and we have provided so much material supporting a journalist's right to free speech under Russian and international law, that I think I will be acquitted," Semena said. He said he expects to testify at the hearing. "We will continue proving my innocence, my right to express my thoughts freely, and my right to take part in any discussions no matter what is my point of view," Semena said. The charge against the 66-year-old Semena stems from an article he wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015. The Kremlin-installed prosecutor in Crimea charged that the article had called for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity. Earlier in the trial, linguist Elena Novozhilova testified that, in her opinion, Semena's article did not contain calls for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity. Semena, whose trial started in March, faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He contends that the accusation is baseless and politically motivated, and that Russian authorities have based the case on an inaccurate Russian translation of his original Ukrainian text. Rights groups say the trial is part of a systematic Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea since Moscow's armed occupation and takeover of the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. After Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March 2014, kidnappings and suspicious disappearances have become common. The abductions of Reshat Akhmetov and Ervin Ibragimov were even recorded on video but still not fully investigated. Various human rights groups have given different numbers for Crimean residents who have gone missing or who have died in a suspicious manner. According to the CrimeaSOS website and the Crimean Human Rights Group, eight to 17 residents of Crimea disappeared over the last three years. At least six of them were later found dead. Some activists say the true number is higher. In marking the United Nations' International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30, below is a list of some of those who have gone missing in Crimea or who were found dead under unclear circumstances in the years since annexation. (Stylized images provided by Crimean Tatar Resource Center) An Iranian teenager sneaks up behind a cleric in the capital, Tehran, and knocks his turban off his head before dashing off. The incident, uploaded on social media, is part of a new tactic employed by anti-government demonstrators in Iran. Nationwide antiestablishment protests have raged across the Islamic republic since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died on September 16 shortly after she was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law on women's dress. As the authorities have waged a deadly crackdown on the rallies, some demonstrators have turned to new tactics to sustain the monthslong protests, including tipping off Islamic clerics' turbans in the streets. Many Iranians associate members of the clergy with Iran's Islamist regime, which many blame for the repression and corruption in the country. While some Iranians have praised the "turban throwing" as an act of resistance, others have expressed concern that low-level clerics who are not affiliated with the state could become the victims of harassment and violence. Lawmaker Mohammad Taghi Naqd Ali on November 10 called the new trend "the devil's conspiracy" and warned that young protesters tossing clerics' turbans were "playing with the lion's tail." State media reported the arrests of two people in recent days who were accused of knocking off clerics' turbans. London-based human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr said the tactic was a "brave and revolutionary act." Sadr, the co-founder of the rights group Justice for Iran, told RFE/RL that protesters were "humiliating" clerics without resorting to violence. "They're [targeting] the clergy's turban as a symbol of the crimes and corruption of the past 43 years as well as the privileges clerics have enjoyed," she said. "There is no violence in it, and it also includes youthful mischief, which highlights the spirit of the revolution," Sadr added, referring to the monthslong protests that have posed the biggest threat to the establishment in years. But Ahmad Zeidabadi, a Tehran-based journalist and former political prisoner, said that some of the clerics targeted in the streets "may be critics or even victims of [state] policies." "This phenomenon...mainly targets clerics who do not hold any government positions," he said on Twitter, adding that senior clerics in powerful positions rarely appear in public and are often protected by security guards if they do. Reformist cleric Hojatoleslam Ahmad Heidari, who was jailed in the past for his support for the opposition Green Movement, warned that the new trend could taint the "beautiful face of [the] protest movement against oppression and injustice." "You're right to be angry at those wearing turbans," Heidari wrote on the news site Esafnews.com. But he added that "those who have a hand in power and are your target" are out of reach. He said many of the clerics targeted were "young and elderly" clerics who are not sitting in "ivory towers." Attacks on clerics, particularly those who attempt to enforce Islamic codes in public, had been on rise in Iran even before the protests erupted, forcing many clerics to appear in public without their robes and turbans. Last week, a cleric was reportedly hospitalized after being wounded in Karaj, near Tehran, amid antiestablishment protests in the city. The hard-line Fars news agency claimed that protesters attacked the cleric with knives. Hassan Fereshtian, a Paris-based Iranian cleric and researcher, said the turban-throwing trend was the result of the "suppressed anger of the past four decades." "If it aims at eliminating the clergy, we could be facing the start of violence," he warned in comments to RFE/RL's Radio Farda. "In fact, the clergy should be eliminated from the centers of power. But they shouldn't be eliminated from society." Fereshtian, a student of the late dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, expressed hope that Iran will reach a point "where secular people can live peacefully next to the clergy and unveiled women next to those who choose to wear the hijab." In the past year, regime supporters have knocked off the turbans of clerics who had criticized the establishment, including former Interior Minister Abdollah Nuri and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, who has been under house arrest since 2011 for disputing the 2009 reelection of former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. WASHINGTON -- The United States has ordered the closure of Russias consulate in San Francisco, escalating a diplomatic tit-for-tat that followed Moscow's order for a sharp cut in U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia. The State Department said in a statement on August 31 that two other diplomatic buildings in Washington and New York used as trade annexes must also be shuttered. "In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate-General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City," the statement said. "These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2." The move followed last month's order by Russia that the United States cut its diplomatic personnel in the country by 755 to 455 people. Russian officials cited a new sanctions law passed by Congress as the cause for the cut. "We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," the State Department said. The shuttering of the San Francisco facility will leave Russia with the main embassy facility in Washington and three other consular posts on the territory of the United States -- in Seattle, on the northwestern Pacific coast; in Houston, in the southern state of Texas; and in New York City, on the East Coast. "The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern," the statement said. "The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted," it said. WATCH: Trump Speaking About Relations With Russia On August 28 The order to close the San Francisco facility was a marked escalation in the back-and-forth between Moscow and Washington and a reflection of just how poisoned bilateral relations have become. President Donald Trumps election was openly welcomed in Moscow, where many officials anticipated warmer ties, something Trump himself had repeatedly called for. That optimism has quieted, however, as the Trump administration has not moved to make any of the concrete conciliatory gestures Moscow has requested. Foremost among those requests was the return of two diplomatic compounds in Maryland and New York's Long Island that had been ordered closed by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, in December for what he said was retaliation for Russia's interference in last year's presidential election. U.S. officials alleged the facilities were used for intelligence gathering. Obama also ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats. In July, after it became clear that Washington did not intend to return those facilities, Russia said it was seizing a bucolic riverside property in Moscow used by U.S. diplomats for years, along with a warehouse. Criminal Investigation The reports of Russian interference have dogged Trump since he took office in January, with four different congressional committees investigating either that alleged meddling or interactions between Trump associates and Russian officials. The FBI has had a criminal investigation into those interactions ongoing since July and the probe is now being overseen by a special counsel, Robert Mueller, who has reportedly used a grand jury to get testimony from both Americans and Russians. Asked about the State Department announcement, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the decision was made by Trump and she called it "a firm and measured action in response to Russia's unfortunate decision earlier this year." "We want to halt the downward spiral and we want to move forward toward better relations and were going to look for opportunities to do that," Sanders told reporters. In a statement released shortly after the State Department announcement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on August 31. Lavrov "expressed regret at the escalation of tensions in bilateral relations, not started by us, and stated that Moscow is closely studying the announcement by the Americans of new measures, after which our response will be communicated," the Foreign Ministry said. New Russian Envoy The Foreign Ministry has already complained about the reduction in U.S. diplomatic personnel, in particular U.S. announcements that the processing of nonimmigrant visas will be severely curtailed, if not halted altogether. While Moscow forced a large cut in U.S. diplomatic staff, Russia will not be required to reduce its embassy staff in the United States despite the consulate and annex closures, and the United States does not intend to expel any of the staff who are displaced by those closures, a senior administration official said in a phone call with reporters. "We are not expelling any Russians at this time. We have informed the Russians that they may be reassigned to other diplomatic or consular posts in the United States if they choose to do so," the official said. Also, while Russia will no longer be able to use the San Francisco consulate and closed annexes for diplomatic purposes, it will continue to own the properties and can dispose of them however it wishes, by selling or leasing them out, the official said. The closure announcement came on the same day that Russias new ambassador to the United States arrived in Washington for the first time since his appointment. In comments to the state news agency, Tass, made at Dulles International Airport, Anatoly Antonov cautioned patience, and alluded to a quotation from Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin. "Right now we need to sort this out calmly, very calmly, and act professionally," he was quoted as saying. "To quote Lenin, we dont need hysterical outbursts." U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23925 / August 31, 2017 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Navellier & Associates, Inc. and Louis Navellier, Civil Action No. 17-CV-11633 (District of Massachusetts, filed August 31, 2017) Advisory Firm and Founder Charged for False Performance Claims in Advertising Materials The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against investment adviser Navellier & Associates, Inc. and its founder and chief investment officer, Louis Navellier. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, alleges that from 2010 to 2013, Mr. Navellier and his firm defrauded their clients and prospective clients, misleading them about the performance track record of the "Vireo AlphaSector" investment strategies that the firm offered under the "Vireo" brand name. First, Mr. Navellier and his firm allegedly breached their fiduciary duty to clients and prospective clients by ignoring and concealing red flags that should have alerted them that the investment strategies had not performed as advertised. Second, Navellier & Associates allegedly distributed materially false advertisements and client communications about the performance track record of the investment strategies. Third, as Mr. Navellier and his firm realized their misrepresentations could get them in legal trouble, they allegedly sold the Vireo line of business in August 2013 for $14 million, rather than correcting their prior misrepresentations to their clients or informing their clients about their conflicts of interest in selling the Vireo business. Navellier & Associates' advertisements claimed that client assets had been invested in the investment strategies from April 2001 to September 2008 and that the strategies had significantly outperformed the S&P 500 Index from April 2001 to September 2008. In fact, no client assets had tracked the strategy from April 2001 through September 2008, and even as a back-test the claimed performance was substantially overstated. The SEC's complaint alleges that Navellier & Associates violated Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-1(a)(5) and that Louis Navellier violated and, in the alternative, aided and abetted Navellier & Associates' violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act. The SEC's case is being handled by Rory Alex, William Donahue, and Marc Jones of the Boston Regional Office and Robert Baker of the Asset Management Unit. SEC Complaint https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23925.htm Modified: 08/31/2017 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. U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23926 / August 31, 2017 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Evan R. Kita, et al., Civil Action No. 17-06603 (D. NJ., filed August 31, 2017) Former Pharma Company Accountant, Three Others Charged With Insider Trading The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an accountant and three others with insider trading on market-moving news about the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company where the accountant formerly worked. The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Evan R. Kita, a CPA and former accountant at Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc., tipped two of his friends with confidential information about the clinical trial results for Celator's cancer drug and its acquisition by Dublin-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc almost three months later. Celator's stock rose more than 400 percent in March 2016 when it announced positive results for its drug to treat leukemia, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals offered to pay a hefty premium in May 2016 to acquire Celator. According to the SEC's complaint, Daniel Perez and Richard Yu purchased Celator stock based on Kita's tips before the two announcements and agreed to share their trading profits with him. The SEC alleges that Richard Yu passed Kita's tips to his father, Chiang Yu, who also traded in advance of both announcements. To avoid detection, Kita allegedly communicated with Perez and Richard Yu through an encrypted smartphone application. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey today filed criminal charges against Kita, Perez, Richard Yu, and Chiang Yu. The SEC's complaint charges Kita, Perez, Richard Yu, and Chiang Yu with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and related SEC antifraud rules. The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by David W. Snyder and John S. Rymas and supervised by Ms. Gibson and Joseph G. Sansone, Co-Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The litigation will be led by Jennifer Chun Barry. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. SEC Complaint https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23926.htm Modified: 08/31/2017 This artist's concept shows the MAVEN spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet, with a fanciful image of her home planet in the background. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard) NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN for short) is designed to peer into the Martian past in an attempt to piece together how the ancient Red Planet changed from a wet world into the dry desert scientists study today. The $671 million mission is investigating the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet, focusing on how the planet lost most of its atmosphere and liquid water. Spacecraft on and orbiting Mars MAVEN was selected in September 2008 among 20 mission investigation proposals submitted to NASA in August 2006. The mission was originally part of NASA's Mars Scout program, which aimed to send low-cost (below $485 million) missions to the Red Planet. Although the program was retired in 2010, MAVEN and the 2008 Phoenix lander were successful missions arising from the program. MAVEN was the 10th Mars orbiter launched by NASA, and it is now one of six active probes currently orbiting the Red Planet: Mars Odyssey was launched in 2001, the European Space Agency's Mars Express launched in 2003, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005, and India's $74 million Mars Orbiter Mission blasted off in November 2013, just two weeks before MAVEN. The Indian probe, known as Mangalyaan, arrived in Mars orbit on Sept. 23, 2014. ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter arrived after MAVEN, in October 2016. NASA also has two rovers currently studying Mars from the surface of the planet: Opportunity and Curiosity. The Curiosity rover that landed on the Red Planet in 2012 was the last NASA mission launched to Mars. [NASA's MAVEN Mars Probe: 10 Surprising Facts] MAVEN instruments MAVEN carries eight science instruments specifically picked to investigate the Martian atmosphere. [How NASA's MAVEN Mars Orbiter Works (Infographic)] According to NASA, they include: Solar Energetic Particle : This instrument measures the ions of hydrogen and helium emitted by the sun during solar weather, according to NASA. The SEP provides data about how much solar energy is sent to Mars' upper atmosphere and their possible role in "sputtering." : This instrument measures the ions of hydrogen and helium emitted by the sun during solar weather, according to NASA. The SEP provides data about how much solar energy is sent to Mars' upper atmosphere and their possible role in "sputtering." Solar Wind Ion Analyzer : The SWIA measures the temperature, density and velocity of the solar wind when they come into contact with Mars' atmosphere. : The SWIA measures the temperature, density and velocity of the solar wind when they come into contact with Mars' atmosphere. SupraThermal and Thermal Ion Composition : This instrument examines the composition of high-energy ions in the Martian upper atmosphere. These ions could be lost into space or rebound back into the atmosphere, causing sputtering, according to NASA. : This instrument examines the composition of high-energy ions in the Martian upper atmosphere. These ions could be lost into space or rebound back into the atmosphere, causing sputtering, according to NASA. Langmuir Probe and Waves : This instrument lets scientists find the boundary and density of the ionosphere, potentially allowing them to calculate atmospheric escape, NASA officials said. : This instrument lets scientists find the boundary and density of the ionosphere, potentially allowing them to calculate atmospheric escape, NASA officials said. Solar Wind Electron Analyzer : The SWEA measures the angular distributions and energies of electrons. The instrument can help scientists map the solar wind regions as MAVEN orbits the Red Planet. : The SWEA measures the angular distributions and energies of electrons. The instrument can help scientists map the solar wind regions as MAVEN orbits the Red Planet. Magnetometer : This instrument collects data about the magnetic environment as MAVEN orbits Mars. The magnetometer gives other instruments important information as well, NASA officials said, because magnetic fields can affect the upper atmosphere of the planet. : This instrument collects data about the magnetic environment as MAVEN orbits Mars. The magnetometer gives other instruments important information as well, NASA officials said, because magnetic fields can affect the upper atmosphere of the planet. Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer : This instrument provides data about how the upper atmosphere's composition and structure changes around the planet throughout the mission. : This instrument provides data about how the upper atmosphere's composition and structure changes around the planet throughout the mission. Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph: The IUVS examines the chemical makeup of Mars' atmosphere by chemically mapping the upper atmosphere of the planet and measuring the rate of escape for hydrogen atoms. MAVEN also carries the Electra Communications Relay that will be a backup communications option for Curiosity and Opportunity. MAVEN can serve as a relay point between the Mars rovers and their handlers on Earth. Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter both serve the same communications functions as well. Comet Siding Spring After launch in mid-November 2013, the school bus-size spacecraft embarked upon an approximately 10-month journey to Mars, arriving on Sept. 21, 2014. MAVEN's arrival happened just a month before the close approach of Comet Siding Spring, which passed about 87,300 miles (140,500 km) from the planet on Oct. 19, 2014. Usually it takes a spacecraft several weeks to calibrate its instruments; in MAVEN's case, scientists interrupted the calibration period to take advantage of the close encounter. The spacecraft's observations revealed a wealth of results. Material falling off the comet went into the Martian atmosphere, creating a huge meteor shower. The comet's flyby also shed light on the composition of comets from the Oort Cloud, the area beyond Neptune from which Comet Siding Spring came. Scientists detected magnesium, silicon, calcium and potassium in the Martian atmosphere that came from Siding Spring. The comet's magnetic field even blew away a part of the Red Planet's atmosphere into space. MAVEN subsequently found metal in the Martian atmosphere in 2017, specifically iron, magnesium and sodium ions (electrically charged atoms). While the metal arises from interplanetary dust, it marks the first time this substance was found in an atmosphere outside of Earth's. Notably, metal was first detected in the atmosphere when Comet Siding Spring passed by in 2017. But MAVEN's studies over several years showed the metal was a phenomenon not necessarily related to the comet. The long-term persistence of metal may arise from meteors streaking through the Martian atmosphere. Atmospheric observations In November 2015, MAVEN observations confirmed that most of the Martian atmosphere leaked into space, as opposed to being absorbed in the Red Planet's regolith (soil). While most of the erosion took place early in Mars' history, there is still a slow leak going on today, NASA said at the time. The bulk of the loss happened about 3.7 billion years ago, early in the solar system's history. This was in part due to the sun, which had stronger solar storms back then, as well as more powerful ultraviolet light emissions. Both factors helped to erode the Martian atmosphere. Mars also lost its magnetic field early in its history; the loss provided little shielding against the sun. Scientists did more detailed modeling of the atmospheric loss in results released in 2017, focusing on argon a gas that does not react with other elements. MAVEN discovered a tangled magnetic tail behind the planet, a finding that was announced in 2017. Interactions between Martian magnetic fields and the solar wind (a stream of charged particles emanating from the sun) may also accelerate atmospheric space. That's because the connecting fields may attract electrically charged particles and hurtle them into space. Also in 2017, newly analyzed data from MAVEN showed that Comet Siding Spring's passage by Mars also made the most intense meteor shower ever recorded. The shower had as many as 108,000 meteors per hour and lasted as long as three hours. As of mid-2018, MAVEN was observing a huge dust storm enveloping the Red Planet. Science observations are still ongoing as scientists try to learn more about how these massive storms develop. "During this global dust storm, #MAVEN will take the opportunity to make unique observations of #Mars' upper atmosphere and the characteristics of dust particles that extend into the upper reaches of the #Martian atmosphere," the MAVEN Twitter account stated on June 13. Scientists say that MAVEN's findings will also help us to understand exoplanet atmospheres. Learning about the habitability of Earth-size planets is one of the main goals of exoplanet searches and analyses; watching Mars lose its atmosphere is another thing that scientists can consider when looking at similarly sized worlds in solar systems like ours. Other science results Strangely, despite Mars' lack of a global magnetic field, full-sky auroras in ultraviolet and visible light may be possible, according to data from MAVEN first discussed in 2015. Auroras are also visible from Earth, but arise from the interaction between solar particles and the Earth's magnetic field. MAVEN also has imaged "nightglow," which happens when UV light from the sun breaks down nitrogen and carbon dioxide molecules on the day side of Mars. At night, the atoms combine at lower altitudes, releasing energy as UV light producing the nightglow. MAVEN also has observed the Martian moon Phobos in ultraviolet light. Researchers hope to learn whether the moon has organic molecules on its surface, as well as the composition of Phobos. Further, MAVEN shifted its orbit in 2017 to avoid a potential future collision with Phobos. In 2017, NASA announced that auroras were spotted globally on Mars after an unusually powerful solar storm. (The Curiosity rover, working on the surface, also saw a spike in radiation.) "When a solar storm hits the Martian atmosphere, it can trigger auroras that light up the whole planet in ultraviolet light," Sonal Jain, a member of MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument team, said in a statement. "The recent one lit up Mars like a light bulb." For the latest information on MAVEN, visit: Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com contributor On the Ground Sierra Nevada Corporation On Aug. 30, 2017, Sierra Nevada Corporation executed a captive carry test of its Dream Chaser cargo space plane. Here, crews prepare Dream Chaser for the test at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. Dawn Doug Messier Dawn breaks over Armstrong, and Dream Chaser is ready for flight. Launch Time Approaches Doug Messier During a captive carry test, the space plane does not fly autonomously, but is suspended from another vehicle. Liftoff! Doug Messier Dream Chaser takes to the skies, suspended by a 200-foot-long chord (60 meters) from a helicopter. Up in the Air Sierra Nevada Corporation During the test, Dream Chaser reached an altitude of 12,500 feet (3810 meters). Success! Doug Messier The space plane performed nominally during the test. After Flight Doug Messier A test model of the Seirra Nevada Dream Chaser space plane. Onward to Orbit Doug Messier To reach orbital destinations like the International Space Station, Dream Chaser will hitch a ride to space on a rocket. Dream Chaser Gallery Doug Messier The 60-foot-long Dream Chaser space plane has been selected by NASA to fly cargo to the International Space Station as early as 2020. Tip o' the Nose Doug Messier A closeup of Dream Chaser. Dream Chaser Gallery Doug Messier Sierra Nevada is planning one more captive carry test in 2017, followed by an autonomous landing test. Humans first journeyed into space in 1961, but even half a century later, questions remain about how spaceflight affects the human body. In a new study, scientists got down to the molecular level to better understand why weightlessness causes changes in the body. A number of effects have been documented in the handful of individuals who have experienced spaceflight, including changes to the body's metabolism, temperature control, muscle tone and immune system, according to the study but the mechanisms driving these changes still aren't fully understood. The answer, however, may reside in one of the body's building blocks: proteins. [7 Everyday Things That Happen Strangely In Space] In the new study, published online Aug. 15 in the journal Scientific Reports (opens in new tab), researchers from Canada and Russia found that spaceflight lowered the concentrations of certain proteins in the body, and some of these proteins appeared to return more slowly to their pre-spaceflight levels than others. Looking at the differences in protein concentrations is one way to understand some of the larger changes that take place in the body during spaceflight. For example, the researchers found that nearly all the proteins that were affected by spaceflight were related to just a few processes in the body, including fat metabolism, blood clotting and immunity. The scientists, for example, found that "in weightlessness, the immune system acts like it does when the body is infected because the human body doesn't know what to do and tries to turn on all possible defense systems," senior study author Evgeny Nikolaev, a professor of chemical physics at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Russia, said in a statement. To study the effects of spaceflight on proteins in the body, the scientists took three blood-plasma samples from each of 18 Russian cosmonauts before and after long-duration missions to the International Space Station. The first sample was taken 30 days before the mission, the second sample was taken immediately after the cosmonaut returned to Earth, and the final sample was taken seven days after that. In future studies, Nikolaev noted that cosmonauts could take blood samples while in orbit to provide more accurate accounts of how protein concentrations change. The scientists used a mass spectrometer to analyze the concentrations of 125 different proteins in the cosmonauts' blood plasma. (Mass spectroscopy is a technique used to assess the different masses in a given sample.) Just 19 of the 125 different proteins analyzed were found at different concentrations both immediately after and seven days after the cosmonauts' return to Earth, compared with pre-spaceflight levels, according to the study. Concentrations of several proteins, for example, were lower immediately after spaceflight, but returned to pre-spaceflight levels within seven days. It's possible that the changes in concentrations in these instances were due to the final stage of the flight, which includes the emotional stress of landing, the researchers wrote. [6 Surprising Facts About the First Manned Space Mission] Another group of proteins were found to be at similar concentrations to pre-spaceflight levels immediately after landing, but then either increased or decreased in the following days. These changes may reflect how the body reacclimates to Earth's gravity after spaceflight, according to the study. Two of the proteins, which are involved in transporting fat and iron through the blood, were at significantly lower levels both immediately after the cosmonauts' return from space, and seven days. These lingering changes suggest that the body had made certain adaptions to handle spaceflight, the researchers wrote. "Weightlessness for humans is completely new in evolutionary terms, being an environmental factor [that] our species has not faced during the course of evolution," the researchers wrote in the study. Because of this, the ways that humans adapt to weightlessness are not predictable, they said. Originally published on Live Science. The PSLV, flying a mission designated PSLV-C39, lifted off on schedule at 9:30 a.m. Eastern from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the east coast of India. Initial phases of the launch appeared to go as planned, but observers noted that, as the flight progressed, the vehicle appeared to deviate from its planned trajectory according to telemetry displays shown during the webcast. Launch controllers later confirmed that vehicle's upper stage and payload, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) 1H satellite, had reached a lower orbit than planned. The payload was in an orbit of 167 by 6,555 kilometers, while the planned transfer orbit for the mission was 284 by 20,650 kilometers. A launch controller later confirmed that the rocket's payload fairing, scheduled to separate 3 minutes and 23 seconds after liftoff during the operation of the rocket's upper stage, had failed to do so. The additional mass of the payload fairing may account for the apparent underperformance of the PSLV's upper stages, and would also prevent the satellite's deployment regardless of orbit. The Indian space agency ISRO did not immediately comment on the failure. An ISRO webcast of the launch abruptly ended shortly after the announcement of the failed payload fairing separation. The failure is the first for the PSLV in 20 years. In September 1997, a PSLV launch placed the IRS-1D remote sensing satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit when the rocket's fourth stage underperformed. The satellite was able to use its onboard propulsion to raise its orbit. The only total PSLV failure was rocket's inaugural flight in September 1993, when it suffered an attitude control failure. The failure would be a significant setback for India's space program. The PSLV had become the workhorse for the program, launching a series of communications, remote sensing, navigation and science satellites. India had been working to increase the vehicle's launch rate. The PSLV flew six times in 2016, and this was the third PSLV mission of 2017. PSLV had also become a popular choice for small satellite developers, who took advantage of frequent launches to sun-synchronous orbits and excess capacity on those missions to fly as secondary payloads. A PSLV launch in February set a record for the most satellites on a single flight, with 104 payloads; all but three were cubesats provided by international customers. The sole payload of this launch, IRNSS-1H, was intended to be a replacement for India's first navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A, whose three onboard atomic clocks had failed. The overall IRNSS system provides position, navigation and timing data for India and the surrounding region. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory captured images of Harvey at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT) and 5:25 p.m. EDT (2125 GMT) on Aug. 27, which was about two days after the storm system made landfall near Victoria, Texas. The image reveals rain rates depicted from GPM's GMI microwave imager and dual-frequency precipitation radar, which were overlaid on enhanced infrared data from NOAA's GOES East satellite. NASA is aiding the humanitarian response to Tropical Storm Harvey by surveying the storm's impact from above. This effort will provide expert data to relief agencies. Harvey first hit southeastern Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, and made landfall in southern Louisiana as a tropical storm on Aug. 30. The storm system lingered in the region, causing flooding and record-breaking rainfall. The downpour has been so immense that the National Hurricane Center called the flooding "life-threatening." NASA is assisting local, state and federal emergency managers and first responders by using its spacecraft to take measurements of the affected region, according to a new statement from the agency. "This is an immense weather event that is creating a unique challenge," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in the statement. "NASA is working to enable and enhance the capabilities of our partners across federal agencies and elsewhere to ensure [that] they are able to do the best job possible in assessing the threat and providing rescue and response services." [How to Donate to Harvey Victims Online] NASA assigned its spacecraft to take measurements when the United States activated the humanitarian International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, NASA officials said in the statement. The space agency's leading entity for the humanitarian effort is the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program. This group's scientists and external partners will analyze satellite imagery and other data sets to inform effective disaster support for the state of Texas, the U.S. Geological Survey Hazards Data Distribution System, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Guard. NASA is obtaining high-resolution imagery of Earth's surface by analyzing data from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments on international partner satellites, which are powerful enough to penetrate clouds night and day, according to the statement. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission team has also produced graphics that helped the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Hurricane Center better understand the center of Harvey's circulation. The NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime image of the Gulf of Mexico, Texas and Louisiana on Aug. 29 at 3:03 a.m. Tropical Storm Harvey's center is identified over the Gulf. (Image credit: William Straka III/NASA/NOAA/UWM-CIMSS) Today (Aug. 31), NASA will fly the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument aboard a NASA Gulfstream III aircraft to observe rivers, floodplains and critical infrastructure. When the skies clear further over the area, the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program will use a number of Earth-observing satellites to map out flooding and power outages. These include the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard Terra, Landsat, and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) satellite. NASA's latest Harvey updates can be found at www.nasa.gov/hurricane. Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Emhamed Khadad Emhamed Khadad, an adviser to the president of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, is the Polisario Fronts coordinator with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. AUG 15, 2017 BIR LEHLU, WESTERN SAHARA When Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975, it had been under Spanish control for nearly a century. But Spains grip on the territory had weakened in the dying days of Francisco Francos dictatorship. And rather than allowing a process of decolonization, Spain signed the tripartite Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, both of which subsequently moved in to annex the territory. Mauritania relinquished its claim in 1979, but Morocco never left. Western Saharas legal status is crystal clear. In 1963, it was officially recognized as a Non-Self-Governing Territory by the United Nations General Assembly under the UN Charter a legal status it retains to this day. It is, in short, the last colony in Africa. In 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed the Saharawi peoples right to self-determination, and found no ties of territorial sovereignty between Morocco and Western Sahara. Yet Morocco has been allowed to continue illegally occupying Western Sahara for over four decades. And, as is often the case with unwanted occupations, Morocco has asserted its territorial claim through cruel repression, the systematic denial of basic human rights, and attempts to force demographic change all while plundering Western Saharas natural resources. The Polisario Front fought a war with Morocco until 1991, when the UN brokered a ceasefire agreement. That deal was supposed to set the stage for a referendum on independence in Western Sahara the following year a democratic solution. But Morocco has prevented it from ever taking place. Morocco has also repeatedly obstructed progress toward further negotiations. It has done so in defiance of the UN Security Council, even going so far as to bar the UNs special envoy from travelling to the region to set the stage for talks. At the same time, Moroccos behavior on the ground including its repression of the Saharawi people and its illegal exploitation of natural resources has made reaching a political solution increasingly difficult. In the 42 years of Moroccos occupation of Western Sahara, we, the Saharawi people, have seen eight American presidents, six UN secretary-generals, and a battery of UN special representatives and personal envoys of the secretary-general come and go. Through it all, we have maintained our faith in the international community, and in the UN-led political process that was launched in 1991. It is time for that faith to be rewarded. In its latest resolution on Western Sahara this year, the UN Security Council unanimously called for the launch of a new political process and acknowledged that the status quo is not acceptable. The Security Council recognizes that this is the best route to achieving decolonization in Western Sahara, protecting human rights, enabling self-determination by the Saharawi people, and setting the stage for long-term stability in the territory. The UN Secretariat, the office of the secretary-general, and the new special envoy for Western Sahara, former German President Horst Kohler, now must work rapidly on creating a mechanism for face-to-face time-bound talks. The progress report that they deliver to the Security Council in six months should establish what that mechanism will be, as well as a timetable for negotiations; it should not just be a record of exploratory efforts. In the meantime, we in the Polisario Front will continue to work toward securing the rights of the Saharawi people. Whereas other countries often fold to Moroccan pressure, for fear of harming trade deals or cooperation over security and migration, the law has proved to be a reliable ally for the people of Western Sahara. It has been particularly effective in pushing back against Moroccos continued illegal exploitation of natural resources. This is why we have often turned to the courts when the political process has failed us. Last December, the European Court of Justice joined the ICJ in stating unequivocally that Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara a move that could pose a significant challenge to Moroccos relationship with the European Union. That judgment states clearly that any agreement pertaining to Western Saharas natural resources requires the consent of the Saharawi people, who are represented by the Polisario Front, as General Assembly Resolution 34/37 established in 1979. And the EU is not alone. This past May, the Panamanian authorities detained a Canada-bound ship carrying phosphates that had been illegally mined by a state-owned Moroccan company in occupied Western Sahara. And South African authorities stopped a New Zealand-bound ship containing 54,000 tons of phosphate rock from Western Sahara. The high court in Port Elizabeth sent the case to trial to determine ownership, and the Polisario Front won a major victory and ownership of the cargo when Morocco announced that it would not contest the case. The exploitation of Western Saharas natural resources is not only illegal; it also undermines the prospects for a successful political process. We have no intention of abandoning that process. But, if Morocco continues to engage in such activities, we will ensure that its efforts are as costly and cumbersome as possible, both for private companies and state actors. We will fight for our rights in every venue available to us, from national courts to the court of international public opinion. Over the last four decades, the UN Security Council has repeatedly proved unwilling or unable to bring Morocco to the negotiating table. We, the people of Western Sahara, hope that this time will be different. But, until we know that it is, we will not stand idly by while a hostile occupier tramples on our rights, and pillages our resources. (SPS) 062/090 https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/western-sahara-morocco-occupation-by-emhamed-khadad-2017-08 I nvestors jumped from troubled doorstep lender Provident Financial to Morses Club today as the AIM firm showed signs it is profiting from its larger rivals woes. Morses, the UKs second-largest doorstep lender, said it added nearly 30,000 customers to its books in the six months ended August, with the total credit issued jumping 25% to 82 million. The performance is in stark contrast to the troubles at Provident, where a botched shake-up of its home credit arm caused collections to slump and led to two profit warnings this summer, including one last week which sent the share price plummeting 66%. In what was seen as a reference to Providents woes, Morses chief executive Paul Smith said it had capitalised on market conditions and was listening to our customers and adapting to their needs. Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood agreed that Morses had taken advantage of the fallout from the poorly managed restructuring by market leader Provident Financial. Shares in Morses surged 9.75p, or 7.5%, to 140p (their highest level since the business floated on AIM in May last year), whereas at Provident down 20.5p at 871.5p, but almost double the lows hit last week recovery stalled as Jefferies became the latest broker to remove its Buy stance. Strong Chinese manufacturing data boosted miners such as copper giant Antofagasta, which rose 41.98p to 1061p. The sectors surge lifted the FTSE 100 36.79 points to 7402.05. G4S fell 5.41p, or 1.9%, to 283.9p as UBS cut its rating to Neutral on its valuation. But rival outsourcer Serco, which is behind the Santander Cycles, surged 8.35p, or 8%, to 116.95p as the broker upgraded to Buy and predicted the end of a bad era. On AIM, embattled tech firm Telit, whose boss Oozi Cats was ousted after it emerged that he had been a fugitive from the law, improved 20.79p to 150.75p after it received certification to run its module on AT&Ts LTE wireless network. H istory repeats itself, the first time as Tory tragedy, the second time as Tory farce. Yesterday Theresa May returned to work from a walking holiday, landed in Japan for a formal visit and told a Sky News reporter that shed be staying on as leader of the Conservative Party to fight the next election. Thats quite the U-turn (again.) For months, Mays aides have told journalists that the PM recognised she could not lead the Conservatives into the next election; that she would likely step down in 2019. Whatever else they feel about her decision, Tory MPs are likely to agree that May should not be allowed on any more decision-making walking holidays. Its hard to imagine a more brazen and self-deluding volte-face. Except, of course, the time the PM told the world she wasnt going to call a snap election in 2017. We all know how well that turned out. If youre lucky enough not to have lived through this past year from a journalists perspective, heres how life works under Team May. Policy advisers, press flacks and Cabinet ministers meet with journalists regularly For weeks, they assure us that the PM knows her own mind and has made a firm decision on a matter of political importance in this case, that shell stand down as PM by August 2019; this spring, that she would not under any circumstances call a snap election. Then we all get back from a national holiday and she announces that shes doing exactly the opposite. In the spring, the snap election was called during the week of the Easter bank holiday; this time, it was the turn of the August bank holiday week to herald a surprise announcement on the PMs future. Perhaps we should ban bank holidays. For the sake of the journalists. Perhaps youre not moved by the plight of exhausted hacks. Thats fair running after political U-turns is our job. But venture a moments pity for an even less fashionable group: Tory MPs. Believe it or not, they are workers, just like the rest of us. And like any workers, their jobs depend on the boss keeping the business afloat. Most of them get their news from the media: this PM rarely deigns to give the backbench member for Ambridge a private preview of her announcements. Most of them know May is an albatross around their electoral necks all have privately been promised that theyll have an exciting new leader to help them save their seats in the next election. How they are likely to feel, when like dog-tired soldiers of an army in retreat they turn on todays news to find their general publicly re-routing the battle plan? May will be lucky if todays news doesnt trigger an immediate riot. For some time, senior Tories have been pressuring her to use Octobers conference to unveil a transition schedule. They thought theyd been appeased with this weeks earlier noises that the PM would take August 30, 2019, as her departure date. But this PM has an uncontrollable urge to kick out whenever she feels shes appeased too far. Hence this weeks switcheroo. To be fair to May, publicly or semi-publicly naming a timetable for her own exit would also have caused difficulties. Political leaders who put an official limit on their careers become lame ducks consider how ineffectual the final 12 months can be for any president in a nation with fixed-term limits. When Tony Blair announced, ahead of the 2005 general election, that he would step down only after serving a full third term, it only emboldened the supporters of Gordon Brown, who squeezed Blair within two years. Naming a successor has always served to remind everyone of a politicians mortality. At moments such as this, I tend to bring out the words of Elizabeth I, pressed to name an heir. Think you that I could love my winding sheet? Like Elizabeth once glibly named her heroine May cant bear to think of a world beyond her own political life. It makes no difference whether or not she accepts she can fight the next election as party leader; the party elders have already decided that for her The grim reality, however, is that this PM already is a lame duck. It makes no difference whether or not she accepts she can fight the next election as party leader; the party elders have already decided that for her. A smoothly managed transition, with a realistic departure date, would at least have allowed the Tories to look beyond the usual suspects for a successor. A responsible party steward would promote a few promising members of the 2015 intake to senior roles, giving them a couple of years to build experience before a projected leadership election. Ducking that responsibility looks selfish. As it is, May has likely brought the next leadership election closer, not further away. The Boris Johnsons and David Davises of this world might have waited two years but they wont wait for four. That reintroduces a further problem for the Tories. In two years time, they might find that charismatic young leader; for now they are short on talent. Johnson and Davis have plenty of damaging baggage but few meaningful rivals. The compelling and intellectually rigorous Amber Rudd, who has a sharp sense of her partys problems, is hamstrung by two elements of sheer bad luck. Notoriously, she holds a majority of only 346 in her own seat of Hastings & Rye although a higher profile and her solid work on local rail links may help her solidify a local following. Even worse, in the eyes of many hard-Right backbenchers, Rudds wealthy brother Roland chaired the failed Remain campaign. She wont be the candidate of MPs for whom metropolitan elite is still a meaningful smear. May has tried, like Elizabeth I flinching at her own shroud, to cling to the last of her political life this week. It wont work. Worst of all she has doomed her party to another round of fighting over the grave pit (Strength and Stability with Zombies). The Tory partys enemies will be delighted. Those who back it will be in despair. F irst politics giveth, then it taketh away. Just as many Labour centrists were cheering the softening party stance on Brexit, they lost one of their own. Kezia Dugdale, the unshowy Scottish Labour leader, resigned on Tuesday to spend less time being trolled on Twitter by Cybernats and Corbynites. Ahead of the Labour party conference in three week's time, Jeremy Corbyn has had a double boost, strengthening his position both from the bottom-up and the top down. The shift on the EU - Labour now wants the UK to remain a member of the single market for an extended transition period and possibly permanently - is a sop to the (largely remain-voting) membership, but it'll also make Corbyn's parliamentary critics turn down the volume on their kvetching. Additionally, Dugdale's departure hands her seat on the National Executive Committee to a Corbyn supporter, shifting the balance in their favour. That could allow them to start reshaping the party to the Hard Left's benefit: changing the rule book, deselecting MPs. No wonder there was frustration yesterday among Corbyn critics about Dugdale's timing. But was she pushed? Some Labour moderates claim yes, seeing it as retribution for her backing Owen Smith last year. They say she faced a "war of attrition" - covert blows, rather than a knifing. They point to the timing of her exit: Corbyn has just finished his consituency-hopping summer tour of Scotland, and that Dugdale's opponents were more generous yesterday ("she's non-tribal, too nice for frontline politics and an LGBT icon," one told me) than many of her colleagues. Yet there seems to have been no clear cattle prod. The muttering about a knifing seems more an illustration of the stark divide in the party. "They [the "moderates"] seize on anything and blame Jeremy," a Labour MP (no Corbynite) told me yesterday. "They'd blame him if it rained." And Dugdale's statement stresses her reasons were personal, not political. When she took the Sarin-spiked chalice in 2015, it was out of duty. Scottish Labour wasn't just haemorrhaging votes and seats to the SNP, it was coming third behind the Tories. Though its position remains weak in Holyrood, Dugdale pulled the party out of intensive care. While dealing with a party environment that one MP dubs "a macho nest of vipers", she has fought three elections in two years (council, Scottish, general) as well as the EU referendum. Who - faced with these grievances - wouldn't want to escape If Brenda from Bristol was tired of polls, think how Kezia from Lothian felt. On top of all this, Dugdale faced infuriating whispers about whether her relationship with SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth impinged on her ability to lead Labour. Who - faced with these grievances - wouldn't want to escape? Corbyn has conceded ground as well as won it this week, though - over a soft Brexit. It's a move that makes sense, even if it seems dilatory. Inner-London MPs especially say that Brexit was a dominant theme on the doorstep before June 6, with one saying she was repeatedly told: "I'll vote Labour in opposition to Brexit, not because I like Corbyn." The fudged policy - pragmatic ambiguity - paid off, helping Labour simultaneously be a party of "remain" without losing all its "leave" voters. The election result gave Corbyn and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer confidence. Starmer, a former staunch Remainer who said at a talk earlier this year that he was fretting for his children's future the morning after the EU vote, won the argument that distance was needed between the Tory and Labour positions (with the bonus in Scotland that it could knock the sails out of the SNP over Brexit). Labour colleagues see this as Starmer's victory, with one eye on future ambitions for the leadership. But Corbyn's view may also have softened thanks to his constituents in Islington North. "Corbyn and Starmer may be far apart politically, but they're also neighbours geographically - I know what his constituents will have said," says the same MP who got the doorstep Brexit-battering herself. Corbyn likely took the view that this shouldn't be the hill he stumbles on. While his long history of euro-scepticism explains his tepid campaigning for remain during the referendum (all the excitement of a child opening a Christmas present to find a pair of socks!), he can't conjure excitement about Brexit now either. Compare the shrug the day after the referendum vote when he suggested invoking Article 50 immediately with his passionate speeches about the NHS, housing or terrorism. The nitty-gritty has never been Corbyn's strength - and Brexit is a quagmire of legal detail. Notably, in the speeches Corbyn gave in Scotland, he barely touched on Brexit; at one last week, he was reportedly heckled to comment on the biggest issue facing the country today. Corbyn's authenticity means you can tell what he cares about - the EU negotiations are not his political catnip. For a minority of Corbyn's keenest supporters, there's a broader strategy here. They believe Brexit will be a catastrophe but want it to play out, so long as it is Conservative catastrophe: Tory-born, forever-tied to the Tories. It'll be the Tory equivalent of the 2008 recession, a weeping sore in their credibility. Others in Labour understandably think this "wildly irresponsible". That isn't the only area of tension that could bubble up at conference. Labour is a party that considers itself the equality flag-bearer, yet post Dugdale's exit, its top flight resemble the cast for an am-dram production of Dad's Army. All of Labour's most senior elected politicians - leaders and mayors - are male. The contest to replace Dugdale is unlikely to pass the Bechdel test, either. There's now talk of creating a second deputy leader role for women - a lady job, because women can't get elected in the Labour Party if they stand against a man, however mediocre. In the past two years, Labour has proved adept at pulling itself apart. The challenge for Corbyn is making the current respite of unity into a lasting peace in the party. Don't bet your house on him succeeding. 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. Karlie Kloss has confirmed that she will be returning to the Victoria's Secret fashion show this year in Shanghai. The news follows a week of speculation surrounding the model's potential involvement in the show after she was spotted leaving the company's headquarters in New York during castings. Kloss has been working with the lingerie giant since 2011, but hung up her angel wings when her contract ran out in 2015 due to her myriad of other commitments. This year's show will therefore be her first since she stormed the Victoria's Secret catwalk in London in 2014. Revealing the news on Instagram, the 25-year-old posted an image from the London show captioned: "See you in Shanghai @VictoriasSecret". With the location of this year's showcase having been confirmed just a couple of days ago, a number of models have also been sharing their excitement at having been cast in one of the world's biggest catwalk extravaganzas. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2017 - the castings 1 /13 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2017 - the castings Victoria's Secret castings Shanina Shaik Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Lily Donaldson Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Cindy Mello Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Charlee Fraser Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Hilary Rhoda Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Sofia Resing Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Hannah Ferguson Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Dilone Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Maryna Linchuk Rex Features Victoria's Secret castings Derlyn Perez Rex Features Joining Kloss in Shanghai will be her fellow previous-walkers Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jasmine Tookes, Behati Prinsloo and Candice Swanepoel. Among the new faces this year are Grace Bol, Frida Aasen, Victoria Lee, Xin Xie, Alexina Graha, and Estelle Chen. Sisters and social media sensations Gigi and Bella Hadid are also returning to the catwalk, while good friend Kendall Jenner is absent from the line-up. The Making of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show- Part 4 - The Castings Click through our top gallery to see the full list of models confirmed for the show so far S ue Stewards early life reads on paper like the scenario for one of those Swinging London morality fables in which an attractive young woman arrives in the big city to be thrown into a vortex of hedonism. A biology teacher at a Liverpool secondary school, Sue ran away to London with the intention of getting involved in the music business in any way she could. This included minding the Sex Pistols for Malcolm McLaren and helping Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen score not drugs but Habitat furniture for their Maida Vale house, just months before the bass guitarists drug-fuelled murder of his controlling girlfriend. Spungen, she recalled in a 2007 article for The Daily Telegraph, was a voluptuous, gothic, porn-movie starlet, Vicious a giant teddy boy with a vulnerable, beautiful face. Sue herself sampled every bodily and emotional stimulant London could throw at her, as she confided to me when we shared a north London flat in the early Eighties. Yet unlike the protagonists of films such as Georgy Girl, Sue never became a victim of the male-dominated culture of that now distant era but fought her way through to become a significant figure in her own right, as a writer, journalist, DJ, broadcaster and curator, with a dizzying array of interests: music from salsa to free-form improvisation, photography, outsider art, feminism, politics and ecology. Sue travelled throughout her life and through her writing and other work, says Greg Neale, editor-in-chief of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine and Sues former partner they met when both worked at The Daily Telegraph in the Nineties. She moved from category to category, from genre to genre, always making connections. Sue was also remarkably free from the traits of individual ambition or rivalry, which often mark our trade. She was never precious about her copy, or talked up her closeness to those she interviewed. Her concern was always to reflect what mattered about her subject. Sue Steward in 1981 when sheco-founded the magazine Collusion Born in the Leicestershire village of Strathern, the daughter of a corn merchant, Sue grew up in nearby Melton Mowbray, and studied sciences at Liverpool, which was, she later conceded, a very unlikely choice, though it reflected a curiosity about the way things work and a lifelong concern for the environment. Arriving in London, she got a job in the mail order department of Virgin Records, then confined to just one shop in Notting Hall Gate. When proprietor Richard Branson branched out into record production she became the press officer, looking after a left-field roster of artists, including Captain Beefheart, Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt and experimental rock band Henry Cow, which encouraged her interest in uncompromisingly difficult music. She formed personal relationships with Cow guitarist Fred Frith and with musician and writer David Toop, a mainstay of the London Musicians Collective (LMC), an organisation devoted to completely improvised music, in which Sue herself became closely involved. While she learned a great deal from both of these powerful male mentors (it was Toop who introduced her to salsa, which became her driving obsession for two decades) she forged her own creative path. Collusion, the magazine Sue founded with Toop and other LMC stalwarts in 1981, ran for only five issues but has since become a watchword for post-modern cultural eclecticism. It contained some of the first tentative articles on what would later become known as world music. Sue could feel it in her bones that the elastic polyrhythms of hitherto unconsidered forms such as Congolese soukous, Nigerian juju music and her beloved salsa had the capacity to make a powerful impact on the western music scene. For her, opening peoples minds to the sounds of the rest of the world was a political as well as an artistic objective. When I first met Sue in 1981, she was just starting to establish herself as a journalist on this tiny and still unnamed scene. A whirlwind of nervous energy and enthusiasm, she seemed at once fiercely determined and cripplingly lacking in confidence particularly when it came to writing. Every new piece caused her agonies of indecision. Yet where others would have given up, Sue honed her craft, in 1984 co-authoring the groundbreaking feminist history of pop, Signed, Sealed and Delivered: True Life Stories of Women in Pop, with Sheryl Garrett, and, in 1999, her own highly regarded study of Afro-Cuban music, Salsa: Musical Heartbeat of Latin-America. In his introduction to the latter, New York salsa don Willie Colon wrote: Its going to be hard to explain what salsa really is. All the experts agree Sue made a superb job of doing precisely that. At the same time she was taking the music to the streets as a DJ with pirate station K-Jazz and a founder of the legendary Mambo Inn club nights at Brixtons Loughborough Hotel. Yet Sue lacked the necessary pomposity to make huge claims for herself as a progenitor of the late Eighties and Nineties world music boom. Indeed, by the time the whole world was grooving to the Buena Vista Social Club in the late Nineties, she had substantially moved on to new interests in the visual arts, as a champion of outsider art (produced by visionaries, outcasts and the insane) and writing for Raw Vision magazine. Her role as picture editor for The Daily Telegraph encouraged an interest in the way photography impacts on our internal lives a subject she movingly explored in an essay for The Guardian in 2009 on her decision to photograph her mother after she died. She got most satisfaction, I think, from her final role as photography critic not least for the Evening Standard, for which she wrote about world music (2002-2004) and photography (2004-2015) and curator, which gave her the opportunity to nurture and promote younger photographers. There was something childlike about Sue: a capacity for wide-eyed enthusiasm that kept her always rushing onwards to the next gig or exhibition, the next remarkable meeting with the next remarkable person, a trait she retained, undimmed, until her death last week. As people continue to live longer, holding on to that sense of wonder will be an increasingly valuable asset. In that, as in many other things, Sue Steward was a pioneer. I ts the fusion food pairing no one saw coming: northern chippie meets Japanese tempura bar. Scampi fry, battered sausage and pickled onions will be on the menu alongside raw fish, battered shitake mushrooms and fried cods roe at Gillys Fry Bar, which launches in Finsbury Park next month. It takes its inspiration equally from the chip shops of Sunderland, where founder Neil Gill grew up, and the izakaya restaurants of Japan. He is also influenced by his time working as a chef with Alan Yau, the founder of Wagamama. It will serve battered fish and vegetables and breadcrumbed tonkatsu-style pork and beef, along with fish tartares and oysters. It will also offer chips served with a Japanese katsu curry sauce, which Gill notes is remarkably close to the classic British chip shop curry sauce beloved in the North. Man with the plan: Neil Gill All the food will be available for takeaway, while a selection of highball cocktails, shots and punches will be offered alongside it for those who eat in. These will include a mix of bourbon, amaro and Dr Pepper, and a salt and vinegar-flavoured whisky shot inspired by a pickleback. Gill, who lives in Finsbury Park and also runs British restaurant Season Kitchen and gastropub The Lamb locally, said: We do a lot of fried food in the UK and the chip shop is part of our food culture, but in Japan they have perfected the art of good deep frying more successfully than we have. He added: Compared to your traditional fish shops, the batter will be lighter and more delicate, and designed to simply show off really good quality ingredients. I love the idea of marrying traditional Japanese with traditional British flavours, whilst using age-old frying techniques in the process. Gillys Fry Bar will open on September 19 close to Finsbury Parks new City North development. T he dust jacket of Kamila Shamsies Home Fire announces the novel to be a contemporary reimagining of Antigone. That is just as well the reader might be hard pressed to pick up on the parallels otherwise. This turns out to be one of the books achievements, not failings. Home Fire is as much its own story as a re-telling that dares to relocate Sophoclean tragedy to the bathetic streets of Wembley, with two British Asian families replacing the Theban royals of the original. The only heavy-handedness is in the names: the Greek sisters, Antigone and Ismene, are here Aneeka and Isma, while their brother, Polynices, is 19-year-old Parvaiz. Sophocles play revolves around the burial of Polynices, an enemy of the state whose corpse Antigone is prepared to defend to the death. In Shamsies story, his burial is not the central pivot but the abiding theme is still violence against the state and the tyrannies inflicted by it. Parvaiz is radicalised by a local man called Farooq who grooms him to join Islamic State. Britains intolerance to Islam, meanwhile, is embodied in Karamat Lone, a British-Asian Home Secretary who is so keen to distance himself from conservative Muslims that he speaks in slogans such as citizenship is a privilege not a right. Aneeka begins an affair with his son, Eamonn, and shows her piety not to stand in the way of her modernity; she goes to bed with him and observes prayers the following morning. Both sisters feel no less British for the hijabs they wear. Its a different story for Parvaiz, haunted by the spectre of his father who, years earlier, was drawn to jihad and died while being taken to Guantanamo. Parvaizs radicalisation comes not from a generic hate of the West but from a need to belong to, and claim, a fatherland. There are almost no Manichean divides between good and bad, devout and secular, of the books Muslims. Importantly, Parvaiz is never demonised, remaining a misguided teenager for whom we feel sympathy until the end. Eamonn seems to be his opposite wealthy, secularised, surrounded by privilege. While Parvaiz strives to be more like his absent father, Eamonn rebels against his present, over-controlling one. More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review It is through these filial relationships that the Greek drama is channelled, when the sins of the fathers are visited on their sons. By the end, everyone begins to resemble the characters on which they are based. Shamsie is known for the internationalism in her fiction, to which she often braids historical components. This novel does neither of those things. Its focus is on Britishness and it is by far her strongest a rightful contender on the Man Booker longlist. Despite the dust-jacket homage to Sophocles, Home Fire is utterly contemporary and deeply original too. T he starvation of a human body once it begins always follows the same course, writes Anne Applebaum in this magisterial and heartbreaking history of Stalins Ukrainian famine. In the first phase the body consumes its stores of glucose. Feelings of extreme hunger set in In the second phase, which can last several weeks, the body begins to consume its own fats and the organism weakens drastically. In the third phase, the body devours its own proteins, cannibalising tissues and muscles. Eventually the skin becomes thin, the eyes distended, the legs and belly swollen as extreme imbalances lead the body to retain water And finally, in the last days, a brutal careless pitilessness, a near madness, hallucinations and a total apathy lead to death. In late 1932 to early 1933 a terrible famine struck Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union, the Volga, North Caucasus and Kazakhstan, killing around five million in total, but the great mass of these people, approximately 3.9 million, died in Ukraine. It is well known that this was not a coincidence. Stalins brutal policy of collectivisation and repression caused, then intensified, the hunger. Emigre organisations coined a new word to describe it: holodomor a combination of holod, meaning hunger, and mor, extermination. Applebaum recounts the special place of Ukraine. From the rise of the Romanov dynasty it was regarded as essential to the Russian Empire, just as Putin regards it today. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the tsars gradually seized this territory from the Ottoman padishahs, Polish kings and the hetmans of the Cossacks. But during the savage civil war following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, a succession of Ukrainian warlords and regimes resisted Lenins armies. So did the peasantry in the empire as a whole. As Lenin suspected, the peasants were essentially conservative and anti-Communist. They wanted food and land but he was determined that Ukraine should stay in his new Soviet Union. In the 1920s Stalin allowed a policy of Ukrainisation, backing limited retention of its national culture in return for loyalty. When he swerved Leftwards in 1927-8 in one of historys most colossal gambles he forced peasants into collective farms, simultaneously seizing grain to feed his more loyal cities and to sell abroad to fund his radical industrialisation campaign. The peasants responded by killing their livestock and hiding grain, which Stalin regarded as rebellion. As harvests swung between satisfactory and disastrous, Stalin despatched thuggish urban activists and regiments of the OGPU secret police, under his brutish lieutenants such as Kaganovich, to use force to find any hidden grain. Peasants started to starve. Even Ukrainian Bolsheviks begged for some relief, but Stalin blamed the famine on its victims and promulgated draconian measures: anyone stealing a husk could be shot. The Great Famine of 1932-33 was not so much caused by collectivisation directly. Starvation was the result of the forcible removal of food from peoples home; roadblocks that prevented peasants seeing work or food; blacklists imposed on farms and villages, Applebaum writes. The chapter on starvation makes searing reading. People killed their children and ate them; cats and rats became extinct; whole villages perished. Carts that collected the dead simply started to collect the weak and buried them alive. In one report the secret police boss of Kiev reported 69 cases of cannibalism in two months. But as many historians have pointed out, this was not unique to Ukraine: it was a Soviet famine too. In their private letters in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI), the leaders talked of breaking the back of the peasantry and that applied to Siberia, to North Caucasus and Volga, and to the destruction of half the Kazakh population of nomads. Stalin himself was almost proud of this, boasting to Churchill that 10 million died in the struggle against the kulaks. More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review Ultimately the famine achieved the exact opposite of Stalins purpose. As Russia seeks to control Ukraine today, the famine partially denied by Russian historians has become part of the Ukrainian experience and national narrative. Stalin did not seek to kill all Ukrainians, concludes Applebaum, but physically eliminated the most active and engaged. Stalins 1937 census revealed that eight million people had vanished from the USSR. Stalin simply hid the figures and shot the statisticians. Simon Sebag Montefiore is the author of Stalin and The Romanovs; his latest novel is Red Sky at Noon I believe in women, I believe in their power, proclaims Martha Ortiz, Mexicos most famous celebrity chef, as we sit on the top floor of the Intercontinental Park Lane, sipping lemon and ginger tea. I love to give them opportunities, I love to learn from other women. I believe that we can do it better. Ortiz, 47, is celebrated for resurrecting her home countrys culinary traditions and invigorating them with a modern, sensually feminine sensibility. Her Mexico City restaurant, Dulce Patria (Sweet Homeland), is regarded as one of the best places to eat in the world. She has written eight books and is a talented and telegenic TV performer, not least on Top Chef Mexico, where her tendency to come out with statements such as Chilli is like a lover you need to feel its presence goes down swimmingly. She is also fiercely feminist in a profession often dominated by sweary, macho chefs; shes famed for calling out the industrys caramel ceiling. You say the glass ceiling, but it is caramel for us And I will make all my effort to break it. Maybe in Mexico a lot of women dont hear me because theyre more interested in being married and having for me, this horrible life, no? A horrible life of dependency. This September Ortiz will bring her brand of defiant culinary girl power to London, when she opens Ella Canta (She Sings) at the Intercontinental, in an ornate space designed by the David Collins Studio, admired for its work at The Wolseley. Alongside a playful assembly of rainbow-coloured tacos, ceviche and jewel-like gold grasshoppers, she will serve a drink entitled Female Warrior, made from grana cochinilla (an insect) mixed with mezcal and garnished with feathers. Fix up, look sharp: Martha Ortizin the kitchen at her Park Lane restaurant, Ella Canta It is tempting to see Ortiz in this vein some cross between Wonder Woman and a Renaissance woman. She has the formers looks all raven hair and luminous skin and her kick-ass bravura. Her credentials for the latter are reflected in a conversation that strays into literature, art, politics, psychology and philosophy. Ortiz walks it like she talks it and, indeed, cooks it powerfully, passionately; a subject of male fascination who is, nonetheless, a girls girl. Brought up in Mexico City, she is the daughter of the famous artist Martha Chapa and Federico Ortiz Quesada, a pioneering transplant surgeon. Like fellow creative Miuccia Prada, she studied political science at university, before running off with her first husband, painter Roberto Cortazar. I mention her former husbands not because she is in any way defined by them heaven forfend but because they entail such brilliant, typically Ortizian stories. Ella Canta / Kensington Leverne The first, a dazzling artist, brought her to London to show her a single painting: Leonardos The Virgin of the Rocks at the The National Gallery. The second, Culture Secretary Sergio Vela, wooed her by writing to criticise her food, then informed her he was in love with her mouth by flying her to see Monteverdis opera, Poppea, in which a similar emotion is expressed. (Said mouth is incredible I am rather in love with it myself.) Currently single, she resolved to remain childless in infancy. From when I was a little girl, I said to myself, I want a wonderful life and a wonderful life with freedom. In a way, my restaurants are my children, but theyre more than that. Theyre a kind of theatre, where I can write stories through flavours. Im not that typical chef who goes to a market to get the fish and find inspiration. I go to the V&A and see the psychedelic colours of Pink Floyd and say: I want a dish with these kind of flavours. She started cooking as a child and after university travelled around Mexico studying local techniques. After a stint working for various restaurants in New York, she opened the now defunct Aguila y Sol (Eagle and Sun) in Mexico City in the early Noughties, followed by Dulce Patria in 2011. Seafood and lobster pozole at Ella Canta London has found itself home to a flourishing Mexican food scene of late. Peyotito brought the countrys fine dining to Notting Hill, Peyote to Mayfair, while La Bodega Negra brightens up Old Compton Street. The queues outside Londons most popular taquerias, Breddos and El Pastor, stretch long into the night, while the street-food chain Wahaca is celebrating its 10th anniversary. However, those who still wrongly associate it with Tex-Mex machismo will be confounded by a new, female force. I love to think that Mexico is a woman, beams our heroine, and in the dark skin of this beautiful, sun-blessed woman, all the ingredients have been blessed and find new form. In this, women are powerful. I love [magical realist film] Like Water for Chocolate. When I saw it I said, I want to be like this character, like Tita, a rebel. I adore cuisine because its a space of freedom and liberty for women. She says she adores London, having visited when she was nine with her parents: As with Mexican history, its a passionate kiss between the old world and the new. She took part in Januarys Womens March here. When youre a girl you see horrible things in the world. Hillary lost because women didnt vote for her and I say: What is happening with us? Has she considered going into politics herself? She laughs. People always say that to me, Leave the kitchen, be our President. But its not for me. Bunuelos Papantla, vanilla ice cream and pine tree honey Are things more difficult for a feminist in Mexico? I havent lived here, but I think here you have an amazing woman you have a Queen. You have a Prime Minister. I dont know if she does well or badly, but you have a Prime Minister. I think that in Mexico its hard; in a lot of Latin America its hard. But I have two little nieces adorable and I always say, Do whatever you want in life. Become a writer, a president, a senator, a designer, a photographer, an artist, a rebel all of those things. Be whatever you want to be. Personally, Id like to be Ortiz. Is there some regime behind this fabulous combination of brains and beauty? Is it all the Mexican superfoods: avocados, amaranth and cacao? She cackles. Im not an example of living well. I dont exercise. I work at least 12-14 hours a day and then I read, so I sleep for maybe five. Once, Kelloggs asked me to be an ambassador for Special K, and I said, I dont sleep, I take coffee, I smoke cigarettes, cigars. She relaxes on her balcony with a glass of red wine and a smoke. Like Coco Chanel with her cigar. It sounds like a life well-lived. Someone asked me what I want at the end of my life, and I said that I want a restaurant, a beautiful house in Mexico, with just one table and I will choose whos going to have dinner with me film directors, writers. I would love to have this long-term conversation and to learn from them. And if I learn more, I will die very happily. In the meantime, Martha Ortiz can be found rehearsing this fantasy on Park Lane. Ella Canta opens on 15 September (ellacanta.com) H ome is New York City. Where do you stay in London? Claridges, which is a very comfy stay, it has a wonderful kind of old-school elegance. I really love the whole thing they do for tea (below); I love scones and clotted cream. Anything thats fattening, I love. Tea at Claridge's Where would you recommend for a first date? Maybe the pet cemetery in Hyde Park? Its something you probably havent done before and would give you lots of time to talk. What would you do if you were Mayor for the day? Id throw some kind of fantastic free outdoor music festival with everybody from Arcade Fire (right) to Perfume Genius to Bruce Springsteen. Id invite Annie Lennox and M.I.A. could perform. I love dancing to LCD Soundsystem as well as to Pearl Jam. Best piece of advice youve been given? When youre on your deathbed, none of these other things will matter. Mary-Louise Parker told me that in the middle of a crisis. What are you up to at the moment for work? I recently launched the second chapter of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Story it focuses on its electric concept car of the future. I am all about sustainability and saving the planet, so this was a perfect fit for me. If you had to be locked in a London building overnight, which would it be? Maybe the National Gallery or the V&A Museum that would be fun. Id probably just get high and wander around. Who is your hero? Vanessa Redgrave because shes brave and brilliant both on and off the screen; Danny Boyle because he does so many different kinds of movies; and Ian McKellen for the same reason hes brave, very loving and not afraid to stand up for what he cares about. Also Bryn Mooser [founder of RYOT, the immersive media company] is top of my list I met him in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and he has become part of my family. What do you collect? Right now Im in the process of giving everything away, so I did have a lot of fairly well-known photographs and some art but Im passing everything on to my children while Im still alive. I have some magnificent photographs from Sebastiao Salgado that Im giving to them and some Picasso etchings. You know, some names. Antarctica by Sebastiao Salgado Earliest London memory? When I worked on The Rocky Horror Picture Show (right) with Tim Curry, Richard OBrien, Nell Campbell and all the original cast. It was not a pleasant experience because they kept moving me from rented flat to rented flat every few days and it was freezing and I got pneumonia. Last play you saw in London? I went to see a play that Ben Whishaw (left) was in at the Noel Coward Theatre called Peter and Alice I had just worked and fallen in love with him in Cloud Atlas. Susan Sarandon appears in Chapter Two of the #mbcollective Fashion Story. C lassic film Lord of the Flies is set to be remade with an all-female cast, Warner Bros has announced. The movie will be based on the novel by William Golding, which tells the disturbing tale of a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert island without any adults, which descends into violence. Scott McGehee and David Siegel are lined up to direct the movie. The pair last collaborated on the 2012 film What Maisie Knew. Goldings novel has previously been adapted by director Peter Brook in 1963 and Harry Hook in 1990. Speaking to Deadline, Siegel said: "We want to do a very faithful but contemporised adaptation of the book, but our idea was to do it with all girls rather than boys. "It is a timeless story that is especially relevant today, with the interpersonal conflicts and bullying, and the idea of children forming a society and replicating the behaviour they saw in grownups before they were marooned." Given the explosive backlash that followed when an all-female Ghostbusters movie was announced, its hardly surprising that a new version of the Lord of the Flies has not been welcomed by everyone. But this time commenters took issue with the suitability of using a plot geared around specifically male violence for an all-female film. One person said on Twitter that the film "missed the point". While another added: "The all-female Lord of the Flies will just be a group of young women apologising to each other over and over until everyone is dead". Others were unhappy with the choice of two male directors. One person added: "Let's see how two male writers describe how women would be worse". McGehee told Deadline: "It shifts things in a way that might help people see the story anew. It breaks away from some of the conventions, the ways we think of boys and aggression." The 1954 book is a modern literary classic, often taught on the English literature syllabus in schools. William Golding himself wrote of his novel: The boys try to construct a civilisation on the island; but it breaks down in blood and terror because the boys are suffering from the terrible disease of being human. The script is yet to be written, and a release date and cast details are yet to be announced. T oyin Saraki never saw her baby who died. At first, when she asked to see the second of her twin girls, Saraki was told shed been taken to another hospital. Even now 25 years on she doesnt know where the baby is buried. In our culture, we dont really deal with grief, she tells me. You dont bury your child, so every time I go to a funeral, I am always checking to see if my child is there. One of my husbands uncles knows [where she is] but he wont tell me. Imagine being unable to put flowers on a grave. This fostered a false hope. I used to look at the faces of children about my babys age and think: Maybe she didnt die maybe someone stole her. Her loss led Saraki the First Lady of Kwara state in Nigeria to found the Wellbeing Foundation, a charity to improve reproductive, maternal and child health, which runs Mamacare clinics for expectant mothers. Over the course of two days in Lagos with Saraki, a dual Anglo-Nigerian national who was born in Nigeria, came to the UK to board at Roedean School in Sussex and now lives between the two countries, we visit two clinics, the first in a military compound, the 9th Brigade, and the second in more rural Awoyaya. We first meet in her opulent home in Lagos, all perfectly plumped cushions and enviable art, where the calm is only broken by her dogs. Saraki is 52, though could pass for much younger, with no wrinkles around her kohl-rimmed eyes. When in London, her clothes are Western; here, shes in bright swirling prints teal, yellow and pink. Her approach is loving yet no-nonsense: theres a throaty laugh that comes easily, she insists the mothers call her Toyin instead of her excellency and later, in a restaurant, she drops her handbag down on the floor before a waitress can bring a stool for it (Im not one of those precious people). Saraki is a connections queen. She knows the Obamas, Ban Ki-moon and Princes William and Harry. The latter contacted her about sharing research with his charity Sentebale: Those boys bring a youthful face. Its rare to see boys innovating in development. They show its not a sin to have feelings as a guy. She applauds Harrys work in particular. His approach is one of respect. I dont like the beneficiary narrative my Mamacare mums are mums, not beneficiaries. If people need help in their life, you should be grateful you are in a position to help them. Saraki knows trauma first-hand. Aged 25 and pregnant, she travelled from London to Nigeria for her wedding (Nigerian nuptial celebrations can last a year). At 28 weeks pregnant, the day before her wedding, Saraki realised the amniotic sac was hanging out, although her waters hadnt broken. She recalls being carried off, legs spread-eagled. At the hospital, she turned on her back to get an epidural. They didnt offer them. The first baby, Tosin, emerged but the doctor realised the other baby was on its side: It was Push, push, push! Then suddenly it was Dont push! Saraki had an emergency Caesarean but the baby died. When she awoke, Tosin, who weighed 1.2kg, was in an incubator. She was so tiny Sarakis relatives went to Harrods to buy dolls clothes for her. Sarakis grandmother piled eight bibles up in the corner of her hospital room and encouraged her to pray. Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Once, Tosin stopped breathing and was turning blue. Saraki ran to find the paediatrician, who revived her. Saraki made a promise to God that if Tosin survived shed strive to help families in this position. Whenever Im tired I look at my daughter and get scared of God again. Tosin, now 26, was discharged six weeks later but for months afterwards Saraki would put a mirror to Tosins mouth while she slept to check for mist. Saraki, who has since had another three children, reveals that she felt blamed for the babys death. Id given them names so people blamed me because its bad luck to name a baby here until seven days after birth. I was made to feel like it was me. But it wasnt her. And it wasnt just babies dying but women too. In 2015, around 303,000 women globally died giving birth. Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal mortality and accounts for around 14 per cent of global maternal mortality. So 14 years ago Saraki began counting deaths: I realised there were so many women who were unlucky. When I went to Kwara which to a Lagos person is how a Londoner looks at Wales I counted 1,000 births, and 200 [women] had died. Afterwards, Saraki went to meet the health minister and began her crusade. As she talks, she becomes animated, then apologetic. I get fierce, Im sorry. But why are we the only country in the world that accepts women dying? she asks. After 40 days your husband can remarry. God forbid, if I died today, within 40 days even my family would be bringing my husband replacement wives. Theyd use different excuses: the children need somebody. The truth is that its a mans world but we women are the ones bearing the brunt. I didnt like that. Initially, Saraki paid womens bills when they needed a C-section, say (hospitals may demand the money in advance). Then, when she went to London to have her next child (a son) - I ran to London the minute I was pregnant and just sat there - she came across the red books healthcare workers give pregnant women for their children to record immunisations and their health. I realised we needed this in Nigeria, she explains. She tracked down the makers and had thousands printed. She later hosted midwives to be trained and persuaded insurers to give cover to pregnant women switching from paying peoples bills to their insurance. At first, Saraki had focused on doctors. Eventually, I thought why am I struggling with these doctors? Midwives are the ones that are with these women and theyre not so hoity-toity that they wont listen. Its an alliance. Nigeria had focused on traditional birth attendants, TBAs, who are cheaper to train than midwives, but Saraki feels the midwives are the ultimate asset. There is a trust between my midwives and the mums, and theyre so dedicated Ive known them give their own blood to patients... When the TBAs oversee the birth, if the baby gets stuck theyll get a wheelbarrow the local form of an ambulance and may dump her at the hospital door. By then, its too late. Her midwives, in turn, are devoted to her. One, Eunice, tells me: I love to call her my boss. Saraki launched the Mamacare clinics two years ago and has educated more than 200,000 mothers about birth and childrens health. Subjects such as drugs, domestic violence and savings are discussed too. By the time a womans done eight months of Mamacare classes shes got a new worldview. Since many babies are anaemic, women are also taught to breastfeed in the classes, using a jacket with a fake boob. In the classes I see, the Mamacare midwives joke with the women but their training is more professional than other midwives. They each have their style, Saraki says: Mrs K is grandmotherly: even I feel like resting on her bosom! The pictures from my midwife Rita of the post-natal visit always have the mother holding the baby unless its a multiple pregnancy. But Mrs K is always holding the baby herself. They are trained use anatomical models since Saraki partnered with a company which makes pelvic models. Saraki has been ensuring other midwives get this training too. One the midwives - whos over 50 - said to me: for the first time I feel confident when Im evacuating a placenta. I thought: my God, youve been doing this for 25 years, what was happening before? The results are remarkable: they havent lost a Mamacare mother yet. Ive seen triplets - born at 24 weeks - all survive. We did kangaroo care, with the mother, the grandma and the aunt. Saraki still ends up paying sometimes. Recently she was called by one of her midwives at 2am, the night before a flight to London. A mother was having triplets and didnt have money for a Caesarean. Saraki tried to do development diligence, protesting that the midwife should make a formal request through the accountant. But at 5am her niggling, beatitude to God thing took over, and she headed to Abuja General Hospital. I didnt even know the name of the mum! I said, Is there a Mamacare Mum here? A woman popped out of bed and said, Its me! By the time I landed in London at 3pm shed had the babies a boy and two girls. Gorgeous children! Not only that but they found her husband, whod lost his job, new work with a senator: Weve turned into an employment agency too! In the long run, Saraki dreams of a more equitable healthcare system. When her son was born at the Portland, she noticed her obstetrician only visited in the morning and evening. This man charging me all that money was in the Chelsea and Westminster, where theyre getting him for free! she says, with mock outrage. Thats what I want here: it should not matter whether youre rich, let the public system be good enough. The immediate focus, though, is education: Empowering a pregnant woman is empowering two peoples lives. The Foundation now works more with adolescents (in Nigeria, Saraki says, sex education is called skills and drills). When giving a lecture at a university recently she asked the women if they were using contraception. There was silence. I left the podium and went, Come on girls! You cant be serious! Youre in a university with boys and you dont know about contraception? She told them: Having a child thats unplanned is the most disastrous thing. Abortion is painful its not birth control. Youre better off practising safe sex. The students gawped. I said: close your mouths and lets have a frank chat. Back in the Mamacare class, Saraki says how much she loves her work. I know this isnt sexy work and Im not saving the world, but one mother at a time. They are living. They are actually living. For me, thats fulfilling. The classes begin and end with prayers both Muslim and Christian. Afterwards, as we head out into the scorching Lagos sun for the obligatory photos, Saraki turns to me, beaming with pride: Now the women can do more than pray. wbfafrica.org M uslims all over the world are celebrating Eid-Al-Adha this week with prayers, family gatherings and the exchanging of gifts. The celebrations begin two days after the start of Hajj - the important annual pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Despite also being known as 'Eid', this month's festival is different from Eid al-Fitr, the annual date that celebrated the end of Ramadan, which happens in the summer months. Heres everything you need to know. Hajj 1 /20 Hajj Muslim worshippers pray during the Hajj pilgrimage outside Namrah Mosque in Arafat, near Mecca EPA Aerial view of the Mount Arafat, where thousands Muslim worshippers gather during the Hajj pilgrimage EPA Muslim pilgrims attend noon prayers at Hajj AP Muslim pilgrims attend noon prayers outside the Namirah mosque on Arafat Mountain AP Muslim pilgrims hold umbrellas as they attend noon prayers outside the Namirah mosque on Arafat Mountain AP Millions of Muslims pray during the Hajj pilgrimage AP Muslim pilgrims hold umbrellas as they attend noon prayers for hajj AP A close-up of worshippers AFP/Getty Images Muslims line up in rows for prayer at Namirah mosque near Mount Arafat AFP/Getty Images Muslims in the middle of their noon prayer AFP/Getty Images Muslim worshipers, some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the scorching sun, gather for hajj AFP/Getty Images The Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon on Mount Arafat AFP/Getty Images Clad in white, their the palms facing the sky, some two million Muslims from around the world gathered on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat AFP/Getty Images An aerial view shows Muslim pilgrims gathering on Mount Arafat AFP/Getty Images Prayer in full swing at Namrah Mosque in Arafat EPA When is Eid Al-Adha? The start of Eid Al-Adha depends on the sighting of the new crescent moon and its celebration varies in different countries in the world. In the Islamic lunar calendar, the festival takes place on the 10th day of the 12th month and lasts for four days until the 13th day. This year, Eid Al-Adha - which is also referred to as Greater Eid - will start on Friday, September 1 and will end in the evening of Tuesday, September 5. What is Eid Al-Adha? The phrase translates as festival of the sacrifice and honours the Prophet Ibrahims sacrifice of his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to Gods command. Before Ishmael was about to kill his son, God intervened by putting a ram in his sons place, preventing the sacrifice from happening. Eid al-Adha is regarded as one of the holiest celebrations in Islam, and marks the end of the Hajj - the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage should undertaken at least once in a lifetime all physically and financially capable Muslims. Eid in the Square, in pictures 1 /16 Eid in the Square, in pictures How is Greater Eid celebrated? On the first morning of Eid al-Adha, Muslims will typically attend morning prayers at their local mosque. Many choose to pray as part of community-led events in public places, such as parks, during the festival. Both men and women dress up for the occasion, often wearing new outfits in celebration of the event. Muslims greet each other by saying Eid Mubarak' during the festival, which also involves visits to friends and family and the giving of gifts and cards. Many also shared their food and money with the poor, as the festival is all about giving to the needy. Sacrifice is a big part of the event, and worshippers will usually slaughter a sheep or goat to honour the Islamic date - although anyone wishing to sacrifice an animal in the UK must follow the welfare standards. The sacrificial meat is then divided into three equal parts one for the household, one for relatives and friends, and one for the poor. Worshippers will then prepare a meal with the sacrifice, which is usually shared between family and friends, alongside traditional cakes, biscuits and desserts. S tars including Naomi Campbell and Stephen Fry have expressed their grief at the passing of their friend, the millionaire socialite Sir David Tang. Tributes have flooded in for the 63-year-old, who died on Wednesday just days before a farewell party he was planning to throw at Londons Dorchester Hotel, after finding out he had just months to live following a battle with liver cancer. Figures from across business and showbiz industries shared heartfelt messages remembering the life of the legendary bon vivant, with actor Russell Crowe tweeting, 'RIP dear friend... witty, charming, intellectual, salacious, hilarious'. Here's everything you need to know about the legendary party thrower. Who was Sir David Tang? Born in Hong Kong, Sir David was the grandson of Tang Shiu Kin, the founder of the Kowloon bus company and one of the countrys greatest philanthropists. At the age of 12, he moved with his parents to England and could barely speak a word of English. An education at Cambridges Perse School followed (where he failed his English O level six times, despite passing Latin, French and Russian), but managed to later score a place at Cambridge University studying Law and Philosophy. Sir David quickly rose to become a prominent figure in the celebrity world and a millionaire socialite, and after a short-lived career in law, he founded fashion brand Shanghai Tang in 1994 and later sold it to luxury group Richemont. The tycoon was renowned for his party lifestyle, and invested his money in setting up the legendary China Clubs in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore. Tang was a prominent figure in the fashion world / Getty Images As well as being a friend of both celebrities and royals, Sir David was famous for his love of cigars. He added another string to his business bow by founding the Pacific Cigar Company - eventually becoming the sole distributor of all Cuban cigars in the Asia-Pacific. In 2005 he brought is empire over to London, setting up China Tang at The Dorchester in London - one of the capitals most celebrated Cantonese restaurants. As well as his entrepreneurial spirit, he was well-known for his charitable work. In 2008, Sir David was awarded a knighthood by the Queen for his philanthropic services in the UK and British interests in Hong Kong. Who was friends with Sir David Tang? The father-of-two was a regular feature in society magazines, after forging friendships with royals, actors and musicians. He was often referred to as 'Londons best-connected man. He counted Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Kevin Spacey, Sarah Ferguson and the late Princess Diana as friends. Death at 63: Sir David Tang, right, pictured with Kate Moss / Getty He was known for his A-list parties and exotic holidays in places such as Bhutan and the Sahara desert. When The Evening Standard asked about his high-profile friendships, Sir David said: I wouldnt say I collect them, I value them. One should never expect friendship to serve as a currency for anything. My favourite Churchill quote is: You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give. Im extraordinarily lucky to have so many friends across such a diverse group of people. One day Ill be at Oxford, the next at some complete idiots lunch. He was known amongst his friendship groups for his biting and satirical tone. In an interview with the Financial Times in 2010, Sir David said he would like to be remembered by a Hilaire Belloc quote: When I am dead, I hope it may be said: His sins were scarlet, but his books were read. Sir David Tang with Stephen Fry / AFP/Getty Images Earlier this month, Sir David had announced he was throwing a 'farewell to life' party at The Dorchester in London, after learning he had just months to live. In the invitation, he said the best way to go would be to give a party where we can see each other at least one time more, rather than at a memorial service where I shall be dead as a dodo. Tragically, the party was planned for September 6, just seven days after he died. David had been unwell on and off for a period, but actually his recent illness is a relatively short (one) - this has all happened in the last four weeks, Mr Ventersm CEO of Fortnum and Mason and close friend of Sir David told the Telegraph. There was an understanding amongst his friends, and hence why he organised a memorial, that by definition he was not going to come through. It was a matter of time. Who has paid tribute to Sir David? Russell Crowe was among the first to pay tribute to Sir David, tweeting, The privilege was mine, and describing him as witty, charming, intellectual, salacious and hilarious. Comedian David Walliams, meanwhile, wrote: The world is a poorer place without the legendary wit. It was a party to be near him. News correspondent John Simpson said he was very sad to hear of death of Sir David Tang, adding that he was a generous host, man of superb taste, great raconteur: spirit of Hong Kong at its former best. Naomi Campbell tweeted: There will never be another like you. Tracey Emin told Londoners Diary: "Some of the funniest times of my life have been with Sir David Tang, the most recent last year, when he made me help him escape from hospital. It was like a scene from from a Peter Sellers movie. Life is certainly going to be a lot emptier without him." A ustralia is pretty much the last country in the English-speaking world where same sex couples cannot legally marry. This will probably change in the coming months, as the land where the vast majority support equal marriage is about to get a referendum on the subject. Strange, then, that many gay rights activists are furious about it and are demanding a boycott. The most influential activist is Michael Kirby, an ex-High Court judge who often made brilliant and eloquent defences of equality during his time on the bench. Hes not alone: The Green Party, and pressure group Australian Marriage Equality are both flirting with the idea of boycotting the referendum. And I agree: a referendum is the absolute worst way of ensuring equality for minority citizens. But Kirby, and whoever joins him, are wrong that a boycott is the solution. Heres why theyre right in opposing a referendum: 1. Its essentially pointless As we know, referendums are non-binding. Its essentially a $160m polling exercise in a country where only 14 per cent oppose equal marriage. So theres that. 2. Its an unfair playing field For starters, its a non-mandatory postal vote. This is nonsense in a country where its usually illegal not to vote in elections. The voluntary postal methodflies in the face of Australian democratic values. It is likely to ensure that not only will a minority of Australians vote, but also that large sections of the community will be disenfranchised, The large sections being the young, 91 per cent of whom support equal marriage. And the passionate activist I just quoted? The current Prime Minister, the man who called the vote and made sure it was in this way. The new faces of LGBTQ+ London: in pictures 1 /17 The new faces of LGBTQ+ London: in pictures TeTe Bang, 26 Club personality, drag artist, DJ, professional fun producer Johnny Cochrane Tayylor Made, 26 DJ and club promoter Johnny Cochrane Lyall Hakaraia, 49 Creative director, designer, owner of VFD and fairy godperson to the LGBTQ+ scene Johnny Cochrane Sadie Sinner, 26 Founder and curator of Cocoa Butter Club Johnny Cochrane Charlie Craggs, 25 Writer and activist Johnny Cochrane Whiskey Chow, 27 Artist and drag king Johnny Cochrane Lasana Shabazz, 30 Performance artist, actor and writer Johnny Cochrane Drelle Khan, 29 Creative director Johnny Cochrane Alexandre Simoes, 22 Artist, muse, nightclub promoter Johnny Cochrane Bishi, 34 Singer, composer, co-founder of WITCiH, label boss at Gryphon Records Johnny Cochrane Krishna Istha, 23 Performance artist and actor Johnny Cochrane Dolly Pawton, 2 Instagram star Lucy London, 40 Fashion lecturer Stella Clements, 34 Writer Johnny Cochrane Umber Ghauri, 25 Make-up artist Johnny Cochrane 3. LGBTQIA+ people will suffer in the process Opinion and feeling win over fact and logic when it comes to referenda. But when youre debating the life worth of a marginalised community with high rates of mental illness and suicide? When the government have already bowed to pressure from Gods Legal Representatives in Australia and announced therell be no protections from hate-speech during the campaign? It is all but guaranteed that high profile queer bashing is about to get very in vogue. The stakes are chillingly real. Queer people living in a US state at the same time as a gay marriage referendum experienced a 42 per cent rise in alcoholism, and a 248 per cent increase in anxiety related disorders. A similar story emerged from Ireland. Already in Australia, there has been a spike among those seeking support for mental health, distressed by the negativity of the debate. Who knows what the lasting effect of this referendum will be. 4. The principle No, I will not go begging hat-in-hand for equality. Not for months leading up to the vote. Not when it doesnt affect you in the slightest. Not when you can get married without my say-so. Except, if I lived in Australia, I would. But the damage is done, or in any case cant be stopped from being done soon. A no vote would be disastrous; the bigots legitimised and sent home smug, the gay kids and trans pensioners sent a clear picture that they are worth less. Although the vote is non-binding, when equality triumphs the pressure would be too great to delay for any meaningful length of time. And that would leave just one country in the English-speaking world without marriage equality: us. I t might be the end of summer holiday season, but that doesnt mean that you have to pack away your suitcase just yet. Norwegian Air has just launched a huge autumn sale to celebrate its 15th birthday, slashing the cost of 19 long-haul routes to the US - and just in time for pay day too. Passengers who fancy a wintery trip to the Big Apple, with frosty walks in Central Park, ice skating in the Rockefeller Centre and shopping on Fifth Avenue, can travel to New York for as little as 130 one way. Or you could up the ante and rally your gang for a group trip to Las Vegas, for just 164.90. Norwegians flight sale also take in popular destinations like Boston, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle. If youre keen to squeeze more time out of summer, you could even head to LA where its warm weather all year long. There are tickets going for a snip of their usual price, at just 159.90 - and if you do head to the West coast, you may want to check out our round up of the best rooftop bars in the city. The sale started today (August 29) and will last for three weeks, ending on the September 18. 9 of the best rooftop bars in New York 1 /12 9 of the best rooftop bars in New York Soho House New York No round up of the best rooftops in New York is complete without a nod to Nick Jones chic urban oasis. Theres no better place to cool off, take a dip and indulge in some top-class food while soaking up the sun with NYC's fashionable crowd. The heated swimming pool is open year-round, but youll need a membership card (and some cool friends to recommend you) to get in here. 29-35 9th Ave, New York, NY 10014 Le Bain at The Standard High Line This penthouse discotheque in the trendy Meatpacking District offers panoramic views of the Hudson River as well as the cache of being the hottest bar in the city right now. Expect to see the seriously loaded midtown post-work crowd rubbing shoulders with fashion editors and young entrepreneurs. Just make sure you dont make a scene in the rooftop plunge pool after a few too many daiquiris. 848 Washington St, New York, NY 1001 Shutterstock / Felix Lipov The Ides at the Wythe Hotel Its not all about Manhattan. Brooklyn has just as many cool bars and sunny rooftops to offer, and smart Williamsburgers head to the Wythe for sundowners. Its easily the best place to grab a frozen cocktail this side of the river. 80 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249 Catch This downtown destination for in-the-know New Yorkers offers a very good la carte menu as well as a sleek and sophisticated setting to enjoy a few cocktails. Come early to ensure you grab a table in the al fresco terrace and stay late to be part of the chic nightlife scene in this Meatpacking destination. 21 9th Ave, New York, NY 10014 Penthouse 808 Crowning the Ravel Hotel is Penthouse 808, which easily boasts the best views of the Queensboro bridge in the city. Based on the stretch of Long Island that overlooks the East River, this upscale hotel lounge is a perfect setting to enjoy cocktails, Asian-fusion dishes and the stunning Manhattan skyline. 8-08 Queens Plaza S, Long Island City, NY 11101 The Roof Garden at the Met Fifth Avenue Not only is this the best place to catch an original Monet or Van Gogh, the Met is also rivalling the citys smartest cocktail bars for best rooftop in the city. Offering sweeping views of Central Park alongside wine, cocktails and tapas snacks, no visit to New York is complete without a token skyline selfie here. That being said, the rooftop is only open when the museum is (and its free), so youll have to elbow your way through the tourists to get a decent view. Our tip? Make it there on a weekday to avoid the crowds. 1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028 Shutterstock / Irene Wang Pod 39 This pretty little Midtown spot is as generous on the eye as it is on the wallet. Dont let the words budget-friendly put you off, head to the top floor in the elevator and youll find one of the richest views in the city. The roof of this 1917 building is all terracotta columns, draping ivy and strung fairy lights - the perfect spot for a date in Manhattan. 145 E 39th St, New York, NY 10016 Gallow Green at the McKittrick Hotel If youre a fan of Kew Gardens and the Greenhouse at the Barbican, Gallow Green is sure to be your cup of tea. A favourite with New Yorkers, this lush rooftop spot drips with wisteria and fairy lights, making for a pretty spectacular watering hole in the sky. The foliage-packed terrace - which is named after the Scottish field where accused witches were hanged - is situated on top of the disused 1930s Hotel which is now used as a permanent home for Punchdrunks immersive theatre. 542 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001 Night of Joy If youre looking for a laid-back bar thats more Vans and flannel shirts than Oxford shirts and Derbies, this is a good place to start. Situated in the heart of Greenpoint in Brooklyn, the roof deck boasts graffiti and good tunes as well as its very own frozen-margarita station. 667 Lorimer St, New York, NY 11211 Flights can be booked from the October 16, 2017 to March 16, 2018 - so you have plenty of time to save some spending money before you go. Decided you deserve a long, well-earned holiday and fancy getting involved in the deal? Youll have to be speedy - tickets are going fast, and are currently available to book on the Norwegian Air website. Now you just need to decide where to go... A man has been charged over an incident near Buckingham Palace in which three police were left injured. Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, is accused of a terror offence after he was arrested near Buckingham Palace allegedly armed with a 4ft sword, Scotland Yard said. He is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Thursday. No members of the Royal Family were inside Buckingham Palace when a man drove a car at officers and then reached for a four-foot sword. Three police officers were hurt in the attack on the Mall at just after 8.30pm on Friday. Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, praised the quick action of the officers, two of whom needed hospital treatment for cuts. "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of these officers who quickly brought this incident under control," he said. T he younger brother of Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi will face trial in Libya over his suspected role in the terror attack. Hashem Abedi was arrested in Tripoli over his suspected links to the deadly attack shortly after the bombing at Manchester Arena on May 22. His brother killed 22 people when he set off an improvised explosive device in the foyer of the arena as concert-goers left an Ariana Grande concert. According to the BBC, Libya's chief investigator in the case Asadiq Al Sour has said Hashem Abedi is suspected of having helped his brother and collected materials for the attack. Manchester Arena explosion 1 /18 Manchester Arena explosion PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA Their father Ramadan, who was also detained in Libya, has been released, the broadcaster said. Asadiq Al Sour told the BBC that Mr Abedi will be taken to court within two months, and that British police have already questioned him in Tripoli several times. Authorities in Libya are also reported to have given British police a list of names of people in the UK who they say should be questioned. Salman Abedi on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack / PA The broadcaster said the people are not necessarily suspects but could provide important information about the bomber and his brother. Last month Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said officers were "engaged" with the authorities in Libya. At the time, he said: "We want to to speak to Hashem Abedi and I can now say we are currently engaging with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Libyan authorities." Mr Jackson said attempts to speak to Mr Abedi were part of an "ongoing" process but he refused to elaborate or say whether British police had travelled to Libya. C onvicts freed from a London prison are deliberately reoffending because they have no homes to go to and would prefer to return behind bars, an official watchdog warned today. The Independent Monitoring Board for Thameside prison in Woolwich found that nearly half of the inmates facing imminent release had nowhere to live because of a lack of good hostel accommodation in the capital. It says that many were worried or fearful about the future and that some were planning and committing new crimes so that they could return to the relative security of prison. The findings will raise further concerns about prisons, following official reports warning of rising violence, staff shortages, overcrowding and dire conditions. In its assessment, the monitoring board says the prison, run by Serco, has bucked some trends with a recruitment drive which has kept up staff numbers. Levels of violence, while stubbornly high, remained static during the last year, while the overall regime is described as humane, with most inmates feeling safe. However, the board warns that too many prisoners are not able to thrive on their release because of factors outside the prisons control, especially the poor availability of suitable accommodation in the community. There was a stark contrast between those with a home, who were generally looking forward to their release, and those who felt they would be homeless and were not confident (and in some cases actually fearful) about their future. the board says in its annual report on the prison. A number told the board that they would soon reoffend in order to be returned to the relative security of prison: and they do. Dr Barbara Judge, the monitoring boards chairwoman, said: Too many prisoners indicate that they will probably reoffend in order to be returned to the security of prison. We are therefore calling on central and local government, charities and the London Mayor to increase the availability of good hostel accommodation as a vital factor in reducing reoffending. Thameside, which opened in 2012, has an official capacity of 900 but housed more than 1,200 prisoners during the past year. P rincess Diana would have been at Grenfell tower honouring victims had she still been alive today, a fan said while paying tribute to her on the 20th anniversary of her death. Dedicated fans arrived as early as 3am this morning to honour the princess. Chris Imafidon, who chairs the Excellence in Education programme and has written a book on the royals, said: Diana would have been in Grenfell, shaking hands with people who had lost their homes. Thats Diana for you. Tributes to Princess Diana outside Kensington Palace 1 /10 Tributes to Princess Diana outside Kensington Palace Estee, 4, lays flowers at the gates of Kensington Palace on Thursday morning Jeremy Selwyn Dozens of floral tributes have been left outside Lady Diana's old home Lucy Young Today marks exactly 20 years since the People's Princess died in Paris Jeremy Selwyn Many Diana supporters were emotional as they paid their respects Jeremy Selwyn One tribute read: 'You will never be forgotten' Lucy Young Some supporters arrived as early 3am this morning Jeremy Selwyn Diana's death still has the power to move people 20 years on Jeremy Selwyn Six-year-old Lilly lays a tribute Jeremy Selwyn He added: Im sad. That was the longest day in my life, the day she died. Everything stopped. She was someone who broke down the barriers between the privileged elite and the downtrodden masses. She was a bridge. Vigil: Chris Imafidon Kathy Martin, 55, was also among fans gathered in the spot where yesterday Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge met supporters as they laid tributes at a floral shrine. Royalists: John Lughrey, left, with fellow Diana devotee Kathy Martin She said: Im here to honour Princess Diana because I was so fascinated with her and what she did with her life. And she was so young when she died. Were continuing her legacy and were continuing her memory. Ms Martin, who lives in Beckenham but is originally from Australia, added: Today, 20 years on, I still cant believe it. It feels like it just happened yesterday because shes been in the media for quite some time now. Such sad memories. Self-declared Diana super-fan John Lughrey said he arrived at 2.45am this morning to begin his vigil. 20th anniversary of Diana's death 1 /14 20th anniversary of Diana's death Princes William and Harry at Diana's funeral in 1997 PA The have spoken about how their father Charles helped them grieve PA Diana and Harry pictured together in 1995 PA (L-R) The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and the Prince of Wales PA The Prince of Wales with the Princess of Wales, baby Prince Harry, Prince William, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne pictured in 1985 PA Diana walks Harry and William in their school uniforms in 1989 PA The Prince and Princess of Wales with sons Prince William, right, and Prince Harry relaxing in Tresco during their holiday in the Scilly Isles in 1989 PA Diana, Princess of Wales with her sons, Prince William, right, and Prince Harry outside St George's Chapel in 1992 PA The White Garden at Kensington Palace, created to celebrate the life of Diana PA Accompanied by a bearer party of Welsh Guards, the Royal Standard-draped coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 EPA Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Diana's brother Earl Charles Spencer follow her coffin EPA The retired chef, 62, said: I came here to show my respect to a special person. Princess Diana was born with two hearts. One was hers, the other was for the people. P olice are today searching for a scientist who has been missing since Sunday night. James Fisher, 38, was last seen by friends on August 27 night at Vauxhall Bus Station and having an argument with his girlfriend. He spoke to his brother Simon, 40, on the phone the following day but his mobile phone is now switched off and messages from concerned friends and family have not been answered. His brother said Mr Fisher's disappearance is 'out of character' and have been following up possible sightings in central London. James is a research scientist who works in Victoria and is described as white, with brown hair, six foot tall, of slim build, with stubble. He has links to Epping Forest, Soho and Richmond. Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or Missing People on 116000. A n ambulance on an emergency call has crashed and overturned while taking a patient to hospital. Police said they were called to the dramatic collision between the emergency vehicle and a car in Romford, east London, shortly after 11.30am on Thursday. No serious injuries have been reported following the smash at the junction between South Street and Oldchurch Road. Paul Davies, 31, works nearby and came out to see what had happened after hearing the crash. Dramatic scenes: Emergency services rushed to the junction in central Romford / Paul Davies He said: "I heard a loud bang sound, and all the traffic along South Street stopped. "A passenger off a bus coming towards Romford station who saw what happened told me the ambulance drove across the crossing at South Street with lights and sirens on, but unfortunately a lady driving across at the same time collided with the ambulance." A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service confirmed the incident involved one of their vehicles but said the patient it was carrying suffered no further injuries. She said: The ambulance involved in the collision was taking a patient to hospital. "He is not believed to have suffered any further injury as a result of the collision and was transferred to [another] ambulance. A woman was also treated for minor injuries and taken to hospital. Our ambulance crew were treated at the scene for minor injuries and were also taken to hospital. Paramedics are understood to have originally been called shortly before 11am to reports on an unwell patient at a nearby address in Romford. Roads in the area were closed and diversions put in place to allow for a clean-up effort. O ne of Londons top curry houses was temporarily shut by officials for allegedly employing illegal workers. Family-owned Punjabi restaurant Tayyabs, in Whitechapel, has been closed since Tuesday after being raided by immigration officers last week. The East End institution, where queues are common for fans of their tandoori lamb chops, opened in 1972 and boasts actress Christina Hendricks and retail expert Mary Portas among its celebrity supporters. Following a raid by the Home Offices Immigration Enforcement agency, it was alleged that some of the 40 staff at the award-winning eatery were working illegally or lacking correct permits. Of nine offenders that have been identified, five Pakistani nationals are being deported, the Home Office said. A spokesman added that the eatery already owes fines of 95,000, while the latest notice to be served carries fines of up to 180,000. The restaurant responded with a note which read: As you are aware our restaurant has been issued with a closure notice. We are working hard to resolve this matter. We hope to open by Thursday 31st August. Sorry for the inconvenience. Twitter went into meltdown when news of the closure was broken. Good News Hackney wrote: Holy Shish!! @1tayyabs issued with a closure notice?? A dark day for London. Another Twitter user said: How can they close tayyabs like it ain't the best restaurant in London. Another added: Don't do this to me. Tayyabs does the nicest chicken karahi. It was third in the Yelp Top 100 Eateries in London last year, has won a Time Out Love London Awards, and was this month listed on the Evening Standards 45 of the capitals must-try places to eat. Former Conservative Employment Minister Esther McVey applauded late founder Mohammed Tayyab with a lifetime achievement award for services to the curry industry in 2015. The restaurant reopened as a hearing was scheduled to take place at Stratford magistrates court on Thursday afternoon. A Home Office spokesman said: "Acting on intelligence, Immigration Enforcement officers visited Tayyabs, Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel on Friday, August 25. "Nine offenders were encountered. Six Pakistani nationals were arrested, with five of them being detained while steps are taken to remove them from the UK. The sixth is required to report regularly to Immigration Enforcement. "A closure notice was served because of an outstanding civil penalty fines amounting to 95,000, the high proportion of offenders found and taking previous offences into account. "A Civil penalty referral notice was also served on the business, which carries a fine of up to 180,000." People with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact gov.uk/report-immigration-crime or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.